Chapter 316: Prelude to an Age of Strife (2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Han Xiao could assign all sorts of mission, and those that were in the challenging category were more difficult than usual. They were often large-scale mission, where every movement of the individual players could impact the final result. Therefore, they had to work together to complete the mission.
He had witnessed some missions that could affect the version, where millions of players fought for the same goal. Every player’s actions earned contribution points, and the mission needed tens of millions of points to complete. Once finished, it would be the turning point of the entire storyline.
[The Last Bastion] was a mission that Han Xiao had created so that the players would still protect Sanctuary Three after he left the planet. In the mission introduction, he hinted that there would be a disaster that would fall upon the land, yet he was vague in the description. However, it was enough to raise the interest of the players as they tried to guess the future storyline.
Han Xiao did not give out a clear instruction just so that the players would think that the information was a leak from the mission, which would make it credible.
The testing mission that he had published before was just to warm up the players.
Freezing a mission was a special method where the mission would not start until the disaster actually arrived. Han Xiao then could activate the mission from miles away. This was like bait for the players as it lured their curiosity about the fate of their future.
One condition to issue a mission was that Han Xiao could not be too far away from the players. Han Xiao had tested a lot of trials to find out this hidden condition. After he left the planet, it was impossible for him to directly give missions to the players. But now he could activate the mission from far away by using frozen missions.
There’s still a few days before I leave the sanctuary. I have enough time to walk around the entire city and give missions to hundreds of thousands of players, Han Xiao thought to himself.
With this, he could ensure that the players would still hang around Sanctuary Three as if it was their main hub. At the beginning of Version 2.0, these players could protect the sanctuary through the hardest times.
...
For the players, shocking news came wave after wave.
Since Han Xiao had remained in the dark for a quite some time after the storyline of the Germinal Organization, the players had started to believe the analysis of [Galaxy Times], thinking that the character had no more storyline and was just a normal NPC.
But after staying quiet for more than half a year, Black Phantom had started to become active again, and his actions were shocking.
He wanted to take the players across the galaxy!
Not only that, Black Phantom also left a frozen Prize-Pool Mission, and the introduction hinted at a disaster that would sweep across Planet Aquamarine.
The ‘old-fashioned’ ‘NPC’s return from the dead’ started another wave of nostalgia players as they remembered the time when Black Phantom took over the world after the game launched. The scene was now showing in front of their eyes, and it felt rather dear to them.
On the forums, countless of players were discussing what was the upcoming ‘disaster’.
“Alien invasion? Another war from the Six Nations that destroys the whole planet? Or is it a natural disaster?”
“I think this could be the start of a new storyline. Just look at storyline on the other planets, all of them are intense, while Planet Aquamarine is so chill. It’s time for something to happen!”
“Someone once said ‘those long divided shall be united, and those long united shall be divided.’ Is this the start of the romance of the Six Nations?”
With the boiling discussion in the forums, one player out of nowhere connected the two things that Han Xiao had done.
“Is it possible that Black Phantom is trying to escape the disaster and that’s why he wants to leave the planet as soon as possible?”
“No way! I still remember an episode in ‘Cabbage hits itself’—it was a speech from Black Phantom to gather troops, and he said that he would do everything he could do protect the innocent lives. Isn’t that courageous?”
“If that’s the reason, then there must be no hope for us to survive, and that’s why Black Phantom is leaving his hometown. I wonder how devastating the disaster will be... There won’t be that much of a change in storyline, right?”
“Maybe not. It’s possible that Black Phantom is just scared. Don’t you see that he is trying to gather helpers for his escape?”
“Quit joking around. He’s still a main character in the storyline. He wrecked the Germinal Organization by himself. Do you think he’ll still run away?”
“Well, the circumstances are different. A lot of his story with the Germinal Organization had to do with planning. Moreover, there is a history between him and the Germinal Organization. They were each other’s mortal enemies, so of course they would use everything that they had to kill the other. But that’s a different story for disasters. If he has the chance to run away, why wouldn’t he do so?”
“And here I am, still thinking that he wouldn’t have any more screen time after the Germinal Organization incident.”
One single topic would not have only one explanation. Some people stood up for Han Xiao, while others stood against him.
Han Xiao was not bothered at all because having oppositions was not a bad thing. It was through conflict that more people would pay attention. On the other hand, if everyone praised how all mighty Han Xiao was, then it would easily bore the players.
However, Bun-hit-dog did not want the players to look down on Han Xiao for thinking that he was trying to run away. Bun-hit-dog had already decided to start a new space adventure show, and if the audience viewed him as a deserter, then it would negatively affect to the show. On the other hand, if Han Xiao’s reason for going to the outer space was courageous and noble, then their upcoming adventures would touch the hearts of the audience, which fit with the content that Bun-hit-dog had planned.
Because of that, Bun-hit-dog leaked the discussion between Han Xiao and the other three, which could reveal the reason for Han Xiao’s departure—to find a solution for the upcoming disaster. This suddenly boosted the public’s view of Han Xiao.
At the end of the episode, Bun-hit-dog released the preview. “As I looked up the mysterious night sky, my heart and soul were absorbed in the solidarity. I will follow Black Phantom to the world beyond the stars, and for this, I will create a new series recording the moments of the journey in the universe and present them right in front of you. Coming soon.”
Because the topic was hot, Bun-hit-dog’s preview for the show spread like a wildfire. The players then all understood that Han Xiao’s departure from the planet was to save them from a disaster. Without any delay, most of the players all respected him from the bottom of their hearts, while a small minority were still suspicious.
No matter what attitude the players had, they were all paying close attention to the event, thinking about Han Xiao traveling through the galaxy, and they were excited for Bun-hit-dog new show.
These new messages, however, where only visible for the players. The organizations on the planet still had no idea what was happening.
...
In the powering snow and freezing wind stood a mountain range located in the territory of Raylen. There were a lot of wild beasts in the mountains without any civilization. Not even a single town was visible within dozens of miles, and the roar of beasts echoed in the mountain range.
Raylen’s secret laboratory was right there in the mountains.
Inside the laboratory, Kerlodd’s spaceship was hanging in midair, and thousands of pieces of equipment and wires surrounded the spaceship, detecting any data coming out from the spaceship and presenting it on the big screen. Countless researchers came and went while adjusting the equipment.
After moving the spaceship around for more than ten days, Raylen secretly organized people for this research operation, the best researchers from both the military and the intelligence organization. There were normal people and some mechanic superhumans.
Even with so many talents working together, there was little progress to be seen. The technology that built the spaceship was too advanced for the people on Planet Aquamarine to understand. Moreover, Godoran technology also contained magic, requiring the magic engravings for it to work. It was a completely different type of technology compared to that of Planet Aquamarine.
For the researchers who had never seen magic, they did not know where to start. In their eyes, this spaceship lacked many important components and modules, and they could not even find where the energy source was. They only found some parts that looked related to the energy source, some really ancient parts, and a black liquid object that looked like motor oil. It was stored in an empty test tube on the side and being experimented on.