909 Half a Year
As he was leaving the exhibition hall, Han Xiao went back to find Li Yalin to make up for the unfinished hug. In that moment, there was no status difference between them, just a reunion of friendship.
Twenty years had passed just like that, and his first group of friends all had their own personal experiences. Everyone had the freedom to make their own choices, and he would not interfere. Thus, after repaying his ‘debt’, he did not say anything else to Li Yalin.
After bidding goodbye, Han Xiao and Ames spent another ten or so days touring Planet Aquamarine’s major cities. When they were spotted, numerous people would rush up to take pictures with them. This happened all the way until they met up with Bennett.
Since there were a multitude of photos posted on social media, Bennett knew that Han Xiao would definitely go to him and only waited, not disturbing him this time.
Since Han Xiao and Ames had a cooperative relationship with Planet Aquamarine, Bennett also prepared himself to meet the two.
...
After they finished discussing the formal matters, Bennett could not help to ask about Nero. Han Xiao told Bennett about Nero’s heavy study load, but this reassured Bennett that Han Xiao valued Nero a lot and was interested in grooming him.
After finishing the inspection work on Planet Aquamarine, Han Xiao went back to Floating Dragon, with the intention of sneaking into Aesop’s wine cellar to get some Void Dragon Wine to share with Hila, but it was foreseen by Aesop, who had moved his bed and toilet to the wine cellar, guarding it with his life. Thus, he could only return to the headquarters empty handed.
In her palace, Ames watched the spaceship fly toward the horizon and let out a breath, muttering to herself, “I can’t be lazy anymore...”
...
When he returned to the headquarters, the first he did was look for Feidin and Nero, and after molesting them, he went to his room to collect his mission random reward.
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You have received a Random Reward Draw of one of Ames’ skills (Ability/Talent).
Alert: Ames is an Esper, part of the possible abilities have been automatically adjusted to your class.
Randomizing... complete.
Please select one from the five options below as the reward:
1. Pure Bloodline – Talent: Improve one’s Racial Talent to a certain degree (cannot be quantified due to individual’s talents being different)
2. Advanced Charm Aura – Talent: +120% CHA
3. Caretaker of the Stars – Ability: Passive Ability that is randomly triggered. One will be favored by the Stars and obtain a [Strong Luck] status, +90% LUK. Lasts for 15 days.
4. Activate Potential – Ability: Unleash one’s potential, +10 – 15% Attack and +200% Crit Rate. Energy is continuously consumed in this state.
5. Heroic Wrists – Talent: You have frightening wrist strength, a strong body, and vigorous cell activity. As your character’s overall level rises, your STR, END and Attack will increase.
– Lv1 – 100: Every 10 levels will give +30 STR, +15 END, and +0.6% increase in attack.
– Lv101 – 200: Every 10 levels will give +45 STR, +25 END, and +0.9% increase in attack.
– Lv201 and above: Every 10 levels will give +60 STR, +35 END, and +1.2% increase in attack.
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“Whoa, jackpot!” Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
Feidin and Nero were really his lucky stars, allowing him to draw all decent rewards.
[Advanced Charm Aura]’s bonus was quite impressive, and any talent with the word ‘Advanced’ would not be bad, but Han Xiao’s demand for Charm was not high.
[Caretaker of the Stars] was a powerful skill, and its Luck bonus was high, but he had no demand for that, and besides... with one point of basic Luck, no matter how great the bonus was, it would still be around the same.
[Activate Potential] was a practical skill that would increase one’s output, but it was lacking compared to the other two.
Han Xiao particularly favored the [Pure Bloodline] since it was a rare racial talent boosting skill as well as [Heroic Wrists] since it was a growth type talent.
However, there was only one reward that could be chosen, so after pondering for a while, Han Xiao made the decision.
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You have been awarded with the talent Heroic Wrists!
Current additional states applied: +1230 STR, +680 END, +24.6 increase in attack.
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He favored this sort of growth talent more as it was stable, strong, and full of potential.
In contrast, [Pure Bloodline]’s effect was too uncertain, and based off Ames’ ability, the bonuses of this talent should be limited.
Moreover, his Racial Talent would undergo an improvement every time he underwent a Race Evolution. He was not lacking in this area. Furthermore, his main force of combat was his mechanical army, and Racial Talent could only be applied to his true body of mechanical host.
Currently, he only had the skills [Superhuman] and [Supreme Power] directly increasing his attack, which already brought forth a totally different dimension of attack strength, so the [Heroic Wrists] skill that directly increased one’s strength was rare.
Han Xiao looked at his attributes in satisfaction before turning off the panel and tilting his head to consider the current situation.
Right now, it’s the middle stages of the version. The external environment can be considered peaceful, and the three civilizations need time to quell their contradictions with each other. I’ve also established my position, and there should be no major events during this time... I can focus on my stable development till the end of the version.
In the past year, Han Xiao had been sharply driving up the organization’s power, causing it to soar rapidly. Now was the time to slowly digest the various achievements he had gained, such as the greater attention the dynasty had on him, the deterrent power he had, and the profits from the Evolutionary Totems.
The army needs to be low-key and digest our fruits of victory, consolidating our businesses while waiting for the next opportunity for development.
In his plan, the next opportunity would be the end of the first phase of the Flickering World development. The dynasty had allowed him a portion of the territory within, and that would be the time to vigorously develop his mechanical civilization as well as the Black Spirit Race.
At the same time, that was also the opportunity to seize the advantage for Version 4.0. It would be the time when the global service would be opened, and the players of the major star fields would gather and begin the faction war. It would also be the time when the Fourth Calamity, the Cancer of the Universe, would be born.
It was inevitable that players would cause trouble in the next version. Thus, it would be a great advantage for himself and the players in the Black Star Army to secure a site within the global service area. At that time, the Black Star Army, as the largest player faction in the Shattered Star Ring, would not be able to avoid being involved in the battle between players. There were advantages and disadvantages, but there was no way to avoid the storm.
The players in the Shattered Star Ring had experienced too many things in Version 3.0. From the secret war early on, to their commander breaking through to Beyond Grade A, the alliance with the Crimson Dynasty, and even the exploration in the Flickering World and the battle of Planet Lighthouse. There was still the Gulal Civilization civil strife, which had yet to end.
Han Xiao estimated that, with the remaining time left, the Shattered Star Ring would likely not have any major events happening, so he could use this time to rest.
Fighting the Arcane Church and then EsGod had tired him out. It would be good for him to use this period to absorb the players’ experience and rebuild his mechanical army.
It had been less than two years since he had become a Beyond Grade A Mechanic, and his mechanical army had yet to reach the level of Manison’s. Let alone to Manison, his army was still quite small compared to the other senior Beyond Grade A Mechanics.
I’ll do some low-key farming and not go around to cause trouble.
...
Under Han Xiao’s strategic direction, the Black Star Army temporarily slowed down its development and turned inward to stabilize itself, consolidating its current scale and businesses.
The transaction of the Evolutionary Totem had set off ripples in the universe, with many civilizations deciding to reach a cooperative relationship with the dynasty in various ways, in order to obtain the qualification to purchase the Evolutionary Totem.
The Crimson Dynasty gained unprecedented political influence, and Han Xiao gained a large number of customers from the various civilizations. This resulted in an abundance of funds, achieving a win-win situation for the both parties.
This sort of monopoly resulted in envy and dissatisfaction among the financial groups, but it was pity. With the Crimson Dynasty as a backer and the Black Star Army’s status as a local tyrant in the Shattered Star Ring, no one dared provoke them.
On the other hand, due to their previous issues, the three civilizations chose to consciously reduce friction with each other. Thus, the Arcane Church and Federation of Light chose to wait and see the effects of the Evolutionary Totem.
Due to their peaceful actions, the galactic environment became stable again. The impact of the Crimson Tide lasting for more than ten years also gradually faded.
The division of Fallen Ark also gradually settled. Some criminals were arrested by the three civilizations, while others went to join other criminal organizations in other star fields, and some became mercenaries.
The leftovers were reintegrated by other people and continued to act as Fallen Ark. Their leader seemed to be Fakisen, the once deputy under EsGod. The new Fallen Ark had shrunk in size dramatically and entered a dormant state, acting low-key.
As for the players in the Black Star Army, they were focused on two events, the exploration of Flickering World and the Gulal Civilization war. They helped the Pioneer Party occupy more land step by step, ousting the Ancient Emperor Party. Their influence on the war was growing larger, and they never grew tired of war.
Under this peaceful environment, more than a year passed quietly.
Version 3.0 had finally entered the final stages.