Chapter 966 The Second Exploration Phase
s the saying goes, if you want to be tanky, you must first get beaten up. How can your skin be thick if your bones don’t all break at least once?
He then made use of this logic to send Nero away before wondering if there were any dangerous jobs that he could get Nero to do.
After thinking for two seconds, Han Xiao raised his brows.
“That’s right. The construction of the three Star Clusters has come to an end, and the second exploration phase of the dynasty is about to start. I will have some things for Nero to do.”
After six years, Renault, Garu, and Crown had pretty much completed their construction, and they only lacked people.
Chief Commander Tarrokov had already informed him a few months ago that the dynasty was preparing for the second exploration phase. The various allies will be meeting the following day, and Han Xiao was also invited.
If he remembered correctly, the Crimson Dynasty met with some unexpected trouble during the second exploration phase, and there were plenty of opportunities for combat. He could make use of this opportunity to send Nero and the other graduates over under the guise of ‘combat training’.
There was a high probability of his Advanced Luck Glow turning dangers into fortune, right?
Upon thinking about Nero’s current appearance, Han Xiao could not help but be exasperated. To think that Nero actually wanted to learn from him and become a tank! He was supposed to be a proper Mechanic!
Furthermore, the reason was not so that he could improve but so he would be able to receive a better beating!
Preposterous!
Why don’t you learn more from your godfather’s swift and decisive style?
Han Xiao then got his subordinates to arrange the graduates’ accommodation before returning to his throne. With a single thought, he issued an order toward his Divine Mechanical Throne.
Clank!
The next moment, the roof of the room opened, and machinery parts began flowing out.
The Mechanical Deity itself was Han Xiao’s palace, and all the structures within the palace could be controlled by him with a single thought.
Very quickly, a black machine dropped down from the sky and drifted in front of Han Xiao. It was about a meter long.
Han Xiao then touched the machine, and he could feel heat. For him to be able to feel heat, it meant that the temperature was sufficiently high.
The item details were then displayed on the interface.
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Unknown Core: A special machinery part. Usage of the item is unknown, but it doesn’t seem useless.
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“Sigh, a Universal Treasure is truly difficult to forge.” Han Xiao shook his head.
Over the past six years, apart from strengthening his mechanical army, Han Xiao had also tried to forge gold grade equipment, which was Universal Grade.
The strength of a Divine Throne Mechanic was definitely sufficient, but even if he had sufficient strength, he might not be able to forge a Universal Treasure. There were far too many variables, and it required many things to work together in order to achieve a perfect state.
The first difficulty was the blueprint.
Han Xiao did not have a Universal Grade blueprint. A gold grade blueprint required the skill [Inspirational Creation], but Han Xiao’s [Inspirational Creation] was currently still grayed out. The activation requirement was for [Ultimate Mechanical Engineering] to reach Lv.5.
Furthermore, [Inspirational Creation] also had a random element to it. Not to mention the fact that there were no players who announced the blueprint combination of a Universal Treasure, even if one knew the combination, the results might be different.
Because he did not have any blueprints, Han Xiao tried to use his own technological skills to forge it. He used his [Universal Simulation] skill but still did not make much progress. He made many different trash products, and this machine in his hand was the only spare part that still had some use.
Thus, Han Xiao studied this machine every day, hoping to find some inspiration.
However, the truth had proven that this idea of his was only useful to console himself.
It is far too difficult for me to create something without blueprints or theories. Perhaps the Tyracles Legacy may be able to give me a gold grade blueprint, but the next Legacy blueprint will be at level 360, and it is still far away, Han Xiao thought to himself.
...
On the other side, Nero and the others left the Mechanical Deity and returned to the outside world. There were already some administrative staff waiting to show them to their accommodation.
Along the way, the students looked around at the buildings in the surroundings excitedly. It was as though they had come out for a holiday.
They had not only come to the mysterious Flickering World but had even met His Excellency Black Star in person. Thus, they were all extremely excited.
Many people surrounded Nero with the majority of them being females.
As Black Star’s godson, Nero had always been extremely popular. This situation would be even more common now that he was in the territory of the Black Star Army.
“Your godfather is so handsome. He is completely my type, and I feel a sense of security with him.”
“That’s right, that’s right. That aura of his truly excites me.”
“I heard that His Excellency Black Star does not have a wife. I wonder if Beyond Grade As like him have such needs.”
“Can you tell us what kind of a person His Excellency Black Star is?”
Nero could not help but smile awkwardly as he cursed in his heart.
What the hell? I thought that you guys admired me a lot, but you only want to be my godmother.
He did not like the feeling of people surrounding him because of his status. Although he had a powerful background, he had never ordered people around. Of course, this was also related to Reynold’s education method.
Han Xiao had always admired Reynold for his education method. Reynold would always be able to make his students feel the cruel reality of society even in the classroom.
Finally, Mia, who was beside Nero, could not take it and exploded.
“Stop squeezing me! I am going to beat people up if you continue!”
Upon hearing that, the students in the surroundings fell silent. They were still pretty afraid of Mia.
In the past, Mia had a cowardly personality and was extremely low profile in the classroom. But after she was assigned to the Pugilist Class, she became a lot more energetic than before. Almost everyone in the academy had been beaten up by Mia before, with Nero being beaten up the most. Even if he won the battle, he would always leave the arena with a face full of bruises.
Learning how to become a Pugilist would make anyone become more violent.
They arrived at their accommodation quickly, and a room was assigned to each of them. The administrative staff then told them to stay in Black Star Palace while waiting for their jobs.
After everyone found their own room, Nero placed his stuff down, and someone knocked on his window.
Turning around to take a look, he saw Hadavy outside the window riding a floating motorcycle.
“Eh? Why is it you?” He recognized all the Black Star Guards by his godfather’s side, and Hadavy had a pretty good relationship with him.
“Don’t talk nonsense, get on.” Hadavy patted the seat behind him.
Nero hesitated for a moment before getting on the motorcycle. After a short journey, they arrived outside of a building.
“This is...” Nero then looked at the sign board and asked, “A gambling den?”
“That’s right.”
“Wait! Why would there be such a place in the army? Who opened it?” Nero asked with doubt.
“Who else but me... cough, our respected Black Star. Us Black Star Guards are usually with him and don’t have much to do. How could we survive without some entertainment? Let me tell you, although this is the second headquarters of the Black Star Army, the entertainment venues are extremely comprehensive.”
Hadavy then threw the floating motorcycle to the side and dragged Nero into the gambling den. The gambling den was bustling with activity with a huge crowd in the place.
“Why are you bringing me here?” Nero asked timidly.
Hadavy then squeezed his way to a Wayne Card gambling table and placed a huge wager. He then whispered into Nero’s ears.
“Hehe, I lost a few years’ salary here, and I am relying on you to win it back for me.”
After Reynold took over the Logistics department in the Shattered Star Ring, it became difficult to meet him. Furthermore, Feidin did not allow Hadavy to disturb him. Thus, Nero became the only person left who Hadavy knew was good in cards.
How would he miss such a good opportunity to recoup all his losses!
“I... I am still a child.” Nero’s mouth contorted, and he looked at the expressionless robot in front of him.
He truly suspected that Black Star had opened his gambling den to collect back the salaries of the Black Star Army members.
He is my godfather indeed! A Mechanic that knows how to cut costs is definitely outstanding!
...
The next day, the meeting for the second exploration phase was being held in a conference room on Planet Lighthouse, and all those participating in the meeting were the various bigshots of the dynasty.
The moment Han Xiao’s projection descended, many people greeted him.
“Eh? Black Star is here.”
“Come here, I saved a seat for you.”
After the event six years ago, Han Xiao had gained a higher status within the circle of Beyond Grade As and was extremely popular.
These Beyond Grade As all knew that Black Star would probably be the next pillar of the dynasty and were thus more passionate toward him.
There was no need to mention the old dragon, Beyoni, and his other old friends. Ravenlaude, Maximiler, Viru, and Lotus Swordsman were present, and Han Xiao also saw Heber.
Heber naturally did not greet him. Heber only snorted and looked away to prevent himself from being irritated.
The moment he saw Heber, Han Xiao thought about the development of the army in the Shattered Star Ring. Over the past six years, the Bloodshed Land had competed with the Black Star Army in many areas with the aid of the Limitless Financial Group. Both parties continued to swallow up other organizations and expanded their operations greatly.
The Germinal Financial Group developed rapidly and became the representative financial group of the Black Star Army. Iapetus displayed outstanding talent and also sat in a high position. With the support of the Black Star Army, the Germinal Financial Group showed signs of becoming a first rate financial group.
The Crimson Dynasty had also expanded some of their operations in the Shattered Star Ring and provided some aid to him. The Black Star Army was temporarily able to resist the pressure brought about by the Limitless Financial Group. However, since the Limitless Financial Group had entered the Shattered Star Ring market, they would not back off easily and had become a powerful competitor.
Han Xiao greeted the other Beyond Grade As and finally sat in between the old dragon and Maximiler.
The Beyond Grade As had their own small circle, and the other civilizations all sat far away.
The meeting had not started yet, and everyone was busy chatting with each other.
After waiting for a while when everyone was present, Tarrokov walked forward to the stage and coughed twice to attract everyone’s attention.
“I’m sorry for the wait. Since everyone is here, let’s begin.”
The conference room then fell silent, and everyone looked at him.
Tarrokov then pressed a button, and a huge holographic screen appeared behind him with the star map of the Flickering World on the screen. The green explored region had been expanded with Renault, Dawn, Garu, and Crown being lit up.
“Everyone here should be extremely familiar with this map, so there’s no need for me to explain it further. I shall get straight to the point. We’ve spent over ten years on the first exploration and construction phase. The construction of the basic facilities is going well, and the first phase is about to come to an end. The dynasty has decided to embark on the second exploration phase.”
As he said that, Tarrokov tapped on the screen and circled two unexplored Star Clusters.
“These two Star Clusters will be our objective for the second exploration phase. They are the Russo Star Cluster and Dust Light Star Cluster.”
Everyone present felt their spirits being lifted.
The two Star Clusters were neighbors to the explored region in the first phase. The Russo Star Cluster was where Han Xiao had obtained the Spacetime Amber, and it was a neighbor of the Garu Star Cluster. The Dust Light Star Cluster was a neighbor of both Renault and Crown.
“Why is there one less region in the second exploration phase?” someone asked.
Tarrokov nodded and explained, “Yes. There are many different reasons with two more prominent ones. First, we need to continue with the construction of the first phase, and that will require manpower and resources. Second, we will be adopting a new exploration method during the second exploration phase, and we’ve chosen to shrink the region down because we would have more things to do.”
After looking around to make sure that there weren’t any questions, Tarrokov said, “There are more people participating in the second exploration phase. Please refer to the list for the exact breakdown.”
A screen appeared in front of everyone, and the organizations participating in the second exploration phase were shown.
Han Xiao glanced over the list. The scale of the second phase was much larger, and many of the new organizations were subsidiary civilizations and galactic contractors being hired.
During the first exploration phase, not all the allies had an opportunity to participate. Some weaker subsidiary civilizations were not even within the dynasty’s consideration. From the second exploration phase onward, the dynasty needed to share the cost of the development and thus allowed more to participate.
According to this development pace, the Flickering World would be opened up to the public in the fourth phase.
Only the Beyond Grade A allies who joined in the first phase could seize the best opportunities. As more people joined in the exploration, the benefits would become less.
Tarrokov waited for everyone to finish viewing the list before saying, “I have already made a small booklet on the things to take note of during the second exploration phase and will issue it to every participating organization. Everyone must read it as we have added some new rules.”
The Beyond Grade As then looked at each other and nodded.
The rules in the first phase were intentionally more relaxed for the Beyond Grade As to obtain more benefits. However, the rules would be stricter toward these subsidiary civilizations.
“To all our Beyond Grade A allies,” Tarrokov then said with a smile, “the dynasty has already assigned your missions, so there’s no need for you to choose your targets. Please be understanding.”
After seeing that no one had any issues, Tarrokov continued.
Indeed, the dynasty would control everything. Han Xiao shook his head. This meant that he would not be able to fully utilize his advantage.
However, the most valuable Spacetime Amber was already in his hands, and it would not matter to him if he had a choice or not. According to his understanding of the second exploration phase, regardless of the mission that the dynasty issued, he would probably be sent to deal with some native advanced civilizations in the end.
In his previous life, the Crimson Dynasty met an advanced civilization that was located in the Dust Light Star Cluster.
Because of some reasons, the advanced civilization harbored great enmity toward the dynasty and was not easy to deal with. It even caused some trouble to the dynasty’s exploration.
During the first phase, they met a native Star System civilization. However, this advanced civilization was already at the Star Cluster level. Of course, they would not be a complete Star Cluster Civilization without the support of the galactic society. However, they were pretty powerful and different from the frogs in the well before.
The dynasty might not have mobilized their armed forces if everything went normally, but there was another power pulling the strings in the background.
Han Xiao’s ‘Nero training plan’ was targeted at this advanced civilization.