Chapter 1009: Go Live

Chapter 1009: Log In

Along the outer frontier of the Shattered Star Ring, interstellar gates bearing the imperial insignia stood sentinel amidst the void, aligned in a distant, stretching procession; between each gate patrolled imperial fleets maintaining order, resembling a chain of blue sapphires laid across black velvet studded with diamonds.

Opposite the gates, dense armadas bearing the emblems of myriad factions crowded every inch of visible space, an assembly of such monumental scale that it was scarcely witnessed even in the annals of history.

Today marked the Empire's opening of the Shining World, and these were all vessels awaiting entry; alongside civilizations and civilian organizations from various star sectors were countless interstellar citizens eager to venture forth, some for leisure, some for adventure, and others seeking fortune and opportunity.

Second by second, the clock ticked onward, gradually approaching the hour decreed by the Empire.

The wait stretched like years, until at last, the Empire's proclamation echoed across the wide-band communication channels, reaching every vessel present.

"The hour has come. In the name of the Crimson Empire, we declare to the entire cosmos... the Shining World is officially open!"

In the next instant, every gate fully activated; the vortices at their cores accelerated into a blur, coalescing into iridescent blue wormholes that pulsed with prismatic light as each passage threw open its threshold.

The ships stirred, forming seemingly endless convoys that filed into the gates one after another, a spectacle of breathtaking grandeur.

Not far from these civilian gates lay the military star gates, exclusive VIP corridors reserved for the Empire's allies.

Black Star's flagship waited in queue while the remote holograms of numerous officers stood within the command deck, their gazes fixed unanimously upon the silhouette before the viewport.

Han Xiao stood with his back to them, his eyes tracing the seemingly boundless sea of ships through the glass, and spoke softly, "Do you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"The sound of a new era breaking from its shell."

Han Xiao offered a quiet chuckle.

Within an interface visible only to him, a system panel hovered in the air, freshly generated notifications pulsing with luminous text.

[Version 4.0 Initiated!]

[Acquiring data... Data acquisition complete!]

[Player Forum Activated]

[Welcome to Star Sea Version 4.0 — [The Shining World]!]

The day had finally arrived... Han Xiao drew a deep breath.

This was a pivotal turning point; beginning with 4.0, the players would formally step onto the stage of cosmic conflict, meddling with the currents of history and earning their infamy as the cancer of the universe, the Fourth Calamity.

The power wielded by the players had truly crossed a threshold, their coefficient of influence ascending to a new realm—a level cap of 150, a stable B+ combat rating, making them an undeniable backbone of strength across the cosmos!

Once the spark of chaos was ignited, it would sweep across the entire universe.

At that moment, Sylvia seemed to receive a report; she glanced at her communicator, her pupils contracting as she spoke in a low voice, "Legion Commander, the Undying of our legion have reappeared."

Han Xiao finally turned around, his gaze sweeping over the assembly as he gave a slight nod.

"Bring them all to me."

...

At the same time, Black Star Army Headquarters.

Prior to the version update, many players had logged out at the Black Star Army headquarters; now, as they logged back in, countless flashes of white light erupted, transforming the empty hall into a teeming sea of people, the silence shattered by a clamor rivaling a bustling marketplace.

"Star Sea, your boy Hu Hansan has returned!!"

"I've already stocked ten cases of Blue Bull, brothers, let's grind till our livers give out!"

"Did the new patch fix the bug that stops us from streaking naked?"

"He appears! The grand conspirator spanning four versions! I knew it! The Streaker Faction has been lying in wait, never truly gone!"

"Speaking of which, did they add any new features? If it's this realistic already, why not implement a reproduction system? Procreation is the very soul of any social mechanic!"

"Coach, I just want to blast everything to pieces!"

"If they actually added reproduction, this would be the masterpiece of all masterpieces."

Countless players shouted and cheered in excitement, while in a corner of the crowd, a group of professional players logged in one after another; top-tier experts from China's four great clubs were mostly present, alongside Mad Blade, Maple Moon, Meat Bun, and others.

"Well now, the new level cap's been raised to 150," Kings and Nobles glanced at his interface and chuckled.

"The scaling for upgrade costs is absolutely brutal," Tai Erzi's mouth twitched involuntarily, his liver already aching at the thought.

"The Black Star Army faction panel is still here, so the legion hasn't gone under," Mad Blade was the first to check the faction interface.

"As if the Black Star Army would fall that easily nowadays..." Maple Moon couldn't help but mutter under her breath.

Players from other star sectors had to worry whether their factions would vanish after the update, fearing their accumulated contribution points would go down the drain, making stable factions highly coveted.

The Black Star Army's players, however, harbored no such anxieties; after three versions, their trust in their faction leader, Han Xiao, had become absolute.

By the end of the previous version, the legion's standing had steadily solidified; they had humbled the Void Spirit Sect, crushed the Alien God, and secured a mega-enterprise known as the Evolver Totem, so even the players knew the army had ascended to the ranks of top-tier factions and would not collapse so easily.

With the opening of a new version, the utmost priority was to piece together what had transpired during the update and grasp the current cosmic landscape, a habit long ingrained in the player base.

Numerous players pulled out their communicators, opened the calendar, and were instantly struck with shock.

"Wait, it's Star Sea Calendar Year 729 now?!"

"Wasn't it Year 709 when we logged out..."

"Does that mean this version update skipped twenty years?!"

"I thought the 3.0 timeskip was long enough, but 4.0 actually doubled it!"

"Terrifying, they actually stole twenty years of my life..."

Mad Blade's expression suddenly shifted; he exchanged a glance with Maple Moon, a spark of excitement flashing in both their eyes.

They had actually jumped straight twenty years into the future!

That was no short span of time.

How much would the Black Star Army have developed?

Just as this thrilling thought crossed their minds, a cascade of notification chimes suddenly rang through the hall; every player had received a new email, uniformly dispatched by the legion's internal system.

They hastily opened it, and virtual screens unfolded before them, each displaying Han Xiao's face as the same recorded message began to play.

In the footage, Han Xiao sat upright and formal, framed from the waist up, his tone deeply solemn.

"Fellow legionnaires, I am Black Star. Over these past twenty years, we have achieved countless triumphs, particularly within the Shining World, where the army now commands ten star systems; it is the blood and sweat of every comrade that has forged our present glory.

And now, as the Shining World enters its fourth exploration phase and officially opens its borders, the entire cosmos will flood into this sector; at this juncture of epochal change, we must seize the opportunity and charge ahead... Hereby, in my capacity as Legion Commander, I issue a Shining World recruitment decree to all comrades. The legion needs you... the Shining World needs you!"

The brief recording concluded, and the eyes of the gathered players gradually widened as they absorbed the deluge of information.

It's already the fourth exploration phase? When we logged out, the first phase hadn't even finished!

The army controls ten star systems in the Shining World? How did that happen!

What exactly has the legion been doing for the past twenty years?!

Countless individuals were itching with curiosity.

What the crowd did not know was that this recording was a bespoke cutscene crafted by Han Xiao specifically for the players, designed to help them quickly grasp the situation.

At that moment, Hao Tian suddenly realized something. "Wait, if the Shining World is in its fourth phase, are our main storyline quests still active?"

At his words, numerous professional players snapped to attention; their original main quests were still tied to the first exploration phase, and now that the version update had leaped twenty years forward, would those quests be canceled?

If they were gone, that would be a massive loss.

The crowd hastily summoned their interfaces for a glance, and a collective sigh of relief swept through them; the [Shining World] main quest remained intact, though its parameters had shifted, now demanding the fortification of the Black Star Army’s territories alongside the exploration of several star clusters in the fourth phase.

“Despite the adjustments, it remains an expedition at its core.”

A multitude of players shook their heads, their enthusiasm dampened, bordering on outright indifference.

Curiosity gnawed at them regarding the secrets unveiled in the recording, yet the Shining World quest held little allure; the Army’s players had already sampled its nature in the previous iteration, and though the targets had changed, the methodology seemed, to their eyes, indistinguishable from the past.

Pioneering uncharted star sectors certainly carried a novel thrill, yet it starved them of combat; in the last version, many had grown weary of the Shining World’s main thread, preferring to retreat to the Shattered Star Ring for mercenary contracts rather than press onward into the void.

Such apathy was entirely natural, for the 3.0 iteration had offered merely a half-finished tapestry, pioneered solely by imperial forces and thus utterly devoid of genuine strife.

Yet in that very moment, a sudden stillness seized them as a realization struck like lightning.

Had Black Star not just declared… that the Shining World was now open to the outside?

Did this mean the factions of other star sectors had finally breached its borders?

And then… what of the players from those distant realms?

Snapping back to his senses, Mad Blade frantically scoured the networks, swiftly verifying the truth of the rumor; moreover, powers across every sector were mass-recruiting espers as manpower, shipping them in relentless waves toward the Shining World.

A galaxy-wide mobilization was underway, and its most profound consequence for the players was the absolute unsealing of interstellar transit corridors!

Unlike the previous era, players now possessed the legitimate means to traverse the stars at will!

Grasping the implication, those present scrambled to log into the forums.

As anticipated, every single board across the entire network was already erupting in a frenzy over the revelation!

Understanding dawned upon Mad Blade in an instant, his eyes igniting with fierce brilliance as he cried out:

“This is… a global server!”

Players born across every distant star sector could finally step onto a single stage, converging upon the Shining World!

What did this herald?

Nation-scale warfare!!

The interstellar hypotheses published by the Star Sea Daily had materialized into reality!

Within the grand hall, every player’s emotions surged into a roaring boil!

“Holy hell, holy hell, it’s actually a global server!”

“Hahahaha, I knew this day would inevitably arrive!”

“At last, we can wage war between nations! My heavy cannon is parched and trembling for blood!”

In the next breath, a sudden realization crashed over them: though the Shining World served as this version’s global arena, they, as soldiers of the Army, had already set foot within it a full iteration ago.

What manner of staggering advantage was this?!

The expressions of countless Army players shifted in unison, erupting into unbridled ecstasy!

“Good heavens, we already carved out our territories in the Shining World last version—we’re a full cycle ahead!”

“I’m weeping! I complained the exploration was too dull and retreated to the Shattered Star Ring for mercenary work—what a catastrophic loss!”

“With such a monumental head start, this version is going to be pure bliss! Won’t we effortlessly crush those clueless fools from other sectors?!”

“Wait a minute, are we about to face an eight-nation alliance all over again?!”

“Brothers, say no more, just join me in chanting long live the Commander and let it ride!”

Those who had migrated from the Constellation Corridor to the Shattered Star Ring in the previous cycle were awash with gratitude… had they not followed the Black Star Army back then, how could they possibly enjoy such fortune now?!

Conversely, the players of other star sectors were thrown into absolute chaos.

In version 1.0, Black Star escorted a fraction of planetary players into the cosmos ahead of schedule; fine, we swallowed our pride.

In version 2.0, the Black Star Army rose as the guiding faction, granting the Shattered Star Ring players another lead; we endured that too.

In version 3.0, the Army birthed a Beyond Grade A entity and forged the earliest ties with cosmic civilizations; impressive, we bit our tongues again, trusting our day of reckoning would eventually come.

But now that 4.0 has arrived, your Black Star Army has damn well jumped the gun yet again?!

Are you lot actually dogs?!

Why does fortune perpetually smile upon you?

Is there no justice left, no law in this universe!

Do you bastards… happen to be recruiting?

Only now did the masses comprehend that Black Star had laid their foundation in the previous cycle, gifting them a factional advantage of truly terrifying proportions!

A profound sense of satisfaction washed over the Army’s players, their gaming experience reaching an unparalleled peak of sheer delight.

With a faction this steadfast, the envy of players from other sectors and nations was entirely futile.

There was simply no other like it in the entire cosmos!

Consequently, the Army players’ interest in the Shining World main quest surged to unprecedented heights.

Though many had once derided the exploration mechanics as tedious, the Shining World had now transformed into a global arena for players, destined to become the most chaotic and electrifying sector in the universe, rife with endless clashes of interest—this was the true, unadulterated experience of the [Shining World] main quest!

With this in mind, Mad Blade and his comrades hastily scoured the networks for the Black Star Army’s exploits over the years, desperate to grasp the exact nature of their faction’s dominance in the Shining World.

The moment he pulled up the Army’s dossier, Mad Blade’s eyes flew wide in sheer astonishment.

He had woven countless theories and steeled his nerves, yet the very first intelligence report shattered every expectation, leaving him utterly dumbstruck.

“What in the void? Old Black has ascended to godhood?!”