Chapter 909: One and a Half Years (Revised)

Chapter 909: One and a Half Years (Revised)

Before leaving the exhibition hall, Han Xiao took the initiative to find Li Yalin and give her the embrace she had missed out on; in this fleeting moment, the chasm of their status dissolved, leaving only the warmth of a friendship reunited after long years.

More than two decades had slipped away, and that first circle of friends he had known had all drifted into their own destinies, each carving out a life of their own making; he had no intention of forcing his way into their fates, so having repaid this lingering "debt," he took no further action regarding Li Yalin.

Bidding farewell to her, Han Xiao and Ames spent over ten days drifting through the major metropolises of Aquamarine, recognized by citizens at every turn in a joyous, bustling procession, until their journey culminated at Black Star City to pay a visit to Bennett.

Ever since countless photographs of citizens standing beside Han Xiao began flooding the social networks, Bennett knew that Han Xiao would eventually come to find him during this respite; he simply waited in quiet patience, refusing to disrupt the pair's itinerary.

Now that both Han Xiao and Ames maintained intimate cooperative ties with Aquamarine, Bennett summoned every ounce of his resolve and attention to host their meeting.

Once official matters were concluded, Bennett could not help but inquire after Nero's current state; Han Xiao truthfully detailed the crushing weight of the boy's studies, and Bennett, sensing how deeply Han Xiao valued his protege, was immensely pleased, even suggesting that Han Xiao intensify the training.

With his inspection of Aquamarine concluded, Han Xiao made a brief detour to Floating Dragon, originally plotting to sneak into old man Aesop’s wine cellar and make off with a few bottles of Void Dragon Bone Wine to share with Melos and the others, but Aesop’s foresight caught him in the act; the old codger had moved both his bed and his latrine directly into the cellar, guarding it like a fortress, and since Han Xiao could hardly bring himself to rob the old man by force, he returned to the Army Headquarters empty-handed.

Within the palace of Floating Dragon, Ames watched the warping trail of light from the spaceship recede into the distance, letting out a soft sigh as she murmured to herself:

"I suppose I cannot go on idling forever either..."

...

The moment he returned to the Army Headquarters, Han Xiao immediately sought out Feidin and Nero, giving them both a thorough pat-down, and while the residue of their miraculous luck still clung to him, he hurried back to his chambers to settle the reward for drawing one of Ames’s abilities.

[You have received a reward: Randomly draw one of Ames's abilities (Skill/Talent).]

[Notification: Ames is an Esper. Certain drawable abilities have automatically adjusted their effects based on your Class.]

[Randomized drawing in progress... Drawing completed.]

[Please select one of the following 5 abilities as your reward:]

[1. Pure Bloodline - Talent: Racial talent capabilities are enhanced to a certain degree (Due to differing talents, this cannot be quantified).]

[2. Advanced Charm Aura - Talent: Charm +120%.]

[3. Favored of the Stars - Skill: Passive ability, triggers randomly. Blessed by the stars, you gain the 'Great Fortune' state, Luck +90%, lasting for 15 days.]

[4. Potential Activation - Skill: Unleashes potential, Ability Strength +10% to 15%, Critical Hit Rate +200%. Maintaining this state requires a continuous consumption of Energy.]

[5. Arms of Titanic Might - Talent: You possess astonishing arm strength, a resilient physique, and vibrant cellular activity. As your character's total level rises, your Strength, Endurance, and Ability Strength will grow—Lv1 to Lv100, every 10 levels grants Strength +30, Endurance +15, Ability Strength +0.6%; Lv100 to Lv200, every 10 levels grants Strength +45, Endurance +25, Ability Strength +0.9%; Lv200 and above, every 10 levels grants Strength +60, Endurance +35, Ability Strength +1.2%.]

"Aha, the luck is running hot!" Han Xiao’s eyes flared with sudden brilliance.

It seemed the two paragons of fortune, Feidin and Nero, had indeed blessed him with their luck, for all five abilities drawn this time were remarkably excellent.

The bonus from Advanced Charm Aura was substantial, and any talent bearing the word "Advanced" was bound to be formidable, yet Han Xiao’s need for the Charm attribute was minimal; though both relied on overwhelming numbers, a Mechanic did not depend on Charm the way a Summoner-type Mage did.

Favored of the Stars was a powerful skill with an incredibly high Luck multiplier, but for the exact same reason as the Charm aura, he had little use for it, and besides... no matter how high the multiplier, a base Luck of 1 would still amount to next to nothing.

Potential Activation was a practical, buff-type skill to boost his offensive output, but compared to the remaining two abilities, it paled in significance.

The two abilities Han Xiao coveted most were Pure Bloodline, a rare talent that enhanced the strength of racial innate skills, possessing immense value, and Arms of Titanic Might, a growth-type talent akin to a Tier Talent; though its bonuses fell far short of a Tier Talent, it was still exceedingly rare and potent.

There was only a single reward to choose, and Han Xiao hesitated between the two for a brief moment, pondering deeply before rendering his decision.

[You have obtained the new talent: Arms of Titanic Might!]

[Current total attribute boost: Strength +1230, Endurance +680, Ability Strength +24.6%.]

He looked more favorably upon this growth-type talent; it was stable, powerful, and brimming with future potential.

By contrast, the effects of Pure Bloodline carried an element of uncertainty, and judging by Ames’s own abilities, the boost from that talent would likely be quite limited.

Furthermore, with every Racial Evolution, his innate talents would naturally receive a certain degree of reinforcement, so he was not particularly lacking in that department. His own combat style centered on the Mechanical Army, and while innate talents could only be used by his true body or the Lord Avatar, the boost to Ability Strength applied to the entire Mechanical Army, raising his overall damage output.

Currently, he only possessed two Tier Talents, Extraordinary Force and Supreme Power, that directly increased his Ability Strength, and it was these two abilities that widened the destructive chasm between different Tiers so drastically; thus, a non-Tier talent like Arms of Titanic Might that boosted Ability Strength was exceptionally rare.

Han Xiao reviewed his attributes with quiet satisfaction before finally closing the interface, turning his thoughts to his current predicament.

"We are now in the mid-phase of the version, and the external environment is relatively peaceful. The Three Universal Civilizations require time to soothe their conflicts, and I have firmly established my position. No major incidents should occur in the short term... Therefore, until the end of this version, it should be an window of tranquil development for me."

Han Xiao mused silently; over the past year and more, he had shown his sharp edge, driving the rapid ascent of the Army's influence, and he precisely required a period of stability to slowly digest the various fruits of his victories—such as the Empire's heightened regard, the fermentation of his deterrent power, and the profits from the Evolution Cubes.

"The Army needs to maintain a low profile now to digest the spoils of victory, consolidating our exploding power and business while quietly awaiting the next opportunity for growth," Han Xiao nodded to himself.

In his grand design, the next opportunity for development would arise when the first phase of the Flickering World’s exploration concluded, and the Empire carved out a territory belonging exclusively to the Army; at that time, he could aggressively develop the Mechanical Civilization and the Black Spirit Race.

Simultaneously, this would also serve as the turning point to seize the advantage for Version 4.0, when the global servers would open and players from every star field would finally gather in one place, igniting a true factional free-for-all; the titles of the Fourth Catastrophe and the Cancer of the Universe would begin to spread from that version onward.

In the next version, player troublemaking would be inevitable, and securing a territory within the global server ahead of time would yield immense benefits for both himself and the Army's players. When the time came, the Black Star Army, as the largest player faction in the Shattered Star Ring, would inevitably be drawn into the factional warfare among players; though it carried both benefits and drawbacks, a storm was bound to follow.

The players of the Shattered Star Ring had already endured plenty of grand events in Version 3.0—the Secret War in the early days, the storm of the Army Commander breaking through to Beyond Grade A, the alliance forged between the Army and the Empire, the opening and exploration of the Flickering World in the mid-phase, the Planet Lighthouse campaign, the fall of Esoteric, and later the player-centric Gulal Civil War.

Han Xiao estimated that for the remainder of Version 3.0, the Shattered Star Ring would likely see no further major historical upheavals, allowing him to use this pocket of time to rest and rebuild.

Having fought the Ethereal Church and then Esoteric, he too felt a deep exhaustion; it was the perfect time to slowly accumulate experience from the players while expanding his Mechanical Army once more.

He had been a Beyond Grade A Mechanic for less than two full years, and if his Mechanical Army's scale was to ever reach a level like Manison's, the road ahead remained long and arduous; to say nothing of Manison, even compared to other veteran Beyond Grade A Mechanics, the current size of his army was somewhat lacking.

"Time to lay low and farm for a while, no more troublemaking for now."

Han Xiao settled his mind.

...

Under Han Xiao’s strategic directives, the Black Star Army temporarily slowed its aggressive pace of expansion, shifting its focus toward stability to consolidate its current scale and enterprises, while optimizing its internal structure to reduce administrative burdens.

The trade of Evolution Cubes ignited a fervent tide throughout the universe, and many wavering civilizations across various star fields finally made up their minds, reaching cooperative agreements with the Empire across different sectors and joining various trade and political alliances led by the Empire to exchange for the right to purchase the Cubes.

The Crimson Empire gathered political influence, while Han Xiao reaped a massive harvest of civilization clients; the Army’s treasury became incredibly flush, achieving a perfect win-win scenario.

This monopolistic trade caused countless interstellar financial conglomerates to twist with envy, and even super conglomerates like the Boundless Financial Group expressed intense interest; unfortunately, with the Crimson Empire shielding them, combined with the Black Star Army’s status as a supreme local tyrant far away in the Shattered Star Ring, these syndicates could only watch with desire, powerless to intervene.

On the other hand, due to their prior conflicts, the Three Universal Civilizations consciously reduced their friction, meaning the Federation of Light and the Ethereal Church chose to adopt a wait-and-see attitude regarding the Evolution Cubes for the time being.

Thanks to the peaceful posture struck by the three factions, the interstellar environment grew stable once more, and the lingering effects of the Crimson Tide that had lasted for over a decade began to gradually recede; the Three Universal Civilizations had delivered a harsh lesson of societal reality to the disobedient children, demonstrating through concrete examples to the entire universe what it meant for the noisy child to taste the iron fist, and the results were remarkable.

The splintering of the Fallen Ark also gradually settled into place; a portion of the criminals were captured and brought to justice by the Three Universal Civilizations, another portion fled to criminal organizations in other star fields, and some struck out on their own, dissolving into scattered remnants.

The final, minuscule remaining faction of criminals was consolidated by certain individuals, continuing their operations under the banner of the Fallen Ark, with the new leader seemingly identified as Esoteric’s former lieutenant, Harquison. This new iteration of the Fallen Ark’s power had shrunken drastically, entering a frozen state, refraining from any activities while caught in the teeth of the wind, choosing instead to survive quietly in the shadows.

The Army's players focused their efforts on two grand events: one was the long-term exploration of the Flickering World, and the other was their enthusiastic participation in the Gulal Civil War, helping the Vanguard Party reclaim lost territory step by step while crushing the Ancient Emperor Party and the Descent Party; the players' influence over the civil war grew steadily larger, causing them to never tire of the conflict.

In summary, the interstellar landscape was defined by occasional friction and dark undercurrents, yet wrapped in an overall blanket of stability.

Under the unspoken agreement of the Three Universal Civilizations to maintain a low profile, a year and a half quietly slipped away like flowing water.

And Version 3.0 finally entered its twilight phase.

—

(To express my gratitude for two years of support and affection from my brothers, at 6:00 PM on the afternoon of May 19th, I will be distributing a wave of red packets to everyone on my official account. Search for the WeChat public account "Qi Peijia" and follow to join the activity (??????)?)