In the Dawn Star Cluster, spaceships emerged one after another from the stargate, stepping into the territory of the Shattered World.
The major powers have long been freely exploring the Shattered World. Now, the only newcomers to the Shattered World are tourists who have come for its reputation, little-known small organizations, and follow-up troops from various powers supporting the front lines.
This fleet consisted of personnel transferred from their headquarters by various Black Hole Edge forces. The composition was complex, including regular troops from star cluster and galaxy-level civilizations, armed mercenary organizations, conglomerates, and so on. Players were present in all of these forces to varying degrees.
The player factions in the Shattered Star Ring are an exception in the entire universe, consisting entirely of members of the Black Star Army, while player factions in other star systems are much more dispersed.
In the Black Hole Edge, the most popular faction for players is a membership-based neutral organization called the Nineteen Towers Psionic Association. It can be understood as a regional association of mages and psychics, where players earn contribution points by providing various magical services and then exchange them for resources and knowledge, essentially serving as a platform for professional exchange.
Inside a spaceship, a group of professional gamers from the Black Hole Edge gathered together; they were from professional clubs in several countries.
In international competitions, Southeast Asian clubs have never had much presence, consistently ranking low in every tournament. The only lasting impression they leave on the audience is their lack of tactical management, their tendency to be reckless, and their extremely aggressive style of play, which rarely results in protracted battles.
Relatively speaking, the more well-known professional teams in Southeast Asia are the Vietnamese Red Bay Club, the Thai Titan Club, and the Indonesian Archipelago Club. These three are frequent participants in international competitions, and they are all brothers in misfortune, getting eliminated in the first round every year.
At this moment, the topic of conversation among everyone was also related to this year's league.
"The league officials haven't made any announcements yet, but the opening of the global server will likely lead to changes in the competition format, perhaps even eliminating the regional qualifying system," said [Viper], captain of the Red Bay team, in a deep voice.
"Without the regional division system, it will be difficult for us to qualify." The captain of the Archipelago team, [Gravel Castle], shook his head, looking pessimistic.
The reason they qualify year after year is because of the regional division system, where weak teams compete against each other in the Black Hole Edge. Without this system, even qualifying for the international competition would be difficult.
"Therefore, those of us from the same star system must unite, seize the opportunity presented by the opening of the global server, and work together to develop well," Viper said.
"It's tough. Huaxia's dominance in the global server is too great. We can't compete with them on our own. We can only wait and see if clubs from other countries will form an alliance."
"Unfortunately, we've invested too many resources in our current camp, so switching sides is impossible. Besides, even if we joined the Black Star Army, we couldn't compete with the local power in Huaxia. We need to find a way to create an advantage."
At this moment, Viper narrowed his eyes and said confidently, "Although we can't switch factions, we can still take advantage of the Black Star Army's benefits. It would be best to have some guild members join Black Star to build up their experience, and then we can pay them to buy large quantities of resources at a discount. At the same time, we can also gather information on the movements of the Legion's players, which will benefit us."
"Insert spies?" The group exchanged glances. "That's certainly a good idea, but won't it attract the attention of the Black Star Army?"
"What does our players' business have to do with him?" Viper said dismissively. "We should be wary of the Huaxia players; we should be careful they don't steal the supplies we've purchased."
"Okay, let's do it that way!"
The group settled on a strategy and began discussing plans.
The Resek Corps is a large private mercenary organization located at the Black Hole Edge, but it secretly has an official background and is a secret mercenary group of the Ursa Minor Civilization. The organization is named after its leader, Resek, who personally led reinforcements and has just arrived in the Shattered World.
"Everyone accelerate, increase warp speed, and get to the Free Competition Zone as soon as possible."
In the command center, Resek shouted loudly, his tone tinged with excitement.
The Ursa Minor Civilization civilization has many secret mercenary groups, and there are quite a few like him. The civilization rarely gives him missions, so he usually has to disguise himself as a normal mercenary. Therefore, he values opportunities to make contributions.
Originally, he only sent out an advance force, while he himself stayed at the main camp to maintain the normal operation of the mercenary group. However, when Shattered World officially opened, players from Black Hole Edge who had disappeared for twenty years re-logged back online.
In each star system, the players' deeds differ, leaving different impressions on the local forces. Due to their dispersed factions, the players of the Black Hole Edge are a disorganized group, with far less exposure in the universe than legion players, making them less of a threat.
However, many local factions have noticed the players' unique existence, believing they might be the same species as the Black Star Army's Immortal Troops, possessing the ability to resurrect. The problem is that, due to the players' dispersed nature, local factions don't know exactly how many Immortals exist. Before the players exhibit this trait, they can behave like ordinary NPCs, making them difficult to identify, and their disappearance for twenty years makes them even harder to find.
However, Resek noticed the players' reappearance and was deeply impressed by these fearless thugs, so he took it upon himself to recruit a large number of people again.
As it happened, many players from the Black Hole Edge were also aiming for the Shattered World, so they hit it off immediately. He was able to recruit tens of thousands of Black Hole Edge players to be transported to the Shattered World as a support force, and personally went to claim credit.
Not long ago, he received good news on his way: the Ursa Minor Civilization had encountered trouble at the front line. A gathering team had been wiped out by the Immortals of the Black Star Army and was in dire need of reinforcements. Resek found himself suddenly a lifesaver and was overjoyed.
'The powerful reinforcements I recruited will be able to help civilization fight against the Black Star Army, and not only that, they can also be used to gain an advantage in battles against other Immortals. I have done a great service this time!'
Resek was secretly excited.
Meanwhile, within his fleet, groups of Black Hole Edge players stood by the portholes, admiring the scenery of the Shattered World while whispering amongst themselves.
"Finally here! Let's hurry to the Free Competition Zone, I've been so bored!"
"Let's see what missions this mercenary group has to offer in the Shattered World."
"Idiot, why are you still following this mercenary group? There are so many high-level forces in the Shattered World, why are you clinging to this small faction? Are you stupid?"
"That makes sense. Once we get to the Free Competition Zone, we can kick this legion aside."
The crowd murmured amongst themselves, many sharing the same thought.
With so many high-level forces vying for power in the Shattered World today, how could they possibly still look down on a regional mercenary group like the Resek Corps? Only by switching to a higher-level faction can they meet their ever-increasing demands, especially in terms of professional knowledge.
Full of hope, Resek was unaware that he had been used as a tool by these players from the very beginning.
The consequences of betraying a faction by a high-ranking faction are severe, but for smaller factions, players are not worried at all; they betray without hesitation and are eager to switch sides as soon as possible.
The top choices for ordinary players switching to Black Hole Edge are the Three Universal Civilizations and the local super-star clusters or Beyond Grade A forces within Black Hole Edge, followed by the Black Star Army.
Players from other star systems naturally have no sense of belonging to the Black Star Army. The only things that can attract them are benefits and development prospects, and in this respect, the Black Star Army stands out like a firefly in the night.
Over so many versions, the various benefits enjoyed by Legion players have long been the envy of players from all over the world. Now that they can finally cross star systems, the reputation and appeal that Legion has accumulated over several versions have immediately taken effect, causing a large number of ordinary players to choose Han Xiao when switching factions.
Among them, the most determined to join the Black Star Army was the Mechanic Class player from the Black Hole Edge!
Due to the different starting planets in version 1.0, the composition of superhuman types in each star region also varies greatly. In the Black Hole Edge, the most numerous are magicians, followed by telekinetics. Overall, magic is the dominant force, while Mechanic Class only account for about 12% of the total number of players in the Black Hole Edge, making them the fewest and the environment for development relatively barren.
In contrast, the Black Star Army is a treasure trove for Mechanic Class, and Han Xiao is a top-tier mentor in the Mechanic Class, so there's absolutely no need to worry about professional knowledge.
In their view, Black Star's significance to them, especially among Mechanic Class players, can be summarized in one sentence:
--If the heavens had not given birth to my Big Black star, the path of mechanics would have remained in eternal darkness!
As for the Mechanic Emperor... although I've heard they're very powerful, players aren't familiar with them. They actually prefer Han Xiao, since Huaxia players have paved the way, so at least they know Han Xiao is a reliable person.
The crowd chattered excitedly, but at the edge of the group, a player with the ID [Muay Thai Warning] stood alone, gazing out the window with a shifty look in his eyes.
"That hidden quest told me that the Resek Corps is actually an affiliated force of the Ursa Minor Civilization, and a friend told me that their Long Sky recently had a conflict with the Ursa Minor Civilization over resources, so these people might be reinforcements from that civilization..."
The friend he mentioned was an outer member of the Long Sky Guild. They had once argued on the forum to a standstill, each considering the other a true champion of debate. Eventually, they developed a mutual respect and became friends.
With this in mind, a bold idea quickly took shape in Muay Thai Warning's mind, and his traitorous spirit burned fiercely.
If you're changing jobs, you'll have to offer a gift!
At the same time, somewhere in the Emerald Star Cluster.
A small conglomerate's exploration fleet docked at a temporary transit station built by an advanced civilization for rest and repairs. The regular crew members went to relax, leaving only the logistics personnel on board, who busied themselves cleaning and repairing equipment and conducting manual inspections.
Sizzle sizzle--
Inside the spacecraft's maintenance corridor, two ground crew members in protective suits were working with maintenance tools in front of a complex array of mechanical components, sparks flying everywhere.
After fiddling around for a while and finishing his work, Evans took off his hood and wiped away his sweat.
He opened the logistics task list on his wrist, glanced at it, then opened the communication channel and reported to his superior:
"Ground crew team 005 has completed its mission. The potential fault in engine assembly component T1018 has been eliminated. They will now proceed to area C0080 for cleaning."
"Received. Continue working. You still have three tasks to complete."
"Clear."
After finishing his report and closing the communication channel, Evans patted his companion on the shoulder. "Let's go, to the next place."
His companion waved impatiently, "We just finished one, what's the rush? Let's rest for a bit."
Evans advised, "The task is urgent. Try to finish it before you leave work today. It's best not to rest during work hours; it's against regulations, and you might not even finish today's task."
"Then let's postpone it until tomorrow. It's not like we're only stopping here for one day." His companion sat down, complaining, "You go first, I need to rest for a while."
Evans frowned, shook his head, and stopped trying to persuade him. He couldn't control what others did; he just needed to do his job well.
He continued along the maintenance passage to the cleaning area, Stay Where You Are and quickly disappearing from sight, leaving him alone.
The maintenance corridor was dimly lit, with light sources only sporadically in the distance. After walking for a while, Evans suddenly noticed a flash of red light ahead, causing him to stop in his tracks.
"The light disappeared? Or did I see it wrong?"
Evans found it strange. He glanced at the environmental monitoring device but saw no change. Thinking he was seeing things, he took a few more steps forward.
Buzz!
Just then, a red light suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision, the source of which was right beside him, less than a meter away!
Evans was startled and reacted quickly, lunging to the side and rolling on the ground. He grabbed the welding torch, stood up, and faced the light source, looking wary.
Soon he saw a strange sight: a red ball of light, which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, was suspended in the air, moving back and forth in small increments, like a lively and agile little sprite. The ball of light was surrounded by wisps of light like ribbons, giving it a hazy and beautiful appearance.
"What is this?" Evans asked warily, quietly pressing the communication button, wanting to report the unusual situation.
However, in the next instant, Evans's vision blurred, and he saw a red ball of light shoot towards him at a speed far exceeding his reaction time, passing directly through his body.
Evans was shocked and hurriedly looked down to check, only to find himself unharmed and full of energy. His work fatigue vanished and his strength was restored.
At this moment, the red light paused for a moment, then suddenly began to circle wildly around Evans.
Evans was taken aback, as if he sensed a happy emotion emanating from the ball of light.
Before he could even react, the red ball of light suddenly stopped, as if pulled by some invisible force, and vanished without a trace, leaving Evans standing there dumbfounded.
After a moment of stunned silence, Evans suddenly slapped his cheeks hard.
"Ouch, this isn't a dream... It seems I've finally gone mad."