"World server guild war... it's bound to happen eventually."
Han Xiao opened the post and browsed through it. Seeing that the content was exactly as he had expected, he couldn't help but sigh.
The post was jointly issued by several guild alliances, including the Pan-Commercial Union, the September Conference, the Southeast Union, and the Light of the Tropic of Cancer. In short, it was a challenge to all player alliances, setting a time and place to launch a massive battle.
Players in each alliance usually act according to the orders of their faction, but this duel has little to do with factions. It is mainly based on subjective initiative and is simply an activity between players.
The same thing happened in my previous life: various guilds formed an alliance to wage war, which eventually escalated into a massive battle involving tens of millions of players. The fighting lasted for several days and was recorded in the "Galaxy Chronicles," known as the "Battle of Planet Taibol."
In his previous life, Master Han was also active in this battle for a period of time, mainly to plunder the loot dropped by players and make a fortune from the war. This time, although the challenge took place, due to the butterfly effect, the specific time and location have changed.
In his view, the challenges issued by these guild alliances were not sudden. Now that version 4.0 is nearing its end, if they don't create a big splash now, they'll miss their chance. They deliberately organized a major battle to both fairly and squarely kill the opposing alliances and to mobilize ordinary players, thereby increasing the cohesion of the major guild alliances.
"... To put it bluntly, they just can't stay idle and want to start a group fight."
Han Xiao shook his head. The players' internal squabbles were none of his business, and he had no intention of getting involved.
The agreed-upon location is not in the Ferdinand War Zone, but on a frontline planet called Marisen. If Legion players go there to join the battle, it will affect the Legion's frontline operations for a certain period of time. Although the Legion can use orders to restrain players from participating in large-scale battles involving all players, this would have a negative impact, and Han Xiao has no intention of doing so.
After all, players aren't really employees; if faction restrictions are too excessive, it will backfire.
Of course, it's not just him; all factions that utilize players will be affected to varying degrees. If these factions take a hard line to stop players, it will actually benefit the legion's recruitment in the future.
"However, in this battle, the legion players form their own faction and are the largest in scale, so they will probably be besieged... but I won't lose out."
Han Xiao's eyes flickered.
Originally, the professional league was the best promotional opportunity at the end of the version, as many players would spend a lot of their savings to strengthen themselves. As a result, the legion's revenue would skyrocket, and Han Xiao would be able to reap a huge wave of experience.
However, the professional league has already run for three seasons, and most ordinary players know they have no chance. There are many who would rather save their experience for the next version.
Unlike large-scale battles, which almost every player will not miss, this is also a natural promotional opportunity that is very beneficial to him. It allows him to reap more experience in the final days of version 4.0 and build up reserves for the version update period.
"If I remember correctly, the timeline between version 4.0 and 5.0 should be forty or fifty years, which is longer than the last version update..." Han Xiao thought to himself.
The next version is Super Calamity, an outbreak of conflicts at the Beyond Grade A, the return of some of the First Ones, and the fact that I have changed so much of the plot, like a snowball effect, means that the events of version 5.0 will inevitably be completely distorted by the butterfly effect.
But that's a minor issue. Han Xiao knows the important figures and isn't afraid to change the original storyline. The biggest problem in the next version is actually the players.
With the level cap raised to 180 and a massive influx of Calamity Grade, the version codename "Super Calamity" actually hints to players that the impact they will have on the cosmic landscape in the next version will far exceed that of version 4.0.
"However, this is good news for me."
Han Xiao thought to himself.
At that time, the mid-to-high-level combat power of the Explored Universe will surge. Although players will bring chaos, they will also become important allies in the Explored Universe's fight against the World Tree Civilization. In the previous World Tree War version, the importance of players was basically irreplaceable. Without tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of Calamity Grade players, the losses of the Explored Universe would only be more severe.
On the other hand, the legion's power will increase significantly as a result. All these multiple versions were planned to wait for the players to evolve.
With decades to go before the next version, he has ample time to prepare. Moreover, some of Old Manison's words make a lot of sense; the mechanic's foundation is very important. He also plans to spend decades studying mechanical technology while waiting for the effects of the [Key to the Mechanic Faith] to continue to grow.
Now, this special ability's effect self-reinforces every few days, constantly increasing his power, which means that more and more of Manison's followers are flocking to him. One can imagine the shifting beliefs within the Cult of Mechanic Faith.
Various thoughts flashed through Han Xiao's mind. He suppressed his emotions and continued browsing the forum for a while. After the troops finished cleaning up the battlefield, he boarded the spaceship and returned to the Black Star Palace, determined to complete the remaining twenty-seven sparring sessions within two months.
Within the territory of the Crimson Dynasty, at a secret military training base.
Wearing the uniform of a high-ranking Imperial officer, Gaud strolled around the training base, looking rather downcast.
Just now, Gaud received a message from the Empire's high command, informing him that the original plan—to use his special abilities to try and analyze the core energy of the Evolution Cube —was being postponed Infinite.
The initial plan was sound, but the situation changed too quickly, disrupting the rhythm of many hardline imperial leaders. Now, Black Star's strength and status have reached a new level, making the plan increasingly risky. As a result, the higher-ups had no choice but to temporarily halt the plan, both to avoid provoking Black Star and to protect Gaud as a trump card.
The root cause is the terrifying speed of Black Star's rise, which has led to a rapidly changing situation that is too fast for people to keep up with.
Gaud's complicated feelings stemmed from this— Black Star's growth rate was even more exaggerated than his own small account's rebuilding, leaving him far behind. It was hard for him not to feel frustrated.
Black Star... Black Star...
Gaud muttered to himself, and unknowingly walked into a public training facility.
Hearing the sounds of fierce fighting, he looked over and saw a low-level elite class fighting in pairs under the supervision of their instructors; they appeared to be a group of freshmen.
At this moment, two Grade C martial artists are fighting in the arena. One of them has the upper hand, while the other is struggling to hold on and seems destined to lose sooner or later.
Sure enough, just a few seconds later, the match was decided. The one who was losing was kicked away and slid on the ground, stopping right in front of Gaud.
"Carrot, you've lost again." The instructor frowned, looking at the defeated player, and said in a deep voice, "A record of 0 wins and 9 losses is simply unacceptable."
"Sorry." Carrot rubbed his chest, stood up, and gave a helpless smile.
The instructor, his expression displeased, snapped, "You've been at the bottom in almost every test. I really don't know why you were assigned to my elite class, dragging down the whole class's performance. I kept you in the class because you're hardworking enough, but if you're still at the bottom in the next assessment, I will absolutely not give you another chance; you'll be fired!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the classmates present looked at Carrot indifferently, making no attempt to hide their rejection.
Although these people are students, they are also talents selected by the Empire from various military units to study in this secret base. Moreover, this class is an elite class, full of talented Imperial officers who are top-ranking figures in their respective units.
The opportunity for further study is extremely precious, so these students are very rare. That's why they dislike Carrot so much, because Carrot is too mediocre and doesn't seem like an elite. Logically speaking, he doesn't deserve to be given special attention.
Because the opportunity was hard-won, these elites felt resentful. In their eyes, an ordinary soldier was studying alongside them, and the first thing that came to mind was the word "nepotism," which inevitably led to their subconscious exclusion of Carrot.
Moreover, they were all soldiers who believed in the supremacy of the strong. Carrot's abilities were simply too poor, and they genuinely looked down on him, so naturally they wouldn't give him a friendly look.
Noticing the cold stares from everyone and the book, Carrot sighed inwardly.
He had accepted his mediocrity long ago, and knew from the beginning that these people were all elites far more talented than him, so he was not discouraged at this moment.
He only got the opportunity to be given special training because of Black Star. Although he was a laid-back person, he wasn't someone who didn't know how to cherish opportunities. However, he had already tried his best within his capabilities, but he still couldn't keep up with the growth rate of those elites. There was nothing he could do.
Gaud observed quietly from the side, his eyes darting around.
He had heard someone mention before that a person Black Star had once favored had entered the training base, and that person's name was Carrot. Because of Black Star, Gaud remembered it, but today was the first time he had met the person in person.
He looked Carrot up and down and felt that Carrot exuded mediocrity from head to toe.
Gaud, who considered himself to have exceptional insight, was puzzled as he couldn't find anything special about Carrot.
"Why did Black Star think so highly of this guy before? His judgment is famously accurate; he couldn't have misjudged him..."
Gaud was completely baffled. After thinking for a moment, he waved to the instructor.
The instructor noticed Gaud early on and immediately approached him with a smile. Almost everyone in the base knew that Gaud was the most likely person to reach the Beyond Grade A, and he received preferential treatment and key training from the base, so his status was quite high.
"Gaud, what's up?"
"That new recruit named Carrot, regardless of whether he passes the test or not, let him stay at the base," Gaud whispered.
Upon hearing this, the instructor was taken aback.
Based on his performance, Carrot was destined to be eliminated and leave the training base. He didn't expect Gaud to plead for him.
"That's not a good idea. This person has no potential for development; keeping him around is a waste of teaching resources."
"Please try to be lenient."
Gaud didn't see anything particularly outstanding about Carrot, but because Black Star had high hopes for him, he wanted to keep Carrot around for further observation.
Han Xiao stayed at the Black Star Palace and did not go to the front line. Time flew by, and a month and a half passed quickly.
On this very day, a shocking piece of news suddenly broke out in the Modo Civilization!
The sudden announcement by the General Assembly of the Three Races Three Kings of Modo was unprecedented in history, immediately shocking the entire society.
As its name suggests, this institution is jointly controlled by members of parliament from the three races and has a wide range of powers, including the power to impeach the supreme leader. The impeachment was spearheaded by thirty-three members of parliament who jointly submitted the impeachment motion, which was ultimately passed by a large majority in the General Assembly of the Three Races. They quickly began preparations, clearly indicating that they were well-prepared.
Shocked as they were, the people of Modo were quite supportive, because the chaos within the civilized territory had seriously disrupted the normal functioning of society. Although this was the enemy's doing, the people didn't care much and simply shifted the blame onto their supreme leader, which was convenient and easy.
Maruko rallied more opposition, growing in strength. He found a plausible reason to publicly claim that he was restoring order and opposing the war. He used a lengthy and rigorous report to analyze Modo's extremely low chance of winning the war, using this as evidence to oppose the decision of the Three Kings of Modo to continue supporting the Expeditionary Army, calling it a meaningless sacrifice.
This argument has gained considerable support from officials and the public. Not everyone is willing to sacrifice immediate interests for the sake of so-called future development. As the pressure mounts, opposition is also growing stronger.
The Three Kings of Modo never expected the opposition to suddenly betray them. At this critical juncture, trouble broke out in their own backyard, and their plans were immediately thrown into disarray.