The Battle of Dragon Soaring Hills seemed to be a signal. In the next two days, flames of war broke out all over Planet Milton. Players from various guilds and alliances fought endlessly. The battlefield changed from place to place. At any given moment, there were hundreds or even thousands of battlefields scattered across various strongholds. Planet Milton was as if it had been bombed for two days in a row, and its surface was ravaged by tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of players.
The forum is now devoid of other topics; you can only see two types of posts: one is enthusiastic greetings between opposing players to each other's ancestors, and the other is battle reports from the Galaxy Times and various battlefield reporter teams.
Because there were too many battlefields, Han Xiao couldn't keep up. He only paid attention to the Yanhuang Alliance's performance on the first day. After seeing that the Yanhuang Alliance won the Battle of Dragon Soaring Hills and got off to a good start, he didn't follow up closely. He basically checked the battle reports from Meat Bun and Galaxy Times every few hours to understand the overall changes in the world server battle.
Overall, the Yanhuang Alliance currently holds the greatest advantage. The Pan-Commercial Union and other guild alliances suffered heavy losses in the first day of the battle and have become much more cautious. They dare not be reckless anymore and have begun to use sneaky tactics to constantly launch feints and ambushes against the Yanhuang Alliance's various strongholds.
Meanwhile, the Yanhuang Alliance and the Three Universal Civilizations fronts led by the September Conference have not organized any large-scale battles in the past two days. At most, there have been small skirmishes in certain areas. Ironically, the neutral solo faction has been the most active in fighting over the past two days.
The neutral faction has the largest number of players. Numerous casual player guilds have formed temporary small alliances, not only fighting each other fiercely, but also some powerful players have teamed up to launch attacks on the strongholds of the three major factions, including the Black Star Army Legion. Most of them were repelled, but a small number of them successfully captured some strongholds from the three major factions.
In similar events, clearing out lone wolves is usually the first thing to do, with the big fish eating the small fish and then fighting each other to avoid being ambushed. However, the situation here is special, with extremely high intensity of war. The number of respawns, which players usually don't care about, has now become the most important strategic resource.
The three main factions are capable of eliminating any independent player forces, but it is absolutely impossible for them to escape unscathed. Players are fearless and will never give up their resistance, which will inevitably cause them some losses. In their view, using precious resurrection attempts on independent players is a complete waste. They will not fight to sustain the war, and their troops will only become more and more depleted, putting them at an inherent disadvantage in the confrontation.
Moreover, a large-scale crackdown on unaffiliated individuals will likely lead to them uniting to resist, and in that case, you might end up shooting yourself in the foot and getting crushed by them instead.
Although the war rules do not specify a time limit, everyone has an unspoken agreement: to determine a winner within six days, otherwise the resurrection count will reset, and it will be another cycle, which would be a huge loss for the guild alliance.
Even if players can revive, their resources will inevitably decrease with each battle. If another round of battles occurs, the guild alliance's reserves will be severely depleted. Moreover, normal players are unwilling to accept too many death penalties.
In the Black Star Palace's exclusive mechanical workshop, Han Xiao put away a newly-made Sovereign Mecha, casually opened the forum, and briefly browsed today's battle reports.
["Yanhuang Alliance 8-Hour Battle Report: Win Rate Continues to Rise" - By Meat Bun Hits Dog: "In the past eight hours, the Yanhuang Alliance has conducted a total of 41 battles, including 4 battles with a value of over one million, 11 local battles with a value of 500,000, 22 local battles with a value of 100,000, and 4 small-scale team battles. There were no major battles with a value of over ten million. They won 29 battles and lost 12, with a win rate of 70.73%, an increase of 3.16% compared to yesterday. The overall average death index rose from 2.375 to 2.814, continuing to lead the guild average survival ranking, and the gap with the second place continues to widen, currently reaching 0.703!"]
["The Great Victory at Flying Stone Cliff"-By Galaxy Times (Huaxia Region): "Today, the Pan-Commercial Union and the Northern Front's stronghold in Haywood Valley was attacked by the September Council and Dunland. Due to interference with the teleportation array, the Pan-Commercial Union and the Northern Front dispatched nearby troops to provide long-distance support to the Haywood Valley stronghold. However, while passing through Flying Stone Cliff, they fell into an ambush by the Yanhuang Alliance, suffering heavy losses. It is reported that the Yanhuang Alliance secretly dispatched a force to this area yesterday, using an online attack tactic, catching the enemy off guard and achieving a great victory with a casualty ratio of less than 0.6:1!"]
[Daily Comment - By the Yanhuang Alliance Battlefield Reporter Team: "Another tragedy caused by off-field factors occurred today. A boss of the Blood Roar Headshot Sect bribed a high-level Mage Class player at the Sith Empire's main base. This traitor, taking advantage of his teammates' inattention, secretly tampered with the magic circuit of the main base's Number Two supply teleportation array, leaving a teleportation beacon. While the two guild alliances were engaged in fierce combat, the Blood Roar Headshot Sect used this beacon to send a fully armed force to the enemy's base, achieving a double victory from both inside and outside, causing the Sith Empire to be instantly wiped out! Afterwards, this traitor and the boss were blacklisted by major guilds and have been Pursuit down. Let us reiterate once again - those who play off-field games will definitely see their mothers' grocery prices rise tonight!"]
There were countless similar battle reports. Han Xiao glanced at them with a smile, then looked at which guilds and alliances had been eliminated that day. He browsed the posts for about half an hour before leaving the forum.
"Beep beep beep--"
Just then, the communicator rang, and it was none other than Marshal Brother Tar of the Empire Exploration Army, whom they hadn't been in touch with for a long time.
"Hey, it's Old Tar. What's up?" Han Xiao asked with a smile as he connected to the call.
"Have you been paying attention to the war between the Immortals?" Tarrokov asked seriously.
"Hey, I have a whole bunch of Immortals under my command, how could I not be paying attention? We've got this kind of relationship, do you still need to test me like this? Did the Empire's higher-ups send you?"
Han Xiao's heart skipped a beat, and he roughly guessed the other party's intentions.
"Hmm..." Tarrokov didn't deny it, and slowly said, "What I want to ask is, how much do you actually know about the Immortals?"
Han Xiao's eyes darted around, and he asked, "Be more specific."
"Alright... The Intelligence Department and the Imperial Academy of Sciences have never stopped observing the Immortals. One of the earliest Immortals appeared on Planet Aquamarine and was basically recruited by you. You seem to have a deep understanding of them. We want to know, why do the Immortals disappear from time to time? Why do their strength increase as a whole after they disappear in large numbers and then reappear? Is there an upper limit to this increase? Can they really be completely controlled?"
A barrage of questions came at Han Xiao, but he didn't respond immediately. His eyes flickered, sensing the change in the Crimson Dynasty's attitude.
The Three Universal Civilizations have been researching the Immortals on their own, and now they're finally asking this self-proclaimed "expert." It's the influence of the World Server War that has once again increased their focus on the Immortals!
The nickname "Cancer of the Universe" has been used for most of the game, with players scattered across different events. Even the previous Black Star Army Martial Arts Tournament was just a competitive team battle. This time, however, the major powers have truly witnessed a large-scale war involving only the Immortals.
The weapons and fleets weren't extravagant, and the scene wasn't as spectacular as an interstellar war. What was truly shocking was the intensity of the battles between superhumans. Different factions of Immortals had fought each other before, but this time it was especially terrifying.
Advanced civilizations remained calm, merely expressing astonishment, while smaller powers were practically terrified!
--So this is the battle between the Cancer of the Universe. We underestimated how ferocious these people are!
Considering the characteristics that the Immortals had previously displayed, the Empire no longer had the leisure to continue its slow research and immediately approached Han Xiao, wanting to inquire about more detailed information.
"I don't know that much; I guess what I know you already know..."
Han Xiao naturally wouldn't reveal his true intentions, and casually recounted a string of information that most major powers could observe, nothing particularly surprising.
"You really only know this much?" Tarrokov persisted.
"Otherwise what? I just figured out some patterns earlier. I'm not Immortals, how could I possibly know everything?" Han Xiao chuckled.
"That's true..."
Tarrokov nodded.
In fact, decades ago the Crimson Dynasty also suspected that Black Star might be Immortals.
... But no one has been able to kill him, so the truth has never been found.
Ultimately, because Black Star did not disappear intermittently like the Immortals, the Empire dispelled its suspicions.
After seeing Tarrokov off, Han Xiao's smile faded, and his expression turned solemn.
He opened the switch panel, looked at the experience bar, and made an estimate.
'At my current rate of experience gain, after this battle, I'll have enough experience to advance to level 340 before the professional league starts... Hmm, I can use the Evolution Cube again this time.'
Han Xiao frowned slightly.
As players increase their strength, the cosmic situation will become increasingly turbulent. Only by rising to a higher level as soon as possible can they cope with all changes and respond to whatever the advanced civilizations do.
Players from the Infinite Financial Group faction are also part of the global server war, belonging to a major force within the neutral solo player faction.
Sorokin was also watching the battle closely, but he wasn't just observing; he had other plans in mind.
"This seems like a good opportunity to attract the Immortals..."
Sorokin's eyes flickered.
He had always been keen on recruiting Immortals, and although he didn't know the truth about the players, Han Xiao's approach inspired him.
Sorokin had carefully studied the history of the Black Star Army Black Star Army's rise to power, especially their methods of attracting the Immortals. He summarized past examples and discovered many patterns.
By now, Sorokin felt he had mastered Black Star's methods and applied them completely.
"This infighting among so many Immortals presents a perfect opportunity for the Infinite Financial Group to gain recognition within the Immortals community. If the Infinite Financial Group's Immortals ultimately prevail, it should attract some Immortals to join the consortium..."
Under normal circumstances, the Immortals of the Infinite Financial Group have no advantage. If he wants them to win, he has to intervene. Anyway, he is not like other Beyond Grade A who are burdened by their reputation. Even if it gets out that a Beyond Grade A is shamelessly interfering in the fight between Grade B superhumans, it will not diminish his prestige - because such a thing does not exist.
As a Beyond Grade A individual, even without revealing his true strength, he is enough to decide the outcome of a war at this level. Moreover, his abilities are extremely well-concealed; he can easily manipulate things without these Grade B Immortals noticing.
"Looks like it's worth a try, let's do it..." Sorokin made his decision silently.
His guess was pretty close to the truth, but he couldn't access the forum, so he lacked the most crucial information... He had no idea why the players were fighting, let alone that the rules prohibited NPCs from interfering!
The players of the Infinite Financial Group dared not break the rules, investing heavily in the national war and diligently maintaining their current good results...
However, what they didn't expect was that their own faction leader was preparing to wipe them out in one fell swoop.