On April 1, 782 of the Galaxy Calendar, the Three Universal Civilizations jointly issued a sanctions order against the Beyond Grade A Association. On April 3, the Beyond Grade A Association responded, and the two sides officially broke the conflict. Under the influence of the sanctions order, the forces in each star field acted independently. It was not until April 26 that a clear pattern was initially formed.
Since the return of the Immortals on March 10th, the interstellar society has undergone a dramatic and rapidly changing situation in just a month and a half. The vast majority of civilizations, corporations, and other established forces in interstellar society have responded to the sanctions order. Meanwhile, the Beyond Grade A Association has found new allies. The Super Cluster opposes the sanctions, issuing righteous criticisms that the Three Universal Civilizations are abusing their power, and has turned its support to the Association. Thus, the Association and the Three Universal Civilizations have entered into open confrontation.
Due to the responses from civilizations around the world, many Beyond Grade A forces began to shrink, and their branches and bases established within different civilizations were forced to relocate. Some moved to the Desolate Universe Belt, while others traveled to the Shattered World to relocate their industries. As a result, Beyond Grade A forces with territory in the Shattered World became highly sought after, and Beyond Grade A entities throughout the universe thus showed a trend of gathering together.
Among them, some Beyond Grade A allies who have established influence within the Three Universal Civilizations are in a rather troublesome situation, as their industries and bases have been temporarily shut down, causing them considerable financial pain.
The Three Universal Civilizations launched an interstellar social blockade against the development of the Beyond Grade A Association, resulting in the impact on numerous Beyond Grade A forces, whose size has shrunk to varying degrees. The stock prices of their listed conglomerates have also plummeted, demonstrating the market's pessimism.
At the same time, all forces supporting the association were targeted by the Three Universal Civilizations. Among them, Planet Aquamarine was used as a typical example, and its diplomatic relations were basically cut off. It could only be self-sufficient. The weaker the force, the more severe the targeting it faced. On the contrary, advanced civilizations like the Supercluster, which openly spoke out, did not feel much. Perhaps they had already become accustomed to being targeted and were like dead pigs that are not afraid of boiling water.
Some outside commentators believe that the goal of these sanctions is to cripple the Wings of the Beyond Grade A. Without followers and industries, the Beyond Grade A's influence will be minimized, isolating them from interstellar society. However, others believe that while the Three Universal Civilizations' actions are decisive, they are only treating the symptoms, not the root cause. Without dealing with the Beyond Grade A themselves, striking at their power is not very meaningful.
Both perspectives have a large following. Regardless of one's perspective, it is an undeniable fact that interstellar society is becoming increasingly volatile. As the situation becomes more sensitive, the emotions of interstellar citizens are gradually turning fervent and being incited by public opinion.
Beyond the sight of most people, the Interstellar Black Market in various regions have almost become secret battlefields, with frequent clashes and a tug-of-war for control of the Interstellar Black Market underway.
Shattered Star Ring, a neutral transit planet.
Amidst the towering skyscrapers, several low-altitude flying vehicles are speeding through the city, disrupting the orderly traffic flow and frequently causing accidents.
These vehicles clearly belonged to two groups of people. One vehicle was fleeing frantically, while the others were chasing and intercepting it. The fugitives were highly skilled drivers, constantly using various difficult maneuvers to avoid obstacles along the way, driving at high speed through complex road conditions, which was extremely dangerous.
"Faster! They're catching up!"
"Shut up, don't distract me!"
In the leading vehicle, a lizard-man covered in red scales was jumping up and down in a panic, constantly glancing at the rearview mirror. Meanwhile, a burly man in a mecha combat suit was operating the vehicle with a serious expression, while a group of crew members in the back cabin were being rocked and thrown about.
This group of people were a local black market operator. On the surface, they had a legitimate shell company, but in reality, they controlled several secret black market business channels. They were a gang with a guild-like nature, registered under the black market organization as a lower-level distribution channel. They had been entrenched on this neutral planet, living a life of luxury and pleasure.
However, not long ago, the organization was infiltrated by spies from an unknown force. One by one, their territories and businesses were attacked by unknown armed groups, resulting in heavy losses. Their core members were also Pursuit and have been hiding ever since.
Just now, their hideout was discovered, and they hurriedly fled in a vehicle, while several armed enemy teams relentlessly pursued them, resulting in a life-or-death race against time in the bustling city.
"Who exactly are these people? When we fought them before, they were clearly Well-Trained, not like a bunch of hapless soldiers. They're probably a professional armed organization. Why would they target us?" The burly man asked gravely.
The lizardman was furious. "What do I know? These people just popped up out of nowhere, I don't even know when I messed with them!"
"Could it be that our competitors have hired a mercenary organization?"
"Whatever happens, all I care about now is whether I can escape!" the lizardman shouted.
Just as the words were spoken, the flying vehicle was passing through an intersection when suddenly a pursuing ship that had circled around to the front of it rammed into it.
BOOM!!
A loud jolt followed by a sudden, immense force slammed the crew against the cabin wall before they could react.
The vehicle, traveling at high speed, was struck from the side and flipped over, tumbling and rolling through the air a dozen times before crashing into the exterior wall of a building. Sparks flew and metal tore apart as the vehicle became embedded in the wall, billowing black smoke. The anti-gravity engine flickered a few times before shutting down with a hum.
Everyone was dazed and disoriented from the fall.
The burly man scrambled to his feet, clutching his head, and kicked open the dented hatch. He saw that his pursuers had closed in, and live-fire rapid-fire machine guns had sprung out from the sides of their vehicles, aiming at the immobilized target.
The traffic accident attracted a large crowd of onlookers, who drove around in a circle to watch. The pursuers, however, remained unmoved, seemingly unconcerned about firing shots in the middle of the city and disregarding the planet's security forces.
Upon witnessing this scene, everyone in the cabin showed expressions of horror and despair.
These shady characters who run the black market don't dare to engage in armed conflict in the city center, but these people are completely unscrupulous, even more vicious than them, and are simply lawless thugs.
"I still have three million Enas in savings that I haven't enjoyed yet, I'm not satisfied!"
The lizardman was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, trembling and unable to stand up.
Just then, the burly man grabbed his collar, reached into his pocket and pulled out a palm-sized metal sphere, then pressed the button on top. The sphere immediately lit up and emitted the sound of a bomb being activated.
"No! This thing will blow the whole street to smithereens!"
The lizard man jumped in surprise and tried to snatch it back, but was kicked to the ground by the burly man.
"Don't be silly. You deliberately kept this bomb just in case. Since they want to kill us, let's see if they dare to take us all down with them!"
The burly man's face hardened as he held up the bomb and turned to shout something outside.
But in that instant, a piercing scream like a falling meteor suddenly rang out, rapidly approaching!
Whoosh—Boom!
A figure enveloped in red flames descended from the sky, kicking a pursuing vehicle with a kick as powerful as the Buddha's.
With an immense burst of force, the vehicle collapsed and crashed to the ground, exploding into a ball of fire.
The figure used the momentum to leap and land in the crater created by the vehicles of the black market crowd, shielding everyone behind him. He turned his head, glanced at them, gave a thumbs up, and grinned.
"Don't be afraid, you are safe now."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked on in surprise and disbelief. The burly man turned to look at the lizardman and asked in astonishment, "You called for reinforcements?"
"No..." The lizardman looked bewildered, doubting himself. "Did I call out?"
The burly man's face twitched, and he turned to look at the unexpected reinforcements, asking with suspicion, "Who are you? Why did you save us?"
"Don't ask me, I'm just doing a mission. As for who I am, you should recognize this emblem, right?"
The man turned his head and showed a pattern on his clothes. Everyone looked over and immediately shuddered.
Almost everyone in the universe recognizes this pattern; they see it at a glance.
"You're from the Black Star Army?!"
"To be precise, I am the Legion's Immortals; you can call me Crispy Chicken Wings." The man grinned; he was a player.
Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.
Why are these infamous Immortals suddenly coming to our aid? We have absolutely no connection with the Black Star Army; we're nowhere near their level!
"Let me deal with these guys first. Just stay behind me and behave yourself."
Just then, the pursuers opened fire, a dense hail of bullets raining down like a storm, the rate of fire so fast they almost formed continuous lines. Crispy Chicken Wings uttered a single sentence, his arm armor vibrated, and a blue shield popped out, protecting the black market group's disabled vehicles and blocking all the bullets with a crackling sound.
The next second, the martial arts aura emanating from the Crispy Chicken Wings gathered in his palms and he unleashed a red energy wave.
Boom!
A blazing red beam of light shot out, sweeping across like a whip and striking all the pursuing vehicles.
The next moment, these vehicles instantly turned into fireworks in the sky, instantly destroyed, scaring away a crowd of onlookers.
For Grade B players, this kind of maneuver is commonplace and poses no challenge whatsoever.
The Crispy Chicken Wings clapped their hands and chuckled, "Problem solved."
Seeing this, the lizard man finally had the strength to get up, snatched the bomb back from the burly man's hand, turned it off, glared at him, and then walked towards the Crispy Chicken Wings, saying gratefully, "You saved my life, I don't know how to thank you."
Crispy Chicken Wings glanced at him, shrugged, and said, "You don't need to thank me. From now on, I'm your boss."
The lizardman paused for a moment, then suddenly seemed delighted, and said, "Are you trying to recruit me into the Black Star Army?"
"Dream on. You think you can just walk into the Legion like that?" Crispy Chicken Wings rolled his eyes without any politeness. "What I mean is, I'm temporarily taking over your black market operations. This is an order from above, and this is your black market organization's credentials."
As he spoke, he took out his communicator and showed a document.
Everyone glanced through it and was immediately amazed.
This is a license recognized by the black market organization. The document states that the Three Universal Civilizations have begun to infiltrate the black market on a large scale, and many black market channels have been uprooted. Therefore, in order to maintain the overall stability of the Interstellar Black Market, the black market organization will soon send some personnel to temporarily take over the black markets in various places, and requires the cooperation of all localities.
Normally, black market organizations do not interfere with ordinary black market operators, but this time they unusually issued a notice.
These leaders who went to oversee the black markets in various regions were all members of various Beyond Grade A forces, including players from the Black Star Army.
Just as everyone was surprised, Crispy Chicken Wings opened the panel and looked at the task list.
[[Legion Order - Take Over the Black Market (1)]]
[Mission Brief: Due to sanctions imposed by the Three Universal Civilizations, the Beyond Grade A Association intends to further control the Interstellar Black Market. The Black Star Army has decided to send you to take over and integrate the black market channels of a planet. However, your target seems to be in danger and needs your rescue.]
[First mission requirement: Rescue black market operators who are being Pursuit]
[This is a series of tasks; rewards depend on task evaluation.]
[Current task status: Completed]
This was a mission recently issued by the Black Star Army, which many players accepted. They split up and went to different planets to take over the local black market. Players rarely had the opportunity to take charge on their own, so they found it novel and interesting.
Moreover, compared to exploring the Shattered World, taking over and integrating the black market of a planet requires considering more issues, involves a more complex mission environment, and is therefore more challenging for players.
This is just one corner of the black market, and the same thing is happening on many planets in various star systems.
"Players have launched a major offensive into the black market, and things are going quite well..."
In the Black Star Palace office, Han Xiao gazed at the star map, monitoring the movements of numerous players, and nodded secretly.
The Interstellar Black Market is currently a key area of conflict between the Association and the Three Universal Civilizations. At present, the Three Universal Civilizations are not directly involved. The people they have sent to infiltrate the black market are not their own people, but people from their subordinate forces. They have already clashed with the many takeover agents sent by the Beyond Grade A Association, resulting in casualties on both sides.
The Black Star Army is making the most progress, with players remaining as useful and helpful tools as ever. Other factions are not as extravagant as the Black Star Legion, which boasts tens of millions of immortal Grade B combatants.
Han Xiao assigned this task to the players, partly to fertilize their environment, and partly to get them on the front lines of the battle, thus keeping the game interesting for them.
Scattered across different planets, each running their own black market business, this is like a bird soaring in the sky, free as the wind for many players. He was also quite curious about what kind of initiative these players would exert.
Just then, the communicator vibrated, and an officer sent a message.
"Commander, someone has come to visit you. She didn't make an appointment, but claims to be an old acquaintance of yours."
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.
"Someone I know? How well? What's their name?"
She said her name was Lothaire.