The Gods Guild's first kill of the Calamity Grade has been a hot topic on the forums, with players constantly discussing it. Although the Temple has been heavily criticized in recent years, this first kill has finally made it into the spotlight, with many players acknowledging and praising it, while also being curious about the Legion's attitude towards the matter.
Although the StarCraft community is condemning the incident, the players are unimpressed. They have all read the entire post from the Gods Guild, which clearly shows that Dafis took the initiative to antagonize the Legion, and that the Feni Civilization had targeted and protected them in various ways beforehand. In their view, the Feni Civilization deserved it; they were allowed to attack others but not allowed to attack others, clearly showing bias, and being caught in the crossfire was entirely their own fault.
Regardless of the background of the outcry, it is undeniable that the outcry from the outside world has caused trouble for the Legion. Therefore, many players are watching to see how the Legion will deal with the Gods Guild.
Seeing that the Gods Guild had set a precedent, other large clubs also became interested.
While the first kill is no longer possible, defeating a Calamity Grade boss is itself a testament to a guild's strength. In the eyes of various clubs, as more and more guilds achieve this Calamity Grade, it will likely become one of the basic qualifications for becoming a major guild. When recruiting new members, if a guild hasn't even killed a Calamity Grade boss, its competitiveness immediately drops significantly. Naturally, major guilds from various countries are unwilling to fall behind.
However, this is currently just an idea. Now that the Gods Guild has paved the way, the other guilds are waiting for the Legion to take action and are preparing to formulate action plans based on the Legion's attitude. In any case, the BOSS must be fought, it's just a matter of what method to use.
While many players were watching, the official account of the Gods Guild released a video of Han Xiao's conversation with them. Within minutes, it immediately topped the trending list and was manually pinned to the top, attracting widespread attention on the forum.
Many players were initially surprised by Han Xiao's attitude, but then they were overjoyed and began discussing it excitedly.
[The Germinal Leader Is Watching You: No punishment at all, Old Black! That's generous of you!]
[The Planet Aquamarine's Most Handsome Guy: Hahaha, I knew the Legion Commander was reasonable. Otherwise, if they just hid on the colony, we'd be constantly getting beaten up without fighting back. This is more like it.]
[Noble Consort Washes Feet: The Legion Commander's meaning is very clear. Obviously, as long as our counterattack against the enemy doesn't cross the line, the Legion will act as our backup. That's settled.]
[Army Commander's Big Dick: Thanks to my Protoss buddies for avenging me, well done!]
[Poseidon: To be honest, this is the kind of leader who's reliable. Old Black is still the same Old Black.]
[Meat Bun Hits Dog: I'm a complete newbie, is this how veteran players are treated? Waaaaah, I'm so touched]
After much analysis on the forums, many players confirmed Black Star's meaning.
Firstly, when a guild fights a boss, as long as the target is a hostile Calamity Grade enemy, the guild will not only not stop them, but will also encourage them appropriately, such as providing some technical assistance and trying to help them create an undisturbed environment to trap the target.
If friendly fire occurs accidentally during a boss fight, the Legion will not punish the player as long as there is a reason—such as someone covering for the victim—and the limits have not been exceeded. Although Black Star has not explicitly stated the standards for these limits, given the precedent set by the Gods Guild, as long as the player does not exceed the Gods Guild's practices, there should be no problem.
Many Huaxia players were quite receptive to Han Xiao's emotional appeal, while the vast majority of players who joined later versions and with the book, although they didn't have much affection for Black Star himself, felt quite comfortable with the way the legion was handled, and their wavering thoughts were settled.
Many guilds were also reassured.
They were also worried that the Gods Guild would be severely punished, such as being sealed by the Space-Time Amber. They were unwilling to let their guild's core members face the risk of being "banned" at any time, and they could only consider leaving the Legion. Now that the faction's attitude was more reliable, they didn't need to make the worst-case scenario plan.
Over the next ten days or so, the Three Universal Civilizations continued to incite public opinion, with various condemnations rising in an uproar, creating a situation that seemed to be forcing the Black Star Army to give an explanation and deal with the people involved.
However, the Black Star Army remained unmoved. As for the inside story of the cover-up, it was something that could be explained but was unnecessary. They simply stated that the matter was still under investigation, refused to accept accusations without evidence, and ignored the media frenzy deliberately promoted by the Three Universal Civilizations.
Civilizations across various star systems secretly inquired about the specific situation through various intelligence channels. They did not readily believe the public opinion promoted by the Three Universal Civilizations, understanding that there must be unknown inside stories. The truth was naturally not as one-sided as the public opinion suggested. However, the attack on Planet Birger was also a fact. Even if there were inside stories, it violated the Interstellar Convention. Therefore, the major civilizations have been observing and acting as bystanders.
Seeing the Black Star Army's attitude amidst the turmoil, many star system-level civilizations couldn't help but feel a chill, sensing something ominous.
The Interstellar Convention Peace Treaty established by the Three Universal Civilizations has always been their shield; those who violate it face severe punishment, a crucial factor in maintaining their rule. The Black Star Army has consistently adhered to the Interstellar Convention, like a tiger that has sheathed its claws and teeth, gradually leading them to underestimate the danger posed by the other side... However, these are extraordinary times. If the Black Star Army no longer strictly abides by the Interstellar Convention, will the Three Universal Civilizations still have the ability to restrain them?
The answer is obvious: almost none.
Currently, the Three Universal Civilizations have imposed sanctions and bans on the association, effectively shutting it down within the interstellar community. This is far more severe than the usual punishment for violating Interstellar Convention. However, this leaves the Three Universal Civilizations with virtually no further means to sanction each other besides formally engaging in war, yet the other side remains unfazed... Many civilizations are well aware that if the Three Universal Civilizations were willing to wage war, they wouldn't have waited until now; ultimately, it's all about mutual fear.
In this situation, none of the major civilizations believed that the Three Universal Civilizations were capable of continuing to force the Association to strictly abide by the Interstellar Convention, which meant that the Interstellar Convention's protection of them would inevitably decline.
Of course, judging from the Black Star Army's attitude, they probably don't intend to blatantly violate the Interstellar Convention, but in some borderline areas, Black Star will likely no longer exercise restraint. As for the Three Universal Civilizations, considering the overall situation, they will naturally make choices. As long as the association doesn't openly provoke a civilization war, the Three Universal Civilizations will at most incite public opinion to criticize, but it's impossible to expect them to take action.
Having understood these inside stories, many interstellar civilizations that had responded to the call of the Three Universal Civilizations gradually wavered. With the Black Star Army no longer exercising restraint, the protective power of the Interstellar Convention was greatly diminished. Continuing to stubbornly oppose the Association was clearly unwise... Even if they wanted to curry favor with the Three Universal Civilizations, they couldn't immediately step forward; they were merely being used as pawns, and in the end, they would have to bear the losses themselves.
Faced with this situation, many civilizations have made similar decisions, almost without prior agreement.
--When two behemoths fight, it's always us small fry who suffer. We can't afford to mess with either side, so it's best to be cautious and not get too carried away. We may respond to their call, but Beyond Grade A Association's efforts to integrate black markets across the country, we'll just turn a blind eye. If the Three Universal Civilizations have the ability, they can send people to stop them themselves. Anyway, we won't be putting in any more effort; at most, we'll just do a symbolic sweep.
This consensus quickly spread among the high-ranking officials of several interstellar civilizations. Even the Feni Civilization, seeing this scene, became somewhat hesitant. When interviewed by various media outlets, although they continued to criticize, their words became slightly more restrained and cautious.
"The Cancer of the Universe..."
Holmes browsed through the public opinion surrounding the quantum network, his expression quite grave.
He is a Calamity Grade superhuman who runs an armed force in the Sea of Star Spirits. He is well-known and considered a local bigwig in his star system.
Since the Planet Birger incident blew up, Holmes has been paying close attention to it.
He met Dafis when he was on a business trip to the Infinite Nebula. They had some acquaintance and would chat occasionally to keep in touch. It was through this that he learned about Dafis's recent work.
Inspired by the other party, Holmes also secretly cooperated with the local civilization and did the same thing as Dafis, in exchange for resources and benefits from the civilization by hindering the association's efforts to integrate the black market.
But this incident gave Holmes a real fright.
His strength was inferior to Dafis', and Dafis had angered the Cancer of the Universe and was Pursuit down and killed. This served as a wake-up call for him.
While secretly hindering the association, Holmes also killed some Immortals, which made him fearful that the Immortals might also band together and come after him. He was not as arrogant as Dafis and did not think he could withstand a large-scale revenge attack from the Immortals.
Going against the association was already risky, but Holmes only agreed to cooperate because the local community promised protection if necessary.
But the Black Star Army's response to the Planet Birger incident began to frighten him. The Cancer of the Universe's vengeful attitude was so resolute, willing to violate Interstellar Convention, yet the Black Star Army remained unmoved... In that case, how much use was the necessary protection promised by the local civilization?
"The risks are getting too great. If the Cancer of the Universe' comes seeking revenge, my life will be in danger... We can't continue like this."
Holmes's expression shifted between light and dark as he took out his communicator and contacted the local civilization's special liaison.
The call was quickly connected, and the contact person appeared on the screen with a warm and respectful smile.
"Your Holmes, what can I do for you?"
Holmes's tone was somber as he stated bluntly, "From this moment forward, our cooperation is terminated. I will no longer handle the takeover of the black market for you. The previous agreement is null and void."
The contact person was stunned, looking surprised, and hurriedly said, "This... this is too sudden. Is there something you're not satisfied with in the agreement? We can discuss it. I'll..."
Holmes interrupted him, saying in a deep voice, "I've made up my mind. Tell the higher-ups that this cooperation is over. I'm quitting."
Without giving the other person a chance to speak, Holmes hung up the communicator, stood up, and paced around the room, still feeling somewhat uneasy.
After hesitating for a moment, Holmes gritted his teeth and strode towards the airport terminal.
"No, we can't stay at headquarters either. The enemy might come to settle scores. Let's go out and lay low for a while."
Central Galaxy, the joint conference room of the leaders of the Three Universal Civilizations.
"Hmm, the Black Star Army's reaction was exactly as expected; Black Star certainly wouldn't fall for this kind of trick."
Louis glanced at the report submitted by the media control department and nodded to the other two.
"Hmph, of course. If Black Star were naive enough to respond to public opinion and betray his own people, he would be too easy to deal with, and we wouldn't need to expend so much effort." Mabrus crossed his arms and snorted coldly.
The Feni Civilization provided the propaganda ammunition, which they merely used as an opportunity to enhance their positive reputation in attacking Black Star, but they never expected to force Black Star to submit through public opinion; that would have been wishful thinking.
The leader of the Arcane Cult tapped the table with his finger and slowly said, "Although Black Star's positive reputation is declining, which has given us more righteousness, his clever move to remove the restraints will only make civilizations around the world more wary, making things more difficult for us."
"Using the Cancer of the Universe to do dirty work and enhance their fearsome reputation, that's quite a good method." Louis frowned. "According to intelligence, quite a few galaxy-level civilizations are unwilling to continue dedicating manpower to cleaning up the black market. It seems we'll have no choice but to send out our Immortals."
"Yes, the best value for money is found in the treatment of the same cancer in Cancer of the Universe Cancer of the Universe." Mabrus nodded.
The Three Universal Civilizations also maintain a group of Immortals. For them, letting the Immortals fight amongst themselves is obviously more cost-effective than wasting their own troops. In any case, they don't care if the Immortals die.
The leader of the Arcane Cult said in a deep voice, "However, the Immortals are too uncontrollable and difficult to restrain. What if something goes wrong..."
The three exchanged a glance, all feeling a bit of a headache.
Players under the Three Universal Civilizations were equally difficult to control, causing numerous troubles. The Three Universal Civilizations had no good solutions and punished them many times. Many of the offenders simply left, quitting their factions and joining other forces. Some even defected and became wanted criminals. The overly strict management led to a certain loss of the number of Immortals.
With the release of version 5.0, players' strength has once again shown an upward trend, and the Three Universal Civilizations have also felt the severity of the situation, suspecting that the Immortals have the potential to reach the Calamity Grade.
If such a day truly comes, the Cancer of the Universe is best suited to deal with the Cancer of the Universe. Therefore, we must have enough Immortals on our hands to prevent further loss. As a result, the Three Universal Civilizations are now handling players on a case-by-case basis, avoiding punishment whenever possible and suppressing mistakes as much as possible. However, it is still difficult to stop the loss of Immortals, and the Three Universal Civilizations have been racking their brains over this problem.
Therefore, all three of them were extremely envious of the Black Star Army. The Immortals, whom they could hardly control, were already quite obedient in the hands of the Black Star Army. In the entire universe, only the Black Star Army had the most effective control over the Immortals.
Now, the Black Star Army seems to be loosening these restrictions; if the Legion were to actually do so...
Mabrus shook his head, changing the subject, "Sigh, these are all unavoidable measures. Let's not talk about that now. The most important thing right now is to confirm whether Black Star can use the Sanctuary Revival again."
The other two nodded, but their expressions were quite solemn; they both knew what they hadn't said earlier.
If the Black Star Army's Immortals continue on their current trajectory, the future situation could very well evolve into one of these scenarios...
Whether the Galaxy is in chaos or not, Black Star has the final say!