After dealing with the high-level officials of the Star Alliance, Han Xiao became a hands-off manager, Three Universal Civilizations and the World Tree Civilization to jointly handle the subsequent cleanup and incorporation operations.
Since the Star Alliance's resistance forces have largely collapsed, this is merely a time-consuming and effortless task for the Three Universal Civilizations: systematically clearing out the civilization migration forces within the Star Alliance territory.
Normally, war missions are large-scale events that players are eager to participate in, but this time the Three Universal Civilizations did not issue a large-scale call to arms. Only a few players were conscripted to fight against the Star Alliance, while most players focused on their own professional leagues.
After a long period of preparation, the qualifiers have already begun and are now in full swing. Therefore, most players are not interested in the Star Alliance Wars at this time; they just want to hurt each other and participate in the new league event.
Because Han Xiao had been busy farming Sanctuary access and working towards the truth of the Universe Iteration, he hadn't paid much attention to the player league. When he finally had a moment to check, he discovered that the biggest feature of this year's professional league was the significant increase in combat level. The mainstream competitive level had risen from Grade B to Calamity Grade, with a dramatic increase in destructive power.
Now in version 5.5, compared to version 4.0, the level cap has been raised from 150 to 200. The World Tree War series of quests has made players a fortune. Although there was a CG cutscene during the final battle as usual, the victory settlement afterward brought players an astonishing amount of money.
In the fourth league, the mainstream players were basically at the Grade B. Although they were considered the backbone of the universe, they were still somewhat like noobs fighting each other in the eyes of the top combatants. But in the current fifth league, the gap between players has widened even further. Now, the entry threshold for the main players in the league must be the Calamity Grade, and they fight with a respectable air.
Within the Super Sanctuary, on an uninhabited planet, at the 24th preliminary round.
Player guild warships hovered in mid-air, watching the battle on the ground. Two billowing clouds of smoke, known as "yellow dragons," clashed and intertwined, occasionally unleashing shockwaves that shattered spiderweb-like cracks into the ground within a radius of several kilometers.
Two players clad in heavy armor were rapidly moving across the planet's surface, constantly exchanging blows in a massive display, like a walking natural Calamity Grade. However, their IDs were unfamiliar, indicating they were not professional players from any guild, but simply ordinary players participating in the competition.
These were just two relatively unknown contestants, yet their destructive power was already outstanding, captivating the attention of numerous players and spectators in the sky.
As players collectively reached the Calamity Grade, their strength increased dramatically, and many experienced a qualitative leap in combat power. To ensure viewership and prevent professional players from major guilds from suffering unexpected defeats in the qualifiers, many large clubs received direct entry tickets to the official league, eliminating the need for them to risk their lives in the qualifiers. Although this somewhat diminished the excitement of the qualifiers, the emergence of numerous dark horses kept the audience thoroughly entertained.
"The overall destructive power of the players is getting stronger and stronger..."
In outer space, Han Xiao's virtual projection overlooked the planet, taking in the scene of the players' battle.
He was in stealth mode, so other players couldn't see his projection. They remained focused on the game, never looking up at the sky.
"If players continue to progress through several more versions, with the level cap increasing, they will inevitably become a new source of chaos."
Han Xiao's eyes flickered slightly as he pondered silently.
The interstellar society has now formed a new stable structure, and will maintain overall peace for a considerable period of time. This is good for interstellar citizens, but bad for players.
Having experienced several versions of events, players have already enjoyed the big feasts and witnessed grand scenes. Asking them to go back to doing daily side quests would be unbearable. If there are no new disasters or major events, then restless players will definitely become the "major events." As their strength increases, they will inevitably become more and more agitated, no longer satisfied with leisure, thus breeding chaos.
Various thoughts flashed through Han Xiao's mind. He took a deep look at the sky full of player spaceships, turned around, and disappeared.
On the other side, inside the cabins of the players' spaceships, countless people were staring at the ground competition footage fed back from the satellite screens, shouting and making a great commotion.
The leaders of various guilds and clubs were also paying close attention to the situation in the qualifiers, noting down the dark horses, and whispering among themselves.
"This competition is really top-notch, there are so many amazing people."
"I don't think this is good. I've already seen at least thirty top-tier random players. If our team's players really get crushed by random players, we'll lose face big time."
"I really hope the next version comes soon, opening up higher levels so that guild plans can be implemented."
Many guild leaders were secretly thrilled.
As the level cap was further unlocked, the number of Calamity Grade players in various guilds surged, forming a formal organization, and the operational strength of guild organizations rose accordingly.
Many guilds now command large numbers of Calamity Grade players, giving them enough strength to dominate a region in interstellar society. In order to further widen the gap between their professional players and ordinary players, many professional guilds have privately developed detailed guild power operation plans for the next version, deciding to expand aggressively in the universe in the next version.
While watching the professional league, many guild leaders were already thinking about making a big splash in the next version.
Han Xiao didn't have the time to keep up with the players' professional leagues; for him, it was only good for relaxing. He buried himself in the mechanical factory, almost abandoning all other chores, repeatedly checking the feasibility of the World Tree's information materialization function to break through the Dark Side Universe.
Time flew by amidst the research, and the purges of the Three Universal Civilizations against the Star Alliance gradually came to an end. They had already obtained the war reports fabricated by Han Xiao from the Star Alliance's high-ranking officials, and were speechless at Han Xiao's wicked jokes, thinking that this guy was just outrageous.
However, the leaders of the Three Universal Civilizations couldn't possibly disturb Han Xiao, who was researching a solution to break the closure of the Dark Side Universe, over such a trivial matter. They could only pretend nothing had happened and silently order their people to destroy these unsightly "dark histories."
While in seclusion, they seemed unaware of the passage of time. In the blink of an eye, more than a year had passed. The Three Universal Civilizations had largely completed the dismantling and liquidation of the Star Alliance, digested the vast majority of the spoils of war, and dismembered this enemy lurking in their lairs.
Meanwhile, the fifth professional league for players also came to a close. This time, the Dynasty Club finally returned to the top and won the fifth league championship. Tai Erzi inherited the position of Kings and Generals, leading the team to victory and instantly elevating his historical status to a new level. He was hailed by the club as "the cornerstone of the next dynasty".
Dynasty is the only team to win the championship twice in the five seasons of the league. Their popularity, which had been slightly declining, skyrocketed and they are now at the peak of their careers.
Kings and Generals, the former captain of the Dynasty champion team who is now the team's coach, publicly congratulated Tai Erzi and expressed his great satisfaction. Meat Bun referred to this as "the passing of the baton of the king," a statement that was accepted by players and widely circulated on the forums.
The runner-up and third place this year were the American team "Devil World" and the Russian team "White Vodka". Although the Huaxia team was not as dominant as before and failed to occupy two of the top three spots, their performance was still remarkable. They achieved excellent results in the individual competitions, team speed races and other supplementary events, making a strong impression.
With the professional league coming to an end, version 5.5 has reached its final stage, and it's time for a version update.
In the player guild bases on each planet of the Super Sanctuary, groups of players gather, waiting to log off, chatting idly, creating a cacophony as noisy as a market.
"Finally, another update! I wonder how many years into the future this time."
"The next update should be a major update, and the level cap should at least be raised to 20. Let's take off!"
"I wonder what the next version will bring. We've even dealt with a major enemy like the World Tree, so I don't think anything can shake the current state of interstellar society."
"Didn't you see the Galaxy Times ' theory? It's highly likely that internal conflicts have intensified, and Black Star might turn evil, becoming a new BOSS and challenging the Three Universal Civilizations for supremacy."
"Oh, so that means we can finally go on a killing spree? I'm going to slaughter them all, wow!"
"That feels good. I've been wanting to get rid of those three old bastards for a long time. I'll chop them up and vent my anger later."
"You guys are so useless! Shouldn't we be more concerned about whether the next version can fix the bug that prevents us from being naked?!"
"Yes, yes, yes! If the next version still doesn't allow naked running, I'll definitely complain!"
Listening to the shouts and yells of the players around her, Maple Moon looked disgusted, feeling that these people were hopeless.
As they chatted, time slowly came to the moment they were to log off. A flash of white light appeared, and wave after wave of players disappeared, leaving the lobby empty.
Meanwhile, in the private research room of the Super Sanctuary, Han Xiao, who was engrossed in his research, paused and looked up.
"Hmm, another version update has started."
Han Xiao stopped his work, opened the panel and glanced at it. The forum was closed again, which meant that the time flow of the Dark Side Universe and the Real Universe had been decoupled again, becoming two independent systems once more. And he was the only one left to maintain a stable bridge for information interference.
He has repeatedly studied the feasibility of the transformation plan during this period, and is now more than 70% confident. Although he has made technical contributions, he owes more to the testing and improvement of the previous several Dark Side Iteration. He is also standing on the shoulders of giants to make the final repairs to the plan.
Han Xiao shook his head, closed the panel, and was about to get back to his research when Phillip suddenly appeared:
"Master, Ames has come to your office. She wants to see you."
"Oh, I understand, I'll be right there."
Han Xiao rubbed his temples, had no choice but to put down his research, and went to his office.
As soon as he entered, he saw Ames sitting in her seat with her back to the door.
Hearing the noise, Ames turned her chair around, revealing her long legs stretching out from under her high-slit black dress. She sat cross-legged, staring at Han Xiao with a half-smile, and clicked her tongue, saying, "Busy man, it's really not easy to see you."
"You know I've been very busy lately." Han Xiao walked around the table, came behind the chair, and placed his hands on both sides of Ames's forehead, gently kneading them.
Ames closed her eyes comfortably, but kept chuckling, "Yeah, you're never not busy. If I didn't come to see you occasionally, I'd almost suspect you'd forgotten about me."
"What kind of talk is that? You're just spouting nonsense. You should be punished." Han Xiao curled his lip, a faint electric current emanating from his fingers, causing Ames' eyelashes to tremble.
Ames turned her head away from Han Xiao's fingers, slapped his hand away in annoyance, turned around and stood up, her smile fading, and said seriously:
"I don't understand. The World Tree has been resolved, the Three Universal Civilizations have yielded, and we no longer have any security concerns. Why do you still keep yourself so busy? Where does this pressure come from?!"
"... This is classified information, and I can't tell you yet. In short, it's very tricky." Han Xiao shook his head. Telling the Beyond Grade A group about the secrets of Universe Iteration would be of no use, so he didn't reveal it to anyone other than the leaders of the Three Universal Civilizations.
"Do you remember what I said back then? Ambition has no end. When are you finally willing to stop? Do you really want to replace the Three Universal Civilizations?" Ames frowned. "What is it that you're keeping so tightly hidden? Can't you just tell us and we can all share the burden?"
"You can't help..."
Han Xiao hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand to touch Ames's cheek, feeling the smooth texture, and whispered:
"This should be the last time. I'll make sure we all survive."
Upon hearing this, Ames's expression shifted. Although she didn't know what Han Xiao Han Xiao was hiding, she could hear the seriousness in his tone. Even Beyond God Grade would find it troublesome, so it must be some kind of predicament that she couldn't imagine.
Just as Ames was about to ask further questions, the communicator in the room suddenly started beeping.
The message above was clearly from Mabrus, containing only one sentence...
The Sanctuary Exploration Team is finally back!
Han Xiao's eyes lit up.
I have to leave for a while, I'll see you next time.
Han Xiao tossed out a sentence and hurriedly changed into the Sovereign.
Ames opened her mouth, as if to say something, but the next moment Han Xiao activated teleportation and disappeared from the room in the blink of an eye.
Looking at the empty room, Ames clenched and unclenched her fists several times before taking a deep breath to suppress the complex emotions surging within her.
Her former subordinates, who once needed his protection, are now figures she can only look up the Sight of Father's Back. To this day, she feels increasingly unable to keep up with Han Xiao's pace.
Although Ames was indifferent and rarely dwelled on such matters, over the years, she inevitably felt some concern and disappointment... Even though Han Xiao's attitude towards her remained unchanged, Ames knew that she would hardly have the right to share Han Xiao's burdens anymore.