As a participant in the main storyline and a partner, Han Xiao is looking forward to receiving tasks that will be different from those of other players.
Overmela seemed to be a hidden enemy to him. Han Xiao stroked his chin and thought to himself, "I'll deal with it later. There's no rush now. This is just a small territory."
Looking at the panel, he had accumulated over a million experience points. With nineteen starting villages on Planet Aquamarine, minus the six in Andia, and excluding Big Horn Mountain and Green Valley Town, he still had eleven more opportunities to earn job change skills, more than enough to reach level 60! Then he could go to some dangerous places to collect rare specializations, skills, and machines. That's why there's a saying, "Max level is just the beginning." Although he didn't have a version-wide level cap, simply stacking levels wasn't the most cost-effective approach.
Now that he had access to a huge channel for experience, Han Xiao spent it lavishly, directly using the experience to improve his skills.
Potential points shouldn't be used recklessly, but experience points don't matter.
He immediately upgraded three skills to the maximum level: [Willpower Burning], [Overload], and [Sliding Continuous Fire]. These three combat skills are all very important, further enhancing his burst damage. If [Willpower Burning] and [Overload] are activated simultaneously, a single shot from the Ghost Gauss Sniping Rifle could potentially deal over 2,000 damage. Reaching the maximum level for all three skills also granted him three potential points. Having accumulated 24 potential points, he saved them, knowing he wouldn't waste them unnecessarily.
With the remaining experience, Han Xiao performed several knowledge fusions, randomly obtaining new blueprints. This time, one of the blueprints was quite good.
The "Sunworm" portable flamethrower deals continuous fire damage. Most importantly, it is small in size and has a large attack range. It can be carried by hand or loaded as a small module into armor or robots.
A player who had accepted a town patrol mission suddenly ran over in a panic, shouting, "I've spotted an army! They're approaching, and I've triggered a quest!"
The players in Green Valley Town immediately stirred and checked their character panels.
Han Xiao suddenly raised an eyebrow; he had also received a mission!
[You have triggered the random quest [Green Valley Town Invasion Battle]]
[Mission Brief: Green Valley Town, controlled by Overmela, is very close to Black Pine Settlement, Lü Cheng's territory, and there has been constant friction between them. Now, Lü Cheng is once again invading Green Valley Town with his troops. You can choose to help Overmela defend Green Valley Town, or you can help Lü Cheng attack. Please choose your side.]
[Mission Requirements: Inform Bashas and protect Green Valley Town, or choose to Lü Cheng's team and attack Green Valley Town. PS: Once you choose a faction, you cannot change it.]
[Mission Reward: 1. Select Green Valley Town and complete the defense to receive 12,000 experience points and 3,000 Aquamarine Dollar]
[2. Select Lü Cheng and complete the attack to gain 10,000 experience points]
"I've also received a task for dealing with newbies."
Han Xiao chuckled. He didn't care about the reward, but the mention of Lü Cheng in the mission prompt caught his attention. If he remembered correctly, Lü Cheng was the son of Old Man Lü, a wandering warlord from the Southern Continent.
The four blueprints from Old Man Lü were to be obtained from Lü Cheng. Han Xiao's eyes lit up, and he immediately made a decision: as long as he made contact with Lü Cheng, he would know when the hidden plot would begin.
He had long coveted those four rare blueprints.
"Let's observe first and see if it's Lü Cheng himself leading the team, or one of his men." Han Xiao took out his Sniping rifle and oiled it, looking quite relaxed, a stark contrast to the busy players around him.
This urgent mission prompted players to take action. Some chose to defend Green Valley Town, which offered higher rewards, and went to inform the guards. Others, however, remained on the sidelines.
Upon receiving the report, Bashas jumped out of his lover's bed in surprise, quickly dressed, and hurried to the town's watchtower. The watchtower was built of stone and brick, with a thatched roof. He picked up his binoculars and saw dust rising from the road in the distance as an armed convoy rapidly approached, its forces several times stronger than those in Green Valley Town.
"Damn it, those bastards from Black Pine are here again!" Bashas cursed angrily, his triangular eyes filled with gloom.
Green Valley Town is just a branch of Overmela, while Lü Cheng is a local wandering warlord in the Southern Continent with a much larger power. Black Pine is Lü Cheng's headquarters, and Green Valley Town is located dozens of miles away from Black Pine, in a strategic location. Lü Cheng has been eyeing it for a long time and has made several probing incursions. He never expected to launch an attack today.
Xiao Rui approached Bashas, pointed to the dense crowd of players on the outskirts of the town, and said, "Don't worry, we have cannon fodder, don't we?"
Bashas's eyes lit up. With this group of strange, immortal refugees, they could offset Lü Cheng's military advantage!
Bashas summoned his assistant and instructed him, "Go tell those refugees outside that I need them to hold off Lü Cheng's army. If they do as I say, each of them will be paid."
Xiao Rui added, "Don't give them too much; their lives aren't worth much."
"I understand." This group of refugees is the most useful cannon fodder, the trump card to defeat Lü Cheng. Bashas revealed a ferocious smile; luck was on his side!
Lü Cheng sat in a tank in the center of the vehicle, his expression serious. This unit had more than sixty off-road armored vehicles, equipped with machine guns and rockets, and accompanied by hundreds of elite soldiers, all fully armed and qualified trained warriors, capable of fighting at least three opponents at a time, and knowledgeable in tactical coordination. They were not ordinary rabble or vagrants.
Lü Cheng had long coveted Green Valley Town. This town was located at a strategic pass in the Black Pine Settlement. He couldn't allow others to sleep soundly on his own turf. Only by taking the town could he be free from worries about the future.
"We must take Green Valley Town this time."
As the troops approached Green Valley Town, Lü Cheng immediately spotted the dense crowds surrounding the town, their clothes tattered, resembling a group of refugees, guarding the town.
Lü Cheng's face immediately darkened, a flash of anger crossing his eyes. "Despicable bastard, using refugees as cannon fodder!"
He ordered the armored convoy to stop some distance from the town, just outside the range of the town's machine guns. The exhaust fumes and dust quickly dissipated, the tire tracks on the dirt road emitted a burnt smell, and the high temperature from friction distorted the air.
Players who chose to defend gripped their weapons tightly, ready for battle. The chilling armored vehicles and dense gun barrels made many of them nervous, causing them to swallow hard and their foreheads to glisten with sweat in the sunlight.
Many players who were observing were confused. Wasn't it said that players could choose a faction? It seems like a war is about to break out, and there doesn't seem to be time to choose...
"Bashas, you think you can use these pathetic fellows to hold off my artillery fire?" Lü Cheng pulled out a megaphone, his voice carrying far and wide, clearly audible throughout the town, "My men can tear them to shreds easily. Do you want me to color your territory with my blood?"
Bashas poked his head out from the town's ramparts, a sneer on his face.
Lü Cheng frowned, looking at the group of ragged refugees, and said in a deep voice, "I'm giving you a chance to leave; you don't need to throw your lives away."
But he found that after the refugees stirred for a while, they did not waver.
"Aren't these people afraid of dying?"
Lü Cheng was surprised to find that the group of refugees showed no fear whatsoever, and he hesitated to order an attack.
Bashas had a vague idea of the values of these refugees: indifference to life and greed for profit. Seeing Lü Cheng hesitate, he felt rather smug and utterly contemptuous of Lü Cheng's indecisiveness, muttering sarcastically, "Woman's compassion."
By prioritizing the lives of the refugees over seizing the opportunity to wage war, Lü Cheng's choice seemed foolish to Bashas.
Bashas grinned maliciously, about to order the refugees to fight back, when he suddenly noticed that Black Phantom, who had been standing by, had started to move.
Han Xiao cracked his neck, stood up, and strode leisurely towards the center of the standoff, instantly attracting the attention of both sides and the players. He crossed his arms and declared loudly, "Give me some face; if we're going to fight, we'll talk about it tomorrow!"
With the amplification of his strength, his voice was as loud as a megaphone, startling everyone present.
"How did he interfere?!" Bashas hurriedly swallowed back the order he was about to utter.
Lü Cheng was stunned. After looking him over for a while, he exclaimed, "Black Phantom?! What's this guy doing here?"
Both commanders, wary, ordered their troops to lay down their guns, and the tense atmosphere instantly dissipated.
Players were filled with doubt and uncertainty. They were still figuring out the background of Planet Aquamarine. From the mission description, they could tell that Bashas and Lü Cheng were warlords with powerful backgrounds. However, the fact that Black Phantom was alone made these two warlords with their troops wary and cautious. This immediately piqued the players' curiosity.
Black Phantom stopped an impending war with a single sentence, putting both warlords on high alert. Just who is he?
Look at this line, "Give me some face." What kind of high status does someone have to be qualified to say that? The most terrifying thing is that the two warlords actually stopped fighting. Just how much weight does his "face" carry?!
Wait a minute, all these NPCs know Black Phantom. Just how famous is he on this planet? Has he reached the point where he can be recognized anywhere?
"Is this the legendary 'face fruit'?"
The man secretly recording the Meat Bun Hits Dog, was thrilled; he wanted exactly this kind of sensational material.