Frost Pine Town is a barren gathering place for newbies. The barrenness means there are many quests. Although the players here have simple equipment, they have a lot of experience. A considerable number of players come to buy skills, and people often come to take photos with them. Han Xiao is the core. Wherever he goes, a dense crowd gathers.
After spending a day gaining experience, Han Xiao left Frost Pine Town, returned to the plane, gathered his equipment, and headed to the Ofmera Family.
He naturally felt no sense of belonging to the original owner's family, but he couldn't help being curious about the original owner. It would be a good opportunity to inquire about it, and besides, Overmela was still hunting down his original identity, Han Xiao was very interested in contacting them.
"The Ofmera Family, warlords and powerful figures in the North Continent, have a cooperative relationship with Terilous. They own twenty-four settlements worldwide, including five large territories. They possess immense wealth and are legally registered as a conglomerate in Terilous. They are involved in the book business and politics, with each industry managed by different factions. Within the Overmela family, there are four main factions: the Main Family Faction led by Delo Overmela, the Xiao Faction led by second-in-command Xiao Jin, the Red Isle Faction led by third-in-command Saqi, and the more loosely organized Northern Faction, a local alliance."
"Overmela is a warlord force formed by the combined forces of those who lost their kingdoms. Its Main Family Faction is in charge, while other factions submit to its banner. It absorbed many loosely organized small warlords, becoming one of the most powerful warlord forces in the North Continent, wielding considerable military power. Later, it accepted Terilous's offer of amnesty, gaining official backing. In recent years, it has not made any major moves, mainly focusing on resolving some thorny issues for Terilous, especially for Raylen."
The situation in the North Continent is different. Unlike other countries where things are peaceful, the conflict Terilous and Raylen is fierce, and bloodshed often breaks out. Soldiers, agents, and superhumans from both countries fight each other on the secret front. Hatred is deeply rooted. Terilous and Raylen are highly aggressive countries. Two tigers cannot share one mountain. In the two or three decades since the beginning of the new era, both countries have been trying to eliminate each other at all times.
The two sides only stopped talking recently when they decided to join forces to launch an expedition against the nascent Germinal.
Han Xiao pondered, "The Overmela headquarters is a den of dragons and tigers. Although Overmela is wary of my identity and strength, this is because they have a large family and business. Strictly speaking, I am now their enemy, and we might have to fight."
A large settlement sits halfway up a snow-covered mountain range. This is the headquarters of the Overmela, a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. There are only two ways to enter the settlement: the first is a heavily guarded mountain road, and the second is to climb up a cliff on the other side of the settlement, which is also guarded.
The mountain rocks were dark green, the snow and frost were white, and the cold wind was biting.
At the mountain pass, a sentry in thick cotton clothes looked around and suddenly saw a figure slowly approaching in the snow in the distance.
"Someone's approaching!" the sentry shouted to his comrades, who quickly came into view. The sentries' expressions hardened; it was the Black Phantom that their leaders had instructed them to be especially wary of.
Looking at the towering and imposing pass, Han Xiao's eyes flashed. Just as the intelligence had said, the defenses were very tight.
I just don't know how Overmela feels about him.
His question was soon answered.
Not long after, the pass opened, and a small team escorted a man out. The man approached Han Xiao with a forced smile and said, "Mr. Black Phantom, welcome to Overmela. My name is Wumile, and I've come specifically to receive you. Please follow me up the mountain; the leaders have been waiting for you."
Well, it seems like a fight won't break out immediately. Judging from their words and expressions, it feels like they're about to set up a trap. Sigh, what a hassle. Can't we solve things with the simplest, most violent means? This isn't called being brutal; it's returning to simplicity, skipping the process and going straight to the final step of fighting. It saves everyone's effort.
"Time is money, oh well, I'm already here..."
Master Han lifted his single-shoulder backpack full of machinery and followed Wumile up the mountain path.
The mountain path was shrouded in mist, and the two passed through one pass after another, with a guard unit accompanying them.
Throughout the journey, Han Xiao maintained a somber expression. Wumile repeatedly tried to probe, but Han Xiao's demeanor forced him to swallow his words. After much deliberation, he finally forced a smile and said, "The leaders were quite surprised to hear that you were coming to visit, after all, we had an unpleasant encounter not long ago."
"Are you curious about why I'm here?"
"That's true. Strictly speaking, we're not friends, but since you've come in person, I believe you've come with friendly intentions," Wumile said.
"I'm here to cause trouble, and I haven't decided who to kill yet, so why don't I start with you?" Han Xiao said.
"Heh, with your capabilities, why would you need to visit us if you wanted to Assassination one of our mid-level officers?" Wumile said without changing his expression. "That joke isn't funny."
"Is that so?" Han Xiao glanced at the guards beside him. The soldiers were expressionless, their fingers never leaving the trigger, displaying a cold and masculine demeanor, their eyes fixed straight ahead. However, the cold sweat dripping from their temples and their rapid breathing betrayed that they were not as calm as they appeared.
The guard captain secretly glanced at him, but Han Xiao caught it in an instant. The captain was so startled that he quickly looked away, keeping his eyes down.
"But they seem to find it very interesting." Han Xiao said with a half-smile, patting the captain's shoulder and clearly feeling the captain's body tense up for a moment.
Wumile wore a smile on his face, but inwardly he cursed, thinking, "This person doesn't seem to have good intentions. They're confident and fearless; I can't figure out their purpose."
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and suddenly asked, "Wumile... is that your name? Which faction are you from, your Main Family Faction, or someone else?"
Wumile's expression turned awkward, and he coughed lightly. "I'm a member of the Ofmera Family, nothing more."
Han Xiao smiled and said nothing more.
The two remained silent until the territory gates came into view.
Wumile breathed a sigh of relief and said, "We've arrived. The leaders are waiting for you in the hall."
The gates swung open, and hundreds of soldiers filed out. Their numerical superiority seemed to embolden them, and they glared menacingly at Han Xiao.
Wumile led the way, deliberately walking slowly and lingering among the armed forces, hoping to intimidate the Black Phantom.
Han Xiao knew perfectly well what was going on, but remained unmoved. This tactic was useless against him. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he spotted some floating IDs outside the crowd. There were players here.
"That's true. Overmela isn't far from Frost Pine Town, so some players who leave the starting village have a chance of coming here..."
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, "Since Overmela already has players, why is it sending people to capture Inhuman...?"
There were many possibilities, but Han Xiao didn't think much of it and put it out of his mind. The purpose of this trip was Overmela, and it didn't matter whether the players were there or not.
What are these soldiers doing gathered together?
In the distance, a dozen or so players were whispering among themselves, their IDs all prefixed with "Bamboo Rain." They were all members of the "Bamboo Rain" guild, a small, casual guild with only a few dozen members, all of whom were young.
The president, Bamboo Rain Drifting Fragrance, a pretty girl with long flowing hair, asked in surprise, "They seem to be welcoming someone. Is this an unexpected event?"
"Let's go take a look, maybe we can trigger a quest." Bamboo Rain Little Fei, who was rather handsome, asked the group members for their opinions with a questioning look after he finished speaking.
Naturally, no one objected. Currently, this settlement is only occupied by players from the Bamboo Rain Guild. They found this place by chance, as it wasn't marked on the maps sold in the newbie village.
The player's interface map is shrouded in fog; only by purchasing a map or personally exploring the areas can more locations be revealed.
As she approached the crowd, Bamboo Rain Xuanxuan screamed, "That's Black Phantom!"
Everyone was shocked. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was true and looked at each other in disbelief.
"Why would Black Phantom be here, and why do the people here seem hostile towards him?" Bamboo Rain Drifting Fragrance Xiang frowned in thought, saying, "He was appearing in various newbie villages just a few days ago; there must be a reason for his sudden appearance here."
Bamboo Rain Xuanxuan's eyes lit up, "This is a sudden plot development! There might be a hidden mission!"
"Luckily, I haven't met Black Phantom yet. I can learn skills from him without having to go to the starting village."
"I remember some video creators were collecting his footage."
Seeing Han Xiao walk into the hall, everyone hurriedly stopped in their tracks. The hall was a high-level area that was not open to them and required a high enough faction relationship. However, Black Phantom was able to enter directly, leaving them helpless.
Bamboo Rain Drifting Fragrance said, "Let's all wait outside; he might come out soon."