The battle lasted only fifteen minutes before it ended. The monstrous waves of steel slaughtered the swarm of insects, leaving behind a trail of green sludge that emitted a foul stench under the intense heat.
The team was unharmed, and everyone frequently glanced at Han Xiao, who was calmly smoking. They felt very safe. They had been uneasy when they left the Sanctuary, after all, there were many dangers in the wilderness of Planet Aquamarine, but now it seemed that as long as Han Xiao was there, there was no danger.
Liu Chao discovered that his own guards had become the ones being protected, and he couldn't help but feel awe and admiration for Han Xiao; the strong are always admired.
[Your mechanical creation killed the Desert Blood Shell Pincer (lv15), you gained 10 experience points]
If your level is significantly higher than the level of the monster you kill, your experience will be greatly reduced. Each insect only gives you ten experience points, but little by little, there are at least tens of thousands of them here. Han Xiao checked his panel and found that he had gained more than 100,000 experience points.
The circling helicopter landed. Huang Yu had just looked down from the helicopter and saw the endless swarm of insects falling like wheat being harvested, while the camp remained unmoved. Countless bullets rained down like blooming petals, a scene that deeply shocked him.
Huang Yu had originally planned to escape by plane and almost abandoned the others to run away first. Now that the crisis was over, he looked a little embarrassed, feeling that the people around him were looking at him with contempt and dissatisfaction.
"The Mechanic Class is so strong..." Hao Tian, holding the Baby Bear, frowned in thought. As Pugilist Class, he couldn't help but worry about his career prospects.
On the contrary, the former Pugilist Class master, Frenzied Saber Tu Shu, is increasingly glad he chose the Mechanic Class, which is quite awkward...
"More material!" Meat Bun Hits Dog said happily, knowing that with Black Phantom around, there was no shortage of content to make videos.
Three players also triggered the mission to protect the team, but ended up just playing a minor role, gaining a considerable amount of experience out of nowhere. The other two were used to this, but it was Hao Tian's first time experiencing it.
Looking at the huge increase in experience points, Hao Tian felt complicated. The rewards from all the hard work of completing tasks were not as good as just following Han Xiao around.
No wonder so many people want to trigger Black Phantom's hidden storyline; the rewards are just too great. Even a professional player like him had a similar "forgetting home" feeling.
The dangers of the wilderness come from wild beasts, bandits, and radioactive fallout. With the protection of these steel war machines, we encountered several wild beast attacks along the way, but we overcame them all without any real danger.
With only one day left to reach the Gray Iron Ruins, the convoy set up camp.
The night sky was bright and clear, with countless stars twinkling. It was a bright and clear night, and when you looked up, a whole galaxy of stars was reflected in your eyes. The technological environment of Planet Aquamarine was similar to that of Earth, but its natural environment was even more beautiful.
Located in the Ninth Star Zone of the Garton Star System, this sector has a low density of civilizations but a high density of planets. Numerous barren planets are quietly captured and orbited by denser planets. Planet Aquamarine orbits a single star, neither too close nor too far, with a temperature suitable for human habitation. Planet Aquamarine also has several satellites orbiting it (satellites in the celestial sense), which are like "moons" reflecting starlight onto the dark side of the planet's rotation.
Before the old days, some countries also built rockets to land satellites, which were then found to be desolate.
The opportunity for the Goddora Civilization to make contact with Planet Aquamarine was when an interstellar spectrometer on a Goddora exploration shuttle captured vacuum noise waves emitted by a low-tech rocket manufactured by Planet Aquamarine in space.
Goddora is a galactic-level civilization, based in the Garton Star System. Its exploration area covers multiple star sectors of the Garton Star System. It leans towards the Order faction and engages in civilizational contact with a friendly attitude.
Han Xiao recently read some of the research on celestial bodies by the countries of Planet Aquamarine. Players can also obtain this information through various channels. The details are very realistic, so the players' sense of immersion is always very strong. From the perspective of an NPC, Han Xiao can see more.
Inside the tent, Han Xiao and Kony Fury were discussing the blueprint when a guard came in to report:
"Sir, we have captured a vagrant who was loitering near our camp."
This was a young wanderer, dressed in rags, carrying a double-barreled shotgun that had been confiscated by the guards. Seeing the armed guards everywhere in the camp, fear appeared on his face, and he trembled.
"Are there any settlements around here?" Han Xiao had an idea and turned to ask.
Liu Chao glanced at the map and said, "There are several medium-sized settlements."
Han Xiao nodded, staring thoughtfully at the young man. The young man felt a pressure from the black-clad man's gaze, making his legs go weak. Before Han Xiao could ask any questions, he stammered, "I'm a wanderer from a nearby settlement, out hunting. I happened to see you passing by, so I wanted to come closer and take a look..."
Han Xiao stroked his chin and pondered for a few seconds. Seeing that the young man was pale and thin, he said, "Liu Chao, get him some food."
The young man was taken aback.
"Go back and tell the people in your settlement that our group will be building a city in the Gray Iron Ruins. We offer plenty of job opportunities with pay, and we welcome anyone who wants to settle down. Convey my message to your village chief; we hope they will move here."
The heavy sack of grain brought the young man back to his senses, and he immediately showed a look of surprise and delight.
He was a hunter in the settlement, but he hadn't caught much game lately. The people in the settlement could only eat three-tenths of their usual amount each day and were often hungry. This amount of food would allow them to have a few full meals.
When he was caught, the young man was very scared. But when he realized that these people were not bad, he was a little relieved and secretly considered Han Xiao's suggestion.
Most wanderers are starving, so the prospect of exchanging work for food is indeed very appealing.
After having the young man sent away, Han Xiao took out a map and pondered, "The Gray Iron Ruins are desolate. There's no one within thirty miles, but further away, there are a dozen or so scattered settlements, mostly small, with about two or three thousand people in total. Liu Chao, you take some men and some food to spread the news that we've established Sanctuary."
Sanctuary are meant to shelter refugees from the wilderness, so it's normal for them to attract wanderers. Huang Yu thought he had seen through Han Xiao's plan, thinking to himself, "So he wants to hire wanderers as workers, but there are still too few."
Han Xiao wants to complete the basic blueprint of the Sanctuary within a month, which requires at least 100,000 people, far more than the Wanderers can manage.
Huang Yu shook his head, not optimistic about the one-month plan, which would most likely fail. It wouldn't cause much loss to the organization, but it would damage Black Phantom's prestige and reputation. If he couldn't keep his word, the other higher-ups' evaluation of Han Xiao would naturally decline.
"Anyway, I'll stay for a month and then apply to be transferred back to headquarters." With no opportunity to earn merit or make a quick buck, Huang Yu didn't want to waste his time as an assistant at the Third Sanctuary.
Leaving aside Huang Yu's inner thoughts, Liu Chao said with difficulty, "But if the guards are dispersed, the team's defensive strength won't be enough..."
Han Xiao pointed to the Generation 2.5 Ranger patrolling the camp according to procedures and routes, and chuckled.
I'll give you one more chance to say it.
"I guarantee I'll complete the mission." Liu Chao immediately changed his tune and snapped to attention.
The vast Ghost Wasteland, its reddish-brown earth like congealed blood, I've returned here once again, the scenery so familiar.
"Come to think of it, I haven't been back to the base for quite some time," Han Xiao thought to himself. The base had been in standby mode and hadn't been used much.
The outline of this abandoned city came into view amidst the Gray Iron Ruins.
There used to be a main road in the wasteland, but it has been neglected for years and is now overgrown with weeds. The cement road surface is cracked, and greenery is sprouting from the cracks. Old, grayish-yellow newspapers are being blown by the wind and slowly moving across the road. The streetlights, which have long since stopped working, are covered with vines.
The atmosphere was bleak.
The entrance to the Gray Iron Ruins was a wide, abandoned road. The convoy moved along the road, and apart from the sound of engines and wheels rolling on the road, all was silent.
The thought of transforming this abandoned city into Sanctuary weighed heavily on everyone's minds.
[Arrived at Gray Iron Ruins, current team size: 1034, damage rate: 0%]
[Objective achieved]
[You have gained 250,000 experience points]
[Task rating upgraded to D-]
The main mission Han Xiao received for the Sanctuary was to [establish the Third Sanctuary]. It was a major mission that required overall planning, so dozens of construction requirements were set up based on the dozens of types of buildings that Sanctuary should have.
The current objective of the task has changed.
[Current Goal: Complete the blueprint construction within three months]
[Current Time: Day 1]
[Complete the following thirteen construction requirements within three months [expand/collapse], reward 800,000 experience points, +1250 Dark Net Organization reputation, and improved mission evaluation]
[Additional Condition: Completing the initial construction ahead of schedule will grant additional rewards and evaluations based on the number of days completed. For each day completed ahead of schedule, the experience reward will increase by 10%.]