Hundreds of supply boxes were neatly stacked in the warehouse, forming a small mountain, containing countless parts and materials that Han Xiao had stockpiled.
This is a secret base located under the Third Sanctuary. When the Sanctuary was being built, Han Xiao also secretly expanded the base. Now it is his hidden stronghold. All roads are equipped with access control and defensive machine gun arrays. In addition to fixed cameras monitoring all entrances, there are countless detection spiders lurking in the shadows. It is extremely heavily guarded.
Han Xiao has three warehouses. One is for raw materials and parts, the second is for stockpiled mechanical equipment, which he built to practice and gain manufacturing experience before selling to players. The last one is an important warehouse where he keeps the equipment he uses. His new mecha, Flying Serpent, is stored in the important warehouse.
The items in these warehouses are all preparations for his journey to interstellar space.
The recent dungeon feature brought him another fortune, with money pouring in. He didn't know how much wealth he would accumulate before heading to interstellar space, but the excellent situation didn't excite Han Xiao too much; he saw some problems.
If they're making money off the players, where does that money come from?
Naturally, it involves completing tasks from other NPCs.
Essentially, players act as human transporters, gathering the scattered wealth of NPCs and then sending it to Han Xiao's pocket. So, if players want to earn money, they have to work for other NPCs. To increase the player's spending level, they need to inject fresh money at the source by increasing the number of NPCs in the Sanctuary.
Another issue is that players won't stay in the main city forever; they will definitely go to other places to do quests and experience the story. To encourage players to return home, in addition to the various activities that are currently being improved, it's also necessary to make transportation in the main city convenient.
Han Xiao plans to build a new transportation network for the Sanctuary, including railway tracks and regular flights. This is a huge budget, which the Dark Net cannot afford for the time being. Bennett is developing a new Sanctuary and has no spare money.
Both of these problems have the same solution:
Find a sucker who's willing to pay and provide manpower.
The phone rang, and Huang Yu's voice came through when it was answered, "The Ofmera Family's visiting force has arrived at the Sanctuary's entrance. Should we let them in?"
As he fiddled with the bullet casing, Han Xiao revealed a meaningful smile.
"Go in, of course we have to go in."
A convoy of cars was parked at the entrance of the Sanctuary. Xiao Jin had personally led a group to pay a visit. The group was mainly composed of members of the Xiao Faction, led by Xiao Jin and including a number of his nephews and nieces. In addition to the Xiao Faction, representatives from the Main Family Faction and the Red Isle Faction also accompanied the group, mainly to express their attitudes.
The group was left waiting at the door for a long time, but Xiao Jin showed no impatience. He knew that he was the weaker party and had come to ask for help.
After waiting for a long time, they were finally allowed to pass. He looked around at the Sanctuary facilities, nodding frequently, and followed Huang Yu to the reception hall. He looked up and saw Han Xiao sitting in the main seat, looking at them with a playful gaze.
Without the mask, this face appeared to the Xiao Faction members as the long-lost Xiao Han. However, they couldn't see through Han Xiao at this moment; he seemed like a completely different person, his eyes fixed on a group of strangers. Xiao Jin didn't dare to call out to his son rashly. He cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "Black Phantom."
Han Xiao glanced at everyone, expressionless, and didn't answer. He leaned back in his chair like a mountain king, crossed his legs, casually fiddling with the gleaming yellow bullets, and just stared straight at everyone.
Xiao Jin understood the meaning, looked at Xiao Hai and the group of nephews and nieces behind him, and gestured with his head. The group of Xiao Faction juniors stirred up a commotion, hesitated for a few seconds, and then reluctantly greeted him.
"Godfather."
"Oh, you've arrived." Han Xiao spoke calmly, as if he had seen through everything. Xiao Jin must have anticipated this awkward seniority before coming. These younger members of the Xiao Faction were certainly prepared; their hesitant expressions were deliberately staged to imply that the current form of address was inappropriate and it was time to acknowledge each other, hoping to reinstate him as "Xiao Jin's son" and solidify their relationship. However, it was useless against him; he wasn't truly "Xiao Han."
Han Xiao remained unmoved and asked, "What do you want from my visit?"
Seeing this, Xiao Jin coughed and said, "I can explain what happened before, but your brother wants to apologize to you in person."
Xiao Hai took a deep breath, put on an apologetic expression, and quickly went over his apology in his mind. He had already thought of how to apologize on the way here.
You must weep bitterly and grovel, showing remorse for the fratricide; then you'll have a good chance of gaining Han Xiao's forgiveness.
Once the relationship is restored, Overmela will have secured this powerful backer, and even if Xiao Hai is unwilling, he will have to grit his teeth and play the part of repenting and turning over a new leaf.
Taking a step forward, Xiao Hai was about to speak.
Bang!
Everyone was startled and looked in the direction of the sound. A smoking crater appeared right at Xiao Hai's feet. If he had taken a step forward, he would have been hit in the instep.
Xiao Hai couldn't take that step and remained frozen in place.
The empty cartridge fell to the ground. Han Xiao's fingers were wrapped in a dark blue Mechanical Force, and his fingernails emitted a wisp of black smoke. He flicked his finger, which acted as a firing pin, igniting the primer. He fired a bullet with his bare hands. This was incredibly cool, and even he thought it looked awesome.
Its power is limited, but it's enough to scare people.
"I don't need an apology. Let's get down to business," Han Xiao said calmly.
Xiao Jin's expression changed slightly, realizing something was wrong. This meant it was over; they were only talking about business, not feelings. This had disrupted his plans, and he had no choice but to ask Xiao Hai to back down.
Xiao Hai gritted his teeth. He was ready to apologize, but he wasn't even given a chance to read his prepared statement. Han Xiao didn't even glance at him. A deep sense of frustration welled up inside him.
Xiao Jin composed himself and said in a deep voice, "The Germinal have been sown. From now on, the Six Nations will be the sole superpowers. Due to the deteriorating climate, many wanderers will choose to leave their settlements and join the six Six Nations. Once the Six Nations have recovered, they will eventually purge us scattered warlord forces, even if we were once partners of the Six Nations..."
"Unless you find someone who can protect you." Han Xiao stroked his chin.
Xiao Jin nodded, his meaning unspoken. He wanted to plan ahead and align himself with Han Xiao and the Dark Net.
Han Xiao changed the subject abruptly. "Pay back your debts. Don't you have any self-awareness about how you got to this position?"
Xiao Jin looked helpless. He originally wanted to talk about feelings, but Han Xiao only talked about interests, just like when they made contact last time disguised as Black Phantom.
"... What do you want?"
"Money, manpower, and we also need to relocate people to the vicinity of the Sanctuary, turning it into a citadel. It'll be difficult to collect debts from so far away."
The expressions on the faces of the people in Overmela changed slightly.
This demand required them to abandon their former businesses, and everyone looked to Xiao Jin for his decision.
Xiao Jin paused for a moment, then decisively conceded, "Fine."
He was focused on the future. War brought chaos, but also order. There would be fewer and fewer wanderers. Once the Six Nations were free, the warlord settlement model would be forcefully broken. Rather than waiting for the cunning rabbit to die and the hunting dog to be cooked, it was better to seek a way out as soon as possible and change the family's business model.
The Sanctuary on the Dark Net can also be considered settlements, but they are different from those of warlords. The Six Nations allow the existence of Sanctuary. After Xiao Jin, Xiao Jin thought it was an opportunity. You have to give up something to gain something, so he agreed.
After dismissing the others, only Han Xiao and Xiao Jin remained. The two discussed the specific details of the deal. Xiao Jin was meek and submissive, constantly making compromises. The final result was that Overmela would fund the construction of transportation routes and gradually relocate the personnel from various strongholds to the Sanctuary, including refugees and wanderers under their jurisdiction, which would enrich the Sanctuary's population.
Overmela was a sucker Han Xiao found. Han Xiao had no intention of inheriting the original owner's relationship, but he could use Overmela to his advantage, since these people weren't good people anyway.
"I heard your Southern Continent branch is still causing trouble for Lü Cheng... He's a friend of mine."
"I know what to do," Xiao Jin sighed.
Besides Overmela, Han Xiao also plans to bring Lü Cheng over, to prevent Overmela from becoming too powerful. The Sanctuary's competitors already have warlord forces, and the Dark Net will support his actions.
Speaking of which, Old Man Lü still hasn't received the blueprints.