Twenty days have passed since the Goddora escort fleet suffered an undeserved calamity.
After the last incident, the Goddora fleet lived in constant fear. Crew members never dared to go to the toilet for more than two minutes, for fear of following in Commander Battet's footsteps and ending up with their faces covered in perfume.
Fortunately, Ames had gone traveling elsewhere ten days prior. Until she left Planet Aquamarine, Battet didn't dare to protest to Ames's face. He was as cowardly as a quail, swallowing his anger and sulking alone.
Hila and Aurora did not leave with Ames; instead, they remained on Planet Aquamarine for disaster relief.
However, they accepted Ames's invitation and already possessed the title of "Disciples of the Dragon Emperor".
Ames understood the current situation on Planet Aquamarine and did not force the two to leave with her immediately. The two sides reached a consensus that after the Mutation Disaster was resolved, Han Xiao would be responsible for sending Hila and Aurora to Dragon Calm for further studies.
Having witnessed Ames's strength, Hila realized the gap between herself and top-tier powerhouses. With countless powerful beings in the universe, she deeply understood that she was still very weak and unable to protect herself and her sister. Naturally, she would not refuse Ames's kindness. It can also be understood that the sense of urgency brought about by her paranoia was the root of her pursuit of power.
In fact, when Han Xiao returned, Hila understood that her future could not be limited to Planet Aquamarine. One day she would step into a higher level. Her original idea was to put aside her pride and take her sister with her to follow Han Xiao into the universe. However, Ames ' unexpected intervention became a better opportunity.
Han Xiao agreed. Although Hila had talent, her combat strength was no longer up to his current level. Training under the Dragon Emperor should greatly unleash her potential and allow her to quickly reach a level where she could stand on her own, thus helping him in the future.
On the other hand, in the past month, the sub-base project has been basically completed, and the players have worked day and night to complete the renovation of the main urban area of Sanctuary.
The main urban area is the area inside the city walls. New cables have been laid, and the energy core of the Sanctuary has been replaced with a stable interstellar-class high-energy reactor. The massive energy supply provides a city-class shield covering the main urban area and an electromagnetic railgun array distributed in a hexagonal pattern.
On the day of its completion, the main urban area was separated and became "Black Star Base No. 2". The area surrounding the main urban area was an expansion area built by refugees, which can be roughly divided into seven citadels, several times larger than the main urban area. This outer area retained the name "Black Phantom Sanctuary". The technology of Number Two Base far surpassed that of Planet Aquamarine, and it was impregnable. Even if the Six Nations attacked together, they could not do anything to the base.
The city plan is obvious, divided into an inner city of the base and an outer city of the Sanctuary. This is the prototype of the Black Star Mercenary Group's stronghold on Planet Aquamarine.
Because of ample funds, most of the base equipment was purchased. The advantage of spending money is that it saves time. Han Xiao had time to build two mass production lines for machinery. One was an electromagnetic gun with considerable power for players, and the other was a low-level energy shield. Both were suitable for selling to current players.
Although Number One Base also has production lines for these two types of equipment, Number Two Base needs to have a certain level of production capacity to increase local output and avoid stockouts.
Currently, most players have surpassed the level 60 threshold and completed their first racial ascension. Players continue to level up, causing Han Xiao's experience gains to temporarily decrease. However, players' wallets are gradually filling up, and Enas is gradually replacing the original currency system.
Besides Frenzied Saber and others, other players also had some spare money. A small number of players could afford mercenary group faction goods. In the past month, these low-level mechanical goods brought Han Xiao 380,000 Enas.
Although the overall spending power of players is still far lower than that of high-spending groups, it's a good start.
After deducting the expenses of the manufacturing base, Han Xiao currently has more than 4.8 million Enas in savings, including 600,000 from the high-level player group.
Apart from these two events, the situation on Planet Aquamarine has been stable for the past month, and the turmoil in Goddora seems to have had no impact on it.
The second phase of the Mutation Disaster was gradually brought under control, and the player's main quest progressed smoothly. Everything seemed to be getting better, but Han Xiao knew that this was just the calm before the storm.
Today, the unexpected finally arrived.
Goddora has developed an antidote!
Nagokin secretly escorted the antidote back and immediately sought out Han Xiao.
"Black Star, the research department has created an antidote based on your sample, which is still in the experimental stage. Planet Aquamarine is the first pilot area."
Nagokin took out his communicator, pulled up an encrypted file containing information about the antidote, and handed it to Han Xiao for review.
Han Xiao glanced at it briefly, his eyes flashing, "Two antidotes?"
"Yes, the research department discovered the operating mechanism of the Mutation Source through samples. They found that the entity's abilities have a certain radiation response. Therefore, the first antidote is a mechanical device that can interfere with the Mutation Source's ability wavelength within a certain range, reducing the entity's special radiation response. The specific effect is to reduce the hormone levels of infected individuals when they are sick. Previously, infected individuals could not control their behavior when they were sick, but this will become barely controllable. This can be understood as weakening the Mutation Source's control over infected individuals."
Nagokin explained.
Han Xiao nodded, "In this way, once this device is deployed, infected individuals within a radius of several dozen miles will no longer need to inject inhibitors."
The production of inhibitors is far from meeting the needs of refugees, and they can only be injected individually. In contrast, the inhibitor developed by Goddora provides wide-range inhibition, with an efficiency that is a million times greater. It can be said to have solved the biggest problem at present.
Nagokin said in a deep voice, "The other antidote is an injectable solution that works by disrupting the molecular structure of the Mutation Source. Once injected into the Mutation Source, it can be destroyed!"
The corresponding image in the document is a tube of pure white colloidal solution.
"As expected..." Han Xiao's eyes narrowed.
The Mutation Source can absorb energy, and most attacks have limited effect on it. It is extremely resilient and can regrow as long as it is not completely destroyed. This injection is its nemesis, disrupting the Mutation Source's internal balance and triggering a domino effect that directly disintegrates it at the molecular level, causing the Mutation Source's consciousness to perish.
The second antidote is the only way to fundamentally solve the Mutation Disaster!
Han Xiao suddenly had a flash of inspiration. In the previous life's story, when the Mutation Source grew to a very high stage, the stored energy was converted into combat power, making it extremely powerful. Countless players cooperated with the Goddora people to fight the Mutation Source like a BOSS. Although there was only one opponent, the Primitive controlled countless beasts and infected, making that final battle extremely large in scale.
Now, due to my influence, the final battle has been brought forward by more than a year. The Mutation Source is far from reaching the level of the previous life, which means that the difficulty of the [Mutation Disaster] BOSS has plummeted!
Han Xiao tapped the table. "So, our current task is to find the Mutation Source on Planet Aquamarine. The chances of finding it like finding a needle in a haystack are too low. Do you have any other methods?"
"Yes! In addition to the two antidotes, the Research Department has also created a detector that can sense the wavelength of the Mutation Source! As long as you stay within a two-kilometer radius of the Mutation Source for more than ten seconds, the detector can pinpoint its location. Alas, time is limited, and the Research Department can only create a detector with this level of performance for now."
Nagokin took out a palm-sized device, similar to some kind of radiation detector.
Han Xiao picked up the detector and pondered, "Although it can only pinpoint a location within two thousand meters, it's still much better than blindly searching... Hmm, this kind of detector has a very simple structure."
"Yes, once you understand the principles of the Primitive, manufacturing the detector is easy and inexpensive."
Han Xiao's expression brightened, keenly sensing a business opportunity. "That's great! Have the research department give me the blueprints, and I'll mass-produce the detectors, distribute them to the Inhuman, and then disperse them to different continents and locations for a comprehensive search!"
"Wouldn't it be faster to send out a spaceship...?" Nagokin wondered.
"That's not necessarily true. The detector only reacts within two kilometers, which can be considered a spherical area with a radius of two kilometers. As the altitude increases, the sensing range also shrinks. At two kilometers, only the apex of the spherical area remains, so the spaceship must fly very low. Moreover, it takes ten seconds to lock onto the position within two kilometers, so the spaceship can only maintain low-speed flight, otherwise it will miss the Primitive. Don't forget, the Mutation Source also moves."
Han Xiao shook his head and said, "In comparison, it would be better to organize manpower to search on the ground. In addition to the Inhuman, the armies of the Six Nations can also help. With enough manpower, no area will be missed."
Nagokin was taken aback. Although he felt something was off, Han Xiao's words seemed to make sense, so he nodded and said, "Then let's do it your way."
Han Xiao smiled upon hearing this.
For a long time, Sanctuary and Goddora could only passively provide disaster relief, helpless against the Mutation Source. Now everything is different!
With the three things that Goddora researched, they can finally take the initiative and eradicate the Mutation Disaster!
"The day has finally come!" Han Xiao's eyes sharpened.
Two days later, the Sanctuary and many cities in the Six Nations deployed alienation suppression devices, finally overcoming the production limitations of the inhibitors. During this period, a large-scale outbreak verified that the suppression devices were indeed effective.
Although infected individuals may experience various emotions, those with a strong will and a rational mind can suppress the impulses that arise when the illness manifests.
Willpower is precisely the strength of the people of Planet Aquamarine, who have suffered countless disasters.
Finally, the refugees who were being sheltered by various parties truly felt safe and no longer lived in constant fear. Although the Mutation Disaster had not been completely resolved, for the first time in months, the people of Planet Aquamarine saw the dawn of overcoming the catastrophe.
The happiest person was One Leaf Green, who no longer had to work overtime to cultivate inhibitor raw materials and could finally relax.
When he finally had some free time, One Leaf Green saw smiles on the faces of countless refugees for the first time. Something seemed to touch his heart, and he realized how many lives his actions had saved.
This feeling... made her feel very special and warm.
Bennett and the high-ranking officials of the Six Nations also breathed a sigh of relief. They were unaware of the inside story of Han Xiao's contribution of the samples and thought it was all thanks to Goddora. So they all sent official expressions of gratitude and thanks to Nagokin, the commander of Goddora's disaster relief team.
This made Nagokin feel awkward and strange – the biggest contributors are the people of Planet Aquamarine, yet they come to thank me; it's putting the cart before the horse!
However, although he inwardly complained about these Planet Aquamarine people, he was determined to abide by the confidentiality regulations and did not reveal Han Xiao's actions to outsiders.
From the players' perspective, the plot is naturally not that complicated. They only know that Goddora suddenly developed a suppression device, which slowed down the rate at which the main quest progress declined each day.
At this critical juncture, the Black Star Mercenary Group suddenly issued a large-scale mission, attracting the attention of all players.
[[Lock On to the Source]]
[Mission Introduction: The Mutation Disaster is the root of all evil. The unknown fate fills people with unease. Finally, the day countless people have longed for has arrived. Black Star has found a way to eradicate the disaster, and he... needs your help.]
[Mission Requirements: You will be randomly deployed to a location on Planet Aquamarine. Use the Mutation Source Detector to locate the Mutation Source on Planet Aquamarine and notify the Black Star Mercenary Group.]
[Mission Rewards: 1,050,000 EXP, 10,000 Enas, Black Star Mercenary Group Favorability +1,000, Sunil Sergeant-level Reconnaissance Armor x1]
[Note: This task will affect the main storyline of "Mutation Disaster" and significantly increase the progress of the "Mutation Disaster" quest.]
"Holy crap, the reward for this mission is amazing!"
"Ten thousand Enas?! My God!"
"It can even affect the main storyline; this seems like a very important task."
"Could this be a sign that the main storyline of the Mutation Disaster is coming to an end?"
The information about this mission caused a huge uproar on the Planet Aquamarine forum, immediately causing a sensation among players!
For players at this stage, the reward for the quest issued by Han Xiao is ridiculously high!
--Han Xiao's reward amount has become extremely high as his strength and influence have grown!
A little over a million in experience is considerable, but that's not the point. The key is that 10,000 Enas is equivalent to dozens or even hundreds of daily disaster relief missions!
Not only that, the faction relationship with the Black Star Mercenary Group is also very valuable. At the end, it also comes with a set of Non-Commissioned Officer-Grade Armor worth several thousand, which is the same set of equipment worn by high-level players. Most players have been envious of it for a long time!
Such generous rewards have excited countless people, with millions of players becoming thrilled.
It's no exaggeration to say that this was the most rewarding mission they had ever seen!
Substantial rewards are more effective than any mission description; players flocked to the Black Star Mercenary Group's stronghold to accept missions, almost breaking down the gates.
Soon, the player learned from the Black Star mercenary that the [Lock On to the Source] quest required a special item, which could be purchased from the faction shop, and this time it was available to all players, so anyone could buy it.
Countless players eagerly opened the faction shop, found their targets, and soon, item information appeared before their eyes.
[Mutation Source Detector: Within a 2-kilometer radius of Mutation Source Mutation Source, its location can be locked within ten seconds. Price: 3 Enas]