"My goodness, this huge thing is the headquarters! How much is this thing worth?!"
"Could the Black Star Army have already taken over the Garton Star System?"
Just as over 100,000 players were all looking up at the sky, completely bewildered, everyone's screen trembled and they all received a message at the same time.
Frenzied Saber snapped out of his daze, hurriedly opened the panel to look at the prompt, and a look of surprise instantly appeared on his face.
All Black Star Army players received new faction quests at the same time.
[[Ten Years] - First Ring]
[Mission Introduction: The world is in flux, time flies, and ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. The cosmic situation is unpredictable and turbulent. You will be involved in this great tide of the times. It is time to rejoin your team.]
[Mission Requirements: Proceed to the nearest Black Star Army satellite fortress]
[Reward: 15,000 experience points, Black Star Army favorability +300]
[This is a series of missions]
Han Xiao had been watching to see when the players would log in. It was through the faction panel that he issued a mission to all players in the legion, in order to guide them and help them understand the brand-new version, so that they wouldn't be confused and wandering around aimlessly.
Han Xiao's wording was very formal, making it sound like a new version's beginner quest. Anyway, in the players' eyes, all quests are issued through the panel.
Players had just entered the new version and were eager to understand the changes in the environment. This task suddenly became a beacon of light in the darkness, like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey, making them itchy and attracting the attention of all players.
"This is the tutorial quest for the new version. Just follow it and you'll see how far the story has progressed. Trust me, you won't go wrong." Meat Bun said with certainty.
"It's a tutorial quest that's primarily focused on the Black Star Army faction..." Frenzied Saber's eyes lit up. "This definitely hints that the Black Star Army will be a key character in the 3.0 version's storyline!"
No one refused the tutorial missions in this version's storyline. Many players now had a clear objective: to go to the dock, board a spaceship, and ascend to the massive planetary fortress in the sky.
Just as everyone was thinking this, dozens of Enderman black dots, no bigger than sesame seeds, suddenly appeared in the direction of the Black Star Army's headquarters satellite. They descended at a speed visible to the naked eye and quickly enlarged, revealing a fleet bearing the Black Star insignia, hovering above the heads of more than 100,000 players. The stable anti-gravity device did not stir up any gales.
The players present were taken aback. At that moment, the hulls of dozens of warships opened, releasing tractor beams toward the ground. Simultaneously, the people on board spoke through special loudspeakers, their voices echoing throughout the city's sky.
"All Black Star Army members, please board the ship. I repeat, all Black Star Army members, please board the ship."
These were all spaceships that Han Xiao Faction to pick up and drop off the players. The players present were astonished that the Black Star Army would actually send people to pick them up.
This is Goddora's planet! Why are they making such a big fuss, even affecting the entire city? Has the Black Star Army really built such a grand display now?
All signs indicate that the Black Star Army they remember is no longer what it used to be, and many players are increasingly eager to know what changes have occurred in the Black Star Army ten years later.
After everyone boarded the spaceship, the fleet closed the hull and turned back.
After boarding the ship, the players got to work, all wanting to find the NPCs on board to ask for information. However, the journey from Planet Golden Gate to the Legion Headquarters was too short, less than half a minute before they arrived at the station, so the players who wanted to find out information had to give up.
The Black Star Army headquarters in the porthole kept zooming in. Only when it got closer could you see the details of the satellite fortress. The surface was full of defensive measures and all sorts of strange devices. Some players even saw thrusters. It was more like a satellite warship than a satellite fortress!
A group of professional gamers peered through the porthole, and Frenzied Saber couldn't help but gasp, "This thing looks incredibly powerful; it's more like a weapon than a fortress."
"I remember in the last version, flagships tens of thousands of meters high were already terrifying. I didn't expect that the new version would introduce even more shocking interstellar weapons. I don't recall the Legion having anything like this in the last version," Hao Tian said.
"I wonder if it was made by Black Star..." Maple Moon wondered.
Soon, the fleet entered the airport, and more than 100,000 players filed out, quickly occupying a large area of the dock, looking around curiously at their surroundings.
Upon arriving here, the players immediately felt the lively atmosphere. NPCs with names on them came and went, all of them legion members with Black Star insignia, making it countless times more bustling than the base on the surface.
"Is this the new headquarters? Aren't there any NPCs to greet us?"
What's next?
Just as the player hesitated, the panel changed again, indicating that the first stage of the [Ten Years] quest was complete, and Han Xiao immediately issued the second stage quest.
[Second Ring]
[Mission Introduction: Ten years have passed, and the landscape of the Galaxy has undergone tremendous changes. You need to review the Black Star Army's deeds over the past decade.]
[Task Requirements: Update and activate the Black Star Army's internal programs, and watch the video course [Black Star Army History (Required)]]
[Reward: 25,000 experience points, Black Star Army favorability +500]
Han Xiao had been secretly observing the players' movements from the base. He didn't need to show himself; he could guide the players' actions remotely through missions, which was more natural and covert.
"That's right, this must be the background information for the new version!"
"I knew it! There would definitely be a version number indication, just like 2.0."
"That's so convenient. I thought I'd have to find the clues myself."
Frenzied Saber's eyes lit up. He was trying to figure out how to find out what happened during the version update, but he didn't expect that this tutorial quest would directly reveal the information they wanted to know most right now. Great!
The mission requires updating the internal program, specifically the Phillip subroutine, which is installed on all Black Star Army members. This subroutine has functions such as checking one's Legion history, viewing accumulated achievements, browsing the faction shop, and summoning airdrop supplies.
More than 100,000 players took out their communicators and opened the program. This time, there was finally a response. Phillip's virtual image transformed into a 3D projection, hovering above the screens of each communicator, and spoke crisply.
"Coordinate detection in progress... Coordinates confirmed. You are located at the Black Star Army base. Permissions have been unfrozen, and database update permissions have been granted. Please scan to verify."
Before the version update, the Phillip subroutine did not support stereoscopic projection, and players could only tease Phillip verbally. Now, Phillip has a virtual image, a little boy the size of a finger, who looks as cute as a girl and appears very innocent and adorable.
Many female players' eyes immediately lit up, and they couldn't help but touch Phillip with their fingers. Although they didn't feel like they were touching a real object, Phillip seemed to have been poked in the cheek, covering his face with tears in his eyes. His innocent little eyes seemed to say, "It hurts!" His 3D projection had a virtual sensing function.
At that moment, a large number of female players, including Maple Moon, were instantly captivated by Phillip, their maternal instincts overflowing.
Wow, how can someone be so cute!
"Oh no, this feels like giving birth!"
"It's so cute it's melting my heart..."
"Cute, I want to eat it."
Hao Tian pinched Phillip's head, crushing it into a pile of light debris. The next moment, it transformed back into a 3D projection, cowering in the corner of the screen, trembling. Hao Tian, seeing this, pondered, "No damage information was displayed. It seems it can't be used as a pet in battle."
"... Are you the devil?"
Frenzied Saber, standing to the side, watched as the corner of his mouth twitched.
After teasing Phillip for a while, Phillip announced that the update was complete. Only then did the players officially open the internal program. Phillip then shrunk back into the screen and issued a notification.
"Permissions have been reactivated. Welcome back to the Black Star Army. Please watch the next lesson."
Each player's communicator emitted a beam of light, forming a virtual 3D screen that began playing a video titled "The Black Star Army History," the course required by the mission.
After Han Xiao set up the reactivation process, the course would play automatically. It wasn't just for players; every member of the Black Star Army needed to watch the course, which was a teaching material used to establish the Black Star Army's faction culture. The creator was none other than Lothaire.
In the previous life, players basically had to dig out the background of version updates themselves, which was very inefficient. Han Xiao simply took advantage of his strength and used this method to tell players the history of version updates directly, so that they could understand the situation as soon as possible, which could save a lot of trouble and also increase players' sense of identity and belonging to the Black Star Army.
The players' spirits lifted. They were eager to know what had become of the Black Star Army. At this moment, they all fell silent, their eyes fixed intently on their respective virtual screens.
"The Black Star Army was established in Galaxy Calendar 688, and has been established for seventeen years. It was formerly known as the Black Star Mercenary Group. Its founder is [Black Star] Han Xiao..." Lothaire's voice rang out, and the screen showed the black silhouette of Black Star standing at the forefront, with the figures of his officers standing behind him.
After watching just the beginning, Meat Bun's eyes lit up, "This looks like a blockbuster movie..."
Having discussed the founding date and leaders, Lothaire shifted her focus to the evolution of the Black Star Army's size.
The image shows a planar star map of the Garton Star System, with the year 688 marked in the upper left corner. This was when the Black Star Mercenary Group was first established. In the vast star map, an extremely inconspicuous green dot represents the power of the Black Star Mercenary Group at that time.
Then, the time in the upper left corner began to slowly scroll, and the green dot wandered around until it finally found a base and stopped. It began to expand into a small, irregularly shaped green area, which slowly expanded over time, thus representing the development trend of the Black Star Army.
Not only the more than 100,000 players at headquarters, but also players online at other bases were watching the course simultaneously. These were all changes that players had experienced in versions 1.0 and 2.0, and now that they were being presented in this way, everyone watched with great interest.
As the green area slowly expands across the Garton Star System, the time in the upper left corner finally reaches ten years ago, the time before the version update.
The players were completely absorbed; from this moment on, they were about to experience a decade they had never lived through before, a decade of changes they were unaware of.
Just then, the video's perspective suddenly widened, expanding from the Garton Star System to the entire Colton Star Cluster, instantly magnifying the star map dozens or even hundreds of times!
At the same moment, the green area, which was originally confined to the Garton Star System, suddenly spread to most of the Colton Star Cluster, occupying half of the area!
The players present were immediately stunned.
As the date in the upper left corner changed, the Black Star Legion's territory Berserk. If the Black Star Army's expansion speed in version 2.0 was like running, then after ten years of version updates, the expansion speed was like boarding a fighter jet!
The year 705 finally arrived, and ninety percent of the entire Colton Star Cluster was lush and green.
At that moment, Lothaire's background explanation came on.
"Today, the Black Star Army has completed its transformation, with branches throughout the Colton Star Cluster. Its business scope includes warfare, planetary mining, and various mercenary operations. It is also a long-term ally of the Amethyst Civilization, the ruler of Colton, and a collaborator with dozens of star system-level civilizations. It has nearly twenty Calamity Grade powerhouses under its command, possesses hundreds of thousands of warships, and has mining rights to hundreds of resource planets. It is now one of the top-ranking large armed organizations in the Shattered Star Ring."
Frenzied Saber and Meat Bun stared wide-eyed, and all the players around them shared the same expression: dumbfounded and utterly shocked!
When he saw the legion headquarters, Frenzied Saber had already tried to overestimate the Black Star Army's power ten years from now, but he didn't expect that he still underestimated the Black Star Army. His imagination had limited him.
This feeling is like taking a nap and finding that the small town factory where you work has suddenly become a Fortune 500 company overnight!
How come you've gone to heaven the moment I turn my head?!
Everyone's curiosity was piqued; they were itching to learn about the Black Star Army's exploits over the past decade, wishing they could skip ahead in the video—what exactly happened while we were away that allowed the Black Star Army to rise to the level of a star cluster power?