The Legendary Mechanic

At the border of the Shattered Star Ring, Inter-Star Field Stargates with the dynasty's symbol stood in the cosmic space in a row, extending outward. The dynasty's fleets were stationed between each of the stargates. It looked like a necklace with sapphires.

On the other side of the stargates were countless fleets with symbols of different organizations, almost filling up every inch of one's sight. The sheer quantity of these fleets was a rare occurrence.

It was the day that the dynasty would open the Flickering World. These were all spaceships waiting to enter. Other than civilizations and organizations from the various Star Fields, there were also many galactic residents who could not wait to enter the Flickering World. Some were going for sightseeing purposes, some who were looking for adventure, and there were also some who wanted to search for opportunities and earn a fortune.

The time when the dynasty would announce the opening of the Flickering World got closer every second.

Seconds felt like years. Finally, the dynasty's announcement sounded from the area communication channel and on every single spaceship present.

"It's time. On behalf of the Crimson Dynasty, to the entire universe… the Flickering World is now officially open!"

The next moment, all the stargates were activated. The vortexes at the centers of these stargates started spinning, forming blue wormholes.

All the spaceships moved, forming a queue that seemed to extend infinitely, entering the various stargates one after another. It was marvelous.

Not far from these civilian stargates were VIP military stargates for the dynasty's allies.

Black Star's ride was in the queue. The various officers stood in the command room, looking at the person standing before them.

With his back turned away, Han Xiao looked through the porthole at the seemingly endless sea of ships not far away and softly asked, "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"The sound of the new era breaking through its shell."

Han Xiao chuckled softly.

In his eyes, the interface was hovering before him, notifications were popping up one after another.

_____________________

Version 4.0 Activated!

Fetching data… Fetching data complete!

Player forum opened.

Welcome to Galaxy Version 4.0—[Flickering World]!

_____________________

This day has finally come… Han Xiao took a deep breath.

This was an important turning point version. In Version 4.0, the players would officially enter the stage of the fight within Galaxy. They would interfere with history and achieve notorious names such as Cancer of the Universe and The Fourth Calamity.

The strength the players controlled would truly cross a limit, allowing them to enter a standard where they would have a completely different influence on the universe. With the Lv.150 level limit of the version, the players would have a consistent strength of Grade B+!

Once the tinder of anarchism was ignited, it would engulf the entire universe.

At this time, Sylvia seemed to have received some kind of report. She took out her communicator and looked at it. Her pupils then constricted, and she said with a deep voice, "Army Commander, those immortals of the army have appeared again."

Han Xiao finally turned around, looked at everyone, and nodded slightly.

"Bring all of them over."

…

At the same time in the Black Star Army headquarters…

Before the version update, many players logged off in the Black Star Army headquarters. Once they logged in again, with countless flashes of white light, the empty hall suddenly became crowded, boisterous, and noisy like a wet market.

"Galaxy, I'm back!"

"I've already bought ten cans of Blue Bull, brothers!"

"Did the new version repair the bug that causes us to not be able to go naked?"

"There they are! I knew it! Those 'No-Pants-Supporters' never left!"

"By the way, are there any new functions added? Since this is already so close to reality, why not add a function to reproduce? Creating offspring is the soul of a social system!"

"If we could really reproduce, this would be the most god tier game ever created."

Countless players cheered in excitement. Meanwhile, at the edge of the crowd, a group of professional players logged in one after another. The members of the four biggest clubs of China were basically all there, as well as Frenzied Sword, Maple Moon, Bun-Hit-Dog, and so on.

"Yo, the maximum level of the new version has increased to Lv.150." King Admiral looked at the interface and smiled.

"The difference in the cost of leveling up is way too huge." Second Prince could not help but twitch.

"The Black Star Army's faction interface is still here. The army did not shut down." Frenzied Sword checked the faction interface instantly.

"How could the Black Star Army shut down so easily?" Maple Moon softly murmured.

The players in the other Star Fields would have to worry about the faction they were disappearing after the version update, meaning all the Contribution Points they had farmed before that would go to waste. This was why stable factions were the most popular.

The players in the Black Star Army, however, had no such worries. After three versions, they already had complete faith in their faction leader, Han Xiao.

At the end of the previous version, the army's position was already stabilized. The Arcane Church lost, EsGod was defeated, and they obtained a super business called Evolutionary Totems. Even the players knew that the army would not shut down easily.

At the start of the new version, the most important thing was finding out what happened during the version update as well as what the situation in the universe was now. This had already become the players' habit.

Many players took out their communicators to look at the calendar and were met with shock.

"Wait, it's Galaxy Calendar Year 729 now‽"

"It was year 709 when we logged off, right?"

"This means that the duration of this version update is twenty years‽"

"I thought the Version 3.0 update duration was long enough, but Version 4.0 doubled it!"

Frenzied Sword exchanged looks with Maple Moon. A tint of excitement flashed across both of their eyes.

Twenty years!

That's not a short time.

How much will the Black Star Army have grown?

While exciting thoughts flashed across their minds, the notification sound from communicators suddenly appeared one almost simultaneously in the hall. Every player received a new message sent by the internal program of the army.

They quickly opened it. Virtual screens expanded before them, all showing Han Xiao's face and playing the same recording.

In the recording, Han Xiao sat up straight, only showing half of his body as he spoke with a very formal tone.

"Comrades, I'm Black Star. In the past twenty years, we have obtained countless achievements, especially in the Flickering World. The army now has ten Star Systems as its territory, thanks to the effort of each and every member that helped to achieve the glory we have achieved today.

"Now, the Flickering World will be entering its fourth exploration phase and will be officially opened to the public. People from the entire universe will swarm into this Star Field. This is a new era; we need to grab the opportunity and charge forward… I hereby send a recruitment order to all army members. The army needs you… The Flickering World needs you!"

The short recording ended here. The pupils of the players gradually enlarged as they received a huge chunk of information from this message.

It's now the fourth exploration phase? I seem to remember the first phase not having ended when we logged off!

The army has ten Star Systems as its territory in the Flickering World? What's going on with that‽

What did the army do in the past twenty years‽

Everyone was extremely intrigued.

What they did not know was that this recording was a 'cutscene' Han Xiao had specially made for the players to help them understand the situation quickly.

This time, Hao Tian suddenly realized one thing. "Wait, if it's now the fourth exploration phase for the Flickering World, is our main storyline mission still there?"

The various professional players realized this too. Their original main storyline mission was still in the stage of the first exploration phase. Due to the version update directly skipping twenty years, would their missions be canceled?

If it was gone, it would be quite a loss.

They hastily opened the interface before relief flooded through them. The main storyline mission of the [Flickering World] was still there. The mission requirements had just changed into developing the Black Star Army's territory as well as exploring the few Star Clusters of the fourth exploration phase.

"Although it's changed, it's still exploration."

Many players shook their heads but were not excited, a little disappointed even.

They were curious about the information given through the recording, but they were not very interested in the Flickering World's mission. This was because the army players had already tried this mission in the previous version. Although the goal had changed, the way to do the mission looked the same to them.

Pioneering new Star Fields was fresh indeed, but it lacked opportunities for battles. In the previous version, many players were tired of doing the Flickering World mission and preferred to do hiring missions in the Shattered Star Ring.

This was actually quite common, as the Flickering World main storyline the players experienced in Version 3.0 was actually just half of what it was supposed to be. The dynasty was the only organization pioneering, so of course, it lacked battles.

At this time, they were suddenly stunned upon realizing one thing.

Did Black Star say… the Flickering World is now open to the public?

So, the organizations from the other Star Fields are entering?

Then… what about the players of the other Star Fields?

Frenzied Sword immediately went online to do some research and confirmed the legitimacy of this information very soon. Not only that, the organizations of the various Star Fields were also recruiting Supers on a large scale to go to the Flickering World.

The biggest impact this had on the players was that the inter Star Field channels were now completely open!

Compared to the last version, the players had a method to cross between Star Fields!

The people quickly logged into the forums.

As expected, all of the forum boards were frenzied by this information!

Frenzied Sword understood immediately. With his eyes sparkling brightly, he yelled, "This is… a world server!"

All the players in the various Star Fields would finally be able to come to the same stage, gathering in the Flickering World!

What did this mean?

National wars!

The speculation that Galaxy Times had made about crossing between Star Fields became real!

All the players in the hall were astonished and thrilled!

"Holy, it's the world server!"

"Hahaha, I knew this day would come!"

"Finally, national wars! I can't wait!"

The next moment, they realized something else. The Flickering World would be the world server of this version, but as the members of the army, they had already entered in the previous version in advance.

How much of an advantage would that be‽

The players were overjoyed!

"Oh my god, we have already marked our territory in Flickering World in the last version. We're one entire version ahead!"

"I'm crying! I felt that the exploration was too boring and went back to the Shattered Star Ring to do hiring missions!"

"With such a big advantage, we'll have a blast this version!"

The players who had gone to the Shattered Star Ring from the Constellation Corridor in the previous version all felt relieved. Had they not followed the Black Star Army back then, how could they have gained such privileges‽

On the other side, the players of the other Star Fields were in an uproar.

In Version 1.0, Black Star led some players in the universe in advance. Okay, we'll put up with it.

In Version 2.0, the Black Star Army became the guiding faction, making the Shattered Star Ring players ahead of everyone else again. Alright, we'll put up with it too.

In Version 3.0, the Black Star Army had a Beyond Grade A, leading to it being connected to a Universal Civilization before everyone else. Well, we will put up with it. Sooner or later, our day will come.

But now, in Version 4.0, the Black Star Army is god damn one step ahead again‽

Are you guys dogs‽

Why are you always the ones enjoying the most benefits?

What happened to the law? What happened to the rules‽

Do you fu*king… still need more members?

Only then did they realize that Black Star had already built a foundation for them in the previous version, and they saw what an advantage they had gained from this faction!

The various army players could only praise how amazing the game experience was.

With such a reliable faction, the players of the other Star Fields and countries could only be jealous.

This was the only one in the entire universe!

Now, the army players' interest for the Flickering World was never higher.

Initially, many felt that the exploration game style was too boring. Now, however, as the Flickering World became the world server for the players, it would become the most chaotic and exciting Star Field in the entire universe. There would be countless and never-ending conflicts. This was the full experience of the [Flickering World] main storyline!

Having this thought, Frenzied Sword and the others quickly went to research about what the Black Star Army had done in the past years, wanting to know what advantages their faction had exactly in the Flickering World.

As soon as he opened the Black Star Army's records, Frenzied Sword's eyes opened extremely wide.

He had made a lot of speculations, and he was mentally prepared too. However, the first thing he saw was completely different from what he imagined, and it stupefied him completely.

"What the hell? Old Black became a god‽"