The Legendary Mechanic

After meeting up with Harrison, Han Xiao ran back to the R&D department and found the Beyond Grade A mechanics.

"You wish to go out and do field work?"

Hearing this, Manison and the rest of the Beyond Grade A mechanics felt surprised. They did not understand why Black Star would leave his easy research work and do the troublesome manual labor.

"What sort of attitude is this? I responded to the call of the three Universal Civilizations and am leading by example to take the lead," Han Xiao said in a tone of righteousness.

"Then just go. Why did you come to us?" Manison did not even bother to entertain him, only glancing at Han Xiao as he tried to find out his intentions.

Black Star, this jerk, had never committed himself until success was certain. If there were no benefits, he would not have chosen to take up field work. He felt that Black Star's motive should be to find the virus core and also to take the opportunity to infiltrate the major organizations in the Ancient Star Desert.

To be honest, Manison himself had thought of this at the beginning as well. However, he had given up this thought after much consideration.

Right now, would the three Universal Civilizations allow the Beyond Grade As to continue strengthening their own organizations? It was most likely that they would have to surrender whatever they obtained from their operations, so even the dishonest Manison was silently only researching the antivirus. Besides, the attraction of new technology far exceeded his organization's strength.

At this moment, Han Xiao suddenly laughed, sticking out two fingers as he righteously spoke out.

"Since none of you are fighting, please aid me and lend me some of your troops."

Everyone stared in shock.

Lending you our troops is akin to sending lambs right into the tiger's den. Will we still be able to get them back?

How is this lending? You just want us to sacrifice a portion of our troops for you, you lowly peasant!

"… How many do you need?"

"Eh, I don't have large demands. This is mainly the moment when the three Universal Civilizations will be able to see your sense of justice. You guys can decide, and please don't exceed fifty million per person. That would be too much for me to accept." Han Xiao 'modestly' waved his hands.

Pui, a scale of 50 million per person? Are you thinking about openly stealing so many?

Do you even feel shame‽

Everyone secretly slandered Han Xiao but did not refuse his request. The three Universal Civilizations' mechanics and several neutral Beyond Grade As loaned a portion of their ordinary mechanical soldiers, which reached about eight million in number.

Among them, Manison was the most generous, lending 2.5 million units. To him, this number of soldiers was only a drop in the ocean.

The stingiest was 'Mechanical Catastrophe' Francisco; he only gave five thousand troops, doing so unwillingly. Even Jackornitz who was a Mechanical Pugilist and did not have much proficiency in Machinery manufacturing also donated more troops.

The Beyond Grade A Mechanics all had illustrious backgrounds, so giving out some mechanical soldiers was nothing to them. They simply treated it as losing some troops in battle. However, it was more important to show some face to Black Star, as well as the three Universal Civilizations, to show that while they were too lazy to make a move, they still supported the field work.

Putting away the troops 'sponsored' by everyone, Han Xiao was satisfied. While this number was a pittance, he just wanted to see the Beyond Grade As grit their teeth and feel helpless in front of him.

Upon arriving at the dock, Han Xiao boarded a flagship arranged for him by the dynasty and took over the commander's authority from the captain. Right now, the three dynasty fleets were temporarily under his command.

After waiting for a while, a guard hurriedly escorted Harrison and his party over.

"Your Excellency Black Star, the procedures are complete. I'll leave them with you."

"Alright." Han Xiao nodded at Harrison and team with a smile on his face, saying, "You guys are not free yet. You have to follow me. If you mess around, I'll just throw you back in prison. Do you understand?"

"Understood!"

Before Harrison could speak, all his teammates yelled out loudly, for fear that they would lose their only bid at freedom.

Han Xiao nodded, and after sending the guard away, he gave the command to depart.

The fleet slowly rose up, leaving the command center of the three Universal Civilizations and soaring into space.

At this moment, the captain spoke.

"Your Excellency Black Star, where are we heading?"

"How do you normally operate?" Han Xiao asked back.

"We usually patrol around the desolate universe belt or go check some planets that are confirmed to have traces of infection…"

As of now, there were checkpoints set at every stargate of any civilization in the Ancient Star Desert, the borders, and the transport hub planets. The spaceships had to be inspected, and for those unknown spaceships that avoided the stargate stations and moved freely within the desolate universe belt, as long as they accessed the public quantum link of the Star Field, the three Universal Civilizations would track down their IP addresses and send people to stop them. Most of the field fleets were tasked with roaming around to perform such inspections.

Thus, the biggest problem would be for those spaceships that had shielded quantum network links and could enter stealth mode. They could only monitor the surveillance buoys located throughout the Star Field and try to find the whereabouts of these people.

"Let me think about it…"

After understanding the situation, Han Xiao pretended to ruminate, but he actually opened the players' forums to scroll through.

The outbreak of the Intelligent Plague had drawn the attention of the players toward the Ancient Star Desert. The discussion on the Ancient Star Desert was a hot post on every major section of the forum.

Because the majority of players were in the Flickering World, they were unable to join the event since the Ancient Star Desert was immediately cordoned off after the occurrence of the Intelligent Plague. They could only use the discussion boards to vent their strong curiosities.

Han Xiao opened the top post, and the discussion of the players jumped into view.

_____________________

Fart Pockets in Tights: I told you all. The first few versions all had more than one Main Storyline mission, and Version 4.0 is the same. The Intelligent Plague should be the second Main Storyline.

Quadratic Formula: But we are not able to participate in this Main Storyline. We cannot even enter the Ancient Star Desert. Can we only watch from the sidelines?

Three Gays Under the Moon: Didn't you see the new update from 'Galaxy Times'? They made quite a reasonable guess, saying that it is impossible for this Main Storyline to be only for our viewing. There will definitely be opportunities for us to participate, as the chances of the virus leaking are quite high. Only then will there be a continuation for us to act.

Four-Eyed Speculative Emperor: That's right. Now there are many missions on the black market, all looking to hire people to sneak into the Ancient Star Desert. We players can do the same. Judging by our influence on the Main Storyline for the first two versions, this Intelligent Plague event could be decided by our actions as well. As long as someone succeeds in smuggling the virus out, this version's event can sweep across the universe!

Undead Don't Wear Underwear: Shall we let the disaster spread through the universe? It will indeed be the fourth disaster (:з」∠)

Sun Rider: This is too much. Wouldn't it be better to prevent the disaster? Do you have to make it such that the world is chaotic? Don't you have a conscience?

Sh*t Smells Good: That's right. Did you forget what the Army Commander taught us? To actually stab him in the back like that, killing the citizens of the galaxy…

_____________________

On the forums, the players were divided into several factions, discussing the topic and cursing each other at the same time. The community was on fire.

The players did not know that the Intelligent Plague was actually just a backstory in their previous lives, thinking that it was one of the Main Storylines of Version 4.0. With the majority of people in the Flickering World, unable to enter the Ancient Star Desert, many of them were anxious at not being able to participate.

Some of them believed that the main storyline would not just be a cutscene, so they inferred that the Intelligent Plague did not need to be actively pushed by them and would leak by itself.

Others felt that this main storyline had to be fought for, taking the initiative to release the virus and let the disaster spread in order to obtain the Main Storyline mission.

There were, however, many players in the universe who supported the promotion of the disaster. Some wanted to participate in the Main Storyline, some wanted to earn rewards, and some just wanted to watch the world burn.

'Indeed, the Cancer of the Universe…' Han Xiao secretly shook his head.

As the players who were ruled by chaos continued to grow stronger, their negative impact on the universe would become more and more obvious.

However, he was also a little relieved. If the players in his previous life encountered the Intelligent Plague, more than half of them back then would definitely have supported the promotion of the Intelligent Plague. Now, with the Black Star Army as their moral guide, more people were considering the problem from the perspective of the overall situation, opposing the spread of the disaster. There were obviously fewer players within the Chaotic Evil Faction than in his previous life.

My faction guidance plan is still somewhat effective.

Han Xiao felt relief.

As he swept through the other posts, one of them caught his attention. It was titled 'Ancient Star Desert Player Benefits! Employment task with a reward of five million Enas!'

The poster triumphantly shared a screenshot of a mission, which was about smuggling the Virtual Mutiny Virus out of the Ancient Star Desert for five million Enas. For the players, this was a huge sum of money, enough to buy a dozen small and medium battleships.

Seeing that the players who remained within the Ancient Star Desert got such an opportunity to rake in the cash, many of the following replies expressed envy.

The poster was called 'Depressed Prince'. Han Xiao could not help but narrow his eyes.

Five million in remuneration, along with a deposit, gives this whole thing a fishy air. It seems that the employers are aware of the players' character and used them to their advantage.

Humph, the players within the Ancient Star Desert aren't able to keep their hands to themselves. I have to strike down like peals of thunder on them and destroy their disaster-supporting tendencies.

Han Xiao made the decision in his heart to kill the chicken in order to warn the monkeys. This Depressed Prince who went around publicizing his tasks was undoubtedly an excellent goal.

Only through striking down harshly on him would the other players then see the ending of those who tried to cause trouble and would cause them to fear the repercussions of their actions.

At the same time, he could also trace the source and check up on the mysterious employer of Depressed Prince. After all, there was no harm if there was no demand or supply for it. The mercenaries only acted based on orders, and it was the employers with ulterior motives that Han Xiao was interested in.

While Depressed Prince did not disclose his coordinates, since the other party was a mercenary, he would have recorded his whereabouts in the universe. So long as the record of his most recent time was locked onto, the approximate search area could be derived from there. To a pinnacle Beyond Grade A mechanic, this was as easy as lifting his hands.

The intelligence channel in the Ancient Star Desert might have been blocked, but the player forums were not affected. With this extra information network, Han Xiao would be able to obtain information that others did not know.

That's right, I also have to search for one of the administrators of the black market in the Ancient Star Desert. These employment tasks for smuggling the virus will be issued through the black market. As long as I can control this channel, I will be able to monitor the movements of those restless organizations and cut off one of the channels for employment.

Han Xiao's eyes gleamed.

If the administrator of the black market did not wish to cooperate, he still had a trump card up his sleeve. There was no need to be soft-hearted. Even the three Universal Civilizations would be glad to have someone temporarily controlling the black market channels, reducing the likelihood of disaster.

Mindful of this, Han Xiao finally had a clear plan of action and turned to look at the captain.

"Let's split up and act. The main flagship will follow me to capture some b*stards."

…

Somewhere in the desolate universe belt, an interstellar fortress was suspended in the orbit of a desolate planet, with a spaceship patrolling nearby. Both of them had the same emblem, which was shaped like a roaring wolf's head.

This sign represented an interstellar organization named the Kepel Financial group, which was a legitimate financial group on the surface but operated as an arms dealer for the galactic black market in the Ancient Star Desert.

The organization was a family-run business, and the leaders were all members of the Kepel family. The current leader was called Kepel the Fifth, and he had the mutated bloodline of a Beastman, possessing a head that looked like a werewolf.

At this moment, in the office of the leader, Kepel the Fifth had just received a capable officer who had rushed back.

"I made you responsible for spreading the anonymous employment task on the black market. Has the mission been completed?" Kepel the Fifth said in a deep baritone.

"It's completed. Many of the black market mercenaries have accepted the task, willing to smuggle the Virtual Mutiny Virus out."

"Very good. The Virtual Mutiny Virus is a strong weapon and will definitely have a market in the future. We need to control it!"

As an arms dealer in the black market, the Kepel Financial group had no reason to let go of the Virtual Mutiny Virus, which was a powerful weapon of war. This was just purely commercial considerations.

"Leader, I've also specially employed some of the Immortal troops. I feel that it would be more likely for them to complete the task."

"Beautiful! The Immortals are money grubbers and born to be mercenaries. So long as we give them enough money, they would rather sacrifice their lives. Moreover, they have unknown information networks within their groups, which cannot be interfered with even with our quantum networks. Their capabilities will increase the success rate of our plan. If one can be shipped out, the virus can be infinitely replicated!"

Kepel the Fifth was very satisfied with how his subordinate carried out the task.

Most of the major organizations had studied the characteristics of players, more or less summing up some rules. The Kepel Financial group was no exception, mastering some simple ways to utilize the players.

At present, since the Ancient Star Desert was sealed, the various gray organizations could be thoroughly investigated by the advanced civilizations at any time. The Kepel Financial group had decided to transfer their assets to the outside world and destroy evidence of their gray business. Thus, it was determined to transport their arms, along with the Virtual Mutiny Virus, out of the Star Field.