The Legendary Mechanic

"The Painful Truth! The Mastermind Behind the Intelligent Plague Conspiracy!

"Emergency announcement! Those black market hires to transport the virus are a trap! They're very likely the three Universal Civilizations' bait!

"I'm a player who previously shared the job I accepted to transport the virus on the forums. An hour ago, along with my guild, we moved into the edge area of the Ancient Star Desert. Suddenly, we were ambushed by the three Universal Civilizations. Black Star personally wiped out our guild. Now we're all sealed in the Spacetime Amber, not knowing when we'll get out. I'm probably done for.

"At the start, I had no idea how the message got out. Luckily, Black Star thought we had nowhere to run and felt that there was no way we would leak the information, so he told me about the three Universal Civilizations' plan. I was totally appalled. Guess what, those among those anonymous employers on the black market, there are some who work for the three Universal Civilizations! Their goal is to lure out those who dare accept the mission and catch them one by one!

"It's horrifying. Currently, other than the people of our guild, no one else knows about this secret. I'm making this post because I can't bear to see other brothers get tricked by the three Universal Civilizations like we did. Therefore, I hereby am warning all of you not to fall into that old rascal Black Star's tricks!"

To prove that what he said was true, Depressed Prince even posted screenshots and videos of Black Star speaking.

As soon as the post was uploaded, like a lit match landing in a pool of oil, the emotion of all the players was ignited.

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Immoral Trilogy: What a shock, so those hires in the black market are conspiracies‽

Important Things Need to Be Said Three Times: I knew it. It's not possible for those lawful factions to leave such a huge flaw. Turns out they had other plans. The three Universal Civilizations are really wise (cunning) in this kind of thing. Well played.

Military Chief: Black Star is Black Star. After all, like his name, he really does have a black heart.

Green Dot: Haha, I can't stop laughing. Where are those kids who were envying the Ancient Star Desert players? Why are they so quiet?

Human Slasher: If this is the case, the faction difference of this main storyline will be very clear. There are those of us who oppose the disaster, stand on the lawful side, and clean out the evil. If you support the disaster, you'll have to become an enemy of the three Universal Civilizations. I really envy the bravery of those players who choose the latter.

_____________________

The lawful faction players all started to gloat, while those players who had supported spreading the disaster earlier all went silent and had nothing to say.

Especially those players who were lured by the high reward and had already accepted hires on the black market, they were all terrified. Most of them hastily gave up the mission, worried that they might be baited by the three Universal Civilizations too.

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Calf: Let me see who's causing problems (Black Star looking out from the bush.jpg).

Army Commander's PP Big: Black Star: There, your account's gone!

Long Live the Boot Lickers: Alas, if not for OP, we'd still have no idea and end up getting wiped out… I won't say much, thank you, OP, for saving our lives. Cheers, bottoms up.

Adult Site Senior Member: In order to get this information, OP has made a huge sacrifice. Here's to all kind people having a good life. Ps: If OP decides to create a new account, I'll kindly sponsor 100 Enas.

Feidin's Fan Group - Dual Cannons: A moment of silence for OP.

Fishes Don't Pee: A moment of silence +1.

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There were people who doubted the authenticity of the post, but after seeing the screenshots and videos Depressed Prince posted along with it, they all had to admit it was the truth.

The Depressed Prince's post alarmed the players. Many people were indeed shocked and became much warier of things.

He thought he successfully broke the three Universal Civilizations' baiting plan, when his actions were actually all part of Han Xiao's plan.

Seeing that so many players believed this 'conspiracy' and gave up missions to transport the virus, Han Xiao knew that this measure of his worked. He smiled in satisfaction.

Depressed Prince was of great help, so he was thinking about taking a few minutes off his sentence. Although, this guy had no idea.

…

In the Ancient Star Desert, Planet Strange Gold did not belong to any civilization. It had been taken over by a few financial groups many years ago and modified into a neutral galactic port. Afterward, the Galactic Black Market had taken over and made it into a transit supply station for gray organizations. It was quite famous in the Ancient Star Desert.

Tracks of tons of gray organizations and wanted criminals could be seen there. Some gray organizations even had their headquarters or subdivisions set up there. Due to some sort of unspoken agreement and deals, the Galactic Civilization silently approved of the existence of gray transit stations like this and did not send out soldiers to wipe it out. Although places like this were extremely chaotic, it was not completely lawless. The big organizations in the black market would usually set the laws.

The organization stationed in Planet Strange Gold was a member of the black market managers—Black Index, a broker organization.

There were many kinds of black market manager organizations, such as mercenaries, armed dealers, miners, and so on. Among them, the ones who had the biggest power were the brokers. They took the high-class path, swinging between different civilizations and building very complicated connection networks. They provided protection and assurance for the other black market organizations.

The Black Index was one of them, and their business range was even wider. Using the name they had built for themselves over the years, they provided assurance for the hires and biddings done in the black market. At the same time, they also functioned as the intermediate exchange. They were basically the bank of the black market.

Safety of funds was always a problem for the gray organizations, and the Black Index provided security and confidentiality for all funds transferred through them. An outrageous amount of money passed through them every single day and spread through the entire Galactic Black Market. Their power was reflected clearly just from this.

Of course, this much power required an equivalent amount of strength to maintain, which was even truer in the gray world, where only the law of the jungle applied. The Black Index had plenty of funds, so they used a lot of it on building a powerful military force. At the same time, they also had a Beyond Grade A protector behind them. These factors made sure the Black Index maintained its superior position among the black market managers.

The upper echelons of the organization were called Indexers. Their leader was called the Chief Indexer, and below this leader were the Second Indexer, Third Indexer, and so on. There was a total of five vice-leaders, all the way to the Sixth Indexer, each in charge of a certain area.

Inside the Planet Strange Gold subdivision of the Black Index organization, the Third Indexer stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of his office and looked up at the starlight in the dark sky. He was frowning.

His aide-de-camp who was wearing an elegant silver-black uniform walked into the room, saw him like this, and asked curiously, "Third Indexer, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing… I just suddenly don't feel at peace."

The Third Indexer massaged the bridge of his nose. His mind was wandering off a little.

As a hybrid Eternal, the Third Indexer had the special talent of having a very sensitive six sense. He could occasionally roughly sense certain bits of the future.

Since a few days ago, he had started to often lose focus and feel uneasy, like something bad was about to happen.

"I shall bring you some medicine to calm you down," the aide-de-camp said and was about to turn around to leave the room.

"No need, I'm fine."

The Third Indexer called him back, turned around, and asked casually, "Tell me, do you have anything to report to me?"

"Well…" The aide-de-camp took out a report and said seriously, "I've noticed some rumors, saying that the three Universal Civilizations have been secretly putting up hires on the black market as bait to capture black market mercenaries."

"Where did you hear that from? Rumors on the net?" The Third Indexer frowned.

"No, no, there are no such rumors on the network of the Ancient Star Desert. I heard about it privately from some people, so I did some investigations and realized that this rumor got spread out from nowhere. I feel that this might cause problems, so I came to report it to you…"

The Third Indexer shook his head and said, "Your source of information isn't reliable, nor is it trustworthy. As guarantors of the black market hires, although we do accept anonymous employers to put out hires, we still do some investigations. Things like this will certainly damage our name. Maybe we can endure it happening once or twice, but if someone plans to keep using our name to carry out this kind of plan, there's no way the organization wouldn't find out about it."

"You're right. I've worried about it unnecessarily." The aide-de-camp nodded.

"There's nothing wrong with being wary about things like this. It's a good thing."

The Third Indexer continued to look outside the window and said with a serious tone, "We're the lighthouse of the laws of the black market. One thing we rely on is our powerful strength, and another is the brand name and reputation we've accumulated over many years. The savages of the gray organizations trust in our professional ethics, and that's our core competitiveness. No matter what… even in the face of death, we can't break the rules of integrity, confidentiality, fairness, and safety. Otherwise, we'd be damaging the very foundation of the organization, as well as the laws of the entire black market."

"Understood." The aide-de-camp took these words to heart with admiration.

Swoosh!

As soon as the aide-de-camp said that, a remote communication image suddenly popped up beside the two of them. The panicking face of an observation personnel appeared.

"Bad news! The radar has detected that a dynasty fleet is approaching. They did not attempt to hide their movements. Their destination is clearly Planet Strange Gold, and we did not receive any prior notifications!"

The Third Indexer's expression changed with shock. His sixth sense was tingling even more intensely.

Usually, the three Universal Civilizations would never visit a gray transit station like this so openly. Today, however, the dynasty fleet suddenly arrived. It was clear they did not come with friendly intentions.

He thought of the Intelligent Plague instantly—there did not seem to be any other reason the dynasty would go to them.

Nonetheless, the Third Indexer was not one to panic in the face of emergencies. Very quickly, he calmed down and said with a deep voice, "Ask around. Who's the leader of this dynasty fleet?"

The dynasty was extremely powerful, sure, but he was also someone very important with a lot of power and strength, and he had a Beyond Grade A protector behind his back. Therefore, the Third Indexer was confident enough to speak with the dynasty.

Having thought of that, he had made up his mind that if the leader of the dynasty fleet was not high in ranks, he would not feel a need to welcome their leader, and he would be waiting there for their leader to come to him.

The aide-de-camp made some calls. Suddenly, his entire body shook. He gulped and said while shivering, "T-Third Indexer, the commander of this dynasty fleet… seems to be Black Star."

As soon as he finished his sentence, the Third Indexer's expression changed dramatically, and he instantly lost his cool.

Without saying another word, he rushed out the door while hastily making orders.

"Quickly, prepare a carrier for me. I'm going to welcome His Excellency Black Star at the dock!'

If it was an ordinary dynasty officer, the Third Indexer might have wanted to maintain his arrogance.

However, it was Black Star who had come, the person who made the strongest protector of the black market part of his collection. How dare he stay there waiting for Black Star to come to look for him?

…

The dynasty fleet entered the dock. As soon as Han Xiao stepped onto the dock, he saw the Third Indexer and his subordinates welcoming him respectfully.

The two of them met, and Han Xiao did not say much, only mentioning that he had a deal he wanted to make and told the Third Indexer to lead him to the conference room to speak.

Accompanied by the cautious Third Indexer, they entered the subdivision of the Black Index and sat inside the conference room.

After sitting down, Han Xiao looked into the Third Indexer's eyes and said slowly, "You're a smart person. You should know why the dynasty has sent me, so I'll just cut to the chase. The Black Index has provided assurance and guarantees for anonymous hires, which led to a lot of black market mercenaries transporting the virus in the Ancient Star Desert, increasing the risk of the virus leaking. Now, on behalf of the Black Star Army and the Crimson Dynasty, I'm requesting you to temporarily stop providing such services and publicize the information of these anonymous employers to aid us in capturing them."

"Impossible!" The Third Indexer rejected it without hesitation. "This goes against the purpose of the Black Index. We can never leak the information of our customers. We…"

Han Xiao interrupted him and said with a more serious tone, "Is the purpose of a black market organization more important than the ruling of the three Universal Civilizations? Or has the Black Index made up its mind to spread the disaster and cause the entire universe to be filled with death?"

The Third Indexer hastily denied that. "Of course not. We've just been remaining neutral. What we've been doing has not changed since the Intelligent Plague erupted. We're purely maintaining a platform…"

"Don't try to convince me with this kind of excuse." Han Xiao tapped the table slowly. "Your inaction means your approval of others leaking the virus. Your inaction is equivalent to helping the disaster spread. The current situation has no room for neutral parties. Be it me personally or the three Universal Civilizations, no one wants to see anyone being an opportunist during such a serious disaster."

Hearing this, the Third Indexer looked worried.

His bad intuition had come true. He felt that Black Star was using this as an excuse to take away the guarantor platform they had built up in the Ancient Star Desert.

If it was just Black Star alone, he would not be this powerless. However, Black Star had come under orders, which meant that he represented the three Universal Civilizations' attitude.

Sure, the Black Index's forces were spread across many Star Fields, but crushing it would still be a piece of cake for the three Universal Civilizations. Furthermore, the Ancient Star Desert was now in quarantine, so there was no way he could even seek help.

The Third Indexer did not want to give in, but he had no other choice. He could not even contact the headquarters while being in the Ancient Star Desert, so he had no choice but to bring up his background.

"Your Excellency Black Star, are you sure you want to do this? His Excellency Uru is behind us. He's a Beyond Grade A just like you…"

Han Xiao found it quite funny. "Yo, what's this? Are you trying to threaten me or something? That's quite brave of you. Even disregarding the fact that your protector is away and can't make it back here, so what if he could?"

The Third Indexer clenched his teeth, looked at the dynasty soldier beside him, and said, "I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to use this opportunity to infiltrate the black market and take control of some channels. The three Universal Civilizations now approve of your actions, but what happens when the disaster is over? They won't watch you reach out this far, so they will certainly take what you've obtained. Hence, whatever you're doing now, the three Universal Civilizations will always be the ones benefiting in the end. Why put in so much effort?"

"How dare you try to pick His Excellency Black Star and the dynasty apart!"

The dynasty soldier beside him was furious and instantly pulled out his firearm, pointing at the Third Indexer's head.

This time, Han Xiao raised his hand, signaling for the dynasty soldier to holster his weapon. He smiled and said, "You don't know me. Although I always chase after profits, I will never pick the wrong side on this kind of huge matter."

The Third Indexer clenched his teeth and continued trying. "The three Universal Civilizations are only allowing you to be in charge of this matter because they're using you. You'll be the one who ends up having beef with the black market organizations, and the three Universal Civilizations will be the ones taking the victory fruits after. Is the powerful Black Star willing to be used like this?"

"Hehe, fighting evil is everyone's responsibility, and I don't mind having beef with people because of it." Han Xiao smiled with mockery. "Furthermore, using each other is a more suitable way of saying it. It's still uncertain who'll benefit more from it in the end."

He had made up his mind on this matter. Rather than calling it a negotiation, it was more like a notification instead.

The Ancient Star Desert was now an isolated island. During the disaster, the illusion of equality was completely ripped away, exposing the dictatorship behind it. With the three Universal Civilizations backing him, he had nothing to fear.

In situations like this, other than those Galactic Civilizations under protection, the rest of the private organizations were all just food for the big sharks. They would face their demise if they refused to cooperate.

Seeing this, knowing that there was nothing he could do and no words would change the situation, the Third Indexer gave up, leaned back, and looked hopeless.

"I can't resist anyway. The connections the Black Index has in the Ancient Star Desert are all yours…"

Hearing this, the aide-de-camp looked at the Third Indexer with disbelief.

That's not what you said earlier. What happened to never breaking the organization's integrity and name even in death‽

Noticing the aide-de-camp's look, the Third Indexer threw back an angry look at him.

What, can't I bullsh*t?

Black Star is right here, I treasure my life very much. Go ahead and die for the organization if you want to!