The Legendary Mechanic

In an office of Black Star Palace, Han Xiao leaned back in his chair, staring at the clock as he silently awaited the prompt that signaled the new version beginning. Time slowly ticked by second after second.

In this past year, the three Universal Civilizations and the association's relationship had dropped to a freezing point. The dynasty had not contacted him for a whole year now.

The three Universal Civilizations had issued an announcement a year ago that they had started studying the Sanctum Revival method. There was no follow-up news, and no one knew what stage they had reached. It seemed like their results were not too impressive.

On the side of the Holy Accord, they were still collecting the keys in secret. While they did not possess the intelligence channels of the three Universal Civilizations, causing the materials to be harder to collect, the problem was not big. It would just cost them more money and time. Now that the Holy Accord had more of the recipes of how to create keys, there were more opportunities for them, but a mere year was not enough to collect another key.

On the other hand, the military of the three Universal Civilizations had mobilized recently, seemingly getting ready to set off. This caught the attention of Han Xiao and the other members of the association, causing the atmosphere in the universe to become more tense.

The players' return at this time could thus be considered timely.

Han Xiao rubbed the back of his palm as his eyes flashed.

"The time when the players come online will be my opportunity to quickly reach level 360. With the current deadlock in the situation, if I manage to break through my personal power level, it might serve as a turning point, becoming the entry ticket to breaking this entire game."

The stalemate was exactly what he had predicted and what he wanted. Were it not for the Sanctum Revivals and the massive increase in strength of the association, perhaps the Calamity of the Supers would have long broken out like in his previous life. Right now, he was only suppressing it.

While the situation was akin to a gunpowder keg, which would result in a greater explosion the more he suppressed it, nothing was absolute. In his opinion, there were only a few opportunities to break the game. If he succeeded, he would really eliminate the Calamity of the Supers and prevent it from evolving into a large-scale war.

His current methods were all to stall time for the Holy Accord. Han Xiao was equally clear that there would be a battle between both sides, and the association would naturally have more casualties. This was his opportunity. As long as the unlimited counts of the Sanctum Revival were revealed by that time, most of their problems would be solved. The Sanctum Revival key was a necessity to break this game.

On this basis, he could use a higher level of personal power to frighten the three Universal Civilizations and also attract Beyond Grade A members. That would be killing two birds with one stone.

Just as he was analyzing his options, the long silent interface finally had some movement. There was a notification of a new update just like what the players would receive.

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Version 5.0 Activated!

Fetching data… Fetching data complete!

Player Forum Opened.

Welcome to 'Galaxy' Version 5.0—Black Star's Era!

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"Hmm?" Han Xiao was stunned.

Why was the version not 'Calamity of the Supers'‽

And it even used his name!

In the previous four versions, while he was a little butterfly flapping its wings and causing an impact, compared to the general trend of the universe, it was miniscule, still moving along with the changes in time.

But this time was different. He had single-handedly created a tornado with a flap of his wings, causing himself to become the pioneer of the changing times. Thus, even the name of this version had changed…

This also showed how important his position was in the universe at the moment, as well as his pivotal role in this storm.

"Even my name has been included into the version update. This is superb."

Han Xiao's expression twitched, before he revealed a perverted smile.

What was prestige and face? This was!

If the players saw this… heh, this was equivalent to a super compound fertilizer that would help him farm his leeks!

"It's been fifty years. I really miss my cute little… moneybags."

Han Xiao raised his brows, calling out the surveillance of the great hall and observing the situation.

…

At this moment, countless white lights flashed in the lobby of Black Star Palace's great hall, and the large number of players that had been away for fifty years finally returned online.

The originally cold and empty great hall was suddenly packed to the brim, full of liveliness. Countless players were excitedly whooping and shouting.

"Wahaha, this master is back! Countless stars, prepare to tremble under my feet, for my huge cannon's hunger and thirst can no longer be suppressed!"

"Dammit, it's already the fifth version, so why is there still a bug that prevents us from stripping? Lousy!"

"Hehe, I can immediately tell that you're not a pioneer. To this day, you're still hung up over the fact that clothes cannot be taken off. You're behind the times brother! Do you know the meaning of 'clothes on the body but naked in the mind'? This older brother's realm is one that you cannot hope to fathom!"

"How long has passed since the last version? I don't see any changes in the base. It seems like we weren't gone for too long."

The crowd chattered and gossiped, opening their interfaces. Immediately came the shocked gasps.

"Hurry and take a look at the version's name! I'm shooketh!"

"F*ck, the name of Version 5.0 is actually Black Star's Era?"

"What the hell has he done during the update!"

The countless army players opened their eyes wide.

No one expected that their faction leader would actually turn into the main topic of this version!

Based on the impressions of the players, the version name indicated what the Main Storyline would be. In the previous few versions, it was either a disaster or a changing of the time, but to think that they would actually put a character as the Main Storyline!

What prestige!

Many of the players began to tremble with excitement, their hearts filled with strong curiosity—just what exactly did their Army Commander do during their absence‽

The bunch of professional players that just came online were equally shocked.

Frenzied Sword immediately opened up the calendar. What he saw made him suck in a deep breath.

"The version update actually took a whole fifty years this time!"

Everyone immediately turned to look at the date, full of surprise and shock.

"Wow, really fifty years!"

"I remember when we went offline, it was in the Year 734. Right now, it's 782!"

"The span is too huge, more than double the previous updates."

"I don't even know if my wife Sylvia is still alive…"

"Do you want to eat sh*t? She's obviously my wife!"

"Quickly, go on the internet and check, see what the situation is right now."

The players immediately took out their communicators to search, wanting to check what exactly happened during the time they were away.

Following their searches, the news that the Flickering War had ended decades ago appeared on their pages, leading to more surprised gasps.

When they went offline, the Flickering War had still been raging, so they naturally thought that they would get to continue fighting the moment they returned online. To think that during the version update, the battle had already ended.

Reading on, the expressions of the players got even more confused. Some of them even catcalled.

The fall of Gaud, Sorokin escaping in fear of being sentenced for his crimes, Aurora entering the Beyond Grade A realm, the Sanctum Revivals leading to the Primordial Ones being resurrected, and the standoff between the Beyond Grade A Association and the three Universal Civilizations… A series of major events was shown before the eyes of the many players. Just looking at the description, many of the players could very well imagine the stormy situation that happened then.

"This… the change is too great!"

"Aurora has really entered the Beyond Grade A realm… Damn, who's this blonde sister? I've fallen in love with her!"

"This is amazing. Germinal is really the strongest representing organization in the whole universe. One sect, three Beyond Grade As—who else is that impressive?"

"The Germinal spirit will never wither! Hooyah!"

"This is indeed worthy of a span of fifty years. The original structure of the universe has been completely subverted."

"Black Star is too fierce. No wonder this version is named after him."

Everyone was shocked. They felt as though they had woken up from a long sleep only to find out that everything around them had changed.

Seeing the actions of Black Star during the update, many of the players understood why the name of Version 5.0 was called 'Black Star's Era'.

Their Army Commander had become the 'Leader of the Martial Way'. With his unparalleled courage and charisma, he led the Beyond Grade A class against the explored universe overlords. He was undoubtedly a leader of this era!

The title 'Black Star's Era' was totally worthy of the name!

"So fierce, Old Blackie is indeed an extraordinary existence."

"Army Commander is awesome! (voice cracks)"

"Next time, we shouldn't call him Black Star. We'll just address him as Black Deity."

"I'm not sure why, but I feel as though I'm watching my own son having grown up…"

The players had lots of mixed feelings.

The figure of Black Star had been with them through several versions, and now, he had even become the Main Storyline of the version, leading to a new era. His identity was unique in this universe. In their eyes, Black Star was already confirmed as the ultimate protagonist!

Many of the old hardcore players had personally watched Black Star rise from an insignificant person, stepping into the glorified altar. Their hearts had a sense of gratification, as though they were witnessing the continuation of a legend.

Bun-Hit-Dog was so excited, his entire body trembled. He immediately pinched his assistant, Little Wheat, who was beside him as he babbled, "Quickly! Material! A lot of material! At least twenty episodes of videos can be released using this. Quickly record them all!"

Little Wheat hurriedly nodded and began to record.

Meanwhile, Frenzied Sword and the professional players controlled their emotions, quickly checking the attributes panel.

"It seems like the upper limit this time has been opened to level 180."

"Speaking of which, most Calamity Grades usually enter the realm around level 160 and 170. While we're weaker than them at the same level, level 180 should be enough for us to hit the Calamity Grade, right?"

"It's possible. Maybe in this version, the strength of the players will be pulled apart. Those who can enter the Calamity Grade will definitely be able to slap and beat up a whole bunch of Grade Bs."

Everyone discussed their levels fervently before they remembered something.

"That's right. I remember that our main storyline for the Flickering War was not settled. Now that the war has ended, I wonder what has happened to the situation."

In the previous version, the Main Storyline in the Flickering War for the Black Star Army was something that Han Xiao had created, and it had long been settled. What the other organizations' players got was the true Main Storyline, which could only be settled after the war.

Hearing this, many of the players entered the forums, and with a glance, they almost laughed themselves to death.

They saw that the forums for the Flickering World were extremely lively, and many of them were crying blood and tears, especially those from the Limitless Financial Group.

[Fan Shuishui: Where's my faction? Where's my huge faction‽]

[Atlas: Madafaka, why has the entire Limitless Financial Group disappeared‽]

[Adventures of Tintin: Flickering World, ah Flickering World. The largest galactic consortium, the Limitless Financial Group, went bankrupt; the boss Sorokin owed up to 3.5 billion in debt for food, drinks, and gambling, and he took his mistress with him to go on the run! We toiled for half a year and didn't even get a single paycheck. B*stard Sorokin, you're not human!]

On the forums, there were a large portion of players who had lost their factions and were wailing. This was as good as them not having any contribution for the entire of Version 4.0.

Players who were in a smaller faction always lived on tenterhooks the moment they logged back in after a version update, fearing that their faction would be gone and all their effort wasted.

Originally, those players who had joined larger factions were not worried about this problem, but the Limitless Financial Group was no small faction, and it had actually disappeared, causing the players to feel immense regret.

If they had known this, they would have followed the other group of defectors to jump ship during the national war!

"Too unlucky."

"That's why choosing a faction is of utmost importance, just like picking stocks. One must be cautious!"

"It's lucky our Black Star Army is resilient enough."

Watching the scene, the army players could not help but laugh.

Even a behemoth like the Limitless Financial Group could crash. While the Black Star Army was strong, they had provoked the three Universal Civilizations, and thus, their futures were not too bright either.

Their Army Commander might be fierce, the association strong, and the Sanctum Revival miraculous, but their opponents were the three Universal Civilizations. Now that their original cooperative relationship had evolved to become enemies, many people did not have much confidence in battling them. If something went wrong, they might lose their faction like the Limitless Financial Group players.

"The battle between the Beyond Grade A Association and the three Universal Civilizations should be the Main Storyline of this version. We're inherently on the side of the association, but can we really win?"

"That's right. If the association loses, won't the army disband? Won't it be our loss then?"

Some people chatted in small voices, their stand wavering. These were all new players who had joined only in Version 4.0.

As for the veterans, while they were worried about the safety of the army, their stand was firm.

Most of the old players had long treated the army as their own faction, working hard to make it grow to where it was today. Even if the enemy was strong, they would not wish to switch to another faction. Anyway, they were not afraid of death, so it was still better to work for their own faction!

The army had shaped the sense of belonging for their players for many years, and the results showed. While players valued benefits, they sometimes went the opposite way instead. While benefits were important to them, the real core logic that determined a player's actions could be summarized in one sentence.

I do what makes me happy!

Ding!

At this moment, the interface of every army player rang at the same time.

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You have triggered the S Ranked Main Storyline: Calamity of the Supers—Black Star Army!

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