The Legendary Mechanic

The Guild of Gods' first Calamity Grade kill remained popular on the forums. Players were talking about it all the time. Although the Temple of God team had gotten quite a lot of blame in the past few years, they finally recovered from this first kill. Many players acknowledged and praised their achievement while feeling curious about the army's attitude toward this matter.

Although the galactic society was condemning this incident, the players did not give a damn. They all saw the post the Guild of Gods posted, which showed the entire incident, and Dafis clearly opposed the army. Plus, the Feeney Civilization protected Dafis first. From the way they looked at it, the Feeney Civilization deserved it and brought it upon themselves.

However, the condemnation from the outside world did indeed bring trouble to the army. Therefore, many players were waiting to see what the army would do to the Guild of Gods.

Meanwhile, seeing that the Guild of Gods started it, the other large clubs also had the same thoughts.

Although the first kill was gone, killing a Calamity Grade boss was a display of a guild's strength. The way the clubs looked at it, when more and more guilds killed Calamity Grade bosses, it would most likely become one of the basic criteria of becoming a big guild. When recruiting new members, if they saw that this guild had not even killed a Calamity Grade boss before, they would instantly be less attracted. Clearly, the big guilds of the various countries did not want to lose competitiveness.

However, their thoughts were only limited to that for the time being. Since the Guild of Gods did it first, the other guilds were waiting to see how the army dealt with it. They were going to make plans based on the army's stand. One way or another, they had to fight bosses, only with different methods.

Observed by many players, the Guild of Gods' official account released a video. The content of it was their conversation with Han Xiao. In just a few minutes, it was pinned to the top manually and received wide attention on the forums.

The players were surprised by Han Xiao's attitude and excitedly discussed it.

[The Germinal Organization Leader Is Always Watching: No punishment, Old Black is so generous!]

[Coolest Kid on Planet Aquamarine: Hahaha, I knew the army commander would be sensible. Otherwise, anyone could just hide on colonial planets after attacking us, and we wouldn't be able to attack them. This is the right decision.]

[Princess Feet: The army commander expressed his intention clearly. As long as we don't go overboard when fighting back, the army will back us up. Nice.]

[Army Commander's Big PP: Thank the Guild of Gods brothers for avenging me, amazingly done!]

[Poseidon: Now this is a reliable leader. Old Black never changed.]

[Bun-Hit-Dog: I'm new here, is this how he treats his old comrades? I'm so touched.]

The many players analyzed and discussed on the forums, confirming Black Star's intentions.

Firstly, when the guilds fought bosses, as long as it was an enemy, not only would the army not stop them from doing it, but it would also encourage it to a certain extent. For example, the army could provide some technological support, help them to create an undisrupted environment, and trap the target.

If they accidentally caused casualties while fighting bosses, as long as they had a reason such as someone protecting their enemy and they did not overdo it, the army would not punish them. Although Black Star did not clearly state what would be considered overdoing it, with the Guild of Gods example, as long as they did not go beyond that, it would definitely be fine.

Many Chinese players were very touched by Han Xiao's words. As for the majority of players who joined in the later versions, although they did not have much emotional attachment toward Black Star personally, they still felt good about the army's way of dealing with the incident.

Many guilds were also less worried.

They were worried that the Guild of Gods might be heavily punished, such as getting sealed by the Spacetime Amber. They did not want their guild pillars to face the risk of having their accounts 'banned' and would have no choice but to consider leaving the army. But since the faction's stand on this was sensible, they did not have to prepare for the worst.

…

Over the next ten days or so, the three Universal Civilizations continued to stir up public discussion about the topic. All kinds of verbal condemnations kept increasing. The public wanted the Black Star Army to give them an explanation and get rid of those who were involved.

However, the Black Star Army remained firm. The Black Star Army could explain how the Feeney Civilization protected Dafis on purpose, but there was no need to. They only stated that they were still investigating the matter and would not give in to such an accusation that had zero evidence, completely ignoring the public opinion the three Universal Civilizations deliberately stirred up.

The civilizations in the various Star Fields searched for the details through all kinds of channels. None of them believed what the three Universal Civilizations pushed the public to believe easily. They knew that there were definitely some things that were not publicized, and the truth could not possibly be as one-sided as the public believed. However, Planet Burger was indeed attacked. Even if there was more to the incident, the laws were indeed violated. Hence, the various civilizations were only watching and did not do anything.

Seeing the Black Star Army's attitude in this storm, many Star Systems sensed something.

The Peace Treaty set by the three Universal Civilizations had always been their protection. Anyone who violated the laws would be strictly punished. This was one of the key reasons they remained the rulers. For all this time, the Black Star Army had been following the laws like a tiger hiding its teeth and claws. The public gradually forgot about just how dangerous this tiger was out of habit… However, in a special time like now, if the Black Star Army no longer followed the laws strictly, could the three Universal Civilizations restrain them?

The answer was clear—hardly, if at all.

Currently, the three Universal Civilizations had used the laws against the association and closed the galactic society toward it. This was much more severe than the punishment of violating the laws. However, with that, the three Universal Civilizations had no further method of punishing the association anymore other than to start a war, which the association was not afraid of at all… The various civilizations knew that if the three Universal Civilizations were willing to start a war, they would not have waited this long.

In this situation, the various civilizations no longer felt that the three Universal Civilizations had the ability to force the association to follow the galactic laws. This meant that the strength of the protection from the Peace Treaty would definitely decrease.

Of course, judging from the Black Star Army's attitude, they probably did not intend to openly violate the galactic laws. However, as for the things that were in the gray area, Black Star most likely no longer held back. As for the three Universal Civilizations, they would definitely make a decision that caused the least problems for them. As long as the association did not deliberately attack a civilization, the three Universal Civilizations would most likely only make the public condemn them. The three Universal Civilizations doing something about it was not going to happen.

Having understood these things, many civilizations that answered to the three Universal Civilizations' call started to hesitate. If the Black Star Army no longer restrained themselves, the effects of the laws decreased tremendously. Clearly, continuing to oppose the association was no longer wise. Even if they stood on the three Universal Civilizations' side, they would only be used and would have to deal with the damage on their own in the end.

Facing this situation, many civilizations made similar decisions.

When these two giants fight, we're the ones suffering. We can't mess with either side, so it's better to keep a low profile. Responding to the three Universal Civilizations is one thing, but we'd better turn a blind eye regarding the Beyond Grade A Association's act of uniting the black markets everywhere. The three Universal Civilizations can send their own people to stop them all they like. We're not going to put in as much effort anymore.

This decision quickly circulated between the upper echelons of the various galactic civilizations. Even the Feeney Civilization was no longer as confident when seeing this. When they were interviewed by the media, although they still condemned the act, their word choice became less extreme and more cautious.

…

"Cancer of the Universe…"

Holmes browsed the messages on the quantum network and had a grave look.

He was a Calamity Grade super who operated an armed force in the Sea of Star Spirits. He was quite famous in the local Star System.

Ever since the Planet Burger incident got so big, Holmes had paid close attention to it.

He had come to know Dafis when he went to the Endless Nebulae on business in the past. The two of them became friends and occasionally chatted. Because of that, he knew about Dafis' recent work.

Inspired by Dafis, Holmes also secretly worked with the local civilization and did what Dafis was doing. Through obstructing the act of uniting the black market, he obtained resources and benefits from the civilization.

However, this incident startled Holmes.

He was not as strong as Dafis. When Dafis messed with the Cancer of the Universe and got chased all the way till he was killed, he became alarmed too.

While secretly obstructing the association, Holmes had killed some Immortals too. He could not help but be afraid of the Immortals grouping up and targeting him. He was not as arrogant as Dafis and did not think he could deal with the revenge of tons of Immortals.

There were risks to opposing the association to begin with. Holmes only agreed to working with the local civilization because they promised to protect him when needed.

However, the Black Star Army's response to the Planet Burger incident scared him. The Cancers of the Universe were very firm about taking revenge, so much so they were willing to violate galactic law. While the Black Star Army refused to admit anything… how useful could the protection the local civilization promised him be?

"The risk is getting higher. If the Cancers of the Universe come to take revenge, my life will be in danger too… I can't keep doing this."

With a worried expression, Holmes took out the communicator and called his contact in the local civilization.

Very soon, the contact appeared on the screen and smiled respectfully.

"Your Excellency Holmes, what can I do for you?"

Holmes cut to the chase and said with a grave tone, "From now on, our partnership will be terminated. I will no longer deal with the association's men taking over the black market for you guys."

The contact was stunned, surprised. He said hastily, "This is… so sudden. Is there anything you're not satisfied with in the agreement? We can talk about it. I'll…"

Holmes interrupted him and said with a deep voice, "My mind is set. Tell your upper echelons, the partnership stops here. I quit."

As he said that, not giving the contact a chance to reply, Holmes hung up the call right away. He stood up, walked back and forth in the room, and was still a little worried.

Hesitating for a while, Holmes clenched his teeth and walked toward the dock.

"I can't stay in my headquarters. The enemies might come. I shall go somewhere to hide for some time."

…

In the Central Galaxy, the three Universal Civilization leaders' conference room…

"Hmm, the Black Star Army's response is expected. Black Star indeed won't fall for this."

Louis looked at the report from the Public Opinion Control Department and nodded at the other two.

"Humph, of course. If Black Star was naive enough to respond and sell out his men, he'd be too easy to deal with. We wouldn't have to put in this much effort." Marbruce crossed his arms and snorted.

The Feeney Civilization provided them with an opportunity, and they took it; that was all. They only wanted to damage Black Star's positive reputation and never expected to force Black Star to obey using the public opinion. That would clearly be daydreaming.

The church's pope tapped the table and said, "Although Black Star's positive reputation is decreasing and we have the moral high ground, he also used this to defuse the locks we had on him, which will only make the various civilizations fear him more. Instead of causing problems for him, it's become a problem for us."

"Using the cancers of the universe to do the dirty work and intimidate others, what a good plan." Louis frowned. "According to the intelligence, many Star System civilizations are already unwilling to continue sending people to hold the black market. Looks like we have no choice but to send our Immortals too."

"Hmm, cancers of the universe against cancers of the universe, it's the most efficient way." Marbruce nodded.

The three Universal Civilizations had raised some Immortals too. To them, letting Immortals fight each other was clearly more efficient than spending their direct troops. After all, they would not feel hurt if the Immortals died.

The church's pope said with a deep voice, "But the Immortals are very difficult to control and restrain. If they make a mess…"

The three of them exchanged looks and were all troubled.

The players in the three Universal Civilizations were just as difficult to control. They caused quite a number of problems, but the three Universal Civilizations did not have any good methods of dealing with them. They had punished them many times, but some of them just left the faction and joined some other organization. Some even became wanted criminals. Because they controlled these Immortals too strictly, they lost quite a number of them.

As Version 5.0 began, the strength of the players started to increase again. The three Universal Civilizations realized the seriousness of the matter too and suspected the Immortals had the potential to become Calamity Grades.

If that day ever came, the cancers of the universe would be the most suitable opponents for the cancers of the universe. Therefore, they had to have enough Immortals in their hands and could not afford to lose any more of them. Hence, the three Universal Civilizations gave the players special treatment, not punishing them unless absolutely necessary. However, they still could not stop the Immortals from leaving. The three Universal Civilizations had always been beleaguered by this matter.

Hence, the three of them were very envious of the Black Star Army. The Immortals who they could not control were already very obedient in the Black Star Army's hands. In the entire universe, the Black Star Army restrained the Immortals most effectively.

Now, the Black Star Army showed signs of taking away this restraint, and if it really did it…

Marbruce shook his head, changed the topic, and said, "Sigh, let's skip this for now. The most important matter now is to confirm if Black Star can freely use the Sanctum Revival."

The other two shook their heads but still looked grave.

If the Black Star Army's Immortals continued to grow, it was very likely that in the future…

Black Star would become the one to decide how peaceful the Galaxy was!