The Legendary Mechanic

The moment the recruitment order from the Black Star Army was sent out, practically half the star field exploded from excitement, and all the responders began to gather!

In just ten days, Phillip had already received countless resumes from various sectors of the Shattered Star Ring.

Riding on this wave of heated public opinion, the number of applicants was far greater than any of their previous recruitments. The target was not just toward original mercenaries. As long as one did not have a 'Wanted' tag on them, everyone would be treated equally.

Philip first eliminated the weaker candidates and did a screening of the first batch of top-rated talents. Just these people already totaled 1.4 million, more than the total count of the Black Star Army. This would effectively double the official staff of the Black Star Army a few times over!

More than a million people had already been selected, and this was not even the final result. Han Xiao was prepared to open the floodgates fully instead of restricting entry this time. With his fame and reputation, he already possessed the qualifications to form a large organization. This time, he was making full use of the opportunity.

Now was not the time to consider if over-recruiting would cause them to be able to absorb the members properly. This recruitment was not just targeted toward talents but also a way to show his influence. The more sensational this response was, the higher the position of the Black Star Army in the entire Star Field. If one combined the results of the recruitment with his current fame, he would be able to engrave his existence into the hearts of countless influences around, ascending to the top in one step and becoming a famous force in the Shattered Star Ring!

Compared to the other large organizations, the Black Star Army, while huge in scale, lacked reputation and influence. However, this did not prevent the popularity of their faction from rising. This was of great benefit to their future development, so from Han Xiao's perspective, the storm of public opinion was perfectly utilized.

Most of the recruited talents in the first batch had some sort of fame in their respective sectors. At least sixty percent were also battle-hardened elite interstellar warriors as well, with the lowest being at Grade C. While the number of Supers was small, if one cast their eyes across the entire Star Field, the total sum was still exaggeratedly huge.

Recently, the secret war had begun turning into a full-fledged tug of war. There were no signs of activity on both sides, and there was free time to deal with his own internal affairs. Purple Crystal attached great importance to Han Xiao's potential and was glad to see the Black Star Army develop itself. Furthermore, this indirectly meant a supplement to Section Zero.

More than a million of the newcomers then travelled thousands of miles from various star clusters to the Garton Star System, going through the procedures at the Black Star Army Base. Han Xiao also returned to his own base to deal with the various issues caused by the huge swelling in his faction.

…

In the reception room of the Black Star Army Headquarters, Sylvia brought in three new recruits of different races and appearances, and Han Xiao stood up from the sofa to greet them.

"Your Excellency, Black Star." The three of them had respectful attitudes and stepped forward quickly to exchange handshakes with Han Xiao.

"Come, sit."

Han Xiao waved his hand, and they all took their seats, beginning to chat.

With millions of newcomers, Han Xiao had no time to meet up with them individually. The reason he was meeting with these three was because the new recruits were actually all at the Calamity Grade!

A Calamity Grade Super would never submit to another easily. Before he became known as a potential Beyond Grade A seedling, Han Xiao had tried many times to recruit a Calamity Grade, but other than Lagi, everyone else had rejected him.

However, his status today was greatly different when compared to that of the past. Being a highly anticipated Beyond Grade A seed was enough to make some of the Calamity Grades stop hesitating and run under his banner. If their bet paid off, they would then become the backbone of a Beyond Grade A organization!

If one likened the Beyond Grade A to an Emperor ascending to the throne, they would be the dragons that became his officials—bright futures awaited them!

It was a pity that Ames was too much of a slacker. Even if she was a bona fide Beyond Grade A, her attraction toward Supers might not exceed that of Han Xiao's. Not many Supers would deign to follow a leader without any ambition. Furthermore, Ames could not even be bothered to actively recruit Officers.

Those three Calamity Grades were the cream of the crop among the leeks, probably considered leeks that had grown legs, running a thousand miles to deliver themselves to be harvested by him.

Status and strength went hand in hand, and the Calamity Grades in an organization were destined to be the upper echelons. That was the only reason they had come. After all, they could not be expected to climb slowly from the bottom like a Grade C Super, right? Thus, Han Xiao had to personally take a look at the three of them and use this opportunity to observe them.

Before meeting with them, Han Xiao had already flipped through their resumes.

Karmbe, Grade A Pugilist, male. Tall with extremely pale skin, he seemed to have the bloodline of the Blood Race. He used to be an external instructor in one of the Super institutions with a civilization in some Star System. He resigned later, walking through multiple galaxies and taking a lot of private employment.

Marian, Grade A Mechanical Pugilist, male. He was wrapped from head to toe in heavy, dark-gray armor and always wore a helmet, seldom revealing his face to others. He looked like some knight from a fantasy civilization, and the reason he had come over was the same as Reynold, because he looked up to Han Xiao as a Mechanic.

Misecech, Grade A Esper, male. His resume was clean. Other than him being a Calamity Grade, there was nothing worth noting. He had hung around with multiple mercenary groups but had not worked long. He was a typical spectator.

These people who took the initiative to sign up would not be very strong, but they were at least at the Calamity Grade. The Black Star Army had originally only had three Calamity Grades. With the addition of three more, this doubled the total number, raising the advanced combatants inside the army.

Thus, the Supers that took the opportunity to rush over were basically 'career men'. They were accustomed to changing jobs and moved to wherever had some benefit. Naturally, they would not be loyal—of this, Han Xiao was clear. He also did not hope for them to sell their lives to him. As long as they could complete the work based on their scope as Calamity Grades, that would be good.

After chatting with them for a while, both sides had observed enough by now. Han Xiao stood up and extended his hand, smiling. "Then, I'll represent Black Star Army to welcome you three on board."

"That is our honor." Misecech immediately took the opportunity to speak first. Karmbe replied shortly after, and Marian nodded in silence.

"I'll need some time to consider what roles to assign you. Don't worry, I will not treat you badly."

"Haha, our requirements are not high." Misecech had a flattering smile.

After replying with some pleasantries, Han Xiao sent the trio off before asking Sylvia to take them through the formalities.

Han Xiao did not rest after but immediately entered another reception room.

There were tens of people within there waiting. The moment they saw Han Xiao, they immediately stood up, greeting him warmly.

"Everyone, please sit."

Han Xiao waved his hand, glancing at everyone present.

Within this reception room, everyone present were the emissaries of various civilizations from the Colton Star Cluster. They had come to seek cooperation of their own initiative.

Originally, the influence of the Black Star Army had been limited to the Garton Star System, but now, the other Star Systems around the Colton Star Cluster had started to notice the potential of Han Xiao, as well as the momentum of the Black Star Army's development, thus coming to seek opportunities for development and mutual benefit.

"Your Excellency Black Star, I'm the emissary from the Black Raven Civilization. I hope that the Black Star Army will be able to establish a sub-base within the territory of our civilization. To this end, the Black Raven Civilization is willing to pay a cooperation fee each year, at the same time opening the internal resource trading channels. Furthermore, we'll give the Black Star Army the mining rights for a sector."

"I'm the emissary from the Holy Stone Civilization. Our terms are the same as the Black Raven Civilization's, but our cooperation fees can be raised further if needed."

"I am…"

Everyone introduced themselves one by one, giving their own prices just for Black Star to build a sub-base in their territories. This was akin to offering themselves up to aid Han Xiao in expanding his influence.

The Star System Civilizations could clearly see that Black Star had already been tied to the big boss of this Star Cluster. With him also having the hope of becoming a Beyond Grade A Super, the Black Star Army could very well turn out to be the Colton Star Cluster's Beyond Grade A influence. Attracting him to their side early was naturally the most cost-effective scenario.

Right now, the base of the Black Star Army was situated within the Garton Star System. It was unknown just how many times Serbia the Fifth had woken up from his sleep due to laughing out in joy, as this implied that there would be a Beyond Grade A Super holding the fort in Godora in the future. The other star systems also wished to have the Black Star Army expand his organization into their territory, simply because of this same consideration.

As for those star systems that did not originally have this idea, after seeing all their competitors doing so, they decided that they could not sit still. Thus, over eighty percent of the civilizations in the entire Colton Star Cluster had sent their emissaries to this reception room.

After listening to everyone, Han Xiao nodded, his face remaining impassive, but his heart was secretly moved.

The conditions given by the various civilizations in the star systems were extremely rich. Leaving aside the cooperation funds and resource channels, the most profitable thing would be the large-scale mining rights of a resource planet.

A resource planet was different from a barren one. The former was chock full of resources, and all of such planets were recorded clearly, with only the region's ruling civilization having the power to mine them on a large scale. If any external organizations tried to mine without receiving a permit, they would have to account to the civilization of that region or even be hunted down by their guards.

Every civilization would definitely pay close attention toward a resource planet. Even though the Star Cluster Civilizations had mining ships that were able to dissect an entire planet, they rarely used them as even these big shots paid much attention to sustainable development.

A barren star, however, allowed for private mining because the profit obtained from there could not be compared to that of a resource planet. The quality-price ratio was too low, so the civilizations found it a waste of their manpower and material resources, deigning to sell the mining rights to others instead. For those private mining companies, while the profits to be obtained were not high, the barren planets were rich in oil and water.

There would, however, be times when the private mining team struck gold. During their mining process, if they found out that the 'barren planet' was actually a hidden resource planet, the civilization would evaluate the total value of this resource planet before offering a bid to buy it back. In this area, the majority of the civilizations were honorable enough to not force the mining team to hand over the planet for free.

Han Xiao was still quite clear about these basic concepts. From his previous life, during the later versions, players could even purchase mining rights to the resource planets from civilizations.

With such a clear comparison, Han Xiao was acutely aware of the value of giving him the mining rights of a resource planet. This was equivalent to taking out a cake from the civilizations and cutting him a small slice. It could easily net him a profit in the region of billions of Enas!

This was fertile ground!

Tsk, I risked my life to earn that small amount of money. Any random mining operation on a resource planet would bring me back thousands of times more profit. Why am I still a mercenary? Han Xiao could not help but silently curse.

Indeed, the most profitable way of earning was to establish a civilization!

After settling his mind, Han Xiao put on a solemn expression as he said in a stately tone, "Everyone, you have shown me too much sincerity. To be honest, the terms and conditions you have given me are quite tempting. I'm very willing to cooperate with you, but my Black Star Army is currently in its recruitment phase. After this recruitment has ended, I'll schedule time to visit your areas to build a base."

Hearing this, everyone agreed and began to chatter.

"No problem, we can wait."

"Of course, we understand. We can sign the contract first."

Han Xiao smiled. "Since no one has any objections, let's fix it this way."

Everyone present handed in their contracts, and Han Xiao signed them with some emotions in his heart.

In the past, there had not been so many good opportunities available for him. However, opportunities were knocking constantly on his door. This led to Han Xiao recall the words that Aesop had once said to him.

As long as you surpass Grade A, many powers will immediately offer up benefits to you. You will rise to the heavens with a single step and be at the highest level of the dining table!

Right now, he had only revealed a chance of breaking through Grade A, but this sort of situation had already happened. It seemed as though the old man Aesop had not lied to him.

Having finalized this business, the emissaries all heaved sighs of relief. This time, they would be able to answer to their superiors.

After sending off this batch of satisfied emissaries, Han Xiao did not stop but instead approached yet another reception room. He still had matters to settle.

The impact of his expansion this time was too great, so he had to meet all kinds of leeks every day, to the point that he was so busy his feet did not have time to be fixed on the ground.

The large influx of people that he had caused had to be solved by him, even if he was crying internally from fatigue.

However, everything would lead to extremely rich rewards, making Han Xiao satisfied.

Opening the door of yet another reception room, the people within the room looked over and greeted him as they smiled.

The occupants there were people who were more familiar to him, the great figures around Shattered Star Ring. This included the leader of the Dark Underworld Army, Underworld Feather, the captain of the Sky Ring Army, Gureja, and a few other Army Commanders.

"Brothers, it's been a long time." Han Xiao greeted them and curiously said, "You guys were being very secretive on the communicator. What happened for all of you to come look for me to speak face-to-face?"

The few army commanders exchanged glances before suddenly smiling.

The Sky Ring Army Commander Gureja stroked his steel-like bristly beard, winking as he spoke. "This time, we're here to invite you."

"Invite me for what?"

"As you already know, the situation in the Shattered Star Ring is currently quite turbulent. With opportunities everywhere, it's hard for an organization to completely swallow all the opportunities alone. I've already discussed this with these few army commanders, and we've decided to integrate the entire Shattered Star Ring and establish a Mercenary League so that it is convenient for us to participate in various missions between the Star System Civilizations. In such troubled times, we need to combine forces and seize this opportunity!"

Without waiting for Han Xiao to speak, Underworld Feather, who was by the side, lazily interrupted, "Black Star, with you being so popular recently, how about you just come and lead our Shattered Star Ring Mercenary League as the leader? Anyway, you don't seem to mind having a lot of things to do."

Gureja coughed and hurriedly added, "Her meaning is, since your current appeal is far greater than any of our Grade A Mercenary groups', we came to you this time to recommend you to take the spot of leader and founder of the Mercenary League."

Han Xiao's eyebrows jumped up, feeling a little surprised.

This was one of the branch storylines of Version 3.0—[Shattered Star Ring Mercenary League]. The major mercenary groups had joined forces to integrate the scattered mercenaries of the Shattered Star Ring, establishing a large-scale mercenary league. The league developed and became a huge faction later that was extremely popular with players.

He did not expect the captains of each mercenary group to plan to make him the head, so he ended up getting involved in the storyline this way.

"You guys are really…" Han Xiao's mouth twitched, and he raised his thumb. "… so smart and insightful!"