The Legendary Mechanic

The transport spaceships landed at the headquarters' docks one after another.

As the Constellation Corridor players stepped into the headquarters, the millions of army players quickly came. The harbor and the hall were all filled with players. Luckily, the army headquarters satellite was large enough to carry billions of members.

This was the first time that players from different Star Fields had met outside of professional competitions. Be it the Chinese, Russians, or the Australian players, they all sized each other up in this first meeting.

When comparing the two sides, the difference was obvious.

The equipment on the Constellation Corridor players varied broadly in terms of color and models. It looked quite messy.

On the millions of army players, the color of their equipment and weapons were mainly black and silver. Although their equipment models differed, they were not as messy as the Constellation Corridor players. Most of the army players used the few sets of widely recognized army combat armor with the best performance. They looked neat, like an elite military force. The small individual differences between them were not that obvious. Furthermore, their equipment all had the Black Star Army symbol.

After getting off the ship, some of the newcomers greeted and talked to the others, some curiously observed and looked around the headquarters, and some went to communicate with the army NPCs. Generally, they scattered around and familiarized themselves with the headquarters.

Vodka and Captain Old Henry led their guild officers and looked for the guild leaders of the large Chinese guilds.

While the Long Sky club was in their rented base in the Black Star Army headquarters, the leaders of Sky Territory and Ancient Dynasty, Jade Green Sky and Morning Snow Twilight Frost, went to meet the Russian guild officers.

"It's good to see you, my Chinese friends. I'm the vice-president of Power and Glory, Vodka."

Vodka and his friends introduced themselves.

"Good to see you," Jade Green Sky said with a smile. The translation function relayed the meaning of his words to Vodka and the others.

They chatted casually for a while before getting down to business.

"The people above told us to build a guild branch here. Some time ago, the guilds on your side and our side contacted each other. The people above said that your guilds would provide us with some help in the early stages…"

Morning Snow Twilight Frost smiled and said, "That's right. If I may ask, how many guild members did you bring here to build your guild branch?"

"I brought twelve guild officers, a hundred and fifty official members, and one thousand two hundred external members," Vodka said.

The representatives of the other guilds said their numbers, all around a thousand. Being an officer or an official member of the large professional guilds was a proper job; they received salaries for playing the game. As for the external players, some of them were casual volunteers, and some were similar to studios—they received bonuses from the clubs as well.

"For the thousands of you to start guild branches here, the road ahead is quite tough. You have to start from scratch. You will need to purchase all kinds of tools, items, and carriers, which all require money; it's the same for equipment repairs, enhancements, and renewals; building your bases is quite costly as well, and don't forget about the traveling fees to do missions. Furthermore, you need to search for channels that can provide stable streams of EXP, materials, and money. The earlier you turn losses into profit, the better, right?"

Vodka and the rest nodded continuously. To them, operating the guilds was a job; they were there on a mission. Their jobs depended on how well they operated the guild branch.

Morning Snow Twilight Frost secretly exchanged looks with Jade Green Sky, smiled, and said slowly, "Some time ago, we completed the Black Star Army's main storyline mission [Secret War]. Many of us obtained the army exclusive honorable title [Secret Warrior]. Anyone with this title can enjoy a ten percent discount on any purchases within the army. Of course, you guys don't have that treatment."

Only the army players who had taken part in the secret war had such privileges. This was a limited title. The players who joined later had no chance to obtain it.

These guilds who had just come from another Star Field had heard about this long ago through the forums. Of course, they were jealous.

"You mean…"

"Yes, we can provide a channel for you to enjoy that discount. We will purchase products from the army at ten percent off, and we will sell them to your two guilds at three percent off. Large guilds like us have more than enough funds and Contribution Points to fulfill your mass purchase needs… Of course, you can also look for normal players and ask them to help, but there's a risk of getting scammed."

Vodka did not respond. It was clear that Dynasty and Long Sky were planning to profit from the price difference. As the manager of this guild branch, he had to be calculative.

Compared to purchasing resources of these Chinese clubs, he was more willing to work with reliable normal Chinese players. He could borrow their title to purchase at ten percent off and give them some resources from time to time, which would be much cheaper than a mere three percent off.

However, Morning Snow Twilight Frost saw right through them and knew exactly what these Russian guild representatives were thinking. He smiled faintly and said, "If you purchase from us, we will provide help to you in other ways too.

"In what ways?"

"For example, quality mission resources or hidden NPC intel. If you accept some kind of high difficulty mission, we can provide manpower to help you. Also… we can ensure your safety."

"Safety?" Vodka's expression changed. "What do you mean?"

"The Shattered Star Ring is the territory that us Chinese clubs have been operating in since many versions ago. The dozens of large guilds and many more medium to smaller guilds have split most of the quality resources here. As outsiders who have suddenly arrived to build your guilds, I can't guarantee that no other guilds will have conflicts with you. And if it just so happens that you guys will have to fight guild wars with other local guilds, since you're just a guild branch and have very limited manpower, you will be at quite a massive disadvantage."

One of the goals those guilds that belonged to clubs had was to provide resources for their professional players, and the large guilds of the various nations were each other's biggest competitors. There was no way the Chinese clubs would watch other professional clubs peacefully operate their guild branches. Their higher-ups had already informed these guilds to think of some ways to restrain the development of those competitors.

No matter how rich the foreign clubs were, if there were always people disrupting their missions, robbing their resources, and chasing down and killing their members, they would not be able to grow and would always make losses.

What Morning Snow Twilight Frost said was a reminder to Vodka and the others, saying that if they did not pay some 'protection fees' to them, there were more than enough people there that could make trouble for them.

Of course, the Chinese clubs were not too excessive about it. After all, players from all around the world were watching the situation of these first batch of players who had traveled to another Star Field. As the hosts, they could not openly bully these newcomers who had absolutely no foundations there. Even though they were competitors, they had to care about how much attention this matter attracted. They did not want the other countries to have a horrible image of the Chinese professional circle, so they still gave a small discount and some help so that it would look like the foreign clubs did not make too great a loss on the surface.

The normal players, of course, would not be targeted. However, the clubs of the various nations were, first and foremost, commercial businesses. In order for their business to bloom, they had to rely on the glory of their professional players. While they had to make profits, they also had the hopes of the players on their shoulders. Professional players fought in competitions, and they, the official guilds, had to fight in the game as well. If the Chinese clubs went to another Star Field to start their guild branches, they would be treated very similarly, restricted in many aspects.

Vodka and the others exchanged looks before agreeing with resignation. Deep down, however, they did not yield so easily. They secretly decided to look for chances to work with normal players without letting the Chinese clubs know so that they would pay less protection fees.

Meanwhile, in the guild base of the Temple of God guild, the guild presidents of the other two clubs, Jupiter and Cowherd Star, were having a meeting with the Kangaroo Boxing guild branch president, Captain Old Henry, and the other Australian guild representatives. They were discussing the exact same thing as Long Sky and Dynasty…

The four largest clubs had already made agreements behind the curtains to do the same thing. Compared to their plans, these small protection fees were just minor earnings.

…

To the more than seven hundred thousand newcomers, the army headquarters was their new main city.

While they were familiarizing themselves with the environment, Han Xiao returned to the office of the Army Commander. The officers who had been managing the headquarters for the past two months were reporting to him.

Han Xiao leaned back in his chair and looked at the group of officers in front of him.

"How's the army been doing while I wasn't here?"

Sylvia took a step forward and reported, "We have digested the gains we made through the last expansions, as well as successfully linked with the business channels of the various allies in the Shattered Star Ring. The Black Star Army's current business range covers more than ten industries, forming a complete trading system, intelligence system, transportation system, and many others."

"The Logistics Department has built 126 factories in various locations, making rushed orders of more satellite bases," Reynold said with a deep voice. "According to the army's future blueprint, we will continue to build more divisions in all seven Star Clusters and expand our forces."

Herlous nodded and said, "Due to the increase in the number of members and the size of our forces, the army's fleet is expanding as well. The Logistics Department already has a lot of things on their hands that are yet to be completed, so I made orders with the financial groups we're working with, and there are new batches of battleships being built every day."

Han Xiao nodded. These were all things that he had told them to do before he left. "Anything else?"

"Er… our funds are running out," Sylvia said a little awkwardly.

Han Xiao's eyes widened. "We have so many businesses, including the resource planet mining rights from many civilizations. How are we lacking money?"

"The cost of expansion was too high. The current maintenance fee of the army is extremely costly, and the Logistics Department has been producing at full capacity the whole time, which is reducing our funds at quite a terrifying speed. Furthermore, it's the off-season for trading, so many of the financial groups working with us have seen decreased sales. Thus, the profit period of the mining of resource planets is extended, and our capital flow is a little tight…"

"Did you not go to the Crimson Dynasty and the Purple Crystal Civilization's men and ask them to send funds? Didn't I tell you that you can go to them whenever we're lacking funds if it's caused by normal operations?" Han Xiao asked.

"I did…" Sylvia replied with resignation. "They did not reject, but they said that they will only do so when you tell them personally. They only recognize you."

"Alright, I'll contact them later." Han Xiao's mouth twitched. These two only recognized him as their ally, which was unavoidable. Although his army was enormous, its true core was still him.

"One more thing. You told me to gather the teams needed to explore the Flickering World. I've already done so. They are split into many fleets and are now standing by in the various sub-bases around Colton, ready to depart anytime," Sylvia said.

"Good, Zoel will be hurrying me to get going very soon." Han Xiao gave Sylvia a very satisfied look.

The three of them then reported some of the details. Seeing that Han Xiao had no other orders, they relaxed and started casually chatting.

"Why haven't I seen Lagi? I've returned, and my vice-captain isn't here to see me. What's he been busy doing?" Han Xiao wondered.

"Hehe, he's been busy every day, either busy playing cards or busy sleeping!" Sylvia felt angry whenever Lagi's name was brought up. She then shot Herlous a glare and said, "You too. He drags you away to play cards every day—why don't you ever reject him‽"

"What do you know about fun between card-mates?" Herlous snorted.

"Don't mention playing cards in front of me," Han Xiao complained. "How has Lagi been teaching Tomar?"

Tomar was a protagonist character that he had brought back, and Han Xiao did not forget about him.

"I heard he's learning very fast."

Han Xiao nodded. He looked at Reynold and said with anticipation, "What about my godson? Has he shown any special talent in terms of machinery?"

"Er… no," Reynold told the truth. "But he's learning very fast, too. He's quite talented on the path of the machinery."

Sigh, I wonder if this will help in getting [Perfect Mechanical Sense]… Han Xiao waved his hand with resignation.

"I'll take him out in a few days. That'll be all."

The three of them nodded and left the room. Han Xiao took out his communicator and contacted the Purple Crystal Civilization and the Crimson Dynasty, successfully requesting funds.

Zoel also reminded him that the Crimson Dynasty was done preparing their exploration team and told Han Xiao to lead his people to the Flickering World's Dawn Star Cluster soon to rendezvous with the dynasty's army. Then, they would officially start to explore the Flickering World.

After settling the official matters, Han Xiao looked at how the new players were doing in the army's headquarters.

These Constellation Corridor players were still familiarizing themselves with the headquarters' structure and map. Han Xiao had noticed something—although these players had already traveled to another Star Field, they were still posting on their Constellation Corridor forum page out of habit.

Although the players of both sides communicated quite a lot on the forums, only a minority of players interacted with each other in the army's headquarters. Despite all of them being army members, there were obvious differences between the players of the two Star Fields. They were not completely avoiding each other, but they were basically playing on their own.

"This won't do…" Han Xiao shook his head.

He pondered before quickly writing two Faction Missions and issuing them through the faction interface to all the army players.

_____________________

[Teach a Recruit] (Repeatable)

Mission Introduction: The recent expansion of the Black Star Army has brought back new warriors from another Star Field. The senior members of the army can choose to teach the new members, helping them become familiar with the tasks in the army quickly.

Mission Requirements: Team up with one or more new warriors (players) from another Star Field and complete any one army mission.

Reward: 100 – 300 Black Star Army Contribution Points.

Remarks: Only players who have been in the army for more than a year can accept this mission.

_____________________

[Consult A Veteran] (Repeatable)

Mission Introduction: As a new member of the Black Star Army, the veterans are the best people to learn from. Go and consult them, let them teach you more about the army.

Mission Requirements: Team up with one or more senior warriors (players who have been in the army for more than a year) and complete any one army mission.

Reward: 100 – 300 Black Star Army Contribution Points.

Remarks: Only players who have been in the army for less than a year can accept this mission.

_____________________

"Hehehe…" Looking at the two missions he had just distributed, Han Xiao giggled mischievously.

After existing for three versions, the army's Contribution Point had already become a key resource that was just as important as Enas. No amount was too much for anyone.

He did not want the players of the two Star Fields to form their own circles. Those club guilds were commercial competitors with each other, so there was nothing he could do, but there was definitely something he could do for those normal players. Since they were all there in his headquarters, they were all leeks in the same field. He needed those new and old members to interact with each other and play together.

The social aspect of a game was a key factor in the players' gaming experience!

Since players of both sides were so shy and did not interact with their foreign friends, Han Xiao decided to lure them to socialize.

This would be beneficial for the Constellation Corridor players to embrace the army's system. Not only would they be able to adapt to the new environment quicker, but the 'Constellation Corridor' tag on those players would also slowly disappear, and they would soon just think of themselves as 'army players'.

This way, the personal connection between the players would become another reason for them to stay in the army. He was using players to 'attract' players, indirectly enhancing the appeal and sense of belonging to the faction!

Han Xiao suddenly patted his forehead, and his expression became weird.

"Why does it feel similar to the oldest profession?"