All the game players were in an uproar, surprised.
âHow was the mission triggered?â Bun-Hit-Dog was at a loss.
âShould be a sudden mission, but why did Han Xiao only just realize that he lost something important?â Maple Moon grabbed her chin and murmured with a thoughtful expression. However, the concern of the other players was different from her. They did not ask why; they just cared about the reward.
âOfficer Cla.s.s armor!â Second Princeâs eyes were s.h.i.+ning.
This was one grade higher than their Enlistee Cla.s.s armor, so everyone wanted it.
âCompet.i.tive missionâŚâ
Hao Tianâs face became focused. Suddenly, the ground shook, he turned around and saw the Frenzied Sword charging off, full of antic.i.p.ation. Even the ground was cracked. Frenzied Sword had immediately dashed off to find clues, without any delay at all.
Only Li Geâs expression was different from everyone elseâs. His eyes were filled with sparks and explicit surprise.
Black bead⌠Isnât that the one I haveâ˝
So, Han Xiao is the special character triggered by the bead! That makes sense.
The bead was in his hands, so did that not mean that he had already met the mission requirementâ˝
No one knew that he was already one step ahead. Every other compet.i.tor was fated to work for nothing. What an excellent feeling!
Deep joy filled his heart. Looking around at the playersâ discussions, Li Ge secretly felt great.
At this time, Han Xiao rushed back. Just as the crowd was about to go up to question him, Li Ge pushed everyone away, took out the bead that he had kept close to him, and pa.s.sed it to Han Xiao.
âBlack Star, this seems to be what you have lost,â Li Ge said.
Han Xiaoâs eyes sparked, he took the beads and said cheerfully, âHow did you know this is my precious? I lost it a few days ago, didnât expect you to pick it up. Youâre really lucky. Youâve helped me a great deal. Let me think⌠Well, you armor seems to be damaged, so let me give you a new set of armor as a reward.â
A satisfying smile appeared on Li Geâs handsome face, strongly contrasting the other players, whose faces were all stiff.
What the h.e.l.l? The mission ended at the beginning? Itâs not a compet.i.tion; itâs a waste of feelings!
Annoyed, uncomfortable, and envious eyes focused on Li Ge, while Li Ge enjoyed the attention and shrugged with pride.
Seeing this, Han Xiao played around with the bead, smiled, and did not speak.
Compet.i.tive missions were different to other missions. In addition to the actual reward, as long as Li Ge felt he had an advantage over others, he would give up the bead willingly. This was a characteristic Han Xiao found from Li Geâs past actions, so he had tailored this mission for Li Ge, making him feel advantaged.
Hence, Li Ge obediently handed over the bead. Even his pride was in Han Xiaoâs calculationsâhe was still kept in the dark and feeling joyous.
Walking to the side, Han Xiao looked at the notification on the interface.
_____________________
You have received an unknown item. Giving it to a special character will give you a very high reward, or you can take it to be identified.
_____________________
The item description of the bead was the same. Han Xiao sized up the beadâit was dark and smooth, giving off magical glow from time to time. He quickly filtered his memories in his mind.
Something from the magic side, some kind of Energy Gem? Enchanting Ball? Hmm⌠Unlikely, DarkStar took it so seriously. This bead should be more precious, maybe a Secret Message Bead?
A Secret Message Bead was a high-grade magic safe, only unlockable with a special verbal pa.s.sword. Its confidentiality principle was the precise Magic Seal formed by magic patterns similar to a mazeâonly the pa.s.sword could trigger the âeyeâ. It was very complicated.
Of course, since there was a lock, there was a corresponding method of breaking that lock. With the use of large magic deconstruction instrument to a.n.a.lyze the magic lock, or having high-level Mages unlock it artificially, the Secret Message Bead would thus be âpried openâ.
Whatâs important is not the bead, but the things inside.
Originally, he had thought that the bead would trigger a hidden mission, but it seemed like the Secret Message Bead was just a prerequisite. DarkStarâs goal could not be guessed with just a beadâthe things inside were the key to unlock the next step.
The introduction mentioned two ways to use itâone was to give it to a special character. Li Ge had no idea, but Han Xiao was not the same. DarkStar or G.o.dora were most likely the âspecial characterâ. The bead could be exchanged for a reward and determine which side he was on, and if he went for identification of the bead, it should trigger a hidden mission.
Whichever option, he could choose freely.
Han Xiao smiled slightly and was in a good mood.
Initially, he had only been hired to rescue the Silvers, but after unexpected twists and turns, not only did he join Floating Dragon, he also ruined DarkStarâs plan.
Now the Secret Message Bead was in his hands, and DarkStar had been misinformed about the beadâs location. A good result.
âŚ
In the Floating Dragon Island prison, the three large mercenary groupsâ people were resting in their cells. Over the course of their confinement, they had already finished their conversation topics, and it was meaningless to dispute whether Black Star could complete mission. Anyway, they could only watch and wait. Everything depended on Han Xiao.
Although Goa said to trust him, everyone subconsciously thought that Han Xiao had no chance.
No one spoke, and their faces were all filled with boredom. The room was silent.
Footsteps approached. They thought that it was the patrol guard, but unexpectedly, the person stopped in front of the cell and said, âEveryone, I have completed the mission.â
This voice⌠Black Starâ˝
Goa, Cerleni, Porter, and the rest suddenly looked up and saw Han Xiao was standing outside the cell prison with a smile.
âYou rescued the Silversâ˝â Porter jumped up to the railing, staring at Han Xiao in disbelief.
âYouâre not joking, right?â Cerleni interrupted, with a doubtful tone but also some antic.i.p.ation.
Han Xiao directly took out the communicator. He had just contacted the employer. The employer had learned that his companions had been rescued again and was very surprised; Han Xiao had saved them a large sum of money, so the employer was not stingy with his praise, almost complimenting him up to the sky.
Han Xiao, of course, did not know that there had also been an argument among the employers. The captain who chose to trust him was the happiest, feeling that Han Hsiao did not disappoint him, and the person who had suspected it had nothing to say, especially the people who suspected that Han Xiao had worked together with Horlaide to scam them. They felt rather ashamed.
The employer personally confirmed that his companions had been rescued by Han Xiao, and the hundreds of mercenaries simple stood up with their mouths wide open.
The vast majority of mercenaries initially had no hope; everything had felt helpless when they got caught, and they had no choice but to give the mission to Han Xiao. Yet, Han Xiao really succeeded!
Goa clenched her fist and said with bright eyes, âYou have lived up to our expectations.â
Han Xiao raised his brow and complained, âIs that so? The way you guys are acting now looks like you never had any expectations.â
The mercenaries scratched their heads, embarra.s.sed. When Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold, the three famous armies joined this mission, although the Black Star was a teammate, they had felt some sense of superiority despite not showing it on their faces.
In the eyes of most of the mercenaries, Han Xiaoâs team was just an optional add on. However, it was the people that they had underestimated who had completed the missions alone when everyone else was powerless.
All the mercenaries were embarra.s.sed.
After being happy for a while, they controlled their emotions. Cerleni asked about what happened, and Han Xiao described the relevant parts. Of course, he hid the things about DarkStar and such.
After he finished, Cerleni shook his head and said, âHorlaide wanted to use his companion to blackmail the Silvers. The thought was very good, but the result was him losing everything. This is what greed doesâŚâ
Han Xiao nodded. Horlaide had been blessed with a lot of choices, but his appet.i.te was too big. If he had sold the Silvers earlier, he would not have been targeted.
The word greed was close to the word poverty <sup>1</sup> .
The mission was completed successfully, relying on Black Star Mercenary Group. Naturally, after this achievement, the mercenaries recognized Black Starâs capabilities and admired them.
In addition to informing his comrades, Han Xiao visited also to ask about when they would be released.
âOur superior in the army paid the compensation. They are rus.h.i.+ng to Floating Dragon, and when they arrive, we will be free. So itâll probably be just a few more days,â Goa said.
âA few days⌠Thatâs not too bad.â
Han Xiao nodded. The good stuff was in his hands, and the mission was completed. He wanted to leave together with the three large mercenary groups, return to get the two cla.s.s advancement knowledges from the Silvers, and combine them into âCompression Technologyâ. Only then could he be considered to have stepped into the new level of a Mechanic. He had been looking forward to this day for a long time.
He did not want to stay in the Floating Dragonâtrapped in one place was not conducive to the development of the mercenary group. His faction was the basis of the blueprint, and although there were many benefits in Floating Dragon, the opportunities were limited, far less than the vast universe. However, Han Xiao could not give up the Floating Dragon faction. He hoped to submit an application for field activities so that he could have the best of both worlds.
âThere are still a few days left. I hope I can convince AmesâŚâ
After Han Xiao left, the prison was no longer filled with boredom. It was filled with a happy and relaxed atmosphere.
The mercenaries main worry had been resolved, so they were very contented.
In the cell, Cerleni and Porter were thinking of the same thing.
I wonder if Black Star will continue to be a mercenary. His team is very capable, and he has Floating Dragon as a backer now. Theyâre not the small mercenary group without any backing anymore. By the time this thing ends, I will request that the superiors form a partners.h.i.+p with Black Star Mercenary Group. We canât let Sky Ring have them exclusively.
âŚ
In order to let the floating island travel freely in the universe, Ames had equipped it with top of the line devices. The s.h.i.+eld generator was from the Revelation-Grade Main s.h.i.+p of Federation of Light, and the plasma engine was from the Horn-Grade a.s.sault s.h.i.+p of the Crimson Empire. Its voyage performance was extremely good, and although Ames had bought all these devices using her own influence, she had still paid an outrageous price for it.
Floating Dragon Island pa.s.sed through the meteoroid shower safely, and a lot of s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps took off immediately after the s.h.i.+eld was deactivated, leaving the floating island before it entered the boundary of the two civilizations.
A few days later, Peggyâs s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p had long been away from Floating Dragon Island. It was slowly sailing in an unpopulated Star Zone. There were no Fixed Stars there, only dead gray planets filled with dead silence.
Suddenly, folds appeared in the dark s.p.a.ce ahead, and a huge object hundreds of times larger than Peggyâs s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p came out of the stealth mode, stopping in front of Peggyâs s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.
The size comparison was like a bean and a watermelon.
This object was tall and ferocious, completely black apart from some subtle golden patterns. It did not have a streamlined shape but consisted of two isosceles trapezoids fused together from their bases, like a prism. This was not a normal s.p.a.ces.h.i.+pâit was DarkStarâs medium mother s.h.i.+p, similar to a mobile base, containing a large number of combat s.h.i.+ps. One mother s.h.i.+p signified a fleet!
DarkStar had no fixed bases; all of their bases were mother shops, perennially in stealth and mobile states, moving everywhere. That was why the organization was mysterious and difficult to contactâno one could grasp DarkStarâs position. They hid in the dark and waited for an opportunity to make a move.
The scavengers of the s.h.i.+p were shocked and began speculating.
Peggy was overjoyed when he saw this.
âDarkStar did not break their word. Theyâve come to take me in!â