The Legendary Mechanic

“Hello players, this is Galaxy Times, dedicated to sharing first-hand game information. Your gaming career is our top priority.”

The male and female host read the familiar opening line. The moment the show started, tens of thousands of viewers flooded in and started the usual comments began floating along the top of the video.

“Looking forward to the discussion of the version update.”

“Galaxy Time rules.”

“Spam the comments and cover the cold joke!”

The usual extremely awkward opening joke passed by quickly, and they got to the main topic.

“In a few days in game time, the Version 2.0 update will arrive,” Male host said. “Galaxy will enter the storyline of the next version. In regard to this, we have obtained first-hand intel and some unproven information, which we will be filtering and sharing with the audience in this episode, speculating and analyzing what the next version will entail.

“So, before the analysis starts, let’s first do a summary for the storylines across the various planets in this version. A very big part of our data comes from the planet chronicles, which the players arranged and added to. For this, we sincerely thank these players—this data has helped us a lot in our work.”

The players felt joyful as they were mentioned.

Next, the two hosts summarized the storylines of the various novice planets. By this point, the main storyline of every planet had already ended, so they went through the storylines from head to toe, including the major events and characters involved. They also discussed and commented on various parts. Of course, it was not just them speaking—images and videos were also shown to aid the process.

Every time the history of a planet was mentioned, the players of that planet would be the most active ones. The Version 1.0 storylines of these planets were very diverse as well—Lord Singelase’s incident on Planet Winterfrost, Arcane Tide on Planet Brighton, Dynasty Divergence on Planet Lasting Song, Shadow Group incident on Planet Summer, Chaos Expedition in Planet Sourne, and many more. These were all core main storylines, and there were also the side storylines. For example, in the case of Planet Aquamarine, the core storyline was the Six Nations and Germinal Organization, while the sub main storyline was Bennett’s sanctuary construction.

Due to the different backgrounds of these planets, the feeling that their main storyline gave was also very different. Some were filled with technology; some were surrounded by magic; some were mysterious. The vast majority of players had not entered space, so they did not know where their planet was in the universe, but Han Xiao did. The novice planets were quite evenly spread among the Star Fields, and Planet Aquamarine was the only novice planet in Shattered Star Ring.

In all the core main storylines, the one on Planet Aquamarine ended the earliest, and it received the most attention. There was definitely a main character in these storylines that was very connected to the storyline. The two hosts continued their speech, and it was finally Planet Aquamarine’s turn.

“Speaking of Planet Aquamarine’s main storyline, we must mention someone no matter what. After the Planet Aquamarine storyline ended, he’s still been active in the eyes of the players. He was the first to take players into space. I’m sure our regular viewers are familiar with his name…”

The comments rampaged. Maybe they did not know the storyline of other planets, but almost everyone knew Han Xiao. These fans had a common topic instantly.

“It’s Black Star!”

“Is that ‘Black Phantom’ Han Xiao, Destroyer of the Germinal Organization, Sanctuary Owner, Interstellar Explorer, Prophet, Black Star Mercenary Group Captain, Supporter of Materialism, Manipulator of Loot Boxes?

“Black Star: You kids are talking behind my back again.”

“Thirty Second True Men Group requests to battle!”

“Ahhh! I want the Dragon Emperor! I want Aroshia! I’m going to lick them to my last breath!”

“Go away, screen licking monsters!”

It was the Planet Aquamarine players’ turn to be active. The density of the comments increased to another level. The Chinese players had leveled up the useful ability to spam comments to the max level.

The male host continued to read the script and explained Han Xiao’s background briefly.

“Original name Han Xiao. Member of the Alumera family, almost killed during an accident but was captured by the Germinal Organization. The Germinal Organization made him into a test subject but failed the brainwashing. He disguised himself for a very long time, and in the end, he found the opportunity and escaped from the Germinal Organization’s control.

“From then on, he acted against the Germinal Organization. He once joined Stardragon but left later and became a contract killer for the Dark Net, code name [Black Phantom]. The Germinal Organization chased after him for many years but only saw his shadow. He awakened some kind of foresight ability that allows him to obtain benefits as well as avoid danger.

“After a period of hiding, he started his revenge. He alone directed the Six Nations’ expedition against the Germinal Organization. In this war, he infiltrated the Germinal Organization Headquarters and stole all their confidential intel, bringing the Six Nations’ victory. He became a hero of Planet Aquamarine, but his journey did not end there.

“One day, he foresaw that a disaster is going to break out in Planet Aquamarine. So, he summoned a spaceship in some way and led the warriors that he had carefully selected and handpicked into the galaxy, looking for a solution…

“As before, most of our data comes from the chronicles provided by players.”

The players searched for a lot of intel during the exploration times. Han Xiao’s history had already been made public. In the things that had happened on Planet Aquamarine, Han Xiao was like a puppeteer behind doors, and many things were connected to him. In the chronicles, Han Xiao’s name was mentioned countless times. This had led the new players to know what happened in the storyline before, continuing to increase Han Xiao’s reputation.

The chronicles of Version 1.0 were enormous, but Han Xiao was still a bright star among all the storylines.

After the hosts finished talking about Planet Aquamarine, the summary of the Version 1.0 storyline had come to an end. The hosts started the next topic, which was the main theme of this episode—analyzing the new version.

“According to the intel we have, we have made a few deductions. First, in the new version, the players will definitely connect with the galaxy and be able to leave their original planet, starting to explore the universe.

“Second, other than the current thirteen novice planets, the new version will add more birth planets. Due to what we have mentioned, the new birth planets should be planets that allow the players to enter the galaxy directly. Therefore, we have made a daring guess that the difference between the new and the old novice planets is that players in the old planets will only be able to enter the galaxy after going through the new storyline, while players in the new planets can enter the galaxy directly. The price is that these players have to start with a new account, while the old planet players can continue to use their high-level account. Hence, old or new, they have their advantages.

“Third, although the new storyline of the planets is unknown, there will definitely be someone that will lead the players to the new storyline. The clues of the new storyline are definitely hidden in some characters. We suggest looking for clues from NPCs in order to guess who will lead the next version’s storyline. What role will the main character of Version 1.0 play in the new version? The clues are limited in most planets, except for one—Planet Aquamarine!

“Before Black Star left, he left behind a frozen mission—[The Last Bastion]! The mission introduction is as follows.

“Someday in the future, a calamity will strike this world, and Sanctuary Three will become the last remaining bastion for humanity. Protect this dwindling flame from the encroaching darkness. Only then will there be hope to overcome this calamity.

“The mission requirement is to protect Sanctuary Three and make sure its destruction rate is not above fifty percent. So, we have reason to believe that this mission is a hint to what will happen to Planet Aquamarine in Version 2.0. There will be an unknown calamity, and the entire planet will be affected. Black Star will definitely play a role in this disaster…”

The reason that Han Xiao had left the frozen mission was exactly to give the players direction for imagination so that he could increase his fame. In his previous life, every time there was a version upgrade, there would definitely be a wave of speculation over the new versions. This was within his expectations.

…

In Planet Aquamarine, Sanctuary Three…

With the tall, metal walls and tight air defenses, the current sanctuary was fully complete like a huge fortress standing on a desolate land. Han Xiao had been gone for more than a year, and the current manager of the sanctuary was Huang Yu. He had constructed the sanctuary as planned and had already taken in more than three million refugees. Other than those who sought protection, there were also hundreds of thousands mobile inhabitants, the Inhumans.

Countless players took Sanctuary Three as the main city, not only because there were more than enough daily missions and rewards there, but also because the decisions that Han Xiao had made when he was there had developed the players’ habit. After they developed a habit, the players liked to gather there and interact with each other.

The feeling of the residents toward the Inhumans was very conflicted. On one hand, the Inhumans like to help them do stuff; on the other hand, most people envied the Inhumans and saw them as outsiders, so there was always a sense of alienation. In the eyes of some residents, the square where the players gathered was very dangerous, and they did not dare get close.

The Inhumans had helped Bennett build many sanctuaries, but after that, most Inhumans returned to Sanctuary Three. Huang Yu could not understand why they did this, so he thought it had to be because of his boss. He felt that only Black Phantom would know the reason.

However, over the past few days, a huge number of Inhumans had migrated to the sanctuary from all areas without any warning. Huang Yu took this phenomenon very seriously.

In the sanctuary meeting room, Huang Yu asked his subordinate, “Have we found the reason?”

After he took control of the sanctuary, he had built a group of subordinates himself. The people here were all members of Dark Net and worked directly for Bennett.

“No. We gathered intel from all areas and still have yet to find out why the Inhumans have mass migrated. Currently, the number of Inhumans in Sanctuary Three has exceeded 800,000, and it’s still growing.”

“This is not a good sign.” Huang Yu was very troubled. “Although most Inhumans are peaceful, there are destructive ones as well. We have already been attacked a few times in the past year. If these Inhumans have an ulterior motive, the damage that 800,000 Supers can cause is unimaginable. If not handled properly, the Sanctuary Three that took two years to build might be gone within a night.”

Of course, there was no way for him to know that the reason that the players had gathered in Sanctuary Three was because of the speculation that Galaxy Times made from the mission that Han Xiao had left behind. Sanctuary Three would very likely be a key area in the upcoming main storyline, and there was a very high chance for it to be a safe area.

Therefore, most players had decided to go to the sanctuary before the update. This way, not only could they get into the main storyline as soon as the new version arrived, but they would be safer than those in other places.

“We have to prepare measures for this kind of hidden threat,” Huang Yu said.

“But… the order that Black Phantom left was not to use any hostile strategy against the Inhumans and not try to control their freedom, except for those who cause trouble. We’re going against his words by doing this.”

Huang Yu shook his head. “I know, but we cannot not guard against the Inhuman because of that. Black Phantom has been gone for more than a year. If he was here, I would not worry about anything at all, but he’s not. Therefore, we need to be flexible.”

“Then what do you plan to do?”

“Split them,” Huang Yu said with a deep voice. “Forbid some Inhumans from entering the sanctuary main city and chase them to the two guard cities nearby. Alumera and Black Pine are both fine. This way, even if a riot breaks out, it won’t happen in the most important place.”

They exchanged looks.

“That’s my decision. Report this to the rulers of the two guard cities, and tell them to gather an army just in case. We’ll start to split the Inhumans in three days,” Huang Yu said firmly.

Suddenly, he felt very sleepy and yawned uncontrollably.

…

In the dark conference room of a certain DarkStar mothership that was in stealth mode, the display screens were giving off a dim light.

These people were the superiors of DarkStar. Every screen was showing a blurry outline of a person and no face—it was very mysterious. Even for Godora, who had been an enemy of DarkStar for many years, they only knew a few of the superiors. DarkStar was like a mysterious fog, always hidden in the darkness.

The middle screen was DarkStar’s leader. It was blurry as well, and the voice also went through a mechanical voice changer.

“What stage have the Mutation Sources that we planted developed to?”

“Based on the time, the larval stage has passed. All Mutation Sources will enter the pupa stage, and the impacts have already been done. In an estimated time of around one year, the Mutation Source will enter the eruption stage. However, the time predicted is not too accurate. After all, we cannot control the thoughts of the Mutation Sources.”

“Maintain the observation,” DarkStar’s leader said. “Godora has obtained a Mutation Source, and we don’t know how much headway they have made in their research. The plan needs to be improved; we can’t wait for the Mutation Sources to grow on their own. After the symptoms break out, we need to take action. The details will be discussed again. Anur, how’s Ember?”

The last question was directed at Anur, one of the Grade A Supers in DarkStar, Ember’s teacher.

A voice came out of the screen that represented Anur. “I made him focus on training his power, and it’s going quite well. His strength has increased visibly. There’s more than a twenty percent chance that he can enter Calamity Grade.”

“Hmm. Rogue died in battle, and Vivira is imprisoned in Rainbow Prison, so we have an imminent need to add high grade combat power. Esper currently has the highest chance to reach Grade A, and his Esper power is very strong. Tell him I have high hopes for him… Meeting dismissed.”

The screens turned black one after another. The dark room returned to dead silence.