Garton Star System, Star Zone 4.
A certain Godora public space station, entertainment area, erotic clubhouse.
Colorful, psychedelic lights flickered and danced. Dynamic and exciting music enhanced the atmosphere. There were many round and rectangular booths here. Girls of different races were wearing skimpy clothes and dancing provocatively on the booths. Below them was a virtual screen introducing … or fabricating the background and age of the girl, using all kinds of tragic and depraved stories to arouse the evil thoughts of the audience.
Every booth was surrounded by a large group of male species, staring at the dancers without blinking. Their laughter was very rough, and from time to time, there would be people reaching out to touch them. Not far away was a bar with semi-private booths. Most of the people in the booths were male species, hugging hostesses of various races in their arms, touching them up and down, talking and laughing freely as if their heroism was soaring to the sky.
Waitresses in revealing clothes came and went with drinks, and male guests of various races would occasionally take advantage of them.
Wild laughter, whispers, and teasing sounds could be heard one after another. The whole place was filled with an extravagant atmosphere of drunkenness, as if it was dyed with a layer of dark pink that represented seduction.
In a certain luxurious booth, a few male species were talking and laughing loudly, drinking glasses after glasses of alcohol. With one look, one could tell that this group of people were mercenaries.
A few of them had hostesses in their arms, and their actions were very rough. Many hostesses showed a hint of pain in their eyes, but they did not dare to say anything and could only force a smile.
They knew where this group of people came from. The few people there belonged to a somewhat famous mercenary group, and they were all Grade B Supers. In the eyes of ordinary people like them, Grade B Supers were already big shots that they could not afford to offend.
However, among this group of mercenaries who were looking for fun, there was a different existence.
A tall and thin man was sitting at the edge of the booth. There was no hostess beside him, and the drink in front of him was not touched at all. His back was straight, and he was meticulous. His hands were on his thighs, and he was sitting upright. He did not fit in with the atmosphere around him. Others were having fun here, but his expression was so serious that it was as if he was conducting a scientific research. Even the enthusiasm of the other mercenaries had cooled down.
"Reynold, don't be so serious. Drink some wine too. Anyway, it's my treat this time.
The leader of this mercenary group couldn't help but speak. He looked at this unusual comrade of his. He didn't appear to be condescending just because he was the leader. Instead, his tone was fawning.
Leonard did not move his upper body, but he slightly turned his neck and stared at him. His eyes were glittering like an owl in the night. His tone was monotonous. "Alcohol will slow down my brain and slow down my thinking. I need to stay sober."
"Uh, then you can find a woman …"
Without waiting for the captain to finish, Leonard continued, "Women will distract me and interrupt my thoughts. Physical desire will also affect my lucidity."
"Alright then …"
The mercenary leader smiled awkwardly. He couldn't do anything to Reynold. Reynold had a high position in his mercenary group and was indispensable.
This was because Reynold was a Grade B Mechanic.
In the universe, the ratio of Mechanics was relatively low. High-level Mechanics were even rarer. Unlike Pugilists, Espers, and Psychics, Mechanics needed to learn a huge amount of knowledge. In this aspect, only Mages could compare to Mechanics. To a Mechanic, knowledge was the fundamental way to become stronger.
His team had worked with Reynold for quite a long time. Reynold had always been providing weapons, equipment, repairing spaceships, and machinery. He was responsible for the logistics of the entire team. Furthermore, he had Grade B combat strength. Reynold's position was even higher than his.
If not for Reynold's position being so important, the mercenary leader would not have tolerated his weird personality.
This time, another mercenary started a topic. "Have you heard? Recently, many freelance mercenaries want to join the Black Star Corps. They say that Black Star will monopolize the mercenary business in the Garton Star System in the future. What should we do?"
"Don't worry about them. It's still too early for Black Star to monopolize the Garton Star System. When the time comes, we'll just find work in other Star Systems."
The mercenary leader curled his lips and did not care.
This time, Reynold said expressionlessly, "Let's go join the Black Star Corps."
All of a sudden, silence descended.
All the mercenaries looked at Reynold in shock.
The mercenary leader said unhappily, "What do you mean? I'm the leader. Don't make decisions for me."
"Okay."
Reynold nodded. He immediately took out his communicator and pressed a few buttons. Then, he stood up and left.
"Wait, where are you going?" The mercenary leader suddenly felt that something was wrong.
"I'm leaving the team."
Reynold walked further and further away.
Everyone was dumbfounded. Leaving the team without a single word of disagreement without a trace of hesitation. That was too decisive!
The mercenary leader panicked. He hurriedly stood up and yelled, "Are you crazy? We've fought side by side for so long, and we all treat you as a friend. You're leaving just like that?"
"I'm working with you on an equal footing. I didn't sell myself to you. Why can't I leave?"
Reynold did not even turn his head. He did not stop at all. Every step he took was so precise that it was as if he had measured the distance.
He left the group of mercenaries looking at each other in confusion.
"What is Reynold thinking? Does he think that there is no future for him following us?" someone said indignantly.
The mercenary leader's face was gloomy. He flung away the barmaid in his arms, and she fell to the ground. He did not even look at her and slammed his fist on the table.
Clang!
Web-like cracks appeared on the table, scaring everyone.
"This b * stard!"
Without Reynold, the strength of the team would be greatly reduced. Thinking of this, the mercenary leader was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
…
Garton Star System, inside an interstellar travel spaceship.
In the passenger room, Brock looked at the Black Star Corps interview notice on his communicator. His eyes flickered.
He was a mixed-blood Godora, a freelance mercenary. His resume had passed the initial screening and he was informed by Philip to go for an interview.
However, being a mercenary was only a disguise on the surface. Brock's true origin was actually a spy left by Dark-star in the outside world. Before he became a mercenary, he was an elite trained by Dark-star.
Dark-star's fleet had been wiped out, and almost all the higher-ups had been caught. However, there was still a portion of Dark-star members who did not follow the fleet. They were lurking in the outside world and had been disguising their identities. These people used to be Dark-star's intelligence network, but they were now the remnants of Dark-star. Due to the leader going bankrupt and running away, they were now without a leader. Everyone was in danger.
Godora had been cleaning up Dark-star's remnants recently, and it was very effective. Several Dark-star's secret intelligence lines had been uprooted.
For safety, the remnants of Dark-star no longer contacted each other. Many people had their own thoughts. Some wanted to run away, some wanted to clear their names, and some wanted to turn over a new leaf.
Brock was one of the people who disguised himself very well. Not long after Dark-star was destroyed, he took the initiative to cut off contact with the other remnants. There was nothing suspicious about his mercenary resume. On the surface, he did not have any interactions with Dark-star, and his identity was hidden very well.
However, he had no intention of clearing his name.
Before Dark-star was attacked, Brock had received orders to infiltrate Black Star. Now, he decided to continue with this mission.
With this clean identity, he could pass the interview and openly become a member of the Black Star Federation and lay low.
The first reason was that Godora had a close relationship with Black Star. With the identity of a Black Star mercenary, he could better protect his secrets. It was commonly known as the darkness under the light.
The second reason was Brock's main motivation.
He was loyal to Dark-star, hated Black Star, and firmly believed that Dark-star's leader would return one day!
The Black Star Corps is an obstacle. If I infiltrate in advance, I might be able to become a small captain or an officer. I might be able to split the Black Star Corps from the inside. When the leader returns, it will be time for me to play my role. I will become a nail in the enemy's heart …
Brock's expression was cold, and he had ulterior motives.
…
The players bought new equipment and excitedly started their new missions.
While doing missions, they were also exploring the galaxy. They were still at the stage of familiarizing themselves with the galaxy. It would probably take another two or three missions for them to completely get used to the galaxy and become familiar with it.
On the other hand, the hundreds of thousands of players who stayed in Blue Star continuously passed the test. Every once in a while, thousands of players would join the Black Star Corps. These players were considered newcomers, but after the influence of the forum, they at least knew how to start a mission and would not start from scratch. If there was anything they did not understand, they could ask the first batch of players who joined Black Star.
Thus, Han Xiao did not have to worry about the players' movements in the short term. They were on the right track and could slowly play on their own.
Fifteen days passed quickly, and it was finally time to interview the newcomers.
In the past half a month, Han Xiao had built many new machines in seclusion. However, the amount of work needed to upgrade all the equipment was very large, and he had not completed it yet. He could only stop his seclusion and take some time to interview these mercenaries.
In the grand hall of the base, thousands of mercenaries who came for the interview gathered. They were of different races, humans, beasts, bugs, genders, males, and females. Everyone sized each other up, and it was extremely noisy.
"This is Black Star's base camp."
"It looks quite grand. Not bad."
Brock looked around. When he followed the large group in, he had been observing the structure of the base, looking for weak points, memorizing them, and forming a map in his mind.
After a while, the alloy floor in front of the thousands of people cracked, revealing a round hole. Han Xiao's windbreaker fluttered as he slowly flew up and landed in front of the crowd.
The eyes of the thousands of people instantly gathered on Han Xiao. There was curiosity, respect, and eagerness in their eyes as if they had seen a big shot.
With Han Xiao's current fame, strength, and status, he was indeed a big shot in the Garton Star System.
"This is Black Star …" Brock narrowed his eyes. He had seen Han Xiao's videos before, but this was the first time he saw him in person. He sized him up secretly.
Han Xiao glanced at everyone, then turned to look at Sylvia, who was standing at the side, and nodded.
Sylvia nodded, stepped forward, cleared her throat, and spoke with a clear voice.
"Welcome to Black Star. You're all experienced mercenaries. Those who pass the interview will become a member of our Black Star Corps. You'll need to sign a contract to join the Mercenary Alliance. All the benefits and benefits are written in the contract. Of course, there are also the rules and regulations of the Black Star Corps, as well as the obligations you need to fulfill … "
After that, Sylvia obediently stepped aside. Since Herlous was not around, she was treated as Han Xiao's assistant.
Han Xiao glanced around and said loudly, "You all know the rules. If you have any objections, you can leave now."
The thousands of mercenaries whispered among themselves, but no one left.
"Alright, let's not waste any more time. Let's take the test."
Han Xiao raised his hand. "The method is very simple. Walk up to me one by one and let me tap you. I can roughly sense your Energy Rank through the touch. Those who pass, please wait at the side."
Of course, no one had any objections. No one would question the ability of a Calamity Grade Super.
However, many of them were not confident. This test was purely based on Black Star's judgment. If he said you could do it, you could. If he said you couldn't, you couldn't. There was no hard and fast standard.
This time, Han Xiao said, "Don't worry, those who fail, I won't let you come here for nothing. You have two choices. One is to leave, and the other is to accept Black Star's training and increase your strength through high-intensity training. During this period, you can't accept any jobs. Only after you pass the test will you be allowed to use the name of the Black Star Corps to accept jobs."
He valued talents, and the more powerful freelance mercenaries, the better. However, he knew that not all capable mercenaries would be willing to join him. Talents needed to be nurtured.
Therefore, Han Xiao decided to set up a mercenary training camp.
Han Technician had this idea a long time ago. This was an important part of his expansion plan. In his vision, every base was not only a stronghold but also a place to recruit and train soldiers.
His recruitment range was not limited to mercenaries but also ordinary people from different planets. Blue Star was an example. Apart from players, there were also people from Blue Star who wanted to explore the universe, and Sunil was the next test planet.
Hearing this, the eyes of many mercenaries lit up. Even if they failed, they would have the chance to join Black Star. Their worries were instantly dispelled.
Everyone lined up obediently, and Han Xiao tested them one by one.
This interview method was to trigger the combat information on the interface and check the attributes of the other party.
While these mercenaries were unaware, Han Xiao already knew their abilities like the back of his hand. He had even seen their trump cards a few times.
It took two seconds to test one person, and there were six to seven thousand people there. It would take a few hours. This method was very troublesome, but freelance mercenaries had very complicated backgrounds. Many of them were not citizens of the Garton Star System, so who knew where they came from. Han Xiao felt that it was better to be safe than sorry. It had been peaceful recently, so he could squeeze out this little bit of time.
After a while, it was finally Brock's turn.
He did not panic and walked forward to let Han Xiao pat him.
There was no risk of exposure in the Energy Rank test. Black Star could not possibly know that he was from Dark-star just by touching him.
Brock was calm and did not panic at all.
It was a rare opportunity to observe Black Star up close. This was even a good opportunity to assassinate him. However, Brock suppressed these dangerous thoughts and did not waste any time. He was prepared to wait at the side like the people in front of him.
The moment he turned around, he heard Han Xiao's voice behind him.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
