A huge black palace made of metal and mechanical materials sat on top of a lone peak. Two mechanical islands that looked like star globes slowly rotated above the palace. A bright red artificial sun hung in the sky like a bloodshot eye, illuminating this barren land.
On the ground around the lone peak, there were countless large mechanical mine platforms. With the black palace as the center, a circular mechanical city with heavy industrial style was built. Small black dots that looked like ants moved around in the city. They were countless believers of the Machinery Faith in power armor. Floating heatwaves passed through the city. Armored transport vehicles whizzed through the wide roads. Their armor plates collided with each other in the bumpy road, making clanging sounds along the way. The sound went away with the exhaust. The air was filled with the smell of metal, engine oil, and industrial exhaust, adding a heavy industrial feel to this city.
This was a branch of the Machinery Faith, located on a famous ancient battlefield planet in the Ancient Star Desert. These mines excavated the mechanical wreckage underground day and night and sent it to the priests of the Machinery Faith for reverse research to read the lost technology.
The black palace in the center of the city was the temple of the Machinery Faith. Every mountain that carried the Machinery Faith was called the Holy Mountain. Eight obsidian-like floating stairs extended all the way up from the foot of the Holy Mountain in eight directions, connecting to the gate of the Machinery Faith. According to the teachings, unless it was an emergency, if ordinary believers wanted to visit the temple, they had to climb a pilgrimage path with their own feet. They were not allowed to take flying vehicles.
On both sides of these eight pilgrimage paths, there were mechanical statues or metal tablets. The statues were of different models of abandoned ancient machines that slowly became more advanced. The metal tablets were engraved with the teachings of the faith.
The combination of machinery and theology had a unique flavor.
The Machinery Faith was a loose religion, not a unified religious organization. What they had in common was that they worshipped mechanical technology and powerful mechanics. However, according to different philosophies, the Machinery Faith was divided into many factions, specializing in different fields. For example, the Machinery Biochemical Faction focused on Biomass Gear, the War and Destruction Faction that was crazy about super destructive weapons, the Firepower Advantage Faction that believed that "big is beautiful, and more is better", the Virtual Faction that liked to research cognitive technology and mind modification, the Nature Modification Faction that liked to mold planets, and so on.
This branch belonged to the believers of the Lost Sect. The Lost Sect was also known as the Archaeology Sect. They were passionate about searching for and recovering lost ancient mechanical technology. They were one of the Machinery Faith branches with the longest history.
At this moment, in the main hall of the Mechanical Palace, the High Priests of the local division were gathered. There were also a large number of High Priests from other divisions participating through remote projections. Everyone was gathered in a circle, and in the center was a virtual screen, playing the video of the battle between Black Star and the Tyrant.
"Everyone has seen it. A new Mechanical Deity has descended into the world, spreading gospel to the entire universe."
The Great Divine Priest of the Lost Sect, who was dressed in luxurious heavy power armor with only his head exposed, raised his arms high. His tone was like that of a pilgrimage.
"Too spectacular, too beautiful!"
"What a great creation …"
"How many years has it been since I last saw the Mechanical Deity descend? I can't even remember."
Many Divine Priests whispered to each other, their eyes flashing with excitement and fanaticism.
"Silence." The Great Divine Priest gestured with his hands. His face was solemn as he signaled for everyone to be quiet.
Everyone stopped talking and looked at him in unison.
The Great Divine Priest took out a mechanical scepter that looked like a twisted tree branch. He pressed a button, and a metal altar suddenly rose from the ground behind him.
He turned around and walked up. With his back facing everyone, he faced the other side of the hall and spoke in a loud and clear voice.
"In accordance with the ancient teachings, in the name of the original God, Nilfgaardi, I declare to all believers of the Machinery Faith that we will witness the birth of the new God together. From today onwards, we will worship the new God. All living beings, please remember the name of the new God … "
As he prayed, the Great Divine Priest opened the operation screen of the altar and entered the battle video and parameters. The next moment, the entire temple shook!
Rumble!
Right in front of everyone, countless metal and nanoparticles flowed from the ground and combined to form a statue. It was the statue of the Black Star Mechanical Deity.
Beside the Black Star statue, there were other statues. Manison's statue was among them — these were the Mechanical Deities of the past, standing under the towering dome of the temple.
The largest and most eye-catching statue inside was of a Mechanic named Nilfgaardi. This person was the Primordial One, the first Mechanical Deity that the Machinery Faith worshiped. In fact, the teachings of the Machinery Faith to worship the Mechanical Deity were even formulated by him.
As the first Divine Throne Mechanic, Nilfgaardi discovered the effect of the [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus], so he interfered with the Machinery Faith at that time. The development of the Machinery Faith to its current state was largely influenced by him. The Divine Throne Mechanics that were worshiped later were actually enjoying the benefits that he left behind.
The Machinery Faith did not need to communicate with the worshiped. Sometimes … worshiping you was pointless.
However, only the living Divine Throne Mechanics could give their believers the blessing of feedback. These dead Mechanical Deities of the past were only memorials. Now, most of the believers of the Machinery Faith worshiped the 'Mecha Empire' Manison.
Now, Black Star's rise tore a small hole in their stable belief. This was something that even Manison could not stop.
Facing the statues of the past, the Grand Priest and the people behind him bowed and completed the ceremony.
"Welcome, Black Star!"
…
"I keep feeling like someone is saying that I'm handsome behind my back …"
In the cabin of the battleship, Han Xiao pinched his nose and suddenly felt something.
"Hey, hey, don't get distracted when you're talking to me." Tarrokov had a helpless expression on his face.
Han Xiao came back to his senses and joked, "Sorry, I was thinking about what to eat tonight. Where were we?"
"Do you still need to think about it? Do you think I don't know that you only eat nutrition paste?"
"Whoa, who leaked the news!"
"Alright, let's get back to the topic." Tarrokov was speechless. He shook his head and said, "I can tell you that the dynasty's development plan for the Flickering World has already reached the fourth phase. Only the first phase will give you enough time to build. After that, more foreign capital will be brought in to develop the Flickering World."
"This means that the dynasty will only start the next phase of the plan after the construction of the three Star Clusters is completed. There won't be many chances for us allies to build a foundation in the Flickering World." Han Xiao stroked his chin.
Tarrokov did not deny it. "In any case, the development of the three Star Clusters has exceeded our expectations and is going very smoothly. We estimate that the construction plan will be completed in five to seven years, and the second phase of development will begin then."
Five to seven years, that's not too bad … Han Xiao nodded in his mind.
When Version 4.0 started, the Flickering World would be in the fourth phase of development. This meant that he still had to go through a few rounds of the [Flickering World] Main Storyline Mission, and completing the [Explorer] milestone would not be a problem. He had chatted with Tarrokov to get some insider information.
After chatting for a while more, Han Xiao hung up the communication and fell into deep thought.
It had been more than a month since he defeated the Tyrant, and the impact was starting to show. During this time, the number of people applying to join the Black Star Corps had increased by forty-three percent, and the investment of the various financial groups had increased by thirty-five percent. As for the Bloodshed Land, their momentum of expansion had suffered a blow, and they were gradually slowing down.
The Wayne Cards, which acted as the weather vane for the news, made some changes and announced that the Black Star Corps Deck would be strengthened in the next version, while the Bloodshed Land Deck would be weakened in all aspects. At the same time, they also updated the commemorative deck of the strongest in the Star Field and added Black Star to it, displaying their proficiency in riding the hype.
Some of his Beyond Grade A friends also sent congratulatory messages, and one of them was Sorokin. This once again refreshed Han Xiao's understanding of how thick his skin was.
It turned out that shameless people could really be very happy …
Now that the Black Star Corps had established their position as the strongest in the Star Field, the competition on the Limitless Financial Group's side had fallen into a long tug of war, and they could not do anything to each other in the short term. Furthermore, Han Xiao had already completed his level 300 Promotion, and the experience he had accumulated was not enough for the next Promotion. Thus, his next focus would be on the construction of his territory.
After wandering around the dynasty for so long, he had basically seen all the potential stocks that he should have seen. Han Xiao planned to return to the Shattered Star Ring for a period of time. Firstly, he wanted to stay in the headquarters and digest the impact of this battle. At the same time, he wanted to adjust the details of the construction of his territory and use [Mechanical Proliferation] to create more first-generation mechanical life forms to speed up the development of his mechanical civilization.
Secondly, he wanted to make use of the logistical capabilities of the headquarters to start building a secondary Dimension Factory and a new generation of Mech Legion. Although he could build them in the dynasty, the Mech Legion only had a division here, and the efficiency would be far lower than in the headquarters.
"Philip, set the route back to the Shattered Star Ring."
"Okay, hum …"
…
"Strongest in the Star Field? Hehe … "
There were very few customers in the retro style tavern. A tall and thin man beside the wooden bar looked up at Han Xiao's figure on the virtual screen and gently put down the wine glass in his hand with a playful smile.
This person was a space human. His skin was unhealthily pale, as though he had been in a state of malnutrition and darkness for a long time. His appearance was ordinary, and he was the kind of person that one would not be able to find once thrown into a crowd.
Staring at Han Xiao on the screen, the tall and thin man had a nostalgic look in his eyes.
"To be able to obtain a national pillar like Black Star, it's the dynasty's blessing." The owner of the bar wiped his wine glass and looked up at the screen.
"That's right, it's really the dynasty's blessing. If there's a chance, I really want to meet him again."
"You've seen Black Star before?" The bar owner was interested.
"You can say so. Speaking of which, he even took some things from me. Hehe, I wonder if he still remembers a small fry like me."
The tall and thin man smiled slightly, stood up, picked up the clothes on the seat next to him, and walked toward the door.
"Still on credit?" The bar owner put down the glass in his hand. His tone was obviously familiar with this person.
"Yeah, same as always. Once I get my salary, we'll settle it together next month."
The tall and thin man casually replied, walked out of the bar, and put on his clothes … a dynasty basic officer's uniform.
…
Somewhere in the Sea of Star Spirits.
In a room, more than a dozen people of different species surrounded a long table, discussing something intensely. There were more than a dozen printed books on the long table, but there were no titles on the covers.
"Start from the Central Galaxy? Are you crazy? That's not the way to die! "
"A Star Field that's too far away won't have enough influence. The territory ruled by a Supercluster civilization should be the most suitable for development."
"We can only use physical books to promote our ideas. The quantum network is monitored by countless civilizations. Not only will we not enjoy the convenience, but we will also attract attention."
"If you ask me, let's wait and see for a while. Now might not be a good time …"
Listening to these people's discussion, Rossellin, who was leaning on the sofa not far away, yawned.
Edmund turned around, thought about it, and knocked on the table to get everyone to quiet down. He then turned around to face Rossellin.
"What do you think? Tell us."
Rossellin smiled faintly. "You guys really look like a bunch of misfits."
Hearing this, many people frowned, somewhat dissatisfied.
Edmund waved his hands, not getting angry at all. "You're right. We haven't done anything yet, so of course, we're a mob. I hope to hear your opinion."
Rossellin clicked her tongue, sat up, and slowly said, "The current environment of the universe is still considered stable, and the friction between the three Universal Civilizations will not turn into a direct conflict for the time being. However, there are undercurrents flowing underneath. Every civilization has a string pulled taut, and the reason is the Flickering World and the Evolutionary Totem. The essence of this … I've already stated it very clearly in my plan. The root of the problem is the internal strife between the three Universal Civilizations and their opposition to the many Star Cluster civilizations.
"The Flickering World is an opportunity to reshuffle the cards. While the attention of the entire universe is on the Flickering World, we can quietly develop and promote our ideas in a low-key and peaceful way. We can use religion to package ourselves, lie low, and wait patiently for the opportunity."
"What opportunity?" someone asked.
"The Supercluster civilizations hope to obtain a promotion channel through the new Star Field, but the three Universal Civilizations will definitely hold the benefits of the new Star Field firmly in their hands. What they leave for these Supercluster and Star Cluster civilizations is only a small amount of profit. "Since the exploration era, the three Universal Civilizations have suppressed them for too long. Everything has a limit, and it will reach a critical point one day. Those Star Cluster civilizations can't wait forever. After all, there are very few civilizations that give up. Furthermore, if they lose hope again, it might lead to conflicts. Thus, the Flickering World has the potential to become the fuse, and this will be the soil for our development."
Edmund nodded. "I think so too. Now is the best time. Our cause cannot be delayed again and again."
Hearing this, the crowd nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Rossellin sneered.
To be honest, she looked down on this group of people in front of her. Among these people, there were people like Edmund who insisted on their twisted ideas, ambitious people with ulterior motives, and people like her who wanted to see the world burn.
Breaking the restrictions of the three Universal Civilizations on the development channels of other races? It sounded good, but she did not care. Overthrowing the three Universal Civilizations was her motive. This made her feel very excited. No organization was more suitable to be an opponent than the three Universal Civilizations.
Edmund might have believed in his own ideas, but in her eyes, this was just a good starting point.
In the Galactic Era, where resources were abundant, no one would have to worry about survival anymore. This was a revolution that did not start because of survival. Rossellin saw the unresolvable conflict between the three Universal Civilizations and the Super Star Cluster Civilizations, so she could make use of Edmund's philosophy to take advantage of the situation.
The world often stood on the edge of a cliff, struggling to maintain its balance. All it lacked was someone to give it a push, just like pushing a lever at a fork in the tracks, leading history to an unknown path. If such an era did not exist, then she would try to create one. She just wanted to dance on the stage to her heart's content.
"If we want to start our cause, we need a name," Edmund said with a deep voice.
Rossellin glanced at his silver skin and smiled playfully.
"How about … Silver Revolutionary Army?"
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