<h4>Chapter 315: Prelude to an Age of Strife (1)</h4>
<strong>Trantor: </strong>As Studios <strong>Editor: </strong>As Studios
Although Frenzied Sword and Hao Tian had both epted the selection mission, neither was confident about passing. Now, with Han Xiao’s direct offer, the two could finally let out a deep breath.
This was a golden opportunity, and of course, none of them would want to reject it. Bun-hit-dog was especially happy about it. He understood the impact that being one of the first few yers to journey into space could have on his videos. Moreover, most of the people to follow Han Xiao would certainly be exceptional pro yers, allowing him to interview them whenever he wanted to boost his show’s poprity.
At first, he had felt heartbroken when he saw the requirements that one needed to meet in order to join Han Xiao’s journey. He was not a particrly skillful yer, and he had thought that he had no chance of following along Han Xiao.
In this moment, Bun-hit-dog was so excited that he would have jumped through the ceiling, but he stopped himself after he thought about the fines that he would have to pay if he did.
To Han Xiao, Bun-hit-dog was the perfect reporter. Although he did not even think that Bun-hit-dog would be good enough to be cannon fodder, his role in the group was still irreceable.
Bun-hit-dog’s shows served as a bridge between Han Xiao and the yers, and it helped to boost his poprity. Han Xiao leading the only group of yers who could adventure in space would definitely bring in loads of attention. So, he would be able to continue to leave a deep impression on the yers despite having left Aquamarine.
The yer’s curiosity for the space in Gxy as well as their fan-craze on the pro yers would ensure views for Bun-hit-dog’s ‘Exploration Diary’.
After all, things like this were highly entertaining for the yers and would be in high demand.
“Are you really going to space?” asked Maple Moon curiously. She was a big fan of anything plot and lore-rted.
Han Xiao’s eyes shed. He nced at Bun-hit-dog before saying in a cryptic way, “This is about to witness an unprecedented cmity. Only the endless reaches in the gxy beyond hold the key to saving the.”
<i>Cmity? </i>The four were shocked.
Bun-hit-dog had started recording their conversation the moment Maple Moon asked that question. He had a feeling that what Han Xiao had said just then could be something big very soon.
A few dayster...
Boom!
Within the shes and sounds of explosions stood the Second Prince, who was still hanging on for all he was worth.
“Fourteen, thirteen...”
The surrounding crowd counted down in excitement.
“C’mon, you can do it man! You must join the thirty-seconds club.”
Sun Eggnt was fanning the mes from the side. He stood with a small group of people who had all passed the test. Han Xiao had secretly weakened his attacks for certain yers as they were the one that he wanted on his team. Most of them were big names in the pro-scene and those that had performed well in the tournament.
The onlooking yers could only feel envious about it, and theyforted themselves by telling themselves that those who had passed were all godly pro yers. The group of people who had passed were then called the ‘thirty-seconds club’.
“Damn, you just needed another second.”
“Why do I keep finishing early?”
During the days of the selection, Han Xiao never changed his attacking style. He just stood still and controlled the Sonic Spheres and the turrets to suppress the challenger. This gave the yers hope, as they believed that this was just like clearing a dungeon. They could always learn and analyze Han Xiao’s moves from the others’ attempts and even their own failures, thus gaining an advantage for themselvester on.
However, try as they might, no matter how much the yers learned about the fight, most werepletely suppressed by Han Xiao and could not evenst longer than ten seconds.
<i>Second Prince, huh... He’s not bad, </i>thought Han Xiao as he slowly let up his attacks.
<i>An opening! </i>Second Prince’s eyes shed, and he threw himself on the ground and rolled out of the range of the attacks. The rain of bullets slowly inched toward him, and he did not even have time to get back up on his feet before he started to wiggle around on the ground in a desperate attempt to stay alive.
“... two, one, zero!”
“He made it!”
“I can’t believe he used his trump card—Repeated Barrel Rolls!”
The crowd startedughing at the pro yer’s sorry state.
Second Prince got back up with a face covered in smoke and dirt, and Sun Eggnt, who stood to the side, raised his thumb before snickering. “You have really opened my eyes today. You even pioneered your own fighting style, bing the grandmaster of rolls. What a man.”
King Admiral pretended to beprehending something. “It feels like it would be quite useful. How about you learn it as well, Li Ge?”
Li Ge remained expressionless. “What an embarrassment.”
“Screw off!” Second Prince was enraged.
This bunch of star yers were opponents inpetitions, but they were also old friends, and they often bickered among each other whenever they hung out.
Han Xiao had basically gotten all the members that he needed. He had already gotten a hold of pro yers from the four big guilds and from the top eight teams. Most of the top eights from the individual matches had also joined his team. After counting up everyone, there was a little over fifty people total, but it was not a big deal, as he could simply purchase the new tickets on board.
Thanks to the official tournament, Han Xiao had an easy time looking for talents. He had packed most of the top rankers on Aquamarine into his group in one go.
To him, not only were the yers the best cannon fodder, they were also his main information channel. Gxy offered countless storylines, and Han Xiao could be the middle-man to offer all these missions to the yers, just like he did on the. That way, a part of all the pro yers’ earnings would go directly into his pocket. He had basically acquired a group of sweet, little bees that would work tirelessly for him, earning the resources that would have gone to the other NPCs instead.
This was the correct way to utilize the yers’ advantages.
Ultimately, Gxy was like a theme park, full of distractions. He would need to use some methods if he wanted to ensure that these yers stayed by his side. Now, having established his position among the yers as ‘one of their own’bined with the benefits that moving together as a single party would offer, there should not be any problems in the short run. Han Xiao would not have to worry about the pro yers being tempted by something else in space for now.
Regardless, Han Xiao had long since be ustomed to being prepared for anything. He had alreadye up with a more concrete n to deal with issue. However, he would have to wait until they actually entered space before he could start implementing his n. This was not some sort of idea that had sprung out from a moment’s brilliance, but rather, a n that he had thought up after considering the big picture, and it was a crucial step for his future developments.
“They’re all star yers. Isn’t this too extravagant of a line-up?”
“Doesn’t it feel like we’re a few persons short?”
The more meticulous fans realized that Hao Tian and Frenzied Sword had note for the mission.
“All the other pro yers came. How could they let go of a chance like this? Even other Long Sky members participated in the selection.”
The star yers had also realized this, and Li Ge frowned. “Where are those two? Where’s Hao Tian?”
Sleepy Winter felt helpless. “I have already asked. Old Hao and Frenzied Sword were already qualified to begin with.”
The crowd could not process what Sleepy Winter had just said for a second.
Hao Tian and Frenzied Sword had triggered ck Phantom’s Hidden Storyline. Was that why they got this special treatment?
The bunch of pro yers suddenly felt a sense of unfairness in their hearts. They could not believe that they had toe here to get tortured over and over again, while those two just backdoored their way in.
Where was the justice in that!
The pro yers were jealous to no end. They also wanted to receive such benefits.
Once the testing was over, the crowd started, albeit quite unwillingly. However, at that moment, Han Xiao silently sent out another pre-written mission to the surrounding yers.
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The Last Bastion
Mission Type: Prize-Pool Mission
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The yers stopped dead in their tracks and focused on the new information.
“What a sudden mission. Where did ite from?”
“ck Phantom didn’t say anything, right? Could he be the one who sent it?”
“Prize-Pool... What’s this?”
“1,000 experience points are required to ept this mission. Let’s try it out.”
Many could not hold back their curiosity, and immediately epted the mission. However, they were all surprised when they all found out that this mission was grayed out.
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Mission Introduction: Someday in the future, a cmity will strike this world, and Sanctuary Three will be thest remaining bastion for humanity. Protect this dwindling me from the encroaching darkness. Only then will there be hope to ovee this cmity.
Requirement: Protect Sanctuary Three. The destruction rate must not go above 50%.
Mission Status: Frozen
Start Date: Unknown
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The grayed out name implied that this mission had not started. This was the first time that the yers had seen a mission with the ‘Frozen’ status, and many were mystified. Word soon got out, and more and more people learned of this news.