Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the age of virtual gaming, interaction was very important. The players felt that Galaxy had done an exceptional job in that regard. The interaction with NPCs was very free, and players could casually write text messages, emails, and such sorts to communicate with NPCs from a far range.
The popular games at the time all had a certain extent of reality and virtual socializing functionalities. There was an old but always popular game, Ruthless, that was very good in this regard. Text messages could be written freely even though it was a single player game.
When VR-Capsule technology was invented, Ruthless designed a version for it as well. At the time, due to the level of reality and the rough play style of Ruthless, a debate was triggered, and the NPC Protection Society that people had only talked about was actually really created. It was a very interesting phenomenon.
_____________________
[Ending of the Survivor] completed.
_____________________
One of the five requirements in the hidden main storyline turned green, which represented its completion.
_____________________
You have received [Sully—Document 485]. From the document, you acknowledged a buried past.
_____________________
This mission has a commentator, damn. Han Xiao was surprised.
_____________________
The document recorded an old action plan, with a lot of information missing. Before the war of the old era, a country sent a team to a village in Andrea for a secret mission. What happened afterward was unknown, but all the residents of the village were killed by gunfire. That country is already dead now.
_____________________
That’s it? Han Xiao was confused. This description was a clue of the mission, but it was way too vague. He thought about it and sent it to Hannes. That old guy had more information on hands—maybe he could discover something more.
Completing the mission was enough for Han Xiao.
…
Hao Tian stood beside the mission character ‘Old Devin’ and stared at his phone, waiting for Black Phantom’s reply.
This mission had been very cumbersome. Old Devin had the document, so he had needed to gain Old Devin’s trust first, which he had done by completing many chore missions. The difficult part was that Old Devin suffered from mental illnesses. He had Paranoia, Amnesia, Schizophrenia, was prone to anger, spoke nonsense, and dozens more. He would quickly become anxious, and he would mistake a trash can on the road for bomb and passers-by for enemies who were chasing him.
Old Devin had been a member of this plan, and from what he said, after he completed the mission, the nation had killed his family and hunted him down. The hiding and stress he suffered through the years gave him the mental illnesses.
“Do you know why war broke out during the old era?” Old Devin would always look around his surroundings and make sure that there was no one before he started chatting with Hao Tian. “It was because of me. Every nation was looking for me, so they fought each other. Enemies were everywhere. They still have not given up. Look at these surveillance cameras in the city. They are all set up for me.”
Of course, Hao Tian did not understand a single word he said, and he did not care about the story anyway. He was just doing the missions, and with his high efficiency and strong will, he completed the mission.
Hao Tian soon received Han Xiao’s reply and the notification of the mission being completed, and a sense of relief washed over him.
‘You’re the first to complete the mission. I feel that you have quite the potential. Are you interested in helping me?”
“Sure.” Hao Tian gave a very simple reply.
“Wait at the border of Raylen, coordinate R1565.842. I will bring you along when I leave the Northern Continent.”
“Sure.”
Although Hao Tian had a very steady personality, he still felt a sense of excitement when he thought of the benefits of Black Phantom’s hidden storyline in the forums.
…
Han Xiao finished his journey of making a crazy amount of profits when he left the last novice village in the Northern Continent. Before leaving the Northern Continent, Han Xiao came to an ice field where high-level ice bears lived. He spent a few hours and used the Ghost sniper rifle to fulfill the requirements for [Lethal Shot].
_____________________
Lethal Shot: 12 – 25% chance to activate true damage with the first shot on target. This cannot be reactivated on the same target within 5 minutes.
_____________________
By changing the target, the talent could be triggered multiple times, which was very useful. Although it did not quite meet the standards of Bennett’s cheat-like molding ability [Legendary Battle Techniques], it was still a rare attacking talent.
After counting, Han Xiao had twelve talents, which was exceptional in version 1.0. Half of that would already be very high for a LV 55 player.
Han Xiao also gave the recently obtained [Call of the Wild] talent a try. The ice bears above level 50 was not affected by it at all—they were still as aggressive as they had originally been.
He lowered the level of his targets and realized that a bear cub was very friendly toward him. It was white, chubby, and furry, only as tall as his waist level. It hugged his leg and showed off its cuteness.
There’s quite some use to this talent. The cub is only at level ten-something, but there should be other hidden elements to the Call of The Wild. Other than it being affected by Charm, the level difference between me and the beast should also be part of the reason as well as the characteristics of the beast.
Han Xiao contemplated the matter. Suddenly, he saw this furry ball trying its best to climb up his leg. The Great Han Xiao squinted and kicked the cub away.
The white and chubby cub rolled over a few times and then came back again. Han Xiao just could not chase it away no matter how he tried; it was very clingy.
Its furry butt kept shaking, and it looked stupid. Its small, black eyes were filled with innocence.
Tsk, how adorable. Han Xiao could not resist its cuteness. He held the cub upside down and gave it a look. And it’s a female.
They looked at each other for some time, then Han Xiao reached out his arms. The cub climbed up laboriously to Han Xiao’s shoulder and hung onto it like a swing.
“You definitely have some koala blood. Didn’t expect you to be a cross-breed,” Han Xiao said in surprise. He twisted his arm, and the cub shook swung around it as well. It was like he was carrying a bag.
I shall bring it along as a pet.
Raising a pet was a spice of life. With a pet, Han Xiao suddenly felt much more relaxed. No wonder people in the big cities liked to have pets—it was such an effective stress reliever. When they were unhappy, they just had to bully their pet, and they could find back their sense of superiority as an intelligent species.
This was a Sharp Claw Ice Bear cub, only a few months old. Han Xiao was too lazy to give it a name, so he just called it Bear Cub.
Bringing along Bear Cub, Han Xiao boarded the plane to the border of Raylen and picked up Hao Tian. Following which, he immediately headed toward the Southern Continent.
On the plane, Hao Tian lived up to his image of a highly skilled player and kept silent, did not ask about their destination, and did not make any interactions. Han Xiao saw that he had nothing to do, so he gave him a mission to take care of Bear Cub. Hao Tian’s expression became interesting on the spot.
Galaxy’s details were all very real, especially the look and smell of urine and feces.
Flying from the Northern Continent to the Southern Continent required a little over half a day. Han Xiao received a call from Hannes on the way, saying that Old Devin’s document filled missing information of their clues, and it was a very important finding. Han Xiao knew that this would affect the next round of the hidden main storyline missions.
The earnings in the Northern Continent were not lesser than the Western Continent. Han Xiao’s experience and money had all almost doubled. Every time Han Xiao looked at the accumulated experience in the interface and the total of his Dark Net bank account, he would feel a surge of happiness.
…
When the plane landed in the Southern Continent, Antonio was waiting. Han Xiao saw his rough face as soon as he came out of the plane.
“Welcome back, my friend.” Antonio laughed out loud and gave Han Xiao a bear hug. The strong odor on his body almost made Han Xiao lose his health points.
“Hug a while more, and I’d be dead.” Han Xiao rubbed his nose with a frown. The odor was lingering in the air.
“Only out for a month, and look what you’ve done!” Antonio said with surprise. He remembered that Han Xiao said that he would not get into trouble, but it seemed like Han Xiao’s standard of trouble and his were very different.
Things about Black Phantom had been spreading like a disease recently. Many organizations had to spend some of their focus on Black Phantom; the man had most likely become one of the top names in many organizations’ threat lists.
Black Phantom had officially reached the top of Dark Net’s killer leaderboards.
After chatting for a while, Antonio noticed Bear Cub. His eyes immediately twinkled, and he ran over to pet it. Han Xiao was not surprised that Antonio liked furry things judging from his appearance—the two furballs were probably cousins.
Han Xiao walked aside and called Bennett.
“I’ve returned.”
Bennett breathed a sigh of relieved and said with a hint of sorrow, “I’ve waited for you for so long.”
Han Xiao went straight to the point and said, “The ‘Shelter Plan’ you talked about, what help do you need from me?”
Bennett was very touched. Han Xiao mentioned about helping the first thing after he returned, how noble!
In the society of lies and deception, people who had such good qualities were going extinct.
This was a friend that was worth building a stronger relationship with!
Bennett decided to make Han Xiao one of the people in charge of the plan and share even more details with him. “Let’s talk when we meet—I have a very important mission for you.”
Hearing that, Han Xiao knew there was a chance and got excited. He was very familiar with the main storyline [Shelter Plan], and he knew how much benefit there was in becoming a core member.
The Six Nations had been making a lot of moves in the dark recently—the preparation for expedition war was almost complete, and the expedition would probably officially commence in that month. The Germinal Organization was finally about to meet the disaster that had been created by Han Xiao, and the war was going to break out in Planet Aquamarine. The wanderers, militaries, warlords, financial organizations, secret organizations, and all the other organizations were nervous about it.
To open the [Shelter Plan] main storyline at this time completely messed up the sequence of the storyline, but its benefits were also clear. Under the threat from the war, Bennett would do anything to carry out the plan.
And the players’ attention would also be diverted by the main storyline [Shelter], which would reduce the number of players taking part in the main storyline of the war between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization, which was beneficial to Han Xiao. The smaller the impact that the players made, the more advantages that the Six Nations had.
