Chapter 1456 Logging Out and Returning
After settling the upper echelons of the Star Alliance, Han Xiao had nothing to do and could focus on his own work. The three Universal Civilizations and the World Tree Civilization were both in charge of cleaning up the Star Alliance.
Because the resistance of the Star Alliance had collapsed, it was a piece of cake for the three Universal Civilizations to clean up the migrating troops within the Star Alliance. Originally, the rare war mission was a large-scale event that the players were passionate about, but this time, the three Universal Civilizations did not issue a large-scale gathering order. Only a few players were summoned to deal with the Star Alliance, and most of the players were focused on their own Pro League.
After a long period of preparation, the qualifiers had already begun, and it was already at its climax. Therefore, most of the players were not interested in the Star Alliance war at the moment. They only wanted to hurt each other and participate in the upcoming Pro League.
As Han Xiao had been farming the Sanctum authority for the truth of the universe and Iterations, he did not pay much attention to the players’ Pro League. He took some time to check it out, and he realized that the biggest special feature of this Pro League was a significant increase in the level of combat. The mainstream competitive level had gone from Grade B to Calamity Grade, and the destructive power had increased tremendously.
It was now Version 5.5. Compared to Version 4.0, the level cap had increased from level 150 to level 200. The series of missions in the World Tree War had made the players extremely rich. Although they had watched CGs during the final battle, the results of the battle had brought them a shocking profit.
In the fourth Pro League, the mainstream players were basically Grade Bs. Although they were considered the backbone of the universe, they were still considered weak in the eyes of the top combatants. However, in the fifth Pro League, the gap between the players had grown even wider. Now, the main players of the Pro League had to be at the Calamity Grade.
In the Supers Holy Land, on an uninhabited planet. Qualifiers round, Arena 24.
The battleships of the guilds floated in the air and watched the battle on the ground. They saw two ‘yellow dragons’ that were covered in dust colliding with each other, creating shockwaves from time to time, creating spiderweb-like cracks on the ground.
Two players in heavy armor were moving rapidly on the surface of the planet, fighting each other continuously. They were like walking natural disasters, but their IDs were unfamiliar. They were not professional players from any guild but ordinary players.
These were just two unknown players, but their destructive power was already very outstanding. The players in the sky could not take their eyes off them.
As the players stepped into the Calamity Grade batch by batch, their strength increased collectively, and many of them experienced a qualitative change. In order to ensure the viewership ratings and prevent some professional players from the large guilds from really failing in the qualifiers, many large guilds obtained direct access cards to the official league, so they did not need to take risks in the qualifiers. Although this decreased the excitement of the qualifiers, because there were many dark horses, the players were still very excited. ‘The overall destructive power of the players is getting stronger…’
Outside the atmosphere, Han Xiao’s virtual projection looked down at the planet and took in the scene of the players fighting. He was in stealth mode, and the other players could not see his projection. They were still looking down at the competition, not looking up at the sky.
“Let the players grow a few more versions, and the level cap will be unlocked more and more. They will definitely become the new source of chaos.”
Han Xiao pondered.
Now that the galactic society had formed a new stable structure, it would be peaceful for a long time. It was good for the galactic residents but bad for the players.
After experiencing several versions of events, the players had already eaten big fish and meat, and they had seen big scenes. If they were asked to go back and do the daily side missions, it would definitely be unbearable. If there were no new disasters or big events, the players who were unwilling to remain out of the limelight would definitely become ‘big events’. As their strength increased, they would definitely become more restless, and they would not be satisfied with a leisurely life, which would lead to chaos.
All kinds of thoughts flashed through Han Xiao’s mind. He took a deep look at the players’ spaceships, turned around, and disappeared. On the other side, in the cabins of the players’ spaceships, countless people were staring at the feedback of the competition on the ground on the satellite screen.
The officers of the guilds and clubs were also paying attention to the situation of the qualifiers, noting down the dark horses and discussing softly.
“This year’s competition is really amazing. There are too many strong players.” “I don’t think it’s good. I’ve already seen more than thirty top-notch non-professional players. If our team’s players are really defeated by the normal players, we’ll lose a lot of face.”
“I really hope that the next version is released as soon as possible. The guild’s plans can also be implemented then.” Many guild officers were secretly excited.
As the level cap was unlocked further, the Calamity Grade players of the various guilds experienced a huge increase in size, and the operational capability of the guild organizations also increased.
Currently, many guilds had a large number of Calamity Grade players on their hands, and their strength was enough to dominate a region in the galactic society. In order to maintain the gap between their own pro players and ordinary players, many professional guilds privately created detailed plans for the guild’s operations for the next version, deciding to expand in the universe in the next version.
Although they were watching the Pro League, the thoughts of many guild officers had already drifted away. They could not wait to go all out in the next version.
Han Xiao did not have the time to pay attention to the pro league of the players. To him, this was just a distraction. He buried his head in the machinery factory and almost left all his chores behind. He checked over and over again the feasibility of the World Tree’s Information Form Materialization function breaking through the dark side universe.
As the days flew by, the three Universal Civilizations’ invasion of Star Alliance also gradually came to an end. They had long received the battle reports that Han Xiao had fabricated from the upper echelons of the Star Alliance, and they were speechless at Han Xiao’s bad taste. This guy was f*cking irregular.
However, the leaders of the three Universal Civilizations would not disturb Han Xiao, who was studying how to break the seal on the dark side universe, over such a small matter. They could only pretend that nothing had happened and silently order their people to destroy this ‘dark history’.
In the blink of an eye, more than a year had passed. The three Universal Civilizations had more or less completed dismantling and clearing the Star Alliance, digesting most of the spoils of war, and destroyed this enemy that was lurking behind them.
The fifth Pro League also came to an end during this period. This time, Dynasty Club finally returned to first place and won the championship of the fifth Pro League. Second Prince inherited King Admiral’s position and led the team to win the championship, instantly raising his historical status by a level. He was praised by the club as the ‘cornerstone of the next dynasty’.
Dynasty was the only team that had won the championship twice in the past five Pro Leagues. Their popularity, which had originally fallen slightly, soared like a rocket. The former Dynasty champion captain King Admiral, who was the team’s coach, publicly congratulated Second Prince, expressing his relief. Bun-Hit-Dog called it ‘King’s Baton Pass’, which was accepted by the players and spread on the forums.
This time, the first and second runner-ups were America’s Devil team and Russia’s White Vodka team. Although the Chinese team was not as dominant as before and could not occupy two places in the top three, their performance was still not bad. They had achieved outstanding results in the individual and group competitions.
As the Pro League came to an end, Version 5.5 also came to an end.
In the guild bases of the players on the various planets of the Supers Holy Land, groups of players were gathered, waiting to go offline. They chatted casually, and it was as noisy as a market.
“It’s finally going to be updated again. I wonder how many years it will be this time.” “It should be the main version update now. We should be able to unlock at least 20 levels!”
“I wonder what will happen in the next version. Since even the World Tree has been dealt with, I don’t think anything will be able to shake the current situation of the galactic society.”
“Didn’t you see the Galaxy Times’ deduction? There’s a high chance that internal conflicts will intensify, and Black Star might turn black and become a new boss, fighting against the three Universal Civilizations.”
“Yo, does this mean that we can finally start a massacre? I’m going to turn the world upside down!”
“It would feel so refreshing. I’ve been unhappy with those three old b*stards for a long time. When the time comes, I’ll chop them up to vent my anger.”
“You guys are so disappointing! Compared to this, shouldn’t we be more concerned about whether we can repair the BUG that we can’t get naked in the next version?”
“Yes, yes, yes! If I can’t run around naked in the next version, I’ll definitely complain!”
Hearing the players around her yelling, Maple Moon had a look of disgust on her face. She felt that these people were hopeless.
As they chatted, time slowly passed. When they went offline, a large white light flashed, and batches of players disappeared one after another. The hall became empty.
At the same time, in the private research room of the Supers Holy Land, Han Xiao, who was studying, paused and looked up.
“Hmm, has the version update started again?”
Han Xiao stopped what he was doing and opened the interface to take a look. The forums were closed once again. This meant that the time flow between the dark side universe and the true universe was disconnected once again, turning into two independent systems. He was the only stable information interference bridge left.
During this period of time, he had repeatedly studied the feasibility of the conversion plan, and he was now more than seventy percent confident. Although he had made some technical contributions, most of it was thanks to the tests and improvements of the previous dark side Iterations.
Han Xiao shook his head and closed the interface. Just as he was about to enter the research again, Phillip suddenly appeared.
“Master, hum, Her Excellency Ames is in your office. She wants to see you, hum.”
“Oh, I got it. I’ll be right there.”
Han Xiao rubbed the space between his brows. He had no choice but to put down his research and head to his office.
The moment he entered, he saw Ames sitting in his seat with her back facing the door.
Hearing the noise, Ames turned her chair around, and her long legs extended out from under her black dress. She sat down and looked at Han Xiao with a smile that was not a smile. “Busy man, it’s not easy to see you.” “I’ve been very busy recently. You know that.” Han Xiao walked around the table and came to the back of the chair. He placed his hands on both sides of Ames’ forehead and gently massaged it.
Ames closed her eyes comfortably, but her mouth did not stop. She chuckled and said, “That’s right, there’s no time when you’re not busy. If I didn’t come to find you occasionally, I would have suspected that you had forgotten about me.”
“What are you saying? You’re just spouting nonsense. You deserve to be punished.” Han Xiao curled his lips, and a faint electric current appeared on his finger, causing Ames’ eyelashes to tremble.
Ames avoided Han Xiao’s finger and slapped his hand away. She then stood up and said seriously,
“I don’t understand. The World Tree has been dealt with, and the three Universal Civilizations have given in. We don’t have any safety concerns now, so why are you still so busy? Where did you get the pressure P”.
“… This is a secret that I can’t tell you yet. In any case, it’s very tricky.” Han Xiao shook his head. It would be useless to tell the Beyond Grade As about the secrets of the Iterations, so he did not tell anyone other than the heads of the three Universal Civilizations.
“Do you still remember what I said back then? Ambition is never-ending. When are you willing to stop? Do you really want to replace the three Universal Civilizations?” Ames frowned. “What is it that you have to hide so closely? Can’t you just say it out loud and let everyone bear the consequences?” “You can’t help…”
Han Xiao hesitated for a moment before touching Ames’ cheek. “This should be the last time. I will keep us all alive.”
Hearing this, Ames’ eyes changed. Although she did not know what Han Xiao was hiding, she could hear the seriousness in Han Xiao’s tone. A situation which even a Transcendent found difficult to deal with, had to be some kind of problem that she could not imagine.
Just as Ames was about to ask, the communicator in the room suddenly beeped.
It was a message from Marbruce. There was only one content…
The Sanctum exploration team was finally back!
Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
“I have something to do, so I’ll leave first. I’ll accompany you next time.”
Han Xiao quickly changed into King.
Ames opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the next moment, Han Xiao activated teleportation and disappeared from the room.
Looking at the empty room, Ames clenched and unclenched her fists. She repeated this a few times before taking a deep breath and suppressing the complicated emotions in her heart.
The subordinate that once needed her protection was now an existence that she could only look up to. She was increasingly feeling that it was harder for her to keep up with Han Xiao.
Although Ames had a cold personality and rarely bothered herself with such matters, she would still feel a sense of loss after so many years. Even though Han Xiao’s attitude toward her remained the same, Ames knew that she could no longer share Han Xiao’s worries.
