Chapter 593 Sudden Emergency (1/2)
As Han Xiao was undergoing a trade with Rockfess, dozens of spaceships carrying 200,000 mercenaries sailed toward Planet Sunil.
The star map in the cockpit flickered. As it showed Planet Sunil nearing them, Herlous' mood grew all the more excited. The same rang true for the other Sunil mercenaries.
They themselves were too aware of their civilization's plight. Because of the catastrophe, the casualty rate of their young and middle aged had always remained high, and their partners lived in constant danger. Now, they finally had a ray of hope to solving this problem!
This group of warriors who would sacrifice their lives for their civilization were all extremely touched, grateful to Han Xiao to the point of wanting to cry.
”The day has finally arrived.”
Herlous took a deep breath, regaining a calm mood.
Outside the porthole, Planet Sunil seemed to be beckoning them, and the fleet landed quickly on it, as though both sides had collided with each other.
The main city of Planet Sunil was still Forest City, and all the upper echelons there had long received the news, rushing out to welcome them. From all around, army troops wearing the Sunil armor stood in their formations in welcome, filling a huge patch of open space.
As the spaceships landed one after another, and the players stepped out, they saw the armored troops at a glance. The sunlight reflected off the steel from the Sunil armor, exuding an aura of silence and slaughter.
”We thank the Black Star Army for reaching out to aid us. Welcome, I am…”
One of the upper echelons of the Sunils stepped forward, preparing to give a speech, but before he could finish half of it, he saw the 200,000 mercenaries scatter. The majority of the players ran over to the aggressive armored soldiers with dumb expressions.
”Oh, this is Sunil. Indeed, the same as in the video channels!”
”Come brothers, let's take a group photo!”
Having arrived on the new planet, the players immediately started to party.
”This…”
The upper echelon of the Sunil felt his face twitch incessantly, but he did not know what to do. Turning over, he saw Herlous walk out of the spaceship. He regained his composure, rushing forward respectfully.
”It's all thanks to you, or else we would not have been able to hire the Black Star Army.” The superior of the Sunils had an expression of gratitude.
”You should thank Black Star actually. If it wasn't for the fact that he asked me to follow him, Sunil would not have had this opportunity.”
Herlous had a solemn expression. In this regard, he felt that he had taken too much of an advantage, and he should not claim credit for this matter.
Right now, Black Star had already been promoted to a Calamity Grade Super, with no shortage of Grade B Supers under him. Instead of saying that he was selling his life for the Black Star Army in exchange for them helping him, it was more accurate to say that it was Black Star that offered his help voluntarily to the Sunils!
After the incident with DarkStar, Herlous had gained a deeper understanding of Han Xiao. To go head on against a terrifying interstellar terrorist organization just for his hometown, this courage was simply too great. Black Star was a righteous partner, with a good character and a nice personality, and his wanting to help Sunil was also purely because he wished to save them, without asking for benefits.
The favorability of Herlous toward Han Xiao had long exploded through the roof, to the point that he would sacrifice his life if asked to or use himself as a shield if needed.
Hearing this, the Sunil superior solemnly nodded. They really owed too much to Black Star. The other party had allowed the Sunil mercenaries to accept better employment, reducing the casualties of their race, and now he had even sent a large number of people over to help, only charging a nominal fee in return.
What a good person!
After arranging the 200,000 'mercenaries', the Sunil upper echelons spread the news of the Black Star Army coming to provide reinforcements to the entire race so that the countless Sunils would know that their opportunity had arrived.
Within the streets, countless people burst into tears as they lowered their heads in prayer.
The name 'Black Star' experienced a rapid increase in prestige in the area.
As Herlous took the Sunil mercenaries to walk down the street, accepting the gratitude of the civilians, he suddenly felt that the fire of hope in this city had been rekindled and felt a lot more hopeful in his heart.
Herlous had also witnessed the specialty of the players and believed that this catastrophe would be resolved sooner or later. However, therein lay a problem for him.
”When the problem of my race has been solved, where should I go?”
As though hit by a bullet in his heart, his body froze in confusion.
That's right, my purpose of becoming a mercenary was to help the race fight on. Once our danger has passed, do I still need to be a mercenary?
Herlous' footsteps slowed down as he entered a dilemma.
Thinking of how Black Star had provided him with help but he would leave right after his objective had been accomplished gave him a sort of feeling as though he was betraying Black Star's trust. His conscience could not ignore this fact.
Then… do I continue staying with Black Star to repay his gratitude?
Upon thinking of his noisy babbling mercenary partners, thinking of the various unknown planets he had seen, the unique lifeforms, and Black Star's ever reliable back facing them…
Herlous' tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.
Other than his civilization, it seemed as though he had found another home.
”Heh, without the burdens of my race weighing me down, I can probably obtain a sizable sum and find a pretty lady to get married.”
Herlous felt the weight in his heart get removed and suddenly looked forward to the infinite possibilities in the future.
…
On the other side, the players had been warmly welcomed into the Forest City by the Sunils.
”I didn't expect the name of the Black Star Army to be this good.”
The crowd of players murmured in surprise. After experiencing it personally, they only belatedly realized how much influence their faction possessed. The name of the Black Star Army seemed to be extremely prestigious.
The 200,000 players split up wandered around Forest City. Right now, the upper echelons of the Sunils were still working out a concrete strategy, so their mission had not yet officially started. At this time, no one would stop the players from moving around freely.
Many of the players utilized the same old method, attempting to trigger additional missions with the various Sunils or searching for equipment stores, skill mentors, general stores, and other functional locations. As a civilization, the Sunils of course had an NPC resource area, with most of the functions being able to serve the players.
Not long after, the players were mass recruited, with a whole list of missions to complete, including exploring the wild, collecting information on the beasts, clearing the beast colonies, regaining abandoned resource points as well as digging mineral veins. All sorts of work were available.
After accepting the various missions, the interfaces of the players would then display the respective tasks, which allowed the players to obtain more experience rewards from these sub-missions.
The popular missions were quickly swept clean, and the crowd's favorite was naturally the mission of robbing resource areas. Because most of the resources were materials, one could get some during the process.
The resource area missions were basically divided among the guild players, but because Sunil wanted to completely resolve the catastrophe, there were many other missions to be completed as well. This ensured that all 200,000 mercenaries had some missions to attempt.
After accepting the missions, players also triggered a series of mission requirements for the faction. The objective was to help the Sunils resolve the catastrophe but had nothing to do with their employment task. Even if one was not a mercenary, they could still trigger this series of missions by helping the Sunils.
In fact, the mercenary mission received by the players back then was the real bonus, which was given as a benefit of the Black Star Army.
With the mission acting like a carrot dangling above the players' heads, the 200,000 players could not wait to get started.
…
A couple of days later, countless robotic arms were busy assembling mechanical warriors in Base No.1's workshop. Han Xiao had his head buried in front of a lathe, focusing on rebuilding his Mechanic Army. Suddenly, his communicator rang.
”Hmm? Who is it?”
Han Xiao put down the items in his hands, taking out his communicator. Lots of possibilities flashed through his mind, be it a mission from Ames or some tasks that the Noriosse Consortium required him to do. It could also be some players having botched their missions and having the employer calling to complain.