Chapter 195 Is It Fun to Cut Me?

It was as if a spirit of sacrifice had been born within the Black Star Army's player base.

With the confirmation of the character card, the forums had temporarily transformed into an intelligence center for the "Save Black Star Plan." Numerous army players were calling out to friends and privately mobilizing to expand their teams. The "Action Command," led by Free Flying, was posting dispatches time and time again.

Many of the old-timer players from the Huaxia region, who had been around since Version 1.0, harbored a sense of responsibility and conviction. They felt compelled to do something to save the army from falling into the hands of the Machinery Country. For a time, respondents gathered like clouds. In particular, some professional players, led by Kuang Dao and Maple Moon, also expressed their willingness to contribute. The entire "Save Black Star Plan" became a large-scale activity spontaneously organized by army players.

Of course, among the participants, there were also those who were simply stirring up trouble, eager to see the world in chaos, those who were opportunistic, and those who were just messing around. Some people simply wanted to create a big news event, others wanted to show their loyalty in order to gain favor when Black Star returned, and still others wanted to try to trigger hidden missions.

The atmosphere on the forums was as if everyone was ready to fight, with each person wanting to sacrifice their blood to save the world. In reality, most people were just joining the fun. The army's player base now had a complex national structure, with not only Huaxia players but also a large number of international players who had joined in Version 4.0. Most of them were just happily watching the show.

Even among the Huaxia players, there were many who were unwilling to invest the large amount of time and energy they had spent in the Black Star Army camp and were unwilling to take risks.

Han Xiao had been watching the activity on the forums for the past three days. The "Save Black Star Plan" organized by Free Flying was no secret to him.

Although a group of players were planning how to backstab him tomorrow, Han Xiao was not angry at all. Instead, he was watching with great interest.

"This has truly become a case of 'If you're my brother, come and cut me.'"

Han Xiao thought it was hilarious.

Just then, Philip popped up and said in a buzzing voice, "Master, buzz, there are several Undying who want to see you, buzz. They say they have learned of the Undying Army's plot to rebel and wish to inform you, buzz."

"Oh?" Han Xiao's eyes flashed.

There were actually traitors?!

...Well, considering the targets were players, it would be abnormal if there weren't any traitors.

"Let them come in," Han Xiao said, his eyes darting around.

After waiting for a while in the office, several players wearing flashy armor walked in. Their IDs indicated that they were all foreign players.

"Yo yo, Army Commander." The leader, an Ice Frost Demon player, greeted him, radiating a strong hip-hop vibe.

"You said that the Undying Army is plotting a rebellion? Tell me, what exactly is going on?" Han Xiao pretended not to know and asked with a puzzled expression.

"Yo, it's like this, we're all good people, but some of the Undying are ambitious and dissatisfied with your rule. So, they want to use a ridiculous excuse to incite the army and attack you at tomorrow's commendation ceremony."

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. "What excuse?"

"I heard they're planning to accuse you of being an imposter from the Machinery Country. Isn't that hilarious, hahaha."

"Interesting," Han Xiao said, glancing at him with a chuckle. "I understand. I'll investigate. If the situation is true, you'll all be credited."

"Hehe, give us more Contribution Points." The man said casually, not holding back at all.

Han Xiao pretended not to hear him and waved the men away. At that moment, Philip reported again that there were more people who wanted to inform him.

He did not refuse anyone and patiently received batch after batch of traitors. Most of them were foreign players, and their stories were similar: they exposed Free Flying's plan and smeared their motives, saying they were ambitious and rebellious.

After sending off the last batch of traitors, Han Xiao revealed a strange smile.

"Some of these people are pure opportunists, but the rest are probably spies planted in the army by foreign professional guilds. Heh, they want to take the opportunity to stir up trouble."

He had always known that there were spies from foreign guilds in the army. This was the inevitable result of opening the door to new members. The old-timer players like Free Flying had relatively positive motives, but these spies were full of bad intentions.

Han Xiao saw at a glance that these spies wanted to take advantage of the situation. On the one hand, they wanted to punish the Huaxia players severely and strike at the Huaxia guilds' power in the army. On the other hand, they also wanted to weaken his trust in the Undying, causing the Black Star Army's player treatment to decline.

The foreign guilds' spies didn't care whether he was from the Machinery Country or Black Star. If he was from the Machinery Country, it would be perfect to arouse the Machinery Country's suspicion and create the idea of eliminating dissidents. If everyone misunderstood and the Army Commander was still Black Star, then their reporting would also be considered a sign of loyalty. They thought it was a double-edged sword.

If he didn't have the information from the forums, he might have believed it. However, Han Xiao had already learned the truth of the matter through the forums. These spies wanted to use the information gap to manipulate him. He saw through their little tricks at a glance.

Seeing the group of traitors looking pleased with themselves, thinking that their scheme had succeeded, Han Xiao was all smiles on the surface, but in his heart, he just wanted to laugh out loud.

"Little brats, let you laugh for a while. I'll settle the score with you after the ceremony."

Han Xiao tapped on the table and ordered in a deep voice, "Philip, secretly dispatch the mechanical soldiers in storage and place them in every corner of the venue, especially in the guest seats, audience seats, and the press area. If anyone attacks the guests tomorrow, take them down immediately."

This order was not to guard against Free Flying and the others. Their target was only himself, and their motive was to protect the Black Star Army camp. Therefore, their plan did not involve harming innocent people or civilians.

However, there was an 80% chance that someone would take the opportunity to sabotage and damage the army's reputation by hurting the audience. Basically, only the foreign professional guilds, who were eyeing the situation covetously, would do something like that.

Han Xiao would not stop Free Flying and the others from "showing their loyalty," but he would not sit idly by and watch the enemy stir up trouble.

"Hmph, the imperialists will never give up on destroying us."

Han Xiao grunted.

"Speaking of which, Version 4.0 is already in the middle stages and is about to enter the late stages. The National War should break out together with the Super Star Cluster Alliance's turmoil, just like in my previous life... I wonder if the alliance formed by those player organizations will still be established," he thought to himself.

...

The three days passed in a flash. The competition planet had been transformed into an open-air venue for the commendation ceremony.

The main stage was a large floating platform where all the important guests were seated. Surrounding it were numerous smaller platforms floating in the air, like floating islands, which served as audience seats, media broadcast seats, and seats for the winning players of each event.

A spherical shield enveloped the venue area, blocking the biting cold wind from the high altitude and preventing irrelevant people from disturbing the closing ceremony. At the same time, the shield was covered with a layer of virtual sky, creating the feeling of an enclosed theater, making people unaware that the venue was outdoors.

Various spaceships floated in the outer space, and people took the vehicles provided by the army into the atmosphere to arrive at the venue. The audience, guests, and players, dressed in grand attire, found their respective seats, and the scene quickly turned into a sea of people, an unprecedented spectacle.

At this time, still in the entry stage, Free Flying and his team found the player seats and sat down one after another. They looked around, occasionally making eye contact with players on the same platform, revealing knowing expressions.

Just then, Free Flying felt a pat on his shoulder. He turned around and saw that it was Kuang Dao, the captain of the Jiangcheng team.

"When are we going to take action?" Kuang Dao lowered his voice. As a true loyalist, he also participated in the Save Black Star Operation.

"It's still early, don't worry. Just like in the plan, when it's our turn to receive the award, everyone will act together when they see my signal," Free Flying whispered.

"How many people do you think will join us?"

"Although there are many people who signed up on the forum, it would be good if one-tenth of them actually take action," Free Flying shook his head.

"Okay, we'll all wait for your signal."

The players participating in the Save Black Star Plan were secretly communicating, while on the other side, another group of people were plotting a new operation.

"Have the men been spread out yet?"

On a certain audience platform, a player with the ID "Wolf Howl of Winter" asked his companion beside him in a private chat channel.

"Yes, don't worry, buddy. Our people are spread out on many audience platforms. Some of them are very close to the celebrity guests. When the Huaxia group takes action, we can take advantage of the chaos and definitely cause significant damage."

"Very good," Wolf Howl of Winter nodded and said in a deep voice. "The Black Star Army camp is too powerful and must be weakened. This is the first external operation since the secret establishment of our Northern Front. We must make a name for ourselves and pave the way for our National War plan."

"Understood."

At the same time, Han Xiao was on the main stage, in the VIP seats, greeting the Super A Grades who were arriving via remote projection.

He had a lot of face now. With a single call, 70% of the Super A Grade members of the Development Union came to watch the ceremony. All the big shots were gathered, sitting in the front row. Han Xiao casually exchanged pleasantries with everyone, occasionally letting out a laugh.

The seats at the venue gradually filled up, and the people slowly arrived. At that moment, the lights in the entire venue slowly dimmed, leaving only the main stage brightly lit.

Seeing this, the noisy venue gradually quieted down, and everyone's eyes gathered on the stage.

Sylvia walked onto the stage. Today, she had taken off her uniform and put on an expensive purple backless dress. She had light makeup on, making her face exquisite and beautiful. Her long hair was tied up, revealing her slender swan neck. The silver earrings could be seen swaying slightly, reflecting a smooth, bright but not dazzling soft light that rendered her graceful and luxurious.

She looked around the audience and said loudly:

"Distinguished guests, players, and viewers in front of the screen, welcome to the closing ceremony of the first Black Star Cup. I am Sylvia, the Army's Chief Officer."

After speaking, Sylvia paused as required by the script. Han Xiao smiled and took the lead in applauding. Seeing this, the people around him also clapped their hands, and soon the entire venue was filled with thunderous applause.

Seeing this, Sylvia continued, "With the continuous expansion of the army, our members are increasing. The original intention of the Black Star Cup was to select the elites of the army in various fields, and to provide an additional channel for new members who have the ability but no qualifications to rise, and also to give old members the opportunity to show their progress. Now, the Black Star Cup has come to a successful conclusion. We are pleasantly surprised to find that the army has so many elite talents in various fields..."

On the stage, Sylvia began to read the script, and the scene was broadcast to the entire universe through the news media present.

The Black Star Cup closing ceremony was naturally not just about giving awards. The specific process was as follows: Sylvia and the Black Star Cup Organizing Committee would speak, the winners of each event would go on stage to accept awards and give speeches, and finally, the Army Commander would give a summary speech, interspersed with a large number of performances.

To this end, the army specially invited many entertainment stars and interstellar social celebrities, including singers and actors. All of them were big names and a galaxy of stars.

The interstellar celebrities who came were all very high-profile. Generally speaking, ordinary events would be proud to have invited these celebrities, but the level of the Black Star Cup event was too high. At this time, these celebrities were proud to participate in the closing ceremony - this was an entertainment event held by a cosmic warlord, and a good opportunity to connect with many strong people. In order to get performance slots, many entertainment companies behind the celebrities had a fierce battle.

Han Xiao was soon invited to the stage to personally award the winners of each event and encourage them. Hela and Lagi, the two Deputy Army Commanders, stood beside him via remote projection, not speaking, but simply nodding to the players to show encouragement.

However, the reason why the two of them did not speak was different. Hela did not like to talk and was too lazy to speak, while Han Xiao had cut off Lagi's communication function, and he could not make a sound at all.

The award ceremony and celebrity performances were interspersed, and the closing ceremony was gradually halfway through. Han Xiao felt that his face was about to stiffen from smiling, and the audience below also felt that their palms were about to turn red. At this time, it was finally time to award the excellent players in the Four Sides Melee for the player group.

The troublemakers are coming... Han Xiao perked up.

Everyone went on stage, and Free Flying gritted his teeth and strode onto the stage. His back revealed a sense of "the wind is howling, the river is cold, and the hero will never return," as if he was walking to the execution ground.

"Congratulations to everyone, you are all talents of the army..."

Han Xiao read the script again, took a deep look at Free Flying, smiled secretly, and took two steps back, giving the stage to the players to speak.

No one on stage stepped forward, and they all looked at Free Flying, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Free Flying nodded to everyone, took heavy steps, and walked to the podium.

The entire venue was silent, and everyone's eyes were fixed on him, waiting for his speech.

The two groups of players below swept away their laziness and subconsciously straightened their backs, becoming nervous, concentrating on every move of Free Flying.

Free Flying took a deep breath, prepared himself mentally, and said in a deep voice:

"I am very happy to have achieved good results in the Black Star Cup, but this is not what I want to say today... Just a few days ago, we discovered an amazing secret. The Army Commander on the stage now is not Black Star! He is an imposter!"

Whoosh—

It was like a thunderclap out of nowhere.

All the audience, all the army cadres, all the celebrity guests, including all the Super A Grades present, were frightened by this sudden change and stared blankly at the person who made this shocking statement, their brains not recovering.

What, what kind of drama is this??

"I am a member of the Black Star Army, this is my home, I only recognize Black Star, I will not allow anyone to pretend to be the Army Commander to control the army!" Free Flying's tone gradually became forceful, and he shouted: "Today, I will use my life to expose this person's shocking conspiracy to the entire universe! Save our leader!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Free Flying suddenly turned around, his whole body exploded with flames, and he launched a suicide charge towards Han Xiao, letting out a deafening roar:

"Machinery Country! Pay with your life!"

...

At the same time, at an unknown secret base.

Looking at the live broadcast, Mainyson's hand trembled, and the popcorn spilled all over the ground.