Chapter 1 Outer Rim Base

Nearly a month later, Shining World Star Cluster, Black Star Palace outer rim base.

Today was the day of the version update. The hall was packed with people. Countless players gathered here, chatting in small groups, the din of voices creating a lively atmosphere as they waited to log off.

Roubao (Meatbun) wandered through the crowd, activating the recording function, enthusiastically filming the scene in the hall, with a small assistant following beside him.

In Version 4.0, Roubao's career had made new progress, becoming an important cooperative reporter for the club. He had established a studio, no longer editing videos single-handedly, and had hired some employees to take care of various tasks, mainly to help him collect material.

These employees all had their own work accounts, with the studio's prefix in their IDs. At this time, the small assistant beside him had the ID "Roubao Studio·Xiaomai (Wheat)", and looked like a comical little fatty.

"Boss, what are we filming the base here for? Can this be used as material?" Xiaomai asked curiously.

"Stupid, who knows what the legion will become in the next version? If there are any changes in the future, this will be historical data. We can completely release a nostalgic video and pad out a video." Roubao earnestly taught.

"Boss, you are so farsighted!" Xiaomai gave a thumbs up.

"Hmph, your business skills still need to be improved. Watch and learn." Roubao hummed.

In a corner not far from the two, a group of professional players gathered in a circle, making low murmurs.

"I'm going to retire."

Wanghou Jiangxiang (Kings and Generals) spoke, immediately causing surprise among the crowd.

Kuang Dao (Mad Blade) had always regarded Wanghou Jiangxiang as an idol and was a little incredulous, "We just won three consecutive championships, why do you want to retire?"

"Yeah, yeah, now is when our Huaxia (China) is at its peak." The people next to him echoed.

"Hehe, it's precisely because I won three consecutive championships that I can retire with peace of mind. I had this idea after winning the last championship, but I waited another year to achieve a dynasty." Wanghou Jiangxiang waved his hand casually, and said, "I'm not young, and I can feel my competitive level starting to decline. Now is the perfect time to retire courageously. The retirement application has been submitted to the club's senior management. The team respects my choice. Tai Erzi (Second Son) will serve as the captain of the Dynasty team in the future. I have to give other people a chance."

Hearing this, everyone turned to look at Tai Erzi on the side.

Tai Erzi had always hoped to overwhelm Wanghou Jiangxiang and take the captain's position, but now that his dream had come true, he did not show any joy, but remained silent, a little depressed.

Wanghou Jiangxiang glanced at him and laughed, "Didn't you want the captain's position? Now you're officially in charge, why aren't you happy?"

Tai Erzi twitched the corner of his mouth, revealing a forced smile, "Nonsense, I'm obviously very happy, I finally got you out of here, haha."

Everyone shook their heads and could see that Tai Erzi was insincere. He was obviously sad and lost in his heart, but he was still stubborn and unconvinced, soft-hearted despite his tough words.

Since joining the team, Tai Erzi had been fighting alongside Wanghou Jiangxiang on the field. Although he usually liked to argue and bicker, he had always regarded Wanghou Jiangxiang as his closest comrade. He was competitive and hoped to overwhelm Wanghou Jiangxiang, but not by obtaining the captain's position in this way.

The thought of not being able to fight alongside Wanghou Jiangxiang in the future made Tai Erzi feel empty and sad.

"Don't worry, although I've retired, I'm still working at the club and should be taking on the position of team coach." Wanghou Jiangxiang patted Tai Erzi on the shoulder and laughed, "So... this means I'm still in charge of you. No need to miss me."

Although he didn't say it directly, his words revealed a meaning:

——The younger brother is always the younger brother, you still want to turn over? Keep dreaming!

Tai Erzi instantly changed his expression like a Sichuan opera, scolding: "Who misses you? Hurry up and resign and get out of here, I'm annoyed just seeing you!"

Everyone immediately withdrew their gazes, unable to bear the greasy atmosphere of love and mutual killing.

"Speaking of retirement, I actually have the same idea." Mingyue Changzhong (Eternal Moon in the Sky) of the Changkong (Soaring Sky) team sighed, "I should be the oldest veteran, and I can't fight anymore. Now is the best time to retire, to retire with success. I feel like there will be a wave of retirements this year, and it's time for the newcomers to take the lead. Isn't Jiangcheng playing very well? He's a rising star."

"It's okay, by the way, it's our turn to treat this year since we won the championship." Kuang Dao scratched his head embarrassedly.

A group of professional players were discussing their respective careers here. Li Ge (Leaving Song) was secretly delighted, wishing all his competitors would retire. He seemed to see the Pantheon team about to rise.

Time passed slowly. Before long, it was time for the version update. A series of white lights flashed, and players logged off one after another. The base hall, which had been bustling with activity, suddenly became empty.

…

[Version 4.0 update started]

[Data is being saved… saving complete!]

[Player forum closed]

[Update time unknown, please wait patiently]

In his private mechanical workshop, Han Xiao moved his gaze away from the surveillance screen of the base hall and opened the panel with the prompt sound.

"The players have logged off."

Han Xiao exhaled and quickly adjusted his mentality.

This time the fallow period was longer, so he had to fertilize the land well.

The fourth professional league allowed him to harvest another wave of experience at the end of the version, but his reserves were still not enough. The experience cost for upgrading was too huge at the moment. Even with the rewards from the missions of the Star Cluster Alliance, it was still not enough to level up quickly.

During the decades of this version update, Han Xiao decided to focus on the Transcendent Divinity route, first maxing out the Mechanic branch and then working on the Void branch.

Transcendent Divinity required a prerequisite task at level ten, and it had already been tested that the Task Completion Card was effective for this. Han Xiao planned to do more tasks with random rewards during the version update to get more Task Completion Cards, which could save a lot of Transcendent Divinity points.

On the other hand, the main source of Transcendent Divinity points at the moment was manufacturing golden blueprints. There were many golden blueprints in the technical treasure given by Jace, which was a huge source of points. Han Xiao decided to study the technical information in this area first.

With the technical treasure, he didn't need to exchange blueprints from the three major civilizations, and he didn't have to do missions to exchange contribution points, which saved a lot of time and effort. It could also mislead the three major civilizations about his technical background, making them think that he didn't have many golden blueprints, which had many benefits.

"In a few decades, a new batch of Super-As will appear. I wonder if anyone under my command will advance..."

Han Xiao pondered, stroking his chin.

In his eyes, the legion cadres who had a chance to step into the Super-A level realm in a few decades were only Aurora, Fording, Hadaway, Jodi, Rottelle, and Laquinn.

Among them, Aurora had no bottleneck, her normal development was very slow, but with the Holy Light Seed harvesting method, she could greatly accelerate the development process. Fording and Rottelle were naturally talented and had the potential to break through. As for Hadaway, Jodi, and Laquinn, they had a deep foundation and had a chance to accumulate and explode.

As for Evans, his training career was still too short, and decades were not enough for him to grow. The "New·Heretic God Cultivation Plan" still needed time.

As for Carrott, he was a late bloomer, still far from his peak in his previous life, but Han Xiao didn't know if his growth curve would change this time with his influence.

"It's still more reliable to focus on cultivating Aurora. Help Sprout achieve the achievement of three Super-As as soon as possible and let the Sprout spirit reappear on us..."

Han Xiao smiled secretly.

…

At the same time, a certain base of the Covenant Organization.

A secret hall was arranged as a large laboratory. In the center of the room was a circular mechanical base about fifty meters in diameter, covered with complex patterns, with energy transmission pipes and magic circuits, which looked like a ritual site at first glance.

Around it, many members of the Covenant Organization in white lab coats were busy debugging various instruments, with Luo (Rowe) and Fei (Faye) supervising the process.

"How long until the agreed time?"

"Three more minutes, about to enter the preset time range. The receiving device has been preheated and can be activated at any time."

"The information state stabilizer has been set up, and all procedures are ready."

Luo looked at the time, his face solemn, his palms full of sweat.

Today was the agreed day confirmed by the Son of Destiny. According to the information passed down by the organization, the time-space flow rate of the Sanctuary was very special. It briefly overlapped with the main universe at random points in time. Once the time node was missed, they would have to wait a long time. The layout in the field was to connect with the Oathkeeper. This was also the first attempt for everyone present, and they didn't know how it would work.

Everyone was tense. Time passed by minute by minute, and finally, the preset time node arrived.

"Activate!" Luo immediately shouted.

In the next moment, all the instruments were activated in sequence, and the circular mechanical base in the center of the room began to operate, the energy circuits on the surface lighting up in order from bottom to top.

Buzzing——

A vibrating sound rang in the room, and a visible sense of distortion was produced in the space above the base.

This continued for more than ten seconds, and a light gate suddenly appeared in the sky, spitting out a figure, and then disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Everyone quickly looked up and their faces were overjoyed. The person who fell to the ground was the Oathkeeper who had been away for many days.

Luo and Fei hurried up to help the Oathkeeper up. The other party was dazed, as if they had just woken up, and was in a daze here.

"Leader, you're back. How do you feel?"

The Oathkeeper stared blankly at the two of them, looking confused. After a while, they seemed to remember their identity. Their gaze gradually focused, and they slowly came back to their senses. They immediately covered their forehead and groaned:

"It feels like I had a very long dream. There is a strong sense of illusion in the Sanctuary, like being in a dream. I seem to have discovered many amazing secrets, but only a small part of the fragmented information remains in my memory. Let me sort it out..."

He covered his forehead, struggling to recall what he had seen in the Sanctuary, vaguely remembering the soul-stirring shock, but the relevant memories were fading rapidly, leaving only fragments, unable to remember the details, just like the rapid forgetting of dreams after waking up.

After a long while, the Oathkeeper gradually restored some of the information and suddenly shuddered, a look of horror flashing across his face.

"Did you remember something?" Fei captured the fleeting shock on the Oathkeeper's face and asked.

"...No, it's nothing."

The Oathkeeper took a deep breath and suppressed the emotions in his heart.

The Great Reboot, the iteration of the universe, the function of the Sanctuary's revival... fragments of information flashed through his mind. These things were too subversive. He planned to keep it secret and didn't intend to tell his subordinates the shocking intelligence he saw in the Sanctuary.

'I should be the only one in the entire universe who has obtained this information. The value is immeasurable, almost a prophet-like advantage. The future route needs to be adjusted significantly...'

The Oathkeeper flashed this thought in his mind.

At this time, Luo looked around and did not see any other figures, and couldn't help but ask: "Leader, did our plan succeed? Did you bring back the resurrected person?"

Hearing this, the Oathkeeper seemed to remember something, turned over his palm, and saw a strange golden brand on the back of his hand. In his remaining memory, this was a one-time Sanctuary revival imprint that allowed him to revive those historical Super-As in the main universe who had established a connection through a medium.

"It should be successful..."

The Oathkeeper paused and looked around, suddenly raising his voice and saying loudly:

"Clear the venue immediately and join me in welcoming the return of the First Ancestor!"