Chapter 5 The Past and the Future

In my past life, Version 5.0 was the Superpower Calamity. Influenced by factors such as the return of Historical Super-As, the exacerbation of conflicts between the superpowered class and ordinary people, the emergence of Calamity Grade players, and the unwillingness of Super Star Cluster civilizations to accept their defeat in the war, the explored universe, which had been stable for only a few years, fell into turmoil again and had to face the impact.

Now, with my influence, there are too many variables. It is difficult to grasp the specific changes in the next version. The only thing Han Xiao is certain of is that the importance of players will rise again, making them a key target for more factions to contend for. Some factions will no longer be reserved and will introduce various welfare measures to recruit players.

The Legion significantly expanded the scale of players in Version 4.0, which is both an opportunity and a trouble. Not to mention the chaos that the players themselves may bring, other factions will definitely try their best to undermine the Legion. As long as they are willing to invest, it will naturally be effective. Han Xiao will not be blindly confident, let alone believe in the integrity of the players. Moreover, the idea of 'better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix' is quite popular among players.

In particular, players who reach the Calamity Grade will have a huge impact on the superpower mercenary market throughout the universe.

Genuine Calamity Grades are qualified to dominate one side, and most factions cannot afford them. However, even reducing the regular remuneration to a quarter or a fifth is enough to feed the players. Although Calamity Grade players are at the bottom of the strength rankings, they are the cheapest Calamity Grade backers that some small factions can find.

'The only way to deal with other factions poaching is to continue strengthening the construction of the faction and improve the Legion's position and attractiveness during the version update. Even with my personal influence, this is still a step-by-step process. However, if I take out some valuable civilian technologies from the Technology Treasure, I can speed up the progress. In the eyes of others, this will only be something I developed myself...'

Han Xiao pondered.

The Legion's operations in the Shattered Star Ring and the Glittering World are already on the right track, and there is limited room for improvement. If we want to continue to expand, we can only aim at other star regions and vigorously develop branches.

The version update time of several decades is just right for low-key development. With the help of the Association, the Legion does not have to participate in the war between the three great civilizations and the Super Star Cluster Alliance, so it will not be burdened by energy. It can sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and make a fortune from the war.

On the other hand, this is also beneficial to the Association's community of interests. The final structure must be a multi-polarized, dominant interest network. The most powerful Super-A Grade forces sell various resources and services, while the weaker Super-A Grade forces obtain support according to their needs, forming a balanced relationship. With the Black Star Legion's scale, it is naturally qualified to become one of the poles.

The term of office for each president is fifty years. Han Xiao has already decided to drive Mannison off the stage by then and take the position himself. With his current influence in the Association, as long as Mannison does not engage in any provocative operations, he is quite confident.

As long as he takes the position of president and achieves some results in the Sanctuary during his term, there will basically be no suspense for multiple re-elections.

"The specific plan still has to be determined according to the actual situation..."

Han Xiao opened his memo and began to write the prototype of the blueprint.

...

Han Xiao and Kesuye's actions were carried out in secret. Under the premise of tacit confidentiality, the situation of the two returning after disappearing for several months did not cause any waves. After all, it is too common to go to the secondary dimension world to explore. The major forces did not pay attention to the actions of the two.

The news of Black Star's return spread in the Legion, and the players also noticed it. However, the league has reached the international quarter-finals, and everyone has used up the blank character cards in their hands, missing the best time to use the character cards. Many people regretted it for a while, then turned their heads and continued to pay attention to the competition.

Since the opening of Version 4.0, the major Chinese clubs have enjoyed the development dividends of the Black Star Legion and made a lot of money. The better the official guild develops, the greater the support for the professional team. At present, China's first-tier professional teams are basically at the t0 and t1 levels in the world, with outstanding strength. They performed very strongly in the quarter-finals.

Due to the encirclement and suppression, the major Chinese teams had difficulty controlling the scores this time. Dynasty and Jiangcheng entered the quarter-finals with the second and fifth place points in the group stage, respectively. After a five-game three-win battle, they defeated their opponents with a score of 3:0 and 3:1, respectively, and successfully occupied two seats, which means they can at least win a third place.

But after three versions, the vision of Chinese players has become higher. No one is satisfied with a mere third place. The only goal of many players is a three-peat dynasty. There are no other pursuits in this league.

The quarter-final match list was determined by drawing lots. Before the list was released, the Chinese players on the forum were divided into two factions. One faction hoped that Dynasty and Jiangcheng would draw other opponents, and the other faction hoped that Dynasty and Jiangcheng would meet in the semi-finals. The root cause was the collision of two mentalities: whether it was a final showdown or a guaranteed final.

If Dynasty and Jiangcheng can defeat their opponents separately, that is of course the most ideal situation. But what if both sides lose? Although a guaranteed final means that one side will stop in the semi-finals, it can retain some strength. The three-peat dynasty is too important, and many Chinese players can't help but support this insurance plan.

Under the prayers of the two factions of players, the semi-final list was shaken out. The two sides did not meet. Dynasty's opponent was North American Thunder Python, and Jiangcheng's opponent was South Korean Kimchi.

The Chinese players who supported the final showdown route got their wish. However, they and the other faction of players were all worried, fearing that both teams would be defeated. As the saying goes, only when the coin is tossed out do you really know what you want. In the end, most people found that although they said the bold words of the final showdown, they actually hoped to guarantee the final in their hearts.

And after several rounds of competition, this worried mood gradually evolved into tension. Dynasty and Thunder Python are both t0-level teams, and each guild has given the greatest support. Because of the version's upper limit, the strength of both sides has reached the limit, and only tactics, lineup selection, and on-the-spot performance are competing. In this case, the situation is full of uncertainty, and no one is sure to win.

Both sides used all their skills. Dynasty was one step short and lost with a score of 2:3, failing to qualify for the final. The idea of a final showdown failed, failing to replicate the situation of the previous session.

On the other side, Jiangcheng played at a high level and still stably qualified with a score of 3:1, defeating Kimchi and shouldering the hope of the whole village. As the saying goes, one version, one god. The Mechanic class gradually exerted its strength in the mid- and late stages, and because of the version's upper limit, the characteristic of being able to continuously enhance strength by burning money is increasingly favored by professional teams. The Jiangcheng team is a team mainly based on the Mechanic class.

In the last league, Jiangcheng struggled to defeat the Koy team in the semi-finals, successfully allowing the Chinese team to meet in the finals. Although they failed to win the championship, they still received countless praises. This time, they really had a chance to win the championship and once again shouldered the expectations of Chinese players.

The final date was set a few days later, and the forum was very lively with countless gambling games.

Outside the vision of the players, a new regular meeting of the Super-A Grade Association was convened.

...

Fein Star, headquarters of the Super-A Grade Development Federation.

One after another, Super-A Grade remote projections descended on the venue and entered the round table conference room, taking their seats and whispering to their neighbors on the left and right.

Mannison sat in the president's seat looking at this harmonious scene, and glanced at the empty vice president's seat, only to feel that the air was so fresh and the atmosphere was so relaxed.

Just then, an untimely voice suddenly sounded outside the door, breaking this harmony and tranquility.

"Hehe, I'm back, didn't everyone miss me?"

Hearing the familiar voice, everyone present looked back and saw Han Xiao, who had disappeared for several months, reappearing, walking into the conference room with a smug smile on his face.

"Yo, Black Star is back!"

"I haven't seen you for a few months, you look good."

"Where did you go to have fun during this time? You didn't even tell us."

When they saw Han Xiao, many people in the audience laughed and greeted him one after another. Even the direct descendants of the three great civilizations, who had been diving all the time, nodded in greeting. For a time, the room became noisy.

Han Xiao is now quite popular in the Super-A Grade circle and has a good relationship with most people.

He smiled and responded to everyone, returned to his seat and sat down, turned to look at Mannison, and joked, "I heard you had a comfortable few months? It's okay, I'm back."

Mannison was expressionless, looking straight ahead, turning a deaf ear. Since Han Xiao appeared, he put on a cold face.

Seeing this, the Super-A Grades present became energetic, their eyes moving back and forth on the faces of the two, revealing a look of watching a good show.

A regular meeting without a president and vice president tearing each other apart is incomplete. The meetings in the past few months have been too "plain". Everyone was drowsy, but now that Black Star is finally back to make trouble, they can finally enjoy the Association's signature program again, and no one is slacking off anymore.

Just then, Kesuye also came, greeted everyone, and sat back in his seat. Everyone couldn't help but cast suspicious glances at him.

The two disappeared for several months and appeared at the same time, which is thought-provoking.

Mannison also looked at Kesuye a few more times, suppressed the doubts in his heart, and did not ask on the spot.

He looked around, coughed twice, and said, "Now that everyone is here, let's start the meeting..."

Before he could finish speaking, Han Xiao immediately raised his hand, "I have something to say."

Mannison was interrupted before he could finish his opening remarks, but he was not angry at all—he was used to it. As long as Black Star is around, he can never finish a sentence.

On the contrary, everyone's eyes lit up.

Here it comes, the tearing is about to begin. Black Star is indeed the source of our joy. He starts making trouble as soon as he arrives, so dedicated.

Han Xiao looked around, saw that everyone was waiting for the follow-up, he turned to point at Mannison, and said in a deep voice:

"During this time, I thought about it and I increasingly feel that Mannison's Captive technology is not conducive to Super-A Grade unity. Live modification is too much. I think Mannison should voluntarily give up this technology and release other Captives."

When Mannison heard this, he immediately burst into flames.

Everyone has already tacitly agreed on this matter. You didn't mention it at the meeting before, and now you jump out to say it after a few months. It's obvious that you're looking for trouble today.

The request to give up the Captive technology is obviously a fantasy. Black Star knows that this topic will not have any results, but he still brings it up. In Mannison's eyes, it is simply deliberately making trouble and being unreasonable.

"Black Star! Have you no shame! How long ago was that?!" Mannison shouted.

"What's wrong, we don't have a statute of limitations, you can do it, but I can't say it?" Han Xiao spread his hands, "Ask everyone, who here has no opinion on this matter?"

"That's right, live modification of Super-A Grades is against the rules. Although this happened before the Association was established, it doesn't hurt to talk about it." Candor was happy to see Black Star making trouble and immediately chimed in.

Hearing this, everyone present also clamored.

Although a long time has passed, Mannison's Captive technology has always been a thorn in everyone's side.

Usually, everyone tacitly agrees and doesn't talk about it, but now that someone is picking a fight, they don't mind making a fuss... mainly to provide firepower support for Black Star, fearing that the world will not be in chaos.

Mannison's eyelids twitched, and he said in a deep voice: "Okay! Black Star is just making trouble, why are you all joining in?"

"That's not right, what do you mean by making trouble." Han Xiao folded his arms and pretended to be serious, "This kind of unethical thing, as long as you are still doing it, we have the right to criticize you. Even if you can't restrain your greed and are unwilling to give up this technology, you should at least apologize."

"Apologize to whom? They were originally my spoils, I have the right to dispose of them as I please, I haven't heard of apologizing to prisoners." Mannison said coldly.

"It's not apologizing to them, but apologizing to us. You destroyed the Association's unity, and most importantly, you hurt everyone's hearts." Han Xiao said nonsense in a serious manner.

"You're talking non..."

Mannison was about to scold someone, but at this moment, Kesuye, who had been silent, suddenly spoke and echoed:

"Mechanic Emperor, your behavior is indeed not conducive to the Association's unity."

As soon as he finished speaking, it shocked everyone present.

The originally noisy environment instantly quieted down.

Everyone present stared at Kesuye in unison, feeling surprised and uncertain in their hearts.

Kesuye has always been neutral at the regular meetings, not helping either side, and has been friends with Mannison for many years, how could he suddenly kick him when he's down and help Black Star?!

Mannison was also stunned.

Old Ke is actually helping Black Star to attack me, when did they get so close? Are we no longer playmates?!

What exactly did these two do together during the months they disappeared, their relationship has heated up so quickly?!

He stared at Kesuye's calm face, feeling unbelievable.