Chapter 1 An Interlude in the National War

The change of sides by the Endless Financial Group was just an interlude in the entire national war. After a portion of the players switched allegiances on the spot, the hype quickly died down, and the various guild alliances continued to focus on fighting each other.

The war developed day by day, and a large number of players were eliminated every day. As the number of resurrections decreased, the surviving guild alliances became more cautious and dared not be reckless anymore. In addition, many guilds had already been eliminated, so the overall situation was not as intense as the first two days.

Because the Yan Huang Alliance had consistently ranked first on the leaderboard, snowballing its advantage, the Black Star Army faction was jointly blocked by the Anti-Black Star Alliance, the Three Great Civilizations Alliance, and a bunch of independent guild alliances on the fifth day, resulting in the most tragic battle since the start of the war.

Although the Yan Huang Alliance had advantages in average strength and resurrection times, it was still at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, and could not maintain an excellent kill-death ratio. The average number of deaths soared from 5.89 to 7.38.

However, the advantage accumulated by the Yan Huang Alliance in the previous few days was too solid, and even with a significant loss in this battle, it did not fall from the top of the leaderboard. Before this battle, the Yan Huang Alliance was the only one whose death count had not broken 6. The base numbers of other guild alliances were too high. For example, the second-ranked September Council of the Three Great Civilizations Alliance saw their average death index rise from 6.71 to 7.68 after a bloody battle. Although they won the kill-death ratio, their total value was still not as good as the Yan Huang Alliance, failing to completely close the gap.

According to forum analysis, the threshold for the average death index is 9. Exceeding this value means that the troops have lost their combat effectiveness. Now, the major guild alliances are infinitely approaching this number.

On the sixth day, the remaining forces did not want to start a war, seemingly all intending to survive this day and refresh their resurrection counts. Planet Milton became a lot quieter, with only sporadic battles.

However, at night, the planet suddenly became lively again, and the various guild alliances began to fight crazily. Taking action at this time was to game the system.

Because a player who used up all their resurrection times within six days was considered permanently eliminated, even if the times were refreshed after the sixth day, they would not be qualified to participate in the war again. The plan of the various guild alliances was to use troops with relatively healthy resurrection counts on the sixth night to eliminate "critically injured" players whose average death index had reached 9.0, weakening the opponent's troops. In this way, after the refresh at midnight, it would basically be equivalent to zero losses.

The sixth night directly evolved into a battle royale. Countless players scattered and fled, just wanting to survive tonight, while other slightly healthier players transformed into hunters, gleefully chasing after the "critically injured."

Of course, the roles of hunter and prey could be reversed, and from time to time, hunters would become prey and join the fleeing队伍队伍. Compared to the tragic and passionate battles of the previous few days, the sixth night seemed to have turned into a game of hide-and-seek, with a bit of thriller mixed with a bit of fun.

And this night was the largest elimination wave since the start of the war, with a full 70% of the players being sent away. On the morning of the seventh day, the resurrection counts were refreshed, and the guild alliances of the three major factions had less than half of their troops left, while other independent forces were even worse, with most of them only having a quarter to a fifth of their forces remaining.

The plan to end the battle within six days had failed, but with the troop size smaller, the resources needed to be invested were also reduced. The major guild alliances could only fight for another six days with their remaining troops, basically running out of ammunition and food.

By the third cycle, on the morning of the thirteenth day, only six guild alliances remained on Planet Milton. The Yan Huang Alliance was one of them, and also the force that had preserved its strength relatively well. All the eliminated players had not left, but were still watching the battle from the outer space of Planet Milton aboard warships, placing bets on who would be the winner of the final circle.

As the margin for error became smaller, everyone became more cautious. In this situation, it became increasingly difficult to eliminate the opponent's troops. So, the six guild alliances all chose to attack fortifications, using the method of removing the opponent's strongholds to win.

After the great battles of the first two cycles, the major guild alliances now had few troops left, resulting in a far lower intensity of combat than in the first cycle… And in this situation, another advantage of the Yan Huang Alliance was greatly amplified, and that was the power of the Evolution Cube!

The Aberrants possessed strength far beyond the current level of players, but their weaknesses were also obvious, namely that they could not attack from a distance and could only engage in close combat, and most of their skills were frozen. This meant that in large-scale group warfare, the advantages of the Aberrants could not be fully exploited, because the concentrated fire was too intense, and even the Aberrants' durability could not withstand it for long.

However, in small and medium-scale battles, the power of the enemy's concentrated fire decreased, the time the Aberrants stood on the field increased, and the tactical role increased geometrically.

Reaching the current situation, the Yan Huang Alliance no longer deliberately pursued a kill-death ratio advantage, and it was no longer a loss to use resurrection times to take down strongholds. Relying on the Aberrants' powerful fortification attack ability, they took down one stronghold after another. By the fifteenth day, two guild alliances had already been eliminated by them.

On the seventeenth day, only the last two survivors remained, the Yan Huang Alliance and the Pan-Federation of Commerce. The two sides reached an agreement not to attack strongholds, but to fight to the death in a head-on battle, until one side was completely wiped out, hoping to end the first national war in this way without regrets.

Both sides decided to see it through to the end. The battlefield was chosen as Dragon Ascension Hill—which had now become Dragon Ascension Canyon. The two sides fought from morning to night. In the end, the Yan Huang Alliance won a narrow victory, killing all the members of the Pan-Federation of Commerce. In the end, only less than two thousand core players from Chinese guilds remained on the field.

The national war ended with this result. As soon as it ended, the forums erupted in celebration from Chinese players. Even the eliminated players politely sent congratulatory messages, congratulating the Yan Huang Alliance on becoming the ultimate winner of the first national war. Star Sea Times and reporters from all over the world also published reports, especially the war zone reporter group led by Rou Bao, who used extremely lavish praise, going directly to the extreme, starting from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, flattering to the point where even Chinese players felt their scalps tingle.

The *Star Sea Chronicles* was updated in real time, calling the first national war the "Milton Campaign," and all the large and small battles within it were recorded. Because the Chronicles could be compiled by all players, this vast amount of work was not a problem at all. As long as everyone recorded the battles they had experienced, the entire process of the national war would be completely restored.

After the national war ended, the players did not leave immediately. Many people reluctantly returned to Planet Milton, improved the environment, and did not demolish the strongholds built by the various guilds. Instead, they used engineering machinery to transform them into cities.

Because people from all factions were gathered together, some players set up stalls, and soon others joined in, as if it had become a trading area. Many PK players also became itchy and found people to spar with. Planet Milton became lively again, and many players seemed to regard it as a new main city.

…

In the Black Star Palace office, Han Xiao closed the forum interface, a smile appearing on his face.

"It took more than half a month, and it's finally over. It took longer than in my previous life."

He did not provide any assistance throughout the process. Seeing that the Yan Huang Alliance had won, he was also quite happy. The Chinese players' good results proved that his efforts over these four versions had been effective.

The first national war in his previous life had a profound impact. It was one of the landmark events in the Star Sea Chronicles. The battlefield rules were passed down, becoming a tradition recognized by players. If there was another national war in the future, these rules would also be used. The victory of the Yan Huang Alliance would inevitably increase the attractiveness of the faction, which was equivalent to a never-ending free advertisement. When future new players chose a faction, they would first consider the army, and if old players opened alt accounts, they would most likely come to the Black Star Army, creating huge potential benefits.

Most importantly, the national war had been going on for so long, bringing him far more revenue than expected!

Han Xiao opened the panel and glanced at the value in the experience bar, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from rising.

"There are about two months left until the professional league. I originally thought I would have to save up for a while to get enough experience, but I didn't expect this wave to directly get me there…"

According to his calculations, he should have already saved enough experience to level up from Level 331 to Level 340, which was earlier than expected!

A large portion of the experience was contributed by the former Endless Financial Group players who switched to his side.

"So, So, thank you for your assist. Half of the medal of honor is yours."

Han Xiao was overjoyed.

He had finally saved up enough money, so there was nothing to hesitate about. He directly invested all the experience into leveling up.

A huge amount of experience was burned away, and his level rose all the way from Level 331 to Level 340.

[【God Throne Mechanic】has been upgraded to Lv32, Stamina +500, Strength +5, Dexterity +5, Endurance +18, Intelligence +25. You have gained 20 free attribute points and 1 Awakening Point.]

…

[【God Throne Mechanic】has been upgraded to Lv40, Stamina +500, Strength +5, Dexterity +5, Endurance +18, Intelligence +25. You have gained 20 free attribute points and 1 Awakening Point.]

[You have received a Level 340 Advancement Mission!]

[Level 340 Advancement Mission: One of the options, 【Apotheosis】, must reach Level 10.]

"Hmm?"

Han Xiao's eyes lit up.

His 【Apotheosis - Machinery】 had already reached Level 9. He only needed to create one more Universal Treasure to reach Level 10.

The level cap for the God Throne Mechanic class was 60. The Level 340 Advancement did not have a class advancement mission, only an advancement mission. As long as he could complete this requirement, he could advance.

"This doesn't seem too difficult…"

Han Xiao couldn't help but have this thought, but he shook his head and laughed.

"It's not that the mission isn't difficult, it's that I'm too awesome."

He originally wanted to use a Mission Completion Card, but he dismissed the idea when he saw this. He was definitely going to level up Apotheosis anyway, so there was no need to waste a Completion Card. After the Intelligent Plague incident, the Empire had already opened up the exchange channels for Golden Blueprints to him, and his faction contribution was also sufficient. He could directly exchange for a Blueprint and build it at home. It wouldn't take long, and he had that much patience.

Moreover, the effect of the Evolution Cube depended on his Stamina level. He now had a Dragon Throne Star Energy Extraction Method in his hand, and Han Xiao planned to first raise his Stamina level to a higher level to get another layer of Evolution Cube bonus. This wouldn't take long either, because his current Stamina value was not far from the next level's standard.

Han Xiao directly took out his communicator and contacted someone from the Crimson Empire. After expressing his needs, he quickly received a list of exchangeable Blueprints sent by the Empire.

He carefully browsed through it and selected one, then sent an exchange request.

Next, he only needed to wait for the Empire's high-level officials to approve it before he could get the Blueprint.

Golden Blueprints were extremely valuable to mechanics, and you couldn't buy them even if you had money. But at the height that Grand Technician Han had reached, he could get such scarce resources with ease. It was really great to have power in his hands.

Han Xiao was in a good mood as he played with his communicator, waiting for the Empire's reply. He casually glanced at the lively scene on Planet Milton in the surveillance and suddenly had an idea.

In his previous life, the location of the first national war, like Planet Milton today, was regarded by players as one of the main cities with commemorative significance. Unfortunately, after a version update, that planet was requisitioned and no longer open to the public. This was something that many players regretted.

"When the Three Great Civilizations and the Super Star Cluster Alliance finish their fight, and the fourth exploration area is officially included in the explored universe map, I might as well buy Planet Milton and a few surrounding planets and give them to the Yan Huang Alliance…"

Han Xiao's eyes lit up.

This would not only deepen the army's presence among the player base, but also reward the Yan Huang Alliance.

The Yan Huang Alliance's excellent performance had brought him huge benefits. Although it was an internal matter for the players, he couldn't be too stingy and had to make some kind of gesture. This would also deepen the players' sense of belonging to the army.

It was just a few planets, how much could that cost? He would just buy them.