Chapter 175 Sunil Mercenaries

Han Xiao’s eyes lit up.

Due to the Dragon Emperor's influence, the Black Star’s reputation had initially taken off. He had established connections in the mercenary industry, giving him access to more employment opportunities, and his commission split would also increase. Most mercenaries were out to make money, and this was very attractive to ordinary solo mercenaries.

"If I raise my arms and issue a recruitment call, at least several thousand low-level mercenaries would respond. Although expanding the scale is more beneficial to me, there's no need to rush. Now that I have a foundation, what I need to do is consolidate Black Star's position. There’s no need for rapid expansion. Stable development is more important. As the saying goes, if you take too big a step, you might pull a hamstring."

Outsiders were unreliable, and it would affect his reputation. Han Xiao's target members were the future players, just waiting for the next version to open to recruit thousands upon thousands of players. The scale would immediately expand to the level of the three great legions, so he wouldn't be short of manpower and wasn’t in a hurry to expand.

‘However, the Sunil people are a group of high-quality combatants. Since their split, their situation has worsened, and their desire to make money is even more urgent.’

Han Xiao asked, "How many people want to come?"

"More than a hundred, I think. They read the news reports and contacted me, wanting to join Black Star."

A hundred people were just a small portion of all the Sunil warriors. After seeing the Shattered Star Ring Express, they remembered that their fellow B-grade powerhouse, Melos, was with Black Star. So, someone took the lead, gathering more than a hundred fellow Sunil to join Han Xiao.

"Let me talk to them personally," Han Xiao said.

Melos contacted the other party, and a familiar face appeared on the communicator screen. It was Reldon, whom he had interacted with before. Because he knew Han Xiao, he was pushed out as the representative.

"We meet again, Black Star," Reldon said.

Han Xiao nodded and got straight to the point. "You want to join my mercenary group?"

"Yes, our intention is to affiliate under your name, carry out Black Star's missions, and for this, we are willing to hand over 15% of the commission," Reldon said. Although they had to pay a cut, with Black Star's connections, the treatment would be generous and safety would be guaranteed. In the long run, they would only earn more.

"In other words, a franchise model?"

Han Xiao’s eyes flickered. He provided resources, and the Sunil people provided labor, each taking what they needed.

Moreover, the more executives in the faction, the better. These were all NPC resources.

However, the Sunil people did not know Han Xiao's thoughts. In their eyes, they were taking advantage of Black Star's resources while only paying a very small price. So, at this time, Melos and Reldon both looked at Han Xiao, who was deep in thought, with some trepidation.

Han Xiao put on a thoughtful expression, pondered for a while, glanced at their nervous expressions, and held up two fingers. "I want 20%."

Seeing that he was relenting, Reldon breathed a sigh of relief and agreed. The two sides discussed for a while and finalized the cooperation plan. The hundred-odd Sunil mercenaries joined Black Star's command, forming their own detachment.

The mercenary group interface of the communicator popped up with successive membership applications. Soon, more than a hundred new names appeared in the member list. Han Xiao scanned them one by one. These Sunil people were all experienced veteran mercenaries with long mission resumes and excellent qualities.

"This group of Sunil mercenaries has good strength. When gathered together, they are also a considerable force."

He nodded inwardly. This team was Black Star's first divisional unit, named the Sunil Division. He and a group of high-level players were the direct line troops. The mercenary group’s scale had suddenly doubled or tripled.

The Sunil Division was equivalent to wage earners, and he only needed to sit and collect money, which was very pleasant.

"Being the boss is indeed much more comfortable," Han Xiao sighed.

Sure enough, as long as one had connections and resources, people would flock to them and willingly work.

He opened the Black Star Mercenary Group’s interface, which had been updated with information.

——

Black Star Mercenary Group

Credit Score: 198

Total Size: 173 people

D-grade: 41 people

C-grade: 130 people

B-grade: 2 people

Completed Employment Count: 2

Main Areas of Activity: Garton Star System

Resume: [Sunil Guardian War (Fold/Expand)]

[Silver Spirit Rescue Operation (Fold/Expand)]

Founder: Black Star - Han Xiao

Creation Time: October 2, 688

Overall Rating: Small to medium mercenary group, good reputation, with cooperation agreements with large mercenary groups such as Heavenly Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold. This mercenary group is under the Dragon Emperor.

——

"Sure enough, the Mercenary Alliance has also put in the information that I am a member of Dragon Tamer," Han Xiao's eyes flashed. This label could not be torn off in a short period of time.

The broadcast of the interstellar news had brought him dozens of points of fame in various regions of the Shattered Star Ring. The total fame on the Faction interface reached 67 points, a several-fold increase.

Although the total was not small, spread out, the other galaxies and star regions only had one or two points. For most interstellar citizens, they were only impressed with Black Star. But fortunately, the Faction panel looked at the total fame. To change to a normal route, he would have to perform one or two employment missions in each area. Now he had saved the time of twenty or thirty missions.

Han Xiao exchanged a few words with Reldon, asking the Sunil warriors to gather at the Juberly Hub.

Melos on the side looked delighted. In his opinion, Black Star's willingness to accept his fellow Sunil was a gesture of providing charcoal in the snow, how righteous!

After sending Melos away, Han Xiao opened the long-absent player forum.

Countless posts jumped into view, with very short intervals between posts, indicating high activity.

Scanning roughly, there were all kinds of posts: showing off equipment, researching PK or dungeon guides, selling items, seeking teams, arguing, telling stories, and shitposting.

The first few tiers of players were already familiar with the game and had begun to delve deeper into the plot, studying various techniques. Apart from Planet Aquamarine, the main plots of other novice planets were in full swing. Other novice planets did not have someone like him stirring up trouble, so the game experience was very normal.

And during this period, many new players had entered the game, and there were many newbie posts asking to be carried on the forum.

"Coordinates Frost Winter Star, Bone Pool Town, seeking experts to help clear [Frost Baptism] dungeon, price negotiable." This was a boss asking to be carried.

"Long Song Star hillbilly seeks bigshot to carry him through Bandit Canyon, I can last hit and shout 666!" This was a salted fish looking for a free ride. (Salted fish refers to someone who is lazy and unmotivated.)

"Gender female, soft voice, supple body, 8 points of beauty, looking for a male master, requirements: considerate personality, handsome looks, gentle speech, magnetic voice, knows how to coax people, knows how to care for people, hot water straight men please do not disturb, ugly people please respect themselves, thank you for your cooperation." This one was amazing, one would think it was a blind date if they didn’t know better. (Hot water straight men is a slang term for men who are seen as insensitive and lacking empathy.)

It had been almost three months since Han Xiao left Planet Aquamarine. Many new players had joined the game. The situation on Planet Aquamarine had not changed much, but Third Sanctuary had become one of the default gathering places for players.

The "Black Phantom" prefix of Third Sanctuary had aroused the curiosity of some new players. They asked who Han Xiao was. The old players had the opportunity to show off their seniority, eloquently and vividly introducing Han Xiao's experiences, letting the new players know that there was such a legendary figure. Han Xiao's name spread wider and wider.

"There are more and more players, but it's still far from the peak period of *Galaxy* in my previous life… but now it's only the first version. These new players now will be veteran players after a few more versions. As the versions change, the upper limit of players will continue to increase, and the environment will become more dangerous, but this is a double-edged sword. As long as I continue to stay ahead and use the power of the players, I will be able to stand firmly in the galaxy… Speaking of which, the time for version updates is not synchronized, and the players will disappear with it. In just over a year, it will be the first version update."

He hadn’t browsed the forums for a while because the areas he was active in were basically unrelated to the players, so he hadn’t been paying much attention to the overall movements of the players recently.

On the contrary, the players were very concerned about his actions. Meat Bun's videos were the only way to understand the interstellar landscape, and each episode was extremely popular.

Meat Bun edited the videos into a drama series. The first episode was about the group coming to the Juberly Hub and establishing a mercenary group. The second episode was the Sunil Guardian War. Now it was out to the third episode, progressing to Black Star joining Dragon Tamer, but it had not yet reached the appearance of Ashes. It mainly introduced the three great legions and Dragon Tamer, as well as the wharf melee to rescue the Silver Spirit captives. Then it was about a group of high-level players living the life of catching thieves in the guard team after joining Dragon Tamer.

Compared to the first two episodes, the popularity of this episode had reached a new high. Han Xiao hadn't watched it before.

He clicked on the video, and the screen flashed with a sky-covering barrage of comments, densely packed and dazzling. He focused his eyes and found that the content of these barrages was almost the same.

"47:35 into the video, the whole screen is full of long legs!"

"Ahhh! Dragon Emperor, please marry me!"

"Ames is mine! Draw your swords!"

"Contracting Dragon Sis, no objections accepted!"

Han Xiao's mouth twitched instantly. He finally understood why this episode of the video was so popular. At least half of the audience was watching Ames.