Chapter 174 Cooperation

The crowd looked at each other, expressions surprised.

Gashly shook his head helplessly. Black Star's wording was polite, so he didn't feel angry about being rejected, only disappointed.

Although Heavenly Ring was a large organization, most members didn't feel arrogant or superior. Heavenly Ring was a formal mercenary organization belonging to the Order camp and wouldn't easily make enemies of other mercenaries.

Gashly felt it was a pity. At this moment, Han Xiao suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Black Star Mercenary Group has only been established for a little over a month. Heavenly Ring took a fancy to us because we possess the rumored ability to revive, right?"

Gashly didn't hide it and nodded, "That's right."

Han Xiao smiled and said, "Although I'm unwilling to join other mercenary organizations, I think we can reach another mode of cooperation. Heavenly Ring has such a large business; there must be many dangerous missions. My team can accept Heavenly Ring's indirect employment, replacing those dangerous jobs that easily lose manpower."

Gashly's eyes flickered. Even if they couldn't recruit Black Star, reaching a cooperation would be good.

Heavenly Ring Allied Army also had similar cooperative relationships with other mercenary groups. This was also the network of Heavenly Ring in the industry, with a long list recording these collaborators, equivalent to Heavenly Ring's support. If they encountered danger, they could ask these reliable collaborators for help at any time.

The two discussed a few sentences and reached a cooperation intention. Gashly reported to the organization internally.

Many mercenary groups wanted to contact large organizations like Heavenly Ring, and people frequently applied for cooperation. The people of Heavenly Ring were already used to it. Most applicants didn't meet the requirements, but Black Star, due to its resurrection characteristics, directly passed and had its name added to the cooperation list. Han Xiao signed a cooperation treaty.

The contract roughly meant that all members of Heavenly Ring could contact Black Star privately at any time for support, requiring separate payment. The agreement between the two parties was a cooperative relationship, and they couldn't start a war in any form. If Heavenly Ring was hired by one party, Black Star couldn't be hired by the opposing party, and vice versa, otherwise it would be considered a breach of contract. The breaching party would pay compensation, and the treaty would be voided. Apart from that, other terms were very loose, notarized by the Mercenary Alliance, and must be fulfilled.

Han Xiao was quite satisfied with the result, equivalent to gaining a new customer, expanding his business with the reputation of Heavenly Ring. Heavenly Ring definitely didn't lack combat opportunities, so his mercenary group wouldn't lack job opportunities. Anyway, the mercenary group was just starting out, so accepting anyone's employment was the same for making money.

Although the cooperative relationship couldn't enjoy Heavenly Ring's privileges, it was at least a background more than before, conducive to the development of the mercenary group.

After signing the contract, Han Xiao suddenly thought of something, and his heart stirred, saying, "If I'm not mistaken, you should be going to accept the Silver Spirit Race's recruitment."

Gashly nodded, "Not just Heavenly Ring, other large mercenary groups won't give up this opportunity. My team received a call from the cadre and will depart for the Feywen Star System to gather later."

Han Xiao's eyes flashed, "Can my team follow? If you get a mission, maybe you need our help, and I'm happy to accept Heavenly Ring's employment."

Gashly was stunned for a moment, thought for a while, and felt that bringing a group of immortal mercenaries didn't seem to have any disadvantages, so he said, "Okay, take your team to the pier later, take our spaceship and act together, but you have to be mentally prepared. If the mission is very simple, Heavenly Ring won't need help, and you will have made a wasted trip."

Han Xiao waved his hand to indicate that it didn't matter.

He felt this was an unexpected surprise. With Heavenly Ring's relationship, he could skip the credit score conditions. Although the mercenary group was still very weak and had little chance of gaining the Silver Spirit Race's favor, he could count on Heavenly Ring's secondary employment.

The three types of knowledge of compression technology were his goal. Heavenly Ring had many experts, so it shouldn't lack advanced knowledge. If he was fortunate enough to be employed, he felt that he could try to propose conditions at that time.

…

After finalizing the time and pier number, Han Xiao returned to the stronghold and summoned all the members.

"We have a new job, so everyone prepare, and we'll depart later," Han Xiao said with his arms akimbo.

Everyone looked happy and excited. After learning that the mercenary group had growth potential, the players had been looking forward to the next adventure. After being idle for so long, work had finally come.

Maple Moon raised her hand and asked, "What are we going to do this time? Why doesn't the mercenary group information show a new employment mission?"

"The Silver Spirit Race's matter has been getting a lot of attention recently. We're going to the Feywen Star System with the people from Heavenly Ring. I've reached a cooperative relationship with them, and we may get employment opportunities." Han Xiao thought for a while and added, "Also, you don't need to raise your hand next time you ask a question."

No wonder the panel didn't trigger a mission. The crowd realized. They followed Han Xiao's lead and had no objection to the arrangement.

Melos was very surprised. He knew the vast power of Heavenly Ring. It had only been a few hours since he last saw him, so how had Han Xiao reached a cooperative relationship with Heavenly Ring without any warning?

Melos secretly pulled Han Xiao aside and expressed his doubts. Han Xiao naturally didn't hide anything and told him the process.

"So that's how it is." Melos realized, secretly admiring him. If he had gone to negotiate, he probably wouldn't have thought of proposing cooperation and would have lost this opportunity. Although Han Xiao wasn't strong enough in his eyes, his ability to seize every opportunity amazed him. Such a person was more suitable to be the leader.

Melos quietly said, "Then have you foreseen any situation?"

Han Xiao shook his head helplessly. He really didn't this time.

The Silver Spirit Race wasn't a plot he was familiar with, and he had no impression of it. It shouldn't be a big event…

…

Heavenly Ring Allied Army was a big organization with a big business. Gashly's team had internally assigned spaceships, a Zheyi-class civilian spaceship dozens of meters long with a narrow front and wide back, streamlined, similar to a teardrop shape, but with distinct edges and corners. The external armor was covered with sections of dark gold metal structure, like the gaps in the armor plates of a suit of armor. The left and right sides of the stern of the ship had mechanical crossbars obliquely embedded in the hull. The ends of the crossbars were spiral propulsion injectors, a total of four thrusters that could be converted to angles, which were more flexible. This was a spaceship from a civilization in the Goron Star Cluster, equipped with a light-matter warp engine, good at interstellar travel, but with slightly weaker combat power.

This kind of small spaceship was much cooler than the bloated large spaceships of interstellar travel groups, and the players kept looking at it, with a longing and loving expression.

Han Xiao touched his chin. He also wanted to buy a mercenary group's exclusive spaceship, but it was too expensive. Even the most rudimentary single-person interstellar aircraft cost more than 100,000 Enas. If he wanted to save expenses, he could only manufacture it himself, but there were too many difficulties in building interstellar spaceships. Engines, energy, armor adaptability, structural strength, probes, and so on required a lot of knowledge, and he was far from being able to handle it now.

When it was time to gather, the Heavenly Ring mercenaries arrived and boarded the spaceship. Gashly set the automatic route on the operation panel. The spaceship left the pier and entered the outer vacuum with a tremor.

The thrusters at the rear emitted a faint golden light and gradually entered warp state. The dazzling Milky Way outside the window quickly blurred, eventually turning into pulled, luminous lines, as if of infinite length, rushing into a teleportation star gate near the Jubli Hub.

"We'll be able to reach the Feywen Star System soon after passing through the star gate. The Silver Spirit Race's spaceship is stationed on Planet 12 in the fourth star district. The journey will take about twelve days," Gashly said, turning back to the crowd.

There were more than eighty people on board, and the space was still quite spacious. After the players allocated their rooms, they displayed their subjective initiative. They trotted over to chat with the Heavenly Ring mercenaries.

Han Xiao then looked for Gashly. The two had only met today, mainly to talk about the mission, but Gashly didn't know the specific details. He only knew that he was just one of the squads that had been summoned. Representing Heavenly Ring this time was a third-circle cadre codenamed "Frostweave Arcanist".

Third-circle cadres were all the backbone of the organization, basically powerful combatants with B-level strength. This Frostweave Arcanist was the leader of Heavenly Ring's trip and had the power to decide whether to hire him. This codename sounded like a mage.

Han Xiao hadn't encountered the mage profession yet. The magic system was a high-difficulty profession on par with the mechanical system, and the enchanting ability could also enhance mechanical equipment. Unfortunately, Planet Aquamarine players only had martial arts, superpowers, and mechanical professions.

After chatting for a while, Gashly returned to his room to rest, and Han Xiao toured the spaceship himself. He came to the spaceship's living area and discovered that the spaceship was equipped with a combat simulation room, which used virtual imaging technology to deceive the user's senses, simulating various enemies and environments to achieve the effect of combat training. It was currently displaying "In Use".

Han Xiao operated the display screen, revealing the scene inside. Melos was wielding a star-destroying blade, fighting with a constant stream of strange beasts. Silvery-white flames splashed out like raging waves, and his strength was vigorous.

Han Xiao watched for a while, licked his lips, pressed the pause button, opened the door of the simulation room, and walked in.