“The equipment restrictions are quite high. Generally, Mechanic players find it difficult to reach 200 points of Endurance by level 90. Even with 200 points of Endurance, they'd only have 8,000 health. Wearing this would reduce their health by 3,000, almost half of it. I'm most afraid of mental attacks from Esper types, which can penetrate armor. But that's only about one-fifth of my health, so I'm still quite tanky. Trading 3,000 health for 30,000 armor points is a huge win.”

Han Xiao nodded secretly.

The Void Dragon Armor was the strongest combat suit he could currently manufacture. He had used up all the materials, and it couldn't be replicated. Whether in terms of defense or output, it was a monster in its class. The two core built-in skills were [Unyielding Tenacity] and [Void Ejection]. The former enhanced resistance and had automatic repair capabilities, while the latter had terrifying explosive power, derived from the magic accumulated in the Void Dragon's bones. Although Han Xiao was a Mechanic, due to the material properties, the Void Dragon Armor he created could be considered half-magic, half-mechanical equipment.

If he wanted to create an automatic repair effect through mechanical means, there were several possibilities, such as nano-repair robots, which required advanced knowledge of the Energy branch, [Nanodynamics], or alloys with "memory" properties, which required [Advanced Material Technology] from the Arms branch.

"Right, speaking of magic..."

Han Xiao's eyes lit up. He called the Volga brothers over. The three of them looked like they were cast from the same mold, making them difficult to distinguish. Usually, the eldest brother spoke on behalf of the three.

"Leader, what do you need us for?"

"What kind of magic do you guys know?" Han Xiao asked, looking at the eldest Volga brother.

"I'm a specialized mage, proficient in water magic." The eldest Volga brother introduced, "The second brother is skilled in evocation magic and enhancement auras. The third brother is an Esper. Actually, when we were young, the three of us applied to the Phil Magic Academy. Only the third brother was rejected. I still remember the admission instructor saying to him, 'Give up on magic. Your talent isn't suited for this school. For you, magic is as unattainable as Mount Varysell'... Do you know Mount Varysell? It's the tallest mountain in our hometown..."

The eldest brother was a chatterbox, rambling on and on, instantly derailing the topic. Han Xiao was only stunned for two seconds, and the topic had already shifted to how their first pet died when they were children.

"Stop..." Han Xiao hurriedly stopped the eldest Volga brother, cleared his throat, and said, "I called you over because I want to enchant some weapons."

As he spoke, he pointed to the machinery on the table.

The three had no objections to the leader's request, but when they took a closer look, their faces immediately fell. There was so much machinery; the workload was too great.

"I've written down the specific requirements on the paper, it's on the table. You can do it slowly when you don't have any missions." Han Xiao waved his hand and strode away, leaving the three of them looking at each other.

The third Volga brother perked up. He wasn't a mage, so it wasn't his business. He glanced at his two older brothers with schadenfreude and left triumphantly. The other two watched his swaggering back, wanting nothing more than to blast him with a magic light orb.

In theory, enchantments could be applied to most inanimate objects, and machinery was no exception. Enchanting was also a life skill that magic players had, and in his previous life, most mages also worked as enchanters to earn extra money. Water enchantments increased physical damage reduction, while evocation enchantments usually granted additional attacks.

Han Xiao had reached his current limit in strengthening weapons through mechanical means. He was seeking new ways to strengthen them. Since there were mages in the team, he would try to make them useful.

"I'm level 95 now, five levels away from the level 100 advancement restriction, but my Mechanic main class is stuck on the job advancement requirements, which require me to learn two advanced knowledges... Sigh, I haven't even learned all the advanced knowledges yet..."

Shaking his head, Han Xiao was a little helpless. His main class had reached the fifth stage, occupying level 65. When players had a main class of this level, it was already Version 2.0, and the next stage of job advancement would be completed in Version 3.0, when they could access advanced knowledges. Even in Version 3.0, learning advanced knowledges was extremely expensive, basically requiring players to exchange them in faction stores, and players had to grind for a long time to gather enough favor and money.

The difficulty of this job advancement requirement that he randomly rolled was not small. Just getting the advanced knowledges had taken so much of his energy, and advanced knowledges were even harder to obtain. There was only one advanced knowledge for sale in the Gardon Star System's regional exchange, and it was a relatively peripheral one. Even so, the price was dozens or hundreds of times higher than an advanced knowledge, a complete rip-off. He had more than 100,000 Enas on his account, but he still couldn't afford it.

The difficulty of this job advancement requirement had two points: one was money, and the other was channels. The former required him to spend time earning money, and the latter required him to slowly search for sellers in various star systems of the Shattered Star Ring. Few Mechanics were willing to share their knowledge, so Han Xiao felt that he couldn't advance in a short period of time, even with his Longtan identity.

"When I reach level 100, there will be advancement requirements again. I might as well find a new secondary class, raise it to level 100, and look at the advancement requirements first. If it's convenient, I can complete it together with the job advancement requirements."

Han Xiao pondered.

"The Whispering Treasure has triggered three large-scale missions for me, all related to Godora and DarkStar, which need to be plotted slowly. It's best not to act rashly before the next version... No, counting the hidden mission on Aroshia, there should be four high-difficulty missions."

Aroshia was very mysterious. She had awakened the ability to turn into energy, and seemed to be curious about the birth of abilities. Han Xiao instructed Melos to guide her in honing her Qi, and sometimes he personally guided her. He discovered that Aroshia was exceptionally talented and progressing rapidly, possessing extraordinary potential within her, like a sleeping treasure. Her ability drew nourishment from it and grew extremely quickly. Han Xiao estimated that it wouldn't take a month for her to officially reach Grade C.

He opened the forums and browsed the players' activities as usual. He saw that among the players in the Black Star Mercenary Group, someone had posted the walkthrough and difficulties of the level 90 dungeon. This was the first time that all players had seen a dungeon that exceeded the level limit of the current version, which sparked heated discussions.

Han Xiao read it through and learned about the situation of the new dungeon. He calculated in his mind that with his experience, level 60 players should have a chance to succeed by cheesing it, completing the dungeon with a very low success rate.

"Oh, Meat Bun has released a new video again?"

He exclaimed in surprise, discovering that Meat Bun's new video, the latest episode, was the fourth episode of the Black Star series.

Han Xiao's expression was surprised. He opened the video and skimmed through it.

This episode continued the content of the previous episode, which was the second half of this hiring event, from the Longtan floating island to the DarkStar pursuit, and then to the Dragon Emperor's power. Meat Bun still hadn't cleared [Campaign: The Dragon Emperor's Might]. He had given up and drawn the scene himself. Thus, the audience saw a slideshow of childlike doodles, colorful kindergarten-level hand-drawn pictures, accompanied by Meat Bun's vivid description. It felt like a salesman holding a dried fish and insisting that it was the Sword of Shang Fang. (symbol of imperial authority)

"...Seeing that the visitors were unfriendly, the DarkStar mothership shouted, 'Every man for himself!', and hurriedly fled. Ames glared and shouted, 'Halt! You thief ship, don't run!', and then activated her ability, using a move called 'Mount Tai Press', picking up the Longtan floating island and throwing it at the DarkStar mothership! In an instant, the wind and clouds stirred, the heavens and earth changed color, and the two collided, like a stone hitting an egg. The mothership was like a kite with a broken string, crashing to the earth..."

Meat Bun's narration was pretentious, like he had been injected with chicken blood, his tone more excited than a midnight infomercial salesman, as if he was commentating on a battle of the century. However, the picture was extremely crude, with only a black stick figure throwing a golden sphere, with a dotted line representing the trajectory of movement, hitting a large black mass representing the DarkStar mothership, and then a sound effect "Bang!" drawn next to it, with the font in red and bold.

"This guy is really a treasure. I really picked up a gem!"

The corners of Han Xiao's mouth twitched. As he expected, the density of the bullet comments in this section was exploding, and the audience's desire to complain was at max.

Fortunately, apart from this, the subsequent footage returned to the recorded video, ending with everyone returning to the Juberly Hub, and the incident coming to an end. The players only saw the surface of the matter. They were completely unaware of the conspiracy behind DarkStar. Only Han Xiao knew.

In addition to emphasizing the "scenes" of the Dragon Emperor's power, another focus of Meat Bun was the new cadre of the Black Star Mercenary Group, specifically Aroshia. In front of her, the Volga brothers were completely overshadowed. Following Ames causing a surge of popularity among the audience last time, Aroshia triggered another craze. Her appearance was even above Ames', with almost perfect and delicate features. Although she didn't have Ames' strength, status, temperament, and other additional attributes, she had her own charm. The point of amnesia made her instantly become endearing, making people feel mysterious. Most importantly... she had breasts, and they were big!

Unsurprisingly, the war between the flat-chested party and the large-breasted party was ignited again! How can the world be governed without flat chests, and how can people be gathered without large breasts!

"Although the Dragon Emperor is strong, beautiful, and has long legs, but... she's flat!"

"One white covers a hundred flaws, one flat ruins everything, sorry, I'm falling in love with someone else."

"It's not that I'm saying you guys, it's really terrible, all big breasts are full of brains, what's so good about being big."

"Big is beautiful!"

This group of screen-licking monsters split into the Ames party and the Aroshia party, arguing fiercely. Han Xiao was happy to see this happen. The more intense the argument, the higher the topic's popularity. Anyway, no matter how much they argued, it wouldn't affect him, a male human.

Closing the forums, Han Xiao began to think about his next action plan.

"This time, I've experienced a lot of big storms, been involved in higher-level struggles, and entered DarkStar's sight. It's best to keep a low profile for a while, accept commissions steadily, and consolidate my current position, which is a good opportunity to save money."

This time, he had experienced a lot of dangers in order to compress technology. Han Xiao didn't plan to take any more risks for the time being. He had fame, ability, and connections. His partners had provided many generous missions, and he decided to complete these commissions one by one, accumulating step by step. There was no need to rush.

Moreover, he and the players were inseparably linked. Now was only Version 1.0, and the players' abilities were limited. When the players grew again in the next version, the benefits he would receive from the players would increase exponentially.

Returning to the base hall, all the players were here. Seeing Han Xiao appear, they all surrounded him.

"Black Star, when are we going on the next mission?" Frenzied Sword asked.

These players were playing dungeons every day and were getting bored of staying at the base. They all looked eager.

"Pack up, we're leaving today."

On the way here, Han Xiao had accepted a commission invitation from a cooperative ally. It wasn't difficult, and the pay was generous. Before the next version arrived, he only planned to accept this kind of mission, accumulating wealth, consolidating his position, and developing in a low-key manner.

-- After doing a wave of big things, it's necessary to take care of my health.

Hearing this, the players perked up. They quickly picked up their things, and more than fifty armored warriors stood neatly in front of him.

Han Xiao glanced at them, turned around, and strode out, with the players following closely behind him.

"Let's go!"

...

Han Xiao set his course of action, accepting commission invitations from his partners and being active in various star systems of the Shattered Star Ring.

After the hype of Longtan faded, the mercenary group's own position and reputation were gradually established in one cooperative mission after another, and their resume gradually became thicker.

The Black Star Mercenary Group traveled east and west, busy with one mission after another, and time flew by.

Nine months passed in a flash.

ps: (Sorry, sorry, I dragged it out until the morning to finish writing. This is yesterday's, there's still one chapter today)