In addition to material interests, some players admire and adore NPCs. This relationship stems from love for the character, the character's fame, or being impressed by the character's experiences, thus forming a fan base. For example, some classic characters are instantly recognizable: Zhua Gen Bao, Little Black, Medivh, One-Punch Baldy, Kratos, and so on.

Gaining a player's love or admiration can create bias in their judgment. For example, they might abandon missions for hostile factions to follow a famous NPC into battle. Female, bizarre, and twisted characters have a natural advantage in this regard, and Han Xiao was quite confident in this area.

However, without material support, this kind of admiration cannot play a substantial role. If he wanted players to fight for him, interests were a crucial link. He understood the players' nature. They might briefly help a famous NPC for fun, but without benefits, they would eventually leave.

Fortunately, his strategy involved both interests and fame, seizing both with a firm grip.

Han Xiao had also watched Roubao's videos. This was exactly what he wanted Roubao to do—to throw out some clues through the videos, arousing more players' curiosity and speculation.

The leak of his real name was not important. There were limitations to the flow of information between players and NPC forces, and each side had different intelligence.

Germination knew he was Number Zero, probably even his original name, "Xiao Han," but didn't know he was Black Phantom and Han Xiao.

Star Dragon knew he was Han Xiao and Number Zero, but couldn't be sure he was Black Phantom.

The players knew his name was Han Xiao, that he was Black Phantom, and had served in Star Dragon, but didn't know he was Number Zero... Oh, the players hadn't yet encountered intelligence about "Number Zero."

The Dark Web knew he was Black Phantom, and nothing else.

Each force only had partial information. If one day his identity was truly exposed, he could just change his face, and it wouldn't matter. When his strength was sufficient, he would reveal all his identities, accumulating qualitative changes from quantitative ones, taking his legendary status to a new level.

As the saying goes, when you walk the martial world, how can you not get stabbed? Making trouble with alts, that's how you do it.

From the open beta until now, Han Xiao's name had dominated the Aquamarine Star section of the forums, with plenty of exposure, just like a celebrity. Exposure was needed to deepen impressions, and his fame was gradually shifting from a short-term effect to a long-term position in the players' minds.

The situation was excellent. His actions, combined with the promotion of various videos, caused his popularity to climb every moment. But Grand Technician Han was accustomed to planning ahead. He vaguely sensed a bottleneck in the increase of his influence: although the features he currently demonstrated were sought after by players, they lacked plot interaction with the players. Only by leaning towards the main storyline could he make players actively contact him, so he had his eye on Bennett's main quest.

After running around two novice villages, Han Xiao decided to slow down for a few days, giving the other players time to raise money, and giving himself time to do other things. The first was to get his hands on the "Bonfire" small-scale reactor.

He called Lei Zhenyu to ask where the seller wanted to hand over the goods. Lei Zhenyu directly gave Han Xiao the seller's phone number.

He dialed the number, and after three rings, the other end answered.

"Hello," the other party said with an electronic synthesized voice, making it impossible to discern age or gender, very secretive.

"How do we hand over the goods?" Han Xiao got straight to the point.

"Three days later, the coordinates will be sent to you later. Cash on delivery."

"Okay, I'll send a subordinate to take delivery," Han Xiao said.

Click, the phone hung up. Ten seconds later, Han Xiao received a message.

"Seville, on the border of Audiffan."

...

In Audiffan, consortia and family forces were deeply entrenched. Domestic policies favored elitism, with strictly divided classes, and competition was everywhere. Every city was shrouded in a solemn, dignified atmosphere. In addition, Audiffan was rainy all year round, and the mist made the cities hazy, adding to the gloom.

Seville was drizzling, the weather was humid and cold, matching the city's atmosphere.

A room in a residential building had been set up as a monitoring room, linked to the city's traffic cameras, monitoring all road surfaces on the three nearby streets. A dozen stern-faced men in black were busy. Some were calibrating firearms, some were watching the monitors, and some were sorting intelligence.

This was an action team from Audiffan's intelligence agency. Six other action teams and special forces units had sealed off the three nearby blocks.

Audiffan agents had gathered here to capture a fugitive who had stolen national secrets. After many years of being on the run, they had finally found a clue a few days ago that the target would appear in Seville to trade with a third party.

The source of the intelligence was reliable, a result of the hacker department's work, invading lines and picking out key calls suspected to be the target from countless intercepted phone calls.

"Maintain surveillance. Snipers are on standby. As soon as the target makes contact with the trading party, take them down in one fell swoop. The higher-ups suspect that the target's trading partner is likely a domestic political consortium. We need evidence." The commander said into his earpiece, "The target is very cunning. Mr. Mugg, you are the final insurance. Please be prepared to move out at any time."

A faint hmm came from the earpiece.

Mugg, Audiffan's ace agent, had a similar status to Moran of White Dove City. He had been sent as insurance for this mission, which showed how seriously Audiffan took the operation.

...

The plane couldn't land in Audiffan's cities, so it landed relatively far away. Han Xiao used electromagnetic skateshoes to travel for a day before walking to Seville.

At the Seville border, a long line of wanderers were waiting to enter the city. Audiffan soldiers stood guard and patrolled. Their equipment styles were different from Star Dragon's, appearing more refined, and they all wore tactical masks, making it impossible to see their faces, very solemn.

No one spoke in the line, only the rustling sound of footsteps moving forward, like a concentration camp.

"The rendezvous point is in Seville." Han Xiao had changed his appearance and clothes, but his equipment was still on him. Going through the checkpoint was just asking for trouble, so he could only rely on a smuggler.

The threat of guns and sufficient Aquamarine Coins paved the way. Smuggling was smooth. Even if the border guards were strict, they couldn't eradicate the existence of smugglers, just like humans couldn't eradicate cockroaches.

...

Han Xiao walked on the streets of Seville, now dressed tightly, concealing his equipment, and carrying a large backpack, which contained firearms.

Light rain fell on his white hooded raincoat, his face hidden under the hood. Han Xiao had changed his face. Naturally, he wouldn't swagger into Audiffan with his own face or Black Phantom's face. Antonov's reminder was still reasonable. Han Xiao didn't want anything to go wrong with this transaction. Fortunately, his style had always been low-key.

The rendezvous point was a café by the roadside, seat number seven.

As the buyer, if he didn't arrive first, the seller might not show up. Han Xiao sat directly in seat number seven and scanned the café's surroundings at a glance.

Soothing music played on the radio. Outside the window, the rain and fog were hazy, creating a petty-bourgeois atmosphere. Half of the seats were occupied by customers, silently drinking beverages and reading newspapers or computers. Han Xiao's arrival only caused a few glances before they continued with their own business, looking very harmonious and normal.

Han Xiao called the waiter, ordered a cup of coffee, and casually sipped it, waiting for the seller to arrive.

He turned to look at the French window. Pedestrians with umbrellas hurried past from time to time, seemingly rushing home. Under the eaves across the street, several men were sheltering from the rain, heads down, playing with their phones. The fine rain drizzled, water dripping down the eaves, gathering into puddles in the roadside drain, the surface of the water rippling continuously, drop by drop.

Han Xiao lowered his head and took a sip of coffee, showing no abnormality, but he had actually noticed the strangeness.

"The customer reading the newspaper three seats away has a heart rate far exceeding the normal level, and is breathing rapidly. The woman drinking coffee at the bar is sweating at her temples. The man who just passed by the window has a very steady pace, deliberately slowing down by thirty percent when passing the French window. The second person from the left sheltering from the rain across the street is subtly shaking and stomping the ground with his heel, an expression of anxiety and tension."

At level 55, his perception ability had been greatly enhanced, and his observation was meticulous. The subtle reactions of normal people could not escape his eyes. Through actions and facial details, he could perceive the other person's emotional state.

"Someone is monitoring the café. Is it the seller or a third-party force? The target wouldn't be me, would it? I don't seem to have offended anyone in Audiffan..." Han Xiao thought in surprise.

When he discovered the watchers, a prompt appeared on the panel.

[You have triggered a D-level mission [Implicated]]

[Mission Introduction: The mysterious merchant you are trading with is a serious offender in Audiffan. News of his transaction with you has leaked, and unfortunately, you have also entered the surveillance range, implicated in a storm unrelated to you.]

[Mission Requirements: Escape from Audiffan's pursuit]

[Reward: 65000 experience]

[Special Reward: Unknown]

"What a string of unlucky days," Han Xiao muttered, depressed. He only wanted to get the Bonfire small-scale reactor smoothly, but he didn't expect to be caught up in a seemingly serious incident. Couldn't he just have a little peace and quiet, slacking off?

The Bonfire reactor was the energy core of the mech, very important to him. He didn't want to immediately back down from a little risk. Since he had already sat down, he would be targeted if he left now anyway. He prepared to meet changes with constancy.