"When you return to the Southern Continent, I'll tell you the details of the plan. I do need your strength…" Bennett paused. "Star Dragon agreed to provide material assistance first, partly because of your participation in the Teda Mira River battle. Consider it me owing you a favor."

"Just give me some benefits."

Bennett laughed heartily. "That's your style. Let's talk about it when you get back to the Southern Continent."

After hanging up, Han Xiao read the bounty details and triggered the mission.

[You have triggered a C-level mission: [Intimidation]!]

[Mission Description: Some officials in Red Maple are extremely corrupt. It's time they learned that clinging tightly to their money pots will only get them bullets. We are not robbers, but we don't mind occasionally playing the part.]

[Mission Requirement: Enter the residences of five target officials and leave behind the incriminating evidence collected by Dark Net.]

[Reward: 120,000 experience, 500 Dark Net organization favorability]

"No special rewards. Seems like a normal mission. I'll just do it casually." Han Xiao nodded to himself. Infiltration was his forte.

The transport plane was refueled and took off with Han Xiao. A few hours later, they arrived at a plain a few dozen miles from a novice village. It was difficult to find an airfield in the wilderness. The transport plane had swiveling jets on its wings to provide vertical takeoff and landing power, so it could land in a wild environment. There was no need to worry about not having a runway when taking off, and the pilot was also an experienced one.

If Han Xiao didn't have a huge discount for being a loyal customer, the price of chartering a plane would be several times higher. His Legendary status and faction relationships saved him a lot of money. Relationships were very important.

After getting off the plane and traveling for a while on his roller shoes, Han Xiao arrived at the novice village. The players here were doing missions with great enthusiasm. When they saw Black Phantom, they were stunned, their faces filled with surprise. They swarmed him, surrounding him completely.

…

Poseidon, a core member of the Sanctuary guild, hummed a little tune as he browsed the forum posts. He was in a good mood. Guild Leader Jupiter had finally stopped obsessing over that A-level mission, and the guild's development was back on track.

The second issue of *Galaxy Times* invited the beautiful e-sports player Jiang Yuluo, the top player of the Storm Club, to share her experiences on the program, briefly introducing Star Dragon.

She participated in the Teda Mira River battle and shared some inside information, including intelligence about Germinal's withdrawal. Jupiter learned from this that Germinal's bases in the Southern Continent had been withdrawn, so he completely gave up on the A-level mission. Coincidentally, their Dark Crow Valley faction relationship had been eliminated, so they could join other factions. He focused on managing the guild and developing it in the Southern Continent.

The second issue of *Galaxy Times* invited professional players from different novice planets for interviews. These professional players had explored the maps and joined different factions, allowing players to learn more about the various planets. The conflict between the Six Nations and Germinal was gradually revealed, and the Aquamarine Star players understood that this was the main storyline of the planet.

Poseidon had initially disapproved of doing Germinal's A-level mission. He felt that it would distract the core team's attention. Fortunately, Jupiter changed his mind and abandoned the A-level mission. On the other hand, the club's professional e-sports team took a fancy to this mission. Professional players' abilities could challenge high-difficulty missions, so the guild reported the process of triggering the mission to the team.

After discussion, the club decided to select a near-first-tier player to descend on Andea Continent and try to trigger the A-level mission with Germinal. The guild would provide resources and intelligence support to help the player do the mission. If they really succeeded, the club would have another account with potential. Even if they didn't succeed, it wouldn't be a loss.

The players were the face of the club, and the status of famous players was higher than that of the guild. That near-first-tier player came to the guild's studio to say hello, and Poseidon asked him for a few autographs and was very happy.

Moreover, the club was very satisfied that they had triggered an A-level mission during the novice period and gave them some bonuses.

The guild had passed through its unlucky period, and Poseidon was in a cheerful mood.

Speaking of the guild's development, it was necessary to mention Black Phantom. Most of the Sanctuary guild members were born in the Southern Continent. With the guild's support, they all benefited from Black Phantom. Black Phantom only appeared in the Southern Continent, giving Southern Continent players a huge advantage, and the guild benefited even more.

Many opponents were born in other continents, and the Sanctuary guild was ahead, steadily suppressing its opponents, and the situation was excellent.

Looking at the sour comments of their old rivals, filled with envy and jealousy, the core members of the Sanctuary guild were secretly delighted and felt a sense of superiority.

Suddenly, a large number of new posts appeared in the Aquamarine Star section of the forum. The content could be summarized in one sentence:

"Black Phantom has come to the Western Continent!"

Poseidon's heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly clicked on the posts one by one. After reading them, he was covered in sweat. The little joy in his heart vanished, and he couldn't believe it.

"Could it be that Black Phantom is going to run through all the novice villages…"

If that was the case, then all players would be equal, and the guild's advantage would be gone.

Poseidon hurriedly notified the guild leader and other core members in the channel, and they were all taken aback.

Jupiter was very calm and pondered, "We can't say that. We learned skills in advance and can complete more rewarding missions. We still have a slight advantage. The behavior of NPCs is uncontrollable, so don't force it."

Since the guild leader said so, everyone felt at ease. Poseidon took another look at the forum and suddenly exclaimed, "Damn, look at this post!"

"What?" Jupiter clicked on the post in confusion. The content was a screenshot of Han Xiao's skill list, with the key circled around [Stamina Refining Method]. Seeing the skill effect, everyone was almost stunned.

"God-tier skill!"

Stamina was a key attribute that directly affected combat effectiveness. Now, novice players had meager stamina and couldn't support the consumption of abilities. Ability-type players needed this skill the most!

Jupiter was an ability-type player, and he was green with envy. He suddenly realized a serious problem. "Wait, Black Phantom didn't teach this skill in the Southern Continent!"

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Could it be that the further back Black Phantom went to the novice villages, the better the things he gave? In that case, the Southern Continent players were at a disadvantage?

What the flying f*ck, what advantage was there, it was bad luck!

The core members of the Sanctuary guild were in a terrible mood.

This kind of unlucky feeling, why was it so familiar… It was back, everything was back!

…

On the forum, the Western Continent players were jumping up and down like wild dogs on Viagra, showing off with posts. They had been suppressed by the Southern Continent players for so long, and finally, they could vent their anger. Now it was the Southern Continent players' turn to feel uncomfortable. They thought that the opportunity was unique to them, but it turned out that everyone had it.

Especially after seeing the new skill [Stamina Refining Method] taught by Black Phantom, the Western Continent players rejoiced, making the Southern Continent players feel tired and uncomfortable.

The tables had turned, and the people who were envious and jealous had become the Southern Continent players.

"So angry, why didn't Black Phantom have this skill before."

"I really want to learn it."

"Isn't he a Mechanic instructor? He actually has such an awesome god-tier skill. Even I, an ability-type player, am tempted!"

Apart from the posts about showing off and complaining, Black Phantom's appearance in the Western Continent also aroused players' speculation. Was he going to go through all the novice villages? Could it be that Black Phantom was actually a novice guide set up by the official? But the other novice planets didn't have it. However, people's imaginations were infinite. Once they identified a result, they would look for various reasons to prove it, and guesses emerged one after another. Occasionally, players from other novice planets would come to the Aquamarine Star section and denounce the unfairness, saying that Aquamarine Star had a novice guide that was destroying the game balance, but they would soon be drowned out by the ocean of people.

The biggest supporters of this view were the players from the Northern Continent and Andea, judging by Black Phantom's actions, it might be their turn next. They couldn't wait to push their faces in front of Black Phantom—did you see our expectant little eyes? Hurry up and come!

The Western Continent players were like they were celebrating a festival. Some players who had originally left the novice village to explore the map, upon hearing the news of Black Phantom's arrival, regardless of the maps they were exploring, hurriedly returned to their original novice village to wait specifically for Black Phantom to visit.

[Stamina Refining Method] set off a craze. Not only players who wanted to change classes, but even ability-type players came to learn the skill. Although the asking price was very high, for the sake of this god-tier skill, they would sell everything they owned!

Ability-type players needed to increase their stamina too much. For them, the effect of [Stamina Refining Method] was like Viagra, making them more durable. The difference between them was like the difference between three seconds and three minutes. Although both were very short, the concepts were completely different. This was the difference between one and several, like the distance between heaven and earth!