Chapter 嘶…

"Hiss…" Han Xiao felt his scalp tingle.

He hadn't seen him for a while, but this guy was still such a smooth talker, and he'd learned new tricks, too… Just from the intro, Han Xiao could guess what kind of video this was going to be.

As expected, the opening was a monologue by Meat Bun pretending to be Han Xiao himself, building up the atmosphere. Then, the scene changed, and the video started describing Han Xiao's achievements from his days as Black Phantom… Although the *Star Ocean Times* had also done a similar retrospective, Meat Bun's style was different. He mostly used first-person narration, editing together footage from many past videos to create a strong sense of storytelling.

The first-person narration gave the video a strong sense of immersion. Meat Bun narrated various events from Han Xiao's perspective, creating a sense of personal experience that allowed viewers to feel as if they were there.

And the characteristic of first-person narration was that it conveyed the "Black Star's" inner thoughts through his own tone of voice, making it easier for the audience to form a clear impression of him.

Han Xiao's interactions with the players had always been measured, showing only superficial behavior, so the players' understanding of him was always separated by a layer, unable to know what he was really thinking. But this time, Meat Bun wanted to use this video to give the "real" character of Black Star in the minds of the players!

He wanted to further solidify his position as the ace video series of the Black Star Army, making this video a classic that anyone who wanted to understand Black Star would inevitably have to watch… Through reasoning, analysis, and imagination, coupled with a highly immersive narration, he shaped a vivid image of a beloved character, making the character seem more real and fleshed out in the eyes of the players.

For players, this type of character feature was nothing new. They liked to give NPCs more direct character traits on their own… Anyway, the NPCs couldn't see them, so they could discuss however they wanted.

And Meat Bun's analysis was based on Han Xiao's achievements over the years, interpreting the reasons and motivations behind Black Star's actions from his perspective, beautifying and processing his image. Most of the personality traits he analyzed were based on speculation, but the players ate it up.

From the Black Phantom era to the present, the audience seemed to have personally experienced Black Star's journey, with Meat Bun editing together Han Xiao's few public speeches. All the way through, Meat Bun gave him a large number of positive personality labels, such as ambition, attachment to his home planet, loyalty, keeping his promises, decisiveness, boldness, meticulousness, and resourcefulness.

"Damn, you're sucking up way too much here." Meat Bun praised him to the skies, as if he possessed all the positive qualities in the world, making even Han Xiao himself feel embarrassed.

Even sucking up had to follow basic principles, this was too ridiculous!

Although it was quite comfortable…

The image that Meat Bun created was far from the real him, but the benefits were obvious. Only the players themselves could create a clear image of him in this way. Having this top paparazzo was conducive to increasing his personal charm to the players. There were obviously more comments on Meat Bun's side than on *Star Ocean Times*, and a large group of people were spamming "Army Commander is awesome" on the screen.

At the end of the program, Meat Bun focused on the future of the Black Star Army's rise in the Star Field, and also put forward a new speculation.

"The Secret War is the main storyline in our eyes, but in my opinion, this may only be the surface background, and what is hidden in the dark is the real main line of this plot, and that is the rise of the Black Star Army!"

"The Secret War is actually the backdrop for Black Star to advance to Super A and for the army to rise in the Star Field!"

This guess was recognized by the majority of the army players. They remembered that in the previous version, the Black Star Army was far from its current scale, but at the opening of Version 3.0, the Black Star Army, after ten years of war, had undergone a transformation and seized the opportunity of war to develop.

Now that Black Star had ended the Secret War, the rise of the Black Star Army seemed more like the real main line, overshadowing the Secret War and turning it into a backdrop.

After looking around, most of the army players thought so, and Han Xiao's eyes lit up.

This was a direct opportunity to implement his plan to turn the history of the Secret War into a dungeon.

…

The next day, the army players received an unexpected gift.

All the players who participated in the Secret War received a notification from the communicator's army assistant program that they had received the honorary title of [Secret War Veteran] due to their experience in the Secret War. This was a title displayed in the army's personal resume and was a recognition of them by the army.

This belonged to the camp's title and had nothing to do with the panel, but players with this title would always enjoy a 10% discount on internal consumption in the army!

Many participating players were pleasantly surprised. It wasn't just for the permanent 10% discount, but more for the honor. The Secret War was only once, and this title would only be issued once. It was a limited edition camp title, representing that they had witnessed the rise of the army. This was proof that they were veterans.

At the same time, a large number of [Secret War] dungeon crystals were released in the camp store, including many battles that ran through the ten-year process that the players had not experienced.

Dungeons had always been one of the players' favorite products, and they were all very interested. These Secret War dungeons were obviously a series, similar to [Six Nations and the Germination], suitable for their current level. The players attributed this to the characteristics of a growing camp. After completing a major main line, the Black Star Army could generate a corresponding series of dungeons, which they were already used to.

In addition to fighting dungeons to get rewards, the Secret War series of dungeons could also help players understand the development history of the Black Star Army in the ten years since the version update, and personally experience it in the dungeon, which was more detailed than the written records of historical background.

Han Xiao also had another purpose in doing so. The main line of the Secret War was over, and the players had entered a period of free exploration again. At this time, throwing out a large number of dungeons was just to find them something new to do, to get through this window of the main line plot. When the Crimson Dynasty's order to develop the Shattered Star Ring came down, he would lead the Black Star Army to explore the Shattered Star Ring, and there would be plenty of things to do at that time.

The Shattered Star Ring was the plot of the next version. After the initial development by the Crimson Dynasty, the forces of various Star Fields were allowed to participate in the exploration. For players, it was like a world server, gathering here to explore the unknown and compete for resources, and he would take the army players in advance in 3.0 to seize the opportunity.

Currently, Han Xiao could only wait, focusing on expanding the army, extracting enough benefits from the soaring influence during this period, and temporarily keeping the Evolutionary Cube in short supply, making many civilizations in the Colton Star Cluster feel itchy.

And with a large number of new members joining, the personnel changes within the army became frequent. These chores were handled by Philip and Sylvia, so he didn't have to worry about them.

…

Half a month passed, and the new members who were willing to join had been recruited, and the expansion of the Black Star Army was gradually taking shape.

All the troops in the War Domain also returned to the Sol Star Cluster through the stargate.

"Your Excellency Overlord, what should we do next?"

Hearing Jod's cautious question, Herber turned around.

After suffering a loss last time, he had been low-key during this period, silently watching the Black Star Army expand.

His name of Overlord was used by Han Xiao as a stepping stone, and his prestige was greatly reduced. This result was far from his expectations.

However, Black Star had become an ally, and it was impossible to use him as an object to establish his prestige again. The Crimson Dynasty ordered them to reconcile.

Herber was silent for a while, and slowly said: "Send invitations to the major forces in the Shattered Star Ring, and call for a new gathering."

"What about Black Star…" Jod's heart skipped a beat.

"Since he is the fifth Super A Grade in the Shattered Star Ring, of course he has the right to be invited." Herber didn't look at Jod's expression, turned his head back, and didn't know what he was thinking.