Chapter 244 The First Meeting

One after another, transport spaceships slowly descended, stopping at the headquarters' spaceport.

More than 700,000 Star Cluster Sea players stepped onto the headquarters' ground. Millions of legion players rushed over to watch, crowding the spaceport docks and the halls, a sea of people. Fortunately, the legion headquarters' satellite base was large enough to accommodate hundreds of millions of members.

This was the first time players from different star fields had met outside of professional competitions. Whether they were Chinese players or players from Russia, Australia, and other countries, they were all international friends in each other's eyes. At this first meeting, they couldn't help but size each other up.

A comparison immediately revealed a clear difference between the two sides.

The equipment of the 700,000+ Star Cluster Sea players varied wildly in style, color, and design, looking quite chaotic.

On the other hand, the armor and weapons of the millions of legion players were primarily black and silver. Although there were different styles, they weren't as varied as the 700,000+ foreign players. Most legion players were knowledgeable and, based on their practical experience, used the few legion combat armor models with the best performance, giving them the appearance of a well-trained army, with individual equipment differences less obvious. Moreover, all the equipment was engraved with the Black Star Army's emblem, making it look like the difference between a legitimate army and a ragtag group.

After disembarking, some of the 700,000+ newcomers proactively greeted each other and exchanged information. Some curiously observed the headquarters, heading to various functional areas, while others went to interact with the legion's NPC members. The massive crowd scattered sparsely, entering the headquarters and familiarizing themselves with the environment.

While the ordinary players each had their own plans, Lie Jiu Vodka (Strong Liquor Vodka) and Captain Old Henry each led a few senior executives from the major Russian and Australian guilds, approaching the leaders of the major Chinese guilds.

In the Black Star Army headquarters' rented guild residence for the Changkong Club, Bì Kōng Yōu Yōu (Azure Sky Serene), the president of Sky Territory, and Cháo Xuě Mù Shuāng (Morning Snow Dusk Frost), the president of Eternal Dynasty, represented the two prestigious guilds, receiving the senior executives from several major Russian guilds.

"Friends from Huaxia, it's a pleasure to meet you all. I am Lie Jiu Vodka, the vice president of Power and Glory."

Lie Jiu Vodka and his companions introduced themselves one after another.

"Isn't it a joy to have friends coming from afar?" Bì Kōng Yōu Yōu said with a smile. The translation function conveyed his meaning to Lie Jiu Vodka and the others.

After a few casual words, Lie Jiu Vodka got down to business.

"The higher-ups told us to operate branch guilds across star fields. Our clubs have already negotiated for some time. The higher-ups said that your two prestigious guilds would provide us with some assistance in the early stages..."

Cháo Xuě Mù Shuāng chuckled. "Yes, may I ask how many guild members you've brought over to operate the branch guild?"

Lie Jiu Vodka: "I've brought 12 core guild members, 150 official members, and 1,200 outer members."

The representatives of the other guilds also gave their numbers, all around 1,000 people. For the official guilds of large professional clubs, the core members and official members were in fact professionals, earning a salary to play the game. As for the outer players, some volunteered, while others were from studios, and could also receive bonuses from the club.

"You're here with several thousand people to operate a branch guild, starting from scratch. Buying all kinds of tools, props, and vehicles costs money. Repairing, reinforcing, and updating equipment costs money too. There are also the expenses of building a guild residence and the travel expenses for going out on missions. It's best to start making a profit as soon as possible, right?"

Lie Jiu Vodka and the others nodded repeatedly. For them, operating the guild was a job, a mission they had been assigned. Operating the branch well would be good for their performance.

Cháo Xuě Mù Shuāng and Bì Kōng Yōu Yōu exchanged glances, smiled slightly, and said leisurely,

"Some time ago, we finished the Black Star Army's main storyline mission, [Secret War]. Many people got the [Secret War Participant] legion internal merit title. With this honor, all consumption within the legion gets a 10% discount. Of course, you don't have this kind of treatment."

Only legion players who participated in the Secret War had this benefit. This was a limited-edition title issued by Han Xiao. Players who joined later no longer had the opportunity to get it.

These cross-star field guilds had learned about this situation early on through the forums. It was impossible to say they weren't envious.

"You mean..."

"That's right. We can provide you with discount channels. We buy legion products at a 10% discount, and you buy them from us at a 3% discount. Our prestigious guilds have enough funds and contribution points to meet your needs for bulk purchases… Of course, you can also find ordinary players and give them money to help you buy, but there's always the risk of being scammed."

Lie Jiu Vodka remained noncommittal. Dynasty and Changkong were clearly going to make a profit from the price difference. As the manager of the branch, he had to be careful.

Compared to purchasing supplies from the Huaxia clubs, he preferred to find reliable ordinary Huaxia players to cooperate with, using their permissions to buy at a 10% discount, at most sharing a little resource with the cooperating players regularly. It was more cost-effective than a 3% discount.

However, Cháo Xuě Mù Shuāng saw through the thoughts of the representatives of the major Russian guilds and smiled faintly. "If you purchase from us, we will provide you with assistance in other areas."

"What areas?"

"For example, some high-quality mission resources, some hidden NPC information. If you accept some high-difficulty missions, we can provide manpower to help. Also… we can guarantee your safety."

"Safety?" Lie Jiu Vodka's expression changed. "What do you mean?"

Cháo Xuě Mù Shuāng: "The Shattered Star Ring is territory that our Huaxia clubs have been operating in for several versions. Dozens of large guilds and countless small and medium-sized guilds have divided up many high-quality resources here. As outsiders, you have ventured into our territory to operate branch guilds. I can't guarantee that other guilds won't have disputes with you. And you are just branch guilds from afar, with limited manpower. If a guild war breaks out, you will be at a great disadvantage."

One of the operating goals of the club guilds was to provide resource support for the club team's professional players. The major guilds of various countries were each other's biggest competitors. The clubs in Huaxia could not sit idly by and watch other professional clubs operate branch guilds in their territory in peace. The higher-ups issued orders, telling the guilds under them to think of ways to curb the development of their competitors.

Even if these foreign club guilds had deep pockets, if someone constantly sabotaged their missions, snatched their resource points, and hunted down their members, causing them to run into obstacles everywhere, they would not be able to develop and would remain in a state of loss, unable to achieve anything.

Cháo Xuě Mù Shuāng's words were a reminder to Lie Jiu Vodka and the others that if they did not pay some "protection fees", the lower-tier first- and second-tier clubs would have plenty of people to make trouble for them.

Of course, the Huaxia clubs were not going too far. After all, players from various countries were watching the situation of the first batch of cross-star field entrants. As the hosts, they could not openly bully a group of outsiders with no roots. Even if they were competitors, they had to consider the recent attention and did not want the Huaxia professional circle to leave too bad an impression on other countries. So, they still gave a small discount as a gesture, so that the foreign clubs would not lose out on the surface.

Ordinary players would naturally not be targeted, but the clubs of various countries were first and foremost commercial groups. In order to operate better, they needed to rely on the honor of professional players. While making money, they also bore the expectations of the players. Professional players competed in the arena, and these official guilds had no choice but to compete in the game as well. If the Huaxia clubs went to other star fields to open branch guilds, they would encounter similar situations and would be restricted everywhere.

Lie Jiu Vodka and the others looked at each other, reluctantly agreeing. However, they were not so easily subdued and secretly decided to find opportunities to cooperate with ordinary players in the future, hide it from the Huaxia clubs, and pay less protection money.

On the other side, in the guild residence of the Temple Club.

The guild presidents of the other two prestigious clubs, Jupiter and Altair, were meeting with Captain Old Henry, the president of the Kangaroo Boxing branch, and other Australian guild representatives, discussing the same things as Changkong and Dynasty...

The four prestigious guilds had already reached a unified front in private. Compared to their plans, this little bit of protection money was just a small profit.

…

For the 700,000+ new players, the legion headquarters was their new main city.

While they were familiarizing themselves with the environment, Han Xiao returned to the legion commander's office. The executives who had stayed behind at the headquarters for two months were waiting to report the situation to him.

Han Xiao leaned back in his chair, looked at Silvia, Melos, Leonard, and the other executives in front of his desk, and raised his chin.

"How's the legion been while I was away?"

Silvia stepped forward. "During this time, we digested the gains from the last expansion and have successfully integrated with the business channels of many allies in the Shattered Star Ring. The Black Star Army's business now covers more than a dozen industry fields, forming a complete trade system, intelligence system, transportation system, and so on."

Leonard said in a deep voice, "The logistics department has added 126 mechanical workshops and factories in various places and is working hard to manufacture more satellite bases. According to the legion's blueprint, we will gradually deploy more branches in the seven star clusters to expand our sphere of influence."

Melos nodded. "Because the number of members has increased and the scale of power has expanded, the legion fleet is also expanding its organization. The logistics department has a backlog of a lot of work, so we have placed orders with cooperating consortia and civilizations. Every day, batches of brand-new warships are produced."

Han Xiao nodded. These were all things he had ordered before he left. He asked, "Besides these, is there anything else?"

Silvia was a little embarrassed. "This… we don't have enough funds…"

Han Xiao glared. "So many businesses, and many civilizations share their resource star mining rights with us. How can we be short of money?"

"The expansion costs are too high. The legion's current maintenance fees are extremely high. The logistics department is also working at full capacity, frantically increasing production. The financial consumption is very terrifying. It's too expensive. Moreover, it's the off-season for trade recently. The sales of many cooperating consortia have declined, which has prolonged the profit period for mining resource stars, causing our cash flow to be a little tight…"

"Didn't you ask the people from the Crimson Empire and the Purple Crystal Civilization to allocate funds? Didn't I say that you can ask them for money if you're short of money for normal operations?" Han Xiao asked in surprise.

"I asked…" Silvia said helplessly. "They didn't refuse, but they said that they would only release the funds after you personally gave the word. They only trust you."

"Okay, I'll contact them later." Han Xiao's mouth twitched. Those two only trusted him as an ally. There was no way around it. Although the legion was large, the real core was still himself.

"There's also one more thing. You told me to gather the troops to develop the Flickering World. I've already prepared them. They're divided into many fleets and are on standby at various branch bases in Colton, ready to depart at any time, waiting for your order," Silvia said.

"Not bad. Sui will probably urge me to set off soon. You didn't delay things."

Han Xiao looked at Silvia with admiration.

The three reported some more details and finished talking about official business. Seeing that Han Xiao had no other instructions, they relaxed and started chatting casually.

"Why didn't I see Lagi? I'm back, but he, a vice commander, didn't even come to see me. What is he busy with every day?" Han Xiao asked curiously.

"Heh, he's very busy every day, either busy playing cards or busy sleeping!"

Silvia got angry when she mentioned Lagi, then turned to glare at Melos. "And you, he asks you to play cards every day, why don't you refuse?!"

"You don't understand the joy of card players." Melos grumbled.

"Don't mention playing cards in front of me." Han Xiao said unhappily. "I'm asking you, how well has Lagi taught Tomar?"

Tomar was the protagonist-type character he had poached. Han Xiao hadn't forgotten.

"I heard he's learning very quickly."

Han Xiao nodded and looked at Leonard, his tone a little expectant. "What about my godson? Has he shown any special mechanical talent?"

"Uh… no." Leonard told the truth. "But he's also learning very quickly. He has a talent for the path of mechanics."

Sigh, I wonder if this trick of transferring flowers can steal [Perfect Mechanical Sense]… Han Xiao said helplessly and waved his hand.

"I'll take him out for a walk in a few days. You guys go out first."

The three nodded and left the room. Han Xiao took out his communicator and contacted the Purple Crystal Civilization and the Crimson Empire, successfully getting them to release the funds.

Sui also reminded him that the Crimson Empire's development troops had already been assembled and that Han Xiao should lead people to the Dawn Star Cluster in the Flickering World in the near future to join up with the Empire's troops. Then, they would officially start exploring the Flickering World.

After dealing with the backlog of miscellaneous matters, Han Xiao observed the actions of the 700,000+ new players in the legion headquarters.

These players from the Star Cluster Sea were still familiarizing themselves with the headquarters' map. He noticed a phenomenon: although these 700,000 people had crossed star fields, they were still used to posting in the original Star Cluster Sea section of the forum.

Although the players on both sides communicated a lot on the forum, only a small number of players interacted with each other in the legion headquarters. Although they had all become legion members, the players from the two star fields still had obvious differences. They couldn't be said to be clearly separated, but they were each hugging their own groups, each playing their own way.

"This won't do…" Han Xiao shook his head when he saw this.

This was like a blind date. When the two sides met, you didn't speak, I didn't speak, just sat there staring blankly. How could this work?

He thought for a moment and quickly wrote two faction missions. Through the faction panel, he released them to all legion players. Only players could receive them:

[[Instructing New Recruits] (Repeatable)]

[Mission Introduction: Recently, the Black Star Army has expanded once again, bringing back new warriors from other star fields. The legion's veteran members can choose to teach the new recruits, helping them familiarize themselves with the legion's work as soon as possible.]

[Mission Requirements: Team up with a novice warrior (player) from another star field and complete any legion mission.]

[Reward: 100-300 Black Star Army Contribution Points]

[Note: This mission can only be accepted by players who have joined the legion for more than one year.]

[[Seeking Guidance from Veterans] (Repeatable)]

[Mission Introduction: As a newcomer who has recently joined the Black Star Army, veterans are the best people to learn from. Go and ask them, let them help you understand the legion's situation.]

[Mission Requirements: Team up with a veteran warrior of the Black Star Army (a player who has joined the legion for more than one year) and complete any legion mission.]

[Reward: 100-300 Black Star Army Contribution Points]

[Note: This mission can only be accepted by players who have joined the legion for less than one year.]

"Hehehe…" Looking at the two missions he had released, Han Xiao chuckled mischievously.

After operating the legion for three versions, legion contribution points had long become a key resource whose importance was no less than that of Enas. No one would complain about having too many.

He didn't want the players from the two star fields to form different groups. Those club guilds were in commercial competition, there was no way around it. But ordinary players were different, there weren't so many profit factors. Internationalization had been advocated for so many years. Since they had come to his base, they were all the same batch of leeks. He needed these newcomers and veterans to have large-scale interactions and play together.

--The social attribute is an extremely critical part of the player experience!

Since the players on both sides were so reserved and didn't take the initiative to communicate with international friends, Han Xiao would seduce them to socialize. A spark would ignite dry wood.

In this way, it would be beneficial for the Star Cluster Sea players to integrate into the legion's system. Not only could they get used to the new environment as soon as possible, but they could also slowly remove the "Star Cluster Sea" label from these people and change their mentality to "legion players".

In this way, the interpersonal relationships between players would become another reason for them to stay in the legion, using players to "attract" players, indirectly strengthening the faction's attractiveness and recognition!

Han Xiao suddenly patted his forehead, his expression strange.

"Why does it feel like I'm acting as a pimp…"