Chapter 171 A Big Harvest

Gu Lei jia and the others received the answer they wanted, were overjoyed, finalized the details, and then left contentedly.

As the group walked out of the Black Star Army base, they looked back at the magnificent structure. Gu Lei jia suddenly felt a sense of awe.

"Black Star has only been in the mercenary business for less than ten years, yet he has developed into what he is today. He really is an incredible guy."

"Those who have the potential to become Beyond A-grade all have their own legendary stories, which we cannot fathom," another person said, shaking his head and sighing.

"That's right, he's no longer on the same level as us. Fortunately, we knew him early on."

Gu Lei jia's mood was complex.

...

In a corridor of the Black Star Army headquarters, Melos walked side by side with the Volga brothers, chatting casually.

"Have you heard? Three Calamity Grade powerhouses have joined. His Excellency Black Star personally received them. They will definitely hold important positions in the army in the future," Volga the eldest said suddenly.

"I know," Melos nodded, feeling both joy and frustration.

He was happy about the rapid development of the Black Star Army, but frustrated that his own position would be affected by it.

Three Calamity Grade newcomers joining the army's high command meant that competition would become increasingly fierce, and Melos felt a lot of pressure.

Strength represented influence. He had been unable to reach the A-grade threshold, and his importance to the army would become lower and lower. There were already many mid-tier combatants. If he weren't one of the original veterans who followed Black Star, his B-grade strength wouldn't qualify him to be a high-level cadre in the army.

Melos felt that he was improving quickly, but he still couldn't keep up with Han Xiao's pace, nor the rapid development of the Black Star Army. He didn't want to fall behind, so he became increasingly anxious.

In order to temper his physique, he even reduced his card-playing time from three hours a day to one and a half hours a day... Not playing cards was impossible; he could never give it up.

"Calamity Grade... it's really a distant dream."

Melos sighed.

...

The Black Star Army's development trend filled the old cadres with many emotions. However, as the saying goes, the wheels of history roll forward, and everything is in a state of development. Han Xiao naturally wouldn't stand still.

After spending seven or eight days meeting with the envoys of various organizations who came to seek cooperation, and reorganizing the structure of the Black Star Army after its explosive expansion, he finally had some free time.

Han Xiao locked himself in his office, took out a piece of paper, and summarized all the benefits brought by this wave of expansion, as well as the new development blueprint.

The Black Star Army's rapid development exceeded his expectations. The original, conservative blueprint was already outdated. A large number of forces and Galaxy Grade civilizations were actively offering various development opportunities, which would be a waste not to use. As long as he could make good use of these opportunities, the Black Star Army's development speed would increase dozens or even hundreds of times!

This was an unprecedented harvest of leeks!

Han Xiao wrote and drew on the paper, listing the maximum benefits that each opportunity could theoretically bring, as well as the costs that would need to be invested, creating a simple list for easy judgment.

At the same time, he used the equipment quality system to analyze factions, dividing them into two attributes: current scale and development potential.

The current scale score depended on the resources, scale, armed forces, number of members, influence, and so on that the faction currently possessed.

The development potential score depended on connections, allied forces, business scope, long-term profits, development opportunities, and so on.

Han Xiao first took out a reference point as the standard of evaluation. He rated the War Realm as [Orange] for current scale and [Orange] for development potential, and used this as a baseline to analyze the Black Star Army.

"Not counting the players, before this wave of large-scale expansion, the Black Star Army's business was limited to a few star systems, with a scale between [Deep Green] and [Light Blue]. Now it should reach [Light Purple], and once Phillip recruits the second and third batches of personnel, it will be able to firmly establish itself as a [Purple] quality faction."

Han Xiao pondered while twirling a pen in his fingers.

"As for the development potential, my Super A Seed reputation is a [Orange] quality development opportunity; the Secret War is a channel to establish a bridge with the Purple Crystal Civilization, also [Orange]; the contracts with various Galaxy Grade civilizations are [Orange]; taking the lead in establishing the Mercenary Alliance is [Pink]; plus my connections, potential, and other factors... on average, the faction's total development potential is [Orange]."

Han Xiao looked at the list on the paper and nodded.

This way, he could more directly understand the development of the Black Star Army. As long as he could realize the [Orange] development potential, he could quickly pass the [Purple] quality and enter the [Pink] level of power.

And when the scale reached [Pink], it would be a famous Star Field-level force. Although there was still a gap compared to the War Realm, it would be a truly large organization.

Han Xiao began to plan the development plans for each opportunity.

"Galaxy Grade civilizations are inviting me to establish branch bases. This is a disguised way of expanding my territory, opening up multiple points, and the large number of personnel recruited can be put to use immediately. Send them to new star systems to expand the scope of business... Hmm, and by the way, let some of the personnel develop resource planets, which will solve the problem of the faction's transformation. In addition to mercenary business and war business, there will also be resource collection business, making the source of profits more diversified...

"Hmm, if there aren't enough people, I can also pull people from Aquamarine over to make up the numbers, letting some of them become interstellar citizens one step ahead of time. And mining seems to be the forte of those bugs. With my reputation in the Black Spirit Race, I should be able to find a large number of high-quality laborers."

Han Xiao put a checkmark after "Galaxy Grade Civilizations".

"Taking the lead in establishing the Shattered Star Ring Mercenary Alliance is also simple. My large-scale expansion has just increased my influence, and the topic of me in the Shattered Star Ring is currently hot. With the support of other large legions, as long as I raise my arms and call for it, setting up the foundation of the alliance won't be a problem. The next step is just a matter of time..."

Han Xiao made plans one by one, and soon produced a rudimentary form of the new development blueprint.

Putting down the pen and shaking the paper, he revealed a satisfied smile on his face.

Han Xiao memorized the contents of the paper, then crushed it into pieces with a flick of his finger.

"When version 3.0 opens, the changes in the Black Star Army will probably surprise those players."

...

Taking advantage of this development momentum, the Black Star Army became very active, recruiting personnel multiple times, and the number of members gradually approached the ten million level. Most of the people were sent out by Han Xiao to establish branch bases in various star systems of the Colton Star Cluster. The army's activity range expanded from the vicinity of the Garton Star System to most of the star cluster.

Han Xiao didn't ignore the Secret War either. After dealing with the post-expansion affairs, he returned to the battlefield to continue fighting with the War Realm.

As the leader, he fought at the front for the Purple Crystal Civilization, while the large number of newcomers behind him operated businesses and strengthened the force. The explosively increased manpower was enough to support such dual-line operations, adding bricks and tiles to the development of the Black Star Army.

As the momentum of expansion passed, the public opinion storm caused by the Super A Seed gradually cooled down. Han Xiao had become the biggest beneficiary, and the Black Star Army had left a deep impression throughout the Star Field through this wave of operations, and its reputation had squeezed into the category of famous Star Field-level forces.

Under these circumstances, the Black Star Army was still nominally a Longtan Field Force. Longtan remained silent, but with the help of those who were interested, more and more people began to separate the Black Star Army and Longtan, treating them as two independent forces. Public opinion also began to show a tendency to separate the two sides.

The storm that Han Xiao had stirred up had a profound impact. More and more forces, openly or secretly, intervened in the Secret War, personally entering the game, making the scope of the war increasingly wide.

The Secret War was originally one of the main quests of version 3.0 [Crimson Tide], but its limelight was gradually overshadowed, and more and more forces' attention gradually turned to Han Xiao and the Black Star Army.

The war continued, the Black Star Army developed step by step, and the visible and invisible influences continued to ferment, gradually changing the situation.

Aquamarine changed its autumn three times.

In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.