Chapter 196 Post-Match and the Impending Update

For the past few days, the forums had become a sea of ​​joy, as Huaxia players vented their excitement.

Following Chang Kong's championship, Dynasty defeated the Swedish Battle Axe and won the third-place honor.

Of the international top eight, Huaxia teams occupied three seats, including both the champion and third-place winners, a remarkable achievement that allowed countless people to hold their heads high.

Chang Kong received the most praise, and Hao Tian proved himself, ushering in a surge of fans. Mingyue Changzhong and Flashy Fried Rice, from the same team, also greatly increased in popularity. Even Dynasty's fans were genuinely happy.

Some people also felt sorry for Dynasty, believing that if they hadn't encountered Jiang Cheng and Chang Kong in succession, they might have swept the championship and runner-up positions. They believed Dynasty lost due to bad luck.

With their own teams being competitive, countless players praised this league. Looking at the entire finals schedule, they discovered a phenomenon:

In the finals, Huaxia teams had no defeats against foreign enemies!

Therefore, some people were not satisfied with the usual praise and found a new way to boast:

"The only ones who can defeat Huaxia are Huaxia themselves!"

Han Xiao didn't pay attention to the post-match award ceremony and various program analyses anymore. Seeing Chang Kong win the championship, he had a general idea of ​​the future situation.

This year, the Huaxia teams achieved amazing results, and the impact was far-reaching. He understood the mentality of his compatriots: no matter what the competition, as long as they won the championship, it would definitely attract the curiosity of a large number of onlookers, which would lead to many more Huaxia players in the next version. The number of newcomers would definitely far exceed that of his previous life.

The Shattered Star Ring, the division where the championship was won, was also the base camp for Huaxia's major clubs. Most Huaxia new players would also choose to be born on the rookie planets of the Shattered Star Ring. These newcomers were the Black Star Army's fresh blood in the next version!

The number of players had not yet reached its peak. The Huaxia teams' achievements were mutually beneficial to him. Good results could attract a large number of new players to the Black Star Army and expand the scale of high-quality "leeks" (players).

In this league, the Huaxia teams used a wide variety of Black Star mechanical equipment, which had become a common occurrence, equivalent to advertising Han Xiao's army. Just like the American team chose Frost Winter Star, showcasing the advantages of the Demon Race and making many players feel that the demons were powerful, the Huaxia teams' performance made many people feel that the Black Star Army was powerful. The machinery used by the Huaxia teams allowed Han Xiao to make a strong impression in the league.

...

The second Star Sea League came to an end, and its residual heat lingered for a long time. However, after most players were happy, they finally focused their attention on other issues.

The end of the league meant that Version 2.0 was about to be updated.

Guessing the plot of the next version became a new hot topic on the forums.

In the Shattered Star Ring area, Meat Bun's video was brought up again. It was the recording of Han Xiao's conversation with Mad Knife and others, revealing that the next version was related to the Red Empire, which aroused extensive discussion among players.

"The three Universal Civilizations are so high-profile. What is the Red Empire's purpose in the Shattered Star Ring?"

"Who knows? Anyway, in the next version, we will definitely delve deeper into the power struggles of the Star Sea."

"Maybe, just like the beginning of 2.0, as soon as we go online, we will face a huge disaster. I guess the Red Empire is the boss."

"I don't care about the plot. I'm just curious about what will happen to our Black Star Army. The last time the version was updated, Black Star became the camp that guided us into the universe. I wonder what changes will happen to the Black Star Army after this update."

"It can't disappear, right? We have worked so hard to accumulate so much Faction Favorability. If the Black Star Army is gone, wouldn't we have worked for nothing?"

Because there had been several precedents, many players were curious about what the Black Star Army would look like in Version 3.0.

The Black Star Army was basically regarded as the main camp by Huaxia players, and it was also one of the factors for the excellent results achieved by the Huaxia teams, so this issue received a lot of attention.

Han Xiao also paid attention to the trends on the forums. He couldn't give a clear answer to this question either.

"The version update is coming soon. This interval is ten years..."

Han Xiao shook his head helplessly. Under the turmoil of the Red Tide, these ten years would be very difficult. The secret war of Klent, and the third stage of the [Prey] mission were all sources of danger.

In his previous life, when Version 3 began, the secret war between Klent and Purple Crystal was in full swing. That was the players' entry point into the plot, meaning that the secret war between the two sides might run through the entire version update period.

The Black Star Army would spend these ten years in war, with dangers and opportunities coexisting.

Ten years later, when the players returned, he didn't know how far the Black Star Army could develop.

Many joint camps would appear in the next version, becoming potential competitors for players. The Black Star Army would lose the aura of a guiding camp in Version 3.0. Han Xiao had been considering how to use the next ten years to enhance the Black Star Army's camp appeal.

In this regard, the Black Star Army already had a natural advantage. Players had invested a lot of energy and an entire version's worth of time in the Black Star Army, resulting in huge sunk costs. Players would not easily change camps. As long as he operated well during the version update, he could retain the old players.

The real goal was to compete for the newcomers who would flood in during Version 3.0. In addition to the impact of winning the championship, the Black Star Army had to keep up with the joint camps in terms of resources.

The capital to get through these ten years was the empire built by the players in 2.0, and the income from harvesting players. This was all he had to support himself through the ten years.

The Professional League was the last large-scale opportunity to harvest "leeks" in Version 2.0. At the end of the version, players would keep their wealth and wait for the next version if it weren't for the competition.

As long as he could hold on until 3.0, the Black Star Army's strength would experience a leap-like increase!

After all, the players in Version 3.0 would undergo a qualitative change and could be promoted to Grade B.

The meaning of one million Grade B Supers and one million Grade C Supers was completely different!

Di di—

At this moment, the communicator suddenly vibrated.

"You have a new message..."

Han Xiao took out the communicator, which displayed Leif's message, asking him to go to the Purple Crystal civilization's home planet. Zero Organization had confirmed all cooperative forces and was summoning every faction leader to announce the official establishment of Zero Organization.

"This organization is finally established."

Han Xiao's eyes flashed.

...

The Purple Crystal civilization's home planet, Zero Organization's headquarters, "Scythe" garrison satellite.

The Blacklight Stealth landed at the spaceport. Han Xiao stepped onto the platform and followed Dotel, the foreign affairs envoy who came to lead the way, all the way into the interior of the garrison satellite. After passing through winding passages, they arrived at the hall.

At this moment, more than two hundred well-known figures in the Colton Star Cluster gathered here. The moment Han Xiao walked in, these people turned their heads to look over, revealing different expressions such as realization, surprise, and anticipation.

Before Zero Organization was officially established, most people in the field didn't know the identities of other members. The Black Star incident that had caused a stir a few months ago made many people guess that Black Star had already joined Zero Organization, so not many people were surprised at this time.

"Black Star is not bad. He's a reliable comrade."

Many people had the same thought in their minds and nodded to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao saw some acquaintances in the crowd, including the Chest Hair Freak Ian and the Water-Paddling Man Gadley, who had fought alongside him, as well as some of the forces that had followed him to wipe out Albert and others.

Among them, the most powerful forces were the leader of the Arc Light Organization in the Severly Star System, the leader of the Heroes Group in the Skywalker Star System, and the commander of the New Fland Rebel Army in the Rhein Star System. Apart from them, there were quite a few organizations with scales larger than Han Xiao's. His Black Star Army ranked in the upper-middle tier.

Leif stood in front of everyone with a serious expression and a formal tone.

"Everyone is here. You all know that the purpose of establishing Zero Organization is to protect the Colton Star Cluster and resist the invasion of the Klent Empire. The enemy you will face is the War Domain under Overlord. For well-known reasons, neither we nor Klent can use official troops. The safety of the Colton Star Cluster depends on you. We will give you the maximum resource support."

"Everyone present is a strong person and leader of a private force in the Colton Star Cluster. You will be important allies to each other, working together, fighting side by side, uniting the front, and jointly resisting the invasion of the War Domain."

"I announce that from now on, Zero Organization is officially established!"

At this moment, Han Xiao's panel popped up with a new prompt.

[New Faction [Zero Organization] activated!]

[Favorability: 1500/3000]

[Current Relationship: Friendly]

...

Black Star No. 1 Base Hall, many players gathered here.

Today was the day of the version update, and the update would begin in just over an hour. Before going offline, many players gathered at different bases. Players had experience that gathering in a stronghold before the update was the best choice, and No. 1 Base had the most people.

Because Chang Kong, Dynasty, and Jiang Cheng all chose to go offline here, a large number of players came to excitedly meet the meritorious players full of honor.

After dealing with enthusiastic fans, Hao Tian greeted Wang Hou Jiang Xiang and Mad Knife.

"I'm going offline."

Wang Hou Jiang Xiang said with a smile, "Little Hao, let's have a dinner in a few days and call the Yu Xiang Eggplant group."

"Okay." Hao Tian nodded.

Li Ge, who was next to him, squeezed over and asked, "Hey, what about me?"

"If you're shameless, we welcome you to come uninvited." Tai Erzi curled his lips.

Li Ge said righteously, "Then it's settled. See you there."

Mad Knife glared at him. He remembered that Li Ge used to be very arrogant, but why had he become like this now?

There was no harm without comparison. Chang Kong won the championship and reached the top four, and Dynasty won the runner-up and third place, while Temple had not achieved any results for two consecutive seasons. Li Ge didn't have confidence and couldn't be arrogant. He didn't want Temple to be a sidekick, so he had to pull down his face and make friends with his peers, at least to rub off on the championship's popularity.

"By the way, Knife, you can bring your team over for dinner too. I'll treat." Hao Tian suddenly remembered his little brother and called Mad Knife.

Mad Knife was stunned, and then overjoyed. He had always wanted to become a top-notch professional player. At this time, he felt that he had stepped into the circle of Hao Tian and others with half a foot.

Flashy Fried Rice's eyes lit up and said, "Since so many people are coming, why don't we have a big get-together and invite all the teams like Storm, Madman, and Nine Gates over? Let's all have fun for a few days."

Li Ge heard this and immediately raised both hands in agreement. A dinner party with all the strong teams would definitely be big news, and he could rub off on a wave of popularity.

Hao Tian thought for a while, "Okay, anyway, we haven't celebrated enough after winning the championship. Let's take this opportunity to have a good time during the holiday."

Everyone chatted and laughed for a while, and then went offline one after another. The surrounding players also turned into white light and disappeared piece by piece.

Soon, the base hall became empty.

At the same time, Han Xiao, who was rushing back, found that the panel had popped up with a prompt.

[Version 2.0 update has begun]

[Data saving in progress... saving complete!]

[Player forum closed]

[Update time is unknown, please be patient]

"It's started..."

Inside the cockpit of the Blacklight Stealth, Han Xiao pursed his lips and showed a hint of melancholy.

Ten years.

...

A spaceship left the Barren Galaxy Belt, and the starry sky ahead was reflected on the porthole.

Stephanie looked at the bright star sea in front of her, and a cynical smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

"Finally here, is this the Shattered Star Ring?"