Chapter 131 Special Occupation

Why did Black Star stop me, and with such a strange tone...

Borek stopped abruptly, a hint of alarm flashing through his mind as he considered various possibilities.

Could it be that I’ve been exposed?

That’s impossible… Borek took a deep breath, suppressing his unease, and turned to face Han Xiao, wearing a surprised expression.

“Your Excellency Black Star, is there a problem?”

Han Xiao stared at Borek, then glanced again at the information displayed on the panel.

His level was far higher than these free mercenaries, and their stats, skills, or talents were no secret to him.

Borek’s strength barely reached Grade B. Most of the free mercenaries applying were Grade C, with only a few Grade B. Borek was considered an elite among them and was the first Grade B warrior Han Xiao had tested.

However, in Borek’s list of classes, there was a conspicuous [DarkStar Elite Warrior], and in his skill list, there were also skills from DarkStar training. Han Xiao had been entangled with DarkStar for several years, so he could not possibly misremember.

Plus, Borek was a mixed-blood Godoran. This guy's identity was obvious.

This was a remnant of DarkStar, one of their secret personnel on the run!

'He actually dares to join my camp? This guy has got to have a death wish...'

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, his mind racing. In an instant, he guessed Borek’s motive for hiding in plain sight.

“He wants to gain my trust and infiltrate my camp as a spy? Is this his own idea, or is he acting under orders?”

Han Xiao pondered to himself. He was thinking further ahead. Not long ago, the Godoran people had told him the bad news that they had lost track of the DarkStar leader and Ash. The whereabouts of those two were unknown.

The DarkStar leader was a dangerous person. Godora had let the main culprit escape, and Han Xiao had a feeling that the opponent would make a comeback sooner or later. He wondered if Borek’s actions had been authorized by the DarkStar leader. If so, did that mean the DarkStar leader had secret ways of contacting the remaining forces?

Perhaps he could follow Borek's line to find the DarkStar leader!

With a flicker of thought, Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and revealed a smile. He turned to Borek and said, "Your strength is quite good. I want to offer you a special occupation. Are you interested?"

Borek breathed a sigh of relief. The suspense he felt had finally lifted, and he instantly felt that his anxious state of mind had been unnecessary.

'I really overthought it. There’s no way I could have been exposed.'

Borek completely relaxed, pretending to be flattered. "What do you need me to do?"

"Well, I want you to be an instructor at the training camp for now, helping me train the mercenaries whose strength hasn't reached the standard yet."

"Okay, no problem."

Borek nodded quickly, secretly delighted.

Although an instructor wasn't considered a cadre and didn't have the opportunity to access the core, it was a good start. Being granted a special position upon joining proved that Black Star valued him, making it easier to gain Black Star's trust!

"Work hard. You can wait to the side for a while. After the tests are over, I'll make arrangements."

Han Xiao encouraged him, sent the excited Borek away, and quietly placed an Observation Mark on him.

The Observation Mark could locate up to five targets at the same time, and he still had one free slot, which was perfect for Borek. If he wanted to mark a new target in the future, he would need to replace one of the five old targets.

Borek's identity as a spy had already been exposed, but Han Xiao not only wouldn't get rid of him but would also boldly use him. With Phillip and the Observation Mark, any of Borek's movements would not escape his eyes, and he would be able to detect any abnormalities at the first moment. Of course, since Borek had just joined, he definitely wouldn't dare to act rashly in order to maintain his disguise.

Most importantly, a spy who wanted to gain his trust would definitely work hard and would hardly complain. This was a useful coolie. He would feel guilty if he didn't squeeze him dry.

The training camp at Base No. 1 hadn't been established yet, and only a Grade B had the ability to become an instructor for a large group of Grade C superhumans. Training others was troublesome, and Han Xiao didn't want to waste his free time. He had originally planned to call Jin Dai back, but now that he had Borek, it was enough—anyway, Han Xiao wouldn't feel bad about how he used this guy.

…

This little interlude didn't cause any abnormalities. Instead, it made many people even more excited.

In their opinion, this showed that Black Star valued talent, and as long as one was strong enough, they would have the opportunity to get a better position on the spot.

Time passed, and Han Xiao continued testing for several hours. About five thousand people passed and became official mercenaries, while more than a thousand people were rejected and sent to the training camp.

During this period, he discovered three more Grade B superhumans, but their talents and skills were not outstanding. They were normal Grade B superhumans without template bonuses. However, even a mosquito had meat, and since they were Grade B, Han Xiao promoted these three to squad leaders on the spot, giving them the authority to gather a certain number of Black Star mercenaries to form a fixed team.

The Black Star Army's promotion system was divided into two types. The first was the personal merit system, which ranged from one star to five stars, and finally the "Black Star Eighteen Knights" honorary title. Promotions were based on contribution, allowing individuals to enjoy better benefits.

The second was the occupational system, which was the management structure of the army. Han Xiao learned from the Sky Ring Army, and the occupational system complemented the merit system. The higher the merit level or strength, the higher the position, allowing one to manage a larger number of troops, which meant becoming a captain.

And Grade B superhumans met the strength standard and could directly obtain the squad leader occupation, so no one had any objections.

Currently, the Black Star Army was divided into several factions: the Sunil faction led by Melos, the Battle Alliance faction led by Haimo, the free people faction of players and some mercenaries—this group had the largest number and could be seen as the most normal group of people—and the confidant faction composed of Aroshia and other cadres.

Only Han Xiao could command people from all factions, and usually, these factions played their own games. Among them, the Sunil faction and the Battle Alliance faction were the most obvious, with members tightly knit together and strong cohesion, clearly distinct from each other.

Wherever there were people, there would be disputes. Forming cliques and hugging each other was a problem that would inevitably arise after expansion. The scale of the Black Star Army had expanded, and the difficulty of management had increased accordingly. If it wanted to develop better, it had to emulate other large mercenary groups, establishing layers of management systems to make everyone's division of labor clear. This was also a problem Han Xiao had been thinking about recently.

High-level positions were a problem.

Currently, all the cadres were basically combatants, and their functions were not finely divided. Only Melos could barely be considered his assistant. Many positions were vacant, such as deputy leader, regional负责人 (fuzeren), employment business负责人 (fuzeren), logistics, spaceship commander, and so on.

These positions were like screw holes, and elites and cadres were like screws. Han Xiao needed to find the right screws, put them into the holes, and tighten them so that the management structure of the Black Star Army would become stable.

"The army has a scale of hundreds of thousands of people, and the basic force is very large, but the upper-level elites are very scarce. The combat power structure is a pyramid structure. Alas, I need to recruit more high-level combat power."

Han Xiao shook his head secretly. Although his basic force completely overwhelmed many large mercenary groups, high-level combat power was the current shortcoming of the camp. The Black Star Army only had one Calamity Grade, and there were only about ten Grade B elites—compared to the Sky Ring Army's three Calamity Grades and hundreds of Grade B's, he was just a younger brother.

Han Xiao didn't lack potential players, such as Sylvia, who was Grade A in his previous life. Melos also seemed to have the potential to reach Grade A, and Hela and Aurora's ability potential even exceeded Grade A, not to mention the players with great potential.

However, potential was not strength. These potential players had not grown up yet, and Fording, who had the protagonist's halo and a badass older sister, was not his subordinate, but only an accompanying employer. The players were even restricted by the version, and they could not become Grade B at least in version 2.0.

"If only I could trick a Calamity Grade here."

Han Xiao sighed. Expanding the camp was accompanied by problems, and there were too many areas that needed to be improved.

At this moment, the last tester came to him. Han Xiao patted him, and the panel popped up the other party's attributes.

After just one glance, Han Xiao's expression changed.

Total level… 135?!

This was the free mercenary with the highest level among all of them!

Only 7 levels lower than him!

Han Xiao perked up and looked up at this free mercenary named Reynold.

Hmm… he's a cosmic human, with snow-white skin. He seems to be mixed-race, his face is a bit long, his nose is straight, he's not as handsome as me, but he actually has a special temperament. He seems to have a rational and cold personality, but these eyes are bright and energetic… Oh, this guy is also staring at me.

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and looked at the other person's other attributes without showing any emotion.

"Reynold… Intelligence attribute is 1,137, a Grade B+ Mechanic? Oh, rare! This guy is the strongest in this batch… Hmm, there are at least 600 blueprint skills, so he seems to have a lot of knowledge. Tsk tsk, as for talents… Wait, this guy has a template talent?!"