Chapter 161 Averting Disaster

At the same time.

Jubilee Hub, formerly the temporary base of the Black Star Mercenary Group.

Dozens of faint lights flashed, and the professional players who followed Han Xiao appeared one after another, including Kuang Dao, Hao Tian, Rou Bao, and others. They logged off here when the version was updated.

A habit of expert players is to open the panel as soon as possible to check the version changes. As professional players, they are most concerned about practical factors such as personal attributes and equipment.

After confirming that the level cap had been raised, everyone looked at each other, then looked around, and were immediately stunned.

The base was empty, with only the monotonous lights shining lonely. The metal walls and floors reflected a faint white light. Although the entire base was spotless thanks to the cleaning equipment, the open doors and silent atmosphere were enough for the players to realize that no one had lived here for a long time.

Everything in every room had disappeared, including Black Star's private warehouse and mechanical modification room. If even the furniture hadn't been gone, they would have thought the base had been burglarized.

"Why isn't there anyone here? Where's my Black Star?" Kuang Dao asked in confusion.

"I don't know how much time has passed. It seems they're not here anymore," Hao Tian said in a deep voice.

"Maybe they're all dead," Li Ge pondered, drawing glares from the others. He considered it this way for historical reasons, remembering the tragedy of their guild under the Temple Club encountering the task release point being leveled during the closed beta.

"How stupid, just look at the faction information," Feng Yue rolled her eyes at them. As a member of the mercenary group, she could view the basic faction information to learn the status of the Black Star Mercenary Group without guessing.

However, the players didn't know that they could see the faction information because Han Xiao deliberately added this information to the faction interface, so that the players could clearly see the improvement of the mercenary group, which he used to increase their sense of belonging. The great technician Han Xiao consistently implemented the idea that all the conveniences given to the players were for the sake of better robbing them of their money.

Opening the mercenary group interface, the information jumped into view, and the expert players looked surprised.

"The number of people in the faction has increased. There are more than 400 people. The number of completed hires has increased a bit... Oh, look at the evaluation. It says that the Black Star Mercenary Group's current base is located on Golden Gate Star. So the mercenary group moved... But where is Golden Gate Star?" Kuang Dao said.

"It's not over yet. Look at this achievement. Black Star actually killed a Calamity Grade superpower in Nourius! Holy crap, so awesome..." Rou Bao was about to exclaim, but suddenly felt something was wrong. "Wait, what level is Calamity Grade?"

The players at this time did not know that the A grade was also known as the Calamity Grade and had never heard of this term... But it felt awesome.

In any case, players can only look up to the power above the C grade.

These expert players were a little dazed—what had the Black Star Mercenary Group experienced while they were away?

Just then, the doorbell of the base suddenly rang, and the expert players were startled. Before they could react, Tai Er Zi had already given up thinking and directly opened the door. Outside the door stood a triangular snake-headed man.

"Are you members of the Black Star Mercenary Group?" the snake man asked.

The expert players looked at each other, then nodded.

"I am a captain of the Crown Travel Group. Your Excellency Black Star instructed me to send you to Aquamarine Star," the snake man flicked his tongue. "Please come with me."

Hearing this, surprise appeared on everyone's faces. They didn't expect Black Star to send a ship to pick them up. How impressive!

…

The Heteromorphy Disaster has drastically changed the global landscape. The rule of the six nations has almost collapsed, most of the territory has fallen into chaos, and the government has lost control.

Because the Heteromorphy Virus gives everyone a chance to get sick, civil servants are the same. All levels of government agencies have been paralyzed. If a regime loses the people who serve it, it is equivalent to losing all power and existing in name only. The six nations are sliding into this abyss.

Every link and class of society is composed of people. The essence of forming order is to make people take the initiative to become obedient. There are many factors, such as law enforcement agencies, the army, the economic system, cultural traditions, moral concepts, mainstream values, and so on, all to make people understand the consequences of violating the rules, so as to self-regulate their behavior. However, the Heteromorphy Virus destroyed people's normal logic and fear. When they get sick, they don't consider the consequences at all, and these factors lose their effect. The seemingly unbreakable order becomes fragile porcelain overnight.

Chaos.

This is the most appropriate definition of the current social situation.

No one can trust any living thing. Only cold, hard machines are the only reliable things.

After the outbreak of the Cataclysm, the six nations abandoned their previous suspicions. In the face of disaster, their respective interests were no longer important. There was no other choice but to join forces. At this time, the senior leaders of the six nations were holding a video conference.

"As early as twenty days ago, we jointly applied to the Godoran civilization for assistance. Godora said they would come as soon as possible, but it's been so long, and they haven't appeared yet!"

The Heteromorphy Disaster was like a virgin wearing a chastity belt. No matter how teased, the door could not be pried open. The six nations knew that the technology level of Aquamarine Star could not solve this catastrophe, and any means would not work. They reported the disaster situation, and the six nations had a channel to contact Godora, hoping that a more advanced civilization would save them.

However, until now, no spaceship had landed, which made the senior officials of the six countries anxious, and they kept urging them, but all they got were the formulaic answers from the artificial intelligence.

In fact, the six nations were not clear that the Heteromorphy Disaster broke out not only on Aquamarine Star, but also all over the Gadon Star System, competing for beauty and splendor. Godora was also in a panic and at a loss. Han Xiao hadn't revealed that this was DarkStar's conspiracy, so Godora was kept in the dark, and the level of attention had not been raised to a very high level.

"When Godora arrives is not something we can control. Now there is a new situation. Not long ago, the Heteromorphs who disappeared for more than a year reappeared."

"This is too much of a coincidence. Maybe they brought the Heteromorphy Virus!" someone said angrily.

The six nations had always suspected the cause of the Heteromorphs. Non-human races, prejudice and discrimination had never disappeared.

"In any case, most of the Heteromorphs are Supers. Maybe they can help. No matter who it is, I just want this nightmare to wake up sooner. In this situation, I don't even dare to meet my wife. I'm afraid that one day I won't be able to control myself and hurt her," an official said with a frown.

"Although Bennet announced the formula of the inhibitor to the world, only the Third Sanctuary can stably produce it. He said that he can't distribute more agents to us. I don't believe it. They must be hiding more inhibitors."

As soon as these words came out, the current leaders of the six nations were silent. They all knew that everyone present coveted the inhibitor.

When a disaster occurs, and you have the only thing that can resist the disaster, then the meaning of this thing exceeds its own function. For the sake of the inhibitor, everyone can only listen. Even if Bennet has no other thoughts, the current Third Sanctuary has become the center of the world, and countless people are rushing there.

The six nations wanted to control the inhibitor to unite the people and restore the crumbling regime, but if they were to seize it, the situation that the world had finally adapted to would be broken again, which would cause greater risks. If they were not careful, it might cause irreparable consequences. Is consolidating the regime more important than the survival of the entire civilization?

Some people couldn't convince themselves, and some could, but neither faction was so firm in their thinking and wavered between the two.

"If you really want to do it, it's best to do it as soon as possible..." the leader of Rylund said in a deep voice, "Time waits for no one."

…

Two days passed in a flash.

Hundreds of thousands of players stayed in the Third Sanctuary to adapt to the new version and participate in the main quest.

Although there are many players, the sanctuary at this time has almost endless tasks. The most rewarding is naturally the official task released by Bennet. The number of such tasks is limited every day, while other tasks are triggered by different characters. Countless refugees stranded outside the sanctuary have various requests, and they can't finish them all. These heavy and boring tasks in the eyes of others, the players are doing with relish, serious attitude, work enthusiasm, each is like a model of good citizens, but instead make the sanctuary's own guards feel ashamed.

Most of the tasks are rewarded with [Heteromorphy Disaster] progress. After two days of action by all the players on Aquamarine Star, the total progress has reached 730,000. It should have been more, but every day the damage caused by the Heteromorphy Disaster will reduce part of the total progress. Players must keep accumulating progress, otherwise they will retreat if they don't advance.

Although they don't know the principle of the Heteromorphy Virus, the players don't care about this. As long as there is a task guide, they just need to work hard.

Since the 2.0 version will enter the interstellar era, players know that this main quest is just the first big plot of the new version, not all of it. Players on other planets basically have the same experience, and the opening is a crisis, but the events are different. The funniest thing is on Frost Winter Star. As a garrison planet of the Extinguishing Legion, it was actually sent troops to crusade against it, how annoying.

In comparison, the players on Aquamarine Star are the fastest to enter the main quest, but the specific situation is very different from the previous life.

The activity of the forum is no different from before the update, and even more popular. At the opening of the new version, many players are sharing information, and posts are refreshed quickly.

Bennet stood on the city wall overlooking the lively and noisy sanctuary. The figures of hundreds of thousands of Heteromorphs were everywhere, which solved the urgent need for manpower. Seeing this scene, his brows could not help but relax a little.

"Fortunately, these Heteromorphs are helping us. I didn't expect the influence left by Black Phantom is still protecting us," Bennet sighed, his tone complicated.

Hela was behind him, leaning against the battlements, expressionless, silently watching the endless refugee camp outside the city.

"Ah ah ah—"

Suddenly, screams broke out one after another in the refugee camp, and countless people fell ill at the same time without warning—this is the terrible thing about the Heteromorphy Virus, it can break out at any time.

The refugee camp, which barely maintained order, instantly became chaotic. Millions of sick people fought each other with red eyes, and the scene was extremely spectacular. The noisy sounds mixed with the rumbling sound waves, deafening.

A few refugees who did not get sick looked terrified, sat down on the ground and shivered. The guards on the wall of the sanctuary were also stunned.

Bennet's face suddenly changed, and he grabbed the battlements with both hands, leaving finger marks on the concrete.

"So many people are gathered here. Once they collectively get sick, the consequences will be very serious. When the symptoms naturally subside, the number of deaths may have already exceeded one million!"

Many players stopped their tasks. This was the first time they had seen a collective outbreak. They were suspicious and uncertain. Some people turned on the recording function.

They had seen war scenes, but it was the first time they had seen a melee of millions of people. The refugees hardly used weapons and only fought with fists and teeth, like beasts, extremely barbaric and bloody.

"It must be stopped, otherwise many people will die. Let our people act and knock out all the sick people!"

Bennet immediately ordered. Every infected person has a chance to be saved. He couldn't sit idly by and watch so many people kill each other in front of him.

Rumble rumble rumble—

Just then, a vibration sound came from the distance, getting louder and louder. Looking into the distance, countless wild beasts came galloping, mighty and vast.

The beasts on Aquamarine Star were also infected with the Heteromorphy Virus. The wild environment was already very dangerous, but now it has become even more difficult to survive. Moreover, unlike the sick state of humans, the sick beasts, although violent, will form groups and act in groups. Sometimes they will fight each other, and sometimes they will attack cities.

The herd rushed into the edge of the refugee camp, and a massacre broke out. Refugees were torn apart and trampled by the beasts, their bodies fragmented. The scene was bloody, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. This feeling was like a heavy cavalry array rushing into a crowd of unarmed people and killing them.

Pa.

Bennet crushed a battlements and said in shock and anger, "It's bad, a herd of beasts has come at this time. Save people quickly. If we leave them alone, all the refugees will die!"

At this time, the player's task list changed, and the total progress of [Heteromorphy Disaster] began to plummet, losing 10,000 points in a blink of an eye. Everyone triggered an emergency collective task, which required them to save the refugees outside the city as much as possible, with a reward of 50,000 to 200,000 total progress. The fewer people who die, the higher the reward.

However, the speed of progress loss is extremely fast. If they don't save people quickly, I'm afraid that most of the accumulation of these two days will be buried.

"Hurry up and leave the city to save people!"

"Looking for a team, anyone will do, just need a full team!"

Hundreds of thousands of players in the sanctuary were suddenly panicked and hurriedly took action to leave the city to rescue the fighting refugees, knock out the sick people, and send them into the sanctuary.

In addition to the rescue team, Bennet asked some players to delay the pace of the herd. The herd was huge, at least 300,000 or more. They couldn't kill them all for a while and could only delay them and try to rescue more refugees.

Hela had already rushed into the herd, and dark red energy was released arbitrarily. One beast after another, three or four meters high, died in her hands. The surrounding players were also fighting the herd, and beast blood splashed all over her body. She was fighting bloody battles.

Killing was what she was best at. Battle had long been integrated into her bones, just like eating and breathing, she was used to it. However, this battle made her feel very complicated—once a murderer who killed innocent people indiscriminately, this was the first time she had fought to save unrelated strangers, and she felt awkward in her heart.

Rumble rumble rumble—

The scene was chaotic. The refugee camp area was sandwiched in the middle. One end was the herd advancing, with heavy casualties, and the other end was the players rescuing people. Both sides were advancing towards the middle of the area at the same time, eroding from both ends, while the sick refugees still didn't know to escape and were still killing each other, a complete mess!

There was chaos everywhere. Even with Bennet's strength, he felt dizzy. He squeezed the sweat in his palms and stared nervously at the situation.

"There are too many beasts, and the attack frequency is at least four times per second. I can't resist the damage at all!"

"Damn it, I'm losing my mind, I was crushed by a butt!"

"There are gaps everywhere, I can't stop them at all!"

The players who were resisting the herd were overwhelmed and kept dying. Although they could be resurrected, they had to run out of the sanctuary, which delayed time, and what they lacked most was time. Every second, the total progress was rapidly declining, and the players were very anxious.

Whoosh—

Just when the situation was collapsing, an ear-piercing scream suddenly came from the sky. Even in the chaotic and noisy environment, this sound still clearly reached everyone's ears, and countless eyes subconsciously looked up at the sky.

Hundreds of egg-shaped metal pods were seen falling from the sky, shrouded in the flames that were ignited by penetrating the atmosphere, like hundreds of fireballs, and the landing point was in front of the sanctuary gate.

Bang bang bang!!

The metal pods landed one after another, smashing out cracks all over the ground, and the momentum was eye-catching. The next moment, the hatch popped open with a hiss, and people walked out of each metal pod.

These people were all wearing armor and holding weapons. Their clothing styles were varied and obviously extraterrestrial visitors who did not belong to Aquamarine Star. Everyone gathered with curious and surprised eyes, and immediately understood that these metal eggs were drop pods.

These uninvited guests were all warriors from the interstellar!

Just as everyone was wondering what these interstellar people were here for, one of the masked men in black, who looked like a leader, waved his hand, and hundreds of interstellar warriors acted at the same time, rushing towards the herd.

Boom boom boom—

The interstellar warriors each burst out with powerful combat power and immediately took over the battle. The seemingly unstoppable herd was like hitting a copper wall and iron wall, and was all stopped!

Only a few hundred people played a role far exceeding the tens of thousands of players around!

A look of horror flashed in Hela's eyes. She was in the battlefield and experienced it the most deeply. Almost all the interstellar warriors put more pressure on her than Bennet, and Bennet was basically the strongest person on Aquamarine Star at present.

It meant that any of these interstellar warriors was stronger than Bennet!

With the intervention of unknown reinforcements, the crisis was alleviated. Only the masked man in black stayed at the gate without acting. Bennet jumped off the city wall and came to the masked man, asking in a deep voice, "Who are you? Where did you come from? Why are you helping us?"

Bennet had seen captured Godoran investigators before, so he wouldn't lose his mind when he saw aliens at this time.

But the next second, his barely maintained calm expression instantly turned into astonishment.

"Long time no see, Bennet. Why are you so surprised? What's wrong, did you think I wouldn't come back?"

Han Xiao raised his hand, slowly took off his mask, revealed his face, and raised the corners of his mouth into a light smile, feeling that he was very handsome.

Bennet's body stiffened, unable to believe what he was seeing. His trembling lips, and his shocked expression quickly turned into ecstasy.

Hela in the distance suddenly widened her eyes.

At the moment Han Xiao took off his mask, almost every player was stunned. Then, a joy of reunion arose spontaneously. Morale soared. This familiar figure was like a stimulant, injecting hot blood into all the players present. They were so excited that their scalps were numb, their tail roots tightened, and their hearts were surging!

"It's him! Black Star is back!!"