Han Xiao's departure for space was a phenomenon that left the leaders of the six nations speechless.
Okay, Hell managed to leave the planet, but now even a random assassin can do that?
Days before, Han Xiao held his competition to decide which players would go with him to the galaxy. The requirements were simple: be at the maximum level and last 30 seconds against him. The problem? Han Xiao was a son of a bitch.
He knew from the start who he wanted to take, but he couldn't simply point the finger at the players he wanted, otherwise their mentality would be completely different from what Han Xiao wanted.
He wanted players who felt they deserved to be there, who had strived to achieve that goal, if they didn't, the moment they left for the galaxy, just like players always did, they would seek greener pastures. And to be honest, Han Xiao had minimal appeal compared to the rest of the galaxy, a Super Grade C was extremely common, to the point that they could be casually found on the street of any galactic city.
Unable to physically restrain the players like Ringo, he could only use the players' own mentality to contain them.
A legendary weapon that you receive for free isn't as important as an epic weapon that you spent a lot of time and effort acquiring. Many players care more about the effort than the bonuses of a piece of equipment, although if the equipment has very high attributes and skills, players would still discard the epic weapon without thinking.
Han Xiao knew he couldn't compete with the big leagues right now, mainly because the mercenaries had several powerful organizations, including many Grade A Supers.
Thus, Han Xiao's first limitation was putting in the effort to ensure that players didn't despise being with him, and the second was Han Xiao's own growth and the players' empathy for him.
He had caught the players' attention from the start, practically the most important NPC for players from the other 6 nations, wandering among them, selling equipment, knowledge, and demonstrating phenomenal power.
This generated strong empathy among players, and coupled with the fact that Han Xiao had always been an NPC with a "Fatally Dangerous" tag, many players were die-hard fans, especially mechanics.
Separately, these factors were only better than nothing, but together, with power, reputation, and effort, these players wouldn't abandon it easily.
Even so, this only increased the chances of the players not betraying Han Xiao, it wasn't perfect. In the original book, the Temple of the Gods, led by Li Ge, along with other players who listened to him, went to 'explore' as soon as they were left at Han Xiao's first base in the Juberly Hub, even though Han Xiao had clearly told them to stay there.
Han Xiao went to join the mercenary association and create his own mercenary group, but the players who thought they were free went directly to explore. In the end, they discovered the mercenary association, but when Han Xiao found out, he wasn't angry.
Getting angry would only drive players further away. An angry NPC? So what? How many NPCs were there in the galaxy? Han Xiao was indeed a popular figure, but that was it. For many professional players, reward and fame are worth everything.
The problem was that Han Xiao knew exactly how these guys thought. Instead of getting angry, while the players led by Li Ge were exploring, he got the others to join his faction. Those who joined first earned contribution points that could be exchanged for real equipment! Equipment better than the standard items in the Juberly Hub shops that Han Xiao himself had created.
In the end, Li Ge and his companions regretted acting without Han Xiao's consent, especially while the other players used their points to acquire "rare equipment".
This created a mindset among the remaining players: "Following Han Xiao pays off."
And also the mentality of the players who left: "Next time, it's better to follow Han Xiao than to lose rewards."
It was brilliant!
Han Xiao not only wasn't angry at Li Ge's actions, but was even pleased, without him, the other players wouldn't have a 'bad' example to compare them to.
In any case, Han Xiao's reason for choosing to make this selection was clear, but it didn't change the fact that he already had a list of who he wanted from the start.
All the players could think about while playing was that they had lasted longer than the others, unable to discern the difference in each fight due to Han Xiao's superior combat power.
To them, everything seemed fair, at most, some might have worse luck than others, but in reality, everything, from the beginning, was a sham.
Han Xiao was a master at manipulating players, in fact, he was good at manipulating not only players, but that was just his personality. There was no point in arguing with him, he would completely deny it.
Throughout the novel, Han Xiao had a profit-driven mindset, but in the eyes of the players and NPCs, Han Xiao was almost a saint. This was because the things he needed to hide remained hidden, and the things he didn't need to hide seemed noble to them.
Ultimately, Han Xiao also had missions, to outsiders, Han Xiao may have acted without thinking about profit, but from beginning to end, he only wanted to complete a mission.
Finally, everyone jumped and shouted "Saint!" while Han Xiao counted the profits with an honest face.
This fight also served to bring Han Xiao back into combat after he had been quiet for a long time, not only to rekindle their interest but also to demonstrate the power of the mechanics.
Han Xiao liked all the players for giving him experience, but the mechanics were even better, they bought blueprints, knowledge, and equipment. Having more mechanic players was incredibly more profitable for Han Xiao than the other classes.
Every time he demonstrated his power, there was a sharp increase in the number of Mechanic players.
Taking the players to space wasn't just because he needed fighters, in reality, the players' greatest use in space was to accumulate XP and Enas for him.
The players had reached the level cap of version 1.0, meaning their XP would be useless for leveling up and would have to be used on skills and knowledge, but the surplus? That belonged to Han Xiao.
The players fought, earned XP and Enas, broke their equipment, asked Han Xiao to fix it, and bought new equipment. The equipment Han Xiao could make would be even better than what the players could buy, and cheaper as well.
For Han Xiao, he would only be using useless materials he had taken from Aquamarine, the cost was practically zero, but in return? He would be where players dumped XP and Enas.
Thus, Han Xiao was extremely focused on taking the players with him.
Before leaving, Han Xiao also left a mission for the players who remained.
//-//
The Last Bastion
Mission Type: Award Mission
Mission Introduction: Someday in the future, a calamity will strike this world, and Sanctuary Three will become the last remaining bastion for humanity. Protect this dwindling flame from the encroaching darkness. Only then will there be hope to overcome this calamity.
Requirement: Protect Sanctuary Three. The destruction rate must not exceed 50%.
Mission Status: Frozen
Start Date: Unknown
//-//
The players were shocked, Han Xiao could assign all sorts of missions, and those in the challenging category were even more difficult than usual. These were often large-scale missions where every move by individual players could impact the final outcome. Therefore, they had to work together to complete the mission.
[The Last Bastion] was a mission that Han Xiao had created so that players would still protect Sanctuary Three after he left the planet. In the mission's introduction, he hinted that a disaster would befall the planet, but he was vague in his description. However, it was enough to pique the players' interest as they tried to guess the future plot.
Sure, Han Xiao pointed to his Sanctuary as the focal point, but in any case, only the players could see it, even if Hell and Ringo's Sanctuary also survived, so what? He says his is the last one, so it's the last one!
Han Xiao, using the argument that they were going to find a solution to the disaster in the galaxy, was once again acclaimed by players, especially those who cared about the characters' stories.
The image of "Saint" only became more pronounced as the days passed. Finally, the day of departure arrived. While Raylen's leaders pondered how to take the 'alien' from Han Xiao, the ship that had come to pick them up arrived, he was departing for the Galaxy. This departure shocked the entire planet. Hell wasn't very surprised, after all, the departure of Hell's players was already public knowledge, but the six nations were extremely shocked.
Ringo left, now Han Xiao left, did this have anything to do with the old Germinal? What mysteries lay between these two? Unfortunately, although they desperately wanted to know, the 6 nations could only watch as Han Xiao departed with his '30-second' players.