Sunil Star.

The sky was a sapphire blue, the white clouds like strands of floating silk. A gentle breeze carried a thin mist through the dense forest, the lush greenery swaying like waves.

The freshness of nature had not yet been buried. Green was a good color. Looking down at the surface through the porthole, Han Xiao couldn't help but feel refreshed.

The Blacklight Lurker slowly landed in the military camp area outside Senyuan City. Melos had long been waiting here with the Sunil high-level officials, and in the distance were a large number of patrolling Sunil armored soldiers.

As soon as Han Xiao walked down the boarding ramp, Melos rushed up and gave him a warm hug.

"Black Star, you're finally here!"

Han Xiao patted Melos on the shoulder, telling him to let go. Melos looked excited and introduced Han Xiao to the Sunil high-level officials one by one.

The two sides shook hands and exchanged greetings. The Sunil high-level officials were very respectful. Black Star's status in the interstellar community far exceeded the entire Sunil race, and Black Star took the initiative to help them solve the hidden dangers of the planet. They would never forget this great kindness.

After the introductions, everyone talked about the main business. Han Xiao asked, "How is the situation now?"

"Great!"

Melos looked excited. Over the past few months, he knew best the role Black Star's army had played, greatly improving the situation of the Sunil people.

As he spoke, Melos opened the communicator and called out a 3D map projection of Sunil Star, explaining in detail.

The threat to the Sunil people came from the wild beasts on the planet. The cause of the disaster was the Whispering Stone ore veins buried throughout the planet. Qualitative changes occurred due to quantitative accumulation. The ore veins formed mental undercurrents, stimulating the beasts to go mad on a mental level.

Therefore, the first goal of the Sunil people was to clear the Whispering Stone ore veins on this planet.

However, because the wilderness was dangerous, exploration was extremely difficult. The Sunil people only controlled a small area and could not afford the cost of expanding their territory, as it would sacrifice many young warriors.

The Black Star Army happened to play a role in this area. The twenty thousand players, unafraid of sacrifice, discovered thousands of shallow Whispering Stone ore veins in a few months with the help of spaceships and vehicles.

The closer to the ore vein, the more obvious the mental undercurrent was. Almost no wild beasts were entrenched nearby, so the players could easily mine the ore veins and destroy all the Whispering Stones.

According to calculations by the Sunil Scientific Research Department, the intensity of the planet's mental undercurrent had decreased significantly, and the interval between disasters was likely to be extended to more than ten years, two or three times longer. This meant that the Sunil's situation was no longer urgent, and they had more time to recuperate, a remarkable achievement.

This achievement was announced to the entire race, and the entire race burst out with unprecedented vigor, seeing hope.

The situation of the race had improved significantly, and all Sunil warriors were very excited.

Among them, Melos was the most excited. The race was his hometown, the Black Star Army was the Sunil's benefactor, and he was the hero who connected the two sides. On the one hand, he was excited about his initial decision, and on the other hand, he was grateful for Black Star's help.

Of course, this achievement was far from enough. Since they wanted to solve the problem, the Sunil people naturally hoped to be more thorough.

After listening, Han Xiao asked, "What difficulties have you encountered in clearing the ore veins?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone's faces turned ugly. Melos said in a deep voice, "We initially guessed all sorts of situations, but we didn't expect the resistance to be so serious."

Han Xiao immediately became curious. Judging from his tone, it seemed that even the twenty thousand players had not been able to solve this difficulty?

"By the way, where are the mercenaries? I haven't seen any." Han Xiao looked around and found that he didn't see a single mercenary.

"Most of them are still exploring and fighting outside. In the wild, we have built many action camps to allow the mercenaries to get supplies outside without having to return to Senyuan City all the time. Now, only a small number of mercenaries are staying in Senyuan City to recuperate," Melos explained.

So that's how it is. This is a normal situation... Han Xiao nodded, his mind slightly turning. It seemed that he had to find a reason to call back the players in the wild to facilitate his harvest of experience.

Putting this thought aside for the time being, Han Xiao stroked his chin and asked in confusion, "Then what difficulties have you encountered?"

"It's like this. Shallow ore veins are easy to clear, but the ground also contains massive ore veins, which may be several times the number of shallow ore veins. The mining difficulty is higher, and it requires larger tools and more manpower, but this is not the main problem..." Melos sighed and projected a picture showing several strange beasts with some insect characteristics.

"This is..." Han Xiao frowned.

"As the excavation deepened, we reached a completely different stratum, and we suddenly discovered traces of some strange beasts. It has been preliminarily confirmed that they are an ancient underground beast that has never come to the surface. A huge group lives in the underground of Sunil Star. Just the few nests that have been discovered so far have more than a hundred million beasts. In the underground world that we have not explored, we don't know how many more there are..."

Melos' tone was heavy. "Perhaps, they are the real masters of this planet."

Han Xiao suddenly understood.

The original home planet of the Sunil people was destroyed, and they later migrated to the current Sunil Star. It was no exaggeration to say that they were guests occupying the magpie's nest.

Due to limited ethnic resources, the Sunil people did not conduct in-depth exploration of the underground. It was not until today that they discovered that there was a huge group in the underground of the planet, and these beasts were the natives of this planet.

If it weren't for the Black Star Army, the Sunil people would not have discovered that the planet they lived on still had huge hidden dangers.

"For some reason, these beasts build nests around the underground Whispering Stone ore veins, indirectly protecting the ore veins. They are very xenophobic, and their bodies are hard, their movements are agile, and their bodies secrete corrosive mucus. They are about the size of wolves. Dozens of underground exploration teams have been wiped out. The underground is the home of the beasts. We can't use our strength and it is difficult to fight."

"Protecting the Whispering Stone ore veins?"

Han Xiao pondered. Most underground creatures were close to radioactive minerals and even fed on them. However, the Whispering Stone ore veins did not have energy radiation, but would stimulate beasts to go mad. Logically speaking, beasts would try to stay away from the Whispering Stone ore veins. However, these underground beasts actually built nests around the Whispering Stones?

For a moment, a word popped into Han Xiao's mind.

Mutation!

"Their group may have continued for thousands of years. Organisms will adapt to the environment and change. Over a long period of time, they have undergone genetic mutations. Think about it, the disasters will stimulate the global beasts to go mad. However, you have never encountered this kind of beast, which means that they have never gone mad and left the underground, which means that they are accustomed to the mental undercurrents and are immune to this kind of stimulation, possessing extremely strong mental resistance," Han Xiao pondered.

The Sunil people were guests who migrated to this planet later, and the Whispering Stones had existed for countless years. During these countless years, they had no idea how much the Whispering Stones had affected the beasts on this planet.

Melos nodded. "That's right. We call these underground beasts Underground Aberrants."

"So, you summoned me, meaning..." Han Xiao had a guess.

A Sunil high-level official was respectful and said seriously, "Lord Black Star, we would like to request your help. We want to kill all the Underground Aberrants and completely control Sunil Star. Only by killing these underground monsters can we completely solve our predicament. Moreover, the underground contains countless resources. Only by eliminating the Underground Aberrants can we safely mine."

If they wanted to completely eradicate the disasters, they could only destroy the underground ore veins. Then, the Underground Aberrants all over the planet were the biggest obstacle. Moreover, they would inevitably have to mine underground resources in the future. The Underground Aberrants were undoubtedly an obstacle to development. In terms of population alone, the Underground Aberrants were probably hundreds or thousands of times more numerous than the Sunil people. The Sunil people didn't want to coexist with such a large number of species at all.

As expected... Thinking of the natural beauty he had seen when he landed just now, Han Xiao couldn't help but sigh and looked at Melos. "What do you think?"

"I also mean that," Melos said with a firm face.

"...Alright." Han Xiao said slowly, "I hope you understand that the nature of this incident has changed. This is a war hire. I will gather more spaceships and mercenaries."

"That's great!" Everyone was overjoyed.

"In order to ensure the transportation of personnel and supplies, I need to build a branch base on Sunil Star immediately. Do you have any objections?"

"No." Everyone shook their heads.

After establishing a consensus, Han Xiao walked to the side and called Philip.

"Help me contact the Norios Consortium and the Rosos Consortium. I am about to build the third branch base on Sunil Star in the Garton Star System. Help me list the supplies and send them to these two consortia. Borrow their channels."

"Summon the twenty thousand mercenaries on Sunil Star. Everyone, come to Senyuan City to gather. I need them to build the base."

"Also, send out a legion recruitment, recruitment location Sunil Star, recruitment target all Black Star mercenaries!"

Accepting a series of orders, Philip responded.

"Command confirmed buzz..."

Han Xiao did not stop and directly released a new mission to all players through the Faction Panel.

[Legion Expansion - Third Base]!

...

At the same time, a camp in the Sunil Star wilderness.

Sunil soldiers were on guard patrol on the periphery. In the camp, many players set up stalls, and some players were recruiting people to form teams.

Many players were stationed in each camp. There were mission points and exploration points near the camp. Players stayed in the camp to replenish their supplies, and a unique player ecosystem was formed.

Maple Moon sat on the ground in a corner with a "Repair" symbol on her head. She was setting up a stall to repair equipment, and business was booming.

At first, she chose to follow the crowd and came to Sunil Star.

As a casual player, she didn't like fighting and killing very much. She always felt that Mechanic was the most suitable profession for her. During the 1.0 version, she followed Black Star for a long time and accumulated many benefits. Her ability was more outstanding than other Mechanics. Her ability to repair and manufacture equipment was obviously better than many other professional players, and she was one of the best.

Although she did not receive Black Star's special treatment in the 2.0 version, Maple Moon's business has been very good due to her leading advantage. Other players are more willing to repair and buy equipment from her, allowing her to earn a lot of money and have more resources to improve her strength, forming a virtuous cycle.

However, Maple Moon rarely fought. Compared to PK, she enjoyed the plot more. The Sunil people's employment suited her taste very well. Saving this race in distress and gaining the Sunil people's gratitude made her very happy.

There were many plot-oriented players like Maple Moon. For this group of players, benefits were secondary. They wanted a good story. Han Xiao's business strategy for the Black Star Army was to use other people's resources to achieve his goal. By employing players, they could experience different plots. Sunil was an example, turning their stories into the legion's achievements.

At this moment, Maple Moon found that the players on the street stopped at the same time and opened their panels. Seeing this, she knew that something big had happened again and hurriedly checked the panel.

The task of building the third base that Han Xiao released immediately jumped into her eyes.

"Huh, Black Star is also here on Sunil Star? Strange, the Sunil rescue mission hasn't been completed yet, so we can build the third base?"

"Who cares, we can build a new base. This is a good thing."

The players were discussing and leaving in groups, heading to Senyuan City. The camp suddenly became empty.

Most of the players had already substituted themselves into the Black Star Army. The expansion of the Faction was the credit of their players, and they felt that their performance on Sunil had allowed the Faction to grow again, and they immediately felt honored.

Every time the Faction developed, the players could have a sense of fulfillment in managing it. Han Xiao's method of shaping a sense of belonging was very effective.

Maple Moon packed up her stall and headed towards Senyuan City. In addition to the mission, she also had a goal, which was to find Black Star to learn some better blueprints. She had accumulated a lot of experience in the past few months. Not only her, but also the Mechanic players staying on Sunil Star were looking forward to learning new blueprints from Han Xiao.