“Good heavens, this huge thing is the headquarters? How much is this worth?!”

“Could it be that the Black Star Army has dominated the Garton Star System?”

As the hundreds of thousands of players collectively stared at the sky, their faces blank, their panels all shook at the same time, and they all received messages.

Kuáng Dāo came back to his senses and hurriedly opened his panel to look at the prompt, a look of joy instantly floating on his face.

All the players of the Black Star Army received new faction missions at the same time.

[【Ten Years】-First Ring]

[Mission Introduction: The world is changing, time flies, ten years have passed in an instant. The situation in the universe is treacherous and undercurrents are surging. You will participate in this great tide of the times. It is time to return to your team.]

[Mission Requirement: Go to the nearest Black Star Army satellite fortress]

[Reward: 15,000 experience, Black Star Army Faction Favorability +300]

[This mission is a chain mission]

Han Xiao had been watching when the players would come online. It was he who released the mission to all the army players through the faction panel, in order to lead the players and guide them to understand the brand-new version, so that they would not be confused and run around randomly.

Han Xiao's wording was very formal, making it like a newbie mission for the new version. Anyway, in the eyes of the players, all missions were released by the panel.

The players had just entered the new version and were eager to understand the environmental changes. This mission immediately became a light in the darkness, like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey, making them itch unbearably and attracting the attention of all the players at once.

"This is the guiding mission for the new version. Follow it and you'll know how the plot has developed. Trust me, you definitely won't be wrong." Ròu Bāo said with certainty.

"It's actually a guiding mission based on the Black Star Army faction..." Kuáng Dāo's eyes lit up, "This must be implying that the Black Star Army will be an important character in the 3.0 version plot!"

No one refused the guiding mission of the version plot. Many players had goals for their actions. Next, they only needed to go to the pier to take a spaceship and board the huge satellite fortress in the sky.

Just as everyone thought so, dozens of sesame-sized black spots suddenly appeared in the direction of the Black Star Army headquarters satellite. They descended at a speed visible to the naked eye and quickly magnified. It was a fleet with the Black Star logo, hovering above the heads of hundreds of thousands of players. The stable anti-gravity device did not stir up a gust of wind.

The many players present couldn't help but be stunned. At this time, the bellies of dozens of warships opened, releasing traction beams towards the ground. At the same time, people on the ships spoke through special loudspeakers, and their voices echoed in the sky above the entire city.

"All Black Star Army members please board the ship. Repeat, all Black Star Army members please board the ship."

These were all spaceships that Han Xiao sent to pick up the players. The players present did not expect that the Black Star Army would directly send people to pick them up, and they were very surprised.

This was Godora's planet. Were they making such a big show, regardless of affecting the entire city? Had the Black Star Army's status become so high now?

All the signs indicated that the Black Star Army in their impressions was no longer what it used to be. Many players were increasingly eager to know what changes had taken place in the Black Star Army after ten years.

Everyone boarded the spaceship one after another, and the fleet then closed its bellies and turned back.

After boarding the ship, the players took action, all wanting to find the NPCs on the ship to inquire about information. However, the journey from Golden Gate Star to the army headquarters was too short. It was less than half a minute before they arrived at their destination. The players who wanted to inquire about information could only give up.

The Black Star Army headquarters in the porthole continued to enlarge. When they got closer, they could see the details of the satellite fortress clearly. The surface was full of defense measures, covered with various strange devices. Some players even saw thrusters. Rather than calling it a satellite fortress, it was more like a satellite battleship!

Professional players gathered together, observing through the porthole. Kuáng Dāo couldn't help but click his tongue, "This thing looks so strong. Compared to a fortress, it's more like a weapon."

"I remember in the last version, a flagship of tens of thousands of meters was already very terrifying. I didn't expect that at the opening of the new version, an even more shocking interstellar weapon would appear. I remember there was no such thing in the army in the last version," Hào Tiān said.

"I wonder if it was built by Black Star..." Fēng Yuè wondered.

Soon, the fleet entered the spaceport. Hundreds of thousands of players filed out, quickly occupying a large area of the dock, looking around and curiously observing the surrounding environment.

As soon as they arrived here, many players felt the lively atmosphere. NPCs with names hanging around came and went. They were all army members with the Black Star logo, much more lively than the base on the ground.

"Is this the new headquarters? Are there no NPCs to welcome us?"

"What are we going to do next?"

Just as the players were hesitating, the panel changed again. The first ring of [Ten Years] was completed, and Han Xiao directly released the second ring mission.

[Second Ring]

[Mission Introduction: In the past ten years, the interstellar pattern has undergone tremendous changes. You need to review the deeds of the Black Star Army in the past ten years.]

[Mission Requirement: Update and activate the internal program of the Black Star Army, and watch the video course [History of the Black Star Army (Required)]]

[Reward: 25,000 experience, Black Star Army Faction Favorability +500]

Han Xiao had been secretly observing the players' movements in the base. He didn't need to show up. He could guide the players' actions remotely in the form of missions, which was more natural and covert.

"That's right, this must be the background introduction for the new version!"

"I knew it, there must be version hints, just like in 2.0."

"It's so convenient. I thought I had to find clues myself."

Kuáng Dāo's eyes lit up. He was considering how to learn about the events that happened during the version update. He didn't expect that this guiding mission would directly announce the information they wanted to know the most. How comfortable.

The mission requirement was to update the internal program, which was the Phillip subprogram. This was an APP that all Black Star Army members had installed, which had functions such as querying their resume in the army, querying accumulated merits, browsing the faction store, summoning airdrop materials, and so on.

Hundreds of thousands of players took out their communicators and opened the program. This time, there was finally a response. Phillip's virtual image turned into a three-dimensional projection, floating above the screens of the communicators, and spoke crisply.

"Coordinate detection in progress... Coordinate confirmed. You are located at the Black Star Army base. Permissions unlocked. Database update permissions have been obtained. Please scan for verification, buzzing."

Before the version update, the Phillip subprogram did not support the three-dimensional projection function. Players could only tease Phillip with words. At this time, Phillip already had a virtual image, a small boy the size of a finger, who looked as cute as a girl and looked very young and cute.

The eyes of many female players suddenly turned into shining little stars, and they couldn't help but touch Phillip with their fingers. Although they didn't feel the touch of a real object, Phillip seemed to be poked in the face, covering his little face with tears in his eyes. His innocent little eyes seemed to be saying that it hurt. His three-dimensional projection had a virtual sensing function.

At this moment, a large number of female players, including Fēng Yuè, were instantly captured by Phillip, and their maternal love overflowed.

"Wow, how can it be so cute!"

"Oops, this is the feeling of giving birth!"

"It's so cute that my heart is melting..."

"Cute, want to eat."

Hào Tiān pinched Phillip's head and exploded it, turning it into a large pile of light debris. The next moment, it turned back into a three-dimensional projection, shrinking in the corner of the screen and shivering. Hào Tiān saw this and pondered, "There is no damage information. It seems it can't be used as a pet to fight."

"...Are you a devil?"

Kuáng Dāo's mouth twitched as he watched from the side.

Everyone teased Phillip for a while before Phillip prompted that the update was complete. The players present then officially opened the internal program. Phillip shrank back into the screen and issued a prompt.

"Permissions have been reactivated. Welcome back to the Black Star Army. Please watch the following course."

Each player's communicator shot out a beam of light, forming a virtual three-dimensional screen, and began to play a video, the title of which was "History of the Black Star Army," which was the course required to be watched by the mission.

Han Xiao set it up so that after the program was reactivated, the course would be automatically played. This was not only for the players, but also a course that every member of the Black Star Army needed to watch. It was a textbook used to establish the Black Star Army's faction culture. The creator was Roselyn.

In his previous life, players basically had to dig out the background of the version update themselves, which was very inefficient. Han Xiao simply used his own advantages to tell the players the history of the version update directly in this way, so that they could figure out the situation as soon as possible, which could save a lot of trouble and also improve the players' sense of identity and belonging to the Black Star Army.

The players were refreshed. They were eager to know what the Black Star Army had become now, so they all quieted down and stared at their respective virtual screens, concentrating.

"The Black Star Army was established in Star Sea Calendar 688 and has been established for seventeen years. It was formerly known as the Black Star Mercenary Group. The founder is [Black Star] Han Xiao..." Roselyn's voice sounded, and the screen showed the black silhouette of Black Star, standing at the front, with a group of cadres standing behind him.

After only watching the beginning, Ròu Bāo's eyes lit up, "There's a strong sense of déjà vu..."

After talking about the founding time and the leader, Roselyn changed the subject and directly introduced the process of the Black Star Army's scale changes.

The screen showed a flat star map of the Garton Star System. The upper left corner marked the time as 688, which was when the Black Star Mercenary Group was just established. In the vast star map of the star system, an extremely inconspicuous small green dot represented the power of the Black Star Mercenary Group at that time.

Then, the time in the upper left corner began to slowly roll. The small green dot moved around, finally found a base and stopped, and began to expand into a small irregular-shaped green area. As time slowly expanded, this method was used to express the development trend of the Black Star Army.

Not only the hundreds of thousands of players at the headquarters, but also the players who came online at other bases were watching the course synchronously. These were all the changes that the players had experienced in 1.0 and 2.0. They were all watching with relish as they were presented in this way.

As the green area slowly expanded in the Garton Star System, the time in the upper left corner finally came to ten years ago, which was the time point before the version update.

Many players were focused. From now on, it was the ten years they had not experienced, the changes they did not know.

At this moment, the perspective of the video screen suddenly zoomed out, from the Garton Star System directly to the entire Colton Star Cluster. The star map instantly enlarged dozens or hundreds of times!

At the same moment, the green area that was originally limited to the Garton Star System instantly spread to most of the Colton Star Cluster, occupying half of the country!

The players present were immediately stunned.

As the date in the upper left corner jumped, the sphere of influence soared wildly. If the expansion speed of the Black Star Army in 2.0 was running, then in the ten years of the version update, the expansion speed was like getting on a fighter jet!

The date finally came to 705, and 90% of the entire Colton Star Cluster was green.

At this time, Roselyn's background sound explained appropriately.

"Now, the Black Star Army has completed its transformation. Branches are located throughout the Colton Star Cluster. Its business scope includes wars, planet mining, and various types of employment. It is also a long-term ally of the Colton power holder, the Crystal Civilization, and a partner of dozens of star system-level civilizations. It has nearly 20 Calamity Grade powerhouses under its command, owns hundreds of thousands of warships, and has the mining rights to hundreds of resource planets. It is already a large armed organization ranked at the top of the Shattered Star Ring."

Kuáng Dāo and Ròu Bāo opened their mouths wide. The expressions of all the players around them were exactly the same as theirs, dumbfounded, their faces full of shock!

When he saw the army headquarters, Kuáng Dāo had already tried his best to overestimate the power of the Black Star Army ten years later, but he didn't expect that he had still underestimated the Black Star Army. His imagination had limited him.

This feeling was like after sleeping, the township factory where he worked had become a world's top 500 enterprise overnight!

How did you fly to the sky when I turned my head?!

Everyone's curiosity was greatly aroused, and they were itching to know about the deeds of the Black Star Army in the past ten years. They couldn't wait to drag the video progress bar and immediately jump to the back—what exactly happened when we were not around that allowed the Black Star Army to jump to become a star cluster-level power?

————

(There will be another chapter later)