Chapter 17 A Face-Saving Favor

Becoming a participant in the main storyline, and joining as a partner, meant that the missions he received would be different from the players. Han Xiao was very much looking forward to it.

Ofermel's veiled hostility was evident. Han Xiao stroked his chin and thought, "I'll deal with it when the time comes. There's no rush now; this is just a small territory."

Looking at the panel, he had accumulated over a million experience points. With nineteen novice villages on Aquamarine Star, minus Andea's six, Great Horn Mountain, and Green Valley Town, he still had ten chances to earn class advancement skills. That was more than enough to reach level 60! Then, he could go to some dangerous places to collect rare talents, skills, and machinery. That's why there's a saying, "The real game starts at max level." Although he didn't have a version level cap, simply stacking levels wasn't the most cost-effective approach.

Now that he had a significant source of experience, Han Xiao was generous and used it directly to upgrade his skills.

Potential points couldn't be used recklessly, but experience was expendable.

He immediately maxed out three skills: [Willpower Burning], [Overload], and [Sliding Step Barrage]. These three combat skills were crucial, and his explosive power increased by another level. If he activated [Willpower Burning] and [Overload] simultaneously, the Ghost Gauss Sniper Rifle could potentially deal over 2,000 damage per shot. Maxing out the three skills also granted him three potential points, bringing his total to 24. He saved them and would only use them when necessary.

With the remaining experience, Han Xiao performed several knowledge fusions, randomly obtaining new blueprints. One blueprint from this fusion was quite good.

[“Sunworm” Portable Flamethrower] dealt continuous fire damage. Most importantly, it was small, had a wide range, and could be carried around or used as a small module loaded onto armor or robots.

A player who had accepted a town patrol mission suddenly ran over in a panic, shouting, "I've discovered an army! They're approaching and triggered a mission!"

The players in Green Valley Town immediately became agitated, checking their panels.

Han Xiao suddenly raised an eyebrow; he had received a mission too!

[You have triggered the random mission [Green Valley Town Invasion]]

[Mission Description: Green Valley Town, controlled by Ofermel, is very close to Lu Cheng's territory, Black Pine Settlement, and there have been constant frictions. Now, Lu Cheng is leading his troops to invade Green Valley Town once again. You can choose to help Ofermel defend Green Valley Town, or help Lu Cheng attack. Please choose your stance.]

[Mission Objectives: Inform Bashas and protect Green Valley Town, or choose to join Lu Cheng's forces and attack Green Valley Town. PS: Once a faction is chosen, it cannot be changed.]

[Mission Rewards: 1. Choose Green Valley Town and successfully defend it: 12,000 experience, 3,000 Aquamarine Coins.]

[2. Choose Lu Cheng and successfully attack: 10,000 experience.]

"I actually received a mission aimed at newbies."

Han Xiao chuckled. He didn't care about the small reward, but Lu Cheng mentioned in the mission prompt caught his attention. If he remembered correctly, Lu Cheng was the son of Old Man Lu, a wandering warlord in Southern Continent.

The four blueprint missions from Old Man Lu required him to take quests from Lu Cheng. Han Xiao's eyes darted around, and he immediately made a decision. As long as he contacted Lu Cheng, he could find out when the hidden storyline would begin.

He had been coveting those four rare blueprints for a long time.

"Let's observe first and see if Lu Cheng himself is leading the team, or just his subordinates." Han Xiao took out his sniper rifle and oiled it leisurely, in stark contrast to the busyness of the surrounding players.

This emergency mission galvanized the players into action. Some directly chose to defend Green Valley Town for the greater reward and went to inform the guards, while others were still observing.

Upon receiving the report, Bashas jumped out of bed in surprise and hurriedly put on his clothes, quickly heading to the town's watchtower. The watchtower was constructed of stone and brick, with weeds laid on top as a canopy. He picked up a telescope and saw dust billowing in the distance on the main road. An armed convoy was rapidly approaching, with armed forces several times stronger than Green Valley Town's.

"Damn it, those Black Pine bastards are here again!" Bashas cursed, his triangular eyes very sinister.

Green Valley Town was just a branch of Ofermel's operations, while Lu Cheng was a local wandering warlord in Southern Continent with a much larger force. Black Pine was Lu Cheng's headquarters. Green Valley Town was located a few dozen miles away from Black Pine in a strategic location, and Lu Cheng had been eyeing it for a long time, launching several probing invasions. He didn't expect them to attack today.

Xiao Rui came to Bashas' side and pointed to the dark mass of players outside the town, saying, "Don't worry, don't we have cannon fodder?"

Bashas' eyes lit up. With this group of unkillable, strange drifters, they could offset Lu Cheng's armed advantage!

Bashas summoned his assistant and ordered, "Go tell those drifters outside that I need them to resist Lu Cheng's army. As long as they do as I say, everyone will get paid."

Xiao Rui added, "Don't give them too much; their lives aren't worth much."

"I understand." This group of drifters was the best cannon fodder, a trump card that could defeat Lu Cheng. Bashas revealed a ferocious smile; luck was on his side!

...

Lu Cheng sat in the central war vehicle, his expression serious. This unit consisted of over sixty off-road armored vehicles equipped with machine guns and rockets, accompanied by hundreds of elite soldiers, fully armed. They were all qualified soldiers who had been trained and could take on at least three ordinary people while understanding tactical cooperation, unlike the rabble of common wanderers.

Lu Cheng had been coveting Green Valley Town for a long time. This small town was located at a strategic choke point of Black Pine Settlement. He would not allow anyone to sleep soundly beside his bed. Only by taking the town could he eliminate future concerns.

"This time, we must take Green Valley Town."

As the unit approached Green Valley Town, Lu Cheng immediately saw the dense crowd of people outside the town, dressed in rags like a group of drifters, guarding the town.

Lu Cheng's expression immediately darkened, and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes. "That despicable fellow is actually using drifters as cannon fodder!"

He had the armed convoy stop some distance from the town, just beyond the range of the town's machine guns. The trails of smoke and dust quickly dissipated, and the ruts left on the dirt road emitted a burnt smell. The high temperature from the friction distorted the air slightly.

The players who had chosen to defend gripped their weapons tightly, waiting in formation. The cold armored vehicles and dense gun barrels made many people nervous. They swallowed hard, and the sweat on their foreheads gleamed in the sunlight.

Many players who were observing were a little confused. Wasn't it said that they could choose a faction? It seemed like they were about to fight immediately, and there was no time to choose...

"Bashas, do you think you can use these pitiful fellows to stop my artillery fire?" Lu Cheng took out a loudspeaker, and his voice carried far, clearly audible in the town, "My men can easily tear them apart. Do you want me to paint your territory with blood?"

Bashas poked his head out from the town's ramparts, a sneer on his face.

Lu Cheng frowned, looking at the ragged drifters, and said in a deep voice, "I'll give you a chance to leave; you don't have to die for nothing."

But he discovered that after the drifters stirred for a moment, they didn't budge.

"Aren't these people afraid of death?"

Lu Cheng was very surprised, discovering that these drifters didn't show any fear on their faces. He hesitated and didn't order an attack.

Bashas faintly guessed the values of this group of drifters: disregard for life, driven by profit. Seeing Lu Cheng hesitate, he was quite smug and very contemptuous of Lu Cheng's indecisiveness, mocking in a low voice, "Womanly compassion."

Taking the lives of the drifters into consideration and delaying the battle, Lu Cheng's choice seemed foolish to Bashas.

Bashas sneered, about to order the drifters to counterattack, when he suddenly noticed Black Phantom, who had been idle the whole time, begin to move.

Han Xiao turned his neck, got up, and started walking slowly toward the center of the standoff, instantly attracting the attention of both sides and the players. He crossed his arms and said in a loud voice, "Give me some face, and let's postpone the war until tomorrow!"

Amplified by his energy, his voice was no less than a loudspeaker, shocking everyone.

"Why is he interfering?!" Bashas hurriedly swallowed the order he was about to issue.

Lu Cheng was stunned and scrutinized him for a while before exclaiming, "Black Phantom?! How did this guy end up here?"

The commanders on both sides were wary and ordered their troops to lower their guns. The tense atmosphere immediately dissipated.

The players were surprised and uncertain. They were still exploring the background of Aquamarine Star and could see from the mission description that Bashas and Lu Cheng were warlords of some renown. However, with Black Phantom stepping forward alone, the two warlords with their forces became wary and cautious, immediately piquing the players' curiosity.

Black Phantom stopped the impending war with a single sentence, making the two warlords feel as if they were facing a great enemy. What was his background?

Looking at his lines, "Give me some face," how high of a status did one need to be able to say such a thing? The scariest thing was that the two warlords actually stopped. How much weight did his face carry?!

Wait, these NPCs all know Black Phantom. How famous is he on this planet? Has he reached the point where he can get by on his face everywhere he goes?!

"Is this the legendary Face-Saving Fruit (metaphor for high status)?"

Meatbun Beats Dog, who was secretly recording, was extremely excited. This was exactly the kind of explosive material he wanted.