“Three single-pull miracles in a row, my knees hurt so much…”

“Honey, come and see God.”

Han Xiao was astonished. He had only put in three purple-grade items in this batch, yet they were all drawn by the same person. This luck was unbelievably good; he almost wanted to skin Lonely Cigarette to see if he had Bennett hidden inside.

Rigged? Impossible~

Lonely Cigarette was completely stunned. At this moment, Poor Only Has Money walked over with an adoring expression.

“Do you have any techniques? Teach me, and I can pay you.” Poor Only Has Money's eyes shone.

“There are no techniques, I just have good luck.” Lonely Cigarette quickly waved his hands.

The King of Single-Pulls nearly fainted.

Before luck, all metaphysics are bullshit.

After selling the boxes, Han Xiao left. Lonely Cigarette was immediately surrounded, with players looking at him with fiery eyes. Some believed he had mastered special techniques for opening boxes, while others had ill intentions, but the main city was a safe zone, and they dared not act rashly.

“Friend, will you sell the purple equipment? The price is negotiable.”

“Not selling.” Lonely Cigarette subconsciously replied, then turned to look at the speaker, a male player. Looking at the other person's ID, he suddenly gasped.

[Epoch] Guild Leader - Chao Xue Mu Shuang!

One of the four major esports giants in Huaxia, Temple, Changkong, Dynasty, and Yuxiang Eggplant, Epoch was the official guild of the Dynasty club. Temple’s Li Ge was ranked second in the official rankings of Huaxia professional players, while the first place belonged to Dynasty’s flagship player. Epoch adhered to the club’s low-key style, making them an outlier among the giants, yet no one dared to ignore them; their status was extraordinary.

“Is that so…” Chao Xue Mu Shuang scratched his chin and casually said, “Then, would you like to join our guild?”

Lonely Cigarette was overjoyed and hurriedly agreed. Chao Xue Mu Shuang directly sent the guild invitation, and after Lonely Cigarette accepted, a guild title appeared on his interface. Joining a top guild so easily gave Lonely Cigarette an unreal feeling.

He verbally claimed to hate guilds because his applications to join some guilds had always been rejected, but those small guilds were trash compared to Epoch. Being personally invited by the leader of a top guild made Lonely Cigarette feel all his pent-up frustration vanish, leaving him relaxed and elated, like he was floating on air.

“Guilds monopolize resources, but this kind of lottery is a chance for ordinary players like us to turn our lives around. Only through this kind of method can we obtain high-level equipment with very little capital. Black Phantom’s mechanical boxes are a blessing.” Lonely Cigarette was secretly pleased.

…

The popularity of [Black Phantom’s Mechanical Boxes] continued to rise, and the Aquamarine Star section of the forum was buzzing with discussion. Players posted various threads, some calculating the drop rates of the boxes. Players dragged out the King of Single-Pulls as a negative example, whipping his already battered spirit again. Poor Only Has Money didn’t escape this fate either; his story of getting blue equipment even after a hundred consecutive pulls was shared by players with schadenfreude, earning him the title of a new generation's African Chieftain.

Lonely Cigarette’s lucky draws were mentioned. In subsequent box openings, Lonely Cigarette's luck remained good, and he drew two more purple-grade equipment, attracting admiration and envy. With several pieces of purple equipment in hand, his combat power would definitely not be low. People also noticed that he had joined the Epoch guild, leaving only envy; other guilds regretted not having acted sooner.

Han Xiao was once tempted to recruit Lonely Cigarette into his team, but after consideration, he dismissed the idea. Luck was unreliable, fluctuating between good and bad. Lonely Cigarette’s own skills didn't meet his standards for recruitment. Compared to the ethereal notion of luck, Chief Mechanic Han preferred solid ability.

In addition to the filler threads, some people compiled statistics on all the items dropped by the boxes so far: mechanical equipment, useful materials, parts, etc. As informational threads, the large number of good items attracted more players, and players from various continents envied the box-opening event at the Third Sanctuary.

More players from the Southern Continent came attracted by the name, and the players conscripted by the Expeditionary Army couldn’t wait to return. They originally thought the war would offer many tasks and opportunities, but who knew the situation would change so drastically? After Han Xiao stole the Germinal Organization’s secrets, the Germinal Organization barely put up a decent struggle, leaving these players unable to even be cannon fodder.

Players from the Western and Northern Continents only regretted not being born on the Southern Continent, wishing they could sprout wings and fly to the Third Sanctuary. Due to the war, intercontinental flights were temporarily closed, leaving them able to only watch but not touch, on the verge of tears. As for the Andea players, they felt like they hadn’t encountered a single good thing since creating their characters…

The box-opening event was a great success. Han Xiao launched a new event to solidify his position. This time, he used the method of periodically releasing a prize pool mission as another regular activity for the main city, which also received a good response, allowing players to see more benefits while enhancing the variety of activities in the main city.

Han Xiao shared some material and guided Rou Bao to create a new episode, introducing “Han Xiao’s” experiences and deeds in more detail than the forum threads, further deepening his impression on the players and allowing them to understand his “deeds” more profoundly, while also promoting the Third Sanctuary.

Han Xiao valued the players’ feedback and spent his spare time browsing the forum, which looked like he was daydreaming to Hela and the others.

“《Galaxy Times》 released a new episode, and the subtitle is actually Aquamarine Star War? Galaxy Times rarely uses a single planet as the theme, yet this time it’s focusing on Aquamarine Star. I remember that there wasn't this episode in my previous life…”

Han Xiao’s eyes flashed, and he clicked on the video.

Male Host: “Hello, players and friends, this is Galaxy Times, dedicated to sharing first-hand game information to safeguard your gaming career.”

Female Host: “Xiao Chun, I’ve been learning musical instruments recently.”

“Really? Qiu Qiu, what instrument are you learning?”

“I’ll perform for you, and you can guess what I’m playing.”

The female host took out a guitar and strummed away, the melody sounding familiar, like a famous song. After playing, the female host asked, “Xiao Chun, can you guess what I’m playing?”

“You’re playing the guitar.”

“…”

The opening jokes were as cringey as ever. Han Xiao felt his bladder freezing over.

After enduring that part, the main content finally began. The two hosts first talked about the recent trends in the professional scene and the problems encountered by players, then shifted the topic to the main theme of the episode.

“…Recently, events have frequently occurred on Aquamarine Star. The Six Nations and the Germinal Organization have erupted in a global conflict, and players have personally experienced it. Without a doubt, this is a planetary main storyline event. Compared to other planets, Aquamarine Star’s main storyline erupted the earliest, making it highly representative. Therefore, in this episode, we’ll analyze the Aquamarine Star’s main war, summarize the characteristics of main storyline events, and predict their future impact.”

Hearing this, Han Xiao understood why this episode existed. Under his operation, the war storyline between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization had erupted more than a year ahead of schedule. Now, it was still only the early stage for players. The main storylines of most newbie planets were still brewing, making Aquamarine Star, which had already experienced a global war, naturally the most eye-catching planet and a good source for a program.

The two hosts first introduced the planetary background of Aquamarine Star and then began their analysis.

“…The war has lasted for nearly two months and has entered its final stage. The Germinal Organization is now on the verge of defeat. The war has also significantly impacted the planet’s environment, causing changes in the power structure. One of the player's major factions, the [Germinal Organization], is facing the crisis of annihilation. Players in the Germinal Organization faction can be said to be in a dire situation. What should they do after the war? There are several possibilities: perhaps become remnants of the Germinal Organization, perhaps join the Six Nations, or perhaps leave the faction and become wanderers…”

“…From this event, we can see that the characteristics of the main storyline are major changes, large scale, far-reaching impact, and so on…”

“However, although Aquamarine Star players participated in the war storyline, their role was not significant, and they only played the role of ordinary soldiers, with limited influence on the course of events… Of course, we also see more possibilities from this. The average level of players is currently low, but things should be different after their levels increase, so players on other planets can look forward to their own main storyline events.”

“Because player participation was not high, we judge that the Aquamarine Star storyline had a rushed feel. From the player's perspective, it’s more like a cutscene. Based on this idea, our team has compiled information mined by players on the forum and discovered an interesting phenomenon. Please see, these are two possible developments of the Aquamarine Star storyline that our channel has summarized…”

At this moment, two tables appeared on the screen, containing different content, listing a series of transformative events before the start of the Expeditionary War.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. One of the tables actually contained his deeds, such as escaping from the Germinal Organization, leaking information that caused the collapse of the Germinal Organization’s sub-base, and so on. These were all part of the current storyline. He had exposed his identity, and this information had also been shared with players through various channels, and his deeds in the table were marked in red.

The other table removed his deeds, and the resulting deduction was completely different, believing that the conflict between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization would begin with the continental sub-bases, allowing all players to participate. Players could grow in the process, and the major battle would only occur at a later stage, with the duration of the war being several times longer than it was now.

“Interesting. This is very similar to the storyline of my previous life. They actually noticed this, and their logic and observation are detailed enough. As expected, there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers among the players, not lacking in imaginative folks.” Han Xiao was intrigued and continued watching.

Male Host: “…As you can see, the conclusions derived from the two tables are completely different. One is the current storyline, and the other is the speculated storyline. However, the speculated storyline seems to have more characteristics of a main storyline. So, what caused the difference in the results?”

“Yes, these red-marked events are the key turning points that led to the early outbreak of the war, and this key is a character that Aquamarine Star players are very familiar with—Black Phantom, Zero, Han Xiao!”