Chapter 179 Black Star's Origin

The others turned to look, only to find Han Xiao alone in the lounge, sitting on the sofa playing with his communicator. He glanced up and said casually, "You're back. You're the last ones."

Li Ge was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Everyone else has registered as mercenaries and joined my mercenary group. What about you?"

Li Ge was stunned.

Did that mean everyone else had obtained their mercenary qualifications long ago, and they had wasted all this effort?!

What was a mercenary group, anyway?

A bad feeling arose in him.

"We already have mercenary qualifications," Li Ge said truthfully.

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and directly issued a mission: join the Black Star Mercenary Group. Li Ge and the others had nowhere else to go, so they immediately accepted. Then, they went back to the Mercenary Alliance hall and joined the mercenary group.

Immediately afterward, the missions that other players had already received were triggered for them. Seeing the faction introduction and mission requirements, the few of them widened their eyes with frustration.

Li Ge's expression was unsightly. This was originally their due treatment, but because of their unauthorized actions, they had fallen behind other players. Thinking of how complacent his teammates had been just now, he felt ashamed. Not only had they wasted their efforts, but they had also fallen behind in mission progress.

After asking other players, Li Ge also discovered that other players had an extra 300 points of contribution as a reward for joining in the first batch, but he didn't have it.

He was completely depressed and full of regret. It would have been better to stay put from the beginning. What was the point of running around? Could they possibly know more about the interstellar world than Han Xiao?!

Li Ge's misery was spread around by other players, who chuckled to themselves, further reinforcing their determination to follow Han Xiao's lead. Han Xiao was indeed a guiding light. They knew very little about the interstellar world, and following Han Xiao's actions would definitely lead to the greatest benefits, far more efficient than trying their luck everywhere else.

…

With the players' efforts, the mercenary group's credit points accumulated bit by bit.

Han Xiao rented a mechanical modification room and gambled on some new knowledge blueprints. Using the materials brought from Aquamarine Star, he manufactured an independent combat helmet called the [Sin-A Type Carbon-Based Lifeform Detector (Helmet)]. It contained multi-layered detection capabilities, scanning for life signals within a few kilometers, and also possessed stronger radar functions, as well as certain protective and life-support systems such as air filtration. Han Da Techie made dozens of them, preparing to sell them to the players as essential auxiliary equipment for external hiring.

A few days passed like this, and Roubao finally edited the first episode of his interstellar adventure, which was released to great fanfare on the forums.

*Star Sea Exploration Log - Black Star Chapter (1)!*

The title of this episode foreshadowed a new series of programs. The scene edited in the opening changed, becoming the cosmic scenery of the Short Horn and Juberly Hub, as well as various strange interstellar species. Just a few minutes after its release, a large number of viewers poured in. Roubao's previous Black Phantom series had accumulated a solid fan base.

His new series was highly anticipated from its announcement. As the first program to enter the interstellar world, its audience was not limited to Aquamarine Star players. Foreign players from other novice planets were also looking forward to it. The viewing group expanded several times, and in just ten minutes, it almost equaled the highest number of viewers from previous episodes.

Roubao was a complete hit this time, his popularity soaring again, becoming the undisputed leader in the video section.

"Surprised, he actually remembered to update!"

"Holy crap, 320,000 simultaneous viewers, am I seeing things?!"

"Gentlemen, I'm so excited!"

"Friends from foreign countries, let me see your hands!"

Roubao's big face appeared on the screen, and he started his usual opening with a cheeky tone: "Welcome to the Star Sea Exploration Log. I'm Roubao. Do you feel like something's missing? That's right, there's no opening poem this time! Because I haven't thought of one yet!"

The barrage exploded.

"Caught off guard!"

"This streamer is shameless, subscribed."

"Beat this grandson to death!"

For the first episode of the Black Star Chapter, Roubao used a special editing method. Instead of focusing on introductions as he had done in the past, he edited the process of Han Xiao taking the players on the Short Horn to reach the Juberly Hub into something like a movie. He followed a single line, abandoning the tone of introduction and only occasionally adding some humorous narration, plus some color rendering, which immediately gave the audience a refreshing feeling, like watching a TV series.

Because there was too much material, Roubao couldn't bear to cut anything, so he simply made it into a story-type video with a duration of over an hour. Moreover, the success of the Black Phantom series had given him more ambition, and he was no longer limited to the style of introduction and being cheeky, so he made a new attempt with more artistic flair. The effect was obvious, and it was a great success.

Han Xiao gave him ambition, and also gave him the opportunity.

As the video progressed, the interstellar scenes were displayed before the audience's eyes. The vast universe, the endless stars, and the strangely shaped spaceships were like black holes, captivating the audience. When Han Xiao appeared, the barrage had its second explosion.

"Xiao may be late, but he always arrives!"

"Sucking up to Black Phantom at close range!"

"Pick up Black Phantom and sprint a hundred meters!"

"Han Xiao is my husband, no arguments accepted!"

"Wow, Black Phantom has gone to space. There are no more boxes to open in the future. I still want to gamble! I want to prove my bloodline!"

"Bro, go to sleep. You can have anything in your dreams."

A large group of barrages densely floated past, many of whom seemed to be fangirls, but it was unclear how many of them were burly men…

Roubao also edited in the interactions of the professional players, naturally with their consent. These professional players were familiar with each other and often joked with each other, making their interactions very interesting. The existence of these professional players also attracted many fans to watch the video, and many fans of the players sent barrages. Immediately afterward, the Scavenger attack appeared, and Han Xiao led the players to defend the spaceship. The barrages rolled, with all kinds of comments.

"Surprised, in this interstellar travel simulator, you can even fight monsters and level up."

"Black Phantom is still fierce. Not only is he powerful on Aquamarine Star, but he can still defeat enemies in space."

"Seeing that Han Da Diao is still so awesome, I'm relieved."

All the way to the Juberly Hub, the huge space station shocked the audience. The video was also nearing its end. The last scene was Han Xiao leading the players to the Mercenary Alliance, where everyone registered as mercenaries. Han Xiao formed a mercenary group, and the players joined one after another. Then, the camera suddenly zoomed in, firmly locking onto the five characters of "Black Star Mercenary Group," freezing for a full three seconds! The audience also watched for a full three seconds!

Then, the screen went black, and the annoying "To Be Continued" popped up.

Roubao chose to cut off the video here because he saw the great potential of this faction. Apart from the leader, all the members were players. Watching a familiar NPC lead a group of players, what kind of adventures would they experience in space? It would definitely arouse the audience's interest.

As he expected, when the video ended, the audience felt unfulfilled. They hardly felt the passage of time and were all engrossed in it, actually creating a feeling of watching a TV series.

The last three-second freeze, coupled with the strong interest in the future of the mercenary group, made the audience deeply remember the name "Black Star."

Of course, another consequence was that the scale of requests for updates in this episode was unprecedentedly huge…

"So engaging, please update quickly!"

"Waiting for the second episode!"

"Ahhh, I want to lock Caibao in a dark room and slap him to death if he doesn't make a video!"

"Emmm… I think he might enjoy it."

"What are you thinking upstairs? Slapping clearly refers to ear slaps. Your thoughts are impure. I'm ashamed of you. If I were you, I would die on the spot!"

The number of viewers in this episode exploded at a terrifying rate, causing a phenomenal sensation. The audience rejoiced, and other professional players who were not selected by Han Xiao were envious and jealous, secretly hating themselves for not being able to persist for thirty seconds. The impact of Roubao's episode even made the *Star Sea Times*, which was released soon after, rush to temporarily add a segment, share clips from the video, and give its own comments.

"In many past episodes, we once speculated that storyline characters have their own limitations. When the storyline on them is finished, they will become just like everyone else to the players. But this time, we found that this conjecture was wrong. [Black Phantom] Han Xiao… oh, now he should be called [Black Star] Han Xiao, he proved our mistake. His scope of activity is not limited by the civilization level of the planet itself. He went to space, pioneering the way for Aquamarine Star. From him, a new storyline has emerged!"

"We once thought that Han Xiao was only the protagonist of Aquamarine Star. It seems that everyone guessed wrong. He has more than one war storyline, but also deeper interstellar main storyline events. Compared with other novice planets, Aquamarine Star itself has limited development potential, but Han Xiao, a pioneer, has emerged. He has always been guiding the plot forward."

"Black Star Han Xiao, he is not just a planet-level storyline protagonist!"

The *Star Sea Times* bravely admitted its previous erroneous speculation, and its sincere attitude was unanimously praised by the audience. At the same time, it also fueled the sensation caused by Han Xiao, and the divine assist raised Han Xiao's impression in the minds of the players from a so-called planet-level protagonist to a higher level, thus arousing even greater curiosity among the players:

--How far can he go?

Han Xiao also watched these two programs, and the effect achieved his desired purpose. The higher and higher status in the eyes of the players meant that he was being accepted at a deeper level.

Countless players were excitedly discussing on the forums, and the popularity continued to rise, becoming the hottest topic.

But now, no one expected that Roubao's video would not only be popular in the short term, but the duration of its popularity would exceed anyone's imagination. In the future, countless people would come back to "excavate," and it would be hailed as --

The origin of Black Star!