Two days later. Hai Xia. Morning Breeze City.
A coastal border city with excellent docks and harbours. Every day, massive ocean liners passed through, their cargo holds full. Prosperous. Developed. Skyscrapers lined the streets.
Hai Xia's strength was its navy. Many of its cities lined the coast. Among the Six Nations, their naval power was arguably the strongest. Blue Planet had four continents, separated by oceans. As the old saying goes, control the rebounds, and you control the... sorry, sorry, wrong script. Let me start over.
Whoever controls the seas has the advantage.
The ocean floor held vast energy resources. Oil. Natural gas. Extracting them was Hai Xia's economic backbone.
Xiao Han remembered a secret Hai Xia military plan. Code name: "Major Crisis Fourth Response Protocol." They were building several kilometre-wide ark ships. If the nation faced annihilation, say, nuclear apocalypse, these arks would preserve the seed of civilisation. The population would relocate abroad, becoming a seafaring nation on the waves.
Hmm... that plan eventually became someone else's wedding gift. But that pessimistic, crisis-driven spirit was worth learning. There's a saying: thrive in adversity, wither in comfort. Meaning, if you don't stir up trouble, you might as well be dead.
Something felt off about that... Eh. Not important.
Xiao Han, his face altered, was now holed up in the Farian Group's Morning Breeze City stronghold. The black gold card from Matthias had earned him VIP treatment. A temporary base.
Three months until open beta. Solo operations would yield maximum returns. He had Farian's supply channels. Plenty of funds saved up. He could buy parts, craft gear, and grind experience. No more relying on outside orders. Self-sufficient now.
Old Man Lu's hidden quest wouldn't trigger until after the open beta launched. He'd already built the connections. No rush.
Xiao Han jotted down his pre-open-beta priorities.
One. Trigger high-reward quests. Acquire rare skills and perks. Boost strength.
Two. Secure stable supply lines. While questing, craft gear to grind experience.
Three. Systematically sabotage Sprout.
Four. Raise his own quest reward caps. Prepare for open beta.
"That about covers it."
Xiao Han put down the pen, his mind working. He remembered plenty of large quests. Point one was manageable. Supplies were simple. The Farian black gold card gave him access to their materials.
Sabotaging Sprout was for the A-rank quest. He had initial ideas. To maximise his intelligence advantage, he needed to target every faction opposing Sprout.
As for raising reward caps, his goal was Reputation. Quest experience caps came in two types: single-quest maximum and daily total. Reputation boosted both. The daily total is multiplied. Best value for investment.
Bro Xiao's Reputation was currently zero. No problem. There would be bread. There would be geoducks.
Reputation came from three sources. First, completing high-level, rare quests with high contribution. Usually only planetary primary quests awarded Reputation. His A-rank quest "Seed in Dust" qualified.
Every planet (not just starter planets) had one or more major primary events. Blue Planet's 1.0 version had two public primary quests and one hidden one. The Six Nations versus Sprout was a public primary. The other would appear mid-open-beta. The hidden primary? Pure luck.
This method took time. High difficulty. Impossible short-term.
The second method was random. Accomplish famous deeds. Related to faction standing. Depended on the deed. No one had ever calculated the exact formula. Unreliable.
Xiao Han focused on the third method. The easiest Reputation source. Climb the leaderboards.
Some factions maintained recognised rankings. Reach the top, earn Reputation. But it was unstable. New players could knock you off. Reputation would transfer. This was most players' Reputation source. Reputation accelerated faction favour gain. Unlocked purchase discounts. And was a prerequisite for certain rare quests.
"Tap. Tap. Tap." Xiao Han's fingers drummed on the table. He thought. And picked his nose.
But before action, he had some burdens to shed. Experience points.
He checked his interface. Seven hundred and twenty thousand experience saved up. He dumped it all into levels. Pushed to level thirty. Attributes rose again.
[Mechanic Apprentice] hit maximum level. The final level gave a bigger boost. Level nine to level ten netted him ninety points of Qi.
Six free attributes. All into Intelligence. Hit the one hundred mark exactly.
A flicker of clarity rose in his mind. Mechanical control felt easier. Intelligence affected everything for a Mechanic. Crafting speed. Finished product quality. Equipment power boost. A pistol with a twenty base attack would hit harder in a Mechanic's hands. That's why other classes could use Mechanic-crafted gear, but never as effectively.
[[Mechanic Apprentice]maximum level reached. Class advancement requirement: Learn twenty blueprints.]
"This random requirement's pretty simple."
Xiao Han felt a spark of relief. He counted. He already knew twelve blueprints. Only eight to go.
He didn't want to waste experience on useless blueprints. Every point mattered. Experience was safely stored in his interface. No rush to advance.
**089 Three Months Until Open Beta**
In the Morning Breeze City stronghold of the Farian Group, the branch manager, Antonov, had a cigar clamped between his teeth. His burly, bear-like frame filled the sofa to bursting. He blew out a cloud of smoke and fixed his tiny eyes—so small they seemed closed even when open—on Xiao Han, who sat across from him, looking him up and down.
Xiao Han was dressed in a black trench coat. The mimic mask had given him the face of a washed-out, middle-aged unemployed man. Plain, unremarkable. This was the identity he planned to use going forward.
Pulling a list of materials from his coat, Xiao Han said slowly, "I need everything on this list."
Antonov took it and glanced over it. "Total comes to a hundred thousand. With the black gold card, twenty per cent off, so eighty thousand."
"I also need a Blood Covenant Association credential, affiliated with the Dark Web Organisation."
Antonov's eyes narrowed. "Two hundred thousand."
The Dark Web was the intelligence hub of the underworld. The Dark Web Organisation was the neutral power behind it. They avoided conflict, stayed out of disputes, and focused on quiet growth. They operated under a principle of peaceful coexistence. Many factions and organisations were partners with the Dark Web Organisation, providing various services to those operating in the underworld, including but not limited to arms purchases, material delivery, safe houses, intelligence trading, bounties, mercenary hiring, and disposal services.
The Blood Covenant Association was the assassin-hiring arm of the Dark Web Organisation. Obtaining the credential would allow one to become a contract killer and enjoy the services mentioned above. For Xiao Han, getting the credential meant unlocking a faction relationship.
The formal name was a bit lacklustre, but its other name was legendary.
The Assassin Alliance!
Of course, if you preferred, you could also call it the Assassin Association, which would instantly kill the cool factor.
For players to join the Dark Web Organisation, they had to go through a long, tedious series of quests. Time was precious to Xiao Han. Rather than waste dozens of days, it was simpler to just pay for a credential. Two hundred thousand was a fortune for a player, but for him, it was nothing.
"Having money feels great." Xiao Han sighed with feeling. Back when he was a player, he had to count every penny carefully just to afford materials. It was nothing like the thrill of spending freely now.
Antonov arranged for a private workshop. Parts and materials were delivered quickly. Xiao Han first repaired the durability loss on his equipment from his fight with Pan Kuang.
The remaining materials were for building new machinery.
"Since I'm acting alone with no team support, my combat style for this period should focus on keeping my distance. A sniper build suits me for now. I need to develop a stronger sniper rifle and more new ammunition. Hmm... explosives, traps, anti-vehicle weapons. And finally, some close-quarters machinery, like small, concealable, high-damage weapons for when I get forced into melee range."
After thinking for a moment, Xiao Han summoned his interface and began fusing knowledge. He decided to start with new ammunition.
[Fuse knowledge? (Basic Weapons Lv3, Basic Materials Lv3, Basic Mechanics Lv2). This fusion will consume 15,000 experience!]
[Fusion successful. You have developed [Torpedo Armour-Piercing Rounds]!]
[Fuse knowledge? (Basic Weapons Lv3, Basic Materials Lv3, Basic Biochemistry Lv1). This fusion will consume 15,000 experience!]
[Fusion successful. You have developed [Heim Rounds]!]
[Fuse knowledge? (Basic Weapons Lv3, Basic Materials Lv3, Basic Optics Lv2). This fusion will consume 15,000 experience!]
[Fusion successful. You have developed [Blinding Light Rounds]!]
"So I'm really an ammunition specialist now." Xiao Han scratched his head.
He still had over two hundred thousand experience left. It wasn't enough to fully solidify his sniper build. He needed to take it step by step.
After some thought, Xiao Han first levelled his core skill, Sniper, up to Lv5. The bonuses to critical accuracy and range increased further.
The sniper rifle he had taken from the Hai Xia logistics unit was called the Red Sparrow. The sleek black appearance belied its true nature. It was grey-quality with very mediocre stats. He immediately began modifying and upgrading it.
This upgrade focused on firepower. The Red Sparrow's attack power reached 92 to 103. Its rate of fire was one shot every two seconds, with a range of only six hundred metres. However, with Mechanical Affinity and the Sniper skill, its effective range could be boosted to around seven hundred and fifty metres. That was sufficient.
He still had tens of thousands of experience left, which he didn't use. Instead, he started crafting the three new types of ammunition.
---
Batch after batch of new rounds rolled off the production line.
The Farian Group's machine tools were specialised for manufacturing firearms, saving significant time. This gave Xiao Han another idea.
"Should I build some mechanical assistants to help make parts?"
He now had smart chip blueprints and more advanced skills. By raising his [Basic Programming] level, he could build simple assistant models, like Rangers. But since he didn't have a fixed base yet, it wasn't the right time to start building robots.
Footsteps sounded. Antonov entered the workshop and placed a uniquely designed, dark-coloured gold coin on the table. "Your credential," he said in a deep voice.
Xiao Han chuckled to himself. The phrasing sounded like a familiar advertisement.
[You have unlocked a new faction reputation!]
[Blood Covenant Association: Indifferent (0/300) - [Probationary Assassin]]