Chapter 1 The Black Star Army Crosses Star Systems

*Galaxy* had already passed through two versions. Each star cluster was like an independent server, with different main story events. Players had different experiences and encounters, serving different civilizations, contacting different characters, and seeing different scenery.

Although the events in many star clusters were different, the trend of the major versions had the same characteristics.

In version 1.0, players were born on novice planets and experienced events on the planets. In version 2.0, they experienced the turmoil of the novice planets, received guidance from different camps, and officially entered the Star Sea universe, adventuring within the star system. In the current version 3.0, the player's stage began to gradually expand to the star cluster they were in, delving deeper into all aspects of the Star Sea.

Professional clubs from various countries chose different star clusters as their base camps to facilitate the acquisition of resources, thereby attracting ordinary domestic players to flock there, forming differences. The Constellation Corridor was mainly the home of Russian and Australian professional players, as well as some small national clubs. Of course, ordinary players were not limited to this and could choose to start in different star clusters at will. Even the Shattered Star Ring had many international friends, and the Constellation Corridor was the same, with players from various countries.

The players here experienced the rebellion of Sordrian, the novice planet. This planet was originally a remote fief of a star system-level civilization. Due to historical factors, it had long been an autonomous region. The ruler of the planet held military power and defied orders. Because this person was involved in a sensitive event, he was suppressed by the star system-level civilization in version 2.0. The ruler of Sordrian was unwilling to be captured and openly resisted.

In the mid-to-late stage of version 2.0, the rebellion was suppressed, and the civilization regained Sordrian. The ruler led the fleet to escape. Due to external intervention, players entered space. Unlike the Shattered Star Ring, where the Black Star Army deliberately guided them, the players in the Constellation Corridor went their separate ways. Some were recruited by the star system-level civilization, some followed Sordrian to escape, and some became freelancers traveling the universe, scattered in various civilizations in the surrounding star systems, divided into many camps, a mess, which was very different from the situation in the Shattered Star Ring.

In the 3.0 Crimson Tide, because the Constellation Corridor was the base camp of the Crimson Empire, almost all civilizations were controlled by the empire and dared not cause trouble. Therefore, unlike the star clusters outside the Central Star Sea, there was no turmoil, and even friction between civilizations was rare. A few months after the version opened, the secret war storyline on the Shattered Star Ring side had already been completed, and the players in the Constellation Corridor had only recently triggered the main storyline and were still in the exploration stage of the plot after just connecting with the star cluster-level civilization.

It was precisely because of the large number of camps and the good public security that the players here looked for fun on their own, advocating PvP, which led to frequent guild wars, robbing each other of resources and territory. Because Russia and Australia coexisted here, ordinary players on both sides took the initiative to treat each other as opposing camps, fighting each other happily and very lively.

In order to facilitate communication, the player groups would always tacitly allow the existence of public areas, forming a clustering effect. The largest safe zone recognized by the Constellation Corridor players was a trade planet named Gilman in the initial star cluster, which was extremely prosperous. It was also a stargate transit station with convenient transportation. Many players set up stalls and sought teams here, treating it as a public area.

The location of the Black Star Army's branch was Gilman Star.

On this day, as usual, many players took interstellar flights from other places to Gilman Star and lined up at the planet's spaceport. The queue of spaceships stretched out like a river of light, quite crowded.

"Liejiu Vodka" (烈酒伏特加, Fierce Vodka), the vice president of the Strength and Glory Guild, and many guild members were in one of the interstellar spaceships. This guild was the official guild under the most famous club in Russia. The goal of its operation was to provide resources for the club's "Glory" team players... but some Huaxia players preferred to call them the "White Emperor Holy Sword" team.

Liejiu Vodka led his people to do tasks in other civilizations and collected a batch of equipment. This time, he returned to Gilman Star to rest and put the equipment into the warehouse of the Gilman Star Guild base.

"The captain issued a notice saying that the identity checks of the ship team ahead had problems. We probably have to wait ten minutes to get in." A guild executive walked into the room and reported to Liejiu Vodka.

"Thank you for your hard work." Liejiu Vodka nodded.

Everyone was not surprised and opened the panel on their own, waiting while browsing the forum.

Liejiu Vodka was the same. He browsed the forum, and many posts about the Black Star Army came into view. He shook his head and couldn't help but say, "The topic of the Black Star Army has been discussed for half a month. I don't know if it is really opening a branch in the Constellation Corridor."

Hearing this, everyone opened up the topic.

"We can't even reach the Crimson Empire now. Who knows if the Black Star Army has arrived? They were received by the head of the empire, and their level is so high. We can't meet them, right?"

"Yes, even if they come to open a branch, we may not be able to meet them. Who knows where they will appear."

Currently, the players in the Constellation Corridor had not yet joined the Crimson Empire, and Han Xiao had not brought the players over. The army directly arrived near the mother planet of the super-large stargate empire. There were no players witnessing it in the middle. Due to information asymmetry, the players in the Constellation Corridor had no way of knowing the actions of the Black Star Army.

While everyone was chatting, someone glanced out of the porthole and suddenly froze. He turned his head abruptly and stared straight out of the window with a look of surprise.

"What is that?!"

Everyone was stunned and looked over, equally stunned.

A fleet was guarding a huge mobile satellite base, sailing out of the stargate in the distance and slowly approaching Gilman Star. Not only Liejiu Vodka and others, but also the players and interstellar citizens queuing outside the spaceport all saw this scene.

On the hull of the fleet was engraved the logo of the Black Star Army, which the players in the Constellation Corridor also recognized.

"Black Star Army?!"

"They actually appeared here?!"

Under the gaze of shocked eyes, the Black Star Army's satellite base slowly stopped in the outer space of Gilman Star and sent a fleet to negotiate with the planet's garrison.

Looking at this scene, Liejiu Vodka was stunned for a while, and suddenly said in surprise: "Ula! Could it be... the Black Star Army is going to establish a branch on Gilman Star?!"

Hearing this, the faces of the surrounding guild members changed, overjoyed.

Not long after, the news of the arrival of the army quickly spread throughout Gilman Star. The players on the ground could see the satellite base in outer space when they looked up, their eyes widened, and they became excited.

Soon, the main force of the army completed negotiations with Gilman Star. Because of the identity of the legion commander and the authority granted by the Crimson Empire, Gilman Star was not qualified to refuse the army's branch to be stationed here, so it had to send people to help the Black Star Army set up the base.

Then, while the players watched with anticipation, the army finally officially issued a notice to the world, announcing the establishment of a branch here!

As soon as the news came out, it swept the forum like a hurricane, and the players in the Constellation Corridor were all in an uproar, greatly surprised.

After waiting for more than half a month, the Black Star Army really appeared across the star cluster. Everyone had made various guesses about the way the Black Star Army would contact them, but no one thought that the Black Star Army would directly descend on their main city-like public area!

The players' reaction was directly reflected in the forum, and it soon started a massacre mode. The topic of the army appearing on Gilman Star instantly soared to the top of the popular topics in the Constellation Corridor section!

Half a month of expectation turned into a flame of excitement, igniting the enthusiasm of all players!

This was the first cross-star cluster camp to contact *Galaxy* players, and even the forum sections of other star clusters cast excited gazes.

Especially the Shattered Star Ring.

……

In the Shattered Star Ring, the Black Star Army headquarters was crowded with people. Countless players stopped at the same time, opened the forum, and their spirits were lifted.

"The army has crossed the star cluster!"

"The forum section on the Russian side has exploded in an instant! Let's join in the fun!"

"Haha, let those foreigners experience the feeling of our army."

"Although we are separated by star clusters, we may be in the same camp in the future."

"Hey, do you think this is called developing party members..."

The players in the Shattered Star Ring became excited and spontaneously organized to visit the forum section of the Constellation Corridor. They posted a building post there, and the title and replies were all "Welcome foreign friends to join the group." In just a few minutes, this post was stacked nearly 100,000 floors by Huaxia players!

"The Black Star Army headquarters sent a congratulatory message."

"The Shattered Star Ring sent a congratulatory message."

"Welcome the Bearman and Kangaroo to join the Black Star Army!"

"Welcome newbies to join us. Remember our slogan is - Legion Commander is awesome!"

It had a kind of spectacular sense of bombing other people's forums.

From 1.0 to 3.0, the Black Star Army had deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Watching their own growing camp develop to this point, many players in the Shattered Star Ring were gratified and proud, with a feeling that we had finally raised our child with hard work.

Kuang Dao, Roubao, Feng Yue, and many other players who first met Black Star felt this even more deeply. They had experienced so many storms with the Black Star Army all the way, and those memories seemed to flood into their hearts.

It turned out that they had come so far...

Mixed feelings.

In the eyes of everyone, the Black Star Army's actions this time seemed to be opening a new era... Perhaps this was the starting point for players to travel across star clusters. Maybe one day in the future, all *Galaxy* players could gather in the same star cluster, starting from this moment.

……

The establishment of the army's branch on Gilman Star immediately revealed its impact on the players in the Constellation Corridor. Almost all the players who were doing tasks outside turned their heads at the moment they learned the news and rushed to Gilman Star from various star systems.

Since entering space in version 2.0, there had never been a situation where all the players in the Constellation Corridor gathered together. This time, due to the appeal of the army itself and the sensation of crossing the star cluster, it triggered a grand event. Almost everyone was attracted by the Black Star Army and gathered from thousands of miles away!

With a wave of the arm, the leeks came like clouds!

The army's branch opened the port terminal and released an announcement on the quantum network, stating that the branch had just been established and needed to recruit a large number of people. Specific details could be found on the army's homepage.

Because the players in the Constellation Corridor did not have a sense of belonging to the army, what attracted them was completely the interests and reputation of the army. With the example of the Shattered Star Ring, basically all old players knew how good the benefits of the Black Star Army were. Han Xiao's operation of three versions had made the army's brand have a considerable position in the player group.

After reading the recruitment information displayed on the communicator, Liejiu Vodka blew his nose hard and sighed, "The benefits are too good..."

Salary, bonuses, camp specialties, internal army services, massive task resources, the various benefits of the Black Star Army were much better than all the camps that the players in the Constellation Corridor had experienced!

In particular, the camp store was the most attractive. Han Xiao had accumulated a large number of low-level blueprints and invested in mass production in the logistics department year after year. Now, the army sold more than 10,000 kinds of mechanical props and equipment. They were classified in the store. You could search for the props you wanted by entering conditions. Basically, there was always one suitable for you, as well as value-added services such as customization, repair, and reinforcement. In addition, there were many dungeon crystals, gene potions, manufacturing materials, and other miscellaneous props, as well as various consortium products connected to other channels. The army's camp store was like a trade transfer station, with a wide range of goods.

"Vice President, are we going to join the Black Star Army?"

"Let's go to their distribution." Liejiu Vodka was very excited. Not to mention that the army's treatment was so tempting, just the fact that the Black Star Army was an ally of the Crimson Empire was enough to dispel his hesitation.

Liejiu Vodka took the guild idioms on a spaceship to the army's branch in outer space.

After entering the dock and getting off the spaceship, he followed the bionic machine receptionist to the hall. The noisy voice came to his face. The hall was crowded with people. Almost all the players staying on Gilman Star at this time had run over.

Among them were many large guilds. Liejiu Vodka saw many old opponents, all of whom were acquaintances who had fought guild wars before.

Everyone was here to join the army. They needed to submit their resumes and participate in tests, mainly to test their combat effectiveness. Now, except for newbies, almost no players were below C-level, so this recruitment threshold was nothing.

Liejiu Vodka squeezed all the way to the center of the hall. In front were the doors leading to the practical test rooms. A batch of players lined up here, waiting for their turn to test.

Liejiu Vodka and his party waited for a while, and finally it was their turn. The panel popped up a task.

[【Camp Task: Black Star Army Test】]

[Task Introduction: The rise of the Black Star Army has been full of legends. Now it is a super-large force in the Shattered Star Ring and an ally of the Crimson Empire. Now, the Black Star Army has crossed the star cluster to recruit troops and establish a branch in the Central Star Sea. You have obtained the opportunity to join the army... However, the members of the army have undergone strict selection. If you want to join this infinitely potential camp, you need to prove your strength...]

Liejiu Vodka and others did not doubt him, and another group of players walked into the practical test room with their heads held high.

……

At the same time, somewhere in the Constellation Corridor, a prosperous tourist planet.

This was a planet with almost no traces of artificial modification. The mountains were clear and the water was beautiful, and the blue sea and blue sky covered the surface. Plants covered the surface, and these plants emitted a faint fluorescent light at night, like a dream. Various beautiful and gentle creatures lived on the surface. In the dense forests, one could occasionally see groups of silver light beasts floating in the air, like fish swimming in the sea.

"This planet is so beautiful..."

Han Xiao and his party passed by this planet and stopped to visit. The spaceship hovered in the high altitude. The group gave up flying and slowly walked in the forest at night. As far as the eye could see, it was all beautiful scenery.

Aurora liked the atmosphere of nature very much, which was full of vitality. She walked at the front. Ames and Hela and other guards were in the middle, looking around to appreciate the scenery. Han Xiao fell at the end, pacing with his hands behind his back, watching the backs of everyone with a smile on his face.

After smelling too much engine oil and metal, breathing the fresh air at this time seemed to be cleaning his lungs, making him feel refreshed and humming a little song.

Hela slowed down and retreated to Han Xiao's side, glancing over, "You seem to be in a good mood today?"

Han Xiao's mouth curled up, and he smiled.

Today, he finally raised his sickle to the ripe leeks in other people's fields. How could he not be happy?