The Legendary Mechanic (WN)
chapter-156

"Retreat, set up the camp!" Lu Cheng took a deep look at Han Xiao and swept his eyes across the refugees. He let his troops pitch a camp in the distance and eyed covetously.

The players became restless. Some players who had yet to choose their side were surveying the situation. It seemed like the Green Valley Ville's side had a higher possibility of winning.

The sky became dark.

Han Xiao walked over to Lu Cheng's camp, and the guards hastily raised their guns when they saw him approaching.

"Relax, I just want to have a short discussion with your leader," Han Xiao assured them.

The guards continued to hold on to their guns and did not allow Han Xiao to enter the camp.

At this moment, Lu Cheng heard the commotion and walked over. "Let him in."

If Black Phantom wanted to kill him, there was no need to inform him. It seemed like he had other intentions. He permitted the guards to make way and lead Han Xiao into the newly built tent. Frenzied Sword followed after Han Xiao.

Lu Cheng sat down casually, not worried that Han Xiao might threaten his life. With his hands clasped under his chin, he remarked, "The famous Black Phantom actually appeared in this small place. I don't know the reason of your intervention—I don't think Balsas is qualified to hire a killer of your status—so what is you purpose of visiting me?"

Han Xiao got straight to the point. "I'm here to help you."

"Help me?" Lu Cheng became suspicious. "We have not met before."

Han Xiao casually made up a reason. "You are more likeable than Balsas."

Lu Cheng felt strange and paused before commenting, "Balsas … He's a despicable fellow. He actually let the refugees act as cannon fodder. I really don't understand, why did this bunch of refugees disregard their lives? What benefits did Balsas give them exactly? Could it be that he detained their family to threaten them? I gave them an opportunity to live, yet they don't want to leave."

"They don't have much combat strength, why don't you just crush them? With your armed forces' strength, it would be a completely one-sided massacre." Han Xiao half-smiled.

Lu Cheng's face was blank. He declined to comment and changed the topic. "Black Phantom, I don't know you, and I don't know why you want to help me. What do you plan to do, kill Balsas? I believe this is an easy task for you."

"No, I don't want to kill people," Han Xiao said perfunctory.

Lu Cheng's lips twisted. A killer said he did not wish to kill people? This is more ridiculous than saying a navy can't swim!

"Then how do you plan to help me?"

"You are concerned about the refugees. I can help you resolve that."

Lu Cheng raised his eyebrows. "You can convince them?"

"Perhaps."

"… Then what do you want from me?"

Lu Cheng did not believe that a legendary killer, who was a stranger, would help for free. He was certain that the Black Phantom had a motive, but he did not understand what the Black Phantom fancied from him.

"I don't need a reward."

Lu Cheng's eyes darkened, and he stared at Han Xiao's eyes. What he saw was a dense fog, and he was unable to penetrate Han Xiao's thoughts. Generally speaking, if one did not want a reward, it meant that the person harbored other intentions and bigger ambitions.

Silence.

Frenzied Sword felt lost as he was listening to their conversation, but that did not hinder him from sensing that the atmosphere had become rigid, and his nape somewhat tightened.

After two minutes of deadlock, Lu Cheng did not say anything at the end. He nodded and said slowly, "Then I'll count on you."

…

Han Xiao petted Frenzied Sword's shoulder while walking out of Lu Cheng's camp, saying, "I've things for you to do."

_____________________

You triggered the mission [Disseminating of Information].

_____________________

The mission was to disseminate the information of Black Phantom joining Lu Cheng's camp, using reputation as a form of reward. The greater the number of people who came to know this information, the higher the reward would be, and players were surprisingly counted in as the head count. Frenzied Sword did not doubt him and diligently went to disseminate this piece of information in Green Valley Ville.

Perhaps the ordinary players would be amazed to encounter this type of real-life interaction mission, but Frenzied Sword had gone through Han Xiao's baptism of love, and hence was not shocked at any kind of mission anymore.

"Next up will be to see how much influence I have," Han Xiao said.

Frenzied Sword was really efficient, and perhaps because he had a bit of a fame now, the news spread through words of mouth quickly. Very soon, it had spread throughout Green Valley Ville. Then there was a huge commotion among the community of players.

"If we choose Green Valley Ville, does it mean we'll become enemies with Black Phantom?"

"How is it possible to beat him!"

"Is this a mission guide?"

The players were panicking. The image of Han Xiao ferociously killing the beasts was still deeply etched in their minds. Becoming enemies with Black Phantom would be equivalent to courting death. The situation of the mission was immediately turned upside down. The chances of Green Valley Ville winning had become an all-time low.

Also, choosing to protect Green Valley Ville meant that the players had to attack Black Phantom. That would result in a decline in their likeability with Black Phantom. That was too big a sacrifice for such a small mission. If they were to fight for real, should they attack him or not? If they did not attack him, how could they protect Green Town Ville? This was a thorny problem.

The players who had chosen Green Valley Ville were gloomy. They felt they had no chance of winning. If they want to complete the mission, they could only join Lu Cheng's camp, but they were unable to re-elect their camp.

Bun-hit-dog was very decisive; he was the first to advance to Lu Cheng's camp. The mission was second; his main objective was to capture more of Han Xiao's acts.

The guards had received Lu Cheng's orders and allowed the refugees to pass. Bun-hit-dog successfully joined Lu Cheng's camp, and Han Xiao, who was observing at one side, narrowed his eyes as he noticed Bun-hit-dog .

This ID seems familiar… Isn't he a video master? Han Xiao remembered Bun-hit-dog's ID; he was a rather famous video master uploader. He had done many seasons of the Galaxy series and was very well-received.

At this moment, Han Xiao had another idea…

Han Xiao strode out and stopped in front of Bun-hit-dog.

"You made a wise choice; I feel that you have potential. Do you want to become my temporary assistant?" Han Xiao asked.

Bun-hit-dog's eyes became as big as saucers. He was stupefied. Did he just trigger the secret quest?

He never had any extravagant expectations, but he did not expect himself to come upon it!

This is life; you might not get what you want, yet what you don't want could be gifted to you. This is too unexpected. Bun-hit-dog was suddenly frozen on the spot.

There was an uproar among the observing players.

"He had triggered Black Phantom's secret quest!"

"How did he do it‽"

"Was joining Black Phantom all it takes?"

"This mission was actually a chance to trigger a secret quest?"

Realizing this, the players who were still observing wasted no time in joining Lu Cheng's camp. They were enthusiastic, joining the camp like a refugee tide. The camp was filled with players in an instant. It was overcrowded and jam-packed. The guards were stunned; they were unsure whether to chase people away or not.

The players who were done choosing their camps impatiently went to find Han Xiao, wanting to trigger the quest. However, they were faced with rejection.

"Why can't we?"

"Is it only restricted to the first person who joined the camp‽"

That was the most possible guess; the players who were a step slower wanted to bang their heads on the ground. The pain they felt was as if they were notified of striking a lottery to only be told it was an error.

They had the chance of being the first, but this chance was snatched by Bun-hit-dog, just like that.

A step slower, a golden opportunity missed!

The players were full of regret.

Han Xiao brought the overly-excited Bun-hit-dog to one side and casually issued five reputation points. He secretly planned on how to make full use of Bun-hit-dog.

Bringing along a player who was a game video maker also meant that he was bringing a reporter along. He could then have a channel to disseminate news to players freely. He could choose to give players some news selectively based on what information he wanted the players to know.

After experiencing the baptism of information explosion, controlling the public's opinion was equivalent to holding a weapon. He was able to defame the opponent, guide the public's opinion, and shape his image to his benefit.

Looks like my manipulation is getting more and more high-end. Han Xiao was elated. He compiled an accompanying mission that was generous in rewards and gave it to Bun-hit-dog. Next, he took out a mobile that could be used to contact him and handed it to Bun-hit-dog as well. He urged Bun-hit-dog a million times not to lose it, so Bun-hit-dog nodded repeatedly and gripped the mobile seriously.

He had two accompanying players, Bun-hit-dog and Frenzied Sword. The limit of Han Xiao's mission was adequate.

After advancing the second time, the limit to what he could reward players increased from three hundred to five hundred per level. This also meant that at LV 40, the increment was at around twelve thousand, but after the advancement, it had doubled to twenty-five thousand. Now, the total value had reached up to fifty thousand.

Han Xiao did not think of any news to disseminate, so he first gave Bun-hit-dog his contact as it would inevitably be of use in the future.

Now I have three players that I fancy: Frenzied Sword, Maple Moon, and Bun-hit-dog. The strength is slightly low, I'd need to expand my support team. Han Xiao was thinking ahead. He would rather focus on quality than quantity; he was destined to walk the elite route. If he was able to take in China's past experts then he would have profited. However, he felt that this possibility was rather uncertain as those ultra-good players all had some strange personalities.

Having only gone to two novice villages so far, he still had ten more waiting for him. Thus, Han Xiao had tons of opportunities left to choose his men.