When the Godoran patrol team finally arrived and floated alongside Short Horn Star, the emergency barrier around Short Horn Star was already off, and they could receive communications again.

Before the mission was completed, another objective popped up, asking him to head to the ship’s captain for the reward.

Han Xiao came to the main control room, followed by all the players, and he found that the captain was explaining the incident to the patrol team. The patrol team realized that the scavengers had already been neutralized, so they questioned the captain for the details.

A scavenger raid was only a minor security issue to begin with, and since the passengers were all safe and sound, the patrol team only had to go through some formalities and record the event into their system.

Although he got close to meeting his kinsmen, Kerlodd did not act out and only stood beside Han Xiao while playing around with his armor.

After their conversation over the communication link, the captain broadcasted the current situation to the whole ship. “The threat has been neutralized. I apologize for scaring any of you. Short Horn Star will now head directly to the Juberly Hub for docking and repairs.”

Sounds of celebrations and shouts could be then be heard all over the ship as the surviving passengers hugged each other, glad that they were alive.

After turning off the broadcast, the captain turned around to thank Han Xiao and the players. His face was full of emotions as he asked, “Please allow me to express my deepest gratitude. Could I know your name?”

“Han Xiao.”

The captain repeated this to himself a few times to make sure that he did not hear incorrectly. He was sure that this was not the name of a famous warrior nor a mercenary.

“I will keep my promise and reward the each of you for protecting the ship.”

Lerden, who was standing to the side, coughed lightly.

The captain hesitated for a second before saying, “Green Knight, you will also not be missing out on the reward.”

Although the captain knew that Lerden had run away half-way through the raid, he did still fight and contribute to their victory.

Lerden nodded.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrow because the name ‘Green Knight’ reminded him of a very distant memory. He frowned as he tried to remember the bits and pieces of information from his past.

Normally, any detail that he bothered to remember would often be meaningful information.

“Green Knight… of the Sunil tribe?” muttered Han Xiao in a small voice.

This tribe… had quite the storyline.

The captain rewarded them directly through transfers. All the players who accepted the mission were able to get a cut. After they each registered their own accounts, they were each able to receive 1,500 Enas from the captain. That amount of money was just shy of Kerlodd’s pay for half of year and was worth quite a lot. Hao Tian and some other players, however, were not able to receive the reward as they had not been online when the raid started and thus could not accept the mission. They were so frustrated that one could almost see smoke coming off the tops of their heads.

Although Short Horn Star relatively low-end, it was still owned by a financial group. This reward was taken straight out of the financial group’s pocket.

Han Xiao had also received an additional 8,000 Enas. This extra reward had been given to him personally by the captain.

Han Xiao’s savings instantly broke past 10,000 Enas, and his heart tingled with happiness. This was the first payment that he had gotten after coming to space, and the amount was pretty good. He now had a pretty decent starting fund. He was also glad that the players had gotten their pay because this meant that they would finally be able to contribute to the economy! All he had to do was look for opportunities to sell them things, and Enas would start rolling into his account.

If he had been the only one doing the mission, he would only have been able to earn a fixed amount. However, with the players’ participation, that amount potentially increased several dozen times. The players were like Han Xiao’s mini bank accounts.

_____________

[Protect Short Horn Star] completed.

[The Captain’s Favor] completed.

Area Reputation Unlocked!

Location: Colton Star Cluster – Garton Galaxy

Renown: 2

Level: Some random mob

_____________

The Area Reputation System was a new feature that players could unlock after venturing into space. The universe was wide, and from participating in all kinds of activities and missions, one could earn achievements as well as renown in their area. One’s reputation points in the area was directly related to one’s Legend status. Earning reputation points was a must-do in order to become a Legend in space.

The larger the area, the harder it was to acquire Renown. Protecting Short Horn Star had helped Han Xiao build a good impression with the ship’s backing financial group, allowing him to be written into their records.

Area Renown points were useful. Whenever one interacted with the different factions and tried to accept missions from them, the number or level of missions that could be accepted as well as the reward often depended on one’s Renown.

The Reputation System was a crucial feature, and players in Han Xiao’s past had often been willing to do anything and everything to earn Renown.

One of Han Xiao’s side jobs in his past life was actually to grind Renown for others. However, most of his clients did not know that his work motto was ‘breaking was easier than building’. Whenever he was done with a job, although his clients’ characters would have a considerable amount of Renown in the area, they would also have a bounty on them and be hunted by half the area’s forces. Of course, he did not offer returns.

After receiving his cut of the reward, Lerden was about to turn and leave, but Han Xiao’s eyes flashed, and he took big steps, blocking Lerden.

“What is it?” Lerden stopped. Han Xiao had made quite a deep impression on him, and he was a bit alarmed at why the other would try to stop him.

Han Xiao’s eyes darted around before he coughed and said, “I caught the Boneless Bird’s leader, Serpent Braid, and was about to be on my way to turn in his bounty. However, it seems like I would have to go to a decently faraway galaxy for that. I don’t really feel like going that far right now. How about I sell this bounty to you?”

Lerden paused for a second before replying, “Sure, that’s fine.”

“Snake’s bounty is 3,500 Enas. You can transfer the money.”

Lerden frowned. “You don’t expect me to pay you in full, right? It will cost a considerable amount to travel to another galaxy. Why would I do this if there’s nothing in it for me?”

“How much do you want to pay?”

“1,500.”

Why don’t you go rob a store instead‽ Han Xiao smelled something… It smelled like someone who was one of his own. His eyes immediately focused, and he said slowly, “3,000.”

“1800.”

“At least 2,900.”

“2,000.”

The two went back and forth for quite a while. Lerden barely budged when it came to money, and he was not willing to let go of even the tiniest profit. Although he looked like a cold person, he was now arguing until his face was red for the sake of a few hundred Enas.

After arguing the good half of the day way, the two finally agreed on a price. Lerden will be paying 2,501 Enas in exchange for Serpent Braid. Han Xiao considered it his victory for the single extra Enas.

After making the deal, Han Xiao felt like he had gotten somewhat closer to Lerden. His eyes flashed and asked, “Do you know the reason behind this raid?”

Lerden shook his head and said in return, “But it seems like you do.”

Han Xiao smiled faintly while staring at Lerden’s face as he explained, “This group of scavengers were paid to act on the behalf of DarkStar. They were ordered to capture that Godoran over there. How unlucky, right?”

When Lerden heard ‘DarkStar’, his pupils immediately contracted, and his eyes gave of a glint of pain and hatred, as if he suddenly remembered a painful memory from the past.

“Oh. I see.” Lerden finally took a deep breath and calmed down. He then bade farewell and left with an emotionless expression.

Han Xiao chuckled and pointed at Lerden’s armor. “I’m a mechanic. If you don’t mind, I can do some repairs for you.”

Lerden stopped in his tracks and asked, “For free?”

“Hehe, we’re not that close yet, but I only need a little fee for it. I will fix your gear for 5 Enas.”

“Then it’s fine… Glad to meet you. Bye.”

He turned and left without another word.

Han Xiao felt helpless and clicked his tongue. “Won’t even spend 5 Enas? How stingy.”

Kerlodd strolled over to his side and let out a sigh while shaking his head. “Sigh. He’s one of the Sunils, right? His ‘greed’ is understandable.”

“I know.” Han Xiao nodded and made some calculations in his mind.

He had initiated a conversation with Lerden on purpose. Aside from turning over Serpent Braid, he had also wanted to introduce himself to Lerden. He was able to come up with a new plan from their conversation.

The Sunil tribe was a tribe that lived in the Garton Galaxy. They had a pretty awesome storyline. Although it should only have been available in a later version, Han Xiao was able to confirm that the storyline was already in effect from his previous conversation with Lerden.

He remembered that the Sunil Storyline would offer the opportunity to earn a very rare subclass. Han Xiao was currently stuck because of the Class change requirement and was in need of a new subclass.

Moreover, this storyline had a pretty important main character. Han Xiao was very interested in important main characters, and this particular main character was quite crucial to the next steps of his plans.

The reason to venture off into the stars was basically to get stronger. That, coupled with the important main character, made Han Xiao believe that the storyline would be very beneficial to his growth. Moreover, the Sunils had quite the backstory to them.

They were a small civilization in the Garton Galaxy. Although they started out as a rather peaceful people who lived fulfilling lives, one day, DarkStar commenced an invasion on a massive scale that decimated their home planets. The survivors of the Sunil civilization migrated until they eventually received the Godoran’s protection. They were given a piece of land on some random backwater planet and were allowed to live.

But, just barely.

Their civilization had suffered enormously from the war and the migration, and it was on the brink of collapse. This was why Lerden was furious at the mere mention of DarkStar.

The hate that Sunils had toward DarkStar was one that arose from the near-extinction of their entire race