Han Xiao clicked into the post, and as soon as he opened the video, the two new hosts appeared on the screen, still one male and one female.

“Players and friends, good evening, I’m Ah Wei,” the male host said.

“I’m Flower,” the female host said.

“This is the Galaxy Times, dedicated to sharing first-hand gaming news. Your gaming career is our top priority.”

After the usual opening, the two hosts started the show with the usual awkward conversation.

“It has been more than half a month since the start of the new version. The players of the various nations are all trying to adapt to it. Compared to Version 3.0, 4.0 comes with a lot of changes. Just a preview, the content we have today is very rich. We’re going to tell everyone about the way to play this new version.”

“Speaking of the new version, that reminds me of something. I have a friend…”

Before he finished, Flower interrupted him and said, “I got it. That friend is you. Please carry on with your performance.”

“… That friend of mine had a ghost-related incident happen to him recently.”

“Where did it happen?”

Ah Wei replied, “On this one day, when my friend returned from working overtime, it was already late night. His family was sound asleep. He washed up then went straight to bed hugging his wife to sleep. Then, at midnight, he suddenly heard footsteps outside the door, and he…”

Flower suddenly interrupted again and said with a strange expression, “Wait… what does this have to do with the new version again?”

“Ahem, I was just looking for an excuse to start the topic. Don’t mind these details.”

“… Go on.” Flower rolled her eyes.

“I… My friend and his wife were the only ones in that house, so he thought a thief had broken in. He quickly got out of the bed to turn on the light, only to realize that there was no one else, and the gate was properly closed. So, he went back to sleep. However, when he woke up the next day and went to work, he realized that the gate was open slightly, but nothing was missing from his house. He thought that he had only dreamed about the previous night, so he woke up his wife to ask her if she had heard anything last night, to which she replied no. Don’t you think that’s scary? It’s definitely a ghost.”

“Eat more greens and vegetables in the future; it improves mental stability,” Flower replied.

“So, what would you do if you really encountered a ghost?”

“I’d beat it to death, of course. Do you think my materialism aura is fake?”

After this interaction, the two hosts successfully pulled the players’ excited mood back to regular standards, all turning from thrilled to poker faces.

As Han Xiao listened through the awkward conversation stage, the two hosts finally entered the main theme.

“Back to business. It has been more than a half month since the start of Version 4.0 [Flickering World], and the uniqueness of this version is already showing… that’s right, it’s the world server!” Ah Wei said.

“Yes, after three versions, the players from all nations can now finally gather in one place and interest in the same Star Field,” Flower continued. “This is a major play style revolution. We can see that this version will be exceptionally boisterous. There’s the possibility of national wars happening, so it will be a giant battleground for the players from all nations.”

“Speaking of what might happen, I recall the speculation we made in the last episode of Version 3.0. Back then, we speculated that Version 3.0 would fully open the function of cross Star Field traveling. Now, our speculation has proven to be half correct, only that we did not guess the opening of the world server.”

“Due to the appearance of the world server, the Shattered Star Ring players now have two natural advantages. One is their geographical location, as these two Star Fields are next to each other, which means the Shattered Star Ring players can arrive in the world server earlier than the players from the other Star Fields. Another is that the Shattered Star Ring players have exclusive faction advantages.”

“That’s right. Among the factions that the players are able to join, The Black Star Army is the only one that made contact with the Flickering World in the previous version. The players followed the army to participate in the first exploration phase of the Flickering World and built their foundations.”

“Not only that, the Black Star Army has already become the strongest force in the Flickering World in this new version, apart from the dynasty. I can still remember the Black Star Army being the guiding faction for the Shattered Star Ring players in Version 2.0. Now that they have grown to become such an enormous organization, they will provide tremendous help to the Shattered Star Ring players in the Flickering World, giving them exclusive advantages.”

“Nonetheless, I feel that there are two sides to everything. The Shattered Star Ring players who have such clear advantages might become the joint target of the players from all the other Star Fields.”

“As for the play style of the world server, there have been many posts analyzing it across various boards. According to our conclusion, the competition in Version 4.0 might revolve around guilds. The players without guilds will have more freedom and more choices, but the efficiency in obtaining resources will not be comparable to guilds.”

“The source of this is the system the Black Star Army recently announced…” Ah Wei suddenly paused, hesitated, and said, “Speaking of which, how many times have we made version speculations based on the Black Star Army’s actions?”

As soon as this was said, the players who were watching the show started a rampage. Countless comments flew across the screen.

“Too true. Everything starts with the Black Star Army. Without the army, the Galaxy Times wouldn’t even know how to do their shows.”

“Ah Wei: Making speculations is easy, just see what the Black Star Army is doing.”

“Trash show. Completely reliant on the army :)”

“Black Star: That’s right, I’m the most handsome man in the Shattered Star Ring.”

As the viewers started to joke around again, Han Xiao smiled.

This compliment feels quite good. The benefits I’ve provided all along to guide the versions didn’t go to waste.

Flower coughed and said, “Alright, back to the main topic. The Black Star Army is indeed an important factor when it comes to predicting version development. The core mechanism of the new system they announced some time ago turns guilds into official organizations in the universe and allows the players to become somewhat independent.”

“The independent playstyle has always been unpopular in the previous versions, mainly because the conditions had yet to mature. However, in Version 4.0, with the increased maximum level, the influence the players can have as independent organizations has increased. This playstyle might become very important.”

“The Black Star Army has led this playstyle, and according to what they have done in the past, this will very likely become the mainstream play style of Version 4.0, encouraging more people to create guilds.”

“However! Attention to all players! Becoming independent through normal processes will require you to leave your original faction. As of this moment, the Black Star Army is the only faction that has a system of semi-independence. This means that only the army players can be independent while still getting to keep their identities as members of the Black Star Army! This is another unique and exclusive advantage!”

“We still don’t know if this is one of the specialties of the Black Star Army. If the factions that the players in the other Star Fields are in don’t have this system, I feel that many foreign players will join the Black Star Army… Therefore, here comes the problem. If they become players in the same faction, will national wars still happen?”

Quite accurate analytics, Han Xiao thought.

This was a good thing for him. It would help to promote how superior his system was so that the players would better understand how amazing the army was, increasing the appeal of the faction.

The show went on to analyze the possibilities of the world server in detail, as well as what was happening to the players in the various Star Fields. Han Xiao watched from start to end, mainly to see the movements of the players of the other Star Fields.

Unlike the Shattered Star Ring, the players in the other Star Fields did not have a unified faction. They belonged to many different factions and were on their way to the Flickering World with their factions. There were also many solo players who quit their factions, mainly Americans and Europeans. After all, the love for freedom was in their blood and bones.

The exterior factions that had players were worth paying attention to, but they were mostly small organizations.

Small organizations were nothing to worry about. The Flickering World had way too many powerful organizations. The methods of joining them in Version 4.0 would increase drastically. The players would not be able to resist the temptation to join bigger organizations.

Furthermore, some might even sell out their old boss in exchange for Contribution Points from the new boss.

Han Xiao could recall many examples where players deliberately used small organizations’ names to mess with enormous organizations. They would then betray the small organization while bringing the small organization an undefeatable powerful enemy, which led to their doom. Afterward, the players would then join the new hostile faction with a higher position and salary, and this was the definition of completely shameless anarchism.

To many players, virtue was complete horse sh*t. Small organizations were unattractive and weak, so players would not miss them or be attached at all. A large faction like his, however, would mostly be treasured by normal players, and they would not cause such trouble.

Other than medium and small organizations, there were also foreign players who worked for powerful organizations such as the Limitless Financial Group, Galactic Black Market, Extinguish Army, and some Star Cluster or even Super Star Cluster civilizations. Depending on the location, they had differing numbers of ‘Immortals’ from different nations working for them.

“Especially that piece of sh*t Sorokin. He recruited quite a number of players and even tested the army players in the past. He might poach my people in the Flickering World.” Han Xiao curled his lips.

The Limitless Financial Group was mainly recruiting in the Sea of Star Spirits, which mostly included Japanese and Korean players. The Extinguish Army was a key faction for the Americans. The players under these organizations should be the highest in numbers other than the Black Star Army.

Speaking of the Extinguish Army, Han Xiao was reminded of Beyoni. Beyoni was the leader of the Pyre Demon Tribe, while the Extinguish Army consisted mainly of the Ice Demon Race, so the two of them were considered enemies. Beyoni controlled the Land of the Fire Core, while the Extinguish Army controlled the Land of the Ice Core. Even their race treasures were similar.

While thinking about that, Han Xiao suddenly felt something and opened up his attribute interface. His EXP gauge was increasing at an astonishing speed.

“Hehe, my promotion is working.”

…

The top tier professional clubs such as Dynasty, Temple of God, Long Sky, and so on had all registered as official organizations in the Black Star Army. Their organization names remained unchanged and could be used as their guild name.

Having been ordered to do so by Han Xiao, Phillip quickly processed the procedures of guilds becoming official one after another. The organizational structure of the army players changed drastically as they officially became recognized subsidiary guild organizations and had documents in the army.

After the registration, these guilds immediately told some of their members to take part in the main storyline exploration mission so that they could receive the many discounts Han Xiao had mentioned. To these large guilds, they could also use these discounts to attract many players who did not have a guild yet to join them. It was a win-win.

Through the hard work of the logistics department in the past twenty years, the various models of equipment in the army were all the latest, while the items the players had were all abandoned models from twenty years ago. They needed to upgrade. Plus, with the thirty-percent discount, their desire to spend was at the peak. A shopping spree started in the military supplies store very soon.

To the Great Mechanic Han, the Enas earned from the players now was just small profits. What was important was EXP. He had added EXP price to more items in the faction store and introduced a new system. The players could choose one of two purchasing methods—Enas or EXP. If they had no money in their pockets, they could use EXP to buy things.

In the eyes of other army members, this would look a little strange, as if equipment were given out for free. However, Han Xiao did not have to be as careful about the way he treated the players as he was before, given how strong he had become. All he had to do was say that the Immortals had privileges, and no one would ask any more questions.

The result of that was the explosive increase in the efficiency of harvesting EXP. EXP was a special type of currency only belonging to the players. Currently, only the Black Star Army had the service of using EXP to buy things; the other factions would not be able to do it even if they wanted to.

Millions of army players arrived at Black Star Palace over several days, while the players from the other Star Fields were still on their way. According to the schedule of these players, the players that would reach the world server the second-fastest should be the Southeast Asian players in Blackhole Edge, mainly Thais, Vietnamese, Indonesians, and Singaporeans. However, that was still many days away. The Chinese players had more than enough time to exploit their advantages.

As deployed by the Black Star Army, many players were split into mostly two directions. One group followed the fleet led by Hila toward the area of the fourth exploration phase, ready to interfere with the competition between the outside forces. The remaining players were mainly guild members who made use of the benefit Han Xiao promised and went to build guild strongholds in various locations of the army’s territory. At the same time, they used Team Merit Points to purchase resource points and the operation rights for various businesses, starting to build stronger foundations for their guilds.

With Han Xiao’s control behind the curtain, all the army players had moved. This was developing according to the path he had pointed out. The mainstream play style proven by what happened in his previous life was expanding his lead in the world server step by step.

At the same time, the fleet led by Hila arrived at the area of the fourth exploration phase together with other organizations.