An hour later…

Inside a dark room, the tiny dark green candle was the only source of light. The flame swayed and flickered, illuminating the faces around the table, leaving shadows on the wall. It looked quite scary and creepy.

Above the candlelight, an interface that was displayed to the people around was floating, showing the introduction of the Black Star Character Summon Card. Gold Team’s captain was ‘Fly Free’, a top non-professional player who started playing all the way back in Version 1.0. He looked worried and troubled as he said in a low voice, “I didn’t expect to discover such a big secret. Guys, what should we do now?” “What else? Publicize it!”

“But this is the trump card we’re going to use in the finals. If we make it public, won’t we have exposed ourselves?” “Oi, priorities! Compared to the safety of the entire army, the competition is no longer that important!”

As they were arguing, a female player gently raised her hand and said, “I have a question. Why don’t we turn on the lights, instead of this one candle?”

“This kind of dark and mysterious environment is needed for something this important. That’s how they play it in the movies.”

Another team member scratched his head and asked, “I understand that and all, but why only light one candle?”

“We might be the only ones who’ve discovered the truth. The atmosphere has to be serious, understand?”

Another teammate gave a long “oh” and then said, “I see, but why only light one candle?”

“Enough!” Fly Free could not take it anymore. He stood up and stopped the replay. Then he went to turn on the light and pulled the rest back on track.

After acquiring the Black Star Character Summon Card, the fragile hearts of all the Gold Team members were shaken. They quickly returned to the stronghold to discuss what they should do.

On dealing with the issue, the opinions of the team were split in two. One side felt they should keep the secret till after the finals; another side felt that the matter was too important, and they should immediately publicize it on the forums to warn the army players that their faction boss might have been swapped.

Although they had worked hard to finally enter the Black Star Cup finals, after discovering this secret, the competition did not seem that interesting anymore. Their attention was completely absorbed by the mystery of the army commander. The Character Summon Card had a ‘Black Star’ prefix, but they had no way of knowing if this was also part of the target’s disguise. After all, the prefix of Character Summon Cards usually only displayed the target’s current identity. It did not have the natural ability to see through disguises.

For example, if they used a Blank Character Summon Card on Sorokin or Oathkeeper, it would only be displayed as ‘Sorokin Character Summon Card’ or ‘Oathkeeper Character Summon Card’, not their true identity.

Therefore, this ‘Manison’ suffix was clearly more convincing!

Boom!

Fly Free slammed the table heavily and said with a firm tone, “I think we should immediately publicize this information. We would never have a chance of getting into the finals of any official league, but the Black Star Cup gave us this opportunity. Even if we lose in the finals, we’re still top four, and we’ll still have gained a lot of fame. Without the Black Star Cup, all this would not have happened. We cannot forget where we came from. The reward of the competition is nothing compared to the safety of the entire army!

“Plus, throughout the versions, just how many benefits has the army commander brought us? How many of us love this character? He might be in danger now. How can we ignore that! The chance of saving the army lies in our hands!”

The players present were mostly senior Chinese players who had strong feelings for the army. They had come to see it as their home faction long ago.

For example, in order to protect the army and Black Star, Fly Free was even willing to give up their advantage in the final just to tip everyone off. He knew that just a few of them were far from enough to make a difference, so he wanted to unite the army players’ power, have them come together to find a way, and expose the Mechanic Emperor’s ‘conspiracy’!

Hearing this, the people present were reminded of the past and suddenly felt a burning flame of faith in their hearts.

Fly Free reached out his hand. The others understood this gesture. They all reached out their hands and stacked them together. They looked each other in the eyes and saw the strong sense of responsibility in everyone’s gaze.

“Now, it’s our turn to save the army commander!”

Fly Free immediately opened to forums to start writing a post. Without hesitation, he gave it this title…

‘Revelation of the Century! The Unspeakable Secret Between Black Star and the Mechanic Emperor!’

The fleet rested for half a day on Planet Black Gate. Then, it very soon started to head toward the venue of the Black Star Cup finals. Inside the cabin, Han Xiao chatted with Sylvia about business for more than half a day, and only then did Sylvia leave.

Alone in the room, Han Xiao comfortably sat in his chair, casually opened up the forums, and started his daily idiotic players observation time.

“Let me look at the happy meal today…”

Han Xiao hummed in a great mood as he entered the forums, but he was instantly stunned.

With a glance, the titles were all along the lines of ‘Extremely Urgent, Please Share! The Army Commander’s Identity Has Become A Mystery!’, ‘Mechanic Emperor’s Horrifying Conspiracy!’, ‘Danger! The Black Star Army’s Owner Might Have Changed!’, and ‘Please Save the Army Commander!’. The entire Flickering World panel was filled with posts similar to those.

What in the world is this?

It’s not even been a day since I last looked at the forums. What happened?

Confused, Han Xiao opened the most viewed post. The original poster was surprisingly an ID he knew, the captain of Gold Team, Fly Free. The post started directly with a high-resolution screenshot, the introduction of the Black Star Character Summon Card. As soon as Han Xiao saw the (Billion Mechanic Empire-Manison) ability, he had a rough idea of what was going on, and his lips started twitching uncontrollably.

You can’t be serious. I have thousands and thousands of abilities, and he somehow copied this ability to the Blank Character Summon Card? How lucky can these people be? Speaking of which, I’ve only just returned. When did they use the Blank Character Summon Card on me? Was it at the docks?

He continued reading. As he expected, Fly Free explained what happened.

“Comrades of the army, I’m Gold Team’s Fly Free. About an hour ago, we discovered a shocking secret! “Not long ago, when the army commander returned to his territory, our team was in the crowd, and we planned to use one Blank Character Summon Card to copy Black Star’s ability. Initially, we planned on using it as the trump card in the upcoming Black Star Cup final. However, as everyone can see from the screenshot, never could we have expected to get the Mechanic Emperor’s ability from Black Star! This completely appalled all of us!

“We could not understand the situation. After some discussion, we came to a shocking conclusion. The army commander now might be the Mechanic Emperor in disguise! His goal is to replace Black Star and take over our army!

“In the end, we decided to immediately publicize this crucial information. We need everyone to unite, find the truth, and destroy this conspiracy! Comrades, the future of the army is in our hands!”

Han Xiao looked like he was constipated.

I mean, this deduction isn’t complete nonsense, but why do I still feel like these people are mentally challenged?

He looked at the responses below, which had already exploded. Countless people expressed their doubts.

“Is this real? Is this screenshot photoshopped?”

“It has to be. Youngsters are trying to come up with big news every day.”

“Are you guys trying to make the news and attract some attention while it lasts because you know that you have no chance at winning?” “Bullsh*t.”

“It’s over. Someone is going to have to change his name into Mechanic Emperor’s Big PP.”

Facing the doubts, Fly Free responded to these comments.

“I know everyone definitely has doubts. On the day of the final, we’ll use this Character Summon Card and display it, so everyone will believe that we need to save the army!”

Save your ass! Han Xiao ground his teeth and returned to the panel, quickly browsing through the related posts. He realized that other than those who doubted it, there were also quite a number who made posts to seriously analyze the possibility of it being true.

[Reinhard: Perhaps it’s true. The Mechanic Emperor totally has motive. Didn’t the two of them fight with each other some time ago in the Ancient Star Desert? Could it be that the Mechanic Emperor attacked the army commander after that?]

[Pikachu: If this one is fake, then where’s the real army commander? Did he die?]

[Wolf Flame: That shouldn’t be possible. After all, just think about how tanky the army commander is. I think that Mechanic Emperor might have just exiled him, and he can’t come back anytime soon, which is why Mechanic Emperor dares disguise himself as Black Star!)

(Hippo: Are you guys all going with the story that the army commander has been swapped by default? Why can’t Black Star have learned the Mechanic Emperor’s ability somehow?]

[Smelly Feet Slayer: That’s too unlikely. This is the first time in so many years that the Blank Character Summon Card has gotten an ability from Black Star with a suffix.]

[Zero Square Foot of Zero: Could it be that they’ve made some kind of deal to teach each other their abilities?)

[My Dog’s Name Is Lagi: Hmm, so… if we use Blank Character Summon Cards on Mechanic Emperor now, we might get ‘Indestructible Body-Black Star’?]

You really are a genius… Han Xiao’s teeth were almost starting to hurt from all the grinding.

(Ice Tornado: Wait, there are other possibilities too! Could it be that Black Star was taught by the Mechanic Emperor from the beginning?)

(Blueberry: Holy sh*t! That does sound possible. If Black Star has been Mechanic Emperor’s secret disciple since long ago, that’ll explain his extremely quick rise!)

(Shadow Song of Execution: If that’s true, their conflict some time ago might just be a show. They appear to be on opposite sides, but they’re actually on the same side! What a plot twist… I figured it out! The Mechanic Emperor is planning something huge, and he’s playing a gigantic match of chess!)

Figured your ass out!

Veins popped up on Han Xiao’s forehead.

(Blood Rose: No, my curiosity can’t be suppressed any longer. What happened between Black Star and the Mechanic Emperor?]

(Paradise Disco: Just a tiny question, will I get killed if I ask the army commander directly? Although I’m not afraid of that…]

(Bun-Hit-Dog: Ah, my eyes see through all. A storm is brewing. This secret might lead to a new enormous main storyline… I have a feeling that the theme of the next version is going to be the Black Star Army’s split! I’m going to have plenty of material again!]

What split! You’re the one that’s going to split!

Han Xiao had a feeling that if he caught these players and shook them hard enough, he would most certainly hear the sound of liquid flowing in their empty heads.

Then, he suddenly saw a new post. The title was ‘Army Rescue Operation-Recruitment Post’.

He clicked in and saw that it was a post from Free Sh*t again.

“Brother and sisters, the Black Star Army has accompanied us over four versions. This is our faction, and we can’t allow others to rob what we’ve worked so hard for!

“However, sadly, the army’s officers will not believe what we say. Only us players can see the evidence.

“Because of that, I’ve decided to start a righteous mutiny. When the closing ceremony of the Black Star Cup is broadcast live to the entire universe, I’m going to step out and expose the Mechanic Emperor’s real identity to everyone! “Therefore, I need all of your power! “Although we’re far from being able to match Beyond Grade As, we can use our lives to show the entire universe the Mechanic Emperor’s conspiracy! “All heroes who are willing to participate in the operation, leave your name under this post and contact us. “Comrades, unsheathe your swords. We’re the only ones who can save the army now!

“Even in death, I’m still a member of the Black Star Army!

“Mechanic Emperor Manison, show us your HP bar!”

Han Xiao was completely astounded.

He looked down, and the comments of this post were growing by the hundreds each second. Countless people were thrilled and signed up for it.

What the hell? Are they planning to backstab me?

Should I feel a headache now, or should I feel touched?

This proves that what I’ve done in the past four versions has been very effective. I’ve already built a strong emotional bond with the Chinese players. The fact that these players are willing to go this far for me, it’s really touching.. Touching my ass!

What kind of turn of events is this?

He looked at the post again for two more times and clenched his teeth.

“Frankly, this post did indeed make me quite heated… Damn it, smaller brains do indeed occupy less space in the brain to give room for more stupidity!”