Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 15: [Assassination Mission: Cleansing the House]

A week later.

Inside Zhang Qiming's residence in the Sailor Valley Manufacturing Corridor.

【Ding--】

The quest you posted, [The Spark of the Skydrive], has been completed for seven consecutive days.

As he harvested the韭菜 (a metaphor for exploiting others), Lao Zhang unconsciously curled up the corners of his mouth slightly. In the past seven days, he had done nothing but rely on players spontaneously recruiting people to complete a quest, and he had made a fortune.

The first group of players who got hooked led the second group, and the second group then dragged the third group... and so on, and the profits of the "leeks" (a metaphor for unsuspecting investors) grew exponentially.

According to the rules he set, every player who completes the recruitment target will receive 100 experience points; the more people they recruit, the more experience they will receive.

His current daily limit is 17000, which is 119000 per week.

[Cumulative Experience Points Issued Over Seven Days: 119000]

[Total player contacts completed in seven days: 700]

[Current Skyward Faction Players: 709]

[Weekly "Referral King" Reward Settlement: 5000/5000 (Capped)]

You have currently earned 11900 bonus experience points through tithes.

Zhang Qiming couldn't help but glance down, then casually clicked on the newly generated leaderboard for recruiting new players. At the top of the list were three rather eye-catching player IDs.

[First Place: Pulling Up Pants (50 people)]

Second Place: Hand-clapping (45 people)

[Third Place: Chasing Antelopes (Guangdong Province, 27 people)]

He stared at the top three for two seconds, and couldn't help but twitch his lips slightly. These players were all geniuses at coming up with names.

The first two IDs are so unique and consistent that they are obviously not solo players. They are most likely backed by professional guilds, established studios, or powerful teams.

The way ABB names things like "Pukuku" and "Shoukoukou" might just be an abstract characteristic of their guild.

He casually opened the player forum.

The most popular posts right now have almost completely taken over the Mars forum.

The title of the first post is very straightforward.

The new Mars storyline is absolutely explosive! What exactly is the Skydriver's arrival? Is the Homeworld timeline about to be turned around?

The poster was clearly very excited, recounting everything that had happened in the past week in the main post, from the incident where the person who didn't eat beef was caught in the assassination attempt by the Holy Cardinal during his live stream, to the first public appearance of the Skydrive Type I, and then to the sudden opening of Skydrive faction missions. The post was filled with the feeling that "the brothers have really done something big."

The replies below were also very uniform, all saying the same thing: "[Allow the planner to return to base]".

The second most popular post was related to the "recruit someone to cut your weapon" quest.

"Looking for experienced players to help me with the Skyward faction quest! I'm a newbie who just arrived on Mars, please lend me a hand and get me into the faction!"

The main post contained only one sentence, but it was followed by hundreds of replies. The reply section was full of messages asking for help, asking for support, asking to be added as friends. Some people posted their attribute panels, some showed off their birth points on Mars, and some even started to seek godfathers.

What's most interesting is that the veteran players who had already entered the outer network of Skyward didn't have time to act aloof; they all replied very quickly.

[First, get in line. All the spots are gone for today. Wait until tomorrow. I'll help you out first, then he'll help others, and so on...]

[Insufficient faction affinity will prevent you from unlocking the Cyber ​​Clinic, and players can only contact the organization via in-game terminals. Most of the Skyward City Outposts that players unlock are temporary.]

[Don't attract the church's attention. This BYD game even has an auto-organizing function. A few players who wanted to be guides got caught by the church, their respawn points were taken, and they were kicked back to Terra. Now I suspect that Gin and our people are among the church's higher-ups.]

[Don't cause trouble before joining a faction; once your reputation drops, even a god can't carry you!]

The third popular post was much more professional.

"【Little Pony Express】Mars Strategy Guide, First Edition: Sky Drive Faction, Mission Quota, Recruitment Mechanism, Predicted Main Storyline, Recruiting High-Performance Players"

The person who posted the message was La Kuku.

This post immediately became more professional. The main post didn't waste any time and listed the information that could be confirmed about Mars at this stage: the location of the Skyward faction's entrance, the settlement mechanism of the E-level guide mission, the daily quota refresh pattern, the possible impact of the reputation system, and the main storyline of the Homeworld world line, which will most likely revolve around the Church, the Reformers, and the Anomalies.

The post also includes a very practical recruitment notice at the end.

The gist is that Pony.ai has confirmed a major investment in Mars Express and is currently recruiting outstanding players with high execution capabilities and long online hours.

Zhang Qiming flipped through a few pages, feeling a real urge to pick up his own.

He also wanted to put on an alias and join the fray, acting as a fun-loving online troll and stirring up trouble, but unfortunately, this lousy forum only gave him visitor privileges.

Furthermore, his current player forum only has the Homestead section open; the forums for the other five Frontier Civilizations remain closed.

[Holy Terra has not been created, therefore forums for other blockchain players cannot be opened.]

"What a pity. I was hoping to use the forum to glean information about the other five border civilizations."

Zhang Qiming glanced at the posts a few more times, and only after confirming that the players' enthusiasm and the overall atmosphere had picked up did he casually close the forum.

Next, he needs to find a way to increase the daily total amount and create another faction-based mission to attract more people to join the Skyward faction. At the same time, he also needs to compete with the Martian Church faction for players.

Now that the daily quota for Sky Chaser's Fire Seeds has been fully utilized, the one-tenth commission is steadily coming in. After seven days, he has just earned 11900 experience points. Adding the part he had saved up, his experience pool has reached 13400.

Without hesitation, Zhang Qiming poured all of this experience into the Wanji Attendant.

The light screen vibrated, and the profession column lit up.

[Upgrade [Myriad Machine Attendant] to LV10 (MAX): Intelligence +1, Stamina +1, gain 2 free attribute points, and gain 1 skill point.]

Without hesitation, he put all his attribute points into Intelligence.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Main Classes: Novice Psionicist LV5 (370/1600), Squire of Myriad Machines LV10 (MAX)

Secondary Professions: Civilian: LV1, Spy: LV10 (MAX)

【属性栏】：力量24、敏捷30、耐力29、智力39、神秘26、魅力9、幸运10。

Health: 377

Stamina: 280

Mechanical Force Points: 390

Psionic Points: 260

Energy level: 270

-

+【Squire Specialization】+

Soothe the Soul - Beginner | Mechanical understanding +30%, manufacturing speed +15%, mechanical strength +20%, more likely to obtain "obedience" feedback when interacting with mechanical units, servants, prosthetic devices, and firearms, and has a preliminary suppressive effect on soul-related malfunctions, mechanical rampages, and prosthetic rejection.

Mechanical Arts - Beginner | Learning efficiency of knowledge related to drawing, construction, and invention increases by 20%, low-level blueprint parsing speed increases by 25%, stability of mechanical modification, assembly, and disassembly is improved, success rate of identifying unknown machines is slightly improved, and beginner-level machine spirit ritual is unlocked.

Flow Mode | Enter a state of high concentration for 20 seconds, increasing manufacturing speed by 20%, repair efficiency by 20%, accuracy correction by 10%, and weapon recoil correction by 10%. | Consumes 20 Mechanical Points | Cooldown: 90 seconds.

Blueprint Calculation I | Can perform structural deductions on low-level machinery, firearms, prosthetics, and tools to generate simplified blueprints or modification schemes | Invention knowledge assessment +10%, construction knowledge assessment +10% | Consumes 30 Mechanical Points | Cooldown 5 minutes.

……

+【Mastery of All Machines: The Mechanical Chapter】+

Target Location (MAX) | Mechanical Technique | Consumes 15 Mechanical Points. Scans a 15-meter radius around the target via a connected terminal or network environment, marking all enemies, cameras, turrets, and hackable devices for 30 seconds. Marked targets can be displayed through walls. | Targets on the same network link can trigger a simple identification. | Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Weapon Malfunction LV9 | Mechanical Technique - Assembling | Injects an abnormal mechanical pulse into a designated mechanical weapon, cybernetic weapon, or networked firearm, causing it to jam, shut down, or experience circuit disruption for a short period of 3 seconds | Consumes 25 Mechanical Points | 25-second cooldown.

Mechanical Overheat LV9 | Mechanical Technique - Assembly In Progress | Forcibly increases the core load of the target mechanical body or prosthetic device, causing mechanical damage for 4 seconds and reducing its performance | Damage increased under high load | Consumes 35 Mechanical Points | Cooldown 30 seconds.

……

+【Mastery of All Skills: Weapons Edition】+

Nozzle Dash (MAX) | Assists with prosthetics or mechanical force to achieve a short burst of movement. The dash distance is 6 meters from the user's radius. During the dash, evasion rate is slightly increased, and the next shot's hit rate is increased by 10%. | Consumes 20 Mechanical Points | Cooldown 5 seconds.

Calibration Shot LV9 | Forcefully corrects the weapon's spirit and shooting posture for 8 seconds, increasing weapon damage by 15%, accuracy by 12%, and slightly increasing critical hit rate | Consumes 25 Mechanical Points | Cooldown 35 seconds.

Resonance Burst (MAX) | Infuses mechanical power into weapon or prosthetic nodes, adding extra mechanical damage to the next attack and applying a slight armor penetration effect. It also causes additional loop tremors to mechanical units. | Costs 40 mechanical power points | Cooldown 45 seconds.

……

+【Psionic Feat】+

Mind Over Matter | Increased psychic power, slightly enhanced mental resistance and perception range, and stronger resistance to low-level mental interference.

Material Meditation | Meditate for 10 seconds after disengaging from combat to slowly restore psionic points and reduce mental pollution accumulation. The cost of the next psionic skill will also be slightly reduced.

Telepathy | It can roughly capture the surface thoughts and emotional fluctuations of targets at close range, and obtain perceptual corrections in interrogation, negotiation, and deception scenarios.

……

+【Psionic Skills】+

Mental Shock LV7 | Deals mental damage to a single target. Base damage = Mystic × 1.5. Has a chance to cause brief stun or confusion upon hit. | Costs 50 Psionic Points | Cooldown 12 seconds.

Psionic Barrier LV7 | Generates a layer of psionic shield, shield value = Mystic × 2.5, lasts for 8 seconds, prioritizes absorbing ranged attacks and mental damage | Costs 50 psionic points | Cooldown 25 seconds.

Mental Disguise LV5 | Distorts one's own presence, reducing the probability of being perceived, locked on, or remembered. More effective against ordinary people and targets with low perception. Lasts 15 seconds | Costs 20 psionic points | Cooldown 40 seconds.

Psionic Lightning (MAX) | Unleashes an unstable arc of electricity to strike the target. Base damage = Mystic coefficient × 4. Has an additional suppression effect on mechanical units and individual creatures, and has a chance to cause brief mental disorder. | Costs 100 Psionic Points | Cooldown 35 seconds.

[Mental pollution: 0/100]

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Looking at the 7400 experience points remaining in the experience pool, Zhang Qiming didn't hesitate and directly poured the experience into [Mental Disguise].

Lv5→Lv6需要3200点经验，而Lv6→Lv7则是需要6400点经验，所以现在的经验也只够升一级技能。

[Skill upgrade successful!]

[Mental Disguise - LV5 → LV6]

[Experience points consumed: 3200]

[Remaining Experience: 4200]

After the upgrade, the duration of [Mental Disguise] increased from 15 seconds to 18 seconds, adding two seconds of duration.

Zhang Qiming glanced at the updated skill effects and nodded in satisfaction. These were the fruits of his hard work and effort.

Next, you gradually accumulate experience through players and quest templates, and then it's all about continuously adding skill points!

Just as Zhang Qiming turned off the panel, a soft sound suddenly popped up in the upper right corner of the terminal.

You have a new email!

His gaze flickered slightly. This was the secret node that he had left for Saint Sophia through Chishiro. It seemed that the Saintess had completed the verification. He casually opened the email.

The email interface popped up. The sender did not have a name, but only a temporary identification code that was re-encrypted after being relayed by Ares. However, Zhang Qiming knew who sent it after just one glance.

The email content was very short.

I have verified the information you provided.

Grigory Makarov has indeed betrayed me, but it's not convenient for me to deal with him personally right now. Following the Cardinal's attack, the Church leadership is using the guise of cleanup and security to keep me temporarily in the joint meeting and subsequent investigation process; my every move is being watched.

[At this point, it wouldn't be convenient for me to take action, or for other secret units to do so; that would only alert them. Therefore, I need to use the power of the Sky Drive to eliminate Makarov.]

Once it's done, I will keep my promise and give you what you want.

Furthermore, if you can truly remove this thorn in our side, I can acknowledge establishing a limited alliance with the Skywards, thus providing you with a platform for dialogue in the future.

Zhang Qiming read the email from beginning to end, his gaze lingering on the last line of signatures for two seconds before slowly moving down. The moment he finished reading the email, the Gaia panel, which had been quietly hovering at the edge of the terminal, suddenly lit up on its own.

-

[Holy Terra - Skyward Descent: 7%]

[(Skyward Organization/Social Transformation - Situational Events Have Begun)]

[Task Name: Clean House]

[Published by: Skydrive Organization]

[Mission Difficulty: D-level]

[Mission Type: Assassination/Elimination]

【Core Task Requirements】

1. Defeat the target Grigory Makarov to complete the mission.

2. Optional additional requirement: An extra reward will be given for completing the assassination without alerting the church security in the main city.

[Target Basic Information]

Name: Grigory Makarov

Identity: Captain of the Isgarius Ship in High-Altitude Orbit

Level: Lv29

Path: The Forger of the Sacred Body

Occupational characteristics: Highly cybernetic modification, enhanced close and medium-range combat capabilities, high physical strength, high mechanical resistance, and the ability to adapt to shipboard combat and high-pressure environments.

[Task Rewards]:

1. 64000 base experience points, Skyward reputation increased, random mechanical blueprint/prosthetic module data ×1;

2. Perfect assassination bonus: 5000 experience points.

[Failure Penalty]: There is no mandatory failure penalty. You will be responsible for any consequences of death or serious injury during the mission.

[Task Background Description]

Grigory Makarov, a former subordinate of Saint Sophia, has been confirmed to have treacherous tendencies. His unique identity and sensitive position mean that his continued survival would severely undermine subsequent reform plans and could potentially deal a fatal blow to the Martian reform movement. To advance the reform movement, this thorn in the side of future revolution must be removed.

You can choose to accept this task yourself, or you can post it to other players!

……