The sanctuary construction was an enormous undertaking. It had always been difficult to start from nothing, but Coney Fury was quite good at what he did—the plan was detailed, the construction was orderly, and the division of work between departments was clear.
The Sanctuary main storyline had created a storm on the forums. It was the first large main storyline mission as the expedition war was still in preparation, so the attention of the players was immediately attracted to it. With the thousands of players that were already part of it, the rumors surrounding the mission were proven true.
Since this was a large main storyline mission, the number of players participating would never be too high since the more players there were, the faster it would be completed.
Sanctuary Three became lively all of a sudden. The players called their friends and headed toward Sanctuary Three in groups, and it soon became a huge festival of sorts, the number of players in Sanctuary snowballing.
There were hundreds of thousands of players on Planet Aquamarine at the moment, and there were more than a hundred thousand in the Southern Continent alone. After only two days, more than 20,000 players came to Sanctuary Three from various places; the attractiveness of Han Xiao and the main storyline missions had exploded the amount of passion that the players had.
The thousand people from Dark Net who had been present since the start were all completely stunned. Inhumans came to help continuously, all called by Han Xiao; it was like a dream.
Terrifyingly influential!
The work efficiency of one Inhuman was equivalent to many workers since they did not need sleep. These 20,000 or so Inhumans could almost match up the manpower of 70,000 to 80,000 workers, and even more Inhumans were coming.
Completing the basic layout of the sanctuary in one month did not seem impossible anymore!
When the entire construction team realized this, they all became extremely motivated and put all of their effort into the construction.
If Sanctuary Three could be completed even before Sanctuary One, it would be a huge contribution that would shock the entire organization!
In only three days, the camp had a complete makeover. Rough houses were built, and all the people of Dark Net had a roof above their head.
Huang Yu loitered outside Han Xiao's house for quite a long time, before finally making a decision and knocking on the door.
Squeak.
The door opened, and Han Xiao appeared, wearing a Mechanic working suit with the protective goggles still on his face.
"Yes?" Han Xiao said coldly.
Huang Yu suddenly felt very unconfident when he heard that. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Your Excellency, I…"
Before he could finish, Han Xiao turned around and walked back into the house. "Let's talk inside."
Huang Yu entered hastily. Seeing Han Xiao pointing, he found a place and sat down with his butt only occupying a small fraction at the front of the seat. With a fawning expression, he said, "Your Excellency, I wish to help you take care of some matters. I'm your assistant after all…"
As more and more players came, Huang Yu shockingly realized that the one month plan really had a chance to succeed, and once it did, Sanctuary Three would be the first completed sample. This contribution would be extremely huge, and even as an assistant, he could be written in the Dark Net's book of merit.
Huang Yu could not sit still anymore—he would regret his entire life if he let this credit slip past. He felt that he had already offended Han Xiao with his perfunctory attitude earlier since Han Xiao did not assign any missions for him. If Han Xiao ranted even a little to Bennett about him, this credit would have nothing to do him anymore. He had originally been happy that he had nothing to do, but now, he was in total panic and could not wait to join the construction, which was why he came to Han Xiao's door and fawned over Han Xiao, wanting to make up for his disrespect back then.
Han Xiao ignored Huang Yu for a moment and did not bother about him. Seeing that Huang Yu was very nervous and fidgety, he finally said in a slow tone, "Didn't you not want to do anything? It was understanding that you wanted a holiday, are you not satisfied with it?"
"Your—your excellency, I'm your assistant. I could contribute something as well." Huang Yu wiped his sweat as he spoke sincerely.
Han Xiao crossed his arms and looked at Huang Yu meaningfully, but he did not say anything. Seeing this, Huang Yu's heart kept sinking. He felt that this credit would probably have nothing to do with him anymore.
Unexpectedly, Han Xiao turned around, took a stack of documents, and threw it to him. "These show the construction progress of the sanctuary. Go through and arrange them. Report to me if there's anything wrong."
Huang Yu held the documents and immediately felt more energetic. He stood up hastily and said, "I will ensure it is well taken care of."
"Go." Han Xiao waved his hands and went back to work.
Huang Yu walked out of the house filled with excitement. He breathed a sigh of relief. Black Phantom definitely knew the potential of Sanctuary Three, but he did not hold any grudges and gave him a chance to join in and share the credit; for that, he was very thankful to Black Phantom.
Compared to his perfunctory attitude earlier, Huang Yu felt ashamed. Han Xiao was now fully respected by him.
…
Having thought it through clearly, Han Xiao knew that there was no need to have a bad relationship with his assistant. What was between them was hardly even a disagreement, and seeing that Huang Yu had put down his pride, Han Xiao did not want to ruin his future on purpose. Furthermore, he did actually need an assistant to take care of the construction matters of the sanctuary as they were complicated and cumbersome.
Now he truly had nothing to do and could do his own stuff all day long.
Only three days had passed since the construction started, and its progress was already like a horse out of its leash, completely unstoppable. The energy of the players had far exceeded Han Xiao's expectations. They were working even harder than migrant workers; they could all be considered labor role models.
In Han Xiao's previous life, the early stages of the game had already ended when the players came into contact with the sanctuary main storyline, and Dark Net had approached and hired players. Back then, many sanctuaries had been under construction at the same time, which meant that the players had choices, so their numbers were dispersed.
Now, the players noticed that Han Xiao was in Sanctuary Three, which meant there had to be other sanctuaries that needed to be constructed. However, the information regarding Sanctuary One and Sanctuary Two was way too vague as there were very few information sources. On the contrary, Sanctuary Three had the well-known 'Black Phantom', so it was an easy choice.
The majority of people followed with the trends, and as the players in Sanctuary Three became more and more, other players were attracted, too. Thus, the number of people continued to snowball. The future of Han Xiao's 'players' main city' plan was looking really great.
Sanctuary Three was filled with all sorts of yelling. The players created fairs and areas one after another. Some were for selling items; some were looking for friendly PVP matches. The lively look did indeed feel like a 'main city'.
Even the players belonging to the Six Nations had left the expedition gathering call and come to build the city.
The expedition mission had a level requirement and had yet to start, so some players chose the more relaxed sanctuary missions.
Han Xiao had a sense of achievement that felt like people came from everywhere to respond to his summon!
Seems like my image building plan is going very successfully. Han Xiao was satisfied with the players' response, at the same time paying attention to the response on the forums and Dark Net.
Sanctuary Three did not only make an impact within the players—it was also a shocking view in the eyes of the organizations of Planet Aquamarine.
The problem of Inhuman had always been focused highly on. The Six Nations were very confused when they investigated the situation after noticing a large number of Inhuman gathering in the Southern Continent.
Why is Black Phantom so influential among Inhumans? Why can he command the Inhumans? What is the relationship between them?
The organizations raised their alertness, and the danger level of Black Phantom increased another level.
Dark Net was the first to receive this intelligence, and even Bennett was stunned. Thinking back to when Han Xiao said that he wanted to exceed the progress of Sanctuary One in a month, he realized that it was not a joke.
Seeing its current progress speed, that could really be done.
Bennett was not shocked but surprised. As long as a sanctuary could be built successfully, it did not matter which one was first—it would all be a contribution. He only entrusted those who he had trust in, so he did not ask Han Xiao anything about how he got help from the Inhumans.
The directors of Dark Net, on the other hand, felt chills up their spines. Having a colleague like that, they did not know whether it was a fortune or a disaster.
…
The signature building in the west of Sanctuary Three was an enormous clock tower covered in vines, and it had now become a base for the players. Nearby was a large square, a dried river with a broken bridge that separated the East and the South, and a little bit further, an area filled with factory buildings. This area was originally a mix of residential area and factories.
A factory outline had already been built around the clock tower. Inside were large stacks of construction materials and generators. The terrain was unobstructed, which was suitable for a power station that would provide energy for the sanctuary.
There were hundreds of players in this area cleaning the ruins and evicting the beasts.
A team with five players was walking in the drainage pipes of the river. It was pitch black, except for the light of a flashlight.
"It's quite smelly here," a player said, holding his nose.
"They said the electricity network will be planted here, so they needed people to scout the area to see if there's any danger," another guy said.
"No wonder no one wants to do this mission. It's too dirty." This guy seemed like he had mysophobia, so he was walking very carefully.
Even after decades, this drainage pipe was still damp, and the floor was very sticky, almost like rotten mud.
The team of players took a few more steps forward. Suddenly, an inhale that sounded like a violent gust of wind resounded from deep within the dark.
Huuu—
"Something's wrong!"
The players were shocked. Just as they were about to move, they realized that they were unable to, and a notification showed on their interfaces.
_____________________
You are affected by the intimidation aura of a high-level beast and have entered the 'Fear' state!
_____________________
"What is this?" The expressions on their faces changed.
Boom!
The ground shook vigorously, and a black shadow that filled the entire tunnel dashed toward them at an extremely high speed.
With a loud bang, the team of players flew away like they had been hit by a train. They crashed against the wall and died instantly. They were not the first batch of players, but they were LV 15, and yet they had died with just one hit, which meant that the damage was at least 200 to 300!
There was more than one shadow. A string of shadows of the same size followed behind, not once pausing, and dashed out of the tunnel straight away. Like furious tanks, they bolted forward and headed toward the most conspicuous building, the clock tower.
The players resting in the clock tower area were met with a sudden situation. They all stood up and tried to stop the shadows, but anyone who did it ended up flying away and dying.
Unstoppable!
A large number of shadows scraped through the players and destroyed the unfinished power generator. It exploded with a loud fulmination, and fire broke out. These shadows did not stop and plunged into the clock tower.
The ground shook!
A large amount of dust burst out of the clock tower. With a loud squeak sounding like the last scream of a dying person who had lost all hopes, it collapsed.
The movements here shocked the entire city!
Loud, fearsome roars also came out of the mouths of these black shadows, quaking the entire sky!