Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 88 The six-month period has come to an end. Welcoming the return of the Fourth Calamity to the stars {crooked mouth}!

Half a year has passed since the player logged off.

On the upper level of the Mars Olympus Hub, Zhang Qiming stood with his arms crossed in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the newly completed Sky Drive Plaza.

As per his orders, the square was cleared ahead of schedule today. Apart from teams of basic maintenance mechanics sweeping the ground, the square was unusually empty.

This place will become the players' own camp in the future; it is the main city that Zhang Qiming specially reserved for the Fourth Scourge faction.

Players' quests, equipment, vehicles, respawn points, military merit exchanges, and team recruitment all originate from here and are connected to the Skyward faction.

At this moment, he looked at the giant projection tower in the center of the square that was not yet lit up, and the countdown in front of him jumped to the last minute.

[Version Update Countdown: 00:59]

[Version 0.7: Interstellar Expansion Test, Update Nearing Completion!]

[This update introduces the first job advancement system. Players who reach the corresponding level, attributes, and faction reputation can complete their first job advancement at their faction's job instructor or the designated job advancement location.]

[This update introduces the small starship gameplay: Players can acquire individual or squad-level starships through purchase, rental, mission rewards, and faction merits, unlocking short-range deep space travel, interstellar cargo transport, orbital entry, fleet support operations, and automatic exploration functions.]

This update unlocks the main storyline quests for civilizations: players can participate in administrative construction and military production within their respective civilization faction.

Fleet replenishment, security operations, space exploration, and pre-war deployment missions.

[This update unlocks new area navigation: After obtaining a small starship, players can unlock exploration areas such as Mars near-orbit, Lagrange routes, deep space mining sites, and outer space outposts, and enable automatic exploration, automatic return, route recording, and squad regrouping functions.]

[Special patch for Mars/Skydrive faction players has been loaded.]

[Faction-specific building: Skyward Plaza is now open.]

Players in the Skydrive faction can set Skydrive Plaza as their default login point, resurrection point, and faction supply center.

Skyward Plaza is now open: Player Center, Military Merit Exchange Hall, Vehicle Registration Office, and Spaceship Parking Application.

Cybernetic body maintenance window, job change hall, and task terminal matrix.

Players in the Skydrive faction can purchase or rent personal properties, vehicle bays, and small spaceship berths, and can form permanent squad bases.

【倒计时：00：0————00：03——00：02】

[Update complete!]

The next moment, the outer wall of the player center lit up simultaneously, and the login matrix, which had been dormant for three months, unfolded layer by layer, with countless beams of light falling from the edge of the square.

For players, it simply means that after maintenance, they open the game and find a new option on the login screen.

[Optional login point: Sky Drive Plaza]

Almost all the veteran players in the Mars faction didn't hesitate for a moment; their fingers moved so fast it was like a conditioned reflex, and they clicked on the spot.

When the first beams of light landed, the vast Sky Drive Plaza still appeared exceptionally empty.

A dozen or so players who had finished loading stood on the smooth alloy stone road, looking up at the magnificent central building in front of them, before they even had a chance to look around.

But then, the second, third, and fourth waves of light rained down one after another without pause. Silvery-white orbs of light rose and fell across the square, instantly engulfing the entire area like rising tides. In just a few seconds, the once spacious square was completely filled with a dense crowd.

Casual players in worn-out protective suits, combat enthusiasts with shiny silver prosthetics, veterans carrying standard rifles, and newbies who had just created their accounts and were still dizzy, standing in circles in place—all sorts of people were crammed together shoulder to shoulder and foot to foot, with hardly any space to stand.

The crowd was still in a frenzy, and the projection tower above the square was shining brightly, with huge blue and white characters unfolding between the Martian dust and the metal dome, covering the vision of all players.

Welcome home, Skydrive Legion.

Not eating beef, I was squeezed in the crowd and got bumped by the players rushing around me until my shoulder was crooked.

He had just finished logging in, and the ground guidance lights under his feet were still scanning his identity in circles, when he was suddenly blinded by the light screen of Sky Drive Plaza.

A towering projection tower stands in the center of the square, with government-commissioned projection screens lining both sides. In the distance, signs for the player lobby, military merit exchange hall, and vehicle registration area can also be seen.

He was stunned for a full two seconds before he reacted. His hands moved faster than his brain, and he subconsciously clicked on his own live stream.

The comments section exploded almost instantly, refreshing so fast that the words were blurred into blurry images.

[The six-month period has ended. Welcome back to the stars! {crying face.jpg}]

[Holy crap? The main city?! Zhang has really done something! He actually built a home for us Fourth Calamities?!]

[You dare call me "Lao Zhang"? You should call me "Commander"!!!]

[Wait, wait, wait, what do I see—a vehicle registration area?! I can buy a car on Mars?!]

[And I also have personal property and a spaceship parking space. Guys, does this mean I've got Martian residency?]

[Hilarious! You haven't even finished paying off your mortgage and car loan in real life, and now you're going to have to take on a whole interstellar mortgage in the game?]

[Don't be so cynical. In real life, you're a corporate slave, but in the game, at least you're a Martian king—it's a huge win!]

[Mars folks, gather here! From this day forward, I'm a local of Mount Olympus!]

[The Earth-based jail time version is finally over? Next up is the space-working mode, huh?]

Seeing the screen filled with comments and exclamations, even I, who don't eat beef, couldn't help but grin wider and wider.

He still clearly remembers the scene when he last logged off. The revolution had just ended, and the entire Martian continent was still a mess waiting to be rebuilt. But now—our great Mars is thriving!

At this moment, the square was packed with people, and the newly logged-in players were full of enthusiasm.

As more and more players gathered, the login beam continued to fall towards the edge of the square, and the entire area quickly went from bustling to congested.

Soon, the traffic control system that Zhang Qiming had arranged in advance began to take over the scene.

A group of low-altitude drones rose from both sides of the projection tower, their blue guiding beams sweeping across the crowd and drawing several clear paths on the ground.

Maintenance robots slid out from the underground passage, their robotic arms holding up illuminated signs that read: "Please do not block the Sky Drive Plaza, please queue in an orderly manner."

They divided the players into different areas, and the crowd burst into laughter.

"Don't block the spawn point, or you'll get knocked away!"

"Don't push me, sir! I can walk by myself!"

The live stream's popularity was still soaring, and Bu Chi Niu followed the flow of people toward the player lobby.

Upper level of the Olympus Hub.

Zhang Qiming stood by the window, looking down at the square filled with players. The noisy figures did not seem chaotic to him, after all, these were his beloved friends and family, his brothers and sisters!

He looked at the lively players, and a smile unconsciously crept onto his lips.

The fourth catastrophe has returned.

Mars is ready too.

He raised his hand to summon the Gaia system, and the strategic interface on the right side of his vision unfolded, with the red progress bar at the top nearing its end.

[Special Situation & Unification War: 95%]

The smile on Zhang Qiming's face slowly faded, and his gaze moved beyond the Sky Drive Plaza to look at the Mars orbit further out of the porthole.

There were newly commissioned destroyers, fleets still undergoing sea trials, transport ships waiting to depart, and the entire planet Mars about to be pushed to the front lines of war.

He spoke in a low voice, as if he were speaking to the Gaia system, or perhaps to the planet itself.

"Humanity has been divided for far too long."

"Terra, Mars, the Moon, and the deep space colonies, each guarding their own flags, fleets, and altars, have divided the same civilization into pieces of territory that are wary of each other."

"Now that the Fourth Calamity has returned and the fleet has been assembled, it is time to reunite humanity as a whole."

"6

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