The Black Star Army Badge: Evolution was a divine tool for completing missions and dungeons. In addition to this item, there were several items within each region that were banned.

“The qualifiers are almost over, and the Pro League opening is close.”

Han Xiao rubbed his fingers before reopening the forums, browsing through the information of the qualifiers.

All players were eligible for the qualifiers. After three versions, there were already many players signing for the third Pro League season. They were competing for forty team spots and sixty-four individual tournament places during this regular season, so the competition was fierce.

The saying ‘every version has its own generation of Gods’ was apt. With the compression technology, the Mechanic class that was originally weaker now started to rise in Version 3.0. Their average record in the team and individual games also improved significantly. This was especially so for the individual matches. The mechanics that were originally limited in the individuals now shone in the qualifiers. Their rating was re-evaluated as a T1[1] profession.

The combat capability of a mechanic had started to shine. Unfortunately, it was too much of a money burner, and the players finally experienced this happy problem.

Throughout all the competition regions, the most powerful mechanics all came from the Shattered Star Ring, which had become a feature there. The Black Star Army was indeed one of the best camps for Mechanics.

Along with the rise of the Mechanic profession, many dark horses also appeared.

However, this did not include Maple Moon like in Han Xiao’s previous life, as she only took part in the Pro League for the first time in Version 3.0 back then. In this life, she had participated in the previous Pro League and had even finished in the thirties, so the effect was different.

Because of her good relationship with Frenzied Sword, Rivervale had offered her an olive branch early on and chosen to sign her up before the Pro League started. Thus, Maple Moon was not considered a free player now but rather part of the professional players.

Regardless of her character attributes, equipment, or skills, Maple Moon was one tier higher than in her previous life, and she firmly gained a seat in the top sixty-four in the individual category, allowing her to qualify for the Pro League.

What was worth mentioning was that the Australian and Russian clubs that were based in Shattered Star Ring tried to send some of their club players to form a team to participate in the qualifiers, to try and eliminate the stronger teams of China.

While this was not considered outsourcing, it still triggered a lot of dissatisfaction among the Chinese players.

Your own professional players remain in their regions to play, but you actually sent over some ruffians to try and make a scene? And you dare claim to be some big club? You’re actually just like a kid!

The Australian and Russian teams were targeted heavily by the Chinese players because they were not professional players and ended up being quickly eliminated during the qualifiers.

The candidates for the qualifiers in each region were mostly decided, and the Pro League would be their stage. Thus, a large number of players were analyzing the performance of these players in the qualifiers and posting their analysis videos.

Han Xiao was also deeply engrossed in this as he had received similar treatment.

After scrolling through the forums for a while, a new post suddenly appeared, and it was pushed to the top, attracting Han Xiao’s attention.

A glance at it told him that this was the new episode of Galaxy Times, which was the final promotion for the opening of the Pro League.

This was something our Great Mechanic Han had always kept tabs on, so he immediately entered.

“Hello players, this is Galaxy Times, dedicated to sharing first-hand game information. Your gaming career is our top priority,” the male host greeted.

“Now that the qualifiers are about to end, the countdown for the Pro League begins,” the female host said. “Today, we have the honor of inviting various professional players from the clubs in the Shattered Star Ring for an interview. Please give them a round of applause.”

Claps and cheers played in the background.

Everyone came online and faced the camera, introducing themselves.

“Welcome everyone to the Galaxy Times,” the female host said. “On behalf of the majority of players, I congratulate you for qualifying in the Pro League. We have a lot of new faces in this version, and many say that this version is one where the dark horses will shine. Let me ask those players first, what do you think?”

The host began to interview a batch of newcomers. All of them were familiar faces to Han Xiao. In his previous life, these newcomers were people who rose up in Version 3.0, and a considerable number later joined as professional players, becoming important players or even the aces in their respective teams. Their future statuses were equivalent to Li Ge and Hao Tian. Looking at all these young people in the group, Han Xiao liked this fresh perspective.

After interviewing the newcomers, it was the turn for the professional players. This interview was the highlight, and the teams interviewed were Long Sky, Dynasty, and Rivervale.

“Hao Tian, King Admiral, and Frenzied Sword, the three captains. You achieved an excellent international ranking in the previous league. Now that the third Pro League is about to open, do you feel any pressure?”

Frenzied Sword nodded. “The pressure is real. The better one’s results, the more eyes will be on you. A small mistake will be magnified infinitely, but that’s where we have more motivation. We have a potential rookie, Maple Moon, and the team is good, so we are confident of going further in the competition and earning greater glory.” “That’s great, and we wish Rivervale all the best. How about Long Sky and Dynasty? As the Champion and the Second Runner-up, what goals do you have, and where do you hope to finish?”

“We only have one goal, to defend the championship,” Hao Tian replied. “Anything else is considered regressing.”

King Admiral smiled. “Coincidentally, our only goal is obtaining the Championship.”

“Seems like both captains are confident, and they wish to win the champion’s position for China.” The hostess quickly rounded off as the smell of gunpowder grew heavy.

After finishing this episode, Han Xiao glanced down at the players’ responses.

[If You Lick to the End, You Get Everything]: “We took three of the eight quarterfinal spots last version. If not for the fact that Dynasty had bad luck and fought twice with our country’s people, maybe even the Runner-Up position would have been ours!”

(Twin Lotuses on a Stem]: “What would be called a strong battle team?”

[A Cart of Bread): “We have a great chance of defending our title. This version, the Mechanic profession rose sharply because of the Black Star Army, and our Mechanic profession is the most powerful! This is our advantage, and our overall ranking will definitely be better.”

With optimistic people, there would better be ones that badmouthed them, and however small they were, their existence could not be covered up.

[Rewind): “Can you stop boasting? They were lucky and got the championship, and now they’re all arrogant. Hehe, don’t even know if they can get into the quarter finals.”

[Father of DuDu: “I really find it revolting that they put these professional players on a pedestal. I don’t get what’s so good about them.”

Scrolling through all the comments, Han Xiao could not help but raise his thumb inwardly.

These people are really good at inciting hatred!

A few days later, the opening ceremony came as scheduled, and the long-awaited moment for the players finally arrived, causing the forums to go wild with excitement.

Before the competition officially started, the number of viewers on the live broadcast channel skyrocketed. Han Xiao, who was at the headquarters, also opened the forums to watch the opening battle. [1] T1 = Main Tank, T2 = Sub Tank, and so on. The author mentioned this very early on in his series. So, this should be gauging the mechanic as being able to tank a lot now.