"Harsh conditions, wars of steel, life-or-death elimination, and the dawn of freedom… Welcome to the dark web live stream on this rest day afternoon for the Death Star Flag Capture Battle. I'm your host and commentator, Kenny Brown.""This program is exclusively sponsored by Planet Assassin—the assassin company that leaves no target hidden. Still trembling at the power of your enemies? Still fearing sneak attacks? Contact us. Framing, assassination, extermination—there's nothing we can't do, only what you can't imagine. For hiring a hitman, Planet Assassin is all you need.""Dark Night Arms—specializing in over-spec weapons. The Death Star Flag Capture Battle is brought to you by Dark Night Arms…""Alright, welcome to the commentary desk. Without further ado, the contestants and their mechs are now undergoing final inspections and warm-ups. Let me introduce our participants and their mechs to all of you…"In the operation room, Lin Jie pulled up a chair, propped his feet on the console, and watched Kenny on the live stream with great interest. Compared to Jenna, who stayed behind the scenes, Lin Jie actually knew a bit about Kenny. If he remembered correctly, Mr. Kenny had been a professional league commentator seven or eight years ago. With his handsome looks, magnetic voice, unique insights, and strong empathy, he'd amassed more fans than even top professional players. The company behind him had even planned to market him as an idol; later, he'd even made guest appearances in some films and TV shows.Unfortunately, Kenny—who'd found fame at a young age—couldn't resist the temptations of the world's dark side. At the peak of his career, he'd been exposed in multiple scandals and vanished from the public eye. Lin Jie never expected Jenna would track him down to Death Star to host and commentate on the Flag Capture Battle.…Well, at least it's a job he's qualified for."Watching Kenny? He's a witty kid—too bad he messed with too many women," Simon said, walking over to Lin Jie's side."No," Lin Jie shook his head and pointed to the bottom left corner of the screen. "I'm watching the chat box. It's way more interesting than the commentary."The chat box?Simon glanced over. Due to the massive number of viewers, the dark web had set up a message permission system for the Death Star live stream to protect the server and ensure a good viewing experience—only users with a certain level could post comments. Even so, the chat box scrolled so fast that Simon's eyes felt dizzy just looking at it.
[User 4568138513: C'mon, anyone who can comment is a Level 5 member—let's act like it!]
[Night Dancer: Wasn't the Mammoth badly damaged last time? Is it fixed? I see it's on the odds list now—did they really repair it?]
[Professional Hitman, Taking All Assassination Jobs: Dark web certified, 4-star professional hitman. Accepting all assassination targets below Class B. Interested parties can DM me or email my dark web address ****. Serious inquiries only.]
[Call Me Princess Nina: Ugh, why are there spam ads everywhere? Can you just leave?!]
"Whoa, that's bold," Simon muttered.Compared to Simon's disorientation, Lin Jie's ability to process information—both visually and mentally—was far faster. When he saw that message, his eyebrows shot up. He first clicked on the "Professional Hitman" avatar and indeed found the "4-star hitman certification" listed in their profile. Combined with their claim to take on targets below Class B, this meant the person was at least a Class B hitman—maybe even Class A. Clearly, this was a genuine tough guy.This just got interesting… Lin Jie's eyes narrowed. He automatically filtered through the countless scrolling messages, focusing only on the movements of the hitman and Princess Nina.Soon, the hitman replied again:[Professional Hitman: @Call Me Princess Nina, Take back your words. Otherwise, I'll take action.]
[Call Me Princess Nina: Take action? Who are you trying to scare? What can you even do?]
[Professional Hitman: @Princess Nina, Leave your address. Let's see if I dare to act.][Princess Nina: Fine! My address is ***—as if you'd actually come!]
[Anonymous User: @Princess Nina, Did you buy your user level with money? This is the dark web, not some casual live stream!]
[Jerry Who Loves Cheese: @Princess Nina, You're brave! Seeing his 4-star hitman certification and still daring to post your address? I admire you so much.]
After that, the chat was flooded with users tagging Princess Nina—some warning her, others mocking her "bravery." Princess Nina herself disappeared for a few minutes, presumably checking the hitman's certification details.Moments later, she finally replied:[Princess Nina: …So what if he's a 4-star hitman? I don't believe he dares to kill me!]
[Anonymous User: You're really bold!]
[Professional Hitman: @Princess Nina, Don't rush. I'm already on my way.]
[Star Beast Surgeon: Oh my god, this is gonna be good.]
[Princess Nina: Who are you trying to scare?]
After saying that, Nina vanished again. Lin Jie watched for a while, thinking the farce was over—until he was about to look away, and the "princess" reappeared:
[Princess Nina: @Star Beast Surgeon @Jerry Who Loves Cheese @Anonymous User, I'm screwed! That hitman blocked me on DMs! I tried apologizing, but he can't see it! Is he really gonna kill me? What do I do? Am I gonna die?! @Professional Hitman, Please! I was wrong! Spare me!]
Lin Jie: …Where's your pride? Your confidence? Didn't you think he was bluffing? Aren't you "Princess Nina"? Is that all your courage amounts to? It's just a 4-star hitman—why are you so scared? Fight back!Karl Star Nation, Dolno Star System, Mane StarA planet with optimal living conditions, abundant resources, and advanced transportation—it was one of the political and economic hubs of the Karl Star Nation. Its status was comparable to Shanghai in Shenzhou or New York in America. The most commercially valuable professional mech leagues in the Karl Star Nation were all held on Mane Star, which was also home to some of the nation's most renowned clubs.In the training hall of one such club, Zhang Rui—who had just finished her daily training—sat on her mech, holding a tablet and watching the Death Star live stream with a serious expression. Unlike Lin Jie, she had no interest in the drama between the naive girl and the professional hitman. What she cared about was the match itself."Xiao Rui, what are you watching?" A girl walked out of the nearby training room, greeted her, then climbed a ladder to sit beside Zhang Rui."Becky, you're done with your VR training?" Zhang Rui didn't hide the tablet; she shifted it closer to Becky. "It's the Death Star Flag Capture Battle live stream. Wanna watch with me?""What's so interesting about that?" Becky had been curious a moment ago, but her face immediately twisted into a look of disdain when she heard Zhang Rui's words. "A bunch of Vanguard-class Pilots driving Private-class mechs? It's just kids playing house! How much skill could a match like that have? Xiao Rui, are you okay?"As she spoke, Becky dramatically reached out to feel Zhang Rui's forehead. "We're professional players—we drive Dominator-class mechs! You're the best among us, the runner-up of last year's solo combat tournament! Why would you want to watch something like this?""I'm fine," Zhang Rui brushed Becky's hand away from her forehead, sounding annoyed. "Kepa told me to watch it.""Kepa? The same Kepa who beat you in the solo combat final last year?" Becky froze."Who else?" Zhang Rui shrugged.Like her, Kepa was a top professional league player, though he played for a different club. Unlike Zhang Rui—who had been trained as a professional player since childhood—Kepa had once been a soldier, a Pilot in the military. For some unknown reason, he'd retired, then joined the professional league halfway through his career. In his very first solo combat tournament, he'd fought his way to the final and won the championship decisively. His opponent back then? Zhang Rui."I've always wondered—Kepa's mech performance and mechanical synchronization rate were both slightly worse than mine. How did he beat me?" Zhang Rui said. "We went to the same party yesterday, and he gave me an answer.""Really? What did he say?" Becky's eyes lit up. Advice from a galaxy champion was incredibly valuable."He said he beat me because I've never felt the threat of death," Zhang Rui spread her hands. "He told me the professional league has huge commercial value, top-tier mech performance, and even better training facilities than the military. The only difference? Whether we're training or competing, we're too safe. With all those protective measures, we know for sure we won't get hurt even if we lose. But he's different—on the battlefield, any mistake he made could have killed him.""What kind of logic is that?" Becky frowned. "Does that mean if we want to beat him, we have to risk our lives on the battlefield?""Who knows…" Zhang Rui didn't answer. She bowed her head and went back to watching the match. When Kepa had told her about the Death Star tournament yesterday, he'd said a match at this level would barely help her technically—it would mostly let her experience the cruelty of dancing on the edge of life and death.Unsurprisingly, Curly Hair's mech passed the inspection smoothly. While intelligent cores were typically equipped on Vanguard-class mechs, that didn't mean only Vanguard-class mechs could use them—intelligent cores themselves didn't enhance a mech's performance at all. As for the modified "fake Red Python," it was even less of a problem. A weapon with an output energy level clearly within Private-class standards would show no signs of exceeding limits the moment it was tested on the equipment.By then, all thirteen mechs had entered the arena, scattered across different corners of the battlefield. The camera quickly cut to close-ups of each mech, then switched to a wide aerial view—starting from the blue flag, panning rapidly across the entire battlefield, and finally hovering at an angle with an excellent view."And so, dear viewers…" Kenny's distinctive voice rang out, as if holding everyone's hearts in suspense."The sixth Death Star Flag Capture Battle...Now...Begins!"