The Legendary Mechanic

by S.H.A aifu

What do you do when you wake up and find yourself inside the very game that you love? What do you do when you realize you that you have not only become an NPC – you have even been thrown back in time to before the game even launched! What will happen when our protagonist’s two realities coincide? Han Xiao was a professional power leveler before his transmigration.

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Chapter 215: Flow of the Main Storyline

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

In the age of virtual gaming, interaction was very important. The players felt that Galaxy had done an exceptional job in that regard. The interaction with NPCs was very free, and players could casually write text messages, emails, and such sorts to communicate with NPCs from a far range.

The popular games at the time all had a certain extent of reality and virtual socializing functionalities. There was an old but always popular game, Ruthless, that was very good in this regard. Text messages could be written freely even though it was a single player game.

When VR-Capsule technology was invented, Ruthless designed a version for it as well. At the time, due to the level of reality and the rough play style of Ruthless, a debate was triggered, and the NPC Protection Society that people had only talked about was actually really created. It was a very interesting phenomenon.

[Ending of the Survivor] completed.

One of the five requirements in the hidden main storyline turned green, which represented its completion.

You have received [Sully—Document 485]. From the document, you acknowledged a buried past.

This mission has a commentator, damn. Han Xiao was surprised.

The document recorded an old action plan, with a lot of information missing. Before the war of the old era, a country sent a team to a village in Andrea for a secret mission. What happened afterward was unknown, but all the residents of the village were killed by gunfire. That country is already dead now.

That's it? Han Xiao was confused. This description was a clue of the mission, but it was way too vague. He thought about it and sent it to Hannes. That old guy had more information on hands—maybe he could discover something more.

Completing the mission was enough for Han Xiao.

Hao Tian stood beside the mission character 'Old Devin' and stared at his phone, waiting for Black Phantom's reply.

This mission had been very cumbersome. Old Devin had the document, so he had needed to gain Old Devin's trust first, which he had done by completing many chore missions. The difficult part was that Old Devin suffered from mental illnesses. He had Paranoia, Amnesia, Schizophrenia, was prone to anger, spoke nonsense, and dozens more. He would quickly become anxious, and he would mistake a trash can on the road for bomb and passers-by for enemies who were chasing him.

Old Devin had been a member of this plan, and from what he said, after he completed the mission, the nation had killed his family and hunted him down. The hiding and stress he suffered through the years gave him the mental illnesses.

"Do you know why war broke out during the old era?" Old Devin would always look around his surroundings and make sure that there was no one before he started chatting with Hao Tian. "It was because of me. Every nation was looking for me, so they fought each other. Enemies were everywhere. They still have not given up. Look at these surveillance cameras in the city. They are all set up for me."

Of course, Hao Tian did not understand a single word he said, and he did not care about the story anyway. He was just doing the missions, and with his high efficiency and strong will, he completed the mission.

Hao Tian soon received Han Xiao's reply and the notification of the mission being completed, and a sense of relief washed over him.

'You're the first to complete the mission. I feel that you have quite the potential. Are you interested in helping me?"

"Sure." Hao Tian gave a very simple reply.

"Wait at the border of Raylen, coordinate R1565.842. I will bring you along when I leave the Northern Continent."

"Sure."

Although Hao Tian had a very steady personality, he still felt a sense of excitement when he thought of the benefits of Black Phantom's hidden storyline in the forums.

Han Xiao finished his journey of making a crazy amount of profits when he left the last novice village in the Northern Continent. Before leaving the Northern Continent, Han Xiao came to an ice field where high-level ice bears lived. He spent a few hours and used the Ghost sniper rifle to fulfill the requirements for [Lethal Shot].

Lethal Shot: 12 – 25% chance to activate true damage with the first shot on target. This cannot be reactivated on the same target within 5 minutes.

By changing the target, the talent could be triggered multiple times, which was very useful. Although it did not quite meet the standards of Bennett's cheat-like molding ability [Legendary Battle Techniques, it was still a rare attacking talent.

After counting, Han Xiao had twelve talents, which was exceptional in version 1.0. Half of that would already be very high for a LV 55 player.

Han Xiao also gave the recently obtained [Call of the Wild] talent a try. The ice bears above level 50 was not affected by it at all—they were still as aggressive as they had originally been.

He lowered the level of his targets and realized that a bear cub was very friendly toward him. It was white, chubby, and furry, only as tall as his waist level. It hugged his leg and showed off its cuteness.

There's quite some use to this talent. The cub is only at level ten-something, but there should be other hidden elements to the Call of The Wild. Other than it being affected by Charm, the level difference between me and the beast should also be part of the reason as well as the characteristics of the beast.

Han Xiao contemplated the matter. Suddenly, he saw this furry ball trying its best to climb up his leg. The Great Han Xiao squinted and kicked the cub away.

The white and chubby cub rolled over a few times and then came back again. Han Xiao just could not chase it away no matter how he tried; it was very clingy.

Its furry butt kept shaking, and it looked stupid. Its small, black eyes were filled with innocence.

Tsk, how adorable. Han Xiao could not resist its cuteness. He held the cub upside down and gave it a look. And it's a female.

They looked at each other for some time, then Han Xiao reached out his arms. The cub climbed up laboriously to Han Xiao's shoulder and hung onto it like a swing.

"You definitely have some koala blood. Didn't expect you to be a cross-breed," Han Xiao said in surprise. He twisted his arm, and the cub shook swung around it as well. It was like he was carrying a bag.

I shall bring it along as a pet.

Raising a pet was a spice of life. With a pet, Han Xiao suddenly felt much more relaxed. No wonder people in the big cities liked to have pets—it was such an effective stress reliever. When they were unhappy, they just had to bully their pet, and they could find back their sense of superiority as an intelligent species.

This was a Sharp Claw Ice Bear cub, only a few months old. Han Xiao was too lazy to give it a name, so he just called it Bear Cub.

Bringing along Bear Cub, Han Xiao boarded the plane to the border of Raylen and picked up Hao Tian. Following which, he immediately headed toward the Southern Continent.

On the plane, Hao Tian lived up to his image of a highly skilled player and kept silent, did not ask about their destination, and did not make any interactions. Han Xiao saw that he had nothing to do, so he gave him a mission to take care of Bear Cub. Hao Tian's expression became interesting on the spot.

Galaxy's details were all very real, especially the look and smell of urine and feces.

Flying from the Northern Continent to the Southern Continent required a little over half a day. Han Xiao received a call from Hannes on the way, saying that Old Devin's document filled missing information of their clues, and it was a very important finding. Han Xiao knew that this would affect the next round of the hidden main storyline missions.

The earnings in the Northern Continent were not lesser than the Western Continent. Han Xiao's experience and money had all almost doubled. Every time Han Xiao looked at the accumulated experience in the interface and the total of his Dark Net bank account, he would feel a surge of happiness.

When the plane landed in the Southern Continent, Antonio was waiting. Han Xiao saw his rough face as soon as he came out of the plane.

"Welcome back, my friend." Antonio laughed out loud and gave Han Xiao a bear hug. The strong odor on his body almost made Han Xiao lose his health points.

"Hug a while more, and I'd be dead." Han Xiao rubbed his nose with a frown. The odor was lingering in the air.

"Only out for a month, and look what you've done!" Antonio said with surprise. He remembered that Han Xiao said that he would not get into trouble, but it seemed like Han Xiao's standard of trouble and his were very different.

Things about Black Phantom had been spreading like a disease recently. Many organizations had to spend some of their focus on Black Phantom; the man had most likely become one of the top names in many organizations' threat lists.

Black Phantom had officially reached the top of Dark Net's killer leaderboards.

After chatting for a while, Antonio noticed Bear Cub. His eyes immediately twinkled, and he ran over to pet it. Han Xiao was not surprised that Antonio liked furry things judging from his appearance—the two furballs were probably cousins.

Han Xiao walked aside and called Bennett.

"I've returned."

Bennett breathed a sigh of relieved and said with a hint of sorrow, "I've waited for you for so long."

Han Xiao went straight to the point and said, "The 'Shelter Plan' you talked about, what help do you need from me?"

Bennett was very touched. Han Xiao mentioned about helping the first thing after he returned, how noble!

In the society of lies and deception, people who had such good qualities were going extinct.

This was a friend that was worth building a stronger relationship with!

Bennett decided to make Han Xiao one of the people in charge of the plan and share even more details with him. "Let's talk when we meet—I have a very important mission for you."

Hearing that, Han Xiao knew there was a chance and got excited. He was very familiar with the main storyline [Shelter Plan, and he knew how much benefit there was in becoming a core member.

The Six Nations had been making a lot of moves in the dark recently—the preparation for expedition war was almost complete, and the expedition would probably officially commence in that month. The Germinal Organization was finally about to meet the disaster that had been created by Han Xiao, and the war was going to break out in Planet Aquamarine. The wanderers, militaries, warlords, financial organizations, secret organizations, and all the other organizations were nervous about it.

To open the [Shelter Plan] main storyline at this time completely messed up the sequence of the storyline, but its benefits were also clear. Under the threat from the war, Bennett would do anything to carry out the plan.

And the players' attention would also be diverted by the main storyline [Shelter, which would reduce the number of players taking part in the main storyline of the war between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization, which was beneficial to Han Xiao. The smaller the impact that the players made, the more advantages that the Six Nations had.

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Chapter 216: Dark Net Director, Third Sanctuary

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The invitation from Bennett signified his trust. The meeting point this time was the first shelter that Dark Net was building, located in a city ruins named 'Ruins of Lloyd' in a wasteland in the Northern Continent. It had once been the financial center of a dead nation in the Northern Continent.

Han Xiao sat in Bennett's private helicopter. When he looked down at the city from the sky, he could see the building process of the shelter. The first thing he saw was the tens of meters tall enormous wall that was being built. In the areas that had yet to be completed, he could see workers welding steel bars together onto the scaffolding. The concrete of the wall was mixed with other materials and had a metallic feeling to it. With Han Xiao's professional knowledge, he knew that the wall was so strong that smaller rockets would at most only leave traces of burn marks on it. The wall was built to the standards of a fortress; it was extremely expensive.

The Dark Net's symbol was painted on the wall in dark red together with the new name of this city.

Bennett Sanctuary One!

The helicopter flew past the wall, and the construction machinery came into sight, clearing the roads and the abandoned buildings. Countless workers in gray uniforms ran around doing their job to lay the foundation for the new buildings and planning the layout of the city. Steel bars, bricks, wood, and other stacks of industrial building materials lay out in the open, and it looked exactly like a gigantic construction site.

"You named the shelter after yourself." Han Xiao patted Bennett's shoulder with a smirk. "I didn't know you're this shameless."

Bennett slapped the palm on his shoulder away and said, "Let's go. Come to the high ranked officials meeting with me."

"What has the meeting got to do with me?" Han Xiao asked in surprise.

Bennett shook his head and laughed. "You're a high ranked official, too."

Han Xiao blinked.

Bennett cleared his throat and said, "I strongly recommended you to be a director personally. You won't disappoint me, will you?"

Dark Net had recently reconstructed their high ranked officials, with the highest ranking being the founders such as Bennett and one level lower being the various directors.

"What are you talking about?" Han Xiao asked with a serious face. "When did I disappoint you?"

Bennett did not know whether to laugh or cry. He led the way, and Han Xiao saw the construction of the shelter at a close range.

"Sanctuary One is our test. I've put in plenty of resources, and it's progressing quite well. The basic layout should be completed within a year. The layout of the shelter is divided into a few sections. In order to have enough basic infrastructure to meet the requirements of its residents, the plants and livestock also needs to form a self-sustained ecosystem so that even if war breaks out in the outside world, the shelter can provide for its own, and the defensive measures are, of course, to defend against enemies."

Boom!

An abandoned building in front was being demolished, and dust filled the area as it fell down.

Han Xiao waved the dust away and said in awe, "Just this shelter would've cost you a huge sum."

"The Six Nations' resources can only support two to three sanctuaries," Bennett said with his hands behind his back. "My plan is to build at least three to five sanctuaries across the continents."

"That will be outrageously expensive."

"This sum of money is insignificant when it comes to preserving our civilization."

"Wow, I could almost see the halo above your head," Han Xiao mocked.

Bennett's mouth twitched.

After arriving at the new fortress, directors of the Dark Net gathered in the meeting hall. They stood up and bowed slightly to show their respect when Bennett and Han Xiao walked in.

Black Phantom had displayed his strength and was now the top fighting force of Dark Net, and with Bennett's support, the high ranked officials present all agreed that Han Xiao's position was at the same level as theirs.

The high ranked officials reported the progress of Sanctuary One in turn, and when Bennett was done settling them, he said, "Sanctuary One has been proven to be practical. The message has been sent out. Many wanderers came to look for protection upon hearing the message. With more residents, the building progress can be sped up.

"At the same time, we can give them job opportunities to take part in the construction process of the shelter, which will aid in strengthening unity. I foresee that in the months to come, as the message of the shelter gets spread out further, more wanderers will come.

"The construction of shelter has to start sooner rather than later; I have decided to commence the construction of Sanctuary Two and Three immediately."

The high ranked officials exchanged looks, and one of them asked hesitantly, "Mr. Bennett, wouldn't that be too much of a rush? Why don't we wait for Sanctuary One to be completed?"

"Because we don't have much time. We need to speed up the progress."

"Sanctuary needs someone to be in charge. Who will be in charge of Sanctuary Two?"

"Xena will be in charge of Sanctuary Two," Bennett said. Xena was currently the highest director of Dark Net and had been recommended by many senior officials. Of course, no one opposed this decision.

"As for Sanctuary Three, Black Phantom will be in charge."

Han Xiao's eyebrows shot up. He did not expect Bennett to trust him this much and let him be in charge of an entire shelter. The power of this was very huge.

The directors were shocked as well.

Black Phantom had just become a high ranked official, and now he was in charge of such an important issue. It seemed to many that he was not senior enough to do so. Many directors wanted to object, but Bennett had already seen through their thoughts. One simple sentence made their mouths shut.

"Each shelter needs someone with extraordinary strength to guard. If any of you have the confidence that your subordinate is stronger than Black Phantom, feel free to object."

Stronger than Black Phantom? The directors laughed bitterly. Across the entire Dark Net, other than Bennett and two others who had already retired, no one could beat Black Phantom.

Bennett ended the meeting since no one opposed the decision and brought Han Xiao to a private meeting room. They chatted for a while before Bennett stopped debating with Han Xiao over if there should be a reward for being the person in charge of Sanctuary Three. He faced Han Xiao's look of contempt without any shame and showcased the detailed plan of Sanctuary Three.

"Sanctuary Three's construction is basically completed. Its location will be in Graymetal Ruins."

Han Xiao thought that place sounded quite familiar, and then he remembered that Graymetal Ruins was where he had set up his secret base. It was quite a coincidence.

Bennett briefly explained the layout and that Han Xiao's mission was to sit in, monitor the construction team, and when any threat arose nearby, he could settle it entirely by himself. There was only one requirement—complete the construction of the shelter.

Han Xiao almost fell asleep because of how boring and tedious the explanation was, and at this time, a notification popped up in the interface. Han Xiao was immediately awake.

You have unlocked a new organization, [Dark Net Organization]. Subsidiary [Blood Pact Society] detected. Relationship status: Respect (4450/6000) – [Rank One of Killer Leaderboard]

[Dark Net Organization] initial relationship: Friendly (2225/3000) – [Director]

Part of the reason Han Xiao was able to become a high ranked official of the Dark Net was because of Bennett. If a player wanted to gain a high position in Dark Net, the relationship had to be at least Respect, and to become a high ranked official, it had to be at least 'Reverence'. However, the prerequisite for Han Xiao was not that strict, which was a benefit of being an NPC. It was not restricted by the rigid requirements in the interface.

You have triggered the rank-A mission [Sanctuary Plan — Sanctuary Three]!

Seeing the mission requirements, Han Xiao smiled. It was as he expected. As the person in charge of Sanctuary Three, his mission was construction, and the mission type was also a series mission that was divided into tens of requirements. Each of them was one part of the construction blueprint. For every part of the construction that was completed, one requirement would be considered met, which included defensive measures, residential areas, bases, buildings, cleaning the ruins, plantations, farms, and many more. It was like modifying a city.

The mission also notified him that if an unexpected situation appeared, he would also be entirely in charge of solving it, and the grading might become lower or higher depending on the situation and results.

The more requirements that were completed, the higher the completion grading would be, and the rewards would be given based on the grading.

For the players, they could take on this main storyline normally, but their situation was completely different from Han Xiao's. The players had to take on different missions from the lowest ranked or middle ranked personnel and take part in the construction from side missions. On the other hand, Han Xiao received the overall mission, which included all the side missions and main storyline missions. This was a benefit of becoming the core member of the plan—he was very clear on what needed to be done.

Also, his reward was far greater than the players'. The fragmented missions that players completed would all be considered as part of the construction in the end, which indirectly met his requirements. As mentioned before, the requirement for the same mission might even differ based on who was doing it, and with the special relationship Han Xiao had with Dark Net, he received this mission that had loads of benefits.

"However, there are some problems." Bennett cleared his throat and said, "Due to funding constraints, the resources are concentrated in Sanctuary One and Two. Therefore, there might be not as many people who will be working with you to build Sanctuary Three."

"How many?" Han Xiao suddenly had a bad feeling. Sanctuary One had tens of thousands of workers, so he would require a similar workforce.

"About a thousand…"

Han Xiao squinted with an expression that said, Are you kidding me‽

"It's mainly because of the flow of the funding not reaching its destination," Bennett said awkwardly. "This will only be the case for the first month. We will hire more people to help you afterward."

Han Xiao picked Bear Cub, who was sleeping on his laps, and threw it toward Bennett. Bear Cub fell onto the sofa upside down and finally opened its eyes slowly.

"Hit him." Han Xiao pointed toward Bennett.

Bear Cub blinked in confusion and only understood after staring at Han Xiao's finger for a very long time. It then turned over and slapped Bennett's left cheek.

Bennett laughed bitterly. He rubbed Bear Cub's furry buttock then pushed it aside and said, "I know it's difficult, but you're the only person that can help me. No one else has the ability to."

Han Xiao pondered for a while before he nodded and said, "No worries, I will be able to build a basic layout within a month."

Bennett's requirements for Sanctuary Three were very low. As long as the construction was stable and the ruins were cleaned within a month, it was more than enough. He took Han Xiao's words as a joke and didn't take it to heart at all.

"By the way, I have another requirement," Han Xiao said.

"What is it?" Bennett replied.

Han Xiao laughed and said, "Sanctuary Three has to be named after me."

Since Bennett had already done that, how could the Great Mechanic Han Xiao not received the same treatment? And by naming the shelter after himself, it would definitely create a strong, long-term impact.

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Chapter 217: Class Advancement of the Players

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Many of the directors were not happy with the fact that Black Phantom was in charge of Sanctuary Three, but when they heard that Sanctuary Three was short of labor and that Han Xiao had actually received a very difficult task, they felt much better.

That should be the right way, letting the newcomer do the difficult jobs.

However, Bennett gathered the directors and announced an appointment.

"Black Phantom is my friend, and he doesn't have much experience. Everyone here was involved in the construction of Sanctuary One, so I will appoint one director to be Black Phantom's consultant and assistant."

The directors panicked for a little. They exchanged looks discreetly, all hoping not to be appointed.

Going to Sanctuary Three was like being sent to the borders; there would not be any contribution within a month, and there was really not much benefit in being Black Phantom's assistant. There also was not much credit to working under someone. All in all, it was a terrible job, and they would much prefer to stay and wait for other opportunities.

Although the motive behind Bennett's Sanctuary Plan signified greatness and justice, the directors under him did not feel the same. All they saw in the shelter plan were the benefits that they could garner from it. In their eyes, this was a new round of power reshuffle, if they could be in charge of a shelter, the weight of their words would become much heavier in the future.

Bennett knew what these high ranked officials were thinking, but he did not give any explanation because the benefits could motivate the directors to work harder. Bennett did not expect everyone to be so noble; this was all part of his plan.

Not many people could catch Bennett's eyes, but Han Xiao was one of them. This guy was really a great friend. All he wanted was to help, and even when he mentioned rewards, it was mostly in a joking manner—he never insisted on it

Bennett was someone who took profits very lightly, and he noticed that Han Xiao had a similar quality, which was why he felt a sense of closeness toward Han Xiao.

He decided to appoint someone who was very capable to be Han Xiao's assistant.

Bennett looked around and said, "Huang Yu, you'll help Black Phantom."

The face of the guy called Huang Yu immediately dropped. He answered unwillingly, and when he saw the gloating faces of the other directors, he became even more unhappy.

Among the directors of Dark Net, Huang Yu was someone with very high capabilities. He was often entrusted with important issues as he excelled in taking care of all types of cumbersome issues and had always arranged them very neatly. Yet, this time, he had been appointed by Bennett to be an assistant. He was not happy and was not willing to do it, which would, of course, lead to him not taking things seriously. He had already decided to face Black Phantom lackadaisically and pass the one month without being serious. He took it as giving himself a holiday.

The idea of shelters had appeared in the minds of others during the old era war as well. Back then, when the nations were busy with the war, many people had lost their homes and wandered the streets. Therefore, one private group started to build a shelter and helped war refugees at all costs. It succeeded initially and protected tens of thousands of people.

However, because of the shortage of resources, the food distributed to the refugees became limited, which sparked unhappiness among them.

Humans cannot be content, especially during times of war, and even a slight idea of malice will be expanded indefinitely.

Those refugees had forgotten the people who helped them in their time of need and fought back. In the end, they took over the shelter and killed its original owners.

In such a chaotic world, things like that happened very often. It was not the shelter that did not work, but the old era did not allow it. Coincidentally, the person who created the shelter during the old era was Bennett's friend. Bennett had never given up on the idea, and he felt now was the right time.

Han Xiao was familiar with the storyline. He knew that Bennett's Sanctuary Plan had succeeded, and it grew like a snowball. Even the people in the cities were willing to move to the shelters; it was so successful that it was almost on a trend to become a nation, which caused an alarm within the Six Nations. If it was not for [Mutation Disaster] during version 2.0, the Six Nations might even have become hostile toward the shelters.

The shelters only fully utilized themselves during version 2.0. By then, they were considered to have lived up to their name.

"I'm now in charge of Sanctuary Three. This time, it's truly a large part of the main storyline. The manpower assigned to me is not enough, but I still have the players."

Han Xiao had already thought of how to do the [Sanctuary] mission a long time ago.

A helicopter landed in Sanctuary One. Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog walked out and looked around in curiosity. They trotted toward Han Xiao with smiles on their faces as soon as they say him.

Frenzied Sword had a lot of questions to ask, but it all stuck in his mind when he saw Hao Tian who stood on the side

"God— God Player Hao Tian‽" he exclaimed in surprise.

Hao Tian gave him a faint look and did not say anything—too cool.

"Wow, legend!" Bun-hit-dog widened his eyes and asked, "Did you trigger the hidden storyline as well?"

Hao Tian turned his head and did not reply.

How cold of the legend. Bun-hit-dog was speechless, and Frenzied Sword was much better after all.

This time, Bear Cub made a sound.

Hao Tian immediately dashed forward and picked Bear Cub up. He took out tissues from his back with seriousness on his face.

The duo suddenly understood why Hao Tian did not want to speak. They discretely took a few steps backward; the smell was really bad.

Seeing Hao Tian's serious expression and skilled actions, Frenzied Sword felt respect toward him. What a true legend, doesn't even change his expression.

The first meeting between the players was very peaceful to Han Xiao.

He looked at Bun-hit-dog. This 'reporter' would be of use for what he was going to do next.

Three days later…

"Congratulations to the player [White Mask] for completing the first class advancement!"

Every player received a notification from their interface. The first player to reach LV 21 in the level leaderboards, White Mask, was a foreign player. He shared the changes after his class advancement on the forums.

The players on Planet Aquamarine suddenly discovered that [Energy Training Technique] would automatically be awakened with the class advancement!

The people had doubts at the start, but as more and more players advanced in their class, it was proven that everyone would awaken this ability after their class advancement.

The players on Planet Aquamarine was stunned. The ability that they had spent experience to learn was actually an ability that would automatically be awakened after class advancement.

Was that bad?

Many players did not think so. To learn a high-level ability in advance did not seem like a bad thing—it was a growth ability after all, and it had a very good effect. It could largely increase one's strength during low levels, which was very useful for these players who were discovering new locations.

The people who really suffered were the players in the Northern Continent who only learned it at LV 18 or 19. They had wasted their money on an ability that they would very soon awaken upon class advancement. They were filled with grief.

The Southern Continent players, who had been depressed for a very long time, suddenly realized that they were not the unluckiest, and they suddenly felt much happier.

Although the truth of [Energy Training Technique] was revealed, many low-level players still felt that it was worth it to learn this ability in advance.

Therefore, many Andrea players were still waiting for Han Xiao's arrival, but what they were faced with was only shock.

Black Phantom had returned to the Southern Continent!

He was not going to Andrea anymore!

When Han Xiao had been in the Western Continent and the Northern Continent, players in Andrea had anticipated that they were going be the last ones, but the truth was too cruel—Han Xiao was not going there at all.

Their hope had resulted in disappointment; the players in Andrea were full of sorrow.

The Planet Aquamarine section on the forums was heated—even foreign players from the other planets joined in—yet players in Andrea had no position to say anything.

It had almost been two months since the official public launch. The average level of the earliest players was close to 20. With more and more new players joined the game, the number of players on Planet Aquamarine had reached hundreds of thousands, and it was still growing. The high-level players started to slowly interfere in the storyline of their planets, digging through the history, the environment, and joining the main storyline.

It was the same for Planet Aquamarine, more and more players were recruited by the Six Nations to be a special unit. The players had heard from the NPCs that the Six Nations' expedition against the Germinal Organization would commence at any moment.

However, the interface had notified them that their level was not high enough to meet the prerequisites for the expedition mission, which meant that even if they followed the army to join the expedition, most of them would not receive any rewards.

Most importantly, with the current strength of the players, they would be easily slaughtered by the army.

This was the effect of Han Xiao bringing the main storyline forward; the players had lost the time that they should have had to become stronger and join the war immediately.

Also, the organizations of Planet Aquamarine had finally noticed that there was a limit to the number of times the players could revive, which made them more relieved. They felt that at least the Inhumans had flaws; they were not as nervous as before and started to take the Inhumans as a special kind of mercenaries.

At this time, a new issue of Bun-hit-dog's 'Galaxy Exploration Journal' was released.

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Chapter 218: Didn't Know You Are This Kind of Black Phantom

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Wild Boy, a member of Sky Territory Guild, was a loyal fan of Bun-hit-dog.

There were many types of Galaxy video hosts on the forum, but Bun-hit-dog was the only one that had first-hand information about Black Phantom, which meant that he was always ahead of other video hosts. Wild Boy liked videos about Black Phantom very much; he was really attracted to the dark and mysterious feeling that Black Phantom gave.

As soon as Bun-hit-dog updated, Wild Boy saw it. He clicked into it immediately and commented before the video even started. "International rule, ask for new updates before watching!"

The video started playing, and Bun-hit-dog's bitchy voice appeared.

"Pure white legs and cherry red lips, rip your skin and harden your bones, take off these clothes and these pants, drunk by choice but not by booze, cup of Viagra is all I need—I will last through the night! Hello everyone, welcome to the Galaxy Exploration Journal. Audience, this is me as always, the different kind of Bun-hit-dog!"

Wild Boy spat out a mouthful of water. It was a standard procedure to always start with a poem every episode. The words used became more and more shameless. Even Wild Boy, who had a strong ID, could not take it anymore.

The comments would always explode when the poems came. It was so much that even the screen was obstructed.

"I once had both knowledge and fighting skills, but now I can only yell 666."

"Clear theme, good poem."

"I'm calling the police!"

"I sang along although I'm a girl…"

"Extraordinary level of dirtiness!"

"I can't stop singing it!"

"Please be considerate toward the feelings of lady fans!"

"Reported, you're welcome!"

The last episode had been about Bun-hit-dog and Frenzied Sword making a mess in Black Pine. This episode was a continuation, and the audience enjoyed it very much. When the mission was completed and the show entered the second half, the scene suddenly changed to a city that was being built. The large 'Bennett Sanctuary One' came into audiences' sights.

In the scene, Han Xiao wore a black coat and stood with his hands behind his back.

The comments stopped for a moment before suddenly exploding.

"Wow, I get to see my Uncle Black again!"

"Great video host, have a recommendation ticket."

After so many days, Black Phantom could finally be seen in Bun-hit-dog's video, and Bun-hit-dog was the only person who could do this. The audience felt a sense of grace; it was like seeing someone they knew.

Since the public launch, Han Xiao had been in the sights of the players, and he had already made an impact and occupied a special position in the hearts of the players.

Wild Boy opened his eyes wide; he did not want to miss even one second.

"Black Phantom brought us into a special scene going during construction. During this time, I discovered main storyline missions from Black Phantom…"

The audience discussed among each other within the comments. The players knew that Han Xiao gave out main storyline missions, and the requirements for receiving the hidden storyline were very high. Could this main storyline mission be a different one?

Bun-hit-dog showcased his mission list, and a new mission appeared within, [Black Phantom Sanctuary Three]!

"What's this?"

"There's Black Phantom in the mission name…"

"What's a sanctuary?"

"It is very similar to the name of this place."

Bun-hit-dog explained the inside information with excitement. Dark Net was building shelters, and Black Phantom had brought a group of thousand people to Graymetal Ruins to build a city. This information had been gained from Han Xiao himself.

There were not any prior requirements this time; the mission could be triggered easily.

After the mission introduction ended, the comments section was filled with shock once more.

"It's the construction of a city. My god, that's such a large main storyline! Almost as huge as the expedition war."

"This should be part of the Planet Aquamarine main storyline, too!"

Wild Boy paused the video. He read the mission requirements carefully again and again then swallowed his saliva before playing the video.

Without even having time to think about what the sanctuary actually was, he saw in the video that Han Xiao was yelling at the people below him.

"The overcast of war obscured the blue skies like the wings of death, and the scars of the previous war have been torn apart before they could even heal. Only a few decades have passed, but no one has forgotten the pain that the war cast upon the land. Up till today, it is still affecting the ground under us and the skies above us. Radiation, specks of dust, wasteland, and dead nations!

"How ridiculous! After the old era, our civilian technology regressed, but the military technology that is used against our own kind has been advancing continuously. They fight for their ideals and the nations' benefits; they used iron and fire to spread death!

"For these empty and false reasons, they slaughtered those of their own kind who had no power to defend themselves! Countless people have been killed in the fires of war! The world became wounded and broken because of them, and it is on its way to the end. The ending of the world might quietly be upon us one day. The construction of the shelters is for preserving our civilization. Even if the world ends tomorrow, I still want to save the last bit of tinder for the civilization!

"I don't possess greatness, but too many are small.

"If no one wants to pay the price, okay, I will be the first!

"But I know, I won't be the last!"

Han Xiao's tone was filled with cadence. Wild Boy felt short of breath. Although he was watching a video, he could feel his blood turning hot in his heart—that raw emotion was extremely infectious!

Wild Boy was not the only one who was shocked by this. The comment 'I don't possess greatness, but too many are small' passed by the screen with three exclamation marks behind. It looked very impactful.

"Didn't Know You Are This Kind of Black Phantom!" Many comments similar to this also flew on the screen. In the players' mind, Black Phantom was quiet and did not speak much, but this speech that he had given had turned this impression completely upside down. Many players felt more familiar with Han Xiao—they had not expected Black Phantom's ideals to be this great.

Wild Boy was very excited after he finished watching.

This time, he saw Jade Green Sky announcing a message in the guild channel.

"Attention everyone, the guild will be collecting Graymetal Ruins' location and information. The intelligence provider will be rewarded."

One day earlier…

Han Xiao gathered the group of a thousand people who followed him to build the city and gave out the speech in the video. Bennett just wanted him to say something casually at the time, but he did not expect him to say this much. Bennett was as shocked as the players.

The workers around stopped what they were doing and gathered. The number of people became more and more. They all looked up at Han Xiao, who was standing on the tall platform.

Seeing the crowd turning excited, Han Xiao knew that it was extremely effective. This paragraph had been copied from Bennett's speech in the future, and its intention was exactly to shock everyone. Back then, Bennett's position in the hearts of the players had been decided because of his noble ideals. Now that Han Xiao had said it first, no matter what happened in the future, the players would be reminded of him when they brought up Bennett, which would make stronger impacts in the impression the players had of him, making himself more valuable.

He knew that players liked to see such things. A character with noble ideals was usually very popular, and Bennett did not need to care about the players' impression of him, so Han Xiao grabbed the opportunity.

At the same time, Bennett would be touched as well. Doing this had many benefits.

Players all love the story that a character has as it shows unique sparkling points of their personality. Han Xiao nodded discreetly. He wanted the players to seek him out after the impression that he had created, and whether or not those were his real thoughts, no one would know if he did not say.

Han Xiao turned around and saw Bennett's expression. It was filled impassioned; these words had really expressed his mind.

Of course they would since they originated from him.

Bennett was very touched. Han Xiao had voiced the deepest thoughts in his mind. He realized that he was beginning to like Han Xiao more and more.

It was like rain and poured on the desert in his heart, Bennett realized that he was not alone anymore; he had found someone that was walking down the same path as him.

It's all for the continuation of the civilization—he understands me. Bennett gave Han Xiao a pleased look.

Speech is a very scary ability; it can encourage the hearts of the people.

Originally, many workers there went for the money, but now, they felt like their hearts were filled with something more, and they became much more motivated.

The directors were shocked as well. They did not think that the Black Phantom, who had killed countless people, had such ideals. Despite their own motives, they were immediately impressed.

The next day, the construction team of Sanctuary Three gathered. The enormous convoy crossed the desolate wilderness and disappeared over the horizon, leaving only dust behind.

The convey was equipped with a scouting helicopter that was flying at a low height. It was the ride for important personnel so that they could escape in the face of danger. However, Han Xiao decided to take the car. Huang Yu, on the other hand, took the helicopter without hesitation. He was not going to be sucking up to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao sat in the back seat. He felt the vibration of the off-road truck and browsed the information of the team.

A notification popped up on the interface at this time.

Current Target: Protect the convoy until it arrives at Graymetal Ruins.

Current Population: 1,034

Upon arrival at the destination, 250,000 experience will be rewarded if the damage is below 20%. Mission grading will also be increased.

Current grading: E

A sudden notification of the mission goal. This is a characteristic of long-term missions. Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. Suddenly, he realized that he has been moving his eyebrows too much recently. That was not good; he needed to be more serious.

[Sanctuary Three]'s mission grading changed in real time, and the grading could be seen to increase when a requirement was met. The mission had just started, and nothing had been done yet. Thus, it was at the lowest grade, E.

700 people in the team were workers and technicians. The rest of the 300 were soldiers and guards. Divided into teams of 20, the guards stationed around the exterior of the convoy.

Military power is not enough. I have to strengthen the team.

The power of one person was limited. However, he was a Mechanic with a lot of assets.

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Chapter 219: The Brutal Force of Mechanic!

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

It required four to five days to travel from Sanctuary One to Graymetal Ruins across the wilderness, so the convoy could only camp in the wild.

At around dusk of the first day after departure, at Han Xiao's orders, the convoy found a safe terrain in the wild and settled down. It was dangerous to travel after the sun set, and many beasts were active during the night.

The soldiers of Dark Net patrolled the surrounding areas in shifts. Han Xiao gathered the important people in the team for a meeting—Assistant Huang Yu, Head of Construction Coney Fury, and Guard Captain Liu Zhao.

The blueprints of the Graymetal Ruins Modification Plan were laid out on the table, and Coney Fury was speaking.

"The initial modifications of the entire city were estimated to be completed in three months, including weeding, getting rid of the beasts, cleaning of ruins, then completing the basic layout of the shelter, planting of the electricity network and water pipes, etc. But this is a plan based on 30,000 workers. We only have 1,000 in the first month. There's nothing we can do, not even cleaning the ruins." Coney Fury sighed.

Han Xiao nodded without giving approval or denial. He looked at Huang Yu and asked, "Do you have any suggestions?"

Huang Yu said perfunctorily, "No."

Noticing the careless attitude of Huang Yu, Han Xiao roughly guessed what he was thinking. But Han Xiao didn't care about it; it was not like he needed an assistant. He turned his head and said, "Manpower is not a problem—I plan to complete the blueprint construction within a month."

Coney Fury was stunned. "That will need at least 100,000 workers. Even Sanctuary One doesn't have that many workers."

"I have my ways." Han Xiao did not explain his plan in further detail.

Huang Yu stood by and watched. The amount of money needed to hire 100,000 workers was extremely large, and even with so much money, it was not certain they could hire that many workers. He did not understand where Han Xiao got his confidence from.

Liu Zhao suddenly pressed his headphones and said hastily, "Mr. Black Phantom, an airplane is closing in!"

"Let's go out and take a look."

Walking out of the camp, the guards looked at the sky on alert. In the dark night sky, a large airplane flashing signal lights was heading toward them—whether it was friend or foe was unknown.

"It's ok." Han Xiao smiled. "That's the airdrop I called."

The plane flew past above their heads and dropped a few huge resources boxes that were tied together. The parachute opened, and it landed not far from the camp. The symbol on the boxes belonged to the Fabian Company.

Han Xiao made use of his relationship network and had Fabian's plane airdrop him a large number of mechanical parts. It definitely was not free, but Han Xiao had a lot of money. Such a small spend meant nothing to him.

Everyone was relieved upon hearing that it was a false alarm.

Huang Yu was secretly surprised. To be able to call an airdrop from the renowned munitions company Fabian, Han Xiao's relationship network was broader than he thought.

These parts were worth millions of dollars. Han Xiao ordered people to load them onto the resources vehicles and started to build a large amount of machinery. He was very rich now, so he could build all sorts of combat machinery, and they could be used to protect the team as well.

The most famous combat style of Mechanics was the sea of machinery.

Han Xiao stayed in the car and worked for the next two days of the journey.

The convoy had arrived at the desert. The sun shone brightly in the sky, and the high temperature had turned the sand as hot as burning steel. Even light was distorted around the air not far from the ground.

The convoyed stopped under a Barbera tree. This type of tree was unique to the desert of Planet Aquamarine. It was also called 'umbrella of life'. Its shade was like an island that insulated the heat, and its juices were plenty and sweet, which could be used to quench thirst immediately.

The people were very thirsty. The soldiers patrolled around, and everyone was covered in sweat.

Boom!

The desert far away suddenly turned into waves. A huge number of enormous beetles crawled out of the ground. Each of them over half a meter long, they had brown and shiny shells, six feet, and two claws. They moved toward the Barbera tree like a wave.

"Beast attack!"

The alarm was activated. Three hundred soldiers immediately stood in position holding their guns. When they noticed that the sea of beetles had surrounded them from every direction and there was nowhere to escape, their faces became horrified, and their hands started trembling.

The Desert Blood Shell Crab was a strong predator in the deserts that destroyed every life form wherever they passed by, and there were at least 10,000 of them here.

"Into the cars and drive open a path!" Huang Yu yelled hastily. He then rushed up the helicopter and hurried the pilot to take off immediately.

No one had the thought of fighting when they faced this many bugs. When they heard Huang Yu's order and were just about to enter the cars to escape, Han Xiao walked out of the car and said, "Don't panic. Everyone stand in position. Get ready to face the enemy."

"The number of bugs is too huge," Captain Liu Zhao said hastily. "Our defense can't cover all directions. We will most likely suffer a huge loss if we fight."

"Black Phantom, come to the helicopter quickly," Huang Yu shouted.

Han Xiao waved his hands.

Huang Yu cursed in his head. Seeing that the sea of bugs was coming even closer, he told the pilot to take off immediately without caring about Han Xiao. The pilot was afraid as well; therefore, he followed the order and piloted the helicopter off the ground.

The troops on the ground did not dare disobey Han Xiao's order. They stood their ground and watched nervously as the swarm of bugs rapidly approached.

At this moment, Han Xiao took out his laptop and pressed a few buttons.

Hum!

Twelve Combat Rangers drove out of the logistics vehicles as fast as normal cars. Everyone's face was filled with shock as they looked at these rover robots rapidly spreading out into all directions like guards of iron. The cold metallic color reflected the light shining through the leaves like pieces of golden scales.

These rovers were the newest and improved generation 2.5. Han Xiao had leveled up the blueprint many times. The basic attributes of the machinery that he had built was much higher, and its quality was at blue as well.

The Generation 2.5 Rovers were all equipped with an auto fire control system, which improved its firepower and magazine continuation ability. They were around the same height as humans, and their mobility was much higher because of the triangular caterpillar tracks that they were equipped with, which could traverse much tougher terrain.

Han Xiao knew that it would not be peaceful during the journey when the mission notification showed up, so he had called for airdrop and built a lot of machinery over the past two days.

Han Xiao's building speed had become much quicker, and the rover robot that would have taken him days to complete at LV 20 could now be completed in just tens of minutes.

When the building speed of a Mechanic exceeded a certain limit, they would be able to build on the spot in the battlefield. With enough materials, weapons could be built non-stop. Only high-level Mechanics could have this ability after learning [Instant Assembly]. This was also a very important factor in the rise of Mechanics in version 3.0.

"Unload all the round metal plates in the car and place them in every direction."

The Dark Net soldiers completely followed whatever he said. They immediately did as they were told and placed the twenty round metal plates on the ground. Han Xiao activated the program, and the plates started to transform. Their base fixed into the ground, and the stacked modules assembled into gun barrels. The entire process only took four to five seconds.

These were Mini Folding Batteries. Han Xiao had also leveled up the blueprints, and they now had smart firepower control.

Seeing the thick, black, and long gun barrels, the soldiers felt safer.

When the swarm reached within 400 meters, the generation 2.5 Rovers and the mini batteries fired simultaneously. With the camp under the Barbera tree as the center, a storm of bullets bloomed toward every direction.

The sound of fire was in sync, and the rain of bullets spread all over the place!

Ta ta ta ta!

In an instant, green-colored gunk exploded within the swarm as steel and fire penetrated the huge beetles one after another. In the face of the killing machines built by mankind, the shells that the Desert Blood Shell Crabs were so proud of were as fragile as egg shells.

A trench had formed 400 meters away from the camp, filled with corpses of the bugs, stopping the swarm from moving closer. Even the desert was damped by their blood. After a round of fire, the swarm became at least a third smaller.

A few Rangers drove out of the camp. They were equipped with Sunworm flamethrowers. The cone of fire covered the swarm, and the sound of bugs being burnt alive soon reverberated in the convoy's ears. The claws of the Desert Blood Shell Crab could not harm the platinum alloy armor of the Rangers at all.

With the fearsome firepower, it was a one-sided slaughter.

This was the brutal force of a mechanic!

Group combat was the advantage a Mechanic had. Esper and Pugilist might be very strong fighters, but their physical strength had its limits.

However, money was the limitation for a Mechanic. That machinery had cost millions of dollars, and even a max level player in version 1.0 could barely afford it. The ammunition cost was also extremely expensive as thousands of steel core armor piercing bullets were used every second.

Money had been a problem for Mechanics since the beginning. Building an army of machines was a very strong combat style of the Mechanic class, but it was also the most expensive one.

When the average level of the enemies become higher and they become stronger, the machinery army had to have higher standards and technology in them, which meant that their cost would increase as well.

Normal players could not master the army combat style very well. Even if they used all their money to build an army, they would not be able to withstand the cost of repairing the damage after combat. The army style was usually used as a last resort. However, Han Xiao was not bothered by the money problem since he had his ways of making a lot of money. He still did not want to go for the army combat style—he just wanted to build a simple guarding team that had enough firepower in times of need.

Liu Zhao held his assault rifle all the time and waited to fire when the swarm entered the range of 300 meters, but the swarm was completed stopped at 400 meters away by the rain of iron.

His hands were even tired from holding the rifle, yet he still did not see any need to fire.

This firepower is way too strong.

Liu Zhao looked at the batteries beside him that were firing bullets continuously, their bolts moved front and back automatically, the bullet shells poured onto the ground, some even hit his face.

With surprise, Liu Zhao realized he had nothing to do, Black Phantom's machinery had dealt with all the enemies; the guards assigned by Dark Net had been of no use at all. There were completely not any need for them.

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Chapter 220: Arrival

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The battle only lasted for fifteen minutes. The waves of iron slaughtered the entire swarm, and white slurry covered the ground, giving off an extremely stinky odor as it was vaporized by the high temperature.

The team was completely unharmed. The people looked at Han Xiao, who was calmly smoking a cigarette, and felt very safe. They had been rather afraid when they left the sanctuary, as the wilderness of Planet Aquamarine was filled with danger, but with the way they looked at it now, there would not be any danger as long as Han Xiao was around.

Liu Zhao realized that the team of guards that he led had become the ones being guarded instead, and admiration toward Han Xiao blossomed in his heart. The strong would always be admired.

Your machinery killed Desert Blood Shell Crab (LV 15). You Received 10 Experience.

When one's level was too much higher than the monster killed, the experience received would be largely reduced. One bug only gave 10 EXP, but there were at least 10,000 of them. Han Xiao looked at the interface—he had received more than 100,000 EXP.

The circling helicopter landed. Huang Yu had been watching from the helicopter earlier on, and he was overwhelmed when he saw the endless swarm falling like patches of wheat being cut down, the endless rain of bullets blooming like flowers, and the camp remaining completely unharmed.

Huang Yu had actually been planning to escape in the helicopter, and he had almost wanted to leave the others behind. Now that danger has been averted, his expression became quite awkward. It felt like the surrounding people all looked at him with disgust and unhappiness in their eyes.

The Mechanic class is actually this strong… Hao Tian contemplated as he held Bear Cub. He was a Pugilist, and now he was unavoidably worried about his future in the pro scene.

On the other hand, Frenzied Sword, who had been a godly Pugilist player in Han Xiao's previous life, was even gladder that he had chosen the Mechanic class.

More material. Bun-hit-dog's face was filled with happiness. He did not have to worry about finding contents for his videos as long as he followed behind Black Phantom.

The three players who had triggered the mission to protect the team received a rather good amount of experience without having to do anything. Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog were used to this uncommon occurrence, but it was the first time for Hao Tian.

Seeing the experience bar growing a rather large amount, Hao Tian had mixed feelings. The amount of earning that he had gotten from doing missions tirelessly was not even worth it compared to following Han Xiao and doing nothing.

No wonder so many people wanted to trigger Black Phantom's hidden storyline—even a godly pro player like him almost wanted to do the same.

The danger of the wilderness came from beasts, robbers, and radiation, but with the iron war machines protecting them, the numerous beast attacks that they met along the way were all easily resolved. It was a scary journey indeed, but there was no real danger.

When they were just one day away from arriving in Graymetal Ruins, the convoy set up camp.

It was a night with clear skies, and if one looked up the skies, the entire river of stars would be reflected in one's eyes. The technological environment of Planet Aquamarine was similar to Earth, but its nature was more beautiful.

In Star Zone 9 of the Garton Galaxy, the civilization density of the star zone was very low, but the planets were very concentrated. Many empty planets were caught by planets with higher density and started to orbit around them. Planet Aquamarine was one of the planets orbiting around a fixed star at a distance just nice to have the temperature suitable for human habitation. There are also a few natural satellites orbiting around Planet Aquamarine, which were 'moons' that reflects light from the fixed star to the planets at their dark side of self-rotation.

Before the old era, there were countries that had built a rocket ship to land on the natural satellites, but they were desolated.

The opportunity that made the Godoran Civilization contact Planet Aquamarine happened when one of Godora's Interstellar Spectrometers captured the waves in space made by Planet Aquamarine's primitive rocket ship.

Godora was a galactic civilization in the Garton Galaxy. The areas that they explored included many star zones of the Garton Galaxy, but they were more of a law enforcing organization, contacting civilizations with friendly motives.

Recently, Han Xiao had read a bit about the research that the nations in Planet Aquamarine had regarding astrology. The players could access this information through various sources as well, and it was incredibly detailed and real, which made the players feel a very strong sense of reality. With the perspective of an NPC, Han Xiao could see more information.

In the camps, as Han Xiao and Coney Fury were discussing the blueprint, a guard came in to report.

"Your Excellency, we captured a wanderer. He has been lingering near our camps."

It was a teen wanderer with worn out clothing. He had a double barrel hunting gun, which had been confiscated by the guards. Upon seeing the camp that was filled with armed guards, horror showed on his face, and he started trembling.

Han Xiao had an idea and asked, "Is there a colony nearby?"

Liu Zhao looked at the map and said, "There are a few medium-size colonies."

Han Xiao nodded and looked at the teenager with a pondering look. The teenager felt that the eyes of this man in black before him were so pressurizing that his legs started to soften. Before Han Xiao questioned, he explained in tremble and said, "I'm a wanderer from a nearby colony. I was out to hunt for food and coincidentally saw you guys passing by, so I wanted to take a closer look."

Han Xiao touched his chin and contemplated for a while. Seeing this teenager looked undernourished and emaciated, he said, "Liu Zhao, get him some food."

The teenager was stunned for a moment.

"Return to your colony and tell your people that my team will be building a city in the Graymetal Ruins. We will provide a large number of paid jobs. They're also welcome to join us. Let your chief know my intentions. We hope they can move in and take residence."

The heavy bag of food brought the teenager back to his senses. His face was filled with relief and surprise.

He was a hunter of the colony. With very little prey recently, the people in the colony had not eaten much food and had been starving—this food could give them several filling meals.

The teenager had been very scared when he was captured, but now that he had found that these people were not evil, he was much more relieved and started to consider Han Xiao's suggestion.

Most of the wanderers did not have the luxury to enjoy full stomachs, so the prospect of work in exchange for food was indeed tempting.

After having someone send the teenager away, Han Xiao took out the map and said, "Graymetal Ruins is isolated. There's no human habitation within thirty miles, but there are about more than a dozen colonies further away, mostly small ones, totaling at about two thousand to three thousand people. Liu Zhao, take some people and food along with you, and spread the news about us building a sanctuary."

The original intention of a sanctuary was to protect wanderers in the wilderness. Thus, it was normal to attract wanderers to move in. Huang Yu thought that he had seen through Han Xiao's plan and thought to himself, He actually wants to hire wanderers as workers, but it's still too few.

Han Xiao wanted to complete the basic layout of the sanctuary blueprint in a month, which needed at least 100,000 people. There were way too few wanderers for that.

Huang Yu shook his head. He felt the one-month plan would very most likely fail. It would not damage the organization, but it definitely would damage Black Phantom's prestige and face. Being unable to live up to his word, other high ranked officials' impression of him would definitely worsen.

I will appeal to return to the headquarters after staying for a month anyway, Huang Yu thought. There were no opportunities to contribute or gain benefits, so he did not want to waste his time being an assistant in Sanctuary Three.

Concerned with that arrangement, Liu Zhao said, "But if we spread out the guards, the defensive power of the team won't be enough."

Han Xiao pointed toward the Generation 2.5 Rangers that patrolled the camp with their preprogrammed routes and gave a faint laugh.

"I'll give you another chance to respond."

"I ensure the completion of the mission." Liu Zhao changed his words immediately and stood straight.

The endless plains of Karst were maroon and looked like coagulated blood. Han Xiao had returned once again; it was a familiar view.

Come to think about it, I haven't been back to my base for quite a long time, Han Xiao thought. His base had been in standby mode as he did not really use it.

The outline of the Graymetal Ruins appeared in sight.

There had once been a broad road on the plains, but after years of no maintenance, it was now filled with weeds. The concrete had cracked open, and greens grew from within. Old newspapers flew slowly on its roads, and the long extinguished street lights were covered in vines.

It was a view filled with despair.

The entrance of the Graymetal Ruins was a broad abandoned road. The convoy moved forward along the road, and the only sound was the sound of the engine and the wheels pressing on the roads.

The huge amount of work needed to turn this abandoned city into a sanctuary had the people feeling greatly pressured.

You have arrived at Graymetal Ruins.

Current Population: 1034

Damage: 0%

Target complete.

You have received 250,000 Experience.

Mission Grade has become D-.

The main storyline mission that Han Xiao had received was [Construct Sanctuary Three]; it was a large mission that oversaw the entire process. Therefore, according to the tens of building types that a sanctuary required, it was divided into tens of construction requirements.

The current mission target changed.

Current Target: Complete blueprint construction in three months

Current Time: Day 1

In three months, complete all the 13 construction requirements as stated below: [Expand/Collapse]

Rewards: 800,000 Experience, 1250 Dark Net Prestige, Increased Mission Grading

Extra Requirement: If construction is completed in advance, bonus rewards and grading will be awarded based on the number of days. Experience reward: 10% per day

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Chapter 221: Gathered Players

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

These thirteen construction requirements were all basic tasks, including evicting the beasts, cleaning the ruins, and building the water and electricity network, residential areas, and walls. There were tens of requirements for [Sanctuary Three]—these were only part of it.

Construction of the blueprint was originally a three-month plan. The target is to complete the basic layout within that time. It took Sanctuary One a month to complete around half of the basic layout. Using them as a reference, three months seems plenty.

Han Xiao suddenly remembered something and thought, No, Bennett has tens of thousands of workers over there; I have only one thousand for the first month. There will not be enough time if the missions are done the regular way.

Suddenly, the noisy sound of human voices came from the front. The convoy stopped hastily—thousands of people had gathered at the entrance of the abandoned city.

"There's a problem!"

The guards got out of the cars immediately and surrounded the team in the middle. The group of people had also noticed the convoy and started moving toward them.

The people of Dark Net immediately recognized their identity by their strange clothing.

Inhumans!

Nervousness filled their hearts. Everyone felt a lack of confidence when they faced the mysterious Inhumans. Inhumans were much more dangerous than beasts because they could come back to life! Just by depending on the machinery that Black Phantom had built might not protect everyone.

Huang Yu was shocked.

"So many Inhumans‽ Why are they gathered here? The organization sent people to the Graymetal Ruins to investigate the terrain not long ago, and there was no one here!"

In Han Xiao's eyes, the concentrated and large number of IDs above these players' heads made him dizzy. He then flipped the corner of the coat to the side and walked out of the car with a lot of style. He walked out of the crowd and stood at the front of the convoy with hands behind his back.

Standing in between the two parties, his standing posture was like a javelin that pointed straight at the sky. A gust of wind blew on his coat, and it waved in the air like a black flag. Just with this awesome and stylish appearance, all eyes were focused on him.

What happened next had the people of Dark Net stunned. The Inhumans stopped as soon as they saw Han Xiao.

"Black Phantom, we're here to do missions," said someone straight in front of him.

"Heard you are building a sanctuary. We are here to help," said by someone who seemed to be role playing.

"I almost thought it was fake news after waiting for so long," commented one relieved player.

With his hands behind his back, Han Xiao stayed in character and gave a faint nod. "I appreciate everyone's help; it's all to serve the people. Our convoy is going to enter the city. Please open a path. After we settle down, we will plan the construction targets of the city. There will be many job opportunities then."

The players followed his order and opened a path in between.

The people of Dark Net opened their mouth very widely, their faces filled with surprise.

These Inhumans have come here just to help Black Phantom, since when did Black Phantom have so much influence among the Inhumans?

Huang Yu was stunned. Han Xiao had the confidence to complete the basic layout in a month because he could order the Inhumans?

To Planet Aquamarine, the appearance of the Inhumans was a very strange phenomenon. Everyone was wary about them, and those who came in contact with the Inhumans all did it with caution and a cold attitude. Therefore, Huang Yu could not believe what he had just seen.

How did Black Phantom do it? Why do the Inhumans respect him?

I have to report this to Mr. Bennett.

With the players joining in, the team multiplied in size, and they entered the Graymetal Ruins.

The convoy found a placed and stopped before Coney Fury asked hesitantly, "Your excellency, we need to first clean out a place for a temporary residence. It's getting late, and it's best to complete that before dawn. We don't have much manpower, so we'll have to start now."

"You, ask for help from the Inhumans."

"Me?" Coney Fury was a little scared.

"I'm here, what are you scared of?" Han Xiao patted his shoulder.

Coney Fury did not have anything else to say. Without a choice, he went out of the car, took out a horn, prepared what he wanted to say, and loudly declared, "I need some people to help me clear out a safe area nearby big enough for everyone to camp in temporarily. Since all of you are here to help, I would like to trouble you guys."

These words triggered missions immediately; every player received it. They split out within seconds and started work right away.

The surroundings became a construction site in a flash—the cleaning of the area and eviction of beasts had started.

Coney Fury's face was filled with surprise as he did not expect these Inhumans to give him so much face.

He turned around and looked at Han Xiao. He knew that it was not him whom the Inhumans gave face to but this mysterious boss of his.

With the help from the players, a safe area had been cleared out by evening. It was a stadium, naturally suited for camping, and the dangerous insects and beasts around had all been chased away by the players.

The people of Dark Net received permission from Han Xiao and placed the mini batteries around the stadium for guarding purposes, and it attracted many players' curiosity.

The camps were protected by vehicles, which acted as barriers, and the players were resting in the remaining areas. The inside of the stadium was filled with people. Thousands of players conversed with each other—many of them knew each other, and some people even started a store. The despair in the air of this abandoned city had been taken over by liveliness.

A sound had appeared again in this ruins that has been silent for decades.

"Le—legend!"

Hao Tian heard someone calling him when Bear Cub was walking him. He looked back, and Jade Green Sky and a few core members of the Sky Territory Guild were all behind him, looking at him with excitement.

Hao Tian nodded. He looked at them and said, "Thanks for your hard work."

"It's what we should do." Jade Green Sky was filled with excitement. The Sky Territory Guild was under the Long Sky club, and Hao Tian was a pillar of Long Sky, so they were colleagues and knew each other.

Club Guilds had to provide help to the pro players because they were the face of the club. Hao Tian's position was even higher—he was also an idol to their guild members.

A very important reason that Jade Green Sky had brought people to the sanctuary without hesitation was because he knew that Hao Tian was with Black Phantom, and he hurried over to provide him with help.

Among the players who came to the sanctuary, Sky Territory was the only large guild—most of the others were casual players. Bun-hit-dog was instantly recognized. As the most popular video host at the moment, he had many fans, and they were very 'passionate'.

"Dog author, stop running!"

"Reach out your head, I will show you something special!"

"Taste the anger of Africans!"

"Still not an update‽ I'm going to break your leg!"

A group of fans filled with hatred chased after Bun-hit-dog while yelling. The other players gave them a path and rubbernecked from the sides. There were even people who started selling snacks. There was a loud commotion, and phrases like "Kill him!" could be heard multiple times, together with laughter.

Bun-hit-dog did not forget to record even as he was running. He yelled at the camera lens, "This meeting has been going very well; the fans are very passionate.

"You know what they say, beating signifies closeness and scolding signifies love. I am indeed very pleased at heart.

"Come on, smile at the camera for your daddy."

Bun-hit-dog turned the lenses to record the players who were chasing him, living up to the phrase 'not knowing what death is'. This was a well-known culture among video hosts—how else would they be able to capture moments that normal players would not be able to witness if they were afraid of trouble?

"Eat my axe!"

Huuu—

An axe flew past his head rubbing against his scalp.

Bun-hit-dog retracted his head in fear then escaped in a flash without turning back. The players chasing him all became short of breath.

"What the hell, how does he run so fast? My stamina is almost finished."

"He followed Black Phantom after all. His level is higher than any of ours."

"Ah, damn European!"

The players outside the camps were joyous, but Frenzied Sword was facing a very important and serious decision.

He had successfully advanced his class and was torn between the three paths—Cannon Master, Mechanic, and Mechanical Pugilist.

The power of Mechanic that Han Xiao had displayed was scarily strong, but Frenzied Sword was more interested in Mechanical Pugilist personally. His intuition told him that the Mechanic path was not suitable for him.

Han Xiao had given him a suggestion before as well, saying that he had more potential in close ranged combat, which hinted that the Mechanical Pugilist path was more suitable for him.

This main account was the one that would join pro leagues, so if he made a wrong choice, the disadvantage would be way too vast when he created another account. Therefore, this decision was extremely important.

Frenzied Sword could not make a decision, so in the end, he decided to toss a coin…

They say that the moment the coin is tossed, the answer will appear in one's heart.

As the players were not allowed to enter the convoy's camp, the players formed a fair near the camp and waited for Black Phantom to come out and give missions.

A petite and delicate female player walked in the fair carrying a backpack that was bigger than herself. She looked left and right in curiosity.

Crossing through the fair, Maple Moon stopped outside the camp. She took a deep breath and held tightly onto the phone in her hand.

"Level 20 finally."

A hint of nervousness and anticipated appeared on her lively, adorable face.

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Chapter 222: Arrival of People from Everywhere! (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

In the center camp, Han Xiao looked at the blueprint on the table and wondered how to maximize the advantages of the players.

His mission reward limit had increased—his single mission reward limit was a little more than 60,000 experience, coming up short of a C-ranked mission with 80,000 experience. The daily limit was seven times the single mission limit, which meant that he could give out missions worth up to 420,000 experience daily. He realized that the easiest way to increase this limit was to build relationship points with organizations. Level and ranks would come naturally, and the legendary level could not be gained easily.

Any experience points given out as a mission reward would not be deducted from Han Xiao's own experience points as long as it was within the stated limit.

For such a large mission like constructing a city, his own quota was insignificant. Thus, Han Xiao pondered carefully and decided on the way that he was going to distribute the missions. That was to divide the construction of Graymetal Ruins into many different departments to take charge, then assign one person to each department who would be responsible for the distribution of missions. That way, he did not have to use his own quota.

Constructing Sanctuary Three was a main storyline, and since he could give out missions to the players, logically, the other NPCs in the team should be able to do so as well.

This should resolve the problem of mission quotas. Although the other NPCs don't have an interface, they definitely can distribute missions since they are part of the construction team.

The other NPCs would not be limited by his quota when publishing missions for him, and it would still contribute to his mission progress as the mission that he had received was an overall mission. Therefore, the final result of the city that the players helped to build would also be his final result. This difference in the mission was an advantage that Han Xiao had being the overall in charge of the sanctuary; it was the difference in their identities.

Han Xiao suddenly had a new idea—if he ever faced this type of large mission again, he could duplicate this and use his advantage as being an NPC to gain a higher relationship with organizations, thus becoming the distributor of missions and using the players' power to achieve his goals.

By doing that, I only need to manage the people that are in charge of distributing missions and nothing else. Then, I will have a lot of free time to build machinery to try to meet the class advancement requirement of building five purple quality equipment, Han Xiao thought as he nodded to himself. He could do main storyline missions and also have time to make his own progress at the same time. It was perfect.

Furthermore, this was not an act to con the players. The players could also do missions and benefit from it. Them joining in with the city construction would build a sense of unity. All of the people that took part would have a sense of achievement when the sanctuary was completed, and they would feel honored with the thought— This city was built by us, the players.

It was a win-win!

Han Xiao had an ambitious idea.

I could maybe make this sanctuary into something like a main city for the players, and that would remarkably increase my influence. Everyone that comes to the sanctuary would see my name!

Having decided on the details, he summoned the cadres of the construction team and guard team for a meeting.

Han Xiao looked around and said, "Where's Liu Zhao? Why isn't he attending this meeting?"

The people could not react for some time. Then someone carefully said, "You sent him out to approach the wanderers."

"Nonsense, you think I'd forget that?"

Han Xiao gave a stare. Before anyone could react to it, he coughed and said in all seriousness, "It's an enormous construction project to start building a sanctuary from nothing. I have divided the blueprint into thirteen departments. This is the information for the construction, exploration, and so on. Every department will have a head who will be in charge. My target is to complete the blueprint construction as soon as possible, best in a month."

"We don't have that much manpower, even if we include all the Inhumans outside," someone said.

"Don't worry about that. There will be more people sooner or later," Han Xiao said. He knocked the table with his fingers and asked once more, "All clear?"

Everyone had no choice but to nod. One month was way too much of a rush, but since it was an order from a higher-up, they had to do their best, otherwise they would be in trouble. Although Han Xiao was considered to be rather easy going, no one had forgotten the fact that he was one of the strongest in the organization, a legend who had killed countless people and had the top spot in the current killer leaderboard.

Han Xiao then names the heads of departments. Huang Yu was not mentioned.

Huang Yu was happy that he had nothing to do. Although thousands of Inhumans had come to help, it was still far from being enough. It was impossible to complete the basic layout in a month, so Sanctuary Three would still end up doing it the regular way and take months to complete its construction. By then Sanctuary One would have long been completed. As an assistant, he really did not have many benefits, so he did not even plan to help.

When Huang Yu informed Bennett of how the Inhumans came to help Han Xiao, which Bennett was very calm about and did not have any problems with. It was clear that Bennet had a very close relationship with Black Phantom and trusted him a lot. From that, Huang Yu also had a rough understanding of why Bennett assigned him to be Black Phantom's assistant—it was because Bennett wanted a capable assistant to help a friend of his.

Sighing, he lamented, It's all because I'm too capable.

The meeting was coming to an end. When Han Xiao had finished clearing up all the responsibilities of the various departments, his face then turned very serious, and he said in a low voice, "I've said all the things I needed to. Now, there's this extremely urgent mission that must be done first."

Seeing the seriousness of Han Xiao's face, everyone became nervous as well.

Han Xiao looked around the table and said seriously, "When you write the name of the sanctuary, remember to include my name."

The tightened expression on everyone's face instantly collapsed.

The heads of the various departments left the camp and organized their men orderly, following Han Xiao's instructions. The long-awaited players immediately rushed over and triggered different city construction missions based on their own likings.

The Graymetal Ruins was divided into five distinct areas—North, South, East, West, and Central. The missions that were given to the players were also divided according to the areas. Upon receiving the missions, the players immediately formed teams among themselves and started doing mission together. The night was even more lively than the day.

The first and most important task was to expel the beasts and clean the ruins, only then could the construction commence. Teams of players spread out from the stadium into the various areas of the Graymetal Ruins.

The sound of gunshots could be heard very often—there was quite a number of beasts that lived in the Graymetal Ruins, so the players had plenty of opportunities for combat.

Those construction missions could be repeated, and the rewards were quite handsome. Also, the interface informed the players that they were taking part in the construction of Sanctuary Three, and there would be a large amount of bonus experience when it was completed, which made them even more motivated.

Black Phantom Sanctuary Three—the name of this city had the words 'Black Phantom', so the players' impression of Han Xiao became even deeper.

Having one's name in the sanctuary sounded very honorable.

By the night of the first day, the players had already cleared out a very large area. Their efficiency had the people of Dark Net completely stunned. This could match up to the amount of work from ten thousand workers!

The players were all superhumans, which enhanced their working ability, and they had guidance from the interface, which gave them very clear and straightforward goals. Every action they made was to complete that goal.

When the players and the Dark Net construction team was busy with the construction, Han Xiao received a call from Maple Moon. He remembered that he had given her a mission to find him when she reached LV 20, so he brought her into the camp.

After a long time apart, Maple Moon looked left and right curiously. Han Xiao also called the other three players—he was going to give these four some extra missions.

The four spare tires had finally met. With Hao Xiao's ability at the moment, it was more than enough to cultivate four players—Frenzied Sword and Hao Tian, both god players in his previous life, now a Mechanical Pugilist and a Pugilist; Maple Moon, one of the first Mechanics in his previous life who had risen to the pro scene; Bun-hit-dog, a well-known video host.

These four people all had their own uniqueness, and they could assist Han Xiao in different ways. They stood in front of Han Xiao and looked at each other.

As the only female player, Maple Moon received special treatment. The other three nodded toward her as an act of showing friendliness.

"Ah, so cute!" Maple Moon stared at Hao Tian with sparks in her eyes. Her expression looked so thirsty it was like she was going to eat Hao Tian alive.

Beads of sweat rolled down Hao Tian's forehead. He stood straight and still as he watched Maple Moon dashing toward his arms… more specifically, Bear Cub, which he was holding. She rubbed and stroked Bear Cub and would not let go.

Bear Cub was very confused. It shrank into Hao Tian's arms and gave Maple Moon's fingers a few light bites.

"Ah, this is way too cute." Stars appeared in Maple Moon's eyes. She looked up and pleaded with Hao Tiao, "God Hao, can you let me hug it?"

"Be clear next time." Hao Tian's expression was stiff. He immediately passed Bear Cub to Maple Moon and took two steps backward in relief.

Bun-hit-dog came over, too. He reached out his fingers and teased Bear Cub. Bear Cub was cute and stupid, so its reaction was always a second slower. Its paws kept slapping away the hand that rubbed his butt. Frenzied Sword stood on the side and looked straight at Han Xiao all the time, looking like he was always awaiting an order.

"Enough, enough, stop playing with my bear." Han Xiao coughed to stop them and said, "I'm building a sanctuary. You guys go help too."

As he was speaking, he designed extra missions for the four people, which gave them bonus rewards if they complete a certain number of missions from the various head of departments.

Other players did not have this kind of special treatment—Han Xiao only did this because these four were his people.

Naturally, the four did not have any objections. They accepted the mission and walked out immediately. However, Maple Moon stayed. She cautiously asked, "Can I learn abilities?"

Han Xiao nodded and opened up the interface for her. He could teach abilities anytime to these four players. Other than the abilities at the bottom of his chest, the others could all be used to earn him experience.

Maple Moon had also chosen to become a Mechanic, so he could cultivate her like an apprentice. Maple Moon was a casual player who preferred real-life simulation type of gameplay. It was very smart a choice to train her into an assistant. Han Xiao was not stingy about it anyway, plus he quite liked Maple Moon.

In his previous life, Han Xiao had started playing during version 1.0 as a completely new player. He had also chosen the Mechanic class and had experienced losing streaks during PVP[1. PVP stands for player vs player.). There was a time when he had lost hope in the Mechanic class despite how much he liked the class, and he had almost even changed his account. Then, later on, during the pro competition in version 3.0, Maple Moon became a completely unexpected black horse in her first competition, which signaled the rise of Mechanic class and gave a lot of encouragement to Han Xiao. He had even been a fan of Maple Moon for some time when he was young.

Later, when he got more and more skilled, he became one of the masters that represented the Mechanic class. Although he did not become a pro player, legends of the Great Mechanic Han went around. There were always discussions on the forum regarding what a non-pro master player could achieve in a pro league if they had gone, and the Great Mechanic Han had been a constant hot topic.

Great Technician Han grew stronger with time, but Maple Moon was like a comet, leaving an unforgettable mark in the milestones of gaming history then soaring through the sky and disappearing in a flash, only shining during the third and fourth versions of the game. Maple Moon was a casual player after all, so her skills in PK grew at a very slow pace—not everyone had so much interest in improving in a game like the Great Technician Han.

In the later versions, Maple Moon disappeared from the pro scene. It was said that she had discontinued the contract with her club, so her light only lived in the memories of the old players.

The Maple Moon in front of him was pretty and cute, and Han Xiao could not associate her with the person in his memories who had caused a storm in the pro league. Looking at Maple Moon, who was torn between which skills to learn, Han Xiao had complicated feelings.

What will happen this time?

With him changing the storyline, would Maple Moon's future still be the same as it was in his previous life?

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Chapter 223: Arrival of People From Everywhere! (Two)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The sanctuary construction was enormous, it has always been difficult to start from nothing, but Coney Fury was quite good in 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 in the forums, it was the first large main storyline mission since the expedition war was still in preparation, the attention of the players was immediately attracted to it, and with the thousands of players that were already part of it, it was proved to be a reliable piece of information.

Since this was a large main storyline mission, the number of players participating would never be too high, since the more players there was, the faster it would be completed.

The Sanctuary Three became lively all of a sudden, the players called their friends and headed towards Sanctuary Three in groups, it became a huge festival, the number of players in Sanctuary increased like a snowball.

There were hundred thousands of players in Planet Aquamarine at the moment, and more than a hundred thousand just in the Southern Continent. 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 the players had.

The 1000 Dark Net people that were present since the start were all completely stunned, inhumans came to help continuously, they were all called by Han Xiao, it was like a dream.

Terrifyingly influential!

The work efficiency of one inhuman could match up to many workers since they don't sleep, these more than 20,000 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 didn't seem impossible anymore!

When the entire construction team realized this, they all became extremely motived and gave all of their effort in 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, 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, then finally made a decision and knocked on the door.

"Squeak."

The door opened, Han Xiao appeared in sight wearing a Mechanic working suit, the protective goggles were 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, "talk inside," he said.

Huang Yu entered hastily, seeing Han Xiao pointed with his fingers, 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 players became more and more, Huang Yu shockingly realized the one month plan really had a chance to succeed, and once it does, 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 couldn't sit still anymore, he would regret his entire life if he let this credit slip pass, he felt that he's already offended Han Xiao because of his perfunctory attitude earlier since Han Xiao didn't assign any mission for him, if Han Xiao rants even a few words to Bennett about him, this credit would have completely nothing to do him any more. He was originally happy that he had nothing to do, but now he was in total panic and couldn't wait to join the construction, which was why he came to Han Xiao's doors and fawned over Han Xiao, wanting to make up for his disrespect back then.

Han Xiao left Huang Yu and didn't 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, I understand my and gave you 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 and said sincerely.

Han Xiao folded his arms and looked at Huang Yu meaningfully, but didn't 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 then said, "these are the construction progress of the sanctuary, go through and arrange them, report to me if there's anything."

Huang Yu held the documents and immediately felt more energetic, he stood up hastily and said, "I will ensure these are 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 didn't hold any grudges and gave him a chance to join in and share the credit, for this 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.

Han Xiao thought of it clearly, there was no need to have a bad relationship with his assistant, what was between them was hardly even a disagreement, seeing that Huang Yu had put down his pride, Han Xiao didn't want to ruin his future on purpose, and he did indeed need an assistant to take care of the construction matters of the sanctuary, these were complicated and cumbersome, which he wasn't fond of.

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, its progress was already like a horse out of its leash, completely unstoppable. The energy of the players had far exceeded The Great Technician Han's expectations, they were working even harder than migrant workers that they could all be considered as labor role models.

In Han Xiao's previous life, the early stages of the game had already ended when the players came in touch with the sanctuary main storyline and Dark Net approached and hired players, back then many sanctuaries were being built at the same time, the players had choices so their numbers were dispersed.

And for now, the players also noticed Han Xiao was in Sanctuary Three, which means there have to be other sanctuaries that need to be constructed, but 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 familiar face "Black Phantom", it was an easy choice.

The majority of people followed with the trends, as the players in Sanctuary Three became more and more, other players were attracted too, the number of people grew like a snowball. The future of the "players' main city" plan Han Xiao had 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 fore friendly PKs, 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 came to build the city.

The expedition mission had a level requirement and had yet to start, 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 respond of the forums and Dark Net.

Sanctuary Three didn't 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 has 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 amongst inhumans? Why can he command the inhumans? What is the relationship between them?

The organizations raised their alert, the danger level of Black Phantom increased another level.

Dark Net was the first to receive this intelligence, even Bennett was stunned, thinking back of when Han Xiao said he wanted to exceed the progress of Sanctuary One in a month, he realized it was actually not a joke.

Seeing its current progress speed, that could really be done.

Bennett was not shocked but surprised, as long as sanctuary could be built successfully, it didn't matter which one was first, it would all be a contribution. He only entrusted those who he had trust in, so he didn't 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 this, they didn't know whether it was fortune or disaster.

Sanctuary Three, West, Clock Tower Area.

The signature building of this area is an enormous clock tower covered in vines, 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 was 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 was large amounts of construction materials and electricity generators, the terrain here 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, the only light was from the flashlight.

"It's quite smelly here," a player held his nose and said.

"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, he was walking very carefully.

Even after decades, this drainage pipe was still damp, 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 wind tunnel appeared from deep within the dark.

Huuu——

"Something's wrong!"

The player was shocked, just as they were about to move, they realized they were unable to, a notification showed on their interfaces.

[You are affected by the intimidation aura of a high-level beast and entered "Fear" state!]

"What is this?" The expression on their faces changed.

"Boom!"

The ground shook vigorously, a black shadow that filled the entire tunnel dashed towards them in an extremely high speed.

With a loud "bang", the team of players flew away like they were hit by a train, they bashed against the wall and died instantly. They were not the first batch of players, but they were level 15 and yet they died with just one hit, which means 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 making any stop and dashed out of the tunnel straight away and were exposed under the sun. Like furious tanks, they bolted up the ground and headed towards the most conspicuous building, the clock tower.

The players resting in the clock tower 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 lout "boom" and fire broke out. These shadows didn't 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 and fearsome roar also came out of the mouth of these black shadows, quaking the entire sky!

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Chapter 224: Shadow Stalker Viper

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

An hour later, the fire in the clock tower area was finally extinguished. There were burn marks everywhere, the unfinished power generator had been completely destroyed, and the collapsed clock tower had created an area of ruins. This place had become a mess, adding to the burden of cleaning missions.

The area nearby was fenced off. Huang Yu took charge of the scene that was in a complete mess. Fortunately, the players did their best to clear the ruins, so the situation was slightly under control.

Thousands of players gathered afar and looked at the broken scene. These black shadows had stomped on the brick floor and left a string of cracks with their footprints. The footprints had three claws that were long and thin. The name of the creature was unknown.

At the time, those black shadows had disappeared and returned to the river tunnel, which was clearly their nest, and no one dared to mess with these unknown monsters.

"What kind of beasts could create this level of damage?"

"The monsters that we met these few days were LV 20 something at most. I thought there are no strong monsters, so this is where they're hiding in."

"I heard from the experienced people that the results of their scan were all question marks, and the danger level was 'Extremely Lethal'."

"Wow, that should mean it's at least LV 40."

"Let's wait and see. Maybe there will be missions for us in a while."

Huang Yu finished arranging the jobs, and he activated the communication device. "Your excellency, the situation is temporarily under control."

"How's the damage?" Han Xiao asked calmly.

"Not good. The power station that we were building has been completely destroyed, together with the construction materials and engineering machines inside."

Han Xiao had expected this to happen. Since the sanctuary was a main storyline, there would very likely be twists and turns, and it really did come without any warning. He had not expected the Graymetal Ruins to have powerful monsters in it. The loss of construction materials and engineering machines was not the most important problem, but the construction period would be largely slowed down if there was no solution to these beasts.

"What is the species of these beasts?"

"It's still under investigation, but they are hiding in the drainage pipes that we have no knowledge about, so it is very dangerous."

"Wait for me to go over."

Ten minutes later, Han Xiao arrived at the scene. The people came to him and reported the situation. Han Xiao listened for a while and waved his hands to tell them to quiet down, then walked to the footprints and observed them in detail.

"Able to crack open the brick floor with their feet, which means the leg power of these beasts is very high, and they are monstrously heavy. Likes to live in damp and dark places, lives in a herd, aggressive…" Han Xiao took out his laptop. He searched through the Planet Aquamarine beast database and found many matching species.

After some thought, Han Xiao lifted up his coat, and about seven spider detectors slid down his legs and landed on the floor. They slowly crawled into the tunnel and started surveying its internal structure. The laptop was showing the night vision and infrared vision of the detectors.

While waiting, Han Xiao asked casually, "Are there any other powerful beasts nearby?"

"No," Huang Yu replied immediately, "this is the only place. The clearing tasks at the other areas have all been completed."

The shocking incident that had taken place here did not slow down the other construction projects. The construction of the walls, residences, garages, power stations, internal life support facilities, greenhouse farms, and so on were all progressing well. Han Xiao was the only one that could do this because he had tens of thousands of players to help him, unlike Sanctuary Two, where they were still exploring the city, progressing at a much lower speed than him.

The image of the tunnels was relayed by the spider detectors. The walls were covered in a strange mucus in the deep area of the river tunnel. It was sticky and looked disgusting, and it was dripping continuously.

One spider was covered in the dripping mucus. Its machine legs twitched, and it shut down completely, like being covered in amber.

As the spiders went deeper, an even more shocking scene came into sight. The beasts had dug countless split paths at the end of the river tunnel. Under Han Xiao's control, the spiders entered the different paths, and as more images got sent back from the spiders, the people became more and more shocked.

Under the surface of Graymetal Ruins, there was an enormous sized underground nest! It covered more than half the West Area!

These beasts had been living in this abandoned city for many years!

"Holy…" Han Xiao felt a slight chill up his spine.

The hidden beasts' outline was shown under the infrared vision. Han Xiao hastily opened the database, and this time, he was finally able to narrow down the target.

"Scientific name, Nygaro Shadow Viper Beast, also known as Shadow Stalker Viper. It is oviparous, born with six feet and three claws, and covered in chitin exoskeleton. Adults can grow up to four meters long. Usual forms of attack are through its claws, tail, and teeth, and it is able to secrete a type of corrosive slime from its mouth and anus, which is used to dig its nest. It likes dark, warm, and damp places, usually underground near volcanoes…"

Other than not having a bug that jumped onto people's faces, this thing looked really alike to aliens 1 !

After studying the database entry, he realized that the vital signs of these Shadow Stalker Vipers were at around LV 40, which meant that every one of them was a mini BOSS to the players at the moment.

There were roughly more than a thousand Shadow Stalker Vipers in the nest, so this was a huge hidden danger to the sanctuary. If it is not resolved, accidents like today would continue to happen and slow down the construction of the West City Area.

Han Xiao suddenly noticed something abnormal.

Despite the fact that Shadow Stalker Vipers like hot environments, they are still attracted to the underground of the flatland, which should be cool and damp. That is really weird. Could it be that… there is abandoned reactors or high energy waste underground?

He contemplated and decided it was best to have the players detect the radiation strength inside.

If Han Xiao had guessed correctly, there should be a wild BOSS level Beast King in a herd of Shadow Stalker Vipers, and he was the only one that could deal with that thing.

The complicated nest was the Shadow Stalker Vipers' territory. Han Xiao didn't want to deal with an entire herd himself as he would suffer tremendous damage even with his mechanical guards.

The players would be able to kill a normal Shadow Stalker Vipers by overwhelming them with numbers, and since so many players were present, he might as well make full use of them.

Come to think of it, the corpses and eggs of Shadow Stalker Vipers are both used in manufacturing drugs. Han Xiao's eyes twinkled, and a plan formed in his mind.

Huang Yu was actively giving suggestions on the side and said, "I think we could use a large number of explosives in the empty spaces underground to create a landfall and destroy the Shadow Stalker Vipers' nest. Although the ground of the West City Area will also sink because of that, it shouldn't be a problem because this is an abandoned city, and it can also be used for modifications…"

"Good idea." Han Xiao's eyes twinkled. He always liked to maximize the benefits to the best of his ability. All the Shadow Stalker Vipers would go to waste if he simply blew everything up, but Huang Yu reminded him that Shadow Stalker Viper would turn extremely aggressive if they were disturbed and by doing so would lure them out of their nest. Han Xiao could then plant traps in advance so that he could deal a large amount of damage once they were lured out.

Han Xiao was someone who was action-oriented. He immediately gathered all the patrolling Generation 2.5 Rangers around the river tunnel before ordering the people of Dark Net to move the mini batteries over and lay out a battle frontier that aimed at the river tunnel.

"Throw in a flashbang." Han Xiao gave a mission to Frenzied Sword. Frenzied Sword dashed in immediately without saying a word.

Seconds and minutes passed by. Everyone waited, completely focused. It was quiet. Players watching from further away occasionally chatted among themselves while staring at the scene.

Fearsome growls broke the peace, and with a short scream of pain, the ground started quivering. The sound from the tunnel got closer and closer; something was coming out.

Booooom!

A huge number of Shadow Stalker Vipers galloped out of the tunnel, they were covered in black carapace and had hideous bone spurs. There were three pairs of tiny, bloody red eyes hidden between their exoskeleton that was filled with fury and wrath. At least a hundred Shadow Stalker Vipers showed up. They noticed the group of humans gathered far away instantly and stampeded over with a loud growl.

Tu tu tu tu!

The next second, they were faced by a thunderstorm of bullets and cannons that overturned these Shadow Stalker Viper and stopped them from charging any further. The steel core bullets penetrated and tore open their chitin carapace. Thick and sticky bodily fluids splashed all across the place as growls turned into wails. They struggled to stand up but were beaten by the hail of bullets pressing them again the floor and shattering them into pieces.

The flashing gunfire reflected onto Han Xiao's face. He lit up a cigarette and watched as more than a hundred Shadow Stalker Vipers broke into pieces.

Not long after, the magazine was cleared, and bullet shells covered the ground.

The smell of smoke pervaded the air, and the scene turned silent. The corpses of Shadow Stalker Vipers were all over the ground, shattered into pieces.

The faces of many players who were watching turned pale. They were disgusted by this image of monster parts scattered all over the floor.

"Collect the corpses and keep them in the frozen storage," Han Xiao ordered.

Everyone cleaned the battlefield quickly. Han Xiao gave the flashbang mission to Hao Tian this time, but the Shadow Stalker Vipers did not fall for it again. They killed Hao Tian and stayed in the nest, refusing to come out no matter what.

The mechanical guards became temporarily useless because of that as this tactic worked best in open areas—they would one by one be torn into metal waste if they entered the narrow nest. But tricking the enemy once was good enough.

The players had been watching for quite long, so it was time to give them something to do.

"I need some people to clean this nest, within three days," Han Xiao yelled. He then set the mission quickly and gave it out.

"Prize-Pool Mission: Clean the Nest!"

Many days had passed since Han Xiao had last issued a prize-pool mission, and he realized that prize-pool missions were the easiest way to draw out the players' enthusiasm, and as he expected, the rubbernecking players immediately dashed toward him to accept the mission.

The prize-pool accumulated more than 1,000,000 EXP very quickly, and it was still growing. The mission requirements were to hunt down Shadow Stalker Vipers and bring back their eggs—these two tasks would give them contribution points, and the ten teams with the highest contribution points would be rewarded.

The players were all excited and ready. They swarmed into the nest to kill Shadow Stalker Vipers, making up for their difference in strength with numbers.

Han Xiao turned and said to his four spare tires, "Take this device and detect the radiation strength of the nest. At the same time, be wary of any strong Shadow Stalker Vipers—that will be the Beast King. Notify me immediately if so. Also, if there are any other discoveries, let me know as well."

The four people nodded and entered the nest together.

Looking at the passionate players, Han Xiao pondered.

Shadow Stalker Vipers are too strong for the players at the moment, but in order to reach higher positions in the prize-pool mission, they will definitely have more demand for better weapons. There will definitely be someone who is interested in my group of mechanical guards after seeing them.

Han Xiao had more than enough spare parts to build and sell weapons to earn him another fortune.

This again showcased his innovative business philosophy. If customers don't have a demand, just create one!

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Chapter 225: Radiation Crystals

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Han Xiao would never make a losing deal. The price that he asked for was very high, and most players would not be able to afford his equipment. He soon thought of launching rental services for his weapons to gain a profit through low margins but high sales.

However, Han Xiao rejected this idea immediately after.

If the players damage the weapon, I will make a loss, and there might even be some players that don't return my equipment. Before ensuring that the weapon can be retrieved in perfect condition, rental service is not a good idea, Han Xiao thought.

The concentrated sound of gunfire came from the nest under the West City Area, together with explosions. The ground trembled lightly, shaking up the sand and dust on it.

While the players hunted the Shadow Stalker Vipers, the people of Dark Net were not doing nothing. They drew out the map of the underground nest from the images of the detectors and divided the nest into areas on the ground.

"Your Excellency, the habits of the Shadow Stalker Vipers are alike to ants. Their nest is very labyrinthine and complicated; it can be roughly divided into two areas—the core area and the activity area. The activity area makes up to 95% of the entire nest, and we are still looking for the core area," Huang Yu reported.

Han Xiao nodded. If his guess was correct, the Shadow Stalker Viper Beast King should be in the core area.

The Beast King should be between the level of 50 to 60 and have a BOSS panel. This difference in strength could not be filled no matter how outnumbered it was by the players at the moment. Han Xiao would have to do it himself, which he planned to do as soon as they found the core area.

The nest was the Shadow Stalker Vipers' territory. On the first day, the players split up and marched in at a very slow pace. Most of the players were completely thrashed. After all, it was the first time that these new players had faced a monster with such a high level. Thus, their weak spirit and mind were beaten.

Han Xiao did not focus on the West City Area all the time. This was just a part of the sanctuary construction, and as a responsibility of the overseer, he patrolled the other areas' construction progress and went back to building machinery.

The class advancement requirement was five purple quality equipment. He could already stably build Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades, Iron Fist—Mounted Heavy Mechanical Arm, and Mini Maneuvering Equipment with dark blue quality. One time of over performance was all he needed to achieve purple quality for these pieces of equipment.

The failed products—those that did not reach purple quality—filled almost half of the entire room.

Only Han Xiao, who had so many assets, could afford such expenses.

Some players finally came to visit during the evening.

Jade Green Sky brought a group of guild members to visit. They expressed their intention of wanting to buy equipment.

A large number of players resided in the sanctuary at the moment. Players could be seen all over the place requesting to team up and do missions. Many Mechanics opened up stalls for repairing, building, and enhancing services, and even Maple Moon would sometime open a stall to pass the time. The sanctuary did have the feeling of a main city indeed.

These Mechanics were able to gain the blueprints of various low-tier machinery through Knowledge Fusion, each having its own uniqueness, and firearms were the most common type.

The Mechanics who opened stalls demanded very low prices, so many not-so-rich players were very willing to buy from them. However, Han Xiao did not bother to do such things as it was a waste of time for him. The market that he was aiming for was high-end as his product quality was far beyond that of the players, and he had a lot of blueprints that they did not have.

He was irreplaceable—he had no competition.

"You want to buy equipment?" Han Xiao put down the parts in his hands.

Jade Green Sky nodded hastily.

Sky Territory had accepted the prize-pool mission, and they had a chance to go for a higher position, but other large guilds had arrived at the sanctuary a few days ago, and they were all strong competitors. Thus, Jade Green Sky wanted to buy Black Phantom's equipment to stay ahead.

Jade Green Sky had bought a Light Mechanical Arm when the public launch had only just begun, and it was his main weapon even now, so he was very confident in Han Xiao's products.

The Great Mechanic Han had an outrageous amount of 230,000,000 experience in his interface at the moment, so he could afford to spend some of that experience and gamble out some new blueprints, which made his inventory full of various types of equipment. To match the ever-increasing level of players, he had put in some new machinery.

After some consideration, he also added Iron Fist—Mounted Heavy Mechanical Arm and Mini Maneuvering Equipment into to his store. He had a lot of blue-quality products for these two types of machinery, which he had no use for, so this was a chance for him to get rid of them and gain some profit at the same time.

However, he did not sell Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades. This was almost god-tier equipment for the players in the early stage, so Han Xiao did not want to sell it to players easily.

The people of Sky Territory took a deep breath when they opened up the store. The huge variation of products had their hearts beating faster, and everyone's eyes twinkled brightly.

"God, even the lowest quality is green. There is even some blue quality equipment. I have never even seen blue equipment before!"

"All of them are so tempting!"

Jade Green Sky stared at the Heavy Mechanical Arm with excitement. This thing was stronger than the Light Mechanical Arm; it could largely increase his strength.

He looked at the price—120,000!

"So expensive!" Jade Green Sky's face twitched. Although the guild was rich, 120,000 was still a significant amount; it was the price of dozens of firearms and many boxes of gunpowder.

After some hesitation, Jade Green Sky decided to buy it. He believed that it had more worth than anything else he could buy with that money!

Large guilds were rich. They purchased many pieces of equipment that totaled to 300,000 dollars, and they were given to Core Group One for the prize-pool mission.

Han Xiao earned a fortune and offloaded some machinery that was useless to him at the same time—a very profitable deal.

He had set security measures within the machinery that he sold. The Mechanic players at the moment would only be able to pass through these measures only in their dreams, so it was impossible for the blueprint to be leaked. Therefore, Han Xiao was very confident when he sold them.

Having sole possession of the technology meant a monopoly—it was the most profitable business as there would not be another place where these products could be bought.

Du du!

Frenzied Sword and the other three returned right after Jade Green Sky left, bringing along new discoveries.

"We have detected a very high radiation strength, almost reaching the maximum on the measuring device," Maple Moon said and passed the device back to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao was a little shocked. With such high radiation, creatures that lived near it would very likely go through mutations. Whether the mutation enhanced one's strength or the other way around depended on the species and habits of the creature. Stronger creatures that had a higher resistance would more likely have enhancing mutations.

Which means there might be elite mutated variants in this Shadow Stalker Viper herd, Han Xiao thought.

"We have also discovered the source of the mutation—it's these things," Frenzied Sword said as he took out a bag of blue crystals and laid them out on the table. The crystals were filled with mist and cracks—they looked very turbid. The blue crystals reflected a mist-like aura from the light. They looked magnificent and almost magical.

Unknown Crystal: A crystal formed by unknown reasons. It is highly radioactive.

The measurement on the device increased noticeably as it was moved closer to the crystal.

Han Xiao wore a pair of gloves. He held up a finger-sized crystal and looked at it carefully. "Where did you find this?"

"On the walls deep inside the nest." Hao Tian gave a very simple answer.

Frenzied Sword added, "These crystals were embedded in the wall. We wouldn't have found it either if the slime on it wasn't scraped off during the battle. Furthermore, these crystals became more concentrated as we went deeper into the nest as did the monsters. We were unable to go even deeper, so we came back early."

Han Xiao could feel the warmth from the crystal itself even with gloves, which solved one of his questions. These crystals provided the heat energy that made the Shadow Stalker Vipers build their nest here.

Han Xiao waved at Frenzied Sword.

Without a hint of hesitation, Frenzied Sword walked toward Han Xiao, who suddenly did something shocking. He grabbed Frenzied Sword's mouth and stuffed the crystal into it. Then he blocked his mouth, not letting him spit it out.

"Swallow it."

"Wuuuuuu—" Frenzied Sword's face was filled with shock. He struggled all he could, but Han Xiao's hands did not budge even an inch. Then, the crystal went down his throat. The three people watching from the side were stunned.

"Any reactions?" Han Xiao stared at him.

Frenzied Sword let out a sigh like he accepted his fate. He touched his chest and looked at his interface.

You have swallowed a type of high radiation strength crystal (Unpurified).

Race Detected: Human

Endurance is less than 50.

No related ability gained.

You have entered the 'Radiation Damage' state!

Radiation Damage: -33% Maximum Health, -33% Maximum Stamina, -50% across all attributes

Duration: 2 hours

Related medication can be used to recover in advance.

Frenzied Sword described the status. Undying players were the best choice to test drugs. Han Xiao gave a large amount of experience to Frenzied Sword as a reward and said while nodding, "Well done."

Frenzied Sword felt much better when he saw the experience. He looked at the rest of the crystals on the table and pondered, Will there be more experience if I eat all of them? It actually tastes like sweets.

Han Xiao knew what Frenzied Sword was thinking from the expression on his face. He awkwardly collected all of the crystals, denying Frenzied Sword's thoughts.

From the experiment, the rough uses of the crystals could be seen—purifying this type of radiation crystals would create crystal-formed energy, which was a form of clean energy.

Han Xiao had a thought. There were a lot of such crystals in the nest. He could use [Basic Extraction] to purify them and turn them into energy storage, and these energy crystals could even be used on all kinds of machinery if he made an energy transformation device. It was a valuable discovery.

Crystal energy was most commonly used in magic civilizations, it would also appear sometimes in technological civilizations. In a more fashionable way, such clean energy crystals could also be called 'Non-Elemental Crystal' or 'Magic Crystal'. Mages would use magic techniques to harvest energy from these crystals to become their own energy or to power magic, so there were many uses for it.

The concentration level of the crystals should lead to the core of the nest, Han Xiao thought and called Huang Yu over immediately.

After describing this discovery, Huang Yu instantly marked an area on the nest map that they had drawn.

"There's a ninety percent chance that this is the core area." Huang Yu pointed at the map confidently.

"Very good." Han Xiao nodded.

Time to act!

At midnight, players continued to fight in the nest as they did not need to sleep.

The prize-pool mission motivated the players. Although there was no direct mission, they still received quite a lot of experience from killing the Shadow Stalker Vipers, which were a much higher level than them.

Sky Territory was at the top of the rank!

"Quickly, T3 (third tank) pull the monster. T1 (main tank) and T2 (secondary tank), come back here now!"

"Pugilists attack at close range quickly!"

"Come on Espers, last longer! Go to the side to recover if you're out of energy!"

"Mechanics don't go too close, stand further away to deal damage!"

"Those carrying eggs leave quickly, don't get hit by the fallout!"

The people of Sky Territory were surrounding a Shadow Stalker Viper and took it like a BOSS. Jade Green Sky was commanding and yelling, and they were having a very exciting time. The cooperation of Core Team One was very in sync.

The slime in the nest would lower the players' speed, but although the nest favored the Shadow Stalker Vipers, it still was a fish in a net when facing the core team of Sky Territory, which was extremely experienced in fighting BOSSES. The Shadow Stalker Viper could not break out of the net no matter how it tried, and its health was decreasing at a steady rate.

"Killing Line 1 ! Everyone, deal damage now!"

All kinds of attacks downed on Shadow Stalker Viper. Its carapace started cracking, and slime splashed all over.

Jade Green Sky charged forward. He wore a Heavy Mechanical Arm much thicker than his hands on his right arm and activated the active ability of the Heavy Mechanical Arm.

The motors made a loud noise. Heated steam shot out of its ventilation pipes, and the iron fist hit straight at Shadow Stalker Viper's head. At the same time, Jade Green Sky shouted out loud with passion!

"Haaa! Iron Fist Burst!"

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Chapter 226: Demolition‽

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The iron fist punched the chitin carapace. The skull of the Shadow Stalker Viper shattered, and its health reached zero. It screamed in agony and fell to the ground, dead. The air in its lungs came out of its mouth and nose, and its swollen body slowly deflated.

Jade Green Sky took a deep breath and looked at the damage ranking—he was unexpectedly first once again. The damage of the Heavy Mechanical Arm would not be exceeded easily by the players at the moment.

The Heavy Mechanical Arm also had very high armor stats—it can even be used to withstand damage from the monster. Several times, they had been in danger of being wiped out, and it was Jade Green Sky who had saved the situation. While the other players got wiped out once in a while, they had not died once. Thus, their contribution points increased steadily, and they reached rank one.

Buying this weapon was more than worth it!

Black Phantom's products were expensive, but they were worth every penny. It was really a great deal—Jade Green Sky was very contented.

Vice Team Captain jokingly complained, "How old are you already Captain? Are you not ashamed when you yell out the name of the ability?"

"I like to do that. None of your business. Plus, why bother to play Pugilist if you're not going to yell out your ability names?" Jade Green Sky replied.

The carcass and eggs of Shadow Stalker Vipers were both contribution points. The team members started to clean up the battlefield.

Wuuu—

Suddenly, the sound of a piercing wind echoed from further down in the tunnel. Something was approaching at very high speed!

A shadow passed by them in an instant and created a strong gust of wind that almost made everyone in Sky Territory lose their balance. It was so fast that they could not even capture it with their eyes—no one could see what had passed them.

"What was that?"

"It disappeared in a flash!"

Jade Green Sky looked in the direction where the shadow disappeared and said with surprise, "That's probably toward the deeper part of the nest!"

Everyone exchanged looks of surprise.

"Let's follow and take a look."

The speed reducing slime was everywhere in the nest. They chased for a while, but that shadow was long gone. The players of Sky Territory felt a little beaten.

"Stop chasing, we can't catch up."

"Wait… what's that?" Someone noticed something abnormal.

The flashlight shone over, and a pungent smell entered their nose as they saw the carcasses of Shadow Stalker Vipers all over the tunnel and extending all the way into the darkness. It was a shocking view.

The carapace that players tried so hard to penetrate looked as fragile as eggshells. The carcasses were still fresh, which meant the shadow had gotten rid of all the beasts obstructing his way within the short period of their chase. The LV 40 beast herd did not stop him for even a second.

Everyone instinctively thought of Han Xiao.

"It was Black Phantom that just passed by, right?"

"The monsters we took so long to beat were killed by him within seconds. He's definitely at max level."

When the players scanned Han Xiao, the information they got was always all question marks except the danger level being [Extremely Lethal]. People had tried guessing his level, and now that they had something to compare with, they had a more accurate deduction. Black Phantom was definitely one of the strongest in Planet Aquamarine.

Jade Green Sky suddenly became happy. "He opened up a path for us. We can follow along."

Han Xiao, who was covered in his black combat mechanical suit, dashed through the nest following the route from the tactical screen.

Slosh…

Two Shadow Stalker Viper pounced out of the darkness, where the human eyes could not reach. However, the mechanical suit radar had detected the vital signs and heat energy long ago. Without dodging, Han Xiao activated Enhanced Mode, and the biological muscles under the armor swelled up. Power surged from his fists and smashed straight at the Shadow Stalker Vipers!

Devastating strength difference!

Shattered carapaces, splashing slime, and screams of pain.

Claws hit on the mechanical suit and only left a string of sparks. Han Xiao passed the two beasts without pause and sent out several punches within an instant, killing these two beasts immediately. With the LV 55 attributes, Viper's advanced performance, and the difference in level, Han Xiao could kill those Shadow Stalker Vipers within a second easily.

He did not stop.

Wiping off the slime on the wall, the radiation crystals were becoming more concentrated.

"The core area should not be far away—monsters are appearing at a higher rate," Han Xiao muttered as he casually killed a Shadow Stalker Viper. He looked at the map on the screen and confirmed that he was on the right route.

The screen showed that the temperature on the outside was increasing. The crystals contained heat, so the higher the temperature, the more likely it was that the Shadow Stalker Viper Beast King would be living nearby.

The high temperature from the crystals had turned the infrared and night vision images completely red. Han Xiao changed it back to normal vision, and it darkened immediately. However, a few seconds later, it was bright again. This was because of the [Night Stalker] class talent [Bat Habit, which provided vision in darkness and bonuses when fighting in the dark.

Passing through a cave, the space suddenly became much larger. A thick, pungent smell filled the place, and slime on the ground was thick and dense. This was an underground cave that looked like a honeycomb. The walls were embedded with large, dark-blue radiation crystals, surrounded by more than a dozen entrances of a tunnel that lead to many places. This was the center of the nest.

Dense red eyes blinked in the dark. Dozens of Shadow Stalker Vipers lay low on the floor and bared their teeth, demonstrating their authority over the unwanted guest. There were also a few more frightful looking elites in the herd.

The Shadow Stalker Viper Beast King was the most conspicuous one surrounded by the herd; it was three times larger than the others. It looked down on Han Xiao with condescension as the slime in its mouth dripped down onto the ground, corroding the floor and emitting a pungent odor.

It's so big. It has to be the Beast King, Han Xiao thought.

The Shadow Stalker Vipers pounced toward Han Xiao fearlessly. The Electromagnetic Hover-boots allowed Han Xiao to ignore the slimy terrain and move freely. He dodged the attack and took out the Ghost sniper rifle from his back, using it as an assault rifle. Blue flashes appeared on the muzzle as 'Needle' magnetic bullets were being shot out rapidly.

He changed targets continuously—doing so was to keep triggering [Lethal Shot, which did not trigger on the same target within five minutes. This talent was more useful during group combat, and the right way to use it is to keep changing targets and maximizing the damage output.

Flesh exploded one after another—the Needle bullets penetrated the carapaces easily and slaughtered the herd at a very fast rate. An elite monster snuck behind Han Xiao and pounced toward Han Xiao, thinking that he would not notice. However, Han Xiao turned around and slammed his leg on the skull of this Shadow Stalker Viper like he had eyes behind his back. Its skull was flattened.

The herd charged toward Han Xiao one after another in waves, but Han Xiao was like a reef—he did not budge at all. The herd became less and less dense as they fell one by one around Han Xiao.

"Roar!" The Shadow Stalker Viper Beast King growled. The soundwaves echoed in the nest, summoning their own kind.

The players in other areas realized that the Shadow Stalker Vipers that were fighting them stopped simultaneously and dashed toward the center of the nest without looking back.

The tunnel rustled, and the ground shook. A large number of beasts were approaching. The longer the battle lasted, the more difficult it would be. Han Xiao's eyes focused. He activated [Overload, [Flaming Will, and [Lethal Critical Hits] at the same time and fired at the Beast King lingering at the edge of the battlefield.

Buzz!

The firing sound of the Ghost sniper rifle was a buzz made by its electrical circuits.

A flash of dark blue appeared and disappeared the next second, penetrating the carapace of the Beast King and exploding its empty cavities.

This shot also triggered the True Damage from [Lethal Shot]!

– 2853!

An astonishing damage number appeared. The health bar of the Beast King dropped a huge portion instantly, and it growled and rolled on the floor in agony. Han Xiao saw the attributes of the Beast King from the interface.

LV 53 BOSS, very high Dexterity and Endurance… but only 9,000 Health‽ Han Xiao was surprised. His shot just now had taken almost a third of its health—this health amount didn't match up to its BOSS status.

Is it one of those Dexterity-type Beast Kings that are more focused on attacking? But it doesn't look like it with such a huge size.

The Beast King rolled over, but unexpectedly, it did not pounce over immediately. Instead, it ran to a corner of the cave and took many large bites into something stiff. Han Xiao looked over through the gaps in the herd and was shocked when he saw it clearly—the Beast King was eating barrels of high energy waste marked with radiation symbols.

Beasts consuming wastes in long term would very likely induce mutation, or they would gain a special ability—he realized that the Beast King's health was recovering at a remarkable speed, gaining back 1,000 HP within seconds. Clearly, consuming waste materials quickly recovered its health.

Then it occurred to Han Xiao that this Beast King was the type that stalled people to their death. This environment had put him at a very bad disadvantage. He took a deep breath and adjusted himself to his peak performance, before jumping up high into the air and flying over the herd in an arc, slamming on the back of the Beast King with a huge amount of energy. Upon impact, they both rolled over.

Before standing up, Han Xiao bent his fingers, and blades shot out. He stabbed them into the Beast King's carapace, and at the same time, he activated the Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves and burnt through the carapace.

Suddenly, the wind whistled. His back was hit by the Beast King's tail, and he almost flew out. He could feel the enormous power even through the mechanical suit, and the durability dropped a little.

Han Xiao was fully focused. The light from the Bonfire Reaction Furnace behind his back brightened, and with force from both his hands and legs, he pushed the Beast King to knock the wall.

The ground shook!

Pebbles fell down like rain!

The man and the beast collapsed the wall and fell onto the tunnel on the other side. The Beast King growled, wanting to recover health in its nest, but Han Xiao grabbed onto it tightly and pulled it outward. Energy flew into the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades on the back of his hand. The blades hovered in the air, slashing open the carapace of the Beast King rapidly, showing its dark purple flesh.

It was like two beasts of the same size were clashing—they destroyed walls continuously, and the entire nest started to shake as if it was going to collapse.

The players were shocked and soon started to escape.

"Run, we are going to be buried alive!"

"What is this, demolition?"

Jade Green Sky also followed the crowd and ran for a while. Then he suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute, since we can revive, this is the best chance to kill already wounded monsters and gain contribution points!"

Just as he finished the sentence, the wall on his side exploded. Han Xiao pushed the Beast King in his direction. Jade Green Sky was in their way, and he was immediately squished.

The vice-captain of Team One held his head and yelled in shock, "Ah, you died so tragically captain!"

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Chapter 227: Profit from the Nest

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The slashing slime could not corrode the mechanical suit. Shadow Stalker Viper's carapace cracked all over its body, covered in blood and slime. Pressed on the floor by Han Xiao, its health decreased steadily.

The herd charged toward them one after another like they had lost their minds. Han Xiao used the Beast King's body as protection and dodged most of the attacks with his agility. The vision on the tactical display screen was jumping all over the place. Normal people would have a headache by looking at it for just a few seconds, but Han Xiao was completely used to it and was not affected at all.

Every punch, every kick, was sent out with incredible power that the surrounding terrain looked like it had been destroyed by a tornado.

With his basic combat skills all being at max level and the performance enhancement from Viper, Han Xiao's close-range combat ability was way above average, the Beast King's health very soon arrived at the killing line, as it was unable to eat waste materials and regenerate. Han Xiao's energy flew into Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades and formed a high speed spinning pointy cone around his arm like a drill, piercing right into the Beast King's head.

Ignoring the wail, Han Xiao grabbed onto the wound to not get dropped by the struggling Beast King, he then turned on the Sunworm and sprayed at the bloody brain of the Beast King. A smell of burnt meat spread in the air, the Beast King's body suddenly became stiff, like a fish out of water, giving his last struggle before death.

You have killed Shadow Stalker Viper Beast King (LV 53). You have received 132,000 Experience.

As soon as the Beast King died, the surrounding Shadow Stalker Vipers growled in agony and pounced toward Han Xiao dauntlessly, wanting to shatter this enemy that was harder than iron, submerging Han Xiao instantly.

But the next moment, a strong repel force pushed all of the Shadow Stalker Viper away at a speed even quicker than when they attacked. They hit against the wall of the nest as the Field Repulsive Machine on Viper's arms made a buzzing sound.

Boom!

This repulsion force caused a chain reaction, and the nest started crumbling down piece by piece. The ground was shaking so rapidly that it was like an earthquake.

Han Xiao did not want to be buried alive, so he concentrated all the power in his legs and jumped up. The floor cracked open from the strength of his jump, and he flew up in the air. He then turned on the Mini Maneuvering Equipment to give him further boost in speed. With the combined forces of the jump and the Mini Maneuvering Equipment, he rocketed up and burst through the mud above his head.

The next second, the ground exploded, and a black figure bolted out of the ground. The vision became obstructed, and the night sky came into sight.

The West City Area collapsed. Cracks opened from the sunk ground, and dust splashed out from within. Some players got buried and died; some players escaped and watched the scene, stunned.

"The entire city collapsed because of the fight. Such strong destruction power!"

"Isn't that Black Phantom? Did he do it‽"

"He's got to be a max level BOSS with such strength!"

"All the Shadow Stalker Vipers are buried alive. Does that mean our mission is completed? There's no notification though."

The players were shocked and confused. They looked at Han Xiao at the side who was wearing the mechanical suit with fire in their eyes. They had seen the video of the mechanical suit in action on the forums, and now they had finally witnessed that themselves. It was even more impressive than in the videos.

Jade Green Sky trotted over after he revived and was shocked by the completely different scene than before. He hastily asked about the situation, then contemplated and said, "The mission is not completed yet. There are chances to make use of the situation."

At the same time, signs of life appeared within the ruins, Shadow Stalker Vipers that were still alive crawled out with struggle. Only a small half of the nest had collapsed, but all the tunnels were blocked, so all the beasts had nowhere to escape.

Seeing this, the players dashed over in a hurry to get the last hit.

Han Xiao was only responsible for dealing with the Beast King—the other small monsters were to be dealt with by the players. The sound of cracking came out of his neck as he twisted it to relieve his tight nerves.

Huang Yu brought some people over and waited on the side.

"When the Inhumans are done the cleaning, you guys go dig through the ruins. Bring the radiation crystals and the carcasses into the warehouses, especially the Beast King's—that's rare material. Although I broke quite many parts of it, it should still be of some use," Han Xiao said casually.

Huang Yu took a look at the sunk ground, gulped, and nodded hastily.

Half an hour had yet to even pass since Black Phantom came, and he had already settled the problem. Even though the West City Area had almost been destroyed, this astonishing efficiency left Huang Yu in complete awe.

After returning to his room, Han Xiao took off Viper and repaired its damage.

At around midnight, Huang Yu finally came with the information that the cleaning of the ruins was completed.

"We have stored 846 Shadow Stalker Viper carcasses. 27 of them are mutated, and one is the Beast King. More than 300 undamaged eggs have all been stored in the frozen warehouse. Also, we have collected about two tons of radiation crystals—the 300 pounds that were collected near the center of the nest seem to have a higher concentration.

"By the way, Coney Fury has discovered the source of the crystals. These Shadow Stalker Vipers have been consuming high energy waste as their food source. The slime secreted in their bodies has gone through special reactions, which caused them to harden and thus become crystals."

Han Xiao was stunned for a second. "So… these radiation crystals are actually Shadow Stalker Vipers' feces?

"You could say that."

Han Xiao scratched his head and thought of Frenzied Sword.

Never mind. The truth is too cruel for me to tell him. I don't think he can take it.

As the nest was finally cleaned finish, the players felt relieved, they looked at their interface with anticipation.

[Clean the Nest] has been completed.

Current Prize-Pool Experience: 1,340,000

Damage ranking:

First: Jade Green Sky (Team)

Second: Red Carp (Team)

Third: No Sleep During the Day (Team)

The players on the leaderboard were delighted. Although it was unfortunate for those who did not make it, they did not make a lose anyway as the experience from killing the Shadow Stalker Viper was more than enough to cover the experience spent to take part.

"We're first!" Jade Green Sky and the people of the Sky Territory Core Team One were filled with joy. The players beside them looked over with envy, focusing their eyes on Jade Green Sky's Heavy Mechanical Arm.

"Sky Territory really is steady."

"What equipment is their guild leader wearing? Looks really powerful."

"I have a friend in their team. He said that equipment is a god-tier weapon for Pugilists. It can both tank and deal damage, but it is very expensive, and only Black Phantom sells it."

Seeing the effect of the Heavy Mechanical Arm, many players started to desire it. Desire would create demand, and demand meant potential customers.

The ruins needed reconstruction. The head of West City Area gave out more missions, and the players rested for a while before starting to help once again.

The next day, Han Xiao woke up to the construction noise surrounding him in all directions, and he rubbed his temples helplessly. It was indeed much quicker to have the players help to build the city, but there was one tiny flaw of that, the players didn't sleep or rest and worked throughout the day—this non-stop noise pollution almost made him mentally fatigued.

The secret base, however, had very good noise reduction measures, and it was in a rural area where no one had done any construction. Han Xiao had gone there secretly a few times and brought some supplies over for storage. He had also enhanced the security measures.

On the surface, Han Xiao did not work in the base.

Han Xiao came to the boisterous workshop then walked to his VIP room, which he had entered many times. Inside were many neatly arranged boxes emitting a magnificent, beautiful, but strange aura.

However, knowing that these are the feces of monsters, Han Xiao could not appreciate their beauty no matter how magnificent they were. He made sure his gloves were on tightly.

Radiation Crystal—can be turned into energy block after purification, non-elemental pure energy. Although it says these are of high concentration, these should be of the low tier in the standard of the universe. The conversion rate is roughly 100:1, so two tons of it should probably be able to produce 45 pounds of energy blocks. These can be used as emergency energy storage; it is a surprising but welcome income.

There were many types of energy—magnetic, electrical, nuclear, light, planet, antimatter, dark, psionic, and many more. If these were psionic energy blocks, they would be as valuable as the entire Planet Aquamarine. However, only very advanced civilizations could acquire, convert, and make use of psionic energy; low-class civilizations would not be able to use it even if they were able to acquire psionic blocks. Those civilizations that had discovered psionic energy too early had all destroyed themselves. To research and experiment on psionic energy without the required technology was suicide—thus, their entire planet was vaporized.

There were also 300 pounds of dark-blue crystals with higher concentration. Han Xiao guessed that it was the feces of the Beast King. The Beast King owned the most amount of high energy waste, so it produced crystals with the highest concentration compared to the others. It could barely be considered middle-tier concentration. The purification rate would be much higher, and they should be able to produce 10 pounds of energy blocks with higher Ona.

300 pounds… this guy really can take sh*ts. Han Xiao shook his head.

Han Xiao's [Basic Extraction] was at max level. The knowledge from the energy brunch could be infused into the Energy Block Extraction Device, which was a rather precise device. Han Xiao contemplated for a while and remembered the knowledge combination. He had plenty of experience points, so he successfully gambled out the blueprint after a few infusions and started to build the device.

It was completed after two hours.

Basic Energy Block Extraction Device: Extracts energy blocks out of minerals or crystals containing radiation or energy. Ordinary conversion rate, a rather slow conversion speed.

This thing was very steampunk. The input port was in a funnel shape and could automatically take in original materials. Energy Block Extraction Devices were most common in crystal civilizations where magic and technology were both present, and energy blocks were the main energy resource. The headquarter of Japan, Planet Lonnie, was one of such civilizations. It was a unique kind of civilization, but anything was possible in the wide universe.

Han Xiao arranged the crystals nicely and activated the auto drop. The extraction process was fully automated.

It should take about half a day to extract everything. I shall just wait. Han Xiao patted his hands. All that was left were the carcasses and eggs in the frozen warehouses. These could be used to make drugs, but he was not a Pharmacist.

Louis Research Institution was in the Western Continent—it was too far, and the transportation cost would be too high. Also, the time it would consume during transportation would cause the materials to lose their freshness.

Han Xiao pondered for a while and decided to hire a Pharmacist.

Suddenly, he had a flash of insight, and a name buried deep in his memories appeared in his mind.

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Chapter 228: The Exchange

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

A secret meeting was being held in the headquarters of Division 13, and many important members of the Hesla military intelligence department were present—Gu Hui had welcomed them himself.

The expedition was drawing near, so the Six Nations contacted each other frequently to discuss and adjust some final details.

In the meeting room, both parties were calmly discussing the expedition.

Buzz!

The entire place turned silent upon the sound of phone vibration. Everyone looked over with dissatisfaction in their eyes.

This is a very serious occasion. Who's so disrespectful?

Seeing that the sound came from the deputy director-general of the Division 13, Gu Hui, their expressions became complicated. The expressions on Hesla people's faces looked like they were saying— Is this your leader? So unprofessional.

Gu Hui frowned. He had many phones, and most of them were turned off during meetings except for the one for emergency matters. Only very important calls would go to this phone.

However, once he took out the phone and saw the number, his pupils constricted. "Pause the meeting. I have to take this call."

Without paying attention to the reactions of the others, Gu Hui left with his phone hurriedly after he finished the sentence.

The people of Hesla were shocked. Whose call could make the deputy director-general of the Division 13 leave an important meeting in front of everyone?

Who was so important? Was it the superiors at the highest ranking? Then why did they not call the internal line?

Coming to the quiet and isolated room next door, Gu Hui picked up the phone and said in a serious tone, "How come you're calling?

"Surprised?" Han Xiao's mocking voice came out of the phone.

Han Xiao used the number and identity of 'Zero' to call Gu Hui. Since the intelligence he provided last time, he had become a very important focus target of Stardragon.

Ever since the battle in Dark Crow Valley, Han Xiao had disappeared without a trace. Even Stardragon's intelligence organizations could not find him. In the face of such a valuable communication opportunity, Gu Hui could not give it up no matter what, even if it meant he had to leave the important meeting.

"What do you want this time?" Through precious contact with Han Xiao, Gu Hui had a rough idea of his personality. Han Xiao was goal-orientated and would not call for nothing. Thus, he went straight to the point.

"I want a person."

"Who?"

"She's called… wait, let me go through the wanted list. Her code is Emerald Grass; she's a pharmacist."

Gu Hui was stunned for a moment. He told his secretary to check on this person, and very soon, the results came back.

Emerald Grass—her superhuman ability was controlling plants, and she was a top-notch Pharmacist. Once, she had spread an infectious lethal disease with a drug that was not experimented on and caused a large number of deaths, which lead to her wanted status. She had been captured a few years ago and was currently tightly imprisoned on Bell of Death Island.

Bell of Death Island was a prison of the Six Nations for the highly-dangerous criminals. It was an isolated island in the sea with mysterious coordinates and tight security.

"What do you want her for?" Gu Hui questioned.

"Something." Han Xiao gave a vague answer.

Gu Hui contemplated and said, "Even I can't bail people out of Bell of Death Island casually. It's against the rules."

This was a roundabout rejection.

Han Xiao laughed. He suddenly changed the subject and said, "I heard the expedition is going to start very soon. Tsk tsk, Six Nations coming together for a battle, attacking the land of Andrea from more than a dozen directions, with planes, aircraft carriers, and all sorts. Tell me, will the Germinal Organization accept their fate without resistance?"

Gu Hui's hand tightened on the phone.

"What intelligence do you have?"

"Plenty. Base locations, military power, missile layout, and the Germinal Organization's various Inhuman plans," Han Xiao said in a very tempting tone.

Gu Hui was angry, but he had to fall for the trap. "Emerald Grass is yours."

"Done." Han Xiao agreed without hesitation. He had already planned on giving every piece of intelligence he had on the Germinal Organization before the war to give more advantages to the Six Nations anyway, and now, he could even use that to exchange for a very important person.

In version 2.0 of his previous life, Emerald Grass had been a very important character in Planet Aquamarine. As a top-notch Pharmacist, she researched on the mutation virus, created drugs that suppressed the virus effectively, and made a very strong impact.

In his previous life, Bell of Death Island had been a mysterious place. No player could find its coordinates, but they did have some information on it in version 2.0—the mutation virus had spread to Bell of Death Island, causing a very dangerous change, but the criminals imprisoned by the Six Nations in the Bell of Death Island resolved the disaster. They had fought their way out of the island and escaped. Emerald Grass had also escaped during this.

As the saying goes, there are always crouching tigers and hidden dragons.

The prisoners poured into the outside world and became new characters of version 2.0 like dragons flying over a river, causing a storm in the world on top of the disaster.

"The intelligence will be sent to you. I will decide the location to retrieve Emerald Grass," Han Xiao said then hung up the call.

Gu Hui's expression changed several times—only Han Xiao dared to hang up on him casually, and he could not do anything about it.

A prisoner in exchange for key intelligence, this deal was a definite win.

Furthermore, Gu Hui realized another benefit.

"He has been lost for so long. This meetup is a chance to follow up on his whereabouts!"

Han Xiao still had a position in the field agent files. Whether he went where, did what, or if he joined any organizations during his disappearance, this was all unknown to Stardragon despite their interest. It was just the right chance to investigate.

In the workshop in Sanctuary Three, Han Xiao waited thirty seconds after hanging up the call, only then did he send the first set of intelligence to Division 13 and held onto the rest temporarily. He knew full well that he should not give out all the intelligence at once.

If I can get Emerald Grass this time, not only can she help to research on drugs, I can even make Sanctuary Three be the first place that suppresses the mutation virus in version 2.0. The Sanctuary has my name in it. The safer it is, the more influential I become.

However, Stardragon will know they exchanged Emerald Grass with me. They won't give up this investigation chance, and if they find out that Emerald Grass works here, they might guess I'm Black Phantom, and my identity will be exposed.

While evaluating the risks and benefits, Han Xiao suddenly realized something. He had kept his identity hidden at the start because he had been too weak, but now, with Dark Net backing him up and his strength being at the top of the planet, there was no need to hide from the enemy anymore. At the same time, the Germinal Organization was facing its destruction and could not even take care of themselves. Hiding his identity did not matter anymore.

He suddenly felt delighted.

Without him noticing it, his arch enemy was not gigantic in his eyes anymore. He had grown to be able to face the strongest organization on the planet.

From another perspective, exposing his identity could combine the influence of Zero and Black Phantom and cause a chemical reaction, and he was eighty percent sure that he would get legendary points. The players' impression of him would also increase to another level.

With the things he had done, the players might even mistake him to be the main character of Planet Aquamarine instead of Bennett.

I should take things steadily instead. I will think about my identity after the war starts.

Although Han Xiao saw some benefits, he still decided to act on what would happen.

The Energy Block Extraction Device was still operating, so Han Xiao locked the door and left, surveying the construction progress of the various areas with his hands behind his back.

As he passed by the wall construction area, he suddenly heard a commotion. He stopped in place then walked over.

The engineering team surrounded a large crane helplessly. Seeing that Han Xiao approached, they greeted with respect.

"What's happening?" Han Xiao asked.

"The crane malfunctioned and cannot be turned on. We can't find the cause," someone said helplessly.

Han Xiao heard this and thought, Wasn't fixing vehicles what I started with?

He rolled up his sleeves and said with excitement, "Bring the tools over."

The engineering team only remembered now that their boss was a Mechanic. They hastily brought the parts and the tools over. Han Xiao climbed up the crane to check for the malfunction, and he found it not long after. He took out the tools and started fixing. His hands moved around so incredibly fast that they even created shadows behind them.

The players on the side doing construction work were shocked upon seeing this.

This hand speed matched the power of being single for at least fifty years!

"Turns out single people have an advantage in the Mechanic class," a player yelled. "I'm the man who will become the Mechanic King 1 !"

"Sad but true."

As he repaired, the Great Mechanic Han was in the zone, so he also gave it some enhancements.

He tightened the last screw.

Done!

Han Xiao clapped his hands and told the engineering team to turn it on. The enhanced crane was like it was on steroids and moved so quick that the engineering could not even catch up to its speed. They dodged hastily and jumped around.

At this time, the players welding rebars on the wall suddenly looked at the wilderness and shouted, "There are some people here!"

Han Xiao quickly climbed the scaffolding of the wall to a higher place and looked out.

A group of people wearing ragged clothes appeared in the wilderness, walking slowly toward the sanctuary.

The wanderers had arrived.

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Chapter 229: The First Time Is Always Hardest

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

A few days ago, the guards that Han Xiao had sent out came into contact with the wanderers in the colonies tens of miles away. They explained the purpose of the sanctuary and invited the wanderers to take residence or work.

Using foods and smiles, some wanderers that did not have a pleasant life agreed to move.

From far away, the hundreds of wanderers could already see the tall wall that was still being built with the words 'Black Phantom Sanctuary Three' written on it with red paint. They found the situation unbelievable.

"Didn't they say that they just arrived in Graymetal Ruins a few days ago? This doesn't look like the construction has just started…" a middle-aged man said hesitantly. The others were wondering the same thing.

They had originally thought that the sanctuary was just being built, and the conditions would be harsh. In their imaginations, it would not even be as good looking as the tiny lousy houses in their colony. They were all ready to face a hard time, but reality gave them a huge surprise.

"Did they spend all the time building the wall?" Some people were still in doubt.

As they entered the sanctuary following the main road, this doubt was cleared in no time. There was too much for them to take in.

Looking at the tall wall, neat buildings, and paved roads, every one of them could not believe that this was the construction progress of just ten days.

It took days for them to even build a lousy wooden house!

The guards lead the dizzy wanderers to their residence, which was neither a camp nor wooden houses but brand-new bunkers. There were many rooms, and electricity and water were available. There were ingredients in the kitchen, and they could cook themselves.

They were completely overwhelmed by this huge pleasant surprise.

How is this even called a sanctuary? Might as well call it a resort home!

"Your Excellency, we have brought back 427 wanderers. There are fifteen colonies tens of miles away with a total of about 3,500 people. Other teams are still in the middle of their discussion, and there's currently about 300 that rejected us clearly."

Only a bit more than 400. That's not much.

The purpose of the sanctuary was to protect humans, with the biggest goal of taking in wanderers. It would be a joke if there was nobody staying in it after its construction was completed.

There were few wanderers in the Karst, and wanderers from further away might not be willing to travel such a distance. In order to have people move over and take residence, Han Xiao felt like it required Bennett's macro-control, which was able to bulk migrate the wanderers who were willing to stay in a sanctuary from other areas. However, that should be the arrangement after the plan matured; now was only the early stages of the construction.

Han Xiao waved his hands and dismissed Liu Zhao. He then walked back to the workshop and contemplated the situation. One of the requirements of his [Sanctuary Three] main storyline mission was to reach 40,000 residents, excluding players. This was one of the requirements that had the richest reward, and it had very clear benefits to raising the mission's overall grading.

Walking on the streets and seeing the lively scene of the players, Han Xiao knew that in order to achieve the 'Player Main City' plan, there had the be NPCs staying—important characters would be best. These were all mission resources, and only then would the players be attracted to gather there.

The number of residents was a requirement of the sanctuary as well, which interlocked with his plan.

This is a long-term task, Han Xiao thought.

There were players that came to talk with him once in a while, wanting to buy equipment. Han Xiao did not refuse and got rid of the useless equipment in his storage while earning some money at the same time.

Back at the workshop, the Extraction Device was still operating, and Han Xiao was in a very good mood. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, he took out the parts and started building Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades. He was trying to go for the purple quality, and this time, he felt more proficient than all the times before.

It might succeed this time!

The noise of the Extraction Device echoed in the workshop, but Han Xiao was not affected by any external factors, immersed in building. When the Extraction Device stopped, he also finished at the same time.

You have Built Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades (Purple).

Class Advancement Requirement: Build 5 Purple Equipment above LV 60.

Progress: 1 / 5

Han Xiao exhaled, feeling much more relieved.

The first time was always the hardest, much the same as forgiveness. After the first time, there would always be the second and third, and sooner or later, one would become used to it.

I should be able to advance my class in this month, Han Xiao estimated.

Without looking at the interface, Han Xiao was already very familiar with the attributes of purple equipment. Starting from blue, quality would gradually make a bigger difference in the attributes of an equipment. The basic attributes of a purple equipment would be 20% to 30% higher than a blue equipment. The damage of the purple compounded magnetic chain split blades was a lot higher than the blue ones, and the attribute difference would be even greater if it had even better quality.

After replacing the purple equipment with the blue one that he had equipped, Han Xiao went to take a look at the result of the Extraction Device.

Two tons of crystals became a small pile of rhombus-shaped, light-blue crystals, each crystal being about half a palm in size. The original ore had been filled with cracks and messy lines, but the product after extraction was clear and transparent. Light passed through the crystal unobstructed and refracted within, like there was a mini sun in the crystal.

Low-Class Energy Crystal: Contains non-elemental pure energy that can be converted and extracted.

Energy crystals were most commonly used in magic civilizations and crystal civilizations. It was also the source of food for some creatures.

Han Xiao nodded. He had yet to think of another way to make use of the energy crystal other than to use it as an energy source. The Mage class had more ways to use the energy crystal.

I shall store it for now. There are Shadow Stalker Viper's eggs in the warehouses that can be cultivated. Manually feeding them waste materials should create another way to make energy blocks, Han Xiao thought. Cultivating beast eggs required a professional, and Emerald Grass was just right for the task.

Stars filled the sky.

On the Stardragon border, a black heavy helicopter landed slowly, its rotors blowing the weeds in all directions.

A few Stardragon special force soldiers lugged a person by their arms down from the chopper with serious expressions on their faces. This person was wearing a metal eye patch and a bandage. She had dry, messy hair that had not been taken care of for a very long time, and her lips were pale and cracked. The bottom half of the face showed it was a female.

"Sir, she's here." The special unit soldier saluted the officer who was waiting on the side.

"Confirm her body status, make sure she doesn't wake up," Feng Jun said. He was in charge of this exchange. This woman was Emerald Grass, a serial criminal whom they had bailed out of Bell of Death Island overnight.

"Don't worry," the doctor said, "I injected a large dose of tranquilizer into her. She's in a deep sleep now."

"Confirm it again."

Feng Jun looked down at his watch. The agreed time of exchange was nearing, so he was nervous. Not only did he have to complete the assigned mission of exchange, but he also had to gain some information of Han Xiao's current status.

He wondered who would be coming for the exchange and whether that person would give him some face. Although Feng Jun knew Han Xiao, it was because he knew Han Xiao's personality that he was not very confident.

Seconds and minutes passed. They waited silently. The sound of the wind blowing lightly across the grass and the buzz from insects were the only sounds they could hear. The atmosphere became more tense together with the emotions of the people.

Whoosh—

It was the sound of rotors cutting through the air. Feng Jun regained focus and looked up.

A helicopter approached from the night sky. The indicator lights flashed in the code pattern, and Feng Jun immediately told someone to reply. After exchanging the signals, Feng Jun gave a quick scan but did not find any organization's symbol on the chopper.

However, although it was unknown, Feng Jun could see that Han Xiao had joined another organization. He felt heavy-hearted.

"Where's the person?" A man in mask hopped down from the chopper.

Feng Jun waved his hands, and the team behind him brought Emerald Grass forward. The masked man opened a laptop and confirmed it was the right person before carrying Emerald Grass onto the chopper. The helicopter took off immediately after. The entire process took little more than a minute. Feng Jun did not have a chance to communicate—he could only watch the helicopter fly away helplessly.

Feng Jun took out his phone and called Gu Hui to report the process.

"He did join another organization after all, and it's because this organization hid him that we were not able to find him," Gu Hui pondered. "What organization could it be?"

On the helicopter, the masked man unlocked Emerald Grass's metal eye patch and bandage.

Suddenly, the supposedly asleep Emerald Grass opened her eyes and stared at the masked man. Neither said a word—they just stared at each other for half a minute. Emerald Grass looked down. She slit open the flesh on her arm, picked out a bloody wiretap device, and casually crushed it to pieces.

She had not been asleep at all. As a Pharmacist, how could she not have trained her drug resistance? Thus, tranquilizers were completely useless on her, but she had concealed that throughout all her years of imprisonment.

"What did they exchange me for?" Emerald Grass asked calmly. It did not feel like she was in danger at all; it was like talking to an old friend even though she did not know the masked man at all.

"Some intelligence." The masked man looked at Emerald Grass with interest.

"Cheap." Emerald Grass frowned in dissatisfaction. "Are you interested in my ability to make drugs?"

"Whatever do you mean?" the masked man asked playfully.

"You wouldn't be interested in any of my other abilities other than this," Emerald Grass said coldly. "You're too strong after all."

A few days ago, when the Bell of Death Island guards injected tranquilizer into her and brought her onto the chopper, Emerald Grass already knew that she had become a bargaining chip, and she finally saw an opportunity to escape.

While she maintained the disguise of being asleep, she had heard the conversation between the escort team and knew a meeting would be carried out. Emerald Grass had planned to use her own abilities to escape after the meeting, regain her freedom, and never be controlled again.

Emerald Grass's ability was controlling plants within a certain range; therefore, her instincts were very sharp. The feeling the masked man gave off was like a beast hidden under the skin of a man, ready to consume its prey anytime. He felt even more dangerous than when the Stardragon special unit soldiers pointed their guns at her head during the escort. Emerald Grass immediately knew that there was no chance to escape, so she gave up the idea of resisting.

"I was going to escape, but it looks like that would be suicide," Emerald Grass said honestly.

Han Xiao pulled off his masked and smiled. "You're very wise."

Han Xiao had disguised himself for this meet-up and taken a chopper over himself. He knew full well that Emerald Grass was not ordinary, and sending anyone else would have been a risk. Thus, it was best for him to go himself.

As expected, Emerald Grass had hidden something. If he did not go, she would most likely have escaped. Emerald Grass had a very calm temperament; she was not surprised at all when something unexpected happened. She was very obviously suitable for scientific research as she would never be afraid of accidents happening during experiments.

"What do you need me to do?" Emerald Grass asked.

"I will tell you when we are there." Han Xiao casually took out a device and scanned to see if there was any other wiretap on Emerald Grass's body, at the same time contemplating about how to have Emerald Grass work and stay in the sanctuary willingly. Although he had Emerald Grass under his control temporarily, he did not think that Emerald Grass would give up on escaping in the future if there was to be a chance, and he could not monitor her at all times.

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Chapter 230: Pharmacist Emerald Grass

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The helicopter carried the two toward Sanctuary Three.

During the journey, Emerald Grass was very quiet, like she had accepted her fate. The imprisonment on Bell of Death Island had made her familiar with the feeling of not having freedom; it was just going from one cell to another for her, and at least her treatment would be better here with this man called Black Phantom than when she was on Bell of Death Island.

Black Phantom, never heard of such person, Emerald Grass thought. She had been imprisoned for many years and had very limited knowledge of the changes happening in the world outside. She looked through the events that had happened in the recent years in her laptop and realized that the name Black Phantom had first appeared half a year ago.

Unbelievable.

In only half a year, this name had risen to fame like a shooting star. His strength was more terrifying than the highly dangerous serial criminals on Bell of Death Island, and those were all renowned serial criminals.

There was one piece of information that gave Emerald Grass a huge shock; the Germinal Organization that had been extremely strong before she was imprisoned had been forced onto the path of destruction!

And the reason for that was just an ordinary traitor!

When she saw this piece of intelligence, Emerald Grass could barely believe her own eyes, and she only digested this information after a very long silence.

Her emotions were mixed, and it all turned into a sigh in the end.

The world was changing constantly. After a few years of imprisonment, the outside world had become completely different.

Also, what the hell was this 'Inhuman' described in the intelligence?

Sanctuary Three was coming into sight, so Emerald Grass put down the laptop and looked out the window. Surprise flashed on her face. "So that construction area is the place we're going to. Black Phantom Sanctuary Three… What is a sanctuary?"

Han Xiao gave a faint smile and said, "You still have much more to catch up on."

"I know." Emerald Grass nodded. She flicked her messy hair and said softly, "It's safe here, right?"

Han Xiao did not reply. He pointed at his eyes then at Sanctuary Three, implying that she should look for herself. Emerald Grass searched the keyword 'sanctuary' on the internet for intelligence, and after some time, she got a rough idea. "Turns out it's the Dark Net's plan. I didn't expect this hidden huge organization to surface and even received funding from the Six Nations. The purpose is very pure, isn't it? Indeed, there is no place safer."

Looking down from the plane, the Graymetal Ruins had experienced a complete makeover. A new area was marked out from the ruins, players and engineering teams dashed across like ants, and various types of engineering machines made buzzing sounds. The abandoned buildings, bridges, roads, and such had all been demolished in order to construct new buildings. The atmosphere was completely fresh. A small half of the tall concrete wall had already been completed, and countless players climbed up and down for construction.

The helicopter lowered itself onto the parking spot.

Having received notice long ago, Huang Yu came up to Han Xiao, talking rapidly about the things that had happened when Han Xiao was not around. Most of it was cumbersome matters, but Huang Yu had taken care of all of them very neatly. He was indeed suitable as an assistant and secretary.

Emerald Grass looked left and right, then stopped at Han Xiao, and said with surprise, "Didn't think you're actually the leader of this sanctuary. No wonder you need me."

Han Xiao did not agree or deny it; he gave Huang Yu a few words of encouragement and took Emerald Grass to the frozen warehouse.

After looking at a large amount of Shadow Stalker Viper materials, Han Xiao described the task then stared at Emerald Grass, waiting for her reply.

Emerald Grass pondered for two minutes before nodding.

"Shadow Stalker Vipers' brains, kidneys, gall bladders, mitral valves, and tailbones are all drug materials suitable for creating steroids and hormone drugs. Their eggs have a substance that aids in bone growth and metabolism and can be extracted to create very effective healing potions.

"Since you have so many monster eggs, I can try to cultivate a Shadow Stalker Viper herd. You also mentioned that feeding them high energy waste can create radiation crystals. This is a renewable resource…"

Emerald Grass turned very professional when she talked about what she was good at, and she talked with more confidence, almost in a despising tone since she was so confident in her knowledge and skills of her field.

"What and what?" Han Xiao did not hear clearly and was very confused.

Emerald Grass rolled her eyes—her expression was like telling Han Xiao to leave these kinds of professional matters to the professionals, and Han Xiao should not interfere since he had no knowledge of the field.

Compared to the cold feeling that Emerald Grass gave off earlier, her expression was now livelier, like she had noticed that the situation she was in was not bad after all, which made her feel relieved and stop putting on a disguise that rejected everyone with her coldness.

"That substance you mentioned sounds very valuable. I'll leave you to it." Han Xiao nodded with his hands behind his back, looking like he totally knew what Emerald Grass was talking about. Emerald Grass laughed before hurriedly suppressing her laughter.

"Huang Yu, come!" Han Xiao yelled. Huang Yu, who was waiting to the side, ran over immediately. Han Xiao pointed at Emerald Grass and said, "This is a Pharmacist I've hired. Arrange a room for her."

Huang Yu nodded. He brought Emerald Grass to an exquisite residence, then followed Han Xiao's orders, and gave her some information about the sanctuary.

The room was new and rather large, or at least much larger than the cell she used to be in.

Emerald Grass lay on the bed and let out a moan of comfort.

After years of sleeping in that iron-framed bed, she finally could sleep on this soft mattress—it was like sleeping on a pile of cotton, and her entire body was sinking.

Huang Yu stood at the door awkwardly. Emerald Grass totally ignored him while doing this, and he did not know whether he should stay or leave. He knocked the door frame and coughed. "Rest well. I shall leave now."

Emerald Grass took out the documents and started browsing after Huang Yu left, her eyes twinkling.

"Tens of thousands of undead Inhumans are gathered in the sanctuary. I will not have to worry about the number of test subjects. There will be no infections, and there will not be another plague. How perfect. The sanctuary is also free and safe. Maybe staying here for a while won't be so bad. After all, I need time to digest the changes in the outside world."

Han Xiao leaned on the chair in the office and stared at the laptop on the table. It was the image of real-time surveillance of Emerald Grass's room.

Emerald Grass had history and was not trustworthy, so Han Xiao had back up plans. He had placed a few hidden cameras in the walls of the room and monitored everything Emerald Grass did, including what Emerald Grass was doing then.

Han Xiao squinted and thought, Her actions were very different before. She was calm and cold when she boarded the plane, but she showed her side of being a woman just now. It might be to create an illusion of her feeling safe to clear my doubts.

He was doubtful for a reason. The Emerald Grass in his memories was a liberal who did not bow to any organization. She did things her own unique way and was unpredictable. Han Xiao was cautious because he knew how important Emerald Grass would be in version 2.0.

There were also other benefits to Emerald Grass joining in. The players could do missions for her in exchange for her guidance and advance their class into Pharmacist. With her joining in, it was another step forward for Han Xiao's plan of making a 'Players Main City'.

To create a main city for the players, NPCs with all kinds of functions were a necessity.

"Your Excellency, I have already arranged her…"

At this time, Huang Yu walked in to report the situation. He took a few steps forward and saw the image on the laptop screen. He stopped the sentence, and the look in his eyes became weird.

Seems like I discovered something extraordinary!

Is… is this what they call a peeper?

Could this be the boss' unknown hobby?

Will I be killed‽

Huang Yu took a quick step backward and looked down at the floor, acting like he had not seen anything at all.

Han Xiao clearly knew that Huang Yu had misunderstood him; he shook his head but did not bother to explain.

Let it be a misunderstanding then, the Great Mechanic Han has never cared about what others think.

"Don't tell anyone," Han Xiao said.

Huang Yu thought that Han Xiao did not want anyone to know about his weird hobby, so he nodded rapidly.

Emerald Grass was always very efficient. She started work almost immediately.

The players did not know that he had a deal with Stardragon secretly, and the efficiency of the information flow between players and NPCs was very low. However, Han Xiao required Emerald Grass to wear a mask and hide her identity just in case. It was not the best time to show their identity, and Han Xiao wanted to be steady for as long as possible.

Due to the difference in information, the players were at a disadvantage when it came to their sensitivity toward pieces of intelligence. Without missions or a storyline introduction, they would have no idea what type of information the organizations needed, and they would also not know how the organizations operated. Most players were busy doing missions, making money, and getting equipment. Also, with their player mentality, they would not chat too much with the NPCs, which meant that there was an even smaller chance of their conversation mentioning other NPCs.

Since it was for safety reasons, Emerald Grass did not have any problems with it.

Emerald Grass created many kinds of drugs with a very high quantity. Han Xiao took the healing agents and steroids with the best quality and allowed Emerald Grass to sell the rest of the drugs with lower quality to the players, which showed the 'multiple functionalities' of the sanctuary to the players.

There was always a high demand for drugs on the market. They were usually expensive to limit the players from using drugs excessively to win battles.

Despite that, players still had a very high demand for these drugs. The appearance of Emerald Grass made a lot of players content.

The message spread very quickly—all the players knew that there was a new NPC in the sanctuary who sold drugs, so a lot of players came and bought from Emerald Grass.

Emerald Grass was very curious about the Inhumans. She realized that the players were the best test subjects, and they were all very easy to talk to. As long as she asked them for help, they would almost always agree. She also did not have to worry about the consequences of failure—they were indeed perfect test subjects. Emerald Grass was like a fish in water; she enjoyed staying there even more.

Sanctuary Three was a good place.

Han Xiao still had the drugs that he had robbed from Louis Research Institution, but he did not plan on selling them any time soon. They were all of extremely high quality, and they would have much better effects when the level of the players became higher. Then he could sell them for a good price.

Thinking about Louis Research Institution, Han Xiao realized a small problem—the institution should know that Black Phantom was the one that robbed them by now, but they had not done anything about it.

"Looks like they are afraid because of my name. They don't dare take revenge, so they decided to hold their indignation in," Han Xiao sneered.

Organizations that knew their place were the best—a lot of small troubles would be avoided, and he did not have to destroy them.

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Chapter 231: Expedition of the Six Nations!

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Twenty days had passed since the start of Sanctuary Three's construction.

The West City Area and North City Area of Graymetal Ruins had been modified into temporary sanctuary areas with the completed basic layout, including walls, power plants, residential areas, electricity network, and all the basic facilities.

Han Xiao's [Sanctuary Three] main storyline mission that had thirteen construction requirements and a three month target now only had three uncompleted.

There were still ten days until one month—he would easily complete it within the period.

In that case, the mission would be completed sixty days in advance. According to the multiplier, the reward would be multiplied six times!

There was no such thing as too much experience for Han Xiao; he would never let such an opportunity slip through his fingers.

What would be completed within a month was only the basic layout. The overall requirement of the main storyline mission [Sanctuary Three] was to build a completed sanctuary three, so there was still a long way to go.

The good thing was, once the progress followed the right path, he did not have to care too much about the construction anymore. However, he had never actually cared anyway.

With Huang Yu's help, it was easy for Han Xiao.

For the sake of more credit, Huang Yu was extremely diligent to showcase his usefulness so that by the time reward were distributed according to the amount of contributions one had made, he would receive a lot of credit.

The assistant whom Bennett had sent was indeed quite capable. At least, Han Xiao had been satisfied with Huang Yu's efficiency till now; he took care of everything very well.

The only bad thing about it was that Huang Yu was a man, not pleasing to the eye at all.

As the saying goes, when there's something to do, the secretary will do it; when there's nothing to do, do the secretary.

Han Xiao had only heard of that saying. Unfortunately, he had never been part of it. He still remembered the owner of the small store below his house. The single old man that kept telling him how many CEOs he knew and how sexy their secretaries were. For the sake of the five percent off that Han Xiao received, he did not expose those lies.

The single old owner had dreamt of the luxurious lifestyle full of women, and in his eyes, even a fart from a beautiful lady had a flower-like fragrance. Every time he talked to Han Xiao about this topic, Han Xiao would always show his contempt and tell the owner that this was not a noble lifestyle one should wish for—it would be better for the owner to refill his stocks and stop buying fake instant noodles. Every time that Han Xiao ate the instant noodles bought from him, there were no seasoning packages, and he had to chew them dry!

Anyway, other than the assistant not being pleasant to the eyes, everything else in the sanctuary was going well.

According to the discussion on the forums, there were currently 60,000 players working in Sanctuary Three; it was livelier than a street market.

There were about 130,000 to 150,000 players in the entire Southern Continent, so almost half had gathered in Sanctuary Three. Its popularity was not hard to imagine.

There were a lot of players but only a little more than 2,000 wanderer residents. With the harsh environment of Karst, there were not many wanderers.

To achieve the 'Players' Main City' plan. there had to be enough number of NPCs to provide functionalities to the city. The [Sanctuary] main storyline missions could only attract the players for so long, and as soon as the sanctuary was completed, the players would all be gone if there was nothing to attract them to stay.

All good things must come to an end.

Han Xiao wanted the players to be attracted to the sanctuary.

Therefore, he had to largely increase the residents of the sanctuary, and with more important people like Emerald Grass to provide unique functions, the sanctuary would provide more uses to the players.

The most direct way to increase the population was to migrate people from other large colonies. Han Xiao thought of Lu Cheng, Alumera, and such right away, he put this all into consideration.

Clank!

Metal finger blades and a retractable knife clashed and pushed against each other. The weapon vibrated and made squeaking sounds.

In the small empty square, Frenzied Sword, who had metal claws on his arms, was fighting with Hao Tian, who waved the retractable knife. Bun-hit-dog watched the two pro players spar, but he did not record due to privacy reasons.

Further away, Han Xiao leaned against the recliner chair casually and observed their fight.

Both Frenzied Sword and Hao Tian were pro players, and to hone their skills, they instantly agreed to spar with each other. After sparring once, it was like a fire that could not be put out. They sparred dozens of times a day. The professional league was drawing close, and the pro players had to prepare for it.

Between LV 20 to 40 was the time when PVP was most popular. PVP between players could be seen all around the sanctuary, and it negatively impacted the security measures.

Han Xiao immediately gave an order that sparring was not allowed in the safe areas within the sanctuary, but they could go to the ruins if they wanted to fight each other, and no one would care. If they went there, they might even help to demolish the old buildings.

Only a safe area could be considered as a main city.

The two pro players finally stopped after a long fight, with Frenzied Sword at a slight loss.

It was normal in the early stages for a Mechanical Pugilist to lose to a Pugilist that specialized in close range combat. They would have their own specialties once their level was higher.

In the hundred or so times they sparred, Frenzied Sword did not win even once, but Hao Tian did not look down on Frenzied Sword because of that. Rather, he was shocked.

"You have a lot of potential, very suitable to battle in the pro scene," Hao Tian encouraged. Hao Tian believed in Frenzied Sword. Being able to fight against an extremely experienced god player like himself was a clear indication that Frenzied Sword had a lot of potential. Furthermore, Frenzied Sword was still relatively new to E-Sports.

Although Hao Tian was cold, it was because he focused on honing his gaming skills. He would always be joyful upon meeting players that were highly skilled, and he felt a sense of similarity toward Frenzied Sword.

Frenzied Sword scratched his head. Not only was he not frustrated by losing to God Hao at all, he had actually learned a lot of techniques and felt more controlled during combat. He noticed that he did indeed have a lot of potential in close range combat. Han Xiao had made a very accurate deduction and given him the right advice.

The weapons that Frenzied Sword was using were called Leopard Mechanical Claws. It was a cold weapon blueprint that Han Xiao had received from fusing knowledge.

Leopard Mechanical Claws were similar to the mechanical arms. They had an exoskeleton structure that covered the forearms, and the various finger parts were equipped with claw-like blades. Through the activation of the gears within, the blades would spin rapidly, which could easily cut through metal plates that are one centimeter thick.

Han Xiao had built this equipment especially for Frenzied Sword. Frenzied Sword was the first player to follow him, and they had known each other since the closed beta, being rather reliable the whole time. Han Xiao had made plans for Frenzied Sword's Mechanical Pugilist path—Leopard Mechanical Claws were suitable for Frenzied Sword at the current levels, and they had even stronger power than the light mechanical arms at close range.

Once Frenzied Sword was at a higher level, Han Xiao planned to build Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades and Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor for Frenzied Sword. Such equipment would make Frenzied Sword stand at the top of the players, and Frenzied Sword would be able to do more things for him once he was stronger.

Hao Tian was a Pugilist. Han Xiao did not have any arrangements for him, letting him go with the flow.

Maple Moon had chosen to become a Mechanic, and she was very interested in building. She even did missions for Emerald Grass and wanted to advance class into a Pharmacist. She also offered to take over the missions to take care of Bear Cub, which saved Hao Tian from hell. In fact, she was walking Bear Cub at that moment.

As for Bun-hit-dog… Han Xiao had very low requirements for him. Reports just had to be able to run fast.

Bun-hit-dog had released another video recently that introduced Sanctuary Three. It had received quite good feedback on the forums, and he deserved part of the credit for contributing to the sanctuary's reputation.

In recent days, the pro players that accepted the hidden storyline missions from Han Xiao had completed their missions one by one. Han Xiao had noticed a few suitable candidates and placed them onto his possible spare tire list. Han Xiao had no plans to expand his spare tire team temporarily—his resources were just right for four players. There would be some trouble if there were more.

Ding dong.

While Han Xiao sat causally under the sun, a message appeared on the laptop on his lap.

Han Xiao moved his fingers and clicked open the message. Instantly, he sat straight up, and his expression became very serious.

It was a very short message, but it signified the beginning of a storm.

"The Six Nations have started their expedition!"

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Chapter 232: Planet Aquamarine War!

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

In the four lands of Planet Aquamarine, the Six Nations controlled the Southern, Northern, and Western Continents. The land of Andrea in the middle had once been the main battlefield of the old era, and it was heavily polluted, filled with radiation, desertified, and abandoned. The Germinal Organization had occupied it and made it into their headquarters.

The intelligence about the Germinal Organization that Han Xiao had sold half a year ago had shocked the Six Nations, and the bases that the Germinal Organization had operated for years had all been destroyed. The Germinal Organization had been using these bases to threaten the Six Nations all these years, and now that they had been destroyed, the Six Nations had nothing to fear anymore. So, they finally decided to make the Germinal Organization pay.

The expedition began.

A war did not start out of nowhere, especially one that involved almost the entire planet. The fires of war would only start once the military power and resources had arrived at the battlefield.

After a few months of preparation, the expedition finally started on Galaxy Calendar year 688, 16 September.

More than a dozen large navy divisions left their military port simultaneously. With the carrier as the core, countless escort ships and destroyers with tens of thousands of soldiers on board marched forward.

The Six Nations have discussed the strategic layout for their joint combat. The General Commander for the Navy was Lin Lin from Raylen, a pure soldier without any political biases, experienced and steady, the person that was agreed by all the highest ranked officials of the Six Nations. Lin Lin commanded the navy to attack Andrea from various directions for a full invasion.

The Germinal Organization had also planted defensive measures and military power along the coastline with the navy and air force to protect their control of the coastlines.

The first wave of battle was missiles.

The Germinal Organization engaged first and sent out their long-range missiles, wanting to destroy the Six Nations' navy before they entered their vision range. However, the missiles were destroyed midair by the anti-missile systems of the aircraft carriers. The aircraft carriers returned the favor and fired missiles back at Andrea. Similarly, the Germinal Organization was saved by their land-based anti-missile devices.

Firing missiles at each other did not have any results, so the direction of the battle still depended on the results of real combat.

The fleets engaged each other violently on the seas of Andrea. The two armies fought against each other, explosions erupted continuously on one battleship after another, and there were ships sinking all the time.

Although the main focus of large battlefields was the various war machines, the impact of superhumans could not be ignored. Without precautions, a strong superhuman could slaughter an entire ship of soldiers and destroy a battleship from the inside single-handedly. The existence of superhumans brought a lot of uncertainties to the battlefield, but luckily, the power difference between the Germinal Organization's executive officers and Six Nations' superhumans was not very large—they both suffered wounds and restrained each other.

As the main storyline of the great war had been brought forward because of Han Xiao, the players that joined the expedition missions could only watch and did not have much of a chance to join in with the sea battle.

Their level was way too low. They would not have had any impact if they engaged; they would only have died.

The navy commander on the Germinal Organization's side was a high ranked sea battle commander of a long dead nation. The fleet of the Germinal Organization was fierce like wolves under his control, but the Six Nations held their ground very firmly like they clearly knew the Germinal Organization's strategies. Thus, the Germinal Organization's fleet suffered huge losses.

On the southern battlefield, Stardragon's 'Long Star' and 'Flying Dragon' fleet tore the Germinal Organization's formation open. Hesla's 'Scorching Sun', 'Plundering Bird', and 'Sharp Spear' fleets headed straight in and destroyed the islands that provided resources to the Germinal Organization's fleets. The other four nations also had their own strategies on their side of the battlefield.

Han Xiao had given a lot of information to Stardragon before the war started, and the Six Nations had an advantage because of this information.

It was because of Han Xiao's intelligence that they could take the lead in the battle, and the high ranked officials of the nations did not forget that.

The navy commander of the Germinal Organization's ship was sunk during the sea battle. The cannons had turned him into pieces, and the vice commander, Anther, immediately took over as commander.

In the face of the Six Nations' siege, Anther could not stand his ground and lost a large area of the sea within just three days, eventually giving up the coastline control and moving the troops back to the land for defense. The Germinal Organization was going to use their home advantage in Andrea to fight against the Six Nations.

After gaining control of the coastline, the Six Nations locked down the seas nearby. The fleets surrounding Andrea were equipped with pervasive sonar detectors that prevented the submarine attack or escapes. Like a huge net, the entire land of Andrea was surrounded. The Germinal Organization had nowhere to flee to.

The aircraft carriers became moving air force bases and challenged the Germinal Organization's control of the sky as they fought against the Germinal Organization's air forces. Nuclear bombs were the last resort, and they would not be used unless there was no other choice.

The transport ships dropped off the ground troops on the coastline.

The ground troops of the Six Nations had finally put their feet on Andrea.

The ground war had started.

The result of the ground battle could largely impact the ending result of the war, and according to the intelligence provided by Han Xiao, they just had to destroy these military bases that were equipped with anti-missile devices. Then, their aircraft carriers would be able to fire missiles and utilize their destructive powers. The Germinal Organization would soon be defeated.

Without anywhere to flee, the Germinal Organization would only lose more territory as the war went on, and their only ending would be death. If the Germinal Organization wanted to change the situation, they had to think of other ways. The commanders of the Six Nations were sure that the Germinal Organization had hidden strategies, and they were both trying to figure out each other's aces.

Anyone could see that the Germinal Organization was at a huge disadvantage. The Six Nations held councils of war internally many times and came to a conclusion that the Germinal Organization had close to no chance of winning. The only thing that they had to be cautious of was the 'Hand of Death' system that Han Xiao had told them of, the Germinal Organization's last resort.

To get rid of nuclear threats, the Six Nations sent special agents and infiltrated the various military bases that controlled nuclear weapons according to Han Xiao.

In the Germinal Organization's explosion-proof, underground headquarters, the situation of the war was being presented to the leader.

The high ranked officials of the Germinal Organization were depressed. It was only the start of the war, yet the situation had been continuously heading toward their loss. The Germinal Organization indeed had no chance against the Six Nations on paper, but they still had certain strategies, which should have had a surprising impact on the ground war.

In Han Xiao's previous life, the Germinal Organization and Six Nations had been on par during the start of the war. The Germinal Organization had been able to divert the Six Nations' attention with their bases across the continents. Their military power on the actual battlefield had been nearly equal.

But now, the Germinal Organization had been wounded by Han Xiao—victory seemed to have favored the Six Nations so much that there was close to no chance of changing it. The situation was completely different to his previous life.

All of this was the impact from a tiny butterfly, Han Xiao!

Nobody knew how they could win the war, but the calmness on the leader's face made everyone believe he had a way.

"Port of Holm, Aviary, and Temefa… all of the thirteen ports are lost. The Six Nations have been sending their ground troops to the shores non-stop. From the North, Raylen and Theseus are attacking the Sunset Valley base and Black Tree base. If these bases are lost, we will lose part of the missile launchers. The other four nations are pushing in steadily, and the guarding division lead by Bark and Mu Haishan had been defeated. They are marching toward the important bases. The goal of the enemy is very clear; they are aiming at our bases equipped with missile launchers and anti-missile devices. They even know the detailed information of these bases. They definitely have very key intelligence of ours," the commander reported with sweat all over his head.

"It's Zero," the leader said so calmly that it was almost scary. He was used to it.

This result further proved his speculation of Han Xiao having predicting abilities. Zero would always be the biggest threat to the organization as long as he was alive. Intelligence would only be useful when there was enough power to make use of it, and unluckily for them, Zero danced between the Six Nations and used their power.

Unfortunately, the Germinal Organization could not do anything about it. Zero was like a mouse that was always hiding. They could only hope that the prediction from Destiny's Child would be true, and Zero would come to the headquarters. The leader had countless men surrounding the headquarters—he just had to give the order, and an enormous encirclement that extended more than a thousand miles would be formed.

Nothing was overkill in order to capture Zero.

Zero's strength was not to be taken very seriously, but there was a very high possibility that he would bring a lot of help along, and the leader was confident that no matter how much help Zero would bring along, the only ending for them would be death under this huge trap that he had planned.

As for whether or not Zero's predictive power could predict these traps he had set, the leader had run a small experiment to test it. He had mixed up some of the military strategies and noticed that the Six Nations were unaware of these changes. From that, he knew that Han Xiao's 'prediction' had limitations, or at least, it was not completely accurate. Thus, the leader had no choice but to believe in Destiny's Child.

As a passive party, he could only wait.

The leader slammed the table with his gloved fist and said very coldly under his mask, "We would only have a chance at victory if we kill Zero."

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Chapter 233: Level 60!

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The impact that the war had was very huge. Other than Andrea being in the flames of war, organizations all over Planet Aquamarine had their own reactions, and most of the civilians were terrified.

As Han Xiao had said in the speech that he stole from Bennett, the scars of the old era had yet to heal, but they were torn open with blood and awakened the lingering fear within people's mind. All the high-positioned people of the society were paying a lot of attention to the war, and the lower-class people were affected as well. The goal that the Germinal Organization was promoting was to overthrow the Six Nations, and there were many remnants of dead countries all over the world that had mixed feelings.

At the same time, the brutality of war seemed infectious. Violence occurred more often everywhere around the world; robbers in the wild became more active due to the chaotic situation of the world, forcing wanderers to mass migrate. However, this was rather beneficial to the Dark Net. The sanctuary plan proved its use—all of the sanctuaries attracted a wave of residents.

Other than the Southern Continent, the players in the Western Continent and the Sanctuary that did not join the sanctuary missions had also acquired other benefits. Missions were plenty in the chaotic world, which satisfied the players' needs.

[Fall of the Germinal] current progress: 27.1%.

The entire world was paying attention to the battle, and the Dark Net was no exception. Han Xiao, who was in Sanctuary Three, far away from the battle, was also paying attention to the information continuously. He had two sources of intelligence, one being the battle situation intelligence collected by the Dark Net, the other being the battle videos on the forums shared by the players.

It had been more than ten days since the war started. The situation kept changing. The progress of Han Xiao's Germinal Organization main storyline that had been stagnant for a very long time suddenly shot up five percent, and it was still growing.

He shared intelligence with the Six Nations, which meant that he had contributed indirectly to the Six Nations' achievements. Therefore, he could share a part of the overall progress.

Flames of the war filled the skies far away. Han Xiao watched the flames from Sanctuary Three, and the basic layout of Sanctuary Three was also being completed in the meantime.

The players were joyful. They were filled with pride and a sense of achievement. This was a city that they had built, and they felt a sense of belonging toward it.

Compared to the joyful players, the residents in the sanctuary were feeling down because of the atmosphere of the war. The sanctuary reaching its completion brought them some safety, but they were still mostly worried and afraid of the future.

The war affected everyone around the world; only players were unaffected.

That was because they did not have to consider the future at all.

The more chaotic the world was, the happier the players were.

Han Xiao received the short-term reward for achieving the requirements of the sanctuary main storyline. It was completed 61 days in advance; thus, he received a bonus 610% experience, totaling to 568,000,000 experience. This was the mission that had given him the most experience up till now.

There was also the reward of relationship points with the Dark Net increasing by 1,250, achieving the relationship tier of [Respect].

The overall grading of [Sanctuary Three] has also jumped from D to B, which showed that the plan had been carried out perfectly this time.

The short-term requirements did not update, which meant that there would not be any guidelines after this. In order to complete the [Sanctuary Three] mission, the entire sanctuary had to be completed. The more mission requirements that were completed, the higher the final overall grading would be.

The construction of the sanctuary was on the right track already, so Han Xiao did not have to worry about it at all. He just needed to leave it to continue the construction.

Duu—Duu—

Bennett called with a surprising tone. "The early stages of construction for Sanctuary Three is already completed‽"

Han Xiao laughed faintly and said, "Compliment me."

Bennett was speechless. After a long pause, he finally said, "On a serious note, the progress of Sanctuary Three is already ahead of Sanctuary One. You have help from the Inhumans, so Sanctuary Three might be the first to be completed. Keep this up, I have a lot of hope for Sanctuary Three. As you know, the wilderness has not been safe since the war broke out. Wanderers have migrated in mass. Our sanctuary can be of use right now, so try to bring as many people in as possible."

Han Xiao wrote this down on a paper and planned to give it to Huang Yu to take care of.

The high ranked officials within the Dark Net could not believe this result, saying that the progress of Sanctuary Three had already exceeded Sanctuary One, how could it make sense?

The use of Inhumans was clearly shown. The people of Dark Net received insights from Han Xiao. They planned to also hire some Inhumans as workers—this would be beneficial to the entire sanctuary plan.

Bennett said a little more before hanging up the call. He was also paying attention to the war, but he did not mention much about that topic. That was because the Dark Net was considered a neutral party—there was no need for them to join in this storm.

However, he did not know Han Xiao's plans.

As the war breaks out, the Germinal Organization will have a hard time to even take care of themselves. I could pay them a visit. The thought flashed through Han Xiao's mind; he had been waiting for this opportunity for a very long time.

He had three goals—one was to receive direct progress of the mission [Fall of the Germinal] and increase its completion percentage.

Another goal was to save Aurora, free Hila who would be extremely strong in the future, and hopefully create a positive relationship with Hila. He had wanted to do this for a very long time and had only been waiting for a suitable opportunity. Now was no doubt the best time to save them.

The guarding power of the Germinal Organization's headquarters should be very low at the moment.

His third goal was related to his own growth, which also had to be completed in the Germinal Organization's headquarters.

Han Xiao was planning to act alone, only then would it be stealthy enough. Andrea had become a battlefield now, so it would only be easy for him alone to cross the battlefield and the Germinal Organization's security, then head to their headquarters.

His confidence came from his strength that had improved once again.

Five pieces of purple equipment lay in front of him. He had completed the class advancement mission in this month. With the first success he had, the rest had followed easily.

Class Advancement Requirement: Build 5 Purple Equipment above level 60. Progress: 5 / 5

Class Advancement Succeed!

You have received a new class [Magnetic Ring Mechanic Lv. 1, 70 Energy, 2 DEX, 1 END, 4 INT

– You have received 4 Free Attribute points

– You have received 1 Potential points

– You have learned [Advanced Machinery Affinity]!

– You have learned [Surging Mechanical Force]!

– You have learned [Electromagnetic Energy Extraction]!

– You have learned talent [Energy Modification]!

Magnetic Ring Mechanic, also called Basic Mechanic, was where one graduated from being a trainee and pushed open the doors of the superhuman Mechanic class, looking into the beautiful scenery behind these doors.

The Magnetic Ring Mechanic's specialty was utilizing the electromagnetic element energy into building machinery and increasing its affinity, thus improving its efficiency and quality. It was more superhuman-like.

After becoming a Magnetic Ring Mechanic, the energy of the Mechanic class would be called [Mechanical Force] and could be used in many aspects of the machinery. The newly awakened ability [Surging Mechanical Force] allowed the user to use energy to increase the power of machinery, similar to Overload, but this was a continuous ability that causes very little damage to the machinery. It was a basic use of the Mechanical Force and also a prior requirement to many advanced abilities.

[Electromagnetic Energy Extraction] was the same as [Energy Training Technique]. It was a growth ability that could increase energy. Its effect was based on the INT attribute, and the only difference between them was that this skill was unique to Mechanics.

[Energy Modification] was a talent whose introduction was 'You have discovered the key to building machinery—fuse your energy into the various building steps.' Its effect was to increase the quality and efficiency of the machinery built based on the energy level. It was one of the specialties of Magnetic Ring Mechanics and a core talent of the Mechanic class. As an example, Han Xiao currently had a little more than 1,600 energy, which would increase his efficiency in building machinery by about 20 to 25%.

A breeze of freshness could be felt in Han Xiao's brain, extending all over his body. A large amount of new knowledge appeared in his head. Han Xiao squinted his eyes in comfort. He could feel the clear changes of class advancement, and his control of machinery had improved once again.

New class, stronger power!

I have finally advanced class. Han Xiao clenched his fists. Excitement filled his heart. The enormous amount of experience on his interface could finally be used again.

[Magnetic Ring Mechanic] needed 3,650,000 experience to level up from Lv.1 to Lv.2, three times what was needed when leveling up [Trainee Mechanic] from Lv.14 to Lv.15. The higher the tier of the class, the more experience was needed to level up.

Without hesitation, Han Xiao immediately leveled [Magnetic Ring Mechanic] to Lv.5, spending 20,000,000 experience without blinking!

Rich!

His overall level reached 60!

One year and more than two months after he joined Galaxy, Han Xiao finally reached max level in version 1.0!

LV 60 class advancement mission [The Ultimate Trial: Push one's limits during battle. Find and ascend the hierarchy of life.

Mission Requirements: Acquire 2,000 Trial Points. Current progress: 0/2000

Trial Points are gained through killing enemies. The stronger the enemies are, the more Trial Points. The harder the victory (calculated by the amount of health lost), the more the Trial Points.

As expected, the version has no restriction on me because I'm not a player. Han Xiao had expected this long ago, but he still could not hold back his happiness.

What this meant was that as long as he completed the class advancement mission, he could become the only one on this planet to break through level 60!

He would stand on the peak of Planet Aquamarine, a place that no one could reach!

Just thinking about it made Han Xiao very excited.

His eyes looked beyond planets; it was the entire universe of Galaxy.

This type of class advancement mission requires a large amount of combat and killing. I have to first see what kind of enemies give me Trial Points. Low-level ones are out for sure. It has to be high-level strong enemies, Han Xiao thought.

Since he was going to Andrea, he could try to complete the class advancement on the way. Only the battlefield would be filled with strong enemies, and only then could he go all out.

He could damage the Germinal Organization at the same time. It was a steady but a little playful plan, just as how Han Xiao had always been.

Putting this matter aside, Han Xiao assigned the Free Attribute points, which all went to INT as usual.

Afterward, he spent 25,000,000 experience to max the level of the newly acquired [Advanced Machinery Affinity] and [Surging Mechanical Force].

The tons of experience that he had stored could finally be spent on something.

Seeing the experience turning into his strength step by step, Han Xiao felt a sense of fulfillment.

Looking at the interface, his Combat Power Level grading had exceeded 2,000. He was at grade C!

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Chapter 234: Hiring Path

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

A Grade C superhuman was at the peak of Planet Aquamarine. They had stronger resistance and destructive power, and they were considered to be 'Basic Planet Explorer Standard' in the universe.

Achieving LV 60 would not guarantee a C grade. It also took into consideration the standard of abilities, talents, and attributes. Most of those who were level 60 in Planet Aquamarine were just at grade D; only those like Bennett were at grade C. There were only about twenty grade C superhumans across the whole of Planet Aquamarine.

Han Xiao now stood among the very top.

He was more confident.

Since he had decided to go to the battlefield, he had to prepare for it.

After advancing his class to [Magnetic Ring Mechanic, his mechanical skills had improved another level. Han Xiao spent a few days enhancing his equipment once again and built some new machinery that might be of use.

However, he did not delay for too long as the Germinal Organization was in a dire situation and might turn Aurora into drugs any time; he had to save her as soon as possible.

After he finished his preparation, Han Xiao called Huang Yu over in the evening and said, "I have to leave for some time, about half a month most likely. You will take care of the matters in the sanctuary during this time."

I was already the one doing that… Huang Yu did not say this sentence that he wanted to. Instead, he asked, "Your Excellency, where are you going?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask." Han Xiao carried his equipment bag and said, "The construction of the sanctuary is on the right track. Make sure it stays that way, or you know the consequences."

Huang Yu hastily nodded.

Han Xiao walked out of the room and toward the helipad; the helicopter was already waiting.

He observed the current situation of the sanctuary on the way. There were a lot of players, and it looked very lively. Other than the construction, the newly joined wanderer residents also hired players to do some simple jobs. The outline of the players' main city that he had imagined could already be seen.

Han Xiao planned to act only for this rescue operation.

The Six Nations had locked down the Andrea Battlefield. If he approached as a third party he would be taken as an enemy and attacked. It was not easy to get close to the battlefield, and Han Xiao could not just close in while taking a plane like before—he had to go through the official procedures to enter the battlefield.

On the coastline of the Southern Continent was Stardragon Stone Port Base. Three heavy cargo planes were being checked before taking off. They had the mission of carrying important resources over the sea. In the small square beside the plane, hundreds of people in various clothing were either standing or sitting. They did not wear the uniform of Stardragon military, but they shared the same aura that they were not to be messed with. They stood in distinct groups and sized each other up.

These people were mercenaries belonging to different organizations. Mercenaries were not rare in such large-scale wars, and the Six Nations did not have any problems with hiring them.

Mercenaries were like hounds searching for the smell of blood, taking part in wars to earn themselves a fortune.

As the saying goes, people are gathered by profit and separated by profit.

Even some contract killers in Blood Pact Society wanted to be part of it. Most of the contract killers just had their names associated with the Dark Net; they were not technically subordinates and were not under Dark Net's command.

There were many superhumans among mercenaries. These were the power that the Six Nations needed; there was no such thing as too many superhumans. The party taking the lead in the war would receive help from all over the world, and using this help effectively could further expand one's advantages. The situation of the ground combat between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization was rigid. A large number of super soldiers that the Germinal Organization had produced gave quite some trouble to the ground troops of the Six Nations, so this was the time when they needed more manpower.

There were thousands of battlefields of various scales across Andrea. The places where the mercenaries would be most useful was in comparatively smaller battles as well as in carrying out strategic missions. Quality was more important than quantity.

These mercenaries were taking the cargo plane toward Andrea. They were chatting among themselves at the moment. Most of them were undisciplined, rough men who were acting rowdily. The Stardragon soldiers standing in their guarding positions on the side were annoyed by this behavior, but they were not allowed to scold these mercenaries as an order from above.

Surrounded in a noisy environment, Qin Yuan crossed his arms and looked at the surroundings.

The Blades, Goats, and Ice Sculpture Mercenary Organizations… Tsk tsk, seems like quite a number of people came, all wanting to earn a fortune during the war. Even the killers are here, and the most renowned ones here are Crowell from the Wasps and Ghost-level killer 'Scattered Shadow' from the Blood Pact Society, Qin Yuan thought mockingly.

Qin Yuan was a small time famous mercenary. The mercenaries organization that he belonged to was also the top among the others. He received a lot of attention, and there were a few others that received the same treatment as well, including Crowell and Scattered Shadow—these two killers had also proved themselves with their battle results.

Everyone in the circle knew that the Wasps Organization and the Blood Pact Society were competitors and enemies. Therefore, these two killers received the most attention. Many mercenaries wanted to watch them put on a show, but they stood in the corner and did not have any conflict at the moment.

Scattered Shadow sized Crowell up occasionally with dread in his eyes because Crowell had a bigger name. Staying cautious, Scattered Shadow was wary of Crowell.

In comparison, Crowell seemed very casual and relaxed. He closed his eyes and rested calmly, looking very confident. He ignored Scattered Shadow and felt he was above all.

Qin Yuan sized Crowell up with interest. Suddenly, he saw the Stardragon soldiers far away split open a path and allow one person in.

Another new guy. Qin Yuan looked over, but his ridiculing eyes froze and turned into shock very quickly. His mouth widened, and he became speechless for the moment.

The others looked over as well. The scene that had been noisy just a moment ago suddenly turned silent as shock appeared in everyone's faces.

A man in black clothes slowly approached and stopped at the edges of the team, causing everyone watching to avert their gaze. Chatter filled with shock soon rippled through the crowd.

"Why is someone like him here‽"

"Black Phantom can be said to represent the Dark Net—is the Dark Net not on neutral ground anymore?"

Han Xiao stood quietly unaffected and did not say a word.

Black Phantom was a legend in the Dark Net. He immediately became the center of attention because they did not think that someone of this level would be acting together with them.

They were of totally different levels. Just by standing there, Han Xiao made these mercenaries shut their mouths in fear. The Stardragon soldiers on the side were surprised and contented to see this. Finally, they could give their eyes a break. They looked over at these mercenaries that had been lawless just moments ago.

Who told you guys to be so full of yourselves, finally learned your lesson?

Qin Yuan suddenly noticed something. He subconsciously looked at Scattered Shadow. The others have also noticed and looked over as well.

Blood Pact Society was also a member of the Dark Net.

Scattered Shadow did not think that he would meet a legend from the same organization here. He wanted to approach Han Xiao and strike up a conversation, but he was afraid of being despised. His eyes were filled with a mix of respect and hesitation. Nonetheless, the arrival of Han Xiao made him feel much safer and more confident. He stared at Crowell with taunting in his eyes like he was going to look for trouble.

Damn it, why is he here too? Crowell's back was completely soaked in cold sweat. The calmness he had earlier on was long gone. Seeing the provocative look in Scattered Shadow's eyes, he immediately turned away and did not look back. He then walked into the crowd and decided to be a coward.

Scattered Shadow felt very relieved and relaxed; it was the first time he had felt so good by making use of the fear others had for someone other than himself.

Under the strange atmosphere, seconds felt like years to everyone present. Then, finally, the plane was ready, and the Stardragon soldiers announced that it was time to start boarding. The next moment, like everyone had made an agreement, they split open a path, and at the end of it was the confused Han Xiao.

Qin Yuan coughed and said respectfully, "Please… please go first."

Well, this is quite a good treatment. Am I that scary? Han Xiao shook his head, carried his equipment bag, and boarded the plane before anyone else. He casually found a seat and sat down. The others only then heaved a sigh of relief and boarded the plane respectively.

Whoosh!

After some turbulence, the plane took off.

The official path to go to Andrea for Han Xiao was to become a mercenary of Stardragon; this was the easiest way. The reason he had chosen to use Black Phantom's identity and not change his face was, although the Six Nations accepted mercenaries into the war, they still would go through their records and did not allow anyone that was not trustworthy.

This Black Phantom identity of his not only did help to fight the Germinal Organization before but also belonged to the Dark Net; it was a very trustworthy identity and was approved easily. Of course, using the identity of Black Phantom would impact the Dark Net's firm neutral ground negatively, but these were all small problems in Han Xiao's eyes.

He actually had another choice, which was to change face and replace another mercenary then board the plane secretly, but he felt that he did not need to go against the rules if he could enter through an official channel.

The phone in his pocket started vibrating. Han Xiao took it out, and it was a call from Bennett.

He picked up the call, and the next moment, Bennett's scream almost broke his eye drums.

"Come back now!"

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Chapter 235: Infiltration (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Han Xiao moved the phone further away from his ear, before picking his ears with his pinky and saying unhappily, "Lower your voice."

"Why didn't you discuss with me?" Bennett said furiously. "You represent the Dark Net; joining the war means we have lost our neutral ground. The impact behind this…"

Han Xiao covered the speaker and looked around at all the mercenaries who were eavesdropping with a warning in his eyes. The seats in the cargo plane were opposite each other, so everyone saw the look on Han Xiao's face. They were all confused as to how they messed with him.

Qin Yuan was the first to react. He immediately took out earplugs and placed them in his ears. The others saw this and understood as well. They all followed suit.

Only then did Han Xiao uncover the speaker, and Bennett's nonsense finally came toward the end. He did not hear most of it, but he still replied as if he was listening all the time.

"… therefore, don't get involved in this," Bennett said. "The Germinal Organization will definitely lose. No matter what grudge you hold against them, there's no need for you to settle it yourself."

"This is a private matter," Han Xiao replied.

"Of course! How can it not be a private matter‽" Bennett yelled furiously.

"The Germinal Organization can't even take care of themselves anyway," Han Xiao said. "Isn't it good to make use of the opportunity? Neutral standings aren't important in the current situation anyway, so don't worry."

"… You didn't actually hear any of my analysis just now did you!" Bennett was stunned.

Tsk, got found out. Han Xiao shook the phone rapidly and moved it further away while yelling, "Hello… I'm on a plane… The signal is bad…"

"You stop lying to…"

Han Xiao hung up the phone.

Bennett would definitely be unhappy with him doing this, so Han Xiao felt somewhat apologetic.

However, that did not mean that he would not do it just because Bennett was unhappy. Exterior factors would not determine his actions; he only followed his own thoughts.

Furthermore, Han Xiao was very clear that there was no meaning to whether the Dark Net maintained its neutral ground anymore. If the Germinal Organization was destroyed, Dark Net would be next on the list.

The Dark Net always seemed harmless, but no one could be sure that they would continue to be in the future.

In the previous life toward the end of version 1.0, the Six Nations expressed their intentions to suppress the Dark Net. Now that the Germinal Organization had met their demise two years in advance and the Six Nations were not as damaged, they might suppress the Dark Net at an even earlier date.

At this moment, a Stardragon commander walked into the cabin, waved his laptop, and said, "Eight hours till we arrive in Andrea. The destination is Migratory Birds Port on the south side. These are the basic situations of the southern battlefields and some missions. Take a look."

After he finished, the people looked at up at him in confusion.

The commander was a little stunned. Should there be someone that would take the laptop from him? Holding onto the laptop and getting ignored is very awkward, okay?

Qin Yuan realized something. He hastily informed the others to take out the earplugs and said awkwardly, "Er, please say that again."

After ten minutes, everyone had a laptop in their hands and was studying the information.

Han Xiao suddenly said, "Give me a map of the entire battlefield with the Germinal Organization's territory and their basic layout."

The commander agreed.

The territory map and the layout of the enemy was not a secret. He had received orders to pay attention to Black Phantom and satisfy any of his reasonable needs.

The reason that Stardragon treated him so well had to do with Han Xiao's identity. In gaming terms, it was because he had high enough relationship points and legendary points.

Intelligence was also a reason that Han Xiao had entered through the official channel. It was not easy to penetrate the battlefield, and if he rushed in without any knowledge of the enemy's strategic layout, he would most likely end up in a horrible position. The intelligence that the Six Nations had was very well rounded, and it was convenient for him to come up with an action plan.

"A lot of soldiers near the headquarters. Both ground and air are locked down…"

The Germinal Organization headquarters were made up of bases. The real core was the explosion-proof fortification hidden underground in the middle of these bases—that was Han Xiao's target.

Han Xiao realized that there were many small gaps in the Germinal Organization's deployment, which seemed like a chance for him to head straight into the headquarters. These gaps were not very obvious but were not too secretive.

Feels weird. Han Xiao rubbed his chins as his eyes twinkled.

The cargo plane landed in Andrea. The cabin doors opened, and the smell of dust and the tight war atmosphere filled the air. Countless battleships docked on the sea far away, and sound of helicopter blades passed above their head continuously. There were still burn marks from the coastline battle in this port. Stardragon soldiers passed by one after another.

Han Xiao alighted the plane along with the others. What followed next were all sorts of procedures that took two hours to complete. The mercenaries finally crossed the iron net obstruction, boarded the troop transport, and entered the battlefield area through the road. The vehicle was heading toward a battlefield on the front lines that was fighting with a Germinal Organization team in the ruins.

After getting off the plane, Han Xiao had not stopped moving. He could feel the tense atmosphere in the battlefield as he passed through the battlefield. He occasionally saw refugees in ragged clothes staggering and retreating under the soldiers' lead. These were the wanderers in Andrea. Their life was already tough enough, and the war made it even worse.

The impact of the old era war was still affecting Andrea, the radiation pollution was still very severe, so plants and animals were rare. Many of the refugees had black yellow scars on their skin, and some of them even had tumors.

They alighted the vehicle upon arriving at the destination. Qin Yuan approached Han Xiao before the commander came.

"Your Excellency Black Phantom, we hope you can lead us."

Mercenaries respected the strong, Han Xiao's position was undoubted. It was the safest to act in groups on the battlefield, and it was an instinct to follow those who were strong.

Han Xiao waved his hands, picked up his equipment, and left.

Qin Yuan was stunned. He hurriedly yelled, "Where are you going? That's the way to leaving the battlefield. Our mission is…"

Han Xiao's voice came from far away. "I'm not interested in that mission. I'm used to acting alone."

Everyone helplessly exchanged looks.

There was no need for him to join a team; he could just do things alone.

A few days later…

Scorching sun burnt the ground of Mika Town, which had originally been a colony for the wanderers. It had become a small-scale battlefield. Short and tiny buildings were destroyed, bullet shells littered on the ground, and burn marks scarred the scenery. There were still flames that had yet to go out giving out black smoke.

"Huu, Huu…"

A gasping sound appeared behind a building that was half collapsed. A few superhumans in Stardragon combat suits were hiding behind the wall and cautiously observing the surroundings. They were Pugilists cultivated by the military. With the civilization standard of Planet Aquamarine, Pugilists were the easiest to create in large numbers compared to the other superhuman classes.

"Captain, our situation is very bad. The Germinal Organization has outnumbered us. They have a small team of 200 people, 7 superhumans, and 15 super soldiers. We only have 11 superhumans left, and we are separated from each other."

"I have requested for backup," Fang Yun said in a low voice. "The Division 13 agents will be providing the backup as long as we can hold on for an hour."

"An hour… there is still a group of damn Inhumans among the enemy. They are too difficult to deal with."

At this moment, the sound of machine gun fire appeared from afar. Sounds of crying and screaming appeared but disappeared the next second.

There was still a group of refugees that did not retreat successfully in this battlefield and hid in fear. The Germinal Organization was worried that the people of Stardragon might disguise themselves as these refugees, so they killed every one of them.

"With these refugees to stall time, we won't be discovered so soon."

A flash of pity appeared in Fang Yun's eyes as he nodded heavily. At this point in time, they had to make use of everything to protect themselves. The battlefield did not allow sympathy, and there was no time to care about the lives of a group of refugees.

There is no justice in war.

At the same time, in the second floor of a building, Han Xiao changed his face and put on a ragged coat to disguise as a refugee. He stayed beside the window and looked out to observe the situation outside.

This battlefield was the target that he had decided with after a few days of searching. His plan was to kill a member of the Germinal Organization here, switch to his face, and disguise as him, which would allow for easier infiltration. He had used this method before, and he planned to use it again. It would be as difficult as finding a needle in a sea to find him in this chaotic battlefield.

When he observed the battlefield deployment, Han Xiao had noticed the gaps, but he thought that since he could notice this weakness, the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization would be able to as well. It looked like a trap, so he decided to use his own method.

The risk of breaking directly into the headquarters was too huge, and Han Xiao's destination was the underground headquarters, which would be many times harder. It was safer and stealthier to infiltrate by changing faces and identity. Even if he was exposed, they would not know his identity, and he could still switch to another face and continue infiltrating.

At this moment, a loud bang came from someone kicking open the doors downstairs. A group of people came in to search the building.

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Ta, ta, ta!

With the sound of footsteps, a pair of people headed upstairs. Han Xiao could see through the bullet holes in the walls that these people had IDs hovering above their heads.

"Unlucky, it's a group of players."

He was wearing his Smart Meta-Optical Mask, but although the players could not know his real identity, they could at least see that his attributes were all question marks and would immediately be cautious.

As these Germinal Organization players approached, their conversation could also be heard.

"What's your contribution points?"

"127."

"I have 95. There are no contribution points to killing refugees, how annoying."

Both players of the Six Nations and Germinal Organization received battlefield missions. Killing enemies would grant them contribution points. The war between organizations should not have opened at this stage, but because of Han Xiao's effect on the storyline, the players joined the war at a very low level, and their impact on the war was minimized.

With a loud thud, the door was kicked open. The two players walked in and saw Han Xiao in the corner.

"F*ck, another refugee." One of them raised the gun immediately and prepared to fire. His attitude was like the person before him was equal to an ant.

Whoosh!

A few blades flew out near the ground and slashed through the two players' necks in a flash. Blood shot out as they turned into white light and disappeared; they were killed in an instant.

These players were at around LV 20 and had about 300 HP. With Han Xiao's abilities and talents, the damage of his purple Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades was between 45 and 112, but he could deal about three times what was shown on the interface. Taking into consideration the enemies' damage resistance and reduction, it was still a piece of cake to instantly kill the players around this level.

There were a few more players outside. Han Xiao wore his Electromagnetic Scanning Goggles and looked through the wall for their locations. He controlled the hovering blades to penetrate the wall and slash open the throat of these players. No one could react. The last thing they saw was a flash of light.

After killing all the enemies, Han Xiao returned the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades to his sleeve.

Then, Han Xiao changed to another face and left the building with a low profile. He hid in the ruins and avoided the Germinal Organization troops before finding a new house and observing the situation, waiting for an opportunity.

"Hope it's not players again," Han Xiao mumbled.

Flashes of white light appeared one after another. These players revived at the Germinal Organization battlefield revival point. They still had not realized what had happened, and their faces were filled with confusion.

"How did I die?"

"Was there a bug‽"

They looked at the combat information on their interfaces hastily

??? has dealt 275 damage to you.

??? has dealt 267 damage to you.

You were killed by ???.

The players were all confused

What was this '???'?

Tuk tuk tuk!

A string of bullets was being fired at a super soldier of the Germinal Organization, hitting his exoskeleton.

"These monsters are too tough." Fang Yun threw the firearm aside and waved his fists, launching a punch. It clashed with the exoskeleton fist of the super soldier and left a dent.

Super soldiers were not as strong as normal superhumans, but the Germinal Organization had improved this technology through many experiments and were able to mass produce the super soldiers. It was quite a headache in the battlefield for the Six Nations.

Fang Yun and his team worked together and defeated this super soldier very quickly. However, the sound of battle attracted other superhumans of the Germinal Organization, and a siege battle started. It was bloody and merciless.

Fang Yun's team members fell one after another. Fang Yun was besieged by the super soldiers. He was wounded all everywhere, and blood spilled out of his mouth as he was moving.

A team member sacrificed himself and opened up a gap in the siege. Fang Yun dashed out without hesitation and ran with all his might with people chasing behind him.

Fang Yun could not remember if he ran for ten or twenty minutes. The exhaustion and injuries were too much for him to endure. His legs softened, and he fell onto the ground. He had no strength left to even stand up, but he continued struggling and crawled forward.

Two Germinal Organization superhumans caught up. They rubbed their fists and walked toward Fang Yun with a ferocious smile on their faces.

Fang Yun clenched his teeth. These two people were the ones who had killed his team member earlier.

Both sides were building ruins, and there was nowhere to escape. Fang Yun stopped crawling and stared at the duo, squeezing every last bit of strength he had left, wanting to muster some energy and give the duo a surprise attack before he died.

They walked closer and closer, and when they were only ten meters away, a shadow appeared behind them. However, they did not notice at all and continued walking forward.

Fang Yun was stunned. The person was dressed like a refugee.

"What the…"

Blades hovered beside the refugee. With a flash of light, they penetrated these two from behind and went back and forth several times within a blink of an eye.

The faces of these two people froze. More than ten wounds appeared on their bodies the next second, and blood shot out like a fountain.

Fang Yun was completely shocked.

Two Germinal Organization superhumans had been killed instantly by a refugee!

"You…"

Before he finished his sentence, that shadow appeared in front of him, and the next moment his, vision became dark as he was knocked unconscious.

Both at about level 30.

After seeing the combat information on the interface, Han Xiao felt a sense of lamentation. Level 30 had once been a chasm that he had never been able to cross, but now, he could kill them easily.

Han Xiao avoided the face so that he could still change into their face. He first took out the items on these two people's body, including any identification, then looked at their names and held onto them.

He pressed on his cheeks. A triangular scanning beam shot out from in between his brows and scanned the face of one of the corpses. The following moment, Han Xiao's face became exactly the same.

He removed the clothes on the corpse and put them on. He then listened to the internal communication of the Germinal Organization troops through the headphones. They were sweeping up the rest of the Stardragon soldiers. Han Xiao pondered for a while before setting the two corpses on fire and throwing them aside. He left the Stardragon soldier alone.

Han Xiao had yet to leave when he heard a new message from the headphones.

"Attention, the enemies' backup has arrived. There are superhumans from Division 13."

"The enemies are too strong, fall back immediately."

"I need backup. I'm at the West side of… fizz—"

Han Xiao's eyes twinkled. This was just the right situation for him to infiltrate.

Following the sound of cannons and guns, Han Xiao came to the battlefield. He realized that the Germinal Organization troops had been intercepted by the backup team of Stardragon. The superhumans of both sides were clashing with each other. The agents of Division 13 had a steady upper hand. The targets hit by their bullets were covered in flames and burnt—it was a huge threat that made the people of the Germinal Organization wary.

High-explosive rounds? Han Xiao's eyes twinkled. Had the high-explosive rounds that he had given Stardragon before he left still not been finished?

What he did not know was, after he left, Division 13 collected all the leftover high-explosive rounds, and after they burned three workshops trying to figure out its blueprint, they sealed them up as important resources, only giving them to their agents during very important missions.

There was not anyone that he knew among these Division 13 agents, but there were a few he might have seen once or twice. He was reminded of Li Yalin and the team. They had definitely been sent somewhere in the battlefield for missions. He wondered if they were still alive…

A Germinal Organization superhuman saw Han Xiao and yelled, "Karius, quickly come over and help!"

The unlucky guy that Han Xiao had changed into was called Karius.

This yell also made the Stardragon people notice Han Xiao and fired at him. With his fast reactions, Han Xiao hastily dodged and left a burning trail on the ground behind him.

He rarely used high-explosive rounds anymore, and he did not expect the Division 13 to still be using them. After all, they were just his leftovers.

Han Xiao did not want to be stalled, but trouble came looking for him. A Stardragon agent turned and headed his way. He dashed over, covered in flames, and took out a knife handle. It was the retractable knife that Han Xiao had built before.

"Hello Pugilist." Han Xiao hooked his fingers. Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades flew out low on the ground and immediately slashed open the flesh of this Pugilist. He fell onto the ground the next moment while he was still charging toward Han Xiao. Han Xiao bolted over and sent him flying with a kick. He hit an SUV and the entire vehicle was turned over. This guy would probably spend half a year in bed for that injury.

The Germinal Organization soldier that had called Han Xiao's name was stunned.

Since when was Karius so strong‽

Just as he wanted to call Han Xiao for help, he saw that Han Xiao had knocked over the people obstructing the way and hopped into a car, immediately escaping.

The people of the Germinal Organization were stunned. Then they realized what had happened and all hastily jumped up the cars to escape. They were in an extremely disadvantageous position anyway. As soon as someone started something like this, there would be people that followed.

The troops escaped back to the temporary base. The commander immediately yelled and questioned them. The Germinal Organization soldiers hastily explained the situation. Han Xiao also said a few words to add on. No one suspected him, or rather, they did not have the time to suspect him. This temporary base was very hectic, so after the commander finished listening to the explanation, he immediately sent the troops for other missions.

After infiltrating the camp, Han Xiao collected intelligence incautiously. His plan was to get closer to the headquarters by continuously changing his identity. The most direct targets were those troops that headed in the direction of the headquarters.

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Chapter 237: Infiltration (3)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Han Xiao was asking around until night fell, when he found out that a supply convoy had transported a large number of munitions from a resource warehouse nearer to the headquarters. That convoy would be returning in twenty minutes.

Han Xiao located one of the drivers, changed his face, and lured him out. He cracked the driver's neck when they were alone and then changed into his face and clothes. It was troublesome to get rid of the body, so Han Xiao found a very creative and not bloody way, which was to find a player and give him the mission to get rid of the body. Although he set his identity to be unknown in the mission, the players would not care at all—the mission was accepted immediately.

Convenient, Han Xiao thought. He had a new idea—the players could be of help for his infiltration.

Although the Germinal Organization players' loyalty was fixed, they still had the freedom to accept missions, and the Germinal Organization did not know that.

Han Xiao received an order very soon after he disguised himself as a driver—the GPS in the car showed the route, so Han Xiao simply followed the convoy and arrived at the resources warehouse half a day later. He then used the same method to gain more intelligence.

After two days, Han Xiao finally arrived at a base near the headquarters after changing his identity many times.

The group of black bases could be seen far away, occupying as much space as a medium sized city. This was the Germinal Organization's headquarters, but Han Xiao knew that the real core area was hidden underground.

Han Xiao asked around from the soldiers there and found that it was almost impossible to enter the underground headquarters. Thus, he had to find a target with special identity.

Fang Yun woke up and realized that he was lying on a hospital bed in a medical tent. Around him were injured soldiers. Seeing that he was awake, the doctor walked to him and said, "I have treated your wounds. You have been unconscious for one day."

"How's Mika Town?"

"The backup made it in time and defeated the enemies, but some of them escaped. They are now calculating the losses."

"Let me take a look…" Fang Yun coughed weakly. The doctor hastily handed over the water bottle. Fang Yun grabbed it and took a huge gulp before gasping for air.

As a superhuman, he was treated very well. Someone brought the battle damage statistics very soon. Fang Yun browsed through impatiently. Seeing that all his teammates were confirmed to be dead, he was filled with sorrow and rage. He flipped to the death count of the enemy, and suddenly, his pupils constricted.

"One enemy is missing," Fang Yun realized that the person missing was Karius. The superior sent the intel on the enemies shortly after in video form. Enemies were identified through matching screenshots of the video recorded during battle with the database, and most of the superhumans in the Germinal Organization were in the database.

"That's him. The missing guy is called Karius. I saw him die with my own eyes."

The superior frowned and said, "But according to our witness intel, Karius escaped and is alive, and we also didn't find his body."

Fang Yun felt a chill up his spine. He immediately recalled that 'refugee'.

In the underground headquarters of Germinal Organization, the leader was looking at the tactical map in silence.

The map was marked with red and blue areas. Red was the Six Nations' forces, and blue was theirs. The blue was surrounded by red and was only getting smaller with time. This was the situation for the Germinal Organization; they were at a total disadvantage. However, the leader did not care about the gains of losses of these areas. He did not put all their forces into the battlefield as he was discreetly preparing for a counter attack. However, it could not be carried out yet because he had to get rid of Zero who could 'foresee' first, or else the exposed plan would be meaningless.

Although Destiny's Child claimed that Zero would come to find them, the leader had to take care of some details. He purposely left some gaps in the deployment on the battlefield. Zero might take these routes if he wanted to infiltrate the headquarters, but the intel from the hidden scouts disappointed him again and again. There was no one who had infiltrated through those gaps.

The method Han Xiao used to infiltrate was unnoticed by the leader.

The longer the leader waited, the more impatient he grew. The ability to 'foresee' that Zero possessed was like a blade hanging on the organization's head, and their actions were very restricted.

"Still not here…" The leader had asked the scouts as usual, but the results were disappointed once again. He started to doubt if Destiny's Child's claim had failed this time.

Because he really did not understand why Zero had to come to the headquarters, he could not figure out what Han Xiao's goal was.

He never would have thought that Han Xiao's target was Aurora. That was completely unexpected.

The pollution from the factories and the thick clouds painted the sky gray, and the clouds within ten miles looked like they were going to fall any time.

The surface headquarters consisted of numerous bases, vehicles travelled within, and sentinels guarded every junction to check for identifications. The main base in the middle was an enormous metal fortress with a ferocious metal tower that penetrated into the sky.

The entrance was a large alloy gate. The side gates on both sides were the human entrance, and the vehicle entrance was in the middle, more than wide enough for three tanks to enter simultaneously. Helipads were built on top of the exterior walls—helicopters took off and landed from time to time.

The entrance was very lively. Convoys were entering and leaving, and rows of guards stood on the side of the road and scanned the area to maintain safety.

One of the guards was Han Xiao in disguise. He turned his eyes and observed the surrounding environment.

The effect of the mask was outstanding. This method of infiltration was extremely stealthy. After changing his identity many times, he finally got an identity that could get him into the headquarters. In order to become a guard, Han Xiao had to patiently wait for a few days, and it went without saying what happened to the original owner of this identity; Han Xiao had never been one to have mercy in these times.

When the shift finally ended, Han Xiao followed the others into the surface headquarters. It was huge and spacious; it was more than ten meters tall just in the first level. After entering the door, a huge space came into sights. Things were being loaded onto their transportation, commanders were resting, it was lively and noisy, smoke from the operating engines made the air quality very bad.

The door of garage was at the West side, many ground transportations were parked inside, the doors at the other directions were for the people.

Han Xiao knew the basic structure of the Germinal Organization headquarters. The underground headquarters were connected with the surface headquarters. By authorizing one's identity in the lift, one could enter the underground headquarters. Quite a number of people had the authority to enter the surface headquarters, including even some players belonging to the Germinal Organization. Han Xiao chose a suitable target and changed into the target's identity in a discreet corner. He then entered the lift with his new identity card and scanned it on the reader. The green light turned on, and the lift stopped at an underground level. A metal tunnel came into Han Xiao's sights after the doors opened, leading to the underground headquarters.

He opened the doors and entered. The underground headquarters were intense and quiet—not lively like it was on the ground. One could clearly feel the intensity in the air. The members walking around all had emotionless expressions and were in a quick pace. Everyone looked busy. Han Xiao's eyes twinkled. He covered up the energy in his body and acted like a normal person. He then straightened his collar and started walking while planning for his next step.

He was already halfway to success now that he was in the underground headquarters!

That is what infiltration should be like.

It was unwise for him to drag it for too long; he would be in a very dire position should his identity be exposed. He touched the equipment bag and felt a little safer.

The security measures had to be turned off through the central computer before he could save anyone in the headquarters, and he also had to access the central computer for another goal he had. Therefore, he needed a hostage that had the authority to operate the central computer. Fortunately, Han Xiao had kept someone in mind since very long ago.

Cyberlos.

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Chapter 238: Nerve Connection (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Han Xiao knew about Cyberlos in his previous life.

A high rank researcher of the Germinal Organization, research fanatic, known by the players because he was the one in charge of the research that turned Aurora into Aurora Jam. To him, he could only do more experiments if he was alive, so he could betray any organization without any hesitation, loyalty was worthless in his eyes.

Han Xiao was very confident that if he threatened Cyberlos, he would compromise for his life, provided no one saw them.

There was a small problem, however; the headquarters were enormous, and Han Xiao had no idea where Cyberlos was at the moment.

At this time, a player with a hovering ID able his head walked past, so Han Xiao had an idea.

"There are players in the underground headquarter too, I can try to use them." Han Xiao thought.

Electrolux was on the way to submit a daily training mission. Suddenly, a Germinal Organization soldier appeared and stopped him. The soldier looked extremely ferocious yet was smiling friendly, like a crocodile laughing. The unlucky person that Han Xiao replaced looked too rough.

Electrolux shivered and said, "what—what do you want?"

Han Xiao laughed friendly but made Electrolux feel a chill up his spine. He paused and said, "Hey there, I have a small matter that I need your help with."

As he spoke, he set a mission and gave it out. The mission requirement was to find Cyberlos' location. He wrote in the mission introduction that he had something urgent to report as if he really did. Since the players would not normally doubt the mission introduction, they would not suspect anything.

Electrolux was pleasantly surprised. It was the first time that he had experienced a mission coming directly to him. Furthermore, the reward was quite rich, so he was tempted. Finding Cyberlos was very easy—he could only be in the lab.

"Ok, I'll be back very soon." Electrolux went to confirm.

Not long after, Han Xiao received the message that Cyberlos was browsing data in the experiment level.

Han Xiao's eyes twinkled. He gave another mission to Electrolux and asked him to get him the map for the headquarters. It was difficult for him to acquire such a thing, but it was easy for the players in the headquarters. Electrolux did not suspect anything; he passed the map that he had with him to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao looked at it in details and nodded. He had plans for the next step.

The experiment level occupied a very large area. Han Xiao came to the resting station of the researchers, used the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades to block the camera in the corner temporarily, forced open the uniform box, took out a few white coats and masks, disguised himself as a research, and walked to the experiment level openly.

Cyberlos was in a large experiment lab at the time, ordering the others to test the performance of a group of super soldiers while he browsed the data on the computer. Seeing that there were many people there, Han Xiao pulled his mask, walked closer to Cyberlos discreetly, took out a simple detector, and scanned him roughly. The result was that he was not wearing a wire as expected. Cyberlos spent most of his time in the headquarters, so he was not very cautious and also did not have any guards following him.

Han Xiao turned around and turned his back on Cyberlos, acting like he was arranging the data. He bent his finger. A blade hovered very close to the ground and flew into Cyberlos' coat, touching against his heart.

Cyberlos felt something cold near his chest. He hastily reached out his hands to his chest and felt a piece of thin metal. Shocked, he immediately wanted to unbutton his collar to check. It was at this moment that he heard a clear whisper despite the noisy surroundings.

"Quiet, don't move, don't yell, or this piece of blade will slice open your heart. Now, act like nothing happened and listen to my orders. You don't listen, you die; you trigger the alarm, you also die."

Cyberlos looked around; everyone looked like enemy to him. He said softly, "Calm down, what do you want me to do?"

He did not dare fight back because he was worried for his life.

"Leave the lab, act normal."

"Ok, don't do anything to me." Cyberlos took a few deep breaths and said loudly, "You guys continue the experiment; I have something to attend to."

After he finished saying that, he walked to the door without raising the other researchers' suspicion. Han Xiao paused for a while and followed behind Cyberlos.

The two came to the corridor. Cyberlos saw Han Xiao behind him and knew that this was the person who threatened him. He sized him up and said softly, "What else do you want me to do?"

"Bring me to the central computer. I need your authorization. Don't try to pull of any tricks; I can penetrate your heart in less than 0.1 second if anything abnormal happens."

"I won't," Cyberlos said as he felt the coldness on his chest. Then he calmed his mind and lead the way. He was not a soldier; his life was more important than anything to him. He knew that he had no choice but to compromise, so he was not willing to take the risk of triggering the alarm.

They met quite many Germinal Organization members on the way, and Cyberlos acted very naturally, nodding as usual. Han Xiao followed behind. The others had no suspicion and thought that he was Cyberlos' assistant.

After entering an empty corridor, Cyberlos looked carefully at Han Xiao's face and suddenly said softly, "I see you had a surgery on your face, Zero."

Han Xiao was shocked. How did he figure out my identity?

"In order to catch you, the leader has planted an inescapable trap. Countless Executive Officers are on standby, ready to act anytime, and here you are as expected."

Han Xiao's expression changed a little in disbelief. The leader had set up an ambush and waited for him, which meant that he knew he would sneak in‽

How is this possible‽

I haven't told anyone about my plan!

Does the leader have someone who can predict the future? Does that mean I am already in siege at the moment?

Han Xiao was perplexed at the time, but he hastily calmed himself down. Then he noticed something wrong. If the leader really knew his goal, he could not have snuck in this easily. That meant that the leader had limited knowledge and did not even know he had the ability to infiltrate through changing his face, which explained why there were no preventive measures.

Han Xiao instantaneously thought of the gap between the deployment layout of the Germinal Organization and was now sure that it was a trap.

Although he had many questions, since Cyberlos had mentioned the matter, Han Xiao knew what he meant. Han Xiao suppressed his killing intent and said in a low voice, "Tell me everything you know. I will consider letting you live."

Feeling the cold and piercing murderous intent, Cyberlos' back was soaked in cold sweat. He forced himself to calm down and said, "This is all the prediction of Destiny's Child."

Destiny's Child? Han Xiao frowned. He had never heard of such a person in the Germinal Organization.

"Destiny's Child's ability might be foreseeing the future; it might also be deciding the future. We are unsure as well. He said you will walk into the trap yourself…" Cyberlos described everything from the beginning—Destiny's Child's ability, the prediction about Han Xiao, the leader's plans, and other things. For the sake of his own life, he poured out everything he knew.

There is someone like that hidden in the Germinal Organization? Han Xiao was shocked. There was no information about this person in his previous life. It seemed like this was the Germinal Organization's deepest secret. If Destiny's Child could influence the future, did that mean his thought of saving Aurora could have been forced upon him?

Suddenly, he felt a strong need to kill Destiny's Child.

The mind was one's palace—anyone would be extremely furious if it was invaded.

Many abilities could influence the mind—psychic, magic, Esper—and there were even similar natural phenomenon in the universe. The Psychic Current, for one, was made up of thoughts, emitting waves that affected the mind, travelling in the universe unseen, causing any life form that passes by to hear 'voices' from the Psychic Current and thus get influenced.

However, after some pondering, Han Xiao felt this guess was way too unbelievable because he already had thought about saving Aurora when he first saw Hila more than one year ago, and he had analyzed the reasons for doing so, which were all beneficial to himself. It did not feel like he was influenced to do it at all; furthermore, saving Aurora was not the only motive he had for infiltrating the Germinal Organization headquarters.

There had to be limitations to Destiny's Child's abilities, or at least it had a limited effect on him. However, he did come to Germinal Organization headquarters alone as predicted, and that had him relieved and worried at the same time.

He finally understood how dreadful it was to have an enemy that might be able to predict the future. Suddenly, he felt the leader's pain.

I have made the Germinal Organization suffer so much; the leader probably wants to skin me alive.

From what Cyberlos had said, Han Xiao knew that there was a large number of Executive Officers and troops hidden in the headquarters at the moment, all waiting to ambush him, and as soon as anything happened, a siege could be formed any time. He was in a rather dire situation.

However, Han Xiao also noticed the huge advantage that he had, which was that the leader only knew he would come, not when he would come or what was his goal.

Seems like I still have the upper hand, but I can't drag this any longer. It'll be best to complete the goal and leave immediately.

If he could complete the mission and leave without raising the alarm, it would be the best result.

Also, he made a mental note of Destiny's Child.

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Chapter 239: Nerve Connection (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The central computer room was located at the core area of the headquarters. It stored a large amount of confidential information. Cyberlos had the necessary authority, so he turned off the defense measures and brought Han Xiao into the central computer room.

Rows of large hard drives were placed neatly like a bookshelf. Indicator lights flashed continuously, and at the end of the central computer room was the monitor and the controls. The room was simpler than the underground central computer room of Stardragon Division 13.

Cyberlos turned on the central computer, keyed in the password, then identified his fingerprint and scanned his retinas. There was actually a secret alarm measure in this step, where one set of passwords would activate the alarm in the event that a high-ranked official was threatened. However, Cyberlos did not plan to do such thing for the sake of his own safety.

He believed that Han Xiao could kill him easily before being caught, and he did not want to take the risk.

Thus, this alarm measure was useless to him.

Cyberlos was lawless and extremely daring when doing experiments, but when something concerned his life, he was a total coward.

"What do you want to see?" Cyberlos asked.

"Full map of the headquarters," Han Xiao said.

Cyberlos controlled the computer, and the construction map of the headquarters showed up on the screen.

Han Xiao took out Viper's helmet from his equipment bag, took a photo of the map, and stored it into the database to create a 3D model automatically. At the same time, he was also memorizing the map, quickly locating where Aurora was imprisoned.

Thinking about the Destiny's Child mentioned earlier, Han Xiao was a little tempted to see what that was about, but Cyberlos said that only the leader had the authority to open the gate toward the Destiny's Child. Thus, Han Xiao had to let go of that idea.

"Open your confidential intelligence database," Han Xiao said.

Cyberlos did as he was told. The secrets were laid out right in front of Han Xiao.

Gathering this intelligence was the other reason he had come to the Germinal Organization headquarters. He had changed the original storyline, so it was only natural that there would be secrets that he did not know. Furthermore, he had just been a player in his previous life, so he did not have information on things like experiment stats, deployment plans, and such.

Han Xiao saw the exoskeleton structure of the super soldiers, it did indeed use the technology from the light mechanical arm he once had left behind, they were basically just using his leftovers.

Han Xiao recorded all the intelligence, especially the detailed information regarding the Hand of Death system. Giving all this to the Six Nations could create incomparable advantages for them and eliminate the Germinal Organization's last resort. The more useful the intel he contributed, the more progress he would made in his mission.

That was not all.

The Six Nations and the Germinal Organization both had a part of the class advancement knowledge—opportunities like this did not come very often.

His target was indeed the class advancement knowledge!

Han Xiao always like to maximize his benefits. Saving Aurora was not his only goal; intel and class advancement knowledge were, too.

"Open the knowledge database," Han Xiao said.

Class advancement knowledge of Pugilist, Esper, and Mechanic showed up on the screen. Han Xiao let out a long exhale upon seeing that class knowledge. He was excited deep down—he could finally gain new class advancement knowledge after so many months.

The Mechanic class advancement knowledge the Germinal Organization had was [Nerves Connection] of the 'control' branch.

Mechanic class advancement knowledge detected: [Nerves Connection].

Spend 2 potential points to learn?

"Confirm."

Learning in progress. Do not cancel.

5%…. 43%… 78%…

Successfully learned! You have learned [Nerves Connection]!

Han Xiao closed his eyes and felt the new knowledge appeared in his mind.

Like the name suggested, [Nerves Connection] was an important technology related to biological machinery. By reading the nerve signal from a life form, machinery could be controlled with one's mind, increasing the reaction speed several levels. Having new advanced class knowledge meant that the number of possible knowledge combinations increased, and he could fuse many more blueprints. It was a direct benefit to him.

Finally, I have the second class advancement knowledge after the one from Stardragon about a year ago.

Han Xiao did not stop there. He also recorded the class advancement knowledges for Pugilist and Esper. Although he could not use them, he could sell them to the players in the future and profit a lot from it.

Controlling the source would give him a monopoly over the technology and attract the players. Furthermore, these were the core abilities for the players, so selling them would not be a problem.

When the level of the players was higher, they would start to need class advancement knowledge, and when they realized that they could buy from Han Xiao…

Han Xiao started to worry if he could take that level of popularity.

Intel and knowledge, it was a lot of profit.

Cyberlos was watching from the side all the time. Suddenly, he felt a chill and asked while shivering, "You… are you an Inhuman?"

Through their research, the organizations had realized that the Inhuman had the ability to learn things very quickly, and Han Xiao's actions earlier were a little suspicious, so Cyberlos suddenly thought of this possibility.

Han Xiao had an evil idea. He laughed and misleadingly said, "What do you think?"

Cyberlos suddenly felt a chill around his hands and feet.

The arch enemy of the organization was an undead Inhuman, then what was the point of opposing him?

Sh*t!

What the hell!

Damn it!

"But… you appeared much earlier than the Inhumans…" Before Cyberlos finished his sentence, he became extremely shocked and looked at Han Xiao as if he was looking at a ghost.

Is Zero actually the first Inhuman‽ Was the Inhuman phenomenon actually spread by Zero and his ability‽

Not bothering about Cyberlos, whose thoughts diverged further and further from the truth, Han Xiao checked the intelligence and made sure it was correct before asking, "Is there a self-destruction program in your central computer?"

"Who would be so stupid to set a self-destruction function in the headquarters? That's crazy…" Cyberlos wiped away his sweat.

Viper completed the 3D map at that moment, so everything was ready. Han Xiao pulled Cyberlos up and yelled, "Turn off all the defense measures of area A-4. Freeze all the surveillance cameras."

Cyberlos did as he was told hastily, then it occurred to him… Area A-4, isn't that where the little girl with the vital power ability is imprisoned?

"What do you want to do?"

"I want that little girl. Let's go." Han Xiao left the central computer room while pushing Cyberlos.

Cyberlos was stunned. He could understand why Han Xiao wanted the intel, but Aurora was the organization's top secret. Han Xiao had not looked into details of the intelligence he just received, so it was like he knew it all along.

Was the reason that Han Xiao chose him to be the hostage also because he knew that he would cooperate?

Cyberlos felt a chill up his spine.

The feeling of being completely exposed was a fear that deeply penetrated into his bones, devouring his mind.

Cyberlos was very good cover. They came to area A-4 without any problem. After walking past the twisted corridors, they finally came to the tunnel toward the prison Aurora was in. The defense measures had already been turned off.

The duo arrived at the gate, and the guards stopped them.

"Open the gate." Cyberlos tried to be as calm as possible.

"Cyberlos, I didn't receive any authorization," the guards said with confusion.

"Just the routine blood draw."

"But someone is already drawing the blood…" the guards said hesitantly. However, when they saw that Cyberlos was losing his patience, they still opened the gate.

Walking into the room, Han Xiao finally saw Aurora. She was petite and skinny. Her skin was the kind of pale that had not been under the sun for years. She was locked in the room with glass walls, like an animal in a zoo.

The little girl was cowering in the corner and hugging her knees. She looked at the people in white coats outside with fear. These people were pushing a small trolley full of tools and preparing for the blood draw.

Aurora vividly remembered the pain of the blood draw, and it was going to happen again today. She bit her lips and hoped that the waiting could last forever. However, she knew that these people would enter the room sooner or later and insert a needle into her blood vessels and bones while she helplessly watched her life force turn into a red torrent and leave her body in a tube.

Aurora had fantasized that her older sister would save her from this fate, but she knew that was too much to ask. She did not want her sister to be in danger just to save her, so all she could do was look happy and optimistic in front of Hila—only then would Hila not feel even worse and feel less stressed.

At this time, she saw the gate open once again. Two people walked in. Then she could only see a few white lights flashing before she saw the people in white coat and the guards fall onto the floor with blood spurting out from their bodies.

Aurora blinked with confusion. She stared blankly as the glass wall that stood between her and freedom was opened easily.

A ferocious looking weird uncle walked in and reached out toward her.

"I'm here to save you, follow me."

Aurora froze in place. She had fantasized and dreamed of this moment, but when freedom finally came, she was lost.

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Chapter 240: Shock

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Aurora looked at the hands that reached out for her before raising her head to look into Han Xiao's eyes.

"Why are you here to save me?" she asked timidly.

Han Xiao pondered and said, "You can take it as I'm just a warm-hearted person."

"Who are you?" Aurora turned her head sideways.

"You can call me Zero," Han Xiao said casually.

Aurora's wet and large eyes were filled with surprise. "So, you're Uncle Zero."

Han Xiao squinted his eyes. Being called uncle made him felt like he was abducting a little girl.

Cyberlos hesitated before speaking up. "She went through brainwashing. You should take note of that if you want to save her."

Brainwash?

He knew about this rumor, but Aurora's expression did not look like she was brainwashed. Han Xiao's eyes twinkled, and he said, "Tell me more."

"We have many methods of brainwash," Cyberlos said softly, "such as the destructive one that will recreate one's personality or the gentle one that twists their thoughts. We have also been researching on chips recently… although there has yet to be any progress."

"Which method was used on me?" Han Xiao said with interest.

Cyberlos was immediately covered in cold sweat. He braced himself and said, "I saw your documents before. When we found you, you were already severely injured, delirious, and had clear signs of memory loss. When you became a test subject, because of the importance of your brain and the fact that you were already in such a state, we used the gentle brainwashing method."

This was within Han Xiao's expectations. Back then, he had been tormented for quite some time by conflicting images and sounds that could be nullified if his Intelligence was just higher than ten. He figured that it was not any sort of destructive method. Anyway, it was in the past, and Han Xiao did not particularly care about it. "What about her?"

"Her elder sister is a strong Executive Officer. Her ability is very unique—she holds a special position and has contributed a lot to the organization. Because of that, Aurora's brainwash was an even more gentle method. Her personality and mind remained unchanged. However, if she hears a set of specific words, her brainwashed personality will take over, and she will follow orders strictly," Cyberlos said.

Han Xiao understood roughly. Although Aurora was important, there would not be any accidents since she was completely under control. Her sister, Hila, was a sharp blade, so they left Aurora's personality unchanged as a way to order Hila. Getting rid of the brainwashed personality would not be a problem; since Aurora was just a weak little girl, Han Xiao just had to knock her unconscious if her brainwashed personality was awakened.

At that moment, Han Xiao realized something. "Wait a minute, how do you know me?"

"My elder sister told me about your story."

That's weird, what did Hila mention me for? Han Xiao thought. This little girl seemed to be rather friendly toward him, which was really weird since they should be enemies. He wondered what Hila had told her.

Aurora stood up wobbly, put her hand in Han Xiao's hand, and said, "Thank you for saving me. Please bring me away."

Han Xiao was interested. "Aren't you afraid that I will use you like the Germinal Organization?"

"My older sister said, no matter how dangerous the future is, it will be better than now." Aurora raised her head. Her innocent face was filled with seriousness.

Seeing that Aurora was so understanding, Han Xiao was relieved. His understanding of Aurora was only limited to the rumors in his previous life. There had been a side mission to investigate the source of the drug that Aurora was made into, and through that, the players came to know about Aurora.

Therefore, he did not know Aurora's personality, and he did not expect things to go so smoothly.

There would be plenty of opportunities to improve their relationship later on, and now was obviously not a good place and time.

The surveillance cameras of this area were frozen, and it would be found out sooner or later. Thus, time was scarce.

Han Xiao moved the bodies in, took off the white coat and mask from one of them, and gave them to Aurora for disguise. Aurora followed his instructions.

Han Xiao only felt how truly skinny Aurora was when he touched her—it was pitiful. However, Han Xiao did not have any needless emotions. After he disguised her, he turned and yelled at Cyberlos, "Bring us to the underground tunnel, and I promise not to kill you once we're safe. The Six Nations likes people with your abilities—you should still be able to receive funding for your research over there."

The escape route was definitely not going to be the main gate now that Aurora was with them. The underground headquarters were connected to many underground tunnels. The tunnels were railway tracks that transported resources and people, and they spread out like a spider's web.

The plan was to take Cyberlos as a hostage, use his authority, and leave the headquarters from the underground tunnel, hopefully with Cyberlos cooperating willingly. That was why Han Xiao gave him such a promise.

Although Cyberlos did not want to leave the research that he had in the Germinal Organization behind, he also did not want to die. So, Han Xiao's solution was acceptable, and he even felt relieved.

The Germinal Organization was a sinking ship—to be able to change a side at this time might be a better choice.

As they were going to head out, Han Xiao suddenly stopped. He realized that the small body size of Aurora would attract too much attention even with a disguise. He thought for a moment and took out an empty single shoulder equipment bag. "Get in."

Aurora did as she was told and climbed into the bag.

As the zip closed, her vision became dark. She could only feel herself being lifted and moved.

"Sister…" Aurora cowered in the bag, closed her hands in front of her chest, and prayed.

The three of them quickly passed various levels and headed toward the underground tunnel.

At the same time, the leader, who was listening to the battlefield analysis, suddenly took out his phone.

"The central computer was browsed by Cyberlos. A lot of confidential information was gone through…" The leader narrowed his eyes and raised suspicion. He said to the assistant, "Find Cyberlos' location and show the surveillance camera footage on my laptop."

Then, the leader operated his laptop and entered the central computer system through a backdoor command. He looked at the browsing history and immediately noticed that Cyberlos had turned off all the defensive measures. The surveillance camera footage could be seen, too. Cyberlos had entered the central computer room with another person.

The leader's eyes became sharp and cold. He was immediately able to deduct that Cyberlos was under duress, and this stranger was most likely Zero. He did not step into his traps and snuck in another way.

"Well… don't think about leaving now that you're here." The leader sent out orders immediately. "Send all the nearby Executive Officers to surround Area C-11 and the entrances of underground tunnels 3 to 11. Do it secretly and don't raise any attention."

The leader did not turn on the alarm in the headquarters. He wanted to secretly trap Zero to make sure he was dead.

At a lounge in the underground headquarters, a group of Executive Officers played poker out of boredom.

"It's so damn boring to standby every day. How I wish to go to the battlefield," someone lamented.

"What's good about the battlefield? There's danger everywhere. With these Inhumans and super soldiers, there's no need for us to put our lives at stake," someone sneered.

"Super soldiers are a group of monsters that are even more disgusting than the Inhumans. They're a bunch of half-completed trash," someone derided. The normal superhumans looked down on those mass-produced soldiers.

At the side, Hila sat on the sofa with an indifferent expression and rested with closed eyes. Her coldness stopped people from approaching, and she did not approach anyone either; she was not part of the lively atmosphere.

All of a sudden, Hila opened her eyes and turned her head in a specific direction. The coldness on her face was gone, replaced by shock and rage in her eyes.

The Life Mark that she had left on Aurora moved!

These Executive Officer suddenly received orders from their superiors, and before it was finished, they heard a loud blast. As they looked up, they saw that the gate was shattered. Hila had already turned into a high-speed, dark-red shadow and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

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"Something's wrong."

As they were heading toward the gate of the underground tunnel, Han Xiao frowned, looked around, and said, "The atmosphere doesn't feel right. There are fewer people along the way. I have a sense for danger. Did you trigger the alarm?"

As he finished speaking, Han Xiao looked at Cyberlos with a piercing look in his eyes.

Cyberlos was shocked and denied it immediately. "No, I definitely didn't do it. Maybe the leader noticed something abnormal. I don't have as much authorization as the leader, so him noticing my browsing history really has nothing to do with me."

Han Xiao tightened his grip on the equipment bag and said in a low voice, "Let's go quickly."

At this time, five levels higher, the leader was heading to this direction with a laptop in his hand. The surveillance camera feedback was displayed on the screen. He laughed coldly and said, "So, you have started to suspect it. By the time you reach the underground tunnel, the ambush that I set up will be completed as well. This time, don't even think about escaping."

The leader did not think that Han Xiao would dare to infiltrate alone. He even felt that the number of ambushes that he had prepared was overkill. In his mind, Han Xiao's strength was the same as back in the Dark Crow Valley, similar to the level of Pan Kuang, and there were more than fifty Executive Officers that were stronger than Pan Kuang in the headquarters right now.

There was nowhere to escape.

The last resort of the siege was the leader himself. He hardly met anyone that could match up to his strength. Even the legendary hero Bennett was at most at the same level as he was. The leader had fought Bennett a few decades ago—they were on par.

The leader was also someone who stood at the top of the Planet Aquamarine—only then could he build and support such a big organization.

Seeing that Han Xiao was like an insect that had sunk deeper and deeper into the spider web, the leader seemed to have seen the light of success. However, the next moment, he saw from the surveillance camera a flash of dark red light shooting straight toward Han Xiao.

Hila had almost gone haywire; her red eyes were staring straight at Han Xiao with rage. It was not because she recognized Han Xiao—it was because she felt the Life Mark on Aurora. Her younger sister was hidden and cowered in the equipment bag that this person was carrying.

Seeing this, there was no way Hila could hold back anymore. Her abilities activated in an instant. Her maroon long hair was like snakes, entangled in gray and red smoke that formed an arrow-like shape. Her murderous intent was almost tangible.

"Put her down!"

Her seeing a stranger taking her younger sister away in a bag was like a parent seeing the child being carried away by a stranger; there was no way to stay calm in such a situation. Rage consumed her senses, and she could not think rationally anymore. Furthermore, her younger sister was very special to her; Aurora was almost like her spiritual sustenance, and that made things even worse.

This woman got stronger again. Han Xiao was shocked. He hastily slid to the side and dodged this cone-shaped dark red air arrow by a few centimeters. The air arrow shot through the metal wall. Han Xiao was surprised. Hila's superhuman abilities could inflict both physical and psychological damage, and this was already so strong despite only being the physical damage. This meant that the main psychological damage would only be stronger. It was probably because she was attacking in a rage state—the damage enhancement could almost match up to his [Flaming Will]

Despite being rather tanky, Han Xiao was not interested in getting hit. He moved to the side and dodged again. With a thought in his mind, Han Xiao destroyed two surveillance cameras with two shots and yelled, "Hila, I'm here to save your younger sister. You're attacking the wrong person, you stupid woman…"

Before he finished, Hila already crashed toward him and reached out to grab the bag without listening to anything he said. Being speechless, Han Xiao let go of the bag, carried his other equipment bag, activated Electromagnetic Hover-boots and Mini Maneuvering Equipment, then jumped up to the rooftop.

Hila hurriedly placed the bag on the floor, opened the zip, and looked Aurora in her eyes.

"Sister!" Aurora's voice was filled with surprise.

"Are you ok?" Hila immediately checked over Aurora's body. Seeing that she was not hurt, Hila was relieved. Then she remembered there was still an enemy present, he stood up in a flash and stood in front of Aurora, her face alert and looking like she was ready to fight any time.

"Sis, you misunderstood." Aurora struggled to get her head out of the bag and yelled, "That uncle is here to save me."

"I don't know him at all." Hila was still cautious.

"He said he's uncle Zero."

Hila was stunned. She could not believe it.

Zero‽

"It's me." Han Xiao did not hide anymore. The alarms all across the bases were ringing. He knew that he was exposed. When Hila suddenly appeared, he already knew that things were not pleasant. With how much Hila cared for Aurora, she would definitely go all out straight away.

"How can it be you?" Hila could not believe it. The dark red smoke moved with her emotions.

Why did Zero come to save Aurora? There should be no connection between them.She could not figure out Han Xiao's motive at all. Furthermore, they should be enemies. Why was the target Aurora? Does he want to threaten me like the Germinal Organization?

With all the guesses in her mind, Hila could not trust Han Xiao subconsciously. No matter what, Hila could not let go of Han Xiao stealing Aurora away secretly.

"I will explain in the future. Your sister is already saved. The truth is right in front of you, and regardless of whether you believe it or not, I'm here to help."

"You're now an enemy that the organization is going after." Hila's expression was indifferent. Her power gathered in her hands, but she did not engage.

"Do you want your younger sister to continue being controlled by the organization? Right now is the best chance to escape," Han Xiao said in a low voice. His motive of saving Aurora was for Hila, and Hila was right in front of him now. Naturally, he would not let the chance slip by.

The alarm was ringing loudly. Hila was hesitating despite the fact that she hardly ever hesitated at all. She really wanted to just take Aurora and escape like this, but the alarm in the base was already triggered. She knew the power gathered in the headquarter more than Han Xiao did; there was too little chance to escape, and she did not want Aurora to take the risk.

If only I didn't attack just now… This thought of regret appeared and disappeared within an instant, but if she had to choose again, she would still attack without hesitation.

At this moment, Aurora pulled on Hila's shirt.

"Sis, bring me away."

Hila's expression tightened. She looked down and saw Aurora's hopeful face. The words of rejection were stuck in her throat.

How can she put her younger sister back in a situation worse than death?

Thinking of the things that Aurora went through all this time, Hila felt like her heart was being squeezed and rubbed.

At least the most difficult part was already completed. Her younger sister had already left that prison cell, and this was what she had been dreaming of.

At this moment, Hila's became firm. She touched Aurora's head gently and thought to herself, If it fails, I will die with you.

Hila raised her head, looked at Han Xiao with mixed feelings, and said, "Follow me."

She had never expected to fight side by side with Han Xiao.

With more help, there was a bigger chance to escape. Zero had snuck in without anyone noticing, so he could not be too weak.

After she said that, Hila put Aurora into the bag and walked toward another direction with big steps. Han Xiao dragged Cyberlos and followed behind.

Since they had already been exposed, they could not go to the underground tunnel anymore. Hila knew the base, so she must have some other way.

Han Xiao was quite sure that a bloody fight was unavoidable. Luckily, he was prepared in the case that the infiltration failed although he did not intend to allow that to happen.

What he did not know was, although it seemed like Hila had exposed him, she had actually made him dodge the trap indirectly.

"Moron! Who told her to engage!" The leader was furious. Han Xiao changed his route, so his plan was disrupted. Han Xiao was now more cautious, and the leader's siege had not yet fully formed.

As the cameras were destroyed, the leader did not see the conversation between Han Xiao and Hila. He merely thought that they had already started fighting.

"All Executive Officers and soldiers, full engagement. I want Zero to die here," the leader yelled through the walkie talkie.

At the same time, the players in the headquarters received an urgent mission.

[Intercept Zero: Intercept Zero before he escapes the headquarters.

Mission reward: 200,000 experience, Lv.20 Dungeon Crystal – [The Germinal Organization Base Escape Warfare]

200,000 experience and a Dungeon Crystal‽

The players were extremely motivated.

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Chapter 242: The Unmatched Assassin (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Boom boom boom!

The high caliber Berserk Eagles shot hot flames out of the muzzles. The cameras on the way were destroyed one after another. Han Xiao was rapidly counting and calculating. Thirty-eight seconds had passed after the alarm rang. They were moving very fast and had already deviated from their original path, so the enemies should appear soon.

The team composition now was two burdens and two who could fight; it would be too difficult to just rush out recklessly. Han Xiao would not have had a problem on his own, but it was a pain in the ass to protect someone. In his previous life, Han Xiao had never liked missions to protect people as there was not much room to play, and it would definitely fail if he was reckless.

Suddenly, Han Xiao's eyes twinkled. He looked at Cyberlos hostility.

Now that Hila was here, was there any reason to keep this old man around? They were not going through the underground tunnel, so Cyberlos was of no use anymore.

Cyberlos shivered. "Do—don't do this. You need my authorization…"

"He's exposed. His authority is frozen. There's no point keeping him." Hila had an indifferent look. Cyberlos was a superior that was in charge of the experiments on her younger sister, so her hatred for him was deep in her bones. She raised her arms and was going to kill Cyberlos.

At this time, a hand grabbed onto her arm. Han Xiao shook his head toward her.

"Don't kill him. We might need him alive," Han Xiao said. Then he slapped Cyberlos unconscious. Han Xiao had misled him in many ways, so he could make Cyberlos mislead the leader as well.

Hila swung Hila's hand away and gave him a stare, but she did not insist on killing Cyberlos.

Han Xiao was not bothered by her attitude. "What's your plan?"

Hila was not used to Zero being her teammate yet. She kept silent for a while then replied, "I know a hidden path that can help us escape the headquarters, but it is very far, four floors down. We'll have to break past the interception if we want to go there."

"Four floors down…" Han Xiao had memorized the map. To go down four floors from here, it would take at least 5 minutes without any interruption, but the enemy would definitely not let them do that.

"Are you sure of this hidden path?"

"That was originally an abandoned hidden path. I discovered it by accident, so it is very discreet."

Hila kept it short, but she did not say the exact location.

In fact, she hid the truth. This hidden path was a backup that she had secretly prepared. Although she was controlled by the Germinal Organization, she had never given up and hoped that one day she could save Aurora. However, she could not get Aurora out of that prison cell, so she did not take any action. She had never expected that the most difficult part would be completed by Han Xiao. Thus, the hidden path was could finally be of use.

These things happened out of nowhere; she truly did not expect someone to save her younger sister.

Hila looked at Han Xiao discreetly, wanting to say something, but in the end, she did not.

There was actually a safer way with more than eighty percent chance of bringing her younger sister away, but that would put Han Xiao in a very dangerous situation. She felt Han Xiao would most likely not agree, so she did not say it and only planned in her head.

At this time, footsteps appeared at the corner up ahead—a team of Germinal Organization had shown up to intercept them.

Just as Hila raised her hand and was going to attack, Han Xiao did it before her. The two guns fired rapidly. High caliber bullets exploded on these soldiers' chests, and flesh and broken bones sprayed all over the place. One bullet from him was as strong as a grenade explosion for normal soldiers.

After killing a group of these soldiers, the Trial Points for the class advancement mission on the interface did not increase—only enemies that were strong enough gave Trial Points. However, since the weak ones were already here, the stronger ones would not be far.

As expected, strong presences entered his detectable range one more one and approached very quickly.

"You don't attack; protect your younger sister. I will deal with the enemies," Han Xiao said.

Hila frowned and said worriedly, "Can you? Even I don't have confidence in beating these Executive Officers…"

"Shut up and watch. If you didn't attack, I would've already escaped." Han Xiao was not in the mood to explain to her at all.

Hila's expression froze. She admitted to being at fault, so she kept her head down and led the way in front.

The leader was heading toward them. The cameras were destroyed, so the surveillance images became black one after another. He could only know the situation through the report from his headphones.

Executive Officers, super soldiers, and Inhuman teams are now heading that way to surround him, and there's also Hila stalling Zero. There's no chance for him to escape, the leader thought.

This time, a voice of an Executive Officer came out of the headphones, filled with murderous intent. "I have met the target, engaging!"

The leader was excited. He yelled, "No need to catch him alive, kill him right away!"

However, the next moment, high pitched noise exploded from the headphone that hurt the leader's eardrums.

Screams came out of the headphones; it was from the Executive Officer that was just reporting the situation.

The leader was stunned. It's been less than ten seconds. That Executive Officer was not weaker than Pan Kuang at all. What accident happened?

He felt an unpleasant intuition.

Eight seconds earlier…

A large and muscular male executive officer ran out of the corner and charged toward Han Xiao with a ferocious expression. Loud thuds could be heard from the floor, and the combat suit was almost breaking from his muscles.

"Careful, he's an executive officer. Strength enhancing superhuman ability, you…" Hila warned hastily as a thick cloud gathered in her hand. As soon as Han Xiao was going to be defeated, she was going to back up immediately.

Han Xiao struck before Hila finished her sentence. With a swing of a hand, two Sonic Bombs flew out. The high-pitch noise gave the male executive officer a shock and slowed down his action for an instant. All Han Xiao needed was this instant. Activating both the Mini Maneuvering Equipment and the Electromagnetic Hover-boots, he approached the enemy like a ghost.

[Overload]! [Surging Mechanical Force]! [Lethal Critical Hits}!

All the damage enhancing active abilities were activated one after another. Although there was no [Flaming Will, the power was still horrifying.

With a spin of both his palms, a blue light shone from the Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves and pressed onto the male executive officer's chest, and the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades penetrated into his body behind his back like a blossoming lotus.

Combo, Flaming Lotus Slash!

This was the fighting style of Mechanical Pugilists, to combo different melee machinery into one's own ability. Of course, the name had been decided casually, but it did indeed feel different once it had a name.

Stunning damage numbers appeared. The male executive officer screamed in agony and fought back with all he had. He landed a few punches on Han Xiao's Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor.

Han Xiao's palms burnt right through the enemy's chest as the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades sliced his throat continuously. The health bar of this large and muscular executive officer was thus emptied.

LV 44, 120 Strength… not bad. Sadly, the health bar is just ordinary.

Han Xiao looked at his interface. He could kill enemies at this level this quickly even without Viper.

Although he was a Mechanic, which was not strong in the early stages, he had many abilities, his level was high, his equipment was good, and his skills were at max level. The strength of someone varied even with the same level, like normal monsters and elite monsters. Han Xiao was at BOSS level among LV 60s, so there was an even greater difference between him and people with a lower level.

You received 1 Trial Point.

[The Ultimate Trial: Progress 1/2000

Only one point for someone at level 40 something‽ Han Xiao was speechless. He did not even know if there were two hundred executive officers at this level in the Germinal Organization. It would be awkward if there were not enough to kill…

On the other side, Hila was lowering her stiffed hand. This executive officer had been killed instantly before she had even finished her sentence—there was completely no need for her help.

Hila was completely stunned. Even she did not have the confidence to do it so fast.

How is Zero this strong? Is this a fake‽

At the same time, the leader was stunned by this problem, too. He realized he had misinterpreted Han Xiao's strength.

One mistake could affect the entire plan. Luckily, the leader knew that Zero could not be judged with common sense after many failures, so he had overestimated Zero's ability as much as he could, and many people were waiting in ambush. However, seeing what was happening now, not only was it not a waste, but there might not even be enough!

Since his subordinates could not win, he would kill Zero himself.

"Stop him, wait for me!" the leader said coldly.

In less than a year, there was no way Zero's strength could have reached his level.

He was someone who stood at the top of Planet Aquamarine!

If Han Xiao knew what the leader was thinking of, he definitely would have laughed.

What a coincidence, I am, too.

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Chapter 243: The Unmatched Assassin (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The group followed the twists and turns of a winding corridor to get downstairs. The elevator exit was likely blocked by people, so they went with the emergency staircase.

The enemies who tried to block their path came in from all directions. Han Xiao went all out and used everything from his melee skills to sniping to continuous shooting. All but Viper, which was his trump card, was thrown out, and he fought like a true assassin, leaving behind a trail of corpses.

There were four types of enemies: newbie troops, superhumans, Germinal directors, and players. Only the directors were capable of slowing him down, while the rest, players especially, were taken care of in mere seconds.

The players rushed up in waves while kicking and screaming only to disintegrate into light particles the next second. Han Xiao figured that if it continued for a bit longer, he could probably use up all of the players' weekly resurrection, which could help cure their gaming addiction and have them go complete their homework instead.

As the players were not much of a threat to him at all, Han Xiao did not want to bother with talking sense into them. At this point, players could not change sides yet anyway.

Soon enough, the players became more hesitant and stopped rushing in masses with their previous fervor.

Although players did not fear death, they did not want to throw away their lives for no reason. They realized that the mission reward was only something they can covet but could not even come close to touching. With their current levels, trying to stop this monster of a character was pure fantasy.

This kind of feeling when the reward was so close yet so far was akin to constipation, and continuing to rush in would only cause more experience to be lost. There was just no point.

In an instant, the players started to back off. Who cares about some required mission? What's so amazing about forcing the tasks? Do you think I care about you that much?

Not only that, but when attacked, the interface showed a constant drop in reputation points with the NPC. However, no one really minded this, as no one knew him anyway.

Electrolux swallowed his saliva to calm his nerves. He recognized Han Xiao as the person who gave him the mission, but he never would have thought that he was an enemy, let alone someone as insanely overpowered as this. For a while now, Electrolux had been witnessing one Germinal director after another, all with 'Fatally Dangerous' tags on them, rushing up to the also 'Fatally Dangerous' Han Xiao, only to be smacked all over the place like wet cabbage. Electrolux was so scared that he was about to suffer liver problems just from watching.

Bullsh*t. Why do they even have the same tag? This is all a scam!

Even more fatal than 'Fatally Dangerous?' Why not just say that you're here to harvest lives?

The players could not stop lamenting at the unfairness of it all.

The Executive Officers in the headquarters were by no means weak, but it was a shame that they are pitted against Han Xiao. Unless they were at least LV 50, there was not even a tiny bit of chance that they could hurt him.

Hila did not even need to help a single time along the way, so she focused on protecting Aurora. Han Xiao was simply unstoppable. However, Hila realized that the Germinal forces did not know about her betrayal. Instead, some were even shouting at her for help against this monster of an enemy.

The cameras along the way were blown up by Han Xiao, and the Germinal leader did not know that Han Xiao and Hila had teamed up. Hila realized that this was a huge advantage!

As Hila looked at Han Xiao's figure amid the intense battle, she thought, Could it be that this was all part of his plan? Did he not have me help for this purpose?

Bang!

… and another director fell beside his feet. Han Xiao wiped away the blood on his face and could finally take in a deep breath.

He was not exactly unscathed. Some directors had weird powers that could threaten him, but both his defense and HP were very high, so the damage was hardly worth mentioning. The problem was his energy and stamina, which had both decreased significantly. However, he still did not think that it was necessary for him to use Viper.

The class advancement mission had reached 27 points, and Han Xiao found that killing stronger opponents had a chance to award him with 2 to 3 points at once.

"Only the last two levels left," said Han Xiao.

"Be careful. These are only the vanguard. The main force has yet to arrive."

Hila's face was tense as she knew how much manpower the leader had allocated to the headquarters. Even if Han Xiao did far exceed her expectations with his combat strength, he could not possibly take on a whole army.

Hila was still considered one of the ambushing members, and her earpiece was still connected. However, there was not much use as the enemies' number was too great, and she could not discern any useful information from the overlapping coms transmissions.

They had to be smart if they were to escape from this place.

In that moment, Hila thought of a plan that would basically guarantee her and her sister's escape but would put Han Xiao in significant danger. She pursed her lips together finally decided before speaking out. "I have an idea."

Han Xiao immediately replied. "Split up, and I will be the bait."

Hila's eyes were then wide open, and her face was full of shock. "How did you know?"

"I guessed," Han Xiao said nonchalantly. From the moment Hila appeared, he had already started coming up with this vague plan, which was why he focused on destroying all the cameras. It was to ensure that Hila was not considered a traitor—at least not yet—in the eyes of Germinal.

Hila could just use her position as a high-level director to escape easily, while Han Xiao could pull all the attention elsewhere.

However, this would also mean that Han Xiao would be facing all the danger by himself. Hila had never thought that Han Xiao would suggest this idea himself.

"Splitting up is a good idea. Tell me the where the secret passage is, and I will catch up with you after I have diverted their attention."

Hila was shocked.

They had no reason to trust each other, yet Han Xiao was giving the choice to her. She could not understand where his trust came from.

Is he not afraid that I will give him the false directions? However, this dark thought started to take from inside her mind and would not go away.

Give him the wrong location, let him be cornered by Germinal and buy even more time.

It was as if this voice in her mind was packed with magic, constantly causing her to waver.

For Aurora, I will do everything it takes to keep her out of harm's way.

Hila looked down, touched Aurora's face through the bag, and felt the slight tremor from her sister's petite body. She steeled her resolve once again.

"Room H-418. The fourth brick on the floor from the left is the secret passage's entrance."

"Got it." Han Xiao laughed, seemingly not doubting her words at all as he gently patted the bag with Aurora. "Go."

Hila took one last look Han Xiao as she tried to etch his image into her memories before she turned and left with hurried strides, afraid of wasting even a single second.

One side of Han Xiao's mouth perked up, and he went the other direction. He took out multiple bombs of different shapes and sizes out of his tool bag and stuck them onto the walls along the way.

Since he was trying to get attention, he might as well made it big.

Boom!

Sounds of explosions came one after another, followed by heat waves that spread out all over the place.

The whole headquarters were shaking. Although the actual damage was not much because of the previous work, the tremors could still be felt throughout. Even without the security cameras, one could tell where Han Xiao was just by following the explosions.

A large number of troops changed course and were heading straight for him.

"Just wait for me to kill you myself."

The leader was shuddering all over out of rage as he made his way toward Han Xiao.

Han Xiao was humming to a tune, and despite knowing there were an army of Germinal troops closing in on him, he acted without any sense of worry nor care because he knew that they were walking right into his trap.

After turning a corner, he saw that the path ahead was jam-packed with soldiers. All superhumans with top equipment. With at least twenty of them, they acted like a wall that blocked Han Xiao's way.

The one at the front stood out larger than the rest, with every single part of his body aside from the face looking like it was made of metal. This was test subject No. 1.

"Zero, do you still remember me?" No. 1 said through gritted teeth, his tone full of hatred. "You killed me.

"I became this monster, all to get the power to crush you like a gnat!

"I will break your limbs just like you did to me!"

No. 1 roared and pushed with his legs. Power burst forth from the hydraulic press on his exoskeleton, and the ground beneath him shook. No. 1 shot forward like a cannonball, flying straight for Han Xiao's head with his hulking body.

The murderous gaze in No. 1's eyes also contained excitement. He could not wait to exact vengeance to his rival.

At the last moment, Han Xiao turned and side-stepped the attack. He then reached out, grabbed No. 1's exoskeleton, picked him off the ground, and started swaying around him. This was happening so fast that Han Xiao's actions became a blur as a magnetic force penetrated through No. 1's defense.

No. 1 instantly lost any feeling in his right arm, and the upper right portion of the exoskeleton started to fall apart until eventually everything broke off with gear parts flying all over the place, looking like a mechanical power that bloomed.

The design of these superhuman soldiers' exoskeleton suits was extremely similar to his lightweight mechanical arm. Han Xiao had also just learned 'neural link' not too long ago, and as a magnetic ring mechanic, he could easily assemble or disassemble such equipment at will.

So, in a way, superhuman soldiers posed the least threat to Han Xiao. He could easily reduce them down to bare naked bodies.

No. 1, who had lost balance, stared at his now non-existent right arm. He could not process what had happened.

When he finally came to his senses, his rage soon returned, and he stood up once again with the other arm swinging.

"It took me everything to get this power. What gave you the right to beat me!"

Seeing this guy screaming like some dying pig, Han Xiao decided to detach his other arm as well. His legs too. Might as well.

As the other superhumans rushed up, Han Xiao danced between them, and limbs could be seen flying all over the place.

Soon, Han Xiao was the only one left standing amid piles of torn limbs and mechanical parts. This scene was scary enough to fit right in to any kind of horror film.

No. 1 was left facing the sky, hatred still clear on his face, still questioning why he lost.

Han Xiao had wanted to ask since a while ago… Who is this dude?

Han Xiao never would have guessed that it was No. 1, as the appearance was much too different. Moreover, to him, No. 1 had died already.

"Have we met?" Han Xiao asked confusingly.

"How could you not know me‽" No. 1 was furious. "I'm your rival!"

What rival? He must be delusional. Who on earth is this metal head?

Han Xiao was baffled, and his ear was starting to hurt from No. 1's screaming, so he flipped the limbless No. 1 around to face the ground.

It was instantly much quieter.

No. 1's mouth was plastered onto the ground and could only make muffled noises. He was enraged, yet there was nothing he can do except stare at Han Xiao out of the corner of his eye.

Gradually, the shining halo faded, only to welcome a curtain of black.

Soon after, the sound of security cameras being shot could be heard again.

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Chapter 244: The Other Hidden Card

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The explosion sounds came from afar, and Hila's face tensed up. She knew that Han Xiao had Germinal's attention for the moment.

A large group of troops were quickly approaching, and when the Executive Officer saw Hila, he frowned. "You're going in the wrong direction; the enemy is that way."

"I have a different mission."

Hila had once again put on her usual ice-cold expression as she waded through the group of soldiers and hurried off in the opposite direction.

They passed over ten groups of Germinal reinforcements along the way, but Hila did not dare stop moving. Thankfully, the most people did was give her a confused glance, and none tried to stop her.

Everything happened so suddenly that Hila's betrayal had not been exposed. Even though she had a strong will, she was still secretly glad at how Han Xiao had reacted in time and destroyed all the cameras, giving them this advantage.

Only things that had to do with her sister could move her emotions.

The Germinal forces faced no opposition as they rushed to get to the floor that Zero was on. However, no one was to be found. Hila also started to destroy all the cameras along the way to prevent the discovery of the secret passage. When Germinal came to their senses, Aurora would have long disappeared.

After she finished her precautionary measures, Hila opened the door to the passageway and entered while carrying her sister. It was a pitch dark and narrow tunnel, and one could only move forward by crouching.

Once she closed the door, all the noise from outside suddenly disappeared. Silence permeated through every nook and cranny, and the tension also started to drop along with Hila's previously heightened heartbeat as she calmed down.

Hila could finally take a deep breath and relax.

Now that they were in the tunnel, the escape plan could be considered almost successful.

As her bag was wriggling around, Hila unzipped it and Aurora's tiny head popped out.

"Have we escaped?" Aurora asked as she looked around curiously.

"Almost," Hila replied as she lovingly touched Aurora's head.

Aurora then went back into the bag and hid her face inside, only showing her two big, round eyes, as she suddenly asked, "Where's Uncle Zero?"

"We will wait for five more minutes. He should… be here soon," Hila said after a pause.

Aurora cocked her head and asked again, "Sis, Uncle Zero seems really strong, right?"

"He's alright." Hila did not want to give a clear answer.

"Sis, why did he come save me?"

"How would I know?" Even as Hila said that, her hand subconsciously reached for the photo in her pocket. She remembered that Zero had once seen this photo back in his training base. It could not be…

But back then, Zero did not even have time to protect himself, so why would he remember this inconsequential thing, even to the extent of carrying out this huge rescue plan? Unless he really did have the capability to see the future…

Hila shook her head; she still could not figure out his motives. All she could feel was fear and respect to this mysterious figure, who single handedly devastated the behemoth that was the Germinal Organization.

To think that he had once been that weak little trainee back in the base but had now risen to such heights in such short amount of time. She could only sigh at this. The world truly worked in mysterious ways.

"Sis, Uncle Zero…"

"Stop mentioning him." Hila got a little bit annoyed. Although he did save her sister, for some reason, she felt some sort of unexplainable familiarity with this Zero. It was as if she had met him somewhere else after he escaped from the base. However, that should not have been possible.

"But Sis, you usually spoke so highly of him and even praised him whenever you told me stories about him." Aurora felt wronged.

"Nonsense," Hila said as she gently pinched Aurora's cheeks.

At this moment, a third, odd-sounding voice spoke out in the cramped and lightless tunnel.

"Did I hear that right? You were praising me?"

Hila turned in an instant and was just about to send out her powers before a powerful force squeezed her hands and brutally pushed her against the tunnel wall.

With the help of the red lights, she was finally able to identify the owner of the odd voice. It was Han Xiao, who was supposed to be outside fighting still.

"Why are you here‽" Hila was shocked.

Han Xiao let of his hands before laughing lightly. "I'm everywhere."

Hila relaxed and called back her powers while making a face. She remembered clearly that the tunnel door was opened and closed only once. How did Han Xiao manage to get in? Did he go through the walls?

Han Xiao laughed and said nothing. When he took the initiative to propose splitting up, he had already made a simple but effective plan in his mind. Of course, he would not gamble on Hila telling him the real position, so he had then been left with two choices. The first was to leave simple tracker on Aurora's bag, while the second was a character card that had never used. The Dion card obtained on the Western Continent had a special stealth ability.

Although he was very strong, he was not willing to be encircled and ganged up on for no reason. His main goal was to get out of the germinal headquarters. So, after he taught No. 1 who was boss, Han Xiao went and blasted all the cameras at the intersection, giving Germinal the idea that he was in the area before he activated Dion's character card and backtracked along the original way.

Regardless of the truth of her words, she must have been headed to the real passageway.

The character cards' ability name was 'You Can't See Me'. As the name suggested, Han Xiao simply waltzed along the way without anyone taking notice of him.

The enemies were then all baited to the intersection where Han Xiao had been without knowing where he had disappeared to. Han Xiao simply followed Hila and jumped into the tunnel together with her.

What surprised the Great Technician Han, however, was that Hila had actually given him the correct directions. Both the room number and the floor tile location were correct. To be honest, when they were about to split up, Hila's fishy look had made him almost think that he was going to be sold out, but the result was unexpected.

In truth, Hila had also struggled with this, but she had finally decided to give Han Xiao the right information.

Han Xiao did save Aurora, and if she had lied to him, she would not know how to face her sister. Although a part of her kept tempting her otherwise, she finally abandoned such thoughts and told him the truth.

Compared to 'Goddess of Death' in Han Xiao's past, this Hila had not been consumed by darkness, and her heart was still illuminated by the stars and moon that was Aurora.

Han Xiao originally thought that if Hila had sold him out, if he suddenly appeared again, Hila would be very embarrassed and even owe him a moral favor. However, since she did not, Han Xiao could not help but look at her in a new light. Although he was prepared, no one would want to be betrayed, and his mood was instantly better.

"Brat, what kind of stories did you sister tell you about me? Let's hear them." Han Xiao finally got to ask this question.

Aurora was about to politely answer, but Hila cut in expressionlessly and said, "Stop wasting time. This is only the first part of the secret passage. We still have to get to the abandoned underground tunnel. Let's go."

Hila led the way with Aurora and took off with enthusiastic strides.

Han Xiao shook his head and was about to follow when he suddenly remembered something. "Ah. I forgot to ask the old man what Aurora's brainwashing code word is. Oh well. Let's just get out of here first."

On another side, tens of thousands of Germinal troops had gathered and were searching for Han Xiao around the area where he disappeared.

"Reporting to leader, target was not found."

One by one the executives brought in the same results.

The leader was furious, and he held his hands so tight that his glove started to rip. "This is where the cameras last caught him. How could we not find him?

"That's right, I saw him walk down this way." No. 1 said as he lay on the ground to one side, his face full of resentment, as the researchers helped reattach his limbs.

"Just find him!" the leader roared as he slammed his fist on a nearby wall. With a bang, steel and concrete components ripped apart and flew out as if they were made of paper. The executives were frightened and had no choice but to continue searching.

The leader originally had thought that Han Xiao was trapped and had been cracking his knuckles to get ready to beat Zero up for all the grievances that he had caused the organization. Now that there was nothing to vent his frustration, the leader was feeling a sense of loss that was making his chest feel like it was going to explode.

Every time he dealt with the Zero, it had ended in failure. The leader could hardly tolerate it anymore. He glanced at the scattered parts of the super soldiers on the ground and cursed them for being so useless in his mind.

He took out his laptop and made another search. It was then that he found something odd. All the cameras in the lower floor had also been destroyed.

"Could he have accomplices?" The leader tapped the keyboard and quickly called up the interface. He soon found a new lead. The camera records in the A-4 area seemed to have been modified. He suddenly thought of something and quick gave his orders. "Send someone to A-4 to investigate."

Soon, news came back.

"Security measures had been shut down, the guards have been killed, and the little girl had been taken away."

In that moment, the string of information from Aurora's disappearance, the destroyed cameras, and Hila's absence in the previous battles to stop Zero started to make sense.

They had been fooled!

"Hila, you traitor!" The leader suddenly realized what had happened and was so enraged that the sound of his teeth gnashing together was like steel grinding against each other.

"Get man to search for Hila now. She escaped with Zero!"

The soldiers around were startled into action. The order was passed down one wave after another. Soon, a large force was mobilized to search yet again. However, Hila had already destroyed all the cameras on the lower floor. There was no way of knowing where they could have gone.

Then, someone finally brought the dazed Cyberlos to the leader, and with a slap, Cyberlos was awoken with a shock. Seeing the leader's face that was full of hostility right after waking made Cyberlos tense up.

"Tell me everything you know!" the leader said coldly.

Cyberlos did not dare keep anything to himself and told the whole story from when he had been taken hostage until he was knocked unconscious.

"He took the organization's classified information, kidnapped Aurora…" Cyberlos tried to be as careful. "He… He might be an Inhuman!"

Inhuman‽

The leader felt his body sway when he heard that. If Zero really was an undying Inhuman, then Germinal faced certain defeat.

After taking a deep breath, the leader said decidedly, "That's only a guess. I will just have to kill him first and see if he really is an Inhuman."

Cyberlos was then taken away. Seeing as the man had done a lot for the organization in terms of research, the leader decided to spare his life. Cyberlos had never been hired for his loyalty anyway.

"Widen the search net. Even if that Zero can get out of headquarters, I won't let him get off the continent," the leader said calmly.

The forces were but a small part of his plan.

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After travelling down the winding tunnel for some time, the path in front suddenly widened.

Right in front of them was an underground tunnel with an open space. The exit for this dark path was located on top of the wall at the side of the tunnel, which was around five meters above the ground.

The air was filled with the smell dust and mold. The place had been abandoned long ago, and the walls were covered with spider webs. The front door of underground tunnel had also been locked for a few years.

Hila hugged Aurora and jumped down. Dust and debris scattered as they landed. Han Xiao followed.

"This was an early stage of the underground tunnel. After they built the headquarters, people left it without any maintenance. I dug a path from the air ventilation pipes which lead to this place. All the cameras and gates are gone, and the railroads are broken, too. We need to walk out of here. The exit a hidden door that is located at the fringe of the headquarters, and it will take around four hours for us to reach there."

Han Xiao looked back at the hole and said, "Won't they be able to catch up?"

"Nobody knows we are here, but we still have to be on alert." Hila carried Aurora on her back and started walking forward.

Han Xiao quickly followed and walked right next to Hila. He occasionally dropped a few small landmines to blow up the tunnel in case anyone came later.

Three of them continued to march forward in silence.

Just now, the situation had been intense, so there were a lot of things that they were still unclear of. Now that they had the time, Hila seemed to be more confused as she kept recalling what had happened. She kept on turning her head toward Han Xiao.

Hila had a few questions to ask, but because of her cold personality, she pursed her lips and kept on walking.

Aurora, who was on Hila's back, covered her head inside her sister's long red hair and smelled the delightful scent she had. Her eyes were calm and safe, and she turned to look at Han Xiao.

"What are you looking at, you little brat?" Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

Aurora quietly replied, "Do you not have a name, or is your name just Zero?"

Paying attention, Hila's ears perked up.

"Han Xiao. That's my name."

"My sister said you were brainwashed. She couldn't figure out how you escaped."

Han Xiao stroke his chin and said, "Everything has its own destiny."

Hila rolled her eyes.

"My sister said you are only twenty years old, but why do you look so old?"

Han Xiao's face darkened. Didn't I already change my appearance? This brat doesn't appreciate beauty at all.

Then Han Xiao looked at Hila and realized that she was being oddly quiet. Han Xiao started to tease her interested and smiled. "So, do you have anything that you want to say to me?"

Hila pushed Aurora higher up on her back and coldly replied, "Thanks."

"You don't sound like you mean it at all." Han Xiao started to flip the bullets in his hands. "Don't forget that I came a long way to save your sister. There's no need for you to kneel on the ground to show your gratitude, but at least be more polite, will you?"

Hila turned her head around and frowned. "How did you know about my sister? What are you trying to do?"

Hila could not believe that Han Xiao really came here to save her sister, and she thought that he must had an ulterior motive. Although Hila was right, she could never guess that Han Xiao's target was her.

"You sound like you are trying to interrogate me even though I am your savior and your teammate." Han Xiao raised his eyebrow. "If you want to ask anything, you must at least try to show some respect."

Savior and teammate… Hila was having a hard time getting used to someone with these two roles. After a long silence, she still could not say the word 'please'. She boldly said, "Tell me."

"What now? Do you think I'm like the Germinal Organization, trying to use your sister to control you?" Han Xiao yawned. "I might try if I want to."

There was no way that he could do what he said. Hila relaxed for a bit and replied, "So, what do you want?"

"I want world peace."

Hila ground her teeth in frustration. Han Xiao had just been playing with her all this time, and she did not get anything useful out of him. Hila shut her mouth again.

"Sister told me some stories about you, and she said you were very talented." Aurora then curiously asked, "Are those stories real?"

Oh… Hila actually complimented me behind my back.

Han Xiao looked over, and Hila did not even flinch. Her face was still as cold as ice while looking straight ahead, ignoring Han Xiao. Well, there's a saying that if you don't say anything. then you agree to whatever that's happening.

"Of course, it's all real."

"Then what happened after you escaped?" Aurora was really interested into Han Xiao's story. During her time of imprisonment, when she and her sister meet up, her sister would always tell Aurora about the stories of the world outside. The stories of Zero had left the deepest impression on her.

Hila thought that Han Xiao had some things that he did not want to say, so she suddenly had an idea.

"Even though we don't know how Zero… Han Xiao has gain so much power in such short period of time, when he escaped the base, he was not strong. After he finally got the freedom he longed for, he was frightened that the organization might capture him, so he had no choice but to change his name and hide away from the eyes of the Germinal Organization. He never showed himself and only gathered information in the dark, and the organization could not find him."

Seeing that Han Xiao remained quiet, Hila thought that she must have guessed it correctly. After working for the Germinal Organization for years, she knew the consequences of rebels, and Han Xiao must have had a difficult past during his time hiding from the organization.

After a few sentences, Aurora slowly fell asleep. Her body was weak, and the intense journey quickly drained her energy. Han Xiao and Hila also stopped talking and focused on the journey ahead.

After three hours of silence, they reached a part where the tunnel was blocked, and the exit was right above their head.

Han Xiao and Hila stepped on the shattered rocks. Hila's hand swept over the ceiling, and she found the lever. After she flipped the lever, cracks suddenly appeared and formed a square, and dust started to fall from above of them. The crack was dark, and one could not see anything on the other side.

"Get up." Hila pushed open the hidden door and jumped into the room.

The room was pitch black without any sound. After the eyes had adjusted to the darkness, they could see that they were in a large storage room. Tons of boxes and containers were lined up, and there was another exit at the corner of the storage room that was covered in dust.

"They don't have anything important in this warehouse, so there shouldn't be a lot of security here. Toward the south is the secured part of the headquarters. As long as we can get out of the secured zone, then we will be safe."

Han Xiao remained silent.

Cyberlos had once said that the leader encircled him using large amount of manpower, and they set up countless of troops scattered in a radius of a few hundred miles. Even though he had escaped the headquarters, he still did not escape the encirclement. If what Cyberlos had said was true, then there was still a long way before Han Xiao could get to safety.

Gripping his equipment bag, Han Xiao thought, My identity will be revealed sooner or later. I might as well just do it right here.

Suddenly, the interface popped up with a message.

Your landmine successfully killed the soldiers of Germinal Organization. You gain 1 experience.

"The landmines in the tunnel just exploded, it won't be long before the Germinal Organization catch up," Han Xiao said.

Hila's face briefly let slip a stunned expression. "We need to pick up our pace."

It was night, and the sky was dark. They woke Aurora up and put her into the bag. Then the two of them quickly left the warehouse, sneaked under the patrol of the soldiers, and head toward the exit.

A number of troops started to show up and settle down in the area around the headquarters. The security level was also increased by a few levels.

A few hours ago, Han Xiao and Hila had disappeared in the headquarters. The leader called for the highest level of order to employ all the standby troop to catch Han Xiao. He knew that Han Xiao must still be in the headquarters' surroundings, so he reinforced the security at the borders and would not let anyone pass.

The ambushing troops on the outside was a few hundred times more than the number of troops in the headquarters. In the beginning, the leader used all the resources that he had to set up the encirclement of troops that lasted for a few hundred miles. All the preparation was for any possible accident, and the day's events proved that he had been right to be so cautious.

The leader of southern troops quickly changed from a normal leader to executive officer Kedor who was LV 55. To target the powerful growth that Han Xiao had, the leader also employed the veterans and executive officers. There were more than ten executive officers, a dozen super soldiers, a few hundred Inhumans, and a few thousands common soldiers that followed after Kedor.

In the chaotic battlefront, Kedor was receiving orders from the leader.

"The headquarters have already found the location of the target and have started a blanket search operation. There is a high chance that the target is heading toward you. You are authorized to fire at any suspicious object in the battlefield, and you are authorized to kill on sight. Do not let him get away!"

"If he dares to come toward me, he will die," Kedor replied. "How about Hila and her sister?"

"They betrayed the organization; if they resist, kill them all."

The leader's voice was deep. Zero was the number one enemy—even sacrificing Aurora would be worth it.

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Chapter 246: I Am Black Phantom!

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Dark clouds covered the sky, and the moon and the stars were nowhere to be seen.

The ground base was brightly lit, and columns of light tore through the surrounding darkness. The guards were searching everywhere for something, and armored vehicles rolled past one after another with their loud engines blaring through the still night. Helicopters lit up their searchlights and were searching as well, causing circles of light to cut through swaths of empty ground.

The large-scale search gave Han Xiao and Hila quite the headache. Thankfully, Hila was well acquainted with the local terrain, and they were able to avoid all the pursuing soldiers. Eventually, they hid themselves in the shadow of a metal building situated at the edge of the base as they observed the distant Germinal army formations toward the south.

The troops toward the south and the base were separated by an inclined area. Based on the duo's observation, heading straight out would just make them easy targets for the search parties. At this moment, there seemed to be some commotion toward the south, as countless lights were suddenly turned on. It was as if a miniature sun had appeared in the dark scenery.

"This is bad. They have drastically increased the personnel on the ground, and it's impossible to pass without drawing their attention. Once we're found, they will kill us all," Hila said with a heavy voice.

The organization's forces seemed to be endless. Although they were being defeated at every turn by the Six Nations' combined army, it was still a force to be reckoned with. On the other hand, they were but two people, and trying to force their way out would be possible. They should consider some other ways to stealthily sneak away.

Han Xiao gave the massive number of troops a few glances before speaking calmly. "Tanks, artilleries… Heh. They're basically prepared to fight a war. It's quite a feat they have pulled just to deal with us."

"More like to deal with you. We're just addons." Hila was expressionless, and she asked, "Do you not have any reinforcements?"

She felt like Han Xiao definitely had some help when infiltrating the Germinal headquarters. Since that was the case, he must have arranged the extraction.

Yet Han Xiao shook his head immediately, making her feel like her heart just dropped.

"No help…" Hila could not hold it in and asked, "Then what's your plan now? Germinal won't stop looking for us. Even if we somehow break out of this encirclement, there will still be countless pursuers after us."

"I'll just see." Han Xiao did not really care about it and went back to preparing his equipment.

Hila frowned. If help was not coming, then what was the point of following Han Xiao?

The one Germinal wanted was him, and her sister would be safer if they were to split up. She thought that since she had already helped him leave the headquarters, she had already returned the favor. So, it would not be immoral to suggest to split up.

For Aurora, Hila was willing to do anything.

Let's just try to get out of here first…

Hila calmed herself down, stopped paying attention to what Han Xiao was doing, and just focused on observing the troops ahead.

At the same time, toward the south, the large searchlights all shone on the inclined ground, and nothing could have escaped their observations. There were heavy turrets set up every fifty meters, ready to send out a wave of metal bullets on command.

Different scenes of the encirclement were all sent back to the control room back in headquarters so that the leader could control the situation in real time.

Among the troops stationed toward the south were the group of players who had been recruited by Germinal and formed into their own Inhuman squad. They were grouped up in their own camp, ready for orders. The mission to intercept Zero had not failed, and the players were astounded when they saw the large formations of Germinal troops deployed to catch Zero.

"We won't be able to help much. Isn't this basically just a free mission?"

"You're right. Maybe this is sort of like a cutscene, where we can only watch," said Electrolux, who had also been recently recruited. Foreign players were not uncommon on Planet Aquamarine, and none thought his presence was odd. No one knew that he was actually a European spy.

"Hey. Do any of you know anything about Zero's origins?"

A player with the ID White Hunt said, "I do."

The moment he spoke, the crowd was interested and started to throw in more questions.

White Hunt, a top player from Temple of God, had obtained information from the Guild of Gods, which was why he came to Germinal to trigger the Intercept Zero mission. As he described the process of how Zero single handedly manipulated events to hinder Germinal's activities on the planet, the other players could not help but be shocked.

"Sounds like an amazing person."

"Doesn't he sound like a character from the main storyline? He escaped from the original Germinal base by himself and has now sent the organization to the brink of collapse. He must at least be a Legend on this planet to be able to manipulate massive wars like this!"

"Maybe he's Planet Aquamarine's protagonist… Oh no! My reputation with him is -30," someone screamed in distress.

White hunt laughed at that. "Although he may be a character in the main storyline, he shouldn't be someone we will have to interact with in the future, or else we wouldn't have lost so many reputation points just from being his enemy."

The crowd nodded at that. Strong but unimportant NPCs were not unheard of in the game. Since they would not be interacting, having reputation points with him would not do much for them.

After some observation, Hila finally said, "This path is too dangerous. Let's try another place."

She heard noises behind her as she said that. Han Xiao seemed to be preparing some sort of equipment while he explained, "The search parties have already narrowed down all the possible escape routes. The longer we wait, the more dangerous it is, and it's the same everywhere.

"Then do you have an idea?"

"We rush them."

Frowning, Hila answered without looking back at him, "The enemies are too many; even if we take out several hundred, we will still eventually fall to their human wave tactic. Only death awaits us if we charge in like that. Let's look for an opening."

However, Han Xiao seemed to have already made up his mind and said confidently, "Make sure you keep up."

Hila was going to question where that confidence came from when she heard some sort of machinery activating behind her. She turned around and was shocked by what she saw. Han Xiao's appearance was completely different. She was now looking at a streamlined suit of jet-black mechanical armor with faint blue lights glowing through the gaps of the suit. This breathtaking scene brought about an abrupt realization.

This figure, this suit, there was no doubt… It was way too famous. The whole Germinal, no, the whole world knew him.

"Black Phantom!"

Hila could no longer hold her calm and had a look of disbelief on her face.

At that moment, she realized what had happened. No wonder how Han Xiao could infiltrate the Germinal headquarters alone without any sort of backup. He was someone who stood at the top. A one-man army!

So, this is the truth!

Thinking back on the news that she had read about Black Phantom, Han Xiao's life these past few years was far from that of a runaway fugitive. He was always right in front of everyone, including Germinal, showing off his powers and making a legend of himself, one step at a time.

Hila had witnessed Han Xiao at his weakest, and she never thought that he would one day stand at the top and far surpass her.

"You, you…" Hila was lost for words.

Han Xiao gently patted the still shocked Hila and made large strides toward the troops in the south as he exuded a sort of confidence exclusive to the powerful.

The built-in tactical screen in his helmet gave him a quick analysis of the battlefield as he strode down the slope toward the enemy without a care. As he approached, dozens of powerful lights instantly shone onto him, making his figure as detailed as possible to the onlookers.

When everyone saw this figure, they took a while to react.

"Why is Black Phantom here?" Kedor was confused.

Once they looked past Han Xiao, they finally saw Hila.

This was when shock, realization, and fear suddenly went through the minds of all present.

"Zero… is Black Phantom!"

When the truth finally revealed itself, everyone was stunned and could not do anything but stare.

Kedor, the field commander, had also lost his wits and forgot to order his men to attack.

All the executives on the field suddenly felt a gust of cold air blow up their spines and into their minds. All those who had opposed Black Phantom had ended up as corpses.

This name instilled fear in all those who heard it.

Han Xiao crouched lightly, brought his arms behind him, and got into a pre-jump position as the booster on his back let out bright red lights. The sound of a spinning turbine got more and more intense, and the faint blue light that filled the lining along his suit sent energy all over his body. The mechanic muscles grew in size as the suit entered the Strengthened state.

Boosters appeared on his waist, behind his arms, legs, and between the gaps in the suit. These boosters released an invisible force and bended the air behind Han Xiao. Back in the shelter, Han Xiao had made countless modifications to Viper and added a number of modules. It was now much stronger than before.

This was the advantage of being a mechanic. Even as other classes started to face bottlenecks, he could always continue to upgrade his equipment and steadily increase his strength.

"Attack! Attack, now!" Kedor finally reacted and roared his commands. His men were startled into action and started to lock the machine guns onto Han Xiao.

Yet, right before they could open fire, a huge boom sounded as Han Xiao exploded off the ground and sent dirt flying everywhere like an artillery shell had hit where he was standing.

Han Xiao launched away and flew right into the enemy formation. One after another, the Germinal soldiers were sent into the air.

At that moment, chaos fell upon the battlefield!

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