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 247: The Real Deal

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Han Xiao tore through the enemy formations like a hot knife through butter. There was a constant stream of clinking noises as the bullets that were shot at him got reflected by his high-level armor.

He kicked away a Germinal soldier, stole his machine gun, and opened fire at the others around him as the gun was surrounded by a faint blue light that greatly boosted its power and rate of fire. The barrage of shots was also triggering the effects of Lethal Shot one after another. Kill confirmation messages flooded through his interface as the Germinal soldiers fell in swaths.

The nearby troops quickly filled in the gaps and tried to surround Han Xiao. A dozen or so grenade-launchers were fired and drew parabolas across the battlefield toward Han Xiao.

Yet, before the shots even reached him, Han Xiao stepped to the side, leaped into the air, and took off with the reaction force from the blasts.

Boom!

All kinds of tanks and artilleries fired at Han Xiao, and explosions roared through the night as the smell of gunpowder permeated the battlefield. It was as if a small-scale war was being waged against Germinal, but Han Xiao was their only opponent.

Viper's upgrades along with his skills and talents made Han Xiao unstoppable as he ran straight through explosions. Not even the heavily armored vehicles were spared from his rampage. A few unlucky tanks got flattened to the ground after being run over by Han Xiao. It was a complete massacre, and soon, the Germinal forces were breaking apart.

Whoosh!

Two attack helicopters rushed to the scene and immediately opened fire on Han Xiao, and a stream of high caliber bullets trailed after him. Han Xiao's eye flashed, and in a split second, he calculated the helicopter's speed and flight path with his helmet interface, retrieved the Ghost sniper rifle from his back, and took a shot. It was as if he did not even have to aim.

The electromagnetic projectile zoomed past the battlefield before it went clean through the helicopter and flew off into the night sky.

The pilot was killed instantly, and the helicopter spiraled out of control and crashed into the hillside below and tumbled down the hill with the centripetal force from the rotors. It kept on rolling until it eventually destroyed the fence in its way and tore through dozens of Germinal soldiers before crashing into and collapsing a defensive structure, causing dust to fill the air. The helicopter had cleared a bloody path through the swarms of soldiers.

One of the rotor blades broke off and flew through the air and landed right in front of a group of stunned players. They were already flabbergasted since the moment it was revealed the Han Xiao was Black Phantom.

The source of all these legendary achievements was the same person, so he was basically the main protagonist on their planet!

The players were all very familiar with Black Phantom since they heard about him pretty much every day. Now that the mystery of his identity had been revealed, the players were extremely excited, as if they had just discovered a new continent.

The quick ones immediately turned on the camera function and started streaming the event to the world.

"Wait a second, if he's Black Phantom…"

Some players finally realized the gravity of the situation and turned their attention to their reputation points on their interface. Instantly, they felt like a gust of north had just blew past them, freezing their excitement.

This can't be real! A -30 reputation with Black Phantom? How long will it take to even reset it back to zero?

The Germinal players felt like their hearts were crushed.

We haven't even enjoyed Black Phantom's benefits, yet we just lost all our hope after waiting for so long!

The players present looked frozen ducks. All color drained from their faces.

Screw you Germinal. Give me back my youth!

When Han Xiao saw this, the corner of his mouth perked up.

This group of players was essential in his plan. They played the role of the 'reporter' and were responsible for spreading tonight's events out far and wide. The big reveal of his double identity would surely rock the player community and become a hot topic for the time to come.

Currently, there were not very many NPCs that had made a deep impression on the players. So, making big news himself would be the best way of ensuring his spot in the community. Now that his popularity was sure to be on the rise, the benefits would also roll in one after another.

By showing of his capability at the Germinal headquarters, it would seem completely natural story-wise. There was not a better moment than this. His new legendary ranking was basically set in stone.

With Han Xiao loaded in his new gear, the mechanic's strengths were on full display. He did not even need to keep his distance, and instead, he began a one-man massacre amid enemy forces.

Dragging this out will do more harm than good. Viper's energy levels are going doing very fast. I need to clear out an area and find an escape vehicle, Han Xiao thought.

"Kill him!"

Suddenly, a powerful force approached as Kedor roared and led a group of executives straight for Han Xiao.

Han Xiao frowned, and the Field Repulsive Machine on his wrist began to store up energy. He raised his right fist, ready to attack at any moment, as energy waves started to pulse out of him.

The next second, as if pulling a trigger, Han Xiao released his fist and punched at the air in front of him.

Boom!

A condensed wave of energy exploded out of his fist and crashed into the group approaching him like a tsunami. Like bowling pins, the executives were all knocked away. This attack was just like the Shockwave Blast used by Pugilists, and Kedor's group was instantly broken out of formation.

Using this chance, Han Xiao locked onto the person with the strongest life force, Kedor, and rushed him. The disoriented Kedor did not even have time to dodge before he was tackled to the ground. Viper's muscle fibers pulsed and bulged, and attacks with the Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves with 80 Strength landed on Kedor's body one after another. Blood spurted out everywhere.

After a dozen or so hits, Kedor, with his face was full of blood, was furious. He released his energy and pushed Han Xiao high into the air.

Han Xiao pulled out the Ghost sniper rifle mid-flight and activated Burning Will.

The rifle's muzzle that started to glow was giving Kedor all sorts of warning signals and made all his hair stand on end.

Hum!

The shot dealt explosive damage and instantly emptied Kedor's remaining health bar.

The shot left a faint trail of blue light in the air before it left a hole between Kedor's eyebrows and a shocked expression on his face.

You have killed Kedor (LV 55). You have earned 142,000 experience.

You have earned 25 trial points.

Level 55 enemies actually drop so many trial points! Han Xiao was overjoyed.

For the half minute or so after eliminating the strongest Germinal member in the area, it was as if Han Xiao turned on his grass-cutter mode—he just mowed through the rest of the enemy forces. Like a human bomb, he obliterated anyone who stood in his way. A C-class superhuman was enough to go against armies on their own.

Only by demonstrating overwhelming strength could he rise up in popularity and fame.

Han Xiao cleared out a large patch of ground, and it was as if there was a hole in the middle of the Germinal base.

He really went and rushed them! Hila was shocked, but she still did not forget Han Xiao's instructions and followed behind, carrying Aurora.

After stealing and boarding an armored SUV. Han Xiao smashed his foot onto the gas, and trio drove off into the night after smashing past the roadblocks.

The players received mission failure notifications, yet no one care anymore. They were still trying to process the fact that Black Phantom was Zero.

The control room back in headquarters was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Everyone had witnessed the chaos from the screens. The leader's chest rose and fell rapidly, and even though he was putting on a poker face, everyone present knew that he was enraged.

"I kept sending people to search for him. Yet, I never thought… that he never tried to hide." The leader felt a suffocating feeling and felt like he had been played like a fool.

His assistant to the side asked warily, "Do… do we chase?"

"We chase. Summon back all the executives still out on the field, the organization's strongest military force, and all the reserve forces. Lock down all areas and kill on sight. Short range missiles are authorized."

At around the same time, the videos that were posted by the Germinal players were starting to cause waves on the forums.

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Chapter 248: Shocking the World (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The post titled 'Shocking news! The man behind the war was actually…' instantly shot to the top of the Planet Aquamarine forums.

The players on Planet Aquamarine back then had all of their attention on the war between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization. Being able to participate and contribute in this world-shaking event allowed them to be truly immersed in the game. And this was also when the post revealed that 'Zero' was the person who had manipulated events behind the scenes and single handedly caused this war.

Some players remembered that the Germinal Organization had put out a massive bounty for Zero, and they felt intrigued by this character.

This kind of plot where an organization's traitor was able to turn around and cause massive damage to the organization was very compelling to many people.

He had to be the key character in the main storyline!

The post detailed the things that Zero had done against Germinal up till now, but when the players thought that was the end of the post, they found out that there was even more information at the bottom—information on Black Phantom. The post's author did not give any explanation and simply listed Black Phantom's achievements as well. The players were confused but patiently read through it as there was no harm in understanding more about Black Phantom.

But everyone's face changed when they got to the last line—'Black Phantom and Zero are one and the same!'

"What?"

"They're the same person‽"

Many players doubted the authenticity of this information. However, the post also came with a recording of Han Xiao rampaging through the Germinal headquarters, shocking the players when they watched it.

The players were not too familiar with Zero, but it was a whole other story when it came to Black Phantom. Ever since the start of the open beta, this NPC had provided them with countless benefits and interacted with them countless times. When the players watched the recording of Black Phantom wreaking havoc in the Germinal base, they felt an odd sense of familiarity, and they had the impression that this was something that only Black Phantom would do.

Now, his identity had been exposed.

He was Zero and also Black Phantom.

His name was Han Xiao!

Zero's past and Black Phantom's achievements complemented each other perfectly and created an image of a character who, after losing everything to Germinal, escaped from the organization's evil grasps. He never gave up to his miserable circumstances but only slowly grew stronger and gradually worked toward toppling the gargantuan organization that had wronged him before he finally swept the whole world into war. This story sounded as if it came right out of a Hollywood film.

Hero stories always sold well, and Han Xiao's badassery had already firmly placed him on top of a pedestal in the players' hearts while Germinal was immediately seen as the planet's antagonist. Although there was not any true right or wrong in this world, people had already grown used to taking sides—having two extremes was much easier to understand. Players stopped caring about Germinal's ideology and took Han Xiao's side as they had already thought of this NPC as 'one of their own'.

This post's popularity exploded in a never before seen manner, and it felt like a historical moment for the players on Planet Aquamarine. The upvotes were increasing by tens of thousands every the second, and instantly, it took one of the top ten spots on the Galaxy forum's trending posts ranking.

Just as Han Xiao had thought, the combination of his two identities, when revealed, caused a chemical reaction and pushed his popularity on to a new height, further consolidating his position in the players' hearts.

Interacting with players was something he had focused on doing ever since the open beta, and he was now seeing the fruits of his labor. The tiny spark that he had started several months ago had now turned into a raging fire with the reveal.

The players were the first to know about the news that get posted on the forums, and now, Han Xiao's group had just escaped from the Germinal base.

Their vehicle rolled over the rough landscape of Andrea under the darkness of the night, gradually getting further away from the base until it was but a dot on the horizon.

Han Xiao, who was driving, had not unequipped his suit, but he opened up the mouth hatch. He lit up a cigar and started puffing smoke in and out his mouth, giving off the vibe of an old truck driver, as he held the steering wheel expressionlessly.

The car stopped abruptly and caused rocks and dust to fly everywhere around it.

"Switch. You drive. I need to give the car some anti-radar modifications. I have no wish to be blown up into the air by missiles." Han Xiao pushed opened the car door and got out before maxing out SUI: Anti-radar Coating and Camouflage Paint in his interface.

He also took a glance at the advancement mission—his progress was 72/2000. This was normal as advancement missions were often long-term goals.

Hila closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she got out of the car and supported herself with the side of the car to suppress the nauseous feeling welling up in her stomach. Although it was almost unbearable, she had to admit that under their previous peril, Han Xiao's driving had made her feel safe enough.

Aurora, on the other hand, was fast asleep in the backseat and was completely unbothered. Han Xiao saw this scoffed and said, "Your sister will definitely get further in life than you."

Hila did not even bother with replying and got into the driver's seat. As she watched Han Xiao taking out all sorts of gears and parts to attach onto the outside of the car, she said, "We're still in Germinal territory, so we shouldn't take the large roads. However, driving through the wilderness will take eight to nine days before we can get to safety. Not to mention, the Germinal troops that must've been sent to pursue us. They will bring planes, armored vehicles, and even missiles."

"You can just follow the map and take whichever route you think is safer. You're more familiar with the area, after all," Han Xiao replied without even turning. Now that Germinal knew about his face-changing capability, they would definitely kill all those suspicious. Escaping would not be easy.

Han Xiao did not guess wrong. This time, all search parties were equipped with cameras that were connected to headquarters' command center at all times to prevent him from masquerading as one of the Germinal soldiers sent to catch him. Once a camera lost connection, the whole squad would be considered as KIA.

The Germinal Organization practically utilized all their forces to chase them, and their only chance of escaping was to run faster and break through the encirclement before they were completely trapped. Once they were in the Six Nations' territory would they truly be considered safe. Germinal also knew this and would do whatever it took to kill Han Xiao and the sisters off while they still could. Escaping from enemy forces was often the most dangerous, as enemy reinforcements would be endless.

Fortunately, Han Xiao had anti-detection measures to prevent them from being pinpointed by their pursuers. Germinal's only way of finding them was to throw in as much manpower as possible

But there was also another problem.

"Our fuel can only last another eight hours, and we're completely out of food and water. Moreover, we are also running low on ammunition. We need to find somewhere to resupply soon, or things won't be looking good," said Hila.

"We don't need to look for supplies," Han Xiao replied calmly. "The enemies will just bring it to our doorsteps themselves. I'm a mechanic. It won't matter if we run out of equipment to use as I can just make more."

Hila did not have a response to that. By now, she had long since thrown away the thought of splitting up with Han Xiao to escape. It was much safer for her sister and her to stay with him.

Han Xiao tried to think of his next steps in silent as he made the modifications on the car.

"Although we have anti-radar measures, we should still be careful of the Germinal Organization getting desperate. I need to find some way to deal with missiles."

They were currently still in Germinal territory, so nuclear missiles should not be a worry. What they needed to watch out for were the countless short-range tactical missiles from the nearby Germinal bases. These missiles would be more than enough to take out the few of them. With their destructive capability and range of up to several thousand kilometers, they were often used to target important enemy structures.

As a C-class superhuman, tanking attacks from normal firearms and smaller troops was not an issue, but it was still too early to talk about taking missiles straight on.

Superhumans were able to resist attacks based on their energy levels and skills, but there was a limit to how much they could absorb. Taking on weapons of mass destruction to the face would simply be suicidal.

A superhuman's body was relatively fragile when compared to those weapons of war. However, this all changed when one got strong enough. A-class superhumans and above were capable of reigning over whole regions in Galaxy and were even capable of taking on whole small space battleships by themselves. However, those kinds of characters were few, and although superhumans could get very powerful, it was still impossible to take large armies on by themselves. This was especially so when highly advanced civilizations were involved. Galactic entities had access to terrifying weapons such as electromagnetic and beam weapons. Even a random foot soldier would be equipped with an advanced combat suit. In wide reaches of space, strength was calculated by one's civilization, not individual strength.

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Chapter 249: Shocking the World (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The first idea that popped out was to engineer an anti-missile device, and he just so happened to know a basic blueprint for a pure defensive device, which was called expandable light fortress. It could suddenly form a golden shield that protected the target and blocked the explosion and shockwave.

There were a variety of blueprints for defensive machinery, and the most common one was the energy shield. However, knowledge on those shields required class advancement in energy studies, and this type of light fortress did not require a high level of skill. One only need the blueprint and some basic understanding to create the design in the blueprint, and the defensive durability would be dependent on the materials used.

But Han Xiao quickly dismissed the idea. There was no way he could create any complicated machinery without a lathe. The only thing he could do was modify and improve the vehicle by taking some parts out of the enemy's equipment. Creating a light fortress simply would take too much work.

After eliminating the option, Han Xiao had another idea.

Anti-missile defense… We'll have to get professionals.

Right after Han Xiao escaped the headquarters, the Germinal Organization responded without any delay. Under the command of the leader, countless troops of the Germinal Organization started scouring the areas that they had control of. The air force and the ground troops were employed at the same time. The scale of this operation was similar to that of a proper battlefield.

An hour later, the Six Nations picked up the movement of the Germinal Organization. Without any intel, they had to prepare for possible attacks, so they increased their security and defense order to prevent any tactics of the Germinal Organization. Then, on the same night, the Six Nations conducted an emergency meeting to analyze the current battle and try to understand the reason behind the military movement of the Germinal Organization.

After half an hour of intense discussion, from the evidence that they had, they finally came to the conclusion that baffled their minds.

Who are they trying to hunt down‽

The Six Nations had already pushed their military right in front of the base of the Germinal Organization, and they still had the time to waste their resources to hunt down someone. That man had to be very special.

The situation was not ideal, and the Six Nations were still debating whether they should stop the Germinal Organization's operation. While the enemy of an enemy was often a friend, Raylen, Theseus, and Ordina opposed the idea of intervention in case it was a trap, and they suggested that the Six Nations should keep on following the original strategic plan to ensure a predictable battle.

While the commanders were discussing, Stardragon's commander suddenly received a message from Division 13. His face was shocked as he said, "Everyone please wait, my troops just received important information. The man who is being hunted down contacted my communication division. Please allow me to pass on his message to the main channel.

Everyone was surprised.

The monitor blinked, and Han Xiao's face started to surface. He used his original appearance, and the commanders quickly recognized that he was Zero, one of the most wanted man of the Germinal Organization. The man who kept on providing intel to the Six Nations appeared right in front of their eyes. The commanders around the table were shocked.

"Are you the one being hunted down by the Germinal Organization?"

"Why are you in the territory of the Germinal Organization?"

"I infiltrated the headquarters and retrieved key information from the mainframe of the system," Han Xiao replied. "All their information on their troops, strategies, and missile distribution are now in my hands. That's why the Germinal Organization are using everything they have to kill me. And now, I want to make a deal with you."

The commanders looked at each other. None of them had told Zero to steal intel on the Germinal Organization, but he did it anyway all by himself. How much hatred does Zero against the Germinal Organization? He probably wants to destroy them more than we do.

"Go on."

"Send out your troops, interfere with the enemy troops, and ensure my safety. Once I am safe, the intel will be yours."

Han Xiao prepared to use the intel as a bargaining chip for an exchange of the Six Nations assistance. The intel was originally going to be sent to the Six Nations, and now they would have to fight for this information.

In the beginning, Han Xiao's plan had been to steal the intel and get out without getting found out. However, Destiny's Child's foresight had allowed the leader to set ambush, which disrupted Han Xiao's plan. So, he could only adjust accordingly.

Han Xiao did not anticipate the appearance of Destiny's Child, but he was not frustrated since not everything would always go according to plan. He was not afraid of accidents as long as he could adapt to the new situations.

An officer said coldly, "You can't prove that you have the intel unless you tell us right now. If you do so, we will consider protecting you."

"This intel can burn the Germinal Organization down to the ground, and this is essential for victory of the battle," Han Xiao replied. "If you do not accept my terms, this intel will be buried with my dead body. No… not only me, but all of your soldiers will die too. If the Germinal Organization admits defeat, they might trigger all their nuclear weapons and wipe out everyone. And then, you will question yourself—why didn't you simply accept my offer?"

The commanders were anxious as Han Xiao pointed out their main concern. They did not know the quantity or the location of the nuclear bombs that the Germinal Organization had. If they could get information on this matter, then they could send out all the agents, elites, and strong soldiers to eliminate this greatest threat.

"How can we trust you?"

"To show my gratitude, I just send out the first documents on the 'Hands of Death' system to Stardragon's troops. I used to work for Stardragon's communication agency, and Stardragon can testify."

Stardragon was pushed to the front of attention. Everyone looked over at Gu Hui, and Gu Hui looked dismal. With an annoyed expression, he nodded, which meant that it did happen.

"The Germinal Organization has a strong security system in place. Even our most elite agents could not infiltrate the headquarters. How did you get through?" another officer asked.

Han Xiao tapped his cheek, and his appearance slowly changed.

After looking at his face, the commanders of the Six Nation all stood up with chairs rolling away. Everyone froze.

This is the face of the Black Phantom!

"Are… are you…" Gu Hui, who almost fell, stammered with disbelief, "Black Phantom‽"

Han Xiao adjusted the image and showed the Viper next to his body. "Zero, Black Phantom, they are both identities of mine. You can call me Han Xiao."

Gu Hui's breath quickened. Division 13 did try to send people to track down Zero. The targets were all the homeless migrants as they thought that Zero could only hide around such groups of people. As it turned out, they had searched in the wrong direction. Han Xiao had never tried to hide, but instead, he had become the legendary killer in the Dark Net.

The commanders could not believe the truth. The Black Phantom was considered an extreme threat in most countries, and no one could find out his true identity. And now, he had just showed up as Zero, the most wanted traitor of the Germinal Organization.

The mask allowed its user to change appearances in an instant, which left the commanders in awe. They were just glad that Han Xiao was on their side.

Han Xiao took off his mask, and his face was calm. He stood straight and looked powerful. Han Xiao no longer needed to hide his true identity. Sooner or later, the Germinal Organization would spread this news, so Han Xiao might as well just reveal the secret by himself, and this would make it easier to get Legendary Points.

The meeting room was dead silent. No one was able to speak a word. After a while, the commanders finally started to accept the truth.

"We accept the deal. We will send our troops to face them head on. Natural Satellite security and anti-missile device will be activated, so there will be no way the Germinal Organization and land a missile on the ground. The escort troops might take a while. We do not have any permission in air, so the air force might not be able to directly escort you away from the battle. After we finish discussing, we will tell you the extraction point."

Han Xiao smiled. "Okay."

After he turned off the communication device, Han Xiao let out a long sigh. The negotiation was successful, and the troops of the Six Nations would push forward on the side and intervene with the Germinal troops. This was the biggest ally that Han Xiao could get.

At this point, there was no need for Han Xiao to wear his mask. The cool wind blew on his cheeks. He closed his eyes as if tasting the feeling of freedom.

He could finally take off his mask after wearing it for more than six months. There was no reason to hide anymore.

From that night onward, the world would know his true identity. He was Zero. He was Black Phantom.

Legendary Points would flood in like water after the organizations on Planet Aquamarine accepted this truth.

And now, what he had to do was break through the lock on the ground and meet up with the escort team of the Six Nations. For Han Xiao, this battle had already ended.

Hila looked back at the sleeping Aurora as her icy expression slowly melted.

"Since you've convinced the Six Nation, with their help, we are now in safe hands."

"Don't let your guard down. Even if we have allies, we have to make it until they can find us." Han Xiao did not think twice before killing Hila's enthusiasm.

The sky slowly brightened, and the long night came to an end.

The battle would begin after sunrise.

That very night, the true identity of Han Xiao spread like wildfire to the organizations all around the world.

Every organization was shocked.

The whole world was shocked.

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Chapter 250: Eye of the Storm

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The battlefield only covered the land of Andrea, which was significantly far away from the other three continents. Each and every piece of news about the war was like a wide spread disease that instilled fear and anxiety into people's minds. This warfare caused inevitable repercussions to all the nations around the world. The world was in chaos. The rate of theft and murder increased at an exponential rate, extremist of religions that preached the end of the world rose, and small groups of wanderers decided to join the Six Nations to seek protection.

During war time, the Six Nations had strict policies, and they performed rigorous investigations and surveillance on the wanderers. Thus, the wanderers did not dare say anything that would offend the Six Nations. During time of peace and prosperity, these wanderers could not really sense the benefit of having neighboring countries. But for those who betrayed the country, they realized the importance of having a nation one could rely on. Discrimination and unequal treatment were around every corner for these people. The wanderers without citizenship were probably in a lower status compared to stray dogs, and they could only remain quiet and beg for mercy.

Therefore, some wanderers would rather remain homeless, robbed by bandits and attacked by wild creatures, than join the Six Nations. For them, the only other option left was to seek shelter under the Dark Net. Without any reinforced policies and restrictions, the wanderers eagerly joined the Dark Net, and all the money and resources Bennett had poured in finally came into use. He felt like he was Buddha, alleviating all the suffering around the world.

"Ah, the futility of war."

On the top floor of Sanctuary One, Bennett stood next to the window as his sharp pupils reflected the entire field of Sanctuary One.

The mist of war surrounded the tower, and everyone on the Planet Aquamarine worried about their future. Even though the Sanctuary was a step toward the bright future, Bennett was still troubled by the Han Xiao's baffling action to join the war. It had already been a few days, and Bennett had not heard from Han Xiao.

Bennett had a rather complicated perception on Han Xiao. On one hand, Han Xiao was the most important assistant with an honorable record in the battlefield and uncountable achievements. And now, the size of Sanctuary Three was already larger than that of Sanctuary One and Two. From time to time, Bennett considered changing the name of Sanctuary One to Black Phantom Sanctuary.

On the other hand, the movement of Black Phantom was unpredictable, and Bennett often had to bear the responsibility of those actions. Even though the mistakes were only small compared to the achievements of Black Phantom, Bennett believe that sooner or later, he would have to take the blame for the actions that offended the world.

"We received information from the frontline. There are unusual movement in the battlefield. Please take a look at this." The assistant rushed into the room and handed over the laptop.

As the largest intelligence network on Planet Aquamarine, the Dark Net had kept up to date with the situation on the battlefield. Bennett meticulously read the latest information.

"Two days ago, the southern front of Andrea experienced a drastic change. The Germinal Organization, which who was on the defensive side, employed a large-scale search around the headquarters. At the same time, the Six Nations applied pressure to the Germinal Organization from south and east sides. Moreover, they sent out multiple troops to infiltrate the Germinal Organization's territory. From the movement of both sides, it seems that they are all going after the same target.

"It is reported that the target is the most wanted traitor of the Germinal Organization, Zero, who infiltrated the mainframe and obtained a large amount of classified information. Both the Germinal Organization and the Six Nation are fighting to obtain this information. From our undercover operatives in the Six Nations, the information will determine the outcome of this war."

Bennett stopped reading and sighed. " Zero… I know this man. The reason that the Germinal Organization has fallen to the point today is mostly because of this man. A traitor who made the Germinal Organization walk toward the path of destruction. Now he has obtained the key intelligence on this war, and he is the eye of the storm. He is an impressive man. Even if he lived in the old era, he could have been the legend to shape the world."

Bennett then flipped on to the next page.

"In addition, Zero called himself Han Xiao, and he had a mask that can change his appearance in an instant. Black Phantom is one of his identities."

Bennett could not say a word.

Bang!

Three seconds later, the window in the office shattered as Bennett threw the laptop through it with all his strength. The laptop arced through the sky and smashed onto the ground. The laptop was utterly destroyed with parts rolling on the ground. The people on the ground were surprised and looked up at the Sanctuary.

"Han Xiao! You b*stard!"

Bennett more than furious. He scratched his head out of frustrated, and the clean, styled hair quickly turned into a mess. He then walked back and forth in the room.

The origin of Black Phantom had always been a mystery, as if his existence was created out of thin air. Bennett did try to ask Han Xiao about his history. At that time, Han Xiao's tone had been reflective and dense.

"Every man has a past that they do not want to face, just like hands you bathe in blood. And that's true for me. I have made a lot of mistakes. I used to wear a mask, and I never knew who I truly was. It's only recently that I've finally seen my true identity. Of course, you do not know me."

Bennett had believed him at that time. He had tried to remember if there's any faceless legends in different organizations, and he had vaguely recalled a powerful man who disappeared in the flow of history. From his own experience, he had suddenly reached the conclusion that Han Xiao was a man with strong internal struggles, a man who sought self-redemption. Bennett had thought that he suddenly had a common topic that they could talk about.

Well, right now, Bennett was disappointed at how brainless he was.

How dare you trick me‽

Bennett took a few deep breaths and straightened his chest. He looked at this reflection on the broken glass and fixed his hair style. After he calmed down, he turned to look at the frightened assistant and said, "Has the information spread to the public?"

The assistant nodded dumbfoundedly.

Bennett sat down and sank into deep thought as he tapped his finger on the table like he was playing the piano.

On the southern front of the land of Andrea, a convoy that was intercepted by the Stardragon drove into the fourth section. Dozens of vehicles were in the area with a few carrying the missiles with cold warheads on top.

Division 13 of Stardragon began their infiltration mission. They took over a military base in the inner parts of the Germinal Organization's territory, and they got a few batches of warheads.

The secret intelligence agencies of all the countries were working on the same operation. They slowly chipped away at the power of Germinal Organization with the intel given by Han Xiao before the war started. They had made their plans after knowing the strategy of the Germinal Organization, and their scale of operation had become smaller and smaller as time went on. Therefore, the Six Nations were desperate for the intel that Han Xiao had on his hands.

Small teams of agents got out of the vehicles, and Di Su Su and Zhang Wei's teams were among them.

Di Su Su was going to wave at Li Yalin, but she saw Li Yalin and her team hurriedly left the area.

Li Yalin and her team charged into the commander's room.

"Sir, it seems that Han Xiao had the intel!" Lin Yao said anxiously.

The commander nodded, and he handed over a document. "The situation is complicated. The upper officials wanted me to give you this intel."

Li Yalin grabbed the document, and everyone squeezed around her to read it. On the very first line, the document already stated that the true identity of Black Phantom was Han Xiao.

"Haha. He really was Black Phantom. I was right after all!" Li Yalin laughed out loud, and her laugh was similar to a ringing bell. She slapped Lin Yao on the back, and he almost fell over.

In the battle of Tedramira River, Li Yalin did recognize Han Xiao. At that time, everyone in the team had guessed about the identity of Han Xiao. Zhang Wei had reported this to the higher officials, yet the officials did not give any response except to tell them not to further inquire on this topic, as if they were trying to hide something. Lin Yao had also stolen some of the records, but he realized that the higher officials had disregarded the report and never followed up with the case.

Now this proves that they had been right all along, and this truth slapped the higher officials right in the face.

Li Yalin suddenly let out a long sigh and cleared her mind.

"Wait…" Zhang Wei's face darkened. "He still has another identity."

The crowd quickly read the paper, and everyone was shocked.

Zero was actually Han Xiao‽

So, his true identity was the wanted traitor of the Germinal Organization!

Recalling about the weird behavior of Han Xiao when he first joined Stardragon, everyone was suddenly enlightened and connected all the dots together.

That is why the higher officials wanted to hide his identity. He was wanted by the Germinal Organization.

Now we know why no one can catch Zero. He can actually change his appearance.

Now we know…

All the mysterious events that had happened all seemed to have an explanation. The people were dumbfounded by this realization.

Lin Yao swallowed the saliva and said, "His history is unbelievable."

Everyone nodded with agreement. No one had ever thought that one of their teammates was a legend.

On the side, Hou Yue face froze. He had heard a lot about this old team member, but to think he was actually such a great figure.

Du Su Su had also followed them into the office and read the document on the table. The commander did not stop her, as this intel would be spread anyway.

After reading the document, Di Su Su's face was full of disbelief.

"No wonder when I saw Black Phantom near Seagull City, I felt that he was familiar. It turns out that Black Phantom was Han Xiao… Wait, then what Golden Fox said was…"

As she mentioned the incident, everyone in the room had a chill and stopped her from continuing the topic.

Li Yalin suddenly was aware of the danger that Han Xiao was in. She asked about the situation. The commander replied, "Other than the military operation, the officials have also formed an escort team to enter the battlefield and extract Han Xiao from the Germinal Organization's territory."

Zhang Wei walked up and asked, "Can we join the escort team?"

Commander shook his head. "You are nowhere near standard of the team."

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Chapter 251: Eye of the Storm (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

As the news spread further and further away from the center of the battle, for those who had no dedicated channel to receive intel such as the wanderer warlords, they were the last ones to receive the news. Alumera was one them.

As a companion of Theseus, the Alumera family did not participate in the frontline of the war. Instead, they were in charge of keeping stability and security in the Northern Continent. This was a chance for Alumera to develop. The Dark Net Organization's sanctuary plan ignited a few revolts from various warlord organizations. A part of these warlord organizations also tried to build places similar to the sanctuaries. However, their intention was different from Bennett's intention to protect the innocent. They built their sanctuary only to gain profit and acquire more labor force.

Currently, the Alumera family was guided by the Xiao Faction, and Xiao Jin had a chance to get Black Phantom to visit this place. Xiao Hai looked up to his father's capability to use methods to trick and gain power. Even though he often recalled that Black Phantom was his godfather and was disgusted by that fact as if he just swallowed a pile of excrement, Xiao Hai was glad that Black Phantom had not showed up in a very long time.

In the study of the Xiao Faction's mansion, Xiao Hai reported the updated news they had, and he read Xiao Jin's concerned face. "Father, are you not satisfied with the current affairs?"

Xiao Jin glanced at him. " I'm still not standing on my own feet, and I'm still restricted under others."

"Are you referring to Black Phantom?" Xiao Hai was confused. "Even though part of the reason you are in this position today is because of Black Phantom, the power and authority are still ours. Moreover, he is not even here, so he can't have too much influence over our decision."

"And this… this is my weakness. Black Phantom brought me up to the head of the house, but his influence is still limited, so he cannot touch on the inner policy making. Other Factions act like they look up to us, but they have plans behind the scenes to overthrow our position. We are not safe. In the end, we can only employ the power we have in the Xiao Faction, and the other factions never lend their resources, so it is hard to push any new policies."

Xia Jin then reminded the Han Xiao's threat and added, "Moreover, Black Phantom did not do this for free. I paid my price."

Xiao Jin stood up and took two wine glasses and the precious Maple wine from the cabinet. He poured for two and handed one to Xiao Hai. He took a sip and continued. "Well, we'll worry about that later. For now, the Xiao Faction has a more urgent task to deal with. Your brother Han Xiao is a wanted criminal of the Germinal Organization. This fact will be problematic, as people of Theseus came on multiple occasions to gather information. Currently, the war is at the most intense stage, and every organization is trying to severe any relationships with the Germinal Organization, but we will not be able to because of your brother, unless we are able to find to and send him over to the Six Nations."

As soon as his father mentioned his brother, Xiao Hai's face became unnatural. He was worried that the man that he had setup was still alive.

"It seems that Zero and the Germinal Organization are in a complicated situation…" Xiao Hai was troubled. The last thing that he want to see was Han Xiao being powerful and successful because he was afraid of revenge. At the bottom of his heart, Xiao Hai knew his brother's weak character and mentality after growing up alongside him. But he still afraid of the possibility of a drastic change in his brother's character.

What Zero did was clearly not what his obedient brother would do. Han Xiao was still scared of the revenge even though he had no idea what man his brother had become.

Knock knock.

The door opened, and the assistant peaked his head in. "Leader, Se Qi is here to visit."

Se Qi was the chieftain of the Red Island Faction, which disagreed on Xiao Jin being the leader.

"Let him in." Xiao Jin frowned and put down his glass of wine. "Since I became the leader, he has not visited me once. Something must be wrong."

Xiao Hai nodded and waited on the side.

After a while, Si Qi walked into the room with a large smile on his face. "Leader."

Xiao Jin remained silent and nodded back. He invited Si Qi to sit down, and Xiao Hai on the side was trying to size up Si Qi's intentions. From the smile and the friendly expression, it seemed that it was nothing bad. The man was friendly and natural, so he did not seem like he was going to get into an argument with his father.

Si Qi took out a plan book, and this was Xiao Jin's plan that needed the Red Island Faction's cooperation. Before, Si Qi had kept on refusing, and now, suddenly, he took it out and said with a sweet expression, "After thinking about this for a while, I think this plan is very doable. I am willing to contribute my resources for this plan. I hope to discuss the details. Don't worry, I will give all the resources I have for this project.

Xiao Hai was surprised and laughed in his heart. Now the Red Island Faction has finally bent over to our power and recognized the Xiao Faction is the leader.

Xiao Jin was also surprised. He slowly nodded and started discussing the plan with Si Qi.

After a few minutes, the assistant rushed in to the and said, "Leader, Todd has also come to visit."

Todd was the chieftain of Home Faction, and he also did not have a good relationship with Xiao Jin. But now, he was visiting right after Si Qi.

Xiao Jin suppressed his surprise and invited Todd into the room.

"Hehe, head of the Xiao Faction. Right now, I want to discuss the plan we had last time…" As soon as the door opened, Todd saw Si Qi and acted like he was not there. He also took out a plan book, and just like Si Qi, he wanted to discuss the plan and submit power to the Xiao Faction.

Since the two largest powers had submit to Xiao Faction, they had the proper power to control Alumera. Happiness had come too suddenly, and Xiao Jin was stunned while Xiao Hai on the side could not suppress his excitement.

Before Han Jin could reply, the assistant again said that there were more people who want to come over. And just in a few moments, all the leaders or higher officials were in the room, all to submit power and discuss their plans.

Xiao Jin was lost. He had no idea what just happened. In an instant, and without any reason, he had secured his power without any effort. What was going on?

Todd saw Xiao Jin's confused expression and laughed. "It seems that Chief of the Xiao Faction has not received the news. Take a look at this…"

He pushed a document across the table, and it was the intel on the true identity of Han Xiao. As the Home Faction, he had a larger information network and was the first to receive the information. He had then relayed the information to the rest of the Factions, and that was why there was such a scene in Xiao Jin's office.

Todd had almost pissed his pants when he learned that the true identity of Black Phantom was the second son of Xiao Jin, Han Xiao. He had suddenly found the answers to all the questions.

No wonder Black Phantom came to visit Alumera and supported the Xiao Faction at critical times. He was clearly trying to protect his family.

The identities of Zero and Black Phantom were one, and he was the crucial figure in this battle. One could easily see that once the war ended, he would have immense influence over the world. This legend had come from one of the wanderer warlord organization, and it was the Xiao Faction.

Connecting Black Phantom's action of protecting his family, every organizations in Alumera could not sit still. They could no longer ignore the Xiao Faction after this incident, and the Xiao Faction could be one of the most powerful organizations that they could rely on. Therefore, everyone came to submit power, and Xiao Jin was the last one to know what had happened.

"What‽" Xiao Jin was shocked. Xiao Hao felt that a hammer had smashed his perception of the world. His head was spinning.

"He's my brother‽" Xiao Hai slowly lost his vision and almost passed out.

Xiao Hai could never believe that his brother who did not have any achievements could become such a powerful figure today. His brother was a man who could change the tide of war and the shape of the world. Yet, Xiao Hai was still only obsessed with powers in a small warlord organization. Times had changed. He recalled that since he was small, he had been the most outstanding kid among his siblings. Han Xiao could only look up to him. Now, the tables had turned, and Han Xiao could not accept the truth. He ground his teeth, and his body filled with rage and anger.

Not only that, as he remembered that Black Phantom was his godfather, Xiao Hai's lungs almost explored. He clenched his fist so strongly that his fingernails sunk into his palms.

My brother became my godfather, what was he thinking?

He definitely wanted to embarrassment me. That's why didn't refuse at the time.

Xiao Hai went dizzy again out of anger.

Xiao Jin's face was stone cold, but he was not mad. It was his decision to approach Black Phantom, and who knew that the son he had been looking for all this time had been right in front of him? Remembering that he made the exchange, he wondered how excited Han Xiao must have been behind the mask. Xiao Jin sat still, and the awkwardness and embarrassment flowed through this body.

Si Qi, Todd, and other people had mockery in their eyes. His son had suddenly become on the same level as his father all because Xiao Jin tried to pull him to his side. The existence of Xiao Jin was just a joke. However, they could not ignore the power that Xiao Jin had, so they could only mock him behind his back. In the end, they suppressed their desire to mock and argue, and they submitted power of their organization to the Xiao Faction.

With Han Xiao, the position of the Xiao Faction was secured. Even if both the father and son were embarrassed and surprised, they had to give credit to Han Xiao for the power they held today.

After the rage had died down in Xiao Hai, what followed was a sense of powerlessness.

He realized that no matter how angry he was, there was one truth that he could not alter. He could no longer see the shadow of Han Xiao.

Just with the name of Han Xiao, it solved all the internal struggles that they had between the factions and forced the other factions to submit to their power. With this much influence, Han Xiao was probably the most powerful figure on the planet.

Xiao Hai suddenly froze, and tremendous fear flooded his heart.

Now that his brother became powerful… would he seek revenge?

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Chapter 252: Eye of the Storm (3)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The real identity of Han Xiao created a lot of interest among the major organizations because he was not only Zero, the orchestrator of the war, he was also Black Phantom, the top-notch mechanic and contract killer. When one combined the two identities together, all the organizations could see a new star rising that would impact the world.

It had been years since the appearance of such a legendary figure.

Now that he was had intel that could control the tide of the war, he was the eye of the storm, and naturally, there was a lot of attention and expectations on him from everyone on the planet.

After the news had been out in the world for four days, every organization around the world knew the true identity of Han Xiao, and there were two organizations that received the most attention.

First was the Alumera family, which was the place of birth of Han Xiao. Numerous small organizations in the Northern Continent visited the Alumera family. Under the influence of Han Xiao, the Alumera family made countless new allies, and at the same time, the fact that Han Xiao was the godfather of Xiao Hai also spread around the new allies.

This embarrassing joke was a mark that could never be washed away from the name of the Xiao Faction. Seeing that everyone was trying to hide their laughter, Xiao Hai was extremely frustrated, wanting to kill himself to end the shame on him.

Another organization that was in the spotlight was the Dark Net. Han Xiao was one of the higher officials in the Dark Net, yet all the major organization did not see any response from the Dark net. So, no one knew how was their attitude toward the reveal of identity of Black Phantom was.

Like so, four days had passed in an instant.

When one glanced down on the battlefield from the sky, the wilderness was full of sand and dust. A ferocious jeep with sharp armor zoomed across the wilderness. Around a kilometer behind the jeep was the Germinal Organization's vehicles trying to catch up.

"Fourth day, this is Division 13."

On the passenger seat, Han Xiao was controlling the camera at the back of the jeep to see check the situation on the convoy behind them, and he shook his head with disappointment. "They didn't send enough people again. Guess we will get some free spare parts to use."

Hila, who was on the driver seats, gave Han Xiao a cold stare. She was too busy and exhausted to say anything.

At this point, the appearances of the two people were in a stark contrast with each other. After fleeing from the enemy for four days, the enemies were everywhere, and they faced difficult battles every single day. Hila was not a mechanic who could build equipment and machinery to fight. Her power came from her psychic abilities, which required energy and strength. Every battle that she fought was tough and challenging, and at this point of the escape, she had already exhausted all her power, and her face was covered in sweat and dust with dark lines around her eyes.

On the other hand, Han Xiao was completely different. Using Viper, fighting off the enemy was a breeze for him. Most of the enemies who chased Han Xiao were weak and easily defeated anyway. However, Hila could not fend off the enemy as easily as Han Xiao.

While Hila was driving, her brain felt like it was going to shut down at any given point of time. Even though she was extremely tired, she did not want to hand over the steering wheel to Han Xiao—one side was a cliff, the other was an abyss. At least the cliff has a bottom…

"Hey sis, do you want some juice?" Aurora, who was sitting at the back with big sparkling eyes, offered a plastic bag containing liquid.

"That is not juice. That is an energy drink that can help you stay awake and increase your energy, so don't…" As Han Xiao looked back, he saw the empty bags on the back seat. He continued with a mildly infuriated voice. "… drink too much."

"But it tastes good." Aurora hid her face behind the seat.

When she was imprisoned, the food she had every single day had been nutrition cream without any taste. The energy drink was a new experience for her taste buds, and she was wide awake.

At the beginning of their escape, only Han Xiao could fight. They had needed to gather all the resources they could find. The long escape operation was naturally the stage for Mechanics to shine. They could get rid of the soldiers chasing after them, get their equipment, change them into parts, and create a new weapon to fight. They had to fight to keep on fighting and survive.

In the professional gaming scene, there were also some long-term survival game modes similar to this situation, and Mechanic was the best class in this situation.

Other than Military MRE and energy drinks, Han Xiao could get a lot of parts after winning a battle to improve the jeep they had. He slowly modified the engine and cylinder of the car, and now, the jeep ran like a wild bull that could crush anything in its path. The shell of the jeep was full of scratches, which fit its wild style.

The Germinal Organization's troops were tied up by the attacks of the Six Nations, which almost halved the pressure on Han Xiao. The Six Nations also got rid of the threat of missiles, so they did not have to worry missiles blowing them up if they stopped in a place for too long.

Han Xiao looked at the rear mirror and said, "Turn the car around and kill them all. Hey, little brat, lie down on the back seat and don't stick your head out."

Aurora listen obediently.

Hila did not flinch. She grabbed an energy drink and chugged it in an instant. She span the steering wheel, and the jeep abruptly drifted around, leaving a trail of dust behind. Then Hila charged the jeep directly at the enemy like a bull.

Han Xiao quickly finished the modification, and his Viper mechanical suit had a huge upgrade. In order to adapt to the long chasing battle, he had equipped multiple long-range weapons, such as a triple barrel gun turret and the grenade launcher on his shoulder. He had additional magazines on his legs and on his back, with a belt carrying yellow bullets across his shoulders. All these weapons were made from the equipment of the enemy they fought before.

The mechanic suit looked at least twice as large as before, and it was more suited for long range combat. Thus, it was called [Viper – Ranged Form].

The interface information analyzed the enemies' formation.

"Four executive officers, thirty Valkyrie squad, and ten players. Ten vehicles in total… Oh, they changed the formation."

The convey spread out and lined up in an encirclement formation. They wanted to avoid head on fights and delay Han Xiao for as long as possible while waiting for reinforcements. They knew that they did not have the power to stop Han Xiao.

Han Xiao was not surprised. After he single-handedly destroyed five convoys, the rest of the enemies had all used the same tactic, so he was already used to this.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The turrets on mechanical suits arms roared with burning iron bullets blasting toward the enemy. With every bullet that he shot, he felt a powerful recoil that pressed on his heart.

The dark-blue electromechanical force coiled around the turret barrel, and the damage was suddenly amplified. One armored truck was destroyed within a few seconds.

The convoy began to return fire. They had stronger firepower compared to the side of Han Xiao, and bullets and missiles, with an orange trail in the air, were coming for Han Xiao from every direction.

Han Xiao's technical interface analyzed the path of the light rockets for Han Xiao to shoot it down before they hit their target. As for machine gun bullets, they could only forcefully rely on the armor of the jeep to protect them.

Because the firepower of the Germinal Organization was too powerful, Han Xiao had decided to modify a ranged version of the mechanical suit since he knew how difficult it is to fight when one was being kited around.

Boom!

The sound of explosion continues.

Han Xiao fought against multiple vehicles and dozens of soldiers at the same time, and the battle was in a stalemate. Suddenly, Han Xiao gave Hila the signal.

Hila knew that it was her time to fight. Her eyes were filled with red light, and from the corner of her eyes leaked the burning light. She opened the window, pushed her hand outside, and a light red curve of flame penetrated three different vehicles, dealing mental damage that reduced the physical armor.

Hum!

Shock wave explode in their hearts and souls.

Everyone in the car suddenly spat out blood and was heavily injured.

"Cough cough…" Hila suddenly started coughing, and her face looked even more fragile.

The frequent use of such power drained her energy level down to the bottom, but at the same time, her power had somewhat advanced. A few days ago, if she wanted to use this attack, she would have had to charge up for a few seconds, but now, she could instantly cast her attack. Only when people were under extreme pressure could they extract their hidden potential. Hila's potential was as high as S level, and she had an exceptional improvement throughout the battle

With the cooperation of the two people, the battle quickly reached to the end. The four executive officers were only around LV 30, but it gave Han Xiao two Trial Points. He realized that not only did enemies above LV 40 give out Trial Points, enemies with lower levels could also give out some, but the system would not show that if it is below one point. It would still add the accumulated points in the system.

[The Ultimate Trial: Current Progress 723/2000

Seven hundred or so points, I am progressing faster than I expected. Han Xiao looked at the battle interface popped up a new message.

Battle has ended. From the difference between the forces of the two sides, you receive an extra 15 Trial Points.

In these four days, Han Xiao found a new requirement to advance the mission.

It seemed that fighting against overwhelming numbers of enemies would give out more Trial Points, and the extra Trial Points were calculated after the battle. When he was charging through the enemy forces as he escaped the headquarters, he had gotten an extra eighty Trial Points. He did not have time to check as he was in danger, and later on, he had forgotten to check it since there were too many missions. It was not until now that he noticed the bonus after the battle.

Included in [The Ultimate Trial]'s description was 'The harder the victory (calculated by the amount of health lost), the more the Trial Points.' Han Xiao had thought that if he won the battle while having lower health, he could get more points. But for the bigger picture, he had to keep his health at a high level, so he did not bother losing health and reducing his chances of survival just for some small gains.

But now he realized what the statement meant. 'Calculated by Health Points' was probably calculating the total Health Point allies and enemies. So, when there were more enemies while he had fewer allies, he could get a higher reward. This means that the mission encouraged players to fight as a small group against a large force, and this could lower the reward for rich players who hired more players to join the team. Therefore, people with higher skill would finish the mission and earn the class advancement at a faster rate. This system was to ensure a balance between rich players and skilled players, shortening the gap between them.

Han Xiao started to disassemble the parts from the equipment that he had just gotten. Destroying was always easier than creating. The speed of Han Xiao taking parts away from equipment makes one's head dizzy.

"From my calculation, it seems that the enemy reinforcements will come between seven and twelve minutes," Han Xiao said. "So, we can only stay here for another five minutes. Can you still drive? If not, I will do it."

"I'm fine." Hila chugged another energy drink and boosted her energy level.

Han Xiao quickly went through the spare parts that he had disassembled and took the ones that were useful. Then they drove off while having an anti-radar layer on top of them. The only way for the Germinal Organization to catch them again was through a blanket search.

Ten minutes later, as the Germinal Organization's reinforcements arrived, they could only see the scattered parts lying on the ground. Han Xiao had disappeared from their vision again.

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Chapter 253: A Love Story

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

In the car, Han Xiao was smoking and repairing his suit when he decided to check out the forums and saw the post made by the Germinal players that he had just killed.

"Found mission target. Han Xiao's location coordinates are…"

"Germinal has distributed new tailing missions. We are looking for two more members for this group mission. Leaving in twenty minutes.

Han Xiao chuckled when he saw this.

Germinal players were also trying to find him. As the mission only required the players to find his whereabouts, it would not lower their reputation points with him, and many players took on the mission for the reward.

As the old sayings went, there is no better way to show your love than through beatings.

Although Han Xiao had not given them any benefits, but following the players from the three other continents as examples, the Germinal players still loved him.

Once his identity was revealed, the players became very passionate about him and were eager to accept any missions that were related to him. However, it was not like they had much of a choice. Now that Germinal's full attention was on catching Han Xiao, practically all the missions had something to do with him.

Logically, having to fight immortal players should have had been troublesome, but Han Xiao was actually glad that a lot of players were chasing him.

Aside from trying to find him directly, the Germinal forces were constantly trying to widen their search net to encircle Han Xiao. However, Han Xiao was always able to escape through a gap just before they could complete the encirclement.

This was not just a coincidence. The forum posts made by Germinal basically gave Han Xiao free information on the enemy troop movements.

Germinal was not aware of the existence of the forums while there was no way the players could have known that an NPC could see their posts.

Han Xiao's group kept escaping through the openings between their forces, and Germinal had no idea how the information was being leaked.

Germinal could not have known that their own Inhumans were the ones dragging them down. All this did was further convince the Germinal leader of Han Xiao's power to predict the future.

Han Xiao was not afraid of running out of posts to read. Due to the recent rise in his popularity among the players, posts about him basically dominated the Planet Aquamarine forums.

Revealing his own identity also gave his image a boost. Compared to Black Phantom's uninspiring middle-aged uncle face, Han Xiao's current look was basically prince-like, and he was able to capture the hearts of countless female players. There were a bunch of comments along the lines of "Well hello, handsome…" that started to appear in the forums.

A BOSS level character that manipulated the war behind the scenes actually looked so young and handsome. This change finally helped Han Xiao acquire female fans. One should know that back in his Black Phantom days, all those who chased after him were just a bunch of stinky, hairy, hot-blooded, gamer guys…

However, the players' enthusiasm on this topic far exceeded Han Xiao's expectations, and after the initial shock, the direction of the conversations on the forums started to go somewhere weird.

Many of the players had seen Han Xiao bringing a sister-duo along with him when he broke out of Germinal's ambushes. Discussions about this suddenly exploded.

"Why would he bring two girls when running for his life? Is there any doubt? It must've been for love!"

Then, a player who had let his imagination break through the skies posted this story…

"I was once a test subject. I was tortured and went through endless unimaginable suffering in a hell-like place.

"She was my only source of light. Every time I saw her tall figure and ice-cold face, the pain I felt all over my body suddenly disappeared. Although I was only a test subject, and she never spared me so much as a smile, seeing the fury in her eyes taught me the warmth of spring.

"Maybe this is what it feels like when love finally arrives.

"So, I swore, when I one day escape this place, I will become stronger and rise to the top. When that day comes, I will stand in front of you and tell you with all my heart that I love you… "

When he saw this post, Han Xiao coughed all the energy drink that was in his mouth onto Hila.

Which god damn pervert wrote this‽ Where did this idiot jump out from?

Don't you ever let me see you! I will kill you all the way back to level one!

This was only one of the versions that the players came up with. Another person wrote about how Han Xiao fell in love at first sight with the older sister and decided to elope with her while bringing along the little girl!

Or how Han Xiao and the redhead were lovers to begin with, and the little girl was actually their secret child!

Some even claimed that the sisters were already Han Xiao's women, but they were taken away by the evil Germinal leader. To take back what was his, Han Xiao had gone on the path of revenge, eventually causing this whole war for love.

Basically, the people's imaginations were endless!

"Ohohoho, I never thought that you were like this, Black Phantom."

"So, we're all the same…"

"Oof, the little girl's the best!"

"The older sister's where it's at!"

Just as Han Xiao was having a headache from all these stories, he found out that the players had given him two new nicknames.

Black Phantom: The Womanizer!

Technician Han: Your Knight in Shining Armor!

Han Xiao was conflicted.

Although it was not his original intention, his popularity still went up because of this. It was normal that characters with some 'dirt' on them were more likely to be talked about by the players.

Although my image among the players isn't what I intended, at least I'm getting more and more famous.

Han Xiao could only stay optimistic. Most of these posts were not made seriously. These people must have come to cause trouble because of popular he was.

The reveal significantly boosted his popularity with the players, but his legend points on the interface were taking a while to be updated.

Suddenly, a new post caught Han Xiao's attention.

"Everyone, look! I have received a new mission. It's a large-scale encirclement operation this time! Request for group members to carry me…"

A Germinal player posted his mission details, and the photo of the map that he attached showed a massive force that stood on what was supposedly Han Xiao's current route of escape. This group of Germinal forces was unlike anything that they had ever seen. It completely blocked off all the possible openings that Han Xiao could use.

Han Xiao's expression grew heavy when he saw the post.

"This is bad."

"The encirclement forces are in place. It will take another six hours before they make contact with Han Xiao."

"How many men do we have?" the Germinal leader asked in a grave voice.

"Sir, we have mobilized a total of eighty high ranking executives, six hundred super soldiers, and several thousands of armored infantry troops. There are also over three hundred tanks and thirty attack helicopters. I'm sorry, sir, but this was all we could muster. The Six Nations are currently applying pressure on all fronts, and we are stretched thin."

Boom!

The leader violently smacked the table and roared, "If it weren't for those b*stards from the Six Nations, this encirclement would've already been complete. Zero must've made a deal with them. We have already locked onto him four times, yet all our missiles have been intercepted by the Six Nations!

"Humph! Now that our forces are in place, the Six Nations will have to drive their troops right into the middle of my territory if they want to stop us from catching Zero. Order the troops to start closing in on him. Even if he can predict the future, he will still be forced to go head to head with our troops!"

The Germinal leader spared no efforts in taking out Han Xiao. He had already learned his lesson from the numerous times that Han Xiao had broken out of his traps so far. Now, the new group of troops were placed right around his escape route, and he had finally trapped the traitorous b*stard!

The leader believed that even if Han Xiao was able to predict this all from happening, there was nothing that he could have done to stop the encirclement from being completed. He had sacrificed the previous squads who pursued Han Xiao to direct him to this path.

The encircling forces on the plains were to be the leader's decisive move to end things once and for all with Han Xiao.

"Zero is very strong; only the older executives can finish the job. How many of them went with the troops?" the leader asked.

"Five in total. Here are their files," the assistant quickly replied.

The leader took a glance and nodded. These old folks could be considered the organization's strongest force. Even he would have to be careful against them in a fight. Their strength had already reached a certain level and would be enough to take on Han Xiao.

With five of them together, even the leader would take some time to come out on top.

This time, the leader was confident that Han Xiao would finally be taken care of, and he let out a vicious glint in his eyes.

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Chapter 254: Separation

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The night came, and two rays of light were moving around the plains. Han Xiao and his companions got away from the chase from the troops. The plains were quiet, and they could only hear the low humming sound of the exhausted engine.

"Pull over," Han Xiao suddenly said.

Hila shook her head and disagreement. "We just got away from the troops. If we stop now, they will soon catch up."

"We are heading into a trap. The path ahead has been closed off. There will be nowhere out." Han Xiao shrugged.

Hila jumped. "What? How did you know?"

But she recalled hearing that Han Xiao could predict the future, so she took back her question. Both of them had forced their way out of the headquarters, and after the eventful and stressful days, she trusted Han Xiao with all her heart.

She stopped the jeep, and silence took over the scene.

"If the Germinal Organization has encircled the plains, they will for sure move inward and confine us in a smaller area. We now have two options. First, we fight our way through before they enclose their forces on us, or second, we wait for our opportunity."

"If we drag this out for too long, our area for movement would be smaller, and our chance of surviving will be even slimmer," Hila said hesitantly. "Will we have a chance if we break through the encirclement?"

"The trap they've set up this time is strong and secure. All the troops are close to each other, and there is no space or opportunity where we can sneak past them. Even if we head back the way we came, we still cannot escape." Han Xiao shook his head—this was the analysis done by a player who had posted this information on the forums. [The Encirclement of the Plains] mission was the largest mission in the Germinal Organization, and it was a mission in the battle series, so more and more players came together.

"There is a chance that we can break through their trap, but the risk is too high, and we won't be able to protect your sister. But what you said was right; waiting around is also bad for us."

After Han Xiao analyzed the situation, Hila remained quiet and tried to think for a new method.

Even though Aurora could not understand what Han Xiao had said, she could tell that the atmosphere was serious and dense. She then grabbed Hila's sleeve.

Hila's serious face relaxed, and she patted Aurora on her head.

It was not the end. No matter how dangerous and challenging the circumstances were, she would never give up. When she had been the Germinal Organization, Hila was as cold as an iceberg. But after Han Xiao showed the hope that she could save her sister from imprisonment, he slowly chipped away at her cold personality and would occasionally show her care and kindness to others. Although, most of the time, she still wore an unemotional face.

Hila looked back and asked, "Do you have any idea?"

"I need to make a few calls." Han Xiao had a plan slowly forming in his head.

Buzz!

The leader's computer received a call. When he saw the notification, his pupils suddenly contracted. It was Zero.

Why is he calling me?

The leader was shocked and shouted at his assistant, "Track his location now!"

The assistant quickly called for communication technicians to track the communication system.

The leader then accepted the call. Han Xiao's face appeared on the screen, and the leader showed a murderous intent in his eyes. Han Xiao also did not talk, and they stared at each other for a while. Even though they were looking through a screen, they could feel the intense hostility from each other.

After a while, Han Xiao started the conversation. "Long time no see."

"Isn't it too late for you to beg for mercy?" the leader replied coolly. He could tell that Han Xiao already knew that he was trapped in the encirclement and could not find a way to escape. That was why Han Xiao directly called his mortal enemy to try some petty trick.

From his understanding, there was nothing for them to talk about. The leader was the one in a better position, and Han Xiao was just a stray dog that he could catch whenever he wanted.

"Do you still remember our little secret, when I said I will destroy your organization?" Han Xiao asked in a slow, clear voice. "You were so arrogant, and I was never in your eyes. And now, I've single-handedly push your organization to the brink of destruction, and you can't ignore me anymore. Now, you spend all your energy and resources trying to kill me. Don't you regret it? Why don't you try to persuade me with your little fancy ideology? Then, maybe, I will listen you and turn myself in."

The leader took a deep breath as what Han Xiao had said stabbed right at his heart. The only thing that the leader wanted to do was punch Han Xiao right in the face. The Germinal Organization's ideology was to overthrow the Six Nations, and the leader's ultimate enemies were the regime and the country. Yet, all his ambition had been burned down by a mere traitor. The leader could not let go of this crying shame. "Save your breath. I know you can tell the situation you are in, and now you've decided to call and try some petty tricks, right?"

"Do you think you can stop me with only those few troops?"

The leader laughed in his heart. Han Xiao did realize that he was being surrounded. So, he believed that Han Xiao was just trying to act tough.

"With the power of predicting the future, you have been fooling us, but this time, your power won't save you anymore." The leader snorted. "When you have nowhere to run, I wonder if you will smile like you are now."

The leader noticed the assistant on the side, hinting that the communication channel was secure, so there was no way to locate the precise location.

If that was the case, there was no need to waste time talking to Han Xiao.

Just as the leader decided to hang up the call, Han Xiao suddenly said, "So, why do you only send your men to kill me? Are you too scared to face me in person?"

The leader shivered and showed a wry smile. "You don't want to live anymore, do you?"

"Still arrogant, aren't you?" Han Xiao laughed. "Well, you only look powerful on the surface, but deep down in your heart, you are a coward, and you will never face me by yourself."

"Want to fight with me, huh? You'll die before you get a chance to see my face again." The leader snorted and hung up the call.

"I didn't get anything useful." Han Xiao turned off the tablet computer and let out a sigh.

Other than trying to scout the intention of the leader, he also communicated with the Six Nations' escort team.

The good news was that the backup from the Six Nation had arrived on the east side of the plains. They had infiltrated the defense line of the Germinal Organization without being detected. They would arrive at the encirclement by the next day to provide combat support for Han Xiao.

Han Xiao suddenly regained confidence and scheduled a time to meet up. With the reinforcements as the ace up his sleeve, the operation became much safer.

Even if he and Hila failed to escape the encirclement, at least they would receive support. So, it would not be a waste of time and resources.

The reinforcements consisted of superhumans who were the best of the best in the Six Nations. One could not underestimate their capabilities.

"We will start the operation tomorrow afternoon, but we cannot bring your sister along with us. We won't have the energy and awareness to protect her safety. If we can hide her in the encirclement, we can fight without worrying about Aurora," Han Xiao said.

Surprisingly, Hila agreed. Bringing Aurora along would only increase unnecessary risk, and the encirclement could actually be a temporary safe space without any battles.

If they could break through the encirclement, then they could attract all the attention.

Of course, they had to find a way to bring Aurora back, and it would pose a lot of trouble in the future, but under these circumstances, Aurora would only hold them back, and this was the best option they could go for.

"Sister, am I to stay here?" Aurora looked up and her big eyes looking at Hila.

"We are only leaving you for a moment. This is safer for you." Even though it hurt Hila to leave Aurora alone, she knew that this was the only way to keep her safe.

Aurora looked down and covered her eyes. "I'll do what you say."

"I'm sorry." Hila felt a needle pierce through her heart, and she pulled Aurora into her hug.

After searching for a while, they found a natural cave. Han Xiao dug out the dirt to create a bigger space and fortified the structure. Then he covered the cave with camouflaged material and closed off the entrance to the cave, leaving eighty percent of the food and resources with Aurora.

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Chapter 255: The Hidden Tactic

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

"The food we left you should last you for around five days. Try save as much as possible. If you hear any troops from the Germinal Organization, do not make any sound," Han Xiao said.

Aurora nodded quietly. She culled up and buried her face in her knees as she looked at the back of Han Xiao and Hila. "Sister, I'll be waiting."

Hila stopped for a second, took a deep breath, and started walking forward again.

Han Xiao finished covering up the cave and noted the location. He let Hila drive as he sat in the back and cleaned the car tail, making sure that the Germinal Organization could not follow the track to where Aurora was hiding.

After they reached the main road, Han Xiao got back into the passenger seat. Hila looked at Han Xiao and asked, "Do you believe that we will pull through?"

Han Xiao nodded. "I would never use my life to bet on something that I am not confident about."

Hila stayed quiet for a while, then she replied, "If I die in the battle, please help me take care of my sister. With your strength, the chances of you surviving are much larger than mine."

"If you talk more in this tone, I think you will see death right around the corner," Han Xiao said with his dead eyes, which he had not shown in a while.

Even though Han Xiao teased her, he understood Hila's feelings. For Hila, every step that she took was lurking with danger. She was not as strong as Han Xiao, and the future was uncertain. Her sister was the sole reason that she had the perseverance to go through all the hardship, and she cared for Aurora with all her heart. She was even willing to sacrifice her life for Aurora, and that was why she had started to develop a pessimistic view on her own destiny.

But Hila's statement also showed her complete trust toward Han Xiao, and this was the original objective that Han Xiao had before he intervened in this event.

"I contacted the Six Nations' reinforcements. They are already nearby, and we decided on a place to meet up tomorrow. If we fail the breach tomorrow, we will still get back up, but if everything goes well, we can probably get out of here before we meet up with the reinforcements."

"I hope so."

Hila glanced at Han Xiao and never spoke again.

An hour later, the vehicle stopped on an obscured hill.

"There's still around ten hours until we meet up with the reinforcements. We will breach the encirclement on the east. This is the plan…" Han Xiao took out Viper and put it in front of Hila. "You will wear this suit in the battle tomorrow. In these ten hours, you must master all the controls and weapons on the suit."

Hila was stunned. "What about you?"

"In order to get through the encirclement, we must create chaos. I will go and blow up their vehicles and ammunition. They will be prepared for my ability to change appearance, but I also have an invisibility power." What Han Xiao said was naturally Dion's character card, which he had used once in the headquarters.

Hila understood. "So, I will use the mechanical suit to act like it was you and attract the attention of the enemy because you are the target they want to kill."

Han Xiao nodded. This strategy took advantage of the mentality of the Germinal Organization. Even though it was just a trick and in no way genius, the plan would be effective.

He adjusted the mechanical armor, opened access for Hila, and helped Hila put it on.

It was a brand-new feeling after she wore the mechanical suit. Through the display, she observed the outside world as if she had stepped through the door of the new world. Hila tried to move around in the armor, but she soon felt the dense weight of the armor. She listened to Han Xiao and tried to learn the confusing controls of the suit.

"What a complex design. Did you make all this?" Hila had a slight surprised tone in her voice.

"What, did you think the suit fell from the sky?" Han Xiao replied.

Han Xiao walked through the maneuvers of Viper with Hila. She knew that she only had ten hours to learn, so she was extremely focused.

Han Xiao did not need Hila to actually master the controls. He only needed Hila stand her ground for a while in front of the enemies.

The darkness faded as the sun rose from the east. Time flew as they wasted no time training for the battle.

Neither of them got any sleep that night.

As Han Xiao realized that it was daybreak, he said, "It's time. There's no need for you to take off the suit. Remember the plan and don't make a mistake."

The encirclement around the plains was like a fishing net that covered all routes. The security was deadly, and the troops were scattered in every direction, awaiting the command from the headquarters. As the encirclement enclosed, the defense line was even denser, making it harder to break through. On top of that, there were mobile reinforcement troops that could quickly provide assistance to any engagement.

On the east side of the encirclement, a large number of vehicles stood by and slowly marched forward as soldiers stood outside the cars, scrutinizing every movement on the plains.

Devin was the executive officer for this troop. He was not a senior executive officer, but he has Esper powers that strengthened his muscles. During combat, his bones would surface and cover his body. His whole body would grow and become a two and half meters tall with skeleton armor, greatly boosting both his Strength and Endurance.

Even though this Esper ability was powerful and threatening, the enemy was the notorious Black Phantom. Devin had no confidence in stopping him.

I hope that guy doesn't try to breach on my side. I will never be able to stop him,Devin prayed in his heart.

The executive officers in his team also felt the same way. As the Germinal Organization shattered, some people lost part of their loyalty to the organization, and they started to slack during their mission and protocol. This was the vicious cycle on the side losing the war. Only people who viewed the Germinal Organization as their religion and savior had not lose their loyalty, and these groups of people were from the old era that wanted to overthrow the Six Nations. All they wanted was to go to war with the Six Nations while sacrificing their lives. The deadlier the war, the more relieved their hatred would be.

Suddenly, the scouting soldier shouted, "There movement on the southeast side! A vehicle is approaching at a very high speed!"

The entire troop looked over, and they saw a jeep charging through the sand and dust. They quickly realized that the driver was wearing the dark black mechanical suit.

"Attention! An enemy has appeared!"

Why did they choose to break through here‽

Devin was nervous and kept on thinking about how unlucky he was. He even thought of running away. Han Xiao had already killed more than a dozen executive officers, and he did not want to be the next victim.

Suddenly, a tank fired a shell right at the jeep!

Bang!

The sound was louder than thunder, and the smoke and blaze exploded around the jeep.

The jeep jerked violently and dodge the shells and explosion.

After the jeep was five hundred meters away from the enemy, it finally got hit by a gun shell, and the jeep exploded into pieces.

At the same time, Hila jumped up in the mechanical suit, activated the Electromagnetic Hover-boots, and charge forward with an even higher speed. Hila was more agile in the new suit. She dodged all the bullets coming her way and sprayed her machine guns right at the enemy.

Clashes, explosions, screams, and cries—the battlefield was in chaos.

The battle became more intense!

The situation was instantly reported back to the headquarters, and the battle was clearly shown right on the display. The leader jumped up after waiting desperately for intel.

"He finally showed up!" the leader yelled. "Send the rapid response team as reinforcements! Tell everyone else to close up the encirclement with the east side being the center!"

The other troops received the command and started moving. The leader stared closely at the changing formation, and the encirclement quickly closed in onto the east side as if it was a bird cage closing off all escape routes.

Victory is mine!

On the east side of the plains, Hila kept on fighting with the suit on, creating a lot of destruction.

In order to pretend to be Han Xiao, Hila did not use her Esper power and only fought with the suit.

She was not a mechanic, and Hila could not unleash the true power of the suit. There were still a lot of abilities and weapons that she could not use, so she only fought with the basic battle mode. She got exhausted really fast.

The common soldiers could not stop her, so it was time for the executive officer to stand up.

Crack! Crack!

The sound of the cracking bone exploded as Devin started to expand. The bones spiked out and formed his skeleton armor, and he was as tall as a small giant. Devin suppressed his fear and anxiety as he swung his fist at 'Black Phantom'. Their fists clashed and set off an explosive wave.

Bang!

Such power. Hila held her breath and barely stood still. She did not have enough strength or machinery affinity with the suit. With only the basic combat stats, she could barely hold back Devin's power.

Devin was prepared to die, but he was surprised that he was still standing, and 'Black Phantom' seemed to have suffered damage from his punch.

Why is he so weak? Devin questioned in his mind.

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Chapter 256: Breaking Out (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Devin carefully probed his opponent with feints at the start of the battle. However, ever fighting for a while, he found out that 'Black Phantom' was not as overwhelmingly strong as he had been led to believe.

The legendary Black Phantom is nothing much. I was worried for nothing.

Devin got a confidence boost and started to attack without reserve.

The battle between the muscular giant and the armored mechanical suit caused a constant sound of clashing fists to be heard. The other Germinal executives that followed behind Devin started to realize that Devin was actually starting to gain the upper hand in the fight, and they were all surprised.

"When did the captain become this strong?"

"No, look! It's Black Phantom that grew weak!"

"Even someone as strong as him can't fight in his peak state after escaping for so long. He is at his weakest right now!"

The group of executives were then also bolstered and were no longer afraid. They stepped up one after another to gang up on Black Phantom.

Based on how much attention the leader paid Han Xiao, capturing him would definitely count as a great achievement!

Get him while he's weak!

The battle between this group of superhumans wreaked havoc on the surroundings, creating massive ditches everywhere. The troops were not just watching either as they open fired whenever Black Phantom showed an opening.

Hila was fighting for her life, and she was losing ground every second. She could only clench her teeth as she received blow after blow from all directions. If she was using her usual fighting style, she never would've let her enemies gang up on her like this. If not for Viper's defensive capabilities, she would've long since bit the dust.

The Germinal leader's eyes lit up. "His condition is getting even worse. Now we definitely got him!"

The leader originally only wanted to use the five senior executives to stall Han Xiao. However, Han Xiao's strength was now deteriorating by the second. It must have been caused by the built-up pressure while escaping.

"Who is this executive? He's got potential," said the leader.

The assistant hurriedly searched up the information and answered, "His name is Devin, and uhh… no notable achievements so far.

The leader scoffed and replied, "We are at war, and every single strong soldier is an important asset. Missing out on him would be a true misstep on our part!"

Character Summon card has been used.

Current Usage: 2/2

The card will soon disappear.

When Hila had all the Germinal forces' attention, Han Xiao sneaked into the midst of the troops and was busy planting explosives underneath every single Germinal vehicle.

The ability gained from Dion's character card was extremely effective, and not a single soldier noticed what he was doing. It was as if he had disappeared off into thin air right in front of them, but Han Xiao was still being as careful as possible, as entering combat would immediately cancel the concealment effect.

This is such a suitable Esper ability for thieves. No wonder Dion was able to steal classified information with ease. He probably even went to some good places with this ability. Damn…

Han Xiao was a little envious. He had also coveted some sort of invisibility skill when he was young. It had even been one of his thirty-three life goals at one point. It had only been scratched off the list afterward when he had already gained a decent amount of experience.

Under the cloak of invisibility, Han Xiao's senses toward his surroundings were completely different. It was as if a thick cloud had covered everything around him, and it felt quite surreal. The feeling of being invisible reminded of an old film that he had watched. He remembered that it was called the Lord's Ring or something.

This surrounding troops had a limited number of vehicles, and Han Xiao quickly finished planting all the explosives. He only left a few cars to be used for escaping later.

There's still two minutes left on my invisibility. I just need to wait for the explosion and steal a car to escape.

Everything up till now had progressed as planned.

Han Xiao returned to the edge of the battle and saw that Hila was getting beaten up from all directions pitifully. The suit that she was unfamiliar with was not able to offer much help in holding out against all those executives.

Han Xiao took out a communicator that was connected to the earpiece inside the armor and said softly, "I am about eighty meters to the north of your position. A big explosion will occur in a few moments. Run toward me immediately after and switch out of the suit with me. There's an armored car here for us to escape in!"

Although Hila could not see him, she had heard his instructions.

Han Xiao started counting down. Ten… five… three… He pressed down on the button.

Boom!

It was as if the ground shook for second!

Like a volcanic eruption, flaming pillars rose up high into the sky as all the armored vehicles blew up one after another.

A wave of heat rolled over and brought with it a dust storm. Countless ordinary soldiers were instantly knocked off their feet.

The Germinal forces were shocked stiff!

Why did it all suddenly explode‽

Using the brief moment of chaos, Hila rushed over to Han Xiao's position through the clouds of dust. She quickly got out of the suit and swapped with Han Xiao. Han Xiao ran along as he put on the suit. The whole process only took about three seconds. Han Xiao had already accomplished his mission with the invisibility, and continuing to let Hila wear the suit would just be a waste. The last time that Han Xiao had modified the suit, he had added an assistive device to help with equipping it and taking it off, making it much more convenient.

Hila got into the driver seat of the car and turned on the engine. However, the dust and smoke cleared at this moment, and the Germinal forces once again saw Black Phantom's figure. However, no one knew that, this time, it was the real deal.

"Don't you even think of running!" Devin roared furiously and swung his fist. His big and muscly form bounded over and shook the ground briefly. His talent allowed him to strengthen his skeletal structure, making it as strong and heavy as steel. The might of his talent was combined with an active skill as he threw a fist at his foe. Based on the previous exchanges, he had already found out that 'Black Phantom' could not break his defense at all, and he did not even bother guarding his body this time.

It's fine if you thought you could bully Hila, but now you want to do the same to me‽

Han Xiao's eyes focused, and he activated both [Surging Mechanical Force] and [Overload]. The Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace on his back burned bright red and started to make turbine-like sounds as the suit's power rose exponentially. A piece of machinery would only truly become powerful in the hands of a mechanic.

As Devin swung his fist out, full of confidence from his previous fight with 'Black Phantom', he suddenly realized that his current enemy was releasing an unbelievable amount of murderous pressure. He instantly felt a gust of cold wind up the back of his head. This Black Phantom was drastically different from the one that he had fought against just a minute ago!

Danger!

Extreme danger!

Devin was shocked and felt goosebumps rising all over his body. The next second, all he saw was a sudden flash before an arm that travelled so fast that it left behind after-images slammed into his head. What followed was an explosive force on the top of his head before his whole body was smashed onto the ground like a bag of trash!

Bang!

His skull, which was as strong as solid steel, cracked into pieces as if it was made of glass.

Han Xiao's left hand firmly held Devin's head and locked him on the ground. The muscular giant could not break free no matter how much he tried. Just like a chef holding down a fish on the chopping board, Han Xiao's right hand bulged up with the suit's muscle system, and he slammed another fist onto Devin's back as he activated the repulsion device, causing a wave of smoke and dust to spread out with the two at the center.

Crack!

Devin's skeletal structure exploded apart, and blood splattered everywhere before his whole body sank to the ground. The Germinal executive had long since fallen unconscious. The battle interface showed that Devin had received critical damage and was currently in a stunned state.

"Boy, you came after the wrong opponent."

Han Xiao shook his arm a few times as he observed the pieces of bone and skull scattered everywhere.

This talent is rather interesting. Was he able to strengthen his bones?

Devin was only level forty-something, and his strength meant nothing in front of him. It took Han Xiao less than three seconds to put him down. The others who had been prepared to rush up just a moment ago slowed their steps in confusion.

Just half a minute ago, Devin had still been going blow for blow with him, yet now he had been taken care of in just a single exchange!

Why was there such a huge change? It was as if this was a whole different person!

The 'Black Phantom' from before had been fighting like a newbie compared to this current one whose presence alone dwarfed those around him.

The group of Germinal executives had wanted to rush up earlier to take advantage of Black Phantom's weakened state, but now, no one dared even take another step forward.

The leader saw all this unfold through the screen, and he could only feel a ball of fire clumped at the back side of his throat. It was as if someone had poured ice-cold water on him as he was just starting to get excited.

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Chapter 257: Breaking Out (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Viper worn by him was the true Black Phantom!

The drastic change in their opponent's strength caused the Germinal forces to sink into temporary chaos. Han Xiao took this chance and jumped onto the car, and Hila immediately stepped on the gas and took off. The car was like an unleashed bull, and it just slammed its way out of the encirclement.

The Germinal soldiers were still wary of their leader's orders and tried to give chase. However, Han Xiao had already armed the car with long range weaponry, and they were able to shoot off all the pursuers.

As most of the vehicles had been blown up by his explosives, there were only a few who managed to give chase while the rest were all soon left behind.

The journey ahead was smooth, and this raised Hila's spirits despite her fatigue.

"We made it out!"

The moment Han Xiao heard that sentence, he knew that something was up.

Just as he thought, just as Hila finished the sentence, three black hawk helicopters appeared on the horizon and made a beeline for them.

"This is Germinal's instant response taskforce!" Hila's expression became grave. "Thankfully, there are only three of the helicopters. With their limited firepower, we can get close enough for me to take care of the pilots directly with my powers!"

Buzz!

Viper's built in radar suddenly sounded an alarm as it picked up five extremely strong life signals in the helicopters. These individuals were all well over LV 50 and were Germinal's strongest military force. All three of these helicopters were built to carry combat personnel, and now that they were being chased by the five similarly high-level people, there was no way that they were going to escape easily. Han Xiao suddenly felt depressed.

"Is something wrong with you? Please stop speaking already! Do you want to die that bad‽" Han Xiao shouted toward Hila, then without a single delay, pulled out his Ghost sniper rifle and took a shot at the closest helicopter.

A ray of faint blue accompanied the bullet as it shot out of the barrel and drew a line in the sky like a horizontal streak of lightning!

However, the always trusty sniper rifle did not find its mark this time!

The charged bullet was stopped short in front of the helicopter as if an invisible hand had grabbed it midair.

Force-field type. At least LV 50! Han Xiao's heart dropped as he knew that things were not looking good.

A middle-aged female soldier in combat uniform then poked her head out from one of the helicopters. Han Xiao zoomed using Viper's interface and saw that she had average looks, a nasty scar that cut through her lips, and short hair. She raised her hand and pointed it at the car on the ground.

Han Xiao then felt the car shake.

No, that was not right. It was the ground that was shaking!

The ground within fifty meters of the car started to vibrate as if waves on the ocean, and suddenly, a large chunk of ground rose up in front of the car, forming a ramp. Hila was not able to avoid it in time and drove right on top of it. The mini platform was too narrow for the car's wheels, and so the car was stuck upside-down as the wheels slowly stopped spinning. The two people in the car almost flew out from the sudden stop.

At the same time, the helicopters did a fly-by and released their missiles toward the stranded vehicle.

Han Xiao and Hila hurriedly abandoned the car.

Boom!

Both the armored car and the surrounding rocks were blown to smithereens. Metal parts and dirt flew out in all directions.

Five people jumped down from the helicopters—the senior executives!

They instantly rushed toward the duo. Each of the five had a drastically different appearance, but all of them gave off an intense pressure.

Han Xiao and Hila went prone on the ground have just dodged the explosions, and Hila's eardrums were still ringing because of it. She struggled to get back up, glanced toward the five executives, and said through gritted teeth, "I can't believe that Germinal has sent them. They're the top fighting force in in the organization, and except for extremely urgent missions, not even one of them even show up. This time, all five came to stop us. We're in big trouble. There are two Espers, 'Soul Shield' Jeross and 'Earth Hand' Ingris. The three other pugilists…"

"Shut up and start running!"

Without waiting for her to finish, Han Xiao took off in the opposite direction while firing back at the executives. However, all the bullets were all stopped short by the force field executive.

Hila followed behind. Although she had a pair of long legs, she was still no match for Han Xiao's Electromagnetic Hover-boots. As he could not just leave her behind either, Han Xiao grabbed Hila's hand, increased the shoe's output, and dragged her across the landscape.

Helping Hila meant that he could not fire back at the executives as much, but since it was still able to slightly delay the executives, it was more than enough for Han Xiao.

"We have backup ahead. Just hold out for a bit longer and wait for their help," Han Xiao said with a low voice.

Although the enemy reinforcements would also soon arrive if they were to stall for too long, it was their only option as they had already lost their car and could no longer shake off the pursuers.

Hila turned her body and shot an arc of dark-red energy toward the executives, but doing this caused her to start coughing. Her condition was not looking good. If it was not for the dire situation, Han Xiao would have already tried to make fun of her.

"Leave me behind." Hila, with a blank expression on her face, suddenly spoke. "You have the suit and can surely outrun enemy transportation. Just escape without me. I'm only a burden to you at this point."

Han Xiao frowned and was enraged by what she had said. "Don't you give me that self-sacrificing bullsh*t. How long do you think you can even hold them back? Ten seconds? Twenty? What's the point‽ If you dare let go of my hand right now to stay back to fight, I won't even bother taking care of your sister after you've died!"

"You!" Hila got angry, too. Just then, she had started to loosen her grip on Han Xiao's hand. However, just when she had made up her mind to stay behind and buy time for Han Xiao, he had stopped her with her only weakness—her sister. Hila was troubled. Although she was trying to sacrifice herself for the sake of her sister, Han Xiao was actually threatening her with Aurora. "Do you not understand the situation? If you just leave me behind, your chance of escaping will rise above seventy percent. What're you not satisfied with‽"

"I don't need you to teach me that. Let me tell you something, you aren't worth that much. If things do get to that point, then I will leave you behind without a second thought. So, shut up and just follow me! I don't need no favors from you," Han Xiao replied without even turning his head.

Hila was dumbfounded. She gave a meaningful gaze to Han Xiao's back, and just let herself be dragged along without saying another word while occasionally shooting waves of red energy toward their pursuers.

The five senior executives were slightly faster than them and were able to catch up with the duo after a three-minute chase. Now that there was no point in running, Han Xiao turned back to fight. His Magnetic Chain Split Blades drew arcs in the air, his Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves gave out hissing sounds as it reached an extremely high temperature, and his Ghost sniper rifle shot out round after round. Han Xiao made no reserves.

The fierce battle between this group of high level superhumans destroyed the surroundings. Jeross' force field power was used to blast out constant cannon-like shockwaves that left craters on the ground. With him also supporting the other executives with defensive type forcefields, Han Xiao had a hard time trying to deal damage. Ingris formed the earth into numerous dragons that brutally clashed into Han Xiao and Hila, forming even more holes on the ground. The three pugilists fought as their fists were imbued with unspeakable strength, and their bodies were aflame with energy. The shockwaves from their punches were capable of doing massive damage.

Hila tried her best to muster her dwindling strength to cooperate with Han Xiao. Her unique Esper ability allowed her to directly attack her opponents' minds. Although she was not that powerful yet, with how tricky her powers were and her experience in combat, she was able to work with Han Xiao seamlessly and significantly lessened the pressure on him.

None of the five senior executives were mechanics. Up till this point, mechanics were among the rarest among the people with high levels due to the class's unimpressive early game attributes. Han Xiao was basically the strongest mechanic on the planet.

Fighting five people who were all approaching LV 60 simultaneously was taxing even for Han Xiao. The five worked together perfectly, and Han Xiao could barely go even with them, much less actually defeat them. Jeross' force field abilities were like a natural counter to Han Xiao, and he could not get anywhere with his attacks.

In the middle of the fight, Han Xiao caught a glimpse of the Germinal forces that he had previously left behind. However, there were even more Black Hawks flying over from the horizon.

It was like a huge net that was slowly closing in on Han Xiao and Hila.

The enemy reinforcements were here!

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Chapter 258: Breaking out (3)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

On the horizon, the reinforcements from the Germinal Organization quickly approached and surrounded Han Xiao. The situation turned south as a number of military helicopters hovered around the battlefield. The longer the fight dragged on, the more enemies would show up. Han Xiao had to fight while diverting his focus to look for any signals of the Six Nations reinforcement. His anxiety grew every second he waited for the signal.

Bang bang bang!

Han Xiao took three hits from the attacks from the pugilists, and bursts of energy exploded on Han Xiao suit. The platinum alloy armor started to show some dents and cracks. The energy of a pugilist had an armor penetration buff, but Han Xiao's armor level was on par with that of a boss. If Han Xiao was a pugilist on the same level, under the continuous heavy attacks, he would have at least received some light injuries. However, Han Xiao acted like nothing had happened, and his movement was as agile as before.

The five senior executive officers' jaws dropped as Han Xiao handled their attacks with ease. They thought that they could take Han Xiao's life if it was a five versus one, and yet the battle was still in a stalemate.

"Even if we are on the same level, Han Xiao is too strong."

Han Xiao fired back and pulled out compounded magnetic chain split blades with the skill [Revolving Slashes]. However, Han Xiao maneuvered the skill into [Blade Hurricane, as if a hedgehog protecting himself with the spikes. The pugilist would only inflict damage on himself as he punched Han Xiao.

The battle information flooded Han Xiao as the battle went on. He quickly observed the situation and thought, Ingris' Esper power that can control earth and mud poses the most trouble to me even though it does not inflict much damage. Her health is the lowest out of everyone else, so I can use that as the opportunity to break the encirclement. If I use the Flaming Will and get a critical hit, he will at least be out of the fight. However, it will be hard to get rid of Jeross' forcefield to attack him.

He contacted Hila using the earpieces and asked, "Do you have skills that are lethal? Only your power can get through the forcefield without much effect. I just need you to stop Jeross from using his Esper power for a second, just one second!"

"Give me two seconds," Hila replied and stood still. Her body slowly sent out a dark red light, and she trusted Han Xiao to provide the two-second opening.

The five officers instantly noticed the action of Hila. They knew that Hila had been a powerful soldier in the Germinal Organization until recently, so even though they did not know what she was doing, they quickly switched target and threw attacks toward Hila.

Han Xiao jumped in front of Hila without hesitation. He reached out one arm, created the repulsive field, and blocked off the hail of bullets and two pugilists, and then he blocked the rest of the attacks with his mechanical suit.

After two seconds, Hila's eyes looked like two dark red suns, she pointed her arm toward Ingris, ready to fire. Jeross quickly reacted and created an invisible force field around Ingris.

The next second, with Hila still pointing her arm toward Ingris, a red visible storm was sweeping toward Jeross, and he took a direct hit!

Jeross did not expected this. Blood shoot through his nose as he blacked out while falling on his back.

The psychic attack that Hila had released had never been directed with her hand. She could easily attack in whichever direction she wanted. Moreover, Hila's fighting sense was sharp, and seeing that everyone was focusing on protecting Ingris, she tricked Jeross by reaching her hand out toward Ingris and inflicted great damage onto Jeross.

Now's my chance!

Han Xiao used Moving Snipe and got away from the pugilists. With the Ghost sniper rifle in his hand, he fired a shot at Ingris while activating all his buffs.

You used [Flaming Will]. The attack damage is amplified by 512%.

At this moment, Han Xiao almost cried.

Oh, the lord has answered my prayers! I've had this skill for almost a year, and this is the first time I've gotten the maximum critical damage!

Buzz!

A thin and straight pierce right through three walls and shield Ingris tried to create, and her chest exploded with blood like a rose blossom.

From your skill [Lethal Critical Hits, damage increased by 250%.

[Lethal Shot] activated, the damage is turned into true damage!

You dealt 4,346 points of critical damage!

You've killed Ingris (LV 58). You've gained 175,000 experience.

You've gained 32 Trial Points.

"Holy sh*t, that damage!" Han Xiao shouted with surprise!

From LV 60 onward, one-shotting an enemy on the same level was much more difficult when Han Xiao was at lower level. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, Han Xiao never would have believed that his explosive power was that strong.

All his abilities and skills made his buff higher than anyone had expected, including the preposterous skill [Flaming Will] that he had learned from Bennett. This was the first time that his own damage had scared Han Xiao himself.

Ingris collapsed and did not make a sound.

The remaining four people was stunned, and everyone's face turned green.

They had never heard of someone who could one-shot a superhuman at this level. After witnessing the death of Ingris, fear that they had never felt before quickly swallowed their hearts.

Han Xiao pressed on while their morale was low. However, the helicopters and tanks suddenly fired at Han Xiao, providing support for the executive officers.

Bullets and bombs exploded right where Han Xiao was standing as dust and smoke filled the air. Han Xiao tried to dodge the bullets, but an armor penetrating tank shell directly hit Han Xiao, and his body flew back under the impact and rolled on the ground. The side of the suit was smoking and shattered. The durability of the suit dropped a few hundred points after that hit, and the microchip system was temporarily unresponsive.

After taking a direct hit from a powerful shell, even a Class-C superhuman would suffer injury, while a Class-D superhuman would be in a critical condition. If one were a Class-E superhuman, one's body would be shattered into pieces, and there's no need to talk about average human being.

Han Xiao's enemies were not only the five senior executive officers in front of him but also the entire fleet backing them up!

"God damn it…" Han Xiao struggled to get up. Suddenly, he felt strangled around his arms and legs. Jeross snared and limited his movement. Han Xiao suddenly felt a cold shiver through her spine. He was in danger!

The three pugilist executive officers charged toward Han Xiao, and their energy was at its peak. Because of their fear of death, they used all their hidden potential and power to defeat Han Xiao.

Hila stood in front of the three officers, and her enemy blew her hair up. She bit her tongue and forcefully released the Necromastery shock blast. However, all pugilists had strong endurance, and they easily blocked off the mental shock of Hila's power. The fists and kicks covered in energy quickly landed on Hila's body. The sound of cracking bone pierced through Han Xiao's ears as if it was a firecracker.

Without any delay, a dense forcefield in the shape of a spear pierced through Hila's stomach and left a bloody wound that was as large as two fists—her organs were all destroyed.

The impact of the force field made Hila fly away a dozen meters and land on the ground. Her hair was scattered like flower blossom, covered in a pool of reddish blood.

In Han Xiao's mind, there was no way for a LV 40 Esper to survive under that attack.

"One down, one more to go!" Jeross said with his deadly eyes.

The dark blue force exploded, and Han Xiao got away from the force field. He quickly ran next to Hila and checked her condition. After a single touch, he knew that Hila's arms, ribs, and spine were shattered to dust. A huge hole was in the middle of the body, and all her organs were mashed together like jam.

Han Xiao took out Adrenaline and stabbed it into Hila, but as he looked at her body, Hila's kidneys also turned into mush.

Hila closed her eyes and stopped breathing.

"Hey, you're not just gonna die, right‽" Han Xiao could not react. Hila was going to be a superhuman capable of planetary destruction and single handedly wiping out starship fleet. How could a huge talent die here without making history?

Or did he take the battle too far?

As more and more enemies showed up, Han Xiao frowned.

During a battle, rage could never overtake his mind. He would never get overheated since he knew that he did not have that kind of personality. He quickly analyzed the situations on the battlefield, and the best option was to run away by himself.

Han Xiao glanced at the corpse of Hila, and his face froze.

Hesitation only leads to trouble…

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Chapter 259: Reinforcements and Traps

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Suddenly, within a radius of two kilometers, all the corpses released a gray mist, which slowly gathered around Hila.

Hila opened her eyes, which were covered in mysterious gray instead of the dark red light. Her bones started to crack, and her wounds healed. Within a few breaths, she fixed her bones and the bloody wound in her stomach also closed off.

Aha, she's still alive! Han Xiao was surprised.

Oh, doesn't this scene perfectly resemble the words 'What doesn't kill you make you stronger.' Like how Gandalf came back from the dead as a white wizard.

No wonder she's the candidate for the goddess of death. Show them you power girl!

Hila sat up, and the gray mist faded away. Her eyes returned to the normal collar, and she started coughing intensely. She said in a fragile voice, "Go, leave me now. I'm too weak to do anything."

Han Xiao bit his lips.

Damn it. Why did you make such a scene if you are not going on rampage? I got excited just to get disappointed. You're still a weakling!

Oh right, I remember she had an ability called [Ignore Sudden Death, where she gained a special effect if her health points were lower than 1%. I thought she would ignore the damage from the fatal attack, but it's actually rapid healing. What a tenacious life force, but this ability must have a cool down.

The enemies surrounded them. Han Xiao was not in a good position, and Hila had become a burden. The chance of surviving became slimmer and slimmer.

"Didn't you say that you'll abandon me when you have to? Now it's the time! Run away!" Hila's face was pale, and she used all her strength to get those words out. Her hand was on Han Xiao's chest, trying to push him away.

"Okay." Han Xiao nodded directly. He was not the type of person who would hesitate. Abandoning her was the best course of action, and there was no benefit to staying with Hila. He would not make a choice that made him worse off.

Even though Han Xiao really wanted Hila to be on his team, if necessary, he would up give Hila up in the blink of an eye.

Seeing that Han Xiao had already made his choice, Hila relaxed and said, "Please take care of my sis.."

Suddenly, Han Xiao heard an unfamiliar voice through the earphones.

"Hey, I see you guys, we are coming!"

Han Xiao was slightly relieved as he looked toward the south. Three black armored jeeps without any plates showed up on the side of the battlefield in an arrow formation, approaching them at high speed.

The helicopter from the Germinal Organization flew toward them. Han Xiao's display zoomed in and clearly saw a woman's white arm, wearing a bracelet made out of red pearls, stretched out of the windows of the jeep.

The next moment, a surge of burning flames shot out from the palm of the women's hand, and the flame turned into a roaring flaming dragon that flew into the sky and consumed the helicopter.

Boom!

The helicopter fell from the sky.

The three jeeps drove around the burning helicopter and headed right toward Han Xiao.

"The reinforcements are here!" Han Xiao felt the boulder in his heart finally lifting. He slapped Hila's cheeked and laughed. "Seems that you don't have to die today."

The reinforcements were composed of the best superhumans in the Six Nations with the best equipment that the nation provided.

The three jeeps crashed right into the battlefield and broke open the Germinal Organization's encirclement. The female Esper released her power without any reservation, turning the battlefield into a burning sea.

This was not normal fire but the fire created by energy using special an Esper power. After the flame hit the target, it would explode. This was called the explosive flame, one of the destructive powers of the fire Esper.

With only one look, Han Xiao already judged that this woman was a Class-C superhuman.

All the Germinal Organization's troops tried to turn their crosshairs on the jeeps, but the three jeeps suddenly released smoke similar to a smoke bomb, which quickly spread out, blocking the vision of half of the battlefield.

The Germinal Organization lost their targets, and they could not even see their own team. The visible range was only as far as one meter.

Then, the sound of coughs arose in the smoke. The smoke contained a strong irritating substance similar to tear gas.

"Where is the enemy‽ I can't see, cough cough—"

"I can't breathe! Cough."

"New enemies have shown up. Please give us instructions, bleurgh… give us instructions!"

"The radar is not working. The enemy have an interference machine!"

The Germinal Organization was in chaos. However, the four senior executive officers quickly grasped the situation and recalled the view of the battlefield before the smoke appeared. Then they charge toward where Han Xiao had been, but Han Xiao had already disappeared.

"He's getting away!" Jeross was shocked. "Can any of you track his position?"

The three pugilists stared at each other.

They knew how to punch things, but tracking enemies was not in their job description.

Ingris had good perception due through sense movements on the soil, but she had already been killed.

In the dense smoke, Han Xiao carried Hila on his shoulders like he was carrying a sack of rice. The reinforcements quickly gave the location to meet up, and he soon found the three military jeeps. One of the doors to the back seat open, and Han Xiao jumped in without a second thought.

There were three people in the jeep. The driver was a Sharnuk, wearing sunglasses, and had a buff body. The white woman with the red pearl bracelet sat in the passenger seat. She was the Esper who had the explosive flame power. There was another yellow man who was using a control panel on the ceiling of the jeep.

"Target acquired, we need to move out!" the Sharnuk driver shouted with his deep voice.

Three jeeps changed direction and left the smoky battlefield behind them.

The troops quickly recovered from the smoke and got back into formation, chasing right after the jeep. The helicopter kept its distance from the jeeps, fearing that the fire Esper would shoot them down.

"We're saf…" Hila was about to show a sign of relief, but Han Xiao quickly covered her mouth.

Stay quiet and rest, will you?

The yellow man looked at Han Xiao and smiled. "I have heard a lot about you. We finally got you out. I am Tang Tang, a member from Stardragon's Division 13. The director-general always mentions your name. You have done great things. The driver is Alaupog from Theseus, and the lady is Diana from the Maple.

"Okay let's stop with the mindless chit-chat." Diana did not even look back and said, "Now that we have the target, all the enemies are right behind us. What should we do?"

"Uhm, since they still have reinforcements behind them, we can't afford to stay and fight them," Tang Tang replied. "We just follow the planned route, and we can shake them off after half a day and remain hidden."

Hila regained some of her energy and asked, "Why didn't you use a plane?"

"How would you have wanted us to sneak into the Germinal Organization's territory in a plane? Or do you want us to be a shooting target in the sky?" Diana's tone was sharp and cold.

The reinforcement had three jeeps in total, and they still did not know who was in the other jeeps.

After successfully meeting up with the reinforcement team, they were still being chased by the enemy. However, it was good news that they already broke out of the encirclement, and all they had to do was to spend some time and lose the troops behind them.

Han Xiao let out a long sigh. He was providing his intel in exchange for the Six Nations' support. It definitely felt nice to have reinforcements rather than just fighting alone.

Other than Tang Tang, the two people in front of the car kept on observing Han Xiao from the rear mirror. They were all the aces from their own countries, and this large-scale joint operation was only to save one person. On paper, they knew the incredible things that Han Xiao had done, and since they had finally met in person, they were naturally curious.

From stealing intel from the headquarters of the Germinal Organization to fighting the entire army to get away from the territory, all these people viewed Han Xiao as a superior human compared to them, and they could not help but observe Han Xiao.

After two hours, the ground became less and less firm, soon turning to sand. They had left the plains and now reached the desert. The troops behind them could no longer be seen, and they were temporarily safe.

The dense atmosphere soon relaxed. Han Xiao did not take off his suit, but he just left it on sleep mode, waiting for it to recharge.

"The east side of the plains has a small desert right next to it. The place used to be a nuclear bomb testing area, and the radiation is high, killing all plants and animals. It will take around eight hours to travel through the desert. After that, we will reach an area with complex hills and mountains. As long as we avoid any base along the way…" Tang Tang explained the escape route.

Suddenly, Han Xiao's computer in his suit received a call.

It was from the leader.

"Well done, you actually got through the encirclement in the plains." The leader seemed calm, but Han Xiao had expected the leader to be raging. His suspicion quickly rose.

Something is wrong!

"Hehe, do you think you safe now?" The leader laughed. "Do you think I never noticed the team that infiltrated my territory a few days ago?"

Han Xiao froze. Something bad was coming their way.

"I never tried to stop them just so that I could get this change. I really wasn't be able to track your position, but at least I could track your reinforcements. I knew you were going to meet up with them, and from the movement of you and your team, I could at least predict the where you would meet up.

"That's right, your reinforcements were heading to the east side of the plains, meaning that you will escape from this side. Unfortunately for you, I knew this at least ten hours ago.

"Zero, you are not all-knowing and all-powerful, right?"

The leader suddenly had murderous intent in his voice.

"Open your eyes, and be grateful for your last parade I have prepared… This will be the end, Han Xiao!"

Han Xiao looked out from the window, and the hills and valleys were filled with ambush troops with dozens of military helicopter hovering around the sky. Hundreds of machine guns were spread in the sandbag base, and soldiers holding grenade launchers and SMGs stood still near the base, awaiting orders.

The number of soldiers was more than double the previous battle.

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Chapter 260: Unexpected Helpers

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

"How can there be an ambush‽" Tang Tang was spooked. "Cr*p. Could Germinal have been monitoring us all this time and waited all this time to catch us in one fell swoop‽"

"What's the point of saying all this now?" Diana furiously responded.

Their squad had snuck this far into Germinal territory, and everything had been smooth sailing. No one had thought that this would turn out to be a trap!

The situation had turned completely reversed!

Ten hours earlier, the Germinal leader had secretly ordered the troops that were to form the northern, western, and southern parts of the previous encirclement to make haste for this patch of wasteland to wait in ambush. The leader knew that if Han Xiao succeeded in breaking out, he would definitely pass by this area.

Han Xiao did not read about anything on this ambush in the forums. This operation completely excluded the players as the leader remembered from what Cyberlos had told him—that Han Xiao could be an Inhuman—and feared that there was some sort of a special way for Inhumans to communicate between each other. This completely blind guess from the leader paid off, and Germinal was able to set up the troops without warning Han Xiao and the rescue team.

Moreover, the leader was no longer making orders from the faraway headquarters, but rather, right there on the field.

The long-awaited moment had finally arrived!

The leader stood on the sand dunes ahead of Han Xiao's group as his windbreaker flapped in the air, and his face was still covered under a mask. Behind him were several dozen executives who stared in front of them like hunters staring at prey who had fallen into their trap.

The two's eyes met in this fated moment.

Han Xiao's communicator once rang out with the leader's voice.

"Didn't you wanted to fight me? Now that I'm right here, do you dare come?"

Han Xiao released a breath and said, "Not bad…"

This move by the leader was outside of Han Xiao's expectations, but in hindsight, it was not too surprising. The two's conversation last night had not only been used by Han Xiao to probe his enemy; the leader had also used it to his advantage.

As the prey in the middle of enemy territory, it was way too hard to always make flawless plans to react to the enemy's movements. Faced with Germinal troops encroaching from all directions, it was impossible for Han Xiao to predict everything, given his limited resources. Getting this far was already a feat in and of itself.

The Germinal leader finally got him back for being trolled so many times!

If they had not been standing on opposing sides, Han Xiao would have wanted to give a standing ovation for the leader.

How hard did he work? It was too touching!

No plan could always work. There were always unpredictable factors, and now that they had run into this situation, they could only rely on their own strength. All Han Xiao had done up till this point was help himself amass strength. Now, he was standing right in front of the limit of Version 1.0, just a step away from breaking through the LV 60 threshold.

This dangerous situation was also filled with opportunity.

Approximately ten C-class superhumans against thousands of heavily armed elite soldiers and fifty executive offices!

"What more is there to say? Let's just do it."

Han Xiao was calm as he turned off the communicator. There was still about half a minute before the two sides would clash, and he used the time to inspect his own status.

Viper still has 61% of energy, about 4,200 armor points, 3,800 health points, which is about 87%; about above-average form.

His mission details showed that [The Ultimate Trial] had reached 815/2000 in completion.

The enemy forces are numerous with very high firepower. Our advantage lies in our individual fighting strength, Han Xiao thought as he hoped that his teammates in the other cars who he had not met would not let him down.

A mission suddenly popped out in the interface.

You have triggered C Class special mission, [The Traitor's Ambush]!

Mission Requirements: Defeat the Germinal leader. Must deal at least 60% of the total damage.

Mission Award: Lottery draw on two of the leader's skills or talents.

Han Xiao's eyes flashed when he saw this. At least sixty percent… This won't be easy.

He had not fought the leader before this, and the leader was a main character on Planet Aquamarine, just like Bennett. He was certainly extremely strong. In his current form, putting aside defeating the leader, Han Xiao might even struggle to shave off a third of his health even if he went all out.

Moreover, there would be countless obstacles in his way on the battlefield. Han Xiao might not even be able to single out the leader. However, despite its high difficulty, the mission reward was very tempting to Han Xiao.

As a main character on the planet, the leader had to have some pretty amazing skills and talents. He might even have the legendary Lucky Halo. It would be like hitting the jackpot if Han Xiao were to get that. However, when he thought about Germinal's pitiful condition, Han Xiao started to have doubts. Uhm… He should have the Lucky Halo… right?

Then, everyone was pushed back into their seats as the three cars accelerated toward the enemy.

Tang Tang said in a grave voice, "Everyone, ready up!"

"This is our chance to take out Zero and the Six Nation's top fighting force once and for all."

The leader looked down on the fast approaching cars as he stood on the dune.

He had only had ten or so hours to mobilize these troops, and the heavier vehicles like tanks had been left behind. The main force of the ambush consisted of thousands of foot soldiers who would provide cover fire along with over ten attack helicopters. The dozens of executives behind him and the leader were the trump cards.

"Fire!"

At once, gunfire exploded across the battlefield, sounding like countless thunder strikes. A hail of bullets flew in from all directions, virtually covering all the empty spaces. The rescue team was trapped in the middle like a caged beast. At the same time, a semi-transparent circular force field expanded and covered the three cars. All the attacks landed unceasingly on the energy barrier, causing it to flicker constantly. However, the cars in the center remained unharmed throughout.

The cars continued to move at a high speed, leaving a trail of black smoke as attack after attack landed on them. The large number of mines that were planted in the sands exploded upon contact with the barrier, causing yellow sand to fill the sky. The barrier was growing dimmer by the second.

This barrier came from the inside of the car on the left side at the rear of the group. Under the protection of the barrier, the Six Nations' forces were able to approach their enemy without taking much damage.

"Ordina's 'Azure Protector' Fazzad." The Germinal leader was calm. He had an impression of all the top fighters of each nation, and he could pretty much guess their identities just by seeing their powers in action.

The rescue team was about to smash right into enemy formations, but the leader remained unfazed. He sent out some orders, and the Germinal troops repositioned themselves to encircle the cars while keeping a safe distance instead of clashing head-on. He understood that ordinary troops had no chance against a group of extremely powerful superhumans, so he had long been prepared for it.

The cars were soon stuck in the middle of the swarms of Germinal forces, and the leader's eye flashed. "Let me see. Who else is here?"

"Go!" Diana was the first out of the car and immediately blasted gusts of flame out of her hands toward the surrounding troops. Three of the machine gun nests in her immediate vicinity were turned into raging infernos.

The driver, Alaupog, was a Sanu warrior. People of the Sanu tribe were born with patterned stripes on their skins. These stripes lit up in bright red as Alaupog entered the battle. The stripes snaked around and covered more skin, and his whole body started to grow larger, causing his shirt to rip, eventually allowing him to grow into a four-meter-tall giant. He was like a humanoid tank as he smashed through the Germinal ranks, causing bodies to fly up into the sky along the way.

Aside from these three, the other two people in the car also stepped off to join the fight. One was fully equipped with a heavily armored mechanical suit that made him resemble a rhino. His weapon was a specially-crafted two-handed hammer with rocket boosters built into one end [1. This is similar to Reinhardt's hammer in Overwatch]. The other newcomer let out an animalistic roar before he summoned a flood of bugs out of the desert ground that tore countless Germinal soldiers into pieces. It was a genuine beast summoning skill, much stronger than Han Xiao's half-assed [Call of The Wild]. Fazzad also continued to supply his allies with a glowing protective barrier.

The dozens of Germinal executives rushed forward to meet their foe. Although they were up against the best fighters of the Six Nations, they soon turned the battle into a stalemate due to their numerical advantage and impressive teamwork.

The superhumans went all out with their respective abilities and caused chaos in the surrounding battlefield.

Han Xiao dragged the still-recovering Hila out of the car, and he found out that these people were all familiar faces. They were all famous people on Planet Aquamarine.

Each of them was their own nation's highest fighting force. In the past, players had to earn an astronomical amount of reputation points before they even had a chance to make contact with these NPCs. Now, these powerful characters had all come together, all for Han Xiao.

Han Xiao had truly built up a fearsome influence for himself.

In this war, at least, he was the most significant player.

All the powerful helpers that had appeared up till now had been within the leader's predictions. He had already made plans for each and every one of them. Although the ambushing force would suffer heavy casualties, it would still be well worth it to be able to eliminate this team of elite fighters.

The leader glanced at Han Xiao, who stood some distance away, and his eyes turned sharp, as if locking on to a prey. With every single step the leader took, his life force gusted out of his body in the form of dark purple flames, and the flames were still increasing in intensity with every step.

He had even dreamed of squashing Han Xiao's brain himself.

The Germinal leader's power level was in an unknown territory, and the Six Nations' forces present all showed a hesitant look on their faces when he approached.

"Can you take care of yourself?" Han Xiao did not even turn his head. If the leader wanted him, he would get him. No matter what, Han Xiao steeled himself as he would not back down from this fight.

"No problem," said Hila through gritted teeth.

Han Xiao nodded, took a deep breath, and made sure he was in tip-top form before he started to take strides toward the leader. However, suddenly, another burst of monstrous life force could be felt from another side of the battlefield. This new presence suppressed the leader's life force and took away everyone's attention!

A familiar figure then stepped out of the last car with a clean-cut hair, heroic facial features, and neatly arranged clothing surrounded by raging white flames.

Bennett!

The Germinal leader was shocked, and his gaze faltered.

Why was the Dark Net's leading figure part of the rescue team‽

The Germinal leader never would have guessed that the Dark Net leader, who had always been neutral, would step onto the battlefield himself. Bennett was completely outside of his pre-arranged plans for the Six Nations' forces. With Bennett's strength alone, there was now no way to know the outcome of this fight. All the previous calculations were useless.

Not only that, four more experts that were not affiliated with the Six Nations stepped out of the car following Bennett. Two of them were elite fighters of the Dark Net and were not any weaker than the Six Nations' superhumans. The other two were Han Xiao's acquaintances—Hannes and Vernia, whom he had previously met in Maple. Han Xiao had accepted a secret main story quest line from these two, and they were very grateful to him.

All these powerful people had come in Han Xiao's aid!

Han Xiao stopped his steps and remarked, "Why are you here? How did you get mixed up into the rescue team?"

Bennett only gave Han Xiao a glance and could not be bothered to reply. He was still mad about Han Xiao not telling him about his secret dual identity beforehand and did not want to talk to him.

Although Dark Net started out with a neutral position when this war first erupted, Bennett realized that the information that Han Xiao had stolen from the Germinal headquarters was key to ending this war.

Bennett had started the Shelter plan to save lives, and now that he had found an opportunity to end the war once and for all, he had finally decided to change his neutrality in this conflict. The Dark Net still had not supplied any resources into this war, but he had come himself, as his own person—with some helpers, of course!

Bennett and his group truly regarded Han Xiao as one of their own! He made this risky move as he had absolute confidence in his own capability; he was publicly acknowledged on Planet Aquamarine as one of the strongest superhumans.

"Leave him to me," Bennett said as he looked calmly at the Germinal leader. It was as if the bullets that rained down around him were non-existent.

The Germinal leader had a dark look on his face, and he was burning up out of fury from the inside.

Bennett stood right in front of him, seemingly trying to defend Han Xiao no matter what. The leader knew that he would not be able to get to Han Xiao unless he dealt with Bennett first.

"The famous Germinal leader. It is said that not a single person has seen you go all out on the battlefield. Looks like it's my lucky day today," Bennett said with a smile on his face, yet his words carried unspeakable strength.

"You think you can touch my people without asking me first‽"

The leader remained silent as his walk turned into a sprint and then into a streak of black afterimages. Bennett also did not show any weakness as he turned into a gust of white flame and clashed with his enemy.

From Han Xiao's observations, Bennett had triggered [Burning Will]. From his overpowered Lucky Halo, he had definitely gotten the highest quintuple critical on that attack.

Dark purple and white flames struck each other.

Booooom!

The scene looked like hell had broken loose as thunderous explosions sounded around the fight, causing ordinary soldiers to start bleeding from their ears.

It was a showdown between the two of the Planet's protagonists!

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Chapter 261: Evolution

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The shockwave created by the clashes blew sands up drifting in the sky. After the view cleared, the battle ring sank down in the ground and formed a perfect bowl shape. Bennett's critical hit that quintupled the normal damage. However, none of them got any advantage after that exchange!

The two men danced with their punches and kicks that no one could follow, as if it was a violent battle between a snow-white dragon and a violet python, biting and tearing each other. Everyone backed off, Germinal and Six Nations alike, afraid that they would be sucked and torn in the battle.

What the hell! These two are wild beasts. Han Xiao could not take his eyes off the fight. Both of them were Pugilists with all sorts of ability and skills, making their energy as dense as concrete. Each of them followed different disciplines of the Pugilist class. Bennett was tactical as his power was an accumulation battle experience. Every move had a purpose and was used at the perfect time.

On the other hand, the leader's style was savage, barbaric, and unpredictable, just like the color of his energy.

The two beasts were clearly stronger than other high-level superhumans. With multiple special Molding Abilities and high attributes compared to the characters on the same level, they were both boss-level superhumans.

No wonder they are the stars of this planet. Han Xiao's eyes suddenly widened.Bennett just used Flaming Will and increased his damage by five times; the leader must have a skill that is as strong as Flaming Will to block the damage.

Remembering the reward of the mission [The Traitor's Ambush, Han Xiao was excited. He knew that a lot of hidden missions could give out powerful skill and abilities, and this mission was simple and straightforward. As long as they won the fight, he would have the chance to get a luxurious reward without spending too much time and thought.

Han Xiao and his teammates were fighting off the enemy on the side, and he was calculating the difference between him and the leader. In the end, Han Xiao concluded that the discrepancies between their power were too high. First of all, Han Xiao had already been in many battles, and he was not in his best form. With only Viper left, Han Xiao did not have enough equipment and weapons to survive a head-on fight against the leader.

With the number of weapons I have, I can at most get an even trade between me and the leader even if I perform well. Bennett will not allow me to do that… Han Xiao sighed. Then if I try to help Bennett and get in a two versus one situation, I can't surpass Bennett's damage. Bennett also has Flaming Will, and the damage is more disgusting than mine…

Han Xiao thought for a second and decided that the current situation was the best position that could be. If he let Bennett and the leader continue to fight each other, even though their fight was intense, they were not losing much health since both of them could parry or block each other's damage. It would take time to find out who the victor of the battle was, and no one on either side had the intention of intervening with this battle between Bennett and the leader.

"At the end of the day, legends are still legends. The leader is stronger than any one of us here, and only Bennett can stop him. There's no way we can help Bennett in that battle." Tang Tang talked through the earpiece as he controlled the battlefield with the sandstorm.

Bennett was the strongest man in the era, and no one could deny the fact, even if they were arrogant and prideful on their own abilities.

"This is a war of attrition. We are in a stalemate right now, and the most powerful fighters are fighting each other. The outcome of this battle will change the course of the war," Fazzad said as he released an energy shield, and everyone else agreed in silence.

Han Xiao heard the words and suddenly realized that this was the best change for him to finish the other mission. If the current battle is a stalemate, then it means that they are squeezing time for me to finish [The Ultimate Trial]! As long as I get a class advancement, I will have the power to take down the leader!

With so many helpers around and even more enemies, this was the perfect chance to earn Trial Points!

Moreover, Han Xiao had found the right way to handle the battle. The bonus Trial Points were calculated after one went out of combat. From previous experience and calculation, Han Xiao could estimate the amount of bonus Trial Points he would get by looking at the number of enemies and allies. Then if he got a chance to go out of combat after killing sufficient enemies, he could reach the two-thousand-point mark with the bonus Trial Points!

The main mission was to defeat the leader and break out of the encirclement, yet it was not in conflict with finishing [The Ultimate Trial]. Han Xiao took the opportunity and executed his plan.

The battle was intense, and Han Xiao's allies suppressed the Germinal Organization with their higher battle power. There were often executive officers that would get injured, and through the battle information on the interface, Han Xiao spotted the executive officers that were low on health and get the last hits on those enemies, even stealing kills from his own teammate at times. Earning Trial Points had never been so easy before, and the rate quickly stacked up.

If there were players witnessing this scene, they could tell that Han Xiao was just last hitting all the kills with only one eye open. However, the teammates were not players. Seeing that Han Xiao was only shooting some bullets on the side, they thought that Han Xiao was exhausted and in a bad shape.

They originally thought that that Han Xiao was a powerful assistant, but it turned out that he had no place to be there. The reinforcements felt like they were babysitting Han Xiao. Diana, whose temper was as explosive as her Esper power, shouted at Han Xiao, "Hey, Black Phantom, you are not doing anything here. Just leave the superhumans to us and go fight off the normal troops."

If Black Phantom was in poor condition, the obvious solution was to let Han Xiao handle the minions. Diana's suggestion seemed fine in front of everyone's eyes, but Han Xiao ignored her command and continued his mission.

Everyone's face switched. Their role in the battle suddenly changed from that statement. If Han Xiao disobeyed the commands, did that mean that he wanted to see the others fight with everything they had just to protect him?

We should be teammates and stand side by side to fight the battle. Moreover, we are your reinforcements, yet you act like this is a game…

All the team seemed annoyed at Han Xiao, and Diana was about to reproach Han Xiao before she was interrupted by an enemy's attack. She grumbled in her heart, He was a traitor of the Germinal Organization to begin with. All he knows is to run around and hide, setting things up in the dark to trigger the war. He indeed is a slippery and treacherous man.

At the same time, Han Xiao could not explain anything. He had to kill superhumans to get Trail Points, and this was the only change to turn the tide of the battle. To fight off minions was just a waste of talent, yet his allies did not know what he was happening. So, he could only remain silent, focus on his mission, and take all the complaints that his teammates had.

The war slowly approached the most heated stage. Time slowly became vague in the intense battle, and additional reinforcements arrived at the stage. Jaross and the other three executive officers joined the team fight, and Han Xiao and his team felt a sudden increase in pressure from the enemy. They tried to break through the encirclement, yet the enemy's disgusting tactics denied them to chance do so. In the end, his team was trapped in the fishnet. However, the Germinal Organization also had to sacrifice uncountable soldiers and weapons to keep holding them back. Corpses and metal scraps were lying on the sand, slowly being covered up as wind and sand blew by.

Although the enemy troops could not deal a devastating blow to the superhumans to win the war, their firepower was as annoying as a flying bug, slowly chips away at the stamina and energy of the superhumans. Water droplets could wear away stone; many a little makes a mickle. In the end, injuries started to surface on Han Xiao's allies, and everyone soon felt worn out.

Tang Tang and a summoner Esper were the target of the enemy. One had the power to control sandstorms, while the other could summon desert bugs and beasts—both of them were excellent at providing crowd control to the battle. The Germinal Organization's executive officers successfully separated the summoner out of the team. They broke through Fazzad's energy shield and took him down with a round of focus fire. The summoner had broken limbs, and blood spilled everywhere. The beasts who were no longer under control quickly ran away from the battle.

Everyone was alarmed. Once fatal injuries and deaths started to occur, it meant that the momentum of the battle slowly shifted to the other side. It was extremely likely for the enemy to snowball the lead.

Han Xiao quickly calculated his Trial Points in his heart.

At first there was around fifty executive officers, and an additional twenty showed up. I've killed around thirty people, and from the difference between our force and their force, I just need another twenty Trial Points along with the bonus I gain once I get out of combat to reach the two thousands mark!

At the same time, Tang Tang, who was right beside him, got hit by a force field attack from Jeross. Tang Tang kneeled down and pressed his chest. All the other executive officers charged toward him and attacked.

Seeing the deadly energy that would soon consume Tang Tang, Han Xiao used his field repulsion to push away Tang Tang, and the attacks flew past his shoulder.

Tang Tang escaped from the death as he shivered out of fear. He quickly turned around and thanked Han Xiao. "Thank you for saving me."

Han Xiao nodded and looked around to find any other target. Suddenly, he saw the man wearing full plate armor with a large mechanical hammer in his hand, charging toward a pugilist like a rhino and swashing the hammer onto his head. At the same time, the executive officer returned some punches and shattered his chest armor. Both of them fell down and spat out blood at the same time.

Chance!

Han Xiao's calm heart was suddenly excited. He instantly sniped the pugilist with [Flaming Will] and ended his life.

You dealt 964 damage to Tayron (LV 54).

You have slain Tayron. You gained 136,000 experience.

You received 23 Trial Points.

I finally got it! Han Xiao tried to suppress his thrill and use all the energy on to the Electromagnetic Hover-boots and the mini maneuvering equipment. Without a second thought, he ran toward where the enemies were coming from, which was actually the weakest and safest area, without looking back.

No one would expect one would go toward the enemy reinforcements, which was why it was the most defenseless area.

Han Xiao quickly left his teammates and instantly got out of combat.

Everyone was stunned!

"Is he trying to escape by himself while leaving us to fight off the enemies?" Diana raged.

The leader was still being tied down by Bennett and could not get away from the fight. Seeing that his prey was getting away, he was pissed and shouted, "Chase after him!"

Jaross led some troops and chased after Han Xiao, and the pressure on the Six Nations' superhuman lessened.

"Wait, maybe he is trying to divert the enemy's forces and create an opening," Tang Tang said quietly. "But if this fails, this will be the end of us. This is too reckless… he should have discussed with us beforehand."

After getting away from the battlefield, the enemies were still close behind Han Xiao. Han Xiao was zooming forward like lighting while counting down the time before his status was out of combat. After running away for five minutes, he saw another wave of reinforcements in front.

He was trapped, and there was no escape.

But Han Xiao smiled with his mouth wide open. The time wasted while he was escaping finally got him out of combat status, and the interface updated the bonus Trial Points that he had earned.

[The Ultimate Trial: Progress 2000/2000

LV 60 Ranked class advancement mission! END increase, 1 END = 30 Health = 40 Stamina]

You obtained new life form evolution. Detected race: [Human/Carbon-based (Yellow)].

Proceeding to random evolution path… Complete.

Please choose one of the five options as your evolution species. Warning! The action cannot be reverted. Please choose carefully! [Appendix – Evolvement Path Guide]

– [Yete] – 78% Compatibility

– [Manu Giants] – 64% Compatibility

– [Magicka] – 81% Compatibility

– [Type-i Space Humans] – 97% Compatibility

– [Elementary Energized Life] – 31% Compatibility

Choice received… Proceeding… Evolution complete.

You gained a Race Specialty, [Adaptive Herd].

You learned a skill, [Machinery: Last Stance].

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Chapter 262: The Sound of Hammering

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Every class advancement was an ascendance of life status. LV 60 was provided a large upgrade to the status among all other levels of class advancement since it was the boundary between Version 1.0 and Version 2.0. The effects of class advancements were based off accumulated experience, and the life form experienced its first evolution. The path of evolution was not completely random, but it was dependent on the initial race that was chosen by the player. For example, carbon-based human evolution paths were usually all in human forms.

The chain of evolution was not always certain, and one could have millions of possibilities for one's evolution. Compatibility determined the volatility of randomness of the status of the evolution. The lower the compatibility, the more random the evolution effects would be, similar to flipping a coin where one could get a powerful evolution, while it was possible to get disastrous effects. For example, the [Basic Energy Organism] could directly change the body structure of a human, abandon the flesh and blood, and become a body made out of pure energy.

On the other hand, if the compatibility was high, then it meant that the evolution path was the most logical. Han Xiao chose [Type-i Space Humans] had close to a hundred percent compatibility since the Space Humans were the most common human species in Galaxy. The race was famous for its fast adaptation to the new environment with the unique characteristic [Adaptive Herd]. Debuff resistance, physical resistance, and mental resistance all increased by ten percent.

All races had different specialties. Once the evolution effects took place, it would be a major upgrade in status, where every race would have a different focus on statuses it improved on. Galaxy contained thousands of races, and from this step forward, all the players started to shape their own unique characteristics that were distinguishable from others.

Compared to the other four choices, the [Type-i Space Human] was the most common one. It was an all-round upgrade, so there was not a lot of uniqueness. However, with higher resistance and adaptability, the upcoming evolutions would have a wider range of choices. The evolution process could not be reverted, which was why Han Xiao clearly remembered the evolution tree, and the [Type-i Space Humans] was the best initial evolution in his mind, so he made his choice without a second thought.

Superhumans could become strong through the process of evolution, and the same went for NPCs. However, since they did not have an interface, they could not choose the evolution path.

Han Xiao took a deep breath.

There was pain aching from his bones, his muscles, and every other part of his body. Han Xiao bit his tongue and tried to take in all the pain from the evolution. The process of evolution was gut-wrenching, and a player could feel less by lowering the intensity of pain. However, all the pain that Han Xiao was feeling was a hundred percent real.

Fortunately, the pain did not last long. It quickly faded, and Han Xiao suddenly had a new perspective of the world!

The enemies were quickly approaching, and Han Xiao did not have time to investigate the changes in his body. He frantically used all the upgrades in his interface and used seventy-four million experience points. [Magnetic Ring Mechanic] instantly went from level five to the maximum level!

[Magnetic Ring Mechanic] Lv.15 (Max).

180 Energy, 2 DEX, 1 END, 4 INT, 4 Free Attribute points.

A third of two hundred million experience points were spent with a blink of an eye.

As the level of skill increased, the more resources were needed to level up the skill. Of course, the benefits corresponded with the expense, and with a ten-level upgrade, his energy increased by 810, and the energy attribute point reached 3,070. The energy attribute points broke through the level eight benchmark of 3000 points, and Han Xiao obtained another additional upgrade in his attributes.

Han Xiao suddenly felt a surge of energy flowing through this body. He reached LV 70, breaking through the level upper limit of version 1.0.

He was the only superhuman on the Planet Aquamarine that was above LV 60.

The Attribute was an enhancement in jumping abilities.

111 STR, 185 DEX, 159 END, 321 INT, 21 MYS, 14 CHA, 1 LUK

Free Attribute Points: 40

Potential Points: 72

Health: 7,980

Stamina: 9,580

Energy: 3,070 (Lv.8)

Energy Rank: 3,275 Ona

Grade: C

[You are qualified to be the Space Explorer Warrior.]

The overall strength has increased by more than half my previous status. The health points were 4,300 before the evolution, and now I have almost double that number. Moreover, the exchange ratio from Endurance to Health Points has increased from 1:20 to 1:30. After all the upgrades and level ups in the status, the four important attributes all increased by around thirty or forty points.

He quickly calculated his combat power, and he did not use the forty Free Attribute Points. Under an unpredictable battle, he could quickly adapt to different situations by adding attribute points.

Han Xiao stood up and turned toward Jeross and the troops. He eyes was sharp, cold, and deadly.

Prepare for your death, Germinal Organization!

The troops arrived in front of Han Xiao, and Jeross roared, "Block all the escape routes. Don't let him get away!"

He then shot his force field toward Han Xiao.

Bang!

The ground exploded with a pit. Han Xiao dodged the attack with ease, and he was a lot faster and agile than before. He charged in front of Jeross and used his Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades. The skill blew a violent wind with so much power that it instantly broke through the defense force field as if it was a knife slicing through cake.

Deng!

After a flash of light, Jeross suddenly lost his vision, and he felt that he had lost control over his body. The pain exploded in his body, and he felt sharp blades sink into his flesh.

He had already sensed what would happen to his body—his eyes had lost all hope.

"No…"

The nine blades pierced through the body at the same time, and Jeross' body was filled with holes with blood splattering everywhere. The blades sliced through the muscles and tendons, and Han Xiao headbutted through the last desperate force field created by Jeross and smacked his head with all his strength!

With only one move, Han Xiao eliminated the powerful and troublesome senior executive officer.

The role of predator and the prey instantly swapped at that moment.

Han Xiao looked around at the surprised soldiers, as if he was the wolf that would hunt everyone down.

On the main battlefield, fight was still going on. Everyone had their attention on the area where Han Xiao had run off to, curious about the result.

Suddenly, the sounds of explosion came from that direction, and everyone looked over.

"What's going on? Did he get away?"

"Are they fighting right now?"

Everyone tried to guess what happened. Then they saw a small dot that was coming toward them. As the dot got closer, they recognized that it as Han Xiao, and all the enemies who had gone after him were nowhere to be seen.

"If he already escaped, why is he coming back?" Tang Tang asked with confusion.

Diana shot another two explosive flame and barely caught her breath. "He probably ran back here because he can't deal with the enemies."

Hila, who was silent the whole time, suddenly said, "His vital sign is different from before!"

In her Esper perception, Han Xiao was as bright and hot as a sun!

She had never seen anyone with such a strong vital sign.

She also felt another subtle change, but she could not tell what it was. The subtle change was the evolution of race that Han Xiao had gone through, so Hila naturally had no idea.

"Where's Jeross?" The leader spared some attention away from the battled. "Focus fire on Zero! Do not let him get away from my vision!"

The troops changed their targets and move their crosshairs right on top of Han Xiao. However, Han Xiao suddenly sped up and dashed through enemy force like lighting. He picked up machine guns off the ground and shot at the enemy with perfect aim. With every shot, there was at least one man that fell to the ground.

Han Xiao moved forward and attacked the executive officers surrounding his allies without saying anything.

Bang Bang!

As if meteors falling down from the sky, the executive officers were all scattered by the firepower of Han Xiao. Han Xiao fought through the enemy with a crushing force, and he was clearly a different man compared to his performance before.

The veterans of the Six Nations were relieved from pressure and stared at Han Xiao's courageous engagement with the enemy.

There was only two words to describe this scene—complete suppression.

"I think that he tried to save some up some energy and get back to his normal condition. After he exhausted the enemy during the chase, he turned back and showed true strength." Tang Tang thought that he understood Han Xiao's plan. Everyone else nodded, and all their doubts toward Han Xiao dispersed like dust.

Diana also held back her hate toward Han Xiao and said, "Well… he could have told us beforehand."

After murdering all the executive officers, Han Xiao moved toward the battle between Bennett and the leader. The leader saw Han Xiao and gave a strong attack to Bennett. Bennett fell back, and the fight stopped.

"Hey Ben, you did good, but his head belongs to me." Han Xiao patted on Bennett shoulder and said, "This is the battle of rivals."

"You…"

Bennett had a sharp sense on people's strength. He knew that Han Xiao was strong, but right now, he could not see through the strength of Han Xiao as if he was looking at the lake without a bottom.

Looking Han Xiao straight in the eye, Bennett did not reply and moved away to fight in another battle. He trusted Han Xiao to win against the leader.

If Han Xiao wanted to fight the leader, he must have been confident.

This was trust that needed no explanation.

The leader's eyes were burning with blue flames. "Bennett was protecting you, and now you came here to fight me. Just because he wasted some of my energy, do you think you can beat me now? Haha… Good… Very good. Even if I'm not in my best condition, I will still murder you with ease!"

"Let's get into it then, haven't you been waiting for this day for so long?"

Han Xiao lifted his arm and shot a bullet right at the leader. The leader made a claw with his hand and released a violet shockwave that slowed down the speed of the bullet.

The leader had mastered several advanced techniques in Pugilist class. With the shockwave blast and physical flame, he was strong in both offense and defense.

The leader's information showed up on the interface.

He has eighty-one percent of his health! Han Xiao's eyes flickered. The leader and Bennett were on the same level, and the leader had only lost a small amount of health, which meant that Han Xiao could still take sixty percent of his health.

Diana, Tang Tang, and the rest of the soldiers watched closely at the fight and worried for Han Xiao. Bennett was considered the strong man on their side, and they trusted Bennett to deal with the leader. However, their suspicion rose as Han Xiao took on the leader, thinking that Han Xiao did not have the ability to suppress the leader.

The fight was intense, and multiple pits was created by the fight. Each was the other's mortal enemy, and every move was filled with their intent to murder, as if they were two beasts fighting each other. None of them tried to dodge the attack and only focused on landing attacks on the opponent.

Han Xiao used all the weapons and machinery at his disposal to drag down the leader's health, including the Sunworm Flamethrower, Ghost sniper rifle, Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades, and Sonic Bomb.

The leader was a Pugilist, so Han Xiao was at a disadvantage when fighting in close quarters. However, with the rapid growth of attributes and status, plus upgrades for Viper, his Endurance and Dexterity were much higher than those of the leader. So even if Han Xiao lacked in Pugilist techniques and close combat skills, he could still get the upper hand with his stats and attributes.

There was no use for tactics!

Han Xiao took a look at the battle information and thought, He has a lot of strong skills that do armor penetration damage and also wear out the defense of the enemy. Also, he has a lot of skills that can reflect damage. He must have used this kill to block off the powerful punches of Bennett.

The two men continued to clash against each other. Han Xiao was focused, and he did not panic. He calculated the skills, health, and other battle information in his mind. He had once been a professional power leveler, so he had tons of experience. One must understand the mechanics and calculations to become a master.

The health bar for a LV 70 character was much higher than the leader, and with Viper, he knew that the best chance for him to win this fight was to use brute force to power through. Even if Han Xiao could only land an attack in exchange for three or four attacks from the leader, it was still worth it.

The leader's health slowly decreased, but Viper was on the brink of destruction. With multiple cracks and dents, the durability of the suit was almost zero, and it would be broken after one or two more hits.

The chips carried on the suits were all shattered, and the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades was bent into scrap metal. The fuel tank for the Sunworm Flamethrower was empty, and there was no more ammo for the sniper. The battle screen had cracks, and the energy was almost depleted.

In other words, Han Xiao had no weapons to use anymore, and this was the worst possible scenario for a mechanic to be in.

I finally can break his suit! Without this turtle shell, there's no way he can fight me anymore!

Seeing that his dream had finally been fulfilled, the leader could not wait and gave a final blow to the suit as he tore it apart.

Crack!

The sound pierced through people's ears.

The damaged Viper suddenly released a bright light and went back to full power! The originally empty durability was restored to fifty percent! The energy of the suit also replenished mysteriously.

[Machinery: Last Stance]

When a machinery's durability was less than ten percent, by using five hundred energy points, one could make a machinery restore back to fifty to eighty percent of the status. The higher the quality and the more complicated the machinery was, the shorter the time of effect of the skill. One's Intelligence attribute also affected the duration of the skill. After the duration, the machinery would self-destruct.

This skill was the equivalent of [Battle: Last Stance].

Han Xiao had already prepared this as his final trick. Taking the opportunity while the leader was still surprised, Han Xiao landed his fist right on the leader's face. The leader fell back and rolled on the ground, and the mask started to crack. He tried to get up, but he suddenly felt a weakening force dragging his body down.

The leader had been in such an intense battle that he did not realize his status was dropping at an abnormal rate. He had injuries all over his body.

"Hey, you there, can you lend me your weapon?" Han Xiao looked over to the Mechanical Pugilist in the dust.

The man hesitated for a second, and with his injured body, he threw the energy hammer to Han Xiao.

"Catch!"

After he caught the hammer, a dark blue Mechanical Force covered the hammer, and Han Xiao activated the [Flaming Will, which had just come off cooldown.

Han Xiao swung the heavy hammer around, and the small boosters on the head of the hammer left a curve in the air. Han Xiao smacked down with the hammer right on the leader's face as he tried to get up.

Boom!

Bull's eye!

Like a baseball being hit by a bat, the leader flew away a few hundred meters and hit three vehicles along the way.

In the air, the mask broke into pieces and landed on the ground.

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Chapter 263: An Unfamiliar Face

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The sand blew in the wind as if the world was covered in a thin cloth. As the sands drifted down to the floor, the whole slowly became clear.

In the violent wind, a shadow of a man got up with difficulty, kneeling on the ground.

Tick tock, tick tock….

Blood dripped down from the corner of his lips. The leader covered his face and stood up with difficulty.

At this moment, the atmosphere froze. The entire battle looked over at the leader as if there was a temporary ceasefire.

The leader of the Germinal Organization always wore a black metal mask. Almost no one, even including people from the Germinal Organization, knew his true identity.

To have the ability to lead such a powerful force, the leader should be a man with a well-known background. All the countries had a lot of guesses on the leader's true identity, and they thought that since the Germinal Organization had been created during the Old Era, the most plausible guess was that he was a legend in the Old Era who had changed his appearance.

Han Xiao also looked over. No players in his previous lives had been able to find out the identity of the leader, so he was as curious as the rest.

The leader put down his hand, and the face that presented in front of everyone's eyes was a distorted face with multiple scars, as if there were bugs crawling under the skin. The scars looked like it was a deep scratch left by a wild beast.

Most importantly, it was an unfamiliar face.

Even though his looks were appalling, the outline of the face was still recognizable. Han Xiao was confident that he had not seen this face when he looked at the intel on the Dark Net. He looked over at Bennett and the superhumans from the Six Nations, and they were all confused.

No one recognized the leader.

Bennett frowned. He was a legend from the Old Era, and he still remembered numerous legends from back in the day, including those who died in battle or died of old age. Yet, he could not recognize face of the leader. There were only three possibilities.

First, the leader had also worn a mask in the Old Era. Second, he had changed his appearance to hide his identity. Third, he had not been a powerful man during the Old Era and stayed under the radar during that time.

With his appearance revealed, the leader did not show any expression as if he could not care less.

Can no one recognize him? Does that mask only try to hide the terrifying face so as to avoid decreasing the morale of the soldiers? Han Xiao frowned. Babies would cry seeing the leader's face. If he did not wear a mask, he probably would bring a '-20 Military Morale' debuff.

The battle was not over. Leaving the questions behind, Han Xiao went on the offense, swinging his mechanical battle hammer with only thirty seconds before Viper broke down.

Bang bang bang!

The fist covered with purple energy clashed with the hammer, and the sound of metal clashing never stopped.

The leader's eyes were spicy and deadly, and he quickly saw the poor condition of the mechanical suit. As long as he can drag it out long enough, the suit would shatter, and that would be the end of any Mechanic.

Defend.

The leader switched to a defensive stance and took all the direct hits from Han Xiao. Under the heavy attacks, the leader did not flinch and was as hard as stone.

The unmovable body and the unbreakable hammer clashed more and more intensely, and the wind created by the impact blew the sands up like a wave.

Clink! Clink!

After thirty seconds, Viper suddenly made a weird sound, and pieces of components and chips shattered like a withered flower.

The mechanical suit was broken.

Han Xiao revealed his real body.

"Yah!" the leader screamed, and he switched back to the offensive in an instant. All the energy saved in his body travelled to his fist and punched right at Han Xiao's stomach. In addition to armor penetration skill, the impact directly hit the flesh of Han Xiao.

Bang! Hong!

One attacked created two sounds. First was the fist hitting the body, then the impact passed through the body of Han Xiao and created another explosive sound as the energy left Han Xiao's body from the back. The second explosive sound was almost loud enough to deafen everyone present, leaving a cone shaped dent in the sand behind Han Xiao.

Under such a powerful force, Han Xiao barely even moved. He did not even take a step back and absorbed all the impact.

"How did you!" The leader could not believe his eyes.

How could a Mechanic block a punch with his own body?

Then, a shadow appeared above the leader's head, and the hammer started to smash again. The leader tried to block the hammer with his arms, yet a sudden pain shock through his arms, and his body sank into the ground until the sand covered his knees, as if he was a nail being hammered into the ground.

The leader's pupils reflected a man's shadow with dense energy. It was denser than his own energy as a Pugilist!

"Why…" The leader ground his teeth, then he suddenly realized what had happened. "Did you break that limit?"

The class advancement every twenty levels had always been a bottleneck for NPCs, who did not have an interface. They could not easily break through the limit as they could not finish any missions. Therefore, the only way for them to obtain a class advancement was hard work and luck.

Among the top superhumans in the Planet Aquamarine, there had not been any news where anyone had conquered the bottleneck and reached the next stage. It was nearly impossible for them to obtain the next level.

The dream and thirst for a class advancement that he desired the most happened to the person whom he hated the most at the worst possible moment.

Is this… fate?

The word kept on ringing in his ears like a broke record player.

"Eat my battle stomp!" Han Xiao randomly shouted a skill name and smashed his hammer onto the leader's head.

Without Viper, Han Xiao lost the bonus buff and damage on to his attacks. Moreover, he had finished using all his ammunition. The only thing that he had left was the mechanical hammer, and on the surface, it seemed that it would still be a tough battle. However, with the new Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance, his status was on other level compared to the LV 60 BOSS-level Pugilist. In addition, the leader was already heavily injured with only thirty-seven percent of his health points left.

Once the health points reached below a certain point, all the debuff would start kicking in and slowly decrease his combat strength. The difference in power between the two men did not change much after the Viper broke down. Han Xiao still could handle the leader and save the world.

Seeing this, the leader was already discouraged. Along with his bad condition, he had no way to fight back. He kept on being smashed by the hammer as blood splattered around.

On the side, the superhuman from the Six Nations could not believe their eyes.

In their mind, the only person who could fight the leader was Bennett, and no one had thought that that this man would be Han Xiao.

Bennett was undoubtedly the strongest man, the only one who could stand toe to toe against the leader. Yet, Han Xiao battered the leader with ease without taking much damage other than a broken suit.

They witnessed the entire process of Han Xiao beating down the leader. It was no ambush nor sneak attack; it was an honorable and straightforward fight with nothing to hide. This also meant that Han Xiao was on other level compared to Bennett.

Who was Bennett? He was the strongest man on the entire planet.

Han Xiao's performance could get rid of 'strongest' from the title.

He was now the strongest superhuman on this entire planet!

The stalemate of the intense battle was broken by Han Xiao as he took over the battlefield.

Diana's temper was as explosive as her power. She almost threw a fireball at Bennett and asked, "Is he actually that strong? Why did he need our support?"

"This feeling… it can't be wrong. He just broke through the limit in this battle!" Tang Tang's eyes flickered.

Shock and jealousy slowly surface on the faces of the crowd.

Seeing that the leader was getting beaten, the morale of the Germinal Organization dropped, and soon, the enemies panicked.

Bang!

Another hammer landed on top of the chest. The leader spat out more blood on Han Xiao. The leader suddenly roared with blood in his mouth.

The violet energy became dense again and was alive like burning flames.

Han Xiao thought that the leader was going to use his ultimate skill. He held the hammer in front of him and prepared for an attack.

But the next second, the leader turned around and ran as fast as he could. He used his energy as a booster and ran like a missile being launched. After running for two hundred meters, he headed into a base, and his energy died down. His whole body was out of strength and collapsed on the sand with blooding flowing out of his nose and mouth.

With those heavy injuries, he could not take any more of Han Xiao's attacks. No matter how angry the leader was, he had to escape.

"He ran away! He admitted defeat!"

Han Xiao quickly checked the battle information.

The leader had only fourteen percent of his HP left and was in weakened status.

Taking sixty percent of his HP had been achieved.

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Chapter 264: The Historical Moment

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The leader had sustained heavy injuries, and this caused the Germinal forces to instantly collapse.

Some troops rushed to surround and protect the leader while others were still bogged down in a battle. The Six Nations' experts used this opportunity to concentrate fire on a single spot and created a hole in the Germinal formation.

"Get in the car!" Tang Tang yelled.

The cars were about to drive past Han Xiao, and this was the best chance to get in the car.

Han Xiao took a glance toward the leader and saw that he was blocked by several lines of bodyguards.

The leader still had fourteen percent of his health left, and with the troops surrounding him, it would not be easy for Han Xiao to kill the leader in a short amount of time. Seeing how his allies were all about to successfully escape from the Germinal forces, delaying any longer could risk them getting encircled once more.

Han Xiao himself did not really mind this. With his current strength, he could solo the Germinal army that was on the brink of breaking apart with ease. However, aside from Bennett, all other members of the team that came had sustained injuries, and casualties might arise were they to keep on fighting.

Han Xiao had once been their rescue target, but now, he had turned into someone who needed to protect them.

Han Xiao did not know whether he should laugh or cry at this, but he made the logical decision within a short moment.

[The Traitor's Ambush] mission is already completed, and my job is done. All I have to do now is relay the confidential information to the Six Nations and let them worry about the rest.

He decided not to deal the final blow as it did not really matter to him at this point.

As the cars were just about to pass him, one of the doors opened, and Han Xiao quickly jumped aboard, leaving the troops behind in the dust.

The Germinal troops were completely left behind this time, slowly becoming specks on the horizon.

"It's done." Han Xiao finally let out a deep breath. The leader would no longer have any chance to stop him now.

This had truly been an exhilarating experience.

This time, he had rescued Aurora and Hila from the Germinal headquarters, stolen advanced Mechanic Knowledge from their lab, and even gotten hold of a bunch of crucial war information. Killing his way out and revealing his identity had also cemented his position as a Legend on the planet as well as further boosting his reputation among the players. He had broken past Version 1.0's limit after killing countless high-level Germinal executives and even beaten up the leader himself, obtaining the lucky draw on two of the leader's abilities.

Although he had faced endless danger along the way, the reward made it all well worth it!

Han Xiao thought of something and suddenly looked back at the Germinal leader from the car window.

The leader stood shakily on a distant sand dune, with his now weak-looking figure swaying in the wind.

Han Xiao and the leader's gaze locked onto each other's despite the long distance.

The leader was expressionless. He had mustered all his resources this time yet had ended up with nothing to show for it. However, instead of raging over it, all Han Xiao saw in the leader's eyes were conflicting emotions of pain, dejection, and even a sense of release and weariness. It was as if he had used up all his will and no longer had the energy to let out his fury.

Han Xiao was somewhat puzzled and became curious about this character.

Leading the Germinal Organization to overthrow the mighty Six Nations. Why did he do all this? What kind of person was he?

Ambitious? Cruel? Immoral?

Despite his long-time adversity with the leader, Han Xiao barely knew about his foe.

Oh right. I don't even know his name.

Han Xiao once again focused his gaze on the leader, and the leader also met his gaze from the distance.

In that instant, it was someone had pressed the pause button, and even time itself had stopped. The gaze between the two looked almost like a still painting.

This was Han Xiao's first face-to-face contact with the leader…

… and also the last.

Later, the Six Nation fighters present would describe this scene and leak it to the whole world.

After the war had ended, when each nation was re-organizing, they would find out that this was the turning point in the war. The stare-down between Zero and the Germinal leader would become a historical moment and be recorded in Planet Aquamarine's history.

The moon lit up the night, and stars were scattered throughout the sky. The astral sea lit up this side of the hill, and artificial lighting was not even needed deep into the night.

The three cars were parked atop a hill that was hidden in the middle of a small forest. The engines were turned off, and silence filled in the surroundings. Everyone had gotten out their cars and spread out to mind their own business. Some chewed on their rations, some tended to their wounds, and others made small talk.

After the intense combat throughout the day, they had decided to stop there for the night to rest. Driving past the plains in front of them would get them to the border between the Six Nations' and Germinal's warzone. Germinal had limited control over this area, and it was nothing compared to the forces that were swarming around the headquarters. The forces that had pursued and ambushed them earlier had suffered heavy casualties, and there were truly no more threats to the team.

Han Xiao finally had some time to take in the changes that he had gotten from evolving his race.

He observed his body under the gentle moonlight. His skin was still yellow, but there were some minor changes. After the minor changes to his DNA, his body became even better proportioned, and his limbs seemed to have grown longer. He also felt that he had become more handsome as he checked himself out with a mirror…

Yup. Definitely not just my imagination.

[Type-i Space Human] had high compatibility with his body. This was a race of humans who had adapted to live in space and had been exposed to a variety of different types of radiation as well as the planet's environments over the years. This was a race that followed strictly followed the laws of evolution, and those who could not adapt naturally could not survive. The logic behind was similar to how humans on Earth had evolved into different races: Asians, Caucasians, Africans, etc. The differences all came from the different living environments. Type-i Space Humans also started as the countless normal humans in the universe—more commonly recognized by other alien races as Carbon Monkeys, Parasites, Sneaky B*stards, Prideful Creatures, Racists, Not Delicious, etc.

Due to the harshness of space, the Type-i Space Humans had much stronger bodies. They had a more perfect body structure, and their organs could function at a higher capacity. If normal humans were comparable to thin sheets of paper, they would be like rubber, much harder to break.

Of course, the body still looked more or less like a normal human. There was not anything such as green skin or longer teeth.

Each race and species' evolution paths were very much traceable. Carbon-based organisms could not suddenly become mechanical lifeforms. Those that evolved or mutated into having potential to utilize life energy were commonly known as True Soul Carriers. Most thought-capable species had the potential to develop this power.

Although a normal human has a lot of evolution paths to choose to follow, the more one evolves, the harsher the requirements will become to evolve again. A Space Human has less of an option in evolving as there is usually only one main pathway, but with more evolutions, the compatibility will also increase. Those extremely powerful races all require high compatibility and also have the most potential.

Han Xiao nodded. Evolution was a step-like process. Gaining massive power early on would naturally mean that one would mean losing out later on. Only by walking on a wider road would he have more options in the future.

It was also important how well the evolution pathway worked with his class. As he did not need to go for those all-brawn-no-brain races, the [Type-i Space Human] evolution was very suitable for Han Xiao.

I might as well finish dealing with [The Traitor's Ambush] now.

Han Xiao rubbed his hands and was full of expectations like an old gambler.

Ahem. It was more like the excitement one felt from getting their pay.

[The Traitor's Ambush] has been completed.

You have obtained: Lucky draw for two of the Germinal leader's abilities.

Commencing lucky draw… Draw complete.

Please choose two out of the five following abilities:

1. [Advanced Martial Arts] – Talent: Decrease energy consumption by 30% when using pugilist skills and increase damage output by 15%.

2. [Venomous Attack] – Skill: Assassin-type skill. Strike fast like a snake, and deal 4 – 7 consecutive blows to your opponent. The first hit will deal 41 – 59 bonus damage, and each following blow will deal 5% less.

3. [Repel – Thorns] – Skill: Use your energy to absorb 30% of all incoming attacks. If it's a melee battle, reflect the same amount of absorbed damage back to your opponent. Uses 300 energy, 500 stamina, and cools down in 110 seconds.

4. [Iron Fist] – Talent: Bare-handed attacks increase in damage by 7% and block chance increases by 3%.

5. [Steel Body] – Talent: Immune to true damage.

Unfortunately, the Lucky Halo was not one of the draws.

Does he not have it, or is my luck just too bad? Han Xiao shook his head.

The leader had several dozen different abilities, and the chances of getting something good with only five draws was truly too low. So, Han Xiao was not that disappointed.

The leader was a pugilist, so most of the drawn abilities had something to do with martial arts. He was able to choose two out of the five abilities for himself.

"This is great! It's a Molding Ability!" Han Xiao's eyes lighted up.

Molding Abilities were unique in that they were very powerful, specific, and absolute—as in the case of damage immunity. This was exactly what Han Xiao was looking for.

[Steel Body] was basically a BOSS template. It would make him immune to attacks that dealt true damage. This would greatly reduce the chance of accidents from happening, and he would be much hard to be killed in one-shot. For example, without this ability, someone with a skill similar to [Flaming Will, which could do true damage, would have posed a huge threat to Han Xiao. However, with [Steel Body, that danger was completely negated. As Han Xiao himself did a lot of explosive attacks, he knew the pros and cons of true damage very well.

He chose [Repel – Thorns] because he did not have any other better choice out of the remaining draws. The others were all pugilist skills.

When he thought back on the previous fight between Bennett and the leader, the leader must have used this ability to tank Bennett's broken quintuple damage punch.

When Han Xiao thought about the leader again, he could not wipe away his interest in this main storyline character.

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Chapter 265: The Next Class Change Requirement

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

You have obtained [Repel – Thorns]!

You have obtained [Steel Body]!

A paralyzing feeling passed through Han Xiao's body, and it made him much more focused. When he stretched out his arms, he found out that his body had become much tougher. His chest even gave off satisfying echoes when he gave it some test smacks.

Looks like I'm progressing well on the road to become a true meat shield. Han Xiao was in a good mood as he was very glad about the mission reward this time around.

He had obtained his second Molding Ability. True damage was damage that directly reduced one's health regardless of other defensive stats. For example, when a normal attack with a hundred attack power landed on someone, it would be reduced by a certain amount depending on the armor that the assailant wore. On the other hand, true damage would be able to do a hundred flat damage without reductions.

With this ability, he was much harder to kill and was starting to look more and more like a BOSS character.

After maxing out his [Magnetic Ring Mechanic] class in the interface, Han Xiao still had 125,000,000 experience points left, which he used to directly max out [Machinery – Last Stance] and [Repel – Thorns]. After spending another 13,000,000 exp, he gained two additional Potential Points.

Both of these abilities were very useful. [Machinery – Last Stance] was self-explanatory—it was basically like combat Viagra for Mechanics. [Repel – Thorns] was a very powerful defensive skill as it could directly mitigate a portion of all incoming damage.

Maxing out [Magnetic Ring Mechanic] also unlocked the new class change requirements.

Class Change Requirement: Reach LV 80, obtain 400 Intelligence Points, learn five advanced mechanic knowledges.

Well that's surprising. Han Xiao's eyes flashed.

Several of the class change requirements for main classes were the same for everyone. Han Xiao had class-changed four times and had [Mechanic Novice, [Novice Technician, [Mechanic Trainee, and [Magnetic Ring Mechanic]. All Mechanic players who went with the Magnetic Ring class change tree would have to complete the same requirements.

Only when they had learned enough advanced knowledge and leveled up intelligence enough would they be able to move onto the next level.

My intelligence stat has already reached 321 points. With 40 free points, I now only need 39 stat points to meet this requirement. So, the important thing now is to look for a sub-class to max to obtain LV 80 overall.

Even someone like Han Xiao who basically only assigned points into intelligence did not have enough to do the class change. It was even worse for the Mechanic players who did not know any better and put points randomly into different areas. These players would have no other choice but to arduously look for more subclasses to gain stat points from.

The cap on Version 2.0 was LV 90. The higher the overall level, the higher the required experience to level up one's sub-classes. This was why the later one fulfilled one's class change requirements, the higher the cost would be.

Eventually, when a player's sub-classes' levels made up most of their overall level, their actual strength would then be laughable.

In the past, some Galaxy players had only been able to meet their class change requirements once they got to LV 80. Before they could level up their main class after the class change, they soon ran into the Version's level cap. Unsurprisingly, these players were the weakest when it came to PVP.

Han Xiao threw in all forty of the unassigned points into intelligence and muttered, "I also need to find a subclass. My strength has already far surpassed the Version cap, so I don't need to focus on leveling up anymore for now. Hmm… I should try to look for one of the rarer sub-classes. Those tend to give more free skill points per level, so I will be able to class change without leveling up too much.

He was not worried about obtaining advanced mechanical knowledge. It seemed hard because the rate of his growth had already surpassed the norm in the current Version. Advanced knowledge was something that would come by sooner or later.

"Hey, Black Phantom. Can I have my weapon back?"

Someone called Han Xiao from behind him. Havalen had walked over as he asked Han Xiao.

He was the mechanical pugilist who owned the rocket-boosted hammer. The hammer was still with Han Xiao at the moment.

Han Xiao turned and replied, "Oh this! I gave it a small check before, and it seemed like your weapon wasn't functioning properly. Let me help you repair it first."

Or in Han Xiao's mind… You can have it back after I've figured out the blueprint for this thing.

Havalen had a face full of suspicion. "There's a malfunction? But it worked fine when I was using it."

"Oh, you know, damaging weapons is often unavoidable during intense battles."

"Uh, this weapon was developed by Theseus's military factory, and I was ordered not to let anything about the technology leak out…" Havalen was troubled. He knew that Han Xiao was a Mechanic, so he was naturally concerned.

"That's not right," Han Xiao replied in a righteous voice. "Do I look like that kind of person? We're teammates right now, you and I!"

Han Xiao was not feeling guilty about this at all. Teammates were supposed to be used, or what difference would they have from fish in the market?

Havalen hesitated for a few seconds before finally relenting, and he returned to where was previously.

He did not believe a word Han Xiao said, but the thing was, this dude was much stronger than every other person present.

What could he do?

The Six Nations' agents were busy reporting the current situation to their higher ups. All the nations had their full attention on this issue. Han Xiao did not really mind. He might as well let the Six Nations people know how strong he was so as to avoid any misunderstandings in the future.

Han Xiao saw that Bennett was huddled up and talking with a small circle of people, so he walked over. He noticed that they were clamoring over a wheel that had fallen off and asked, "What's this about?"

"I'm not sure if you have noticed, but we're trying to fix this wheel," Bennett said in a salty voice.

Han Xiao looked at him weirdly. "I have eyes. Are you taking the piss with me?"

The two stared at each other before Hannes could not stand it anymore and butted in to explain, "This wheel had been shot. There are some tools in the trunk. Do you think you could help us fix it? You're a Mechanic, right?"

"You should've said that earlier." Han Xiao pulled up his sleeves, took out his tools, and started fixing the wheel while making a bunch of clanking noises. The group of people just stood around him and gawked like a bunch of fools.

After Han Xiao was done, Hannes reattached the wheel onto the car. Bennett then finally looked at Han Xiao and signaled before he walked off to the side. Han Xiao shook his head a few times before he followed behind helplessly.

The debt collector was finally here.

Once they were a distance away from the campsite, Bennett stopped, and so did Han Xiao.

"Humph!" Bennett turned before staring at Han Xiao and said, "Explain yourself."

Obviously, he was talking about Han Xiao's double identity. Bennett still could not get over it.

Han Xiao was delighted upon hearing this. Bennett sounded just like a pouting daughter-in-law…

"So, you don't want to talk about it? Do you see yourself right now? Oh… you think you're so tough?" Thinking back to what had happened over the past few days pissed Bennett off. "Why not tell us that you're an alien as well?"

Han Xiao was speechless.

You might've guessed right…

However, Han Xiao was extremely thick-skinned, and no matter how much Bennett whined and complained, Han Xiao only gave off an occasional "huh" to let the other person know that he was still listening. When he saw how Han Xiao was not willing to speak at all, Bennett also felt helpless about it and sighed before saying, "Whatever, it's all in the past anyway."

Han Xiao was a friend and someone who had made great contributions to the Dark Net. He had also devoted himself to the Shelter plan, and Bennett trusted him completely. He would not fuss too much over something like this. Moreover, Bennett secretly respected Han Xiao for his accomplishments.

Bennett coughed a few times before saying in a muffled voice, "You… how did you break past the limit?"

As a superhuman, he also wanted to become stronger. Bennett wanted to ask about Han Xiao's experience in hopes of gaining some enlightenment for himself. He actually did not care about being surpassed by Han Xiao or any of that. Bennett had never been one to not care about these small things, and he had always lived life by trusting his friends. Han Xiao was one such friend. Although this youngling would irk him from time to time, he was still a likeable helper.

Han Xiao thought for a bit before replying with a straight face, "Like the old teachings… First, take in a deep breath but wait. You also need to start circulating energy around your nether region. You know where I'm talking about, right? So basically, your bladder. You will then start to feel like energy is slowly leaking out of you, but don't worry, this is common for all beginners. Once you can control this feeling and hold the energy from leaking on will, you will be able to break through your limit. It's as easy as that."

"… You're bullsh*tting me again, right?" Bennett was shocked. He had a mouthful of inelegant terms stuck in his mouth, waiting to be spit out.

Why do you never change! Do I look that gullible to you‽

At that moment, the two suddenly quieted down as they noticed that someone was approaching—it was Hannes.

Hannes swept his eyes across the two and said in a grave voice, "I have something to tell you guys. I might've found the Germinal leader's origins."

The duo was shocked, and their expressions drastically changed.

"He is as powerful as me," Bennett said. "This kind of character definitely can't just be some random hooligan, but I have no impression of him at all. It's very odd."

"So where is he from?" Han Xiao asked curiously.

"Black Phantom… Oh, I will just call you Han Xiao. Do you still remember the mission we left for you?"

Han Xiao nodded. The hidden A-rank main storyline mission [New Ear – Origin]'s objective was to dig up the buried past of Planet Aquamarine. He had broken down the mission into different portions and assigned pro Galaxy players to deal with the mission. The first part of the mission had already been completed, but Han Xiao just had not turned it in.

He never would have thought that the leader had something to do with the hidden main storyline, and this instantly piqued his interest.

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Chapter 266: The Origins of the Germinal Organization

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

"The intelligence you found has given us new clues. And several various investigations, we've found traces of the Germinal Organization's origins from a dead country's sealed confidential scroll…"

Just as he finished his sentence, the notification appeared on the interface.

[New Era – Origin] First Round Complete

You have received 350,000 EXP

Completion Grade: Good

You have received 280,000 EXP bonus.

You have received Lv.45 Rare Large Dungeon Crystal – [Gollum Protection Warfare] x 5.

Listen to Hannes

"In the old era, there was a small country called Gollum. Their government went through many changes and revolutions throughout history. In a year during the old era, a terrorist group targeting Gollum appeared, going by the name 'Mimok'. They attacked the nation of Gollum many times and created terror in society. The government took action.

"However, it was as if the members of Mimok were everywhere. The repeated attacks destroyed the sense of safety of the people of Gollum. They demanded the government take stricter measures, and the government did. They came up with all sorts of strict laws. The regulations in the nation became tight, and the people of Gollum were under constant surveillance and management. They called it 'protective measures'. After that, Mimok seemed to have disappeared in just a night. There were no more attacks. The measures seemed to have worked.

"However, Mimok was actually an organization that was created by Gollum's government secretly to inflict violence upon their people. For safety, the people of Gollum willingly accepted the strict 'protection'. The government took the rights back from the people one after another. All media sources and any platform that could give the people a voice were under the government's strict control."

Bennett nodded and said, "That is ruling through terror. You create an enemy for the people, and you will be on the side of the people. They will feel the danger themselves. And when there's no guarantee of safety, terror will push most people to give up freedom in exchange for safety, accepting strict regulations."

"That's right." Hannes nodded and continued. "There's no way of knowing why the government back then chose this way of ruling the nation. Maybe they didn't want to make the same mistake that was made in history. However, some people discovered the truth about Mimok. The tricks of the government were exposed—it became a scandal that could bring them down. The people of Gollum were furious. They paraded, protested, and created a civilian resistance organization. It led to one violent conflict after another, wanting to overthrow the government.

"When the internal conflict in Gollum was most heated, the galactic civilization came. They brought along knowledge that could change the world. At that time, chaos appeared everywhere around the world. Then war broke out, Gollum got invaded by their neighboring country. Gollum had focused too much on the internal conflict. With the threat from both inside and outside the nation, the government fell. The nation was invaded and taken over. Gollum died."

"So, the Germinal Organization is Mimok.

"The current Germinal Organization leader was a citizen of Gollum. He was once a member of the Gollum Civilian Resistance Organization."

"Oh? The Gollum Civilian Resistance Organization should be an enemy of Mimok," Han Xiao said in surprise. "What's his actual identity? What's his name?"

Hannes shook his head and said, "That era was too long ago; the detailed identity can't be found anymore. What we know for sure is that the leader of the Germinal Organization was once just a nobody. Gollum died, but Mimok survived. After getting out of government control, the leader of the Mimok was ambitious. He turned the organization into a starving wolf looking for an opportunity in the war.

"They were once active before the Old Era war. However, one day, Mimok suddenly disappeared. Then only appearing again after a few years. And when they reappeared, they were called the Germinal Organization. Their power expanded dozens of times; they became a shark from a shrimp. The original Mimok leader was nowhere to be found. This is all the intel I could find."

It got quiet, and they stared at each other.

"Seems like the leader took Mimok away," Han Xiao said in a low voice.

Bennett was more concerned about another problem. "What happened to the other people of Gollum?"

"Some were killed by the nation that invaded Gollum, some changed their nationality, and the rest became wanderers." Hannes paused before saying, "Also… the nation that invaded Gollum is now called Raylen."

"So that's what happened. Now we know the motive of the Germinal Organization leader being hostile toward the Six Nations—revenge." Han Xiao nodded.

Everyone had hope in their life. Hope would become a wish, and that wish would become a belief. Different beliefs led to different paths that would clash with each other, resulting in conflicts and possibly even war, the ultimate form of conflict.

The Germinal Organization was created from the Old Era. They had been at the front lines of the conflict, yet not only did they still exist, they had even become stronger and stronger. The leader's past sounded legendary. From an ordinary person that no one had heard of, he became the leader of the organization that could fight against the Six Nations. He sure did match up as one of the main characters on Planet Aquamarine.

However, only the leader himself knew his actual thoughts and experiences.

At this time, the second round of missions of [New Era – Origin] appeared on the interface. It was the same type of mission as the first round, consisting of many small missions to find clues around the world. There was a total of nine missions. Han Xiao decided to use his old method, splitting them up and giving to the players.

This hidden storyline is about digging through the history that was buried. The introduction says it will have unknown impacts on Planet Aquamarine. Will something so astonishing appear and change people's knowledge of the entire world? Han Xiao guessed.

The basic reward of the second round was 800,000 EXP, and the grade reward was still unknown. The first round of the mission had given the reward of five Dungeon Crystals of a large twenty-man dungeon, the type that had save points and could go on for days. Large guilds would definitely be interested; Han Xiao felt he could make a fortune from this.

After some chit chat, they went back to the convoy.

Han Xiao sat at the side and ate some dry food. Suddenly, he smelled a fragrance.

Hila came beside him, then said with a serious face, "We have already escaped. When are we going to fetch my younger sister? I'm very worried about her."

Han Xiao ate the last piece of biscuit, wiped his mouth, and said, "We have to go back there in order to fetch your sister. These people of Six Nations definitely won't agree to us taking the risk."

"Then we can go ourselves," Hila said without hesitation.

Han Xiao shook his head. "If I go back, the leader might fight back again, and there will be more trouble."

Like Han Xiao had said at the start, fetching Aurora was very troublesome. However, splitting up was a must—bringing Aurora along would have meant taking care of her and not being able to fight all out. There would have been many restrictions, and Aurora might have faced danger, leaving openings for the enemy. If the enemy had realized that the two of them were protecting Aurora and decided to focus their attacks on Aurora, the two of them would have shown more flaws in the fight. They might not even have made it out if they had brought her along.

Hila scowled at Han Xiao but did not say anything. They had been through life and death situations together, so she believed that Han Xiao would not go back on his word.

Hila and Han Xiao could be considered comrades.

The Hila now was younger and more sentimental compared to the goddess of death in his memory, who was ice cold and unpredictable. Han Xiao felt very joyful seeing the sentimental side of the person that would become one of the strongest in the future.

Friends made during hard times would definitely be closer than those made after being successful.

He stood up, tapped Hila on her shoulder, and smiled. "Don't worry, I have someone better to do the job."

Hila frowned. Honestly, she did not want an outsider to fetch her sister, but Han Xiao definitely had his reasons for saying that. "Is that person trustworthy?"

Han Xiao touched his chin and nodded. "We are in a trading relationship; he has no reasons to be my enemy, and his abilities are most suited for this task."

Hila nodded. She chose to trust Han Xiao and stood to the side. Han Xiao took out his laptop and dialed into a communication channel. After a few seconds, a voice came out of the laptop.

"Black Phantom?"

"It's me." Han Xiao smiled and said, "How are you, Dion?"

"I didn't think you would find me at this moment. Aren't you on the battlefield? News about you is all over the place." Dion was surprised. Han Xiao now had an astonishing level of influence, so his tone was also a little gentler.

"Then you need to wait for the latest news," Han Xiao said. "How's business recently?"

"Quite good, many big customers are willing to spend at times of war."

"I wanted to buy something from you," Han Xiao said. "The Bonfire Reaction Furnace, PE0 Nanotechnology Fiber, and so on. I want to buy a few more units of these; money is not a problem. I will give you a list later."

Viper was done for, and Han Xiao wanted to build a new one. His skills had improved, so he wanted to make an even stronger version.

As a Mechanic, he just had to build another one if the previous one was destroyed—that was how life was.

"Sure," Dion agreed immediately. "I'm in Andrea, too. As you know, war is a business opportunity. You decide on a location, and I will send the things. It's best not to be anywhere near Ordina."

"You're in Andrea? In that case, I have a small favor to ask of you."

"What?"

"Help me fetch someone."

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Chapter 267: Exposed Intel, Turning Point of The War

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

It was dark and damp.

The rotten smell filled the air. The dark and cold air pierced into the bones.

In a pitch-black cave, a petite person cowered and shivered.

Aurora carefully tore open a bag of military use biscuits slowly, stopping after every bit of tearing, worried that the sound might attract enemies. After opening the packaging, she took small bites on the hard biscuits and took her time finishing them.

These sounds actually would not get out of the cave, but she kept Han Xiao's reminder in mind and did not dare to make any noise.

This is already the thirteenth meal, Aurora thought.

The passing of time could not be felt in the cave. She ate as soon as she was hungry and calculated the time based on the number of meals she had.

A pair of bright eyes hid in the shadow, always looking toward the cave entrance.

In the cave, there was only a pile of resources, the sound of breathing and her beating heart, and the wait in complete darkness.

A few days later, in the front lines of Stardragon camp on the South Battlefield of Andrea.

The convoy stopped inside the camp, and people waited in boredom.

Diana played with the fire sparks between her fingers for a while, then asked impatiently, "We have waited for twenty-two hours, how much longer are we going to wait?"

"Be patient. Probably not much longer," Han Xiao said with a cigarette in his mouth.

After breaking through the leader's ambush, they went smoothly through the Germinal Organization's territory and came to the Six Nations' territory. Their original destination had been a temporary base on the southern battlefield, but Han Xiao had suddenly requested to stop at this place, saying that he had to wait for someone.

Since they were already safe, the people of the Six Nations did not have any objections. They did not leave because they had a mission, which was to monitor Han Xiao and give the intel to the Six Nations. Since it was a very important matter, the Six Nations had to make sure of it.

At the side, Hila walked back and forth anxiously, continuously glancing at the entrance of the camp.

The soldiers passing by looked at them with admiration. They usually did not have the chance to see so many high ranked people.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the entrance of the camp.

Hila stopped in place and looked over nervously.

The guards opened the gate, and man in a hoodie held the hand of a little girl and walked in slowly. The face of the little girl was pale and filled with curiosity. She looked left and right, and when she saw Hila, she could not take her eyes away.

It was Dion and Aurora.

Hila walked forward with wide strides, hugged Aurora tightly in her arms, and only let go when Aurora almost could not catch her breath. She squatted down, touched Aurora's face, and looked at her carefully. Seeing that Aurora was unhurt, she felt relieved immediately. Then she looked at Aurora's pale face and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I will never leave you again."

Aurora wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and smiled brightly.

The smile seemed to have lit up the entire world.

"I knew you would come to fetch me."

Seeing that her younger sister was safe, Hila was so relieved that she suddenly felt that the wind was so gentle and the sunlight was so warm.

It was the feeling of freedom.

At the other side, Dion looked for Han Xiao and said, "I didn't disappoint."

Dion's invisibility ability was most suitable for sneaking into all sorts of dangerous places. He had found Aurora with the coordinates that Han Xiao had given and brought her out. Ever since the ambush for Han Xiao failed, the alert level of the Germinal Organization had dropped tremendously, so they had escaped safely.

"Thanks." Han Xiao nodded and smiled. "Sorry to let you take the risk, I owe you one for this."

"Don't have to. You saved me once—count this as my payback. It was not a big deal." Dion waved his hands. "Compared to you infiltrating the Germinal Organization's headquarters, this is not considered a risk at all."

Han Xiao chatted for a while and started to get down to business. "Have you prepared the things I asked for?"

"I have already ordered my subordinates to withdraw them from the warehouse according to your request. They will be directly shipped to the Southern Continent. You can get them as soon as you go back there."

"Okay. I will pay you whatever's needed by then."

After they chatted for a while, Dion left. Diana said impatiently, "Can we go now?"

"In a bit." Han Xiao walked toward Hila and Aurora. They were still talking. After he got closer, he heard Aurora ask a question.

"Sis, where do we go now?" Aurora asked with anticipation on her face.

Hila suddenly paused.

That was right; they were free. Where should they go?

They did not have to work for anyone anymore. Where should they go in this big world?

Hila was lost.

"If you have nowhere to go, how about you come with me? My territory is very safe." Han Xiao walked over.

"With you?" Hila hesitated. She touched Aurora's head.

She wanted to bring her sister to explore the world.

"Your sister was imprisoned for so long; her health is in very bad condition," Han Xiao said. "Even if you want to take her to places, at least her health condition needs to improve first."

"You're right." Hila's face tightened. She agreed with Han Xiao's point immediately. The priority now was to improve her younger sister's condition. She felt heartache every time she looked at how weak and skinny Aurora was. Although she still had immeasurable hatred toward the Germinal Organization, she was now focused on her younger sister and did not have any thought of taking revenge. She just wanted to settle down with Aurora first.

She respected her younger sister's opinion and asked Aurora, "What do you think?"

"Sounds great," Aurora replied joyfully. After such a long time being imprisoned, everything in the outside world was new and exciting to her.

Aurora suddenly thought of something. She said to Han Xiao timidly, "Thank you for saving me."

Han Xiao smiled and did not say anything. He reached out his hands and pinched Aurora's face, and Aurora did not resist.

Hila looked at Han Xiao complicatedly.

Never had she thought that her younger sister would be saved by him. She did not know how she could pay back for something so huge.

We'll follow him for now then…

After a few days, they passed through a few camps and came to the temporary base in the southern battlefield. The representatives of the Six Nations gathered in the meeting room and waited for Han Xiao's arrival.

After he settled Hila and Aurora down, the guards led Han Xiao into the meeting room. The focus immediately turned to him as he entered.

The guards closed the gate.

These representatives were mostly strangers. Han Xiao only knew the Stardragon representative—Gu Hui.

"Yo, everyone is here." Han Xiao greeted casually. He pulled a chair with his leg and sat down casually like he knew everyone.

The people present could not help but size him up. This was the first time that many of them had seen Han Xiao with their own eyes. Thinking of the things that he had done, many felt admiration and fear.

The person in front of them was the one who had provided intel secretly all along. He had used the hostility between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization, rode along the waves, and become the mastermind behind everything.

People like this were very dangerous.

Furthermore, according to the latest reports, Han Xiao had broken through the power ceiling and should now be the strongest superhuman on the entire planet. From the Six Nations' viewpoint, they definitely feared someone so strong that belonged to another organization.

Dark Net had both Bennett, who was previously the strongest, and Han Xiao, who was now the strongest. They had become a worrying organization no matter how the Six Nations looked at it.

Luckily, the Dark Net had always stayed neutral. At least that was good news.

Gu Hui knocked the table and said seriously, "Han Xiao, we fulfilled our side of the deal. It's now your turn."

"Come on, don't we know each other? What's with the formal tone?" Han Xiao said jokingly. "We haven't met in a long time. How have you been recently? Have you been promoted? Although it is easier for you to be demoted rather than promoted in your position…"

Veins appeared on Gu Hui's forehead. He knocked the table heavily. "Get! Down! To! Business!"

"Sigh, people nowadays don't even want to chat. All they have in mind is serious talk—business, work, and the future." Han Xiao shook his head. "Life is about more than that."

"That's not the point. Why do you have so many things to talk about?" Gu Hui was frustrated.

Please respect the formal occasion!

The representatives of the nations' mouths twitched. Han Xiao gave them a completely different feeling compared to what they had imagined.

Shouldn't the mastermind be ferocious, mysterious, and a man of a few words? What's with the chitchat with the Director-general of Division 13? What kind of mastermind is so friendly?

They could not see through him.

As they talked nonsense, Han Xiao was secretly observing the structure of the room. After he confirmed there was no ambush or bug, he stopped talking nonsense immediately, took out a portable hard drive, connected it to the computer, and showed the image on the big screen in the meeting room.

The secrets of the Germinal Organization were exposed one after another. All of their plans, deployments, military power, and trump cards were exposed.

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Chapter 268: Will You Love Me If I Am the Title…

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The intelligence included the location of all the nuclear warheads that the Germinal Organization possessed. The Hand of Death system would be of no use once these nuclear warheads were broken down; the Germinal Organization would not even be able to make the Six Nations die with them.

His goal had been to give this intelligence to the Six Nations when he stole it from the Germinal Organization Headquarters. The earlier the Germinal Organization was destroyed, the sooner he could complete his A-grade main storyline mission, [Fall of the Germinal]. The progress at the moment was at 36.2%. His impact in the war to destroy the Germinal Organization would further grow after he provided this intelligence, and the progress would likely increase once again.

The only intelligence he kept to himself was the class advancement knowledge. Han Xiao planned to sell that to the players and make a large of profit. He was familiar with monopolizing.

The representatives of the Six Nations stood up in excitement.

"This os all classified information!"

"With this intelligence, the war can be ended early!"

"Amazing job!"

This intelligence brought unimaginable convenience to the Six Nations; it was like knowing all of the enemy's card when playing poker. The entire war was going to change with this intelligence.

The source of all this was Han Xiao, who sat at the end of the meeting table, picking his ears.

The representatives exchanged looks, and the atmosphere became quiet.

Han Xiao was very understanding. "Alright, I have already provided the intelligence. What you do with it is up to you. I shall leave you guys to it."

He stood up and left. After pushing the door open, he suddenly stopped, turned his head around, and saw that the expressions of the people present were unchanged. Disappointed, he said, "There really isn't an ambush…"

The representatives' mouth twitched.

Ambush? Do you not have any damn idea how strong you are?

We still want to live, damn it!

Gu Hui wiped his cold sweat. "The intelligence you provided is very important—it has helped us a lot. We need to have an emergency meeting… so you should leave quickly."

The situation of the expedition war changed drastically within a few days. The troops of the Six Nations marched forward and defeated the enemy easily like they were on steroids. The Germinal Organization was at a disadvantage on every battlefield. Then it snowballed, and they started showing signs of collapsing, their territory becoming ever smaller.

The entire planet was paying attention to the war and got shocked by the sudden change. After some research, they came to know that Han Xiao had given the intelligence that he stole to the Six Nations.

When Han Xiao's real identity was exposed some time ago, he had been surrounded, so it had become the focus of the battle between the Germinal Organization and the Six Nations. Being in the center, it was like Han Xiao was in the eye of the storm, surrounded by stronger winds. At that time, the head-on battles all over Andrea had all reached a climax. The large number of troops of the Germinal Organization had been stalled by the Six Nations with all their might, so they did not have enough troops, and their ranged missiles were all blocked by the Six Nations.

The organizations could already tell at that time that, if Han Xiao could escape, the entire situation would be changed.

As expected, he became the turning point of the entire war.

The person who triggered the war secretly was him, and the person who was going to end the war was also him. The organizations were all astonished.

His legendary status is indeed well deserved!

Having the upper hand in the war, the Six Nations started to report the situation of the war within the nations, spreading the word that the war was going to end and comforting the civilians. The civilians of the nations were relieved, and the nations felt the pressure on them lessen.

Of course, the media undoubtedly exaggerated the negative things that the Germinal Organization had done. Although the name of the Germinal Organization was already bad enough, they still made it worse out of habit, emphasizing that the expedition was an act of justice, and it was to protect the homes and the nations.

The players in Planet Aquamarine felt the change of the war themselves. The most obvious and direct impact was that the missions became fewer.

With Han Xiao's influence, the conflict between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization had broken out ahead of schedule, so the impact of the players on the storyline was minimized. What they could do was negligible, but at least they had things to do. However, as the war became more one-sided, they did not even have the chance to do anything at all anymore; the players could now only watch as things happen.

The players belonging to the Germinal Organization were the exception. They had more missions… and they failed them more often.

Even with the increased number of missions, they still seemed to be at a loss considering how often they failed.

The players of both sides fought many times. The players of the Six Nations were gloating, and the players of the Germinal Organization were crying.

Why! Why does Black Phantom keep hurting us?

You are full of love toward the other players, but we have no benefit at all!

Why were we born in the Germinal Organization!

The piece of sh*t Germinal Organization, give me back my youth!

Han Xiao's activities in the war were all exposed, a passionate player edited these videos into a short film and shared it on the forums. It received very positive feedback.

However, the last battle was not in the short film. No players had been present during the leader's ambush battle, so there were not any recordings. The players could not help but feel that there was something missing.

Therefore, Bun-hit-dog, who was the source of 'first hand Black Phantom information' was affected as well. His personal page was raided by the players.

"What happened to first-hand information? Shame!"

"Lousy host, subscribed!"

As words spread all over the outside world, Han Xiao had already boarded the return plane and left Andrea, returning to the Southern Continent together with Hila, Andrea, Bennett, and the others.

Stepping out of the cabin, the warm air of the Southern Continent blew against his face, brushing away the feeling of war in his chest. Han Xiao squinted with comfort and took a deep breath. The exhaustion in his mind was eased.

He had spent the most time in the Southern Continent, so it had a sense of familiarity like he was returning to his home. He felt very relaxed.

Hila held hands with Aurora and walked off the plane. Aurora was full of excitement and kept looking around. Everything in the outside world was fresh to her, and she could not get enough of it.

"I shall go back to Sanctuary One first. There are some matters that need to be taken care of," Bennett said and left with his people.

Hannes and Vernina nodded at Han Xiao and left together as well. Only Han Xiao, Hila, and Aurora were left.

Coming to the Southern Continent, Hila suddenly remembered, when the Germinal Organization retreated from the Southern Continent, she had fought with Han Xiao before and was hurt. She had even decided to get revenge.

She had never thought that things would turn out to be how they were now.

"Where's your territory?" Hila asked.

His territory was none other than the sanctuary. Han Xiao remembered that the early stage construction had been completed when he left, so he wondered how things were progressing since he had been away for so long.

At night, Sanctuary Three was still bright as day.

A group of tough looking man dressed like refugees crossed the alleys in the residential area. They seemed to be up to no good.

These people were robbers and entered Sanctuary Three disguised as refugees.

As Sanctuary Three became larger, its name spread further, so some robbers had malicious ideas. After they knew that the Sanctuary Three had a large amount of resources, some people got greedy and decided to take the risk.

As they passed by an intersection, they heard people having a conversation. These people hastily hid in the alley, waited for the group of players to pass by, and then started to move again.

"There are too many Inhumans here. It's better to be more careful," one of them said.

The leader of the robbers was a rough man with a crooked mouth. He spat thick phlegm onto the floor as he heard what the other man said. "Inhumans are all disgusting monsters."

A part of the locals of the Planet Aquamarine spurned the Inhumans and looked at them as a different species, but of course, their deepest emotion was that they envied the fact that Inhumans were undying.

"We just need to rob a few resources from the warehouse, and we will be rich."

A few tens of meters behind these robbers, Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, Maple Moon, and Bun-hit-dog were following them discreetly. They had discovered these suspicious 'refugees' by chance, triggered an urgent mission that required them to track these people, and followed secretly.

"They have thirty-four people, average LV 10, only one small BOSS, and the rest are minions," Bun-hit-dog said quietly.

"They all have yellow names. Not sure if they are enemies," Maple Moon said.

If they killed residents of the sanctuary by mistake, their relationship with the sanctuary would drop. They followed behind patiently and came to near the warehouse.

The warehouse was heavily guarded, and armed men of Dark Net patrolled the place. These robbers hid in the dark. The man with a crooked mouth looked at his watch rapidly and said quietly, "When the guy that bombs the power plant succeeds, all the electricity in this area will be cut off. We will grab the resources in the chaos then."

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Chapter 269: The Players Here Are Super Welcoming

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

It was ten minutes past the planned time, but the power plant still did not explode, so the robbers were getting anxious.

"Did the guy bombing the power plant get caught? It's been so long, and there's no update." The crooked mouth man called many times, but no one picked up.

The others wanted to back away.

"The plan is exposed. We should quickly leave. If the guy bombing the power plant got caught, he will give us up."

The crooked mouth man's eyes were vicious. "What are you panicking for? We have to take risks if we want to be rich. We can't come here for nothing!"

These robbers were obviously very weak yet daring… in short, suicidal.

They waited a while more and finally found an opportunity when there was only one patrolling guard at this side of the gate.

The crooked mouth man pointed at one of his subordinates and said, "You, go assassinate that guard!"

The guy who got pointed at stepped forward unwillingly and approached the guard cautiously on tiptoes. His hands held onto the handle of the dagger at the back of his waist, shivering nervously and sweating continuously.

Although the enemy was just one patrol guard, he was armed.

The guard turned and saw a shadow sneaking into within twenty meters. He immediately yelled, "Who's there!"

The subordinate was shocked. He hastily stood up straight and nervously stammered, "I—I'm just passing by!"

He then ran back and said sadly, "Boss, I was discovered."

"Useless!" the crooked mouth man angrily said. He pulled out a self-made humble handgun from his waist, passed it to another subordinate, and yelled, "You go! The effective range of this handgun is twenty-five meters. Kill that guard!"

The subordinate swallowed his saliva and headed over sneakily with the handgun.

When he was at about twenty meters away, the guard discovered a shadow again.

"Who's there this time‽"

The subordinate was shocked. "I—I'm out for a walk!"

The guard saw the outline of the handgun and, alarmed, asked, "What's that in your hand?"

"Th—This…"

The subordinate suddenly had an idea. He looked up and put the handgun near his eyes then said with panic, "This is a pair of binoculars fo—for me to watch the moon."

Then he ran back, too.

On the other side, Frenzied Sword and the others were confused. What were these people going back and forth for?

The crooked mouth man was furious. "Useless! All of you are useless! Give me the gun. I will do it myself!"

The crooked mouth man snatched the handgun and walked quickly toward the guard. The guard was already alert because of what had happened. He immediately yelled, but when he had only said one word, the crooked mouth man fired. The bullet hit the guard's shoulder. The guard yelled in agony and fell back onto the ground. The crooked mouth man fired two more times. The guard was severely injured and had no ability to fight anymore.

"Quickly, go in and take the things," the crooked mouth man said. The subordinates all rushed over. This time, the names of these robbers became red in the eyes of Frenzied Sword and the rest. The mission requirement changed to catching these robbers alive and giving them to the guards of the sanctuary.

It was easy to deal with now that they were enemies—players were most familiar with fighting.

Hao Tian led the way, Frenzied Sword was right behind, and the other two followed—the four of them all dashed out. The robbers were all shocked. They hastily wanted to take out their weapons to fight back, but half of them were defeated in an instant.

"Inhumans, they are all Inhuman!"

The four of them defeated those robbers with ease. The crooked mouth man was the last one left. He held his handgun, shivering, and acted tough. "Don't come here, or I will shoot… I really will shoot!"

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. More than ten red dots appeared in the dark and closed in quickly, showing themselves. It was six Generation 2.5 Rangers. They surrounded the scene, their black muzzles locked onto the people present.

In important locations like warehouses and power plants, the true protection was the Rangers that Han Xiao had built, which were on standby at all times. As soon as they detect a gunshot or anyone unauthorized entering the area, they would activate combat mode, striking instantly like awakened beasts.

Sanctuary Three was Han Xiao's territory, so it was heavily guarded, not a place that just anyone could mess with!

The change was sudden, and the people were stunned.

Frenzied Sword recognized that the Rangers had been built by Han Xiao, and Bun-hit-dog said hurriedly, "Don't shoot, we are allies…"

However, as soon as the Rangers were activated, they would kill everyone within the area. Furthermore, the Rangers did not have a voice recognition function.

The next second, bullets rained upon them, and all of them were killed in an instant.

The chips of the Rangers were connected to the alarm system of the sanctuary. A patrolling team arrived at the scene shortly after the Rangers stopped firing. They cleaned up the scene and sent their injured ally to the hospital.

Frenzied Sword and the others revived at the square and looked at each other, upset.

Not only was the mission requirement of catching them alive failed, but they had also died.

The square was a lively area. The players set up stores and requested to team up, and tens of thousands of players gathered there, day or night.

"Sigh, there aren't any good missions to do. Han Xiao's not been here for so many days. I miss him." Frenzied Sword shook his head upset.

"Exactly," Bun-hit-dog said with a bitter face, "I don't even have any material for new episodes of my show and have been receiving tons of complaints on the forums. It would be even worse if not for you and God Hao being my guests."

Hao Tian was a man of few words; he nodded as a reply. Maple Moon had already gone to the fair to shop. The passion for shopping in women was the same even in the game.

This time, the four of them realized something and looked up at the same time.

Whoosh!

The sound of a helicopter came from the sky far away, getting louder and louder. The searchlight showed the location of the helicopter, and it landed on the helipad in the sanctuary. Very soon, a commotion started in that area, and players headed over continuously.

The players in the square closed their stores one after another and rushed over in excitement.

The wave of people headed toward the helipad.

Black Phantom had returned!

As soon as he walked down the plane, Han Xiao noticed the countless players standing in the streets near the helipad, all looking at him with curiosity and welcoming him.

Wow, the treatment is not bad at all.

Han Xiao was surprised. He wondered if he should thank them for their efforts but decided not to.

The players were so welcoming it felt like he was back home, he really liked this place.

The heads of the sanctuary had all been notified of his return long ago. Huang Yu was waiting, and he immediately walked over to report the situation. "Following your plan, more areas of the sanctuary have finished their construction. The war made quite a number of wanderers join the sanctuary. There are now more than 23,000 residents."

"Tell me something that I don't already know." Han Xiao raised his palm and stopped him. He could see the construction progress in his mission log, so there was no need for any further elaboration.

"There were not any accident overall, but we just discovered a small group of thieves just now that seemed to want to rob our warehouse," Huang Yu immediately replied. "They were killed by the guard robots."

"Okay, strengthen the selection process of refugees. Don't let just anyone enter, anything else?"

Huang Yu hesitated and said, "One more thing, Inhumans have been fighting each other regularly, damaging public property. Shall we…"

Han Xiao's eyes sparkled.

What Huang Yu referred to was PVP (Player vs Player). This was something that the players loved to do, and it definitely could not be banned. The Great Mechanic Han had a flash of an inspiration.

"Get some men and build a large arena in the next few days."

Huang Yu was stunned.

Arena?

This is a sanctuary. What's the use of an arena in a sanctuary? To have performances for the refugees? They might not even have a filling meal. Isn't that a waste of space and resources?

Huang Yu could only hold himself from giving his suggestion, but Han Xiao shook his head and said, "Your thought process is too rigid. The Inhumans have too much energy. The arena will give them a place to use that energy. We can sell tickets and earn back what we spent on it. Not only are we building the arena, but we are also going to encourage the Inhumans to fight in the arena, then create a fair betting system with our guarantee and earn handling fees. Won't that gain us profit?"

Huang Yu opened his mouth and said in confusion, "Then why don't we just dedicate an area for them to fight?"

Han Xiao's face turned serious. "Damn it, are you in charge or am I in charge? Trying to revolt on the first day I return? Tsk tsk, you'd better be careful, or I will…"

Huang Yu was covered in sweat

Okay, you're the boss, whatever you say.

Making profit was not the main reason to build the arena. What was more important was that it was another step toward the Players' Main City plan; it was a function that it must have. The more the players enjoyed PVP, the more they would like the arena. The players would also have a stronger sense of belonging to Sanctuary Three.

Furthermore, the long-term goal of this action was to host the future Galaxy Pro League!

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Chapter 270: Main City Action Plan

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The pro league consisted of many competition modes. The arena would of course be most suitable for Challenges, which was a contest where the winner remained on stage and the loser left, and Singles, one-on-one battles. According to Han Xiao's experience, with an already built arena, there was quite a high chance that the pro league would be hosted there. After all, the arenas for the planet divisions of the first pro league in his previous life had been built last minute by the players themselves. Although it sounded very pathetic, the players had enjoyed the DIY process.

If the pro league were to be hosted in his territory, the position of 'Main City' would become firmer. It would also bring in a large number of people, and these were all potential customers in Han Xiao's eyes. He was aiming to make a huge fortune during the pro league, and the temporary enhancement drugs that he had would definitely sell very well in such situations.

However, there was a small problem—the pro league would only be hosted around the time when the first batch of players reached LV60. He had to stay on Planet Aquamarine for quite some time if he wanted to wait for the pro league to start.

I shall consider it as preparation for heading into the galaxy. Plus, I have to wait for opportunities as well.

It was not easy to leave the planet. None of the novice planets in Version 1.0 had an official route into the galaxy. He could think of many simple ways to leave one of those novice planets that had more contact with Galactic Civilizations, such as Planet Winterfrost—the Space Devil Species had galactic battleships, and Han Xiao was confident that he would have been able to wrangle one of these.

On Planet Aquamarine, on the other hand, the nations could not even build a spaceship, so his chances were extremely low.

However, it was not completely hopeless. When he decided to leave Planet Aquamarine in Version 1.0, he had started searching for clues in his memory, and after thinking for very long, he did discover a few extreme cases that might give him a chance. However, he had to wait for these events to occur naturally—only then would he have a chance.

Therefore, he did indeed have time to wait for the pro league to start.

By then, the highest-level players will mostly have reached LV 60. I should still be LV 70 if I can't find any suitable subclasses.

Han Xiao was not worried at all. His strength had exceeded the version, and he had the BOSS model. If the players had any malicious intent, he could easily defeat a forty-man team.

The other organizations would be stunned once the players became stronger. They would see 'Inhumans' as very dangerous, and the situation of Planet Aquamarine would change again.

Only he would remain steady.

Aurora hid behind Hila timidly. It was the first time that she had seen so many people at once. She was shocked and could not get used to it.

"This is your territory?" Hila raised her eyebrows. She was a little surprised. She had not expected there to be so many Inhumans there, and it seemed like Han Xiao was very influential to the Inhumans, but she could not understand why.

The players crowded around because Han Xiao had attracted way too much attention recently. The Planet Aquamarine panel in the forums was very popular, and the players in the sanctuary all wanted to look at him closely.

There were players all along the path looking at him from all directions with passion and thirst in their eyes. He almost felt like he was being paraded. He felt that these players might all have pounced at him at once if not for the guards opening a path.

It was finally quiet when they returned to the areas for high-ranked officials of the sanctuary.

Han Xiao settled Hila and Aurora down and said, "Huang Yu, arrange two rooms for them. They will be staying here from now on…"

He then rethought it and said, "Never mind, one room is enough."

"Please follow me." Huang Yu brought them away.

After they left, he was the only one in the room. Han Xiao lay in bed and rested for a while. He then closed the door and windows, locked himself in the study, took out a pen, and wrote the focus of the upcoming plans.

Since he was preparing to leave the planet, he had to list down all sorts of opportunities on Planet Aquamarine. He even wrote down the details of the opportunities for him to leave the planet. He edited and added details again and again to prevent missing any details.

"… therefore, I need to get more EXP from the players in Planet Aquamarine as, for a short period after leaving the planet, there won't be any chances to meet players. Also, for me to maintain my influence, I have to improve the Players' Main City as much as I can, filling in more functions, improving transportation, so that the players in the main city will be reminded of me every once in a while. I might as well build a statue to remind them…"

He then burnt the paper to ashes, not leaving any clues behind. It was already late night, but Han Xiao headed toward another building. This was the special residence that he had given to Frenzied Sword and the other three players. No other players received such treatment.

Frenzied Sword was the only one in the room. He has been waiting for Han Xiao, and when he saw Han Xiao, he bounded up to him immediately with joy.

"Only you?" Han Xiao looked around, then casually created a simple mission with rich rewards and gave it to Frenzied Sword.

Finally!

Frenzied Sword was overjoyed.

It was better to follow Black Phantom after all. The mission requirement was so fun. He just had to sing and dance to get EXP. The other missions were so much more boring in comparison.

The pro league was going to happen, and Han Xiao planned to raise these players that he was closer to so that they would perform better in the league.

Han Xiao was very generous to them since they helped him as well. At the same time, if they had more stable achievements, the other players would have a stronger belief that following him was beneficial.

His mission reward quota increased too, so it could satisfy the needs of more players.

Single Mission EXP Reward Quota: 115,160

The daily quota was seven times of the single mission quota—which came from the basic multiplier of five and two from his Legendary Points—about 800,000 EXP. It was very high, and even Han Xiao himself was tempted. It would be great if he could give the EXP quota to himself. In that case, he would not have to worry about EXP at all. Sadly, it did not work that way.

Sigh, still have to get EXP from the players.

After spending a day settling several cumbersome issues, the resources from Dion arrived. Han Xiao locked himself in the workshop right after to go on a building streak and arrange what he had earned.

The Mechanic class advancement knowledge from the Germinal Organization is [Nerves Connection]. This is knowledge that is very important to the Mechanic class; it revolutionized the control mode of machinery. By inputting programs into the chip, orders can be made by reading the signal from the brain. The process of thinking is much faster than talking or hand signs.

By spending eight Potential Points, he maxed out [Nerves Connection] to Lv.5. Basic knowledge required one Potential Point to level up, advanced knowledge required two, and it increased as the knowledge became more advanced, requiring more and more potential points. Therefore, Han Xiao had been keeping his Potential Points and only spending them to level up important knowledge.

The first task was to build a new mechanical suit. Han Xiao did not plan to duplicate according to the [Viper] blueprint. He wanted to innovate freely from that basis and create an enhanced combat suit. He already had some ideas.

A large number of parts and resources were placed near the workstation. Han Xiao counted them, rubbed his hands, and showed a confident smile.

Let's begin.

On the seventh day…

Whoosh!

With the sound of leaked cold air, the metal cooling box opened. Inside was a strong transparent cylinder box filled with a light-blue liquid. Han Xiao got rid of the liquid used to cool down the temperature and sped up the fusion process. A brand new combat suit could be seen, still giving out cold steam.

It's finally complete. That was tiring.

Han Xiao was excited. He rubbed his cheeks strongly to ease the slight exhaustion from not sleeping during the previous nights.

The new combat suit used the same inner core concept as Viper, with PE-0 Nanotechnology Fiber and muscle in between, still providing enhanced Strength and Dexterity, and he did not miss out on any of the original weapon modules.

The outlook had the same style as Viper—dark black with flashes of blue light from the energy pipes, a complicated, precise streamlined shape—with some changes. Its size was bigger, and it had more obvious edges, like protruding scales, giving off an entirely different feeling.

If Viper felt like a hunting small venomous snake, the new combat suit felt like a black mamba stalking its prey in the dark, waiting to unleash a lethal strike.

Ferocious!

Sinister!

Han Xiao would only have needed three days to duplicate Viper, but he spent seven days this time.

The remaining four days were all spent on enhancing. The performance, armor, energy source, and modules were all improved!

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Chapter 271: New Mechanical Suit—Amphiptere!

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The energy core was still the Bonfire Reaction Furnace, placed around five centimeters below the neck. His Machinery Affinity and machinery skill both improved after the class advancement, so he enhanced the Bonfire Reaction Furnace.

He made a few hidden recesses at the back of the mechanical suit that were connected to the energy core. Energy blocks could be embedded into these recesses. If the energy of the Bonfire Reaction Furnace was finished, these would be the backup energy source. There was also another function—extra power output. It could largely increase the performance of the mechanical suit, comparable to [Overload].

The energy blocks would of course be the [Low Class Energy Crystal] that he had extracted from the radiation crystals from the Shadow Stalker Viper nest. Emerald Grass was currently trying to domesticate the Shadow Stalker Vipers and make the crystals into a renewable resource. It had yet to succeed, but the hundreds of pounds of crystals Han Xiao had were enough.

The armor was made with the new alloy that he had fused from [Advanced Materials, Ellie Iron Alloy. It had a better defense than the Platinum Alloy. The control mode used the newly learned [Nerves Connection]. The helmet had a module that could read nerve signals. It was embedded on the inner side of the helmet like a metal plate, and the functions of the suit could be controlled with just a thought. The weapon modules were the ones that he spent the most effort and time on, all of which were largely enhanced.

The most important new module was a large mounted part that was almost six meters wide when extended fully!

This was a mounted mechanical wing that was embedded onto the back, shoulders, and arms. Its original model was the Sky Swallow Glider, and the surface of the wings was wide. It had a seventy-centimeter radius circular triple fold propeller on both sides and a pistonless rotary turbo engine that could turn 360 degrees!

The Electromagnetic Hover-boots to run-up, Mini Maneuvering Equipment to take off, the wings to glide, providing continuous mobility.

He gave the new combat suit the ability to fly!

Which man did not dream of soaring through the skies? Men's romance is the stars and the seas!

You have successfully enhanced [Light Mechanical Suit—Viper, do you want to give it a new name?

With a flash of insight, a suitable name appeared in Han Xiao's mind.

Named Successfully, you received customized blueprint [Light Mechanical Suit—Amphiptere!]

I definitely have great naming skills.

Han Xiao was very satisfied. Amphiptere is a flying serpent, so it really conveyed a clear image.

Amphiptere

Type: Light Single-Unit Mechanical Combat Suit

Grade: Dark Green

Basic Stats:

– Armor: 8950/8950

– Defense: 164

– Power: Level 818

– Energy: 4300(800)/4300(800)

Height: 1.87m

Weight: 176 lb

Control Method: Low-Class Smart Chip Nerves Connection (Extra 10 DEX)

Power Source: Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace (Enhanced) – Self Charge

Recovers Energy at 35/min

Energy Conversion Rate from User: 24 to 32

Energy Storage: Low Class Energy Block x 4 (Exchangeable anytime)

Energy Storage: 800

Stationary Mode Energy Usage: 22/min

Combat Mode Energy Usage: 40/min

Core Power Capacity: 787/850

[Bone Structure Module: PE-0 Nanotechnology Fiber]

– Biological Muscle Inner Bone

– Strengthens muscle when the user moves the body

– Hardens muscle under attack

– Increases Attributes: 38 STR, 25 DEX, 12 DEF

Power Output: 70

[Armor Plating Module: Ellie Iron Alloy Plate (Green)]

2550 Armor

48 DEF

Power Output: None

[Armor Plating Module: U9 Colloidal bulletproof Membrane (Green)]

2400 Armor

45 DEF

Power Output: None

[Exterior Module: Optical Camouflage]

– Reflects light to achieve invisibility to a certain extent

– Power Output: 20

[Exterior Module: SUI Anti-Radar Coating]

[Exterior Module: Electromagnetic Interference Coating]

[Reconnaissance Module: Vulture Tactical Scanner]

– Smart fire control

– Aim assist

– Includes Tactical Hologram Screen

– Power Output: 25

[Palm Module: Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves (Purple)]

– Produces a high amount of heat and deals continuous damage

– Energy Cost: 1.5/s

– Damage Level: 101

– Power Output: 60

[Backhand Module: Thermo-Electromagnetic Incisor Blade (Green)]

– Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades with thermal technology

– Energy Cost: 1/s

– Power Output: 80

[Wrist Module: Directional Field Repulsive Machine (Blue)]

– Releases repulsive energy in an arc of 150 and 20m.

– Cooldown: 30s

– Energy Cost: 15 per use

– Power Output: 70

[Arm Module: Sunworm Mini Flamethrower (Purple)]

– Energy Cost 1.5/s

– Damage Level: 104

– Power Output: 60

[Leg Module: Electrical Hover Boots (Purple)]

– Energy Cost: 6.2/min

– Power Output: 55

[Advancing Module: Mini Maneuvering Equipment] * 9

– Energy Cost per unit: 1.4/min

– Power Output per unit: 18

– Power Output: 162

[Survival Modules]

– Body Status Monitor

– Thermostat

– Gyroscopic Stabilizer

– Air Storage

– Filtration Device

– Total Power Output: 80

[Ejection Modules]

– Sonic Bomb * 24

– Mini Split Drill Bullet * 16

– Power Output: 60

[Chip Modules]

– Database Analysis

– Battle Trajectory Prediction

– Battle Assist

– Power Output: 30

[Chip Module: Nerves Signal Recognition]

– Power Output: 20

[Subsidiary Module: High-Speed Injection Needle]

– Equipped: Pain Killer, Stimulant, Healing Agent

– Power Output: 10

[Subsidiary Module: Mini Spider Detector] * 12

– Power Output: None

[Subsidiary Module: Electromagnetic Pulse Controller]

– Applies [Excitement]

– All Stats 5%

– Duration: 15 mins

– Energy Cost: 5 per use

– Power Output: 10

[Subsidiary Module: 'Poison Ivy' Body Part]

– Creates suction force, allowing the mechanical suit to hold onto objects

– Power Output: 20

[Subsidiary Module: Mini Detection Radar]

– Power Output: 30

[Mountable Module: 'Ironfist' Heavy Mechanical Arm (Purple)]

– Power Output: 91

[Mountable Module: "Bat Wings" Turbo Engine Flying Device]

– Power Output: 326

[Additional Ability: Strong Capability]

– During combat, distributes energy to Biological Muscle Inner Bone,

– Increases stats: 40 STR, 20 DEX

[Additional Ability: Snake Devil]

– The mechanical suit uses up all energy at once, entering a special status

– Duration: 2–7 mins

– Cooldown: 7 days

Effect:

– Doubles additional attributes (156 STR, 110 DEX)

– All modules can be used without any energy cost

[Additional Ability: Absorbent Armor]

– Made with Ellie Iron Alloy, this alloy can disperse applied forces

– Damage Reduction 22%

Remark: "Surprise! I can fly!"

With all the purple modules, Amphiptere's attributes were at the standard of Version 2.0. Han Xiao stood with arms akimbo and appreciated his own product.

With the attributes of me and Amphiptere, no one on Planet Aquamarine poses a threat to me. This mechanical suit can be taken into the galaxy to use—it's some early preparation.

Han Xiao thought far ahead. In the eyes of the players, this was godly equipment in the early stage. Even pigs could fly by wearing this mechanical suit—it was overkill for a novice planet.

Amphiptere was locked onto his nerve signals, so only he could control it.

The class advancement knowledge [Nerves Connection] was a foundation for controlling more complex machinery. The speed of thought was much quicker than the usual means of control, and if there was an injury involving a missing body part, [Nerves Connection] could be used on these biological body parts as well. Of course, Han Xiao hoped that day would never come.

Furthermore, [Nerves Connection] had another key use in his eyes. The players entered Galaxy with a VR-Capsule, and the core principle of the VR-Capsule was the transfer of the players' mind.

Therefore, if the mind of a player was transferred into an NPC clone, what would happen?

Would the players be locked in 'Galaxy' just like him? Would they revive after they died? If they could revive, was the body the original player body or a new body? Or… would something else happen?

From his perspective, he could feel that everything there was real, but he never stopped having doubts. He always paid attention to the forums, anxiously wanting to see if his account in his previous life would appear, and it did not.

How did this happen? Is it butterfly effect, the 'me' once changed account? That makes some sense. I did create my account casually back then… or are there other possibilities?

Han Xiao's eyes sparkled. In all honesty, he kind of wanted to communicate face to face with 'his old self'. It would definitely be a fresh experience.

To figure out the truth, I still have to start from the players. A mind transferring device like the VR-Capsule can't be created with just [Nerves Connection]. More knowledge is needed.

Han Xiao kept the doubts in his heart.

What was most important at the moment was to make himself stronger. The stronger he was, the safer it was. He did not want to be killed by someone or some disaster before he figured out the truth, so every new version update would mean danger.

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Chapter 272: Unknown Potential

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

"You have been losing blood very frequently, causing your body to be weak, stunted, and your organs recessed. Optimistically, you have three years left to live…"

In the medical room, Emerald Grass wore a pair of rimless glasses and checked Aurora's body like a doctor, coming up with this pessimistic result.

Without waiting for the expressions of the people present to change, Emerald Grass then said, "Of course, that's the case for a normal person. Although your body is weak, your cell activity level is something I have never seen before."

As she was speaking, Emerald Grass took out a few microscope photos, then said excitedly, "Usually, the self-healing of a human body is very slow. Undamaged cells slowly split into new cells to repair damage. In comparison, superhumans have stronger self-healing abilities. Energy or other sources of energy can be used to seal-heal, I, for one, can extract life forces from plants to recover from injuries. Whether it is a normal person or superhuman, self-healing requires energy and nutrition.

"However, your cell is like a drop of extremely concentrated life energy. It could multiply one's self-healing ability by hundreds and even thousands of times. Your hair, blood, and all your body structures are like extremely strong potions, and to give you an idea of how strong your level of cell activity is… For example, let's say the cell of a normal person is a bowl of water, the cell of a superhuman is a flame, and your cell is the sun. It's completely incomparable!

"There are even self-reaction signs inside your cells. Every cell is like a concentrated mature Fixed Star, increasing in activity level automatically every second, yet such a horrifying level of cell activity has no corrosive property at all, only giving life forms a positive impact. Unbelievable…"

Emerald Grass was very tempted. She looked at Aurora with sparkles in her eyes.

The passion in her eyes made Aurora shrink toward Hila.

She knew that look. All of the people wearing white coats in the Germinal Organization had looked at her this way.

"I want to acquire some of your blood as an experiment material. Is it possible that…"

"No!" Hila rejected without hesitation. She looked at Emerald Grass hostilely and seemed like she was going to act at any moment.

Aurora was her sensitive spot; she would not allow anyone to violate her.

Han Xiao crossed his arms and sat on the table to the side. He cut in the conversation and said, "I admire your attitude. Science is all about non-stop improvements and the everlasting ambition of wanting to know the core technology… However, this is a sick person, not your test subject. Also, I guess you can't beat the redhead."

Emerald Grass curled her lips, turned away to keep her diagnosis tools, and said casually, "She didn't need to be diagnosed at all. Her power has just been suppressed for too long and can't fully take effect. As long as she doesn't die, her power will slowly recover, and so will she. It might even… Never mind. Anyway, she just needs to rest for a while, then her body will recover, and her scars will disappear."

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. He understood what Emerald Grass did not say, and it made him think.

Aurora became a liquid in his previous life. There had not been a chance to see the exact effect of her power, so he wondered what it would be like once it got stronger.

Since she's the younger sister of Hila, Aurora will definitely not be much weaker. Could it be controlling life forms? Han Xiao guessed randomly.

For him to know Aurora's status, he had to get in combat with Aurora, and the bottom line of that would be to slap this pitiful little girl. With his power, the result would not be very optimistic. Of course, Han Xiao would not do that, and Hila would definitely fight him with her life.

Hila heaved a long sigh of relieving. She stood behind Aurora, placed her hands on Aurora's shoulder, and pinched lightly.

As long as her sister was okay.

"By the way, she was brainwashed once, and another personality was created. She will become a puppet that only follows orders once it's triggered by the keyword. Do you have a way to solve that?" Han Xiao repeated what Cyberlos said.

"I'm a Pharmacist, not a Psychiatrist—you should find a professional," Emerald Grass said casually without even turning around. "However, from my experience, if it was just a normal brainwash method, as long as it is not triggered and strengthened for a long time, the effect of the brainwashing will gradually fade as time passes till it disappears. Therefore, the guards in Bell of Death Island would mass brainwash the prisoners every once in a while. However, as you know, the people in that place are all very strong, so the brainwash didn't have much effect. Instead, there were always some prisoners that killed a few guards in such occasions."

A professional? Han Xiao contemplated while touching his chin. Suddenly, he looked at Hila. Aren't things about the mind Hila's strong point?

Upon noticing his sight, Hila waved her hands and frowned. "My power is too invasive. I'm scared of making mistakes, and the risk is too high."

"Then you'd better discover and enhance your power more." Han Xiao felt helpless. In his mind, Hila at her peak could play with the soul of a life form like playing with plasticine without hurting the fragile soul.

"Leave if there's nothing else. I've asked a few Inhumans to test my drugs, don't disturb me."

They looked at her. Emerald Grass took out a transparent container filled with a weird and dark green liquid that was still bubbling, holding a syringe and flicking the tip of the needle.

Emerald Grass was what was known as a Pharmacist in technological civilizations.

In magical civilizations, Pharmacists were called Witches.

Han Xiao paid a silent tribute for three seconds for these players testing the drugs.

To sacrifice themselves for technological advancement, how noble.

They left the pharmacy room and walked slowly on the street. Suddenly, Hila turned to him and asked seriously, "What are your thoughts about this?"

Hila only showed interest for things that involved Aurora and did not have the cold face like she always did. She only asked for an opinion from Han Xiao because she trusted him. Han Xiao had saved Aurora from the sea of pain, and they had no friends or family in the world, so only Han Xiao was trustworthy.

Han Xiao pinched his chin and said in a low voice, "It's best to rest more. I will build a special wheelchair for her. Also, your sister was imprisoned for so long, so it's better to let her connect with the outside world, make some new friends. If you are worried, I can introduce a few lawfully good teenagers."

Hila nodded solemnly. "I owe you one."

"You already owe me." Han Xiao picked his ears.

Hila was struck speechless. She shook her head and remembered.

Her personality was indifferent. She was a cold and proud person in her blood, so she did not like to accept friendliness; she did not like accepting pitiful help that felt like charity. However, once she owed a favor, she would never forget it. She was a doer, and she would not say too many words of appreciation. She only remembered the kindness she received when things seemed hopeless, waiting for the day when she could pay Han Xiao back.

After a period of silence, Hila asked the question she had been wanting to ask. "Why did you save my sister?"

"Foresight, of course." Han Xiao gave the mighty reason.

"So, what did you foresee?" Hila frowned.

Han Xiao bullsh*tted and said, "I saw that your sister's power will save my life once in the future, do you believe that?"

"That would make sense." Hila understood.

At this time, a small hand pulled his shirt. Han Xiao looked down and saw Aurora was looking up at him with a serious face.

"Uncle Zero, I will definitely save you."

Aurora took what he said seriously.

Han Xiao pinched her face and laughed. "Zero is in the past. Just call me Han Xiao."

"Okay, Uncle Han."

"You can use a younger name…"

"Understood, Uncle Han."

Han Xiao rolled his eyes.

I still dislike kids!

The next day, Han Xiao built a wheelchair and gave it to Aurora.

"Real leather armrest and seat with stretch cotton inside, giving you comfort like your mother's embrace, and the best part is…" Han Xiao flipped open the anti-dust cloth and said, "This wheelchair is powered by a foot pedal, but inside is a mini engine, and there is a gearshift beside the armrest. It can go up to 40 km per hour!"

"I just wanted a normal wheelchair…" Hila's eye corner twitched.

She had never heard of a wheelchair powered by a foot pedal, then what is the wheelchair even for!

40 km per hour? Are you hosting a wheelchair race‽ Are you crazy‽

"What kind of Mechanic am I if I didn't make any modifications?" Han Xiao picked his nose and glanced at Hila. Hila felt the look known as 'despise from a professional' from Han Xiao's eyes.

Aurora, however, quite liked the wheelchair; it was like getting a new toy. At this time, Frenzied Sword and the other three approached. Han Xiao called them over to play with Aurora and gave the four of them a pile of missions.

He was just worried about not having suitable missions to give them. He could not have all of them dance and sing like Frenzied Sword. It was better to make them play with a little girl.

The four players felt novel for these missions. The rewards were unbelievably high. They thought that this was some sort of hidden mission and did it with joy. Aurora connected with Maple Moon the best, and not long after, Bear Cub was on Aurora's legs with its belly facing up and rolling around, making Aurora laugh.

The scene was filled with warmth.

Hila's eyes became gentle. She stepped back to the side and watched her sister play with her new friends.

For many days, Aurora smiled brighter, and her health improved at an obvious rate.

Hila and Aurora settled down. The situation of the expedition war was getting better, and the arena in the sanctuary was also completed. Han Xiao immediately focused on important matters.

He had set two focus points for the things that he was going to do. One was to make early-stage preparations for leaving the planet, getting resources continuously.

Another was to improve the 'Players' Main City' plan, strengthening his impression for players and indirectly increasing his influence. The plans that he had for the pro league was a huge business opportunity in his eyes.

What these two focus points had in common was to gain benefit from the players.

"He he he…" Creepy laughter echoed in the closed room.

It has been so long!

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Chapter 273: Our Belief Is… Create Trouble!

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The new battle prohibition law in the sanctuary was created. Like litter prohibition, guards and rangers patrolled around, and those who disobey would be captured and detained for an amount of time. The players' main city had to be safe for the players to feel secure, so Han Xiao told Huang Yu to work throughout the night for a proper set of laws.

If the players wanted to PVP, they could only leave the city or go to the arena.

The arena was built near the square, very close to the reviving point of the players. Sometimes, the players could hold back during PVP; other times, they might kill the other accidentally, and the person might lose some EXP. Even then, it could not prevent the players from their thirst for blood. As it was a long journey to leave the city, the arena became the top choice.

The basic structure of the arena consisted of an enormous square, and at the heart of that square was the highest and biggest ring, surrounded by smaller rings. Further outside were spectating seats in the staircase style like a sports stadium. The players could only PVP in the square for free. The rings were all closed, and after some inquiry, they knew that the rings were only for gambling battles where the arena was the dealer, only open to those who paid the fee.

Although this function was fresh, it was a paid function, and most of the players were broke, so nobody used this function for the time being, only battling for free in the square. The arena was very lively and crowded, and it soon became the official PVP location.

Huang Yu felt this was a huge waste of resources. Nobody wanted to pay! Not only did it make them no profits, they even had to pay for the repairs. He felt that Han Xiao's decision was very problematic; it was much better to just let the Inhumans battle outside the city.

He felt building the arena was useless, but he did not dare disobey Han Xiao, so he could only grumble in his heart.

The situation surprised Han Xiao a little, but he understood why.

The players are still exploring at the moment, and obviously, only the players who are confident in themselves will dare participate in a gamble battle. Battling in the ring would attract audiences, and with that will come exposure, so the guilds and pro players will most likely be the ones to pay for the rings.

The ring functionalities required the players to explore, so it would take some time. However, he was not someone who would just wait.

I shall start the fire to help them understand the use of having gamble battles in the ring.

Han Xiao's eyes sparkled.

Every few days, Han Xiao appeared before the players to teach them his abilities and earn EXP. The abilities that he placed in the ability shop were mostly basic abilities that the players had already learned—spending experience in his shop could largely increase their ability levels, and it was much more worthwhile than spending the EXP directly on leveling up the abilities.

This was the main EXP income that he had from the players.

He did not teach any core abilities because he had to maintain the difference between himself and the players after all. However, he did selectively teach some not so important abilities that the players would learn sooner or later, like the Mechanic abilities [Electromagnetic Energy Extraction] and [Meticulous Repairs, improving the strength of Mechanic class players, acting as the Mechanic mentor, and attracting more players to choose the Mechanic class. Only Mechanic players had such a good mentor like him on Planet Aquamarine.

The players went through the [Energy Training Technique] incident, so they roughly knew they would naturally learn the strong abilities that Han Xiao taught at higher levels, but most of the players were still willing to learn high-level abilities when they were at a lower level as increasing their current strength had greater benefits in the long term.

As for the Esper and Pugilist class advancement knowledge, Han Xiao did not plan on selling them for the time being. These were like a trump card; he wanted to earn a large profit once the players had greater purchasing power.

Every time he appeared in front of the players, he would have a stable income of more than 10,000,000 EXP throughout the day, many times faster than doing missions. The tens of thousands of players in Sanctuary Three accounted for five percent of the total player in Planet Aquamarine—many new players entered the game. The market potential was very high, and the Players' Main City plan had a bright future.

That day, Han Xiao appeared at the corner of the square as usual and was completely surrounded by the players. After he farmed some EXP, he saw a large group of guild players with a prefix on the name. They were the players of Sky Territory, and the leader of the group was called 'Rebels Shall Rule'. He was the vice-captain of their core team one.

Here comes the opportunity.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. After he finished teaching the abilities, he suddenly acted like he was talking to himself and said, "Sigh, I've been quite unlucky recently…"

Rebels Shall Rule immediately noticed. As an experienced player, usually when an NPC talked to themself, it meant a new mission could be triggered.

"Mr. Black Phantom, what are you troubled with?" Rebels Shall Rule asked. "Maybe we can help you to solve it."

Han Xiao looked at him and shook his head. "No, no, there need to be at least ten people to help me."

The people of Sky Territory suddenly felt energized. It was a mission indeed, and it was a team mission!

This was a mission given by Black Phantom himself, when did he ever scam them?

Large guilds always had a lot of members. Rebels Shall Rule created a ten-man team on the spot. Seeing this, Han Xiao said slowly, "Sigh, one of my robots malfunctioned, and I can't control it anymore. I hope you can bring its chip back to me…"

He set a mission as he was talking.

[Finding Malfunctioned Chip – 1]

Mission type: Team Chained Mission

Mission Introduction: Due to unknown reasons, a guard robot has malfunctioned and gone out of control.

First Round Requirements: Defeat Ranger X204 and bring the chip back to Black Phantom

First Round Rewards: 25,000 EXP, 1 Relationship Point with Black Phantom

"Chained mission?" Rebels Shall Rule was surprised. Just the reward for the first round was already decent, so the reward would definitely be richer in the later rounds, and it could even increase Black Phantom's relationship points. The relationship points of Black Phantom would not increase after ten no matter how much money they gave.

As for his relationship points, all the players had the desire but were helpless. He placed quite a few strong machines in his item shop. There were ones that had blue and even purple grade. However, the relationship point requirement to buy these were all more than ten. They could only look at them—these were all Han Xiao's 'bait'.

Relationship points were worthless alone, but he made it worth something, and this was how the currency system was created.

Sky Territory accepted the mission and left joyfully. The surrounding players saw this and also created teams, but Han Xiao did not bother about them.

Now the players wondered, why could the Sky Territory trigger the mission but not them?

However, they were used to the random triggering mechanism for Black Phantom's missions, so they did not hang onto it—they only were jealous of those lucky Europeans.

Suddenly, a group with familiar ID and guild name entered his sight, Han Xiao only then spoke again and repeated what he had previously said.

"Hmm? Hidden mission?"

The members of the Guild of Gods were surprised.

These were the players from the official guild of the renowned e-sports Temple of God Club, Guild of Gods.

Han Xiao was very familiar with them; they suited the target he was looking for.

After Han Xiao's identity was exposed, the people of Guild of Gods only then knew that the Zero they were looking for was Han Xiao, and they had missed Han Xiao time after time. Of course, they had failed the mission.

The guild leader, Jupiter, was furious. He could not enjoy meals and could not sleep well; he was so frustrated that he almost had constipation.

However, it was too beneficial to stick with Han Xiao, and to not lag behind other guilds, the Guild of Gods had no choice but to come to the sanctuary no matter how frustrated they were. Every guild had teams gathered in the sanctuary.

"This is quite a good mission." Jupiter was overjoyed. He had met a hidden mission just by walking on the street—luck was finally with him!

With a wave, the Guild of Gods created a team on the spot and accepted the mission.

An hour later, in the North City Side of the sanctuary, a chase was underway. The ten-man team gasped for breath as they chased behind an extremely fast ranger.

"Fas—faster, don't let it run away!" Rebels Shall Rule gasped for breath.

They came to this construction area, following the mission requirement, and chased after this out of control ranger. The ranger had very strong firepower. Many people in their team had died, and only then could they damage the ranger till it had very little armor left. But when that happened, the ranger suddenly started running.

"Damn it, why is it so agile!"

The people of Sky Territory had bitter faces. "It's more familiar with the environment and the terrain than us, has it developed consciousness‽"

At this time, in the high-rank room at the center of the sanctuary, Han Xiao half-lay on the sofa, holding a laptop in his hands. His fingers were moving across the screen casually, and the image was the vision of that 'out of control' ranger.

This ranger was actually completely under his control. He limited its strength, only letting it out after he took out a huge amount of its ammunition and weaponry yesterday. It was a downgraded version, aimed to give the people of Sky Territory a tough victory. If it was a complete Generation 2.5 Ranger attacking freely with full firepower, more than half of these players would have died in an instant. Of course, the Sky Territory players did not know this—they thought that they were cooperating very well and only through that they were able to almost destroy this 'out of control' robot. This was exactly what Han Xiao wanted them to think.

Out of control? Doesn't exist.

"We've almost caught up!" The distance got closer, so Sky Territory forced themselves to focus and prepare for the final attack.

Han Xiao looked at the radar map. Suddenly, he smiled evilly, and he controlled this almost dying ranger to speed up suddenly, distancing itself from Sky Territory after many turns and dashed toward the Guild of Gods, which was searching for the target.

Jupiter and the rest were shocked when the ranger showed up, then they were overjoyed.

"That's the target. Quickly, focus fire!"

After just one round of attacks, the ranger broke into pieces, and parts were scattered on the ground.

The Guild of Gods was confused. They had hardly done anything, so why did this robot explode?

Putting the doubt behind, Jupiter picked up the mission item from the pile of broken parts, ['Out of Control' Ranger's Chip].

At this time, Sky Territory arrived late, and they were enraged upon seeing what had happened.

"Damn you, Guild of Gods, you dare to steal our monster!"

Rebels Shall Rule was furious.

The target that they had chased through more than a dozen streets had been stolen—anyone would have been angry.

Furthermore, the Guild of Golds and Sky Territory had always disliked each other.

The screen turned black.

Han Xiao threw the laptop to the side, lighted a cigarette, blew out a smoke ring, and started laughing.

The players did not have a demand for gamble battle, so he created a demand for them. This has always been Han Xiao's business belief.

I'm a professional in creating trouble!

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Chapter 274: The Battle

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

"Turns out you guys accepted this mission, too." Jupiter finally understood why the robot had been like paper—they had stolen the kill.

Rather than apologizing, Jupiter gloated. The Guild of Gods would never step back when facing other guilds. Furthermore, it was their old rival, Sky Territory.

"So what if we stole the kill? Suck it up."

The argument turned into a conflict very soon. After a group fight, Sky Territory, which was in a sorry shape, was annihilated.

"Jupiter, I fu*k !#@*@… just you wait!" Rebels Shall Rule private messaged Jupiter.

Jupiter closed the chat window straight away.

Are you kidding me? Why even play the game if you don't steal kills?

They had the mission item, so the people of Guild of Gods returned to complete the mission immediately, and as long as they completed the mission, Sky Territory could only suck it up no matter how unhappy they were.

However, Jupiter and the people came to the high-rank area but were stopped.

"We have completed what Mr. Han Xiao told us to. Why aren't we allowed to enter?"

"We are ordered to not allow any outsiders in."

No matter what they said, the guards did not back off a single step. The people of Guild of Gods had no choice but to leave helplessly.

They could only wait for Han Xiao to reappear in order to complete the mission.

The team left, and after walking for a while, their sight was suddenly blocked. A group of rough men surrounded them, led by Jade Green Sky. They had brought the people of Sky Territory to demand an explanation.

"That's pretty immoral of you, Jupiter. Our men got the mission first, and the target was also damaged to the last health by us, but you stole the kill out of nowhere. You've got to give an explanation," Jade Green Sky said with a long face.

"You're overreacting. If anything, you should blame yourselves for being unlucky." Jupiter had no fear. The sanctuary was a safe zone; no one could attack, and they were unafraid of being surrounded.

The eyes of the two clashed midair.

The guild leaders of the large guilds in China knew each other privately. Jade Green Sky and Jupiter never got along, and there was a reason for this. Their conflict started in the pro scene. Li Ge was the pillar of the Temple of God Club, Hao Tian was the representative of Sky Territory, and Hao Tian lost to Li Ge more than he won. He lost to Li Ge many times during crucial battles.

Therefore, the contradiction was very strong—they disliked each other.

This stolen mission became the fuse. Although it was just a small conflict, it might become bigger, more so that they were already rivals.

The surrounding players saw this and gathered to spectate. It was livelier than the market, and the middle of the road was completely obstructed.

They argued with each other for some time before Jupiter said impatiently, "Jade, what do you want?"

"Give the mission item back to us."

"Keep dreaming." Jupiter rejected it immediately.

Why did they have to give it back when they stole the kill? Furthermore, he represented the name of the guild; if he backed off, would others not say that he was scared of Sky Territory?

Of course, Jade Green Sky would not suck it up either. Both sides not wanting to back off meant the conflict could not be settled; therefore, they had to talk with their strength. However, he did not want to have a large-scale public fight. The results of both of them losing would mean to be exceeded by other guilds.

Jade Green Sky pondered, and suddenly, he remembered the gamble battle function of the arena. Was that not the most suitable place to settle their conflict?

"Okay, since you're not willing to return it, we shall go to the arena and have a gamble battle."

"What, why do I have to fight you? There's no benefit in winning, and I have to give up my thing if I lose. If you lose, you can only give up on what I already have."

"Humph, we shall make a bet, too, money, equipment, item, anything at all," Jade Green Sky said provokingly. "I'm officially inviting you to a battle—accept it if you have the guts."

He really wanted this chain mission as Black Phantom's mission rewards were always rich, and it could increase Black Phantom's relationship points. It was a good deal.

However, Jupiter was not provoked at all. He pushed the people of Sky Territory aside and left.

Anyway, he had the item, and as soon as he completed the mission, he would be the one getting all the benefits—there was no point in taking the risk and fighting a gamble battle.

The people of Sky Territory were furious. Rebels Shall Rule furiously demanded, "Leader, are we just letting them go like this?"

"Provocation! Force them to accept the challenge," Jade Green Sky said angrily. "I'm not going to tolerate this. Ask the members to all publish posts in the forums, provoke them as much as you can!"

As the Sky Territory started their attack of words, scandalous posts about the Guild of Gods appeared rapidly, painting an image that Guild of Gods was unreasonable and immoral, that they were scared to accept the challenge, that they picked on the weak and feared the strong. As only those with a VR-Capsule could post or comment on the forums, there were few sh*t stirrers, but this time, Sky Territory had evidence and reasons—they made all the members publish posts and started the trend.

The rumors were very condescending, but Guild of Gods did not panic at all.

The way Jupiter saw it, he just had to wait for Han Xiao to appear and complete the mission. By then, Sky Territory would not be able to do anything no matter how much noise they made.

However, many days passed, and Han Xiao had yet to appear.

Jupiter started to get anxious. He asked the guards time after time but could not get any information on Han Xiao's whereabouts.

Han Xiao could see the forums, too. He did not appear on purpose, and it was like putting Guild of Gods in a fire. As long as the Guild of Gods did not complete the mission, the mission item would only bring them trouble.

Before the start of the mission, he had already prepared the plan to force two guilds to have a gamble battle in the arena, attract public attention, and make more players know what the use of gamble battling in the arena was.

As long as someone did it first and showed the players the purpose of the gamble battle, people with potential demand would realize their need.

Guild of Gods and Sky Territory took it as an accident or coincidence; it was impossible for them to guess it was the 'NPC' Han Xiao who gave out the mission that was causing all this. It was completely outside their expectations.

Seeing that the rumors were becoming worse to Guild of Gods, Jupiter started to get stressed.

Finally, after another day of Han Xiao being 'missing', Jupiter could not take it anymore. He officially accepted the gamble battle in the forums on behalf of the Guild of Gods.

"On behalf of Guild of Gods, I accept the gamble battle with Sky Territory. Our chip is the mission item [Out of Control Ranger's Chip, and Sky Territory shall provide an item of the same value. The location will be the in the Arena, Best of Five, winner stays, loser leaves. Win or lose, both parties shall accept the result with dignity and no longer find trouble with the other party."

Jade Green Sky replied very shortly after.

"Sure!"

The battle between two large guilds had all the players in the sanctuary excited.

The fairness of the gamble battle service in the arena was guaranteed by the sanctuary officials. The betting chips were collected before the battle and were guaranteed to be given to the winner. To enjoy this fairness guarantee, one had to rent a ring.

Renting a ring incurred fees, contributing to the arena's turnover.

The two large guilds were rich. As they wanted the other players to judge the fairness of the battle, they rented the largest ring in the center; it was very high profile.

On the day of the battle, players in the sanctuary gathered in the arena, and it soon became crowded.

"Who do you think will win?"

"Guild of Gods definitely. Sky Territory is no match for them."

"Guild of Gods actually has the moral low ground this time."

"Are you kidding? What's wrong about stealing kills in a game? Don't exaggerate the issue."

"There's a dealer opening a bet over there. I'm going there to bet on Guild of Gods."

"There's betting‽ Let's go together!"

The scene was very noisy, almost like a live concert. The audience waited for quite some time until the competitors of both sides showed up late to the scene. When the audience saw the IDs of both sides clearly, they were all stunned.

The competitors were not just guild members—they were all pro players of both of the clubs!

Many players cheered in excitement; their passion was going through the roof.

Originally, most of the audience was just there to check it out, but when the pro players appeared, all the audiences became interested right away.

The Pro League had not started yet, so normal players had yet to see how strong pro players were. Thus, they were very thrilled.

"Temple of God really does have a strong foundation. Everyone that came is a top tier player or not far behind. Sadly, Li Ge is not here, heard he went to take part in the expedition."

"Exactly, in comparison, Long Sky is a little bit behind. Most of them are second tier players. First tier players Sleepy Winter and Twinkle Fried Rice went to the war too… Wait a minute, is that… Am I hallucinating? God Hao Tian‽"

Hao Tian stood in the Long Sky team expressionless. The audience looked at him in disbelief and admiration.

Everywhere he passed by, the audience lowered their voices. It was like he had an unshakeable aura.

As a pillar of Long Sky, Hao Tian had been requested to attend by Jade Green Sky. His name and skills were much higher than the first-tier players, so he was the pro player that received the most attention in the scene. The contestants felt the pressure when they saw him.

The clubs that both large guilds belonged to requested their pro players to attend the battle without any agreement.

Seeing the members of the other party, Jade Green Sky and Jupiter were both covered in cold sweat. They thought at the same time, Luckily, I got the pro players here. Damn, almost got deceived by that fraud sh*t.

The hexagonal center ring was very wide and spacious. The square in the middle was the battleground, and the triangles on the sides were the waiting areas. The people of both Sky Territory and Guild of Gods waited in the waiting areas in the ring.

The audience chatted among themselves and waited with anticipation.

Some of the players were thinking of something different.

Having a gamble battle in the ring seems to be able to increase exposure… some spectating guilds thought.

If I do a Challenge, there will be chances to spar with players of all sorts of styles, and at the same time, I can profit from betting, some PVP passionate players thought.

The spectating pro players nodded too. Not only will Challenge gives exposure, one can hone one's skills too. It's quite a good function.

Seeing the impact and popularity of the gamble battle of the arena, many players saw its benefits and entertainment value. The reason Han Xiao had triggered the battle between the two large guilds was indeed to make the other players realize what this function could bring, then use the players' own creativity to improve and expand on this function, fulfilling various demands.

The renting fee earned was not the most important—what was more important in Han Xiao's eyes was to raise the players' demand and usage for the arena. That way, the impression of a 'main city' would be stronger.

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Chapter 275: Society

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

As the star player of Long Sky, Hao Tian was a god player much stronger than the first-tier players. His PVP skills were amazing, and his level was much higher than average. With these advantages, he was the first to step into the ring. His attacks were ruthless and strong like a storm, defeating three Guild of Gods contestants in a row.

The combat ability of the Pugilist class was shown perfectly. The audience had originally expected a tight battle that would go back and forth, but it turned out to be a one-sided annihilation. The entire battle had lasted for more than five minutes!

The people were astonished.

After they stunned for a few seconds, deafening cheers and yells erupted all around.

"Impressive!" cheered the ordinary spectators.

"God Hao Tian! God Hao Tian!" yelled the passionate audience members.

"I love you, Hao Tian!" shrieked Hao Tian's fans.

Hao Tian's performance refreshed the audience's knowledge of the upper limit of a player's strength at the current stage, and he immediately gained a lot of new fans.

Although this was a private gamble battle, the excitement and passion from the audience almost felt like it was a pro competition.

"I won." Hao Tian's expression changed slightly—he had not expected to win so easily.

It was like walking down a path for a long time, and only when he turned around did he realize how much ahead he was of the people behind him. It turned out that, without noticing, he was so much stronger than normal pro players.

In the beginning, Hao Tian had just taken Han Xiao's 'hidden storyline' as a lucky opportunity, and when he made it, he did not really treasure it, only taking it as a short-term opportunity. Hao Tian's pro instinct habit made him always look far ahead to plan for his growth. Black Phantom was a Mechanic, and he was a Pugilist, so he felt he would not follow Han Xiao all the way. He had to look for a new mentor somewhere else just for his abilities.

However, at this moment, it finally occurred to him how much he benefited from this, and he began to take Han Xiao more seriously.

Black Phantom's EXP reward would still be plenty even at max level.

Black Phantom's mission reward really were very rich. It was not a big deal to tolerate weird missions for it. As a pro player, having strong will power, endurance, and a good pair of lungs was fundamental.

Seems like I can walk on this Black Phantom path for much longer than I thought.

The match was Best of Five, Hao Tian won three matches in a row and ended the battle, so other Long Sky contestants did not do anything except stare at Hao Tian like fans. In the Long Sky Club, Hao Tian, who had battled in the pro scene for many years, was everyone's idol. A man of few words, always honing his skills, earning Long Sky one champion after another, he was Long Sky's hero, and his name was tied tightly together with the words 'Long Sky'.

Guild of Gods was obliterated, and the pro players whom they had invited were all in shock.

We are all pro players. Aren't you showing off too much? At least leave us some face!

The contestants knew how strong Hao Tian was long ago. Not to mention his skills, the biggest problem was how ahead he was in terms of level, attributes, and abilities. They immediately thought of the fact that Hao Tian had triggered Black Phantom's hidden storyline and were jealous.

"I wonder what kind of missions he has been getting from Black Phantom that made him level up this fast."

The Temple of Gods contestants were jealous and envied. They wanted such treatment too, but Black Phantom did not care about them at all.

"Everyone's level is relatively low, so the difference seems huge. When the pro league starts, everyone's level will be much higher, and he won't be able to beat us this easily by then. The difference will shrink sooner or later." A Temple of Gods contestant attempted to lift his team's spirits.

The pro players were just there to help—winning or losing was not important to them—but Jupiter was filled with rage. He almost wanted to smash Jade Green Sky's arrogant face.

With the official guarantee, the mission item was given to Sky Territory.

The audience left the scene and continued to discuss Hao Tian's amazing performance.

Conflicts between guilds were always a more popular topic, and Guild of Gods would only lose face temporarily for losing the gamble battle—their position was still one of the top.

Many people in the guild complained.

"If our boss Li Ge was here, Hao Tian would have thrashed."

"Long Sky just got lucky. What are they even happy about?"

When things were settled, Han Xiao appeared the next day. Sky Territory completed the mission immediately, and seeing this, Jupiter was filled with regret.

If he had known that Han Xiao would appear that day… if he had just endured for one more day, none of this would have happened.

Of course, that was just what Jupiter thought.

As long as the conflict did not become a gamble battle, Han Xiao would not have appeared in front of them. He was very patient—he had once hidden and endured for half a year before he caught the opportunity to escape that secret Germinal base.

Han Xiao had actually prepared even dirtier backup plans. If the two large guilds had end up making an agreement privately, resulting in them not having a conflict… Han Xiao's belief was to repeat things till he succeed. At most, he would get even more guilds involved and make the situation even more chaotic.

If even that did not work, he would simply distribute a mission that required the guilds to rent the rings. However, that was too obvious, and the Great Mechanic Han preferred to be discreet.

"What a horrible loss." Jupiter wanted to cry.

At this time, he heard the sound of private message notification. He looked at it, and it was shockingly a call from Li Ge, so he hastily answered it.

"Boss Li Ge?"

"Hmm, I saw what happened recently. Do you have the recording of Hao Tian's battle?"

"It was all recorded."

"Send it to me."

"Sure, of course."

Upon receiving the recording, Li Ge said with satisfaction, "With the recording, I can analyze his battle style to prepare for the league. Good job."

Hearing that, Jupiter felt much more energetic.

It did not matter how much they were at a loss—as long as the pro players benefited from it, it was one of their responsibilities.

The battle between the guilds showed people the effect of the ring. Many people were tempted, and guilds and players started to rent rings for Challenges or events. The functionalities of the ring started to show. Not only could the players in the arena PVP for free, but they also could join a Challenge or some events, so it became more boisterous.

Galaxy had more than game functions—it also had socializing functions, and the boisterous arena was obviously a very great place to socialize. Some player even spent all their time in the arena.

As a place with a lot of exposure, people who wanted to make a name for themselves had a demand for the ring—guilds hosted events, pro players took up Challenges to interact with normal players, and many others. Like some sports stadiums being rented out for a competition or concert, they were all getting what they needed.

According to Han Xiao's experience, not only guilds, even some companies would rent rings to host some small events, like 'Random Company Name Cup' and other competitions that were not officially accepted by the E-sports Association, giving prizes to the winners to advertise for themselves. Even some pro players took part in such small competitions for the prizes.

How did he know about all that? Don't ask. Anyway, there was a time in Han Xiao's previous life when he was very rich, and he could even splurge on buying instant noodles in cups.

Also, the events that companies hosted might not be just PVP competitions. It could also be an art exhibition, sports event, or something else.

Mini-games always had their popularity in games. Since Galaxy was extremely realistic, other than not being able to excrete, the players could be as creative as they wanted and play other sports with their superhuman bodies, such as superhuman basketball, Pugilist soccer, Mechanic rally. These things mentioned were all real in Han Xiao's previous life, and these casual and fun events were very popular among casual players.

Because of that, Galaxy started to have a virtual, vibrant society on its own.

The players now had only just started Galaxy, so they were still following things more or less strictly and did not have any weird events, and Han Xiao gave them a platform to do so. He guided the players to explore the entertainment possibilities of the game themselves, and there would always be someone who rented the ring that would think of something new to attract attention.

The ring was an event and show, attracting players to watch. Normal players could watch the events when they were not participating in free PVP, which would build a habit and culture.

Think of it like this, you take a stroll outside every day, and the park that you pass by always hosts all sorts of events. After a while, even if you do not take part, you will eventually be curious and guess what the event will be next time you take a stroll.

Therefore, when the arena became a common facility, it would increase the sense of belonging that the players had toward the sanctuary, as interest could be developed and cultivated.

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Chapter 276: Black Phantom's Machinery Box (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The benefit that Han Xiao really wanted was to have the players spread the word of how attractive the arena was as a part of a main city, leading to more people coming to the sanctuary for it, bringing in a large number of immigrants and, more importantly, customers.

The Great Mechanic Han had quite a few more ideas, such as opening official bets and creating a PVP ranking system, both of which would attract more players. However, he thought about it and decided not to do that as neither of those were easy to operate and would only be official if they were made by the game developers. If an NPC like him did it, he felt that there might be some risks and negative impacts.

Most importantly, if he could give these rewards 'officially', he could make these studios and actors lose all their business. Han Xiao would never do that since one of his businesses in his previous life included that.

Although he was benefiting from the players, the players benefitted from him as well, so it was a win-win. Therefore, the safest and most comfortable position for Han Xiao was to be neutral, only providing the venue and justice, letting the players explore the rest. It could also be considered 'guiding the Inhumans to use their extra energy'.

Once the position of the main city was firm and had a high population, in Han Xiao's plan, the next step would be the sinister real estate!

As the overseer in charge, other than the places to protect refugees, the rest of the areas in the sanctuary would all be for him to make a profit!

Suckers… ahem… large customers would, of course, be those large guilds.

"Sigh, business…"

Seeing the moving people in the square, Han Xiao stroked his chin and sighed.

Huang Yu was totally convinced.

He used to think the arena was a total waste of resources, but after more than ten days of observation, he gradually realized the potential benefits. Huang Yu could not understand what Han Xiao's long-term plan was, nor did he know the concept of 'players', but when he was drawing the accounting reports, he noticed the fees that they charged for the Inhumans largely exceeded what they incurred for repairs. In the long term, the cost would be earned back sooner or later, and whatever else they received would be pure profit, and this was only one of the benefits.

The Inhumans were the main manpower for the construction of the sanctuary, but they were weird and difficult to manage. Huang Yu did not want the Inhumans to have too much contact with the refugees, so he drew out areas for the Inhumans to use, yet the Inhumans still looked for refugees very often. Although their motive was to help, it did result in Huang Yu's management measures failing. After the arena was built, Inhumans actively used the arena as the center of their activities. The square and the arena naturally became 'Inhuman Communities', which saved him a lot of management effort, and the entire sanctuary became more organized.

This time, Huang Yu was adulating Han Xiao in the office, complimenting on how farsighted Han Xiao was, how he was wise, and any other cringeworthy compliment that he could think of. These words came out from Huang Yu's mouth non-stop and jumped into Han Xiao's ears, making Han Xiao feel so disgusted he had goosebumps.

After he finally chased Huang Yu away, Han Xiao started to think of the next step for the Players' Main City plan. Most of the benefits that the arena could bring would only happen in the future, but he was not satisfied with that.

To make the sanctuary more attractive as the main city, the arena is just one factor. There is another way, to have some recurring events. Other than the festival events from the official game developers, if I want to attract the players to participate in the events, I have to show them actual real benefits…

Han Xiao knocked on the table with his fingers and pondered. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration, and an idea came to his mind.

The morning in Karst wasteland was full of sand and fog, giving a feeling of damp and dry at the same time—it was very uncomfortable. However, the areas near the sanctuary were clean and refreshing, so the haze was blocked. The sanctuary already had a rough foundation, and it was equipped with enormous air filtration devices. The sanctuary placed importance in preventing radiation, pollution, and deterioration of the air quality.

The players were taking part in building the sanctuary. On the rebar of the protective wall, a group of players was welding. This job was tedious and dangerous, and the players stepped on the rebars wobbly.

"Be careful, don't fall down."

Just as this person said that, another person beside him slipped. The people looked at him as he fell while the sorry scream that person made descended further and further.

The protective wall was very tall. It was the most dangerous mission in all of the construction missions, and players died accidentally very often.

"Told you to be careful."

On the other rebar, a player with the ID 'Half A Cigarette When Lonely' said resentfully, "Sh*t, those safer and easier missions with rich reward are all controlled by the large guilds. Us normal players can only do these worse missions."

Whenever there were people, there would be conflict. There were many types of sanctuary construction missions, and the easy missions with rich reward were all divided between the large guilds. Most of the solo players could only take the leftovers. The majority of players were just playing casually and were not bothered, but there were also players who did.

Filled with contempt, Half A Cigarette When Lonely complained, "These large guilds possess the resources, so we've already lost on the starting line. How can we even fight them in the future?"

Someone beside laughed and said, "It's just a game. Why so serious?"

"Playing a game means being the strongest is the best. If not, what's the point of playing?" Half A Cigarette When Lonely rebutted. "That's why all of you are so weak—you don't have any dreams."

"If you're so jealous, why don't you just join a guild?"

"Humph, only the weak stay in groups; the strong play solo," Half A Cigarette When Lonely said. Of course, he was not going to tell them the miserable experience of him getting rejected after applying to join a certain guild.

They looked down from above, and suddenly, they realized that on the sanctuary square, players that looked like the size of ants to them were gathered. This was the signature sign of Han Xiao appearing. Suddenly, announcements from other players appeared in the area channel. It seemed like Black Phantom had introduced a new function. The people who were building the protective wall put down what they were doing and went down the wall hastily. Some impatient ones even jumped down directly, died, then revived in the square, saving themselves the time it took to climb down.

Half A Cigarette When Lonely ran to the square, but it was already full of people. Han Xiao stood in a corner of the square, behind him was a large truck. Like other players, Half A Cigarette When Lonely also extended his neck and looked over curiously.

Looking at the crowd, Han Xiao coughed and said loudly, "Recently, there has been a lot of backlog that I need to get rid of. All of it is packed into boxes. If anyone wants to buy a box, I can sell it for a low price."

The players in the square exchanged looks.

Packed into boxes, what does that mean?

Since it's backlog, is it worth buying?

"Give me ten," Jade Green Sky said immediately.

With the thought of 'Black Phantom only sells high-quality products' in mind, he was willing to be the first one to try. No matter what new function this was, they would know once they use it.

"3,000 Aquamarine Dollars for one box."

"So expensive‽" Jade Green Sky was astounded. He braced himself and bought it, spending all the money he had. Although he was the guild leader, it did not mean that he could just bring the guild funds everywhere with him—this was all his own money.

After Han Xiao took the money, he took out ten boxes from the truck. Jade Green Sky opened nine consecutively, and his face instantly turned black. The boxes were all filled with broken parts and cheap materials. The players on the side shook their heads as they saw this.

"What backlog? This is all just trash. I wouldn't want any even for free."

"Only morons would buy such a thing."

Jade Green Sky turned around and gave a vicious stare, then opened the last box without any expectations. However, as soon as he opened the box, Jade Green Sky's eyes froze, and he stared into the thing in the box.

A retractable knife was lying in the box.

In his vision, the name of the knife was shockingly purple!

This is a piece of purple equipment!

The crowd saw his expression and were curious as well. They stood on tiptoes to look into the box, and all inhaled deeply after they saw what was in it.

The exclamation of shock expanded outward like a wave.

Up till this moment, the players had yet to see any purple equipment. This was the first one to appear before the players' eyes!

Jade Green Sky's chin almost hit the floor. He looked at the ten boxes before him and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity… then it occurred to him.

"Wait a minute! This function… isn't this opening loot boxes‽"

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Chapter 277: Black Phantom's Machinery Box (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

"Isn't this a loot box?"

This idea was contagious like a virus, and the players became interested straight away. Some gambling passionate players were already trembling in excitement and could not wait to do a 'Ten Draws of Faith'—buying ten loot boxes at once and opening them consecutively.

Loot boxes, also known as the Sinister Path of Cashing In or Ultimate Hand Chopping Method, are a classic move for the game developers to earn money. Han Xiao, of course, was very familiar with this. Not only could it awaken the players' inner gambler and suck them into an inescapable hole, but he could also make a profit from it.

And he had just the right resources and demand to do it; he could make it into one of the recurring events to attract players.

Every planet had their own currency, and after the three largest Universal Civilizations created regulations, to improve convenience for the communication between civilizations, they invented the general culture, general currency, and general language. The Galactic Civilizations' unique currencies could be exchanged into the general currency. However, a planet civilization like Planet Aquamarine of course did not receive such treatment—the Aquamarine Dollars had almost zero purchasing power and could not be used in the galaxy at all. In fact, it was even too rough to use as toilet papers.

Therefore, if he wanted to go into the galaxy, he first had to turn this money into resources and make those resources into machinery. Resources had different values in different civilizations, and it could be considered a currency in the galaxy. Even in the worst case, it definitely had a much higher value than Aquamarine Dollars. In Version 2.0 [Mutation Disaster, the novice planets would come into contact with the galactic civilizations in different ways. The local currencies would then be able to be exchanged into other currencies, and the players would not have to worry about this problem. However, Han Xiao wanted to leave the novice planet in Version 1.0, so he had to consider the difference in currency, language, culture, and many other things.

All of his assets were in Aquamarine Dollars, which was as good as scrap paper outside Planet Aquamarine, so he spent all of it to buy materials and build machinery, and building machinery gave him EXP as well, which also aided in his growth.

Because of that, he had piled up a lot of useless machinery; using them as prizes for loot boxes would be a great way of waste utilization. The rarity chance of the loot boxes was completely under his control. Most of them were filled with waste parts and trash; only a few had very good items. It was impossible to incur a higher cost than profit, which meant it would definitely be profitable.

He claimed that he was getting rid of backlog and that there was no guarantee they had good things in them, but although the players knew that there was a chance their money would go to waste, they would still spend the money and bet on their future. Everyone felt lucky before they saw a pile of trash.

Even the players who did not have much money would clench their teeth and buy one to try their luck. If they did not get lucky, after some time, they would convince themselves that they would definitely get lucky the next time, and the cycle would repeat itself.

Most of the players like this kind of lucky draw event. There is a small chance of gaining huge profit with a very small cost, similar to the lottery. At the moment, there's no lucky draw anywhere else. There are two types of lucky draws—one is the official game store, and the lucky draw in the game store has yet to happen. This type of lucky draw consists mostly of special VR items, like Dungeon Crystals, Genetic Healing Agents, health and mana potions, EXP potions, cosmetic items, and others. There is no equipment—it is a supplementary type of lucky draw.

The other type of lucky draw is between the organizations and characters. This then is the right path to gain benefits directly. For example, some organizations and groups have a contribution points system that can be used to lucky draw strong items or equipment. Some mysterious sellers have gambling games, and some organizations make the players buy off their old inventory. When the organizations and civilizations understand the players more and use them as mercenaries, only then will some characters have lucky draws. This could be considered the organizations trying new ways to motivate 'Inhuman mercenaries', with profit.

The players' impression of me is most likely around the lines of 'planet main character', 'Mechanic Mentor and businessman', 'handsome', and 'important legendary NPC'. The players will be more accepting if I'm the one doing the lucky draw event. Furthermore, the first lucky draw event should be able to attract the most attention.

3,000 for one box was not cheap, but the players had some spare cash at their current level. Thus, it should not be a big issue to buy one or two. Furthermore, if they got purple equipment, they would become extremely rich. There was no purple equipment on the market at all, which meant that the seller would be able to set the price. What's scarce is precious, so it would definitely have an outrageous price.

All the eyes were focused on the truck full of boxes. The players' eyes were flashing with all sorts of different meanings, and when they saw Han Xiao standing to the side, all of their tiny malicious thoughts extinguished.

It was better to be honest and pay the price. No point looking for a horrible death.

In the ten boxes, nine were trash, and only one had a piece of purple equipment. It was unclear whether Jade Green Sky was lucky or the ratio was this high.

The players started to buy the loot boxes. The boxes were opened one after another; some were content, and some were upset. Other than trash, there were also other things, such as some useful materials and some green or blue equipment. Overall, the response was quite positive; however, there was not a second piece of second purple equipment.

"Could it be that the purple equipment only appears with ten consecutive draws‽" a player said, all fired up and unable to control himself.

"Not likely. I feel that the rarity chance is a little weird and cannot be looked at with common sense. Firstly, we have to understand one thing, which is whether this action of Black Phantom introducing loot boxes is part of the storyline. 'Galaxy' is extremely realistic, and every character seems to have an individual mind, almost like the real world. A character's actions definitely have its unique reason or motivation. So, is this lucky draw an official function from the game developers, or is he really cleaning his warehouse?" A guy at the side pushed his glasses, and a glint of wisdom flashed in his eyes. "If he really is cleaning his warehouse, why didn't he just throw away the backlog but sold it to us instead?"

"Yo, you're quite familiar with this brother." The people's attention was attracted by this guy's speech, and they looked at him. Then, they saw this guy's ID—King Of Single Draw.

The surrounding players' mouths twitched.

No wonder he made so much sense; he clearly was experienced, given that ID.

"That makes some sense, so how can we know?" someone asked.

The inventory in the heavy truck became lesser and lesser. King Of Single Draw's eyes sparkled. He shouted across the crowd and asked, "How many more boxes are inside?"

Han Xiao waved his hand and said, "There is a total of 786 boxes, 530 left now."

The players were stunned and surprised. They had thought that the boxes were unlimited, but that was not the case. Now, some spectating players could not wait anymore. They held onto their money and joined the queue.

King Of Single Draw changed his style. With one arm around his chest and one arm holding his chin, like a contemplating detective. "That's right. Since it's limited, it's impossible for it to be an official function. Black Phantom really is clearing his backlog. However, he chose to pack it into boxes and sell them instead of just throwing them away. Hmm… also, there was even an undamaged rare purple equipment in the backlogs. This wouldn't make sense for it to be waste utilization. Therefore, the only explanation for this would be that this isn't really backlog clearing! Black Phantom is actually giving out benefits by doing this. That's right, we 'Inhumans' helped him to build the sanctuary, so he wanted to reward us!"

King Of Single Draw concluded his thoughts quite loudly, and the players in the square heard and understood instantly.

It sounded logical and was quite believable.

"If it is an official loot box function, the chances would be announced for sure, but if it's part of the storyline, then us players will have to experience it ourselves and conclude the hidden rarity chance…"

King Of Single Draw's eyes kept sparkling.

"The game developer will make sure you never win anything too strong from a lucky draw for balance purposes, but Black Phantom's rewarding lucky draw is a different case. There might really be something good, which means these machinery boxes might really have some god equipment that will make the entire world tremble!"

The crowd turned wild upon hearing that—they were extremely excited.

Han Xiao was stunned as he listened from the side, and he was very confused.

I don't remember hiring an actor. Where did this guy come from?

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Chapter 278: Black Phantom's Machinery Box (3)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Some people drew once, some people drew ten consecutive times, but there was no difference. Han Xiao only controlled the overall cost of the boxes and did not bother when selling them off. It all depended on the players' luck. There was no manipulation behind the scenes—he wanted the players to feel the warmth of being home.

If there was a guaranteed prize every ten consecutive draws, it indeed would attract more people to make consecutive draws, but he was using the limited selling mode. There were only so many boxes every time he sold them, so they would definitely be sold out. Not only would guaranteeing a prize every ten consecutive draws not give him a higher profit, but it would also increase his costs.

If there was a guaranteed prize every ten consecutive draws in combination with the limited purchases, there might be some rich guilds that would bulk purchase, suppressing the normal players with their resources, and that would not be good.

There was only one purple equipment in the first batch of boxes, the one Jade Green Sky got, and only this one had been given out purposely by Han Xiao to grab the players' interest. The rest of the boxes had a few blue pieces of equipment, about a dozen green pieces of equipment, and some useful parts and materials.

This rarity chance was acceptable to the players for the most part.

The first batch had more than seven hundred boxes, but only a small group of the players out of tens of thousands of player bought one. The rest were watching on the sides.

"This batch of backlog is finished. There will be scheduled backlog cleaning in the future," Han Xiao said.

"Ah, that's it?"

Players had not gotten enough yet—they were still tempted for more.

However, they could not do anything about it no matter how much they wanted more; the players could only watch as Han Xiao drove away.

The players who benefitted from it were content. Half A Cigarette When Lonely was jealous, and he touched his wallet. 3,000 for one box, so expensive. I definitely can't get anything good with my luck, should I buy it?

3,000 per box. I sold more than 700 boxes this time, so it's roughly… a lot of money.Han Xiao calculated as he drove.

After deduction of cost, the net profit was tens of thousands. His funds formed a cycle, supporting his expenses in buying materials to build machinery with ease. It was even more stable than selling items and more profitable. He placed suitable high-quality items in the boxes that suited the player levels, not giving anything that was too strong.

The players in the sanctuary discussed a lot about the first loot box event; their interest was sparked. Han Xiao grabbed the opportunity and started the next loot box event a few days later.

After four times, finally, all the players in the sanctuary got used to this recurring event. At fixed intervals, the players would wait for Han Xiao in the square in advance, rubbing their hands in anticipation.

Every batch had hundreds of boxes. It took twenty minutes to be sold out at the start, and by the fourth time, it only took six minutes. This clearly reflected the player's acceptance and passion for this event.

Han Xiao's initial goal of hosting this event was achieved.

The message spread out from the Planet Aquamarine panel in the forums. The players had almost never seen a purple equipment before, and they did not know where to get them. At this time, Han Xiao's loot box event appeared out of nowhere, being the only way to acquire purple equipment at the moment. It received well-deserved attention, and the influence was growing.

Han Xiao saw how rowdy the forums were. The few players who had won the purple equipment made posts to show off, with a lot of envious and jealous comments below.

"Here to see the purple equipment boss."

"Suck…"

"Another round of ten draws! Don't hold me back. I didn't lose my mind! I will definitely see purple this time! My intuition is never wrong!"

"I thought this game is different from the other lustful sluts, but you betrayed me!"

"The content has made me uncomfortable, reported!"

"Music lyrics: we are different, different—"

"No guarantee in ten consecutive draws, a miracle in a single draw—I've learned something new."

"Guild of Gods buying purple equipment, negotiable price, private message if interested."

"Sky Territory buying purple equipment, a higher price than Guild of Gods, private message if interested."

"Got trash for all nine draws, watching post owner show off."

"Passing by with trash in all thirteen draws."

"Trash in all eighteen draws. Damn, I'm going to rob Black Phantom's warehouse tomorrow!"

"You have my admiration. I will take care of your wife and daughter. Rest in peace. Salute!"

"Salute 1! keep the formation."

"Salute 2!"

"Salute 2333!"

All sorts of comments came from the players. They gave Han Xiao's loot boxes a name.

Black Phantom's Machinery Box!

Always leading the trends, never to be surpassed.

A large amount of funds had come into his pocket, so Han Xiao bulk purchased materials and parts without caring about the price at all. He spent most of the time in the workshop and built machinery continuously, turning Aquamarine Dollars into valuable materials and machinery, at the same time acquiring quite a lot of EXP. Also, he built low-level purple equipment as prizes for the loot boxes. He was way ahead of the players, and the machinery that he did not need was rare equipment to the players. Finally, all the time that he had spent growing himself now was paying off.

The sanctuary was on the right path. Huang Yu took care of the cumbersome and small issues, and Han Xiao just had to sign the documents.

Hila was accompanying Aurora for her recovery exercises. Frenzied Sword, Maple Moon, Bun-hit-dog, and Hao Tian all received missions to play with Aurora with rather generous rewards. Han Xiao was currently giving them space to grow themselves.

At the same time, Han Xiao did not forget to look at the war's situation. The Six Nations had the complete upper hand. The Germinal Organization was basically at the breaking point, and he estimated that the Germinal Organization would soon be defeated, ending the war completely and liberating the entire Planet Aquamarine from the shadows of war.

The last time that he had browsed intelligence on the Dark Net, the number of wanderers had reduced by thirty percent compared to before the war—they had joined organizations for protection. Han Xiao felt weird about this; it was like people gave up their freedom due to fear in exchange for safety.

The situation was getting better as time passed, but Han Xiao believed in Murphy's Law. He did not want to pay too much attention to the battlefield before things were settled. In case, there might be an accident.

However, he had done whatever he needed to do. He had given the Six Nations all the intelligence and killed a few Germinal Organization's Executive Officers. The Six Nations had the upper hand in military power, intelligence, and almost everything. If they could not even win, they might as well eat sh*t.

Thus, Han Xiao was temporarily focused on the players' main city plan.

This day, Han Xiao drove another truck of boxes, and the players swarmed in.

Every [Black Phantom's Machinery Box, King Of Single Draw didn't buy anything. He was patient, and he observed like a hunter, recording the results of other players, calculating the rarity chance. Some players were influenced by him. They sat beside him and tried to do the same thing.

At this time, a voice full of confidence appeared within the crowd.

"Give me a hundred boxes!"

The people were shocked. They followed the voice and looked over as a player with the ID 'So Poor I Only Have Money Left' walked out swaggering.

'So Poor I Only Have Money Left, is this a true rich person‽"

"A hundred boxes, that's 300,000 Aquamarine Dollars. Good god!"

"He really is a truly rich person! Can we be friends?"

"Indeed, only the large guilds have done consecutive draws before, and the highest was only fifteen boxes at once. A hundred is way too much, I have never seen anything like this before!"

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. Such a boastful ID… it was like a pile of large leeks walking in front of him.

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