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 341: Battlefield Repairs, Target Blueprint

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Beasts crawled out of the ground and bared their fangs, rampaging toward the defense line.

Dong! Dong!

The sound of firing from the guns of the Sunil soldiers sounded like cannons, with more than one meter of flames leaping out from their muzzles. It was like an invisible enormous hand had sent the burrowing beasts flying, falling onto the ground and getting focus fired, screaming in agony. Their carapace and flesh became mud, splattered across the ground, leaving slimy marks on the dry dirt.

"Hold your positions!"

Neville's tone was harsh and cold, ordering the B12 Defense Team under his command from the communicator in his NCO Class armor. He had thirty soldiers under his command, and their crossfire had stopped the beasts in this area from stepping in.

During the gaps between firing, Neville looked around. This wave of burrowing beasts did not cause much trouble—some armor had been damaged, but no one had died or been injured.

Boom!

Two black burrowing beasts suddenly dashed out of the ground near B12 Defense Team. Their large mouths suddenly bit toward Neville and another soldier.

Before the other members of the defense team could turn their gun around, Neville had already reacted. He threw down his firearm, reached out his metal hands in a blink of an eye, and accurately grabbed onto the opened maw of the beast, not letting its fangs penetrate through his helmet. In an instant, a stream of gas shot out from the mechanical arm. All the joints became locked, stopping the strong biting power of the beast. The next second, a spinning saw bounced out from his wrist, cutting away half of the beast's huge mouth.

Neville withstood the beast's claw attacks out of agony, positioned himself, and tackled the beast, throwing it to the ground. He then stepped onto its throat with his huge metal feet, like a needle, pressing the struggling beast. From his wrists, he quickly drew out two electromagnetic handguns and shot through the beast's skull.

Blood poured all over his armor, and a part of the tactical screen was blocked by slime.

This string of actions was quick and smooth, showing no signs of the bulkiness from wearing heavy armor.

The other soldier who was attacked was not as strong; his helmet was twisted and deformed, almost flattened, and blood splashed onto the ground from the gaps of the helmet as he fell to the ground.

This was the first death.

He had fired many shots into the beast's belly before dying, fulfilling his duty till the last moment of his life. He had even worried about Neville, wanting to help the captain before he fell. His muzzle had already turned toward his captain, but he did not have the strength to pull the trigger anymore.

The Enlistee Class Sunil armor increased the combat capabilities of a normal soldier, enough for the soldiers to match up to strong beasts. Neville's NCO Class Armor had even higher capabilities. Even if the wearer was not a Super, with the performance of the armor and his experience as a veteran, he would not lose to most Super mercenaries.

Neville picked up the machine gun, fired, and killed this beast with his comrades. He briefly looked at the corpse of his subordinate, and without any change to his voice, he yelled, "Leave him, don't break the formation."

After more than ten years in the army, he had already lost count of how many times he had donned this armor.

In his long military service career, he had taken part in the DarkStar disaster, experienced the planetary migration, and brought the scouting team to carry out the early stage exploration of Planet Sunil. With every Catastrophe that he went through, there were dead comrades, the number of veterans became fewer and fewer, and his old friends disappeared one after another.

Neville's team had been refilled multiple times. His current subordinates were all new recruits that were only in the army for a few years. He always led the team to carry out dangerous missions, so the damage suffered was always heavy, including many friends that he had known for many years… Regret? This word was not in his vocabulary. Neville did not care about the death of his subordinates. In order to protect the entire race, sacrifices were unavoidable—this had always been his creed.

In the eyes of others, there was no doubt that Neville was a very cold-blooded commander.

After defeating this wave of beasts, the scouting team sent back a message saying that there would be a gap between the attacks. Neville immediately requested repairs. An equipment truck drove beside the camp, a group of maintenance men with all sorts of devices and metal plates started to repair the defense team's armor. Neville was surrounded by a group of maintenance men with electric welding devices, and at this time, he saw Han Xiao walking over.

Because of Lerden, Neville had an impression of Han Xiao. He said in a low voice, "Mercenary, return to your position!"

"I want to request for the change of mission," Han Xiao said.

"There's no mission safer than what you're doing now." Neville's tone was very harsh. He had seen many mercenaries requesting to change mission on the spot because they were terrified by the Catastrophe and did not want to stay in the dangerous front lines.

The Sunils would not force the mercenaries to take part in dangerous battles; they would only deduct a certain amount of credibility points and reward. Of course, Neville would usually get rid of them as soon as possible. He felt that even saying a single word to them was a waste of energy, so he would rather use that time to close his eyes, rest, and recover some energy.

However, the safest job that these mercenaries could request for was what Han Xiao was doing right now. Neville did not know what this Black Star's issue was. Was he just too afraid of death and wanted an even safer job? No, he was Lerden's friend; he did not look like such a person.

Neville suppressed his impatience and asked, "What request do you have?"

"My team wants to join the scouting team."

As soon as he said that, the resting soldiers and mercenaries looked over in surprise.

Neville thought that he had misheard. This was the most dangerous mission, one that mercenaries would practically avoid at all costs. This was the first time that someone had requested to take on the scouting mission.

Neville was a man of few words, but even so, he could not help but ask, "Why?"

"My members have some special abilities; they are most suitable to performing dangerous missions," Han Xiao bluffed. "Also, Lerden is my friend… Even so, I still need to be paid; that's my principle."

"… I will request it to above." Neville's tone was not as cold anymore, and the surrounding soldiers showed their respect. No matter what reason they had, these mercenaries were willing to put themselves in danger for the Sunil race despite being strangers, and this action was more than enough for the people of Sunil to appreciate them.

The mercenaries chatted among themselves; they were curious about Han Xiao's team.

"What Mercenary Group are they?"

"Think it's called Black Star."

"Never heard before, probably new. They sure are hardworking, but why? It's not worth if they die anyway."

Not long after, a new mission popped up on the interface—Scouting the Wild. The reward was 8,000 Enas, and since it was a mission given to the entire mercenary group, the other players triggered it as well.

The sight of the mission on the interface satisfied Han Xiao. Due to not having enough Credibility Points in the Mercenary Hall of Juberly Hub, they could not take on other missions. However, they could negotiate once they were on Planet Sunil. Although this type of private hire would not add on to the Credibility Points, it did not lack reward and could earn them renown.

Scouting the wild was indeed dangerous, so Han Xiao was not planning to go himself. Instead, he made the players carry it out. They would not die anyway, so they were most suitable to act as scouts, and he could still get the reward while the players did the mission.

The players were surprised. Although it was safe to stay in the camp, it was also boring. Now that they were motivated by the reward, they were looking forward to carrying it out—the players did not care about the danger of scouting the wild at all.

"One more request, I hope to join the Battlefield Repairs Team personally," Han Xiao said. "I'm a Mechanic… quite a skilled one."

"Battlefield Repairs?" Neville frowned.

"I feel that this job is more suitable for me."

Repairs were considered as part of the logistics, all covered by the people of their own race. Letting mercenaries do it was a waste of resources, and it was equivalent to throwing their money away. However, Neville did not reject immediately. The Black Star Mercenary Group had just applied for the most dangerous mission, and their leader's request did not cross the line.

Han Xiao picked up an Enlistee Class Armor and started repairing on the spot. Using all sorts of tools one after another, electric sparks were splashing. Before the others could even react, this armor was around 90% repaired. His Machinery Affinity was very high, and he had the boost from [Ordnance Engineer, so his repair speed was rapid.

"If your equipment is only repaired during breaks, it will be very dangerous if it is heavily damaged. However, I'm strong enough to protect myself in the battlefield and can carry out battlefield repairs, providing you guys with safety."

Neville asked his superior and received a direct response. "Okay, it's granted."

Battlefield Repairs required one to be on the front lines of the battlefield. Han Xiao was actively giving up his safe position and taking a risk that he did not need to take. The Sunil people were deeply moved—his spirit was a model of honor and noble.

There are too few people like this left!

Seeing this, Maple Moon was reminded of Han Xiao's aim of entering the galaxy and thought, Every main character has their own personality. Righteousness seems to flow through his veins, is this the hero personality?

After the mission changed, the players were all pulled to attend the lesson for scouting the wild. They had to head out before the next attack arrived, and they temporarily split up.

Han Xiao did not have to operate the cannon anymore, heading directly to the Battlefield Repairs Team to report. Naturally, this was all part of his plan.

The Mechanic class could reverse engineer the machinery blueprint from repairing and modifying, only that it required a lot of experience points. Han Xiao was not short of experience—as long as he had enough chances to make repairs, he could figure out the blueprint. He was most interested in the Enlistee Class and NCO Class Armors, and the performance of this type of mass-produced single unit armor was quite high, very suitable to sell to the players in large quantities. Not only could he earn a fortune from it, he could also increase the average strength of his mercenary group.

Over the next two days, the defense team went through contact battles continuously. Their equipment was frequently damaged, so Han Xiao ran around the defense circle and carried out his battlefield repairing job. His reverse engineering progress was gradually increasing as he came into contact with more and more armor.

Although his motive was not pure, his in-time battlefield repairs did indeed save the lives of many guarding soldiers—it was very clear and effective. Even Neville, who did not care much about the injuries and deaths of his subordinates, found Han Xiao to be a huge help.

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Chapter 342: Hidden Thoughts

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

In the late night, in the forest two hundred miles away from Forest City, a wild scouting team was on the run. They had looks of panic and kept looking back, like something terrifying was chasing behind them. The sound of leaves rubbing each other came from the forest behind. It seems like the sound kept getting closer, and the pitch-black darkness was constantly encroaching upon them.

This team was made of three people, all Sunil Supers. The captain, Fumay, said while shivering, "Don't stop no matter what. The Night Moth is right behind!"

According to the different beasts appearing at different times, the Catastrophe was divided into stages. The appearance of Night Moths was a sign of the Catastrophe entering the mid-stage. These were beasts that were active during the night, and when they appeared in a pack, it meant the start of the dangerous night battle.

The psychic wave made all the beasts on the planet rampage, and Forest City was just one part of it. There were countless beasts killing each other in different areas; nowhere was safe. One of the reasons causing the wave of beasts was that weaker beasts instinctively felt the pressure from beasts at the top of the food chain, so they actively left the territory of the strong beasts in groups and were directed toward Forest City. As the beasts were killed on a large scale, it attracted stronger beasts.

The aim of scouting the wild was to discover the species of the attacking beasts and warn Forest City. This was a very dangerous task as meeting the beast herd in the wild meant almost certain death. This wild scouting team had already sent the message back, and now, they were running for their lives.

Feeling the cold and darkness that was inches away, the three of them were horrified.

Fumay clenched his teeth, his heart filled with regret.

"Turned out this way again… this is not the first time!"

He had experienced three Catastrophes, and all three times, he had been chosen for the wild scouting team. He had wandered near the gate of death countless times, and the scars on his body still hurt sometimes.

As he sprinted, he could not help but think that he was just about done with such a life.

Back when the Catastrophe first came, Supers came back from the galaxy willingly to protect the race, and Fumay did too. However, now, he only felt tired of the resistance; boiling blood would cool down sooner or later. He kept giving but never received anything in return. After all those years, Fumay's patience had long worn out. He did indeed love his home, but it did not mean that his race could use him however they wanted to and see them as tools. Their reasoning of 'for the continuation of race' had long become a tired excuse in Fumay's ears.

It was way too unfair! Fumay's patience had reached its limit. He had to give up his reward as a mercenary to the race, and he had to give his life in times of danger. What gave his race the right to ask so much of him?

Just because it was his own race, could he not ask for anything in return‽

What gave them the right to make someone strong like him take so much responsibility!

Fumay's mercenary career in the galaxy had broadened his knowledge, and he felt more and more against giving his life for his race. Life was precious; he had only one.

Many warriors had firm beliefs, but there were also many warriors that had the same thoughts as him. After giving so much to the race, he felt that he had given enough.

If I can stay alive this time, I will never return or bother about this Catastrophe anymore! thought Fumay as he clenched his teeth.

Suddenly, a tail shot out from the forest like a whip, ensnaring a scout. The end of the tail was a sharp bone sting. It punctured into the scout's abdomen. The scout snarled, and Pugilist flames appeared all over his body. He tore the tail apart, and black liquid splashed on his face.

The counter-attack caused this person to lag behind for a moment, and that moment decided his life.

Swoosh!

Dozens of tails shot out from the darkness and tangled up this pugilist, dragging him into the forest in an instant. Fumay turned around immediately and saw an even stronger pugilist flame light up in the forest, displaying his grade C Pugilist strength.

However, this flame only lasted for half a second before it exploded and shattered, just like the person's body.

Fumay felt a sense of warmth on his face. After touching it, he confirmed that it was the warm blood of his comrade.

In less than one second, a grade C Pugilist had been torn to shreds!

The Night Moth's frightening growl echoed in the forest, not just from behind, but from ahead as well, surrounding the two of remaining scouts. Thousands of wobbling whip-like shadows appeared in the dark forest, all Night Moths' tails.

Tuk-tuk-tuk!

The long-lasting explosions from the cannons lit up the night sky. This beast wave lasted for five hours. The battle had reached the heated stage, and the third defense circle was filled with the carcass of the burrowing beasts. The Iron Defense Team had been battling for way too long and had to change shift—everyone's armor was more or less damaged.

It was night, and Han Xiao carried a large box of repair tools and moved around the back of the tired defense circle, repairing the defense team's armor one after another. Time was scarce, and the mission was crucial—they had to go back to battle right after the repairs were finished.

There were also other Battlefield Repairs Teams, but Han Xiao's skill was the best. His name had already spread to everyone in the defense teams, and every team hoped to meet Han Xiao during their repairs. Only then would their safety have the best guarantee.

Welding steel plates, fixing circuits, resetting systems, Han Xiao's repairs flowed like water. The Battlefield Repairs Team gave him the internal communicator to make giving him missions easier. Just as he was finished with the repairs of one team, a new command came from the headset. "B12 Defense Team is requesting in-battle emergency repairs!"

B12 was Neville's team, so Han Xiao rushed to the location. Neville's team did not change shift to rest—they were still battling, and repairing during battle had the highest risk. One soldier saw Han Xiao and said hastily, "Quickly, this way!"

Han Xiao rushed over to find Neville lying on the floor. A beast claw mark had penetrated the armor between his chest and abdomen, giving off electric sparks. The broken pipes were showing, and the energy device had shut down. Neville could not get up from the ground, so a group of soldiers guarded his surroundings.

"F*ck, all of you new recruits, get away from here! You're not allowed to leave your positions!" Neville shouted furiously, but the soldiers did not listen, determined to protect him.

Due to them contracting their formation, a gap had shown up at this camp, and a small wave of burrowing beasts had broken through. Such a situation required the standby Quick Reaction Team to backup. The backup was already on the way, so it was not be a huge problem—it was a normal process.

However, in Neville's eyes, this was an absolute dereliction of duty, so he struggled to stand up in a fit of rage.

"Don't move." Han Xiao pressed Neville down, took out materials and tools, and started his work.

Neville felt that Han Xiao's hand was like a mountain pressing on his body; he could not move no matter how he struggled. In the end, he could only clench his teeth and give in. "Quickly!"

"Shut up," Han Xiao said expressionlessly.

[Sunil—Defensive NCO Class Armor] Derivation Progress: 27%

He had mostly repaired Enlistee Class Armor during his few days on the team, and he had already spent millions of experience to derive the blueprint. However, there had been very few chances to repair NCO Class Armors. Thus, he was only at 27%. He also guessed that the NCO Class Armor required [Heavy Machine Modification] as a prerequisite, so the progress might be stuck.

Other than armor, he had also been fortunate enough to repair some vehicles and batteries, and he had gotten the Hovering Turret blueprint.

Although Neville was in a hurry to get back to the battlefield, he could only wait for the repair, and although he hurried Han Xiao, Han Xiao's speed made him feel relieved. It would not take long before he could get back in the battle.

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Chapter 343: The Split in the Dark

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

As he was repairing, Han Xiao looked up at the space fleet above Forest City. "Why is your spaceship still not joining the battle?"

"It is the city's barrier from the sky, and it also has the strongest weapon. There's no need to employ it against these small beasts," Neville replied.

Han Xiao suddenly changed his tone. "I heard rumors about the trump card that you guys have called Commander Class armor, which is way more powerful than the NCO Class armor. Why don't you guys use that?"

"Commander Class armor was lost a long time ago, back when we were first attacked on our home planet," Neville said with a sigh. "We lost the technology to make the armor. Now, we only have four sets of heavily damaged Commander Class armor in our warehouse, and all of them were damaged by seventy percent. So, we can't reverse-engineer the technology.

"Even though anyone can wear the Commander Class armor, only the Supers can maximize its full potential. When our home planet was being attacked, we send out all the Commander Class armor that we had, and they broke one by one, while the soldiers wearing the armor sacrificed their lives. Without them, the survivors would only have been half of our current size. In the end, we only retrieved four of the damaged sets of Commander Class armor. Those four sets were the key to our survival, and we keep them under maintenance."

Commander Class armor was on a different level compared to Enlistee Class armor and NCO Class armor. The latter two were standard equipment, but Commander Class armor was the highest tier equipment and on the same level as elite equipment and the Supers' equipment. The materials needed to produce one set of Commander Class armor could be used to produce a few hundred sets of Enlistee Class armor.

The loss of Commander Class armor technology meant that the downfall of this civilization was inevitable. If they still had the technology for Commander Class armor, then they could employ that equipment to fight off dangerous beasts, and the threat of the Catastrophe would decrease.

Boom!

The ground shook violently, and the two armored soldiers got knocked to the side. Neville saw something behind Han Xiao and shouted, "Move!"

An Underground Crustacean Beast that was the size of a bull knocked the soldiers into the air and charged directly at Han Xiao. There were a lot of Underground Beasts, and this type tended to charge at their target. Their defensive status was high with their dark armor that was as hard as steel. It could block off machine gun bullets, so it was an extremely difficult creature to deal with.

Han Xiao turned around and took out a golden ball from his pocket. The ball expanded into the Wrath of Garrett, and without delay, he activated Flaming Will on top of some critical damage skills while triggering true damage at the same time.

A bright light beam shot through the air and directly penetrated the armor of the beast. Only a burn mark was left on the body of the beast.

The defense troops needed to use more than ten seconds to take down the beast, but Han Xiao did it in one attack. With its momentum, the corpse slowly slid next to Han Xiao's feet while leaking a gluey liquid.

"Don't be so surprised. I am stronger than you all." Han Xiao withdrew his weapon and continued with his repairs as if nothing had happened.

"… I forgot." Neville's mouth was wide open. He had thought that Han Xiao was just a logistics worker without any combat power, and he just remembered that Han Xiao was a Super.

Within a few minutes, Han Xiao put down his tools and said, "It's fixed."

The armor worked again. Neville stood up, double checked that the armor was fixed, and ran straight back to the battlefield, yelling at his troops for leaving their posts.

Even though they were being yelled at, the soldiers did not complain. They were actually happy that they had been able to save their boss's life.

Neville stopped scolding the soldiers and focused on the battle. He continued to yell and command his troops.

Just as Han Xiao was prepared to move to the next repair point, a sharp alarm rang from the base. Han Xiao stopped his steps and looked around.

Level two warning. The Catastrophe is now in the middle stage.

A mysterious cold atmosphere spread, and a group of black shadows flew out of the forest. They were covered in black fog and flew across the field a few meters above the ground. They easily avoided the minefield and dodged the majority of the ranged attacks with their agile movements.

A bright light soon showed the appearance of these creatures. They had dark gray flesh without any hair. They were at least three or four meters tall and did not have any facial features. They had two antennae on their head to sense the environment. Four long claws extended from their body, and they had strong beast legs and a pair of dark bat wings. In addition, there were three whip-like tails filled with spikes.

"The Night Moth!" Han Xiao recognized this beast from the initial briefing. The appearance of these beasts meant that the Catastrophe had moved past the first stage and reached the middle stage. With the first stage being so threatening, and the later stages being at least a dozen times more dangerous, the deaths and damage would clearly intensify.

The retreat order was sent through the earphone. "All maintenance staff, fall back to the fifth defense line and enter the base!"

Han Xiao naturally followed the order and headed back to the metal base. The doors and windows were locked tight, and no exit could be found. It was the required safety measures, so the staff could only watch the battle outside through the window.

Pa!

Suddenly, the defense lines all turned on powerful full-beam headlights and pointed them to the sky. The dark night became as bright as day. The approaching Night Moths screeched as the light shone on them, and they lost all sense of direction as they collided with one another, rolling on the ground as if they were drunk. Then, quite a number of Night Moths landed on the minefield and exploded into pieces.

A Night Moth's antennae were sensitive to light, so they could only move in the dark.

The Sunils had prepared specific plans for certain types of beasts. After reaching the middle stage of the Catastrophe, the mission was not as simple as just shooting bullets. Now, the troops had to use specific tactics to deal with certain beasts. The tactics had been obtained from all the blood shed of previous Catastrophes, and they would surely reduce the damage.

In the end, there were also a lot of enemies that were hard to handle. The toxic bugs were an example. Those things were the sign of the final stage.

Every single Night Moth was on the same level as a class D super. They were very agile, and their tails could easily penetrate armor. Because of that, a lot of turrets were destroyed, and the defense troops and mercenaries were in a predicament. The number of deaths kept on increasing.

The intense battle dragged on until dawn. The remaining Night Moth finally backed off, and the battle reached a temporary peaceful stage. At least a few thousand soldiers had died in the span of a single night. It was the deadliest battle so far.

Countless corpses had been put into corpse bags and sent to the backline. Many family members of the soldiers lived in the city. Their glorified sacrifice was not only because of their pride but also for their families. Their corpses would all be identified by the families, and the night was filled with painful wails echoing from the city.

The soldiers that had still been well and alive the night before turned into corpses in a few hours. The morale of the base hit rock-bottom. The soldiers were exhausted after last night. They could not even take off their armor in case of an emergency attack, so they scattered and sat on the ground, staring into the sky without thinking of anything.

Hearing the cries of the families, the soldiers realized that they could be one of those corpses in the next few days.

In such an atmosphere, the mercenaries could only stay quiet and prepare their equipment.

This scene reminded Han Xiao of Planet Aquamarine. No matter where one traveled in the universe, the suffering that war brought was the same.

Suddenly, there was some movement on the side. A large group of scouts had returned to the base. They were well respected by the Sunils. A lot of soldiers stared at them, and some saluted out of respect.

The scouts had a logical schedule. There would always be troops to replace the team for them to come back and rest. The players were the troops that had been sent out to replace this team.

Han Xiao recalled a conversation with Lerden. Lerden had mentioned that there were two strong soldiers who had reached class B. They were working as mercenaries in the galaxy, and every year, they would earn large sum of money. They were the idols of the entire civilization.

The leader of the returning scouts was one of those two—Fernas.

All the high officials from the military showed up and welcome the returning troops.

Fernas waved his hand and said, "We have lost a lot of brothers. We brought back as many corpses as we could."

The crowd spread out and put down twenty or so corpse bags on the ground. They were all Sunil Supers. Fumay was also one of them.

Han Xiao looked around and did not see Lerden's corpse. He looked into the crowd and saw that Lerden was still standing in the team. Although he had lost another leg and two arms, at least he was still alive.

"They are all heroes," the military officials said. "We will take care of the rest."

"I hope so," Fernas replied.

The Sunil Supers all looked at the corpses at their friends and showed sorrowful expressions.

The atmosphere dropped another notch.

Han Xiao kept on observing the expressions of the Supers, and he found out that one group, including Lerden, only showed a despairing expression and mourned for the loss.

As for the other group, other than sadness, they also showed rage and anger.

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Chapter 344: Meeting the Liar Again (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The returning team split up to rest, while Lerden was jumping on one leg, planning to find the 'doctor' to repair him. Han Xiao whistled, signaling for Lerden to go over.

"It's you, can't believe you're still alive." Lerden hopped in front of Han Xiao.

"I should be the one saying that." Han Xiao looked at his broken limbs.

"Met a bit of danger, almost died," Lerden said like it was nothing.

Although he was not very close to Han Xiao, he felt a little bit more relieved when he saw someone whom he considered a friend to still be alive.

Han Xiao raised the toolbox in his hand and said, "Seems like you need a very skilled Mechanic."

"Is it free this time?" Lerden raised an eyebrow.

Han Xiao thought and said, "Get me a drink, in the same bar as last time."

It was currently the break period of the Catastrophe; there was time to rest. The commanders had allowed Han Xiao into the city seeing that Black Star Mercenary Group had actively taken on the job of scouting.

Lerden had a backup implanted arm, so Han Xiao repaired and connected it very quickly. Originally, only Lerden's right arm had still been made of flesh, but it was now broken, bound, and left alone. His expression was calm—he did not care about losing the only part of flesh that he had left.

The two entered the city and came to Herlous' bar as Han Xiao had requested. There was quite a number of customers that day—all of them were civilians from nearby. The soldiers were bathing in blood and fighting outside the city, and most civilians hid in their home or in the official emergency evacuation areas. There were also some that chose to use alcohol to get rid of their terror. Ninety percent of the shops in the entire city were closed during the Catastrophe, but Herlous' bar opened as usual, so the place was a little noisy.

Walking up to the bar counter, Han Xiao said, "Two glasses of your signature drink."

Lerden immediately raise his hand and cut in. "Just one glass."

Drunk, Herlous raised his head, and after seeing Han Xiao's face, his expression changed. "You again!"

He remembered Han Xiao, a weird guy that came to find his brother's old notebook out of nowhere who seemed to also know his secret.

"What do you want again?"

Han Xiao smiled and said, "Just here for a drink."

Herlous stared at Han Xiao for some time then unwillingly took out a bottle of alcohol. Han Xiao did not speak to him again, just drinking and chatting with Lerden casually. Herlous saw this and kept his doubt. He turned away to attend to other customers while eavesdropping on the conversation between Han Xiao and Lerden.

Han Xiao looked at Lerden's broken arm and said, "Don't you feel pain?"

Lerden shook his head and said, "When I went through the implant operation, I told the doctor to cut off my nerves, so that injuries will not affect my combat ability."

"You're an Esper, so implants will weaken your power. Why did you do it?"

"It's fine to be weaker," Lerden said calmly. "I can live longer this way—a dead man is of no use."

"To choose implants to live longer, and to actively execute the most dangerous mission, your love for your race really is strong." Han Xiao's eyes sparkled. "No one is born a hero; the supers of Sunil seemed to be too selfless. You guys must have your reasons, how about tell them to me? I'm quite curious."

Lerden kept silent for a while. His expression became nostalgic, and the look in his eyes started to change a little. It was like he could hardly keep his calm when he thought about the past. He said slowly, "Just like every other Sunil, I once had a complete family. My father was strict, my mother was kind and warm, and I had two younger sisters. When DarkStar attacked, I was still a kid. Even now, I can still remember the laser cannons descending from the sky, thick like waterfalls, turning the largest buildings in the city centers into ash in an instant. We joined the evacuating crowd, and the military protected us. They knew clearly that staying behind meant death, but they still prioritized guarding us and sending us away.

"Unfortunately, my parents could not board Godora's rescue spaceship. They died halfway there; a beam of laser turned my parents into ashes. I was just a kid in despair, and the only thing that I knew was how to cry. I followed the other refugees numbly. Every day, the army gave the refugees very little food. I was starving so much that I could not control myself at all. After I took the food, I hid more than half of the portion, only giving a little bit to my sisters. I just wanted to live at that time; I did not know how to think of anything else. Then… my two younger sisters starved to death."

Lerden paused then said in a very low voice, "I can still vividly remember their expression, their bony palms grabbing my clothes as they stared right into my eyes, like they were telling me how hungry they were, but they had no energy to talk. Those two pairs of eyes filled with despair cut right into my heart. My brain was blank, and a few seconds felt like centuries. When their arms slipped down without strength, only then did I dare take deep breaths. I was completely petrified. I couldn't believe what I had done. If I had shared the food with my sisters, even if I would be hungrier, at least we all could have lived, but I knew nothing back then—I only thought about having filling meals, I felt that if I ate less, I would be starved to death the next day…

"I followed the crowd up the rescuing ship numbly, not knowing where to go. There were many kids like me who lost their families back then; they were all given to veterans with a disability to raise. A group of kids and I were given to a veteran, too. From then on, we lived with him. He raised us and taught us how to fight. He was a rough, impatient man, but a good man and a good soldier. Many of us Supers were orphans that were raised by the race back then.

"As time passed, I gradually took that veteran as my foster father, but I always had a grudge in my heart. I felt my past was too dark; I felt I was an evil man. If I told my foster father, would he chase me away? One day, on impulse, I told him about my younger sisters' death, and he gave me a serious scolding… but not because of my selfishness. He scolded me that if I had the heart to think about the past, I should be spending that time to train. He said that the race was on the verge of being wiped out, and there was no time to be held back by the past. Even if I was a criminal of countless sins, as long as I held the gun to protect our race, then I had only one identity—a soldier. No one would care about my past, only what I can do…"

Han Xiao touched his chin and asked, "What happened to that old veteran?"

"The first time the Catastrophe came, although the disabled soldiers could have been protected, he actively requested to go into the battlefield, where he died. Afterward, I heard that he belonged to the team that protected my group of refugees; I even once received food from him…" Lerden shook his head. "I owe everything to the race; therefore, I contribute everything I am able to."

"So, your contributions are to return favors?" Han Xiao turned around and looked at Herlous, who was leaning over, eavesdropping. The man was expressionless, and he turned around and walked away impatiently as if he had absolutely no interest in this kind of conversation.

"Not entirely. It's also for the continuation of my race." After telling the nostalgic story, the sadness from losing comrades earlier was washed away a little. Lerden wanted to know more about Han Xiao as well, so he changed the subject. "Let's not talk about me, let's talk about you. You…"

This time, Han Xiao suddenly stood up and cut him off. "Pardon me, I have a private matter to settle. I need to leave for a while."

Lerden was speechless. Shouldn't friends share such stories? Why is he running away after listening just to my experience? I feel I've been taken advantage of.

Han Xiao walked to the side, found Herlous, and said, "I want to talk to you privately."

Herlous suddenly became cautious. "What do you really want?"

Han Xiao was direct this time. "I know many things about you, such as your strength, what your older brother left for you, and other stuff. Maybe you will be interested to hear about Sunil's future."

Future‽

This word made Herlous very surprised, and he became even more unsure of Han Xiao's goal. "Who are you?"

"I'm a Foreseer, or you can call me… a Prophet."

Han Xiao gave a weird smile.

The reason for him to come into contact with Herlous multiple times was because he knew Herlous' hidden identity—he was the main character of the Sunils!

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Chapter 345: Meeting the Liar Again (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

"Foreseer?" Herlous' face was filled with doubt. A stranger had suddenly appeared out of nowhere to find him and said that he could foresee the future. He had never experienced something like this. What the hell is this?

Herlous' first reaction was to not believe him. "Since you can see the future, do you know what I will eat tomorrow morning?"

"It's okay if you don't believe my identity; you just need to listen. Time will prove if what I say is true."

Han Xiao ignored Herlous' mocking and started his performance. He purposed acted mysterious and said with a voice only two of them could hear, "Contradictions have already appeared. Not long now, the guardians of your race will split up, and Planet Sunil's revitalizing dream will forever be shattered. The Catastrophe will finish all of your resources and hope; the only path left will be to look for help and become a subsidiary of an advanced civilization. Your people will spread to live in different cities, gradually losing your independence, relying on the strong, then slowing losing your heritage and spirit. Your past will become your words, recorded into the history books of the other higher civilizations. Your children will only come to know of the history of your race through words. Your race will be another withered race in the broad universe…"

He used unclear words on purpose. Foretelling had to give people a blurry and unclear feeling, and when it really happened, people would feel enlightened and regret when they thought back to the foretelling. Han Xiao, of course, knew the future of the Sunil race; this race did not end physically, but they did 'end' in another form.

Spirit, heritage, belief, history—these were the things that a species had during the process of evolving. Through thinking in various processes and coming up with answers that belonged to this race, these untouchable things were what made a race a 'civilization'. Just like the base of a building, they were something that everyone in a race shared, pillars that held the race together. There were many races and species of beasts, but no one ever called them 'civilizations'.

Planet Sunil was a refuge civilization—Supers were their guardians, and the race appreciated their contributions but did not have extra resources to reward them. The race could only recover by relying on Supers. It was this everlasting contribution that sparked the contradictions. In his previous life, a group of the Supers could not take it anymore. They felt they had done more than enough, so they chose to give up their home and in search of 'freedom', abandoning the race, which they saw as a burden, taking the galaxy as their new home.

The Sunils were heavily wounded. Originally, the damage after every Catastrophe was still acceptable, and the strength of the race as a whole was slowly recovering. Everyone had been looking forward to the day when all that bitterness would be gone and they could taste the sweetness. However, when the guardians of the race split up, their situation went downhill extremely fast; the damage suffered through the Catastrophe started to grow larger than the race's accumulated resources, and the times became harder and harder.

The Sunils did not have enough resources to migrate. Even if they did, they would not do so; they could only look for help. Many evil forces existed in the universe, and refuge civilizations were their favored prey. If they left Godora's protection, worse dangers would come, such as large scavenger groups, slave traders, and many others. Examples of this were not extremely rare—slave traders with strong backing wiped out an entire race except one, then raised the price due to the reason of that one person being the last of an 'extinct species'. There were also evil organizations wiping out races to fulfill some kind of ritual or simply for satisfaction.

Regulations kept the universe balanced, but it could not get rid of all evil.

In the end, Sunil accepted Godora's military aid and migrated once again. Godora split the Sunils up and sent an army for long term 'protection'. As Godora made more decisions and as time passed, the Sunils were assimilated, ending the Sunil 'Civilization'.

The three Universal Civilizations made laws that forbade the invasion of lower civilizations, but the war never ended. The festive, boisterous, and the regulated universe was just the surface, and hidden in it were many ambitious civilizations that either waited or were already acting. After all, every civilization dreamt of becoming the overlord. Since it was not allowed to invade lower civilizations through war, they assimilated them. Even the lawful civilizations were not completely kind people, and even Godora, who held pure blood beliefs, also cultivated subsidiary races.

Whether a civilization prospered or fell was on the population. If the people wanted their civilization to continue, others would only grab the opportunity to take advantage of them. Every day, there were races or civilizations dying in some corner of the universe—what difference would one more make? At most, their race's history would be recorded and become a conversation topic after dinner or a record that did not make a difference to anyone.

Some galactic shows liked to report the dilemmas faced by civilizations, and its selling point was sparking sympathy in the audience, but hoping that others would turn sympathy into actual action was extravagant. One might make an emotional decision because of one's emotions, but when it came to an entire civilization, an entire race, only profit mattered. After all, Sunil was just one of the hundreds of thousands of normal races. It had no right to receive special treatment.

Furthermore, this was Shattered Star Ring, the edge of the visible universe, rural and unpopulated. The active groups of people were scavengers, abandoned people, mercenaries, and vulture-like pragmatists.

Furthermore, DarkStar had attacked the lower civilizations because they wanted them to spend Godora's resources. If one refuge civilization could stop relying on Godora and rely on itself because it had revitalized, how could the DarkStar allow the birth of an ally of Godora?

Han Xiao used vague words to describe this future to Herlous, letting him know that the Sunil's future was covered in darkness.

"Why did you tell me something like this? Do you think I will be interested?" Herlous asked indifferently. He raised his head and gulped a mouth of alcohol, looking completely unconcerned.

"Because I saw your ending, many things can be prevented." Han Xiao smiled.

Herlous put down the glass and said curiously, "How do I end?"

Although he did not believe that Han Xiao was a so-called prophet, most people would be curious about their future. Han Xiao had talked about many things earlier, and Herlous really wanted to know how this guy would 'foresee' his fate.

Han Xiao stopped instead with a smile and said, "When you believe I'm a foreseer, I will tell you."

"I already do." Herlous took back what he had said previously.

"If you really believe, you're welcomed to actively find me next time."

Han Xiao smiled; lying did not work on him.

Herlous was the storyline main character of Sunil. According to this person's experience, Han Xiao thought that there was a chance to take away this main character role. At this time, Herlous was still an alcoholic escaping from reality, not matching up the style of a 'storyline main character'. The parts he was going to play had yet to start, and the Great Mechanic Han had done all this specifically to target Herlous' changes in the future, to leave a heavy impression.

His faction had to have more than one 'NPC' other than himself, and Herlous was the first testing target.

At this time, an argument could be heard from the corner of the bar. One of them was clearly drunk and had a conflict with his friend. It seemed like they were on the topic of the survival of their race, and they had a conflict due to disagreements.

"You don't know about sh*t," the friend said furiously. "This is all part of Godora's plan. They purposely migrated us to a dangerous planet. How could they not know this planet's actual environment? Godora wants us to beg them!"

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Chapter 346: Contradictions and Splitting Up, Last Stage of the Catastrophe

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

On the other side, the drunk man spun the alcohol bottle. He was very emotional as he shouted loudly, "Then we beg Godora! What can race honor do? Only staying alive is important! These leaders' heads are all full of sh*t. Too many people died every time; my two younger brothers died in the army! All of this is useless, so we should get help from Godora. Why are we acting so tough! These Supers are useless. If they really were strong, the Catastrophe would be long gone!"

The drunk talked in a very disdainful and emotional tone, despising the Supers and the military for being too lousy, blaming and complaining with more and more vulgar language. This kind of action angered the other customers. Supers and the military were heroes to most of the civilians—any doubts or insults would cause an outrage.

"Everything you are enjoying now is because the heroes fought their lives for it. Who are you to talk!"

The drunk sneered and said, "This is what they should do—with ability comes responsibility. If not for the race's cultivation, they would be ordinary people just like me."

"People like you are so disgusting; you should be sent out the city!"

The drunk sneered again. "Even if the city's defenses are broken through, I'm a civilian that will be prioritized in the evacuation. I won't be the one dying anyway."

"You don't deserve to be protected!" The crowd became even more furious.

The argument became heated. Lerden sat at the bar counter, expressionless, like he did not hear it at all. He did not even bother to turn around and look.

At this time, a very young guy pounced at the drunk guy furiously and started a fight straight away. He pressed the drunk man to the floor and punched his face rapidly, with blood splashing onto the floor. The others saw that there were blood and hastily tried to pull the young guy acting on impulse away.

"Lana, calm down!"

"Stop punching, he's going to die!"

Lana gave a few more punches before he finally stood up with hatred and got pulled aside. The drunk man was bleeding from his nose and mouth, unable to stand up after receiving a heavy beating. The other customers went to check, and luckily, the drunk man was just wounded. Then people blamed Lana for using too much force. Many people here were his neighbors, and Lana was a young man who hoped to enter the army—he was strong and muscular, an ideal recruit.

"You two, get the hell out of my shop," Herlous yelled, "go home and calm down!"

Lana left unhappily, and the drunk man was carried away as well. Thus, that small farce had ended.

Han Xiao turned around, looked at Herlous, and said, "I'm Black Star. If you are interested in what I said, come find me, I can solve this problem."

Then, Han Xiao called Lerden, and the two of them left the bar.

The unconcerned expression faded from Herlous' face, turning a little serious. His eyes sparkled, and unlike his disguise, he was not really completely unconcerned about the future of the race.

He did not know if a mercenary who called himself Black Star was really a foreseer. Even if he was, it was possible that he had lied about the foresight to trick him into a trap. He definitely had a motive, but Herlous did not know what it was. Was he coming for him?

The bar door was pushed open again, and a tall man in a hood walked near the bar counter. "Give me a glass of beer."

The man in the hood raised his head and showed his face.

Fernas!

Herlous was surprised. "You don't drink."

"Consider it a celebration of me coming back alive." Fernas took Herlous' glass and drank a mouth—it seemed that they were very close. If others knew the strongest grade B super of the race was this close to the boss of a small bar, they would definitely be shocked.

They were childhood playmates, so Herlous was way too familiar with this person. Almost every positive adjective could be used to describe Fernas—brave, honest, responsible, and many others. After the first disaster for the Sunils, Fernas became a mercenary to contribute to the race. Herlous actually always envied Fernas. From a young age, his short-lived older brother had kept talking about Fernas this, Fernas that. In his eyes, Fernas was 'the kid next door'.

Although he did envy him a little, Herlous also respected Fernas. He knew that he definitely could not be as dedicated as Fernas. After his older brother died, Herlous lived an aimless life waiting for his death, completely unconcerned about his race. He knew that he was a lazy person—when his older brother was alive, he had always been scolded for not being hardworking. Many people felt he was just as talented as Fernas but wasted his life away. Now, Fernas was the guardian respected by the entire race, and he was just a nobody.

He knew Fernas. He was a very self-disciplined person who would not break the rules for anything. Thus, Herlous frowned and asked, "What really happened?"

"Brother, I can't take it anymore. I'm preparing to leave." Fernas gave a faint smile full of bitterness; Herlous had never seen such an expression on this resolute face.

Leave? Herlous was shocked.

"The universe has endless possibilities," Fernas said. "Only when the past is cut off can one go forward. I don't want to be held back by the race anymore. There are many warriors who have the same thought as me, so we will not return after this Catastrophe.

"We have protected the race long enough—many friends sacrificed themselves, and some people begged for our protection, yet they feel it's a given. This is not our obligation, and there is no need to continue. We have done more than enough—maybe the race accepting help from Godora is the best ending. At least no one will die for nothing anymore."

"Even you are giving up‽" Herlous was completely shocked. Suddenly, Han Xiao's words appeared in his head. Is this the split that guy predicted? Then will our race have the future like he said, become a subsidiary of Godora and lose our heritage?

Herlous arranged the information and words to use, then told Fernas about Han Xiao's foresight of the ending after Sunil accepted military help from Godora. Fernas shook his head after listening. Without any change in his eyes, he said, "Staying alive is the most important. As long as the people are alive, the ideals will not die."

Is that really the case?

But the Fernas I know absolutely would not abandon our race.

You're alive, but you have changed…

Herlous saw Fernas' expression and knew that he had decided and was not going to be convinced. Having always seen Fernas as the noblest friend he had, his emotions were in turmoil. Now, he could never look at him the same way—it was like he became a stranger.

"Then why did you come to tell me this?" Herlous asked.

Fernas shook the bottle and said softly, "Honestly, I dislike you a lot. You have stronger powers than me, but you hide and accept our protection without hesitation… Never mind, let's not talk about this. I just came to tell you about it. It's up to you to continue to avoid everything or to stand up."

Fernas pulled up his hood and left Herlous to dwell on that thought.

Since the seed was already planted, Han Xiao did not enter the city again. He stayed outside the city and carried out his battlefield repairs. Upon entering the mid-stage of the Catastrophe, the battlefield became more heated and tragic. All sorts of horrifying monsters charged forward one after another, and he could not continue to run across the battlefield with just his body—he wore his Amphiptere mechanical suit. Sometimes, when the place he was repairing had gaps, he had to become the backup to fill up the gap as well. Among the mercenaries, his strength was not too conspicuous, and the only reason the other mercenaries remembered him was because the Black Star Mercenary Group actively took on the forward reconnaissance mission. Many mercenaries felt Han Xiao was insane—when the forward reconnaissance team next changed shifts, his mercenary group would definitely suffer a huge loss.

A large number of soldiers died every day, and incomplete corpses were sent to the back line one after another to be identified. The defense camp also had many damaged weapons and carriers, so the defense was becoming harder and harder. Only the nine battleships in the sky stayed still and never fired. The Sunils had limited resources, and battleship energy was scarce. Only when the extremely strong monsters showed up during the last stage would the battleships join the fray. Furthermore, the Sunils' battleships could only fly around the planet for three to four days at most. Other than guarding the sky, the most important use of these nine battleships was to make sure that they could transport the civilians away if the situation got out of hand, abandoning the city in order to escape. It was an emergency retreat route.

Eight days later, the city had a strange calm period. The alarm signifying the last stage of the Catastrophe sounded, and this time, everyone received breathing masks. Not just the logistics personnel, even some Supers entered refugee facilities.

Hoom!

An overwhelming hum of insect wings flapping appeared, and thick and black clouds swarmed over. These were all extremely aggressive small insects, concentrated like a wave.

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Whoosh!

In the defense circle, some kind of device shot out purple-red biohazard gas and covered the entire camp. Poisonous gas was the best form of attack for this kind of tiny insects in large numbers. This specially made poisonous gas was very strong—even flying insects that could endure fire would fall to the ground after tens of seconds, then struggle till their death.

This time, thunderous roars appeared, and enormous beasts with an average height of more than ten meters charged forward together with the swarm. The beast wave at the last stage was much more terrifying than the previous stages. These beasts were all species at the top of the food chain in Planet Sunil—Bone Armor War Elephants that stood tens of meters tall, Lava Flying Serpents that breathed scorching fire from their mouths, and many more. It would take a defense team at least twenty seconds of focus fire to kill one beast.

The poisonous gas was everywhere. It was a weapon to kill the swarm, but it was also a double-edged sword. If the armor of a soldier were torn open by the beasts, they would also be affected when they were exposed in the poisonous gas. Even though every soldier's armor was equipped with the antidote, it would only delay the effect of the poison and make it non-lethal. However, it would still paralyze the person affected. The Sunils' technology could not formulate a poisonous gas that was only effective on insects, so they could only use strong biohazard gas.

While the gas was a double-edged sword, it was the only way to deal with these flying bugs. A group of them could suck a Sunil completely dry in half a second, so they absolutely could not let them enter the city or it would be a horrifying disaster. They had to stop it outside the city no matter what. At the last stage of the Catastrophe, everyone had to fight in the poisonous gas—the situation was truly worse.

The two outermost lines of defense were already about half destroyed after the previous two stages, and this was the Sunils' disadvantage as well. The beast wave approached the defense team camp against the cannon and fire.

The ground shook violently, and a Bone Armor War Elephant charged toward B12 Defense Team in an overwhelming form. Even Neville, who had iron will, could not help but be nervous because of the pressure from its enormous size. At this moment, a large stream of light covered in electric sparks descended from the sky, blasting half of the Bone Armor War Elephant's body away, and its flesh splashed onto the ground. Neville looked up—this stream of light had left a distorted mark across the sky, and its ending was connected to the battleship.

The nine battleships in the sky finally fired after doing nothing for half a mouth. Blue light surged in the Electromagnetic Rail Cannons, shooting out bullets covered in electric sparks, picking only enormous beasts as targets, reducing the pressure on the ground immediately.

The battle broke up instantly. Deafening cannon fire and electric spark shone across the battlefield. The beast wave was unending, and the stench and metallic smell of blood were pungent. The defense team fired wildly while firelight illuminated on the corpses of soldiers and carcasses of beasts all over the floor. The losses on both sides were huge!

Clank!

In the B12 Defense Team camp, a more than ten-meter-long pure purple Thunder Leopard moved quickly like a flash of purple lightning, cutting through one of the defense soldiers' armor, slashing the soldier inside in half as well. Neville ignored it and commanded his subordinates to focus fire with a serious face. He only had twelve subordinates left—the loss was more than half.

"Do not be shaken, defend the camp!" Neville ordered coldly and harshly.

Countless bullets shot into the thick hide of the Thunder Leopard, spaying out blood. The Thunder Leopard growled as it pounced around, killing every soldier. Soon, Neville was the last one left. The Thunder Leopard was still very healthy, and the countless fresh vital signs far in the city were extremely luring to this Thunder Leopard, which was bloodthirsty in nature.

Just as the Thunder Leopard was about to cross the line of defense, Neville immediately stood in front of it, firing his machine gun. After seeing the Thunder Leopard killing the soldiers so easily, he knew that he was definitely not a match, but he still tried to stop the Thunder Leopard without any hesitation.

The duty of the Defense Team was carved deep in his bones—not allowing any beast to cross the line of defense he was in charge of!

As long as no order came from above, he would never back off.

The Thunder Leopard growled with anger and pounced toward Neville. Controlling the NCO Class armor, Neville engaged with it, rolling around dodging and leaving wounds on the Thunder Leopard one after another. He slid from below the Thunder Leopard's abdomen and dodged its claws. Just as he was about to stand up, he felt an extreme pain on his left arm; the Thunder Leopard had turned its head around in a very strange way and bitten through his arm armor.

The poisonous gas streamed in from the hole. Neville felt piercing pain from his skin, which quickly turned into the numbness of being poisoned. As he held his breath, the antidote was injected into his wrist, and a sense of burning flew through his body.

"After injecting the antidote, the poison effect will be delayed for about two minutes. If I hold my breath, I should be able to last ten more seconds… I have to kill this beast within this time." Neville's expression was cold. Even though he was poisoned, he still prioritized stopping the enemy; he had put his life aside long ago.

The man and the beast fought each other. Neville abandoned the bulky machine gun, favoring the saw on his wrist and the cannon and rockets embedded into the armor to fight. After dozens of seconds of heated combat, both parties were covered in wounds. Neville started to feel his body getting stiff, and his head was becoming heavy. It seemed that the effect of excessive blood loss and poisoning was starting to get to him.

Neville suddenly stopped moving. The Thunder Leopard pounced over, and he did not dodge, letting the Thunder Leopard press him against the ground and penetrating his chest and abdomen with its claws.

Plop…

Blood spurted out from his mouth, but Neville endured the pain. One of his hands stabbed into the Thunder Leopard's neck and tightly hung onto the Thunder Leopard; his other hand reached into the Thunder Leopard's mouth and fired wildly. He knew his movements were too slow, so he had given up his life and used himself as a bait.

The Thunder Leopard twisted itself in agony. It bit off the arm inside its mouth, then slashed its claws down on Neville in a frenzy. Neville was heavily injured, incapable of moving despite the huge claw expanding in his sights.

"This day has finally come for me…" he murmured calmly.

Just as the claw was about to slam down, Neville saw an enormous blinding electric fire descending.

The next moment, Neville and the Thunder Leopard were both covered by the light of the Electromagnetic Rail Cannon.

The tragic battle ended. On the first day of the last stage of the Catastrophe, the losses were heavy. Dozens of fighter jets fell, and even the energy shields of two battleships were almost shattered by the countless enormous flying beasts.

"Such a horrifying battle."

"This is the first time I've seen something so large-scale. I'll never accept this kind of job again."

Fear still lingered in the hearts of the mercenaries as they gasped for breath. Many corpses of the other mercenaries lay on the floor.

Han Xiao repaired equipment after equipment. He did not need to take part in the battle directly; after all, in such a dangerous situation, even he was not confident about staying safe, applying for the repairing job was also because he did not want to take the risk. He was there to earn the reward, so it was okay as long as he utilized his abilities and helped; he would not really give his life to other organizations because of money.

During the rare calm period, another group of scouts returned, and all the players came back. The expression on everyone's face was relaxed, like they did not carry out a dangerous mission but went sightseeing instead. Being in dangerous areas gave no stress to the players at all—they would revive anyway. Although there was a limit to the number of times, most of these people were pro players. Of course, they knew to monitor their times of death.

They were already at max level, so losing some experience was nothing, and the mission reward would cover that loss anyway. Furthermore, it was more useful to earn the universe currency.

The people of Black Star gathered, and after sizing them up, the mercenaries around immediately realized something shocking.

"It looks like they did not lose anyone!"

"What? Every single one came back alive‽"

The mercenaries were completely shocked and curious. They hastily asked from the other members of the scout team and got the answer that these people would revive. Their expressions quickly turned into envy and fear. In the universe, Supers that would not die were the most difficult enemies, and no one dared to take them lightly.

"This mercenary group is entirely made of Immortals!"

"Wow…"

These mercenaries remembered the name of Black Star Mercenary Group, a mercenary group with all members that could not die. In their professional perspective, this mercenary group would become extremely popular in the near future.

Black Star Mercenary Group's name was reported to the superiors of the military, and they took it very seriously. Immortals were most suitable for reconnaissance, and it could largely reduce the loss of the scout team. Therefore, the military general found Han Xiao personally, talked to him in a very sincere tone, and placed himself lower than Han Xiao, completely different from when he talked to other mercenaries.

What the army expressed was that they hoped the Black Star Mercenary Group would not take shifts and rest. They wanted the group to go scouting ahead once again. Most importantly, they promised to definitely raise the reward—such useful help definitely deserved better treatment. Thus, the army actively requested to raise the reward because they were afraid that the Black Star Mercenary Group would reject the request.

The mission reward increased to 12,000 Enas, a fifty percent increase. Han Xiao accepted it on the spot, and the bitter players started a new round of reconnaissance. According to the time, it was also the last round of reconnaissance.

The corpses from the battlefield were transported back for their family members or friends to claim. Han Xiao realized that Neville was dead and felt a little emotional; after all, this was someone that he knew.

The family member who came to claim him was a woman, wailing loudly. Han Xiao asked the other soldiers and came to know that this woman was Neville's wife. Apparently, Neville also had a young kid at home.

In Forest City, most people stayed in front of their televisions and watched the live report of the battlefield situation. In such a crisis, the media did not report any fake information at all; they were all the true situation. In an extremely nervous state, they were still able to barely hold on.

The bar did not open. Herlous sat in the attic, watching the report from the television, and drinking alcohol nonstop. Images of the tragic battlefield flashed one after another. Suddenly feeling inexplicably upset, he placed his bottle down, left the bar, and strolled through the streets.

The streets were quiet—there were no pedestrians.

After walking aimlessly for a while, he heard a faint argument. As a grade B Super, although he had not fought for so many years, his sharp senses had not deteriorated. Out of sudden interest, Herlous followed the sound and came to the outside of a building. It was close to the bar, and the sound of argument became clearer as he neared.

"I will reach the required age for the army in a few days. I'm joining the army!"

The voice sounded familiar, like he heard it from someone before. Herlous was a little curious, so he hid and jumped onto the balcony, peeping inside through the window. He realized that he did know the person talking—it was the person who beat up the drunk man in the bar a few days ago, Lana.

Lana was arguing with his parents. Their clothes were all rather poor—they were civilians in low positions. Lana's parents were very anxious at this moment.

"Joining the army is suicide. I won't allow you to go!"

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Chapter 348: Must Be In Love

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The Sunil Civilization advocated the admiration of Supers and the army, and the spirit of contribution was indoctrinated into them from a young age. Lana had dreamed of joining the army ever since he was a child; he wanted to become an honorable soldier to protect his race, and he had been training hard for it. His neighbor was a veteran, so Lana and the nearby kids always asked the veteran to train them, counting down the days till they reached the age requirement of the army.

The Catastrophe came once every few years, so the time between was all they had for the development period—to collect resources, build more weapons, and train a new batch of soldiers. The Sunils would usually start recruitment for the army after the Catastrophe. Although their population was less than ten percent of their peak population after the DarkStar disaster, the population density was still quite high when they squeezed into a large city.

There were two types of recruitment, one was a self-request, which needed no further explanation, and the other was conscription, targeting prisoners and families with many children. All the youngsters coming of age were also required to take part in military service for some time to go through basic training so that when the time of danger arrived, these people could be recruited as soldiers on the spot.

Of course, Lana wished for more than joining the military services. He wanted to request to enter the army and become an official soldier, but he was met with strong rejection from his parents.

"How can you say something like this? Protecting the race is an honorable thing to do; countless people have sacrificed themselves. I'm willing to dedicate my life to it, too. It's an honor!" Lana said with his eyes wide open.

"You're still young and don't understand many things," Lana's parents said. "There are so many people joining the army every year—it won't make a difference if you don't go."

"No, it's a shameful thing! My dream is to protect our race!" Lana said passionately.

"Then have you thought about us?" Lana's mother was sobbing. "You used to always look for Mr. Neville next door for training. Yesterday, he was killed in action. His corpse was transported back, shattered. You did not witness the scene—his wife fainted while crying many, many times, and he left a child with only a mother, only able to get past the days with pension money. It's way too heartbreaking. He still has a kid of a few years old to raise, and we are already old. We only have one child, you. If you die, what do we do? How do you want us to live?"

Lana could not speak properly as he mumbled, "This is not right…"

"Lana, be it Supers, the army, or Mr. Neville, they are all great people, but we are just normal civilians. I love my race, and I will work to contribute to the race. The battlefield shouldn't be something in our consideration." The Father placed his hands on Lana's shoulders and spoke with a heavy heart. He respected Supers, and he respected the army too. While he appreciated the contribution that they made, when it came to himself, he could not make the same choice.

Lana lowered his head and stopped speaking.

"Lana, you have to promise us!" the mother said anxiously.

"… I promise," Lana said unwillingly while looking down. "I will enter military service, not the army."

His parents heaved sighs of relief.

Outside, Herlous leaned against the window sill, staring blankly into the sky.

In the sky, the nine battleships blocked the sunlight that was supposed to shine into the city like heavy clouds, the engines on their undersides creating streams of air that became wind. The pungent smell from outside the city could almost not be smelled as the engine fumes were blown into the city.

Many memories showed up in his mind—Fernas' bitter smile, Lana's passion, that drunk customer's blame, the bloody battlefield, the sacrificed soldiers, the admiring people, countless times of pulling himself away from reality after sobering up, every day he spent letting himself rot while being in the bar, and the DarkStar disaster, which he had not thought of for a long time. That was the last time that he had seen his older brother, Delvis.

In his memories, Delvis was still wearing a pair of thick glasses, with messy and oily hair that had not been washed for a long time. His white research coat looked like a robe on his short and thin body, appearing weirdly funny. In the video communication, standing before a research lab with a shattered dome, Delvis pushed his glasses out of habit, then said to his hulking younger brother, Herlous, "Kid, I left something for you in the research lab at home. The password is our parents' birthday backward. I didn't waste much energy on the encryption."

His tone was just like normal, full of disappointment and expecting better from him but with a little hint of not wanting to leave. The communication ended there. At the time, Herlous had looked outside the window, at the direction of the military research lab where Delvis had worked. There had been countless ferocious DarkStar Battleships hovering above, along with mushroom clouds exploding from the ground.

He had used the password to open Delvis's personal research room—Herlous had always wanted to sneak in and wreak havoc. However, he never could figure out the password. Inside, he had seen the inheritance that his older brother had left for him.

More and more memories appeared. Herlous still remembered, back then, he was a thug that did nothing useful, enjoying himself with his older brother's salary, reaching grade B at an extremely young age. He had been a thousand times stronger than Delvis, but he had always stood lower when he faced his older brother, always getting blamed and scolded. Yet, he had not cared because it made no difference.

"Brother…" Herlous muttered softly to himself.

The memories were like rolling bubbles. His thoughts stopped at Han Xiao's deep and dark eyes—his pupils seemed to have the current of time hidden in them.

Herlous' expression became a little firm. He went back to the bar, entered the attic, then opened a wardrobe that had been closed for a very long time. Inside was the tunnel toward the secret basement under the bar, which was already covered in dust. He walked down slowly, turned on the light, gazed upon the pile of boxes in the basement. Most of them were Delvis's relic.

He walked directly to the corner of the basement, pulled out a wooden box, swept away the accumulated dust, and opened the cover.

Inside was a dark colored suit, the inheritance that Delvis had left for him, armor that had been specially built for him in secret—[Shattered Light]!

During the DarkStar disaster, Herlous had relied on this armor to stay alive, and he had never used it after that. Thus, it had simply collected dust in the basement as a souvenir of his older brother.

It was possibly the last usable Commander Class armor in the entire Sunil race.

Herlous stared at the armor, and his eyes gradually turned sharp.

"It's been too long since I battled… hope I don't get cramp."

The beasts appearing in the last stage were horrendously strong. They were all at the top of the food chain on the planet, and some of them already exceeded the beast category and could be called monsters.

One such monster was the Huge Acidic Flying Beetle with a wingspan of more than a hundred meters that would not die even after taking more than a dozen rail cannon shots. It was able to shoot out corrosive acid from its mouth, sticking onto the shield of the battleship and sizzling with smoke. One of this monster could be dealt with easily, but they appeared in groups, and the firepower of the camp could not match up. So, the shield of a battleship was broken, and its exterior armor was damaged. It was forced to descend and undergo emergency repairs.

"What did the monsters on this planet eat‽"

The mercenaries were in shock. Monsters with a hundred-meter wingspan were almost as large as Sunil's smaller battleships. This was just a wild animal on a planet, but it had grown into something comparable to a battleship. Such an enormous monster did not even require the ground scouting team; the reconnaissance aircraft could locate it directly.

Missiles exploded deafeningly in the sky nonstop. Suddenly, an alarm sounded from within the defense ring—it was an emergency announcement.

"Prepare for impact! Prepare for impact! Mountain Beasts have been detected and are closing in. Estimated to arrival is 14 minutes. All soldiers, get ready. High Energy Concentrated Particle Cannon, begin charging!"

At the fifth defense ring, the ground cracked open, showing a metallic, fearsome, and extremely complex cannon. Its muzzle was a hexagon, and it was embedded into the hollow Particle Stabilization Device, like a cannon being divided into sections. Han Xiao's mechanical suit immediately released a high energy reaction warning as a light started to appear in the muzzle of this enormous cannon.

This High Energy Concentrated Particle Cannon was a scrap product spat out from the central wormhole of the Shattered Star Ring, a galactic-level war weapon, and it was unknown which higher civilization it came from. It had been picked up by scavengers for sales, and the Sunils had spent a huge sum to buy it. This was what they had learned from the huge loss they suffered from the first Catastrophe—they had to have a trump card against strong beasts.

Although it was a scrap product, it had cost the Sunils a fortune. It had technology protection from a higher civilization, could not be repaired or studied, and could only be used. Every shot required a large amount of energy, which was precious on Planet Sunil. Every shot meant burning away a large amount of fortune, as their energy technology naturally did not match up to higher civilization's. It had to take a long time to charge up before firing, so they only used this enormous cannon when they met the most fearsome monsters.

The Sunils had explored this planet for more than ten years, and they had recorded a large number of beasts in their database. Mountain Beasts were one of the monsters at the very top. Strong beasts were all diverted away by the frontline combat troops, so the appearance of this Mountain Beast meant that they had failed.

Han Xiao was surprised. He casually penetrated an approaching Thunder Leopard, turned around to look at the High Energy Concentrated Particle Cannon, and felt like he was almost drooling.

This feeling of butterflies in my stomach…

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Chapter 349: Shocking the Entire Race! (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The ground tremored.

In the distance, the forest collapsed as an enormous beast slowly approached, like a looming, moving mountain. Although the mercenaries knew about the Mountain Beast from the database illustration, many of them were still shocked.

"Such a gigantic creature!"

The Mountain Beast had four feet as thick as buildings and a long tail. Its thick stone-like scales provided a sturdy defense along with the large mud yellow shell on its back like a tortoiseshell. Its head looked like a shovel—a protruding lower jaw and eyes hidden between the gaps of its stone shell—creating an aura of fierceness. Actually, the Mountain Beast was a very gentle animal; its favorite pastime was to disguise itself as a mountain and sleep. Only because of the effect from the psychic wave did it become abnormally grumpy and aggressive.

Adult Mountain Beasts stood about 150 to 200 meters tall—in comparison, Sunils were like ants.

The battleships in the sky fired at the Mountain Beast from far away, and six or seven shots from the Electromagnetic Rail Cannon hit its body, shattering large areas of its stone shell. However, the attacks did not hurt its flesh—the defense of the Mountain Beast was truly astonishing.

These shots enraged it, and it let out a growl, which sounded like a moo. Its tail thrust into the ground, rolling up a huge pile of mud mixed with trees. As its tail tightened, this pile of mud became much denser. Swinging its tail, the pile of mud shot out like a cannon, containing the power of a Mountain Beast—its energy was terrifying.

Even Han Xiao could not see the flying pile of mud clearly. He could only see a phantom that disappeared in an instant.

The shield of the battleship flashed, and the clod exploded on the ground. Electric arcs rippled through the entire shield, and cracks spread rapidly. This hit almost penetrated the shield, and the battleship increased its energy output urgently—only then did the shield recover to its original state.

Seeing that its attack was not effective, the Mountain Beast rolled up another pile of mud. It could still use this attack hundreds more times, but the energy of the battleship was finite.

"High Energy Concentrated Particle Cannon charging complete. The target has entered the firing range. Firing in five, four, three, two, one… fire!"

A bright cream white beam hurtled out of the cannon. Its diameter was at least four meters, yet it flashed across thousands of meters in the blink of an eye, penetrating the Mountain Beast's carapace with ease. When it pierced into its abdomen, a chain of explosions erupted in its body.

Boom!

The explosion shook the ground!

A thick leg was sent flying, and a large hole opened up in the front half of the Mountain Beast, allowing blood to rush down like a waterfall. With a scream that shot through the sky, it fell onto the ground.

The High Energy Concentrated Particle Cannon was a weapon used between the battleships of very high-class civilizations. The astonishing shot immediately injured such a gigantic Beast heavily—this was the Sunil race's current trump card. The sight of the beam raised the soldiers' morale through the roof, and they quickly suppressed their exhaustion, fighting against the beast wave even harder.

"What a horrifying weapon." Han Xiao's eyes were shining as he suppressed his desire. This was a weapon that could only be gained in the later stages—he could not learn it with his current knowledge level. He would only have the chance to build a weapon of such a level if he kept growing.

The Particle Cannon did not retract, and it started charging again. The broadcast sounded once again. This Mountain Beast was not the only one—two more strong monsters were approaching. Soon after, they appeared in the soldiers' sight. One was a flying monster that looked very similar to a dragon, a Lava Lizard, which lived in volcanic environments, had a hundred-meter wingspan, and was protected by ferocious scales. This was much harder to deal with than Acidic Flying Beetle of the same size—not only was its carapace strong and hard, it could also spit lava.

The other was a terrestrial creature, the King Predator. It looked like a tiger and a leopard covered in scales like a suit of armor. Although it was only thirty meters tall, it was even more dangerous than the Mountain Beast due to its incredible agility. Unlike the Mountain Beast, which was like a sitting duck, its movement was fast as lightning, therefore difficult to lock onto.

It could easily break through the lines of defense one after another, and its sharp claws could tear metal apart with ease. It was truly the biggest threat to the land troops. The name 'King Predator' came from its dominance in the forest—it was the well-deserved ruler of the forest. Every time that it appeared, the Sunils had to pay a very heavy price to deal with it. There was even this one time when a King Predator had almost penetrated all the defense rings and broken into the city.

The situation took a sharp turn downhill!

The Lava Lizard dived at a high speed while the King Predator ran like lightning—there was a strong enemy approaching both on land and in the sky, and there was still an injured Mountain Beast that kept throwing clods. When the Particle Cannon finished charging, it aimed at the Lava Lizard in the sky and fired, directly penetrating one side of Lava Lizard's wings. The monster spun and fell to the ground, sending out a violent shockwave.

The flying enemy had to be dealt with first. Thus, the King Predator on the ground could only be temporarily stalled by men while waiting for the Particle Cannon to recharge.

The army gathered thousands of troops ahead of the King Predator, yet even that might not be enough.

An endless rain of bullets covered the King Predator, all of which were deflected by its scales, leaving only sparks. The King Predator moved fast, and no attack could slow it down. If it bashed into the iron line of defense, everyone could tell that it would create a blood path in the defense teams. At least two teams would be lost!

No soldier was shaken—they were all unafraid of death.

Just as the two parties were about to clash…

Boom!

Dust suddenly shot into the air, and the seemingly unstoppable King Predator was halted. It opened its bloody mouth widely and bit onto a ruler-like iron-gray rectangular block of metal, which an armored warrior was holding onto. They were in a battle of strength, and their strength was comparable.

It was this armored warrior who stopped the King Predator, leaving only a magnificent silhouette to all the soldiers!

The people opened their eyes widely, wanting to see who this person was, but he was wearing a helmet, and his face could not be seen. The armor was a little humble, like tights embedded with some armor plates, and dark in color.

Han Xiao raised the edge of his mouth when he saw this.

It was indeed Herlous!

"So, he came…" The Great Mechanic Han smiled. "Let me see if the current you is strong enough."

The King Predator seemed to have detected danger. It jumped aside and moved around cautiously. Just as the defense team was about to go forward to surround it, Herlous suddenly said, "Leave this brute to me. You guys go to other places."

Leave to you? Who are you? What if you fail?

The troops, of course, did not trust others easily, but before they continued to move, strong Pugilist flames burst from this armored warrior, and a change occurred that left every Sunil in shock.

The humble suit on Herlous' body suddenly shapeshifted, and the compressed armor plates expanded, turning into countless complex and precise armor pieces. With the flashing of light, the tights quickly became extremely complex silver-gray armor, like a gorgeous ancient knight's armor. Soft white metal extended from the shoulders like a piece of cloth, moving in the wind like a cape behind his back. Even with the Great Mechanic Han's very picky sense of beauty, this style was impressive.

Energy surrounded the entire armor as Herlous shook the rectangular block in his hand. It expanded part by part and turned into a ten-meter long mechanical battleship slicing blade!

All the Sunils were stunned!

A word deeply buried in their memories started to surface, and countless soldiers opened their eyes even wider.

"This is… the Commander Class armor‽"

"The strongest armor of the race that was said to be lost!"

Every soldier was stunned and shocked! Their mind was blanked!

Commander Class armor was a legend to the Sunils at this time, and the legend had become reality that day!

Herlous twisted his neck, and the familiar thick Pugilist energy flew through his entire body. The dormant fighting genes in his body gradually awakened. This tailor-made armor was still in perfect condition.

"I almost forgot this feeling. It feels… quite good."

With a loud yell, Herlous held the ten-meter battleship slicing blade and pounced, as fast as a phantom. The thick light from the blade flashed like lightning!

Swoosh!

An impact wave came out of the blade, creating a trench dozens of meters long. The King Predator barely dodged it, and a wound appeared on its long body, which expanded rapidly, blood jetting out!

The position of hunter and prey switched instantly!

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Chapter 350: Shocking the Entire Race! (2)

Translator:Atlas Studios

Editor:Atlas Studios

Herlous was a grade B Pugilist, and [Shattered Light] was a Super Equipment, tailor-made for him, enhancing his Pugilist abilities further. Many energy converting devices hid between the gaps of the armor, and the raging flames sent waves rippling through the air as he moved.

Grade B Pugilists had surpassed the early stage of a Pugilist—they were walking, living bombs.

Herlous' strength was not to be ignored even across the entire Shattered Star Ring. The Commander Class armor was a piece of top-class equipment, and its level was completely different from the Enlistee Class and the NCO Class. With the energy enhancing Battleship Slicing Blade, Herlous' damage was astonishing.

The thick light from the blade released shockwaves, creating trenches on the ground one after another. This level of strength was way higher than the normal soldiers, and there was no need for anyone else to join in. Herlous spun the rough looking Battleship Slicing Blade with ease, much more agilely than the King Predator. Having nowhere to escape, the King Predator's flesh was splashing all over.

Herlous' god-like power had lit fires in countless soldiers' hearts.

The Commander Class armor appeared again after disappearing for so many years!

Who is this armor user?

The Sunils had many questions in their minds.

Commander Class armor had a very special position in the Sunils' hearts. Many people knew that this was the display of the strongest single warrior in the entire race, and it was almost like a totem. Herlous' appearance awakened the buried memories of every Sunil.

Morale skyrocketed instantly. In gaming terms, all Sunils received the 'All Attributes Boost' buff!

Han Xiao was watching the show from the side, nodding. Herlous was very strong, much stronger than his current self.

Herlous starting to fight means that the Sunil have entered the storyline I'm familiar with…Han Xiao thought. With him existing, Herlous' actions should deviate from the original storyline, so he just needed the chance to 'abduct' him.

The Particle Cannon fired twice, heavily injuring the Mountain Beast and the Lava Lizard. This weapon was common in the galactic battle between high-class civilizations, and it was a scrap product. The Sunil could only burn lower grade energy with their energy technology level, and even with so many restrictions, its power was still enough to be a trump card for protecting a city.

During the charging period, Herlous successfully killed the King Predator and started to run around the battlefield. With his armor and energy protection, he did not fear being surrounded by the beast wave. The Battleship Slicing Blade slashed horizontally, unmatched in the beast wave, containing the disadvantageous situation in the area.

Herlous could not stop the entire beast wave alone, but his actions had an undoubted effect—the soldiers in this area finally had a chance to breathe.

On Planet Aquamarine, a grade C Super could go head-on with an army—Herlous was one grade higher. Even though the beasts at the last stage of the Catastrophe were strong, he could still deal with them easily. Furthermore, he was a tank-type Pugilist.

A single unit with extraordinary powers was more agile, like a sharp blade. Between the same technology level, high-grade combat powers and war troops differed in quantity and quality—a strong single unit was an army by itself!

Herlous jumped and moved around, becoming the center of attention on the battlefield. Looking at him raised the soldiers' spirits.

The situation gradually stabilized, and the wave of beasts ended. Just as the military was about to excitedly get in touch with this mythical man, Herlous dashed toward the forest and disappeared, clearly showing his intention of not wanting to expose his identity.

Herlous was somewhat conflicted. Getting in touch with the military meant his peaceful life in the past would be gone. He would have to walk the path of people like Fernas and become the guardian of the race. Although whether he did become a guardian or not depended on his choice, Herlous felt that he would not be able to leave himself out of it by then.

Furthermore, the superiors would definitely request him to give up his Commander Class armor to the race for research purposes. Herlous took it as a precious inheritance from Delvis, so he was very conflicted.

Although he stood out now to protect the race, and his buried responsibility was awakening slowly, someone this strong would not change his personality overnight.

In the following few days, Herlous was torn between the choices. While he appeared to help, the military kept trying to discover his identity, but every time that the battle ended, he left quickly and kept his mystery.

A few days later, the whisper in everyone's mind suddenly disappeared. The Catastrophe had ended.

The beast wave in the middle of attacking suddenly paused, and countless beasts awoke from their bloodlust, stopped running, looked around, and ran in all directions, disappearing.

"The Catastrophe is finally gone." Han Xiao took a deep breath.

Soldiers lay down in exhaustion one after another, unable to move. Their bodies had reached their limits, and the surviving soldiers were way too tired.

The logistics team cleaned up the battlefield, pulling soldiers out of their armor and sending them into the medical room one after another.

The military was recovering and resting, as countless people in the city triumphed over the broadcast from their television.

The end of every Catastrophe was like surviving through a disaster. As per tradition, there would be a celebration a few days later, appreciating the army's contribution and morning the lost soldiers. This kind of celebration filled with the feeling of a ritual was beneficial to increasing a race's unity, relaxing their tightened nerves, making the people laugh and cry, getting rid of the negative emotions, and once again feeling hopeful for the future.

However, this time was completely different. Only one hour after the Catastrophe ended, Fernas' cold face appeared on the television everywhere.

"My fellow men, I'm Fernas. I believe many people know me. I want to make an announcement. From today, on behalf of forty percent of the Supers, the people you call guardians, we will be leaving Planet Sunil and never return…"

The words he used were very firm, saying that they had done enough and were now going to search for freedom, not giving their lives to the race anymore.

The Sunils felt like a bucket of ice had been poured over them. The happiness and passion from getting through the Catastrophe vanished, and they were all stunned.

What is this? Why is it so sudden‽

The superiors of the military were shocked—they had absolutely no idea about this beforehand.

Far away in the forest, Herlous saw Fernas' announcement from the internal terminal in his armor, and he mumbled in disbelief, "Why not leave quietly‽ This way, the people will…"

With the announcement, the whole of Planet Sunil was shocked. The people felt confused and lost; they did not know the reasons behind it. All they knew was that the guardians whom they had always relied on were abandoning them!

Why? Why‽

No one kept silent.

Despair, desperation, hopelessness.

Howling, wailing, growling.

This was the collapse of belief! Even the minority that was unsatisfied with the Supers felt endless panic when they saw this!

This shocked the entire race!

Fernas appeared with the other Supers that decided to leave and walked outside. The Sunil soldiers looked at them in disbelief, yet they still opened a path for them.

This time, another group of people swarmed over with rage and shock, including Lerden.

Sunil Supers were divided into two groups, one announcing their leave from the race, another shocked and furious. They stood against each other from far away with clear separation.

The anticipation of a good show appeared on the faces of mercenaries, who were waiting for their reward.

Han Xiao leaned his back against a tank, looked at this scene, squinted his eyes and thought,And so it begins.

He had only read about the Sunil Supers splitting up from the news. This time, he could witness it happening.

The report had referred to the people including Fernas who were leaving the Independence Faction, and the ones protecting the race Guardian Faction.

"Why are you doing this‽" a person from the Guardian Faction said furiously.

Fernas gave him a cold glare and said, "I explained it very clearly, don't feign ignorance. I know you people must have thought about long ago. In the past many years, how many of our brothers were sacrificed? How many of our brothers became disabled? We have done enough."

The people of Guardian Faction's expressions changed a bit. Indeed, similar thoughts had crossed their minds before in most of the people present—few people could stay firm from the start to the end. Furthermore, they had been traveling in the colorful galaxy and had seen how alluring it was.

Some people escaped their expanding desires; some people let it grow.

"But…" Lerden clenched his teeth and said, "If you want to leave, you could have just left quietly. Why announce it openly? You are destroying the hope of the rac…"

Fernas cut Lerden off. "so what?"

The people of Guardian Faction were shocked. They felt that the once firm and reliable Fernas had become a stranger.

The two parties were in a stalemate, and the Sunil soldiers gradually surrounded them. Further away, the mercenaries took out snacks and focused on this show with excitement on their faces.

Han Xiao casually grabbed a strange cigarette that looked like a cigar, took a deep breath, and shrugged. "See, this is the ending of a long-distance relationship."

"Brilliant." The other mercenaries laughed. Mercenaries were a group of cold and unsympathetic people.

Han Xiao had a very open mind. The split of the Sunils was fated, opening the curtain of the end of the Sunil Civilization and the start of Herlous' story. He was just a spectator for now—only when the Sunils split up and chaos fell would he be able to take part. Until things unfolded naturally, he could only wait.

Furthermore, with him taking part, splitting up might not lead to the tragic ending in the original storyline but a new start instead. Since he could also benefit from it, this was a win-win.

Smoke rose up and covered Han Xiao's narrowed eyes.

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Chapter 350: Settlement

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Splitting up was certain; the Independence Faction had made up their mind for leaving. Understandably, the Guardian Faction was shocked and angry. They could have defended the race together, but now, there were people who had betrayed them and were leaving. Furthermore, they had heavily smashed what they had once protected. The Guardian Faction was emotional, and they questioned the deserters loudly.

"You're a Sunil, too. In the brink of danger, how can you abandon your race?"

Fernas was expressionless. "My race, my looks, my life form, these factors that were decided from the moment I was born cannot decide my mindset and standpoint. I have made my contributions, and now I want a new life."

The Guardian Faction still wanted to question them, but they saw that the faces of the Independence Faction had absolutely no signs of regret or shame. Speechless, the words of accusation became stuck in their throats. The people they were facing were all brothers who had once fought alongside them. They had all shed sweat and blood; they were not enemies, just comrades that were taking a different path. They were not in a position to accuse the Independence Faction—everyone had their own desires.

Fernas pushed aside the people in his way as the Independence Faction strolled away. The Sunil soldiers and the Guardian Faction silently stared at their shrinking backs.

This time, every Sunil seemed to see the dark and gray future. The sound of sobbing started faintly, and even the soldiers who did not fear even death were tearing up. This was the collapse of the spiritual pillar in their hearts. In all these years, the Supers guarding the race had become spiritual totems and motivation for the Sunils.

Sometimes, the collapse of the spiritual pillar can have a blow even heavier than an exterior disaster on a group.

Han Xiao shook his head. The Sunil after disaster was like a tough disabled man, and the parts lost on his body did not defeat him. He still had the determination and motivation to continue, his mind was healthy, but when even the belief collapsed, he became disabled in his mind too, losing the strength to move forward.

Therefore, the impact of the split in the race was not just the decrease in the number of Supers—it had made a deep impact on the spirits of the people and the tough quality of the race.

The way that Herlous became the 'main character' was when the position of Fernas and the other Supers who were once heroes faded away, and the Superiors made him the new role model and spiritual motivation, signifying that there were still people who held on.

In his previous life, Herlous' future position had even exceeded Fernas' old position. If Fernas was the representative of changing from kindness and passion into tiredness and coldness, and Lerden was the representative of redeeming his sins, Herlous would be the representative of someone who had previously avoided the reality then awoken his sense responsibility. After the Sunils went through the disaster, the mindset of the race changed continuously, from hot-blooded to indifference, then from the indifference they found the belief of determination. The belief collapsed during the split up, and Herlous' appearance was building a new belief in the ruins, giving this race a new quality. His experience and actions gave his lost race a reason to regain their determination, staggering in pain and hardship, but still marching forward. The conflict in his heart was a scaled-down reflection of the entire race.

Unlike Bennett, who was building sanctuaries far away on Planet Aquamarine and had developed a firm belief long ago, Herlous was a main character who was still growing.

Thinking of the path that this whole thing took in his previous life, the Great Mechanic Han sighed. Sadly, water can carry a boat but could also sink one… When Herlous died in battle, the Sunils gave up struggling and jumped into Godora's arms.

The Independence Faction left the defense ring and entered the forest. They were planning to find a place and contact a Galactic Travel agency, never to return. Suddenly, a person appeared before them—it was that mysterious armored warrior.

Fernas and the others stopped their footsteps.

Herlous took off his helmet and said with a complicated expression, "Why? You found me before leaving because you wanted me to replace you to protect the race, but what you're doing now is destroying the race's belief…"

Fernas looked at him coldly, shook his head, and said, "If I don't leave… how are you going to replace me?"

Anger appeared in Herlous' eyes. "Because of such a boring reason?"

"I actually really despise you. You have such strong powers, but you're fine with staying at the back lines. You are in no position to talk down to me." Fernas' expression was indifferent. "Now, you have displayed your strength and exposed your armor. The race will definitely search for you with all of their might—you cannot go back anymore."

Herlous suddenly realized. "You used me for your plan…"

"Don't think too highly of yourself!" Fernas' eyes were firm as he said coldly, "Everyone has experienced a lot of things. Why would we change our mind because of a minor character like you? Leaving is for our own sake, just like the brothers who decided to stay. Even if us splitting up has made a negative impact, their foolish resolve to protect the race will not be shaken.

"I will say the same thing—only staying alive is important. I want the entire race to not have that extravagant wish of holding on. This meaningless struggle has to end—accept help from Godora willingly, and no one will have to bleed and fight anymore. All Sunils will gain a peaceful and stable life… This path is the true way to protect the race."

Herlous opened his mouth, and Han Xiao's face appeared in his mind again. He had once told Fernas about the future of accepting help, but Fernas held onto his opinion and was not shaken at all. He felt it was the wrong foresight.

With nothing else to say, the Independence Faction left.

Herlous hesitated for quite some time, then gradually made up his mind. He left the forest and took large steps toward the defense ring.

The army was still reeling in shock from the split up. When they noticed that this mysterious armored warrior had appeared, they only remembered the order from above after being stunned for quite a while. They arranged their emotions, suppressed the loss in their heart, and prioritized the order to surround him.

In front of countless soldiers, Herlous took off his helmet slowly, glanced around exhausted both physically and spiritually, and took a deep breath. "My name is Herlous…"

To the entire Sunil race, this Catastrophe was full of twists and turns. The guardians split up after the battle, but the legendary Commander Class armor appeared again when the hidden grade B Super called Herlous stood up to protect the race. After a few days in his new role, the media spread Herlous' experience all over, building him up as a hero that stood out in the time of need. It was also reported that the research lab would receive more funding after receiving the Commander Class armor, hoping that the race would one day get back the technology of the Commander Class armor. Thus, they managed to use Herlous and their future plans to wash away the impact from the mass desertion.

With the army and the leaders working together to spread the word, Herlous' name was known everywhere, gradually becoming a new role model for the race.

The Sunils settled the hiring reward, and the mercenaries left one after another. During the times of fighting alongside each other, Han Xiao had come to know quite many peers. They had quite pleasant conversations, and the other mercenaries had a very good impression on the Black Star Mercenary Group, which had suffered zero loss, showing their friendliness.

Mercenaries liked to know people in the same industry. After all, they might one day fight alongside each other one day.

The players returned, and the Sunil military expressed their thanks to the Black Star Mercenary Group before giving out the reward. Every player receiver 12,000 Enas, largely increasing their purchasing power. As the leader, Han Xiao received the same amount as well, and along with the job of Battlefield Repairs, the Great Mechanic Han made 16,000 Enas this time, about enough to buy more class advancement knowledge.

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Chapter 351: The Black Star Will Bless You

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Through battlefield repairs, Han Xiao had gotten a few new blueprints, including the Hovering Turner, High Caliber Defensive Machine Gun, and the Offensive, Defensive, and Scouting Enlistee Class armor. As he expected, the NCO Class armor required [Heavy Machinery Modification, so the progress was stuck.

The Great Mechanic Han was not one to return with nothing, so using his relationship with the military, he bought three different types of NCO Class armors with 2,000 or so Enas. When he returned to the Juberly Hub and learned [Heavy Machinery Modification, he would be able to get its blueprint. He would then build the different sets of armor and sell them to the players. The cost of buying the armor could easily be earned back.

Everyone received twelve thousand, so their purchasing power is largely increased.Han Xiao was exuberant. This kind of mass-produced armor sold very well, and its attributes could be increased just by him putting in some experience to level up the blueprint. Furthermore, he had the boost from Machinery Affinity, so the armor that he produced would be much better than the ones from assembly lines. After selling them, he could still earn from long-term repair fees.

The commission that he received from the hire could only buy about one class advancement knowledge, but through profiting from the players, that earning could be multiplied many times.

The Credibility Points of the Black Star Mercenary Group increased quite a bit, and they finally had their first combat mission experience. The Sunils detailed their missions, including them requesting for the most dangerous missions and completing it perfectly without any deaths. This new information was very valuable.

The relationship with the Sunil was unlocked, and it increased to 1,000 points immediately, reaching the 'Friendly' level.

On top of all that, their Renown increased five points as well, two points more than the original reward, so Black Star's name started to spread around the mercenary industry. The most direct increase was the Faction single mission reward quota was increased by 10,000 experience, which meant that there was 260,000 more daily experience due to the twenty-six times multiplier.

After the rewards were given, the mercenaries left one after another, but Han Xiao stayed in Forest City. The players stayed for a few days and got a little impatient.

On this day, the players found Han Xiao, and Frenzied Sword asked, "Black Phantom, you…"

"Call me Black Star." Han Xiao knocked on Frenzied Sword's head.

Frenzied Sword then said, "Black Star, when are we going back? What are we staying here for?"

"Waiting for someone."

The players thought that after the Catastrophe ended so did this hiring mission, but in Han Xiao's eyes, it was just the beginning!

One day later, the Sunil Military sent someone to tell Han Xiao that Herlous wanted to meet him. Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Finally."

Following the soldiers to a base facility, he entered a private room, where Herlous was waiting. The man stood up, waved, and sent the soldiers away—he then closed the door, leaving the two of them alone in the room.

There were two glasses of alcohol on the table. Han Xiao glanced around and sat down directly. "I thought you'd find me sooner."

"It was delayed by something. I had to fully cooperate with the military for publicity and lend the armor that my older brother left me to the research institution." Herlous sighed. He had never expected to receive such treatment, but it was mainly caused by three reasons. Firstly, they needed to wash away the effect of the split up. Secondly, Herlous was strong, and strength signified position. There were only two known grade B Supers in the entire race—Fernas had left, and Herlous had appeared. Thirdly, they now had a chance to resurrect the Commander Class armor.

"You seem to have many questions for me, but first let me ask you a question…" Han Xiao raised the glass up, swirled it gently, and purposely said in a very slow tone, "Do you believe I'm a foreseer?"

"Half." Herlous' eyes were sparkling. "Did you foresee the future of me protecting the race long ago, and that was why you came to contact me?"

"Of course, I didn't know a bar owner is actually a hidden grade B Super, and I also didn't know that he would wear a Commander Class armor called Shattered Light to fight the Catastrophe." Han Xiao said mockingly.

Herlous smiled bitterly. No one knew his armor was called Shattered Light, so the foreseer identity was proved. Yet, that left him with another question. "How many things can you foresee? How far can you see into the future?"

"Hahaha, frankly, I can only foresee parts of the future, bits and pieces. I don't know much. If I didn't accidentally peek into Planet Sunil's future, I wouldn't have come," Han Xiao said sincerely without even blinking.

"I see, although I don't know much about the galaxy, I did hear that foresight usually has limitations." Herlous understood, and he was glad that Han Xiao had seen Planet Sunil's future instead of something else's future. Maybe this was the long-awaited luck of his race.

Suddenly, Herlous' eyes became sharp. He stared at Han Xiao and said in a low voice, "So, what is your real motive?"

The atmosphere suddenly became intense, and faint flames flickered around Herlous. He felt that Han Xiao definitely had a goal, or else he would not have exposed his foresight. This mysterious man definitely wanted something from the Sunil race.

Han Xiao put the glass down and said slowly, "Let me tell you a story…

"In a planet where its surface civilization lagged behind, there was a handsome man who was a test subject. One day, he went through an experiment, awakened the ability of foresight, and saw many pieces of the future. Relying on his foresight, he escaped successfully and gained freedom, then he destroyed the evil enemy of this planet, becoming a legend known throughout the entire planet. However, at this time, he saw a new future, a man-made disaster from the sky would fall on his mother planet. The people behind it hid in the depths of the universe, so he left the planet and stepped into a broader world, searching for ways to save his mother planet…"

Han Xiao adjudged his collar. "Naturally, I am that handsome man:"

Herlous suddenly could not keep a serious face, and his lips started twitching. He did not know if calling oneself like that was common in the galaxy, but it was shameless in the Sunil culture…

"We are from different races, so it's normal to have aesthetic differences," Han Xiao said.

"Okay…" After being momentarily stunned, Herlous suddenly remembered what they were discussing. "So, you're saying that you entered the universe to save your mother planet. What does that have to do with Sunil?"

Han Xiao smiled. "My mother planet is located in the Garton Galaxy, soon to face a disaster. I think you Sunils are more than familiar with the name of the people behind it."

Herlous blinked a few times, then his expression suddenly changed. "DarkStar‽"

He suddenly felt that everything made sense, and everything was connected!

DarkStar was their common enemy; therefore, he came to Sunil. This was the motive!

"The mercenaries under me are warriors from my planet as well," Han Xiao added. "They know of this as well, and they followed me because they wanted to search for a way to save the planet. They can vouch for me anytime. I helped you not only because we will share the same tragic experience but also because I'm looking for an ally. Since you know why I came, you don't have to worry anymore."

Herlous' expression softened, and he was immediately filled with respect for Han Xiao. "So, you're the same as the guardians of Sunil, a hero wanting to protect his planet."

Without any blushing, Han Xiao said with humility, "I'm not a hero. I just have responsibilities on my shoulders."

The Great Mechanic Han felt like he had traveled back in time when he acted like he was brainwashed. Giving an Oscar-worthy performance, his actor's soul was on fire.

This moment, Herlous felt that Han Xiao looked much taller and greater, and he felt a bit ashamed.

Han Xiao had the resolve to immediately look for ways to save his planet just because he foresaw parts of the future—he was a complete doer. He, however, even after his race went through a disaster, still escaped from reality for so many years. Just thinking about it made his face hot—he was ashamed and could not remain tough in front of Han Xiao anymore.

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Chapter 352: Dropping a Chess Piece in the Galaxy

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Upon understanding Han Xiao's reasoning, Herlous' expression softened. He paused before asking the question that he had been curious about. "What's my future like?"

"You…" Han Xiao picked his ear, tutted, and said, "You sacrificed yourself during the Catastrophe, dying a horrible death."

"Ho-how horrible?" Herlous' face froze.

Han Xiao grabbed the glass, tightened his grip, and shattered it into pieces. Then he shrugged and said, "Something like that."

With a doubtful expression, Herlous said, "Although I'm not one of those grade A Supers, the beasts on this planet are not strong enough to slaughter me."

"From the parts I saw, the beast wave breached Forest City. You firmly defended the opening and fought till your last breath, using up all your energy. Alas, you were torn apart by the beast wave."

Herlous was surprised. He knew himself too well, and protecting the race was taking on a supposed responsibility. However, he definitely did not have the strength to never retreat even in his last breath. If he met lethal danger, he would run away immediately. How could he become so firm?

"How far in the future is that?"

With a shrug, Han Xiao said, "Do you think I'm some Spirit Emperor who's worshipped by the Ethereal Sect? I'm just a normal foreseer, not all-knowing."

He knew that he could not be too ahead when playing a foreseer—it was for his own protection and to make Herlous guess.

Han Xiao knew Herlous' growth path very well—he would become a selfless hero of the race in the future. As a main character that was growing, he was young, unlike Bennett who had completely matured.

Seeing Herlous' frown, Han Xiao's eyes sparkled, and he said, "What I saw were just the parts of the future from the existing scenario. If there are other factors at play, the future will change too. With Sunil's current situation, the Catastrophe will become harder and harder for you people to deal with, but that future can be avoided."

Hearing that made Herlous feel relieved. Han Xiao said that his foreseeing ability had limitations, which Herlous thought was more trustworthy. He would easily doubt those people who claimed to know everything.

"You said you have a solution?" Herlous asked sincerely.

"Sunil's current situation is very bad. The Catastrophe is the most obvious danger, and the retreating route toward Godora is unsafe. Plus, DarkStar is hiding in the darkness. If you rise up again, you might face DarkStar's attack…" Han Xiao gave a simple analysis, and Herlous' expression gradually turned grimmer.

The Sunils faced danger from everywhere. Herlous could not figure out a solution, only feeling that the road ahead was filled with darkness. "That means Sunil has no way out…"

"Of course not, the way out has always been obvious, but you people subconsciously did not think in that direction." Han Xiao smiled knowingly.

"Obvious?" Herlous was a little surprised. He frowned and thought for a while. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "You're saying… to destroy DarkStar?"

If DarkStar is destroyed, the largest threat will no longer exist, but we are incapable of that!

Herlous widened his eyes. He did not expect Han Xiao to be this ambitious. This idea was completely insane!

"DarkStar has destroyed the home of many civilizations," Han Xiao said calmly. "They're notorious in the Garton Galaxy, and even in the entire Colton Star Cluster, comparing them with you people is like comparing a giant to an ant. However, they're not invincible, or they would not hide from Godora. You people have always ignored this possibility, and it's because of nothing other than the fear toward DarkStar, which is now deep-rooted in your hearts. You don't even dare to think about it; you feel it can never be done."

"It really cannot be done. DarkStar is too large and mysterious. I vividly remember every scene back when DarkStar attacked us; countless battleships covered the sky as well as countless laser beams, the planet's crust cracked, lava shot out…"

Han Xiao cut him off, shook his head, and said, "DarkStar has many enemies. There are potential allies everywhere. Other than this path, you can only join Godora. If you are willing to give up, you will not have to fight the Catastrophe. I didn't say to fight DarkStar right now—this is just the final target. Before that, we need to hoard our resources and stay low profile."

"You really are daring…" Herlous shook his head. "The hope is too little. I don't think this is a good solution."

As if he had expected such a response, Han Xiao smiled. He did not plan on convincing Herlous with such a large target—he just threw it out to broaden Herlous' mindset. Thus, he changed the subject and said, "Let's put DarkStar aside for now. Regardless of whether your race rises up in the future or not, the imminent problem has to be dealt with first. Sunil's largest issue right now is exploring this planet and dealing with the Catastrophe. About this, I have a very direct solution."

Herlous became more focused. Plans regarding DarkStar were too far away, and the Catastrophe was an imminent and real disaster that he was more concerned about. "What solution do you have?"

"I can bring many Supers here."

Herlous had thought that he would hear some brilliant solution, but Han Xiao's solution was similar to Sunil hiring mercenaries. After all, the 'many' in Han Xiao's sentence was surely at most thousands.

Herlous was disappointed, and it showed on his face. "Just Supers is not enough."

"Not enough?" Han Xiao smiled mysteriously. "Then what about hundreds of thousands of Supers?"

Hundreds of thousands? Herlous' expression said, Do you think I'm three years old?

A small mercenary from a surface civilization, how can you find so many people to help? Furthermore, Supers!

Did simplicity limit my imagination?

"I can bring waves of people even more horrifying than the Catastrophe! They don't fear death, they are brave, and they can fight well. Not just for the Catastrophe, they can also help you explore the planet during the rest of the time, digging Prophecy Stone veins, and what they need is just a small reward."

At this moment, Han Xiao smiled brightly! This was his biggest target of the trip! He was interested in the NPC resources of the entire race!

If the players were seeds, these NPCs were the soil!

Sunil was just a start; the Great Mechanic Han's plan was much deeper and longer than that!

In the late stage of Version 2.0, Planet Aquamarine's players would start to enter the galaxy through guidance from a galactic organization. Han Xiao wanted to replace that galactic organization and become a mentor.

The players knew nothing as they took their first steps into the vast galaxy, so it was the best time to be convinced. If he could give them guidance in a similar way to when he guided the new players in the novice village, he would be able to guide the players into their next area of activity. Han Xiao wanted to turn his own faction into the faction that the players joined after they entered the galaxy, to make it a compulsory part of their player career!

If he succeeds, he could have every player in Planet Aquamarine join his faction!

After all, he had already made a strong impression in the hearts of the Planet Aquamarine players!

To guide the players through their galaxy career, other than the rewards, there was another thing that had to be present, NPC resources.

Although the galaxy was vast, the players would need time and a stable activity area for them to develop themselves, and the best way would be to have one or more storylines to lead their activities. This was why Han Xiao targeted NPC organizations—not only could they provide NPC resources, they also had storylines.

Black Star Mercenary Group gave many rewards, and with Bun-Hit-Dog's videos that helped to spread publicity, it was very attractive… but that was not enough!

Faction rewards had a quota, and it was an indirect limitation to the number of members. However, if he could come to an agreement with some organizations, guiding the players there for missions and monster killing, he could break through this limitation. It was reaping the benefits of other NPCs.

Since he needed help from other NPCs, he had to emphasize on what his faction could provide in order to let the players realize the benefits of joining the Black Star Mercenary Group. Other than reward and item exchanges, there had to be privileges! As such, if he became an ally with some organizations, players in Black Star Mercenary Group would receive better treatment from that organization, or he could put prerequisites in certain areas, and joining the Black Star Mercenary Group could grant them access to better areas for development… Through various methods, he would make sure that the players knew that not only was Black Star Mercenary Group full of rewards, it would also give them many indirect benefits.

One special characteristic of a mercenary group was that the members could be spread out across maps, which was an advantage of his faction.

The players would get access to areas to do missions and ally with organizations to receive help. His faction would further develop, and in turn, he would reap benefits. This was a win for multiple parties! The players were like manpower resources, and these organizations in need of help were like the customers looking for hire. His faction would be the middleman to provide them with manpower, but the difference was, all of these manpower resources belonged to his faction, the 'middleman'.

These were just considerations from the perspective of benefits. Another way to look at it would be from the perspective of emotions.

Most mercenary groups did not have a history, and through 'helping' NPC organizations and having the players experience the storyline of these NPC organizations, it would give the players a stronger sense of reality. The mercenary group, as the bridge connecting these storylines together, would then become something that went through ups and downs with these players, adding history to the mercenary group, hence enhancing the sense of belonging that the players would have for the mercenary group.

The players not only needed benefits but also good stories, only then would they feel the role-playing part of a 'Role Playing Game', hence feeling a sense of belonging for the faction. Therefore, Han Xiao decided to shape a common enemy, and DarkStar was the most suitable target. Working together to fight against a common enemy was the easiest way to develop a sense of belonging. Thus, the Sunil race, which had a deep-seated hatred toward DarkStar, was a very suitable ally.

Furthermore, by introducing NPC organization areas to the players by the mercenary group, it could develop a blurry sense of territorial awareness in the players, which would also indirectly increase the attractiveness of his faction.

Emotions like a sense of belonging could bring many long-term benefits, even exceeding the attractiveness of the reward itself.

Players were the representatives of chaos, and the Great Mechanic Han always did everything that he could to shape himself as 'one of them' among the players, to become a shadow that followed every step that the players took in their gaming career. Developing a Faction was a key component to achieving this target.

His plot was enormous, but it needed time to slowly make it a reality. For now, he had merely taken the first step.

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Chapter 353: Abducting a Man

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Herlous was filled with doubts. Just as he was going to say something, Han Xiao spoke first.

"Don't be too quick to make an assumption. Not long ago, you didn't believe that I was a foreseer. If you hadn't changed your mind, this meeting wouldn't have taken place. I don't need you to believe it right now, but think about this, do I have any reason to lie to you? Sunils never promised me any benefits, and even if what I said is not true, you people will not suffer any loss."

"That's true." Herlous nodded and agreed. Indeed, even if Han Xiao was lying, his race would only maintain its current state. Herlous actually wished that what Han Xiao said to be true—if they had so much help, their losses during the Catastrophe would be vastly reduced, and they would be able to develop much quicker.

Although there was the potential threat from DarkStar, the Sunil civilization was just a tiny shrimp to them. As long as they kept a low profile, they would be able to grow stronger in the environment filled with danger.

With a solemn face, Herlous said in a low voice, "If you really can help us overcome these obstacles, Sunil will be your firmest ally. I cannot decide for the entire race, but I believe that the leaders will definitely make the same decision. Please believe in the resolve and quality of us Sunils."

"Of course, I never doubted that." Han Xiao's compliment made Herlous feel very delighted.

"About your standpoint, I'll immediately report to the Superiors…"

Han Xiao waved and said, "I suggest that you don't say it yet. A surprise is better than a torturous wait. Plus, your words alone might not be enough to convince the Superiors of your race to believe that I'm a foreseer."

Herlous was stunned for a moment, then said while thinking, "That's true…"

"If I guessed correctly, just like the other Supers, you're heading toward the galaxy to become a mercenary as well, right?" Han Xiao said.

"Yes, I've stayed here for too long. It's time for me to go out and make some contributions. I'll be leaving in two days." Herlous nodded. Although he was very strong, he had never explored the galaxy alone.

Han Xiao's eyes sparkled, and he smiled.

"Since we have come to an agreement, how about you join my mercenary group and become my associate?"

This moment, Han Xiao felt like he was blessed by the soul of Luffy 1 . If combined with the sun behind him, outstretched arms, and hot-blooded background music, he felt like he could trigger the super strong buff [100% Recruit Success Rate].

"Join your Black Star Mercenary Group…" Herlous was tempted. He was going to become a mercenary anyway, and working in groups would not only mean a stronger power, but he could also stay in touch with Han Xiao in the long term to witness his actions and confirm whether what he had said was true or not.

If Han Xiao was sincere in helping Sunil, he would have the chance to pay him back and help Han Xiao save his mother planet. Plus, the two of them could have detailed discussions on how to combat the DarkStar and improve on their plan. It would really be very convenient.

Furthermore, Han Xiao was very important to Sunil. They could not allow an accident happen to him, so if they were acting together, he would be able to protect him. After all, Han Xiao's strength in Herlous' eyes was not considered strong at all, mediocre at best.

He's one grade lower than me, so being a mercenary is dangerous for him. If I follow him, I can prevent him from dying accidentally.

After careful consideration, Herlous felt that such a course of action was very advantageous, so he agreed on the spot. "Okay, I'll join your mercenary group."

Han Xiao nodded calmly, but in his heart, he was laughing uncontrollably.

Finally! All my effort in convincing him did not go to waste. I've finally abducted this main character!

Other than the point of contact of Sunil, Herlous would also be an NPC cadre of the mercenary group itself. He was a high-level combat power!

This job has resulted in great benefits!

Their conversation's details were not reported to the Superiors, just as Han Xiao suggested. The rest of the Sunils did not know, only Herlous.

Two days later, the Galactic Travel Agency that they had called arrived at Planet Sunil. The group of players followed Han Xiao up the spaceship in anticipation. Suddenly, a tall and wide Sunil in casual clothes walked over. After staying so long in Forest city and seeing the promotions from the military, they immediately recognized that it was Herlous, the character who was being shaped as a hero figure.

"Where's your armor?"

"Lent to the researcher institution. When they derive the blueprint, I can take it back to use, so I only brought this weapon…"

Herlous turned sideways, displaying the rectangular metal silver block tied behind his back. It was the folded Battleship Slicing Blade.

"I see…" Han Xiao felt a little disappointed. The Commander Class armor was a piece of great equipment, but he did not even meet the prerequisite of the NCO Class armor yet; Commander Class would be even more impossible for him to derive. There would be chances in the future anyway, so there was no need to be impatient.

Han Xiao turned to the players and made the introduction. "This is Herlous, a grade B Super. From today onward, he'll be our comrade, a new member of our mercenary group."

Holy! The players' jaw almost dropped on the floor—they were stunned.

The captain has abducted the hero of a race!

"Why did you join us?"

"What's your class?"

"Did you make some kind of deal with Black Star?"

They were very curious about this new friend and overwhelmed him with questions. Herlous was surrounded in the middle and felt the passion from his 'teammates'. He was very not used to it, and he was forcing a smile.

The result of the detection from players was all question marks. They were very curious as to how Han Xiao got in touch with a grade B Super. This was someone who was at the top of high-level areas, probably the strongest in their mercenary group.

Someone who was even stronger than Han Xiao joining their faction had made the players very excited.

After some time, the spaceship slowly landed. Herlous finally escaped from the players and walked to Han Xiao. He stood beside Han Xiao, looking up at the spaceship, and his face was a little stiff.

Han Xiao turned to look at him, raised an eyebrow, and said, "You seem to be a little nervous. Have you never been into the galaxy before?"

"This is my first time." Herlous rubbed his hands against each other to wipe his sweat off. "I'm actually a little scared of heights…"

"You're a shame to Pugilists." Han Xiao was speechless.

They boarded the spaceship. It slowly rose and flew into space with Forest City becoming smaller in their sight. This hiring job was finally complete, and they had left with one more member than when they came. The Catastrophe on Planet Sunil was very beneficial for all of them, especially Han Xiao.

Planting the seed in Sunil this time means I'm on track with the DarkStar storyline. The first step of the plan is also complete. Han Xiao crossed his arms as he pondered.

The spaceship's destination was Juberly Hub. Before the next operation, Han Xiao wanted to return to rest and digest the things that they had earned on this trip.

In Forest City, one of the military bases was open as a recruitment site.

After the Catastrophe, it was the time for new soldiers to join the army again. Youngsters coming of age had to join the compulsory military service and undergo military training. Youngsters came one after another, accompanied by their parents.

Lana was very early. He was only allowed into the recruitment site after displaying his ID card—any unauthorized personnel were not allowed in, including parents.

When he turned back to look, Lana saw his parents waving. They had kind and loving smiles on their faces as usual.

He looked at them with a lot of emotions in his eyes, then followed the group into the military base.

After queuing for a very long time, it was finally Lana's turn. The officer sitting behind the table said casually without even raising his head, "Name, then take a number to go for a medical examination."

Lana took a deep breath before saying seriously, "Sir, I'd like to request to join the army."

The officer looked up and glanced at him. "Do your parents know?"

"No."

"Youngster, your parents definitely warned you not to join the army, didn't they?"

"Yes sir, but I believe I'm making the right decision."

"Once the request is approved, you have to be fully responsible for your decision," the officer said coldly. "You won't be allowed to take it back, are we clear?"

"Crystal clear."

A slight smile appeared on the officer's cold face. He opened the drawer, inside which was a thick stack of army application forms. He took one out and passed it to Lana.

Lana was about to take it, but he realized that the officer was holding onto the application form too tightly. At that moment, the officer said coldly, "This is your last chance to change your mind."

Lana snatched the application form with a firm expression.

"Good, the area to join the army is at that side. Don't block the people behind."

Lana followed the officer's finger and looked over. It was an empty warehouse that served as the recruitment site for the official army. Youngsters waiting to fill out their application forms had already filled the entire warehouse.

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Chapter 354: Speeding! (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

After a month on Planet Sunil, Han Xiao and the others finally returned to Juberly Hub. As soon as they were in the Hub Hall, the first thing that Han Xiao did was change the medium resting room into a large stronghold. The rental increased, from 40 to 100 Enas, as did the space.

The better the faction's base looked, the more reliable the players would feel. Han Xiao actually thought that a spaceship was the best mobile base, but a spaceship was way too expensive; they would not be able to afford one even if they sold the kidneys of all the players. The human body did not sell very well in the Galactic Organ Market after all.

Excess money was meant for splurging—the consumption concept of a Mechanic was always 'money spent will always make returns'.

This trip was very profitable. More than ten thousand had landed in the players' pockets, and Han Xiao would take that off their hands to gather the funds to buy two class advancement knowledges.

Pro players will always use their residual money to buy equipment. There were private equipment stores in Juberly Hub, and these were all Han Xiao's competitors.

It's impossible to have the players only buy things from me. Players have their personal preferences, so I can't rob away their freedom, or it will be bad for faction development. Nobody likes to be forced. Plus, the things I sell might not satisfy all of their needs… Anyway, I only need a part of the players' fortune, and the profit is high enough.

Although Han Xiao had plenty of ways to make money, he always kept that desire controlled.

He updated the faction exchange list, adding Offensive, Defensive, and Scouting Enlistee Class armor, with a prerequisite of 500 faction relationship points. Then he set the exchange price at 800 Enas.

In the new stronghold, before the players had started roaming outside, someone had already discovered the new items in the faction shop.

"Is this the Enlistee Class armor that we saw in Sunil?" Frenzied Sword said in surprise.

"It is their technology indeed," Hao Tian said. "Why can we purchase another organization's equipment from the faction‽"

The players became curious.

Bun-Hit-Dog had a flash of insight and gave a sensible guess. "A mercenary group might be a faction with growing potential. After completing different mission hires, the faction shop will be updated. The more missions completed, the larger the faction will grow…"

The players thought of Herlous joining and the growth potential on the faction interface when they first joined Black Star, and they felt it made sense. Instantly, they became excited.

The actions of the players could make the faction grow!

"We might have joined a special faction!" Frenzied Sword was overjoyed.

They were all pro players, so they immediately realized the advantages of the mercenary group. If they underwent missions from different organizations, the exchange list would be updated with equipment from those organizations, which meant that the more missions they did, the richer the faction exchange list would become. All they had to do was increase the relationship points with the faction itself—it would save them a lot of time!

They were the first batch of players entering the galaxy, and they had gone through a very difficult selection progress. Was joining this faction the hidden benefit‽

The players felt that this specialness of the mercenary group came from Han Xiao. After all, storyline main characters would definitely possess something special. The players trusted Han Xiao very strongly. No matter how shocking the things that he did were, it all seemed possible—this was the impression that Han Xiao had forged in the players' minds.

To make the players feel that the growth of the faction was 'driven' by them, when they clearly saw the growth of the faction, they would slowly develop a sense of belonging. This was the development path that he had set from the start. Now, the players finally felt this specialness and freshness; his strategy had achieved its anticipated result.

At this time, the players had money in their pockets and were willing to spend. A few of them bought the Enlistee Class armor on the spot. Han Xiao did not have any completed products with him, so it had to be built. The other players wanted to observe when the finished product was made.

During the battle on Sunil, every player had been tempted by the single unit armors, but sadly, they had not been given a way to purchase them. Second Prince almost wanted to steal one.

"We have battled for more than a month; let's all take a break and rest for some time."

Han Xiao dismissed them, left the stronghold, and rented a mechanical modification room.

He first spent millions of experience and upgraded the armor blueprint level to Lv.6, only then did he start to build. There was still a lot of material left from what he had brought from Planet Aquamarine—only a small part of the Sunil Enlistee Class armor required him to buy materials from the galaxy. The cost to make one was only about 50 Enas.

For the time being, there was no mission for the mercenary group. The players could finally explore Juberly Hub freely, and naturally, they would not just spend money in one place.

There were many shops in the hub center, and it was full of variety and choices. During this resting period, they witnessed equipment from many different civilizations and bought a lot of gear, such as arms with stronger power, small supportive machinery, and so on.

At the same time, they noticed that some machinery shops were selling single unit armors as well. This was very common in the galaxy, and although these armors' designs were very different from the ones on Sunil, their technology levels were all rather basic. However, these shops were selling them at a way higher price than exchanging in the faction—even the cheapest one was 3,200 Enas, four times the faction price!

The players became worried because of this. They knew that the price was usually correlated with quality, but Han Xiao's armor was so cheap. Would its attributes be very low?

They memorized the attributes of the armor in the shop and planned to make a comparison when the finished product from the faction was complete.

Although Black Star's equipment had good prices, when the pro players were rich, they never looked at price, only quality.

Herlous went to the mercenary hall alone to register. He joined the Black Star Mercenary Group then opened the mercenary group records.

Black Star Mercenary group

Credibility Rating: 154

Scale: 53 members

Class C: 52 members

Class B: 1 member

Missions Completed: 1 (Daily Low-Level Missions Excluded)

Active region: Garton Galaxy

Records: [Sunil Defense Battle] (Expand/Collapse)

Creator: Black Star – Han Xiao

Creation date: Galaxy Calendar Year 688, 02 October

Summary: A small mercenary group with a certain amount of combat power and one grade B Super.

"A mercenary group created little more than a month back. Black Star didn't lie to me…" When Herlous saw there was only one grade B Super, he knew that he was the strongest in this mercenary group. He could not help but feel a sense of responsibility.

For the future of his race, he had to protect Han Xiao. He hoped that this captain would not choose hiring missions that were too dangerous.

On the other side, Han Xiao received a notification from the interface while he was building armor in the workshop.

Faction Reward Limit: 135,7000

Faction Leader Level: 80 (64,000 reward quota)

Cadres: Herlous (B) (20,000 reward quota)

Faction Size: 52 (20,000 reward quota)

Renown: 7 (14,000 reward quota)

Legendary Points: Leader (3) 15% reward quota

Allies and Enemies: None

His friendliness with Sunil was on a personal level, so it had yet to become a faction ally.

Han Xiao felt refreshed. The faction had gained its first cadre and taken its first step. Plus, the quota had increased by 20,000, showing that recruiting cadres was indeed a good way to quickly increase the quota.

Two days later, Han Xiao had built six sets of Enlistee Class armor. The players could not wait to equip them, and they instantly felt the benefits of the armor.

Single Unit Armor was something that most civilizations would research on when they reached a certain technological level. Its original purpose was to let users have stronger physical capabilities and adapt better to different environments. The first time wearing single unit armor was like opening the gate to a new world for the players.

In the stronghold, a few players that bought the armor were controlling them excitedly. The fresh feeling had them overjoyed, and the other players surrounded them and touched the armor with curiosity.

"How does it feel?"

"It looks heavy, but it's actually really easy to move. There are parts inside that helps me move."

Rainy Kim frowned and said, "Piles of iron, they look so ugly."

All the male players stared at her. It was the first time that they had shared a common enemy.

"You don't know sh*t. The mechanical suit is men's romance!"

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Chapter 355: Speeding! (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

After playing with the armor for a while, only then did the players remember to compare the attributes between the Sunil Soldier Armor with the armor in the shops, and the result was that it was almost the same!

Same quality, a quarter of the price—this was more than worth it!

The players were over the moon. The rest of the players did not observe anymore and paid willingly.

Fifty something people, more than 40,000 Enas, about the price of two knowledges…Han Xiao smiled. There was more!

Right after, he added a new option in the faction shop page—equipment enhancement!

Han Xiao had held back when he built the armor. Their attributes were just the 'Basic Version'. This was to provide room for enhancement so that he could open another revenue stream!

Repairs and enhancements were long term incomes. Han Xiao had multiple machinery enhancement abilities, so he had what it took to enter the enhancement business. Naturally, Han Xiao was not going to miss this opportunity. Also, he was going to control the level of enhancement that he gave and would not do full enhancements the very first time, leaving room for improvement, hence attracting the players to keep spending.

The Great Mechanic Han was not greedy—by dividing one thing and selling them separately, he could maximize his profits, and the players that did not know this were willing to pay for it. Han Xiao competed with other shops by using cheap, high-quality equipment, to first let the players buy the equipment, then introduce the enhancement option, turning a one-time sale into long term profit.

After all, he had occasionally played single player games in his previous life too, and he was inspired by the gaming companies turning one game into severalDLCs 1 .

Han Xiao felt nostalgic. Back when he was young, he had been an honest man, but his tiny and pure heart had become polluted by society. Turning bad was not one man's fault, it was the world's fault.

For the following few days, Han Xiao built all the armor. Every player wore Enlistee Class armor—it was like the mercenary group had its uniform. Although the players were all Supers, Enlistee Class armor still proved to be helpful.

As a firm supporter of the Great Mechanic Han, Frenzied Sword was the first one to buy the enhancement. The attributes of the armor increased by around ten percent after the enhancement. Multiple enhancements of the same equipment would have an increased cost. As for the Enlistee Class armor, the first enhancement only cost 60 Enas, the second cost 100, and the third 150. Every fourth enhancement in a row, the price would have a big leap from the previous one; the fourth enhancement cost 300.

The attributes increased by eight to twelve percent every enhancement. It was low-cost, high profit, and Frenzied Sword vouched for it. The others thought that it was a good deal and followed. After the Sunil mission, the players all had more than 10,000 Enas, and it was burning a hole in their pockets.

Han Xiao had left plenty of room for enhancements when he made the armor—it had to be enhanced at least seven times to reach the limit of his ability. The enhancement business brought made him 23,000 Enas, which meant on average, the fifty plus players all enhanced their armor at least three times!

Han Xiao made 40,000 from selling the armor and 23,000 from enhancing them. Now with more than 67,000 Enas in his account, he more than enough to buy knowledges.

He was having a great time selling, while Herlous was speechless. He found Han Xiao and said with surprise, "How do you know our single unit armor technology?"

He had built Sunil's armor, which would definitely make Herlous question him. Han Xiao laughed and said, "I derived the blueprint during battlefield repairs. Aren't I very skilled?"

Herlous' face twitched. Han Xiao had stolen Sunil's technology, yet he had asked a Sunil to compliment his skill. Even his Battleship Slicing Blade could not cut through skin this thick!

Anyway, with Sunil at its current state, there was no point dwelling on this. Herlous still had to stay with Han Xiao, so he did not care about it. Furthermore, it was not any kind of rare technology—most civilizations had basic single unit armor, just with different styles.

In the Area Exchange Center of Juberly Hub, Han Xiao was looking to buy some knowledge.

Having finally made enough money, he was about the complete the class advancement that he had been stuck on for so long. It went without saying, he was quite excited.

The Colton Star Cluster area only had eight Mechanic class advancement knowledges, and Han Xiao glanced through and swiftly chose two.

[Heavy Machine Modification, selling at 25,000!

[Advanced Electromagnetism, selling at 37,000!

Learning… Successfully learned! You have learned [Heavy Machine Modification]!

Learning… Successfully learned! You have learned [Advanced Electromagnetism]!

Class Advancement Requirements: LV 80, 400 INT, learned 5 Mechanic Class Advancement Knowledges

Class Advancement Succeed!

LV 80 Class Advancement Mission completion detected!

Class Advancement Succeed! END Attribute Boost enhanced. 1 END = 40 Max Health = 50 Max Stamina!

You have received a new class, [Data Mechanic LV 1].

100 Energy, 3 DEX, 2 END, 4 INT

You have received 5 Free Attribute Points.

You have received 1 Potential Point.

You have acquired skill [Blueprint Refinement]!

You have acquired skill [High Concentration Refining]!

You have acquired skill [Magnetic Vision—Data Flow]!

You have acquired talent [Machinery Analytical Comprehension]!

The energy in his body was cheering. His class advancement made Han Xiao feel like he had broken through some kind of shackle. His vision became black, and it felt like hours had passed. However, it was actually only half a second. His vision then recovered, but it was very different with before—he could sense much tinier things.

Every time his strength increased, he felt like he had been reborn.

Data Mechanic was also called Experienced Mechanic. His understanding of machinery became even better. The Machinery Affinity at this period would make a huge leap, and among the four new abilities that he had just received, [Magnetic Vision—Data Flow] and [Machinery Analytical Comprehension] were both able to largely increase Machinery Affinity.

Machinery Affinity was a key attribute of the Mechanic, representing the speed, attributes, and power of building and using machinery. [Magnetic Vision—Data Flow] was an active skill, and after activating it, he would enter a special magnetic vision. His magnetic property energy would become his extended senses, revealing the details of the machinery with a magnetic field.

Han Xiao immediately leveled up this skill to Lv.10. Its effect was a twenty-five to fifty percent increase in Machinery Affinity with a twenty energy cost per minute. The percentage increase changed randomly every minute. As its cost was very low, this skill could be activated almost continuously. Unlike [Surging Mechanical Force, this skill could be used in the building process too.

[Machinery Analytical Comprehension] was a passive talent, increasing machinery affinity directly according to Intelligence. Its effect was very powerful—every ten Intelligence increased machinery affinity by one percent. Han Xiao had more than four hundred Intelligence at this moment. This was a key ability for the current stage, increasing the benefit of the Intelligence attribute toward Mechanics. For the foreseeable future, this would be a core ability.

[High Concentration Refining] was the upgraded version of [Basic Refining]. It increased the strength of the raw materials, a very important effect. [Blueprint Refinement] was a passive skill, and it had a chance to be triggered during equipment building. That equipment's blueprint level would temporarily increase by at most three levels, increasing the end product's attributes. There was also a chance to 'crit' during the building process, resulting in an equipment of a higher grade. The chance depended on the user's Intelligence and Luck.

Han Xiao still had 2,500,000,000 experience, so he immediately leveled up all those skills and talents to the max level, using close to 50,000,000 at once. Then, Han Xiao also increased his main class to the max level, LV 15.

After LV 80, the experience to level up multiplied. One level required tens of millions of experience, so leveling up fifteen levels at once cost him 900,000,000 experience. Yet, he did not even blink.

[Data Mechanic] leveled up to LV 15 (max).

240 Energy, 3 DEX, 2 END, 4 INT

You have received 5 Free Attribute Points.

You have received 1 Potential Point.

From LV 80 to LV 95 in a flash! It even exceeded the max player level allowed in Version 2.0!

Han Xiao's advantages of being ahead were even more enlarged.

Energy filled his body. If it had been a stream before, it was now a wide river!

Han Xiao took a deep breath and felt the strength of his body. Reveling in the raging energy within him, he opened the interface, spending all the Free Attribute points in Intelligence. Then, he observed his attributes go through astonishing changes.

Level: 95

Main Class: Mechanic

Attributes: 121 STR, 244 DEX, 214 END, 570 INT, 21 MYS, 14 CHA, 1 LUK

Free Attribute Points: 0

Potential Points: 82

Health: 13,057

Stamina: 15,420

Energy: 5,210 (LV 9)

Power Level: 5,377 Ona

Grade: B

[You're a strong enough Super, a pillar level even in the galaxy. With this level of strength, you're superior to most beings.]

I became grade B! Han Xiao smiled. 5,000 increase in just max health and a new attribute boost level when my energy reached 5,000. My attributes should be thirty to forty percent higher than before!

Finally, he was grade B. He could now protect himself to a certain level even in the galaxy, his combat power was far beyond grade C, and he had two new class advancement knowledges. His combat style could be improved once more!

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Chapter 356: Breaking News, Universe Royalty's Reward

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The prerequisite of the Sunil NCO Class armor had been met, and Han Xiao could reverse engineer the armor and draw up the blueprint. He did not want to sell it to the players at the moment. After all, he had just finished selling the Enlistee Class armor, and releasing the new armor would affect the rewarding buff from the Enlistee Class armor. So, he chose to wait for a while.

I have five class advancement knowledge in my hands right now. With all these new blueprints, I can finally upgrade by equipment… Han Xiao stroke his chin and fell into deep thought. He currently had four battle styles: the core Amphiptere, Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades and Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves for close combat, Sonic Sphere for mid-range combat, and Wrath of Garrett while kiting for long range combat. All four modes provided well-rounded combat abilities for Han Xiao.

[Heavy Machine Modification] gave him the skill to create large scale machinery, and [Advanced Electromagnetism] could help Han Xiao create more stable weapons running on electromagnetic force. Electromagnetic weapons were the next stage for normal weapons, and they were more powerful compared to weapons running on gunpowder. These two knowledges were extremely important, and Han Xiao had to upgrade them sooner or later. Thus, he used sixteen potential points to max out both knowledges.

If he wanted to update his combat styles, then his close combat weapons were outdated. Luckily, he could use these new knowledges to build bigger and badder toys. For mid-range weapons, he just had to change his gunpowder weapons into Electromagnetic weapons. The Ghost sniper rifle had always been incomplete, and the Advanced Electromagnetism was the key to completion.

For Amphiptere, since there was nothing that could drastically revolutionize the armor, Han Xiao only had plans to just add a few new functions and attachable charms. He cracked his knuckles and got to work.

Not only was he going to renew his combat styles, he also had the power to create large machinery. Han Xiao planned to create a vehicle on the ground to travel with the entire faction. As soon as he thought of this idea, one word popped out in his head…

Genius!

Han Xiao's eyes sparkled.

The vehicle can also be the symbol of this mercenary group, which can raise the interests of the players as it shows that our group is growing together. If I can use the Advanced Electromagnetism to improve this heavy machinery, then isn't it just a simpler version of an Electromagnetic Rail Cannon‽ A ground vehicle is the best out of all other vehicles!

He dove straight into his work. He bought plenty of spare parts and locked himself in the tuning room. Before he went in, he told the players to rest well in the Hub.

The crowd did not have any objections. They had changed compared to when they first arrived in space. The players understood the benefits that they would get if they listened to Han Xiao—even Li Ge stayed put in the Hub Center. The players talked and interacted with travelers from different races. Getting to know more about civilization was an entertaining experience. Although the professional players were materialistic and focused on results, there were quite a lot of players like Maple Moon who enjoyed stories, and they were attracted to the fascination of the galaxy.

During the resting time, Bun-Hit-Dog started to make his second episode of the Black Star Series. He continued with his TV show editing style. Not only Planet Aquamarine, audiences all over the galaxy could not wait for the second episode. As soon as the show was released, hundreds of thousands of viewers joined in an instant.

The show continued from the last episode. It started off from the first mission of the Mercenary Group, and the show told the tragic story of Sunil and the scenes from the Catastrophe. The players who did not step into the galaxy were sucked into the narrative as if they were there. The mercenary group was the eyes of millions of viewers. Through the experiences of the journey, the audiences got to know more about the galaxy along with the mercenary group, so they already had a deep bond with the group.

The episode continued until the end of the Catastrophe. The mercenary group gained a new member along the way named Herlous, as if he was a main character in a TV show. This person instantly grabbed the attention of the audience. Bun-Hit-Dog showed the new items in the Faction stop while the narrator explained the potential growth of this faction. The audience had a lot of expectations for the future adventures of the mercenary group, and at the same time, they became even more jealous of the players that had joined Han Xiao.

Han Xiao also watched the show and was satisfied with Bun-Hit-Dog's work. The show could slowly be integrated into people's lives and create an emotional bond with the audience.

In the Hub Center's Battle Simulation Room, Herlous swung his Battleship Slicing Blade and tore the simulated beasts into pieces. He had not fought in a long time, so he came back to the room and to practice every day. Because Han Xiao was drowned in his building and creation, he did not update the mercenaries' information. So, in Herlous' mind, he was still the only Class B Supers in the group. Thus, he felt a huge responsibility on his shoulder and practiced diligently.

After battling for a few hours, all the simulations disappeared. The battlefield filled with corpses turned back into an empty white room. Herlous withdrew his sword, wiped his sweat from his forehead, and headed out the room. At this time, Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, and King Admiral walked out from the gravity room on the side. They saw Herlous and hurriedly walked up to him.

"So, you guys are training, too." Herlous nodded at the members. Over the past few days, the players had been nice to him and were full of passion. He felt that he was getting along with the team. Although, Herlous was out weirded out by their names. It seemed that different cultures had different ways of naming. He thought that it was the culture of Han Xiao's planet.

He was just wondering why these players could not die. Of course, the players could not tell the truth, so Herlous just thought that it was an Esper power in this group.

"Can you teach us some battle techniques?" Hao Tian asked.

In the eyes of the players, Herlous was an unopened chest. They tried to activate some certain events such as learning a new skill. However, Herlous did not have the ability to pass down skills, so all he could do was offer a few pointers. However, under his teaching, the players' close combat skills would significantly improve. One would need some luck to activate the event, which mostly depended on Herlous' mood. However, the players would still try and ask once in a while.

Herlous felt important after being in this team. Suddenly, a local news agency building sounded an emergency alarm.

"… Breaking news. A team of Silvers were attacked by scavengers during their travel in the Shattered Star Ring. Some of them were kidnapped. From our intel, the point of attack was Colton Star Cluster, Fawn Galaxy, Star Zone 4. The size of the scavenger pack is unknown. The escaped Silvers are now hiring mercenary groups to save the remaining Silvers with a high reward…"

This information got Herlous' attention. The Silvers? This race was from the Silver Spirits Sea that was far away. It was the race of Universe Royalty!

Some powerful and advanced civilizations were called the Universe Royalty. The three Universal Civilization that colonized the universe were of course the Universal Royalty. The Silvers were not on that level yet, but it was a long-lasting advanced civilization, and they also had a special position in the universe. At the same time, this Universe Royalty was highly demanded in the slave market, so they were the perfect prey for the scavengers.

The Silvers were rich, so the reward would undoubtedly be insanely high. Herlous, who was short on cash, was slightly moved. He had to try and convince Black Star to seize this opportunity to earn free money.

The area under the rule of Godora was the Garton Galaxy. The Fawn Galaxy was next to Garton, but it was not as large as Garton. A few civilizations that were slightly weaker than Godora had control over different Star Zones, but conflicts often occurred on the borders. Although they were no actual wars, there was a lot of chaos, and no one had power over those areas.

Fawn Galaxy's Star Zone 4 was right on top of the borders, where it was under no one's jurisdiction. The neighboring civilization ignored the calls of help from the Silvers, so they had to pay high rewards to search for mercenaries to help.

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Chapter 357: New Gear, New Objectives

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

"Silvers?"

Han Xiao received Herlous' message while in the machinery repair room and was shocked. He quickly turned off the humming equipment around him, and the room instantly quieted down. The smell of red-hot metal drifted through the room.

He knew that the Silvers were an advanced civilization that hailed from a prosperous region of space in the Silver Spirits Sea. They were a member of the Federation of Light along with many other advanced civilizations. They minded their own business, and their region of space was very safe, completely unlike the precarious living environment of the Shattered Star Ring.

The Silvers had a very long history. This kind of space royalty rarely visited a place like the Shattered Star Ring. Yet, they were… travelling there? Han Xiao honestly did not know what tourist attraction in the Shattered Star Ring could have attracted such high-end folks. What would these people, born in the magnificence of their planet-sprawling cities, want to see in the broken streets of the Shattered Star Ring? The danger level there was ten out of ten. Did this group of Silvers travel there for the thrill?

Having their companions kidnapped to become slaves was indeed thrilling.

The Silvers' reproductive capability left much to be desired, so they did not have a very large population. However, they were a species that had evolved to a very high level. To many forces, highly evolved species' DNA was like a treasure cove, filled with the secrets of the species' powerful and ancient bloodline. One of the common things of these space royalties was that they were very rare. The Silvers could be used to net an astronomically high price on the slave market, and this was probably why the scavengers had been willing to take the risk.

"Black Star, the Silvers are willing to pay a hefty sum. They are currently holding a massive recruitment for mercenaries. This is a good opportunity to make money," said Herlous in a deep voice. Herlous had not been doing anything for the few days prior, and he was in a hurry to make money. Thus, he had notified Han Xiao of the news the moment that he heard.

However, Han Xiao shook his head. "The Silvers are indeed quite generous with their reward, but this isn't an assignment we can take on. Large mercenary groups such as the Sky Ring Army will fight tooth and nail to take on the job. We won't even get a chance to compete for it."

"But we should at least try. There has to be a chance."

The mercenary game was full of competition. The large, higher-end mercenary groups could easily get the big jobs. The clients trusted in their reputation and credibility rating. This time was no exception. Only those big-name mercenary groups had gone to answer the Silvers' recruitment posts. Herlous actually knew that what Han Xiao said was very logical, but he would not give up.

Han Xiao remained silent. An event like this was not in his memories. Based on the timelines, this event probably happened during Version 1.0, and all of the players back then had still been rolling around in the dirt on their own beginner planets with no chance to interact with an event in space such as this. There was no news on an event like this even after the players finally went to space. This meant that it was not anything major and was most likely resolved successfully, without the chance to affect the future much.

To a sudden event like this, Han Xiao tended to be more careful. He already had the knowledge of many other Storylines, so should he still take the risk of participating in an unknown Storyline? It was not him being afraid of getting in harm's way or changing the development of the Storyline; he was someone full of the adventurer's spirit and also a stout believer of the man's romance. However, the most pressing task right now was to get stronger, and taking on the Storylines that he knew about was the safest way to achieve that. He did not want to cause any trouble that could be avoided.

"Let me think about it," said Han Xiao.

"Okay. I will be on standby." Herlous nodded. Han Xiao was, after all, the leader of their Mercenary Group. Although he was currently the strongest member among them, he would never let pride cloud his judgement.

After switching off his communicator, Han Xiao turned to inspect the fruits of his labor from the past few days. All the firearms had been replaced with electromagnetic versions. This included pistols, sniper rifles, and assault rifles. The conventional firearms that he was able to produce now were all at least purple gear, with an attack power of around 80 – 140. However, although the electromagnetic weapons that he had created were only of green or blue rarity at best, the damage was at least above 230. The effective range had also been increased by three to five times.

The electromagnetic weapons were much different from the conventional firearms in structure. The inside of the gun barrels consisted of intricate layers of magnetic coils, while the outside was covered by an insulating material that was connected to a bolt. It looked like a long, rectangular box. Every time that the gun fired, the bolt would contract backward before springing back into its original position. As the ammunition for electromagnetic weapons consisted only of singular pieces of metal, there was no need to discard the ammo shells like for conventional firearms, greatly increasing the firing rate. Also, electromagnetic guns had great penetrative power.

A sickle-shaped sword was resting on the workbench to the right. This weapon was nearly two meters in length and looked like the scythe used by the reaper himself. Han Xiao held the scythe, and a burst of energy snaked out from his palm into the handle. The next moment, a blinding ray of electrical light shot out from the handle, and lightning-like patterns could be seen all over the blade of the weapon.

The scythe's blade gave off a faint bluish glow while giving humming noises. Han Xiao casually swung his hand and left a crescent shaped afterimage, with sparks of electricity remaining in the air, as if the air itself had been burned apart. After doing a few more test swings, he pressed hard on the end of the handle, and the blade that was well over a meter long broke off into pieces and reformed into a thick electrical snake. This greatly increased the range of the weapon, and the individual pieces of the blade could reform into all manners of shapes, suitable for all types of melee attacks. Han Xiao nodded in satisfaction and reined in his energy. The black blade instantly shrunk until it was only a forty-centimeter-long baton. It could even be further folded for ease of travel.

[Battle Scythe – Razor's Edge] was a Super equipment and extremely powerful. He had been able to produce this original weapon by combining the blueprint of some sort of mechanical scythe with the Incisor Gloves using the electromagnetic blades theory. This was his own creation and suited his own combat style. It had a more-than-formidable attack power and was going to be his new main melee weapon due to his recent increase in strength.

Other than that, he also gave Amphiptere a major upgrade. The exoskeleton was outfitted with a thick armor, making it look like the armor of a heavily armored knight. The double layer of armor made the suit taller than 3.5 meters. Both the defensive and damage output had been improved. This was his trump card for assaulting heavily fortified positions head on and would not be used all the time.

Han Xiao did not give the new savage-looking exoskeleton a name. However, Amphiptere had basically gained two new modes since its creation. When equipped with the wings, it would be [Amphiptere – Flight Mode, and with the thick layer of armor, it would be [Amphiptere – Siege Mode].

The transport, due to the internal structure being too complicated, was still in production. However, he did manage to synthesize a blueprint for it. It was a transport method that would be able to move in the air, on the ground, and underwater. It was just that the appearance was far different from Han Xiao's ideal.

Basically, it was a big ball…

Han Xiao was able to make a lot of new equipment and tools just by utilizing the basics of the two newly acquired advanced knowledges. However, most of them were add-ons at best, and he still had not made any revolutionary breakthroughs. Based on his current level, the features of the mechanic class that was available to him were early to mid-game.

He was currently already LV 95, a level that had only been attainable for players after Version 3.0 back then. This just went to show how disgustingly difficult the class change requirements were. The abilities that Han Xiao wanted to obtain were the abilities that signified the rise of the mechanics in Version 3.0 as a player class—Instant Assembly and Advanced Compression Technology.

Only by getting those abilities could a Mechanic truly start treading upon the path to become a one-man army.

The release of those abilities would mean that the mechanic players had finally made it out of the early-game. Many kinds of mechanical combat styles were based on the different kinds of Compression Technology.

Due to the increasing weight of the equipment, mobility and ease of carrying became extremely important for items. Like the Godoran equipment, Compression Technology could help mechanics significantly reduce the size of inactive machinery and other equipment. This meant that the number of tools and items that a mechanic player could bring along in battle would increase drastically, and they no longer had to carry along a burdensome bag everywhere. They could instantly raise an iron fortress out of nowhere.

For example, Amphiptere's newest exoskeleton add-on would be able to be folded over and over until it got an easily carriable size. However, it could also go into siege mode whenever needed. Or, the mobile rover turrets that were originally impossible to bring around would be compressed into small cubes that could be chucked into battle to gang on an opponent.

There was a total of three core knowledges for this kind of ability: [Instant Dismantle and Repair, [High-density Material Compression Technology, and [Beginner Spatial Technology]. They were all advanced knowledges.

Unfortunately, these three important knowledges would most definitely not be allowed to circulate around the market in the Shattered Star Ring, and their possession was highly monitored by the large space civilizations.

Frowning, Han Xiao fell into deep thought. These abilities are crucial for a mechanic's growth. Since the markets in the Shattered Star Ring doesn't offer them, the most direct way would be to join a large intergalactic organization and grind their contribution points to exchange them for them. This is the method most players decided to go with in the past.

However, there was another way—leave the Shattered Star Ring and try my luck in another region in space. The even more advanced civilizations don't treat this kind of knowledge with that much importance, and it could be leaked. However, finding them on the market will be completely based on luck, and the chance isn't very high…

After touching his chin, the Great Mechanic Han muttered in a grave voice, "The Silvers are a considerably advanced race. They definitely had access to those three knowledges. If we can get employed by them, then maybe I could try asking for that knowledge in exchange for the job reward. But the chance will also not be that great…"

After thinking for a while, Han Xiao decided that he might as well try. There was nothing wrong with dreaming. The Great Mechanic Han was the kind of person to always buy a lottery ticket. So what if he never won? At least then there would be no regrets.

After sorting out his equipment and paying the fees for using the repair room, he left for the Mercenary Alliance's lobby. There was a sea of people here, and there were many more mercenaries than the usual. They were probably there due to the Silvers' recruitment notice and wanted to try their luck.

Han Xiao switched on the mercenary interface and saw the recruitment post sent out by the Silvers at the very top of the notice board. However, he got a shock immediately after opening up the message.

"Minimum Credibility Points: 400"

400‽ We don't even have half that number. Han Xiao was speechless. What is this? Are my dreams going to be crushed before I can even dream?

"Hey, Black Star!"

Just as he was about to leave, someone suddenly called over to him from the side. Han Xiao turned and saw a gown-wearing blue-skinned shorty sprint over with that short pair of legs of his while running out of breath.

Han Xiao widened his eyes and slapped his forehead as he realized and said, "Hey, uhm, you're that… right? Wait, don't tell me. I almost got it. You're called… called the… Nylon people?"

"It's Blue-Ni!"

Martin was mad, and his nail like hair all grew longer, turning from nails into long metal needles. This was one of the signs that a Blue-Ni was angry.

"What the…" Han Xiao's eyes shook. He was almost feeling sorry for himself that he had to hold back from calling the other person a porcupine.

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Chapter 358: Sky Ring's Invitation

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

"What do you want?" Han Xiao thought that this was odd.

He had only met Martin once—a month ago when Martin tried to recruit mercenaries personally. Han Xiao had somewhat of a bone to pick with this blue-skinned shorty as the latter had turned his mercenary group down due to their lack of an impressive resume.

Martin rubbed his hands together awkwardly and said in a sincere voice, "Uhm… Are you interested in accepting a job? It's the same one as before. Our research team is going to investigate a barren planet…"

"It's already been a month, and you still haven't found anyone to go with you?"

Martin did not know what to say to that. Recruiting personally like he did would normally only attract the weaker no-name mercenaries. After a long time, he finally could not wait anymore and posted this job onto the Mercenary Alliance's job board. However, there were still no willing recruits due to the laughably poor pay, so the investigative operation was still on hold.

A few days ago, after the mercenaries who had participated in the Sunil missions returned, news of a Mercenary Group full of people capable of revival spread around and piqued the interests of many other mercenaries, causing them to become somewhat famous in the Juberly Hub.

Martin heard about this news by chance and realized that the group that he had rejected earlier was actually very powerful and that he had missed out on a good opportunity. He was full of regret and so had sprinted over the moment that he saw Han Xiao in the lobby.

"It's still the same price. 400 Enas per person. Let's hurry and go now." Martin had a face full of expectations. Han Xiao had registered once earlier, and he thought that he would not reject the offer.

"Go look for someone else." Han Xiao shook his head and turned to leave. He had only wanted to take on the job last time because he could make some quick bucks on the way to the Sunils' planet. Now that the moment had passed, why would he even care about this meager pay? He even had to travel to some faraway planet for it.

Martin held on to Han Xiao's arm and hurriedly said, "Is it because of the price? We can pay more! 500… no, how does 480 sound?"

Martin had firmly latched himself onto Han Xiao's arm, leaving the latter speechless. Martin turned around to be the one doing the begging this time.

The trip to Planet Sunil had earned Black Star Mercenary Group a decent amount of fame, which was the only reason this scene was even happening. A Mercenary Group with reviving soldiers that was also decently powerful would of course be paid a certain amount of attention.

The two pushed and pulled until another voice came from the side. "Oh, so you're Black Star?"

Han Xiao turned around and saw the owner of the voice walk over, clad in a pure white battle suit with a surface so smooth that it was undoubtedly made out of some special alloy.

"Sky Ring's people?" Han Xiao focused his eyes and plucked Martin off of him.

This person was wearing the Sky Ring Army's battle uniform and was a mercenary from Sky Ring.

The Sky Ring Army was among the mercenary groups at the top of the food chain in the Shattered Star Ring. They had over ten thousand members, and the Army head was even a Calamity Grade Class A Super. They did business across numerous clusters such as the Colton Star Cluster and the Gelock Star Cluster.

He should not have had anything to do with Sky Ring at the moment, so Han Xiao was curious. "What does Sky Ring want with me?"

"You have a decent team. My Division Captain would like to discuss cooperation with you. Are you free now?"

Han Xiao blinked. Cooperation… Doesn't sound too bad…

However, with Sky Ring's power, there truly was no reason to look for a small team like his. Unless Sky Ring was interested in something special of their group. Han Xiao was able to guess the general reason for Sky Ring's interest in them.

No doubt. They were probably interested in the fact that we don't die… Han Xiao smiled in his mind. Looks like the gossiping between fellow mercenaries has done its job.

He was curious as to what kind of cooperation Sky Ring wanted to discuss with him. A force as big as theirs would definitely not have something simple up their sleeves.

"I am free. Let's go." Han Xiao threw off Martin and left with the Sky Ring mercenary.

Martin sat on the ground with a dumbfounded expression. The Sky Ring Army's name was known in all corners of the Shattered Star Ring. He could not believe that the Mercenary Group he had turned away just a month ago had been able to gain their interest and even receive an offer for cooperation.

Martin could only think about his previous decision of turning them down with regret and pain.

"But I was the first one here…"

Han Xiao walked into the Sky Ring mercenaries' stronghold and immediately saw around twenty to thirty of their members around the place. They were all of various species and races, and all eyes turned onto him when he walked in.

"I am Gashley. The captain of this small division." A mercenary with golden eyes stepped out. He had an impressive physique, with a muscular body that stood over two meters tall. His species came from a region in the Gelock Star Cluster.

Gashley's battle suit was a little different from the other members. There was a golden ring that circled a triangular crystal at the center of his chest. Although a mercenary group as large as this offered its members a good amount of freedom, they still had their own hierarchy. The more rings that circled the crystal on the suit, the higher the wearer's rank. Rank was decided based on one's strength.

The Division Captain had one ring, and there were four more ranks above that, with the Army Commander having one more than the highest rank.

"Black Star, Han Xiao." After the simple self-introductions, Han Xiao cut right to the chase. "What do you want to cooperate on? What's the situation?"

"Sky Ring is devoted to recruiting capable warriors," Gashley said slowly. "You have a great team, and we would like to invitation to you and your team—join Sky Ring."

Recruiting other mercenary groups was a crucial step for mercenary groups to grow. The Sky Ring Army was a relatively free organization that consisted of many individual teams that were all originally from other mercenary groups. Successfully recruiting strong members would earn the recruiters quite a reward, making all Sky Ring mercenaries pay great attention to potential new recruits, like part-time scouts.

Gashley's team just so happened to be stationed at the Juberly Hub and had heard news about the 'undead Black Star Mercenary Group'. After validating the authenticity of this information, Gashley had immediately decided to extend an invitation to Han Xiao, as he wanted to take in the whole Black Star Mercenary Group.

He was mainly interested in the 'revival' ability. Otherwise, with their average class C combat ability, they would not even have entered the sights of the Sky Ring mercenaries. Of course, Gashley also did not bother paying Han Xiao himself any extra attention. This was because, in Sky Ring, the average members were all class C, while they had several hundred class B officers. They even had two Calamity Grade Supers, which entire civilizations feared.

The sudden invitation surprised Han Xiao. However, after some thinking, Han Xiao also thought that it was not too unreasonable. Mercenaries that could revive as much as they wanted would be able to become the best vanguard and cannon fodder. Even a large organization like Sky Ring would not ignore this ability.

He calculated the losses and gains in his mind. Joining Sky Ring would guarantee them special privileges, and they would be able to enjoy Sky Ring's influence, which had been built up over the centuries. He could also gain access to many new shop items…

But if the Black Star Mercenary Group worked under Sky Ring, they would cease to be their own faction. The long-term losses were too much to bear, and he was not willing to give up on having his own faction just for some short-term gains.

"Your offer is very attractive, but I'm not really interested in becoming part of another organization," Han Xiao declined politely.

The onlooking Sky Ring mercenaries all started to whisper among themselves after hearing that.

"He actually declined."

"There's only benefits to receive, so why wouldn't he accept? I didn't even hesitate when I was recruited."

Gashley had a face full of surprise, and he thought that Han Xiao did not understand the benefits they would be receiving after joining. Thus, he then went on to patiently explain. "You might not be too knowledgeable about the benefits that Sky Ring can offer. Firstly, we do not confine our members with strict rules. You can even choose to become an individual mercenary, or you can also join a team, as long as you complete a minimum of two job assignments every year. Also, there are many other benefits enjoyed by Sky Ring members such as…"

"Sorry." Han Xiao interrupted him and shook his head. "Sky Ring is indeed very nice, but I'm a man who believes that benefits always come with risks. Acting with my own faction suits me more, but I would still like to thank you for the invitation."

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Chapter 359: I'm a Professional at Planting Flags

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The crowd exchanged looks with surprise on their faces.

Gashley shook his head. Black Star had used polite words, and he was not angry at being rejected, just felt that it was a missed opportunity.

Although Sky Ring was a large organization, most of the members were not arrogant and did not feel superior. Sky Ring was an official and lawful mercenary group, so they would not make enemies in the same industry easily.

Gashley felt it was a shame. At this time, Han Xiao suddenly changed the topic and asked, "It's only been a month since Black Star Mercenary Group was created, yet Sky Ring's contacted us—is it because we have the reviving ability?"

Being an honest man, Gashley nodded and said, "Yes, it is."

"Although I'm not willing to join other mercenary groups, I feel we can be in a partnership. Sky Ring definitely takes on many dangerous missions—my group can accept tasks from Sky Ring and take on these dangerous missions with high risks of death."

Gashley thought that having a partnership was not a bad idea even though he could not recruit Black Star.

Sky Ring also had similar partnership relationships with other mercenary groups. There was a long list of records of these partners, who were like backups. In times of danger, Sky Ring could ask for help from these reliable partners any time.

The two discussed for a bit and agreed on their intentions on the partnership, which Gashley reported to the organization.

Many mercenary groups wanted to get in touch with such a large organization like Sky Ring, and people applied for partnerships very often, so the people of Sky Ring were very used to it. Most of the applications did not meet the requirements, but because of the special characteristic of being able to revive, Black Star's application was approved immediately. When its name was added to the partnership list, Han Xiao signed the partnership agreement.

What the agreement roughly meant was that all members of Sky Ring could contact Black Star for support privately at any time, and they had to pay a reward individually. The two parties of the agreement were in a partnership, and any form of combat between the parties was prohibited. If Sky Ring was hired by a certain party, Black Star could not accept hiring from its hostile party, and vice versa. If that happened, the agreement would have been breached, the first party to breach it would have to pay a fine, and the agreement would be voided. Other than that, the other terms were very free and easy. It was regulated by the Mercenary Alliance, compulsory to comply.

Han Xiao was rather satisfied with the result. It was like gaining a new customer and expanding his business by borrowing Sky Ring's name. Sky Ring definitely did not lack combat opportunities, which meant his mercenary group would not lack job opportunities as well. Anyway, the mercenary group had just been created, so it did not matter who their missions came from.

Although they could not enjoy Sky Ring's privileges through the partnership, at least they had some backing—it was beneficial for the mercenary group's development.

After signing the agreement, Han Xiao suddenly thought of something and said, "If I guessed correctly, you guys should have accepted the Silvers' request, right?"

Gashley nodded and said, "No large mercenary groups are going to give up this opportunity. My team has been summoned by the cadres, so we will be leaving and heading toward Fawn Galaxy later on."

Han Xiao's eyes sparkled and asked, "Can my group follow? If you guys get the mission, our help might be needed. I'm happy to accept a hiring from Sky Ring."

Gashley was stunned for a second. After some consideration, he realized that it did not seem like there was any downside to bringing a group of undying mercenaries. "Okay, bring your team to the pier later. We will take our spaceship together. However, be mentally prepared. If the mission is very easy, Sky Ring will not need help, so you will have wasted your time."

Han Xiao waved, signifying that it was not a problem.

He felt that this was a pleasant surprise. He could skip the Credibility Rating requirement using the relationship with Sky Ring. Although his mercenary group was still very weak and there was not much chance of gaining the Silvers' favor, they could expect good things from Sky Ring's hire.

The three knowledges of the compression technology were his target. There were plenty of strong people in Sky Ring, and class advancement knowledge should not be in shortage. If they were fortunate enough to be hired, he felt that he could try to make requests.

After deciding the time and pier number, Han Xiao went back to the stronghold and gathered all members.

"We have a new job, so get ready. We will be leaving in a while," Han Xiao said.

The people's face turned bright—they were thrilled. Knowing that the mercenary group had growth potential, they had been looking forward to the next adventure, and it finally came after doing very little for so long.

Maple Moon raised her hand and asked, "What are we doing this time? Why did the mercenary group information not show a new hiring mission?"

"The thing about the Silvers drew quite a lot of attention, so we're following the people of Sky Ring to Fawn Galaxy. I have brokered a partnership relationship with them, so we might have a chance to be hired." Han Xiao thought and added, "Also, you don't have to raise your hand if you have a question."

No wonder no mission had been triggered in their interfaces. They followed Han Xiao's lead and had no problem with the arrangement.

Herlous was quite surprised. He knew how huge the Sky Ring was, yet in only a few hours, how did Han Xiao suddenly become Sky Ring's partner? There was completely no sign of it beforehand.

Herlous pulled Han Xiao aside privately and expressed his doubts. Han Xiao, of course, did not have anything to hide. He told him about what had happened.

"I see." Herlous understood, admiring Han Xiao discreetly. If he was the one to make contact, he probably would not have thought about suggesting a partnership. Then, they would have lost this opportunity. Although Han Xiao was not strong enough in his eyes, his ability to catch opportunities astounded him—a person like this was more suitable as the captain.

"So, did you foresee anything?" Herlous asked softly.

Han Xiao shook his head. There really was nothing at all.

The Silvers' storyline was not a storyline that he was familiar with. He did not have any memory of it, so it was probably no big deal…

The Sky Ring Army was very large. Gashley's team's spaceship was a dozen-meter-long civilian spaceship. Its front was narrow, and its back was wide, streamlined like a water droplet but with clear edges. The exterior armor was covered with dark-gold metal plates, and the two sides of the tail had crossbars diagonally connecting into the spaceship body. At the ends of these crossbars were spiral shaped propellers, four in total, able to change angles agilely. This was a spaceship from some civilization in the Gelock Star Cluster. It was equipped with a light jump engine, suitable for galactic traveling, but weak in combat power.

This kind of small spaceship looked much cooler than the large and swollen spaceship of Galactic Travelling Agencies. The players kept sizing it up with glowing eyes.

Han Xiao touched his chin. He also wanted to buy a mercenary group private spaceship, but sadly, it was too expensive. Even the humblest one-man galactic spaceship cost more than 10,000 Enas. He could only build it himself if he wanted to save on that money, but building a galactic spaceship had too many difficulties—engine, energy source, armor adaptability, structure strength, detector, and many more, which required a large number of knowledges. He was way too far from being able to do that.

The gathering time came, and the Sky Ring mercenaries appeared. They walked up to the spaceship. Gashley set the auto route in the control panel, and the ship left the pier. After some trembling, it entered the exterior vacuum space.

The tail propeller emitted a golden glow, and it gradually entered the jumping state. The colorful galaxy outside the window rapidly became blurry, then into stretched lines, like it was infinitely long. It had entered a teleportation star gate near Juberly Hub.

"We will very soon arrive in the Fawn Galaxy through the star gate." Gashley turned to the people and said, "The Silvers' spaceship is parked at number 12 planet of Star Zone 4, and the travel time is about twelve days."

There were eighty or so people in the spaceship, but there was still plenty of space. After the players were given their rooms, they took the initiative and went to chat with the Sky Ring mercenaries.

Han Xiao found Gashley. They had only met each other that day, so it was mainly to talk about the mission. However, Gashley did not know the details either. He only knew that he was one of the teams summoned, and the representative of Sky Ring this time was a Three-Ring Level cadre, code named [Ice Sorcerer].

Three-Ring Level cadres were the backbone of the organization, mostly grade B Supers. This Ice Sorcerer was the leader of this mission, and that person would be the one that had the power to decide if Han Xiao was hired. Their codename suggested that it should be a mage.

Han Xiao had yet to come into contact with the Mage class. The Mage class was similar to the Mechanic class in the sense of their high difficulty, and its enchanting ability could enhance mechanical equipment too. Unfortunately, there were only Pugilists, Espers, and Mechanics on Planet Aquamarine.

After chatting for a while, Gashley went back to his room to rest. Han Xiao explored the spaceship himself. He came to the living area of the spaceship and realized that this spaceship had a Battle Simulation Room. Using virtual technology to simulate various enemies and environments, one could experience the effect of battle training. It was marked as 'Occupied'.

Han Xiao controlled the monitor, and the image from inside showed up, Herlous swung the Battleship Slicing Blade and was fighting nonstop against weird beasts. Silver flames splashed everywhere like waves.

Han Xiao watched for a while, licked his lips, pressed the pause button, opened the simulation room door, and walked in.

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Chapter 361: Spar

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

While Herlous was having a good time slashing left and right, the enemies suddenly disappeared, and Han Xiao opened the door and walked in. Herlous asked, "Why are you here?"

Han Xiao laughed and said, "It's boring to train alone. Come, let's spar."

After reaching grade B, he had yet to get into combat, and he was itching for a go. He was a noble man and would not bully the players for nothing; plus, Herlous happened to be a senior grade B. It would only be meaningful to spar with a comparable opponent, and it was suitable for him to better understand what his actual strength was.

He could only find trouble… cough , take action confidentially if he had a clear idea.

"Spar?" Herlous only had one thought in his mind. With you?

The grade of Supers was different from cup sizes. The difference between C and B was extremely vast—they were on a completely different level. The fight would be one-sided, and it could only be called a 'spar' if the parties had comparable strength.

Herlous was not really willing; he was so strong that he might hurt Han Xiao easily if they fought.

However, he felt that this act of Han Xiao's was like the other members of the mercenary group—it should be called 'asking for advice. Herlous suddenly understood. So, that's what he means… the captain wants some pointers.

"No problem, do you want to make any preparations?" Herlous kindly accepted it. He was happy to tutor his comrades. Plus, Han Xiao's safety was very important to him—making Han Xiao stronger would mean he could worry lesser.

Han Xiao was not shy at all. He told Herlous to wait for a while, then moved boxes of machines in. He wanted to test all the weapons as a form of respect for an opponent so willing to help.

Originally, Herlous was very calm, but as he saw more and more boxes entering the room, his face started to twitch. When Han Xiao carried a colossal Electromagnetic Rail Cannon prototype in, he uncontrollably took in a breath of cold air and yelled, "Oi! That's enough!"

With Herlous' objection, Han Xiao had to give up testing the damage resistance limit of a grade B Pugilist. He put on his Amphiptere mechanical suit and warmed up his body.

Melee combat was a Pugilists' specialty, and since the space in the simulation room was limited, it was disadvantageous for Han Xiao. Hence, he stood a certain distance away before starting the fight. "Are you ready?"

"Come." Herlous was very calm; fighting an opponent one grade lower needed no preparation.

Right as Herlous finished his sentence, Han Xiao flipped his hands. Two Electromagnetic Handguns slipped out from his leg armor, and he fired rapidly with Moving Snipe. The muzzle was flashing with blue electric light, and the sound was different from gunpowder weapons—it was a high-frequency buzz with the sound of electric flow. Needle bullets bolted toward Herlous, dragging a faint blue light behind.

His Battleship Slicing Blade rose up in time, blocking in front of Herlous like a shield, making clanks from the collisions. Following which, Herlous' expression changed a little. "Electromagnetic firearms‽"

The Mechanic's core ability was to build machinery for combat, and being able to build electromagnetic weapons meant that the attack power was on a new level. Electromagnetic guns had a high fire rate, so he almost could not react to it. Herlous has to take it seriously—although he had energy protection, his body was not some easily replaceable equipment, so he was totally not interested in getting focus fired.

Herlous did not know much about Mechanics, but he knew that only higher-grade mechanics could build weapons with higher technology. Naturally, he was a little confused—could grade C mechanics build stable electromagnetic firearms?

Herlous closed in with his blade in his hand, rushing faster than a sports car. Closing the distance, Han Xiao's feet slid as he moved back, maintaining the distance. There were many firearms hidden under his armor—a handgun, assault rifle, and sniper—that had all been changed into electromagnetic versions with higher damage.

Herlous was a well-deserved grade B. His reaction speed was extremely fast, and the wide Battleship Slicing Blade was suitable for blocking. Han Xiao fired hundreds of times, but less than five percent hit. Furthermore, the damage of those hits was largely reduced by the Pugilist's energy coating and strong physic, only dealing skin damage.

Having dealt some damage, Han Xiao saw Herlous' data panel.

"LV 98, grade B Pugilist, high in both strength and endurance, semi tank, quite a lot of talents, almost as many as me, and all with very strong effects… Damn, this guy has Basic Luck Glow, too."

Han Xiao was so jealous. According to Herlous' self-description, he had been very lazy since he was young—he had extraordinary talent but never trained hard. Then, he abandoned combat for more than ten years, yet he still reached grade B. Maybe this was what a genius was like…

Han Xiao could not help but think, If Herlous did not die like in the original storyline, he might have achieved grade A in the end.

This is one hell of a recruit.

As he became stronger, Han Xiao's mind became faster; even thinking of something else during combat would not distract him.

At this time, Herlous suddenly stopped chasing. His silver flames expanded, then contracted, condensed between his palms, and became a blinding silver-white light.

Boom!

Veins appeared on Herlous' face, looking very exhausted. Then, with a growl, he pushed his palms forward. The light shot out as energy flew out from his palms continuously. A blinding silver white beam shot out like a furious growling dragon, the light filling Han Xiao's vision.

Han Xiao placed his arms in front of him, and the next moment, the beam collided with his arms, sending him flying and bashing onto the wall. The beam devoured the outline of his body.

As long as Pugilists learned [Shockwave Blast, they would be able to shoot beams—this was one of the abilities in a Pugilist's ability Technique Tree, just like the Mechanic's Knowledge Tree. Compressing energy into a sphere, its power depended on the energy level, the flaw was that it required a lot of energy to use.

Beams had different varieties, and compared to grade C, the beam of grade B was clearly thicker and longer lasting. Even though Herlous reduced the energy output because he was worried about shooting through the wall of the simulation room, the increased damage in the entire places clearly displayed the power of this hit.

"That should be enough… wait, why did I use this?"

Herlous was shocked. His original intention was to tutor, but because he felt a bit threatened during the battle, he subconsciously took Han Xiao as a strong enemy and used a strong attack. He suddenly deeply regretted using such a move—such an energy beam could even hurt grade C Pugilists, not to mention Mechanics.

He was about to stop the energy output, but at that moment, a flash of arc-shaped lightning expanded from within the beam and slashed it open!

Han Xiao jumped high up into the air, with a ferocious black scythe in his hand, and descended from the sky, slashing down!

Herlous immediately raised his blade to block. The scythe crashed down on the Battleship Slicing Blade and caused sparks like a thunderstorm. The friction between metal mixed with the sound of electric currents. He stepped back and dodged, then he saw Han Xiao, who was on the ground. Many parts of his mechanical suit had become red hot, and his whole body was covered in white steam from the high temperature. The energy reaction level was shocking.

Han Xiao twisted his neck and said jokingly, "That was close, almost couldn't take it."

Although that was what he said, his tone was casual and calm, filled with confidence, totally not sounding like he was hurt at all.

Herlous' eyes widened. Someone who could tank a beam undamaged and give out this feeling was absolutely not just grade C.

"You're a grade B Super‽" Herlous was stunned. You were not this strong back in Sunil!

Han Xiao shrugged. "I've improved."

How many days had passed? And you've already advanced a grade! Are you more genius than me‽ Herlous was shocked. He had always known that he was very talented. Although he was not proud of it, when he saw a Super that was even more 'genius' than him, he did not feel very good and had very mixed feelings.

"Don't stop, we're not done fighting." Han Xiao reached out his arm and grabbed the air toward the location of an equipment box on the other side. The mechanical suit arm and the box had a magnetic connection, so the summoned item flew over.

In midair, the box opened automatically, and the exoskeleton armor bounced out, hovered over quickly according to the position of the magnetic connection, then covered Amphiptere, turning into the [Siege Mode] like a small giant in the blink of an eye.

There was another benefit to Advanced Electromagnetism—it could make equipment combine automatically through adjusting the magnetism of different parts, increasing the speed of equipping different armor.

Feeling the energy reaction that made his heart retract, Herlous became focused. He adjusted his attitude, and the thought of tutoring was forgotten. "You're right. Our battle deserves to be called a spar!"

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Chapter 362: Invisible Corner (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Upon experiencing the convenience of the automatic binding, Han Xiao could not help but feel good. Magnetic connection is truly convenient.

The exoskeleton armor looked rough and ferocious. It had a mechanic structure of heavy, black alloy armor combined with staggered fangs—the visual impact was very strong. The Siege Mode was focused on power and defense; it was like a train head when moving. The mechanical limbs were large and tough, equipped with a large number of moving gears, adding the bonus of dozens of Strength points and more than 10,000 armor points.

There were always pros and cons—the disadvantage of the Siege Mode was reduced Dexterity. Amphiptere itself was covered by the heavy exoskeleton armor, but luckily, there was the Nerves Connection, so controlling the exoskeleton armor was easy.

His scythe was originally a more than two meters long weapon, but now it was like a harvesting short sickle. Han Xiao charged forward with large steps, and the ground shook. As he slashed again and again, the scythe and the Battleship Slicing Blade collided with each other rapidly.

Clank clank clank!

The Battleship Slicing Blade left marks on the armor. Han Xiao knew Specialized Materials Science, so he had combined Advanced Electromagnetism with it and created a new alloy. It was highly durable and had bonus damage reduction when filled with electric current. The strong materials used for the fusion had very high defensive capabilities. If it was normal iron, it would have been cut in half by Herlous long ago.

The Great Mechanic Han was not so arrogant as to fight a Pugilist head-on in melee combat. He harassed with his Sonic Spheres, of which he could control seven at a time now because his nerves were stronger. He also used many other small weapons to keep attacking.

After fighting for a while, the exoskeleton armor was covered in damage, and Herlous had also been slashed by the scythe a few times—it was basically a draw.

Clank!

After one last collision between the weapons, the two distanced themselves from one another like they could reach each other's mind and stopped attacking at the same time.

"Great fight." Han Xiao laughed.

Through this combat, he had a more direct understanding of his own combat power. The bottom line of grade B was 5,000 Ona, and grade A was 10,000 Ona. The calculation of the Ona number was a curve—the higher the number, the bigger the difference between each point. Therefore, the difference between those of the same grade was larger. Even if both were grade B, the destructive power of one with 5,000 Ona and another with 9,000 Ona was completely different.

Han Xiao's Energy Rank was a little more than 5,300—a novice in grade B. Herlous has been in grade B for many years, but he had abandoned training. Thus, his Energy Rank was about 5,000 as well. However, with Herlous' talent, he had a lot of room to grow.

Supers with grade B strength were able to basically protect themselves in the galaxy, but it was countless miles away from being able to act completely carelessly. Han Xiao could only better prepare for the future if he knew his strength very clearly.

Herlous took a deep breath and put his weapon away. Sparring should always stop at a suitable point—there was no need to decide a winner. He would not use his trump card, and he knew full well that Han Xiao definitely had more trump cards as a Mechanic. Just through the fight earlier, he had already felt quite the pressure. Han Xiao had numerous attacking methods—like a hedgehog, he could be hurt with just a little bit of carelessness… oh wait, he was already hurt.

He dressed his wounds, and with the Pugilist's physique, he would recover in a few hours. Black Star was an opponent on the same level as him—Han Xiao's combat power had earned Herlous' approval.

Herlous was much less worried about Han Xiao's safety. Originally, when he realized that he was the strongest in the Black Star Mercenary Group, he had felt somewhat uncertain no matter what. Now that there was finally someone with the same level of combat power, Herlous' mindset had changed. To put it more directly… originally, he had thought that his teammates were burdens, but now, they gradually turned into reliable friends.

Furthermore, having a friend with the same level of strength meant having common conversation topics. They smiled at each other and felt a sense of trust in one another. The basis of trust could only be built between people with the same level of strength.

Herlous volunteered to help move the equipment boxes, and the two of them walked out the simulation room side by side. Then they came to realize that Frenzied Sword and a few players were waiting outside with surprised faces.

"Black Phantom, you're so strong!" Stars twinkled in Frenzied Sword's eyes.

Frenzied Sword was very hardworking, so he had wanted to find Herlous to trigger a tutoring event, but coincidentally, he had witnessed the earlier battle. He was stunned, as the mercenary group only displayed one grade B, Herlous, but Han Xiao had been fighting him evenly earlier. That meant that he had to be a B, too! Frenzied Sword immediately made a logical guess—it must have been because Han Xiao hid it during the test.

In traditional ideals, the leader should be the strongest. Originally, when the captain was not as strong as the newly joined cadre, the players had felt rather weird. Now, Frenzied Sword and the others felt much more comfortable. The Great Mechanic Han's image was strong and mysterious. In the players' eyes, he could do all sorts of unbelievable things, and what he just did matched his position in their hearts.

Frenzied Sword was the first follower—he had witnessed Han Xiao's rising experience step by step. Every time that he saw Han Xiao, he was glad of the choice that he had made. However, after entering the galaxy, Frenzied Sword had been somewhat upset. The team had expanded, and there were more people—he felt neglected.

Back then, Han Xiao gave him these high reward missions with strange requirements every day, and Frenzied Sword could not get enough of it. However, the missions now were too formal—Frenzied Sword missed that feeling…

However, at the same time, he was secretly delighted about it as well. No other players had witnessed these strange missions, not even Hao Tian, Maple Moon, and Bun-Hit-Dog knew what Han Xiao had been like back then. He was the only one to have experienced it. This was a very interesting and fun experience, and he thought back on it often.

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and took a step to the side discreetly. Somehow, he felt that Frenzied Sword was looking at him weirdly.

"Who's Black Phantom?" Herlous was confused.

Han Xiao waved. "Don't mind it, that's my nickname on my mother planet."

"Oh, I forgot, you're famous on your mother planet." Herlous discreetly decided to find other teammates to know more about Han Xiao's past. He was very interested.

There were few activities during the trip, and other than occasionally sparring with Herlous, Han Xiao chatted with Gashley whenever he was free to hear more about Sky Ring's history. They sometimes also talked about the knowledge of traveling through the universe.

Gashley was an experienced mercenary—he had been to many places and had a lot of stories to tell. In terms of words, the Great Mechanic Han never backed off, and in terms of knowledge, ten Gashleys tied together would not be able to match up to him. They chatted happily and had very pleasant conversations, gradually familiarizing themselves with one another.

Most of the formal mercenaries were forthright and liked to make many friends.

Players communicated with the other Sky Ring mercenaries often. When talking about their armor, the Sky Ring mercenaries displayed the effect of the Sky Ring Armor. They were all products of compression technology. By pressing down on the triangular crystal on their chest, the humble Sky Ring combat suit would expand and become various full forms. It was truly gorgeous.

The Sunil Enlistee Class armor paled in comparison, so the players were all shocked and jealous.

Seeing that the players were tempted by their resources, the Sky Ring mercenaries tried to tempt the players privately by promising a free Sky Ring Armor after joining Sky Ring. If their recruitment was successful, the recruiter would be rewarded as well. Recruiting members from other mercenary groups was a very common activity—it was free real estate. Many Sky Ring mercenaries also belonged to other mercenary groups originally, and they had been attracted to Sky Ring due to their better offer.

However, this did not work on the players at all. Tempted did not mean shaken; they were still waiting for better things to appear in the mercenary group shop. One day, there might be Sky Ring Armor in the Black Star shop too. Therefore, they were in no hurry. These players trusted Han Xiao very much.

The private invitations were all rejected, and the Sky Ring mercenaries were very surprised. They had not expected the mercenaries under Black Star to be so loyal, and shock naturally turned into respect for the group.

When Han Xiao heard this from Bun-Hit-Dog, he felt warm inside. The faction unity was starting to shape slowly. This group of players had backbone.

At the same time, among some asteroid belt in the Fawn Galaxy, a few scavenger spaceships were moving stealthily. They kept the information disruption force field activated at all times, maintaining their Stealth mode. This was the scavenger organization that had attacked the Silvers. It was a slave trader that often sold slaves—they were notorious for their ruthless acts in the Shattered Star Ring.

The hold of one of the spaceships consisted of prison cells used exclusively for containing slaves. This group of scavengers had done quite a number of jobs before they attacked the Silvers. The not so valuable 'goods' were locked together, and the valuable slaves were imprisoned alone. Naturally, the seventeen captured Silvers were imprisoned alone.

A golden-skinned, messy-haired man walked into the prison area with a very gloomy look on his face. He was the leader of this group of scavengers, Peggy, a hybrid Godoran. The blood running through his veins was only one-eighth Godoran, but his appearance was still very similar to that of a Godoran. The Godoran genes were indeed very strong. He had tiny scales on different places on his skin and vertical pupils like a snake, suggesting that he had some kind of Snakeman genes.

The prisoners in the large cell immediately became riled up when they saw him.

"Let me out!"

"I'm an explorer of Holy Stone Civilization, how dare you detain me! Let me go now, or I will…"

"Who are you going to sell us to?"

The prisoners were very noisy, but Peggy ignored them completely. He skipped the large cell area and walked into the corridor of the single person cells. He had yet to do a routine interrogation after catching these Silvers—it was now time to test the 'goods'.

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Chapter 363: Invisible Corner (2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The Shattered Star Ring was filled with criminals, so it was very rare to see visitors from other Star Fields. Yet, there were still people who came.

Peggy asked eleven of them in a row, and the results were mostly the same. These Silvers were all friends and travelers, wanting to witness the edge of the visible universe, and Shattered Star Ring was one of the edges of the visible universe. They had passed by and had unfortunately been abducted by Peggy.

He walked into the next cell, and the Silver inside was somewhat different. The others would at least shiver a little when they heard the cell door open, but this guy was very calm and did not move at all. It was like he was not a prisoner but a guest of this ship.

"Are you the leader?" This Silver spoke first, his tone very calm. "I'm willing to buy my freedom with money. You can decide any price."

"I'm not interested." Peggy was expressionless. His spaceship maintained information disruption to prevent getting located, to prevent risks, so they would not let the slaves use their communicators before they were safe.

With a wave of his hand, his subordinate walked forward and frisked the Silver's body. This Silver struggled violently and yelled with rage, "I have a lot of money! Aren't you selling slaves for money‽"

Suddenly, a scavenger subordinate discovered something. He tore his shirt open and took out a tiny black bead from his lining. This Silver immediately became much more violent and wanted to pounce over to snatch back the black bead, but he was pressed strongly on the floor, only able to growl furiously.

"What's this?" Peggy took the black bead from his subordinate and squeezed it. It was very hard, and the surface of the bead was emanating a deep light with a tint of magical glow.

"Give it back to me! I'm an emissary of DarkStar; this belongs to the DarkStar. If you dare take it away, destruction and death will fall upon you!" this man yelled angrily.

"DarkStar?" Peggy laughed coldly. "You did your homework well. Despite being far away in the Sea of Star Spirits, you know there's a DarkStar organization in our Shattered Star Ring. I didn't joint DarkStar even though I'm a hybrid Godoran, you want to scare me? Do you think I'm easily fooled?"

Peggy saw DarkStar as the great pioneer of liberation, and he had always wanted to join, but because DarkStar was too mysterious, he never could come into contact with them. If DarkStar gave him orders, he would willingly give his life.

Silvers were far in the Sea of Star Spirits, how could they possibly have any connection with DarkStar. He had caught them out of nowhere, and this guy happened to be the so-called 'emissary'? How could it be so coincidental! It was nothing but intimidation—Peggy had seen it way too many times.

"Seeing that you're so nervous, this bead must be valuable. I'll take it."

Peggy pocketed the bead and planned to find someone to identify it when he was free. He brought his subordinates along and left the cell, then closed the gate.

Outside the door, the subordinate licked his lips. His face was filled with greed as he said, "A Silver has never appeared on the slave market of Shattered Star Ring before. It will definitely sell for a good price—this is a huge profit. Boss, who are we selling them to?"

"I've contacted the customer," Peggy said. "We're going to Floating Dragon Island."

The subordinate widened his eyes. "that's that man's territory!"

"The customer this time is that guy's subordinate, very generous with money." Peggy had a gloomy smile as he walked away.

In the prison cell, this Silver was furious. He cursed in his mind, Damn scavengers! Luckily, the Secret Message Bead can only be opened with a password. They can't take out what's inside…

Star Zone 4, Fawn—Planet Number 122—was a planet without an owner or civilization. The Silvers that sent out the missions were camping there. Since their call for aid, numerous mercenary spaceships had arrived on this lifeless planet, and all sorts of spaceships surrounded the middle and shaped a base. In the heart of it was the Silvers' traveling spaceship.

Gashley's spaceship landed slowly, and Han Xiao and the others swarmed out to look around.

The base was filled with voices—most of them were mercenary groups. The Silvers' mission had attracted many renowned mercenaries in the Shattered Star Ring.

Gashley brought the others toward the main team. They arrived below an even larger spaceship, and about a hundred Sky Ring mercenaries were gathered here. Han Xiao looked up—this spaceship had the Sky Ring symbol on it, too.

"You're finally here." A tall woman wearing hooded robe walked over.

It was the Three-Ring Level cadre [Ice Sorcerer, original name Goa, leader of the Sky Ring for this mission. She had light blue long hair, a cold nature, and a void-like voice, just like ice. This was a Mage—although Han Xiao could not feel the magic flowing in her, he could feel the coldness from her.

Seems like she's an ice element Mage, Han Xiao thought.

Just like the Mechanic class, the Mage class also had complicated knowledge and a variety of styles. Ice mages were hard to deal with, and they had all sorts of annoying skills like slow, freeze, and stiffen.

Goa glanced at Gashley. She saw Han Xiao and the others beside and asked with a frown, "Who are they?"

"Black Star Mercenary Group. We just made a partnership agreement, so they're here to help," Gashley said.

"Never heard of them before." Goa shook her head.

Han Xiao was not bothered. Black Star Mercenary Group's name was limited to Juberly Hub; it was far from being famous. Compared to Sky Ring, his mercenary group was not noticeable at all.

Goa thought that they were just a bunch of sidekicks, but suddenly, she felt a sense of danger. The senses of a mage reminded her that she had met someone strong, only then did she start to seriously size Han Xiao and the others up. She noticed that two of them had very active cell energy in them.

"Two grade B Supers…" Goa's expression changed a little. Although grade B Supers were rather common, they were not everywhere. Even in Sky Ring, grade B Supers were at least Three-Ring Level cadres, and this mercenary group with only dozens of members had two grade B Supers; the ratio was very high.

She was the only grade B in this team, their high-level combat power was not even as high as this small mercenary group.

Goa stopped looking at them and said, "Our employer has hired many mercenaries—they're not short of combat power. However, the situation right now is not very good… Since everyone is here, let's head over there first. We'll speak on the way."

They walked to the Silver's ship, and Goa explained the current situation.

This Silver had spent a large sum to hire mercenaries to save his captured friends—he was very generous indeed, but the mercenaries still had yet to start. They were stuck at an awkward stage—no one knew the enemies' location! The scavengers that had attacked the Silvers were nowhere to be found, so no matter how many mercenaries gathered, there was nowhere to start.

Such intelligence lacking missions were very troublesome. The mercenaries used various detection methods, but that group of scavengers had turned on information disruption and could not be located. They did not leave many traces during their crime either. Although they knew that the scavengers would be fencing, they did not know where they would be going to.

If they were further delayed, the people of his race would be sold already. The surviving Silver was very anxious, and he released new requirements. If anyone could provide effective location information, he would give a generous bonus.

"Other than us, Blades and Purple Gold are here, too. Purple Gold went to find a fortune teller, so the enemies' location might be discovered," Goa said.

The Blades Army and the Purple Gold Army, two large mercenary armies as large as Sky Ring, were also active in the Shattered Star Ring. The rewards for this mission were divided into two parts, the base reward and bonus reward. The base reward was the hiring fee, and the mercenaries that saved the captives would be given a bonus that was multiple times the base reward. Therefore, in these missions, the relationship between the mercenaries was not only comrades but competitors as well.

Formal mercenaries competed with dignity—they would not burden each other on purpose, or their reputation would be damaged.

Usually, when the enemy could not be located and there were no better detection devices, mysterious foreseeing methods might have an unexpected good result. These abilities required very special talents and strict rules, so they were rare.

The players could not awaken foreseeing type powers. Even if they could learn fortune telling in the Mage class, they would only receive very little information when they used it, so it had a lot of limitations.

The people met the Blades' team halfway, and they walked with each other. Goa and the leader of Blades chatted casually as they led the way.

Both large mercenary groups had their own uniforms. They chatted with the people they knew, and Han Xiao and the others were conspicuous in the middle of these two groups of people, as those around them sized up this unknown mercenary group.

"Who are they?"

"Seems like Sky Ring's help, think they're called something like Black Star Mercenary Group. Small group, not well known."

"Here to watch probably."

The mercenaries chatted among themselves, and the players felt uncomfortable. They felt like they did not fit into this crowd at all.

On the way, Han Xiao was pondering on what to do next. He did not know if Goa had plans to hire him, but he did not want to come for nothing. Since they were already there, he did not want to return empty handed.

Many renowned mercenaries of the Shattered Star Ring have gathered here on this planet. I came too late, and I have yet to make a name for myself. It looks like I can't play a part here.

This was an event that he had not come into contact before, so he had to improvise.

Just as he was thinking, they came to the middle of the base. The Silver appeared in their sights—they had snow white skin, long and cute tentacles above their heads, and stunning clothes made of unknown material that was soft and smooth, and bottom half of the face was covered by an air filtration mask.

This was the first time that the players had seen a 'Universe Royalty'. They looked here and there and did not realize what was so 'royal' about them. It felt no different from other weird looking galactic races.

"If a civilization is strong and ancient enough, the race ruling it will, of course, be royalty. The others will look up to their hobbies as a royal standard. This is an issue regarding societal positions, nothing much to do with their physique." Han Xiao patted Herlous on his shoulder.

"What did you pat me for?" Herlous rolled his eyes. About this topic, the Sunil clearly did not want to talk to you about it.

The Silver spaceship captain was negotiating with the mercenaries, and he said, "I hope you can quickly set off to save my friends. It's been delayed for too long; if you people continue to slack, you will not receive any reward."

"We don't know the enemies' location. All detective and tracking methods are no use, and you also did not give us any valuable intel. Thus, we can only wait temporarily. However, do not worry, our friends have already gone to invite a fortune teller. As long as you keep your promise and give the intel provider the bonus reward, I believe that there will soon be a result," a mercenary said.

"You people of Shattered Star Ring are really greedy and primitive," the Silver spaceship captain complained. "I dislike this place. No matter what, I just want results—money is not a problem."

Whoosh!

The wind rolled up the sand, and another spaceship had landed. The Purple Gold Army's symbol was printed on its body. The crowd split apart, and Purple Gold Army's team walked down the ship and approached. Beside the leader was a sorcery fortune teller carrying a crystal ball, also a member of the Purple Gold Army, hurrying over from galaxies away for this mission.

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Chapter 364: Floating Dragon Island

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The fortune teller held onto the magical crystal ball and mumbled, while the Silvers and the mercenaries watched and exchanged looks.

"Will fortune-telling even work?" Herlous asked. A target that all kinds of detection devices could not find, and a fortune teller could just lock onto it like that? Sunil was a technological civilization, so they had very limited knowledge of sorcery. They had only heard about it and never understood how it worked, so it was normal to be doubtful.

Han Xiao touched his chin. "That depends, there are many strange things in the universe. Something that technology devices can't do, sorcery can, and vice versa. Of course, as they both improve, the different systems will gradually have more similarities, and it all leads to the same place. The fortune telling of the Mage class is quite useful."

"Can't you use your foreseeing ability?" Herlous suddenly remembered that there was a foreseer standing right beside him.

"Mine is passive, passive…" Han Xiao dry coughed and gave a logical explanation.

About ten minutes into the mumbling, a blurred image appeared on the magical crystal ball, and the fortune teller stopped chanting. The fortune teller stared at the crystal for a while, then rubbed his eyes and said unsurely, "I saw a Void Dragon race…"

The crowd was stunned.

Void Dragon race?

What are you talking about‽

The clarity of the fortune telling results depended on the number of traces. Most of the time it would be ambiguous, but it would definitely be related to the truth. The fortune teller said, "I can only see this result, do you have any leads?"

The mercenaries surrounded the crystal ball and discussed, while Goa frowned and said suddenly, "Could it be… Floating Dragon Island?"

The crowd stopped their discussion instantly when they heard this. It was like someone pressed the mute button, and the mercenaries quietened down and exchanged looks. A tint of horror even appeared on their faces.

"Very possible… if there's any organization in the Shattered Star Ring unafraid of revenge, Floating Dragon Island is one of them."

Maple Moon noticed how stiff the people were. She tugged on Han Xiao's sleeve and asked curiously, "What kind of place is that?"

Han Xiao squinted his eyes and said, "Wanted criminals can't get supplies from lawful civilization's planets, but some neutral territories dare to take in galactic pirates, scavengers, and other criminals. Floating Dragon Island is one such neutral territory."

"Then isn't that a gathering ground of criminals? Why don't these civilizations just get rid of all of them at once?" Bun-Hit-Dog cut in.

"Not to pursue one's past sins in neutral territories, this is the unspoken rules between the civilizations in Shattered Star Ring because of one and only one reason—these long-lasting neutral territories all have a strong ruler." Han Xiao seemed to have remembered something interesting. The edges of his lips rose up as he said, "The ruler of Floating Dragon Island… is someone beyond Calamity Grade!"

Beyond Calamity Grade… which means higher than grade A‽

The players' faces changed. They finally understood why these mercenaries all had such grave expressions.

They knew absolutely nothing of the strong people of this grade, but Han Xiao knew very clearly.

If grade A was a calamity at a planet-scale, above grade A was a whole new level, more than enough to become the king of an area through the galaxy. Not many civilizations wanted to mess with someone of this level. For example, at her peak, Hila could reap the souls of every life on an entire planet in seconds, making an entire planet deadly silent!

When the strength of a single being reached such a level, there were not many rules that could restrict them anymore. Some galactic civilizations could not do anything to them even if they used the power of their entire race. It was horrifying indeed…

Luckily, there were few monsters at this level even throughout the entire universe. In the Shattered Star Ring, there were only four known beings beyond grade A, fearsomely famous and lonely.

The ruler of Floating Dragon Island was one of them, and Han Xiao happened to be very familiar with that guy. In his previous life, the Great Mechanic Han had once come into contact with that guy due to a mission.

Void Dragons were galactic beings, and their bodies were tens of thousands of meters long. They lived in the universe, and the dark energy everywhere to them was like air to humans and water to fish. The bodies of Void Dragons contained special powers, and when they died, their flesh would turn into ice shards and ash, leaving an enormous skeleton floating in the universe, turning into a comet.

When they reached close to the end of their life expectancy, the Void Dragon race would wait for its death beside the corpse of one of its race, hence forming a graveyard in the form of comets. Floating Dragon Island was a large graveyard. It was rumored to have twenty-four sets of Void Dragon skeletons, captured by its current ruler then embedded into the surface of an empty planet, the ruler then used their great strength to tear away a part of the land, equipping it with all kinds of anti-gravitational, ecological maintenance devices, maintaining its galactic voyage, turning into the Floating Dragon Island it was now.

Back then, when Han Xiao knew about this, other than being shocked his biggest conclusion was… that dragon was damn rich!

The people contemplated. According to the fortune telling results, the scavengers were most likely going to fence their goods on Floating Dragon Island, so many mercenaries wanted to back away.

"Sorry, I'm quitting this mission." The captain of one of the middle size mercenary groups made the decision after long consideration. With him as the first, more mercenaries followed and left. Spaceships took off one after another and disappeared.

Floating Dragon Island was a gathering ground for criminals, an extremely dangerous place that place did not really welcome formal mercenaries. They might just bump into their enemy there. Furthermore, saving someone in that kind of place… if they broke the rules accidentally and enraged the ruler, it would be a problem to even make it out alive. Most of the mercenaries wimped out.

The Silver was angry and shocked. The action of these mercenaries going back on their word made them furious.

Only Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold were left. These three groups had a strong background—at least the criminals in Floating Dragon Island would not dare to touch them. It was certainly different to have the confidence since they had relationship and background.

Here comes the chance! Han Xiao's eyes sparkled. The Silver would definitely be in shortage of manpower, so he stood out of the crowd and said with a smile, "Do you still need mercenaries?"

The three large mercenary groups looked over. The Silver spaceship captain nodded immediately—it was really a timely offer. These renowned mercenaries were just full of promises to save the captives moments ago, yet they all wimped when they heard the location. What good did their accumulated good name do? They did not even match up to this uninvited mercenary group!

Goa frowned and said, "Floating Dragon Island is filled with brutes, pirates, and scavengers everywhere. It's very dangerous, and even though you're our partner, Sky Ring's name cannot protect you. If you get killed, it will be for nothing. That place is too dangerous for you guys, so it's best you reconsider."

From what they saw, eighty percent of this small mercenary group's confidence to do this mission was because they were Sky Ring's partner, but she felt that she had to make things clear.

If a direct member was killed, Sky Ring would take revenge, so the brutes would consider before they did anything. However, although partners could act alongside them, if they were killed, Sky Ring would not stand up for them. That was the difference.

"No worries, my people are not afraid of danger." Han Xiao smiled, and his impression of this female mage became better. They clearly could just hire them as combat power, yet she actively explained the dangers involved—although she seemed cold, she was actually quite kind.

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Chapter 365: Don't Wimp, Just Do It

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

This time, Gashley explained softly, "There's no need to worry, all of Black Star's people can revive."

"What‽" Goa was shocked. She did not know about Han Xiao's team previously. Only after she listened to Gashley's introduction did she understand the uniqueness of Black Star Mercenary Group. "A group of undying, no wonder they have the right to become Sky Ring's partner…"

She did not continue her attempt to persuade Han Xiao anymore.

Han Xiao suddenly had an idea, and he said, "We only know that Floating Dragon Island is the location, but we don't know the scavengers' identity, nor do we know who they're dealing with. It would still be finding a needle in a haystack—do you have any other ways?"

The Purple Gold Army fortune teller shook his head, saying that his fortune telling could not divine such details.

Han Xiao was relieved. He coughed and started acting. "I'm a foreseer, too, and I felt something just now and noticed some new clues."

The people were surprised, and they looked over.

Han Xiao remembered that he still had the Character Summon Card of Destiny's Child, and there were five more usages, so he could just give it a try. He asked, "If I can provide reliable intel, is there any other reward?"

The Silver spaceship captain nodded and said, "Of course there is."

"I want to suggest a reward."

"What do you want?"

"Mechanic class advancement knowledge." Han Xiao smiled; this was a good opportunity to make a request.

The Silvers discussed for a while and agreed to Han Xiao's request. Far away in the Sea of Star Spirits, class advancement knowledges were not that precious—they were basically everywhere. He just had to tell a friend back there, and it could be sent over immediately—it would not even cost them anything.

Upon getting the confirmation, Han Xiao used his Destiny's Child Card. His vision changed, entering a blurry image, and he saw some bits and pieces.

After losing focus for a while, Han Xiao's vision recovered. Destiny's Child's ability was very promising, so Han Xiao already knew the customer's rough appearance. They just had to ask around, and they should be able to find the target.

He described the intel, and the Silver sent the appointed class advancement knowledge into his communicator.

Han Xiao used his potential points to learn it immediately, and a new knowledge entered his mind.

You have learned [Rapid Assembly]!

This is the difference… Han Xiao sighed. A knowledge that he could not even learn in the Shattered Star Ring, the Silver could transfer it to him easily. That was the civilization difference, and even he was tempted to kidnap these Silvers.

But it was just a thought. He threw that suicidal idea away very quickly. He now had a faction base, and he did not want to become someone who was chased around everywhere.

After the hiring procedures were completed, Han Xiao requested for the other two class advancement knowledge regarding compression technology as well. Seeing that Han Xiao was the captain, Silver agreed with all of it—Supers looking for new knowledge was very common.

A mission was triggered on his interface, and the basic reward was one of the knowledges required for compression technology. If he successfully saved the hostages, he would then receive the other knowledge. The experience reward was more than 4,000,000, plus some monetary reward.

And the players' reward was only money.

After settling everything, without further ado, Han Xiao and the others boarded Sky Ring's spaceship and followed the three large mercenary groups to Floating Dragon Island.

In an unknown region of the Shattered Star Ring was a DarkStar base, where the Superiors of the DarkStar organization were having an emergency meeting.

"The carrier this time was kidnapped."

"Did Godora notice our plan?"

"No, this is just an accident. The people over there chose the carrier to be a Silver, and he was kidnapped by a slave trader."

"That's good then. The intel shows that the fence location seems to be Floating Dragon Island. What do we do?"

"Send people over to rob those bought slaves. Find the carrier and retrieve the cargo. If outsiders don't have the password, they can't take out the Mutation Source and the Super-Gene Extractor inside. These two things cost the organization a lot, so they cannot be lost."

"Who do we send to carry out the mission?"

"Since it's this important, let [Ember] go. He has yet to fail since joining DarkStar."

Not long after, a stealth spaceship left the DarkStar base and headed toward Floating Dragon Island.

"Only paid for fifteen Silvers?"

Peggy was already very close to Floating Dragon Island. He contacted the customer again and came to know of the new request. There were seventeen Silvers in the spaceship, so two of them unsold. He thought about it, then told his subordinate to bring two Silvers to him. One of them was that carrier that called himself the DarkStar emissary.

In front of the hatch at the side of the spaceship, two Silvers were kneeling before Peggy. Scavengers surrounded the two of them, anticipating a good show.

"Open the hatch," Peggy said.

A subordinate opened the inner hatch, but the outer hatch remained closed. The two Silvers saw this and guessed what the scavengers were about to do. They were terrified and struggled more violently, but they were firmly pressed down.

Peggy signaled for the other Silver to be moved out of the inner hatch. The inner hatch then closed, and the outer hatch opened. The body of this Silver was exposed in vacuum. He slowly floated away as his eyes bulged and his limbs moved everywhere. After struggling for a while, his organs shattered, and he tragically died.

"Hahahaha…" The scavengers laughed out loud as they saw this from the windows. This was the entertainment of scavengers.

The carrier Silver panicked and said, "Aren't you going to sell me? I'm very valuable! I have a lot of money to pay for myself, why do you want to kill me‽"

Peggy's eyes were dark and cold, his face twisted. "You're my property, so I can do anything I want to you. I dislike it when people bargain with me, and I dislike high up races like yours even more. Every time I see people like you, I'm reminded of the pureblood Godora *ssholes. Arrogant people all deserve to die."

As he said that, he waved again. The subordinates did the same thing—they threw this Silver out as well, and he died rapidly in a vacuum.

The spaceship then sped up and left the area right away, leaving only two Silver corpses floating in the cold universe.

At the same time, the spaceships of the mercenary groups were about to land on the other side of Floating Dragon Island.

This was a land that sailed in the universe, like a galactic island. It had many stabilizers and accelerators at its base, and a translucent sphere covered the entire floating island, maintaining the atmosphere and gravity.

The construction style of Floating Dragon Island was rough. It had a city that looked like an enormous dragon spreading its wings when looking down from above, and many mechanical digging devices were fixed on the ground. The drills acquired the Void Dragon skeletons underground—it was a very valuable material.

Countless ferocious looking modified spaceships were docked at the pier, painted with different symbols. These all belonged to scavengers and galaxy pirates. There were quite a number of them who were rather notorious, such as these with a wanted reward of more than 100,000 Enas.

The mercenary group spaceships landed successfully, after going through the procedures, the people walked into the city together, criminals with anarchic looks could be seen on the streets everywhere.

The three large mercenary groups all wore uniforms, which attracted a lot of attention. Many criminals were openly sizing them up.

The air was filled with hostility, sending chills down spines. Because they knew that there was danger everywhere, they had all equipped themselves fully back on the ship before they came. The players wore Sunil Enlistee Class armor, and Han Xiao wore Amphiptere.

The three large mercenary groups did a wide range of businesses, so they had made quite a few enemies. Although these people were looking at them with hatred, they did not dare to do anything due to their fear of the name of these three large mercenary group. On the other hand, Han Xiao and the others who clearly did not belong to the three large mercenary groups attracted more attention.

Frowning, Herlous said softly, "Black Star, I'm feeling the stares from at least three Supers of the same grade. They are looking at us like they want to eat us."

Han Xiao smiled and said, "We're walking with the people of Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold. Of course, these brutes will transfer their hatred naturally onto us. See, these people are the role models."

Looking over following Han Xiao's finger, a group of galactic pirates leaned against the war and pointed at them while they were chatting, their eyes filled with hostility. The leader of the pirates spat out phlegm, which happened to land on Maple Moon's armor as she was at the edge of the team. Their expression was fearless.

"Then aren't we in more danger?" Herlous was shocked.

"Do you know what's called full resource utilization?" Han Xiao smiled.

Before Herlous could react, Han Xiao suddenly bent his legs and bounce started his dash toward that group of galactic pirates. Without a single word, the scythe extended, and he slashed down.

These pirates did not expect this at all—they fired hastily.

Ding ding ding!

Fire sparks flew, and the bullets were all deflected by Amphiptere mechanical suit. Han Xiao was like a grim reaper; he slashed sideways and cut four pirates into half, blood splashing onto the floor!

"You're asking for it!" The pirate leader was right beside them. He furiously pulled out a war axe with flame enchantment and slammed the axe down on Han Xiao. This was a grade C Pugilist.

Han Xiao's hands grabbed the axe tightly—it could not even move an inch further. He shook the scythe, and its blade expanded into electromagnetic chain blades, which tied the body of the pirate leader like a rope. Then, he activated Flaming Will, and the scythe tightened strongly.

Swoosh!

The health bar of this pirate leader was drained instantly. Without being able to scream, he was chopped into pieces right away!

Herlous was stunned.

The last second, they had still been chatting, but the next second, he had gone out killing. Was he really this prone to fits of anger‽

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Chapter 366: Slave Market

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

As a neutral territory, there were not just criminals in the Floating Dragon Island; there were also residents, workers, and troops that the ruler used to maintain security called the Dragon Guards. This was a chaotic place, but no matter what, they had to pay a tax when entering the island, representing their respect for the ruler. No one dared break this rule.

Floating Dragon Island was a typical low-security area. Combat there was allowed. As long as residents and workers were not killed and buildings were not destroyed, the Dragon Guards would never bother about outsiders killing each other. The atmosphere there was lawless, chaotic, and brutal. The city did not have a proper city plan, and the buildings were all over the place. There was no sun or moon in the sky, only lights from the city lighting up the floating island, making the sky a patchwork of darkness and colorful radiance.

Villains liked this place, not just because this was a neutral supply site—they also liked the rules there. As long as they did not cross the line of the Dragon Guards, they could use violence as much as they wanted. In this place, killing and being killed both did not seem like a big deal.

Han Xiao's sudden act of violence caused a chain reaction. The sound of machines sounded in the street, and the entire street's brutes raised their guns and aimed at him, looking ferocious as if they were going to rush forward anytime.

At this time, all the people from the three large mercenary groups drew their weapons, not taking any steps back, and surrounded Han Xiao to back him up. They displayed their strong attitude to protect their friends.

The villains suddenly hesitated. Overcome by fear, they sheathed their weapons and backed off unwillingly. Other than not wanting to be in trouble with the three large mercenary groups, the Dragon Guards would also appear if their battle became too intense.

Stared at by villains from all directions, the hundreds of mercenaries walked past this street, and only then did they sheathe their weapons. They continued walking forward, and no one expressed any opinion about what had just happened, like it was just the most common thing.

Goa glanced at Han Xiao and did not blame his sudden action at all.

All the mercenaries backed them up, and no one took it as a big deal—it was a cooperation that needed no explanation. Not just Herlous, even the players were shocked.

"Keeping a low profile is useless here," Han Xiao said. "You have to flash your claws and fangs to intimidate potential enemies. There is also an unspoken cooperation sense in the mercenary industry. Every mercenary on the same mission is a trustworthy teammate. As long as the trouble is not way out of line, everyone will be with you. What concerns you also concerns me.

"Furthermore, killing some criminals here is a norm, and it was a good way to express our toughness. No one will say anything about it."

Han Xiao had skipped the quarreling and talking part straight away and jumped to fighting because, here, if something could be settled with violence, there was no need to talk.

Herlous now understood what Han Xiao meant by full resource utilization. They were acting together with the three huge mercenary groups, so they had the number advantage. Thus, it was a suitable chance for them to show their fists.

This unspoken cooperation instantly made the players feel closer to the mercenaries.

Deep into the city of Floating Dragon Island, there were far fewer criminals on the streets. They locked onto the target's identity through the customer that Han Xiao described from his foresight—Horlaide, the owner of a local slave market and also the subordinate of a certain direct descendant of the Floating Dragon Island ruler. He managed a part of the business.

"Now this is tough. He's Floating Dragon Island's ruler's subordinate, so if we rob him of his slaves, it will be disrespectful to the ruler…"

On the streets, the leaders of the mercenary group gathered and discussed the issue. Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold gave Han Xiao enough respect, so the four of them were discussing the action plan.

The current situation was quite a problematic one. Although the three large mercenary groups did not fear any criminals there, they did not dare mess with Floating Dragon Island's ruler.

"People of Floating Dragon Island cannot be enraged, or we will certainly be dead. We have to think of a plan," the leader of Blades, Porter, said in a very firm tone.

The Purple Gold's leader, Cerleni, contemplated and said, "If Horlaide has already bought the Silvers, we cannot snatch them back with violence. The best way would be to rob the captives first before Horlaide makes the payment. Since we know who the customer is, we can wait for the scavengers to arrive, set up an ambush in advance, then snatch the captives back when they are still on their way. This way, we will not have a direct conflict with Horlaide."

"Then," Goa said, "firstly, we have to confirm if Horlaide has already received the captives. As long as he has yet to buy the captives, this plan is workable. We have to contact him… but if we contact him as mercenaries, it might raise suspicion. A buyer will not want someone to have an eye on what he wants to buy. The Dragon Guards might cause trouble for us."

This plan had a prerequisite, which was that Han Xiao's foresight was reliable. Since they did not have many clues, they could only choose to believe. Anyway, if the intel was incorrect, Han Xiao would not be able to escape the responsibility, and since someone was taking the blame, the other three leaders had no problem with it.

Han Xiao recommended himself and said, "I'm experienced, so I can disguise myself as a buyer to test him."

The three leaders thought that this could work. They made a simple plan—Han Xiao changed into the face simulator, took off his mechanical suit, and changed his clothes. He now looked like a captain of a galactic spaceship—this kind of customer was very common.

The slave market was not dirty or messy, but luxurious and gorgeous instead. Any information about the slaves was displayed in books for customers to choose from.

The Floating Dragon Island had its middleman in the slave business. They bought slaves from scavengers and sold them to the large customers.

"I want to buy some slaves…"

As soon as he entered the market, Han Xiao expressed his intention, disguising himself as a normal customer. A fatty approached and introduced him to slaves of different races—there were many varieties.

After not really listening for a while, Han Xiao purposely acted as if he was unsatisfied and said, "I don't want these rough deformities, and I don't want these cheap low-class slaves. I want to see what rare species you have here. Do you not have anything worthy of such standard?"

At this time, a short and skinny guy walked over, wearing luxurious clothes. His fingers and neck were covered in many expensive pieces of jewelry. He smiled and said, "Hehehe, of course, I have the good stuff here."

"Who are you?" Han Xiao asked.

"Horlaide, the manager of the slave market. Trust me, the things here can definitely satisfy your needs." Horlaide did not have any doubts. He was very passionate toward customers.

Han Xiao sized him up, then nodded. Seeing Horlaide make a hand sign for 'follow me', Han Xiao followed behind him. The two of them took the lift to the bottom floor, and a white corridor full of twists and turns appeared in their vision. There was a pure white alloy gate every so often, and the gate had a small window in it.

After walking to it, only then did Han Xiao realize it was all single cells behind the gates. Inside was fully white and very clean, and there were many different creatures.

"Please allow me to introduce you to these high-quality slaves…" Horlaide smiled confidently and explained smoothly. Han Xiao occasionally responded as he observed every slave in the cells. Most of them had a numb face, and some of them were scratching the walls in rage. Quite a number of them were Supers—the slaves here were indeed more valuable and precious.

The corridor end came very soon, but there were no Silvers in those hundred or so cells.

Horlaide stopped the introduction and asked, "Who have you picked?"

Han Xiao dry coughed and said, "Are there any other goods?"

"Haha, looks like you're a picky customer; I love a challenge." Horlaide laughed in a very exaggerated way, then snapped his fingers and said, "There's one last good product. She can definitely satisfy your requirements."

The wall at the end of the corridor opened, showing a new space. Seeing that, Han Xiao felt relieved. There was only one cell, and it did not look like it had Silvers inside, which meant that these captives had yet to arrive on Floating Dragon Island.

He walked up, looked at the window curiously, and suddenly his stopped breathing completely subconsciously. Inside was a woman whose beauty was almost unbelievable; from the aesthetic standpoint of humans, she had an almost perfect face. The Great Mechanic Han was astounded by the very first look.

This woman looked very young. She had long hair, and covered in blurry stardust, she looked almost 'transcendent'. She appeared to be a normal Galaxy Human Race. She wore heavy alloy cuffs all over her body, a type of cuff specially made for Supers. The material used could make energy flow slower to a certain extent, making it hard to control it, hence reducing Supers' explosive power. She wore a self-destructive collar, so any strange movements would decimate her skull.

Yet, this woman was very calm. Completely different from other slaves, she was neither numb nor enraged. She closed her eyes and sat in the corner, very relaxed, not caring about the situation that she was currently in at all.

When Han Xiao was observing her, this woman opened her eyes in a flash, and a pair of attractive eyes that looked like they contained the sea and the galaxy looked into Han Xiao's eyes. She was staring into the one-way window in the prison, but it was like she knew someone outside the window was looking at her.

Looks like a very strong Super… Han Xiao thought and went back to being calm. When he was shocked by her beauty, it had been a completely subconscious reaction. He got rid of this emotion very quickly, and after looking at her, he realized that he did not know this woman.

Just as he was about to look elsewhere, a new mission was triggered in the interface! The trigger was obviously this woman!

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You have triggered the mission [Visitor from Afar].

Mission Introduction: From your first look at her, these eyes were already printed on your heart and soul, mysterious like the fog. Like a dark well, a deep abyss, a voice appeared in your heart—you want to bring this woman away.

Mission Requirements: Save her from the slave market and stay by her side for 6 days.

Reward: 1,800,000 Experience, one unknown reward.

Is this mission introduction an introduction to a love game‽ Han Xiao was covered in goosebumps.

Just one look triggered the mission—this woman was certainly not ordinary. He had never seen this character in his previous life, so he had completely no impression of her. Maybe back then no player discovered her, so she was one of the hidden characters that had not been exposed.

"What's special about her?" Han Xiao asked.

"The projector shows her body structure is not a normal universe race," Horlaide said. "She has the blood of some kind of an ancient creature in her body, and no match could be found. It's unknown what race hybrid is she. Through the energy detector examination, the energy reaction in her body far exceeds normal creatures, and it fluctuates. The lowest is at least at grade C Super level, and the highest even went beyond grade B…"

"Why is such a strong Super controlled by you people?" Han Xiao was surprised. He pointed at the cuffs and self-destructive collar and said, "These things can't kill a grade B Super."

Horlaide rubbed on his ring and said with a smile, "Of course, we don't have the ability to control Supers above grade C, but she doesn't know how to use the energy in her body. She has no combat power; plus, it was her own choice to stay here."

Han Xiao was stunned in place.

"There are some problems with her memory, so she can't remember most of her experiences, only language, but her intelligence level is not like an infant. She has very high intelligence and can speak and communicate…"

"So, she suffers from amnesia?

"Haha, it's not that simple." Horlaide pointed at his head and said, "Normal people suffering from amnesia will be afraid and curiosity toward their identity and the environment they're in, but her mind activity is very unique. She does not search for who she is, why is she here, or what is she going to do. She does not have that curiosity and impulse, and she does not panic at all from not having memories, like a person who's dreaming, half awake. She's staying here peacefully, without any intention of searching for her memories. Her life form is very special, and it seems like she does not have instincts or desires. She needs neither to consume food nor excrete, such a unique being."

Han Xiao's eyes sparkled. The stranger this woman was, the bigger the secret it contained. Thus, he became quite curious. "What's her name?"

"I named her Aroshia Cecolama Doranis…" The name had a total of fifty-six words, and it took Horlaide quite some time to finish rattling it off. "I usually call her Aroshia."

Han Xiao's eyes twitched. [What's the point of giving her such a long name? Do you have too much spare time?

The experience of this sudden mission was quite an amount, and there was also an unknown reward. The reward had a certain correlation with the mission difficulty, so Han Xiao decided to give it a try. Since he could not rob Horlaide, he would use money to purchase her. "How much is she?"

A standard businessman smile appeared on Horlaide's face. "Not expensive at all, only 300,000 Enas."

"Farewell." Han Xiao turned on the spot and left with an expressionless face. [Are you learning from me! Why does a profiteer have to make life hard for another profiteer‽

Horlaide chased hastily and yelled, "We can negotiate if you feel it's too expensive. How about 200,000? 100,000? No? 50,000? Okay, count it as I'm making a loss, I will sell it to you at 10,000. That's the lowest!"

Han Xiao was full of doubts. A discount of 97% off, why would there be such a thing? Something strange was going on. Thinking of the six days in the mission requirement, he was alarmed.

After some consideration, Han Xiao temporarily placed this mission aside and continued his testing. "Now that's a good price, but I still want to buy other rare slaves. Do you not have any other goods?"

Horlaide grinned and said, "Haha, you're quite lucky, there's going to be a new batch of rare goods coming in very soon. When they come, you can take a look again."

This badge of new goods should be the Silvers. Luckily, they're not here yet. The ambush plan still has a chance.

"That's great! I will come to look at the goods again and buy that Aroshia at the same time." Han Xiao purposed acted contented and expressed his sincerity in wanting to buy, but he did not pay the money no matter what. As he was getting ready to leave, Horlaide had no choice but to let his subordinate sent Han Xiao away.

Horlaide was the only one left in the underground prison cell corridor as he mumbled, "What will he pay then? He definitely doesn't want to buy Aroshia…"

When he took over this slave market, Aroshia had already been locked here. The last owner had told him that there was no need for special treatment, just sell her normally. However, there was one customer who bought Aroshia, and a few days after, Aroshia appeared out of nowhere in the prison cell again, giving him quite a shock. The customer rushed back in rage, and only then did he know that Aroshia would suddenly disappear after being brought away, then return to the cell in an extremely strange way.

Horlaide asked the previous owner, then he came to know Aroshia had already existed not long after Floating Dragon Island was built. The owner back then reported the situation to the Superiors, and this message went to the ears of Floating Dragon Island's ruler. That beyond grade A boss came to take a look, and with his belief of 'if he didn't understand it, kill it', he wiped Aroshia out, turning her into ash.

Yet, a few days later, Aroshia appeared once again as if nothing had happened. The boss then came to kill her once again, and after repeating for more than thirty times, a conclusion was made. This was a Space Wonder, an unexplainable strange phenomenon.

Through observation, only one 'Aroshia' would exist at one time. If she died, she would revive again after some time, but the memory of the time that she spent before she died would disappear, going back to her original state of amnesia. If she left this cell, she would also disappear from the other places. No matter what building was there, she would go back to where the cell was.

From the concluded pattern, whether she was dead or bought, Aroshia would not leave there for more than six days.

Floating Dragon Island's ruler was very carefree, so he let the slave market deal with a Space Wonder. The owner sold her as a slave, scamming the buyers' money and making money with zero cost.

Horlaide shook his head. He subconsciously looked at Aroshia's cell, and Aroshia, who had originally been sitting in the corner, was now standing in front of the window suddenly. He could only see a pair of deep and calm eyes through the window!

Horlaide was shocked. He took a while to calm down, and only after that did he leave.

In the cell, Aroshia's eyes moved, following Horlaide.

However, this was a single-sided window; the outside could not be seen from inside the cell.

"I've asked around, and the Silvers have yet to arrive." Upon returning to the team, Han Xiao shared the intel. The other three leaders felt energetic.

"Great, the rescue plan can be carried out!" Purple Gold's leader, Cerleni, said. "Time is scarce, and we don't know when will the scavengers arrive. Since we don't know their identity, its best to split up and lay an ambush on every route toward the slave market. There is only one chance, and we can't miss out on any suspicious target. It's a must to save the Silver captives before they are sold to the market."

They decided their division of labor for the ambush. The ambush areas extended from the pier all the way into the slave market, and there had to be mercenaries in every street and every intersection.

By using the distance from the slave market as a measurement, the ambush could be divided into four layers. The first layer was the furthest away, near the pier; the fourth layer was the closest to the slave market, right beside the market.

The three leaders had considered that, unlike them, Black Star was not unafraid of criminals, so Han Xiao was in charge of the third layer. This location was a little safer than the pier full of criminals, and the last layer locked down by Goa's team.

With some simple disguises, every team went to their position, set up the ambush, and waited.

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Chapter 368: Scrimmage

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

A bronze bullet was thrown in the air casually, and a fixed star bolted pass the floating island at this moment. A flash of light passed across the buildings on the street and shone on the spinning metal bullet, reflecting the light onto Han Xiao's handsome face just centimeters away like an arc mirror. The bullet spun a few rounds and reached the peak point, then fell slowly. At this moment, a droplet of bright red blood splashed this way, like a shot from a precise sniper; it hit the dropping bullet.

Pa!

With fingers closed, the bullet was caught. Han Xiao opened his hand, and the bullet was lying there quietly in the middle of the black mechanical suit glove, painting a warm tint of red onto the cold metal.

Not far away, an arms fight was underway between two groups of brutes that looked like galactic pirates. The sound of growls, ferocious laughs, and firing mixed together into a deafening noise. The brutes who fell onto the ground and died found their peace, and blood splashed across the entire street like leaves rolled up by the wind. At the side of the street, a group of Floating Dragon Island residents were watching the show stealthily. Han Xiao and a few players sat on the scaffolding of a drilling machine by the side of the road and watched this fight from afar.

"Tsk tsk, another fight. How many times has this happened in the past two days?" Han Xiao shook his head. He was covered in the mechanical suit at this time, but his helmet was folded, exposing his head. The players beside him were wrapped completely in Sunil Enlistee Class armor.

"This is the seventh time," Bun-Hit-Dog replied instantly. Reporters sure had a good memory.

They were waiting. The Black Star Mercenary Group was guarding the third layer. They had split up and were standing by around various intersections. It had been two days, and in those two days, just the street that Han Xiao was in charge of had already witnessed seven group fights between brutes. The temper of the criminals was like a fuse, easily lighting up with just a tiny spark. It had made the player realize clearly how dangerous this place was. Three of those seven times had been different brute groups provoking Han Xiao. The Great Mechanic Han was very civilized and kind, so he helped them to cremate their corpses for free.

After wiping out three batches of brutes and showing their fangs, they had a much more peaceful time.

At this time, the brutes in the midst of the intense fight fired a cannon in the wrong direction, collapsing a small half of a house. It made quite a loud noise and killed many residents who were watching the show. In a split second, all the brutes stopped fighting, and terror appeared on their faces. They ran in all directions without caring about anything else.

Not long after, the sound of a flying device shooting across the sky could be heard. Three small, low-altitude flying devices, which were about eight meters long, had appeared. They were covered in full dark-golden color, designed like a dragon spreading its wings. A tiny dragon symbol was carved on the ship body. They were the Dragon Guards' transportation. The three flying devices caught up to the brutes, and rows of cannons extended from below their bases, which shot out golden lasers, penetrating these brutes with ease. After chasing for a while and killing more than half of the escaping brutes, only then did the Dragon Guards turn around and leave.

Only the Dragon Guards were allowed to operate combat flying devices in Floating Dragon Island. If civilians were killed, the Dragon Guards would be out to enforce the law immediately. Han Xiao had seen scenes like that a few times over the past two days, and he felt that this rescue plan was really dangerous. If they could not save the captives quickly and accurately, the risk would increase largely if they got stalled.

At this time, Goa sent him a message. "Blades' people locked onto the suspected target, action!"

Han Xiao received the location information. All the mercenaries had joined the same channel and shared the location of the suspect. The suspect had just landed at the dock, and they were guarding many large metal boxes. It was indeed a slave trader team. One mercenary in the Blades' team could shapeshift into a half-wolf half-dog beast, so his smell was extremely sensitive. He could smell that these slave traders had the scent of Silvers on them, so they locked onto the target.

Cerleni of the Purple Gold Army commanded, "Do not alarm them, continue following. Porter, Black Star, you guys bring your people and gather here secretly and set up an ambush on their route. We outnumber them, so we must defeat them with one fast and heavy wave of attacks; don't get stalled. Goa, bring the people of Sky Ring and guard the exterior. If we fail, you're our insurance."

Since the target was already locked onto, there was no need to continue waiting. The plan sounded quite reliable. Of course, Han Xiao did not have any objections, so he summoned all Black Star members, split up, and headed toward the ambush location given by Cerleni. It happened to be the junction between the dock and the city area, a very chaotic place.

Peggy walked down from the spaceship. All the slaves were in large, electrified boxes, controlled by cuffs and self-destructive collars, waiting to be brought to the buyer.

Thinking that they were going to make a huge fortune, these scavengers were filled with excitement. Peggy was not that excited, however. He brought the team and headed toward Horlaide's slave market.

Entering the dock streets, this slave trader team was very conspicuous, attracting the attention of many brutes on the street. Many people were tempted to make a move, and there were also people who recognized Peggy. They greeted each other from far away and did not have any further communication. Peggy was a renowned slave trader in the Shattered Star Ring, so he had done business with quite many pirates and scavengers. He had some prestige, which meant that would not be attacked on Floating Dragon Island.

After walking for a while, Peggy suddenly stopped. His pupils constricted almost into a vertical line, and his head gradually turned flat like it was going to turn into a snake head. The snake scales on his body became clearer and harder, and he opened his mouth and flicked his forked tongue in the air. Peggy was a shapeshifting Esper. Some kind of snake blood in his body had gone through atavistic changes, so he had extremely sharp senses. He noticed that he was being followed and a hint of murderous intent in the atmosphere. His strong intuition told him he was going to meet something if he kept walking ahead.

"The smell of enemies, they came for me. Who could it be?" Peggy's eyes were cold. He flicked his forked tongue in the air and stopped walking. Then, he waved his hands to command his subordinates. "Return along the same route, back to the spaceship."

Then he turned on the communicator. "My dear Horlaide, I've arrived at Floating Dragon Island. Come to retrieve the goods yourself this time."

"What happened to you? You normally bring the goods yourself. Why do I need to go there this time, and why are you shapeshifting for nothing? You look just like a snake, so ugly."

"I noticed murderous intent—someone is onto me," Peggy said impatiently. "It might be related to the captives. I feel someone wants to cut off our goods. I'll wait for you in the spaceship."

"It's too troublesome for me to retrieve the goods," Horlaide said unhappily. "I don't want to go to the dock filled with pirates and scavengers."

"Then you can invite the Dragon Guards to protect you. You're the ruler's subordinate, after all, so you certainly have the ability to order them."

"You're making this hard for me." Horlaide's expression collapsed. He did not have the authority to order the Dragon Guards. Although they belonged to the same organization, he definitely had to pay if he wanted to ask people for help, and he was unwilling to do any actions that increased the cost.

However, Peggy insisted—he trusted his sense for danger. Horlaide could only compromise, irritated, before they hung up the communication.

In the dark, the tail from Blades Army was confused as he reported the information to the leader Porter. "Why are they walking back?"

Furthermore, Han Xiao, Cerleni, and Porter had already set up their ambush along the streets ahead. When they received the message, they all frowned.

"Caution, the target did not continue ahead. According to the route, he seems to be going back to the spaceship. Did the deal go south with the buyer?" Porter doubted.

As Peggy had finally shown his face, Cerleni searched him up in the database of his army, and he found Peggy's intel. He was shocked and said, "This isn't good. That scavenger is called Peggy, and his Esper power is shapeshifting into a snake. He has extremely strong senses, almost like short-term foresight, so he might have noticed danger!"

Originally, their plan had been to not raise any alarms, but this snake was too sensitive; the opponent had already been alarmed.

At this moment, Goa, who was guarding the exterior, sent a message. She said with a heavy tone, "There's an issue. Horlaide has left the slave market, and he seems to be heading toward the dock. It's highly likely that their terms changed into the buying retrieving the goods himself."

The people's expression changed. Han Xiao pondered and said, "Then there's no other way; we attack straight away and make the rescue. We can't have the two parties meet. We have limited time, so it's best to act immediately."

The original plan had not been bad, but reality was full of unexpected changes. Cerleni felt that Han Xiao was right—the only way now was to attack urgently. He commanded the people and approached the target rapidly. At the same time, he gave another order to a few people and told them to start the spaceship in advance, so when they snatched the hostages, they could enter the spaceship and leave as fast as possible.

Peggy went back to the dock filled with brutes, and when he was still hundreds of meters away from the spaceship, the mercenaries finally closed in on him.

"Go!" Cerleni did not have the time to care about anything else. With a yell, more than two hundred mercenaries tore their disguises apart. Their combat suits shapeshifted, and all kinds of powers exploded and dashed toward Peggy's team!

The helmet quickly extended from the mechanical suit with one thought of Han Xiao, protecting his head. He turned and said, "Let's go, too."

He took out an electromagnetic firearm and fired from far away while charging forward. Behind him, more than fifty players wearing the same style armor were holding high caliber machine guns and firing, like a wave of iron, swarming forward!

"There really are enemies!" Peggy narrowed his eyes. Fortunately, he had been cautious. He ordered his subordinates to quickly pull out their guns and fire, and as the cunning man that he was, he secretly shot other brutes to pull other groups in.

The dock was a large squire, and there were no residents. This was the most dangerous place. The mercenaries exchanged fire with Peggy and his men, and quite a number of stray bullets hit the brutes nearby, bringing waves of growls.

"Who's hitting me‽"

"My eyes!"

"Damn mercenaries, you want to kill us‽"

The dock was most chaotic. Groups of brutes were affected and joined into the battle.

An intense scrimmage soon broke out!

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Bang! Bang! Bang!

It was a hail of bullets!

There were more than two hundred mercenaries, more than one hundred people at Peggy's side, and hundreds of brutes joining in. As if that was not enough, there was a total of seven grade B Supers in the battle, so the dock was chaotic and filled with the sound of explosions. The target of the mercenaries was very clear—get straight to the camp to rescue the prisoners. However, Blades and Purple Gold had been stopped by the brutes halfway. They had encountered two grade B pirates and were in an intense battle.

The two of them could not withdraw. Han Xiao's troops entered the battlefield from the weak side, quickly passed Blades and Purple Gold's team, and closed in on Peggy. Seeing this, the two mercenary groups immediately changed their battle tactic from charging to protecting Han Xiao's team forward. Cerleni said loudly, "Black Star, we will take care of your surroundings!"

The battle had caused too huge a commotion, so the Dragon Guards might appear any time. The mercenaries' most important mission was to rescue the captives and leave; it was a race against time.

The players showed their powers, tearing open a gap ahead like a sharp knife. Herlous swept with his Battleship Slicing Blade, and anyone below grade B was all thrown to the side. He was very fierce, and white flames shot out like he had an infinite amount of them.

Suddenly, a blazing Pugilist beam shot them from the side. Han Xiao's mind made a command, and the Hovering Shield Shuttle turned into a shield and protected him. He was blown back more than a dozen meters, hitting a few brutes on the way. Not far away, a grade B Pugilist pirate was attacking the Black Star Mercenary Group.

"I'll deal with him; you continue ahead." Herlous immediately turned and dashed toward this person. He reached out his hand and swept the Battleship Slicing Blade, sending out a brilliant flash of light. Then, he entered an intense fight with that pirate, energy flames surging.

All the strong enemies were stopped by his teammates, so Han Xiao could concentrate on the objective. Peggy's people were retreating to the spaceship, and there were only a few dozen meters left. They could board in less than ten seconds, while there was still a wall made of brutes standing before Han Xiao.

"No time to delay—I'll have to use an explosive method." Han Xiao's eyes turned firm. Blinding electric current burst from inside the mechanical suit, covering his entire body with electric snakes. He had activated [Snake—Devil]. His attributes were doubled, and the enemies around him were blasted away.

Then, he activated the magnetic connection on Aggression Armor and Bat Wings Flying Device with nerves connection. These two pieces of equipment flew out from the equipment boxes hovering in midair, rapidly assembling onto his body. With two modes both equipped, his speed rose steeply. Like a shovel, his arms flipped the enemies in front of him away, and he quickly charged into Peggy's team.

Boom!

A loud bang, instantly flipping many people over!

Peggy's subordinates fell like wheat. The bullets that they fired lit up countless fire sparks on Han Xiao's armor, but they were all deflected. They could not penetrate Han Xiao's defenses.

"You lot, don't fight, board the ship immediately!" Peggy's body expanded, tearing his clothes apart, turning into a bright golden python more than a dozen meters long. His snake body tried to wrap around Han Xiao and stall Han Xiao all by himself. He just had to do it for a few seconds, and the dust would settle.

With the energy from the power burst, Han Xiao turned all the mobility modules to their maximum output. The ground cracked, and he shot up into the sky. Like a mirage, his mechanical palms grabbed Peggy's snake head, slapping Peggy onto the ground.

At the same time, the power structure of the exoskeleton was boosted, and the gear turning speed soared. Amphiptere's biological muscles suddenly expanded, and a huge force flew into his arms.

Bang!

The snake head was crushed into the ground, and cracks spread out. The head was covered in exposed flesh and blood, and his body twitched rapidly!

He was just a grade C shapeshifter—he could only be crushed when facing Han Xiao, not even lasting one second.

Peggy was dizzy. Iron fists were seen in his snake eyes once again, and terror appeared in his eyes. His snake body disintegrated into tens of thousands of small snakes and spread out. This was a special way to use Peggy's shapeshifting Esper power, and his last rope to hang on to save his life. He had escaped many deadly crises by relying on this ability.

Han Xiao's punch missed, and he saw the small snakes scattering in an instant, blending into the chaotic battlefield.

He shook his head—his goal was to rescue the prisoners, so there was no time to waste. He had to put away the thought of chasing. He turned around and defeated Peggy's subordinates, snatching the metal boxes with the prisoners inside at a crucial moment.

Peggy's scavengers lost their will to fight and scattered.

Seeing this, the mercenaries of Blades and Purple Gold was rejoicing. Cerleni said, "Send the people back to our spaceship immediately. Do not continue to fight. Withdraw from the battlefield quickly."

Snatching the Silvers meant that half of the mission was completed. They changed direction, aiming to return to the mercenary spaceships and leave Floating Dragon Island immediately. The mercenaries turned from offensive to defensive, protecting the boxes of prisoners through the chaotic battlefield.

At this time, five Dragon Guard flying devices appeared. Horlaide was in the leading flying device. When Peggy was attacked, Horlaide had immediately been informed. Knowing that the goods that he wanted had been cut off, Horlaide had become very anxious. He had immediately spent some money and invited a Dragon Guard team captain that he knew, who picked him up the flying device and quickly dashed toward the dock.

"Captain Theon, these mercenaries robbed the things I wanted. Don't let them escape." Horlaide looked down on the battlefield and immediately saw the conspicuous mercenaries. He was gnashing his teeth in anger. Beside him was the Dragon Guards' small team captain Theon, wearing their uniform.

Theon gave a faint smile and said, "Don't worry, just brutes causing trouble. No one can fight us on Floating Dragon Island. All units, fire!"

The subordinates controlling the spaceship asked, "Captain, who are we attacking?"

"Everyone." Theon waved casually.

Five flying devices fired toward the ground. The density of the golden laser was like heavy rain, pouring down and killing brutes one after another. The brutes fighting immediately fled—no one dared to fight back. Even grade B Supers could only escape.

The cannon fire followed like a shadow, chasing the mercenaries. Mercenaries were knocked down from time to time, and the Dragon Guards made a broadcast.

"Everyone, listen. Stop running immediately. Surrender without resisting or die!"

"Sh*t, the Dragon Guards is involved. We're being targeted!" Porter was furious. He could see the flying devices following right behind them, obviously targeting them.

The good situation had taken a sharp turn downward. With the Dragon Guards' firepower, by the time they arrived at the spaceship, they would have suffered heavy casualties.

At this time, a laser hit near the Black Star Mercenary Group, causing an explosion, and a few players were blasted away, including Li Ge.

Li Ge was on the ground, his bum hurting. He was about to stand up when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a black bead on the floor.

When Peggy shapeshifted and tore his clothes apart, the black bead that he had taken from the Silver had also fallen out, rolling onto the battlefield.

"What's this?" Li Ge picked up the black bead, and a notification popped up from the interface.

You have received an unknown item. Giving it to a special character will give you a very high reward, or you can take it to be identified.

Unknown item? Should be something good. He just did not know where it came from.

Li Ge's eyes flashed. He hid the bead secretly without informing anyone and went back to the team with a plain expression.

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Chapter 370: Sudden Change

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

"This team of Dragon Guards is together with Horlaide," Goa hastily said in the communication channel. "Their target is the Silvers as well!"

Cerleni's expression was not looking good. If they surrendered, since the guards and Horlaide had already made a deal, the Silvers would still be taken away and given to the buyer, which meant that the rescue mission would have failed. If they did not surrender, the price of so many casualties would be too much for them to pay. He was in a dilemma, but the gunfire did not stop. He had no time to think.

"As long as the Dragon Guards can be kept under control, the problem will be solved," Han Xiao said in a low voice. This was what the others thought as well.

Following his train of thought, Cerleni yelled, "Are you crazy! Killing the Dragon Guards is the biggest crime there is here!"

In this territory, committing a crime and attacking the law enforcers were a completely different thing. With that beyond grade A boss here, even if these Dragon Guards were mostly normal people, they could do whatever they wanted to the brutes and the wanted criminals.

"I never said anything about killing or injuring. We have an ice Mage here; she can freeze their flying devices."

Not waiting for Cerleni to respond, Goa brought the people and arrived at the dock. She immediately said, "I'm attacking!"

Without any delay, her eyes suddenly turned into snow-white color, and a magic symbol appeared on her forehead. She murmured the spell, and the magic ring on her pale white fingers was flashing. The magic energy in the air gathered, fused, condensed, and formed. The magic language was deconstructed and then reconstructed into the laws of nature, changing reality.

Suddenly, a large amount of low-temperature water vapor appeared in the air. Frost spread out from under Goa's feet, extending all the way to near the flying device. Five ice pillars rose from the ground and captured the flying devices like claws. The low temperature made the flying devices shut down. The flying devices continued to fly forward with their inertia, and the ice pillars extended with them, turning them into ice sculptures. The ice pillar became the bridge between the ground and the flying devices, freezing the five flying devices in midair.

Goa was a grade B Mage, so she had a very strong control. Although the flying devices were frozen, nothing was hurt or destroyed.

The driver of the aircraft pressed around on the control panel in panic. "All systems are temporarily out of order, restarting, hiss—so cold!"

Theon was furious. "How dare they fight back! Report to the above! Request back up! Don't let them escape!"

Since what was done had already been done, the mercenaries could only seize the opportunity to run away. They gathered and boarded their own spaceships. Like before, Han Xiao boarded Sky Ring's. The pilot, who did not take part in the battle earlier, had started the spaceship long ago. When everyone had boarded the spaceship, it slowly rose and flew away from Floating Dragon Island.

The Blades' shapeshifting scout had confirmed that there was the smell of Silvers in the boxes long ago. When they opened the boxes, as expected, inside were fifteen Silvers, hugging each other and cowering in the corner with terror on their faces.

They could not see what had happened outside. The sounds of explosions all along the way had already frightened them very badly. When the box was opened, the Silver screamed in terror, and the antennae on their head trembled so fast that they even formed afterimages. It was really cute, and it made Han Xiao feel an inexplicable impulse of wanting to pull them out.

"You're safe. We're mercenaries hired by your friends here to rescue you." Goa casually used a calming spell and calmed the Silver's emotions. She told the team members to take out translators for these Silver so that they could communicate.

After quite some convincing, these Silver finally calmed down. Goa contacted the employer, and the two groups of Silver met each other and broke into tears.

The employer counted and said with surprise, "Only fifteen, where's the other two of my friends?"

"Short of two‽" Goa was shocked. If they had missed two people, the reward might be reduced.

The rescued Silver said with faces full of sorrow, "They were thrown into space by the scavengers."

Hearing this, Goa breathed a sigh of relief and said softly, "Lucky lucky, they're just dead."

Han Xiao was surprised by what she said.

There really aren't any good people among mercenaries, such a black heart.

The following morning, the employer said, "You have completed the mission very well. Please send our friends back. I will pay for your reward as we agreed."

After working hard for so many days, they could finally earn the reward. Joy appeared on every mercenary's face.

Knowing that he was about to get the last two class advancement of the compression technologies, Han Xiao was secretly excited.

Boom!

Suddenly, the spaceship trembled violently, and they almost fell down. The pilot said hastily, "Sh*t, Floating Dragon Island has sent spaceships after us!"

Their expressions dropped. They came to the window and looked behind the spaceship. The three mercenary group spaceships had already left the Floating Dragon Island's man-made ecological hood and entered the space. They were gradually going further from the Floating Dragon Island.

However, a few Floating Dragon Island spaceships had followed them out, chasing behind their spaceship and firing at them. Beams hit the shield one after another, making their ships tremble continuously.

Theon had reported to the Superiors with a lot of added components, saying that the mercenaries attacked the guards first and broke the rules. Hence, the Floating Dragon Island spaceships planned to chase them even to the edge of the universe.

On the Floating Dragon Island's dock, groups of brutes were watching this ongoing chase. Floating Dragon Island wanted to make an example, expressing that anyone who disobeyed the rules would have to pay.

"We only froze their aircrafts. What's the big deal!" Porter was raging.

"Quickly activate the jump engine. As long as we enter the jumping state, they won't be able to chase us," Goa ordered loudly.

The driver mercenaries controlled the spaceship and dodged the attacks the best he could, cracks started to appear on the shield, but at the same time they were speeding up as well, the artificial intelligence sound echoed in the spaceship.

"Activating Jump Engine, power two percent… seven percent… fourteen percent… eighty-three percent… Powered up successfully. Starting pre-jump warm up."

The spaceship gradually shook the enemies off as its speed increased rapidly. The universe outside the window turned blurry, and they were about to enter the jump.

However, something unexpected suddenly happened. Just one second before they entered the jump, the mercenary group spaceships became stationary without any sign. All energy and inertia disappeared without a trace, and the mercenaries did not even feel any vibration.

Suddenly, the air inside the spaceship started buzzing. It was like everywhere was filled with sound, turning into a horrifying wave of sounds, almost deafening. Not only did they started to wobble, they even fell onto the ground.

"You people attacked my adorable subordinates right in my house, and yet you want to leave this easily?"

The mercenaries' spaceships flew backward from the same route like they had been grabbed by an invisible, enormous hand. All thrusters stopped working, and no matter how the driver tried to control the spaceship, it was all useless.

The players were shocked. They did not know what exactly was happening. The Silvers were just as confused and shocked. Freedom was right before them, and the enemies' spaceships had already been shaken off. Why were they all controlled all of a sudden?

The faces of the mercenaries had already changed long ago.

"She's here…" Cerleni said with a very long face.

Goa was filled with shock. "We only caused a small kafuffle, how did it attract Floating Dragon Island's ruler's attention‽"

"Maybe she was just too bored…" Han Xiao was very speechless. Even he did not expect Floating Dragon Island's ruler to get involved personally in something so small. It was like two ants fighting on the side of the road. How bored could a person be to stop and get involved‽

The mission was almost completed, but an accident came out of nowhere. Furthermore, the cause of it was someone that he could not match up to at his current stage at all. He felt extremely unlucky.

Han Xiao stared at Herlous with disappointment on his face.

What the hell! I clearly brought along a main character type person. How could we be this unlucky? Has this main character expired? Is it too late for a refund?

The struggle of the spaceships was useless. They were pulled back to the Floating Dragon Island's dock by the invisible force field. The doors were pulled open by the force field, too, and the mercenaries braced themselves and walked out. In front of such great power, there was certainly no point in resisting.

Han Xiao did not have any good ideas for the time being. He could only improvise.

The dock was gathered with people at this time, all extending their necks and enjoying the show, and that Floating Dragon Island ruler was hovering in midair. When the people on the ground looked up, their faces were all filled with admiration. This was the respect toward absolute power.

The throne made of Void Dragon skeletons was hovering in midair, and a tall, curvaceous woman sat on the throne with crossed legs. One hand was placed casually on the throne handle, and the other was holding her chin, looking down on the people with the legendary boss sitting position. The smooth black long hair hung from the throne. It was at least two meters long. She was wearing a tulle-like black dress with a wide open neckline, but there was no gully, meaning that she had a flat chest.

The crotch of the skirt was very high, exposing two snow white long legs crossed over each other. The black dress and white legs made a very strong visual impact, giving out a seducing feel. Her body was enchanting and seductive, but her face could not be considered beautiful or stunning, although it was quite charming. Age had left no mark on her face, and her eyes were full of intelligence. The edges of both her eyes had symmetrical black marks—the marks were like black thorns. She was glancing through the people with curiosity.

This woman had many names—Floating Dragon Island's ruler, Land Ripper, Absolute Power, and so on. She was the creator and ruler of Floating Dragon Island—[Dragon Emperor] Ames.

Ames was a force field Esper. The strength of her force field could even tear apart land to create Floating Dragon Island, so controlling a few small spaceships was a piece of cake.

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Chapter 371: Differential Treatment

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Talented intelligent creatures could awaken Super genes. Through various training, the cells would create special power—this was energy. The energy was like a running river; cells and genes were like the stones under the river. As the river grew larger, after days and days of flowing, the genes would start to evolve, gradually becoming perfect. It was like compressing the million years evolution.

Grade A was a benchmark, also called Calamity Grade. It was a high-level power in the galaxies, and Supers fortunate enough to reach this grade were very uncommon. When the genes evolved to a certain level, it would meet an indestructible barrier ahead without exceptions. In other words, 'there were no road ahead anymore'.

In the exploration era before the Galaxy Calendar, the three large civilizations had still been fighting each other intensively. The world had thought that all types of power were different from each other. That was until Professor Stuart Ona of the Federation of Light invented the energy rank theory. Only then did everyone know that 'Energy' was a similarity that all Supers shared. Then it was fused into a large system, forming today's grading standards. Back then, grade A was seen as the finishing line of evolution, and no one broke through the barrier of grade A.

The war was a double-edged sword. Countless talented grade A Supers died, but at the same time, the war was also a catalyst. The potential of those who survived would be forced out to the maximum extent. Toward the ending stage of the war, there was finally one Super that broke through grade A. It was a completely different level, and it shocked the world.

The civilizations never thought the strength of an individual could reach such a level, a level that could match up to the strong armies of the three large civilizations. Although it was still small compared to the endlessly vast galactic battlefield, no matter how strong the group strength was, it was not as shocking as when an individual had this level of power. The existence of an individual beyond grade A was intimidation on its own, and this was one of the many reasons that lead the three large civilizations to stop the war.

When peace came, the existence of beyond grade A individuals still had a very deep meaning, and their position was very high. Gradually, the grades above grade A gained detailed divisions. One grade higher was grade S, and there were even higher grades. However, people still called Supers above grade A 'beyond grade A'. It was a memorial in history and a respect for the strong.

In the current Galaxy Calendar, there were only four known beyond-grade-A Supers in Shattered Star Ring, all with fame, glory, and countless titles. Ames was mostly known as [Dragon Emperor, containing both the meaning of her throne made of Void Dragon skeletons and the creator of Floating Dragon Island, which was the most famous thing that she had done.

At this time, Ames was hovering in midair. Everyone on the dock felt pressure deep in their hearts. More Dragon Guards had arrived, surrounded the mercenaries, and pointed countless firearms at them. The members of the three large mercenary groups could not figure out Ames' attitude toward them—there were scared.

The Silver prisoners stood aside, and Ames knew roughly what had happened with just one look. She said with an interested tone, "Silvers… I see, so you're the mercenaries hired by Silvers?"

Her voice was not crisp at all. It was rather husky and magnetic instead.

"Yes," Goa said, "Silvers were getting sold to Floating Dragon Island, so we chased here. We are very sorry for dealing accidental damages, but we hope you can let them go."

She wanted to make a final attempt. She could only hope that Ames would forgive them for the sake of the Silvers, since the Silvers were Universe Royalties and had a very strong background.

Ames only smiled faintly, completely not caring about the Silvers' status. "This is the Shattered Star Ring, not the Sea of Star Spirits."

Then, she controlled the throne and flew toward her residence in the heart of the Floating Island while leaving a sentence behind. "Bring all the mercenaries to me."

The Dragon Guards brought everyone to the center of the Floating Dragon Island, and the mercenaries had no choice but to follow. At least Ames did not kill them immediately, so there might still be hope.

However, they did not lighten up at all. Looking behind, the Silver captives, which they had gone through so much hardship to rescue, were being brought by another group of guards toward the slave market. Horlaide was in the team, too, and he had joy all over his face. The Silvers issue in Ames' eyes was just a small matter. She did not want to bother about it at all—it was just because she had heard the report of someone making trouble, only then did she decide to casually strike. The other issues were left for her subordinates to deal with, which benefitted Horlaide.

Horlaide had retrieved the Silvers finally, and regardless of whether Peggy was alive or dead, he did not even have to pay, making him the biggest winner.

The mercenaries' rescue originally made him very anxious, but now, he only felt it was funny. These people spent so much effort, yet it had led to him getting the biggest profit, what a complete joke! Horlaide felt very good. He sneered at the mercenaries and left with the Silvers.

The people of the three mercenary groups were very upset and downcast. Porter was straight forward—he had been cursing all along the way in his native language. Nobody liked the feeling of everything going to waste.

The team escorting them happened to be Theon's team. Theon pushed Han Xiao and sneered, "You people are done for. You dared to attack the Dragon Guards. Lord Ames will definitely use her great power and turn you people into powder!"

Having been pushed, Han Xiao turned around and glanced at Theon.

"What you looking at? Keep walking." Theon yelled.

Han Xiao was pushed again. The strength was like a weak breeze, not able to move him at all. Han Xiao shook his head and forgot about Theon. He pondered about the upcoming situation. From what he knew about Ames, as long as her subordinates were not killed or hurt, there was a possibility to turn the situation around. Although Ames was protective, willful, and her mood was very hard to guess, she could not be considered bloodthirsty.

The center of the Floating Dragon Island was Ames' residence, a huge fortress-like palace with dragon bone decorations everywhere. They passed one room after another until they reached the luxurious hall, waiting to be dealt with.

After some time, Ames floated in from the side gate of the hall. The throne stopped before them—she held her cheeks and said casually, "You attacked my subordinates. Although there was no injury or casualty, I need to punish you. Wilsander, what's our rule?"

Someone walked out from the side. He was almost like bamboo, making people worry that a slight wind would blow him away. He had a pair of horns on his head, red skin covered in lines, a tail, and bony wings behind his back. This was a hybrid as well; he had some kind of Demon gene.

This guy was called Wilsander, the commander of the Dragon Guards and Ames' direct subordinate. He stepped out of the crowd, narrowed his eyes, and casually stroked his beard. "According to the rules, all who fight back will be executed."

The people all became nervous.

Ames nodded and said, "Then the people of Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold shall be imprisoned. Tell their army captain to pay a ransom."

"Ahem…" Wilsander coughed and said cautiously, "The rules say executed…"

"My words are the rules," Ames said coldly, showing her dominance.

Feeling wronged, Wilsander's eyes twitched. "Then why did you ask me?"

With an innocent look on her face, Ames blinked. "I was just asking randomly."

She basically did not do any management and had forgotten what rules she had set before. She only asked because she felt like it, and she changed it as she liked; she was indeed very willful.

"Contact your captain and tell them to make the payment, then I will let you go." Ames had a bit of a relationship with the three large mercenary groups. She occasionally hired them to do some stuff. The three armies never asked money for it, and every time, the captain personally did the things for her, all to create a good relationship with her. As the saying went, 'don't slap someone with a smile'. Ames did not want to make things difficult for the people of the three large mercenary groups.

Hearing this, Goa, Cerleni, and Porter heaved sighs of relief simultaneously. They did not know that Ames knew their captain—they only felt that they had escaped death.

However, Ames turned to look at Han Xiao with a playful face and said, "Now it's your turn. If you have nothing much to say, I'll start attacking."

Unlike the three large mercenary groups, this small Mercenary Group was a nobody. There was no need to give them special treatment.

The atmosphere became tense, and the emotions of the three large Mercenary Groups changed.

These mercenaries were not unaffected—they had fought alongside each other and had already made a connection with each other. They could not watch their comrades get killed in front of their eyes, and they all became anxious.

The air around became stagnant—it was Ames' force field starting to gather.

"Oi! This differential treatment is way too obvious!" Herlous felt like his bladder was shivering.

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Chapter 372: Getting Employed (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

"So, it has still come to this…"

Han Xiao had already thought up many scenarios on their way to. He had a certain understanding of Ames. The air of a powerful being revolved around her. With her level, most things that were unsolvable to most other people could be fixed with a snap of her fingers. However, she was not one to be fond of thinking, and she mostly just did whatever she wanted.

If they could, who would not want to live life like her? The power that Ames possessed guaranteed her a free life.

On the other hand, this also meant that she was not a very ambitious person. The other four powerful beings who had surpassed class A had all built up their own factions, with Ames' forces being the most carefree. She basically did not care about managing her 'faction'. Ames seemingly did not have any ambitions, so the other civilizations and major powers in the Shattered Star Ring left her to her own devices as they did not want to get into conflict with this neutral party.

The best way to deal with this kind of neutral character was to bait them with benefits. As long as they were treated kindly, and if could present to them with something of interest, then he most likely would not be in any serious danger in front of them.

Han Xiao just so happened to have something that might just pique Ames' interest.

As the force field slowly inched toward them and froze the air in the process, Han Xiao cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "Please wait a moment, Your Excellency. I hope to offer a piece of information in exchange for the lives of myself and my group members. I believe that you will be interested in this."

Ames lifted her finger, and the force field immediately stopped expanding, instead acting like a shapeless barrier that surrounded the group. Second Prince tried to poke at the barrier a few times and felt that the air just twenty centimeters away from the group had become rock solid.

Ames remained silent and looked at Han Xiao with amused eyes, as if telling him to speak quickly.

She was not fond of killing people, so she wanted to hear what this little mercenary had to say to save himself. One's struggle at the brink of death often made for the most entertaining show, and it might be able to cure her boredom for a short while. She did not care that these people were as good as formless ash in front of her and was willing to give her time to listen, just like how humans studied other animals.

Han Xiao prepared for a bit and then started his performance.

"It hasn't been long since I came to the Shattered Star Ring, and I have mostly stayed in the Juberly Hub. One day, I met a person on the street. He looked like your usual Galaxy Human and didn't seem to be too old. He was also dressed like an ordinary traveler. Just as we passed each other, he called out to me and said something made zero sense to me at the time…"

"What did he say?" hurried Herlous. He noticed that Ames was starting to yawn, seemingly losing interest in this story, and quickly tried to get Han Xiao to get into the main topic.

Han Xiao coughed and continued. "I was completely confused back then, as I didn't know the man, let alone what he was talking about. But now, I finally got the meaning behind his words…"

"Oh my god, c'mon!" Herlous gritted his teeth. They were already at the point where they could almost see the reaper's scythe on their necks, yet he was still trying to act dramatic‽ He still had a planet to save. He could not die there!

"He said, 'When you meet Ames, tell her to stop waiting. I still don't want to see her.'"

Bang!

The force field collapsed instantly, knocking the surrounding people out of the room before they slammed back onto the ground. They were still grimacing from the pain when they saw Ames lazily getting up from her throne. However, her face was no longer expressionless and was instead filled with both joy and anger. It was like she had finally received the news that she was waiting for, but it turned out to be bad news.

The people present were shocked as they did not know what could cause someone as powerful as her to suddenly lose control of her emotions and power.

Ames slowly floated down to the ground, and her black hair cascaded down to her legs. She stepped onto the warm and bony ground surface with her bare feet and slowly walked toward Han Xiao, with her power blasting out at maximum. She then questioned threateningly, "What did that person look like‽"

The lower-ranked Dragon Guards were all knocked out by the force field's collapse and were struggling to get back up on their feet even after they have recovered their senses. Han Xiao had to let out a deep breath to calm his nerves. Ames approached him with such a tremendous pressure around her that it was as if she could use the Conqueror's Haki 1 . It was difficult to just open his mouth. "I don't remember the details, but he looked like a poor person with messy hair, and he didn't appear to be different from the average passerby… Oh, I remember. The most notable thing about him were his eyes. His pupils were sort of shining, like…"

He pretended to be unsure about it, as if the word was stuck on the tip of his tongue.

"His eyes are dark like the emptiness of space, while his pupils are like a bright star in the endless darkness, lighting up the whole universe despite its flickering light… Is that what you mean?" asked Ames.

"Yes… yes, yes. That's it." Han Xiao could finally let out a deep breath. Ames must have thought about the person that he wanted her to think about it. The situation was under control.

Ames seemed to dwell in her memories as she murmured to herself, "Why don't you want to see me? Does our promise mean nothing? Didn't you agree to find me again when I became a big name in space?"

The guard captain, Wilsander, was shocked. He had never seen this side of his boss. It was as if she had become an abandoned teenage girl in love, and he could hardly take it.

Ames was like a goddess in his heart. Strong, beautiful, and mysterious. He had been moved to his core the first time he saw her, and he had decided to give up on developing his own faction to instead work under her out of respect for her. He had stayed under her wing ever since, managing this chaotic dumpster day after day…

Yes, he was secretly in love with his boss. This was also his motivation for doing his work.

At this moment, Wilsander could not have been more jealous of those underlings who were blasted away by Ames' sudden outburst. If he had been knocked out like them, he would not have had to witness this shocking scene.

"Who is that man that she's speaking about? It can't be her lover…" Wilsander felt bitter in his heart, but he also felt a strong sense of curiosity toward this mysterious person.

After Ames got back to her senses, she returned to her throne and stared at Han Xiao for a good while before saying slowly, "Since he has already chosen you to send the message. I will give you two options—disintegrate into dust or work for me."

"I am more than willing to work under you," said Han Xiao.

Becoming Ames's employee was much better than getting a game-over on the spot. Ames' past was full of mystery, but Han Xiao knew her secret. A powerful character like Ames had been a focus of the players' attention in the past. The players were able to put together her story from various mission descriptions, and this information was then released onto the forums. Han Xiao basically knew more about her than she did herself, as he also knew about her future.

With the advantage of information, Han Xiao had finally chosen this plan to save himself and the others. The mysterious person that he had spoken of was a special person to Ames, and he held an important position in her heart. However, this person had gone missing a long time ago, and Ames had been constantly trying to hire mercenaries to look for him.

That person was someone with genuine foresight ability. Making himself the messenger for that person automatically made Ames think that Han Xiao was important to him, and his life would no longer be in any immediate danger.

Ames had also never told anyone about this, so she would never suspect that Han Xiao somehow knew about her past and was using it to his advantage. In her eyes, it was far more probable that Han Xiao was simply a random small-time mercenary that person had predicted would go there and so was used as the messenger.

Who knew that even someone as strong as Ames would not even suspect Han Xiao's words?

Although the Great Mechanic Han did not like being a replacement, he would not let his pride get in the way of his survival. Whenever his strength was clearly not enough, he would not foolishly try to fight his opponent head on.

Even if he had once been someone who was worshipped by all, he would never let this restrict his actions. Han Xiao had only been able to escape from Germinal all those years ago because he was able to hold himself back. He had no problem of doing it again.

But of course, Ames was much better than Germinal. At least she was maintaining a neutral position, so Han Xiao would not be forced to burn any bridges with anyone. However, she was a million times more powerful than the Germinal Organization, and this meant that trying to escape from her clutches would be astronomically more difficult than getting out of the Germinal base. Even if Han Xiao tried all sorts of ways to make himself stronger, it would still undoubtedly be a long and arduous journey.

This was not an optimal scenario for him, but even he could not go against the universal law of the strong ruling over the weak.

Han Xiao sighed secretly.

He was afraid that for a good part of his future, he would have to tightly wear the label of the 'Dragon Emperor's Subordinate' around his head. That label was to be both a protective charm and a new responsibility.

You have made contact with a new Faction!

Floating Dragon Island: Cold (0/300)

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