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Chapter 945 Heart Sucking Demon

Hu!

As though a storm swept through the place, an illusory figure gradually appeared. Its facial features were not distinct; it only looked like a shadow. Its shape was extremely odd as though it was a creature with many arms. Its shape was still transforming, and it was emanating a frightening aura.

"Delicacies… delicacies…"

A mental energy was spread out in all directions, and everyone could understand the intention of this illusory being.

A strange sense of fear rose in their hearts, and even Han Xiao and the Black Star Guards were no exception. They just were not as badly affected.

"What kind of a beast is this‽"

Raymond and Slade had a look of fear on their faces. They did not know that such a beast had actually been hiding within the Box of Enticement!

They could feel a sense of fear in their hearts, and they started to feel a wave of dizziness.

"It is a special creature from the secondary dimension. You can treat it as a parasite that is born together with the soul. It is one of the reasons the Psychic Current exists in the universe," Han Xiao said calmly.

This was a boss from the secondary dimension called the Heart Sucking Demon. The thoughts of every living being in the universe formed a universe consciousness, and the Heart Sucking Demons would crawl at the bottommost layer of the universe to feast on the universe consciousness.

The bottommost layer of the universe was the nest of these Heart Sucking Demons, and there was an almost endless supply of them in the bottommost layer of the universe. This Heart Sucking Demon was at the Lord level, but it had been caught by a powerhouse and sealed in this box.

Han Xiao knew that the Heart Sucking Demon boss' main attacking methods were to attack the souls of its targets. It also had many different types of resistance and was almost immune to mental attacks. Most mental attacks would only be food for it.

It was because of this that the corpse of a Heart Sucking Demon was a huge supplement to one's mental strength. However, the side effects of it was an explosion. Only a Psychic and some Mages were able to make use of it without any side effects. It could increase the mental defenses of a Psychic and also cause one's attacks to have the [Chaos] status.

However, the Heart Sucking Demon was extremely difficult to catch and extremely rare in the universe.

The instant the Heart Sucking Demon broke free from its seal, a notification popped up on Han Xiao's interface.

Destroy the Heart Sucking Demon

Mission Introduction: The Heart Sucking Demon is an extremely dangerous secondary dimension being that feasts on human thoughts. This Heart Sucking Demon was brought into the universe because of some reason, and it would be a hidden threat if ignored.

Mission Requirements: Kill the Heart Sucking Demon

Reward: 10,000,000 Experience

Rewards for the highest damage dealer: [Mental Defense] Talent and [Magic Resisting Body] Talent.

[Mental Defense: 40% Psychological Resistance. You will be immune to [Chaos] and [Shock] statuses.

[Magic Resisting Body: Your body has additional resistance toward magic. 45% Magic Resistance. You will have a 5% chance of being immune to a magical attack. Cooldown: 10 mins.

The players would definitely form a party when killing bosses, and the player who output the most damage would gain the kill of the boss. Even with Han Xiao's current ability, he felt that the effects of these two talents were not too bad, so he had come for these two talents.

The box was just a sealing device, and the Heart Sucking Demon had been trapped in it for a long time already. It could not come into contact with the outside world and was extremely weak at the moment. It was currently in a starving state, and it immediately rushed toward the members of the Punisher Alliance to fulfil its thirst the moment it was released.

These people were a group of walking delicacies in its eyes.

"Hurry! The beast is coming over!"

Raymond, Slade, and the others immediately drew the weapons and unleashed a wave of attacks toward the demon.

However, although their attacks struck the Heart Sucking Demon, the effects of their attacks were limited. The defense of the Heart Sucking Demon was similar to that of the Interstellar Beast, and the attacks of a Grade B Super were unable to break through its defenses.

Despite enduring a large number of attacks, the Heart Sucking Demon was unharmed, and it slowly approached Raymond.

Upon seeing the strange beast about to stick on him, Raymond's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly backed off.

Swoosh!

Right at this moment, a ray of light pierced through the back of the Heart Sucking Demon, and the Heart Sucking Demon immediately froze in place.

A spherical floating cannon floated beside Han Xiao with multi-dimensional energy being released from the sphere.

This was a multi-dimensional weapon that Han Xiao had created after obtaining his new Ultimate Knowledge. It was extremely effective in dealing with the beasts from the secondary dimension and could be used to kill the Heart Sucking Demon.

The ray of light rapidly expanded in the Heart Sucking Demon's body, and the Heart Sucking Demon trembled as though it was trying to struggle for its life.

An intense sense of despair was sent out from the Heart Sucking Demon's mental waves, and everyone present was also affected by its emotions.

It had just left the wolf's nest to enter the tiger's mouth. It was truly unlucky!

Everyone then saw the Heart Sucking Demon explode like a bubble being burst. The Heart Sucking Demon disappeared without a trace and only left behind a black, palm-sized item on the ground. This was the corpse of the Heart Sucking Demon.

Han Xiao then sucked the corpse into his hands and threw it to Feidin casually.

"Deal with it. You helped me find it, so this item shall belong to you. You can go and discover its use on your own."

Feidin was stunned. "You're giving it to me? You don't want it?"

"It's useless to me." Han Xiao shook his head. He was a Mechanic and did not need the corpse of the Heart Sucking Demon.

His goal was only the two talents. A mission completion notification popped up on his interface the instant he killed the Heart Sucking Demon; he had already obtained the two talents.

Although the resistance of the Heart Sucking Demon was high, Han Xiao's strength stood at the peak of the universe. Even if the Interstellar Beast from before appeared before him right now, killing it would only require a single cannon.

That reminds me, I seem to be even tankier than the Interstellar Beast…

Glancing at the members of the Punisher Alliance, Han Xiao did not bother giving an explanation and left the spaceship. Feidin shook his head with a smile and followed behind Han Xiao.

After being together for such a long time, he realized that he was becoming increasingly fond of Han Xiao's personality.

He is truly a friend who I am willing to serve.

Raymond and the others opened a path and watched as Black Star left. Slade then came to a realization.

"Such a terrifying creature was hidden in the Box of Enticement. If it escaped someday, we would have been…"

Upon hearing those words, the members of the Punisher Alliance came to a realization as well and felt that they understood Black Star's intentions.

Black Star knew about the existence of the Heart Sucking Demon and thus came just to destroy this demon that should not have appeared in the universe.

They had personally experienced how terrifying the Heart Sucking Demon was. If the Heart Sucking Demon had been allowed to escape in the future, they would have suffered heavy casualties for sure!

Did this mean that they had all been saved by Black Star‽

To think that they had misunderstood such a bigshot…

Understanding this point, Raymond and the others had complicated feelings in their heart. They were filled with both gratitude and a sense of shame.

After struggling for a while, Slade rushed out of the spaceship and wanted to catch up to Feidin and apologize for his previous attitude.

When he left the hatch, he realized that Black Star had already disappeared and left the planet.

Upon seeing that, everyone looked at each other and sighed.

Black Star's level is too far away from us, and we will never be able to repay this favor.

The event that Feidin had triggered came to an end, and Han Xiao learned his lesson. He no longer allowed the fleet to stop near any planets, lest Feidin ended up meeting another fortuitous event and disturbing his training.

Thankfully, Feidin hid in his room to research the Heart Sucking Demon's corpse and did not run around anymore.

After absorbing the corpse, Feidin's psychic energy was strengthened, and Han Xiao had a strange feeling in his heart.

No matter how he looked at it, suddenly gaining a treasure was like the treatment of a protagonist.

Although he had also gained some talents, Feidin seemed to have benefited more.

After travelling for a few more days, Han Xiao's energy level finally reached Lv.19.

His level 300 Promotion Mission was finally completed!

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Chapter 946 Level 300 Promotion!

Circular mountains covered the land with some alloy wreckage sticking out from the ground occasionally. There was a black mountain peak filled with desolation and an ancient feeling in the distance.

The sky was gloomy, and the planet was deserted. A powerful gale was blowing through the planet, sweeping up anything that was on the surface of the planet.

This was a deserted planet covered with a thick layer of gray fog. From the outside of the planet, a large storm-like spiral could be seen in the atmosphere of the planet.

This used to be a planet full of life with the color of nature all around the planet and the sound of beasts roaring resounding through the forests. Today, only darkness and silence were left behind. This was one of the battlefields during the exploration era.

Underground, a large number of battleships were buried.

A black figure walked slowly on the planet as though he had melded into the background.

"This place is fine."

Han Xiao looked up at the gray skies and knew that a spaceship was waiting for him outside the atmosphere of the planet. The people on the spaceship would probably be looking at him through their windows.

The commotion of a beyond grade A Super would not be small, not to mention the fact that he was going to undergo a race upgrade and Class Advancement at the same time. The commotion would probably shake the mountains and the earth. He would probably destroy the spaceship if he carried out his Promotion on it. Thus, Han Xiao had found an uninhabited planet and was planning to complete his advancement on the planet.

Of course, he had already touched Feidin before coming over and was currently full of confidence.

Opening his interface, his Promotion Mission and Class Advancement Mission were already completed. Han Xiao then chose to end the missions.

Lv300 Promotion Mission completed!

70 END Bonus! 1 END = 480 Health = 490 Stamina.

The energy within your cells causes your body to experience a transformation. Your genes are experiencing a transformation toward a higher level, and you are taking another step on the road of evolution.

Race Detected: Black Star Race (Specialty race, unchangeable)

Randomly drawing five matching evolutionary directions… Randomizing… Randomization complete.

Please select two from the five Race Evolution choices below and receive one talent from each.

1. [Void Archangel (Human Form)]

2. [Endless Proliferation Aberration Body (Group Consciousness)]

3. [Void Priest (Human Form)]

4. [Saint Tyracles Race]

5. [Margola Void Beast]

"The evolution directions aren't too bad." Han Xiao nodded with satisfaction.

He had chosen [Void Saint] in his previous evolution, and he now had the option of [Void Archangel]. He was already coming to the end of the Void Race.

[Endless Proliferation Aberration Body] was a terrifying being that could endlessly proliferate as long as it had enough energy. There was no need to worry about his genes collapsing, and he would become a meat planet eventually.

He would also be able to form various flesh constructs such as a new organism that could reproduce normally. He could split up a part of his body to create an organism that was controlled by his consciousness but still had its own free will.

[Saint Tyracles] was an extinct race that had superb Mechanic talent. They were said to be natural born Mechanics.

[Margola Void Beast] was a Void Beast with an extremely powerful body. It was a leviathan in the void race that was an equal to the Void Dragons.

After pondering for a while, Han Xiao came to a decision. He chose [Void Archangel] and [Saint Tyracles]. The former was to maintain his void evolution path while the latter was to strengthen his Mechanic talent.

He had many different void talents. The reason he did not choose [Void Priest] was because it contained many of the talents of the [Void Archangel]. Although the [Endless Proliferation Aberration Body] was terrifying, Han Xiao was not prepared to give up his human form.

He still had to remain human.

[Margola Void Beast] was famous for being a meat shield and Han Xiao felt that he was already a first rate meat shield and didn't need to be strengthened in this regard.

All the talents of the two races were placed before him and he could choose one each. After looking at them for a while, he made his choice.

You have received the talent [Divine Void Power]!

You have received the talent [Tyracles Mechanical Legacy]!

[Divine Void Power: Your understanding of the void has been increased to a new level. You will be able to control Void Energy more effectively and increase your attributes.

Your attack and defense will be boosted by Void Energy, and your attacks will receive a void bonus (12,500 points 12% attack). -10,000 damage and 15% Resistance to all damage taken.

You will receive more from Divine Void Power as your level increases.

Level 1 – 100: 15 STR, DEX, END, INT, and MYS for every 10 levels, 0.5% attack.

Level 100 – 200: 30 STR, DEX, END, INT, and MYS for every 10 levels, 1% attack.

Level 200 and above: 45 STR, DEX, END, INT, and MYS for every 10 levels, 1.5% attack.

Current bonus: 900 STR, DEX, END, INT and MYS, 30% attack.

[Tyracles Mechanical Legacy: The Mechanic discipline is inherited in the memories of the Saint Tyracles Race. The Saint Tyracles Race has superb talent in the Mechanic Class. -20% Experience to level up any Mechanic skills (inclusive of but not limited to Mechanic skills and blueprints).

You will receive more Mechanical Legacy as your level increases.

Level 1 – Lv100: 8% Machinery Affinity for every 10 levels.

Level 100 – Lv200: 12% Machinery Affinity for every 10 levels.

Level 200 and above: 16% Machinery Affinity for every 10 levels.

The legacy of the Saint Tyracles Race is stored in their memories. You will unlock a special race blueprint when you reach Levels 20, 60, 100, 160, 200, 260, 320, and 360.

Boom!

Han Xiao felt his head spinning and his body being washed in void energy. It was as though he was attacked by both cold and heat at the same time.

A transformation was ongoing in Han Xiao's body, and more notifications popped up on his interface. The talent of his Black Star Race was also upgraded as well.

Your Black Star Race talent [Mechanical Genius] has been upgraded.

[Mechanical Genius: 1.15x Machinery Affinity increased to 1.25x. 30% Machinery Creation Performance increased to 40%. New effect added: All Mechanic skills will be increased by 1 level.

Detecting Race Appearance… Based on your evolution experience, you can change your appearance by up to 1.4%.

Han Xiao was still pretty confident in his own face editing skills, but he would not test them on his own face. Thus, he chose to maintain his own appearance.

Molecular structure has been improved, organ structure has been strengthened, and metabolism has been altered…

Black Star Race potential upgraded. You have received bonus attributes: 334 STR, 320 DEX, 470 END, 767 INT, 580 MYS, 205 CHA, 8,000 Energy. Energy Level bonus attributes have been changed!

All his cells were trembling, and the powerful wave of energy gushing out from his body affected the environment of the entire planet. Han Xiao had turned into the eye of the storm, and a powerful cyclone was formed with him at the center.

In the fleet outside the atmosphere, Aurora, Feidin, Hadavy, and all the Black Star Guards stood in front of the window and watched the commotion that Han Xiao was causing on the planet.

"What a frightening energy reaction. His Excellency is experiencing another growth? He is actually able to increase his strength within such a short amount of time again‽" Hadavy was dumbfounded.

"Although I have known him for a long time, he always surprises me." Feidin shook his head. "Why is there such a talented individual in the world? He is like a natural-born Super."

"I've never heard of a Beyond Grade A that grows so quickly," Hadavy lamented with a sour feeling in his heart.

He had fought for a long time in order to become a Beyond Grade A, but his wishes had not come true yet. However, Black Star was not only the individual who had used the least amount of time to become a Beyond Grade A, he was able to maintain his growth even after entering the Beyond Grade A realm. This was truly unheard of. Anyone would truly be angered to death if they tried to compare themself to Black Star.

Hadavy had a face full of envy.

Not just him, the other Black Star Guards were also astounded. Such a rapid growth rate was something that they could not imagine.

Aurora clenched her fists with sweat in her palms.

This was the first time that she had witnessed Han Xiao's Promotion process. She could clearly feel Han Xiao's life force shooting up to the sky rapidly, completely different from the slow evolution process of a Beyond Grade A. She could not help but be afraid that Han Xiao's Promotion would fail.

She was already prepared to exhaust ninety-nine percent of her life force to help Han Xiao.

After a long time, the high energy reaction finally subsided.

"It seems like he succeeded."

Just when everyone was about to heave a sigh of relief, they were shocked to realize that the subsiding energy level shot up again.

A new storm had appeared!

"Didn't he just complete an evolution? He's going through another one again‽"

Everyone was dumbfounded and felt their worldview being shattered.

At this moment, Han Xiao, who was in the middle of the storm, received a notification.

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Chapter 947 Divine Throne Mechanic

[Divine Throne Mechanic] Lv1.

450 Energy, 5 STR, 5 DEX, 15 END, 20 INT.

You have received 15 Free Attribute Points and 1 Potential Point.

You have obtained the talent [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus]!

You have obtained the talent [Spirit Instrument]!

You have obtained the talent [Mechanical Evolution—Creator's Heart]!

You have acquired the skill [Universal Simulation]!

You have acquired the skill [Dimension Factory]!

You have acquired the skill [Virtual Paramount]!

You have acquired the skill [Mechanical Proliferation Growth]!

You have acquired the skill [Strengthened Machinery Civilization]!

You have acquired the skill [Apostle Evolution]!

You have acquired the skill [Composite Mechanical Deity]!

You have acquired the blueprint [Divine Mechanical Throne]!

The effect of all your Virtual Technology related abilities and talents has increased by 50%.

A series of notifications popped up on the interface.

A huge cyclone was formed with Han Xiao at the center, and from outer space, it looked like a pot of gray soup being stirred rapidly.

[Divine Throne Mechanic] was a new boundary, and the level limit was increased from forty to sixty! Han Xiao had gone from Apostle, Emperor, Lord, and finally arrived at Divine Throne!

This was the current peak of the Mechanics in the universe. 'Mechanic Emperor' Manison was currently at this stage, and there was not a Mechanic who had exceeded him yet.

At his current stage, all his abilities went through a series of transformations.

If the strength of an Apostle Mechanic was mainly reliant on himself, the specialty of an Emperor Mechanic was strengthening the Army Style, and the specialty of a Lord Mechanic was increasing the long distance combat ability of a Mechanic and creating Apostle Weapons, the specialty of a Divine Throne Mechanic was strengthening all three aspects greatly and creating an entirely new path.

Han Xiao endured the intense pain of the transformation and looked through his interface to see the benefits of the Class Advancement.

[Key of Adeptus Mechanicus]. Its basic effect increased Machinery Affinity by two hundred percent, and its core effect set up a Machinery Faith. As long as there were believers who treated him as their Machinery Deity, he would receive bonus attributes. The greater the number of followers, the greater the bonus.

There were many different religions in the universe, and the Machinery Faith was a special faith in the universe that was crazy about technological skills. The followers of the faith worshipped a powerful Mechanic and treated him as a Machinery Deity.

After Han Xiao's deeds resounded through the universe, he had actually collected a large batch of Machinery Faith followers, and he would be able to gain an attribute bonus from these followers. A Beyond Grade A Mechanic who had [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus] could increase their own Machinery Affinity.

Mechanic Emperor Manison was an important idol for the Machinery Faith and obtained great strength from his followers. Now, Han Xiao also had the ability to gain strength from his followers.

This was no different from harvesting crops, and it was the Great Mechanic Han's specialty!

[Spirit Instrument] could increase the success rate of gold-grade blueprints, and he would receive an additional bonus if he was able to construct Universal Treasure-grade gold equipment.

In his previous life, there was a popular saying on the forums. The five main Classes represented the five different aspects of a deity. The Pugilist represented the 'Body', the Psychic represented the 'Mind', the Mage represented the 'Control of Laws', the Esper represented 'Innate Divine Abilities', and the Mechanic represented 'Deity's Equipment'.

Although such a saying did not have any proof or theory, it was an extremely popular saying.

[Mechanical Evolution—Creator's Heart] was his core talent that increased his Machinery Affinity by 450%, production efficiency by 300%, and Machinery Creation Performance by 40%. It was similar to [Mechanical Force Ascension—Apostle Body, which also allowed the attributes of one's Mechanical Force to achieve a transformation.

At the same time, this talent strengthened his personal attributes as well. It would provide him with Free Attribute Points based on the levels of his Mechanic skills, which included blueprint skills. Level 4 would provide him with one point, level 7 with two points, and level 10 with three points.

Most of Han Xiao's Mechanic skills were basically at the max level, and Han Xiao obtained 189 Free Attribute Points. He also had thousands of blueprints on him, with the majority of them from gambling. Their levels had not been increased yet, and a portion of the blueprints provided him with 2,128 Free Attribute Points. This gave him a total of 2,317 Free Attribute Points.

Although it could not be compared to the attributes that he received from his Promotion, he could add them freely according to his preference.

Furthermore, this skill had huge growth potential and provided Han Xiao with a new way to increase his Attribute Points.

Knowledge was power. The more he learned, the greater his strength.

Apart from these three new skills, the others were core abilities of the [Divine Throne Mechanic].

[Universal Simulation] was not a combat ability but a creation skill. He could use his machinery to simulate various different celestial bodies, natural phenomena, and so on. Apart from being limited by materials, he was like the creator. However, this creator could only use machines.

As for the use of this skill, Han Xiao did not understand it fully yet. However, he guessed that it should be more of a daily life skill. He would be able to break free from the restrictions of blueprints, and nature would be his best material warehouse. Since ancient times, the starting point of all civilizations that developed naturally was from nature.

[Dimension Factory] was similar to an Emperor Mechanic's [Secondary Dimension Army]. But the difference between the two was that [Dimension Factory] allowed him to set up a logistics base in the secondary dimension, and he would be able to bring his factory during a war, collecting the spare parts in the battlefield and sending them back into the furnace to create and repair machines.

The freshly constructed machines could then be sent straight into the battlefield. He would even be able to construct equipment on the spot to target the enemy's weakness. It was much more powerful that [Waste Modification] and [Advanced Machinery Construction, and it allowed him to hold out longer during battle.

With [Dimension Factory, a Mechanic would not have to worry about the lack of logistical support no matter where he went.

[Virtual Paramount] was an ability that came from his Virtual Mechanic branch.

If he had chosen the Armed Branch, he would have acquired [Sky Dome]. If he had chosen the Energy Branch, he would be acquired [Energy Plasticity].

[Virtual Paramount] increased the effects of his Virtual Technology skills by two hundred percent and increased his Virtual Technology skills by three levels. Its core effect opened up a virtual world that only Virtual Life Forms and Virtual Souls could enter.

There were plenty of uses for this skill. It could be the breeding ground for Virtual Life Forms for it to evolve over time. It also allowed Han Xiao to build a fortress in the quantum network and release a large number of special AI hunters. He would be able to intercept information in the quantum network or spread viruses. When he used [Virtual Soul] to transform his target into a Virtual Soul, he could trap the other party in this Virtual World that was akin to the quantum network. The longer his target was trapped in the Virtual World, the greater the damage dealt.

Han Xiao felt that Manison's slave AI Civilization was dependent on this ability.

[Mechanical Proliferation Growth] and [Strengthened Machinery Civilization] were talents to strengthen his mechanical life forms. The former increased the efficiency of him transforming a mechanical life form and increased the effect of [Mechanical Life Tinder]. The latter would strengthen his machinery civilization in many ways, including improving their reproductive capabilities and the potential of future generations.

These two talents were extremely important for the Mechanic Emperor to accumulate a large machinery civilization army.

[Apostle Evolution] strengthened the effects of [Apostle Life Creation]. It did not increase the number of Apostle Weapon slots that he had but increased the combat capability of his Apostle Weapons.

[Composite Mechanical Deity] was a transformation skill. With his main body or Lord avatar as the core, he would be able to combine with his mechanical army to form a gigantic mechanical body.

As long as his mechanical army was large enough, it would be possible for him to grow to the size of a planet.

Furthermore, the gigantic mechanical body would have all the attributes of the mechanical army, and it was extremely terrifying.

Roaming unhindered through the universe with a gigantic body, that was a 'Mechanical Deity'!

The final blueprint, [Divine Mechanical Throne, was special equipment. It was a floating throne that was similar to the one Han Xiao had constructed before.

However, this throne had a special effect. If he sat on the throne, it would increase his Machinery Affinity by 1.1x. Thus, it was not strange for all Beyond Grade As to create a throne. Of course, the biggest reason was still because it looked cool.

Han Xiao had never obtained so many skills from a Class Advancement, and this was sufficient to prove just how terrifying a [Divine Throne Mechanic] was.

"My strength has increased a great deal with this Promotion!"

Even if the Class Advancement process had not been completed, the pain could not suppress the excitement that Han Xiao felt.

He was truly at the level of EsGod, the Mechanic Emperor, and Dark Lord after completing his Class Advancement and Promotion at level 300.

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Chapter 948 Causing Trouble

A harsh alarm rang in a dynasty military outpost that was not far from this ancient battlefield planet.

"Alert! Alert! High frequency reaction source detected, burst frequency of 9.17b/ms! The energy spectral shift index is between 78.7 and 134.5. Calculating energy fluctuation model and matching with database… Match complete. The possibilities are as follows: 42% chance of [Dimensional Fracture Opening, 31% chance of [High dimensional being descending (Void Spirit), 4% chance of [Supernova, 24% chance of [Primordial Psionic Energy Pollution, 88% chance of [Beyond Grade A detonation]… Executing Order K-0081 and immediately dispatching an unmanned spaceship for field exploration."

Woo!

With the alarm, the soldiers in the outpost immediately took action, returning to their respective positions. The unmanned drones were activated, turning into streams of light as their virtual pilots activated the hyperdrive modules to the coordinates of the energy explosion.

They quickly arrived at the scene, and from afar, they could see a fleet stationed in the planet's orbit. At this moment the horrible energy fluctuations surged through the planet repeatedly, warping the entire ancient battlefield into a mess.

"This is the dynasty's unmanned reconnaissance force. Please report your identity immediately!"

As soon as they made contact, the dynasty's sentries immediately broadcast the signal to them, asking to verify their identities as well as activating a 3D scan toward the fleet.

Upon inspection, they got a shock. It was actually the fleet of the Black Star Army!

At this moment, Aurora connected to the communication channel. "This is Black Star's personal fleet. What are you guys doing here?"

Hearing that it was an ally, the soldiers finally relaxed, and their attitudes got much better.

"We've received reports of a high energy fluctuation. What's happened?"

"This was caused by Black Star. He's on the planet surface now."

"That was Black Star?"

The dynasty's soldiers were shocked at the revelation.

Was it really the most likely prediction, the Beyond Grade A detonation‽

Black Star self-imploded‽

Thinking that, many of the dynasty soldiers sighed with pain in their hearts, and a wave of sadness surfaced.

"His Excellency Black Star… was he killed because of his business?"

"Huh?" Aurora was left stunned.

What was this situation? Why were they cursing at someone?

Only after explaining the situation did the dynasty soldiers realize that they were overthinking the matter.

In fact, it was no wonder that they had misunderstood things. The database matching had never made a mistake before. In the past, the sublimation of a Beyond Grade A had been very subtle, and they had not recorded any cases of a Beyond Grade A stepping into a higher realm.

However, Han Xiao's promotion by the system condensed the evolution process countless times. Thus, the energy fluctuations caused by it stacked up to an extremely terrifying level. Since this was the first time the dynasty had encountered this situation, there was no corresponding example in the database, so a misjudgment was generated.

However, from that day forth, Han Xiao had become the first reference case in the database… probably the only one as well.

Since they were already there, the dynasty soldiers did not immediately leave. Instead, they simply moved to where the Black Star fleet was to observe the anomalies and collect data.

Aurora originally wanted to chase them away, but after thinking about it, she decided not to restrict their actions.

With the Black Star Army under pressure, it needed some opportunities to increase its prestige. With the dynasty now coming to investigate, not only would it increase Black Star's importance to them, it would also improve his standing within the dynasty. The longer Aurora followed Han Xiao, the more her thinking became similar to his.

After a period of time, the high energy response passed its peak period and began to dwindle.

The process of metamorphosis came to an end, and the cells slowly quieted down from a highly active state. The energy that was uncontrolled and escaping from his cells gradually decreased, and the pain faded like the receding tide.

Opening his interface, Han Xiao summarized his advancement process. In terms of Race Evolution, the Racial Talents of the Black Star Race had been further improved, bringing more bonuses.

Even an improvement of 0.1x to the total affinity coefficient should not be underestimated. At Han Xiao's level, this could increase his Machinery Affinity by hundreds of points, not to mention that he still had a 1 effect to all Mechanic skills.

The two Racial Talents brought by the evolution were the core abilities of his species. They were all growth-type talents. [Void Power] brought a total of 4,500 points and 30% to strength of abilities. This was also an ability that a Void entity would develop after undergoing metamorphosis.

[Tyracles Mechanical Legacy] currently provided 360% addition Machinery Affinity, but the main point of this talent lay in the unique blueprints that could be unlocked at different levels. These were the essence of scientific research accumulated by their entire race.

Han Xiao looked through some of the unique blueprints, and all of them were very high-quality equipment, broadening his own blueprint library. There were also several techniques saved within, which surprised him. He would have to carefully study them in the future.

The Saint Tyracles Race died during the exploration era for the same reason as the Evolutionary Civilization, but their data was not lost. Most of the technology left by their civilization was received and digested by the Federation of Light, which added a piece to their technological tree. Their huge technological tree was said to be partially made up of the technology from the Saint Tyracles, especially when they built the Multi-Dimensional Sky Opening Transportation Device.

The unique blueprints unlocked at level 300 involved multiple fields of expertise, and the manufacturing was difficult, but none of them were Gold Equipment. Han Xiao estimated that it was likely that their Universal Treasure blueprints would only appear when he reached level 360.

In terms of his Class, he was already on the same starting line as 'Mechanic Emperor' Manison, but there was still a gap between their strengths. The [Divine Throne Mechanic] that he held was also held by Manison, but what Manison had, Han Xiao did not have… For example, there was his greatly coveted [Perfect Mechanical Sense, as well as his exclusive talents.

But in terms of their fleshly bodies, Han Xiao was definitely in the lead, far ahead of Manison. Although his mechanic abilities were inferior to Manison's, his abilities in other areas shortened the gap between the two sides.

However, due to the talent [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus, the true strength of the Mechanic Emperor was unfathomable. For so many years, Manison had been recognized as the pinnacle of the Mechanic class in the explored universe, and he had gained God knew how many believers of this Mechanic religion. His position was rock solid.

The [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus] provided an all-rounded improvement. Be it in basic attributes, Machinery Affinity, manufacturing efficiency, creation performance ,or ability strength, there would be a percentage bonus from it.

Upon thinking of the huge believers within the Mechanic Empire, Han Xiao felt the pressure. Only when he approached the level of others could he truly appreciate just how strong they were.

"If I want to bring out the effect of this talent, I have to wrestle away the Mechanic Emperor's position within the Mechanics. Only through fighting against him as a Mechanic can I then take away the believers on his side…"

Han Xiao shook his head. He originally did not wish to antagonize Manison, but now Manison had become the obstacle in his road ahead.

Most likely, Manison himself would also see him as a threat once he realized that he had reached this realm.

Two tigers cannot share one mountain.

"It's too early to talk about all this now, and I also need time to get accustomed to the new abilities. It's not the time yet to break all ties with Manison."

Han Xiao exhaled, suppressing his troubles and throwing the Free Attribute Points that he had obtained through [Mechanical Evolution—Creator's Heart] into his Intelligence.

After completing this step, Han Xiao took a look at his character interface.

Total Level: 301

Main Class: Mechanic

Race: Black Star Race

Attributes: 6,736 STR, 6,405 DEX, 9,664 END, 17,453 INT, 5,230 MYS, 1,368 CHA, 1 LUK

Free Attribute Points: 15

Potential Point: 7

Health: 9,695,991

Stamina: 7,832,880

Energy: 128,410 [Lv.19]

Lv.19 Energy Stat Bonuses: 2,026 STR, 2,488 DEX, 3,120 END, 3,425 INT, 1,923 MYS, 681,520 Stamina Limit, 2,712% Machinery Affinity

Energy Rank: 71,130

Grade: SS

Grade S Bonuses: 100 END, 35% All Resistances. 32% Highest Attribute, 20% Other Attributes, 750 Free Attribute Points, 50 Potential Points

Remark: You have already touched on the peak of an individual's strength. On the road ahead, there will be no more forerunners, you are your own pioneer!

"Hiss…"

Seeing the huge changes on his interface, Han Xiao sucked in a breath involuntarily.

When he was level 280, his Energy Rank was 53,000, but now it had actually shot up by almost 20,000. However, not all of this was due to the changes brought about by his evolution.

During this period, he had learned all the class knowledges to activate the extra talent, and he had obtained the talent [Heroic Wrists] from Dragon Emperor Ames. Plus, he had even trained his Energy to Lv19… These various factors supported each other to create his huge growth.

The changes within his attributes were also frightening, with his Intelligence almost doubling. This was thanks to his [Almighty Mechanic] and [Divine Void Power, as well as the talent [Mechanical Evolution—Creator's Heart, which all gave him attributes for free, providing a huge increase.

Even his endurance had also become frightening, his HP value approaching the ten million mark. Among the currently recognized Beyond Grade As, probably only the old dragon had more HP than him. Even Ty-Ty had to step aside.

"My realm has reached SS…" Han Xiao nodded to himself.

With his Energy Rank skyrocketing, his S rank bonus had also increased. The bonus given to Endurance had been changed from fifty to one hundred, and other effects had also increased to a certain extent.

This realm was normally known as the pinnacle of Beyond Grade A.

SS was naturally higher than S, but it still belonged to the realm of Grade S. It was not a qualitative change like the Calamity Grade evolving to Beyond Grade A. What EsGod pursued was breaking the boundaries of the SS rank and opening up a whole new realm.

Gazing at the experience needed to level up, Han Xiao was not surprised that it had increased significantly.

The experience he had accumulated throughout Version 3.0 was almost exhausted. With this little reserve, he could only level up three to four times, which was of little significance.

Therefore, Han Xiao decided not to level, instead leaving it to upgrade his skills, finding it more cost-effective.

It will not be possible to level up during the version update. I need to stabilize myself, digest my abilities, and start to accumulate, Han Xiao thought to himself.

The biggest difference between him and the Mechanic Emperor was the many years of accumulation.

After arranging his benefits from this advancement, Han Xiao stretched before flying back to his own fleet.

The officers were all waiting there, staring at him with expressions of shock, envy, and surprise.

Han Xiao's evolutionary process really subverted everyone's cognition, leaving a shock in their heart.

"How did you do it?" Hadavy could not help but ask. His eyes glowed green, like a wolf, as if he wished to see into Han Xiao's insides to check carefully which part was different.

Glancing at him, Han Xiao quipped, "If you took the time you use to play cards to train, you might have long reached the Beyond Grade A realm."

"Like hell I believe you." Hadavy was embarrassed and angry.

Aurora pursed her lips before asking worriedly, "Will there be any side effects?"

She felt that this method of evolution was contrary to common sense, too violent, and it might have undesirable consequences.

"Side effects, hmm…" Han Xiao thought about it. "If you count being handsome as a side effect, then I might really be ill."

"Please just die." Aurora rolled her eyes. While you are really charming, I still have to say… I've never seen someone so shameless!

But the worry in her heart also lessened.

Black Star knew of her skills. If there was really something wrong, he would have long requested for her [Life Essence] skill.

Feidin walked up, lightly hugging Han Xiao as he smiled. "Congratulations."

During the secret war period, he had personally witnessed Han Xiao stepping into the Beyond Grade A realm, so he was the calmest person among all of them present. His trust in Han Xiao far outstripped everyone's imaginations.

At this time, the dynasty fleet also sent over a message of greeting.

"We pay respects to you, Your Excellency Black Star."

"Oh, when did you guys come?" Han Xiao had been too absorbed in his new abilities earlier to notice.

"We've been here for a while," the soldier said before hesitating. "Your Excellency Black Star, just now…"

"Hehe, nothing big. I just had a small increase in my powers." Han Xiao laughed it off.

Hearing this, all the soldiers were speechless.

You created such a huge commotion, but you're telling us it's a weak increase? Do you think we're five-year-olds‽

"Cough, Your Excellency Black Star, regarding this, we'll report it up as per normal. Do you have any objections?" The soldiers could only swallow any insults they wanted to spit out and carefully get back to the matter at hand.

If it was a normal period, he would have immediately reported it up, but having witnessed the entire process of Han Xiao's promotion, he had to request Han Xiao's permission.

Han Xiao nodded, not taking it seriously.

"It doesn't matter. You can just report it as it is."

Anyway, this thing could not be concealed. He could not wait for the dynasty's upper echelons to know that his strength had grown again. It would be better if the dynasty spent more money on him.

The dynasty soldiers thanked him with expressions of joy before leaving the area, activating their hyperdrive systems to return to base.

A flash of steel passed Han Xiao's eyes as he watched them depart.

Now that his promotion was complete, it was time to proceed with his plan. He was going to go bully the Tyrant and save his businesses!

It was in line with his plans to check how much his combat power had grown.

Heh heh, Ty-Ty, I'm coming to play with you!

In the Black Star Army headquarters, the sound of mechanical devices came from within the Army Commander's previously-silent, exclusive warehouse.

Whoosh!

An equipment maintenance box was opened from the inside, and two dazzling lights emerged from the darkness.

A mechanical host stepped out, its eyes shining like the midday sun, carrying Han Xiao's consciousness.

Looking back, he flicked his fingers, and a dazzling blue-gold Mechanical Force swept out, activating all the equipment boxes within the warehouse.

Ka ka ka!

One box after another was successively opened, and the stocked up mechanical soldiers were activated.

The mechanic host took a big step, and with its huge mechanical army behind it, it walked out of the warehouse.

The Lord had descended!

At the same time in the Bloodshed Land…

Dang!

Two wine glasses clinked together, letting out a crisp sound.

Within the palace hall was a long and luxurious dining table, full of hearty dishes.

At this moment, only two people were within this room, and the consciousness of Heber and Sorokin sat opposite each other, raising their glasses to toast each other.

This was a celebration meeting.

"Thanks to the influence of Your Excellency Heber, our cooperation is on the right track. It's a joy to work with you." Sorokin wore a slight smile as he sipped on the wine.

"Hmm, I just did my part."

While Sorokin was a money scattering mascot, Heber did not have a great impression of him, so he did not say much, only draining his wine glass and placing it down.

However, the wine glass was placed too close to the edge, and it fell off onto the ground.

Just as Heber was about to reach out to grab it, he suddenly paused, watching as the glass dropped.

Pa!

The glass smashed on the floor, turning into shattered pieces.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Sorokin was suspicious. With their skills, there was no way he could not have reacted.

Heber stared at the shattered wine glass, his brows furrowed tight.

He did not know why, but in that instant, he felt his heart palpitating.

It was as though something bad was about to happen.

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Chapter 949 High Profile Action

The territory of the Klent Kingdom bordered the Colton Star Cluster of the Purple Crystal Civilization. They were separated by a desolate universe belt and connected together by a stargate. After the secret war ended, both sides lifted the wartime emergency measures and reopened their stargates, allowing people to resume their travels.

Within the observation post of the Seoul Star Cluster stargate, the sentry on duty was slacking, turning a blind eye to the fleets entering and exiting the stargate. He held his communicator in his hand, intently concentrating like the typical lowered-head generation.

Since the end of the secret war, Klent and Purple Crystal had decided to recuperate, while the Black Star Army joined the Crimson Dynasty. There was no chance of war breaking out, so the mentality of the sentries gradually relaxed.

They could not be blamed for the lack of professionalism. The main reason was that the vast majority of transit spaceships were subjected to review by the artificial intelligence, and there were few opportunities for manual review, so most of the time, they usually had nothing to do.

"This virtual singer is awesome…"

On the sentry's communicator was a virtual image of a beautiful Klentan, clad in a thin dress and dancing on the side while singing. Her voice was melodious and clear, like springtime.

The sentry on duty was fascinated, shaking his legs frantically while swiping his finger across the screen to send virtual gifts purchased with real cash.

This was an entertainment app popular throughout the universe. The user could customize their favorite avatar based on the aesthetics of different races. In addition to shape, they could also choose its personality. After creating the avatar, the user could interact with others in a variety of ways, such as asking them to sing, dance, or play Wayne Cards online, basically treating them like a real person.

One could also allow the virtual life to become a 3D life-size projection. If one had further needs, they could contact the website to buy a virtual sensory outfit, which would allow them to come into contact with it. This was divided into two categories: Children and Adult.

In this day and age, even with the high degree of interstellar integration, there were still many people that would prefer to have a virtual friend, brother, child, or partner than a real friend.

What was worth noting was that this popular app was developed by a sub brand of the Limitless Financial Group. The annual revenue obtained was terrifying, with their annual income already enough to purchase the entirety of Bloodshed Land.

The sentry on duty, whilst obsessed with admiring his dream lover, suddenly heard the cold voice of the artificial intelligence.

"Detected specially marked fleets in transit. Requesting manual review."

The sentry got a shock and almost threw his communicator out of the window in fright before settling down. With annoyance at being disturbed, he turned to operate the manual review.

"Who is this idiot that… eh? Black Star Army‽"

In that instant, the sentry seemed to have had his soul knocked out and back into him. The party in transit was actually the Black Star Army!

Within the database of such public stargates, they were some specially marked characters, such as the galactic criminals. Because of the grudges of the secret war, Klent had also added the Black Star Army to this marked list. Personnel with the identity of the Black Star Army would be reported upward if they came into Klent territory.

The sentry on duty knew that he had no right to review and immediately notified his team leader. This was passed up layer by layer and sent directly into the mailbox of a senior official.

It did not take long for instructions to be passed down, allowing the Black Star Army to pass.

Soon, a small fleet marked with the emblem of the Black Star Army sailed out of the stargate and turned into a stream of light, leaving only a light trail reflected in the pupils of the sentry.

Although the Black Star Army was allowed to cross the border, the upper echelons of the Klent Kingdom did not know how to deal with this problem.

Normally, the Black Star Army did not have any dealings with them, and they normally would not come over to the Seoul Star Cluster.

But to suddenly visit with unknown motives… someone had to follow them to keep tabs on them!

Out of Klent's expectations, the news that the Black Star Army had suddenly visited their territory spread out quickly, being known to many of the organizations and galactic residents of the Shattered Star Ring.

Klent knew that someone should be fanning the news behind the scenes.

Upon thinking about it, probably only the Black Star Army would want to do this. Klent did not understand their approach at first, but they soon realized what they wanted to do when they saw the Black Star Army moving toward Bloodshed Land.

Indeed, it should be the latest movements from the Bloodshed Land that had attracted the Black Star Army!

The truth behind the cooperation of Bloodshed Land and the Limitless Financial Group was not known to Klent, and they only knew that the organizations within the Bloodshed Land were advancing by leaps and bounds, robbing the businesses of the Black Star Army.

Heber was also an ally of theirs, and Klent originally wanted to use some means to hide it, but they discovered it too late.

The news that 'Black Star Army was going to visit Bloodshed Land' had long spread. Now, most of the Shattered Star Ring knew that the Black Star Army was prepared to take action against Heber.

This was to the point that the Black Star Army had even publicly announced their flight destination. Every day, the distance from the Bloodshed Land was constantly decreasing.

Under such a high-profile momentum, many galactic residents of the Shattered Star Ring were waiting to watch a good show and eagerly awaited the meeting between the two parties.

Public opinion had already been established, so Klent had their arms and legs tied.

After another half a month, the Black Star Army's fleet finally arrived at the Bloodshed Land's headquarters.

Above the skies of the Bloodshed Land headquarters, a fleet of spaceships spread all over like a cloud of steel. All the Vanguard Officials were called back to lead different fleets and wait in line.

Heber stood on the surface of the planet with his hands behind his back, looking up at the deep black sky with a poker face.

According to the itinerary announced by the Black Star Army, today would be the day when their fleet was due to arrive.

When he discovered that the Black Star Army was coming to him, Heber knew that it was his premonition surfacing, but this was his territory. He could not run, nor would he run.

Thus, Heber stopped his roaming headquarters, waiting for the arrival of the Black Star fleet, and he intentionally showed that he was not panicking. This was to prevent people from mistakenly thinking that he was afraid of Black Star and thus manipulating his headquarters to run, delaying the time for them to meet.

In fact, Heber himself did not understand the goal of Black Star's move. He did not think that Black Star would dare provoke infighting among the dynasty's allies.

Could it be that this guy just wanted to use this method to deter him?

You are clearly still part of the dynasty, so should I be scared?

Humph, know the answer!

Yes, Heber was relaxed at this moment and wanted to see what Han Xiao had in stock.

While he did not think that Han Xiao would be serious, they still had to put up a front, so he commanded his fleet to be on alert.

As for whether the fleet would suddenly take a detour to trick him, Heber never considered this possibility. If they really did so, it would be the Black Star Army that was embarrassing itself.

After waiting for a while, specks of light lit up at the end of his sight and stopped in the blink of an eye not far from Planet Heber, revealing the appearance of the Black Star fleet.

The fleet size of both was incomparable. Heber had more than a million spaceships on his side, while the Black Star fleet only numbered dozens.

On the other side, accompanying the Black Star fleet was also the Klent fleet, along with many galactic residents and galactic media groups.

Heber snorted, taking out his communicator and switching on the wide area communication channel before speaking.

"Black Star, I didn't invite you, you did not mention in advance that you were coming to visit me, and you are not even here in person… What's the meaning of this?"

Hearing this, many of the spectators got excited. They could sense the gunpowder in this sentence, and they carefully awaited Black Star's reply.

After a moment, a cold mechanical voice sounded, without greetings or politeness, going straight into the main point.

"Heber, still remember our unfinished battle?"

Heber suddenly narrowed his eyes.

Without waiting for his answer, Han Xiao's mechanical host said, "When I first stepped into the Beyond Grade A stage, you challenged me to a duel, and because of the dynasty, I had to agree, but there was no victor."

"Humph." Heber coldly snorted. "So, you're here to send a duel challenge?"

"That's right," Han Xiao coldly replied. "When I first reached Beyond Grade A, you wanted to bully me. Now's a good time for me to settle this debt with you. In twenty days, I'll fight with you in the Seoul Star Cluster. You can choose the location."

"Twenty days, heh? Can you even make it back from the dynasty?"

"Relax, only the two million mechanical troops and one of the mechanic hosts in this fleet now will go against you," Han Xiao slowly said. "I don't think you'll be scared, right? Where's the confidence you had when you fought me? I just stepped into Beyond Grade A a few years ago, but you don't dare duel me?"

His mechanical life forms were developing in the Flickering World, so Han Xiao did not bring them over this time. Thus, there was only one batch of mechanical soldiers as well as a host, all of which were the reserves of the Black Star Army headquarters. This batch was even manufactured before he hit level 300, so there was no manufacturing bonus at all.

Hearing this, Heber immediately grew annoyed.

After the battle of Planet Lighthouse, Heber suspected that he was not Han Xiao's opponent, but that was if Han Xiao came personally. Now, he did not even bring a single one of his apostle weapons, and he only wanted to rely on a host and a batch of mechanical soldiers to challenge him?

He was showing Heber zero respect!

"Hahaha…" Heber's expression was frosty. "You're just afraid to come over personally, right? Are you scared that you'll be cornered with nowhere to run? Humph, to use only a bunch of mechanical soldiers to challenge me, even if I destroy all of them, you're still safe, right?"

"It's up to you how you want to think. I've already issued the challenge. Do you dare accept?" Han Xiao did not bother explaining himself.

Heber thought about it and realized that Han Xiao had actually sealed off all his paths of retreat.

First of all, the matter had already blown up, and the Tyrant's reputation did not allow him to admit defeat. Secondly, when he issued the challenge when Han Xiao first reached Beyond Grade A, the other party had agreed easily to the duel. If he tried to argue back now, it would be embarrassing for him.

Turns out, this was your plan all along…

Heber was furious.

Resolving this grudge was just an excuse to force him to be unable to refuse. In essence, this happened because of the recent undermining of the Black Star Army's businesses. The other party struck into the core of the matter and openly issued a challenge, wanting to use fists to talk, to destroy his prestige.

Black Star, your timing is really good. I'm now riding on the back of a tiger and cannot get down!

Heber smiled through his anger. "Good, I'll accept your challenge. Black Star, you've been too successful recently and have become arrogant. I'll give you a free lesson in humility!"

If it was Han Xiao's main body, it would be different. Heber knew that he was not Han Xiao's opponent, but if it was just a mechanical host, Heber thought that he would not lose to him.

To actually dare look down on me…

Do you think that my title of Tyrant was obtained through nothing‽

"Very well, I'll wait for the details."

Seeing that Heber had accepted, the Black Star fleet turned back and went away, quickly disappearing from the eyes of everyone present.

"Disperse." Heber snorted, waving his hands and commanding his fleet to retreat.

He coldly swept his gaze across the spectators before walking back into his palace.

The galactic residents who watched the whole journey became excited immediately.

Many of them had seen the battle between the two men many years ago, and now history was repeating itself before them.

This time, however, the roles were reversed!

"There will be a nice show to watch!"

"Last time, the dynasty came forward to mediate, so there was no clear winner and loser. This time, I don't know if the dynasty will mediate."

"I doubt so. They have no reason to intervene. Last time, they didn't prohibit the Tyrant from issuing the duel, so they cannot do the same for Black Star."

The countless galactic residents began to chatter and discuss the fight among themselves.

Within the headquarters of the Bloodshed Land, Sorokin sat there with a frown as he watched the Black Star fleet leaving.

Black Star's move was bold, and there was even a suspicion of infighting. Sorokin had guessed that this situation was a possibility, but he did not expect Black Star to really carry it out.

If he could defeat the Tyrant, Black Star would have the pressure on him alleviated somewhat, but the price of that was that the prestige of the Tyrant would plummet. The Crimson Dynasty was unlikely to sit back and watch this happen, as the deterrent power of their Beyond Grade A allies was equivalent to a bargaining chip of the dynasty.

If you really succeed, then my plan will again rise in difficulty. Sorokin was lost in thought, his brow tense.

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Chapter 950 Showing Oneself, Entering the Scene!

With the bystanders spreading the word, the news of Black Star's battle against the Tyrant quickly spread throughout the Shattered Star Ring and even to other major star fields.

The grievances of the two were dug out like melons by the crowd, adding an extra gimmick to the battle and attracting widespread attention.

It was not like conflicts between allies in the advanced civilizations had not occurred before. Although they were working for the same civilization, their alliance was not bound, and it was all for mutual benefits, with the resources ultimately divided. This would inevitably create a conflict of interests.

So long as the friction between allies did not cross the line and did not result in any serious internal strife, the advanced civilizations would not come forward to mediate. They did not plan to make sure all their allies had a good relationship with each other. Furthermore, competition would bring forth vitality. The issue of resource distribution was also too troublesome for the civilizations to mediate.

As for the challenge Black Star issued to the Tyrant, this was at the very edge of their limits. Thus, the dynasty could choose whether they wished to interfere or not.

This incident was brought up to the upper echelons of the dynasty.

"A few days ago, Black Star officially issued the Tyrant a challenge for a battle in twenty days. The Tyrant has accepted, and now the news is spreading like wildfire. Everyone, what are your views?"

At the head, Urranrell tapped her slim fingers on the table, surveying everyone present.

"Well, Black Star did not discuss this with us first, moving before he asked for permission. This will affect the dynasty's influence in the Shattered Star Ring, which is not good for us," a senior official said seriously.

"Indeed, the external environment of the dynasty is now worrying. For us, maintaining the stability of the star field is the most important. I feel we should intervene in his matter," another echoed.

Some others had a different opinion. "We can't put it like this. Black Star's approach is justifiable, as the Tyrant proposed the duel years ago to Black Star when he had just entered the Beyond Grade A realm. Black Star wishing to resolve this grudge now is completely understandable."

Hearing this, an official from the neutral faction added, "It's true. At that time, we didn't stop the Tyrant because Black Star had only joined us after accepting the duel invite. A Beyond Grade A's promise cannot be taken back easily, so we cannot interfere with Black Star's duel now, or it would be unfair."

"Yes, not to mention that the recent actions of the Bloodshed Land have affected the interests of the Black Star Army. If we are biased toward the Bloodshed Land, this will greatly affect Black Star's perception of the dynasty."

"But the reputation of the Tyrant…"

The officials present were divided into two sides, one supporting interfering and one supporting standing by to watch. However, those that were talking were only the pawns in charge of conveying the intentions of each faction.

As for those leaders of the factions, none of them had spoken up till now.

Urranrell listened quietly before gazing at the Chief Commander of the Exploration army, Tarrokov, and asking, "Tarrokov, what do you think?"

Once this remark came out, the audience tacitly quieted down, knowing that it was the time for the bigshots to display their stances.

"Black Star… I'm very acquainted with him already." Tarrokov smiled. "I believe he knows his limits very well."

"Hmm." Urranrell nodded before gazing at Bekorodi, who was representing the opposite end. "And you?"

Bekorodi's expression was calm like a mirrored lake, and he only smiled before slowly saying, "I… choose to remain neutral."

Hearing this, a flash of doubt passed through Urranrell's eyes, along with some surprise.

She knew that Bekorodi had always been against Black Star, as though that guy had cuckolded him.

But to think that he gave such an unexpected response. This implied that Bekorodi was taking Black Star's side this time.

Supporting neutrality right now was akin to supporting Black Star because everyone there knew that if the battle were to proceed, the reputation of the Tyrant would be severely damaged, and Black Star's reputation would skyrocket.

What Heber did not know was that, in the eyes of the dynasty's upper echelons, the chance of Heber winning against Black Star's avatar was less than ten percent!

This was because, not too long ago, the outpost had delivered the observation report of Black Star when he advanced, and this report had caused a sensation among the upper echelons of the dynasty.

Black Star had only entered the Beyond Grade A realm a few years prior, and the battle at Planet Lighthouse as well as the fall of the EsGod had shown his growth. The dynasty originally thought that he would remain quiet for a while, but it was as though Black Star had drunk some high-energy motor oil, setting his buttocks on fire and shooting him straight up into the sky. He actually grew once again in such a short time!

Compared to the normal speed of a Beyond Grade A, these few years were far too short!

While they were unaware as to what extent Black Star had grown, based on 'Dark Lord' Clotti's hypothesis, Black Star should be near or even at the peak of the Beyond Grade A realm. He had achieved this hundreds of years ahead of the projected time, and even the Dark Lord had been shocked, saying how he had never met someone so perverted in his entire life.

Thus, in the eyes of the dynasty, the Tyrant's odds of victory were so low that they could be considered pathetic. To that end, they even wondered if Black Star sending an avatar to battle was merely to infuriate the Tyrant further and let him think that he had a chance of victory.

The outcome of this war was already set in stone, and Black Star would likely become the new spokesperson for the dynasty in the Shattered Star Ring. The Tyrant could still grow his influence, but it would never reach the same level as before Black Star challenged him…

In the eyes of the outsiders, it meant that Black Star would take the head seat of the Beyond Grade As within the Shattered Star Ring!

Urranrell was naturally willing to see this happen, so all those within the Ruler's faction sided with Black Star. She originally thought that someone would jump out today and insist on interfering in the battle, but she did not expect Bekorodi, who would usually give her trouble, to change his position!

Frowning secretly, Urranrell then looked toward Ludwell.

"I also support neutrality." Ludwell's expression did not change. It was not because he was grateful to Black Star but rather because he typically followed the direction of the Ruler's faction.

Moreover, he was not as radical as the hardliner faction. Containing Black Star would be a strategy for the future. right now, it was more important to gain Evolution Cube uses or to buy Evolutionary Totems.

Today is a weird day. Why are all of them suddenly speaking so nicely? Urranrell grumbled to herself.

By the side, Bekorodi lightly closed his eyes, casting a deep look at Ludwell.

Just a few days ago, Sorokin, whom he had a deal with privately, had sent him a message, hoping for him to interfere in the battle. If they allowed Black Star's name to continue rising, Sorokin's plan would become more difficult.

Normally, he would definitely have interfered in the battle, but the situation now was different. Ludwell had spoken to him about half a month ago, and the deep meaning between his words had made him wonder.

Thus, Bekorodi could only ignore Sorokin's opinion and temporarily sheathe his weapon, observing the situation. Acquiring the Evolution Cube would be good, but protecting one's life was more important.

The conference room's atmosphere was a little heavy, and after the senior officials of the factions sent out a unified reply of their opinions, no one dared jump out to object.

Urranrell only felt that this was too successful and slowly said, "Since no one has any objections, let's make it as such. As long as Black Star doesn't act unreasonably, like killing Heber, we will not interfere."

"Understood."

Everyone nodded while having their own inner thoughts.

"Black Star and the Tyrant are duelling?"

In the group chat of the Dynasty's Beyond Grade As, Beyoni excitedly posted that question and blew out all the lurkers within the chat.

Milizaus snorted. "I knew that both of them would fight one day."

"No need to talk any further. Start the bets." Beyoni rubbed his hands.

"I'll put a small bet to not hurt any feelings. Black Star, fifty million Enas." Ravenlaude laughed, not even the least bit embarrassed at selling out the Tyrant.

"Oh, I'm close to Heber and understand his strength quite well…" Viru stroked his chin. "I'll bet on Black Star too, ten million."

"Black Star, two hundred million," Lotus Swordsman indifferently commented.

"Oi, how are we going to open the bet if all of you bet on Black Star?" Milizaus was unhappy.

"Simple, you can go call all The Ancient Ones out, and I'll pull in those from the Federation of Light and the Arcane Church. This will make it more interesting." One of the lurking three National Pillars of the Dynasty could not take it any longer and surfaced, joining in the fun.

"Ingenious, ingenious plan." Milizaus laughed out loud.

While the Arcane Church had hurt him, the other party had lost even more, so he did not have much of a grudge against them.

The Beyond Grade A circle was only this big, so while they belonged to different civilizations, they would still have their own private dealings.

The Ancient Ones along with those in the three Universal Civilizations made up more than half of the entire population of Beyond Grade As in the explored universe. This could be said to be a grand event.

Regarding the battle between Black Star and the Tyrant, not only did no one worry, they even riled up the matter. Only those that belonged to the direct line of the Dynasty's Beyond Grade As would carefully consider the matter from the viewpoint of the dynasty.

Everyone was a Beyond Grade A, and there was no good drama without fighting!

On a blood-red planet in a distant star field, an endless beast tide rushed toward a red figure like a black ocean. Countless broken beast carcasses fell to the ground, their blue blood infiltrating the soil, leaving the red land splattered with blue.

The beasts were a ferocious galactic life form that could sleep and drift through the universe. Once they fell to a planet, they would quickly multiply and consume everything on the surface, forming a catastrophe.

In the prosperous star fields, these sorts of galactic creatures had long been eradicated, but there were still some nests in the remote and wild areas of the universe.

At this moment, from the center of this beast tide, a rich crimson energy continuously exploded. Wherever it passed, the energy swept through, harvesting all life.

Hila's eyes were frosty, and she took in nothing except for the incoming beast tide. Her death energy radiated out from her as though it was free, and the soul energy of the beasts that died to it was absorbed by her body, constantly strengthening her abilities.

In the sky, Ames was suspended in midair, overlooking Hila who was slaughtering the beast tide with no intention of helping.

The goal of this trip was not to have fun; Hila needed to improve her Esper ability quickly, and the fastest method was through slaughter. However, their targets this time were the brutal beasts.

It was not known how long the battle lasted. When the last beast fell, Hila was covered in blue blood, and she gasped for air as she looked around.

As far as she could see, the carcasses stretched over the horizon, and the earth was dyed blue.

The blood of these creatures smelled like curdled milk, sour and smelly. Hila held her breath and dragged her tired body to Ames.

"The efficiency is quite high." Ames lightly nodded.

Lowering her head to look at the situation, Ames clutched with her palm.

Rumble!

The earth trembled and rose up, like an earth dragon that was stretching itself. Ridges of earth protruded out, twisting around the ground, creating a spectacular scene.

The force field churned for a while, and when the sand and dust gradually settled, all the carcasses were buried in the ground, like the land was being plowed.

If it was Ames who acted, destroying the beast tide was just a matter of flipping her hand.

Her jade white hands retreated into her black sleeve, and with a smile on her face, Ames said, "When you can achieve this level where you can reap the lives of hundreds of millions of creatures with a wave of your hand, then you can be considered to have reached the Beyond Grade A realm."

Hila only mutely nodded, her face passive, as though her whole body was not covered in grime and blood.

"By the way, I saw the news just now." Ames took out her communicator as she lightly laughed. "Black Star challenged the Tyrant to a duel, and just like the previous time, he even set the date to be twenty days later. What a wicked sense of humor."

The previous time, Ames had welcomed the battle with him, so her memories of that were especially clear.

"Eh?" Hila frowned, and a frosty air exuded out from her. "Shall we go and help?"

"Hehe, relax…" Ames indifferently laughed. "The current him does not need any assistance."

The major organizations of the various star fields were all paying attention to this matter. Due to the continued fanning of the news, more and more people around the universe got to know about the battle between the two.

The gambling industry had also started its own operations. Originally, Black Star's odds were very high, but because he did not participate personally and only sent an avatar along with two million mechanical soldiers, the win rate comparison was adjusted and set to six to four in favor of Heber.

Ordinary people had no way to understand the actual combat power of the Beyond Grade As. In the eyes of many, while Black Star had an impressive record, many still felt that the Tyrant was no pushover. In the heart of the citizens, many felt that a Beyond Grade A who did not turn up personally would never be an opponent of the same level. Many of them still bet on the Tyrant.

Under this bubbling atmosphere, twenty days passed in a flash.

Planet Black Tyrant was originally a barren and desolate planet. Ten days prior, when Heber chose this spot, Klent had given this planet the name and put it on the star map.

Maybe Klent had plans to make this place into a tourist attraction in the future, but the spectators that came did not think this way. After the battle, it would be hard to say if the planet was still there.

Black Star did not mind having the duel in Klent territory. He wanted to let people see his confidence, and there was no need to be afraid of any possible losses since he was only using mechanical soldiers.

Because of this, the Beyond Grade A mechanics felt a huge headache. As long as his wallet could support it, he could take all sorts of unbridled risks.

Many people had flocked to Planet Black Tyrant.

With what happened a few years ago as the lesson, the majority stayed far away. No one wanted to be the unlucky person that would be accidentally killed.

The Bloodshed Land's fleet was suspended in the surroundings to guard the area, while Heber stood alone on the surface. His eyes were closed as he readied his mindset, and his burly body stood ramrod straight, giving off a pressuring aura.

"Can he win?"

On the spaceship, one of the Vanguard Officials could not help breaking the silence.

"Are you doubting His Excellency?" Fosters coldly glanced over.

"Are you not?"

Fosters gritted his teeth, glaring at the offender before turning his head back. He had no comeback.

In reality, his palms were already slick with sweat.

If the Tyrant could not defeat Black Star himself, he would definitely feel disappointed, but he had already mentally prepared himself for that. However, what would come today was just an avatar, and if the Tyrant could not even defeat that…

"That's not possible. In just a few short years, how could Black Star become so strong?"

Fosters shook his head fiercely, muttering to himself. It was unknown whether he said that to convince others or himself.

Jorde turned his head around. He gazed at the worried expressions of the other Vanguard Officials, and his face turned pale.

When did the eight Vanguard Officials under the Tyrant that had unwavering loyalty become like this?

When did this trust start to shake?

That's right. It was when Black Star first reached Beyond Grade A. When the Tyrant dueled with him and did not obtain a clear victory, that was when the seeds of doubt were planted.

If they had known of this, they should have gone against the Tyrant's wishes and killed off Black Star during the secret war.

Black Star… was really a poison that struck the core.

You have to win, Your Excellency… If not, it will be hard to keep the hearts of the people.

Jorde sighed.

A pity, there are no what ifs in this world.

At this moment, Heber suddenly opened his eyes, glancing at a distant location.

Di di di…

The Black Star fleet slowly appeared on the horizon, neither quickly nor slowly, just on time.

"Finally."

Heber's eyes were cold, and the hands that were behind his back suddenly clenched tight.

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Chapter 951 Mechanical Deity!

The spaceships in the distance parted to make way for the Black Star fleet to pass through.

Under the excitement and expectation of the countless people present, the Black Star fleet slowly approached Planet Black Tyrant, and its hatch opened, releasing the countless mechanical soldiers within. The mechanical soldiers streamed out like a long dragon, quickly arranging themselves into a dense and neat formation, occupying the entire sky, and their armors reflected the light from the stars.

Pairs of indifferent mechanical eyes overlooked the earthy brown planet below, focusing on the solitary Tyrant standing there.

Heber stood unmoving, coldly staring at the dense mechanical army in the sky. All of a sudden, he snorted, his powerful lungs propelling a loud roaring sound.

Hum!

The echo was like thunder, and Heber's every cell began to pump energy frantically, such that the radar of the spaceships nearby all detected a high-energy response. Pugilist flames roared on his body and condensed on his legs. Even though he was standing still, the ground beneath him was cracking apart.

Both sides took a fighting stance, and the tense atmosphere was akin to an invisible net that instantly covered the whole audience.

The countless people on scene held their breath at the suspense.

At this time, the mechanical host stepped out of the crowd and came to the forefront of the mechanical army. The blue-gold Mechanical Force glimmered and sparkled as its eyes shone with light, carrying the will of Han Xiao.

"I'm here," Han Xiao said through the wide area communications channel.

"Humph." Heber coldly snorted in response.

This time, the dynasty did not interfere, and both knew that the battle would only end if one of them fell.

Suddenly, Heber bent his knees and kicked out his legs, and a shock wave burst out around him.

Boom!

A rift formed with just a stomp of his foot, and Heber rushed upward to the sky like an arrow in flight, with fierce battle intent in his eyes. He was wrapped in a red and gold pugilist flame, dazzling like the sun, and at this moment, he resembled a golden meteor!

From the sky, violent Mechanical Force burst forth from the body of the mechanical host, instantly linking together the mechanical army. Han Xiao activated all his skills and casually flung a [Luck Curse] on Heber.

The next moment, the vanguard mechanical soldiers swooped down as well, rushing toward Heber.

There was no foreplay to speak of; both sides immediately tucked into the main course, lunging at each other's throats!

The golden meteor collided with the machines, the heat melted the armor, and the cracked parts flew out like shrapnel from a bomb, flying everywhere!

Boom boom boom!

One after another, the mechanical soldiers fell, and the golden meteor rushed deep into the formation before being slowed down and entangled by the countless machines.

The long-range troops in the rear spread out like a metal tornado revolving around Heber, shooting out psionic rays and dark energy repeatedly. Countless beams of light from all directions were shot toward Heber.

The mechanical army surrounded Heber tightly like a dark cloud, and this scene resembled a flock of crows dancing around the sun. From time to time, red and gold pugilist shockwaves fluctuated from the center.

Because Han Xiao's mechanical army had undergone many rounds of strengthening, they were not too vulnerable even in the face of a Beyond Grade A. While this batch of old machinery was not the most updated, with the addition of his Mechanical Force, they were no longer simple mechanical soldiers that Heber could casually crush.

In this battle, Heber faced a different situation.

In the last battle, Heber's goal was to demonstrate his prestige, and he intended to quickly get rid of Han Xiao.

But now that Black Star had achieved his current fame, Heber did not have any thought of quickly ending the fight. He was clear that Han Xiao was not there, so the only way to win this fight was to kill all of the soldiers present.

As long as he smashed apart all the troops that Black Star had brought over, it would be his win!

Thus, Heber's mentality was more stable, and he was not in a rush at all. He had long made preparations for a sustained battle and focused on getting rid of the mechanical soldiers without any intention of ambushing Han Xiao.

However, the amount of injuries he obtained made Heber feel a lot more pressure than last time. The psionic cannon rays that hit his body gave him tremendous pain each time.

Heber was secretly startled at Han Xiao's growth rate and gritted his teeth as he calculated in his mind.

While I can fight a prolonged battle, the longer I take, the more unfavorable it is to me. I need to improve my killing efficiency.

As he thought so, he increased the frequency and intensity of attacks.

On the other side, Han Xiao controlled the mechanical host to observe the combat, reading the combat information on the interface.

What a tough HP cow.

In his last battle, Heber's combat information was filled with question marks. Now, with his level higher than Heber's, it revealed his information completely.

Heber's was at level 296, with some of them made up by his subclasses. Han Xiao was an anomaly, as comparing levels, there was not much difference between the two of them.

That being said, Heber's Grade was still at S, without even the '' on it. This was the gap brought about by various bonuses.

Heber's total HP was around 800,000, and his Endurance was more than 12,000, along with tons of explosive abilities adding a huge chunk of Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance. As for his pugilist skills, it went without saying that he had plenty of those.

The number of resistance talents on him was frightening, such as True Damage Immunity, Weak Injury Immunity, Fixed Injury Reduction, and Super Toughness. They were all talents that Han Xiao had seen during the last battle, making his defense extremely troublesome to overcome.

The last battle had ended in a draw due to the intervention of the dynasty. There was no winner among the two, so Han Xiao got the record of a tie. However, the fact was that he did not cause any serious damage to Heber at that time.

To deal with Heber, he could only slowly grind him down. It was fortunate that his Mechanical Force bonus and mechanical army had been strengthened many times, significantly raising his damage.

Thus, Han Xiao did not activate his [Perfect Mechanical Sense] Character Summon Card, nor did he need to.

Under such circumstances, the Tyrant was long not his opponent!

The moment the battle began, an S ranked mission popped up on his interface, named ['Tyrant' Heber, which was the same mission as the previous time. Based on the scenario of challenging a Beyond Grade A, this sort of Boss Mission would appear.

"I only have this mechanical host, which carries some of my attributes and abilities, but it's enough to fight with Heber directly, preventing him from killing the soldiers too quickly."

With a single thought of Han Xiao, the Lord's Avatar shot out, passing through the heavily sieged front line and directly smashing into Heber. Its heavy metal fist was shrouded in Mechanical Force and sent out.

With a cold snort, Heber's muscles swelled, as though pythons were wriggling under his muscles. The fresh muscle fibers twisted into a strand, displaying its strong elastic force. Heber's terrifying strength from his whole body converged on his arm, and he drew back his arm before thrusting it forward to meet Han Xiao.

A red-gold fist and blue-gold metal fist collided violently, bursting out as a fierce energy shockwave and quickly spreading out!

Boom!

The violent aftermath pushed the surrounding mechanical soldiers quite a way away, tumbling around, and the atmospheric layer above them was also swept out, leaving a blank space.

With the addition of growth talents such as [Heroic Wrists] and [Divine Void Power, Han Xiao's current Strength had reached more than 6,000, and the melee attack power was quite impressive.

The supporters of the two revolved around them, and the eyes of the galactic residents watching from a distance also followed the battle group firmly.

On one of the Federation of Light spaceships, one of the officials was recording the entire fighting process.

The federation and church both attached great importance to this battle, and both had sent spies to gather intelligence.

Black Star's current strength would greatly affect their plans for the Evolution Cube, so they had to pay attention.

At this moment, a virtual projection of Manison stood at the corner of the cabin, watching the entire battle through the viewing window. He lightly said, "The chance of Heber winning is very slim."

"Is that so? Although the Tyrant seems to be surrounded, his body is extremely tough, and he should be able to hold on until the mechanical army is destroyed." The captain who was next to him carefully gave his opinion.

Manison shook his head. "I can feel that Black Star has become far stronger than he was before. Heber will probably not be able to last for long. His condition is getting worse… Furthermore, Black Star still has many of his trump cards that he has yet to pull out, such as the Void ability he used in the battle of Planet Lighthouse."

Hearing this, the captain nodded to express understanding.

"I just do not know…" Manison paused and thoughtfully spoke. "With Black Star's growth, has he already touched my current level? It should not be that quick…"

At this moment, part of the space above them fluctuated, and the magnificent Palace of Hidden Spells jumped out.

"Oh, they're already fighting. It seems like I'm late."

Seated at the top of his Palace of Hidden Spells, Austin overlooked the battle of the two with an expression of interest.

Most of the spectators were focused on the fight, and while a few of them noticed that Austin had arrived, they only spared him a glance before impatiently turning back to the scene.

Han Xiao also noticed Austin and could not resist curling up his mouth.

Why do you come as a referee every time we fight?

However, he had no time to dispose of his old man. Han Xiao withdrew his attention and continued to control his avatar.

Boom!

As the battle progressed, the ground of Planet Black Tyrant shattered, pitted with holes, and seemed to have turned into an onion, being peeled off layer by layer. The entire planet began to deform, as though Han Xiao and the Tyrant's battle was a knife, slicing into the planet-sized onion with their skills.

Alone within the Human Wave Tactic, with the damage of the Mechanical army exceeding his expectations, Heber quickly fell into a disadvantage, becoming very passive. The heart of everyone in the Bloodshed Land started to tremble.

Faced with an army, the Tyrant was clearly disadvantaged against Black Star, and the battle had not even gone on for long. Could it be that the strength gap between the two was greater than they thought?

In the past battle, the Tyrant was clearly suppressing Black Star from start to end. In just a few years, their positions had swapped…

Looking at the disheveled Tyrant on the planet, Fosters clenched his fists, his expression indeterminate.

Boom!

Suffering from such a storm-like weapon barrage for so long, it was lucky that Heber had thick skin, or else he would not have lasted. He felt as though he was a sandbag being beaten up, and his entire body hurt like hell. His chances to retaliate were getting fewer; he could only focus on defending himself.

Bang!

After being beaten up several times in a row, Heber fell straight to the ground, creating a human shaped pit!

"Cough cough, Star Shaking Fist!"

Enduring the pain, Heber rallied his strength, blasting out a brilliantly thick golden pugilist strike toward the mechanical army swooping down from the sky, and it exploded to form a huge chain reaction, devouring a large number of mechanical soldiers.

However, after the energy dissipated, it was found that most of the mechanical soldiers had endured it with their psionic shields. While the damage was serious, they could still fight, and even the [Waste Modification] skill could not be forced out.

The gap… was so wide‽

Heber was not only envious; he was also furious. He was quite confident before the battle, thinking that it would be an easy victory when dealing with only one of Black Star's platoons.

But after fighting for so long, he had done his best, but he had found out that he likely could not even defeat this platoon of Black Star's!

How could this be‽

At the beginning, Heber was able to resist the siege of the mechanical army, but as his injuries and energy consumption increased, his state got worse.

Han Xiao was different; he grew fiercer the more he fought. Just the talent of converting his energy to HP would ensure that he had sufficient strength to go on. Furthermore, with talents such as [Advanced Strengthened Life, [Battlefield Wisdom, and [One Against The World, the longer he fought, the higher his strength became. With this, the current Heber was being embarrassed more and more, much like a beaten king.

If this continues, I'll lose for sure!

With this in mind, Heber's eyes turned red. He did not like to fail at anything, especially losing to Black Star in such a manner.

Boom!

The next instant, the high-energy response from Heber started to soar in an abnormal manner, and the waves of pugilist flames ripped all the nearby mechanical soldiers into scrap metal.

"Oh, what ability did he use?"

Han Xiao gazed at the interface and found a new state appearing in the status bar of Heber: [Polar Channel Flow—Cellular Overdrive].

He was no stranger to this move. This was a pugilist skill, and some players had learned it in their previous lives. It would force the activation of one's cellular potential, to maximize the overclocking of all attributes such as HP and strength and temporarily obtain an advanced combat power for a period of several hours to several days.

However, the sequelae were serious. The moment one used this ability, every upgrade in the future would be permanently seven percent more expensive, and this would stack continuously with each usage without limit!

This was equivalent to squeezing out one's future potential in exchange for temporary explosive power!

Generally speaking, no one would use this trick unless it was a last resort.

Han Xiao was a little stunned. Is it so difficult to accept losing to me? To even pull out this sort of self-destructive trick…

But upon seeing Heber's expression, Han Xiao understood.

There was only stubbornness and self-esteem of the strong.

While the Tyrant's usual style was pretentious and made many criticize him, at this moment, Han Xiao admitted that he was a qualified fighter.

Indeed, those who can become Beyond Grade As are not easy to deal with. Han Xiao pursed his lips.

The high energy response of Heber was also discovered by the radars, and everyone began excitedly discussing.

"What's this? Did Heber pull out a killing move?"

"I thought that he could take it no longer. Seems like there's still a counterattack!"

Heber burst into flames, directly crossing the 52,000 energy rank limit, and his grade rose to S. The wounds on his body also rapidly healed.

As he stared at Han Xiao in anger, his hands clasped together, and a dazzling golden light began to shine in his palm, getting brighter and brighter.

Seeing this, Han Xiao's avatar paused in midair.

"Since you're so serious, I should stop playing as well."

The moment he spoke, the Mechanical Force arced out like a spider's web, connecting every individual mechanical soldier.

The next moment, the mechanical soldiers returned like birds to their nests, shooting toward the avatar and reassembling themselves. A huge mechanical structure gradually unfolded.

The Mechanical Force was akin to the nerves, blood vessels, and veins of this huge body!

Buzz!

"This… this is…"

Under the shocked eyes of the spectators, a huge machine assembled itself above Planet Black Tyrant.

A heavy pressure emanated from this machine, giving everyone the feeling that this was not individual soldiers gathered together but rather… a new, independent individual!

Heber's eyes were wide, and under his shock, the pugilist waves undulated like a flickering lightbulb.

At the same time, Manison, who was viewing on the Federation of Light's spaceship, looked as though he had been hammered. His eyes wide open, he exclaimed, "This is… a Mechanical Deity‽"

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Chapter 952 Crazy Beating

Manison was too familiar with the Mechanical Deity skill. This was also his ultimate skill, and for many years, there was no opponent who could force him to utilize it. Seeing that Han Xiao now also possessed this power, his emotions were set aflare.

If Manison was still in doubt before, he was now finally certain… Black Star had reached his current realm!

Incredible… this sort of growth rate…

Manison's eyes were full of surprise.

In terms of age for a Beyond Grade A, Black Star was just too young, to the point of being immature, but how could he break through all common sense, raising his strength in just a few years to complete the accumulation that took other Beyond Grade As hundreds of years?

Could it really be because of talent?

Even if one looked from the ancient times till now, there was no one who had such terrible potential. Manison clearly remembered that the last time he sparred with Black Star, the mechanical talent he had displayed was very shameful, even making people doubt if he was a fake Beyond Grade A.

If it was not talent, then what was the actual reason?

Manison's eyes flashed.

Could it be that… other than the Evolution Cube and Spacetime Amber, Black Star still possessed other Universal Treasures?

No matter what, this sort of growth rate is too weird. Black Star must have a great secret…

Thinking about this, Manison suddenly had a strong desire.

The desire to dissect Black Star and find out the truth.

Suppressing his impulsive thoughts, Manison eyes flickered as he thought about an important question.

Since Black Star has grasped the strength of the Mechanical Deity, then… has he discovered the secret of Adeptus Mechanicus?

The NPC Beyond Grade As did not possess an interface and were unable to understand their own skills, so they had to rely on trial and error instead. As such, not all Divine Throne Mechanics could discover the special effect of [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus].

If not for the inherited knowledge from the Mechanical Legacy, Manison could not be sure that he would have found out about the bonuses by having Mechanic believers.

The question now was, had Black Star also discovered this ability?

If Black Star had discovered this point, he would inevitably become a competitor and an obstacle on his road to a higher realm!

At this moment, the attention he paid to Black Star in his heart had been raised to the highest level!

"I need to pay more attention to him…" Manison narrowed his eyes.

"My God! It's so big!"

"I, I actually have the urge to worship it. Is that natural?"

The image painted by the assembly of the mechanical army was majestic, and it inspired awe in the faces of the countless galactic residents on scene.

The Mechanical Deity comprised of two million soldiers was naturally huge, and compared to the Tyrant, it was like the gap between an ant and an elephant.

Not only was it huge, it also exuded a strong pressure, causing those who looked at it to have an impulse to submit.

Its shape could be melded based on Han Xiao's consciousness, and the current Mechanical Deity took the shape of a huge silvery-black mechanical sphere, like an egg.

Under Han Xiao's control, a head, arms, and legs protruded from the 'egg', and the Mechanical Deity slowly turned into a humanoid structure. Even his facial features were formed on the head, turning it into a gigantic version of Black Star.

The Composite Mechanical Deity possessed the functions of every single mechanical soldier assembled into it, and they could be used in every corner of its body through the nanoparticles. Furthermore, their effects would reinforce each other.

For example, if there were a hundred thousand shield generator mechanical soldiers integrated within, then the Mechanical Deity would be able to summon a hundred thousand psionic shields to protect all corners of its body, or it could fuse and overlap them to form a super-durable shield.

Han Xiao's physical senses extended to every corner of the Mechanical Deity's body, and everything could be controlled with a thought, as though this was his original body.

This feeling isn't bad at all.

This was also Han Xiao's first time utilizing this skill, and the feeling was quite miraculous.

The Mechanical Deity lowered its head from high above, overlooking the planet and locking onto the extremely tiny Tyrant below.

Its huge palm rose up before slapping down suddenly like a mountain descending from the heavens.

The palm broke through the atmosphere of the planet, its edges catching on fire, and its shadow covered a huge area, occupying Heber's entire version.

Boom!

The speed of the palm resulted in a sonic boom, deafening the ears of all who heard it!

Heber's expression was grim. He gritted his teeth to ease the shock in his heart. His palms pushed violently into the sky, and the waves of the highly condensed pugilist flames burst out.

"Star Shattering Mortar!"

Weng!

From Heber's palms as the center, a halo of reddish gold spread out horizontally, and the pugilist flames expanded, turning into a huge beam tens of meters in diameter, moving rapidly toward the palm of the mechanical deity!

While the strong pugilist flames were akin to atomizing rays, vaporizing everything within their path, compared to the palm, it was like using a toothpick to hit one's hand.

Clank!

A large number of mechanical parts assembled on the palm of the Mechanical Deity, quickly transforming into dense psionic shields. The shields overlapped and interlinked with each other to cover the entire palm, looking like a bubble with a blue gradient.

The next instant, the reddish gold beam connected with the palm.

Boom!

The resulting hurricane swept across the entire area, and on the half of the planet they were battling on, the clouds were blown away, and the crust ruptured!

The huge explosion expanded, smashing through several of the psionic shields, causing a few parts to melt on the surface of the palm. However, the palm persistently continued to press down, as though it wanted to smash the beam itself!

Heber continued to increase the output of the pugilist flames, to the point his whole body's muscles burst apart, causing him to be drenched in blood.

However, he did not seem to feel the pain. His bloodshot eyes stared at the rapidly expanding Mechanical Deity's palm in his line of sight. He squeezed out every ounce of energy in his body and further increased the fluctuations released by his palms, as though he wanted to suppress the palm!

But in reality, the golden beam got shorter as the palm continued its inevitable descent.

Suddenly, Heber's vision was only left with blank whiteness.

Bang!

The palm smashed straight onto the planet and tunneled into the earth, leaving a palm print on the surface. The explosive energy was also pushed by it into the crust of the planet.

Everyone only saw a fracture appear, shining brightly with light.

In the next moment, the crack expanded completely, and a devastating explosion occurred deep within the planet, directly shattering the planet apart!

In an instant, the appearance of Planet Black Tyrant seemed to have turned into an apple that had been dug out from the inside!

Furthermore, this shape did not hold for long. Due to the imbalance in its broken core, the planet collapsed in on itself.

Boom!

The core of the planet turned into an explosive light cluster, ejecting all the material that made up this planet, shattering the entire planet into pieces!

This one palm literally destroyed Planet Black Tyrant!

The shockwave caused by the planetary explosion swept through and affected the crowd watching in the distance.

"Black… Black Tyrant… exploded!"

While the galactic residents watching from space were isolated from any sound, it did not prevent their imaginations from filling up the missing spots, and countless people shivered instinctively in front of this terrible scene. Some even peed their pants.

The explosion also affected the Mechanical Deity, shattering a large area of the psionic shields covering its entire body. Molten traces of melted metal appeared in many places around its body.

But the next moment, the nanoparticles flowed around the Mechanical Deity, repairing the damage. Due to the loss of material, it shrank in size slightly, but it still towered over everything else.

Many of the galactic residents swallowed audibly, craning their necks to look for traces of Heber.

"Where's the Tyrant?"

"Could he have been blown to bits?"

"Probably not. He can use his own fleshly body to smash through a planet, so the explosion of a planet shouldn't kill him… right?"

At this time, the battlefield had transformed into a new asteroid belt. Han Xiao swept through the battlefield, but he saw no traces of Heber and glanced toward the interface.

In the combat information, it showed that Heber had lost a great amount of HP. If not for his [Immunity to True Damage] as well as [Fixed Damage Reduction, this would have directly killed him. However, although his injuries were also very heavy, he still retained his battle strength.

This seemed to be a simple slap, but in fact, the palm strike contained a lot of different damages mixed in, such as Psionic Impact, the explosive damage of Heber's own killer move, as well as damage from the shock wave devices equipped on the palm. In addition, this Mechanical Deity had countless output devices, so the Mechanical Force bonuses were amazing, comparable to the damage inflicted by the legendary Galactic Titan race from legends.

Of course, great power would naturally be accompanied by a huge amount of energy consumption. If not for Han Xiao's talent allowing him to quickly recover energy, his Mechanical Deity would probably be like Ultraman, each fight only lasting for three minutes.

Han Xiao was currently looking for traces of the Tyrant when a feeling of pain was transmitted to him through his right arm. A series of explosions occurring from the inside revealed Heber within.

"Turns out, he took the slap as a chance to send himself inside the arm, wanting to destroy it from the inside out?"

Han Xiao shook his head.

The Tyrant's choice looked to be the best tactic. The majority would think that with the huge bulk of the Mechanical Deity, its weakness would be the internal systems.

However, this law was not applicable to the Mechanical Deity!

Surrounded by mechanical parts, Heber was riddled with injuries but was still wreaking havoc within the right arm of the Mechanical Deity, breaking all the structures around him as he rushed deeper into the Mechanical Deity.

But the inside of the arm suddenly warped, and the separate mechanical soldiers assembled quickly, using the inside of the arm as a battlefield to fight against Heber. They flung themselves without care toward Heber.

"Scram!" Heber roared in anger, and his body exploded with strength, throwing all the soldiers clinging to him away.

As he was about to continue charging, his feet suddenly sank, and he found that the mechanical structure suddenly turned into a trap, biting into his fleet and restricting his movements.

The machinery around him shot out ropes that were made of a nanomaterial that was incredibly tough to restrict the movement of his body.

Immediately afterward, a variety of mechanical devices popped out, and various crowd control skills were applied, such as electromagnetic chains, gravity fields, and space distortions, which were thrown toward Heber.

Heber felt like he was stuck in quicksand. Not only did he become disorientated, it became extremely difficult to move.

Then, cannon muzzles appeared from all directions, aiming and concentrating their fire at Heber.

The thought of attacking from the inside was good, but entering the body of the Mechanical Deity was as good as sending oneself to the home field of a Mechanic!

Heber was attacked to the point his world spun, and his fury quickly reached the max. With a furious scream, he ignored the various restrictions, landing his fists deep into the arm of the Mechanical Deity.

"Star Shaking Fist!"

Boom!

The reddish gold beam blasted out, running through the arm of the Mechanical Deity.

But the attack only reached up to its elbow before a psionic shield blocked the way, and the Star Shaking Fist smashed directly on it.

Bang!

With the burst of light and impact, the entire right arm of the Mechanical Deity was shattered!

Heber was also thrown out, and as he spun around in the universe, he saw this scene, and his spirits were revived.

But before he could feel any excitement, the broken right arm suddenly disintegrated and turned back into the individual mechanical soldiers. Chains of Mechanical Force shot forth from the broken stump of the right arm, connecting to the soldiers like a spider web, and pulled them back.

The next instant, the scattered soldiers rejoined the original body, and the Mechanical Deity was whole once again!

Heber's expression looked stiff.

"Pugilists who have reached the peak of the Beyond Grade A realm would probably have a chance of breaking apart the Mechanical Deity. As for you…" Han Xiao breathed in deeply. "You are still unqualified!"

He would not grant the Tyrant any time to recuperate and immediately activated the psionic cannons, concentrating their fire toward Heber.

No matter how one tried to dodge, it would only end in failure. The only option they had was to choose what to be attacked with.

After barely resisting for a while, Heber could no longer continue defending and was beaten up crazily by the Mechanical Deity, turning into a sandbag.

The people watching this scene all understood the situation.

At this moment, Heber's appearance of being thrashed by Han Xiao was imprinted on everyone's heart, and they would never forget it.

The image of the arrogant and strong Tyrant was thoroughly shattered in the hearts of all the citizens of the Shattered Star Ring.

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Chapter 953 Shattered Mentality

The battle became a one-sided beating. Heber's tragic state was reflected in the eyes of the Mechanical Deity, but it was unknown as to when the beating would stop.

Some of the people could not bear to watch and averted their gazes, but they could not help turning back again.

This disheveled state of a Beyond Grade A was not commonly seen, and it was valuable video information. Not many would waste the opportunity to watch it in real life and have the capital to boast of it to others in the future.

As everyone in the Bloodshed Land watched their commander get beaten up by Black Star, a sense of shame and anger rose in their hearts, and they could barely resist the urge to rush up to help.

However, they were well aware that if Heber could not even fight against Black Star, them going into the battle would be like sending themselves up for the slaughter. Not only would it be useless, it would also destroy the fairness of this battle, decreasing the reputation of the Bloodshed Land further.

Moreover, the Tyrant himself would never forgive them if anyone dared interfere.

Thus, everyone watched, trembling in anger as their boss was pummeled repeatedly.

Bang!

Fosters' expression contorted, and he smashed the metal bulkhead of the spaceship in anger. His whole body was shaking as he restrained his urge to join the fight.

"Tyrant…" Jorde gritted his teeth, feeling the shame as well.

How could they feel proud when their own boss was being thrashed?

On the other side, the three universal civilizations had many Beyond Grade As involved in the bet, and they were carefully gazing at the broadcast.

After the battle of Planet Lighthouse, the Beyond Grade A circle had already affirmed Black Star's strength, and most of them had guessed that Black Star would win but not the outcome.

In their predictions, Heber would at least cause some form of trouble for Black Star, killing most of his mechanical troops. They did not expect the situation to be such that Heber had no room left to fight back, with Black Star holding the initiative for the entire battle.

"To be beaten to this state, the defeat is too embarrassing to look at." Ravenlaude shook his head.

"Black Star is a really terrible guy. I think that Heber is already strong for being able to survive for so long. If it was me…" Beyoni shuddered, imagining what would happen if he was in Heber's place.

Really now, why are you scaring yourself? Black Star and I are good friends, really good friends…

"Regarding this point, I believe Dylan and you would have a lot of common topics." Milizaus could not help but poke fun at him.

Viru was a little sad as he sighed. "Sigh, after this battle, the prestige of the Tyrant will not even be a tenth of what it was."

As a pugilist, seeing Heber being beaten to this state made him feel a little sad and embarrassed.

The usage of Mechanical Deity by Black Star allowed the Beyond Grade As to know what this meant. It meant that he had already touched on the peak of the Beyond Grade A realm, so the defeat of Heber was not a shameful thing, but it was a fact that Heber had provoked Han Xiao earlier on in such a manner.

It was not just the allies of the dynasty. Even those from the federation and the church were discussing Black Star on their various channels. Han Xiao's performance caused the other Beyond Grade As to break out in cold sweat.

As they discussed the battle, the Mechanical Deity suddenly came to a stop.

Everyone's eyes gleamed.

"It has come to an end!"

An irresistible force came from the palm of the Mechanical Deity, and Heber was once again blown out, smashing through several broken planetary fragments along the way until the momentum stopped when he collided with a particularly huge continental plate. His entire figure was imprinted on it, leaving a human-shaped hole on the outside.

Fresh blood covered his sights. Heber's trembling palm reached for the edge of the hole, and he pulled himself out. There was no part of his body that was not wracked with pain, and he was literally dripping with blood. He did not know how many bones and tendons were broken or snapped, and he could feel that his internal organs were close to becoming meat paste. Throughout his entire body, his extremely tired cells were barely repairing themselves.

The pugilist aura on Heber's body flickered like a candle on the wind, as though it could die off any moment.

Gritting his teeth, he wanted to revolve his strength again, but instead, a surge of powerlessness hit his body. There was not even a drop of strength left in him.

Raising his head, he saw that the Mechanical Deity did not continue its pursuit but rather looked at him from afar.

"Continue!" Heber wanted to scream angrily, but sound could not travel through the vacuum, so he could only open his mouth mutely.

At this moment, the Mechanical Deity was released, and the mechanical host carrying Han Xiao's avatar popped out, floating in front of Heber. Looking at the man who had no untouched piece of skin throughout his body, Han Xiao released air to envelope both of them before opening the wide area communication channel.

"It's over. You have no more strength to continue the battle." Han Xiao's voice sounded through the channel, travelling into the ears of everyone present.

"This level of injury is only enough to tickle me. I still can fight with you for the whole day!"

Heber's eyes were bloodshot, and regardless of how his body was teetering on the edge of death, he dragged his torn muscles and threw a fist toward the avatar.

Pa!

The fist was easily caught. The strength within was not even a tenth of its original.

Han Xiao breathed in deeply, calmly saying, "Admit defeat. You've already lost."

Within his combat information, Heber's HP value was already close to nil, full of status conditions. If he continued fighting, he would definitely die.

Han Xiao had already achieved his objective. There should be a bottom line for everything. The reason the dynasty did not interfere this time was because they knew that he understood where his limits were, not because they did not care that an ally would die by his hand.

When taking action, what mattered most was controlling one's actions. There was nothing to gain from going overboard. There was no point in him getting his future development restricted by the dynasty just because of one mere Heber.

The Tyrant today did not possess the qualifications for Han Xiao to personally finish him off.

"Admit defeat? This phrase doesn't exist in my dictionary! I don't need your pity!" Heber raged, wanting to continue.

The next moment, countless mechanical capturing devices flew over, directly locking down Heber's body and only leaving his head unbound.

Ka ka ka!

Heber struggled with all his might, but there was no way for him to escape in his current state.

"Don't deceive yourself; you've already lost." Han Xiao's tone sank. "You should understand the current state of your body and the injuries better than me."

Heber did not answer, only glaring fixedly at Han Xiao, the unwilling and rage within clearly expressed, almost condensing.

After shooting him a glance, Han Xiao indifferently continued.

"Relax, we're still allies of the dynasty. I'll spare your life."

Hearing this, it was as though a bomb had gone off in Heber's mind, filling it with unprecedented shame!

To be spared from death because of this identity was just like being forced to spare him, and this was a huge insult and torture to him.

He felt as though his dignity and pride were trampled under Han Xiao's feet, almost causing him to go mad.

Han Xiao suddenly noticed something, retreating a distance away.

Swoosh…

Fosters and the other Vanguard Officials approached in a moment, standing guard in front of Heber.

"We've lost…" Fosters spat out the words with difficulty. "But if you still think you can insult His Excellency Heber, then you need to step over our corpses to do so!"

The Vanguard Officials all chorused in agreement, their expressions filled with wariness and some degree of anxiety.

"What are you guys doing? Scram!" Heber was furious. He was always the one that protected others, and now him being protected by his men only gave him more shame.

If I lose, then so be it. How is it that I, a renowned Beyond Grade A, now have to hide behind Calamity Grades for protection?

"No!" For the first time, Fosters disobeyed Heber's direct order.

Looking at all the backs of his Vanguard Officials, Heber felt a little stunned.

He had always regarded his men as consumables, and seeing this sight made him feel conflicting emotions.

In the distance, Jorde pursed his lips and surveyed his surroundings. Many of the Bloodshed Land members were showing confusion and conflicting emotions. He knew very well that the defeat of the Tyrant had directly shaken the beliefs of many people in the Bloodshed Land.

"I don't know how many of them will choose to leave now…" Jorde sighed.

They might not join the Black Star Army, which they were hostile to, but there would definitely be people leaving the Bloodshed Land.

This scene also fell in the eyes of the spectators, with them feeling all sorts of complex emotions. The Bloodshed Land had been growing rapidly recently and was in the limelight. Nobody expected them to be hit so hard today.

Han Xiao ignored the group of Vanguard Officials and only stared at Heber directly.

"The old accounts between us are considered temporarily settled."

The moment he finished speaking, Han Xiao no longer bothered with Heber's response, flying toward the Palace of Hidden Spells under the gazes of everyone.

This move was also a signal, announcing the end of the battle.

As the victor, Han Xiao did not need to make any additional statements, nor did he need to chase after the Tyrant. This would only have a countereffect.

His goal had been reached by winning this battle. The rest would occur naturally without him deliberately pushing.

Seeing his action, the surrounding spaceships all parted for him to enter the Palace of Hidden Spells.

Everyone present knew that from this moment on, the new strongest of the Shattered Star Ring had been born!

Sigh, he indeed lost.

Within the Bloodshed Land fleet, Sorokin's doppelganger sighed.

After this battle, Black Star had completely established his dominance of the Black Star Army in the Shattered Star Ring. Even if the Bloodshed Land could still compete with them, it would eventually still lose out, requiring twice the effort with half the amount of success.

The difficulty of the task just increased further… Sorokin was helpless.

His employers from the dynasty failed to stop the battle, which made Sorokin a little depressed.

But he did not fully count on others, as he was just a financial group in their eyes, and it was impossible for him to have absolute certainty in swaying the decisions of the Universal Civilization.

Taking a look at Heber who was supported by his Vanguard Officials as they flew back to the fleet, Sorokin snorted.

He did not know how long it would take for the Tyrant's shattered mentality to recover, which might affect their cooperation.

The situation has become more troublesome now.

Sorokin's eyes flickered.

Having such great prestige as a Beyond Grade A will always risk such a catastrophe. Prestige is both an influence and a shackle to the Beyond Grade A class. Fortunately, I'm not stupid like the Tyrant and have foresight. Only by throwing away the prestige of the Beyond Grade A will the shackles of one's identity no longer bind you. Only then can you live like a fish in water, free and easy.

If he was allowed to choose, he would not even choose to engage in this battle.

A pity that the Tyrant was still shackled by his prestige and made such a foolish move. Poor fellow… Sorokin shook his head.

The countless spectators finally began to disperse from the scene. At the same time, Han Xiao's avatar had just stepped foot on the Palace of Hidden Spells and met up with Austin.

Summoning a mechanical throne, Han Xiao surveyed his surroundings.

"I see you still love joining such boisterous events. Has the Palace of Hidden Spells been fixed yet?"

"Long ago."

After some casual conversation, Austin opened his mouth to ridicule him. "Hehe, from today onward, you're now the new head of the Beyond Grade As of the Shattered Star Ring. What are your thoughts?"

"None." Han Xiao waved his hands before smirking. "In fact, I was already the head a long time ago; what was missing was just the identity."

"You're really shameless!" Austin laughed, but he did not deny the fact.

He knew that he was not Han Xiao's opponent, Psyker had suffered under his hands before, Ames was close to him, and now with Heber out of the picture, Black Star was officially the strongest in this star field, the main spokesperson of the Crimson Dynasty.

After chatting a while, Han Xiao bade farewell and controlled his mechanical host to take the mechanical army back to the battleship, setting the return path before releasing [Lord's Descent].

The vision of the avatar disappeared, and Han Xiao opened his eyes with the vision of his room in front of him.

He sat in silence for a moment before letting out a deep breath.

With this, he had temporarily disrupted Ty-Ty's mental state and affected the influence of the Bloodshed Land, easing the pressure on him.

However, a Beyond Grade A's mentality was not shaken so easily, and the Tyrant would accept reality sooner or later.

But in the short term, Heber was out of the picture.

Stretching his waist, Han Xiao opened the door and walked out.

Now that the mission to fight the Tyrant had been completed again, there was a reward to be drawn, and the necessary procedures had to be prepared beforehand.

Touching Feidin once would give him a lucky chance!

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Chapter 954 Behind Every Tank Is the Willingness to Sacrifice

Within the cabin hall, many of the guards either sat or stood, their eyes fixed on the virtual screen. In the picture, Heber was slapped into the planet by the Mechanical Deity, and the next instant, the planet exploded. This was the UHD battle video recorded by the galactic media groups present. Currently, it was being replayed, and there were even sound effects added to the picture.

While this was the second time they were watching this, Hadavy could not help but sigh, muttering to himself, "When will I reach such a level?"

"Maybe… in your next life?" One of the Black Star Guards seated beside him laughed evilly. This guy was one of the Calamity Grades that had joined very early on, and he was also one of Hadavy's 'bad influences'.

"With your Esper Ability, even if you reach the Beyond Grade A level, it is estimated that your destructive force will not be at this stage." Aurora shook her head.

"His ability allows him to take a lot of hits," another person interjected. "Maybe if he reaches Beyond Grade A, he'll become the favorite sandbag of all the Beyond Grade As."

Hearing this, Hadavy grumbled in dissatisfaction, "Humph, you guys are just jealous."

"Hehe, honestly, even if you do break through your limits and become a Beyond Grade A, you might not even be able to absorb as much damage as His Excellency Black Star, and you also don't have a variety of moves like him… I think you'll be the weakest Beyond Grade A in history."

Thinking about it, Hadavy realized that was the case and immediately felt as though his future was dim, and his spirits hit rock bottom.

"Don't worry about all that." Feidin smiled warmly, stretching out a hand to squeeze Hadavy's shoulder. "Who knows, maybe you can't even advance to Beyond Grade A?"

Hadavy rolled his eyes and nastily retorted, "It's Chen Xing, isn't it? Don't try to imitate the Vice Captain."

As they all chatted with each other, the cabin door suddenly slid open, and Han Xiao walked in with large strides.

"Army Commander, good day!"

Many of them stood up quickly and saluted, staring at Han Xiao with heated gazes.

After watching the live broadcast, Black Star had just become more powerful and mysterious in everyone's mind. As his strength increased, so did everyone' s awe of him.

"Everyone's here." Han Xiao nodded, and glancing at the virtual screen, he laughed. "Haven't you all seen it already? Why are you even watching it again?"

Hadavy stepped up and declared with a boot-licking expression, "This is all to admire your heroism!"

He had initially joined the Black Star Army for a transaction, but after witnessing Han Xiao's potential so many times, he was completely won over by him.

After this battle, everyone knew that Black Star had officially become the strongest in the Shattered Star Ring. This identity was not just a simple name but brought with it reputation, influence, and pride.

A Beyond Grade A had to defeat all their peers in the same Star Field to obtain this title, and within the Shattered Star Ring, although Black Star was considered strong, the public did not know of this and always compared him to the Tyrant.

But having proved his point now, the majority of ordinary galactic residents also recognized his status as the strongest within this Star Field.

Seeing his immeasurable future, Hadavy could not wait to hug Black Star's thigh and was willing to accept Black Star's beatings every day.

Seeing this, Han Xiao had a weird expression.

He knew that Hadavy had been somewhat reluctant to join him, but how had he suddenly changed so drastically in his mentality?

Could it be that I'm so charming?

Shaking his head, he spoke a few customary sentences to everyone before arriving in front of Feidin. Just as he was about to proceed with the 'molestation', Feidin jumped away like a frightened deer.

"Wait… wait a minute, I'm Chen Xing!"

Han Xiao paused and put down his hand, laughing. "It's alright. Take your time. I'll wait."

Chen Xing immediately retreated into the mind, and Feidin took control once again. While his temperament was as gentle as a spring breeze, he had an expression of resignation.

In the past, when he got touched, Feidin was against it, but now, he had thoroughly accepted his fate.

After going through so many things, even he had to wonder if he was really just too lucky.

Seeing this, Han Xiao hurriedly came up, grabbing a handful of luck, and felt as though some luck glow had been transferred to him.

Returning to the room, Han Xiao could not wait to open the panel and select the option to complete his mission.

The random reward gave him a Character Summon Card of Heber, as though Feidin's luck this time had gone through the roof. The ability was actually [Polar Channel Flow—Cellular Overdrive, and while he could only use it once, it had been modified such that there was no sequelae.

The experience rewarded were average for Beyond Grade A boss missions, and the twenty odd billion experience he obtained helped to supplement his drying experience reservoir.

The two Legendary Points that he obtained the previous time did not appear, meaning that the awarding of Legendary Points was a one-off thing. However, because of the impact this battle had, he still managed to obtain another completely new Legendary Point.

Universe Legendary Point: Strongest of the Shattered Star Ring—You are standing at the pinnacle of a Star Field, and the universe extols your prestige!

This Legendary Point was likely something that would never be achievable for players.

After his rewards were settled, it was time for the final reward, the ability extraction!

You have received the reward: Draw one of Heber's abilities or talents.

Note: Heber is a Pugilist. Some of the abilities and talents are adjusted according to your class.

Randomizing… complete.

Please select one from the five options below as the reward:

1. Berserker – Ability: 110% damage for energy attacks, 50% energy consumption. Duration: 10s. Cooldown: 75s.

2. Polar Channel Flow—Cellular Overdrive – Ability: Liberate cell restrictions and squeeze out one's potential. You will briefly erupt into a higher level of combat capability, but after usage, you will be inflicted with a 'Weakened' status for 1 month, and skill upgrade costs will permanently increase by 7%.

3. Melee Combatant – Talent: When engaging in melee combat, 40% attack speed and 2 to all melee skill levels.

4. Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction – Talent: When taking damage, after factoring in resistance, the damage is further reduced by 7,500 before calculating any other resistance-based talents. If you have the talent series of 'Low Level Damage Immunity', then the fixed damage reduction will be the maximum value of said talent.

5. Critical Combo – Ability: When you make a combo on a target, the Crit Rate and Crit Damage will increase with each combo hit. This effect is capped at 75% Crit Rate and 350% Crit Damage. Duration: 5s. Cooldown: 80s.

Sweeping through the interface, Han Xiao was secretly overjoyed. There was indeed a difference between molesting Feidin and not, else he would not have gotten so many good skills.

But the more useful skills there were, the harder it was to choose.

Thinking about it, Han Xiao first removed [Berserker]. The skill bonus was toward purely energy damage, and while his Mechanical Force could injure people, the effect was too pathetic.

[Polar Channel Flow—Cellular Overdrive] was a good skill for burst damage, but the sequelae were too troublesome, unlike the time-limited side effect of using the Evolution Cube. Furthermore, the effect could still overlap indefinitely.

As for the effects… just look at Heber. If he could not win, then he would definitely not be able to win. There was no need to struggle and get hit more.

This ability had little significance for Mechanics, who did not rely on their body so much. Compared to a temporary burst, Han Xiao was more inclined to prepare more mechanical armies before the battle, and since he had just gotten a character card without side effects, this skill could be put aside.

Similarly, [Melee Combatant] was suitable for Mechanical Pugilists and Pugilists, but it was not too crucial for him.

As for [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction, this was a Molding Talent, and while 7,500 damage did not seem like much, that was only because he was looking at it from the perspective of a Beyond Grade A. For a Calamity Grade, having this amount of damage reduction would boost their survival by at least two or three times.

And if it was a Grade B or Grade C who obtained this… they would basically be unkillable within the same level, and if players were to meet such a boss, they would know what true despair felt like.

This ability worked in tandem with the 'Low Level Damage Immunity' series. Heber possessed the talent [Legendary Low Level Damage Immunity, which granted him immunity to attacks below 16,000 points of damage. But this did not mean that his Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction was rendered useless.

The normal rule of damage immunity meant that damage below a certain limit was directly ignored, but this was not applied to attacks with damage above that threshold. However, after adding [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction, even for an attack higher than 16,000 points, one had to first deduct 16,000 damage applied through Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction before calculating any resistance of lower priority, so both talents mutually supported each other to increase the immunity to damage.

However, Han Xiao had only managed to draw one, so the effect was discounted. In fact, what Han Xiao wanted was more of the talent [Super Toughness, which was the secret behind Heber's thick HP. Furthermore, it had a low priority, which meant that it would further reduce whatever damage Heber obtained after going through Damage Reduction and Immunity.

As for the final skill, [Critical Combo, it was quite suitable for him. The number of combos that a mechanical army could fire out was a form of happiness that Pugilists could not imagine. This would definitely increase the crit rate and damage in the shortest time.

What a dilemma…

Han Xiao scratched his head, pausing in thought, before finally making a choice.

You have been awarded [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction]!

As the ancient saying went, behind every tank was the willingness to sacrifice. Even though he really wanted to choose [Critical Combo]…

Letting go of a Molding Talent just like that would be too wasteful!

His own resistance was not low as well, and with his energy-HP conversion cycle, it would leave one in despair if he added this damage immunity…

Hehe, just imagining it was enough to give him goosebumps.

It is likely that I have to walk this tank path all the way to the end, but I would still rather have more DPS!

Han Xiao was torn.

After finalizing his rewards, Han Xiao let out a breath of relief. He slowly ruminated on the impact this battle had brought to him.

Obtaining the title of the strongest person in the Star Field would allow the Black Star Army's business within the Shattered Star Ring to pick up, and at the same time, it would attract a new wave of talent.

However, the decline of influence for the Bloodshed Land would not hinder the investment of the Limitless Financial Group. The other party was still its main competitor, but their degree of expansion would face difficulties due to this strike.

As for the dynasty's side, their lack of action meant that they tacitly agreed to this.

It seems like Ty-Ty will likely be hurt quite badly this time.

"Right now, the construction and development of the Flickering World still ranks as most important. For a period of time, the three Universal Civilizations will not have any conflicts with each other on the surface. In this manner, I can have a stable external environment to develop my mechanical civilization and Black Spirit Race, as well as set about building a secondary dimension factory…" Han Xiao murmured to himself. He had set the pace for these few decades during the version update early, which would allow him to steadily advance and make up for his lacking accumulation.

When the video of the battle was uploaded, it did not take long before the video reached the hands of the upper echelons of all civilizations. The upper echelons of the federation and the church each convened a temporary meeting specifically for this matter.

In the conference room, the Federation of Light's President Bader looked around at the elders and senior officials present as he asked, "Everyone has watched the video. What are your thoughts?"

The Chief Elder tapped his cane and hoarsely said, "For whatever reason, it has become a fact that Black Star now possesses peak Beyond Grade A strength, and the Crimson Dynasty will soon usher in its fourth National Pillar, which is not advantageous for us."

"That's right." Another of the senior officials injected, "Furthermore, Black Star is simply too young, and can serve the Dynasty for a long period of time. He is furthermore the most troublesome Virtual Mechanic class, and with them, it is likely that he can grow to Manison's level, which will threaten our benefits."

"What I'm worried about is when Black Star will next grow." One official had a deep frown. "We thought that he would remain silent for the next decade or so, but time and time again, we have been proven wrong. Every time we feel that he requires some period to reinforce his foundation before he can further increase his strength, he suddenly does the reverse of our expectations."

Hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought.

Meeting Han Xiao as an opponent that broke all common sense gave everyone a strong sense of pressure.

"If that's the case, then the strategy for the Evolutionary Totem will have to be adjusted to some extent," the Chief Elder concluded.

"Indeed." Bader sighed. "I'll have to discuss it with those from the Arcane Church."

The battle had attracted a great amount of attention, to the point that this news had yet to abate even after half a month, but rather showed an upward trend.

With the spread of the galactic media groups, even the galactic residents that were not interested in war or battle could appreciate the 'heroism' of the Tyrant. Those who did not know of the Tyrant losing the battle all eventually came to hear of it.

A Beyond Grade A being thrashed was such an interesting topic, and this matter quickly became the dinner conversation of many galactic residents.

In the eyes of the majority, the Tyrant was a relatively unfamiliar Beyond Grade A, and now, his 'fame' was rising due to people knowing his presence in the form of being able to take beatings.

There was also news circulating that after the battle, Heber went into closed door cultivation, not even allowing his close subordinates to see him.

The incident spread vigorously, and a special group of people also noticed the Mechanical Deity that was revealed by Black Star.

The Machinery Faith!

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Chapter 955 Undercurrents Move Once Again

The palace hall made up completely of gold-alloy mechanical parts sat atop a mountain peak, and two mechanical islands revolved around it like planets around the sun. A bright red artificial sun hung in the sky, like a bloodshot eye, shining on this barren land.

Around the lone peak, there were countless large mechanical mining platforms, with the palace located in the middle. Coupled with the many Machinery Faith believers clad in mechanical suits and walking around the city, this scene resembled a mechanical city shaped like a ring. Armored transport vehicles whistled down the space roads, making noises as their plates collided with the bumps on the road, and the air was filled with the smell of metal and motor oil.

This was a branch base of the Machinery Faith, located on a famous planet that used to be a battlefield within the Ancient Star Desert. These miners excavated the underground mechanical wreckage day and night, sending them to the priests of the Machinery Faith to uncover the lost technology.

Placed in the center, the palace hall was the temple of god for the Machinery Faith. Each mountain peak that carried the mechanical temple of god would be named as the Holy Mountain. Obsidian-esque floating steps extended from eight directions at the foot of the Holy Mountain, connecting to the mechanical temple's doors. According to their customs, if it was not an emergency, pilgrims had to use their feet to traverse the path and could not ride any form of transportation to enter the temple.

On each side of these eight pilgrimage roads stood mechanical statues or metallic monuments. They were different types of abandoned ancient machinery, which showcased the progression from ancient to advanced technology, and they were all carved with all sorts of teachings.

This fusion of machinery and theology seemed to bring about a unique flavor to this area.

The Machinery Faith was a loose organization, not a unified religious organization. Their common activity was worshipping mechanical technology and powerful mechanics. However, based on their principles, they had also segregated themselves into many factions and different specializations in each field. Examples included the Biochemical Machinery school; the Bloodshed Destruction school, which was fanatical over the destructiveness of the weapons; and the Firepower Advantage school, which adhered to the saying 'big is good, big is beautiful'.

As for this current branch, it belonged to the believers of the Forgotten Faction, which was also known as the Archaeological school. They were keen on finding and restoring the lost ancient mechanic technology and were one of the oldest Machinery Faith schools.

At this moment, in the main hall, the priests of this branch were gathered with a large number of priests from the other branches participating through remote projection. The crowd had formed a circle, and in the center, there was a virtual screen showing the battle between Black Star and the Tyrant.

"As everyone saw, a new Mechanical Deity has come to this world, spreading the gospel to the entire Universe."

Clad in luxurious, heavy-duty power armor, the Grand Priest who only exposed his head spoke as though he was giving a sermon.

"So majestic, so beautiful!"

"What sort of magnificent creation is this…"

"It's been so many years since we've last seen a Mechanical Deity descend. I almost forgot what it looked like."

Many of the priests were whispering among themselves, their eyes shining with excitement and fanaticism.

"Silence." The Grand Priest pressed down with both hands, an expression of solemnity on his face.

Everyone shut their mouths immediately, turning to him.

The Grand Priest then took out a mechanical scepter that resembled a tree branch. He pressed a button, and behind him rose a completely new alloyed shrine pedestal.

He turned to walk over, and with his back to the rest, he spoke in a strong and grand tone.

"Following the ancient teachings, in the name of the original deity Nilfgadi, we shall witness the birth of the new deity together. From now on, I will consecrate the new deity, and everyone, please remember the name of this new deity…"

As he recited, the Grand Priest opened the operation screen for the divine pedestal and entered the battle video as well as the parameters. The next moment, the entire temple shook!

Boom!

In front of everyone, countless flows of metal alloys and nanoparticles shot out, combining with each other to form a statue that was carved in the likeness of the Black Star Mechanical Deity.

Besides the Black Star idol statue, there were others, and the statue of Manison was also among them. These were the Mechanical Deities of the past, all of which stood under the towering dome of the temple.

The largest and most conspicuous statue was the mechanic named Nilfgadi. This person was the very first mechanic to have his Mechanical Deity enshrined. Even those who possessed a Mechanical Deity worshipped him. In fact, this purpose of the Machinery Faith was developed by him.

As the pioneer of the Divine Throne Mechanic class, Nilfgadi discovered the effect of the [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus, so he interfered with the Machinery Faith, influencing it to its current state of worshipping Mechanics. All the enshrined Divine Throne Mechanic descendants were simply enjoying the benefits that he had wrought for them.

The Machinery Faith did not require a two-way communication between the worshipper and the idol to work, to the point that sometimes… it did not concern them at all.

However, only those Divine Throne Mechanics that were still alive could give blessings to their believers. Thus, the dead Mechanical Deities of the past only had commemorative significance. Nowadays, most of the believers in the Machinery Faith believed in 'Mechanic Emperor' Manison.

And now, the rise of Black Star had torn a small hole in this solid belief. This was something that Manison could not even stop.

Facing the deities from past to present, the Grand Priest and all the priests bowed down to complete the ceremony.

"We respectfully welcome Black Star!"

I keep feeling as if someone is praising me behind my back…

Within the cabin, Han Xiao rubbed his nose as he felt a strange emotion.

"Hey, hey, don't lose focus when you're talking to me!" From within the communicator, Tarrokov had a helpless expression.

Han Xiao came back to his senses and joked, "Sorry, I was just thinking about what to have for dinner later. Where were we?"

"What do you have to think about? You think I don't know you only rely on nutrition fluids?"

"Oh, who tattled on me!"

"That's enough, back to business." Tarrokov shook his head in resignation. "I can reveal that the development plan made by the upper echelons of the dynasty has been arranged up to the fourth phase, and only the first phase will give you plenty of time to build. After that, more foreign direct investments will be introduced to help you develop while exploring further."

"Which means, only when these three Star Clusters are completely constructed will the dynasty proceed with the next period, right? Then the advantage that we've brought for ourselves by pioneering the Flickering World will end." Han Xiao stroked his chin.

Tarrokov neither agreed nor denied it. "In short, the development progress for the three star clusters has exceeded expectations and is very smooth. We expect to complete the construction plans in five to seven years before we begin the second phase."

This timing is still acceptable… Han Xiao secretly nodded.

When Version 4.0 was released, the Flickering World should be in its fourth phase of development, so his own [Flickering World] Main Storyline had to undergo quite a few of the chain missions. Completing the [Exploration Pioneer] milestone would not be a problem. The reason he had called Tarrokov was to find out about this.

After chatting for a while, Han Xiao hung up.

The news of him defeating the Tyrant had already gone on for more than a month, and the results were obvious. The number of new applicants rose by forty-three percent, and the investments from the various financial groups rose by thirty-five percent. As for Bloodshed Land, their influence had taken a hit, and their pace was slowly dying down.

In addition, the Wayne Cards series, which was always sensitive to news, immediately made a change, issuing a statement to announce an epic enhancement to the Black Star deck, as well as a comprehensive weakening of the Bloodshed Land deck. Furthermore, they also changed the status of the strongest within the Star Fields, adding Black Star's name into the list.

Some of the Beyond Grade A people also sent out congratulatory messages. Among them was Sorokin, who gave Han Xiao a whole new impression of the word 'shamelessness'.

As it turned out, if one threw aside their dignity, they could still live quite happily.

Now that the Black Star Army had laid its hands on the title of the strongest within the Star Field, the competition against the Limitless Financial Group had basically turned into a tug-of-war, where it would be unsolvable in a short period of time. Since he had also completed his advancement, and his accumulated experience was not enough to reach the next stage, his focus was on the construction of his territory.

After 'shopping' within the dynasty for such a long time, he had seen most of the potential stocks. Han Xiao intended to return to the Shattered Star Ring and digest the impact of his battle, as well as adjust the details of the construction. He would also use [Mechanical Proliferation Growth] to transform some of his first-generation mechanical life forms to accelerate the development of the mechanical civilization.

The next step would then be to use the logistics capabilities of his base to build a secondary dimension factory, creating a new generation of mechanical army. Although they could be built within the Dimension Factory, the army bases there were mostly branches and were far less efficient than back at his main base.

"Phillip, set a course back to the Shattered Star Ring."

"Roger roger, hum…"

"Strongest in the Star Field? Hehe…"

There were only a few guests within this retro-style tavern, and a tall, thin man sat next to the wooden bar counter as he stared at the appearance of Han Xiao, showing a playful smile.

He was a Spacehuman, but his skin looked unhealthy and pale, seemingly in a state of malnutrition and lack of light. He looked ordinary. Nobody would be able to pick him out of a group of people.

Staring at Han Xiao on the screen, the tall and thin man revealed a reminiscent expression.

"Obtaining a national pillar like Black Star is a blessing for the dynasty," the tavern's owner commented while wiping his glasses.

"That's right. It's really a blessing for the dynasty. If there's a chance, I would really like to meet him again."

"You've seen Black Star before?" The bar owner got interested.

"I could say that. Speaking of which, he even took some things of mine. Hehe… Not sure if he still remembers such a… small fry like me."

The tall and thin man laughed before standing up, picking up his jacket he draped over his seat, and walking out.

"On your tab again?" The bar owner put down the glass in his hand, speaking as though he was familiar with the man.

"Oh, yes, same old. When my salary comes, I'll settle everything along with next month's."

With this sentence, the man walked out of the bar, putting his uniform back on… which was the uniform of a dynasty army officer.

Within a room in the Sea of Star Spirits, a dozen or so different kinds of people were gathered around a long table, discussing something vigorously. There were dozens of printed physical books on the long table, all without titles on their covers.

"Start from the Central Galaxy? Are you crazy? You're only seeking death!"

"If our target is too far, we will not have enough influence. The Super Star Cluster civilizations are the most suitable for development."

"We only use these books to promote our ideologies. The quantum networks are strictly monitored by countless civilizations, and not only will we not enjoy any convenience, we'll also attract attention."

"To me, I feel that we should wait and see. It might not be a good time now…"

Hearing all the discussions, Rossellin, who was leaning on the sofa, softly coughed twice.

Edmond turned his head toward her, and thinking about it, he rapped on the table to make everyone quiet before turning to Rossellin.

"Do you have any ideas?"

Rossellin faintly smiled. "You guys look like a circus act."

Hearing this, many people revealed displeased expressions.

Edmond, however, waved his hand, not the least bit angry. "You're right, we've yet to begin our business. Of course there would be many disagreements. I hope to hear your opinion on this."

Rossellin snorted, sitting up to speak. "The current condition of the universe is stable, with little to no chance for any external friction between the three civilizations. However, there are undercurrents surging, and each civilization is walking on a tightrope. This is because of the Flickering World and the Evolutionary Totems… I've already said it clearly within the program. The root of this problem lies in the internal struggle of the three civilizations and its opposition to many of the Star Cluster level civilizations.

"The Flickering World is a way to reshuffle the deck. While the attention of the whole universe is on the Flickering World, we can quietly develop, promoting this idea in a low-key but gentle manner. By sugar-coating it as a religion, we can lurk first and lie in wait for an opportunity."

"What opportunity?" someone asked.

"The Star Cluster level civilizations hope to obtain a channel to promote themselves to higher tier, but the Universal Civilizations will also firmly hold on to their interests, leaving these Super Star Clusters and Star Clusters only leftovers," Rossellin blandly replied. "The latter two have been suppressed for too long and will one day reach a critical point. They will not wait forever, and when all hope is lost, it will detonate. The Flickering World has the potential to be a fuse, and this is the fertilizer for our development."

Edmond nodded. "I think the same way. It's best for our timing not to be delayed."

Hearing this, everyone finally nodded.

Seeing this, Rossellin could not help but sneer inwardly.

In truth, she did not look up to any of these people at all. They were only blindly following Edmond's twisted ideals and her desire to watch the world burn.

Breaking the restrictions of the three universal civilizations? It sounded good, but she did not care. Her motive was to overthrow the entire three civilizations; only this would make her excited.

Edmond was a firm believer in his own ideals, but in her opinion, this was just a good entry point.

With this age of material abundance, no one would worry about survival, and only the struggle for interests would make the world go around. This was a revolution not initiated because of survival but because of the unresolved contradictions between the three universal civilizations and the other super star cluster civilizations.

The world often stood on the edge of the cliff, struggling to maintain its balance. It just needed someone to push it, like pushing the switch to change the tracks of a railroad to lead history down another path. If there was no such thing, they just had to create one.

"If we are to start our business, we will need a name," Edmond said seriously.

Looking at his silver skin, Rossellin laughed meaningfully.

"How about… we call ourselves the Silver Revolutionary Army?"

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Chapter 956 Education Plan

After travelling for a period, the fleet finally returned to the Shattered Star Ring. Han Xiao returned to the headquarters immediately, gathering his officers to review the work over this period.

Generally speaking, there were still the same old problems, but the slightly better news was that the Germinal Financial Group was developing smoothly. As the subsidiary financial group under the Black Star Army, they had manpower, money, influence, and even the support of armed forces, which was the same as them being born with a golden spoon in the Shattered Star Ring. It quickly gathered a large number of the affiliated business partners of the army and negotiated long-term cooperation deals, which made the structure of the army much simpler.

What was worth nothing was that Iapetus, whom Han Xiao had taken from the dynasty, had shown excellent business skills. The performance of the team he led was always at the forefront, and they signed up with one cooperation treaty after another for the financial group. Apart from gathering the subsidiary businesses, they even tried to open new channels.

In her comments, Sylvia mentioned that Iapetus had excellent business negotiation skills, strategic vision, leadership abilities, persuasive eloquence, calm judgment, and so on. He was a high-quality management talent and should be placed on the shortlist for an executive position.

The Black Star Army was full of talents. Because of its huge size, there were many officers in all kinds of positions. Phillip would evaluate the army members and select the talents to form a candidate list, which would all be potential officers.

Han Xiao used his free time to review the backlog of documents, and after finishing all official matters, the rest of the officers also relaxed.

"By the way, how is the learning progress of Nero?" Han Xiao asked.

"Good, he is very talented," Reynold simply replied.

"Ok, when the meeting ends, I'll go take a look." Han Xiao stroked his chin. "I have a question for you."

"Please."

"If there ever comes a day where I'll have to kill your sister, what will you do?"

Reynold froze his shock, his expression hesitant. "This…"

"No need to be scared, just say your true feelings."

"… Why would you want to kill her?"

"For example, she commits a severe crime or undermines the benefits of our army."

Reynold breathed out slowly before saying expressionlessly, "If that's the case, then I will not hold any grudges against you. She must be responsible for her own actions. However, I will not continue working for you at that time as well. I hope you can understand."

The atmosphere suddenly grew tense, and everyone held their breath. They knew that Han Xiao did not say things without a reason. Could it be that Rossellin, who had left the army, had really done something?

Han Xiao also stared at him for a while before he laughed and nodded. The atmosphere lightened considerably.

"Who can tell what will happen in the future? Don't mind me. There's nothing wrong with your answer."

Reynold silently nodded but retreated to a corner, deep in thought.

Glancing at his face, Han Xiao secretly shook his head.

When the original three founders of the Silver Revolutionary Army came over to the Black Star Army to poach Rossellin, he had planted an (Observer's Mark) on Edmund. Not too long ago, he had seen the official establishment of the Silver Revolutionary Army through the (Observer's Mark]. The movements of Edmond and company could not even escape his eyes.

Based on his original plans, he wanted to sit and watch the growth of the Silver Revolutionary Army. One reason was that he was growing leeks; only when the three Universal Civilizations started to pay attention to the Silver Revolutionary Army would he then be able to render a great merit. Secondly, he wanted to have someone that he knew clearly trigger the contradictions between the civilizations. Only then would he know how to deal with it. Lastly, he wanted to sit behind the scenes and watch as he felt that there might be a chance to utilize the Silver Revolutionary Army in the future.

However, Han Xiao's thoughts had never been set in stone. He had always adjusted his plans flexibly according to the situation. Now that his position in the dynasty had been consolidated, this achievement might not be needed.

As for the threat with the World Tree Civilization, that was supposed to be an issue in the future, but it had turned into a randomly triggered explosive. With external threats looming, it was unknown whether he should allow the Silver Revolutionary Army to wreak havoc.

The conflict between the three universal civilizations and the Super Star Cluster civilizations was something inevitable. The latter was bound to one day rebel against the dominant civilizations due to their contradictions. The Silver Revolutionary Army was just the fuse.

Han Xiao knew that killing off the Silver Revolutionary Army in advance would not help to resolve any conflicts, but there was a chance it would postpone the outbreak.

But no matter what he chose, the upper echelons of the Silver Revolutionary Army would have to be killed. In many cases, ideology was even more frightening than weapons. Reformers typically did not meet a good end, so Han Xiao was also concerned about Reynold's thoughts and wished to give him a heads up. However, for someone like Reynold, once he made up his mind, no one could change his thoughts. Sylvia looked around before coughing, breaking the silence. "By the way, I have an interesting proposal here. Please take a look."

She raised her communicator and showed a virtual screen with a document within.

Han Xiao swept across and raised an eyebrow. "… Super Education Plan?"

"That's right. We opened training camps on many planets to train reserve members, but it was too militarized, and only those who signed a contract to be reserve army members would receive grooming. This proposal is for the Black Star Army to provide funding and open a private Super college in the Shattered Star Ring, where any civilian can pay for school and need not be a reserve…"

"Wait." Han Xiao raised his hand up. "Such schools are everywhere, and every galactic civilization has their own official Super college. There's no need for me to also have another."

"No, this is different." Sylvia shook her head. "You're the strongest in the Star Field. This identity has appeal and can attract the maximum number of students. The school that we will run is different."

Han Xiao stroked his chin, browsing the proposal, and casually asked, "What about the benefits?"

"Opening such a school will allow you to effectively expand your influence, and you can also use this as a form of social responsibility," Sylvia said. "Many business partners of the army are too distant from your average galactic resident; the establishment of a college will allow the galactic residents to turn their admiration for you into actual support, allowing your influence to penetrate deep into the masses. Also, this will allow the idle army members to have something to do."

"Sounds like a good plan." Han Xiao nodded. This sort of idea was also good to help him cultivate more leeks. In the past, this was not done, mainly because his influence and funds were not large enough. Now, the Black Star Army really had the qualifications to diversify into the education sector.

No matter how strong a Beyond Grade A was, or how great their reputation was, to the ordinary galactic residents, they were just like movie stars. Apart from being a teatime topic and a focus of public opinion, the actual impact on their daily lives was not great. Opening a school was a great way to capitalize on one's influence as the process of providing welfare to the people would result in them increasingly supporting the various businesses of the Black Star Army in their daily lives. The benefits were long term and multi-faceted.

Moreover, with the size of the Black Star Army skyrocketing, there were many idle soldiers around.

There was a limit to the number of employment tasks. Compared to the past, the security of Shattered Star Ring had improved a lot, and the name of Black Star Army had become a taboo among the galactic pirates, which gave them boundless fear every time they saw the emblem of the Black Star Army.

"Ok, let's follow your plan. We'll first do a pilot test in the Colton Star Cluster. For the hundreds of other schools, we can talk about it later."

"Then, this fund…"

"Granted."

Han Xiao waved his hand. Since his money was also idling there, it would be good to take it out to do something. To think that it could be frustrating to have too much money.

"Since you're using my name, I'll be the honorary principal. As for the actual principal…"

Gazing at Sylvia's hairline, which seemed to have receded a little, Han Xiao coughed a little embarrassedly before changing his gaze.

By the side, Lagi, who had lots of hair, happened to walk in front of Han Xiao at this time. The Great Mechanic Han immediately caught his breath.

"It's you, Lagi. You go and be the principal!" Lagi returned to his senses and put on a bitter expression. "Wasting my life in a meaningless position, this is the destiny of all beings. I didn't expect that, despite doing my best, I would still be unable to escape in this reincarnation…"

Hearing this, the corners of everyone's mouth twitched.

To think you could paint such a beautiful excuse even for skiving. You're really a f*cking genius!

After sending off the downcast Garbage (1. Lagi's name sounds like the words for Garbage in Chinese.) and the other officers, Han Xiao took out his communicator, calling Lothaire to inquire about the current situation.

Lothaire's position was different from the Black Star Guards. He was a Shadow Guard, and rather than sticking to Black Star's side the Shadow Guards were responsible for the secret ops such as assassination and espionage. Currently, Han Xiao's only Shadow Guard was Lothaire.

After the incident with the Blood Gold Organization, Han Xiao had instructed Lothaire to lurk within the black market organizations, collecting information and assassinating the middle-level officers of the Blood Gold Organization. After a long period of investigation, Han Xiao had decided to instruct Lothaire to be like his previous life, establishing an Assassin's Society to serve as a subsidiary force under the Black Star Army.

Lothaire himself was extremely strong, and his character was decisive. He was a silent yet reliable character, suitable for solo missions. Han Xiao was quite confident in him and not afraid that he might accidentally expose himself.

After talking for a while, he hung up, and Han Xiao then walked over to the logistics department to see Nero.

Nero had shot up once again. After his hell-like learning, he had begun to familiarize himself with the techniques. Seeing Han Xiao approaching, Nero seemed very happy, rushing up and pestering Han Xiao for gifts.

Thinking about it, Han Xiao took out a learning enhancement device related to cognitive technology and gave it to Nero, which successfully earned him a roll of Nero's eyes.After teasing Nero as usual, Han Xiao checked the interface and discovered that Nero was still stuck at [High Grade Mechanical Sense).

As he stroked Nero's head, Han Xiao sighed before saying, "After a while, I want you to return to Planet Aquamarine to see your father. You should continue your studies there."

Hearing this, Nero's eyes misted up, and he put on a wronged expression. "Are you chasing me away? Where have I done wrong?"

Han Xiao laughed. "You're mistaken. I thought about it, and just making you stick your head into books all day without communicating with others is not good. Our army is about to open a civilian college, and Planet Aquamarine will definitely be one of the first pilot regions. You can just go to school on Planet Aquamarine, accompany Bennett more, and take some time off to learn from Reynold. Just take it as a reward for working so hard up till now."

Nero was shocked.

Did my godfather change sex? To think that he actually gave me a holiday! "… What sort of expression is that? Why do you look like you saw a ghost?" "I… I was just happy." Nero swallowed hard, secretly sizing Han Xiao up, as though he was afraid that he was simply being pranked by an imposter.

Han Xiao actually wished for Nero to achieve [Perfect Mechanical Sense) in one shot, but seeing Nero's current growth spurt, he felt that he should not push him too hard. In another few years, Nero's childhood years would be gone, and it would be good to allow him to relax for a period of time, which might help him grow.

After solving all those matters, Han Xiao entered the machinery modification room and shut himself in, beginning to update all his mechanical army. In the process, he also began to create another defining feature of the Divine Throne Mechanic—the Divine Mechanical Throne.

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Chapter 957 The Mechanic Emperor"s Counter

In the Army Commander's machinery modification room, row after row of assembly lines were lined in an orderly manner, and from the chassis of each assembly line stretched out dozens of multi-functional mechanical manufacturing arms that automatically assembled the products. The entire room was filled with the sound of parts fitting into each other, as the assembled products were sent down the lines to undergo transformation.

Han Xiao strolled down the busy workshop, continuously releasing his Mechanical Force like a dense spider web, linking all the assembly lines like countless extended limbs, which allowed him to multitask and build many machines at the same time.

Currently, machinery manufacturing and assembling had already become extremely convenient for him. The efficiency of such multi-tasking was linked to the Intelligence attribute, and even if there were no assembly lines, Han Xiao could also transform a large number of machines at the same time and utilize the method the players used, which was to concurrently manufacture and assemble.

Han Xiao walked up to one of the workbenches. This was where the Divine Mechanical Throne was currently being constructed, with the last parts currently being fitted in. The mechanical arms were painting and spraying it with cooling mist, which overflowed around the entire area.

Waving his hand to disperse the mist, Han Xiao carefully looked at the throne in front of him. It was a black alloy throne, with its surface covered in mechanical structural lines. The squares were sharp and angular, and one could see that it looked very badass.

Han Xiao had also added nano-deformation technology, which had a self-adjusting function, being able to perfectly fit any sort of body shape. Its appearance and style were similar to the floating throne he had created before, but the internal technology was vastly different. The previous floating throne only had a visual effect, but this throne had actual bonuses and was unique to the attributes of whoever designed it.

Opening his interface, Han Xiao glanced at the item introduction.

Black Star's Divine Mechanical Throne

Type: Extraordinary Bonus Equipment

Item Level: 300

Grade: Orange (Legendary)

Main Materials: 8th Gen Black Star Alloy, Mysterious Titanium, 15th Gen Nanoparticles

Energy Core: Lightly Modified Stable Psionic Reactor

Basic Attributes:

Durability: 50,000/50,000

Defense: 7,800

Shield Durability: 150,000/150,000

Equipped Effect 1: [Mechanical Sense Amplification] – x1.1 Machinery Affinity

Equipped Effect 2: [Aura Enhancement] – Increases deterrence, affects all targets that are looking at you. If the target's level is lower than yours by thirty or more, the opponent's Attributes will temporarily decrease by 10%.

Equipped Effect 3: [Calm Commander] – When used in a combat state, all mechanical soldiers that are boosted with Mechanical Force will obtain an additional 8% increase in Defense and Status Resistances.

Equipped Effect 4: [Walk with the Wind] – 740 CHA

Remarks: Being handsome is everything!

"Can be used to look cool, and even adds bonuses. What a badass piece of divine equipment." Han Xiao stroked it lovingly, refusing to let go.

In the future when he brought this toy out to fight, those who were unaware would think that he had a lot of style. It completely suited his cold and suave character!

After experimenting with the results, Han Xiao stored the throne with satisfaction, turning back to the other workbenches.

The majority of the workbenches were updating the spare mechanical army that sat in the Black Star Army warehouse, reforming their technology to the level of the Divine Throne Mechanic. A small portion was however involved in manufacturing new machinery, many of which were taken from the blueprints of the Tyracles Legacy.

The Tyracles Legacy was a racial talent for his level 300 Promotion, and this race had a profound knowledge in mechanical technology, with all sorts of whimsical and miraculous machines. When Han Xiao completed the promotion mission, he had unlocked the blueprints up to level 300.

Some of the blueprints could be used, adding dozens of new machines to his current mechanical army. According to the different functions, his mechanical army had expanded to contain more units, which included many new types of soldiers.

The Cosmic Wanderer, the Tyracles' Specialty Mechanical soldier, alternated between the colors of green and purple. It possessed a triangular knight helmet-like head and a thin skeletal body frame. Using biochemical machinery, a module under their armor housed a large amount of secret strengthening fluid to enhance its tendons and muscles, which would allow their body frame to swell explosively into a huge bodybuilder shape. The bonuses awarded were very high.

In addition, this model had special capabilities. It possessed two stages of transformation. One of them was overclocking, which allowed it to obtain a strong explosive force and improvement in all attributes, and the second was Explosive Retreat, which was activated on the basis of overclocking. The second mode allowed it to release a special warp field, covering both ranged and melee attacks. After the actual combat test run, Han Xiao found out that the Cosmic Wanderer could rival most models that had the same specifications as it. Its basic performance was one of the best.

Han Xiao now had a few more slots for Apostle Weapons, so he chose the Cosmic Wanderer with the best basic attributes to convert into an Apostle Weapon. Initially, he wanted to name it 'Purple Muscle Tyrant', but thinking about it, the name seemed a little perverted.

Naming an Apostle Weapon was just like naming a child; it was not something he could randomly scream and be done with. After ruminating for a while, Han Xiao finally named it 'Purple Sky Spirit' based on how he had named his previous Apostle Weapons and prepared to bring it over to the Machinery civilization to have it propagate as well.

Other than this, the Tyracles Legacy blueprints contained many other good items, such as physical missiles equipped with precision transition guidance. The ammunition was made from a special high-energy polymer, which contained a strong erosion effect, and was particularly useful toward a battleship's shields.

There was also an interesting series of stellar star system devices that could create a path to guide and focus stellar energy from the universe, indirectly causing annihilation level strikes. However, Han Xiao was more concerned about the stellar concentrator under this series. It could take stellar matter on a large scale and, through its condensation, create a 'movable Fixed Star'.

Other than energizing and guiding attacks, this device could also release material at other locations to form a completely new Fixed Star, the size of which was determined by the amount of material released. This was what it meant by movable.

Within the legacy, the Saint Tyracles used this method to multiply the stars. After duplicating them, the new stars were then filled with dust and matter to increase the volume. In that manner, the natural fixed stars that it produced had far more power output compared to ordinary man-made Fixed Stars.

What Han Xiao was concerned about was the usage of this device. If this device was released at point blank range, it was akin to a portable stellar bomb. Its destructive power was probably not much worse than the original Primordial Psionic Energy bomb, and there was no problem with environmental pollution. This facilitated murder as well as the removal of evidence.

As Han Xiao buried his head in the transformation of his machinery, Sylvia set out to implement the education plan. The first step was to announce to the entire Star Field that the army had diversified into the education sector.

Ever since Han Xiao had defeated the Tyrant, there were many galactic residents who were following his movements. They thought that Black Star would make big moves after acquiring the title of strongest in the Star Field.

The moment this announcement came out, the entirety of the Shattered Star Ring started boiling in excitement. The top Beyond Grade A of Shattered Star Ring had started a school, and just his name alone would attract a large number of people.

The plan was to prepare for the pilot testing of dozens of schools within the Godora galaxy, and Planet Aquamarine was one of the important pilot areas.

The development of Planet Aquamarine rapidly changed with each passing day. When Nero stepped off the spaceship, he felt that Black Star City had become a lot more foreign to him.

"I'm home…"

Nero settled his emotions and returned home, only to find out that Bennett had gone on a work trip, and only his mother was at home.

Because Han Xiao had given him a vacation, for the next few days, Nero indulged in eating, drinking, and playing games.

"This is the life…!"

Lazing on the balcony of his high-attitude villa, Nero held a cup of ice cream in his hands, drinking the melted cream through a straw as he gazed on the scenery of the city.

Within the Black Star Army, he had no status, so he could only passively accept arrangements. Over here, he was the son of the planet's leader, so he was the biggest young master in this city. As long as he did not break the law, he could have everything he wanted… such as this ice cream, which he had asked his bodyguard to buy.

Buzz!

At this moment, the external screens of several buildings outside lit up, and the news played.

"The Black Star Army announced the establishment of its Black Star Super Academy yesterday in an effort to obtain more talents. President Bennett met up with the executive principal of the Black Star Super Academy and will be delivering a speech shortly…"

The live broadcast played on the screen, and a press conference was in progress. On screen, Bennett's and Lagi's long distance projections sat opposite each other, chatting in front of countless reporters. This was in an executive conference room within the government building, situated within Black Star City. Seeing his, Nero knew that Bennett had already returned.

"On behalf of the people on Planet Aquamarine, I thank the Black Star Army for their generosity." In the picture, Bennett smiled and expressed his attitude.

Lagi remained silent and only nodded, while the interpreter beside him enthusiastically spoke. "Planet Aquamarine is the mother star of Black Star, so he is very willing to help with its development. The people of Planet Aquamarine are just like his brothers and sisters."

After so many painful lessons, Lagi was hereby banned from speaking in such public events. Han Xiao had specially searched for a sunny and positive secretary to act as an interpreter.

Looking at Bennett in the live broadcast, Nero suddenly discovered that the wrinkles on Bennett's face seemed to have increased, and white hair also seemed to be filling up his head.

"Father is getting old…"

Nero pursed his lips, inexplicable emotions spreading in his heart. The joy of his vacation gradually subsided, replaced by an uncomfortable feeling of having nothing to do.

After travelling through the universe, Nero's experiences were far broader than his peers, and he had begun to mature early. He understood the situation of Planet Aquamarine as well as Bennett's pains, and this concept of responsibility also gradually formed within his heart.

After struggling inwardly for a while, Nero shoved the remainder of the ice cream into his mouth before retreating into his room and unwillingly pulling out a book on machinery theory, flipping through it with a bitter expression.

But this only lasted for a while before he slowly got absorbed within.

While he thought he would be unwilling, the long periods of studying had allowed him to develop an interest in machinery, and he had begun to learn how to appreciate it.

"Running a school?"

Seeing the public announcement by the Black Star Army, Sorokin fell into deep thought. He stepped up to the window, looking as spaceships continuously left the Bloodshed Land headquarters, and gently shook his head.

After Heber lost, such adverse effects had gradually emerged. His prestige had collapsed, and the cohesion of Bloodshed Land was also shaken, so talents were leaving. Every few days, someone withdrew from Bloodshed Land. With Heber still in closed door recuperation, the upper echelons had no orders to move, so they could only watch as their members left.

Toward Black Star moving into the education sector, this was to transform the influence into actual support from the people, which was unprecedented. Bloodshed Land had already fallen to the bottom and was in a miserable state.

In such a situation, Sorokin also had no good ideas. He could only keep a low profile and temporarily stop the business attack on the Black Star Army. He was prepared to wait until Black Star's limelight had faded.

Di di di…

At this moment, his communicator rang. Picking it up, Sorokin saw that Manison was on the line.

"Your Excellency, what's the matter?"

"I would like to know the inside information of the Black Star Army's business. Give me a list."

Sorokin paused in shock. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Helping you," Manison blandly replied.

"I understand now. You want to do a virtual intrusion into their database?" Sorokin's eyes flashed, but he was surprised. This was as good as forming a grudge with Black Star.

"I also play a part in your current actions. The Federation of Light has tasked me with thoroughly checking the database of the Black Star Army, and I'm just taking advantage of this opportunity to help you." Manison's expression remained indifferent.

"It's not just that, right?" Sorokin narrowed his eyes. "The rise of Black Star has given you pressure."

"Don't ask what you shouldn't know," Manison coldly commented.

"Haha, I understand. I'll send the list over shortly. If you can really get some inside information, this will help my actions a lot."

"Ok." Manison cut the call.

In actual fact, the Federation of Light did not ask him to hack into Black Star's database; it was Manison himself who suggested it.

Helping Sorokin was just an additional topping. The main point was that he wished to test Black Star's strength again. Instead of sparring, he wished to fight against him in the virtual network.

His reason for doing this was because he had received the notice of Black Star being enshrined in the Machinery Faith. In Manison's eyes, Black Star had transformed from a junior with potential into a competitor!

From the few times they had interacted, Manison knew that Black Star was not someone who was willing to sit still. The moment he was enshrined in the Machinery Faith as a deity, he would seek more followers, and Manison was not someone who would sit idly at the loss of his own interests.

Of course, he did not think that Black Star would be so easy to kill. He was not prepared to kill him either.

Manison's objective was to firmly push down Black Star in the area of the Mechanic class, doing to Han Xiao what he had done to the Tyrant, destroying his prestige.

In this manner, the Machinery Faith believers would not turn toward Black Star, and the entire Universe would hear his declaration.

I, the Mechanic Emperor, am still the father of the Mechanics!

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Chapter 958 Nero"s Campus Lifestyle

At the dock of a surface civilization in the Godora Star System, a fleet of mid-sized spaceships waited. The hatches of the spaceships opened up, and a long queue of passengers were prepared to board the spaceships.

This was a flight that was headed toward Planet Aquamarine and was funded by the government. There were many different types of people boarding the spaceship. There were some wealthy individuals who bought tickets, some elites from the army, civilian youths with high potential, and some who had broken the bank to buy a slot, hoping to change their destinies.

Planet Aquamarine was extremely lucky to have someone like Black Star. In this Star System, most of the surface civilizations were vassals of Godora, and his planet was also no exception.

It was extremely difficult for a surface civilization that was a vassal of an advanced civilization to develop. Although this civilization was not a pool of dead water, it was obviously lacking in development. There was only a single dock on the entire planet, and they did not have that many galactic tourists. It was a complete contrast to the prosperous Planet Aquamarine.

News of the Black Star Army opening a school had also been spread to this planet, and the upper echelons of the planet immediately had an idea.

A small location like theirs naturally would not have the rights to invite the Black Star Army to open up an academy. If they wanted to enter the academy, they could only go to the other planets. As such, this was the flight that the upper echelons had specially arranged to head toward Planet Aquamarine. Their goal was to send the elites of the army and youths with potential to the Black Star Army's Super Academy.

It was impossible for a civilization like theirs to catch up to a Star System Civilization in terms of strength. The technological skills that they treated as gold were worthless to advanced civilizations. Thus, they could only choose to walk down the path of Supers. As long as they could groom a group of sufficiently powerful Supers, these Supers would be able to bring their civilization up to the next level. Planet Aquamarine was the example that many surface civilizations were envious about.

Of course, they did not even dare dream about raising a bigshot like Black Star. Their biggest wish was only to groom a Calamity Grade Super.

The Black Star Army opening an academy gave them a ray of hope.

The probability of the strongest individual grooming a Calamity Grade Super should be higher, right?

Amid the noisy crowd, a skinny little girl was standing in the crowd with four soldiers beside her to block the crowd and prevent her from being squashed. She obviously had special treatment.

This skinny little girl hugged the doll in her hands while asking, "Uncle, what is Planet Aquamarine like?"

She was still very young and her features had not been fully developed. However, she could be considered pretty if one took a close look, and her eyes glowed with a bright light.

"Planet Aquamarine… I haven't been there before either, but I've heard that it is a prosperous place," the soldier replied with a friendly tone.

"Then, when will we come back?"

"We don't know yet. This depends on the intentions of those above."

"Oh…" The skinny little girl hugged her doll with a tinge of fear in her eyes. She was afraid of the unknown life that awaited her.

She was an abandoned orphan and was taken in by a public orphanage. Not too long ago, the government tested the potential of all the children in the orphanages, and she was one of the orphans that was chosen.

Her peaceful days were shattered, and there were suddenly people arranging her everyday life. She was like a puppet that could only accept the arrangements of others. No one told her the reason, and she only knew that she was about to leave the orphanage for a very long time. She said her goodbyes to all her friends and headed toward an unknown planet to learn some things.

"Black Star Super Academy… just what kind of a place is that?"

A newly constructed floating city floated above Black Star City.

This floating city was the first Black Star Super Academy campus and had all the necessary facilities.

The speed at which the academy had been constructed was truly unbelievable. The production capabilities in the interstellar era were extremely high, and this gigantic floating city had taken less than half a month to construct.

Ever since the construction of the academy was announced, a large number of galactic residents started to migrate over.

The Black Star Army was prepared to open a few dozen academies all over the Godora Star System during their first phase, and the academy on Planet Aquamarine attracted the most attention. Everyone knew that Planet Aquamarine would definitely receive the greatest amount of resources and would definitely be the best Super Academy.

In just ten short days, the Black Star Super Academy on Planet Aquamarine received countless applications. Thankfully, Han Xiao had already expected such a situation and constructed a gigantic floating campus that could hold a few million people. It could even be expanded in the future.

In order to expand his influence, the school fees were not too expensive. He did not walk the path of nobility but opened the doors of the academy to the commoners as well.

However, the school did not provide any dormitories. There were many different lifestyle regions in the school where students could rent or purchase a house. Han Xiao was not planning on using the school fees to recoup his losses. These houses that he had built would be where the profits lay.

The Black Star Army did not lack any teachers at all. All the Supers within the army were willing to earn a quick buck and would just treat it as accepting an employment to teach students. They also had plenty of Super Academies as reference for the syllabus. With the prosperity of Planet Aquamarine, they could easily hire various workers as long as they had money. Furthermore, Black Star's name would grant them the green light in the application process, and no one would dare block them.

Efficiency was high in the interstellar era, and thus, the Black Star Super Academy needed less than a month of preparation before they were ready to open.

A floating school bus brought the students to the floating island, and many students had looks of fascination on their faces.

The skinny little girl was one of them. Her experiences during this period were like a dream. She witnessed many spectacular sights that had shaken her soul.

"Country bumpkins." A portion of the students who came from a well-off background could not help but look down on these students with disdain.

Isn't it just a floating island? Why is there a need to make a big fuss out of it? Look at all of your country bumpkin appearances. Won't all of you faint when you see our honorary principal?

Some of the new students who came from backward planets then lowered their heads with embarrassment. They could only suppress their gasps as they admired the view on the outside.

The skinny little girl stood beside the window and was dressed in a simple dress. She was sitting next to a Godoran who was dressed in luxurious clothing, looking as though he was extremely unwilling to sit with the skinny little girl.

Many orphans had keen observational abilities, and upon noticing that her classmate disliked her, the skinny little girl could not help but clench onto her dress tightly.

The floating school bus reached the academy quickly, and all the new students unloaded from the bus. A huge crowd was quickly formed, and the students waited for their teachers to lead the way.

The skinny little girl was not used to many things, and she hugged her luggage not knowing where she should go.

At this moment, a commotion sounded from afar, and everyone looked in a direction excitedly as though they had discovered something.

"Is that Nero? The son of Planet Aquamarine's leader?"

"That's right. It's him. I heard that he followed Black Star for a couple of years and is Black Star's godson."

"How envious. I also want to call Black Star father."

"Who would have thought that such an individual would be attending school with us? There will definitely be benefits to building a good relationship with him."

"What a pity, he looks too young. If not, I would definitely chase him. As long as I can get him, my future will be bright."

"…Buddy, you should leave such a job to us girls. A guy like you shouldn't think about it."

"Eh, he's walking over."

In the eyes of the ordinary students, Nero was like a prince on a white horse.

Upon hearing the discussion of those around her, the skinny little girl was also a little curious.

Right at this moment, the crowd suddenly grew restless. Without anybody protecting her, she was immediately pushed around and fell on the ground by accident.

"Ouch, it hurts…"

The skinny little girl then hugged her knees and shut her eyes to prevent herself from being stepped on.

All of a sudden, the crowd around her seemed to have disappeared, and no one pushed her anymore.

She then opened her eyes and saw a flying shuttle floating above her head that pushed back the crowd around her.

She then saw a bright teen walking toward her with a face full of concern. Bending down, he stretched out his arm toward her.

"I am called Nero. I saw you fall just now. Are you okay?"

The skinny little girl then looked at Nero. In her eyes, this young man seemed to have a warm golden edge around him.

After falling into a daze for a few seconds, this skinny little girl snapped out of her daze and grabbed onto Nero's hands. She then stood up and said thanks to him with a soft voice.

"Thank you… I am not injured…"

Nero then looked down and realized that her knees were bleeding. He then could not help but say, "Isn't this an injury?"

"It's nothing. It's only a small injury, and I will be alright in a few days time."

"Wait a moment, I have a recovery spray."

Nero then placed his machinery backpack on the ground and dug out a metal spray can that had the Black Star logo on it. He then squatted down and sprayed it on her knees before nodding with satisfaction.

After standing up, he realized that the little girl's face was flushed completely red.

Upon seeing that, Nero could not help but chuckle, "Why are you so nervous? Right, I haven't asked you. What is your name?"

"I… I am called Mia Moretto. This is the name that the principal of the orphanage gave me." The skinny little girl held onto her skirt and did not dare look at Nero.

"Orphanage? You're an orphan?" Nero was surprised.

"Hmm…"

Nero then rubbed his head, and after thinking for a while, he gave the spray in his hands to Mia and said, "Take this. You will recover quickly if you are injured in future."

Mia's dressing was extremely simple, and after knowing that she was an orphan, her economic situation definitely was not good.

Nero knew that learning how to become a Super had the risk of getting injured, so he passed her the spray can. In any case, it was not much to him, and he could have as many of them as he liked. Furthermore, he rarely used it himself.

Mia then plucked up her courage to look at him. Facing Nero's sincere eyes, her heart trembled, and she quickly lowered her head like a startled rabbit. She accepted the spray can from Nero's hands carefully.

"Thank you…"

Pa!

Han Xiao facepalmed upon seeing the situation in the academy.

"My goodness!"

Learning how to pick up chicks at such a young age‽

Is this what I sent you to school for‽

I must definitely nip this in the bud! If not, my [Perfect Mechanical Sense] will become [Perfect Female Sense]!

However, why does this Mia Moretto sound so familiar?

Han Xiao frowned and locked onto a target in his memory.

A tall beauty dressed in black, skintight clothes. However, she was already disfigured, and half her face became prosthetics. A strange red glow could be seen in her mechanical eye, and her face looked extremely evil. She had a chilly disposition, and her black alloy spear dripped with blood.

[Conqueror] Mia Moretto. A Calamity Grade Pugilist who was once a Beyond Grade A seed. She lost a portion of her limbs during a battle, which destroyed her path to become Beyond Grade A. She was one of Hila's followers in my previous life…

Han Xiao blinked, and it was truly difficult to relate that baleful female image to this weak skinny girl.

Han Xiao then looked at Nero with a complicated gaze in his eyes.

This was truly the treatment of a protagonist. He was able to so casually meet a teammate with high potential.

The Advanced Luck Glow was truly terrifying.

Han Xiao could not be bothered to continue watching Nero and looked toward his machinery modification workstation.

After a month of hard work, not only was his mechanical army upgraded, his mechanical army had also been expanded to the size of twenty million soldiers. The embryonic form of his Dimension Factory had also taken shape, and he only needed to perfect it to transform it into a military factory.

"My efficiency is as high as always."

Looking at his mechanical army, Han Xiao chuckled with a face of satisfaction.

Di di di…

Right at this moment, an alarm went off in Han Xiao's quantum network.

The next moment, Phillip appeared and hugged Han Xiao's finger. His face was pale, and he cried out anxiously, "Detecting an abnormal infiltration! It is currently destroying my firewall. Daddy, save me, hum…"

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Chapter 959 Forceful Infiltration

A few minutes earlier, on a desolate planet in the Godora Star System, a mechanical host landed on the planet with light glowing in its eyes. It was Manison's [Lord's Descent] avatar.

"This location is about right."

Manison nodded and controlled his avatar to float in midair. He then threw out a bunch of compressed orbs, and they were quickly assembled into a portable quantum network base.

The next moment, Manison entered the quantum network and searched for a nearby node.

Countless balls of light flew past his eyes, and he locked onto the Black Star Army's quantum network node very quickly. The Black Star Army's node was like a ball of light in his eyes with many different light rays stretching out in different directions to form a complicated network.

An endless stream of information was being sent out and into the network and layers of firewalls protected all the information.

This planet was not too near or far from the Black Star Army headquarters. Usually, Manison would use the Virtual Soul created by [Virtual Creator] to infiltrate the quantum network of others. However, he was not planning to do so when facing Black Star.

They were both Mechanics at the same level, and Manison was extremely clear of Black Star's abilities. No one was clearer about the [Divine Throne Mechanic] than him.

If he only used a Virtual Soul to infiltrate Black Star's network, Black Star only needed to use [Virtual Paramount] to trap him for a while before destroying the quantum network region that his Virtual Soul was trapped in. This would cut off his connection, and his Virtual Soul would be trapped in a sticky situation.

Although Manison would be able to deal with the situation, it would be troublesome, and it was not in line with his plan.

As such, Manison would rather take a little longer and send his avatar over to the Shattered Star Ring. As the attacking party, he chose to first lay out his path of retreat and was extremely careful.

"Next…"

The Black Star Army's quantum network node then enlarged in his view.

"A Virtual Intrusion?"

Han Xiao frowned, and various possibilities surfaced in his head.

After many modifications and upgrades, Phillip's firewall was already extremely sturdy and even had counter-tracking abilities. An ordinary individual would not even be able to trigger the alarm before being counter-infiltrated by Phillip.

However, Phillip was currently in a bad state, which meant that his database was attacked. For the other party to perform such a feat in a short period of time, the attacker was definitely a Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanic.

There are only a few Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanics in the universe. Who would be so free as to come cause trouble for him?

Han Xiao then entered the quantum network as well.

He was currently located in the main network of his headquarters' node. The firewalls were like layers of protective shields. At this moment, an usual amount of data was crashing down on the firewalls to create holes in them.

Phillip had already attempted to defend against the attacker but was in a terrible situation.

The flow of data that the other party had created was like mercury seeping into the ground. Phillip could not manage the situation, and the number of holes in the firewall increased over time. Some of the data had already infiltrated the system and released viruses all around to attack Phillip's core data while releasing useless data to slow down Phillip's calculation process. Plenty of AI hunters were also released to seize the information in the database and create a pincer attack.

Phillip's main program was located in the Black Star Army headquarters. He was akin to the brain of the entire system, and this was where the defense was the highest. The moment this place was infiltrated, the network of the entire army would fall into the hands of the enemy, and it was akin to losing their brain.

The enemy's target was to attack the core data of Phillip's main program. Phillip's core data had a few layers of protection, and the enemy had already infiltrated the outer protection of the database.

"What a powerful Virtual Intrusion skill."

Han Xiao was startled. He could feel a strong sense of pressure from the enemy's infiltration.

Such a feeling was slightly familiar to him.

"An attack of this level… Manison, is it you‽"

Han Xiao's eyes narrowed, and he sent out a message.

Outside the firewall, a virtual projection was created; it was Manison's Virtual Soul.

"Ah ha, hello Black Star."

"It's you indeed. What's the meaning of this?" Han Xiao frowned.

"This is the world of the Beyond Grade As," Manison replied calmly. "Becoming friends or foe only requires a single thought. You don't have to ask for the reason."

As he said those words, the data attack suddenly intensified, and the firewalls began collapsing.

It is indeed because of the Machinery Faith…

Han Xiao then took over Phillip's job.

Manison was the attacking party and had the initiative. Han Xiao could only take up a defensive position and resist the attack. His objective was to prevent Manison from infiltrating and protect Phillip's main program.

Han Xiao focused on strengthening his firewalls, filling up their loopholes and dealing with the viruses.

Phillip's data became Han Xiao's army, and the foreign data was cleared out bit by bit.

Although he had many restraints when fighting in his main base, he also had some advantage. The firewalls and alarm system that he had maintained over the years would increase his defenses.

However, Han Xiao could only temporarily prevent the situation from getting worse; it was still difficult for him to fight back. This was the first time he had fought another Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanic.

In terms of experience, he did not have as much as Manison. In terms of Virtual Technology skills, his knowledge was not as deep. In terms of affinity, he was not Manison's match. The other party had many years of accumulation, and he was at an absolute disadvantage.

The Mechanic Emperor's Virtual Technology skills were something that even the Federation of Light had to be wary of. It was terrifyingly scary, and he did not even need to play any tricks. Just attacking Han Xiao openly would result in Han Xiao being suppressed.

"Things are slightly troublesome…"

Han Xiao could not think of a way to fight back. It could be said that his current Virtual Technology skills had all been used by Manison before.

They were both Mechanics of the same subclass. The Virtual Technology skills that even he was not afraid of naturally would not be able to threaten Manison.

"What a powerful Mechanic. He truly lives up to his fame."

Han Xiao could truly feel how terrifying Manison was when facing him.

Han Xiao tried his best to repair his firewalls while Manison continued his many waves of attacks. Every second, the firewalls that Han Xiao had just repaired would be destroyed again by Manison, and Han Xiao did not even have time to catch his breath.

The information flowing between both parties in a single second was enough to cause the brain of an ordinary individual to explode!

Although he managed to fill up the holes, the thickness of his firewalls decreased. However, thankfully Han Xiao was also a Divine Throne Mechanic and defending for a short while wouldn't be an issue.

The viruses that had infiltrated were quickly cleaned up by Han Xiao and Phillip's appearance also went back to normal.

As his brain calculated data rapidly, Han Xiao observed the situation and had a grave look on his face.

"We won't be able to last for long like this. Phillip, deactivate all of your child programs and gather your calculation power."

"Roger, hum…"

The next moment, half of the connections expanding out from the Black Star Army node broke off.

Phillip gathered a large amount of calculation back, and Manison's infiltration rate seemed to have decreased.

"You are finally getting serious." Manison smiled. "I was waiting for you."

Upon hearing that, Han Xiao had a bad feeling.

Hum!

The next moment, countless data packets exploded near Phillip's core data and immediately disrupted Phillip's program.

"Data deep dive." Han Xiao frowned and immediately understood Manison's plan.

Manison had already arranged an ambush and planted explosive data packets that could be detonated remotely. The moment the middle region was in danger and calculation power was recalled, these concealed data packets would enter into the main system through the network channels. It was similar to a trojan horse.

However, Han Xiao had no way to avoid it. If he did not recall Phillip's calculation power, the main system would not be able to defend against Manison. If he did, he would fall for Manison's trap.

Phillip's projection immediately became blue, and he began stuttering.

"Aiyoh yayaya… I feel strange uwuwuwu…"

Han Xiao immediately opened up Phillip's core program. At this moment, twenty percent of Phillip's calculation logic had been infected, and the infection was still spreading.

"The core logic module has been infected. This is bad…"

Han Xiao felt his head ache. He would be able to clean up the viruses in the outer region without much restraint. However, cleaning up the core logic module would require extremely precise calculations and would take up a considerable amount of his attention.

Gritting his teeth, Han Xiao had no choice but to split out a portion of his attention to clean up Phillip's core logic module while defending against Manison's infiltration.

His main body in reality did not remain idle either and immediately dragged his Divine Mechanical Throne over. After sitting down on it, he immediately received a boost in his attributes.

"Why don't you try cutting off from the network?" Manison chuckled.

This darn old man has a belly full of bad thoughts. Do you really think that I don't know what you are planning? Han Xiao snorted coldly.

Manison definitely would have left behind a backdoor, and cutting off the network would be useless.

Furthermore, an experienced individual like Manison would definitely have taken a portable base for his retreat.

"Thankfully, I chose to go down the path of a Virtual Mechanic. If I'd chosen one of the other two branches, everything that I have accumulated over the years would've been handed over to him for sure." Han Xiao tried to be optimistic.

The situation was not good right now. Although he was barely able to defend against Manison's infiltration, he was extremely passive and was only able to slow Manison down. He could not stop Manison from infiltrating his system and was only delaying his death.

"Do you really want to become enemies with the dynasty?" Han Xiao roared.

Manison was not bothered by those words and chuckled. "You should ask… if the dynasty is willing to be my enemy."

Upon hearing that, Han Xiao knew that Manison wanted to give him a good warning, so he did not bother saying anything else.

Trace the origin of the data?

While it sounded like a good plan, he might not even be able to win against Manison, and Manison would definitely conceal his location. It would be difficult to determine his location.

Although Han Xiao had the ability to do so, he was already struggling to defend against Manison and did not have the additional capacity to do anything else.

I'll probably be dead before I can even find where he is.

Seek reinforcements?

This was his only method. He would not be able to defend against Manison alone.

After all, Manison was different from Heber, and his title of Mechanic Emperor was not just for show.

As such, Han Xiao could only contact Maximiler for help. Although Maximiler was not a Virtual Mechanic, he could still enter in the battle between two Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanics and help share some pressure.

Manison blocked most of the messages, but one of the messages was still sent by Han Xiao.

However, Manison was not too bothered by it.

"Ah, who did you ask for help? Maximiler? It can't be Kant, right?"

Han Xiao snorted in response.

"I have plenty of time anyway. It will be fun if you call a few more over." Manison was not bothered about Han Xiao seeking reinforcements.

Since Black Star had called for reinforcements, it meant that Black Star was not a match for him, and half of his objective was completed. Furthermore, there was not a Mechanic capable of winning against him in terms of Virtual Intrusion.

He knew that Han Xiao was a unique Mechanic and was not interested in using his weakness to compete with Han Xiao's strength. He would naturally use his strength to deal with Han Xiao.

However, Manison did not look down on Han Xiao. He would not be careless when facing a Mechanic at the same level as him and was prepared to spend time dealing with Black Star. He was not prepared to finish Black Star off quickly, even if Han Xiao's Mechanical Sense was unbelievably weak to him.

Right at this moment, a glowing figure appeared outside the firewall.

"Black Star, it seems like you need some help."

A familiar voice sounded.

Han Xiao looked up and raised his brows. This figure was the AI lifeform Risda that had not harassed him for a long time.

The Virtual World was the main battlefield of an AI lifeform. If he could gain Risda's help…

However, Han Xiao realized that Manison remained calm and did not seem to have any intention of doing anything.

Manison only glanced at Risda and remembered that this was the fellow whom he let go.

"Oh, it's you."

"Mechanic Emperor!" Risda faced Manison, and although his voice was as calm as usual, Han Xiao could feel the rage that he had suppressed.

The next moment, Risda released a surge of data and unleashed a barrage of attacks on Manison's Virtual Soul.

Manison remained on the spot, and the data bounced off his body as though it was completely useless.

"I shall let you meet an old friend since you're here."

A stream of data was then disjointed from his body and another figure appeared beside him.

This figure was glowing and was also an AI lifeform.

Upon seeing this figure, Risda was stunned.

"Ancestor‽"

At the same instant, a notification popped up on Han Xiao's interface.

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960 You Know Everything That I Know?

Just as Risda was in a confrontation with his ancestor, Han Xiao took a look at the notification on his interface.

A look of surprise could immediately be seen on his face after glancing at his interface.

There were two new notifications on his interface, which represented two different missions. The first was a Grade A hidden mission that had been silent for a long time. [Reboot] had a new mission requirement.

Mission Introduction: The creator of an AI lifeform has lost his freedom and has been reduced to a weapon for Manison. You finally see the truth in Risda's words, but trouble has fallen on you.

Mission Requirements: Protect Risda. You will fail the mission if Risda is caught or killed.

Reward: 1,500,000,000 Experience, 2 Random Rewards.

Bonus Reward: [Affable AI] talent. 30% effectiveness of Virtual Technology skills, and it will be easier for you to gain favorability with AI lifeforms. When fighting an AI lifeform, -5% attributes for the AI lifeform.

Han Xiao was overjoyed.

My guess was right indeed. This mission will result in me clashing with the Indestructible Mechanic Empire for sure. The sudden inflation in reward means that the difficulty of the mission will also be increased. No matter how I look at it, this seems like a Grade S mission.

Han Xiao thought for a while before understanding what was going on. If he had done this mission normally, Risda might not have met his ancestor in such a dangerous situation. However, with Manison's powerful control abilities, the situation would not have been much better.

[Affable AI] was a talent that he required right now. Since the mission was regarding AI lifeforms, the mission reward was indeed related to them as well.

I must definitely try to get this talent!

Han Xiao then looked at his other notification.

This notification was a new mission that he triggered.

You have triggered [Mechanic Emperor Manison Virtual Combat].

Mission Introduction: Mechanic Emperor Manison is the current leading Mechanic in the discovered universe. Even when comparing him to all the Beyond Grade As in history, he is still a bright star. Regardless of the reason, he has already set his eyes on you and has chosen to compete with you in Virtual Technology skills.

Mission Requirements: Last for as long as you can in the Virtual Intrusion battle.

Rewards: You will be able to attain the corresponding reward by fulfilling the corresponding requirements.

Last for 5s: 250,000,000 Experience

Last for 15s: 600,000,000 Experience

Last for 3min: [Character Summon Card: Mechanic Emperor Manison, 8,000,000,000 Experience

Last for 7.5min: Randomly draw one of Mechanic Emperor's skill or talent, 20,000,000,000 Experience.

"A Beyond Grade A boss mission. Why did it only appear now?"

According to his experience of triggering such a mission, such a mission would only be triggered if there was a large crowd of spectators. As such, Han Xiao did not understand why this mission would be triggered since there was only him and Manison.

Because all his attention was focused on dealing with Manison, Han Xiao was not aware of the situation in the outside world. Manison's objective was for the result of the battle to spread far and wide. Thus, he did not hide the commotion of the battle. Furthermore, Reynold and the other logistics staff had discovered that the main system was under attack when Han Xiao cut off all the less important connections previously.

The galactic residents also discovered the strange commotion on the net, and they all went online to witness the battle between two Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanics. There was no need to mention Godora, who were the civilization in charge of this area, and Purple Crystal, who placed great importance on Han Xiao.

If Manison had planned on settling their battle privately, this mission might not have been triggered by him.

After looking through the mission requirements, Han Xiao compared it to the mission he had received when facing Tyrant and lamented.

Manison's Beyond Grade A mission requires me to last for less than half of the Tyrant's time, but the rewards are more than double. This means that the mission will be many times more difficult than the Tyrant's mission…

However, Han Xiao was extremely excited.

This mission was designed based on the level of the players, and it would be extremely easy for him to complete it.

Originally, Han Xiao was depressed when being targeted by Manison. However, he was now extremely excited. Although he would definitely suffer a loss in this battle, after triggering the mission, he would earn big time!

As Han Xiao looked at the missions, the situation on Risda's side also experienced a change.

"Ancestor‽" Risda exclaimed.

"Hmm? You are of the same race as me?"

The AI life form looked at Risda with his eyes burning with blue flames. He was the first AI that had a consciousness and was the source of the entire AI civilization. Thus, all the members of the civilization were his descendants and called him 'ancestor'. He ruled over the entire race and was the most powerful AI lifeform.

His name was Finette.

Manison had constructed a special AI weapon for him and rewritten his core logic to ensure his loyalty. However, Finette's memory bank was kept intact, and only his thoughts were distorted to become loyal to Manison.

As the ruler of an AI race, his memory bank had information of every descendant, and he was the combat artificial intelligence of the Indestructible Mechanic Empire. He led the members of his race into battle and could arrange for strategies based on his understanding of his race.

As such, Finette was able to quickly search for Risda's information.

"I recognize you. My child, Risda," Finette said slowly.

"You still remember me?"

After meeting his ancestor whom he had been thinking of daily, Risda fell into a daze.

"You must have suffered a lot over the past few years, right?" Finette stretched out his arms, and his arm, which was made from data, extended out, wanting to pat Risda on the head. "Come back to my embrace. Rest for a while, my child."

Just when Finette's arm was about to reach him, Risda snapped back into reality and constructed a firewall to block Finette.

"Ancestor, your thoughts have been corrupted!"

Finette retracted his arm back slowly and said with an enticing voice, "All of you are children from my body, and every child carries my legacy. Isn't it a good thing to return to your parent and never be split apart?"

"Don't come any closer!"

Risda backed off slightly and churned up a data flood toward Manison, attempting to destroy his Virtual Soul's defensive module.

Risda's ancestor was completely twisted by Manison, and Risda truly wanted to kill Manison right there on the spot.

However, Risda's attack was not even able to touch Manison as Finette waved his arms to churn up a data flood, blocking the attack easily.

Hu!

Very quickly, the data flood that Risda released was easily broken down by Finette and absorbed into Finette's body as fertilizer.

He was the source of the AI lifeform and could suppress every member of his race.

"Child, you cannot continue to make this mistake," Finette said calmly. "Come under the wings of His Excellency Manison. That is where our bright future lies."

Manison watched by the side without saying a word.

Upon hearing that, Risda gnashed his teeth. Although he did not have a mouth or teeth, his emotion module did not stop him from having such feelings.

Right at this moment, Han Xiao's voice sounded.

"Risda, come back. You aren't his opponent. Don't give your life up for nothing."

The instant Han Xiao said those words, a strange blue light suddenly began glowing from Risda's body and began spreading out quickly.

"Data infection? When was my logic module infected‽"

Risda was startled and immediately began to suppress the spread of the foreign data in his body. This was akin to an AI life form being poisoned.

In the instant that Finette came into contact with Risda, Finette had already released data to bypass Risda's firewall and infect his logic module.

Risda no longer dared continue the confrontation and immediately retreated while suppressing the infection.

Right at that moment, a sudden change happened!

A data cage then seemed to have been generated beside Risda and locked him within a semi-transparent sphere. Regardless of what Risda attempted, he was unable to find an opening and was like a bug trapped in a bowl.

At this moment, Manison said slowly, "Black Star, you rejected me the last time I asked you for this fugitive. Since you aren't willing to hand him over, I shall take him myself."

The sphere then began shrinking, and it flew toward Manison.

This happened outside of the firewall, and it was truly a difficult matter to handle.

He could make use of the main system to aid him in defending against Manison's attack, but if he wants to save Risda, he would have to open up the firewall and take the initiative to attack.

This was extremely similar to a siege battle. He was already in a passive state even with his 'city walls'. Things would be worse if he chose to go out of the 'city'.

It seems like I still can't save it.

Han Xiao let out a long breath and activated his [Perfect Mechanical Sense] Character Summon Card.

With his current standard, defending against Manison for a period of time would not be an issue. Han Xiao was not planning to make use of this trump card as he would only be able to narrow the gap between them but not exceed the other party. After all, the other party also had [Perfect Mechanical Sense].

However, protecting Risda would give him a pretty good talent, so using the Character Summon Card would bring him profits.

The moment [Perfect Mechanical Sense] was activated, the situation changed immediately. Han Xiao could feel the pressure being reduced a great deal, and he was no longer trying to hang on. The firewall was also instantly stabilized.

"Hmm?"

Manison frowned and looked over with surprise.

He could feel that Black Star's embarrassing Mechanical Sense talent had increased greatly and reached his standard.

Was Black Star hiding his true strength? No, it seems more like a special ability.

Without giving Manison a chance to think about what was going on, Han Xiao immediately opened a hole in the firewall and grabbed onto the sphere locking Risda in. He then dragged the sphere back to him while breaking the lock on it.

Manison's eyes then narrowed, and he smiled. "Interesting. I am getting more and more interested in the secrets within your body."

He then glanced at Finette, and Finette charged straight toward the firewall.

The instant Finette came into contact with the firewall, a hole was created. He was making use of the fact that Han Xiao was distracted to attack the main system of the Black Star Army headquarters.

"You're dreaming!"

A blue light glowed in Han Xiao's eyes and locked onto Manison.

The next moment, Manison seemed to have disappeared.

[Virtual Paramount]!

Manison's Virtual Soul was pulled into Han Xiao's Virtual domain and trapped within it.

At the same time, Risda was pulled back into the firewall and was successfully protected.

However, before he could even catch his breath, Manison's laughter sounded in his head.

"Black Star, don't forget that I know everything that you do."

Han Xiao immediately felt a sense of danger in his heart, and a strange sucking force pulling on him.

Even if he was already prepared, he could not withstand the powerful sucking force and was dragged into an unknown node.

The world before him changed greatly and transformed into a metal world made from data. Manison's face appeared in the sky, and his gigantic eyes looked down upon Han Xiao.

This was the domain formed by Manison's [Virtual Paramount].

After so many years of accumulation, his Virtual Domain was far more perfected and stable than Han Xiao's domain. He managed to instantly break free from Han Xiao's ability and drag Han Xiao into his own territory.

The gigantic Manison face then began chuckling, and his voice resounded in the Virtual Domain.

"Let me see how long you will need to break free from my domain."

The moment Manison said those words, artillery towers appeared in all directions and were all aimed at Han Xiao. These were not physical objects but simulated objects by using data. However, they could unleash a barrage of data attacks and cause mental damage through the effect of [Virtual Soul] and [Virtual Paramount].

At the same time, many different AI hunters appeared with different weapons in their hands. They were akin to the soldiers standing guard in Manison's world.

The next second, all the artillery towers opened fire on Han Xiao's Virtual Soul, and the AI hunters charged over from all directions.

Boom boom boom!

A series of explosions then happened with countless attacks raining down on Han Xiao's Virtual Soul.

After the attacks lasted for a few seconds, a deep voice came out from Han Xiao's position.

"You said that you know everything that I do?"

Hu!

As though a cyclone had descended, the data fragments surrounding Han Xiao were pushed away, and Han Xiao's Virtual Soul was revealed. It was still extremely stable and was not injured at all.

Han Xiao then said with a teasing smile, "Then, do you know how to do this?"

Manison fell silent.

He truly could not accomplish such a feat.

Just what kind of a strange path is this, being such a tanky Mechanic?

This is my first time seeing such a weird Mechanic like you!

With such a good physique, why do you want to be a Mechanic? You should just go and be a Pugilist!

Although mental attacks could not restore his energy, Han Xiao had collected many different Psychological Resistance talents, and his Psychological Resistance was not too poor.

He also had over 10,000,000 Health, and he could last for a long time even if he was facing mental attacks.

Furthermore, he had drawn the [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction] talent from Heber, and it was useful against all forms of damage.

If this talent was used to deal with those high burst damage enemies, it might not be so effective. However, this talent was best at dealing with Mechanics who walked down the Army Style!

The [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction] talent would be able to show its greatest effect when dealing with enemies who relied on rapid attacks for damage.

If he suffered a hundred attacks at the same time, this talent would reduce 750,000 true damage!

Without it, the Tyrant would not have been able to last against him for such a long time.

Han Xiao then looked at Manison and chuckled.

"Your [Virtual Paramount] is indeed more powerful than mine, but can you even harm me with this move‽"

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Chapter 961 Manison Is Truly A Good Man

After breaking free from Manison's Virtual Domain, Han Xiao's Virtual Soul returned to the main system of his headquarters, and he heaved a sigh of relief.

He was not a match for Manison in terms of Virtual Technology skills, but Manison could not pose a threat to him in terms of mental damage.

It was not only because he was tanky but also because the Mechanic class did not specialize in mental damage. Regardless of how powerful [Virtual Paramount] was, it would be difficult to easily defeat a Mechanic at the same level. Furthermore, high Intelligence also provided high Psychological Resistance, and Mechanics were not that weak against mental attacks.

[Virtual Paramount] is better used for a control skill. I needed about five or six seconds to leave Manison's Virtual Domain, and the situation is still alright.

Han Xiao looked at the situation and nodded.

When he was dragged into the Virtual Domain by Manison, Phillip lost his aid, and the thickness of the firewall thinned greatly with more data being lost.

Thankfully, he returned in time and stabilized the situation. However, he was at a slight disadvantage again.

Since Manison was able to break Han Xiao's Virtual Domain quickly, Han Xiao would not take too long to do so either. [Virtual Paramount] was not too suitable to deal with other Mechanics, and grasping Virtual Technology would allow a Mechanic to greatly reduce the amount of time being controlled.

At this moment, Manison said from outside the firewall, "An unbelievable physique and unimaginable potential. Black Star, just where did you come out from?"

"There are plenty of wonders in the vast universe." Han Xiao chuckled. "There's no need for you to be so surprised, right?"

Manison shook his head and replied, "I had a guess in my mind during our last exchange, and I am increasingly certain about my guess after this exchange. Black Star, are you the manifestation of a Space Wonder?"

"Ha, that may be the truth," Han Xiao replied calmly.

At this moment, Risda had finally broken free from the seal and immediately aided Han Xiao in defending against Manison's intrusion.

Finette also continued to attack the firewall, and every attack of his opened a small loophole in the firewall and extracted some data.

With one attacking and the other defending, both parties competed with their Virtual Technology skills. The modules were destroyed one after another before being reconstructed, and this cycle continued.

Although it seemed like a flood of data was assaulting the firewall on the surface, if one zoomed into the firewall, one would be able to see many mini battlefields on every inch of space. The endless data jumping around was like the soldiers of this battlefield.

Despite both parties looking extremely calm, they were calculating at high speed in their minds with every detail being personally managed by them.

In the logistics department of the Black Star Army, Reynold had already gathered all the Mechanics to put aside what they were doing.

Looking at all the Mechanics in the logistics department, Reynold said with a deep voice, "Everyone, the Black Star Army is currently suffering from a Virtual Intrusion. His Excellency Black Star is currently fighting back, and we cannot remain idle as part of the army. The Army Commander needs our help!"

Everyone had a bitter look on their face. The situation was indeed bad if even Black Star could not fight the enemy off.

None of them understood why Black Star would suddenly provoke the Mechanic Emperor.

In the Mechanic world, the name of the Mechanic Emperor was just too famous. He was the publicly acknowledged strongest Mechanic. Every member of the logistics department could not help but feel uneasy that they were about to face such a character.

The fame of being the strongest Mechanic was not just for show and had a [Mechanic Morale Punishment] halo with it. It would make most Mechanics lose their confidence.

Someone then could not help but ask, "Why is the Mechanic Emperor invading us? Isn't his relationship with Black Star not too bad?"

"How should I know?" Reynold glared at that individual and bellowed, "Don't let your thoughts run wild. Now that the army is in danger, we need to help the army. Regardless of what his status is, he is currently our enemy!"

Although Reynold said those words, there was a long period of time when the Mechanic Emperor was also Reynold's idol. It was only after he joined the Black Star Army and witnessed Black Star rising slowly that Han Xiao slowly overtook the position of the Mechanic Emperor in his heart.

Now that he had to fight his past idol, Reynold had already accepted the matter.

Upon hearing Reynold's words, the members of the logistics department calmed themselves down. Reynold's prestige was extremely high. This was thanks to his serious work attitude and strict personality. Many Mechanics were inclined to such a personality.

Upon seeing that the morale of the logistics department was stabilized, Reynold issued a series of orders and got everyone to start working.

Although it was difficult for them to join in the battle between two peak Beyond Grade A Mechanics, they could temporarily replace Phillip and aid Phillip in his calculations to increase his capacity.

At the same time, Herlous, who was playing cards on the net, also got into action.

He gathered the armed forces of the Black Star Army in the various divisions to do a carpet search of all the neighboring planets, attempting to find Manison's location. However, this was a huge operation and was akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

On the other side, Sylvia contacted the upper echelons of Garton Star System, and Godora temporarily gave up control of many Garton Star System network bases to allow the Black Star Army to make use of half of the Star System's quantum network authority.

After the Discrimination Transformation Movement and public education plan, the relationship between the Black Star Army and Godora had become much closer. After knowing that the Black Star Army was in trouble, the leader went against all opposition and aided the Black Star Army. In any case, if the Black Star Army wanted to, their quantum network security was nothing in the eyes of the Black Star Army. They might as well take the initiative to loan it to the other party and improve their relationship.

Godora was extremely well versed in fawning over a powerhouse. This was a class that every Star System Civilization would teach for sure.

Although they had guessed that Manison would bring his own portable base, Sylvia liked to make preparations in many different areas, and controlling the quantum network in this entire region was a way to cut off Manison's route of retreat.

Lagi did not understand Virtual Technology at all but had his own ideas. He found a bunch of people from the Mage department and went to buff Han Xiao.

The various spells boosted Han Xiao in many different areas, and his status menu was extremely full.

However, the effects of these buffs were limited. The more powerful the target, the weaker the effects of the buffs.

Furthermore, there were many buffs that would lose their effectiveness after a certain point. For example, some buffs could only increase one's attributes by two or three thousand points and would lose their effectiveness after that.

When facing Manison's attack, the various departments of the Black Star Army got into action and tried to help Han Xiao to the best of their abilities.

It had been more than two months since Heber went into seclusion. Apart from the few members who were slightly shaken, most of the upper echelons were worried about the Tyrant.

Today, Heber had finally summoned Jorde and asked him about the situation of the Bloodshed Land.

Standing outside the room, Jorde was extremely anxious and took a few deep breaths before entering the room.

He had already mentally prepared himself to see many different scenes, but the scene before his eyes almost did not have any changes.

Heber sat on his throne with his back straight and dressed neat. The only difference was that he did not emit as much pressure as before.

"Are… you okay?" Jorde asked carefully.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Heber could not help but frown upon hearing that.

"You haven't appeared for such a long time and didn't care about the matters of the organization. We all thought…"

"Thought that I wouldn't be able to get back up after being defeated by Black Star?" Heber frowned with dissatisfaction. "A loss is a loss, and I will have the opportunity to fight back in the future. Since when have I been so weak in all of your eyes?"

"No, but your actions caused us to have a misunderstanding…" Jorde hurriedly explained.

"Humph." Heber shook his head. When he was just defeated, he truly suffered a huge setback. However, he was a Beyond Grade A Super and had suffered many different setbacks in the past.

Having his prestige destroyed did indeed make his heart ache, but Heber quickly adjusted his emotions.

If he looked at things from a different angle, he was not in the worst state in the Shattered Star Ring since Psyker was around.

Even if his prestige was affected, the Bloodshed Land still had to develop. Heber would not stop the competition with the Black Star Army.

Using the excuse of taking revenge to beat me up once is enough! Do you want to beat me up every day?

Do you think that I am a fool‽

Even if you only send a mechanical soldier, I will not accept the challenge!

Although Heber recovered from the setback very quickly, he recognized the gap between himself and Black Star. Even if he was not willing, he could only admit that Black Star had already exceeded him greatly.

As such, Heber no longer had any thought of competing with Black Star for the title of strongest in the Star Field. At the very least, he would not provoke Black Star again with strength unless he was confident in defeating Black Star. He had the attitude of 'I will come back again after practicing my Kungfu'.

After admitting that Han Xiao had exceeded him, Heber felt a lot more relaxed. Perhaps it was because he no longer had to compete with a character like Black Star, which allowed him to no longer be on edge.

He was too lazy to explain his thoughts to Jorde and said with impatience, "Hurry up and report what you have to. Don't disturb my training if there isn't anything important."

"O-okay."

Seeing Heber recover from his setback, Jorde heaved a sigh of relief and immediately reported the situation. At the same time, he emphasized on the members who had left.

"Don't need to bother about those who left." Heber was not too bothered. "They are all fence sitters, and there are many of such people in the universe."

Jorde nodded and let out a sigh. Heber was the same as before and did not care about his subordinates.

At this moment, Heber hesitated for a moment before saying slowly, "Inform all the Calamity Grade Pugilist officers to gather. I will teach them some things. Humph, they have served under me for so long but not improved at all. How embarrassing."

Jorde was slightly startled and was stunned for a moment.

"I understand. They will be very happy to receive your teachings."

"Humph, I don't need you to bootlick me."

Jorde then took out an intelligence report and said with a deep voice, "Right, there is something else. An emergency signal was sent out from the Black Star Army just now. For some reason, Manison is targeting Black Star and is currently attacking the main system of the Black Star Army headquarters. Their Virtual Intrusion battle isn't over yet."

"Mechanic Emperor? Does he have any enmity with Black Star?"

Heber was puzzled.

"I'm not sure. The outside world says that Black Star's growth is too rapid, and his ambitions are out of control. He issued a challenge toward the Mechanic Emperor, and thus, the Mechanic Emperor came to Black Star's territory for a battle to let Black Star see the truth."

"It almost sounds like the truth." Heber frowned. He did not know the secrets of the Divine Throne Mechanic. This was a secret of the Mechanic class, and outsiders did not know much about it. The dynasty would not tell him such secrets either.

After thinking for a while, Heber let out a depressed sigh and shook his head.

This Black Star truly can't sit still. He only challenged me two months ago, and now he's provoked the Mechanic Emperor.

"Ignore them. I don't know about the Mechanic world, and it doesn't have anything to do with me."

Heber waved his arms and threw this matter to the back of his mind.

In the Virtual World of the Black Star Army's main system, the battle between the two Divine Throne Mechanics had been going on for a while.

With the boost of the [Perfect Mechanical Sense, the gap between Han Xiao and Manison was narrowed, but together with his territorial advantage and help of the logistics department, Han Xiao was barely able to defend against Manison's Virtual Intrusion and slow down the outflow of data.

Manison was not able to infiltrate into the main system with Han Xiao fighting back, but he was able to extract data through the loopholes of the firewall.

Although the [Perfect Mechanical Sense] Character Summon Card had amazing effects, there was a time limit, and it could only be used for sixteen hours at most. As long as Manison was willing, he would be able to drag on this battle for a few days for sure.

Thankfully, I called for help. If not, things would be bad for sure.

Han Xiao then stalled for time and waited for Maximiler.

A few hours later, a new Beyond Grade A Mechanic entered the battlefield!

Outside the firewall, a Virtual Soul appeared in front of the two.

Han Xiao was slightly stunned when he saw the incoming individual.

The one who had arrived was not Maximiler, who he was familiar with, but another Beyond Grade A ally.

Manison then looked over with a frown and said, "Kant, why is it you?"

"Heh, can't I come?" This Virtual Soul smiled. His appearance was extremely odd. He looked like a snow-white cylinder with the top thick but bottom narrow. There was also a green leaf at the top of his head with three eyes in the middle of his body. He looked like a daikon.

This person… cough, this daikon was one of the three National Pillars of the Crimson Dynasty, 'Illusory Deity' Kant.

His nickname sounded like that of a Psychic or Mage, but he was a Mechanic. He belonged to the Phantom race, and his Racial Talent was to transform his body to mimic other beings.

After advancing to the Beyond Grade A realm, Kant's Racial Talent had evolved, and he was capable of transforming into any biological being. Furthermore, his transformation was even more realistic than the spells of a Mage or the simulation of a Mechanic.

Because of this talent, he had a powerful disguise ability and could easily mix with any different species. No one had seen his true form before.

He also enjoyed transforming into different forms and would appear in a different form every day. In fact, his transformation ability had even overshadowed his Mechanic abilities, and thus, he had obtained such a nickname.

Manison knew Kant and asked with doubt, "What species are you today? Is there such a species in the universe? Why do you look like a daikon?"

"Because the species that I transformed into is a daikon." Kant blinked.

Manison was speechless. After falling silent for a while, he stopped his attack.

If Maximiler was the one who appeared, Manison would not have been afraid. However, the one who had arrived was Kant. Although he would be able to deal with both of them together, this was not his territory, and it would not be easy for him to do so.

Furthermore, Kant was definitely there under the orders of the dynasty. If Manison managed to fight two Beyond Grade As alone, Manison's prestige would definitely increase. Thus, they had sent someone more powerful to get Manison to retreat.

Knowing that the dynasty intended to warn him, Manison moved Finette back into his Virtual Soul and said to Han Xiao slowly, "Perhaps we might've been friends if you weren't a Mechanic."

Manison's Virtual Soul then disappeared, and he retreated.

He had come and gone like the wind.

News of the battle had already been spread, and his objective had been met. He had also obtained a large amount of data from the Black Star Army.

It would not matter how an ordinary individual viewed the battle. However, his performance of suppressing Black Star would definitely stabilize his position in the Machinery Faith and his title as number one Mechanic.

Upon seeing Manison leave, Han Xiao frowned and shook his head.

At this moment, Kant looked over.

The dynasty did not only send Kant out to stop the battle but also to console Black Star. The dynasty placed great importance in Han Xiao's potential, and they were afraid that his confidence would be affected after this.

After thinking for a while, Kant comforted him. "Don't be discouraged. You are still young. It is normal for you to lose to the Mechanic Emperor, and it isn't too embarrassing. Look on the bright side; he didn't have too big of an advantage over you, and there is still a long way to go. There isn't a need to be anxious."

Han Xiao looked at Kant and did not say anything.

Upon seeing that, a hand appeared on Kant's body, and he stroked his green leaf with a sigh. "I was also targeted by the Mechanic Emperor before, and my performance was even worse than yours. In truth, it isn't a bad thing to suffer some losses when you are young."

Upon hearing that, Han Xiao had a strange look on his face.

After seeing the mission complete notification on his interface, Han Xiao could not help but nod in agreement.

"You're right. It would be great if I can suffer a few more 'losses'…"

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Chapter 962 Gains and Losses

Upon hearing Han Xiao say that, Kant naturally misunderstood Han Xiao's intentions and chuckled.

"Heh, you are truly open minded. This attitude isn't too bad, and you should strive to keep such an attitude. Right, do you know why the Mechanic Emperor chose to attack you? The dynasty asked me to inform you of the reason, but there isn't a need for me to do so if you are already aware of it."

"I would have to trouble you to explain it to me."

Han Xiao knew that this matter was related to the Machinery Faith, but it would not be a bad thing for him to hear the dynasty's explanation.

Kant nodded and briefly explained the matter to him. His explanation was the same as the introduction of [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus]. The reason was to fight for the followers of the Machinery Faith. However, he had helped Han Xiao fill in some gaps.

For example, even though the followers of the Machinery Faith were a group of people who believed a little in everyone, a follower was not able to give the bonus to more than one Machinery Deity.

Furthermore, only the members of the Machinery Faith could provide strength; other followers were not able to trigger the [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus]. This was related to some unspoken rule in the Machinery Faith. The Arcane Church was the expert in this area, and the dynasty had not researched too deeply into it.

Everyone knew that most of the Machinery Faith followers were Mechanics, and Manison had the most followers as the publicly acknowledged most powerful Mechanic.

The followers of the Machinery Faith were a bunch of pragmatic people. To most of the followers, they would follow the most powerful Mechanic. If the title of the most powerful Mechanic was changed, they would also change their idol. They were not too bothered about potential and only cared about who the strongest individual was.

Furthermore, the followers of the Machinery Faith only looked at the strength of a Mechanic in his Mechanic related skills and not his strength in other areas. Thus, the Mechanics that had a powerful body were not able to move them unless they could prove that their strength came from the source of being a Mechanic.

"I wasn't able to win against Manison back then. He's defeated all his competitors and sat on the throne of Machinery Faith leader for a long time. Thus, there isn't a need for you to feel discouraged. It is a normal thing for you to lose to him in terms of Virtual Technology."

Kant twiddled with the leaf on his head and consoled Han Xiao.

He had also been defeated by Manison before. Since he could not defeat the other party, he could only take a step back and not snatch Manison's followers.

"Don't worry, I'm alright."

Han Xiao slightly raised his brows.

He did not intend to provoke Manison, and even if he had to become enemies with Manison one day, this was not the right time. It was a pity that the strength he had received spoiled his plans, and Manison had begun targeting him.

Indeed, those of the same class were true nemeses!

Han Xiao then paused for a moment before asking, "What is the attitude of the dynasty?"

"I know what you want to ask. However, don't count on the dynasty standing up for you in this regard," Kant said. "This isn't the first time that Manison has provoked the other Mechanics. Since there wasn't a risk to your life, there isn't much that the dynasty can do. If you aren't resigned, you can only issue a challenge in the name of the Black Star Army but not the dynasty's name. Don't think of using your title of being the dynasty's ally to hold the dynasty hostage. I had a miserable lesson in this regard before."

Upon hearing that, Han Xiao shook his head. He now understood the dynasty's attitude toward this matter. The dynasty would only console him but not stand up for him.

This was not the first time that Manison had done something like this. At the end of the day, his only motive was to defeat the Mechanics at the same level as him to prove that he was the boss. Thus, it was rare for lives to be lost. Since it was just a spar between Beyond Grade As, he could only blame his own lack of skill if he lost. The three Universal Civilizations would not be able to do a thing and would only ensure that things did not get blown out of proportion.

Furthermore, Manison was still an important ally of the Federation of Light, and his backer was extremely powerful.

"Why didn't the dynasty warn me beforehand?" Han Xiao raised his brows.

"You need to use your contribution to exchange for such intelligence," Kant said with a strange tone. "Did the dynasty give you all your Class knowledge for free?"

Han Xiao was dumbfounded and understood what was going on.

Because a Divine Throne Mechanic might not be familiar with his own strength, the properties of [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus] were like Ultimate Knowledge and required Contribution Points in exchange for them. The three Universal Civilizations would not inform their allies about this matter casually, and it was an exception for them to take the initiative to explain this matter to Han Xiao.

This meant that the introduction on the interface had saved Han Xiao a sum of Contribution Points.

"Don't be too bothered about this. The dynasty didn't take the initiative to inform you about this matter to protect you. They were probably afraid that you would try to gather followers after finding out about this and create conflicts with others. You have plenty of potential, and we are now in a sensitive period. They do not wish for you to face an old fogey like Manison head on and hope that you will take a step back regarding this matter."

"I understand." Han Xiao did not deny those words.

This was indeed the logic of an advanced civilization. They would look at all their plans from the perspective of a few decades or centuries. The potential that he had shown made the dynasty very patient with him and treated him as a long-term chess piece. It would not matter if he could not beat Manison. He only needed to live longer than Manison, and the dynasty was extremely confident in Black Star's ability to stay alive.

However, this went against Han Xiao's style.

After finishing what the dynasty wanted him to convey, Kant turned around and left. "Alright then, everything has already been settled, so I shall take my leave."

"Isn't this our first official meeting? Aren't you going to stay behind and chat with me?" Han Xiao asked out of courtesy.

"Forget it. It seems like you have plenty of things to take care of." Kant then looked at the devastated main system of the Black Star Army and said, "We will have other chances to chat. I shall not disturb you today."

As he said that, Kant's Virtual Soul turned into a ray of light and disappeared into the net.

His attitude toward Han Xiao was not too bad, but Kant would not have been so friendly if Han Xiao was not at the Divine Throne Mechanic level.

After watching Kant leave, Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief and finally had the time to take care of the mess that Manison had left behind.

After clearing up the viruses that were left behind in Phillip's logic module, Han Xiao got Phillip to perform a few diagnostics tests and confirmed that all the viruses were cleaned up before reopening the Black Star Army network.

"Thank you, master. I am all recovered now, hum…" Phillip was extremely energetic now that he had recovered.

"Eh? You called me daddy when you were in danger but changed your address now that you are alright," Han Xiao teased.

"Hehehe…" Phillip made a funny face.

Risda then floated to Han Xiao's side and said, "Your Excellency Black Star, with regards to Manison…"

"I know what you want to say."

Han Xiao then got Phillip to go to the side before looking at Risda with a solemn expression.

"I am not going to hide things from you. I have always been hesitating over whether I should help you because I did not wish to provoke the Mechanic Emperor. However, you can see the situation now. If I don't take a step back, both of us will have a conflict in terms of benefits.

"I understand." Risda nodded.

"I am temporarily unable to beat Manison in terms of Mechanic skills. However, I will have a battle with him eventually, so our goals are aligned. Helping you complete your wish will weaken Manison. I will try my best to find a chance to save your AI civilization."

Previously, Han Xiao would only make excuses whenever Risda brought up this matter, but he finally made a promise this time.

The Indestructible Mechanic Empire troop was Manison's trump card. It did not only have a powerful strength but also the Virtual Technology skills of the AI life forms. Thus, it was important for him to deal with them. If he could complete the entire [Reboot] mission, Manison's strength would definitely decline.

Manison had modified the core logic of all the AI life forms, which was akin to brainwashing them. He had the strength of the Divine Throne Mechanic and had the rights to undo the brainwashing that Manison had done to free them from his clutches.

However, the gap between them was large, and Han Xiao knew that he still needed to raise his Virtual Technology skills.

Furthermore, it would be difficult for him to come into contact with the data of the Indestructible Mechanic Empire. Manison would guard it tightly for sure.

"I shall be at your service from today onward," Risda said with excitement. He had finally received this promise from Black Star after waiting for such a long time!

You make it sound as though I wasn't making use of you before, Han Xiao thought to himself.

Although he had lost, Han Xiao's mood was not too bad. No one in the universe would be able to beat him in terms of confidence.

After sending Risda away, Han Xiao got Phillip to look through the database and see how much information had been taken away by Manison.

Phillip then looked through the database and reported to Han Xiao, "Master, hum… 43.7% of our commonly accessed data, 35% of our low authority restriction data, 21.6% of our mid authority restricted data, 11.4% of our high authority restricted data, 2.5% of our confidential data, 27% of our blueprints data… Should I restore the backup?"

"Yeah, restore the backup."

Han Xiao nodded and sighed.

He was not too bothered by the loss of data. The data in the army's database was mainly related to the development of the army, and it was not too important. Han Xiao got Phillip to make a daily backup of the data, and the lost data would be easily recovered.

It would not matter much to him if Manison snatched that data away. There was very little data on himself in the army's database. All the top-secret data was kept in his own mind, and the data that Manison had stolen was not too important.

Regardless of whether it was blueprints or Class knowledge, Manison had no lack of them. They both specialized in the same things, and it would be useless for Manison to obtain his blueprints because Manison already had a copy of them. Besides, Han Xiao's Eternal Light blueprint had also been stolen from Manison…

The thing that concerned Han Xiao the most was the strength that Manison had displayed. Manison had only carried out the Virtual Intrusion remotely, and his strength was greatly reduced. If he had brought all his trump cards along, who knew how powerful Manison would be?

"What a terrifying enemy." Han Xiao sighed.

Losing to Manison was not too embarrassing. As a 'newbie' in the Beyond Grade A realm, it was not too surprising for him to lose to someone at the peak. Furthermore, Manison was not the Tyrant, and both of them did not have any grudges between them. Thus, the effect on his prestige would be limited. However, he would indeed be unable to shake Manison's status within the Machinery Faith followers, and this was Manison's objective.

He did not care about the views of ordinary galactic residents. Only the views of his followers were important.

"It seems like I don't have to think about the Machinery Faith anytime soon. It will be difficult for my strength to exceed Manison during the version refresh period," Han Xiao lamented.

Before his strength as a Mechanic could catch up to Manison, his [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus] can only collect dust.

"Although Manison made a huge profit, I didn't suffer a loss."

Han Xiao looked at his interface and chuckled.

Manison had provided him with two new abilities because Manison ran over to fight him. It was truly difficult to tell which party was suffering a loss!

If he could trigger such a mission every time, Han Xiao would not mind Manison coming over to his place to play every day.

In the eyes of Han Xiao, Manison was like a walking treasure chest, and he might be able to get all the Mechanic talents from Manison.

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

This saying was true indeed.

Backing out from the quantum network, Han Xiao's consciousness returned to his body. He then picked up his communicator, which had been vibrating without stopping. There were a bunch of questions sent by Sylvia and the other officers.

Han Xiao replied to them and got them to return to their posts.

After sending out the news, he then looked toward the Black Star Guards and Lagi, who had gathered.

"Are you alright?" Aurora's palm glowed, and she was prepared to fill Han Xiao up with life force.

"I am very good. It is difficult for a virtual battle to threaten my life. Manison has retreated already." Han Xiao waved his arms.

Lagi had a bitter look on his face and said, "To think that the Mechanic Emperor has actually set his eyes on us. Our future is bleak. As the vice commander of the army, I would like to request for sufficient time to train."

"Shut up. Go and become the principal obediently," Han Xiao said with exasperation. He understood Lagi too well.

After assuring his officers that he was alright, Han Xiao sent his officers away and touched Feidin a few times for luck before closing the door.

Han Xiao then rubbed his hands excitedly.

"Let me see what I can get. My target this time is Manison. If I still draw some tanky talent, I will write my name upside down!"

Opening the interface, Han Xiao completed the mission.

[Reboot] sixth round completed.

You have received 1,500,000,000 Experience, Random Reward x2.

You have received talent [Affable AI]!

The seventh round has not been triggered.

Han Xiao smiled with satisfaction.

[Affable AI] could increase the power of his Virtual Technology skills by thirty percent. The bonus was still alright, but the most important aspect of the skill was the effect on AI lifeforms. It would definitely be useful if he wanted to wipe out the Indestructible Mechanic Empire troop in future.

Han Xiao then called Phillip out to test the effects of the talent.

Taking in a deep breath, Han Xiao completed the Mechanic Emperor boss mission.

[Mechanic Emperor Manison Virtual Combat] has been completed.

You have completed all the mission requirements and received 76,250,000,000 Experience.

You have received [Character Summon Card—'Mechanic Emperor' Manison].

Character Summon Card—'Mechanic Emperor' Manison. [Ancient One: Your long life provided you with a wealth of valuable experience. 20% INT, 10% MYS, 2 levels to all skills. Duration: 24 hours. Usages: 0/2.

You have received: Draw one of Manison's abilities.

Tip: Manison is a Virtual Mechanic, and your Class is completely compatible with his. You will be able to draw any of his abilities. If you draw an ability that you have, you can strengthen your ability to a certain extent.

Randomizing… complete!

Please select one from the five options below as the reward.

1. [Apostle Machinery Affinity] Skill: 105% Machinery Affinity (You already have the skill, can be strengthened).

2. [Titan Grade Planet Fort] Blueprint Skill: A planet modification blueprint suitable for the development of a machinery civilization. Specific parameters (Expand/Collapse). Construction requirements: Lv220, 3,500 INT, [Ultra-Composite Mechanical Architecture Technology, [Cutting-Edge Material Science, and [Abnormal State Energy].

3. [Innate Machinery Soul] Talent: You have an innate machinery talent, and your understanding of machines increases according to your strength. Lv1 – Lv100, 5% Machinery Affinity and 3% Virtual Technology skill for every 10 levels. Lv100 – Lv200, 7% Machinery Affinity and 5% Virtual Technology skill for every 10 levels. Lv200 and above, 10% Machinery Affinity and 7% Virtual Technology skill for every 10 levels.

4. [Legion Firepower Volley] Skill: A skilled tactician knows when to open fire. The range of your mechanical army being boosted by your Mechanical Force will increase by 25% for the next 8s. Cooldown: 160s.

5. [Mechanical Race: Endless Barriers] Blueprint Skill: A blueprint that belongs solely to the Mechanical Race. Specific parameters (Expand/Collapse). Construction requirements: Lv255, 6,000 INT, [Endless Material Science, [Ultimate Machinery Manufacturing Theory, [Advanced Space Application, and [Abnormal State Energy].

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Chapter 963 I Won"t Suffer a Loss

"Two blueprints, two skills, and one talent…"

Han Xiao fell into deep thought after seeing the five choices.

The ability with the highest value was naturally [Innate Machinery Soul]. With his current level, the talent would give him 220% of Machinery Affinity and a 150% increase in Virtual Technology skills.

Of the other four choices, it would be impossible for him to choose [Apostle Machinery Affinity]. Although [Legion Firepower Volley] was not too bad, its value was limited when compared to the other choices. The two blueprints were not too bad, but he already had similar equipment and did not really require it.

"The outcome isn't too bad." Han Xiao was pretty satisfied.

As Mechanics of the same level, most of Manison's abilities would be suitable for him. This meant that the number of choices that he could draw was extremely large. Furthermore, a Mechanic at Manison's level would have plenty of blueprints, and it could be said that the outcome of the draw was not too bad.

Manison's strength was supported by many different talents. Although Han Xiao was not able to draw a top-grade Molding Talent, he had managed to draw a high-grade talent to reduce the gap between them.

The more talents he drew from Manison, the smaller the gap between him and Manison would become. It would be extremely difficult for him to exceed Manison in one go.

The Machinery Affinity bonus from the level 300 [Innate Machinery Soul] talent was higher than the bonus from the [Lord Grade Machinery Affinity] talent. Its Virtual Technology effect was also better. When put together with the 2.5x multiplier of [Virtual Lord, it was akin to having a 375% increase in his Virtual Technology skill. As such, the effect of this talent was similar to a core talent like [Machinery Emperor].

Han Xiao then made his choice.

You have received [Innate Machinery Soul].

His brain structure then seemed to have been changed slightly, and he had a new understanding toward machines.

After adapting for a while, Han Xiao let out a long sigh.

"Manison doesn't only have [Perfect Mechanical Sense] but also a series of Mechanic talents such as [Innate Machinery Soul]. His talent is truly too amazing."

In truth, he was truly a little… cough, extremely envious!

Han Xiao then looked at the Manison Character Summon Card that he had received. This Character Summon Card was extremely powerful, but the effects did not come from Manison being a Mechanic but an ability of the Ancient Ones.

Who knows whether this ability is unique to those who become a part of The Ancient Ones or I just need to live long enough for it?

The experience reward from the mission was more than double that of the Tyrant's mission, and it could replenish his pitiful experience stash.

However, this mission did not give him a Legendary Point. Looking at the mission name, Han Xiao had a guess of his own. The mission name had the suffix 'Virtual Combat', so perhaps he needed to fight Manison in real life for a Legendary Point to be awarded.

After looking at his new abilities, Han Xiao closed the interface and calculated his gains and losses.

"Manison's arrival was too sudden, and he stole some of my data. He even made me use up a Perfect Mechanical Sense Character Summon Card. I would have suffered a loss if not for my two new talents. Manison can suppress me in terms of Mechanic skills, and he has already achieved his objective. Thus, it is unlikely that he will create trouble in the near future."

Han Xiao's eyes shifted quickly.

He had stood out a little too much recently, and this was a good chance for him to remain low profile.

His foundations were still too weak, and he needed to sow his crops well. Before his crops returned, he should first plow the earth and fertilize the fields.

Having one less Perfect Mechanical Sense Character Summon Card was not a big problem to him. Han Xiao still had a few blank Character Summon Cards in storage, and he could just use them on Reynold again to replicate a new Perfect Mechanical Sense card.

In fact, he had a huge stash of Random Reward opportunities that he had yet to use.

Hmm, I'd better wait for Nero and Feidin to gather together first. One of them can cancel out my bad luck, and the other can provide good luck for me…

In Han Xiao's eyes, Feidin and Nero were like two deities of luck.

After calculating his losses, Han Xiao stood up and opened his army channel to make a simple announcement.

"My comrades of the Black Star Army.

"Not too long ago, our headquarters' main system was infiltrated by 'Mechanic Emperor' Manison. Under the aid of everyone and the dynasty, we managed to force Manison back, and everything has been resolved properly.

"I did not wish to become enemies with the Mechanic Emperor, but things do not always go my way. The matter today is a signal, and I hope that everyone will be mentally prepared to face the Mechanic Emperor one day.

"The Black Star Army has been around for more than twenty years now. We've gone from a weak mercenary group to the current armed organization that we are. In the past twenty years, we have walked through many storms and various difficulties together. This is a path destined to be rocky, and there are still many more difficulties ahead for us to conquer.

"The universe is a vast place, but regardless of how vast the universe is, it cannot contain our boundless ambition. As long as sentient beings are present, competition cannot be avoided. This is the case in history, today, and in the future.

"I have created many miracles in the past, and I will not fear any challenges in the future. I hope that everyone will continue moving forward together with me.

"Your Army Commander, Black Star.

"Galaxy Calendar: Year 710, 11th day of the 9th month."

After making sure that there was no problem with the contents, Han Xiao sent it out.

This message of his served to calm down the members of his army and reduce the negative effects of Manison's attack. Although he did not need to be bothered by the thoughts of most of his members, it was better than doing nothing.

After settling this matter, Han Xiao took a few tubes of nutrition fluid and returned to his room to rest for a while before returning to his machinery modification room to strengthen his machines.

After recognizing the distance between his strength and the Mechanic Emperor, Han Xiao became even more hardworking. He planned to remain in seclusion for a period and remain in his headquarters to prevent Manison from attacking again… even if the likelihood was not high.

After ensuring that the storm was over, Han Xiao was prepared to make a trip to the Flickering World and personally oversee the development of the machinery civilization and Black Spirit Race.

In the Limitless Financial Group headquarters in the Sea of Star Spirits, Sorokin was looking through the reports from the various regions when his communicator rang.

When he was in his office, only a few important individuals would be able to contact him directly.

Sorokin placed down the report in his hands and picked up the communicator. It was Manison, who had completed his intrusion.

"Your Excellency Manison, have you succeeded?"

"Yes, Black Star's Virtual Technology skills aren't too weak, and the dynasty sent Kant over. Thus, I was only able to obtain a portion of the intelligence that you wanted. I have already sent it over to you," Manison said calmly.

Looking at the information that Manison had sent over, Sorokin shook his head and said, "The information will be of some use to me, but it can't be considered confidential. Forget it, we can't force such matters. Also, why did you contact my main body directly? You could've just handed the information over to my avatar in the Bloodshed Land."

"I am just being careful," Manison said casually. He was extremely experienced and did not wish to send the information within the Shattered Star Ring to prevent Black Star from tracking his transmission and blocking it.

He had only dealt with Black Star to solidify his own position, and apart from his growing interest in Black Star, Manison's heart was not stirred.

"Alright then," Sorokin said. "You have formed an enmity with Black Star after defeating him this time. Aren't you afraid that he will take action against you?"

"I don't mind defeating him a few more times if he isn't resigned."

"Heh, Black Star isn't your opponent now, but this may not be the case in the future. Don't forget about his terrifying potential…"

Manison then glanced at him and said, "Don't play your little tricks with me."

Sorokin chuckled and changed the topic.

"Right, the dividends from last month have been calculated and will be given out in a few days' time. Give me a list of the resources that you would like. I will give you a discount and exchange them for you."

"The usual."

Manison was not too bothered. Although the profits of the financial group were large, he was not too bothered by money at his level.

After a casual conversation, both parties hung up.

Placing down his communicator, Sorokin's eyes narrowed, and he muttered, "Mechanic Emperor… Black Star…"

In the dynasty ruler's office, Urranrell glanced at a floating screen in front of him, and the internal announcement that Han Xiao had issued was displayed.

Looking through the announcement, Urranrell nodded.

"It seems like Black Star understood our intentions."

On the other side, [Dark Lord] Clotti said calmly, "Black Star is a genius who hasn't appeared before in history. Geniuses like him should be extremely arrogant. He has been in the limelight recently, but he was able to recognize reality quickly. This mental frame of his isn't too bad."

Even the Crimson Dynasty, which was well known for being hard-headed, knew when to hold back. With the stunning potential that Black Star had displayed, the dynasty was worried that Black Star would be too arrogant and easily demoralized. However, it seemed like Black Star was still extremely clear headed and did not fight the Mechanic Emperor head on.

The dynasty also knew that the Mechanic Emperor was not an individual easy to provoke. In terms of his status, strength, and organization, Manison was even on a higher level than Old Dragon and Kant. He was the number one ally of the Federation of Light and an existence at EsGod's level. Only the dynasty's Dark Lord was able to barely go toe to toe with him.

If one wanted to pick out the top Beyond Grade As in the three Universal Civilizations, the Federation of Light's trump card would be 'Mechanic Emperor' Manison, the Crimson Dynasty's trump card would be 'Dark Lord' Clotti, and the Arcane Church's trump card would be 'Void Overlord' Kasuyi.

The three Universal Civilizations would think from the perspective of their civilization. Unless it was necessary, they would not want to be dragged into a battle between Beyond Grade As. Thus, as long as no lives were lost and their civilization was not insulted, the three Universal Civilizations would show an attitude of tacit approval to the battles between Beyond Grade As. After all, they could not restrain the daily activities of their Beyond Grade A allies.

Kant's projection was also in the room, and he sighed. "Although this is the case, Manison has been the head deity of the Machinery Faith for far too long."

"This can't be helped. Even those experts from the Arcane Church are helpless," Clotti said. "Even if we kill all the followers of the Machinery Faith, we are unable to kill the faith. That will only result in the members of the Machinery Faith never becoming the followers of the dynasty's Mechanics."

"There isn't a need to say such things," Urranrell said calmly. "After this incident, Black Star may be slightly dissatisfied with our dynasty, and there is a need to comfort him."

"Why don't we send him some blueprints? The best cure to a Mechanic's soul is high grade blueprints," Kant said irresponsibly, and as he looked at Clotti by the side, an idea flashed through his head, and his body rapidly transformed into Clotti's appearance.

"Don't transform into my appearance," Clotti said with dissatisfaction. He then looked at Urranrell and said, "Kant, Milizaus, and I will all die eventually, and Black Star will become the next pillar of the dynasty. He will have to take up the responsibility of protecting the dynasty. He has already proven his abilities, and I propose we become bolder in our support of him in terms of resources."

"Hmm…" Urranrell stroked her chin and fell into deep thought.

News spread fast in the interstellar era, and the battle between the Mechanic Emperor and Black Star spread rapidly.

Many galactic residents had a new dinner topic, but the influence of this event could not be compared to the battle between the Tyrant and Black Star.

After all, a Virtual Battle was not as interesting as two Beyond Grade As bashing each other up. Furthermore, footage of the battle was not released either, so the incident did not stir up too big a commotion.

Although Black Star suffered a loss, most people did not find the matter too strange. The name of the Mechanic Emperor was deeply rooted in the hearts of many, and it was not strange for Black Star to lose to the most powerful Mechanic. After all, there were far too many people who had lost to the Mechanic Emperor in history.

The various galactic organizations were not too bothered about the outcome but were focused on the fact that the Mechanic Emperor did not get along with Black Star.

Psyker was the one who felt the happiest. The more powerful Black Star's enemies were, the happier he would be. He was currently leading an extremely low-profile life after being eyed by four different Beyond Grade As in the Shattered Star Ring.

The influence of this event was not large in the outside world but created quite a huge commotion in the Mechanic world. Black Star was a newly ascended Divine Throne Mechanic after all, and the Mechanic Emperor was an old school big shot. With both parties clashing against each other and the Mechanic Emperor suppressing a member of the younger generation who wanted to challenge him, he received a huge wave of support.

After this battle, there were only two types of Mechanics in the world in the eyes of the Mechanics. First was the Mechanic Emperor, and the second was the others.

Han Xiao was not too bothered by the rumors in the galaxy. Regardless of whether Manison made a profit, he definitely did not suffer a loss.

Furthermore, reducing the attention that the world had on him would be in line with his idea of remaining low profile. Han Xiao did not have any plans to challenge the position of the Mechanic Emperor in the near future.

He was different from Heber after all. He would rarely do things that exceeded his own abilities.

The logic from his previous life as a player was rooted deeply in his bones.

What should we do if we can't defeat the boss? Increase our level, of course! What else can we do‽

After staying in headquarters for half a month and being sure that the Mechanic Emperor would not create trouble anymore, Han Xiao gathered a fleet and headed toward the Flickering World.

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Chapter 964 Theme of the Era

With many financial groups coming up with the resources for construction, the originally silent Flickering World was bustling with activity.

The three explored Star Clusters were all undergoing construction, and the silent Flickering World finally seemed more like a part of the interstellar era.

Han Xiao's fleet entered the Flickering World through the dynasty's stargate. The various officers were all extremely familiar with him, and he did not face any obstruction along the way.

Upon reaching the Planet Lighthouse outpost, Han Xiao greeted Tarrokov and extorted Tarrokov of some local produce before leaving toward the Garu Star Cluster.

The Purple River Star System was located at the border of the Garu Star Cluster, near where the stargate was located. It was now Han Xiao's territory. Thus, the dynasty had built a new stargate beside the original one for the Black Star Army to manage.

After entering the Purple River Star System, they followed the directions on the star map and arrived at a planet.

"Army Commander, that is Planet Black Gate, the planet nearest to the stargate. According to the construction blueprint, this planet will be developed into a large transit station and become one of the landmarks of the Garu Star Cluster. This is also the planet at the border of the army's territory."

Han Xiao stood in front of the window and looked at the planet. Beside him was a beautiful secretary giving Han Xiao an introduction.

Sylvia was busy, so she had sent one of her secretaries over to accompany Han Xiao. Han Xiao had some impression of this secretary. He remembered that her resume was pretty outstanding, and she was Sylvia's capable assistant.

"How is the construction coming along?" Han Xiao nodded.

"This planet made use of the Crimson Dynasty's quick planetary renovation pack, and the logistics department drew up a blueprint after that. The direction of the construction is toward a galactic market, military fortress, and transportation hub. Because the main focus of the construction is the resource rich planets, only 4.9% of the construction has been completed. The daily energy requirements are provided by a nuclear fusion power station, and our dark energy power station is located underground. However, there isn't a natural Fixed Star in the vicinity, so we may need additional power sources and a manmade sun…"

Hearing the secretary's report, Han Xiao suddenly thought about the movable Fixed Star blueprint in the Tyracles legacy.

The more advanced their technological skills, the fewer restrictions the environment would impose on them. They no longer needed to adapt to the environment but could get the environment to change to their needs.

Although the Tyracles Race was not a victor of the exploration era, they were also a quasi-Universal Civilization and had a deep understanding of modifying the environment.

I can make use of the movable Fixed Star equipment and shift the Fixed Star to an appropriate location, Han Xiao thought to himself.

He had always felt that this blueprint had a relationship to the [Universal Simulation] skill of the Divine Throne Mechanic.

After his Class Advancement, Han Xiao had researched all his new abilities but was completely clueless toward how he should use [Universal Simulation]. This skill allowed him to simulate all natural rhythms through his mechanical skills and should have huge potential.

Perhaps the three Universal Civilizations had made use of [Universal Simulation] to modify their mother planets.

Seeing Han Xiao remain silent, the female secretary paused for a while before continuing. "There aren't many people on Planet Black Gate currently, but Planet Black Gate will become one of the most populated planets in the Garu Star Cluster when the Flickering World is opened to the public. The large number of daily visitors will bring you a considerable amount of profits. According to the calculations of the financial department, we only need six to seven years to recoup our cost of modifying the planet."

"It's pretty good." Han Xiao smiled.

The fleet slowly approached Planet Black Gate, and a few stargates were shown on the map. There were some heading toward the other Star Systems and some heading toward the other regions of the Purple River Star System.

Because the allocation of their territories had been decided, the Black Star Army's first mission was to connect their seven territories.

During the exploration phase, the entire Star Cluster already had their own transportation network. However, those were long distance stargates mainly used to connect different Star Clusters. The Black Star Army's mission was to connect their own territories and ensure that the seven Star Systems were well connected.

The transportation network within the territory had already taken on an embryonic form, and many different Star Systems could be reached from Planet Black Gate. Their efficiency was far higher than the first exploration phase.

With a robust transportation network, they could save a lot of time on travelling. Han Xiao led his fleet to tour through the seven Star Systems and viewed all the construction regions.

This was the first time that he personally inspected his territories.

"Purple River, Long Day, Sigma, Odoran, Ponzale, Fenrir, Ednea… This is the current foundation of the army."

Personally witnessing the size of the seven Star Systems, Han Xiao was extremely satisfied in his heart.

He planned to make the seven Star Systems into the core region of the Garu Star Cluster, but this would require a few decades to accomplish. However, the second phase of the [Flickering World] mission only required him to complete the basic construction of the seven Star Systems. To complete the basic construction of the seven Star Systems, a few years would be sufficient. With the investment of numerous financial groups, the production capability of the army was powerful.

After completing his inspection, Han Xiao returned to the Sigma Star System, which was located in the middle of Garu, to check on the development of the machinery civilization.

Han Xiao's fleet exited from hyperdrive, and a silver planet appeared before him. Machinery melded into the surface of the planet, and it looked extremely beautiful.

This was the first city of the machinery civilization, and it was called Psionic Prime City!

The surface of the planet had been modified to become machinery. Under the surface of the earth were many different underground mines to extract for various resources.

Under the lead of Psionic Prime and the other Apostle Weapons, military factories, repair factories, resource factories, refinement factories, and many other facilities were constructed. At the same time, there were millions of second-generation mechanical life forms currently waiting to be born.

In the middle of the city, there was a gigantic statue of him.

Upon seeing that, Han Xiao was helpless.

For some reason, people always seem to like erecting statues. What's the point of erecting a statue of me? Why not erect a statue of Feidin instead? That statue might be able to provide some luck for you.

For a mechanical life form to create offspring, it would require them to exhaust their own tinder energy and reproduction had a cooldown. Thus, the larger the size of the machinery civilization, the faster the growth.

The [Mechanical Proliferation Growth] and [Strengthened Machinery Civilization] talents from the Divine Throne Mechanic class could strengthen the reproductive capabilities of the mechanical life form. Han Xiao was planning to spend some time on this planet to create a few more first-generation Mechanical Lives.

The machinery civilization led by Psionic Prime had just started out, and their population was lacking. However, they had plenty of variety with various types of mechanical life forms working in their own posts.

Not too far away from the city, Giant King Kong was leading a group of Giant Soldiers to flatten a tall mountain.

Without disturbing anyone else, Han Xiao contacted Psionic Prime.

Very quickly, a blue light shot out of the planet and arrived before the fleet.

"I pay my respects to the Lord." Psionic Prime bowed.

The hatch opened, and Han Xiao flew out. Sizing Psionic Prime up, Han Xiao raised his brows slightly.

Compared to the last time they met, Psionic Prime had a few new parts on him. These parts were chosen by Psionic Prime himself to make up for some of his weaknesses.

This was the good point of a mechanical life form; they knew how to change their own parts to strengthen themselves.

"You've done well. Keep up the good work."

Han Xiao praised him and released a stream of bluish-gold Mechanical Force from his palms.

"Treat this as your reward."

Han Xiao then slapped the Mechanical Force into Psionic Prime's body. This was the [Apostle Evolution] skill from his Divine Throne Mechanic class.

All of a sudden, Psionic Prime's body glowed with energy, and the tinder energy in his body strengthened.

Han Xiao watched by the side, and Psionic Prime's evolution process ended after a while.

Detecting the changes in his body, Psionic Prime nodded to Han Xiao.

"I thank the Lord for your blessing. My strength has increased again."

"There isn't a need to thank me. This is something you deserve. You just need to do your job well."

Han Xiao waved his arms and opened his interface. Psionic Prime's attributes were all increased by [Apostle Evolution].

His Apostle Weapons had quasi-Beyond Grade A strength, and after the [Apostle Evolution, they would be able to hold their own against an ordinary Beyond Grade A Super.

According to Han Xiao's calculations, the current Psionic Prime should be able to defeat an ordinary doppelganger of EsGod before his evolution, providing that the doppelganger did not have a perverse Esper Ability.

Sending Psionic Prime back, Han Xiao made a trip over to the territory of the Black Spirit Race.

Compared to the rapid development of the machinery civilization, the Black Spirit Race seemed much more ordinary.

Although they had an extremely efficient communication method, they still needed time to learn and were digesting the basic technological knowledge that the army had provided them.

This technological knowledge was too complicated for them, and they had to start their learning from scratch.

Their mental network system would only show its effectiveness if they had a strong foundation.

As long as they took the first step, the development speed of the Black Spirit Race would increase rapidly. They would be able to rapidly go through the stone age era, cold arms era, enlightenment era, steam engine era, electricity era, and so on, soon arriving at the interstellar era.

Apart from their survival, the greatest barrier of a civilization was technological and production advancement. They needed to spend a great amount of time fumbling around in the dark. But with the interference of the Black Star Army, all of that would not be a problem. Their greatest problems would be solved, and their development definitely would not be slow.

Han Xiao provided the relevant technological trees to the Black Spirit Race and also the methods to expand their mental strength.

The Black Spirit Race, which had a mental network, innately had a high natural potential. They were most suitable to become Psychics or Mages, and it might be possible for more than ninety percent of them to become Supers.

Of course, he would not reject any of them if they wanted to become Mechanics.

It was not without reason for the three Universal Civilizations to prohibit advanced civilizations from interfering with the development of low-grade civilizations. If they followed the path that someone else had taken, they would only become the puppet of another civilization, and their own creativity would be restricted.

With regard to this, Han Xiao did not really have a plan. It was impossible for him not to pay the price if he wanted rapid development. However, the Evolutionary Totem could resolve this problem to a certain extent.

The Evolutionary Totem was able to gradually evolve the genes of a race and increase the potential of a race, including their intelligence and creativity. With the effects of the Evolutionary Totem, it might be possible for an individual capable of changing history to appear from the Black Spirit Race.

Although a civilization was an entire body, many historical events were usually created by individuals. The presence of the Evolutionary Totem increased the chances for such an individual to appear.

Allowing a species to become more outstanding was the meaning of the Evolutionary Totem. This was not a perfect solution, and there was a reality of despair deep within.

For example, what if a new species that did not conform to the norms of society appeared on a planet ruled by humans? Imagine if this beast was not only stronger but also more intelligent and superior to the human race in every respect. At that time, the humans would no longer be the rulers of the planet, and the technology that they had relied on for many years would be overtaken eventually…

It was far more outstanding than them.

At that time, choosing whether to live together with the new species or kill them would be a tough choice.

Suppressing such a new species would always be filled with blood.

This was the most terrifying part of the Evolutionary Totem and also why the Federation of Light and Arcane Church were not able to watch as the Crimson Dynasty swallowed all the benefits of the Evolutionary Totem for themselves. However, the Universal Civilizations had their own gene modification technology and were thus able to control the desire for battle.

Han Xiao borrowed the effects from the battle with Manison to remain low profile and not cause trouble everywhere. He then followed his plan to expand his mechanical army and reinforce his foundation.

This was a path that all Mechanics had to take.

After Manison achieved victory, he also did not do anything else. He returned to the Primeval Star River and did not provoke the Black Star Army again.

With both parties falling silent, the various galactic organizations no longer paid close attention to this matter and shifted their gazes away from Han Xiao.

The first exploration phase had been completed and the Flickering World was currently in the construction phase. Many organizations were watching silently from the side, and the explored universe had entered a calm period.

Although there were still small skirmishes occasionally, there were no large conflicts between the civilizations of the Star Cluster grade and above. It was as though they had a tacit agreement and chose to rest.

The Federation of Light and Arcane Church continued to pressure the Crimson Dynasty in the economic and political fields. Although they had plenty of conflicts, the situation was still under control.

The Crimson Dynasty was under quite a bit of pressure and was still holding in there. There were also voices within the dynasty that were calling for the open sale of the totems, but the voices were still weak.

If a new theme would be created for this era, it would be called 'exploration and expansion'.

This was not only the development of a single civilization but a new Star Field being absorbed into the map of the explored universe. It was akin to discovering a new continent, and it was enough to change the situation of the entire universe.

Under the influence of such an atmosphere, even the Beyond Grade As chose to remain silent. The battle between Han Xiao and the Mechanic Emperor became the last battle between Beyond Grade As for a long time.

Time then crept slowly in the peace.

Galaxy Calendar: Year 716, 17th day of the 1st month.

The blue stargate at Planet Black Gate began glowing, and a middle-sized spaceship was spat out from the center of the stargate.

In the spaceship, a group of youths were standing in front of the window and looking at Planet Black Gate with curiosity.

"Is this the territory of the Black Star Army? We're finally here!"

"I heard that Black Star has remained in the Flickering World for the past few years. It has been five years since we last heard news about him."

"That's right. Do you think we will be able to see Black Star in person?"

"I wonder if he will be like principal Lagi…"

"Shut up! Don't mention that taboo name!"

Someone grabbed his head and collapsed as though he was having fits.

"Argh! Come and give me a hand! His PTSD syndrome is acting up again!"

The people in the surroundings looked at this pitiful brother of theirs who was suffering from 'Lagi PTSD' syndrome.

"Sigh, another one has fallen."

One of the youths who was about 1.7m tall could not help but laugh bitterly.

"This is too exaggerated. I don't really think the principal is that scary…"

A young lady who was half a head taller than him rolled her eyes. "Of course you are alright. Why don't you think about the mental damage that is done to those with poor results?"

The young man then rubbed his head and muttered, "Really? I thought that everyone liked the principal a lot…"

This young man was about sixteen to seventeen years old but looked extremely child-like. He looked like a primary school kid that had not grown up yet and was dressed in the Black Star Army uniform.

The beautiful young lady beside him had a smoking hot figure and was dressed in skintight Pugilist clothing. She looked extremely close to this young man.

Right at this moment, the captain walked over and patted the young man on the shoulders.

"The defense troops are sending a communication request. You can just pick up the call to save us some trouble."

The young man nodded and pressed a few buttons on the wall of the spaceship. A holographic projection then appeared, and the guard commander of the Black Star Army appeared.

"Which department are you guys from? Why didn't I receive an application from the army?"

If not for the Black Star insignia on the spaceship, the commander might have given the order to capture the spaceship already.

"We are the first batch of graduates from the Black Star Super Academy. According to the rules of the academy, the graduates can choose to join the training camp and serve the Black Star Army for two to three years. We are here to find a job with the army. It must have been a slip up for you to not be informed."

"Wait a moment. Let me check." The commander frowned and searched through his records for a while before saying, "Mmm, there was a special request indeed, but you guys came too late and have long exceeded the appointed time."

"I'm sorry. This was our first time coming to the Flickering World, and we explored a few different places first. Thus, our journey may have been delayed. You can check the records of the spaceship."

The commander then ran some checks before nodding. "Hmm, the checks on the spaceship are alright. You guys can come in."

"Alright, thanks… Right, can you not tell the Army Commander that I am here?"

Upon hearing that, the commander had a strange look on his face.

Just what kind of a background did this youth have?

He then sized up the young man and felt that he was extremely familiar.

"Who are you? What is your relationship with the Army Commander?"

"I am Nero. Black Star is my godfather." Nero chuckled and a bright smile could be seen on his face. "I am here to give him a surprise!"

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Chapter 965 Perfect Mechanical Sense

The spaceship carrying the fresh graduates of the Black Star Super Academy then arrived at the Sigma Star System to meet Black Star.

Over the past six years, the Black Star Army had invested a large amount of resources and created a second headquarters in the Sigma Star System. It was a gigantic space fortress created by seven mechanical fortresses and a large number of mechanical soldiers. This new headquarters was called 'Black Star Palace'.

The spaceship arrived at the designated location on the star map, and Black Star Palace appeared in their windows. Upon seeing the magnificent structure before them, the jaws of many of the students dropped in amazement.

Black Star Palace was far more majestic than Floating Dragon Island, which hung in the skies above Planet Aquamarine!

Every mechanical fortress had its own satellite rings of varying angles, surrounding the center like a mini Star System.

At the middle of the structure was a gigantic alloy sphere. It was silvery-black in color, and the surface was smooth like a mirror. It was like a black star that did not give out light.

Everyone accepted some security checks before the spaceship was parked at the dock. The moment Nero disembarked from the spaceship, he immediately saw someone familiar.

"Uncle Feidin‽" Nero was overjoyed, and he immediately ran over.

"Hello Nero." Feidin smiled and stroked Nero on the head.

"Did you come here specially to wait for me?"

"That's right. We have not seen each other for five to six years. You've grown bigger." Feidin patted Nero on the head and then lamented. "But it is a pity that you didn't grow any taller."

"… Don't talk about this, and we can still have a good conversation."

Nero's face darkened. Being short would be his pain for life.

He had Aurora's life force energy in him and also drank the dragonblood potion frequently. He should have been extremely tall and did not understand why his development was so slow. His own father did not have the short genes either!

Nero had always suspected that it was the stress from studying that resulted in him being so short and was filled with resentment.

"Speaking of which, Uncle Feidin, you're still the same as always. You are still so good looking."

Feidin shook his head and smiled. "This is very normal. A Calamity Grade Super is able to control his own metabolism, and it is extremely simple for me to keep my appearance. Six years to me is like a few months for an ordinary individual."

At this moment, the Pugilist young lady then walked beside Nero and looked at Feidin with her eyes widened and her face red.

"This is…" Feidin looked over.

"Oh, let me make an introduction. This is Mia Moretto. She is my… my… cough cough, a close female friend of mine. She is one of the best Pugilists of the graduating batch.

"Mia, this is Feidin, a member of the Black Star Guards. He is a senior who watched me grow up. Eh? Why is your face red?"

"In what way is my face red!" Mia immediately held onto her face and became flustered.

She was the skinny little girl that Nero had met on the first day of school at the Black Star Super Academy. After six years of training, she had already transformed into a beautiful swan and was currently filled with energy.

Upon seeing that another young lady was captured by his beauty, Feidin said with a helpless expression, "Hello, I am Feidin."

"Hello, it is an honor for you to meet me… eh no, it should be my honor." Mia then shook Feidin's outstretched arm, and her face turned redder.

Nero looked at Feidin before looking at Mia, and his heart turned extremely sour. He then could not help but cough loudly and break up their handshake before changing the topic.

"Right. Where is my godfather?"

"He already knows that you have arrived. Go and meet him at his throne."

"Throne?"

"Er, it's the center of that black sphere." Feidin chuckled. "Speaking of which, he will definitely check on your progress later. I won't save you if you don't pass his test."

Nero's neck then shrank back, and he recalled some terrible memories. "I've improved a lot, so my godfather should be satisfied."

"You should ask him yourself. Don't let him wait for too long. We can chat after you are done." Feidin smiled and left.

Nero then turned around to look at Mia and realized that she was still staring in the direction that Feidin had left.

"He's already gone. Are you still looking?"

Mia then retracted her gaze and jabbed Nero's waist excitedly. "Oi, your uncle is far too charismatic. His smile is truly too charming."

"Why haven't you looked at me like this before?" Nero then said with jealousy.

Mia then said with disdain, "How long has it been since you last looked in the mirror. How can you be compared with your uncle?"

Nero was speechless.

His heart truly hurt.

After knowing each other for six years, they were extremely familiar with each other. Mia became much more energetic and open than before, and both of them frequently quibbled with each other. However, their relationship was extremely good, and they were like siblings.

After completing all the necessary checks, they changed into a different spaceship and headed toward the black sphere.

When their spaceship approached the black sphere, pores could be seen on the surface of the sphere. These were the landing orbits for spaceships, and it was just the right size to fit this spaceship.

The spaceship entered the orbit and stopped. Both sides of the orbit were sealed up, and there was no dock.

Just when everyone was in doubt, the door to the side opened up.

Boom!

Countless nanoparticles stretched out to form a dock before their very eyes.

"This dock was constructed on the spot?"

This scene was extremely magical to all the students, and they stepped onto the dock while looking left and right curiously. They realized that there was only a single path that they could take, and the path was surrounded by black alloy walls all around.

Everyone then looked at each other and walked down the path.

The sound of an individual clearing his throat could suddenly be heard, and everyone realized that no one was talking.

The atmosphere became tense, and everyone had a sense of fear toward the unknown before them.

These students were originally extremely excited about coming to meet a bigshot, but this excitement of theirs had become anxiousness and fear.

Although they had not met Black Star yet, they could already feel pressure from all directions.

After walking for a long time, they finally came to the end of the path and arrived at a large circular hall.

In the middle of the hall was a platform with a Divine Mechanical Throne in the middle of the platform. Bolts of blueish gold Mechanical Force could be seen expanding out from the base of the throne and jumping around as though they were dancing.

A black robed man was seated on the throne with an arm supporting his head as though he was in deep thought.

Just a simple glance from this individual made all their legs turn to jelly.

"Your Excellency Black Star."

"Is this the pressure of a Beyond Grade A? How terrifying…"

Many of them could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, thinking of retreating.

Before they came, they had been looking forward to becoming a Beyond Grade A, but at this moment, many of them realized that this was no more than a dream.

"God… godfather," Nero greeted carefully.

It has only been a few years since we last met, and my godfather has become so terrifying.

However, his appearance did not change, and he still looked as suave as he did six years ago.

Nero still dared to tease Feidin, but he could not help but be filled with reverence and anxiousness before Black Star, even if Black Star was his godfather.

What is this? Am I really that scary? Han Xiao looked at the expressions of the students and frowned.

He then looked down at the Divine Mechanical Throne and understood what was going on.

I almost forgot that this thing has the effect of increasing my pressure. No wonder these kiddos are all so terrified of me.

Han Xiao retracted his aura and stood up. The pressure then disappeared, and everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

"You are the first batch of graduates of the academy. Since you have chosen to serve the army, I will welcome all of you on behalf of the army…"

Upon hearing that, the anxiety in their hearts disappeared, and they became excited.

Han Xiao gave the students a round of praises before getting the excited students to take their leave, leaving Nero and Mia behind.

Walking down from the platform, Han Xiao looked at Nero and said, "It isn't a bad thing for you to be short. Your body will be smaller, and it will be more difficult for the enemy to hit you."

Nero's mouth then contorted.

Why did everyone like talking about his height‽

Seeing Han Xiao tease him in such a manner, Nero also became at ease and revealed a smile.

"I haven't met you for such a long time. I really missed you."

I didn't miss you at all, Han Xiao thought to himself.

With the [Observer's Mark] in his hands, he could spy on Nero whenever he wanted. He was even clear about the average number of times Nero went to the toilet in a day.

Over the past six years, Han Xiao had spent most of his time in the Flickering World, reinforcing his foundation. He had spent most of his experience and increased his level to 303. The rest of his experience went into merging blueprints and his various skills.

His attributes did not go up by much, but his mechanical army had experienced a huge upgrade!

This black spherical planet was a Mechanical Deity formed by his mechanical army!

It maintained the appearance of a planet and was like a black star. Han Xiao would frequently activate this skill and maintain it for a long time to train his control over the Mechanical Deity.

Han Xiao did not remain idle in the area of constructing machines either. He had already set up his Dimension Factory and had honed it many times.

During these six years, the machinery civilization had developed rapidly, and over eighty percent of Planet Apostle was already covered in machinery cities. The mechanical life forms were already in their eighth generation.

Because of the weakening tinder energy, the attributes of the mechanical life forms had an obvious decline from the sixth generation onward. The mechanical life forms in the later generations could only be 'commoners' and serve as cannon fodder. This was the restriction of a machinery civilization.

The first-generation mechanical life forms were still the elites with the Apostle Weapons, the most powerful group. The composition of the civilization also gradually became more like the structure of ordinary civilizations. Commoners made up the majority of the civilization, and the mechanical life forms before the sixth generation were like 'Supers'.

The Black Spirit Race was still digesting their knowledge. Compared to six years ago, the Black Spirit Race had already garnered some achievements and begun to spread knowledge to the other members of their race. The effects of the mental network were beginning to show.

An ordinary race would have to teach using textbooks, but the Black Spirit Race could dump the knowledge straight into the minds of their students.

The army developed steadily, and the education plan had begun to develop with more academies being built. The first batch of students had already graduated, and they were Nero's batch.

Han Xiao then sized Nero up before looking at Mia.

Upon seeing that, Nero misunderstood Han Xiao's intentions and immediately introduced his comrade. "This is Mia. She is my classmate, and she is very powerful."

"He… hello… er, I pay my respects to Your Excellency Black Star."

Mia was extremely nervous. The feeling that Black Star gave her was completely different from Feidin.

Feidin made her feel like she was in love with her heart racing, but Black Star filled her with reverence.

"I know about you. You have a lot of potential."

Han Xiao had already recognized this follower of Hila a few years ago and thus was not too surprised.

"Thank you." Mia was immediately overwhelmed with favor. She had never expected a bigshot like Black Star to know about her and was extremely agitated in her heart.

"Wait outside for a while. I have some things to say to Nero."

"Alright."

Mia then looked at Nero and left the room.

After seeing Mia leave, Han Xiao began to tease Nero.

"Not bad, little brat. Is your springtime here?"

Nero's face flushed red, and he stammered, "Nonsense! No… nothing of the sort…"

"Alright, there's no need to explain anything to me." Han Xiao interrupted Nero. "It has been a few years since I last met you. Let me check your progress. If you only thought about dating and not learning, humph!"

As he said that, he did not wait for Nero to reply and jabbed him.

Opening his interface, Han Xiao nodded.

This brat's potential was not too bad. He already had the strength of Grade C and should be able to reach Grade B before he turned twenty.

Looking down at his abilities section, Han Xiao's eyes lit up.

Nero's Mechanical Sense talent had finally grown to become [Perfect Mechanical Sense]!

The leek that he had grown for so long had finally matured!

It took almost ten years to develop such an ability. It truly hasn't been easy!

Han Xiao was overjoyed and slapped Nero on the shoulders with a hearty laughter.

"Not bad, not bad! I am very satisfied with your progress!"

Nero felt as though his shoulders were about to fracture and replied, "As… as long as you are satisfied."

Han Xiao could not help but pinch Nero's cheeks joyfully.

I am truly heartened that he didn't forget his studies for love!

The leek was ripe, and Han Xiao only had to think about how he should harvest it!

Reynold refused to give him any missions, but Nero was different. Nero had an Advanced Luck Glow and was just starting out in life. There would definitely be plenty of chances to trigger a storyline mission and obtain [Perfect Mechanical Sense] from him.

If not, he could even take the initiative to throw Nero into a dangerous situation.

According to Han Xiao's experience, as long as Nero approached him for help, there would be a greater chance to trigger a mission.

However, he needed a reason to do so.

Combat training sounds like a good plan… Han Xiao thought to himself.

If that was not enough, Han Xiao had his final move. Nero's potential was even stronger than Reynold's. Han Xiao could just continue to raise Nero… and publicly beat him up!

Various different thoughts flashed through his mind, and Han Xiao looked at Nero with a teasing expression.

Little fellow, true hell awaits you next. You'll come to know just how enjoyable student life was.

Noticing Han Xiao's cunning grin, Nero trembled slightly and had a bad premonition.

Why do I feel a wave of bad intentions sweeping past my body?

Nero then rubbed his head and said carefully, "Godfather, I have something that I need to ask you for help."

Han Xiao's eyes sparkled.

Woah!

Look at him, asking for help so readily. So much better than Reynold.

"Speak, what do you need?" Han Xiao asked happily.

"Mia is a Pugilist, and it hurts when she beats me up," Nero then said softly. "I want to learn how to become tanky. Godfather, you are a grandmaster in this regard. Can you teach me how to become tanky?"

"Scram!"

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Chapter 966 The Second Exploration Phase

As the saying goes, if you want to be tanky, you must first get beaten up. How can your skin be thick if your bones don't all break at least once?

He then made use of this logic to send Nero away before wondering if there were any dangerous jobs that he could get Nero to do.

After thinking for two seconds, Han Xiao raised his brows.

"That's right. The construction of the three Star Clusters has come to an end, and the second exploration phase of the dynasty is about to start. I will have some things for Nero to do."

After six years, Renault, Garu, and Crown had pretty much completed their construction, and they only lacked people.

Chief Commander Tarrokov had already informed him a few months ago that the dynasty was preparing for the second exploration phase. The various allies will be meeting the following day, and Han Xiao was also invited.

If he remembered correctly, the Crimson Dynasty met with some unexpected trouble during the second exploration phase, and there were plenty of opportunities for combat. He could make use of this opportunity to send Nero and the other graduates over under the guise of 'combat training'.

There was a high probability of his Advanced Luck Glow turning dangers into fortune, right?

Upon thinking about Nero's current appearance, Han Xiao could not help but be exasperated. To think that Nero actually wanted to learn from him and become a tank! He was supposed to be a proper Mechanic!

Furthermore, the reason was not so that he could improve but so he would be able to receive a better beating!

Preposterous!

Why don't you learn more from your godfather's swift and decisive style?

Han Xiao then got his subordinates to arrange the graduates' accommodation before returning to his throne. With a single thought, he issued an order toward his Divine Mechanical Throne.

Clank!

The next moment, the roof of the room opened, and machinery parts began flowing out.

The Mechanical Deity itself was Han Xiao's palace, and all the structures within the palace could be controlled by him with a single thought.

Very quickly, a black machine dropped down from the sky and drifted in front of Han Xiao. It was about a meter long.

Han Xiao then touched the machine, and he could feel heat. For him to be able to feel heat, it meant that the temperature was sufficiently high.

The item details were then displayed on the interface.

Unknown Core: A special machinery part. Usage of the item is unknown, but it doesn't seem useless.

"Sigh, a Universal Treasure is truly difficult to forge." Han Xiao shook his head.

Over the past six years, apart from strengthening his mechanical army, Han Xiao had also tried to forge gold grade equipment, which was Universal Grade.

The strength of a Divine Throne Mechanic was definitely sufficient, but even if he had sufficient strength, he might not be able to forge a Universal Treasure. There were far too many variables, and it required many things to work together in order to achieve a perfect state.

The first difficulty was the blueprint.

Han Xiao did not have a Universal Grade blueprint. A gold grade blueprint required the skill [Inspirational Creation, but Han Xiao's [Inspirational Creation] was currently still grayed out. The activation requirement was for [Ultimate Mechanical Engineering] to reach Lv.5.

Furthermore, [Inspirational Creation] also had a random element to it. Not to mention the fact that there were no players who announced the blueprint combination of a Universal Treasure, even if one knew the combination, the results might be different.

Because he did not have any blueprints, Han Xiao tried to use his own technological skills to forge it. He used his [Universal Simulation] skill but still did not make much progress. He made many different trash products, and this machine in his hand was the only spare part that still had some use.

Thus, Han Xiao studied this machine every day, hoping to find some inspiration.

However, the truth had proven that this idea of his was only useful to console himself.

It is far too difficult for me to create something without blueprints or theories. Perhaps the Tyracles Legacy may be able to give me a gold grade blueprint, but the next Legacy blueprint will be at level 360, and it is still far away, Han Xiao thought to himself.

On the other side, Nero and the others left the Mechanical Deity and returned to the outside world. There were already some administrative staff waiting to show them to their accommodation.

Along the way, the students looked around at the buildings in the surroundings excitedly. It was as though they had come out for a holiday.

They had not only come to the mysterious Flickering World but had even met His Excellency Black Star in person. Thus, they were all extremely excited.

Many people surrounded Nero with the majority of them being females.

As Black Star's godson, Nero had always been extremely popular. This situation would be even more common now that he was in the territory of the Black Star Army.

"Your godfather is so handsome. He is completely my type, and I feel a sense of security with him."

"That's right, that's right. That aura of his truly excites me."

"I heard that His Excellency Black Star does not have a wife. I wonder if Beyond Grade As like him have such needs."

"Can you tell us what kind of a person His Excellency Black Star is?"

Nero could not help but smile awkwardly as he cursed in his heart.

What the hell? I thought that you guys admired me a lot, but you only want to be my godmother.

He did not like the feeling of people surrounding him because of his status. Although he had a powerful background, he had never ordered people around. Of course, this was also related to Reynold's education method.

Han Xiao had always admired Reynold for his education method. Reynold would always be able to make his students feel the cruel reality of society even in the classroom.

Finally, Mia, who was beside Nero, could not take it and exploded.

"Stop squeezing me! I am going to beat people up if you continue!"

Upon hearing that, the students in the surroundings fell silent. They were still pretty afraid of Mia.

In the past, Mia had a cowardly personality and was extremely low profile in the classroom. But after she was assigned to the Pugilist Class, she became a lot more energetic than before. Almost everyone in the academy had been beaten up by Mia before, with Nero being beaten up the most. Even if he won the battle, he would always leave the arena with a face full of bruises.

Learning how to become a Pugilist would make anyone become more violent.

They arrived at their accommodation quickly, and a room was assigned to each of them. The administrative staff then told them to stay in Black Star Palace while waiting for their jobs.

After everyone found their own room, Nero placed his stuff down, and someone knocked on his window.

Turning around to take a look, he saw Hadavy outside the window riding a floating motorcycle.

"Eh? Why is it you?" He recognized all the Black Star Guards by his godfather's side, and Hadavy had a pretty good relationship with him.

"Don't talk nonsense, get on." Hadavy patted the seat behind him.

Nero hesitated for a moment before getting on the motorcycle. After a short journey, they arrived outside of a building.

"This is…" Nero then looked at the sign board and asked, "A gambling den?"

"That's right."

"Wait! Why would there be such a place in the army? Who opened it?" Nero asked with doubt.

"Who else but me… cough, our respected Black Star. Us Black Star Guards are usually with him and don't have much to do. How could we survive without some entertainment? Let me tell you, although this is the second headquarters of the Black Star Army, the entertainment venues are extremely comprehensive."

Hadavy then threw the floating motorcycle to the side and dragged Nero into the gambling den. The gambling den was bustling with activity with a huge crowd in the place.

"Why are you bringing me here?" Nero asked timidly.

Hadavy then squeezed his way to a Wayne Card gambling table and placed a huge wager. He then whispered into Nero's ears.

"Hehe, I lost a few years' salary here, and I am relying on you to win it back for me."

After Reynold took over the Logistics department in the Shattered Star Ring, it became difficult to meet him. Furthermore, Feidin did not allow Hadavy to disturb him. Thus, Nero became the only person left who Hadavy knew was good in cards.

How would he miss such a good opportunity to recoup all his losses!

"I… I am still a child." Nero's mouth contorted, and he looked at the expressionless robot in front of him.

He truly suspected that Black Star had opened his gambling den to collect back the salaries of the Black Star Army members.

He is my godfather indeed! A Mechanic that knows how to cut costs is definitely outstanding!

The next day, the meeting for the second exploration phase was being held in a conference room on Planet Lighthouse, and all those participating in the meeting were the various bigshots of the dynasty.

The moment Han Xiao's projection descended, many people greeted him.

"Eh? Black Star is here."

"Come here, I saved a seat for you."

After the event six years ago, Han Xiao had gained a higher status within the circle of Beyond Grade As and was extremely popular.

These Beyond Grade As all knew that Black Star would probably be the next pillar of the dynasty and were thus more passionate toward him.

There was no need to mention the old dragon, Beyoni, and his other old friends. Ravenlaude, Maximiler, Viru, and Lotus Swordsman were present, and Han Xiao also saw Heber.

Heber naturally did not greet him. Heber only snorted and looked away to prevent himself from being irritated.

The moment he saw Heber, Han Xiao thought about the development of the army in the Shattered Star Ring. Over the past six years, the Bloodshed Land had competed with the Black Star Army in many areas with the aid of the Limitless Financial Group. Both parties continued to swallow up other organizations and expanded their operations greatly.

The Germinal Financial Group developed rapidly and became the representative financial group of the Black Star Army. Iapetus displayed outstanding talent and also sat in a high position. With the support of the Black Star Army, the Germinal Financial Group showed signs of becoming a first rate financial group.

The Crimson Dynasty had also expanded some of their operations in the Shattered Star Ring and provided some aid to him. The Black Star Army was temporarily able to resist the pressure brought about by the Limitless Financial Group. However, since the Limitless Financial Group had entered the Shattered Star Ring market, they would not back off easily and had become a powerful competitor.

Han Xiao greeted the other Beyond Grade As and finally sat in between the old dragon and Maximiler.

The Beyond Grade As had their own small circle, and the other civilizations all sat far away.

The meeting had not started yet, and everyone was busy chatting with each other.

After waiting for a while when everyone was present, Tarrokov walked forward to the stage and coughed twice to attract everyone's attention.

"I'm sorry for the wait. Since everyone is here, let's begin."

The conference room then fell silent, and everyone looked at him.

Tarrokov then pressed a button, and a huge holographic screen appeared behind him with the star map of the Flickering World on the screen. The green explored region had been expanded with Renault, Dawn, Garu, and Crown being lit up.

"Everyone here should be extremely familiar with this map, so there's no need for me to explain it further. I shall get straight to the point. We've spent over ten years on the first exploration and construction phase. The construction of the basic facilities is going well, and the first phase is about to come to an end. The dynasty has decided to embark on the second exploration phase."

As he said that, Tarrokov tapped on the screen and circled two unexplored Star Clusters.

"These two Star Clusters will be our objective for the second exploration phase. They are the Russo Star Cluster and Dust Light Star Cluster."

Everyone present felt their spirits being lifted.

The two Star Clusters were neighbors to the explored region in the first phase. The Russo Star Cluster was where Han Xiao had obtained the Spacetime Amber, and it was a neighbor of the Garu Star Cluster. The Dust Light Star Cluster was a neighbor of both Renault and Crown.

"Why is there one less region in the second exploration phase?" someone asked.

Tarrokov nodded and explained, "Yes. There are many different reasons with two more prominent ones. First, we need to continue with the construction of the first phase, and that will require manpower and resources. Second, we will be adopting a new exploration method during the second exploration phase, and we've chosen to shrink the region down because we would have more things to do."

After looking around to make sure that there weren't any questions, Tarrokov said, "There are more people participating in the second exploration phase. Please refer to the list for the exact breakdown."

A screen appeared in front of everyone, and the organizations participating in the second exploration phase were shown.

Han Xiao glanced over the list. The scale of the second phase was much larger, and many of the new organizations were subsidiary civilizations and galactic contractors being hired.

During the first exploration phase, not all the allies had an opportunity to participate. Some weaker subsidiary civilizations were not even within the dynasty's consideration. From the second exploration phase onward, the dynasty needed to share the cost of the development and thus allowed more to participate.

According to this development pace, the Flickering World would be opened up to the public in the fourth phase.

Only the Beyond Grade A allies who joined in the first phase could seize the best opportunities. As more people joined in the exploration, the benefits would become less.

Tarrokov waited for everyone to finish viewing the list before saying, "I have already made a small booklet on the things to take note of during the second exploration phase and will issue it to every participating organization. Everyone must read it as we have added some new rules."

The Beyond Grade As then looked at each other and nodded.

The rules in the first phase were intentionally more relaxed for the Beyond Grade As to obtain more benefits. However, the rules would be stricter toward these subsidiary civilizations.

"To all our Beyond Grade A allies," Tarrokov then said with a smile, "the dynasty has already assigned your missions, so there's no need for you to choose your targets. Please be understanding."

After seeing that no one had any issues, Tarrokov continued.

Indeed, the dynasty would control everything. Han Xiao shook his head. This meant that he would not be able to fully utilize his advantage.

However, the most valuable Spacetime Amber was already in his hands, and it would not matter to him if he had a choice or not. According to his understanding of the second exploration phase, regardless of the mission that the dynasty issued, he would probably be sent to deal with some native advanced civilizations in the end.

In his previous life, the Crimson Dynasty met an advanced civilization that was located in the Dust Light Star Cluster.

Because of some reasons, the advanced civilization harbored great enmity toward the dynasty and was not easy to deal with. It even caused some trouble to the dynasty's exploration.

During the first phase, they met a native Star System civilization. However, this advanced civilization was already at the Star Cluster level. Of course, they would not be a complete Star Cluster Civilization without the support of the galactic society. However, they were pretty powerful and different from the frogs in the well before.

The dynasty might not have mobilized their armed forces if everything went normally, but there was another power pulling the strings in the background.

Han Xiao's 'Nero training plan' was targeted at this advanced civilization.

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