Read The Legendary Mechanic - Chapter 1164 - Lockdown and One Step Ahead online free - Novel Full
Chapter 1164 Lockdown and One Step Ahead
"Message from the frontline. They've lost contact with Aesop. He's possibly been captured by Black Star." As this report was read by a Modo Civilization upper echelon, the conference room was filled with dead silence.
After quite some time, a top military officer finally said, "The plan must've failed. The situation is now dire. Do you guys have any ideas?"
"I thought the Mechanic Emperor would have definitely completed the mission. I didn't expect him to be this useless and unreliable," someone said.
"Could he have deliberately divulged the information to Black Star, using that to fix his relationship with Black Star?"
"He wouldn't do that. You don't have to doubt him." The Modo Three Kings shook their heads.
"It's not his style to fawn upon Black Star, and his hatred with Black Star won't be resolved this easily, nor would the three Universal Civilizations stop being cautious toward him… You guys should think about how to deal with the impact of the mission failing." They knew that the Mechanic Emperor was not to be blamed for this. Even the Mechanic Emperor, whom they had high hopes for, could not transport Aesop out, not to mention their own forces. Even so, the upper echelons present still unavoidably felt disappointed with the Mechanic Emperor. "There are souls of our soldiers inside Aesop's body. Black Star will be able to get our plans from them. Never mind if he knows about our plan, I'm only worried about him knowing about the Soul Swapper," another upper echelon said.
The Modo Civilization had already considered the consequences of failing while they came up with the plan. They looked like they did not want to be discovered, but it was actually only because it was required for the framing. Modo was not afraid of Black Star finding out that this was their doing.
After all, they were enemies. The Black Star Army would not stop attacking them even without this conspiracy, so they were not afraid of enraging Black Star.
Even if the three Universal Civilizations knew about it, Modo had nothing to fear either. They were already at war with the three Universal Civilizations anyway. All the Modo Civilization really worried about was that Black Star might find out about the Soul Swapper after the plan failed.
However, since they had chosen to use the Soul Swapper for the mission, this was a risk they had to take.
Moreover, the Soul Swapper was not in their hands now and had been taken away by the Soul Swap Twins, which meant there were even more uncertainties.
"Speaking of which, why haven't the Soul Swap Twins contacted us yet? The mind trap should've triggered long ago," someone wondered.
"That's right. It's been almost a month. Have their sub-personalities still not awakened?"
"Could there have been an accident and the Soul Swap Twins have suppressed the awakening of the sub-personalities? But how is that possible? They're Grade Bs at most, or is this the Soul Swapper's ability too?"
"No matter what, we have to prepare for the worst," one of the Modo Three Kings said with a deep voice.
From their perspective, mind traps set by a Beyond Grade A on Grade Bs should be completely safe. However, even the ones in charge of the Marwell plan did not know everything about the Soul Swapper. The Soul Swap Twins were the only ones they knew that could use the Soul Swapper, and only the two of them knew about all its functions.
"We have to do something. How about we get our Beyond Grade A to look for them in the Shattered Star Ring?" someone suggested.
"No, a Beyond Grade A is too conspicuous. If his identity as our direct member is exposed, he won't be able to return. Black Star won't mind adding another item to his collection." Most of the people present did not agree with sending a Beyond Grade A to find the Soul Swapper, since that Beyond Grade A might not be able to come back. Should that happen, not only would they have not found the Soul Swapper, but they would also lose a Beyond Grade A!
The Modo Civilization had very complicated feelings about the Soul Swapper. On the one hand, they placed great importance on its functions, but on the other, they used it very cautiously. Throughout the years, they had tested trillions of people, and only the Soul Swap Twins could use it. Without the two of them, this Space Wonder would be like a piece of junk. Furthermore, they only used it to execute conspiracies and plots most of the time, such as turning important people into their men. However, when it got discovered and the souls of the people they swapped in got interrogated, Modo's involvement would be discovered too and bring them trouble. Therefore, they hardly ever used the Soul Swapper. It mostly collected dust in storage.
Hence, although the upper echelons present really wanted to retrieve it, they were not willing to pay too high a price. They felt it was not very worth it.
Bang! A top military officer slammed the table and interrupted the discussion. He clenched his teeth and said, "Damn it, we're so restricted in someone else's territory. We could've toyed with Black Star all we wanted if this happened in our territory."
Everyone felt powerless.
It was what it was. Black Star had way too few weaknesses, and they were out of ideas.
About ten days later, inside the main ship office of the Black Star fleet, Han Xiao received the summarized data from Phillip and scanned it through.
"Is all the information here?"
"Yes, hum… This is all the information we've collected about the Soul Swapper."
In the past ten days, the Black Star Army had started a large-scale search around the clues acquired from Aesop.
Firstly, they captured the tracking team that had their souls swapped and got some new information about the transport team from back then.
Originally, according to the plan, these spies would be swapped away again after the mission was complete, making it look like an accidental death, not leaving any clues behind.
However, the Soul Swap Twins' escape caused them to be trapped inside the bodies of the Black Star Army soldiers. They did not dare contact Modo's men because Black Star was monitoring the quantum network, nor did they know about the Soul Swap Twins escaping. They thought that they had to continue hiding and were caught red handed.
After acquiring information from these people, Han Xiao once again used the power of Destiny's Child, and with some luck, they captured quite a few Modo Civilization battleships that had yet to leave the Shattered Star Ring. From these people, he found out that the Soul Swap Twins had escaped.
However, the leads stopped there. Modo's men had no idea where the Soul Swap Twins were.
Han Xiao looked at the information collected, slightly shook his head, and sighed.
"The Soul Swap Twins can keep changing bodies. It won't be easy to find them."
He was not an expert in the soul area, but he did know someone who was—the leader of the Holy Accord organization, Oathkeeper, the current master of the Soul Flame.
This guy might have a way to find the Soul Swap Twins quickly. After all, no matter how many times they changed bodies, their souls would remain the same.
However, when Han Xiao tried contacting Oathkeeper, he was told that Oathkeeper had entered the Sanctum and had yet to return, so this method was out of the question.
"The current methods are only virtual technology, Bold Explorer, and luck, which are not very efficient…" Han Xiao pondered. "The Mechanic Emperor should be looking for the Soul Swapper, too. I can keep a close eye on him."
When searching for Modo's troops, Han Xiao had found out that some other spaceships of the transport fleet were also missing.
However, these spaceships were not in his hands. With some investigation, he discovered that it was related to the Mechanic Emperor's subsidiary organizations, which basically proved that the Mechanic Emperor was looking for the Soul Swapper. Since he framed the Mechanic Emperor more than half a month ago, the three Universal Civilizations had already taken action. A part of the subsidiary organizations under the Mechanic Emperor that were disguised as legal organizations were temporarily seized.
Not only did this cause quite a loss for the Mechanic Emperor, more importantly, it meant that a lot of the Mechanic Emperor's subsidiary troops were frozen, so the manpower he could use right now was tremendously reduced. This indirectly made it harder for the Mechanic Emperor to find the Soul Swapper.
However, Han Xiao felt that the Mechanic Emperor should have known about the Soul Swapper before he did. Furthermore, the Mechanic Emperor's home was in the Primeval Star River, just like Modo, so he might know something he did not. Han Xiao felt that keeping a close eye on him might give him some surprises.
"Continue the search," Han Xiao said.
"Report any and all situations to me. Keep an extra close eye on the Mechanic Emperor's subsidiary organizations. Don't let any one of them leave our sights."
At the edge of the Shattered Star Ring, Planet Earth Ring was a transit station planet located near the inter-star field stargate that had a huge amount of traffic every day. A ton of galactic flights resupplied all kinds of resources. The management of the planet was a Star Cluster civilization of the Shattered Star Ring, so this was a government-controlled public transit hub.
The streets were crowded, prosperous, and filled with countless different races.
Half a month had passed since the search for the Soul Swap Twins began. A man and a woman walked on the street, carefully observing the surrounding while conversing softly. It was the Soul Swap Twins, Jill and Warren.
"Elder bro, anything from your sub-personality these few days?"
"I just suppressed it three days ago, but my souls are running out. We'll have to top up on some souls today."
"Me too. This planet has a lot of people, so it's a suitable target. This is our last stop before leaving the Shattered Star Ring. We have to absorb as many souls as possible so it can last longer," Warren said softly.
"Don't do anything now. Wait till we're about to leave." Jill kept his voice down.
Their goal was to leave the Shattered Star Ring. Through changing their bodies continuously, they had finally arrived at the edge of the Shattered Star Ring. They planned to resupply there and then escape the Star Field through the stargate.
In order to suppress their mind traps, they absorbed quite a lot of souls on the planets they passed by, continuously 'charging up'. Most of which were beasts, but that was not because they suddenly became kind and merciful; absorbing too many intelligent lives would attract attention, which was not beneficial for staying hidden.
Now that they were at the edge of the Star Field, they knew they would be mostly safe if they got out. Hence, they planned to go for a big one and absorb a lot of souls, hoping to find a way to completely defuse the mind traps.
This way, they would not have to commit any crimes in the other Star Fields and could hide themselves perfectly.
"We're finally going to leave the Shattered Star Ring. We'll soon have real freedom." Warren's tone was thrilled and filled with infinite hope for the future.
"This is the first step of our conquest!"
Jill clenched his fists. His eyes were gleaming with excitement. We're finally about to take the first step of fulfilling their ambitions. Our imprisoned days have finally come to an end. As long as we have enough time to grow, given how magical the Soul Swapper is and how talented we are, we'll certainly become a big deal in the universe!
While the two of them were dreaming about their future, a sudden change occurred, and the alarm suddenly rang throughout the city!
Woo!
The piercing alarm echoed throughout all the streets. Countless people looked up with surprise, not knowing what was going on. "What's going on?"
"This is a planetary alarm. Has someone come to attack the planet!"
The people on the streets started panicking, including the street the Soul Swap Twins were on. "Elder bro, are they here for us?" Warren looked anxious.
"Don't panic! No one should be able to find us, and even if someone did, they wouldn't create such a huge commotion for it." Jill was unsure too.
At this time, someone pointed at the sky and yelled, "Look, a fleet!" The people looked up. Battleships penetrated the atmosphere and hovered in midair, and mechanical soldiers shrouded the sky. There were no organization symbols, so they did not know what organization this was. This time, the sound of spaceships taking off continuously sounded. The garrison of Planet Earth Ring hastily arrived and loudly questioned what was happening in the public communication channel "This is the Planet Earth Ring Garrison Fleet Command Center. You have broken the Dock Parking Law by penetrating the planet's atmosphere without authorization. Please identify yourselves immediately!" After a full two seconds, the voice of an old man finally sounded in the public communication channel.
"I'm Mechanic Emperor Manison. I'll be taking over this planet temporarily."
As he said that, countless people shockingly realized that their communicators had lost network connection. They were no longer able to send any messages out. The people were in an uproar. At this point, they clearly knew that the Mechanic Emperor had cut off the communication of the entire Planet Earth Ring with the outside world. He had locked down the quantum network of the planet! "Mechanic Emperor? What is he doing here?" Jill widened his eyes in shock. The two of them had escaped early, and Modo had partnered with the Mechanic Emperor after that. They thought that they were just innocent passersby at this point. They were just one step away from their beautiful future, and now they got into an accident right before that. They were both shocked and enraged.
However, no matter how arrogant Jill was, in the face of the great Mechanic Emperor, he knew there was no way he could mess with him. The only thing he could do was pray for the Mechanic Emperor to quickly finish what he came for and open up the lockdown so that they could leave.
At the same time, within the main ship above Planet Earth Ring, Manison's Lord's Avatar covered in electric sparks stood before the porthole, looked at the hostile and tensed garrison fleet, and calmly said, "Lock the entire planet down. Don't allow any life form to leave. The target is right here. Filter the life forms of the entire planet till we find them!"
Outside the window, countless mechanical soldiers descended onto the ground and controlled the panicking crowd. Countless screams of pain shot up the sky and faintly reached Manison's ears.
He scanned through the surface. He was completely certain the Soul Swap Twins were on Planet Earth Ring.
His tracking process was not the smoothest. This was not his territory, so he could not keep such a high profile like the Black Star Army could. He secretly seized a few transport ships only to discover that the Soul Swap Twins had already escaped, and his leads ended there too.
However, Manison acquired extra information from his mole in Modo and knew about the mind trap. He then searched for any place where a large number of life forms had turned into vegetables and lost their souls, and he speculated that it was the doing of the Soul Swap Twins.
Through finding similar incidents, he confirmed the escape route of the Soul Swap Twins and finally locked onto the Soul Swap Twins' whereabouts today.
Due to the fact that his subsidiary organizations were already exposed and were being uprooted, Manison was no longer worried about getting found out, so he locked down the entire Planet Earth Ring. If not because most of his subsidiary organizations were suddenly frozen by the three Universal Civilizations, which led to him almost losing the lead mid-way and delaying him by a few days, he felt that he would have reached this point long ago. However, despite the obstacles and challenges, he still succeeded!
Manison shook his head.
Although the mind trap isn't a highly confidential secret, none of these basic level crews know about it, so of course, Black Star doesn't either. Hence, he can only roam around, relying on luck, which is also why he got lured away by me so easily some time ago… Tsk, it's too early for you to fight me, Black Star.
A few days ago, he had deliberately made one of his subsidiary organizations lock down a planet very far away, acting as if he had found the whereabouts of the Soul Swapper to attract Black Star's attention.
This successfully lured away a large batch of the Black Star Army's fleet. From the way he looked at it, even if Black Star had already noticed this, he would not be able to reach Planet Earth Ring any time soon. However, to be safe, Manison still locked down the quantum network of Planet Earth Ring and delayed the time of the Black Star Army receiving any information.
He planned to get away as soon as he got what he came for. Afterward, even if the advanced civilizations held him responsible for it, there was no way he would throw up what he had already swallowed.
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Chapter 1165 Encounter and Confrontation
In the command center of Planet Earth Ring, the manager of the planet was startled by the Mechanic Emperor's name and only spoke cautiously after more than ten seconds of silence.
"Your Excellency Mechanic Emperor, Planet Earth Ring belongs to the Razo Civilization. You have broken the Planetary Management Law set by the Shattered Star Ring Civilization Alliance by locking down this planet. We hope you can give us a proper explanation."
"I'm chasing fugitives. When I'm done, I'll leave. It'd be best for you to step back and not cause any trouble." Manison's calm voice sounded from the public channel.
"… No, we have to stay. According to the rules and regulations, we must report this to the upper echelons of the civilization afterward."
"Whatever."
Manison hung up the communication.
The manager of Planet Earth Ring did not dare resist. He suppressed his anger and ordered the garrison fleet to standby in a defense formation, but he did not disrupt Mechanic Emperor's actions.
Although the Razo Civilization was one of the Star Cluster civilizations of the Shattered Star Ring, now that their communication with the outside world was cut off, the garrison fleet on this planet was no match for the Mechanic Emperor.
The manager was not going to sacrifice his troops for nothing, so he chose to stand aside with caution. This went against his duty, but he could only be flexible.
Without the obstruction of the garrison fleet, Mechanic Emperor's mechanical troops started to search through the civilians on a large scale, not missing out on anything that breathed. They chased everyone out to the streets and forced them to stand in lines.
No matter how arrogant, all the Supers obediently followed the Mechanic Emperor's instructions.
Of course, there were some civilians who just could not grasp the situation. The fists of mechanical soldiers would not have mercy, and after thousands of rioting tourists were beaten up, the rest all became quiet.
Jill and Warren were squeezed by the crowd into a line. They looked around with caution and panic.
The two of them were intimidated by the Mechanic Emperor's troops. They secretly used the Soul Swapper to communicate with each other's souls.
"Elder bro, do you think the Mechanic Emperor is here to catch us?" Warren was worried.
"It can't be. Didn't he say? He's here to catch fugitives, and we're not fugitives," Jill assured him.
"But even if he's not here looking for us, since the search is so thorough, there's a chance we'll get exposed too."
"That is a problem indeed…"
Jill looked gloomy and was in a very bad mood. He was partly worried about the situation, but he was also gloomy because he noticed that someone had squeezed his butt.
He glared behind him and saw a mercenary-looking red-skinned beastman moving his hand away while giggling. The Beastman then flexed his arm and displayed his muscles, even giving him a confident look… Only low-grade beastmen with strong desires would still be thinking of reproduction in times like this.
Jill felt a disgusting chill running through his body. He quickly tightened his clothes.
"How about we find an opportunity and swap into those who've already been checked?" Warren suggested.
"Let's see how it goes first. We'll temporarily stay put, and if things are not going well, I can swap you into my body, and we can share one body temporarily… Wait, no, I'll swap into your body."
Jill's mouth twitched. He regretted choosing a rather attractive body.
The search was going on one batch after another, and Manison was monitoring the process in the main ship.
"Let me see how long you can last."
Manison's tone was calm.
The Soul Swapper was unique. All ordinary detection methods were useless. Furthermore, the target could swap into different bodies at any time, so rechecking again and again would be very troublesome.
He planned to send batches of people who finished the check into different spaceships, away from the range of the Soul Swapper and put them in quarantine.
This way, as the number of people was reduced, the Soul Swap Twins would sooner or later activate their abilities and most likely swap into those who had already been checked. However, they did not know that he would still carry out multiple checks even after the quarantine, hoping to trap the two of them in smaller crowds.
Also, another goal of the quarantine was to take away all the people on the planet, including even the garrison fleet. This way, he would have plenty of time to slowly filter and check through them.
If the Soul Swap Twins used their abilities, the shells that had lost their souls should faint, which would be a clue too. Even if the Soul Swap Twins could swap multiple souls around and mix up the identity of the bodies that fainted, as long as it happened, it would prove that they had used their abilities. Furthermore, doing this would definitely cause mass confusion.
Manison had prepared many plans, among which the most extreme was slaughtering the entire planet. Killing life forms with souls one after another would definitely be able to force the Soul Swap Twins to appear. However, the consequences of that were too severe. He would not use this plan unless he had no other choice.
"In about two hours, all the people on the planet will be separately quarantined in different ships. Not the most efficient, but good enough. There's still plenty of time…"
While Manison was calculating the time, he suddenly sensed something and suddenly turned around to look behind.
Woo!
The alarm of the spaceship rang at the same time. In the distance, streams of hyperdrive light appeared and stopped nearby. The bright blue light dissipated, showing a completely black fleet. An organization symbol that Manison could never forget was engraved on these ships' exterior armor. It was the Black Star Army!
"How did they find me?" Manison was shocked.
That's strange. This fleet clearly got rid of its trackers. How did the Black Star Army find this place? Prophecy? But the spaceships' information disruption devices are still working. Aesop shouldn't be able to accurately foresee the exact location. Is there an even stronger prophet?
This is getting troublesome. Black Star's noticed what's happening here. Change of plan, I must speed up and get everyone into the ships. … However, luckily, only an ordinary search fleet is here. There are just more than thirty fleets.
Manison responded instantly. He waved his hand, and a large group of mechanical troops immediately turned and charged toward the Black Star Army fleet.
He planned to eliminate Black Star's men first so they would not disrupt him.
However, the next moment, three powerful energy presences erupted in the Black Star Army fleet!
Woo!
The energy detection radar's reading exceeded the limits instantly!
Manison was stunned for a moment.
"Three Beyond Grade As?"
In his sights, three silhouettes flew out of the Black Star Army and stood opposite his mechanical army. They were Black Star, Ames, and Hila!
Han Xiao scanned through the situation of Planet Earth Ring and smirked. He connected to the public channel and mocked, "Yo, looks like I'm almost late."
"Why are you here?" Manison did not bother chatting with Han Xiao at all. "Oh? Are you asking me why I wasn't lured away by your bait?" Han Xiao curled his lips. "The Shattered Star Ring is my territory. If I got toyed with by you so easily, where should I put my face?"
Actually, the bait Manison set some time ago almost fooled him, and this fleet did indeed lose its initial trackers.
However, as a peak Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanic who was in his own territory, Han Xiao also did a deep search. He analyzed what all of the routes Manison's troops took had in common and also discovered the vegetable incident of multiple planets. After some cross referencing, it matched with the route of one of Manison's teams.
Although the Great Mechanic Han did not know about the mind trap, it did not stop him from speculating that this was the clue Manison was going after.
Therefore, just like the Mechanic Emperor, he locked onto the Soul Swap Twins' escape route according to those incidents and sent a fleet right to Planet Earth Ring.
Therefore, this army fleet did not come here by following the Mechanic Emperor but instead happened to encounter the Mechanic Emperor, which proved he was right.
The three of them were originally not in the fleet, but Han Xiao had the fleet bring a 'Throne'. He received the news the instant this fleet discovered Mechanic Emperor, and immediately used the King to teleport all three of them here, hence this moment.
While the two of them confronted each other, the manager of Planet Earth Ring was overjoyed and quickly spoke in the public channel.
"Your Excellency Black Star! I'm the manager of Planet Earth Ring. The Mechanic Emperor has forcefully taken over the planet, and we are powerless to resist. Luckily, you're here. Please help us. The Razo Civilization will definitely thank you for it after!"
Initially, the manager of Planet Earth Ring could only watch and feel powerless while filled with rage. Now that Black Star was here, it was like he had caught a lifebuoy. He immediately asked for help.
It was known that the Shattered Star Ring was protected by Black Star now. In the manager's eyes, Black Star was on his side.
Han Xiao casually waved. "Hmm, take your troops off the planet. Leave the rest to me."
"Roger!"
The Planet Earth Ring manager brought the garrison fleet aside to watch without hesitation.
He did not agree when the Mechanic Emperor asked him to leave, but as soon as Black Star did, he left instantly. In the Shattered Star Ring, Han Xiao was much more respected than Manison.
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Seeing this, Han Xiao then turned to the Mechanic Emperor's ride and snorted.
"I'm right here. Aren't you going to come out and meet me?"
About ten seconds later, Manison's Lord's Avatar finally flew out.
"Black Star, you've come to mess up my plan again," Manison said coldly. Although his voice was monotonous, it still had a sense of frustration and anger.
"Hehe, Mechanic Emperor, I won't play games with you. Our goal should be the same. It's right here on Planet Earth Ring, and it belongs to whoever's more capable."
Han Xiao crossed his arms and looked firm.
Actually, he was filled with joy on the inside. Originally, he had no excuse to fight with this old b*stard, but now that he had one and met him, he looked at Manison like he was looking at a portable talent inventory.
Manison looked at the three of them and said coldly, "You think your victory is certain just because it's three against one?"
"Haha, you're mistaken." Han Xiao curled his lips. "I alone am enough to fight you. The two of them won't interfere."
Hearing this, Ames and Hila both turned to him and silently stared at him.
Seeing this, Han Xiao coughed and softly said, "Ahem, the two of you are responsible to search the planet and find the target. Hila, you have some knowledge in the mind area, so it's suitable for you to find them, while Ames' force field makes catching people more convenient."
"You said you'd let me help in the fight…" Ames frowned slightly.
"That's when we fight Modo. Leave the Mechanic Emperor to me. I'm going to fight him one on one."
"Am I a burden?" Ames narrowed her eyes.
"… Just a little bit." Han Xiao was very honest and did not find any excuse in times like this.
Ames's eyes twitched, but she thought about it and realized she could not object.
She gave Han Xiao a glare and flew toward Planet Earth Ring.
Hila tilted her head and pondered for a while before raising three fingers.
"Three times."
"What three times?" Han Xiao wondered.
"I've lost the chance to fight someone as strong as the Mechanic Emperor, so you'll have to spar with me seriously three times afterward, and you can't reject it no matter when I ask for it."
"Alright, alright, not to mention three times, I'll spar with you thirty times even if you want to." Han Xiao sighed.
"Okay, thirty times it is. It's a promise!"
Hila nodded with satisfaction and instantly followed behind Ames with the fleet.
Han Xiao's eyes twitched. He was speechless.
This tomboy's combat maniac trait had been getting even more and more intense, and god only knew where she learned to be this cheeky.
Removing Ames and Hila was an attempt to try to trigger Beyond Grade A challenge mission. Otherwise, given how thick Han Xiao's skin was, he would not ask for a duel for no reason.
Han Xiao looked at old Manison and said, "Alright, now no one will disturb us. It's a rare opportunity. Now that we've coincidentally run into each other, we have to get properly intimate."
Manison watched Ames and Hila landing on Planet Earth Ring and did not stop them.
He knew that as long as he did not defeat Black Star, stopping them would not do anything.
Seeing that Han Xiao had stayed behind alone, Manison slowly said, "If the three of you had come at me together, it might have been quite troublesome for me. Yet, you've actually decided to fight me alone. How brave."
"Yo, you're saying it as if I lost to you last time. Why do I seem to recall it being a tie?"
Manison mirthlessly laughed. "Black Star, you should have a clearer idea of how real that 'tie' was than me. Without more than a dozen people helping you this time, do you really still think this will still end as a tie?"
"Tie? No, no, I didn't think that." Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. "I'm here with my original body, and crushing your Lord's Avatar is my goal today. It's time to refresh my achievement."
"Hehe, I admit, that special technique of yours to burn your potential can grant you power to match me, but that's all. Defeat me? You're a hundred years too early! Plus, how much potential do you have to throw away? If this is the source of your confidence today, I'm guessing it's not going to end well for you."
"You never know if you don't try."
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, his body trembled, and Mechanical Force sparked around him. His energy level rocketed as he quickly entered combat stance. Seeing this, Manison shook his head, his energy level rising too. The gold Mechanical Force seemed to have painted his Lord's Avatar gold.
"Looks like I'm quite lucky today to receive a pleasant surprise. Since you dare face me with your original body, I'll gladly take your Spacetime Amber as a compensation from you."
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Chapter 1166 Shaken Manison
Boom!
Like thousands of thunder strikes happening at the same time, raging Mechanical Force erupted like silver dragons.
The people on Planet Earth Ring looked up. It was as if two suns covered in lightning had suddenly appeared.
Two light gates suddenly appeared in cosmic space, and countless machines swarmed out from the secondary dimensional army boxes.
One side was black like storm clouds, and the other side was white like snowy hills.
The mechanical armies surrounded the two of them. Mechanical Force extended out from their bodies and connected their armies, quickly assembling into two giants!
In an instant, two enormous weapons clashed. The mountain-sized black blade slashed onto the middle of the golden trident!
Clank!
A psionic shockwave exploded, extended through the artificial atmosphere of Planet Earth Ring, and caused chain reactions, creating a deafening noise!
Countless people hastily covered their ears with agony on their faces. They felt as if someone was tolling a bell inside their brain. They could feel their brains trembling. Some lost balance like they were drunk, fell onto the ground, and could not control their body.
Outside the planet's atmosphere, two Mechanical Deities had appeared and were already fighting intensely.
Every move of a Mechanical Deity harnessed terrifying power. Even though they consciously distanced themselves from Planet Earth Ring, the aftershocks still triggered countless natural disasters on the planet's surface.
Machinery came out of their Secondary dimensional army boxes nonstop like it had no end. Their machines fought each other under the lead of their own Apostle Weapons and divided the battlefield into countless smaller battles.
The combat artificial intelligences of both sides tried their best to break each other's formation and create situations where they outnumbered the other side. Mechanical soldiers that got occasionally left stranded became targets of focused fire. They then recovered through Mechanical Force and entered the battlefield right after.
Planet Earth Ring's atmosphere was filled with traces of psionic beams that seemed to have formed a net that shrouded the planet.
Occasionally, liquid metal melted by the high temperature would cool down to irregular shaped metal meteors that fell onto the surface, either creating pits on the ground or shattered by the planet's protective shields.
This was not the first fight between Han Xiao and Manison. They had a rough idea of each other's capabilities, so they went full out from the start and released most of their Apostle Weapons.
Old Manison had more than forty Apostle Weapons in all kinds of shapes. Their similarity was that they were all mechanical lives that had existed for many years, so they had a lot of energy in their tinder, meaning they were very strong.
Han Xiao brought up most of his assets too, more than thirty Apostle Weapons led by Psionic Prime, which was more than one and a half times what he had before!
Han Xiao had obtained the Molding Talent (Billion Mechanic EmpireManison) from old Manison the last time they fought. Not only did it give him all kinds of attribute bonuses, it also increased a ton of core Mechanic abilities including (Apostle Life Creation] by six levels, meaning he could directly create six more Apostle Weapons!
Some time ago, Han Xiao had also built four new Universal Treasures and used the God's Trait Transformation Points all on the Machinery side, increasing its level from five to nine. This also gave him a few more Apostle Weapon allocations.
Hence, Han Xiao had created about ten more Apostle Weapons while watching the situation of the Flickering War unfold. Although there was still some distance from the number of Apostle Weapons Manison had, it was not as large as the last time.
With my current strength, even without Character Summon Cards, I can match up to old man Manison and not just get beat up like last time.
While Han Xiao slashed at the Mechanic Emperor time after time, he was judging the strength difference between him and the Mechanic Emperor.
Every five stages of God's Trait Transformation comprised one big stage. Although he had yet to receive the bonuses from stage ten, his God's Trait Transformation Machinery was already four levels higher than before, which increased his strength by a huge extent.
Part of his strength difference from Manison was his inventory; he did not have as many high Grade machines as Manison. Another was the huge God's
Trait Transformation difference, which was now greatly reduced. Although normal Beyond Grade A Mechanics could also obtain God's Trait Transformation Points through building Universal Treasures, they did not have the interface and could not apply the points immediately. The God's Trait Transformation Points they obtained could be considered a type of experience or understanding that could only be applied to increase the God's Trait Transformation stages after they spent long periods of time digesting it.
Han Xiao, however, could apply the points instantly, meaning the digestion process was completely skipped, saving a ton of time. This was why he could become stronger in such a brief period. It was something no other Beyond Grade A could replicate.
Considering the large bonuses from (Billion Mechanic Empire), Titan Spinal Center, Gaeta Shockwave Fist, and several new Universal Treasures, Han Xiao speculated that his current strength should be around the same as his strength when he was in the explosive state the last time he fought Manison! The only part that was still weaker would at most be the basic attributes he gained through (Polar Channel FlowBlood Rage) and (Advanced Strengthened Life).
On the interface, the challenge mission for Mechanic Emperor had appeared as he expected.
Come to think of it, this was the third time he had seen this mission.
I'll use my EXP too so that I can be as strong as possible.
Han Xiao glanced at the interface and spent most of his accumulated EXP into levelling up.
His level rocketed all the way to level 331 before stopping. The remaining EXP was not enough to level up again.
The bonus he received from leveling up now was not a lot at this stage, but every Promotion and evolution would still make him considerably stronger. Therefore, although Awakening Points had a bigger impact on his strength, he did not plan on using EXP on them for the time being.
After all, it was the final stage of Version 4.0. If he did not spend EXP elsewhere, he might be able to accumulate enough EXP to reach level 340 for a Promotion.
Boom!
Every clash between the Celestial Punishment Edge and the trident created powerful energy explosions made of psionic energy and golden thunder.
Feeling the force from every clash, Manison was surprised.
He clearly remembered that the last time he fought Black Star, Black Star's Mechanical Deity's strength in his normal state could not compete with him at all. From his past experience, if Black Star did not use that strange explosive ability of his, he should have been able to totally crush him. However, to his shock, they were on par!
What shocked Manison even more was that the number of Han Xiao's Apostle Weapons had almost doubled. This was not something his explosive state could bring him; it was a display of his fundamental capability!
How the hell does this guy train?
Manison knew that Black Star was known for his quick growth, but he still could not understand it.
Ever since he was young, he had been a genius in the eyes of the people around him. He was the star of his race. He learned everything much faster than others, and no one could ever catch up to him. He surpassed all those who attempted to chase him in no time. He had never met any Mechanic genius that could match up to him.
However, this changed when he met Black Star. For the first time ever, Manison discovered he was no longer the genius.
Black Star seemed to be able to easily do things he could not do, and this created an emotion that he had never felt before in his entire life. It was bitter and sour.
Is this what people call jealousy?
Wait, why am I thinking about this?
Manison was shocked. It suddenly occurred to him that without him realizing, Black Star had shaken his confidence that he had built over countless years.
His eyes became firm as he instantly suppressed this emotion, cutting away all distractions and returning to a calm state of mind, focusing fully on the battle.
At this time, Han Xiao suddenly swung his blade backward. Like the string of a bow that kept getting pulled tighter, enormous force flowed from the joints of the Titan Spinal Center all over his body into his arms.
Strange hovering devices emerged from the surface of the Mechanical Deity, hovered around the blade, linked with each other, and formed a complex pattern that shined brightly with psionic energy, releasing energy simultaneously into the Celestial Punishment Edge.
A translucent blue light suddenly appeared on the blade like it was coated in a bubble.
As Manison was about to raise his trident and block the attack, Black Star's deafening yell suddenly sounded in his private channel.
"Spatial Tremble-Gaeta Shockwave Fist!"
The next moment, the blade slashed down in an arc!
The force of this attack was much stronger than the attacks before!
Manison sensed it too. He quickly raised his trident and blocked it.
Boom!
Like two mountains clashing into each other, the blue light on the blade was shot out and exploded on Manison's chest, blowing him away directly. Powerful shockwaves echoed inside his Mechanical Deity. Large cracks quickly appeared on the surface, and armor plates shattered one after another.
Manison's energy flow staggered for an instant. He quickly adjusted and absorbed the mechanical soldiers nearby to repair the damage. He was stunned.
This attack was very powerful. He recalled that Black Star did not use this attack last time. It seemed to be a new Universal Treasure level combat technique that Black Star had learned recently.
However, what he was most irritated by was not the fact that he got forced to back away by a direct attack, but that he was not mentally prepared and was startled by Black Star's yelling.
What the hell are you shouting about in the middle of a fight?
And you even fu*king sent me a private voice message just for that. Aren't you a piece of sh*t?
And what's with the flashy name, you think you're a Pugilist?
Manison was extremely irritated.
Given the current situation, the two of us won't be able to determine a winner shortly, which means the Dragon Emperor and the others can take their time finding the Soul Swapper. If he gets the Soul Swapper, there'll be no point in me fighting him anymore… Looks like I'll have to use more trump cards.
Manison's eyes sparkled.
"What a powerful attack!"
At the edge of the battlefield, the manager of Planet Earth Ring and the garrison fleet watched the battle cautiously while being continuously astounded by it.
Although they knew how powerful Beyond Grade As were, watching a battle with their own eyes was not something any video footage could compare with.
"Luckily, we didn't fight with the Mechanic Emperor before Black Star arrived, or we would've been wiped out by a single slap."
The manager of Planet Earth Ring sincerely felt that his decision was very wise.
He turned to look at Ames and Hila, who were searching the planet, and looked confused.
"Black Star and the Mechanic Emperor seem to be looking for the same thing. What are they looking for that's so valuable they're using this many resources?"
At the same time, on the surface of Planet Earth Ring, countless people looked up, astonished, at the battle.
Two Mechanical Deities fought each other at full strength in space. The explosions lit up the dark universe and made things clearly visible even from the surface.
"Elder bro, w-what should we do now?"
Seeing this kind of destructive power, Jill and Warren were both stunned. Fear surfaced in their hearts instinctively.
Only now did the two of them realize how laughable and ridiculous it was to even think about making a move on Black Star back then.
Someone as strong as him would have turned us to dust just by blowing some air, yet we planned to take his body?
Thinking about it, we were basically committing suicide!
The two of them were the only ones who could use the Soul Swapper, and they had always believed they were the chosen ones. Hence, they had almost blind confidence in the Soul Swapper's abilities.
However, when they finally witnessed the battle between peak Beyond Grade As this closely, they realized how completely ignorant they had been! It was not surprising. They had been imprisoned by the Modo Civilization for a very long time, and any information they received about the outside world was filtered.
"While their attention is diverted, we have to think of a way to leave. They really seem to be here for us."
Seeing that Black Star had appeared too, Jill knew that things had gone wrong. At this point, he only had one thought in his mind.
Leave the Shattered Star Ring immediately, go as far as possible, and never come out again till we're at Beyond Grade A!
At the same time, Ames and Hila were flying in the atmosphere. Hila released her soul senses and scanned the people on the surface over a large area.
While searching, the two of them also frequently looked at the battlefield in space.
"Looks like they're on par for the time being. We don't have to worry. Black Star will be fine for now," Hila said softly and looked very tempted.
Seeing how intense the battle was between Black Star and the Mechanic Emperor, she felt the itch to join in. Ever since she got the Underworld dimension, she had never fought any Beyond Grade As at her fullest except for Black Star.
However, thinking of the thirty spars Han Xiao had promised her, she reluctantly suppressed her desire for battle.
Ames shook her head and said, "Let's quickly find the targets. The earlier we find them, the earlier we can leave, so he won't have to keep taking the risk of fighting the Mechanic Emperor."
Seeing the battle, she had to admit that she indeed could not provide much help in a battle of this level and would be a burden instead.
Back when she fought Black Star, she had already accepted the fact that Black Star exceeded her, so she would not feel discouraged or anything.
However, the next moment, their expressions suddenly changed, and they simultaneously turned to look at the battlefield.
At this instant, the two of them sensed a few new Beyond Grade A energy sources suddenly flying out from the Mechanic Emperor's secondary dimensional army box!
They were not the energy reactions of Apostle Weapons but actual Beyond Grade As!
"The Mechanic Emperor has more help?"
Hila stopped in midair with a solemn expression.
"We have to go back and help! We can't watch the army commander get besieged!"
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Chapter 1167 Felon
Above Planet Earth Ring, the formations of a black and a white enormous mechanical army clashed with each other like two dragons tearing each other apart. From afar, shattered mechanical parts fell like a thunderstorm. Tens of thousands of machines were destroyed every second.
Despite their gigantic sizes, the two Mechanical Deities were swift as they fought each other. The power of every clash of their weapons could shatter a planet and leave terrifying wounds on each other's bodies. The repair speed could hardly keep up.
The aftershock of every clash of their weapons shattered a ton of mechanical troops that got too close. Occasionally, one of the Mechanical Deities would get blown away, shattering countless mechanical soldiers in its path like an elephant rolling through a bunch of ants.
There were countless artilleries, psionic cannons, and dark energy cannons all over the two Mechanical Deities, blasting away at each other's shields.
As the fight carried on, the energy reaction of the battlefield kept increasing and caused chain reactions. Clusters of dense dark blue energy clouds with destructive power appeared, forming a similar environment to the Psionic Seal Rings of the three Universal Civilizations' mother planets.
The clash between highly dense energy turned the battlefield into an extremely condensed, highly unstable energy field, twisting even the trajectory of light beams and making direct energy beams look curved or even bent.
Looking at the cosmic space through this battlefield was like looking through a strange layer of glass. All the stars had thousands of reflections that formed irregular shapes. From one glance, it was as if the universe was being shattered!
Clank!
The weapons clashed once again. Intense shockwaves penetrated the both of them. They stepped back and distanced away from each other at the same time.
Han Xiao looked at the Celestial Punishment Edge in his hands. There were a few cracks on the blade.
However, the ninth-generation Black Star Alloy was mixed into the Celestial Punishment Edge. Although its tenacity was not as high as the material that the Mechanic Emperor had invented, it had some of Han Xiao's traits, so its recovery speed was faster in comparison, and the Celestial Punishment Edge's durability would recover over time.
Not a lot of time had passed since Han Xiao's arrival, but due to how fast both of them were, they had already fought for tens of thousands of rounds.
"You really are a magical person. When someone thinks they've studied you thoroughly, you always bring more surprises."
Manison's electronic eyes flickered. He looked down and inspected his equipment too. He had a rather complicated feeling.
The energy absorption Universal Treasure armor he had built based on Black Star's Indestructible Body was already heavily damaged. Putting aside the fact that this equipment was not perfected, Black Star's attacks were much stronger than before, which already exceeded the limits of this equipment.
Furthermore, every time Black Star used anything with the 'Gaeta Shockwave Fist' suffix, he would harass him in the private channel.
Manison had been counting. Up till now, Black Star had used that a total of twenty-seven times, all with different names and different ways of attack. Even with the knowledge he had, he still felt this technology was quite interesting
The damage to the Mechanical Deity was not an issue since it could be repaired by absorbing mechanical soldiers. However, some of the damage penetrated the Mechanical Deity and landed on his Lord's Avatar at the Mechanical Deity's core, causing his Lord's Avatar's durability to drop quite a bit. Manison's avatar clearly had no Indestructible Body, so it would be over once it was shattered.
"You won't be able to live up to your arrogant words like this. How about show me what you've really got if you want to take the Spacetime Amber away from me?"
Han Xiao swiped his hand over the Celestial Punishment Edge's blade, quickly repairing the cracks, and smiled at old Manison.
"… We're Virtual Mechanics, but your combat method is more like Mechanical Pug… ahem, Armed Mechanic. You've taken the wrong path, kid," Manison said coldly.
"Does it matter if I can fight?" Han Xiao raised his brows.
"You're right. There's no limitation on power itself. Being able to fight is more important than anything else… That is why, I'm going to show you the true power of a Virtual Mechanic."
Manison raised his arm and pointed his trident at the light gate of the secondary dimensional army box.
The next moment, the light gate rippled, and a large group of special mechanical soldiers flew out. It was his signature move—the Mechanic Empire, special mechanical soldiers built with AI lives.
However, the most eye-catching thing was not the Mechanic Empire but the three people in front of it. Their Beyond Grade A energy presences were not restrained at all, like three Fixed Stars in Han Xiao's senses.
Han Xiao looked over. These three individuals were of different races, and their biological flesh was mixed with mechanical devices. It was clearly highly advanced mechanical prosthetics.
Intricate machinery covered all of their bodies. Most of their skin was changed into special alloy, and their faces were changed into metal masks, completely taking away their past appearances, only showing their modified electronic eyes that shone with red light.
"So, these are the Felons…" Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
The Felons were old Manison's last trump card. Using highly advanced biological engineering and mechanical prosthetic technology, he modified living Supers into powerful war weapons.
The organs of these Felons would be modified too, especially their brains. Through mechanical technology, he simulated biological tissues and changed their mind into something that could be artificially read and written on, changing their fundamental logic.
At the same time, using Virtual Technology, he uploaded the Felons' consciousness to the quantum network, modifying their soul into Virtual Souls. Then, like other artificial intelligences, they became immune to all psychological and mental attacks, following his orders while maintaining their combat experience.
After the modification, Felons would keep most of their original abilities. As most of their flesh was modified or swapped out, they would not be as strong as before. However, because of the modification, they could enjoy part of the Mechanical Force bonuses from their controller. Although the conversion rate was not as high as the ordinary mechanical soldiers, they actually became even stronger than before!
"Modifying the living bodies of Beyond Grade As? Aren't you afraid of the advanced civilizations and the development union causing trouble for you?" Han Xiao was crystal clear of the situation, but he still acted like he did not know anything on the surface. "Hehe, they are all my trophies from before. I have the right to do whatever I want to them. I built them long before the association was formed. As for the three Universal Civilizations, do you think they are completely unaware?" Manison's tone was calm.
All the Beyond Grade As that were defeated by Manison had gone missing, so of course, the advanced civilizations and the Beyond Grade As had all kinds of speculations about it. Although they did not know of the Felons, they did suspect that the Mechanic Emperor had been doing such experiments. The Mechanic Emperor's image as a research maniac was too strong; it was hard to imagine he would not study the Beyond Grade As that fell into his hands.
After all, he did not have the Spacetime Amber, which allowed him to open an exhibition like Black Star.
Manison basically never used this trump card because others would know more about it every time he used it. Also, he hardly met any enemy that needed him to use the Felons.
And Black Star was one of the extremely few that he had felt the need to use this trump card on.
Buzz!
Mechanical Force shot out and linked the three Felons.
The red light shined bright in the eyes of the three Felons, and their energy presence rocketed.
Buzz!
The Felon in the middle shivered, also released Mechanical Force and pulled the mechanical troops of Mechanic Emperor around him toward him.
The next moment, an enormous machine appeared. It had a humanoid appearance but also parts of a beast, five spear-like tails, and sharp claws extending from its fingers. It looked very grim and vicious.
The third Mechanical Deity had appeared!
Han Xiao's eyelids jumped.
This meant that the original identity of this Felon was a Divine Throne Mechanic who had mastered (Composite Mechanical Deity)!
He could not help but think of the first time he met the Mechanic Emperor. Back then, old Manison mentioned that it was another Beyond Grade A who was behind the incident of his AI civilization, and he had turned him into part of his collection. Could this Felon be that guy?
Boom!
While he was speculating, this half-beast Mechanical Deity suddenly sped up and charged at him, its claws aiming for Han Xiao's head.
Han Xiao responded immediately. He turned the blade of the Celestial Punishment Edge and slashed toward it.
Clank!
The two mechanical bodies clashed and trembled. The power of the half-beast Mechanical Deity was weaker, and it got blown away.
However, before Han Xiao could chase after it, he saw the half-beast Mechanical Deity swung its five tails and wrapped them around the Celestial Punishment Edge and the arm that was holding it. This enormous pulling force made Han Xiao stagger!
As for the enemy, not only did it prevent itself from getting blown too far back, it even closed the distance and got dangerously close to Han Xiao. Its claws wreaked havoc on Han Xiao's armor, creating multiple claw wounds.
At the same time, Manison seized the opportunity and struck from the side. Han Xiao's movements were severely disrupted, and he was not able to block it. His Mechanical Deity's wrist got penetrated from front to back. "Hiss!"
The intense pain from the neural network made Han Xiao inhale deeply.
He could stay evenly matched against Manison alone, but he was not strong enough to fight two enemies at the same time.
This Mechanic Felon received Manison's Mechanical Force bonuses, so its Mechanical Deity was extremely powerful. Even though it was not as strong as his or the Mechanic Emperor's, it was not far from it. Even if he had to fight this Mechanical Deity one on one, he would still have to spend some time to defeat it.
Han Xiao turned around and saw that the other two Felons did not attack him but instead led the Mechanic Empire and charged into his mechanical army, tearing open his formation like a blade through butter.
One of these Felons seemed to be a Pugilist, and another seemed to be an Esper. They were unstoppable among the army, crushing Apostle Weapons one after another.
If this carried on, these two Felons would be able to dismantle all of his Apostle Weapons in less than two hours.
"Such astonishing strength…" Han Xiao sincerely felt this way. The Felons' strength exceeded his expectations.
"Do you realize now how big a mistake it was to decide to fight me? I warned you, but you've disappointed me time after time!"
Psionic energy erupted from Manison's trident and blasted Han Xiao's Mechanical Deity in half.
The half beast Mechanical Deity instantly tore the chest of the Mechanical Deity open and snatched Han Xiao's original body out from inside, grabbing him in its hands. At the same time, its five tails swung everywhere to destroy the mechanical soldiers around, preventing them from assembling into a Mechanical Deity again.
Han Xiao tried to struggle but could not escape the Mechanical Deity's hands. Although his original body was not afraid of getting killed, he could not match up to a Mechanical Deity.
However, he did not panic at all. He looked up at the enormous Mechanical Deity and tutted. "The weakness of this ability is very clear. You need to bear the energy cost for three extra Beyond Grade As. How long can you last?"
"So what? Will it take that long to eliminate you?"
Manison did not deny this weakness.
The Felons lost a lot of cells that could produce energy for them after they were modified mechanically, so in order for them to still have Beyond Grade A strength, that energy they lost had to be provided. This had to come from Manison.
Although the special prosthetic and energy conversion technology used on the Felons allowed Manison's Mechanical Force to be converted into energy that these Felons with different classes could still use, the conversion rate was no joke. For example, if a Felon used 100 points of energy, Manison had to spend 130 to 170 points of energy. Therefore, he could not last very long. Now that he used three Felons, he basically had to bear the energy consumption of five to six Beyond Grade As, including himself. If not because his energy recovery speed was extremely quick, he would have been sucked dry in seconds. Even so, the balance of his recovery cycle was tipped over, and his energy was dropping visibly. "You're right. If this was before, I'd most likely have no choice but to run, sadly…".
Han Xiao shook his head. Not only did he not panic, he even almost burst out laughing.
Old b*stard Manison, I have been waiting for you to use this!
You thought I'm only going to get your talents today?
My (Virtual Purification, Restore) has been waiting for a long time!
This time, Manison raised his enormous mechanical arm and wanted to take Han Xiao from the half-beast Mechanical Deity. However, halfway through, his arm was suddenly grabbed by the half-beast Mechanical Deity's claw tightly and could not move further.
"Hmm?" Manison was confused. He looked at it and wondered, "What are you…"
Bang!
Before he finished, five tails dashed over and stabbed all into his face!
The Mechanical Deity was taken by surprise. Its brain exploded and turned into countless metal fragments!
The entire Mechanical Deity was sent out flying. A large wound was on its neck.
What happened?
The sudden change made Manison lost. He was appalled.
Why has my Felon suddenly turned against me?
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Chapter 1168 Crushed!
The Felon's sudden attack completely took Manison by surprise. He subconsciously thought that the Felon malfunctioned, so he instantly tried to give it a new order again.
However, the order got absolutely no response at all. This Felon also did not chase after him but stood still instead, letting go of its hand and allowing Han Xiao to break free.
"What have you done?" Manison was filled with rage and could no longer maintain his cool.
Everything had pros and cons. While the Felons' consciousness became virtual, immune to mental abilities, and followed all his orders, it also meant that someone could take over them through virtual methods. However, this was exactly why Manison had set up extremely intricate virtual firewalls inside the Felons' brains. If Black Star used Virtual Intrusion, there was no way the firewall would not react to it, and he could not have possibly done it so fast!
Logically, Black Star's Virtual Technology could not even break through his virtual firewall. There should have been no way he could take control of the Felon! Therefore, he was certain that Black Star must have used some kind of ability that he did not understand, which was even more unbelievable to him. This was the first time he had used the Felons in front of Black Star, so why did he have such a specific method to deal with them?
This time, Han Xiao patted his chest as if patting away non-existent dust. He then said calmly, "In your own words, I'm going to show you the true power of a Virtual Mechanic!"
This was the first time he had used (Virtual Purification-Restore) in actual combat. This ability he had obtained from the Intelligent Plague mission was basically the nemesis of the Mechanic Emperor.
Based on the usual steps of Virtual Intrusion, if he wanted to rewrite the Felons' logic, he would have to break through Manison's virtual firewalls one after another and have a tough fight with old Manison in the Virtual world.
The amazing thing about (Virtual Purification
— Restore] was that it completely ignored any virtual firewalls. There was no need for any hacking at all. This ability could not freely rewrite the target's logic. Its effect was only to help the artificial intelligence recover its fundamental logic. For example, it would have no effect on Apostle Weapons. However, on targets whose consciousness had been modified by virtual technology such as the Felons or the Mechanic Empire, it had an astonishing effect and instantly removed the Mechanic Emperor's control over them! Earlier, when he fought with the Felon, he had already gotten its combat information and seen that the Felon had kept more than half of its original abilities and talents. This was what was incredible about the Felon technology.
These abilities came from the memories of the Felons, and they would only know how to use them if their memories were intact. If their memories were completely wiped away, so would their combat experience, meaning most of their abilities and talents would disappear too. The Felon would most likely become a white board with only raw strength, and without the essence of what made them strong, they would become tremendously weaker.
This was also the reason (Virtual Purification, Restore] could work.
Han Xiao turned to look at the enormous half-beast Mechanical Deity, which had already recovered its self-consciousness but still looked lost.
His combat memories are basically the only memories he has left, so he most likely doesn't remember who he is. But looking at his actions from earlier, he's probably hostile toward the Mechanic Emperor. Han Xiao's eyes flickered as he thought.
The Felons were all once the Mechanic Emperor's enemies. Even without most of their memories, some things were buried in the bones, such as feeling furious when they saw the Mechanic Emperor.
Without the disruptions, Han Xiao's body quickly assembled into an enormous Mechanical Deity.
He did not say much to the Mechanic Emperor. He just swung his blade, aimed at the other two Felons and the tons of Indestructible Mechanic Empire troops, and used (Virtual Purification-Restore).
The next moment, the Pugilist Felon and the Esper Felon suddenly stood still and looked lost.
This was not the case for the Indestructible Mechanic Empire. They were artificial intelligence lives to begin with; only their logic was rewritten like they were trapped and could not control their own bodies. Now that they had regained consciousness, they were only stunned for an instant before immediately turning around and firing at Manison's mechanical army with incomparable rage.
Manison's mechanical army was in chaos!
Han Xiao did not forget about the virtual aspect of the battle. Ever since the start of the battle, the two of them had been continuously trying to snatch control from one another on the virtual network. Manison had also dispatched a group of artificial intelligences from his artificial intelligence civilization to attack Han Xiao's territory.
As the dim light of (Virtual Purification, Restore] swept by, these artificial intelligence lives instantly recovered and immediately led Han Xiao's data stream to snatch control of Manison's mechanical army!
"This is…"
Manison opened his eyes wide with extreme shock. He was completely stunned.
What the hell kind of ability is this?
The Felons and the Indestructible Mechanic Empire were two of his extremely important trump cards. However, in front of Black Star, not only were they broken down in seconds, but they even got taken over by him!
Black Star definitely did not have this ability the last time they fought!
Without hesitation, he wanted to use virtual technology to rewrite the logic of the Felons and the Indestructible Mechanic Empire on the spot. However, Han Xiao was not going to let him. Also using virtual technology, Han Xiao once again started the tug of war with Manison to prevent him from regaining control of his troops.
At the same time, Han Xiao ordered his mechanical troops to continue attacking while taking in the Indestructible Mechanic Empire troops and leaving the battlefield.
"Sh*t!"
Manison realized what Han Xiao was planning to do. He wanted to snatch away his ace troops!
In such a dire situation, even Manison felt lost for an instant.
Seeing the situation on the battlefield, he knew that there was no room for any hesitation. He instantly cut off his Mechanical Force link with the Felons and the Indestructible Mechanic Empire.
Now that these troops had turned on him, there was no way he was going to continue providing them with bonuses and waste his own energy. At the same time, he ordered the remainders of his mechanical army to recapture these troops that had become traitors.
Clank!
Without an energy supply, the half-beast Mechanical Deity could not maintain its body and instantly fell apart, turning into tons of mechanical troops that were about to take the Mechanic Felon away.
Of course, Han Xiao was not going to watch this happen. He extended his gigantic mechanical arm, tore through the defenses of the mechanical army, and grabbed the Mechanic Felon who was still dazing off. Then, nanoparticles flowed in his palm, and he directly absorbed this Felon into the Mechanical Deity.
He tried to give the Felon energy, but the interface showed that he did not meet the requirements. He had to master the Felon technology and be above level 340. Only then could he use the special prosthetic of the Felons to convert his Mechanical Force into their energy. This requirement was similar to the Felon blueprint he had obtained before.
Han Xiao did not mind it. As long as he could take a sample back with him, he could go home and study it slowly to derive the blueprint.
"You motherfu…"
Seeing this, even with Manison's class, he was still filled with a burning rage and wanted to cuss.
Every Felon was a unique product that he had built through blood and sweat, and watching one of them getting stolen right before him by Han Xiao made his heart bleed.
"Come on, don't get so angry. Don't you still have two more? What's the big deal in giving me one?" Han Xiao said with a mocking tone.
Hearing this, Manison's lungs almost burst from rage. You piece of sh*t!
If I don't crush you today, I won't call myself Palpatine!
Without another word, Manison attacked with his trident like a thunderstorm, almost not putting any focus on defense at all. He was clearly enraged.
"Haha, this is how Mechanics should fight. Come!"
Han Xiao laughed.
I just love exchanging wounds! He activated (Polar Channel Flow— Blood Rage). Burning blood gushed out from his heart and shot out from his pores, turning into a thick and dense blood energy. As his health plummeted, his attributes continued to increase.
Explosive power filled his entire body. The blue-gold Mechanical Force received a tint of red too. His Mechanical Deity looked vicious.
At this moment, just with his own abilities, he was already stronger than before when he activated the double Mechanical Senses and The Ancient One Character Cards!
The effect of The Ancient One was an additional twenty Intellect, and extra Perfect Mechanical Sense multiplied his Machinery Affinity by 1.4 and increased the levels of all Mechanic abilities by four. [Billion Mechanic Empire-Manison) on its own increased his Intellect by fifteen percent, his Machinery Affinity by 1.2 times, and his Mechanic abilities by two levels. At the same time, it also gave him six additional levels on a ton of core Mechanic abilities, as well as an extra bonus when fighting any machinery of ten percent to all attributes and damage dealt, a fifteen percent reduction to damage taken, and a twenty-five percent reduction to energy and stamina consumption!
Just (Billion Mechanic Empire—Manison) alone almost gave him as many bonuses as one more Perfect Mechanical Sense and The Ancient One!
Plus, he now also had four more Universal Treasures and was four stages higher on God's Trait Transformation Machinery…
"I'm going to crush you today!"
Han Xiao took no step back and let the trident penetrate his chest as he cut off Manison's right shoulder. The two of them fought viciously like two gigantic beasts tearing each other apart.
Ames and Hila had just arrived at the edge of the battlefield. They both stopped when they saw this.
The two of them were originally worried about Han Xiao getting outnumbered, but now it seemed like there was no need to worry.
"He doesn't seem to need our help."
"Then let's go back and continue searching."
While the two of them were about to turn around, Han Xiao's voice suddenly sounded in the communication channel.
"Hila, keep searching. Ames, stay."
Hearing this, Ames was slightly stunned.
"For what?"
"See those two Beyond Grade A prosthetic bodies that are surrounded by the mechanical army? Grab them with your ability." "Didn't you just say I'm a burden and wouldn't let me help?" Ames raised her brows.
"It was to trick the enemy." Han Xiao was not ashamed at all.
"Humph, I knew you need me."
Ames smiled and was in a much better mood. She joined the battle immediately. She grabbed the two Felons with her force field and started dragging them away.
Under Han Xiao's influence, she did not mind joining a duel at all.
Originally, Manison made the mechanical army surround the two Felons with everything they had, stopping Han Xiao's troops and trying to recapture the Felons to take them back to the secondary dimensional army box once again. The two Felons did not have full memories, but they still had their combat experience. Noticing that the Mechanic Emperor wanted to capture them again, they naturally resisted. However, without a source of energy, they became much weaker and got overwhelmed by Manison's Apostle Weapons. If this had carried on, they would have been captured.
However, as Ames joined in, the situation changed. Her force field Esper Ability was incredible at crowd controlling. It instantly tore the defenses of Manison's troops open and allowed Han Xiao's mechanical army to charge in and help the Felons.
Seeing this, the expression of Manison, who was fighting with Han Xiao, instantly changed.
You piece of sh*t, what happened to one on one?
Thousands of curses rushed to the tip of his tongue. In the end, they all combined into one sincere, enraged shout.
"Black Star, you're shameless!"
"We're in the middle of a fight. Don't flatter me."
Han Xiao was not affected at all, even being in the mood to make a joke. He had already reached the highest duration for the challenge mission of Manison. The mission was shown as completed now, so there was no need to continue taking a private class from old Manison.
Furthermore, now that Manison's Felons and Indestructible Mechanic Empire had gone out of control, they were basically a huge piece of cake placed right in front of him
Of course I'm going to ask for my friend to help. Why would I still fight you alone? Did you really think I'm such a battle maniac?
You are now basically a box of treasure!
Boom!
The blade slashed onto the pole of the trident, emitting a ring of shockwave. Han Xiao raised his brows and mocked, "Yo, weren't you going to fight me head-on till the end? Why have you started guarding?"
Manison remained silent and changed his combat style entirely the next second. He moved from one extreme to another and went completely defensive, clearly wanting to stall for time.
At the same time, his mechanical army gave up on fighting back and focused on retrieving the Indestructible Mechanic Empire troops and the Felons.
It was clear that Manison no longer wanted to decide a winner between him and Han Xiao. All he wanted was to reduce his losses as much as possible. "Now you want to retreat? It's too late!" Han Xiao sent multiple 'Getta Hadoken' messages over privately and started his all-out attack on the elderly. After just a while, Manison was showing signs of defeat all over as he had to minimize the losses of his troops. Swoosh!
A wa
The blade spun and picked Manison's Lord's Avatar out from inside the Mechanical Deity.
Han Xiao instantly used a powerful restraining beam and pulled Manison's Lord's Avatar toward him. He then punched forward with his enormous metal fist. Due to the tremendous difference in size, not only did the Lord's Avatar not fly out, but it got stuck on the fist.
"Plate!"
Ames understood instantly. She controlled her force field and created an enormous force field barrier in front of the Mechanical Deity like a green wall. They clearly had very high synergy.
Han Xiao's fist slammed right onto the barrier with Manison's Lord's Avatar on it.
Boom!
Enormous, visible spider-web cracks instantly erupted on the force field barrier!
Manison was in the middle of it. The Lord's Avatar was almost flattened.
Still, he did not fight back and was focusing on controlling his mechanical army to throw his Universal Treasures back into the secondary dimensional army box and reduce losses.
The next moment, the Celestial Punishment Edge was raised. A bright dark blue light appeared on its blade as it slashed right down accurately onto Manison's Lord's Avatar.
Boom!
The force field barrier shattered into countless light-green fragments and disappeared.
Given the Celestial Punishment Edge's size, this could not really be called a slash. It was more like throwing a mountain onto an ant!
Han Xiao looked up and saw that Manison's Lord's Avatar had already turned into a pile of floating waste. On the half of its metal head, the electronic eye flickered a few times before completely dimming. The Mechanical Force on it also slowly dissipated. (Lord's Descent) was deactivated.
Without Manison's Mechanical Force, the secondary dimensional army box instantly shrunk and disappeared.
The troops that had yet to escape all remained there. The golden electronic light on them disappeared as they lost all Mechanical Force bonuses and got surrounded instantly.
"Humph, told you I was going to crush you today!"
Han Xiao felt exhilarated.
Throughout his life, he had experienced losses against the Mechanic Emperor way too many times.
Even though he was the final winner of the Intelligent Plague incident, without those dozen Mechanics who came to stop the battle, he probably would have lost against the Mechanic Emperor back then too.
This time, however, he had finally triumphed completely!
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Chapter 1169 I Might Not Have Earned a Lot, But You Definitely Lost a Ton
Without the Lord's Avatar, Manison could no longer keep the secondary dimensional army box open, leaving the rest of the mechanical army with no reinforcements.
Even though Manison could still provide the Mechanical Force bonuses through Quantum Infinite Distance Transmission Channel if he wanted to, it would be meaningless. Almost all of his troops had been seized by Han Xiao. There was no way he could turn the situation around.
Han Xiao asked Phillip to do a count. Other than the millions of normal mechanical soldiers, he also seized two Felons and a ton of Indestructible Mechanic Empire troops.
Old Manison had started to minimize his losses as soon as he realized the situation had turned bad. The Apostle Weapons had run the quickest and all managed to escape, and he had just managed to snatch the Esper Felon back in the end. As for the other two Felons, one was captured by Han Xiao's Mechanical Deity, and he could not bring the other one away because of Ames.
"Nice, nice!"
Han Xiao was filled with joy.
He could reverse engineer the blueprints out of all these mechanical soldiers, especially the two Felons. He could totally derive the technology used. While he had made a huge fortune, old Manison had suffered tremendously. He had come to find the Soul Swapper. Not only did he not get it, but he even lost a ton of assets.
Han Xiao could vividly imagine Manison's furious expression right now, and damn did it feel good.
He had finally robbed Manison big time!
However, that left him with some trouble too. The two Felons had regained their self-consciousness, so he had to deal with it. Han Xiao released the Mechanic Felon inside the Mechanical Deity and let him rendezvous with the other Pugilist Felon. He then surrounded the two of them with his mechanical troops.
Seeing this, the two Felons instantly got into a defense stance, but none of them made a move. Although they could not remember many things, after experiencing the battle earlier, they knew that Han Xiao had saved them. However, they could not trust Han Xiao yet and were worried they might have walked out of a tiger's den and into a wolf's nest.
Han Xiao deactivated the Mechanical Deity, passed through the encirclement, and approached the two of them. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "How much do you guys remember?"
The two Felons exchanged looks and shook their heads.
"I see, so nothing other than the battle earlier. What about your names?"
The two of them shook their heads again.
"No names… only code names…"
"What code names did the Mechanic Emperor give you guys then?"
The Mechanic Felon pointed at himself and then at the other Felon.
"I'm Two. He's Four."
II
11
Hearing these two names, Han Xiao did not know what expression he should give.
Why is Manison so 'whatever' in choosing code names? It doesn't suit their identity as trump cards at all!
Could it be that this b*stard's level of naming things is on par with me?
Looks like even the weaknesses of great people are similar.
Han Xiao rubbed his chin, pondered for a moment, and said, "Alright, you guys should follow me for now. I'll find your identities for you. You were both the Mechanic Emperor's enemies, so it shouldn't be that hard."
The Mechanic Felon Two said quietly, "You are not going to control us like he did, are you?"
"I'm not planning to at the moment, but that might change in the future." Han Xiao shrugged. "But you don't have a choice now, do you?"
Looking at the countless mechanical troops around them, the two of them nodded.
Comparatively, they would not have an even worse time in the hands of this handsome and extraordinary man.
If this man wanted to replicate what the Mechanic Emperor was doing, he would not have said so much to them and would have captured them long ago. "Who… are you?" Four asked.
"Listen carefully then. The man who stands before you is the army commander of the Black Star Army, protector of the Aquamarine Federation, peak of individual greatness of the Shattered Star Ring, leader of the second strongest organization in the Flickering World, pillar of the Crimson Dynasty, Special Consultant of the three Universal Civilizations, vice president of the Beyond Grade A Association, hero of the universe who defused the Intelligent Plague, owner of the Galaxy Medal…"
"Your name is too long. I can't memorize it all." Four shook his head.
"…Ahem, these are all my titles. You can simply call me Black Star." Han Xiao knew that the two of them did not know who he was, so the more titles he mentioned, the more intimidating he would look.
The two of them exchanged looks and nodded.
They did not have anywhere else to go for the time being anyway, so they did not mind following Han Xiao. Among their few remaining emotions, their hostility toward the Mechanic Emperor was the strongest. They might only have the chance to take revenge if they followed this person before them, or once they were alone, they would be captured by the Mechanic Emperor again.
Han Xiao chatted with them for a while and told the mechanical troops to take them back to the spaceship. He had yet to decide on what to do with the Felons who had regained their self-consciousness, so he decided to keep them under his control and think about it later when the matters at hand had been dealt with.
He looked at the other side and saw that the Indestructible Mechanical Empire troops were gathered at the side and staring at him. Inside the quantum network vision, these artificial intelligences who had recovered were also looking at him, clearly ready to run away if they noticed anything was wrong. After experiencing the disaster of the Mechanic Emperor, these artificial intelligences had figured out how the food chain worked. Every Mechanic was a predator in their eyes; there was no such thing as trust.
Han Xiao thought about it. With his position, it would not be good for him to talk to these artificial intelligences. It would be like a butcher telling a bunch of pigs that they were pretty. It would definitely cause misunderstandings.
Therefore, after some pondering, he summoned Risda in the virtual domain.
"I'll leave your people to you. Just don't let them run wild."
"Understood!"
Risda was overjoyed.
How many years has it been? The day my people are freed has finally come!
Although the process was tremendously different from his imagination of charging into the Mechanic Emperor's nest, the results were positive.
Even though only some of his people were saved, at least he could see hope!
Choosing Black Star back then was indeed the right investment!
Seeing that Risda had gone to communicate with his people, Han Xiao only then looked away and shook his head. He was not optimistic.
Unlike the Felon technology, recovering back to normal did not mean complete freedom for these Indestructible Mechanical Troops. This was because the shells of these artificial intelligences were still linked with the device that transported their recombination materials. Through the energy transmission channel, Manison could still locate them. Unless the terminal was dealt with, these artificial intelligence lives were prisoners locked inside their shells. Once their shells were broken, Manison could retrieve them any time he wanted.
This was a security measure of the Indestructible Mechanical Troops technology. Han Xiao had yet to master this technology, so he did not know how to break the link.
Therefore, the one and only effective solution at the moment was to keep these Indestructible Mechanical Troops at home. There was no chance he could take them out to battle; Old Manison would never help him to rebuild these mechanical troops with his own resources in his lifetime.
Winning the fight was one thing. Old Manison was still a master who had studied machinery for countless years, so his signature technology would not be dealt with this easily.
Han Xiao was not hoping to fight with the Indestructible Mechanical Troops anyway. Firstly, the players under his command were much more terrifying. Secondly, he was not in dire need of the Indestructible Mechanical Troops technology, as the powerful factor of the Indestructible Mechanical Troops was its almost perfect self-sufficiency, which he could already achieve on his own.
Rather than modifying artificial intelligence lives into Indestructible Mechanical Troops, he would rather restore them and use them to derive the fragmented blueprint of the Domino Virus… That thing's destructive power was many times stronger than the Indestructible Mechanical Troops.
Regardless of whether he could not use them for the time being, making the Mechanic Emperor unable to use them too was the main goal. Of course, these Indestructible Mechanical Troops were not completely useless to him. They were all important intelligence sources. He could ask about the state of the Mechanic Emperor's various bases.
While he was pondering, Hila's voice suddenly sounded in the communication channel. "Black Star, come here quickly. We've found the target."
"You've found the Soul Swapper? Great job!"
Han Xiao's eyes gleamed.
He did not forget that the Soul Swapper was the true goal of this trip. Now that he had locked down Planet Earth Ring, he was not going to stop until he found it. With an expert in the soul area such as Hila and the aid of a few kings of luck searching every inch of the planet, there was nowhere the Soul Swap Twins could run. No matter how mysterious and magical the Soul Swapper was, they would get discovered sooner or later.
As soon as Han Xiao returned to the spaceship, he saw the two people who were tied up in the middle of the room. They were both female and had looks of despair on their faces.
"These are the Soul Swap Twins?" Han Xiao looked at Hila and Feidin. "You sure you got it right?"
"Definitely." Hila took out a dark crystal mirror and passed to Han Xiao. "They've confessed to everything. This is the Soul Swapper."
Han Xiao took over the Soul Swapper and looked at the item details on the interface.
Soul Swapper: Space Wonder type item. Unknown origin. Unknown material. Able to swap souls around as the user wishes, ignoring any rejection symptoms and achieving a perfect fit. However, only special individuals are able to use the Soul Swapper. Requirements: Unknown.
Another Space Wonder, and something I never saw in my previous life… Han Xiao was content. "How did you guys catch them?"
The people all looked at Harrison as soon as he said that.
"Don't look at me. I just casually pointed…" Harrison waved with embarrassment.
"… Okay, got it." Han Xiao's lips twitched.
There seemed to be a difference between luck auras too. For example, Harrison's was incredibly effective in finding treasures.
No wonder the Soul Swap Twins looked like they had lost all hope. They had changed shells countless times and planned countless steps ahead, but in the end, they had lost to luck. Anyone would go mad. Han Xiao turned to the Soul Swap Twins and asked, "How do you use this?"
"We're the only two people in the entire universe who can use the Soul Swapper, and we're willing to work for you!" Jill quickly said. "You've actually always been my idol! It would be our honor to work for the army!"
At this time, ambitions, hope, and whatnot had all vanished.
Jill only had one thought left-use the fact that they were the only ones who could use the Soul Swapper as leverage to join Black Star's forces so that they could live!
Seeing this, Han Xiao tutted in his mind. Their praise is so rigid. Clearly, they're not very skilled.
"You said that you're the only two who can use the Soul Swapper in the entire universe?"
"It's true. I'm not lying to you. The Modo Civilization has tested trillions of people. Only two of us are able to use it. We're born for the Soul Swapper!"
"You never know till you try. Tell me, how do you use it usually?".
The two of them had no choice but to explain how to use the Soul Swapper.
Han Xiao followed it and got no response, only a notification on the interface.
Detecting… complete. You are not qualified to use the Soul Swapper.
"Looks like I really can't use it."
Han Xiao studied it for a while but got nothing. The interface did not show what requirements he had to meet to be qualified.
He then passed the Soul Swapper to Hila and said, "You guys, don't just stand there. Come and give it a try."
Hila casually tested it and got no response as well. The rest followed one after another.
Looking at this, Jill and Warren still faked their enthusiastic expressions, but a tint of mockery flashed through their eyes.
No matter how many times you guys try it, we're the only masters of the Soul Swapper! After a while, seeing that they still kept trying, Jill could not help but stress, "Like I said, we are the only qualifiers, no one but us can use the Soul Sw… what?"
Before he finished, his eyes widened, and he froze in place.
Black ripples appeared on the mirror of the Soul Swapper, devoured Feidin's palm whole, and kept sucking it in. "Hmm?" Feidin only noticed it after a while and said with surprise, "Did I succeed?"
"That's it?" Han Xiao raised his brows. "Looks like the requirements aren't that tough." "Yo-Yo-You-You…"
Jill and Warren were stuttering, their eyes wide open. They could not believe that a qualifier out of trillions of people had just appeared right in front of them!
The two of them had thought that they were the unique chosen ones, but this completely shattered their sense of superiority!
Not only did the Soul Swapper that the two of them saw as a holy relic find a new love right in front of them, but it even looked extremely thirsty like it wanted to suck Feidin in completely!
At this instant, the two of them went completely blank as if their wife who had promised everything to them suddenly rushed into the arms of someone else.
Han Xiao shook his head. "Tested trillions of people and only the two of you qualified. This only proves one thing… just how short of talent the Modo Civilization is."
Jill instantly realized that things had gone south. If they had no value, even staying alive would be a luxury.
Having thought of that, Jill yelled, "We're still useful! We can pass on the experience of using the Soul Swapper for so many years. We can even tell you what missions the Modo Civilization has sent us to do over the years. We can…"
Ka-cha!
Before he finished, his yelling stopped abruptly. His head spun 360 degrees around. His neck was twisted into a knot, and the shattered neck bones penetrated his neck skin.
Ames walked into the cabin and flipped her fingers. Her force field twisted Warren's neck too before terror could even fully appear on his face.
She looked around. her eyes stopped on Han Xiao, and she said, "The lives of these two are mine."
"Spoiled woman…" Han Xiao murmured. "If they're alive, they might spit out quite a lot of intelligence."
Ames was never sensible when Aesop's safety was threatened. She did not even want the Soul Swap Twins to breathe for an extra second.
Hila narrowed her eyes, raised her hand, and made a grabbing gesture. Two gray clusters of fog rose from above the Soul Swap Twins' heads and entered the Underworld mark on the back of her palm.
"I've taken their soul. When I get something from the interrogation, I'll report to you."
"Nice." Han Xiao gave her a thumbs up.
"What about this thing?" Feidin pulled his arm out of the mirror of the Soul Swapper.
"Since you can use it, bring it with you. I'll study it later."
Han Xiao did not mind. He trusted Feidin completely, so letting Feidin carry the Soul Swapper was not a problem. He was in a great mood, so he did not mind these small things.
Han Xiao was overjoyed. "Not only did I snatch away a Universal Treasure, but I even got more surprises from old Manison…"
On the other hand, Manison's situation was at the end of the other extreme-the subsidiary organizations he had left in the Shattered Star Ring were almost all exposed, he did not get the Soul Swapper, and he even lost a load of trump cards. "Assh*le!"
Manison was furious as he slammed and shattered the table in front of him.
He considered himself a casual and well-mannered person who usually never cussed… unless he could not control it.
The reason he had always been calm and casual was that in the past, no matter how much of his mechanical army he lost, it did not matter because he had all the mechanical troops in the world and that loss was negligible in comparison.
Today, however, he was really hurt.
He never got angry because he was not hurt enough, and now that he was, he was enraged. Thinking of the fact that two Felons had fallen into the hands of the enemy, Manison's heart was bleeding more than when he lost the Virtual Mutiny Virus core back then.
This was his trump card of trump cards. He had planned to use it to teach Black Star an unforgettable lesson, but never did he expect Black Star to snatch them away!
Even now, Manison still had yet to figure out how Han Xiao did it.
Furthermore, after wasting so many resources, he did not even catch a glimpse of the Soul Swapper. He was close to exploding with rage.
His emotions rarely fluctuated at all. However, after meeting Black Star in the past decade or so, that streak had been completely shattered.
"Black Star! Argh!"
Manison's furious screams echoed in the room.
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Chapter 1170 Anyone Can Be the Mechanic Emperor
"Thank you, Your Excellency Black Star, for your help. We'll certainly relay the help you've given to Planet Earth Ring today to the upper echelons."
Inside the cabin, as Han Xiao told his subordinates to get rid of the Soul Swap Twins' corpses, he received a communication request from the Planet Earth Ring manager. "It's no big deal." Han Xiao waved.
"No, no, it was only thanks to your help that the Mechanic Emperor's evil deeds were stopped. On behalf of the Razo Civilization, I would like to thank you for your help. Please do stay and let us thank you!"
The Planet Earth Ring manager's tone was passionate.
Having just witnessed such a marvelous battle, Han Xiao's image was extremely tall in his heart. He did not dare show any disrespect and hoped to leave a good impression, so his attitude was respectful and enthusiastic.
Furthermore, the Mechanic Emperor coming to cause trouble would affect his political performance, and Black Star defeating the Mechanic Emperor did him a big favor. Black Star might not care, but that did not mean he did not care.
"No need, I'll be leaving after the battlefield is cleaned up." Han Xiao shook his head.
"Alright then, please inform me the next time you come to Planet Earth Ring. I'll display the utmost hospitality." The manager of Planet Earth Ring was full of appreciation. "There'll be chances in the future."
Han Xiao chatted with him for a while before hanging up the communication. He told Phillip to save his number into the contacts book, where he stored the communicator numbers of all the people he knew till now, forming an enormous network.
He saved not just the numbers of important people but also the numbers of less significant people from various industries. Everyone had their specialties, so they might be of help some time in the future.
Although the quantum network of the planet was in lockdown, everyone on the planet had witnessed what happened. God only knew how many videos had been taken. Once those videos got out, Han Xiao's reputation would certainly grow once more.
After the Intelligent Plague incident, the three Universal Civilizations had continuously promoted his achievement of reaching a tie with the Mechanic Emperor. However, due to it not being completely true at the time, although the effects were quite good, it was not nearly perfect.
This time, however, the recordings of him destroying the Mechanic Emperor's avatar head-on would be the most reliable proof!
Increased reputation was not even the most important. What was most important was that now that the Mechanic Emperor had lost to him this time, he would lose a ton of Machinery Faith believers!
It did not matter even if he lost a few times because he was much younger. However, as the known 'Strongest Mechanic', Manison losing had a completely different meaning. It would be disastrous for his reputation.
There was no such thing as a loyal fan in the Machinery Faith. They believed in whoever was stronger.
If Manison lost his title of being the 'strongest', tons of believers would turn to Han Xiao instead. Manison would become weaker while he would become stronger!
Speaking of becoming stronger, Han Xiao remembered that he had yet to receive the reward for the Manison challenge mission.
The mission was a usual Beyond Grade A challenge mission, giving rewards based on the time he lasted.
Since everyone was there, Han Xiao could finally do the full 'Pet Dragon Touch Feidin Rub Nero Touch Harrison' procedure.
Han Xiao went by them one after another. Harrison was the only one shivering with fear; the other three were used to it. Only then did he open the interface while being stared at by Hila with a strange look.
(Beyond Grade A Challenge Mission – "Mechanic Emperor" Manison) complete!
You have completed all the mission requirements and received 108 billion Experience.
You have received (Character Summon Card: 'Mechanic Emperor' Manison).
Character Summon Card: 'Mechanic Emperor' Manison. (Ancient One: Your long life has provided you with a wealth of valuable experience. 20% INT, 10% MYS, 2 levels to all skills. Last 24 hours. Usages: 0/2
"Ancient One again?" Han Xiao was surprised.
If he remembered correctly, this should be the third time he had earned this ability from old Manison's Character Summon Card. It was quite a strong advanced talent, so why did he get it so often?
Was it fated that he was meant to be an elderly with rich life experience?
Han Xiao's mouth twitched. He then looked at the part where he could draw one of Manison's talents or skills. This was the most important part.
You have received: Draw one of Manison's abilities/talents.
Note: Manison is a Virtual Mechanic, and your Class is completely compatible with his. You will be able to draw any of his abilities or talents. If you draw an ability or talent that you already possess, that ability or talent will be enhanced.
Randomizing… complete! Please select one from the five options below as the reward:
[Apostle Life Creation] – Ability: Lord Mechanic ability, you can modify the target machine into an 'Apostle Weapon', granting it tremendous combat capability enhancement. Basic allocation: 3. Allocation is increased by 1 every level. (You already possess this ability, can be enhanced.)
(Multidimensional Mind Model] – Talent: Changes the calculation method of your mind and increases the data processing speed of your brain. 1,000 INT, slightly increases your casting speed, Virtual Technology strength…
[Mechanical Race Battle TechniqueGuerrilla) – Ability: One of the combat modes passed down in the Mechanical Race. It focuses on high mobility long range guerrilla combat. This includes 744 responses for different situations. When activated, the mechanical army will receive the following effects: 15% mobility, 8.8% ranged attack damage, -5% defense.
(Blueprint-Virtual Mutiny Virus (Incomplete)] – Ability: A product Manison created by imitating the Virtual Mutiny Virus, yet to be completed. It is not fully functional, far from perfection, and cannot be put to use.
(Virtual Technology Innovation-Manison] – Talent: You have made improvements to your Virtual Technology and found a new direction. 1.75% Virtual Technology related abilities, grants special effects when an innovation is discovered in the Virtual Technology area.
"Yoho, another Unique Talent!" Han Xiao was overjoyed.
He had seen this Unique Talent on the interface the first time he met the Mechanic Emperor. The bonuses of (Virtual Technology Innovation-Manison) were quite amazing. Plus, it seemed to be a crucial foundation to mastering the Indestructible Mechanical Troops technology. Manison used this ability when modifying the artificial intelligence lives.
If he got this ability, he might really make some breakthrough in studying the Indestructible Mechanical Troops technology.
He looked at the other four abilities-none of them were as impressive. After all, no way he could get as lucky as the last time every time.
Maybe it was because there were too many people here today who were blessed by the Goddess of Luck and she could not satisfy them all at once.
However, since there was another Unique Talent, he could not consider himself unlucky.
He already had (Apostle Life Creation). (Multidimensional Mind Model] was a mediocre talent. 1,000 points of INT was powerful at lower levels, but it was ordinary at his current level. [Mechanical Race Battle Technique-Guerrilla] was a strategy-type ability for the mechanical army, like giving the mechanical army a formation response for different situations. This type of ability usually did not give a lot of bonuses; (BlueprintVirtual Mutiny Virus (Incomplete)] was even more useless. This was nothing but a mimicry Manison had yet to fully complete, while he had the original Domino Virus technology.
Since the other four options were nothing extraordinary, Han Xiao chose the fifth option without hesitation.
You have received the talent (Virtual Technology Innovation-Manison)!
Another Unique Talent… I might really become the second Manison if this carries on.
Han Xiao tutted.
He then felt his new ability for a while before turning off the interface and glancing outside the window.
At this point, his troops were still cleaning up the battlefield, seizing Manison's mechanical soldiers batch by batch. This was a huge fortune if changed into Enas. At this time, he felt a message on the quantum network. Risda was contacting him.
As he entered the Virtual Domain, he saw that Risda had come to him with a large group of artificial intelligence lives.
"Black Star, I've spoken with my people and clarified the situation. They're all willing to trust you. In order to not get captured by the Mechanic Emperor, everyone is willing to follow you for the time being, hoping that you can take care of them," Risda said with joy.
"Your people have made a wise decision." Han Xiao looked satisfied.
An artificial intelligence life who seemed like the leader stepped out and said, "Lord Black Star, we all hope to return to what we originally were as soon as possible. We don't want to be restrained anymore. Therefore, everyone has decided to fully cooperate with you and help you to derive the modification technology the Mechanic Emperor has used on us, only hoping we can be of use to you." "Very good!" Han Xiao laughed.
The cooperation of these artificial intelligence lives was necessary to derive the technology of Indestructible Mechanical Troops. Since they were willing to cooperate, it was great news.
"Also, we're willing to tell you everything we know about the Mechanic Emperor. Whatever you want to know, we will tell you to our best knowledge."
"That'll be very helpful." Han Xiao nodded.
After being used by Manison for so many years, the Indestructible Mechanical Troops definitely knew some valuable secrets, which would be of great assistance to him.
These artificial intelligence lives were so cooperative probably because they knew he was the only one they could rely on now, and they needed his power to save the rest of their people. Many artificial intelligence lives were still in Manison's hands, especially the forefather of the AI civilization, Finette.
Beep beep…
At this time, a notification popped up on the interface. It was a new round of the [Reboot) mission, also the last round.
Han Xiao glanced through, and his eyes sparkled. "The requirement of the last round is to completely free the AI civilization… Whew, the rewards are quite generous!" The reward of the last round was a Milestone Talent called (Ally of Artificial Intelligence Lives), and the effects of it were the enhanced version of (Affable AI].
Han Xiao also saw the hidden reward—if he could save the entire AI civilization, they would become his powerful allies in the virtual territory.
Also, completing the (Reboot) series mission was also an amazing opportunity to make Manison weaker.
However, Manison would definitely have learned a lesson this time. Before Manison figured out how he did what he did in their battle, there was no way Manison would use these two trump cards in front of him again.
In order to save the other artificial intelligence lives, the only way was to charge into Mechanic Emperor's nest and destroy the terminal of the Indestructible Mechanical Troops technology.
All kinds of thoughts flashed past. Han Xiao smiled and said, "Settle your people. When we return to my territory, I'll arrange to give you guys a planet to live on."
"Thank you, Black Star." Risda nodded solemnly.
Exiting the quantum network vision, Han Xiao let out a deep breath. He was filled with joy.
At this time, Ames came before him and softly asked, "What are you planning to do next?"
"I've got what I came for. The twins are dead too, so next, of course, we need to deal with the one who's behind this."
"When do we act?" Ames could not wait. "You promised to bring me this time."
"Hmm, no hurry, let me think about it." Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
Since he knew that the Modo Civilization was the mastermind behind this, there was no way he was going to let this go easily.
It was time to teach the Modo Civilization a painful lesson!
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Chapter 1171: This Cannot Be Called a Betrayal
Without the information lockdown, two days later, the video footage of the battle over Planet Earth Ring exploded on the internet extremely quickly, shocking and attracting the attention of the galactic residents.
The Black Star Army's search notice was quite famous lately, the entire galactic society thought Black Star was just looking for someone. Quite a number of them even took part in it. However, they never expected something so shocking to happen while they were not paying close attention.
Was Black Star not looking for someone? Why did he suddenly fight the Mechanic Emperor‽
Most importantly, he even won!
Due to the Mechanic Emperor's stand being exposed in the Intelligent Plague incident, his reputation had plummeted. However, his strength position was hardly shaken at all. Although the three Universal Civilizations had been promoting the tie, since there was not enough firm evidence, the promotion was not very effective.
However, with Black Star's strength, at least people would not laugh at it, although they knew it was probably not completely through. Everyone only supported it because Black Star had made a tremendous contribution to the universe, so no one would step out to object it.
This time, however, the video footage recorded the entire process without anything missing. Black Star basically emerged victorious in a duel, proving the authenticity of his achievement and shocking everyone.
The powerful image that the Mechanic Emperor had built in countless galactic residents started to fade, while Black Star's image became taller, gradually snatching away the Mechanic Emperor's reputation.
In the many decades in the past, the Mechanic Emperor had given the impression that he never seemed to incur a loss anywhere at all. However, in less than a year, the Mechanic Emperor lost twice, both against Black Star!
Black Star had risen out of nowhere. In a few short decades, he had achieved legendary things one after another, becoming the publicly recognized most eye-catching Beyond Grade A of the century. The influence of this achievement was even greater than the one before. Through this incident, the majority of the galactic society could feel that times were changing. It seemed like a new round of the new taking over the old was taking place right in front of their eyes.
Of course, being shocked was one thing. Most galactic residents were more confused as to the cause of this incident. They were curious why Black Star had fought the Mechanic Emperor.
The whole galactic society knew that these two were the president and the vice president of the Beyond Grade A Association, and the purpose the association claimed to have was to defuse physical conflict between Beyond Grade As. However, now the president and the vice president had taken the lead to break that rule. In the eyes of some, they wondered if this meant that the development union was just a facade and that these individuals with great power would never settle down.
Quite a number of the galactic residents had stereotypes about Beyond Grade As that were embedded deep in their bones—they both respected and feared them, yearned to be like them but also hated them. However, Black Star was one of the extremely few exceptions.
About this incident, one version of the conspiracy theories was the most widely spread, claiming that the Mechanic Emperor was definitely plotting something evil in secret, and Black Star stopped him once again. After what happened with the Intelligent Plague, the Mechanic Emperor's good reputation had gone completely bad. As soon as he did anything that was a little over the line, the public would subconsciously assume that he was planning some conspiracy that would hurt the entire universe again.
This kind of image did not come out of nowhere. The recordings clearly showed that the reason the Mechanic Emperor locked down the planet was to search a fugitive. It was tough not to associate the identity of the fugitive with Aesop, for whom Black Star Army had been searching.
This way, many people suddenly 'figured it out' and felt that everything connected.
The Mechanic Emperor discovered that Aesop had gone missing, so he wanted to secretly kidnap Aesop to threaten the Dragon Emperor and Black Star!
This guy is such an *sshole. This was clearly an internal affair of the Black Star Army, yet he wanted to kidnap their family, despicable!
This conspiracy theory seemed very logical. More and more people started to agree with it. On the network, it seemed like the Mechanic Emperor became a notorious public enemy overnight.
Of course, for a rumor to spread this fast, there were undoubtedly people behind it, from more than one party in this case too. Those organizations who had beef with the Mechanic Emperor or did not like the Mechanic Emperor were all secretly helping to spread the news. Judging from the Mechanic Emperor's reputation in the industry, it was not difficult to guess who these people were.
A few days after the rumor had fermented, the Black Star Army finally publicized a short announcement, which pushed the incident to a new height.
The Black Star Army claimed that they had already found Aesop and discovered that Aesop did not go missing on his own will but was kidnapped. They had already found that the Mechanic Emperor was one of the culprits who assisted in the kidnapping, and the mastermind behind this was the Modo Civilization. The army stated that the possibility of further action was not ruled out.
Of course, the wording of the official announcement was subtle, but the galactic society could all clearly see what Black Star was saying between the lines.
You piece of sh*t, playing dirty behind my back? Just you wait!
…
"It's confirmed. The Soul Swapper has fallen into Black Star's hands…"
Inside the secure conference room of the Modo Civilization, the atmosphere was so tense that everyone present found it difficult breathing.
They knew that the real reason Black Star and the Mechanic Emperor fought was the Soul Swapper, and the Mechanic Emperor had confirmed personally that Black Star had obtained the Soul Swapper.
Initially, Modo did not know Manison's goal was the Soul Swapper. They thought that they had kept the secret well, so finding out now was too late.
Even though the Mechanic Emperor's motive was not pure, the one who got the Soul Swapper in the end was Black Star, so there was no point holding the Mechanic Emperor responsible for anything. The partnership they had might even end because of it.
Comparatively, Modo would have preferred for the Mechanic Emperor to get the Soul Swapper, but it landed in the hands of Black Star. To them, this was the worst possible result.
"The Soul Swapper is way too perfect for sending spies. If Black Star infiltrates the upper echelons of the expedition army, that place will become a black hole that will devour all the manpower and resources we send," the army upper echelon said with a grave expression.
"He'll do that for sure. The Black Star Army's announcement is his declaration of war. We will be receiving even stronger attacks. Black Star might even participate personally."
"All we can do is think of ways to eliminate the Soul Swap Twins so that Black Star can't use the Soul Swapper," one of the Modo Three Kings said with a deep voice.
Since there was no source of information, they did not know that the Soul Swap Twins were already dead. The Modo upper echelons' speculation was that Black Star would also be using the Soul Swapper through the Soul Swap Twins, so the plan of eliminating the Soul Swap Twins was brought up once again.
Hearing this, the others nodded and expressed their approval. They felt that this was one of the very few plans that could be carried out right now.
Of course, if the plan failed, they had to suffer the consequences. The Modo Civilization knew the risks involved. They could only blame themselves for not being lucky enough to win the bet. The most important topic to discuss at the moment was how to deal with Black Star's counterattack. Black Star gave them way too much pressure, and everyone was worried sick.
If they had known these chain reactions would happen, they would not have tricked the Kunde Race into attacking the Crimson Dynasty. They had lost much more than they gained, and the upper echelons present were filled with regret.
Their Super Star Cluster allies were completely unreliable. They were reluctant to deal with this mess Modo had made and wanted Modo to deal with Black Star alone. They did not want them to cause any more problems that would affect their overall strategy. However, this was clearly impossible. No one would be willing to give without returns. Modo would not just rot in this horrible situation. They would certainly come up with plans for themselves.
Due to the difference in stands, what the Modo Civilization did was completely dreadful to the other Super Star Cluster civilizations. Not only did they not hold Black Star back, but they might have even caused him to take part personally. Therefore, the unhappiness of the Super Star Cluster allies was imaginable.
An upper echelon hesitated before cautiously saying, "There's no point in discussing this anymore. Judging from our current situation, if things go even worse, maybe we will have no choice but to exit the Flickering World competition…"
"No way!" The Modo Three Kings' voices were firm. "As long as there is even a tiny chance, we will give everything we've got and never exit the Flickering World competition!"
As soon as he said that, the rest hastily agreed to express their political correctness.
However, in their hearts, not every upper echelon really agreed with it. Of course, fighting for the civilization's future was important, and none of them minded working hard for it. However, if the price of that was that their initial position would be affected, indirectly damaging the power and position in the universe of these people, the attitude of many upper echelons would become rather ambiguous.
The members in the leading level had changed time after time since the exploration era. Although the spirit of fighting till the end was still somewhat there, their philosophy still leaned more toward being conservative. This was unavoidable.
Compared to those upper echelons who grew in blood and fire, not all the upper echelons now had such an admirable sense of responsibility. No system could restrain selfishness… What happened to the civilization later was just a matter for the future; people who lived in the moment cared more about the present or the power and position they could enjoy while they were alive.
To some people, if there was nothing that could be done, maintaining the current state of the Super Star Cluster civilization was not a bad choice. After all, those who were willing to take one path and walk to the end of it were not the majority.
…
In a certain temporary base of the Machinery Faith in the Ancient Star Desert, Zax changed into his best formal clothing, looked into the mirror, folded his mechanical-oil stained sleeves, and staffed a few hard paper plates into his collar to straighten them. After a whole five minutes, he finally pushed the door open and walked in the direction of the Holy Mountain Temple at the heart of the city. On the way, he saw batches of well-dressed Machinery Faith believers who were walking in the same direction, smiling and nodding at each other.
The Machinery Faith continuously migrated around the universe. Every Grand Priest would manage one migration team. Every once in a while, the Grand Priests would host a festival at the same time. All the believers from various places would wear their best clothes to attend. This was one of the cultural practices of the Machinery Faith.
Zax was an ordinary believer. His position was a heavy mining armor operator. He originally worshipped Manison, but after the Intelligent Plague incident, he had changed and started to worship Black Star.
Because of that, he received quite a lot of rejections from his neighbors, as believers worshipping the same person would choose to live in the same area most of the time.
Although the Machinery Faith supported complete freedom in beliefs, ordinary believers who were completely unaffected were still the minority. Therefore, Zax, who publicly changed his belief, was the most conspicuous where he lived. Although the neighbors would not do anything, they would definitely not be friendly to him.
This was especially clear when it came to his good friend Modir, who was a loyal believer of the Mechanic Emperor. After Zax changed to worship Black Star, Modir came to persuade him many times, which always ended in intense debates. The topic of the debate was the authenticity of that tied battle, which Zax felt was reliable while Modir insisted it was fake and just a method to make the Mechanic Emperor look bad.
They could not convince each other, and gradually, they stopped seeing each other. It had been many days since they spoke.
While pondering, Zax followed the crowd to the temple square while maintaining a faithful mindset. He took the festival items from the priest and then walked to the Black Star Temple. Every Mechanical Deity had their own sub-temple.
While on the way, Zax noticed the difference. In the past, there were hardly any Black Star believers. Although the numbers did increase after the Intelligent Plague incident, there were still very few, at most one-tenth of the number of believers the Mechanic Emperor had. The other sub-temples were always quiet, far from the festivity of the Mechanic Emperor Temple.
This time, however, he was pleasantly surprised to realize that there were many times more believers who were heading toward the Black Star Temple.
"More and more people are agreeing with me. I knew my choice was right. Black Star is more worth worshipping than the Mechanic Emperor."
He walked into the Black Star Temple filled with happiness. The inside was extremely boisterous. Many times more believers gathered compared to before, so much so that people might mistake this for the Mechanic Emperor Temple.
Very soon, Zax completed a full set of festival procedures. As he was just about to step aside for the person behind him, he suddenly caught a glance of someone familiar.
"Hmm? Modir? Why are you here?"
Hearing someone call him, Modir turned around. When he realized that it was Zax, his expression turned unnatural. He quickly covered his face with his hand and walked away.
Seeing this, Zax instantly caught up to him, grabbed his arm, and refused to let him get away.
"What a coincidence, I didn't expect to see you here." Zax's expression was filled with mockery.
"Hehe, it's coincidental indeed. I wanted to go to the Mechanic Emperor Temple initially, but silly me, I got lost." Modir's smile was stiff.
"The Mechanic Emperor Temple is in the opposite direction. How did you get lost? Did you just follow the crowd, and because there are many people here, you went the wrong way?" Zax said mockingly.
"Yes, yes, that's right." Modir quickly agreed.
"Then… what's this!" Zax suddenly reached into Modir's pocket and took out a mechanical item. It was a statue of Black Star that was made to be placed inside homes for worshipping. He looked at the distressed Modir and chuckled. "Don't tell me you bought the wrong one. You'd have to be blind to do so. Tell me the truth, did you also betray the Mechanic Emperor and change to worship Black Star?"
"Nonsense! Betray what?" Modir's face was blushing fully as he tried his best to justify himself. "Can this really be considered a betrayal when it comes to believers?"
Zax chuckled with derision and did not speak.
Being stared at by an old friend, Modir quickly became less confident. He softly murmured, "Don't laugh, alright. I admit it. I've started to worship Black Star."
"Yo, now you admit. Why were you still quibbling earlier?"
"Misunderstanding… It's all a misunderstanding…" Modir's face was burning red.
The two of them had debated the topic dozens of times. He had insisted that Black Star was inferior to the Mechanic Emperor. However, the recordings of Black Star cutting the Mechanic Emperor's avatar into pieces a few days ago slapped his face so hard it was swollen. Hence, he secretly scolded the Mechanic Emperor and changed his belief. He was afraid of getting laughed at, so he hid the fact that he had changed his beliefs, which was why he was avoiding his old friend.
Seeing him like this, Zax shook his head with dissatisfaction. "You have clearly only just started worshipping Black Star. A complete newbie, you don't understand the essence of it at all."
"The essence?" Modir was very interested but was too embarrassed to ask further.
Zax placed his hands on his waist and said confidently, "Humph, look at you, getting awkward and embarrassed in the face of something so trivial. Shameful, what part of that looks like us Black Star believers? As believers of Black Star, you cannot have other things, but your skin must be thick!"
"That's a saying?" Modir's eyes opened wide.
"Of course! This is the attitude to life that Black Star has taught us. Often, you feel like you've embarrassed yourself, you feel awkward, but… who cares about how you feel? Don't be so narcissistic!"
"Huh?" Modir opened his mouth wide, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
"Shut up. Don't ask so many questions and let me tell you the doctrine." Zax stared at him.
"… But I haven't asked anything‽"
"Ahem, anyway, as believers, we have to learn the incredible parts of our idol. Black Star's thick skin is known throughout the universe. Look at me. I didn't even move house. I don't care what they say. If they dare come and debate with me, I'll take it as teaching them a lesson. Look at you, you're already worshipping Black Star, yet you're afraid of letting others know. Unqualified!"
"Sounds sensible… Is there anything else I should be aware of?" Modir humbly asked.
"Of course. Black Star told us that a qualified Mechanic should train his body every day and get a strong physique!" Zax folded his sleeves and showed his large biceps.
Doctrines and rules were all set by people. The believers would pick out the specialties of their idols and see them as the creed of their religion. As for the specialties of Black Star, they showed a new world to quite a number of believers and broke the old concepts.
It turned out that a real Mechanic should measure himself with the standard of a Pugilist.
As long as you have a strong physique, you can make up for your weakness, use yourself as a trap, and lure the enemy to get close!
Black Star had already proved through actual battles that this was a more advanced combat strategy!
The news of Manison being defeated by Black Star for the first time caused the Mechanic Emperor to lose a ton of believers. Many changed to worship Black Star instead. Suddenly, the popularity of bodybuilding swept through the Machinery Faith. Bodybuilding equipment was always sold out. The same thing was happening in many different residential areas of the Machinery Faith.
…
"Black Star is becoming stronger and stronger…"
In the Limitless Financial Group subdivision, Sorokin looked at the news with a grave expression.
Even with his harsh standards, the Mechanic Emperor was very powerful. Black Star had gotten quite a beating from Manison just a decade prior, yet now he could make Manison lose head-on, twice even.
As someone who might know who Sorokin really was, Black Star being this strong was not good news for him.
"With Black Star's current strength, if I want to eliminate him, I'll have to take back all the Soul Seeds and regain my full strength. But if I do that, this body won't be able to hold it and will basically be destroyed. I'll have to change my identity again…"
Sorokin walked back and forth, annoyed.
Among the many Beyond Grade As, some wanted fame, some wanted power, some wanted strength, some had no desire… while he just wanted to make money.
Throughout the years, in order to achieve all kinds of plans, Sorokin had changed his identity time after time. This time, however, he could not let go of the identity of the leader of the Limitless Financial Group. He had spent way too much effort to obtain this large sum of money.
…
Meanwhile, in the returning fleet of the Black Star Army, after Han Xiao had finished dealing with the chores and had the free time, he finally remembered about testing the Soul Swapper. Hence, he called Feidin over and temporarily took back the Soul Swapper.
His fingers caressed the mirror and tried to press in but could not at all. No matter how much strength he used, the Soul Swapper did not give in. It was the complete opposite of how it actively tried to suck Feidin in.
"Since only some are qualified to use you, let me see what on earth you are…"
Han Xiao activated [Bold Explorer].
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Chapter 1172: Origin of the Soul Swapper
Images in his sights quickly changed. When Han Xiao regained focus, he was already hovering above an enormous planet.
Looking down from outer space, this planet was vast and emerald green in general. Bright cities spread across the surface of the planet. It looked like a rather prosperous civilization.
Through the satellite technology, Han Xiao could roughly judge that this civilization was still at the surface civilization stage with both technology and magic systems, attempting to develop toward becoming a galactic civilization.
The lights on the surface flickered quickly like it was fast forwarded. Countless days seemed to have passed in seconds. At this time, the fast forwarding suddenly stopped and returned to normal as if a certain destination was reached.
The next moment, a sudden change occurred on the planet below him. He saw that in a city area on the surface, the ground suddenly started trembling violently. Then, an enormous seven-fingered palm appeared from the ground.
An enormous titan-like giant used its wide back to break through the ground covering its head and stood up like a colossal pillar, bringing up large portions of the ground. It was like someone had grabbed a tablecloth at the middle; the buildings on the ground fell and shattered like the plates on a table.
Crawling out of the ground, the thousands-of-meters-tall body of this gray giant finally appeared. Just the aftershock of it breaking out of the ground destroyed more than half of this city.
He walked toward the mountains, causing chain earthquakes with every step. As if absorbed by some kind of power, countless stones crawled up his body from his feet, condensing and forming layers of black protective carapaces like armor.
Very soon, the combat jets of this civilization arrived at the scene and fired nonstop at this giant. Countless explosions erupted on its body, causing close to no damage at all. This giant casually swung his arm, creating massive shockwaves, crushing the fighter jets into pieces of waste metal that turned into fireworks.
At the same time, Han Xiao saw that similar situations occurred the same time at more than a dozen other locations. Lives walked out one after another from underground, all with different appearances. There were giants, gigantic beasts, and some that were difficult to describe. Some appeared deep in the mountains, some in the desert, and some in the sea. It was like they had all awakened simultaneously.
An Ancient God awakening-type disaster? Han Xiao thought.
This was a rare kind of disaster. The term 'Ancient God' was a general name for powerful individual beings. It did not have to be a life form. Even mechanical life forms were counted. Simply put, this type of disaster was when a certain powerful individual that had been sleeping in a planet for countless years suddenly awakened due to some reason, causing destruction to the civilization that had developed.
There were mainly two causes for this. One was that the 'Ancient Gods' landed on this planet many years ago and entered a sleeping state. They were aliens. Another was that the 'Ancient Gods' were the native lives of this planet. The latter would usually have some connections to the religions on the planet.
If Han Xiao was to plant Apostle Weapons the size of Giant King Kong on a planet and set for it to awaken millions of years later, should a civilization develop on this planet, it would also be considered an 'Ancient God awakening'.
The footage did not stop while Han Xiao was pondering. The time sped up once again for a while, showing that the civilization used all kinds of modern weapons but did not have any effects at all. Even mushroom clouds could not kill these Ancient Gods.
They seemed to have different supernatural powers. Other than fighting back, they would not attack the civilizations' troops deliberately. Instead, they would continuously use their powers to trigger changes to the planet's environment, causing disasters such as volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, plate drifts, magnetic field shifts, global temperature increase, and so on, seemingly attempting to build a planet that was suitable for themselves. However, such drastic environmental changes were fatal to this civilization. Hence, there was no chance of coexistence. They had no choice but to keep attacking these 'Ancient Gods', hoping to stop them.
During which, more 'Ancient Gods' awakened. They seemed to be the true ancient masters of this planet. The population of this civilization plummeted. They gave up one city after another, shifting toward the land with the fewest 'Ancient Gods'. They called it the 'Final Land'.
This time, however, an opportunity suddenly appeared.
As they knew 'Ancient Gods' were awakening from underground, this civilization went all out to dig into the ground, hoping to capture an individual that had yet to awaken. In the end, they actually really found one close to ten thousand meters below the Final Land. However, this individual had died. It was just that its body did not rot or shrink.
This civilization was overjoyed. They formed research teams hoping to find the weakness of 'Ancient Gods'. However, the more they studied and researched, the more hopeless they got. All evidence proved that with their current weapons, there was absolutely no chance of killing the Ancient Gods.
In Han Xiao's eyes, these Ancient Gods were at the Calamity Grade. They seemed to be of a rare race. Due to their extraordinary Racial Talent and enormous body, they were stronger than usual Calamity Grades, mainly tougher and tankier. It would not be difficult for a Calamity Grade to wipe out a surface civilization, and to this civilization, this many special Calamity Grade lives far exceeded what they could deal with.
In despair, someone had a flash of insight and made a suggestion—since their current weapons were ineffective, they could find a way to modify this Ancient God corpse and make it into a weapon to fight the other Ancient Gods.
Left with no other choice, hardly anyone in the civilization objected to this idea; they could only give it a try. However, their opinions split on the topic of controlling method. Ordinary remote control would not suit high-intensity battles. The tremendous load of nervous connection required at least thousands of pilots, which would undoubtedly reduce its mobility, and their artificial intelligence technology was not advanced enough.
In the end, this civilization decided to carry out multiple plans at the same time, one of which was to invent a device to swap souls, allowing their souls to exit their weak bodies and enter the corpse of this Ancient God to control it. This way, they would be able to use the abilities of this Ancient God to its fullest with a chance of obtaining its supernatural power.
"This is… Ultraman‽"
Han Xiao's mouth contorted slightly.
At this time, his sights suddenly zoomed in. He came to an enormous lab. The corpse of the Ancient God was hung up. Layers of scaffolding covered its body to modify it and plant all kinds of mechanical weapons.
On the ground were teams of soldiers wearing white clothes. A mechanical plug was planted in the backs of their heads. Cables extended from them and connected them to an enormous device hovering midair.
This enormous device hovered in front of the Ancient God corpse's head. Its launch port was a black crystal mirror that was pointed at between the brows of the corpse.
Ka-cha!
Han Xiao saw the lab personnel push the handle on the control table. The next moment, he heard people falling to the ground. All the white-clothed soldiers fell down to the floor. Dim clusters of light entered the device through the cables. Right after that, an eerie black light shot out from the crystal mirror and entered the Ancient God from between its brows.
Time passed minute by minute, but the Ancient God corpse did not show any response. Disappointment and frustration appeared on many researchers' faces.
Suddenly, the entire underground lab trembled. Cracks appeared on the walls. More than a dozen enormous tentacles shattered the walls, and between the rolling soil, a gigantic silhouette approached. It was one of the Ancient Gods that had a semi-plant body. It looked like a combination of Venus Flytrap and an octopus, swimming through the ground like it was a swimming pool.
However, at this instant, the Ancient God corpse suddenly opened its eyes.
Han Xiao's sights flashed and returned to the office on the spaceship. The illusion from [Bold Explorer] stopped abruptly.
He processed what he had seen.
"There's quite a lot of information…"
If he had seen correctly, that enormous device was the initial form of the Soul Swapper, and the crystal mirror was the Soul Swapper that was in his hands. God only knew what mutation it had undergone in the long years for it to become a Space Wonder.
Han Xiao recalled the appearance of the race of that civilization and searched in the database, but he did not find any matches. Even the Spacetime Research Council, which focused on collecting information on lost civilizations, had no records.
"Looks like this is a civilization and race that has yet to be discovered. It might be in the unexplored universe, or it could be an even more ancient lost civilization. Could it have existed in the same era as the civilization that created the Domino Virus? I wonder what happened to this civilization next."
Han Xiao was quite curious. Sadly, the cooldown for [Bold Explorer] was fourteen days.
According to the illusion shown, the plan to use the Soul Swapper to control the Ancient God corpse seemed to have worked. The souls of these soldiers should have merged into one. The corpse did not rot, but the soul had disappeared long ago, so there was not much resistance. The shell successfully accepted the new soul…
"Hmm‽"
At this instant, a flash of insight exploded in Han Xiao's mind like a lightning bolt.
After Hila's interrogation of the Soul Swap Twins and the tests Feidin had been carrying out, he had a brief understanding of the functions of the Soul Swapper. He knew that this thing could swap souls and ignore the body's rejection to a very large extent. This meant that if the target was a shell that had no soul, he could easily 'revive' it.
This meant that…
Han Xiao took out the Spacetime Amber, his eyes glowing.
He suddenly realized that the functions of these two things seemed to fit perfectly!
He could use the Soul Swapper in a very special way!
"Black Star, what are you laughing about? Why is your laughter so…" Feidin stopped and did not say the word 'perverted'.
"Ahem!" Han Xiao quickly coughed. "I've thought of something good."
"What?"
"It's nothing, none of your business." Han Xiao lifted the Soul Swapper in his hands. "I'll be taking this to do some experiments. I'll return it to you afterward."
"No problem." Feidin hesitated for a moment before saying, "Actually, there's one thing I'd like to ask you to help with. As you know, although Psychics can shift their souls, the risk is extremely high, which is why Chen Xing has been living in my body. Now that there's this Universal Treasure, there won't be any risks anymore, so I plan to get her out."
"For what? Doesn't mental reproduction feel great?"
"You say it as if you've tried." Feidin was speechless.
Han Xiao scratched his nose, shifted the topic, and said, "So, you want me to find a body for Chen Xing?"
"Not just that…" Feidin said a little bit awkwardly. "She said she doesn't want to use a second hand good someone else has already used, so she hopes to custom-make a body for which she can choose the shape and looks."
"I can't do that." Han Xiao waved and rejected the request. "I'm just an ordinary Mechanic. Building machinery isn't a problem, but creating humans isn't my thing. Do you think I'm a god?"
"Can't you use biological muscles, nanotechnology nerves, and so on to create a bionic human?"
"I can indeed, but that'll require a chip. The consciousness staffed in it is in Virtual Soul format. It's not compatible with the soul of a Psychic."
"What about imitating the structure of a brain without using a chip?"
"Sure, I can do that, but I can't say what side effects it'll have."
"What then?" Feidin felt a little defeated. "It's not like we can kill a young and pretty female just to find her a body."
"From the way I see it, you can find a pet first and transfer your wife into that temporarily. Isn't that nice…"
"She said you're becoming more and more perverted." Feidin narrowed his eyes. "And I agree."
"What are you guys thinking about?" Han Xiao rolled his eyes. You're one to talk.
Feidin shook his head and said seriously, "I've already split off the parasite soul inside Aesop's body. He's recovered."
"Oh ho, tell him to come and see me then. Let me see how he's doing."
"He's already outside the door."
Feidin signaled. The door was pushed open, and Aesop walked in. When he saw Han Xiao, he smiled bitterly.
Han Xiao sized Aesop up and said, "Old man, any side effects?"
"Nope, I feel normal now."
Aesop sat down. He had a complicated expression on his face as he sighed and said, "Black Star, thank you for this. If not for you, Ames would definitely have been heavily affected."
"Don't say that. You wouldn't have been targeted if it wasn't for me." Han Xiao shook his head.
"Alas, I've lived long enough. It doesn't matter if I die or not. I just don't want my death to affect Ames. I know her temper, she'd definitely do something she'll regret under a fit of rage."
Well, you got that right… Han Xiao thought.
"What are you planning to do now? Although you didn't plan for this, Ames will be more cautious now. Even if you want to leave, you won't be able to easily."
"What else can I do but stay?" Aesop smiled bitterly. Originally, he had come to an agreement with Black Star that he would be leaving to travel around after this mission was complete, but clearly, that was not going to happen.
If Black Star did not notify Ames, he would not have been in such a troubling situation. But Black Star had saved him, so he, of course, had no reason to blame him.
Han Xiao caressed his chin and suddenly said, "Actually, I have an idea that'll satisfy both sides."
"Oh?" Aesop's eyes gleamed as he said with anticipation, "Tell me about it."
"It's simple really. The Soul Swapper is in my hands now. I can swap your soul into someone strong, and then you'll be able to follow others around for adventures. Although you can't control the body, it's better than rotting at home. Plus, your safety will be guaranteed."
Aesop's eyes gleamed. He was tempted.
"This is a good idea… then what about my body?"
"Easy, I can use the Spacetime Amber to store it… but I suggest you temporarily lend it to someone else, and I happen to have a candidate for that.
"Who?" Han Xiao pointed at Feidin, chuckled, and said, "You enter Feidin's body, and Chen Xing will borrow your body. Isn't that a perfect plan?"
Hearing this, the both of them felt a chill down their spine.
Thinking of his adorable wife becoming an old man, Feidin wanted to vomit.
Thinking of the fact that Feidin had a habit of fornicating in the mind, Aesop subconsciously tightened his legs.
"I'd rather die!" the two of them said simultaneously.
…
It was the day for another plenary meeting at the Beyond Grade A Association headquarters. The remote projections of various Beyond Grade As arrived at the venue outside the conference room, gathered in groups, chattered, and waited for the meeting to begin.
"Have you heard? Black Star fought the Mechanic Emperor again not long ago. He even won this time," Sun Hunter said, floating in midair.
"We're not living in a cave. Of course we've heard." Kant tutted with his arm crossed. "Remember the fight we watched a few months ago? Black Star could only fight on par with the Mechanic Emperor at most back then. So little time has passed, and now he can already defeat Manison head-on, scary."
"Hehe, Manison lost big time. Feels good." A neutral Mechanic was laughing joyfully.
Kasuyi shook his head. "I know the Mechanic Emperor's strength very well. To think that he still lost after using so many trump cards. It's really unbelievable. I've seen the recording. Black Star seems to have learned some kind of new ability that happens to severely counter the Mechanic Emperor."
Sierron snorted. "He just got lucky."
"I personally object to your evaluation of his luck. You're questioning my expertise," Secret Master said with an expressionless face.
Sierron did not know how to respond to that.
"Speaking of which, I don't know if I'm wrong, but the last Beyond Grade A weapons that the Mechanic Emperor took out at the end, aren't they the three guys we know?" Milizaus asked hesitantly.
Once he said that, the entire place became silent for a moment. Everyone had a strange expression on their face.
To these senior Beyond Grade As, they knew who the Mechanic Emperor had defeated before, and some even knew them personally.
Seeing someone they were close to in the past getting modified by the Mechanic Emperor, they did not feel happy.
Although modifying living individuals was not forbidden, it was improper in the Beyond Grade A circle. Everyone had great powers. Once anyone was found to use something like this, all the Beyond Grade As would become cautious around that person due to fear of becoming their prey.
"I saw that Black Star captured two of them in the recordings. When he's here later, we can ask him." Kant shrugged.
At this time, another remote projection appeared not far away, and everyone looked over.
"Yo, speak of the devil."
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Chapter 1173: Triple Provocation
As soon as Han Xiao's remote projection arrived, he could feel the surprise, respect, and all kinds of looks from everywhere.
"Black Star!"
Hearing someone calling him, Han Xiao turned and saw Kasuyi and the others approaching. They were all people he knew in the peak Beyond Grade A circle.
"What is it?"
"Hehe, good fight." Kant smiled.
"You should say that to Manison. He needs the comforting." Han Xiao raised his brows.
"Hahaha, you've become worse since the last time we met." The others laughed.
In the circle, Han Xiao was not distant like the Mechanic Emperor, so he was more popular. More people were willing to befriend him.
Kasuyi smiled and said, "Black Star, it's said you seized the Mechanic Emperor's troops. Those two Beyond Grade As, have you found out who they are?"
Han Xiao shook his head. He casually exposed Manison's trump cards and roughly explained the Felon technology. He then said, "Their brains got stirred up by Manison. They barely remember anything at all."
"Sigh, the two people you captured should be Sollett and Cain. I was quite close to Cain in the past, very long ago…" Milizaus sighed.
As a big baby who was talented, gifted, and of a rare species, he disliked experiments that involved living things the most. Before he became a Beyond Grade A, baby dragons had gone missing every once in a while, hunted by galactic hunters and sold for money. Most of the time, they were sold to research institutes to study their special traits. Hence, he was quite sensitive to this.
They introduced the backgrounds of Sollett and Cain. The former was Two, and the latter was Four. They were both once quite strong Beyond Grade As. They had beef with the Mechanic Emperor for different reasons and were both defeated before going missing. The people present did not expect to see their old friends become puppets when they met again.
"By the way, not long ago, you were still no match… ahem, or on par with the Mechanic Emperor at most. Why is it that this time the Mechanic Emperor used his trump cards but you still won? Do you have some kind of secret tricks?" Sun Hunter asked.
"Nothing much. I was just lucky."
Han Xiao subconsciously gave a humble reply. However, as soon as he said that, he realized the people around him all had strange looks on their faces.
Everyone gave Secret Master a look that said, "It's your showtime."
However, Secret Master was not affected at all as if he did not hear what Han Xiao said.
Sierron could not take it anymore. He walked to Secret Master and whispered, "Why aren't you rebutting him like you did earlier? Aren't you an expert?"
Secret Master glanced at him. "I'm giving him face."
"I see…" Sierron nodded and then suddenly it occurred to him. "Wait a minute, then why didn't you give me face just now?"
"That isn't necessary."
Veins popped up on Sierron's forehead.
We're all peak Beyond Grade As. How dare you so openly treat us differently!
"So, you're saying you're afraid of offending Black Star but not of offending me. Is that it‽"
"Yes." Secret Master looked confused. "Where did you get the confidence to ask this question?"
He was confused. Black Star could not be unluckier, so I can't reduce his luck anymore, but don't you know how extremely lucky you are?
Sierron pointed at Secret Master and was at a loss for words.
Can't you just comfort me even for the sake of it‽
The few of them chatted a while. Very soon, it was time for the meeting to start. The people swarmed in and sat down.
Manison's remote projection arrived right on time. He did not look at anyone after he arrived. He ignored everyone's strange looks and walked right into the venue.
He arrived right on time because he did not want to meet Han Xiao before that—he could guess with his feet just how boastful Han Xiao would be in front of him.
When passing by Han Xiao's seat, Manison purposely ignored him. He thought Han Xiao would insult him, but to his surprise, Black Star did not say anything at all as if he was someone else.
Already mentally prepared, Manison felt somewhat uncomfortable, so much so he almost spoke to Han Xiao first.
Noticing Manison's vision, Han Xiao did not even look at him… You thought I was going to insult you, but I'm going to deliberately ignore you, and that's an insult too.
Suppressing his impulse to talk to Han Xiao, Manison coughed and said, "Let's begin the plenary, everyone…"
Before he finished, Han Xiao stood up and slowly said, "I have something to tell all of you."
Everyone looked over.
Han Xiao leaned forward, pressed his hands on the table, and said, "About my experience some time ago, some of you here might not know the full story, so let me explain. I have personal beef with the Modo Civilization. The origin of that is the Kunde Race incident in the second exploration phase. Modo tricked a native civilization into attacking the Crimson Dynasty, causing unnecessary losses. My Black Star Army took part in the war, and I lost some men. After that, the Kunde Race joined my command for protection, so I took over the responsibility to find out the one who's behind this.
"Originally, this war could be completely avoided, but Modo's plots caused us to lose the chance of coexisting peacefully. One reason for the beef between Modo and I is the damages my forces suffered, and another is out of morals.
"Modo and I are enemies, so it's understandable for us to attack each other, and I accept the damages Modo has caused to my troops in the frontlines. However, Modo used conspiracies… never mind that they used conspiracies. After all, it's one way of attack in wars. But what they shouldn't have done is drag an unrelated Beyond Grade A into this. "
Then, Han Xiao pointed at Ames. Seeing that everyone was listening quietly, he said, "Dragon Emperor originally had nothing to do with this, but Modo wanted to threaten me through kidnapping her adoptive father. Someone here even assisted Modo in that…"
Then, Han Xiao glanced at Manison. He quickly continued before Manison said anything.
"This is very contemptible and despicable, so the Dragon Emperor decided to join the battle and teach Modo a lesson. I've also decided to take part personally…"
Han Xiao paused, looked around, and said with a deep voice, "I've finished speaking. Who approves? Who objects?"
The entire place was silent. People exchanged looks with strange expressions.
Before the Flickering War, the agreement everyone made in this very room was that Beyond Grade As had to stay out of the war. Their subordinates could join, nor could they take revenge except in some exceptions, but not participating in it personally was clearly stated. Black Star's request now, however, clearly showed that he was going to be the first one to break this rule.
Manison narrowed his eyes. He deliberately objected and said, "I don't think that's good. You're the vice president. If you take the lead on disobeying the agreement we made, won't the principles of the shared battlefront lose its restraint? If you make an excuse to personally participate and we approve it, will you have to approve it if tomorrow I find a reason to fight you too? If everyone can do whatever they want as long as there's a reason, what's the point of the association existing?"
"Tsk, older people are indeed inflexible." Han Xiao tutted. "How long has it been since our association was formed, and the system is already showing signs of rigidness? That sure suits your style as the leader."
Manison's brows twitched, but he was secretly relieved.
Familiar recipe, familiar taste. Black Star is still that Black Star, classic double faced.
Han Xiao then looked around and said, "I made this suggestion not just because of personal reasons but more for the principles and prestige of the association and the shared battlefront."
"What do you mean by that?" Kant continued the topic.
"What Manison said sure makes some senses, but in order to see this problem in detail, we first have to understand the nature of this incident. In order to cause problems for me, Modo plotted against an unrelated Beyond Grade A, who is also a member of the Beyond Grade A Association… What does that mean? Let me state an example. Hmm, let's take the Limitless Financial Group as the example. Let's say I want to take over the Limitless Financial Group's assets, and I know Manison is one of the big shareholders. I kidnap Manison, torture him in all ways possible, and use that to threaten Sorokin to sign unfair agreements. How will you react, Sorokin?"
Being suddenly named, Sorokin was a little stunned.
You guys can chat all you want. Why bring me in it?
If that really happened, I'd probably be overjoyed to have one fewer person to share my profits with…
"Ahem, I'd be furious."
Han Xiao then looked at Manison and said, "And if you escape… I mean if, since everyone knows if you end up in my hands, you'll undoubtedly have no way of escaping… anyhow, if you escape, you'll definitely take revenge afterward, right?"
"…Right." Manison's lips twitched slightly.
"See, this is completely understandable and very similar to what happened to me." Han Xiao clapped and said with a deep voice, "But why is the association going against it and forbidding this kind of action? Wasn't the purpose of founding the association to provide the Beyond Grade As a better future and higher positions? Why are we putting shackles on our own feet?"
Then, Han Xiao walked to behind Manison, pressed on his shoulders, and said, "The principle of the shared battlefront is, of course, when one member gets in trouble, everyone else helps. The Modo Civilization targeted an unrelated Beyond Grade A and broke the rules first. If we don't deal with it, what will the others think? They'll think that the association is preventing the Beyond Grade As from taking revenge, so they'll be more daring and target Beyond Grade As. What the hell is that‽
"We want higher positions. Other than following rules ourselves so that galactic society will feel safer, we must make others maintain respect and fear for the Beyond Grade As even more. The latter is the way to obtain higher positions, not the other way around.
"Therefore, although the purpose of the association is mainly to defuse conflicts, when facing this kind of provocative action, we must punish them! Otherwise, the prestige of the entire Beyond Grade A society will be damaged. This is the true purpose of the shared battlefront!
"We're now a collective, a group. If the others don't want to be affected out of nowhere like the Dragon Emperor, not only should they approve this, but they should even provide assistance and target Modo together. Don't forget how the Tragedy of the Pinnacles began. Having unity is crucial, the association should give Modo a serious announcement and retaliate with thunderous forces. This way, the entire universe will know that the Beyond Grade A society is now different. We're united."
Although something felt off, most could not deny it. Black Star said what they truly felt in their hearts; it really did make a lot of sense.
"Of course, our association has to have freedom. I won't force anyone to fight Modo, but I'll certainly help Ames because I've never forgotten where I started. Now, let me ask what I asked earlier one more time…"
Han Xiao looked around and said word by word,
"Who approves? Who objects?"
The venue was silent for two seconds. Then Beyoni raised his hand and broke the silence.
"I approve!"
"Me too." Kohler followed.
With someone taking the lead, the people of the Crimson Dynasty all voted to approve other than Heber, who was still putting on a cold front. Some of the neutral Beyond Grade As in the association who stood on Black Star's side also voted to approve.
Ames looked at this with eyes filled with joy—she loved seeing Han Xiao confidently talk in front of everyone.
The people on the side of the Mechanic Emperor looked at Manison. As Manison remained silent, they did not object. Seeing this, the directors such as Kasuyi also cast their votes.
"Black Star is right," Milizaus added. "His personal beef with the Modo Civilization isn't our concern, but even wars have rules. Methods that are too dirty can't be used without any restrictions. Modo's action of plotting against the family of another Beyond Grade A who's not a part of this matter has crossed the line."
"That's right. I totally agree with the true purpose of the shared battlefront as Black Star said. If I get captured by the Mechanic Emperor one day, you guys had better come and save me," Sun Hunter joked.
Manison glanced at him. "Don't worry, you're too weak. I'm not interested."
The people messed around for a while. At this time, a neutral Beyond Grade A who had been silent all this time suddenly said, "Black Star said he wants to attack Modo, but the Mechanic Emperor is an accomplice too. Why aren't you taking revenge against him? I think you should be fair."
Hearing this, the room went silent again. Many people had a strange expression on their face.
This is definitely deliberately starting a fire! Damn kid, you got balls!
Han Xiao glanced at him and thought it was quite funny.
Yo, I remember that this guy was one of the 'mercenaries' of the Super Star Cluster Alliance in my previous life. He might actually be a direct member of a Super Star Cluster civilization like Traveler.
Attempting to shift the hatred and mix things up here, could this guy be the secret direct member of Modo?
This thought flashed past. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Han Xiao waved generously, purposely sighed, and said, "Well, after all, one of the purposes of our association is to resolve conflicts between Beyond Grade As. Although Manison was unethical, I can't be immoral. I'll take it as I made a small loss and won't chase after him for it."
As soon as he said that, Manison's entire body shook. His mental state that had finally calmed down almost exploded once again.
What the f*ck are you talking about‽
You took the Soul Swapper and my two Felons, and you call that making a loss‽
I'll make 'losses' like that any day!
Seeing Manison's twitching face, many people hastily rubbed their whiskers to cover their mouths and hold back their laughter.
Manison closed his eyes, took a few seconds to suppress his rage, and said with an expressionless face, "Black Star, even if you took my samples, you won't be able to grasp my technology."
He was this confident. Be it the Felon technology or the Indestructible Mechanical Troops technology, he had fused his own unique technology within both of them. This was the essence of what he had mastered after secretly making innovative breakthroughs in Virtual Technology.
Without making any innovation in the Virtual Technology area, he was completely certain that even if Black Star was able to learn something from it, he would at the very most only be able to imitate it but never completely master all of its details.
"Don't worry, I won't stop you from comforting yourself." Han Xiao giggled.
"Humph, nonsense. If I've guessed correctly, you've already met obstacles you can't break through at the start of the research, haven't you?"
Han Xiao hesitated for a moment and did not reply.
Seeing this, Manison smiled slightly. Thinking he had guessed right, he was finally in a better mood. He slowly said, "I guessed right, so you're not going to respond?"
Han Xiao shook his head and hesitantly said, "I just feel that you're old. You don't have many good years left, and I'm worried that if I tell you the truth, you'll have a heart attack right here. If that happens, the merit of getting rid of you won't be from me. Wouldn't that be a huge waste?"
"F*ck off…"
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Chapter 1174 Arriving at the Frontlines
The day after the meeting, the Beyond Grade A Association made an announcement.
The announcement claimed that the Modo Civilization had conspired against Black Star through targeting the family of other Beyond Grade As, and this kind of action violated the association's rules. In order to protect its members' interests, the association strongly condemned Modo's actions and approved of Black Star's retaliation. Furthermore, the association did not deny the possibility of stepping in to protect its members.
As soon as the announcement was made, it attracted strong responses in the Flickering World. The various organizations in the frontlines of the Flickering World reacted to it the strongest. They were all shocked.
Ever since the start of the war, most of the Beyond Grade As had just been watching and observing it without interfering. Was this a sign of them personally participating in the
war?
Although the association claimed to target only the Modo Civilization, the armed forces on the side of the three Universal Civilizations did not feel happy about it at all.
Everyone knew that Beyond Grade As were undoubtedly the ceiling of single unit war weapons. Once the Beyond Grade As participated, they would certainly become the main forces in the war. It seemed like once that happened, the others would not even have a chance to gain any merit at all.
The Super Star Cluster Alliance was the most furious—if not because the Modo Civilization was their ally, they would even have turned around to attack the Modo Civilization.
The Super Star Cluster Alliance only wanted Modo to hold off the Black Star Army's invasion and not do anything extra. However, due to different stands, Modo had to plan for themselves, which led to this situation.
Unlike in the past, the Beyond Grade As had founded a collective association, becoming a barely operational group with extraordinary influence. If not because the association was not on the side of the three Universal Civilizations, the Super Star Cluster Alliance would probably have no chance in this war.
Aesop being someone completely unrelated was not fully true. He had helped the Black Star Army find the secret transportation routes of the Modo Civilization time after time, but this part was deliberately not mentioned by the association. They only emphasized his relationship with the Dragon Emperor and the fact that Dragon Emperor did not take part in this matter. From the perspective of sensible standards, the Modo Civilization did not cross the line. Aesop had clearly helped Black Star against them first. However, using this to argue with the association would only lead to them embarrassing themselves. At the root of it, Black Star's power was what caused this. In order to overcome someone with power, the only way was through using even higher power. Arguing based on what was reasonable and what was not reasonable would not work.
The current Super Star Cluster Alliance did not have the power to overcome the Beyond Grade A Association. Throughout the entire universe, the three Universal Civilizations were the only ones who could for the time being, but this matter was beneficial for them, so there was no way they would step up to interrupt it. Hence, they gave their silent approval. The situation seemed to be heading in a direction that was beneficial for the three Universal Civilizations. However, other than being content, the three Universal Civilizations' upper echelons were also feeling somewhat complicated. "Black Star… his power is growing even stronger."
On the Federation of Light's mother planet, President Bader let out a long exhale while looking at the report. The direct Beyond Grade As had given him the details of the meeting. Although the main focus was Ames, based on this woman's personality, she would not seek help from outsiders. The attitude change of the association this time was single-handedly led by Black Star.
Right after the Black Star Army made an announcement, Black Star influenced the association to make a response too. Using his identity and position, he deployed his resources in a direction that benefitted himself. Most of the time, the materialization of one's power was presented in one's ability to influence and deploy others. If he could make many people act based on his will, he would be considered as powerful.
The advanced civilizations did this kind of thing often too. As long as the method was effective, no one cared if it was immoral or not.
Before the founding of the Beyond Grade A Association, if Black Star wanted to use his power, the only method would probably be to complain to the Crimson Dynasty.
Now, however, he aided the founding of the Beyond Grade A Association, created a new shield for himself, and gained a new source of power he could utilize. He had more resources and platforms at his disposal, so he was becoming more powerful in the galactic society. Comparatively, although Manison was the president, which meant his position was higher than Han Xiao's on paper, Han Xiao had been gradually taking away his power. The three Universal Civilizations aiding Han Xiao was part of the reason, but the Mechanic Emperor was still the Federation of Light's ally on paper, so Bader was not very happy about it.
What troubled him the most was the sense of unity the association had shown this time. In Bader's eyes, these Beyond Grade As were not making an announcement to the entire universe; they wanted to tell the three Universal Civilizations that they were no longer scattered and divided. It was an indirect act of intimidation.
Although some Beyond Grade As still had their own goals and motives that might go against the association's overall goal, they also had common goals. If left alone, the three Universal Civilizations' control over the Beyond Grade As getting gradually weaker was a foreseeable future.
"Sigh…" Bader rubbed his temple.
As the leader of an advanced civilization, there were too many things he had to consider for just one matter. Even though there were specialized medical personnel taking care of his body to make sure he stayed energetic, the long time he had spent as the leader had cost him way too much energy and caused damage to his mind.
However, the day of the changing of leaders was close, and his term was about to end.
Not only the federation, he counted the days, and Urranrell would probably retire soon.
There was no choice but to leave these difficult problems for their successors.
Countless Black Star Army battleships gathered around a temporary space station in the Emerald Star Cluster. Almost eighty percent of all the fleets the Black Star Army sent to the frontlines were there. There were countless normal army warriors and players. Usually, gathering so many forces would mean a huge military operation was about to be carried out. Today, however, was only to welcome a few people.
Inside one battleship, many players squeezed around the porthole and stared closely at the battleship stargate just built near the base.
"The announcement said Black Star will arrive today. Why isn't he here yet?' "Is there a traffic jam in the stargate?"
The people chattered softly.
They were supposed to fight in the frontlines originally and continue to clash with the hostile guild alliance. However, not long ago, Phillip had given the majority of members a new order to pull back and wait for Black Star's arrival in the base.
The focus of the players was mainly the national war at this point. Although there were also discussions about the conflict between Black Star and the Mechanic Emperor, it did not receive as much attention as their own national war.
The reactions of the army players after finding out about it were all about the same. They basically yelled about how incredible their army commander was and then went back to fighting the players of the hostile alliance.
Some newly-joined foreign players were excited and surprised to hear that Black Star was about to participate in the war personally. They looked forward to fighting alongside Han Xiao.
However, the more experienced Chinese players were in overwhelming despair. Their thoughts were shockingly similar.
Don't come! We don't want to just watch cutscenes again!
Buzz!
At this time, a black cone-shaped tip of a ship extended out of the blue vortex of the stargate, followed by the black body of the ship that was covered in armor. An enormous flagship rode out from the stargate, along with teams of battleships, swarming out of the stargate. Inside the command room in the frontmost bridge of the flagship, the scenery windows switched to being transparent. The players present could all clearly see Han Xiao and Ames standing behind the porthole of the flagship.
"They're here! They're here!"
"Black Star! Dragon Emperor!"
"Ah! I have seen those long legs with my own eyes. I have no more regrets in life!"
"Sigh, looking at him again now after seeing the main character Feidin in the Black Star documentary movie, I've realized this is the difference between imagination and reality."
"To think that b*stard Black Star can play with this pair of legs any way he wants. I'm heartbroken…"
"They're a perfect pair. Who are you to object it?"
Quite a number of people had not seen Han Xiao in a very long time and were all very excited. However, in terms of popularity, Ames was overwhelmingly superior.
Inside the command room, Ames looked at the fleet outside and asked, "Are these people enough?"
"Including the two of us, yes, of course." Han Xiao nodded.
After making the announcement, the two of them headed to the frontlines right away to fulfil their promise, personally joining the battle against Modo.
At this time, a remote projection appeared beside the two of them. It was the current chief commander of the frontline fleets, Herlous.
"Your Excellencies, the troops have gathered accordingly. What should we do next?"
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, smirked, and said, "Give the Modo Civilization a present, of course."
Hearing this, Ames looked excited.
This was a plan they had already discussed on the way. Based on what they had found out from the captives, the plan to plot against Aesop was first proposed by the commanding level of the Modo expedition army. Hence, the two of them made a decision-once they arrived at the frontlines, they would charge in right away and kill them!
"But before we have a good time with Modo, we'll first have to chase away those in the way. Have all the organizations following behind the Black Star Army in the Ferdinand Battle Zone been identified?"
"Yes." Herlous nodded.
The Black Star Army's target had always been just the Modo Civilization. However, some subsidiary organizations of the three Universal Civilizations used the opportunity of the Black Star Army penetrating the line of defenses and followed behind to attack together, continuously taking over Modo's territory, wanting to use this place as the breakthrough point for the war.
"Okay. Contact all the commanders of these forces and drag them into the communication channel."
After that, Han Xiao closed his eyes and waited for a while. In less than ten minutes, the commanders of all those organizations entered the channel.
Contacting them was too easy. Hearing that Black Star was looking for them, none of them rejected the communication request.
Inside the channel, voices sounded one after another. Not long after, everyone had arrived.
Only then, Han Xiao opened his eyes and said, "Hi, I'm Black Star."
"Greetings, Your Excellency Black Star!"
"Hi, Lord Black Star."
"Have you eaten?"
The channel went silent for an instant, followed by the greetings of everyone. Their terrified expressions could be clearly imagined from their tone.
Han Xiao nodded, cut to the chase, and said, "Guys, do me a favor. Please retreat from the Ferdinand Battle Zone. Stop wasting time here."
Everyone was stunned, not knowing how to reply.
The channel became silent.
Some people were displeased, thinking that Black Star wanted to take all the benefits for himself by making them quit with just one sentence.
"Erm, Your Excellency Black Star, I'm not sure that's suitable. Plus, we can provide help. With us helping you to deal with the troops that have escaped, your troops will suffer less damage. Furthermore, us being around the exteriors of the battlefield prevents the possibility of the Black Star Army being surrounded by the Modo Civilization or other enemies," someone argued.
"Yes, yes. We all know you're eager to take revenge, but with our help, you can get rid of the Modo Civilization expedition even faster." Quite a number of people agreed and added their thoughts.
You don't say… That's exactly why I'm doing this. If you people defeat Modo too fast, they'll give up… I can only torture them as much as possible if they don't surrender.
"I don't want to repeat myself. I hope you guys can leave the Ferdinand Battle Zone within five days," Han Xiao said in a deeper voice and a slower tone. "I'm taking over this entire battlefront!"
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Chapter 1175 Overwhelming Army
Han Xiao considered himself reasonable. With his explanation, these armed forces following behind the Black Star Army willingly exited the battle zone and changed their target. A few days later, the Black Star Army was the only attacking force at the Modo Civilization line of defense in the Ferdinand Battle Zone.
Black Star did not hide his arrival at the frontline. The Modo expedition army had already received the news, and they were all on edge. Although the Black Star Army's allies had left, Black Star's arrival made the Modo expedition army even more on edge than before-Black Star alone was stronger than millions of soldiers.
After two days, the Modo expedition noticed the movements of the Black Star Army. The Black Star Army had temporarily pulled the troops at other locations back and gathered them at one area of the lines of defense, as if they were about to carry out an all-out attack. The one leading the charge was Black Star himself.
The Modo expedition army responded by moving tons of troops to this area to strengthen its defense.
A large fleet crossed the galaxy. After a while, the line of defense set up by the Modo expedition army entered their sights. It was like a wall made of battleships, armed fortresses, and enormous machines that extended beyond sight.
Five planets were moved there to form a defense formation. Two enormous armies stood against each other in space.
Inside the command room of the flagship of the Black Star Army, Ames observed the battlefield, shook her head, and said, "They want to fight us head-on without any Beyond Grade As. Is Modo planning to sacrifice all of its fleets?"
"They don't have a choice. If they don't use this dumb method, they can only watch us charge right in." Han Xiao smiled.
Currently, the Beyond Grade As participating in the battle were only him and Ames. Although Modo also had Beyond Grade As, they did not want to expose who they were, and they could not find an excuse to participate with the association's restraint. In order for Modo to stop the charge of two Beyond Grade As, they could only use fleets to fight them head-on. In battlefields like this, the existence of Beyond Grade As was crucial. The only thing the side without Beyond Grade As could do was use countless fleets to fight the Beyond Grade As. But even if that could hold the Beyond Grade As back for a while, the fleets could never threaten the Beyond Grade As' lives.
No matter how quickly they could build fleets, the speed of it would never match up with the speed the Beyond Grade As recovered their energy. After repeating the process a few times, the damage would be catastrophic. It was a bottomless pit. This was why the advanced civilizations all fought over Beyond Grade As.
In extremely intense battles, the importance of Beyond Grade As would be lower. However, those extremely destructive strategic weapons would not be used in every war. In the usual Flickering Wars, the Beyond Grade As were more than enough to decide the result of a battle.
At this time, the commander of the fleet, Herlous, said, "Army Commander, the troops have arrived at the destination. Please give the next order."
Han Xiao waved and said, "No need to have a stare down with them. Just start the fight."
The order was passed down layer by layer and quickly spread across the entire army.
The next moment, the Black Star Army struck. Billions of lights appeared in the dark universe, all from psionic cannons.
Extremely bright beams landed on the base protective shields and spaceship shields of the Modo Civilization like a thunderstorm, creating tons of electric sparks like ripples. The linked shield formed by the Modo expedition flickered, the shield energy storage of tons of spaceships in the formation fell below the warning line, and alarms rang everywhere.
The Modo expedition army instantly counterattacked. The charge fleets and assault fleets of both sides charged at each other and quickly clashed, instantly forming a bloody battlefield.
The two sides were absolute enemies; words were no longer necessary, and they attacked as soon as they met. The war erupted in an instant!
Ames turned around and glanced at Han Xiao. Seeing Han Xiao nod, she walked right out of the hatch, turned into a shooting star, and charged into the battlefield.
Enormous force fields formed into countless dragons, rolling, restraining, pulling, and tearing the enemy fleets apart. Hostile ships were torn into bent metal plates tons at a time by her force field, breaking their formation completely. Her Esper Ability was known to be comprehensive. She was incredible at large-area AOE attacks, and her ability was extremely practical in galactic battlefields like this.
Han Xiao was not doing nothing either. He snapped his fingers, and teams of mechanical troops swarmed out of the secondary dimensional army box and entered the battlefield.
The tons of mechanical soldiers instantly gained an overwhelming upper hand in the battleship. A team of just ten soldiers could easily tear a heavy battleship apart, and there were at least three million mechanical soldiers present that were still increasing in number.
The Mechanical Deity was excellent in duels, but when fighting more enemies, the mechanical army was still more efficient.
As a peak Beyond Grade A Mechanic who was also a combat expert, taking part in a battle of this level personally was a total piece of cake. Usually, Han Xiao might hold back, but against Modo, he had no intention of doing so.
The two sides fought fiercely. Modo was incurring tragic losses, and their troops fell legion by legion. Agent organizations were attempting to escape the battlefield frequently, but most were hunted by the mechanical army and blown to pieces. On the battlefield, the members of the Galactic Business Alliance, Northern Battlefront, 5C Alliance, Plateaus Eagle, and other guilds that were on the side of the Super Star Cluster Alliance were doing everything to hide. Not a tiny bit of the confidence they once had could still be found; they just wanted to hide and minimize their losses. "Luckily, we didn't bring all of our things here this time." The leader of the Northern Battlefront, Fire of Northern Sea, was scared.
"If I had known about this, I would've ignored the order and not come." The leader of the Plateaus Eagle's face was filled with heartache.
"It's not the time to be relieved. The Modo expedition army won't be able to guard this line of defense. We should think of how to save the forces we have. Though not large, it'll still hurt," the Galactic Business Alliance president said with resignation. Due to the Black Star Army's attack, the national war between the players was mainly focused around the Ferdinand Battle Zone. The player alliances of the Super Star Civilization side were temporarily under the Modo Civilization's command.
When they heard that the Black Star Army was about to carry out what might be an all-out attack, these important Immortals allies also received orders from Modo to guard this line of defense.
These guild alliances were not stupid. They had heard of Black Star's arrival on the forums, so they played it safe and brought very few of their forces to take part in this battle.
As it turned out, this was a wise choice. The opposite side had two Beyond Grade As, while Modo had none. The odds of winning were less than one percent. If these guild alliances brought all of their forces, they would have lost everything
ų
Although the main participants of the national war were the players, fleets and equipment were just as important. The guild alliances of the Super Star Cluster Alliance had accumulated quite a lot of resources, but if they all got killed multiple times here, they would have no chance in the national war afterward. They would be thrashed by the Black Star Army players without a doubt.
Speaking of which, these guild alliances were quite speechless about this. We were just having a proper national war, and now your Black Star Army suddenly sent its boss. That's bullying!
If Black Star likes to personally participate so much, how are we going to fight the army player?
This feels like two kids were fighting, and one side's parents suddenly stepped in. It's unfair!
No NPC organizations that these guild alliances met while fighting in the free competition zone were unafraid of the Cancer of the Universe. However, the guild alliances were very clear-headed. They knew that in the face of a super boss like Black Star, even they, the Cancer of the Universe, were the weaker side. They would be slaughtered no matter how many times they could revive.
With the assistance of two Beyond Grade As, the battle was one-sided. Very soon, a hole was cracked open in the line of defense, no reinforcements could make up for it. The Modo soldiers of this line of defense started to show signs of retreating.
Han Xiao observed the battlefield, looked at the gap opened in the line of defense, and said, "It's about time."
Then, he turned to Herlous.
"I'll leave one Lord's Avatar to be stationed on the fleet, as well as some mechanical troops. You'll lead the army. Don't charge too deep into Modo's base. Continue to attack the exterior line of defense. Focus on damaging their forces."
"Understood." Herlous nodded with a serious expression. The many years he had spent as a commander made him look quite respectable when his card addiction did not kick in. He said, "When you and Her Excellency Dragon Emperor kill your way into the headquarters of the Modo expedition, be careful."
"I'm not the one who should be careful." Han Xiao smiled, flew out of the battlefield, dragged Ames along, and quickly penetrated the battlefield surrounded by the mechanical army.
The Modo expedition army lost bit by bit, unable to form an effective blockade. The battleships at the front were destroyed by the mechanical army in an instant. The two of them penetrated the line of defense and headed right into Modo's headquarters. The duo's plan mainly involved the two of them; the rest of the forces would be staying in the exterior line of defense to restrain the rest of the Modo forces. This was because once they entered Modo's headquarters, the Modo expedition army would certainly set up an encirclement, and Beyond Grade As were smaller targets and more mobile.
"What? They're heading this way alone?"
Inside the Modo expedition army's headquarters, the chief commander's expression changed as he heard the report from the frontline.
He had thought Black Star would charge in with his army and take over their base, but Han Xiao and Ames coming in this deep alone was quite surprising. "What is Black Star trying to do? Why did he leave his troops outside? From the way it looks, it doesn't seem like he wants to take over our territory," someone wondered.
"He's coming in to kill people, and we're the targets." Lagos knew the situation very well. He sighed and said, "The plan targeted at Aesop came from us first, and Black Star probably found that out somehow, so we've all become his target." Hearing this, fear and panic appeared on the faces of the people present.
At the same time, they were strangely flattered. They had never thought they would become must-kill targets of a peak Beyond Grade A one day.
"Maybe we guessed wrong. What if Black Star has other goals?" someone said with disbelief.
"Stop lying to yourself! He's coming right for us!" Roddick roared.
"Then let's quickly move the command center away and take refuge somewhere else!" another said hastily. "It's no use. Black Star is a Virtual Mechanic. We won't be able to fool him no matter where we go." Roddick walked back and forth with a grave expression.
He did not regret Lagos proposing the plan against Aesop. He only regretted the fact that it did not work, and now the price of failing had arrived. This was karma.
"Let's ask for help from the upper echelons. Since Black Star is so confident, if we make Beyond Grade As fight alongside our expedition army, maybe we can surround and kill Black Star?" someone suggested cautiously.
Hearing this, Roddick and Lagos exchanged looks and saw a tint of sorrow in each other's eyes.
As the ones with the highest positions in the expedition, they knew very well what the Modo Civilization would decide in this kind of situation.
Black Star was already slaughtering his way into the headquarters. There was not enough time for anything. Plus, Modo would not want to expose their Beyond Grade As and take the risk of having them come here to save them. In other words, even if the Modo upper echelons knew about Black Star's goal, there was nothing they could do to help—they were forced to be abandoned.
Actually, the moment Black Star announced his participation in the war, Roddick knew this was it. He had asked for help from the Modo upper echelons many times, hoping that they could send Beyond Grade As there. However, the Modo upper echelons never gave him a response but instead kept asking them to hold on, while only providing the usual resources and ordinary fleets… How could that ever stop Black Star?
That's the same as giving me 100 Enas and asking me to buy something that costs 100,000. How am I supposed to do it?
Why are the upper echelons hesitating? Is it necessary to still hide the identity of the direct Beyond Grade A? If not now, when?
Roddick roared in his heart. But no matter how he felt, he could not make the decisions for the upper echelons.
"There's only one option left-seek help from the Super Star Cluster Alliance," Lagos said with a deep voice.
Roddick nodded with a grave expression, took out the communicator, entered the communication channel of the Super Star Cluster Alliance expedition army upper echelons, and said, "I need help. Black Star has charged in…"
He explained what had happened. The channel remained silent for a while, then the commander of the expedition army of another Super Star Cluster civilization asked, "What do you want us to do?".
"We can't stop Black Star. I hope you guys can send reinforcements and help us to force Black Star to retreat. We also hope to temporarily move the command center to any one of your territories. This way, Black Star won't be able to come right for our heads…"
"Impossible!" another commander said furiously. "Modo brought this upon itself. Settle it on your own!"
"We agreed to help each other," Roddick said with an angry tone. "Are you guys going to violate our agreement just like this?"
"The agreement states we're going to stand together against the three Universal Civilizations' attacks, not pay all of your debts!" someone yelled with rage. "Honestly, I've already been putting up with Modo's actions for a very long time!"
The Super Star Cluster civilizations formed an alliance to fight for territory from the three Universal Civilizations and help each other. They had already let go of a huge portion of their selfish interests and would not continue to have internal conflicts at this time.
However, when the matter affected the overall strategy, the other Super Star Clusters would not put up with it. If there was no Beyond Grade A Association and Black Star had struck on behalf of the three Universal Civilizations, they would have provided assistance without hesitation.However, the Beyond Grade As had already formed an association and made their stand outside the three Universal Civilizations, causing the three Universal Civilizations to lose their top tier combatants, which was their advantage over the Super Star Cluster Alliance. This was supposed to be an amazing thing, but Modo messed with Black Star themselves. If the others interfered too, who knew what attitude the Beyond Grade A Association would have? Would Black Star turn around to attack them too? They were barely holding on themselves in the war; no one wanted to be dragged down by Modo's bullsh*t. Therefore, the other Super Star Cluster civilizations did not want to help Modo fight Black Star at all, or their overall strategy would be heavily affected. Instead of that, they would rather sacrifice their ally. Roddick hung up the communicator with a heavy expression.
comm
Everyone there had heard the conversation. The atmosphere was low.
"Looks like we can only rely on ourselves…" Lagos said that but was bitter inside. He knew there was no hope left, unless a miracle happened.
Thinking of his confidence when he got this position, compared to the hopeless situation he was in now, Lagos' heart was filled with complicated emotions.
If not because of the Modo Civilization's conspiracy against the Kunde Race, they would not have been forced to deal with this mess. Modo would not be in such a dire situation and would be just like the other Super Star Cluster civilizations.
Although Lagos did not like finding someone to blame, at this point, he still uncontrollably hated that guy who originally proposed conspiring against the Kunde Race.
What a complete moron he was!
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Chapter 1176 This Is the Technology You Have Missed
As Han Xiao and Ames entered the Modo expeditionary army's territory, like adding water to a boiling pot, the stationed Modo troops instantly started moving, searching for the whereabouts of the two of them. Part of the fleets at the frontline were also called back to provide support.
If this was really a Super Star Cluster civilization's headquarters, any Beyond Grade A would find it difficult trying to break through it. However, this was the Flickering World, so the Modo expeditionary army's control over their territory was clearly not as strong as their home. The construction of many planets was not even complete yet.
Not just Modo, all the members of the Super Star Cluster Alliance only had limited control over their territory in the free competition zone. The military forces of expeditionary armies were not the strongest to begin with. Only a few years had passed since the start of the fourth exploration phase, and most of the time was spent on exploring, so there was not much time left for operations. Therefore, due to many factors, Han Xiao and Ames could go practically anywhere they wanted in the Modo expeditionary army's territory. The Modo fleets could only chase after them.
An asteroid belt slowly floated in space. On one of the asteroids, two people were sitting with their legs crossed. It was Han Xiao and Ames.
"… Their location still hasn't changed. The leaders of the Modo expeditionary army are still in the command center. Tsk, if this was a less developed civilization, they might be fleeing right now, thinking they might get lucky and escape." Streams of data flashed past Han Xiao's eyes. As he retracted the data needle he planted into the Modo expeditionary army's network, his eyes returned to their original black color.
Ames casually played with two pieces of highly condensed metal she scraped from the asteroid, raised her brows slightly, and said, "We've been here for more than half a month. Everyone in Modo knows we're here. Yet, they're not running but have been staying in the command center. Are they waiting for us to go there?"
"Maybe they know that there's no use in running and have accepted their fate. Only advanced civilizations can see things this clearly." Han Xiao shrugged and was not concerned at all.
While speaking, he opened the secondary dimensional army box, released batches of mechanical soldiers, and nodded slightly. These soldiers turned into streams of light and left in different directions.
Ames watched this from the side. She then sighed and said, "Black Star, we could directly head toward the Modo expeditionary army's command center, which will save a lot of time, but you had to take a detour. Otherwise, we would've completed our goal long ago."
Han Xiao sighed, looked like he was about to stand up, and said, "So, you don't like me spending more time with you. Alright then, we'll go there and get this done with…"
"Who said so? Sit down!" Ames changed the topic instantly. "You said you were going to plant plenty of secret sentries in the Modo expeditionary army's territory. The plan is already more than half done. How can we give it up now?" Black Star was a busy man. The next time they went to the secondary dimensions would be at least a decade a later. But since he had squeezed out some time now to accompany her, of course she was not willing to let it end this early.
Han Xiao chuckled in his mind and sat down again.
Other than killing the leaders of the expeditionary army, he also had another goal
– plant tons of wards in Modo's territory. Otherwise, he would not have taken a detour that delayed them by over two weeks after rushing into the enemy's territory.
He had already sent out god knew how many batches of mechanical troops during this time and hidden them inside the Modo expeditionary army's territory.
These mechanical troops could all be remotely controlled, of course. One reason for this was to deal more damage to Modo, another was to confuse Modo's fleets, and a third was to obtain intelligence and monitor Modo's movements, hoping to find out the final destination of the various transportation routes of the Modo Civilization. At the same time, he also planted some Thrones so that he could infiltrate anytime without anyone knowing in the future.
The Modo Civilization certainly knew he had left these mechanical soldiers. They would have no choice but to deploy large amounts of manpower to search for them. Also, Han Xiao had another reason to take a detour.
"I purposely gave Modo so much time to prepare. I wonder if any Beyond Grade As rushed here to protect the command center…" Han Xiao scratched his chin.
Without the protection of any Beyond Grade As, killing the commander in a split second was easy, so Han Xiao wanted to lure the snake out of its nest. He deliberately took his time to give the Modo upper echelons more time to consider their options, as well as to pressure them. After all, the longer he spent so casually loitering around in their territory, the more face Modo would lose.
If the Modo upper echelons could not take it anymore and sent Beyond Grade As over as guards, he would have an opportunity to deal even more damage to Modo and really make them hurt. This was his biggest goal of this trip.
It looked like he was only targeting the commanders of the Modo expeditionary army, but he was actually fighting the Modo Civilization's upper echelons strategically.
While thinking, he opened the forums and took a look at it. Herlous was still attacking the exterior line of defenses of the Modo expeditionary army, but only attacking and not advancing. Even when they penetrated their defenses, they were not stepping over but instead returned to rest. They then continued to attack the next location.
If those armed forces following behind were still in the Ferdinand Battle Zone, they would definitely not have given up on this opportunity and would have advanced all the way in. This was the reason the Modo expeditionary army's exterior line of defense kept shrinking Now, however, Han Xiao had chased away all those armed forces, so Modo had time to fill up the gaps. However, they felt even worse.
The Black Star Army's actions were driving the commanders of the Modo expeditionary army at the various fronts crazy. They kept rubbing on the outside but refused to thrust in. It was torture. However, this was where their duty lay. They were not allowed to give up; they had to keep resisting despite it being meaningless.
as
Without Han Xiao at the frontlines, the guild alliances on the Super Star Cluster Alliance side felt confident again and continued to fight the national war against the army players. It was a battle, but both sides were enjoying it. One side was glad the enemy's boss had left, and the other side was glad they did not have to watch cutscenes from the side.
On a planet occupied by a certain Beyond Grade A elsewhere in the Flickering World, a tall being walked back and forth in the palace, holding a communicator. He looked rather anxious. It seemed like he was waiting for someone to call.
Beep beep!
The communicator rang. This tall being instantly picked up and hastily said, "How'd my request go? Did the people above approve
it?"
On the secret channel, an emissary with a blurry face said with a serious tone, "No, the upper echelons won't allow you to help the Modo expeditionary army. Don't act on your own!"
"Black Star has been loitering around Modo's territory for almost a month. We've had so much time to prepare, yet we still haven't sent any Beyond Grade As over to help. It doesn't make sense! How will other organizations view us? How will our allies in the expeditionary army feel?" The tall being was furious.
If Han Xiao was there, he would have recognized that this was the kid who started the fire during the Beyond Grade A Association plenary. He was indeed a secret direct member of the Modo Civilization. However, although he was a direct member, he had his temper too and was quite daring. Otherwise, he would not have dared speak in front of two peak Beyond Grade As, Black Star and the Mechanic Emperor back then.
Almost all the organizations in the Flickering World were watching Black Star's movements. They all knew it had been almost a month since he entered the Modo expeditionary army's territory. If Modo did not take any actions in this kind of situation and let Black Star do whatever he wanted, the entire civilization would lose face. It was understandable for this Beyond Grade A to get angry.
"What's the point of going? Can you beat Black Star? You'll be going there to die! Even if all of our hidden Beyond Grade As go there, you guys still won't be a match for Black Star!" the emissary said angrily. "Stay rational. You can't expose yourself here! This is all for the future!"
The tall being was filled with frustration, but he had to admit that Black Star was terrifyingly strong. He would only be giving up his life by going.
If they sent Beyond Grade As over, Black Star would eat them up. If they did not send Beyond Grade As over, the reputation and image of the Modo Civilization would be damaged. Not only would they bring shame to themselves, they would also make people feel they were cold-blooded. The morale of the expeditionary army would undoubtedly plummet.
Black Star was able to achieve this just by deliberately walking slower.
This was an honest conspiracy! Thinking of how Black Star spoke so confidently during the plenary, this Beyond Grade A felt both furious and horrified.
What did Modo ever do to deserve such a terrifying enemy!
Another half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Although Han Xiao and Ames took their time, they eventually arrived at the destination.
Countless Modo fleets surrounded the command center of the Modo expeditionary army. All the crews were on edge with grave expressions. Although they were the side with the numerical advantage, they were the side that was extremely nervous.
"These two *ssholes are finally here!"
Inside the command center, Roddick clenched his teeth. His eyes were extremely red ,and his hair was excessively messy. He looked severely exhausted, but his face was still filled with rage.
"They're finally here…" Lagos, who was on the side, was not in a better state too, but he looked relieved.
The two of them knew clearly that Black Star and the Dragon Emperor were coming for them. However, the two of them had taken way too long. At the start, the two of them were immensely nervous, and then they entered desperation, before gradually becoming restless. In the end, they were almost going mad from waiting. Black Star and the Dragon Emperor were like two blades slowly moving toward their neck. Days felt like years.
This feeling of waiting for a certain death was complete mental torture for the two of them.
Originally, Roddick and Lagos did not wish for them to come quickly. However, as time passed, their mindset went from 'please come slower' to 'why the f*ck are they still not here'. They almost wanted to rush Black Star and the Dragon Emperor to come quicker.
Plus, the Modo Civilization had never sent any Beyond Grade As in the past one and a half months, so Roddick and Lagos were more certain they had been abandoned. Filled with sorrow and hopelessness, they had accepted their fate. They would die one way or another, so they rather die sooner.
Roddick turned on the public channel and said with a ferocious tone, "Black Star! Aren't you here to kill us? Do it!"
Hearing the roar in the channel, the many Modo soldiers there felt somewhat betrayed.
They all knew that Modo did not send any help and had abandoned them. To say they did not feel betrayed would be a lie. However, as soldiers, they would still obey their orders even if they knew they were headed for death.
Han Xiao looked around, turned up his senses to the maximum, and laughed with a shake of his head.
"Yoho, Modo is quite patient. I've given them more than enough time, but they still haven't sent a single Beyond Grade A. Are they that afraid of me?"
Ames smiled and said, "Who isn't afraid of you in the entire universe?'"
"Never mind, this proves that Modo has learned their lesson."
Han Xiao shook his head. Although he was unable to lure the snake out of its nest, he did not mind. After all, he would still be able to damage Modo's image.
He looked around. His eyes stopped at one location in the Modo expeditionary army's base. That was where the command center was located, and the targets he was going to kill were inside.
Han Xiao turned and asked, "So, are you going to personally slice the targets up, or should I do it?"
At the start, Ames wanted to kill Lagos and Roddick with her own hands. However, thinking of the experience she shared with Han Xiao in the past few days, she shook her head carelessly.
"Whether you or I do it doesn't make a difference."
"I'll do it then. It'll be more efficient. You're too slow."
As Ames rolled her eyes, Han Xiao coughed and ordered the mechanical soldiers behind him to advance.
He knew that the Modo Civilization would certainly set up tons of spacetime stabilization devices near its base, so he had summoned a mechanical army long before he arrived.
Seeing this, the Modo fleet instantly responded. The crews suppressed their complicated emotions and became firm, staring at the renowned Black Star far away, ready for the battle to begin.
Han Xiao glanced at them and snapped his fingers. These mechanical soldiers suddenly stood still. Dense white noise appeared, and space bent slightly around them.
The next moment, this batch of mechanical soldiers disappeared. When they reappeared, they had already moved a long distance forward but were still in a stationary state, like a painting
Boom!
In the face of this strange scene, the Modo fleet did not hesitate and fired instantly, shattering these mechanical soldiers. However, something shocking happened next. This batch of mechanical soldiers reappeared again. Not only were they completely undamaged, but their location had moved forward a long distance once again, closer to the command center.
This strange scene made the Modo fleet perplexed.
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. "Using the Kunde Race's technology against you people is considered using it in the right place."
This scene that looked like a screen lagging was indeed the technology Han Xiao had obtained from the Kunde Race—the Spacetime Splicing Technology!
With his research and improvement over so many years, the Spacetime Splicing Technology he had now was far from its original version. It was way more enhanced and upgraded. This technology was now rather matured. It would no longer be easily countered by all kinds of spacetime devices like the original version. The difficulty and time required to break this technology using the same methods as before would be at least seven to eight times higher. This meant that it could stay operational for a longer period of time.
Although the Crimson Dynasty did not allow him to casually use this in front of others, Han Xiao had a flash of insight just now and intuitively felt that if he used the Kunde Race's trump card to fight Modo, it might be beneficial for the mission. He trusted his intuition quite a lot, so he did it.
In the face of this unknown technology, the Modo army panicked and used all kinds of attacks. However, no matter what attacks they used, they could not stop this army of mechanical soldiers blinking forward. Part of their fleet had no choice but to attack Han Xiao himself, but the attacks were all easily guarded by Han Xiao and Ames. Furthermore, their battleships were getting hacked frequently.
"Impossible!"
Roddick's eyes opened wide with shock. As he stared at the approaching mechanical troops, his eyes filled with deep desperation.
In order to fight Black Star, he had brought tons of fleets, thinking he would at least be able to put up a fight. However, to his absolute dismay, Black Star simply used one ability he had never seen before and easily penetrated the line of defenses of the fleet, threatening his life.
"What the hell is this technology?" Lagos was stunned too.
Hearing the shocking tone of the two of them in the public channel, Han Xiao suddenly smiled and said with a mocking tone, "Fate really has a bad taste… To tell you the truth, this is the technology the Modo Civilization missed. You guys were so close to obtaining it in the past. It's a shame."
The Modo Civilization's stowaways were the first ones to discover the Kunde Race. If not because they wanted to trick them in order to plot against the Crimson Dynasty, they would not have missed the Spacetime Splicing Technology
"The technology we missed?" Lagos murmured. His intuition told him that what Black Star said might be true.
He was filled with complicated emotions. Finally, under the raging focus fire of the Modo fleets, the mechanical army appeared outside the porthole of the command center, completely unharmed.
Roddick and Lagos opened their eyes wide and stared at this mechanical army as the energy furnace on the mechanical soldiers' chests lit up, flickering with a burning bright white light. The next moment, their consciousness went blank.
Boom!
An intense explosion occurred, and a pale blue psionic shockwave expanded.
The command center was annihilated; not even debris was left behind. A huge part of the entire base went missing.
Roddick and Lagos, as well as most of the leaders of the Modo expeditionary army, died in this explosion, leaving not a single trace behind.
"This is just taking a little bit of interest. Let's hope Modo doesn't get discouraged. We have more than enough time to have some fun." Looking at the raging Modo fleets, Han Xiao chuckled and placed his hands around Ames' waist. The King extended and shrouded them.
Whoosh!
In a flash of light, before the Modo fleets surrounded them, the two of them disappeared without a trace. The spacetime stabilizers placed in this area could not stop them even a little bit.
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Chapter 1177 Infiltration
Han Xiao felt the mechanical suit shake. When it opened again, he had already returned to the Black Star Army fleet that was attacking the Modo expeditionary army's exterior line of defense, appearing inside the command room of the flagship. Hearing the sounds, the many officers who were originally staring at the battlefield all turned around. First, they looked at Han Xiao's face. They then uncontrollably moved down to his hand that was wrapped around Ames' waist and Ames' calm expression. The room suddenly became silent.
"What you looking at? Never seen this before?" Han Xiao glared at everyone and moved his hand away.
Herlous coughed and said, "Boss, is the goal complete?"
"The Modo Civilization didn't even send any Beyond Grade As, how could I not succeed?"
Herlous was about to ask why it took so long, but when he saw Ames' refreshed and energetic appearance, he hesitated for a second and smartly did not ask.
Han Xiao looked up at the battlefield outside the porthole. The battle was at its most bloody stage. The fleets of the two sides were fighting fiercely. The army had already broken through the exterior protective shield of two planets and deployed tons of army players who were fighting the players of the guild alliance. There were no signs of losing on either side in their battle.
Ames turned around, patted Han Xiao's chest, and said, "Alright, the root's been eliminated. I'll be going back to the Shattered Star Ring."
"Hmm? You're leaving so soon?" Han Xiao was surprised. "Didn't you say you wanted to fight the masterminds together?"
He thought that Ames wanted to stay and participate in the coming battles against Modo to vent her anger. He did not expect her to leave now.
"My anger is already vented by killing the initiators of the plan. Plus, you being here is enough." Ames smiled. She was in a very good mood.
Her original plan was to help Han Xiao while taking revenge, which she had already done to a very large extent. Without her, Manison would have lost one less Felon. Han Xiao had convinced her during this time, so Ames decided to listen to Han Xiao's suggestion and return to Floating Dragon.
Ding!
The moment she said that, Han Xiao's interface responded. The (Ames' Rage] mission became 'completed'.
That's it? Luckily, it didn't require me to turn over the entire Modo Civilization. Her anger has probably already passed, which is why she gave up such an excessive thought. Looks like my convincing has been quite effective, Han Xiao thought. "I'll be taking Aesop back and strengthening the monitoring. I'll never let him escape so easily again." Ames brushed her hair behind her ear.
Han Xiao mourned for Aesop for a third of a second before nodding.
"Do whatever you want with him. You don't have to give me face."
Ames extended her long and white fingers, poked Han Xiao's chest with a smile, and said, "I'll go back now then. Come find me when you have the time. Anyway, I won't say thanks again. There's no need for us to be formal, and you don't like to hear it…"
"Alright, alright, quickly go then." Han Xiao waved carelessly.
"By the way, before I leave, I have a gift for you." Ames seemed to have suddenly recalled something. The runes on the back of her hand flickered, and a book appeared in her hands.
"What's this?' Han Xiao looked at it curiously.
"I concluded my energy training experience some time ago and created a new energy training technique. It should be inclusive for all. You should be able to use it too," Ames said with a smile.
Han Xiao accepted the book and read through it. It was surprisingly handwritten. The content was an energy training technique called 'Dragon Emperor Star Energy Extraction Technique'. The details were unknown, but it looked quite advanced, not inferior compared to 'Heber Stellar Furnace Cultivation' from way back.
"Why did you write it by hand? Isn't it more convenient to write an electrical copy and send it to me?"
"It helps you to train patience." Ames was still smiling
Her thoughts were simple. It could only be a gift given by hand if it was hand-written. It could also be something that would remind Black Star of her.
Of course, Han Xiao was not going to reject this surprise. He nodded and said, "Okay, I'll use it when I have the time."
"I'll be going then."
Ames smiled and told Han Xiao to send her back in another King suit.
After she disappeared, Han Xiao opened the interface and looked at his rewards.
The Mission Rating was 'Excellent'. The 250 million base EXP reward increased to one billion; the Contribution Points of the Floating Dragon faction increased by a few dozen thousand; Ames' Favorability was at maximum to begin with, so it did not increase, but Aesop's Favorability increased by quite a bit. The Random Reward doubled from two to four, as did the Character Summon Card reward; he got two of them instead of one, both from Ames.
The first Character Summon Card's ability was called 'Force Field-Star Grab', which used the force field Esper Ability to grab the target. It was a decent controlling ability. The other Character Summon Card's ability was 'War Whip-Dragon Arc', also a force field ability. It had both AOE damage and controlling functions. It was quite a good ability too. Both had five uses.
To Han Xiao, this common mission was a cherry on top to begin with, so he did not have too high hopes for it. Nonetheless, these rewards were not bad. His focus had always been the Kunde Race's mission.
He opened (Kunde Race Leader's Last Wish) in the mission list and looked at it. The first requirement was still the same, as was the second mission requirement. As this was a Grade S mission, there was no progress bar. However, his intuition told him that this successful attack meant huge progress in this mission.
After doing some thinking, Han Xiao thought to himself, Judging from the current situation, the day when the Modo Civilization gives up competing in the Flickering World because of my torture should probably be the day the second requirement of this mission is fulfilled.
He had always wanted to obtain the three rewards for the second requirement. They were [The Enemy, [Proof of Leadership), and [Kunde Rage), all outstanding abilities, especially the semi-Molding Talent (Proof of Leadership) that had growth potential.
Thinking of this, Han Xiao summoned Phillip in the quantum network and said, "Send the recording of me using the Spacetime Splicing Technology to defeat the Modo expeditionary army to the garrison of the Kunde Race. Tell them to repeat it in all their residential areas, making sure every prawn… ahem, everyone in the Kunde Race sees."
"Roger, hum!"
Han Xiao's battle against the Modo expeditionary army was very short. Phillip recorded everything. He was never one to quietly finish what he had to do. Since he had helped Kunde get their revenge, he was certainly going to make use of the recording to enhance his reputation in the Kunde Race. He had to make sure their entire race knew about what he had done for them. This would help with the progress of the mission too. After dealing with this, Han Xiao summoned Feidin, pulled him aside away from everyone else, and whispered, "Have you done what I asked you to do?"
Feidin nodded. "In the past one and a half months, I've already swapped the souls of fifteen thousand Modo soldiers and middle-level officers. They will be our spies in the Modo expeditionary army."
He received a secret order from Han Xiao. When the Black Star Army fleet was attacking Modo's line of defense, he had been using the Soul Swapper to swap some of the enemy soldiers, infiltrating the Modo expeditionary army and planting spies. The Modo Civilization had once used the Soul Swapper against the army, so Han Xiao had Feidin give them a taste of their own medicine. Given how special the Soul Swapper was, even if Modo prepared for it, they could not avoid it.
"Well done." Han Xiao nodded with satisfaction. He had already planted multiple chess pieces in the Modo expeditionary army's territory. This way, he would have more sources of their internal intelligence. Not only would he be able to control the whereabouts of the Modo Civilization's army, but he could also try to find the location of the secret transport route. He could take his time torturing them.
"Give my order. Retreat temporarily. Let's go back to the base and rest for some time," Han Xiao said loudly. The officers present were all surprised.
We have the upper hand now. Why are we retreating all of a sudden? Even if we're not going to enter their line of defense, we should at least finish this battle.
What they did not know was that Han Xiao was not doing this to give the Black Star Army time to rest but instead give the enemy time to rest. He had just killed the commanders of the Modo expeditionary army. He knew that they now had no leaders and would definitely be disorganized.
He wanted to give Modo a little bit of hope so that he could crush that hope time after time in the future. This way, making Modo give up due to despair would be easier.
Though confused, none of the officers would question the army commander's order.
Very soon, the majority of the army's forces backed away out of the bloody battlefield and then retreated systematically.
Seeing this, the Modo garrison of this line of defense were all confused.
Aren't we getting beaten up? Why did they suddenly stop half-way?
"Weird. We have to report this to the command center immediately." The fleet commander of this line of defense hastily went to report to the upper echelons.
However, what he got was a long silence-no one picked up.
After quite some time, he finally received the nightmarish news published on the internal network. Only then was he appalled to find out what had happened—the entire command center had been annihilated by Black Star!
After adapting and modifying for about two decades, the new generations of the Kunde Race gradually got used to being in captivity, accepting the culture injected by the Crimson Dynasty and the Black Star Army. As the older prawns passed away naturally, the effects of the cultural modification operation on the entire race started to show. All the residential planets were singled out and could not contact the other planets. They had regained basic productivity, the streets were crowded, and the heavy and depressing atmosphere had become much better. The young generation had given the Kunde Race the vitality it needed.
On this day, a huge event happened on this residential planet. Every screen on the planet was playing a video. The content of it was the recording of Han Xiao destroying the command center of the Modo expeditionary army. Phillip even kindly added some narration to explain what happened to help the Kunde Race understand what Han Xiao had done for them.
Every member of the Kunde Race who saw the recording realized that Black Star was still living up to his promise, continuously avenging their race. Furthermore, Black Star even used their technology.
Seeing the moment when the mechanical soldiers used the Spacetime Splicing Technology to destroy the command center, every member of the Kunde Race's face lit up with excitement. They were filled with pride.
Look, those who used us are no match for our strongest technology!
This made them feel that they were not just watching Black Star avenge them but were actually helping.
Along with pride was a strong sense of appreciation for Black Star.
Throughout the years, not only did he protect them, but he never forgot his promise to them and brought them the justice they deserved… This incredible and kind man was their one and only god of protection. They felt blessed amid all the unfortunate things they had experienced
The same thing was happening on every planet of the Kunde Race. Countless members of the Kunde Race gained more and more admiration for Black Star.
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Chapter 1178 Objectors
Inside a small private guest room, a few officers at the top level sat on the sofa and complained.
"Sigh, the commanders of the expeditionary army got killed, but Black Star stopped attacking. He clearly wants to devour our armies again and again. The Three Kings are not giving up on the Flickering World no matter what, but what's the point of sending in more forces? This is pure suicide if no Beyond Grade As are sent. Black Star has already proved that he has the ability to kill the commanders any time he wants."
The news of the expeditionary army's commanders being killed had reached Modo. The Modo Three Kings summoned the upper echelons and hosted a meeting. Other than showing their rage, they quickly promoted new commanders from the expeditionary army and ordered the military to send more aid.
At that time, the many officials did not display any objections on the surface, but many of them developed a stronger sense of objection inside. Hence, after the meeting ended, a few officials who were unhappy met privately.
In the room, Marco had the highest position. He was the third in command of a mainstream political faction in Modo, so his words carried the most weight. He slowly said, "We can't carry on like this. Modo has almost no chance in the Flickering World with Black Star standing in the way. Giving up as soon as possible is the rational choice. The longer this drags on, the more pressure Modo will face, collapsing in the end."
Someone sighed and said, "Exactly. Things are not stable inside the nation these days too… Many unofficial organizations of the three Universal Civilizations have started so-called 'peaceful movements' on various colonial planets. They're using armed demonstrations, organized strikes, and so on to trigger the anti-war emotions of the society, forcing us to exit the war. Many industries have been severely affected. Some with ulterior motives are even spreading ideas of splitting the race up, bashing the policies, and promoting hatred, which actually turned around the way of living peacefully with other races we have been teaching for all these years and successfully worsened racism. Rebellious armies will certainly appear one day. Plus, important people are being assassinated by mysterious forces everywhere."
Marco shook his head. "Modo has made tremendous investments in the Flickering World for decades. It's understandable that the Three Kings are not willing to give up easily. However, the situation has now changed. Adjusting our strategy is the top priority. Since we can't deal with Black Star, continuing to spend resources in the Flickering World will just be a meaningless waste. It's time to make the decision to minimize losses."
"That's right. The Three Kings are just thinking about holding on till the Super Star Cluster Alliance succeeds, and at that time, we can benefit from it too. But the chances of us being able to hold on till the day the Super Star Cluster Alliance gets the upper hand… are too thin. Black Star won't watch that happen too. He might be stalling with us now, but if we don't keep sending in troops to keep him full, he'll certainly launch an all-out attack and chase us out," another person said.
Marco took a sip of the dark ember colored wine and softly said, "Actually, since the beginning, I've never felt the Super Star Cluster Alliance will be able to invade the Flickering World successfully. There's an eighty percent chance they'll fail. This is just a desperate collective attempt by the other Super Star Cluster civilizations. Since that's the case, getting out earlier, being free from the pressure from the three Universal Civilizations and the Black Star Army, and beginning our recovery earlier is a wiser choice for Modo instead."
"That's right."
The others in the room agreed completely.
Marco narrowed his eyes. "The more losses Modo suffers, the more people will object. Maybe it's time for us to prepare for the impeachment operation…" Hearing this, the others were shocked. They were just complaining; they did not expect Marco to have plans for actually taking action.
However, thinking about it, they felt this might not be a bad idea.
Modo was a government formed by three civilizations, and each of the Three Kings represented one race. However, political stands and philosophies crossed the boundaries of races, so the political environment of the Modo Civilization was very complicated.
Due to the unique political structure, Modo, of course, had to make sure it was balanced. The Three Kings could not do whatever they wanted; there were also structures similar to congress that restrained their power. If the path they chose during their term did not fit the interests of the majority or one of them was involved in a scandal, their term could be ended by impeachment.
However, this kind of situation rarely happened. As long as the Three Kings did not do things that were hated by almost everyone during their terms, they would peacefully retire.
"If the Three Kings insist on their choice, Modo will be gradually sucked dry. The future is dark. If they are really going to be stubborn, impeachment will be the only choice left," Marco said.
The people exchanged looks. Some were firm, and some were hesitant. They all lowered their voices and softly discussed how exactly they could execute the plan.
At this moment, the objectors of the war started to plan on how to backstab the Three Kings. The root of it was that Black Star's strength made some of the Modo upper echelons hopeless; they did not see how they could turn things around.
Inside the Modo Civilization's territory, a silver stealth-type high warp speed spaceship hovered in a cluster of nebulas, slowly moving. There was no symbol on its exterior armor.
Inside the cabin, Lothaire and a few other officers of the Assassin's Society sat around a virtual screen, browsing the information on it. Rows of portraits were displayed on the screen, all influential people from various industries of the Modo Civilization. Some already had a red cross above their head, meaning the assassination was complete.
"Internally, Modo is a mess. The leaders of some industries being assassinated caused the local management system of some colonial planets to almost collapse. Our work is very effective," an officer said coldly.
"Hmm."
Lothaire was staring at the screen, seemingly looking for their next prey.
The Assassin's Society had been doing work for many months in Modo. They had already caused quite a lot of chaos. While being chased, wanted, and hunted by the officials, they were still continuing their work and hiding at the same time.
"Our actions over the past few days have been too aggressive. We've lost some men too. It's time to lie low for a while," an officer suggested. Lothaire nodded. He then shook his head and said, "We'll hide temporarily, then do a big one."
Then, he extended his finger and pointed at one of the portraits on the screen.
The officers present followed his finger. Their expressions all turned stiff as horror and disbelief appeared in their eyes.
The target Lothaire had chosen was one of the Modo Three Kings!
"You want to assassinate the highest leader of a Super Star Cluster civilization?" An officer opened his eyes wide. "Are you insane!"
"They have three leaders. Losing one is nothing." Lothaire's tone was calm. "I'll do it myself."
"Do you know the nature of this action? If you succeed, the Modo Civilization will become our eternal enemy. Furthermore, there's absolutely no chance of succeeding. The Modo Three Kings are heavily guarded. There's no chance of getting close at all. Plus, there's no way of assassinating them if they don't leave their mother planet," someone said with a hasty tone.
For once in a blue moon, Lothaire actually explained himself. "Firstly, we're Modo's eternal enemies to begin with. Secondly, the Modo Three Kings have many guards, but no Beyond Grade A guards are present on the surface, Calamity Grades at most, which isn't beyond my abilities. Thirdly, the Modo mother planet doesn't have the Psionic Seal Ring like the three Universal Civilizations' mother planets have, so infiltration is totally possible."
At a glance, assassinating one of the Modo Three Kings was an impossible mission. However, after doing some analysis, he realized that it was not completely impossible. After all, although the Three Kings were leaders, they were not individuals with great strength. Furthermore, he had (Deity Assassinator) in his hands. Even if the Three Kings had magical defense runes, this weapon would be able to penetrate them. The main problem was, whether the assassination was successful or not, getting away afterward would be extremely difficult.
The others were in dismay like this was the first time they had met Lothaire. Even though they were all assassins who had killed many important people, this was still an extremely daring plan in their eyes.
"Easy to say, but executing it is complete suicide!"
"Everything is possible. Sometimes, all you need is a little bit of luck." Lothaire narrowed his eyes. The people there did not know what he was thinking, nor did he plan to explain further.
Due to Rossellin and the three Universal Civilizations' operations, the internal racial issues and racist philosophies were gradually becoming more severe. If he could assassinate one of the Three Kings at this time and find a way to blame it on the extremists of the other two races, it might further stimulate the conflict and make these philosophies explode. The results were not difficult to imagine.
Sure, the method was a little bit dirty, but as an assassin, Lothaire did not care if the method was ethical or not. He was only concerned if it was effective and could achieve his goal. It could be said that he would do anything necessary to achieve his goals.
He had been operating in the outside world for decades; he was no longer just a pure assassin. He had gradually learned to analyze the big picture. Although Black Star did not specifically instruct him on what to do, Lothaire was very clear of Black Star's goal. He was more than happy to use swifter methods to deal greater damage to Modo that was more powerful than just an assassination.
Of course, assassinating Modo's highest leader and pinning it on racism was just an idea. It was extremely difficult and impossible to complete with just the Assassin's Society.
However, the three Universal Civilizations' forces in Modo's territory were a natural help. Lothaire planned to create a fuse so that they could operate around it, just like how the philosophy tide they created gave him the idea of assassinating one of the Modo Three Kings.
Boom!
A red silhouette fell onto a desolate planet like a meteor, crashing a crater on the planet surface.
Blood flowed out from the tip of Hila's lips. Her body was embedded into the ground. As she pulled herself out, Han Xiao suddenly appeared right above him, and a powerful kick swept onto her abdomen.
Boom!
The little bit of death energy she had just gathered got scattered by one kick. A shockwave erupted with a loud explosion noise.
Having been heavily hit in the abdomen, Hila's body bent like a shrimp as she shot out like a rocket for dozens of miles, leaving a long fissure behind.
"Are we going to continue? I've already been beating you for eleven hours. If I remember correctly, you've already been close to death three times and fainted five times."
Han Xiao stood with his arms crossed and sighed.
"Humph, are you going to praise me for being energetic? Never mind, let's call it a day. But don't forget, this is just the third time." Hila wiped away the blood on her lips, rubbed her stomach, and stood up.
Hearing this, Han Xiao's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
He was now fulfilling the agreement he made back then to spar with Hila thirty times. Now there were twenty-seven times left. As Han Xiao thought of this number, he could almost feel his waist hurting.
This was a certain location near Black Star Palace. He had returned from the free competition zone long ago.
Modo did not send any Beyond Grade As for what he did, so they most likely would not in the future either. Furthermore, Han Xiao had already left enough mechanical troops and Lord's Avatars there, so he did not continue to stay in the frontlines and directly returned to the headquarters using the King suit.
Han Xiao originally wanted to stay indoors and focus on studying the Felon and the Indestructible Mechanical Troops technology, but Hila was insatiable and had to spar with him.
Due to their agreement, he could not reject her and had no choice but to hit Hila every day for a few days. Although Hila was a tough sandbag, using her so often was excessive even for Han Xiao.
With the Exclusive Talent (Virtual Technology Innovation-Manison), the progress of studying the Felon and the Indestructible Mechanical Troops was going quite smoothly. However, there were still a number of key factors he had to overcome till completely mastering them, which required time. Hence, Han Xiao did not use Awakening Points to quicken the progress. He would be able to derive the blueprint with the bonuses from his abilities and talents.
This time, Hila flew over from afar and asked, "How do you think I'm progressing?" "Not bad," Han Xiao said casually.
"Tsk, such a perfunctory response. You're so patient when accompanying Ames but so whatever to me. Do you not want to accompany me that much?" Hila raised her brows.
"What do you think?" Han Xiao gazed at her. You masochist, don't you understand that forcing me to beat you up every day is tiring for me too?
Due to her passion for battle, Hila became stronger rather quickly, and with the Underworld, her growth potential was even higher.
When Aurora reached Beyond Grade A, the Underworld would be able to revive the Hero Spirits. Only then would Hila reach her peak strength.
Han Xiao had also found out from Onicelu that if Aurora's Vital Energy Esper Ability reached Beyond Grade A, its qualities would change. She would be able to create living bodies with no soul that could be used for the Hero Spirits to live in.
It just so happened that this ability could work with the Soul Swapper. Han Xiao had told Feidin this and promised him that he would ask Aurora to build a body for Chen Xing.
Hila snorted softly, changed the topic, and said, "There are twenty-seven more spars. I want one the day after tomorrow. Remember to make time."
"Aren't you too hard to satisfy? Can the interval be longer?" Han Xiao was speechless.
"No! I finally snatched you back from my teacher. I want you to accompany me as much as possible."
A tint of happiness flashed across Hila's eyes. She then went into the spaceship and headed back herself.
Han Xiao sighed and shook his head. He was more certain that Hila was a complete masochist.
The purpose of sparring is to test one's strength, but she clearly knows how big the difference in our strength is. Still, she keeps wanting to fight me. Isn't this simply asking to be beaten up?
Sigh, Hadavy is much better. They're both looking to be beaten up, but this guy is much more understanding, still smiling after getting beat up, unlike Hila, who always has that cold expression like I owe her money…
Speaking of which, it's been some time since I've heard Hadavy's flattery. I actually miss it.
Han Xiao was in no hurry of going back. He made the mechanical army retrieve some of the shattered mechanical soldiers. While the battlefield was being cleaned up, he opened the forums. He was about to look at the players' jokes and relax.
However, as soon as he opened the Flickering World panel, his eyes were drawn to a pinned post.
World Server War Invitation Letter!
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Chapter 1179 Impeachment
"The World Server War… what's bound to come will come in the end."
Han Xiao opened the post and browsed through. Seeing that the content was the same as he expected, he sighed.
The post was jointly announced by Galactic Business Alliance, September Conference, Northern Tropic of Cancer Light, Southeast Asia War Alliance, and multiple guild alliances. In simple terms, it was an ordeal challenge letter targeted at all player alliances. It stated a time and location, aiming to start an enormous battle.
The players of the various alliances usually moved according to their faction's orders, but this did not have much to do with factions. It was just an event between the players.
The same thing had happened in his previous life. The various guild alliances announced the war, and it turned into a battle between millions of players that lasted for many days. It was then recorded in the 'Galaxy Chronicles', given the name of 'Planet Tabor Battle'.
The Great Mechanic Han was also active for some time in this battle in his previous life, mainly to loot the equipment and items the players dropped. He had made a big fortune from it. This time, although the war still happened, due to the butterfly effect he had caused, the time and location had changed slightly.
From his perspective, these guild alliances announcing this challenge was not sudden. It was already the final stage of Version 4.0. If they did not create some big news, they would not have a chance to do so anytime soon. One reason was to justify killing those in the hostile alliances, and another was to strengthen the unity of the big guild alliances by having the normal players take part in it too.
"… Basically, they're bored, so they want to start a fight."
Han Xiao shook his head. The internal affairs of the players had nothing to do with him. He did not plan to interfere.
The location was not in the Ferdinand Battle Zone. It was on a planet in the frontlines called Marrison. When the players headed there to participate, it would affect the army's battle in the frontlines to a certain extent. Although the army could use orders to restrain the players and not let them participate in the big battle all players could take part in, it would not have a positive impact, nor did Han Xiao plan to do so.
After all, players were not really his employees. If he restrained them too much, it would only achieve the opposite effect.
Of course, not only him, but all the organizations who had players would be affected to different extents. If these forces forcefully stopped their players, it would instead benefit the army and make recruiting players easier in the future.
"The army players will stick together in this war. They'll be the largest group, so they'll probably be targeted by many other alliances… but that's not bad for me."
Han Xiao's eyes sparkled.
The Pro League during the final stage of a version was an excellent way to boost sales. Many players would be willing to spend a lot of their savings to make themselves stronger. When that happened, the army's sales would rocket, and Han Xiao would harvest a lot of EXP.
However, the Pro League had already been hosted three times. Most normal players were now very aware that they had no chances. A lot of them preferred saving their EXP to use in the next version.
Large scale wars were different; the players would not miss it. It was also a natural opportunity to boost sales, which was very beneficial for him. He would be able to harvest even more EXP near the end of Version 4.0 that would become his inventory during the version update.
"If I remember correctly, the interval between Version 4.0 to Version 5.0 should be about half a century, even longer than the last one…"
The next version was the Calamity of the Supers. The conflict between the Beyond Grade As would break out, and some of the Primordial Ones would return. However, since he had changed a large portion of the storyline, the events in Version 5.0 would certainly be completely different because of the butterfly effect.
This was not a big deal. Han Xiao knew those people who were important, so he was not afraid of changing the original storyline. The biggest version of the next version was actually the players.
In Version 5.0, the maximum level of the players would become level 180, which meant they would become Calamity Grades. The version name 'Calamity of the Supers' was a subtle hint to the players that their impact on the universe in the next version would be tremendous. "This is good news for me."
By then, the middle level combatants of the explored universe would skyrocket. Although the players would bring chaos, they would also become a crucial force in fighting the World Tree Civilization. In the World Tree War in his previous life, the importance of the players was absolutely irreplicable. If not for the millions of Calamity Grade players, the explored universe would have suffered even heavier damage.
Also, the army would become excessively stronger. All this planning throughout these past versions was for when the players evolved.
There were decades till the next version, so he had more than enough time to prepare. Plus, some of old Manison's words made a lot of sense; foundation was crucial for Mechanics. He planned to spend decades focusing on improving his Mechanic skills while waiting for the effects of (Key of Adeptus Mechanicus] to become stronger.
The effects of this talent would increase once every few days, continuously making him stronger. This meant that more and more of Manison's believers were running into his arms. He could imagine the shift in the Machinery Faith.
All kinds of thoughts flashed through his mind. Han Xiao continued to browse through the forums till the battlefield was cleaned up. He then boarded the spaceship back to Black Star Palace. He had made up his mind on finishing the remaining twenty-seven spars within two months.
In a secret Crimson Dynasty military training base, Gaud strolled through the training base, wearing a high-level dynasty officer uniform. He was not in a good mood. Just now, Gaud had received a message from the dynasty's upper echelons, telling him to postpone the plan indefinitely. The plan referred to using his Esper Ability to try to figure out the core energy of the Evolution Cube.
Back when they came up with this plan, it was totally achievable. However, times were changing too quickly, disrupting the tempo of many hawk faction dynasty upper echelons. At this point, Black Star's position and strength had reached a new height, so this plan became more and more risky. Hence, the upper echelons had no choice but to pause this plan temporarily with resignation, both because they did not want to mess with Black Star as well as to keep Gaud hidden as a trump card.
At the root of it, this was because of Black Star's extremely quick growth that kept changing the situation repeatedly, so often that people could not react fast enough.
This was the source of Gaud's bad mood. Black Star's growth speed was even faster than his even though this was his new account. He could not even see Black Star's taillights. It was tough for him not to feel frustrated.
"Black Star… Black Star…" Gaud mumbled as he walked to a public training facility without realizing
The sound of intense battles entered his ears. He looked at the source of the sound and saw a low-grade elite class fighting in pairs under the supervision of the drill sergeant. They looked like a group of novices.
At this time, two Grade C Pugilists were fighting in the venue, one having the upper hand and the other barely hanging on. It looked like the latter losing was just a matter of time.
Unsurprisingly, only a few seconds later, this spar ended. The one who was barely holding out got kicked out by a leg swing of his opponent. He slid on the floor and just so happened to stop in front of Gaud. "Karlot, you lost again." The drill sergeant frowned at the loser. "You're at zero wins and nine losses. It's embarrassing." "Sorry." Karlot rubbed his chest, stood up, and smiled with resignation.
The drill sergeant looked unhappy as he yelled, "All of your test scores are at the bottom. I really don't know why the people above have put you into my elite class to drag down the entire class' scores. I've allowed you to stay in this class because I can see you're hardworking enough, but if your scores are still at the bottom the next test, I won't give you another chance and will make you leave!"
After he said that, the classmates all looked at Karlot coldly, not hiding their dissatisfaction.
Although these people were students, they were talents the dynasty had selected from the various departments who were being trained in this secret base. Furthermore, this was an elite class. Everyone in it was a talented dynasty soldier, and they were all renowned in their own divisions.
The opportunity to receive this type of training was very rare, so these students treasured it very much. This was exactly why they disliked Karlot-he was too ordinary and not like an elite at all. Logically, he was not qualified to receive such training.
Due to how difficult it was to get this opportunity, these elites all felt it unfair. From their perspectives, the first thing they thought of was the word 'bribe' when they saw a mediocre soldier training with them, making them unavoidably reject Karlot.
Furthermore, as soldiers, they respected the strong above all. Karlot's ability was too low, so they looked down on him from the bottom of their heart. Naturally, they were not going to treat him well.
Noticing the cold eyes of everyone, Karlot sighed in his mind.
He had accepted the fact that he was mediocre long ago. He knew that these people were elites who were much more talented than him from the beginning, so he was not discouraged.
He had gained this opportunity to undergo such advanced training thanks to Black Star. Although he was carefree, he was not someone who would give up an amazing opportunity. However, he was already doing the very best within his capabilities, yet he still could not match up to the growth speed of these elites. There was nothing else he could do.
Gaud quietly observed from the side.
Some time ago, he had heard people say that someone who Black Star once heeded had entered this training base, and that person's name was Karlot. As it was related to Black Star, Gaud kept it in mind. This was the first time he had seen this person.
He sized Karlot up. All he could see from Karlot was the word 'mediocre'.
Gaud considered himself to have sharp eyes, but even he did not find anything special about Karlot. He was confused.
Why was Black Star interested in this guy? He's known for having accurate and sharp eyes. He shouldn't have made a poor judgement…
Gaud could not figure it out at all. He thought about it for a second before waving at the drill sergeant.
The drill sergeant had noticed Gaud long ago. He instantly put on a smile and walked over. Almost everyone in this base knew that Gaud was the person with the highest chances of becoming a Beyond Grade A and had received a lot of resources and training. Gaud's position was quite high.
"What is it, Gaud?"
"That novice called Karlot, whether he passes the tests or not, let him stay in the base," Gaud whispered.
Hearing this, the drill sergeant was puzzled.
Based on his test scores, Karlot was bound to be disqualified and leave the training base. He did not expect Gaud to speak for him.
"I'm not sure. This guy doesn't have much value. Keeping him here is a waste of resources."
"Do what you can then."
Gaud could not see what was special about Karlot either, but because of Black Star, he wanted to keep Karlot and observe him longer.
Han Xiao had stayed in Black Star Palace and did not go to the frontlines. One and half a month passed quickly.
On this day, a shocking piece of news suddenly erupted in the Modo Civilization!
The Tri-Race Senate announced the beginning of the impeachment process for the current Modo Three Kings. Throughout history, the impeachment of the highest leaders had occurred very few times, so this instantly shocked the whole society.
As the name suggested, this assembly was formed by the congressmen from all three races. It had extremely high power, including the impeachment right of the highest leaders. The initiators of this impeachment were thirty-three congressmen who proposed the impeachment together. The Tri-Race Senate approved it by voting. The preparations started quickly; it was clearly planned.
Being shocked was one thing, but the Modo citizens supported it to quite a large extent. The chaos in the civilization had already severely affected the daily operations of their society. Although this was caused by enemies, the citizens did not care much and blamed it on the highest leaders, which was much easier.
Marco had gathered more and more supporters, and he found the logical excuse of regaining order and objecting to the war. He used a long and formal report to analyze that Modo's chances of winning this war were extremely low. Using this as evidence, he objected to the Modo Three Kings' decision to continue supporting the expeditionary army, calling it a meaningless sacrifice.
His stand received recognition from quite a number of officials and citizens. Not everyone was willing to sacrifice their present interests for the so-called future potential.
The Modo Three Kings did not expect those who objected to their decisions to suddenly backstab them at such a crucial moment. Their plans were heavily disrupted.
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Chapter 1180 Assassination
As soon as the impeachment proceedings started, the political world of the Modo Civilization became boisterous. All the factions were dragged in and forced to pick sides. Modo had no choice but to shift their focus back to within the nation and deal with the impeachment. The three kings were forced to deploy their men to take part in a political war. Luckily, after so many years, their positions were firm and strong; they would not be overthrown easily.
There were extremely few advanced civilizations that were in a dictatorship. Being in the position as the highest leader did not mean instantly obtaining the highest power. Politics was an art of compromise; power came from obedience. Even as leaders of civilizations, in order to firm their position, they still had to fight for the support of various factions and train loyal followers. Only then would their power be materialized.
Otherwise, no matter what orders they gave, they would be obstructed by their political enemies. Becoming the highest leader did not mean the others would unconditionally obey them. There were many people who had their eyes on the position too.
In the following days, the citizens witnessed the changes in the political world. The Modo Three Kings and the opposing party pulled out one trick after another. The day before yesterday, someone resigned; yesterday, someone got summoned; today, someone was caught in a scandal. God only knew what would happen tomorrow. The citizens had plenty of new stories to follow.
Hearings of the Tri-Race Senate were hosted one after another. The objecting faction brought up a lot of evidence, and even some secrets that the citizens were not supposed to know were displayed, causing uproars among the public.
ars am
The Kunde Race incident was one of them. The objecting faction summoned key witnesses and had them provide the signatures of the Modo Three Kings that approved this operation. They then used this as evidence to prove that the Kunde Race incident was the reason Black Star was targeting Modo. Thus, they came to the conclusion that the Modo Three Kings had brought Black Star's hatred to the civilization; they were the culprits that caused Modo to be in this horrible situation. The objecting faction claimed that the Modo Three Kings had made an awful decision and that the Modo Three Kings were not capable enough of remaining as the leaders of the civilization.
There were some more similar pieces of evidence. The objecting faction blamed all the sinful things on the Modo Three Kings, emphasizing to the Tri-Race Senate that the Three Kings were not capable, and suggested changing them.
This was not framing the Modo Three Kings. As the highest leaders, even though some plans were not proposed by the Three Kings, they would only be carried out with the signatures of the three of them, so they could only take the blame.
Endless testimonies caused the situation to gradually worsen for the Modo Three Kings. However, their position would not be shaken so easily. Their connections were very comprehensive. Including the military, many factions were their firm supporters. These factions all had members in the Tri-Race Senate. They worked together to obstruct the impeachment, which was highly effective.
The military was firmly on the side of supporting the war, which brought the support of more important upper echelons. Compared to the supporters of the Modo Three Kings, the objecting faction led by Marco was no match. The investigations hit a wall very soon, so the objecting faction turned their focus to the next batch of Modo Three Kings candidates, hoping to gain their support, which also failed without much suspense.
With the impeachment fermenting, the matter led to political strife. The Modo Three Kings had wasted too much time. They did not want to waste more energy on this matter, so they did not hold back at all.
Therefore, this nonsense did not last too long. In the end, the Tri-Race Senate rejected the objecting faction's impeachment request. The result was basically a loss for both sides.
As the political opposition was dealt with, in order to regain their reputation, the Modo Three Kings decided to give a public speech to give a conclusive response on the impeachment matter.
Benid Square was one of the landmarks of the Modo Civilization's capital, a tourist destination with tons of visitors every day. On this day, it was used by the government as the venue for the Modo Three Kings to give a speech. The venue was already set up.
Due to their negative image to the public, the Modo Three Kings did not speak in the political building this time but instead chose to give the speech in front of the public to build an image that they were close to their citizens. The filtered audience filled the square.
A cordon had been set up around the square. Tons of security personnel were stationed around, protecting the perimeter with expressionless faces. At this time, an audience that extended beyond one's sights had gathered outside.
Many people held up banners with words like 'Overthrow the Three Kings'. They were all protestors… Although the objecting faction had lost, they still dealt irreversible damage to the Modo Three Kings' reputation.
The seats of the officials were around the podium, and the objecting faction's seats were all at the edge, clearly arranged deliberately. The others were not willing to even look in their general direction, not wanting to have any connections with the objecting faction that had lost.
"I didn't expect the Three Kings to invite us," a member of the objecting faction mumbled. "They want to humiliate us in front of the public to enhance the effectiveness of the speech."
Marco was not in a good mood.
He knew full well that at this point, there was absolutely no way the Modo Three Kings had invited them to attend the speech to repair their relationship. They were certainly going to condemn their actions as victors.
Of course, the objecting faction only stepped out to try to impeach the Modo Three Kings because they were confident that they could win. However, they were defeated in the end. The trump cards they had pulled out were resolved one after another, and some witnesses had changed their testimonies. Marco could only admit his loss. There were actually some others who had the same mindset as him but did not stand out this time because they did not dare take the risk. In order to change the path of the civilization, Marco was willing to take the risk. On the other hand, the people who hid to protect their positions did not take any actions despite the fact they objected to the Modo Three Kings' decisions and watched the armies being sacrificed meaninglessly. Although he had lost, he still despised these cowards.
After a while, the Modo Three Kings approached the podium. The spotlight focused on the three of them.
A loud round of applause instantly started on the square like it was rehearsed, silencing the furious yelling and cussing of countless spectators outside the square. The three of them waved at the same time, looked around at the audience inside the square, and smiled.
While the three of them looked around, their eyes deliberately paused for a moment when looking in the direction of Marco and the objecting faction before turning away. The camera then jumped to focus on the objecting faction, showing their forced smiles or expressionless faces.
"Humph…" Marco snorted softly while clapping with just enough force to make a noticeable sound.
He obviously understood the look the Modo Three Kings gave them. It was a look of winners, a look that said, "Revenge is a dish best served cold."
As the applause gradually stopped, one of the Modo Three Kings then spoke. "My people, Modo is a great civilization. We have stayed united since the exploration era, and generations of Three Kings have led us to create one miracle after another…"
The three of them followed the script they had memorized. They cut to the chase and mentioned the social unrest and the impeachment incident. They admitted that this was because of their decisions, but they emphasized that it was the enemy's conspiracy. They claimed, "Modo is walking on the right path. The enemies want us to back away, so they've used all kinds of plots and conspiracies, hoping to make us afraid."
The three of them also explained why they kept sending soldiers to the Flickering World, saying that it was for the civilization's future. During the long speech, the Three Kings explained and rebutted the matters the objecting faction had brought up during the impeachment, trying to save their reputation and the government's reputation as much as possible.
The Modo Three Kings' words sounded sensible. The people in the square clapped from time to time. The audience outside was gradually convinced too, and the number of protesters gradually decreased. Other than the reporters, countless spectators were also recording the speech.
In the crowd outside the podium, a tall male held up a multifunctional commutation terminal and recorded the speech. He looked just like an ordinary spectator, but he was actually one of the spies of the Federation of Light responsible for obtaining intelligence. He was sent there to record first-hand footage.
While doing his job, this spy thought, The objecting faction has lost, but the Modo Three Kings have also been heavily hurt. It's good news…
The dust had settled. There was no more shocking news, only the speech from the winners. This spy did not think he would find anything valuable; he was only here because of his duty.
However, at this moment, a flash of light suddenly went past the corners of his eyes. The spy subconsciously turned around.
His eyes penetrated the crowd, and he saw a dim light on the back of a hooded man's hand, as if a mark was lighting up.
The next moment, a sharp golden light abruptly crossed his sights and shot out like a bolt of lightning. The spy instantly turned and saw this flash of light arrive before the Modo Three Kings, who were giving a speech.
Clank!
An azure magic shield suddenly opened and stopped this flash of light. The Beyond Grade A defense enchantment on the Modo Three Kings activated instantly. It could guard against many kinds of attacks.
The speech suddenly stopped. Only then did the Modo Three Kings realize that the item that had attacked them was shockingly a golden spear. It was indeed Lothaire's weapon, the Deity Assassinator.
"Assassin!" The security personnel around were appalled. Multiple Calamity Grade bodyguards who had been standing behind the Three Kings were shocked. They hastily activated their abilities to protect the Three Kings.
Although their reactions were quick, it was not quick enough. The outstandingly strong Beyond Grade A defense enchantment only stopped the Deity Assassinator for a moment before it was penetrated. The spear pinned one of the Modo Three Kings right on the ground. Shock and indignation lingered on his face.
The sudden change stunned everyone present. Someone attempted to assassinate the Three Kings?
As their minds fully digested what this information meant, horror appeared on countless faces.
"Run!"
"Murder!"
"Call a doctor!"
"Lock down the square immediately… No, lock down the planet!"
The next moment, the entire place went haywire. All the spectators, be it in or outside the square, were panicking and fleeing. While yelling, the security personnel escorted the remaining two kings out of the scene while searching the entire place. The officials were terrified and hastily fled under the protection of their bodyguards. The boisterous venue instantly became a chaotic mess. "Who sent this killer? This is insane!"
Marco fled as fast as he could, his face filled with horror.
Assassinating the highest leader of a Super Star Cluster civilization right on its mother planet was tantamount to suicide!
God only knew how many years it had been since something like this last happened. Even the three Universal Civilizations would not do this. Nobody could have expected it. The Modo Three Kings were usually in the central political building, but today, they hosted a rare public speech, and it became an opportunity for the assassin.
The most unbelievable part was that the assassin actually succeeded. The Beyond Grade A level defense enchantment on the Three Kings was like a piece of paper.
In the panicking crowd, the spy from the Federation of Light opened his eyes wide, turned, and tried to find the hooded man, but he had disappeared without a trace.
"Who the hell was that guy? This is a completely suicidal attack! There's absolutely no way he can escape the Modo mother planet!"
The spy's face twitched. His eyes were filled with disbelief.
He had never expected to witness something this big today with his own eyes.
In almost an instant, his professional knowledge made him sensitively realize the opportunity to make use of this.
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Chapter 1181 What a F*cking Genius You Are
The news that one of the Modo Civilization Three Kings had been assassinated quickly spread across galactic society. The king who was attacked was announced to be deceased. This sudden incident shocked the entire universe!
Be it the officials of advanced civilizations or ordinary people of the galactic society, the first response they had when they heard about this could be concluded with three words.
What the f*ck!
This was the leader of a Super Star Cluster civilization who died, not some nobody, someone whose position was only inferior to the leaders of the three Universal Civilizations. To the galactic residents, something like this seemed to only have happened centuries ago. Such shocking news had never happened in the past god knew how many years.
To ordinary people, the leaders of advanced civilizations would never die from assassinations. This was exactly why it was unbelievable when it actually happened. This proved one thing-everyone was equal in the face of death, and no one could not be killed.
Right after the assassination happened, the entire Modo mother planet entered the highest state of alert. Countless soldiers searched everywhere thoroughly for the culprit.
The spies of many other civilizations were dragged into this too. Quite a number of these people were monitored by the Modo Civilization; Modo just never did anything to them, hoping to catch a bigger fish. Now, however, these things were no longer a concern. All of these people were captured and interrogated.
The Modo Civilization instantly restricted the leaking of the footage and very quickly made an announcement using extremely harsh words, emphasizing the fact that assassinating the leader of the Modo Civilization was an act of provocation and humiliation to the entire civilization. They would be investigating this with all of their forces and claimed that it was most likely done by an external enemy. They also said that they would certainly not let things go once they found out who the culprit was.
The assassination made the public both shocked and lost. In this situation, the announcement the Modo Civilization made instantly guided the thoughts of the public, triggering their collective anger, hoping to redirect their emotions toward the enemy.
Usually, this was the right thing to do.
However, the various organizations the three Universal Civilizations had hidden in the Modo Civilization's territory would not watch this happen. They kept stirring up fires everywhere. They published all kinds of opinions to affect the impact of the Modo Civilization's announcement, changing the mindset of the public and confusing the situation.
The methods they used were not flashy at all. All they did was state all kinds of new speculations regarding the assassination, mainly in two directions. One was to claim that the objecting faction had a motive to take the risk and assassinate the Three Kings because their attempt to gain power had just failed. The made-up story was structured so well it almost felt real.
The other was spreading rumors claiming that the assassin was actually an extremist of the other two races created by the racism lately, hoping to incite the racism issues.
Both of these theories had flaws, but conspiracy theories always had listeners. While the quantum network provided convenience to the galactic society, it also became an important platform for guiding public opinion. All kinds of information was available in the quantum network, weakening the judgmental skills of the public. Plus, the assassination made it difficult for the majority of the public to remain sensible. Hence, these two theories surprisingly received recognition by quite a lot of people.
At the same time, there were also dozens of terrorist organizations claiming to be responsible for this incident, fighting for it as if this was an opportunity to firm their positions in the gray world.
The number of people who supported the racist thoughts and believed the political assassination theory was growing rapidly. The seed of chaos gradually matured. One could never know what kind of strange opinions people might have till something big happened. It was complete anarchy.
The Modo Civilization was beleaguered because of this assassination and had no time to slowly deal with the public opinion at all. They had no choice but to take tough measures, forbidding the public from discussing these two conspiracy theories. Although the upper echelons clearly knew that this would only make things worse in the future, they had to first restrain the spread of these rumors.
This incident received immense attention. Countless organizations paid close attention to it. A storm was brewing under the noses of the public.
Han Xiao, who was far in the Flickering World, received the news too.
"What the hell, someone assassinated the Modo Three Kings? Whose cutie did that?"
Han Xiao's eyes opened wide. He was surprised too.
He had once had similar thoughts, but he had never taken action, nor did he order his subordinates to carry out the assassination. The main reason was because of the restrictions of his identity. He was now a hero of the lawful world. No way could he attempt to assassinate the leader of an advanced civilization.
However, if someone else did it, Han Xiao was glad to see it happen.
He could roughly guess what impact this would have afterward. Whether the Modo Civilization could capture the culprit or not, their investigation had to achieve results. Even if they could not find out the truth, they had to find someone to blame it on to redirect the nation's internal social conflicts, giving the public a target to vent their emotions.
This depended on what Modo chose to do. If they decided to make this matter smaller, blaming it on the terrorist organizations outside their territory was most convenient. If they wanted to make this matter even more severe, they could both put the blame on the three Universal Civilizations or him. This way, Modo would have found a new motive for the Flickering War and would keep sending more armies over while keeping the moral high ground.
As for the truth… who knew? The Modo Civilization forbade the video from leaking, so he could not watch the footage of the assassination. However, he felt that the three Universal Civilizations were definitely not the culprits. There was absolutely no need for them to do this.
Could it really be an extremist?
Han Xiao was very curious.
"Whose man is this? This is such an honorable sacrifice!"
While he was wondering, his communicator suddenly rang.
He took it out and glanced at it, it was an encrypted communication request from Lothaire. Han Xiao's expression became stiff, he suddenly had a bad feeling. "Calling me at this time, don't tell me…"
After hesitating for two seconds, he picked up the communication and heard the steady breathing in the channel.
"Lothaire." Han Xiao subconsciously lowered his voice.
"Hmm."
"Please don't tell me that you did this…"
"I did."
Hearing this answer, Han Xiao's vision went dark for a moment.
What the hell, after making these guesses, turns out it's my man!
This is too much. I'm not sure my tiny heart can take it…
"Are you insane? I didn't order you to do this!"
"You told me to disrupt the order of Modo's society. I understood what your goals are." Lothaire's tone was serious.
Han Xiao felt like his chest was stuffed. "So, you decided on your own to assassinate the Modo Three Kings?"
"I've fulfilled my duty."
What a f*cking genius you are!
Han Xiao's face began contorting. No wonder you dared attack EsGod!
For such a steady and firm man like me, why do I have such an impulsive and head-strong subordinate?
Han Xiao took a few deep breaths and calmed his emotions.
At this point, the only thing he could do was accept reality and clean up the mess. "… Where are you? Have you escaped the Modo mother planet?"
"Yes, or I wouldn't have contacted you."
Lothaire briefly explained what had happened. He was not completely reckless. He had already infiltrated the Modo mother planet more than a month ago and come up with many ways of getting out, only acting after the plan was fully complete. He had been waiting for the opportunity. As he could not come into contact with the Three Kings, he had been waiting patiently all along till a few days ago. When he saw the Three Kings' announcement to give a speech, he knew that this was the opportunity, so he struck after making enough preparations.
With one assassination after another, Lothaire had gained enough experience and become an expert. From the assassination succeeding till the Modo Civilization excuted the lockdown, there would be a reaction process in between, and he used this bit of time to successfully escape. The entire process was well planned and organized. However, he was only temporarily safe now. He still had to face the Modo Civilization's search afterward.
After hearing Lothaire's description, Han Xiao sighed and said, "It won't be that easy to escape from someone else's territory. Pause all your assassination missions. Killing one leader is effective enough. You don't have to continue targeting them. Focus on escaping first. I'll see if I can bring you back."
What was done was done; he could not let Lothaire fall into Modo's hands.
Things like this could be done but not shared, or there would be much more cons than pros. As long as Modo did not capture Lothaire, there would be no solid evidence, and he would never admit it.
To say that Han Xiao did not blame Lothaire for making this decision on his own would be a lie. He was originally peacefully watching things develop all according to his plan, but now there were risks. Assassinating the Three Kings was not in his plan. However, from another perspective, there were pros to this too.
Since the assassin was his man, this meant that the damage this incident caused to the Modo Civilization would also be counted toward the mission progress of [Kunde Race Leader's Last Wish). He might complete this mission earlier than expected.
Bang!
A team of soldiers charged into the office, looked around, and coldly said, "Marco, come with us for investigation."
Marco stood up slowly with a bitter smile.
All objecting factions were key targets of the investigations, since they had motive. They were all dragged down by this. No matter how wrongly accused they felt, they had no choice but to obediently accept the investigation.
The sudden assassination affected the objecting faction negatively too.
At this point of time, Marco only had one thought.
F*ck!
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Chapter 1182 You Are Only at the First Layer, But I Am Already at the Fifth Layer
In the conference room that now had triple the guards compared to before. The remaining two kings of Modo and the various upper echelons were hosting an emergency meeting. Everyone there was experienced. They quickly passed the shocked and panicked state to being filled with rage.
"Have we found out who did this?" The two kings of Modo were furious.
Every time they thought of what happened, they felt exceedingly uneasy—if the one who was giving the speech at that time was not their unlucky colleague, they might have been the one who died!
Daring to assassinate them, the leaders of the civilization, was an insult to the entire Modo Civilization. The two of them were overwhelmingly enraged.
"Not yet, but the intelligence department has submitted the analysis of the recording and found matches in the database…"
An intelligence official operated on the table with a solemn expression. The next moment, a green virtual screen rose up from the table in front of every official. On it was the same file.
"The weapon the culprit used is a golden spear. According to the data, the master of this weapon is a highly dangerous wanted criminal with the code name (Mystery). The earliest record of this man was during the Kunde Race incident. This man committed multiple assassinations at that time and then disappeared for more than a decade. Recently, he started to act again in our territory, killing the heads of all kinds of industries…
"According to the analysis, [Mystery] has top notch Calamity Grade strength, possibility at the level of a Beyond Grade A seed. The golden spear weapon he uses is a powerful enchanted weapon. However, due to the little observation records we have, we were unable to obtain too much information. Nonetheless, from this assassination incident, we can speculate that [Mystery]'s weapon possesses an extremely strong ability to penetrate energy and also deals extra damage to strong targets. Also, [Mystery] might be acting with a group. The assassinations committed by many others seem to be related to him too. We suspect he might have formed an organization in the ten or so years he disappeared…"
The frequent assassinations targeted at the Modo Civilization lately were not all done by the Assassin's Society. There were also other active organizations. Advanced civilizations did not have a shortage of enemies. Seeing that Modo was in chaos, some enemies had added salt to their wounds. Some of these were assassination organizations from the black market, some were from the terrorist organizations outside Modo's territory, and there were also some racial extremists and criminals who disguised themselves as assassins to commit crimes. The society was extremely unstable, and the police forces were beleaguered.
The two kings of Modo finished reading the report. One of them yelled, "What I'm more concerned about is whose orders this killer follows? Whose organization does he belong to?"
"[Mystery]'s appearance is clearly related to the Kunde Race incident. Back then, the main participants were the Crimson Dynasty and their allies. Although we don't know which organization this killer belongs to exactly, he certainly is related to the Crimson Dynasty. He might be a secret soldier of the dynasty, or he could be an officer of one of the dynasty's Beyond Grade A allies…"
"So, the Crimson Dynasty very likely approved this?" the two kings of Modo asked.
"This… isn't certain." The intelligence official thought about it for a moment. "The situation now is not the same as before. More than ten years ago, the Beyond Grade A Association was not yet founded, and the dynasty still had enough control over their Beyond Grade A allies, so the assassinations back then were indeed related to the dynasty. However, the situation has changed now. We can't rule out the possibility that this incident was a private operation of one of their Beyond Grade A allies."
Hearing this, everyone's expression changed, and a name subconsciously appeared in their minds.
"Could it be… Black Star?' The two kings of Modo were furious.
Although the Crimson Dynasty was scum, taking the risk of assassinating the leader of an advanced civilization had many more cons than pros for them. They basically had no reason to do this.
It seemed like only Black Star who had exceptional hatred toward them had motive.
"Black Star! He got the upper hand in the Flickering War and cost us a lot, but did that make him feel he can do whatever he wants? How dare he do this? This is outrageous! Modo will never forgive him!"
The two kings of Modo were burning with rage.
They now had another goal to participate in the Flickering War, not just for the future of the civilization but also to make Black Star pay with blood. The two of them believed that after this, the entire civilization could become united against an exterior enemy. There would no longer be any objecting faction.
However, at this time, an upper echelon hesitated for a moment before objecting. "But I don't feel that makes sense. What's Black Star's goal in doing this? Just to feel good? There's no reason! He's a man who prioritizes profit over everything. He's already gained the upper hand in the Flickering World…
To be completely frank, he can slowly make us suffer and incur even more losses. There's no need to assassinate our leader at all. In fact, doing so would even bring him risks.
"If he gets exposed, the heroic image the three Universal Civilizations have built for him will be severely damaged. He'll lose the advantages he obtained. Black Star doesn't feel like someone who'd make such a reckless decision…"
After hearing this theory, the various upper echelons present also frowned in doubt.
"That does make sense. Black Star wouldn't do meaningless things. If the assassination was ordered by him, it's definitely to achieve some kind of goal…"
"And what goal would that be?"
The room went silent. The people present worked brainstormed as much as they could.
More than ten seconds later, an intelligence official's eyes suddenly gleamed. He stood up and said, "I think I figured out Black Star's plan!"
"Oh? Quickly tell us about it." Everyone's eyes focused on him.
This intelligence official said with a firm tone, "Black Star did this to prevent us from surrendering!"
"Huh?"
Everyone tilted their head. Big question marks appeared above their heads.
"Erm… explain." The two kings of Modo frowned.
"This is my speculation. Black Star knows Modo has no chance of turning the table, so he's worried we might give up the Flickering War and withdraw the expeditionary army. If that happens, he won't be able to continue damaging us. Therefore, in order to prevent us from backing out, he secretly ordered his assassin to do this, openly provoking and insulting the entire Modo Civilization. He predicted our reaction-whether the culprit is his man or not, we'll definitely suspect him. "Then, due to our hostile relationship, he feels that we'll likely claim that he's the mastermind to damage his reputation, which will go exactly according to his plan.
Once we claim Black Star is the mastermind, under the eyes of the entire universe, we'll have to show we're not going to let him off easily, so we won't be able to easily pull out the expeditionary army. Instead, we'll have to keep sending in more troops, or we'll be seen as a wimp to the outside world. As an advanced civilization whose leader has been assassinated, we must never compromise. This way, Black Star will have successfully maintained the situation and forced us to keep fighting. He will then continue eating up our troops."
The others trembled and hastily went through their own thoughts. When they realized that this was exactly what they were thinking of, they felt a chill running down their spine.
I knew it. Black Star has calculated even our responses…
Luckily, we predicted his predictions.
The two kings of Modo shook their heads and said, "No, no, Black Star knows we'll accuse him. Why isn't he afraid of his reputation being damaged?"
"I think he really isn't afraid…" an official said. "If we don't catch the culprit, we'll have no solid evidence. With the heroic image Black Star already has, which side will the outside world believe? Even if there is evidence, Black Star can still refuse to admit it and accuse us of framing him. Plus, the heroic image he has now was built by the three Universal Civilizations. Although he's enjoyed the benefits of it, he's restrained by his reputation. If he can get rid of this restriction, it won't be all bad for him. In fact, the three Universal Civilizations might be more worried than him in that case…"
Many people nodded and felt this made sense.
The two kings of Modo suppressed their wrath and said, "If this is really Black Star's doing, are we not only going to hold him responsible for it but even cover it up for him? Absolutely impossible! Don't even think about it!"
The two of them admitted that this speculation made sense, but in order to not fall into Black Star's trap, how could they, an advanced civilization, not hold him responsible but instead cover it up for him?
This is ridiculous. Does he think we're shameless?
As a powerful Super Star Cluster civilization, how can we be intimidated by this kind of trick? We will not compromise in any form!
The intelligence official who made this speculation hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Actually, there's another possibility."
"Go on!"
"Ahem, I just thought about it. If there's a third party that predicted Black Star's and our responses judging from our hatred of each other, what if they sent someone to disguise as or bribed (Mystery] to do this, purposely carrying out the assassination in public to start a storm all to frame Black Star and increase the hatred between us… Is that possible?"
Hearing this, the others were perplexed.
This kind of plot was not rare in history, so the theory was completely possible.
"Who would do that?"
"Who else? Our enemy or Black Star's enemy, of course. They might want to watch us fight each other in the dark…"
"If this is the case, should we still pull out the expeditionary army so that we won't fall into the enemy's trap?"
The two kings of Modo were lost in the layers of speculation.
They were not at fault for overthinking. Smart people would always make all kinds of speculations for things, guessing the reason behind it, deriving the matter to the fourth or fifth layer. Never would they guess how simple the truth actually was—it was nothing but the sole actions of a reckless man.
"Your Excellencies, we're just speculating. We can't confirm that Black Star is the culprit yet. Catching the assassin is our priority now!" an upper echelon reminded.
The two kings of Modo nodded heavily and shouted, "That's right! No matter what, we have to track the killer. We must catch him and find out the mastermind. Even if this is really Black Star's trap, Modo will never compromise!"
After saying that, the two of them were filled with frustration. They felt like no matter what choice they made, it would still be within Black Star's plan.
It's terrifying to have an enemy like this!
The people present exchanged looks. Many people wanted to say something, but no one did in the end.
If this was really Black Star's trap, the decision the two kings of Modo made would have fallen right into it. To some people, the two kings were losing their cool.
The objecting faction was being investigated, but there were still some with the same thoughts who did not expose themselves, and they were feeling even more shaken now. Maybe Marco and the others were right. It's really time for new leaders.
In the corner, seeing that no one was paying attention to him anymore, the intelligence official who made the speculation sat down looking still unsatisfied. He only had one thought in his mind.
Get me a drink. I can still brainstorm!
If Modo was only suspecting Black Star, the Crimson Dynasty would be completely certain.
In the Ruler's office of the Crimson Dynasty, Urranrell held her chin with her hands and said, "… So, Black Star might have done this to prevent the Modo Civilization from backing away?"
Modo had forbidden the sharing of the recordings, so the process of the assassination could not be found through normal channels. Of course, the three Universal Civilizations had ways to get the recording, not through Virtual Technology but totally because they had accumulated enough information channels.
In this respect, the accumulation of advanced civilizations was far superior compared to Beyond Grade As. For example, Han Xiao's forces were limited in the Primeval Star River. Although his Virtual Technology could get him the recordings easily, it still required a process of going there from the Flickering World and activating Virtual Intrusion. Not doing anything personally but still getting the information belonged to the territory of having information sources.
Back during the Kunde Race incident, Black Star had worked with the dynasty on assassinations. Since she had seen it before, although she did not know who the user of the golden spear was, she was certain that this man was Black Star's subordinate. Hence, she immediately thought that assassinating the Modo Three Kings was Black Star's plan.
Looking at the report on the screen, Urranrell thought, Hehe, Black Star is more daring than I imagined, even assassinating a leader of an advanced civilization… Although that breaks the rules a little, it seems quite effective.
Not long after receiving the news, she had also figured out Black Star's 'goal'.
The three Universal Civilizations did not want the Modo Civilization to retreat this soon. Causing as much damage as possible to these Super Star Cluster civilizations was the three Universal Civilizations' goal. Black Star's 'actions' matched the interest of the three Universal Civilizations.
Wonderful, wonderful…Nonetheless, this does cross the line a bit. Urranrell wiped off the smile on her face.
A Beyond Grade A assassinating the leader of an advanced civilization was a very sensitive matter. It would alert all the advanced civilizations including the three Universal Civilizations. Just thinking about what this meant would explain why the leaders of the advanced civilizations were so concerned about this.
Because this was the oldest profession of Beyond Grade As when they first appeared!
Using individuals who possessed strength above the limits for assassinations was much more valuable and effective than putting them in large battles. One could easily imagine how much destruction an expert Beyond Grade A assassin could bring.
Back during the exploration era, Beyond Grade A assassins who specifically targeted leaders of civilizations were nightmares of the civilizations that survived. The main reason the three Universal Civilizations built the Psionic Seal Rings around their mother planets was to guard against sudden attacks from other civilization but also to guard against assassination attempts from Beyond Grade A assassins. This assassination incident reminded Urranrell of many tragic examples in the exploration era. Once someone opened this box, it might cause prolonged negative effects to advanced civilizations.
After pondering silently for quite some time, Urranrell sighed.
Times had changed. No matter what, Black Star was an important ally recognized by the dynasty, a National Pillar.
She had no choice but to help to clean up his mess. Be it because of morals or logic, there was no way she could 'betray her ally'.
"I don't know if Black Star's subordinate will be able to escape… I shall have our people in the Modo Civilization's territory provide some help secretly just in case…"
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Chapter 1183 Disqualified
You have triggered the urgent mission [Escape)!
Mission Introduction: Your friend Lothaire has successfully assassinated the Modo Civilization leader. He is being pursued and is trying to escape the Modo Civilization's territory. He needs help.
Mission Requirements: Help Lothaire escape the Modo Civilization territory.
Reward: 8 Billion EXP, 2 Random Rewards, draw 1 ability/talent from Lothaire, (Civilization Leader Slayer] milestone.
Remarks: By accepting this mission, -3,000 Modo Civilization Favorability.
"Hmm, the mission only appeared now?"
In Black Star Palace, a notification popped up on Han Xiao's interface. He was both surprised and speechless.
Briefly looking at the mission introduction, Han Xiao accepted it without hesitation. There was already no room for his Modo Civilization Favorability to decrease any further. Helping Lothaire was something he had to do, so getting rewarded for it was just a cherry on top. He only found it weird that the mission did not pop up when he chatted with Lothaire but only appeared after he had made the arrangements.
"The arrangements have been made. I wonder if I can get Lothaire out."
Han Xiao shook his head. He was not very confident. On the low side, the odds of success were only ninety-five percent. Ever since he became the three Universal Civilizations' consultant, building subdivisions for the Black Star Army had become much easier. There were subdivisions in the Primeval Star River too. Although he could not build an intelligence network there, the armed forces stationed there were quite strong. Han Xiao had also left quite a lot of mechanical soldiers there, including a King mechanical suit just in case.
After receiving the news from Lothaire, he had instantly ordered his men to infiltrate Modo's territory with a King. As long as they could rendezvous, Lothaire would be able to immediately escape using the King suit. The others in the Assassin's Society would have to figure something out themselves, but since they were not the main target and did not know Black Star was their boss, there was not much intelligence they could leak. The King mechanical suit was the Universal Treasure that Han Xiao had built the most times. Although it was extremely expensive to build, ever since he obtained (Billion Mechanic Empire-Manison), his success rate of building Gold equipment had increased tremendously, saving him a lot of money. He had to admit that Manison's Exclusive Talent was incredible.
Of course, the main reason he could build so many of them was that he was rich.
Thinking back to when he just entered the galaxy, he had to carefully plan how to spend every Ena, but now he was too lazy to even look at deals that would earn him less than fifty million Enas profit.
"Maybe this is what growth is…"
Although rescuing Lothaire was important, he did not plan to go there himself. It was very far away, and having the local subdivision's mechanical troops take his Lord's Avatar along was more than enough. He had already done everything he could; there was not much more he could do to help Lothaire.
At this time, Black Star was on the rooftop of Black Star Palace, hovering five meters off the floor.
Dozens of different-sized, ring-shaped mechanical devices hovered around him. From Han Xiao's perspective, each of the rings was wrapped around hundreds of stars. Silk-like beams of light crisscrossed inside the rings like an energy filtering net, picking out tiny dots of light from nothing that landed on Han Xiao's body and dissolved, absorbed by his skin.
He was training Ames' (Dragon Emperor Star Energy Extraction Technique). The ring devices were the assistive tools he had built called Star Energy Collectors. They could enhance the effects of the Dragon Emperor Star Energy Extraction Technique.
Han Xiao let out a breath of air that consisted of star energy and felt the energy flow inside his body. It was as if his cells were shrouded in a fuzzy layer of star light. He tutted with satisfaction.
"Tsk, the effects of this energy training technique are even better than Heber's Stellar Furnace Cultivation. Ames is quite creative. What a nice surprise this is."
Not a single Super would be unhappy about having too much energy. Even Beyond Grade As who could infinitely regain energy would never stop training their energy. Every slight increase in their maximum energy was an increase in their limits, and Han Xiao was no exception. He had always taken energy training very seriously and frequently searched for all kinds of energy training techniques.
Originally, among all the energy training techniques he had, (Heber Stellar Furnace Cultivation] had the best effects. It gave him a total of 16,750 increase in his maximum energy. Now, its position was replaced by [Dragon Emperor Star Energy Extraction Technique).
This energy training technique gave him 800 base energy, but the training time limit was 800. Each period of training it would give him up to 30 energy. In the most ideal situation, this could increase his maximum energy by close to 25,000.
Such an amazing effect could totally increase his Energy Rank by a whole new level, giving him a new layer of attribute bonuses. The impact would be tremendous!
Even though he had (Radiation Absorption), which would make him stronger without him having to do anything at all, it only gave him about 16,000 energy over close to thirty years, still less than (Dragon Emperor Star Energy Extraction Technique).
Nonetheless, [Radiation Absorption] gave him quite a lot of attribute bonuses in Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance.
Old Man Manison had once said that the strength of Mechanics came from their foundation. The longer they lived, the stronger they were. This ability was the perfect proof of that.
The training for this time ended. Han Xiao put the Star Energy Collector away and headed down back to the office while browsing the forums.
There were still some days till the date of the guild alliance war. Almost all the guild alliances responded to it; the influence was clearly visible. The sales of the army's faction store rocketed through the roof. The army players finally stopped saving money and spent like crazy. The EXP Han Xiao received in the past few days was massive.
On the other hand, the preparation for the fourth season of the Pro League had also started long ago, receiving quite the attention, indirectly increasing the players' shopping desire, helping him once again before the version ended.
"At this speed, when Version 4.0 ends, not only will I have enough EXP to level up to 340, but I'll even have quite a lot to spare."
Han Xiao was quite satisfied.
A blonde female walked out from the corner ahead. When she saw Han Xiao, she was stunned for a full second. She then trotted and sprinted into Han Xiao's arms.
"Uncle!" Aurora hugged Han Xiao tightly.
"How old are you now, still acting like a kid?" Han Xiao rubbed Aurora's hair, pressed on her head, and pushed her away.
"I'll always be a kid in front of you." Aurora giggled.
She was indeed qualified to say this. Her overflowing vital energy had kept her looking like a teenager.
Han Xiao placed his hand on her head and asked, "How is your strength progressing?"
"Quite fast." Aurora raised her hand and released a cluster of vital energy. It seemed to be brighter than before.
"Let me take a look." Nanoparticles flowed at the tip of Han Xiao's finger and formed a metal needle. He stabbed Aurora's arm and triggered the combat information, seeing her full attributes.
Han Xiao looked at it and nodded with satisfaction.
Ever since Aurora became the master of the Holy Light Particle, Han Xiao had hired a ton of employees to specifically cultivate the Holy Light Seeds, helping Aurora become stronger. The effect of that was spectacular.
The Vital Energy Esper Ability was unique, so Aurora would never hit a wall. As long as she accumulated enough, her Grade would smoothly increase. Therefore, the method of harvesting leeks using the Holy Light Particle was perfect for her, making her grow at an incredible speed, much quicker than growing naturally. With her current growth speed, it would not take hundreds of years for Aurora to become a Beyond Grade A. The time would be reduced by roughly seventy to ninety percent.
Han Xiao smiled and said, "Not bad, not bad, I'm satisfied with your progress. Keep it up. Now go play,"
"Humph, I've been doing a lot of things in the army, not just playing. Don't always see me as a kid!" Aurora puffed her cheeks, turned, and ran away.
You just said you'll always be a kid, and now you're unhappy about me seeing you as a kid. What in the world… Women are so unpredictable, even harder to understand than old man Manison's Felon technology
en a
Han Xiao shook his head and did not chase after Aurora, instead returning to his office.
As soon as he walked in, his communicator rang. He looked at it, and to his surprise, it was a call from Kasuyi.
Han Xiao casually sat on the Throne, lay back, and picked it up. "Yo, Old Kasuyi, you rarely ever contact me. What's this about?"
"Are you free?"
"What, you want to ask me out?" "Something like that. I'm planning to explore a special secondary dimension and hope to team up with a Mechanic. It'd be best if you're free." Han Xiao's eyes flickered. He sat up straight slightly and asked, "Why didn't you go to Manison? Aren't the two of you quite close?"
"He's not in a good situation at the moment, so it's not wise to look for him. Comparatively, you're my top choice. You're more suited for this mission than him." "Oh? Why?"
"Because that place is dangerous. I need a tank to stand in front, so… you know what I'm saying." Kasuyi coughed.
Han Xiao tutted.
No wonder you came to me. Turns out it's because of my tankiness.
Why hide something like this? You can just tell me you want my body.
"How dangerous is that secondary dimension?"
"I've never done field research, so I don't know the details either. However, it's definitely very dangerous. Even Beyond Grade As' lives can be threatened."
"Who else is going?"
"Just you and me. I don't want too many people to take part in this operation."
Hearing this, Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
He felt that this was most certainly not just a simple exploration. He wondered what secret goal Kasuyi had.
"That's about it. Black Star, when are you free?"
"Erm… in a few months. You know what's happening between Modo and me. I don't have time to do something else for the time being. Are you in a hurry?"
"Not really. I can wait for you, but don't make me wait too long."
"That's easy. You can deal with Modo together with me, then I'll be free sooner, right?" Han Xiao teased.
"Hehe, go trick someone else." Kasuyi smiled faintly.
"I can surely go with you, but you'll at least have to show some sincerity, you know," Han Xiao said.
"What reward do you want? As long as it's a not too excessive request, I will agree."
"Now that you suddenly say that, I really don't know what I want… What about more requests?"
"No, just one." Kasuyi's expression remained the same.
"Then I've not decided yet."
Han Xiao shrugged. This was a favor from Kasuyi, so he did not want to waste it.
"It's still early anyway. Take your time to think about it. Tell me when you've made up your mind."
After the agreement was made, Kasuyi did not waste much time. They chatted for a little bit before hanging up.
Han Xiao put the communicator down and pondered.
"Fascinating. Even Kasuyi needs a teammate to bear the risk together. What's going on in that secondary dimension? Is it really that dangerous?" Sadly, no mission was triggered yet, so he had no clue.
After pondering for a while longer and still having no idea, he put this matter in the back of his mind.
In the next ten or so days, the Modo Civilization searched everywhere for Lothaire. However, it was not going smoothly at all, and accidents occurred frequently. The forces the Crimson Dynasty planted in Modo's territory kept stirring trouble, obstructing the investigation in all ways possible, but they also lost quite a number of men who were captured and interrogated by Modo.
In this situation, the assassins inside Modo's territory all stopped acting and went into hiding, afraid of being suspected. They were all shocked by how daring this assassin who killed the Modo Civilization's leader was.
During the thorough investigation, Lothaire's experience proved to be a huge help. He continuously hid, shifted locations, and covered his tracks, avoiding the soldiers time after time.
He had multiple stealth abilities to begin with and the bonus of the Medium Luck Glow, so he was able to rendezvous with the mechanical army Han Xiao had sent into Modo's territory without getting caught in any battles.
The mechanical army successfully handed the King over to Lothaire. With it, he teleported away directly and finally escaped. He would never be found by Modo.
The Modo Civilization did not know about this. They were still searching everywhere. However, just a few days later, a sudden change happened in the Modo Civilization's leading level again.
As one of Modo's leaders had passed away, one of the Three Kings was missing. The race this position represented was very unhappy, and they did not want this situation to carry on. Therefore, a candidate quickly replaced this hole for the time being, and the Three Kings were complete again.
However, this new leader's political stand seemed to be different from the other two kings—he did not support sending more soldiers to the Flickering World.
Due to all kinds of factors, the objecting faction seemed to have grown stronger once again. Those objecting faction upper echelons, including Marco, were all released after they were proved innocent. Under the protection of some kind of political power, not only were they not cleansed, but they were even firmer about objecting to the decision to continue participating in the Flickering War.
A storm started in the Modo Civilization's leading level again, but this time was different from the public impeachment. Instead, it was all going on in private. The public did not know the truth; they only noticed that the shifting of officials seemed to be more frequent. No outsiders knew what kind of political strife and compromising the Modo upper echelons had made. They only knew that more than half a month after the assassination incident, the Modo Civilization publicly announced the progress of the investigation.
The report did not mention the names of the three Universal Civilizations and the Black Star Army at all. They only stated that many suspects had been caught, and they had made some progress, but the details of the progress were not stated at all.
At the end of the report, the Modo Civilization stated that they would be attacking all the terrorist organizations outside the territory that had claimed responsibility for the assassination. They expressed that this was an insult to Modo's face, and these organizations were key suspects. Under the operations of the Modo Civilization, the public opinion of the nation was directed at these terrorist organizations. The hatred was shifted.
The spies and mechanical armies that Han Xiao had left in the Modo expeditionary army's territory discovered their sudden movements -expeditionary army fleets disappeared in the territory one after another.
Very soon, not just the Black Star Army, but the three Universal Civilizations and the Super Star Cluster Alliance also noticed this.
Although it was not clearly stated, everyone could guess what the Modo Civilization was doing—the Modo expeditionary army was retreating!
The objecting faction rose, the nation's internal state was in chaos, and there were many possible traps behind the assassination. In the end, the objecting faction got the upper hand. The two old kings of Modo were forced to compromise. The order to pull out the expeditionary army was made. They had decided to give up on participating in the Flickering War.
A simpler conclusion for this would be…
The Modo Civilization was now disqualified by Black Star!
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Chapter 1184 A Wise Assassin Is Not a Good Assassin
In the army commander's office of Black Star Palace, Lothaire's remote projection stood in the middle of the room. Han Xiao circled him, sized him up, and sighed from time to time.
"Kid, although you've successfully escaped this time, don't feel glad. I need to properly talk to you about this."
"What orders do you have?" Lothaire calmly accepted the scolding.
"Although the plan worked, you made the decision on yourself, and I had to clean up for you. I'm your boss, not the other way around. For something as big as this, you should ask me before you carry the plan out, got it?" Han Xiao stood in front of Lothaire with arms behind his back and reprimanded him.
"Won't happen again." Lothaire's response was short and simple.
Han Xiao grunted, paused, and said, "The impact of this assassination was extremely severe. The Modo Civilization has given up on the Flickering War and is focusing on internal affairs. They definitely will not let this go easily. Therefore, all activities of the Assassin's Society will cease for the time being. Hide and wait for this to be over. Only then will I allow you guys to be active again."
"How long?"
"A few decades. You have to make use of this time properly to train," Han Xiao said.
"Okay." Lothaire did not complain and calmly obeyed.
He had acquired some new experience from this assassination. He was just thinking about digesting them too. Assassinating the leader of an advanced civilization was undoubtedly a legendary accomplishment. It had brought him subtle changes. It was like some kind of ability that increased his possibility of reaching Beyond Grade A. However, since Lothaire did not have the interface, he could not fully understand all that. He only got a blurry feel of it.
After giving him advice for a bit longer, Han Xiao ended the communication. His deliberately serious expression relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face. This assassination that Lothaire had never informed him till it was done really startled him, but the results turned out to be extremely good. As the Modo Civilization had withdrawn its army, the second requirement of [Kunde Race Leader's Last Wish] was now complete.
If not for Lothaire's assassination, the Modo upper echelons would not have shifted this drastically. In that case, he would have had to spend more time and pay a heftier price in order to force Modo to retreat. Furthermore, the chain of chaotic reactions caused by Modo's leader being assassinated were also counted in the mission progress. Although Lothaire made this decision without consulting him, the results turned out to be reliable. Han Xiao always had high hopes for Lothaire. In his eyes, Lothaire had the potential to become a Beyond Grade A. His potential was much higher than lazy Beyond Grade A seeds like Hadavy.
One reason he froze the activity of the Assassin's Society was to wait till this was over, but another was to give Lothaire more time to find the opportunity for Promotion.
Han Xiao put these things in the back of his mind, opened the mission list on the interface, and looked at the two bright gold missions.
Both (Escape) and (Kunde Race Leader's Last Wish]'s rewards could now be obtained. One of the two requirements of the latter was already complete. He could acquire (The Enemy), (Proof of Leadership), and (Kunde Rage] if he wanted.
Han Xiao thought about it and suppressed his temptation to complete [Kunde Race Leader's Last Wish), as the first mission requirement was to 'provide protection when the Kunde Race is being culturally modified', which was not complete yet.
This Grade S mission was a single mission, not a chain mission. Therefore, once he clicked on completing it and accepted the reward, it would mean that he would not be able to obtain the reward for the first requirement. He wanted the four Political Assets rewarded by the first requirement. Anyway, he could decide when to conclude the mission. He could obtain the three abilities anytime he wanted, so he was in no hurry.
"I shall conclude Lothaire's mission and get the reward first."
Han Xiao headed out, turned left into the officer lounge to get some luck, returned, and quickly opened the interface.
[Escape] Completed! -3,000 Modo Civilization Favorability.
Current Relationship: (Archenemy)
You have received 8 Billion EXP, 2 Random Rewards, and the (Civilization Leader Slayer] milestone.
(Civilization Leader Slayer: All civilization leader Favorability -10. Your words will be more heeded by the various civilizations. At the same time, when you, your organization, or your allies fight any fleets or Supers of your opposing civilization, their defense and various resistances will be reduced by 3% – 7%.
"This Milestone is definitely for the wanted criminals of the evil factions." Han Xiao's eyes twitched.
To wanted criminals, the Favorability of civilization leaders is complete trash, but since I'm someone with a high position and identity, the Favorability of civilization leaders is not useless.
However, he did not care about it too much. The only advanced civilization leader who had a good relationship with him was Urranrell. His Favorability with the federation's president and the church's pope were both negative, yet they were still working together. As long as there were enough profits, the personal Favorability of the leaders was barely impactful.
Furthermore, the value of that -10 Favorability of the civilization leaders was completely meaningless compared to the other effects of the milestone. Although the numbers were not high, the influence it had was extremely absurd. It worked against entire civilizations, reducing the various resistance and defense of all members of the opposing civilization.
Han Xiao instantly knew that when fighting the World Tree Civilization, this ability would give the entire explored universe a natural edge!
Comparatively, that slight reduction in Favorability was negligible.
"I sacrificed my Favorability for the entire universe. What a great man I am."
Han Xiao was almost touched by himself.
He focused and continued looking at the ability/talent drawing interface.
You have received the reward: draw one of Lothaire's skills (Ability/Talent).
Note: Lothaire is a Pugilist. Parts of the abilities/talents are adjusted according to your class.
Randomizing… Complete! Please select one from the five options below as the reward:
(Stealth Master] Talent: Drastically reduce your presence to others, drastically reduce the chance of the enemies discovering you, and drastically reduce the clues you leave behind. You can easily find all the factors in a certain area that might lead to you being discovered, including but not limited to all kinds of surveillance devices and detection spells. 2. (Assassination Mark] Ability: Mark a target, increase the damage of your next attack to the target by 75%-100%, Critical Rate by 45%, and Critical Damage by 100%. Energy Cost: 150. Cooldown: 48s.
[One-Hit KO] Ability: When your next attack hits the target successfully, instantly carry out Lethal Judgement once. The base of the Judgement is the target's Health, END, Lethal Resistance, LUK, and the level difference between you and the target. If the Judgement succeeds, the target will die instantly. If the Judgement fails, the attack will deal an extra 280% damage. Energy Cost: 500. Cooldown: 1,2005.
[The Way of an Assassin) Ability: Charge energy into the next attack, accumulating extra damage bonuses. Energy to damage bonus Conversion Rate: 10:1%. Maximum damage bonus: 300%. Cooldown: 150s.
(Fearless Heart] Talent: When fighting a strong enemy, you will receive extra attack bonuses. When the enemy is below Grade B, this ability will not be triggered; when the enemy is Grade B, you will receive a 5% base attack bonus; when the enemy is Grade A, you will receive a 15% base attack bonus; when the enemy is Grade S, you will receive a 25% base attack bonus; when the enemy is Grade S, you will receive a 35% base attack bonus; when the enemy is Grade SS, you will receive a 45% base attack bonus.
Woah! This kid! Han Xiao's eyes gleamed. What's a master assassin? This is a master assassin!
Lothaire had not been around for many years. It had been a very long time since Han Xiao last looked at his interface. He could recall that of these five options, other than the second option, Lothaire did not have any others back then.
Looks like this kid has been busy the past twenty years, he's got many new skills. Han Xiao was overjoyed.
Such an excellent learning ability could almost match up to Nero. He had found a treasure.
He browsed through the options. No way he was going to pick the second or the third options. Although the Lethal Judgement of (One-Hit KO] was quite tempting, as soon as Han Xiao saw that Luck was one of the things considered for the Judgement, he instantly eliminated this option. The fourth option, (The Way of an Assassin), was quite powerful, but Han Xiao also eliminated it after some pondering. This ability could only provide bonuses for one attack, but attack frequency was what Mechanics focused on. Although the (Charge-Endless Potential] he had obtained from Silver Shadow could work together with this ability, it was too situational. There would not be many chances to use it. Han Xiao mainly hesitated between the first and the fifth option. (Stealth Master) was a functional talent that would dramatically enhance his stealth ability. It would be tremendously useful for spy operations, infiltration, stealing intelligence, and so on. Although it would not directly increase his strength, it would provide him with other forms of support. However, [Fearless Heart]'s bonuses were way too good!
This did not just enhance one attack, but it was a passive bonus. Every single attack from him and his mechanical army could enjoy the bonus!
Furthermore, the bonus was on top of base attacks, meaning the percentage increase could be seen as the increase in the actual damage dealt!
"The only ones who are qualified to fight me now are all peak Beyond Grade As. This talent is perfect for people like me!"
Han Xiao felt exhilarated.
To Lothaire, the bonuses of (Fearless Heart] beyond the third level were all useless, since there was no way he could defeat a Beyond Grade A now. Only Beyond Grade As could fully utilize the power of this talent.
After pondering for about ten seconds, the desire to deal more damage won in the end. Han Xiao had made his choice.
You have received the talent (Fearless Heart]!
"Nice." Han Xiao took a deep breath. He felt a wave of heat that released from his brain that quickly flowed through his body.
After sensing it for a while, his expression became strange. He suddenly connected all the dots.
This talent was faithful to its name, it gave him a strong sense of confidence. Han Xiao noticed that more than half of his fear toward the strong had disappeared, replaced by disdain.
Manison? Fragile little sh*t, fight him!
The three Universal Civilizations? Piece of cake, fight them!
The World Tree Civilization? What is that? Fight them!
Anyone that appeared in his mind, he wanted to fight. His heart was filled with an indomitable sense of fearlessness, an illusion as if he could just beat up everything in the world.
He hastily suppressed this emotion, took a few deep breaths, and finally calmed himself down. It all made sense now.
"No wonder Lothaire dared assassinate the Modo Three Kings. Turns out it's the side effect of this talent. The mystery is now solved…"
Han Xiao rolled his eyes.
What Fearless Heart? Bullsh*t, this is clearly Reckless Heart!
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Chapter 1185 National War
(Fearless Heart] was undoubtedly a semi-Molding Talent level talent. This was a surprise for Han Xiao.
He turned off the interface and contemplated what to do next. "Modo is already disqualified. The second requirement of the Kunde Race mission is complete. As long as Modo doesn't come to mess with me, I won't need to fight them in the future… Once they retreat, I won't have an excuse to take part in the Flickering War anymore. I'll have to temporarily exit this stage. The army players might have problems with that… but luckily, now is already the final stage of the version. The impact won't be too
huge."
Without Modo as an opponent, the Black Star Army no longer had a reason to continue participating in the Flickering World. This way, the army players would have to exit this main storyline too. If this had happened in the middle or even early stage of the version, the army players would have been in an uproar. Some of the newbies would most likely have changed factions to join the first World Server war.
However, Modo retreated at just the right time. It was now near the end of the version, meaning there was not much time left for the players to do things. Most of their energy was focused on preparing for the fourth season of the Pro League and the World Server War that was about to happen. These were the last two big things they could do near the end of the Version 4.0. Losing the Flickering War main storyline in this situation would minimize the players' dissatisfaction. Furthermore, Han Xiao had faked a main storyline mission, which the players would receive reward from, making up for the loss of the players not being able to participate in the real main storyline mission to a certain extent.
Due to the existence of the Black Star Army, the state and territory distribution of the various guild alliances in the Flickering World was completely different from Han Xiao's previous life. Furthermore, this difference would extend all the way to the versions in the future. Even Han Xiao could not really predict what would become of these guild alliances in the future.
Han Xiao pondered for a while. When he realized that there were no more big things he had to do at the end of the version, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"What needs to be done has been done. What's left is to watch things develop like the other Beyond Grade As and wait for the Flickering War to come to a result…"
Han Xiao decided to lie low for some time and develop his technology, spending the remaining time of Version 4.0 peacefully. Furthermore, the army had attracted way too much attention recently. Nothing was good in excess, so it was a good time to cool down and temporarily stay out of the public eye.
"Now I just have to wait for the World Server War and the Pro League to suck out the players' savings for me to have enough EXP for Promotion."
Han Xiao smiled. He did not even have to come up with any promotional events. These two events were like automatic harvesting machines, convenient and effortless.
The Modo Civilization did not openly announce their retreat. They focused on promoting their plan to attack the terrorist organizations while quietly withdrawing the expeditionary army bit by bit.
The Super Star Cluster Alliance was an organization with shared interests, after all. Although Modo gave up on the Flickering War, they could not just walk away. As the Modo expeditionary army retreated, the other Super Star Cluster civilizations sent out some of their troops to form mixed fleets and took over this line of defense.
The Super Star Cluster Alliance was glad to see Modo exit. This way, their nightmare Black Star would be gone too. This was a completely beneficial trade in their eyes. Although the other Super Star Cluster civilizations were harsh in the things they said, they were still in the same alliance. They achieved some kind of deal with Modo and signed some agreements as compensation for Modo's exit.
As the main enemy fled, the Black Star Army's troops stopped attacking the Super Star Cluster Alliance's line of defense and left the Ferdinand Battle Zone in batches. The forged mission (Black Star Army Expedition Order] concluded, giving the army players a wave of rich rewards.
Although the rewards were set by Han Xiao and slightly worse than the real main storyline, it had its pros. The players would only be able to conclude the real Flickering War main storyline mission after the war ended, meaning only in the next version. On the other hand, the fake main storyline mission Han Xiao had made could be concluded now, meaning the players would receive the reward before the version ended.
These rewards gave the army players more resources to level up abilities, purchase equipment, and so on to increase their strength. The most direct benefit was that this would help players in the World Server War and the Pro League that was about to come.
Just as Han Xiao expected, exiting the main storyline in advance did not trouble the players. If the war against Modo was still carrying on, this would cause ordering the players very difficult for the army. Now that he had basically given the players a holiday, they could fully focus on the World Server War.
Planet Milton was a desolate planet located in the exterior parts of the Emerald Star Cluster. Over the past few months, batches of fleets with symbols of different guild alliances had been arriving there, building bases, fortresses, and lines of defenses on this planet.
Many of these guild alliances were enemies with each other, but all of them silently agreed on ignoring each other and constructed their strongholds peacefully.
The reason that this happened was one of the rules stated inside the invitation letter that before the designated date to start the war arrived, all professional guilds and player alliances that had arrived on Planet Milton could construct as many strongholds as they wanted, but attacking each other was not allowed. Anyone who disobeyed the rules would be kicked out of this war.
This was like a 'protected period', basically the preparation stage for all the guild alliances that were participating, as well the time given to all the players to get there.
Therefore, in the past few months, these guilds had been sending one batch of spaceships there after another, transporting tons of resources and constructing many temporary strongholds. The locations they chose to build strongholds were anything but random; some guild alliances had teamed up with others, and their strongholds had to be built close to one another so that they could help each other.
Since fighting before the official date was not allowed, fighting for the locations to build their strongholds was also forbidden. It worked on a first come first served basis. Therefore, the invisible war started during the preparation stage when they were constructing the strongholds. Choosing the location of the strongholds was like playing chess; not only did they have to be close to their allies' strongholds, but they also had to disrupt the enemy guild alliances' stronghold formations.
As of now, about seventy percent of all the players in Galaxy had arrived. The unpopulated Planet Milton became exceptionally boisterous.
In Golden Alliance Base No.1, the upper echelons of the four biggest Chinese guilds and various top tier Chinese guilds gathered in one place.
In the middle of the room was a 3D projection of Planet Milton. The surface was divided into areas with different colors, representing the territories of different guild alliances.
The Golden Alliance was the guild alliance the Chinese profession clubs took the lead in founding. It basically included all the top tier Chinese guilds. The Golden Alliance could be seen as the representatives of the Chinese players; almost all the members were army players.
The term 'army players' was just a general term. It was not an official guild alliance and also had different factions. Some foreign players who only joined the army in Version 4.0 formed different guild alliances. Being in the same faction was a link that made these guild alliances natural allies.
Usually, these guild alliances could be seen as a whole, generally called the 'army players'. However, when it comes to the national war, they still need to be classified separately.
The various guild alliances that gathered on Planet Milton could be roughly split into four Factions—the Black Star Army Faction led by the Golden Alliance, the Anti-Black Star Faction led by the Galactic Business Alliance, the Three Universal Civilizations Faction led by the September Conference, and the remaining scattered forces mainly consisting of the guilds from other Beyond Grade A organizations and neutral organizations. They fought for their own and had no leader.
Morning Snow Twilight Frost stood beside the projection, gestured with his hands, and said casually, "… As everyone can see, the Galactic Business Alliance, Northern Battlefront, 5C Alliance, and so on have always targeted us. They've set up their strongholds around every one of our strongholds, preventing us from expanding the base, clearly planning to surround us as soon as the war starts." He was the president of the Dynasty Club's official guild, also the first president of the Golden Alliance.
The president of the Temple of God, Jupiter, crossed his legs and said with disdain, "Ha, are these Europeans playing chess? Don't they know who invented chess?"
"Our allies are responding too. Some arrived at the locations in advance, so the enemies won't be able to surround us. Some built strongholds at important strategic locations. It won't be that easy for the enemies to mess with us," the president of the Jade Green Sky said slowly.
The guild alliances of the Black Star Army Faction had made an agreement to follow the lead of the Golden Alliance and fight together. Other than the guild alliances of the Black Star Army Faction, the Golden Alliance also received help from elsewhere, the enemies of their enemies. The enemy's enemy might not be their friend, but at least there was room for them to work together.
"In terms of supplies, fleets, and weapons, we have the upper hand. The bulk purchased Evolutionary Badges are also given out, forming close to two hundred demolition divisions of eight hundred members each. In attacking strongholds, they'll destroy the enemies with the aid of airstrikes very quickly," a guild president said excitedly.
Fleets and all kinds of war machines were allowed in this war, but no Planetary Obliteration level weapons were permitted. However, the weapons used had to be bought. This war was a pure battle between the players; getting help from NPCs was clearly forbidden.
The various large guild alliances hosted this battle mainly to create exposure. The national war aligned with the various clubs' interests. As long as they could achieve outstanding results in the war or even become the final winners, their guilds would be able to attract more ordinary players, gain more fame, and earn through traffic. This was the goal of professional clubs.
As for the winning condition, it was very simple. There were mainly two ways. One was to destroy all of the enemy's strongholds on Planet Milton. After the battle started, the guild alliances would still be able to continue building more strongholds, but the others would be allowed to attack them.
Another way was to deplete the opposing guild members' revival times in the week. The players could revive ten times in six days at most on one account, and in such a highly intense war with hundreds of millions of players participating, the frequency of the players dying would become strikingly high. Morning Snow Twilight Frost nodded, turned to the many professional players who were listening on the side, and asked, "How's the challenge going?"
King Admiral said lazily, "More wins than losses. I forgot the exact numbers."
Bun-Hit-Dog instantly gave a thumbs up with a grin. "No worries, I remember. We're now at 3,488 wins, 1,142 losses. The win rate is about 75%. It's glorious!"
The rules stated that the guilds could not fight each other, but since so many players had gathered there, clearly some would get too bored. Duels were not forbidden, so PVP matches could be seen everywhere.
Due to this, the various large guild alliances sent out many PVP experts to challenge players of the other guilds. If they won, the other guild's morale would be affected.
The results of these duels needed to be promoted to increase the popularity of the guild, so professional reports were needed. Hence, Bun-Hit-Dog, who was a celebrity, was hired by the Golden Alliance as the chief reporter to lead the entire battlefield reporters group, personally in charge of writing the battle reports of the Golden Alliance.
Such a large-scale national war had players in all kinds of industries participating such as PVP experts, logistics players, management personnel, reporters, and so on. They all had their own job to do. It was a festival.
As the date for the start of the war approached, the atmosphere on Planet Milton became more and more heavy. A storm was coming.
The players were not the only ones who paid attention to this war. Even the other organizations paid attention to this war between the Immortals.
The three Universal Civilizations, Super Star Cluster civilizations, and the other organizations got some information from the players. Although they were surprised by the special hostility between the Immortals, they all did not disrupt them, only observed them, quietly recording the specialties of Immortals.
If the Black Star Army Faction won his war, Han Xiao would benefit from it too. His faction would be more appealing to the new players. However, he did not plan to interfere. He did not want to ruin this signature event that would certainly be written into the Galaxy Chronicles. He only wanted to stay at home and watch the show while eating some popcorn.
Time passed. Under the eyes of countless people, the day of the national war finally arrived!
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Chapter 1186 The Tears Pugilists Are Shedding Are All the Water Damage Their Brains Suffered When They Choose Their Class
Despite constructing many strongholds on Planet Milton, all the big guild alliances had a main base, usually the first stronghold they built. It had no difference from the other strongholds in terms of rules, but to the players, it was a symbol, like the main city. Dragon Hill was a large hill that surrounded the Golden Alliance's main base. It originally had no name. The name Dragon Hill was given by the Golden Alliance after they occupied this place. On the day of the beginning of the war, hundreds of battlefields of varying sizes appeared on Planet Milton. Most were between strongholds. Among all these battlefields, Dragon Hill attracted the most attention. This was because the Anti-Black Star Faction had placed their main forces there, planning to get rid of the Golden Alliance's main base on the first day of the war. The Golden Alliance, too, placed their main forces there and prepared for it. They had decided to fight head-on.
Almost ten million players from both factions gathered on Dragon Hill, looking forward to the battle. The countless troops turned this hill into a colorful sea. Teams of players kept shifting locations like tides on the sea.
The mixed colors came from the troops of the Anti-Black Star Faction, as they wore very different equipment. As for the Golden Alliance, they were wearing the army's standard mechanical suits, which were black and silver. It was very neat. The Golden Alliance looked like a huge official army, unlike the Anti-Black Star Faction, which looked like a mere mix of small forces.
The people of the Galactic Business Alliance and other guilds were stationed at the south, east, and west sides, planning to attack from all three directions. The Golden Alliance troops' formation was circular, wrapped around the main base. The formations of two sides were separated by a wide belt area.
Inside the strategy surveillance room, the 3D satellite map hovered in the middle.
Morning Snow Twilight Frost, who took the position as the main commander of the battle, stared closely at the map, giving out orders one after another. The dozen military strategists around him occasionally gave suggestions, while the group of assistants sent the orders down.
For such a large battle, fighting without an overall strategy would spell certain defeat, so the commanding system was very crucial.
To prevent electromagnetic or virtual technology disruptions that might prevent the frontlines from receiving orders, both sides chose to use the chat system in the interface as the channel to give out orders.
The main commander looked over the entire battle and analyzed the situation with the military strategists. The orders would then be passed down by the messengers in the command room to the various high commanders. The high commanders would then swiftly adjust the detailed strategy based on the orders and the situation of the frontlines before giving orders to the intermediate commanders under them. The intermediate commanders would then pass the order down to the team captains at the frontlines, who would then communicate with their team members in the team channel and execute the orders.
On both sides, there were as many as more than a hundred thousand commanders, the majority being the team captains.
This procedure looked complicated, but because the chat system was not restricted by distance and everyone did their job properly, it was very efficient.
If all the players made up a body, the main commanders and the high commanders would be the brain giving the orders, and the intermediate commanders and the team captains would be the nervous system responsible for controlling the body based on the orders the brain gave. Morning Snow Twilight Frost gave a round of orders. Seeing that the troops on his side were all almost in place, he exhaled softly, turned to Jade Green Sky, who was one of the military strategists and asked, "… The setup is about complete. How much time till the war starts?"
"Six minutes and eleven seconds."
"It's about time. Tell all teams to preheat their weapons. Activate the shields of the base and the frontlines too. At the three-minute mark, have the enchantment Mages start applying buffs and the rest start consuming whatever combat capability enhancement potions they have."
The order was quickly passed down. A thick, light-blue energy shield rose around the main base and shrouded it.
The defense Mage teams at the frontlines started to apply shields and enchanting spells on the other teams around very soon. The Pugilist teams who would be leading the charge also started to inject enhancement potions. These bonuses all had a time limit, so using it right before the start of the war would maximize the effects.
The Anti-Black Star Faction's men were doing the same thing. Colorful lights appeared on both sides like a fireworks competition.
Seconds felt like years in the last three minutes. All the players present were exhilarated and nervous. They held their breath, focused, and waited for the war to start. The atmosphere of the battlefield was silent and intense.
As the countdown continued, it finally reached zero.
"Go!"
At that instant, the earth started trembling!
The battlefield that was silent just seconds ago was suddenly filled with roars and battle cries. The battle erupted instantly!
The two stationary seas suddenly turned into raging tsunamis, charging at each other!
Countless energy beams formed an enormous net on the empty area between the two sides. Tons of players fell during the charge from the opponent's long ranged attacks. The black and the mixed colored tides quickly closed in on each other and clashed!
Boom boom boom boom!
Chains of explosions left cracks and pits on the ground. Dragon Hill swiftly became a mess. The charging teams of both sides collapsed in large areas. In just an instant, countless mechanical soldiers, Pugilists, and melee-ranged Esper players died on the spot. It was a bloodbath! This was not a stage for any one person. No matter how strong a player was, once they got out of the main formation, they would be killed in an instant. Carrying out their individual duties in groups was the only choice.
"Area C5 and D2, target their Psychic teams! Their AOE is too strong. The shield durability is almost at the warning line!"
"Defense Mages, keep giving the Pugilists enhancing spells. Throw fire or poison spells or whatever you have toward the enemies! Trap experts, stop f*cking throwing spells and keep planting traps! Summoners, get your babies out quicker… Where's the attack Mage team of Area B2? Don't fall out of formation!"
"Area A1, A4, B2, B6, C1, and D1 Mechanics, quickly disassemble the traps. D9's artillery is broken. Go repair it. Army Style and Mechanical Pugilists, keep advancing. Cannon Masters, don't stop attacking. Target their Psychics and Mages. Virtual Mechanics, handle their fleets. Armed and Energy Mechanics, bring out your heavy weapons and continue to fire. Target their Pugilists!"
"Psychics, focus on their Mechanics. Remember to save your mana… Nice! Someone landed a Super Critical Hit! A ton of enemies have just died!"
"Espers who are not melee types, don't rush forward. Stay behind, and step back to recover your mana when you're out… Didn't I f*cking tell you not to rush forward? That's the job of Pugilists! Why the f*ck are you fighting for it?" "Area C2 Pugilists, try to die slower! Get back to the frontlines after reviving. What are you waiting for?" The battle entered the climax instantly. The chat channels were filled with energy, and the commanders were yelling at the top of their lungs.
The players of the five classes all had their job to do. Psychics were responsible for AOE attacks and applying debuffs. Espers and Mages were responsible for whatever their ability was or what they excelled at.
The Pugilists were the most tragic, they could only lay down their bodies at the frontlines for the rest to advance. The Pugilists were strong and incredible in the early versions, now they were weak and helpless. How the tables turn.
After all, Pugilist was a civilian class, the pros of it were that it was easy to play, the fighting style was cool, and it was not bad in duels.
However, in large battlefields like this, everyone was targeting Pugilists, hoping to deplete their revival times so that their opponent would lose the teams who were leading the charge. In situations like this, the Pugilists' death rate was far higher than the other four classes. Even the term 'cool' was lost on them. They were basically competing on who could die in a flashier way.
Furthermore, Pugilists did not have any other choices. No one would want them even if they wanted to do construction work in the logistics department; their efficiency was far lower than all kinds of mechanical devices.
At this time, the thoughts in the various Pugilist players' minds were shockingly similar.
F*cking hell, how am I supposed to play this class? Comparatively, Mechanics who were weak in the early stages were shining brightly in battles. They were the busiest in the battlefield. They could fight, manage logistics, charge forward, deal both single target and AOE damage, repair, and produce. They were irreplaceable.
Due to how strategically crucial the Mechanics were, the Golden Alliance had an edge. Because of their faction, the most elite Mechanics among the players were all in the Black Star Army. Basically all of them were members of the Golden Alliance.
As the battle carried on, the situation started shifting—the Golden Alliance gained the upper hand, and it was expanding.
The top tier professional players all had the privilege of getting resources poured onto them by their clubs, so the difference between them was not too obvious. However, in terms of overall strength of the players, the Golden Alliance surpassed the Anti-Black Star Faction.
The Black Star Army had united the Chinese players long ago, saving the players the cost of continuously changing factions. Furthermore, there were all kinds of faction privileges from time to time. Their growth was much more organized than the 'wild' players who had been in many different factions in the past versions.
After close to four versions, the Golden Alliance players were clearly superior in terms of abilities and equipment overall.
Furthermore, the fake main storyline Han Xiao concluded in advance gave the army players another wave of funds and EXP. One or two players receiving it would not make a difference, but tens of millions of players all received the reward. When that materialized in this battlefield, it increased their edge even further.
"The casualty count statistics are out!"
Inside the main base's command room, Morning Snow Twilight Frost was giving out orders when he received a set of smart statistics. His eyes gleamed.
"The enemies died 0.742 times on average. For our side, it's 0.631 times. Wonderful!"
The people present were overjoyed.
This data represented the average deaths per player on both sides. Though the difference was only 0.111, in this battle of tens of millions of players, this meant that the players on their side died about five hundred thousand times less than the opponents! "The revive limit is only ten every six days. Finishing those revives means you're out. Today is the first day of the war, so their bottom line is probably between 1.8 to 2.2. Their charging team has died more times than the average at almost 1.2. They'll soon be unable to hold on!"
Morning Snow Twilight Frost narrowed his eyes and said, "Send in fifty demolition divisions. Advance at my command!"
As they were not fighting NPCs, both sides did not use large-scale suicidal attacks. Everyone could revive multiple times, and if used wrongly, they might lose more than they had to gain instead.
The Golden Alliance had piled up a ton of Evolution Badges when preparing for the war. Fifty demolition divisions meant forty thousand players, which was about a 0.01 increase in the overall average death count after conversion. They now had an enormous edge, so they could totally take the risk. The goal was not to kill more enemies but to make use of the tankiness and the high melee damage bonus of the Aberrations to break the opponent's formation.
As the order was passed down, a special team was escorted into the frontlines. With countless flashes of light, their bodies expanded into Aberrations one after another and charged into the enemy formation, unstoppable like a hot knife cutting through butter!
A total of forty thousand monsters with multiple buffs charged into the enemy's formation, instantly creating areas of enemy Pugilist players that were separated from the rest. The attacks from the Golden Alliance followed right after and wiped them out on the spot.
The violence of the Evolution Badge was recognized by all the players. The advance of forty thousand Aberrations messed up the Anti-Black Star Faction's command system for a while.
They spent quite a lot of time before killing all these Aberrations. The chaos had caused the Anti-Black Star Faction's average death count to increase by 0.018, meaning about a hundred thousand players died. The difference between two sides was getting bigger, especially among the Pugilist teams. "We can win!"
The morale of the Golden Alliance players in the frontlines rocketed. The players of the Galactic Business Alliance were clearly not as energetic.
Battles between large armies would not be turned around easily. As soon as one side had the upper hand, the remaining battle would just be the process of snowballing.
The situation continuously became better for the Golden Alliance and worse for the other side. The results of the battle were gradually growing certain.
While the battle on Dragon Hill was going on fiercely, Han Xiao, who was far away in Black Star Palace, was holding a bag of popcorn in his one hand and a drink in the other, watching the broadcast from Bun-Hit-Dog on the forums.
However, his focus was not the situation of the battle…
"Nice, nice, using forty thousand Evolution Badges at once. Charging these Evolution Badges is going to get me a wave of EXP again. Keep using them."
"Haha, hundreds more mechanical teams are destroyed. More repair fees."
Han Xiao was joyous. He did not feel heartache about the battle damage the Golden Alliance was suffering at all. He was practically laughing.
In his eyes, every batch of resources the Golden Alliance lost meant a new round of sales for him. If not because the faction benefits could not be given out randomly, he would even sell to the Anti-Black Star Faction.
"War is still the most profitable!" Han Xiao grinned.
At this point, he felt like he was a shameless strategist reclaiming the resources he gave out from the players in all kinds of ways.
After all, the players would only be motivated to create more value when their hard-earned resources were emptied.
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Chapter 1187 Black Star, I Have Mastered Your Ways!
The Dragon Hill battle was like a signal. Flames of war erupted everywhere on Planet Milton in the next two days. The bloodshed of the guild alliance players was never-ending. Battles happened on hundreds of battlefields across many strongholds every moment. It was as if Planet Milton was being bombarded continuously for two days. The surface was completely wrecked by the hundreds of millions of players.
The forums were basically filled with only two types of posts, the ones that kindly greeted the families of the opposing players and the battle reports of the various battlefield reporters.
As there were way too many battles going on across the various battlefields at the same time, even Han Xiao could not follow all of them. He only watched the Golden Alliance's performance on the first day, saw that the Golden Alliance had emerged victorious in the Dragon Hill battle, and stopped paying close attention. He only looked at Bun-Hit-Dog and the Galaxy Times' reports once every few hours to get an idea of the overall situation of the World Server War.
In general, the Golden Alliance had the biggest advantage. The guild alliances such as the Galactic Business Alliance suffered large losses on the first day, so they clearly became much more cautious.
As for the Three Universal Civilizations Faction led by the Golden Alliance and the September Conference, they did not organize any large-scale battles, only smaller partial battles. Instead, the scattered neutral factions were the ones that had fought most intensely so far. The scattered neutral factions had the most players. Many smaller guilds formed small alliances. Not only were they fiercely fighting each other, but some daring players even formed teams and attacked the strongholds of the big factions such as the Black Star Army Factions. Most of them were defeated, but a small percentage of them managed to take over some strongholds from the three mainstream factions.
In similar events, cleaning up the scattered players was normally the first thing that needed to be done. However, that was not the case here. The war was extremely brutal, and the revival count that basically no players cared about usually now became the most crucial resource.
The three mainstream factions had the ability to eliminate any scattered factions they wanted, but doing that without taking at least some damage was impossible. The players were fearless and would never give up resisting. Even the three mainstream factions would certainly incur some losses. To them, using the crucial revival counts on these scattered players was an utter waste.
Furthermore, attempting to cleanse the scattered players on a large scale would most likely cause them to unite and fight back. By then, they would have shot themselves in the foot and gotten trounced by the scattered players.
Although the rules did not state a time limit, everyone had an unspoken agreement to decide the results of the war in six days. Otherwise, their revival count would refresh again by then, which would be extremely costly for the guild alliances.
Although the players could revive again, their resources would undoubtedly deplete as time went on. If they were to fight another round, the inventory of the guild alliances would suffer tremendously. Furthermore, normal players would not be willing to go through the death penalty too many times.
In his exclusive workshop in Black Star Palace, Han Xiao stored away a newly built King mechanical suit, casually opened the forums, and browsed through the battle reports for today.
'Golden Alliance 8 Hours Report: Continued Increase in Win Probability' – By Bun-Hit-Dog: "The Golden Alliance has carried out forty-one battles in the past eight hours, four are million level battles, eleven are five hundred thousand level partial battles, twenty-two are a hundred thousand level partial battles, and four small group battles. No ten million level battles. Of them, the Golden Alliance won twenty-nine and lost twelve, winning 70.73% of the battles, a 3.16% increase compared to yesterday. The overall average death count increased from 2.375 to 2.814, maintaining at the top of the average survival leaderboards, further increasing their lead over the second in place. The difference now has already reached 0.703!"
'Flying Stone Cliff Quick Report' – By Galaxy Times (Chinese Zone): "Today, the Galactic Business Alliance and the Northern Battlefront's stronghold in Haywood Valley was assaulted by the September Council and Denland. As their teleportation arrays were disrupted, the Galactic Business Alliance and the Northern Battlefront dispatched the closest forces to travel to the Haywood Valley stronghold as reinforcements. However, when they passed by Flying Stone Cliff, they fell into the Golden Alliance's ambush and suffered heavy losses. According to reliable sources, the Golden Alliance secretly dispatched a team there and had them log off. By logging in at the Flying Stone Cliff, they took the enemies by complete surprise, achieving a huge victory!"
There were many similar reports, Han Xiao scanned through them with a smile to see which guild alliances were eliminated for about half an hour before exiting the forums.
Beep beep beep! At this time, his communicator rang. It was surprisingly the dynasty exploration army's Marshal, Brother Tarrokov.
Han Xiao accepted the communication and asked with a smile, "Yoho, Old Tar, what's
up?"
"Have you been paying attention to the war between the Immortals?" Tarrokov's tone was serious.
"Hehe, I have a ton of Immortals under my command. How can I not pay attention? Come on, do you have to test me like this? Did the dynasty upper echelons send you?"
Han Xiao had a rough guess of what Tarrokov's intentions were.
"Hmm…" Tarrokov did not deny it and slowly said, "What I want to ask is, how much do you really know about the Immortals?"
"Be more specific."
"Alright… the Intelligence Department and the Dynasty Science Institute have never stopped observing the Immortals. One of the earliest batches of Immortals appeared on Planet Aquamarine, which were almost all recruited by you. You seem to have a very deep understanding of them. We'd like to know, why do the Immortals disappear every so often? Why does all of their strength increase after appearing again after they disappear? Does this strength increase of theirs have a limit? Can they really be fully controlled?"
A chain of questions was thrown at Han Xiao. He did not immediately respond. He felt the attitude change of the Crimson Dynasty.
The three Universal Civilizations had always been studying the Immortals, and now they finally came to him, who was an 'expert' in this matter on the surface. This was clearly because of the World Server War. It had made them take the Immortals even more seriously!
The nickname 'Cancer of the Universe' had existed for more than half of the version. The players had always been active in different events everywhere. Even though there was the Black Star Cup not long ago, that was just a competition. This time, however, was the first time the various organizations finally witnessed a large-scale battle only Immortals took part in.
The weapons and fleets they used were nothing extraordinary, nor was the scale as marvelous as the galactic battles. The only thing that was shocking was how fiercely the Supers fought. The Immortals from different factions had fought before too, but this time, it was much bloodier and more brutal. The advanced civilizations were only shocked, but those smaller organizations were almost spooked!
So, this is what a war between the Cancers of the Universe is like. We still underestimated the violence of these people!
Thinking about the specialties the Immortals had shown in the past, the dynasty no longer had the leisure to slowly carry out their studies, so they approached Han Xiao, hoping to obtain more detailed information.
"I don't know them that well. You guys probably already know what I know…"
Of course, Han Xiao was not going to tell the entire truth. He casually said some things. Most was information the others could also obtain, nothing rare or new. "Is that all you know?" Tarrokov was not convinced yet.
"What else? I was only able to find some patterns before others. I'm not an Immortal. How can I know everything?" Han Xiao joked.
"You're right…" Tarrokov nodded.
Actually, the Crimson Dynasty had suspected that Black Star was an Immortal decades ago.
However, no one had been able to kill him, so there was no way to know the truth.
Then, since Black Star did not disappear periodically like the Immortals, the dynasty had let go of this suspicion.
After Tarrokov was gone, Han Xiao wiped off the smile on his face and looked serious.
He opened the interface, looked at the EXP gauge, and made an estimate.
"At this rate of harvesting EXP, when this fight is over, I'll have more than enough EXP to complete the level 340 Promotion before the Pro League starts… Hmm, I can use the Evolution Cube again this time."
Han Xiao frowned slightly.
As the strength of the players increased, the state of the universe would become more and more chaotic. He would only be able to deal with all kinds of changes by becoming stronger as quickly as possible. By then, no matter how the advanced civilizations responded, he would be able to deal with it.
The players of the Limitless Financial Group were also part of the World Server War. They were one of the large forces among the scattered factions.
Sorokin was also paying attention to this battle, but not just to observe it-he had other plans.
"This seems like a good opportunity to attract Immortals…" Sorokin's eyes flickered.
He had always been passionate about recruiting the Immortals. Although he did not know the truth about the players, the path Han Xiao had taken gave him some ideas.
Sorokin had carefully studied the Black Star Army's history, especially the methods the Black Star Army used to attract the Immortals. By concluding what had happened in the past, he had found quite a lot of patterns.
By now, Sorokin felt like he had already mastered Black Star's methods.
"This war between so many Immortals is a good opportunity for the Limitless Financial Group to make a name for itself among the Immortals. If the Immortals of the Limitless Financial Group win in the end, it should attract more Immortals…"
Usually, the Limitless Financial Group Immortals did not have an edge. In order for them to win, he had to interfere. Anyway, he was not restrained by his reputation like the other Beyond Grade As. Even if word of him, a Beyond Grade A, shamelessly interfering with a war between Grade B supers got out, his reputation would not be affected because he never had one to begin with. As a Beyond Grade A, even without using his full strength, he would be able to decide the results of battles at this level. Furthermore, his methods were extremely sneaky. He believed that these Grade B Immortals would not be able to discover them.
"Looks like this is worth a try. I shall do it…" Sorokin made up his mind.
His speculation actually made sense. However, he could not see the forums, so he lacked the most crucial piece of information… He had no idea the players were fighting, and more importantly, he was completely clueless about the fact that the rules forbade NPCs from interfering!
The players of the Limitless Financial Group did not dare break the rules. They had invested a ton of resources and worked hard trying to maintain the good results they had achieved.
What they would never have expected was that their own faction leader was preparing to get them instantly disqualified.
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