The Legendary Mechanic, page 138
Li Yalin suddenly was aware of the danger that Han Xiao was in. She asked about the situation. The commander replied, “Other than the military operation, the officials have also formed an escort team to enter the battlefield and extract Han Xiao from the Germinal Organization’s territory.”
Zhang Wei walked up and asked, “Can we join the escort team?”
Commander shook his head. “You are nowhere near standard of the team.”
Chapter 251. Eye of the Storm (2) |
As the news spread further and further away from the center of the battle, for those who had no dedicated channel to receive intel such as the wanderer warlords, they were the last ones to receive the news. Alumera was one them.
As a companion of Theseus, the Alumera family did not participate in the frontline of the war. Instead, they were in charge of keeping stability and security in the Northern Continent. This was a chance for Alumera to develop. The Dark Net Organization’s sanctuary plan ignited a few revolts from various warlord organizations. A part of these warlord organizations also tried to build places similar to the sanctuaries. However, their intention was different from Bennett’s intention to protect the innocent. They built their sanctuary only to gain profit and acquire more labor force.
Currently, the Alumera family was guided by the Xiao Faction, and Xiao Jin had a chance to get Black Phantom to visit this place. Xiao Hai looked up to his father’s capability to use methods to trick and gain power. Even though he often recalled that Black Phantom was his godfather and was disgusted by that fact as if he just swallowed a pile of excrement, Xiao Hai was glad that Black Phantom had not showed up in a very long time.
In the study of the Xiao Faction’s mansion, Xiao Hai reported the updated news they had, and he read Xiao Jin’s concerned face. “Father, are you not satisfied with the current affairs?”
Xiao Jin glanced at him. ” I’m still not standing on my own feet, and I’m still restricted under others.”
“Are you referring to Black Phantom?” Xiao Hai was confused. “Even though part of the reason you are in this position today is because of Black Phantom, the power and authority are still ours. Moreover, he is not even here, so he can’t have too much influence over our decision.”
“And this… this is my weakness. Black Phantom brought me up to the head of the house, but his influence is still limited, so he cannot touch on the inner policy making. Other Factions act like they look up to us, but they have plans behind the scenes to overthrow our position. We are not safe. In the end, we can only employ the power we have in the Xiao Faction, and the other factions never lend their resources, so it is hard to push any new policies.”
Xia Jin then reminded the Han Xiao’s threat and added, “Moreover, Black Phantom did not do this for free. I paid my price.”
Xiao Jin stood up and took two wine glasses and the precious Maple wine from the cabinet. He poured for two and handed one to Xiao Hai. He took a sip and continued. “Well, we’ll worry about that later. For now, the Xiao Faction has a more urgent task to deal with. Your brother Han Xiao is a wanted criminal of the Germinal Organization. This fact will be problematic, as people of Theseus came on multiple occasions to gather information. Currently, the war is at the most intense stage, and every organization is trying to severe any relationships with the Germinal Organization, but we will not be able to because of your brother, unless we are able to find to and send him over to the Six Nations.”
As soon as his father mentioned his brother, Xiao Hai’s face became unnatural. He was worried that the man that he had setup was still alive.
“It seems that Zero and the Germinal Organization are in a complicated situation…” Xiao Hai was troubled. The last thing that he want to see was Han Xiao being powerful and successful because he was afraid of revenge. At the bottom of his heart, Xiao Hai knew his brother’s weak character and mentality after growing up alongside him. But he still afraid of the possibility of a drastic change in his brother’s character.
What Zero did was clearly not what his obedient brother would do. Han Xiao was still scared of the revenge even though he had no idea what man his brother had become.
Knock knock.
The door opened, and the assistant peaked his head in. “Leader, Se Qi is here to visit.”
Se Qi was the chieftain of the Red Island Faction, which disagreed on Xiao Jin being the leader.
“Let him in.” Xiao Jin frowned and put down his glass of wine. “Since I became the leader, he has not visited me once. Something must be wrong.”
Xiao Hai nodded and waited on the side.
After a while, Si Qi walked into the room with a large smile on his face. “Leader.”
Xiao Jin remained silent and nodded back. He invited Si Qi to sit down, and Xiao Hai on the side was trying to size up Si Qi’s intentions. From the smile and the friendly expression, it seemed that it was nothing bad. The man was friendly and natural, so he did not seem like he was going to get into an argument with his father.
Si Qi took out a plan book, and this was Xiao Jin’s plan that needed the Red Island Faction’s cooperation. Before, Si Qi had kept on refusing, and now, suddenly, he took it out and said with a sweet expression, “After thinking about this for a while, I think this plan is very doable. I am willing to contribute my resources for this plan. I hope to discuss the details. Don’t worry, I will give all the resources I have for this project.
Xiao Hai was surprised and laughed in his heart. Now the Red Island Faction has finally bent over to our power and recognized the Xiao Faction is the leader.
Xiao Jin was also surprised. He slowly nodded and started discussing the plan with Si Qi.
After a few minutes, the assistant rushed in to the and said, “Leader, Todd has also come to visit.”
Todd was the chieftain of Home Faction, and he also did not have a good relationship with Xiao Jin. But now, he was visiting right after Si Qi.
Xiao Jin suppressed his surprise and invited Todd into the room.
“Hehe, head of the Xiao Faction. Right now, I want to discuss the plan we had last time…” As soon as the door opened, Todd saw Si Qi and acted like he was not there. He also took out a plan book, and just like Si Qi, he wanted to discuss the plan and submit power to the Xiao Faction.
Since the two largest powers had submit to Xiao Faction, they had the proper power to control Alumera. Happiness had come too suddenly, and Xiao Jin was stunned while Xiao Hai on the side could not suppress his excitement.
Before Han Jin could reply, the assistant again said that there were more people who want to come over. And just in a few moments, all the leaders or higher officials were in the room, all to submit power and discuss their plans.
Xiao Jin was lost. He had no idea what just happened. In an instant, and without any reason, he had secured his power without any effort. What was going on?
Todd saw Xiao Jin’s confused expression and laughed. “It seems that Chief of the Xiao Faction has not received the news. Take a look at this…”
He pushed a document across the table, and it was the intel on the true identity of Han Xiao. As the Home Faction, he had a larger information network and was the first to receive the information. He had then relayed the information to the rest of the Factions, and that was why there was such a scene in Xiao Jin’s office.
Todd had almost pissed his pants when he learned that the true identity of Black Phantom was the second son of Xiao Jin, Han Xiao. He had suddenly found the answers to all the questions.
No wonder Black Phantom came to visit Alumera and supported the Xiao Faction at critical times. He was clearly trying to protect his family.
The identities of Zero and Black Phantom were one, and he was the crucial figure in this battle. One could easily see that once the war ended, he would have immense influence over the world. This legend had come from one of the wanderer warlord organization, and it was the Xiao Faction.
Connecting Black Phantom’s action of protecting his family, every organizations in Alumera could not sit still. They could no longer ignore the Xiao Faction after this incident, and the Xiao Faction could be one of the most powerful organizations that they could rely on. Therefore, everyone came to submit power, and Xiao Jin was the last one to know what had happened.
“What‽” Xiao Jin was shocked. Xiao Hao felt that a hammer had smashed his perception of the world. His head was spinning.
“He’s my brother‽” Xiao Hai slowly lost his vision and almost passed out.
Xiao Hai could never believe that his brother who did not have any achievements could become such a powerful figure today. His brother was a man who could change the tide of war and the shape of the world. Yet, Xiao Hai was still only obsessed with powers in a small warlord organization. Times had changed. He recalled that since he was small, he had been the most outstanding kid among his siblings. Han Xiao could only look up to him. Now, the tables had turned, and Han Xiao could not accept the truth. He ground his teeth, and his body filled with rage and anger.
Not only that, as he remembered that Black Phantom was his godfather, Xiao Hai’s lungs almost explored. He clenched his fist so strongly that his fingernails sunk into his palms.
My brother became my godfather, what was he thinking?
He definitely wanted to embarrassment me. That’s why didn’t refuse at the time.
Xiao Hai went dizzy again out of anger.
Xiao Jin’s face was stone cold, but he was not mad. It was his decision to approach Black Phantom, and who knew that the son he had been looking for all this time had been right in front of him? Remembering that he made the exchange, he wondered how excited Han Xiao must have been behind the mask. Xiao Jin sat still, and the awkwardness and embarrassment flowed through this body.
Si Qi, Todd, and other people had mockery in their eyes. His son had suddenly become on the same level as his father all because Xiao Jin tried to pull him to his side. The existence of Xiao Jin was just a joke. However, they could not ignore the power that Xiao Jin had, so they could only mock him behind his back. In the end, they suppressed their desire to mock and argue, and they submitted power of their organization to the Xiao Faction.
With Han Xiao, the position of the Xiao Faction was secured. Even if both the father and son were embarrassed and surprised, they had to give credit to Han Xiao for the power they held today.
After the rage had died down in Xiao Hai, what followed was a sense of powerlessness.
He realized that no matter how angry he was, there was one truth that he could not alter. He could no longer see the shadow of Han Xiao.
Just with the name of Han Xiao, it solved all the internal struggles that they had between the factions and forced the other factions to submit to their power. With this much influence, Han Xiao was probably the most powerful figure on the planet.
Xiao Hai suddenly froze, and tremendous fear flooded his heart.
Now that his brother became powerful… would he seek revenge?
Chapter 252. Eye of the Storm (3) |
The real identity of Han Xiao created a lot of interest among the major organizations because he was not only Zero, the orchestrator of the war, he was also Black Phantom, the top-notch mechanic and contract killer. When one combined the two identities together, all the organizations could see a new star rising that would impact the world.
It had been years since the appearance of such a legendary figure.
Now that he was had intel that could control the tide of the war, he was the eye of the storm, and naturally, there was a lot of attention and expectations on him from everyone on the planet.
After the news had been out in the world for four days, every organization around the world knew the true identity of Han Xiao, and there were two organizations that received the most attention.
First was the Alumera family, which was the place of birth of Han Xiao. Numerous small organizations in the Northern Continent visited the Alumera family. Under the influence of Han Xiao, the Alumera family made countless new allies, and at the same time, the fact that Han Xiao was the godfather of Xiao Hai also spread around the new allies.
This embarrassing joke was a mark that could never be washed away from the name of the Xiao Faction. Seeing that everyone was trying to hide their laughter, Xiao Hai was extremely frustrated, wanting to kill himself to end the shame on him.
Another organization that was in the spotlight was the Dark Net. Han Xiao was one of the higher officials in the Dark Net, yet all the major organization did not see any response from the Dark net. So, no one knew how was their attitude toward the reveal of identity of Black Phantom was.
Like so, four days had passed in an instant.
…
When one glanced down on the battlefield from the sky, the wilderness was full of sand and dust. A ferocious jeep with sharp armor zoomed across the wilderness. Around a kilometer behind the jeep was the Germinal Organization’s vehicles trying to catch up.
“Fourth day, this is Division 13.”
On the passenger seat, Han Xiao was controlling the camera at the back of the jeep to see check the situation on the convoy behind them, and he shook his head with disappointment. “They didn’t send enough people again. Guess we will get some free spare parts to use.”
Hila, who was on the driver seats, gave Han Xiao a cold stare. She was too busy and exhausted to say anything.
At this point, the appearances of the two people were in a stark contrast with each other. After fleeing from the enemy for four days, the enemies were everywhere, and they faced difficult battles every single day. Hila was not a mechanic who could build equipment and machinery to fight. Her power came from her psychic abilities, which required energy and strength. Every battle that she fought was tough and challenging, and at this point of the escape, she had already exhausted all her power, and her face was covered in sweat and dust with dark lines around her eyes.
On the other hand, Han Xiao was completely different. Using Viper, fighting off the enemy was a breeze for him. Most of the enemies who chased Han Xiao were weak and easily defeated anyway. However, Hila could not fend off the enemy as easily as Han Xiao.
While Hila was driving, her brain felt like it was going to shut down at any given point of time. Even though she was extremely tired, she did not want to hand over the steering wheel to Han Xiao—one side was a cliff, the other was an abyss. At least the cliff has a bottom…
“Hey sis, do you want some juice?” Aurora, who was sitting at the back with big sparkling eyes, offered a plastic bag containing liquid.
“That is not juice. That is an energy drink that can help you stay awake and increase your energy, so don’t…” As Han Xiao looked back, he saw the empty bags on the back seat. He continued with a mildly infuriated voice. “… drink too much.”
“But it tastes good.” Aurora hid her face behind the seat.
When she was imprisoned, the food she had every single day had been nutrition cream without any taste. The energy drink was a new experience for her taste buds, and she was wide awake.
At the beginning of their escape, only Han Xiao could fight. They had needed to gather all the resources they could find. The long escape operation was naturally the stage for Mechanics to shine. They could get rid of the soldiers chasing after them, get their equipment, change them into parts, and create a new weapon to fight. They had to fight to keep on fighting and survive.
In the professional gaming scene, there were also some long-term survival game modes similar to this situation, and Mechanic was the best class in this situation.
Other than Military MRE and energy drinks, Han Xiao could get a lot of parts after winning a battle to improve the jeep they had. He slowly modified the engine and cylinder of the car, and now, the jeep ran like a wild bull that could crush anything in its path. The shell of the jeep was full of scratches, which fit its wild style.
The Germinal Organization’s troops were tied up by the attacks of the Six Nations, which almost halved the pressure on Han Xiao. The Six Nations also got rid of the threat of missiles, so they did not have to worry missiles blowing them up if they stopped in a place for too long.
Han Xiao looked at the rear mirror and said, “Turn the car around and kill them all. Hey, little brat, lie down on the back seat and don’t stick your head out.”
Aurora listen obediently.
Hila did not flinch. She grabbed an energy drink and chugged it in an instant. She span the steering wheel, and the jeep abruptly drifted around, leaving a trail of dust behind. Then Hila charged the jeep directly at the enemy like a bull.
Han Xiao quickly finished the modification, and his Viper mechanical suit had a huge upgrade. In order to adapt to the long chasing battle, he had equipped multiple long-range weapons, such as a triple barrel gun turret and the grenade launcher on his shoulder. He had additional magazines on his legs and on his back, with a belt carrying yellow bullets across his shoulders. All these weapons were made from the equipment of the enemy they fought before.
The mechanic suit looked at least twice as large as before, and it was more suited for long range combat. Thus, it was called [Viper – Ranged Form].
The interface information analyzed the enemies’ formation.
“Four executive officers, thirty Valkyrie squad, and ten players. Ten vehicles in total… Oh, they changed the formation.”
The convey spread out and lined up in an encirclement formation. They wanted to avoid head on fights and delay Han Xiao for as long as possible while waiting for reinforcements. They knew that they did not have the power to stop Han Xiao.
Han Xiao was not surprised. After he single-handedly destroyed five convoys, the rest of the enemies had all used the same tactic, so he was already used to this.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The turrets on mechanical suits arms roared with burning iron bullets blasting toward the enemy. With every bullet that he shot, he felt a powerful recoil that pressed on his heart.
