The Legendary Mechanic, page 186
Han Xiao frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You are not qualified for my job hiring.” Martin waved his hand with annoyance. Even though he was very cheap, he did not lower his standards and wanted the best warrior that he could find with the cheapest price. The Blue-Ni’s personality was always like this, cheap and greedy. Although the average rating of the strength for the Black Star Mercenary Group was class C, he did not trust their ability after reading through the records. If he spent money on useless mercenaries, the research team would be in great danger.
The mercenaries around all mocked Martin.
“You are offering only 400 Enas, such a choosing beggar.”
“Have you never heard that you get what you pay for?”
“Ha, Blue-Ni.”
Han Xiao ground his teeth. Sigh, what are they blabbering about? It feels like they are helping Martin instead of me!
Martin saw the opportunity and quickly pressured the price. “With this record, I can only offer 200 Enas per person.”
“Farewell.”
Han Xiao left without looking back. Martin’s attitude irritated Han Xiao, and the Great Mechanic Han would never let others pressure him. It was fine if they did not take that job since there were so many other opportunities, so there was no need to beg in front of an annoying man.
He opened the Mercenary interface and found a few hiring requests from Sunils, all about the same event.
The homeland of Sunil had been destroyed. With the help of Godora, the civilization had moved to another planet filled with nature and forests. It had been renamed Planet Sunil.
Planet Sunil had a lot of wild beasts roaming around the planet. Most of the time, the beasts were passive. However, there was a stone that contained evil spirit deep below the ground of Planet Sunil, and it would turn the beasts on rampage once in every few years. Sunil’s villages and cities would all be affected. Every time, during this period, the warriors of Sunil working away from the planet would all return and protect their homeland while gathering more helpers.
The Sunils were a sad race. Originally, it had just been a civilization without interaction with other planets. It had been peaceful, and it had tried to develop into a better society. Unfortunately, they had been attacked by DarkStar. The Sunils had no way to fight back as the fleets from DarkStar repeatedly fired missiles and lasers at the land. The land was filled with screams and fire, which even drowned the desperation that people had.
DarkStar was a mortal enemy of Godora, and it was an active civilization in the Garton Galaxy. DarkStar had found a weakness in Godora’s management and attacked the planets under the rule of Godora. Godora had no choice but to exhaust more resources to help the lower civilizations. If Godora ignored the suffering of those civilizations, then they would have lost the public’s trust in their ability to control the Garton Galaxy.
As an evil faction, DarkStar had broken the intergalactic treaty [Space Civilization Constitution] long ago by attacking a less developed civilizations. Moreover, Shattered Star Ring was on the far end compared to other star systems. So, after destroying the worlds, DarkStar would always disappear in their region for a long time and avoid the declarations of war from other civilizations. DarkStar was like a shadow that slowly consumed the Garton Galaxy.
When the Godoran fleet arrived, the original planet of Sunil had already perished. The land was covered in lava, and the ground was cracked and destroyed. The ecosystem was lost, and only ten percent of the population survived. The technology of the Sunils was cut off from the past generations, and it had yet to be restored. The refugees had been moved to Planet Sunil with the help of Godora, and in the beginning, Godora had helped building the cities. It was only after living there for a few years that the people found out about the raging beasts.
Moving to another planet would take too much work. The first time that Godora offered help was because of moral reasons, but if the Sunils asked Godora for help again, they would feel that they were owing too much to Godora, so they could not ask them for help with this matter. Therefore, they decided to stay on the planet and fight off the monsters.
It was the period where the beasts became active again. These missions were requesting help to protect the homeland. The difficulty of the mission increased as the list went on, and there was no one who applied for the most dangerous mission. As for the easiest mission, they needed 120 Credibility Rating.
Han Xiao could only select the easiest mission, so he submitted the application. A short moment later, he got the reply and his application was successfully.
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Mercenary Mission—[Defend the Forest City]
Mission Introduction: Another wave of the Catastrophe is looming over the Sunils. You have accepted the mission, and your duty is to protect the Forest City.
Mission requirement: Defend the Forest City.
Failing Condition: Fail to protect the Forest City.
Punishment of Failed Mission: -60 Credibility Rating
Reward: 500,000 experience, 1,800 Enas, +34 Credibility Rating, +3 Area Renown
Time Until Activation: 12 days
_____________
The Sunils called the period of beast attacks the ‘Catastrophe’, and the Forest City was the main city of the Sunils.
This was just a normal mission, but it was not all Han Xiao had in mind. The reason that he had accepted the mission was so that he could approach the Sunils with an appropriate identity. He had to activate the storyline mission by himself.
As one of the members, the players also got the mission in the mercenary group. Han Xiao put out the reward of the mission onto the reward for the faction mission. The players felt like they were getting double reward.
It was the first time that Black Star Mercenary Group had selected a battle-type mission, so the players were excited.
Han Xiao waved his arm.
“Let’s go.”
…
After three days, the group took a spaceship and arrived at Planet Sunil. From the universe, the planet was covered in green with white clouds floating above.
The spaceship shook violently as it descended into the atmosphere, following the directed path and heading toward the forest. Han Xiao then saw an empty plain, and a city was located in the center. That was the new homeland of Sunil—Forest City.
The spaceship threw down the cabin. Han Xiao felt a bit of weightless for a second, and landed safely on the ground.
Whoosh!
The door slid open, and they were in a military base. Han Xiao stepped out of the door, and he quickly noticed teams of Sunil soldiers and armored trucks protecting the base.
[Sunil—Defensive Soldier Armor] was the armor that Sunil soldiers wore. The armor was dark gray, and the armor plate was extremely thick, which could block heavy bullets from machine guns. In matching armor, the soldiers looked like a true unit. The armor suit’s weight was almost a ton, and it had equipment that supported the movement. There were also machine guns with large caliber, small rocket launchers on the shoulder, and other melee weapons.
Sunil was a pure technology civilization, and after a technological civilization reached a certain stage, they would always create armor for individual soldiers. Different civilizations had different styles of armor. For the Sunils, the armor was categorized into Private class and Corporal class. It was also separated into defense style, offense style, scouting style, etc.
In fact, Han Xiao knew that Sunil armor had an even more powerful class called ‘Commander Class Armor’. However, it had been destroyed back in the attack, and the technology was lost forever.
Other than the armor technology, there were large mechanical weapons, vehicles, and a few light spaceships.
With all the machinery lying around, Han Xiao’s eyes were shining, and he was looking forward to this place. A civilization that leaned toward pure technological progress was the best foundation for mechanic class, and this was one of the reasons that he wanted to come to Planet Sunil. The technological level of Sunil could bring great benefits to Han Xiao.
Han Xiao was attracted to the subclass of Sunil, and it was related to machinery. It was a rare subclass could dramatically improve the progress of Han Xiao’s main class! For Han Xiao, this was the best choice for him to complete his class.
The players also gawked at the scene around them. Han Xiao had described the tragedy of the Sunils to them, so they had thought that it was a civilization on the brink of destruction. They had been expecting nothing but poor conditions and lagging technology, but the scene of this iron forest proved them wrong.
Dong, dong, dong!
The sound of heavy metal got louder as a soldier with heavy armor approach to the group. His armor was certainly better than that of normal troops. It was also covered in red and white, which symbolized that this was Corporal class armor. The approaching Sunil seemed to be an officer as his face was stone cold, sending the aura of a soldier.
“I am B12 Defense Team Captain Neville. I have already read through your information. Black Star, you will be the 1,432th mercenary to join us. I hereby represent the Sunil people in welcoming you to our world. The Catastrophe has not started yet, so please follow me to the mercenary resting area. Then I will assign you a specific mission.”
Chapter 337. Green Knight, the Warrior who Had Returned Home |
Neville kept quiet the entire way. Sunil soldiers were not known for their words, and everyone had on a grave expression, as if they did not even have time for idle chatter. They were all focused on their own missions. The metallic smell of the soldiers’ armor filled the air, accompanied by an air of silence. The only sound that could be heard was the tanks that passed by occasionally.
Sunils used to be known as a civilization that embraced life; their people loved art and culture. However, everything had changed when the disaster struck. The survivors had been forced to throw away their previous identities and harden themselves. This change was also reflected in the structures they built. Orderly fortress-like steel buildings lined the side of the road that they travelled on. It was as if they were living on a grid.
With Neville leading them, Han Xiao’s group arrived at the resting area, where a large number of mercenaries had gathered, stirring up a ruckus.
Before the Catastrophe waves struck, the mercenaries were all required to get a detailed briefing.
Neville stepped onto a platform and explained in a grave voice, “The forward scouts have discovered increasing signs of the rampaging beasts. You’re here as our hired mercenaries, and we hope that you can all work together to help us overcome this obstacle.”
After a short speech, Neville got straight to the main point. “This planet’s underground contains pockets of Prophecy Stones. Prophecy Stones can corrupt the souls of those around them, and the entire planet’s mineral veins have been altered by these stones. This is the reason behind the beasts’ berserk and extremely aggressive nature. However, this isn’t the main problem of the Catastrophe. The energy contained within the Prophecy Stones will be released once every year in ‘waves’. This is the root problem behind the beasts’ sudden outburst.
“For unknown reason, this year’s wave has arrived half a year earlier. Our specialized observation department predicts that the Catastrophe waves will explode out in full force in around seven to thirteen days. Our enemy is every single beast on this planet. During the waves in the past, we only had to deal with smaller beasts during the initial three to six days. Then, as the battle reached the tenth day or so, the frequency and intensity of the beast raids would increase. The last five days would be the most dangerous period during the wave. By then, most of our vehicles and equipment would be damaged, and most our troops depleted. The beasts we would face then were also the strongest ever, which had been attracted from far away by the dense smell of blood due to the days of bloody battles…”
At this moment, a mercenary interrupted him and said, “You have tanks, airplanes, and even space battleships. Wouldn’t killing these beasts be more like a slaughter?”
Neville gave the man a cold glance. “You will understand when the wave comes.”
Soon after, Neville turned on the projector and started introducing the different beast types one by one. After a few short glances, Han Xiao was already able to tell that the beasts on Planet Sunil were leagues stronger than the ones on Planet Aquamarine. The Prophecy Stones had already been on this planet for countless years, and the energy that they have accumulated was enough to even affect the beasts’ evolution over the years. The beasts on Planet Sunil were abnormally bloodthirsty, and they pushed the rule of ‘survival of the fittest’ to an extreme.
Maple Moon was curious. “Since the beasts are the enemies, why couldn’t they just kill all of the beasts before they get stronger from the Catastrophe?”
“Maybe it’s to maintain the ecosystem,” said Frenzied Sword hesitantly.
Shaking his head, Bun-hit-dog disagreed. “But this is threatening even the continuity of their people. Why would they care about the ecosystem at this point?”
“Can they even completely exterminate the beasts?”
The players started discussing the topic among themselves. They each had their own opinions toward the Sunils’ crisis.
After going through over a hundred types of beasts, Neville sent out this information to each of the mercenaries. The mercenaries were then assigned combat roles depending on the job assignment that they had taken on beforehand.
The Sunils kept a lot of mining and other resource collecting outposts in the wild. However, all of the Sunil people would abandon those locations and return to Forest City during the Catastrophe. They grouped all their forces into a single area to decrease the chance of getting sneak-attacked by the beasts.
With the main city as the final barrier, Forest City had a total of five walls that circled the city. Han Xiao and the others were stationed at the second last wall and were tasked with protecting scout planes and the larger battleships from the ground. They also served as a rapid-response reinforcement group for the frontlines.
Forest City was decked out with defensive infrastructure, and building everything around a main city was only a tactical decision. It was not meant to be a place for a last stand or anything of the sort, as the underground of the city was riddled with escape tunnels. The Sunil people could flee through the tunnels or even be evacuated by the air transports at a sign of danger, and this meant that it was impossible for to them ‘lose’ the main city. However, there were many powerful beasts in both the sky and under the ground, so this would only be a last resort.
The two most dangerous jobs were the forward reconnaissance units and frontline combat troops. Sunil was a planet that was covered by dense forests, resulting in many blind spots for observation from air , which made reconnaissance on the ground crucial. However, the dangers of venturing outside the city walls during a Catastrophe was obvious. On the other hand, the frontline troops’ task was to kill or wound as many beasts as they could before the horde reached the city walls. Their survival rate was close to nil.
That was why those two jobs were never taken on by the mercenaries. All of the frontline combat assignments were taken on by the Sunil warriors.
The individual mercenaries were led away by an officer to reinforce his position. Neville brought along Han Xiao’s group of people to walk them through and familiarize them with the defensive layout of the area.
Time quickly passed, and soon, dusk came.
The mercenaries were provided with accommodation in the military base. However, Han Xiao needed to enter the city to complete the subclass requirements. He found Neville by himself and said, “I want to register to enter the city.”
“Why would you enter the city?” Neville raised an eyebrow.
“I have some private matters to deal with. I have a friend in town to visit.”
“No.” Neville straightforwardly declined. To prevent any unwanted accidents, mercenaries are never allowed into the city; you are only allowed to stay in the base outside of combat.
“You cannot use this reason to enter the city. However, your friend can come out to visit you.”
Han Xiao was not sure what to do. The Storyline character whom he wanted to meet did not know him at all. There was no way that he would come out to visit him.
Did he really have to sneak in?
He had the face-disguising tool and his Night Stalker subclass. The chances of sneaking in successfully were quite high… right?
Huuu!
Just then, a gust of wind descended from the sky, and several beams of light landed on the ground. An airship hovered some distance in midair and released down a spiraling set of stairs. One Sunil Super after another walked down from the ship. They were all Sunil mercenaries who had been working hard to earn money away from the planet and had all returned to fulfil their duties to defend their home on the eve of the Catastrophe.
The Sunil soldiers who were on the ground all raised their heads and looked at these returning warriors with reverence and gratitude. They even performed a perfectly coordinated military salute.
Every time the Sunil warriors returned home, they would be welcomed back and treated as homecoming heroes.
Han Xiao focused his eyes and saw a familiar face. He then shouted, “Hey! Lerden!”
‘Green Knight’ Lerden was among the disembarking crowd, and he turned over after hearing his name called. It took him a while, but Lerden remembered that the other person was someone whom he had fought with. With his body supported in midair with blue flames that were shooting out of his feet, he landed in front of Han Xiao and asked skeptically, “Why are you here?”
“Black Star is one of the mercenaries that we recruited.” Neville gave a salute and hurriedly answered for Han Xiao.
“So, you’re a mercenary too.” Lerden suddenly realized that fact.
