The Legendary Mechanic, page 211
The cornerstone of the civilization was the Magic Mines. They used materials containing magic power as energy to power their technology. They had religion, and their fertility rate was very high. They reproduced through mating and were oviparous 1 . Their hatching time was about one year, but while the average human gave birth to one in a year, Tamihalatinians gave birth to many at once. They had always been troubled by the expanding population.
Tamihalatinians looked similar to humans but shorter. Their average height was 1.6 meters, and they had white skin with rune patterns. The more conspicuous characteristic was that they had white pupils, like a whole piece of white crystal. Tamihalatinians had high psychic talent, and if awakened, most would become a Psychic.
The oldest brother and second oldest were both Psychics, and the youngest was a Mage, all grade C Supers at about LV 70 or so. Although their strength was average, they happened to make up for the class vacancy in the mercenary group. With them, the mercenary group finally had the five Super classes, filling up its ability.
Mages can bless and enchant, adding new abilities for machinery, and they are able to indirectly enhance my combat capability.
Han Xiao was contented. The Black Star Mercenary Group had gained three new cadres, increasing nearly 10,000 Faction Reward quota, which had reached 185,000.
The three brothers’ faces were filled with admiration. They were very grateful and accepted the Han Xiao’s arrangements. Even if they were free, they still had to continue to serve as mercenaries. Rather than acting alone, it was better to join Han Xiao’s group. In addition to repaying his kindness, they could also look after each other. ( NovelFull )
After taking in the three brothers, next was to solve Aroshia’s problem. Han Xiao thought about it—the mission requirement was to take her around for six days. There had to be a reason, and it would not be completed smoothly. Although he was not clear about the specific reasons, he just had to do as he was required.
What made him troubled was how to deal with Aroshia’s identity. Should he make her a mercenary as well? However, although Aroshia had high energy response, she did not seem to know how to use it or battle with it. It was not clear as to whether it was her racial talent or personal strength, and she had completely lost her memories. He was unable to uncover her identity as there was no way to communicate.
Everyone else was waiting for Han Xiao to explain the origin of this beauty.
“Her name is Aroshia, also a rescued slave. Temporarily, she will be following us,” Han Xiao said.
Frenzied Sword was puzzled. “Why keep her? Why does she not speak?”
He had wanted to ask this question for quite some time. Since she had appeared with Han Xiao, Aroshia had not once opened her mouth. Although she fitted extremely well with the human aesthetic and stunned the players, they were also puzzled. What in the world is wrong with this beautiful woman?
“Amnesia.” Han Xiao pointed at her head and said, “That is why I worry about her running around and simply took her away. Anyway, she has no place to go.”
“Such a beautiful girl is sick. How unfortunate…” Second Prince shook his head.
“You don’t know sh*t. It’s called seizing the opportunity.” Bun-Hit-Dog gave Han Xiao a look that felt like he was saying, ‘I understand you brother’. Maple Moon and Rainy Kim beside glared at him.
Han Xiao rolled his eyes. These people… why do they have such pure thoughts in their mind?
Frenzied Sword looked at her here and there. He felt Aroshia behaved too calmly to be a person who had amnesia. “I think she is strange. Can she communicate?”
This reminded Han Xiao that Horlaide had said that Aroshia still remembered how to speak. He immediately put a translator on her and asked, “Can you speak?”
Aroshia sniffed. Finally, there was a reaction. “Yes.”
The voice sounded like a clear stream, crisp and ethereal. Listening to it made all of their hearts comfortable, as if a pair of soft hands were soothing their ears, which made the players very satisfied since they had enough of Bun-Hit-Dog’s noisy voice.
“Do you really not remember anything?” Han Xiao felt energized—being able to communicate was good indeed.
“Yup.”
“Then are you willing to follow us temporarily?”
“Sure.”
“Er, then do you need anything?”
“Anything.”
“You lost your memories. Don’t you want to know who you are?”
“It’s fine.”
Hearing this answer, the people took a breath of cool air and felt like they could see a holy glow.
How can this amnesia patient be so calm? No, this is not just amnesia; it’s time to take your medicine, beauty!
Han Xiao was completely out of ideas. He smiled helplessly and said, “Alright then, my team will take care of you. You…”
At this moment, Aroshia suddenly approached Han Xiao, leaning to his face. Her nose sniffed like a puppy then said, “I think I can feel some sort of presence on you…”
Han Xiao froze. He was surprised and asked her about it, but Aroshia shook her head and said, “I don’t remember. It just feels familiar.”
“Strange…”
Han Xiao could only suppress his doubts. He told his people to settle down. Anyway, Aroshia did not eat, drink, or excrete—she was very easy to raise. This was supposed to be a characteristic of energy life forms, but Aroshia was a normal biological life form. He did not know the reasons, but regardless, the benefit was that he did not have to worry about starving her.
Han Xiao took the aircraft all the way to the office building before going to the top-level office to see Jenny.
Jenny looked serious and asked, “Can you confirm that they were from DarkStar?”
Nodding, Han Xiao described what happened in detail, hiding about the interface and other private secrets and changing it into the fact that he recognized Ember. Then at last he added, “Ember is the next generation ace level combat power cultivated by DarkStar. Their action this time definitely hides a huge secret. Although we are a neutral organization and the conflict between DarkStar and Godora has nothing to do with us, since they dared to cause trouble on Floating Dragon Island, they have to pay the corresponding price.”
Jenny nodded and pushed her glasses. Then she frowned and said, “DarkStar has never had any conflict with us. There was definitely a reason for what they did this time, but I have no interest in understanding their intentions. I just want someone to be held responsible. Fortunately, you recognized their origin, otherwise DarkStar would really have done a hit and run. When Ames returns, DarkStar will pay the price for this.”
Having successfully caused trouble for DarkStar, Han Xiao nodded secretly. To deal with a large organization, methods like this were the best way. DarkStar was secretive and strong, and unless he waited for the storyline to begin, Han Xiao had no way to deal with them. However, DarkStar had handed him a chance. How could he not seize it?
With Ames’ personality, coupled with her recent bad mood, DarkStar really walked into the barrel of the gun. Unfortunately, Ames was not on Floating Dragon Island at this time, or she might just have wiped out the future ace of DarkStar in his growth stage. That would have been a very heavy blow for DarkStar.
Floating Dragon’s side would not disclose this information so that DarkStar would think that they were safe. Then, Floating Dragon would deal with it when the time came. Only because Han Xiao had joined Floating Dragon Island could this new plan succeed, and Floating Dragon was one of the biggest organizations in Shattered Star Ring.
All this time, Han Xiao had played his advantages very well, and at this time, he finally flapped his wings in the galaxy. The intricacies of the relationship between various civilizations were hundreds or even thousands of times more complex than on Planet Aquamarine. Even small waves could turn into monstrous tsunamis after going through many catalysts!
Chapter 382. One Step Ahead (2) |
“You made a contribution. What reward do you want?” Jenny asked.
“I want to gain access to the Void Dragon bones,” Han Xiao said.
Jenny nodded. “Haier is in charge of the warehouse. I’ll let him know to give you a limited amount of Void Dragon material.”
Haier managed logistics, so the movement of all rare materials required his approval. Han Xiao’s request was very normal, and Haier naturally would not refuse.
Han Xiao was content. Void Dragon materials had a price but no supply—it could be regarded as a type of faction specialty. Whether he was going to sell the materials or keep them to build machinery, Void Dragon materials were of great use.
After Han Xiao left, Jenny leaned back in the chair, and her eyes behind the lenses were flashing. “Black Star Han Xiao… Not the kind to succumb and tremble under Ames, has many secrets, claims to be a foreseer, and all of his subordinates are immortal. With such power, if their number was higher… Alas, although such a person of great assistance, I don’t know if it’s a good thing.”
After a pause, Jenny stopped frowning. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter who he is, as long as Ames is still here, it’s enough to suppress all accidental factors.”
…
Walking out of the building, Han Xiao was content. He had reaped quite a good harvest this time. He intended to take a good bath, go to the warehouse to collect the materials, and then count his profits.
But all of a sudden, he had a flash of insight, and a possibility surfaced in his mind.
( NovelFull ) “DarkStar’s goal is the two dead Silvers. If I was them, with the remaining Silvers being a dead end, the next step would be to find other stakeholders. So, there’s a great chance DarkStar will find the slaver that escorted the Silvers.”
Han Xiao realized this with a shock, and his footsteps paused. He immediately changed direction and rushed to the dock, quickly disguising himself on the way. He took off the recognizable mechanical suit and weapon, and he put on the simulation mask.
He was secretly glad that he had become aware of this in a timely manner. Little more than an hour had passed after the attack, so there was a good chance that Ember and the others would hide for a period of time to avoid the limelight. It was the best time for him to seize the opportunity and understand DarkStar’s motive.
Let me see what the DarkStar really wants. Han Xiao grinned, revealing a malicious smile.
…
At the same time, on some street of the exterior of Floating Dragon Island, Ember was hiding in the shadow between the houses with the others. An aircraft passed by from above and did not see them.
Ember and the rest had escaped from the reconnaissance range, so they were basically safe.
This operation ended up with no result, so no one looked happy. Ember suppressed his annoyance and ordered in a low voice, “It’s not good to delay. We need to find that slaver to complete the mission as soon as possible. We can’t stay long on Floating Dragon Island.”
A Mechanic who was good with electronic equipment said, “Found the information. The slave trader is called Peggy, still in Floating Dragon Island dock.”
“Good, he has not left Floating Dragon yet. This is very advantageous for us.” Ember’s morale increased as he took the others and rushed to the pier.
He had a hunch that Peggy definitely knew the whereabouts of the Secret Message Bead.
…
The dock had far fewer spaceships than usual. There were two reasons for this—the first was that there had been too much unrest in recent days. During the last scrimmage in the pier, Ames had struck and shocked many brutes. They had hurried away and did not dare to stay, afraid of getting into trouble.
The second was that the route of the Floating Dragon Island was about to pass by the borders of two civilizations in Gelock Star Cluster, which was a sensitive area that often had friction. Energy detection buoys and patrol fleets were everywhere, and the degree of alert was very high. If they left Floating Dragon Island in this area, the risk would largely increase. The patrol fleet would not save their cannons on a group of wanted criminals, so many people chose to leave before this.
Peggy had such thoughts as well, so he was preparing to leave Floating Dragon Island.
Although Horlaide had made him lose a large chunk of income, there were still other slaves on board his spaceship. He sold them to other individual customers, making up for the cost of the trip. However, he still did not make a profit, so his unhappiness was not hard to imagine.
Therefore, an hour ago, when Peggy had heard that Horlaide’s slave market had been blown up, he had laughed like a 200-pound fat man, making no attempt to hide his glee.
“That profiteer deserved to go down the drain.” Peggy was in a very good mood. His legs were on the control panel in the captain’s room, and he murmured, “The Silvers have been rescued again… unfortunate. If I can rob them…”
Then he shook his head. The possibility existed only in his imagination—he fully understood that the Silvers were now a hot potato. In addition to the mercenaries, other unknown forces coveted them. The water was very deep, and his group of slavers had no ability to intervene anymore. He had no desire to die yet. Han Xiao, who he had encountered, had almost beaten him into snake soup. In retrospect, the fear of that mechanical suit warrior still lingered in Peggy’s heart.
“Start the engine, let’s go.”
( NovelFull ) Numerous drivers controlled the spaceship manually. The bottom of the spaceship spewed plumes, and just as it was the fixed rail of the dock, an announcement came to the spaceship’s system.
“All captains, please note that we will encounter large meteoroids ahead. Three minutes till contact. By then the shield will be fully activated. No spaceships will be allowed to enter or leave.”
The observed image from the radar appeared on the screen. A large, dense patch of white blocks were approaching at high speed, all meteoroids. This situation had made it too dangerous for an aircraft to move alone. Peggy hastily told the people to extinguish the engine and stayed, relying on the protection ability of the Floating Dragon Island and make plans after this wave of meteoroids
Hum!
The people in Floating Dragon Island could originally see the universe through the artificial atmosphere, but once the shield was activated, the sky seemed to be concealed by a golden curtain. The whole of Floating Dragon Island turned into a golden American football. The plasma energy core operated at its highest power output, and the golden shield surface shot out high-energy light arcs from time to time.
Not long after, the overwhelming group of meteoroids arrived. Their size varied, and the largest was equivalent to one-third of the floating island. Yet, Floating Dragon Island simply rushed in head-on. Numerous meteoroids hit its golden shield, bursting circles of golden ripples. The collision energy waves spread far in the universe, leaving traces behind.
On Floating Dragon Island, the ground was obviously vibrating. Han Xiao had just arrived at the pier at that time. He had changed his clothes, taken off the mechanical suit, and put on black hooded robe bought from a shop on the street, making him look very mysterious. His face had changed because of the simulation mask, so no one could recognize him.
Coming to the dock of Peggy’s spaceship, Han Xiao turned on the communicator and searched for nearby channels. He found Peggy’s and sent a communication request.
Not long after, the communication was accepted. Peggy’s face appeared on the screen, and he said, “What do you want?”
“I have something to ask you about the Silvers.”
Peggy’s heart tightened. He had already decided not to intervene in the event of the Silvers, so he did not expect that he would still be implicated. He calmed down and asked, “Who are you?”
“DarkStar.” Han Xiao kept his voice low and used the name of DarkStar.
Peggy’s expression suddenly became strange. His first reaction was to not believe him; this sudden stranger was not a hybrid Godoran, and he felt just like the Silver thrown out of the spaceship, just using DarkStar as an excuse. After all, DarkStar was very famous in the Shattered Star Ring—many people liked to use it to intimidate others.
“Do you have proof?” Peggy doubted.
Han Xiao acted tough and said coldly, “I’m the one asking now. The two Silvers that you threw out of the spaceship had something that we want. As for my identity, I do not need to prove to you. As long as you try to refuse me, you will know that the person who killed you is from DarkStar… Of course, if you cooperate, I can pay some money for this information.”
Because the intel was limited, there were only the four points that he had speculated earlier, which was why Han Xiao said this. Fortunately, it had hit the right spot. The carrier had exposed the fact that he was a DarkStar’s carrier to stay alive, and only a few people knew this, including Peggy.
Peggy did not believe it initially, but when he heard Han Xiao’s words, he immediately thought of the bead. Most of it made sense, and he was suddenly stunned!
Sh*t, was that Silver really a DarkStar Emissary! Did they really come to find him‽
Most of his doubts were gone. Now, Peggy was apprehensive and excited.
In his mind, DarkStar was the great pioneer of saving Godora. This time, he had hit the jackpot! However, he killed DarkStar’s emissary, so would there be a problem?
He suppressed his excitement and hesitated, still uncertain of the authenticity of Han Xiao identity. Although he mostly believed, there was still a trace of uncertainty.
Chapter 383. Excellent as Always, But Don't Touch the Trophy |
After Hesitating for a while, Peggy felt that he would rather believe than not. He explained earnestly, “There was a Silver who claimed to be the emissary of DarkStar. I found a black bead on him. I don’t know what it was, but I thought it was valuable, so I kept it with me. But a few days ago during the scrimmage at the dock, the bead was lost. It might have been picked up by someone…”
