The Legendary Mechanic, page 236
Rex’s face tightened.
The situation had suddenly become much more difficult.
“Get ready to throw spears as backup!” Rex ordered loudly. All the Blue Shield Knights beside him raised their cone-shaped spears and prepared to throw them.
From what he saw, Rezar now had the strength of an ascender and should be on par with the higher world warrior. Hence, he decided to interfere and help just in case. However, when he turned around, he noticed that the other higher world mercenaries had their arms crossed with a calm expression and seemingly no intention to interfere at all.
Lin Ge smiled and said, “You don’t have to worry. Black Star’s Captain’s strength is well known among the mercenary industry in the Garton Star System.”
Rex was stunned for a second. He then took a closer look past the gushing spell and realized, no matter how enormous Rezar’s magic power was, Han Xiao continued standing still like a reef. His hand was still pressing Rezar firmly on the ground, not budging in the slightest.
At this time, Rezar suddenly noticed that a horrifying power was brewing in the mechanical suit hand pressed on his head, like some kind of strong attack was about to be released on his head. His weak body would definitely not be able to withstand it. In a panic, he could not be concerned with pushing Han Xiao away and was hastily casting all kinds of defense enhancement spells on himself.
The next moment, a gray energy fog appeared around the Void Dragon mechanical suit, flowed down the arm, and shot out from the palm. Rezar’s head was being grabbed by Han Xiao’s palm, and he faced this energy directly.
Boom!
With a violent explosion, the gray fog surged out!
Like thousands of sharp blades, the gray shockwave spread out. The floor was filled with cracks in an instant like it had been plowed. At the middle of the explosion, a pit with a diameter of almost two meters appeared.
Before the explosion aftershock had yet to disappear, gray light glowed from Han Xiao’s body once again. The second energy exploded immediately after.
Void Jet Spray!
Even though the enemy was rather weak, Han Xiao was not taking any chances and gave all he had. Although Rezar was grade B, the same grade as him, Rezar had only just passed through its door and had yet to familiarize himself with his powers.
It was a piece of cake for the Great Mechanic Han to fight this kind of novice grade B.
He used three full capacity Void Jet Sprays continuously without stopping, using 1,170 points of the mechanical suit’s energy. Three high damage numbers appeared above Rezar’s head, adding up to a total of 4,700 health points. It only took a few seconds. This ability’s damage efficiency was extremely high. This was the strongest explosive ability without using [Flaming Will]. [Flaming Will] had a five-minute cooldown, and [Void Jet Spray] had no cooldown. It had become Han Xiao’s go-to ace.
The smoke and fog dispersed. Rezar was lying down in the pit, his body covered in wounds from the energy shocks. Void Jet Spray was a pure energy attack, and it contained the Space attribute. Just as the ice attribute could slow and the fire attribute could burn, the direct effect of the space attribute was ignoring a part of the target’s resistance.
Having taken damage of more than half his health points in an extremely short time, Rezar was heavily injured and had fainted. A small BOSS character with grade B attributes had been demolished by Han Xiao within ten seconds.
After many combat experiences throughout the nine months, Han Xiao was already very familiar with the Void Dragon mechanical suit’s attributes and functions. This Single Unit Battle Suit was definitely one of the top on the list of the strongest mechanical suits in the current level, and Void Jet Spray was a very good ability against Supers of the same level.
“How’s the strength difference so big‽” Rex’s lips were dry. He was completely astonished. Rezar was already the strongest on Planet Dawn after he gained these powers; even ten of him would not have been able to beat the Rezar. Yet, in front of this mercenary, Rezar was as powerless as an infant.
Are all the people in the higher world this strong‽
The soldiers of Planet Dawn were dazed. Something that was so difficult and important in their eyes had been solved so easily—everyone felt it was almost unreal, like they were in a dream.
Han Xiao pulled Rezar by his collar and threw him before Rex. His mechanical suit folded itself, and he was back in his clothes.
The hundred or so artilleries around them turned back to compressed orbs, rolled on the floor following the attraction of magnetic force, then rolled up to Han Xiao’s belt and clothes in a neat queue.
“Done, pack up.”
Han Xiao clapped his hands. With his strength now, even crushing the whole of Planet Dawn was a piece of cake.
As if he had just awakened from a dream, Rex ordered his subordinates to tie Rezar up with multiple chains. He explained, “The king wanted me to capture Rezar alive and bring him back for interrogation. We need to know where he learned the ancient ceremony to prevent the possibility of someone else knowing the spell to absorb the Origin Water magic powers…”
“Do whatever you want. My job here is done.” Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.
At this time, Rezar woke up slowly, still dizzy. He realized that he was tied up by magic suppressing chains, and the magic in his body was forcibly restrained and could not be used. Subconsciously, he wanted to struggle and resist, then he saw Han Xiao, who stood at the side, and he immediately stopped his actions. As long as Han Xiao was there, resisting would just give him more shame and torture.
However, he could not hold back his rage. He stared at Han Xiao and clenched his teeth tightly.
If not for this external help from the higher world, he would have already succeeded. Before this, he never would have expected the Vain Kingdom’s king to be able to call such a strong reinforcement. These people were the culprits that had ruined his plan, Rezar hated their guts.
“Why did you stop me? This obviously has nothing to do with you…”
Han Xiao shrugged and said, “There’s no why; it’s all a job. I have dealt with dozens of outlaws like you. Thieves have no rights to complain about the police. If you want to blame something, blame it on your luck being bad and meeting us in your act. What’s your motive?”
“I just don’t want to be trapped in a behind planet forever. Can you understand the feeling of surprise and my dreams shattering when I knew that we were just one of the countless races in the universe?
“We’re not special, but that means that we have many friends too. I don’t want to be ignorant forever, and I don’t want to stay in this planet and wait for my death like the rest of the people here. I want to see the real world!”
Rezar pulled the chains, making clanking sounds.
“Since my ceremony has failed, you have no need to deal with me anymore. Aren’t you mercenaries? They can hire you against me, so I can hire you too. Please take me away from Planet Dawn. I can offer all of my wealth as the reward. If you don’t need that, I can work for you too…”
Rezar was still making his last struggle. The soldiers at the side heard this and could not help but get nervous. They were afraid that the higher world mercenaries would change sides.
Han Xiao, however, did not hesitate at all to reject the new mission that popped up on his interface, [Rezar’s Request]. He said coldly, “Sorry, but Black Star Mercenary Group keeps its words. Furthermore, even if you have quite a good reason, it cannot be an excuse for you to harm the planet.”
Rezar was furious and frustrated. He kept silent and let the soldiers pull him by his chains.
After returning to the surface, the army gathered and rested, getting ready to make their return. Rex found Han Xiao and said solemnly, “Captain Black Star, Captain Lin Ge, on behalf of the Vain Kingdom, I invite you heroes to be guests at the palace. The king wants to thank you personally. Do you have the time…”
“Sure, we will go with you then. I can take a look at Planet Dawn on the way.” Han Xiao nodded. Of course, this was an excuse; his main goal was to get the intel regarding signs of the Mutation Disaster, and getting intel from the higher-ups of the kingdom was the most convenient way. Since the king had given him such a good opportunity, he was definitely not going to miss it.
“I will stay too, let’s go together then.” Lin Ge did not want to stay initially, but he saw that Han Xiao accepted the offer, so he changed his mind. He wanted to stay with the Black Star Mercenary Group longer and leave an impression.
The alliance cleared the battlefield quickly. The tribes left in various directions. The Blue Shield Knights escorted Rezar and started heading toward the Vain Kingdom City.
…
Late at night, the Blue Shield Knights stationed themselves on a plain. The night on Planet Dawn was very dark, almost pitch black. The wildlife consisted mostly nocturnal creatures; light could be used to repel them. Illumination spells were deployed around the temporary station as the light source, but it was barely visible.
Rezar was locked in the prison car in the middle of the camp, surrounded by guards in continuous shifts.
In the dark, silent night, inside a single-person tent, Han Xiao opened the galactic communicator and looked at the mercenary hiring panel.
Chapter 420. Surprise Deal |
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Black Star Mercenary Group
Credibility Rating: 875 (High)
Scale: 173 members
Grade D: 39
Grade C: 132
Grade B: 2
Requests Completed: 76
Main Activity Area: Colton Star Cluster
Resume:
[Sunil Defense Battle]
[Silver Rescue Operation]
[Rosai – Planet 9512 Exploration]
[Juberly Hub ‘Letton’ Large Stargate Maintenance Guards (Remarks: Eradicating Space Parasites)]
[Capture of Purple Germ Civilization’s Head of Rebels ‘Pilipelapa Wasasa’]
[71 more missions… (Expand/Collapse)]
Creator: Black Star – Han Xiao
Creation date: Galaxy Calendar Year 688, 02 October
Summary: Small to medium sized mercenary group with a very good name, very high credibility, and strong ability. Completed hiring missions with high ratings multiple times, and most mercenaries under their command are undead. Partner with many large armies. Stationed in the Juberly Hub, often responsible for matters happening around them. Operates under the Dragon Emperor Ames. They are a dependable mercenary group that is active in the Colton Star Cluster. Mainly accepts combat and guarding missions, very trustworthy.
_____________
In nine months, Black Star Mercenary Group’s resume had become a lot richer.
With players as the combat power, not only did they not suffer any manpower reduction, but their income was increased too; it was very convenient. In the nine months, he had only taken on hiring missions from partners. They had grown while keeping a low profile and made quite a fortune.
His savings were now 784,000 Enas. Other than buying some materials, metals, and parts to build new machinery, he had saved the rest and planned to use it to complete the class advancement mission. With so much money, buying one high-end knowledge would not be a problem, but it would be difficult to buy two.
According to the standard of galactical mercenaries, Planet Dawn’s mission was very easy; therefore, the reward was not high. However, he had not accepted the mission for the reward alone.
Han Xiao planned to gain some information about the Mutation Disaster on Planet Dawn, so he told the spaceships waiting outside Planet Dawn to leave first. He had hitched a ride with the spaceship to this place. It was really great to have so many partners; he did not have to spend money on traveling at all. It was even better than Uber.
The dim light from the communicator’s screen reflected on his face.
The International League is in a few days. After the things here are done, I shall bring the team back to Juberly Hub. Three months ago… which is two weeks ago for the players, the Competition Alliance announced the system for the first international finals. The online store will be selling Gathering Crystals to the qualified players, which has a similar effect to Dungeon Crystals and will gather them from all planets to a simulated stadium. The entire competition will be recorded and broadcast live in all channels.
The system of the first season was the same as the previous life. The international competition would only be held in real environments after the players were able to carry out interstellar travel. By then, the stage would be planets and star systems.
The players from the Chinese clubs had been following him for a year; they had earned a lot, and their equipment was very strong. Thus, their performance in the international competition would definitely be better than in his previous life.
In his previous life, the performance of the Chinese clubs in the first season had been quite enraging. To avoid spoiling their reputation or taking the blame, their battle style had been very cowardly and time-consuming or way too steady. Sometimes, they were able to outlast the enemy, but sometimes, after stalling and wasting a lot of time, they still lost. It was difficult and upsetting to watch.
Hence, it had led to very few people watching the competition every time the Chinese teams were competing. The players preferred to watch other countries’ contestants passionately fight each other and would all directly skip the fights with Chinese teams. Although China’s result in the first season was acceptable, they did not make any impression or notable performance at all. Their first impression on players around the world was that they were very good at dealing with pressure.
If they don’t fight tougher this time, they will’ve followed me for nothing.
When the International League ends, the version update should come soon too. The players will disappear temporarily, and by then, the rewards from accepting requests will not be as high anymore. When the time comes, I shall not do mercenary work for some time. Since moving in a team is more mobile and swifter, it’s more suitable to do some preparation for Version 2.0 Mutation Disaster. It’s going to require some planning. While doing that, I can also recruit some main character type people and increase the number of officers…
As he was thinking, Han Xiao’s senses felt a tiny abnormality. Han Xiao’s eyes swayed, and he stood up and walked out of the tent. It was silent. He looked around and was stunned for a second.
The prison car in the middle of the camp was gone. Rezar was nowhere to be found, and the guards were missing too.
“Escaped?”
He did not want any accidents to happen on the mission, so he equipped his mechanical suit and scanned with its radar. Then he discovered that Rezar’s signal was in a small forest just outside the camp. Beside him were signals from about a dozen soldiers, and there was another individual signal hidden not far away from them. That signal’s strength was much higher than the soldiers’. Han Xiao checked through the database and realized that it was unexpectedly from the commander of the Knights, Rex.
The other soldiers are all asleep. What are they taking Rezar to the bush at night for? Holy, can it be…
Han Xiao took a deep breath in.
That is an old man!
They have a really unique taste!
Han Xiao walked into the forest on tiptoes, terrified, ready to turn away and run anytime he saw something dirty. He activated his night vision and looked inside the forest extremely carefully.
Rezar was tied tightly by the magic suppressing chains, and a few knights surrounded him with steel swords in their hands.
Their lips moved, and they seemed to be saying something. Han Xiao increased the output of the sound collection function in the battle suit and heard their conversation.
“I will ask you one last time, where did you get the ceremony from?”
“I found a stone tablet under the Ancient Ruins, on it was the incomplete method of carrying out the ceremony. I changed the spell into using blood as the energy source. How many more times do you want me to say it?”
“Who else knows about this spell?”
“No one. After I memorized the spell, I destroyed the tablet. Do you think I would tell others such a dangerous spell? It’s only safe in my hands.”
Rezar’s face was full of impatience as he replied to the knight.
This knight rubbed his hands, and he said with a tone of suppressed excitement, “How about this, let’s make a deal. You tell us the method to carrying out the ceremony, and I will let you live. Frankly, I am… quite interested in the higher world as well.”
Rezar’s eyes brightened like he had caught the last straw to save his life.
Hahaha, there is always a way out!
Rezar pondered, and a sense of derision appeared on his face. He felt that after he told them of the method, these people would definitely kill him. He secretly raised his alert and asked, “How do I know you don’t just want to trick me out of my spell?”
“We are the guards on duty during this time,” the knight before him said. “If you die, it will easily be traced back to us.”
“Are you not afraid of me killing you after I escape?” Rezar said with narrowed eyes.
“Humph, do you dare? As soon as there is magic movement, these higher world mercenaries will come to deal with you.”
“If I run, won’t you people be traced as well?”
“Hehe, this is not a question that you need to worry about.”
“What if, after you let me go, you immediately alert the rest?”
“Then you can go ahead and sell us out.”
With the conversation, Rezar gradually started to believe that these knights really did want to make a deal with him. His tightened nerves became more relaxed. His attention was completely on talking with the knight in front of him, and he did not notice that a few knights behind him secretly raised their steel swords and aimed at his vital parts.
Even if Rezar was at grade B, if he was penetrated by steel swords when his powers were suppressed, his life would still be in danger.
