The Legendary Mechanic, page 271
Furthermore, the Dragon Emperor’s teacher was an Oracle!
After experiencing the effect of the Destiny’s Child Character Summon Card, Han Xiao was familiar with the foresight ability. Prophecies were not all knowing. Plus, the future shown in the foresight would not be too far away in advance. If the target did not use his foresight ability, he would be no different from an ordinary person, so maybe he did not know that Han Xiao and the others were looking for him. However, that was delusional—the target should have known about it long ago!
Oracles were all difficult to deal with. If they did not want to get caught, it would be way too easy for them to hide with their powers.
Just like how the Germinal Organization could not find Han Xiao back then no matter what.
Han Xiao could not figure out what that person was thinking. If he wanted to see Ames, he would not have hidden. Although he still had the Destiny’s Child Character Summon Card, he did not intend to use it here as the results would not impact him much.
What was important was to carry out the ‘search’; the result was not crucial. After all, as long as he gave Ames some clues, he would have done his job.
Whether Ames could see her teacher or not, Han Xiao was not bothered.
Upon getting the clues that they wanted, he and the others left the intel organization. They headed straight to the train station and took the high-speed maglev train to City 8.
The train had many cabins, and the cabin that they were sitting in was for groups. Their seats were around a table.
The scenery outside the window dashed by. Herlous was playing cards with the three brothers again, and Feidin was observing how normal people played cards from the side. Aroshia was eating snacks, and Sylvia was playing with Phillip.
As they had gone to Noriosse just to find someone, their mood was relaxed as they chatted and joked around. Anyway, Black Star was the best at finding things—they had nothing to worry about.
Han Xiao crossed his arms and rested with his eyes closed.
This time, a voice from a strange man appeared beside them.
“Can I sit here?”
Han Xiao opened his eyes—a golden skinned man was standing beside him. He was carrying a backpack and smiling; it was a Godoran. However, his skin color was very light, meaning that he was not a pureblood Godoran.
Han Xiao’s heart tightened, instantly alarmed. He had become naturally alert around all hybrid Godorans.
“Who are you?”
“Haha, it seems like I was too direct, allow me to introduce myself.” This Godoran bowed elegantly and said with a well-mannered tone, “My name is Alvin. As you can see, I’m a Godoran. However, do not worry, I’m not an arrogant pureblood, just a normal Godoran and Galaxy Human Race mix. I apologize for disturbing, I just hoped to find some company on this short trip.”
Han Xiao and the others were puzzled.
A stranger came out of nowhere and wanted to be friends with them. No matter how they looked at it, it was really strange!
Could it be that someone’s charm had attracted this guy?
They instantly looked at Feidin then at Han Xiao.
Han Xiao pointed to the side and said, “There are empty seats over there. If you’re just looking for a place to rest, please do not disturb us.”
“No, no, no, please don’t misunderstand me…” Alvin suddenly sat down and pushed Herlous in, as if he was going to sit there no matter what. He smiled sincerely and said, “I’m a traveler in Noriosse too; my friends stayed at the port, and I’m the only one who came to the surface. It’s too lonely to travel alone, and I love to make friends. There’s a saying in my home that goes ‘Making friends with strangers is a man’s way’.”
“Hey, don’t push me. We haven’t agreed to let you sit down!” Herlous was displeased.
“Hmm? You’re playing Wayne Card?” Alvin saw the cards on the table, and his eyes sparkled. He took out a deck of cards, slammed it on the table, and said, “Well, I happen to be a master in Wayne Card. I use the Light Territory card set and have yet to lose to anyone. Come on, dare to play a round?”
“How are you so quick to become friendly! Who wants to play cards with you‽” Herlous was speechless.
Alvin laughed loudly with confidence and said, “Indeed, just playing is not fun at all. Let’s add some stakes to it. 50 Enas for a round, do you dare play with me?”
“Haha, are you challenging me?” Herlous was provoked. He felt that his position and pride as the ‘Black Star God of Gambling’ had been insulted… although there were few people in the Black Star Mercenary Group.
At the same time, Herlous discreetly turned to look at Han Xiao.
Han Xiao gave him a hand sign, signaling that it was okay.
He had checked Alvin just now. This Godoran was very weak, and his energy sign barely reached Grade C’s standard. He could crush him in a second, so it was not much of a threat.
He wanted to see what this Godoran was trying to do and what his motives were, so he allowed him to stay and observed him closely.
Chapter 476. Attack |
Herlous received approval. He sat opposite Alvin, arranged his card set, and sneered, “Since you want to give me free money, I shall grant you your wish.”
“Haha, it’s still uncertain who will lose.” Alvin laughed loudly.
His laughter could be heard in the entire cabin. The other passengers looked over.
The two of them started the round, which quickly became intense. Alvin was very quick to familiarize himself with others and spoke in a tone as if they were already very close friends. After the initial awkward stage, the atmosphere soon became harmonious as they chatted and joked with each other.
Han Xiao stared at Alvin from start to finish, preventing him from having any ulterior motives. At the same time, he discreetly activated the metal detector and wave detector in case he had some devices on him.
However, Alvin did not make any strange movements at all; everything that he had on him was normal. He was just playing cards excitedly along the way, shouting and joking, seeming very forthright.
Two hours later, the train arrived at the station.
Alvin took a deep breath of the fresh air, turned around, and slightly bowed toward Han Xiao and the others. “It was a short trip, but the time spent was amazing. It will be engraved in my mind as a beautiful memory. I sincerely thank you guys for your company. We are friends now. I hope that we will have the chance to meet again in the future.”
Then, he waved, turned around, and left with his bag.
“Strange guy,” Sylvia murmured.
“Such an amiable guy,” said Feidin with a smile.
“He’s probably just an honest passerby. We might have been overthinking,” Herlous said.
Han Xiao glanced at him and did not comment. Although he still did not know Alvin’s motive, he rarely believed that anything was coincidental. Even if this guy called Alvin did not do anything abnormal during the trip, he still did not let his guard down. He patted Phillip’s metal head and said, “Captured his looks?”
“A total of 372 photos, hum… There’s one for every angle, hum…”
“Let’s not care about him for now. We shall go search for our target.” Han Xiao nodded and walked forward. Then he casually asked, “By the way, I did not see earlier, did you guys win money in cards?”
Herlous scratched his head.
“That guy is quite good; he won a few hundred from me… I lost a lot, so I let Feidin help me. He won a few rounds, and then we arrived. In conclusion… hmm? It happened to be a tie. No one won or lost any money.”
Han Xiao’s footsteps suddenly paused, and he rubbed his chin.
“Alvin, never heard of this name before… interesting…”
…
As Han Xiao did not know Alvin’s motive, he put the matter to the back of his mind, followed the clues from the intel, and found the last place that the target appeared.
It was a narrow, rural street surrounded by tall buildings. Between the tall buildings, there was surprisingly a comparatively short villa. Its construction style fitted the aesthetic of humans—smooth, symmetrical, and with a yard. It looked like a private mansion.
The alloy door was sealed shut, so the inside could only be seen through a small window in the door. There was no one in the yard at this time.
Han Xiao looked around and noticed a button beside the door, likely the doorbell for visitors.
“We’re here to search for someone, not to kill… ahem, sneak in. It’s best to knock. The target has foresight anyway. If he wants to see us, he will walk out himself.”
After pressing the doorbell, they waited at the gate. They were used to climbing over walls, so now that they had to walk the front gate, they felt uncomfortable.
After a while, Han Xiao pressed the doorbell a few more times, but still, no one responded.
“There might be no one in, or the person inside doesn’t want to open the gate. What do you say, break in?” Herlous shrugged.
“Since no one responded, we shall go in and take a look before…”
Boom!
Han Xiao’s sentence had yet to finish when a loud bang suddenly came from above. He was way too familiar with this sound—it was the sound of a cannon being fired. Han Xiao could analyze the cannon’s model with just the sound. “Dodge!”
Everyone there was a Super, so their reaction speed was extremely fast. They immediately jumped away from their initial spot.
Boom!
A chain explosion happened on where they initially stood, and black smoke filled the air—this was the effect of an exploded rocket.
Looking up following bullet trajectory, it was from one window in the building opposite the villa. Quite a few vertical creatures were extending their heads out of the window and looking down. One of them was still holding the rocket launcher.
The next moment, ten or so creatures jumped out of the window and fell right onto the ground from dozens of meters high!
The thick smoke dissipated in the wind, showing the true face of those creatures—a group of stone creatures. They had four arms, two legs, and one head, wearing simple and plain battle suits, and had some firearms in their hands. Some even had melee weapons like mechanical axes, war hammers, and the like. They gave off a mercenary vibe as they were on the verge of attacking.
Han Xiao and gang were just looking for someone; they did not expect to be attacked, so they were surprised.
“Why did you attack us?” Sylvia asked.
“Someone paid us to teach you a lesson,” a stone man said.
Teach us a lesson?
Sylvia was about to reply, but suddenly, her face changed, and she yelled, “No, Phillip!”
Han Xiao looked over following her voice. Around the feet of these stone mercenaries, broken parts were spilled all over the floor.
Phillip had been too slow and could not dodge the earlier explosions. It had been blasted into pieces and become a pile of scrap metal.
At this time, these stone warriors struck. They growled with a weird voice and charged toward Han Xiao and the others.
Han Xiao tutted. He pulled out a compressed orb from his necklace, threw it onto the floor, and it rapidly expanded into the black Amphiptere mechanical suit. However, he did not wear it—it stood beside him.
This time, Han Xiao said with a deep voice, “Beat them up!”
Hum!
The eyes of the Amphiptere mechanical suit suddenly lit up!
This mechanical suit moved on its own. It swung its leg sideways like a black lash, whipping the foremost stone warrior on his chest.
Pa!
The huge strength blew him away and smashed him against the wall, shattering a huge pile of pebbles. It was unknown whether it was from the wall or from the stone warrior’s body.
“Order effective, hum… Combat Mode activated, hum… The enemy is blown away, hum…”
The empty Amphiptere mechanical suit was in combat mode, and Phillip’s voice came out of the helmet.
Phillip was an artificial intelligence, so it lived in computer systems. Machinery was just what he controlled. When the shell was destroyed, it would not be damaged with it. Its core was behind layers of protection. With the computing speed of an artificial intelligence, it could simultaneously control dozens more mechanical beasts than before. Furthermore, with the combat simulations in the database, it could improvise on the spot and battle independently with a high standard!
This meant that Phillip could replace him and pilot the mechanical suit, and it could pilot more than one!
The smart chips before this had limited computing speed, comparatively weak combat capabilities, and could not react quickly. These were the most necessary attributes in the everchanging battlefield, so the smart chip could only be used as an assisting feature in combination with Han Xiao’s nerves connection. However, with the new smart system built with [Advanced Artificial Intelligence Technology], like the improvement from gunpowder weapon to electromagnetic weapons, it was a complete update and enhancement!
Han Xiao’s Hound Style had very limited effectiveness against enemies at the same Grade, but together with the strong mechanical suits operated by an artificial intelligence, it would make an entirely different level of impact. His mechanical suits were high quality mechanical weapons, so this made up for his shortage of robot warriors! Even if it was against someone at the same Grade, it would still last very long!
All High-End Knowledges were useful. The artificial intelligence technology that had powerful computing speed was one of the prerequisites of completing the Army Style!
Han Xiao turned around to Sylvia and said, “Go back and copy the theory for smart chips five times.”
Sylvia’s face immediately dropped, completely downcast.
Buzz!
Mechanical Force gushed out from Han Xiao’s fingertips and entangled with Amphiptere mechanical suit, providing it with his bonuses.
There was no need for him to fight; Phillip controlled the mechanical suit and dealt with the enemies. It analyzed all the movements of the enemies and accurately dodged all their attacks. Its heavy punches cracked the rock skin of the stone warriors, making suppressed loud noises.
Dong, dong!
Pebbles spurted everywhere!
“Don’t hit too hard. We can’t randomly kill people on Noriosse.”
Han Xiao leaned against the wall and watched the one-sided battle. His eyes flickered. “Furthermore, these stone men were probably hired by that Oracle to wait for us. It looks like he indeed knows that someone is looking for him. Humph.”
Chapter 477. DarkStar Traitor |
Clank!
With a set of effortless punches and less than two minutes, the Amphiptere mechanical suit controlled by Phillip defeated those stone warriors. The rocks lay down on the ground and whined weakly.
They were just Grade C, so the mechanical suit enhanced by Han Xiao easily crushed them.
“No! My smooth skin!” The head of the stone warriors looked at his cracked body and wailed. In terms of stone man aesthetics, the quality of the stone on their body’s surface was the same as their attractiveness. The most beautiful ones were, of course, diamonds, crystals, and minerals of the same sort. Even if it was normal stone, if it was as smooth as a mirror, they would be considered handsome.
Even if they could digest stones to heal their wounds, it would take a very long for them to recover.
This enormous sized guy’s moaning made Han Xiao feel like beating him up again.
“You’re not even stronger than us, yet you want to teach us a lesson? Where did you find the courage‽” The oldest Volga looked at them disdainfully.
Han Xiao was a little surprised by how weak those stone warriors were. It was impossible for their employer not to know how strong Han Xiao and the others were. What impact would it make for him to send these weaklings? Was it just a warning or welcome gift? Could he have guessed incorrectly and the stone warriors’ employer was not their target?
Matters involving Oracles were always a headache. Han Xiao did not want to dwell on it; he grabbed the stone warrior and questioned him directly. “Who is your employer?”
Accordingly, mercenaries would not sell the identity of their employer. Han Xiao was already prepared to interrogate then, but to his surprise, these stone warriors gave him an expected reply.
“The employer wanted us to come here today to deal with the person that pressed the doorbell of that villa and said that our lives wouldn’t be in danger. If we got defeated, we should tell you a location to find a person there, and there will be someone there that knows his whereabouts,” the stone warrior said nervously. “He also said that you will forcefully ask for the employer’s identity and told me to relay his exact words. ‘You guessed right—it is me indeed. Don’t think I don’t know you used my name fraudulently. Play a game with me if you want to find me’.”
Everyone’s expression changed slightly.
“Damn Oracle!” Han Xiao clenched his teeth.
Herlous slapped Han Xiao’s back heavily and laughed loudly. “Hahahaha, you met a colleague!”
“Colleagues hate each other.” Han Xiao snorted and asked for the location. The stone warrior said the next location while shivering—north of City 8. They had to cross the entire city to go there.
Han Xiao stood up and pondered. The intention of the Oracle to hire these stone warriors was actually to leave some clues and lead them to the next location.
The target had intentionally left traces sixteen days ago then used his foresight ability to peek into their whereabouts, knowing that they would be arriving at this place today. Hence, he hired these stone warriors. The ability to foresee was not omnipotent or omniscient; it could not be used randomly and needed some attached strings, which was why the target deliberately left clues for the intel organizations.
He could certainly break the prophecy and kill these stone warriors. The problem was whether that would be in the Oracle’s calculations, telling the stone warriors there would be no danger to provoke Han Xiao’s rebellious thought, while his true intention was to make Han Xiao kill these stone warriors, which would attract the security forces. Would there even be a possibility that the counter thoughts that Han Xiao was currently having had been seen through by the Oracle? Could he have used Han Xiao’s personality as the foundation for telling these stone men that they were definitely safe‽
