The Legendary Mechanic, page 340
Countless mechanical fragments were scattered around, with some having been melted into molten iron, glowing red-hot.
At the middle of the crater, a figure slowly climbed up, his burnt body radiating smoke. He was blacker than the night sky, and after shuddering a few times, the burnt scraps on his body fell off, revealing pale skin. With a zap of the Mechanical Force from his hands, several pieces of machinery transformed into a pair of pants to cover his lower body.
Han Xiao stood there, his upper body bare, supporting the back of his neck with one hand as he stretched and revealed a smile.
“Huff… that was intense. I can feel my whole body becoming more comfortable!”
Everybody’s gaze landed on Han Xiao, their mouths agape.
He… he didn’t die‽
The energetic and spritely Black Star contrasted with the crater that was full of death.
This scene caused Degulish, Terry, Ember, Nagakin, Hila, and the players to suffer from near mental breakdowns, their eyes bulging open with an expression of shock.
Chapter 574. Tanking the Main Cannon‽ (3) |
“Even the mothership’s main cannon could not kill him‽”
Degulish opened his eyes wide in disbelief.
Ember’s fists were clenched tight, his face pale.
Terry shuddered, with an expression of shock.
The battlefield was dead silent!
Han Xiao glanced at the machinery scattered around him, and a hint of pain flashed across his eyes. He was alright, but the majority of his Mechanical Army had been demolished. This time, his losses were huge. Right now, he had over 10 million Enas, and Godora still owed him another 15 million Enas, so money was not a problem.
The main problem was the time needed to rebuild the entire Mechanical Army. After this battle, he would probably have to spend a long time in the machinery modification room to restore the current size of his army.
The Great Mechanic Han counted the notifications on his interface, which indicated the duration of the main cannon shot and the damage inflicted. It was divided into several tiers, with the first impact the highest, gradually decreasing after. It accumulated to more than 50,000 damage in total, higher than his own HP. Most of it was soaked up by himself, with his machinery and shields having absorbed a portion of it.
Having experienced it once, Han Xiao had a good gauge now. If he did not have his defensive measures in place, directly receiving the impact with his body, he would have been hit by a total of more than 80,000 damage. His own HP would not have been able to keep up, and he would most likely have been required to use Aurora’s Character Summon Card. There were three usages left. Plus, he still had his [Void Travel] skill.
I can hold on a few more times. There’s no need to escape right now. I can give this mission another shot. Why not?
Han Xiao’s eyes flashed, and with a wave of his hand, the hull of the BlackLight Stealth opened, spewing out dozens of compressed orbs. He used his Mechanical Force to draw them onto his body, unfolding the spare Amphiptere mechanical suit. Since he always had a habit of storing spare machinery, he had placed several sets of equipment in his spaceship’s warehouse.
The original mechanical suit and compressed orbs that he had on his body were all smashed. Even his Void Dragon Mechanical suit could not withstand the impact. However, the void dragon bones were durable, and most of his core materials were not completely damaged, just scattered around the area. Moreover, with his current position in Floating Dragon, to apply for a few pieces of Void Dragon bones was an easy task for him.
Putting on his mechanical suit, Han Xiao leaped out of the deep crater, hovering in midair as he looked straight at a dumbfounded Degulish. He utilized his thick skin to teasingly say, “Heh heh, I tricked you. Actually, that hit was quite effective. Do you want to try again? Who knows? You might be able to kill me.”
Degulish could hear the mocking inside his words and was so angered that his entire face turned purple. He lost control and bellowed into the communicator, “Continue firing!”
Since one cannon shot could not finish him off, make it two! I don’t believe he can last that long!
Degulish leaped up, and like a cannon shell, he rushed straight toward Han Xiao. The mothership’s main cannon required time to recharge, and he had to tie down Han Xiao to prevent him from escaping. Seeing the situation, Ember and Terry could only put aside their emotions to deal with the matter at hand and cooperate with Degulish.
“Black Star, the mothership’s main cannon has begun the second round of charging.” From his helmet, Risda’s voice sounded.
“Show me the duration,” Han Xiao replied.
On the upper left-hand corner of his tactical screen, a row of numbers appeared, counting down. The second blast of the main cannon would be fully charged and fire after forty seconds.
Han Xiao and the other three once again started to fight. The durability of Amphiptere was far below that of the Void Dragon Mechanical suit, and it was not long before it was reduced to scrap metal. However, he still had a few more compressed orbs containing different mechanical suits, and he merely kept replacing them after they were destroyed.
Thirty seconds soon passed. The moment the second shot would be fired was getting closer.
Having once again smashed Han Xiao into the ground, Degulish and the others moved away to avoid the blast.
However, this time was different. Han Xiao did not remain on the spot to prepare his defenses but rather lunged toward Terry who was nearest to him.
The fact that Han Xiao was aware of the timing was not surprising to them, because after the previous scenario, he could easily have inferred that the cannon strike was coming when they started to avoid him.
“He wants to drag Terry down with him?”
Degulish immediately understood Han Xiao’s intention. He was not surprised and only snorted coldly as he muttered, “He’ll never catch up to Terry.”
As a Calamity Grade, Terry’s speed surpassed Han Xiao’s. Even at his full speed, the distance between the two was constantly widening. Based on this scenario, Han Xiao could never catch up to Terry.
Ember suddenly lurched to a stop, screaming out, “No, hurry and stop the cannon! Black Star has a teleportation ability!”
In his previous battle, Han Xiao had used his skill [Void Travel] once. It was to stop Ember from utilizing his Esper ability, and Ember had almost been kicked in the crotch. Thus, his impression of that was deep.
Having been reminded, Degulish’s expression dropped as he grabbed his communicator and bellowed.
“Trouble! Cancel the lock on now!”
At that moment, Han Xiao activated [Void Travel] and flashed across the remaining distance to appear beside Terry, an evil grin on his face.
“Hehe, come, let’s bet who can last longer this time.”
“No!”
Terry’s face drastically changed, a hint of fear appearing on his face together with a ‘Don’t-come-closer’ look.
Boom!
The next moment, the second shot was fired from the cannon, and another mountain range appeared.
Explosions, debris, soil flew everywhere, just like the previous scene. Everyone inside the protective shield felt the tremors once more.
When the smoke disappeared, everyone discovered that the aim of the cannon was off, tens of miles away from where Han Xiao was supposed to be.
At the very last second, the commander of the DarkStar mothership had hurriedly shifted the muzzle of the cannon.
Terry stood rooted, his mouth agape, as he stared at the crater far away from him. His whole body was covered in cold sweat, and he immediately escaped from Han Xiao to a few thousand kilometers away.
Having escaped the jaws of death, Terry still felt trepidation at what had occurred, heaving and gasping for breath.
“Well, count yourself lucky.”
Han Xiao remained where he was, his mouth twisted, thinking it a pity.
If DarkStar did not have the chance to react, he would have been able to give his enemies a taste of their own medicine. Through killing with this borrowed knife… no, cannon, he would get rid of a Calamity Grade Super, obtaining his repayment with interest and at the same time having one less enemy.
Even so, it served its purpose. Han Xiao shook his head, turning back to look at Degulish and company. He waved his hands, revealing a look of apology.
“What next? Are you still firing?”
“You…”
Degulish almost broke his teeth as he clenched his jaws, almost crushing his communicator as well. However, he did not dare use the same tactic on Han Xiao anymore.
Black Star had received the first shot, and they had almost killed Terry with the next shot. Those two shots proved that the main cannon was useless against Black Star and could even backfire on them!
The three Calamity Grade could not kill Black Star, and even the mothership’s main cannon with the highest lethality could not stop him. This allowed them to discover a point—even though it was Black Star that could not defeat them, the advantage had fallen into his hands! Before this, they never would have thought that a little fellow who was not even Calamity Grade would be so troublesome!
He could not be beaten to death, nor could he be killed. Then, could they take him up to the ship?
Degulish immediately vetoed this idea. What a joke! Why would anyone take this malicious star onto their own spaceship?
At that moment, an urgent message came through the communicator.
“There’s a strong spatial fluctuation detected nearby. Godora’s fleet has broken through the lock down in space, and their reinforcements are approaching us through hyperdrive. We do not have much time and must retreat.”
Han Xiao had also received news from Nagakin at the same time and heaved a sigh of relief. The Godoran reinforcements had arrived, albeit a bit late, but it was better late than never.
Degulish’s face was extremely ugly to behold. He had no other choice but to accept that their mission had failed this time. Because they had been delayed too long by Han Xiao, they were not able to cause greater damage to Planet Aquamarine.
The DarkStar troops began to retreat, and Degulish and company retreated from the flight, boarding the spaceship to take over command.
At that moment, the three of them heard the light laugh from Han Xiao.
“Come and play when you have the time!”
Han Xiao smiled as he waved, adding another sentence in his heart— If you still have the chance to do so.
“Just you wait, I’ll see if you still can laugh in the future!”
Degulish had a dark expression as he turned to enter the spaceship.
Ember deeply looked at Han Xiao… Next time, I’ll definitely find a way to kill you.
The DarkStar troops began to retreat, and the mothership that remained in outer space also took its leave.
Because the reinforcements sent by Godora were overly huge this time, along with the escort teams from all the other Calamity planets coming over, DarkStar did not wish to exchange fire and hurriedly retreated.
After watching the DarkStar motherships depart, Han Xiao shifted his gaze, looking around at the devastated Sanctuary as his smile slowly vanished. He exhaled heavily.
This time, their losses were heavy.
The main base was still fine, but the outer sections of the Sanctuary had been wrecked, becoming a pile of debris. The death count had not been tallied, but it would not be far from their estimations. In addition to the losses of the Six Nations, the number of dead and injured would reach tens of thousands.
They had scraped through the Mutation Disaster, but the survivors had now experienced another calamity, causing their civilization to receive a big hit.
The only good news was that Planet Aquamarine’s civilization did not completely die out.
“Bennett, count the losses and treat the wounded.”
With a sigh, Han Xiao used the communicator to issue some instructions before he plopped down on the ground, facing the sky.
Once the pressure vanished, all the pain burst forth, and it attacked his body in waves, causing him to feel like not moving a single muscle.
This battle had truly tired him out.
Thankfully, though the losses were huge, the outcome was still reasonable. At least it was over.
Over on Nagakin’s side, he gazed on with a complicated expression at Han Xiao, who was lying on the ground, with the horror in his heart still surging.
While DarkStar had taken advantage of the unprotected Planet Aquamarine and launched an attack with three Calamity Grade Supers, their siege was fruitless. Even the main cannon could not kill Black Star, and in contrast, because of Black Star’s actions, they had prevented the planet from being destroyed and even forced them to retreat!
Nagakin could imagine, in the following period, how much this news would shake the Shattered Star Ring!
Chapter 575. Mission Reward, Plan Preparations |
A series of notifications popped up on Han Xiao’s interface.
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[Planet Aquamarine’s Crisis] has been completed!
You have received 620,000 Experience.
+2 Garton Star System Renown
+1,500 Planet Aquamarine: Six Nations Faction Favorability
[Assassination Target] has been completed!
You have received 12,100,000 Experience.
+30 Garton Star System Renown
+1,000 Godora Faction Favorability
You have received 1 Legendary Point.
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Both tasks were completed in one go. Han Xiao glanced at the notifications. His renown in the Garton Star System had not been low to start with. When the news spreads, there would still be an additional increase in renown. After this battle, his renown would probably take another step forward and attain the tier of [Famous Far and Wide], allowing him to join the list of notable characters in the star system.
He even got a new Legendary Point.
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Star System Legendary Point (Garton Star System): Battling against Three Calamities—You were besieged by three Grade A Supers, facing them alone, but you were not defeated in the end. This proves your strength! This is a legendary deed, enough to make anyone who hears of this feel surprised and intrigued. Those who know you will recognize your ability, and your deeds will be sung throughout the galaxy!
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The Legendary Point of a Star System had wider coverage than Planetary Legendary Points. This would help to increase his rewards. While the Planetary Legendary Point gave an increase of five percent in rewards, the Star System Legendary Point gave twelve percent. This was also Han Xiao’s first Legendary Point of the Star System.
Other than the mission reward, the NPC template was updated with a new dungeon along with a title.
[Warfare: Defense of Planet Aquamarine]
What an unexpected joy. Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
Only the more sensational battles would result in the generation of a dungeon copy. A similar one to this dungeon would be the [Warfare: Power of the Dragon Emperor]. This meant that his battle had reached the level that was deemed worthy of being saved as a copy.
The rewards were easily dealt with. At this point, the Godoran spaceships slowly landed from the sky, and the commander brought a whole bunch of subordinates down as he briskly walked over.
“DarkStar installed a space disruptor. We’re late because of that and allowed them to escape. How’s the situation here?”
As he spoke, the gaze of the fleet commander slowly drifted toward the crater blasted by the main cannon. His heart sank as he thought that the mission had failed, and Planet Aquamarine had suffered from irreparable damage.
“The enemy did not succeed…” Nagakin briefly summarized the happenings, including the actions of Han Xiao. He heavily emphasized the fight between Han Xiao and DarkStar.
As he listened, the Godoran commander, alongside with his subordinates, changed the way they looked at Han Xiao. The disbelief in their faces was clear to see.
To resist three Calamity Grades, and even be able to tank the mothership main cannon blast, this was too overpowered. Just by looking at the surrounding battle scars, the Godorans could tell how intense the battle had been.
The upper echelons of Godora were still anxiously awaiting the results. They did not care about Planet Aquamarine, but they did care about Han Xiao’s safety. As long as Han Xiao remained alive, their intelligence transaction could continue.
When they received the news that three high-level combatants from DarkStar had been sent out, the upper echelons had felt their hearts grow cold, thinking that Black Star had been caught stealing information and thus had been wiped. However, the report from Nagakin surprised them.
To think that Black Star could actually go against three without being defeated! One had to know that he was not facing off against weaklings but rather Calamity Grade Supers! As for tanking the main cannon, such a level of strength caused even the knowledgeable Godoran superiors to be shocked.
The performance of Black Star was enough to rank him as a first-rate combatant!
Because the Sanctuary and the Six Nations had been damaged to varying degrees, people were organized to deal with it. Since the Godorans had arrived and needed camp for a while in case DarkStar decided to make a return trip, they pitched in to help clear up the wreckage.
There were ruined structures everywhere, and flames and smoke still lingered. Many of the wounded were still being dug out by the guards from the ruins, screaming miserably. There were also people who were weeping at the loss of their family. It was a scene of tragedy. Although DarkStar had been repelled, they had caused countless deaths, and the wounds would forever remain in the survivors’ hearts.
Fortunately, many of the surviving residents did not have time to be sad, instead taking the initiative to join the disaster relief effort, contributing their strength.
