The Legendary Mechanic, page 364
…
The Blacklight Stealth exited hyperdrive, slowly caught up with Floating Dragon Island, and docked.
“So, this is Floating Dragon Island…”
Disembarking from the spaceship, Aurora looked left and right curiously. She saw the brutes gathered on the dock immediately, who all looked fearsome. They were clearly not good people.
The brutes turned around and looked at them.
Hila saw this and quickly caught up with Aurora. She stood beside her and looked around at the brutes with alertness in her eyes, like a lioness protecting its child.
“Don’t be so nervous. Although Floating Dragon allows galactic pirates, scavengers, and wanted criminals to stop here, no fighting is allowed… Er, not usually of course. Ahem, anyway, they won’t bite.”
As Han Xiao spoke, he walked over to the two of them, then wrapped his arm around Hila shoulders and looked around. “Hey, what are you people still looking at?”
The brutes then all turned and looked away, continuing with their business. Han Xiao’s ride was too famous; no one wanted to mess with Black Star, on Floating Dragon Island especially.
Hila glanced at Han Xiao then looked at the hand on her shoulder and moved her body uncomfortably.
“My friend, you’ve returned again.”
This time, Wilsander’s voice came from nearby. He had gotten the news long ago and had been waiting to welcome Han Xiao.
What Han Xiao did not expect was that Jenny was there, standing right behind Wilsander.
He greeted Wilsander before looking at Jenny. He chuckled and said, “You’re here, too, huh? Work has been busy, I suppose; you look gaunter than the last time I saw you.”
Without any change to her expression, Jenny snatched a weapon from a guard and started firing at Han Xiao like a maniac.
Bang bang bang!
Han Xiao let the small-caliber laser land on his body without moving. This could not hurt him at all.
At the side, Aurora’s jaw dropped from watching this. Hila clenched her teeth, looking like she was wondering whether to stop it or not. Wilsander was shaking his head and sighing.
Ka ka ka!
When the firearm overheated and could not continue firing anymore, Jenny finally threw it away and coldly said, “Ames is waiting for you in the palace.”
Then, she turned and instantly walked away.
She knew that she could not hurt Han Xiao; she just wanted to vent her frustration.
As the Head Butler, Jenny had been as busy as a bee recently. Being very understanding, Han Xiao did not mind letting Jenny enjoy herself for a moment.
Anyway, this would not affect his actions. He would still expand as he planned to. Jenny’s relaxed time was over and never coming back, just like her youth.
Han Xiao patted his clothes, unconcerned. He turned to look at Hila and said, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to see Ames. Memorize the roads on the way.”
Speechless, the two of them looked at each other before nodding.
After bidding farewell to Wilsander, they went all the way to the palace at the center of the floating island.
The dragon bone throne floated in the palace. Ames was sitting on it, resting her head on her hand, and watching the three of them walk into the palace. She sighed and said, “Black Star, you’re so slow, only bringing them here after a few months.”
Han Xiao did not agree or disagree. Hila and Aurora bowed as a greeting.
Ames controlled her force field, lowering the height of the throne, and landed in front of the three of them. She smiled and said, “Alright, you will be my students from now on. You can call me teacher.”
“Teacher,” the two of them replied.
Ames was very pleased by that. Her smile became even more gentle. This was what she had once called Aesop. Now that she had her own students, it felt very special.
“Although our Esper abilities are different, I can teach you methods to develop yours using my experience, helping you to make use of your potential,” Ames said gently.
Hila nodded solemnly. “Okay, when do we start?”
She was a training maniac, and with such a strong teacher, she could not wait to start training.
However, Ames shook her head and said, “Not now. I want you guys to go somewhere with me.”
Han Xiao’s eyebrows twitched. “Bloodshed Land?”
“Yes, all three of you are coming with me.”
She’s bringing Hila and Aurora too? Then it seems like we’re not going there to fight… Han Xiao was relieved.
This was good news. He did not want to mess with the force of another Beyond Grade A out of nowhere.
However, to confirm Ames’ intention, Han Xiao still asked, “That’s Heber’s territory. I heard there were problems between you and him. Why are we going?”
Ames’ smile became dimmer as she slowly said, “The Tyrant is an ambitious guy. We don’t get along. He even once stole someone talented from me, but this time, we are not going there to cause trouble.
“Every once in a while, the Tyrant hosts an enormous party. He sends out invitation letters to the important people of the Shattered Star Ring. Almost everyone shows him respect and attends. There are high ranking government officials of Star Cluster civilizations, representatives of large organizations, and sometimes even emissaries of the three Universal Civilizations. Of course, the Beyond Grade As of Shattered Star Ring are invited, including me… Humph, despite that guy being a pain in the neck, he is a very unpredictable man. Back then, I battled through his headquarters, but the next party, the Tyrant still invited me.
“Anyway, the Tyrant’s parties have continued for many years. It has become an unspoken tradition between large organizations. This is a chance to make connections for many important people. The Tyrant has the ability to be the host. At the party, many important people will communicate and discuss various topics. A large amount of information will be leaked out every single party. The discussions between these people during the party decide the future developments of the Shattered Star Ring to quite a large extent.”
So that’s what this is… Han Xiao realized what was going on.
Simply put, the Tyrant hosted a Shattered Star Ring party, which people attended to make friends, chitchat, gossip, and all that. The difference was, the attendees all held very important positions, which, when all combined, could even decide the future of Shattered Star Ring.
Hosting this kind of gathering and turning it into a tradition for the high-class organizations… the Tyrant was indeed ambitious. His goal was massive.
“So, are you going to attend the Tyrant’s party?”
Han Xiao was surprised. Floating Dragon had always stayed neutral. Plus, considering Ames’ personality, she did not seem to care about this sort of thing.
“Of course I’m going!” Ames’ voice became deeper. “I don’t want to look so petty!”
What? What does this have to do with petty? Han Xiao was puzzled.
He then tried to think from Ames’ perspective and finally realized what Ames meant.
I hate his guts. How dare he invite me to join his party! To show he’s generous? F*ck, did he invite me because he thinks I won’t go? If I don’t go, doesn’t that show that I’m petty? Go! I must go! I’m generous and awesome, why would I be afraid of going!
To Han Xiao, he thought this guess was about at least ninety percent right. This seemed like the kind of thing Ames would think.
Then why bring me? Oh, because the Tyrant has so many strong people under his command, so Ames doesn’t want to lose on that front. That’s why she’s taking me there!
At least we’re not going there to make trouble… Han Xiao was a little puzzled and could only comfort himself this way. “When does the party start?”
“There’s still some time. We will leave tomorrow, heading straight toward Bloodshed Land’s headquarters.”
Bloodshed Land was located in the Seoul Star Cluster. If the Shattered Star Ring could be described in a flat 2D map, the middle would be the most dangerous, unstable cluster, filled with wormholes appearing and disappearing at random, connected to all places in the universe.
On the map, one side would be the edge of the known universe, beyond which was the unknown part of the universe that was unexplored.
The other side would be the tunnels toward other Star Fields that cover astronomical distances of the unpopulated desolate universe. That was how Risda had arrived, traveling through Star Fields for a very long time from another Star Field.
Surrounding the wormhole cluster were ten or so Star Clusters, all divided and controlled by the seven Star Cluster Civilizations of the Shattered Star Ring.
The Taralam Star Cluster was the closest to the wormhole cluster. It was plagued with scavengers. When Han Xiao was doing the Chen Xing missions, he had gone there once.
Between the Colton Star Cluster and Seoul Star Cluster was a desolate area. It could almost be considered their border.
On the other side of the Seoul Star Cluster was the largest Star Cluster, the Setin Star Cluster. Seoul was in the middle of Setin and Colton; it was the second smallest Star Cluster in the Shattered Star Ring.
In terms of government, the Star Cluster Civilization that ruled Seoul was called the Klent Kingdom, and the Star Cluster Civilization that ruled Colton was the Purple Crystal Civilization. These two civilizations coexisted peacefully. They had built many large Stargates in each other’s territory. Godora’s Stargate had been built by the Purple Crystal Civilization.
The Tyrant’s Bloodshed Land was the Klent Kingdom’s VIP. With a Star Cluster Civilization behind them, the Tyrant’s party represented both the influence of a Beyond Grade A and the position of a Star Cluster Civilization. Hence, so many people would attend.
“So, we’re going to the Seoul Star Cluster, right?” Han Xiao sighed. “Take my spaceship then.”
Smiling, Ames said, “That’s exactly what I thought.”
Chapter 606. Bloodshed Land |
In the middle of Seoul Star Cluster, the stars shone brightly. A stream of light slashed across the universe, bolting through the darkness. It was the BlackLight Stealth in hyperdrive. On the ship were only Han Xiao, Ames, Hila, and Aurora.
After a few days, the four of them finally arrived at Seoul from Colton, passing through many stargates and Star Systems. When passing through the entry stargate from Colton to Seoul, they were even searched by the stargate station.
Klent Kingdom’s management of the Seoul Star Cluster was rather strict. They had set checkpoints around the entry stargates from other Star Clusters.
The entry stargate allowed teleportation across the desolate area between the two Star Clusters, saving a huge chunk of time. All the galactic travelers with a clean background would use the stargate, whereas those who took the path through the desolate region were mostly wanted criminals and secret organizations.
Bloodshed Land’s headquarters were in the heavily controlled Star System, the core Star System in the middle of the Seoul Star Cluster.
In the ship’s hall, Han Xiao looked at the location marked on the star map and curled his lips.
“Planet Heber. Tsk tsk… he used his own name for the headquarters, such a…” Just a Han Xiao was about to comment, he suddenly realized that he had done the same thing, so he instantly changed his sentence. “Such a wise choice!”
“Are we almost there?” Aurora looked at the star map curiously and realized that she could not understand it.
“The hyperdrive will end in about ten minutes and twenty-seven seconds.” Han Xiao looked at the control panel presented by Risda. The spaceship was on autopilot at the moment, and all four of them were at the hall.
Aurora turned and asked, “Teacher, is Planet Heber similar to Floating Dragon Island?”
Ames lay down sideways on the sofa, elegant and casual. She smiled and said, “Different, Planet Heber’s costs are higher. It’s a modified planet, built by Klent Kingdom with Star Cluster level technology. It’s more like a portable fortress. It’s Heber’s second strongest weapon.”
Star Cluster Civilizations’ ability far exceeded that of Star System Civilizations; they were on completely different levels. The most obvious difference was mobility—Star Cluster Civilizations could build stargates, so their transport speed was countless times faster than Star System Civilizations’.
Also, Star Cluster Civilizations had the technology to build planet-grade battleships, the most common one being the Planet Mining Mothership. It could ‘devour’ an entire planet, breaking it down inside and turning it into all kinds of resources.
For example, Planet Heber was a planet-grade space fortress built by Klent Kingdom.
“Second strongest? Then what’s the Tyrant’s strongest weapon?” Hila asked with a serious expression. She was more interested in the abilities of the strongest people in the Shattered Star Ring.
“His strongest weapons is, of course, his own body.” Ames shook her head. “He can use his physical body to penetrate straight through a planet.”
“Impossible!” Aurora exclaimed.
Han Xiao had Phillip search for Heber’s history. It seemed like there was more than one record of him crashing through a planet. Rather, it looked like it was Heber’s usual activity.
“Heber’s body is extremely strong. Mud and stones cannot stop him. The high-density rock layer under deep under the surface is as fragile as paper to him, and lava is his bathing water. Even a planet’s core isn’t hot enough to burn him. Maybe a Fixed Star could hurt him, but not a planet, so crashing through a planet is not a challenge for him.” Ames sighed.
Heber was almost her nemesis, yet even the highest strength force field could not tear Heber apart. Heber could move freely even under the pressure. If she used Floating Dragon to hit him, it would be shattered by Heber instead. The nemesis of force field type Espers was indeed this kind of indestructible enemy. After all, although force field Esper abilities were well rounded, it was more toward controlling—damage was not its strength.
Despite Ames being carefree, she was not ignorant. She knew her own weaknesses.
Hila frowned and kept silent. Heber’s strength currently exceeded her knowledge range, so she did not know what to say.
“Heber penetrating a planet is like a sniper bullet penetrating several planks.” Han Xiao shook his head. A Beyond Grade A Pugilist was terrifyingly powerful.
After chatting for a while, the Blacklight Stealth finally exited hyperdrive state. The light tunnel outside the porthole disappeared, and the universe reappeared.
Right under the spaceship, a small, metallic planet entered their sights. Its color seemed solemn and serious.
Planet Heber!
Han Xiao received a communication request from Planet Heber. If they did not identify themselves and continued loitering around Planet Heber, they would be deemed as an enemy.
Ames had the invitation letter, so after verifying their identity, Planet Heber sent the parking coordinates. Han Xiao told Risda to control the spaceship and land at the given location.
As Planet Heber was a moving fortress like Floating Dragon, it did not have natural sunlight. The top of it was covered with thick, dark artificial clouds to block the radiation from the universe.
The spaceship slowly descended. After passing through the black clouds, Planet Heber’s surface appeared in their eyes.
Planet Heber was mainly made up of cold and dark colors; there was almost nothing dramatic.
Castle-like buildings stood tall, and tons and tons of bases were like mountains. These buildings emitted a dark blue light. It was somewhat futuristic and mysterious. Advanced technology seemed to be a planet-wide theme. Between the many bases, there were gigantic hollow-in-the-middle circular devices up to two kilometers tall. A purple light was rippling at its hollow part like it was operating as something.
Above the bases, battleship fleets patrolled.
This was a planet-level armored fortress!
Hila and Aurora were stunned.
The Blacklight Stealth landed at a dock between the bases. When they got out of the spaceship, a group of people were already waiting there. They were all Bloodshed Land soldiers, led by the Vanguard Official Malekith.
“Your Excellency Dragon Emperor, thank you for accepting the invitation. Welcome to Bloodshed Land.”
Malekith gave a common bow. He had personally delivered Ames’ invitation letter.
Ames did not reply. She looked at the surroundings, snickered, and said, “It’s been a while since I last came. This place is boring as always. Heber really has no taste.”
“Battleships and fortresses are the best decorations,” Malekith replied. When he saw Han Xiao beside Ames, his eyes gleamed, and he said coldly, “Black Star, I said we would soon meet again.”
Han Xiao raised his eyebrows, played dumb, and said, “Who are you? I’ve never seen you before.”
“…”
The others looked over and stared at him.
“Alright, I was kidding.” Han Xiao curled his lips.
Bloodshed Land’s people were really interesting, trying to pick them apart as soon as they met. Malekith deliberately used such an ambiguous tone to hint that he had met Black Star privately before.
Han Xiao did not tell Ames that he had met Malekith before, and Ames had once had someone stolen from her side. Due to the previous incident, she should be very sensitive to this. If she knew that her trusted officer had met with Bloodshed Land privately again, she would probably not be happy with him.
Malekith looks like a savage with a small brain, but he’s actually quite dirty, isn’t he?
Okay, I will remember this.
Chapter 607. Provoke |
A sharp green light flashed through Ames’ eyes. She stared at Malekith and deliberately said, “What are you guys trying to do to my people again?”
“Your Excellency Dragon Emperor, don’t be so sensitive. Black Star and I just happened to meet. That’s all,” Malekith replied calmly.
Ames squinted and turned to look at Han Xiao.
