The Legendary Mechanic, page 383
Ralph’s face became troubled when he heard this.
“That might not be possible. Cutting-Edge Knowledges are very precious. The people above will not agree. I can only pay you with money…” Ralph paused momentarily. “However, you’re Floating Dragon’s officer, and we respect Ames a lot. Therefore, if we have the chance to work together again in the future, Cutting-Edge Knowledge might not be impossible.”
Cutting-Edge Knowledge is indeed not easy to obtain… Han Xiao had expected this, so he was not disappointed.
What Ralph meant between the lines was, this hire was like an entry ticket for the Black Star Army. If he completed it, Purple Crystal would hire him for more missions in the future. Once he made a big enough contribution, Purple Crystal would be willing to give him Cutting-Edge Knowledges. It was basically the path of increasing Faction Favorability.
Cutting-Edge Knowledges were very precious; only at this stage could one study antimatter, psionic energy, and the like. Han Xiao did not think that there was a problem with the way Purple Crystal was doing it. Nothing was free in the world—he needed Cutting-Edge Knowledges, and Purple Crystal needed stronger unofficial military power to do things for them privately. It was all part of a deal.
Han Xiao pondered for a while before nodding. “Okay, I can try it.”
“Great.” Ralph smiled. “I will send you a gathering location later. There are other people on this mission. The mission details will be sent to you later.”
“Okay.” Han Xiao had no objection. This was not the first time that he had a group mission like this.
Chapter 632. Gundam Is a Man's Romance |
The gathering location was in another Star System within the Colton Star Cluster, very far away from Garton. Han Xiao had Risda fly him to the planet used for the gathering.
This was an unpopulated planet with just a series number. When the Blacklight Stealth arrived at the coordinates, there were already quite many spaceships parked on the ground, and a crowd had already formed. They all looked up one after another at the newcomer.
The spaceship descended steadily. Han Xiao walked out of the hatch and looked around casually. There were only two people there whose vital signs reached the level of Grade A. It seemed like they were two leaders, but they were unfamiliar. They both led a group of people, meaning there were two organizations present.
“The Garton Star System’s Black Star? I’ve heard of him.”
“He came too.”
“Did he not bring those undying mercenaries?”
The crowd looked at Han Xiao with surprise and chatted among themselves.
A member of the Purple Crystal Civilization got out of the spaceship and stood in front of Han Xiao. “Welcome, Black Star. I’m the one responsible for this operation, level 3 diplomat of Secret Service Department 4, Dodder.”
“Hi.” Han Xiao nodded. “Where’s Ralph?”
“His Excellency Ralph’s position is very high; I’m his subordinate’s subordinate. This operation does not require him to be in charge personally.”
Ralph’s position was quite high in the Purple Crystal Civilization. What Han Xiao did not know was, of all the people who were invited to this operation, he was the only one that had been invited by Ralph personally. The others only had contact with Dodder.
This special treatment was because Han Xiao had attended the Tyrant’s party before. To Ralph, Black Star was a member of the upper-class social circle, so he personally involved himself in this small operation that he did not need to be bothered about, showing that he took Han Xiao seriously.
“There are three organizations that are going to be working together for this operation. Let me introduce you to the other two.”
Dodder took Han Xiao over and introduced him to the leaders of the other two organizations.
“This is Jayne, a strong Esper. The others call him ‘Seaquake’. This is Gadeli. His nickname is ‘Hundred Rounds Cannon’. He’s a Cannon Master.”
The two of them sized Han Xiao up and shook hands with him respectfully.
Jayne and Gadeli’s equipment was very sophisticated, especially Gadeli’s. His battle suit was made of super-nanotechnology. Han Xiao could see that this battle suit had very strong shapeshifting capabilities from a glance. This guy was a Cannon Master, so he might have turned his trump card firearms into parts of the battle suit and wore it on his body.
Han Xiao had never heard of the two of them before, so he told Phillip to do a search. He then realized that the two of them were not mercenaries but small private military organizations only formed a few years ago and had a rather small size.
Speaking of which, the Black Star Army had only been formed for a couple of years, yet it had risen extremely quickly at an unmatched speed.
In Galaxy, the number of such organizations was right below mercenary groups. There were various reasons that these organizations were formed, but it could be mostly categorized under two reasons. One was for private reasons; these organizations had their own goal and did not accept requests.
The other was similar to mercenaries but did not accept public hires like normal mercenaries. They only accepted private invitations or looked for long-term partners. Hence, they were not a part of the mercenary industry. They had much stricter regulations toward their members compared to mercenary groups. The Bloodshed Land belonged to this category.
Usually, as long as the organizer had enough money and strength, forming a private military was simple. The strength of the leader was the ceiling of the private military—those created by Calamity Grades were the comparatively stronger ones. Jayne and Gadeli had both formed such organizations. Their active areas were in Star Systems rather far away, so their name was unheard by Han Xiao. However, they had both heard Han Xiao’s name before. It was clear which one of them was more famous.
This time, Jayne suddenly asked in a confused tone, “You came alone?”
“I alone am enough.” Han Xiao smiled. As this was a sudden mission, he did not waste time to gather others.
Jayne and Gadeli looked at each other with hidden joy in their eyes.
They were new organizations, so this cooperative operation was a good opportunity to get in touch with the Purple Crystal Civilization. To the two of them, this was a competition for the opportunity to have a long-term partnership with the Purple Crystal Civilization. The other organizations were all competitors, so they had to perform well.
Initially, when they saw Black Star, they had been very worried. If Black Star had brought the undying army under his command, the two of them would be completely unable to compete.
However, now that they realized that Black Star had come alone, they felt relieved that they had the opportunity to put on a performance.
After the introduction, Dodder took out the star map and explained the details of the operation.
“We are currently in Star Zone 3 of the Thousand Lights Star System. The target is in Star Zone 7. According to the target’s movements, we can intercept them in Star Zone 9…
“We have three Calamity Grade Supers and forty-four battleships. The target has sixty-five battleships, but some of them are civilian spaceships used as cover. Therefore, the actual combat capability of the enemies will be lower than that. The strength of their members is unknown. They entered the Colton Star Cluster from the desolate universe and did not go through any identity checks. They have also yet to stop and resupply along the way.”
The others nodded. The intelligence network of the Purple Crystal Civilization covered the entire Star Cluster—all they had to do was rush in. They had three Calamity Grades, so the enemy’s advantage of just more than twenty battleships was meaningless.
“Just a small fleet…” Han Xiao raised his brows. He had initially thought it would be a high difficulty mission, but as it turned out, it was just clearing out some shrimps. Yet, the Purple Crystal Civilization had invited a few Calamity Grades for it. He felt that their main goal was probably to select some new private military organizations for future partnerships.
Ding.
A notification popped up on the interface.
_____________
You have triggered the mission [Purple Crystal Civilization’s Warning]!
_____________
Han Xiao scanned through quickly and skipped the experience reward. Even the reward of more than a million Enas was not a big deal to him now.
The only reward that he felt was actually valuable was the Faction Contribution Point of the Purple Crystal Civilization, which was 330 points.
The higher level the faction was, the more difficult it was to obtain its Favorability. However, due to Han Xiao’s pile of Legendary Points and titles, his current relationship with the Purple Crystal Civilization was not the initial [Indifferent] but [Neutral], so he had a starting Favorability of 450.
In order to obtain Cutting-Edge Knowledge, farming Faction Favorability was the method with the highest odds of success.
This time, Dodder suddenly thought of something.
“By the way, one more thing. The Star System Civilization ruling the Thousand Lights Star System requested backup from the Purple Crystal Civilization. One of the strongest people in their territory has gone missing, so they requested that we help them find him. The missing person is called Kernid, nickname Dark Purple Warlock. This is what he looks like. If you happen to discover any clues, do remember to tell me.”
Han Xiao was stunned for a moment. The name sounded very familiar.
Kernid seemed to be one of the names on the hunting list.
Han Xiao kept this in mind.
…
The target of the cooperative operation—the fleet that was disguised as galactic travelers—was slowly moving through Star Zone 9 of the Thousand Lights Star System.
In the command room of the main ship, the captain, Bret, was recording the various data.
“Voyage dairy K-003015: It has been 134 days since entering the Colton Star Cluster. Everything is normal at the moment. Currently carrying out the 6th data collection. The scouting area is the Thousand Lights Star System. The transfer of data for civilization development, civilian planet ecologies, security, and the others have been completed. The next station is the core area of the Colton Star Cluster, the White Ceiling Star System. We will gather intelligence on the Purple Crystal Civilization there.”
After the voyage dairy was sent out, the system completely destroyed its data.
Bret rubbed his eyes and soothed his tiredness.
“Alert! Alert! An unknown fleet is approaching!”
At this time, the lights inside the room turned bright red. The alarm of the spaceship artificial intelligence rang and instantly alerted Bret. He rushed to the radar screen, where an unknown fleet was shown to be heading directly toward them and would soon enter their vision.
“Send a message to them and ask about their entity,” Bret yelled. “Tell them we’re just galactic travelers.”
However, like throwing a pebble into the sea, the message got no reply at all.
Very soon, the fleet appeared and, without any hesitation, started firing at Bret’s fleet. The battle erupted in an instant!
“They’re not galactic pirates; we’ve been targeted!” Bret was experienced. He instantly knew that this would not end well for them.
Being very decisive, Bret ordered to counter-attack while recording a video and sending it back to his organizations, letting the headquarters know who these enemies were.
This fleet that suddenly attacked belonged to Han Xiao and the others. Jayne and Gadeli were commanding the fleet and fighting with the enemy. The Blacklight Stealth was watching from the side.
In the cockpit, Han Xiao looked at the battlefield and squinted.
“Although the enemies are not much of a threat, it is a good opportunity to test my new weapon.”
As he thought, Han Xiao switched to autopilot and walked to the ejection area in the middle of the ship. Berserk Ape quickly covered his body as he directly jumped into space.
The difference between Han Xiao’s size and the battleships’ was like the difference between an ant and an elephant. However, the next moment, the light of Mechanical Force flashed. Countless mechanical parts expanded from within the Berserk Ape mechanical suit, and compressed orbs opened up one after another.
In the blink of an eye, a more than thirty-meter-tall Giant Soldier mechanical suit was assembled. Its size was not much different from small assault ships. The huge energy wave attracted the attention and surprised both sides of the battle.
Giant Soldier, Ship Destroyer, Gen 3 Improved Version!
In the past two years, after obtaining the various High-End Knowledges, Han Xiao had finally reverse engineered the blueprint of spaceships and learned to build battleships. With this technology, he had improved the Ship Destroyer blueprint that Carroll had lost to him. He had enhanced it two times and updated many parts of it. Compared to the first generation, the third generation Ship Destroyer looked much more aesthetically pleasing. From a tube-shaped body, it became human-shaped, possessing four limbs and a head.
Giant Soldier mechanical suits were made for galactic battles, so their performances were all very high. With Han Xiao’s Mechanical Force bonuses, this Giant Soldier was terrifyingly strong. Other than Virtual Intrusion, Han Xiao now had a more direct method to battle in space.
Inside the cockpit of the Gen 3 Ship Destroyer, Han Xiao completed the nerve connection. The giant mechanical suit became as easy to control as his arms and legs, and the small burden it brought to Han Xiao’s mind was nothing to someone as strong as him. Han Xiao could not help but feel a little nostalgic.
“It’s been so long since I piloted a large mechanical suit. I wonder if I got rusty.”
Bret’s eyes opened extremely wide. His voice was breaking as he said, “It’s a Giant Soldier mechanical suit! Focus fire on it and destroy it!”
Every qualified commander knew what a Giant Soldier could do in galactic battles. Compared to bulky battleships, the mobility of the Giant Soldier mechanical suits was a nightmare for the entire fleet. As soon as a Giant Soldier appeared in galactic battles, they would definitely become the primary target.
Countless missiles rocketed through space and expanded in Han Xiao’s eyes, yet a sense of anticipation for battle appeared on Han Xiao’s face.
With just a thought, the three-dimensional mechanical body of the Gen 3 Ship Destroyer activated. Like a bullet, it entered the rain of fire, barely dodging the attacks one after another while the high level energy shield blocked the stray attacks.
The Great Mechanic Han’s piloting skills had been honed by countless battles. Only a Giant Soldier mechanical suit could allow him to express his real skills.
The huge mechanical suit moved like a shadow, quickly closing in on the enemy fleet.
This time, two enormous cannon barrels extended from behind Gen 3 Ship Destroyer and mounted on both of its shoulders. They fired thick, massive beams of hot energy cannons, shaking up the shields of many enemy ships with every shot.
Then, four enormous hovering guards appeared, circling around the Gen 3 Ship Destroyer as a means of protection as well as to counter-attack.
The moment Han Xiao took out the Giant Soldier mechanical suit, the focus of the entire battlefield had been on him!
After some time, the Gen 3 Ship Destroyer finally approached an enemy ship at the edge of their formation and was stopped by the spaceship’s shield. This time, the space around the Gen 3 Ship Destroyer suddenly looked bent and twisted. Han Xiao had activated the anti-shield impact waves. The shield of the enemy ship in front of him suddenly became dim and started flickering. Its defense was tremendously reduced.
Han Xiao had not wasted his time over the prior two years. He had spent a huge amount of Experience and built countless pieces of new equipment. A lot of different technology had gone into the Gen 3 Ship Destroyer.
The next moment, a Thermal Chainsaw extended from the Gen 3 Ship Destroyer’s hand, slashed down, and cut the enemy ship right in front of it in half like cutting through tofu, leaving a hot, red light at the fracture.
Time seemed to stop for an instant.
The next moment, the enemy ship that was split in half exploded into fireworks. If not for the vacuum environment, the sound of the explosion would have been deafening.
Looking at the blinding explosion, Jayne and Gadeli’s faces uncontrollably twitched.
There was no way their performances could be better than Black Star’s Giant Soldier mechanical suit.
Just as Black Star had said, it was indeed enough for him to come alone without bringing any troops.
“How much money did it cost to build this Giant Soldier?” Jayne murmured.
Gadeli clenched his teeth in envy. Jealousy had turned his expression twisted. “Damn, it must be good to be rich!”
Chapter 633. Formation of the Organization, an Assault Invitation |
There was no suspense in that crushing battle. With Bret’s troops being completely destroyed, the battlefield that was crisscrossed with artillery fire turned completely silent, with corpses and metal debris floating all around.
Han Xiao had cooperated with the forces of Jayne and Gadeli, driving the 3rd Generation Ship Destroyer straight into the enemy’s fleet like a knife to vegetables. The enemy fleet had no way to retaliate. After all, he currently possessed two interstellar combat methods. Virtual Intrusion served as internal disturbance, whereas driving the Giant Soldier was just mindless violence.
For such a small fry, why was there a need to utilize Virtual Intrusion? Just cut through them like a hot knife through butter, that would be more enjoyable.
In the past, Han Xiao had seen battlefields where thousands of battleships bombarded each other and had even participated in such battles himself. Compared to the large-scale artillery warfare density, this small-scale operation did not give him any pressure. There was no difficulty in controlling his mechanical suit to avoid and hide.
