The Legendary Mechanic, page 411
“As per the order from the superiors, you’re the commander and can give us orders. Tell me, what do you want us to do?” Wilton said with an expressionless face.
Han Xiao sharply noticed Wilton’s impatience. He thought about it for a second and figured out why.
Wilton was a high-level combatant of a Star Cluster Civilization, so he had a sense of superiority and was rather arrogant. However, he had no choice but to follow the orders of a same grade Super who was not even a part of his government. Although he would definitely not disobey the superiors’ orders, he would still probably be unwilling.
Han Xiao did not mind it at all. He did not need them to be willing or whatnot-he only needed them to obey his orders and be useful.
“I suspect that the civil strife on Planet Aquamarine is a plot, and there are people behind it. Their goal might be to assassinate me…” Han Xiao repeated what he had said to trick Ralph.
“What do you want us to do?” Wilton asked.
Han Xiao thought about it and said, “Since the enemies are trying to attract my attention by starting a civil strife, they will most likely be hiding till I appear. Let’s not alarm them. I will go back alone first as the bait. You guys wait near Planet Aquamarine. When the hidden enemies show themselves, you guys come to support me.”
“Okay.”
Wilton had no problem with the plan. Although he did not like Black Star, this did not mean that he doubted Han Xiao’s body. After all, it was a strong body that had withstood the attacks of the eight Vanguard Officials, so Black Star would definitely be able to last till they arrived.
After discussing it for a while, Han Xiao settled on the plan. The enemies had set a trap for him to step into, but he could use the same method to lure them out. This was the contest between an ambush and a counter-ambush.
After confirming the plan, Han Xiao looked at the few of them. Suddenly, he had an idea and said, “I have a small request. I hope to spar with each of you to test your combat capabilities. Only then will I be able to know the overall strength of our team.”
There were six Calamity Grades there; it was definitely a good opportunity to earn Trial Points. His Promotion mission progress was currently at 24/50. If these six teammates were strong enough, he might be able to even complete his Promotion right there.
Wilton frowned.
Han Xiao’s request was not nonsensical, but it was too straight forward. It was as if he was doubting their strength. This made him feel like he was being underestimated. Wilton was expressionless but could not help but feel rather annoyed in his heart.
However, he did not even consider fighting Han Xiao seriously during the spar. To him, the mission was the priority. He suppressed his anger and sparred with Han Xiao. This time, the sparring was even shorter than when Han Xiao sparred with the Forbidden Sorcerers. Both of them stopped at a suitable time and did not go all out.
Han Xiao sparred with his six teammates one after another. It went smoothly and did not waste too much time. After all, the six of them were temporarily under his command, so they did not have any objections.
Among the six Calamity Grade helpers, only Wilton was twenty or more levels higher than him and gave him 6 Trial Points. Four of them were less than twenty levels away from him. Han Xiao found an excuse to spar with each of them twice and obtained 4 Trial Points each. In total, he gained 22 Trial Points.
The progress of the Promotion mission was now 46/50, four points away from completion. Sadly, one of the Godoran Calamity Grades was three levels lower than him, so he did not give any Trial Points.
Only four points away. I need one more opponent… Han Xiao hesitated. He kind of wanted to find another person to spar and complete the Promotion before returning to Planet Aquamarine.
However, finding a new opponent would take quite some time. Over the past few days, Bennett had sent him reports every day. The situation was getting worse very quickly. Bennett was hurrying him back all the time, so Han Xiao did not really want to delay it much longer.
Furthermore, as soon as he completed the Promotion, he would go through Race Evolution, and the Observer’s Mark ability might disappear. This was a very useful special ability, especially against these elusive hunters.
After pondering, Han Xiao came to a decision. The enemies are ambushing me, so we will fight sooner or later. I have helpers now, so it won’t be easy for the enemies to succeed. It won’t be too late to complete the Promotion mission during the battle. It’s better to keep the Chaos Observer’s abilities they might be useful.
Han Xiao sorted his thoughts and left Phillip’s sub-programs to deal with the rest. In case the enemies had ways to cut communication, Phillip could call for reinforcements for him.
As the preparations were completed, Han Xiao did not stay on this planet. He boarded his spaceship and headed to Planet Aquamarine.
At the central helipad in Black Star City, the mercenaries stationed there and some of the officials under Bennett received the news and waited for Black Star’s return.
Bennett was walking back and forth at the front and glancing at the sky occasionally, appearing rather anxious.
Hu!
As the sound of spaceship approached, the crowd hastily looked up and saw Black Star’s signature spaceship slowly landing. Everyone felt relieved as if they had finally found someone to rely on.
The Blacklight Stealth stopped, and Han Xiao stepped onto Planet Aquamarine once again. He saw Bennett and the others immediately and walked over.
“You’re finally back!”
Bennett felt as if his shoulders were lighter, like the weight above them had been removed. Recently, he had been very stressed, but as soon as Black Star returned, he suddenly felt no stress at all. Black Star was the protector of the entire Planet Aquamarine; he would be able to solve any problem they had.
Han Xiao nodded and walked toward the base. Bennett and the others followed beside him.
“What’s the situation now?”
“The Six Nations have publicly declared war. Both their people and our people are flustered. The intelligence personnel I planted in the Six Nations told me that the Six Nations have already started preparing missiles to attack Black Star City. I don’t even dare turn off the protective shields these few days for fear of a sudden attack by the Six Nations. They’ve gone insane. I cannot judge their actions with logic at all!” Bennett spoke hastily.
Han Xiao curled his lips. “Do all the government officials of the Six Nations agree with the war declaration? I don’t believe that everyone has lost their mind. Do you have any information regarding this?”
With a grave tone, Bennett said, “You’re right. The Six Nations’ decision to declare war was very sudden. Many government officials did not even know about this before it happened. Many opposed it, but a few hours later, all the opposing government officials were captured. The Six Nations are basically under a dictatorship now.”
“Collective dictatorship? Ha, that’s new.” Han Xiao acted as if he was curious and asked, “Have you talked to the Six Nations’ leaders?”
“No, they refuse to communicate with me. I have no idea why they’re doing this.”
Han Xiao squinted. “Then I will have to go to them personally to talk.”
He wanted to see what these hunters had done to the Six Nations to make them go insane together.
With a worried expression, Bennett said, “Six Nations won’t allow you to get close to them. You have to be careful. They might launch missiles at you.”
“Let them try.” Han Xiao’s tone turned cold. “I’ve had enough of internal fights. The civilization has been split by too long. It’s time to unite it.” Since he was acting as a bait, he had to look real. Han Xiao secretly looked at the government officials following behind him.
The enemies might even be looking at him right now.
Chapter 670. Child's Play |
Since the enemies’ goal was him, Han Xiao felt that they should have measures to confirm his return. The most likely one would be to have someone watching him in Black Star City, as the Planet Aquamarine people would have no way to discover the enemies. As a Calamity Grade, toying with a surface civilization was as easy as eating and drinking
With the investment from galactic financial groups, Planet Aquamarine was developing rapidly toward the interstellar era. In just a few years’ time, they might be able to build stable interstellar carriers, colonize other unpopulated planets, and other things. However, Planet Aquamarine was still considered a surface civilization at the moment; they had no chance against a Calamity Grade Super.
All the officials that came to welcome him had green names and no red names, but Han Xiao did not completely rely on the interface. In his previous life, there had been some special abilities that could trick the identification of the interface. In fact, his Observer’s Mark was one of them.
Han Xiao looked normal but stayed alert. Starting from the moment he landed, the enemy might attack any time.
After chatting for a while, Han Xiao roughly understood the situation from Bennett. He smiled and said, “I understand the situation. There’s no need to give the Six Nations time to prepare. I’ll go and chat with them right now.”
Then, without waiting for the others to reply, mechanical parts covered his body in the blink of an eye and formed into the Mountain Ape mechanical suit. With a blue flame shooting out from his back, Han Xiao took off from the helipad, breaking through the sound barrier, turning into a little black dot, and quickly disappearing.
Bennett’s relaxed. With Black Star there, he felt so much more assured.
With the efficiency of its galactic engine, Han Xiao flew within the planetary atmosphere. The wastelands, mountain range, and the rest of the landscape receded under him rapidly. Han Xiao left a blue trail behind him and traveled using the planet as the axis. His tracks were very visible even in the daylight. Everywhere he went, many residents on the surface of the planet looked up and discovered this long-standing blue route he took.
Not long after, Han Xiao arrived above the Stardragon capital.
Looking at the familiar city, Han Xiao saw images flashing past in his mind that felt like only yesterday. Without noticing it, almost ten years had passed. This city was where he started.
Thinking for a while, Han Xiao did not hide and landed on the streets. Not far away, a group of people were protesting. The moment they saw Black Star, their faces turned into excitement, and they started to cheer at Han Xiao.
“Look, it’s Black Star!”
“Please stop our government!”
“Black Star, those government officials do not represent us. We all support you. No one wants to be your enemy!”
The crowd squeezed over and yelled in a mess, but Han Xiao still managed to understand what those civilians meant.
As he had solved the Mutation Disaster, Han Xiao’s reputation in Planet Aquamarine was much higher than that of the Six Nations’ governments. He was admired by every Planet Aquamarine resident.
I’m sort of popular.
Han Xiao felt strange. He did not feel troubled, but he did not enjoy this feeling of being loved by so many people either. After all, his target was not just resolving the trap that the hunters had set up but also using this opportunity to overthrow the Six Nations and uniting Planet Aquamarine.
Since my reputation is so high, things should be much easier.
Han Xiao nodded internally. Without greeting the civilians, he quickly left and flew across half of the city, landing in an alley.
Since he had returned, Han Xiao wanted to see the maintenance workshop that he had once worked at.
During the Mutation Disaster, the city had been in a mess. For safety, many people had decided to leave the city. Lu Qian had disappeared and become uncontactable as well. This store had been closed for a very long time, and there had been evidence of it falling apart everywhere.
Now that three more years had passed, this maintenance store had become even more run-down. Still, no one had come back.
Han Xiao shook his head. With Old Man Lu’s protection, Lu Qian would not have died in the Mutation Disaster. They might have already settled down in another city and would not be coming back. Since she had not gone to look for him, he did not want to disturb them.
After taking a look at a place of the past, Han Xiao flew toward Dragonhorn Tower where the Stardragon government was, heading right toward the Stardragon leader.
Dragonhorn Tower was very conspicuous. Han Xiao quickly arrived at the destination. Suspended in midair, Han Xiao looked down and smirked.
The ground around the tower cracked open, showing many deep tunnels leading underground. Armored armies appeared from within, and all kinds of firearms and artilleries aimed at Han Xiao.
The basement of Dragonhorn Tower was a military base. When Han Xiao first appeared within the crowd, the Stardragon military received the news. As Han Xiao had come so suddenly, Stardragon did not have enough time to get the missiles ready and could only make some hasty preparations.
With Han Xiao’s strength, those armored armies could not even tickle him. Their rather refined gunpowder weapons seemed primitive to him.
Han Xiao shook his head and extended his arm. Several bolts of Mechanical Force lightning launched from his hand.
Clank!
The tanks and artilleries on the ground were sucked up immediately and quickly dismantled into pieces, all turning into waste. This army was eliminated in an instant, leaving the lost and helpless soldiers on the ground.
“The welcome ceremony isn’t enthusiastic enough.”
Han Xiao felt like he was bullying children… but it did feel good.
With his strength, eliminating the entire Six Nations was a piece of cake.
Under Dragonhorn Tower, the Stardragon leader entered the safehouse while being accompanied by the troops. After closing the thick alloy gate, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This specially-made safehouse was like a safe. It was extremely thick and would never be penetrated by missiles.
“How’re the armored troops?” the Stardragon leader quickly asked the military personnel beside.
“They were wiped out. Black Star only raised his hand a little.”
“How could he be so strong!” The Stardragon leader inhaled deeply.
Suddenly, a loud sound came from the gate of the safehouse.
Boom!
With a flash of psionic energy, the safehouse that could stop missiles now had a hole in it. Han Xiao walked right in. Through the hole, the people inside the room saw countless soldiers behind Han Xiao who were lying on the ground, whining in agony.
Han Xiao really did not want to start a slaughter, so he controlled his strength as much as he could and was barely able to injure them without killing them.
“We meet again.” Han Xiao looked at the Stardragon leader.
“Ho-How are you able to come in?” The Stardragon leader was horrified.
“Hmm?” Han Xiao frowned and noticed the strangeness.
The leaders of the Six Nations should know very clearly how strong he was. It was impossible for them to doubt that he would not be able to even break into this fragile safehouse. However, the shocked expression on the Stardragon leader’s face did not seem like an act.
Han Xiao squinted before punching the safehouse wall beside him.
Boom!
The entire safehouse shook. Everyone else could not maintain balance anymore and fell onto the ground, taking slight damage.
The interface immediately received a lot of combat information. Han Xiao instantly opened and read through it.
The level of everyone there was significantly lower than his, so their attributes were all crystal clear.
Including the Stardragon leader, the status bar of everyone in the room had a special status on it.
[Memory Modification): The memories of this person are modified.
Remaining time: 2 days 13 hours.
“No wonder…”
All his doubts were cleared—this was the reason that the Six Nations had turned on him.
This was undoubtedly an act of those hunters. He did not know what kind of memories the enemies had given the Six Nations’ leaders, but they seemed to have forgotten how strong he was. No wonder they were resisting so meaninglessly, even dreaming of taking back power from his hands and overthrowing Bennett’s forces.
A person’s personality was decided by their experiences. Once their memories changed, their personality would shift, too. Some Psychics who knew special techniques or Espers with those kinds of abilities were able to do things like this, so there was definitely someone like that among the enemies.
Such things were useless to stronger people. Stronger Supers had higher mental resistance. However, Planet Aquamarine only had a few decades’ history of Supers. The strongest among them was just Grade C. In front of a Calamity Grade, they were still weaklings that could be toyed with as they liked.
Changing one’s memory was a rather subtle and hidden measure, other than Supers with psychic abilities, the other class Supers would not be able to discover what happened to these people instantly.
But Han Xiao was an exception.
The enemies most likely think I won’t be able to discover what they did because I’m a Mechanic.
Han Xiao sneered in his mind.
Since the enemies could modify memories, it was meaningless for him to do anything to these government officials as the enemies would be able to modify those people’s memories again.
Suddenly, Han Xiao had an idea.
This kind of ability has to be cast at a close range. The status duration on these people is only two and a half days. By then, the hidden enemy will definitely secretly appear and modify their memories again… Hehe, I will then be able to discover their location.
Han Xiao planted an Observer’s Mark on the Stardragon leader before pretending he knew nothing about the memory modification and acting like he should have acted-threatening the Stardragon leader to stop the declaration of war.
