The Legendary Mechanic, page 460
Manudo gulped. The other two did not speak. Jorde did not want to be discovered by Han Xiao, so he did not speak either.
“I’m now giving you guys a chance. As long as you surrender and announce to leave the Bloodshed Land, I won’t do anything to you. What do you say?” Han Xiao said.
“You want me to betray the Bloodshed Land? No way!” the Grade A Cannon Master yelled and immediately fired.
Without even moving, more than 300 Watcher Instruments appeared beside Han Xiao, formed a formation, and created a psionic shield, easily blocking the attack.
Han Xiao shook his head and deliberately said, “What’s so good about Heber? Does he deserve such loyalty from you?”
“He’s the only one I’m willing to follow. How dare you speak of His Excellency Heber like that?” this Cannon Master sneered. He was a direct member of the Bloodshed Land, so he was extremely loyal.
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and did not speak anymore. He summoned the mechanical army and attacked. It swept over the entire battlefield like a tsunami, scattering all the fleets.
Facing the mechanical army that filled his vision, Manudo felt suffocated. He had no choice but to fight it.
Han Xiao activated Apostilization and joined the battle. He secretly changed the tempo of the battle, increased the attack frequency of all the mechanical soldiers, and sacrificed accuracy to do so, deliberately showing impatience.
Of course, normal people would not notice such details, but he believed that the Bloodshed Land would definitely discover these tiny changes with their artificial intelligence’s analytical abilities.
Sometimes, tricking smart people was even easier than using stupid ones. All he had to do was mislead the opponents into the conclusion that he wanted them to have through details, and the opponents would fall for it easily. If they were not cautious enough, Han Xiao’s efforts would all go to waste.
High-level lies are always ninety percent real and only ten percent fake. What Han Xiao wanted was to make Jorde speculate that he had become weaker.
As for the reason, it was so that he could use this opportunity to take some time off from the secret war and focus on cultivating leeks. This was the most important matter at the moment. Be it advancing to Beyond Grade A or suppressing the Soul Embryo, they all required a large amount of Experience.
He was completely uninterested in letting his sub-personality be born. It would be best to make sure it never formed.
As soon as Han Xiao struck, the battle became one-sided. Under the True Damage of [Legendary Battle Technique), the Cannon Master was very quickly shattered by the mechanical soldiers. The head of the other teammate was also blown away. Manudo was the only one left barely holding on.
Panicking, Manudo hastily sent a message and said, “Wait, wait, I surrender!”
Han Xiao received the message and stopped the mechanical army. He then waved his hand and pulled Manudo over from afar through the mechanical suit’s force field.
Manudo did not dare resist and let the mechanical soldiers restrain him.
“You’ve made the right choice.” Han Xiao smiled.
Manudo nodded continuously. He had thought it through it was clear that Jorde did not care about his life, which meant that he would die sooner or later in the Bloodshed Land, so he might as well surrender. Furthermore, he did not have another choice if he wanted to live.
Escape from Black Star?
I’m not Hadavy, I can’t do it!
As the high-level combatants of the enemy were all eliminated, the battle that followed had a clear result. Rexson destroyed Stronghold W-58 and seized the loot.
After Hila absorbed all the remaining gray souls on the battlefield, she locked herself in her room and digested her first experience of fighting with Calamity Grades.
Jorde was analyzing the recording of Han Xiao’s battle in the headquarters.
Losing a stronghold meant nothing to him; what he cared about at the moment was Han Xiao’s state.
Very soon, he noticed something strange.
“Two months ago, Black Star never asked anyone to surrender and killed every one of our people. Even when he faced just one Calamity Grade, he never showed any mercy. Why did he ask them to surrender?”
Jorde frowned and looked at the recording a few more times.
Before, Black Star’s mechanical army’s attacks were all carefully and precisely calculated.Read more chapter on NovelFull
Today, however, the attack rate of his mechanical army increased visibility, as if he was willing to waste energy to increase the attack speed and gave up some of the precise calculations. As a result, many attacks completely missed.
This change made him feel a sense of… impatience?
“First, he asked our people to surrender, then he was in a hurry to end the battle…” Jorde pondered for a while and suddenly figured it out.
Black Star was trying to reduce the time of the battle, or he did not want to take part in the battle.
These two details made Jorde feel that he could guess Han Xiao’s current state.
Psyker’s psychic weapon might have dealt some kind of continuous damage to Black Star, and if he fought others, the damage would be enlarged. This was why Black Star acted differently from before.
“My speculation should be right!”
The threat of Black Star had decreased!
Having proved that Black Star had become weaker, Jorde was overjoyed. Although he did not know what damage Han Xiao had received, with this discovery, he could daringly adjust his strategies.
Chapter 735. Evolve! Advancing on the Path of a Tank! |
The battlefield of the secret war was too broad, and the small skirmish did not attract too much attention. Jorde was the only one who paid attention to it.
Not caring about the Bloodshed Land’s reaction, Han Xiao rejected Rexson’s celebration invitation after they won the battle. He brought Hila along and headed to other perimeters to give her more battlefields for her Soul Absorption.
While Han Xiao was going around the various battlefields, a new popular topic appeared on the forums. Quite a number of players that attacked Stronghold W-58 uploaded the video with Hila in it, which made the players recall memories from long ago.
Initially, this was just a usual video, but when people realized that Han Xiao and Hila had known each other for three versions now, especially after their ‘old love’ was dug out from the Galaxy Chronicles, the focus of the topic became entirely something else. Articles with all sorts of titles started to appear.
“Shock! Black Star Did This to Hila!”
“Reigniting Old Flames? Or Has He Found New Love?”
“A Love Story That Crossed Twenty Years!”
“Who Really Is the Woman Black Star Loves the Most? Counting Those Beauties He Once Loved…”
The players’ spirits were highest when talking about these kinds of topics. After all, they could imagine as much as they wanted, and there would not be any consequences. The topic gradually turned from Hila to Black Star’s love history.
Han Xiao was now the most famous NPC in the Shattered Star Ring. His position was high. He was rich, strong, and rather handsome. Ever since Version 1.0, the players had never really gotten to know any storylines regarding his love life, and the players were extremely curious about it.
Not just Hila, all the known living female characters related to the Black Star Army became hot topics of the players’ intense discussions. On the forums, the supporters of different female characters were split into factions and argued with each other.
“Hila’s known him for the longest. It’s clearly old flames being reignited.”
“Boo, us Dragon Emperor supporters will never give in!”
“You people know nothing. Sylvia is the one and only!”
“Us Herlous supporters are smiling.”
“Us Harmon supporters are unhappy. We’re going to chop your heads off.”
“Come on, you guys are weak. Greetings from the Phillip supporters.”
“Us Feidin supporters announce our exit. Feidin is our husband. Black Star, you’re not good enough for him!”
“Right now, Aroshia is still on the way.”
“The Germinal Organization Leader is watching you from above.”
The popular topics on the forums caused the fame of the various Black Star Army officers to grow. As the focus of the topics, Black Star also gained more attention.
Han Xiao did not pay much attention to these topics on the forums; they were all for the players’ entertainment and would not cause any influence. The only possible result of it would just be more parodies…
After going to quite a few perimeters, Hila’s combat capability quickly increased through Soul Absorption. In just half a month, her Ona grew by more than 400.
In this period, Han Xiao fought a few times. His Spirit Barrier and the Enchantments on his body decreased the growth rate of the Soul Embryo, but the size of the Soul Embryo still grew from four percent to nine percent.
However, many army players had already reached Grade B, and these people started to use Experience to learn Knowledges. In this half a month, Han Xiao finally gained enough Experience to level up to above level 220.
Han Xiao stopped the traveling, touched Feidin, and hastily locked himself inside the training room.
As Han Xiao opened the interface and looked at his total Experience, he smiled with satisfaction.
After seven years, he was finally at the doorstep of another Promotion.
Without hesitation, he threw the Experience into leveling up.
[Apostle Mechanic) leveled up to Lv.25.
+240 Energy, +3 STR, +4 DEX, +5 END, +10 INT.
You have received 8 Free Attribute Points and 1 Potential Point.
After leveling up twice consecutively, his level was now level 220 and at Promotion.
The Promotion mission popped up on the interface; this time, Han Xiao did not even look at it.
The Mission Completion Cards that he had been hoarding for seven years had now finally come into use!
Use [Mission Completion Card)? [Confirm/ Cancel]
“Confirm.”
You have used (Mission Completion Card)!
[Edge of Death)… completed!
(Level 220 Promotion Mission completed!
Promotion successful!
END Bonus increased! 1 END = 175 Health = 185 Stamina.]
His Endurance bonus increased by thirty after this Promotion, five more than the previous Promotion.
A hot stream flowed out from his heart and quickly circulated his entire body. Every cell in his body became tremendously more active; he could clearly feel his increased life force.
Han Xiao focused and looked at the interface notification—this Promotion also included a Race Evolution.
He had just got some luck from Feidin earlier. He was hoping to get some good options.
You have taken another step on the path of evolution. You have ascended in the hierarchy of life. Your genes have reformed. You’re closer to another new beginning of life…
Race Detected: Void Distorter (Human Form)
Randomly drawing 9 matching evolutionary directions…
Drawing complete!
Please choose one of the following 9 options for your Race Evolution. Warning! The evolution process is irreversible. Please choose carefully! [Appendix— Evolution Path Feature Descriptions]
(Void Rainbow (Force Field Form)]–38% Compatibility
(Void Jumper (Mutated Form)]—44% Compatibility
(Void Spirit (Spirit Form)]—28% Compatibility
[Multi-Dimensional Shadow (Mind Signal Form)]—23% Compatibility
(Void Executioner (Human Form)]—71% Compatibility
[Magomado Blade (Human Form)]—57% Compatibility
(Void Star Pursuer (Human Form)]—75% Compatibility
[High Concentration Void Dragon Hybrid (Human Form)]—66% Compatibility
(Saint-Galaxy Human Race (Gene Limiter Removed)]—54% Compatibility
Looking at the nine options before him, Han Xiao felt a headache coming on.
Not because these options were not good, but because they were too good!
He was in a pickle.
As he had once consumed a Void Lord Core, Han Xiao had skipped an entire evolution stage. Without that, the options that had appeared would have been on the same level as Void Distorter.
However, many options were evolution paths that were higher than Void Distorter.
First, Han Xiao ignored the first four options. Those four options were not Human Forms and all had very low Compatibilities. What he was having trouble choosing from were the remaining five options.
(Void Star Pursuer) was the direct evolution for Void Distorter, a Universe Life Form that fed on universal radiation and Fixed Star energy. (Void Executioner) was more combat-focused and belonged to the upper-middle class of the Void Life system.
‘Magomado’ was a Void Lord that was recorded in history. It modified strong Void warriors through Void Energy and created special elite soldiers, which were called the [Magomado Blades). They were extremely strong.
[High Concentration Void Dragon Hybrid) should be the evolution path brought by the Void Dragon Pith that he had once consumed. Han Xiao was not very clear on the ultimate result of this evolution path. Could it be that the Void Dragon genes would take over his genes and turn him into a Void Dragon or some kind of mutant?
The last option (Saint-Galaxy Human Race] was one of the end points for the Galaxy Human Race evolution chain. The removal of Gene Limiter was very tempting; he would gain a ton of attributes from it.
However, compared to the Void Life options, which still had evolution potential, Han Xiao was not very tempted to choose this. Most of the evolution paths would remove his Gene Limiter at the end point, and the Void Life chain was no exception.
“Which one should I choose?” Han Xiao walked back and forth in hesitation.
As he was closer to Beyond Grade A, this might be his last Race Evolution chance before Beyond Grade A, so he was extremely cautious.
“In terms of combat capability increase, Saint
—Galaxy Human Race is the best, followed by Magomado Blade. In terms of potential, Void Star Pursuer is the best. Void Executioner is a balanced option between the two. As for High Concentration Void Dragon Hybrid, the subsequent evolutions of this chain shouldn’t be very suitable for me…”
After pondering for a while, Han Xiao once again decided to focus on potential. He hesitated between the Void Star Pursuer and Void Executioner.
The evolution direction of the Executioner would lead to Void Lord and Void Duke, while the Star Pursuer developed toward Void Precursor and Void Archangel. Both had their specialties.
“Racial Talents have minimal effects on my combat capability. Choosing something with better long-term potential is more suitable for me…”
Han Xiao took a deep breath and made his decision.
Selection complete.
Undergoing Race Evolution… Evolution complete.
Your race has been changed to: (Void Star Pursuer (Human Form)]. Your molecular structure has been improved, organ structure strengthened, metabolism changed, and adaptability enhanced.
Your potential aptitude has been improved!
You have received bonus attributes: +154 STR, +179 DEX, +323 END, +188 INT, +120 MYS, +70 CHA, +3760 Energy. Energy Level bonus attributes have been changed!
Han Xiao’s senses exploded!
As if his soul left his body, his mind slowly ascended while his body descended. It was like his body and soul were separated, but in reality, they were more tightly connected than before.
His senses seemed to have extended indefinitely, exceeding this Star System, this Star Cluster, and this Star Field. It was as if he saw the entire universe in an instant.
Although this was just an illusion, it was almost real, and it made him experience extremely high dimensional vision for an instant.
The next moment, Han Xiao’s senses were pulled right back to his body.
In extreme pain, his body structure was quickly changing. Through the changes, Han Xiao’s senses became more and more sensitive. He even gained a few more senses and could ‘see’ the world in more ways than before.
Although everything before him remained unchanged, they felt completely different in his senses.
Whoosh!
Finally, the pain retreated. Han Xiao took a deep breath. The air he exhaled consisted of extremely tiny energy crystals flashing in a dim blue-gray light.
The moment the Race Evolution finished, Han Xiao took out a mirror immediately and checked if anything weird had grown out of his body.
Hair… still dense.
Face… still familiarly handsome.
Body… hmm, great.
Tail… nonexistent, fortunately.
Han Xiao nodded with satisfaction. Although he was human no more, he still hoped that he looked like one out of aesthetic reasons.
After checking himself from head to toe thoroughly three more times, Han Xiao then opened the interface again and spent the rest of his Experience on leveling up.
After his Promotion, the Experience needed to level up increased by a considerable amount once again. He only leveled up once.
As a Universe Life Form, the Star Pursuer had an extremely strong physique, so he gained plenty of bonus attributes from this Race Evolution.
He opened the interface and looked at his own attributes.
Level: 221
Main Class: Mechanic
Race: Void Star Pursuer (Human Form)
Attributes: 810 STR, 1316 DEX, 1658 END, 3455 INT, 654 MYS, 284 CHA, 1 LUK
Free Attribute Points: 24
Potential Points: 15
Health: 456,060
Stamina: 382,120
Energy: 35,530 (Lv.13]
(Lv.13 Energy bonus attributes: +279 STR, +374 DEX, +466 END, +544 INT, +308 MYS, +50,520 Maximum Stamina, +467% Machinery Affinity (Super Electromagnetic Sense)]
