The Legendary Mechanic, page 522
However, this was completely ineffective to Han Xiao. Sodrian was the earliest novice planet in the Constellation Corridor, with so much information the players had dug up, Han Xiao knew what happened all too well. Troy could not hide it from him at all.
Furthermore, Han Xiao had searched through the forums and found a hidden mission in the Galaxy Chronicles recorded by the Constellation Corridor players — When Troy was retreating and fleeing, he arranged people to plant high energy explosives in the political building of Sodrian’s capital city that was more than enough to wipe out more than 10 streets. He completely ignored the civilian casualties and was extremely cruel. However, this triggered the players’ hidden mission and the trap was destroyed by the players. This was more than enough to prove that Troy was nothing but a cruel and heartless man who would have his revenge no matter the means and the unnecessary casualties.
Under the stare of Han Xiao’s eyes, Troy’s expression stiffened. He was anxious, if not because he had no other way out, he would not have taken such a desperate measure. He clenched his teeth, let go of all his pride and suddenly prone before Han Xiao — In the universally accepted cultural standards, this position represented complete obedience.
“With your position, who dares to lie to you! It’s my fault for not saying things clearly and causing your misunderstanding, I am sorry. Please save my life, I’m willing to forever work for you.”
Han Xiao curled his lips in his mind. He knew exactly what Troy was intending to do — it was nothing but an attempt to take refugee after making a huge mistake. Since the army was recruiting, he thought this was his opportunity so he intended to use sweet words to convince him.
If not because Troy had a special use to him, he would have let people capture Troy long ago to exchange for the bounty.
Han Xiao stood up, glanced at Troy’s back of the head and said, “I don’t need your loyalty, and I don’t need your appreciation even more. I’m too lazy to capture you, so I’ll take it as I’ve never seen you. Get out of my sights right now and don’t let me see you again, or else…”
Whoosh! The door opened and Hila walked in, she stared at Troy coldly and clearly signifying him to piss off.
Troy’s face was pressed onto the floor and his expression could not be seen. Only after two seconds did he stand up and patted his shirt as if he was patting away the non-existent dust. With his head down, his eyes were fixed onto the floor and he did not dare to look up at Han Xiao’s eyes. Under Hila’s sharp stare, he walked out of the room step by step silently with clenched fists and was escorted out of the subdivision.
After he left, Han Xiao’s expression relaxed and turned into an odd smile.
“I wonder if this will be of use in the future…”
The Great Technician Han had a motive to deliberately let Troy leave. As the main storyline NPC of one of the novice planets, Troy still had some storyline on him. According to how things out in the previous life, Troy would barely escape from the chase in the end.
Then, since he was a wanted man, he fled into the border of the Central Galaxy and survived there. Afterward, he was accepted by the Fallen Ark and became one of EsGod’s subordinates, but he did not even make it to the officer position. The players only noticed and recorded this because he was once the main storyline NPC of a novice planet.
The fact that an important NPC in the early stages became someone so insignificant in the later stages was like an easter egg to the players, which was why Han Xiao remembered Troy.
Therefore, before Han Xiao let Troy leave, he secretly planted a ward on him.
EsGod was immune to the Observer’s Mark, but Troy’s appearance gave Han Xiao a flash of insight — if Troy joined the Fallen Ark in the future like he did in the previous life, Han Xiao would be able to monitor EsGod’s movements.
Although he had no idea when and if this would work out, since it was not a significant plot, Han Xiao was casual about it. After all, he did not have any good way to deal with EsGod yet. It would be great if this ends up working, but it would not be a big deal even if it does not.
…
40 days passed very quickly.
Han Xiao stayed on Planet Gilman all along, waiting for the subdivision to recruit more people. During this time, he had been expanding his mechanical army every day, as well as using the new Ultimate Knowledge to slowly create mechanical lives. Starting with Psionic Prime, he now had 3,000 first-generation mechanical lives under his command…Read more chapter on NovelFull
There were a few reasons why he did not create more. Firstly, [King’s Mentor]’s cooldown used days as a unit, and this was the prerequisite ability of [Tinder Awakening].
Secondly, although [Tinder Awakening] could be used on multiple targets at the same time, its upper limit was not very high. Even at its maximum level, it could only be used on more than 10 targets at once. Furthermore, Han Xiao had discovered that if he used it on multiple targets at the same time, their initial level would not be as high compared to if he used it only on one target. The cost of this ability was the same be it single or multiple targets, so when his energy was spread amongst multiple targets, they naturally received lesser energy individually.
Thirdly… his body could not take it if he used it too frequently.
This had also made Han Xiao’s thoughts about developing a mechanical civilization more firm. The efficiency of creating mechanical lives was not high just with [Tinder Awakening]. His health and energy recovered fast, but stamina required rest to recover. In comparison, a fully developed mechanical civilization could provide him with a supply of soldiers at a much faster efficiency without him having to put in all these efforts on days on end.
In the past 40 days, the recruiting of the Planet Gilman subdivision had settled.
There were many Beyond Grade A organizations in the Central Galaxy, so Black Star Army’s appeal here was not as high as compared to back in the Shattered Star Ring. The Planet Gilman subdivision had only recruited a little more than 10 million new members and it was slowing down. Compared to the Beyond Grade A organizations in the Central Galaxy, this number was quite low. This was only the beginning for this subdivision.
Amongst the new members, about more than 4 million were players, which made up about 85% of all the players in the Constellation Corridor. Through the army’s benefits and the words of mouth on the forums, the majority of the Constellation Corridor players had rushed here to join.
In this more than 4 million players, most decided to become members of the mercenary department. There were two types of army members, one was the full member who obeyed the army’s orders, another was the semi-members who worked for the army but had generally complete freedom. Mercenaries were a typical example of the latter.
The mercenary system was lenient, and the mercenary department of the army did not violate the rules of galactic mercenaries. Most of the Constellation Corridor players were here for the benefits, so being mercenaries was a choice with more freedom. They basically had a very simple relationship with the army of doing things for the army in exchange for resources, this way their faction would not be locked.
Han Xiao was not surprised about this, the players in the other Star Field had just known his army, he knew that feelings needed time to develop.
He gave the Constellation Corridor players more than enough time to make their choices. Amongst the more than 4 million players, 700,000 accepted the Flickering World main storyline mission and requested to go to the Shattered Star Ring with the army.
The majority of the 700,000 players were normal players. The remaining millions of players decided to stay in their birth Star Field to continue exploring while watching how would things turn out for those that decided to go to the Shattered Star Ring.
Han Xiao was able to dig away 700,000 leeks just in the first batch, so he was quite satisfied with this.
Today was the day of departure. An enormous Black Star Army transport fleet was ready to leave, all the 700,000 players have already boarded the ships.
At this time, players from all the Star Fields were paying attention to this occasion from the broadcasts on the forums.
All the players were interested in the first time a player would cross a Star Field, this might be an example for them in the future when they get the chance to do the same. Therefore, this became the most-watched occasion ever since the Black Star Army’s creation, its popularity amongst the players had broken the record!
On the transport ships, the players chatted with excitement.
“I wonder what does it feel to travel across Star Fields, how will it be different from normal stargates?”
“Will the Shattered Star Ring players bully us?”
“Guys, do you think something fun will happen if we jump out of the ship in the stargate…”
“Guards! That’s the guy!”
Inside the command room of the main ship, Hila lead against the wall with her armed crossed, Aurora busily operated on the main pilot seat, and Feidin stood beside her and watched.
Hadavy sat on the sofa with a square-shaped blue crystal wine bottle in his hand, gulping down on the mercury colored wine inside that made him choke and his face blush. Wayne Cards were on the table, the rule was to drink if you lost. There was a pile of empty bottles beside his seat, opposite him was the speechless old man Aesop who was dragged here.
Ames stood behind the scenery window with hands behind her back and looked at the fleet around. With Han Xiao, Hila, and Aesop, these people she was close to accompanying her for the past more than a month holiday, she had quite a good time.
Han Xiao stood before the star map, the destination was set long ago. When everyone had boarded, he gave out an order to the entire fleet.
“Depart.”
Boom!
The thrusters shot out flames and the battleships took off.
“We’ve finally departed!” The many players on the ships were thrilled, the countless people watching on the forums were looking closely too.
The fleet slowly headed away from the Planet Gilman subdivision and accelerated. Carrying 700,000 leeks, it headed to the Shattered Star Ring.
Chapter 813. Ames“ Reques |
The Crimson Dynasty Military Shattered Star Ring Stargate Station, the Black Star Army transport ships rode out from the blue vortex stargate one after another, as the space energy covering their shields quickly dissipated.
"We're back." Inside the main ship's command room, Han Xiao exhaled.
Despite being prosperous and peaceful, the shadow of the universal civilizations always shrouded the Central Galaxy like a mountain, giving him an invisible sense of pressure. Although Shattered Star Ring was rural, he had been there for more than twenty years, and this was the army's headquarters; he felt calmer and secure there.
Ames walked to his side, looked out the universe outside the porthole, and said, "I've had quite a good time traveling with you guys for the past two months. Now we're home, I shall get going."
"What's the hurry? Come with us."
"Floating Dragon recently drifted to another Star Cluster. We're not on the way for you."
Han Xiao reluctantly nodded and said, "Alright then, I'll have my men prepare a spaceship for you. By the way, the preparations on the dynasty's side are almost complete, so I'll be departing very soon to explore the Flickering World. Do you want to come? There should be much new and interesting stuff there."
Ames waved and said, "That's the Crimson Dynasty's mission. I won't go."
Aesop rubbed his beard and interrupted them. "Yesterday, I had a new prophecy that's related to the Flickering World."
Another prophecy? Han Xiao's eyes sparkled and said with curiosity, "Old man, you've helped me with your prophecy ability again?"
"Er… let me explain. I did not help you particularly. It's just that those people who are close to me will have some kind of fate connection with me, and my ability can randomly sense what might happen to these people in the future. It's like a dream, very blurry, basically just a feeling.
"Yesterday, I sensed what might happen to you in the Flickering World…"
Then, Aesop paused and said in a very serious tone, "You'd better be careful about the Arcane Church."
The Arcane Church? Have they still not given up taking back the Evolution Cube? It does seem possible.
Han Xiao blinked and realized that Aesop did not continue. "Is that it? Don't you have any useful information like time and location or something?"
Aesop shrugged. "Things can change any time since the future is so far ahead. There's no accurate prophecy, just intuition."
"Got it. I'll keep a lookout and have people keep an eye on the movements of the Star Pupil Holy Race. If the Arcane Church wants to do something to me, Psyker will definitely be part of it."
Han Xiao nodded and patted Aesop's shoulder.
"Oh, by the way, one more thing." Aesop rubbed his beard. "I heard that some Ancient Ones members have been secretly asking around about you. A few of them seems to be interested in you."
Han Xiao looked at Aesop from head to toe and said with a doubtful tone, "Where did you hear that?"
"I used to be one of them. What's so weird about me having a few friends?" Aesop shrugged. "When I followed you to the dynasty's capital and met those dynasty allies, Ravenlaude told the other Ancient Ones about me. Now, those guys all know that a former member of the Ancient Ones is now with you and Ames, so some friends contacted me."
Han Xiao could not help but feel amazed. For someone this ancient like Aesop, both his connections and history were unfathomable. Somehow, Aesop could always obtain information that was extremely rare and inaccessible to most people.
"Who are the ones that are asking about me?"
"Manison, Sun Hunter, Void Overlord…" Aesop's voice suddenly got deeper and said with a soft voice, "And Thousand Shadows."
Other than Manison, Han Xiao did not have any contact with the first few Ancient Ones. Sun Hunter was a Cannon Master, and Void Overlord was a Void being, so Han Xiao had no idea why they were asking about him. However, when Aesop mentioned Thousand Shadows, Han Xiao's eyes narrowed immediately.
Back when they interrogated Thousand Shadows' Shadow Warriors, Aesop was the one who had helped. Aesop knew that Thousand Shadows had once had his eyes on Han Xiao, so he mentioned this to alert him.
"Maybe he still wants to capture me or something. He's in the Federation of Light's Star Field, so I can't do anything for the time being. I'll wait till I have the chance to deal with him." Han Xiao committed this matter to memory.
The mission [Prey] was still inactive. In the past, he did not know if Thousand Shadows had given up on him, but now, it seemed that this guy had yet to give up. However, he was no longer a Calamity Grade, so Thousand Shadows would not be able to capture him so easily.
This time, Ames suddenly said, "Black Star, I've been thinking about something recently, and I want to discuss it with you."
Han Xiao turned to look at Ames and captured a tint of hesitation on her face. This was very rare for Ames, so Han Xiao said curiously, "What do you want to discuss with me? Do you want to borrow money? Is fifty million Enas enough?"
"Who's borrowing money from you? Do you think I'm that poor?" Ames's brow twitched slightly. "Actually… I've been thinking about Floating Dragon's development plan recently…"
Both Aesop and Han Xiao's eyes widened immediately. Their faces were filled with complete shock.
"What happened to you? Is that something you should be thinking about?"
"Am I this unreliable to you?" Ames said with resignation. "I'm Floating Dragon's leader. What's so strange about me thinking for my organization occasionally?"
"It wouldn't be strange for others, but for you… it is indeed strange! Who doesn't know how laz… ahem, carefree you are?"
Han Xiao changed his words at the last minute and hid his giggle. Ames had never thought about developing her faction, and her slacker image was already deeply rooted in everyone's heart. God only knew why she suddenly changed her mind.
"Stop kidding, I'm serious this time." Ames gave Han Xiao a glare.
She had never been passionate about growing her organization, but that had lasted for too long, and she felt like it was time to make a change—especially after how she witnessed Han Xiao leading the rise of the Black Star Army for the past ten or so years with her own eyes. With such a positive example, it made her feel a tiny bit interested in growing her own forces. She wanted to imitate Han Xiao and operate Floating Dragon Island better. It had nothing to do with her ambition or anything of that sort; Ames mainly saw it as an interesting thing to do.
However, Ames was never going to admit to Han Xiao that the things he did were what piqued her interest.
"Alright then, I'll pretend it's serious…" Seeing the not so friendly glint in Ames' eyes, Han Xiao tried his best not to laugh and waved his hands. "Okay, okay. It's serious. So, you want to develop Floating Dragon. What do you want to discuss with me?"
Ames stayed silent for a while before slowly saying, "Floating Dragon has been drifting in the universe for a very long time. I want to make it stay in one place."
Han Xiao pondered for a while before nodding.
"Yo, that's quite a good idea. With a fixed location for the headquarters, it'll be easier for people to feel confident about Floating Dragon. As a Beyond Grade A, you have an extraordinary amount of appeal. As long as you can turn the image that the Shattered Star Ring Supers have about you around and show that you're serious about expanding, the number of people who are willing to work for you will definitely be tens and hundreds of times more than now.
Han Xiao caressed his chin, sized Ames up, and joked, "Plus, you're pretty, so your appeal might be even stronger than mine."
