The Legendary Mechanic, page 739
If this money could be used to improve the faction cohesion and attractiveness, it would be quite profitable for him.
The more Han Xiao thought about it, the more he felt that this was something he could do. After he returned from the secondary dimension and settled the affairs of the Beyond Grade A union, he would have a lot of time to plan and hold such celebrations.
But it would be good to propose a prototype for Sylvia to perfect.
He had people to take care of his chores, so there was no pressure on him. Squeezing his own Chief Administrative Official had become a habit of Han Xiao’s.
He had no other choice. Who made Sylvia so good looking and capable, making him so pleased with her work?
…
Sylvia’s efficiency was high. She only took a day to perfect the draft of the Flickering World Beyond Grade A Development Union.
Han Xiao revised it before sending it to Manison to discuss the matter together. While they had conflicts of interest, they had to cooperate for this matter.
“This Development Union… the idea is not bad. While it is an excuse, it is reasonable enough to pass through the eyes of the three Universal Civilizations.”
Within the encrypted channel, Manison made comments while browsing the draft.
“Oh, this is just a cover,” Han Xiao explained. “On the surface, the scope of cooperation will be limited to the Flickering World. In fact, as long as this union is created, the conflicts of the Beyond Grade A in other Star Fields can also be resolved through this platform, and at the same time, the Beyond Grade A organizations can form a network of interests throughout the universe, providing each member with a place to exchange and cooperate with each other. This will achieve the goal of uniting power.”
Manison pondered. “This is similar to how The Ancient Ones operate, but to achieve this, most of the Beyond Grade As will need to voluntarily accept such cooperation, linking their organizations in the interest network. But if there’s no benefit, most people will be unwilling to cooperate, and then there’s still the obstacle of different factions…”
Han Xiao interrupted him. “That’s why we have to declare that this union is completely neutral by nature, just a loose one similar to The Ancient Ones. We have to organize it as much as possible so as to weaken any possible opposing influence from the factions. As for benefits, we will need the larger Beyond Grade A organizations to lead by example, by becoming the leader of the interest network and actively taking out cooperation shares. That way, the other Beyond Grade A organizations will be willing to join.”
“Who are the confirmed initiators leading this?”
“Only you and I.” Han Xiao shook his head. “In terms of influence, we can be considered behemoths in the Beyond Grade A circle, enough to serve as an example. The fact that we are willing to cooperate should attract a lot of people, but well… just two of us isn’t enough. We need more leaders, preferably the pinnacle Beyond Grade As. Otherwise, we cannot hold on to the crowd.”
“I understand what you mean.” Manison agreed. “We’ll need organizations with sufficient influence in various fields. On my side, I can try to lobby all the ancient ones, and the Protectors of the Galactic Black Market should also be brought in to take the lead. At the same time, we cannot forget about the neutral Beyond Grade As. Oh yes, there’s also Sorokin who controls the Limitless Financial Group. His money is very important.”
In the Beyond Grade A circle, Sorokin was recognized as a top dog with one of the highest assets. While the majority did not care much for his combat abilities, no one underestimated his power to make money.
At this time, Han Xiao’s eyes gleamed.
“I have a question. With so many pioneers… who will be the Chairman?”
Hearing this, Manison narrowed his eyes.
Since they wished to form a union, this problem could not be avoided. The Chairman of this union was of great significance, equivalent to the position of the leader of the martial world, the nominal chief of the Beyond Grade As.
Thus, be it strength or influence, it had to be convincing. The prerequisite was to be a pinnacle Beyond Grade A. Manison would definitely be a hot candidate, and Han Xiao was also eligible to compete for the Chairman position.
The position of Chairman came with a risk, that he would become the main target of the advanced civilizations, attracting their firepower. However, with great risks came great rewards.
Manison was staring at this position naturally out of interest, but as the main initiator of this project, Han Xiao had no reason to actively hand over the position.
After silence reigned for a while, Manison spoke slowly, avoiding this sensitive topic.
“There’s only two of us now. It’s too early to discuss such a matter. Let’s bring in all the members before we decided on this.”
“Okay.”
Han Xiao nodded slightly before ending the call and letting out a sigh of relief.
Because this was a Beyond Grade A union, everyone present would be big bosses of an area. Thus, it would be impossible to make this into an area where only one person’s word mattered.
Thus, persuading other Beyond Grade As to join would be tantamount to pulling supporters for himself. Only with enough Beyond Grade As supporting himself could he justify becoming the Chairman of the Flickering World Beyond Grade A Development Union.
Simply put, this was a matter of fighting for face. Just his strength was not enough.
“My network is quite extensive, but compared to Manison…”
Han Xiao shook his head.
He was confident in his relationship side, but Manison had been around for far too long, and his relationships were definitely much deeper than Han Xiao’s. It would be difficult to compete.
If he wanted this position, he could only start with the benefits part. He had to let people see that whoever served as the Chairman would bring about greater benefits.
“What a difficult task. I’m afraid this will be another uphill battle…”
Chapter 1070. The Dark Lord“s Targe |
After assessing the plan’s feasibility, both of them separated into their own teams.
The pinnacle Beyond Grade As that Han Xiao was most familiar with were the three oldies of the dynasty, and the others were mostly acquaintances.
In contrast, Manison knew many more people, including those from the Federation of Light, the Arcane Church, Galactic Black Market, and even the neutral pinnacle Beyond Grade As. All of them were left to him to lobby.
Since his network was not as good as the other party’s, Han Xiao did not stop Manison from doing more work. Instead, he made up his mind to compete from another direction.
Only the dynasty’s side was left to Han Xiao. He sent out the proposal of the union to both Milizaus and Kant, inviting them both to participate in this grand event. As for the Dark Lord, Han Xiao did not invite him.
Thanks to the consensus reached in the Meeting of the Gods, the majority of the pinnacle Beyond Grade As readily accepted and agreed to build a Beyond Grade A platform in the form of a development union. However, a small portion of them hesitated, worried about the reactions of the three Universal Civilizations. Overall, it could still be said to have gone well.
The direct line of Beyond Grade As from the advanced civilizations was not included on the invitation list. They would not be issued any sort of invitation until the union was completely established. After all, most of these Beyond Grade As placed their own civilization above their personal interests, and while admirable, not everyone thought the same way.
Kant and Milizaus were both allies, and while agreeing to the invitation sent by Han Xiao, they raised their own concerns.
“Black Star, the relationship between you and the dynasty has just eased. If you take the lead now in forming the Beyond Grade A union, the dynasty will be dissatisfied with you again.”
“There are no rulers who wish to see any unstable factors in their jurisdiction, but there’s no way about it. Everyone has different positions,” Han Xiao replied.
“You still have to be careful,” Kant urged him again. “Manison’s objective is to seek for profit. He wants to tie all the Beyond Grade As together as a bargaining chip. You’re too young, don’t let him use you.”
These Beyond Grade As actually knew that Manison was using them, but because they could see the longer-term benefits that they could obtain, they saw no reason to reject this proposal.
“I’m aware of his intentions, but only through this can the Beyond Grade As benefit. If this can be realized, it can reduce the infighting between the Beyond Grade As caused by factions’ differences.” Han Xiao wished to preserve the vitality of the Beyond Grade As and intervene in the Calamity of the Supers as a chess player rather than a pawn.
“If I must say…” Kant spoke in an uncertain tone as he lowered his voice. “If the Beyond Grade A union can be fully formed, it will solve the problem of excess individual power. The moment Beyond Grade As grow to a certain extent, we will internally liquidate and kill those not from any of the factions, which is better than the three Universal Civilizations taking action in person.”
Hearing this, Han Xiao could not help but glance at him.
This was a way to seize the power of liquidation from the hands of the three Universal Civilizations and use the ordinary Beyond Grade As as a price to maintain their pinnacle Beyond Grade A status.
If they continued developing normally, the union would indeed likely evolve to this final form. When the Beyond Grade As circle was strong enough and had succeeded in stabilizing their position, the union would definitely actively control the number of Beyond Grade As to prevent this circle from becoming too strong and attracting a bloodbath from the three Universal Civilizations.
The Beyond Grade A union would take the initiative to prune the branches, keeping the number of Beyond Grade As at a level that could threaten the three Universal Civilizations but not force them to take action. This way, they could decide who to kill and how many to kill, keeping the initiative. This loss was naturally much smaller than having the three Universal Civilizations take action.
It was estimated that among the pinnacle Beyond Grade As, there were many who thought in the same manner as Kant. This behavior of taking away the ladder once he climbed up to the top of the wall himself was not a fresh concept… After all, when the number of Beyond Grade As reached a certain level, the nature of their circle would gradually change as well. This posed more disadvantages than advantages to them.
While these pinnacle Beyond Grade As agreed to join the union, their ideals were all different. Han Xiao narrowed his eyes but did not say anything.
In general, there were no many problems in pulling people on board, so the action was quickly implemented. The organizations of the many leaders cooperated to mobilize materials and to select a site in the Flickering World to build the base camp for the development union.
Naturally, it would be impossible to conceal such actions from the other organizations, and the leaders themselves saw no need to conceal it. After all, the nature of their union was no secret, and the three Universal Civilizations should have already learned about it.
Of course, the news also travelled to the dynasty.
…
Pa!
“Black Star is taking a yard for every inch we give!”
In the Ruler’s office, Bekorodi’s face was contorted in anger as he smacked the table.
He pulled along several of the upper echelons from the hawk faction, berating Han Xiao in front of Urranrell.
“Just look at Black Star’s recent actions. He acts with no respect for the dynasty at all! He has just eased his relations with the dynasty, and he dares to do something like this. Does he regard the opening of sales for the Evolutionary Totems as our weakness?”
Urranrell rubbed the center of her brows. “Then, what do you think I should do?”
“I feel that we should warn Black Star,” Bekorodi bellowed. “If he continues to act as he wills, then the dynasty will withdraw the decree to open up the sales of the Evolutionary Totem.”
However, Urranrell did not accept or reject his proposal. “If we rescind the decree, what do you think the federation and the church will do?”
“Humph, while they have coveted the Evolutionary Totem for so long, they are still clear on what is important. For this problem, both the federation and the church have to choose a stance, and they will not side with Black Star.”
Bekorodi had a confident tone, quite sure of his judgment.
Urranrell knocked on the table before slowly replying, “You are right, but after the Meeting of the Gods, we anticipated this situation. Just targeting Black Star will not help as this is the general trend.”
When she discovered that Black Star and the others intended to integrate the Beyond Grade As, she had already predicted that the hawk faction would attack and make things difficult.
In all fairness, Urranrell did not like seeing the Beyond Grade A union, but this issue was sensitive and involved many factors, so she could not make any hasty decisions.
As such, she could not easily withdraw the decree regarding the Evolutionary Totem sales and blame Black Star as Bekorodi suggested.
His suggestion was rejected, but Bekorodi was not angry. He had known that the Ruler would give such a response, and his goal was just to express his negative attitude. He pretended to grunt before leading everyone else away.
Only Urranrell was left in the room. She shook her head before opening the star map of the Flickering World, analyzing the situation.
Ever since the Flickering World was opened, the power patterns in the universe had started to change, and the dynasty was aware of this. First was the Super Star Cluster Alliance, and now the Beyond Grade A union. The changes were slowly surfacing.
“The price of exploration and expansion is turbulence, as every class wants to redistribute benefits…” Urranrell sighed.
…
Currently, the development union was still a grassroots team. Only a group of pinnacle Beyond Grade As were making the preliminary preparations. During this period, they would inevitably have to negotiate with the three Universal Civilizations, and it would take a few months for them to formally establish themselves.
This matter did not require much effort, so Han Xiao had a lot of free time and was immersed in repairing and strengthening his mechanical army.
After many failures, he had finally created an Emperor’s Cape at the Gold Grade in his workshop.
This was the second Universal Treasure to be created by his hand. His [Spirit Instrument] skill unlocked the second layer, and at the same time, he obtained a new God’s Trait Transformation point.
The second layer increased his basic success rate of manufacturing Gold Grade equipment, as well as research and development benefits. The increase was the same as that of the first layer, 2.5% and 1.2% respectively, but it also had a new attribute that increased the possible mutation rate of a Universe by 0.2%.
Reading through the introduction, Han Xiao discovered that this was the probability bonus for generating unique mutations in the process of making Universal Treasures. Such treasures would generally be stronger than normal Gold Grade equipment and might develop some ‘unsolvable’ abilities.
As for the God’s Trait Transformation point, Han Xiao added it into the Mechanic path, and his [God’s Trait Transformation—Machinery] unlocked the effect of its third layer.
_____________
Third Stage: [Apostle Mechanic] and below classes will have +3 to all class skills, +50% to speed of assembly line production, +10% Assembly line product quality, and -25% cost of materials. In addition, +1,500 INT, +30 Potential Points.
_____________
“The levels of my basic mechanic skills have gone up by quite a bit, and there’s an increase in assembly line production skills, as well as Intelligence and potential points. It’s not too bad.”
Because Han Xiao had skills that could raise his Machinery Affinity based on his Intelligence, 1,500 points would bring about a 400% increase in his Machinery Affinity. The thirty free Potential Points could also be used to upgrade his Ultimate Knowledge skills by a level.
Though the effects of this third stage seemed to be a little mixed. They synergized quite well, especially the +3 to all class related skills, which brought a considerable bonus to him. After all, there were many Machinery Affinity skills in the low-level class skill list.
This time, the attribute targeted to be optimized was his Dexterity. Because of the amount of work needed, the difficulty in creating the Emperor’s Cape was higher than that of the King. His points were thus optimized by 375 points, all of which were converted into free attribute points.
“I finally finished this equipment.”
Han Xiao felt refreshed and put away his Emperor’s Cape.
Everything that he needed to do was done. He could now make a trip to the secondary dimension.
The Flickering World Beyond Grade A Development Union was still in development, and this was no overnight event. The three Universal Civilizations would definitely oppose it, so it was a good time for him to hide from the dynasty’s fatal calls. He did not even need to guess what the dynasty would say to him if the call connected.
Furthermore, Ames had already been there a long time, so he should not make her wait too long.
…
In the Crimson Dynasty’s Constellation Corridor, within a large interstellar military fortress, a gigantic spacetime gate that was several times larger than a normal stargate stood in the center of the base. It lay in a dormant state, merely resembling an oval arch.
There was a figure hovering in front of this spacetime gate. It was ‘Dark Lord’ Clotti, who had removed his Guard Captain uniform and put on a special lightweight mechanical suit.
The respectful voice of the base commander came through the helmet communicator.
“Your Excellency Clotti, this mechanical suit is specially used for shuttling in the secondary dimension. It can anchor the coordinates of the main universe, and there’s also a spare portable anchoring device within it. Please do not damage or discard it, else you might be lost within the stacks of secondary dimensions…”
