The Legendary Mechanic, page 754
The two Universal Civilizations both had a very rich inventory of gold-grade blueprints, so the blueprints they would be willing to give out were not crucial ones. However, this was not important to Han Xiao at all as it was just a source of God’s Trait Transformation Points.
As soon as the two price lists were sent, the people of the federation and the church were immediately overjoyed. With no hesitation, they sent a communication request and started an official negotiation with Han Xiao.
This time, Han Xiao did not torture them. After some negotiation, an agreement was made. He would receive three Universal Treasure Grade blueprints.
The captives he planned to return first were Tolaen and Hades, one for each side.
He did not sell the federation’s allies to the church. Although this would be quite a useful move, it had its cons.
Anyway, he still had two more federation captives. What Han Xiao needed now was influence over the Universal Civilizations to improve his position in the development union, and the best way to do that was to not make any moves. As long as the captives were still in his hands, the Federation of Light would have to give him face to a certain extent, and the church would still have hope about him selling the federation’s allies to them. Therefore, he was not going to let go of all the captives easily.
After confirming the agreement, Han Xiao looked at these two relieved diplomatic officials and slowly said, “I shall wait for the day of your public apologies.’
Public apologies from the federation and the church were the first terms on the compensation agreements.
“Surely, please pay attention to the news.”
The two diplomatic officials bade farewell in their own traditional ways before ending the call. Their remote projections disappeared.
Han Xiao leaned back, crossed his legs, and murmured, “The federation and the church have compromised. For the time being, the dynasty will also follow through with their decision to make selling the Evolutionary Totems public to mend their relationship with me. They won’t be targeting the development union on the surface. From the way it looks, the three Universal Civilizations are not going to cause any problems for quite a while…”
He knew the characteristics of the three Universal Civilizations very well, so he knew that this peace would last a few months to a year.
However, this would only be calm before the storm, as the three Universal Civilizations still had an arch enemy to deal with—the Super Star Cluster Alliance, which had been keeping a low profile and expanding in the free competition zone.
Once the three Universal Civilizations were ready, they would certainly deal the Super Star Cluster Alliance a heavy blow, and it would not be the same gentle way they dealt with the development union. They definitely would not hold back, to eliminate the unrealistic ambition of these Super Star Cluster Civilizations. It could also be said that the three Universal Civilizations were only forgiving about the Beyond Grade As because the Super Star Cluster Alliance was their top priority.
“In this brief window, I’ll have to keep building my advantages.”
Han Xiao looked at the interface. He had been receiving tons of EXP every single day. Although the cost of leveling up from level 320 to 340 was outrageous, in the face of his merciless leek harvesting machine, he would have enough sooner or later.
The players had become familiar with the Flickering World version, exploring while fighting one another. It was intense.
Han Xiao planned to make their game experience richer, so he wanted to host the Army Tournament that he had come up with some time ago and make it a large festival event for the faction.
The happier the players were, the more motivated they would be to contribute more EXP to him.
…
At the same time, at a certain hidden location in Black Star Palace, a player called Paradise Disco was led by two mechanical soldiers through multiple security checks and down a dark corridor.
There were no decorations in this corridor at all, only pale white lights that extended deeper ahead. At the end of the corridor was a metal wall and a turning corner. No sound could be heard other than their footsteps.
Feeling the cold and frightening atmosphere, Paradise Disco could not help but ask, “Buddy, where are we going?”
The two mechanical soldiers had no intention to reply and continued walking in synchronized steps.
“What’s so secretive?” Paradise Disco opened the interface and mumbled, “What on earth is this mission anyway?”
On the mission list, a mission called [Special Experiment] was glowing.
To Paradise Disco’s recollection, this mission was suddenly triggered, and he did not do anything. It asked him to follow random mechanical soldiers to the destined location to carry out a special experiment, and that was all the introduction the mission had. The reward was exorbitant. It was about the reward of seven to eight Grade B missions.
Curiosity drove him to accept the mission, and on the way to the destination, he never stopped guessing.
Did I come across the secrets of the Black Star Army?
Has the army actually been carrying out some kind of forbidden secret experiment?
Why did I trigger it?
While he was making wild guesses, the mechanical soldiers in front of him stopped, and before them was an ordinary alloy gate.
After passing the identity scan, the gate opened. Paradise Disco quickly looked in, and a white lab entered his sights.
At this time, there was another player in the room, and he looked over too. The two of them looked at each other and were both slightly stunned.
“You accepted the mission too?”
“Special Experiment, right?”
“Yes, yes, that’s the one. Do you know the details?”
“No idea, I’ve only just arrived too.”
“It’s so mysterious. I love it.”
The two of them chattered and exchanged information. They became even more intrigued.
Since they had come to such a secret place in the headquarters, it could be no ordinary matter.
At this time, a team of mechanical soldiers pushed two life-sustaining cabins in. Two mechanical soldiers then took out two facial devices that blocked the wearer’s senses and passed them to the two players.
The leading mechanical soldier captain said, “Lie in the cabin, wear the mask, and wait for the experiment to start.”
The two players exchanged looks and, suppressing their curiosity, went inside the cabins.
Paradise Disco put on the mask and instantly fell into darkness. His vision, hearing, and smell were all gone. He had no way of knowing what was happening in the outside world.
Both of his hands and legs were locked up tight; he could not move at all.
Time went by extremely slow in this state. Every second felt like years.
Paradise Disco became even more curious. He almost wanted to break the restraints a few times and see what was happening. However, the heavy failure punishment of this mission discouraged him from doing so.
Just as he was about to get impatient, a notification suddenly popped up on the interface.
_____________
Your Grade B+ Potential Esper Ability [Physique Enhancement—Bone and Muscle Inflation] has been taken away!
You have entered [Ability Frozen] state. You are not able to use any abilities related to your Esper Ability.
Duration: Infinite
_____________
“W-what‽”
Paradise Disco was shocked and appalled.
Chapter 1087. Made Friends |
“Where’s my Esper Ability‽”
On the interface, a ton of abilities were now gray and frozen. Even the passive attributes given by the Esper Ability were gone. Paradise Disco immediately panicked and tried to leave the cabin.
This time, a cold metal hand pressed onto his chest and held him tightly in place. It was a mechanical soldier stopping him from moving. Paradise Disco was wearing a mask that sealed off all his senses, so all he could see was darkness and nothing else. He had no choice but to give up struggling and anxiously wait for the experiment to end.
Not knowing how long had passed, Paradise Disco suddenly felt that the devices that locked him in place opened up. He instantly stood up and took off his mask. He then looked around nervously, only to realize he was at the same place he was before, and the mechanical soldiers looked like they had never moved at all.
“My Esper Ability is gone. Is yours too?” Another player taking part in the experiment was released too and spoke with shock.
“That’s right. Mine is gone too.”
The two of them quickly exchanged information and realized that they were both in the infinite duration [Ability Frozen] state. They were both in a state of panic.
Paradise Disco hastily asked the mechanical soldier on the side, “What have you done to us?”
Following the answer Han Xiao had set for them to give, the mechanical soldier said monotonously, “It was just an experiment. The army is developing a special device to suppress Esper Genes. It might be widely available in the future.”
I knew it’s an experiment involving secret weapons!
The two of them exchanged and saw the same emotion in each other’s eyes. Paradise Disco quickly asked the question they both cared most about.
“Will our abilities recover?”
“Of course. In the research plan, Immortals are the best experiment targets. According to the logistics department, the Immortals only have to die and revive to refresh their body state and recover their ability. In the future, the Immortals in the army might be equipped with this kind of weapon,” the mechanical soldier replied emotionlessly.
Hearing that their abilities could recover, the two of them immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
The two of them had absolutely no doubt about this explanation. After all, the ‘Black Star Army Badge: Evolution’ had already happened, so developing secret weapons sounded just like what the army would do.
In the players’ eyes, this somewhat evil style completely aligned with the Black Star Army!
“This is the army’s secret plan. You have both signed the confidentiality agreement. Remember, do not tell anyone about what happened here,” the mechanical soldier said with a serious expression while returning their communication devices to them.
Paradise Disco took the communication device, looked at the player beside him, and saw suppressed joy in his eyes.
Confidentiality agreement? Hehe, that won’t stop us. You think taking our communication devices away will prevent this from leaking this? Impossible, the army has no power over the forums.
As if the army will find out if we make a post about it.
The two of them were secretly excited and were already thinking about how they were going to share this secret on the forums. This was not because they wanted to get in the way of the army’s interests but because their impulse to leak spoilers just could not be stopped.
Didn’t you hear the mechanical soldier? He said that this kind of weapon might be widely available to the army in the future. Won’t it be another type of suicidal attack like the explosion backpack and the army badge? We’ve come to know about it much earlier than the others. What reason do we have to not show it off?
Of course, the two of them had no idea that this was just an excuse Han Xiao had made up. He did not want to expose Evans’ existence, so he made up a reason not to let the outside world have any suspicion.
He purposely let the mechanical soldiers tell the two of them because he wanted to use them to spread misleading information, making the players think that this was a research and development project of some kind of secret weapon. This way, when the players took part in it in the future, he would not have to find another excuse again.
After the mission completion notification popped up on their interfaces, the two of them took their things and were too lazy to go back the way they came from, so they asked the mechanical soldier to help to send them to the afterlife.
With a flash of white light, the two of them revived in the populated base hall and checked their status immediately.
“My ability really came back.”
Paradise Disco was now finally relieved. He instantly opened up the forums and wrote down what he had just experienced. He added the title ‘Shocking! The army’s secret weapon turns out to be…’ and posted it.
As proven by facts, there was a reason this type of intriguing title had always been popular. This post attracted the attention of some players very quickly, and people started to comment on it.
“Is this true? Why have I never seen this mission before?”
“Suppress Esper Genes? I seem to recall that Black Star once had a house of happiness that was used specifically to produce Genetic Medicines out of galactic pirates. Is it now improved?”
“If we have this kind of weapon, won’t beating the other factions’ Esper players be a piece of cake?”
“Come on, have some ambition and imagination. This kind of treasure might be able to allow us to even defeat NPCs, making those strong NPCs powerless and unable to resist whatever’s done to them.”
“Stop it. I’m already starting to imagine the adult parodies in my head…”
“Come to think of it, the secret weapons the army has been inventing seem to be becoming more and more evil. The aberration one was already bad enough, but now they’re even inventing this… Are we the baddies?”
“The Deputy Army Commander is an Esper. Could it be that the Army Commander could not conquer her, so he’s planning to invent this kind of equipment and use force?”
“Black Star-Hila shippers are furious!”
“We live and die with Hila!”
…
While the players were pondering and making wild guesses, a secret door of a secret training room deep in the base opened. A man wearing a black hood walked out. He took off the hood, revealing his face. It was indeed Evans.
This training room had a secret path that led directly to the earlier lab. He followed what Han Xiao told him, sneakily went over, and absorbed the Esper Abilities of the two immobilized players. Before that, he had confirmed with Han Xiao again and again that the Immortals would only lose their abilities temporarily.
“So, this is the feeling of superhuman power…”
Evans raised his right arm and clenched his fist. A small stream of energy flowed out from his cells into the muscle and bones of his arm.
Boom!
The next moment, his arm bloated visibly like air was pumped in. His bones became tougher too, and his raw strength increased a large amount.
In his hands, this Esper Ability only had Grade E power. With his pitiful amount of energy, he could not even afford to pump up his entire body. He swung his arm a few times and made sounds of the sound barrier breaking. Just this one arm’s strength was close to double his original strength.
Esper Abilities all had potential grades, and usually, this grade signified the highest Grade the Esper could achieve. Although the players were not restricted by this rule, the potential grade still represented the growth speed and rarity of their Esper Abilities. The rarer, the stronger. Some players even continuously opened up new accounts and topped up real money just to get a rare Esper Ability.
Physique enhancement was a large branch in the Esper Abilities. Even Esper Abilities with the same prefix had many variations. Some ordinary physique enhancing abilities might only have Grade D or Grade C potential, but [Physique Enhancement—Bone and Muscle Inflation] had Grade B+ potential, meaning this was a rather high-quality ability among its branch.
This Esper Ability was also a semi-shapeshifting kind. Once activated, even skinny bamboos would instantly turn into muscular men.
The phycological Esper Ability that was absorbed also had grade B potential, which was still quite high.
Among the players, grade A potential was already extremely rare, so although grade B potential was one grade lower, it was plenty good enough.
According to the plan Han Xiao made, giving Evans these two high-quality abilities would not waste his slots. This combination of abilities was beneficial to increasing his basic attributes. As long as his own Grade increased, these two Esper Abilities would keep giving him bonus Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, and Psychological Resistance.
Evans loved these two abilities and could not stop using them till his energy ran out, but his eyes were still glowing.
He had been ordinary for decades. This was the first time he had enjoyed this feeling of fulfillment brought by this power. The shortcut of robbing abilities from others was extremely tempting, as if every single potential desire in his body was pushing him to take that path. Evans felt a sense of hunger coming from every cell in his body, instinctively thirsting for new abilities, like a hungry man’s insatiable craving for food.
“Hmm, His Excellency Black Star said that the changes in my body will bring changes to my mindset too. This should be the change my Esper Ability has caused in me…”
Evans thought about it. His strong heart developed through hardship made him suppress this sense of hunger brought by his Esper Ability.
He was not someone who had boundless greed. Black Star had changed his life and given him a righteous path to becoming strong. All he was thinking about was studying and training hard so that he could return this favor in the future. All he wanted was not to disappoint the hope Black Star had for him.
…
The last few months had not been peaceful. First, the federation and the church cooperated to attack the Black Star Army’s stronghold but were forced to retreat by Black Star. Then, the Beyond Grade A Association was formed. Therefore, the three Universal Civilizations had been at the center of galactic attention.
Today, the Federation of Light and the Arcane Church had finally made an official response regarding the attack on Hila a few months ago.
The two of them used different words but conveyed the same message, saying that the incident a few months ago was ‘an act of impulse led by misunderstandings’. At the same time, they publicly apologized to the Black Star Army, expressing that they would pay for the losses as well as give extra compensation.
