843 Showing themselves!
In Base No. 4 of Planet Lighthouse, within the real-life war training room, a spar was being carried out.
Bang!
A mechanical fist slammed against a hardened fist, and a shock wave burst out from the point of contact.
Hadavy braced himself, catching Psionic Prime’s fist, before viciously swinging forward with a right hook, knocking him backward onto the defense line formed by the mechanical soldiers.
Behind his line of defense, Han Xiao slightly shifted, waving his hand and shooting a beam of Mechanical Force to stabilize the body of Psionic Prime.
His eyes immediately flashed with an electrical glow, and the next instant, along the route Hadavy was taking toward him, a psionic barrier appeared.
Because the barrier appeared too suddenly and was too close, Hadavy rammed straight into it.
Boom!
“Good sound. You have a good head.”
The corners of Han Xiao’s mouth curled up, and he suddenly clenched his fist. The wall-like barrier shrank instantly into a minute dot before imploding directly on Hadavy’s face. With a thunderous noise, it shot out a blue beam, knocking Hadavy into the wall of the training room.
Boom!
The metal plates of the room were bent and broken, and a human-shaped hole appeared in the wall.
The mechanical soldiers forming the line of defense began to concentrate their fire, their ammunition blanketing the entire area, shooting straight into the human shaped pit.
Boom!
A dazzling explosion of light turned the entire room a pure white for a moment.
During this time, a red-colored light suddenly rushed toward Han Xiao’s back, piercing through ten or so mechanical soldiers, before aiming toward the back of his head.
Psionic Prime immediately disassembled and reassembled as a floating cannon model, activating a psionic shield to cover Han Xiao’s back. The red light hit the blue shield, shattering into fine shards.
As Han Xiao leisurely turned his head back, Hila shot backward, creating distance between them while firing her death rays. Against him, she did not dare go close range and could only resort to this long distance style of attacking.
This spar was a challenge for all the Black Star Guards to fight against Han Xiao. In order to achieve the effect of training them, Han Xiao naturally would not activate all his troops and only utilized a thousand mechanical soldiers. Without his Human Wave Tactic, he made up for it with a variety of mechanical equipment.
The training room was reduced to a mess. Most of the Black Star Guards had collapsed at this time, and only Hadavy and Hila were still going, looking extremely bedraggled.
“Come over here, darling.” Han Xiao stretched out his hands toward Hila, and the mechanical components assembled around his arm. Mechanical Force flashed, and a strong gravitational force was released from the arm of his mechanical suit, producing the sound of wind being sucked into it.
The mechanical soldiers instantly dodged, and the gaps appeared in the line of defense wherever Hila moved.
She immediately felt a strong pulling force dragging her toward Han Xiao’s side. Her pupils flared red, and the energy in her body burst out, resisting the pull of the gravitation, but her speed was inevitably slower.
Seeing that the gravitational machine had limited success, Han Xiao frowned before his body moved. He started up five strong suction traction beams behind him before activating them all at once.
Hum!
A huge attraction force suddenly superimposed on the original gravitational force, and Hila could no longer resist, being yanked over. She simply gave up resistance, and her flight speed soared. Approaching Han Xiao, she concentrated her energy within her legs, and a strong force was whipped about, powerful enough to destroy a mountain.
Han Xiao remained unmoved, and his latest generation of the Battle Tiger mechanical suit simply unfolded.
Clank clank!
The black mechanical suit covered his entire body, only revealing his head. Han Xiao bent his arms and used his forearm to meet Hila’s leg whip.
Boom!
Her legs, wrapped in energy, collided with his forearms covered in mechanical parts. The nanoparticles within the suit surface undulated and transferred the force to the legs and body.
Peng!
The next moment, a shock wave was emitted from Han Xiao’s sole, and the metal flooring all warped and broke apart. The excess strength was converted into a shockwave that blew away the surrounding smoke.
Han Xiao was still in his previous position. While Hila’s melee skills were not bad, she was not a Pugilist, and thus, her attributes were far lower than Han Xiao’s, unable to cause any threat.
Han Xiao did not pause in his motions. He immediately stretched out his hand used to block and latched on to Hila’s neck before applying strength to slam her against the ground with a sickening crunch.
“Ugh!” Being heavily slammed, Hila groaned and gritted her teeth in resistance. Her explosive figure twisted under Han Xiao like a slippery snake, yet she was unable to escape his grasp.
Suddenly, Hila’s vision darkened, and she looked to see Han Xiao leaning over, his face almost sticking toward hers with a smug expression.
“Stop twisting, the battle has already ended since you were caught by me. Based on your physique, you cannot possibly escape.”
Only upon hearing this did Hila finally stop her resistance. She bit her lips, locking eyes with Han Xiao.
The distance between their eyes was not even ten centimeters, and they could feel the warmth of each other’s breath on their faces.
Han Xiao’s nose twitched as a fragrance entered his nose. His face suddenly turned strange.
“Strange, why is there a fragrance? Did you put on perfume, or is that your natural fragrance?”
“... Let go.”
“Sure, of course.”
Han Xiao released his hands and straightened his waist, ready to help Hila up, but she ignored his offered hand, climbing back up by herself and dusting her clothes.
Seeing her impassive expression, Han Xiao helplessly shook his head. Having sparred so many times, he understood Hila’s attitude too well. Even with the gap in strength, Hila would not feel good every time she lost in a spar.
The mechanical troops also ceased firing, revealing many pits in the walls. There was a sound of stirring metal debris coming from within. The debris clanked, and Hadavy, covered in soot, crawled out from the hole. As he walked toward Han Xiao, he started to peel off the burnt skin over his body.
The mechanical devices imprisoning the various Black Star Guards were also put away, and they got up, rubbing their bruises. Among them, the one with the most decent appearance was probably Feidin. This was because Han Xiao was mainly reluctant to hit him, afraid to ruin his handsome face.
Since they were both handsome people, giving some privileges was only natural.
“This is great!” Hadavy grinned, his blackened face showing an expression of comfort.
Han Xiao ignored him, instead looking at the time. “You guys lasted thirty-seven seconds longer than the previous spar. Good improvement.”
Since the worst of these guards were also elite Calamity Grades, it was difficult for them to even take another step forward. Only Hila and Feidin showed the most improvements. After all, they had heaven defying gifts in the first place. In another twenty years, they would probably achieve the level of a Beyond Grade A seed.
As for breaking through to the Beyond Grade A realm, only Hila who had proven her strength in his previous life had a chance, but since she did not slaughter an entire planet like in the past, her rate of improvement would not be so perverted.
“The training room is too small and limits my range of movement. It will place me in the range of the traction beam sooner or later. If we had unlimited space for movement, I could have lasted longer. Next time, we need to take this into consideration...” Hila frowned as she summarized her experience.
Just as Han Xiao was about to say something, his communicator beeped as it received a message.
Glancing at it, Han Xiao laughed before saying, “You guys continue training. Tarrokov and the others are looking for me for a chat.”
After staying on Planet Lighthouse for more than half a month, Han Xiao was already familiar with Milizaus. Since he also had nothing to do, the chief commander holding the fort, Tarrokov, would typically invite the Beyond Grade As to his room for tea and some conversion to pass the time.
Hearing this, Hila stopped talking. She seemed to want Han Xiao to continue teaching, but she nodded in the end, calling the rest of the Black Star Guards to gather and continue practicing whilst she looked at the exiting Han Xiao from the corner of her eyes.
...
While he was walking over, Han Xiao entered his quantum network.
“Phillip, any news from the long-range patrol today?”
“Reporting to master, there is nothing, hum...”
Seems like the Arcane Church still hasn’t taken action yet... Han Xiao nodded.
Even under the protection of the dynasty, Han Xiao did not lower his vigilance. This period when he stayed at Planet Lighthouse was not spent idly. Other than building more machinery and training his Black Star Guards, he had also sent out remotely controlled troops to form a security perimeter around Planet Lighthouse. Under their surveillance, he would receive intelligence reports every day. The moment they discovered traces of the Arcane Church, he would get the news immediately.
Staying on Planet Lighthouse was not just for Han Xiao to receive protection from the strong security but also because it was the dynasty outpost and had many stargates. If the enemy was too strong, he had enough time to use the stargates to escape. Han Xiao would not send himself off to die for no reason, and staying on Planet Lighthouse left him enough time to escape.
While the past half a month had been peaceful, Han Xiao had a feeling that it was the calm before the storm. He did not think that the Arcane Church would give up on the Evolution Cube just like that.
Occasionally, he would also use the Evolution Cube on Milizaus’ Armed Dragon Guards. During the usage, he would naturally unseal the Spacetime Amber, and thus, Psyker would be able to detect where the Evolution Cube was, like an intermittent signal.
“The enemy is in the shadows while I’m in the open. If the Arcane Church wants to make a move, they can only do so through sending troops.”
Han Xiao shook his head before opening the forums to take a look.
During this period, the exploration had been very smooth. Although Ravenlaude had obtained some profits by using the stargate that he built, the majority of resource rich planets along the way had been seized by the members of the Black Star Army. Ravenlaude could not forcibly snatch the territory of others under the dynasty’s eye. Thus, he could only search for other territories.
The players had been working hard at the exploration and had accumulated a great number of mission points. Those from China, Russia, and even Australia had all put their hands together to perform missions, building more harmonious relationships. However, the friction between the three parties was also becoming more intense.
One reason was because of the competition for resources. During this time, the Black Star Army had sent out another batch of troops to supplement the exploration. It was the second batch of players that had migrated from the Constellation Corridor. The guilds of Russia and Australia had decided to ally together temporarily and sent a group of new guild players to support their branches, attempting to break away from China’s suppression.
With an increase in numbers, they also gained more strength and were no longer willing to reside on third-rate resource planets. Thus, they began to try and fight for better quality resource areas, increasing friction with the Chinese.
“If this carries on, I’m afraid it will devolve into a full-scale guild war. If these clubs even instigate players from their country, it will be on a national scale,” Han Xiao speculated.
However, this was an internal affair of the player group. He could not nor did he wish to obstruct them. Previously, they made friends with each other to prevent any hostile behavior directed toward them.
There was still a certain measure of success in this plan. The relationships between the ordinary players were harmonious, and even if they were dragged to fight in a national war, they would still be good friends after the fight, with no obvious separation into factions. After all, this was something unique to the players—they could be on opposing sides and still be friends.
Upon reaching the chief commander’s office, Han Xiao saw Beyoni, Tarrokov, and Milizaus all seated on the sofa. The reception table in front of them was filled with special drinks from the dynasty, as well as... the evil Wayne Cards.
Because of the popularity of the Wayne Cards, even Beyond Grade As would also turn to it for entertainment.
Hearing the door open, the trio immediately looked over. Beyoni even waved.
“Black Star, you’re here at last. Come, sit.”
Nodding, Han Xiao sat down next to Milizaus, picking up his glass and taking a sip.
“Why did you drink mine?” Milizaus had an unsatisfied tone.
“As a mana incarnation, you don’t have taste buds. Don’t waste such a good thing.” Han Xiao remained unfazed.
After more than half a month of getting along, their relationship had improved, and he was more aware of Milizaus’ personality. Although he was very strong, he did not put on any airs, much better than the cold faced ‘Dark Lord’ Clotti. Compared to the first time they met, Han Xiao was more casual toward him now... almost bordering on disrespect.
“Sigh, you guys have been at Planet Lighthouse for almost a month. If not for you guys, I wouldn’t be so lazy.”
Tarrokov sighed. He originally did not have people of similar status to converse with, and now that Han Xiao and company had camped there for so long, this chief commander began to show his lazy side.
“Actually, there’s something that I’m curious about. What sort of relationship do Clotti and Urranrell share? I don’t think it’s so simple as just a guard.” Milizaus was curious. “As an Imperial Ruler, one must have a family, but Urranrell is a widow, and Clotti is that sort of cold-blooded head of state. Could it be...”
While the dynasty’s marriage laws emphasized monogamy, Beyoni seemed to think that it had nothing to do with him.
“Tsk tsk, while I’m a very mild person, I’m still one of the top officers of the Dynasty. To say such things in front of me, is that really good?” Tarrokov was helpless. “I don’t know anything about this, and even if I knew, I wouldn’t say.”
Milizaus snorted and threw out a Wayne Card, saying, “Then you lose.”
Tarrokov froze, looking at his cards, before narrowing his eyes in suspicion. “Did you use magic to change my cards again?”
“Don’t try to wiggle your way out. Would I do such a meaningless thing‽” Milizaus got angry.
In actual fact, you would... because I didn’t see that darned card in your hand just now...
Han Xiao could not help but think of Lagi. Whenever he played cards, he had a signature catchphrase, ‘Only trash utilizes magic when playing cards!’
From then on, he knew that if one wished to stop a mage from cheating, one had to counter with an even stronger magic...
And among the three of them, one was lazy, one played with fire, and one touched machines all day. There was simply no one who could stop the mage.
Looking at these big shots grumbling and boasting without dignity, Han Xiao could not help but relax.
This is the life...
But before he could even finish his internal monologue, an abrupt change happened.
Woo!
Piercing alarms sounded, and the four of them jumped up as one.
Tarrokov’s expression turned solemn, and he opened the real-time monitoring star map, checking the situation.
At the same time, Han Xiao also received an intelligence report from Phillip.
“Master, master, squad 025 has spotted the trail of a large fleet that is moving toward Planet Lighthouse, hum...”
The image was sent over and showed a mysterious fleet entering the warning sector of Planet Lighthouse, triggering the alarm.
This fleet consisted of quadrangular pyramid spaceships, and at a glance, there were over a million of them!
The mysterious fleet engaged the dynasty patrol fleet in that direction, breaking through the defense line, showcasing their intention to attack Planet Lighthouse.
Han Xiao knew that something was wrong.
“The Arcane Church? They really came!”