961 Manison Is Truly A Good Man
After breaking free from Manison’s Virtual Domain, Han Xiao’s Virtual Soul returned to the main system of his headquarters, and he heaved a sigh of relief.
He was not a match for Manison in terms of Virtual Technology skills, but Manison could not pose a threat to him in terms of mental damage.
It was not only because he was tanky but also because the Mechanic class did not specialize in mental damage. Regardless of how powerful [Virtual Paramount] was, it would be difficult to easily defeat a Mechanic at the same level. Furthermore, high Intelligence also provided high Psychological Resistance, and Mechanics were not that weak against mental attacks.
[Virtual Paramount] is better used for a control skill. I needed about five or six seconds to leave Manison’s Virtual Domain, and the situation is still alright.
Han Xiao looked at the situation and nodded.
When he was dragged into the Virtual Domain by Manison, Phillip lost his aid, and the thickness of the firewall thinned greatly with more data being lost.
Thankfully, he returned in time and stabilized the situation. However, he was at a slight disadvantage again.
Since Manison was able to break Han Xiao’s Virtual Domain quickly, Han Xiao would not take too long to do so either. [Virtual Paramount] was not too suitable to deal with other Mechanics, and grasping Virtual Technology would allow a Mechanic to greatly reduce the amount of time being controlled.
At this moment, Manison said from outside the firewall, “An unbelievable physique and unimaginable potential. Black Star, just where did you come out from?”
“There are plenty of wonders in the vast universe.” Han Xiao chuckled. “There’s no need for you to be so surprised, right?”
Manison shook his head and replied, “I had a guess in my mind during our last exchange, and I am increasingly certain about my guess after this exchange. Black Star, are you the manifestation of a Space Wonder?”
“Ha, that may be the truth,” Han Xiao replied calmly.
At this moment, Risda had finally broken free from the seal and immediately aided Han Xiao in defending against Manison’s intrusion.
Finette also continued to attack the firewall, and every attack of his opened a small loophole in the firewall and extracted some data.
With one attacking and the other defending, both parties competed with their Virtual Technology skills. The modules were destroyed one after another before being reconstructed, and this cycle continued.
Although it seemed like a flood of data was assaulting the firewall on the surface, if one zoomed into the firewall, one would be able to see many mini battlefields on every inch of space. The endless data jumping around was like the soldiers of this battlefield.
Despite both parties looking extremely calm, they were calculating at high speed in their minds with every detail being personally managed by them.
...
In the logistics department of the Black Star Army, Reynold had already gathered all the Mechanics to put aside what they were doing.
Looking at all the Mechanics in the logistics department, Reynold said with a deep voice, “Everyone, the Black Star Army is currently suffering from a Virtual Intrusion. His Excellency Black Star is currently fighting back, and we cannot remain idle as part of the army. The Army Commander needs our help!”
Everyone had a bitter look on their face. The situation was indeed bad if even Black Star could not fight the enemy off.
None of them understood why Black Star would suddenly provoke the Mechanic Emperor.
In the Mechanic world, the name of the Mechanic Emperor was just too famous. He was the publicly acknowledged strongest Mechanic. Every member of the logistics department could not help but feel uneasy that they were about to face such a character.
The fame of being the strongest Mechanic was not just for show and had a [Mechanic Morale Punishment] halo with it. It would make most Mechanics lose their confidence.
Someone then could not help but ask, “Why is the Mechanic Emperor invading us? Isn’t his relationship with Black Star not too bad?”
“How should I know?” Reynold glared at that individual and bellowed, “Don’t let your thoughts run wild. Now that the army is in danger, we need to help the army. Regardless of what his status is, he is currently our enemy!”
Although Reynold said those words, there was a long period of time when the Mechanic Emperor was also Reynold’s idol. It was only after he joined the Black Star Army and witnessed Black Star rising slowly that Han Xiao slowly overtook the position of the Mechanic Emperor in his heart.
Now that he had to fight his past idol, Reynold had already accepted the matter.
Upon hearing Reynold’s words, the members of the logistics department calmed themselves down. Reynold’s prestige was extremely high. This was thanks to his serious work attitude and strict personality. Many Mechanics were inclined to such a personality.
Upon seeing that the morale of the logistics department was stabilized, Reynold issued a series of orders and got everyone to start working.
Although it was difficult for them to join in the battle between two peak Beyond Grade A Mechanics, they could temporarily replace Phillip and aid Phillip in his calculations to increase his capacity.
At the same time, Herlous, who was playing cards on the net, also got into action.
He gathered the armed forces of the Black Star Army in the various divisions to do a carpet search of all the neighboring planets, attempting to find Manison’s location. However, this was a huge operation and was akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
On the other side, Sylvia contacted the upper echelons of Garton Star System, and Godora temporarily gave up control of many Garton Star System network bases to allow the Black Star Army to make use of half of the Star System’s quantum network authority.
After the Discrimination Transformation Movement and public education plan, the relationship between the Black Star Army and Godora had become much closer. After knowing that the Black Star Army was in trouble, the leader went against all opposition and aided the Black Star Army. In any case, if the Black Star Army wanted to, their quantum network security was nothing in the eyes of the Black Star Army. They might as well take the initiative to loan it to the other party and improve their relationship.
Godora was extremely well versed in fawning over a powerhouse. This was a class that every Star System Civilization would teach for sure.
Although they had guessed that Manison would bring his own portable base, Sylvia liked to make preparations in many different areas, and controlling the quantum network in this entire region was a way to cut off Manison’s route of retreat.
Lagi did not understand Virtual Technology at all but had his own ideas. He found a bunch of people from the Mage department and went to buff Han Xiao.
The various spells boosted Han Xiao in many different areas, and his status menu was extremely full.
However, the effects of these buffs were limited. The more powerful the target, the weaker the effects of the buffs.
Furthermore, there were many buffs that would lose their effectiveness after a certain point. For example, some buffs could only increase one’s attributes by two or three thousand points and would lose their effectiveness after that.
When facing Manison’s attack, the various departments of the Black Star Army got into action and tried to help Han Xiao to the best of their abilities.
...
It had been more than two months since Heber went into seclusion. Apart from the few members who were slightly shaken, most of the upper echelons were worried about the Tyrant.
Today, Heber had finally summoned Jorde and asked him about the situation of the Bloodshed Land.
Standing outside the room, Jorde was extremely anxious and took a few deep breaths before entering the room.
He had already mentally prepared himself to see many different scenes, but the scene before his eyes almost did not have any changes.
Heber sat on his throne with his back straight and dressed neat. The only difference was that he did not emit as much pressure as before.
“Are... you okay?” Jorde asked carefully.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Heber could not help but frown upon hearing that.
“You haven’t appeared for such a long time and didn’t care about the matters of the organization. We all thought...”
“Thought that I wouldn’t be able to get back up after being defeated by Black Star?” Heber frowned with dissatisfaction. “A loss is a loss, and I will have the opportunity to fight back in the future. Since when have I been so weak in all of your eyes?”
“No, but your actions caused us to have a misunderstanding...” Jorde hurriedly explained.
“Humph.” Heber shook his head. When he was just defeated, he truly suffered a huge setback. However, he was a Beyond Grade A Super and had suffered many different setbacks in the past.
Having his prestige destroyed did indeed make his heart ache, but Heber quickly adjusted his emotions.
If he looked at things from a different angle, he was not in the worst state in the Shattered Star Ring since Psyker was around.
Even if his prestige was affected, the Bloodshed Land still had to develop. Heber would not stop the competition with the Black Star Army.
Using the excuse of taking revenge to beat me up once is enough! Do you want to beat me up every day?
Do you think that I am a fool‽
Even if you only send a mechanical soldier, I will not accept the challenge!
Although Heber recovered from the setback very quickly, he recognized the gap between himself and Black Star. Even if he was not willing, he could only admit that Black Star had already exceeded him greatly.
As such, Heber no longer had any thought of competing with Black Star for the title of strongest in the Star Field. At the very least, he would not provoke Black Star again with strength unless he was confident in defeating Black Star. He had the attitude of ‘I will come back again after practicing my Kungfu’.
After admitting that Han Xiao had exceeded him, Heber felt a lot more relaxed. Perhaps it was because he no longer had to compete with a character like Black Star, which allowed him to no longer be on edge.
He was too lazy to explain his thoughts to Jorde and said with impatience, “Hurry up and report what you have to. Don’t disturb my training if there isn’t anything important.”
“O-okay.”
Seeing Heber recover from his setback, Jorde heaved a sigh of relief and immediately reported the situation. At the same time, he emphasized on the members who had left.
“Don’t need to bother about those who left.” Heber was not too bothered. “They are all fence sitters, and there are many of such people in the universe.”
Jorde nodded and let out a sigh. Heber was the same as before and did not care about his subordinates.
At this moment, Heber hesitated for a moment before saying slowly, “Inform all the Calamity Grade Pugilist officers to gather. I will teach them some things. Humph, they have served under me for so long but not improved at all. How embarrassing.”
Jorde was slightly startled and was stunned for a moment.
“I understand. They will be very happy to receive your teachings.”
“Humph, I don’t need you to bootlick me.”
Jorde then took out an intelligence report and said with a deep voice, “Right, there is something else. An emergency signal was sent out from the Black Star Army just now. For some reason, Manison is targeting Black Star and is currently attacking the main system of the Black Star Army headquarters. Their Virtual Intrusion battle isn’t over yet.”
“Mechanic Emperor? Does he have any enmity with Black Star?”
Heber was puzzled.
“I’m not sure. The outside world says that Black Star’s growth is too rapid, and his ambitions are out of control. He issued a challenge toward the Mechanic Emperor, and thus, the Mechanic Emperor came to Black Star’s territory for a battle to let Black Star see the truth.”
“It almost sounds like the truth.” Heber frowned. He did not know the secrets of the Divine Throne Mechanic. This was a secret of the Mechanic class, and outsiders did not know much about it. The dynasty would not tell him such secrets either.
After thinking for a while, Heber let out a depressed sigh and shook his head.
This Black Star truly can’t sit still. He only challenged me two months ago, and now he’s provoked the Mechanic Emperor.
“Ignore them. I don’t know about the Mechanic world, and it doesn’t have anything to do with me.”
Heber waved his arms and threw this matter to the back of his mind.
...
In the Virtual World of the Black Star Army’s main system, the battle between the two Divine Throne Mechanics had been going on for a while.
With the boost of the [Perfect Mechanical Sense], the gap between Han Xiao and Manison was narrowed, but together with his territorial advantage and help of the logistics department, Han Xiao was barely able to defend against Manison’s Virtual Intrusion and slow down the outflow of data.
Manison was not able to infiltrate into the main system with Han Xiao fighting back, but he was able to extract data through the loopholes of the firewall.
Although the [Perfect Mechanical Sense] Character Summon Card had amazing effects, there was a time limit, and it could only be used for sixteen hours at most. As long as Manison was willing, he would be able to drag on this battle for a few days for sure.
Thankfully, I called for help. If not, things would be bad for sure.
Han Xiao then stalled for time and waited for Maximiler.
A few hours later, a new Beyond Grade A Mechanic entered the battlefield!
Outside the firewall, a Virtual Soul appeared in front of the two.
Han Xiao was slightly stunned when he saw the incoming individual.
The one who had arrived was not Maximiler, who he was familiar with, but another Beyond Grade A ally.
Manison then looked over with a frown and said, “Kant, why is it you?”
“Heh, can’t I come?” This Virtual Soul smiled. His appearance was extremely odd. He looked like a snow-white cylinder with the top thick but bottom narrow. There was also a green leaf at the top of his head with three eyes in the middle of his body. He looked like a daikon.
This person... cough, this daikon was one of the three National Pillars of the Crimson Dynasty, ‘Illusory Deity’ Kant.
His nickname sounded like that of a Psychic or Mage, but he was a Mechanic. He belonged to the Phantom race, and his Racial Talent was to transform his body to mimic other beings.
After advancing to the Beyond Grade A realm, Kant’s Racial Talent had evolved, and he was capable of transforming into any biological being. Furthermore, his transformation was even more realistic than the spells of a Mage or the simulation of a Mechanic.
Because of this talent, he had a powerful disguise ability and could easily mix with any different species. No one had seen his true form before.
He also enjoyed transforming into different forms and would appear in a different form every day. In fact, his transformation ability had even overshadowed his Mechanic abilities, and thus, he had obtained such a nickname.
Manison knew Kant and asked with doubt, “What species are you today? Is there such a species in the universe? Why do you look like a daikon?”
“Because the species that I transformed into is a daikon.” Kant blinked.
“...”
Manison was speechless. After falling silent for a while, he stopped his attack.
If Maximiler was the one who appeared, Manison would not have been afraid. However, the one who had arrived was Kant. Although he would be able to deal with both of them together, this was not his territory, and it would not be easy for him to do so.
Furthermore, Kant was definitely there under the orders of the dynasty. If Manison managed to fight two Beyond Grade As alone, Manison’s prestige would definitely increase. Thus, they had sent someone more powerful to get Manison to retreat.
Knowing that the dynasty intended to warn him, Manison moved Finette back into his Virtual Soul and said to Han Xiao slowly, “Perhaps we might’ve been friends if you weren’t a Mechanic.”
Manison’s Virtual Soul then disappeared, and he retreated.
He had come and gone like the wind.
News of the battle had already been spread, and his objective had been met. He had also obtained a large amount of data from the Black Star Army.
It would not matter how an ordinary individual viewed the battle. However, his performance of suppressing Black Star would definitely stabilize his position in the Machinery Faith and his title as number one Mechanic.
Upon seeing Manison leave, Han Xiao frowned and shook his head.
At this moment, Kant looked over.
The dynasty did not only send Kant out to stop the battle but also to console Black Star. The dynasty placed great importance in Han Xiao’s potential, and they were afraid that his confidence would be affected after this.
After thinking for a while, Kant comforted him. “Don’t be discouraged. You are still young. It is normal for you to lose to the Mechanic Emperor, and it isn’t too embarrassing. Look on the bright side; he didn’t have too big of an advantage over you, and there is still a long way to go. There isn’t a need to be anxious.”
Han Xiao looked at Kant and did not say anything.
Upon seeing that, a hand appeared on Kant’s body, and he stroked his green leaf with a sigh. “I was also targeted by the Mechanic Emperor before, and my performance was even worse than yours. In truth, it isn’t a bad thing to suffer some losses when you are young.”
Upon hearing that, Han Xiao had a strange look on his face.
After seeing the mission complete notification on his interface, Han Xiao could not help but nod in agreement.
“You’re right. It would be great if I can suffer a few more ‘losses’...”