976 Great Director Han
“It really appeared, and to think I get to decide what to learn. I thought it would be a random draw...”
Looking at the mission description, Han Xiao’s eyes lit up with an expression of joy.
This type of mission was similar to seeking employment. In his previous life, when players received missions from NPCs, they could negotiate to obtain certain mission rewards from the particular NPC, such as increased pay, better skills, or rarer items. There was even a type of non-combat class named [Lobbyist], which had the opportunity to improve one’s success rate when communicating with NPCs. This effect was similar to the amount of favorability given to players based on personal reputation.
However, the task of specifying the ability to learn had the lowest probability, and it required a lot of luck. Most of the time, it was just a random reward.
Han Xiao had merely copied the words of the players in his past life to influence the reward after the mission was generated. It was not guaranteed that this would succeed.
In his plan, he thought that it would at most be a random draw reward. This was an unexpected boon.
“If that’s the case, I don’t need to rely on luck.”
Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief.
He had worried that he might not obtain the [Perfect Mechanical Sense] from Nero, so he had planned many ‘scenarios’ for him. He did not expect himself to succeed in one try.
With this, there was no need to continue ‘torturing’ Nero.
At this moment, Han Xiao suddenly made a weird hypothesis, and his expression froze up.
Could it be... that even his mission rewards were affected by Nero’s Advanced Luck Glow, such that he would obtain what he wanted in one try so that Nero could avoid further torture? It seemed very likely!
“How terrifying, truly terrifying...”
Han Xiao’s lips twitched, not knowing what expression he should make.
In actual fact, this whole scenario deviated slightly from his script. In his original plans, Han Xiao wanted Nero to fall into despair before calling for help. But he did not expect the kid to be so good at fighting, to be able to kill his way out and nearly escape, foiling his plans.
If not for the fact that he had prepared a backup plan and had lured that little guy’s lover in, Nero would probably not even have sought help from him.
As such thoughts flashed by, Han Xiao recovered, and seeing Nero still nervously awaiting his answer, he gave a smile.
“Okay, the deal is completed. Leave everything to me.”
Nero nodded quickly, drying his tears. He could not help but urge, “Godfather, when will you arrive? I’m afraid that if you are too late, Mia will...”
He did not know about Han Xiao’s mechanical troops being hidden within the team’s cabin and thought that it would take several days for Han Xiao to come over and save Mia, which would be too late.
Hearing this, Han Xiao laughed out loud and shot him a meaningful look. “Relax, it won’t take too long.”
With this, he hung up, not allowing Nero to understand his meaning.
Breathing out a contented sigh, Han Xiao turned his attention back to the mechanical host carrying his avatar and nodded.
“Time to act.”
...
“Urgh, where is this place?”
Mia’s brain felt like it was filled with chaos, and her eyelids were incomparably heavy. She struggled to open her eyes a little and took in the sight before her.
A few meters in front of her was a transparent glass window, where a few Kunde soldiers stood. They were looking toward them, whispering, but the glass blocked off the sound, so she could not hear a single word.
Her body was filled with fatigue and could not be controlled. It was as though a ghost was pressing down on her, making it difficult to even move a finger. Her body seemed to have been injected with an extremely potent sedative, and all she could feel was that her body was fixed to a device.
“What’s this? Why am I here?” Mia racked her brains, trying to recall what she had experienced before losing consciousness.
Her brain seemed to be filled with lead, her thinking speed slow and torturous. The memory fragments slowly emerged within her mind, and she thought for more than ten seconds before she pieced everything together.
She had followed the team into the wilderness to check for the abnormal signals, but they had encountered several enemy ships that suddenly attacked them. She was seriously injured and fell to the ground, losing all combat ability. Her brain received a huge shock, and before she went into a coma, she saw that the Kunde soldiers had approached and squatted down in front of her.
“Then I’ve been captured? What about the others?”
Mia wanted to turn her head, but her head was locked in position, so she could only strain her eyes to the corners, glancing about with the corners of her vision. She saw that there was a row of fixtures beside her, with all her teammates fastened on them. Most of them were still unconscious.
At this moment, a weak voice sounded beside her.
“Mia, you’re awake?”
Mia hurriedly swept her eyes over and discovered it was her captain. “Captain, you were captured too?”
“I had no way to go against the battleships. Still, the enemies didn’t kill us but captured us alive.”
“It’s good that we’re not dead.” Mia breathed a sigh of relief.
“Ah...” The captain let out a bitter laugh. “You’re wrong. Dying is better than falling into enemy hands.”
Mia was still a little fuzzy and unconsciously asked, “Why?”
“Think about it. Why would the enemies want to capture us? If my hypothesis is correct, they want to treat us as research material. What’s awaiting us is all sorts of inhumane experiments, where we will be drained of every single drop of blood and muscle in our bodies to aid in the development of our enemies. Dying is considered nothing in comparison.” The captain’s voice was laced with despair. “The others from our unit are also fending for themselves, so they have no time to come save us.”
Hearing this, Mia was stunned silly.
While she was a Super, she also had the identity of a young teenager, and she had never experienced such a despairing scenario.
At this moment, her mind subconsciously thought of Nero’s figure. Her heart ached, and her expression was miserable.
“I’m sorry... I may have to eat my words. I can’t continue walking down this path with you...”
Tears formed in Mia’s eyes and trailed down her cheeks, forming two long tear tracks.
At this moment, the door opened, and a few of the Kunde Race soldiers walked in. They went to a cabinet, taking out a few syringes before advancing toward them.
While the other party did not speak, based on their movements, Mia knew that they wanted to inject them with more tranquilizers to keep them unconscious.
Mia struggled, but all the cells in her body were asleep, and she could not generate any form of energy.
She could only watch as the Kunde Race drew near, her eyes reflecting hopelessness.
Boom!
At this moment, a strong shock ran through the entire spaceship, and several of the Kunde Race soldiers lost their balance.
Before Mia could recover to her senses, the few Kunde Race soldiers turned into smashed meat paste, and a mechanical soldier appeared in front of her, hovering in the air. It was so quick that she could not follow its movements with her eyes.
Ka la ka la...
The mechanical soldier then crushed the device that was imprisoning Mia and her team before taking out the life potion of Aurora and injecting it in everyone.
Everyone recovered quickly, checking their bodies with joy on their faces.
Their gazes landed on the mechanical soldier, with traces of joy and suspicion. They did not expect someone to have saved them in such a desperate scenario.
Mia’s mood was tumultuous, staring blankly for a few seconds before she recovered. She stared at the mechanical soldier, asking, “You... are you from the army?”
“What, can’t you recognize me?” Han Xiao’s voice travelled out from the mechanical soldier. “I’m Black Star.”
The eyes of everyone present turned into saucers.
The Army Commander personally came to save us‽
What is he doing here‽
Mia gaped, and she suddenly realized the truth.
For someone of Black Star’s caliber, the only reason he could appear here was that... he had been secretly protecting Nero all along!
Everyone soon recovered their senses, rejoicing at their second chance at life. Fortunately, they were in the same unit as Nero. Otherwise, there would be no turnaround for them. Their lives were, in part, saved by Nero.
“Alright, my machines have taken control of the battlefield. Follow me.”
The mechanical soldier controlled by Han Xiao waved its hands, placating the excited crowd. Thinking about it, he then patted Mia’s shoulder as he warmly spoke.
“After this battle, come with Nero to meet me. I’ll introduce you to a few Calamity Grade pugilists for them to take you in as a student.”
Mia opened her eyes wide, her expression incredulous. Only after a while did she realize that Han Xiao was giving her the opportunity to go under a Calamity Grade teacher, and she was extremely moved.
Excitement and pride filled her heart. She did not imagine that she would receive preferential treatment by Black Star and hurriedly nodded in return.
“Ok, thank you for your kindness, Your Excellency Black Star!”
“It’s nothing. I just felt that you have the potential to reach the Calamity Grade.”
Han Xiao smiled before turning back to look at the other team members. He thought for a while before saying, “As for the rest, you can report to Herlous when you return. I’ll ask him to raise your team’s authority, allowing all of you to promote, form a new team, or choose a new position. The material reward will also be given fairly.”
Unexpectedly, there was such a benefit in being caught.
...
Outside the floating base, the mechanical army that had been hovering quietly suddenly exposed their fangs.
Against such strength, there was no room for resistance. The floating base was instantly virtually invaded, with all their armed forces disintegrated, and the base fell under the control of Han Xiao.
The Kunde Race soldiers and commanders fell from the heavens into the abyss, turning into captives.
On the battlefields, the invisible mechanical army finally revealed themselves, joining the battlefield out of nowhere. Under the astonishment of the troops, all the battleships of the enemy were destroyed.
Nero and his team were still running when a mechanical troop appeared in front of them, firing behind them.
When they turned back to look, they saw the energy beam passing by their spaceship and piercing through several of the Kunde Race battleships chasing after them.
Bang bang bang!
The glow of flames was seen as the various spaceships imploded, turning into fireworks that filled the sky.
Seeing this, Nero stopped in shock.
How did it happen so quickly?
From the time he requested the call to his godfather acting, it had only been a couple of minutes!
He suddenly remembered Han Xiao’s meaningful eyes toward him when the latter cut the call.
While godfather wanted me to experience hardship alone, he sent troops to secretly protect me. I’m sure that the majority of his machines were hidden together with the troops and would appear to help when I’m in danger.
So, his words just now were purely to educate me?
Godfather... he is harsh with his words, but he’s actually a softie inside...
Nero was moved upon realizing Han Xiao’s ‘good intentions’ and praised Han Xiao’s character as he wiped his eyes.
This was the exact opposite of the Great Mechanic Han’s true nature.
Nero’s thought process was also carefully calculated by Han Xiao beforehand, and the progression was still quite in line with the script that the Great Director Han had written.
The battlefield soon fell under the control of Han Xiao’s mechanical army, with the Kunde Race’s small and medium sized fleets unable to overturn the scenario at all. With his mechanical army quickly ending the battle, Han Xiao allowed all the soldiers to land and gather before bringing Mia’s team to rendezvous with the rest.
Seeing that Mia was safe and sound, Nero’s taut nerves also relaxed, and he let out a bright smile.
“That’s great. You’re fine.”
Mia immediately noticed Nero when she landed and ran over to him. She wanted to hug him, but seeing so many people around them, she got a little shy and only lightly hit his mechanical suit with her fist, whispering, “Thanks. If not for you, I wouldn’t have been able to return.”
Nero’s smile got wider. “I said I would protect you.”
Looking at his silly smile, Mia could not help but roll her eyes at him, grumbling, “It was clearly His Excellency Black Star who rescued me.”
“Cough, cough.” Han Xiao dryly coughed by the side, interrupting them. “I’ve saved them for you. The next time you do things, you should be more cautious and attentive. Your luck won’t always remain so good, and I cannot always be there to protect you.”
“I understand.” Nero turned to him with a solemn expression as he seriously spoke to Han Xiao. “Thank you very much. I’ll carve today’s lesson into my mind and will not act recklessly in the future. I will not waste my talent.”
Han Xiao smiled and nodded before turning to the other soldiers on the battlefield. He nodded slightly and spoke.
“Although I interfered in this battle, the captives were mostly caught by you guys. I will not steal your credit, so you will be in charge of taking this group of captives back. Head to Herlous afterward, and he will arrange additional compensation for you.”
This time, in order to ‘rob’ Nero, his colleagues had all been included in Han Xiao’s plan, so he had long prepared some compensation. Since he had used them and they were his people, he would definitely give them benefits in return. From Planet Aquamarine till now, this was now he had acted.
The mechanical troops had been observing the battle in stealth mode, and this frightening yet undeadly battle, alongside an opportunity to achieve a promotion or an additional monetary reward, was quite a good exchange for them. However, Han Xiao had profited the most from this.
“It’s done!”
Letting out a sigh, Han Xiao hid his excitement as he collected his mission reward.
_____________________
Nero’s Request has been completed.
You have received: The option to learn a specific skill of Nero’s (Ability/Talent).
Please select one from the following options below as the reward.
_____________________
A list of skills popped out, and all the abilities and talents of Nero were listed.
Glancing at Nero’s skills, there were only two on his priority list, [Perfect Mechanical Sense] and [Advanced Luck Glow].
However, he could only choose one, and between both skills, Han Xiao needed [Perfect Mechanical Sense] more, which was the model talent for Mechanics, a must-have for every strong Beyond Grade A.
[Advanced Luck Glow] was something he wanted, but it was not high on his list. After all, the ability did not help in combat capabilities and would also weaken his mutually assured destruction card of reducing the Luck of others.
Moreover, because his Luck was low, this ability would only play a limited role. He was afraid that if his luck was too high, it would be difficult to draw more Mission Completion Cards.
Furthermore, with Feidin at hand, there was no need to increase his luck.
[Perfect Mechanical Sense] was his goal, and now that he had gained it, Han Xiao decided to reward Nero by not letting him suffer any pain for the time being.
As for [Advanced Luck Glow], he would think of an opportune time to obtain it.
Halting his devilish thoughts, Han Xiao selected his target on the interface.
The next moment, a strong current of Mechanical Force flowed out within his brain!
_____________________
Selection Completed!
Your Talent [Elementary Grade Mechanical Sense] has disappeared.
You have received the talent: Perfect Mechanical Sense!
_____________________