Han Xiao pulled out his two third-generation Berserk Eagles, activated his Electromagnetic Hover-boots, and jumped onto another ship.
Since I am here, I might as well kill some people!
With Renette’s blood on his body, Han Xiao started his killing on the barge.
The Berserk Eagles had bullets coming out of them non-stop, and because the recoil was too strong, he was unable to move his wrist. The bullets penetrated through every single Germinal soldier, either through their chest or head shot, leaving the floor full of corpses. It was just like a dark movie, whereby no one could stop him.
Soon enough, he arrived on the ship with Li Yalin.
Han Xiao’s willful actions soon caught the attention of everyone.
Lin Yu was furious. Renette, that idiot, did not just get himself killed but had even brought the monster onto the ship. Their ship was about to leave the estuary, and yet he still made such a mess!
“Quickly, get rid of that Black Phantom!” Lin Yu demanded. As their commander, he could not attack easily. If he did, there would be no one left to observe the battle.
Hila had long discovered Han Xiao, and she was already full of anger. She clapped her hands and created a mental shock to deter Li Yalin and the others. She took a deep breath and gathered all the power of the corpses, turned, and screamed at Han Xiao. She used all the gathered power on Han Xiao, and the air rippled like a sound wave.
This was like an exploding bomb in the brain!
A sudden pain hit Han Xiao. It felt as though someone was using a spoon to stir all around his brain. The sky in his sight seemed to be tilted as he lost control of his body and stumbled to one side. Feeling nauseous, the veins on Han Xiao’s temples seemed to jump vigorously as if they were going to explode.
_____________________
You have suffered 211 mental damage!
You are in a dizzy state!
_____________________
With my intelligence characteristic providing me with a mental defense, I still suffered 200+ damage! If I did not have [Low-Level Strengthened Life], I could have lost almost one fifth of my HP!
On a technologically-advanced new planet, Hila’s combat strength was scary!
Bearing the pin-pricking pain in his head, Han Xiao whipped out a gray grenade from his waist and threw it out. His accuracy was compromised, and the grenade landed ten meters away from Hila.
Hila thought that this was the side effect from him being dizzy and did not pay attention to it. She decided to return with a more impactful one, but out of the blue, the grenade detonated. There was no flame nor shrapnel, only an ear-piercing high-pitched sound that rushed directly into her eardrums.
Hila’s brain started hurting, and she felt the world was turning, too.
“You can make people dizzy, so can I!” Han Xiao gnashed his teeth.
_____________________
Burst Grenade: Uses high frequency sound to disrupt the eardrum.
Range: 50m
Effects: causes one to feel dizzy
Magnitude of affects determined by Endurance.
Chapter 143 - I Will Recognize You Even If You Turn into Ash
Stunning enemies was a tactic commonly used by psychics. Their strong willpower resistance was their strength. However, burst grenades would cause a sense of dizziness at a physiological level because it caused ear fluid imbalances. Therefore, despite the strong willpower resistance psychics possessed, endurance was key in this case. That was the biggest weakness of all psychics, leaving them defenseless.
Hila immediately suffered damage from the attack. Agony was all over her face as she stumbled from one side to another like a wave.
No matter who Hila was, during a battle, she only had one identity—enemy! Han Xiao knew no mercy and continued shooting coldly. The bullets landed all over Hila’s body. Eventually, when the bullets ran out, he set the Electromagnetic Hover-boots to the highest power, and before Hila could retaliate, he kicked Hila. She flew up into the air, knocked onto the railing, and finally fell into the river.
The river was stained with blood as Hila’s body sank. Han Xiao did not believe that Hila would die so easily, and there was no news on the interface. He expected that after all these attacks, Hila would be able to recover soon enough, but there was no need to worry for the moment.
This enemy is so difficult to kill; I can’t just tackle her right now.
As this thought flashed through his head, Han Xiao then had time to think about Li Yalin, a team mate from the past, who was now looking at him with shock.
“Black Phantom?” Zhang Wei asked carefully. He could not help but feel a sense of familiarity.
Zhang Wei did not seem to not recognize him, and that was great. Thinking about the feud between the Germinal Organization and Zero, it was best if he continued hiding his identity. Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled and heard Li Yalin suddenly yelling, “Han Xiao‽”
“Han Xiao? Who is that? I think you’ve got the wrong person.”
“It’s you! Stop pretending! I could recognize you even if you turned into ash!” Li Yalin gnashed her teeth.
Damn, how did she recognize me? Based on my polished acting skills, how could I still be exposed‽
Han Xiao was dumbfounded.
This young lady is really unpredictable!
Members of the troops were stunned. They were doubtful about Li Yalin’s judgement, but at the same time, they were a little convinced. At that moment, Han Xiao, who was in full black, holding Berserk Eagles in both hands, suddenly revealed his own face.
“Oh, that’s what you actually look like…” Zhang Wei murmured as he finally understood why Han Xiao had always worn a mask in the past.
In the past, when they were working together for Division 13, Han Xiao had always worn a mask. Members of the troops never saw what he looked like and never knew Han Xiao’s true identity. At the moment, they thought that the face they saw on the facial simulator was Han Xiao’s actual face. They had expected him to be quite handsome.
No one expected that the famous Black Phantom would turn out to be a former comrade. Everyone was puzzled; had he been that strong in the past? Why didn’t he show that, and why did he want to leave Stardragon to become an assassin? The higher-ups seemed to have acquiesced, too.
Wait, he became the Black Phantom of the Dark Net Organization, and the higher-ups were so ambivalent about it; was this actually a secret mission?
“You got it wrong. No time for nonsense now, the enemies are here!” Han Xiao said sternly.
Li Yalin raged. “It’s no use even if you deny!”
Right! The higher-ups must have sent him for a secret mission; that’s why he cannot reveal his identity! Could it be that Stardragon is going after the Dark Net next?
The crowd was unknowingly forming a misunderstanding about the situation.
The conversation ended quickly. On the battlefield, everyone could only suppress their doubts and focus on dealing with the enemies. It was a fierce battle between Stardragon’s commando squad and Germinal Organization’s troops. Superhumans were found all over the battlefield, launching attacks with their powers. A symphony of cries of agony and gunshots played through the battle.
A Germinal executive headed straight for Han Xiao. Han Xiao pointed toward the executive with his hands forming a pistol and signalled to the Stardragon team to join forces against the enemy. Zhang Wei and his team naturally had no objection and started fighting by his side.
As the Germinal executive rushed over, his body suddenly swelled up like a balloon and transformed into a four-meter-tall white beast. The white beast started running on the deck like a wolf, and his heavy body caused the deck to vibrate. He opened his big mouth and pounced over. This action was full of elegance and strength.
Transfiguration was a common branch from the Esper family. They could take different forms—some weaker, and others stronger. The forms they took on could be so strange that they could even be out of the imagination. It was said
to be related to evolution and various gene mutations. Some would transform into an alien creature while some would transform into wild beasts. This Esper branch appeared most commonly on planets that were magic based. This trait could be passed down through blood inheritance or be acquired through training.
Science and magic formed different civilizations, and there were differences in the understanding of certain things. In addition, their methods of experimentation could be different, too, and each had its own unique points in terms of advancement.
The great white wolf hopped around the deck as it tried to attack. Han Xiao, Zhang Wei, and two others joined forces to try to takedown the wolf. Han Xiao felt it was no one of his business. He allowed Zhang Wei and his power suit to act as the tank while Han Xiao stood at the side and tried to launch some sneak attacks. Sometimes he would use his thermo-electrical incisor gloves to slice a piece of meat off the wolf.
Hou Yao also used his Berserk Eagles, and his action was swift as the coursing river. Initially, he was proud of himself. After witnessing how skillful and minimalistic Han Xiao was and how he would never miss a single bullet, Hou Yao felt like he was making a fool of himself.
You really live up to your name, Mr. Black Phantom, such dexterity in handling double guns, Hou Yao admired secretly.
He had joined Zhang Wei’s team mainly because he had received the orders from the high-ups, and he had never ever heard of Zhang Wei’s team being able to produce good results. To his surprise, the extraordinary Black Phantom had actually been part of this team in the past.
The great white wolf was beaten up badly. Realizing that it was beyond its ability to retaliate and other executives were unable to help, it turned and fled the scene. Han Xiao had already expected this, and right then, he fired his Berserk Eagles at the great white wolf’s eyes, activating the [Flaming Will].
This time, the damage was increased by 3.2 times!
Boom!
The great white wolf’s eyes exploded, and it groaned in pain as it fell onto the deck. The whole barge shook for a second. Zhang Wei immediately dealt another blow. With his ammunition emptied, Zhang Wei’s arm armor extended into a golden sword. He leapt as his exoskeleton provided him with the energy and latched onto the great white wolf’s body as he slashed it violently many times.
The others came forward to help and eventually killed the great white wolf together.
Just then, the backup troops finally arrived at the port and let off a signal flare to signal for them to retreat. At that moment, Zhang Wei turned and asked Han Xiao, “Han… Black Phantom, do you want to leave with us?”
“No, thanks.” Han Xiao waved his hand.
“Alright, thanks for your help, I’ll remember this. Stardragon will also remember this!”
Zhang Wei’s speech had a hidden meaning. Together with his troops, he turned and leapt onto the assault boat. Lin Yalin stared in Han Xiao’s direction.
As members of the Division 13 were withdrawing, Han Xiao activated his electromagnetic skating shoes and jumped onto the shore. He rushed for the truck that had been following him around automatically, jumped into the driver’s seat, switched it to manual driving, and left the shore speedily.
Hila, who was wet through and through, climbed onto the ship. Fighting off her dizziness, she glared at the departing truck. She was always the one treating people like that, but this time around, she had actually had a taste of her own medicine.
“Black Phantom, I will remember you!” Hila eyes froze as her body healed quickly.
The Germinal troops arrived at the port and released a torpedo, causing the sea mines to explode. With the water exploding, they successfully entered the open sea.
Hesla’s navy also came by and was not reconciled to not giving chase. Both ships were restricted by each other. In the midst of the firing the cannons, the Germinal ship sank.
Based on the battle strategies, the Germinal’s forces broke free from the attacks and escaped.
However, based on the damages suffered from the battle, Germinal lost seventy percent of their troops while Hesla’s losses were less than ten percent of what Germinal had lost. With that being said, victory was definitely not Germinal’s.
Although they had not been able to stop all the Germinal forces, both nations were able to achieve the battle objective of damaging the enemy.
All in all, the winners of the battle were Stardragon and Hesla.
…
Through the window, Han Xiao glanced at the sea. As the destruction from the sea battle slowly went out of sight, he shook his head.
“The battle is over.”
Han Xiao glanced at Frenzied Sword, who seemed to have revived and was sitting beside him, and wrote him a mission with no requirements. Frenzied Sword had taken a stab for him, and thus, he would give him some EXP even if he did not need to.
The description of the mission was actually the reward for taking a stab for Han Xiao, and that made Frenzied Sword surprised. His action was purely voluntarily as he thought it was okay for him to die but Han Xiao must not. He did not expect any reward, and he became even more determined to protect Han Xiao.
After giving the reward, Han Xiao turned to his own interface and grinned from ear to ear.
_____________________
[Second Advancement]
Progress: 3/3
_____________________
The great white wolf that he had fought against with Zhang Wei was a LV 45 character. As it was a joint battle, the additional EXP obtained was little. However, the requirement for advancement could be said to have been completed, which meant…
I can advance!
Chapter 144 - Reward and Impact
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Han Xiao was right in the middle of a battlefield. He decided that it was not an appropriate time for his advancement.
I should get out of this battlefield first.
He decided to look through other information first, such as the results from [Tedramira River Battle]. His final evaluation was a B. He had 450,000 EXP on hand, which was far more than what he had expected, and he had millions of EXP accumulated on his interface as well.
[Fall of the Germinal]—the progress of that level A mission had increased by two percent, and the improvement for automated destruction was even better. The evacuating Germinal troops had been a large force made up of many different troops from different settlements. Therefore, when Stardragon and Hesla crippled the evacuees, he also took a share.
The total gain had reached twenty-one percent. This meant that he had completed the requirements of this quest. The Southern Continent could not offer him any further improvements. He could go to the Western Continent and the Northern Continent next to anticipate a large battle like this again. Then he could earn more EXP. After that, he would have to go to Germinal’s home base on Andrea Mainland.
There would still be more gains he could reap in the future. So, Han Xiao would not cease [Fall of the Germinal] so quickly. Since the minimum standard was twenty percent and he had already completed the task, it gave him some confidence. This meant he could try and get a higher rating the next time around since he was no longer in a hurry to complete the task.
Based on his experience, the ratings from A-level missions would be higher. The reward was special this time around and not limited to experience, skills, expertise, talent points, special equipment, or even direct rewards of attribute points.
Han Xiao arrived at the location where the Dark Net helicopter was stationed. The driver was on standby as he moved the useful machinery up onto the helicopter. He then blew up the truck without leaving a single trace behind.
The truck had cost him a sum of money, but since he had an abundance of funds, he did not feel the pinch at all.
As the saying goes, it is easy to enter the luxury lifestyle when you’re poor, but it is way more difficult to go back to a pauper kind of lifestyle when you’re rich.
Han Xiao was v
ery fortunate to step on the wealthy path. The market was huge, and he need not worry about money anymore.
“Everyone says that a man turns bad when he becomes rich, and that is so true,” Han Xiao mumbled as he smoked a few cigarettes before getting onto the helicopter, instructing the pilot to take off.
The wind from the rotors was strong, forcing Han Xiao to squint.
…
Waves raged on the dark sea surface, and the smell of blood filled the air.
Breaking away from their pursuers, the Germinal fleet sailed in the boundless sea. They turned on anti-detection to prevent themselves from being discovered by the satellites.
There were many satellites orbiting Aquamarine, and many were from the previous civilization who had fallen. These satellites had been taken in by the Six Nations, but some of them had fallen into the hands of other forces. Some became public satellites for some hackers, and others became space junk.
Each ship had been charred by explosions, and the repairmen were busy fixing them, riveting the steel plates and repairing the damaged mechanical components one by one. The rest of the personnel were cleaning the deck and washing away the blood stains.
Breaking through the blockade made them suffer heavy losses, including the lives of 17 executives. Han Xiao alone had killed three. When Lin Yu was reporting back to the commander, he emphasized on these statistics.
Black Phantom’s intervention surprised the commander. It turned quickly into anger as the commander started to feel like the Germinal Organization had seemed to turn into a tiger without teeth. Anyone dared to bully it. At the same time, it also increased his hatred for Zero.
He had disrupted the plan that they had laid out laboriously and also put the entire organization in grave danger. The commander remembered his conversation with Zero before he escaped from the lab. It angered him more whenever he thought of how this traitor managed to fulfil his promise.
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