The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385

by Chocolion, 齐佩甲

  Since Black Star was unable to advance, the Tyrant would have no way to interfere in the war based on the rules set, so Jorde decided to use Psyker’s psychic toxin to weaken Black Star and reduce his strength, removing the pressure of an advanced combatant.

  This mentality was equivalent to originally thinking of holding a stock with great potential, yet suddenly seeing the growth of the stock stagnate or even begin to plummet and deciding to quickly sell the stock to cut his losses.

  Psyker’s toxin was extremely insidious, and no hint of the source could be seen. Jorde estimated that Black Star would probably not even know of Psyker’s name.

  “Your mission is already complete. Find a chance to retreat.” Jorde regained his composure, throwing out this sentence before cutting the communication.

  He was very satisfied with the results this time.

  Hadavy remained silent. Only he was left in the call, and he no longer asked nor grumbled about what Black Star was inflicted with. He was suddenly enveloped with a sense of loneliness and resignation.

  Hadavy weaved left and right in the battlefield, utilizing the Bloodshed Land’s fleet as a protective shield as well as his indestructible body, forcefully extricating himself from the siege of the mechanical army. He then stole a spaceship and quickly fled using hyperdrive.

  Han Xiao had long been accustomed to his escapes, and knowing that he could not give chase with his current strength, he recalled the Mechanical army and turned back to deal with the other enemy Calamity Grades.

  The Everlasting had also entered the battlefield, its crystals emitting psionic annihilation beams continuously destroying and annihilating all the spaceships passing by its crosshairs, leaving a line of blank space on the battlefield.

  Faced with the unstoppable advancement of Section Zero, the Bloodshed Land changed its strategy, no longer resisting desperately. They began to withdraw whilst fighting, and seeing that the Hyperdrive Base Station was about to fall to the enemy, they decisively blew it up, cutting off their links to their various planetary bases and preventing Section Zero from reaching them.

  After losing the fast wormhole passage, the rest of the planetary bases also became independent, and the fleets from each planet started to evacuate, abandoning the Kant Star System to preserve their strength.

  It did not take long for all the troops from Bloodshed Land to evacuate. Section Zero had achieved a massive success in their counterattack, expelling all enemy forces in the Kant Star System.

  Bloodshed Land’s number of Star Systems reduced from five to four, which also meant that the situation in the Kant Star System was not stable. If it was the West Wind, Kaya, or Chaida Star Systems, which had been occupied for a long time, it would not be so easy to repel them. Even so, this was a great victory, and Section Zero’s morale was boosted. The Purple Crystal Civilization was also overjoyed when they received this intelligence.

  The rewards for the players’ missions were also settled, and the victory result improved their mission evaluations and increased the total reward.

  On a random planet that had been occupied by Section Zero, black smoke rolled, and the ground was filled with burnt corpses. Groups of soldiers combed through the battlefield to collect any loot.

  There were many players in the battlefield cleaning teams, picking up loot as though they were picking up trash.

  “Our harvest this time is not bad. If we convert all this broken equipment into materials, we should be able to sell them for one or two thousand Enas.”

  Frenzied Sword picked up a high-tech mechanical war hammer, throwing it into the loot box as he spoke with a happy expression.

  The Rivervale team was in the area collecting war loot and idly chatting in twos or threes.

  The Vice Team Leader, Evil Sword, picked up a broken blaster, pursing his lips before tossing it aside, as he casually asked, “Leader, how much experience do you have now?”

  “Let me see…” Frenzied Sword glanced at his interface. “I’m almost ready to advance.”

  Because the professional players had to take part in the Pro League at the end of Version 2.0, they did not save up much experience. Thus, at the beginning of the version, their levels were not the highest, and a majority of them had not reached the level 100 mark to undergo their promotion.

  “You’re levelling up very quickly!” Evil Sword was envious. “I’m still lacking quite a bit.”

  “I killed more enemies than you and got a higher mission rating, so of course, you haven’t leveled up as quickly as me.” Frenzied Sword smirked.

  Evil Sword twisted his mouth. “Forget it, I won’t rush to promote together with you. I’d rather spend my experience on learning more High-End Knowledge. I’ll suppress my grade for the time being.”

  “Why would you want to suppress your grade? You can probably promote to Grade B right after you reach level 100.”

  “Who knows? Maybe there will be an experience penalty for killing Grade Cs after reaching Grade B. Anyways, with you as our guinea pig, it’s better for me to just wait for a while.” Evil Sword grinned.

  “Up to you, you wimp. After all, you’ll need to promote sooner or later.” Frenzied Sword rolled his eyes in response.

  On the other side of the battlefield, Hate the Heavens was also sweeping the battlefield with a few of his friends, idly chatting.

  “This battle is finally over. After this, we’ll find some time to proceed toward another Star System to participate in another war mission,” Hate the Heavens suggested.

  While they were involved in a war, there was no chance to defect to the enemy camp. Now that the war mission had ended, they were free to move around, and Hate the Heavens had decided to take the opportunity to move by themselves.

  “But the fifty-percent discount seems to be ongoing. I feel that we should enjoy the last wave of benefits before we change to another faction. We should first return to the Black Star Army headquarters, spend all of our benefits, and then join Bloodshed Land,” one of them said.

  Hate the Heavens nodded in response. “That works too.”

  “It’s just that our main storyline will have to first be removed and changed to the Klent faction main storyline,” one of them said regretfully.

  “There’s no way around it.” Hate the Heavens shook his head. “But we at least managed to obtain the reward from this campaign. We should not be considered to have lost out. Compared to the hidden storyline of the Klent faction, this sort of loss is nothing.”

  Everyone else nodded in agreement.

  At the same time, in yet another stronghold, Summer Night Flower was considering the same problem.

  “After this mission ends, there should be people who go and join Klent. At that time, I’ll be able to prove my hypothesis, that the Klent faction is the best choice.” Summer Night Flower sighed to himself. He believed in his conjecture and was full of expectations toward changing factions.

  …

  The majority of the forces were cleaning up the battlefield, so Han Xiao allowed Herlous and the other officers to deal with that while he closed himself up inside the training room.

  In the room, Han Xiao’s face was pale, and his eyes closed as he tried to gather strength to sense his body’s condition. It was only after a long time that he reopened his eyes, his expression grave.

  The problem was quite thorny.

  [Poisoned Soul] would keep him in a permanent status of Mental Weakness that reduced all his attributes by twenty percent. In addition, his stamina and energy would fall fifteen percent faster than normal, meaning that he would require more effort to use the same skill.

  [Sensory Misdirection) reduced his hit rate, critical rate, and evasion.

  [Mild Hallucination] targeted his mental state, constantly harassing it with weird voices, making it difficult for him to maintain a calm and rational state.

  The (Schizophrenia) status was the most dangerous, as it produced a sub-personality within him. It was linked with the [Parasitic Mind) stat
us, where the mental toxins would parasitize his spirit, consuming part of the energy he used each time to nourish the weaker sub-personality. This would strengthen it, to the point that it would compete with the main personality for control of the body.

  If the control over his body was robbed, his interface would show that he had entered the [Chaos] status and would run rampant, not recognizing friend or foe.

  However, Han Xiao knew that the actual effect would be more complicated, not as simple as stopping at the (Chaos] status.

  Psyker… sigh, I really hate this Psychic…

  Han Xiao rubbed his temples while frowning. Right now, the sub personality was still weak, and he could not detect its presence. However, every time he moved to attack, the sub personality would also grow in strength.

  Could it be that the objective of Bloodshed Land is to restrict my movements, making me afraid to fight?

  Han Xiao helplessly shook his head. Toward a psychic attack made by a Beyond Grade A Psychic, even if he was prepared for it, the attack would still land.

  It seemed as though he had to let go of whatever he had currently and think of an idea to resolve his negative statuses…

  Han Xiao sighed.

  The duration of the negative status is not written. Thus, I can assume that it will not go away on its own. How should I go about resolving this?

  Enduring the mental fatigue, Han Xiao thought silently.

  The easiest method would be to request His Majesty Psyker for aid. However, he was unsure whether Psyker was a friend or foe and would not throw himself into their grasp for nothing.

  The second method would be to ask Austin for help. This plan could be considered.

  The information on the interface was not comprehensive enough, and Han Xiao wished to examine the nature of the toxin in detail. However, he was more suited for dealing with material items and was unable to sense his mental state. Thus, he could only invite Lagi and Feidin over.

  “You were hit by the sneak attack from a Beyond Grade A Psychic?”

  When Feidin and Lagi came into the room and heard the explanation from Han Xiao, both of them jumped in shock.

  Han Xiao rubbed his eyebrows and sighed. “It was impossible to avoid, and I didn’t expect to encounter Psyker either. Feidin, please check and see how bad my situation is.”

  Feidin turned solemn and stretched out his hands, pressing behind Han Xiao’s ears as he closed his eyes. His mental power began to seep into Han Xiao’s brain.

  Han Xiao could feel Feidin’s mental energy seep in like tentacles.

  Hum!

  Suddenly, the vision in front of his eyes turned illusory, and it displayed the vision in his mental state, as shared by Feidin.

  His mental territory was a blank world. Both him and Feidin existed in the form of spiritual bodies and light particles, overlooking the entire area.

  About ten percent of the area was filled with purplish black mist. From time to time, it attempted to condense into a human figure but met failure.

  “This is the psychic toxin that has taken root and parasitized your mental territory.” Feidin’s tone was grave. “Not only will it continue to absorb your strength and expand by itself, the moment it reaches approximately thirty percent of your territory, the sub personality will be born, and it will begin to fight with you for control over the body.”

  Han Xiao’s expression was ugly. “Can you clear all the psychic toxins?”

  Feidin helplessly shook his head in return. “This is a psychic power belonging to a Beyond Grade A Super. Its power is tyrannical and hard to remove. Even my own psychic strength will be swallowed by it and turned into its nutrients. Sorry…”

  At this time, Lagi’s spiritual body also squeezed in, appearing beside the two. One look at the scene, and he patted Han Xiao’s shoulder immediately.

  “You have no hope left. Just hand the position of Army Commander to me. I’ll continue your work.”

  “Thanks a lot, man,” Han Xiao replied sarcastically.

  Chapter 728 - Enchantment and Leaving Tutelage

  Despite a Psychic toxin sounding pretty severe, Han Xiao was not too flustered and only found it pretty troublesome. He had always believed that there would be more solutions than problems.

  “Even you can’t clean up the toxin?” Han Xiao asked Lagi.

  “I can engrave a soul defense rune formation on your body at the very most to slow down the speed at which the toxin invades your soul.” Lagi sighed. “However, these methods won’t be able to treat you. It was indeed a mistake for me to become a Mage.”

  Feidin then interrupted him and said, “I can also help you strengthen your soul’s defense to defend against the Psychic toxin. As for purging it entirely, this is something that neither of us are unable to achieve. You have to think of another method.”

  Feidin was the most talented individual in the army, and he had entered the Calamity Grade even before Sylvia. However, his status in the army was more like a guest, and he did not have any responsibilities.

  “Then help me suppress the toxin for now. I will think of another way.”

  Han Xiao felt slightly relieved. Things were fine as long as they were not totally helpless.

  Despite a Beyond Grade A Psychic being extremely powerful, a Calamity Grade Super would also be able to defend against it to a certain extent.

  Feidin’s body began glowing brightly, and an endless stream of psychic energy rushed out from his body like a tidal wave and enveloped Han Xiao’s mental world. A hexagonal structure then appeared on Han Xiao’s mental wall to strengthen its defense.

  Very quickly, the effect of the Psychic toxin was obviously reduced, and the purplish fog also seemed to have become less aggressive.

  Han Xiao instantly felt energized, and the feeling of weakness and disturbance was reduced greatly. (Poisoned Soul] only reduced fourteen percent of his attributes from the original twenty percent, and the effects of (Mild Hallucination) and (Sensory Misdirection) had also been reduced.

  “I will have to inscribe the rune formation on your body. Let’s exit.” Lagi’s mental body then left the chatroom in Han Xiao’s mind.

  Han Xiao and Feidin also retracted their mental bodies, and their senses returned to the outside world. Han Xiao felt the scene before his eyes changing, and he was back in the cultivation chamber of the spaceship. Feidin also retracted his finger and walked to the side.

  Lagi walked forward, and with a flip of his palm, a small jade green crystal staff appeared in his hand.

  Waving the staff, ten or so thick spell books appeared in front of him and began flipping themselves automatically. As the pages were flipped, pages full of magical incantations fell off automatically and hovered around Lagi. These were the formations that Lagi was preparing to inscribe on Han Xiao.

  “Take off your top. I will inscribe a formation on your body.”

  Han Xiao took off his top and revealed his muscular upper body. His muscles were packed tightly, and despite being packed full with power, they were extremely lean, not bulky like a Pugilist. The (Golden Ratio Body] talent that he had transformed his body into a work of art.

  “Go ahead.” Han Xiao nodded.

  Lagi circulated his magic, and his eyes glowed brightly. With his staff as a brush and magic as paint, he began to draw a formation on Han Xiao’s body.

  The cool magic energy lingered around his body with a tinge of pain and itchiness. It felt just like getting a tattoo.

  After ten or so minutes, Lagi let out a long breath and spat out a mouthful of magic breath. At the same time, the glow in his eyes receded as well. For a mage of his caliber to spend a full ten or so minutes inscribing an enchantment, it could be said that he was giving it his all.

  Lagi then took a few steps back and studied Han Xiao’s back as he said, “Although I don’t know if it will work… my drawing is truly nice.”

  Han Xiao lowered his head to take a look. At this moment, his entire body was filled with exquisite and complicated
runes that looked like tattoos.

  A bluish-gold circular formation could be seen on the left of his chest, and a horoscope-like shape could be seen on his abdomen. The two formations were connected by a chain-like inscription that covered his entire arms as though they were wrapped up in chains. His back was also covered with runes, with his backbone as a tree trunk and countless branch-like formations extending out from his backbone.

  Apart from his face, Han Xiao was covered in runes all over his body that flickered with a dim glow as though the runes were breathing.

  “With your body as the foundation, I inscribed plenty of formations on your body through body enchantments. The formations will automatically absorb the elements that exist in nature to replenish themselves.”

  Body enchantment was an important skill in the enchantment path. It could strengthen certain aspects of the target, and some magical civilizations would use this method to strengthen the combat capabilities of their soldiers. There were some powerhouses who would also inscribe enchantments on their own bodies. Han Xiao was not a stranger to these enchantments, and there were mages from his previous life who specialized in providing such enchantment services.

  This was the way a mage could earn money, just like how a Mechanic sold their products.

  Han Xiao stroked his arm curiously, and his finger could clearly feel the inscription lines of the rune. Even with his experience, he could clearly feel that the enchantment on his body was extremely complicated.

  “The level of enchantment is limited by the strength of your body. The more enchantments, the greater the burden on your body. Thankfully, your body is extremely powerful, and I was able to inscribe plenty of enchantments.”

  Lagi then said with assurance, “The protection of the Sacred Emperor, hug of the white robed mage ancestor, five different soul protection formations, the thirteen rings of secret soul stabilizing formation, and so on.”