“Here’s the stuff.”
The armor opened up, and Feidin placed the suitcase on Han Xiao’s table. This was the King mechanical suit Han Xiao had temporarily lent to Feidin. The Throne was in his hands to ensure he would take the item right after the deal was completed.
Han Xiao opened the suitcase, and cold air flew out. Inside were two cylindrical containers that contained two clusters of Primal Esper Ability Entities. One was green, and the other was blue. There was also a data storage device beside the two containers. Han Xiao turned it on and looked at it. It stored the data for two Gold blueprints. Everything Oathkeeper had promised in the deal was there. This time, a notification also popped up on the interface.
Primal Esper Ability Entities Acquired: 4/4
[Primal Esper Ability Collector] Milestone requirements met.
Effects: When you fight Espers, all your attributes will increase slightly. -12% to 20% damage received from Espers. You have received 1 (The Third Sanctum) Ability Fragment.
The mission is completed, which means these two were real.
Han Xiao was relieved. He waved at Feidin.
“Go back.”
The three-minute duration had yet to end. He activated the King again and sent Feidin back to the location of the deal.
Oathkeeper turned and looked over. “Black Star, how is it?”
“Hmm, there are no problems. What about you?”
“What you gave me was indeed part of the Holy Light Particle.”
Han Xiao raised his brows and extended his hand.
“So… nice deal?” Although Oathkeeper’s spiritual projection had no physical form, he still made the gesture to shake Han Xiao’s hands and said, “Nice deal.”
The next moment, the Holy Accord emissary on the screen seemed to have activated some device and disappeared all of a sudden. “Oh? Your man fled really quick. Are you that worried about me?” Han Xiao asked with a joking tone. “Caution is a necessity.” Oathkeeper did not deny it.
Seeing that his emissary had followed the plan strictly and left the scene, Oathkeeper finally heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed his tense nerves.
This deal was extremely important for the Holy Accord, and he was worried about a lot of things. Most importantly, he was worried about Black Star not fulfilling their agreement and attempting to chase the Holy Accord emissary by any means necessary. Now it looked like Black Star had no such plan, and the deal was carried out smoothly. With the Holy Light Particle, the success rate of opening the Third Sanctum would basically reach their expected percentage. Oathkeeper suppressed his excitement and said, “I will remember Your Excellency Black Star’s generosity. Since the deal is complete, it’s time for me to leave.”
Every time he made contact with people like Black Star, it was a risk. The more he spoke, the more information he might leak.
Luckily, there was no need to ever make contact with Black Star anymore in the future. All Oathkeeper wanted to do now was immediately turn off the spiritual projection and never meet Han Xiao ever again.
Since Oathkeeper had always contacted Han Xiao using the method of spiritual projection, this meant that only he could contact Black Star while Black Star could not contact him. As long as he never contacted Black Star ever again, Black Star would never have the chance to see him in the future. At this time, Han Xiao suddenly smiled and said, “Don’t be in such a rush. Who knows when we will meet again? Let’s chat for a while. Also, I have some questions I’d like to ask you before you leave.” Oathkeeper’s heart skipped a beat. Oh, come on, why do you have questions again? You asking questions make me panic, every time! Oathkeeper tried to be patient and said with a cautious tone, “… Ask on then. I’ll answer as much as possible.” Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and smiled faintly.
Just like Oathkeeper, he had nothing to worry about now that he already had what he wanted from the deal.
After he acted like he was pondering for a few seconds, he decided to start from the questions that would probably shock Oathkeeper the least. “Do you… know about Destiny’s Child?” Oathkeeper’s eyes turned around, and his entire body became stiff.
Animal! What have you discovered again? He started into Han Xiao’s eyes, hoping to figure out what he was thinking. However, Black Star’s clear eyes were filled with sincerity, as if he was really just asking casually. Unable to calm his emotions down, Oathkeeper suppressed his shock and asked, “Why are you suddenly asking me? Did something happen?”
“Well, there’s no need to hide it really. I once met a special individual who called himself Destiny’s Child. Sadly, he died in a nuclear explosion. Then, not long ago, I came across a similar individual. After some investigations, I discovered that there seems to be a Primal Esper Ability called Destiny’s Child that exists in the universe. It seems to be able to transform some life forms into special sub-bodies. You guys happen to be the experts in studying Primal Esper Abilities, so I came to consult you.”
“That’s it?”
“What else? But from the way you reacted, your Holy Accord organization seems to know quite a lot of things.” Han Xiao sized Oathkeeper up and wondered, “Could it be that Destiny’s Child is in your hands? The way your emissary disappeared earlier does seem similar to Information Form-related technology. That was invented by you guys too, wasn’t it?”
Oathkeeper was having a headache. He regretted his overreaction earlier. It was like he was infected with Black Star PTSD.
“It’s not, nonsense.”
“Really?”
“Nope.” Oathkeeper denied it completely. “Alright then, I don’t really care if it’s in your hands I just want to know some information. You guys specialize in studying Primal Esper Ability Entities, so you guys definitely know something, or you wouldn’t have asked me back earlier.” Han Xiao tapped on the table, his tone casual. He looked like he believed what Oathkeeper said, but actually, he was about sixty percent sure that Destiny’s Child was in the Holy Accord’s hands from Oathkeeper’s reaction. Nonetheless, Oathkeeper would certainly not admit to it, so the Great Mechanic Han decided to not continue asking. The most important thing was to ask about the mechanisms of Destiny’s Child.
Oathkeeper pondered with resignation, selected some information, and said, “Destiny’s Child is a very ancient Primal Esper Ability. We don’t know much about it either. Most of what we know came from the other Primal Esper Ability Entities. It’s said that Destiny’s Child’s ability is related to the changes of Information Form and strings of fate, and it has an unbelievably powerful foresight ability. “Strings of fate are also called ’cause and effect’ in some cultures. Like a huge net, if you touch one of the strings, the vibrations will certainly pass onto more strings. Therefore, every time it uses its ability, Destiny’s Child will have to read a lot of information and carry out an analyzing process similar to computing large groups of data. It is able to calculate the various possibilities and results that a certain event can produce, then use that to foresee the future.
“In this process, in order to read the so-called strings of fate, it will release special Information Form particles to collect information, and these particles will often cause information state disturbances. They will produce partial projections of themselves in random information bodies, take over part of their information, and that is how the sub-bodies are born. The targets are mostly life forms.
“Some Primal Esper Ability Entities say that Destiny’s Child can turn into a High Dimensional Information Form. If it doesn’t want to be discovered, no one can discover it. That is why no one had been able to capture it even till now… Therefore, you having met two sub-bodies is purely because you were lucky.” Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled, and his thoughts spun quickly. The information of Destiny’s Child Oathkeeper provided was almost identical to the mechanisms he had speculated it would have. However, he felt that Destiny’s Child’s ability did not stop there. Just foresight? Probably not! Since Destiny’s Child could produce sub-bodies, could it p
roduce something else? Or even change the direction the strings of fate would take? There were many forms of the so-called ‘information state disturbance’, even physical mirages. Han Xiao did not forget how the Domino Virus that caused the Intelligent Plague appeared. In Version 1.0, the information he obtained from the Germinal Organization said that the ability of their Destiny’s Child was ‘influence’ over the future, not just ‘foreseeing’ the future. Han Xiao once thought it was only because the natives were not knowledgeable enough, but now that he thought about it, that might not have been a misunderstanding. Han Xiao asked a few more questions, to which Oathkeeper said he did not know, clearly not willing to expose more information.
Seeing this, Han Xiao had no choice but to change the topic. He narrowed his eyes and casually said, “By the way, last time you told me about how your spiritual projection ability works. After that, I did some research. There seems to be a Primal Esper Ability called Soul Flame that fits what you said.”
Hearing this, it seemed like this was no secret. Oathkeeper surprisingly nodded and said directly, “That’s right. I’m the master of Soul Flame.”
“Hmm, I did some further research following this information, and it seems like the last Soul Flame master in the universe was a Beyond Grade A Esper nicknamed Soul Emperor. His name was Rovell Sissock… Do you happen to know him?”
Then, Han Xiao stared closely at Oathkeeper, wanting to see every slight reaction he had. However, Oathkeeper did not look surprised at all this time and said, “I’ve heard about him too, but I don’t know him.”
Han Xiao frowned in his mind. Unlike the question about Destiny’s Child, Oathkeeper did not have any strange reaction to this question. He did not know if this was because Oathkeeper was completely mentally prepared about it, or Oathkeeper did not care about his identity being exposed, or he guessed wrong and Oathkeeper was not that Soul Emperor who might have faked his own death. Han Xiao then asked, “Since Soul Flame once spent time with this master, it must know more. Help me ask it then…”
Han Xiao felt weird as soon as he asked this. It sounded like asking a man to ask his current girlfriend about how her ex-boyfriend was.
“About what?” Oathkeeper did not agree nor disagree. “Hmm, I’m very curious about after Soul Emperor died, who took Soul Flame, and how did you obtain it?”
Oathkeeper’s tone became slightly more serious, and he said, “Don’t you think these questions are too personal?”
“As a man of science, is it wrong for me to be curious?” Han Xiao used a very justifiable excuse. Oathkeeper shook his head with resignation and said, “Alright, I know you’re curious about who I am, and you think I’m Soul Emperor or one of the Beyond Grade As who killed Soul Emperor back then and took Soul Flame. But you’ve guessed wrong. I’m none of them. I did not rob Soul Flame from anyone. When I met it, it was already free, and it took me some effort to acquire it.”
“Then can you help me to ask it, what did it experience after Soul Emperor died?” Han Xiao then asked.
“…It’s not willing to say.” Oathkeeper shook his head. He suddenly paused for a moment before saying, “However, it told me that Soul Emperor did not die in battle. Since you’ve already looked at information about him, I won’t go into detail. Anyway, during Soul Emperor’s last battle, his body was indeed destroyed. However, due to the specialty of his Esper Ability, his soul did not die and escaped. As for where he went, Soul Flame has no idea either.”
Han Xiao pondered. He did not know if what Oathkeeper was true, but from his tone and the content, it did not seem like a
lie.
In Han Xiao’s previous life, Soul Emperor did not revive, which meant that there was a very high possibility he was still alive. If Oathkeeper was not Soul Emperor, then who was? Could it be that he had run into the secondary dimensions and was never able to come back?
“Do you have any other questions? If not, I shall leave.”
Oathkeeper was getting impatient.
He did not want to continue chatting with Han Xiao. He had more important things to do now. All his mind was focused on the awakening ceremony. The promise of many years was finally going to be fulfilled, so he did not want to wait another second.
To him, chatting with Han Xiao for a while was already very respectful, or he would have directly deactivated the projection and left right after the deal was complete. He would never come into contact with him again in the future anyway, so he did not mind being rude. “Alright, you do indeed have more important things to do. I won’t delay you.” Han Xiao stood up, did a farewell gesture, and deliberately sighed. “Sigh, buddy, I have quite a good impression of you. After you leave this time, god knows when you’ll contact me again. I won’t say much. When you revive the Primordial Ones, remember to send my regards to them.”Oathkeeper’s movement to deactivate the spiritual projection stiffened in an instant.
The entire spiritual projection suddenly trembled like radio noise, which represented the extreme emotional turbulence Oathkeeper was going through. The sudden shock made Oathkeeper’s spiritual frequency lose balance, so much so that he suddenly lost full control of his ability! He opened his eyes wide with disbelief.
How can you possibly know about our top secret?
I have already investigated all the upper echelons. There are no spies at all!
When this thought appeared, Oathkeeper was suddenly stunned. Wait, I’ve fallen into a thinking blind spot. There’s actually one upper echelon left who has not been investigated! Someone once said, when you have eliminated all possibilities, no matter how unbelievable and impossible the last possibility is, that’s the truth.
Therefore…
Am I the spy?
Oathkeeper’s brain exploded.
Chapter 1143 - Purpose and Partnership
“H-how did you…”
Oathkeeper’s heart was heavily shocked, and his mind was in a bit of a trance. He was filled with questions.
Black Star definitely knew this secret all along but had been hiding it, and I was totally fooled. This b*stard is so evil! Seeing Oathkeeper was appalled, Han Xiao looked surprised. “Hmm? Why are you still here? Weren’t you leaving?”
“I know you don’t want to leave me, but since you’re in such a hurry, you’d better go back quickly.”
“Act-Actually, I’m not in that much of a hurry. We can chat for a while… a while more…” Oathkeeper laughed awkwardly. This dog is definitely doing this purposely! How can I leave before I find out the whole truth? Han Xiao’s words made Oathkeeper immediately give up on wanting to leave as soon as possible. Instead, he insisted on staying and making sure his questions were answered. “Since you’re so enthusiastic, it’ll be rude for me to refuse you then.” Seeing that Oathkeeper looked emotionally unstable, Han Xiao stopped kidding and invited him back to his seat.
Oathkeeper took a deep breath and cautiously asked, “So you know about our goal. Where did you hear about it?”
Black Star directly pointed out the Holy Accord’s purpose, so he knew that there was no point in hiding it anymore. Furthermore, he felt that Black Star definitely had a motive, or he could have hidden the fact that he knew about this. Deliberately exposing their goal did not seem like something an enemy would do. He wondered what Black Star was planning. “I have my intelligence channels.” Han Xiao gave a perfunctory answer, clearly expressing that he would never reveal his sources. Oathkeeper did not hold any hopes for it anyway. If he was in Black Star’s position, he would not expose who the spy was either. Oathkeeper had no choice but to clench his teeth and accept that. He said, “Since you already know our goal, what are you planning?” He put himself at the lower position, which he had not done in a very long time. If he was facing an ordinary Beyond Grade A, Oathkeeper would most likely have thought of killing him. However, facing Black Star, he really did not have complete confidence he would be able to-Black Star was too damn tanky.
On the other hand, if Black Star wanted to, he could leak this
intelligence out any time he wanted. Since his weakness was in Black Star’s hands, he had to be cautious.
“What do you think I’m planning?” Han Xiao smiled faintly.
“I don’t know.” Oathkeeper had several guesses, but he did not dare to say them out loud.
From the way he looked at it, there were only a few reasons Black Star would do this, including extortion or interrupting. It was not like Black Star only did this to scare him out of boredom… right? “Why not take a guess?”
“… I have no guesses.”
“Tsk, you’re so boring.” Han Xiao shook his finger. “Why are you so nervous? Since I did not reject your deal, don’t you understand my stance?” Oathkeeper’s eyes flickered. “You’re saying… you don’t plan to stop us?”
“Why should I?” Han Xiao crossed his arms, narrowed his eyes, and said, “I’m the leader of the Black Star Army and the three Universal Civilizations’ Special Consultant, but I’m also the vice president of the Beyond Grade A Association. If you’d paid attention to the Meeting of the Gods a few years ago, you’d know that the Mechanic Emperor and I have come to an agreement…”
Oathkeeper hastily thought back. Suddenly, a flash of insight passed through his mind and cleared the fog. “You’re saying… there are too few Beyond Grade As?”
“That’s right. The Mechanic Emperor and I both said that. Now you understand.” Han Xiao smiled.
Oathkeeper suddenly felt that everything made sense now, and most of his questions got answered.
No wonder despite knowing our goal, Black Star still chose to let it happen. This might be the only chance of tremendously strengthening the Beyond Grade A level in the short run, so it fits his goal. However, Oathkeeper still had some questions.
The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385 Page 810
