by <unknown>
Herlous sighed. He gave a look to the officer beside him, and the officer took out the documents that proved that Herlous’ request was authorized by the superiors. The researchers saw it and had no choice but to obey the order. They took the armor, placed it into a metal box, and handed it to Herlous.
“I got it, let’s go.” Herlous touched the box and smiled.
The Head of Research was trembling with rage. “If the armor is with us, we will definitely be able to achieve greater results and provide more help for the race. You’re too selfish!”
Herlous’ face changed slightly, but he did not say anything. However, just as he was about to leave, he realized that Han Xiao’s footsteps stopped.
Han Xiao turned around and walked up to the Head of Research. He grabbed his head, forcing the Head of Research to look him in the eyes, and coldly said, “I remember when he followed me through difficult battles covered in wounds. I remember his misery when he lost an arm. I remember his agony when I planted a prosthetic into him. If not for your bullsh*t race, he could have a very comfortable life in the vast universe. So, what I don’t understand is, how is he selfish?
“Is it because he’s a good man, so you dare to insult him ruthlessly, knowing that he will not hurt you?”
Han Xiao suddenly turned into Void Form. His pitch-black eyes stared at the Head of Research as he gently said, “But I’m not like him. If you dare speak another word of insult to my subordinate, I will stuff your head up your ass.”
Chapter 472. Shattered Light (2) |
“Yo—you’re not human!” The Head of Research was terrified. His legs were soft, but his head was grabbed by Han Xiao, so he could not even collapse.
Han Xiao’s Void Form only lasted a moment before disappearing. The Head of Research, who was staring at him, was the only one who saw his changes. Han Xiao’s sudden change in appearance shocked the man.
Void creatures were not murderous, but their mysterious origin and strong powers could strike fear into the hearts of most intelligent species.
Han Xiao let go and allowed the guy to collapse onto the ground. He then looked around; the other researchers were all cowering in the corner and shivering. Those Sunils were just ordinary people, so the pressure that they felt from Han Xiao was because of his far superior level of life.
On the side, the military officers did not stop him and chose to ignore his actions.
“There’s no need to hurt him. Let’s go, Black Star.” Herlous was quite touched. He did not want to bother about it initially, but he did not expect Han Xiao to speak for him or empathize with his words.
It was true. If not for the sake of his race, he could totally not care about them. As a Grade B Super, he could have a very comfortable life in the galaxy. Why would he need to take on the tough life of a mercenary? Those Sunil Supers who left were doing exactly that.
After following Han Xiao through so many adventures, Herlous had already come to view Han Xiao as a close comrade and reliable friend. Han Xiao was someone whom he could trust to have his back. Now that he was contributing to the Black Star Mercenary Group, it was not solely because of Han Xiao’s promise. Images of them fighting alongside each other flashed through his mind, and Herlous felt a warmth in his heart.
The sun was setting. They left the restricted military ground and left the city, returning to the spaceship.
This time, Herlous grabbed Han Xiao and laughed wholeheartedly. “Haha, I don’t actually care about what others say. When I was opening a bar, I heard these things too many times… but I appreciate it nonetheless.”
“It was just frightening someone, small matter. People like you should be more respected.” Han Xiao shrugged.
In order to have the officers contribute willingly, building a spiritual bond was crucial. He also had to keep up his image. If he wanted to build an image as a reliable leader, protecting his friends was the most fundamental thing that he had to do. These main characters all had minds of their own. If his actions opposed their creed, they would have conflicts among themselves.
Han Xiao’s position was always neutral; everything that he did depended on the benefits and his mood, be it obeying the laws or stirring up chaos. Obviously, in such a situation where he could gain favorability just by expressing his attitude, he would definitely not miss the opportunity.
With a smile, Herlous raised the armor box in his hands and said, “Speaking of which, you have not experienced my combat capability in my final form, have you? Let’s have a go at it!”
“Now? Are you sure?” Han Xiao’s eyebrows raised. “Do you want to end this beautiful day with an overwhelming defeat?”
“Well, aren’t you confident?” Herlous was very certain. “Shattered Light is the Commander Class armor that my brother tailor-made for me. It can increase my strength by more than fifty percent.”
He sparred with Han Xiao frequently. Most of the time, he was crushed and could only be a training target. He had been frustrated about it for a very long time and had been waiting for the day that he could erase this shame and regain his pride.
He felt that today was the day.
He felt that it would be very difficult for Han Xiao to beat him after he got back his armor.
“Then I shall be gentler. After all, I’m the one that will repair your armor if I break it.”
Han Xiao smiled. He could use this opportunity to reverse engineer the Commander Class armor’s blueprint.
In a field under the sunset, the two of them stood two hundred meters away from each other. To them, this distance could be reached with just one dash.
Herlous wore Shattered Light. His face was covered by the helmet, and his armor was silver blue and intricate like a magnificent ancient knight’s armor. Two soft, pure white metal plates that looked like cloths extended from each of his shoulders, hanging behind his back like a cape.
Hum!
An enormous, powerful white flame shot into the sky, and rings of shock waves spread out from the center, stirring up dust. It looked incredible. The ten-meter-long Battleship Slicing Blade was entangled in sharp, silver wind. The Shattered Light armor enhanced his Pugilist Energy.
The troops in the camp far away felt this shocking energy wave. Guards rushed to the edge of the camp and looked over with shock.
“Much stronger indeed.” Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. From what he saw with his eyes, the energy wave emitted by Herlous while wearing Shattered Light was more than thirty percent stronger.
Boom!
Herlous slashed down with his blade, and a thirty-meter-tall silver energy arc slit open the ground, charging toward Han Xiao like a tsunami. Han Xiao’s vision was instantly filled with silver light.
The compressed orbs expanded, and Void Dragon quickly attached itself to his body. Han Xiao stacked his hands together and aimed forward. With a surging gray light, the Void Jet Spray shattered the energy arc just inches away.
Swoosh!
The next moment, a sharp blade dashed past the remnants of the energy arc and slashed down. Herlous had followed behind the energy arc like an arrow shot from a bow. His attacks were precise and quick, closing the distance in no time and not giving Han Xiao any chance to deploy his machinery.
“A tactic I guessed correctly without even thinking.” Han Xiao moved aside and dodged with ease. The blade slashed into the ground; the impact spread out under the surface and turned the ground within a ten-meter radius into cracked rocks.
Han Xiao swung his hand, and a black electromagnetic scythe unfolded and appeared.
“I got this close, and you still have the energy to talk?” Herlous snorted. He twisted the blade handle. The Battleship Slicing Blade retracted to about one meter long, suitable for close range combat.
Clank!
In the blink of an eye, the scythe and the blade clashed with each other more than a dozen times.
The two of them moved around swiftly, and the impacts from their clash turned the ground within a mile into a mess. The impact
waves from a battle between Grade B Supers could destroy an entire city. The Sunil soldiers spectating from far away continuously exclaimed with shock.
Such terrifying individual destructive powers had these young soldiers astonished and admiring.
Herlous’ powerful Energy was like a tsunami, striking one wave after another. When Pugilist reached this grade, their every move could cause huge destruction. Their body was their strongest weapon, especially for someone like Herlous who fought so aggressively.
Melee combat was the strength of the Pugilist class, but Han Xiao was not afraid at all. His various bonuses were not decorations. [One Against the World] alone gave him an eleven percent bonus in all attributes, and [Battlefield Wisdom] had started to stack up once the battle started.
Although I’m not afraid of melee combat, my strength is suppressed in this situation. Normal methods can’t restrain Pugilists with such strong destructive powers. Han Xiao blocked the blade with his scythe and simultaneously activated [Repel—Thorns], reflecting a part of the damage.
Herlous’ entire body suddenly shook as he was pushed away. His legs split open two fissures in the ground.
Swoosh!
Another compressed orb was activated, and two mechanical wings expanded behind Han Xiao. The wings released a hot wind, and Han Xiao levitated in the air. Although he could build anti-gravity devices, they were too large to become independent parts of the mechanical suit. He had yet to combine the blueprint for mini anti-gravity devices.
His ability to fly still came from the wings. Their power output was already enhanced, so reaching Supersonic speed was a breeze.
Clank!
Han Xiao opened his arms in midair, and almost a hundred compressed orbs shot out from the pipes. They landed on the ground and quickly expanded, turning into artilleries and many mechanical beasts.
The rain of bullets focused on Herlous; his armor was covered in countless fire sparkles.
Even though Han Xiao had yet to update and enhance his machinery and was still using gunpowder and electromagnetic artillery, his Machinery Affinity received higher bonuses after his Promotion, so their damage was increased too. At least it did not deal the minimum ‘1’ damage due to not being able to penetrate Herlous’ defenses.
Countless ‘-5’ and ‘-6′ damage numbers popped up continuously on Herlous’ body, mixed with the odd ’20’ to ’30’ dealt by electromagnetic artilleries.
The damage dealt on one single instance was not high, but the horrifying attack frequency caused damage numbers to pop up from Herlous’ body like a waterfall.
This time, Herlous growled, “This tactic… is not useful against me anymore!”
Chapter 473. Shattered Light (3) |
Bang!
Before the mechanical beasts pounced, Herlous stomped the floor, cracked open the ground, and jumped into the sky.
The white cape on his shoulders suddenly started dancing. His Energy turned into power and gave these two soft alloys the ability to hover through some special method. Herlous had started flying! He jumped in the sky and charged toward Han Xiao.
Clunk!
The Battleship Slicing Blade collided with Han Xiao’s armor, making Han Xiao fly back and roll in the air.
This armor can fly?
Han Xiao stabilized his position and squinted. A Pugilist that could fly would be a much bigger threat.
Han Xiao realized that Herlous had hidden this up his sleeves. If he had yet to go through Promotion, he probably would not have been able to beat Herlous in this state.
Not only was he not shocked, he was delighted. The stronger Herlous was, the stronger his mercenary group would be.
“Now this…” Under the mechanical suit helmet, Han Xiao grinned. “This is interesting!”
…
On the ground, Aroshia, Feidin, and the others looked up at the intense fight in the sky.
“Herlous the Fraud can fly, too. Looks like it’s the end for captain. A Mechanic that is forced into melee combat with a Pugilist is basically dead.” The oldest Volga tutted.
“Teacher won’t lose!” Sylvia’s palms were sweaty, her knees weak, as she watched the battle closely.
The two of them were flipping midair. The mechanical beasts on the ground were useless, and the artillery could not hit Herlous due to his speed. Herlous’ combat style was smooth, swift, and left no openings, giving Han Xiao no time to increase the distance between them. The way that Sylvia saw it, Han Xiao was clearly disadvantaged.
However, she had an indescribable confidence in her teacher.
The oldest Volga brother’s eyes sparkled. “Want to make a bet? I bet that the captain will lose, and you will bet on him to win—what do you say?”
Sylvia was troubled. “My teacher says that gambling is a bad habit.”
“Bullsh*t, he only says that because he can’t win,” the oldest Volga brother said. “Let’s bet 300 Enas. Are you this unconfident in the captain?”
“Okay, I’ll take it!” Sylvia clenched her teeth and agreed to the bet.
Hum—
Suddenly, a formless disruptive electromagnetic field expanded from Han Xiao’s helmet. Herlous’ mechanical suit vision instantly turned black, and he lost his sight for a second.
Herlous quickly opened his helmet and observed with his eyes. Seeing that Han Xiao did not get far, he immediately slashed Han Xiao’s back sideways with his blade
“You want to run? Have you asked for permission from my blade‽” Herlous laughed.
However, this slash cut Han Xiao in half without any resistance. Herlous was shocked.
Then, the two halves of ‘Han Xiao’ shook like ripples and vanished.
Void Mirror Image!
“What ability is this? Why have I not seen it before?” Herlous suddenly had a bad feeling.
With his opportunity, Han Xiao discreetly returned to the ground directly under Herlous. A new machine had appeared under his feet. It was a huge metal disc that was placed flat upon the ground. At the heart of it were three equilateral triangle shaped holes emitting a dim blue light—these three holes formed a larger hole, which was pointed at Herlous.
Hum!
Before Herlous could move, the triangular hole shot out a wide, translucent blue light beam that covered him. He lost control of his body and quickly descended. With a loud clank, he was tightly sucked and fixed onto this machine, unable to escape quickly.
This was a mechanical trap. It was initially used by spaceships to draw in objects and not used for combat at all. It was very difficult for it to hit a high-speed target, but if it successfully hit, it would be a very strong constraining method. Shamefully, in his previous life, Han Xiao had been the first player that used this in actual combat.
Han Xiao snapped his fingers. All the artillery aimed at Herlous, who could not move and fired. At the same time, he activated [Overload], [Surging Mechanical Force], and [Mechanical Force Overload] for all of his artillery before activating [Gene Liberation].
Although he only got the lowest 2.2 times damage bonus, it was more than enough to end this battle.
Boom!
Thick smoke from the attacks completely covered Herlous.
“Stop stop stop! I admit defeat! Stop hitting, my armor is going to explode!”
Herlous’ panicking voice came out from thick smoke. Han Xiao slowly walked to the side, stopped the artillery, and deactivated the trap.
Herlous stood up. The magnificent and cool Shattered Light was covered in burn marks and cracks. Herlous was heartbroken by how damaged it was.
Not long ago, he had totally held the upper hand, but he had never expected that one single flaw would cause him to lose in an instant. When did Black Star become so strong? Herlous could not beat him even by wearing Shattered Light. Why did the difference between them not grow smaller but larger instead‽
He had thought that he could finally defeat Han Xiao and erase his shame, but now he was more frustrated.
“How much of your
strength did you use?”
“Not all anyway of it. You mad?” Han Xiao grinned. As the weak spot of the Mechanic class was melee combat, he was most not afraid of that. After playing the Mechanic class for so many years in his previous life, the people whom he had beaten who tried to force him into melee combat could stack up to a hill.
However, although Han Xiao did win, he still discovered some problems. These cheap styles that he had been using looked rather weak when he used it on an opponent who had the same Grade as him; he had to use the explosive abilities in order to win.
There’s nothing wrong with the tactics. It seems like I need to build stronger machines.
Herlous was still grinding his teeth. He was used to being aggressive in battle and fighting the enemy head on, but he felt very restricted when he fought Han Xiao, and it made him feel uncomfortable. It looked like he always had the upper hand, but it was more like he was following Han Xiao’s plan. The battle seemed intense, but only he knew how well Han Xiao dodged his attacks. He had only landed a few hits.
Herlous could not maximize his fighting skills as a Pugilist at all. So, all in all, it had been a very uncomfortable and restrained fight for him.
“Alright, stop moping. Not like it’s the first time you’ve lost to me. Take it off, I’ll repair for you.”
Han Xiao patted Herlous’ shoulders and comforted him.
On the other side, Sylvia’s face was red from excitement. She extended her hand and chuckled. “300 Enas, a bet’s a bet.”
“My hard-earned money!” The oldest Volga brother whined in regret.
Regret of trusting that Herlous!
…
The spaceship took off and left Planet Sunil. In the machinery modification room on the spaceship, Han Xiao repaired Shattered Light. Since he satisfied the prerequisite knowledges, he successfully got the Commander Class armor blueprint after paying some Experience.
It was armor specifically for Supers, so its attributes were stronger and could enhance one’s Energy. Other than it not having many functions, its performance was not much lower than his Amphiptere. Plus, in comparison, its materials were much cheaper, so the cost of mass producing it was much lower.
