The Legendary Mechanic

by <unknown>

  Actually, as early as a few months prior when the incident occurred, the black markets at various places had opened a bet on whether the Universal Civilizations would apologize to the Black Star Army. The odds were sky-high, and most galactic residents felt that even though the Universal Civilizations were wrong, they would still be firm about it. They did not think the Black Star Army would receive apologies from the federation and the church, only private compensation at most.

  Therefore, after this announcement was made, most galactic residents were astonished.

  In the history of the three Universal Civilizations’ rule over the known universe, extremely rarely did they lower their heads against other organizations. After all, a public apology would harm their authority. However, the federation and the church shockingly had decided to do it this time, and the Black Star Army became one of the extremely few private organizations in the universe that had this honor.

  The dynasty did not want to be excluded from this matter. Right after the church and the federation made their announcements, they officially opened up the Evolutionary Totem business, announcing that the product would no longer be limited and controlled, putting it onto the free market and allowing it to be bought and sold freely.

  Countless civilizations had been waiting for this day. The Black Star Army’s email inbox exploded. The inventory the army had built up was being depleted continuously while enormous amounts of money flowed into the army’s account like a river.

  Of course, the smarter people knew that the Crimson Dynasty did this to be closer to Black Star. As the three Universal Civilizations expressed their kind intentions to one person at the same time, Black Star’s reputation and position grew once again, even in the Beyond Grade A circle.

  Not mentioning anything else, at least Han Xiao’s words carried heavier weight as a vice president in the development union.

  The players now, of course, would not miss out on this kind of matter. The Flickering World panel in the forums was soon filled with discussion.

  Green Dot: “Army Commander is indeed admired by all.”

  First Name: “Any old players that still remember 1.0? Who could have guessed that Black Star would turn out to be such an important NPC? Look at those protagonist characters in the novice planets. Which one of them turned out as successful as Black Star?”

  Hesitant: “Why do I suddenly feel touched? Four versions passed so fast. It’s like watching our kid grow up to be a man.”

  Army Commander’s Big PP: “My son Black Star is destined to be the king!”

  Important Things Need to Be Said Three Times: “Upstairs, you tired of living?”

  The players had already been shocked when Han Xiao defeated twelve Beyond Grade As. Having witnessed such an astonishing event, they were much calmer now.

  As the federation and the church carried out their terms, Han Xiao also kept his promise and released Tolaen and Hades.

  …

  On a sealed dock of Planet Black Gate, the officials of the federation and the church were waiting. They stood clearly apart and did not communicate with each other at all.

  These groups of people were there to retrieve their own captives. For that, they had come to the Black Star Army’s territory.

  After waiting for a while, a Black Star fleet approached from afar and stopped at this dock.

  Woosh!

  The hatch of the main ship opened. A group of mechanical soldiers carried the amber specimens of Tolaen and Hades down from the spaceship. They then placed these two works of art on the ground. Han Xiao walked out after.

  Seeing this, the people of the federation and the church approached quickly, gathered around Han Xiao, and greeted him respectfully.

  “Your Excellency Black Star.”

  “Hmm.” Han Xiao looked around casually, waved his hand, and said, “Since you’re all here, quickly take your men away.”

  He signaled everyone to get back. He then blocked their view with nanoparticles. He took his time for a few minutes before breaking Tolaen and Hades out of the amber.

  Pa!

  Having just regained freedom, the two of them staggered and almost fell.

  Seeing this, Han Xiao snorted and coldly said, “The federation and the church have bailed the two of you out. Be careful in the future. If you dare mess with me again and end up in my hands, don’t blame me for picking off some parts from you.”

  Tolaen shivered and uncontrollably took a few steps back. Fear lingered on his face as he looked at Han Xiao with horror-filled eyes. He did not dare talk back at all.

  These past few months had been hell. He felt that if it had carried on, he would have been driven mad inside the amber. He never ever wanted to experience it again; he just wanted to get as far away from Black Star as possible.

  Hades, who was standing to the side, was fearful too, but he could still control his expression, just about.

  Nonetheless, he was extremely sorrowful inside. He had thought that he would at the very least gain some reputation through that operation. Never did he expect to fail so miserably.

  Although being defeated by Black Star could not be considered shameful, this tag would probably follow him for a very long time.

  He had yet to even make a nickname for himself. Nothing he had done was worth mentioning. What should he say when someone asked him about what he was known for? Was he going to proudly say he had been locked up by Black Star before?

  Seeing that the two of them stood in place and did not move, Han Xiao raised his brows and joked, “What, don’t feel like leaving? Want to stay a few more months at my place?”

  Hearing this, the two of them instantly shivered, quickly returned to their own welcome groups with tails tucked between their legs without saying a word, and boarded their respective spaceships.

  The officials quickly took off.

  Inside the church’s spaceship, Tolaen was looking down.

  “Six people from the church went. I’m the only one who was captured. Why am I so unlucky?”

  While he was blaming himself, a few communications were picked up by the spaceship. They were from Sagman, Taylor, and Mercer, who had also taken part in the attack on Hila. Their remote projections appeared in front of him.

  “Hehe, are you alright?” Sagman said with a smile.

  “Not at all.” Tolaen was miserable.

  “Don’t have to be so pessimistic. We were locked up by Black Star once too, and we’ve all got over it.” Taylor smiled and comforted him.

  “… You guys are quite generous.”

  “After you come back, let’s find a time and place to meet up,” Mercer said.

  Tolaen looked at the three smiling faces in front of him, and it suddenly occurred to him.

  That’s it. We’ve all been to the prison, so we have common topics. Could this be what inmates feel like?

  He had not joined the church long ago. Before that, he was a wanted man, so he could not squeeze into the Beyond Grade A circle of the church. He was like an outsider.

  To his absolute surprise, after being locked up by Black Star this time, he obtained acceptance from a group of ‘former inmates’.

  Tolaen’s mood suddenly became better.

  I’ve finally made some friends…

  Chapter 1088. Holy Accord's Pain |

  After releasing the two captives, Han Xiao did not leave Planet Black Gate immediately but instead summoned the person in charge of the planet and inspected the railway construction progress. He shared some experience and gave some guidance on the construction.

  On the way back, Han Xiao also inspected the operations of the stargate toll booth.

  The stargate commute network in the Black Star Army territory extended from the Garu Star Cluster all the way to the free competition zone, quick and convenient. It was currently one of the exceedingly few complete transport routes in the Flickering World. There were a large number of people using it every day.

  Of course, any outsiders who wanted to us
e this route had to pay a fee. Han Xiao fully utilized the Chinese talent buried deep in his soul of ‘build a road if you want to be rich’. He had set up toll booths at every stargate.

  With a natural money maker like this, within a year of the Flickering World’s opening, the army had already earned back the cost of building the stargates. This outrageous profit margin proved a fact—buying land was much more profitable than operating businesses.

  After returning to Black Star Palace, the first part of the bail from the federation and the church came. The federation paid the most. All of the three gold blueprints came from them, and this was the first gold blueprint.

  “Mechanical Deity exclusive weapon, Universal Treasure grade mechanical item, Celestial Punishment Edge.”

  Inside the office, Han Xiao chewed on the lava-flavor condensed nutrition bar while reading through the blueprint data from the Federation of Light.

  The blueprints the federation agreed to give him were mostly weapons. This was what Han Xiao selected.

  According to the information provided by the Federation of Light, this was an idea from the Saint Tyracles, those admirers of the Mechanical Deity. The federation inherited their knowledge and improved on it, fusing some of their special technology into it, and finally turned this incomplete idea into a blueprint.

  On the blueprint was the complete design diagram of this weapon. It had some similarities to the Emperor’s Cape. Its appearance was a long mechanical sword with complex interiors, equipped with powerful close-range combat technology. It could also turn into a giant cannon mode and release various long-range attacks. As its name suggested, it was built to destroy celestial bodies.

  Like the Emperor’s Cape, the Celestial Punishment Edge was also a mega machine, which the Armed Branch excelled in. Although Han Xiao was not, he would still be able to build it with the needed knowledge.

  Why did these Saint Tyracles love to design close range combat weapons so much? Did all the true Mechanics have a hidden Pugilist desire inside them waiting to break free?

  Complaining was one thing, but he would still undoubtedly have to build it. Han Xiao told Phillip to add the materials for the Celestial Punishment Edge to the next bulk purchase list.

  After handling this matter, Han Xiao checked his inbox.

  He had received replies from those neutral Beyond Grade A members of the association who were hired by Super Star Cluster Civilizations that he had messaged not too long ago. Most people were worried they might become the target of Dark Lord; only a few were not concerned.

  “If there’s a demand, there’ll be a solution.”

  Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. He chatted with those Beyond Grade As separately for a while, including ‘Leader of Colossuses’ Garoze, whom he had once intimidated into retreating.

  These people understood what he meant instantly after he gave a subtle hint, and they clearly expressed that they were willing to support Black Star as much as they could in the development union in the future.

  Most of these Beyond Grade As did not become allies of the three Universal Civilizations because they did not want to be controlled. However, this would not happen in the development union. They were just normal members of the association, so they had limited control over it. Therefore, they needed an upper echelon with power who could represent their interests and give them better privileges. This was a win-win deal.

  Including Garoze, these Beyond Grade As agreed to bring up this matter in the next plenary meeting, and Han Xiao promised to operate around it to eliminate the threat they were facing.

  After bringing those people to his side, Han Xiao contacted the dynasty, planning to first notify them.

  He expressed his intention, and after waiting for a while, the secretary connected his communication request to Urranrell.

  As the scene around him changed, Han Xiao’s remote projection appeared in the Dynasty Ruler’s office. Before him was Urranrell, who was sitting behind her desk.

  “Your Excellency Urranrell.” Han Xiao nodded respectfully as a greeting.

  “Black Star.” Urranrell greeted back, stared into Han Xiao’s eyes, and cut to the chase. “You want me to call Clotti back?”

  “Yes. The purpose of the development union is to eliminate physical conflict between Beyond Grade As. Clotti is now an Honorable Director, so if he attacks the members, it will go against the association’s purpose…”

  With an expressionless face, Urranrell said, “On what grounds are you making this suggestion to me today? As an ally of the dynasty or as the vice president of the development union?”

  “Both,” Han Xiao replied.

  “Black Star, in the past few decades, how have you felt about the way the dynasty has been treating you?”

  “Win-win.” Han Xiao smiled.

  Urranrell paused and slowly said, “I must remind you, the Evolutionary Totem business and the territory in the Flickering World, these are all benefits only our allies can enjoy. The dynasty regards you very highly. I’m sure you’re aware of that.”

  Some things could not be said directly. The dynasty did not oppose Black Star becoming the vice president of the development union, but they did not want to see Black Star lean toward it too much. They hoped that between the positions of a dynasty ally and the vice president of the development union, Han Xiao would lean toward the former.

  The Mechanic Emperor was an example they could learn from. He had made too many contributions and received too much credit. The federation had no choice but to keep rewarding him and supporting him. This had led to the Mechanic Emperor slowly getting out of control. The dynasty did not want to create another Mechanic Emperor.

  As if he did not hear Urranrell’s words between the lines, Han Xiao continued what he was saying. “Clotti has captured Traveler and another Beyond Grade A, reigniting others’ fear of him. The mission is actually already complete. If he continues to attack others, it might be too much. Furthermore, when I was in the secondary dimensions, I helped him, or things would have turned out differently.”

  “Hmm… that makes sense too.” Urranrell thought about his words.

  Seeing this, Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled, and he said, “Clotti should have reported the results of Traveler’s interrogation, so you must know that Sorokin played a part in this too. Does the dynasty plan to put him on the list of targets?”

  “The authenticity of his testimony has yet to be investigated. Sorokin’s motive is still unknown. It’s not suitable for Clotti to act.” Urranrell waved her hand. “If there’s enough evidence, the dynasty will deal with him.”

  Hearing this, Han Xiao secretly gloated.

  Sorokin had always been swinging between the three Universal Civilizations, and now Traveler’s testimony might cause a huge problem to the position he had maintained for a very long time.

  He wondered if the dynasty would use forceful means like when they dealt with Traveler. If that was the case, the true strength Sorokin had been hiding would probably be exposed.

  The two of them chatted for a while. Urranrell did not give a direct response, only saying that she would consider the proposal of stopping Dark Lord’s mission. Han Xiao knew where to draw the line and bade farewell on good terms.

  …

  A few days later, in the Beyond Grade A Association’s headquarters on Planet Finn, remote projections of close to a hundred Beyond Grade As gathered to attend the routine plenary meeting in the round table conference room.

  Currently, the development union was uniting resources, so the focus of the discussion was the partnership plans between the various Beyond Grade As.

  The atmosphere was heated. Everyone there was a leader in their own field. They could make big decisions on the spot, so the process was quite smooth. Everyone made their own proposals and collaborated with other members who possessed the resources they wanted. Slowly, everyone’s businesses started to connect, forming an enormous profit network. To normal Beyond Grade As, this was an excellent opportunity to pa
rtner up with other large Beyond Grade A organizations and achieve mutually-beneficial agreements. With just a recommendation from others, they would receive huge profits.

  After the day-to-day affairs were settled, Manison changed the topic.

  “In the next meeting, the development union is going to welcome two new members, Tolaen and Hades. Due to some personal reasons, they missed the timing when the association was created. They have now gone through the necessary procedures, and they’ll be attending the next meeting.”

  The people could not help but look at Han Xiao, who was sitting in the vice president seat. Everyone knew about the ‘personal reasons’, so the atmosphere in the room was quite funny.

  After that, Manison looked around and slowly said, “If there’s nothing else, that shall be all for this meet…”

  This time, Garoze raised his hand and said, “I have a question I’d like to ask Honorable Director Clotti.”

  Everyone looked over. Clotti, who had been keeping silent, opened his eyes and glanced at him.

  “I’d like to confirm one thing. We’re all members of the association now, and we’re to obey the rules and regulations. Therefore, Your Excellency Clotti, you can’t attack any members, right?”

  “I only listen to the dynasty’s orders,” Clotti said with an expressionless face, not caring at all.

  The atmosphere immediately became tense. The direct members of the three Universal Civilizations, who were originally resting with their eyes closed, looked interested too.

  With courage, Garoze said in a deep voice, “I hope the association will take care of this and ensure our safety. I wouldn’t want His Excellency Dark Lord to suddenly have a wild idea one day and blame me and attack me for a crime I’ve never committed.”

  As soon as he said that, many neutral Beyond Grade As expressed that they agreed with him. It was clear this was planned.

  “Hmm…” Manison narrowed his eyes.

  The association’s position was rather strange. Although these three Universal Civilizations’ direct members had joined the association, it was obvious they would not listen to the association, and this proposal had brought this problem to the table.