The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385
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Bun-hit-dog showcased his mission list, and a new mission appeared within, [Black Phantom Sanctuary Three]!
“What’s this?”
“There’s Black Phantom in the mission name…”
“What’s a sanctuary?”
“It is very similar to the name of this place.”
Bun-hit-dog explained the inside information with excitement. Dark Net was building shelters, and Black Phantom had brought a group of thousand people to Graymetal Ruins to build a city. This information had been gained from Han Xiao himself.
There were not any prior requirements this time; the mission could be triggered easily.
After the mission introduction ended, the comments section was filled with shock once more.
“It’s the construction of a city. My god, that’s such a large main storyline! Almost as huge as the expedition war.”
“This should be part of the Planet Aquamarine main storyline, too!”
Wild Boy paused the video. He read the mission requirements carefully again and again then swallowed his saliva before playing the video.
Without even having time to think about what the sanctuary actually was, he saw in the video that Han Xiao was yelling at the people below him.
“The overcast of war obscured the blue skies like the wings of death, and the scars of the previous war have been torn apart before they could even heal. Only a few decades have passed, but no one has forgotten the pain that the war cast upon the land. Up till today, it is still affecting the ground under us and the skies above us. Radiation, specks of dust, wasteland, and dead nations!
“How ridiculous! After the old era, our civilian technology regressed, but the military technology that is used against our own kind has been advancing continuously. They fight for their ideals and the nations’ benefits; they used iron and fire to spread death!
“For these empty and false reasons, they slaughtered those of their own kind who had no power to defend themselves! Countless people have been killed in the fires of war! The world became wounded and broken because of them, and it is on its way to the end. The ending of the world might quietly be upon us one day. The construction of the shelters is for preserving our civilization. Even if the world ends tomorrow, I still want to save the last bit of tinder for the civilization!
“I don’t possess greatness, but too many are small.
“If no one wants to pay the price, okay, I will be the first!
“But I know, I won’t be the last!”
Han Xiao’s tone was filled with cadence. Wild Boy felt short of breath. Although he was watching a video, he could feel his blood turning hot in his heart—that raw emotion was extremely infectious!
Wild Boy was not the only one who was shocked by this. The comment ‘I don’t possess greatness, but too many are small’ passed by the screen with three exclamation marks behind. It looked very impactful.
“Didn’t Know You Are This Kind of Black Phantom!” Many comments similar to this also flew on the screen. In the players’ mind, Black Phantom was quiet and did not speak much, but this speech that he had given had turned this impression completely upside down. Many players felt more familiar with Han Xiao—they had not expected Black Phantom’s ideals to be this great.
Wild Boy was very excited after he finished watching.
This time, he saw Jade Green Sky announcing a message in the guild channel.
“Attention everyone, the guild will be collecting Graymetal Ruins’ location and information. The intelligence provider will be rewarded.”
…
One day earlier…
Han Xiao gathered the group of a thousand people who followed him to build the city and gave out the speech in the video. Bennett just wanted him to say something casually at the time, but he did not expect him to say this much. Bennett was as shocked as the players.
The workers around stopped what they were doing and gathered. The number of people became more and more. They all looked up at Han Xiao, who was standing on the tall platform.
Seeing the crowd turning excited, Han Xiao knew that it was extremely effective. This paragraph had been copied from Bennett’s speech in the future, and its intention was exactly to shock everyone. Back then, Bennett’s position in the hearts of the players had been decided because of his noble ideals. Now that Han Xiao had said it first, no matter what happened in the future, the players would be reminded of him when they brought up Bennett, which would make stronger impacts in the impression the players had of him, making himself more valuable.
He knew that players liked to see such things. A character with noble ideals was usually very popular, and Bennett did not need to care about the players’ impression of him, so Han Xiao grabbed the opportunity.
At the same time, Bennett would be touched as well. Doing this had many benefits.
Players all love the story that a character has as it shows unique sparkling points of their personality. Han Xiao nodded discreetly. He wanted the players to seek him out after the impression that he had created, and whether or not those were his real thoughts, no one would know if he did not say.
Han Xiao turned around and saw Bennett’s expression. It was filled impassioned; these words had really expressed his mind.
Of course they would since they originated from him.
Bennett was very touched. Han Xiao had voiced the deepest thoughts in his mind. He realized that he was beginning to like Han Xiao more and more.
It was like rain and poured on the desert in his heart, Bennett realized that he was not alone anymore; he had found someone that was walking down the same path as him.
It’s all for the continuation of the civilization—he understands me. Bennett gave Han Xiao a pleased look.
Speech is a very scary ability; it can encourage the hearts of the people.
Originally, many workers there went for the money, but now, they felt like their hearts were filled with something more, and they became much more motivated.
The directors were shocked as well. They did not think that the Black Phantom, who had killed countless people, had such ideals. Despite their own motives, they were immediately impressed.
…
The next day, the construction team of Sanctuary Three gathered. The enormous convoy crossed the desolate wilderness and disappeared over the horizon, leaving only dust behind.
The convey was equipped with a scouting helicopter that was flying at a low height. It was the ride for important personnel so that they could escape in the face of danger. However, Han Xiao decided to take the car. Huang Yu, on the other hand, took the helicopter without hesitation. He was not going to be sucking up to Han Xiao.
Han Xiao sat in the back seat. He felt the vibration of the off-road truck and browsed the information of the team.
A notification popped up on the interface at this time.
_____________________
Current Target: Protect the convoy until it arrives at Graymetal Ruins.
Current Population: 1,034
Upon arrival at the destination, 250,000 experience will be rewarded if the damage is below 20%. Mission grading will also be increased.
Current grading: E
_____________________
A sudden notification of the mission goal. This is a characteristic of long-term missions. Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. Suddenly, he realized that he has been moving his eyebrows too much recently. That was not good; he needed to be more serious.
[Sanctuary Three]’s mission grading changed in real time, and the grading could be seen to increase when a requirement was met. The mission had just started, and nothing had been done yet. Thus, it was at the lowest grade, E.
700 people in the team were workers and technicians. The rest of the 300 were soldiers and guards. Divided into teams of 20, the guards stationed around the exterior of the convoy.
Military power is not enough. I have to strengthen the team.
The power of one person was limited. However, he was a M
echanic with a lot of assets.
Chapter 219 - The Brutal Force of Mechanic!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It required four to five days to travel from Sanctuary One to Graymetal Ruins across the wilderness, so the convoy could only camp in the wild.
At around dusk of the first day after departure, at Han Xiao’s orders, the convoy found a safe terrain in the wild and settled down. It was dangerous to travel after the sun set, and many beasts were active during the night.
The soldiers of Dark Net patrolled the surrounding areas in shifts. Han Xiao gathered the important people in the team for a meeting—Assistant Huang Yu, Head of Construction Coney Fury, and Guard Captain Liu Zhao.
The blueprints of the Graymetal Ruins Modification Plan were laid out on the table, and Coney Fury was speaking.
“The initial modifications of the entire city were estimated to be completed in three months, including weeding, getting rid of the beasts, cleaning of ruins, then completing the basic layout of the shelter, planting of the electricity network and water pipes, etc. But this is a plan based on 30,000 workers. We only have 1,000 in the first month. There’s nothing we can do, not even cleaning the ruins.” Coney Fury sighed.
Han Xiao nodded without giving approval or denial. He looked at Huang Yu and asked, “Do you have any suggestions?”
Huang Yu said perfunctorily, “No.”
Noticing the careless attitude of Huang Yu, Han Xiao roughly guessed what he was thinking. But Han Xiao didn’t care about it; it was not like he needed an assistant. He turned his head and said, “Manpower is not a problem—I plan to complete the blueprint construction within a month.”
Coney Fury was stunned. “That will need at least 100,000 workers. Even Sanctuary One doesn’t have that many workers.”
“I have my ways.” Han Xiao did not explain his plan in further detail.
Huang Yu stood by and watched. The amount of money needed to hire 100,000 workers was extremely large, and even with so much money, it was not certain they could hire that many workers. He did not understand where Han Xiao got his confidence from.
Liu Zhao suddenly pressed his headphones and said hastily, “Mr. Black Phantom, an airplane is closing in!”
“Let’s go out and take a look.”
Walking out of the camp, the guards looked at the sky on alert. In the dark night sky, a large airplane flashing signal lights was heading toward them—whether it was friend or foe was unknown.
“It’s ok.” Han Xiao smiled. “That’s the airdrop I called.”
The plane flew past above their heads and dropped a few huge resources boxes that were tied together. The parachute opened, and it landed not far from the camp. The symbol on the boxes belonged to the Fabian Company.
Han Xiao made use of his relationship network and had Fabian’s plane airdrop him a large number of mechanical parts. It definitely was not free, but Han Xiao had a lot of money. Such a small spend meant nothing to him.
Everyone was relieved upon hearing that it was a false alarm.
Huang Yu was secretly surprised. To be able to call an airdrop from the renowned munitions company Fabian, Han Xiao’s relationship network was broader than he thought.
These parts were worth millions of dollars. Han Xiao ordered people to load them onto the resources vehicles and started to build a large amount of machinery. He was very rich now, so he could build all sorts of combat machinery, and they could be used to protect the team as well.
The most famous combat style of Mechanics was the sea of machinery.
Han Xiao stayed in the car and worked for the next two days of the journey.
…
The convoy had arrived at the desert. The sun shone brightly in the sky, and the high temperature had turned the sand as hot as burning steel. Even light was distorted around the air not far from the ground.
The convoyed stopped under a Barbera tree. This type of tree was unique to the desert of Planet Aquamarine. It was also called ‘umbrella of life’. Its shade was like an island that insulated the heat, and its juices were plenty and sweet, which could be used to quench thirst immediately.
The people were very thirsty. The soldiers patrolled around, and everyone was covered in sweat.
Boom!
The desert far away suddenly turned into waves. A huge number of enormous beetles crawled out of the ground. Each of them over half a meter long, they had brown and shiny shells, six feet, and two claws. They moved toward the Barbera tree like a wave.
“Beast attack!”
The alarm was activated. Three hundred soldiers immediately stood in position holding their guns. When they noticed that the sea of beetles had surrounded them from every direction and there was nowhere to escape, their faces became horrified, and their hands started trembling.
The Desert Blood Shell Crab was a strong predator in the deserts that destroyed every life form wherever they passed by, and there were at least 10,000 of them here.
“Into the cars and drive open a path!” Huang Yu yelled hastily. He then rushed up the helicopter and hurried the pilot to take off immediately.
No one had the thought of fighting when they faced this many bugs. When they heard Huang Yu’s order and were just about to enter the cars to escape, Han Xiao walked out of the car and said, “Don’t panic. Everyone stand in position. Get ready to face the enemy.”
“The number of bugs is too huge,” Captain Liu Zhao said hastily. “Our defense can’t cover all directions. We will most likely suffer a huge loss if we fight.”
“Black Phantom, come to the helicopter quickly,” Huang Yu shouted.
Han Xiao waved his hands.
Huang Yu cursed in his head. Seeing that the sea of bugs was coming even closer, he told the pilot to take off immediately without caring about Han Xiao. The pilot was afraid as well; therefore, he followed the order and piloted the helicopter off the ground.
The troops on the ground did not dare disobey Han Xiao’s order. They stood their ground and watched nervously as the swarm of bugs rapidly approached.
At this moment, Han Xiao took out his laptop and pressed a few buttons.
Hum!
Twelve Combat Rangers drove out of the logistics vehicles as fast as normal cars. Everyone’s face was filled with shock as they looked at these rover robots rapidly spreading out into all directions like guards of iron. The cold metallic color reflected the light shining through the leaves like pieces of golden scales.
These rovers were the newest and improved generation 2.5. Han Xiao had leveled up the blueprint many times. The basic attributes of the machinery that he had built was much higher, and its quality was at blue as well.
The Generation 2.5 Rovers were all equipped with an auto fire control system, which improved its firepower and magazine continuation ability. They were around the same height as humans, and their mobility was much higher because of the triangular caterpillar tracks that they were equipped with, which could traverse much tougher terrain.
Han Xiao knew that it would not be peaceful during the journey when the mission notification showed up, so he had called for airdrop and built a lot of machinery over the past two days.
Han Xiao’s building speed had become much quicker, and the rover robot that would have taken him days to complete at LV 20 could now be completed in just tens of minutes.
When the building speed of a Mechanic exceeded a certain limit, they would be able to build on the spot in the battlefield. With enough materials, weapons could be built non-stop. Only high-level Mechanics could have this ability after learning [Instant Assembly]. This was also a very important factor in the rise of Mechanics in version 3.0.
“Unload all the round metal plates in the car and place them in every direction.”
The Dark Net soldiers completely followed whatever he said. They immediately did as they were told and placed the twenty round metal plates on the ground. Han Xiao activated the program, and the plates started to transfor
m. Their base fixed into the ground, and the stacked modules assembled into gun barrels. The entire process only took four to five seconds.
These were Mini Folding Batteries. Han Xiao had also leveled up the blueprints, and they now had smart firepower control.
Seeing the thick, black, and long gun barrels, the soldiers felt safer.
When the swarm reached within 400 meters, the generation 2.5 Rovers and the mini batteries fired simultaneously. With the camp under the Barbera tree as the center, a storm of bullets bloomed toward every direction.
The sound of fire was in sync, and the rain of bullets spread all over the place!
Ta ta ta ta!
In an instant, green-colored gunk exploded within the swarm as steel and fire penetrated the huge beetles one after another. In the face of the killing machines built by mankind, the shells that the Desert Blood Shell Crabs were so proud of were as fragile as egg shells.
A trench had formed 400 meters away from the camp, filled with corpses of the bugs, stopping the swarm from moving closer. Even the desert was damped by their blood. After a round of fire, the swarm became at least a third smaller.
A few Rangers drove out of the camp. They were equipped with Sunworm flamethrowers. The cone of fire covered the swarm, and the sound of bugs being burnt alive soon reverberated in the convoy’s ears. The claws of the Desert Blood Shell Crab could not harm the platinum alloy armor of the Rangers at all.
With the fearsome firepower, it was a one-sided slaughter.
This was the brutal force of a mechanic!
Group combat was the advantage a Mechanic had. Esper and Pugilist might be very strong fighters, but their physical strength had its limits.
However, money was the limitation for a Mechanic. That machinery had cost millions of dollars, and even a max level player in version 1.0 could barely afford it. The ammunition cost was also extremely expensive as thousands of steel core armor piercing bullets were used every second.