The room was pitch black without any sound. After the eyes had adjusted to the darkness, they could see that they were in a large storage room. Tons of boxes and containers were lined up, and there was another exit at the corner of the storage room that was covered in dust.
“They don’t have anything important in this warehouse, so there shouldn’t be a lot of security here. Toward the south is the secured part of the headquarters. As long as we can get out of the secured zone, then we will be safe.”
Han Xiao remained silent.
Cyberlos had once said that the leader encircled him using large amount of manpower, and they set up countless of troops scattered in a radius of a few hundred miles. Even though he had escaped the headquarters, he still did not escape the encirclement. If what Cyberlos had said was true, then there was still a long way before Han Xiao could get to safety.
Gripping his equipment bag, Han Xiao thought, My identity will be revealed sooner or later. I might as well just do it right here.
Suddenly, the interface popped up with a message.
_____________________
Your landmine successfully killed the soldiers of Germinal Organization. You gain 1 experience.
_____________________
“The landmines in the tunnel just exploded, it won’t be long before the Germinal Organization catch up,” Han Xiao said.
Hila’s face briefly let slip a stunned expression. “We need to pick up our pace.”
It was night, and the sky was dark. They woke Aurora up and put her into the bag. Then the two of them quickly left the warehouse, sneaked under the patrol of the soldiers, and head toward the exit.
A number of troops started to show up and settle down in the area around the headquarters. The security level was also increased by a few levels.
A few hours ago, Han Xiao and Hila had disappeared in the headquarters. The leader called for the highest level of order to employ all the standby troop to catch Han Xiao. He knew that Han Xiao must still be in the headquarters’ surroundings, so he reinforced the security at the borders and would not let anyone pass.
The ambushing troops on the outside was a few hundred times more than the number of troops in the headquarters. In the beginning, the leader used all the resources that he had to set up the encirclement of troops that lasted for a few hundred miles. All the preparation was for any possible accident, and the day’s events proved that he had been right to be so cautious.
The leader of southern troops quickly changed from a normal leader to executive officer Kedor who was LV 55. To target the powerful growth that Han Xiao had, the leader also employed the veterans and executive officers. There were more than ten executive officers, a dozen super soldiers, a few hundred Inhumans, and a few thousands common soldiers that followed after Kedor.
In the chaotic battlefront, Kedor was receiving orders from the leader.
“The headquarters have already found the location of the target and have started a blanket search operation. There is a high chance that the target is heading toward you. You are authorized to fire at any suspicious object in the battlefield, and you are authorized to kill on sight. Do not let him get away!”
“If he dares to come toward me, he will die,” Kedor replied. “How about Hila and her sister?”
“They betrayed the organization; if they resist, kill them all.”
The leader’s voice was deep. Zero was the number one enemy—even sacrificing Aurora would be worth it.
Chapter 246 - I Am Black Phantom!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Dark clouds covered the sky, and the moon and the stars were nowhere to be seen.
The ground base was brightly lit, and columns of light tore through the surrounding darkness. The guards were searching everywhere for something, and armored vehicles rolled past one after another with their loud engines blaring through the still night. Helicopters lit up their searchlights and were searching as well, causing circles of light to cut through swaths of empty ground.
The large-scale search gave Han Xiao and Hila quite the headache. Thankfully, Hila was well acquainted with the local terrain, and they were able to avoid all the pursuing soldiers. Eventually, they hid themselves in the shadow of a metal building situated at the edge of the base as they observed the distant Germinal army formations toward the south.
The troops toward the south and the base were separated by an inclined area. Based on the duo’s observation, heading straight out would just make them easy targets for the search parties. At this moment, there seemed to be some commotion toward the south, as countless lights were suddenly turned on. It was as if a miniature sun had appeared in the dark scenery.
“This is bad. They have drastically increased the personnel on the ground, and it’s impossible to pass without drawing their attention. Once we’re found, they will kill us all,” Hila said with a heavy voice.
The organization’s forces seemed to be endless. Although they were being defeated at every turn by the Six Nations’ combined army, it was still a force to be reckoned with. On the other hand, they were but two people, and trying to force their way out would be possible. They should consider some other ways to stealthily sneak away.
Han Xiao gave the massive number of troops a few glances before speaking calmly. “Tanks, artilleries… Heh. They’re basically prepared to fight a war. It’s quite a feat they have pulled just to deal with us.”
“More like to deal with you. We’re just addons.” Hila was expressionless, and she asked, “Do you not have any reinforcements?”
She felt like Han Xiao definitely had some help when infiltrating the Germinal headquarters. Since that was the case, he must have arranged the extraction.
Yet Han Xiao shook his head immediately, making her feel like her heart just dropped.
“No help…” Hila could not hold it in and asked, “Then what’s your plan now? Germinal won’t stop looking for us. Even if we somehow break out of this encirclement, there will still be countless pursuers after us.”
“I’ll just see.” Han Xiao did not really care about it and went back to preparing his equipment.
Hila frowned. If help was not coming, then what was the point of following Han Xiao?
The one Germinal wanted was him, and her sister would be safer if they were to split up. She thought that since she had already helped him leave the headquarters, she had already returned the favor. So, it would not be immoral to suggest to split up.
For Aurora, Hila was willing to do anything.
Let’s just try to get out of here first…
Hila calmed herself down, stopped paying attention to what Han Xiao was doing, and just focused on observing the troops ahead.
…
At the same time, toward the south, the large searchlights all shone on the inclined ground, and nothing could have escaped their observations. There were heavy turrets set up every fifty meters, ready to send out a wave of metal bullets on command.
Different scenes of the encirclement were all sent back to the control room back in headquarters so that the leader could control the situation in real time.
Among the troops stationed toward the south were the group of players who had been recruited by Germinal and formed into their own Inhuman squad. They were grouped up in their own camp, ready for orders. The mission to intercept Zero had not failed, and the players were astounded when they saw the large formations of Germinal troops deployed to catch Zero.
“We won’t be able to help much. Isn’t this basically just a free mission?”
“You’re right. Maybe this is sort of like a cutscene, where we can only watch,” said Electrolux, who had also been recently recruited. Foreign players were not uncommon on Planet Aquamarine, and none thought his presence was odd. No one knew that he was actually a European spy.
“Hey. Do any of you know anything about Zero’s origins?”
A player with the ID White Hunt said, “I do.”
The mo
ment he spoke, the crowd was interested and started to throw in more questions.
White Hunt, a top player from Temple of God, had obtained information from the Guild of Gods, which was why he came to Germinal to trigger the Intercept Zero mission. As he described the process of how Zero single handedly manipulated events to hinder Germinal’s activities on the planet, the other players could not help but be shocked.
“Sounds like an amazing person.”
“Doesn’t he sound like a character from the main storyline? He escaped from the original Germinal base by himself and has now sent the organization to the brink of collapse. He must at least be a Legend on this planet to be able to manipulate massive wars like this!”
“Maybe he’s Planet Aquamarine’s protagonist… Oh no! My reputation with him is -30,” someone screamed in distress.
White hunt laughed at that. “Although he may be a character in the main storyline, he shouldn’t be someone we will have to interact with in the future, or else we wouldn’t have lost so many reputation points just from being his enemy.”
The crowd nodded at that. Strong but unimportant NPCs were not unheard of in the game. Since they would not be interacting, having reputation points with him would not do much for them.
…
After some observation, Hila finally said, “This path is too dangerous. Let’s try another place.”
She heard noises behind her as she said that. Han Xiao seemed to be preparing some sort of equipment while he explained, “The search parties have already narrowed down all the possible escape routes. The longer we wait, the more dangerous it is, and it’s the same everywhere.
“Then do you have an idea?”
“We rush them.”
Frowning, Hila answered without looking back at him, “The enemies are too many; even if we take out several hundred, we will still eventually fall to their human wave tactic. Only death awaits us if we charge in like that. Let’s look for an opening.”
However, Han Xiao seemed to have already made up his mind and said confidently, “Make sure you keep up.”
Hila was going to question where that confidence came from when she heard some sort of machinery activating behind her. She turned around and was shocked by what she saw. Han Xiao’s appearance was completely different. She was now looking at a streamlined suit of jet-black mechanical armor with faint blue lights glowing through the gaps of the suit. This breathtaking scene brought about an abrupt realization.
This figure, this suit, there was no doubt… It was way too famous. The whole Germinal, no, the whole world knew him.
“Black Phantom!”
Hila could no longer hold her calm and had a look of disbelief on her face.
At that moment, she realized what had happened. No wonder how Han Xiao could infiltrate the Germinal headquarters alone without any sort of backup. He was someone who stood at the top. A one-man army!
So, this is the truth!
Thinking back on the news that she had read about Black Phantom, Han Xiao’s life these past few years was far from that of a runaway fugitive. He was always right in front of everyone, including Germinal, showing off his powers and making a legend of himself, one step at a time.
Hila had witnessed Han Xiao at his weakest, and she never thought that he would one day stand at the top and far surpass her.
“You, you…” Hila was lost for words.
Han Xiao gently patted the still shocked Hila and made large strides toward the troops in the south as he exuded a sort of confidence exclusive to the powerful.
The built-in tactical screen in his helmet gave him a quick analysis of the battlefield as he strode down the slope toward the enemy without a care. As he approached, dozens of powerful lights instantly shone onto him, making his figure as detailed as possible to the onlookers.
When everyone saw this figure, they took a while to react.
“Why is Black Phantom here?” Kedor was confused.
Once they looked past Han Xiao, they finally saw Hila.
This was when shock, realization, and fear suddenly went through the minds of all present.
“Zero… is Black Phantom!”
When the truth finally revealed itself, everyone was stunned and could not do anything but stare.
Kedor, the field commander, had also lost his wits and forgot to order his men to attack.
All the executives on the field suddenly felt a gust of cold air blow up their spines and into their minds. All those who had opposed Black Phantom had ended up as corpses.
This name instilled fear in all those who heard it.
Han Xiao crouched lightly, brought his arms behind him, and got into a pre-jump position as the booster on his back let out bright red lights. The sound of a spinning turbine got more and more intense, and the faint blue light that filled the lining along his suit sent energy all over his body. The mechanic muscles grew in size as the suit entered the Strengthened state.
Boosters appeared on his waist, behind his arms, legs, and between the gaps in the suit. These boosters released an invisible force and bended the air behind Han Xiao. Back in the shelter, Han Xiao had made countless modifications to Viper and added a number of modules. It was now much stronger than before.
This was the advantage of being a mechanic. Even as other classes started to face bottlenecks, he could always continue to upgrade his equipment and steadily increase his strength.
“Attack! Attack, now!” Kedor finally reacted and roared his commands. His men were startled into action and started to lock the machine guns onto Han Xiao.
Yet, right before they could open fire, a huge boom sounded as Han Xiao exploded off the ground and sent dirt flying everywhere like an artillery shell had hit where he was standing.
Han Xiao launched away and flew right into the enemy formation. One after another, the Germinal soldiers were sent into the air.
At that moment, chaos fell upon the battlefield!
Chapter 247 - The Real Deal
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Han Xiao tore through the enemy formations like a hot knife through butter. There was a constant stream of clinking noises as the bullets that were shot at him got reflected by his high-level armor.
He kicked away a Germinal soldier, stole his machine gun, and opened fire at the others around him as the gun was surrounded by a faint blue light that greatly boosted its power and rate of fire. The barrage of shots was also triggering the effects of Lethal Shot one after another. Kill confirmation messages flooded through his interface as the Germinal soldiers fell in swaths.
The nearby troops quickly filled in the gaps and tried to surround Han Xiao. A dozen or so grenade-launchers were fired and drew parabolas across the battlefield toward Han Xiao.
Yet, before the shots even reached him, Han Xiao stepped to the side, leaped into the air, and took off with the reaction force from the blasts.
Boom!
All kinds of tanks and artilleries fired at Han Xiao, and explosions roared through the night as the smell of gunpowder permeated the battlefield. It was as if a small-scale war was being waged against Germinal, but Han Xiao was their only opponent.
Viper’s upgrades along with his skills and talents made Han Xiao unstoppable as he ran straight through explosions. Not even the heavily armored vehicles were spared from his rampage. A few unlucky tanks got flattened to the ground after being run over by Han Xiao. It was a complete massacre, and soon, the Germinal forces were breaking apart.
Whoosh!
Two attack helicopters rushed to the scene and immediately opened fire on Han Xiao, and a stream of high caliber bullets trailed after him. Han Xiao’s eye flashed, and in a split second, he calculated the helicopter’s speed and flight path with his helmet interface, retrieved the Ghost sniper rifle from his back, and took a shot. It was as if he did not even have to aim.
The electromagnetic projectile zoomed past the battlefield before it went clean through the helicopter and flew off in
to the night sky.
The pilot was killed instantly, and the helicopter spiraled out of control and crashed into the hillside below and tumbled down the hill with the centripetal force from the rotors. It kept on rolling until it eventually destroyed the fence in its way and tore through dozens of Germinal soldiers before crashing into and collapsing a defensive structure, causing dust to fill the air. The helicopter had cleared a bloody path through the swarms of soldiers.
One of the rotor blades broke off and flew through the air and landed right in front of a group of stunned players. They were already flabbergasted since the moment it was revealed the Han Xiao was Black Phantom.
The source of all these legendary achievements was the same person, so he was basically the main protagonist on their planet!
The players were all very familiar with Black Phantom since they heard about him pretty much every day. Now that the mystery of his identity had been revealed, the players were extremely excited, as if they had just discovered a new continent.
The quick ones immediately turned on the camera function and started streaming the event to the world.
“Wait a second, if he’s Black Phantom…”
Some players finally realized the gravity of the situation and turned their attention to their reputation points on their interface. Instantly, they felt like a gust of north had just blew past them, freezing their excitement.
This can’t be real! A -30 reputation with Black Phantom? How long will it take to even reset it back to zero?
The Germinal players felt like their hearts were crushed.
We haven’t even enjoyed Black Phantom’s benefits, yet we just lost all our hope after waiting for so long!
The players present looked frozen ducks. All color drained from their faces.
Screw you Germinal. Give me back my youth!
When Han Xiao saw this, the corner of his mouth perked up.
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