Apart from repairing the assault ships, Han Xiao had also created a couple of delicate machines that could improve his hacking skills. It strengthened Phillip’s calculation speed, and Risda had also restructured Phillip’s calculation structure, allowing Phillip to be three times more efficient than before.
The machines under Phillip’s control became much more efficient, and it also allowed his hacking skills to go up another level. Phillip was still a distance away from Risda, but strengthening and grooming one’s own AI was a long-term job of a Mechanic Hacker. At the same time, he would be able to receive a great deal of benefits from doing so.
“The final spaceship has been repaired, and it can be used normally.” Han Xiao nodded with satisfaction. Giving out a command, all the repair bots began to pack themselves up.
At this moment, the Black Star Mercenary Group was mainly using spaceships that were rented. These nine assault spaceships would be able to supplement their firepower and belonged completely to him.
After drinking a mouthful of water, Han Xiao took out his communicator and began browsing the mercenary group portal out of habit.
The size of the mercenary group was already a few hundred times larger than before they returned to Planet Aquamarine. After this operation period, there were over a hundred thousand players whom he had hired, and this number was increasing by the day. They were undeniably a super large mercenary group!
While the players were not sufficiently powerful at the moment, the speed at which the players could grow meant that they were all full of potential.
“After entering the universe, I will be able to give them an endless number of missions and resources. At the same time, they will also give me an endless amount of wealth. The sheer number of players will allow my Black Star Mercenary Group to take another step forward, and the name of Floating Dragon’s Field Team will be truly respected!”
Thinking about the strength of a few hundred thousand mercenaries, Han Xiao could not help but look forward toward it.
Because of the Mutation Disaster, his mercenary group needed to remain in Planet Aquamarine temporarily. They were currently accumulating their strength, and their true might would show when they re-entered the universe once the Mutation Disaster was taken care of.
Han Xiao had always paid attention to the actions of DarkStar. He was waiting for DarkStar to carry out the next stage of their plans as that would be the best time for him to hand over the mutation source in his hands.
…
After leaving the military factory, Han Xiao walked toward the conference room. According to the schedule, today was the day for Godora to have a conference with all the upper echelons of the Sanctuary to discuss their disaster relief efforts. Such a meeting would be held once every few days, and he was already used to it.
Coming to the conference room, Bennett, Nagakin, and the others had already arrived long ago. After Han Xiao sat down, a couple of leaders then began the discussion of their disaster relief efforts. Since Han Xiao was not concerned about the topic, he did not interrupt their conversation.
After half an hour, they finally changed the topic, and Nagakin said, “Godora is in a stalemate with DarkStar. The enemy has continued to ambush the calamity planets, and the War Bureau has been sending out reinforcements endlessly. Both the forces are closely matched.”
Upon hearing that, Han Xiao said, “It doesn’t sound good.”
“We do not know how many fleets are under DarkStar’s command, but we have to spread our forces to protect the calamity planets,” Nagakin replied helplessly. “Our forces are truly lacking. This is DarkStar’s scheme to force us to split our forces. While the battle is currently a stalemate, as long as DarkStar is willing to send out the majority of their forces to attack a calamity planet, it will be impossible for us to block them. Thus, the situation isn’t good.”
“Do you guys have a way to deal with that?”
“We do.” Nagakin nodded. “With regards to our forces being spread thinly and the distance being far, the War Bureau decided to set up a Military Orbit Quantum Leap Station. It will be set up in a few days’ time.”
“What is that?” Bennett asked with doubt.
Han Xiao thought for a moment before saying, “You can treat it like a transportation portal for military use.”
The Military Orbit Quantum Leap Station was a strategic weapon during intergalactic battles. Within a certain range, it was able to lock onto the coordinates of two different regions and create a transportation channel between the two locations. It would allow fleets that were far away from each other to quickly reinforce their allies.
This station was like a large space fortress, and the technical requirements of constructing it were extremely high. Only advanced civilizations that knew how to construct a stable stargate would be able to construct it. The Military Orbit Quantum Leap Station of Godora had been purchased from an advanced civilization within the Shattered Star Ring and was extremely precious.
In order to construct a Military Orbit Quantum Leap Station, the transportation coordinates of the various locations had to be anchored down properly, and the Military Orbit Quantum Leap Station needed to be situated in the middle of these coordinates. It was like the middle of a spider web with the web spreading far and wide.
With this facility, Godora would be able to cover up its weakness of having its fleet being scattered across the various calamity planets. These fleets would be able to aid each other, and if any of the planets were attacked, reinforcements would be able to arrive within two to three minutes. As such, the ambushes of DarkStar would no longer be a threat to them.
Since the War Bureau was willing to make use of this strategic weapon, it meant that they did not wish to be on the passive side.
Han Xiao frowned and said, “This is an expensive strategic weapon, and DarkStar will definitely attack the station.”
“The enemy will definitely do so.” Nagakin was not worried.
Since the War Bureau dared use the station, it naturally meant that they would arrange sufficient protection for the station. It could be said that they had even grasped the initiative. Even if the whereabouts of DarkStar could not be traced, they would definitely attack the station. As such, they would be able to grasp the enemy’s actions and make preparations.
A flash could be seen in Han Xiao’s eyes, and he shook his head.
In truth, Godora was not truly anxious yet. While the DarkStar ambushes had resulted in some loss for Godora, the ones who had suffered the most were the calamity planets. Godora’s foundations were not shaken, and the Godorans thought that they were still able to control the situation.
However, he knew that DarkStar would not be so easily dealt with.
With the appearance of the station, DarkStar should be moving on to the next step of their plan.
Just when Nagakin wanted to say something else, a commotion sounded from the outside from afar.
The next moment, the commotion grew larger and larger as it approached them. Like a tsunami, the commotion covered the entire Sanctuary!
Boom!
The ground began to shake, and the windows could be seen trembling slightly from the commotion. Bennett stood up with a face full of doubt.
“What’s happening‽”
Bennett hurriedly turned on the screen in the conference room, and the images of the various locations in the Sanctuary were shown. The Sanctuary that had been in an orderly state was in complete chaos, and the Mutation Disaster had exploded once again. Even those refugees who had been injected with the suppressants began to act up.
The situation on the outside of the Sanctuary was even worse, and even the guards of the Sanctuary began to fall ill.
Without anyone to maintain security, the calm that had been formed through great difficulty collapsed.
Millions of people turned violent, and their voices flooded the Sanctuary like a tsunami!
Squeezing, roaring, fighting…
Apart from a
messy battle, the majority of them were running around crazily, and they tried to escape from the Sanctuary. It was as though the Sanctuary was a frightening location, and they wanted to escape to the outside. Those escaping formed a long trail, and they charged out of the Sanctuary in all directions. There were some who tumbled onto the ground and were instantly swallowed by the endless crowd.
The players were completely dumbfounded. Very quickly, some of them realized that the mission progress of their [Mutation Disaster] mission had fallen rapidly!
“Th—This…”
This sudden chaos stunned even Bennett and Nagakin.
Han Xiao’s gaze turned cold, and he stood up with a solemn expression.
“This is… the second phase!”
Chapter 545 - Sensory Organs
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The first phase of the Mutation Disaster was an irregular outburst across the entire planet. It signified the first time the Mutation Source controlled its strength. The first symptom of the second phase was all the infected individuals acting up together. Compared to the first phase, the Mutation Source would not be limited by controlling ordinary individuals. Certain elite soldiers and weaker Supers could also become targets of its control. The most obvious change would be the fact that the infected individuals no longer acted randomly but acted as though they had a goal.
The objective behavior of the infected individuals was the first sign of the Mutation Source gaining intelligence. Compared to the chaos in the first phase, the escape of all the refugees was due to the control of the Mutation Source.
“For the Mutation Source to command all of these refugees to escape, it probably doesn’t want these infected individuals to gather together. Furthermore, it may have detected that someone has been trying to help these infected individuals escape from its grasp. Thus, it wants to get the infected individuals far away from this place. To the Mutation Source, every single one of these infected individuals are a ‘sensory organ’,” Han Xiao said with a frown. In his previous life, something similar had also happened. While there was no official explanation given, the various players had come up with their deductions and conclusions. Thus, he was able to guess the thoughts of the Mutation Source.
The only problem was, the second phase had broken out much earlier than in his previous life.
It may be due to a random chance, or it may also be because of the butterfly effect, Han Xiao thought to himself. Because of his actions, there were plenty of events that had developed extremely differently from his previous life. This was not the first time that he had met such a situation, and Han Xiao quickly regained his cool after a short moment of shock.
While it was outside his expectations, he did not become completely flustered.
Walking out of the conference room, the commotion on the outside became larger and larger. Han Xiao immediately sent out all of the mercenaries and the players under him. The first thing that he had to do now was control all of the infected individuals. With the Mutation Disaster in the second phase, the strength of the Mutation Source would be stronger, and the original suppressant that they gave to these infected individuals now required three times the dosage. They naturally did not have enough medicine on hand, and the only thing they could do was forcefully subdue the infected refugees.
The Sanctuary and Godora became busy, and the players all received a new mission. Seeing the mission progress of the Main Storyline falling, none of them dared delay and hurriedly got to work.
In comparison to the tens of millions of refugees in the Sanctuary, the number of available manpower was not high. Together with the players, there were only a million or so. However, since all the players were Supers, it was not too difficult for them to subdue ten ordinary individuals at once.
The refugees nearest the outside began escaping in all directions like an expanding circle. The spaceships on standby all took off immediately and flew toward the outermost rim of the circle while firing white colored doughnut-shaped vibration waves.
Ohm!
The white colored rings swept past the crowd, and the refugees all collapsed onto the ground, jolted unconscious.
Since he had known that there would be this explosive phase during the Mutation Disaster, Han Xiao had already arranged the corresponding measures to deal with it. He had equipped all the spaceships with large-scale Vibration Cannons. While the effect of these Vibration Cannons was extremely weak and could not daze a rank C Super for even half a second, it was just right for dealing with ordinary individuals. It would shock them unconscious and not harm their lives.
Because he had these measures up his sleeves, Han Xiao was not concerned about the number of refugees that he kept in the Sanctuary. Even if they all broke out in illness at the same time, he was confident that he would be able to reduce the losses to the bare minimum. Rather, it might be more convenient for him to gather them all together.
A couple of spaceships jolted the refugees unconscious from the inner circle to the outside and worked together with the players to clear up the refugees nearest the center before clearing up those refugees on the outside. The refugees on the outermost rim of the circle escaped the furthest, but Han Xiao could not start by knocking them unconscious as they would end up being trampled by those behind them.
Ka ka.
A mechanical arm suddenly stretched out, and Han Xiao sped across the city walls. Looking at the commotion on the outside, the running refugees were like a black wave rising and falling as they dashed outside, kicking up a large dust cloud.
Taking out a communicator to contact the other spaceships of the Six Nations, the scene being shown on the communicator was similar. Not only in the Sanctuary, the entire Six Nations was also a similar scenario.
With the Mutation Disaster spreading rapidly, it means that the pressure of their disaster relief efforts will also be greater. Oh, even if DarkStar doesn’t come to ambush us, the situation on Planet Aquamarine isn’t too optimistic. Planet Aquamarine is probably the first planet that has reached the second phase of the Mutation Disaster among all the calamity planets. But with my help, the different Sanctuaries on Planet Aquamarine and the Six Nations should have the appropriate measures to deal with this chaos. It is must better than the storyline in my previous life at the very least.
Han Xiao calculated the losses in his heart. If the Mutation Source did not have a consciousness before this and was only acting on instinct, from the second phase onward, it would be an opponent with a target and much more difficult to deal with. Furthermore, the Mutation Source would grow even more rapidly after the second phase.
“Thankfully, it is about time for me to hand the original mutation source in my hands to Godora. As long as Godora is able to formulate the appropriate antidote and weapon to deal with the Mutation Source, the Mutation Disaster will be solved.” Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
…
The sun set in the distance, and the evening sky was dyed orange.
The chaos in the Sanctuary began to die down, and after spending a few hours, the majority of the refugees were finally subdued. Those that had escaped the furthest had managed to run a few dozen miles, but thankfully, the Sanctuary was located in the wilderness without any vegetation in the surroundings. Thus, it was impossible for the refugees to escape the detection of the spaceships.
In the surrounding ten miles, the refugees were scattered all over the ground. Some players were moving around according to the missions issued by the Sanctuary to inject the guards of the Sanctuary with three times the usual dosage so that they would be able to increase their manpower. All others were taking care of this huge mess but carrying all the scattered refugees back into the Sanctuary.
On the city wall, Bennett had a solemn expression as he asked his assistant, “How are our losses?”
His assistant shook his head in response, indicating that they had not been calculated.
“‘The losses of the Sanctuary are the lowest,” Han
Xiao interrupted. “The Six Nations are still trying to quell the chaos, and they are almost done.”
“At least it isn’t the worst-case scenario.” Bennett heaved a sigh of relief.
Han Xiao shook his head. “The Mutation Disaster has already grown, and we will be facing an even more perilous situation after this. Not to mention whether or not the suppressant will still be effective after this, just the ability of the Mutation Source to control the infected individuals will be the greatest danger. We have captured so many of its ‘sensory organs’, and it is very likely for it to control a bunch of animals to attack the Sanctuary or Six Nations. It may also choose to control the infected individuals to create destruction and attack our facilities from within.”
Hearing that, Bennett’s face turned dark, and he felt a lingering fear in his heart. He was not an unduly humble person, but he was clear that without Han Xiao being around, it would be impossible for the natives of Planet Aquamarine to cope with the disaster on their own.
“What are you getting ready to do?”
“Nothing.” Han Xiao raised his bows. “The mercenaries under my charge are extremely bored, and a beast tide won’t be a big issue. We shall observe the situation first for the other problems. You must try to adapt to the new situation quickly.”
“I understand.” Bennett nodded.
It was possible for the Mutation Source to be hiding underground or in the ocean. The radar database also did not have any records of the Mutation Source’s fluctuations, and it was difficult to locate it. Trying to search for it was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack. Because of the uniqueness of the Mutation Source, before having a cure for it, it would be extremely difficult to deal with it. The Mutation Source was capable of absorbing energy and was able to absorb most attacks as fertilizer for its growth, rendering ordinary attacks completely useless against it. Furthermore, it was able to split apart rapidly and was extremely difficult to catch.
Currently, Han Xiao did not wish to deal with the Mutation Source personally as it was far too disgusting and was not in his interest. Apart from giving Godora a headache so he could reap some benefits, there was another reason. The Mutation Disaster was a temporary protective charm. If the Mutation Disaster was quelled on Planet Aquamarine, he would not be able to predict what DarkStar’s next move was. The enemy might choose to destroy Planet Aquamarine directly.
The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385 Page 326