My god, my virtuous mechanical army has killed someone.
Though, this guy was a little too vulnerable…
Han Xiao scratched the stubble on his chin.
If he did not have so many tanky talents, with his Endurance, he would only have a little more than 70,000 health. Psychics were strong in attack but weak in defense-this was a known fact. If Zeglin did not only think about escaping the encirclement but attacked him with psychic attacks, Han Xiao might have been injured a little.
Sadly, it seemed like Zeglin feared his Indestructible Body title and did not have the guts to attack him.
Killing Zeglin in a duel was a welcomed surprise. Not only did this weaken the enemies’ overall strength, but the Promotion mission on his interface was also displayed as ‘Completed’.
This meant that, if Han Xiao wanted to, he could go through his Promotion at any time to complete his Race Evolution!
Han Xiao felt relaxed.
Knowing that he could go through Promotion anytime, he was more confident.
The Experience that he had was more than enough for him to level up to 195 right after his Promotion, reaching the maximum level limit of Truth Mechanic.
At his current stage, being able to maintain such fast leveling speed was thanks to his savings in Version
2.0.
At this time, the sound of the sound barrier breaking appeared.
Hu!
A few people flew over from the edge of the sky and stopped in midair. It was Stephanie and the others. They all looked at what was left of Zeglin, and their expressions changed.
In the short time it had taken them to travel there, Black Star had already killed Zeglin?
Stephanie squinted. She had no emotion toward her teammates, so she was not angry, just staring at Han Xiao.
“He really is very strong. His Excellency Thousand Shadows will definitely like him.”
Not planning to explain anything to Han Xiao, Stephanie made a sign, signaling for the others to spread out and surround Han Xiao. They blocked all of Han Xiao’s escape routes and looked at Han Xiao.
Stephanie stared at Han Xiao’s face, looking forward to seeing his terrified and shocked expression of realizing that he had fallen into a trap.
Seeing this, Han Xiao put on his helmet and covered his face. He had already successfully lured the enemies out, so he was too lazy to continue his Oscar spirit.
Stephanie was disappointed and lost her excitement. Although she knew that Black Star was definitely shocked and was only controlling his expression to not show his enemies, she still wanted to see the panicking expression of her prey. Sadly, it did not go as she hoped it would.
Nine Calamity Grades… Hmm, this is probably all.
Han Xiao was secretly relieved. If he was alone, he would definitely have had a very tough fight. Luckily, he had planned ahead and found helpers.
Phillip had already called Wilton, Nagakin, and the others to reinforce him. He just had to hold on for a while—he was not as vulnerable as Zeglin.
Furthermore, he had discovered something huge that he did not expect.
Under the mechanical suit helmet, Han Xiao stared at the enemies’ leader, Stephanie, sizing her up. He then smiled.
He recognized this woman.
Chapter 672 - Suddenly Clear
Chapter 672 Suddenly Clear
The moment Han Xiao saw Stephanie, he felt that she looked familiar. As he looked at her carefully, his heart skipped a beat.
He did not recognize the other hunters, but he was familiar with this woman!
Many players in his previous life had known Stephanie. She was very active during the Calamity of the Supers version. She was a subordinate of the Beyond Grade A from the Abyss of Stars, (Thousand Shadows]. She fought for Thousand Shadows with countless Supers as pawns, including many players that teamed up to kill her. In the end, she died in a battle while being surrounded by many forces… or she was finally freed.
After that, a related Dungeon Crystal appeared. Stephanie was inside the dungeon as a hidden boss. There was a chance of obtaining an extremely rare reward by defeating her. In the later stages of Han Xiao’s previous life, with an extremely high 87.6% player repeat rate, she entered the list of top hundred hard workers and received the honorable title ‘Lady Stephanie’!
At that stage, the player count of Galaxy was dozens of times greater than the player count of Version 2.0. The number of players online at the same time was more than ten million. The fact that more than eighty percent of players had repeated Stephanie’s dungeon before represented its popularity!
It was a little embarrassing to mention, but Han Xiao had fought Stephanie with at least three hundred different accounts. He could not have been more familiar with her.
Han Xiao did not expect to recognize one of the enemies, so he was surprised.
Initially, he did not know who the mastermind was. Now that he had seen Stephanie, everything became clear, and he found the truth.
It was Thousand Shadows!
No wonder, no wonder, everything connects now… Han Xiao was excited. If the mastermind was indeed Thousand Shadows, he knew why the hunters were capturing Supers.
It was to provide ‘shadows’ for Thousand Shadows!
Thousand Shadows’ ability was very strange. He could absorb other individuals and turn them into his underlings, who were called ‘shadows’. The shadows still retained most of their personality, but they had a sense of belonging and loyalty toward Thousand Shadows that could not be erased. In this condition, their memories were slightly altered.
The shadows slept inside Thousand Shadows, but at the same time, they could act for him.
The abilities of the shadows were preserved, or even enhanced, after fusing with Thousand Shadows. Thousand Shadows had lived for too long. No one knew how many shadows were in his body. He was an extremely mysterious member of The Ancient Ones.
Han Xiao recalled a secret that a player had found in his previous life. In order to live longer, Thousand Shadows sought help from specialized people and gave his Esper ability vitality. He then gave up his body and turned into a strange ‘Esper Being’. Usual methods could not kill him. He had lived for close to a thousand years and was a member of The Ancient Ones.
Discovering the truth, Han Xiao was feeling gloomy. Thousand Shadows liked high-quality shadows, so he probably would not give up easily on Han Xiao. Han Xiao absolutely did not want to become a part of Thousand Shadows; he would lose himself and become a puppet!
Stephanie was Thousand Shadows’ shadow. Her life story was rather tragic, too. Before she died, her true self returned for a moment and explained her origins.
Back at the start of the exploration era, before the Primordial Ones had been born, when the war between the three Universal Civilizations extended throughout the entire universe…
She was born in an era of war, an Antarrian. Her civilization’s mother planet was dragged into the war. She displayed extraordinary talent from a young age, so she was chosen as a warrior, fighting for her home and quickly growing.
In a short period of a little more than ten years, she had already become the protector of her home, at the age normal Galaxy Human Race women were at their peak. At such a young age, she became the top protector of Antarr. She was so strong that even the three civilizations had heard of her.
However, a gigantic war broke out between the Crimson Dynasty and Federation of Light that used an entire Star Cluster as the battlefield. The Antarrians were affected. Their mother planet fell, and their colonial planets turned into ruins under the Crimson Dynasty’s iron hoofs. Only a handful of people escaped with spaceships used for migrationStephanie was one of the survivors.
People in wars were realistic. The survivors had no time to miss their mother planet and left the battlefield quickly, looking for a new home to rise again. However, an unwelcome guest had his eyes on Stephanie… Thousand Shadows.
Thousand Shadows was originally from a long-li
ved race and had already lived for many years. At that time, he had yet to give up his body and was not Beyond Grade A. He wanted Stephanie’s power, so he intercepted the spaceship that the Antarr survivors were in.
In the ending, the Antarr Civilization was another extinguished civilization, and Stephanie became one of Thousand Shadows’ shadows.
The history only recorded what happened—the cold words could not record emotions. The motives, feelings, and the reactions of everyone back then became mysteries. In Han Xiao’s previous life, after Stephanie became a part of the dungeon, some players looked for her history out of curiosity. From a few descriptions in some history books, they came to know that some historians believed that if Stephanie did not ‘mysteriously disappear’, she might have become one of the [Primordial Ones).
However, during the exploration era, there had been way too many Calamity Grades that had a lot of potential, and most of them had died in battle. The Primordial Ones were the first group of Beyond Grade As that walked out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood alive. Thousand Shadows was not one of the Primordial Ones. He was always very mysterious, only appearing as a Beyond Grade A near the end of the exploration era.
In just one look, these thoughts flashed through Han Xiao’s mind. He took a deep breath. The true identity of the enemy had been discovered-it was definitely very stressful to be Thousand Shadows’ enemy, but that was something for later.
The most imminent problem was dealing with nine Calamity Grades.
Especially Stephanie.
With a push, a beam of (Psionic Impact-Whale) headed right toward Stephanie. The enormous mechanical army around Han Xiao started to move toward all the enemies.
Bang bang bang!
Countless Psionic Cannons crisscrossed, and mechanical soldiers approached the enemies with weapons and shields in their hands. Stephanie and the rest moved, too.
The battle erupted; the scene instantly became chaotic!
Han Xiao never overestimated himself. Although his mechanical army was much stronger than before, facing nine experienced Calamity Grades was still beyond his capabilities. Among the nine enemies, there were two Mechanics. One of them was a Cannon Master, shooting out large beams from extremely high caliber cannons, shattering mechanical soldiers one after another.
The other one used the Galactic Stronghold Style. A several-hundred-meter-tall fortress expanded from his hands. It had extremely strong firepower and its own guards.
Clank!
Metal clashed against metal nonstop, electrical sparkles replaced blood, and scrap metal and wires fell like rain.
Among the rest of the enemies, there were two Pugilists, one Mage, and four Espers. Stephanie was one of the Espers!
Stephanie’s ability was the most mysterious. Like a diving eagle, she headed right for Han Xiao in the middle of the army. Everywhere she passed, the nearly mechanical soldiers all shattered. The air around her looked like it was bent by high temperature. From very far away, she raised her hand and aimed at Han Xiao.
With just this one move, several notifications popped up on Han Xiao’s interface.
You have entered the (Slightly Slowed] state. -12% DEX. Duration: 8 seconds!
You have entered the (Slightly Weakened) state. -6% all attributes. Duration: 8 seconds!
You have entered the (Slightly Confused) state. +10% chance of being interrupted while using abilities. Duration: 8 seconds!
You have entered the [Abnormally Excited] state. Your attack is fluctuating at 80%-110%. Duration: 8 seconds!
You have entered the (Light Illusion] state. -10% accuracy, -10% perception. Duration: 8 seconds!
You have entered the (Slightly Tired) state. +8% expense in energy and stamina. Duration: 10 seconds!
Your Ability (Steel Body) is activated. All True Damage is nullified!
Chapter 673 - Are You Surprised? Are You Shocked?
Chapter 673 Are You Surprised? Are You Shocked?
Han Xiao felt his body become heavier and slower. A ton of debuffs were applied to him in the blink of an eye.
It’s really still the same. Han Xiao’s mouth twitched, and he was not surprised at all.
Having completed Stephanie’s dungeon a few hundred times, he was extremely familiar with Stephanie. Even though the Stephanie inside the dungeon was a weaker version, her abilities did not change. Han Xiao knew her combat style like the back of his hand. Giving the enemies a bunch of debuffs at the start was exactly the same as what she would do in the dungeon.
Without hesitation, Han Xiao backed away with Void Travel. Stephanie was stronger in close range battles and had bonus damage against metal. He did not want his mechanical suit to be destroyed so quickly.
Luckily, I got rid of that Psychic called Zeglin, or things would be even tougher now.
Not stopping at all, Han Xiao controlled the mechanical army to execute the stalling strategy in Phillip’s database, preventing Stephanie and the others’ momentum of rushing toward him. Meanwhile, he used the army as a barrier and moved within, approaching the Mage and two Mechanic enemies occasionally, trying to deal some damage.
In front of nine experienced Calamity Grade, the mechanical army was under a great deal of pressure. It became a tough fight very quickly. Machines fell broken one after another and flew back up after Han Xiao used (Waste Modification) on them, returning to the battlefield.
The battlefield was chaotic. The tactical screen in Han Xiao’s helmet displayed the various data as Han Xiao calmly analyzed the situation.
Stephanie disrupted the electromagnetic waves over a large area, so Han Xiao could not contact Wilton and the others. Out of caution, the Phillip sub-program that he had left for Wilton came in handy. Although he could not receive the location information of the reinforcements, he was certain that they were heading over. His current mission was not to fight them head-on but stall them and wait for the reinforcements to arrive.
Boom!
The impact from ten Calamity Grades fighting shook the mountains and the ground.
Even the weather changed. It was initially bright and clear, but the sky was filled with dark clouds and lightning bolts. Han Xiao kept shifting the battlefield away from the populated areas on the Northern Continent and toward unpopulated glaciers. Everywhere they passed, ice that had formed over millions of years cracked open, mountains shook, avalanches occurred, and the landscape was in a mess.
The impacts of the fight between Calamity Grades were bringing disasters to this planet. With the battlefield as the center, earthquakes spread out to the entire Northern Continent. Near sea areas far from the battlefield, the sky darkened, and the sea was filled with violent waves. Tsunamis and tornados collided with cities near the sea.
“It’s a tsunami, run!”
“Wh—What’s going on?”
The residents of the cities near the sea on the Northern Continent were horrified by the natural disasters and ran for their lives.
Of course, Han Xiao could not see the reactions of those people. However, he did not need to see to know that the aftershock of their battle was already creating disasters on Planet Aquamarine.
“This is why they purposely chose here to be the battlefield.” Han Xiao’s expression was hostile. He dodged an invisible tornado-shaped impact wave from Stephanie once again, and the mechanical soldiers behind him were broken into pieces.
They had shifted the battlefields many times, and the battle was reaching the climax.
The blue light in the sky started burning again. It was another Psionic Sky Cannon attack controlled by Phillip!
Boom!
The mechanical army quickly avoided the bombardment area. Stephanie and the others did, too, but the fortress of that enemy Mechanic moved very slowly and could not get out of the attack range. Its shield shattered, and the fortress turned into broken pieces.
This was the enemy’s second fortress that had been destroyed.
Using this opportunity, Han Xiao retreated slowly while f
ighting. They were already at the edge of the north side, and he started to shift toward the sea.
“Problematic Sky Cannons.” Stephanie frowned. She looked up, pointed at one of the Pugilists, and said, “You, go up there and destroy Black Star’s Sky Cannons.”
The Pugilist nodded. Flames shot out from under his feet as he rose up like a rocket, turning into a black dot in an instant and heading toward outer space.
“Don’t waste time. Long duration battles are Black Star’s strength. Quickly restrain him.”
Stephanie’s tone was impatient. She led the other teammates and dashed toward Han Xiao once again.
She knew that Black Star was difficult to kill, but her plan was not to kill him but capture him. However, Han Xiao was too swift. She did not have a chance to close the distance on Han Xiao. Only close-range combat would maximize the power of her Esper ability.
After chasing for a while, they clashed once again above the sea. The impact created waves thousands of feet high. Energy waves shot into the sea and formed enormous vortexes.
As the mechanical army’s numbers kept decreasing. Han Xiao started to show signs of fatigue. Suddenly, Han Xiao showed a flaw in his defenses. Stephanie’s eyes sparkled. She caught the opportunity and turned into a black shadow, appearing behind Han Xiao instantly as if she had teleported, then pressed her palm toward Han Xiao’s back.
This was the first time that she had used this ability in this battle. It was so she could surprise Black Star. As long as she managed to hit Black Star, his strength would decrease by at least ten percent temporarily!
However, the next moment, as if Han Xiao had expected this, he avoided her palm with a weird movement. Then, psionic energy appeared between his hands as he patted her chest.
Bang!
The light blue Psionic Impact ring exploded. Stephanie was blown close to one thousand meters away. She rubbed her hurting chest and frowned, surprised by Han Xiao’s reaction speed.
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