But the benefit of keeping it is that not only can I use it to strengthen those in the Black Star Army, I can also use it to attract more forces. There are few civilizations that can resist the temptation of the Evolution Cube. Psyker did ^ this as he and the Arcane Church monopolized the usage of Evolution Cube. They did not wish to use it to cultivate more competitors.
Han Xiao secretly nodded to himself. Sardeem might have locked down the planet, but he could not stop him from taking the Evolution Cube. Even without forcibly breaking through, he could still quietly take the cube away from Planet Macipher with a Void Dimension Jump.
So long as Sardeem was unable to find the cube, sooner or later, the lockdown would end, and the trio would then be able to get out through the spaceship.
The issue was, if he kept the Evolution Cube, he would not be able to disguise it from the other organizations. The Black Star Army would then become a target of public criticism.
Han Xiao groaned.
Even if I hand it over, choosing the person to hand it to will be a problem—EsGod, the Mechanic Empire, the Universal Civilization, or Psyker.
Passing it over to EsGod would turn him from a foe to an ally, but if things were revealed, he risked offending the three Universal Civilizations as well as many other forces. Generally speaking, the risks were too great, and the disadvantages outweighed the advantages.
It would also be strange to hand it over to the Mechanic Empire. It would be in line with Planet Macipher and Sardeem, throwing the Evolution Cube that was the hot potato over to someone else, and using it to exchange for a large amount of resources. At the same time, it would also allow him to get rid of the danger, stay out of the fight, and avoid any struggles.
If given to a Universal Civilization, they would turn into staunch allies. Who it was given to would affect the benefits. The Federation of Light would give a lot of resources in exchange, whereas the Crimson Dynasty would give him a ticket to the Flickering World in addition to the resources.
These two were possible. As for the Arcane Church, it would be detrimental for him to hand over the cube to them.
If he passed it to the Arcane Church, things would be more complicated since Psyker was already considered an ally of theirs. The Arcane Church might not forsake Psyker to favor him, and either way, he would lose a Beyond Grade A ally.
However, with him turning into Beyond Grade A, the Arcane Church might not use force to try to snatch the Evolution Cube, which meant that the final result would be them returning the Evolution Cube to Psyker to maintain their relationship if he handed it over to them. In that case, not only would they retain Psyker, they would have him as their ally and still be allowed to use the Evolution Cube.
Psyker might appreciate the Arcane Church, but the same could not be said of Han Xiao.
Of course, the Arcane Church was a hegemon and would not be afraid of annoying Psyker. There was also the possibility of them pocketing the Evolution Cube.
The final option would be returning it to the owner and keeping things quiet. This would undoubtedly allow him to gain the friendship of Psyker, and he might even be able to borrow the Evolution Cube from time to time like the Arcane Church.
Just as Han Xiao was weighing the costs and benefits, Feidin asked, “Black Star, where are we going now? Aren’t we going back to the spaceship?”
Han Xiao regained his senses, thought about it, and shook his head. “There’s no need. Hila, bring Aurora over.”
They could not go back to the Cornerstone Summit Corporation anymore. Sardeem would definitely suspect himself first of all as an unknown Calamity Grade Mechanic, and he would have reported him. Since he would be suspected whether he returned or disappeared, there was no need to keep up with the pretenses.
Anyway, I was the one who did it, and I, Barne, am righteous and unafraid of trouble!
Han Xiao temporarily let go of his mental struggle.
He was long used to taking a rain check and calculating the best possible outcome, but no matter what, the Evolution Cube belonged to him alone for the moment.
Enjoy it before deciding!
Your Excellency Psyker, I’ve already locked down the planet’s port.”
On the other side, Sardeem was communicating with Psyker.
“Before I arrive, don’t let anyone go,” Psyker blandly replied.
“Alright… but please hurry. I cannot keep the lockdown for an indefinite period of time.”
Sardeem had an expression of helplessness. Luckily, there was an excuse of hunting down the perpetrators to maintain law and order, but locking the port for too long would cause Planet Macipher’s business to suffer, and this was something that he could not accept.
You’ve worked hard. I’m almost here,” Psyker replied.
“Ok, what should I do now?”
“There’s no need for you to do anything else. Just ensure that no one leaves Planet Macipher. If anyone tries to forcibly leave, stop them personally.”
He could tell that the Evolution Cube was still on Planet Macipher, but the distance was too far from it to be accurately predicted. Thus, when Sardeem informed him that EsGod’s subordinates had been killed, Psyker was slightly surprised but regained his calm afterward.
As long as the treasure was still on Planet Macipher, it would all be good. The moment he arrived personally, he would then be able to discover the position of the Evolution Cube.
Chapter 756 - Genetic Optimization and Ambitions
Along one of the continuous mountain ranges of Planet Macipher, a mountain face was dug out by Han Xiao’s machinery to form a cave, and the cave was equipped with a fully automatic environmental shelter, disguised as a rock. In the light of dawn, those outside could not see the existence of the cave, and the energy detection shield blocked out many of the satellite detectors that Sardeem had arranged in outer space, making it impossible for the owner of the planet to discover any energy responses here with just satellites. This area was a blind spot on their radar.
Within the cave was a hollowed-out mountain belly, and Han Xiao had unfolded a portable mechanical fortress there, occupying thousands of square meters. Numerous mechanical foundations were spread across the mountain walls, supporting the hollowed abdomen of the mountain. This area had turned into a stronghold, and the multiple mechanical foundations also served as light sources, illuminating the darkness of the cave.
After laying his hands on the Evolution Cube the previous night, Han Xiao had analyzed his situation clearly and decided to leave the Planet Macipher’s city to set up a temporary hidden stronghold in the wilderness of the planet to prevent Sardeem from detecting their usage of the Evolution Cube. After Hila brought Aurora over, Han Xiao took the three of them there and built a small base with the compressed orbs that he carried with him.
He always carried equipment to set up a temporary camp.
After settling down, Han Xiao took out the Evolution Cube, explaining his hypothesis so far. Originally, the three of them were confused over Han Xiao’s sudden irrational behavior, but after hearing the history of the item, they were enlightened.
The trio looked curiously at the small black cube in Han Xiao’s hands. Aurora was purely curious about Universal Treasures, while Hila was interested in its ability to promote one’s strength.
Feidin, however, showed an anxious expression. “This is the Evolution Cube of legends? Since we’ve picked it up, what do we do now? Do we return it to Psyker? Will he think that we stole it?”
Because he had followed Han Xiao to visit Austin, he knew that this belonged to Psyker.
Han Xiao could only helplessly reply, “I haven’t thought of that yet.”
“It can’t be that you’re thinking of keeping the Evolution Cube,” Feidin said. “If you do, we’ll also become enemies with Psyker. Now that you’ve already provoked the Tyrant, if we add on Psyker, that would mean that you’ve provoked half of the Beyond Grade As in the Shattered Star Ring…”
Han Xiao interrupted
him. “We can discuss that later. Since the Evolution Cube is in my hands, let’s first use.”
How do we use it?” Hila impatiently asked.
“If my memory serves me right…”
Han Xiao flipped the small black cube around, scrutinizing it. Every face was as smooth as a mirror, absent of any notches. Even when he exerted strength with his fingers, it did not leave any traces.
After hesitating, he covered the two sides of the cube with both his palms, pressing down on all corners of the cube simultaneously. The next moment, the inky black surface lit up with streams of light, and a spherical black energy ball wrapped around the cube, suspending it in midair.
“The first step was right…” Han Xiao was overjoyed.
The easiest way to utilize the Evolution Cube was to enter it when it was in its natural state. However, when the Evolution Cube was fixed in its portable mode, the container needed to be opened in a specific manner to expose an opening where the energy from the cube could exit.
The first step was thus to put the container into its ‘Ready* status. This was what Han Xiao had just done. However, it did not mean that the cube had been activated yet.
A cover would then materialize around the cube, which served as a password input screen. A series of specific ‘passcode symbols’ would have to be drawn on it to open the container. This was equivalent to a password. Compared to the Secret Message Bead, this was actually quite simple.
Many players from his past life had used the Evolution Cube in the Arcane Church in exchange for their Contribution Points. Thus, there were a few that had watched the NPCs from the Arcane Church unlock the Evolution Cube in person and recorded it. The process was not a secret to him, and there were even others who posted a summary of the passwords for the Evolution Cube, which were made up of forty-two different symbols.
However, the exact shape and position of the symbols were a little vague to Han Xiao. Fortunately, his Intelligence attribute had improved so much that his memories were already structured like a bookcase. All his memories were stored in different categories, which could be manually accessed and viewed. Such thinking modes could be mastered by ordinary people just after training, let alone for Mechanics with extremely high Intelligence and large brain areas. Otherwise, would it not be too difficult for them to memorize their blueprints?
After pondering for a while, he slowly recalled the structure of the symbols and started to trace with his fingers on the energy cover of the cube, leaving behind golden trails. He quickly finished drawing the symbols, but the energy hood was only drawn back, and the cube dropped onto the ground. Obviously, it was a failure, causing him to stagger slightly.
That’s right. The password set by the Arcane Church might not be the same as that set by the EsGod. Han Xiao suddenly realized the issue. He was a little depressed. If he failed to open the Evolution Cube, he could only smash it to allow it to regain its original size. The commotion created by that would be too big, and people would definitely notice.
Frowning and sighing, he consoled himself. That might not be the case as well. The Evolution Cube belonged to a lost civilization, and making portable containers was also this civilization’s technology. It is very advanced and is not something ordinary people can decipher. Maybe the Gods can make containers such as these, but it should be difficult to improve the technology.
As such, these forty-two symbols should be the fixed password of the container. As to why the container was not opened… maybe my drawing was inaccurate, or the order was wrong.
Han Xiao did not know that he had guessed upon the truth. This set of symbols was a fixed activation password of the portable Evolution Cube, which could not be changed. It was not only used to unlock the container but also the key to harnessing the energy of the Evolution Cube.
This was the top-secret information left behind by the Evolutionary Cube’s Civilization. At present, such knowledge was only in the hands of EsGod. Even Colin and the others did not know how to open it, to prevent their greed, betrayal, or accidental disclosure of information.
In his previous life, the Arcane Church had not been afraid of leaking out such information as no one could take away their items, so Han Xiao had become one of the few people currently who knew the password needed to open it.
He tried more than thirty times, slowly replicating the symbols, refining his accuracy. Finally, on his thirty-seventh try, there was a different reaction from the Evolution Cube.
From the center of every face on the cube, a small hole appeared, in which a black stream of ribbon-like particles escaped, surrounding the cube and propelling it in the air.
“It’s open!” Han Xiao exclaimed.
Looking at the others, Han Xiao first took a deep breath, before stretching out his palm and releasing his Mechanical Force toward the Evolution Cube.
Hu!
The next moment, the black stream seemed to have discovered a vent to escape from and flocked over to Han Xiao, continuously infiltrating his body from his skin.
Itchy!
That was his first thought.
This sort of itch seemed to be bom from his soul. His skin, muscles, bones, blood vessels, and organs all felt the itch, but it was impossible to reach out and scratch it like scratching one’s body. The symptoms could not be relieved at all.
At this point, notifications started to pop up from the interface.
You have utilized the Evolution Cube (Gold Grade)!
You have received a permanent special benefit—[Gene Optimization: Evolution Cube]!
Identifying species… Identification complete. Your current species is: [Void Star Pursuer].
Your genetic structure is now being adjusted to the best state of the [Void Star Pursuer]. Please do not interrupt the Evolution process.
The first optimization has succeeded. Your potential qualities have increased. You have received +6 STR, +4 DEX, +5 INT, +4 MYS, +3 CHA, and +30 Energy.
Because your Energy Level is above Level 0, the second optimization has automatically succeeded. Your potential qualities have increased, and you have received +8 STR, +7 DEX, +11 END, +7 INT, +5 MYS, +6 CHA, and +40 Energy.
Because your Energy Level is above Level 14, the sixteenth optimization has automatically succeeded. Your potential qualities have increased, and you have received +64 STR, +67 DEX, +72 END, +76 INT, +61 MYS, +43 CHA, and +240 Energy.
When he was rushing toward level 238, his Energy Attribute had broken through the 40,000 mark, achieving the [Level 14] bonus.
For each additional energy attribute level, one would be able to access an additional layer of genetically optimized attributes as a reward. Hence, the stronger one’s body was, the better the effect of one’s first use. The attributes awarded were based on a variety of factors, such as cell activity, life span, and species—of which the species had the greatest impact. The Evolution Cube would be optimized based on the race, and if one’s racial species was more powerful, their benefits would be greater.
When the Evolution Cube was used for the second time onward, it would not be calculated based on the new strength level but rather repeat the optimization process for each layer. However, the attributes given would be greatly reduced, with each subsequent usage giving out less than the previous one, until there was no effect. Only through the sublimation into a new racial species would one then regain some benefits, but even that would be far less effective than the first use of the Evolution Cube.
Han Xiao endured his itchiness while calculating in his mind. This series of genetic optimizations had provided him with an extremely terrifying increase in his attributes. The five attributes of Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, and Mystery shot up by more than five hundred points, while Charm was increased by nearly four hundred points. As for Energy, there was an increase of 2,100!
This wave of soaring attributes exceeded the total amount of attribute points that he had obtained up till Energy Level 14!
The sum of all his improved att
ributes added to reach more than three thousand points, which was equivalent to Han Xiao’s attributes being improved by a third. The effect was outstanding!
Because the potential of the [Void Star Pursuer] was strong—coupled with his young age, high vitality cells, and strong energy—the increase was terrifying!
When he had upgraded his profession to Emperor Mechanic, rising to level 238, his total Energy count had been at 32,600. Right now, after utilizing the Evolution Cube, he suddenly leaped up by another 2,000 points, reaching 34,450.
Even though the itchiness in Han Xiao was hard to bear, he could not help but reveal an expression of joy. This genetic optimization was too worthwhile.
However, the notifications on the interface had not yet ended.
The first time utilizing the Evolution Cube awarded you with sixteen layers of genetic optimization. There will be a +40% experience penalty to level up, which will last for 16 months.
Han Xiao nodded to himself secretly. Players would suffer from experience penalties upon using the Evolution Cube. After all, the attributes obtained were equivalent to gaining ten or more levels. It was just like the saying of pulling up seedlings to help them grow—it would be impossible without a cost. This principle was just like how a stronger lifeform would find it harder to sublimate themselves. Each time the Evolution Cube was utilized, there would be a forty percent experience penalty, and the duration would depend on the number of genetic optimizations obtained.
However, this was nothing to Han Xiao. Just a forty percent experience penalty, under the influence of his thirty percent increase through the Political Asset, was essentially just a ten percent penalty. Han Xiao’s experience gain relied on the experience of his leek fields. He could afford to just wait for a while, using this sixteen-month penalty in exchange for a large increase in attributes. This was a permanent force that would result in larger combat power.
The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385 Page 485