“Primal Esper Ability Entities are tough to find, but Black Star seems to have two of them. I’m his colleague now, and he wants to build a good relationship with me. If I bring up the request, he should agree to lend them to me… This is so much easier than robbing.”
Gaud was in a great mood. The air felt so refreshing and the future so bright.
In the past when he was a wanted criminal, he could only rob something from others if he wanted it. Now that he had become a member of the Lawful Faction, he finally felt the advantages of having connections.
Gaud sighed as he opened the gate and walked out of the training room. The dynasty soldiers he met on the way all greeted him respectfully. He was already used to it.
When he came to the command room at the bridge, the captain approached and greeted him.
“Your Excellency Gaud, we’re approaching the edge of the fourth exploration stage area of the Flickering World. We’ll be reaching the entrance of the stargate route in two days. After that, we’ll quickly pass through the remaining Star Clusters through the Black Star Army’s territory.”
“Hmm, good work,” Gaud responded monotonously.
“Thank you. It’s an honor to serve y…”
The captain’s tone was humble.
However, before he finished, the ship suddenly trembled. It exited from hyperdrive mood and stopped.
Bang!
The staff all staggered due to the momentum. Some even fell to the floor.
The captain held onto the table and yelled, “What’s going on?”
Very soon, an operational officer responded with a shocked tone. “Captain, the spaceship’s artificial intelligence suddenly lost control. It locked down the engine, activated the emergency stop, turned off all devices, and disconnected from the quantum network! We’ve lost contact with the other spaceships!”
“Is this an attack‽” The captain was furious. “Who dares attack the dynasty’s forces! Turn on the backup artificial intelligence immediately and regain control of the spaceship!”
The operational officer quickly returned to his post and worked on the system, but he was covered in sweat very soon.
“It… It can’t be done! All functions of the spaceship are frozen!”
The dynasty crew inside the command room were panicking. Gaud glanced at them. He then turned to look outside the porthole and frowned.
“Am I the target?”
Gaud was surprised. He felt this was the only possibility.
He had analyzed his situation long ago. For their own sake, the odds of the various organizations attacking him were extremely low. He originally thought his trip in the Flickering World would be smooth and did not expect someone to really take such a big risk.
“Looks like the doing of a Virtual Mechanic. Is it the Mechanic Emperor? Tsk, is he really planning on capturing me and turning me into a Felon? He’s already in such a horrible situation, yet he still dares to enrage the dynasty?”
Gaud was shocked.
Being shocked was one thing, but he was not nervous. His experience of being attacked was way too rich. The emotion ‘fear’ did not even exist in him.
Furthermore, he was not really a new Beyond Grade A. Although his strength could not compare with his old days, he had still inherited part of it and was stronger than someone at his level should be. This was one source of his confidence.
If the attacker was the Mechanic Emperor, he had to admit he would not be able to defeat him and could only look for a way to escape.
However, if it was some other organization that took him as a new Beyond Grade A and wanted to eliminate him, they would have made a huge mistake.
In his eyes, the only ones who had the motive and the ability to attack him were the federation, the church, the Super Star Cluster Alliance, and the Mechanic Emperor. It basically could not possibly anyone else.
Gaud’s Beyond Grade A senses suddenly spread out and covered this entire area.
“Let’s see who wants to kill me!”
Chapter 1226 - Stop Acting. I Know Who You Are
1226 Stop Acting. I Know Who You Are
Gaud’s senses spread rapidly in all directions, covering more and more area. Very soon, he discovered a faint energy source that was hovering right in front of the fleet. However, he could not see it with his eyes. It seemed to be invisible.The moment he discovered the target, it appeared before the fleet. It was shrouded in a black mechanical suit. Gaud could not figure out whom it was.
“Just one person… hmm? This presence…”
Gaud’s expression changed slightly. His Esper Ability was very sensitive about one’s energy presence. He could basically remember the unique energy presence of everyone he had ever met. He noticed that the presence of this attacker was familiar, so he might have met them before.
As the radar no longer worked, he sensed the environment around too and realized that the spacetime of this area was locked. It was the common effects of a trap. Space-related abilities such as hyperdrive, teleportation, and so on were all disabled.
Furthermore, his senses could not continue extending further when it reached a certain distance. There seemed to be a layer that separated this area from the outside world.
At this time, the captain noticed the attacker and immediately responded. He yelled to the crew, “Try to reconnect to the network and report this to the dynasty. Also, pull out the artificial intelligence chip, switch to manual controls, and retreat immediately!”
As soon as the order was given, the crew hastily moved. The staff in the main control room quickly headed toward the engine room and pulled out the artificial intelligence. They then used the hardware system to cancel all the artificial intelligence’s authorization to control the spaceship. This was to prevent the spaceship from being controlled by the enemy. Plus, they would only be able to reboot the paralyzed spaceship if it was in manual mode.
This dynasty fleet was only responsible for transporting Gaud, so it was a small team. Although the performance of the dynasty battleships was higher than most spaceship models, the size of this team was too small. Its combat capability was very limited and could not possibly fight a Beyond Grade A.
Most importantly, their communication channel was cut off, and they could not request reinforcements from the outside world. The most important mission right now was to get the information out, so the captain did not want to fight. All of this was the standard response written in the Dynasty Commander Strategy Guidebook.
However, although his idea was decent, with the communication network cut off, the command system was broken, and his orders could not be passed onto the others. Shifting into a magic oriented emergency command system would also require some time… and this time dictated the difference between life and death.
Before this dynasty fleet made a move, countless golden electric arcs exploded from the attacker’s body. Inside the cluster of electric arcs, a black-bean-like particle expanded and turned into an enormous mechanical army, instantly filling up the sights of everyone!
Mechanical Force—Soldier Nest!
Compressed Orb Innovation—Armed Body!
Indeed, it was Han Xiao’s original body who came to attack Gaud!
He deliberately spread the message to have the various organizations suspect each other, but all of that was for one thing—to eliminate Gaud without anyone finding out. Otherwise, it would all be a waste of effort. The other organizations were not going to do it, so he had no choice but to do it himself.
As history and experience proved, the more parts a plan had, the more unstable factors it would have. Many conspiracies and plots were anything but complicated; they did not have so many twists and turns. Therefore, he did not have to be flashy to achieve his goal, focusing on the main conflict was the key.
Now, the waters were muddied. There were way too many possible suspects. He had achieved the first step of his plan, so he could move on to the next step and act now.
Based on the dynasty’s
route, he calculated a location Gaud had to pass by. He had teleported to the frontline stronghold using the King long ago and secretly moved here, found a desolate area, and planted the trap.
Not only did he place spacetime stabilization devices in this area, but he even used a large area detection masking device and ‘sealed’ this area up. The inside could not detect the outside, nor could the outside detect what was going on inside. No matter how intense the battle was on the inside, the detection devices outside would not be able to sense the energy shockwaves of the battle and see it as nothing was happening. This way, the chances of anyone discovering something were reduced.
Additionally, Han Xiao planted many other devices that blocked all kinds of detection methods, anything he could think of, all to reduce the chance of getting discovered. Only a Mechanic would be able to do something like this.
The universe already had the technology he used, but the ones Han Xiao used were all improved versions of them that incorporated some similar blueprints in Jayz’s technology treasure. These devices were very advanced and much more effective than the ordinary versions.
Of course, the battleships of advanced civilizations had respective detection devices for all these traps. If they were travelling normally, the dynasty fleet would have discovered the anomaly from very far away. However, the range of Han Xiao’s hacking abilities was extremely far now. He had secretly won the heart of the dynasty fleet’s artificial intelligence long ago and taken control of the fleet, which was why they did not notice it at all. Otherwise, the dynasty fleet would never have stepped into his traps.
Though Gaud’s Energy Control Esper Ability was powerful, he was powerless in the virtual territory and could not notice anything.
As soon as the mechanical army appeared, it fired right away at the paralyzed dynasty fleet without hesitation.
Countless beams of light flickered through space. The next moment, the storm of attacks penetrated the dynasty fleet’s formation!
The shields of the dynasty fleets were frozen. They were defenseless under the rain of attacks. Beams penetrated the ships one after another. The thick exterior armor became twisted and torn. The spaceships exploded in the blink of an eye, turning into colorful fireworks!
Buzz!
At this time, a dark blue psionic barrier appeared abruptly and protected the remaining spaceship. The mechanical army’s attacks rapidly shattered one layer of the barrier after another, but its speed was still delayed.
During this extremely short delay, the thrusters of these spaceships suddenly released huge flames. The spaceship accelerated in an instant and barely escaped the attacks.
Inside the main ship, Gaud’s eyes were gleaming. A cluster of light filled with thousands of light strings floated above his palm.
In the crucial moment earlier, he had activated his ability and created a psionic shield that blocked some of the attacks. Then, he used his Esper Ability to fire up the energy furnace of the remaining battleships, skipping the multiple layers of authorization and forcibly activating the thrusters.
After a round of fire, a small fleet like this was already heavily damaged. There were only seven ships left.
“That was close…”
Gaud’s expression was grave. He was on edge.
In the moment of the attack, he sensed the energy level of the attack and confirmed it had definitely reached the peak Beyond Grade A standard. It was strong by the peak Beyond Grade A standard even in that matter.
There were only so many Mechanics in the entire universe who were at this level. No matter who it was, it was not someone he could defeat… Of course, it was still most likely that old b*stard Manison!
“We can’t fight. Let’s go!”
Gaud glanced at the shocked and furious captain, activated his ability again, and pushed the surviving spaceships toward the edge of the sealed area.
He knew that the crew was of no help. It was not that he wanted to save them, but his flying speed was slower than the battleships; he needed them to escape.
As soon as he left this locked area and out of the opponent’s trap, he would have a way to contact the outside world.
However, at this moment, a sudden sense of danger appeared in his mind. His intuition felt an overwhelming sense of threat. He instantly charged through the cabin wall and escaped the spaceship.
Swoosh!
The next moment, five extremely condensed red beams shot out from Han Xiao’s fingers, easily penetrated the layers of psionic barriers, and cut the remaining battleships into pieces like a hot knife cutting through butter.
The next second, the energy cores of the spaceships exploded. The spaceships turned into fireworks and destroyed all the spaceship fragments.
In an instant, the fleet was annihilated, leaving Gaud to hover in the battlefield alone.
“What a powerful energy beam. It seems to have extremely strong penetrating ability against all energy shields. If I was hit by it, I would definitely be hurt…”
Fear lingered in Gaud’s heart. He was very close to being hit by the red beams earlier.
He looked at and saw that Han Xiao’s black mechanical suit was covered in red energy circuits like blood vessels, all connecting to his fingertips. As the five red beams were launched, these energy circuits dimmed again as if they had entered a cooldown.
Seeing that his attacks had missed, Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
“These Anti-neutron Beams are completely silent. If it was an ordinary new Beyond Grade A, he would have already been hit. He must have foreseen the threat because of part of the soul he inherited from the past.”
In the last few years, Han Xiao had built more Universal Treasures than just ‘The King’. This black mechanical suit was originally a Gold blueprint from Jayz’s technology treasure. Han Xiao had fused some modern technology into it, improved it, given it a new name, and called it ‘Black King—Ranged Gear’.
This was just one of the products in the series. There were also ‘Melee Gear’, ‘Army Gear’, and ‘Defense Gear’, which excelled in different areas. He called them the “Black King Series”, and they were all Gold Grade mechanical suits!
Without hesitation, Han Xiao charged toward Gaud. Gaud turned around and fled right away.
However, without a spaceship, his flight speed was no match for the mechanical army. He instantly got surrounded by the mechanical troops and fell into a dreadful spot.
As soon as the fight started, Han Xiao immediately noticed just how much of an edge Gaud’s Esper Ability gave him. Not only did he have an outrageously high resistance against energy attacks, but he could even absorb the enemy’s energy attacks during battle to recover his own energy at an astonishing speed. Basically, at the Beyond Grade A level, having this Esper Ability meant having infinite energy. It was incredibly overpowered!
The superiority of his Esper Ability was extremely apparent. With the edge his Esper Ability gave him, Gaud shockingly did not show signs of defeat under the attacks of the mechanical army.
“He has only just entered the Beyond Grade A territory, and he’s already this strong. Will there ever be anyone who can defeat him in the distant future?”
Seeing this, even Han Xiao was astounded by how talented Gaud was. At the same time, his thoughts of eliminating this hidden threat as early as possible became firmer.
The next moment, he personally stepped into the encirclement and charged toward Gaud, deflecting the energy beam attacks from Gaud one after another, successfully closing the distance. Without saying a word, his leg swung down like an axe.
Gaud’s expression changed as he hastily raised his hands to block it.
Boom!
An enormous force came from Han Xiao’s leg. Even though he protected his body with energy, his body could not endure it. His bones broke one after another, and intense pain flooded his mind.
“To think I got physically beat up by a Mechanic. If my Grade was a little bit higher, you’d be done for…”
&nbs
p; Gaud clenched his teeth and endured the pain. As he attempted to back away, he realized his arms felt like they were stuck to the armor on Han Xiao’s leg, and he could not pull it away.
He hastily looked at it and saw black nanoparticles spreading at the area of contact, rapidly covered his arms, and headed toward his entire body.
“Sh*t!”
Gaud hastily controlled his energy attempting to get away. However, at this time, his mind suddenly trembled. His soul was dragged into a world made of data streams, and he lost control of his body.
Before he could react, a gigantic silhouette appeared and slapped his soul into the ground.
This is… Virtual Soul!
Gaud had vivid memories of this ability. He clenched his teeth and shouted, “Manison! Is that you‽’
Han Xiao ignored him and continued attacking.
Inside the Virtual Domain, Gaud’s soul was powerless and was thrashed. Luckily, the strength of his soul far exceeded normal new Beyond Grade As. Only because of that was he able to quickly escape.
As Gaud’s consciousness returned to his body, before he could catch a breath, he realized his entire body was wrapped by machines as if he wore a mechanical suit.
“You…”
Before he could start resisting, he saw Han Xiao snap his fingers.
Whoosh!
The next moment, Gaud disappeared without a trace. The King mechanical suit took him away through teleportation, ignoring the spacetime lock in the area.
“Execute the second plan.”
Han Xiao turned around immediately and told the mechanical army to bombard the area, wiping away all possible traces of the fleet. At the same time, he folded and compressed the mechanical army and placed them back in his main body.
He had prepared multiple plans. If he could quickly eliminate Gaud right here on the spot, it would be the best. However, if Gaud had the ability to hold on for an extended period of time, he would find a way to change the battlefield.
Although he had set up many traps, the fourth exploration stage area of the Flickering World was way too boisterous. There were uncertainties everywhere. The longer he took, the more risk he would have to bear. He did not want to spend too much time there to avoid running into someone.
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