by <unknown>
The player market had the most potential, and since he was able to monopolize it at the moment, the profit was simply amazing.
With countless experiences on hand, Han Xiao went ahead to level up his class rank [Mechanic (Trainee)] to Lv. 15!
When his level reached LV 55, he would need to advance in order to continue levelling up. In version 1, the level limit was LV 60, so he was five levels away. However, he was not restricted by the limit in this version. Han Xiao could in fact become the first character in Aquamarine to reach LV 60. Unfortunately, the advancement requirements were a real headache for him.
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[Mechanic (Trainee)] levelled up to Lv. 15 (MAX).
+120 Energy, +1 DEX, +1 END, +4 INT.
Acquired 3 Unassigned Stat Points and 1 Talent Point!
Advancement mission: Create 5 [Admirable] quality machinery with an energy rating no lower than 60.
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Damn, am I so unlucky? Out of so many advancing conditions, how unlucky am I to get the most troublesome one‽
Han Xiao was stunned.
Admirable quality meant a grade higher than blue. Since he started building his machinery, his machinery was about 15% to 20% blue, and only 1% to 2% of his machinery might have reached purple.
A machine could be compared with the same type of machinery by its quality. For instance, there would be a huge difference in the stats of a white grade Foldable Machete compared to a blue grade Foldable Machete. The blue grade would have additional effects too. However, a blue type Machete could not be compared to a white grade Rover Robot.
For example, Cold Weapons, Guns, Grenades, Robots… these weapons were based on templates of the same kind. For example, a good quality razor could be used to shave comfortably; however, it could not be used to stir fry vegetables. Different kinds of equipment have their own uses and their own specialization.
The more high-end a machine was, the harder it would be to improve its quality. The intelligence stat affected the quality, and this was also the core attribute of mechanics. High-level mechanics could easily create high-quality, simple machines.
The requirement of ‘energy rating no lower than 60’ for advancement limited the possibility of him using low-level machinery as a shortcut. He had to create a purple machine that fulfilled the quality requirement.
This type of advancement requirement was considered the most difficult requirement. Normally, when one reached the level limit of an attribute, it would not be easy to build a stable machine of sufficient quality. It was either by luck or by improving his skills and achieving new abilities. No matter which route he took, he would need a lot of time.
The frown between Han Xiao’s brows deepened like a great ravine.
Advancement was difficult. Moreover, he would need to use his experience points to level up his skills and fuse blueprints together. This could be a bottomless pit, especially for fusing the blueprints.
Levelling up by five levels had cost him almost five million EXP. As for the remaining EXP, Han Xiao kept two million for blueprints fusion and the rest on levelling up his skills. He levelled up [Mid-Grade Machinery Affinity] and [Molecular Refining] to the maximum.
Among the skills, Mid-Grade Machinery Affinity was a core skill; hence, the cost was higher. The effect was also naturally more remarkable. Since it affected a machine’s grade, it was useful in completing the advancement task.
Experience come easily but goes quickly too.
Han Xiao let out a deep sigh. As he had spent a huge amount of experiences all at once, he felt a great sense of satisfaction.
Han Xiao had completed his visits to all the novice villages in the Southern Continent. Next, Han Xiao decided to visit the Western Continent. The Nations in the Western Continent were Maple and Ordina. He had stayed in the Southern Continent for too long, and he was finally visiting another continent.
On the way, I can also start on the secret quest. The tragedy of La Potter is set in the Western Continent.
…
Because there was a need to cross the sea, the transport aircraft stopped at one of Hesla port cities’ airports to prepare for the long-distance flight and top up the fuel. This was Antonio’s territory. Han Xiao spent a huge sum of money, almost emptying Antonio’s warehouse, and filled up his aircraft with a lot of materials.
“You are going to the Western Continent?” Antonio held a thick black cigar in his mouth. With his bear paw sized hand, he patted Han Xiao on his shoulder. “A person like you—an assassin—will definitely be blacklisted by many nations. The special agents of Maple and Ordina might find you for afternoon tea. You will have no say over there too. Our power in the Western Continent is limited as well. A piece of advice for you: try not to expose yourself.”
“And so?”
“Be careful.”
Han Xiao laughed and exclaimed in feigned surprise, “Oh, you can actually finish that in one sentence.”
Han Xiao patted Antonio’s strong arm and went up the aircraft. “Don’t worry, I won’t go crazy there.”
Filled with fuel, the aircraft took flight and disappeared into the air.
…
As Han Xiao visited all the novice villages in the Southern Continent, it created a huge discussion on the forum. The novice players from the other three continents were all envious and jealous of the players from the Southern Continent. They wished to meet the Black Phantom, too; however, it was not possible for them to cross over to another continent. As such, they could only watch helplessly as players from the Southern Continents boasted about it on the forum. This made them feel terrible, just like seeing photos of fast food in the middle of the night. Even if you were hungry, you could not eat it.
There was no point being envious, so all the helpless players could do was vent their emotions on the forum.
“Ah, I want Black Phantom!”
“I am suffering from a disease. I will die if I don’t meet Black Phantom.”
“Why are there no characters like Black Phantom in the continent that I got into?”
Players from the Southern Continent started giggling as they thought they were fortunate to have a great birthplace. Looking at players from the other continents grumbling about their lack of luck, the players in the Southern Continent felt a sense of superiority.
Man, luck is also part of power. Not that I’m targeting anyone, but I mean everyone here is trash.
By this point, the players from the Southern Continent all had inflated egos.
Chapter 166. Alien (1) |
“The Black Phantom had gone to the Western Continent? Why is he there?” Bennett was shocked.
“I don’t know. He didn’t say.” Wang Yuan shook his head.
Bennett had no choice but to give Han Xiao a call. He did not answer. As Han Xiao was flying across the ocean, the reception on his phone was bad.
Helpless, Bennett shook his head. Stardragon’s material aid had arrived, and Hesla had loosened a little after some work. The shelter plan was about to be rolled out as a pilot project in the Southern Continent. He was planning to gather the strongest members of various organizations as the first layer of protection for the plan. Black Phantom was third on the list of people he was going to invite. However, before he could even invite him, Han Xiao had already left for the Western Continent.
The location of the first shelter had already been decided. It would be located in a large ruined city in the wild.
Bennett suddenly had an idea. “Maple refused to provide material aid, and that group of bureaucrats are not easing up no matter what we do. Luckily, Black Phantom is going to the Western Continent, so he can talk for me!”
…
The enclosed room did not seem to have a single light source and was separated from the outside world by a thick metal door. Through the darkness, there was only a streak of light peeking through a small opening. Electrolux was sitting in a corner, reading his interface in exasperation. His Esper potential rating w
as Grade A. However, after over 20 days of open beta, when most players had reached LV 8, he was still at LV 1.
The Germinal Organization said they would lock him up for a month, and they meant it. If it was not that Electrolux was reluctant to give up on his high potential Esper ability, he would have changed to a new account. After the members of the club learned of the situation of his account, they had all been very concerned. They told Electrolux to hold on, and they would invest resources into him when the restriction period was over. With that, he was able to persevere and come online every day to wait, hoping for a miracle.
At that moment, the golden metal door started opening slowly, and white light sprayed into the room.
Electrolux looked up and saw a man in white standing by the door. The man’s stared at Electrolux as though he was looking at something precious.
“I want to perform a little test with you.” A man in white smiled freakishly.
…
Cyberlos was joyous.
He was one of the top executives in the Germinal Organization. As a biologist, he had worked on various experiments for Germinal for many years. Before joining them, Cyberlos was a high-level researcher who betrayed Raylen. He was insane, and his mind was always full of crazy ideas. Even as a fellow human, it was impossible to stop his strong urge to dissect other human bodies. He also did not care about principles and would join anyone who was willing to aid him with resources. In the end, he joined the Germinal Organization.
As such, Germinal supported Cyberlos to experiment on his crazy ideas by sponsoring him with materials. He was responsible for Valkyrie, Super Soldier, and Genetic Improvement—all those projects that were totally unethical. There were even other more sinister experiments, and just by mentioning the names, it would make a normal person disgusted and the insane excited. For instance, Cross-Species Hybrid Breeding, Human-Animal Fusion…
Through years of research, Cyberlos had conducted over a hundred experiments and seen thousands of special and gifted human specimens. Among which, Cyberlos was excited about two of these specimens, and both were Espers.
One of them had bone marrow that had amazing healing functions. It could even revive thousands of dead bodies. However, since the souls were absent in these bodies, the bodies would not truly be revived. That was also the first time when Cyberlos discovered the notion of souls. He experimented more, but due to the lack of technology on Aquamarine, he was unable to gather any souls.
The other person had some power that could interfere with destiny. It was also the most incredible thing that Cyberlos had ever witnessed. This person could interfere with the course of an event just by commenting. It was something even more difficult to explain as compared to souls. This special ability could only be used when a person was clear and awake. A test proved that it could not work with hypnotism. This person was locked up around the clock and was made to wear a muzzle, which prevented him from talking. Due to negligence in the past, many scary incidents had occurred, and the most recent incident happened a year ago, when this person commented that a disaster would happen to the Germinal. With that being said, the Germinal Organization had indeed suffered a painful blow.
As for Electrolux, he was the third specimen that Cyberlos was interested in.
Cyberlos re-read and scrutinized the diary.
“Day 1: The subject was sent into the restricted room, monitored around the clock, including using night vision camera monitoring. Fed three times a day at 7am, 11am, and 7pm with no relaxation time given. Subject seemed anxious but has yet to show any after effects from the brainwashing session. Initial observation shows that subject has immunity. Recommended to perform Compliance Test on the subject.
“Day 2: 8am, went through the Compliance Test. Results shown that subject is highly obedient. Passed all the test, and the polygraph does not exhibit any abnormalities. Subject has accepted the new identity from the brainwashing. 11pm, abnormality started showing. Subject has vanished, and no signs of damage were observed in the restricted room. A search was conducted, subject not found.
“Day 4: Subject reappeared in the restricted room, the same location where he disappeared, with no warning. Footage data [Appendix -001]. We controlled the subject immediately and interrogated about the reason behind his disappearance and what he encountered after he disappeared. Subjected seemed confused, and the interrogation was recorded in [Appendix -002]. Increased the monitoring on the subject.
“Day 6: Used hypnotism to check if he was lying, and the subject spoke gibberish. Footage [Appendix -003]. At night, subject vanished again.
“Day 8: Subject reappeared. Interrogated and hypnotized, details [Appendix -004]. At 8pm, surgery was performed to observe the biology, and his physiology seemed normal. Surgery conclusion [Appendix -005].”
…
The observation diary contained observations from 22 days. Some of the vagrants in the Andrea Mainland also appeared to have similar symptoms as Electrolux. As such, this caught the attention of Germinal. They remained quiet and continued to observe secretly.
Immortal, able to resurrect, appear out of nowhere, unknown origin… If it was just one person, there was no reason to worry. However, thousands of people had shown the same symptoms, and this number was still increasing, as though it was spreading like an infectious disease. The leader was concerned and made Cyberlos in charge of conducting various experiments on Electrolux.
Electrolux was pinned down in the middle by the guards and was brought to the surgery theatre. Lying down on the surgery table, he was given the surgery task. The Germinal Organization had brainwashed him. As such, he thought all orders given were compulsory missions and violation would lead to heavy punishments.
Electrolux could only adhere to the instructions, and he was feeling frustrated.
Cyberlos suited up into his surgical gown and started dissecting Electrolux. Electrolux was given anesthesia and was unable to move. All he could do was watch the knife moving about on his body. As he realized he was being dissected, his body system started reacting when the operation started.
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You died.
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Electrolux was struck dumb, and he was revived in the room after ten seconds.
What in the world… Was I dissected and experimented on?
Electrolux froze. He had lost one revive for that week. However, his EXP did not decrease, and that might have been due to him dying under special circumstances.
This was the first time he had encountered such a situation. In the past, when he was playing other virtual online games, NPCs did not care about any special abilities that players possessed, which caused many people complained about it. Players who were more creative had even thought of dissecting these people to study them. He could not believe this was happening in Galaxy.
Cyberlos witnessed the whole procedure where Electrolux vanished and then reappeared again. It happened in a split second, and the blood stains could still be seen on the operation theatre.
“You… No, what kind of creature are you?” Cyberlos’ eyes lit up.
Electrolux suddenly felt like pulling a prank. What will happen if I tell the truth?
Chapter 167. Alien (2) |
“The world you live in is just a game. I am just a player…”
To his shock, Electrolux realized that anything he tried to say became gibberish. He was unwilling to give up trying, but he realized that if he wanted to reveal any information about the real world, the system would change his words.
Cyberlos shook his head. “It is the same as the hypnosis record, all nonsense.”
Electrolux was shocked to find out that NPC could tell the uniqueness of a player. This must have been coded by the developer in an attempt to simulate more realistic characters.
It’s so real. Electrolux was shocked. It made him felt as if the NPC was a real person. Galaxy is such a realistic game.
He finally understood the name for Galaxy 1.0 edition. The
developer wanted to allow the players to become Adventers, to be the first people to experience another realistic world. Therefore, they did not allow the players to reveal truths of the reality in case they ruined the realistic feeling. He then remembered an old online game. There were also two camps of players, and the players from different camps were not allowed to communicate. It seemed to be called the world of the beast.
“It must be like that!” Electrolux exclaimed.
Even if he knew that the reactions that NPCs gave to the players were simulated, he was very impressed. Aside from his responsibilities as a professional player, Electrolux had formed great interest in Galaxy. He was even anticipating what would happen next. There would be more and more players, how would these NPCs react?
The guards brought Electrolux back, and Cyberlos stayed in the laboratory and collected blood traces on the operating table. The results of the test were so different from ordinary people, causing his eyes to flicker with curiosity.
“Let’s say this occurrence is the appearance of an alien phenomenon. But why is this phenomenon occurring here, and why has it spread? Most of the aliens appear out of thin air, and there are no database records, unless there is a birth of a new civilization? Could there be a projection from another intelligent species?”
Cyberlos turned on his computer and brought up a highly confidential file. He verified using his fingerprint, his iris, and a password, which was changed on a daily basis, before opening a document—The Universal Treaty (7th revised edition). Aquamarine came into contact with the Kedolas civilization and had attained more knowledge. The Germinal Organization had a copy of this treaty as well.
It was stated on the treaty that a projection from a high-level civilization would occasionally interfere with a low-level civilization. The special characteristics of not dying was similar to the description of the projection technique on the treaty. If this was true, this would be the invasion of an advanced civilization. No, for the entity to invade, it would not be so troublesome. A logical explanation would be Aquamarine had become a testing ground for a certain civilization. Cyberlos was not angry at all. In fact, he was very excited by the unexpected phenomenon.