by <unknown>
The attributes increased by eight to twelve percent every enhancement. It was low-cost, high profit, and Frenzied Sword vouched for it. The others thought that it was a good deal and followed. After the Sunil mission, the players all had more than 10,000 Enas, and it was burning a hole in their pockets.
Han Xiao had left plenty of room for enhancements when he made the armor—it had to be enhanced at least seven times to reach the limit of his ability. The enhancement business brought made him 23,000 Enas, which meant on average, the fifty plus players all enhanced their armor at least three times!
Han Xiao made 40,000 from selling the armor and 23,000 from enhancing them. Now with more than 67,000 Enas in his account, he more than enough to buy knowledges.
He was having a great time selling, while Herlous was speechless. He found Han Xiao and said with surprise, “How do you know our single unit armor technology?”
He had built Sunil’s armor, which would definitely make Herlous question him. Han Xiao laughed and said, “I derived the blueprint during battlefield repairs. Aren’t I very skilled?”
Herlous’ face twitched. Han Xiao had stolen Sunil’s technology, yet he had asked a Sunil to compliment his skill. Even his Battleship Slicing Blade could not cut through skin this thick!
Anyway, with Sunil at its current state, there was no point dwelling on this. Herlous still had to stay with Han Xiao, so he did not care about it. Furthermore, it was not any kind of rare technology—most civilizations had basic single unit armor, just with different styles.
…
In the Area Exchange Center of Juberly Hub, Han Xiao was looking to buy some knowledge.
Having finally made enough money, he was about the complete the class advancement that he had been stuck on for so long. It went without saying, he was quite excited.
The Colton Star Cluster area only had eight Mechanic class advancement knowledges, and Han Xiao glanced through and swiftly chose two.
[Heavy Machine Modification], selling at 25,000!
[Advanced Electromagnetism], selling at 37,000!
_____________
Learning… Successfully learned! You have learned [Heavy Machine Modification]!
Learning… Successfully learned! You have learned [Advanced Electromagnetism]!
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Class Advancement Requirements: LV 80, 400 INT, learned 5 Mechanic Class Advancement Knowledges
Class Advancement Succeed!
LV 80 Class Advancement Mission completion detected!
Class Advancement Succeed! END Attribute Boost enhanced. 1 END = 40 Max Health = 50 Max Stamina!
You have received a new class, [Data Mechanic LV 1].
+100 Energy, +3 DEX, +2 END, +4 INT
You have received 5 Free Attribute Points.
You have received 1 Potential Point.
You have acquired skill [Blueprint Refinement]!
You have acquired skill [High Concentration Refining]!
You have acquired skill [Magnetic Vision—Data Flow]!
You have acquired talent [Machinery Analytical Comprehension]!
_____________
The energy in his body was cheering. His class advancement made Han Xiao feel like he had broken through some kind of shackle. His vision became black, and it felt like hours had passed. However, it was actually only half a second. His vision then recovered, but it was very different with before—he could sense much tinier things.
Every time his strength increased, he felt like he had been reborn.
Data Mechanic was also called Experienced Mechanic. His understanding of machinery became even better. The Machinery Affinity at this period would make a huge leap, and among the four new abilities that he had just received, [Magnetic Vision—Data Flow] and [Machinery Analytical Comprehension] were both able to largely increase Machinery Affinity.
Machinery Affinity was a key attribute of the Mechanic, representing the speed, attributes, and power of building and using machinery. [Magnetic Vision—Data Flow] was an active skill, and after activating it, he would enter a special magnetic vision. His magnetic property energy would become his extended senses, revealing the details of the machinery with a magnetic field.
Han Xiao immediately leveled up this skill to Lv.10. Its effect was a twenty-five to fifty percent increase in Machinery Affinity with a twenty energy cost per minute. The percentage increase changed randomly every minute. As its cost was very low, this skill could be activated almost continuously. Unlike [Surging Mechanical Force], this skill could be used in the building process too.
[Machinery Analytical Comprehension] was a passive talent, increasing machinery affinity directly according to Intelligence. Its effect was very powerful—every ten Intelligence increased machinery affinity by one percent. Han Xiao had more than four hundred Intelligence at this moment. This was a key ability for the current stage, increasing the benefit of the Intelligence attribute toward Mechanics. For the foreseeable future, this would be a core ability.
[High Concentration Refining] was the upgraded version of [Basic Refining]. It increased the strength of the raw materials, a very important effect. [Blueprint Refinement] was a passive skill, and it had a chance to be triggered during equipment building. That equipment’s blueprint level would temporarily increase by at most three levels, increasing the end product’s attributes. There was also a chance to ‘crit’ during the building process, resulting in an equipment of a higher grade. The chance depended on the user’s Intelligence and Luck.
Han Xiao still had 2,500,000,000 experience, so he immediately leveled up all those skills and talents to the max level, using close to 50,000,000 at once. Then, Han Xiao also increased his main class to the max level, LV 15.
After LV 80, the experience to level up multiplied. One level required tens of millions of experience, so leveling up fifteen levels at once cost him 900,000,000 experience. Yet, he did not even blink.
_____________
[Data Mechanic] leveled up to LV 15 (max).
+240 Energy, +3 DEX, +2 END, +4 INT
You have received 5 Free Attribute Points.
You have received 1 Potential Point.
_____________
From LV 80 to LV 95 in a flash! It even exceeded the max player level allowed in Version 2.0!
Han Xiao’s advantages of being ahead were even more enlarged.
Energy filled his body. If it had been a stream before, it was now a wide river!
Han Xiao took a deep breath and felt the strength of his body. Reveling in the raging energy within him, he opened the interface, spending all the Free Attribute points in Intelligence. Then, he observed his attributes go through astonishing changes.
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Level: 95
Main Class: Mechanic
Attributes: 121 STR, 244 DEX, 214 END, 570 INT, 21 MYS, 14 CHA, 1 LUK
Free Attribute Points: 0
Potential Points: 82
Health: 13,057
Stamina: 15,420
Energy: 5,210 (LV 9)
Power Level: 5,377 Ona
Grade: B
[You’re a strong enough Super, a pillar level even in the galaxy. With this level of strength, you’re superior to most beings.]
_____________
I became grade B! Han Xiao smiled. 5,000 increase in just max health and a new attribute boost level when my energy reached 5,000. My attributes should be thirty to forty percent higher than before!
Finally, he was grade B. He could now protect himself to a certain level even in the galaxy, his combat power was far beyond grade C, and he had two new class advancement knowledges. His combat style could be improved once more!
Chapter 357. Breaking News, Universe Royalty's Reward |
The prerequisite of the Sunil NCO Class armor had been met, and Han Xiao could reverse engineer the armor and draw up the blueprint. He did not want to sell it to the players at the moment. After all, he had just finished selling the Enlistee Class armor, and releasing the n
ew armor would affect the rewarding buff from the Enlistee Class armor. So, he chose to wait for a while.
I have five class advancement knowledge in my hands right now. With all these new blueprints, I can finally upgrade by equipment… Han Xiao stroke his chin and fell into deep thought. He currently had four battle styles: the core Amphiptere, Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades and Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves for close combat, Sonic Sphere for mid-range combat, and Wrath of Garrett while kiting for long range combat. All four modes provided well-rounded combat abilities for Han Xiao.
[Heavy Machine Modification] gave him the skill to create large scale machinery, and [Advanced Electromagnetism] could help Han Xiao create more stable weapons running on electromagnetic force. Electromagnetic weapons were the next stage for normal weapons, and they were more powerful compared to weapons running on gunpowder. These two knowledges were extremely important, and Han Xiao had to upgrade them sooner or later. Thus, he used sixteen potential points to max out both knowledges.
If he wanted to update his combat styles, then his close combat weapons were outdated. Luckily, he could use these new knowledges to build bigger and badder toys. For mid-range weapons, he just had to change his gunpowder weapons into Electromagnetic weapons. The Ghost sniper rifle had always been incomplete, and the Advanced Electromagnetism was the key to completion.
For Amphiptere, since there was nothing that could drastically revolutionize the armor, Han Xiao only had plans to just add a few new functions and attachable charms. He cracked his knuckles and got to work.
Not only was he going to renew his combat styles, he also had the power to create large machinery. Han Xiao planned to create a vehicle on the ground to travel with the entire faction. As soon as he thought of this idea, one word popped out in his head…
Genius!
Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
The vehicle can also be the symbol of this mercenary group, which can raise the interests of the players as it shows that our group is growing together. If I can use the Advanced Electromagnetism to improve this heavy machinery, then isn’t it just a simpler version of an Electromagnetic Rail Cannon‽ A ground vehicle is the best out of all other vehicles!
He dove straight into his work. He bought plenty of spare parts and locked himself in the tuning room. Before he went in, he told the players to rest well in the Hub.
The crowd did not have any objections. They had changed compared to when they first arrived in space. The players understood the benefits that they would get if they listened to Han Xiao—even Li Ge stayed put in the Hub Center. The players talked and interacted with travelers from different races. Getting to know more about civilization was an entertaining experience. Although the professional players were materialistic and focused on results, there were quite a lot of players like Maple Moon who enjoyed stories, and they were attracted to the fascination of the galaxy.
During the resting time, Bun-Hit-Dog started to make his second episode of the Black Star Series. He continued with his TV show editing style. Not only Planet Aquamarine, audiences all over the galaxy could not wait for the second episode. As soon as the show was released, hundreds of thousands of viewers joined in an instant.
The show continued from the last episode. It started off from the first mission of the Mercenary Group, and the show told the tragic story of Sunil and the scenes from the Catastrophe. The players who did not step into the galaxy were sucked into the narrative as if they were there. The mercenary group was the eyes of millions of viewers. Through the experiences of the journey, the audiences got to know more about the galaxy along with the mercenary group, so they already had a deep bond with the group.
The episode continued until the end of the Catastrophe. The mercenary group gained a new member along the way named Herlous, as if he was a main character in a TV show. This person instantly grabbed the attention of the audience. Bun-Hit-Dog showed the new items in the Faction stop while the narrator explained the potential growth of this faction. The audience had a lot of expectations for the future adventures of the mercenary group, and at the same time, they became even more jealous of the players that had joined Han Xiao.
Han Xiao also watched the show and was satisfied with Bun-Hit-Dog’s work. The show could slowly be integrated into people’s lives and create an emotional bond with the audience.
…
In the Hub Center’s Battle Simulation Room, Herlous swung his Battleship Slicing Blade and tore the simulated beasts into pieces. He had not fought in a long time, so he came back to the room and to practice every day. Because Han Xiao was drowned in his building and creation, he did not update the mercenaries’ information. So, in Herlous’ mind, he was still the only Class B Supers in the group. Thus, he felt a huge responsibility on his shoulder and practiced diligently.
After battling for a few hours, all the simulations disappeared. The battlefield filled with corpses turned back into an empty white room. Herlous withdrew his sword, wiped his sweat from his forehead, and headed out the room. At this time, Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, and King Admiral walked out from the gravity room on the side. They saw Herlous and hurriedly walked up to him.
“So, you guys are training, too.” Herlous nodded at the members. Over the past few days, the players had been nice to him and were full of passion. He felt that he was getting along with the team. Although, Herlous was out weirded out by their names. It seemed that different cultures had different ways of naming. He thought that it was the culture of Han Xiao’s planet.
He was just wondering why these players could not die. Of course, the players could not tell the truth, so Herlous just thought that it was an Esper power in this group.
“Can you teach us some battle techniques?” Hao Tian asked.
In the eyes of the players, Herlous was an unopened chest. They tried to activate some certain events such as learning a new skill. However, Herlous did not have the ability to pass down skills, so all he could do was offer a few pointers. However, under his teaching, the players’ close combat skills would significantly improve. One would need some luck to activate the event, which mostly depended on Herlous’ mood. However, the players would still try and ask once in a while.
Herlous felt important after being in this team. Suddenly, a local news agency building sounded an emergency alarm.
“… Breaking news. A team of Silvers were attacked by scavengers during their travel in the Shattered Star Ring. Some of them were kidnapped. From our intel, the point of attack was Colton Star Cluster, Fawn Galaxy, Star Zone 4. The size of the scavenger pack is unknown. The escaped Silvers are now hiring mercenary groups to save the remaining Silvers with a high reward…”
This information got Herlous’ attention. The Silvers? This race was from the Silver Spirits Sea that was far away. It was the race of Universe Royalty!
Some powerful and advanced civilizations were called the Universe Royalty. The three Universal Civilization that colonized the universe were of course the Universal Royalty. The Silvers were not on that level yet, but it was a long-lasting advanced civilization, and they also had a special position in the universe. At the same time, this Universe Royalty was highly demanded in the slave market, so they were the perfect prey for the scavengers.
The Silvers were rich, so the reward would undoubtedly be insanely high. Herlous, who was short on cash, was slightly moved. He had to try and convince Black Star to seize this opportunity to earn free money.
The area under the rule of Godora was the Garton Galaxy. The Fawn Galaxy was next to Garton, but it was not as large as Garton. A few civilizations that were slightly weaker than Godora had control over different Star Zones, but conflicts often occurred on the borders. Although they were no actual wars, there was a lot of chaos, and no one had power over those areas.
Fawn Galaxy’s Star Zone 4 was right on top of the borders, where it was under no one’s jurisdiction. The neighboring civilization ignored the calls of help from the Silvers, so they had to pay high
rewards to search for mercenaries to help.
Chapter 358. New Gear, New Objectives |
“Silvers?”
Han Xiao received Herlous’ message while in the machinery repair room and was shocked. He quickly turned off the humming equipment around him, and the room instantly quieted down. The smell of red-hot metal drifted through the room.
He knew that the Silvers were an advanced civilization that hailed from a prosperous region of space in the Silver Spirits Sea. They were a member of the Federation of Light along with many other advanced civilizations. They minded their own business, and their region of space was very safe, completely unlike the precarious living environment of the Shattered Star Ring.
The Silvers had a very long history. This kind of space royalty rarely visited a place like the Shattered Star Ring. Yet, they were… travelling there? Han Xiao honestly did not know what tourist attraction in the Shattered Star Ring could have attracted such high-end folks. What would these people, born in the magnificence of their planet-sprawling cities, want to see in the broken streets of the Shattered Star Ring? The danger level there was ten out of ten. Did this group of Silvers travel there for the thrill?
Having their companions kidnapped to become slaves was indeed thrilling.
The Silvers’ reproductive capability left much to be desired, so they did not have a very large population. However, they were a species that had evolved to a very high level. To many forces, highly evolved species’ DNA was like a treasure cove, filled with the secrets of the species’ powerful and ancient bloodline. One of the common things of these space royalties was that they were very rare. The Silvers could be used to net an astronomically high price on the slave market, and this was probably why the scavengers had been willing to take the risk.