The Legendary Mechanic

by <unknown>

  …

  Star Zone 4, Fawn—Planet Number 122—was a planet without an owner or civilization. The Silvers that sent out the missions were camping there. Since their call for aid, numerous mercenary spaceships had arrived on this lifeless planet, and all sorts of spaceships surrounded the middle and shaped a base. In the heart of it was the Silvers’ traveling spaceship.

  Gashley’s spaceship landed slowly, and Han Xiao and the others swarmed out to look around.

  The base was filled with voices—most of them were mercenary groups. The Silvers’ mission had attracted many renowned mercenaries in the Shattered Star Ring.

  Gashley brought the others toward the main team. They arrived below an even larger spaceship, and about a hundred Sky Ring mercenaries were gathered here. Han Xiao looked up—this spaceship had the Sky Ring symbol on it, too.

  “You’re finally here.” A tall woman wearing hooded robe walked over.

  It was the Three-Ring Level cadre [Ice Sorcerer], original name Goa, leader of the Sky Ring for this mission. She had light blue long hair, a cold nature, and a void-like voice, just like ice. This was a Mage—although Han Xiao could not feel the magic flowing in her, he could feel the coldness from her.

  Seems like she’s an ice element Mage, Han Xiao thought.

  Just like the Mechanic class, the Mage class also had complicated knowledge and a variety of styles. Ice mages were hard to deal with, and they had all sorts of annoying skills like slow, freeze, and stiffen.

  Goa glanced at Gashley. She saw Han Xiao and the others beside and asked with a frown, “Who are they?”

  “Black Star Mercenary Group. We just made a partnership agreement, so they’re here to help,” Gashley said.

  “Never heard of them before.” Goa shook her head.

  Han Xiao was not bothered. Black Star Mercenary Group’s name was limited to Juberly Hub; it was far from being famous. Compared to Sky Ring, his mercenary group was not noticeable at all.

  Goa thought that they were just a bunch of sidekicks, but suddenly, she felt a sense of danger. The senses of a mage reminded her that she had met someone strong, only then did she start to seriously size Han Xiao and the others up. She noticed that two of them had very active cell energy in them.

  “Two grade B Supers…” Goa’s expression changed a little. Although grade B Supers were rather common, they were not everywhere. Even in Sky Ring, grade B Supers were at least Three-Ring Level cadres, and this mercenary group with only dozens of members had two grade B Supers; the ratio was very high.

  She was the only grade B in this team, their high-level combat power was not even as high as this small mercenary group.

  Goa stopped looking at them and said, “Our employer has hired many mercenaries—they’re not short of combat power. However, the situation right now is not very good… Since everyone is here, let’s head over there first. We’ll speak on the way.”

  They walked to the Silver’s ship, and Goa explained the current situation.

  This Silver had spent a large sum to hire mercenaries to save his captured friends—he was very generous indeed, but the mercenaries still had yet to start. They were stuck at an awkward stage—no one knew the enemies’ location! The scavengers that had attacked the Silvers were nowhere to be found, so no matter how many mercenaries gathered, there was nowhere to start.

  Such intelligence lacking missions were very troublesome. The mercenaries used various detection methods, but that group of scavengers had turned on information disruption and could not be located. They did not leave many traces during their crime either. Although they knew that the scavengers would be fencing, they did not know where they would be going to.

  If they were further delayed, the people of his race would be sold already. The surviving Silver was very anxious, and he released new requirements. If anyone could provide effective location information, he would give a generous bonus.

  “Other than us, Blades and Purple Gold are here, too. Purple Gold went to find a fortune teller, so the enemies’ location might be discovered,” Goa said.

  The Blades Army and the Purple Gold Army, two large mercenary armies as large as Sky Ring, were also active in the Shattered Star Ring. The rewards for this mission were divided into two parts, the base reward and bonus reward. The base reward was the hiring fee, and the mercenaries that saved the captives would be given a bonus that was multiple times the base reward. Therefore, in these missions, the relationship between the mercenaries was not only comrades but competitors as well.

  Formal mercenaries competed with dignity—they would not burden each other on purpose, or their reputation would be damaged.

  Usually, when the enemy could not be located and there were no better detection devices, mysterious foreseeing methods might have an unexpected good result. These abilities required very special talents and strict rules, so they were rare.

  The players could not awaken foreseeing type powers. Even if they could learn fortune telling in the Mage class, they would only receive very little information when they used it, so it had a lot of limitations.

  The people met the Blades’ team halfway, and they walked with each other. Goa and the leader of Blades chatted casually as they led the way.

  Both large mercenary groups had their own uniforms. They chatted with the people they knew, and Han Xiao and the others were conspicuous in the middle of these two groups of people, as those around them sized up this unknown mercenary group.

  “Who are they?”

  “Seems like Sky Ring’s help, think they’re called something like Black Star Mercenary Group. Small group, not well known.”

  “Here to watch probably.”

  The mercenaries chatted among themselves, and the players felt uncomfortable. They felt like they did not fit into this crowd at all.

  On the way, Han Xiao was pondering on what to do next. He did not know if Goa had plans to hire him, but he did not want to come for nothing. Since they were already there, he did not want to return empty handed.

  Many renowned mercenaries of the Shattered Star Ring have gathered here on this planet. I came too late, and I have yet to make a name for myself. It looks like I can’t play a part here.

  This was an event that he had not come into contact before, so he had to improvise.

  Just as he was thinking, they came to the middle of the base. The Silver appeared in their sights—they had snow white skin, long and cute tentacles above their heads, and stunning clothes made of unknown material that was soft and smooth, and bottom half of the face was covered by an air filtration mask.

  This was the first time that the players had seen a ‘Universe Royalty’. They looked here and there and did not realize what was so ‘royal’ about them. It felt no different from other weird looking galactic races.

  “If a civilization is strong and ancient enough, the race ruling it will, of course, be royalty. The others will look up to their hobbies as a royal standard. This is an issue regarding societal positions, nothing much to do with their physique.” Han Xiao patted Herlous on his shoulder.

  “What did you pat me for?” Herlous rolled his eyes. About this topic, the Sunil clearly did not want to talk to you about it.

  The Silver spaceship captain was negotiating with the mercenaries, and he said, “I hope you can quickly set off to save my friends. It’s been delayed for too long; if you people continue to slack, you will not receive any reward.”

  “We don’t know the enemies’ location. All detective and tracking methods are no use, and you also did not give us any valuable intel. Thus, we can only wait temporarily. However, do not worry, our friends have already gone to invite a fortune teller. As long as you keep your promise and give the intel provider the bonus reward, I believe that there will soon be a result,” a mercenary said.

  “You people of Shattered Star Ring are really greedy and primitive,” the Silver spaceship captain complained. “I dislike this place. No matter what, I just want results—money is not a prob
lem.”

  Whoosh!

  The wind rolled up the sand, and another spaceship had landed. The Purple Gold Army’s symbol was printed on its body. The crowd split apart, and Purple Gold Army’s team walked down the ship and approached. Beside the leader was a sorcery fortune teller carrying a crystal ball, also a member of the Purple Gold Army, hurrying over from galaxies away for this mission.

  Chapter 364. Floating Dragon Island |

  The fortune teller held onto the magical crystal ball and mumbled, while the Silvers and the mercenaries watched and exchanged looks.

  “Will fortune-telling even work?” Herlous asked. A target that all kinds of detection devices could not find, and a fortune teller could just lock onto it like that? Sunil was a technological civilization, so they had very limited knowledge of sorcery. They had only heard about it and never understood how it worked, so it was normal to be doubtful.

  Han Xiao touched his chin. “That depends, there are many strange things in the universe. Something that technology devices can’t do, sorcery can, and vice versa. Of course, as they both improve, the different systems will gradually have more similarities, and it all leads to the same place. The fortune telling of the Mage class is quite useful.”

  “Can’t you use your foreseeing ability?” Herlous suddenly remembered that there was a foreseer standing right beside him.

  “Mine is passive, passive…” Han Xiao dry coughed and gave a logical explanation.

  About ten minutes into the mumbling, a blurred image appeared on the magical crystal ball, and the fortune teller stopped chanting. The fortune teller stared at the crystal for a while, then rubbed his eyes and said unsurely, “I saw a Void Dragon race…”

  The crowd was stunned.

  Void Dragon race?

  What are you talking about‽

  The clarity of the fortune telling results depended on the number of traces. Most of the time it would be ambiguous, but it would definitely be related to the truth. The fortune teller said, “I can only see this result, do you have any leads?”

  The mercenaries surrounded the crystal ball and discussed, while Goa frowned and said suddenly, “Could it be… Floating Dragon Island?”

  The crowd stopped their discussion instantly when they heard this. It was like someone pressed the mute button, and the mercenaries quietened down and exchanged looks. A tint of horror even appeared on their faces.

  “Very possible… if there’s any organization in the Shattered Star Ring unafraid of revenge, Floating Dragon Island is one of them.”

  Maple Moon noticed how stiff the people were. She tugged on Han Xiao’s sleeve and asked curiously, “What kind of place is that?”

  Han Xiao squinted his eyes and said, “Wanted criminals can’t get supplies from lawful civilization’s planets, but some neutral territories dare to take in galactic pirates, scavengers, and other criminals. Floating Dragon Island is one such neutral territory.”

  “Then isn’t that a gathering ground of criminals? Why don’t these civilizations just get rid of all of them at once?” Bun-Hit-Dog cut in.

  “Not to pursue one’s past sins in neutral territories, this is the unspoken rules between the civilizations in Shattered Star Ring because of one and only one reason—these long-lasting neutral territories all have a strong ruler.” Han Xiao seemed to have remembered something interesting. The edges of his lips rose up as he said, “The ruler of Floating Dragon Island… is someone beyond Calamity Grade!”

  Beyond Calamity Grade… which means higher than grade A‽

  The players’ faces changed. They finally understood why these mercenaries all had such grave expressions.

  They knew absolutely nothing of the strong people of this grade, but Han Xiao knew very clearly.

  If grade A was a calamity at a planet-scale, above grade A was a whole new level, more than enough to become the king of an area through the galaxy. Not many civilizations wanted to mess with someone of this level. For example, at her peak, Hila could reap the souls of every life on an entire planet in seconds, making an entire planet deadly silent!

  When the strength of a single being reached such a level, there were not many rules that could restrict them anymore. Some galactic civilizations could not do anything to them even if they used the power of their entire race. It was horrifying indeed…

  Luckily, there were few monsters at this level even throughout the entire universe. In the Shattered Star Ring, there were only four known beings beyond grade A, fearsomely famous and lonely.

  The ruler of Floating Dragon Island was one of them, and Han Xiao happened to be very familiar with that guy. In his previous life, the Great Mechanic Han had once come into contact with that guy due to a mission.

  Void Dragons were galactic beings, and their bodies were tens of thousands of meters long. They lived in the universe, and the dark energy everywhere to them was like air to humans and water to fish. The bodies of Void Dragons contained special powers, and when they died, their flesh would turn into ice shards and ash, leaving an enormous skeleton floating in the universe, turning into a comet.

  When they reached close to the end of their life expectancy, the Void Dragon race would wait for its death beside the corpse of one of its race, hence forming a graveyard in the form of comets. Floating Dragon Island was a large graveyard. It was rumored to have twenty-four sets of Void Dragon skeletons, captured by its current ruler then embedded into the surface of an empty planet, the ruler then used their great strength to tear away a part of the land, equipping it with all kinds of anti-gravitational, ecological maintenance devices, maintaining its galactic voyage, turning into the Floating Dragon Island it was now.

  Back then, when Han Xiao knew about this, other than being shocked his biggest conclusion was… that dragon was damn rich!

  The people contemplated. According to the fortune telling results, the scavengers were most likely going to fence their goods on Floating Dragon Island, so many mercenaries wanted to back away.

  “Sorry, I’m quitting this mission.” The captain of one of the middle size mercenary groups made the decision after long consideration. With him as the first, more mercenaries followed and left. Spaceships took off one after another and disappeared.

  Floating Dragon Island was a gathering ground for criminals, an extremely dangerous place that place did not really welcome formal mercenaries. They might just bump into their enemy there. Furthermore, saving someone in that kind of place… if they broke the rules accidentally and enraged the ruler, it would be a problem to even make it out alive. Most of the mercenaries wimped out.

  The Silver was angry and shocked. The action of these mercenaries going back on their word made them furious.

  Only Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold were left. These three groups had a strong background—at least the criminals in Floating Dragon Island would not dare to touch them. It was certainly different to have the confidence since they had relationship and background.

  Here comes the chance! Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. The Silver would definitely be in shortage of manpower, so he stood out of the crowd and said with a smile, “Do you still need mercenaries?”

  The three large mercenary groups looked over. The Silver spaceship captain nodded immediately—it was really a timely offer. These renowned mercenaries were just full of promises to save the captives moments ago, yet they all wimped when they heard the location. What good did their accumulated good name do? They did not even match up to this uninvited mercenary group!

  Goa frowned and said, “Floating Dragon Island is filled with brutes, pirates, and scavengers everywhere. It’s very dangerous, and even though you’re our partner, Sky Ring’s name cannot protect you. If you get killed, it will be for nothing. That place is too dangerous for you guys, so it’s best you reconsider.”

  From what they saw, eighty percent of this small mercenary group’s confidence to do this mission was because they were Sky Ring’s partner, but she felt that she had to make things clear.
<
br />   If a direct member was killed, Sky Ring would take revenge, so the brutes would consider before they did anything. However, although partners could act alongside them, if they were killed, Sky Ring would not stand up for them. That was the difference.

  “No worries, my people are not afraid of danger.” Han Xiao smiled, and his impression of this female mage became better. They clearly could just hire them as combat power, yet she actively explained the dangers involved—although she seemed cold, she was actually quite kind.

  Chapter 365. Don't Wimp, Just Do It |

  This time, Gashley explained softly, “There’s no need to worry, all of Black Star’s people can revive.”

  “What‽” Goa was shocked. She did not know about Han Xiao’s team previously. Only after she listened to Gashley’s introduction did she understand the uniqueness of Black Star Mercenary Group. “A group of undying, no wonder they have the right to become Sky Ring’s partner…”

  She did not continue her attempt to persuade Han Xiao anymore.

  Han Xiao suddenly had an idea, and he said, “We only know that Floating Dragon Island is the location, but we don’t know the scavengers’ identity, nor do we know who they’re dealing with. It would still be finding a needle in a haystack—do you have any other ways?”

  The Purple Gold Army fortune teller shook his head, saying that his fortune telling could not divine such details.

  Han Xiao was relieved. He coughed and started acting. “I’m a foreseer, too, and I felt something just now and noticed some new clues.”

  The people were surprised, and they looked over.

  Han Xiao remembered that he still had the Character Summon Card of Destiny’s Child, and there were five more usages, so he could just give it a try. He asked, “If I can provide reliable intel, is there any other reward?”

  The Silver spaceship captain nodded and said, “Of course there is.”