by <unknown>
Retreat or continue? Ember hesitated. This time, he suddenly saw Han Xiao look up at the sky that was blocked by the cell he had created, with mockery on his face.
Before they could react, violent explosions blasted outside the cell. The walls trembled, and cracks appeared.
Boom!
( NovelFull ) The wall above their head suddenly burst into pieces as a searchlight pierced in. Numerous aircrafts hovered above in the sky, aiming their laser cannons at DarkStar’s people.
“Drop your weapons and surrender immediately!” Herlous yelled through the speaker.
The faces of the DarkStar warriors changed.
“Sh*t, the guards are here. The ambush only lasted a few minutes, and we just checked there were no patrols nearby. Did a team of guards just happen to pass by? Lucky him!”
Less than ten minutes had passed since the start of the ambush to the end of the battle. As the speed and reaction of Supers grew stronger, the number of actions that they could complete in a second became higher as well. During the battle, time would feel much slower in their senses, and every second would feel ten or even a hundred times slower. Opponents of the same level could make use of every small detail during the battle and exchange hits at a very high speed. However, in the eyes of ordinary people, they could only see shadows and phantoms.
“It isn’t luck. The people on the aircraft are all Black Star’s subordinates. He must’ve called for backup!”
“How did he get through the signal disruption‽” someone exclaimed with disbelief.
Ember stared at Han Xiao and said in a deep voice, “I admit I underestimated you this time. Black Star, I’ll remember your name. Retreat!”
Just as he finished his sentence, the cell collapsed in an instant and turned into black dust all over the place, obstructing signal detectors and vision.
This moment, Ember took out a metal rod. He held onto both ends and twisted, activating the device. A blue dot of light appeared in the middle, its light covering three meters. The DarkStar warriors quickly walked into the area covered in blue light. Then, Ember twisted the metal rod once again right after. The blue dot contracted and turned into a string of flashes. The people and the dust inside the area disappeared without a trace.
When the dust dispersed, Han Xiao wiped off the dust on his face and walked over to the place where Ember and the others disappeared from. He squatted down and swept away the dust on the floor, uncovering a circle mark on the ground.
“Directional Short Distance Teleporter, leaves almost no trace behind… We can’t chase them.” Han Xiao shook his head, a little helpless. Compared to the others, DarkStar’s technology was rather ahead of its time, at least very ahead of him at this moment.
( NovelFull ) The aircrafts circled around and did not find anything. They landed, and Han Xiao gave them the mission completion reward.
The backup forced Ember to retreat and made DarkStar’s plan to kidnap him fail. However, Han Xiao could not be glad about it. Ember’s failure would definitely make DarkStar pay more attention to him. He had showcased quite a number of his abilities, so he could not keep a low profile anymore.
With the first attack, there was most likely going to be a second one. Han Xiao did not have enough power currently to face such a large organization, and his career as a mercenary group would be affected as well.
Looking back, it was all because the job that they had been hired to do that caused them to coincidentally meet with DarkStar’s conspiracy. As long as they were going to save the Silvers, whether he had the Secret Message Bead or not, he would definitely attract DarkStar’s attention in the end. He had no idea DarkStar was involved in this in the start. Anyway, there was no way to make time go backward. At least he now knew DarkStar’s target and had the key item—the Secret Message Bead—in his hands. Not only did he successfully make Ember retreat, he also successfully hid the truth of him knowing about the Secret Message Bead. He was still not exposed.
It’s better not to give the Secret Message Bead to DarkStar; it’s too risky. DarkStar’s way of doing things is very merciless, so exposing too much would put me in danger,Han Xiao thought.
Herlous walked behind him and asked with concern, “Are you okay?”
“Not hurt much, you guys arrived right on time.” Han Xiao waved his hand.
It was the players who had taken the initiative to request reinforcements this time. Herlous had been doubtful at first, and now he had confirmed that Han Xiao and these subordinates of his had some sort of telepathy.
“Who were these enemies? Why did they ambush you?”
“They’re the brutes that attacked the slave market. I recognized the power of one of them, they probably want revenge,” Han Xiao said casually. He turned and walked to Aroshia, then helped her up.
Aroshia shook her head, signally that she was not hurt.
Han Xiao contemplated and said, “There’s a very high energy reaction inside your body, but you don’t know how to use it.”
He had seen Aroshia firing earlier and saw that Ember kept her under control in an instant—she was of no help at all. If Aroshia could fight when they were ambushed, he would not have ended up fighting alone.
Han Xiao was not an irresponsible person; it was impossible for him to abandon her once the mission was complete. Since he had taken Aroshia away, she had to join the mercenary group. He did not need someone who was a burden, and Aroshia had a lot of potential—she was worth cultivating. If she became a Super, at least she would not be a burden, and she might even be helpful.
“There’s energy in my body?” Aroshia looked down and pressed on her heart. “Really?”
“You definitely have the talent to become a Super. I can teach you to realize your potential and become a Super so that your talent will not be wasted,” Han Xiao said.
( NovelFull ) “You want me to learn the Super knowledges?”
Han Xiao shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know who you were before, but since you lost your memories, you need to learn again. Maybe you were a very strong Super before—you might improve at an unbelievable speed.”
“There’s one thing I never said,” Aroshia said slowly, “I apparently am some sort of Space Wonder. You can’t bring me away.”
Han Xiao was stunned in place.
“They said that I won’t really die. I will revive after I die and go back to the initial amnesia state, losing the memory of everything before I died. I remember I have been ‘alive’ for three years this time, and I was sold five times. Each time, after six days, I returned to that cell. No matter how far I am, it will only be an instant. No one can bring me away.”
Aroshia’s earliest memory was the moment she opened her eyes in the cell. Her origin and her existence were both a mystery. Everything before that moment was blank. However, this time, her ‘life’ had lasted three years, and she had the short memory of these three years. She had realized how special she was long ago, but her life form was very unique—she did not have any physical desire or spiritual need. She did not need to consume food and hardly had any curiosity; it was like nothing mattered to her.
Although her knowledge of the world was a piece of blank paper, she was unlike an innocent child. On the contrary, she had very strong thinking capabilities.
Horlaide had not been completely honest back then—Han Xiao did not know about Aroshia’s secret. Now he realized that Horlaide had been promoting her because he knew that she would be back in the end, and he was using that as a scam. Han Xiao was speechless.
“You can’t control this power?” Han Xiao said with surprise.
Aroshia shook her head. “No.”
Hearing this, Han Xiao was more interested. Aroshia had self-awareness but was trapped in the cell by a mysterious power, and this was not her choice. If this was a Space Wonder, then there was one question. Was Aroshia the Space Wonder?
Could it be possible that she was originally an independent life form and not part of the wonder, and i
t was a coincidence that she became the wonder? Which would mean that Aroshia’s amnesia, her unique life form, her mind of close to completely no desire… all of this could be given by the wonder. Then what was this wonder? Was it something without a physical form, some sort of formless energy?
Sadly, even if there was an answer to this, Aroshia did not know it. The truth might be in the memories that she had lost. What Han Xiao cared most about at this moment was that Aroshia could not be taken away.
“Is there no way to solve it?”
“I don’t know.” Aroshia shook her head and said, “Only three more hours to the sixth day.”
The mission requirement was to save her from the slave market and stay with her for six days. Only now did Han Xiao know the difficulty of it. However, since it was a mission, there must be a way to complete it.
There should be clues in that cell.
Han Xiao ordered the rest of the people to patrol around and look for the enemy. Although he did not have any hope of actually finding anything. He summoned the backup Amphiptere and wore it, then accompanied Aroshia to the slave market… ruins.
At the same time, the DarkStar people appeared on the other side of Floating Dragon, with frustration on their faces.
The ambush had been too rushed. They had engaged without knowing much about Black Star at all. They had thought that their power and technology would give them an unshakable advantage, which caused them to underestimate the opponent.
Their arrogance was the reason for their failure.
Ember was furious. This was the first time that he had failed when facing a target weaker than him. He was very concerned about this failure; it left a mark in his heart that he was very unhappy about it.
Ember opened the communicator to report the result. He held back his unhappiness and repeated the process of their failure. The Superiors of DarkStar were very surprised. Their surprise and disappointment stung Ember’s pride once again.
His record had always been perfect, and this had left a stain on it.
“Sarota has already intercepted all the criminals, and there were no clue of it at all. The mercenaries are the only ones left. There’s an eighty percent chance that the Secret Message Bead is in the hands of the mercenaries.”
“Shall I continue to find a chance to deal with Black Star?”
“You failed once, don’t take the risk, retreat.” The Superiors sighed.
Veins popped up on the back of Ember’s hands.
“Yes, Sir…”
Chapter 391. Aroshia, Grade A Chain Mission (2) |
The slave market was being rebuilt. Han Xiao showed his identity to the construction team and entered the underground corridor successfully. He came to the cell that Aroshia had once been in, looked around, knocked here and there, and did not find anything unusual.
Floating Dragon had searched the cell long before him, and they did not find anything either.
Aroshia stood outside the door and watched. She suddenly asked, “Why do you want to bring me away?”
Han Xiao paused for a moment. He definitely could not say that it was a mission requirement, so he said, “I’m very curious about you.”
“Curious…” Aroshia mumbled. “What is that?”
“Curiosity is the desire for knowledge. For example, when a normal person loses their memory, they want to know who they were before. This is a type of desire.”
“Desire… I don’t seem to have this sort of thing. Is that special?”
“Er, usually, those without desires are artificial intelligence, and not needing to consume or excrete is a characteristic of energy life forms.” Han Xiao sized Aroshia up and said, “But you’re neither of them. You just don’t have the basic physical needs, you might not have no desire at all. Don’t you have anything you want?”
Aroshia thought carefully and said, “I don’t think so.”
“Are you sure? Since you asked me a question, that’s the curiosity of wanting to know what ‘desire’ is,” Han Xiao said. “Desire is the sign of life, a feeling that makes people realize their existence. It can also be said that it’s the motive for every action a life form takes. Therefore, a life form like you seems very unique.”
Aroshia tilted her head, pondered, and said, “Is the reason for you teaching me how to use the energy inside my body also your own desire?”
“I want you to be stronger and become a help to me,” Han Xiao said honestly. He had figured out a few ways to communicate with Aroshia. There was no need to pretend—he just had to be straightforward and express his motive.
As always, Aroshia still had a carefree attitude. “I won’t die, so what’s the point of becoming stronger. Strong or weak, it’s all meaningless. Or I should say, existence itself is meaningless.”
Han Xiao thought about it and said, “But if you die, your memory will be reset. You’ll forget about this short-term memory. The ‘you’ after reviving might not be who ‘you’ are now. Once you revive, you’ll start from the beginning again, thinking the same things you have been thinking, wasting the same time you have already wasted, only to end up in the same place you are now. Becoming stronger will help you to avoid reviving, preventing yourself to be killed by others or disasters.”
Han Xiao paused and said, “And about meaning… You don’t need food and excretion to maintain your life, so you can’t feel existence. If your mind is blank, a day or even a year will feel like an instant. Hence, why not find something to do and give meaning to your life?”
“I see…” Aroshia mumbled a while, nodded, and said, “Thank you, talking with you is very pleasant. No one had ever said this much to me.”
In the past three years, the others only had two impression of her—A Space Wonder or a slave that did not run away. Never was there someone that communicated with her like she was a normal individual.
“Don’t mention it, it’s just chitchat.”
There was no clue in the prison cell. Han Xiao could only stop and casually chat with Aroshia, waiting for the time limit to arrive and see what would actually happen.
Seconds and minutes passed. As the last minute ended, the change happened.
Aroshia was still standing outside the door—she did not return to the cell. She took a few steps backward, then looked down on her body. Nothing unusual happened. Then she backed off further and further.
_____________
[Visitor From Afar] Completed
You have received 1,800,000 Experience.
_____________
Han Xiao was so surprised her eyebrows almost raised uncontrollably.
He hardly did anything at all, yet a Space Wonder that even the Floating Dragon could not resolve was gone just like that. There was definitely more to it! Han Xiao recalled that this mission had an unknown reward. He looked at the interface and realized that this reward turned out to be a new mission.
_____________
You Have Triggered Grade A Hidden Chain Mission, [Reboot]
Mission Introduction: Aroshia is a unique life form. An enormous secret lies within her. Bring her alongside you, and one day, this secret will find you.
Reminder: This is a Chain Mission. The next mission will only be unlocked once the previous one is completed.
First Round: Teach Aroshia. Help her to awaken her power, control the energy inside her body, and reach Grade B
Reward: 5,200,000 Experience, 1 x Random Reward, +5 Risda Favorability
Failure Condition: Aroshia dead
_____________
Chain Mission type grade A hidden mission! Han Xiao was shocked. This was usually something that only happened in large Main Storyline events.
He had no information about this storyline in his previous life, which meant that no one had triggered it. This was an unknown event. He was more assured that Aroshia was not ordinary. The mission name was [Reboot]—what did that mean? Also, who was this person called Risda?
“Apparently, I’m able to leave.” Aroshia was confused. “What d
id you do to me?”
“I have no idea…” Han Xiao said. “Anyways, this is a good thing.”
…
Two days later, the superiors of the three large mercenary group arrived late at Floating Dragon. Jenny had a meeting with them. After she accepted their apologies, she finally released Goa, Porter, and Cerleni’s teams who had been locked up for many days.
Right after these people got out, they surrounded Han Xiao and expressed their gratitude and praise.
The superiors of the three armies came to contact Han Xiao with very friendly attitudes. Every mercenary could feel how their superiors took Han Xiao seriously. Han Xiao had showcased his abilities in this mission, and now that he had the backing of Floating Dragon, even the three large armies could not take him lightly.
After they were free, they immediately prepared to leave Floating Dragon and go back to complete the mission, returning the Silvers to the long-awaited employer. The reason Han Xiao had waited till now was to travel together with them.
On the day of their departure, Jenny, Wilsander, and Haier all came to send him off.
The entire dock was stunned. People from everywhere sized Han Xiao up with shock as he chatted with the three of them. Black Star Mercenary Group’s position there was definitely high, given the fact that three of them were sending him off.
The people who knew what had happened were even more surprised. It had only been a short half a month since Han Xiao joined Floating Dragon, and he had been able to work his way up so high in such a short period. The three of them had come to send him off, which meant that they gave him a lot of face. Even the superiors of the three armies were only able to see Jenny.
“Her Excellency Dragon Emperor has allowed you to be a Field Team. You’re now a field commander. Your power is Floating Dragon’s external military power, so we hope you can grow stronger quickly,” Jenny said in a very formal tone. She took out a specially made communicator and passed to Han Xiao. “This communicator can be used to contact Ames directly. However, as a reminder, if there’s no absolute need, it’s best not to disturb her.”