by <unknown>
“Just where did you find that genius? He’s beginning to make me feel as though my years of learning magic are all wasted. Indeed, I should not have chosen the Mage profession all those years ago…”
Ok, that’s enough, you can go to the corner and reflect in silence…
Han Xiao’s mouth twitched, but he forcibly suppressed the words he wished to say and regained his impassive expression.
“Today, my reason for gathering all of you is for two things. The first was to inform you that I’ve reached Beyond Grade A. As for its importance, I don’t need to emphasize it, but the business of Black Star Army will be able to expand far beyond what it is currently, rising to a real Beyond Grade A organization and fighting head on against Bloodshed Land.”
Upon hearing the gravity of this matter, other than Lagi who was still murmuring nonsense, the rest all turned serious.
“By all means, this matter should have been announced in a high profile so that the entire Star Field knows of my existence…” Han Xiao shook his finger. “But for certain reasons, it is temporarily inconvenient to confirm the rumors that I’ve become a Beyond Grade A. I also do not intend to announce it within the headquarters yet. However, this acknowledgment is basically formal, high-profile behavior, and most organizations already believe in the truth of this rumor. Thus, even if I do not step up, there’ll still be messengers that will come and contact us.
“Therefore, I’ll need you all to cover up this fact to a certain extent. Secretly contact those forces who intend to cooperate with us, screen them, and handle the cooperative relationships. This matter involves us becoming a Beyond Grade A organization, so the earlier we get this done, the better. As for the specifics, you guys are veterans at this and should know what to look out for.”
Everyone else nodded.
Was it not just getting support? They had long learned this from their Army Commander himself.
Han Xiao then raised up his second finger. “The second thing is regarding benefits for you…”
As he spoke, he took out the Evolution Cube, letting it float in midair as he smiled.
“This is the Evolution Cube. That’s right. It’s the Universal Treasure that was originally with Psyker. After a series of coincidences, I intercepted this thing and had a fight with Psyker. Thus, this is now in my hands…” He then went on to describe the benefits of the Evolution Cube.
As soon as this remark was made, everyone stood stunned, their mouths open in disbelief.
It was rumored that Black Star had fought with Psyker, which led everyone to speculate why they would fight. The officers had also been curious about this but did not expect the reason to be about the Evolution Cube!
The Evolution Cube has changed owners‽
It’s now in the hands of our Army Commander‽
One of the Calamity Grades, Misecech, gulped and stuttered with a look full of expectation, “Do… do you mean to allow us to enjoy the benefits that the Evolution Cube brings?”
Han Xiao nodded and laughed. “I’ve already let Feidin and the rest use it. Since the cube is now in my hands, I’ll definitely allow my own officers to enjoy the benefits. You’re all the backbone of my army, and helping you all get stronger means that the army will also become stronger.”
Most of the Calamity Grades who came later were overjoyed. They did not expect to receive such benefits. For most of the Calamity Grades, they were extremely enthusiastic whenever it came to ways to enhance their strength.
Lagi also stopped his murmuring and immediately lunged forward to grip Han Xiao’s hands, his face solemn.
“As your Vice Commander, it’s my responsibility to inform you that the priority of benefits should be given by our ranks. I’ve shed so much sweat and blood for the army, and as your Vice Commander, you should know what I mean…”Read more chapter on NovelFull
Han Xiao swatted his hands away, glancing at him sideways as he retorted, “You might have sweated for the army, but you’ve never bled for us before, so this makes things difficult to place.”
Lagi clutched his chest ‘painfully’, putting on a helpless expression. “Actually… I was heavily injured once on the battlefield…”
“Scram aside, you won’t lose your benefits anyway.” Han Xiao could not be bothered to argue with him any longer. “When we talk about work, you lie there like a corpse, but the moment we mention benefits, you immediately jump up. This guy, you’re getting more and more sly.”
Even Lagi—who was like a salted fish, not interested in anything happening around him—was excited. This spoke volumes about the attractiveness of the Evolution Cube.
The Evolution Cube was provided to the Senior Officers free of charge, and for the other members of the organization, Han Xiao did not intend to hide it. He first intended to form an alliance with the Crimson Dynasty to completely protect the Evolution Cube before opening it to the entire army. According to their ranks, they would pay a corresponding amount, which would allow them to enjoy the Evolution Cube while comprehensively improving the combat capability of the entire army.
This could also attract countless Supers to the army.
At the same time, this was a new service that would be provided to players. The forty percent experience penalty only applied to upgrades, which was not a big problem for the players. As long as it was used after reaching the upper limit of the current version, there was no problem in having the experience penalty.
Even if the players could not resist and used the Evolution Cube before their level cap was reached, it was also not harmful to Han Xiao. Since there would be a penalty for upgrading, players would use their experience to improve their skills or learn new knowledge, which would still flow into his pocket.
This was perfect!
With this in mind, Han Xiao could not help but smile. After that, he shelved the unnecessary thoughts, returning to the actual topic. “Basically, these are the two matters. I’ll use the Evolution Cube to help you all optimize your genes in a while. But before this, I would like to announce new personnel appointments.”
Hearing his words, everyone quietened down as well.
Han Xiao tilted his head toward Hila, saying, “From today onward, the Black Star Guards will be formally established, selecting the Calamity Grade Supers to be part of it. This is an elite combat team that takes orders solely from me. With regards to officer rankings, Hila will serve as the first captain of the Black Star Guards. Does anyone have any objections?”
While the Beyond Grade A did not require bodyguards, they would always have an elite force under them that was well-known. For example, Heber had his Vanguard Officials, Austin had the Forbidden Sorcerers, Psyker had his Grand Priests, and Ames had… uh… her Black Star Army?
Because Beyond Grade As usually did not deign to personally act, only serving as deterrence, Han Xiao also planned to establish a small elite team that would be used to act in most situations. A Beyond Grade A Super had their own dignity and should not move so easily.
Hila stepped forward and faced everyone with a passive expression. “Who agrees? Who wishes to object?”
While she had only been in the army for a few months, most of the old Officers recognized her and would not have any issues. As for those that had joined later, they recognized her for her identity as the disciple of Dragon Emperor Ames and naturally did not doubt her strength.
Seeing the situation, Hila slowly nodded and returned to standing behind Han Xiao without a single word.
Han Xiao tilted his hand as he asked, “Feidin, would you be interested in joining the Black Star Guards as well?”
While Feidin’s status in the army had been more of a guest, after months of getting along, Han Xiao felt that their relationship should have improved, and they were ready to take things to the next level… inviting him to become a direct officer under him.
Feidin thought for a while before revealing a warm smile. “Alright.”
This guy is finally mine… Han Xiao secretly exclaim
ed to himself before turning back to look at the rest of the officers. He then picked a couple more battle-hardened Calamity Grade officers for his elite forces—one of which was Marian.
The Black Star Guards had a total of four members, which could be considered barely established. This was just a prototype, as he would recruit more once his status as a Beyond Grade A was publicized to the Star Field and they recruited more experts.
After finishing all his official matters, Han Xiao then activated the Evolution Cube, performing genetic optimization for all the officers at once. As long as the energy output of the Evolution Cube was adjusted, multiple people could be optimized at the same time.
Once all of that was finished, Han Xiao dispersed the crowd before locking himself in the machinery modification room. He began to create his Beyond Grade A combat equipment. This was the most important task at present, as strength was still fundamental. Other matters would be placed behind the priority of restoring his combat capability.
His mechanical army, mechanical suit, weapons, and so on needed to be remanufactured and updated with his Beyond Grade A class level.
…
“He’s already achieved Beyond Grade A…”
Aroshia returned to her home, and Risda emerged in midair, saying, “He has the ability to save our race now. Aroshia, go talk to him.”
However, Aroshia slowly shook her head. “We’ve got to at least wait for him to pass this current hurdle and for the Black Star Army to stabilize, else he won’t help. There’s no harm in waiting a while longer.”
“We’ve already waited for a long time, and thinking of my comrades being oppressed by Manison, I really don’t wish to wait any longer!” Risda was a little unsatisfied. “I can see that Black Star has always been trying to put us off.”
But Aroshia blandly replied, “I don’t think so. Just the two of us are enough to give Black Star the motivation to deal with another Beyond Grade A.”
She had already regained her memories and was now the combination of her three personalities within her mind. She was still her, but she was no longer so ignorant.
“If you’re not willing, I’ll look for a time to talk to him,” Risda said. “There must be a way somehow.”
Risda then severed the connection, disappearing in midair.
…
The Black Star Army’s silence did not result in the excitement of the Star Field dying down but in fact gave them a mysterious vibe, attracting even more attention from others. Practically everyone was guessing that Black Star should have certain problems that did not allow him to speak up, but he could not remain silent forever.
As the news continued to spread and Han Xiao’s influence stewed even more, in an area where no one knew what was going on, many things were happening.
In the presence of this undercurrent, another half a month passed.
Han Xiao exited his machinery modification room—he had built the prototype of his new army.
Chapter 767. 767 Announcement 1 |
767 Announcement 1
In Han Xiao’s personal factory, dozens of army boxes were lined up in a row with a few hundred different mechanical soldiers lining up neatly. They were arranged from tall to short and light to heavy as though it was an exhibition.
“Seventy percent of the soldiers weren’t changed, and the new blueprints that came from Sardeem’s collection were mostly giant soldiers. Another portion of blueprints are those newly merged blueprints. Although there isn’t an upgrade in my knowledge, I managed to unlock new blueprints after becoming a Beyond Grade A and got a good amount of new blueprints from gambling…”
Han Xiao placed his hands behind his back and studied the different models.
A new army was usually created by using the new skills that he obtained after reaching Beyond Grade A to forge more powerful machines with better attributes. The introduction of new models was not that important.
Because of the lack of time, Han Xiao did not have the chance to learn any new knowledge, and the majority of his mechanical soldiers were still old models. However, their attributes were far stronger than his previous army. With the increase in his Intelligence, the bonus from [Supreme Prestige] and [Mechanical Genius] largely increased the attributes of his mechanical army.
However, even if they were old models, these mechanical soldiers were the elite products that had gone through many generations of improvements. The ordinary soldiers were all rebuilt, and all his elite forces such as the Oathkeepers and Phantoms were also reconstructed. At the same time, he had plenty of new additions such as the giant soldiers, Planetary Obliteration Group, Black Knights, and so on.
As for the weapons with large firepower, Han Xiao had modified the various satellite cannons. Because he had not learned the relevant knowledge, he was not able to construct a true Planetary Obliteration Cannon. However, the satellite cannons that he modified had comparable strength to the Ice Age Star Freezing Cannon. Furthermore, its penetrative and explosive abilities were even more powerful. Although it would be impossible to destroy a planet now, destroying a continent wouldn’t be a problem.
With his firepower reaching the Beyond Grade A level, Han Xiao also built a new mechanical suit to replace his Mountain Ape suit.
The new mechanical suit had a black theme with some yellow accents. It looked extremely sturdy and was like a growling beast.
The mechanical suit was made from precious alloys, and the nano transformation technology was further strengthened to improve its self-repairing capabilities. The strength of the mechanic suit was its movement speed. It was equipped with a high speed hyperdrive thruster that enabled Han Xiao to swiftly avoid enemy attacks in battle. As for its firepower, apart from the normal energy and close-range weapons, it also had a psionic energy furnace to increase damage.
The name of this mechanical suit was Battle Tiger. The Mountain Ape suit was suitable for those at level 165, and this ‘Battle Tiger’ suit was level-215 orange equipment. Its attributes were increased in every way. Its armor was over 100,000 points, and its energy was over 10,000 points. Before obtaining new knowledge and forging a new trump card suit, Han Xiao planned to temporarily use this suit to increase his strength.
The mechanical suit came with many additional abilities, including a variety of close combat abilities and a sound wave attack called ‘Tiger Roar’. It was even more powerful than the Mountain Ape suit in terms of violence and was far superior to the Mountain Ape suit in terms of armor and damage. This was a killing machine suitable for many different battlefields.
These machines have all reached Beyond Grade A. As long as there’s enough of them, I will be able to fight normally.
There were other larger machines that he had not had the time to build, such as the Eternal Light and a new base. When he activated [Secondary Dimension Army], he would be able to break through the limits of the compressed orb. At that time, he would be able to carry an entire satellite fortress and different super-sized machines with him.
Boom!
Right at that moment, the room trembled slightly.
“Is there a problem?”
Han Xiao’s eyes narrowed, and he contacted Phillip.
“What happened?”
“Someone forcefully broke through the defensive line of the headquarters and landed on the satellite base. I will now send you images of the satellite, hum…”
The next moment, the image of the satellite appeared before him. A man broke through from the barricade of the battleships and landed on the surface of the satellite, resulting in an alarm being set off. The warriors of the army then flooded out and surrounded the man.
Upon seeing the appearance of this individual, Han Xiao was slightly shocked.
“Hadavy?”
“Master, hum… your Guards Regiment have rushed over already. Are you going to take care of matters personally?”
Han Xiao’s eyes narrowed, and the Battle Tiger suit transformed into a bracelet on his arm. He then opened the door of t
he workshop and walked out.
“Tell Hila to not let him escape. I will go over immediately.”
…
At the same time, a few hundred spaceships were floating around the Black Star Army headquarters and recording the scene before them.
These spaceships were the news spaceships from the various galactic media groups. In order to get first-hand information of Black Star’s true strength, they had been waiting there for half a month. However, they had been blocked out by the defensive fleet of the Black Star Army and could only float in space nearby.
When a Calamity Grade Super appeared and broke through the defensive line of the Black Star Army fleet, the commotion immediately drew the attention of the galactic reporters, and they all became energetic.
The rumors said that Black Star had already become a Beyond Grade A Super, but there were still those who dared to provoke him. These reporters could keenly sense that this was the chance to dig up some interesting news. As such, they all gathered around to watch.
“I know this person. He’s Hadavy, and he had appeared in the secret war before. He is someone on the Bloodshed Land’s side.”
“Could this be provocation from the Bloodshed Land? Are they announcing war with the Black Star Army publicly‽”
“There will be a nice show to watch!”
In the entrance of the satellite, the soldiers formed three layers of encirclement around Hadavy with numerous cannons being aimed at him. Hadavy was not flustered in the slightest and said, “I am here to see your Army Commander. Since your fleet wouldn’t let me in, I could only barge in.”
Because Han Xiao had issued the order that he would not meet anyone before going into seclusion, all miscellaneous issues had been handed over to Sylvia and Herlous. The defensive fleet had strictly followed Han Xiao’s orders, and Hadavy did not manage to get an exception after reporting his name. He had thus barged in.
At this moment, a beam of red light appeared in front of Hadavy.