Chapter 751 - 751 Arrival
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
Sardeem being Manison's subordinate was a piece of intelligence that Han Xiao did not expect to obtain. In his previous life, Sardeem had not been considered a known NPC to the players and had no mission to trigger. He did not think that Sardeem was hiding this much.
Manison was an extremely strong guy. As a member of The Ancient Ones, he created his own faction in the Calamity of the Supers version.
Han Xiao was very sensitive to anything related to Manison and did not want to have anything to do with him. This was because of Aroshia.
She was a survivor of an artificial intelligence civilization conquered by Manison, and Risda was still hoping that Han Xiao could avenge them. Han Xiao still had the [Reboot] mission on his interface.
However, he was not willing to mess with this ancient and powerful being. The Mechanic Empire had no conflict of interest with him. It would be too big a loss for Han Xiao to become his enemy for just a normal mission. He actually did not want to do this mission, so he had been delaying it. Risda also knew that this was impossible without the help of a Beyond Grade A Super, so he had waited patiently and did not hurry Han Xiao.
Manison was mainly in the Central Galaxy and the Primeval Star River, but his organization had fangs secretly distributed among many Star Fields. His 'Mechanic Empire' was not just a reference to his Mechanical Army but also signified that the number of Mechanics under his command could form an entire empire.
Manison likes to recruit Mechanics. This is probably also the reason his subordinate in the Shattered Star Ring, Sardeem, is suddenly recruiting me. No wonder this guy is so arrogant.
Han Xiao's eyes gleamed.
However, although he was shocked by Sardeem's background, he quickly calmed down.
No matter what, Manison did not even know that he existed. They had no conflict with each other, so he did not have to fear him.
Manison not knowing of Han Xiao's existence was his biggest advantage. Furthermore, he had surprisingly discovered that Sardeem was secretly under the Mechanic Empire, which was a huge gain.
After purposely acting like he was hesitating for a while, Han Xiao shook his head. "Of course, I've heard of the Mechanic Empire, but I still don't want to join you."
Sardeem's confidence fixed on his face. This time, he was the one that was shocked instead.
He had thought that as long as he mentioned the Mechanic Empire, recruiting this person would be a piece of cake. He did not expect 'Barne' to reject him.
"Don't you know how many resources the Mechanic Empire has and how valuable they are to a Mechanic?" Sardeem said with an incredulous tone.
Manison had been stockpiling technology and blueprints for countless years. Not even mentioning the Cutting-Edge Knowledges, he most likely even had the Ultimate Knowledges for the Mechanic class, as well as all kinds of secret or lost blueprints. He even had tons of spaceships and weapon blueprints of the three Universal Civilizations. These attracted countless Mechanics to join under his command... of course, those Knowledges all had to be exchanged for contribution.
Han Xiao raised his brows.
"I know what you mean, but not all Mechanics want to be Manison's subordinates, right?"
He was indeed tempted by the resources of the Mechanic Empire. However, that did not come for free. He had to do things for the Mechanic Empire over the long term. Unlike joining under Sardeem, whom he had confidence that he could completely beat, joining the Mechanic Empire was different as he certainly could not beat him. This meant that once he joined the Mechanic Empire, his true identity would definitely be exposed, and he would really end up working for him.
Therefore, there was no way that he was going to accept the invitation. This was like a Fortune 500 company trying to hire him, but he would rather start his own company. Although my company is not as big as yours now, I'm the one that gets all the profits!
Sardeem narrowed his eyes, turned around, and sat back in the chair. With an expressionless face, he said, "Then you can leave now."
Seeing that Barne had made up his mind, he did not want to waste any time and energy convincing him.
He was not worried about Han Xiao knowing his identity. After operating Planet Macipher for more than a hundred years, his background was no secret to many people. He dared to tell the truth of his background because he was not afraid of it being exposed. He was legally operating Planet Macipher, so what if people knew that he was part of the Mechanic Empire? His Excellency Manison was not a wanted criminal; having a subordinate in the Shattered Star Ring to build a stronghold did not break any laws.
Han Xiao did not care about Sardeem's dissatisfaction. He shook his head and left the room with a little resignation.
He was not afraid of offending Sardeem, but this meant that Sardeem would definitely monitor him more closely, which would make stealing the Eternal Light blueprints even more difficult.
Fortunately, Sardeem did not discover my true identity. His misjudgment of my strength works to my advantage. I should be able to fool him with some tricks, but if I still can't steal it in the end, I can only use Bame's identity to rob it... Or should I change to another identity?
While thinking about murdering and robbing, Han Xiao slowly walked away.
After Han Xiao left, Sardeem was the only one left in the office. He shook his head and was rather disappointed.
Initially, he had thought that recruiting Barne would be simple, but he did not expect this guy to be so stubborn.
Di di di...
At this time, Sardeem's communicator rang.
As he looked at the caller, his expression instantly changed, and he immediately picked up the communicator. "Greetings, Your Excellency Psyker!"
The person that was contacting him was Psyker!
Psyker's video call appeared on the screen, and he asked, "If I remember correctly, Planet Macipher is your territory, right?"
Yes, what can I do for you?"
Sardeem's tone was very respectful, completely different from how he talked to Han Xiao.
As the leader of the Star Pupil Holy Race, it was simple for Psyker to contact the owner of a known neutral planet.
Furthermore, he had known Sardeem for a long time. The Arcane Church was behind him, so he had access to a lot of information. Sardeem's true identity was no secret to him at all.
As he was backed by the Arcane Church, although Psyker was in the remote Shattered Star Ring, he was still quite known in the Central Galaxy's Beyond Grade A circle. These powerful individuals all knew that he was a semi-ally of the Arcane Church and was a valuable chip for them.
Although Psyker focused on managing his race and did not like to cause trouble like the Tyrant, in terms of influence in high society, Psyker was the one at the top among the four Beyond Grade As in the Shattered Star Ring.
Therefore, Sardeem showed him a lot of respect.
"Hmm, I have something I need you to do," Psyker said slowly. "I need you to pay attention to a 'Light Fox' model spaceship. I will send its appearance to you later. No matter who arrives on your planet in this type of spaceship, pay close attention to them. They're very likely there to repair their spaceship, so find a way to keep them on Planet Macipher."
"Okay, I got it." Without a thought, Sardeem agreed-this was basically a gifted favor.
Although he claimed to be neutral, he knew what kind of people he had to give privileges to.
You must stall them and not let them escape the Shattered Star Ring," Psyker emphasized.
"Understood." Sardeem nodded.
Psyker then hung up.
As one of the EsGod doppelgangers had used teleportation to move Colin and the others to steal the Evolution Cube, the Star Pupil Holy Race had no visual records of these people and did not know what they looked like. However, due to the battleship fight outside their mothership, they knew the looks of these 'Light Fox' spaceships.
The mark that Psyker had left on the Evolution Cube showed that the Evolution Cube was no longer escaping in hyperdrive and had stopped for the first time. After looking at the star map, Psyker realized that the Evolution Cube had stopped near Planet Macipher.
Since he knew the location of their spaceship, he could guess what those thieves were planning.
Therefore, Psyker came up with a plan and contacted Sardeem to get his help.
While doing so, he had been heading toward Planet Macipher all along. As long as Sardeem could stall them for a few days, he would be able to arrive.
With his power, Colin and the others would not be able to escape.
At the same time in the orbit of Planet Macipher, Colin piloted the heavily damaged 'Light Fox' spaceship and slowly approached the port of Planet Macipher.
Due to the superiority of their spaceship's engine, they had maintained high-speed hyperdrive and crossed a small half of the Star Field in dose to ten days, leaving their pursuers far behind.
They had finally arrived at this famous neutral planet. Planet Macipher was the place that they had chosen to repair their spaceship.
Chapter 752 Emperor Mechanic!
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
The Light Fox spaceships flew toward the Planet Macipher port. Inside the cabin, Colin was speaking to his subordinates.
"We will first land in a sub-city. You guys will go and find a local shipyard immediately. Have them transport our spaceships over and repair them as soon as possible. Money isn't an issue... As for the rest of us, we will be finding a relatively hidden spot in the sub-city to rest."
The others replied disorderly.
"Don't worry," Orozen said lazily, "Planet Macipher is a neutral planet. No one will trouble us. The Star Pupil Holy Race doesn't even know the direction we escaped in. There's no one chasing after us, so we're basically safe. We just have to stay one or two days on Planet Macipher and wait for our spaceships to be repaired. Then, we can take the Evolution Cube back."
Speaking of the Evolution Cube, desire appeared in Orozen's eyes as he subconsciously glanced at the tiny black cube hanging on Colin's neck.
Noticing his glance, Colin said, "We will figure out how to use this thing after we leave the Shattered Star Ring. Don't even think about it now."
With such a treasure in hand, everyone was tempted, but no one had any underlying thoughts. They just wanted to experience the Evolution Cube's effects at most.
Although the Evolution Cube was a Universal Treasure, it was not worth betraying EsGod for.
As EsGod had the data of the Evolutionary Civilization, they knew a thing or two about the Evolution Cube as well, so they did not have any unnecessary expectations for it. After all, even with the Star Pupil Holy Race having so many Calamity Grades, Psyker was still the only Beyond Grade A.
However, the fact that using the Evolution Cube would make them stronger was an indisputable truth.
This time, the spaceships entered the port, completed the simple procedures, and descended toward one of the subcities on Planet Macipher.
As soon as they left their spaceships, Colin and the rest started moving. They found a relatively unknown shipyard and paid them to repair their spaceships.
The Light Fox spaceships were equipped with top-notch hyperdrive engines. It only took them a few days to travel the distance that would take normal spaceship months. Otherwise, they would not have arrived at Planet Macipher, which was at the edge of the Shattered Star Ring, in just ten days from the Star Pupil Holy Race's territory. They insisted on repairing the spaceships because the speed of the Light Fox spaceships would save them a ton of time while traveling. They definitely would not change their spaceships unless they had absolutely no other choice.
As they had escaped as fast as they could, they did not know for sure if there were any pursuers behind them.
However, to them, the super high-speed hyperdrive of the Light Fox spaceship was more than enough to get rid of any pursuers. The Star Pupil Holy Race might not even know where they had gone. Of course, the connection between Psyker and the Evolution Cube was a secret, so they did not know that their location had already been exposed.
As for their identities, they were not worried at all. They had stolen the Evolution Cube while using the teleportation ability of the EsGod doppelganger, so the Star Pupil Holy Race did not know what they looked like.
The only time they were exposed was back in the Tyla Civilization, which was already many months ago and had nothing to do with them stealing the Evolution Cube. No one would link the two incidents together. After all, the Star Pupil Holy Race did not announce that the Evolution Cube had been stolen, not even in the local news on Planet Avitan. The secret war was still at the top of the news.
Therefore, to Colin and the others, arriving at the Planet Macipher meant that they already had one foot out of the Shattered Star Ring. They thought that they were completely safe.
As their spaceships were sent for repair, Colin and the others stayed in a hotel in the sub-city.
What they did not know was, the moment they entered Planet Macipher, they were already noticed.
Only half an hour after Psyker's call...
"The Light Fox spaceships have already appeared..."
Sardeem received the information immediately.
The port entry information throughout Planet Macipher was monitored by him. As soon as Colin's spaceships entered, they were discovered. Sardeem monitored Colin and the others closely.
They went to Sub-City No.2, found a shipyard there to repair their spaceship, and went to a hostel located at..."
The entire planet was under his surveillance. After locking onto the Light Fox spaceships, Sardeem then monitored Colin and the rest.
He did not recognize them, but after his assistant artificial intelligence searched for a while, he found Orozen's bounty from the Tyla Civilization.
"A group of wanted criminals? Why is Psyker after them?" Sardeem could not help but imagine. "Could it be that he wants to use this opportunity to establish a good relationship with the Tyla Civilization? It is indeed possible for Psyker to do something like this, but the fact that he's doing it personally... maybe it's because he wants to increase his influence?"
Given how much information he lacked, of course, he had no idea that the Evolution Cube had been stolen.
Also, Sardeem would definitely not link the small black cube on Colin's neck to the gigantic Evolution Cube.
"Psyker just wants me to stall them. Hmm, if not needed, I don't have to fight them."
Sardeem pondered for a while and decided not to alarm them.
Instead, he issued a new order to his mechanical low enforcement troops and secretly increased the patrol density of the area around Colin and the others. This would allow him to monitor them even more closely.
"Right..."
Sardeem thought of something else. He called the shipyard that had taken the job to repair the Light Fox spaceships and ordered them to delay the process.
Although this shipyard did not belong to him, with his position on Planet Macipher, he had the power to do this.
"That should be enough. Now, I just have to slowly monitor them..."
Sardeem gave a new order to the control center of the floating city to alert him as soon as Colin and the others did anything abnormal. He then put this matter aside.
As the owner of a planet, he was very busy, so there was no way he was going to stare at the monitors all day long.
After the unpleasant meeting with Sardeem ended, Han Xiao realized that no one chased him away. He completed the job for the afternoon as usual, but when evening came, he received some bad news.
The Cornerstone Summit Corporation had moved him out of the Eternal Light project and did not let him continue participating in this project. He was no longer needed to build the spaceship parts, and the blueprints in his hands were also taken away.
He had already learned all those blueprints, so taking them away did not matter to him. However, the signal given by Sardeem was very clear-he was not going to let Han Xiao have any chance of catching a glimpse of the Eternal Light blueprint.
Sardeem has started to guard against me. If I continue to stay here, I will only become manual labor and will never participate in important projects.
Han Xiao shook his head.
I've already got the talent, so there's no need to continue staying on Planet Macipher. I can leave as soon as I get the Eternal Light blueprint...
Although Sardeem had raised his guard against him, Han Xiao already had some plans in mind to steal the remaining core blueprints of Eternal Light.
Speaking of which, Sardeem was the one who had given him the idea.
Initially, Han Xiao could not find out where those core blueprints were hidden in the database of the Cornerstone Summit Corporation, so he was at a dead end. However, after Sardeem actively told him his true identity, he now had a new goal.
It turned out that Sardeem was the actual owner of the Eternal Light blueprint.
This meant that he definitely had an Eternal Light blueprint in his home, so Han Xiao did not need to do anything to the Cornerstone Summit Corporation.
Sardeem's home was that magnificent floating city base above Planet Macipher.
Han Xiao's target was to hack Sardeem's floating city!
Sardeem doesn't know my true strength. I wonder if he will regret telling me his true identity today... Oh, I almost forgot, he definitely won't because he will never know I have hacked into his floating city.
If he did not work in the Cornerstone Summit Corporation because of a talent, he would not have attracted Sardeem's attention. If he did not attract Sardeem's attention, Sardeem would not have attempted to recruit him. If he was not recruited, he would not have known that Sardeem was the real owner of the Eternal Light blueprint.
It could be said that Sardeem had personally led the way for him.
Han Xiao sneered in his mind.
The floating city was the base of a Grade A+ Armed Branch Mechanic. Compared to the database of the Cornerstone Summit Corporation, its artificial intelligence defense was on a completely different level.
However, Han Xiao was a Virtual Mechanic whose level was even higher than Sardeem. As long as he made sufficient preparations, he would be able to hack into the control panel of the floating city without being noticed.
It's best to increase my chances even further...
Han Xiao was now level 221. He would trigger the Class Advancement of [Apostle Mechanic] at level 225. His Virtual Technology would be enhanced once again after the Class Advancement.
He had plenty of Experience in his interface. As nothing urgent had happened before, Han Xiao wanted to hoard enough Experience until he could reach level 240. Now that he needed it, he did not wait any longer.
The night on Planet Macipher was as boisterous as the day. The entertainment venues there were open throughout the night. Spaceships flew between tall buildings, leaving colorful flame trails like rainbows in the night sky.
Due to how rich the nightlife was, no one stopped Han Xiao from leaving the Cornerstone Summit Corporation hostel.
He went to the ground port, returned to the hangar that he had rented, walked into the spaceship, and entered the training room. This was to prevent the impact caused by his Class Advancement from attracting unwanted attention.
After closing the door of the training room, Han Xiao opened the interface and spent Experience leveling up without hesitation.
Very soon, he reached level 225 and received the Class Advancement mission of [Apostle Mechanic].
Han Xiao had spent seven years stockpiling Mission Completion Cards, so of course, he still had some. He immediately completed the Class Advancement mission.
The next moment, his brain trembled.
You have used a [Mission Completion Card]!
You have completed the Class Advancement mission!
You have received a new class [Emperor Mechanic Lv.l]. +300 Energy, +5 STR, +5 DEX, +8 END, +12 INT.
You have received 10 Free Attribute Points.
You have received 1 Potential Point.
You have received the talent [Machinery Emperor]!
You have acquired the ability [Emperor Machinery Affinity]!
You have acquired the ability [Emperor's Gift]!
You have acquired the ability [Quantum Infinite Distance Transmission Channel (Unactivated)]! You have acquired the ability [Secondary Dimension Army (Unactivated)]!
You have acquired the ability [Mechanical Force-Emperor's Power (Unactivated)]!
You have acquired the ability [King's Mentor (Unactivated)]!
The effect of all your Virtual Technology related abilities and talents has increased by 35%
Chapter 753 Striking First
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
[Emperor Mechanic] was the next stage of [Apostle Mechanic], which had a maximum level of 35. As the name suggested, an Emperor Mechanic could rule countless mechanical soldiers. Its abilities and talents provided huge bonuses to the Army Style while also having the ability to gather much more power into the Mechanic themself.
The introduction of the [Machinery Emperor] talent was 'Machinery obeys you like your people.' Its effect was a 150% increase in Virtual Intrusion efficiency and a 200% increase in Machinery Affinity, as well as an increase of one level to all machinery related abilities. This bonus could exceed the maximum level.
This talent also had another core effect. Just like the [Apostle MechanicJ's talent, [Mechanical Force Ascension- Apostle Body], [Machinery Emperor] also caused his Mechanical Force attribute to ascend once again, acquiring the ability to gift machinery stronger powers. This was the prerequisite of many of the Emperor Mechanic's abilities.
Of course, the new Machinery Affinity ability, [Emperor Machinery Affinity] was stronger than [Apostle Machinery Affinity], which gave 150% Machinery Affinity at the max level.
[Emperor's Gift] was one of the core abilities. Its effect was to use Mechanical Force to enhance a single machine permanently, giving it extremely powerful additional attributes. It could only be used three times on the same target and had a very long cooldown. The extent of the enhancement depended on Han Xiao's own attributes, and the target had a random chance of receiving an extra special ability.
To put it simply, this ability could enhance common mobs into elites or even mini-bosses!
Mechanics had the ability to enhance machinery from the start, but this ability only started to ascend to another level at this stage.
As for the other 'Unactivated' abilities, they could only be used once the corresponding Cutting-Edge Knowledges or even Ultimate Knowledges were learned, which Han Xiao had yet to do.
[Quantum Infinite Distance Transmission Channel] required a few Cutting-Edge Knowledges including [Advanced Space Application]. It was an enhanced method of transmitting Mechanical Force through the Void.
Due to his race, Han Xiao could transmit Mechanical Force across long distances, but this was only achievable because he was a Void Race. [Quantum Infinite Distance Transmission Channel], however, was technology that could be used widely, not just on himself and not just on Mechanical Force, but any kind of energy. It was a much more advanced method of transmitting energy over long distances. This was also the technology that Manison used to make an AI civilization into his 'Indestructible Mechanic Empire'.
[Secondary Dimension Army] could hide his army in a secondary dimension. He would maintain the connection to this secondary dimension and could then open it anytime to summon the army. This was a more advanced portable technology than the compressed orbs.
[Mechanical Force-Emperor_s Power] was an ability that could gather great forces onto himself, like an advanced version of Machinery Apostilization.
At the same time, once the mechanical army receiving Mechanical Force bonuses reached a certain size, they would provide attribute bonuses to himself through the Mechanical Force link. This bonus depended on the size of the army.
The larger his army was, the more bonuses [Mechanical Force-Emperor's Power] would provide, which meant that the Army Style benefitted from this the most.
Once he activated this ability and provided bonuses to the mechanical army through his Mechanical Force, he would receive a huge amount of bonuses. Of course, the energy consumption of this ability was enormous. Normal Mechanics would not be able to activate [Mechanical Force-Emperor's Power] for a long time if they did not have the ability to recover energy quickly.
[King's Mentor] and [Emperor's Gift] were similar; they were both abilities to enhance machinery. The difference was, [King's Mentor] was an AOE ability. Its effect was also rather special. It could store the special Mechanical Force enhanced by [Machinery Emperor] in machinery over long periods of time. With the machinery's energy furnace, that Mechanical Force would be kept within the machinery's body, giving the machinery self-growth capabilities.
This meant that the machinery would level up on their own without Han Xiao improving them manually.
As long as the enhanced mechanical soldiers were not destroyed in battle, their attributes would slowly increase, and they would turn into elites. Blue grade mechanical soldiers might slowly become purple grade; level 100 mechanical soldiers might slowly acquire the attributes on par with level 120 mechanical soldiers.
This was like turning the mechanical soldiers into real living soldiers that would become experienced war veteran as long as they survived.
The ability introduction was 'A king is one who has survived hundreds of battles.'
These abilities had already showcased the specialty of [Emperor Mechanic]-a ruler of countless mechanical soldiers that were treated as living soldiers. This was where the machinery started to ascend into becoming mechanical lives.
The upgraded Mechanical Force could turn into a special form of energy that could become the machinery's own energy source, like the 'energy' of the mechanical lives.
[Apostle Mechanic] was the watershed of the late stages of the Mechanic class. The later the stages, the closer the Mechanic's abilities would resemble acts of God. The word 'emperor' was the perfect word to describe the Mechanic's ability at this stage-the absolute ruler of machinery.
In the training room, Han Xiao's eyes were overflowing with electric sparks as he endured the pain brought by the changes of his Class Advancement.
This was not a Race Evolution, so Han Xiao's body did not change, but the energy in his body became violent as if his Mechanical Force was boiling. At a microscopic level, it was as if every one of his cells turned into a supernova, absorbing Mechanical Force continuously then compressing themselves time after time.
Through this process, his Mechanical Force slowly changed and ascended.
Enormous Mechanical Force surged within his body. Han Xiao could almost hear the tide.
After a short while, it was as if the cells in his body finally became exhausted, and the energy in his body started to calm.
Whoosh!
Han Xiao took a deep breath. His senses felt refreshed once again.
Energy was fundamental to Supers. It was not just the fuel of great power-it was also the catalyst of the evolution of Super-Genes. This Class Advancement caused his Mechanical Force to evolve to another level. Although his race was still the same, Han Xiao could feel his genes become stronger.
At the later stages, every Class Advancement required even more levels than the twenty level Promotion requirement, along with the increased benefits of the Class Advancement.
This Class Advancement improved his Mechanic abilities tremendously. Although his attributes did not change much, all these new abilities and talents were extremely powerful.
While browsing the new abilities, Han Xiao was quite joyous.
"Four unactivated abilities that need the corresponding Knowledges to activate. Tsk, I will only be able to test their effects after activating them..." Han Xiao pondered. "As of now, only [Machinery Emperor], [Emperor Machinery Affinity], and [Emperor's Gift] can be used. Also, the abilities and talents related to Virtual Technology are enhanced by thirty-five percent, so hacking into Sardeem's floating city is more likely to be successful."
After contemplating for a while, Han Xiao decided not to level up any of his abilities. Level 240 was right around the corner, so he did not want to spend his experience anywhere else.
He then spent the rest of his Experience in leveling up to see how much more he needed exactly to reach level 240.
The remaining Experience only filled up three-quarters of his Experience gauge and was not enough to level up.
He should be just two levels away from Beyond Grade A.
"Hmm, about the same as my estimates. In just a few days, the Experience provided by the players should be able to fill this gap." Han Xiao nodded.
He would have more than enough time to study his new abilities in the future, but he had another goal that night. He immediately connected himself to the quantum network.
His vision turned dark. The next moment, the nodes in the quantum network lit up one after another like fireworks.
The size and brightness of these nodes varied. Beams created by information transmission connected those nodes with one another, forming a network illustrating the shape of the city.
Han Xiao looked up. Above the main city, the quantum network nodes of the floating city were as bright as stars, shrouded in countless silk shaped defense measures like a crystal covered in runes.
With one thought, Han Xiao headed directly to the floating city's quantum network nodes. The floating city node expanded in his vision as he entered right into this node.
A thick wall formed by data streams entered his eyes, and many data dots patrolled around like an army.
This was the most outside layer of the floating city's control center firewall.
"Phillip, get him."
Of course, Sardeem understood the threat of Virtual Mechanics. As a Grade A+ Mechanic, he had deployed many defense measures for his base. The virtual defense of the floating city's control center was many levels above that of the Cornerstone Summit Corporation. Usual Calamity Grade Virtual Mechanics would not have been able to penetrate it at all.
However, Han Xiao's Virtual Technology had just been enhanced after his Class Advancement, so it was rather easy for him to deal with the floating city's virtual defense.
After all, Armed Branch Mechanics were not strong in this field. Furthermore, Han Xiao's raw strength was already above Sardeem to quite an extent.
Hacking without living a trace and without being noticed was harder than directly demolishing the opponent's artificial intelligence. Even Han Xiao did not dare act too hastily. He worked together with Phillip and slowly hacked through the defenses of the floating city's control panel to avoid triggering the alarm.
While his base was quietly being violated by Han Xiao and Phillip, Sardeem had no idea that this was happening.Read more chapter on vipnovel.com
After spending quite some time, Han Xiao finally went around the defense of the floating city's control center and entered the control center, gaining temporary access.
"Got it." Han Xiao was content. "Phillip, search his database for the Eternal Light blueprint."
"Searching, hum... Found it, hum!" Phillip's tone was very cheerful.
Han Xiao's eyes sparkled as he could not hold back his laughter any longer. "As expected, this guy did not put the blueprint in the database of any of his businesses but his own base."
Sardeem most likely exchanged this blueprint from the Mechanic Empire with contributions. Mechanic Empire's home was so far from the Shattered Star Ring, so there was no way the physical copy of the blueprint would be transported there. Hence, the initial way he received the blueprint was definitely through data transmission. It was highly likely that Sardeem still had the complete blueprint stored in the data form.
As the defense of the floating city was on a completely different level compared to the Cornerstone Summit Corporation, most Virtual Mechanics were not able to hack it. That was why Sardeem felt safer storing it in the database of his base.
Because of that, Han Xiao did not have to steal the physical copy of the blueprint; he just had to copy the floating city's database which was much easier.
Han Xiao chuckled. "Phillip, copy all the blueprints in his database."
Since the complete blueprint of Eternal Light was in the database, all the blueprints that Sardeem had obtained from the Mechanic Empire were likely in it as well.
Since he had gone through so much trouble to hack into it, Han Xiao did not mind taking everything that Sardeem had in his storage.
While doing so, Han Xiao took a look at what Sardeem was doing, which made him feel rather strange.
Sardeem happened to be browsing his database as well. As the alarm had not been triggered, even though they were using the database at the same time, he did not notice Han Xiao. He had no idea that Han Xiao had entered his control center and that his home was basically being robbed right now.
As Phillip was copying the blueprints, he had nothing else to do, so he opened the command log of the control center to see what Sardeem had been doing lately.
The log recorded all of Sardeem's commands. Han Xiao was initially just scanning through casually, but when he noticed the history of Sardeem manually operating the control center today, his eyes stopped on that line of the log.
"Deploying a large number of mechanical law reinforcement troops to Sub-City No.2 to monitor a group of people? Interesting, isn't Sardeem neutral? Why is he suddenly surveilling people? It must be at least a Calamity Grade, like Bame, to attract his attention... Hmm, I got it, this guy is probably going to recruit someone else under the Mechanic Empire's name once again. If it really is a Calamity Grade, I might be able to snatch a talent away from him before leaving Planet Macipher."
Han Xiao could not help but giggle. He casually brought up the image of the target of the surveillance. When he saw the image clearly, his smile froze on his face.
It was Colin and his gang in the image. Han Xiao has never seen these people before, but he recognized one of them.
Orozen!
A wanted criminal of the Tyla Civilization, the killer of Harrofal, and a possible subordinate of EsGod!
This man was the mission target of the Grade A Bounty Mission [Harrofal's Revenge]!
This was completely unexpected to Han Xiao. He was stunned as guesses flashed through his mind.
"It's these people? They've been missing for many months, so why are they suddenly here?"
Han Xiao started to feel alarmed.
Harrofal's last words said that these people were very likely EsGod's subordinates whom he had sent to avenge him. Harrofal was already dead, and now these people had suddenly appeared on Planet Macipher after a few months...
Could they have finally found him?
Han Xiao did not feel that was the case. He had kept his whereabouts hidden and disguised his identity; there was no way EsGod's subordinates would have been able to find him.
"This is Planet Macipher, the edge of the Shattered Star Ring. Now that they're here after a few months...Hmm, could it be that they're planning to leave the Shattered Star Ring and escape from the Tyla Civilization, not coming for me anymore?"
Han Xiao frowned, deep in thought. From his perspective, what had happened regarding Harrofal was their only link. With such limited clues, he could only make very little speculations.
He did not expect to meet EsGod's subordinates there. Was this their plan, or was it a pure coincidence?
After pondering for a while, Han Xiao had made up his mind.
"No matter what, since these people are here, be it to avenge Harrofal or to complete the Bounty Mission, there's no reason to let them get away!"
Harrofal was his friend that had fought alongside him. Though Han Xiao did not have the time to search for the culprit, he would not let them go since they had appeared right before his eyes.
Han Xiao looked at the surveillance footage again, and he thought that he had guessed Sardeem's goal.
"Humph, it seems this guy wants the bounty as well. I have to strike first!"
This was not difficult for him at all. Since he had already hacked into the floating city's control center, he just had to make the mechanical law reinforcement troops not trigger the alarm, and he would be able to get to these people before Sardeem.
The only problem was, Han Xiao felt that these people might have EsGod's doppelgangers.
Han Xiao clenched his fists. Due to that possibility, the threat of Orozen and his gang was very close to Beyond Grade A to him, so he remained cautious.
"Currently, I'm hidden, and they're not. My only choice is to kill them before they can summon the EsGod doppelganger!"
Han Xiao clenched his teeth.
He did not know how strong these people were except that Orozen was Calamity Grade, but he could easily beat a group of normal Calamity Grades.
He should have a fifty percent chance of killing them before they could use the EsGod doppelganger!