The Legendary Mechanic

One day later, a water droplet-shaped spaceship flew into the desolate universe belt from Planet Macipher. It had a unique appearance, like a translucent azure bubble. This ship belonged to Psyker.

Psyker could sense that the location of the Evolution Cube was still moving within the desolate universe belt. With his speed, he would catch up to the target in about ten hours.

Who intercepted my Evolution Cube?

More than ten hours earlier, the coordinates of the Evolution Cube had stopped moving for a while. During that period, he had lost contact with Sardeem. Psyker had sent many communication requests but to no avail.

It was clear that Sardeem had met the target and been defeated.

Psyker became more interested in this mysterious hijacker. Firstly, the fact that the target was able to defeat Sardeem meant that his strength was at the top of the Calamity Grades. Secondly, the target was very mysterious. He suddenly appeared, grabbed the Evolution Cube, and fled. This meant that the target somehow knew what the Evolution Cube looked like after it was shrunk down.

Based on these two factors, Psyker felt that this person might either be one of EsGod's subordinates, a third party that knew about EsGod's plans, or an opportunist that found out about this through some foresight ability. He felt that the latter two were more likely.

Since he defeated Sardeem, he should know that I'm chasing right after him, yet he's still fleeing. He knows that's the Evolution Cube, but he still doesn't plan to return it to me. Does he think that he can escape from my hands?

Psyker could not help but shake his head, creating a simple impression of this person.

Someone so greedy that he valued fortune more than his own life!

Does this person not know how strong Beyond Grade A Supers are?

Among the four Beyond Grade As in the Shattered Star Ring, the Dragon Emperor and he were the lowest profile ones. Could this person think that he was easy to mess with?

As the leader of a Star System civilization, Psyker had met countless strange people but rarely anyone so arrogant.

Of course, Psyker would not be angered because he had been underestimated. As the leader of a civilization, he had learned to maintain his cool a long time ago—he just found it laughable.

It had been a very long time since anyone underestimated him.

As Psyker's thoughts drifted away, he recalled that the last time he felt ashamed was hundreds of years ago.

At that time, the Beyond Grade As of the Shattered Star Ring had not been the same people as now. He had still been a teenager who followed his family's financial group to the mother planet of a Star Cluster civilization for business. However, because of his race, he had been despised and picked on by those arrogant Star Cluster civilization citizens.

It was not personal, just an advanced civilization looking down on a backward civilization. Yet, this made him feel more ashamed than if it was personal—looking down on the bloodline he was proud of had hurt his most fundamental dignity as a member of his race.

Psyker still motivated himself using that experience. That Star Cluster civilization had become the civilization that had no choice but to watch the Star Pupil Holy Race rise right under their noses because of the Arcane Church.

If not because he had acquired the Evolution Cube in those ruins, the Star Pupil Holy Race would not have become what it was.

As Psyker regained his focus, his eyes became firm.

He had to retrieve the Evolution Cube!

Only then would his race continue to be supported by the Arcane Church!

…

Central Galaxy, Abyss of Stars, the Federation of Light's Mother Planet, Supreme Court…

There was a circular stage. Dozens of holographic projections hovered above the stage. They were clearly separated into two sides, sitting opposite each other. On one side were the Elder Representatives of the Federation of Light, and on the other side were the Dynasty Emissaries led by the Crimson Dynasty Diplomatic Ambassador.

The two sides had been in this meeting for two consecutive days. In the past decade, similar meetings had happened close to a hundred times, all for one topic, but it had never come to a conclusion.

This time, it was different.

"So, on behalf of the Federation of Light, I hereby announce the final conclusion of this meeting. This meeting has now ended." The leader of the Elder Representatives of the Federation of Light drew half a full stop to this meeting that had lasted an entire decade.

The Crimson Dynasty Diplomatic Ambassador nodded firmly with an expressionless face.

As the topic involved the ownership of an enormous Star Field, the two sides negotiated for a decade. Diplomatic means were just supportive methods; the real source of their chips came from the countless threats, resource bribes, political pressure, deterrence from Beyond Grade A Supers, and many other means in the past ten years.

After single-handedly creating the Crimson Tide that brought chaos to more than ten Star Fields for an entire decade, the Crimson Dynasty finally obtained their fruit of victory today. The two sides had come to an agreement that both were satisfied with. The Federation of Light had compromised.

This time, the leader of the Federation of Light Elder Representatives suddenly spoke.

"What is the Crimson Dynasty going to name this new Star Field?"

With a tone filled with pride, the Crimson Dynasty Diplomatic Ambassador replied, "We thought of the name long ago. This new Star Field that's going to be included in the Dynasty's territory will be called the Flickering World!"

…

Inside the enormous Purple Crystal satellite fortress, the Section Zero alliance was resting after a bloody battle. Damaged battleships were sent into the military factory for repairs one after another. The soldiers of the various forces wasted no time before resting and enjoying the help from their logistics departments.

The privileges and treatment of the Black Star Army warriors who returned to their exclusive supply station were clearly much better than the other organizations. The NPCs were mixed with the players as they claimed their resources and repaired their equipment.

The fortress was extremely crowded.

Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, and the others squeezed into the queue, sent their equipment for repairs, and then squeezed themselves out. Due to how crowded the place was, they even lost a little bit of health while they were pushed around in the crowd.

"What are you guys going to do later?" Frenzied Sword asked.

"The Knowledges in the faction store have been discounted recently, so I'm planning to learn a few," Maple Moon said.

Hao Tian nodded, hinting that he was going to do the same.

Frenzied Sword then looked at Bun-Hit-Dog, only to realize that he looked very down. He could not help but ask, "What's going on? Why are you so down?"

Bun-Hit-Dog sighed. "We fought so long on the frontlines of the secret war that our Mission Rating has increased so many levels, but why hasn't Black Star come to join the battle recently? I'm lacking material."

Maple Moon began to wonder as well. "I wonder, too. The battle has been so intense. The high-level combatants of the Bloodshed Land have been rampant in the past few months. I always get killed by their AOEs. If only the captain was here…"

Li Ge suddenly appeared and said, "I agree."

Where did you come from?

Hao Tian pressed Li Ge right back into the crowd.

Frenzied Sword returned to the topic. "Maybe this is so that we can do more missions. Think about it. If Black Star was here, would we have so many battle opportunities? We might just end up watching cutscenes every day.

Bun-Hit-Dog was enraged. "Cutscenes are exactly what I want. Where else am I going to get material?"

The others shook their heads with resignation.

Frenzied Sword and the others were not alone. Countless army players were wondering about this as well.

As the leader of their faction, Black Star did not participate in the secret war, nor had he sent any messages in the past few months. It was like he went missing.

Where did Black Star go?

…

"To my knowledge, Black Star has been missing for a few months and did not take part in the war during this time. As Purple Crystal lost Black Star's help, our high-level combatants were able to achieve rather good results…"

On Planet Heber, Staff Sergeant Jorde was reporting to the Tyrant.

Heber sat on his throne like a tiny mountain and listened to Jorde's report in silence, occasionally nodding.

Jorde continued with excitement. "New information arrived from Klent earlier. Not long ago, the Crimson Dynasty and the Federation of Light finally came to an agreement. The handover process is going to take a few months. Only then will the Crimson Dynasty deal with the issues regarding their allies. The time it will take for them to start dealing with the secret war between Klent and Purple Crystal should be about half a year…"

"Oh?" Heber's tone rose.

"This means that the secret war will only last half a year longer, which is shorter than we expected." Jorde was exhilarated. "We still have control of West Wind, Kaya, Chaida, and the border Star Systems. In half a year, Purple Crystal will not be able to regain control of them. Your Excellency Tyrant, this means that we've won!"

"Not bad…"

Heber nodded slowly. He then suddenly asked, "How's Black Star doing?"

"After he fell into my trap, he went missing for months, I don't know where he is now." Jorde rubbed his chin. "However, he may know about the agreement that the Crimson Dynasty and the Federation of Light have made, so I think he should now be planning his escape."

"Planning his escape?"

"Yes. Black Star must know what situation he's in. He knows that he is definitely no match for you. I think that he might escape from the Shattered Star Ring."

Heber shook his head. "He's not that kind of gutless coward… Hmm, maybe he will seek help from the Dragon Emperor or the Purple Crystal civilization to stop me."

Jorde nodded.

"No matter what, I can't let people think that there isn't a price for killing so many of my subordinates," Heber said slowly. "Klent got what they want, and I need to make an example out of someone."

…

In the Palace of Hidden Spells, Austin sat with his legs crossed in midair and explained Magic theories. He was surrounded by Mages of all races who were carefully listening to the Magus' teachings.

"Therefore, it can be seen from the mistakes in the third, seventh, and nineteenth circuits that the question asked by the Beyond Grade A 'Holy Sorcerer' Mapier hundreds of years ago is flawed. That'll be all for today."

The mages bowed and swamped out. Very soon, the hall became empty, leaving only Austin.

Austin took a deep breath. He took out his communicator from his secondary dimensional pocket and browsed through the news that he had missed.

"This is all entertainment news. Tsk, this female celebrity looks quite nice. What's her na… Ahem, the situation in the Primeval Star River is still horrible… Hmm, more civilization ruins discovered in the Ancient Star Desert… Sigh, horrible stuff… Hmm? The Crimson Dynasty and the Federation of Light have come to an agreement?"

Austin was surprised. He was reminded of the situation of the secret war and his reminder for Han Xiao a few months ago.

Austin rubbed his tender chin with his tiny hand.

"The secret war is about to end. The show is finally going to start. I wonder what choice Black Star made. I hope he doesn't disappoint me…"

…

Outside the Shattered Star Ring, Han Xiao took Sardeem and landed on a desolate planet. This was an extremely hot planet. Its ground was covered in cracks filled with lava, volcanoes erupted all the time, and the planet surface was filled with tons of lava lakes and rivers.

"This is it." Han Xiao nodded in his mind.

It had been a day since he captured Sardeem. He had already obtained intelligence from Sardeem and confirmed his speculation that Psyker could locate the Evolution Cube.

Hence, Han Xiao decided to choose the battlefield and wait for Psyker, who was about to arrive.

Phillip counted Sardeem's army. After losing a few hundred thousand mechanical soldiers in their battle, Han Xiao had seized more than two million troops, which increased his chances.

Of course, his confidence did not mostly come from that machinery.

A few hours ago, the experience from the players had finally filled up the experience bar of level 240!

He landed on this planet to complete his level 240 Promotion that he had been looking forward to for a very long time.

Han Xiao suppressed his excitement, turned around, and gave an order to the mechanical troops that restrained Sardeem.

"Keep him under control. Don't let him go anywhere."

"Roger," the artificial intelligence Sparta replied coldly. It then controlled the many machines to all aim at Sardeem, ready to fire as soon as Sardeem did anything strange.

"Hmm!" Sardeem was tied up by electromagnetic chains all over his body, and even his mouth was sealed. The Super-Gene in his body was dried out by Han Xiao temporarily as well. He was extremely weak and could not move at all. All he could do was whine through his throat.

Leaving Sardeem behind, Han Xiao flew off alone. He crossed more than a thousand miles and randomly entered a crack on the surface.

He deactivated his mechanical suit and moved within the lava with his body. With his talent [Cosmic Environmental Adaptation], he was resistant to all kinds of harsh environments. The thousand-degree lava was no different to him than a shower.

"I wonder when I will be able to shower with Fixed Stars like the Tyrant… Wait a minute, why am I comparing myself with a Pugilist?"

Very soon, Han Xiao crossed the underground lava river and entered an empty space thousands of meters under the surface.

"This place should be secretive enough. The impact wave won't be able to leave here very easily."

Han Xiao was rather satisfied with this place.

Looking down at his muscular body, the runes drawn by Lagi made his body look as exquisite as a piece of art.

"Tsk, amazing… sigh, I've used the Evolution Cube, I wonder if I'll become a monster like Psyker after becoming a Beyond Grade A."

Han Xiao took off the Evolution Cube and slapped it into the wall. He rubbed his hands and opened the interface.

"Come on!"

After taking a deep breath, Han Xiao put all the experience into leveling up.

Straight toward level 240!

…

On Floating Dragon Island, Ames walked down the corridor of the palace with her long legs and feather-looking dress. By her side were Aesop and Vilna.

"Haven't found them yet?" Ames said with an unsatisfied tone.

"No…" Vilna replied.

"Damn Black Star, where did he take my students!" Ames was enraged.

When Hila and Aurora finished their training with her a few months ago, she had originally planned to send people to protect them secretly. However, in the last few months, Black Star and the two sisters had gone missing together. She could not find them at all.

"You're too worried. There's absolutely no need. Black Star won't harm the two of them," Aesop said with resignation.

"Hmm? You think I'm an irresponsible teacher like you?" Ames raised her brows.

So much hatred… Aesop wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead.

"Your Excellency Dragon Emperor, if you want to know where the sisters are, why don't you let me ask Black Star directly?" Vilna could not help but ask that.

Ames gave her a glare and said, "If I have to go to Black Star for everything, why did I create your team?"

Vilna had no words and could only lower her head.

It was actually created by Black Star… Aesop shook his head in resignation. Nonetheless, he agreed with Ames—Floating Dragon had to have their own intelligence channels. After all, Black Star might leave any day.

At this time, Aesop suddenly stopped.

Ames and Vilna only noticed that Aesop had been left behind after walking a few more steps. The two of them turned around only to notice that Aesop had closed his eyes and was frowning.

"What did you see?" Ames asked curiously. Aesop's Esper Ability would occasionally activate automatically to give him some foresight.

Aesop suddenly opened his eyes. His face was filled with shock.

"The fifth Beyond Grade A of the Shattered Star Ring… is born!"