Apocalyptic Mechanist 40

Back in the Mechanical Workshop, Jiang Xiao, Li Yuan, and Xi Ling walked up to the second floor.

Xi Guang was diligently writing something on paper. Upon seeing this, Xi Ling's eyes lit up, and she immediately leaned in.

"Sister Xi Guang, huh? Math formulas?"

"Mm... Mr. Jiang needs them." Xi Guang seriously recalled the mental instructions from her teacher from sixty to seventy years ago.

Actually, she had secretly infiltrated the Wicked Soul Market earlier, preparing to support Jiang Xiao if the situation called for it. Who knew that he would possess a spatial ability-like technique that directly caught Gulab off guard?

She didn't even know when Jiang Xiao had placed the Plasma Bomb in that location.

On the other side, Li Yuan looked at Jiang Xiao solemnly.

"Mr. Jiang, it's not necessarily a good thing for the Spark Gang to be brought into the open. Could you share your thoughts?"

Jiang Xiao smiled.

"How can Sin City not have a place for the Pan-Human? As for Chief Li's concerns, I am naturally aware of them."

"Oh?"

The Spark Gang had not lacked high-end strength before.

In her prime, Xi Guang's strength was enough to kill most Tier 2 Peak individuals. Gulab and his ilk couldn't last a hundred moves under the former Xi Guang; only the Viper Gang leader could be compared to her!

At the same time, Li Yuan's strength was not weak. Even though he had suffered severe injuries causing his Source Energy Intensity to decrease, his physical fitness and neural reaction speed had not diminished.

Paired with Source Energy Equipment, few criminals among Sin City's Tier 2 Elites were his match.

It's worth noting that many large gangs in Sin City only had one Tier 2 Elite powerhouse. Gangs controlled by seasoned Tier 2 Elites could be considered medium-to-large gangs!

If they truly wanted to step onto Sin City's open stage, it wouldn't be difficult for the Spark Gang. It was even possible for Li Yuan, despite his injuries, to unleash his full power and, along with Xi Guang, kill the three leaders of the Viper Gang.

The problem was that he was the chief of the rebel army. He had to be responsible for the soldiers of the rebel army and the Starfire Camp.

—The number of Pan-Humans on Prison Star was far too small.

The enemy didn't even need to defeat him and Xi Guang; they could kill all the Pan-Humans with sporadic attacks. The frustrating part was that with the repeated probing by the Sin City Council, they gradually understood that his and Xi Guang's weakness was their own race.

This shattered their pretense of not caring about their own kind, their outward appearance of daring to attack gangs and they would kill all their leaders. Li Yuan couldn't abandon his own people for selfish reasons like the Viper Gang.

As for Xi Guang, she wasn't a member of the rebel army. She was someone Li Yuan met in Sin City over twenty years ago. Initially, he thought Xi Guang was a child born in Sin City and, with kindness, brought her back to the Starfire Camp.

In short, to preserve their compatriots as much as possible, the Spark Gang could only hide and run. Otherwise, with his and Xi Guang's strength, they wouldn't have ended up in such a predicament!

This was also why the Viper Gang and the Blade Armor Gang, despite knowing the locations of many Spark Gang strongholds, dared not launch large-scale attacks on the Pan-Humans. They feared that if there were no restraints, the powerful combat forces of the Spark Gang would attack without regard for consequences.

No one openly in Sin City could guarantee victory against the power Xi Guang had displayed! If Xi Guang were to truly die in the Kasar Street Block, the Spark Gang would inevitably face a bloody crackdown from the Viper Gang. At that point, they would have no choice but to withdraw from Sin City and enter the wilderness. Without Sin City's resources, the living conditions at the Starfire Camp would be no better than those of wanderers; starving three days out of seven wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Jiang Xiao naturally saw the Spark Gang's awkward situation. On the Doran, he studied almost every day, not just knowledge, but also broadening his horizons and predicting situations in different environments. When Jiang Xiao said he was diligent, it wasn't exactly self-praise.

"Chief Li's concern is nothing more than the small base of Pan-Humans. If we rashly step into the open, we'll easily be subjected to attrition tactics, ultimately leading to the death of all our kin?"

"Precisely." Expectation appeared in Li Yuan's eyes.

Jiang Xiao chuckled, "Prison Star doesn't have guided missiles or heavy weapons with ranges exceeding ten kilometers, right?"

"Of course not. The Starport doesn't allow any guided or long-range weapons. The furthest attack range is from the Sin City Council's Electromagnetic Tanks, with a range of only eight kilometers, though I have my doubts about that."

"That's the solution. If the Pan-Humans are concentrated in one area and equipped with weapons sufficient to deter multiple Tier 2 Elites, this matter can naturally be resolved."

Jiang Xiao walked to the workbench and fiddled with a battery.

"The reason alien gangs dare to use attrition tactics is simply that as long as they don't face you and Xi Guang, the other humans have no power to resist or kill them. If I were to be stationed in the Spark Gang's area, equipped with multiple weapons capable of killing Tier 2 Peaks, and allow Tier 1 ordinary soldiers to possess equipment that can kill Tier 1 Peaks, Chief Li, who do you think would still dare to use such tactics? Criminals fear death, especially races like the Viper Race and Blade Armor Race. Loyalty is worth less than garbage in the face of a high probability of death."

Li Yuan nodded in agreement, then frowned, "I don't doubt your mechanical technology. The problem is that such high-end materials are extremely scarce. Otherwise, the Sin City Council wouldn't have more than forty Electromagnetic Tanks."

"No, the Sin City Council will soon have fewer than twenty Electromagnetic Tanks." Jiang Xiao said calmly.

"Huh?"

"Aren't the Electromagnetic Tanks in the Kasar Street Block readily available materials? As for individual soldier weapons, the Spark Gang only needs to equip five to six hundred soldiers. Sin City's resources are more than enough."

"..."

Admittedly, Li Yuan was moved. If Jiang Xiao could truly create weapons that could deter multiple Tier 2 Elites and even Peaks, and significantly enhance the strength of grassroots soldiers, the Sin City Council's attrition tactics would indeed become ineffective. No criminal would blindly obey their superiors and sacrifice themselves; betrayal was commonplace in Sin City.

Being able to establish a foothold in Sin City openly would greatly improve the situation at Starfire Camp, at least significantly lowering the infant mortality rate.

Don't let the Spark Gang claim to control the entire underworld black market; in a city full of criminals and without law, being confined to the shadows is a joke in itself.

The Spark Gang simply couldn't obtain high-end medical resources, and their supply channels for daily necessities were equally unstable. Only common, ordinary weapons were abundant.

Sin Coins can't buy everything in Sin City.

"Then I'll leave the rest to you, Mr. Jiang."

In the end, Li Yuan chose to trust him.

"Alright."

"I'll purge the Spark Gang internally soon. It should take about a week or two," Li Yuan said, his tone somewhat indifferent.

Jiang Xiao asked curiously, "Xi Ling or Xi Guang's abilities?"

"No, just test all the Pan-Humans they've recruited since coming to Sin City. The rebels who followed me to Prison Star have already been through countless trials of money and life and death. The problem can't be with them."

Speaking of this, Li Yuan's tone carried a hint of pride.

"Many of the warriors who have followed me even when promised life extension surgery and manors spanning several square kilometers haven't betrayed me."

Jiang Xiao chimed in with timely praise, "They are indeed steadfast. Speaking of which, Chief Li, were you the strongest when you were in the rebel army?"

"No, I had several Tier 3 martial artists under me, but the real main force was the army equipped with a large number of weapons. After all, ordinary humans have a low life foundation, and Tier 3 martial artists cannot defeat the special mechas of primary civilizations.

Before reaching a certain level, whether it's a martial artist or an esper, even a Tier 4 martial artist is merely a decent special single soldier to a primary or intermediate civilization.

In front of a real fleet, a Tier 4 martial artist is just a piece of thin paper, shattering at the slightest touch," Li Yuan sighed, lost in thought as if remembering something.

Jiang Xiao remained silent. This was precisely why he chose to be a Mechanist.

In the Interstellar Alliance, to gain respect from a civilization with individual strength, one must at least be Tier 4, with a Talent Value (life foundation) that isn't too low.

Mechanists, Spellcasters, or Scholars, however, usually don't focus on rank but on knowledge, making it easier to gain respect from powerful civilizations. Of course, having Source Energy and Esper abilities as support would be even better.

As for why high-level martial artists find it difficult to gain the respect of powerful civilizations...

Jiang Xiao had seen it in the Doran's database. Once, a young Tier 1 martial artist from a powerful advanced civilization somehow ended up in the territory of a primary civilization and was besieged by a group of space pirates.

Three Tier 3 martial artists and a dozen Tier 2 martial artists, working together, were brutally defeated by that advanced civilization's Tier 1 martial artist within seven minutes!

Jiang Xiao thought of Xi Guang. She must have had a damaged foundation before coming to Prison Star.

Otherwise, no one on this Prison Star would have been her match.

Powerful civilizations are powerful not just in their upper limits, but also in their lower limits.

Xi Ling and Li Yuan didn't stay long.

There were still many things to handle to get the Spark Gang to stand in the open. However, before leaving, Li Yuan left dozens of warriors behind to help him manage the resources moved from the Wicked Soul Black Market.

He'll look for anything useful.

Jiang Xiao sat beside Xi Guang, watching her serious expression. His restless heart, after prolonged killing, gradually calmed down.

Right, let me check how much experience I've gained this time.

Thinking of the unspent experience points, Jiang Xiao felt much better.

Chapter 44: Improvement, The Marvels of Data Construction

[Current Experience Points: 51230]

"Hmm..."

Over fifty thousand experience points. It wasn't a lot, nor was it a little; it was basically within Jiang Xiao's expectations.

As his strength increased, the rewards from hunting Tier 1 criminals and ordinary aliens decreased significantly. Many ordinary aliens could only contribute two or three experience points.

If it weren't for the three major gangs, led by the Viper Gang, dispatching a large number of martial artists, his harvest would have been halved.

"Tsk, I miscalculated again..." Jiang Xiao clicked his tongue.

He should have prepared some large-area destructive weapons, not necessarily powerful, but wide-ranging.

No matter how much the Thunder Cannon Floating Cannon was overloaded, its killing efficiency was ultimately limited. At least two-thirds of the tens of thousands of criminals who were watching escaped!

A full two-thirds of the aliens!

If this were in the Pan-Human Federation of Stellaris, letting so many aliens escape would likely lead to being labeled a weak, pro-alien sympathizer, an extreme conservative!

Jiang Xiao sighed, his gaze sweeping across the Source Energy and Spirit Energy Intensity bars.

[Source Energy Intensity: 77 (0/3000)]

[Spirit Energy Intensity: 51 (0/5000)]

The extra intensity points were added at the time to supplement his mana. He had to admit, this side effect was truly heaven-defying in actual combat.

Increasing Source Energy Intensity also restored stamina and HP, while boosting Spirit Energy directly refreshed his mental state!