I'm so impressed!
Although Han Xiao wanted to say that, offending Bennett was no fun, and he still wanted to extract some benefits from Bennett.
Be serious, be serious.
Han Xiao coughed lightly, "I've heard about your deeds and have always wanted to meet you."
Bennett smiled kindly and waved his hand. "Let's not talk about the past. What do you want from me... You're not here for an autograph, are you?"
Han Xiao's eye twitched.
Officer, this guy is just showing off!
Taking a breath, Han Xiao put on a serious face and said, "I've heard you're one of the strongest humans on this planet..."
Bennett's eyes flashed; he was all too familiar with this kind of opening line. Was this another challenger coming?
War forges warriors of blood and fire, Bennett earned this Glory with his formidable record. Various powerful figures had come to challenge him, Bennett had long been weary of meaningless battles and winning streaks. He was here to protect his old friend Wang Yuan, keeping the traitors from the organization that hired the attackers from finding out. Otherwise, the enemy wouldn't have dared to make a move. It was precisely because the traitors in the organization thought Wang Yuan's defenses were weak that the bait plan was able to proceed.
Bennett shook his head. If Han Xiao wanted to challenge him, he would never agree, and in his opinion, Han Xiao's strength was not worth fighting.
However, Han Xiao said, "... I want to learn some combat techniques from you."
"Hmm?" Bennett was surprised, his eyes wide with a strange look. "You want to learn my fighting techniques?"
Han Xiao nodded.
"Interesting, this is the first person to ask me to learn from them."
Bennett thought for a moment, then shook his head. "You're Sniping; you won't learn my combat techniques."
Sure enough, it's the same old trick! This is Bennett's standard excuse; he always uses the same words unless the preconditions are met.
You're a mechanic; you can't learn my combat techniques.
You're a martial artist, you can't learn it...
You're a superhuman, you can't learn it...
Changing the name alone deterred a bunch of players, Han Xiao naturally wouldn't fall for it. Bennett was a hidden skill mentor; the prerequisite for learning a skill was giving him some special gifts. Once, a player who originally intended to give gifts to increase his favorability accidentally fulfilled the condition for learning a skill.
Giving different gifts can teach you different skills.
The two items Han Xiao obtained from Chassero were intended for gift-giving.
Han Xiao chatted with Bennett for a couple of minutes to get acquainted with him, and then left.
Bennett caught up with Wang Yuan, who was waiting not far away. Wang Yuan asked curiously, "What does he want with you?"
"He knows me and wants to learn my fighting techniques."
"What a strange person," Wang Yuan said, stroking his beard. "But his skills are quite good. He's a new assassin who just joined the Blood Pact Union under our organization. His background is very mysterious; his codename is Mr. Black. He's worth recruiting. After this mission is completed, I'll have Saina upgrade his assassin clearance to Dark Grade."
The mercenaries were tidying up the villa's rooms when Chen Li approached Han Xiao and handed him a set of house keys.
Han Xiao didn't reach out to take it. His gaze was strange as he stared intently at Chen Li, asking slowly and deliberately, "Don't tell me this is your room key."
"... I don't have that kind of hobby." A vein throbbed on Chen Li's forehead.
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
Chen Li coughed lightly and explained, "This is one of the best single rooms in the villa; I reserved one especially for you."
Han Xiao suddenly realized what was going on, took the key, and asked, "Who did you give the keys to the other single rooms to?"
"Volcano, Moonlight, Hunter, and a few mercenary leaders."
The people Chen Li mentioned were all powerful figures or leaders among the manor's guards.
Being assigned a single room is a privilege reserved for the strong; other ordinary mercenaries and assassins can only squeeze into large rooms and sleep on the floor, or sleep in the living room.
Last night's battle saw Han Xiao replace the fallen Venomous Bee Brothers as the core Sniping, holding down the fort throughout the entire operation. His performance earned the respect of all the mercenaries, which is why Chen Li proactively delivered the room key. With strength comes privilege.
He gladly accepted it. Han Xiao's room was on the second floor of the villa, with a balcony.
Upon reaching the second-floor corridor, they found several other powerful figures residing on this floor. They exchanged glances and nods as a greeting before entering their respective rooms. Han Xiao was particularly impressed by Hunter, a Mechanic Class gunner whose weapons were two strikingly similar hand cannons, rumored to be able to use recoil to stay airborne...
"Since Bennett is here, we have to carry out this mission no matter what. As long as we can make contact with him, we can be among the first to access the main mission of the Sanctuary, gain favor with the Dark Net Organization, share their vast intelligence network, and there are many other benefits..."
The benefits of building a good relationship with the protagonist of a planet are self-evident.
Han Xiao rubbed the stubble on his chin with his fingertips, his eyes gleaming with a sly look.
For the next two days, the enemy continued to attack every night, like an insatiable Night Raid raider, relentlessly extending its clutches towards the manor.
Han Xiao took over the duties of the Venomous Bee Brothers and is now in charge of overseeing the entire operation. He controls the field with his powerful Sniping. His accuracy is one aspect, but his more outstanding performance comes from Han Xiao's keen combat instincts.
He once dominated Star Wars; the intensity of firepower back then was like the difference between Touhou Project and the Famicom/NES Thunder Fighter – they weren't even in the same league.
In the chaotic world of Star Wars, a single mistake could mean the destruction of a machine and the death of its inhabitants. Every error would be magnified Infinite. Han Xiao had long since developed a keen sense of finding opportunities in the cracks, a hallmark of a master. Although he was shameless, he truly was a master.
They are adept at handling small-scale, low-tech ground warfare, and their Sniping bullets always seem to appear where they are most needed.
With Han Xiao's support, the mercenary casualty rate was reduced significantly, which amazed them. Previously, the Venomous Bee Brothers tended to focus on killing the enemy and rarely took care of other battlefields, but this Mr. Black's Sniping style was all-rounder, ensuring both killing the enemy and taking time to defend, almost single-handedly taking charge of the entire southeast and northeast battlefields.
Reliable and steady—that's how all the manor guards perceived Han Xiao Han Xiao. His Sniping skills made the battle feel much easier for them.
A Sniping capable of controlling the battlefield is undeniably a threat, naturally attracting countless concentrated attacks. However, Han Xiao skillfully defused these attacks with his skateboard shoes, and his Low-Level Tough Life template made him incredibly durable, possessing twice the health of an average mechanic of his level. Even some superhumans and martial artists who had surpassed level 40 might not have as much health as him. Therefore, Han Xiao didn't need to be as timid as other Sniping. In any case, this was the first time the mercenaries had seen Sniping who dared to withstand machine gun fire and confront a large group of enemies head-on, shattering their impression that Sniping were all sneaky and cunning.
After two days of continuous fighting, the mercenaries' attitude towards Han Xiao became increasingly respectful.
In battle, people always die. During the fighting, new mercenaries and assassins are also recruited to replenish the ranks.
Golden Fox was one of the Dark Grade assassins. As soon as she entered the manor, someone came up to greet her.
Golden Fox was a tall, graceful woman with a beautiful face. Carrying a Sniping rifle, she asked earnestly, "What's the situation here now?"
The mercenary leading the way glanced at Golden Fox's shapely buttocks, a lustful glint in his eyes.
Golden Fox was already used to the stinky man's greedy eyes and pretended not to see them.
"The situation is not bad. The enemy's attacks are becoming more and more frequent, but our positions are well-defended. All kinds of ammunition, firearms and supplies are replaced every day. Many new people have joined. With Mr. Black in charge of the southeast and northeast defense lines, there won't be any trouble."
The mercenary chuckled.
"Mr. Black?" Golden Fox, confirming he hadn't heard of this code name before, asked curiously, "What's his background?"
"Mr. Black is a Scorpion-level Assassin with unparalleled Sniping skills."
"Only Scorpion Grade?" Golden Fox frowned, his tone tinged with distrust, and asked doubtfully, "Isn't it too hasty to let a Scorpion-level Assassin take charge of the overall situation?"
Right after saying that, Golden Fox was taken aback to find that the mercenary who had been leading the way had immediately turned cold and indifferent, stopped in his tracks, casually pointed in the direction they were going, told them to go by themselves, and turned to leave.
Golden Fox was stunned. She had only raised a question; wasn't this reaction a bit too much? Was that Mr. Black really that influential?
When the enemy attacked that night, Golden Fox finally witnessed Mr. Black's ability to control the battlefield firsthand and was greatly surprised. It was as if he possessed the legendary eagle-eye vision, able to observe any corner of the battlefield, with almost no shots missing their mark. Even if he did not cause any casualties, he would still play other roles, such as restraining or providing support.
Golden Fox found herself doing nothing on the battlefield, with Mr. Black taking care of everything. This shocked her more than the number of people Mr. Black had killed. Only a fellow Sniping could understand how much Mr. Black had accomplished.
This means that other Sniping will be idle, essentially making one person equivalent to an entire Sniping squad.
She finally understood why those mercenaries had entrusted the overall situation to a Scorpion-level Assassin.
"This is the best Sniping I've ever encountered!"
[You repelled a wave of attackers. (3/5)]
Han Xiao breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the enemy retreat once again.
"This is the third wave of enemies, and they're getting stronger every time. However, there are also more guards in the manor. With me here, as long as no powerful enemies suddenly appear, we should be able to complete the fourth quest... But what are the requirements for this hidden reward?"
Han Xiao had absolutely no clue about this hidden requirement.
The next morning, Chen Li notified Han Xiao via walkie-talkie.
"Mr. Black, someone claiming to be an envoy from the Chaisrod Family has come looking for you."
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao immediately jumped out of bed and strode to the manor gate, where he received two items from the deliveryman... no, the envoy from Chasrod Silver Watcher Hidden Blade and the Locke HOC Sniping Rifle.
These two items are products from decades ago, long since discontinued, and the country that manufactured them has also perished. They are now considered antique artifacts. Bennett likes to collect rare antique weapons, and these two items are the prerequisites for triggering the learning of skills.
There are over a dozen items that can trigger skill learning events. Different gifts result in different skills. The total number of these items is limited, meaning the number of players who can learn skills from Bennett is also limited. Hidden skill mentors generally follow this pattern, only imparting rare skills to a select few.
For example, there are only a little over a hundred Silver Watcher Hidden Blade left in the world. They can be used to learn an extremely powerful offensive skill called [Willpower Burning]. In the later stages of version 1.0, a single blade was sold for a staggering price of over a million. However, Han Xiao beat him to it and obtained it with just a negligible amount of favor points.
Han Xiao had long coveted [Willpower Burning], but he hadn't mastered it in his previous life.