"A coefficient-type bonus? The magnitude is quite substantial."
Han Xiao's eyes lit up.
The bonus from the specialization undoubtedly reaches the level of a template.
Leaving aside the 10% increase in intelligence, given his current intelligence base, that's equivalent to gaining several thousand attribute points. With the combined effect of the bonus coefficients for Mechanical Force strength and mechanical efficiency, his mechanical combat ability has increased significantly. He might even be able to wield an Apostle Weapon and go toe-to-toe with High-level Beyond Grade A weapon.
Judging from the mechanism indicated by the panel prompts, the awakening difficulty of exclusive feats increases with each one, but the effects of the new ones are also stronger than the old ones. Old Manison has both single-bonus feats like [Virtual Technology Innovation] and wide-range bonus feats like [Billions of Mechanic Emperor]. Obviously, the latter is the ultimate product that Old Manison created by padding several exclusive feats, but he directly stole it.
"Oh, Old Manison Old Manison, you've really lost out..."
Han Xiao sighed and then laughed sadly.
Since the mechanism is getting stronger and stronger, he wasn't too dissatisfied with his first exclusive feat. He just didn't know when the prototype of his exclusive feat would be triggered again.
I wonder if Old Manison has any other special abilities that increase the awakening rate...
Han Xiao subconsciously licked his lips, feeling a little itchy to touch them.
Looking back, he has to admit that Old Manison's resources were truly abundant. It's a pity that they're now teammates on the same side, so he felt embarrassed to make a move. Otherwise, he really wanted to raid Old Manison's database... After all, for a mechanic, someone else's database is just too tempting.
Shaking off this impulsive thought, Han Xiao looked back at the panel. The name and notes for his specialty were still waiting to be filled in, and he couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache.
As someone who struggles with naming things, he has an unusually high level of confidence in his naming abilities.
"What should I call myself...? I need to come up with a proper name this time, otherwise, if a player draws it using a character card, I'll be in big trouble!"
Han Xiao pondered for a while, then carefully wrote down a name that he thought was reliable.
Once the name is confirmed, the skills information on the panel is refreshed immediately, the blank boxes for filling in information disappear, and the name can no longer be changed.
[[The Great Emperor of War - Han Xiao]]
[Note: Born for war]
"A fighting-related ability, calling it that is actually quite normal."
Han Xiao felt there was nothing wrong with it, but he wasn't quite sure about his own aesthetic sense. However, since he had already chosen a name, he wouldn't dwell on it anymore.
He was about to turn around and leave the research institute to find a nearby deserted planet to try his hand at something when his communicator suddenly started beeping, and a communication request came in.
Upon taking it out, he was astonished to find it was Joy Ryan, the reclusive ruler of the Kingdom of the Four Gods, the old man he had once beaten, the "Arcane Realm Mage".
The connection was established, and Joy's image appeared on the screen.
"What? You suddenly contacted me, have you come to a change of heart?" Han Xiao asked with considerable interest.
Joy looked somewhat helpless, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice, "We agree to join the Beyond Grade A Association, but we hope to retain our original freedom, and the coordinates of the Kingdom of the Four Gods must be kept secret and not revealed to other members. We will attend regular meetings, and if any important events occur, we will provide assistance, but we will not accept coercion... Is that acceptable?"
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao finally smiled.
These four men finally made up their minds; this was probably their bottom line.
"Alright, this is a good start. With your joining, the association's strength will be even greater. I will not disclose your Secondary Dimension coordinates, and the association does not force its members. However, I will state that you are reclusive Beyond Grade A, and you need to be present in person when you join. Is that alright?"
"Okay." Joy nodded, then hesitated, "But what about the Sanctuary Revival..."
"Don't worry, once you're in the association, you're one of us. If you die, I'll bring you back to life."
"That's good..."
"Alright, send me your information later, and I'll register you for association privileges and arrange your initiation ceremony."
After exchanging a few words, Han Xiao hung up the phone. A dozen seconds later, he received the personal information of Joy and the other three, and then handed it over to Phillip to handle the membership application process.
He thought for a moment, then made a call to the oath- Oathkeeper. He had already spoken with some of the Sanctum members and they would come out of seclusion when the time was right. Since Joy and the others had also joined, he might as well arrange a time for them to join together, which would be more convenient and less troublesome.
Soon, the Oathkeeper appeared on the screen.
"Black Star, what's up?"
"Yes, I've made arrangements for the initiation ceremony of the new batch of Sanctum members. They can Shattered World now..." Han Xiao instructed.
"I will inform them." The Oathkeeper nodded after hearing this, then hesitated for a moment before suddenly saying, "Black Star, there's something I need to inform you about. The second set of Sanctuary Key is almost complete."
"... So fast?"
Han Xiao was taken aback.
The Oathkeeper was in charge of this matter, and he hadn't paid much attention to it. He thought it would take at least several years for Sanctum Covenant to collect the second key, but he hadn't expected it to be so efficient.
"Yes, the resource list provided by the Super Star Cluster Alliance includes many materials for Sanctuary Key, which are normally difficult to obtain outside the region. However, these advanced civilizations have stockpiles of these materials. There are also some more sensitive materials that are prohibited from circulation in the market, but some black market warehouses have stockpiles of them, which you have transferred to us, greatly accelerating our collection progress."
The Oathkeeper explained.
"So that's how it is." Han Xiao understood, and breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if an invisible burden had been lifted.
Only by obtaining the second Sanctuary Key will we truly have the confidence to face the reckoning, and no longer need to intimidate the Three Universal Civilizations with a facade of strength masking weakness.
"Which Sanctuary's key are we about to collect?" Han Xiao asked curiously.
"This time it's the First Sanctum."
Han Xiao immediately perked up.
Last time I went into the Third Sanctum, which mainly contained knowledge about biology, genes, and superpowers. Although I gained something, it wasn't really relevant to my profession. The First Sanctum, on the other hand, seems to be closely related to mechanical technology. If I could go in and explore it, I'd probably get the most suitable technology for a mechanic, which would be the most worthwhile.
Fortunately, my authority in the First Sanctum is quite high, even higher than that in the Third Sanctum. I currently have a total of seven fragments, which is equivalent to level 7 authority. As long as I enter the First Sanctum, I can gain another fragment, reaching level 8. At that time, I will be able to do more things in the Sanctuary.
"How's the collection of the other Sanctuary Key going?"
"Let me show you..." the Oathkeeper sent a string of data.
The Sanctum has digitized the search progress of each Sanctuary Key, making it more intuitive. At this point, apart from the First Sanctuary Key which has reached 92% progress, the second highest is the third Sanctuary Key at 67%. The search progress of the other Sanctuary Key is basically around 40%, with only the Sixth Sanctuary the most isolated at only 7%.
Han Xiao glanced at the progress, then looked at the detailed list of materials for each Sanctuary Key, and encouraged, "I'll try my best to pay attention to these materials too. Keep up the good work..."
"Yes, you should do a good job too. The organization won't treat you unfairly." The Oathkeeper spoke first, feeling completely satisfied. Before Han Xiao could reply, he abruptly hung up the phone.
Han Xiao put down the communicator, scratched his head, and had a strange expression.
He usually speaks like this to the Oathkeeper, but he was caught off guard when the Oathkeeper suddenly switched to this tone.
Interesting. Is this someone who's unwilling to be bossed around all the time, so they want to turn the tables and dominate me, trying to gain the upper hand verbally?
Hmph, childish brat...
I'll definitely speak faster than you next time!
Han Xiao curled his lip, deciding not to stoop to the level of the Oathkeeper, since everyone knew who was in charge of making the decisions anyway.
"We're almost finished collecting the second key; we can start looking for an opportunity to have a preliminary showdown with the Three Universal Civilizations..."
Han Xiao composed himself and pondered deeply.
Based on his assessment of the situation, one effective way to resolve the stalemate between the Three Universal Civilizations and the Association is to seek peace through war. Let the Three Universal Civilizations launch a purge, let both sides lay down their horses and fight to their hearts' content, and then, after the Association suffers heavy casualties, revive all its members, demonstrating the truth that the Sanctuary Revival has no limit on the number of times it can be done.
In this way, the Three Universal Civilizations will learn a painful lesson and realize that they cannot contain the Super A Tier. They will most likely abandon their current strategy, cease their efforts, and stop these useless targeting tactics, focusing instead on researching the Sanctuary. This would achieve a new round of checks and balances, which should be able to be maintained for a long time.
However, while this method causes limited damage to the Beyond Grade A Association, it is a severe blow to the Three Universal Civilizations. After all, the destroyed fleets, legions, and soldiers cannot be Sanctuary Revival. If the direct descendants of the Three Universal Civilizations die in this war, even if the Sanctuary Revival can bring them back to life, Han Xiao will not allow them to be revived in the same batch as the association members; it will inevitably be delayed.
His two goals are to deal with the World Tree and to maintain the Super A Tier and avoid following the old path of the Federation of All Stars. The former has a higher priority.
"Before the World Tree War breaks out, we should try to avoid causing too much damage to the military forces that Explored Universe. Therefore, we must continue to control the intensity. The Association will not provoke battles and will try to maintain the status quo. The Second Sanctuary Revival is just a protective measure. This plan will only be implemented if the Three Universal Civilizations take the initiative to settle scores..."
Han Xiao let out a breath.
Alternatively, it's possible that war won't break out. But if that happens, to avoid casualties, I might have to go against my initial intentions and prematurely reveal information about the World Tree Civilization, causing the war to erupt sooner...
However, whether the Three Universal Civilizations, with the arrow already on the bowstring, will believe it at that time is another matter entirely.
"Let's hope the Three Universal Civilizations don't play with fire recklessly; maintaining the status quo is already quite good..."
On the other side, somewhere in the Desolate Universe Belt the Ancient Star Desert.
Behind a gray star and a Tu Shu sphere, a spherical interstellar fortress floats, resembling an enlarged version of a metal brain. This is Ultra-Range Virtual Brainwave Amplifier, and its surface is covered with matrix-like intrusive quantum network base stations, which can to some extent conceal transmitted data packets and increase the intensity of virtual intrusion.
Two ring-shaped mechanical devices surround the virtual brainwave amplifier, one horizontal and one vertical, like two star rings. This is the Federation of Light's High-Dimensional Apocalypse Teleporter. Outside the teleporter, high-tech concealment devices, like buoys, float around, providing multi-frequency shielding for this area and blocking all kinds of detection, including prophetic abilities.
At this moment, Mornisa and several clones of Beyond Grade A mechanics were inside the virtual brainwave amplifier, each seated in their respective positions. They were all direct descendants of the Three Universal Civilizations.
After two or three months of preparation, the Three Universal Civilizations finally agreed to the cooperative project. The participants were all top-tier Beyond Grade A mechanics, led by Mornisa and assisted by the Three Universal Civilizations, who came to the Ancient Star Desert to invade Manison's database.
The Three Universal Civilizations contributed a considerable amount of cutting-edge equipment and even agreed to allocate computing power from their main AI to assist in the intrusion, all in order to successfully exploit Manison's vault and catch him off guard.
"The virtual brainwave amplifier and the invasive quantum network base station matrix are operating at full power. The High-Dimensional Apocalypse Teleporter has entered the semi-warm-up phase... The main intelligent computing power support from the Federation of Light, the Crimson Dynasty, and the Arcane Church has been allocated. The intrusion path calibration is complete. Preparations are finished. Please issue further instructions."
An emotionless AI voice echoed in the room.
Mornisa glanced at her many teammates present, a red light flashing in the electronic eyes of her mechanical clone, and spoke decisively:
"Everyone, let's get started!"