Han Xiao thought it was alright. When it came to practicality, he didn't care much about appearance. Although being handsome was a lifelong thing, he chose strength.
Besides belts and accessories, clothing can also hold quite a few compressed balls.
In his normal state, he looks like this. Once he enters battle, he will summon his mecha combat suit. He has added ejection channels for storing and releasing compressed balls to the structure of the combat suit. As long as the mecha is on, a special Magnetic Link can attract the compressed balls carried on his body. Just like loading bullets, they can enter different channels and be ejected at any time, making it more convenient to deploy the machinery.
Hundreds of compressed balls, some of which are spare parts.
After organizing the results, Han Xiao pushed open the door and walked out of the mechanical modification room. Melos was waiting at the door. Seeing him come out, he stepped forward and said, "Commander, Reldon and the others arrived at the Juberly Hub two days ago and are waiting to see you."
"Lead the way."
Han Xiao straightened his clothes.
The two left their base, boarded a floating vehicle in the hub hall, and joined the large group shuttling through the air. After a while, they landed on the middle floor of a building on the edge of the hall. This floor was full of temporary rest areas, including a small temporary outpost rented by Sunil mercenaries. It was in a remote location with a cramped space and was the cheapest rest area. As always, they were trying to save money.
"Ding-dong."
The doorbell rang, and the silver alloy door slid open. The two entered, finding the cramped room crammed with over fifty people. It was extremely narrow and crowded; this was half the total number. The other half had been in the adjacent lounge, having rushed over upon hearing the commotion. Seeing how crowded it was, Han Xiao invited everyone to talk on the public rooftop outside. The rooftop also served as a parking area for flying vehicles, resembling a miniature port. Behind it was a city-like hub hall, with towering buildings and flying vehicles coming and going, rising and falling between the floors. The swirling wind swept across the rooftop, ruffling hair and bringing a touch of heat... The air expelled by the vehicles was hot.
"Black Star." "Commander."
Sunil's mercenaries nodded in greeting, and Reldon was chosen as their representative to express their gratitude.
Han Xiao sized up the group. Many of Sunil's mercenaries were disabled and had donned mechanical suits. He had previously reviewed their resumes; more than half were Grade C superhumans, and a small portion were Grade D. Logically, Grade D were unsuitable for mercenary roles due to the extreme danger, but Sunil was in a difficult situation. Even a small mosquito is still meat, so he could only have the slightly more capable mercenaries mentor the weaker members.
"Therefore, I will select suitable tasks for you, and you can decide whether to accept them. Since you have joined me, you must obey my orders. Let me make this clear from the outset: you can object to my assignments and we can discuss them, but if you disobey orders behind my back, I will immediately terminate our cooperation. Of course, I don't want that to happen. I understand your difficult situation; after all, I have previously carried out hiring operations for Sunil's Calamity schemes. You don't need to worry that I will force you to perform tasks you cannot complete..."
One's position determines one's perspective. As the leader of the faction, Han Xiao still needs to ensure his absolute leadership. Although Sunil mercenaries are talented to him, Han Xiao will not completely give in to them because of this.
Sunil, one of the mercenaries, nodded without objection. In their view, Han Xiao's willingness to let them share his influence was already a great help.
Han Xiao brought up the mercenary interface, selected several missions, and let everyone choose. These mercenary missions weren't publicly offered by the Alliance, but rather private cooperation requests from other partners. The pay was generous. The difference was that ordinary mercenaries applying for missions were begging for favors and were being selected, while these private jobs he received were from people who specifically sought him out to work with them. The two were fundamentally different. This was one of the benefits of the Black Star Mercenary Group's fame; their partners were all large mercenary groups who might not need his help, but were willing to share the benefits, mainly to build good relationships, primarily because of his status Dragon Calm.
Sunil's mercenaries mostly work alone, risking their lives for meager rewards. They had never seen a mission with such generous pay and safety. Overjoyed, they hesitated despite having only a few options. After much deliberation, they finally accepted the cooperation request from the Sky Ring Alliance to escort a resource exploration team to develop an uninhabited planet in the North Garton Star System.
While everyone was making their choices, Han Xiao remained silent, leaning against the transparent glass railing of the rooftop, fiddling with a compressed sphere. Only after they had finished selecting did he speak, "Although this mission is quite simple, just in case, I need to test your combat capabilities first. Let's go to the combat simulation room."
Mercenary Sunil felt helpless, thinking it was unnecessary, but he could only follow his leader's instructions. The group set off and arrived at the combat simulation room.
Han Xiao rented a large room, went inside, and stood opposite the group, forming a confrontational stance.
The mercenaries, Sunil, exchanged glances. Reldon coughed, stepped forward, and asked, "Then I'll be the first to be tested."
"No need, you can all go together, it'll save time."
Han Xiao beckoned with his finger.
Everyone was stunned. There are over a hundred of us here, and you want us all to come at us at once? Even if you're Grade B superhuman, that's way too arrogant.
An anger rose from the bottom of their hearts; they felt looked down upon... Although we came to seek refuge with you, you will regret it if you underestimate us!
Sunil's mercenaries, their faces contorted with anger, scattered, drew their weapons, and assumed fighting stances.
The team of over a hundred people crouched slightly, assuming a charging stance, their combined momentum like that of a lion about to pounce on its prey, while on the opposite side was only Han Xiao.
Only by gaining attention can they receive better treatment. The group decided to go all out and show their full strength—since you want to be ganged up on, then let's give you a good taste of your own medicine!
Melos activated the simulation chamber, and the white room transformed into a vast, flat, gray rocky landscape. He looked at his fellow warriors, who were standing ready for battle, and shook his head.
These days, he would occasionally be called over by Han Xiao to test the power of weapons, and he had a deep understanding of Han Xiao's combat strength. At this moment, he only hoped that his fellow clansmen would not be beaten too badly.
Han Xiao stretched his shoulders and touched the compression ball in his belt. At this moment, he suddenly felt a sense of time reversal, as if he had returned to the past, when he first shone with the Mechanic Class and crushed all kinds of novices in the arena (fish pond). From that moment on, he embarked on the path of becoming a professional gamer.
At this moment, he was not only testing Sunil's mercenaries, but also testing his own actual combat capabilities, and incidentally establishing his authority.
Sunil joined the Black Star Mercenary Group because of his influence, but he didn't really think much of his strength. Most mercenaries nowadays think this way. Many are envious and think that Black Star was just lucky to have hooked up with the Dragon Emperor, otherwise they would have been a third-rate team.
This is the downside of rapid fame: it makes people doubt one's strength. Han Xiao was already aware of this, but weighing the pros and cons, it was definitely more profitable to "borrow the tiger's might" and take advantage of the situation. It's normal to have some side effects. Mercenaries have always respected the strong, and what he did now was to subdue this group and establish his prestige.
A smirk appeared on his lips, revealing a hint of fighting spirit.
"Bring it on."
Bang bang bang!
As soon as he finished speaking, Sunil's mercenaries immediately started charging forward, while ranged warriors fired cannonballs and lasers, rapidly closing in.
Han Xiao stood still, a flash of lightning passing by his body. The two compressed spheres that served as earrings flew into the air and quickly transformed into two sets of floating shuttles, forming two blue-purple shields that blocked the top of He Tushu's head and in front of him. All ranged attacks exploded on the thin energy shields, and the mirror-like shields rippled with energy.
Sizzle sizzle--
The crackling of electricity continued, followed by a series of compressed balls flying out of the belt and floating around the body.
A lightning-fast magnetic force was instantly activated, and these compressed spheres were scattered by the magnetic force, moving at the speed of bullets and leaving long, thin trails of lightning as they struck the ground with a "clang" and unfolded!
This scene was like a celestial maiden scattering flowers, or beans turning into soldiers!
Instant deployment!
The next second, twenty-two ground-based artillery emplacements and fourteen floating turrets appeared on the field, all firing at the hundreds of enemies.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!!
The muzzle flashes were over a meter long. Some were large-caliber gunpowder turrets using special ammunition, while others were electromagnetic kinetic energy turrets. The firepower of the thirty-six turrets covered no blind spots, and Sunil's mercenary formation was immediately thrown into chaos. Their speed decreased, and they struggled to dodge the hail of bullets.
The turrets were positioned beside or behind Han Xiao, while the outer perimeter, spanning hundreds of meters, was covered with mechanical traps and obstacles to restrict movement and prevent enemy advances. Each trap was one or two meters in size, with a trigger range larger than its size, flashing with dangerous electric light and sparks, making one not want to try stepping on it at all.
In the blink of an eye, a position was set up around him!
Sunil's mercenaries suddenly found themselves in dire straits, Danger at Every Turn and falling into a passive position.
Han Xiao remained standing still, his hands in his pockets, completely unmoved, his expression calm, as if the extremely violent bombardment had nothing to do with him.