After counting his own assets, he found he had 1.5 billion experience points and nearly 900,000 Enas. With no players for a year, the only way to gain experience was through quests, which greatly reduced the speed of obtaining rewards. When there were players, it was like eating delicacies every day, but now it was a hard life of eating steamed buns and pickles.
"Black Star?" Sylvia finally finished reciting the entire mechanical theory, but seeing that Han Xiao didn't react and seemed to be in a daze, she couldn't help but call out to him.
"I'm listening." Han Xiao looked up, thought for a moment, and put down his book. "We're leaving the Juberly Hub in two days, and you'll be coming with us. Tomorrow I'll help you awaken your power. That's all for today, you can go back now."
After Sylvia left, Han Xiao locked the door to the mechanical modification room, took out paper and pen, and jotted down some thoughts.
"Now that the players are gone, the only forces I can rely on are the officers around me and the Sunil warriors. They are not immortal, so we must proceed with caution. This year is the preparation phase for 2.0. To establish an advantage, I have a lot of work to do."
"The most important thing, of course, is my advancement mission. The stronger I am, the safer I will be, and the easier it will be to get things done. I need to find a relatively weak player among the Grade A. Even so, the risk is still very high... However, it also comes with benefits. Completing the level 100 advancement will give me the opportunity for racial sublimation, resulting in a huge increase in overall combat power."
Han Xiao Warning the table with the tip of his pen, frowning in thought. He searched his memory for a suitable candidate, and names of various people flashed through his mind, but he quickly eliminated them. Some were too strong, some were too far removed from reality, and some suitable candidates had not yet appeared.
In his mind, the best target was Ashes, whom he had fought before. He was able to counter Ash's abilities, but Ash hadn't reached Grade A yet and seemed to have died under the fleet's bombardment, so he had to pass on him with regret.
"Oh dear, I don't have a suitable target, what should I do..." Han Xiao scratched his head in distress.
The main difficulty lies in the vast gap between one's own people and Grade A figures, and the restriction that companions of higher ranks than oneself cannot intervene. This means that one cannot seek help from the Dragon Emperor and must rely on a group of Grade B to kill an Grade A. This is many times more difficult than when Sylvia attempted to assassinate him. The resistance and health of Grade A- level experts mean that many underhanded tactics are ineffective against them. Moreover, any Grade A individual is cautious and vigilant, and would not fall for a trap easily.
To kill them head-on at my level, I would have to use high-tech, high-powered weapons or traps, such as the Quantum Annihilation Cannon of the Destroyer-class battleship, or something like the Doomsday Ring Forbidden Spell Scroll, but there are few ways to buy them.
Moreover, his subordinates are not players. If they learn that they are going to deal with an Grade A, they will definitely have objections and may not be willing to take the risk of doing such a meaningless thing, unless the target has a deep hatred for them. Only if the target is Grade A powerhouse from DarkStar is chosen as the target will Melos not object.
Although Han Xiao was well aware of the abilities of the Grade A experts on DarkStar, such as "Barbarian Witch" Anur, "Psychic Exploder" Vimila, and "Mountain Hammer" Logo, he couldn't afford to offend any of them. Moreover, DarkStar's forces were vast and their whereabouts were elusive, making the feasibility too low.
Although he could wait until the 2.0 update to direct the players to deal with powerful enemies, firstly, he would have wasted a year without making any progress, and facing DarkStar in 2.0 would be very dangerous. Secondly, even if a thousand of those Grade C players came, they would still be instantly killed by Grade A players. Even if they could be resurrected, they would just be cannon fodder and useless.
Let alone Grade A, Master Han could take on a whole group of players single-handedly.
Han Xiao felt a bit frustrated and helpless as he faced his level 100 advancement quest, like a mouse trying to pull a turtle.
Disaster!
This is fucking tough!
If I could revive like other players and use my life to survive, I wouldn't be so conflicted. I could just recklessly charge in. However, I only have one chance. If I fail, I'm doomed. Various factors make this advanced quest almost impossible to complete.
"Then we can only take a roundabout approach..." Han Xiao sighed, rubbing his forehead.
The chances of completing the advanced task through normal means are too slim. Fortunately, he still has an unconventional method.
Mission Settlement Card!
The effect is that the task is considered completed if the lowest possible rating is obtained as the task reward.
This is perfect for advanced tasks, which don't offer any task evaluation rewards; you can advance simply by completing them.
From a player's perspective, the Mission Settlement Card is rather mediocre, generally used for extremely difficult quests, but even then, the minimum reward is minimal, making it easier to try the quest themselves. Therefore, while this item is rare, it's not particularly valuable. Han Xiao had a chance to obtain Mission Settlement Card as a random reward after completing the Germinal main quest. At that time, he chose the other Esper Potential Enhancement Fluid. Although he now needs the Mission Settlement Card, back then, the Esper Potential Enhancement Fluid was undoubtedly much rarer.
"There are two ways to obtain Mission Settlement Card. First, they appear in random rewards; you only have a chance to get random rewards by completing difficult tasks with high ratings. Second, specific tasks offer rewards such as illustration books. Third, you can purchase them through in-game purchases in the store, with a limit of 5 purchases per month..."
The third option is out of the question, and the second one is also out of the question because the trigger for the specific mission is in another star system, which is too far away. After thinking it over, only the first option has a chance.
"The advantage is that it avoids the risks of dealing with Grade A opponents; the disadvantage is that it's fraught with uncertainty."
Han Xiao shook his head.
Let the young people do the adventurous things; for us old folks, it's better to play it safe and be reliable.
The next day, Sylvia arrived as promised. Han Xiao had agreed to teach her how to awaken her strength that day. She hadn't slept well the night before, feeling a mix of anticipation, nervousness, and trepidation.
"Sit still." Han Xiao pointed to the chair next to him. The armrests, backrest, and legs of the chair were all restrained with straps, similar to an electric shock chair.
"What... what is this...?"
Sylvia swallowed hard, then chuckled dryly, "I remember awakening Mechanical Force seems to only require simple training..."
Mage Class can generate magical power through meditation, and while Mechanic Class primarily deal with mechanical objects, they can also awaken their own unique Mechanical Force in a similar way, increasing their Mechanical Affinity.
"What you're saying is the conventional method, which is too slow. As I've said before, you inherently possess Esper Gene, and you have a talent for Mechanic Class. I have a faster way to achieve this."
Han Xiao spoke calmly. If someone is confirmed to possess Mechanic Class potential, there's a quick way to awaken Mechanical Force: have another Mechanic Class user stimulate the target's body with their own Mechanical Force. This will significantly speed up the awakening process. He found this in Mechanic Class literature... Of course, if the target has no potential, this is almost the same as electrocution...
Although players progress in different ways and do not need to go through these stages, many documents record the training methods for different professions. From the players' perspective, these "details" enhance the sense of immersion.
Without a word, Han Xiao tied Sylvia to the chair, opened his palm, and saw bolts of electricity shooting out and converging into a ball of light of an irregular shape, flashing with terrifying electric light. He glanced at Sylvia, whose body was tense and whose face was filled with fear.
"Relax, don't be nervous."
Sylvia was terrified and kept twisting around, "You, you mustn't go... Ah!!"
Before she could finish speaking, Han Xiao grabbed Sylvia's forehead with his large hand, and electric shocks surged back, traveling along her body, flickering and uncertain.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!!
Sylvia trembled violently, like a fish being electrocuted. The chair shook violently, and she felt as if an electric current was coursing through her body. Her muscles contracted wildly, and she felt a tingling, stinging pain. Her body felt as if it no longer belonged to her.
"That's enough, don't electrocute her..."
Han Xiao counted the time, his eyes flashed, and he withdrew his hand and stepped back.
Sylvia slumped in the chair, her head drooping, white smoke billowing from her body. She hadn't recovered from the pain and tried to speak, but her whole body was numb from the electric shock, and her tongue wouldn't obey her.
A peculiar sensation arose within her body, faint yet undeniably present. Sylvia strained to focus and tried to control it, and a few barely perceptible currents flickered through her skin.
"I've activated your Esper Gene. You already have magnetic strength. With regular training, you'll grow stronger. I'll teach you how to train your strength in a few days. Go back and memorize another book on mechanical theory." Han Xiao untied the restraints, his face expressionless. "Now go change your clothes."
Sylvia finally managed to stand up straight, looked down, her expression twitching. In the end, she couldn't hold back anymore and burst into tears, running out of the room and sobbing.
Just then, Melos arrived at the door and almost bumped into him. He asked in surprise, "What did you do to her...? Wait, what's that smell in the room?"
The next moment, Melos's expression turned strange, filled with surprise and doubt. He looked Han Xiao up and down, hesitant to speak.
"I know what you're trying to say, shut up." Han Xiao rolled his eyes. "Let's get down to business. What do you want from me?"
"Oh, by the way, all your men have disappeared, and they haven't returned yet, it's been a whole day," Melos said.
Players frequently log off and log off, which Han Xiao explained as a side effect of his immortality, brushing it off. The other cadres were used to it, but they had never seen all the players disappear at once, and they hadn't reappeared even after a whole day, so Melos came specifically to ask about it.
Han Xiao thought for a moment and made up an excuse. The gist of it was that the price of immortality was that he had to go into a deep sleep every now and then. Since he had been active for too long, he needed to go into a long sleep at once and would not appear for a long time. Melos was skeptical, but he had no choice but to convince himself to believe it.
"They're not here for the time being, so I'm planning to temporarily suspend the mercenary group's operations... Oh, not including your fellow mercenaries, I'm referring to our main force."
"So what should we do?"
Han Xiao pointed to his eyes, feigning mystery, and said, "It has seen something again. Do you remember my promise to you? I can feel it; the time is almost here."
Melos's eyes lit up.
"But..." Han Xiao changed the subject, "I need to make some preparations. We're going to the Terrarium Star Cluster next."
"That's the star cluster closest to the central wormhole cluster of the Shattered Star Ring, the area where the Scavengers' influence is greatest. It's very dangerous. What are we going there for?"
"Looking for something."
Han Xiao said in a deep voice.
Only by completing tasks with high ratings can one have the chance to receive random rewards. Based on this, Han Xiao determined his action plan: he would do tasks whose processes he was very familiar with. The tasks he chose would not be very difficult, but they would definitely be very complicated in the normal way. In this way, he could take advantage of his familiarity with the tasks and get high ratings!
The thing they were looking for this time was an item that triggered a quest. In his previous life, players had to obtain this item by chance (the item description indicated that it contained a quest), and then find the triggerer (or the triggered person would come to them) to get the quest. Han Xiao, however, was familiar with the process; he didn't need any coincidences and could go straight to the point.
Han Xiao had calculated that the tasks he had were also opportunities for random rewards, but either they weren't activated yet or they required time. All he wanted was the opportunity for random rewards; the rewards from the tasks themselves were secondary. He remembered many tasks, all of which were opportunities to obtain random rewards.
Although drawing [Mission Settlement Card] is full of uncertainties, it is at least much safer than facing a powerful Grade A enemy head-on.