"Hyah!"
Hila let out a sharp cry as her pink, delicate fist struck with tremendous force. It shot toward Han Xiao's chest like a bullet, making the air crack.
Han Xiao took the punch head-on. Enduring the suffocating pressure in his chest, he grabbed the collar of Hila's combat suit with one large hand, twisted at the waist, and threw her over his shoulder.
Hila didn't panic in the slightest. She braced a palm against the floor and flipped lightly, easily neutralizing the throw.
Han Xiao didn't follow up. He stayed where he was, rubbing his chest.
"Is that all the progress you've made?" Hila looked displeased.
Han Xiao said nothing. He had deliberately held back, and with the way he had performed, the organization should have given up on him. Yet for the past six months, Hila had continued training him in combat every day, and she was putting in even more effort today.
Hila didn't expect Han Xiao to answer. She knew Zero was a man of few words, like a robot without emotions. Although she was a supervisor, she actually had a lot of free time and spent her days at the base with nothing to do. Training Han Xiao was one of her few activities. After learning that the leader wanted to hand Han Xiao over to Lin Weixian, Hila had mixed feelings.
Although the two of them hardly ever spoke, after spending six months together, there were bound to be some different feelings. Even a familiar object could be missed, let alone a person. Perhaps it was a trace of attachment, but Hila couldn't bear to see Han Xiao dissected into hundreds of pieces of flesh on that scum Lin Weixian's operating table.
How many times had familiar faces disappeared on some ordinary day, never to appear again?
The organization's ruthless ways had cost her many friends.
And... her younger sister. Hila felt a pang of sorrow.
If Zero could display a talent for combat at the last moment, perhaps the leader would change his mind. That was why she was working so hard to train Han Xiao today.
Unfortunately, miracles really weren't so easy to come by.
"The leader agreed to let Lin Weixian dissect you for research..." Hila sighed.
Strictly speaking, this was the first thing Hila had said to Zero that wasn't related to training.
Hila didn't notice Han Xiao's gaze sharpen for an instant before returning to normal.
"So this day has finally come..." Han Xiao had long expected his performance to lead to this outcome sooner or later. To the Germinal Organization, a useless person was a junk stock to be dumped quickly, so they could recover their investment as early as possible.
But he didn't regret it at all. The more highly he was valued, the more closely he would be monitored. If he had openly displayed extraordinary abilities, he would only have been exploited more mercilessly. Given his identity, he could never enter the Germinal Organization's inner circle. He would always be treated as a tool, with the only difference being how useful he was. Otherwise, Han Xiao really wouldn't have minded working for Germinal.
Han Xiao suddenly spotted a photograph on the floor. It seemed to have fallen out of Hila's pocket during the shoulder throw. He bent down and picked it up.
It was a photograph of two people, with a blue sea and clear sky in the background. A setting sun hung where the sea met the sky, tinting the horizon with its glow. The subjects were two little girls standing side by side. One was Hila as a child, smiling brightly and vivaciously. The other girl looked somewhat like Hila, but her hair was snow-white, and she looked gentle and well-behaved.
Hila's expression changed. She quickly snatched the photograph back, and only after seeing that it was undamaged did she breathe a sigh of relief. She carefully tucked it away close to her body, gave Han Xiao a long look, and turned to leave the training ground.
A message suddenly appeared on the panel.
〔You have triggered the D-rank mission [Night Owl Plan]. Accept/Abandon?〕
Han Xiao's eyes flickered. This was the first time he had triggered a mission in six months.
There was nothing to hesitate about. Accept!
〔Mission hint: The dark and bloody rise of the Germinal Organization has always been a mystery that the six great nations of Planet Aquamarine are deeply secretive about. Hila has a past unknown to others. Is she truly loyal to the Germinal Organization? You have already obtained a trace of a clue. Follow it, and you may gain an unexpected reward, or encounter unexpected... danger! Of course, you can also provide this clue to certain interested parties in exchange for payment, or keep it to yourself. In any case, the choice is yours.〕
The mission had clearly been triggered by the photograph. As it happened, Han Xiao recognized the white-haired girl. She was Hila's younger sister, Aurora.
Aurora also had a superpower, but hers and Hila's were polar opposites. Hila's was highly aggressive, while Aurora's flesh and blood possessed powerful healing abilities. They could even extend life and bring the dead back to life. Her gift made her a target, and Germinal had taken control of her, using her power and holding her hostage to make Hila carry out many bloody jobs for Germinal.
The only person Hila cared about was her younger sister.
At the end of version 1.0, the war between the six nations and Germinal had reached a fever pitch. With the fighting growing desperate, Germinal dissected Aurora and used her flesh and blood to make countless doses of healing potions whose effects were comparable to "a second life." They won a major victory on a local battlefield, while Hila, who was on the front lines, didn't learn what had happened until months later.
Hila broke down completely. The Germinal Organization had anticipated her reaction and immediately sent a large number of experts to capture and imprison her. Hila suffered inhuman torture in prison, but her bone-deep hatred gave her terrifying resilience. She endured every torment and eventually found an opportunity to break out and escape.
From then on, Hila became cold-blooded and brutal. She used countless lives to develop her power and grew stronger by any means necessary, falling completely into the evil faction. In the end, she became the "Goddess of Death," a name that struck fear into people throughout the Shattered Star Ring.
Although the present Hila was aloof, compared to the future goddess of death who regarded countless lives as dust and destroyed civilization after civilization, she was ten thousand times kinder. If he had the chance, Han Xiao very much wanted to help her and change her tragic future. It wasn't out of pity, but to avoid trouble. In his previous life, Hila had been an absolute madwoman who killed whoever she came across. Han Xiao had been unlucky enough to encounter her more than a dozen times, and every time, his warship had been blown up, causing him enormous losses.
The key to changing Hila's future lay with Aurora.
For now, however, Han Xiao lacked the ability to do that. Escaping was his top priority.
Hila left the laboratory on a regular schedule once every two months. She would leave again in two days, and he had saved up enough experience.
The opportunity had finally come.
Back in his mechanical modification room, Han Xiao called up the panel. He currently had three classes: civilian, agent, and Mechanic Novice.
The civilian class could be ignored. The other two were what he had to rely on to escape the laboratory.
Of the five major class systems, the mechanic class was relatively the weakest in the early stages, but he didn't regret his choice at all. It was the class he was best at.
In the early stages, the mechanic class leaned toward logistics and crafting, but after version 3.0 unlocked advanced knowledge in the class knowledge tree, its combat power soared and it gradually became popular, even rivaling the Pugilist Class, which had the most players.
In the later stages, a high-level mechanic was an interstellar army all by himself!
The mechanic class was notorious for having many skills. Every invented blueprint amounted to a skill, and there were thousands of mechanic blueprints. That gave the class enormous potential in the later stages. Different combinations of skills produced countless combat styles: traps, fortified positions, heavy artillery, sniping, armies, mechs, and so on...
But the drawback was equally obvious. Developing a top mechanic required several times more experience than other classes, if not more.
After some thought, Han Xiao poured his experience into the Mechanic Novice class and leveled up madly.
〔[Mechanic Novice] has reached lv3. Energy +10, Intelligence +1, Endurance +1. You have gained 2 free attribute points and 1 potential point.〕
〔[Mechanic Novice] has reached lv10 (Max). Energy +30, Intelligence +1, Endurance +1. You have gained 2 free attribute points and 1 potential point.〕
Most classes capped at level ten. Only after changing classes could one continue leveling up.
He spent a total of 130,000 experience to raise [Mechanic Novice] from level 2 to its level 10 cap, gaining another 8 Endurance, 8 Intelligence, 100 Energy, 16 free attribute points, and 8 potential points. His total level became 12.
The main class was usually the first priority for leveling. It provided Energy and offered the best value.
After [Mechanic Novice] reached its level 10 cap, Han Xiao still couldn't meet the requirements to change classes. He had expected this and set it aside for now.
Han Xiao then raised [Agent] to level 9, spending 80,000 experience. The [Agent] class had given him a total of 12 Strength, 9 Dexterity, 3 Charisma, 9 potential points, and 9 free attribute points.
His total level reached 20.
A character could have any number of classes, but every 20 levels was a bottleneck. An advancement mission had to be completed before leveling could continue. The total level cap was unlocked with version updates; in version 1.0, it was level 60.
The hundreds of classes in Galaxy gave players countless combinations. In the late game, individuality was important. There was no fixed progression guide, and every character was different, allowing the game to remain appealing.
But Han Xiao discovered that his panel didn't display a total level cap. In other words, he could possess power beyond what the players' version allowed.
In versions 1.0 and 2.0, players were largely restricted to the starter planets, while the major interstellar powers had always existed in the depths of the universe. Players simply couldn't reach them. The version therefore restricted the players, and as an NPC, he naturally wasn't bound by it.
〔Level 20 advancement mission: Learn an advanced mechanic class knowledge.〕
The prerequisite for advanced knowledge was learning five basic knowledge subjects in one branch. The base's class knowledge for the weapons branch was incomplete, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He spent another 150,000 experience to raise [Simple Repair] and [Basic Enhancement Modification] to their maximum level of lv10, gaining two potential points. This was important to his later plans.
He spent 10,000 experience to raise [Basic Mechanical Affinity] to lv3.
Drawing on his familiarity with Galaxy, Han Xiao spent 60,000 experience to raise [Basic Combat] and [Basic Shooting] to lv6, successfully gaining two new skills: [Grappling] and [Precision Shooting].
That left him with 170,000 experience, the reserve Han Xiao had set aside to "gamble for blueprints."
Inventing blueprints was the mechanic class's most important ability.
Blueprints were obtained automatically when mechanic class knowledge was leveled up. That was the first way to get them.
The second was to obtain them from missions or special NPCs. These were special blueprints and were generally quite rare.
The third was to dismantle machinery and reverse-engineer a blueprint, but the requirements were demanding, and it cost an enormous amount of experience!
The fourth and most important method was "knowledge fusion." By fusing two or more class knowledge subjects, one could develop a new blueprint if the combination was correct. Each fusion cost experience.
The 60 knowledge subjects could be paired in countless combinations, and each combination concealed many blueprints. But each fusion would develop only one of them, and some blueprints even had hidden prerequisites. It was therefore difficult to determine exactly how many blueprints a combination could produce.
The experience cost of fusing the same combination kept increasing, and even if no new blueprint was developed, the experience wouldn't be refunded. That was why it was also called "gambling for blueprints."
This was a distinctive feature of the mechanic class. It created the class's varied combat styles and was the source of its strength in the later stages, but it was also a bottomless pit for experience.
Before he transmigrated, players had discovered thousands of combinations. With more than a decade of experience, Han Xiao remembered eighty or ninety percent of them. That gave him a huge advantage as a mechanic and let him minimize the class's early weaknesses. A few rare blueprints were practically divine weapons for mechanics in the early stages!
There was, of course, another rarely used function: free creation, which let players create their own machinery according to their ideas. But ninety-nine percent of the time, what they made was just a pile of scrap metal. The success rate depended on every aspect, including the soundness of the idea, the quality of the materials, class knowledge levels, talents, and tools. Even by the version current before Han Xiao transmigrated, no player had fully developed the custom creation function. Even when someone occasionally made a custom machine, its performance was inferior to machinery made from blueprints. The function had always been considered of little use.
Leveling his classes had given him 19 potential points, and maxing out two skills had given him another 2, for a total of 21.
Han Xiao took the class knowledge books he had prepared long ago from the bookshelf, drew a deep breath, and spent the potential points.
〔Spend 1 potential point to learn weapons branch [Basic Mechanical Engineering]?〕 〔Spend 1 potential point to learn weapons branch [Basic Bionics]?〕
"Confirm!"
A flood of knowledge poured into his mind. Han Xiao's head swelled and worked in overload, feeling as though it would burst. The pain made his face twitch, and it took a full ten minutes to subside.
Mechanical knowledge he had never understood before was etched deeply into his mind.
Han Xiao spent another 2 potential points to raise both [Basic Mechanical Engineering] and [Basic Bionics] to lv2, improving his mastery.
"Combining these two level-two basic mechanic knowledge subjects can produce six blueprints. The experience cost doubles with each fusion of the same combination. The first fusion of basic knowledge costs 10,000 experience, so 170,000 is enough for four attempts. I have to get that thing in those four tries!"
Han Xiao was nervous, his palms covered in sweat. He dragged [Basic Mechanical Engineering lv2] and [Basic Bionics lv2] together on the panel.
〔Perform knowledge fusion (Basic Mechanical Engineering + Basic Bionics)? This fusion will cost 10,000 experience.〕
Yes!
His head spun for an instant, and a brand-new invention blueprint appeared out of nowhere.
〔Fusion successful. Congratulations, you have developed [Cloud Swallow Glider]!〕
"Not this one!" Han Xiao clenched his fist. Again!
〔...This fusion will cost 20,000 experience.〕 〔Fusion successful. Congratulations, you have developed [Bionic Prosthesis]!〕
Damn it, even the worst blueprint came out. This isn't it either!
Again!
〔...This fusion will cost 40,000 experience.〕 〔Fusion successful. Congratulations, you have developed [Light Power Arm]!〕
"Got it!"
Han Xiao slapped the table excitedly, shaking a screw loose.
Ha, the Light Power Arm... that's exactly what I wanted!
Six months of accumulation had been almost entirely spent.
-- Name: Han Xiao Species: Carbon-based human (yellow) Template: NPC (182 days, 8 hours, 23 minutes until version 1.0 open beta) Total level: 20 (advancement incomplete) Experience: 100,000 Secondary classes: Civilian Lv1, Agent lv9 (0/25000) Main class: Mechanic Novice Lv10 (Max, class change mission incomplete) Health: 320/320 Stamina: 434/434 Attributes: Strength 21, Dexterity 17, Endurance 22, Intelligence 15, Mystery 1, Charisma 5, Luck 1 Free attribute points: 27 Energy: 120 [Lv3] Lv1 (10)--〔Strength +1, Dexterity +1, Endurance +1, maximum Stamina +20〕 Lv2 (50)--〔Strength +3, Dexterity +2, Endurance +3, maximum Stamina +50〕 Lv3 (100)--〔Strength +3, Dexterity +3, Endurance +5, maximum Stamina +100〕 Energy level: 48~55 Rank: F (mortal) [Compared to the weakest superhuman, you are a large ant.] Talents: High Concentration, Low-Level Mental Fortitude Well-Trained - increases base Health by an additional 100 points Skills: --Mechanic: Basic Mechanical Affinity lv3, Simple Repair lv10 (Max), Basic Reinforcement and Modification lv10 (Max), Blueprint - Cloud Swallow Glider lv1 (0/5000), Blueprint - Bionic Prosthesis lv1 (0/2000), Blueprint - Light Power Arm lv1 (0/10000) --Agent: Basic Combat lv6 (0/16000) - increases unarmed attack power by 6% Basic Shooting lv6 (0/16000) - increases shooting correction by 6% Grappling lv1 (0/3000) - increases parry and counterattack rate by 3%, unarmed attack power by 2% Precision Shooting lv1 (0/3000) - increases shooting correction by 3%, ranged critical hit rate by 2% Potential points: 17 Class knowledge tree: --Weapons: Basic Assembly lv1 (0/1) Basic Mechanical Engineering lv2 (0/1) Basic Bionics lv2 (0/1) 〔17 unlearned items〕 --Energy: 〔20 unlearned items〕 --Control: 〔20 unlearned items〕 Influence: 0 Legend: 0 Equipment: None --
After six months of accumulation, he had shot straight up to level 20, and his combat power had soared!
Han Xiao had 27 free attribute points in total. He spent five to raise his Intelligence to 20, meeting the Light Power Arm blueprint's manufacturing requirement. He saved the rest for emergencies.
There was just one final step left: arming himself!
Looking at the mechanical parts scattered across the floor, Han Xiao laughed inwardly.
"I'll show you what it means to raise a tiger that becomes a threat!"