"What?!"
"This... this is impossible!"
The sound of the headless corpse falling to the ground seemed to strike their hearts, and all the prisoners present paled in shock!
This charred and disfigured man was a notorious and ruthless killer, a murderer of countless lives, whose immense strength kept the other prisoners on their toes. He was a top-tier expert of the third level on Planet Aquamarine —yet in the blink of an eye, he was killed without any resistance?!
Everyone stared at Han Xiao in utter shock, their hearts filled with turbulent emotions.
How can there be such a strong person in the world?!
Seeing this, Han Xiao frowned and said disappointedly, "Seriously, none of you bald guys know my name?"
Your title... Black Phantom?
The prisoners looked at each other in bewilderment. They had been locked up in the prison for a long time and had never heard of this name before. The prison guards would not reveal any information about the outside world to them. Only a very few prisoners who had been imprisoned in recent years and had experienced the demise of the Germinal knew Han Xiao's nickname.
"Black Phantom, real name Han Xiao, is a traitor to the Germinal Organization and a key factor in Germinal downfall. He is the most notorious war instigator of the past five years, and also created a peaceful truce among the Six Nations. Moreover, your personal strength surpasses all known powerhouses, placing you at the pinnacle of Planet Aquamarine. A fourth level, represented by you, has been added above the traditional three levels of strength!"
Tyne stepped forward from the crowd, his tone grave. He knew Han Xiao, but only about the information Han Xiao had before leaving the planet.
"There are still some discerning customers..." Han Xiao looked over, but before he could speak, a cry of surprise suddenly rang out.
"What?! The Germinal is dead?!"
Shijieke looked on incredulously.
He was a senior executive of Germinal, who had been imprisoned for eleven years. He was one of Germinal Leader's former right-hand men. Before he was captured, Germinal was at its peak, and he always believed that the leader would eventually lead Germinal to achieve its goals. However, he never expected that after being imprisoned for more than ten years, he would learn that Germinal had died, leaving him completely stunned.
Not only him, but many other prisoners were also moved, filled with surprise and doubt.
Good heavens! What exactly has changed in the world while we've been locked up?!
"It seems some people recognize me, so I don't need to waste my breath." Han Xiao was quite relieved, his gaze sweeping over the prisoners in front of him, recognizing many familiar faces.
Shijieke, after escaping from his previous life, returned to the Germinal Organization (in his previous life, Germinal was not destroyed by nuclear weapons). During the Mutation Disaster, he caused trouble. In order to fight against the Six Nations that were inclined towards Goddora, he was bewitched by DarkStar's Lie and stood on DarkStar's side.
The destruction of the Germinal Organization not only changed the 1.0 storyline but also affected version 2.0. Originally, players in the Germinal faction had a channel to reach interstellar forces, but Han Xiao cut it off, and the Germinal faction ceased to exist. Similarly, DarkStar lost its cannon fodder.
Tyne, a key figure in the 2.0 Mutation Disaster, was the first person in the previous storyline to discover the Mutation Source. He was possessed by the original Cataclysm and became its host. Because he shared the Mutation Source's intense thirst for energy, he was unable to control himself and absorbed energy everywhere, causing the Mutation Source to grow rapidly and thus accelerating the process of the catastrophe. He is a major enemy of the players and a major villain.
The Mutation Source craves energy. It can move on its own, but its movement speed is too slow, so it acquires a "vehicle" by possessing another. Although the Mutation Source uses hormones and dopamine to guide the actions of the infected, it cannot alter the infected's thoughts at the psychological level, so it cannot make the infected perform complex behaviors such as "collecting energy and transporting it" on a large scale.
Besides these two, the other prisoners also have their own stories, causing trouble on Planet Aquamarine and annihilating Wolves, becoming new characters that players encounter.
Han Xiao arrived at Death Knell Island ahead of time precisely to eliminate these unexpected factors and ensure his plans wouldn't be affected; recruiting talent was just a side benefit. The strength of the superhumans on Planet Aquamarine was no longer up to his level; only prisoners with special talents were valuable to him, like someone like One Leaf Green.
Based on his understanding of the prisoners on Death Knell Island, these people were all unruly and unruly, and he had no intention of reasoning with them. Upon arrival, Han Xiao used a large life detection radar to scan the area and discovered many life signals moving underground. So he waited at the exit, waiting for the prisoners to come out so he could capture them all in one fell swoop. The anti-detection equipment deployed by the Six Nations was useless against his machinery, full of flaws, like a fragile wet tissue that could be torn at the slightest touch.
What is your purpose?
The prisoners assumed a defensive posture.
"Enough with the small talk. A catastrophe is sweeping across Planet Aquamarine. Every talent is precious. I learned of the location of you prisoners from the Six Nations, so I've come to give you a chance to redeem yourselves and serve the people. I've given you positions where you can shine and contribute."
"Impossible! The Six Nations would never reveal the location of this secret prison to anyone!" someone shouted.
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. "Oh, the Six Nations are now under my command."
Everyone fell silent.
How could the Six Nations possibly listen to one person's command? This guy is definitely just trying to scare them. He's bragging without thinking. Does he think they're all fools?
"I don't care who you are, I'm not interested, I refuse!"
"I'm not begging you," Han Xiao said expressionlessly, stretching his shoulders. "Given your destructive capabilities, and to prevent the situation from escalating, I won't let anyone who refuses leave alive. So, disobey, and you die."
"Hehehe... What a boastful tone, what a scary threat, but I'm not afraid of you."
At this moment, a man with a spider tattoo on his face stepped forward, looking utterly smug and arrogant, and said, "If you have the guts, kill me. Otherwise, you're my grandson."
The other prisoners' eyes lit up. This guy was Black Spider, notoriously difficult to deal with, possessing a clone ability. Once killed, he would be resurrected in a clone hidden somewhere.
Black Spider believed himself to be immortal, so he was extremely arrogant and fearless of any danger.
"So it was you." Han Xiao nodded. He had crossed paths with Black Spider a long time ago; it was because of him that this guy was captured and brought to Death Knell Island.
Before Black Spider could continue his rant, Han Xiao used the Hila character card and unleashed three mental shocks without a word.
The Black Spider shuddered, blood gushing from its mouth and nose, before collapsing to the ground with a thud. It struggled to raise its head, grinning maliciously, "Heh heh, I'm immortal! Just you wait, I'll come back for you sooner or later. I'll be your eternal nightmare!"
The next moment, he stopped breathing and died on the spot, a sinister smile still on his face.
Black Spider is not afraid of physical death. His form of existence has become a kind of spiritual energy, and spiritual damage is his nemesis. In his previous life, he died at the hands of Hila, and now he is dying again under Hila's power. Han Xiao does not mind letting him repeat the same mistake.
Black Spider had no idea that this time he was truly dead.
He still believed he would wake up before he died, unaware that his consciousness had fallen into darkness forever, and he would never open his eyes again.
"The first time I heard such a request, I destroyed his soul. He won't be resurrected." Han Xiao shrugged.
call--
Before the prisoners could react, Han Xiao suddenly launched several compressed balls that flew to the top of his head, unfolded, and transformed into huge mechanical components. These components combined to form a silver mechanical hand that was seven or eight meters in size.
[G75 Mechanical Claw], one of the blueprints for mechanics, is a large mechanical limb commonly used by Mechanic Class. Controlled through Neural Link, it acts like an extended limb. It comes in many models with varying configurations, and its performance and power are considerable under the Mechanical Force amplification of the Mechanic Class. It can be used not only as a regular combat tool but also as an auxiliary tool for large-scale operations. For example, building a large warship would be inefficient using only human hands, thus requiring assistant robots or tools like this.
Over the past year, Han Xiao had ample time to build up his mechanical equipment, and Tu Shu greatly enriched his collection.
The mechanical claw spewed out propulsive flames from its base, flying straight for over a hundred meters before slamming into an open space with a resounding crash, like a palm strike descending from the sky.
BOOM!!
The earth trembled, dust billowed, and a large, palm-shaped crater was smashed into the ground, riddled with spiderweb-like cracks.
Mechanical fingers closed, scooped up a large clump of soil, and threw it in front of the prisoners. Besides the sound of the soil crumbling and falling, there was also the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground. The pungent smell of blood quickly filled the air. Although the prisoners could see nothing but soil, their faces changed drastically.
Because they knew that there happened to be an invisible creature in the group— Hidden Demon!
"Even if you're invisible, you can't hide from my eyes." Han Xiao manipulated the mechanical claw that hovered above his head and said, "So don't get your hopes up."
He had just discovered the Hidden Demon's whereabouts; he hadn't expected that the guy had also been imprisoned on Death Knell Island. The Hidden Demon had fought Han Xiao before and was extremely wary of him. He tried to sneak away while Han Xiao's attention was on the prisoners, but he was slapped into a pulp by the giant mechanical hand and died without uttering a sound.
With Han Xiao's current strength, killing the Hidden Demon is as easy as swatting a mosquito.
He could easily sweep across the entire Planet Aquamarine all by himself!
These powerful prisoners, in the eyes of outsiders, were no better than a group of third-rate interstellar wanderers in his eyes.
"Alright, alright, give me an answer quickly. My time is very valuable."
Han Xiao snapped his fingers, and the Halo Array floating cannons spread out to surround the prisoners. The fingers of the mechanical claw opened, transforming into five super-large caliber light cannons, poised to fire. The ever-increasing energy fluctuations terrified everyone present.
The prisoners were filled with anger and resentment. They had barely Escape with Your Life, only to encounter someone so powerful that they were filled with despair. They had just escaped one danger only to fall into another. Black Phantom possessed overwhelming combat power, and even if they all attacked together, they would likely be wiped out.
Forced by circumstances, the prisoners had no choice but to suppress their anger and compromise, bowing their heads in submission, though they did not resign themselves to their fate and secretly plotted their next move.
'Pretend to agree to his request for now, and escape when the opportunity arises.' Many prisoners had the same thought.
Han Xiao counted the number of people and said, "The number of dead is less than I expected. You're all quite sensible. Come with me to the Sanctuary, get on the ship."
Boarding a ship? What ship? Shouldn't it be boarding a plane?
Everyone was taken aback.
Buzz--
Suddenly, a large area of space in the sky distorted, and a huge spaceship appeared in the clear blue sky. Han Xiao had arrived here on one of his ships and had been in Stealth mode until now, when the prisoners could finally see the huge spaceship, which looked like a fortress floating in the air.
All the prisoners stared blankly, mouths agape, utterly bewildered.
Holy crap, you mean a spaceship when you say "ship"?!
Although they knew Han Xiao was very strong, due to their lack of information and preconceived notions, Han Xiao still saw him as a member of Planet Aquamarine and never considered him to be an alien. The appearance of the giant spaceship shattered their worldview and exceeded their imagination!
They initially didn't believe the claim that the Six Nations had submitted to Han Xiao, but seeing this scene, they couldn't help but waver.
The prisoners completely abandoned their escape plans, wore bitter faces, and obediently lined up to board the spaceship. The vicious thugs became docile sheep in front of Han Xiao.
The last prisoner passed by Han Xiao, suddenly stopped in front of the gangway, turned to look at Han Xiao, and hesitated before asking, "Do you remember me?"
Han Xiao paused, carefully examining the prisoner, then suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "You are... Hannes?!"
"It's me." Hannes gave a wry smile.
"What are you doing here? Bennett and I thought you were missing!" Han Xiao exclaimed in surprise. He had a hidden quest issued by Hannes on his interface, called [New Era--Origin], which was to uncover the secrets hidden behind the history of Planet Aquamarine.
Before Han Xiao left Planet Aquamarine, the mission had reached the third stage, but due to Hannes's sudden disappearance, there were no further hints. However, since the mission had not failed, he believed that Hannes should still be alive.
Hannes was imprisoned on Death Knell Island, much to Han Xiao's surprise.
"It's a long story," Hannes shook his head helplessly. "I discovered a shocking secret, a secret that put us in danger. Everyone else died, and I was the only survivor."
Han Xiao frowned and guessed, "You were imprisoned on Death Knell Island, so this was done by the Six Nations? Did you discover a secret they were trying to hide?"
"No," Hannes shook his head. "Although the Six Nations captured me, I was on the verge of death at the time, and they actually saved my life."
"... Then why were you arrested?"
Hannes gave a wry smile. "Maybe it's because there was a dead Goddora lying next to me at that time."
"What?!"
Han Xiao was shocked, "How did you end up encountering the Goddora people?"
"Sigh, let's talk about it on board... You even have a spaceship now, things are different now. Maybe only you can use the clues I found..."
Hannes clenched his fists, his voice barely concealing his anger.
"My guess was right. There really is a mastermind behind Planet Aquamarine's current state of devastation, and Goddora is the source of the war!"