After handing over the purchased goods to Haier, Han Xiao bid farewell to the three of them, left the dock, entered the city, and headed directly to the Dragon Emperor Palace.
"Ames wants to see me, most likely to discuss two things: one is Iso's matter, and the other is my expansion of the mercenary group... Hmm, it's also possible that she hasn't seen me in a long time and misses me terribly, wanting to see my handsome face."
Along the way, Han Xiao pondered to himself that Ames was always a hands-off manager and rarely summoned cadres, so the probability of her discussing serious matters was probably not high.
Han Xiao's eyes suddenly lit up, "That's right, it's so rare to see her, it would be great if I could also get the Dragon Emperor character card."
Completing the mission to excavate the history of Planet Aquamarine gave him a chance for a random reward. He wasn't very confident in his luck and planned to do a few consecutive draws, but plans don't always go as expected. If only he could draw a Blank Character Card now.
Last time, that Dragon Emperor Summon Card, combined with my teammates, took down a Calamity Grade enemy. The more powerful trump cards like that, the better.
Han Xiao opened the panel and immediately activated the random reward.
[Drawing in progress... Drawing complete]
[The type of reward you received this time is: [Talent/Feature]]
"Wow, not bad luck." Han Xiao's eyes lit up.
Although it's not a character card item reward, special skills are the kind that always bring a profit; even the worst special skill can come in handy.
[Randomization in progress... Randomization complete. Please select one of the following three specializations.]
[Resilient Mental Barrier: Mental Resistance +20%]
[Versatile Weapon Application: When using any type of weapon (including but not limited to melee weapons, firearms, mechanical weapons, magical weapons, rare treasures, etc.), the weapon's base attack power is increased by 12%]
[Swift Steps: Increases movement speed and dodge chance. The effect depends on the Agility attribute and cannot exceed 30%.]
Han Xiao glanced through the list and quickly made his choice. He already had [Advanced Mental Fortitude], which grants +35% mental resistance and reduces the duration of negative mental status effects by 30%, while also lowering the difficulty of judgment. [Resilient Mental Barrier] has a single and repetitive effect, making it less cost-effective.
[Swift Steps] is a decent specialization, but only agile superhumans can unleash its full potential. My combat style doesn't require much speed anymore. With [Void Travel], I don't need to worry about dodging. Mechs and thrusters can compensate for agility. Most of the time, I play a positional role, using turrets and Oathkeeper.
As Mechanic Class, you mostly rely on mechanical weapons to unleash your power. [Versatile Weapon Application] is the most suitable option for you. Although the 12% bonus isn't high, it's not useless either. When it comes to attack power, every little bit helps, just like a man's size—every centimeter is a good thing.
Most importantly, this feat is different from Mechanical Affinity. Only weapons with Mechanical Force affinity can enjoy the Mechanical Affinity bonus, and it consumes stamina. Although the consumption is very low, when using a large number of weapons, it is difficult for one's own Mechanical Force to cover all the weapons. However, this feat gives the bonus to all weapons by default, which is really domineering.
Han Xiao immediately selected [Versatile Weapon Application], looking quite satisfied.
After all, most of the randomly awarded feats are quite common, with rare feats being rare and template feats being even rarer. This level of reward is already quite good.
Speaking of template feats, his two template feats, [Intermediate Tenacious Life] and [Tough Body], were obtained by accident. Since players cannot obtain template feats, and there was no relevant information in his previous life, Han Xiao has some vague ideas about more template feats.
The easiest way would be to upgrade to [Intermediate Tenacious Life], which would involve injecting gene extracts from powerful interstellar creatures. However, there would be a risk of gene mutation, so he did not act rashly.
The [Intermediate Tenacious Life] perk currently provides him with an additional 1:30 stamina-to-health conversion rate, which is the fundamental reason why he's so tanky. If he upgrades this perk again, Han Xiao estimates that he'll be a tank among bosses of the same level, capable of drowning enemies just by coughing up blood.
Ames's palace remained magnificent and grand. When the guards saw Han Xiao, they all showed respect and made way for Han Xiao to enter the main hall.
Deep within the main hall, the suspended black throne stood empty. Han Xiao glanced around but did not see Ames.
call--
Suddenly, a pale green force field surged from directly in front, like a large mass of transparent air with crystal-green edges, an oval tip, and a diameter of ten meters in front, like a ki blast.
Boom boom boom...
The surrounding air swirled, subjected to an invisible pressure, producing a sound like an airburst.
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and six mechanical hands suddenly unfolded, each with its five fingers spread open, the fingertips glowing with bright yellow light, forming small protective shields. The thrusters on the cross-section of the wrists spewed blue flames, and the six mechanical hands blocked in front of him, forcefully resisting this force field!
Thump!
The two collided with a muffled thud.
The force field and the mechanical hand were locked in a stalemate, the giant mechanical hand trembled continuously, and the force field was also squeezed and deformed, the lost power dissipated, forming radial green air waves on the horizontal plane of contact.
Bang!
The force field exploded on the spot, unleashing an even larger shockwave that spread outwards in concentric circles, like ripples. The fine dust on the ground was swirled into smoke, reaching the height of the calves.
Han Xiao's hair was blown about wildly, and the strong wind made him squint.
Ames floated out slowly from the small door beside the throne and sat on it. This time, she wore a purple high-slit dress, looking elegant and noble. Her long hair cascaded down lazily like a waterfall. Her face, still exquisite and beautiful, seemed to have frozen in time, without a single wrinkle. Yet, the corners of her eyes and brows were full of the charm left by the years. She rested her smooth, white chin on one hand, her sleeve slipping down to her forearm, revealing her slender, fair wrist. She looked at Han Xiao with a half-smile.
"The first time I saw you, you were almost crushed by my force field. I just used the exact same force, but you were able to withstand it with ease. In just over two years, Black Star, the speed at which you have become stronger has truly exceeded my expectations."
Ames chuckled softly, her languid voice carrying a hint of feminine huskiness, her voice alone conveying the meaning of sensuality.
When the force field attack appeared, Han Xiao knew that it was a casual test by Ames. If it had happened when he first entered interstellar space, it would have been difficult to block such an attack, but now it was easy and stress-free.
Ames's charm was so great that Han Xiao was always amazed every time he saw her. However, he was very experienced and immediately glanced at Ames's washboard figure. He remained calm and composed, and nodded steadily.
"Your Majesty on the Dragon Emperor, what business do you have with me?"
"Didn't I tell you? You can call me Ames."
Ames pursed her lips. "Actually, I didn't need to talk to you about anything. Jenny has been protesting your expansion of the armed forces lately, and I wanted to ask you what your thoughts are on that?"
Of the four well-known Beyond Grade A powerhouses in the Shattered Star Ring, only Dragon Calm's force is the weakest. Now that Han Xiao is expanding his forces, many forces in the Shattered Star Ring have misunderstood his intentions, thinking that Dragon Emperor also wants to develop his power like the other three big shots and become even stronger and more unapproachable. Ames, however, doesn't care about other people's opinions; she is not enthusiastic about power at all.
She was initially too lazy to question Han Xiao's expansion of the mercenary group, tacitly allowing Han Xiao to act under her name and maintaining a high level of trust.
However, Jenny kept bringing up the matter, strongly opposing the expansion. Her reasons left Ames speechless. She said that Han Xiao's expansion had caused a chain reaction, with various forces showing goodwill or testing the waters, resulting in her handling several times more affairs every day than before. The work pressure was too great, she was losing hair every day, and felt that she was aging prematurely. She protested this and claimed that if Ames did not hire an additional administrative officer, then Black Star should not be allowed to expand.
So, Ames didn't really care what Han Xiao thought. If Han Xiao had a good idea, Ames wouldn't mind supporting him. After all, Iso, whom Han Xiao had brought back, was now retired in Dragon Calm, so it would be perfect for Iso to share Jenny's workload.
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao's heart stirred.
Do you remember Aroshia?
Ames thought for a moment, "She seems to be an immortal Cosmic Wonder. I've seen her on the island before, and I couldn't kill her. You took her away, didn't you?"
"I discovered millions of Cosmic Wonder with the same characteristics, and they possess extraordinary potential to communicate, just like normal people."
"Millions?!" Ames was taken aback, her eyes filled with curiosity.
"They are my fellow countrymen who suddenly appeared a few years ago. I have a feeling that they will become an undeniable force in interstellar space in the future, so we need to recruit them as soon as possible." Han Xiao wasn't lying; he was well aware of the players' potential, and his tone was very confident.
"There's something so interesting!" Ames exclaimed in surprise, then said with delight, "No, I have to see it for myself."
Han Xiao's lips twitched, and he immediately felt a headache coming on.
This is a recipe for disaster. While having Ames with him ensures his safety, he'll need an excuse to hand over the Primarch when he gets back. If Nagokin and goes directly to Ames to question her about it, we'll be exposed.
Clearing his throat, Han Xiao said tactfully, "Ames, DarkStar and Goddora are at odds again. The situation in the Garton Star System is a bit complicated, and my hometown is also involved. Why don't you come over after this storm has passed?"
"DarkStar again, what's there to be afraid of?" Ames said irritably. "I hate waiting. I'll ride back with you on your ship later. If DarkStar appear, I'll smash them to pieces."
Han Xiao slapped his forehead, unsure whether to be happy or helpless.
Well, DarkStar is in for another bad time.
He really didn't mean to call Ames over this time!
Jenny returned to her office, took off her glasses, rubbed the bridge of her nose, and sighed.
"The Dragon Emperor wants to see Black Star, simply to inquire about the armed forces. Black Star enjoys her deep trust, Ames probably won't stop his operation. Sigh..."
The thought of Han Xiao made Jenny feel resentful. Due to the unpleasant experience of the last loan, she had a lot of resentment towards Han Xiao and tried various methods afterward, but she couldn't reduce Ames's trust in him.
Now that things have come to this, no matter how unhappy Jenny is, she has no choice but to accept the existence of this colleague.
Putting her glasses back on, Jenny browsed through the backlog of documents, then suddenly remembered something and pulled out one of them, concerning the Garton Star System incident.
"The Garton Star System has been quite turbulent lately, attracting the attention of many forces. Black market sources say that even the most notorious organizations in the Shattered Star Ring, those on par with or even surpassing the DarkStar DarkStar in infamy, are keeping a close eye on this matter. This is the most exciting event in recent times."
"Black Star happens to be active in that area and has gotten involved in this incident. He's currently on Goddora's side. Hmph, thankfully he's sensible and didn't interfere under the banner of Dragon Calm, otherwise I wouldn't have let him off the hook!"
Jenny scoffed inwardly.
In her view, since Dragon Calm was maintaining neutrality, the further away from such sensitive events the better. She was very dissatisfied with Han Xiao, but there was nothing she could do about him. Nominally, the two were equals, but they were in charge of different departments.
"The Goddora and DarkStar is making headlines, and I don't know when it will end... Anyway, this whole thing has nothing to do with Dragon Calm, so as long as it doesn't cause me any trouble, it's fine."
Jenny thought to herself.