The tingling, itching, and soreness were like growing vines, rapidly expanding and entangling his limbs and bones. Every inch of his flesh and bones felt as if countless insects were crawling over it. Han Xiao seemed to hear the roar of a tsunami. The cells in his body became active, undergoing extraordinary changes. The world before his eyes trembled and blurred.
Each time he gained a powerful specialization, a genetic mutation would occur, causing excruciating pain. Han Xiao's expression changed, and he quickly flew into the Blacklight Stealth, escaping everyone's sight, found the training room, and sealed the door. Immediately afterward, an even more intense pain erupted, as if his body had become a wet towel being wrung out by a pair of large hands.
Experience told him that the more intense the pain, the greater the change. This time, the pain was comparable to his racial ascension as a Void Prowler. These two template feats from the Mutation Source brought him not only new abilities, but also a further change in his life form.
Han Xiao gritted his teeth, feeling the cells reorganizing. Gradually, he developed a sense of control over the cells, able to actively induce cell division. After a while, the pain slowly subsided, and his body felt completely different. He sensed that the cell membranes were more resilient, yet had a sponge-like texture. The internal microstructure seemed to have changed, generating new functions.
He pounded his thigh, carefully feeling the impact. After the external force touched the surface of his body, some of the force that was blocked was absorbed by the skin and penetrated into the muscles and bones. More cells shared the energy of this force, and strength was extracted from the cells. This energy was transformed into strength through the cells.
Han Xiao cut his arm, leaving a faint bloodstain. Recalling the feeling of control he had gained since his rebirth, he channeled his energy, causing the cells in the wound to divide rapidly, and the bloodstain healed in the blink of an eye.
Han Xiao wiped the sweat from his brow and grinned, "As expected, it's a very strong specialty ability. The life level has improved again, and the meat quality is even better."
With the addition of the two new specializations, I now have four template specializations.
Han Xiao was in a good mood when he suddenly realized something, and his lips twitched.
My god, three out of the four specializations increase tankiness: one increases maximum health, one True Damage Immunity, and one accelerates recovery. He now feels like a giant iron pillar, his body becoming harder than a mech, leaving everyone else in the dust on the path of a main tank, as tough as a wild horse.
"The biggest weakness of the Legion style is its fear of charging in and being cut down by the enemy's massive army..." Han Xiao chuckled to himself, knowing that anyone who dared to charge in would definitely not return.
Increased durability is a good thing, but Han Xiao prefers [Medium Energy Absorption]. Providing buffs to the mechanical legion consumes stamina, and quantitative changes accumulate into qualitative changes, so the consumption is not low. Now, however, stamina can be continuously restored, which is equivalent to being able to use skills at will and provide Mechanical Force buffs at will.
Most importantly, the higher one's overall level, the more damage resistance one can withstand. This means that the effectiveness of this feat increases with leveling up and will never become obsolete. Thinking outside the box, even if enemies can't hit his physical body, he can control mechanical constructs to attack himself, thereby absorbing energy—what is that?! That's a perpetual motion machine!!
With its incredible stamina and tireless performance, it can work for three days and three nights without feeling backache or leg pain. It truly makes it a boss that doesn't need to worry about mana. Just thinking about it gives me a sense of power.
Who can kill me?!
Han Xiao suddenly snapped back to reality, quickly tapping his temples twice to rein in his arrogance. What a close call! He almost got carried away.
"Although it's a bug-level template specialty, my stamina cap is still limited, far lower than my health. Even with a five-fold conversion rate, for me, using it all to heal only gives me about a third more health than full, and the recovery rate is also limited. Moreover, I can only absorb 60% of the damage blocked by resistance. When facing opponents of the same or higher level, whose attacks are powerful, my health loss and stamina recovery are equally fast. My resistance isn't as insane as the Mutation Source's constant 75%."
After pondering for a while, Han Xiao came to a conclusion. Excluding other high-level superhumans with BOSS templates, although he was still B+, it was unlikely that a typical Calamity Grade being could kill him. The longer the fight dragged on, the more advantageous it would be for him. Even the high-burst, high-armor-penetration combos that Nagokin used to cripple Anur could be withstood by him.
"Damn, this is awful. Am I really a mechanic?" Han Xiao couldn't help but complain.
Shaking his head, Han Xiao opened the quest panel. Unlike other players, his [Mutation Disaster] main quest was still incomplete.
The player's mission objective is only to protect Planet Aquamarine, while Han Xiao's mission objective includes all the disaster planets. The success condition is to protect any one of the disaster planets, and this requirement has been met, ensuring that the mission will not fail.
However, the problems on other disaster planets have not yet been resolved, so his mission is not settled immediately like that of the players on Planet Aquamarine.
"After the events of my past life end, a corresponding instance of Goddora will be generated. Once I complete the main quest, I should be able to obtain the right to generate the Mutation Disaster Dungeon Generation," Han Xiao pondered.
Although he mainly operated on Planet Aquamarine, his actions of providing samples also contributed to the progress of other disaster planets. The progress he accumulated was an astronomical figure that players could hardly imagine, and he didn't know how much reward he would receive after the settlement.
After sorting through the rewards for this mission, Han Xiao went to the captain's cabin and looked down at the situation on the ground. The battlefield was basically cleaned up. Melos led his men to transport the beast carcasses onto the spaceship, and the hundreds of players were also able to board. Previously, in order to search for the Mutation Source, many players had been dropped into different areas of Planet Aquamarine, and they would have to be brought back later, but that was someone else's job, and he didn't need to worry about it.
After packing up, the numerous spaceships headed back together, with the Blacklight Stealth flying at the forefront at a low speed. The matter was resolved, and there was no need to rush, so everyone was quite relaxed... although Melos and his group of executives were already rather laid-back.
On the ship, Han Xiao didn't relax for long; his thoughts quickly turned to what was to come, and he fell into deep thought.
The Mutation Disaster Planet Aquamarine has finally come to an end. According to the well-prepared plan, after the main storyline is over, the next task is the most important part of this trip: to officially guide players into interstellar space and, as members of Black Star, step onto the official stage!
Players are the key force behind the rapid expansion of one's power!
Master Han has always valued players. The recruitment campaign has been going on for several months and is progressing very well. He has already left the impression on players that he is a space guide. Only the last step is needed before everything falls into place.
The agreement with the Six Nations of Planet Aquamarine also needs to be dealt with; after all, it's their "homeland." The only remaining issues concerning Planet Aquamarine are being resolved.
"The only remaining problem is DarkStar."
Han Xiao's eyes flashed.
By drastically altering the plot, he destroyed the core of the DarkStar Project early on, preventing DarkStar's operations from proceeding as they had in the previous life.
Therefore, DarkStar's reaction next will be crucial. Will DarkStar abandon its plan, or will it change its strategy?
Han Xiao wasn't sure either. If it was the latter, then he could only deal with it as it came. He was already mentally prepared; the butterfly effect was an inevitable result of changing the plot.
"I wonder if DarkStar's next move will be the same as in my previous life."
Rubbing his chest muscles, Han Xiao pondered deeply.
Inside a DarkStar mothership, many high-ranking DarkStar officials gathered together, each staring at a semi-transparent screen on the wall. The video of the destruction of the Mutation Source was being played for the fourth time, and the emergency conference room was eerily silent.
The worst-case scenario just happened so suddenly.
No matter how shocked or disbelieving the high-ranking officials were, they could not change the fact that Goddora had found a way to eradicate the Mutation Disaster in just a few months.
"Now... what should we do?" someone asked, breaking the deathly silence.
Many of the DarkStar's high-ranking members turned their heads and looked at Degulish.
Degulish opened his mouth, his face grim, and after a moment of silence, he finally spoke with difficulty.
"... Inform the leader."
He was the commander of the plan, but the plan was showing signs of collapse, and such a major decision could only be made by the leader.
The communication was quickly established, and the projection of the DarkStar Leader appeared on the empty main seat, surveying the crowd.
"I'm in the Heidegger Star System. Don't bother me unless it's absolutely necessary... Hmm? You all look terrible. What happened?"
Degulish gritted his teeth and explained the situation, his face grim, feeling he had let down his leader's trust.
"This is... unexpected." The DarkStar Leader's expression changed slightly. After a moment of silence, he said, "There's something fishy about this. I know very well Goddora's research capabilities are like. Their magical technology is passable, but their technological level is far behind. They must have received some form of assistance."
"You mean?" Degulish had a premonition.
"Yes, you're right. The only shipment that went missing contained a sample of the Mutation Source. Information gathered by the intelligence network indicates that the Whispering Bead eventually ended up in Goddora's hands, but the contents were lost en route. The most likely explanation is that it was taken by the Holy Stone Civilization... but there's another possibility."
At this moment, Ashes, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, his expression changing, "Dragon Calm."
He was the person in charge of finding the lost goods and knows the most about this matter.
"The report submitted by Ashes mentions a ' Mysterious Person.' While he was searching for the Whispering Bead, someone inquired about its whereabouts using our DarkStar's name. However, in the end, it was Dragon Calm who found the Whispering Bead Whispering Bead and handed it over to the Holy Stone... So the question is, did this Mysterious Person fail to find the Whispering Bead? Or did he find it and take the goods, leaving only an empty Whispering Bead?"
All the high-ranking officials present listened intently. What was originally an unsolved case seemed to have been discovered by the leader, immediately attracting everyone's attention, including Ashes.
"Goddora's current research results must be related to the lost samples of the Mutation Source. And Goddora was the first to solve the problem on Planet Aquamarine, and coincidentally, a member of the Dragon Calm team was also on Planet Aquamarine providing disaster relief... No further evidence is needed; the situation is already quite clear." The DarkStar Leader said calmly.
Degulish was furious. "It was Dragon Calm! So the transfer of the Holy Stone to the Tu Shu and the Holy Stone years ago was just a show! Why is Dragon Calm targeting us like this... Wait, could it be Black Star?!"
Everyone was startled and looked at the Ashes with astonishment.
They remembered that after the Noriosse incident, Ashes advocated eliminating Black Star at all costs, but was ridiculed by everyone, and even the leader rejected his proposal. Unexpectedly... Ashes's intuition was right!
"It's truly admirable that you all remember the suggestion I made..."
A glint of pleasure flashed in Ashes's eyes as he coldly said, "But isn't it too late to realize this now?"
Everyone froze, not daring to meet Ashes's gaze, and awkwardly looked away, unsure how to respond.
The DarkStar Leader sighed. "We had no leads back then. If I had to do it again, I would make the same decision. A mistake is a mistake. The most crucial issue now isn't Black Star, but how to salvage the plan."
Everyone sat up straight, regretting not taking Black Star seriously sooner, but the situation was critical and there was no time for hindsight.
The DarkStar Leader, glancing at the serious-looking group of high-ranking officials, suddenly relaxed his tone, "Don't look so tense, the situation isn't as bad as it seems."
"Well?"
Degulish and the others were taken aback.
The plan is about to collapse, isn't this terrible?!
"Although an unexpected event prevented the plan from proceeding smoothly, the goal was achieved, wasn't it? The turmoil has already been caused, Goddora is already a loser. Even if the plan is stopped and she retreats while she's ahead, the wounds and rifts etched in the hearts of purebloods and hybrids will not disappear."
Everyone's eyes lit up. That's right, they'd fallen into a misconception. Even if Goddora resolved the Mutation Disaster and regained control, the damage caused by this incident would take many years to heal. Stopping the plan would simply reduce the harm to Goddora; what loss could DarkStar possibly suffer?
"So we'll stop all action and do nothing?" Degulish asked.
The DarkStar Leader shook his head. "Why stop? Since things have come to this, let's make the best of a bad situation and deliver one last blow to Goddora before halting the plan. Since the Mutation Disaster can't be delayed any longer, let the infiltrating teams actively feed the Mutation Source, pushing them directly to maturity and tricking them into destroying the disaster planet as much as possible. This way, we can severely weaken these low-level Mutation Source affiliated with Goddora, making Goddora's disaster relief efforts much more arduous."
"If the Mutation Disaster is resolved, will the Goddora escort fleet remain on the disaster-stricken planet? No! They will leave sooner or later. Then we can send troops to destroy these unprotected planets, slaughter the lower-level civilizations, and see whether Goddora will intervene or not. If they don't intervene, then resolving the Mutation Disaster will be meaningless. If they do intervene, even without the Mutation Disaster, Goddora's forces will still be tied down by these lower-level civilizations. What's the difference between that and now? Goddora will still be in a dilemma!"
"Planet Aquamarine is the first planet to escape the Mutation Disaster. It won't be long before the Goddora escort fleet leaves. We'll start with this planet. Now that we know Black Star's crimes and the Dragon Emperor isn't on Planet Aquamarine, we can take this opportunity to eliminate him. I've said it before, he'll pay the price sooner or later. This time, I don't want any more surprises."
Ashes suddenly stood up, finally revealing a hint of hatred, "I couldn't ask for more!"
Degulish narrowed his eyes, his tone grim. "Hmph, it's time to kill him. I'll go with him, so Dragon Calm knows we're not to be trifled with."
"I'll join in the fun too. Ashes and Anur failed last time, so with me, there will be three of us this time, which is safer." Another slender high-ranking officer shrugged. This man was a senior combatant of DarkStar and also a Calamity Grade superhuman.
Over the long term, some members have perished, and some have been imprisoned in Rainbow Light Prison. DarkStar now only has five Calamity Grade members left, three of whom are already more than half. In order to deal with Black Star, almost all of its high-level combat forces have been mobilized.
The group seemed to have found their leader and calmed down. They realized that their leader's thinking was very clear. The original plan was to fight a long battle, but that was no longer feasible. So they decided to change their strategy to maximize Goddora's losses in the short term.
Black Star is too green to fight us!
At this moment, the DarkStar Leader interrupted them.
"That's not urgent. The most important thing right now is to attack Planet Golden Gate."
Degulish was taken aback. "Should we continue this operation?"
"Ha, why not? We're fully prepared and can attack in two days. Goddora only dealt with the Mutation Disaster of a native planet; will that affect our attack?"
The DarkStar Leader said calmly, "On the contrary, this is an opportunity. Goddora will definitely publicize the disaster relief results to ease domestic tensions. Wouldn't it be great to destroy Planet Golden Gate at this juncture?"
Degulish's eyes immediately lit up.