Terrarium Star Cluster, Wormhole Sector No. 0358.
This area contains numerous blue-black wormholes of varying sizes, tearing at space and causing the spacetime coordinates to fluctuate constantly. A small spaceship Han Xiao's vehicle, cautiously traverses this unstable space.
The central region of the Shattered Star Ring is a vast cluster of wormholes, part of the Terrarium Star Cluster. This dangerous area is known as the Wormhole Zone, sparsely populated, with only a few cluster-level civilizations stationed here, establishing wormhole observation stations and dividing the Wormhole Zone into hundreds or even thousands of sectors.
The central Wormhole Zone of the Shattered Star Ring connects many corners of the universe. The work of the wormhole observatory is to measure the location where the other end of some wormholes connects. However, due to the extreme instability of wormhole clusters, old wormholes often disappear and new wormholes are born, so the measurement work is progressing slowly.
According to official data, only one in two million four hundred thousand wormholes has been measured to date.
Han Xiao's destination was the observation station of Wormhole Sector No. 0358. The person who issued the level 180 silver inheritance blueprint quest was the mechanic who maintained this wormhole observation station.
After passing through a Wormhole Zone, a small space station came into view, surrounded by wormholes. Han Xiao pressed the spaceship's control panel and sent a landing request to the space station. He quickly received permission, then piloted the spaceship to dock with the space station and entered the port passage. The bottom of the spaceship engaged with the magnetic rail jack, and after gliding through the narrow passage for a while, the view suddenly opened up, and they entered the dock.
After disembarking from the spaceship, Han Xiao greeted the maintenance staff at the dock.
"Lord Black Star, you've come to see Professor Harofal again?" the maintenance staff replied with a smile.
"Hmm, where is he now?" Han Xiao nodded.
"You've come at the right time. Professor Harofal went out with the surveying unit to collect wormhole parameters a while ago and only returned two days ago. He's currently holed up in his lab doing experiments."
"Thanks." Han Xiao smiled, strode away from the dock, and headed familiarly to the research lab at the wormhole observation station.
This wormhole observation station is not owned by Krent or Amethyst, but belongs to another star cluster-level civilization in the Shattered Star Ring. It has not intervened in the Secret War and is considered semi-neutral.
Harofal is a research-oriented mechanic who is not good at fighting. He is a professor at an official mechanical academy of a star cluster-level civilization and has always been at the forefront of technology, researching various topics. In order to study wormhole clusters, he volunteered to maintain the observation station. At the same time, he is also the one who issues the blueprint mission.
Han Xiao has already completed the blueprint mission up to the seventh level. He has been to this observation post several times, and the staff here are already familiar with him.
Han Xiao arrived at the research lab without any hindrance. After checking his identity through the access control, he waited outside for a while. The lab door opened, and Harofal came out, glaring at Han Xiao and saying irritably, "It's you again. You're disturbing my experiment."
"Experiments can be done anytime, but I'm not someone you can see all the time," Han Xiao laughed.
Harofal was an old man with a purplish-red complexion and white hair and beard. He was very old, but his back was very straight, and he looked more robust than a young man. He was a strong old man.
For Mechanic Class, knowledge is power. Harofal has a deep understanding of various mechanical theories and is highly talented in Mechanic Class. Moreover, he has been immersed in it for many years, so it is normal for him to become an Grade A mechanic. However, Harofal has always been committed to researching technology and rarely fights with others.
Although his rank is not low, he has many secondary professions such as [Scholar], and his combat strength is at the bottom of the Grade A.
A galaxy-level civilization has dozens of official Grade A superhumans, while a star cluster-level civilization naturally has dozens of times more Grade A superhumans. After Han Xiao entered the Calamity Grade level, he usually interacted with people of the same level, making him appear to be much more Calamity Grade. In reality, compared to the vast number of Grade B and Grade C superhumans, the absolute number of Calamity Grade is still very small and extremely rare in the Galaxy.
The saying goes, "One who converses with learned scholars will find no commoners among them." People of similar levels will frequently associate with each other, while those below the Calamity Grade " will rarely encounter those of the Calamity Grade.
Cluster-level civilizations have a relatively large number of Grade A superhumans, which allows them to support some talents who do not need to fight, such as Harofal, who has low combat ability and specializes in scientific research.
Although Harofal was engrossed in his research, he knew that Black Star was also a mechanical master, so he showed him basic respect. He temporarily put aside his research and invited Han Xiao to chat in the reception room.
After chatting for a while, Han Xiao brought the topic back to the blueprint mission. This silver inheritance blueprint was Harofal's private property. Han Xiao had reached an agreement with him long ago that as long as he helped him with some things, Harofal was willing to teach Han Xiao the blueprint. The mission had now progressed to the seventh stage.
Harofal thought for a moment, then stated his request, and a notification sounded on Han Xiao's panel.
He glanced at the new part of the blueprint mission; the mission itself wasn't difficult, just tedious.
Han Xiao didn't waste any time. He ended the chat, said goodbye to Harofal, and left the observation post to immediately go on his mission.
The level 180 silver blueprint quest has ten rounds, which poses virtually no danger to Han Xiao now; he can complete it simply by spending time.
For the next two weeks, Han Xiao traveled around, constantly going back and forth to the observation station, focusing on completing one task after another. This time, Laifer gave him a long vacation, giving him plenty of time.
The mission went smoothly without any unexpected trouble. After more than ten days, the blueprint mission in the mission list finally showed as "completed". Han Xiao immediately returned to the observation station and went to Harofal to turn in the mission.
Harofal led Han Xiao to his private room, rummaged through the drawers and found a square mechanical safe. He entered his own Mechanical Force as the unlocking password, and the safe's mechanical components started to move, like a Rubik's Cube turning. After a short while, the safe clicked open.
Harofal reached in and pulled out a thick stack of mechanical blueprints, shook them, and placed them on the table.
"Alright, as agreed, this blueprint is yours. It's strange, you've been busy fighting wars these past few years, yet you've taken the time to help me. Could this blueprint be of some particularly important use to you?"
"I guess so." Han Xiao nodded.
Seeing that Han Xiao didn't speak, Harofal didn't press further. He flipped through the blueprints on the table and said, "This is what you wanted. I obtained it from someone else. It's not exactly a secret. Although it's an interesting technology, it's not very advanced. It seems to be blueprints passed down from some ancient mechanic."
"Let me take a look first."
Han Xiao skimmed through the blueprints, and the reading progress immediately popped up on the panel. His intelligence attribute was extremely high, so his reading speed was incredibly fast.
In just a few dozen seconds, the complex blueprint was read through. With the panel in place, as long as his intelligence was high enough, he could learn a blueprint hundreds or even thousands of times faster than a regular mechanic.
Harofal, standing nearby, thought Han Xiao was just glancing at the goods for inspection, unaware that in those few dozen seconds, Han Xiao had already grasped the knowledge of the blueprint.
[You have obtained ["Glacier Frozen Star" Cannon Blueprint] x1]
[You have learned a new skill [Blueprint: Glacial Frozen Star Cannon]!]
Finally got it... Han Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the blueprint description on the panel.
Inheritance blueprints usually have rather cheesy and unique names. The Glacial Frozen Star Cannon is a level 180 machine, belonging to the planetary strike-class strategic weapon. It is the equipment of the Gunner, but you, as a Mechanic, can also use it.
Most energy cannons are hot, high-energy particle streams, while the Glacial Frozen Star Cannon is extremely cold. The blueprint description states that if the Glacial Frozen Star Cannon is upgraded to its maximum power, it can trigger a planet's climate with a single shot, plunging it into Glacier age. Although its destructive power is not comparable to a proper planet-destroying cannon, it is still an extremely powerful weapon.
Perhaps because the blueprints for the Glacial Frozen Star Cannon are quite old, the knowledge requirements are relatively easy. In terms of advanced knowledge, only [Exotic Energy] and [Controlled Annihilation Weapons] need to be mastered, and both of these are in Han Xiao's knowledge base, so there is no need to look for new advanced knowledge.
"Hmm, this Frozen Star Cannon requires quite a few rare materials; it seems I'll have to go back to manufacture it."
Glancing at the cost, Han Xiao secretly clicked his tongue in amazement; this giant cannon probably cost more than a proper planet-destroying cannon.
Technological advancements aim to create high-powered weapons at the lowest possible cost. Older blueprints, on the other hand, generally indicate weapons with very high power but also higher costs, as the technology of that era was not as sophisticated as that of later generations.
But can a problem that can be solved with money even be called a problem? Having a fortune means you can do whatever you want!
Rich! Capricious!
Putting away the blueprints, Han Xiao nodded and said, "The items are fine, I'll be going now."
"Won't you stay and chat before you leave? I'd like to discuss some technical details with you."
"No, I have other things to do."
"Alright, I'll take you to the dock. If you have time later, feel free to contact me anytime. You have my contact number."
Harofal felt a pity, as he still quite enjoyed chatting with Han Xiao. Both of them were mechanical masters, and they could talk about anything.
However, as soon as they left the room, the corridor lights suddenly turned into bright red warning lights, and a piercing alarm sounded throughout the entire observation station.
Buzzing--
"Enemy attack alert! Enemy attack alert!"
Harofal's expression changed drastically. Before he could speak, a violent tremor swept through the entire observation post, Harofal almost stumbled.
Immediately afterwards, a series of deafening explosions echoed from afar.
Rumble!
The raging flames spread rapidly along the corridor, like a fire dragon, filling the corridor and rushing towards the two of them.
Han Xiao frowned, nanoparticles climbed onto his palm, transforming into arm armor. With a twist of his hand, he opened an oval-shaped Psionic Energy shield that gradually turned blue, easily blocking the flames. He then turned to look at Harofal.
"The enemy must be bombing outside. Let's leave the observation post first."
Harofal had little experience in combat, but he didn't panic. He deployed his mech, smashed through the corridor, broke through the outer armor of the observation post, and flew out. Han Xiao activated his Mountain Ape mech and followed him out.
The two men left the observation post and only then saw what had happened; their expressions immediately changed.
A fleet of at least five hundred warships surrounded the observation post from all sides, concentrating their fire on it. The protective shield was torn apart almost instantly, and continuous high-energy ion beams pierced through the observation post, turning it into a sieve.
The next moment, the flames expanded, and the observation post exploded with a deafening roar, shattering into countless pieces.
"Oh no, my lab!" Harofal's face changed drastically, and he cried out through gritted teeth, his heart filled with pain.
"Damn it, my spaceship!" Han Xiao's eyelids twitched.
The Blacklight Stealth was driven back by Reynold. This time, he was only piloting an ordinary small spaceship, but Han Xiao had also stored some barracks boxes on it. It would be a loss if they were destroyed—although he wasn't short of money, wasting it was shameful!
Han Xiao raised his hand and gestured, causing a ripple in the space around him. One by one, barracks crates teleported over. After counting them, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The barracks crate had various types of damage on its outer shell, but the compressed sphere inside was fine. In addition to the warp drive, the barracks crate also had a protective shield function, which was originally intended to prevent enemy attacks on the barracks crate. However, it came in handy at this time, blocking the aftershocks of the observation post explosion.
The entire observation station was reduced to cosmic debris, with only a handful of superhumans surviving. The attack was so sudden that the personnel at the observation station had no time to react.
Because it's a space station for scientific research purposes, its defenses are limited. After all, few people would intentionally attack a wormhole observation station set up here by a star cluster-level civilization. Moreover, this is Wormhole Zone, and the unstable wormhole clusters serve as a natural defense, so almost no one would fight here.
"Who are these people? Why are they attacking us?" Harofal asked, filled with shock and anger.
How would I know... Han Xiao was also very curious. He had a gut feeling that these enemies were probably after him, as being assassinated had almost become a habit over the past few years.
He frowned and surveyed the fleet, about to speak, when suddenly the mech received a message.
"It's so good to see you again, Black Star!"
That voice sounds familiar!
Han Xiao's eyes flashed, and he looked over.
His gaze swept across a stretch of space, locking onto a figure emerging from the fleet. Upon seeing the person's appearance, Han Xiao was secretly startled and quite surprised.
This man was none other than his old enemy, the DarkStar Leader, who had been missing for several years!
How did I end up in this place?!