On the battlefield, Hila unleashed dark red energy, engaging in fierce combat with Manudo and the other two. Simultaneously facing three Calamity Grade, Hela felt the pressure and gritted her teeth to persevere. Relying on the unique nature of her death ability, she barely managed to hold her own against the three.
Han Xiao observed for a while and learned about Hila's actual combat strength.
"These three enemies are ordinary Calamity Grade enemies around level 180. Hila's current strength is in the upper-middle range of this level, and she still lacks some experience in Calamity Grade combat. However, her abilities are special, and dealing with two at the same time is her limit; three would be too much of a stretch."
Han Xiao nodded secretly. Although Hila was now qualified to participate in the struggle at his level, she was still a long way from becoming the capable assistant he wanted.
However, given her potential for growth, this gap will soon be closed.
As Hela pondered this, Hila gradually found herself at a disadvantage, and the situation became increasingly passive.
Han Xiao wasn't worried about Hila's safety at all. Hila not only had the template specialization of being able to lock her health, but she also had Aurora she wanted to.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield where the two fleets were clashing, a small incident occurred that Han Xiao was unaware of.
A small assault ship from the War Realm is fleeing across the battlefield, pursued and intercepted by dozens of the Black Star Army vessels.
"Run! They're coming again!"
The shields were relentlessly bombarded by the light cannons, causing the spaceship to tremble violently. The red alert was as thick as blood. On board, Summer Night Blossoms and her group were covered in sweat and in a panic.
They were Pursuit by a large group of the Black Star Army players. In the middle of the battlefield, Phillip sent their coordinates to all Legion members.
Many participating players, seeing this, thought, "Wow, there's some extra money to be made!" and eagerly Pursuit. This marked the beginning of Summer Night Blossoms and her group's nightmare. No matter how they changed positions, they were all detected by the legion players' detectors.
Normally, it's quite normal for players from opposing factions to fight each other. However, the problem was that in this battle, the number of players from the Black Star Army was more than a hundred times that of Summer Night Blossoms's side, resulting in a one-sided outcome. Summer Night Blossoms Hua and her group were chased around like dogs by the Legion players.
Summer Night Blossoms was in a terrible mood, and she deeply regretted coming to the W-58 Stronghold. She should have applied to be transferred to another base where she wouldn't encounter the Black Star Army!
The Black Star Army was full of bad people, ruthless and vicious; he was afraid.
As a player from the opposing faction, he decided to avoid the Black Star Army from now on. Even if he went to other remote strongholds to start single-player mode, the game experience would be much better than being chased and camped by others.
He now felt like a virtuous woman trapped in a wolf's den, being repeatedly violated by the vicious, cunning, and ferocious Black Star Army players, feeling utterly humiliated.
While Summer Night Blossoms and others were being driven to the brink of collapse by the Legion players, the battle between Hila and Manudo's two companions was intensifying.
The group continuously shifted the battlefield, traversing various areas of the fleet's combat. Explosions raged, and casualties were frequent. Strands of gray souls entered Hila's body, replenishing her strength.
"So this is my current limit." As she fought, various thoughts flashed through Hila's mind.
This was her first time engaging in a life-or-death battle with Calamity Grade. She rapidly absorbed combat experience and gained a clear understanding of her own combat capabilities.
She had always been sparring partners with strong opponents like Ames and Han Xiao, and was completely overwhelmed. Now, facing a normal Calamity Grade opponent, Hila was at a disadvantage, but she felt exhilarated. The two sides were evenly matched, which allowed her to fully unleash her strength.
Hela seemed quite capable, but Hila wasn't satisfied with that.
"It's so difficult to deal with three enemies... Han Xiao can take on ten at once, there's still a big gap between me and him..." Hila gritted her teeth.
She saw Han Xiao as her target to catch up with, and the fact that she was struggling to fight the three of them indirectly gave her a deeper understanding of Han Xiao's combat abilities.
"If it were him who made the move, the battle would probably be over by now."
Hila sensed the gap between them, gritted her teeth, and increased the power output of her energy once again.
The sky was filled with dark red energy, like a colorful sunset, and even the graphic data from the surrounding spacecraft and probes showed energy rainbows with peaks and valleys.
Meanwhile, Manudo and the others were also communicating via the communication channel.
"This woman's abilities are very strange; she gives me the feeling of a necromancer, but not quite."
"Her energy can affect both the physical and mental aspects simultaneously. When you are hit, your cell activity is inhibited, weakening the efficiency with which cells generate energy. It's like... like my life force is suppressed."
"Chief of Staff Jorde, what do you think?" Manudo asked.
Jorde was watching the battle remotely, nodded slowly, his tone serious. "I've already saved her combat recording into the database. Although she's strong, she's not the focus this time. Black Star is the target of your probing."
"But if he doesn't make a move, can we retreat?" Manudo asked impatiently, not wanting to linger near Black Star for even a second longer.
"His inaction might be to train his subordinates, or there might be other reasons," Jorde said in a deep voice. "You intensify your offensive. As long as this woman's life is in danger, Black Star will definitely do something."
Are you trying to make us court death?!
Manudo complained bitterly.
After a fierce battle of tumbles and rolls, Hila finally revealed a weakness under the combined pressure of the three sides. Manudo's gunner teammate seized the opportunity and unleashed an annihilation particle cannon, which was stacked with countless burst skills, directly shattering Hila's hasty defenses, breaking through her armor, and blasting her away.
"Well--"
Hila groaned, barely managing to steady her body as it tumbled through space. Her body was covered in necrotic black wounds, and half of her left shoulder and neck had vanished without a trace. On a normal person, such injuries would have killed them long ago, and even Calamity Grade with tenacious vitality would be severely injured.
Manudo's two teammates were about to press their advantage when Manudo's inner alarm bells rang, causing him to slow down and fall behind.
Hila exhaled, and suddenly her eyes burst forth with a rich platinum light. Her wounds began to twitch on their own, and her cells proliferated rapidly, repairing herself.
The missing flesh on her neck and left shoulder grew back in the blink of an eye, restoring her to its original state. The damaged armor revealed her fair and tender skin. She was full of Energy Abundance and had almost returned to her peak condition.
Meanwhile, inside the flagship, Aurora's eyes also lit up at the same time. After Hila recovered, the light in Aurora's eyes slowly disappeared, and she took a few quick breaths, as if she had exhausted a lot of energy.
Hila and Aurora's powers have a special complementary effect. Through their blood relationship, Aurora has established a life force connection between them. Whenever Hila's injuries become too severe, Aurora will transfer her life force to provide remote treatment.
As long as Aurora has stamina, Hila can share in her terrifying regenerative abilities, with effects similar to Han Xiao's Aurora character card.
Hila fights, Aurora heals, and the number of healing sessions depends on Aurora's stamina. Only in terms of endurance is it slightly inferior to Han Xiao's Health and Mana Complementarity. When the two sisters work together, they are almost as good as him and are virtually invincible.
Jorde was suddenly stunned, his expression changing slightly. This scene reminded him of Black Star.
Black Star also possesses such terrifying regenerative abilities!
Could it be that this red-haired woman has a special relationship with Black Star?!
Could it be his... daughter?
Jorde hadn't paid much attention to Hila initially, but now he felt he needed to gather more information about her.
Manudo and his two companions were also taken aback for a moment, hesitating to move forward.
Hila felt an abundance of energy, but instead of joy, she was angry and filled with frustration.
She had always tried to protect Aurora from harm, but now, due to her own negligence, Aurora was expending her life force to heal her. She felt this was her dereliction of duty... Although Aurora's life force was now abundant and could be quickly replenished after a small loss, Hila was still very wary of this matter because of her past experience in the Germinal.
Just as Hila was about to lash out in anger, a large hand suddenly pressed down on her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw none other than Han Xiao.
"Alright, if we keep fighting, it'll just become a war of attrition, and there'll be no point in training."
Han Xiao lightly touched Hila's cheek with his finger. The touch was smooth and delicate, as if it could be broken with a touch. Nanoparticles spread from his fingertips, forming a helmet that replaced Hila's damaged facial shield, allowing her to enter the communication channel.
Hearing this, Hila gritted her teeth and said, "I understand."
Leave this to me.
Han Xiao turned his head and looked at the three extremely nervous Calamity Grade in the distance.
Manudo was thrown into disarray, and Black Star finally made his move.
At this moment, Han Xiao's eyes flickered, and he suddenly thought of something.
The enemy knew his battle record, yet they clumsily provoked him, probably to force him to take action. Their reason for doing so was certainly not to kindly send him to his death.
Recalling Manudo's tense expression during the provocation, Han Xiao realized after a moment's thought that Jorde must have been behind this. Two months ago, that bastard used Sisko's telekinetic weapon to ambush him, and Han Xiao's trips to and from the Palace of Hidden Spells, during which he had not participated in the battle for a month and a half, had made the enemy uneasy. Jorde wanted to take this opportunity to test his current state.
With this in mind, Han Xiao had an idea. Instead of immediately taking action, he connected to Manudo and the others' communication channel and slowly said, "Are you sure you want to fight me? I don't know if this is your true intention or if someone is instructing you, but you should think carefully, this could result in deaths."
Manudo swallowed hard. The other two remained silent. Jorde, not wanting to be discovered by Han Xiao, listened without speaking.
"Now I'm giving you a chance. As long as you surrender and declare your withdrawal from the War Realm, I won't lay a hand on you. How about it?" Han Xiao said.
"You want me to betray the War Realm? Dream on!" the Grade A gunner among the three shouted angrily and immediately opened fire.
Han Xiao remained motionless as over three hundred Watch Protocol floating wards appeared, their array resembling a blooming lotus flower, weaving Psionic Energy shield that easily blocked the attack.
Han Xiao shook his head and deliberately said, "What's so good about Heber? Is it really worth being so loyal to him?"
"Only he is worthy of my following. How dare you compare yourself to His Majesty the Tyrant?!"
The gunner gave a cold smile; he was a loyal follower of the War Realm, with his loyalty practically at its maximum.
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, stopped speaking, summoned the mechanical legion, and launched a fierce attack, sweeping across the entire battlefield like a raging tide, unstoppable, and scattering all the fleets.
Faced with the overwhelming mechanical army, Manudo felt suffocated and secretly groaned. He wished he could delay any longer, but now he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.
Han Xiao activated his Apostolization, his entire body flowing with azure Psionic Energy, and personally joined the battle. He secretly altered the rhythm of the battle, increasing the attack frequency of all mechanical soldiers, even at the cost of reduced accuracy, deliberately displaying an impatient fighting style.
An ordinary person would naturally not notice these details, but he believed that with the virtual intelligence analysis capabilities in the War Realm, these subtle changes could certainly be discovered.
Sometimes, it's easier to manipulate a smart person than a simpleton. By using details to mislead the other person into drawing the conclusions you want them to know, they can easily fall for it. If the other person isn't careful enough, all of Han Xiao's deception will be like casting a seductive glance at a blind person.
A clever lie is nine parts truth and one part falsehood. What Han Xiao wanted was for Jorde to figure out for himself that he couldn't act arbitrarily, thus feigning weakness to the enemy.
The reason is to take this opportunity to withdraw from the Secret War and focus on cultivating new recruits. This is the top priority right now. Whether it's upgrading to Beyond Grade A or suppressing the Spirit and Book Soul embryos through upgrades, both require a huge amount of experience.
He had no interest in waiting for his alternate personality to develop; keeping it in the dark was the best approach.
After Han Xiao made his move, the battle became one-sided. Faced with the three true damages of the [Legendary Combat Technique], the Gunner was quickly torn apart by the Mechanical Warrior. Manudo's other teammate also had his head blown off by Han Xiao, leaving only Manudo clinging to life.
Manudo panicked and hurriedly sent a message: "Wait, I surrender!"
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao ordered the mechanical legion to stop, and with a wave of his hand, used the mech's traction field to pull Manudo from a distance.
Manudo dared not resist and allowed the mechanical soldiers to control him.
"You made the right choice." Han Xiao smiled.
Manudo nodded repeatedly. He had figured it out. Jorde clearly didn't care about his life or death. Staying in the War Realm would only lead to his demise sooner or later, so he might as well surrender. Besides, he had no other choice but to live.
Escape from Black Star?
I'm not Hadavy, I can't do that!
With the enemy's high-level combat forces wiped out, the rest of the battle was a foregone conclusion. An excited Rexon led his team to destroy the W-58 Stronghold and seize the spoils.
After Hila absorbed the remaining gray souls from the battlefield, she locked herself in her room to process the experience of her first battle against Calamity Grade.
Meanwhile, at headquarters, Jorde De was analyzing the video of Han Xiao's attack.
The loss of a stronghold didn't bother him; he was more concerned about Han Xiao's current condition.
He soon noticed something strange.
"Two months ago, Black Star never tried to persuade us to surrender. He would kill all of our people he encountered, even if they were just facing a single Calamity Grade. Why would he try to persuade us to surrender now...?"
Jorde frowned, watched the video several more times, and noticed something amiss.
In the past, Black Star's mechanical legion fought with meticulous calculations, giving people a sense of airtight tactics. But today, the mechanical legion's attack frequency has increased significantly. It seems that in order to speed up the offensive, they are willing to waste energy and abandon some of the precise calculations, resulting in many ineffective attacks.
This change made him feel like... impatience?
"First they tried to persuade him to surrender, then they wanted to end the battle quickly and hastily..." Jorde for a while, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
Is Black Star trying to shorten the battle time, or does Black Star simply not want to fight?
These two details made Jorde feel that he had a vague idea of Han Xiao's current state.
Sisko's telekinetic weapon may have caused some kind of lasting trauma to Black Star, causing him to fight and worsen the trauma, which is why Black Star acted out of character.
"My guess is probably right!"
The threat level of Black Star has decreased!
Having confirmed that Black Star's attacks were restricted, Jorde was in high spirits. Although he didn't know the specifics of Han Xiao's injuries, this discovery allowed him to boldly adjust his subsequent tactics.