In the ship's main hall, numerous guards officers, some sitting and some standing, all focused their attention on the virtual screen in the center. On the screen, Heber was slapped into the depths of a planet by the Mechanical Deity, and the planet exploded the next moment. This was a high-definition battle recording made by the interstellar media present, which was being replayed with sound effects added to the visuals.
Even though it was the second time he had seen this scene, Hadavy was still deeply moved, muttering, "When will I ever reach this level...?"
"Maybe in the next life?" A guard officer next to him grinned wickedly. This man was also a Calamity Grade member who had joined long ago, and he and Hadavy were close friends.
"With your abilities, even at Beyond Grade A, you probably wouldn't have this much destructive power," Aurora shook her head.
Someone nearby joked, "His ability is only good for getting beaten up. Maybe when he reaches Beyond Grade A, he'll become everyone's favorite punching bag among Beyond Grade A."
"Hmph, you're just jealous." Hadavy grumbled in dissatisfaction upon hearing this.
"Hehe, to be honest, even if you break through the limits of your abilities and reach Beyond Grade A, you might not be as resilient as Lord Black Star, and you don't have Lord Black Star's versatile attack methods... I think you'll be the weakest Beyond Grade A in history."
Hadavy thought about it and realized it made sense. Suddenly, he felt his future was bleak and lost all motivation. He sprawled out on the sofa, completely listless.
"Don't worry about that," Fording smiled gently, reaching out to pat Hadavy's shoulder. "Maybe you won't even reach Beyond Grade A."
Hadavy rolled his eyes and said irritably, "It's you, Morning Star. Don't imitate the vice-commander's way of speaking."
As everyone was chatting, the cabin door slid open with a hiss, and they turned to see Han Xiao stride in.
"Greetings, Commander!"
Many people hurriedly stood up, bowed, and stared intently at Han Xiao.
Having just watched the live broadcast of the entire battle, Black Star in everyone's eyes has become even more powerful and mysterious. As his strength increases, everyone's awe of Han Xiao also deepens.
"They're all there." Han Xiao nodded, glanced at the recording on the virtual screen, and couldn't help but chuckle. "Didn't you already watch it? Why are you still watching the replay?"
"It's all so I can admire your heroic figure more often!" Hadavy sidled up, his face full of sycophantic eagerness.
He once joined the Black Star Army only for a transaction, but after witnessing Black Star's potential so many times, he now genuinely serves Han Xiao.
After this battle, everyone knew that Black Star had officially become the strongest in the Shattered Star Ring. "Strongest in the Star Field" was not just an empty title; the prestige, influence, and aura it brought were immeasurable.
Beyond Grade A by defeating all the strong individuals in the same star field can one obtain this title. In the Shattered Star Ring, although Black Star was very strong before, he was virtually unknown to the public, and people would always compare him to the Tyrant.
Now that he has gained real fame, most ordinary interstellar citizens finally acknowledge his status as the "Strongest in the Star Field."
Seeing a bright future ahead, Hadavy was so eager to cling to Black Star that he endured Han Xiao's daily beatings.
Seeing this, Han Xiao's eyes widened in surprise.
He remembered that Hadavy had quite a bit of class before joining him, so how did he become like this...?
Am I really that charismatic?
Shaking his head and offering a few words of encouragement, Han Xiao approached Fording, ready to make his move. Fording, like a startled deer, quickly jumped away.
"Wait, wait a minute, I am Morning Star now!"
Han Xiao paused, lowered his hand, and chuckled, "It's alright, no rush, I'll wait for you to turn back."
Morning Star quickly withdrew from his mind, and Fording's consciousness returned, his demeanor becoming gentle and approachable, his face full of helplessness.
Fording used to resist being touched, but now he's resigned to it.
After everything that's happened, even he himself started to wonder if he was really just very lucky...
Seeing this, Han Xiao happily went over and had a meal, then left satisfied with his good fortune, feeling as if he had been blessed.
Back in his room, Han Xiao eagerly opened the control panel and selected to complete the task.
The fact that Fording was rewarded with a Heber character card was as if Fording luck had turned around. The character card's ability was [Extreme Path Style: Cellular Super Limit], and although it could only be used once, there were no side effects due to the character card's mechanics.
The experience reward is the normal standard for Beyond Grade A BOSS missions, with two to three hundred billion experience points slightly replenishing the increasingly depleted experience pool.
As for the two Legend Points from the last mission, they didn't appear this time, indicating that the Legend Points reward is a one-time event. However, due to the impact of this event, I still received an extra point of Legend Points.
[Universe Legend Points: The Foremost Expert of the Shattered Star Ring - you and *the*book have stood at the pinnacle of a star field, and your fame will be sung throughout the entire universe]
This Legend Points is clearly unattainable for players... Han Xiao thought to himself.
After these rewards were settled, it was time for the final reward: the ability to draw!
[You have received a reward: draw one of Heber's abilities (skills/features)]
[Note: Heber is a martial artist; some of the abilities available for extraction have been automatically adjusted based on your class.]
[Randomly selecting... Selection complete]
Please choose one of the following five abilities as a reward:
[1. [Berserk Energy] - Skill: Power attack damage +110%, cost +50%, duration 10s, cooldown 75s]
[2. [Extreme Path Style: Cellular Overdrive] - Skill: Unleash cellular limitations and squeeze out your own potential. You will briefly unleash a higher level of combat power, lasting from several hours to several days. After use, you will be in a "weakened" state for one month, and the cost of leveling up and skills will be permanently increased by 7%.]
[3. [Close Combat Killer] - Feats: Melee attack, melee attack speed +40%, all melee skill levels +2]
[4. [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction] - Feats: When attacked by any type of attack, after normal resistances are calculated, an additional 7500 points of actual damage are reduced. The remaining damage is then calculated based on lower-priority resistance feats. -- This feat works in conjunction with "Low-Level Damage Immunity". If you have the "Low-Level Damage Immunity" feats, the fixed damage reduction value becomes the limit of "Low-Level Damage Immunity".]
[5. [Combo Critical] - Skill: When you perform a combo on a target, your critical strike rate and critical strike damage increase with the number of combos, stacking up to a maximum of 75% critical strike rate and 350% critical strike damage. The effect lasts for 5 seconds and has a cooldown of 80 seconds.]
After glancing at it, Han Xiao was slightly pleased. Touching Fording really made a difference; it had produced quite a few good items.
However, the more good things there are, the easier it is to have difficulty choosing.
Han Xiao thought for a moment and decided to remove [Berserk Energy] first. This skill boosts pure Qi damage. Although his Mechanical Force can also hurt people, the damage is too low, and he never uses it that way. This skill is most suitable for martial artists' External Wave, and it provides very little benefit to him.
[Extreme Path Style: Cellular Super Limit] hetushu. com•com is indeed a great skill for getting a burst of power, but the side effects are enough to make people hesitate. This is not like the time-limited side effects of Evolution Cube. The permanent increase in experience cost sounds painful. Although it is only 7% at a time, it can be stacked Infinite.
And as for the results... just look at Heber. If you can't beat someone, you still can't beat them, and you might even get beaten up for a longer time. Just thinking about it is disheartening.
This ability is not very useful for mechanics who don't rely much on their physical body. Rather than a temporary power surge, Han Xiao prefers to prepare more mechanical legions before battle. Besides, he just obtained a character card with no side effects, so he can just pass on this skill.
[Close Combat Killer] is best suited for martial artists and mech warriors. While it can be useful for oneself, it is not crucial.
As for [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction], it's definitely a template feat. Although 7500 points of fixed reduction may not seem like much, that's from the perspective of Beyond Grade A. If Calamity Grade character had this feat, and it reduced damage by 7500 every time, it would add up to at least two or three levels of resilience.
If Grade B or Grade C player obtains a "Book of Glory" or similar item, it's basically equivalent to being invincible among players of the same rank. Players encountering this type of boss are simply filled with despair.
This ability works in conjunction with the "Low-Level Damage Immunity" series. Heber possesses a [Legendary Low-Level Damage Immunity] feat, which grants immunity to attacks that deal less than 16,000 actual damage. However, this does not mean that [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction] becomes useless.
The normal rule for Low Damage Immunity is that damage below the threshold is directly immune, while attacks above 16,000 are unaffected... However, with the addition of [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction], the effect becomes that attacks above 16,000 will also have 16,000 of the actual damage reduced, and then lower-priority resistance feats will be calculated... This is the result of the two working together, raising the threshold for damage reduction.
However, since only one can be drawn now, the effect is somewhat diminished. Actually, what Han Xiao really wants is Heber's [Super Toughness] specialization, which is the secret to Heber's tankiness, and it's a lower priority. In other words, Heber's damage reduction order is as follows:
First, the Beyond Grade A protective aura reduces damage by one layer, then the normal physical resistance reduces it by one layer, resulting in the actual damage value. Next, the 16,000 points of fixed damage reduction are subtracted, and finally, the high reduction from [Super Toughness] needs to be calculated. According to rough calculations, tens of thousands of theoretical damage will eventually be reduced to two or three digits, making it extremely difficult to deal damage.
The last [Combo Critical] is extremely suitable for me. The number of combos from the mechanical legion's focused fire is a joy that martial artists can't even imagine. It can definitely maximize the critical hit rate in the shortest amount of time and steadily increase the output by a huge amount.
"I'm so conflicted..."
Han Xiao scratched his head, thought for a while, and then made his choice.
[You have gained [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction]!]
Lu Zi is right, every tank has a heart set on dealing damage, and he really wants to choose [Combo Critical]...
However, it would be such a waste to let go of a template skill that I finally managed to draw!
Its own resistances are already quite high, it has an incredibly slow healing rate, and then there's fixed damage reduction...
The pungent, nauseating taste is terrifying to even think about.
I'm afraid I'm destined to be a tank forever, but I really want to deal damage! Han Xiao was a little annoyed.
After reviewing the rewards, Han Xiao let out a breath, composed himself, closed the panel, and pondered the impact of this battle.
Earning the title of the Strongest in the Star Field will help the Black Star Army revive its business in the Shattered Star Ring, and at the same time attract a wave of new talent.
The decline in influence in the War Realm does not hinder the Infinite Financial Group's investments; the other party remains its main competitor. However, this matter will make expansion in the War Realm more difficult, indirectly weakening the opponent.
As for the Empire, since they didn't interfere before, it meant they tacitly approved... Little Tyrant has probably been hurt quite badly by me this time.
"The construction and development of the Shattered World is now of paramount importance. It is estimated that the Three Universal Civilizations will not engage in open conflict for a long time. In this way, I have a sufficiently stable external environment to develop the Mechanical Civilization and the Black Spirit Race, and begin to build the Secondary Dimensional Factory..."
Han Xiao pondered to himself. He had long ago set the tone for the version updates over the past few decades: to proceed steadily and make up for his accumulated knowledge.
As Black Star and the War Realm departed, the spectators dispersed. Spy agents from both the Glory and Arcane immediately uploaded the battle video. Before long, the video reached the higher-ups, who convened an emergency meeting specifically to discuss the matter.
"Everyone has seen the video, what are your thoughts?"
In the high-level conference room of the Federation of Light, President Bader looked around at the elders and high-ranking officials present and slowly asked.
The chief council elder tapped his cane and said hoarsely, "Whatever the reason, it's a fact that Black Star possesses Peak Beyond Grade A strength. The Crimson Dynasty will welcome its fourth strongest Pillar of the Nation, which is very disadvantageous for us."
"Indeed." Another high-ranking official spoke solemnly, "Moreover, Black Star is too young. He can serve the Empire for a long time, and he is the most troublesome virtual mechanic. Given time, he may very well grow to the level of Manison. We are gradually losing our advantage at the Beyond Grade A combat power level."
"What I'm worried about is when Black Star will grow stronger next."
Some people frowned, "We once thought he would remain inactive for decades, but now it has been proven that this was a wrong judgment... Every time we thought he needed a long period of time to continue to improve his strength, the facts proved us wrong."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
Everyone feels pressured when facing an opponent like Han Xiao who repeatedly defies conventional wisdom.
"In that case, the strategy against the Evolutionary Totem needs to be adjusted," the Chief Council Elder said slowly.
"That's right." Bader pondered, "I need to discuss this with the Arcane Church."
The highly anticipated challenge on www. hetushu. com. com has come to an end, but in the following two weeks, the event's popularity not only did not wane, but continued to rise.
Countless interstellar media outlets broadcast the battle footage on channels across various star systems, with particular emphasis on the process of the Tyrant being beaten.
With the spread of the news through the media, even interstellar citizens who were not interested in the duel were now able to appreciate the "heroic figure" of the Tyrant. Now, everyone who was unaware of the Tyrant's defeat also knew.
The beating of Beyond Grade A being was a source of great amusement, and the incident quickly became the talk of the town for countless interstellar citizens.
To most people in other star systems, the Tyrant is a relatively unfamiliar Beyond Grade A. Now, Heber has made his presence known by getting beaten up, and has become quite famous.
Rumors circulated that after the battle, Heber went home and became withdrawn, locking himself in his room and refusing to be seen even by his men.
The matter spread like wildfire, and a special group also took notice of the Mechanical Deity that Black Star displayed and the book revealed.
The Mechanic Faith!