Over ten days later, in the central area of Black Star Palace, a war halberd was situated against a backdrop of the starry sky. It looked like a folded mechanical blade that was magnified countless times, painted black and gold. Its patterns and structures were also complicated, and it looked both luxurious and exquisite.
Mechanical rings were currently situated in different areas of his mechanical war halberd. Numerous flexible mechanical arms extended from the inner part of each ring, which were molded into different tools to work on parts of the halberd. These rings were manufacturing auxiliary tools that were dedicated to the manufacturing and assembly of mega machines, known as ‘Mega-Assembly Rings’. Right now, they were all connected through Mechanical Force and operated fully under its control.
On the other end of the Mechanical Force linking the assembly rings together, a black robed figure stood there. It was precisely Han Xiao, and this mega war halberd was the exclusive Universal Treasure for the Mechanical Deity’s usage, named ‘Celestial Punishment Edge’.
Han Xiao kept his Perfect Mechanical Sense active, closely watching the subtle energy flows in every place during the construction of the Celestial Punishment Edge, doing minute adjustments now and then just like a chef watching his signature dish.
As the mechanical arm of the mega assembly ring inserted the last bolt in, a notification sounded from Han Xiao’s interface.
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You have built a Gold Grade item (Universal Treasure).
You have benefitted from [Spirit Instrument].
You have received 1 God’s Trait Transformation Point (Cannot be obtained again through the same blueprint).
One of your random attributes has been decreased by 425…
Randomizing…
Randomizing complete.
-425 CHA.
You have received 425 Free Attribute Points.
You have been awarded the third layer bonus of [Spirit Instrument]: +2.5% success rate for the manufacture of Gold Grade blueprints, +1.2% success rate for the research and development of a Gold Grade Blueprint, +0.4% chance to obtain a Space Wonder mutation.
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“It’s finally done…” Seeing the notification of success, Han Xiao’s taut nerves finally relaxed.
This was the third Universal Treasure he had personally manufactured. Its difficulty was way higher compared to the Emperor’s Cape, and it had cost him quite a tidy sum before he finally succeeded in creating it.
However, when compared to the terrifying profits brought in by the sale of the Evolutionary Totems as well as the Black Star Cup, this amount was nothing.
Han Xiao retrieved all the mega assembly rings before storing the Celestial Punishment Edge into his Dimension Factory. Opening his attribute list, he threw the God’s Trait Transformation point into his main class route, so [God’s Trait Transformation—Machinery] unlocked its fifth stage.
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Stage 5: +3 to all skills from [Lord Mechanic] and [Divine Throne Mechanic]. You have received a 1.1x boost to Machinery Affinity, +28% boost to abilities, 1.2x boost to Attack Power Output, 1.2x boost to Shield Durability, +40% Mechanical Energy Core Power Output, and +20% to all types of Energy Power Output.
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“Whoa, this wave allows me to increase my strength!” Han Xiao got excited.
In the first few stages, the God’s Trait mainly focused on improving his production and Ru0026D capabilities. For the fifth stage, it finally ushered in a wave of substantial combat strength enhancement. A boost of 1.1x to his Machinery Affinity already meant more than a 2,000% increase to his original Machinery Affinity, not to mention that there was even a boost to abilities, which was the best option to obtain. All its other effects were also biased toward combat.
Furthermore, the skills of his [Lord Mechanic] and [Divine Throne Mechanic] class were also his main combat skills, thus breaking the upper cap by three levels, which represented a great increase in his combat power, at least translating to three more Apostle Weapons.
“In this case, the focus of the fifth stage is to enhance my own efficiency with machinery… eh?” Han Xiao mumbled to himself, but he suddenly discovered that the notifications had not stopped.
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[God’s Trait Transformation—Machinery] has achieved the Fifth Stage.
There are now unknown changes in your Life Hierarchy.
You have obtained a new understanding of Machinery. +15% chance of forming a new exclusive expertise. The skill [Universal Simulation] has obtained a sublimation.
You have begun to perceive part of the power of the transformation route – [Talent Unknown].
You have received 1 [The First Sanctum] Ability Fragment.
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Seeing this, Han Xiao started guessing once more.
“It seems like the fifth stage of God’s Trait Transformation should be a threshold, just like how there’s a bottleneck in the Energy Rank for Beyond Grade As… If this applies to all God’s Trait Transformation skills, then what’s the upper limit? Ten? Fifteen?”
Han Xiao deeply pondered. Right now, he had an interface that allowed him to directly add points into it, but the normal Beyond Grade A’s method of increasing their number of God’s Trait Transformation stages would not be as convenient as his. In fact, it would take many years for them to even upgrade each level.
After reaching the Fifth Stage of God’s Trait Transformation—Machinery, he was also awarded an Ability Fragment of [The First Sanctum]. Han Xiao had already obtained three fragments so far, but there was still no sign of them combining together. It was also unknown how many fragments he would need to complete this thing.
As of now, Han Xiao also did not know how to obtain an exclusive expertise. If the premise to obtain one was to be immersed within a certain area, then he had already fulfilled the condition with his time spent within the Machinery field. However, there was still no prompt whatsoever.
As for [Universal Simulation], Han Xiao was not foreign to that skill. He used to constantly activate the skill in order to attempt to discover Universal Treasure blueprints, but the progress was so slow it would make one cry.
Seeing the notification on the interface at this time, Han Xiao once again activated the skill, entering the familiar horizon once more. He carefully sensed his surroundings and felt that there had been some subtle changes as compared to the past.
However, this sort of feeling was akin to grasping something in the dark. It was more like his intuition was sharper than before. Anywhere he looked, there would be a sort of ‘hindsight’ within his brain explaining what he saw.
“There’s a sort of feeling pointing me toward the essence of the item… Oh, I guess an improvement in knowledge?”
After experiencing this, Han Xiao did not discover anything too out of the ordinary, and thus, he withdrew his skill, cleaning up the venue before proceeding back to the palace.
Back in his room, Han Xiao took a look at the Black Star Cup tournament.
With Phillip’s efficient scheduling and the massive investment of resources, the qualifiers were so fast paced that nearly a third of the people had already been eliminated.
Before this, the galactic residents only knew about the existence of the players but did not pay special attention to them. This time, however, because the Black Star Cup was broadcast to the entire universe, the performance of these players fell into the eyes of the more ordinary people, which aroused their attention and interest.
For the players, who were deemed immortal lunatics, the majority of ordinary people were curious and scared of them. Their mood was like they had encountered an exhibitionist, subconsciously covering their eyes but unable to resist peeking through their fingers.
Coupled with the behavior of the players within the Flickering World, the nickname ‘Cancer of the Universe’ gradually spread out and received the approval of more people.
The excitement of the Black Star Cup had also attracted a large number of foreign players.
The number of players within the army had always been steadily increasing, and it finally broke through the ten million mark a few days ago. Han Xiao estimated that the final number of army players at the end of this version would be higher than his original estimate of 11.5 million.
The Cancer of the Universe represented disorder and chaos, and since it was basically impossible to recruit all players, the Black Star Army could already slightly guide the overall character of the players. In this manner, so long as he could perform some damage control to ensure that the problems caused by the players were not as serious as in his previous life, that would be enough.
“Speaking of which, my biopic seems like it’s about to be released…”
Han Xiao suddenly remembered that he had not touched Feidin for a long time, and he coincidentally recalled this incident.
He searched the net and discovered that the movie had already wrapped up its filming and was slated to be released next month.
Because of the advancements made in productivity, even ordinary citizens of the galactic society could now afford the cost of planning a film, resulting in the proliferation of movies. Coupled with advanced portable equipment as well as the high penetrative rate of the quantum network, the low-profit theater operating model had almost been eliminated, giving way for a more convenient video platform system. New films were released simultaneously on the platforms of all the Star Fields and could be found online.
The movie of his life had an unpretentious name—Black Star: Origins. This movie told his story from Planet Aquamarine, from escaping the Germinal Organization up till he stepped into the galaxy. Because of the limited time frame, Director Beny Travol had cut out most of his deeds, only leaving the key factors to control the rhythm of the film.
Han Xiao had already looked through the preview and had to admit that this well-known director did have the ability to give his experience a lot of surprising twists and turns. He ended the film when Han Xiao stepped into the galactic region, leaving an opportunity to extend it with a sequel.
Within the trailer, Feidin had put on some makeup to pose as the Great Mechanic Han during his time as Black Phantom, and he moved with a face that looked as though he would kill everyone in cold blood.
Seeing this scene, one would only think of the description “Flying like a crane, soaring like a dragon”.
“So cool…” Han Xiao was very satisfied. “He has portrayed my character image very well.”
He eyed the forums and saw that the players were also very interested in the movie. They wanted to see the story of Black Star being made into a movie, while at the same time, they wished to see themselves within the movie.
The movie also portrayed the roles of the immortals, so seeing their own deeds being made into a movie by an NPC gave the players a novel feeling.
“After this movie is released, maybe it can turn into something similar to Bun-Hit-Dog’s videos, increasing the cohesion of the army’s players… If this works, maybe I can get the director to produce a few more sequels.”
Mentally taking note of this, Han Xiao continued to surf on the net before discovering another piece of news that caught his attention.
The Crimson Dynasty had announced that in ten days, the Dark Lord would publicly execute two Beyond Grade As. One of them was Traveler, while the other was an innocent person who was hired by the Super Star Cluster Alliance.
“It is finally going to begin…” Han Xiao pursed his lips.
In this manner, the conflicts between the Beyond Grade As and the Universal Civilizations would only worsen. While there was still a long way to go before it erupted, the seeds of dissatisfaction were already sown.
However, the goal of the three Universal Civilizations this time was not the Beyond Grade As but rather the Super Star Cluster Alliance. They wanted to scare off those Beyond Grade A hired by the Super Star Cluster Alliance, in order to cut off its wings. The three Universal Civilizations had already begun their future plans of suppression.
…
In the Star Arc Civilization’s Flickering World territory, a group of senior officials had gathered in a remote conference room with grim expressions.
“The dynasty has captured Traveller and intends to publicly execute him. What should we do?”
“There’s no way about it. We can only abandon him. We can’t afford to clash with the three Universal Civilizations yet.”
“It’s a pity then. Traveler was truly loyal to our civilization. This is a huge loss for us.”
“The question now is whether Traveler has revealed his true identity. If the dynasty discovers his background, they will have an excuse to provoke a dispute against us.”
“Traveler should not betray the civilization, but such matters can’t be guaranteed. We must be prepared not to recognize his identity.”
Everyone chattered anxiously.
The three Universal Civilizations wished to suppress the Super Star Cluster Alliance, but it was easier said than done. Each of them was an advanced civilization in the universe, and they had to have a legitimate reason to make a move, even if it was a trivial problem. As the rulers of the explored universe, the Universal Civilizations had to maintain the moral high ground, regardless of whether the reason was true or false. They just had to provide an answer for the masses.
Thus, the Super Star Cluster Alliance was keeping a low profile and was unwilling to give the three Universal Civilizations an excuse. Its current presence in the universe was not too outstanding.
The strength of the Super Star Cluster Alliance was only below that of the Universal Civilizations, so they would not be easily suppressed. While the three Universal Civilizations were clamoring to suppress them, they also had to make sufficient preparations.
No matter the three Universal Civilizations or the Super Star Cluster Alliance, they restrained themselves for the time being. Both sides understood that this was just the calm before the storm and that they had to first complete the development of the new Star Field.
The Super Star Cluster Alliance wished to obtain a chance to rise up, and the result of this conflict will determine the future of the explored universe.
…
“40,000 Enas!”
“45,000 Enas!”
“45,000 going once, going twice… no higher bids? Okay, 45,000 going thrice. The antiques produced by the Dhogo Civilization now belong to Buyer #068!”
Within a small private space station in the Ancient Star Desert, there was a black market auction underway.
The auction site was a circular room with a booth in the center where the items were displayed. By the side, the auctioneer introduced each one of them to the virtual screens on the surrounding walls. Each screen represented a black market buyer who was remotely participating in the auction. Everyone’s identity was kept confidential this way.
Because this was a remote auction, each item would be delivered to the buyer’s designated location through the black market’s logistics channel.
The auctioneer knocked on the table before shouting, “The next auction item is a disposable safe discovered by an archaeological team on a deserted planet. This item comes from the ruins of an unknown civilization, which is suspected to be at the Star System level or above. You’ll need the quantum network to decipher the code on the device before it can be opened. Right now, it has yet to be opened, so it’s up to your luck as to what comes out. Of course, it’s also possible for you to purchase the item just for your collection. The starting bid is 4,000 Enas.”
A few workers brought up a gleaming triangular device, which was precisely the artifact that Harrison’s team had unearthed.
In the meantime, Harrison’s team was situated in a VIP room, watching the live broadcast of this auction.
“We worked our asses off, and the starting price is only 4,000 Enas. This auction house is too stingy.” The shortie detector guy was depressed.
“Black market auctions are generally like this.” The captain was experienced in this regard. “Relax, the most important thing is that the black market has no lack of rich people who wish to try their luck. I estimate that the official transaction volume will exceed 20,000 Enas.”
“20,000 is not bad,” the shortie replied, “but it’s not as good as tomb raiding for antiques…”
By the side, Harrison was a little anxious. “Is this black market safe?”
“Relax, I’m a regular here. This is one of the properties under the Beast Ancestor, and there are no bandits that dare rob this place… Wait a minute.” The captain jerked before continuing with uncertainty. “It seems like Gorutan was captured some time ago?”
“It can’t be. You forgot about such an important piece of news‽” The shortie opened his eyes wide and hurriedly questioned. “There should be no problems with the transaction, right? I still want to buy a gift for my Ah Xiang!”
“There shouldn’t be…” The captain also hesitated a little at this time. “While the Beast Ancestor has fallen, this black market should now have a new backer. There should not be any problems… I think?”
Harrison facepalmed.
This bunch of people were too unreliable. He was better off working solo from now on.
At this very moment, there were a dozen battleships hidden not far away from this planet. They belonged to a group of star bandits that circulated around the Ancient Star Desert.
In the flagship, the leader of this bandit group led a group of men, looking out at the planet from the porthole.
“Captain, are we really going to rob them? I heard that this auction is the property of the Beast Ancestor, and it’s not easy to mess with him.”
“What are you scared of? The Beast Ancestor has been captured by Black Star, and his organization is in tatters, having been snatched away by the other Galactic Black Market Protectors. Others have also taken over his troops, but they have not fully integrated them as of now.”
The leader smiled, his eyes flashing with greed.
“I’ve already inquired and discovered that the Beast Ancestor’s warriors that protect their logistics carriers have been withdrawn. They are in their most vulnerable state now!”
