Stunning enemies was a tactic commonly used by psychics. Their strong willpower resistance was their strength. However, burst grenades would cause a sense of dizziness at a physiological level because it caused ear fluid imbalances. Therefore, despite the strong willpower resistance psychics possessed, endurance was key in this case. That was the biggest weakness of all psychics, leaving them defenseless.
Hila immediately suffered damage from the attack. Agony was all over her face as she stumbled from one side to another like a wave.
No matter who Hila was, during a battle, she only had one identity—enemy! Han Xiao knew no mercy and continued shooting coldly. The bullets landed all over Hila’s body. Eventually, when the bullets ran out, he set the Electromagnetic Hover-boots to the highest power, and before Hila could retaliate, he kicked Hila. She flew up into the air, knocked onto the railing, and finally fell into the river.
The river was stained with blood as Hila’s body sank. Han Xiao did not believe that Hila would die so easily, and there was no news on the interface. He expected that after all these attacks, Hila would be able to recover soon enough, but there was no need to worry for the moment.
This enemy is so difficult to kill; I can’t just tackle her right now.
As this thought flashed through his head, Han Xiao then had time to think about Li Yalin, a team mate from the past, who was now looking at him with shock.
“Black Phantom?” Zhang Wei asked carefully. He could not help but feel a sense of familiarity.
Zhang Wei did not seem to not recognize him, and that was great. Thinking about the feud between the Germinal Organization and Zero, it was best if he continued hiding his identity. Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled and heard Li Yalin suddenly yelling, “Han Xiao‽”
“Han Xiao? Who is that? I think you’ve got the wrong person.”
“It’s you! Stop pretending! I could recognize you even if you turned into ash!” Li Yalin gnashed her teeth.
Damn, how did she recognize me? Based on my polished acting skills, how could I still be exposed‽
Han Xiao was dumbfounded.
This young lady is really unpredictable!
Members of the troops were stunned. They were doubtful about Li Yalin’s judgement, but at the same time, they were a little convinced. At that moment, Han Xiao, who was in full black, holding Berserk Eagles in both hands, suddenly revealed his own face.
“Oh, that’s what you actually look like…” Zhang Wei murmured as he finally understood why Han Xiao had always worn a mask in the past.
In the past, when they were working together for Division 13, Han Xiao had always worn a mask. Members of the troops never saw what he looked like and never knew Han Xiao’s true identity. At the moment, they thought that the face they saw on the facial simulator was Han Xiao’s actual face. They had expected him to be quite handsome.
No one expected that the famous Black Phantom would turn out to be a former comrade. Everyone was puzzled; had he been that strong in the past? Why didn’t he show that, and why did he want to leave Stardragon to become an assassin? The higher-ups seemed to have acquiesced, too.
Wait, he became the Black Phantom of the Dark Net Organization, and the higher-ups were so ambivalent about it; was this actually a secret mission?
“You got it wrong. No time for nonsense now, the enemies are here!” Han Xiao said sternly.
Li Yalin raged. “It’s no use even if you deny!”
Right! The higher-ups must have sent him for a secret mission; that’s why he cannot reveal his identity! Could it be that Stardragon is going after the Dark Net next?
The crowd was unknowingly forming a misunderstanding about the situation.
The conversation ended quickly. On the battlefield, everyone could only suppress their doubts and focus on dealing with the enemies. It was a fierce battle between Stardragon’s commando squad and Germinal Organization’s troops. Superhumans were found all over the battlefield, launching attacks with their powers. A symphony of cries of agony and gunshots played through the battle.
A Germinal executive headed straight for Han Xiao. Han Xiao pointed toward the executive with his hands forming a pistol and signalled to the Stardragon team to join forces against the enemy. Zhang Wei and his team naturally had no objection and started fighting by his side.
As the Germinal executive rushed over, his body suddenly swelled up like a balloon and transformed into a four-meter-tall white beast. The white beast started running on the deck like a wolf, and his heavy body caused the deck to vibrate. He opened his big mouth and pounced over. This action was full of elegance and strength.
Transfiguration was a common branch from the Esper family. They could take different forms—some weaker, and others stronger. The forms they took on could be so strange that they could even be out of the imagination. It was said to be related to evolution and various gene mutations. Some would transform into an alien creature while some would transform into wild beasts. This Esper branch appeared most commonly on planets that were magic based. This trait could be passed down through blood inheritance or be acquired through training.
Science and magic formed different civilizations, and there were differences in the understanding of certain things. In addition, their methods of experimentation could be different, too, and each had its own unique points in terms of advancement.
The great white wolf hopped around the deck as it tried to attack. Han Xiao, Zhang Wei, and two others joined forces to try to takedown the wolf. Han Xiao felt it was no one of his business. He allowed Zhang Wei and his power suit to act as the tank while Han Xiao stood at the side and tried to launch some sneak attacks. Sometimes he would use his thermo-electrical incisor gloves to slice a piece of meat off the wolf.
Hou Yao also used his Berserk Eagles, and his action was swift as the coursing river. Initially, he was proud of himself. After witnessing how skillful and minimalistic Han Xiao was and how he would never miss a single bullet, Hou Yao felt like he was making a fool of himself.
You really live up to your name, Mr. Black Phantom, such dexterity in handling double guns, Hou Yao admired secretly.
He had joined Zhang Wei’s team mainly because he had received the orders from the high-ups, and he had never ever heard of Zhang Wei’s team being able to produce good results. To his surprise, the extraordinary Black Phantom had actually been part of this team in the past.
The great white wolf was beaten up badly. Realizing that it was beyond its ability to retaliate and other executives were unable to help, it turned and fled the scene. Han Xiao had already expected this, and right then, he fired his Berserk Eagles at the great white wolf’s eyes, activating the [Flaming Will].
This time, the damage was increased by 3.2 times!
Boom!
The great white wolf’s eyes exploded, and it groaned in pain as it fell onto the deck. The whole barge shook for a second. Zhang Wei immediately dealt another blow. With his ammunition emptied, Zhang Wei’s arm armor extended into a golden sword. He leapt as his exoskeleton provided him with the energy and latched onto the great white wolf’s body as he slashed it violently many times.
The others came forward to help and eventually killed the great white wolf together.
Just then, the backup troops finally arrived at the port and let off a signal flare to signal for them to retreat. At that moment, Zhang Wei turned and asked Han Xiao, “Han… Black Phantom, do you want to leave with us?”
“No, thanks.” Han Xiao waved his hand.
“Alright, thanks for your help, I’ll remember this. Stardragon will also remember this!”
Zhang Wei’s speech had a hidden meaning. Together with his troops, he turned and leapt onto the assault boat. Lin Yalin stared in Han Xiao’s direction.
As members of the Division 13 were withdrawing, Han Xiao activated his electromagnetic skating shoes and jumped onto the shore. He rushed for the truck that had been following him around automatically, jumped into the driver’s seat, switched it to manual driving, and left the shore speedily.
Hila, who was wet through and through, climbed onto the ship. Fighting off her dizziness, she glared at the departing truck. She was always the one treating people like that, but this time around, she had actually had a taste of her own medicine.
“Black Phantom, I will remember you!” Hila eyes froze as her body healed quickly.
The Germinal troops arrived at the port and released a torpedo, causing the sea mines to explode. With the water exploding, they successfully entered the open sea.
Hesla’s navy also came by and was not reconciled to not giving chase. Both ships were restricted by each other. In the midst of the firing the cannons, the Germinal ship sank.
Based on the battle strategies, the Germinal’s forces broke free from the attacks and escaped.
However, based on the damages suffered from the battle, Germinal lost seventy percent of their troops while Hesla’s losses were less than ten percent of what Germinal had lost. With that being said, victory was definitely not Germinal’s.
Although they had not been able to stop all the Germinal forces, both nations were able to achieve the battle objective of damaging the enemy.
All in all, the winners of the battle were Stardragon and Hesla.
…
Through the window, Han Xiao glanced at the sea. As the destruction from the sea battle slowly went out of sight, he shook his head.
“The battle is over.”
Han Xiao glanced at Frenzied Sword, who seemed to have revived and was sitting beside him, and wrote him a mission with no requirements. Frenzied Sword had taken a stab for him, and thus, he would give him some EXP even if he did not need to.
The description of the mission was actually the reward for taking a stab for Han Xiao, and that made Frenzied Sword surprised. His action was purely voluntarily as he thought it was okay for him to die but Han Xiao must not. He did not expect any reward, and he became even more determined to protect Han Xiao.
After giving the reward, Han Xiao turned to his own interface and grinned from ear to ear.
_____________________
[Second Advancement]
Progress: 3/3
_____________________
The great white wolf that he had fought against with Zhang Wei was a LV 45 character. As it was a joint battle, the additional EXP obtained was little. However, the requirement for advancement could be said to have been completed, which meant…
I can advance!
