Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Han Xiao was right in the middle of a battlefield. He decided that it was not an appropriate time for his advancement.
I should get out of this battlefield first.
He decided to look through other information first, such as the results from [Tedramira River Battle]. His final evaluation was a B. He had 450,000 EXP on hand, which was far more than what he had expected, and he had millions of EXP accumulated on his interface as well.
[Fall of the Germinal]—the progress of that level A mission had increased by two percent, and the improvement for automated destruction was even better. The evacuating Germinal troops had been a large force made up of many different troops from different settlements. Therefore, when Stardragon and Hesla crippled the evacuees, he also took a share.
The total gain had reached twenty-one percent. This meant that he had completed the requirements of this quest. The Southern Continent could not offer him any further improvements. He could go to the Western Continent and the Northern Continent next to anticipate a large battle like this again. Then he could earn more EXP. After that, he would have to go to Germinal’s home base on Andrea Mainland.
There would still be more gains he could reap in the future. So, Han Xiao would not cease [Fall of the Germinal] so quickly. Since the minimum standard was twenty percent and he had already completed the task, it gave him some confidence. This meant he could try and get a higher rating the next time around since he was no longer in a hurry to complete the task.
Based on his experience, the ratings from A-level missions would be higher. The reward was special this time around and not limited to experience, skills, expertise, talent points, special equipment, or even direct rewards of attribute points.
Han Xiao arrived at the location where the Dark Net helicopter was stationed. The driver was on standby as he moved the useful machinery up onto the helicopter. He then blew up the truck without leaving a single trace behind.
The truck had cost him a sum of money, but since he had an abundance of funds, he did not feel the pinch at all.
As the saying goes, it is easy to enter the luxury lifestyle when you’re poor, but it is way more difficult to go back to a pauper kind of lifestyle when you’re rich.
Han Xiao was very fortunate to step on the wealthy path. The market was huge, and he need not worry about money anymore.
“Everyone says that a man turns bad when he becomes rich, and that is so true,” Han Xiao mumbled as he smoked a few cigarettes before getting onto the helicopter, instructing the pilot to take off.
The wind from the rotors was strong, forcing Han Xiao to squint.
…
Waves raged on the dark sea surface, and the smell of blood filled the air.
Breaking away from their pursuers, the Germinal fleet sailed in the boundless sea. They turned on anti-detection to prevent themselves from being discovered by the satellites.
There were many satellites orbiting Aquamarine, and many were from the previous civilization who had fallen. These satellites had been taken in by the Six Nations, but some of them had fallen into the hands of other forces. Some became public satellites for some hackers, and others became space junk.
Each ship had been charred by explosions, and the repairmen were busy fixing them, riveting the steel plates and repairing the damaged mechanical components one by one. The rest of the personnel were cleaning the deck and washing away the blood stains.
Breaking through the blockade made them suffer heavy losses, including the lives of 17 executives. Han Xiao alone had killed three. When Lin Yu was reporting back to the commander, he emphasized on these statistics.
Black Phantom’s intervention surprised the commander. It turned quickly into anger as the commander started to feel like the Germinal Organization had seemed to turn into a tiger without teeth. Anyone dared to bully it. At the same time, it also increased his hatred for Zero.
He had disrupted the plan that they had laid out laboriously and also put the entire organization in grave danger. The commander remembered his conversation with Zero before he escaped from the lab. It angered him more whenever he thought of how this traitor managed to fulfil his promise.
The commander then made people add Black Phantom to the watch list as he had no energy to focus on a small assassin at the moment. The main problem on the commander’s mind was the next step of the plan for the organization.
All the sub-bases of three continents had been evacuated. Now that they had lost the ability to be proactive, the Six Nations had no more reservations, and it was likely that they would seize this opportunity to start the war. The commander did not wish to see this happen as it would bring about critical damage to the organization. He needed time for the Germinal Organization to recuperate. They had to eliminate Zero, who could see into the future.
Germinal had been in Andrea Mainland for a long time, and if the six Nations were to start a war with them, there was no other choice but to leave the mainland and fight from the sea.
Release the Intercontinental Nuclear Bomb? Not to mention that there are civilians living on Andrea Mainland, Germinal also had anti-missile facilities. If they were forced to their wit’s end, they could just set the nuclear bomb off and destroy the world… mutually assured destruction. Of course, that would be his last choice; he could not keep that as a trump card. Even if he were to use this as a threat, the Six Nations would never allow Germinal to continue to grow.
Maybe Red Maple, Ordina, and Hesla would come to a compromise at different stages and start to launch sneak attacks behind the scene, but the rash fool from Theseus and the madman from Raylen would not hold themselves back. They would likely reject any form of compromise and would only launch more aggressive counterattacks. They were not afraid to get destroyed together with Germinal if it had to be.
In the original plot, the four continents were the battlefields for the Six Nations. The secret sub-bases bound the Six Nations and affected the war to a huge extent. Only by having luck on their side, would they have been able to break the stalemate.
When the war got fierce, Germinal troops suffered many defeats and were hugely crippled. As there were not many armed forces left of Germinal, some politicians in the Six Nations perceived their goals to be reached and were voting to compromise. From their perspective, the goal of destroying Germinal had been achieved, and the Six Nations had suffered losses too. They had chosen to allow the Germinal Organization to stay on Andrea Mainland. After all, that was a place where no one wanted to be. Although it was impossible to remove the roots, it could prevent their resurgence.
Any hindrance to the Six Nations had been removed. The Germinal Organization had lost their powerful threats to the Six Nations, such as killing of civilians and destroying cities. Only the Andrea Mainland base camp was left for them, and the Six Nations could combine their powers into one, making the situation for Germinal worse than it already was.
The most urgent task at the moment was to divert the attention of the Six Nations, not allowing them to have time and resources to start the war. The commander gave this thought some thinking again, but he could not think of better ideas.
“Commander, Base 13 has something urgent to report. It is regarding a recent successful test subject from the [Genetic Improvement Plan]. This is the observation record.” An assistant handed him a report.
The moment the commander heard the words ‘test subject’, he felt a headache. He was stunned when he looked at the report.
The assistant then said, “Cases like this did not just happen on one person. As you can see on the following list, this phenomenon seems to have occurred on a large scale, and it is spreading like an infectious disease.”
The commander stayed quiet for a while, looking as if he was digesting the information. He then made a sneer under the mask.
“There are weird phenomena, but it seems like luck is on our side. The Six Nations will have to start worrying now.”
…
In a room on the boat, the light was dim and kept blinking. Hila took off her black combat uniform and faced the mirror to count the number of wounds on her body. The most obvious one was a bullet at the side of her rib, and the dark blood clot that had formed was terrifying.
Hila was expressionless as she rubbed the wound to reveal her tender flesh.
She looked at the mirror and remembered how her skin used to be smooth and fair with barely any scars. Unlike now, she had so many marks of serious injuries on her body.
Hila lowered her eyelids, and her long lashes covered her eyes. She put on her clothes again and went out to stare at the sea silently.
She had to live and wait for the next battle.
…
Zhang Wei and his team took the plane back to Division 13. Other than Zhang Wei, who had to write the report, the rest of the team closed their eyes as they were overwhelmed with fatigue from the battle.
“Say… how did Han Xiao become Black Phantom?” Li Yalin suddenly opened her eyes with a confused look.
“What, Brother Xiao is Black Phantom‽” Lin Yao was taken aback as he had not been involved in the battle and did not know about this matter.
Zhang Wei then explained the story to him.
Lin Yao was flabbergasted and could not help but ask, “You couldn’t have recognized the wrong person, right?”
“I could recognize him even if he turned into ash!” Lin Yalin coldly laughed with confidence.
“Are we not going to look for him and bring him back?”
“He was embarrassed when he left. He must be on a secret mission. I will ask the higher-ups when I report to them,” Zhang Wei said as he shook his head.
Lin Yalin could not help but add, “Do help me ask when he is intending to repay me as well…”
Zhang Wei was lost for words.
“Little Lin Lin, you do not seem to be hurt.” Di Susu, who was in the same plane, came over. Li Yalin’s face suddenly slammed down as she turned her head, ignoring her.
Di Susu was not bothered. She pushed the shy Lin Yao aside and sat down beside Li Yalin. With a playful smile, she moved closer to Li Yalin. She then moved further away hurriedly as if Di Susu was the source of a virus.
Di Susu loved Li Yalin’s face of discomfort. She laughed, turning her eyes away, and asked, “Are you guys talking about Black Phantom? I met him once in the past and heard he took part in the war as well.”
