On the floating city of Planet Macipher, Sardeem was using all his law reinforcement troops to search for clues of the culprit who attacked Colin and the others.
He had not slept the previous night. Psyker’s order was to lock the entire planet down to prevent the attackers from escaping, but Sardeem thought that if he could find the attacker soon, there would be no need to continue locking the ports down, which affected his businesses.
As it was related to his own profits, he was very motivated.
Sadly, he did not acquire any clues throughout the night—it was like the attackers had disappeared into thin air. There were no traces of them anywhere on any surveillance devices.
“Could they have the ability to teleport or something?” Sardeem scratched his head. “Or did all of my surveillance devices stop functioning?”
Sardeem could not help but look through the command records of the floating city’s control center, but he did not discover any signs of it being hacked. Han Xiao had cleared his browsing history there long ago while also ending his temporary access. With Sardeem’s ability, it was next to impossible for him to find out what Han Xiao had done.
Ring ring!
While Sardeem was getting frustrated, Psyker’s call arrived once again.
Your Excellency Psyker, what is it this time?” Sardeem suppressed his frustration and made his tone sound as natural as he could.
He was Mechanic Empire’s subordinate. Sure, he did do quite a few things for Psyker because Psyker was a Beyond Grade A, but Psyker seemed to be commanding him as if he was his subordinate, which made Sardeem a little unhappy. This was mainly because locking the planet down damaged his profits, the key reason his attitude changed.
However, what Psyker said almost made Sardeem jump up from his seat.
“The fugitive has left Planet Macipher and is running outside the Shattered Star Ring. What are you doing?” Psyker’s tone was relaxed no more and seemed truly grave, with a hint of blame.
Just a moment ago, he had sensed the Evolution Cube leaving Planet Macipher, moving away at hyperdrive speed. It had undoubtedly been taken away by someone, which made Psyker lose confidence and start to feel anxious.
“Impossible, I’ve locked down all the ports. No one should be able to leave Macipher for the time being!” Sardeem’s face was filled with disbelief, and he almost thought that Psyker was deliberately blackmailing him.
How did Psyker know about the whereabouts of the attacker? Psyker was not there, and not even Sardeem, the owner of the planet, noticed someone escaping.
“Maybe the fugitive has some kind of ability to avoid your lockdown. Anyway, he’s escaped. I need you to help me do one more thing,” Psyker said with a low voice.
He was in quite a bad mood. He had been very close to arriving at Planet Macipher and easily retrieving the Evolution Cube. However, at such a crucial moment, an accident occurred. He had no idea if this was the act of another group of EsGod’s subordinates ordered to continue the mission or that the Evolution Cube had been intercepted by someone else. No matter what, the situation was slowly getting out of his control.
EsGod’s subordinates had died, and the person who now possessed the Evolution Cube and was escaping was a mystery!
“What do I need to do?” Sardeem put away his little thoughts.
“I will point you in the direction that the fugitive is running, and you follow them. My spaceship is very fast, so I will catch up with you soon.”
“This…” Sardeem hesitated. He was confident about his strength so he was not worried about the danger but that someone would cause trouble on Planet Macipher while he was away.
As Psyker had not told him the truth since the start, Sardeem had started to realize that this matter seemed to be very significant.
“You’ll be rewarded handsomely for helping me.”
“…Okay then.” Sardeem agreed in the end. “Does this mean that the lockdown on Planet Macipher can be canceled?”
“Whatever.” Retrieving the Evolution Cube was Psyker’s only target; everything else was none of his concern.
As the communication ended, Sardeem did not delay any longer and started to pack up and leave, chasing after Han Xiao with the coordinates sent by Psyker.
While gathering his mechanical troops, Sardeem ended the lockdown.
At this time, Sardeem suddenly recalled something and immediately contacted the upper echelons of the Cornerstone Summit Corporation.
“Where’s Barne?”
“Your Excellency Sardeem, Barne was out the whole night last night and has yet to appear.”
Sardeem narrowed his eyes. This Calamity Grade with unknown origin was the first person he suspected.
“I remember he has three friends, where are they?”
“Er… they’re missing as well.”
“They’re most likely the attackers!” Sardeem heavily slammed the table with a vicious look on his face. He had thought that Bame was there to steal blueprints, but it turned out that he had something to do with this Psyker incident. This guy had prepared his ambush for more than twenty days!
Having thought of that, Sardeem immediately entered Barne and his friends’ faces into the control center and made all the surveillance facilities notify him as soon as they discovered their whereabouts.
After that, Sardeem took along a ton of elite Giant Soldiers, boarded his spaceship, turned into a stream of light, and chased after Han Xiao.
At the same time, in a mechanical stronghold in a certain mountain in the wilderness of Planet Macipher, three people were waiting.
Han Xiao had secretly left the planet through Void Dimension Jump while leaving the stronghold behind for Feidin and the sisters to hide, as well as to monitor Sardeem’s movements.
“Sis, the lockdown has been lifted, and Sardeem has left.”
In front of a few virtual screens, Aurora was controlling the machines swiftly with her fingers.
As her Esper ability lacked combat power, she had learned a lot of other knowledge during the time she was on Floating Dragon Island. She had gained a ton of subclasses and was developing toward an all-round commander.
“Black Star guessed right. Sardeem left the planet and is going after him,” Feidin said with resignation.
“And we’re left behind…” Hila clenched her fists with a frustrated expression.
In order to protect the three of them, Han Xiao had left alone to lure out Psyker, who might appear. It was clear that the three of them were a burden.
Hila wanted to fight alongside Han Xiao, but Han Xiao had rejected her because she was not strong enough to deal with a Beyond Grade A Super.
She was irritated with herself for not being able to help him.
She had trained ten years with Ames and become a high-level combatant in the universe, so she had thought that she could finally help Han Xiao, but it turned out she was still a burden.
Hila clenched her teeth tightly and felt frustrated. She had ended her training to help Han Xiao, but now she had become someone that needed his protection once again. She was not willing to be protected by Han Xiao all the time; she wanted to fight alongside Han Xiao. Otherwise, how could she repay him for what he had done for her and Aurora?
Seeing that she was not looking too good, Feidin said in a worried tone, “Hila, don’t overthink…”
Hila returned to being expressionless and said coldly, “Don’t worry, I won’t disobey his orders. Even if I insist on going after him to help, I’ll only cause more trouble to him and become even more of a burden.”
Feidin breathed a sigh of relief. After spending so much time together, he knew how stubborn Hila could be. He did not worry anymore and said with a smile, “You don’t have to undervalue yourself. Black Star sees you as someone very important to him, and you still have a lot of room to grow. In the future, you will definitely be of great help.”
Hila curled her lips and tightened her fists.
“You don’t have to worry about him. After all, we’ve all undergone the effects brought by the Evolution Cube, which you should know about. Black Star is definitely even stronger,” Feidin said.
Hila nodded. She knew very well of the Evolution Cube’s effects—they were so significant that it almost felt like she had been reborn.
“Don’t worry, I made many life force potions for him on the spot. He will be fine.” Aurora chuckled. “Don’t you trust my ability? You were just telling me to make more potions earlier.”
Before Han Xiao left, Aurora had made many life force potions for him on the spot. She had learned pharmacology from Emerald Grass in the past and studied it further on Floating Dragon Island, so the level of her subclass was very high. Combined with her Esper Ability, every one of those potions was equivalent to full health recovery.
When Aurora was making the potions earlier, not only did Hila not stop her younger sister as usual, instead, she agreed to Aurora using more life force to make potions for Han Xiao.
Recalling that, Hila blushed a little bit and turned away to avoid Aurora’s eyes while changing the topic.
The planet lockdown has been lifted, and Sardeem has left. What should we do? Stay here or leave in a spaceship?”
Feidin thought about it then said, “We shall leave Planet Macipher after Sardeem is further away. It’s safer that way.”
Hila and Aurora nodded. As long as Feidin was the one that made the decision, it might not result in a profit, but it would definitely not result in a loss.
Outside the Shattered Star Ring edge, in the desolate universe belt, a light suddenly appeared. Han Xiao left the Void Dimension and appeared with his skin a little red from the universe’s radiation.
Before him was a gray desolate planet. Han Xiao slowly landed on the cracked ground, crossed his legs, and hovered about a meter above the ground, waiting for his Army Boxes to arrive in hyperdrive.
He had used Void Dimension Jump to leave Planet Macipher, so his Army Boxes were still on the spaceship. He would only be at his peak as a Mechanic once his mechanical army arrived. As the Emperor Mechanic’s [Secondary Dimension Army] was still unactivated, his army was not with him at all times.
That’s a point. This is my first time actually leaving the Shattered Star Ring.
Looking up at the sky, this thought suddenly appeared in Han Xiao’s mind.
In the last twenty odd years, he had always been in the Shattered Star Ring.
There were desolate universe belts between Star Clusters, as well as between Star Fields, where the latter was much bigger than the former. He had once fought in the desolate universe belt between Klent and Purple Crystal, which paled in comparison as compared to now.
The desolate universe belt that separated two Star Fields had extremely sparse resources and very low value. The planets were scattered, and it was deadly silent. Even if a civilization was born there, it would have no future because of the vile environment. In the entire known universe, desolate universe belts made up to more than sixty percent of the area. In the unexplored universe, desolate universe belts consisted of even larger areas.
After feeling nostalgic for a while, Han Xiao got back to business. He opened the faction interface and started a discount event for all the Knowledges in the faction store. The reason he did this was to reward the army members for having participated for many months in the secret war. The Contribution Point cost of learning Knowledges was sixty percent off!
In order to quickly make up the experience that he needed for the last two levels, Han Xiao used the promotion to stimulate purchases. Knowledges were a necessity for players, and the only difference was when they would learn it. Han Xiao needed the players to learn them right now, so having a promotion was the best method to encourage that. He was willing to earn fewer Enas for that.
This way, even with the forty percent experience penalty, it would not take long.
Before the enemies caught up, Han Xiao had quite a lot of confidence that he could level up to level 240.
Beep beep!
At this time, his communicator suddenly rang. It was a message from Hila.
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes as he read it.
Sardeem has left Planet Macipher? He set off as soon as I left, so it seems although their locating method is not accurate enough, they are able to remotely locate the Evolution Cube.
This means that my whereabouts are transparent to them, and Sardeem and Psyker are heading right toward me.
As Han Xiao finally figured out the enemies’ detection method, Han Xiao felt more confident.
The ability to locate the Evolution Cube should be where their confidence came from!
He did not wait for his Army Boxes anymore and once again used Void Dimension Jump, turning into a stream of light and heading further away.
Since he was being chased, he could not stop. This battle was unavoidable; all he could do was make detours to meet up with his Army Boxes while stalling for the time.
While in hyperdrive, Han Xiao pondered.
I have quite a number of trump cards. Aurora’s potion, Dragon Emperor’s Character Summon Card, the rarely used [Painful Revenge] and [Luck Curse]… I must use everything I have that’s effective against a Beyond Grade A. It’s been very long since an opponent that required me to use my full strength. However, the Psychic class counters me for quite a bit. Psyker also has powerful AOE abilities. As a Beyond Grade A, he will be able to easily destroy a ton of my mechanical soldiers. Sadly, I don’t have the time to strengthen my mechanical army now…
As he had already tried in the stronghold, the Evolution Cube had no effects on his mechanical soldiers. After all, they were objects and did not have genes that could be improved. Maybe it would only be effective after they turned into real mechanical lives.
Sadly, [King’s Mentor] was still unactivated, so he would only be able to test that in the future.
Without any machinery that was useful at the Beyond Grade A level, he would not be able to reach his peak performance right after his Promotion. If only he could increase the power of his machinery before fighting Psyker…
Han Xiao’s eyes lit up suddenly.
Oh, that’s right, Sardeem…
