The Legendary Mechanic

After the start of the secret war, the Black Star Army had conducted several additional recruitments. The seedlings of the training camp had matured, and many freelance mercenaries had also been recruited. The Black Star Army had supplemented its new blood, with the number of official mercenaries exceeding 200,000. The number of personnel stationed at Base No.1 was ample.

Three masked Mages in dark hooded robes walked into the hall of Base No.1, drawing the eyes of many mercenaries along the way. The Hidden Red Robe Abbey was known by the entire Star Field. 'Magus' Austin's Forbidden Sorcerers were very famous and instantly recognizable.

Why are Austin's people visiting the captain?

Quite a few people knew that the captain was the Dragon Emperor's officer. Upon seeing that Han Xiao was in contact with another Beyond Grade A, they could not help but wonder.

…

The three Forbidden Sorcerers arrived in the reception room, where they saw Han Xiao and nodded politely.

Han Xiao waved his hand and asked Sylvia to get the hell back to studying. He then looked at the three people and asked, "Austin's Forbidden Sorcerers, what is this about?"

The short Forbidden Sorcerer in the middle, Desoro, was the leader of the three. He gave a simple self-introduction and then cut to the chase.

"The Magus ordered us to find someone, one of your subordinates. We're here to bring him back."

Han Xiao was dumbfounded. This surprised him. "Are you talking about Lagi?"

Of all the officers, only Lagi had an unknown origin. Plus, he was a Grade A+ Mage, so he had the highest chance of being the target of these three people.

"Yes, his full name is called Lagi Schwer. He worked under the Magus before." Desoro's tone was calm. His statement was ambiguous, and it seemed like he did not want to give the details.

Han Xiao was secretly surprised. Lagi had been imprisoned for ten years, and no one had rescued him. Now that he had escaped, Austin's people had come looking for him right away.

Although he clearly knew that Austin would not be so despicable, it did feel a little annoying.

He thought about it and realized that it was odd. If Lagi was Austin's subordinate, how could he have been caught so easily? Lagi seemed like a lone ranger before getting caught, and if it was true, it meant that he had been removed from Austin's forces. So, why would Austin send people to get Lagi back?

"Why are you bringing him back?" Han Xiao asked.

Shaking his head, Desoro refused to answer, saying, "This is the order of the Magus. We just execute it."

Han narrowed his eyes and asked, "What if I refuse?"

Desoro's voice was calm and unshaken. "The Magus said that you owe him a favor and will give him face."

Han Xiao's mouth twitched. He was one to give in to the soft approach instead of the hard approach. During the Tyrant's party, Austin had given him the core of a Void Lord without any reason, so he did indeed owe him a favor. There were indeed no free lunches in the world.

Now, Han Xiao would be out of his mind to fall out with Austin, who had a good relationship with him. Moreover, he had once received a gift from him, so he really could not refuse. After all, relationships were mutual—A helped B, so B should help A in the future within the range of B's ability. Otherwise, it would be easy to bury the relationship that took effort to establish.

Only, Han Xiao was still a bit reluctant. Lagi was the second strongest combatant in the Black Star Army, second only to Han Xiao himself. If he left, the high-level combatant standard would fall drastically.

After a moment of consideration, Han Xiao came up with an excuse and said, "Us discussing where he will be going is actually meaningless. I think it is necessary to ask him for his opinion. If he wishes to go back with you, I will, of course, not force him to stay. If he does not want to go, I won't be able to do anything about it."

"Okay." Desoro nodded and had no objection.

In fact, on the way, Desoro had envisaged many situations. If Black Star used all sorts of excuses to obstruct him and not even give face to Austin, he would not exclude the possibility of having to take Lagi away by force.

He did not expect that Black Star would suddenly become a Beyond Grade A seed with a history of fighting eight Calamity Grades at once. This had shocked him.

Clearly knowing that he was miles away from being able to do something like that, Desoro feared Black Star. Black Star had shown that he had the potential to become a Beyond Grade A. Although Austin had Desoro's back, it would not be a good idea for him to establish a bad relationship with Black Star, hence his rather friendly behavior.

Han Xiao sent Lagi a message. After a while, Lagi pushed open the door and walked in while complaining.

"Is there another dangerous mission? I'm telling you, I will die sooner or later if you keep sending me to these… hmm?"

Lagi walked in and saw the three Forbidden Sorcerers. His complaining stopped, and his expression collapsed. He muttered, "No wonder I kept getting distracted during yesterday's meditation. Something bad is indeed happening today. Sigh…"

A tint of coldness flashed across Desoro's eyes as he said in an indifferent tone, "It's been a long time, Lagi."

"Can you pretend you didn't see me?" Lagi's face was bitter.

"What do you think?" Desoro replied.

With no alternative, Lagi looked at Han Xiao with grief and sorrow.

Han Xiao's eyes twitched. "Don't look at me like this. They came to me and said that they're going to take you back. So, you used to be Austin's subordinate. Why didn't you tell me? Him and I are quite close."

"How would I know that you knew Austin?" Lagi asked with an aggrieved expression.

Being Austin's subordinate before was an amazing record and would get him a very high position in the majority of organizations. Lagi did not tell Han Xiao because he wanted to remain low key. Moreover, he felt that Black Star and Austin should have nothing to do with each other. He never expected that Han Xiao and Austin had talked and laughed together before.

"You don't seem to want to see Austin's people." Han Xiao frowned slightly. "There's no need to hide your past now. Tell me."

Desoro glanced and Han Xiao and did not say anything to stop him.

Lagi sighed and had a sad expression on his face as if he did not want to get into it. Han Xiao almost wanted to give him a cigarette so that it would match his expression and the atmosphere.

"Alright, I'll tell you. Decades ago, I was the Hidden Red Robe Abbey's Forbidden Sorcerer commander, the fourth disciple of Magus Austin."

Han Xiao's eyes immediately widened.

Holy… you're quite someone, aren't you?

The position of the Forbidden Sorcerer commander was roughly equivalent to the chief Vanguard Official under the Tyrant. The fourth disciple meant that he was one of Austin's protégés. These two titles added together, and Lagi's position in the past was basically Austin's right-hand man.

Lagi waved his hands with that same sad, reluctant expression. "However, afterward, I made a mistake, and Austin kicked me out of the Hidden Red Robe Abbey. I left Austin, became a Lone Ranger, and then I was caught. You saved me, and then you know the rest."

Han Xiao was shocked. With Lagi's position, what big mistake could he have made to cause Austin to chase him away?

At this point, Desoro coughed and said, "Your Excellency Black Star, it's better if you don't know."

Han Xiao's eyes moved but became more curious. He then turned his head and saw that Lagi's expression had become incredibly forlorn, as if he suddenly had stubble on his face.

"Alas, everyone has been young and wild before. Magus really is a good man. It's a miracle that I could live till now," Lagi said with a nostalgic tone.

Han Xiao's mouth twitched. It was very difficult for him to imagine Lagi being young and wild. It felt like a man with this name was born with a languid aura. He could not associate him with the adjectives 'young' and 'wild' at all.

"Alright, let's get back to the point. I respect your opinion. If you want to go back with him, I won't stop you, but if you want to stay, I'll help you refuse them."

Desoro's brows furrowed. He thought for a moment and did not speak.

He rubbed his face and sighed. "I'll go back with you."

Desoro heaved a sigh of relief. Luckily, Lagi read the room, so he did not have to fall out with Black Star.

He turned to Han Xiao and said, "Your Excellency Black Star, he's willing to come with us. Please abide by our agreement."

"Alright then."

Han Xiao sighed in his mind. Lagi was a great aid who had been difficult to acquire, and now he was leaving him. It felt like a neighbor reaching out to his vegetable field and pulling a high quality, emerald-like leek.

This time, Lagi suddenly opened his mouth and spoke with a very serious tone.

"Black Star, you saved me. Don't doubt my belief of doing things for you. I'm going back to make it clear to Austin. Otherwise, they won't give up, and I don't want to cause you trouble…"

After hearing this, Han Xiao immediately felt that he was wrong about Lagi. The little discontentment in his heart disappeared instantly. He was even a little touched.

Wow, you're actually quite reliable. Saving you definitely wasn't meaningless.

Then, Lagi returned to his original tone and became indolent, muttering, "You can't beat Austin anyway. There's no use even if I do refuse. Me going back with them is good for everyone. Sigh…"

What? That's not false at all!

Han Xiao could not help but ask Desoro, "What was Austin thinking, appointing him as the commander of the Forbidden Sorcerers? Is he not worried that all the Forbidden Sorcerers will become depression patients under his lead?"

"Er… he wasn't like this in the past." Desoro's tone was awkward.

They exchanged a few more polite lines. Then, Desoro stood up and said, "My mission is complete. I shall bring him back now."

Han Xiao was just about to nod but suddenly remembered something and hurriedly stopped the bunch of them who were about to walk out.

"Wait a minute. I need your help with something."

Desoro looked back and wondered, "Please, do tell."

"Er… I would like to spar with you guys," Han Xiao said.

Including Lagi, there were four strong people in front of him, who should all be twenty or more levels higher than him. This was a good opportunity to do the Promotion mission. If he beat all of them, it would give him twenty-four Trial Points, directly completing half of the mission progress. An opportunity like this would not come again once it was gone, so even though it was sudden, Han Xiao still asked for it.

As expected, Desoro and others all felt bewildered and confused.

Why is Black Star suddenly making this request?

Desoro was dumbfounded for a few seconds before he remembered to answer.

"Er… why is that?"

"When I see a formidable opponent, I can't help but want to fight with him. The Forbidden Sorcerers are very famous, so I want to experience your strength and test my new weapon while doing so." Han Xiao quickly made up a reason.

"Er…" Desoro was still hesitant.

Han Xiao clenched his teeth and took out the most promising trump card.

"Play a little bit. You're here anyway…"

It was indeed the most promising trump card. Once used, Desoro did not know how to refuse.

Originally, he just wanted to take Lagi back and finish the mission early.

However, now that he had been invited to a fight, he suddenly became interested in a contest!

People had been saying that Black Star was a Beyond Grade A seed. Only a few dozen people in the entire Star Field had that honor.

Although Desoro was just an officer of a Beyond Grade A Super, he too dreamed of becoming a Beyond Grade A.

Desoro wanted to measure what made a Beyond Grade A seed so exceptional and see how big the difference in their strength was.

Thinking about that, Desoro stopped hesitating and became eager. He stared at Han Xiao and said, "Okay, you pick the place."

Hearing Desoro's response, Han Xiao had a humble smile of a farmer on his face. The way he looked at Desoro and the others was like looking at a few walking leeks.

"By the way, I want to spar with you too." Han Xiao pointed to Lagi, who thought he had nothing to do with it.

Lagi's face turned bitter, and he muttered, "I see, so this is where I get 'accidentally' killed during a spar…"

…

Meanwhile, on Planet Aquamarine…

"So, this is Black Star's home…"

A spacecraft in stealth mode was suspended in outer space. Through the porthole, Stephanie looked over at the azure star, smiling.

"Albert was such a fool. There's a glaring weakness, but he didn't know how to exploit it…"