The Legendary Mechanic

Both the Army Style and the Summoning Style relied on numbers. The summoning class used mana, so it did not cost a lot of money. Even if the summoned creatures were destroyed, they could still be summoned the next time. However, it took a lot of time to summon those creatures during battle.

As for the Army Style, it required a lot of money. The army would be built before the battle and could all be used immediately. Once destroyed, money would be needed to rebuild them. The good thing was that the time to get the army ready was very short.

The rebuilt mechanical army used psionic energy as the main energy source. Most machines were modified to be psionic powered. The electromagnetic cannons had all been swapped out for psionic cannons that were many times stronger. Even the mechanical soldiers were equipped with psionic shields and small-caliber psionic lasers among other things.

The psionic energy technology was extremely useful. The cost of building machines did not increase by a lot, but their combat capabilities rocketed.

Under Phillip's control, the mechanical army quickly defeated Desoro's summoned creatures. With the [Machinery Truth Knowledge] bonus, Han Xiao was satisfied with the individual combat capabilities of the mechanical soldiers. He estimated that one mechanical soldier could defeat five of the same model mechanical soldier before his Class Advancement.

Bang bang bang!

The explosions continued in the sky. The battle was one-sided. The creatures summoned by Desoro were already wiped out, leaving him to face the mechanical army alone. Even without the summoning spells. Desoro was still a very strong Mage. He cast powerful spells very quickly and smoothly.

The battlefield was an unpopulated planet, so both sides were not restrained at all. They unleashed destructive forces freely. Desoro constantly teleported, and the mechanical army surrounded and intercepted him. The battlefield constantly shifted and extended over thousands of miles. The powerful forbidden spells and psionic cannons bombarded the surface. The earth was completely disorganized and filled with deep craters from explosions. If this was a planet with a civilization on it, the buildings would have been flattened long ago.

Being surrounded, Desoro was having a tough time like he had fallen into a swamp—every movement was difficult to make.

If this was the mechanical army before Han Xiao's Class Advancement, Calamity Grades would not have felt too threatened even if they were surrounded. For the stronger Calamity Grades such as the eight Vanguard Officials under the Tyrant, they would be able to go in and out through the mechanical army easily. All it could do was slowly reduce the enemy's health and energy.

However, the mechanical army after his Class Advancement had much more destructive and restraining power. The psionic cannons and shields caused the army's overall attack and defense ability to go up by many levels.

Even a strong Calamity Grade like Desoro was in a pickle. The Psionic Cannons had much stronger individual power, which meant that the attacks did not have to be too concentrated in one place. Thus, the attacks from the Psionic Cannons seemed to have built a blue spider web, with danger at its every corner.

In terms of defense, the guarding team connected their Psionic Shields into a large shield a few hundred meters in size, like an enormous bubble. Even Grade 6 to Grade 7 spells were unable to penetrate it. Desoro had no choice but to use very powerful and high mana cost forbidden spells to barely cause any damage.

"He's being overwhelmed completely. His loss is inevitable." At the edge of the battlefield, the other two Forbidden Sorcerers' tone changed slightly.

Before the battle, the two of them had also thought of observing how strong Black Star was, but this scene right before their eyes dumbfounded them. They knew very well how strong Desoro was. They had thought that even if Black Star would be able to defeat Desoro, it would happen after a rather tough fight. However, the battle turned out to be one-sided.

"He's even stronger…" Lagi felt complicated.

The time for which he had known Han Xiao was still very short, so this was the first time that he had witnessed Han Xiao's growth speed. When they met for the first time, despite Lagi underestimating his strength as usual, he had still felt that he had a fifty percent chance of beating Black Star. One month ago, when Han Xiao was given the title of Indestructible Body, he had felt that he only had a thirty percent chance of winning.

Now, he felt that he was nothing.

"Such unbelievable growth speed, this is truly Beyond Grade A potential." Lagi's negativity exploded, and he suddenly felt that there was no point in him studying magic anymore. He might as well go home and start a farm or something…

On the battlefield, Desoro held on for a while longer before being so disgusted by the mechanical army that he almost vomited. Not having the will to fight anymore, he yelled, "I admit defeat!"

Han Xiao lifted his finger and stopped the mechanical army, making them retreat to the side.

With the pressure gone, Desoro instantly felt more alive. He took a deep breath, slowly turned toward Han Xiao, and said with a regretful tone, "You've won the spar. I'm no match for you."

If he continued, he could still have fought for a long time, but he felt it was futile. Black Star's mechanical army was so strong and did not give him any chance. Furthermore, Black Star was basically just watching from the side, yet he still had such a tough fight. Even if he continued, he would most likely have had no chance of winning.

"You're very strong, too." Han Xiao smiled. "You should've tried approaching me. Maybe you would've beaten me."

Desoro's face turned back. He wanted to ask if Han Xiao even felt shame but decided not to say it after thinking for a moment.

Black Star's Indestructible Body title was known across the Star Field. Everyone knew that Black Star's strength was his body. Desoro did not live under a rock—it would have been crazy of him to go close to Han Xiao in a battle thinking that he would be able to defeat him that way.

This was also one of the reasons that Desoro had admitted his defeat—he could not see any opportunity to turn the tables.

Luckily, I did not start a conflict with him. Desoro was glad of how sensible he was to give up the thought of using force on Han Xiao. From his perspective, even the first three disciples of Austin would not be able to defeat Han Xiao easily, if at all, so Desoro himself would only be completely thrashed by him.

Desoro was convinced that he was indeed still very far from a Beyond Grade A seed.

Han Xiao gave Desoro a few patronizing compliments. As the victor, he had the right to speak this way, and Desoro saw no problem with it at all. Calamity Grades would not be unable to accept a defeat. The loss only upset him for a while before letting it go, at the same time throwing away his sense of superiority as a Beyond Grade A's subordinate and giving Han Xiao more respect.

Respecting someone stronger was a rule that never changed and never would change, which was even more deeply understood by a Beyond Grade A's subordinate.

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You have received 6 Trial Points.

Current Progress: 6/50

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While chatting, a notification popped up on the interface.

He's at least twenty levels higher than me. I see, so the definition of winning is to have the opponent admit defeat… Hmm, one person can only give points one time. There are three more people.

Han Xiao was delighted. He turned around and asked Lagi and the other two for a spar as well.

Since Han Xiao personally requested to spar with them, even though the other two Forbidden Sorcerer knew that they would not be able to win, they were not so cowardly as to not even take the fight. After all, it was just a spar.

Desoro felt strange. The way he saw it, Han Xiao wanting to spar with his two colleagues even after he had defeated him was clearly an act of showcasing his strength.

"Apparently, although Black Star did not express it, he's actually very unhappy about us taking Lagi away. Therefore, he requested to spar with us, to showcase his power and beat us up." Desoro felt that this was the truth, but there was nothing he could do.

Those two Forbidden Sorcerers were not summoners, but they were just as strong as Desoro. One of them specialized in psychic spells, which ignored Han Xiao's health-energy cycle and caused him a little bit of trouble. This was one of the few weaknesses that he had at the moment, but he did not let it show.

He had the [Advanced Mental Toughness] talent, so he was not completely defenseless against psychic attacks. Despite not being able to absorb the psychic attacks, he was still very tanky, so he did not panic at all.

Furthermore, if he gave it his all, he could even damage himself to recover energy, which was completely unnecessary for a spar. This Forbidden Sorcerer also admitted defeat very soon.

Lagi was basically a walking pile of negativity. He admitted defeat just one minute into the fight.

After sparring with all four of them, Han Xiao had a rough idea of his combat capability.

I now have two trump cards—my tankiness and the Army Style. As long as it's not against those strongest Grade A+ who are only a tiny bit away from Beyond Grade A, I will be able to maintain a more than 50% win rate. When facing more than one enemy, I can pose a threat to about three Calamity Grades at the same time. If the goal is just to hold the enemies back, ignoring the fact that the enemies will want to escape, I should be able to hold back six to seven Calamity Grades…

As for those who are a threat to me, psychic attacks and Virtual Mechanics are notable. Army Style Mechanics who also have a psionic energy mechanical army are threatening, too, as it will turn into a battle of resources since the style is the same, but I do have the advantage of being very tanky. Also, those Espers with strange abilities are always dangerous.

While summarizing all that in his mind, Han Xiao was chatting with Desoro and the others.

The spar had ended. Desoro expressed his intention to leave, and Han Xiao did not stop him this time.

Before leaving, Lagi made a serious promise. "Austin is a good man. Although I was chased away by him, we still have a connection, and he won't make things difficult for me. Black Star, I will definitely return."

"Alright." Han Xiao smiled. "When you return, you'll be my vice-captain."

Lagi had only joined the Black Star Army for a short time, so he was still on probation. He was currently just a high-level combatant and had not taken on a position yet. With his ability, he was undoubtedly qualified to be the vice-captain. No one would have a problem with a Grade A+ being the vice-captain. Furthermore, he had an amazing resume. Despite being a little negative, he was indeed a talent.

Having developed into a veritable behemoth, the Black Star Army did indeed need one more person that matched up to its fame.

Lagi was stunned for a moment before turning hesitant. "Does that mean I will have more things to do?"

"… I'll just give you the title without the work, how about that?"

Only then did Lagi smile again.

"Your Excellency Black Star, we shall take our leave."

Desoro and the other two nodded before taking Lagi to the spaceship. Han Xiao thought for a moment before giving Lagi an Observer's Mark.

His Promotion was close. His Racial Talents would change by then, so he did not have many chances to use Observer's Marks left. Although Austin would be able to notice the Observer's Mark, it was not a problem. His intention was not to peek at Austin—how could a child looking old Mage be as nice to look at as Ames?

He did not stop Lagi from going back. Putting an Observer's Mark on him was to express his attitude toward Austin, that Lagi was important to him. Unlike the Tyrant, he had no conflict with Austin. In fact, they had quite a good relationship, and Austin had quite high hopes for him.

The spaceship took off and left.

After watching Desoro and the rest leave, Han Xiao looked at the interface.

The Promotion mission progress was now 24/50. It was almost half done.

Nice, that was very efficient. I'm only twenty-six points away. If my opponents are all twenty or more levels higher, I just need five more to complete the mission. If they are less than twenty levels higher or the same level as me, it will take at least seven opponents…

At this time, an unexpected notification popped up on the interface.

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You have triggered the round three mission of [Prey]!

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"Huh?" Han Xiao was shocked, and his expression changed drastically.