The Legendary Mechanic

Sardeem being Manison's subordinate was a piece of intelligence that Han Xiao did not expect to obtain. In his previous life, Sardeem had not been considered a known NPC to the players and had no mission to trigger. He did not think that Sardeem was hiding this much.

Manison was an extremely strong guy. As a member of The Ancient Ones, he created his own faction in the Calamity of the Supers version.

Han Xiao was very sensitive to anything related to Manison and did not want to have anything to do with him. This was because of Aroshia.

She was a survivor of an artificial intelligence civilization conquered by Manison, and Risda was still hoping that Han Xiao could avenge them. Han Xiao still had the [Reboot] mission on his interface.

However, he was not willing to mess with this ancient and powerful being. The Mechanic Empire had no conflict of interest with him. It would be too big a loss for Han Xiao to become his enemy for just a normal mission. He actually did not want to do this mission, so he had been delaying it. Risda also knew that this was impossible without the help of a Beyond Grade A Super, so he had waited patiently and did not hurry Han Xiao.

Manison was mainly in the Central Galaxy and the Primeval Star River, but his organization had fangs secretly distributed among many Star Fields. His 'Mechanic Empire' was not just a reference to his Mechanical Army but also signified that the number of Mechanics under his command could form an entire empire.

Manison likes to recruit Mechanics. This is probably also the reason his subordinate in the Shattered Star Ring, Sardeem, is suddenly recruiting me. No wonder this guy is so arrogant.

Han Xiao's eyes gleamed.

However, although he was shocked by Sardeem's background, he quickly calmed down.

No matter what, Manison did not even know that he existed. They had no conflict with each other, so he did not have to fear him.

Manison not knowing of Han Xiao's existence was his biggest advantage. Furthermore, he had surprisingly discovered that Sardeem was secretly under the Mechanic Empire, which was a huge gain.

After purposely acting like he was hesitating for a while, Han Xiao shook his head. "Of course, I've heard of the Mechanic Empire, but I still don't want to join you."

Sardeem's confidence fixed on his face. This time, he was the one that was shocked instead.

He had thought that as long as he mentioned the Mechanic Empire, recruiting this person would be a piece of cake. He did not expect 'Barne' to reject him.

"Don't you know how many resources the Mechanic Empire has and how valuable they are to a Mechanic?" Sardeem said with an incredulous tone.

Manison had been stockpiling technology and blueprints for countless years. Not even mentioning the Cutting-Edge Knowledges, he most likely even had the Ultimate Knowledges for the Mechanic class, as well as all kinds of secret or lost blueprints. He even had tons of spaceships and weapon blueprints of the three Universal Civilizations. These attracted countless Mechanics to join under his command… of course, those Knowledges all had to be exchanged for contribution.

Han Xiao raised his brows.

"I know what you mean, but not all Mechanics want to be Manison's subordinates, right?"

He was indeed tempted by the resources of the Mechanic Empire. However, that did not come for free. He had to do things for the Mechanic Empire over the long term. Unlike joining under Sardeem, whom he had confidence that he could completely beat, joining the Mechanic Empire was different as he certainly could not beat him. This meant that once he joined the Mechanic Empire, his true identity would definitely be exposed, and he would really end up working for him.

Therefore, there was no way that he was going to accept the invitation. This was like a Fortune 500 company trying to hire him, but he would rather start his own company. Although my company is not as big as yours now, I'm the one that gets all the profits!

Sardeem narrowed his eyes, turned around, and sat back in the chair. With an expressionless face, he said, "Then you can leave now."

Seeing that Barne had made up his mind, he did not want to waste any time and energy convincing him.

He was not worried about Han Xiao knowing his identity. After operating Planet Macipher for more than a hundred years, his background was no secret to many people. He dared to tell the truth of his background because he was not afraid of it being exposed. He was legally operating Planet Macipher, so what if people knew that he was part of the Mechanic Empire? His Excellency Manison was not a wanted criminal; having a subordinate in the Shattered Star Ring to build a stronghold did not break any laws.

Han Xiao did not care about Sardeem's dissatisfaction. He shook his head and left the room with a little resignation.

He was not afraid of offending Sardeem, but this meant that Sardeem would definitely monitor him more closely, which would make stealing the Eternal Light blueprints even more difficult.

Fortunately, Sardeem did not discover my true identity. His misjudgment of my strength works to my advantage. I should be able to fool him with some tricks, but if I still can't steal it in the end, I can only use Barne's identity to rob it… Or should I change to another identity?

While thinking about murdering and robbing, Han Xiao slowly walked away.

…

After Han Xiao left, Sardeem was the only one left in the office. He shook his head and was rather disappointed.

Initially, he had thought that recruiting Barne would be simple, but he did not expect this guy to be so stubborn.

Di di di…

At this time, Sardeem's communicator rang.

As he looked at the caller, his expression instantly changed, and he immediately picked up the communicator.

"Greetings, Your Excellency Psyker!"

The person that was contacting him was Psyker!

Psyker's video call appeared on the screen, and he asked, "If I remember correctly, Planet Macipher is your territory, right?"

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

Sardeem's tone was very respectful, completely different from how he talked to Han Xiao.

As the leader of the Star Pupil Holy Race, it was simple for Psyker to contact the owner of a known neutral planet.

Furthermore, he had known Sardeem for a long time. The Arcane Church was behind him, so he had access to a lot of information. Sardeem's true identity was no secret to him at all.

As he was backed by the Arcane Church, although Psyker was in the remote Shattered Star Ring, he was still quite known in the Central Galaxy's Beyond Grade A circle. These powerful individuals all knew that he was a semi-ally of the Arcane Church and was a valuable chip for them.

Although Psyker focused on managing his race and did not like to cause trouble like the Tyrant, in terms of influence in high society, Psyker was the one at the top among the four Beyond Grade As in the Shattered Star Ring.

Therefore, Sardeem showed him a lot of respect.

"Hmm, I have something I need you to do," Psyker said slowly. "I need you to pay attention to a 'Light Fox' model spaceship. I will send its appearance to you later. No matter who arrives on your planet in this type of spaceship, pay close attention to them. They're very likely there to repair their spaceship, so find a way to keep them on Planet Macipher."

"Okay, I got it." Without a thought, Sardeem agreed—this was basically a gifted favor.

Although he claimed to be neutral, he knew what kind of people he had to give privileges to.

"You must stall them and not let them escape the Shattered Star Ring," Psyker emphasized.

"Understood." Sardeem nodded.

Psyker then hung up.

As one of the EsGod doppelgangers had used teleportation to move Colin and the others to steal the Evolution Cube, the Star Pupil Holy Race had no visual records of these people and did not know what they looked like. However, due to the battleship fight outside their mothership, they knew the looks of these 'Light Fox' spaceships.

The mark that Psyker had left on the Evolution Cube showed that the Evolution Cube was no longer escaping in hyperdrive and had stopped for the first time. After looking at the star map, Psyker realized that the Evolution Cube had stopped near Planet Macipher.

Since he knew the location of their spaceship, he could guess what those thieves were planning.

Therefore, Psyker came up with a plan and contacted Sardeem to get his help.

While doing so, he had been heading toward Planet Macipher all along. As long as Sardeem could stall them for a few days, he would be able to arrive.

With his power, Colin and the others would not be able to escape.

…

At the same time in the orbit of Planet Macipher, Colin piloted the heavily damaged 'Light Fox' spaceship and slowly approached the port of Planet Macipher.

Due to the superiority of their spaceship's engine, they had maintained high-speed hyperdrive and crossed a small half of the Star Field in close to ten days, leaving their pursuers far behind.

They had finally arrived at this famous neutral planet. Planet Macipher was the place that they had chosen to repair their spaceship.