The Legendary Mechanic

The sound of crackling electricity suddenly sounded on the Divine Mechanical Throne as thick jagged bolts of Mechanical Force lashed out like chains on the floor, leaving blackened scars.

His brain tingled slightly, as though undergoing an electrical stimulation.

With a dazzling glare in his eyes, Han Xiao could feel that the cells in his body were running at full power, with energy constantly being released.

After just a few more minutes, the phenomenon began to fade. The world in his eyes had changed subtly. There was now a clearer mechanical perception, and his field of vision penetrated deeper into microstructures.

"How miraculous…"

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes as he appreciated the changes.

The usage of the Character Summon Card was different from actually possessing the talent. Right now, [Perfect Mechanical Sense] has resulted in a complete change within his body.

His basic personal attributes had not changed, but what was strengthened was his Machinery Affinity, as well as his Mechanical Force strength. Through his sense organs, the machinery felt closer and more familiar to him.

The core effect of Perfect Mechanical Sense was an improvement of his total Machinery Affinity by x1.4 coefficient, and this brought him an additional two to three thousand Machinery Affinity. This was enough to allow him to leap through several tiers!

There were two secondary functions to this. One was the increase in his machinery quality, improving it by one or two tiers, which was capped at Pink Grade. At present, Han Xiao's equipment was basically all Orange Grade, and this bonus was not too important to him. The other function was more important, which granted +4 to all mechanic skills, which could break through the upper limit. This gave him more slots for his Apostle Weapons.

Mechanical Sense was classified as a personal talent, and the difficulty in improving it varied from person to person. Some geniuses easily understood it, while some could not learn it even if their personal strength was incredible. Han Xiao's [Elementary Grade Mechanical Sense] was a drawn reward, so his chances of improving it to the level of [Perfect Mechanical Sense] were nil.

Generally speaking, such talents were either passively awakened or actively cultivated from a young age. As one grew older, the learning difficulty of talents would increase.

"Finally, I've got Perfect Mechanical Sense, and my normal combat capability is now the same as when I use a Character Summon Card."

Han Xiao was satisfied. He had looked forward to this ability for a long time.

He would no longer appear as an embarrassment!

Possessing power of his own was the best assurance, and turning those trump cards that he relied on to blitz during battle into actual combat power gave him higher stability. Now, his qualification as a peak level Beyond Grade A Mechanic had completely stabilized, and the gap between him and the Mechanic Emperor had shortened once more.

However, it was still too early for him to arm wrestle against Manison. The other party also possessed Perfect Mechanical Sense, and right now, he had only filled up his missing gaps.

Han Xiao was not in a hurry, however. Although he had also reached the peak Beyond Grade A realm, he was different from everyone else as he still had ample room for growth.

Before the next major update, Han Xiao did not wish to entangle with Manison. He wanted to take this chance while Manison thought that he had consolidated his position to develop himself within the shadow he cast, lest the other party were to notice his strength once again and challenge him.

Although Han Xiao was not afraid of Manison acting against him, he did not wish to act before he had established his foundations within the Flickering World. After all, Manison had the backing of the Federation of Light, and Han Xiao had no way of acting against the other party.

"However, although Perfect Mechanical Sense has become part of my combat power now, it does not mean that my trump card is lost."

The Character Summon Card usage was not related to his abilities, and activating similar effects would give rise to a stacked bonus rather than the usual effect bonus.

In other words, the Character Summon Card of Perfect Mechanical Sense was still useful to him.

Since he had already obtained Perfect Mechanical Sense, this would lead to his bonuses superimposing upon one another.

The superimposition of two skills, just how terrifying would it become? It would probably be the only double Perfect Mechanical Sense in the entire universe. Just thinking about it gave him the chills.

If he used this in front of Manison, the latter's entire worldview would most likely shatter.

"It's better for me to leave any blank Character Summon Cards to use on Reynold and Nero, and whether or not I can get the skill depends on my luck."

After experiencing the skill a while longer, Han Xiao finally closed the talent description.

He went back to his skill list, pulling down the blueprint column, and looked for a new blueprint that he had recently obtained.

_____________________

Spacetime Splicer: Using peculiar spacetime technology, open a branch timeline temporarily that is outside of the main timeline. By specifying a complete action plan, one can form a time chain with a beginning and an end, breaking through the spacetime continuum by performing a temporal jump through different points of the timeline. It can be used for any arbitrary objects.

Usage of this device will bring about an irreversible negative effect. Objects spliced by time and space will suffer from correction by the main timeline, and once completely corrected, the object will be annihilated alongside the branch time chain that was cut out.

Remarks: If you're a fan of suicidal attacks, this device is perfect for you. While the technology is not yet mature and perfected, since it's still a suicide operation, there's no need to care about the nitty gritty details!

_____________________

Han Xiao had stolen the Spacetime Splicing Technology from the Kunde Race, learning it and investing some experience to better understand the technique before finally obtaining the new blueprint identified by the interface. After spending some time on it, he had finally also finished a prototype.

The completed product resembled a three-story building.

Over the last few days, he had conducted simple tests and debugged the Spacetime Splicer. Its operation was very normal, but the startup time was a little long. It also could not be used as and when he liked; rather, it needed to be connected to a special target pipeline before it would be effective on objects.

Naturally, Han Xiao would not use such a dangerous device on himself, but after thinking about it over the last few days, he had concluded that this item would be helpful for the mechanic class.

The most suitable object to use the Spacetime Splicing Technology on would be the mass-produced machinery!

The wastage of the mechanical army would no longer bring him heartache, and with this additional function, he could even perform some war strategies that were not possible before. This sort of qualitative improvement of one's combat capabilities was akin to exchanging one's life for a sudden assault of tremendous strength. However, for a mechanic utilizing the Army Wave Tactic, it was naturally cost-effective.

Secondly, this could also be used as a new type of strategic killing weapon. Compared to portable psionic bombs, biochemical genetic weapons, and the like, the Spacetime Splicer was more concealed and difficult to detect, suitable for assassination and destruction missions.

Han Xiao stroked his chin as he pondered.

"However, I should minimize its operation as much as possible. When the dynasty discovered the power of Spacetime Splicing Technology, they also began to hide and monopolize this technology. While the dynasty will not force me to hand over the technology in my hands, they will also request for me to keep it a secret."

He did not hide the matter of him obtaining the Spacetime Splicing Technology from the dynasty. He had only seized a copy of the technology before the dynasty monopolized it. There was no need to hide it.

Allowing the dynasty to know that he possessed such technology would also increase his authority, and since he had obtained the technology before the dynasty placed any importance on it, it was a legitimate excuse and not a shameful matter. Furthermore, if he were to utilize this technique in front of others in the future, he would reveal the fact that he possessed this technology. By that time, maybe the dynasty would even protect him and hide this matter.

No matter what, he would not spit out whatever he had eaten.

Shaking his head, Han Xiao took out his Spacetime Amber and hung it in midair before connecting to the external interface of the Spacetime Splicer.

He was prepared to test if the Spacetime Amber could be affected by the Spacetime Splicing Technology. This was also his first experiment.

The operation of the Spacetime Splicer was complicated, and Han Xiao took a while before he got it started.

Ohm!

The whole device began to vibrate, and rainbow-colored beams shone on the Spacetime Amber from the pipeline.

He stepped back a little, waiting in silence until the vibration of the device gradually stopped.

"Splicing is complete…"

Han Xiao's eyes flashed, and he disconnected the nanoparticles that suspended the Spacetime Amber. The Spacetime Amber dropped down, its surface still smooth and unblemished, as though it had not undergone a timeframe change.

Narrowing his eyes, Han Xiao stepped forward to pick up the amber. He realized that there were no changes after examining it for a while.

"Seems like the Spacetime Splicing Technology has no effect on the amber."

Having arrived at this conclusion, Han Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. This was good news to him.

Since even the Spacetime Splicing Technology could not crack this Space Wonder, it represented that the Spacetime Amber was still an unsolvable means. Even if the dynasty or other organizations obtained this technology, the spacetime amber in his hands still possessed an irreplaceable role.

Thinking about it, Han Xiao conducted a new experiment.

He spliced a normal machine before using the Spacetime Amber to encase it in order to determine if the effect of the Spacetime Splicing Technology would be effective.

The principle of the Spacetime Amber worked as a solidified piece of spacetime, and the machinery wreathed in it did not experience the side effects of the Spacetime Splicing, ignoring the correction force of the timeline.

But at the same time, the normal effect of the spacetime splicing would not take place.

However, after removing the restriction that was the Spacetime Amber, the machinery was still corrected by the timeline and was annihilated, releasing a huge amount of energy and almost exploding the warehouse.

In this case, this means that the Spacetime Amber can only temporarily isolate the object and not completely offset the side effects of the Spacetime Splicing Technology… so it can only serve as a coffin? Really suits its name 'amber', Han Xiao thought to himself as he brushed off the dust on his body.

There might be another way around it, such as starting the action of the Spacetime Splicing in advance, then sealing it. By borrowing the effects of the amber, I can first send it to the target location before unlocking the amber and activating the effect of the splicing… well, this is akin to a delayed detonation.

After thinking about it, Han Xiao felt that this was a promising direction to apply, and he would need more time to explore the various possibilities.

After testing a few more times to ensure that this was no fluke, he put away the Spacetime Splicer and took out his communicator, contacting the Commander of the Dynasty Exploration Army, Tarrokov.

When the call connected, his huge face appeared on the screen, with the background of a tactical conference room.

"Oh, Black Star, what's the matter?"

"You're in a meeting? I can call back later."

"Just a regular update, it's not as important as you. Just say what brings you here."

Han Xiao smiled. "The enemy's movements have been weird recently. I believe you have also discovered that, right?"

"Yes, the enemies seem to want to lure us deeper in. Do you have intelligence in this area?"

"Kind of. I sent some troops a while ago and broke into the enemy's database. I found out that they intend to use the Scorched Earth tactics, planning to devour these star systems with the Primordial Psionic Energy to cause damage to the dynasty fleet. I have the coordinates of their buried energy as well as the movements of all their fleets."

"Good job." Tarrokov's eyes lit up, and he felt relieved.

The majority of Beyond Grade As took a laid-back stance for this battle. Firstly, they had their pride and did not wish to stoop to bullying an indigenous civilization without Supers. Secondly, they were afraid that their opponents would throw out Primordial Psionic Energy bombs, thus they only sent their men to respond to the call to arms.

However, Black Star had personally gone into the battle. He was worthy of being the talent favored by the dynasty. Two words came to mind, 'reliable' and 'steady'!

"I'll forward the intelligence to you later. Don't forget to give me my credit," Han Xiao joked.

"Haha, rest assured, this credit will be recorded down for you." Tarrokov was in a good mood, and he felt as though Han Xiao was extremely pleasing to his eyes, always bearing good news.

Han Xiao smiled before hanging up.

With [Perfect Mechanical Sense] and the Spacetime Splicing Technology at hand, he planned to end the war as soon as possible in order to resume the normal exploration work.

The other purpose for providing the information was to improve the evaluation of the Kunde Race War Mission Rating. Since all his other goals had been completed, he might as well help the dynasty finish its battles faster.

Because he did not intend to conceal the Spacetime Splicing Technology, Han Xiao did not hesitate, taking out all the intelligence and sending it directly.

…

Tarrokov was efficient and made arrangements immediately after receiving Han Xiao's intelligence.

Several frontline troops were secretly sent to the coordinates shown by the intelligence to foil the enemy's Scorched Earth plan.

In the intelligence given by Han Xiao, the coordinates and movements of all Kunde Race fleets were marked. This was equivalent to the dynasty gazing upon the battlefield without the fog of war, grasping the enemy's every move.

The army no longer slowly proceeded in caution but purposefully dispersed and targeted the main fleets of the Kunde Race.

The Kunde Race did not yet realize that all their plans had been exposed and that they were under the gaze of the dynasty. At this time, they were still implementing their battle plans.

With Han Xiao's help, the dynasty had saved countless soldiers, easily crushing the Kunde Race due to the overwhelming intelligence.

The balance between victory or defeat had been completely tilted toward the dynasty's favor.