The Legendary Mechanic

Having seen the five abilities drawn from Gorutan, Han Xiao was slightly stunned.

"Polar Channel Flow?"

There were infinite Pugilist styles in the universe, and the Polar Channel Flow style was mainly focused on explosive abilities, which reflected the horrible and harsh environments in the past. Of course, it might also be that the creator of Polar Channel Flow simply liked the style.

High-level Pugilists all mastered multiple styles, so it was normal for Gorutan to know Polar Channel Flow.

Back then, the ability from Heber's Character Summon Card was [Polar Channel Flow—Cellular Overdrive], while this ability from Gorutan was Blood Rage. The effects of the two were quite similar, but the former exchanged potential for strength while the latter burned current health.

To others, although the explosive state given by Cellular Overdrive would damage one's potential, it did not have any immediate side effects and only made one stronger for the time being.

Comparatively, Blood Rage would burn up one's health continuously. If the user's regenerative ability could not keep up, the user would be heavily injured if this ability was activated for an extended period. This was not great for long duration battles, and the enemies might notice its side effects and deliberately play for time.

Han Xiao thought that this was probably the reason Gorutan did not use this on him. After all, he was known for being amazing at drawn-out battles.

"All things considered, this ability is perfect for me."

Han Xiao's eyes were sparkling.

His regenerative ability could even be considered everlasting. Even Beast Ancestor could not compare to him. Therefore, burning his health was nothing. If he used it well, this ability could totally become a stable method to obtain explosive strength.

In comparison, [Micro-Molting] and [Block Penetration] were good but not as valuable as Blood Rage.

"I've used up the one-time Character Summon Card for Cellular Overdrive, but now I've obtained a method to gain explosive strength stably. Tsk tsk, nice…" Han Xiao was overjoyed.

Even though the explosive strength granted by Blood Rage was slightly lower than Cellular Overdrive, it was completely acceptable.

At this time, all Han Xiao wanted to do was raise his arms and praise Feidin.

… Oh, and Nero too.

_____________________

You have received [Polar Channel Flow—Blood Rage]!

_____________________

The new abilities obtained from the five Beyond Grade As immediately took effect on Han Xiao's body, changing every one of his cells.

Hu!

Immense pain flooded his entire body, only dissipating after quite some time.

Han Xiao had already gotten used to this pain. He took a deep breath and sensed the changes in his body.

Hmm, I clearly have more energy, which is the effects of Womre's [Cell Activity Expansion]. My physique is stronger too, like I've taken off some invisible weights. This should be thanks to Tolaen's [Super Overload]. My mind feels slightly stronger, thanks to Hades' [Psychological Barrier Enhancement]. My Mechanical Force feels sharper and easier to control. This is Jackornitz's [Machinery Control Master] taking effect…

Han Xiao sorted out the changes in his body and felt refreshed.

A new notification popped up on the interface, a new dungeon was created from [Hila Rescue Warfare]. Without even having to look at it, Han Xiao knew that the level of this was much higher than even the Planet Lighthouse battle, which was far beyond the players' capabilities at the moment.

Han Xiao then looked at the mission list. [Rescue Hila] had already disappeared, meaning that all the rewards were given.

Out of curiosity, Han Xiao tried using [Polar Channel Flow—Blood Rage]. This ability gave him the freedom to decide how much health he wanted to burn without an upper limit, only a minimum of 0.1% of maximum health every second. Therefore, he turned it on with the lowest requirement.

Boom!

A blood colored ring of light suddenly blossomed in front of Han Xiao's chest and expanded like ripples before him.

The next moment, he felt that all the blood in his body started boiling!

Bright red vapor sprayed out from all over his body like flames made of blood. The reactions were very drastic. By just roughly looking at it, one might mistake it to be red Pugilist flames.

This blood red vapor was the blood energy obtained from burning his health. In Han Xiao's senses, it was as easy to control as his limbs. Masses and masses of new energy kept appearing in his body as his health burned.

He took out a mirror and looked at himself. The vibe he gave off was completely different compared to the calm and tough vibe he usually exuded. With the blood vapor surrounding him, he looked fearsome, evil, and savage. However, his emotions were unaffected.

Han Xiao then looked at the interface and pondered.

"The bonuses of Blood Rage are mainly focused on damage output and ability strength. It's a more aggressive bonus compared to the comprehensive bonuses Cellular Overdrive gave."

He then turned off Blood Rage, and a sense of weakness immediately appeared, lasting for a little while before disappearing.

In order to familiarize himself with the new abilities, he tested them one after another before stopping and nodding with satisfaction.

"Tons of EXP, four Random Rewards, one Blank Character Summon Card, four powerful Character Summon Cards, and five great abilities and talents. Excellent."

Han Xiao was very pleased.

The difficulty of the mission was over the top, but the rewards were rather generous as well. His strength increased by quite an extent, and he obtained a few new trump cards.

Suppressing his excitement, Han Xiao started thinking about the real impact of this incident.

The change in impression the various organizations had of him would be none other than to take him more seriously. During his trip back, there were more organizations that had come to fawn over him. Some organizations that had been plotting secretly against him had also stopped, such as the Limitless Financial Group.

Overall, the goal of establishing fear and respect was greatly achieved. Han Xiao's reputation was at its peak, and the Black Star Army's position became even firmer. Han Xiao's planned goal was achieved.

Including the players, more people requested to become allies of the Black Star Army. The officers who were in charge of this department had been working overtime continuously to settle these matters. The number of members of the army was projected to see a sharp growth in the time to come.

Han Xiao nodded. "The federation and the church are probably discussing the matter of exchanging captives now. I'll obtain a large amount of resources very soon."

Of course, he had no plans to keep these four Beyond Grade A allies of Universal Civilizations himself. They were hot potatoes that he could not make use of, so giving them away in exchange for more profit was the best solution. However, this time, he was not going to easily give them away. He had to make things difficult for the church and the federation, to make them publicly apologize before he even considered giving those Beyond Grade As back.

"Speaking of which, Kasuyi's proposal is not completely out of the question. Should I sell the federation's people to the church and let the two of them fight with each other?" Han Xiao scratched his chin and pondered.

Gorutan, of course, did not receive such a treatment. Han Xiao planned to keep him as part of his collection.

He also paid attention to Beast Ancestor's organization. After their boss was done for, as expected, the organization became chaotic, splitting into many factions. The internal conflict was at its peak. At the same time, there were also many organizations outside that had their eyes on the 'inheritance' of Beast Ancestor, prepared to take a bite of it anytime.

"Should I participate too? After all, I'm the one who eliminated Beast Ancestor."

The possible responses the various organizations might have appeared in his brain one after another, quickly getting analyzed and classified. This time, a flash of insight crossed his mind. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was doable.

Han Xiao's eyes slowly became brighter as a smirk appeared on his face.

"If the dynasty's response is just as I expect, I should be able to look for Sorokin after some time and get some things from him…"

Earlier, Han Xiao had announced to the outside world that he would be resting. One reason was to make the so-called 'burned of his potential' more convincing, and another was to spare some free time to do some stuff.

There were quite a few things he had to do. First, he had to deal with the impact of this incident—dealing with the captives, negotiating with the dynasty, splitting up Beast Ancestor's inheritance, and so on all fell under this classification.

Second, he planned to use the time to repair the mechanical army, which would take quite a lot of time. He planned to build Emperor's Cape's too, as well as improve the Mysterious Energy Host.

Then there was the kindness Manison and Kasuyi had shown during this incident. Using the enormous force of the Black Star Army in the Flickering World, he would start building a communication channel for the united front of the Beyond Grade As.

Last but not the least, he needed to also make a trip to the secondary dimension with Ames and capture Primal Chaos Mysterious Energy's old buddy, Holy Light Particle.

"Looks like I'm going to be rather busy. The good thing is, after this battle, I won't have to worry about the growth of the Black Star Army for quite a long time, which will give me a lot of time to do my own things."

After doing some planning, Han Xiao arranged his thoughts and walked out of the room.

After returning and touching Feidin, he had headed right to the training ground to receive the reward and had yet to talk to his many officers. He now walked toward his office and told Phillip to gather the core officers.

…

When Han Xiao walked into his office, everyone was already there, including Ames.

Technically, this was an internal affair of the army, and outsiders should not be allowed. However, Ames was an exception, so no one was stupid enough to stop her from doing so.

"You've finally decided to come back?" Ames leaned on the wall and looked at Han Xiao with a faint smile.

"Ahem, I had important matters to deal with," Han Xiao replied with resignation.

He had invited Ames to the Black Star Palace only as an insurance. He did not expect it to force Traveler to back away.

"Don't forget what you promised me." Ames' brows rose slightly.

"When I'm done handling the matters on hand, we'll go travelling." Han Xiao nodded.

"Hmm, I shall not disturb you guys then."

Ames glanced at Hila before leaving the room. Although no one had chased her away, she knew that it was not polite to stay there and listen to the internal affairs of the Black Star Army.

Han Xiao sat on his seat, looked at Hila first, and said, "After some time, you'll have to return to exploring on the frontlines. I'll build something new for you, the mechanical suit that sent you back here. With that, you won't have to worry about getting ambushed or surrounded."

"Okay." Hila had no objections.

"Has the dynasty contacted you recently?"

"No." Hila shook her head.

"Then let me say this first. If they use me as a reason to convince you to join the dynasty, come and discuss with me first. Don't agree right away."

"Don't worry, I know."

"By the way, how's your connection with Aurora?" Han Xiao asked curiously.

"It's stable." Hila paused for a moment. "But I can still feel the existence of that special secondary dimension… Can you take me along to travel the secondary dimension this time too? I want to take a look at it."

"Probably not this time. Someone has to be with the army while I'm gone." Han Xiao shook his head. "I'll go with you next time."

Hila nodded in agreement with a slight smirk. She seemed to be in a good mood.

After chattering for a while, Han Xiao looked at the other officers. He glanced at Feidin with eyes filled with satisfaction, and he only stopped smiling after Feidin became clearly uncomfortable. He then told the others to give their reports.

Sylvia, Herlous, Reynold, and the others summarized the recent business situation. During the reporting process, quite a number of Calamity Grade officers secretly sized Han Xiao up. Han Xiao's recent achievement had shocked many officers too. Many of them had even more respect for him.

After listening to the reports, Han Xiao nodded. "The situation is going extremely well right now. After this, the Black Star Army will have an even easier time in the Flickering World. There won't be anyone casually testing us. You guys, go do some recruitment. The army might see some excellent business opportunities in some time, be prepared…"

Han Xiao talked about the things to pay attention to and do for a while. Seeing that everyone nodded while listening, he suddenly thought of Evans.

Evans had also come back with the spaceship that transported the Throne. Han Xiao had told Phillip to sort his accommodation and had kept him hidden.

Before Evans, his secret weapon, grew to a certain point, Han Xiao was not going to expose him to others.

Han Xiao leaned back in his chair. "That's all. If there are no questions, you guys can get back to your tasks."

"By the way," Sylvia said, "there's one thing that needs your attention. A star director hopes to see you."

Han Xiao was surprised.

Star director? Who? Manison?

Seeing Han Xiao's confused expression, Sylvia explained, "He's the renowned master-level director, Beny Travol. He is hoping to get your permission to shoot a documentary about you."

"… That's new."

Han Xiao immediately became interested.

In the galactic society that had no shortage of material supplies, the influence of the entertainment industry was humongous. A famous galactic celebrity might have quintillions of fans. For example, Feidin had been considered a local celebrity before.

Galactic star directors such as Beny Travol had extremely high popularity and influence, as well as extraordinary positions in the industry. They were all important people even on the scale of the entire universe.

However, the people in the entertainment industry and someone in the military industry like him were in two completely different worlds that hardly had any connections, which made Han Xiao wonder why this person came asking to shoot a documentary of him. Could this be the effect of his Universe Legendary Points?

Han Xiao contemplated for a while. "Okay then, I'll meet him."

"Okay, I'll contact him personally." Sylvia nodded.

Han Xiao then glanced at everyone. Seeing that no one spoke, he said, "If there's nothing else, we'll call this a day."

At this time, Hila suddenly thought of something. She took out a small box, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Han Xiao with her beautiful fingers.

Han Xiao looked down at it. This was a red box with ribbons, like a gift. Confused, he looked at Hila.

"This is…"

"Today is your birthday. This is your birthday present, an amulet. Remember to wear it," Hila said softly.

Han Xiao was surprised.

This is only February. Today isn't my birthday. It's October… Oh, I get it. This should be the birthday of my original identity. Back on Planet Aquamarine, the Germinal Organization definitely investigated me. Hila probably saw the birth certificate of my original identity.

Understanding that, Han Xiao swallowed the words he was about to say back down. He accepted the gift and said with a smile, "Thanks, didn't think you'd remember."

"I remember everything about you."

Hila closed her eyes and left the room before Han Xiao could reply.

The officers around looked back and forth between the two of them with meaningful looks in their eyes. They then left one after another.

Han Xiao was the only one left in the room. He carefully opened the gift box and looked at what was inside.

A tiny dark gold coin lay quietly in the box, hooked on a thin silver chain. It was a necklace.

Han Xiao picked up this coin and suddenly felt a special kind of energy on it. It had both Hila's Power of the Dead energy and Aurora's Esper Ability energy.

With a flash of insight, Han Xiao opened the interface and looked at Hila's Character Summon Card.

If I'm guessing correctly, this coin is a carrier of some kind of ability, and this ability is probably the reawakening ability that Hila just obtained… No wonder she called it an amulet. Basically, she gave me a revive token.

The Character Summon Card did not display the limitations and cost for Hila to use this ability, but Han Xiao was certain that Hila would not be able to casually just gift this ability to anyone. It was most likely quite costly.

Han Xiao wore the amulet on his neck, stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the scenery outside Black Star Palace.

If not because Hila suddenly brought it up, he would totally have forgotten the meaning of 'birthdays'. In all the years he had spent in Galaxy, this was the first time someone had given him a birthday present.

Although the birthday of this body was not the same as his own birthday, Han Xiao still felt nostalgic and emotional.

Memories often would not stop coming up once reminded. The images of the past kept appearing in his mind like it was lifetimes ago.

"Birthday…"

A soft sigh sounded in the room.