The Legendary Mechanic

The mission reward was the incomplete version of the Domino Virus blueprint, so a lot of key content was missing. A lot of deduction had to be done to put the blueprint into production, and the results of those deductions might not be the same as the original version.

It's very troublesome to deduce complete blueprints at this level from the incomplete version. Sure, I can use Awakening Points to speed it up, but that seems a bit wasteful. I'll be better off slowly working my way through it.

Fate was really unpredictable. He had thought that the Domino Virus was destroyed, but the technology still ended up in his hands. The entire outside world thought that he had destroyed the Domino Virus, so there was no way Han Xiao could just expose the fact that he had this technology. Otherwise, the results would definitely be the exact opposite of the treatment he was receiving now.

Furthermore, the core material of it was a thousand mutated artificial intelligence lives, which was not easy to find. Manison had a lot of them, but it was certainly not realistic for him to purchase any from him right after having a fight with him. Plus, Manison might notice something even if he could purchase any from him.

Therefore, this technology could not be shown to the world for a very long time. He might only use it when facing enemies like the World Tree civilization.

Now that I think about it, it seems logical for Mechanic Emperor not to use the Domino Virus during the World Tree war in the previous life.

Han Xiao suddenly figured it out.

Unless the situation of the war was totally one-sided and unwinnable, even if he could obtain the upper hand with this kind of weapon, he would still be surrounded by trouble after victory.

Perhaps, in his previous life, the Mechanic Emperor saw the Domino Virus as something similar to the Hand of Death System. When the three Universal Civilizations really had no way of winning the war, only then might he release the Domino Virus. He would then use his tons of Lord's Avatars and mechanical armies to utilize guerrilla warfare tactics against the World Tree Civilization.

Han Xiao recalled something else. In his previous life, having considered the possibility of losing the war, the three Universal Civilizations executed the 'Tinder Operation'. They sent a large group of wandering fleets out and far away from the explored universe. At the same time, they built tons of refugee shelters deep inside the secondary dimensions, which stored intelligent life forms, crops, and flora and fauna samples, ensuring that the civilization could be rebuilt after losing the war.

He wondered if the Mechanic Emperor had his eyes on those refugees. Could his plan have been to start anew after losing the war, escape faraway, and build a world in which he was the god of creation?

If his final goal was to rule the entire world, this might really seem like the most feasible path.

Han Xiao let his imagination run wild for a while before focusing on the matter at hand again. He closed the introduction of [Blueprint: Domino Virus (Incomplete)] and looked at the related talent he had just obtained.

[Virtual Purification—Restore] could purify the artificial intelligence target that was infected by viruses. The Virtual Mutiny Virus, for example, rewrote the fundamental logic of machines into killing organic life forms, and this talent's effect would clear that modification and restore the target's normal fundamental logic.

Simply put, if those artificial intelligences were considered hypnotized when their fundamental logic was modified, this ability would wake them up.

At the same time, this ability was not limited to the Domino Virus; it could restore any type of virtual virus.

Han Xiao's eyes sparkled. This is going to be very useful in virtual battles. The Mechanic Emperor is probably going to cry when facing this.

If his control of the mechanical army was taken away, he could just use this talent and directly regain control from the enemy.

However, given his current strength, there was almost no one who could take away his control of his mechanical troops. The only one Han Xiao could think of was the Mechanic Emperor.

Speaking of which, Manison controls his artificial intelligence civilization through rewriting their fundamental logic too, like what the ancestor of that civilization, Finette, is experiencing. This talent is going to give him a huge problem.

Han Xiao scratched his head and thought of the [Reboot] series mission that had been collecting dust for a very long time at the bottom of his mission list.

It looks like I just got the key to liberate that artificial intelligence civilization.

If I find an opportunity to use this on Manison's AI civilization, his Indestructible Mechanic Empire might totally go out of control.

Also, since a portion of Manison's elite forces were created by transforming living bodies, he might have used virtual means to twist their minds, so [Virtual Purification—Restore] might be effective on them too. When a certain level was reached, virtual methods that could be used on living things would actually have a lot of similarities to soul-related spells.

To take it one step further, this might even be effective on the World Tree, even more so than the Domino Virus…

Recalling how the World Tree operated, Han Xiao pondered.

The blueprint and the talent were the biggest rewards he had obtained. Universal Grade S missions sure gave generous reward.

He also received a total of four Political Assets that came from all the three Universal Civilizations. This meant that after this incident, his words would carry weight even in the federation and the church. At the same time, the EXP bonus he received increased once again.

Han Xiao glanced at the [Intelligent Plague (Disaster Simulation)] Dungeon. This was a special type of Dungeon. It no longer worked through intercepting a part of this incident but through selecting a certain area, and the dungeon would simulate what happened in this area during the Intelligent Plague outbreak. The difficulty depended on the area.

For example, if the selected area was the Black Star Army headquarters, the difficulty would almost be impossible. If the area was a normal colonial planet of a normal Star System civilization, the difficulty would be around Grade B or Grade C. If the area was a sealed battleship, it might turn into a horror movie.

This Dungeon should have a good market, especially for the Mechanics. Han Xiao saw quite a good business future.

Also, the large amount of EXP awarded to him filled up his empty wallet, and the total 65,000 Contribution Points for the three Universal Civilizations could not only be used to exchange for Ultimate Knowledges but also Gold blueprints. The three Universal Civilizations had already opened this option up to him.

Speaking of Gold blueprints, Han Xiao suddenly thought of the Holy Accord and the federation. These two were making deals with him, but it was put aside temporarily because the Intelligent Plague suddenly erupted.

There was no need to worry about the federation; they definitely would not forget about it. What he was mainly concerned about was the Holy Accord organization. The date they previously agreed on was voided, and Oathkeeper did not leave any means of contact, so he could only wait for Oathkeeper to come looking for him.

After going through the rewards, Han Xiao closed the interface and contacted the headquarters.

The fleet had already left the Ancient Star Desert and could now communicate with the outside world freely. He had been out for a few months, so he wanted to know what was going on in the army.

The communication got picked up very soon. Sylvia's projection appeared before him, wearing exquisite makeup on her elegant face and a simple work uniform that highlighted her exceptional curves. She seemed to be in the middle of a meeting, and she was surprised to see Han Xiao.

"Teacher, you finally got released?"

"Erm, yeah." Han Xiao gave her a weird expression. Why did you say it in a way that sounds like I just got out of prison?

"I've seen the news. The decision you made was marvelous." Sylvia praised him. "The entire army is now praising your virtue, and the army is more united than ever. The director from that time wants to sign the contract for five more follow up movies. Since you're not here, I didn't reply to him."

"Tell him yes, and Feidin will still be the lead, so he has something to do."

Han Xiao waved his hand. Suddenly, he realized that Sylvia was wearing a pair of frameless spectacles, adding a well-educated lady vibe to her, so he asked, "Why are you wearing spectacles?"

Sylvia blushed a little. She took off the spectacles and showed them to him. On the inside of the glass was a single-sided screen. Embarrassed, she said, "Meetings are sometimes boring, so I use these to watch shows…"

"… Have you gotten close with Lagi recently?"

"Nonsense, I hate him the most!" Sylvia firmly denied it.

Han Xiao did not want to make a fuss about his subordinates slacking at work, so he changed the topic and asked, "By the way, how's the Black Star Cup going?"

"Well, due to the impact of the Intelligent Plague, the audience rating of the Black Star Cup decreased somewhat, but it's maintained its popularity. At this point of time, most of the secondary competitions are already finished. The army's elites in various areas have already been selected… er, the card players don't count." Sylvia paused momentarily. "Currently, only the finals of a few important items are left. They're the battles of the various Grades…"

Han Xiao listened to Sylvia's report while nodding and saying, "Not bad, not bad."

He did not have many forms of entertainment in the Ancient Star Desert, so he was looking at the forums every day and paying attention to the Black Star Cup. As the competition carried on, the only ones left were the elites of elites. The players had made a name for themselves among the NPCs, so they felt a strong sense of achievement and became very passionate about the event. The popularity of Black Star Cup remained high and comparable to the official Pro League.

Him not being present did not impact the Black Star Cup at all, only causing disappointment to some people who wanted to produce his Character Summon Card when facing crucial matches.

"Teacher, the closing ceremony of the Black Star Cup needs you to make a speech, don't forget. Will you make it back in time?"

"Hmm, definitely." Han Xiao then changed the topic and asked, "Has anything major happened in the army recently? How's the situation in the Flickering World?"

"There are more and more people entering the new Star Field, the explored area of the free competition zone has already extended to the center of the various Star Clusters, and the territory of the Super Star Cluster Alliance has been increasing. Other than that, there are no other changes. Deputy Army Commander Hila is also slowly exploring with the fleet… By the way, she took leave some time ago, saying she had to go to the secondary dimensions, and told me to inform you."

"Got it." Han Xiao nodded. Ever since Hila inherited the Underworld dimension, she had been going there every few days.

Now that a few months had passed, the Underworld dimension had probably stabilized. He wondered if Hila was sucked dry.

As Hila was brought up, Han Xiao was reminded of another matter.

"How's the Holy Light Emissary plan going?"

"Very smoothly. Other than recruiting ordinary people, we've also recruited many people to cultivate the Holy Light Seeds and let Aurora harvest them after the seeds mature. These people have already signed contracts before starting work, so there won't be any problems."

"Very good, increase the number of cultivators as much as possible," Han Xiao said. He was hoping Aurora could grow fast by harvesting leeks, so of course, the bigger the leek field, the better.

Then, he paused and said, "I've made a huge contribution this time. The three Universal Civilizations have decided to work with me and provide heavy support in multiple major Star Fields…"

Han Xiao explained the details of the support the three Universal Civilizations were about to provide, and Sylvia soon turned moody.

"So, my workload has increased again?"

"Tsk, buddy, your resolve isn't strong enough." Han Xiao criticized her with a serious tone. "You need to have a more positive mindset. Having a wider work scope and heavier workload means you now have more power in your hands, right?"

As if I'd believe you! Sylvia chuckled with absolutely zero emotion.

Hearing her laughter, Han Xiao nodded with satisfaction. Just look at how happy she is, her face is basically covered with joy.

He then glanced at Sylvia's hairline and was relieved.

After his many years of experience, the hairline of his subordinates was equivalent to their durability. It looked like this student of his could still last quite a long time.

The two of them chattered for a while, and Sylvia suddenly thought of something.

"By the way, yesterday, there was a political talk show that wanted to invite you as their guest to discuss this Intelligent Plague incident. Do you want to go?"

"What show?"

"That 'Ruden's Show' that's quite popular."

"No, no." Han Xiao waved his hand.

With the three Universal Civilizations helping him to promote himself, he did not have to do it personally. Keeping a certain amount of mystery and distance would be more beneficial for his reputation.

"Alright, I'll refuse him then."

Han Xiao gave Sylvia a few words before hanging up.

The Intelligent Plague was a sudden incident. Without it, the three Universal Civilizations would definitely be preparing to deal with the Super Star Cluster Alliance. Now, this had been postponed. The Intelligent Plague had given the Super Star Cluster Alliance time to catch their breath.

After the three Universal Civilizations were done with the Intelligent Plague completely, they would then start fighting with the Super Star Cluster Alliance like they did in his previous life. This time, the Super Star Cluster Alliance was more prepared, so the fight would definitely be more intense. The results of that would decide the path the universe took.

As a semi-independent force, his fight with the Mechanic Emperor in the development union would definitely be dragged into this storm too. He had to prepare early.

Hu!

While he was thinking about this matter, the sound of the air moving abnormally suddenly appeared beside him.

Han Xiao looked up and saw clusters of black flames appearing out of nowhere, forming a man wearing a black coat whose face could not be seen clearly, which suddenly appeared before him. It was indeed the Holy Accord's Oathkeeper's spiritual projection.

Han Xiao looked around and saw that all the crew in the bridge command room including Harrison did not react to Oathkeeper at all, as if they could not see him.

"We meet again, Black Star," Oathkeeper said. His voice sounded right in Han Xiao's mind. They had formed a mind link.

"You're on time, coming here right after I've left the Ancient Star Desert." Han Xiao caressed his chin and asked through the mind link, "Speaking of which, why can you use your spiritual projection on me directly? Do you know my whereabouts?"

"This is the specialty of my Esper Ability," Oathkeeper said slowly. "There are no two exactly the same souls in the world, especially strong individuals. Souls are very easy to identify. As long as I record the characteristics of your soul, I can trace the target in a higher dimension and use spiritual projection on you right away. Of course, it's only limited to that. I can't figure out where the target is in the real world."

Han Xiao was not surprised.

The Beyond Grade A leader of a mysterious organization that had stayed hidden for so many years definitely had some tricks up his sleeves.

"You contacted me to continue our trade previously, right? Trading a part of two Primal Esper Abilities and two Universal Treasure blueprints for a part of the Holy Light Particle."

"That's right," Oathkeeper replied with a deep voice.

Due to the Intelligent Plague, the deal was postponed for a few months, which he was actually happy about. He had used these few months to focus on finding the spy in the Holy Accord.

Sadly, the act of looking for a spy made everyone in the organization uneasy and worried, but he did not even find the slightest trace of a spy.

It was either that the spy hid too well, or Black Star's information did not come from a spy.

Day by day, Oathkeeper became more suspicious about whether a spy really existed. Hence, he temporarily stopped the investigation.

"Then let's decide on another date…" Han Xiao suddenly thought of something and asked casually, "By the way, you guys have a long history, so you should know about a lot of secret information, right?"

"Depends."

"Then… have you guys heard about the Sanctum?"

"…" Oathkeeper was totally unprepared and was startled by this question. His mind was filled with shock.

This is a test, right? This must be a test!

Didn't you say you don't know our purpose the last time‽

Liar!

His initially shaken resolve became extremely firm once again.

There's definitely a spy!

Find him! Find him no matter what!