The Legendary Mechanic

Inside a small private guest room, a few officers at the top level sat on the sofa and complained.

"Sigh, the commanders of the expeditionary army got killed, but Black Star stopped attacking. He clearly wants to devour our armies again and again. The Three Kings are not giving up on the Flickering World no matter what, but what's the point of sending in more forces? This is pure suicide if no Beyond Grade As are sent. Black Star has already proved that he has the ability to kill the commanders any time he wants."

The news of the expeditionary army's commanders being killed had reached Modo. The Modo Three Kings summoned the upper echelons and hosted a meeting. Other than showing their rage, they quickly promoted new commanders from the expeditionary army and ordered the military to send more aid.

At that time, the many officials did not display any objections on the surface, but many of them developed a stronger sense of objection inside. Hence, after the meeting ended, a few officials who were unhappy met privately.

In the room, Marco had the highest position. He was the third in command of a mainstream political faction in Modo, so his words carried the most weight. He slowly said, "We can't carry on like this. Modo has almost no chance in the Flickering World with Black Star standing in the way. Giving up as soon as possible is the rational choice. The longer this drags on, the more pressure Modo will face, collapsing in the end."

Someone sighed and said, "Exactly. Things are not stable inside the nation these days too… Many unofficial organizations of the three Universal Civilizations have started so-called 'peaceful movements' on various colonial planets. They're using armed demonstrations, organized strikes, and so on to trigger the anti-war emotions of the society, forcing us to exit the war. Many industries have been severely affected. Some with ulterior motives are even spreading ideas of splitting the race up, bashing the policies, and promoting hatred, which actually turned around the way of living peacefully with other races we have been teaching for all these years and successfully worsened racism. Rebellious armies will certainly appear one day. Plus, important people are being assassinated by mysterious forces everywhere."

Marco shook his head. "Modo has made tremendous investments in the Flickering World for decades. It's understandable that the Three Kings are not willing to give up easily. However, the situation has now changed. Adjusting our strategy is the top priority. Since we can't deal with Black Star, continuing to spend resources in the Flickering World will just be a meaningless waste. It's time to make the decision to minimize losses."

"That's right. The Three Kings are just thinking about holding on till the Super Star Cluster Alliance succeeds, and at that time, we can benefit from it too. But the chances of us being able to hold on till the day the Super Star Cluster Alliance gets the upper hand… are too thin. Black Star won't watch that happen too. He might be stalling with us now, but if we don't keep sending in troops to keep him full, he'll certainly launch an all-out attack and chase us out," another person said.

Marco took a sip of the dark ember colored wine and softly said, "Actually, since the beginning, I've never felt the Super Star Cluster Alliance will be able to invade the Flickering World successfully. There's an eighty percent chance they'll fail. This is just a desperate collective attempt by the other Super Star Cluster civilizations. Since that's the case, getting out earlier, being free from the pressure from the three Universal Civilizations and the Black Star Army, and beginning our recovery earlier is a wiser choice for Modo instead."

"That's right."

The others in the room agreed completely.

Marco narrowed his eyes. "The more losses Modo suffers, the more people will object. Maybe it's time for us to prepare for the impeachment operation…"

Hearing this, the others were shocked. They were just complaining; they did not expect Marco to have plans for actually taking action.

However, thinking about it, they felt this might not be a bad idea.

Modo was a government formed by three civilizations, and each of the Three Kings represented one race. However, political stands and philosophies crossed the boundaries of races, so the political environment of the Modo Civilization was very complicated.

Due to the unique political structure, Modo, of course, had to make sure it was balanced. The Three Kings could not do whatever they wanted; there were also structures similar to congress that restrained their power. If the path they chose during their term did not fit the interests of the majority or one of them was involved in a scandal, their term could be ended by impeachment.

However, this kind of situation rarely happened. As long as the Three Kings did not do things that were hated by almost everyone during their terms, they would peacefully retire.

"If the Three Kings insist on their choice, Modo will be gradually sucked dry. The future is dark. If they are really going to be stubborn, impeachment will be the only choice left," Marco said.

The people exchanged looks. Some were firm, and some were hesitant. They all lowered their voices and softly discussed how exactly they could execute the plan.

At this moment, the objectors of the war started to plan on how to backstab the Three Kings. The root of it was that Black Star's strength made some of the Modo upper echelons hopeless; they did not see how they could turn things around.

…

Inside the Modo Civilization's territory, a silver stealth-type high warp speed spaceship hovered in a cluster of nebulas, slowly moving. There was no symbol on its exterior armor.

Inside the cabin, Lothaire and a few other officers of the Assassin's Society sat around a virtual screen, browsing the information on it. Rows of portraits were displayed on the screen, all influential people from various industries of the Modo Civilization. Some already had a red cross above their head, meaning the assassination was complete.

"Internally, Modo is a mess. The leaders of some industries being assassinated caused the local management system of some colonial planets to almost collapse. Our work is very effective," an officer said coldly.

"Hmm."

Lothaire was staring at the screen, seemingly looking for their next prey.

The Assassin's Society had been doing work for many months in Modo. They had already caused quite a lot of chaos. While being chased, wanted, and hunted by the officials, they were still continuing their work and hiding at the same time.

"Our actions over the past few days have been too aggressive. We've lost some men too. It's time to lie low for a while," an officer suggested.

Lothaire nodded. He then shook his head and said, "We'll hide temporarily, then do a big one."

Then, he extended his finger and pointed at one of the portraits on the screen.

The officers present followed his finger. Their expressions all turned stiff as horror and disbelief appeared in their eyes.

The target Lothaire had chosen was one of the Modo Three Kings!

"You want to assassinate the highest leader of a Super Star Cluster civilization?" An officer opened his eyes wide. "Are you insane‽"

"They have three leaders. Losing one is nothing." Lothaire's tone was calm. "I'll do it myself."

"Do you know the nature of this action? If you succeed, the Modo Civilization will become our eternal enemy. Furthermore, there's absolutely no chance of succeeding. The Modo Three Kings are heavily guarded. There's no chance of getting close at all. Plus, there's no way of assassinating them if they don't leave their mother planet," someone said with a hasty tone.

For once in a blue moon, Lothaire actually explained himself. "Firstly, we're Modo's eternal enemies to begin with. Secondly, the Modo Three Kings have many guards, but no Beyond Grade A guards are present on the surface, Calamity Grades at most, which isn't beyond my abilities. Thirdly, the Modo mother planet doesn't have the Psionic Seal Ring like the three Universal Civilizations' mother planets have, so infiltration is totally possible."

At a glance, assassinating one of the Modo Three Kings was an impossible mission. However, after doing some analysis, he realized that it was not completely impossible. After all, although the Three Kings were leaders, they were not individuals with great strength. Furthermore, he had [Deity Assassinator] in his hands. Even if the Three Kings had magical defense runes, this weapon would be able to penetrate them. The main problem was, whether the assassination was successful or not, getting away afterward would be extremely difficult.

The others were in dismay like this was the first time they had met Lothaire. Even though they were all assassins who had killed many important people, this was still an extremely daring plan in their eyes.

"Easy to say, but executing it is complete suicide!"

"Everything is possible. Sometimes, all you need is a little bit of luck." Lothaire narrowed his eyes. The people there did not know what he was thinking, nor did he plan to explain further.

Due to Rossellin and the three Universal Civilizations' operations, the internal racial issues and racist philosophies were gradually becoming more severe. If he could assassinate one of the Three Kings at this time and find a way to blame it on the extremists of the other two races, it might further stimulate the conflict and make these philosophies explode. The results were not difficult to imagine.

Sure, the method was a little bit dirty, but as an assassin, Lothaire did not care if the method was ethical or not. He was only concerned if it was effective and could achieve his goal. It could be said that he would do anything necessary to achieve his goals.

He had been operating in the outside world for decades; he was no longer just a pure assassin. He had gradually learned to analyze the big picture. Although Black Star did not specifically instruct him on what to do, Lothaire was very clear of Black Star's goal. He was more than happy to use swifter methods to deal greater damage to Modo that was more powerful than just an assassination.

Of course, assassinating Modo's highest leader and pinning it on racism was just an idea. It was extremely difficult and impossible to complete with just the Assassin's Society.

However, the three Universal Civilizations' forces in Modo's territory were a natural help. Lothaire planned to create a fuse so that they could operate around it, just like how the philosophy tide they created gave him the idea of assassinating one of the Modo Three Kings.

…

Boom!

A red silhouette fell onto a desolate planet like a meteor, crashing a crater on the planet surface.

Blood flowed out from the tip of Hila's lips. Her body was embedded into the ground. As she pulled herself out, Han Xiao suddenly appeared right above him, and a powerful kick swept onto her abdomen.

Boom!

The little bit of death energy she had just gathered got scattered by one kick. A shockwave erupted with a loud explosion noise.

Having been heavily hit in the abdomen, Hila's body bent like a shrimp as she shot out like a rocket for dozens of miles, leaving a long fissure behind.

"Are we going to continue? I've already been beating you for eleven hours. If I remember correctly, you've already been close to death three times and fainted five times."

Han Xiao stood with his arms crossed and sighed.

"Humph, are you going to praise me for being energetic? Never mind, let's call it a day. But don't forget, this is just the third time." Hila wiped away the blood on her lips, rubbed her stomach, and stood up.

Hearing this, Han Xiao's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

He was now fulfilling the agreement he made back then to spar with Hila thirty times. Now there were twenty-seven times left. As Han Xiao thought of this number, he could almost feel his waist hurting.

This was a certain location near Black Star Palace. He had returned from the free competition zone long ago.

Modo did not send any Beyond Grade As for what he did, so they most likely would not in the future either. Furthermore, Han Xiao had already left enough mechanical troops and Lord's Avatars there, so he did not continue to stay in the frontlines and directly returned to the headquarters using the King suit.

Han Xiao originally wanted to stay indoors and focus on studying the Felon and the Indestructible Mechanical Troops technology, but Hila was insatiable and had to spar with him.

Due to their agreement, he could not reject her and had no choice but to hit Hila every day for a few days. Although Hila was a tough sandbag, using her so often was excessive even for Han Xiao.

With the Exclusive Talent [Virtual Technology Innovation—Manison], the progress of studying the Felon and the Indestructible Mechanical Troops was going quite smoothly. However, there were still a number of key factors he had to overcome till completely mastering them, which required time. Hence, Han Xiao did not use Awakening Points to quicken the progress. He would be able to derive the blueprint with the bonuses from his abilities and talents.

This time, Hila flew over from afar and asked, "How do you think I'm progressing?"

"Not bad," Han Xiao said casually.

"Tsk, such a perfunctory response. You're so patient when accompanying Ames but so whatever to me. Do you not want to accompany me that much?" Hila raised her brows.

"What do you think?" Han Xiao gazed at her. You masochist, don't you understand that forcing me to beat you up every day is tiring for me too‽

Due to her passion for battle, Hila became stronger rather quickly, and with the Underworld, her growth potential was even higher.

When Aurora reached Beyond Grade A, the Underworld would be able to revive the Hero Spirits. Only then would Hila reach her peak strength.

Han Xiao had also found out from Onicelu that if Aurora's Vital Energy Esper Ability reached Beyond Grade A, its qualities would change. She would be able to create living bodies with no soul that could be used for the Hero Spirits to live in.

It just so happened that this ability could work with the Soul Swapper. Han Xiao had told Feidin this and promised him that he would ask Aurora to build a body for Chen Xing.

Hila snorted softly, changed the topic, and said, "There are twenty-seven more spars. I want one the day after tomorrow. Remember to make time."

"Aren't you too hard to satisfy? Can the interval be longer?" Han Xiao was speechless.

"No! I finally snatched you back from my teacher. I want you to accompany me as much as possible."

A tint of happiness flashed across Hila's eyes. She then went into the spaceship and headed back herself.

Han Xiao sighed and shook his head. He was more certain that Hila was a complete masochist.

The purpose of sparring is to test one's strength, but she clearly knows how big the difference in our strength is. Still, she keeps wanting to fight me. Isn't this simply asking to be beaten up‽

Sigh, Hadavy is much better. They're both looking to be beaten up, but this guy is much more understanding, still smiling after getting beat up, unlike Hila, who always has that cold expression like I owe her money…

Speaking of which, it's been some time since I've heard Hadavy's flattery. I actually miss it.

Han Xiao was in no hurry of going back. He made the mechanical army retrieve some of the shattered mechanical soldiers. While the battlefield was being cleaned up, he opened the forums. He was about to look at the players' jokes and relax.

However, as soon as he opened the Flickering World panel, his eyes were drawn to a pinned post.

World Server War Invitation Letter!