The Legendary Mechanic

Within Mount Gold, a large base was embedded in the mountain, with the sky around it hovering with battleships and a team of mechanical guards, tightly guarding the area.

This was the main base of the Apocalypse Foundation, the largest guild alliance belonging to the Limitless Financial Group. Sixty to seventy percent of the mountain itself had been transformed into mechanical defense facilities, and relying on this main base, they had also cleaned up the surrounding small areas to continuously expand.

In the middle of the third day of battle, the Mount Gold stronghold sent three ace troops to conquer the Hex Armed Forces of the Wind Hunting Valley. This was another large guild alliance that occupied the area. The two of them had been fighting for regional supremacy.

The Hex Armed Forces had long detected that their enemies would attack and thus pulled out their troops. Both sides fought fiercely outside Wind Hunting Valley, neither side willing to extricate themselves.

Just as the fierce battle between the two were raging, another guild alliance called the Reverse Crusade launched a raid on the Mount Gold stronghold.

They had planned this for a long time and stationed their troops to hide and ambush the area a day and a half in advance. They had even erected a secret resurrection point in the area. Using the opportunity when the main forces of both sides were in battle, they attacked the relatively empty base camp of the Apocalypse Foundation, intending to steal the other's base.

The Apocalypse Foundation was at the disadvantage of fighting on two fronts. They actually intended to withdraw the troops attempting to conquer Wind Hunting Valley. However, the Hex Armed Forces seemed to have anticipated the emergence of the Reverse Crusade and entangled the main force of the Apocalypse Foundation, not allowing it to separate from them.

At this moment, the stronghold at Mount Gold had turned into another fierce battlefield. A large number of artillery battleship and combat machinery were fighting in the air, fireworks constantly dotting the sky, and the ground was full of players fighting in the hills and plains.

The Apocalypse Foundation had basically dispatched all their trump cards at this point and did not have many of their elites to guard their base. Most of the members in the base were their periphery members, and faced with the attack of the elites in the Reverse Crusade, they could only steadily retreat from the base.

A flood of unfavorable battle reports was sent back to the main command room of the stronghold, causing the leader of the Apocalypse Foundation, Sisyphus, to feel beleaguered.

"No wonder the Hex Armed Forces suddenly provoked us. It was all to lure us into falling into their trap! They're indeed devils!"

Sisyphus hurriedly contacted his Vice President, who had led the team to attack the Hex Armed Forces, through the guild channel.

"Quickly come back to reinforce us. This old man here can't hold them back for long!"

"Boss, we can't withdraw at all. The Hex Armed Forces are chasing us too closely. Unless we all die, there's no way for us to return. The average number of deaths in our main force has reached 5.14. If we go up by one more point, we'll be even more passive. Right now, even if we manage to go back, our ships and weapons will also be captured by the enemy!"

"We're already at this stage. If we lose a bit, it can't be helped. It's more important to protect our base!"

"We can't! The enemy has already made preparations in advance. If we all try to return via dying, then they'll definitely push the momentum to attack our home base, joining hands with the Reverse Crusade!"

Hearing this, Sisyphus frantically scratched his head.

As they had been caught off guard, the situation now was two against one, and the Apocalypse Foundation alone could not handle it. He could only ask for help from the other guild alliances that were on the Limitless Financial Group's front.

"I hope that our reinforcements can arrive in time. This time, I really suffered a huge loss…"

With a heavy heart, he refocused his eyes back to the real-time battlefield projection, but he froze on the spot.

"W-what is this situation?"

Turning to look at his members and commanders, he found that everyone had the same expression of shock, as though they had come across a ghost.

In the monitoring screen showing the frontal battlefield outside the Mount Gold stronghold, one of the squads of the Reverse Crusade had broken through the defense line and slammed into their troops.

"Instagib them!"

The death squad prepared all their abilities, ready to collectively blast the whole lot of them.

At this moment, all their movement stopped, as the light on their bodies disappeared due to being interrupted.

Not only did it apply to the death squad, but all the Reverse Crusade players had the same reaction, as though the freeze button was pressed simultaneously for them. All their actions were halted, causing the troops to be instantly disconnected and the lineup torn.

On the interface of these players, the same notification appeared.

_____________________

Sorokin (Manifestation) has used [Mind Shock] on you!

Judgment is in progress… Judgement successful. You cannot control your body for the time being.

Your skills are forcibly interrupted, and you have been afflicted with the [Stiffness] status.

_____________________

In that instant, the situation went through a plot twist. The Reverse Crusade, which was originally beginning to see the light of victory, suddenly plummeted into the abyss, their psychological states suffering a great shock.

At this moment, there were only curses echoing in their heads.

You even called out a Beyond Grade A‽

This is cheating!

Are the guilds of the Limitless Financial Group such sore losers‽

The short [Stiffness] status condition turned the tides in an instant. The Apocalypse Foundation players did not stop, setting off a burst of explosions to take out a large portion of the players from the Reverse Crusade, reclaiming their battlefront.

The Apocalypse Foundation players were also in shock, not because of the sudden stop of the Reverse Crusade players, but rather because of a notification that they received on their interfaces.

_____________________

Sorokin (Manifestation) has used [Spiritual Inspiration] on you!

You have entered the [Inspired] state. +10% all Attributes.

Sorokin (Manifestation) has used [Combat Excitement] on you!

+18% to Damage, +12% to Defense

_____________________

"What's happening‽"

"Where did the bonuses come from? Did someone use a Character Summon Card?"

"That's not right. Even if the Character Summon Card is used, the name of the user won't be changed!"

The troops at the frontline could not understand it, but this was not the time to think. They hurriedly struck to kill the enemy instead.

Before long, most of the troops from Reverse Crusade had died. Everyone thought that this was a desperate situation but did not expect to solve the threat in such a manner.

Sisyphus had yet to recover his wits. At this time, a call came from his Vice President, his tone one of surprise.

"President! We beat the Hex Armed Forces! I don't know why, but their movements suddenly halted!"

"It can't be, right‽" Sisyphus hurriedly asked the various commanders, only then figuring out what had happened. He was bewildered.

What situation is this? Did Sorokin arrive? But we didn't call him! Why did he come to join in the fun?

Could it be that he saw us in danger and took the initiative to help?

Sisyphus' eyes widened. There was nothing on his face that represented the joy of making a successful counterattack.

In normal times, they might have been touched, but right now…

What business is it of yours? Your excessive worrying will be the death of us all!

…

The next day…

"Look at the iron hooves,

"Trampling across the myriad mountains and rivers,

"I'm standing on the edge of the wind,

"Holding tightly the rotation of the sun and moon."

Han Xiao hummed while walking out the bathroom.

With only a towel wrapped around his waist, his toned, sturdy upper body was exposed, with the magic circuit on his chest akin to a glowing dark blue tattoo, flickering with each breath.

A pinnacle Beyond Grade A could basically forego rest, but Han Xiao had always attached importance to a combination of work and rest. In the past few days, he had created seven to eight sets of King mechanical suits, so he decided that he would not be doing any assembly today.

Without adjusting his body temperature to evaporate the water, he simply wiped his body dry before kicking back to swipe the forums.

The moment he entered the forum section, his expression turned weird.

"Apocalypse Foundation violated the rules, inviting Beyond Grade A helpers? Aren't they part of the Limitless Financial Group's guild alliances?"

Han Xiao entered the post and saw that the replies had gone into the tens of millions.

The content of the post was basically the Hex Armed Forces and the Reverse Crusade condemning the Apocalypse Foundation. After a day of fermenting, this incident had resulted in a storm within the player community. Countless players were filled with indignation and accused the Apocalypse Foundation of violating their rules.

"It's too much. We were actually going to win. I didn't expect that the Apocalypse Foundation would be such sore losers, hiring a faction leader and using this method to make a comeback. This is simply cheating!"

"There's a whole stack of videos and screenshots as evidence. Let's see how you explain this!"

"That's right! Yesterday, someone even tried to clean up the mess, saying that this was the effect of a Character Summon Card. My @ss! Since when was the Character Summon Card able to change the name of the person utilizing it?"

"Such acts that undermine fairness must be severely punished. I propose we cancel the qualification of the Apocalypse Foundation in participating in the war. Since you can't afford to lose, don't play!"

The forum was basically full of posts of annoyance. Han Xiao swept through it, seeing the announcement made by the Apocalypse Foundation as well.

"I'm the President of the Apocalypse Foundation Guild Alliance. Things are not what they seem. We did not ask Sorokin for help; he did it himself. This has nothing to do with us. Think about it, guys. We're clearly aware of the consequences of breaking the rules, so why would we purposely go against them!"

Sisyphus' post, in the face of the enraged group of players, was like a drop of water in a bucket. Not only was it not convincing, he was even ridiculed in return.

"Hehe, continue crafting this story."

"So, as it turns out, you can invite the Beyond Grade A to help first, then apologize later and absolve yourself of all blame. I've learned something today."

"What, do you think only your side has a Beyond Grade A? Who are you looking down on!"

"You wanna play this game? Men, someone go invite Ancestor Black Star over!"

Many of the players did not accept this statement, but the players on the side of the Limitless Financial Group sort of believed this to some extent. Suddenly, there was a mix of responses.

"It can't be, right? Sorokin, that old dog, was actually so nosy?"

"This is akin to a time bomb! When it comes to us, then wouldn't our qualifications to participate be cancelled too?"

"I'll meekly ask now. Is it still possible to change factions…"

"Level 180 Psychic, my core class skills are all lv.7 and above. Begging for a guild to accept me!"

Sorokin's actions completely scared off all the players from the Limitless Financial Group. In order to continue participating in the war, the players even wished to switch camps. They did not dare stay any longer in this organization that could backfire on them at any time.

After reading the post, Han Xiao finally figured out what was going on.

"The guilds shouldn't be lying, so this was likely done of Sorokin's own initiative. As for his goal… well, he has always been keen on recruiting players, so he probably summarized some rules from watching me and thought of how to increase the attractiveness of his faction."

After realizing the whole picture, Han Xiao guessed Sorokin's logic before bursting into laughter.

"So, it's like this… The idiot actually thought that his actions were completely concealed, just using some auxiliary mental abilities to make others think that this was an explosive ability of the Limitless Financial Group players or that they utilized some special spiritual weapon. Normally, they would not be able to link it to him… but the combat information has already betrayed you, you little cheater."

Han Xiao laughed.

Little Soro, ah, Little Soro, you shot yourself in the foot. When you use the wrong method, instead of lifting the prestige of your faction, you will cause a countereffect, giving you a bad reputation among the players.

The worst part about this was, the poor bloke could not even access the forums, so he was still in the dark, unaware that he had been scolded thoroughly by the players.

This is the advantage of information…

Sorokin's manipulation would no doubt result in some of the players of the Limitless Financial Group leaving. At that time, when the players were cold and lonely, he would use his warm chest to hug them, welcoming them into his faction.

Little So, it's not me who's snatching your leeks this time. You handed them to me yourself…

Han Xiao chuckled.

This feeling of earning something while sitting at home was pretty comfortable.

…

Since his intervention yesterday, Sorokin had been paying attention to the subsequent development, but he could not help but feel puzzled when he did not see the situation he expected.

Based on his reasoning, the Apocalypse Foundation had launched a successful counterattack with his help. The other Immortals would now be amazed by the strength of the Limitless Financial Group, so why did they not show any response?

It was not until the next day that he saw the Apocalypse Foundation reacting. It was not the pursuit of their victory as he expected but them abandoning their base and leaving the planet on a battleship.

"Strange, what's this reaction?"

In his office, Sorokin gazed at the live broadcast of the news media covering the front lines, and he frowned.

Just as he was feeling puzzled, Sorokin received a pop-up from his own artificial intelligence. One glance caused his heart to skip a beat.

He saw that the pop-up report was full of resignation notices from the Immortals, and this number was rapidly increasing.

"What's happening? Why are they resigning from the Limitless Financial group‽"

Sorokin had a stunned expression, and as if he had thought of something, he quickly turned back to the live broadcast.

He saw batches of Immortals belonging to the Limitless Financial Group flying out of the stronghold, scattering. Some went to the neutral factions, while others ran to the three mainstream factions, including the Black Star Army. There was no restriction on the operation of players to switch factions on the spot, so one could be beating someone up one day and turn into teammates the next day. This was all allowed in the rules.

The Limitless Financial Group, being a galactic consortium, did not pursue faction cohesion in the first place. Those who joined did so because of the high welfare provided, so there was no reluctance for them to switch factions. Now that the first World Server War was destined to be recorded in the Galaxy Chronicles, if they missed this opportunity, there would not be any reward left for them. In order to not be disqualified, the Limitless Financial Group did not hesitate to betray their faction.

"This…"

Seeing this, Sorokin was a little dizzy.

My methods were obviously the same as those of Black Star, so why did I get the opposite effect?

That's not right. That's not how the script was written!