The Legendary Mechanic

"What is the meaning of this‽" Manison looked straight at Kasuyi, his tone unfriendly.

Kasuyi sighed, not avoiding his gaze as he softly said, "I meant it literally. I feel that Black Star is right. As the President of the Association, you are a role model. You should really give up on the Felon technology. While this may be a long time ago, before the association was created, we are now advocating unity in our realm, so the transformation of a living body is going too far and will make everyone uncomfortable."

Manison narrowed his eyes.

This seemed like a premeditated action. If Black Star and Kasuyi had hooked up in private, they would deliberately attack him today to demonstrate the strength of the opposing faction while attacking his prestige, further isolating him.

Of course, there was another possibility. Kasuyi might purely have problems with the Felon technology. Manison had known this old friend for many years. He knew that he did not like to offend anyone, so there should be reasons for him to say this face to face.

Moreover, Old Ka was not someone easily bought over. Manison did not believe that it would only take Black Star a few months to forge such a deep relationship with him.

Or it could also be possible that Black Star has something on Kasuyi… Ok, I'll ask him after this meeting.

Manison rearranged his mentality, looking away into the audience as he expressionlessly spoke.

"How I deal with my spoils is my own freedom. If everyone continues to discuss this topic, there will be no results obtained. Don't waste time, so let's have a serious meeting."

The Felons were his trump card. Everyone understood that it was impossible for him to compromise by threatening him.

But this move was undoubtedly part of Black Star's plan as he knew that Manison would not give up his Felon technology, and he wished to force him to make a stand. In this way, it could at least aggravate the dissatisfaction of most members against him, reducing his prestige as President.

Black Star's Spacetime Amber could only be regarded as placing people in prison, and it was also a safe method. However, the Felon technology was obtained by conducting human experiments on prisoners, which was much worse.

Even if Manison continued to argue his way out, the situation would just be more unfavorable toward himself. Thus, he directly put on a tough attitude, putting an end to the topic.

He put on this uncompromising attitude, and while it was not out of everyone's expectations, everyone was a little unhappy about it, like the fox that mourned for the dead rabbit.

Seeing this, Han Xiao decided not to press this topic.

Everyone had already stated their stance, so forcing his way through would not achieve any results but would only disrupt the meeting. Right now, his goal had been achieved, which was to lower the prestige of Old Man Manison. Furthermore, he managed to dig a trap for the latter. Manison was still unaware about the Sanctums, so Han Xiao was basically targeting the information gap.

Han Xiao turned to look at Kasuyi, flashing a tacit smile.

Kasuyi helplessly shook his head.

Him stabbing Manison this time was not just to help Black Star consolidate his position but also him thinking for the future. After discovering the Sanctums, his mentality and view of the Association had changed.

After thinking about it, Jayz had mentioned that the Sanctums could only revive someone who was dead, as each Beyond Grade A existence was unique. Thus, was a person transformed into a Felon dead or alive?

Most likely, they were still considered alive. In that case, if a Beyond Grade A was transformed into a Felon, as long as they were not liberated, would they never be able to be resurrected by the Sanctums‽

And here was an even more frightening thought… Was there anyone who would utilize the abilities of the Sanctum to set a trap, capturing newly revived Beyond Grade As to turn them into Felons‽

Kasuyi shuddered.

In the past, he could reluctantly accept this technology, but the concept of resurrection through the Sanctums subverted his viewpoint in life. If there were no expectations, he would not care, but now knowing that his own life could be continuously prolonged, he found it difficult to tolerate the continued existence of such a threat.

This was just considering from his own point of view. From an overall point, in the long run, the Felon technology would not be conducive to the Association's control and maintenance of the Sanctum's ability to resurrect or to the members' unity. Kasuyi was already able to guess several bad circumstances that could happen in the future. Now it seemed that Manison's path was absolutely unworkable.

It was foreseeable that, once Black Star managed to develop the ability to resurrect people from the Sanctums, the Mechanic Emperor, who had mastered the Felon technology would inevitably become the target of public criticism. Who would wish to resurrect a Beyond Grade A that knew the Felon technology? By that time, maybe even death would become a luxury for him. If most of the Beyond Grade As went to the extreme, they might work together to send him into the Spacetime Amber to prevent Manison from being resurrected by the three Universal Civilizations to squeeze out his Felon technology.

Kasuyi still had some measure of friendship toward Manison; he did not wish to see him fall into such a desperate state. It could be said that this was for the good of Manison. It was just that only he was aware of the severity. Before Black Star finished his research, the information on the Sanctums could not be disclosed to anyone.

As for whether Manison would listen or not, that was his problem. Anyways, Kasuyi felt that he had already shown his brotherhood.

Without Han Xiao fanning the flames, the meeting continued normally, but everyone present was absent-minded, their eyes constantly switching between Han Xiao and Kasuyi with different thoughts on what Han Xiao had actually offered to Kasuyi.

Sorokin was also quietly looking at the duo, feeling envious and jealous.

Kasuyi has also been roped in. Black Star's influence in the Association is getting larger…

He had always remembered the threat of Black Star having seen through his identity. To have his weakness in the hands of others, while he had always wanted to silence him, he feared the repercussions of his actions. Sorokin was reluctant to leave this shell of his.

According to Sorokin's calculations, the best solution was naturally to use other Beyond Grade As to kill off Black Star while he stayed out of the matter. However, with Black Star's social circle expanding, he had more friends than enemies, which meant there were fewer candidates for Sorokin to utilize.

There were only so many pinnacle-level Beyond Grade As in the universe. Every friend that Black Star made meant one less potential helper.

"Could it be that I'll have to be eaten to death by him like this? If I can discover other variables…"

Sorokin's eyes flashed with darkness.

…

A few hours passed. The regular meeting ended smoothly, and everyone left with their own thoughts.

Kasuyi disconnected the projection link. At this time, his communicator rang, and not surprisingly, it was Manison calling.

He could only sigh, picking up the call and calmly speaking.

"What have you called for?"

"Kasuyi, what's happening between you and Black Star? Does he have a bargaining chip in his hands?" Manison cut to the chase, asking about the meeting incident.

"…Nothing happened."

Manison frowned before continuing. "You went missing for a few months. Was it because you went with Black Star? What did you encounter?"

"What has it got to do with you?" Kasuyi indifferently replied.

Hearing this, Manison's expression changed.

He was admitting to it, but from his tone, it was obvious that he was not willing to reveal any intelligence related to Black Star.

It seemed like he had guessed wrongly. Kasuyi was really supporting Black Star, and their relationship had improved by leaps and bounds in the past few months, to the point he was willing to offend Manison for the sake of Black Star.

Manison felt the indifference and estrangement Kasuyi was exuding, and it made him uncomfortable.

This sort of feeling was like having a close companion being pried away by an opponent. The heartache of betrayal. He felt that his social circle was being invaded by Black Star. Everything that once belonged to him was gradually disappearing.

At this moment, Kasuyi said, "Is there anything else? If there's nothing, I'll end the call. I'm pretty busy right now."

Even if this was a private conversion, he was reluctant to engage in any conversation that could cause any leaks. He could only try to chase Manison away.

"Understood."

Manison was silent for a few seconds, suppressing his disappointment before actively disconnecting.

Kasuyi put down the communicator, his expression complex and a little sad.

During the Intelligent Plague, Manison had tried to go for wool but ended up shorn, landing himself in trouble. This caused Kasuyi to change the candidate choice from Manison to Black Star, which allowed such an opportunity to fall into Black Star's hands.

In Kasuyi's eyes, Manison had chosen short-term gains over the bigger long-term gains. If he had not proceeded so rashly, Kasuyi felt that he would still have called upon Manison to team up. In this case, Manison would also have had a copy of the intelligence in his hands, and he would not be in the dark.

A pity, there were no 'if's in reality.

"It's all fate. If I had teamed up with you, then you would be the one with the intelligence advantage now…"

Kasuyi shook his head, feeling sorry for Manison.

…

The undercurrent of the Beyond Grade A Association did not affect the activities of the players. A few days later, the fourth Pro League finals unfolded.

Ratings on the forums broke through all records. If Rivervale carried all the hopes of the Chinese players, then Thunderbolt Python carried the hope of all foreign clubs. Only they could prevent China from establishing a record three version winning reign.

Under the attention of the public, both sides were evenly matched in the first match. While Rivervale was stable, they were hit by the secret tactics that Thunderbolt Python had been hiding up till now. They suffered a loss, losing the first round to Thunderbolt Python, which raised the blood pressure of the Chinese players.

However, in the second and third rounds, Rivervale withstood the pressure and played steadily under the leadership of Frenzied Sword. While there were few exaggerated maneuvers, the team relied on the endurance advantage of the Mechanic class to eke out a small advantage and win both games to take the match point

In the fourth round, Thunderbolt Python tried their hardest, playing cautiously, but they were beaten by Rivervale again and again.

In the end, Rivervale won the round and the match, obtaining the championship. Ever since entering the quarter finals, Rivervale's record of their matches had mostly been a 3:1 victory. The stability of the Mechanic department was fully demonstrated by them, strong with few shortcomings.

Under the gazes of countless spectators, the last player of Thunderbolt Python fell in the ring.

The sound of the body falling resounded in the hearts of all the viewers like a drum. It was akin to a signal that announced the birth of China's reign of three consecutive victories!