The Legendary Mechanic

Phillip's report interrupted his work. Han Xiao thought about it and decided to rest a while. He left the workshop, entered his personal lounge, and sat on the couch. He waved his hand to have the mechanical assistant bring some snacks and drinks, then browsed the recent news on the quantum network.

During the version upgrade, the forums were frozen, so Han Xiao lost a major form of entertainment. In his free time, other than teleporting to Floating Dragon Island to accompany Ames, all he did was look at the news online.

Looking at the situation of the Flickering War, Han Xiao thought, Yo, it's already at this stage. The Super Star Cluster Alliance is almost going to lose grip. Looks like they couldn't change their fate. The ending of the war is near.

Due to the butterfly effect he caused, Han Xiao could not accurately predict which exact day the Flickering War would end. However, judging from the current situation, the dust would probably settle within three years. The Super Star Cluster Alliance would not be able to last much longer.

The Flickering War broke out in Galaxy Calendar Year 732. Six years had already passed. This was close to what he predicted. He felt that the war would last at least three to five years, and at most ten to twenty years.

Although the Intelligent Plague broke out in advance, causing the Super Star Cluster Alliance to have more time to prepare, there were still way too many factors that caused them to have disadvantages. The Super Star Cluster Alliance were fighting a defensive war. The battlefield was far from their territory, they were surrounded by enemies like an island. In the past years, the three Universal Civilizations cut off tons of secret supply routes of the enemy, causing the Super Star Cluster Alliance to have less and less external support. Their situation was becoming worse every day.

The only way for the Super Star Cluster Alliance to get out of this situation was through external means, dispatching soldiers from their home territory and making new battle zones in other Star Fields. However, if they did that, the nature of the war would become completely different. The laws between advanced civilizations would break, and the scale of the war would jump multiple levels. The war would become much more intense.

They were just putting down a small bet. No one could take the consequences of flipping the table completely.

Han Xiao rubbed his chin and said, "When the war is over, the Crimson Dynasty and the Federation of Light are both going to have different leaders. Urranrell's term will end, and she'll retire. The new ruler… tsk, a troublesome person."

He was not sure if the butterfly effect he caused would change who the next ruler was, but the chance of that was not high. Hence, of course, he knew who the new ruler was.

Although he occasionally had trouble with Urranrell, the partnership was quite pleasant. However, the next ruler was someone in the hawk faction who had different ways of doing things.

In his previous life, the Calamity of the Supers and the Silver Revolutionary Army both happened during the term of the new ruler. The next ruler was also the ruler the players were most familiar with in his previous life.

The ruler was not as lenient toward the Supers, which was also one of the reasons the Calamity of the Supers broke out. The next president of the Federation of Light was also not the nicest person.

"When the new ruler takes office, he'll definitely make contact with all the Beyond Grade A allies. I hope things can stay the same."

Han Xiao shook his head. Throughout history, every time the new took over the old, a lot of problems would come up.

He put this thought behind him and looked at the interface. Currently, his [God's Trait Transformation—Machinery] was already at the twelfth stage. He settled all the prerequisite missions with Mission Completion Cards, so he only spent a total of seven God's Trait Transformation Points.

The cost of leveling up to the thirteenth stage was eight points with three prerequisite missions. This meant that it would at least require five God's Trait Transformation Points.

The technology treasure trove from Jayz consisted of Gold blueprints. This was a gold mountain that needed to be digested slowly. Han Xiao only studied part of it in the past years, and he already felt that his inventory had become richer.

If he was to accumulate Contribution Points and exchange Gold blueprints from the three Universal Civilizations, God knew when he would be able to obtain this much knowledge.

Han Xiao considered the technology as his final trump card and had yet to display any of it.

He believed that once he used it in front of others, the various civilizations and the other Beyond Grade As would probably be in an uproar, and he would face tons of trouble. Hence, it was better to slowly study them for now.

…

More than two months later, a dynasty fleet arrived at Black Star Palace, carrying the new batch of dynasty elites there to receive the evolution process from the Evolution Cube.

Spaceships rode into the dock at the exterior base of Black Star Palace one after another. The hatches opened, and the elites from the various departments of the dynasty swarmed out, gathering on the platform.

As the only Beyond Grade A, Gaud naturally became the leader. As soon as he stepped onto the dock, a few army receptionists approached him directly.

"Elites of the dynasty, welcome to the Black Star Army. The army commander has been waiting. Please follow me."

Then, the receptionist led the way ahead, and the crowd followed behind.

They quickly came to an intersection.

This time, the receptionist stopped, turned to Gaud, and said, "Your Excellency Gaud, the army commander would like to chat with you. Please follow me to see the army commander. As for the rest of you, my colleague will bring you to the hall to wait for the evolution process."

This was the army's territory. The two sides had been partners for many years, so the dynasty elites had no objections. Black Star's love for networking spread across the entire universe; no one found this strange.

"Lead the way then."

Gaud nodded with a calm expression.

The crowd split into two and went different directions. Gaud followed the receptionist. The footsteps of the others soon faded.

The two of them came to a private guest room, opened the door, and walked in. Gaud immediately saw Han Xiao, who was standing in front of the window, facing away from him.

The stars were shining brightly outside the window. The person in front of the window was tall, muscular, and had wide shoulders, giving off a manly vibe all over his body. He looked like a Pugilist.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Han Xiao turned around, gave a friendly smile, and pointed at the seat with a hand gesture.

"You must be Gaud. The dynasty got another direct Beyond Grade A member, congratulations. Quick, please sit."

"We meet again. Do you still remember me?" Gaud sat down, his tone casual.

"Of course, we met once during the Kunde Race war."

Han Xiao sat opposite Gaud, secretly sizing him up. He was now completely certain this person never existed in his previous life. He wondered where he came from.

Gaud nodded, smiled faintly, and said, "Yes, then you definitely remember what I said back then. I said we'll surely become colleagues one day, and now it has come true."

"I like your confidence. I love to make friends with people who have a lot of potential."

Han Xiao nodded but was secretly pondering in his mind.

From how it looked, this guy was someone who had extreme confidence. Even when speaking with him, he was casual and did not put himself in a lower position… This was very common among the new Beyond Grade As. It only felt arrogant but nothing strange other than that.

In the database of the dynasty, the information of the direct Beyond Grade As was all kept secret. Even with Han Xiao's authorization as an ally, he could only find some of the basic information, and Gaud's past was very clean. He looked like a regular military man of the dynasty.

Han Xiao was only curious because this person did not exist in his previous life. He did not have any other suspicions for now.

Gaud was a direct member of the dynasty, so Han Xiao was in no position to question him. Of course, he was not going to cause trouble with a colleague just to satisfy his curiosity.

Afterward, they had a casual and pleasant chat.

After a while, Han Xiao felt it was time and said with a smile, "I'm a little curious as to what your ability is. Is it ok to tell me?"

"The world will know my ability sooner or later. But before that, let me keep it a secret for some time. This is what the dynasty requested too." Gaud grinned and refused.

Seeing this, Han Xiao did not continue to push him but neither did he give up—he decided to sting him later.

They chatted for a while longer. Gaud actively stopped their chat and said with a smile, "Black Star, let's stop chatting for now. The others are still waiting. I want to go through the evolution process as soon as possible. I still have to visit Planet Finn and request to join the Beyond Grade A Association."

"Oh, that's easy. I'm the vice president. I'll handle the procedures needed." Han Xiao stood up. "Since you're in a hurry, I won't keep you. Let's keep in contact in the future."

Then, the two of them walked out of the room side by side and came to the hall where the dynasty elites gathered. They were all waiting there.

Han Xiao said a few words of encouragement and raised his hand. The Evolution Cube hovered and spun in front of him.

He entered the secret code to activate it. Black Evolution Energy gushed out and swept past everyone like a tide.

Then energy solidified and black cocoons appeared in the hall. Gaud was in one of them.

The place became silent instantly. Only Han Xiao was able to walk around.

Hehe, kid, you can't move now, can you?

Han Xiao giggled, stowing the Evolution Cube. Then, he controlled the nanoparticles to form a needle and poked it into the black cocoon Gaud was in.

He knew how it felt to go through the evolution process. They would feel an overwhelming itch all over their body. The senses inside their body would be enhanced, and their senses of the outside world would become dull.

Even if Gaud discovered he did this, he was not worried. After all, he could easily find an excuse for it.

The combat information popped up on the interface, and Han Xiao browsed through it carefully.

"Gaud, level… oh, 240? He's got a lot of potential, his level is the same as mine when I became a Beyond Grade A… Woah, this guy's ability is Energy Control‽ This is the top tier ability among the Super High Risk Esper Abilities. It actually really exists. No wonder he's so secretive about it. This ability almost counters all classes…"

Han Xiao was secretly shocked.

There were stronger and weaker Super High Risk Esper Abilities too, and Energy Control was undoubtedly top tier. It only existed in theory before, but now it really appeared. Gaud was probably the first ever person to possess this ability.

His ability was outrageously powerful, and his potential was also very high. If he continued training, becoming a peak Beyond Grade A would only be a matter of time. It was no wonder the dynasty poured so many resources into training him and kept him a highly confidential secret. This kid got a golden future!

In the battle of Beyond Grade As, one's Esper Ability was a decisive factor too. If Gaud reached the same level as Clotti, Gaud would have a more than ninety-percent chance of beating Clotti. This was the advantage his Esper Ability had.

Energy Control countered almost all Supers. Be it psychic, magic, psionic, or dark energy, they were all included in the energy this ability could control. The only restriction was the user's strength, which decided the limits of his control.

It would not be an exaggeration to say when Gaud reached his peak, he would be absolutely qualified to compete for the spot of the strongest individual in the entire explored universe.

No wonder he was so confident, anyone who had an Esper Ability with infinite potential like this one would be very confident about their future.

How did the dynasty get this lucky? Where did they find this guy? Han Xiao exclaimed in his mind, but then he wondered. Wait a minute, if he has such an extremely powerful Esper Ability, he shouldn't have been completely unknown in my previous life.

Did he die in my previous life and the butterfly effect I caused saved him?

Han Xiao continued browsing the interface with these doubts in his mind. He was then appalled to discover that Gaud's attributes were quite irregular. The other attributes suited his level, but his Intellect and Mystic were way too high. One was more than 9,000, and the other was 13,000.

That doesn't check out. When I became a Beyond Grade A at level 240, my highest attribute, Intellect, was only just over six thousand, and my second highest attribute, Endurance, was little more than four thousand. How are his attributes so high? This is almost the normal standard for Beyond Grade As who are about level 320!

Han Xiao initially only wanted to look at his Esper Ability, but he discovered more and more dubious things on the way, and he got more and more suspicious.

He looked through his information for some time. Suddenly, his eyes were drawn to one of Gaud's talents as he discovered another anomaly.

_____________________

[Esper Ability—Rebirth]: Your body has been reborn. Your soul is still strong. You have inherited a fraction of the INT and MYS attributes from before.

_____________________

This is…

Han Xiao's eyes immediately widened.

He could think of many things just from the name of this talent.

There's indeed something unusual!

This kid is probably just some new Beyond Grade A. His secrets seem to be more shocking than I thought!