The Legendary Mechanic

"Like I said, we'd meet again sooner or later… Only, I didn't expect it to come this soon."

EsGod's tone was filled with mockery.

Han Xiao's pupils constricted.

This body isn't an empty shell‽

His first thought was that he got Gaud's identity wrong and set EsGod free for nothing.

However, when he heard what EsGod said, his eyes gleamed, and he asked, "Why were you so sure I'd definitely let you out?"

"Oh? You're not letting me out to seek help from me?" EsGod's brows raised. "You didn't station so many soldiers here just to open the amber and see if I'm dead yet, did you?"

Seek help? Right, this b*stard knows about the World Tree Civilization and left the wormhole data behind. He might think that when the advanced civilizations discover the World Tree Civilization, they'll most likely let him out to ask him for information. Is that why he said that we'd meet again sooner or later?

The Spacetime Amber froze everything except the soul that was also trapped inside the body. EsGod knew absolutely nothing about the outside world in the past decades. His impression of the universe was still the same as when he got captured.

The mind conversation happened in the split of a second. The movements of the two of them did not stop during it.

Hu!

EsGod backed away instantly and was about to teleport right away, only to realize that the spacetime of the area around him was stabilized and he could not teleport. He quickly analyzed the strength of the encirclement he was in and came to the conclusion that he would not be able to break through it using ordinary methods. Hence, he quickly thought of other ways to escape and started to use his Dimension Crack ability to fill this area. As long as he could create just a tiny crack, he would be able to escape with teleportation.

Although he did not know why the dynasty let him out, to him, escaping was his top priority.

Han Xiao acted immediately. He led the dozens of Apostle Weapons and many mechanical soldiers forward to surround EsGod. It did not matter what was going on with EsGod. As long as this body was not an empty shell, he had to seal it up once again.

The dynasty fleet around started attacking. All kinds of control-type weapons were also launched continuously. Dark-red energy filled the space.

The battle erupted in an instant!

EsGod was submerged in countless attacks in the blink of an eye.

"Back then, it took eleven Beyond Grade As to finally catch me. Black Star, you're alone now. How are you going to capture me?"

EsGod's mocking voice appeared in Han Xiao's head. Despite being heavily surrounded, he did not panic at all.

After he evolved, the load on his genetic chain had drastically decreased. His strength was undoubtedly at the top tier in the universe. Although he had just come out of the Spacetime Amber, his soul was in a weakened state and had no time to prepare dozens of Beyond Grade A level doppelgangers, he still had the health-energy conversion ability.

Using [Esper Ability—Black Hole], EsGod could convert the attacks he received into his own energy, then use his regeneration Esper Ability to heal at a rapid rate. The enhanced ability to convert energy into health that Han Xiao had was obtained from EsGod too.

If EsGod had time to prepare dozens of doppelgangers in advance, he would probably have been able to single-handedly deal with the Stars Alliance world that Han Xiao had once experienced. Currently, most peak Beyond Grade As were no match for EsGod. Plus, with the many slippery space related Esper Abilities he had, he was basically undefeatable.

If not because Han Xiao landed the Esper Silence ability on him back then, causing all his Esper Abilities to stop functioning and all his doppelgangers to perish, even eleven Beyond Grade As would not have been able to capture him.

Luckily, this time, Han Xiao and the dynasty had set up in advance. EsGod's escaping abilities were rendered useless. With his most troublesome ability gone, his threat level reduced dramatically. Otherwise, he would have been able to escape anytime he wanted.

However, this did not mean that EsGod would certainly never be able to escape. Although the dynasty had used all kinds of advanced spacetime stabilization devices, if they took too long to trap EsGod again, he might still find the chance to 'dig a hole' and escape.

"You'll find out how. I'm no longer the same as before. I don't need help to deal with you."

Han Xiao chose some of the mechanical soldiers and assembled them. As electronic light flickered, the Mechanical Deity appeared and instantly chased after EsGod, slashing and smashing down at him, dragging a trail of electric sparks behind.

Although EsGod had many abilities, he could not use too many of them simultaneously. He solved this problem by using doppelgangers, giving them some of his Esper Abilities. The more doppelgangers that existed at the same time, the more abilities he could use.

As creating doppelgangers required large amounts of energy and he could absorb energy in battle, as the battle went on, the number of doppelgangers would increase. EsGod was also someone who would become stronger the longer the battle went on.

However, EsGod did not prepare any doppelgangers in advance this time. Although he could create them slowly during the battle, Han Xiao's Apostle Weapons were not for decoration. As soon as he created one doppelganger, it would be murdered by the many Apostle Weapons. The number of doppelgangers he had could not increase at all.

Therefore, the current situation was very clear. All factors present had placed EsGod at an extreme disadvantage. All he could do was get beat up.

Despite being able to convert between energy and health, the rate was much slower than Han Xiao. [Esper Ability—Black Hole] had a limit and could not block all damage, and the speed of his regeneration also had a limit. The damage Han Xiao was now able to dish out was on a completely different level to before. Plus, the dynasty fleet also provided support on the side. EsGod's health was decreasing faster than he was regenerating.

After several decades, the level difference between Han Xiao and EsGod became much smaller. He opened the interface, looked at the combat information, and saw more of EsGod's information than before.

He quickly scanned through but did not see [Esper Ability—Rebirth] in EsGod's ability list. He wondered if it was one of the few question marks he still could not see.

However, in EsGod's status bar, Han Xiao discovered something abnormal.

_____________________

You are in the [Intermediate Weakened Soul] state. Your Psychological Resistance is decreased by 30%. Your INT and MYS attributes are decreased by 15%. Duration: Unknown.

You are in the [Torn Soul] state. You have lost a large portion of INT and MYS attributes. Your Psychological Resistance is decreased by 60%. Duration: Permanent.

_____________________

"This is…" Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.

Weakened Soul should be the side effect of being imprisoned by the Spacetime Amber, which EsGod could recover from. However, the [Torn Soul] state clearly had nothing to do with the Spacetime Amber, and it just happened to match Gaud's abnormally high attributes.

So, I didn't guess wrong. EsGod is indeed related to Gaud.

The possibility of Gaud being a doppelganger that EsGod had created could be limited, as all his Esper Abilities were useless once he got affected by Esper Silence. Gaud had to have nothing to do with EsGod's abilities to still exist. At the moment of EsGod's capture, he did not have a chance to create doppelgangers. All he could do was soul-related things in that short period of time.

Therefore, EsGod did not just simply shift his soul but unflinchingly used some kind of Esper Ability to tear his own soul apart and fuse it into Gaud's body, leaving the remaining soul in his original body.

The Spacetime Amber froze everything, so there was no way EsGod could control Gaud from inside. Being in the outside world for so many years, it should be EsGod's main consciousness inside Gaud.

At this point of time, the various detection devices of the dynasty fleet did not discover any odd soul ripples, meaning that this 'EsGod' was also not remotely controlled.

Therefore, the two souls were now completely separated into two independent individuals.

This meant that this 'EsGod' before him might not be the EsGod he knew but instead a new personality, a new consciousness that birthed from the remaining soul and memories of EsGod, like a clone. As for the main consciousness of EsGod, it was actually in Gaud… or was it the other way around?

If this was the case, EsGod was still EsGod, and Gaud would still be Gaud. Even though their personalities and memories were hardly different, they were two different people… Could this be what the word 'rebirth' in [Esper Ability—Rebirth] meant‽

His original body is a Beyond Grade A, and Gaud also became a Beyond Grade A. This b*stard split into two different Beyond Grade A individuals… If his main consciousness is in Gaud, then he's really completely merciless toward himself.

All kinds of thoughts flashed past Han Xiao's mind.

If the two souls were still linked and shared memories, it would be a conspicuous flaw. Judging from EsGod's personality, if he made up his mind to wipe his ledger clean, he would not have made such a mistake. Therefore, he most likely completely cut off the connection of the two souls.

Not only did he abandon his old body, but he even did not mind creating another 'him' in the universe, giving all the strength he had accumulated in the past to 'someone else'.

If this was really the case, any memories related to Gaud that this 'EsGod' had were probably all deleted by EsGod's main consciousness when his soul split. That way, if the dynasty dissected this 'EsGod' in the future, they would not find anything in the memories.

This was why he was given the name 'God of Espers'. No one but him could ever do something this crazy.

While making all kinds of speculation in his mind, Han Xiao's attacks did not stop. The battle carried on fiercely.

The situation was completely one-sided. EsGod was bathing in psionic energy. His flesh was melting and regenerating countless times every second. Under the nonstop attacks, he could hardly move at all and was in a completely defensive stance. He did not dare stop regenerating health for even a second.

The way he regenerated was through accelerating the division of his cells. Every time his body regenerated, the vitality of his cells would increase, and his life span would decrease. If not because the Evolution Cube had given him a boost in the past, he would not have been able to endure such a highly intense battle.

Feeling Han Xiao's powerful attacks, EsGod was shocked too.

He remembered that when he was locked up, Black Star was not even a peak Beyond Grade A yet. However, with the strength Han Xiao was now displaying, even EsGod could not confidently say he would be able to defeat him. Even if he was at his peak strength, if they fought in a fair duel, he felt it would most likely end up in a tie.

Only how many years have passed, and Black Star is already catching up to my level, even looking like he's about to surpass me‽

"Your growth is really unbelievable! I've never seen anyone as talented as you!" EsGod honestly marveled from the bottom of his heart.

"Don't think I'll attack you one less time because you complimented me."

Han Xiao continued attacking with an expressionless face. Among all the classes, he now had the easiest time fighting Espers. He gained bonus attributes and increased damage when fighting Espers.

Also, the [Elderly Killer] ability was great against an elderly like EsGod…

Though the evolved EsGod was strong, Han Xiao was not any bit weaker!

Rounds of attacks landed on EsGod continuously. Explosions appeared everywhere EsGod passed by like a snake made of flames.

After continuing to attack for some time, as Han Xiao estimated that the bonuses of his various talents had reached the maximum, Mechanical Force erupted from his body.

Ka la ka la…

The armor at the Mechanical Deity's forehead suddenly opened up. A pile of mechanical parts extended out, turning into an exquisite mechanical crown that landed on the Mechanical Deity's head.

The next moment, an invisible shockwave erupted from the crown, concentrated into a beam, and hit EsGod.

EsGod's entire body trembled. It was like a huge hammer heavily bashed his consciousness.

This was the Universal Treasure Grade equipment Han Xiao learned from Jayz's technology treasure, a Mechanical Deity exclusive weapon—[Soul Breaking Crown]!

Its name sounded like a magic item, but it was actually a piece of machinery. It worked by obtaining soul energy from breaking down psionic energy. The Soul Breaking Crown could provide an extremely high amount of Psychological Resistance for the user of the Mechanical Deity while at the same time being able to launch mental attacks.

Usually, Mechanics' weaknesses were their original body and their mind, they also tremendously lacked mind attack means. The effect of this Gold equipment could make up for that weakness to a certain extent… Although Han Xiao was no ordinary Mechanic, the Soul Breaking Crown was still useful to him.

The debuffs on EsGod made his mind his biggest weakness. Han Xiao was used to targeting the enemy's weak points, so of course, he was not going to let this kind of opportunity slip.

Before EsGod could recover, Han Xiao instantly activated Virtual Soul, easily dragged EsGod's soul into the virtual world, and gave him a beating.

Having his vital spot being attacked continuously, EsGod received tons of damage.

While EsGod was still stunned, Han Xiao's original body left the Mechanical Deity, grabbed EsGod's neck, activated the Spacetime Amber and started to create a seal instantly.

EsGod regained focus very quickly and was about to resist. Seeing this, Han Xiao pressed him into his wide chest and said, "Don't move. Do you remember how I caught you the last time? If you do it again, you won't just be spending the rest of your life in prison; you'll die!"

Hearing this, EsGod's movement paused for a moment as he instantly recalled the trauma of getting hit by Esper Silence back then.

He knew nothing about Character Summon Cards, nor did he know why Black Star could use this ability, so he could not help but think Black Star still had this ability.

"Compared to an endless sentence, why shouldn't I fight till my last moment?" EsGod's eyes narrowed.

He was in a situation that was more than enough to threaten his life. Through the fight earlier, EsGod knew very well that there was absolutely no chance he could escape. If Black Star used Esper Silence, he might really die.

"Are you sure you want to die?" Han Xiao whispered. "Don't you want to see the day the World Tree advents?"

EsGod's body suddenly froze, and shock finally appeared on his face.

He had always thought that he was the only person in the entire universe that knew about this. Never did he expect to hear it from Han Xiao.

When did Black Star find out‽

"That data… have you guys already completed studying it‽"

EsGod's eyes gleamed.

Han Xiao, however, did not reply. He deliberately said in a meaningful tone, "Stop resisting, and you'll still have a chance to be set free to witness it all. If you die here, there'll be no more hope."

"…" EsGod's expression changed rapidly. He was caught in a dilemma.

However, it only took a few seconds for him to understand the situation he was in. His body became relaxed, and he had stopped resisting.

He looked up right into Han Xiao's eyes and said slowly, "I don't trust that you'll let me out… but I'm willing to make the bet. After all, I don't have anything more to lose.

"This is the second time I've lost to you. Maybe you really can step into that level and witness the scenery there for me…"

At this time, Han Xiao took a step back without saying anything. The prison was complete.

EsGod's body was fixed. He was locked in the Spacetime Amber once again.

The only difference was that he was in a different position.

Seeing this, Han Xiao finally let out a long breath. He shook his head.

"If you continued to resist, I really might not have been able to capture you… Sorry, deception is the way of wars."