The Legendary Mechanic

Boom!

Wild thunder raged like dragons, dancing around Han Xiao.

The mechanical spear turned into an enormous bolt of lightning and struck again, targeting another red God Embodiment.

Restrained by the Apostle Weapons, this red God Embodiment could not dodge the attack in time. It hastily went into a defensive stance and knocked the side of the shield with its hammer. The shield instantly lit up and released an energy shield that enlarged thousands of times, blocking in front of the spear.

Bang!

The spear crashed onto the shield. The shield that looked indestructible shattered instantly like a fragile piece of paper. A shockwave expanded in a flash and triggered a loud explosion in everyone's mind like the sound of glass shattering.

With an enormous bolt of lightning, a light beam-like shockwave released from the tip of the spear. With this one attack, half of this God Embodiment's body was instantly shattered!

At this time, Wuornos teleported from afar, focused his strength at his elbow and deviated the direction of the spear, dodging the second round of damage. He then dragged the heavily damaged God Embodiment aside, saving it at the last point.

Wuornos sized Han Xiao up once again. Feeling the even stronger energy presence of the Mechanical Deity, complicated feelings flashed past his eyes.

"Is this your full strength? Looks like I still underestimated you… No, I should say you hid your strength too well, just like the rumors. No one really knows just how many trump cards you have and where your limit is."

"Why have I never heard of this rumor?" Han Xiao replied casually.

While he had been fighting with the three Universal Civilizations, he had been suppressing the impulse to use his Character Summon Cards, all to make sure he could use them if Wuornos showed up.

Wuornos could summon Gods, but he had Character Summon Cards too.

He had activated double Mechanical Sense and double the Ancient Ones, instantly entering into his explosive state.

If he had activated the Character Summon Cards earlier, the three Universal Civilizations' direct members probably would not have lasted as long as six days. Even if they could, there would have been many more of them dead in his hands.

"A hundred years is just a blink of an eye to Beyond Grade As; it's no more than a child's age. Yet, at such a young age, you've obtained such extraordinary strength… There has never been anyone in recorded history who was as talented as you are. I can hardly imagine just how bright your future is."

Wuornos sighed, took out his last few God Embodiments, and sent them into the battlefield to fight the mechanical army.

He had brought more than a dozen God Embodiments this time. Initially, he did not want to use the rest of them, but the situation now did not allow him to do that.

"Just a few? They're probably far from enough to defeat me." Han Xiao raised his brows.

These God Embodiments had varied abilities. Although they all had high level Beyond Grade A's strength, they had a common weakness too—they were comparatively more fragile.

His strength in the explosive state exceeded the knowledge of ordinary people. He could easily crush high-level Beyond Grade As. As long as these God Embodiments did not have any special defense, dodge, or regenerative abilities, he could shatter them in seconds. It was much easier than dealing with those direct Beyond Grade As with multiple Universal Treasures.

"Try me."

Wuornos held his hands together. His body suddenly expanded and enlarged, turning into a giant. Earlier, his size compared to Han Xiao's Mechanical Deity was like an ant and a mountain. Now, he was the same size as Han Xiao's Mechanical Deity.

Despite how large he became, the Grand Priest robe on his body was not torn but expanded with his body. Magic circuits that filled all of its surface started lighting up. Clearly, it was Universal Treasure-level enchanted equipment; only then did he not have to go nude in front of the entire universe.

This guy can grow bigger?

Han Xiao's eyes gleamed. This was not mentioned in the intelligence he had.

As if he saw Han Xiao's doubts, Wuornos slowly explained, "My God's Trait Transformation has already reached the maximum. My Giant blood is at its peak. This is my first time using this ability."

Having trained in the Arcane Church for many years, as the church's National Treasure and his own ability were related to divinity, his God's Trait Transformation progressed countless times faster than the other peak Beyond Grade As. He had completed both God's Trait Transformation routes long ago, but he had never told anyone.

Wuornos had the Giant bloodline, so the God's Trait Transformation on his race's side tremendously enhanced his Giant blood, turning it into the most optimized form. It was as if all the pros of the Race Evolution were gathered into one.

"Your luck is really incredible. Not only is your ability a perfect fit, but you even received the support of the church." Han Xiao frowned.

This b*stard was probably a protagonist-type character who most likely had Advanced Luck Glow, only he kept a low profile for countless years and hid his true strength. It was like he was the monk who swept the floors of a temple.

He looked at Wuornos's empty hands and said, "Are you planning to keep fighting me with your fists?"

Hearing this, Wuornos remained silent for a while, sighed, and said, "… You have already sealed up my weapon."

Han Xiao was stunned for a second, then it occurred to him.

Damn, the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter is this b*stard's equipment!

Specifically, Wuornos only shared the right to use it; the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter still belonged to the Arcane Church. Sadly, it was sealed up by the Spacetime Amber.

It made sense. This Universal Treasure also matched Wuornos' ability perfectly. It would not be weird for the church to let him use it… only he did not have the chance to use it now.

At this time, the fake Mechanical Deity finally returned to the battlefield after being blasted away in the fleet's formation. It pounced at Han Xiao fearlessly, clearly very headstrong.

Han Xiao turned around. The mechanical spear shapeshifted rapidly as if it had turned into a whip. He swung it backward, stirring up bright lightning bolts everywhere.

In the explosive state, the speed of strength of the Mechanical Deity increased tremendously. This attack was as fast as lightning; it instantly swept onto the fake Mechanical Deity's waist, almost cutting it half, sending it away flying and rolling once again.

A scorching wave of energy came from behind. Han Xiao turned around and placed his spear horizontally, stopping Wuornos' fist.

Boom!

A shockwave erupted!

The strength of both sides clashed. Han Xiao's thrusters operated at the maximum power output, gaining the upper hand and slowly pushing into Wuornos.

"The giant blood is quite strong indeed. Your strength is comparable to a Pugilist." Han Xiao snorted.

"And you."

Wuornos suddenly retracted his fist. The next second, afterimages of his fists filled Han Xiao's sights.

Not willing to take a step back, Han Xiao spun his spear and blocked each attack accurately. Shockwaves exploded in the cosmic space continuously.

This time, the fake Mechanical Deity returned and joined the battle again, then got blown away once more before charging back to the battle time and again.

Wuornos had the church's National Treasure to protect his body, while the fake Mechanical Deity inherited his own super strong regenerative abilities. Currently, the only breakthrough point in the battlefield was the other God Embodiments, which was what Han Xiao was planning to target exactly. Only, he was stopped by the two giants and had no choice but to endure their attacks to eliminate the God Embodiments.

As the battle reached this stage, there were no more shortcuts to be found, only head-on combat. The battle had already reached the climax.

Watching the live footage, the hearts of countless galactic residents rose to their throats as they watched the screen with all their attention.

"What a powerful Beyond Grade A, he must be the ace of the three Universal Civilizations!"

"God bless, please let Black Star be defeated… This is probably our last hope."

The galactic residents secretly prayed.

Meanwhile, the players were thrilled, completely the opposite of the galactic residents.

"Aiyo, I know this. The boss has entered stage two!"

"Clear the minions before fighting the boss, Old Black knows his dungeons."

"Anyone betting? I'm betting 30,000 Enas on Old Black, anyone?"

The many army players discussed the fight with excitement. The forums were already filled with the videos of those who were at the scene. The edited footage and recordings of Han Xiao's battle in the past few days had filled up more than ten pages, like it was an incredible VFX movie.

In the main ship of the three Universal Civilizations' fleet, the many direct Beyond Grade As looked outside the porthole with bitter expressions.

"I never thought Black Star held back against us… If he'd used this power earlier, many people in this room would probably not be breathing now." Verena smiled bitterly.

Hearing this, many Beyond Grade As glanced at her and felt complicated.

Originally, they thought they could at the very least match up to Black Star together. However, the truth was, that was only what they thought. Not only were they exhausted from fighting Black Star, they even had to appreciate Black Star for not going all out…

Having realized that, their mood became even heavier, and their confidence was severely damaged.

Having held back for a very long time, Oulou finally squeezed two words out between his teeth.

"Two monsters!"

Even as a peak Beyond Grade A, Oulou had to admit that these two people were terrifyingly strong. Not only was Black Star crazily powerful, but Wuornos was much stronger than many years ago. The two of them had surpassed the others and were on a completely different level from them.

This time, Guzar frowned and said, "There's only two days left till the warning period ends. Are we really going to let them fight one on one and watch?"

Hearing this, Clotti said seriously, "Of course not! When the warning period is about to end, we'll all strike together. Just ignore Wuornos, we must defeat Black Star no matter what, so get to recovering as fast as possible. If Wuornos still can't settle the battle by tomorrow, we'll have to fight again."

The others nodded solemnly.

…

Time passed quickly. Under countless pairs of eyes, Han Xiao already fought intensely with Wuornos for more than a day, the situation was already becoming clear.

Han Xiao finally eliminated all the God Embodiments except for the fake Mechanical Deity, and he paid a ton of mechanical troops as the price for that.

Although he was restrained by Wuornos and the fake Mechanical Deity, in his explosive state, his attributes were clearly superior. He continuously broke through the two of them, ignoring his injuries and eliminating the God Embodiments one after another, causing the strength difference between two sides to increase as time went on, making the situation easier and easier for him.

The last few God Embodiments were not even killed by him personally but by the mechanical troops and the Apostle Weapons. The remaining mechanical troops were already free to surround Wuornos and the fake Mechanical Deity, the only ones left.

Clank!

The two of them clashed once again. Wuornos moved back a certain distance, casually blasting away an Apostle Weapon, and suddenly sighed.

"You have killed all the God Embodiments I've brought here today, looks like I can't do much more."

"What, is that it?"

Han Xiao slapped the fake Mechanical Deity away once again and snorted.

"… We're the only two left. We won't be able to decide a winner if we continue." Wuornos shook his head.

"There's only one day left anyway, doesn't matter to me."

Han Xiao did not mind it.

Although he had killed all the God Embodiments, he could neither penetrate the church's National Treasure nor eliminate the fake Mechanical Deity, and Wuornos could not threaten his life either.

Conservatively, he could still fight Wuornos for half a month or so without resting.

"If that's the case, we'll call it here," Wuornos said softly.

"You think you can make the call?" Han Xiao curled his lips.

Wuornos glanced at him and softly giggled. His enormous body shrank back to his original size, and he opened the public channel.

"I'm no match for you. I admit my loss."

Han Xiao was stunned. He did not expect Wuornos to do this.

Admitting loss in front of the public went against the direct Beyond Grade As' goal of fighting for the three Universal Civilizations. Plus, no one showed any signs of defeat at this point; it was a tie at most. Why did he admit defeat?

Wuornos snapped his finger. The fake Mechanical Deity suddenly stopped and then exploded from the inside. He got rid of this God Embodiment on the spot.

Han Xiao frowned, raised his hand, and made the mechanical army stop attacking.

"…What are you doing?"

Wuornos disconnected from the public channel, looked at Han Xiao with a meaningful expression, and said, "Black Star, you're the most talented Super to have ever existed. You have the highest possibility of opening the gate to that next territory. Like I said in the beginning, I don't want to be your enemy."

"What is the meaning of this? Aren't you afraid of the Arcane Church having problems with you because you admitted your loss in front of the public?" Han Xiao frowned even harder.

"I've already done what I can. As for my goal… maybe you'll find out one day."

Wuornos gave him a strange smile, turned around, and flew toward the three Universal Civilizations' fleet.

Han Xiao made the mechanical army open a path and did not stop him. He silently stared at Wuornos' shrinking back view and realized that he had no understanding of Wuornos' personality and mindset.

In Han Xiao's previous life, both Dark Lord and Oulou died in the World Tree War; only Wuornos never even participated in it. Han Xiao would never believe for a second that the Arcane Church did not give him any orders. He had no way of knowing what this guy was really thinking.

… Never mind, I can't guess what he's thinking. I got the mission reward, anyway.

Han Xiao exhaled, opened the interface, and looked at it with a satisfied smile.

The Beyond Grade A Challenge Mission for Wuornos was shown as 'completed'.

He retrieved the mechanical army, deactivated the Mechanical Deity, sat on a new Divine Mechanical Throne, looked at the three Universal Civilizations' fleet, and said in the public channel, "Who's next?"

As he said that, the entire channel went dead silent.

…

As soon as Wuornos returned to the main ship, the many direct Beyond Grade A surrounded him with rather hostile looks.

"How could you admit loss publicly‽" Clotti questioned loudly.

"I couldn't win, so of course, I admitted my loss," Wuornos replied casually.

"You think we're all blind?" Verena said with an angry tone. "You showed no signs of defeat at all. You could've totally fought Black Star for much longer!"

Wuornos glanced at her and coldly said, "Then what? Keep fighting like this till the end of the warning period? I seem to recall I said I was going to fight Black Star alone, but you guys were going to ignore my request and were planning to fight him together, weren't you?"

Hearing this, they immediately did not know what to say.

"I can guess what you guys are planning to do with my eyes closed."

Seeing this, Wuornos shook his head, pushed his way through the crowd, and left.

He did not want to participate in the battle to begin with. Originally, he wanted to watch till the end. However, the church had given him an absolute order, and he had no choice but to fight.

However, Wuornos did not plan to defeat Black Star. What he really wanted was to see and experience Black Star's true strength, do his best to fight him to the extent that it was enough to give the church some results.

He was not lying about respecting Black Star, but he did not admit loss because of that. It was because of another reason.

Wuornos did not want to stop the three Universal Civilizations and the Beyond Grade A Association from starting a war; he wished to see it happen instead!

This was his core motive!

For many years, Wuornos had been stuck at an invisible ceiling. He realized that no matter what, his strength could barely grow anymore. It was as if there was some kind of higher power that prevented him from stepping into that higher territory of power.

He believed that only competition and pressure could breed the strong. Back during the exploration era, Supers slaughtered each other every second. Only then were the Beyond Grade As born. When the first Primordial One appeared, like a signal, more and more Beyond Grade As appeared one after another.

From the way he looked at it, the evolution of individual greatness might require an extremely talented pioneer to break that ceiling. Only then would the others be able to follow and enjoy the benefits.

This was how Black Star, whose growth rate broke every record, had entered his sights. Black Star was the person who had the highest possibility of becoming that pioneer in his eyes.

Wuornos did not like the peaceful atmosphere of the Beyond Grade A Association; he liked to see Beyond Grade As fight everyday more, breeding stronger individuals. Hence, the three Universal Civilizations targeting the association matched with his goal.

In this respect, Wuornos had the same fanaticism as EsGod, only he took a different path. Compared to EsGod's selfish style, Wuornos hoped to see the entire universe's strong individuals working hard.

After all, given the mechanics of his ability, the stronger individuals there were in the universe, the stronger his peak strength would be.

All kinds of thoughts flashed past his thoughts, Wuornos closed his eyes and thought, I'll give you this reputation today. Let me see how far you can go.

…

At the same time, the image of Wuornos admitting loss was broadcast to countless people.

At this moment, the hope that had just been rekindled was completely extinguished.

All the galactic residents who were hoping to see Black Star defeated collapsed onto their seats and looked hopeless.

Not a single person in the entire three Universal Civilizations could defeat Black Star. Even by shamelessly fighting him in groups, they still lost.

Embarrassing!

Before long, the countless galactic residents turned from pessimistic to nervous. They knew that today was the last day of the warning period given by the three Universal Civilizations. If neither side decided to take a step back, a war was most likely going to break out!

Seeing that there was no hope, many galactic residents suddenly stopped worrying. They started to vent their rage born from powerlessness and fear online, as well as the hatred toward Black Star for not 'losing like they wanted'.

Suddenly, support for the three Universal Civilizations grew tremendously once again. No longer were they hoping to stop the war; they went in the complete opposite direction, almost supportive of starting a war. They only had one core reason… for the three Universal Civilizations to crush the Beyond Grade A Association and clear the unstable factor of the galactic society!