The Legendary Mechanic

The mission notification said that in the World Tree territory, there was almost no place for outsiders to hide. Han Xiao was now even warier of the World Tree's unknown detection methods.

Han Xiao frowned. The World Tree Civilization has far more control over their territory than the three Universal Civilizations. If I don't figure out what's going on, I'm afraid I won't be able to move an inch here…

Since his whereabouts had been discovered, he would only be pursued if he continued to escape. With the convenience of the World Tree's mental network, the pursuers could share information and surround him. It would be quite troublesome for him.

Looks like I have to adjust my plan. It's not suitable for me to carry out the mission now…

If they did not figure out what the detection method of the World Tree Civilization was, they would not even know how they were exposed, much less know how to avoid it.

Since the pursuers were behind him, he had no choice but to get rid of them. He wanted to see if he could find out the principle of the detection method from them. Furthermore, since he originally wanted to see if the virtual purification would work on the people of the World Tree Civilization, this was a good opportunity.

Due to the mechanism of the mental network, when he came into contact with the people of the World Tree Civilization, the scene of him taking action would be observed. There were many risks, such as the other party calling for reinforcements, and he might have to abandon the mission and leave.

However, this was not a big problem. It was not like he could only go to the World Tree Civilization once. There was no time limit for this marking mission. If he could not deal with it this time, he could do it next time. On the other hand, if he could learn about the World Tree detection method from the pursuers, it would be more valuable to him. At the very least, he would not have to poke around blindly in search of it.

Han Xiao's eyes sparkled. "Although I've been discovered, I still have an advantage…"

The current situation seemed to be that the enemy was in the dark while he was in the light. However, the pursuers had discovered him, but they probably did not know that he had detected the enemy through the interface mission. From another perspective, perhaps the enemy was in the light while he was in the dark.

Although he did not know what was going on with the pursuers, they were likely following his movements. He might be able to ambush them from the opposite direction and quickly end the battle so that the pursuers would not see too many of his methods.

"Tsk, I wanted to move stealthily, but you just had to force me."

Han Xiao's mouth twitched, but he did not continue forward. Instead, he turned around and flew a distance before beginning to set up his scheme.

…

A green beam of light streaked across the sky, speeding forward.

Barbani had been constantly activating his high-dimensional information form vision to track the traces left behind by Han Xiao. In his eyes, a path formed by light particles extended out.

"What guts you have, how dare you stay and try to gather more information? You're courting death."

Barbani was not angry but excited.

Although the Holy Tree Emissary had a high position and power, most of the time, he had nothing to do. After all, the World Tree was connected to everyone, and there were no criminals or rebels. There were basically no internal conflicts, and these experts had nothing to help with. Other than training and enjoying material benefits, there was nothing else they could do. Many of them did not even bother to show themselves and had been sleeping in the tree, living in the virtual world.

Now that he had finally encountered something interesting, Barbani was overjoyed.

"I hope these outsiders have some ability. Let me have some fun."

However, just as he was fantasizing, something out of the ordinary happened!

The space around him suddenly shook, as if it had solidified in an instant. Barbani's speed plummeted, as though he had fallen into a swamp.

At the same time, dozens of points of starlight suddenly appeared in his vision. The next moment, dozens of huge blue and white beams of light came from all directions, attacking from a distance. Barbani was at the intersection point of the beams, and the dazzling light instantly swallowed his body.

"This is an ambush‽"

The intense pain of his flesh evaporating like a volcanic eruption instantly swept through every nerve in his body. Barbani felt that his body was dissolving, and his life force was rapidly flowing out. The power of the attack exceeded his expectations, and he was shocked and furious.

Other than the outsiders, there was no way it could be anyone else. Barbani could not believe that this group of outsiders had sensed his pursuit. Not only did they not escape, they even wanted to attack him!

Barbani was shocked and furious. Just as he was about to struggle out of the restraints, a red light suddenly appeared from within the dozens of blue and white light beams. The next moment, the red light suddenly expanded and dyed the light beams red. The output power increased exponentially.

The intersection point of the beam exploded like the dawn from a red sun!

Barbani's figure was sent flying. He was covered in wounds and looked like he was burnt. He looked horrific.

The lethality of this round of attacks gave him a shock. He did not expect that with his ability, he would be heavily injured in a single exchange. He did not even see the enemy.

The outsiders this time actually had such powerful strength!

"I can't solve this alone. I have to call for help!"

Barbani was about to take action, but at this moment, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared in his vision and swept across his body.

His body suddenly froze, and he revealed a blank expression.

Han Xiao, who was looking at this area through a remote device, raised his brows in surprise.

"The virtual purification worked?"

Han Xiao had set up an ambush at the place he had passed by earlier and used a bunch of technology from Jayz's treasure to conceal it as much as possible. These dozens of high-intensity light beams came from a special hovering weapon array. It was a Universal Treasure-level machine, one of the parts of the Mechanical Deity.

Han Xiao had originally thought that the pursuers might be a fleet, so he had planned to launch an attack after failing the ambush. However, he found out that it was only a single person. According to his understanding of the World Tree Civilization, this person was most likely a Beyond Grade A Super like the Holy Tree Emissary or the Ancestral Spirit. It was impossible for him to be one of the Five Tree Kings.

Without saying a word, he launched an ambush and obtained the other party's combat information through the interface. He secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

Barbani's level was far lower than his, and his energy level was around 53,000. He was only an ordinary Beyond Grade A, and even if he could borrow some of the World Tree's power, he would still not be able to fight back.

Therefore, after using [Virtual Purification—Restore], Han Xiao was prepared to kill it immediately. However, the combat information made him stop. The interface indicated that the Virtual Purification was effective!

"It actually worked!"

Han Xiao took a deep breath.

When he obtained the skill [Virtual Purification—Restore], he had suspected that this move might be effective on the World Tree, but he did not expect it to actually come in useful.

The mental network of the World Tree connected everyone. To him, it was like an enormous smartphone, processing, distributing, and monitoring the information of every individual. All the lives devoured by the World Tree had their thoughts rewritten. No matter how much hostility they had, they would ultimately be loyal to the World Tree. The negative memories did not disappear but were diluted.

[Virtual Purification—Restore] purified intelligent targets infected by a virus, and the nature of those life forms that had been swallowed by the World Tree would also change, becoming some kind of symbiotic relationship. Even if they did not have a physical body, they could still live in the virtual world created by the World Tree, similar to an artificial intelligence. Therefore, Han Xiao was not sure if this would work, but it seemed like his hunch was right.

However, Han Xiao was not happy for long before he realized a problem.

The Virtual Purification only temporarily restored the other party's original thoughts, but the other party was still an individual devoured by the World Tree. This connection would not be broken, so the World Tree could rewrite the other party's thoughts at any time, covering the Virtual Purification effect. This meant that this move might only temporarily wake the other party up.

Furthermore, this move could only be used on those enslaved targets. If the target was originally loyal to the World Tree, it was obviously useless.

Fortunately, this guy called Barbani was not a native race of the World Tree Civilization but an enemy that the World Tree Civilization had devoured during their universe wars.

"This is…"

Barbani was stunned on the spot. Countless memories collided in his mind, and the memories of his civilization being destroyed by the World Tree's iron hooves came back to life. He even remembered that after he was devoured, he had become an accomplice in destroying his civilization, and countless of his own race had died at his hands.

His twisted mind quickly corrected itself, and his view of things returned to normal. The long-lost hostility and anger gushed out like a volcanic eruption.

"World Tree! What did you make me do‽"

Barbani covered his head with his hands, his entire body trembling. It was a furious roar, but it also sounded like a sorrowful howl. The pain contained within made Han Xiao shiver.

However, right at this moment, Han Xiao activated the short-range teleportation device and appeared beside Barbani in an instant.

"Are you awake? Time is of the essence, and I don't have the time to waste with you. Tell me the secrets you know while you're still clear-minded!"

Barbani withdrew from his grief and indignation, as he immediately recalled what he had been doing before he regained consciousness. These memories would not be erased by the virtual purification.

Without further explanation, he instantly understood the intentions of this outsider and his current situation.

Without any hesitation, Barbani immediately told him the secrets of the World Tree that he had. After he regained consciousness, no matter who this outsider was, as long as he became enemies with the World Tree, he would be someone worth helping.

Seeing that the other party was so understanding, Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief and focused on memorizing the content.

Barbani quickly explained the important secrets of the World Tree. Not long after, his expression suddenly changed, and a look of struggle flashed across his face.

"They've noticed. Leave quickly. The people of the World Tree will arrive at any time… It's monitoring everyone and has discovered that I've regained my will. I can't resist it and will soon have my thoughts rewritten."

Han Xiao also saw that the duration of the virtual purification in the status bar was rapidly decreasing, and his heart skipped a beat. He knew that the World Tree had already noticed this 'uncontrollable' individual.

He released his grip and was just about to retreat when he realized that Barbani had taken the initiative to raise his hand and push him away. Immediately after, his entire body lit up with lights that seeped through cracks in his body. He was going to detonate all his energy.

When the light was at its highest point, Barbani looked at Han Xiao deeply and said firmly, "We're hopeless. No matter who you are, don't lose!"

Boom!

The next moment, a violent explosion spread out, and Barbani exploded, turning into bright fireworks.

Han Xiao was slightly moved.

The actions of this 'awakened' were far more decisive than he had imagined. Only strong hatred could drive him to make such a choice.

I might have underestimated this move…

However, there was no time to think about it. Han Xiao quickly put away the mechanical equipment and activated the short-range teleportation device.

…

After a while, a spatial rift suddenly appeared in this area and out extended the roots of the World Tree. A huge fleet sailed out and quickly turned from illusory to solid. Several Holy Tree Emissaries descended and checked the scene.

"The Information Form alert has just issued the highest warning, indicating that the most serious information leak has occurred!"

The Holy Tree Emissaries had solemn expressions. They had rushed over as soon as they received the alarm.

Not long ago, the World Tree had shared what it had seen through the mental network, causing them to all be shocked.

"Barbani betrayed us? How is that possible?"

"He actually leaked the secret!"

"What happened? How did the outsider bewitch him?"

"He has turned back into a seed. We'll have to wait for him to mature again before we can ask him what's going on."

The Holy Tree Emissaries could not understand this situation because no one had ever betrayed the World Tree, not even having the thought of betraying it.

At this time, more and more spatial rifts opened up, and roots extended out, sending batches of fleets and experts over.

Suddenly, the Tree King's cold voice sounded in everyone's mind.

"Kill him; don't let this outsider leave alive!"