The Legendary Mechanic

"There's no need for me to elaborate on the potential of this Esper Ability. Just this ability alone can match up to hundreds or thousands of Esper Abilities. Work hard and develop it."

Han Xiao smiled at Evans.

"Understood." Evans nodded, feeling the burden on his shoulders become heavier.

Hila and the others sighed at how lucky Evans was. Not only was he talented, but he had also received Black Star's nurturing and protection, so he did not have to grow like EsGod. He would definitely have a place among the Beyond Grade As in the future.

Everyone could not help but turn to look at Gaud, who was locked up, and pity flashed in their eyes.

Regardless of whether this guy had anything to do with EsGod or not, just this encounter alone was enough to make him miserable. He had thought that he would be free to do whatever he wanted after advancing to the Beyond Grade A realm, but he had been targeted by Black Star and had his abilities taken away. In the future, he could only watch others use his Esper Ability to soar in the universe and snatch away all the achievements that should have belonged to him…

The few of them did not have a deep impression of Gaud. Now that they thought of him, they almost used the word 'tragic' to replace his facial features.

"What do you plan to do with him? Leave him to the dynasty?" Hila suddenly frowned.

"I'll hand him over to the dynasty and explain his identity and origin. The dynasty will deal with the rest." Han Xiao did not mind.

Hila shook her head. "I don't think it's appropriate. If the dynasty executes Gaud, he might be able to regain his abilities through the Sanctum Revival. Since we've already become enemies, it's better to put an end to future problems."

"Tsk tsk, if we're talking about being ruthless, you're the one who's ruthless…"

Han Xiao raised his brows and waved his hands.

"With the revival mechanism of the Sanctum, Gaud will most likely be able to regain his ability. However, the quota for the revival of the Sanctum is now up to me. Whether he can revive or not is up to me. Even if the three Universal Civilizations master the revival method on their own in the future, it won't be a problem. Who knows what will happen in the future? If there's a situation, I can just send him to the Underworld and have another fighter."

Fortunately, Gaud was already locked up by the imprisonment device and could not hear anything from the outside. Otherwise, he would be even more hopeless.

This time, Han Xiao changed the topic and smiled at everyone.

"Alright, everyone knows each other now. After some time, I will promote him to the Deputy Army Commander and let him join the association."

"Isn't it a little too early?" Evans could not help but ask. "My ability is easily feared. Should I continue to hide my identity?"

"You're already a Beyond Grade A, so it's time for you to make a name for yourself. Besides, you're going to participate in the battle, so practicing your cooperation with others in advance is also useful." Han Xiao squeezed his shoulder and said, "Furthermore, with me around, you don't have to worry about the hidden arrows behind your back. Other than enemies, no one can do anything to you."

"Alright."

Evans nodded.

Training in secret for decades was naturally very difficult. Furthermore, he had just advanced to the Beyond Grade A realm, and it was time for him to make a name for himself. Although he felt that continuing to hide his identity was the best choice from Black Star's perspective, he did not want to continue hiding. Knowing that he could finally debut made him happy.

The others naturally did not have any objections, but they were muttering in their hearts. With such a powerful person joining them, he would definitely be the strongest Deputy Army Commander in the future. They had to stand aside.

Even Hila strongly suspected that she would not be able to defeat Evans when he grew up.

"This won't do. If this goes on, my position will be compromised!"

Hila was alarmed, and a sense of motivation exploded in her heart.

It was one thing to be under Black Star in the army, but she did not want to see anyone else standing on her head.

If not for the fact that Black Star was looking for her, she would have gone into seclusion in Soul Terminal for a decade.

...

Central Galaxy, Arcane Church border.

A large official fleet was stationed at the border outpost, welcoming a spaceship with the Black Star Army insignia.

The spaceship stopped at the dock. Han Xiao walked down with Hila and Evans, only to see Wuornos waiting with a high-ranking official of the church beside him.

"I didn't expect you to pick me up. Do they need to trouble you for such a small matter?" Han Xiao raised his brows.

"After all, the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter is a weapon given to me by the church. Since it is going to be unsealed, I have to be there," Wuornos nodded slowly.

Han Xiao glanced at it, clicked his tongue, and joked, "Stop bullsh*tting. I think the church is obviously worried that I might do something to it, so they called you over. How sad. I said that I would fulfill the deal, so I will definitely return the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter to you. Are you so suspicious of me?"

Wuornos secretly rolled his eyes, too lazy to reply.

'A few days ago, you exposed the matter of Gaud. How can we not worry?

Furthermore, your credibility has always been erratic. Who in the entire universe doesn't know that your personality is unpredictable, sometimes good and sometimes bad? Who would dare to completely believe you before the truth comes to light?'

Wuornos cursed silently, waved his hand, and got the Arcane Church soldiers to bring over a piece of Spacetime Amber. It was the piece that sealed the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter.

"Your Excellency Black Star, please." The Arcane Church official coughed and raised his hand in an inviting gesture.

Han Xiao glanced at him but did not say anything. He took out the Spacetime Amber and poked it lightly.

The next moment, the Spacetime Amber—which the Federation of Light and Arcane Church had been studying for many years but could not break—burst like a bubble.

The Ten Thousand Deity Scepter, which was fixed in midair, suddenly fell. Before it even landed, Wuornos grabbed it and quickly checked it. After confirming that there were no problems, he nodded at the Arcane Church official.

Seeing this, the Arcane Church official's tensed body finally relaxed. He let out a breath and smiled. "Thank you, Your Excellency Black Star."

"What are you thanking me for? It's just a deal." Han Xiao did not mind. Instead, he teased, "Why don't you check for a while more? Don't forget that I'm the Transcendent now. Who knows, I might have done something that you guys won't be able to discover in a while?"

"…Cough, you really know how to joke."

The Arcane Church official's expression froze. Although he had said that, he was not sure in his heart. He secretly gave Wuornos a look.

The corners of Wuornos' eyes twitched, and he had no choice but to lower his head and examine it carefully again.

"There's no hurry. Take your time to check, we have plenty. You have to be suspicious till the end." Han Xiao chuckled.

"You're exaggerating…"

The Arcane Church official smiled awkwardly.

After more than ten seconds, Wuornos raised his head again and glared at the Arcane Church official. "No problem."

"That's good. If there's nothing else, I'm leaving."

Han Xiao nodded and brought Hila and Evans onto the ship. They took off and headed toward the Crimson Dynasty. This trip was just to unseal the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter.

After watching the spaceship leave, the Arcane Church official finally heaved a sigh of relief. He took the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter from Wuornos and solemnly placed it in a special container, letting the soldiers take it to the main ship to store it and wait to ship it back to their mother planet. Although this item was Wuornos' weapon in name, it was actually something that belonged to the Arcane Church.

"After nearly a hundred years, the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter has finally returned to us…"

The Arcane Church official sighed, but he realized that he was not as excited as he had imagined.

The Ten Thousand Deity Scepter was a single-target trump card that targeted individual strength. In the past, it would indeed cause people to tremble in fear. However, the times had changed completely. Beyond Grade As had the benefits of the Sanctum Revival, so its effect was greatly weakened.

Furthermore, Black Star had also opened up a new level of power. The destructive power of the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter would probably not be able to threaten him at all, not to mention that he had the Spacetime Amber as a defensive treasure…

The situation was so dire that he could not be happy!

The Arcane Church official had a complicated expression on his face. He turned to look at Wuornos and sighed. "You have to succeed. In terms of individual strength, the Arcane Church will have to rely on you to compete with Black Star."

"Don't worry, I won't fail again."

Wuornos nodded slightly and replied casually, but his mind was not on that. He was thinking about Evans, who had followed Han Xiao just now.

He could also sense the aura of a Beyond Grade A from this stranger, and he even felt that this guy was not simple.

'Strange, since when did Black Star have this unfamiliar Beyond Grade A beside him, and he seems to be his subordinate…'

...

Crimson Dynasty, a secret military base.

This was the dynasty's prison to imprison EsGod. At this moment, a group of dynasty fleets was gathered here, and the leader was Han Xiao's old friend, Teny Amenos.

There was no need to fight in the frontline harassment battle. All they had to do was bombard the World Tree Army. Thus, most of the upper echelons did not have any missions and were all transferred back to the special military training classes that the three Universal Civilizations had opened.

The course that they were learning was a new type of battle strategy that was specially designed based on the tactical habits that the World Tree Civilization had displayed in the past two years of war. This kind of thing would be summarized as the understanding of the World Tree Civilization deepened, and it would continuously strengthen the tactical abilities of the upper echelons.

Today was the day to carry out the deal and let Black Star deal with EsGod. Thus, Teny, who had some free time, was pulled over to be in charge of the defense fleet to prevent any accidents.

"I really didn't expect Black Star to open a new level of strength in the blink of an eye…"

In the command room of the main ship, Teny was browsing through the intelligence data of the past few days. He could not help but let out a soft gasp of surprise as his thoughts drifted away. He recalled the first time he met Black Star.

Back then, Black Star had just stepped into the Beyond Grade A realm, and he was only a colonel of the dynasty's military. They had a good chat, and he had even asked Black Star about technology. When they parted, Black Star had even gifted him a mechanical weapon. At that time, how could he have known that a new Beyond Grade A who had joined the dynasty as usual would become such a bigshot in less than a hundred years? Not only was he a huge obstacle to the three Universal Civilizations, but he was also their reliance in the war.

In the beginning, the two of them would still occasionally send messages to each other. However, as their positions grew higher and higher, everyone became very busy, and their contact gradually decreased. Although he had now become an important upper echelon of the dynasty's military and had been promoted many times, almost reaching the top of the dynasty's system, his position was still worlds apart from Black Star.

Teny shook his head and pondered.

"Strength that exceeds Beyond Grade As… I wonder how many troops it will take to kill a Transcendent individual…"

The tactical deduction of using an army to kill an individual strength had always been an important lesson for the dynasty's officers. Although large fleets could kill Beyond Grade As, they also paid attention to efficiency and success rate. After all, individual strength was extremely flexible, and only by using reasonable targeted tactics could they kill an individual strength at the lowest cost.

Teny had been studying these strategies all these years, using Beyond Grade As as imaginary enemies. He had created many targeted strategies based on different abilities, perfecting the dynasty's tactical inventory. Deducing these strategies was almost his instinct.

Even the direct descendants of the dynasty were his simulated opponents. This was a matter of position and profession, and it did not involve personal grudges.

Therefore, although the two of them were friends, other than admiration, the first thing Teny thought about was how to kill Black Star.

"It's a pity that I don't have enough information, so I can't carry out a new simulation… However, this guy has advanced. He's stronger than before, and the success rate is probably still zero."

After pondering for a while, Teny gave up on the deduction.

He had treated Black Star as an imaginary enemy more than once. Even before Han Xiao advanced, his thousands of simulations had all failed. Black Star was one of the few Beyond Grade As that he had a zero chance of killing. Even people as difficult to deal with as Manison and Kasuyi had a chance of death in the simulations.

I hope I can gather enough information this time…

Teny shook his head.

Other than to prevent any accidents, he also had the mission of collecting Black Star's intelligence. Since Black Star wanted to kill EsGod, he would have to take action. This was a good opportunity to observe the strength of a Transcendent.

Just as he was thinking, the reconnaissance outpost sent a message. The fleet that had gone out to welcome them had already brought Han Xiao and the others in.

He looked up. At the edge of the military base, a few dynasty battleships were leading the way, followed by a Black Star Army spaceship. The radar showed that there were three powerful Supers.

Very soon, the spaceship entered the main ship, and Han Xiao brought Hila and Evans to the command room.

"Hello, Your Excellency Black Star. We meet again." Teny took the initiative to step forward and extended his hand.

"We've known each other for a long time. There's no need to be so polite." Han Xiao did not put on airs and shook hands with him.

"We have already opened EsGod's prison. You can unseal him anytime."

Teny nodded and glanced at the two people beside Han Xiao with a trace of doubt.

Black Star's goal this time was to send EsGod into the Underworld. He could understand him bringing Hila, but who was this other Beyond Grade A?

Sensing Teny's gaze, Han Xiao got Evans to come over and introduced,

"This is Evans, the new Deputy Army Commander of the Black Star Army, a Beyond Grade A Esper with a bright future. He has been training in the army for many years."

Evans nodded politely.

Teny also returned the greeting, but he was surprised.

Why have I never seen this person's information before? It seems like he appeared out of nowhere. He should have left some records when he was at the Calamity Grade. Could it be that this guy has never been active in the outside world and has been secretly raised by the army to become a Beyond Grade A?

Teny felt that the hidden strength of the Black Star Army was deeper than he had imagined.

However, he did not forget the goal of this transaction. He probed,

"Your Excellency Black Star, it is said that you will use Gaud to exchange for EsGod's life. Are you ready?"

"Don't worry, I brought him here."

Han Xiao raised his finger, and a few mechanical assistants carried an imprisonment device into the room and placed it beside him.

With a move of his energy, the imprisonment device immediately turned into mechanical particles and was put away. Gaud, who was inside, fell to the ground.

Hila expressionlessly took a few steps forward, grabbed Gaud by the back of his collar, and lifted him.

"Your Excellency Gaud!"

Teny's expression changed, and he hurriedly went forward to observe.

However, Evans was one step ahead of him. He reached out to stop him and said slowly, "The deal is not completed yet, we can't give you the person."

Teny had no choice but to stop. Looking at Gaud's extremely weak appearance, as though he had been abused, he could not help but be furious.

"Black Star, don't forget that the dynasty is still waiting for your explanation!"

Back then, the dynasty was fooled and even made Black Star the team leader of the investigation team. This was a farce. Black Star might have even laughed at them behind their backs.

At the thought of this, Teny could not help but feel angry that his country had been humiliated, and his tone became impolite.

Hearing this, Han Xiao smiled and ignored him. Instead, he walked in front of Gaud, his shadow covering his entire body.

"This is… the Crimson Dynasty? Why did you bring me here?"

Gaud's dull eyes turned slightly, and he suddenly had some spirit.

"To return you to the dynasty, of course."

Gaud was stunned for a moment, and he was overjoyed. However, he suddenly realized what was going on, and his mood fell once again.

If it was in the past, he would still be happy, but now that his ability had been taken away, so what if he returned to the dynasty?

First, Black Star had taken away his hope, and now, Black Star had given him another meaningless hope. Gaud felt that Black Star was toying with him.

"…Do you think you can fool the dynasty just because you gave me a strange identity? I'm a direct descendant of the dynasty. What you did to me will forever be a stain on your name. You will pay the price sooner or later!"

Gaud pulled himself together and pretended to be furious.

In his mind, Han Xiao had sent him back to the dynasty to force him to admit EsGod's identity and clear his name of attacking the dynasty's direct descendant. He would definitely not let him do as he wished.

However, Han Xiao did not mind. "I know you won't admit it. It doesn't matter. I didn't bring you here for your explanation. I brought you because I want you to see how I kill your main body."

As soon as he said that, there was movement outside the window. A huge prison opened up, revealing EsGod who was locked in amber.

Gaud subconsciously looked over, and his heart tightened.

Not only did you take away my Esper Ability, you even want to ravage my original body in front of me ‽

F*ck you, do you f*cking have to go so far? I beg you, just kill me!

You call me a villain? You're clearly more of a villain than me!