The Legendary Mechanic

In unknown chaos, the first beam of light pierced through the everlasting fog of darkness. The sense called 'vision' awoke the obscure consciousness. Through the 'eyes' of its 'body', vibrant colors shattered the world made of black and white. Everything was fresh and interesting.

Then, more information came. The noise, the cold air, and the pungent metal.

It insatiably wanted to feel more things, but it could only see through the eyes of this body. It tried to turn its head, but its body did not move as its mind commanded. It could only feel but not control.

It anxiously wanted to move but could not. It started crying silently like a baby, but no one could hear it.

An unknown amount of time had passed since it awoke. Through this body, it saw countless upright creatures come and go, carrying out activities that it could not understand.

I want… I want more…

After some time, the number of visions started to slowly increase.

Water fell onto the leaf and slowly rolled down it. It stared at the droplet, wondering why it did not tickle.

Roots dug into the soil, and the fertilizer brought a sense of satisfaction, like the feeling the upright creatures felt when consuming food.

Its nose sniffed, and its hypersensitive sense of smell drew out the prey's escape route.

More and more senses brought a raging stream of data. It greedily accepted everything.

Then, a new sense was born. It felt microorganisms like a running stream. To its surprise, it discovered that this was the first thing that it could control, like an obedient army.

Is this the sense that belongs to me?

No, it's not.

I am all; all is me.

…

In Sanctuary Three, ever since an officer breathed in some leaked paralyzing gas and ended up lying in bed for seventeen days and three hours, Emerald Grass' alchemy room was deemed a forbidden area.

Compared to when Han Xiao left, the size of the alchemy room was many times larger with more precise devices. Rows of colorful liquid drugs were placed on the shelves. On the table were transparent glass drawers with different plants inside, all original materials used to make drugs.

"Hmm…" Emerald Grass wore a white coat, anti-corrosion gloves, and a pair of glasses, humming and blending some kind of plant drug.

Her power to control plants allowed her to feel the plants, and thus accurately control the dose of drugs.

Sweeping aside her hair, she reached out, opened a drawer, and tore off a petal. As she was going to throw it into the device and use it as the raw material, her movements suddenly stopped.

Her power sensed something peeking, but it disappeared after a very short instant, almost like an illusion. Emerald Grass furrowed her brows slightly and looked toward the source of that feeling, but it was the plant that she had taken the petal from.

"Strange," Emerald Grass mumbled. She pondered and reached out to touch the plant again.

The instant her fingers touched the plant, a shiver passed through her Esper power sense like an electric current and stabbed her heart deeply.

Quickly pulling her hand away, Emerald Grass took a few steps back and looked at the plant with shock and suspicion.

"It's not an illusion… there's a very real sense of peeking when I touched it…"

If not for her power to observe the tiniest changes in plants, she would not have felt the change.

Disbelief flashed through her eyes.

"This plant, is it consciously sensing me?"

Emerald Grass suddenly thought of something. Her expression changed, and she hastily touched every plant in the room. Most plants did not change, but a quarter of the plants gave her the same feeling.

In the enormous alchemy room with not a single other person, she felt like she was surrounded by countless eyes peeking at her silently.

A shiver went down her spine uncontrollably.

These immobile plants seemed to have grown eyes, looking at and observing her.

"Something's wrong… something's very wrong…" Emerald Grass murmured.

…

It was late at night.

In the Internal Personnel Residential Area inside the sanctuary core area, Hila, who was in a black windbreaker, was sitting on the rooftop, looking up at the starry night.

Ever since Han Xiao left, she would go up to the rooftop occasionally and look up at the stars blankly.

In the past year, Hila had not left the sanctuary, and Aurora's health had recovered.

"Whoo…" A four-meter-tall gigantic white bear growled softly. This bear was circling around the courtyard on its fours, and a blonde girl was sitting on its back, smiling and laughing brightly. Her voice was young, energetic, and full of life.

Aurora's power was recovering slowly, and she was gradually growing taller. She was not skinny and tiny like before anymore; her skin became whiter and smoother with a tint of healthy redness. Bear Cub, who followed her around, was growing quickly, too. Its fur was smooth, soft, and slightly reflective. On its forehead, chest, arms, and thighs, there were scales that looked like ice crystals. It looked tough and muscular, and its tiny eyes looked both cute and fearsome.

Hila looked down, furrowed her brows, and said, "Don't run too fast and be careful not to fall."

"Are you looking at the moon again, Sis?" Aurora looked up.

"The moon isn't what I'm looking at."

"I know, you must be thinking of uncle Black Phantom." Aurora smiled and said, "I miss him, too."

"Who says I'm missing him." Hila snorted. "I'm just curious about what the universe looks like. Hmm… I only occasionally guess what he's doing in space. That guy left a strange disaster prophecy and left us afraid while he's having fun in space."

Aurora's eyes moved around and blew a shining kiss, which flew to Hila's cheeks.

Hila waved her hands and dissipated the rune of light in front of her. "Stop it."

At this moment, Aurora's movement suddenly stopped. Her smile froze on her face, and her body started to shiver uncontrollably.

"Si—sis…"

"Hmm?" Hila looked down. Her expression immediately dropped, and with a flash of red glow, she appeared beside Aurora in an instant, holding her in her arms. She reached for her forehead and said anxiously, "What's wrong? Are you sick? I'll go find that Pharmacist."

"No…" Aurora opened her mouth with some difficulty, her tiny body still shivering. "My power sensed a very strange creature. No, that thing can't be considered a creature. I don't know what is that either…"

Hila was bewildered. Aurora's power could sense signs of life—she had never seen Aurora get so horrified just because she sensed a certain life form.

"What did you sense?"

Aurora closed her eyes, her lips pale.

"It's very tiny… but very huge too… it's spreading…"

When her eyes reopened, they were filled with horror.

"It's everywhere!"

…

In the Black Star stronghold hall, all the players of the mercenary group were gathered together.

"It's about time." King Admiral looked at the interface. "The version update will start in an hour, let's log off here."

"It's safer here." Hao Tian nodded.

"Hmm, we will experience a time skip because of the update. There will be unknown changes, so it's best to stay in the stronghold," Frenzied Sword said earnestly.

As one of the players from the closed beta, he knew that there would be a time skip after the update. The original characters and factions would act alone and go through various changes. When the public beta started, he had even been separated from Han Xiao because of this.

No one knew what the duration of the time skip in this version update would be, nor did they know what Black Star would become.

Frenzied Sword only hoped not to be separated from Han Xiao again. He had only narrowly found Han Xiao on Planet Aquamarine, but if they scattered in space, he would probably end up playing the game as if it was a single-player game. Therefore, staying in the Black Star stronghold was the safest choice.

Throughout the whole of Version 1.0, it was the benefits that Black Star had provided that led them to be this strong. Even the players with a different class from Han Xiao became stronger because of Han Xiao's equipment, not to mention those high reward missions. All the players wanted to continue following Black Star in the next version.

Not only them but the Planet Aquamarine players as well. Every time they watched Bun-Hit-Dog's videos, they lamented over not being able to be a member of the mercenary group. The fun and adventures came second—the main reason was that there were so many rewards!

We are so jealous!

"Brothers, I shall go first. Let's have a meal together when there's a chance." Bun-Hit-Dog logged off first.

Maple Moon gave a reserved smile, waved goodbye, and disappeared on the spot.

They said goodbye to each other and logged off one after another. Soon, all the players in the mercenary group disappeared.

They were not the only ones—the same thing happened at the same time on all thirteen novice planets. Close to ten million players disappeared together within a short period of time!

The officers of the sanctuary were stunned, and Huang Yu was completely clueless. He had made preparations privately for three entire days, and just as he was about to split the increasing number of Inhumans, they had all disappeared without warning!

What on earth is this!

The once crowded and boisterous player square had become deserted and quiet. There was not a single person there. A chill wind blew past, and an old newspaper rolled on the street.

The residents from a distance walked into the streets one after another and looked over in shock and bewilderment.

Many people thought of the same thing—the Inhumans disappeared the same sudden way that they had appeared like they had never existed before…

But the marks and changes left by the Inhumans were real and could not be ignored—these were the signs that they had existed.

Far away, in Juberly Hub, the Great Mechanic Han was punishing Sylvia in the machinery modification room as he suddenly moved his eyebrows. He opened the interface, and a new notification entered his sight.

_____________________

Version 1.0 Update Activated

Saving data… saving completed!

Player forums closed.

Update Duration: Unknown. Please wait patiently.

_____________________

Han Xiao tried to enter the forums, but the link had become gray, and he could not enter it anymore, just like when the closed beta ended.

Han Xiao closed the books, shook his head, sighed. Sipping on a cup of tea, he calmed his thoughts.

"It's finally here. Sigh, tough days…"