The Legendary Mechanic

The speed of the main cannon was undoubtedly fast, and now that he had been locked on to, there was no point in him trying to dodge. The entire process from the firing of the cannon to the time it hit was measured in milliseconds. Even Degulish and the other two had to move away before the cannon was fired.

Since he was unable to board the BlackLight Stealth, he could not hope to avoid the impact of the cannon fire with his own speed. His [Void Travel] skill might be able to avoid one shot, but so long as the main cannon remained active, they would just need to fire another shot if they saw him dodge.

Instead, it would be better for him to use the limited amount of time to stack all the defenses he had, then use the [Repel—Thorns] skill as a guarantee and find out the damage of the cannon. With so many measures, his chances of survival should be quite high, and if he survived, it would be able to work as a bluff to scare the enemy.

Having thought of this, a horrific energy was detected. He had just felt it when the entire attack had already arrived.

Han Xiao hunkered down in his fortress. He could not see the outside perspective of the cannon ray being shot down and could only feel through the feedback of his Mechanical Force when the various shields shattered, and his numerous mechanical soldiers were destroyed. A piercing white light filled his vision, and horrible heat covered his entire body.

Boom!

A huge force seemed to press down upon him like a mountain, slapping Han Xiao flat on the ground and wrapping him in the energy column of the main cannon. His field of vision was blank, and the energy ray rushed down continuously like a waterfall, forcing him to remain prone.

His HP levels rapidly dropped, and even with the thirty percent reduced damage from the skill, the first impact reduced his total HP by a third. The subsequent high temperature and energy shock caused continuous damage after that, rapidly sapping away his HP. Han Xiao could not move, and only felt his flesh and blood melt and evaporate as various negative statuses appeared on his interface.

If it was an ordinary person, just the cannon blast would have disintegrated them. Even dregs would not have remained.

Han Xiao gritted his teeth as he activated the skill [Middle Grade Cell Proliferation Control] to replenish his HP as fast as possible. Every tick would allow him to regain twenty-eight percent of his HP. This allowed him to break even with the falling HP level. The gauge continuously jumped up and down, giving him goosebumps, and he prepared to activate Aurora's Character Summon Card at any time.

To recover more than 10,000 HP every second would be equivalent to using 2,000 to 3,000 Onas of Energy. Luckily, with the cannon dealing damage to him, it provided him with an inexhaustible supply of energy, allowing him to fully display his HP recovery abilities.

The interface was flooded with notifications about receiving damage. While the attack from the main cannon also contained a portion of true damage, it was nullified by Han Xiao's talent of [Steel Body]. This point was critical, as it helped to reduce a large portion of damage taken by him, thus allowing him to only suffer the regular damage.

…

A few seconds earlier…

Yet another DarkStar spaceship was shot down, and wreathed in flames, Nagakin briefly paused in midair, looking down Han Xiao's battlefield, the surprise in his eyes evident.

Black Star really managed to withstand the attacks of three Calamity Grades! How has he achieved that‽

Nagakin was extremely surprised, as even he could not achieve that level.

At this point, he realized that there were changes to the battlefield. He only saw that Black Star was constantly imposing defenses on top of himself, whereas the three Calamity Grades had somehow scampered away, as though hiding from something dangerous.

"Why have they stopped fighting? What is Black Star defending himself against?"

Nagakin had a confused expression on. However, before he could think about the reason, the answer was presented to him.

Swoosh!

A huge beam of light shot down from the skies, connecting heaven and earth to strike Han Xiao's position. The word 'strike' might be a little inaccurate, as the beam was a good few hundred meters wide!

From the sky to the ground, the time taken for the beam to traverse the distance was quicker than the blink of an eye. Even with Nagakin's reaction speed, he did not have time to take any countermeasures and could only squint to resist the strong light.

Bang!

The cannon blasted out a new landmark!

It was akin to a spear of God stabbing straight into the earth. It gave off the illusion that it could penetrate this planet, striking an intense sense of shock in everyone!

The light was piercing, and Nagakin struggled to open his eyes as his expression constantly changed.

Were they nuts‽ To actually use the main cannon just to deal with a single target…

How did Black Star manage to rile them up so much‽

Boom!

The next moment, a violent explosion occurred. The shockwaves spread from the epicenter, and debris and soil was blown outward from the point of impact.

The DarkStar mothership's main cannon utilized a separate energy furnace that was dedicated to it. Thus, its killing power was many times higher than that of its light weapons. While the light weapons were focused on penetrative power, the main cannon was geared more toward 'single target' damage. Of course, if one was so crazy as to use the main cannon to hit an individual, then the effect was no different from an AOE.

The main cannon continued to release energy, the terrifying high temperatures distorting the air as shockwaves constantly blasted outward. The earth roiled, and the area covered by the cannon beam had turned into a ring-shaped depression while still continuously expanding.

Inside the protective shield, the faces of countless players were illuminated by the white light, and their expressions were slack, with only that beam of light in their vision.

Was that… Heaven's Judgement‽

Xiu!

The main cannon stopped firing, and only a final glare could be seen disappearing from the core of the crater, flickering.

Boom!

The accumulated energy within suddenly imploded, the resulting sound from the explosion louder than before. Flames and smoke spread out at a high speed, as though it was an opening umbrella.

Heated winds swept out, and the mountains trembled!

Even those hiding inside the protective shield felt the violent tremors.

It was only after a long while that the energy within eventually dispersed. Smoke obscured the vision of everyone present, and one could only see that there was a huge crater left in the outer sector of the Sanctuary, as though a meteor had struck there.

"What was that?"

The hearts of countless of players present shook.

Even Bennett felt a little lost for words.

Hila slammed herself on the protective shield, her pupils shrinking into tiny points as she stared.

Nagakin stood on top of the protective shield with a worried expression as he gazed at the position of where Han Xiao was, the center of the crater that was surrounded by smoke.

Degulish, Ember, and Terry stood up, their faces covered in soot. They had attempted running right before the cannon fired and were knocked off their feet by the incoming debris and soil waves, landing in different locations. After standing up, they simultaneously looked at the crater, wanting to know the outcome.

All the DarkStar and Godoran spaceships suddenly ceased firing, floating in the sky as they watched the outcome below.

After the smoke dispersed, one could see that the center of the crater was several meters deep. The slope was steep, and the soil got redder in color the lower it got. There were many areas that had crystallized due to the high temperature, with some rocks having melted into magma, gleaming as it flowed down the slope.

Countless mechanical fragments were scattered around, with some having been melted into molten iron, glowing red-hot.

At the middle of the crater, a figure slowly climbed up, his burnt body radiating smoke. He was blacker than the night sky, and after shuddering a few times, the burnt scraps on his body fell off, revealing pale skin. With a zap of the Mechanical Force from his hands, several pieces of machinery transformed into a pair of pants to cover his lower body.

Han Xiao stood there, his upper body bare, supporting the back of his neck with one hand as he stretched and revealed a smile.

"Huff… that was intense. I can feel my whole body becoming more comfortable!"

Everybody's gaze landed on Han Xiao, their mouths agape.

He… he didn't die‽

The energetic and spritely Black Star contrasted with the crater that was full of death.

This scene caused Degulish, Terry, Ember, Nagakin, Hila, and the players to suffer from near mental breakdowns, their eyes bulging open with an expression of shock.