The Legendary Mechanic

A few minutes earlier, on Silver Arm, the Arcane Church's mother planet…

The Bishops once again gathered in the hall, sitting in their respective seats and resting with their eyes closed.

The Arcane Church's religion and authority were united; their faith and politics were inseparable. The Bishops controlled enormous power. The robe of every Bishop was luxurious, and their styles differed drastically in color and pattern, which represented the faction each of these Bishops oversaw.

The influence of this operation was enormous, so the Bishops were directly in charge.

Quite some time had passed since they sent the fleet over with the Multi-Dimensional Sky Opening Transportation Device. The Arcane Church did not have a quantum communication network in the Flickering World, so messages could only be sent back through special methods. Therefore, the Bishops were still waiting for the good news from Sagman and the others.

One Bishop looked at the time and nodded. "They should have already succeeded."

"The time fits, but why haven't we received any messages?" another Bishop wondered.

"Maybe they're counting the gains."

With someone starting the topic, they discussed softly. They were patient and did not think any accident would happen to this operation.

In their perspective, the forces on their side had an overwhelming upper hand. There was really no reason to fail.

The door of the room suddenly opened.

The ceiling of the round table conference hall was very high, and the door was also ten meters tall. It was pure white and did not look like it was made of metal but of white jade. There was no groove marking the door; it was perfectly smooth like a wall when closed. At this time, this white gate started to turn into a bubble from the middle and shrunk to the sides, like boiling liquid, but did not open completely and only showed a two-meter-wide gap. A person walked into the room, and the gap closed behind him.

The Bishops stopped talking and all stood up and greeted with their heads lowered with respect.

"Your Excellency, Pope."

This was the highest leader of the Arcane Church, the Pope.

The Pope grunted a greeting and walked up to the main seat. The seat was a hovering white sphere. As he sat down, part of this sphere was pushed down like it was soft and adjusted to his body shape, forming the most suitable seat according to his body structure.

Only then did the Bishops sit down. Seeing that the Pope had only come to wait for the news and did not plan on speaking, they did not continue discussing.

After waiting for a while, the remote projection of the fleet's commander suddenly appeared in the middle of the round table—he had finally come to report.

The fleet commander did a military greeting and said with a stiff face, "Your Excellency, respected Bishops… the battle has ended. We're now retreating."

"Hmm, bring the Evolution Cube back quickly. We will send out troops to assist you," a rather impatient Bishop said directly.

The fleet commander opened his mouth and had an awkward expression like he did not know what to say.

Seeing this, everyone was puzzled. The commander whom they had sent this time was an elite. Why was he acting this way?

"Is there an issue?" someone asked.

"…Yes. We could not complete the mission. This operation has failed," the fleet commander replied with a stiff tone.

The upper echelons used so many resources and gave them so many advantages. However, even with all that, they could not complete a single mission they were given. Not only that, they even lost a Beyond Grade A. The commander felt truly ashamed, and he knew that his future would likely end there.

"Failed‽" The Bishops were stunned and furious. Having used so many resources, how could he fail with such a large advantage‽

"Go through the details. How exactly did you fail? We gave you two missions—obtain the Evolution Cube and kill Milizaus and the dynasty's Beyond Grade As. Don't tell me you did not complete any of them."

"…Yes. We could not defeat Black Star and the others, did not snatch the Evolution Cube, and did not kill or capture any of the Dynasty Beyond Grade As…"

The Bishops' faces were twitched.

Did not snatch the Evolution Cube? Fine, after all, Black Star stopped Psyker's psychic senses, so it was not impossible to fail. But you must've killed at least one Beyond Grade A, right? How could you not even achieve this basic goal? Do you think that we worked with the Federation of Light and paid a huge price to borrow the Multi-Dimensional Sky Opening Transportation Device just to send you lot there for a tour‽

A Bishop could not help but asked, "You guys even took the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter this time, so how could you have not even killed a Beyond Grade A? Did Sagman and the others not use it?"

"No, they did…"

"Then what happened?"

"It's Black Star. Sagman and the others used the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter to heavily injure Milizaus, but Black Star used an unknown method to block the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter's attack directly!"

The Bishops frowned. The Ten Thousand Deity Scepter was not impossible to block; it was just that most of the methods would be useless. They had read about Black Star before and knew Black Star's abilities. He did not seem to possess means to block the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter's attacks. Furthermore, this was the first time that they had used the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter on him, so Black Star did not know what the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter's attacks were like before this, nor did he know that they would use this weapon. Therefore, it was very unlikely for Black Star to have made preparations for it.

"One more thing… the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter was sealed by Black Star using an unknown method. Sagman and the others said they can't break it. This is what it's like…" Then, the fleet commander showed the current state of the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter to them.

The Bishops' expressions changed. The Ten Thousand Deity Scepter was their destructive weapon against Beyond Grade As, but it had been sealed by some kind of material. Even Beyond Grade A Mages could not get rid of it. What kind of strange material was that?

A Bishop endured his rage and said with a deep voice, "Useless… Bring the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter back to be studied."

This time, another person knocked the table. "Even if you couldn't use the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter, there were still seven Beyond Grade As, and that's plenty to eliminate the enemies. Why retreat before the mission is complete?"

The fleet commander clenched his teeth and said, "There were more than three Beyond Grade As on the enemies' side. We did not know that Black Star partnered up with Austin, and Austin was waiting near Planet Lighthouse. He interfered in this battle, and then EsGod was bribed by Black Star and fled, leading his troops away. Dylan was captured by Black Star too. If we continued to fight, the dynasty's reinforcements would have arrived. We were forced to retreat…"

After hearing the brief description of the battle and results, the Bishops were enraged.

It was infuriating enough that the operation had failed, but not only did you not complete the mission, you did not kill a single enemy with the numbers advantage and even lost a Beyond Grade A‽

A bunch of incompetent fools!

If not because they had to give face to the Beyond Grade As, a few Bishops might have lashed out.

This time, the Pope, who had been quietly listening, spoke with an expressionless face.

"Dispatch troops to assist the Shattered Star Ring to prevent the dynasty from destroying our local stargate stations. You must bring Sagman and the others back to the Central Galaxy. Send reinforcements to prevent the dynasty from intercepting them. At the same time, strengthen Silver Arm's defenses to prepare for the dynasty's possible revenge. Inform the garrisons of the various Star Fields to enter full alert state."

Then, the Pope stood up and left. Although he did not show any emotion, the Bishops knew the Pope's personality and were certain that he was furious to the extreme.

…

At the same time, the Federation of Light received the message as well.

"The Arcane Church failed?"

President Bader was shocked. He browsed through the information and narrowed his eyes.

"How unexpected…" the Chief Elder said with a weird tone. "The Arcane Church was defeated by Planet Lighthouse even in this situation. Aren't they too useless?"

Bader did not immediately reply. His fingers swiped a few times on the virtual screen, bringing up Black Star's information. "Instead of saying that the Arcane Church was forced to retreat by Planet Lighthouse, the Arcane Church basically lost to Black Star. Tarrokov is famous as a Crimson Dynasty commander who excels at defenses. It's not weird for him to last a period of time with a fleet less than half of the size of the enemy. The real breakthrough is at the Beyond Grade A battlefield. Black Star turned the situation around on the Beyond Grade A battlefield, which was what caused the entire situation to change."

"The Arcane Church lost a Beyond Grade A, tsk tsk…" The Chief Elder grinned. "They really suffered a huge loss this time."

Bader smiled faintly too. Although they had worked together with the Arcane Church, he was more than happy to see both sides suffering losses. No matter how much the Crimson Dynasty and the Arcane Church fought, the Federation of Light would definitely gain from it.

After all, they did not send out any troops and only lent their Multi-Dimensional Sky Opening Transportation Device once. Even if the dynasty wanted revenge, they would mainly focus on the Arcane Church and would not do too much to the Federation of Light.

"Your Excellency, what are you planning to do next?"

Bader pondered for a moment before saying, "The Crimson Dynasty will not easily let go of this Arcane Church team… Dispatch our troops and allies in the Shattered Star Ring to interfere."

"Are you planning to help the Arcane Church to escape?"

"No, the partnership between us and the Arcane Church is only limited to lending them the transportation device. That was just a deal, and now the deal has ended, so there's no need to continue the partnership… Help the dynasty intercept the Arcane Church's fleet!"

The Chief Elder shook his head with resignation.

How horrible, selling their partner right afterward… However, they were never allies to begin with; they only targeted the dynasty together while the dynasty was exploring the Flickering World. The three universal civilizations were all competitors to each other. They would work together if there was something to profit from and fight each other the rest of the time. They were all used to it.

The Chief Elder suddenly thought of something and chuckled. "By the way, the biggest winner this time seems to be EsGod."

"I don't really think so. It's just one chance to use the Evolution Cube." Bader looked at Han Xiao's data again. "The Arcane Church have the moral low ground, so the dynasty will definitely make announcements regarding this matter. This means that Black Star's achievements in this battle will be spread across the entire universe. A Beyond Grade A who has killed or captured another Beyond Grade A is very different from one who has not.

"Furthermore, he was the main target of the Arcane Church this time, but he forced them to retreat. He basically made the Arcane Church his steppingstone. His influence will see explosive growth. Not only that, having achieved so much in this battle, his position in the dynasty will increase tremendously.

"Black Star is the biggest winner this time."

…

The battle had just ended. When the three civilizations' upper echelons were receiving the news, Han Xiao flew into a Black Star Army battleship and told Phillip to count the losses as well as gather the officers.

The Black Star Army did not leave many ships on Planet Lighthouse. During the battle, the dynasty's fleet was the main force, so the battleship damage incurred was not much. However, the Calamity Grade Black Star Guards all took part, and he wanted to know if there were any casualties.

Aurora waiting in the cabin. The moment she saw Han Xiao, she immediately dashed to him.

Aurora hugged him on her tiptoes around his waist.

"It's great you're okay. I was so worried!" Aurora buried her head in Han Xiao's arms.

Smelling the refreshing aroma from Aurora, Han Xiao's tensed nerves finally relaxed.

Facing seven Beyond Grade As was extremely dangerous. Not only was he getting beaten up, but he had also been enduring the pain from his Promotion. Now that he was relaxed, only then did he feel tired and pain all over his body. The pain from the Promotion had yet to fully disappear.

Han Xiao looked down at Aurora. Sensing the softness in his arms, he felt much better. He patted Aurora's head and asked, "Where's your sister? Is she okay?"

"Hmm, I sent her life force a few times; she's still alive."

At this time, the hatch opened again. Hila and the other Black Star Guards all walked in. Everyone was wounded, but no one had died. This was all thanks to the potions that Aurora had made. Every Black Star Guard had some of Aurora's potion with them. They were extremely effective and more than enough to guarantee the lives of these Calamity Grades.

Aurora turned around and looked through the gap between Han Xiao's arms. Having realized that Hila was wounded and bleeding, she quickly left Han Xiao's embrace and ran over.

"Sis, you're wounded. Let me heal you."

Hila waved her hands and rejected her. "The battle has ended. Such a small wound will recover in no time. Don't waste your life force."

Then, she turned around and looked at the Black Star Guards behind her. "You guys aren't allowed to do that either… Hmm, except Feidin."

Hadavy and the others were originally hoping for Aurora to heal them, but hearing what Hila said, they had no choice but to let go of that thought.

"Why except me?" Feidin pointed at his head with resignation. "Don't misunderstand, Chen Xing told me to ask."

"Black Star said that you're lucky and told us to benefit from your luck from time to time." Hila told the truth.

Then, Hila turned and looked at Han Xiao. She sized him up and saw that he had not lost an arm or a leg; she was relieved. Her lips moved slightly like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she only nodded.

This time, Hadavy suddenly said, "I just heard you captured a Beyond Grade A. Where is he?"

With that brought up, everyone was curious. This was the first time their Army Commander had defeated a Beyond Grade A head-on, so they all wanted to see the Beyond Grade A captive.

Han Xiao smiled and told his mechanical army to bring Dylan in. Dylan was restrained by machinery all over his body like a metal mummy, only showing his face.

Such restraints could not limit the movements of a Beyond Grade A, but Dylan knew that he had been abandoned and that it was meaningless to resist deep behind enemy lines. He had no choice but to accept the fact that he was now a captive.

The Black Star Guards all approached and sized him up, talking about him right under his nose.

"Defeated in just one blow? You're so weak."

"What are you talking about? The Army Commander is just too strong!" Hadavy said with anger.

"Right, right, right!"

Dylan was furious. As a powerful Beyond Grade A, he was now being observed like a zoo animal. He almost wanted to use his Esper Ability to teach these Calamity Grades a lesson.

Even in this state, he could not endure being shamed by these people!

Having noticed energy flowing, Han Xiao said with a hostile tone, "You want to resist?"

"Tell your subordinates to piss off!" Dylan roared. "Don't think that you can humiliate me just because you captured me. Even in this state, I can still kill them easily."

"Oh, you reminded me. Tying you up like this doesn't seem safe enough."

Han Xiao smiled faintly. He took out the Spacetime Amber and made Dylan hover in midair.

The Black Star Guards knew the effect of this thing. They all backed away, sneering.

Seeing their expressions, Dylan suddenly had a bad feeling and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, you're already a captive. Not only will I not hurt you, but I will also guarantee your safety." Han Xiao chuckled. "Trust me, I will absolutely not let you get hurt."

Han Xiao activated the Spacetime Amber. After some time, it finally surrounded Dylan entirely, and Han Xiao immediately cut off the energy supply. Dylan was a captive, so he had more than enough time to create plenty of amber.

The next moment, the spacetime solidified and formed an amber ball, freezing Dylan within. His puzzled expression was fixed on his face.

"This way, there's no need to waste manpower watching him." Han Xiao chuckled.

Hadavy knocked on the amber ball and giggled. "Can you kill me easily now?"

Dylan was frozen but could still sense the outside world. Realizing that he could not move his body at all, he was stupefied.

So, this is the ability that sealed the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter. This isn't Black Star's ability!

Other than the Evolution Cube, Black Star has another Universal Treasure‽

After teasing the immobile Dylan for a while, the Black Star Guards left one after another. After a huge battle, they were all tired and went to rest.

Having watched everyone leave, Han Xiao opened the interface.

He finally had some time to check the losses and gains of this battle.