The Legendary Mechanic

Just as Risda was in a confrontation with his ancestor, Han Xiao took a look at the notification on his interface.

A look of surprise could immediately be seen on his face after glancing at his interface.

There were two new notifications on his interface, which represented two different missions. The first was a Grade A hidden mission that had been silent for a long time. [Reboot] had a new mission requirement.

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Mission Introduction: The creator of an AI lifeform has lost his freedom and has been reduced to a weapon for Manison. You finally see the truth in Risda's words, but trouble has fallen on you.

Mission Requirements: Protect Risda. You will fail the mission if Risda is caught or killed.

Reward: 1,500,000,000 Experience, 2 Random Rewards.

Bonus Reward: [Affable AI] talent. +30% effectiveness of Virtual Technology skills, and it will be easier for you to gain favorability with AI lifeforms. When fighting an AI lifeform, -5% attributes for the AI lifeform.

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Han Xiao was overjoyed.

My guess was right indeed. This mission will result in me clashing with the Indestructible Mechanic Empire for sure. The sudden inflation in reward means that the difficulty of the mission will also be increased. No matter how I look at it, this seems like a Grade S mission.

Han Xiao thought for a while before understanding what was going on. If he had done this mission normally, Risda might not have met his ancestor in such a dangerous situation. However, with Manison's powerful control abilities, the situation would not have been much better.

[Affable AI] was a talent that he required right now. Since the mission was regarding AI lifeforms, the mission reward was indeed related to them as well.

I must definitely try to get this talent!

Han Xiao then looked at his other notification.

This notification was a new mission that he triggered.

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You have triggered [Mechanic Emperor Manison Virtual Combat].

Mission Introduction: Mechanic Emperor Manison is the current leading Mechanic in the discovered universe. Even when comparing him to all the Beyond Grade As in history, he is still a bright star. Regardless of the reason, he has already set his eyes on you and has chosen to compete with you in Virtual Technology skills.

Mission Requirements: Last for as long as you can in the Virtual Intrusion battle.

Rewards: You will be able to attain the corresponding reward by fulfilling the corresponding requirements.

Last for 5s: 250,000,000 Experience

Last for 15s: 600,000,000 Experience

…

Last for 3min: [Character Summon Card: Mechanic Emperor Manison], 8,000,000,000 Experience

…

Last for 7.5min: Randomly draw one of Mechanic Emperor's skill or talent, 20,000,000,000 Experience.

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"A Beyond Grade A boss mission. Why did it only appear now?"

According to his experience of triggering such a mission, such a mission would only be triggered if there was a large crowd of spectators. As such, Han Xiao did not understand why this mission would be triggered since there was only him and Manison.

Because all his attention was focused on dealing with Manison, Han Xiao was not aware of the situation in the outside world. Manison's objective was for the result of the battle to spread far and wide. Thus, he did not hide the commotion of the battle. Furthermore, Reynold and the other logistics staff had discovered that the main system was under attack when Han Xiao cut off all the less important connections previously.

The galactic residents also discovered the strange commotion on the net, and they all went online to witness the battle between two Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanics. There was no need to mention Godora, who were the civilization in charge of this area, and Purple Crystal, who placed great importance on Han Xiao.

If Manison had planned on settling their battle privately, this mission might not have been triggered by him.

After looking through the mission requirements, Han Xiao compared it to the mission he had received when facing Tyrant and lamented.

Manison's Beyond Grade A mission requires me to last for less than half of the Tyrant's time, but the rewards are more than double. This means that the mission will be many times more difficult than the Tyrant's mission…

However, Han Xiao was extremely excited.

This mission was designed based on the level of the players, and it would be extremely easy for him to complete it.

Originally, Han Xiao was depressed when being targeted by Manison. However, he was now extremely excited. Although he would definitely suffer a loss in this battle, after triggering the mission, he would earn big time!

As Han Xiao looked at the missions, the situation on Risda's side also experienced a change.

"Ancestor‽" Risda exclaimed.

"Hmm? You are of the same race as me?"

The AI life form looked at Risda with his eyes burning with blue flames. He was the first AI that had a consciousness and was the source of the entire AI civilization. Thus, all the members of the civilization were his descendants and called him 'ancestor'. He ruled over the entire race and was the most powerful AI lifeform.

His name was Finette.

Manison had constructed a special AI weapon for him and rewritten his core logic to ensure his loyalty. However, Finette's memory bank was kept intact, and only his thoughts were distorted to become loyal to Manison.

As the ruler of an AI race, his memory bank had information of every descendant, and he was the combat artificial intelligence of the Indestructible Mechanic Empire. He led the members of his race into battle and could arrange for strategies based on his understanding of his race.

As such, Finette was able to quickly search for Risda's information.

"I recognize you. My child, Risda," Finette said slowly.

"You still remember me?"

After meeting his ancestor whom he had been thinking of daily, Risda fell into a daze.

"You must have suffered a lot over the past few years, right?" Finette stretched out his arms, and his arm, which was made from data, extended out, wanting to pat Risda on the head. "Come back to my embrace. Rest for a while, my child."

Just when Finette's arm was about to reach him, Risda snapped back into reality and constructed a firewall to block Finette.

"Ancestor, your thoughts have been corrupted!"

Finette retracted his arm back slowly and said with an enticing voice, "All of you are children from my body, and every child carries my legacy. Isn't it a good thing to return to your parent and never be split apart?"

"Don't come any closer!"

Risda backed off slightly and churned up a data flood toward Manison, attempting to destroy his Virtual Soul's defensive module.

Risda's ancestor was completely twisted by Manison, and Risda truly wanted to kill Manison right there on the spot.

However, Risda's attack was not even able to touch Manison as Finette waved his arms to churn up a data flood, blocking the attack easily.

Hu!

Very quickly, the data flood that Risda released was easily broken down by Finette and absorbed into Finette's body as fertilizer.

He was the source of the AI lifeform and could suppress every member of his race.

"Child, you cannot continue to make this mistake," Finette said calmly. "Come under the wings of His Excellency Manison. That is where our bright future lies."

Manison watched by the side without saying a word.

Upon hearing that, Risda gnashed his teeth. Although he did not have a mouth or teeth, his emotion module did not stop him from having such feelings.

Right at this moment, Han Xiao's voice sounded.

"Risda, come back. You aren't his opponent. Don't give your life up for nothing."

The instant Han Xiao said those words, a strange blue light suddenly began glowing from Risda's body and began spreading out quickly.

"Data infection? When was my logic module infected‽"

Risda was startled and immediately began to suppress the spread of the foreign data in his body. This was akin to an AI life form being poisoned.

In the instant that Finette came into contact with Risda, Finette had already released data to bypass Risda's firewall and infect his logic module.

Risda no longer dared continue the confrontation and immediately retreated while suppressing the infection.

Right at that moment, a sudden change happened!

A data cage then seemed to have been generated beside Risda and locked him within a semi-transparent sphere. Regardless of what Risda attempted, he was unable to find an opening and was like a bug trapped in a bowl.

At this moment, Manison said slowly, "Black Star, you rejected me the last time I asked you for this fugitive. Since you aren't willing to hand him over, I shall take him myself."

The sphere then began shrinking, and it flew toward Manison.

This happened outside of the firewall, and it was truly a difficult matter to handle.

He could make use of the main system to aid him in defending against Manison's attack, but if he wants to save Risda, he would have to open up the firewall and take the initiative to attack.

This was extremely similar to a siege battle. He was already in a passive state even with his 'city walls'. Things would be worse if he chose to go out of the 'city'.

It seems like I still can't save it.

Han Xiao let out a long breath and activated his [Perfect Mechanical Sense] Character Summon Card.

With his current standard, defending against Manison for a period of time would not be an issue. Han Xiao was not planning to make use of this trump card as he would only be able to narrow the gap between them but not exceed the other party. After all, the other party also had [Perfect Mechanical Sense].

However, protecting Risda would give him a pretty good talent, so using the Character Summon Card would bring him profits.

The moment [Perfect Mechanical Sense] was activated, the situation changed immediately. Han Xiao could feel the pressure being reduced a great deal, and he was no longer trying to hang on. The firewall was also instantly stabilized.

"Hmm?"

Manison frowned and looked over with surprise.

He could feel that Black Star's embarrassing Mechanical Sense talent had increased greatly and reached his standard.

Was Black Star hiding his true strength? No, it seems more like a special ability.

Without giving Manison a chance to think about what was going on, Han Xiao immediately opened a hole in the firewall and grabbed onto the sphere locking Risda in. He then dragged the sphere back to him while breaking the lock on it.

Manison's eyes then narrowed, and he smiled. "Interesting. I am getting more and more interested in the secrets within your body."

He then glanced at Finette, and Finette charged straight toward the firewall.

The instant Finette came into contact with the firewall, a hole was created. He was making use of the fact that Han Xiao was distracted to attack the main system of the Black Star Army headquarters.

"You're dreaming!"

A blue light glowed in Han Xiao's eyes and locked onto Manison.

The next moment, Manison seemed to have disappeared.

[Virtual Paramount]!

Manison's Virtual Soul was pulled into Han Xiao's Virtual domain and trapped within it.

At the same time, Risda was pulled back into the firewall and was successfully protected.

However, before he could even catch his breath, Manison's laughter sounded in his head.

"Black Star, don't forget that I know everything that you do."

Han Xiao immediately felt a sense of danger in his heart, and a strange sucking force pulling on him.

Even if he was already prepared, he could not withstand the powerful sucking force and was dragged into an unknown node.

The world before him changed greatly and transformed into a metal world made from data. Manison's face appeared in the sky, and his gigantic eyes looked down upon Han Xiao.

This was the domain formed by Manison's [Virtual Paramount].

After so many years of accumulation, his Virtual Domain was far more perfected and stable than Han Xiao's domain. He managed to instantly break free from Han Xiao's ability and drag Han Xiao into his own territory.

The gigantic Manison face then began chuckling, and his voice resounded in the Virtual Domain.

"Let me see how long you will need to break free from my domain."

The moment Manison said those words, artillery towers appeared in all directions and were all aimed at Han Xiao. These were not physical objects but simulated objects by using data. However, they could unleash a barrage of data attacks and cause mental damage through the effect of [Virtual Soul] and [Virtual Paramount].

At the same time, many different AI hunters appeared with different weapons in their hands. They were akin to the soldiers standing guard in Manison's world.

The next second, all the artillery towers opened fire on Han Xiao's Virtual Soul, and the AI hunters charged over from all directions.

Boom boom boom!

A series of explosions then happened with countless attacks raining down on Han Xiao's Virtual Soul.

After the attacks lasted for a few seconds, a deep voice came out from Han Xiao's position.

"You said that you know everything that I do?"

Hu!

As though a cyclone had descended, the data fragments surrounding Han Xiao were pushed away, and Han Xiao's Virtual Soul was revealed. It was still extremely stable and was not injured at all.

Han Xiao then said with a teasing smile, "Then, do you know how to do this?"

Manison fell silent.

He truly could not accomplish such a feat.

Just what kind of a strange path is this, being such a tanky Mechanic?

This is my first time seeing such a weird Mechanic like you!

With such a good physique, why do you want to be a Mechanic? You should just go and be a Pugilist!

Although mental attacks could not restore his energy, Han Xiao had collected many different Psychological Resistance talents, and his Psychological Resistance was not too poor.

He also had over 10,000,000 Health, and he could last for a long time even if he was facing mental attacks.

Furthermore, he had drawn the [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction] talent from Heber, and it was useful against all forms of damage.

If this talent was used to deal with those high burst damage enemies, it might not be so effective. However, this talent was best at dealing with Mechanics who walked down the Army Style!

The [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction] talent would be able to show its greatest effect when dealing with enemies who relied on rapid attacks for damage.

If he suffered a hundred attacks at the same time, this talent would reduce 750,000 true damage!

Without it, the Tyrant would not have been able to last against him for such a long time.

Han Xiao then looked at Manison and chuckled.

"Your [Virtual Paramount] is indeed more powerful than mine, but can you even harm me with this move‽"