One day later, on Planet Apostle, Han Xiao and Aurora walked into the research lab, stopped before SWY-001, and looked up at this enormous mechanical body.
Aurora turned and looked at Han Xiao. “Are you sure about waking this big guy up?”
“Hmm.” Han Xiao nodded.
“Why the sudden change of mind?” Aurora asked.
“I’ve already finished studying it. There’s nothing valuable left in it. It’s time to wake it up and see if we can communicate.”
Han Xiao made up a random reason.
“Alright then, whatever you say.” Aurora rubbed her hands and said with anticipation, “Shall I start now?”
Han Xiao nodded, snapped his finger, and Mechanical Force flowed out. Mechanical soldiers appeared one after another, holding their weapons up in battle stances. At the same time, all the devices used to restrict SWY-001’s movements also started to operate at maximum power output. Seeing this, Aurora extended her arms with her palms up; life energy appeared and flowed into SWY-001. In her senses, SWY-001’s almost extinguished tinder of life started to quickly come alive.
Even without the life energy Esper ability, Han Xiao could sense an enormous energy presence slowly awakening. In his senses, SWY-001’s cells started generating Mechanical Force, and the countless slumbering mechanical modules inside its body gradually started to operate.
SWY-001’s broken mechanical body started regenerating at a visible speed. The mechanical devices used to restrain him started to break down as if they were going to become materials for SWY-001 to recover its own body.
Ka la ka la…
Mechanical parts awakening could be heard in SWY-001’s body. The core reactor activated along with a deep and weird roar, like the sound of a beast awakening.
Aurora cautiously moved back a bit while Han Xiao moved forward and stood in front of her, staring closely at the various parameter changes SWY-001 was going through during the awakening
Suddenly, an enormous Mechanical Force exploded on the mechanical body and instantly flowed through its entire body. SWY-001’s eyelids flickered, and its eyes slowly opened. There was no color in its eyes, as if it had slept for too long and its mind was blurry, trying to recall who it was.
After staying frozen for a very long time, it finally recalibrated its consciousness and started moving its body. SWY-001 looked around, looked down at Han Xiao who was also giving off a powerful energy presence, opened its mouth, and sent out deafening sound waves as if it was speaking.
“What is he saying?” Aurora asked. Without even turning around, Han Xiao casually explained, “This is the language of his civilization. He’s asking who we are and where this place is.”
He obtained a lot of information from SWY-001’s memory file, which naturally included the various languages of the Karma Republic.
Han Xiao was relieved about this too. Luckily, SWY-001’s consciousness was still intact. Otherwise, he probably would have had no choice but to use the Sanctums.
As he was just about to speak with SWY-001, a change suddenly occurred.
Boom!
Boundless Mechanical Force exploded. The restraining devices instantly shattered and were devoured by SWY-001. Its enormous mechanical body dashed like a giant beast, instantly shattering the wall of the lab and backing away. At the same time, the shattered parts rapidly turned into all kinds of weapon modules that attached to its body and started firing at Han Xiao.
Beams shot out one after another at Han Xiao. Without even moving, the mechanical troops around him summoned shields and blocked the attacks.
“He’s running away.” “It’s normal given he’s just woken up. Plus, he can’t run,” Han Xiao said casually. The last thing SWY-001 remembered was being defeated by the World Tree Civilization, so he probably thought he had been captured by them.
Having expected this possibility, Han Xiao had disassembled SWY-001’s many weapon modules long ago and stationed tons of mechanical life soldiers nearby.
The two of them entered space through the hole SWY-001 created and immediately saw what seemed to be an infinite number of mechanical troops surrounding this SWY-001 in the middle, who was about to attempt to escape. At this time, dozens of Apostle Weapons suddenly stepped forward. Han Xiao’s Mechanical Force landed on their bodies from some distance away, and these Apostle Weapons charged toward SWY-001, quickly gaining the upper hand.
After the fight with the three Universal Civilizations ended, Han Xiao had the Dimension Factory repair damaged soldiers every hour of the day, prioritizing the Apostle Weapons. The Apostle Weapons had almost fully recovered.
With the muscles on his body bulking, blood gushed out, weaving into flesh. The mechanical soldiers around swarmed toward him, and the evolved version of the Mechanical Deity instantly appeared.
He did not hold back and charged forward, pouncing at SWY-001 and beating him up fiercely. It was like two gigantic mechanical beasts fighting.
Han Xiao had the upper hand in all of his attributes, while SWY-001’s modules were disassembled, and it was far from its peak state. It was completely overwhelmed and no match for Han Xiao.
Since he fought the direct members of the three Universal Civilizations, Han Xiao had concluded the missions from then and received 520 billion EXP, eight Character Summon Cards, and six new skills.
Among them, two were normal talents, two were high-level talents, one was a rare ability, and one was a Molding Talent, which came from Wuornos. The Molding Talent’s name was (Divinity Enhancement). The effects increased the strength of some of his abilities and tremendously enhanced the bonuses of the various God’s Trait Transformation levels while enhancing the bonuses of talents related to religion, including (Key of Adeptus Mechanicus).
These missions also brought him three Universe Legendary Points. They were [Strongest Beyond Grade A), (Creator of the Most Legendary Battle), and (The Three Universal Civilizations’ Source of Fear).
Other than that, he also completed Manison’s request mission by forcing the three Universal Civilizations’ fleet to retreat, so he got one of Manison’s skills too. It seemed like all the luck from Feidin was concentrated into this draw. He once again obtained one of old Manison’s Unique Talents. Its name was (Ultimate Mechanical Force-Manison). It enhanced the Mechanical Force itself, tremendously increasing his Machinery Affinity and the strength of his Mechanical Force. It also increased the attributes of his Mechanical Force and his maximum energy.
Though the talent was great, having already obtained three of Manison’s Unique Talents, he felt more and more like the Mechanic Emperor himself.
All these bonuses gave him a total 2,740-Ona increase in his Energy Rank. Bringing his Energy Rank up by such a considerable amount even at his current level, the impact on his combat capability was visible. Compared to back then, he was much stronger. The battle with the three Universal Civilizations became the nutrients for his growth.
Peak-state Han Xiao versus SWY-001, who did not even have a complete body—there was no suspense to the battle at all. The best method of convincing someone was usually with his fists. After a beating, SWY-001 was finally forced to speak calmly.
While beating SWY-001 up, Han Xiao sent messages at the same time to explain the current situation.
“Stop resisting. This is not the World Tree Civilization; we’re another advanced civilization. You dropped into our territory and were found by me…”
After explaining repeatedly, along with the very convincing fists of his, SWY-001 finally stopped resisting and communicated back, though still doubtful.
In the quantum network, the data exchange between the two parties was completed in a blink of the eye. SWY-001 knew that Han Xiao had looked at his memory module, and he also saw some information about the galactic society. He believed Han Xiao for the most part but still said in a panicky tone, “I can’t stay here. My civilization is waiting for me…”
His voice was like a mixture of the voices of countless people, strangely ethereal. His memories remained at when he was attacked and collapsed, so did not see the Karma Republic destroyed.
Han Xiao shook his head and said, “I’ve tested your age. You’ve already drifted in the universe for a very long time. In the terms of our time, what happened to your civilization was 600 years ago. Your civilization is long gone.”
SWY-001 froze as if he was lost.
Protecting his civilization till his death was the top priority written into him, as well as the reason he was born in the first place.
“I need to confirm,” SWY-001 replied.
“If you’re willing to provide the coordinates, we can help you check it… but we need your help too. It’s an equal trade.” “Help?”
“We’re facing the same threat; you’re the only survivor we know, so we need your help… Your civilization is destroyed, but if you want revenge, we can work together,” Han Xiao explained.
SWY-001 thought about it for a while then nodded in the end. He did not have much of a choice anyway, since he could not defeat Han Xiao. “… If that is true, I’ll help you.”
Plus, in his fundamental logic, there was code for revenge too—while keeping himself alive, he should take revenge against the World Tree Civilization if his civilization was destroyed. Furthermore, if his civilization was really wiped out, he would have nowhere to go anyway, so fighting alongside another civilization against the World Tree Civilization matched his goal.
“I’ll arrange to have you meet the rulers of this territory after some time then. I need you to convince them of some things and help them to see the threat of the World Tree Civilization.”
Han Xiao paused for a moment.
“I gave you a name, but you probably wouldn’t like it. What do you want me to call you?”
“… Just call me Herberlon.”
The communication between the two of them happened very quickly. Herberlon no longer resisted, letting the several Apostle Weapons take him away. There were still a lot of things he had to learn about galactic society, but Han Xiao was not going to let him connect to the internet freely; he had sealed it up using his Virtual Technology.
Only then did Han Xiao deactivate the Mechanical Deity and relax.
“That went smoother than expected… Hmm, probably thanks to my strength.”
If he was not able to control Herberlon, Herberlon would have definitely run away seeking the answers on his own. However, with his strength, this problem was solved easily. The method was simple, brutal, but effective. No way would Herberlon be so easily convinced had Han Xiao not defeated him.
Han Xiao opened the interface; (Visitor from Afar] was already shown as complete. The rating depended on how much SWY-001 had recovered, so the rating was very high. Although he disassembled a ton of his mechanical parts, because of Aurora, the rating increased tremendously. The reward of this mission itself was not high; the most useful reward was only a Herberlon Character Summon Card. The key to this mission was the unknown impact waking Herberlon up would cause to the current situation of the explored universe.
While Han Xiao was concluding the reward, Aurora slowly flew over to him with her face filled with curiosity. He did not know what Han Xiao talked to Herberlon about, nor did she know where Herberlon came from.
“What did you just say to him? What’s with this big guy?”
“He comes from a lost civilization, a wanderer who lost his home. As for the details, it’s a secret. I have plans for him.”
“Tsk, fine.”
Knowing Han Xiao did not want her to ask more, Aurora curled her limps and snorted.
Aurora then said, “By the way, what are the Underworld Hero Spirits I revived going to do? They’re still standing by; do you want me to revert them back to their spirit forms?” “No need, keep them this way as a secret army. They’ll be of use one day.” “Is it to guard against the three Universal Civilizations?” Aurora asked subtly. The outside world did not know what was going on between the association and the three Universal Civilizations now.
“It’s part of the reason but not the main one.” Han Xiao shook his head. “I’ve already spoken to the leaders of the three Universal Civilizations. If things go well, the two sides are probably going to call it a truce.” Shocked, Aurora said, “What? What agreement did you guys make that the three Universal Civilizations are even willing to take a step back!”
“It’s a secret for now, so I can’t tell you… but I’ll host a plenary after some time to explain the detailed terms. You’ll know then.”
More than half a month passed quickly. With concentrated attention of the galactic society, the three Universal Civilizations and the Beyond Grade A Association seemed to have really stopped fighting and were minding their own business.
As all kinds of speculations were blooming, the three Universal Civilizations who had remained silent for more than half a month finally made a joint announcement, causing an earthquake in the entire galactic society.
The three Universal Civilizations claimed that when the situation was spiraling out of control, they decided to take a step back, with the safety of the galactic society in mind. After thorough consideration, in the end, they decided not to burn the galactic society with the flames of war.
At the same time, they stated they had agreed with the association and came up with reasonable measures to deal with the virus… As for what exactly that was, not a single thing was mentioned.
As for the Beyond Grade A Association, they gave the three Universal Civilizations face and agreed with this claim, stating it was the truth and that there was no conspiracy.
At least on the surface, the reason the three Universal Civilizations made this huge military move was the Virtual Mutiny Virus. As long as this problem was ‘solved’, it made sense for them to retreat, despite the claims being quite ambiguous to say the least. They just called it confidential, and there was nothing the galactic residents could do about
However, what caused an uproar among the galactic residents was the second half of the three Universal Civilizations’ joint announcement—they shockingly removed the trade sanctions against the association all of the sudden!
Everyone was dumbfounded. They were almost at war not long ago, yet they were making peace with each other? What in the world happened?
Had the three Universal Civilizations given up dealing with the imbalance of individual strength? What agreements did the two sides make? Were the three Universal Civilizations so afraid they dared not strike?
Many people subconsciously thought of how Black Star single-handedly defeated all of the three Universal Civilizations’ direct members. Although they knew very well the three Universal Civilizations most likely did not retreat because of how unbelievably strong Black Star was, they could not help themselves from thinking in this direction… Were the three Universal Civilizations really afraid?
Seeing how the three Universal Civilizations and the Beyond Grade A Association quickly turned from aiming at each other’s throat to peace, countless members of the public felt complicated and somewhat discouraged. They felt like their feelings did not matter at all.
When eras changed, for better or worse, they could only accept it.
However, although the two sides stopped fighting, since the three Universal Civilizations expressed such a firm and aggressive stand earlier, this result undoubtedly made people feel like the Beyond Grade A Association had won.
This was one of the extremely few examples of a civilian organization forcing the three Universal Civilizations to take a step back. The reputation of the Beyond Grade A Association that had been reducing over the time suddenly rocketed, attracting all the attention in the galactic society.
Although voices of cursing the Supers never disappeared completely, they were lost in the sea of compliments. Many people’s faces were hurting from this hard slap of an ending, no longer daring to voice out against the trending public opinion.
The Super Star Cluster Alliance was really the most dumbfounded party.
That’s it? You guys aren’t breaking up anymore?
How are we going to have a chance with the association if you guys don’t quarrel?
Are we going to be abandoned again?
Being a spare tire… is so bitter!
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