Chapter 948: Stirring Up Trouble (Revised)

Chapter 948: Stirring Up Trouble (Revised)

At that very moment, a piercing alarm blared from an Imperial military outpost not far from this ancient battlefield planet.

"Alert! Alert! High-energy reaction source detected, burst frequency 9.17b/ms, energy spectrum shift index +78.7 to +134.5, calculating energy fluctuation model... Calculation complete, model type - Anupol-type shockwave, matching database cases... Match complete, probabilities as follows - [Dimensional Rift Opening] 42%, [High-Dimensional Deity Descent (Ethereal)] 31%, [Primordial Nether Energy Contamination] 24%, [Supernova Sudden Collapse] 4%, [Super-A-Class Self-Detonation] 88%... Initiating Protocol K-0081, immediately dispatch unmanned vessels for on-site exploration."

Wooo—

The sirens wailed, and the soldiers in the military outpost sprang into action at once, returning to their respective posts. The pilots rushed to the outpost's drone cockpit, activating the virtual piloting systems. Immediately after, the outpost's hangar released a swarm of short-range jump drones, which, under the pilots' remote control, transformed into streaks of light shooting toward the coordinates of the energy eruption.

They soon arrived at the coordinates, spotting a fleet hovering in the planet's outer space from afar. At this moment, terrifying energy waves repeatedly washed over the entire planet, turning the atmosphere of this ancient battlefield world into a boiling cauldron of chaos.

"This is the Crimson Empire's unmanned reconnaissance unit, identify yourselves immediately!"

The moment the two parties made contact, the Imperial sentinels immediately opened the wide-area network frequency to demand identification, while simultaneously activating a three-dimensional scan to sweep the fleet's vessels from a distance.

Upon checking, they were instantly taken aback; it was none other than the Black Star Legion's fleet.

At this time, Aurora connected the communication, "This is the fleet personally led by Black Star. What are you doing here?"

Seeing that they were friendly forces, the Imperial sentinels instantly relaxed, their attitudes suddenly becoming friendly and enthusiastic.

"We detected a high-energy reaction. What happened here?" The Imperial sentinel gestured toward the anomalous phenomena on the planet.

"Black Star did this. He's right there on the planet."

"That's Black Star?"

Thinking of the probabilities calculated by the data, all the Imperial sentinels were thoroughly shocked.

Could it really be the highest probability, [Super-A-Class Self-Detonation]?

Did Black Star just blow himself up?!

At this thought, a sudden heaviness gripped the hearts of the many Imperial sentinels, a wave of sorrow rising within them.

"Has His Excellency Black Star... died in the line of duty?!"

"Huh?"

Aurora was bewildered.

What was going on? Why were they cursing him out of nowhere?

After a round of explanations, the Imperial sentinels finally realized they had misunderstood the situation.

It wasn't entirely their fault for misunderstanding; data matching had always been highly reliable, and before Han Xiao, the life sublimation of Super-A-Class beings was a subtle, gradual process. Never before had a Super-A-Class stepped into a higher realm in a single bound.

Han Xiao's rapid advancement had condensed the process countless times over, and the resulting energy fluctuations stacked upon each other to a terrifying degree. The Imperial sentinels had never encountered such a situation before, and with no corresponding examples in the database, a misjudgment was inevitable.

However, starting today, Han Xiao would become the first reference case in the database... and perhaps the only one.

Since they had already come, the Imperial sentinels didn't leave immediately. Instead, they moved alongside the Black Star fleet to jointly observe the anomalous phenomena on the planet and collect data.

Aurora had initially intended to drive them away, but after a moment's thought, she decided not to stop the Empire's actions.

The Black Star Legion had been under considerable pressure lately and was in dire need of opportunities to boost their prestige. The Empire's investigation would, on the one hand, increase the attention from the Empire's high command, and on the other hand, allow them to leverage the Empire's influence to further elevate Black Star's reputation... Having followed Han Xiao for so long, Aurora's way of thinking had grown increasingly similar to his.

...

After a while, the high-energy reaction on the planet gradually subsided, passing its peak eruption phase.

The process of metamorphosis slowly drew to a close. The cells gradually quieted down from their highly active state, the uncontrolled dissipation of energy dwindling, and the pain receding like a retreating tide.

Opening his interface, Han Xiao summarized the enhancements from this advancement. First, in terms of racial sublimation, the exclusive talents of the Black Spirit Race had improved, bringing greater bonuses.

Do not underestimate the 0.1x increase in the total affinity coefficient; for Han Xiao, it meant at least several hundred points of increased Mechanical Affinity, not to mention the effect of Mechanical Skills +1.

The two racial talents brought by species evolution were the core abilities of the race, all of which were growth-type talents. [Void Divine Power] brought a total bonus of 4,500 attribute points, as well as a 30% increase in ability strength, which was also an ability born from the metamorphosis of the Void Evolution system.

[Telkes Mechanical Legacy] currently provided an extra 360% Mechanical Affinity, but the core of this talent lay in the special blueprints unlocked at different levels, all of which were the crystallized essence of the race's scientific research.

Han Xiao browsed through some of the special blueprints, which were all exceptionally high-quality equipment, expanding his blueprint library. Several of the technologies left him in awe, requiring time to slowly digest.

The Saint Telkes Race perished during the Exploration Era, for reasons similar to those of the Evolver Civilization, but their records were not lost. Most of the technology left behind by this civilization was received and assimilated by the Shining Federation, adding a massive branch to their technological tree. It was said that when they built the [High-Dimensional Apocalypse Transmitter], they borrowed some of the Saint Telkes Race's technology.

The special blueprints unlocked at level 300 involved multiple fields and were all extremely difficult to manufacture. However, there were no golden equipment blueprints among them. Han Xiao estimated that the cosmic treasure blueprints of the Saint Telkes Race would only appear in the level 360 unlocks.

As for his class advancement, he now stood on the same starting line as Manison, the Mechanic Nation, yet the gap still existed. What the Throne Mechanic had, Manison also had, but what Manison had, Han Xiao did not... such as the Perfect Mechanical Sense he had long yearned for, and his exclusive expertise.

However, in terms of being a meat shield, Han Xiao was far ahead, leaving Manison far behind. Although his core mechanical abilities were slightly inferior to Manison's, his capabilities in other areas had closed the gap between them.

Nevertheless, due to the existence of the Key of the Mechanical Deity expertise, the true strength of the Mechanic Nation was unfathomable. Over all these years, he had always been recognized as the pinnacle of mechanics in the explored universe, gathering an unknown number of Mechanical Deity cult followers. His position was unshakeable; if the followers were measured in ten measures, he alone held eight.

The Key of the Mechanical Deity provided an all-around enhancement, offering percentage bonuses to basic attributes, mechanical affinity, manufacturing efficiency, creation performance, and ability strength.

Just thinking about the Mechanic Nation's massive following gave Han Xiao pressure—only upon reaching the same tier as others could one truly realize just how formidable they were.

"To fully unleash the effects of this expertise, I will inevitably have to compete with the Mechanic Nation for status within the Mechanical Deity cult. Only by standing as his equal in mechanics can I snatch away his followers..."

Han Xiao shook his head. He hadn't really wanted to provoke Manison, but now Manison had become an obstacle on his path forward.

I'm afraid that once Manison learns I've reached this level, he will also see me as an obstacle.

A mountain cannot hold two tigers.

"It's too early to talk about this now. I need a lot of time to familiarize myself with my new abilities. It's not yet time to arm wrestle with Manison."

Han Xiao exhaled, suppressing his worries. He browsed through his newly acquired abilities once more, and casually dumped all the free attribute points granted by Mechanical Force Sublimation: Heart of the Creator into Intelligence.

After completing this step, Han Xiao finally reviewed his entire attribute panel:

[Total Level: 301]

[Main Class: Mechanical]

[Race: Black Star Race]

[Attributes: Strength 6736, Agility 6405, Endurance 9664, Intelligence 17453, Mystery 5230, Charm 1368, Luck 1]

[Free Attribute Points: 15]

[Potential Points: 7]

[Health Points: 9,695,991]

[Stamina: 7,832,880]

[Esoteric Energy: 128,452 [Lv19]]

[Lv19 Esoteric Energy Total Bonus: Strength +2026, Agility +2488, Endurance +3120, Intelligence +3425, Mystery +1923, Max Stamina +681520, Mechanical Affinity +2712% (Super Electromagnetic Induction)]

[Energy Level: 71130]

[Grade: Ss]

[S-Grade Bonus: Extra Endurance Bonus +100, All Resistances +35%, Highest Attribute +32%, Other Attributes +20%, Extra 750 Free Attribute Points, 50 Potential Points]

[You have touched the pinnacle of personal might. The path ahead has no predecessors. You are now the pioneer!]

"Hiss..." Seeing the massive changes in the attribute panel, Han Xiao drew in a sharp breath.

At level 280, his energy level was around 53,000, and now it had increased by nearly 20,000, though not all of this was due to the recent advancement.

During this period, he had learned all class knowledge to activate extra expertise, obtained the Bracers of Mighty Strength from the Dragon Throne, and accumulated his Esoteric Energy to the Lv19 realm... All these factors stacked together gave him such a massive increase.

The changes in attributes were also terrifying; his Intelligence had nearly doubled. This included the 2,000 points from Omni-Mechanic, the 1,600-plus points from Void Divine Power and attribute completion, and the 2,300-plus free attribute points from Mechanical Force Sublimation: Heart of the Creator, resulting in a colossal increase.

His Endurance had also improved, with his health points approaching the ten million mark. Among the Super-A-Class beings he currently knew, only the old dragon probably had more health than him, leaving even Little Overlord far behind.

"So the rank has reached Ss..." Han Xiao nodded silently.

His energy level surged, and the S-rank bonuses increased accordingly; the endurance bonus rose from fifty to a hundred, with other effects also seeing a certain degree of enhancement.

This rank was what was commonly known as the peak of the Beyond Class A.

Ss was higher than S+, yet it still fell within the S-rank category, lacking the qualitative transformation of a realm like the shift from Calamity Grade to Beyond Class A—what the Alien God pursued was to shatter the boundaries of the Ss rank and forge an entirely new tier of combat prowess.

Han Xiao glanced at the upgrade cost and, as expected, saw it had skyrocketed.

The experience accumulated during Version 3.0 was nearly spent, and with his meager remaining reserves, he could only level up three or four more times at best, which was of little significance.

Han Xiao decided against leveling up, choosing to save his experience for skill upgrades, which offered a far better return on investment.

"During the version update, leveling up again won't be easy; I need to stabilize, digest these new abilities, and then begin a long-term accumulation..." Han Xiao mused inwardly.

The greatest gap between himself and the Mechanic Kingdom lay in the vast wealth accumulated over many years.

Having sorted through the abilities gained from this advancement, Han Xiao stretched his incredibly relaxed limbs, then took to the air and flew back to his flagship.

Numerous executives had been waiting there for a long time, their gazes fixed upon him, a mixture of shock, envy, and astonishment.

Han Xiao's evolutionary process had truly shattered everyone's perception, leaving a profound shock rippling through their hearts.

"How on earth did you manage that?"

Hadaway couldn't help but ask, his eyes gleaming with a green light like a wolf's, as if he were itching to strip Han Xiao bare and examine him inside out to see exactly which part was different.

Han Xiao shot him a sidelong glance. "If you spent the time you waste playing cards on training, you might have reached Beyond Class A long ago."

"Yeah, right." Hadaway snapped back, flushed with anger and embarrassment.

Aurora pressed her lips together and asked with concern, "Could there be any aftereffects from doing this?"

She felt that this method of sublimation defied common sense and was far too drastic, likely to result in adverse consequences.

"Aftereffects, hmm..." Han Xiao pondered thoughtfully. "If getting more handsome counts as an aftereffect, then I'm probably terminally ill."

"Just shut up."

Aurora rolled her eyes.

Although you are indeed quite charming, I must say... I have never seen anyone so brazenly shameless!

However, the worry in her heart was considerably alleviated.

Black Star knew her abilities well; if there were truly anything wrong, he would have long been pestering her for life essence.

Fordin stepped forward, gave Han Xiao a gentle hug, and smiled sincerely, "Congratulations."

He had witnessed Han Xiao's leap from Calamity Grade to Beyond Class A during the Secret War, and was now the only calm person among all those present... his trust in Han Xiao's potential far exceeded anyone's imagination.

Just then, the Imperial Sentinel Fleet not far away also sent over a message of greeting.

"Greetings, Lord Black Star."

"Oh, when did you arrive?" Han Xiao, immersed in his new abilities, hadn't noticed them earlier.

"We've been here for a while." The Imperial Sentinel hesitated to speak. "Lord Black Star, what you just did..."

"Hehe, it's nothing major, just a slight improvement in my strength," Han Xiao chuckled.

Hearing this, the Imperial Sentinel was left speechless.

With such a massive commotion, you tell me it's just a slight improvement? Do you take me for a child of fifty?

"Ahem, Lord Black Star, regarding the situation here, we will report it truthfully. Do you have any objections?" the Imperial Sentinel suppressed his inner complaints and asked cautiously.

Normally, he would have just reported it according to procedure, but having just witnessed the entire process of Han Xiao's advancement, he dared not fail to ask for his opinion.

Han Xiao nodded, unconcerned:

"It doesn't matter, just report it as it is."

Anyway, this couldn't be hidden, and he was more than happy for the Empire's high command to know his strength had grown again; it would be even better if it could coax a few more funds out of the Empire.

The Imperial Sentinel was pleased, offered a word of thanks, and then departed, transforming into a streak of warp light to return.

Watching the Imperial reconnaissance team depart into the distance, Han Xiao withdrew his gaze, narrowed his eyes, and a sharp gleam flashed within them.

Now that the advancement was complete, it was time to follow the established plan and give the Dominator a little trouble, lest he escalate things further!

It was also the perfect opportunity to test just how far his combat prowess had come.

Heh heh, little Dominator, I'm coming to play with you!

...

Shattered Star Ring, Black Star Legion Headquarters, the Legion Commander's exclusive mechanical warehouse.

In the pitch-black and silent room, the sound of mechanical devices activating suddenly rang out.

Pshh—

An equipment maintenance box was opened from the inside, and two blinding beams of light emerged from the darkness.

A mechanical shell stepped out, its eyes now shining with the brilliance of the sun, bearing Han Xiao's consciousness.

Glancing back, he snapped his fingers, and a streak of dazzling blue-gold mechanical energy surged forth, activating every equipment box in the warehouse.

Clack, clack, clack—

One box after another opened in succession, and all the stored mechanical soldiers were activated, stepping out one by one.

The mechanical shell took long strides, leading the pitch-black reserve mechanical legion, marching out of the warehouse in grand procession.

The Sovereign descends!

...

At the same time, in the War Domain.

Clink!

Two crystal glasses touched, emitting a crisp sound, the liquor within swirling and sloshing.

In the grand hall stood a long, luxurious dining table, laden with an abundance of exquisite dishes.

Only two people were in the room at the moment: Heber and the host possessed by Sorokin's consciousness, sitting opposite each other and raising their glasses for a toast.

This was a meeting to celebrate their success.

"Thanks to Lord Dominator's influence during this period, our cooperation has entered the right track. Working with you has been a great pleasure," Sorokin said with a smile, taking a small sip of his wine.

"Hmph, we each take what we need, that's all."

Although Sorokin was a veritable money tree, Heber had no particular fondness for him; showing no warmth, he downed his drink in one gulp and casually set the glass down.

However, the glass was placed on the edge of the table and failed to stand firmly; it wobbled for a moment before tipping toward the floor.

Heber was about to reach out and catch it, but for some reason, he suddenly frowned and stopped, watching helplessly as the glass fell.

Crash!

The glass hit the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces.

"Hmm? What's wrong with you?" Sorokin asked in confusion. With their level of strength, it was impossible not to react in time; he had no idea why Heber had frozen.

Heber stared at the shards of the broken glass on the floor, his brows tightly knit.

He knew not why, but in that fleeting instant, a sudden tremor gripped his heart.

As though some dire misfortune were poised to strike.