Chapter 986: God-Stabber, Gold Set Parts (Revised)

Chapter 986: God Piercer, Golden Set Component (Revised)

Committing the name of the shipbuilding company to memory, Han Xiao left the hangar and returned to his quarters. He remotely activated the mechanical troops at the headquarters of the Shattered Star Ring, boarded a starship, and took the cross-star domain stargate route toward the Ancient Star River.

Ever since acquiring the quantum distance-free transmission channels and the Sovereign Avatar, he had deployed mechanical troops across numerous bases, ready to descend as the Sovereign at a moment's notice to handle any unforeseen contingencies.

Manison commanded the most powerful Beyond Grade A faction in the Ancient Star River, while the Black Star Legion held little influence there. Now that relations between the Mechanical Nation and himself had plummeted to freezing point, he needed to tread carefully in another's territory. A young man, after all, must know how to protect himself.

No sooner had he remotely dispatched the mechanical troops than Nilo arrived, bearing the peculiar enchanted weapon he had mentioned.

"Godfather, this is the thing I was telling you about."

Han Xiao took the item of unknown origin from Nilo's hands and examined it closely.

It was a polearm styled as a cold weapon, snapped in half, leaving only the section with the spearhead. The entire piece was a dark cyan-black, with a texture resembling bronze, while a hazy golden radiance flowed across its surface like surging mana.

The moment he grasped the broken spear, a prompt popped up on his interface.

[God Piercer (Damaged)]

[Type: Enchanted Melee Weapon]

[Quality: Epic (Orange)]

[Equipment Requirement: Level 230 or above, 800 Strength, 1000 Agility, 600 Mystery]

[Attribute Bonus: Strength +146, Agility +171, Mystery +223]

[Basic Attributes: Base Attack Power 21000~24000, Durability 3755/9000, Energy Value: 744/15000]

[Enchantment: [God Piercing (Incomplete)] - When attacking a target above level 200, all damage dealt by this weapon is increased by 240%]

[Enchantment: [Advanced Enchantment: Phantom Swiftness] - Attack speed +60%. Each attack has a 1.5% chance to release a dual phantom strike, dealing 75% of the original attack's damage]

[Enchantment: [Divine Lock: Dual Qi Seal] - When you strike an opponent's physical or spiritual body, you have a 20% chance to inflict the [Qi Seal] status. The opponent cannot refine or mobilize qi. After this effect triggers, it has a 30-second cooldown before it can trigger again]

[Enchantment: [Psionic Torrent] - This rune can autonomously absorb various forms of energy to replenish its energy value and maintain all enchantment effects. Furthermore, when the energy value exceeds 50%, your attacks inherently deal large-scale splash damage]

[Enchantment: [Molecular Penetration] - Base armor penetration +1600 (Pierces 1600 points of the target's defense)]

[Enchantment: [Mana Rampage] - Base critical strike rate +33%. 20% of critical strike damage is converted into true damage]

...[Remaining 16 Enchantments (Fold/Unfold)]

[Note: This weapon is in a damaged state. Equipment requirements, basic attributes, and enchantment effects have all significantly decreased]

"This..." Han Xiao was inwardly startled.

Even in its damaged state, the equipment requirement reached level 230. If it were intact, wouldn't it be a weapon exclusively for Beyond Grade A?

All the enchantments were high-tier rune spells. In particular, the [God Piercing] enchantment meant that when attacking enemies above level 200, even basic attack damage could be multiplied by 2.4!

What kind of concept was that?

Good heavens! What an absolute monster!

The more enchantments a weapon bears, the greater the burden. The fact that this weapon could withstand so many high-tier enchantments meant its material was extraordinarily tough, undoubtedly forged from exceedingly rare raw materials.

How did the Kunder race come to possess such a thing?

"Tell me how you came by this weapon," Han Xiao said with a nod.

"Right away."

Nilo acknowledged and began to explain.

"It was a routine boarding and landing operation. My teammates and I stormed into the ship's cabin and engaged the enemy's main forces in a firefight. I charged straight for the enemy officer, shattering his armor with my strikes. Remembering your teachings, I didn't forget to finish him off, but suddenly the floor was blown apart, and we all fell through."

"Below was a pitch-black warehouse. I saw this weapon resting inside a transparent vacuum containment box. That officer swiftly opened the box, grabbed the weapon, and charged at me. I was about to dodge, but halfway through his rush, he suddenly exploded. That's how I ended up with this weapon."

Exploded? Hmm, that fellow must have been too low-level, failing to meet the requirements of the God Piercer. Unable to bear the magical power contained within the weapon, he was blown apart... Han Xiao mused silently.

The more powerful the extraordinary weapon, the more powerful the individual needed to wield it. Failing to meet the equipment's usage requirements usually just meant the equipment's effects couldn't be fully realized. However, a small fraction of weapons carried risks; if you couldn't bear the strain, you would simply explode. This was especially common with enchanted weapons...

The products of mages always killed without burying; as for after-sales service, he had never even heard of it. Where was there anyone as conscientious as him... Han Xiao shook his head, grumbling inwardly.

"God Piercer... it's most likely used by Beyond Grade A. Since it's a named weapon, perhaps there are records of it online?"

Han Xiao logged into the Empire's database and searched for the name [God Piercer]. The page immediately populated with a wealth of information.

He clicked on the topmost file and took a glance, his heart stirring at once.

The records showed that the God Piercer was a weapon crafted by the Beyond Grade A dwarven mage "Divine Artisan" Thorne Uraniumcore. A master of magical weapon forging, he died in Star Calendar Year 79. Throughout his life, he forged countless magical equipment and made outstanding contributions to the magical forging discipline across the universe. He was a figure that magic students would inevitably see in their textbooks during forging and enchantment classes.

The file stated that the God Piercer was a custom Beyond Grade A weapon Thorne had made for a friend, and it was merely one component of the [God Slayer] set.

The [God Slayer] set was Thorne's masterpiece passed down through the ages, ranking third on the list of "Master Thorne: Hundred Legendary Works." While individual pieces were merely orange Epic grade, the complete set reached the golden grade of cosmic treasures!

Historically, the [God Slayer] set had only one owner, and that was Thorne's friend, a Beyond Grade A Martial Artist nicknamed the "Holy Spear."

The Holy Spear went missing in Star Calendar Year 103, and the set vanished with him. The cause of his disappearance was never found, remaining an unsolved mystery.

Just then, Philip materialized.

"Sovereign buzz, I have detected faint multi-dimensional energy lingering on this weapon. Shall I conduct a detailed inspection buzz?"

Han Xiao hummed in agreement, taking out various detectors and scanning the God Piercer.

The results were quickly produced, revealing the multi-dimensional energy composition and imprints on the weapon. Negative energy constituted the highest proportion, and the traces were most pronounced at the fracture. Clearly, this weapon had been cleaved by negative energy, a type of energy commonly found in secondary dimensions.

"So, this fellow called the Holy Spear likely died in a secondary dimension..." Han Xiao's mind stirred; that made perfect sense.

Exploring secondary dimensions was fraught with unknown perils. For a Martial Artist—a poor soul who couldn't clone himself, teleport, or build robots—there was no choice but to risk his physical body in the secondary dimension. One wrong move and he'd be done for, nowhere near as dashing as the rich and handsome mages or mechanists.

According to historical statistics, the two most common ways for Beyond Grade A to meet their end were either being killed by another Beyond Grade A or dying in a secondary dimension, becoming missing persons.

Connecting the dots, Han Xiao roughly formed a conjecture.

These weapons drifted through the secondary dimension and accidentally encountered a wormhole or a space-time rift, falling back into the main universe. The landing point happened to be in the Light Dust Star Cluster, where they were discovered by the Kunder race.

He had no idea when this had happened, but it seemed the Kunder race had failed to unravel the mysteries of magic from this object, and probably hadn't paid it much attention.

Thinking of this, Han Xiao cast a helpless glance at Nilo.

You managed to pick this up?

It seems I was still too lenient!

With you, a conscience is truly superfluous!

"Godfather, did you find anything out?"

Seeing Han Xiao looking at him without speaking, Nilo asked eagerly.

"Ahem..." Han Xiao cleared his throat twice, his face solemn. "According to my appraisal, this is a highly dangerous enchanted weapon. Your strength is not yet sufficient to bear the burden, and forcing its use would be perilous... so it will stay with me for now. I'll take custody of it."

"No way." Nilo's face fell, looking suspicious. "How come I didn't feel any burden when I was holding it? Are you trying to fool me?"

"Holding it is one thing, using it is another. Would I joke with you? What kind of person do you take me for? Would I lie to you?"

Han Xiao spoke with righteous indignation.

Nilo wanted to say more, but Han Xiao directly covered his mouth, spun him around, and pushed him out of the room.

Bang!

Before Nilo could even react, the door slammed shut behind him.

Through the door, Han Xiao's voice rang out.

"If you've got nothing better to do, go wander around some more. If you stumble upon any more treasures, remember to bring them back for me to appraise."

"In your dreams! I'm not coming back!"

Nilo's face contorted in indignation as he stormed away, pouting like a child whose red envelope had just been confiscated by his parents.

Inside the room, Han Xiao conjured a safe and locked the God-Piercer inside.

He would only be interested if he could obtain the complete [God-Slayer] set, but a single piece was of little use to him. The odds of assembling the full set were too slim to pin his hopes on.

However, for those who made their living in close combat, the God-Piercer was indeed a treasure.

The level 230 usage requirement roughly corresponded to the peak of the A+ Calamity Grade. He happened to have such an expert under his command, and Hadaway was one of them.

Yet Hadaway was merely an Esper. Tough as he was, he reaped no extra bonuses from wielding weapons; he was built only to absorb blows, not to deal them, a veritable meat shield through and through. He was nothing like Han Xiao, who was as durable as he was lethal, and undeniably dashing to boot.

In Han Xiao's eyes, Rotel was far more suited to wield the God-Piercer than Hadaway. This was equipment tailor-made by Thorne for martial artists, and only a martial artist could unleash its full might.

Although Rotel had not yet reached his peak, if he were to obtain this weapon, his assassination prowess would instantly leap by a tier or two, not far off from his absolute prime!

Moreover, for the mission to deal with the mastermind behind it all, they would likely need to call upon Rotel, the master assassin.

……

With the affairs of the Kunqiu race brought to a close and all refugees settled in Black Star's territory, the Crimson Dynasty wasted no time and immediately resumed its exploration project.

The war had delayed things for several months, but the progress had not fallen behind, and the Empire had reaped great rewards.

Taking over the Kunqiu territory meant directly acquiring the stargate passages to several star systems in the heart of the Light Dust Cluster, saving the time it would have taken to slowly build new stargates.

Furthermore, the planetary data accumulated in the Kunqiu database had narrowed the scope of required exploration. By using the war to fuel the war, the Empire had instead significantly accelerated its exploration progress.

With the obstacles cleared, the second phase of the exploration work was back on track.

Within the explored universe, the Empire made no public announcements about the war, but in secret, they began dispatching a massive number of intelligence operatives to quietly gather clues and hunt for the mastermind.

Aesop had delivered a prophecy, pinpointing a certain region that the stowaways who had deployed the starships would pass through. However, this region lay in a more distant, unexplored cluster with no stargate connection. The Empire could only send ships to jump there, with no way of knowing if they would arrive in time.

Fortunately, Han Xiao had made double preparations. After waiting for some time, the long-range mechanical forces finally arrived in the Ancient Star River, heading towards the manufacturer revealed by [The Bold Explorer].