Chapter 997: Iron-Head Kid's Trump Card

Chapter 997: The Iron-Headed Youth's Trump Card

Dissolving the Sovereign Avatar, Han Xiao's consciousness drifted back to his true body, the scenery before him resolving once more into the Chamber of the Mechanical Throne within the Black Star Palace of the Shimmering World.

He unclasped the Evolution Cube from his neck and held it up for careful scrutiny, the tiny silver block casting back a rippling, ethereal gleam.

"It has been over twenty years since I took you from Cisco's hands, hasn't it..."

Han Xiao traced his fingers over the Cube's surface, a cool touch meeting his fingertips as waves of familiar warmth welled up from the depths of his heart.

According to the fragmented records of the Evolver civilization left within the Alien God's legacy, Han Xiao had long since resonated with the Evolution Cube, forging a bond that tethered their very souls.

Were he to hand it over to the Empire, he could not say whether they would demand he sever that connection, replacing him with a direct Imperial Super A Grade like the Dark Emperor to claim this quota.

Shaking his head, Han Xiao tucked the matter away for quiet contemplation, slipped the Evolution Cube back around his neck, and rose to leave the chamber, heading toward the inner ring base outside the palace to find Fudin.

A glance at Philip's surveillance feed revealed Fudin chatting with Aurora, Hadaway, and others in the veteran officers' lounge; Han Xiao boarded a hovercraft, glided into the base, and made his way to the Praetorians' private recreation room.

The moment he stepped through the doorway, Hadaway's triumphant voice greeted his ears.

"...I can feel it. A few days ago, my esper ability surged again, a subtle shift occurring in my deep-layer genes. I feel as though the gates to Super A Grade have already cracked open for me."

Aurora turned her gaze toward Fudin. "How many times has he said that now?"

"Two hundred and thirty-three," Fudin replied with a chuckle.

"Exactly. He talks about reaching Super A Grade every single day, yet after more than a decade, there's not a whisper of progress," Aurora could not help but quip.

"Don't you doubt it. Every time I spar with the Commander's Apostle Armaments, I improve. The increments are just a bit small," Hadaway huffed.

"Spar? You mean getting beaten to a pulp," Fudin said, spreading his hands.

"What's wrong with taking a beating? That's how my ability works," Hadaway retorted indignantly. "At least I last longer than you do. Say what you will, I am still the Black Star's ace."

Hadaway's esper ability enhanced his physical defenses, rendering his body immensely resilient; enduring punishment was his very method of species metamorphosis, using external force to reshape his cells and genes, much like a blacksmith forging steel with another's hammer.

Having already reached the peak of the Calamity Grade, only strikes wielding Super A Grade potency could now stimulate his evolution.

After the Apostle Armaments led by the Ancestor of Shadows emerged, Han Xiao had delegated the task of thrashing Hadaway to them; as the Commander grew stronger, so did the Armaments' might, and since they could clash with Super A Grades, they were naturally more than capable of overwhelming a Calamity Grade, prompting Hadaway to regularly seek them out for his masochistic sparring sessions.

Thanks to his outstanding defenses, he could endure the Armaments' assaults far longer than any other Praetorian; after more than twenty years of relentless pummeling, Hadaway's incremental gains had compounded into a remarkable surge in combat prowess, and as a Super A Grade seed, he had long crowned himself the legion's foremost vanguard.

At that moment, the group heard approaching footsteps and turned to see Han Xiao entering, promptly rising to their feet in salute.

"Sit down, all of you. I'm just dropping by," Han Xiao waved a hand, casually strolling over to Fudin and draping a heavy arm around his shoulders.

"Again?" Fudin sighed in resignation, lightly punching Han Xiao's chest without making any effort to pull away.

After all these years, he had grown accustomed to it; masculine camaraderie was a simple thing, forged and deepened through familiar, unceremonious contact.

Now, as the Black Star's renown soared across the cosmos, an increasing number of officers grew stiff and formal in his presence; within the legion, only a handful of old friends like Fudin could afford such casual familiarity before him.

While contentedly siphoning off that auspicious luck, Han Xiao turned his head toward Aurora, looking her up and down before asking, "How is your life energy accumulation coming along?"

Aurora's smile bloomed, brightening the room like sudden sunlight. "It has grown immense. I can feel that with just half a year more of accumulation, I will finally cross the threshold into the Calamity Grade."

Hearing this, Han Xiao gave a slow nod.

Aurora's life esper ability caused her vital energy to swell with every passing moment, driving her body through constant metamorphosis, refining her constitution, optimizing her genes, and granting her eternal youth.

Upon reaching Grade B, the progression of her life ability diverged from the norm; Aurora could hardly force her growth through training, instead needing to wait for her life energy to accumulate naturally until its total surpassed the benchmark for the next tier, allowing for a seamless breakthrough.

This path bore both blessings and curses; the drawback lay in its sluggish pace, generating a fixed amount of life energy daily based on her rank, and expending that energy through her abilities would actively reverse her progress, which explained why, despite brewing countless life potions in the past, she had yet to reach the Calamity Grade and had largely abandoned that endeavor.

Yet the long-term advantage was profound: an almost complete absence of bottlenecks, meaning that once her life energy met the requirement, advancement would follow as naturally as water flowing downhill, implying that ascending to Super A Grade was merely a question of time for her, even if it might demand centuries or millennia.

Come to think of it, while Hela plundered the life force of others to fortify herself and accelerate her ascent, Aurora shared her own vital energy with others, deliberately stalling her own growth; their abilities and paths of progression stood in stark, mirror opposition.

"By the way, Uncle, when is my sister finally coming back?" Aurora could no longer hold back the question.

"I have no idea," Han Xiao shook his head. "I sent them a message specifically a few days ago, but they haven't replied or answered my calls. They've probably gone adventuring in some sub-dimension where the quantum network's signal cannot reach."

"Mmm, it's been so many years. I miss her," Aurora puffed out her cheeks, a touch of sullen longing in her voice.

"I miss her a bit too," Han Xiao nodded.

"So do I," Hadaway chimed in.

The other two instantly swiveled their heads to stare at him, their faces etched with a bewildered "what does this have to do with you?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Hadaway snorted coldly. "She's been gone for twenty years, yet she still clings to the honorary title of Praetorian Captain. Fudin is only acting in her stead, while I'm still stuck as a vice-captain. I can't even find the person I want to challenge for her seat."

"Oh, is that all," Aurora exhaled in relief, patting her gently heaving chest. "I thought you might have harbored some romantic notions about my sister."

"Your sister is so aloof, she'd never give me a second glance," Hadaway coughed dryly under Han Xiao's steady gaze, muttering under his breath, "Besides, I wouldn't dare..."

When he first joined the Black Star's banner, Hadaway lacked seniority, so despite being a bona fide Super A Grade seed, he had willingly submitted to Hela's command, content to serve merely as a vice-captain.

But now, with so many years behind him, Hadaway had transformed from a rookie into a seasoned veteran; his strength had grown, his confidence bolstered, and with Hela absent for two decades, he felt his seniority finally justified his ambition, unwilling to remain subordinate to other Calamity Grades, yearning for higher status as the Praetorian Captain.

Such a title would greatly amplify his renown across the universe; the designation of Black Star Legion Praetorian Captain, much like the War Domain's Chief Vanguard, carried a substantial aura of influence, and Hadaway, alongside his pursuit of raw power, occasionally weighed these matters of prestige.

"Very well. When Hela returns, if you can defeat her, the captaincy is yours," Han Xiao said with a faint, amused smile.

"Deal. It's settled then," Hadaway's spirits instantly lifted.

After a while more of idle chatter, Han Xiao took his leave, stepping out of the room and down the corridor; the moment he crossed the threshold, he summoned his interface and selected to settle the Silver Shadow's Super A Grade challenge quest.

[[Silver Shadow] Completed!]

[You have fulfilled all quest requirements. You have gained 24.5 billion experience points.]

[You have obtained [Character Descent Card - Silver Shadow].]

[Character Descent Card - Silver Shadow: [Comet Glide] - For a short duration, Agility +15%, Movement Speed +45%, Acceleration Efficiency +300%, speed cap removed allowing limitless acceleration. Duration: 12s. Maximum uses: 0/4.]

[You have earned a reward: Extract one ability (Skill/Feat) from Silver Shadow.]

[Notice: Silver Shadow is a Martial Artist. Certain extractable abilities have been automatically adjusted to match your class.]

[Randomly extracting... Extraction complete!]

[Please select one of the following five abilities as your reward:]

[1. [Charge: Endless Momentum] - Skill: Your next melee attack deals bonus damage scaled to your sprint distance; the longer the distance, the higher the damage, with no cap. Simultaneously, you suffer recoil, taking 70% of the impact damage dealt. Costs 200 Stamina, 3000 Endurance. Cooldown: 240s. — To shatter the foe, or to shatter oneself, that is the question.]

[2. [Dark Energy Siphon] - Skill: You may draw upon ambient dark energy drifting through space, restoring 15%~25% Stamina per use. Costs 800 Endurance. Cooldown: 24s.]

[3. [Nuclear Force: Structural Reinforcement] - Feat: The cellular particles composing your body arrange into a more stable distribution matrix. You gain 12% absolute resistance to physical damage and become immune to true damage. Special attacks such as armor-piercing and concussive strikes are rendered ineffective against you (not immune, but converted to standard damage).]

[4. [Self Refresh] - Skill: Purges all negative status effects affecting your physical body (except [Silence] and [Qi Seal]). Costs 300 Stamina. Cooldown: 420s.]

[5. [Heavy Velocity Crit] - Skill: Passive. Upon accelerating, your base melee critical hit rate and critical damage multiplier rapidly increase, capping at +80% crit rate and +375% crit damage. While maintaining speed, the effect remains constant. If your speed drops and fails to recover to its peak within 2.5s, the effect begins an irreversible decay after 8s, reaching zero in 4s. Once depleted, it enters a 120s cooldown before reactivation. — Life lies in motion. Keep running, never stop!]

"The quality of this draw is quite high," Han Xiao's eyes lit up.

There was a template feat among them, and the remaining skills were equally exceptional; aside from his streak of luck, the primary reason lay in the consistently high caliber of Silver Shadow's own abilities.

After a careful glance, Han Xiao immediately discarded [Dark Energy Siphon]; while Martial Artists relied heavily on stamina and this was a solid recovery method, he already possessed a far more efficient means of regenerating energy through taking hits, rendering it redundant.

Ordinarily, when a template feat appeared, Han Xiao would instinctively choose it, yet the core effect of [Nuclear Force: Structural Reinforcement] was true damage immunity, which directly overlapped with an ability granted by the Germinal Leader.

The additional 12% absolute physical resistance and negation of concussive or armor-piercing damage certainly held value, but the cost-to-benefit ratio simply wasn't compelling enough.

His physical durability was already monstrous, relying primarily on terrifying regeneration to dominate his foes; such a marginal boost to defense felt negligible, especially since his recent trouncing of Little Tyrant had already yielded [Legendary Fixed Damage Reduction], which served him perfectly well.

This time, however, the long-suppressed desire for raw offensive power finally threw off its chains, rising up in triumphant rebellion.

After a moment of quiet deliberation, he made his choice.

【You have comprehended the skill: Charge—Endless Momentum!】

“This one suits me far better,” Han Xiao mused to himself.

Though formidable, 【Heavy-Speed Critical Strike】 was shackled to his base melee critical rate and demanded constant motion to activate—a perfect fit for Silver Shadow, whose agile, darting strikes wove through the battlefield like a soaring blade, yet it clashed with Han Xiao’s own rhythm.

By contrast, 【Charge—Endless Momentum】 was a brutal affair; it scaled its bonus damage infinitely with the distance covered, yet exacted a seventy percent recoil upon the user—a technique of devastating power and equally devastating consequence.

As the old adage went, heaven lies to the left, but the iron-headed charge to the right; even if death awaited, one would fall mid-stride—a strike forged for mutual ruin, a pact of shared destruction.

Fortunately, when it came to dragging foes down to the grave with him, the Grand Mechanic was an undisputed master, ahead of his peers by a century, or at the very least, eight decades.

Armed with abilities that converted punishment into mana and swapped vitality for energy, he possessed not only an iron will but an absolute immunity to the sting of backlash.

Besides, as a Mechanic blessed with wealth, stature, and ingenuity, he hardly needed to throw his own flesh into the fray; a Sovereign Avatar could deliver the impact just as well, stripping away all peril and making him a far better vessel for this power than Silver Shadow himself.

Given enough runway, a single collision could easily shatter the million-damage threshold, serving as a definitive, battle-ending trump card.

“A reliable technique at last,” he thought. “Finally, an offensive skill with some real bite. Silver Shadow is remarkably generous to hand me such a splendid welcome gift.”

A quiet satisfaction bloomed in Han Xiao’s chest.

The kid had proven his worth; from now on, he would certainly keep him under his wing.