Chapter 1 I've Been Waiting for This!

Razer snakes danced wildly, electric light burst forth, and the surging energy fluctuations were like a hurricane, blowing the Super-A Grades' avatars and mechanical troops in the area in all directions.

Han Xiao was blown back a short distance, but immediately stabilized his figure, staring intently at the opponent.

He saw that Manison was surrounded by brilliant golden mechanical force arcs, releasing an extremely astonishing aura. The peak Super-A Grade's energy was fully unleashed, and even just a Ruler's avatar made Han Xiao feel a heavy sense of oppression.

Manison's eyes, flickering with electric light, remained locked on Han Xiao, repeating the question from before:

"Do you know what you've done?!"

"Are you angry?"

Han Xiao had no intention of explaining, responding calmly.

"I'm very disappointed in you. Do you understand what opportunity you've squandered! You destroyed the virus core. What was the purpose of doing that?"

"Eliminating the Intelligent Plague is our goal on this trip. I just did my duty… Also, on the first day I arrived, I told you that preventing cosmic chaos is the historical responsibility of our generation. You didn't seem to take it seriously."

Manison floated in place, his tone betraying no emotion: "It seems my understanding of you isn't deep enough."

"Many people can't even see themselves clearly. How many dare say they completely understand others… Manison, you think we're the same kind of people, but in reality, we're not."

"…Now that things have come to this, there's no point in saying more. When you betrayed me, you knew how today would end!"

Manison's mechanical force suddenly soared into the sky, piercing the firmament and connecting to the mechanical troops deployed in outer space. The sonic boom resounded:

"Let me see how much you've improved!"

As his voice fell, the dark, oppressive mechanical troops pierced through the atmosphere, shooting out dense beams of light, like a meteor shower descending upon the area where Han Xiao was located.

"That's what I wanted!"

Han Xiao slammed his left fist into the sky, and light spread out. A curved psionic shield unfolded in the air.

The rain-like beams of light struck the azure shield, like rain hitting plantain leaves, accompanied by a crackling explosion, lighting up clusters of light in mid-air.

His mechanical force also surged into the sky, grabbing hold of the mechanical troops waiting in outer space.

The mechanical troops acted instantly, breaking through the atmosphere. Manison's troops immediately shifted their target, engaging Han Xiao's troops in a dogfight at high altitude. Intersecting beams of light painted the sky with a kaleidoscopic glow.

Han Xiao and Manison's Ruler's avatars weren't idle either, rapidly closing the distance and colliding with a bang.

Boom!!

Like a comet striking Earth, a blue-gold ring-shaped shockwave exploded from the center of the impact.

Immediately afterward, the two figures clashed hundreds of times in an instant, intertwining and ascending into the sky.

Bang bang bang bang—

Metal rubbed against each other, countless sparks flew, and shockwaves continuously erupted in mid-air with each collision.

…

Just as the two began fighting without a word, the other Super-A Grades' avatars and troops in the area quickly distanced themselves, standing aside to watch without getting involved.

Seeing Black Star and Manison fighting, everyone finally recovered from the shock of Han Xiao destroying the virus core.

"I really didn't expect… Black Star would do something like this," Maximilor exclaimed in surprise.

"By doing this, he's eliminated the possibility of any force obtaining the complete technology of the Virtual Rebellion Virus. Neither the three great civilizations nor us can restore this technology. Everyone gets nothing. It's too impulsive," Molnisa said with some dissatisfaction.

"Impulsive? I think Black Star is the calmest guy among us," Hunter-Emissary said in a deep voice. "Although his actions have cut off our hope of obtaining the virus technology, from the perspective of the overall cosmic situation, he has made a selfless choice."

Kant nodded, sighing:

"Speaking of which, we haven't lost out, the three great civilizations haven't lost out, the only ones who have lost out are Black Star and Manison. Manison was tricked, and his position has made the three great civilizations wary, while Black Star gave up this readily available benefit.

"If it were me, I wouldn't have destroyed it. I would have negotiated with the three great civilizations to exchange it for a large number of benefits, but Black Star was willing to give up this gain and choose to destroy the source of the disaster. This may be the most beneficial thing for cosmic peace… I always thought Black Star was just a simple profit-seeker. I didn't expect him to do something like this. Maybe I misjudged him."

"Yeah…" Judis sighed, "Our understanding of Black Star seems to be very limited. He wasn't as mercenary as we thought."

Everyone's mood was complicated. At this moment, Black Star's image in their hearts soared rapidly. They hadn't expected Black Star to make such a noble move.

Even Jacknitzer and others, who had previously had grudges with him, couldn't help but look at Black Star with admiration.

Although they had lost the hope of restoring the virus technology, everyone felt regret in their hearts, but after the matter was a foregone conclusion, everyone didn't feel too disappointed. On the contrary, they breathed a sigh of relief and could accept the result.

In fact, everyone had a subtle worry. What if the three great civilizations obtained the Virtual Rebellion Virus and then turned around to deal with them? Everyone present was a Mechanic, and the Virtual Rebellion Virus was most lethal to them. Moreover, if this weapon were to be used again in the future, it would be a heavy blow to the mechanical industry in the entire universe, and their business would enter a cold winter.

In comparison, destroying the virus core was not a bad choice. From this point of view, most people present did not object to Han Xiao's decision, and even thought it was a compromise that was also beneficial to the Super-A Grades.

They just didn't know if Black Star had considered this when making this decision.

"So what do we do now?" a neutral Super-A Grade asked, staring at the two fighting fiercely, "Do we intervene in the battle?"

"Black Star and Manison have deep-seated conflicts. They are the president and vice president of the Development Federation, respectively. This is a dispute over routes. Let's watch and see."

Kant was speaking when he suddenly paused slightly and said:

"Hmm… The empire's fleet seems to have deactivated the spacetime anchor."

…

After fighting for a while, Han Xiao and Manison in the arena sensed the deactivation of the spacetime anchor and suddenly separated, confronting each other in the high sky.

Their respective mechanical troops stopped fighting and returned to their sides, guarding their respective Ruler's avatars.

"Your power has improved quickly," Manison said, calmly, "But without burning potential, you are not my opponent."

"We'll only know after trying."

Han Xiao replied casually, maintaining his focus, his fighting spirit high.

After the Divine Ascension battle, the outside world believed that Black Star had two modes: one was the normal form, and the other was the potential-burning burst mode.

Han Xiao was not "burning potential" at this time. He had obtained the buff of the [Grand Sage Mechanic] and several Divinity Transformation grades, as well as several powerful talents extracted during the Hela rescue battle. His combat power in the normal state was already very considerable, enough to compete with Manison.

But undeniably, Manison was still better at the core abilities of the Mechanic class.

Manison's level and Divinity Transformation grade were higher, and he had more mechanical skills and talents. The quality and quantity of his mechanical troops were currently inferior to Manison's.

Han Xiao intended to challenge Manison, but because both sides were avatars, he wouldn't use a Character Summon Card from the start. After all, both of them were legion-style Mechanics, and fighting was about comparing resources. It was impossible to tell the winner in a short time.

From the previous exchanges, he found that Manison's avatar was difficult to fight. The other party had taken protective measures against melee, and the armor and shields were thick. Moreover, his close combat skills were very exquisite. Living for a long time really made one versatile.

Manison was, after all, a peak Super-A Grade Mechanic. He wouldn't be too fragile, and for Mechanics, it was normal for Ruler's avatars to be tougher than the main body… Only Han Xiao was the exception.

At this time, Manison spoke again, his voice revealing a rare coldness:

"I haven't used this move for a long time… Black Star, you are worth me showing my true abilities."

As his voice fell, he waved his hand.

Buzz!

The Secondary Dimension Army Camp opened beside him with a bang, and an endless mechanical army descended instantly, covering the sky and the sun.

"Come on then! Who's afraid of who!"

Han Xiao saw Manison's plan at a glance and, not to be outdone, also opened the Secondary Dimension Army Camp, and countless mechanical soldiers surged out, guarding his side.

The scale of the two men's mechanical troops continued to soar, quickly filling the sky. One side was the dark, oppressive Black Star mechanical troops, and the other side was the white Manison mechanical troops. The two sides confronted each other from afar, clearly separated, with a dividing line in the middle, like the Chu River and Han border.

At this time, some of the mechanical troops converged toward their respective avatars, quickly forming huge mechanical constructs.

Boom!

The next moment, two mechanical gods, one black and one silver, whose bodies reached the sky and earth, descended upon the world!

The black mechanical god held a black long-handled battle knife, wore a large robe, and was shrouded in the blue light of psionic energy.

The silver mechanical god held a silver-purple trident, wore a cloak and armor, and was surrounded by golden arcs of electricity.

The two mechanical gods faced each other, with countless various mechanical soldiers guarding their sides, like the carrier's air wing.

"Manison!"

"Black Star!"

The sound waves swept across the entire planet.

They saw the long knife slash down, and the trident thrust straight out. The two mechanical gods waved their weapons at the same time.

The huge bodies looked slow to move, but the actual movements were so fast that people's sense of time was distorted.

The long knife hit the side blade of the trident, and the two universe treasure-grade weapons jammed each other.

Clang!!

The rumbling sound of metal collision seemed to ring in everyone's soul, causing a terrifying tremor.

At this moment, a dazzling ball of light appeared at the point of impact, suddenly blooming and turning into a silver-white thunderbolt, extending infinitely toward both ends.

At first glance, it looked like a glowing slash mark, leaving a burning mark on countless people's retinas, as if cutting through the curtain against the backdrop of the dark universe!

At the same time, in the mechanical god religion settlements on the surface, whether they were divine officials or ordinary believers, everyone looked up, staring blankly at the sky, watching the two gods carry out a world-shattering "divine war".

Seeing Black Star swing his knife at the recognized main god of the mechanical god religion, the heart of every mechanical god religion believer was filled with shock.

Seeing two mechanical gods, in whom they believed, fighting in person, there was only one sentence to describe their mood at this time…

——Honey, come out and see God!

…

At the same time, in the outer space of Cloud Magnet Star, the Scarlet Empire's main ship.

The commander, who had just gone out to receive an urgent message, hurried back to the bridge command room, came to the side of the driving team without saying a word, and ordered loudly:

"The president has ordered that we immediately intervene in the battle and open fire with all weapons!"

The members of the driving team were staring blankly at the battle between the two mechanical giants outside the porthole, as well as the energy fluctuation readings on the radar that were rising frantically. Hearing the commander's words, they shuddered and subconsciously asked:

"Which one… do we help?"

Slap!

The commander raised his hand and slapped the back of the questioner's head, and said angrily:

"Are you fucking stupid? Help the black one!!"