“You're the culprit who attacked the slave market!”

Han Xiao also feigned shock, as if he had just recognized Ash, his acting skills online, the astonishment in his tone sounding genuine.

According to the information possessed by DarkStar, he was just an irrelevant bystander. Once they exchanged blows, they would definitely discover that he was the witness to that hasty encounter that night. From Ash's perspective, they had only met once, which was the night of the slave market attack, so it was normal for him to pretend to recognize Ash's ability and consider him the culprit of the attack.

This disguise also served another purpose, which was to conceal the truth about DarkStar and escape suspicion.

From the moment he was attacked, this series of thoughts had been brewing in Han Xiao's mind.

Sure enough, seeing his surprise, Ash didn't even consider the idea that "Han Xiao is the mysterious person who discovered DarkStar's origins."

On the night of the attack, due to the power outage in the area, it was pitch black. Both sides were wearing masks and mechs, so they didn't know each other's identities. He didn't expect to run into him by accident.

Bad luck!

Han Xiao was the first person whose tier was lower than his own but could resist [Carbon Atom Deconstruction]. Although it was only a brief exchange, it left an extremely deep impression on Ash, one he couldn't forget.

Ash was shocked. He swept away his previous nonchalant attitude, his eyes filled with curiosity and fighting spirit. "Last time we fought in a hurry, and we didn't determine a winner. This time, I'm not in a hurry."

The witness was the culprit that led to the exposure of the attack, and his true identity was Black Star, the target of this mission. With old and new grudges combined, Ash's fighting spirit exploded, and he decided to use his strongest strength.

Ash clenched his palm, and black carbon dust swirled, condensing into a straight double-edged sword. The atomic distribution structure was tight, turning it into diamond. Although it was very brittle, Ash could repair it at any time, making up for the shortcomings, making it both hard and tough.

Boom!

At the same time, countless black dust particles were ejected from the ground, tiny in size, floating all over the place, drilling into the gaps in the mech.

The enemy's momentum rose geometrically, and Han Xiao felt the pressure.

Originally, Ash thought that taking down Han Xiao would be an easy task, but he realized that he was wrong. This was a difficult opponent, so he changed his mind and faced Han Xiao with the attitude of dealing with a strong enemy, becoming completely serious.

Whoosh—

Seven Sonic Spheres flew out, suspended in the air, and deployed a sound amplification field. The cage space created by Ash was limited, so it could form excellent reverberating echoes.

With the Black Scythe in hand and the Floating Shuttle shield surrounding his body, the hand armor, arm armor, and leg armor lit up with red and blue thermal light. The parts that had been strengthened last time increased the electromagnetic combustion technology, unleashing full power.

Because of signal interference, he couldn't summon remote support. Han Xiao could only fight with the mech's conventional state. Without backup equipment, it was very unfavorable for a Mechanic.

"Get to the side." Han Xiao pushed Aroshia away. The scythe spun, and the electric blade slashed out, hitting the wall without damaging it at all.

His eyes darkened. The wall was too hard, and he couldn't break through.

There was no way to retreat, only to fight.

At this time, the seven DarkStar warriors unleashed their abilities. Three martial artists had auras like beasts and dragons, charging like iron cavalry in a triangular formation, surrounding and attacking.

Bang!!

The scythe swung out a crescent blade, standing firmly on the spot, and collided head-on with the three people!

The aftershock of the airwave burst out, echoing in the cage!

Aroshia was forced to the edge and could only watch.

Ash was extremely curious about Han Xiao's ability to resist manipulation. Anyway, signal jamming had been deployed, and Black Star couldn't call for support. He had time to slowly deal with Han Xiao.

Just as Han Xiao was attacked and fell into a difficult battle, the players who were on duty piloting aircraft on the other side of the floating island all triggered a new mission.

[【Emergency Mission - Support】]

[Mission Introduction: Your团长 (Tuanzhang, lit. regiment commander; here, leader) has been ambushed by a group of uninvited guests and is caught in a bitter fight. As a member of the mercenary group, remember that if the leader is in trouble, support must come from all directions.]

[Mission Objective: Quickly reach the battlefield to support Black Star. The coordinates are...]

[Reward: Depends on the speed and number of people providing support.]

[Consequences of Rejection: Black Star Mercenary Corps favorability -300]

All the players perked up.

...

Ash's ability was very strong. Not only was he powerful in close combat, but he could also control countless floating dust particles to turn into long spears to stab or turn into tentacles to restrict Han Xiao's movements. The biggest threat so far was the dust that seeped into the mech's gaps, changing shape inside, and destroying the structure of the Teng Snake. At least one-third of the damage was Ash's output.

The seven DarkStar warriors cooperated tacitly. The three martial artists restrained Han Xiao, exchanging punches and kicks with passion, creating a scene of intense chaos. Two ability users, one secreting strong acid and the other able to convert cosmic energy and inject it into a special metal to make its structure unstable and turn it into a bomb. These two guys were hiding on the side, frantically spitting and throwing iron balls at Han Xiao.

There was also a Mechanic who was good at electromagnetic interference and intelligent intrusion. Through his combat suit, he connected to the Teng Snake and wrote hacker programs to interfere with the Teng Snake's system, even trying to seize control. Han Xiao's intelligent technology was still in the scope of basic knowledge, so he could only turn off most of the automatic functions, keep the manual neural link, and stop detection and analysis to prevent the Teng Snake's system from being broken. This Mechanic also controlled several shield generators to block damage for his teammates, playing a role in crowd control and strong support.

The last person was an electric-type mage who cooperated most closely with Ash, using carbon dust as a bridge to release electric shock magic. Ash converted it into highly conductive graphene, increasing its power and forming an all-around electric shock to burn out the Teng Snake's internal circuits.

Bang bang bang—

A storm of attacks landed on the Teng Snake mech, and the injuries quickly increased. Seven people of the same level plus a strong enemy surrounded and attacked, creating a precarious situation, like facing a terrifying storm. Han Xiao found it difficult to fight back.

Even with [Snake - Devil] activated, he could barely maintain the situation. He wanted to kill the enemy, but he didn't have the power to turn the tide.

The durability of the mech was rapidly declining. After only a few minutes of fighting, it dropped to 16%, almost being destroyed, covered in wounds, and on the verge of collapse.

Han Xiao took a deep breath, pouring all his energy into the propulsion device, twisting out an amazing arc, dodging out of the battle group like a swimming fish, and heading straight for the acid-spitting ability user. He quickly approached, during which he fired a Jialante Cannon at the Mechanic, making the other party unable to protect his teammate with a shield, then he swung the Black Scythe, wanting to chop down on his head.

"Explode!" Ash shouted, clenching his palm. Before Han Xiao attacked, he could give the damaged Teng Snake the final blow!

In an instant, countless spikes bloomed inside the Teng Snake!

The mech instantly became riddled with holes, about to fall apart.

Just then, a hazy white light bloomed, and the Teng Snake, which was about to shatter, miraculously reunited, and its energy level returned to its peak.

Mechanical Revival!

"What!" Ash was shocked and greatly surprised. His sure-fire blow had failed to break Han Xiao's fighting weapon, and it was too late to stop him now.

The acid ability user originally believed that Ash could stop Han Xiao in time, but he was immediately shocked and could only watch as the cold light of the scythe rapidly magnified in his vision.

At the same time, Will Burning!

Whoosh!

A deep black light flashed, followed by a splash of blood. A hideous scar stretched from the top of the acid ability user's head all the way down to his chin, as if splitting his face in two.

The enemy's health plummeted!

"Ahhh!!"

The acid ability user screamed, falling to the ground, blood spurting from his face. Before Han Xiao could strike the next blow, Ash hurriedly separated them.

Just at the next moment, the Teng Snake shattered into a pile of parts.

Mechanical Revival allowed the Teng Snake to remain sturdy for five seconds, and it was this extra time that allowed Han Xiao to strike this blow, heavily injuring one person despite the siege!

"Hoo, hoo..." Han Xiao panted heavily. He had wanted to chop down the acid man for a long time. He kept spitting at him, how disgusting.

Ash's face was ugly. His subordinate had been severely injured, partly due to his own mistakes. Anger rose in his heart.

But this was just a simple accident. There would be no suspense in the next battle. Black Star had reached his limit after holding on for so long. From the moment the mech was shattered, Han Xiao was a lamb to the slaughter, and there would be no room for him to fight back.

A Mechanic who lost the protection of his mech would have his combat power reduced by at least half!

"The battle ends here. I said, resisting will only cause more pain, and I am a man of my word..."

Ash's eyes were cold. "Are you ready to feel the pain?"

The Teng Snake was destroyed, and he couldn't summon a spare mech. Han Xiao's body had no protection. He glanced at the fragments of parts all over the ground, his expression calm, not at all concerned about the current danger. He casually rested the Black Scythe on his shoulder and said with a grin, "Don't speak too soon. The battle is not over until I fall."

When it came to fighting, Grand Master Han had never been a coward.