Chapter 1 Gaining Compression Technology

After acquiring compression technology, the Mechanic class's combat power simultaneously increased in depth and breadth, gaining the ability to instantly seize the initiative or overturn the situation. They emphasized rapid deployment, arranging tactical combinations of machines, where the speed of deployment greatly influenced the final outcome.

In the version following the rise of the Mechanic class, other Supers mainly adopted a strategy of aggressive assault to deal with them, preventing the Mechanic from deploying. If the Mechanic was allowed to set up their arsenal, the situation would become irrecoverable, sliding into the abyss of defeat. Of course, this was the conventional scenario, without considering special abilities or items.

From the perspective of combat rhythm, the Mechanic class inherently held the initiative, forcing enemies to defuse their strategy. This was a significant advantage. Moreover, even if the Mechanic's rhythm was temporarily disrupted, leaving them no time to deploy, one could not be careless. Allowing the Mechanic to catch their breath and deploy their defenses would instantly reverse the situation, wasting previous efforts.

Han Xiao's Mechanic class was initially taking shape, already possessing this troublesome ability. With his extensive experience, the speed of his deployment was unlikely to be slow. At this moment, the battlefield was filled with cannon fire, one Sunil mercenary after another falling. This was a friendly spar, and after a Sunil mercenary fell, Melos, who was waiting nearby, would drag them off the battlefield. He had been busy since the start of the battle, without a moment's rest.

A Martial Arts mercenary propelled himself with his legs, leaping up and drawing a parabola in the air, attempting to avoid the traps on the ground and jump directly to Han Xiao's side.

Just then, a metal trap he passed over was suddenly triggered. A bounding mine sprang into the air and exploded with a bang, unleashing a net-like burst of blue electricity. Upon closer inspection, it was a capture trap composed of slender metal cables, carrying high-voltage electricity, instantly covering the Martial Arts mercenary in mid-air.

Zzzzzz—

The man screamed, instantly charred black by the electricity, and fell onto another repulsion trap. An invisible force sprayed upward in a conical area, sending the man flying again, head over heels. Several turrets turned to face him, firing in unison, the continuous stream of bullets acting like an elongated rod, pushing him out.

With a thud, he crashed down, dazed and disoriented, and passed out.

This scene immediately extinguished the other mercenaries' thoughts of jumping over.

"Trying to jump over here? Not so easy," Han Xiao chuckled. The traps contained both landmines and bouncing traps that sensed objects in the air, preventing aerial assaults.

Within the range of his Esper ability, the machines received his enhancements. Some turrets were placed near him, their power amplified several times over. Whoever charged ahead would face the most intense firepower. Faced with this situation, the mercenaries scattered, charging from different directions, front, back, left, and right, to disperse the turrets' fire.

Reldon was enveloped in a green shield, the light flickering under the barrage of bullets, as he stubbornly pushed forward. In other directions, there were many mercenaries equipped with shield generators, one after another, colorful orbs of light passing through cannon fodder and traps, rapidly closing in.

Han Xiao crooked his finger, and another wave of compression orbs flew out, landing beside him and unfolding into twenty-odd bestial robots. They were about the size of medium-sized dogs, completely black, with armored bodies, yet possessing the streamlined physique of a cheetah. They resembled armored black panthers, with three vertical gun barrels on each shoulder, internally equipped with machine guns. Their rears were equipped with scorpion-like segmented tails, very flexible, with sharp alloy blades at the tips, flashing with electric light.

Han Xiao had prepared three sets of basic combos. The first was a multi-turret firepower barrage, which required no skill; just fire away. The second was a trap stream, requiring a bit of operation, mainly focusing on the placement area, to protect himself and restrict enemy movement. The third was the hound stream.

The hound stream involved controlling a group of small mechanical beasts, harassing, and attacking enemies like hounds. It was called this because the basic machine forming the basis of this tactic was called a mechanical hound. This blueprint was relatively easy to obtain, but Han Xiao used an enhanced version of the mechanical beast.

[“Black Panther” Combat Mechanical Beast], he fused several low-level machine beast blueprints to form a new blueprint. A "Black Panther" had 2700 armor points, while the basic mechanical hound only had 1500 points. The attack power was also about 70% higher, with more functions and stronger performance, and also had the indispensable self-destruct function.

"Go."

Han Xiao pursed his lips, and the twenty-odd mechanical Black Panthers sped out, extremely fast, their shoulder guns firing, navigating through the gaps in the traps, attacking from the enemy's flanks and rear, where the defense was weakest, immediately disrupting everyone's pace.

Once a mercenary approached a mechanical Black Panther, the Black Panther would immediately leap away, always maintaining distance, which was very annoying. Only during surprise attacks would they approach the enemy.

Sometimes, three or four mechanical Black Panthers would coordinate, distracting the enemy from different directions, and then one mechanical Black Panther would suddenly attack from behind, launching forward, its tail sweeping horizontally, leaving a cold glint, and inflicting considerable damage.

The mechanical Black Panthers were equipped with intelligent chips, grouped in fours, and could only perform simple tactical coordination in units of four. Han Xiao's chip manufacturing level was still basic, so the mechanical Black Panthers' combat capabilities were not independent enough, and they could only recognize limited commands, and were only used for harassment.

Turrets, traps, and mechanical beasts, these three axes chopped down, and the Sunil mercenaries seemed to be wading through a swamp, making every step difficult. Han Xiao observed the effect and nodded secretly.

"This system isn't afraid of group fights and can easily defeat Supers weaker than me. If I'm dealing with someone of the same level, it can also play a role in controlling and draining their health. Hmm...but the damage will also be very high."

Bang!

Just as he was thinking, a mechanical Black Panther was sent flying, hitting a turret and knocking the gun barrel askew.

Looking over, someone had finally broken through the blockade. Reldon, surrounded by green light, had finally broken through to his side, and he growled in a deep voice, the green light in his hand transforming into a knight's light spear, and he thrust it out!

Crackla—

In the blink of an eye, the compression orb on the necklace unfolded, and white armor instantly covered him!

The light spear struck his chest, unable to pierce the bone-white armor. Without another word, Han Xiao raised his hand and slapped him.

Boom!!

Reldon was slapped headfirst into the ground, face down, his face smashing into the ground with a thud, unable to fight back.

Everyone's expression changed. They saw that Han Xiao's appearance had changed. He was wearing a white combat suit, and the armor's texture was like bone, but it was incredibly hard, more like bone knight armor, with a gorgeous design, the shoulders sculpted into dragon-like shapes, and the chest and abdomen nested together, allowing for more flexible movements, highlighting a streamlined figure. Those present didn't know if it was their imagination, but this armor seemed to exude a strange aura, making it feel mysterious.

[Void Dragon] Personal Combat Armor. Compared to the Viper, Teng Snake (Soaring Serpent) and other snake-type armors, this dragon-type armor was stronger, not because the technology was higher, but because the raw materials were rare. It was made from the Void Dragon bones obtained from Longtan (Dragon Altar), which were light, tough, and contained special energy. This armor didn't have many mechanical weapons; it was specifically used for melee combat. The armor value reached a terrifying 30,000 points, and the Void Dragon bones gave the armor additional equipment skills.

Han Xiao's necklace was strung with three compression orbs, all of them armors, one set of Void Dragon, and two sets of spare Teng Snake. Whether the Mechanic class was strong or not depended on the attributes and quantity of the machines. He didn't lack either; only those with money could afford to do this.

Seeing this, the other mercenaries stopped, a wry smile on their faces. "We surrender."

The difference in strength was too great. After going through so much trouble to get close, they found that Han Xiao himself was stronger than all the machines on the field. There was no way to fight. There were a hundred of them, and they had originally thought they were the ones ganging up on him, but now they felt like they were the ones being ganged up on.

They had surrounded Han Xiao, but it felt like Han Xiao was surrounding them.

Han Xiao clicked his tongue, feeling unsatisfied. He hadn't tested all of his weapons yet, and he still had a giant cannon that he hadn't taken out. He had no choice but to regretfully retract all the machines.

After cleaning up the battlefield, the group of Sunil mercenaries gathered in front of Han Xiao, suffering only minor injuries. Their eyes were filled with respect; the strong were always respected.

Han Xiao said a few polite words, roughly meaning that they had passed the test and their combat power was good, and then he sent the Sunil people away, letting them go on their mission.

Returning to the base alone, Han Xiao went to the mechanical modification room, pondering and summarizing his experience.

"Judging from the current effect, the envisioned tactics have basically taken shape. My level ninety-five class advancement requirements are a bit too high, and I might be stuck at this level for a long time. This set of combos is very strong at this stage and can be used as a transition, and there are many ways to strengthen it..."

He took out these newly created mechanical weapons and observed the item attributes on the panel again.

The turrets and traps were diverse, mostly new blueprints that he had fused with various mechanical technologies, with an overall performance increase of 25% to 40%.

He looked at the Void Dragon's data. The Teng Snake was a more versatile type, so he didn't create another duplicate type. The Void Dragon was good at close-quarters combat, and because the materials were rare, the equipment came with very strong abilities.

——

[Void Dragon]

[Type: Combat Suit-Type Personal Light Armor]

[Quality: Purple]

[Equipment Requirements: Lv90, Mechanic Class, Strength greater than 4000, Endurance greater than 200]

[Base Attributes: Armor Value 30400/30400, Defense 375, Power Energy Level 1360, Energy Value 9000]

[Height: 1.91 meters]

[Weight: 143 pounds]

[Control Method: Low-Level Intelligent Chip + Neural Link (Extra Agility +10)]

[Energy: Portable Stable Nuclear Fission Micro-Reactor - Automatic Recharge, restores 120 energy per minute. If consuming Strength as fuel, consumes Strength 30/s, restores energy 55/s]

[Standby Mode Consumption: 25 Energy/Minute]

[Combat Mode Consumption: 48 Energy/Minute]

[Core Power: 775/1200]

[Skeleton Module: tm1.50 Nano-Biochemical Tendon, Armor Lining Filling, Elasticity with Movement, Increases Output, Enhances Body Performance, Strength +57, Agility +45, Power Occupancy 150. — Available Energy Stimulates Tendons, Consumes 40 Energy Per Minute, Overall Attribute Bonus +33%]

[Armor Module: Void Dragon Bone (Pink Rare Material), Armor Value +28000, Defense +320]

[Hand Module: Vibration Converter (Purple), Generates Shock, 11% of Close-Range Damage is Armor-Piercing Attack, Power 50]

[Wrist Module: Wrist Strength Enhancement Ring, Strength +10, Power 30]

[Leg Module: Internal Pressurized Jet Circuit, Agility +8, Power 30]

[Propulsion Module: Small Mobile Device (Purple) x12, Power Occupancy 240]

[Survival Module: Physical Sign Monitoring, Constant Temperature Life Support System, Oxygen Filtration, Horizontal Gravity Gyro Stabilizer, First Aid Injection Device, High Pressure Resistance Device...Power Ratio 150]

[Chip Module: Damage Detection, Analysis Database, Trajectory Prediction, Remote Online Control, Combat Assistance, Neuron Signal Conversion Instructions...Power Ratio 110]

[Accessory Module: Electromagnetic Pulse Conditioner (Purple), Gains [Excited] State, All Attributes +7%, Lasts for Fifteen Minutes, Consumes 5 Energy Per Use, Power 15]

[Accessory Module: Compression Orb Storage and Ejection Pipe]

[Innate Ability: Powerful Performance — In Combat Mode, More Energy is Allocated to Biochemical Tendons, Generating Greater Extra Output, Strength +45, Agility +35]

[Innate Ability: Undying Tenacity — The Void Dragon Bone Possesses Incredible Toughness, Physical Damage is Reduced by 20%, Magic Damage is Reduced by 18%. When the Armor Value is Below 40%, this Effect is Doubled. After Exiting Combat State, the Armor Value Automatically Recovers at a Rate of 3% per Minute]

[Innate Ability: Mysterious Power — The Void Dragon Bone Contains Mysterious Energy. Consuming 60 Energy Grants a One-Minute Status Buff, Strength +15, Agility +11, Melee Attack Power +34, Attack Speed +16%, and Deals 40% Melee Splash Damage, Cooldown Time 75s]

[Innate Ability: Void Ejection — The Void Dragon Bone Contains Extraordinary Magic. After Its Death, the Void Magic Settles in the Bones. This Equipment will Convert Energy to Form Void Ejection, Dealing 278~1790 Points of Damage, Each Time Consuming 50~300 Points of Energy or Strength (Controllable), No Cooldown. If Releasing the Next Ejection Within 10s, Energy Consumption is +30% Each Time. If this Skill is Not Released Within 10s, Energy Consumption will Return to Baseline]

[Side Effect: This Equipment is Empowered by Void Energy and Has Extremely High Usage Load. After Wearing, Maximum Health is Reduced by 3000]

[Note: When You Gaze Upon This Armor, You Seem to Feel the Undying Soul Within]