Chapter 1 The Scattering Dust

The drifting dust and sand were like a yellowish mist, wisping and swirling, as if shrouding the world in a gauze veil. Only when the dust settled did visibility clear.

In the gale, a figure struggled to rise, kneeling on the ground.

Drip, drip...

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The Leader covered his face and slowly stood up.

At this moment, the air seemed to solidify, and a strange stillness descended upon the battlefield. Both friend and foe involuntarily turned their gazes.

The Germination Organization's Leader always wore a black metal mask, his identity shrouded in mystery. Almost no one had ever seen his true face.

To command such a vast force, he must be a significant figure with a well-known name. Intelligence agencies from various countries had numerous speculations about his identity. Germination was established during the Old Era wars, so the most likely guess was that the Leader was a former powerhouse from the Old Era who had changed his appearance.

Han Xiao couldn't help but hold his breath and watch. In his previous life, even until Germination vanished into the river of history, players never uncovered the Leader's identity, so he also didn't know the Leader's true origins.

The Leader lowered his hand, revealing to everyone a hideous face crisscrossed with scars, like centipedes crawling under the skin. These scars were irregular in shape, as if torn and clawed by ferocious beasts.

It was a completely unfamiliar face.

Although his appearance was appalling, his features were barely discernible. Han Xiao was certain that he had never seen this face in the intelligence files he had accumulated in the dark web. He looked at the powerhouses from the Six Nations and Bennett and the others; they all wore blank expressions.

No one recognized the Leader.

Bennett frowned deeply. He was a legend who had lived through the Old Era, and he had an impression of the prominent figures of that time. Even those who had died in battle or of old age were still remembered by him. However, he had no recollection of the Leader's face. There were only three possibilities.

First, the Leader also wore a mask during his activities in the past. Second, he had undergone plastic surgery to conceal his identity. Third, he was not an active powerhouse in the Old Era and had remained hidden in obscurity.

With his true face exposed, the Leader was expressionless, seemingly unconcerned.

"No one recognizes him? Did he wear a mask because his appearance would affect morale?" Han Xiao frowned. The Leader's appearance was so ugly that it could make people cry. If he didn't wear a mask, he would probably have a built-in "Friendly Army Morale -20" debuff aura.

The battle was not over yet. Han Xiao put his doubts aside. With thirty seconds left before Viper-modified breathed its last, Han Xiao didn't delay. He dragged his warhammer and sprinted, using the momentum to swing the power-assisted warhammer.

Bang bang bang!

The fist entwined with black-purple flames and the warhammer clashed frantically, with muffled sounds like those of a blacksmith at work.

The Leader had sharp eyes and judged that Han Xiao's mech was on the verge of collapse and could not last long. A mechanic without a mech or equipment was like a tiger without teeth and claws.

Stall.

He switched to a defensive stance, allowing Han Xiao to swing his warhammer with furious force. Under the pounding rain of blows, he remained as firm as a reef.

The body tempered through countless battles and the hard metal warhammer collided continuously, the force of the impact stirring up dust and sand like waves!

Crackling!

After thirty seconds, Viper-modified emitted an ominous sound. Pieces of component modules fell to the ground one after another, like wilting flower petals.

The entire mech collapsed.

Han Xiao revealed his true form.

"Ha!" The Leader roared, instantly transforming from defense to a frenzied attack. The accumulated power erupted, and with all his might, he struck Han Xiao's abdomen, using an armor-piercing skill. The force could penetrate directly into the internal organs.

Bang! Boom—

This strike produced two sounds. The palm struck Han Xiao's body, emitting the first muffled thud. Then, the force passed through Han Xiao's body and burst out behind him, creating a shockwave. The sound was like a cannon exploding, making people's eardrums buzz. The decibel level was more than ten times greater than the first sound. The aftershock plowed a widening triangular pit into the sand behind Han Xiao, going from deep to shallow.

The display of power was tremendous. Yet Han Xiao merely swayed slightly and didn't take a single step back. He had actually withstood the blow.

"How can you!" The Leader was shocked and greatly surprised.

How could a mechanic withstand his fist with his bare body?

A shadow loomed over him. The warhammer struck down again. The Leader raised his arm to block, his arm bone aching. His whole body sank, his legs buried in the sand up to his knees, driven into the ground like a stake.

His pupils reflected a figure erupting with dense Qi, so powerful that it even surpassed him, a martial artist!

"This... why..." The Leader gritted his teeth, suddenly realizing something. His expression changed drastically. "You broke through that barrier?!"

Advancing every twenty levels was a huge bottleneck for NPCs without panels. They couldn't easily break through the barrier through quests, but could only rely on diligent training and luck.

In the circle of peak superhumans on Aquamarine Star, there was no news of anyone breaking through the barrier. The higher realm seemed as distant as the horizon.

Yet the breakthrough he craved the most had suddenly appeared on the person he least wanted to see, and at the most inappropriate time.

Could this be—fate?

These two words rolled uncontrollably through his mind.

"Eat my Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique!" Han Xiao casually shouted out a technique name, and the warhammer smashed down.

Viper-modified was destroyed, and Han Xiao lost the mech's high attribute bonuses. Moreover, his sniper rifle ammunition was exhausted. He only had the borrowed power-assisted warhammer in his hand. The situation seemed grim, but it wasn't. His Strength, Agility, and Endurance stats at level 70 were comparable to those of a level 60 Boss martial artist like the Leader. And at this moment, the Leader was not at his peak condition, with only 37% of his health remaining.

Once his health was too low, all kinds of negative states would follow, and his combat power would also decline due to injuries. The gap between the two hadn't narrowed much due to the destruction of Viper-modified. Han Xiao could still fight the Boss single-handedly, using normal attacks to save the world and beat up the current Leader.

The Leader's fighting spirit was severely weakened, and coupled with his poor condition, he was powerless to turn the tide. He was hammered back step by step, blood spurting wildly.

On the other side, the Six Nations experts were all dumbfounded.

In their minds, if anyone could defeat the Leader, it would definitely be Bennett. No one expected that this person would actually be Han Xiao.

Bennett was their publicly acknowledged strongest combatant, but he could only be evenly matched with the Leader. Yet Han Xiao had overwhelmed the Leader, and it wasn't even a mutually destructive outcome. Apart from losing a battlesuit mech, he had hardly any injuries.

They had all witnessed Han Xiao's process of defeating the Leader. It wasn't a sneak attack or assassination, but an honorable, head-on confrontation. This meant that Han Xiao was stronger than Bennett, and stronger by a whole level.

And who was Bennett? He was one of the globally recognized strongest people.

Han Xiao's performance could remove the "one of."

He was the strongest combatant here… no, he was even the strongest superhuman in the world!

The stalemate had been broken. Han Xiao had swept the entire field!

Danina's temper was as direct as her Blast ability. She was so shocked that she almost misaimed and砸 her fireball at Bennett. She said in disbelief, "H-he's so strong? Then why did he need us to support him?"

"That feeling… I'm not mistaken. He broke through that barrier!" Tang Tang's eyes glowed, and she exclaimed in amazement.

Emotions of shock and envy were all displayed on everyone's faces.

Seeing their boss being beaten up, the Germination troops' morale plummeted, and their coordination gradually became chaotic.

Bang!

Another hammer blow struck his chest. The Leader spurted a mouthful of blood from between his teeth, splattering all over Han Xiao. He suddenly opened his mouth, revealing his bloody teeth, and let out a furious roar.

The weakened black-purple flames became sturdy again, burning brightly.

Han Xiao thought he was about to unleash a big move. He held his warhammer horizontally, preparing to block and receive the attack.

But the next second, the Leader actually turned around, barely gathering the Qi flames and blasting them out behind him, turning them into a propulsion force. He shot away like a cannonball, running more than two hundred meters away, into one of the troops' positions. Then the flames dissipated completely, and he lost all his strength, collapsing in the desert, blood flowing uncontrollably from his mouth and nose.

His injuries were severe, and he couldn't withstand Han Xiao's savage Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique. Even if the Leader was angry, he could only temporarily avoid the brunt of the attack.

"He's escaped, which means he's admitting defeat!"

Han Xiao's spirits lifted, and he hurriedly checked the combat information.

The Leader's health was still at 14%, in a severely injured and weakened state.

A damage output rate of sixty percent was enough.