The shockwaves from the collision slammed into them, and when the dust settled, an annular crater marked where the two stood. Bennett's five-times critical hit was earth-shattering, yet both only staggered, neither gaining the upper hand!
Their fists flew in a dizzying exchange, like a dark purple python and a white-hot dragon entwined, tearing and biting. Friend and foe alike retreated, wary of getting caught in the crossfire.
"Holy crap, what a savage," Han Xiao muttered, clicking his tongue. Both were martial arts types, equipped with various specializations and skills, their Qi thick and dense. They represented different martial arts styles. Bennett was measured and powerful, exuding a sense of "just right" perfection, displaying his combat experience to the fullest.
The leader's style, however, was violent and unrestrained, his wild nature exposed, ferocious and sinister, just like the color of his aura.
These two beasts were clearly half a level stronger than other advanced Supers, possessing multiple templates and rare specializations. They were both Boss-level, their stats surpassing those of their peers.
"Worthy of being a planet's protagonist," Han Xiao suddenly realized, his eyes lighting up. "Bennett used Will Burning for five times the damage, and the leader was able to withstand it, he must have a similar powerful skill."
Thinking of the [Traitor's Revenge] reward, Han Xiao felt a surge of excitement. He knew many hidden quests yielded powerful skills and specializations, and this quest was the most straightforward. As long as he could win, he would have a chance to get rich, a very cost-effective opportunity.
While coordinating with his teammates to deal with other enemies, Han Xiao weighed his combat power against the leader's. The result wasn't optimistic. First of all, after multiple battles, he was in mediocre condition. He only had the Viper-Modified left. For a Mechanic, insufficient equipment equaled poor condition.
"In a one-on-one fight, with my current equipment, if I perform well, I'd at best severely injure the leader, and Bennett won't let me do that... If I and Bennett team up to attack the leader, I can't compete with Bennett's output. Bennett also has Will Burning, and he's luckier than me..." Han Xiao lamented.
An idea struck him. The best way was to maintain the current situation and let Bennett and the leader wrestle each other. The two were evenly matched. Although the fight was intense, they lost health very slowly, mostly blocking each other's attacks. It was impossible to tell who would win in the short term, and regardless of friend or foe, no one intended to interfere in Bennett's and the leader's battle.
"The Legendary is worthy of being a legend. The leader is stronger than any of us. Only Bennett can hold him back. We can't interfere in the fight there," Tang Tang said in the communicator while wielding gusts of wind, creating a sandstorm for crowd control.
Bennett was the strongest link, everyone acknowledged this. Even if they were proud, they were all convinced by the famous Bennett.
"The army is fighting a war of attrition with us. The situation is now deadlocked. The strongest combatants on both sides are restraining each other. Whoever wins or loses will break the balance and change the entire situation."
Falzord, who was releasing an energy shield, said. Everyone else agreed with this view.
Hearing this, Han Xiao's mind raced. He saw a turning point for completing the quest. He thought, "Since the situation is deadlocked, it's giving me time. This is the key to completing [Traitor's Revenge]. The turning point is the advancement quest [Extreme Trial]! As long as I advance, I can take down the leader!"
With so many helpers around him and enemies as vast as the ocean, it was the best opportunity to grind trial points! Moreover, Han Xiao had found the right way. The settlement after the battle status disappeared was based on the difference in the number of enemies and allies, adding extra trial points based on a certain ratio to the number of enemies he killed in the battle. Based on the previous statistics, he could barely calculate how many extra trial points he could obtain. Then, he could leave the battlefield once, and the settlement after the battle would reach 2,000 points of progress!
Defeating the leader = successfully breaking through, which did not conflict with this quest. Han Xiao knew how to seize opportunities. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance!
The battle was in full swing. The high-end combat power on Han Xiao's side crushed Germination. From time to time, Executives were injured and coughed up blood. Han Xiao used the panel's combat information to coordinate the overall situation, secretly picking up scraps and stabbing in the back, even stealing kills from his teammates. The efficiency of reaping trial points was unprecedented, skyrocketing.
If the players were here, they would be able to see that he was slacking off and stealing kills. However, these teammates were not players. Seeing Han Xiao only wandering around and firing potshots, they thought he was tired and not in good condition.
They thought Han Xiao was a strong helper, but now it seemed that he was useless. This mission had become babysitting. Dannina, whose temper was as fiery as her ability, directly assigned the task, "Black Star, you're useless here. Supers don't need you. Go deal with the miscellaneous soldiers."
Since Black Star was not in good condition, the best option was naturally to let him specialize in dealing with minions. Dannina's decision seemed fine to everyone. However, Han Xiao casually perfunctorily replied and continued to do his own thing, ignoring their command.
Everyone's expression changed. In their opinion, the nature of this immediately changed. Han Xiao was unwilling to follow orders. Was he relying on the fact that he was a protected target and watching them risk their lives?
Everyone was a teammate and should fight side by side. Moreover, they were here to support him, but he was actually doing this...
Everyone looked displeased. Dannina wanted to reprimand him, but she was attacked and hurriedly blocked. She didn't say what she wanted to say and resentfully speculated, "Hmph, he's originally a traitor of Germination, hiding and digging at the foundation, provoking discord and wars behind the scenes. He's indeed a sinister guy."
Han Xiao was helpless. He had his reasons. He had to kill Supers to get trial points. This was the biggest turning point in the situation. Letting him deal with minions was a waste of talent. However, his teammates didn't understand this, so he could only ignore the misunderstanding and focus on his grand plan to grind trial points.
The battle gradually became intense. In the fierce battle, they almost forgot about the passage of time. Germination's pursuers also arrived at the scene. Jeros and the other four veteran Executives joined the battle group. The pressure on everyone increased sharply. They constantly tried to break through, but Germination's guerrilla warfare tactics were very disgusting, like maggots clinging to bones, making it difficult to get rid of them. Everyone had become birds caught in a net. Of course, Germination paid a heavy price for this. The ground was covered with corpses and burning metal wreckage, buried by the yellow sand.
Although the army could not cause decisive damage to the Supers, the firepower interference was as annoying as flies, constantly consuming everyone's Qi. Constant dripping wears away a stone, and many grains make a mountain. Finally, injuries began to appear on everyone's bodies, and their condition gradually declined.
Tang Tang and the beast-summoning Super were the targets of concentrated fire. One created a sandstorm, and the other summoned desert insects and beasts. Both had the ability to control the field. Germination's Executive team launched a tacitly coordinated division of the battlefield and concentrated fire, breaking Falzord's energy shield and blasting the beast-summoning Super into scattered limbs and flesh, splattering blood everywhere. The out-of-control beasts stood blankly on the spot and then turned around and fled.
Everyone's expression darkened. Once casualties occurred, it meant that the balance of victory and defeat had begun to tilt, and it was very likely to snowball.
Han Xiao's heart tightened, and he silently calculated the trial points.
"There were about fifty Executives at first, and later more than twenty people came to support them. I killed almost thirty people. According to the difference in the number of enemies and allies, as long as I get 20 more trial points, the extra reward for the post-war settlement will be enough to reach 2,000 points!"
At this moment, Tang Tang was suddenly hit by Jeros's "Force Field·Barrage", clutching her chest and kneeling down in pain. The Executive team took the opportunity to concentrate fire.
Seeing that various attacks were about to engulf Tang Tang, Han Xiao used Repelling Force to push Tang Tang away from afar, and various attacks brushed past her.
Tang Tang escaped death and was scared into a cold sweat. She hurriedly thanked him, "Thank you very much."
Han Xiao nodded and looked around, continuing to look for opportunities. Suddenly, the Machina Warrior who was covered in armor and wielding a power hammer, charging like a rhino, slammed the hammer hard on the head of a veteran martial arts Executive. However, the Executive counterattacked with several consecutive punches, shattering the scarred chest armor. The two of them fell out at the same time, vomiting blood together, both severely injured!
"Opportunity!"
A ripple appeared on Han Xiao's calm mind. He decisively used [Will Burning] to snipe the downed martial artist, becoming the last straw that broke the camel's back.
[You dealt 964 damage to Trejo (lv54)] (Damage Reduction calculated)
[You killed Trejo, you gained 136,000 experience]
[You gained 23 Trial Points]
"Finally enough!" Han Xiao was overjoyed and suppressed his excitement. He fully powered the electromagnetic hover boots and the small maneuvering device, and suddenly turned his head and ran wildly in the direction he had come from. Germination was ambushing in the direction they were leaving, and the direction they had come from happened to be the most weakly defended area.
Because there were pursuers supporting them behind, going back was not a breakthrough, but a self-inflicted trap. They never thought that someone would run back.
However, Han Xiao did just that, leaving his teammates behind and instantly escaping the battlefield.
Everyone was stunned!
"Does he want to abandon us to buy him time to escape alone?" Dannina was furious.
The leader was held back by Bennett and could not break free. Seeing that the cooked duck was about to fly away, he was furious and roared, "Chase him, you must kill him!"
Jeros led some troops to leave the battlefield and pursue Han Xiao, so the pressure on the Six Nations' experts was immediately reduced.
Tang Tang said in a deep voice, "No, maybe he wants to share the enemy's strength and create opportunities, but if he fails, we and him will all be defeated. It's too risky... He should have discussed it with us in advance."
Far away from the battlefield, with enemies chasing closely behind, Han Xiao moved like lightning, calculating the time it would take for the battle status to end. After escaping for five minutes, a new wave of support troops appeared in the distance ahead.
There were wolves in front and tigers behind, and there was no escape.
At this time, Han Xiao smiled. This empty time allowed him to escape the battle status, and the panel showed the extra trial points for the post-war settlement.
[【Extreme Trial】: Current Progress 2000/2000]
[Level 60 Advancement Quest! Endurance bonus increased, 1 Endurance = 30 Health Points = 40 Stamina Points]
[You have obtained a sublimation of your life level. Race detected: [Carbon-Based Human (Yellow)]... Randomly drawing five matching evolution directions... Drawing completed... Please select one of the following five options as your evolved race. – Warning! The evolution process is irreversible, please choose carefully! [Appendix - Description of Evolutionary Direction Features]]
[【Hertalian】 - 78% Compatibility, 【Manu Giant】 - 64% Compatibility, 【Demon】 - 81% Compatibility, 【Type-I Universe Human】 - 97% Compatibility, 【Elementary Energy Lifeform】 - 31% Compatibility]
[Selection complete, race evolution in progress... Evolution complete]
[Race changed to: 【Type-I Universe Human】, molecular structure perfected, organ structure strengthened, metabolism changed, adaptability enhanced, potential aptitude improved, you have received stat completion: Strength +16, Dexterity +18, Endurance +21, Intelligence +25, Mystery +10, Charisma +8, Qi +360, Qi Level bonus attribute changed]
[You have obtained the racial trait [Adaptive Group]]
[You have comprehended the skill [Mechanical Continuation]]