Chapter 1 Covering the Moon and Stars

Dark clouds covered the moon and stars, casting a vast twilight.

The ground base complex was brightly lit, searchlight beams tearing through the inky sky. Guards searched everywhere, the engine roar of vehicles making the night as noisy as day. Helicopters with spotlights searched from above, circular patches of light shifting across the ground.

The large-scale search brought no small trouble to Han Xiao and Hela’s actions. Fortunately, Hela knew the terrain well. The two narrowly avoided one guard patrol after another, hiding in the shadow of a metal building on the edge of the base complex, peering out. The southern stronghold was vaguely visible.

The southern stronghold was separated from the base complex by a deep, open area with a sloping incline. From their perspective, it was downhill, and anyone who went out would be in full view of the stronghold. At this time, the southern stronghold was brightly lit and bustling with noise. The searchlights swept across the slope repeatedly, like white suns in the night.

"Damn it, the manpower at the stronghold has increased several times. With the current level of alert, there's no way to avoid being noticed. To get to the stronghold, we have to go downhill, and there's no way to hide. Once exposed, we're dead," Hela said in a low voice, her tone solemn.

The organization's power was like a towering mountain range. Although it had been defeated and retreated by the Six Nations, it had not yet collapsed. It was still a behemoth. They were alone and weak, and a head-on collision was impossible. The only way was to sneak away.

Han Xiao glanced at the stronghold a few times and clicked his tongue. "They have vehicles, guns, and cannons. Heh, it's almost the scale of a small war, just to deal with the three of us. They're really making a big fuss."

"To be precise, it's to deal with you. We're just extras." Hela said expressionlessly, paused, and asked, "Don't you have any accomplices to meet you?"

She felt that Han Xiao's infiltration was supported by some forces, which made sense, so there must be someone to meet him and help him leave.

But Han Xiao flatly denied it, causing her heart to sink to the bottom.

"No backup…" Hela couldn't help but ask, "Then what will you do after escaping the headquarters? Germination won't stop searching. Even if you leave the headquarters, you won't escape the overwhelming pursuit."

"Improvise." Han Xiao didn't care and buried himself in organizing his equipment.

Hela frowned. Since there was no backup, what was the point of following Han Xiao?

Germination wanted him. If they parted ways, she and her sister would be safer. She felt that she had barely repaid his kindness by taking Han Xiao out of the headquarters through the secret passage. It wouldn't be considered crossing the river and tearing down the bridge to suggest escaping separately and she wouldn't owe him anything.

For Aurora’s sake, she had to go against her usual style and consider a safer route.

‘Let’s talk about escaping the headquarters first…’

Hela calmed down and stopped looking at Han Xiao behind her, focusing on observing the situation at the stronghold.

…

At the same time, at the southern stronghold.

High-powered searchlights constantly illuminated the deep slope, and any movement would not escape the stronghold's observation. Every fifty meters, there was a multi-barreled rotary machine gun ready to spray a wave of metal, waiting in full force.

The situation of each stronghold was transmitted to the main control room of the headquarters through monitoring terminals, divided into dozens of screens, allowing the leader to have a panoramic view.

In the southern stronghold, the summoned players, as a special force, had a separate camp. They were gathered together waiting for orders. The [Intercept Zero] mission had not yet failed. The players saw Germination putting on such a big show in the headquarters area, including the base complex, and were stunned.

"We're useless. If the mission is successful, wouldn't it be a waste?"

"Yeah, makes sense. This might be a cutscene. We can only watch and can't interfere." Ilektra said, also having been summoned. Foreign players were common, and everyone was used to it. No one knew that Ilektra was actually a real European spy.

"Hey, does anyone know the details of Zero?"

At this moment, a player with the id "White Hunt" said, "I know."

As soon as he spoke, he immediately attracted questions from everyone.

White Hunt was a near-first-tier player from the Temple Club. He got information from the God Clan guild and actively came to Germination to trigger [Find Zero], so he learned a lot of inside information. He was now explaining it to everyone, starting from the escape of the experiment subject, secretly stirring up trouble and hurting Germination to its core. These deeds were all based on Germination's perspective and immediately caused players to exclaim in amazement.

"Seems awesome."

"So, he's a key figure in the main storyline, escaping the organization and subverting Germination with his own strength, becoming the mastermind behind the war. Damn, that's a legend!"

"Maybe he's the protagonist of the planet. Oh, his favorability towards me is minus thirty," someone exclaimed.

White Hunt smiled. "Although he's a key figure in the plot, there shouldn't be much interaction, otherwise it wouldn't be possible to force us to be enemies with him and drop our favorability."

Everyone nodded upon hearing this. When playing games, you always encounter some powerful but unimportant NPCs with not many interactive functions. The favorability of such characters is generally useless.

…

After observing for a while, Hela said decisively, "No, this route won't work. Let's change places."

She heard rustling behind her. Han Xiao seemed to be organizing his equipment while saying, "The search teams are squeezing our escape space. The longer we delay, the more dangerous it becomes. If this place doesn't work, neither will other places."

"Then what's your plan?"

"Charge through."

Hela didn't turn her head, stared at the stronghold, and frowned. "There are too many enemies. Maybe we can kill hundreds of people, but we'll definitely be overwhelmed by the crowd. A head-on collision is a dead end. It's best to wait for an opportunity and find another loophole."

However, Han Xiao seemed to have made up his mind. His tone was unquestionable as he said lightly, "Remember to keep up later."

These words contained powerful confidence. Then Hela heard a low hum behind her, like a turbine. She turned back in surprise and was stunned to find that Han Xiao had changed drastically. He was wearing a streamlined, jet-black combat suit mecha. The energy transmission pipes in the armor gaps flickered with bright blue fluorescence, and a majestic aura swept over her, bringing a heavy shock to her heart.

There was no need to recognize this figure, this mecha, because it was too famous. Everyone in Germination… no, everyone in the world, knew him. His name came out of her mouth.

"Black Phantom!!"

Hela could no longer maintain her composure. Instead, her face was filled with disbelief.

At this moment, she finally understood everything. No wonder Han Xiao dared to go deep alone and didn't need any support, because he himself was a powerhouse standing at the peak, an army of one!

So this was the truth!

Thinking about the information about Black Phantom, Han Xiao's experience was not hiding and sneaking around as she had imagined, but rather acting in a high-profile manner under the eyes of Germination, step by step, becoming a legend!

She had witnessed Han Xiao's weakest period, but she never expected that one day he would stand on the peak and far surpass her!

"Y-you…" Hela was distraught.

Han Xiao patted the stunned Hela, then strode towards the southern stronghold, revealing powerful confidence in his every move.

The built-in tactical screen analyzed the data of the entire battlefield, with a panoramic view. He swaggered down the slope towards the southern stronghold and was immediately exposed to the searchlight's field of vision. The dazzling light focused on Han Xiao, as if plated with a layer of bright white halo, showing every detail, clear as could be.

Everyone saw this appearance and didn't react for a moment.

"Why is Black Phantom here?" Korder was surprised.

His sight passed over Han Xiao and found Hela behind him.

Everyone finally reacted. Their minds buzzed, and emotions such as shock, horror, and astonishment exploded like fireworks!

"Zero… is Black Phantom!!"

The truth surfaced. At this moment, all the questions were answered. The truth was like an earthquake, shaking everyone's hearts! They were dumbfounded!

Korder, who was about to order the attack, widened his eyes and forgot to command. His confidence instantly vanished.

All the executives in the stronghold felt a chill running up their spines. Everyone who was an enemy of Black Phantom had proven their fate with death!

A man's reputation is like the shadow of a tree!

Han Xiao squatted slightly, bent his arms back, and made a standing jump posture. The "Bonfire" reactor on his back emitted a dazzling red light. The turbine-like sound frequency accelerated, and the silver-blue energy in the armor gap pipes was quickly transmitted throughout his body. The biochemical muscles bulged, entering a powerful mode.

The armor on his lower back, the inner bends of his arms, and his thighs cracked open, revealing small, simplified mobile device nozzles. These nozzles released invisible power, and the air behind him was stirred and distorted. When he was in the shelter, Han Xiao further strengthened the Viper · Modified and added new modules. The current Viper · Modified was stronger than before.

Being a Mechanic had this advantage. When other classes were stuck in bottlenecks, they could still steadily improve themselves through strengthening and modification, accumulating strength!

"Attack, attack quickly!" Korder finally reacted and shouted the order. The soldiers hurriedly operated the multi-barreled machine guns, aimed at Han Xiao, and the barrels rotated to warm up.

However, before they could fire, a bang exploded at Han Xiao's feet, and dirt flew up, like a shell exploding!

Han Xiao fired and started, and a flying kick and meteor fist slammed into the stronghold, sending figures flying into the sky one after another.

In an instant, people were thrown off their feet, and the stronghold was in chaos!