"How do you feel?"

Number One opened his eyes, his pupils flashing red, having been modified to zoom in like a sniper scope. He looked down at his metallic-skinned hand, flexing his fingers, a sinister grin spreading across his face.

"Better than ever."

Number One threw a punch, his exoskeleton humming, and a crater in the shape of a fan appeared on the steel wall. His sinister smile grew wider until it turned into a maniacal laugh.

He had endured endless pain, and finally, he had gained transcendent power.

The surging confidence intoxicated him.

Faced with this power, Number One suddenly realized that Zero, who had once killed him, was nothing more than a weak chick, easily crushed.

They were no longer on the same level.

"Zero, don't die at the hands of others before I find you," Number One muttered, his eyes fierce. "You are mine."

...

Cerberus walked out of the research lab to report to the leader.

"Due to the accelerated timeline, the experiment is not yet mature. Only Number One could survive all the modifications; he is the only complete modification." Cerberus said, "It's hard to imagine he could withstand all the torture."

The leader's tone was indifferent. "He died at the hands of Zero. Hatred has made his will unbreakable."

"About Zero..." Cerberus narrowed his eyes. "If he really has precognitive abilities, we must eliminate him before the war, or our strategic deployments will be exposed."

"He's like a rat in the sewer, hiding too deep."

The leader put his hands behind his back, tapping his fingers three times before making a decision. "Activate the Child of Destiny and find his location."

Cerberus smiled, always having been very interested in the Child of Destiny.

The two walked down a winding corridor, passing through checkpoints with increasingly high-security requirements. The defenses here were very strict, with teams of elite Night Owls patrolling the corridors in synchronized steps. There was a deeply hidden secret room here.

The leader arrived at the door, entered the password, and then used fingerprint recognition. He took off the gloves he had been wearing, revealing his hand. Hideous scars covered his palm, as if it had been chewed and gnawed on by a beast, a ghastly sight.

There were also scars on his fingertips. After passing the recognition, the leader put his gloves back on, and the metal door mechanism moved, sliding open. Only the leader had permission to open this door.

Inside was a hibernation pod. A man with a metal mask on his face was lying dormant in the pod, nutrient solution ensuring that his body would not die.

The leader operated the hibernation pod, injecting awakening agents. The pod door swished open, and the man slowly opened his eyes, calm and unperturbed. His eyes were like a stagnant pool, not caring whether he was asleep or awake.

This man was called the "Child of Destiny" by the Germination Organization and possessed a peculiar ability to influence the future through language, the details of which Germination did not know.

The leader beckoned to his subordinate behind him, who handed over Zero's file. The leader showed it page by page, and the "Child of Destiny" kept his gaze steady, watching the pages turn.

After flipping through it once, the leader repeated it again, saying in a deep voice, "Make him appear."

The "Child of Destiny" finally blinked.

The leader took out a special key and opened the "Child of Destiny's" metal mask.

The "Child of Destiny" closed his eyes. After a full five minutes, he opened his eyes and slowly spoke in a hoarse voice, "He will walk right into the trap and come here."

The leader paused for a moment. "Time."

"Not long."

"Hopefully, this time will be successful." Cerberus shook his head. The "Child of Destiny's" ability did not always succeed; the smaller the request, the higher the success rate.

The leader put the metal mask back on the "Child of Destiny" and pushed him back into the pod to hibernate again.

The guards outside the door carefully poked their heads in, looking at each other with puzzled expressions.

Why were the leader and Mr. Cerberus talking to themselves?

...

After staying in the last novice village in the West Continent for three days, Han Xiao couldn't wait to take a plane and leave. His next stop was the North Continent, a long journey.

The average level of the players was getting closer and closer to level twenty, and Han Xiao had to speed up his schedule.

Outside the porthole, the stars filled the sky, and the plane flew steadily in the dark clouds, the flight path already set.

In the night sky, the Milky Way was bright, reflected in Han Xiao's mirror-like pupils, bright and magnificent.

Looking at the night sky, Han Xiao would always think of those shining stars, establishing countless civilizations, with countless opportunities and bustling activity in the depths of the universe.

Han Xiao knew this well, and whenever he thought of it, a surge of ambition would rise in his heart.

"A man's journey is the sea of stars."

He had gained a foothold on Aquamarine Star. This was the starting point. The more trump cards he accumulated here, the more confident he would be.

Opening the panel, Han Xiao counted his gains.

He stayed in the West Continent for more than ten days, snatching a pile of potions, including an unfinished potion with unknown effects but potentially valuable, and gained even more connections: Dean, two useless superhero melons, Hannes, and triggered a hidden main quest.

And the mecha was also built, the Viper · Modified.

Viper · Modified could greatly increase his strength and agility attributes, making up for the mechanic's weak early-stage weaknesses. In Han Xiao's conception, Viper · Modified was the second set of combat plans, still just a prototype, and constantly needed to add new modules to the mecha to increase combat methods.

The sniper style was a means of assassination, kiting, and concealment, then Viper · Modified was used by Han Xiao to face enemies head-on. In fact, he already had several modification ideas in his mind.

The biggest gain was the experience and money from the four novice villages. The *Qi Force Refinement Method* sold very well. Just as Han Xiao had initially predicted, the benefits it brought him were astronomical!

Experience, 120 million!

Directly exceeding 100 million!

Those who could afford the *Qi Force Refinement Method* were faster-growing players, not everyone could afford it.

Job transfer knowledge and basic skills, on the other hand, were low-profit, high-volume sales, with the most people buying them, plus an additional 20 million experience!

The experience accumulated on the panel totaled 140 million!

Looking at the long string of zeros, Han Xiao was very happy. Even for players of the same level, so much experience was still an astronomical figure. Some players might not even be able to reach this number in the entire 1.0 version.

"Awesome." Han Xiao was in a good mood, and he wouldn't have to worry about experience for a long time to come.

As long as he solved the two big hurdles of job transfer and advancement, his level could rise rapidly. Upgrading skills could also be done lavishly, and it would be easy to upgrade all skills except blueprints to max level. Most importantly, he could integrate blueprints in large quantities to replenish his inventory.

In addition to experience, the *Qi Force Refinement Method* also earned 36 million Aquamarine dollars. Five letters of introduction were also sold, greatly replenishing his wallet. This wealth was simply terrifying. This was the power of taxes from the people.

"This trip was worth it!"

Han Xiao rubbed his hands and couldn't wait to open the panel.

The skills he currently had that were not max level (except for blueprints) were: [Grappling lv5], [Precision Shooting lv3], [Special Combat lv1], [Stealth Concealment lv1], [Breath-holding Aiming lv1], [Night Raid lv1], [Precision Enhancement Modification lv4], [Qi Force-Electromagnetic Enhancement lv1], [Precision Repair lv1], and the godly skill [Pickpocketing lv1].

Without even looking at the experience requirements, he directly upgraded all skills except blueprints to max level!

Ruthlessly extravagant!

[Your Precision Shooting has reached level 5, Sniping has reached level 5, you have comprehended *Vision of Crowd Control*]

[Your Grappling has reached level 5, Special Combat has reached level 5, you have comprehended *Lethal Critical Strike*]

[You have obtained the feat *Combat Proficiency*]

[You have obtained the feat *Shooting Proficiency*]

[You have obtained the feat *Bat Habits*]