Chapter 299 Electromagnetic Induction

Han Xiao didn't think much of the first option, [Magnetic Field Vision]. With his current Mechanical Affinity nearing a thousand points, this little bonus was negligible and the least cost-effective.

Among the three skills, [Strong Magnetic Field Shield] was undoubtedly the most powerful. If it were given to a player, it could be considered a semi-divine skill. The downside was that it consumed a terrifying amount of Stamina, but for Han Xiao, this consumption was still bearable.

Unfortunately, he didn't really want another tanking skill. He was already tanky enough as it was, and any tankier, he'd ascend to immortality. [Strong Magnetic Field Shield] conflicted with Blood-Stamina Conversion—his body had to take damage to be absorbed and converted into Stamina, which wouldn't happen if the damage was absorbed by the shield, and he wouldn't be able to recover Stamina.

Although this skill was good, he didn't particularly need it.

The other two skill names were slightly chuunibyou, but the effects were not bad, and could be used as attack methods when not using machinery... but he used machinery too little, so the frequency of use wouldn't be very high.

The last talent, [Electromagnetic Induction], had a very brief description. Han Xiao had seen similar talents in his previous life that enhanced the basic attributes of Stamina, causing the Stamina bonus value to skyrocket. This kind of talent was relatively rare, not only in the Mechanic class but also in the other four classes, where there were also talents that strengthened Stamina attributes. Soya's Esper Ability happened to be compatible with the Mechanic class.

Magnetic properties were related to Mechanical Force. If he chose this, his Mechanical Affinity would increase greatly, at least several times that of the first talent. Moreover, this talent would continue to work in the future when he gained new levels of Stamina bonus, which was equivalent to increasing his own growth potential.

This was a rare high-level Mechanic talent with growth potential.

"Tsk, I can only choose one. I want them all..."

Han Xiao scratched his head in distress. Except for the first option, he wanted the other four.

After thinking it over, he valued long-term potential more and made his choice.

[You have gained [Electromagnetic Induction]!]

[Your magnetic Stamina has been strengthened!]

[Your Stamina bonus has been changed!]

Han Xiao opened his personal attributes and glanced at them, immediately smiling.

In each layer of Stamina bonus, Mechanical Affinity had significantly improved. Currently, he was at the [Lv11] Stamina realm. Originally, he increased a total of 142% Mechanical Affinity, but with this talent, the total bonus skyrocketed to 262%!

A full increase of 120% Mechanical Affinity!

Almost doubled!

"Alright, this is considered a worthwhile choice."

Han Xiao was quite satisfied. The 120% extra Affinity directly brought his Mechanical Force bonus degree to over a thousand, and this talent had long-term potential to be tapped, which would become stronger as he leveled up.

Although it wasn't as heaven-defying as Reynold's [Perfect Mechanical Sense], it was still very good. Coupled with his own [Intermediate Mechanical Sense], he finally had two Mechanic class talents.

"This is more like a Mechanic."

Han Xiao chuckled.

However, the other three skills were also quite good, and he was a little regretful that he couldn't choose them all.

"This is only the first stage of the mission. Soya is still alive. If every stage's reward has a chance to draw..."

Han Xiao's eyes lit up, unable to resist fantasizing. He immediately felt tempted and wished he could encounter Soya a few more times.

Soya was a treasure trove of skills!

He glanced at the second stage of the [Prey] mission, which hadn't refreshed yet.

It was estimated that the second stage mission would be generated when the enemy attacked again.

"The enemy is in the dark while I am in the light. Fortunately, I planted an eye on her, otherwise I really couldn't have defended against their surprise attack. It's really like the mission name; they are hunters lying in wait, and I am the prey being targeted. If I was attacked at a critical moment in other missions, the loss would be great. This group of hunters is really a pain in the ass."

Han Xiao secretly rejoiced.

On the way back, Han Xiao observed the mark and eavesdropped on Soya and Aylett's conversation, knowing that the spicy lady was heading to headquarters.

If he could determine the location of this mysterious organization's headquarters, he might be able to drag Ames along to storm the high ground.

One dragon headbutt down, not to mention the crystal, even the enemy's fountain might not exist anymore...

Patience was the basic quality of spying. There was no use in rushing. He would have to wait for a while before the observation mark yielded results.

Han Xiao went to the training room to test the new talent for a while, then gave Sylvia and Reynold a lesson. After that, he had Sylvia report on the legion's affairs. After dealing with trivial matters, he plunged into the mechanical modification room and began to seclude himself.

Soya's attack put some pressure on him. If her companions all possessed strength around A+, this would be an unprecedented formidable enemy. Han Xiao prepared to seclude himself to build a batch of non-metallic machinery and manufacture a magnetic field reversal device that could neutralize Soya's magnetic field manipulation Esper Ability.

With ample experience reserves, Han Xiao didn't care about expenses and gambled on a large number of blueprints, finding many useful ones among them.

Including the blueprints, his number of skills had already exceeded a thousand, and the effect of the [Research Theory] talent had accumulated to increase more than three hundred extra Intelligence.

Building non-metallic machinery was one aspect of strengthening his strength. On the other hand, Han Xiao felt that it was time to increase his level.

Currently, he was at level 170, stuck on the [Galaxy Mechanic] class advancement mission. If he completed the class advancement, his personal strength would increase significantly, and he would be able to obtain the next stage of important Mechanic class skills.

The class advancement requirement was very direct: he just needed to learn an Advanced Knowledge.

However, for Han Xiao, it was not easy.

In his previous life, when players were at this level, the version was already quite late. They had played for a long time, experienced many main storyline events, and had already built up relationships with many factions, so they could directly exchange for Advanced Knowledge.

However, Han Xiao was too far ahead. Limited by the version, he had not yet had the opportunity to grind out the faction relationships with the Star Cluster level civilizations. Thus, this class advancement requirement, which was quite simple in his previous life, blocked him instead.

It wasn't difficult, but it was very grindy.

Han Xiao had already used up the accumulated random rewards and inherited the chieftain bloodline of bad luck, and he had not drawn a mission settlement card.

Mission settlement cards were actually very cheap and not rare items. The things he drew were basically more valuable than mission settlement cards, such as the precious Esper Ability Potential Enhancement Fluid, which he had actually drawn twice in a row. Adding the one he had accumulated a long time ago, he now had three copies.

He always felt that after touching Fording, going to draw a mission settlement card was like cheating himself...

Advanced Knowledge was a must-learn, so Han Xiao was too lazy to gamble on mission settlement cards. He was now only hoping that the Crimson Dynasty would quickly set up the Zero Sanctuaries so that he could grind it to the maximum without saying a word. In [Crimson Tide], there was no shortage of faction missions.

...

In the outer space orbit of the Crimson Dynasty's mother star, the garrison satellite station codenamed "Saber" revolved around the mother star. This was a newly built space station, which was an office of a newly established institution whose members were drawn from several Sanctuaries of the Department of Secret Intelligence and were all elites.

At this moment, inside the "Saber" garrison satellite station, in the office of the highest officer, a row of envoy captains sat upright, all staring at Lei Fu, the highest officer of the institution.

Lei Fu flipped through everyone's work reports, listening to these captains explaining the situation:

"The list of candidate cooperative forces has been compiled. A total of one hundred and seventy-three new forces have been selected. All of them have been contacted and have the intention to cooperate with us. Please take a look."

"The number is too small."

Lei Fu's tone was indifferent. In front of his subordinates, he was very majestic.

"From the perspective of the entire Star Cluster, the number is indeed not large, but the one hundred and seventy-three candidate forces are all the result of our careful selection. All of the organizations have Calamity Grade powerhouses. This is a rigid requirement. They are distributed in various star systems of Colton and have a very high status and reputation locally."

"For example?"

"Sephali's Arc Light Organization, Skywalker's Hero Group, Ryan's New Feran Rebels... These few are large in scale and are the most powerful organizations among the candidates."

"Still not enough. The strength of these non-official armed forces is far less than the forces of the Klent United."

Lei Fu shook his head in dissatisfaction. "The development of Colton's private forces is too chaotic, a mess. Klent has the War Realm, which can top all our cooperative forces. In the past two years, Klent has helped its ally War Realm expand, integrating about half of the private organizations in their territory. Klent wants to form a united force with the War Realm as the core. Faced with such a behemoth, these cooperative forces that we have found have no resistance at all. If the other party wants to launch a secret war, we have no chance of winning."

"Indeed, the enemy has the War Realm. If we don't deploy official troops, no one can stop the Overlord, but Super A Grade powerhouses won't easily take action. They represent deterrence. Our Colton is not without Super A Grade powerhouses. The Dragon Emperor is also here."

"However, the Dragon Emperor Ames adheres to neutrality. She is not our ally." Lei Fu frowned.

"The cooperative force list includes Black Star Army. Although it is not as good as our old cooperative forces and the most powerful candidates mentioned earlier, its strength can also be ranked in the second tier of the list, belonging to the upper middle level. Their background is the Dragon Tamer Armed Forces. Perhaps we can use him to leverage the Dragon Emperor's power."

"I know Black Star. He is a very shrewd guy. Don't think about using him to get close to Ames... Moreover, Ames may not be a match for Overlord Heber." Lei Fu shook his head.

After a pause, he continued to knock on his subordinates: "Currently, Klent is still somewhat restrained, but it will become more and more rampant in the future. Sooner or later, it will launch a secret war. The people above have spoken. We cannot be forced to use official troops, otherwise a real war may break out. Klent wants to seize part of Colton's territory. Even if the three great civilizations come to stop the war, the Crimson Empire is Klent's backer. We are at a great disadvantage politically and may be forced to sign unequal treaties... I am not satisfied with the current list. The meaning of establishing this institution is to respond to Klent's ambitious expansion. You must win over more armed forces."

"Understood!"

"Also, the approval from above has been sent down. The institution has a formal code name. When the time comes, you will notify the candidates. This is the name of the organization that all cooperative forces have united to form."

"What is the code name?"

Lei Fu tapped the table with his finger, his tone solemn, "Department of Secret Intelligence, Zero Sanctuary!"

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ps: (I didn't sleep well yesterday, I'm a bit tired today, and I wrote a little less)