Chapter 158 Trapped

Bang!

Before the mechanical beast could pounce, Herlos suddenly jumped up, the ground cracking beneath him, and soared into the sky.

The white cloak on his shoulders suddenly fluttered, his qi turned into propulsion, and through some special principle, the two pieces of flexible alloy gained the ability to levitate. Herlos also flew, leaping in the air, man and blade as one, instantly closing the distance.

Clang!

The Battleship Blade slammed into the arm armor, sending Han Xiao tumbling in mid-air.

This armor can fly too?

Han Xiao stabilized himself, his eyes narrowed. A martial artist who could fly was a completely different level of threat.

This kid was hiding something. If he hadn't advanced, he probably wouldn't have been able to defeat Herlos in this form.

He was pleasantly surprised instead of being alarmed. The stronger Herlos was, the stronger the mercenary group's executives would be.

"This is..." Underneath the helmet, Han Xiao smiled. "Interesting!"

...

On the ground, Aroshia, Fording, and the others looked up at the battle in the sky.

"Melos can fly too. It looks like the leader is doomed. A mechanic who gets close to a martial artist is basically a dead man," Volga said with a tut.

"Teacher won't lose!"

Sylvia's palms were sweaty as she stared intently at the battle.

The two flew in mid-air, the mechanical beasts on the ground were useless, and the turrets couldn't hit the fast-moving pair. Herlos's combos were smooth and seamless, leaving Han Xiao no chance to escape. In her eyes, Han Xiao was clearly at a disadvantage.

But she had inexplicable faith in her teacher.

Volga's eyes lit up. "Want to make a bet? I bet the leader loses, and you bet the leader wins, how about it?"

Sylvia's face twisted. "Teacher said gambling is a bad habit."

"That's bull, he only says that because he can't win," Volga said. "Three hundred Inal, are you betting or not? Don't you have any faith in the leader?"

"Okay, I'll take it!" Sylvia gritted her teeth.

Buzz!

Suddenly, a ring of invisible disruptive electromagnetic field burst out from Han Xiao's helmet and spread out. Herlos's mech vision suddenly went black, and he lost sight for a moment.

Herlos hurriedly opened his helmet and observed with his naked eyes. Seeing that Han Xiao hadn't flown far, he immediately slashed horizontally, chasing after Han Xiao's back.

"Want to run? Not past my blade!" Herlos laughed.

However, this strike cut Han Xiao in half without any resistance. Herlos was immediately startled.

The next moment, the two halves of "Han Xiao's" body trembled like ripples of water and disappeared.

Void Mirage!

"What ability is this? I've never seen it before!" A bad premonition suddenly rose in Herlos's heart.

Taking this opportunity, Han Xiao had quietly returned to the ground, directly below Herlos. A new machine had appeared under his feet. It was a huge metal disc, lying flat on the ground. The center was three equilateral triangular openings that emitted a faint blue light, forming a larger triangle facing Herlos in mid-air.

Buzz!

Before Herlos could move, a thick beam of translucent blue light shot out from the triangular opening, enveloping him. His body was out of control, and he fell rapidly. With a clang, he was firmly attached to the machine and couldn't break free for a moment.

This was a trap-type machine, originally a tractor beam used by spaceships, not meant for combat. It was difficult to hit fast-moving targets, but if successful, it was a powerful control method—it was shameful to say that in his previous life, Han Xiao was the first player to use a spaceship tractor beam in actual combat.

Han Xiao snapped his fingers, and all the turrets aimed at the immobile Herlos and fired. At the same time, he directly activated the [Overload], [Mechanic Force Surge], and [Mechanic Force Overload] buffs for these turrets, followed by turning on [Gene Liberation].

Even if he only rolled the lowest 2.2x damage bonus, it was enough to end this battle.

Boom boom boom—

The artillery fire exploded in a cloud of thick smoke, completely obscuring Herlos's figure.

"Stop, stop, stop! I surrender! Stop hitting me, my armor is going to explode!"

Herlos's anxious voice for mercy came from the smoke. Han Xiao leisurely walked to the side, controlled the turrets to stop firing, and turned off the tractor beam.

Herlos climbed up in a disheveled state. The exquisite and stylish Shattered Light Armor was now covered in scorch marks and cracks, looking extremely battered, which made his heart ache.

He had been steadily gaining the upper hand, but he didn't expect to be caught off guard and lose instantly. How had Black Star become so strong? He couldn't even beat him wearing the Shattered Light Armor. The gap hadn't narrowed, but had gotten further and further away?!

He had thought he could win back a round and avenge his previous defeat, but he was even more depressed now.

"How much strength did you use just now?"

"Definitely not my full strength, aren't you angry?" Han Xiao chuckled. Because the mechanic class's weakness was being flanked, he was least afraid of being flanked—after playing the mechanic class for so many years in his previous life, the iron-headed fools he had killed could pile up into a small mountain.

If you don't clear the field, do you think you can kill a mechanic with 27,000 health and a full set of armor?

He seemed as steady as an old dog, but in reality… he was still as steady as an old dog.

However, although he had won, Han Xiao still found some problems. This set of common combos seemed a little weak when dealing with opponents of the same level. He had to cooperate with burst skills to determine the outcome in one fell swoop.

'The tactical idea is fine, it seems I need to manufacture some more powerful machines.'

Han Xiao thought to himself.

Herlos was still gnashing his teeth. He was used to wide-open attacks and liked head-on confrontations the most. However, the feeling of fighting with Han Xiao was like being bound. He felt uncomfortable all over. He seemed to be constantly flanking and taking the initiative, but he was more like being led by the nose. The battle seemed very fierce, but only he, the opponent, knew how sneaky Han Xiao's dodging was. He had barely hit a few times.

His fierce martial arts skills couldn't be used, and the fight wasn't satisfying at all. Herlos felt uncomfortable and suffocated.

"Alright, don't dwell on it. It's not the first time you've lost to me. Take off your clothes, I'll fix them for you."

Han Xiao patted Herlos on the shoulder and comforted him.

The two were panting and taking off their armor. On the other side, Sylvia's face was flushed, and she was very excited. She couldn't wait to reach out and smiled, "Three hundred Inal, a bet is a bet."

"My hard-earned money!" Volga wailed, beating his chest and stamping his feet.

He shouldn't have trusted Old Melos!

...

Leaving Sunil, the spaceship set sail. In the mechanical modification room on the ship, Han Xiao repaired the Shattered Light Armor. This time, he met the prerequisite knowledge, and by reverse-engineering the drawings and paying a sum of experience, he successfully obtained the drawings for the general-grade armor.

This set was super-powered user-specific armor, with more powerful attributes and the ability to amplify qi. Apart from not having enough functions, its performance was not much worse than his Black Phantom Suit, but in comparison, the materials were much cheaper, and the production cost was lower.

Han Xiao had collected the three sets of armor in the Sunil system: soldier-grade, officer-grade, and general-grade. This set could just be sold to players in a step-by-step manner. It could basically be regarded as the first set of faction-specific products. After all, Sunil wouldn't sell their top-tier armor. He had to do quests and grind faction favorability, unlike him, who could directly exchange it for money.

Others wanted to grind, he wanted money. The difference was clear—spending money could save time, and time was priceless. In this way, wasn't he using sinful money to exchange for priceless time?

A huge profit!

Norius was far away, located on the edge of the Shattered Star Ring, equivalent to entering one of the gates of the Shattered Star Ring. Even with various stargate channels, the spaceship had to travel for many days to reach it.

This ample time was enough for him to manufacture more powerful new machines and strengthen his own combat system.

Moreover, he also had time to think about what preparations he should make for the upcoming Version 2.0 during the version update.

Now, the problem of advancement had been perfectly solved—this made Han Xiao breathe a sigh of relief, much earlier than he had expected, which meant he had saved a lot of time.

After completing Ames's mission this time, he would also officially begin the preliminary preparations for the plan.

"Just looking for someone, it won't take much time." Han Xiao nodded secretly.