"You… you're not human!"
The research director's face was filled with horror, his legs turned to jelly, yet Han Xiao held him up by the head, so he couldn't fall down.
Han Xiao was wearing clothes at the moment. His Void Form was activated and withdrawn in a flash. Only the research director staring at him directly clearly saw his transformation. The sudden change in appearance filled the director with unparalleled dread.
Void creatures weren't cruel, but their mysterious origins and powerful abilities made most intelligent life forms deeply wary of them.
Releasing his hand, allowing the man to collapse to the ground, Han Xiao surveyed his surroundings. The other researchers shrank into the corners, silent as cicadas in winter. These Sunilians were just ordinary people; he exerted a life-level suppression on them.
Next to them, several military officers didn't step forward to stop him, turning a blind eye.
"There's no need to hurt him, Black Star, let's go." Melos was quite touched. He hadn't wanted to make a fuss, but he hadn't expected Han Xiao to suddenly speak up for him, hitting the nail on the head.
Indeed, if it weren't for the sake of the race, he could have stood idly by. With his Class B strength, he could have lived freely in the interstellar world. Why become a mercenary and run around? The group of Sunilian Supers who left were embracing this idea.
Having experienced so many adventures with Han Xiao, he already regarded Han Xiao as a close comrade, a reliable partner, a companion whose back he could entrust to each other. Now, contributing to the Black Star Mercenary Group was no longer just for Han Xiao's promise. Scenes of fighting side-by-side flashed through his mind, and Melos felt a warmth in his heart.
As dusk approached, the group left the restricted military area, heading out of the city and back to their ship.
At this moment, Melos stopped Han Xiao, grinning broadly, "Haha, actually, I don't really care what others say. When I was running the bar, I heard this kind of thing all the time… but thanks anyway."
"It was just a scare, a small matter. People like you deserve more respect." Han Xiao shrugged.
If you want subordinates to work for you, you have to pay attention to mental construction, and also pay attention to your image. If you want to form a reliable leader image, maintaining your companions is the most basic prerequisite. These protagonist-type characters have their own ideas. If your actions violate their beliefs, the backyard will catch fire.
Han Xiao's attitude itself had always been neutral, whether obeying order or doing evil, it only depended on the benefits and his mood. Obviously, showing his attitude could increase favorability, such a cost-effective opportunity to win people's hearts, whether emotionally or rationally, he would not miss it.
Melos raised the armor case in his hand, revealing a hint of a smile, "Speaking of which, you haven't experienced my combat power in full form, right? How about a match?"
"Now? Are you sure?" Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to end this beautiful day with a crushing defeat?"
"You're quite arrogant." Melos was full of confidence. "Shattered Light is a general-grade armor customized for me by my brother. It can increase my strength by nearly half."
He often sparred with Han Xiao, and most of the time he was being beaten, only able to serve as a training partner, and had been depressed about it. He had long wanted to get his revenge.
Now, he felt that the opportunity to finally hold his head high had arrived.
With Han Xiao's strength, it would be difficult to defeat him after regaining his armor.
"Then I'll try to go easy on you. If I break your armor, I'll have to fix it."
Han Xiao smiled, taking this opportunity to reverse engineer the blueprint of the general-grade armor.
Under the setting sun, on the plains.
The two pulled apart by two hundred meters, a distance that was just a sprint for both of them.
Melos put on Shattered Light. His face was covered by a helmet, and he wore a set of silver-blue precision armor, like a gorgeous ancient knight's armor. Two pieces of cloth-like pure white flexible metal extended from his shoulders, drooping behind him like a cloak.
Buzz——
A majestic, surging silver-white aura soared into the sky, the dust on the ground raised in circles of ripples. The momentum was astonishing. The ten-meter zanbato (a large, curved Japanese sword) was wrapped in a fierce silver gale, Shattered Light Armor amplified his martial arts strength.
The troops in the distant camp noticed this amazing energy fluctuation, and guards came to the edge of the camp one by one, watching in surprise.
"Indeed, it's much stronger." Han Xiao's eyes lit up. According to his estimate, Melos' energy fluctuation in Shattered Light form had increased by at least thirty percent.
Boom!
Melos slashed out with his blade, a twenty- or thirty-meter silver slash wave tore through the earth, mud and dirt flying, like a tsunami, silver light instantly filled Han Xiao's vision.
The Compression Orbs unfolded, and the Void Dragon Mechanical Suit instantly attached. Han Xiao stacked his hands, gray light surged, and the Void Ejector blasted the slash wave close at hand into a sky full of stardust.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, a chilling cold light swept across the sky full of silver fragments, slashing down quickly. Melos followed behind the slash like an arrow, his offensive fierce and swift, directly rushing at Han Xiao's face, not leaving him any room to set up.
"A tactic that one could guess without thinking." Han Xiao easily dodged to the side. This slash struck into the ground, the force of the impact scattered, turning the ground within tens of meters into cracked rocks.
He shook his hand, and the black Electromagnetic Scythe extended.
"Being able to get close, and you still have time to talk?" Melos grunted, twisting the hilt of the blade, the zanbato contracted, becoming a little over a meter long, suitable for close combat. This thing stretched and shrunk freely, it was simply a Ruyi zanbato (a zanbato that can change size at will).
Clang clang clang!
In the blink of an eye, the scythe and the warblade collided fiercely more than ten times, sparks flying everywhere.
The two moved and dodged, the escaping energy sprayed out recklessly, the earth within a mile became a mess. The B-class Super's battle aftermath could even destroy a city. The Sunilian soldiers watching from a distance exclaimed in succession.
Such terrifying individual destructive power made these young soldiers dizzy and yearning for it.
Melos's thick strength was like a tide, wave after wave, surging and churning. Martial artists at this level could cause great destructive power with every move. Their bodies were their strongest weapons, especially Melos' open and close style. When fighting, it was just two words, forceful!
Close combat was the strong point of the Martial Arts class, but Han Xiao wasn't afraid at all. His various buffs weren't just for show. Fighting alone, [No One Can Stand Against Me] provided him with an 11% bonus to all attributes. After entering the battle, [Battlefield Rationality] also began to stack.
"Although I'm not afraid of close combat, in this situation, my strengths are also suppressed. Ordinary restraint can't stop a Martial Artist with great destructive power." Han Xiao held his blade horizontally, blocking the slash, while activating [Vibration Feedback · Thorns], reflecting a portion of the damage.
Melos's whole body shook violently, and he was pushed out, his legs dragging a gully on the ground.
Whoosh!
Another Compression Orb was activated, two mechanical wings spread out behind him, spraying a burst of hot air. Han Xiao took to the air. Although he could manufacture anti-gravity devices, due to their excessive size, they couldn't become independent components of the Mechanical Suit. He hadn't assembled the blueprint for a miniature anti-gravity device yet.
His flying ability still came from mounted flight wings, the power of which had been strengthened, and reaching supersonic speed was easy.
Clatter——
Suspended in mid-air, Han Xiao stretched out his arms, and pipes sprayed out hundreds of Compression Orbs, which quickly unfolded after landing, turning into turrets and a large number of Mechanical Beasts, like scattering beans to form soldiers!
A dense rain of bullets focused fire on Melos in the center, bullets colliding with his armor and producing countless sparks.
Even though Han Xiao hadn't had time to update and strengthen his machines, and was still using gunpowder + electromagnetic kinetic energy turrets, the advanced Mechanical Affinity gave him a higher bonus, and the power was also raised, at least it wouldn't be a point of damage that couldn't break the defense.
Countless bullets bombarded Melos, and damage values of "-5" and "-6" constantly popped up on his body, mixed with twenty or thirty points of damage from electromagnetic kinetic energy turrets.
The single damage wasn't much, but the terrifying attack frequency caused damage like a waterfall to appear on Melos's body, flashing dozens of times in an instant.
At this time, Melos let out a low roar.
"This kind of tactic… is useless against me!"
————
(There is another chapter later)