Chapter 100 Trial of the Strong

[Your total level has reached 100. You can continue to level up after completing the advancement quest.]

[【Trial of the Strong】: Kill a formidable enemy whose combat ability exceeds your own by one tier. You can complete this in a team, but team members cannot exceed your own tier. Current progress: 0/1]

"You motherf—," Han Xiao gritted his teeth. The advancement quest itself wasn't the most difficult, but its difficulty had been multiplied several times over precisely at his current level.

He had drawn similar advancement quests requiring him to kill powerful enemies across levels before, back when he was at level 40. Those required him to kill three targets who were five levels higher than him. The gap was small, a world apart compared to the current advancement requirements.

"I am currently at Grade B. Crossing one tier, does that mean I have to kill a powerful enemy at Grade A?!"

Han Xiao's lips twitched. If this quest had appeared when he was at a lower grade, it would have only been somewhat challenging, equivalent to teaming up to grind a Boss. However, after the high grades, the gap became increasingly large, and the difficulty increased exponentially.

【Trial of the Strong】only appeared in the advancement requirements for Grades B to E. After reaching Grade A, this quest would no longer appear. If he were at Grade B+, the gap in strength wouldn't be so high. However, he was only at level 100. In terms of level alone, he was only at the initial to intermediate level of Grade B. Yet this requirement just happened to appear at this level. It felt like Lady Luck lifted her skirt and gave him a kick, sending him into a bloody mess, making Han Xiao extremely uncomfortable.

What was Grade A? Capable of unleashing devastating disasters on the surface of a planet, second only to Grade S in power, enough to roam the Star Sea unhindered, commanding wind and rain, dominating one side. Grade B was the mainstay force in the Star Sea, while Grade A was the high-end power, with a difference of ten thousand times in terms of quantity ratio.

The strength gap was too great!

Han Xiao sighed. The quest was set, and there was no use in being frustrated. He couldn't possibly not advance, so he could only think of a way.

"There are also huge differences between Grade A Supers. If I want to complete the quest, I can only pick the soft persimmons among them… But even the softest persimmon is still much harder than me. A head-on confrontation will definitely end in kneeling. I can only resort to dirty tricks. Fortunately, I don't need to duel, and the method of completing the quest isn't specified, otherwise I should just wash up and go to sleep."

Han Xiao rubbed his chin, his brain working rapidly.

"First, I have to identify the target, scour my memories for similar opportunities. Secondly, I must formulate a plan to weaken the enemy to the greatest extent before the battle, strike while the iron is hot, otherwise facing a Grade A powerhouse in full condition is completely impossible to fight."

The fact that there were no restrictions on the method of killing meant that he only needed to personally finish off the target. The most ideal scenario would naturally be to kill a prisoner who couldn't resist. This might have been possible at a lower grade, but at this level, there was no chance at all. Even if some forces held Grade A prisoners, they couldn't be killed casually, let alone let others do it. So, the only way to complete the quest was through combat.

This was like hunting. The hunter set his sights on a powerful prey, hiding in the dark, requiring immense patience to lure the prey into a trap.

But he shouldn't think about completing the advancement quest in the short term. Han Xiao was glad that he didn't go for the class advancement first, otherwise he would have suffered a great loss.

"There are many targets, but none of them are easy to provoke. I still need to plan carefully…"

Han Xiao thought to himself.

…

Back at the base, most of the players were not around. With the end of the first season, there were many subsequent activities. The online time of these professional players had obviously decreased. Only Rou Bao, Feng Yue, and a few other players maintained their online time, but they were not in the base at this time, but were running errands outside.

Han Xiao knocked on the doors of the others' rooms. Melos, Aroshia, and the others had all gone out. Only he was left at home.

The huge hall of the base seemed deserted.

Looking at the time, it was dinner time. He took out a bottle of bright silver alcoholic beverage from the cabinet, activated the convenient food box, and in one minute, a box of fast food wrapped in tin foil was presented, containing some lean meat and beans, drizzled with black sauce.

Han Xiao placed the fast food and beverage on the table in the center of the hall, sat down on the sofa, took out a spoon, and ate slowly. These simple things were his dinner.

After eating for a while, the gate of the base opened, and the group of executives returned together. Melos walked in front with a toothpick in his mouth, chatting and laughing with the Volga brothers. Sylvia carried large and small bags, pestering the expressionless Aroshia, talking non-stop. Aroshia's answers never exceeded five words, but Sylvia chatted happily. She came out of her lost emotions faster than expected. No wonder, at least her father was still alive. Only the things that were lost would make people linger. She understood her father's intentions, wanting her to live a new life, so naturally she was unwilling to be depressed all the time.

Aroshia also changed into a new dress, a long dress. Based on Han Xiao's understanding of her, it was probably bought for her by Sylvia.

While Han Xiao was doing things, this group of executives went shopping together, and also had a dinner—otherwise Aroshia would rather stay at home.

As soon as they entered, everyone saw Han Xiao sitting on the sofa, eating a box of fast food.

Han Xiao glanced up, "You're back?"

Everyone hurriedly restrained their smiles and nodded seriously.

"Old Mel, you go check the mission reports of the Sunil Squad during this time. Three brothers, remember to enchant the batch of machinery I gave you last time. Aroshia, don't transform in the base these two days, it's not easy to clean." Han Xiao put down his spoon, stood up, and walked towards the mechanical modification room, saying, "Sylvia, you come with me."

Sylvia's face tightened, and she hurriedly followed behind Han Xiao, entering the mechanical modification room with Han Xiao and closing the door.

Kicking away the discarded parts on the ground, Han Xiao found a box and sat down, sizing up Sylvia standing in front of him without saying a word.

Sylvia felt uncomfortable being watched by him, and asked cautiously, "What do you want me for?"

Han Xiao tapped the table and said in a deep voice, "I wanted you for ten years. You are now my subordinate, not here on vacation. What do you think you can provide me?"

"I don't know…"

Sylvia lowered her head. She didn't understand what Han Xiao wanted her to work for ten years. Obviously, she was just a child and couldn't help with anything.

"The current you is of no use. In the days to come, I will teach you the knowledge of a Mechanic. Only when you become stronger will you be useful to me. If you resist learning and don't want to work for me, don't think I will allow you to mess around in my mercenary group. I don't need trash." Han Xiao said unceremoniously.

"You, you want to teach me Superpower knowledge?" Sylvia was stunned and stammered, "I thought you just wanted a maid."

Han Xiao frowned, "What do I want a maid for? Are you better than a cleaning robot?"

Sylvia's eyes wandered, and she said without confidence, "I, I never thought about it, Superpower… Can I really do it? Um… I mean, do I have that kind of talent?"

"My eyes can see a blurred future, and in you, I see potential." Han Xiao said lightly, "Langel never allowed you to get involved in the category of Superpowers. That's really a stupid thing to do. When you were born, the Superpower gene has been lurking in your body, waiting to awaken. That bastard father of yours buried you for many years."

"Don't call him a bastard." Sylvia said unhappily, "That's my father."

"I haven't lost my memory yet." Han Xiao raised his eyebrows, "He has seventeen major criminal charges, including but not limited to trea…"

"Okay, he is indeed a bastard." Sylvia bit her lip, "But you are not allowed to say it, only I can say it!"

"Stop talking nonsense, let's talk about business, I will awaken your Magnetic Force and teach you Superpower mechanical knowledge."

Sylvia couldn't help but stand up straight, feeling that she was about to step into a new level, both expecting and nervous.

"Then… what should I do?"

Han Xiao slapped out four thick books, stacked together, about forty centimeters thick. These four books were all basic mechanical theories written by different people. The panel allowed him not to carry out such learning accumulation, but other people were not as convenient as him.

If you want to become a Mechanic, you must go through years of learning. Even if Sylvia is very talented, this step of entry is essential.

"First memorize all these four books."

Looking at the thick books, Sylvia opened her mouth wide. This was far from the picture she had imagined, "This is too much…"

Ignoring her opinion, Han Xiao continued, "I will only give you ten days. After ten days, I will test you. If you fail, then memorize one more book until you pass."

Sylvia's face suddenly became bitter. Memorizing so much in ten days, she felt that she couldn't do it even if she was exhausted, and she had never been exposed to relevant knowledge before. How could she understand the contents of the books?

"Ask me if you don't understand anything. After passing the assessment, I will teach you how to awaken mechanical force."

Han Xiao waved his hand, and Sylvia had to walk out holding the books, with a depressed look on her face, seizing the time to memorize the books.

Although Han Xiao himself didn't need to study like this, the knowledge really existed in his mind. Han Xiao had also studied it, so there was no problem at all in teaching other people mechanical knowledge.

"I don't know how long it will take her to grow to the point where she can help."

Han Xiao shook his head.

Long-term investment is like this. It's not so easy to get a return. Fortunately, what he has most is patience.

…

The aftertaste of the league had not yet been eliminated, and the players were still immersed in the aftertaste. After a few days, the official version update announcement suddenly appeared on the forum and was immediately pinned to the top, once again greatly surprising the players. It was translated into various languages and was available to players in all regions. In less than a minute, the number of replies quickly exceeded 10,000 and was still growing crazily.

The main content of the announcement was that the 1.0 version update would be officially launched at dawn twelve game days later. At that time, all accounts would not be able to log in, so it was recommended to log off in advance to avoid unnecessary losses, and so on.

However, the update content was not mentioned at all, and the players couldn't help but feel mysterious. The unknown new version deepened the players' expectations.

The main storylines of the various novice planets had all been completed, and the famous characters of different planets had also shown their charm, and each had a group of supporters. After completing the main storyline, the players were in a period of free exploration and were still very interested. Even the side quests had many extended storylines, which were extremely realistic. Compared to fighting monsters and passing levels, this was more like a journey that made people linger, so many players were eager to know what new storylines would happen on their planets in the new version, cared about the fate of these characters, and looked forward to the whole picture of the vast universe.

The unknown version content triggered speculation from players on various planets. Many people speculated on the future development through the 1.0 storyline and character relationships. The reference material was the chronicle record post summarizing the events of each planet.

After the completion of the 1.0 main storyline in each region, some players finally enthusiastically released a record post, and this form was sought after by countless players, who released the chronicles of their respective planets.

All the players added bricks and tiles together, posting the missions, events, characters, etc. they encountered, restoring all the events that happened on the planet during this period, whether it was the main line or the side line, and even a distinctive NPC had players recording.

Everyone participating in the same thing, this feeling made the players enjoy it, as if they were in the tide of the times, working together to achieve a great cause, this sense of belonging was extremely strong.

These were the first batch of veteran players and hardcore players in Galaxy. In the previous life, even if some players stopped playing Galaxy due to busyness or other reasons, they would occasionally go online to see how far the plot had developed, because there were too many new things, and the sense of substitution was unparalleled, which was both a game and like watching a drama.

Not long after, the Galaxy Times released a special program focusing on the unknown new version, analyzing various speculations.