Chapter 1 Fleet

Fleets are the absolute main force of every civilization. A Super-A Grade's destruction efficiency naturally cannot compare to a regular military fleet numbering in the millions, but the power of an individual and the power of a group are not the same concept. Individuals who grasp great power have irreplaceable special effects on the battlefield, like the difference between a titanium alloy and a pile of stones.

Compared to the entire fleet, Super-A Grades have strong single-unit combat strength, small size, and high flexibility. They can engage the fleet head-on and easily break through the fleet's defenses, cutting into the enemy formation like a hot knife through butter and carrying out beheading and other actions.

During the battle, Han Xiao analyzed the situation's development in his heart. As long as the Empire side stabilized and held on until the stargate was assembled, the Void Duchy would inevitably launch a surprise attack on the stargate in order to cut off the reinforcement channel.

At this time, the enemy's six Super-A Grades might change their tactics, from a strong attack to containment, leaving most of them to hold back the Empire's four, and sending a few to attack the stargate, splitting up.

This was the opportunity he was waiting for!

Battle was the best catalyst. After fighting for so long, the pain of advancement and transformation gradually subsided, and Han Xiao gradually adapted to the changes in his body.

The Super-A's racial sublimation method was to give five options, allowing him to choose two, and then list all the talents of these two advanced races, allowing him to choose one talent from each and incorporate them into the Black Star race's talent bar.

Compared with the previous racial sublimation, the sublimation after Super-A Grade reduced randomness and increased autonomy, allowing for better matching.

The two advanced species Han Xiao chose this time were [Void Saint] and [Void Trickster]. In addition to Stamina +45, these two also brought him advanced attribute completion:

——Strength +266, Agility +310, Stamina +454, Intelligence +537, Mystery +372, Charm +177, Energy +6400!

Under the S-Grade rank bonus, [Advanced Tenacious Life], [Eternal Body], and [Extraordinary Physique]'s HP bonus, Han Xiao's HP had exceeded the 3 million mark!

He was able to withstand the enemy's overwhelming offensive. In addition to the help of his three teammates, [Advanced Tenacious Life]'s 10% temporary all-attribute increase for every 40% HP lost was an important factor.

It was most dangerous at the beginning. He used Aurora's character card twice to get through the most dangerous period. Only after his attribute increase was stacked up could he slowly support himself.

On the mechanical legion side, his main class changed from [Emperor Mechanic] to the new stage [Overlord Mechanic], and Han Xiao's mechanical affinity increased again. Under the amplification of the [Perfect Mechanical Sense] character card, the combat power of the mechanical troops had been significantly improved, which was the greatest restraint on the enemy.

Among the many talents of [Void Saint] and [Void Trickster], Han Xiao specifically chose two talent abilities that would help the current situation. In his opinion, as long as they were used well and he seized the opportunity, these two abilities would be enough to reverse the situation... and the so-called "opportunity" was the moment when the enemy's Super-A Grade combat power split up.

Di Lun and Mo Thees were like two drills, impacting the Empire fleet's formation, heading straight for the stargates being assembled, while Sagman and the other four stayed here to contain Han Xiao and the others.

Mili’zaus could only watch the enemy divide their forces, feeling anxious. He tried to go to support, but was blocked by Sagman and others.

Only Han Xiao split off a part of the mechanical troops as a remote force to pursue Di Lun and Mo Thees.

The scale of the mechanical legion was too large, and Sagman and others did not intercept all of them, but they did not care too much. With two Super-A Grades on Di Lun's side, it was impossible for them to be unable to deal with this small number of stragglers.

Seeing Di Lun and Mo Thees cutting in, Tarrokov immediately adjusted his formation, allowing the fleet to intercept layer by layer, constantly blocking the two's advance.

Although it slowed down the two's advance, it could not prevent the distance between the two and the stargate from gradually shortening. Compared with large-scale fleets, Super-A Grades were too flexible on the battlefield.

"Black Star, this won't work. Austin and I have less and less mana, and we can't hold on forever. We can't let the Void Duchy interrupt our reinforcements," Mili’zaus said anxiously.

Han Xiao said in a deep voice: "The enemy has a numerical advantage and takes the initiative, forcing us to defend. If we can make the other party lose a Super-A Grade combat power, we can minimize our pressure and cut off the other party's hope."

"The enemy has been maintaining a situation of more against less, with tacit cooperation. We have no chance."

"No, I have a way to deal with those two stragglers. Maybe it's worth a try." Han Xiao's tone was serious. "However, Igo is only chasing after me now. His ability can stop my actions, making him a bigger threat than the others."

"What's the probability of success?"

"If Igo intervenes, there might only be a 20% chance of success, but if you are willing to spend money, the probability of success can reach more than 70%!"

"What money?"

"Igo's goal is evolution. His alliance with the Void Duchy must have involved an exchange of benefits. I know what he wants. If we give him what he wants..."

"I understand. Let's do it. Now is not the time to worry about this cost. It's better than a slow death," Mili’zaus agreed.

"Okay!"

Han Xiao gritted his teeth and made up his mind. He glanced at Igo, suddenly spread his arms, and used one of his new talents.

"Void Boundary Prison!"

The four mages present simultaneously sensed a large amount of void dimension energy being released from Han Xiao, quickly enveloping the battlefield where everyone was.

The next moment, everyone realized that this space had become viscous, and their movements had become sluggish.

After sensing it, the four mages discovered that this was not a simple slowing ability. The void dimension had descended and overlapped with this space, causing the spatial attributes of this area to be temporarily changed, forming a strange domain. The distance between each other seemed to be reduced to inches, and there was no way to get close to each other.

"He used the power of the void dimension to rewrite this space?" Niger frowned, trying to cast a spell to dispel the Void Boundary Prison domain, but found that the operation of his mana had also become sluggish.

Space solidification skills were not uncommon, but due to the differences in their causes, the difficulty of dispelling them was different. The [Void Boundary Prison] talent from the [Void Saint] borrowed the power of the void dimension to form a special domain, which could last for a considerable period of time and was extremely effective against close-combat types.

Super-A Grade mages who mastered multi-dimensional energy could break this domain, but it was very troublesome to solve the problem of dimensional overlap. Even if Niger and Tailledi joined forces, it would take some time to break it.

This move was indiscriminate, and even Mili’zaus and the surrounding mechanical legion were affected in the same way. Only two people in the field could move freely. One was Han Xiao, who possessed the void talent and was like a fish in water in this field, and the other was Igo, who possessed the ability to move through dimensional rifts.

Igo teleported again, appearing behind Han Xiao like a ghost, and punched Han Xiao in the back with a fist condensed with the power of his ability, a playful smile on the corner of his mouth.

"This isn't the first time we've fought. You don't think this kind of trick will work on me, do you?"

"Is that so? Then how about this?" Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.

The fist was approaching his back, but Han Xiao didn't even turn his head. Instead, he looked into the distance at the fleet battlefield, his eyes firmly locked on Mo Thees.

Igo sensed a subtle spatial rhythm emanating from Han Xiao. The next moment, the light in front of him flashed, and Han Xiao suddenly turned into Mo Thees.

Mo Thees had not yet reacted to how he suddenly appeared here when he was punched away by Igo.

After a moment of愣, Igo immediately realized and looked sharply at the distant fleet battlefield. The distant Mo Thees had also turned into Han Xiao, and the positions of the two had been instantly switched.

[Void Displacement], a talent from the [Void Trickster], consumes 15% of HP and Energy to forcibly switch his position with a target, with a cooldown of 320 seconds.

[Void Boundary Prison] and [Void Displacement] were the new talents that Han Xiao had deliberately paired up in order to create the current situation.

"Space displacement abilities..." Igo was a little surprised. He had seen this kind of ability before, and even had it himself, but his ability could only displace objects and could not take effect on himself and powerhouses of the same level. It was not as good as teleportation.

Sagman and the others were also taken aback. When did Black Star have this ability? No information had ever recorded this information!

Everyone turned to look at the distance, saw the situation clearly, and their expressions changed slightly... Mo Thees had been switched back, which meant that Di Lun was alone, and Han Xiao had created a one-on-one situation!

The two had penetrated deep into the Empire fleet formation and were far away from everyone. In addition, with the control of the Void Boundary Prison, they could not immediately support them.

"Black Star is still hiding this ability." Niger was surprised.

"Break through this area as soon as possible and send someone to support Di Lun," Sagman said in a deep voice.

If Di Lun was held back, the Empire would be able to assemble the stargate smoothly. In everyone's opinion, this was Han Xiao's goal in doing so.

But no one guessed that Han Xiao's real intention was to reduce the number of the Void Duchy's personnel.

In Sagman and others' hearts, Black Star did not have the strength to quickly defeat Di Lun, so no one thought that Han Xiao was trying to defeat Di Lun by creating a one-on-one situation. If it were Mili’zaus, it would be a different story. Even if they guessed it, they did not think Han Xiao could do it. After all, Di Lun was a Super-A Grade who was good at defense and crowd control, and he would not be easily defeated.

……

Han Xiao's eyes blurred, and he had already switched with Mo Thees, appearing not far from Di Lun. The remote troops that had been sent to pursue him gathered and had about 400,000 mechanical soldiers, firing at Di Lun and blasting gaps in the barrier he had created with his ability with each You-Energy cannon blast.

Although surprised by Han Xiao's sudden appearance, Di Lun was not flustered at all. He could continuously convert the seawater he had stored to form an energy barrier, which had strong defensive capabilities. In his opinion, Black Star alone could not do anything to him in a short period of time.

However, he did not know how terrifying Han Xiao was when he held nothing back.

"This is the only chance!" Han Xiao's eyes narrowed. With the opponent in a one-on-one situation and without any other enemies interfering, he only had the environment to output at full power now.

The next moment, Han Xiao reached out and aimed at Di Lun, who was surrounded by a seawater barrier, and suddenly activated the Ames character card that had been stored for a long time.

A powerful force field erupted, and under the all-round pressure, the seawater that had condensed into an energy barrier shattered one after another. Di Lun was stunned to find that he had been restrained by the force field.

Ames Character Card - Dragon's Gaze!

Han Xiao had used Ames's character card when he was a Calamity Grade. Later, he obtained a new blank character card and recorded Ames's ability again. He had not encountered a situation where he needed to use it and had treasured it until now.

This powerful control skill could not restrain a powerhouse of the same level for too long. Di Lun was using his ability to resist the force field and could break free at any time.

Han Xiao was about to continue his actions, but at this moment, Igo teleported over again.

His dimensional rift and teleportation abilities ignored the Void Boundary Prison and were the only ones that could disrupt Han Xiao's plan, but he did not come to protect Di Lun. His eyes were only on Han Xiao's Evolution Cube.

"This guy is really difficult." Han Xiao had expected Igo's actions, made up his mind, activated the prepared Evolution Cube, and directly shot a stream of evolution energy at Igo.

"Hmm?!" Igo's expression changed, and he suddenly stopped in mid-air.

However, his next reaction was completely opposite to that of Sagman and the others.

Not only did Igo not dodge, but he turned his head and took the initiative to meet the evolution energy that Han Xiao shot out. The dark evolution energy poured into his body in an instant, and a black cocoon spread across his body.

The condition for his cooperation with the Void Duchy was to help the Void Duchy seize the Evolution Cube in exchange for the qualification to use the Evolution Cube once. At this time, Han Xiao directly shot a stream of evolution energy at him, which was exactly what Igo had dreamed of. How could he care about anything else and directly take it head-on.

This was Han Xiao's open scheme. Wasn't his goal to deal with him and get the evolution energy? Then he would give it to him. Would he continue to fight him, or would he get the goal first.

Igo was directly controlled by Han Xiao's move, and no one came to stop Han Xiao's actions.

Taking advantage of the fact that Di Lun was controlled by Ames's character card, Han Xiao directly used a Void Leap to get close to him, gave Di Lun a Lucky Curse, then grabbed Di Lun's shoulder, and suddenly activated Igo's character card!

Superpower Silence!

At this time, the force field controlled by Ames disappeared perfectly. Di Lun was about to activate his ability to push Han Xiao away, but suddenly realized that he could not feel the existence of his ability, and his face changed drastically.

"You..."

"Fire!"

Han Xiao activated all the explosive skills, including [Gene Liberation], and roared in a low voice in the quantum network.

The next moment, the mechanical troops surrounding the two fired, and streams of You-Energy beams focused on the two.

Di Lun was an Esper. Without his ability, he was a defenseless target.

Moreover, he did not have the ability to ignore true damage!

The blue light ball suddenly expanded and burst open!

When the light dissipated, Di Lun was covered in blood and on his last breath. The surrounding mechanical soldiers stretched out a nanometer particle tentacle, which merged into several huge chain-like mechanical restraints, wrapped around Di Lun's limbs, pulled them straight, and firmly controlled his body.

All kinds of mechanical traps surrounded Di Lun, releasing various gravitational and electromagnetic energies to limit Di Lun's actions, and all the mechanical soldiers' gun barrels were aimed at Di Lun, ready to fire at any time.

Han Xiao was behind Di Lun, his arms tightly wrapped around Di Lun's neck, staring coldly at Sagman in the distance, the meaning self-evident: he was using Di Lun's life as a threat!

Sagman, Sisko, and others' expressions changed drastically!

This change exceeded everyone's expectations!

Di Lun was captured by Black Star as soon as they fought?

How could Black Star have such combat power?!

"This... how is this possible!" Sisko's eyes widened, and his heart was filled with shock.

Sagman looked stunned. Only then did he realize that Black Star was not there to hold back Di Lun, but to directly attack Di Lun and reduce their numbers!

At this time, the two mages of the Void Duchy finally lifted the Void Boundary Prison, and everyone, friend and foe, looked at Han Xiao in shock.

How did he capture a Super-A Grade in such a short period of time?!

Sagman and others did not dare to continue to attack Mili’zaus and others, for fear that Han Xiao would directly kill Di Lun.

Mili’zaus and the other three were in shock and did not move.

"This is troublesome..." Sagman felt a burst of trouble. Di Lun was obviously seriously injured, and his life was in Black Star's hands. He was being used to threaten them. If they continued to fight, let alone whether they could complete the mission without a Super-A Grade combat power, Di Lun would definitely die.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have abandoned him, but Di Lun was a Super-A Grade combat power.

They were afraid to throw the mouse at the porcelain, and neither side moved, as if the situation was at a stalemate.

Sagman gritted his teeth and secretly winked at Niger. Niger understood and quietly sent a telepathic message to Igo.

"Igo, continue your actions and use your teleportation to destroy the Empire's stargates!"

Sagman did not want to save Di Lun, but Di Lun had already been captured. If this point was not resolved, they would be in a dilemma. If they wanted to break the stalemate, they could only reluctantly abandon Di Lun to have a chance to continue the mission.

However, he did not want to show the attitude of abandoning his teammates, so it was best for Igo to act. Igo was not a member of the Void Duchy. If Black Star killed Di Lun because of this, it would have nothing to do with them, and this would break the stalemate.

However, Igo ignored him and teleported directly out of the battlefield, returning to the main ship of the Fallen Ark fleet where Haxison was located.

Hearing the noise, Haxison turned his head and looked over, but was frightened by Igo's appearance. He saw black lines wandering on Igo's body, like black snakes scurrying under his skin, looking a little scary.

"Lord Igo, are you injured?!"

"Injured? No, no... I feel very good now!"

Igo squeezed out a smile. The evolution energy had entered his body and was temporarily suppressed by him, so he had not cocooned on the spot.

"Order the fleet to retreat immediately and leave the battlefield!"

Haxison was stunned, "Ah, aren't we going to continue attacking?"

"The goal has been achieved. Let the Void Duchy hold back the Empire's fleet, and we will retreat!"

Having obtained a stream of evolution energy, Igo's goal had been achieved, and there was no need to continue cooperating.

He couldn't wait to find a safe place to enter the evolution state. How could he have the time to fight alongside the Void Duchy?

Igo knew that this was Han Xiao's open scheme, but as long as his goal was achieved, he did not mind being tricked.

Suppressing evolution energy would also affect his combat power. In his opinion, completing evolution was more important than dealing with Black Star.

As for credit... when did we have this thing?

The Fallen Ark fleet immediately stopped firing. No matter how the Void Duchy commander roared, he could not change their behavior of withdrawing from the battlefield.

Watching this scene, Han Xiao's mouth twitched.

Igo's integrity really did not disappoint...

Satisfying Igo's needs was a helpless move. He was the strongest link in the field. As long as Igo was there, the situation would always be in a state of crisis. His teleportation ability was too great a threat to the stargate, and he had to find a way to make him withdraw from the battlefield.

"Let's get through this crisis first, and then find a way to deal with Igo... He cooperated with the Void Duchy to attack, and the Empire will not let him off easily." Han Xiao made up his mind and was not entangled.

On the other side, Igo's escape also shocked the Void Duchy.

"Igo!!" Sagman was extremely angry, his face extremely ugly.

In just a short moment, the dominant situation had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. One person was captured, and one person ran away. Of the seven Super-A Grade combat powers, only five were left in the blink of an eye!

And the culprit who caused the reversal of the situation was Han Xiao!

Sagman almost crushed his teeth.