Penerjemah: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Merasakan kemudahan dari pengikatan otomatis, Han Xiao merasa puas. Sambungan magnetik memang sungguh praktis.
Zirah eksoskeleton itu tampak kasar dan garang. Struktur mekanisnya berupa pelat paduan hitam berat yang dipadukan dengan deretan taring berjajar—kesan visualnya sangat kuat. Mode Pengepungan berfokus pada kekuatan dan pertahanan; saat melaju, ia bagai kepala kereta api. Anggota gerak mekanisnya besar dan kokoh, dilengkapi banyak gear bergerak, memberi bonus puluhan poin STR dan lebih dari 10.000 poin armor.
Selalu ada untung dan rugi—kekurangan Mode Pengepungan adalah DEX yang menurun. Amphiptere sendiri memang sudah dilapisi zirah eksoskeleton berat, tapi untungnya ada Koneksi Saraf, sehingga mengendalikan zirah eksoskeleton itu mudah.
Taringnya semula senjata berukuran lebih dari dua meter, kini bagai arit pendek panen. Han Xiao melangkah maju dengan langkah besar, tanah berguncang. Setiap kali ia menebas, taring dan Battleship Slicing Blade beradu cepat.
Clank clank clank!
Battleship Slicing Blade meninggalkan bekas di pelat zirah. Han Xiao menguasai Specialized Materials Science, jadi ia memadukannya dengan Advanced Electromagnetism dan menciptakan paduan baru. Paduan itu sangat tahan banting dan memberi bonus pengurangan kerusakan saat dialiri arus listrik. Bahan fusion yang dipakai punya daya tahan pertahanan sangat tinggi. Kalau besi biasa, sudah lama terbelah dua oleh Herlous.
Teknisi Hebat Han tidak sebegitu sombongnya bertarung jarak dekat langsung dengan Pugilist. Ia mengganggu dengan Bola Sonik—kini ia bisa mengendalikan tujuh sekaligus karena sarafnya lebih kuat—sambil terus menyerang dengan berbagai senjata kecil lainnya.
Setelah bertarung sejenak, zirah eksoskeleton itu penuh kerusakan, dan Herlous juga sempat tertebas taring beberapa kali—dasarnya seri.
Clank!
Setelah satu kali terakhir senjata beradu, keduanya menjauh satu sama lain seperti bisa membaca pikiran masing-masing dan berhenti menyerang bersamaan.
"Pertarungan yang bagus," Han Xiao tertawa.
Melalui pertarungan ini, ia mendapat pemahaman lebih langsung soal kekuatan tempurnya sendiri. Batas bawah Grade B adalah 5.000 Ona, Grade A adalah 10.000 Ona. Perhitungan angka Ona berbentuk kurva—makin tinggi angkanya, makin besar selisih tiap poinnya. Karena itu, perbedaan antar anggota satu grade jauh lebih besar. Meski sama-sama Grade B, daya hancur yang punya 5.000 Ona dan yang punya 9.000 Ona benar-benar berbeda.
Energy Rank Han Xiao sedikit di atas 5.300—pemula di Grade B. Herlous sudah bertahun-tahun di Grade B, tapi ia sudah meninggalkan latihan. Jadi, Energy Rank-nya juga sekitar 5.000. Namun, dengan bakat Herlous, ruang tumbuhnya masih sangat besar.
Super berkekuatan Grade B sudah bisa melindungi diri secara dasar di galaksi, tapi itu masih jauh sekali dari bisa bergerak seenaknya. Han Xiao hanya bisa lebih bersiap untuk masa depan jika ia mengenal kekuatannya dengan jelas.
Herlous menarik napas dalam dan menyimpan senjata. Sparring sebaiknya berhenti di titik yang tepat—tidak perlu menentukan pemenang. Ia tidak akan memakai kartu asnya, dan ia tahu betul Han Xiao pasti punya lebih banyak kartu as sebagai Mechanic. Lewat pertarungan tadi saja, ia sudah merasakan cukup tekanan. Han Xiao punya banyak cara menyerang—bagai landak, sedikit saja lengah bisa terluka... oh tunggu, ia memang sudah terluka.
Ia membalut lukanya, dan dengan fisik seorang Pugilist, lukanya akan pulih dalam beberapa jam. Black Star adalah lawan setingkat dengannya—kekuatan tempur Han Xiao mendapat pengakuan Herlous.
Herlous jadi jauh lebih tidak khawatir soal keselamatan Han Xiao. Dulu, saat menyadari dirinya yang terkuat di Kelompok Tentara Bayaran Black Star, ia merasa ragu-raku apa pun yang terjadi. Sekarang, akhirnya ada orang dengan tingkat kekuatan tempur yang sama, pola pikir Herlous berubah. Lebih lurusnya... dulu ia menganggap rekannya sebagai beban, kini perlahan mereka berubah jadi teman yang bisa diandalkan.
Lagi pula, punya teman selevel kekuatan berarti punya topik obrolan yang sama. Mereka saling tersenyum dan merasakan saling percaya. Dasar kepercayaan hanya bisa dibangun antar orang dengan tingkat kekuatan yang sama.
Herlous menawarkan diri membawa kotak peralatan, dan keduanya berjalan berdampingan keluar dari ruang simulasi. Baru mereka menyadari Frenzied Sword dan beberapa pemain menunggu di luar dengan wajah kaget.
"Black Phantom, kamu kuat sekali!" Bintang-bintang berkelip di mata Frenzied Sword.
Frenzied Sword orangnya sangat rajin, jadi ia ingin mencari Herlous untuk memicu event bimbingan, tapi kebetulan ia menyaksikan pertarungan tadi. Ia tercengang, karena kelompok tentara bayaran hanya menampilkan satu anggota Grade B, Herlous, tapi Han Xiao mampu melawannya seimbang tadi. Itu berarti Han Xiao juga pasti B! Frenzied Sword langsung membuat logika tebakan—pasti karena Han Xiao menyembunyikannya saat tes.
Dalam pandangan tradisional, pemimpin seharusnya yang terkuat. Dulu, saat kapten tidak sekuat kader baru yang bergabung, para pemain merasa agak aneh. Sekarang, Frenzied Sword dan yang lain merasa jauh lebih lega. Citra Teknisi Hebat Han kuat dan misterius. Di mata para pemain, ia bisa melakukan segala hal yang tak masuk akal, dan yang barusan ia lakukan cocok dengan posisinya di hati mereka.
Frenzied Sword adalah pengikut pertama—ia menyaksikan pengalaman Han Xiao naik perlahan langkah demi langkah. Setiap kali bertemu Han Xiao, ia senang atas pilihannya itu. Namun, setelah masuk galaksi, Frenzied Sword agak merasa kurang nyaman. Tim sudah berkembang, orangnya lebih banyak—ia merasa terabaikan.
Dulu, Han Xiao memberinya misi berhadiah tinggi dengan syarat aneh setiap hari, dan Frenzied Sword tidak pernah cukup. Tapi misi sekarang terlalu formal—Frenzied Sword merindukan perasaan itu...
Namun, di saat yang sama, ia juga diam-diam senang. Tidak ada pemain lain yang menyaksikan misi-misi aneh itu, bahkan Hao Tian, Maple Moon, dan Bun-Hit-Dog pun tidak tahu seperti apa Han Xiao dulu. Hanya ia yang mengalaminya. Pengalaman ini sangat menarik dan menyenangkan, dan sering ia kenang.
Han Xiao mengerjikan alis dan mundur selangkah diam-diam. Entah kenapa, ia merasa Frenzied Sword memandangnya aneh.
"Siapa Black Phantom?" Herlous bingung.
Han Xiao melambaikan tangan. "Tidak usah dipedulikan, itu julukan ku di planet asalku."
"Oh, aku lupa, kamu terkenal di planet asalmu." Herlous diam-diam memutuskan mencari rekan tim lain untuk tahu lebih banyak soal masa lalu Han Xiao. Ia sangat tertarik.
Selama perjalanan tidak banyak kegiatan, dan selain sesekali sparring dengan Herlous, Han Xiao mengobrol dengan Gashley setiap ada waktu luang untuk mendengar lebih banyak sejarah Sky Ring. Mereka juga kadang membahas pengetahuan soal menembus alam semesta.
Gashley adalah tentara bayaran berpengalaman—ia sudah ke banyak tempat dan punya banyak cerita. Soal bicara, Teknisi Hebat Han tidak pernah kalah, dan soal pengetahuan, sepuluh Gashley yang diikat pun tidak bisa menandinginya. Mereka mengobrol riang, percakapan sangat menyenangkan, perlahan semakin saling mengenal.
Kebanyakan tentara bayaran formal berjiwa terbuka dan suka berteman banyak.
Para pemain sering berkomunikasi dengan tentara bayaran Sky Ring lainnya. Saat membahas zirah mereka, tentara bayaran Sky Ring memperlihatkan kehebatan Sky Ring Armor. Semuanya produk Teknologi Kompresi. Dengan menekan kristal segitiga di dada, pakaian tempur Sky Ring yang sederhana akan mengembang dan berubah menjadi berbagai bentuk penuh. Benar-benar memukau.
Zirah Kelas Enlistee Sunil kalah pamor, jadi para pemain semuanya kaget sekaligus iri.
Melihat para pemain tergoda oleh sumber daya mereka, tentara bayaran Sky Ring mencoba menggoda para pemain secara pribadi dengan menjanjikan Sky Ring Armor gratis setelah bergabung dengan Sky Ring. Jika rekrutan mereka berhasil, perekrutnya juga mendapat imbalan. Merekrut anggota dari kelompok tentara bayaran lain adalah kegiatan yang sangat umum—ibarat tanah gratis. Banyak tentara bayaran Sky Ring juga awalnya berafiliasi dengan kelompok lain, lalu tertarik ke Sky Ring karena tawaran yang lebih menggiurkan.
Namun, ini sama sekali tidak mempan pada para pemain. Tergoda belum tentu goyah; mereka masih menunggu barang-barang lebih bagus muncul di toko tentara bayaran. Suatu hari, Sky Ring Armor mungkin juga ada di toko Black Star. Jadi, mereka tidak buru-buru. Para pemain ini sangat percaya pada Han Xiao.
Undangan pribadi semuanya ditolak, dan tentara bayaran Sky Ring sangat terkejut. Mereka tidak menyangka tentara bayaran di bawah Black Star setia sejauh itu, dan keterkejutan otomatis berubah jadi penghormatan pada kelompok itu.
Saat Han Xiao mendengar ini dari Bun-Hit-Dog, hatinya merasa hangat. Kekompakan faksi mulai terbentuk perlahan. Kelompok pemain ini punya tulang punggung.
...
Di saat yang sama, di suatu sabuk asteroid di Galaksi Fawn, beberapa pesawat luar angkasa scavenger bergerak diam-diam. Mereka selalu menyalakan medan gangguan informasi, mempertahankan mode Stealth mereka. Inilah organisasi scavenger yang pernah menyerang para Silvers—seorang pedagang budak yang sering menjual budak, terkenal kejam di Cincin Bintang Pecah.
Muatan salah satu pesawat luar angkasa berisi sel penjara khusus untuk menahan budak. Kelompok scavenger ini sudah mengerjakan cukup banyak job sebelum menyerang para Silvers. 'Barang' yang tidak terlalu berharga dikurung bersama, sedangkan budak yang berharga dipenjara sendirian. Tentu saja, tujuh belas Silvers yang tertangkap dipenjara sendirian.
Seorang pria berkulit keemasan dan berambut berantakan masuk ke area penjara dengan wajah sangat muram. Ia pemimpin kelompok scavenger ini, Peggy, seorang hibrida Godoran. Darah yang mengalir di nadinya hanya seperdelapan Godoran, tapi penampilannya masih sangat mirip orang Godoran. Gen Godoran memang sangat kuat. Ia punya sisik kecil di beberapa bagian kulit dan pupil vertikal seperti ular, menandakan ia punya semacam gen Manusia Ular.
Para tahanan di sel besar langsung riuh saat melihatnya.
"Keluarkan aku!"
"Aku penjelajah Peradaban Batu Suci, beraninya kau menahan aku! Lepas aku sekarang, atau aku akan..."
"Kalian akan menjual kami ke siapa?"
Para tahanan sangat berisik, tapi Peggy mengabaikan mereka sepenuhnya. Ia melewati area sel besar dan berjalan ke koridor sel tunggal. Ia belum melakukan interogasi rutin setelah menangkap para Silvers ini—sekarang waktunya menguji 'barang' itu.
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Upon experiencing the convenience of the automatic binding, Han Xiao could not help but feel good. Magnetic connection is truly convenient.
The exoskeleton armor looked rough and ferocious. It had a mechanic structure of heavy, black alloy armor combined with staggered fangs—the visual impact was very strong. The Siege Mode was focused on power and defense; it was like a train head when moving. The mechanical limbs were large and tough, equipped with a large number of moving gears, adding the bonus of dozens of Strength points and more than 10,000 armor points.
There were always pros and cons—the disadvantage of the Siege Mode was reduced Dexterity. Amphiptere itself was covered by the heavy exoskeleton armor, but luckily, there was the Nerves Connection, so controlling the exoskeleton armor was easy.
His scythe was originally a more than two meters long weapon, but now it was like a harvesting short sickle. Han Xiao charged forward with large steps, and the ground shook. As he slashed again and again, the scythe and the Battleship Slicing Blade collided with each other rapidly.
Clank clank clank!
The Battleship Slicing Blade left marks on the armor. Han Xiao knew Specialized Materials Science, so he had combined Advanced Electromagnetism with it and created a new alloy. It was highly durable and had bonus damage reduction when filled with electric current. The strong materials used for the fusion had very high defensive capabilities. If it was normal iron, it would have been cut in half by Herlous long ago.
The Great Mechanic Han was not so arrogant as to fight a Pugilist head-on in melee combat. He harassed with his Sonic Spheres, of which he could control seven at a time now because his nerves were stronger. He also used many other small weapons to keep attacking.
After fighting for a while, the exoskeleton armor was covered in damage, and Herlous had also been slashed by the scythe a few times—it was basically a draw.
Clank!
After one last collision between the weapons, the two distanced themselves from one another like they could reach each other’s mind and stopped attacking at the same time.
“Great fight.” Han Xiao laughed.
Through this combat, he had a more direct understanding of his own combat power. The bottom line of grade B was 5,000 Ona, and grade A was 10,000 Ona. The calculation of the Ona number was a curve—the higher the number, the bigger the difference between each point. Therefore, the difference between those of the same grade was larger. Even if both were grade B, the destructive power of one with 5,000 Ona and another with 9,000 Ona was completely different.
Han Xiao’s Energy Rank was a little more than 5,300—a novice in grade B. Herlous has been in grade B for many years, but he had abandoned training. Thus, his Energy Rank was about 5,000 as well. However, with Herlous’ talent, he had a lot of room to grow.
Supers with grade B strength were able to basically protect themselves in the galaxy, but it was countless miles away from being able to act completely carelessly. Han Xiao could only better prepare for the future if he knew his strength very clearly.
Herlous took a deep breath and put his weapon away. Sparring should always stop at a suitable point—there was no need to decide a winner. He would not use his trump card, and he knew full well that Han Xiao definitely had more trump cards as a Mechanic. Just through the fight earlier, he had already felt quite the pressure. Han Xiao had numerous attacking methods—like a hedgehog, he could be hurt with just a little bit of carelessness... oh wait, he was already hurt.
He dressed his wounds, and with the Pugilist’s physique, he would recover in a few hours. Black Star was an opponent on the same level as him—Han Xiao’s combat power had earned Herlous’ approval.
Herlous was much less worried about Han Xiao’s safety. Originally, when he realized that he was the strongest in the Black Star Mercenary Group, he had felt somewhat uncertain no matter what. Now that there was finally someone with the same level of combat power, Herlous’ mindset had changed. To put it more directly... originally, he had thought that his teammates were burdens, but now, they gradually turned into reliable friends.
Furthermore, having a friend with the same level of strength meant having common conversation topics. They smiled at each other and felt a sense of trust in one another. The basis of trust could only be built between people with the same level of strength.
Herlous volunteered to help move the equipment boxes, and the two of them walked out the simulation room side by side. Then they came to realize that Frenzied Sword and a few players were waiting outside with surprised faces.
“Black Phantom, you’re so strong!” Stars twinkled in Frenzied Sword’s eyes.
Frenzied Sword was very hardworking, so he had wanted to find Herlous to trigger a tutoring event, but coincidentally, he had witnessed the earlier battle. He was stunned, as the mercenary group only displayed one grade B, Herlous, but Han Xiao had been fighting him evenly earlier. That meant that he had to be a B, too! Frenzied Sword immediately made a logical guess—it must have been because Han Xiao hid it during the test.
In traditional ideals, the leader should be the strongest. Originally, when the captain was not as strong as the newly joined cadre, the players had felt rather weird. Now, Frenzied Sword and the others felt much more comfortable. The Great Mechanic Han’s image was strong and mysterious. In the players’ eyes, he could do all sorts of unbelievable things, and what he just did matched his position in their hearts.
Frenzied Sword was the first follower—he had witnessed Han Xiao’s rising experience step by step. Every time that he saw Han Xiao, he was glad of the choice that he had made. However, after entering the galaxy, Frenzied Sword had been somewhat upset. The team had expanded, and there were more people—he felt neglected.
Back then, Han Xiao gave him these high reward missions with strange requirements every day, and Frenzied Sword could not get enough of it. However, the missions now were too formal—Frenzied Sword missed that feeling...
However, at the same time, he was secretly delighted about it as well. No other players had witnessed these strange missions, not even Hao Tian, Maple Moon, and Bun-Hit-Dog knew what Han Xiao had been like back then. He was the only one to have experienced it. This was a very interesting and fun experience, and he thought back on it often.
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and took a step to the side discreetly. Somehow, he felt that Frenzied Sword was looking at him weirdly.
“Who’s Black Phantom?” Herlous was confused.
Han Xiao waved. “Don’t mind it, that’s my nickname on my mother planet.”
“Oh, I forgot, you’re famous on your mother planet.” Herlous discreetly decided to find other teammates to know more about Han Xiao’s past. He was very interested.
There were few activities during the trip, and other than occasionally sparring with Herlous, Han Xiao chatted with Gashley whenever he was free to hear more about Sky Ring’s history. They sometimes also talked about the knowledge of traveling through the universe.
Gashley was an experienced mercenary—he had been to many places and had a lot of stories to tell. In terms of words, the Great Mechanic Han never backed off, and in terms of knowledge, ten Gashleys tied together would not be able to match up to him. They chatted happily and had very pleasant conversations, gradually familiarizing themselves with one another.
Most of the formal mercenaries were forthright and liked to make many friends.
Players communicated with the other Sky Ring mercenaries often. When talking about their armor, the Sky Ring mercenaries displayed the effect of the Sky Ring Armor. They were all products of compression technology. By pressing down on the triangular crystal on their chest, the humble Sky Ring combat suit would expand and become various full forms. It was truly gorgeous.
The Sunil Enlistee Class armor paled in comparison, so the players were all shocked and jealous.
Seeing that the players were tempted by their resources, the Sky Ring mercenaries tried to tempt the players privately by promising a free Sky Ring Armor after joining Sky Ring. If their recruitment was successful, the recruiter would be rewarded as well. Recruiting members from other mercenary groups was a very common activity—it was free real estate. Many Sky Ring mercenaries also belonged to other mercenary groups originally, and they had been attracted to Sky Ring due to their better offer.
However, this did not work on the players at all. Tempted did not mean shaken; they were still waiting for better things to appear in the mercenary group shop. One day, there might be Sky Ring Armor in the Black Star shop too. Therefore, they were in no hurry. These players trusted Han Xiao very much.
The private invitations were all rejected, and the Sky Ring mercenaries were very surprised. They had not expected the mercenaries under Black Star to be so loyal, and shock naturally turned into respect for the group.
When Han Xiao heard this from Bun-Hit-Dog, he felt warm inside. The faction unity was starting to shape slowly. This group of players had backbone.
...
At the same time, among some asteroid belt in the Fawn Galaxy, a few scavenger spaceships were moving stealthily. They kept the information disruption force field activated at all times, maintaining their Stealth mode. This was the scavenger organization that had attacked the Silvers. It was a slave trader that often sold slaves—they were notorious for their ruthless acts in the Shattered Star Ring.
The hold of one of the spaceships consisted of prison cells used exclusively for containing slaves. This group of scavengers had done quite a number of jobs before they attacked the Silvers. The not so valuable ‘goods’ were locked together, and the valuable slaves were imprisoned alone. Naturally, the seventeen captured Silvers were imprisoned alone.
A golden-skinned, messy-haired man walked into the prison area with a very gloomy look on his face. He was the leader of this group of scavengers, Peggy, a hybrid Godoran. The blood running through his veins was only one-eighth Godoran, but his appearance was still very similar to that of a Godoran. The Godoran genes were indeed very strong. He had tiny scales on different places on his skin and vertical pupils like a snake, suggesting that he had some kind of Snakeman genes.
The prisoners in the large cell immediately became riled up when they saw him.
“Let me out!”
“I’m an explorer of Holy Stone Civilization, how dare you detain me! Let me go now, or I will...”
“Who are you going to sell us to?”
The prisoners were very noisy, but Peggy ignored them completely. He skipped the large cell area and walked into the corridor of the single person cells. He had yet to do a routine interrogation after catching these Silvers—it was now time to test the ‘goods’.
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