Chapter 0 The Zero Unit Fleet Leaves the War Domain Stronghold

The Zero Unit fleet moved away from the war domain stronghold. News of Black Star's shocking performance in the recent battle quickly spread throughout the fleet, startling teammates in other sectors. They only dismissed their doubts after watching the recording.

Han Xiao reunited with Lagi and the others. The intensity of the local battlefields where his troops were stationed was low, and the casualties were light, even less than the losses in the first battle.

After disengaging from the battlefield, a prompt popped up on the panel.

[You have gained 1 point of Legend.]

Han Xiao was moved, though not entirely surprised. Before reaching Grade A, he faced the attack of three Heavenly Disaster grades from DarkStar, and he got a [Three Heavenly Disasters Battle] Legend point. Now, facing the eight Vanguard Officers, who were even more famous, he expected to gain a Legend point.

[Star Cluster Legend (Kolton Star Cluster): Imperishable Body—You fought valiantly against the Eight Vanguard Officers of the War Domain, proving that the title given to you is well-deserved. This battle will be passed down by word of mouth and become a lasting legendary event!]

"Imperishable Body…"

Han Xiao was surprised. This was originally just a nickname given to him by various forces, but now it has become a formal Legend point. He couldn't help but feel an inexplicable excitement.

This could be considered finally making a real name for himself!

The 20% bonus reward for the Star Cluster Legend was higher than that of the Star System Legend. This was his first Star Cluster Legend.

"If I defeated the Eight Vanguard Officers head-on, the influence would probably be a Star Field Legend."

Han Xiao shook his head. That was beyond his ability. The Vanguard Officers were all muscleheads and quite tanky. Moreover, the eight of them coordinated tacitly, firmly controlling the rhythm of the battle. His current limit was to retreat safely. Only Beyond Grade A could easily handle this situation.

On the panel, the tactical mission was displayed as completed. Han Xiao was about to contact Leif to have him fulfill the transaction when he took out the communicator. Leif's communication request arrived first.

As soon as the communication was connected, Leif couldn't wait to speak: "Black Star, your combat power has exceeded my expectations. You really did it! Although we didn't win this time, you stopped our decline…"

Leif didn't skimp on praise. The members of the Zero Unit were unwilling to fight because they were afraid of the War Domain's assassination tactics against high-level combatants, causing the Heavenly Disaster grades to be unwilling to fight. At this critical moment, Han Xiao was the only one who could hold his own and contain the opponent's high-level combatants. In his eyes, he was simply a lifesaver. He kept praising him, showering Han Xiao with so much praise that he felt a pain in the balls.

Han Xiao couldn't help but interrupt him.

"Hold on, you don't have to say those polite words. It's time to complete the transaction. Give me the advanced knowledge. I want to temporarily withdraw from the battlefield."

This was reminiscent of "Give me the ball, I want to go home."

Hearing this, Leif's excited expression froze on his face, and he said in astonishment: "You want to withdraw from the secret war?"

"It's only temporary. You've seen it too. In order to resist the Eight Vanguard Officers, my mechanical legion was completely destroyed. I'm a Mechanic, and without mechs, my combat power will be greatly reduced. Moreover, I've actually suffered very serious internal injuries. I can barely stand now, and my hands and feet don't listen to me. I'm just holding back from vomiting blood."

Han Xiao said without blushing or panting.

"Really?" Leif looked at Han Xiao suspiciously.

He didn't look injured at all.

"What's wrong? Do you want me to perform vomiting blood for you?" Han Xiao opened his mouth as if he wanted to vomit.

"Alright, alright, I believe you." Leif hurriedly stopped him, thinking that Black Star might really be seriously injured.

On second thought, after all, he had withstood eight notorious Vanguard Officers and endured attacks at the Beyond Grade A level. It was normal to pay some price.

Han Xiao paused and explained, "I need to recuperate for a while. The advanced knowledge is extremely complex, and I need half a month… uh, a month to study it."

Leif nodded, what he said made sense, the advanced knowledge was indeed very complex.

"Moreover, I need time to rebuild the mechanical legion. This is a major project, otherwise my strength won't be able to be brought into play. Even if I participate in the battle, it won't make any sense, right?"

"Uh… right."

Leif hesitated, "But if you withdraw, then we really won't have any counterattack power at the high-level combatant level. You also know that the other members are simply not contributing."

Han Xiao shrugged, acting out a sense of helplessness that said "I've already tried my best," and shook his head, saying:

"You've also seen that I can't change the situation alone. This battle has proved this point. Even if I hold back the Vanguard Officers, the fleet still can't break through the War Domain's stronghold. Compared to the War Domain, our coalition force seems substandard. In my opinion, the War Domain's invasion is a foregone conclusion."

After two battles, Leif was also quite pessimistic, and couldn't help but ask: "What are your thoughts?"

"I think that in the early stages of the secret war, the War Domain will concentrate its forces to establish the first batch of strongholds. It will be difficult for us to stop this from happening, but if the War Domain wants to occupy several star systems on the border, it will inevitably divide its forces and occupy more strongholds, resulting in a dispersed force. Maybe at that time, the Zero Unit will have a chance to counterattack."

Han Xiao's tone was sincere. Although he didn't know the details during the version update, he remembered the later stages of the secret war in version 3.0, and from this he could deduce the War Domain's advantage in the early stages.

The War Domain's advance was unstoppable, and he wanted to withdraw because he didn't want to be abused in the early stages when the opponent was on a roll.

Leif thought for a while and could only admit that what Han Xiao said made sense. The situation might really develop like this. He immediately felt at a loss and asked, "You're right, do you have any practical suggestions?"

"I think the most urgent task is to do a good job internally and first solve the problem of the Zero Unit's high-level combatants avoiding battle. The War Domain is concentrating its efforts to establish a bridgehead, and we shouldn't have unrealistic fantasies of driving all the enemies away. It's best to stop there and avoid greater losses. The time for our counterattack has not yet come. What we need to do now is to lie low… cough, I mean, recuperate."

Star cluster-level civilizations were not short of resources. In order to resist the War Domain, the Purple Crystal Civilization could spend money to raise the strength of the Zero Unit. For Han Xiao, who had already shown his value, if the Purple Crystal Civilization adopted his suggestion, he could get more benefits.

Putting aside Great Technician Han's potential intention to slack off, this suggestion was actually a bit reasonable. At least in Leif's opinion, this was also a viable tactic.

"I will pass your suggestions on to the command and let them analyze it." Leif paused and sighed, "As for your leave application, I approve it… I only have one request, when you are fully recovered, return to the battlefield as soon as possible."

"Of course, when will you give me the advanced knowledge?"

"I'll give you a list of knowledge later. You can choose for yourself, and we'll send it to you soon… By the way, the resources to compensate for the losses will also be delivered to you as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Han Xiao showed a smile of relief.

With the advanced knowledge in hand, the class advancement mission had been settled, and one of the major goals of participating in the secret war had been achieved.

Without spending too much time building up goodwill, Han Xiao had taken a shortcut. The feat of holding back the Eight Vanguard Officers could not be replicated, because after this battle, the Vanguard Officers would realize that he was difficult to kill and would no longer waste energy joining forces. This time, he had gained fame, but the next time, the Vanguard Officers would never repeat the same mistake.

His own tankiness was extremely astonishing, but the actual deterrent force was not too outrageous. As long as one or two Vanguard Officers were present, they could restrain him, and there would be no such situation as today.

To strengthen his deterrent force, he needed to continue upgrading and at the same time create new mechs based on advanced knowledge.

After closing the communication, Leif sent the knowledge list.

There were 60 types of Mechanic knowledge in total, with 20 in each of the three branches of Armed, Energy, and Control. They were divided into five levels. The basic, advanced, and high-level knowledge accounted for 45 of them, and the final advanced and ultimate knowledge only had 15, which was a small number represented extremely high value.

There were nine types of advanced knowledge in total, with three in each branch. The Purple Crystal Civilization did not have all of the advanced knowledge, only a part of it.

Han Xiao was a Virtual Mechanic. Learning the advanced knowledge of the Control branch would consume a normal amount of Potential Points, while learning the advanced knowledge of the other two branches would cost three times the Potential Points.

However, Han Xiao did not choose the Control branch, but the advanced knowledge of the Energy branch.

[Aberrant Energy]!

Regardless of which type of Mechanic one was, this knowledge was a must-learn. It could be said to be the threshold for the sublimation of a Mechanic.

After learning this knowledge, the Mechanic would have the technology to collect, refine, and use psionic energy and antimatter energy on a large scale!

Energy was the core of mechs, and the change in energy technology would bring about a earth-shattering change!

Han Xiao had been waiting for this knowledge for a long time. He had already saved a new wave of Potential Points, and he could afford the triple consumption.

Because he didn't need to participate in the next battle, Han Xiao took his troops and left, returning to the Garton Star System base.

The other members of the Zero Unit were extremely envious when they saw the Black Star Army leaving the team, but no one had any objections.

Black Star had taken great risks in this battle and was indeed qualified to go back to rest. Everyone could only watch the Black Star Army leave with longing eyes.

Thinking that they would continue to be ravaged by the War Domain next, at this moment, only one song could express their feelings:

Please come back soon, we can't take it anymore…

…

The second confrontation between the Purple Crystal and the Klent had come to an end. The other five star cluster-level civilizations in the Shattered Star Ring that were paying attention to the secret war situation received the battlefield report as soon as possible, and the high-ranking officials couldn't believe their eyes.

Black Star fought eight enemies alone, and his opponents were the Eight Vanguard Officers under Overlord. In the end, he retreated safely?!

Are you kidding me?!

This intelligence quickly appeared on the desks of the leaders of major forces, setting off a storm in the circles of large forces in the entire star field!

The seven star cluster-level civilizations, including various super-large forces, including the War Domain, all refreshed their understanding of Han Xiao.

Originally, the biggest label on Black Star in their eyes was Ames' confidant, and the second biggest label was his strong network ability. Black Star's position in the circle basically came from these two labels. In terms of combat power, these forces did not look up to him because of this. The evaluation was very pertinent - Black Star was a relatively powerful Heavenly Disaster grade, who could stand alone, but among his peers, he did not have an overwhelming advantage.

However, this piece of intelligence shattered all the previous evaluations of Han Xiao by these forces.

Based on his performance in this battle, the seven star cluster-level civilizations and major forces made a new assessment of his strength:

"In the universe, individualism is not popular. The strong usually face the siege of multiple opponents of the same level, and the most capable of fighting multiple enemies alone are recognized as magicians and mechanics."

"Black Star is a mechanic, but his way of fighting multiple enemies alone is completely different."

"The common problem of mechanics is that their bodies are not strong enough. Except for a part of single-soldier mechanics, the weakness of most mechanics is that they are afraid of charging. However, Black Star has an incredible physique, with extremely high resistance and alien level recovery, which guarantees his life safety. Charging tactics have become a trap in front of him."

"He is an alien among mechanics. Even if he loses his mechs, he still has a considerable degree of immediate combat power with this physique. Endurance is his advantage, enough to kill 90% of the Heavenly Disaster grades - Note: This range is the entire star field."

"In the mechanical abilities displayed by Black Star, it can be clearly found that he has not yet mastered the use of psionic energy. Once he starts using psionic energy as an energy source, combined with his terrifying physique, Black Star's threat will increase exponentially and will undoubtedly become a small number of people standing at the peak of the Heavenly Disaster grade."

"Based on the above information, it is strongly recommended that he be moved to the [Shattered Star Ring Beyond Grade A Seed Observation List]…"

"Black Star has the potential of Beyond Grade A!"

The Beyond Grade A Seed List was a brand new level, out of the ordinary Heavenly Disaster grade category. The people on this list were the focus of star cluster-level civilizations. Each name represented a star of a child with the potential to become a Beyond Grade A powerhouse.

The basis for judgment was not only potential, but a comprehensive consideration of potential, strength, growth rate, special talents, species, ability type, and other factors.

The selection range was the vast Shattered Star Ring, with an extremely large population base.

However,

There were only a few dozen people on the list!