Chapter 988 Decisive Action
On the topic of Manison’s organization, it was usually referred to as the Mechanic Empire or Mechanical Race.
Manison’s territory was located within the Primeval Star River, and although it was the territory of a Star System Civilization on the surface, Manison was actually the one in charge of the place.
Han Xiao had his Lord avatar visit Manison. He had already sent a message before that, and Manison had agreed to meet him. They had set the meeting location on a planet inhabited by the Mechanical Race. Manison had many planets under his charge, and this was one of them.
Han Xiao’s avatar arrived at the location, and he could see a mechanical planet. It was covered by a gigantic psionic s.h.i.+eld with a large number of mechanical soldiers patrolling outside the atmosphere of the planet.
“An old man is an old man indeed. He is truly rich.”
Han Xiao shook his head.
Manison’s territory was extremely wide, and he had many different factories and armies in the various Star Fields. Furthermore, he had his own developed mechanical civilization, and the exact size of his army was unknown. The various organizations only knew that he had a terrifying number of soldiers.
Han Xiao’s troops did not wait for too long before an opening was created in the protective s.h.i.+eld. A mechanical soldier squad then led the way for him.
He followed the guide, and his Lord avatar landed on the planet.
He could see many different cities scattered around the planet and many pedestrians roaming the streets.
Manison was the second Beyond Grade A in the Mechanical Race, and although he had transformed into a new species, he still treated the Mechanical Race as his kind and took on the position of leader.
However, he was different from Psyker. To him, the Mechanical Race was only an important resource, and he did not feel too responsible for them.
As the race that had the lineage of a Beyond Grade A, the Mechanical Race had outstanding natural talent, which provided Manison with many useful skills. Many of the Mechanics under his charge came from the Mechanical Race. Furthermore, at least eighty percent of the Mechanical Race population were part of the Machinery Faith.
A large floating island could be seen. This was one of Manison’s palaces.
The Lord avatar then landed on the floating island together with the other mechanical soldiers.
Clank clank clank…
The sound of metal rang out as the mechanical soldiers landed.
The moment he landed, Han Xiao heard someone calling out to him.
“Ah, to think that you’d take the initiative to find me. This is truly out of my expectations.”
Manison’s Lord avatar walked over. It was not Manison’s main body who had come to meet him.
Upon seeing that, Han Xiao sneered in his heart.
Tsk, so cowardly.
After cursing Manison in his heart, Han Xiao said, “You invited me over to be a guest a few years ago. Since it was convenient for me, I came over to take a look.”
He did not mention the conflict between the two. The mechanical voices of the two avatars also had no emotions.
Manison smiled and also did not mention their previous skirmish.
He had defeated plenty of Divine Throne Mechanics, and to a bigshot like him, this was not considered significant enmity.
At his level, even if the other party was his compet.i.tor, he could still sit down and have a calm conversation with them.
“If that’s the case, then follow me. I will give you a tour of my base.” Manison turned around and led the way.
Because of their previous face off, both parties had a strained relations.h.i.+p. However, Black Star was a peak Beyond Grade A Super after all, and Manison naturally would not be rude if the other party came to visit him.
Both of them toured around the base for a while, and Han Xiao saw many ordinary facilities. He did not see anything special. After all, Manison would not reveal his trump cards to a compet.i.tor of his. It was just like when Han Xiao was not willing to show Manison his s.p.a.cetime Amber.
Han Xiao had already expected this. Manison was not an individual who liked to show off his trump cards and thus did not expect to see much.
After touring around the place for a while, he entered the conference room with Manison, and they began chatting.
“Since we are both using avatar, there’s no need for drinks.” Manison leaned back calmly. “Why are you here?”
“I wish to borrow some intelligence,” Han Xiao said calmly.
“In what way?”
“I wish to borrow the files on the intelligence officers of the four Super Star Cl.u.s.ter and other Star Cl.u.s.ter Civilizations.”
Manison was a little surprised, and he sat up straight.
“Why do you want this?”
“To find someone,” Han Xiao replied succinctly.
He had already searched through the information and found a forged resume. He only needed to compare it to the files of the intelligence officers. Asking the Mechanic Emperor for help was the best choice.
The gangsters of the Primeval Star River were not like the Kunde Race natives. Their technological capabilities were only second to the three Universal Civilizations.
It would require a great deal of effort for him to personally infiltrate their system, and it was likely that he would be discovered as well.
Furthermore, he needed to infiltrate more than one of the Super Star Cl.u.s.ter Civilizations. Even if he could find the culprit in one of them, he would offend the other three in the process. Han Xiao did not want to create enemies for himself for no good reason.
On the other hand, Han Xiao felt that it was likely for the other party to have deleted the files of the culprit so that he would not be able to find anything.
The Mechanic Emperor was different in this regard. As a bigshot of the Federation of Light, he had always been collecting intelligence.
With these four good neighbors of his, he would definitely run around in their backyard once in a while and steal a large amount of confidential information. As such, it was more likely for him to obtain a complete file from the Mechanic Emperor.
Manison pondered for a while before shaking his head. “It is impossible to lend it to you. I will only do a trade.”
“Alright, what do you want?”
“s.p.a.cetime Amber,” Manison said.
“Impossible.” Han Xiao rejected him without hesitation.
Are you dreaming, old fool?
You want a Universal Treasure in exchange for an intelligence report? You are truly a business wonder.
“Not even a single drop?”
“Haha.”
Upon hearing that, Manison folded his arms and remained silent. His meaning was obvious. Since you aren’t willing to accept my price, what are you prepared to give?
After thinking for a while, Han Xiao said, “I can openly admit that you are the strongest Mechanic.”
“I already am the strongest. Why do I need your admission?” Manison asked.
“Isn’t it a good thing to stabilize your foundations?”
“I don’t need it.” Manison waved his arms.
I am the Mechanic Emperor. Do I need your support? What a joke!
Han Xiao then stroked his chin and said, “Perhaps we can come to an agreement. I will not challenge your position within fifty years.”
Upon hearing that, Manison said with interest, “You mean to say that you will be able to exceed me within fifty years?”
“Everything is possible,” Han Xiao said.
Manison smiled and calmly replied, “It’s alright. I don’t need such a method to secure my status.”
Han Xiao then leaned forward slightly and said, “Why don’t I owe you a favor?”
“Only a favor that can be repaid is worth something. Do you think your favor is worth anything to me with our relations.h.i.+p?” Manison shook his head.
After pausing for a while, Manison did not wait for Han Xiao to reply and said, “Forget it. I can give you the intelligence that you want, but you won’t be able to give me what I want. Get the Crimson Dynasty to talk to me.”
Han Xiao pretended to fall into deep thought. “If that’s the case, why don’t I persuade the dynasty to provide you with some Evolutionary Totems?”
Manison was not interested. “Why not you give me the Evolution Cube instead?”
“Are you asleep or awake?” Han Xiao asked.
Manison had thick skin and said, “But the totem isn’t useful to me.”
“Are you sure?” Han Xiao knocked on the desk. “You will not be able to use the totems, but the Mechanical Race that you are leading will be able to make use of them. It is still useful to them, right?”
Upon hearing that, Manison fell into thought.
Han Xiao then shrugged his shoulders and said, “I will not give you anything more. You should know that the other organizations will also have such information. It is just that the information in your hands is more complete. However, it isn’t unique. If you can’t agree to this, the deal is over.”
Manison nodded. “Alright, I agree.”
He could easily obtain as much intelligence as he wanted. It was an extremely easy matter to him and did not cost him anything. For him to be able to gain the Evolutionary Totems in the process, Manison felt that it was acceptable.
Although he did not think too much about this trade, the totems were pretty useful to the Mechanical Race.
“Alright, it’s settled. I will communicate with the dynasty regarding this,” Han Xiao said.
Although he was breaking the rules, as long as he controlled the number of totems that he sold, the dynasty would not be bothered about something so small.
Because of the pressure of the federation and church, some of the totems were sold on the black market. Although the dynasty did not sell the totems openly, they would not be too stubborn if it could be used in exchange for some important intelligence.
He originally planned to use the totems to exchange for the intelligence report.
Han Xiao was not like Heber who cared a great deal about his face. He still had huge potential for growth according to his plans and was not planning to fight the Mechanic Emperor any time soon. Thus, he would not be bothered with such useless promises. If Manison had agreed to his promise, he would have been able to save his Evolutionary Totems.
Manison only knows that I have a great potential but does not know exactly how fast I can increase my strength. His impression of me is kept at the previous time we fought, and he isn’t aware that I have now grasped [Perfect Mechanical Sense]. As long as I do not fight him, it would be difficult for him to realize that.
Manison probably thinks that I am only running an errand for the dynasty but does not know that I am able to strengthen myself from this mission.
After coming to an agreement, Han Xiao made an application to the dynasty. After knowing that he was pursuing the ident.i.ty of the mastermind, the upper echelons discussed the matter for a while before agreeing.
Since they were only going to provide a little more than a hundred totems, it would not affect the big picture.
Manison then sent the intelligence report over to him.
With the intelligence report in his hands, Han Xiao stood up and said, “The totems will be sent over soon. I will make a move first.”
“Alright.”
Manison then looked at Han Xiao leave before exiting from the quantum network.
Despite winning against Black Star previously, this did not mean that Manison was not wary of Han Xiao at all. He was worried that Han Xiao had come with bad intentions and had thus prepared a trap for Han Xiao just in case.
For Virtual Mechanics at their level, they would have to attack the other party head on if they wanted to infiltrate the other party’s system. It would be impossible to remain undetected by the firewall.
If Black Star wanted to infiltrate his system, Black Star definitely would not have been let off easily.
However, he never imagined that Han Xiao would come and go quickly without any ulterior motives, meaning all his preparations went to waste.
“It seems like he no longer has any plans to fight me. The dynasty should have influenced his thoughts slightly.”
Manison had a guess based on Han Xiao’s actions.
…
As Han Xiao’s s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p left the territory of the Mechanical Race, he took out the algorithm that he had prepared and began the matching process.
The matching process was completed very quickly, and a target was found.
“The Modo Civilization? It is them!”
Han Xiao raised his brows.
“If it’s the Modo Civilization…”
Han Xiao then searched for a few famous individuals in the Modo Civilization in his memories before taking out his communicator to make a call.
After ringing for a while, someone picked up the call but did not say anything.
“Lothaire?”
“I’m here.”
“Come to the Primeval Star River. I have a mission and present for you.”“Okay.”
Lothaire then hung up.
What a reliable middle-aged man. Han Xiao was certain that the Modo Civilization was the mastermind behind the Kunde Race incident.
However, Han Xiao still was not aware about who planned the operation.
However, that did not matter. He only needed to take revenge against the mastermind.
Since that was the case, he should just take decisive action.
All the famous individuals now and in the future shall all be executed!