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Your total level has reached 100. Complete the promotion mission to continue leveling up.

[Trail of the Strong]: Kill an enemy that’s one grade above you.

Note: This mission can be completed with a team, but the team members cannot have a higher grade than you.

Progress: 0/1

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God damn it… Han Xiao clenched his teeth. This promotion mission was not the most difficult one, but due to his grade, its difficulty multiplied many times.

He had met a similar promotion mission before when he was level 40. Its requirement was to kill three targets that were five levels above him. Compared to an entire grade, five levels was nothing.

I’m now at Grade B. Doesn’t that mean I have to kill a Grade A enemy‽

Han Xiao’s mouth twitched. If this mission appeared at a lower level, it would only have been a little challenging, but it became multiple times more difficult as the levels increased.

[Trial of the Strong] only appeared in Grade B to Grade E promotion missions. At Grade A, this mission would no longer appear. If he was Grade B+, the strength difference would not be that huge, but he was only level 100, and level 100 usually meant that one had the strength of lower to medium Grade B. However, it just so happened that this requirement appeared when he was at this level. It felt like the goddess of luck was kicking him in the face.

What did Grade A represent? It meant that the individual could cause a destructive disaster on an entire planet surface, had strength only below Grade S, and was more than enough to rule one place alone. Grade B was the backbone level power in the galaxy, while Grade A was the high-end power. The number of Grade Bs in the galaxy was tens of thousands of times greater than Grade As.

The strength difference was too vast!

Han Xiao sighed. The mission was already determined, so there was no use in being annoyed by it. He needed to get promoted one way or another, so he had no choice but to think of a way to fulfill the requirement.

The difference between Grade A Supers is large. If I want to complete the mission, I have to pick the weaker ones… but no matter how weak, Grade A is still much stronger than me. I will definitely lose if I fight head-on, so I have to plot. Luckily, there’s no need to fight one on one, and there are no restrictions to how the mission can be completed.

Han Xiao contemplated.

First, I have to choose a target and search for an opportunity from what I remember. Then, I have to make a plan to weaken the enemy as much as possible before the battle, or it will be impossible to kill a Grade A at their peak.

Since the killing method was not limited, it meant that he just had to be the one killing the target. The most idealistic way, of course, was to kill a prisoner that was unable to resist. This might have worked at lower levels, but it was impossible at his level. Even if some organizations might have imprisoned Grade A prisoners, they would not kill them out of nowhere, and of course, they would not let anyone else kill them. Therefore, the only way to complete the mission was through battle.

This was like a hunt. The hunter had his eyes on strong prey, so he hid in the dark and waited for the prey to fall into the trap. It required a huge amount of patience.

It was impossible to complete the Promotion mission any time soon. Han Xiao was glad that he did not advance his class, or he would have been much more frustrated.

There are many targets, but none of them can be messed with easily. This needs a long-term plan…

…

When he returned to the stronghold, most of the players were not there. As the first competitive season had ended, there were many follow up activities. The time that those pro players spent online was obviously much less. Only Bun-Hit-Dog, Maple Moon, and a few other players maintained the same play time. However, they were not in the stronghold; they were outside, doing daily missions.

Han Xiao knocked on the doors of the others. Herlous, Aroshia, and the others had all gone out, so he was the only one home.

The enormous stronghold hall felt deserted.

Han Xiao looked at the time—time for dinner. He took out a bright silver colored alcoholic drink from the drawer and activated the portable food box. After one minute, a box of food covered in tinfoil was made, inside of which was some meat and beans with black sauce.

Han Xiao placed the food and drink on the table in the middle of the hall, sat down on the sofa, and ate slowly. Such simple food was his dinner.

After eating for a while, the stronghold door opened, and the officers returned together. Herlous walked at the front with a toothpick between his teeth and chatted with the three brothers of Volga. Sylvia carried many bags and clung to Aroshia, who was expressionless, talking non-stop. Aroshia’s replies were never more than five words, yet Sylvia did not get tired of it. She had walked out of her negativity faster than Han Xiao expected. After all, her father was still alive, and things would only be treasured when they were lost. She understood her father’s intention to want her to have a new life, so she did not want to keep being so negative.

Aroshia wore a new dress, and from what Han Xiao knew about her, it was most likely Sylvia who had chosen it.

When Han Xiao was doing his things, these officers went shopping and had dinner together, or Aroshia would have preferred to stay at home.

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

Han Xiao looked up and glanced at them. “You’re back.”

They hastily wiped the smiles off their faces and nodded.

“Herlous, go check on the recent mission report of the Sunil Division. Volga brothers, remember to enchant the batch of machinery that I gave you. Aroshia, don’t transform in the stronghold for the next two days, or it’ll be very difficult to clean.” Han Xiao put down the spoon, stood up, walked toward the machinery modification room, and said, “Sylvia, follow me.”

Sylvia’s face tightened, and she hurriedly followed behind Han Xiao into the machinery modification room. The door closed.

Han Xiao kicked away the waste parts on the floor, found a box, and sat down. He sized Sylvia up and did not speak.

Sylvia was very uncomfortable from being looked at. “May I know why you’ve called me here?”

Han Xiao tapped the table and said in a deep voice, “I wanted ten years from you. You’re now my subordinate, not having a holiday. What use do you think you can provide me?”

“I don’t know…” Sylvia lowered her head. She did not understand why Han Xiao wanted her to work for him for ten years. Clearly, she was just a child and could not help in any way.

“You’re not of any use now, so in the days to come, I will teach you the knowledge of a Mechanic. Only when you’re stronger will you be of use to me. If you refuse to learn and do not want to work for me, don’t think I will allow you to laze around in my mercenary group. I don’t need flops.” Han Xiao was very direct.

“Yo—you want to teach me Super knowledges?” Sylvia froze and struggled to speak coherently. “I thought you just wanted a maid.”

Han Xiao frowned and said, “What do I need a maid for? Can you do it better than the cleaning robots?”

Sylvia’s eyes swayed and said with uncertainty, “I—I never thought of that. Super… can I really be one? I mean… do I have the talent?”

“My eyes can see a rough image of the future, and I saw potential in you,” Han Xiao said calmly. “Langley never let you set foot in the areas of Supers, how foolish. Ever since you were born, the Super-Gene has been lurking in your body, waiting to be awakened. Your asshole father wasted many years.”

“You can’t call him an asshole,” Sylvia said unhappily. “That’s my father.”

“I haven’t lost my memories.” Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. “He is accused of seventeen major crimes, including but not limited to betraya…”

“Okay, he is an asshole.” Sylvia bit her lips. “But you can’t call him that, only I can!”

“Stop talking nonsense and get back to business. I will let you awaken Magnetic Energy and teach you Mechanic knowledge.”

Sylvia straightened her back uncontrollably. She felt like she was about to enter a new world. She looked forward to it, but she was understandably nervous.

“Then… what should I do?”

Han Xiao took out four thick, heavy books and stacked them up. Combined, the four books were about forty centimeters thick. Those four books were all basic machinery theories written by different people. The interface allowed him to not need to read them and study them, but for others, it was not that convenient.

It took months and years of learning to become a Mechanic. Even though Sylvia was very talented, this step could not be skipped.

“First, memorize these four books.”

Sylvia’s mouth opened widely as she looked at the thick books. This was very different from how she had thought it would be. “That’s too much…”

Ignoring her suggestion, Han Xiao continued. “I’ll give you ten days, after which, there’ll be a test. If you fail, you’ll have to memorize one more book. This will repeat until you pass.”

Sylvia’s face immediately turned dropped. She felt that even if she exhausted herself, she would not be able to memorize so much in just ten days. Furthermore, she had never come into contact with anything related to it. How was she going to even understand the content of those books?

“Anything you don’t understand, ask me. When you pass the test, I will teach you the way to awaken Mechanical Force.”

Han Xiao waved his hands. Sylvia had no choice but to walk out with a long face holding the books, quickly heading off to memorize these books.

Although Han Xiao did not have to study this way, the knowledge did exist in his brain, and he had gone through it before. Teaching someone else Mechanic class knowledge was certainly not a problem.

I wonder how long she needs to grow to a level where she can be of use.

Han Xiao shook his head.

This was what long-term investments were like; earning back the investment was not that quick. Luckily, patience was something that he was not short of at all.

…

The aftertaste of the league lingered, and players reveled in it. A few days after, an official update announcement suddenly appeared on the forums and instantly became the top post. The players were surprised once again. This was translated into many languages, and players from all areas could understand it. Within one minute, the number of replies had already exceeded ten thousand and was quickly growing.

In summary, the content of the announcement was that at midnight twelve days later, in game time, Version 1.0 update would officially end. At that time, all accounts would be unable to log in, so they suggested that players log out in advance to avoid unnecessary damage.

As for what was new in the update, nothing was mentioned at all. The players thought that it was very mysterious—the unknown new version made the players look forward to it even more.

The main storylines in the various novice planets were all completed, and popular characters in these planets had already showcased their charm and all had some fans. After the main storyline was completed, the players were in the stage of exploring freely and were still excited. Even the side missions had a lot of related storylines and felt very real. Compared to fighting monsters and beating levels, this was more like a journey full of experiences. Therefore, many players could not wait to find out what new storyline would unfold on their planet. They were interested in the fate of the planet and the people in it, as well as the look of the entire universe.

The unknown content of the next version sparked discussions and speculations from players on all planets. Many people guessed what would come next by referring to what had happened in Version 1.0, which was all recorded in the chronicle posts of the various planets that recorded the history.

When the main storyline ended in Version 1.0 across the areas, some players finally had the idea of posting such a post. This sparked interest from countless players, and the chronicles of these planets were born.

All the players came together to contribute, posting the missions, events, and characters that they had met, trying to record everything that had happened on the planet, regardless of whether they were main storylines or side missions. Even the most ordinary NPCs had been recorded by some players.

Everyone contributing to the same thing made the players have a lot of fun, and the sense of belonging was very strong.

This was the first batch of senior players and loyal players in Galaxy. In Han Xiao’s previous life, even when some players could not play Galaxy anymore due to being busy or other reasons, they would still log in occasionally to see how the storyline had progressed. There were way too many things, so it was incomparably immersive and real. It felt both like a game and a drama series.

Not long after, Galaxy Times dedicated an episode to the unknown new version, analyzing the speculations.