Difficult Victory
Just when everyone was feeling despair, the atmosphere suddenly changed!
Rays after rays of light beams shot down from the sky like a torrential rain along with fierce shouting. It seems that the Border Legion's reinforcements were finally here, the number exceeding 200 legions! The soldiers were all in golden armor, as if they were celestial soldiers coming down from the heavens.
Rumble~
The insects cleverly retreated, and then the Border Legions began killing the insects that were slower.
Maybe because the bugs knew the power of these armies, when they ran past Han and the others, not to mention attacking, they just ran without even looking at them.
Whew~
Han let out a long breath and sat down on the ground with everyone. The large-scale ma.s.sacre was very energy consuming, and now they were all very tired.
The battlefield that was very bustling, suddenly quieted down. The Border Legions were now chasing the insects further and further, and near the last energy wall, Han's nameless army and the disabled Border Legion were not too far apart, both resting.
A middle-aged man with short hair covered in blood threw away his helmet, and walked directly towards Han. He then reached out a hand in excitement, "I'm Wood, the captain of the 27th Regiment of the Border Legion."
"Han Lang." Han stood up and whispered.
The two sat back down. Towards Han and his nameless army's performance, Wood couldn't stop praising them, and he was also very grateful. After hearing that they were people getting judged, Wood suddenly got really angry, saying that he will go question the judgement committee once he gets back.
Han laughed, "It's alright, I think they are just executing their orders. By the way, what is really the border? And what's with these bugs?"
"Uh…" Wood hesitated and showed a difficult expression.
Han saw Wood's expression and understood immediately. This was the dark net's secret. The dark net and the All G.o.d Corporation always had many secrets.
At this moment, a light beam descended at a place not far away from Han and Wood. From the beam a white haired old man walked out of the white beam. With a black face, full of wrinkles.
Seeing this old man, Wood immediately stood up and saluted, calling him General Kabri.
General Kabri patted Wood on the shoulder, and said in a deep voice, "Well done, you worked hard."
Wood immediately looked towards Han and said, "General! If it wasn't for Han and these people getting judged, I'm afraid that we wouldn't have completed our mission. To say credit, it is mainly their credit. I was just fulfilling my duty."
General Kabri nodded, looked at Han, and with eyes filled with traces of gratefulness, he said in a deep voice, "You are called Han?"
Han nodded.
The old general sighed, "Very rare, genius commander, rare Dark Void power, and also can serve as the battlefield metronome. Your future is limitless."
"Unfortunately, you are not a member of the All G.o.d Corporation right now, even if I want to reward you, I can't give you any promise. How about this, you take this. From now on if you run into any trouble, activate it, and I will immediately come to see you."
Han took over a golden thing as if a token and badge. On top of it was carved Kabri's name, and behind it carved a tripod furnace.
Patting Wood's shoulder, Kabri said in a deep voice, "What you did, I remembered. The Border Legion is proud for having loyal soldiers like you!"
After complimenting Wood a few words, Kabri took that light and left the battlefield. Before leaving, he even waved at the injured soldiers under Wood's command. Those soldiers that were about to die, actually burst into tears. Their faces were covered in admiration, as if they really looked up to this black faced old man named Kabri, even worth dying if they could be recognized by him.
"Is this thing really powerful?" After Kabri left, Han took the golden token and quietly asked Wood.
Wood saw Han tossing the golden token around, his face became a little pale and he said in a deep voice, "Just take good care of it, and remember to not take it out and show others. In fact, at your current level, when will you ever need to use the Military G.o.d token, just bring up my name if you run into anything."
"Military G.o.d token?" Wood inattentively leaked some information, and Han frowned and asked.
Wood had no choice but to swallow a spittle and whisper secretly to Han a few words, "All G.o.ds Corporation, Military G.o.d Kabri."
Han suddenly hesitated, so this black face old man was one of the All G.o.ds.
But Han didn't react more after the initial surprise. Ever since he was led onto a relatively deviant path by the Three Addicts, his logic became a little different. Besides, he just mastered his Path of G.o.d, not the path to become G.o.d but to kill, so towards those that call themselves G.o.ds, no matter how strong they were, Han was not really too interested.
Wood was a very loyal and righteous person, seen from how he led his Legion and fought until the last moment during the war.
Han saved Wood's life, and more important, he helped Wood complete his mission, and that was a big favor.
So Wood does have the intention to repay Han the favor, but because Han doesn't have any official ident.i.ty on the dark net, there's nothing he can do but keep on reminding him, just bring out his name if Han runs into anything in the future.
As for the Military G.o.d Token, unless running into something really significant, otherwise it's better to not let anyone know about having it.
Han liked making friends with people that got straight to the point, so he had a very engaging conversation with Wood. But unfortunately, Wood has to bring his injured brothers back to recover, so they reluctantly bid farewell.
The message sent from the Judgement Committee notified Han and the others, the judgement ends here, all survivors will gain the qualification to proceed directly to the destination station.
Han also bid farewell to Bo Ya and Jian Jia. During the battle, they followed him from the beginning to end, can be considered to be good brothers that went to war together with.
Especially Jian Jia, Han noticed, this skinny guy with very white skin is actually a complex esper, having both water and ice two powers at the same time.
This situation really makes Han envy. Doesn't matter how powerful his Void End is, but in the end it's just nullifying other people's power. Han really wishes that he could have a second power, preferably like Ke Lake's, capable of flying at high speeds, how awesome would that be.
Unfortunately, after all, this was just wishful thinking. Complex espers like Jian Jia were the rarest among rare existences.
"Well, we will see each other again after we all get the Star Lord t.i.tle!" Bo Ya hugged farewell with Han, looking like they are really close.
And then when it's Jian Jia's turn, Han opened his arms and was about to give him a big hug too.
"What are you doing!" Jian Jia's att.i.tude suddenly became ferocious, stamping his foot, turning around and running away.
"Well, this kid has two powers, he's also probably from a very good background, has the temper of a young master." Bo Ya tried to explain for Jian Jia.
After his battle, feelings appeared between these soldiers of the nameless army.
But what should end will ultimately end, everyone's not from the same sector so they all need to go back to their own home.
After the farewell with everyone, Han returned to the transition station, and he saw that 9527 was appearing very unusual, actually already waiting for him.
"Kabri gave the Military G.o.d Token to you?" 9527 swallowed a spittle and asked carefully.
Shua~
Han tossed the token to 9527, and this fat old man took it and held it greedily.
"Grandpa?"
"Grandpa?"
Yuan Yuan was calling him, 9527 just hastily waved his hand, telling Yuan Yuan to not bother him and he just kept holding onto the Military G.o.d Token, checking it out non-stop.
This situation made Han feel really puzzled. If it was Yuan Yuan and Silver Fox, 9527 usually loves these two little guys and almost can't get enough of these two.
But at this moment, the 9527 after seeing the Military G.o.d Token almost forgot their existences.
ayyyy we will be updating on Qidian from now on, who is the biggest of our sugardaddies.
Energy Coating
Han was very surprised at how focused 9527 was towards the Military G.o.d Badge, so he asked in curiosity, "What does this thing really do?"
9527 clearly went through a complex psychological struggle. He lightly sighed, returned it back to Han, then said in a deep voice, "With this, Military G.o.d Kabri will unconditionally help you once. Even the Military G.o.d sees you as someone important, you tell me if it's awesome or not."
Han shrugged his shoulders, "It's of course a good thing that someone can help. The dark net and All G.o.ds Corporation is way too miraculous. I have been really confused, just what kind of existence is it exactly?"
9527 slightly smiled and said, "It's normal that you are confused. In simple terms, the dark net is divided into multiple layers. The first layer is dubbed the Virtual layer, and that's the first level of dark net you came into contact before. Didn't you do some small business on the first level dark net and meet some people?"
"But those were all the functions offered at the first level of dark net, a hidden web over the internet. About only one of a hundred million people in the universe can be exposed to it."
"Now you are at the second layer of the dark network, where there's no virtual reality anymore and everything's real. The virtual pods used in the first layer of the dark net, are now particle modules here, which you can take to travel to every real dimension in the dark net, and trade, study, train, and etc."
"What about the third layer of the dark net?" Han hurriedly asked.
"The third layer?" 9527 shrugged and said, "How would I know? Besides, right now you haven't even officially joined the second layer yet, isn't it a bit too early to dream about the third layer?"
"We will talk again after you get the Star Lord t.i.tle. By then, you will be able to freely navigate in the dark net and trade. All in all, the dark net gathers all the most talented and powerful individuals in the universe, and the higher the level, the stronger the people gathered at that level and the more abundant the resources available for that level."
"Anyways, now you got the qualification to enter the Destination Station, it's basically a small world there. Why not go there but come to my place?"
Han replied as if it's natural, "Of course I will go there, but now it's training time."
9527 frowned, "You just got off the border battlefield, no need to rest? You want to train again?"
Han nodded, "It's because I just got off the battlefield, I must enter training immediately. I noticed some deficiencies during the battle so I want to improve it as soon as possible. With these things in my mind, I won't even be able to have a good sleep."
9527 couldn't help but marvel at Han's character. At this moment, the vast majority probably already went back to eat and sleep, but Han didn't mind the fatigue from battle and wants to immediately correct the flaws he noticed in battle.
Such spirit might be the main driving force that supported Han to today.
Three days later, Han finally walked out of the training room.
Perhaps it's in recognition of Han's performance on the border battlefield, Han surprisingly found that there was one million extra points in his account.
After 3 consecutive days of mad training, Han only spent 70,000 points. Plus, the remaining from before, Han now had as many as 983 thousand points.
He found 9527, smiled and said, "I thought about it, and I feel that it's time for me to change my battle suit, give me some advice please."
The combat suit currently in use by Han was called Oval Matrix, and it was a quasi-warlord level battle suit, equipped with a very special low friction defense ability.
Under normal conditions, it was right that a quasi-warlord level soldiers should use a battle suit at their level.
But that's not what Han thought. He believes that, if one wants to do something, he must sharpen his tools. Now that Han's primary weapon is already the magical triple-edged Star-Strangling Boa, he hopes that he could also have a set of battle suit that's high enough in level. After all, the battle suit is responsible for defense, it's used to protect life so it's very important.
9527 thought for a second, then laughed, "I actually think, you don't really need to change battle suit. Do you know, what's the best kind of equipment in the world?"
Han replied, "High level ones?"
9527 shook his head and said, "Wrong. Equipment is different from technology. If you want the blueprint of a transition jump engine, then you certainly should select the highest level one, but as for your personal equipment, I suggest you go to Destination Station and find an armorer to tailor-make one, let them specifically make one based on your characteristics, forging a set that most suits you. As for the public version equipment, here at my place, I think you should pa.s.s, anyway I didn't think any set of combat suit here is particularly suitable for you.
Han felt that 9527's words make some sense, so he started carefully considering it.
Han actually does know a few friends that are armorers and blacksmiths, and they are all on the Path of All G.o.ds. But with their level, Han's afraid that they may still be a little lacking to tailor-make equipment for him. Maybe he will need to need to go to the destination station to ask for more powerful black smiths to help.
9527 took Han to a room that exchanges equipment, pointed at a belt composed of metal rings and said, "We will pa.s.s on the combat suit, but this thing will be pretty useful for you. This is called Energy Coating, which in simple terms, is the individual version of Energy s.h.i.+eld."
"This is the same principle behind the energy s.h.i.+eld used by battles.h.i.+ps, but it will create a personal protection field based on your body size. The energy s.h.i.+eld has flexibility, and plus your Oval Matrix combat suit, you basically have double defense."
"But Energy Coating isn't expensive, only 40,000 points."
Han nodded, listened to 9527's advice.
Tying the belt around his waist, the energy coating automatically adjusted to just the right size.
If someday Han ate too many meat buns and gets a bulging stomach, the energy coating will automatically adjust to the size so it's very user-friendly.
By the way, Han finally got rid of the painful life of eating energy sticks and bars. The military base cafeteria on Earth especially made a large amount of meat buns and vacuum packed them. They can be stored up to 30 years without going bad, and they were all stored in Han's Lunar Mark, just needing to be warmed up when Han wants to eat.
In addition, there's also jars of chocolate powder, and with a clean water collector collecting and boiling water, Han could get a fragrant hot chocolate drink whenever he wants.
With meat buns and hot chocolate, Han felt that life was really satisfying.
Han took off the Energy Coating belt and carefully studied it, and he noticed that this belt was really not simple. Micro-controllable nuclear fusion device, energy generating device, energy control unit, intelligent distribution chip, flexible metal. Such a small belt, it was completely a high tech product.
"What's the defense effect on this thing?" Han asked in curiosity.
"Five stars." 9527 answered.
Han suddenly hesitated, such a small belt actually had a rating of five stars for its defense level? This was too miraculous!
With the same level of defense, the Oval Matrix still felt a little tight, and this Energy Coating feels like air, with no hindrance and no weight!
"Oh my G.o.d, that means, battle suits under five star level, people don't actually have to buy it, you can just give everyone an energy coating belt each?" Han's eyes became wide open and he asked, "Does this thing have a blueprint? How many points do I need for the exchange?"
9527 laughed and said, "You are smart enough. In fact, Energy Coating is developed to replace the traditional battle suit. Although this one is a beginner level product, but for your army, it is a treasure. Does your Earth Army currently have armorers?"
Han shook his head, "No, our equipment is all outsourced expensively."
9527 continued, "I thought so too, but with the blueprint for Energy Coating, you can ma.s.s produce this kind of formless battle suit, cutting out the need to hire or cultivate a forging division."
Han said proudly, "You only guessed right half of it. Besides Earth Army, I still have a Robot Legion which can use this too! Preparing battle suit for the robots of complex structure is something I didn't dare to even dream of before!"
"Hurry and tell me, the blueprint for Energy Coating, how many points does it cost?"
Destination Station
9527 gave Han a number. Good things were all not cheap, the price of the Energy Coating blueprint was 20 million points, probably one of the more expensive equipment type blueprints.
Han helplessly shrugged his shoulder, it's still a long way before he can afford this level of blueprint, and it looks like he still has to work harder to get more points.
9527 tried to comfort Han, "You don't have to be discouraged. In any profession, it's always the hardest to make money during the initial stage. Right now, you are at best regarded as a disciple of the dark net, and when your level becomes an official dark net member and can accept some missions, you will be earning points a lot faster than now."
"How can I not be anxious? Doesn't matter how strong the dark net is, it won't care about what's happening in the reality universe. The Milky Way will officially face powerful enemy invasions in 3 years, and judging by the strength comparison right now, we have no hope of winning."
9527 didn't say anything but continued to encourage Han to go further on the Path of All G.o.ds. When Sansheng brought Han and the others to the second layer of dark net, he also said the same thing. Those humans that had been dwelling in the dark net for a long time all hoped to be able to find a solution here.
But now in Han's eyes, no matter how strong he is in the dark net, it's still being strong as an individual.
Even if one day, Sansheng can reach an unprecedented height and become a peerless master, even then, when faced with the G.o.d race's giant fleet, Sansheng probably wouldn't be able to do anything.
Now things have gotten to this step, Han has no choice but to proceed step by step, and see how things progress.
Han bid farewell with 9527, then got into the particle module and headed towards the Terminal (Destination) Station for the first time.
Since Han has never been here, he didn't know what to expect, so when he got out of the particle module and stood up, he was immediately shocked by the scene in front of his eyes.
Path of All G.o.ds, 9 deaths 1 survive.
One must pa.s.s all 9 communication stations in order to enter the Terminal Station.
It's way too different from the ghetto communication stations, the Terminal Station was a giant city built in the middle of a sea!
The circular city's diameter extended over 10,000 kilometers, countless roads, rivers, neatly separated the city into different sectors. Countless people lived here, and the businesses were highly prosperous.
And what does the communication station looks like? That's just a piece of desolate place with a black stone, and people on the Path of All G.o.ds would accept missions from the stone.
Han walked around in the Terminal Station in surprise. He noticed, the biggest feature of this mega city was that there are a lot of elderly and aliens, even blue-blooded people like Boya, Han saw several in a row, it's just that they are some old people taking a slow leisure walk in the city.
"Han Lang! Han Lang!"
Han just left the landing area and heard someone using a loud voice to call his name. After a closer look, it's actually Hei Xiaolin.
Hei Xiaolin was the Black Iron Tower from before. Before stepping into Path of All G.o.ds, he and Lance were all following Han, and they became pretty close. Han didn't know that he already pa.s.sed all the tests and arrived at the Terminal Station too.
It's obviously a big black muscular man, but his name is Xiao Lin (TL: direct translation – Little Forest), so Han always thought that his name was pretty strange.
Hei Xiaolin grabbed Han's hand and began chatting right away. They found a coffee shop on the roadside run by an old couple. They all looked very kind, but the calluses on their hand and the protrusion on the temple that's caused by perennial training proved that they were both very good soldiers when they were young.
"What is really the situation here?" Han asked in curiosity
Hei Xiaolin arrived a few days earlier than Han so he got more information. He explained, "The area that we and the G.o.d race resides in is called a small sector, but the Terminal Station is normal sector sized, so after soldiers from many small sectors pa.s.s the 9 stations, they all have to gather at this Terminal Station. That's why there are a lot of people here."
"Because one needs to get the Star Lord t.i.tle in order to leave here, and the majority of people cannot get the t.i.tle in their entire life, that's why they have no choice but to dwell here for the long term. That's also why you can see so many old people here."
"You know too, the higher the level of espers, the longer they can live. For quasi-warlords like us, if there's no accident, living a few thousand years is no problem. Warlord espers are even stronger, I heard that they can live eternally. More and more people stayed here, and people don't die, so the Terminal Station's scale became bigger and bigger."
Han nodded, there were many people every year entering the Terminal Station waiting to get the Star Lord's little, and that way they can start the second part of the Path of All G.o.ds journey.
But many people come in every year, but only a few can leave, and that caused the scale of the city to get bigger and bigger, ultimately becoming such a big world now.
Han asked Hei Xiaolin, "Besides you, who else is at the Terminal Station?"
Hei Xiaolin began counting his fingers, "Many. Lance came earlier than me, and that little chick that had a crush on you, Hua Manxue, she was one of the people that helped Sansheng test us, she came here even later than me."
"How about Sansheng?"
Hei Xiaolin shook his head and said, "He's not here, I think he probably already made it to the third layer of dark net, it's really not simple."
"Not simple?" Han asked in curiosity, "What do you mean by not simple?"
"This d.a.m.n Path of All G.o.ds is completely unreasonable! I thought it's the same here at the Terminal Station as before, you just need to complete the mission, and you can get the Star Lord's t.i.tle and enter the third level of dark net."
"Then guess what?"
"What?" Han frowned as he suddenly had a bad feeling.
Hei Xiaolin slammed the desk, "It turns out that there's no rule at all as to how to get the Star Lord t.i.tle and enter the third layer!"
"No rule?" Han wondered, "It can't be? Just a few days ago I was sent to a trial for breaking the dark net's rules, and now there's no rules here? Do they have personality disorders or something?"
"I know right!" Hei Xiaolin and Han began complaining together.
At this moment, the elder that runs this coffee shop came over to send the coffee and snacks, heard Han and Hei Xiaolin both complaining, so he smiled and said, "Young man, there's something you don't understand. Having rules and no rules actually aren't mutually exclusive."
Hei Xiaolin just glanced at the old guy, but Han humbly invited him to sit down and asked, "Elder, we are young and don't understand. Can you can explain to us a little?"
The old man said peacefully, "In fact, this is how Path of All G.o.ds works, there's no rules to promotion, but everything else has rules."
"Simply put, you came to the Terminal Station, you can't kill people here, that's a rule. But you want to acquire the Star Lord t.i.tle from the Terminal Station, that has no rules. Do you understand?"
Hei Xiaolin desperately shook his head, Han's mind is a bit sharper, he suddenly hesitated and said, "You are saying, there are actually rules, but about how to reach Star Lord Level, it all depends on the G.o.ds' mood?"
The elder waved his hand and said, "That's not it too. There is indeed no rules about how to get the t.i.tle, but there are certain patterns. For instance, if you can do something to a high enough level, then it's possible for you to be promoted to Star Lord. What profession are you?"
"Beast Trainer." Han replied.
The elder said, "Beast trainer, if you can create the top tier genetic beast, or achieve some break through in some genetic beast technology, then it's possible for you to acquire the Star Lord t.i.tle. I'm old now, can't go onto the battlefield anymore, and now I just brew coffee. If I can brew the most fragrant coffee, I also have a chance to acquire the t.i.tle."
"Also, in the mission hall, if you accidently receive a special mission from the lottery and complete it successfully, you will also have a chance to get the t.i.tle."
"So, the promotion rule on Path of All G.o.ds is not that the excellent candidates get promoted, but the best ones. As long as you perform your profession to the extreme, you will have the opportunity to see the legendary third level dark net."
"The dark net is indeed a magical place, even though I'm old like this, I still don't want to give up. Even by relying on the skill of brewing coffee, I still want to take a look at the deeper layer of dark net.
After hearing the words that came from the old man's heart, Han and Hei Xiaolin benefited a lot.
Han asked in curiosity, "Doing things to the extreme, does that work for everything?"
"Yes, everything. Even if you lack talent, didn't master martial art, but you are more brave than anyone, then you can possibly be promoted. Even if you use underhanded means in fights, if those means are astounding and peerless, you will also have the opportunity to continue your journey on Path of All G.o.ds. Do you know what the city square at the centre of the Terminal Station is called?"
"Extremity Square?" Lin Xiaohei quickly answered.
"Yep!" The Old Man got up, carried his silver tea tray and began walking back to the counter, "The old saying goes, opposite effect may occur when things are carried to extremes, but here, extremity leads to success!"
Bonus Chaps and early access feature is still available, you can come back to Noodletown to check out for more details~ Qidian doesn’t have the comment feature and chapter release notification feature available just yet, so we will still make a post to email-remind you guys whenever we update on Qidian, and you guys are welcome to comment under the post~ Noodletown is still your home, the hood.