Chapter 1 Itch

The itchy, tingling, and aching sensation grew like creeping vines, rapidly spreading and entwining his limbs and bones. Every inch of his flesh and skeleton felt as if countless insects were crawling over them. Han Xiao's ears seemed to ring with the roaring sound of a tsunami. His cells became active, undergoing extraordinary changes, and the world before his eyes trembled and blurred.

Each time he obtained a powerful class skill, a gene mutation would occur, causing excruciating pain. Han Xiao's expression changed, and he quickly flew into the Blacklight Stealth, out of everyone's sight. He found the training room and sealed the door. Immediately afterward, even more intense pain erupted, as if his body had become a wet towel being wrung dry by a pair of large hands.

Experience told him that the more intense the pain, the greater the change. This time, the degree of pain rivaled the racial sublimation when he became a Void Lurker. These two class skills from the Heteromorphy genes gave him more than just new abilities; they were a transformation of his life form once again.

Han Xiao gritted his teeth, feeling the reorganization of his cells. He gradually gained a sense of control over actively stimulating cell division. After a while, the pain slowly subsided, and the feeling in his body was completely different. In his perception, the cell membranes were more resilient, yet they seemed to have a spongy texture. The internal microscopic structure seemed to have changed, producing new functions.

He punched his thigh, carefully feeling it. After the external impact touched the surface of his body, a portion of the force that was resisted was absorbed by the skin, penetrating deep into the muscles and bones. More cells shared and absorbed the energy of this force, and qi was extracted from the cells. This energy was transformed by the cells into qi.

He cut his arm with a knife, leaving a faint bloodstain. Han Xiao recalled the new sense of control, urging his qi. The cells in the wounded area divided rapidly, and the bloodstain healed in the blink of an eye.

Han Xiao wiped the sweat from his forehead and grinned. "As expected, it's a very strong class skill ability. My life level has improved again, and my meat quality is even better."

Including the two new class skills he just obtained, he now had four template class skills.

Han Xiao was in a good mood when he suddenly realized a problem, and his mouth twitched.

Damn it, three out of the four class skills increased his fleshiness, one increased his health cap, one granted immunity to true damage, and one accelerated recovery. He now felt like a big iron pillar, his body becoming harder than a mech. He was galloping down the road of being an MT, becoming a wild, fleshy horse.

"The biggest weakness of the army style is being afraid of charges, being cut down from horseback in the midst of the enemy..." Han Xiao chuckled to himself. With his earth-shattering fleshiness, anyone who dared to charge would definitely never return.

Increasing his fleshiness was a good thing, but Han Xiao preferred [Medium Energy Absorption]. Providing buffs to the mechanical army consumed qi, and the accumulation of quantity led to qualitative change, resulting in considerable consumption. Now, he could continuously recover qi, which was equivalent to spamming skills and giving mech energy buffs at will.

The most important point was that the higher his overall level, the more damage his resistance would block, which meant that the effect of this class skill would increase with leveling up and would never become outdated. Expanding his thinking, even if the enemy couldn't hit his main body, he could control mechanical creations to attack himself, thereby absorbing energy—what was this? This was a perpetual motion machine!!

Super strong endurance, never tired, able to work for three days and three nights without back pain or leg cramps. He had truly become a Boss who didn't need to worry about mana. Just thinking about it made him feel powerful.

Who can kill me?!

Han Xiao suddenly woke up and quickly tapped his forehead twice, restraining his inflated mentality. That was close, he almost got carried away.

"Although it's a bug-level template class skill, the qi cap is limited after all, far lower than health. Even with a fivefold conversion rate, using it all to recover health is only about a third more than full health, and there are still restrictions on the recovery rate. Moreover, I can only absorb 60% of the damage resisted by resistance. When encountering opponents of the same level or stronger, the enemy's attack power is strong, and my health loss and mana recovery are equally fast. My resistance isn't as perverted as the Heteromorphy genes' constant 75%."

Han Xiao pondered for a while and came to a conclusion. Excluding other high-level Supers with Boss templates, although he was still B+, it was unlikely that an ordinary Calamity Grade could kill him. The longer it dragged on, the more beneficial it would be for him. Even a high-burst, high-armor-penetration combo like when Nagokin crippled Arnel could be endured.

"So damn fleshy, am I really a Mechanic?" Han Xiao couldn't help but complain.

Shaking his head, Han Xiao opened the quest panel. Unlike other players, his [Heteromorphy Disaster] main quest was still in an unfinished state.

The players' quest objective was only to protect Aquamarine Star, while Han Xiao's quest objective included all disaster planets. The condition for success was to protect any disaster planet, which had already been achieved, ensuring that the quest would not fail.

However, the problems of the other disaster planets had not yet been resolved, so his quest would not be settled immediately like the Aquamarine Star players.

"After the events of the previous life end, Godora will generate corresponding dungeons. When I settle the main quest, I should be able to get the Heteromorphy Disaster dungeon generation authority," Han Xiao mused.

Although he mainly acted on Aquamarine Star, the act of providing samples also contributed to the progress of other disaster planets. The progress he had accumulated was an astronomical figure that players could not imagine. He didn't know how many rewards there would be after settlement.

After sorting out the rewards for this mission, Han Xiao came to the captain's room and looked down at the situation on the ground. The battlefield was basically cleaned up, and Meros led people to transport the beast corpses onto the spaceship. The hundreds of players were also able to board the ship. Previously, in order to find the Heteromorphy genes, many players had been deployed to different areas of Aquamarine Star, and they would have to be picked up later, but this was the work of others, and he didn't have to worry about it.

After everything was taken care of, the many spaceships set off together. The Blacklight Stealth flew in the front, maintaining a low speed. The matter had been resolved, and there was no need to rush. Everyone was a little leisurely... although Meros and a group of cadres were already quite idle.

On the ship, Han Xiao didn't relax for too long. His thoughts quickly turned to future matters, and he pondered.

The Heteromorphy Disaster on Aquamarine Star had finally come to an end. According to the plan that had been made early on, after this main quest ended, the next task would be the most important part of the trip, which was to officially guide the players into space and, as a member of Black Star, step onto the formal stage!

Players were the important force that allowed his faction to expand rapidly!

Grand Technician Han had always attached great importance to players. The recruitment campaign had lasted for several months, and the situation was excellent. He had already left the impression in the players' minds that he was an interstellar guide. Only the last step was needed, and everything would fall into place.

The agreement with the six nations of Aquamarine Star also had to be dealt with. It was, after all, his "hometown", and only the finishing touches remained for the Aquamarine Star issue.

"The only trouble left is DarkStar."

Han Xiao's eyes flashed.

He had greatly changed the plot, destroying the core of DarkStar's plan early on, causing DarkStar's actions to be unable to proceed as they had in his previous life.

So, next, DarkStar's reaction was crucial. Would DarkStar give up the plan? Or would they change their strategy?

Han Xiao wasn't sure either. If it was the latter, then he could only adapt to the situation. He was mentally prepared that the butterfly effect was an inevitable result of changing the plot.

"I wonder if DarkStar's next sequence of actions will be the same as in my previous life."

Rubbing his pectoral muscles, Han Xiao pondered.

...

Inside a DarkStar mothership, many DarkStar executives gathered together, each staring at the semi-transparent screen on the wall. The video of the Heteromorphy genes being destroyed was replayed for the fourth time. The emergency meeting room was eerily silent.

The worst-case scenario had suddenly happened.

No matter how shocked or disbelieving the executives present were, they could not change the fact that Godora had found a way to eradicate the Heteromorphy Disaster in just a few months.

"Now... what should we do?" Someone spoke, breaking the deathly silence.

Many DarkStar executives turned their heads and looked at Degulish at the same time.

Degulish opened his mouth, his face gloomy. After a moment of silence, he spoke with difficulty.

"...Notify the leader."

He was the commander of the plan, but the plan was already showing signs of collapse. This kind of major event could only be decided by the leader.

The communication was quickly connected, and the projection of the DarkStar leader appeared in the empty main seat, looking around at everyone.

"I'm in the Heidegar Star System. Don't disturb me unless it's a major event... Hmm? Your faces look terrible. What happened?"

Degulish bit his teeth and explained the situation, his face looking bad, feeling that he had let down the leader's trust.

"That is... unexpected." The DarkStar leader's expression changed slightly. After a moment of silence, he said, "There's something strange about this. I'm very clear about Godora's scientific research capabilities. Their magic technology is passable, but their technological level is far behind. They must have received some form of help."

"You mean?" Degulish had a premonition.

"Yes, you guessed right. The only time the goods disappeared, it contained a sample of Heteromorphy genes. The information collected by the intelligence network showed that the Cipher Disk was transferred to Godora, but the goods inside were lost midway. The greatest chance is that it was taken by the Holy Stone Civilization... but there's another possibility."

At this time, Ashes, who had been silent all along, suddenly changed his expression and spoke, "Longtán."

He was the person in charge of finding the lost goods and knew the most about it.

"The report submitted by Ashes mentioned a 'mysterious person'. When he was looking for the Cipher Disk, there was someone using our DarkStar's name to inquire about the whereabouts of the Cipher Disk. However, in the end, Longtán found the Cipher Disk and transferred it to the Holy Stone... So, the question is, did this mysterious person not find the Cipher Disk? Or did he find it and take the goods, leaving only an empty Cipher Disk?"

All the executives present listened attentively. This was originally an unsolved case, but the leader seemed to have found some clues, which immediately attracted everyone's attention, including Ashes.

"Godora's current research results must be related to the lost sample of Heteromorphy genes, and the fact that Godora was the first to solve the problem of Aquamarine Star, and that a member of Longtán happened to be on Aquamarine Star for disaster relief... No need for more evidence, the situation is already very clear." The DarkStar leader's tone was calm.

Degulish was furious. "It's Longtán! So, the transfer to the Holy Stone a few years ago was just a show! Why is Longtán targeting us like this... Wait, could it be Black Star?!"

Everyone was shocked and looked at Ashes in surprise.

They still remembered that after the Norioth incident, Ashes had advocated removing Black Star at all costs, but he was laughed at by everyone at the time, and even the leader rejected his suggestion. He never thought... Ashes' intuition was right!

"It's rare that you still remember the suggestion I made..."

A hint of pleasure flashed in Ashes' eyes, and he said coldly, "But realizing it now, don't you think it's too late?"

Everyone's faces froze, and they dared not meet Ashes' gaze, turning their eyes away in embarrassment, not knowing how to respond.

The DarkStar leader sighed. "There were no clues at the time. If it happened again, I would make the same decision. What's done is done. The most crucial issue now is not Black Star, but how to salvage the plan."

Everyone sat up straight. Although they regretted not paying attention to Black Star earlier, the situation was critical at this time, and there was no time for hindsight.

The DarkStar leader looked at the serious group of executives and suddenly relaxed his tone. "Don't keep a straight face. The situation isn't that bad."

"Uh?"

Degulish and the others were stunned.

The plan was about to collapse, and that wasn't bad?!

"Although there was an accident that prevented the plan from proceeding smoothly, the goal has been achieved, hasn't it? The turmoil has already been caused, and Godora has long been the loser. Even if they stop the plan and retreat, the wounds and cracks engraved in the hearts of the purebloods and mixed-bloods will not disappear."

Everyone's eyes lit up. That's right, they had fallen into a misunderstanding. Even if Godora solved the Heteromorphy Disaster and regained control of the situation, the damage caused by this storm would take many years to eliminate. Stopping the plan would only reduce the damage to Godora. What losses would DarkStar suffer?

"Then we stop all actions and do nothing?" Degulish asked.

The DarkStar leader shook his head. "Why stop? Things have come to this, might as well make the best of a bad job. Before stopping the plan, let's strike Godora one last time. Since the Heteromorphy Disaster can no longer delay time, let the lurking squad actively feed the Heteromorphy genes to let it enter the mature stage directly, tricking the Heteromorphy genes into destroying the disaster planets as much as possible. This way, these Godora affiliated low-level civilizations will be greatly injured, and Godora will spend more effort on disaster relief."

"If the Heteromorphy Disaster is resolved, will the Godora escort fleet stay on the disaster planet? No! They will leave sooner or later. We will send troops again at that time, destroying these planets without protection, slaughtering low-level civilizations, and see if Godora will save them or not. If they don't save them, then their solution to the Heteromorphy Disaster will be meaningless. If they do save them, even without the Heteromorphy Disaster, Godora's troops will still be constrained by these low-level civilizations. What's the difference from now? Godora will still be in a dilemma!"

"Aquamarine Star is the first planet to get rid of the Heteromorphy Disaster. It won't be long before the Godora escort fleet leaves. We will take this planet as a target. Since we are already clear about Black Star's crimes, and the Dragon Emperor isn't on Aquamarine Star, we can take this opportunity to eliminate him. I said, he will pay the price sooner or later. This time, I don't want any more accidents."

Ashes stood up abruptly, finally revealing a hint of hatred. "That's exactly what I want!"

Degulish narrowed his eyes, his tone gloomy. "Hmph, he should be killed. I'll go too, to let Longtán know that we're not to be trifled with."

"Then I'll join in the fun too. Last time Ashes and Arnel failed. With me, there will be three of us this time, which is more secure." Another thin executive shrugged. This person was a DarkStar senior combatant and also a Calamity Grade Super.

Over time, some members had fallen, and some had been captured and sent to the Rainbow Light Prison. DarkStar now had only five Calamity Grade members left. Three of them were more than half of the total. To deal with Black Star, almost all of the high-level combat power was dispatched.

Everyone seemed to have found their backbone and calmed down, realizing that the leader's thinking was very clear. The original plan was a long-term battle, but now that it was no longer feasible, they might as well change it to expanding Godora's losses as much as possible in the short term.

Want to fight us? Black Star is still too young!

At this time, the DarkStar leader interrupted the conversation of the few people.

"This matter isn't urgent. The most important thing right now is to attack Golden Gate Star."

Degulish was stunned. "Is this action still going to continue?"

"Heh, why not? We're already fully prepared. We can attack in two days. Godora has only solved the Heteromorphy Disaster on a native planet. Does this have any impact on our attack?"

The DarkStar leader said lightly, "On the contrary, this is an opportunity. Godora will definitely publicize the disaster relief results in a big way to ease the domestic conflicts. Isn't it good to destroy Golden Gate Star at this time?"

Degulish's eyes immediately lit up.