Chapter 1 War Domain

War Domain, Outdoor Combat Training Ground Number 30.

"Let's do it here." Kairo led everyone to this place, standing opposite Han Xiao with a large distance between them. From afar, their figures looked like small dots.

Han Xiao looked around. This area was spacious, bordered by towering mechanical towers interconnected by dozens of blue high-temperature electromagnetic beams, resembling a sci-fi version of a baseball field magnified many times over.

The ground was covered in iron-gray metal plates, scarred with scorch marks from explosions and scratches from sharp weapons, with numerous dents. Clearly, this combat training ground was frequently used for drills.

"In my territory, you must abide by my rules." Kairo's voice carried over from afar. "First, the combat area is limited to this field. You'll be responsible if you cause any damage outside. Second, no serious harm to each other, so rest assured, your life won't be in danger."

As he spoke, Kairo activated the combat training ground. The ground rumbled, and the metal floor revealed many pits. One after another, mechanical war soldiers rose up, guarding Kairo.

Buzz—

All the mechanical towers at the edge of the combat training ground shook, beams of light shooting from their tips, converging overhead to form a projection displaying a three-minute countdown.

Kairo smirked and said, "Don't say I'm bullying you. You have three minutes to prepare before we start. Once the three minutes are up, this area will be covered by a protective shield."

Black Star was a guest, so he wouldn't carry too many combat machines with him. Most of them were probably on his ship. Giving him three minutes to bring his machines to the field meant that once the protective shield was up, Black Star couldn't get any outside support and could only use the machines on the field.

Kairo, on the other hand, had an endless army. The Number 30 combat training ground was designed to release machines from underground for trainees to fight. The metal floor concealed many tracks for deploying mechanical war soldiers, connected to the Heber Star underground logistics department. This meant that even with the protective shield, Kairo could get an endless supply of reinforcements.

Kairo knew that a battle between two Mechanic class Supers would likely turn into a war of attrition. Black Star's forces were limited, but his were infinite, putting him in an unbeatable position.

The protective shield was transparent, perfect for him to thoroughly humiliate Black Star in public.

He could already foresee the outcome of the battle: Black Star's machines exhausted, the ground littered with wreckage, and Black Star himself surrounded by his troops. He could look down on Black Star from above, effortlessly forcing him to admit defeat.

Aimes wanted her subordinate to vent her anger and defeat his subordinate, making her lose even more face.

Besides, he wasn't hiding his home-field advantage. If Black Star chickened out, recognizing the difficulty and canceling the challenge, Aimes would still lose face.

Either way, he couldn't lose.

Kairo wore a confident smile.

Meanwhile, Han Xiao wasn't surprised by Kairo's home-field advantage. He contacted Risda and asked him to bring the Blacklight Stealth ship over and deploy the barracks boxes.

Aimes was still standing beside him, softly saying, "Black Star, are you confident?"

"A little bit," Han Xiao replied casually.

"Then I believe in you."

Aimes' tone was as gentle as a warm breeze. Although Han Xiao's challenge to Kairo was sudden, she knew Han Xiao was venting her anger, which inexplicably made her happy.

She had always had great trust in Han Xiao, and this time was no exception. She patted Han Xiao's shoulder, turned around, and led Hela and Aurora out of the field, stepping onto the tall building next to the combat training ground to watch the battle from above.

Around the combat training ground, figures continually climbed onto buildings to watch the battle. These were all members of the War Domain, hundreds of them, all War Domain cadres or elite warriors. Mazarks and several vanguard officers were among them, forming small groups and whispering to each other.

The news of Kairo's challenge to Black Star wasn't deliberately concealed, and it spread quickly, reaching the ears of many cadres who came to watch out of curiosity.

"Black Star is so bold, daring to challenge our cadre in our territory." One vanguard officer looked at the grain-sized figure in the field and marveled.

"Challenging Kairo because he's a traitor to Longtan?"

"That must be it. Aimes was rebuked by His Excellency the Overlord a few days ago and is probably resentful, so she had Black Star do it for her. Heh, it'll be embarrassing if he loses." Someone couldn't help but look at Aimes, who was also watching the battle not far away, speculating, "Maybe Aimes will intervene in a moment of crisis and interrupt the battle."

"Kairo's combat power, tsk..." Mazarks shook his head slightly.

The vanguard officers had mixed feelings about Kairo. On the one hand, he was a traitor, and although the Overlord was tolerant, his traitorous identity would obviously make others unwilling to be close to him.

On the other hand, Kairo was in logistics and rarely had the opportunity to fight. Unlike them, the vanguard officers were all War Domain's mascots, famous and far-reaching. Mazarks and others didn't have a clear understanding of Kairo's strength, only knowing that he was also an A-grade.

"But with the home-field advantage, he basically won't lose."

…

In the palace, Heber was still chatting with Austin, exchanging pleasantries.

Suddenly, Austin's expression changed, and he said in a strange tone, "Overlord, it seems like there's a problem in your territory."

Heber frowned, took out his communicator, and pressed it a few times, receiving a report from his subordinate.

"Black Star challenged Kairo?"

Austin recited a spell, and space fluctuated, revealing a huge mirror that displayed the scene of the combat training ground in real-time.

"Looks like they're about to fight. Aren't you going to stop them?" Austin asked.

Heber looked at the mirror, thought for a moment, and shook his head. "Since Aimes isn't bullying the small, I don't need to stop a normal sparring match."

"What if your guy loses?"

"My War Domain can afford to lose." Heber's expression was as usual. He pointed to the mirror and said, "Keep watching, don't stop."

…

At the same time, three party guests were being led around by a War Domain soldier.

Leif, the representative of the Zijing Civilization, was walking side by side with a Klent high official, chatting happily—Zijing and Klent had always had good diplomatic relations.

Behind them, a super consortium leader followed closely. His name was Rossos, and he had extensive business interests, with investments in both star clusters. He barely qualified as a friend of Leif and the Klent high official.

The three were discussing business matters when a series of figures flew over the buildings above, attracting their attention.

"Where are those people going?" Leif asked curiously.

The soldier shook his head. "I don't know, but they seem to be going to Combat Training Ground Number 30."

As soon as he finished speaking, another series of figures streaked across the sky, followed by a dark black spaceship.

All three were well-informed and recognized the spaceship as the Glorious Federation's Lurker-class model. Among all the guests, only one person seemed to be piloting a Blacklight Stealth ship.

Longtan's Black Star!

The Klent high official was immediately interested. "Something seems to have happened. Let's go take a look."

Leif shrugged, indicating that he didn't care, and Rossos had no objections.

…

With one and a half minutes left on the countdown, the Blacklight Stealth ship arrived above the field. The ship's belly opened, ejecting six barracks boxes like six falling stars, trailing long fiery tails.

Han Xiao raised his hand to the sky, and lightning like a tree trunk struck the six barracks boxes, opening the box doors in mid-air. Compression spheres rained down, pattering all over the ground.

Crack—

The instant they landed, these compression spheres unfolded in an instant, turning into six mechanical legions.

Mech Beast Guards, Assault Artillery Corps, G-1 Steel Legion, G-2 Heavy Armored Cavalry, and Micro-Cube Units occupied part of the field, arching around Han Xiao in a preset formation, making him seem to be in an ocean of machines.

The elite force of twelve Oathkeepers stood guard beside Han Xiao, their outer armor moving like waves from head to toe, like moving scales, performing an automatic check.

Various turrets landed behind them or floated in the air. Besides the usual electromagnetic turrets or laser turrets, there were also new plasma turrets and thermal melting turrets.

"That's a lot of troops."

Kairo was slightly surprised.

But he was still full of confidence.

Black Star's mechanical legions only occupied a small part of the training field, but his own mechanical forces were larger, occupying almost half the field, and their numbers were constantly increasing.

There was a circle of mechanical delivery holes at the edge of the training field, and one after another, standard mechanical war soldiers crawled out, surrounding Black Star's troops.

Nearly endless reinforcements were Kairo's confidence.

"Accumulating so many machines must have taken Black Star a lot of time and money."

A look of malice flashed in Kairo's eyes.

"If all his machines are destroyed, Black Star's combat power will decline by several levels, ruining his accumulation."

Once the deployment was complete, Han Xiao didn't use the Eye of God because the protective shield would cover the area soon. He checked the machines, and there were only a few seconds left on the countdown.

Boom—

The mechanical towers at the edge of the field activated, and a light blue barrier slowly rose, covering the field, separating all the spectators outside.

The dome was hundreds of meters high, and when the barrier was completely closed and turned into a protective shield, the countdown would end.

Countless mechanical war soldiers were eager to move. The style, technology, and models of the machines controlled by Kairo were clearly different from those of Han Xiao. Most of them were standard cannon fodder.

Zizz—

Both of them released their mechanical force at the same time. Lightning flashed and thunder roared. Calamity Grade Mechanic's had the [Mechanical Force Field] skill, and when performing mechanical force enhancement, it had a [Splash] effect, instantly covering the entire field.

"After so long, I've finally met a Mechanic of the same level."

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. This was the first high-level internal war.

The Frenzied Ape Armor was activated, and a virtual screen popped up in front of him, displaying the virtual intrusion screen.

Kairo, however, wasn't of the virtual intrusion school. He put on a set of individual armor. Then, sections of armor structure extended out, quickly turning into a heavily armored fortress more than thirty meters high, covering Kairo tightly. The stern and heavy outer armor made it clear that its defense was extremely terrifying.

Dense, large-caliber gun barrels extended from the gaps in the fortress.

Kairo was an Armed style heavily armored mechanical school. He was characterized by large size, high weight, thick armor, and strong firepower. This was a defensive heavily armored mechanical vehicle. Kairo wanted to take advantage of the war of attrition, so he put on a hard shell for himself.

He wasn't Han Xiao, who had a strong body and was most afraid of being attacked head-on. So, he adopted defensive tactics, trying to prevent Han Xiao from even touching him.

"The right approach." Mazarks and the other spectators nodded, not thinking that Kairo was being a coward. This was a suitable tactic based on the actual situation.

Just as Kairo's fortress took shape, the barrier completely closed, and the countdown ended!

Rumble—

In the next moment, lasers crisscrossed, and artillery roared!

The battle suddenly broke out!

Han Xiao's mechanical legions collided head-on with Kairo's mechanical forces!

Bang bang bang—

The two legions fought fiercely, and the scene became chaotic.

Machines didn't speak. They fought in silence. Metal rubbed against metal, sparking brilliant sparks.

The clanging sound of impact replaced roars or shouts. One after another, machines were torn apart. Machines didn't make any screams. Only electric sparks crackled.

Boom!!

The large-caliber guns of Kairo's heavily armored fortress locked onto Han Xiao and fired from a distance. The recoil force made the gun barrels contract violently. The sound of the artillery was like a heavy hammer hitting steel, and the echoes still vibrated.

Whoosh—

Huge light cannons shot straight toward Han Xiao. The high temperature left distorted traces in the air.

Just as the large-caliber light cannons were about to hit Han Xiao, the Guardian Treaty appeared like a peacock spreading its tail from behind Han Xiao, flying in front of him and turning into twisted force field shields. The light cannons hit the shields, but instead of exploding, they were deflected in all directions.

Boom boom boom—

All the light cannons were bounced away. Some flew far away and hit the protective shield, causing violent explosions. Some landed on the ground, causing strong winds in different parts of the battlefield, blowing up a large number of mechanical war soldiers, including some from both sides.

Han Xiao glanced at it, clenched his palm, and the mechanical force lightning struck the parts all over the ground. He used [Waste Modification] to pull up his part of the mechanical war soldiers and continue to put them into battle.

Seeing this, Kairo stopped attacking Han Xiao. The heavily armored fortress began to aim at Han Xiao's mechanical legions, wanting to eliminate Black Star's troops as soon as possible.

"You want to hide and fire artillery, is it that easy!" Han Xiao snorted.

Zizz—

He raised his hand, and a series of compression spheres shot out from the tubes on his wrist, unfolding in mid-air and turning into more than a dozen mechanical giant hands. The next second, these mechanical giant hands nano-transformed and combined with each other, turning into a Tathagata Palm hundreds of meters in size, three times the size of Kairo's heavily armored fortress!

Han Xiao waved his palm, and the Tathagata Palm slammed down, pressing on top of the heavily armored fortress with one palm, as if a palm had hit a ping pong ball.

Boom!

The gust of wind that was set off blew away the surrounding mechanical war soldiers. Even Mazarks and the others who were watching outside through the protective shield couldn't help but twitch their eyes.

The metal ground was cracked and dented by the heavy pressure, but the heavily armored fortress was covered by a layer of shield, with little damage.

Inside the heavily armored fortress, Kairo smiled coldly. This fortress was not ordinary goods, but an important combat equipment he had researched, capable of resisting Calamity Grade attacks.

At this moment, Kairo felt the fortress suddenly shake violently.

The fingers of the Tathagata Palm bent and directly pulled the heavily armored fortress out of the ground. With a flick of its hand, it threw the heavily armored fortress like a baseball, flying a long distance and hitting the protective shield heavily, bursting into a string of dazzling electric light.

Dong!!

A loud bang!

The War Domain elites watching outside the protective shield in this direction saw a large lump of black shadow quickly smash over, and the shadow rapidly enlarged in their vision, scaring them so much that they almost slipped and fell.

The heavily armored fortress rolled and landed, and the ground shook. However, the shield still faithfully protected the fortress, and the damage was negligible. The defense was very amazing, and only Kairo, who was driving inside, fell on his butt.

Seeing this, Mazarks' eyes flashed, and he analyzed the battle situation. "Kairo's defense is very strong. Black Star doesn't seem to be able to break through Kairo's armor. It seems that this battle will fall under Kairo's control and completely turn into a war of attrition… This is Black Star's fatal weakness."