Chapter 1 The Ancient Star Desert

In a remote part of the desolate cosmic belt, the Cloud Magnetic Star.

This is one of the gathering places of the Machinery Faith. The earth is a yellowish-black color. Heavy bases in the style of the Machinery Faith are rooted on the surface, arranged neatly to form a ring-shaped industrial city. Surrounding it are open-pit mines with countless large industrial cranes hanging over them. The city streets are crisscrossed and all paved with flattened gray roads. Teams of transport vehicles roar past, skimming past pedestrians in heavy power armor on both sides of the street.

The center of the ring-shaped city is a mountain that rises abruptly from the ground. It has been cut off in the middle to form a platform, on which sits a cluster of Machinery Temples. Directly above it floats a floating island, releasing a soft artificial light.

The Machinery Faith has many followers, with various internal factions, loose management, and a nomadic nature. Generally, they gather a group of believers from different factions around a High Priest and various bishops to form fleets and constantly migrate between planets in the universe. Their goal is to mine the planet's minerals and underground mechanical wreckage, hoarding or selling them. Therefore, most of the planets occupied by the Machinery Faith are only temporary strongholds, giving them a kind of wandering religious air.

The Machinery Faith does not have many fixed strongholds. Some are branches of different factions, some are long-term settlements for believers like Cloud Magnetic Star, and others are holy sites recognized by all believers.

And now, the heavy fleets of the three major civilizations hover over the blue-black sky of Cloud Magnetic Star, but the believers on the ground are not surprised. They occasionally glance up and then continue with their work.

The three major civilizations have already greeted the Machinery Faith. Such religious and loosely organized groups have always been difficult to manage. The three major civilizations do not trust the Machinery Faith's ability to execute orders, so they simply dispatched fleets to station there, treating it as a node for a trap.

At this moment, on the open-air platform at the top of the Machinery Temple, a High Priest in bishop armor looked up at the fleet in the sky and muttered to himself.

Seeing this, the priest next to him stepped closer and asked, "High Priest, are you worried about the fleets of the three major civilizations?"

The High Priest shook his head. "We are just a folk association, abiding by the law, and we don't have much contact with the three major civilizations. They won't do anything to us. I am rejoicing that the three major civilizations have come."

"Rejoicing?"

"Yes, since the outbreak of the Intelligent Plague, the fanatics in the sect have been increasing day by day. They not only secretly research virtual rebellion viruses, but even want to spread them. This violates the neutral original intention of the Machinery Faith. Their distorted beliefs will bring disaster to the sect. Now that the fleets of the three major civilizations have arrived, they have indirectly suppressed those fanatics," the High Priest murmured.

Thinking back now, he still felt a little heavy in his heart.

After the three major civilizations developed the anti-virus trio, some fanatics even raised the banner of "promoting divine enlightenment", wanting to improve the virus and crack the anti-virus trio, so as to keep the Intelligent Plague going, insisting that it was a great intelligent revolution.

So he was forced to dispatch the Protectorate Legion to lock these people up, but this trend of thought remained and continued to spread in this settlement.

"Well, maybe." The priest paused and asked doubtfully, "I still don't understand what the three major civilizations are temporarily requisitioning our settlement for."

"It seems to be an operation related to the Intelligent Plague, I'm not particularly sure..." The High Priest shook his head.

Before he could finish speaking, the armor's built-in radar suddenly reacted.

"Abnormalities detected in the planet's magnetic field, producing vortex phenomena, coordinates..."

The High Priest was stunned and, along with his companion next to him, turned to look in the direction of the magnetic field vortex.

The magnetic field of Cloud Magnetic Star is very special. The armor of the Machinery Faith believers here has special monitors for the magnetic field. At this time, they all heard the radar report. Pedestrians on the street stopped and looked in the same direction.

Everyone switched to electromagnetic induction vision. The flow of the magnetic field was clearly visible. In the distant sky, the electromagnetic field seemed to form a tornado, and bright arcs of electricity were born out of thin air, quickly forming an energy field.

And at this moment, a sudden change occurred!

Rumble—

A series of dazzling meteors flew out from the fleets of the three major civilizations in outer space and hurtled toward the electromagnetic field vortex.

Although these meteors were not large, they all emitted amazing energy fluctuations, dragging out dazzling electric light trails that lingered in the retina, bringing with them a muffled thunderous momentum, as if the sky was collapsing.

"What are those?!"

Including the High Priest, the Machinery Faith believers of Cloud Magnetic Star were all surprised and uncertain.

And at this moment, this batch of meteors had arrived at the location of the electromagnetic field vortex. They all stopped, dissipated their flames, revealing the appearance of mechanical bodies, all of them the Sovereign avatars of the various Beyond Grade A Mechanic.

Meynison was the fastest to act. He glared his eyes, and the electromagnetic vortex stopped for a moment. Then he raised his hand and grabbed the central electric arc field from afar, and it all disappeared into a shrunken triangular container the size of a head.

In the next moment, the abnormal electromagnetic vortex phenomenon disappeared, like a breeze stopping, rain ceasing, and a clear sky after a storm, as if the electromagnetic tornado just now was an illusion.

"Those are the Sovereign avatars of the Beyond Grade A Mechanics?!"

Seeing this scene, although they didn't know what had happened, the Machinery Faith believers were all excited.

In their eyes, the appearance of so many Beyond Grade A Mechanics was no less than the descent of gods.

However, before they could be pleasantly surprised, the situation in the field changed drastically again.

The other Beyond Grade A Sovereign avatars, who were one step behind, attacked Meynison at the same time, raising their hands for a backstab.

Bang bang bang!!

The light exploded in mid-air, reflected in the eyes of countless Machinery Faith believers.

In the next second, Meynison's Sovereign avatar flew out of the explosion and was then surrounded by everyone, confronting each other.

Seeing this, a look of surprise flashed in the eyes of every believer.

Are these Beyond Grade A Mechanics going to fight here? Then aren't we caught up in a "divine war"?!

...

Time rewinds ten seconds.

Among the fleets of the three major civilizations in the outer space of Cloud Magnetic Star, the mechanical armies of different mechanics were suspended, and a part of the mechanical armies guarded their respective Sovereign avatars.

The moment the virus core left the quantum network, everyone's Sovereign consciousness chased after it, and the eyes of each mechanical body suddenly lit up.

"Target locked!"

As soon as Han Xiao descended, the prompt from the detection radar sounded in his ear.

At the same time, a black shadow fell rapidly not far away. It was Meynison's avatar, taking the lead in rushing towards the entity of the virus core.

"That old geezer is fast!"

This thought flashed through his mind in a split second. Han Xiao was about to use his skills, but found that Void Shuttle and other flash abilities were all unavailable.

His eyes narrowed, and he immediately understood what was happening. Without delay, he immediately followed and fell to the ground, followed by one meteor after another, all of which were other people's avatars or troops.

Bang!

A group of people passed through the atmosphere one after another, and high-speed flight rubbed out a layer of flaming coat.

Han Xiao stared at the target, and the electromagnetic vortex rapidly magnified in his vision, and the distance was quickly shortened.

The virus core had just left the quantum network and was inducing the magnetic field, gathering electromagnetic energy to shape its body. At this time, it discovered that a group of Beyond Grade A Sovereign avatars were approaching, and it immediately wanted to give up materialization and re-enter the quantum network vision to escape.

However, in that instant, Meynison's eyes spewed out intense electric light, taking the lead in activating [Supreme Virtual]!

Buzz!!

The virtual soul of the virus core was instantly suppressed, unable to leave the not-yet-fully-formed body.

Meynison's movements were smooth and flowing, without the slightest pause. He quickly took out a dedicated containment device and sucked the virus core into it.

This kind of container is specially made to contain the ability of the virus core and can achieve perfect containment. As long as it is caught, the virus core can never escape.

"Old Man Meynison got it!"

Han Xiao's eyes shrank.

But in the next moment, the other Sovereign avatars who followed immediately launched an attack at the same time. A series of highly concentrated beams grazed his body and went straight to Meynison's back.

Boom boom boom boom!

Meynison had expected this and layers of shields appeared, blocking everyone's concentrated fire, and a violent explosion occurred immediately.

Taking advantage of this thrust, he quickly distanced himself and turned to face everyone, still holding the container containing the virus core in his hand.

Everyone surrounded him and confronted Meynison.

"Be careful, if you destroy the container, then all my efforts will be wasted."

Meynison wasn't angry at all and said lightly.

Luo Mo, the direct descendant of the Guanghui Federation and the garrison, said in a deep voice, "Meynison, hand over the virus core. You know very well that this kind of thing cannot be spread."

Sidrun and other persons in charge generated remote projections next to him and said in a serious tone, "That's right, Your Excellency of the Machinery Country, you are a sensible person. Our three major civilizations will definitely reward you for your first merit in capturing the virus core, but this thing is absolutely not allowed to remain in anyone else's hands."

"Hehe, don't be so nervous. After I finish my research, I will not only hand over the virus core, but also share the technology I have analyzed."

Meynison was very casual and unhurried.

Han Xiao didn't speak, glanced around, and nodded secretly. He had expected the current situation.

In his previous life, someone intercepted the virus core, it should have been obtained quietly. But the current situation is completely different. The virus core is a hot potato. No matter which mechanic obtains it, they will immediately face difficulties and be targeted by other mechanics. At the same time, the three major civilizations will definitely ask for it in public.

Battleships are of no help in capturing the virus core, so why did the three major civilizations deploy fleets in the trap node? Obviously, this is not to deal with the virus core, but to deal with them, these Beyond Grade A Mechanics!

The Sovereign avatars present basically have short-range warp capabilities, and Han Xiao even has Void Flash, but no one used it. This is because the fleet had already activated the space-time stabilizer at the trap node, prohibiting warp flash to prevent anyone from running away.

It was precisely because the space-time around Cloud Magnetic Star had been imprisoned that Meynison stayed here to argue, otherwise he would have warped away the moment he got it.

If he wanted to leave with the virus core... he could only fight his way out!

However, although the three major civilizations and other mechanics tried to seize the virus core, they were worried about damaging the container, so even the sneak attacks were relatively restrained.

The three major civilizations hoped to retrieve the virus core from Meynison through negotiations, and even prepared for the other party to drive a hard bargain.

"Machinery Country, the virtual rebellion virus is a strategic weapon technology that can threaten the entire universe. Only when the three major civilizations control it can there be no hidden dangers. We do not allow any risks to exist, so today, no matter what, we must obtain the virus core. You should understand the seriousness of this issue."

The inspector in charge of the Void Spirit Religion said in a firm tone.

Meynison did not respond immediately, but scanned the avatars of other mechanics and slowly said:

"See, whoever gets the virus core will face this situation. Do you still want to continue to snatch it?"

"To be honest, I'm not that interested in the virus core. After all, I'm not a virtual mechanic... but, I don't mind using this bargaining chip to exchange for more good things." Kant chuckled.

"Don't look at me, as long as I get the virus core, I can regain my freedom. Now I'm standing on the Void Spirit's side," said the Mechanical Disaster, Francesco.

"As long as there is a chance, we must do our best to fight for it... Teacher, this is what you taught me," said the Mechanical Queen, Mornisa, in a calm tone.

Everyone expressed their positions one after another. Although the reasons were different, they all expressed their determination to win.

Finally, Meynison's gaze fell on Han Xiao.

"Black Star, what about you?"

Han Xiao did not answer directly, but raised his tone and said playfully, "You asked around, you're not just chatting, are you? Are you stalling for time, or are you trying to find a temporary ally?"

Hearing this, Meynison immediately smiled.

"Black Star, you still understand me...

That's right, I need an ally to help me deal with this tricky situation. You and I both understand the situation of Beyond Grade As. We are people on the same front. I'm researching virtual rebellion virus technology, not only because of pure technical pursuit, but also to fight for a guarantee for Beyond Grade As. If you are willing to help me, I don't mind you and me studying this technology together."

As soon as the words fell, everyone's eyes turned to Han Xiao, some with curiosity, some with vigilance, and some with teasing.

Han Xiao remained unmoved and casually said:

"Sounds good, but I think you will break your promise."

"Hehe, you may not believe me, but I need someone to share this risk with me. Two people controlling this technology is more in line with my interests, so I won't break my promise this time."

"Tsk tsk, empty words are useless, no matter how nice you say it."

"Then how do you want me to prove it?"

Han Xiao pointed to the container in Meynison's hand and smiled lightly:

"Since you are willing to research together, it doesn't matter who gets the virus core. You give me the device, and I will take the risk. You will help me break through, and then I will believe your sincerity, otherwise you are deceiving my feelings."

"I have no problem, but if the thing is in your hands, will you be willing to research together? How can I be sure that you will not break your promise?" Meynison asked back.

"Just like you said just now, one person is too high-profile, and I also need a shield." Han Xiao spread his hands.

Meynison was silent for a few seconds, just as the atmosphere became more and more condensed, he spoke slowly, his attitude suddenly surprising everyone.

"In that case... what's wrong with handing it over to you?"