Chapter 894. Key Variable in the Operation |
Everyone was treated equally under the spacetime lock. Mechanics were unable to open their secondary dimension channel, and the Dimension Crack and teleportation of EsGod also lost its effect.
With the universe continuously being explored, the three Universal Civilizations had recorded all sorts of Esper Abilities and had developed counters or restraints toward most of them. Except for some Super High Risk Esper Abilities, there was no unsolvable ability.
“Turns out, this was a trap. You guys are really willing to pay.”
EsGod was surprised but quickly regained his calm.
This was also not the first time he faced such danger, so he did not panic. While the number of the enemies was more than what he expected, with not only the Crimson Dynasty and the Arcane Church, even the Federation of Light was also involved.
There were eleven Beyond Grade As surrounding him, which outstripped his expectations.
If it were not for the fact that the Universal Civilizations had sent out enough manpower this time, it would have been difficult to make him fall into the trap. Just to fight him head on and not make him think it was a trap would already require at least four to five people, and there was still a need to ensure three mages could set up the spacetime lock secretly. That meant at least seven to eight Beyond Grade As were needed to complete the entire ambush. This was a completely different concept from having seven to eight ordinary people.
Upon realizing that he had fallen for the trap, EsGod did not talk further and immediately reacted.
He would not sit there and await death. While his teleportation was blocked in this area, he could still fly. As long as he flew in the opposite direction of Han Xiao and the others, the moment he escaped the range of the spacetime lock, he would be able to teleport again.
The six people involved in directly fighting him at the start were still chasing him, and they had yet to completely surround him. Because of the spacetime lock, they were unable to activate the hyperdrive to arrive immediately, so there were only five people who were able to suppress EsGod at the moment.
Han Xiao did not speak further, ditching Sun Hunter and the others, and pouring all of his energy into the mechanical suit propulsion module.
A blue flame burst out from the thrusters from his back, elbows, and feet, and his entire figure shot forward in pursuit of EsGod, leaving a dark blue arc in the universe like a comet.
The spacetime lock did not differentiate between allies or enemies, so his hyperdrive and Void abilities could not be used.
Many of EsGod’s doppelgangers turned to hold Han Xiao back, stopping him from pursuing the true body.
While he had fallen into the trap, EsGod did not mind it too much.
He might have been in danger before his evolution, but things were different now. A large number of his doppelgangers were enough to contain his pursuers and give him enough time to escape the spacetime lock.
“Don’t let him get away!” Sun Hunter shook a doppelganger off before unfolding a gigantic sniper rifle. He aimed it toward EsGod and fired.
A golden energy beam blasted out, with a tracking function toward EsGod. The speed of the beam was obviously faster than his flight speed, and the distance was quickly shortened.
EsGod frowned, only having the time to deploy a shield before the beam hit.
He originally wished to utilize the repulsion force to retreat even further, but the firearm used by Sun Hunter was not offensive in nature. The moment the beam hit EsGod, it swelled violently, turning into a ball of energy with a powerful suction force, dragging EsGod toward it. EsGod’s speed dropped sharply, and the latter had no choice but to continue struggling to get out of the gravitational range.
Ranged attacks were the strength of a Cannon Master, and among the team, Sun Hunter’s skills had the best effect against restraining escaping enemies. Furthermore, a Cannon Master did not only have one weapon. They were good at using a variety of firearms, not only offensive ones but also crowd control ones, such as the beam used against EsGod previously.
EsGod could not teleport, so his evasiveness was lowered. Being harassed by Sun Hunter, and with Han Xiao’s mechanical suit speed originally being quicker than EsGod, their distance gradually closed.
Luckily, Milizaus and the mages did not underestimate EsGod, and thus, they purposely enlarged the area of spacetime lock, ensuring that there was enough leeway to chase him down.
As EsGod’s back slowly grew bigger in his field of vision, Han Xiao estimated the distance before taking out a compressed orb with a flip of his palm. It transformed into a hexagonal alloy board, tens of meters in length with a slight curve to it. It was powered by a core of sub-psionic energy.
This was a Unidirectional Adsorption Gravity Device that Han Xiao had spent a few months creating. It could adjust the direction and strength of gravity, and it was mainly used for attraction.
Based on his tests, at full power, the gravitational force generated could reach the level of a planet’s gravity. This gravity was enough to peel off the crust from a planet and achieve the power to tear apart the surface of a planet.
Even for a Beyond Grade A, this was an extremely strong means of crowd control, many levels higher than the spaceship traction beam.
Han Xiao activated the equipment, and a strong attraction force covered the entire area in front of him. EsGod only felt a huge pulling force acting on him, as though an entire star wished to devour him.
EsGod frowned, and with a thought, he split out another new doppelganger, which threw itself toward the attracting force, rushing up to Han Xiao to obstruct him.
This doppelganger only had the goal of destroying the gravitational attraction equipment, so it flew along with the attraction, its flight speed not affected.
Han Xiao activated his psionic shield, blocking the advance of the doppelganger. However, the doppelganger also possessed a battle strength at Beyond Grade A, so it was not so easy to deal with. Han Xiao’s speed also took a hit. EsGod shot out a timely black and red energy beam to hit Han Xiao, conveniently using the repulsion to move further away.
“EsGod can continuously produce doppelgangers. The moment I come too close, I’ll be obstructed by the doppelgangers. If I cannot hold him, I can only watch as he escapes,” Han Xiao murmured, and having made his choice, the Mechanical Force around his body immediately flickered and condensed into a large arc of electricity that bound up EsGod’s doppelganger.
The next moment, Han Xiao’s consciousness stretched into the quantum network.
Soul attacks, I can do that too!
_____________
You have utilized Virtual Soul against EsGod!
Attribute Judgment in progress…
Character level judgment failure, -30% success rate.
LUK Attribute judgment failure, -20% success rate.
MYS Attribute judgment failure, -30% success rate.
INT Attribute judgement Success, +40% success rate.
One of the above four judgments is effective. Skill is successfully launched!
Based on your Virtual Technology level, the basic success rate is 424%. After taking into account various judgements, final theoretical success rate: 384%
Calculation of the opponent’s abnormal status resistance in progress… Calculations complete, final success rate: 76%
Final Judgment in progress… Judgement successful
Skill (Virtual Soul) is effective.
_____________
In front, EsGod’s body suddenly lurched to a stop. His soul was virtualized by Han Xiao, thrown into the quantum network and hence lost control of his body. The attracting force pulled him backward once again.
EsGod’s weakness lay in his spiritual level. Because his doppelgangers and true body all shared the same soul, the [Virtual Soul] skill that Han Xiao utilized on the doppelganger could also be effective on his true body.
Because of the large difference in attributes, the duration of [Virtual Soul] was only for a short while and even had a cooldown of fifteen minutes. But this was enough for Han Xiao to close the remaining distance.
The quantum network was Han Xiao’s home field, and his consciousness transformed into a luminous giant that covered the sky and the sun. He grabbed onto EsGod and pummeled him, all attacks converting into spiritual damage to EsGod.
The duration of [Virtual Soul] ended quickly, and clarity shone again in EsGod’s eyes, but the soul damage he received made him look weary.
Upon surveying his surroundings, EsGod discovered that his true body was now in front of Han Xiao. Without any additional words, Han Xiao pounced on him.
Seeing this, EsGod knew that he could not escape anymore. The reason he escaped was not because he could not fight them off but because remaining within the trap would leave him the passive one.
As they fought, EsGod continuously released doppelgangers to strengthen his damage output. However, Han Xiao was akin to a sticky plaster. His HP and resistance was too high in addition to having the amber ball as a shield. EsGod got more frustrated the more they battled, as he was fully held back by Han Xiao.
“You irritating fool!” EsGod thundered.
“Thank you for the praise.” Han Xiao smiled, his hands suddenly jetting out a Psionic Impact, directly shattering a doppelganger.
At the same time, the six involved in the ambush had started to surround them, and Sun Hunter’s side had also eliminated several doppelgangers.
Because all the new doppelgangers created by EsGod were trapped by Han Xiao, there were no new reinforcements on that side, so they could catch up with EsGod after being relieved of the pressure.
Before long, all the Beyond Grade As arrived, each one taking a position and surrounding EsGod. Han Xiao’s mechanical army and Manison’s Mechanic Empire stood at each path of escape.
Seeing this, Han Xiao also stopped attacking for the time being, retreating into his mechanical army formation.
EsGod was completely surrounded, and from his position, he could only see densely packed mechanical soldiers. The energy signatures of the eleven Beyond Grade As burned his olfactory sense organs. His doppelgangers were recalled back, stationed around him for protection.
In the distance, the fleet of the Federation of Light also appeared. Without EsGod’s help, the Fallen Ark fleet was quickly eliminated by the Universal Civilizations. The battleships burst into flames one after another, the light from the explosions illuminating the faces of everyone present.
Glancing at his destroyed fleet, EsGod turned toward Manison, speaking through the spiritual network. “Manison, I didn’t expect you to also have come to deal with me.”
Among the eleven, EsGod only respected four of them—Manison, Milizaus, Sun Hunter, and Han Xiao. All of them had fought with him at some point, with Manison being the person he most respected.
“It was a transaction. Besides, I’ve warned you before about not stepping into the Primeval Star River.” Manison’s tone was calm.
EsGod nodded before surveying the rest.
While he was surrounded, he did not display any panic, instead calmly saying, “Even if you have the numbers, it won’t be so easy to defeat me.”
He had two escape plans. One was to escape from the area that was locked by spacetime. Since that had already failed, he had to choose the second method, which was to use his own spatial Esper ability to penetrate the spacetime lock, drilling a gap to teleport away.
For this plan to work, he needed to stall them for long enough.
The assurance of EsGod in surviving mainly lay in his doppelgangers. Even if he was surrounded, he could still use them to fight against everyone. Coupled with his own regeneration and energy absorption abilities, he could survive for quite a period of time, so he was not worried.
Everyone present however knew this and knew that every second was precious. Thus, they exchanged a glance and nodded.
“Begin the operation.”
“We’re relying on you, Black Star.”
The next instant, everyone attacked at the same time!
Faced with ten other Beyond Grade As, the doppelgangers died extremely quickly, but EsGod continued to produce more doppelgangers using his energy absorption, succeeding in holding off all the Beyond Grade As! While it was taxing on him, this was already shocking enough.
Even the Beyond Grade As encircling him could not help but sigh at his battle strength.
The evolved form of EsGod was really a freak!
If it was not for Black Star’s suggestion for them to join hands and deal with him, who would still threaten this fellow in the future?
Han Xiao weaved through the battlefield, shuttling through the heavy blockade of the doppelgangers to get closer to EsGod.
Because EsGod had already fought with Han Xiao before, it did not suspect him and immediately rushed forward to challenge him.
However, when the two of them made contact, EsGod felt a strange power surge out from Han Xiao’s body and into his own.
The next instant, it was as though a tranquilizer had been injected into EsGod, and his abilities all went silent.
“This is… Esper Silence‽”
EsGod’s expression changed, and it finally turned into suspicion. He did not understand why Han Xiao had his ability.
“It’s effective!” Seeing the notification on the interface, Han Xiao breathed a sigh of relief.
During the pre-war conference, Han Xiao had discussed this strategy with the rest, and the moment they surrounded him would be the time he unleashed the Esper Silence Character Summon Card.
Han Xiao had always hidden this move, just waiting for the opportunity.
The moment Esper Silence came into effect, all the doppelgangers froze, and without the ability to maintain it, the doppelgangers exploded and dissipated into black mist.
Because of their disparity, the duration of Esper Silence was at the lowest, but this instant was enough to disintegrate his doppelgangers!
Everyone was long prepared and took the advantage when EsGod lost his abilities. The three mages threw the restraint magic they had prepared, the psychics interfered with his mental state, the pugilists used force to suppress him, and Han Xiao also gave EsGod an injection, implanting him with nano-level cytostatic fluid to reduce his vitality.
This single instant was enough for EsGod to fall under heavy restrictions. With so many Beyond Grade As acting in concert, there was no way he could struggle free in a short while.
When his strength recovered, he tried to free himself, but the control skills were like shackles, binding each of its limbs and nailing him in place.
Under so many effects, the energy within his body stagnated, and he was unable to utilize it to activate his abilities any longer.
EsGod stared at Han Xiao, his eyes displaying puzzlement.
“How are you able to use my ability?”
“You’ll have a lot of time to slowly think about that in the future.” Han Xiao did not hesitate, immediately taking out the Spacetime Amber and pointing it toward EsGod. After entering its second layer of Soul Connection, the production of amber balls had sped up.
The Spacetime Amber was the key to this plan!
The people present might have been able to restrict EsGod, but they could not keep gathering forever. EsGod had too many Esper abilities, and there was no guarantee that he could not run after being locked up.
The only guaranteed way was the Spacetime Amber, which could restrict EsGod.
They had already decided that Han Xiao would be the core behind the operation this time, and everyone’s responsibility was simply restricting EsGod.
Without Esper Silence and the Spacetime Amber, EsGod would likely manage to escape. They were the key variables in this operation.
EsGod was sensitive toward space and felt the space around him start to warp. A look of astonishment was seen in his eyes.
“So, this is the effect of the Spacetime Amber from the legends. What a miraculous Universal Treasure.” EsGod paused for a while, reluctantly twisting his facial muscles. “I never thought that I would end up in your hands.”
Han Xiao was deeply aware of the possibility of receiving a counterattack if one talked too much and did not answer, focused on creating the Spacetime Amber.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, EsGod stopped struggling, staring indifferently at Han Xiao.
“Black Star, we will meet again.”
“That will be left to when the three Universal Civilizations see fit to ask me to release you.”
Han Xiao’s eyes flashed, and he suddenly cut the energy supply.
EsGod’s entire body was sealed within the Spacetime Amber!
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