“Near Hesla’s border?” Gu Hui slammed the desk. “We will need to get in touch with them before making a decision.”

“I await your decision,” declared Han Xiao as he took his leave.

Feng Jun was waiting for him outside with a gloomy face.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the assassin immediately? Because of that, I had to endure a yelling from my superior.”

“Why would I inform you? It’s not like you could have helped,” teased Han Xiao, causing Feng Jun to become enraged.

“We might be buddies, but I’ll still get angry if you insult me!”

Han Xiao smirked.

“Perhaps I should have a talk with the director over how my location got exposed…”

“Oh you—hahahaha—you little devil. I was just kidding.”

Han Xiao rolled his eyes.

Under Feng Jun’s subservient escort, Han Xiao left the headquarters to return to the workshop.

Altering his appearance was an idea that he had thought up a long time ago. He had known all along that the Germinal would resort to drastic measures against him once his location was discovered.

As it was more likely than not that the operation would be passed, Han Xiao also needed to prepare new equipment. The mecha arm and the retractable knife would not allow him to keep up with the level of the opponents they were about to face. It would also be nice if his current team was able to participate in the operation.

Thinking about his team reminded Han Xiao of the need to upgrade Zhang Wei’s power suit.

The cost of the upgrade would not come cheap.

As Han Xiao stroked his eyebrows, he searched through his memories for blueprints suitable for this mission.

“Looks like it’s time to learn a bunch more stuff.”

Suddenly, someone knocked the door. It was Old Lu, with a chicken leg in one hand and beer in the other.

“Little brat, what are you doing here?”

“I want to borrow a few mechanic knowledge books,” replied Han Xiao as he turned his attention back to the bookshelf, expecting Old Lu to chase him out.

To his surprise, he instead said, “The key is in the drawer. Just remember to return it when you’re done.”

Han Xiao’s jaw almost dropped.

“You actually agree‽”

Since when had they been on such good terms‽

Old Man Lu put down the chicken leg in his mouth and snorted. “Treat it as a show of thanks.”

‘Thanks?’ Han Xiao frowned.

“Are you still trying to promote your granddaughter to me?”

Old Lu’s face immediately stiffened. ‘What’s so bad about my granddaughter that’s stopping you from falling for her‽’

But that wasn’t why he wanted to thank Han Xiao. Instead, it was because the tall old man had told him that back then, Han Xiao had lured the assassin away from the workshop in order to prevent Lu Qian from getting involved. This alone had changed Old Lu’s impression of Han Xiao considerably.

“Not bad, kid,” praised Old Lu with a satisfied smile. He gave Han Xiao a pat on the shoulder before leaving him to his own devices.

As he left, Han Xiao noticed an oily handprint on his shoulder.

“That old imp.”

He proceeded to unlock the cabinet with the key in the drawer, picked out seven books, and headed back to his room.

Back in his room, Han Xiao took a deep breath as he prepared to ‘learn’ all of them at once.

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Do you wish to spend one talent point to learn the Energy Talent, [Basic Energy Theory]?

… Energy Talent, [Basic Biochemistry]?

… Energy Talent, [Basic Optics]?

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“Yes!”

Large streams of information began to fill up Han Xiao’s mind, causing him to feel like his head was about to explode. After a short period of recovery, Han Xiao gritted his teeth and continued with the other books.

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… Manipulation Talent, [Basic Electromagnetism]?

… Manipulation Talent, [Basic Mechanics]?

… Manipulation Talent, [Basic Quantum Electronics]?

… Manipulation Talent, [Basic Spatial Sense]?

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Seven sets of basic knowledge!

However, the process did not stop there. Han Xiao decided to level up these new talents.

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[Basic Energy Theory] has been raised to Lv. 3!

[Basic Electromagnetism] has been raised to Lv. 2!

[Basic Digital Electronics] has been raised to Lv. 2!

[Basic Mechanics] has been raised to Lv. 2!

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As well as some previously learned talents!

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[Basic Weaponry] has been raised to Lv. 3!

[Basic Material Composition] has been raised to Lv. 3!

[Basic Assembly] has been raised to Lv. 2!

[Advanced Material Synthesis] has been raised to Lv. 2!

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Just like that, Han Xiao spent 20 of his 21 talent points.

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You have learned a new technique: [Novice Programming]

You have learned a new technique: [Energy – Magnetism Strengthening]

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[Novice Programming] was unlocked from learning [Basic Digital Electronics]. Like Basic Assembly or Basic Enhancement, it was an integral technique for a Technician, necessary for the making of both chip sets and system interfaces.

[Energy – Magnetism Strengthening], on the other hand, was a passive ability that unlocked upon learning an Energy Manipulation talent. It did have a prerequisite, which was, of course, for the player to possess affinity with magnetism. On top of strengthening the user’s control of magnetism, it also gave a boost to machinery crafting speeds and machinery damage output, 3% per level.

Han Xiao was currently sitting on 38,000 experience, accumulated from mass producing incendiary bullets. His daily experience gain was about two to three thousand. As for money, that was the least of Han Xiao’s concerns; he had earned a whopping $3,600,000 thus far.

“It’s time to try and get the disguise blueprint!”

Before he started, Han Xiao invested a few thousand experience to raise [Basic Programming] to level 3.

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Proceed with fusing of [Lv. 1 Basic Biochemistry], [Lv. 1 Optics], [Lv. 3 Material Composition], and [Lv. 2 Digital Electronics]? (20,000 experience will be consumed)

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Talent combination, also known as talent fusing, was not only limited to the fusing of two talents. However, the cost for adding additional talents was extremely high; adding a third would only cost 5,000 experience, but the cost of subsequent ones increased exponentially. A fourth one would cost 40,000 experience.

Generally, lower leveled Mechanics would perform talent fusion with only two talents because fusing more was not guaranteed to give better results.

However, some blueprints, like the one that Han Xiao was aiming for now, could be crafted easily with the correct talents.

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Fusion successful! Congratulations on inventing [Smart Optical Mask]!

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The Smart Optical Mask made its first appearance in Version 3.0, when players had just stumbled upon multiple-talent fusing. Not only did it require the leveling of four talents across all three talent trees, it also required [Intermediate Machinery Affinity], 55 INT, Lv. 3 [Basic Programming], and last but not least, for the player to be a Technician.

Nevertheless, the Smart Optical Mask’s usefulness befitted the effort needed to obtain it.