Thorns was traveling alone in the endless plains of Karst. The vehicle definitely looked scary and threatening, like a spiky porcupine. The vehicle was dragging a huge container as it travelled. It looked odd as if it had a light head and heavy torso. There were huge batches of raw materials worth millions stored in the container, all of which had been purchased by Han Xiao in a single consignment.

Han Xiao was the only one on the car. As he was driving, he was looking at the radar coordinates. He was heading toward the ruins known as Graymetal Ruins.

After completing the mission at River Valley Manor, there was a large increase in the affection of the Blood Pact Society toward him. The Blood Pact Society was now ‘friendly’ toward him. Based on his current progress, he would be able to hit the legendary level before the public beta. Also, he could complete the Class Change mission along the way and officially become a Night Stalker.

The side-profession he planned to attain was rarer in version 1.0. He planned to not only use it to attain new skills—he also prepared himself to advance up to level 40 and start another level-advancement mission. The maximum level of an apprentice mechanic was 15. The higher the level, the larger the increases in EXP points. Based on his current efficiency at gaining EXP points, adding a side profession was a good move. Also, the side profession allowed him to improve his combat style.

Before Han Xiao carried out the plan for his assault on the Germinal Organization, he planned to create a secret base for him to deposit supplies and round up weapons and essential equipment. That was to ensure that he had a place to retreat to if his mission failed.

Based on his current situation, the Farian Company seemed like it was able to provide a reliable hideout. However, Han Xiao had cultivated the good habit of preparing alternative solutions and redundancies. Although the possibility of getting into a conflict with the Farian Company was rather unlikely, he would still feel safer if he was completely in charge of his own fate.

Anything could change in this world, and it was especially so for relationships. Han Xiao had seen too many of such cases, especially the relationships with his ex-girlfriends.

More often than not, genuine feelings lost out to tactics in terms of attracting one’s heart. If there was a color to ‘love’, it would be the color of ‘forgiveness’. The world was just too much of a mess, such that anyone could lose their footing if they were not careful. It was not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning…

Getting close to the ruins of the Graymetal Ruins.

The maroon soil looked like dried up spats of blood. Once the tires went past the dried-up hard blocks of soil, the sound of the friction between the tires and the soil could be heard. Through the window, one could also see the oddly-shaped plants that were sparsely growing on the plains. The land before his eyes indeed looked barren.

In the distance, he could see the silhouette of an abandoned city. Graymetal Ruins was a dead city that even the vagrants avoided. The only creatures that resided in the city were insects and animals.

Graymetal Ruins had once been the capital of an old regime, and green pastures had surrounded the city. When the fires of war reached the city, the place was reduced to rubble, and the green plains turned into a barren landscape.

Mighty civilizations and abandoned cities coexisted on this planet. The world was constantly changing, regardless of it changing for better or worse.

There was an abandoned base among the ruins that the outside world did not know of. The abandoned base was in fact Han Xiao’s target.

As Han Xiao moved closer to the city, the scene before his eyes became more dilapidated. Vines could be seen creeping along the walls of the wrecked buildings. The streets were completely empty and covered with moss.

Only a couple of lizards hopped out from the cracks on the road.

The rumble of the vehicle’s engine seemed to have awakened the city. Bugs crawled out from the buildings and cracks on the roads. They rested along the street, watching the vehicle speed past them. They used their limbs to scratch their eyes and moved their antennae.

On the south side of the ruins, there was a building that resembled a military facility surrounded by barbed wire. Fortunately, the wires were not charged with electricity. The interior of the building had collapsed.

Han Xiao drove his vehicle in and parked outside a bunker with the red label ‘S-539’. There was only small entrance left into the bunker. Dust particles were floating in the air, filling his nose.

After Han Xiao alighted from his car, he took out the mechanical spider and threw it into the bunker. He had modified the camera on the spider. The spider was now equipped with thermal-vision and electromagnetic sensors. It even had hearing abilities.

Half an hour later, the spider reported that there were no signs of life in the bunker. Han Xiao then made his way into the building. He navigated through the darkness with his torch, making his way to a small room in the bunker. He found a small crack in the wall and pulled hard. An elevator well was revealed behind the wall.

The abandoned base that he was searching for was in the basement of the bunker.

Han Xiao knew this place very well. In fact, this base was also his in his past life. However, it was unfortunately taken over by a guild.

At that point in time, Han Xiao had still been a young lad who was easily bullied by others. However, when he looked at the base again now, he realized that the base had great defensive infrastructure in place. As long as he was able to supply electricity to the building, the base was practically impregnable to attacks. He only had himself to blame for giving in to his enemies in his previous life.

The underground base was very spacious and had two emergency passages. There were spider webs and dust everywhere.

I shall call this place the Graymetal Base. Han Xiao came up with a practical name for the facility.

There was no source of energy in the base. Han Xiao took out the flashlights that he had brought with him to light up the place. He then started to execute the most important task, which was the energy modification operation. The Graymetal Base previously had a cable that connected it with the power station. However, since the city was abandoned, the power station had stopped its operations.

The power station was located some distance away from the Graymetal Base.

Han Xiao entered the power station only to discover that most of the generators were faulty. However, he never planned to rely on the old generators. He had expected such a scenario to occur; therefore, he had spent a huge sum of money and bought a batch for solar-powered generators. He dragged these generators out of the container and altered the wiring in the power station. He switched out the faulty items in the power station and connected the electric cable from the military base to his new solar-powered generator.

When Han Xiao returned to his base, the base was already powered up. The lights were switched on, and the interior of the base was clearly shown before his eyes.

The base, which had been covered in darkness for so long, was finally embraced with light.

The solar-powered generators were clean, efficient, and discrete. The additional electricity that was not expended in the day would be stored in the batteries. The generated electricity would likely cover one full day of activity.

Han Xiao started to clean up the base. Due to the prolonged period of inactivity, everything was covered in a layer of filth. It was while he was cleaning that he started to miss Lu Qian, who had superb housekeeping skills. Han Xiao had not seen Lu Qian for some time, and her cooking was something he longed for.

“I wonder what her reaction is for leaving without a word.”

Thinking back to Old Man Lu’s repeated recommendation of his granddaughter, Han Xiao could not help but smile.

After the housekeeping session, he carried the supplies out of his vehicle. The material and spare parts were all sorted out and stored. The bottles of water and canned food were placed in in the gigantic fridge. Following which, he used some of his EXP points to raise his [Basic Programming] to Lv.10. He then modified the main control room and created a chip to organize and store the data of all the activities in the base. The main use of the system was to map out the energy usage so that electricity could be better allocated for the different activities.

For the next few days, Han Xiao was busy modifying the base, and it slowly began to take shape. The base was equipped with infra-red, thermal scanners. The defenses put in place were light machine guns and booby-traps. The bunker on the ground level was also repaired. Additionally, the large gate was fixed up so that the base was better hidden.

However, the most important point was that Han Xiao created three robotic assistants to serve as his workers.

The skill of [Elementary Programming] at the maximum level could create low-level chips that were able to store simple blueprints that the robotic assistant could follow and manufacture according to the plans autonomously. Han Xiao could also gain a part of the EXP from the items successfully manufactured by the robots. This meant that there would be incoming EXP for Han Xiao all day, every day. One robot assistant could generate 2,000 to 4,000 EXP, so three robot assistants could contribute a steady 10,000 EXP points.

There was a limit on the energy that could be used by the Graymetal Base, and the three robot assistants made it reach this limit. The stored raw materials and spare parts were also only sufficient for around ten days of continuous activity by the robot assistants. The logistical flow of the system he had set-up could not be disturbed. Han Xiao could also make use of this period of time to carry out his assassination mission and gain skills that could help him refine his process.

If the earlier players wanted to develop a base, they could only employ a team of mechanics to complete their base. That was because most players had certain gaps in experience that they could not fulfill themselves. They had different areas of specialties in terms of their knowledge, and that meant that there were also many areas they were unfamiliar with. However, my three separate branches of knowledge are upgraded together. That makes me master the different aspects of the job alone. However, my strategy has a huge flaw of requiring me to possess an especially large sum of EXP that is several times more than that of normal players.

Luckily for Han Xiao, he had his ways.

The Graymetal Base might not be the largest, but it was definitely one that had all the necessary items that were required. The base also looked new and tidy after Han Xiao’s refurbishment and housekeeping. Han Xiao could feel a deep sense of achievement when he saw the fruits of his labor.

Finally, I am a man with some assets.

After completing the modification of his secret base, it was time for him to begin his assaults on the Germinal Organization. He had been left with no time to spare for the Germinal Organization lately, and that resulted in the organization recovering and growing from the previous damage that Han Xiao had caused. Indeed, the Germinal Organization had recovered by 0.01%.

However, Han Xiao was not worried in the slightest. The reason he decided to carry out his activities at the later stage was because he had set his sights far. He was no longer aiming for the smaller bases of the organization.

He wanted to do something big!

Han Xiao plan was simple and ‘loud’. He released all the information he had collected about the smaller bases to the six nations!

Crazy but deadly!

The six nations were old enemies of the organization. The moment they got their hands on the weakness of the organization, they would not rest until they caused grievous damage. As long as he dared to do such a crazy thing, the Germinal Organization was bound to suffer intense damage. However, that would also destabilize the entire situation on Planet Aquamarine. It was even likely for a change in the original storyline to occur.

It was that which made the whole process exciting.

To be scared of a change in the storyline was not the hallmark of a strong individual.

A world that did not change was something a destroyer like Han Xiao was fond of.

Han Xiao clenched his fists. He could feel gushes of energy flowing through his body and confidence emerging out of his chest.

I am no longer a weakling who is afraid of everything like when I first entered the planet. I have the ability to challenge and battle most people on this planet.

Strength formed the base of one’s power. To endure now was so that one could be powerful enough in the future, such that he no longer needed to endure.

Now, Han Xiao could defend himself, and he could finally accomplish the initial goal he set for himself!

Han Xiao connected his cellphone to the computer and created an anti-tracking application to disguise his actual number and address. He then dialed in a chain of numbers that he had memorized.

“Hello, who is this?”

Feng Jun’s voice emerged out of the cellphone.

“Guess~” Han Xiao teased.

Feng Jun almost choked. The sly voice was too familiar to not recognize.

“You… How dare you call back‽”

Feng Jun was dumbfounded.