After the Advancement, Han Xiao’s health point conversion ratio increased from 1:15 to 1:20. It was obvious to him that his body was stronger. He could feel a ball of energy down in his abdomen, invigorating him.

This second Advancement did not unlock as many skills as his first Advancement did. His first Advancement had felt like a complete rebirth, while this second Advancement was way smoother a process than his first one.

Though not explicit as a description on the interface, Han Xiao noticed that his perception had become more acute. The world was more vivid in his eyes.

If he had to describe how the Advancement felt, it would be ‘natural’. He could feel the breeze flowing around his limbs and smell the mix of particles in the air. His senses were amplified by several notches.

The second Advancement was a prerequisite to unlock many skills, and of course, the most obvious benefit was that he could upgrade to LV 60.

He had plenty of EXP on his interface, so he need not stay at his current level to accumulate EXP. He could first take [Night Stalker], which was at Lv.6, to its highest level. This would bring him a total of 30 Dexterity, 20 Strength, 10 Mystery, as well as 10 Talent points and 20 Unassigned Stats points.

Han Xiao then assigned his EXP to [Mechanic (Trainee)], a main class with an upper limit of Lv.15. As he progressed, it took more and more EXP for a level-up. He had used up a significant amount of EXP to level it up from Lv.5 to Lv.10.

His level skyrocketed by tens of level and rose directly to LV 50!

As his Energy exceeded one thousand points and reached Energy Level 6, Han Xiao received additional milestone rewards.

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+6 STR, +8 DEX, +6 END, +10 INT, +400 Max. Stamina, +8% Machinery Quality, +8% Production Speed, Energy Stats Strengthened

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As one’s Energy Level grew higher, the bonus addition became more significant. Levelling up to Lv. 6 was a significant milestone. He could receive a new bonus addition of Energy Stats Strengthened that made the benefits of his attributes more prominent. To a Mechanic, Energy with magnetic properties could be used for producing and utilizing machinery. He could increase the speed, improve the quality, and amplify the power more easily. The actual effect would be far more useful than the numbers on the interface looked.

Mechanics were not like Pugilists or Espers who would require huge amount of Energy. In the beginning, additional Energy might not be very useful to Mechanics, but once he had the ability to utilize his Energy in this manner, his strength as a Mechanic would be more apparent.

[Mechanic (Trainee)] reached Lv. 10. To level up further, Han Xiao would need 800,000 EXP. Han Xiao had around 1,300,000 EXP left on his interface. He decided to save half of it as a backup to integrate blueprints and upgrade other skills.

In the last two months, he had occasionally upgraded some important skills, such as [Sniper], [Moving Snipe], [Continuous Gliding Shots]. Not forgetting his blueprints, his core [Magnetically Controlled Retractable Armor]was already at Lv 5. He was already donning on a new set of armor where his Stats were strengthened. He had also upgraded blueprints like[Ranger Robot], [Low Level Smart Chip]. These blueprints were the ones that were relatively useful.

Han Xiao took a look at the Skill List and entered his EXP into [Flaming Will]and[Fine Intensive Modification]. These two Skills had better value for EXP. After his EXP dropped to half of its initial level, Han Xiao stopped the upgrading process. These two skills were each upgraded by two or three levels.

He had accumulated thirty-eight unassigned stat points, and he threw all of them into his Intelligence stat. That was the crude yet simple manner in which Mechanics upgraded themselves.

After all this was done, his combat effectiveness soared. Without even relying on his equipment, his Energy Rank reached the standard of 12,000 Ona!

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Level: 50

Attributes: 69 STR, 94 DEX, 82 END, 200 INT, 11 MYS, 6 CHA, 1 LUK

Health: 2,970

Energy: 1,230 [Lv. 6]

Power Level: 1213 Ona

Grade: D

[Take on your equipment. You can be a Boss level figure on this planet if you work hard.]

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Han Xiao was very satisfied with the growth in his strength. Intelligence had become his strongest stat—it had reached two hundred points! He could be way more productive when he utilized his machinery now.

With the speed at which he was gaining EXP, he would rise to LV 60 in a very short period of time. This was the upper limit for a second Advancement; he was at the top among the version 1.0 players.

My combat capability now, combined with my mechanical equipment, means that I am among the top few fighters in Aquamarine.

Even at LV 50, my Stats are very strong. That is partly because of my expertise and partly because my main vocation is at a high level. This means I can take care of most superhumans without too much difficulty.

I can count on my machinery to help me win, but my expertise and skills are too limited. I’m just too far off from someone like Bennett.

Han Xiao had been busy harvesting EXP from players, and he would continue doing so, accumulating EXP and gaining exposure to increase his popularity. He would be travelling to the novice villages beyond Andrea to teach the novice players basic skills first, and after that, he could proceed to teaching the [Energy Forging Technique]. Through this, he would accumulate a great deal of EXP. With this, he was confident that he would be able to invest in rare skills and abilities very soon.

Two months’ worth of EXP was just wiped out in an instant. It would not have been so easy if he was still his old self. He would have wanted to level up the moment he had gotten some EXP. Now, Han Xiao was not too worried about how he could get more EXP.

Players, they were the biggest market!

[Energy Forging Technique] was his trump card. Once he let the news out, it would trigger a frenzy. In fact, any player that had been through their first Advancement would eventually awaken this skill. But most players are unaware of this. As long as he imparted this skill to a player below LV 20, he would be able to harvest a huge amount of EXP.

But there was a condition; he needed to raise his profile so that more players could get to know him.

There are two ways. I could take the initiative to find players or create opportunities for players to find me…

Han Xiao stroked his stubble and was deep in thought.

If he chose to look for players proactively, it would be a trip like his recent trip to Big Horn Village. Other than the novice grounds beyond Andrea Mainland, he could go to the Southern Continent, the Western Continent, and the Northern Continent to harvest some EXP.

It did not seem like he had much of an opportunity to get players to come to him on their own. He could release more tasks after his Advancement, but it was still a drop in the ocean if he looked at the entire player community. There was no way he could attract all the players. He had made a good start at Big Horn Village—quite a number of players thought that Black Phantom could trigger secret quests. But that was far from getting enough players to come to him. He needed a more concrete plan.

After the battle, the Germinal Organization had withdrawn its forces from the three continents and gone into hiding. For the time being, the global situation would remain stable. At the very least, there would be no public declaration of war for some time. The tide had changed. Germinal would not declare war. However, on a second thought, the power had now come to the hands of the Six Nations. It might just bring the eminent war to an earlier date. This was not his original intention.

Resigning to his fate, he could only shake his head.

Nonetheless, the situation was not too bad. If the Six Nations went ahead to start a war and destroyed the Germinal Organization, it would not bring any harm to him. With this thought in mind, Han Xiao was relieved. After all, he was not an egotistical person; he had never felt like he could control everyone. What he had always wanted to do was to make full use of his extraordinary foresight to reap benefits from the power struggles between the different forces.

Even though the situation had deviated from its original track, war was still not avoidable. Han Xiao could not help but sigh. He was powerless as an individual to try to revert the situation. Instead, he was embroiled into the maelstrom. However, precisely because he was whirled into the situation, he could seize opportunities that came his way. This was really energizing for Han Xiao.

For any player to reach LV 20, they will take roughly two months… But now, two months is just nice for me to run a trip to all the novice villages, Han Xiao thought to himself with a smirk.

Having hammered out his next plan of action. Han Xiao began to think about another issue—his own strength.

After his Advancement, he was able to move closer to the upper limit of version 1.0. Of course, there was no real upper limit for him. He was more concerned about his combat capability. Ranks were only a part of his combat capabilities. His capabilities would be more dependent on his skills, expertise, and mechanical equipment. It went without saying that Mechanics were more dependent on their equipment than other classes.

Han Xiao was using his sniper without a hitch. Naturally, he did not want to give up on his sniper. However, he felt that it was time to develop a second combat style to deal with the increasingly complex situations that he would be going in to.