901 True Nature 1

Glug…

A string of bubbles in the green liquid inside the cup rose up slowly before the surface of the water exploded.

Ice Dragon leaned across the tabletop and looked at his own drinking cup. Through the walls of the cup, his eye that was stretched wide open could be seen.

He lifted the cup and gulped the contents down quickly in one go.

Glug glug glug…

A few swallows later, all of the light green liquid had disappeared completely without a single drop left.

"Ice Dragon, the people from Exterminet have failed," a bald man who wore a face mask murmured in a low voice while standing behind him.

"Failure was something that I had anticipated. Where are we now?" asked Ice Dragon while placing the cup down.

"We've almost arrived at the radiation belt. According to the speed of our battleship, we should be able to reach the assassination point by midnight. However, the intelligence officers have analyzed that Nonosiva has probably joined the Black Flood Party. A few Black Flood Party members have left to meet him earlier."

"I don't care what party he's in," laughed Ice Dragon. "Anyway, I'm just here to let my brother vent. That bastard Fila has always been a hypocrite. It's obvious that he really wants my help but he just rambles on instead. Does he really think that I'm unaware of his intentions?"

"Should we continue to exert ourselves then?"

"Exert ourselves? When did I ask you to exert yourself? Perhaps you really thought that Fila would count on me to get rid of that Nonosiva?" Ice Dragon did not possess the features of a newly rich individual that was apparent when Fila spoke. Instead, it was replaced by reservation and experience. His frivolous exterior hid his inner composure and shrewdness.

"You must know that there are ranking disputes within the interior of White Light as well… Of course, it would not be a bad thing if we actually encountered that little bastard. I wouldn't mind taking action and practicing for a bit."

"What do you mean?"

"Find me a Level Four Mech, I'll use it to get Nonosiva. It won't be any fun to kill him with one shot… Perhaps I'll be able to learn a thing or two from him as well," Ice Dragon had never been a reckless person but had always been combative instead. However, the basis of his combative nature was to strengthen himself. Compared to everything else, his greatest interest was to improve himself through actual combat. Meanwhile, his favorite hobby was to place himself on the same level as other first rate Elites so that he could learn from their strong points and make up for his own weaknesses.

"But… Fila would not have placed all of his hopes on us only. Therefore, he might have gone to look for his…" said the masked man while furrowing his eyebrows.

"No problem, if that Nonosiva dies so easily, I'll just take this opportunity to come out and take a vacation to relax," Ice Dragon smiled. 

***************

"What? Someone's here again?!" Van Doe held a teacup while his hand trembled slightly. "What about my junior, Brian?"

A man in a red robe stood in front of him and answered respectfully.

"Master Brian has suffered light injuries after blocking White Light's Nottingham and has returned to replenish his energy batteries first. It's temporarily impossible for him to attack."

"So many powerhouses are already after Nono even though he only left for a few days? He really knows how to create trouble for me!" Fila was completely speechless and lifted his teacup to drink a few mouthfuls of tea. "Relay a message to the Seventh Divine Wind General for me and get him to assist us for a while. Tell him that this will repay the mercy that I showed him previously."

"Understood." a red light flashed around the man in the red robe before he disappeared in front of Fila's eyes immediately. Apparently, he was just a three-dimensional holographic image.

Once the man had left, Van Doe knitted his brows together faintly.

"However, the trouble he stirs up can be beneficial at times too. The people of White Light have always been cancerous in this region. Perhaps this will be an opportunity for us to drag them out once and for all. Geniuses can only mature when they charge forward… Just like the Divine Wind Generals of the past, which one of them did not emerge from the bloody slaughterhouses?"

Despite speaking like this, his actual actions were not ambiguous at all. He released a chain of messages quickly before the lines of his countless relationship networks were activated.

It had been extremely difficult for him to obtain such a strong and amazing first rate prodigy. If he did not take care of him properly, he would definitely regret it for an entire lifetime!

His numerous planted agents and open-wire lines began to stir.

******************

On the black plains

Two Black Mechs flew in the direction of Blackboard Region while carrying heavy burdens. These Mechs looked heavy but no one knew the exact weight of the load they were carrying. This caused their Bodies to shake slightly as if they could collapse at any time.

Garen and Anda had traveled for three consecutive days already. No one had tried to ambush them along the way but the sole presence of the mutated beasts that they passed by was enough to give them headaches.

In order to maintain a low temperature inside the cabin to store the Mastery Energy Ores, Anda was on the verge of death. Despite being a Level Five powerhouse, he was unable to sustain his own body temperature and was on the brink of collapsing. However, it was still commendable that half of his body's energy was still remaining. Furthermore, the flying and sanitation functions in his Mech were still working even though the other functions were almost destroyed in the terrible battle earlier.

"After finding so many Mastery Energy Ores, it seems like we've reaped a lot of rewards after returning from this trip," said Anda in an exhausted voice.

"This was all thanks to you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to find so many ores." Garen sighed with some emotion. Unlike Anda, his current state was way too relaxed. His own Cold Radiation abilities had frozen the Mastery Energy Ores to prevent them from melting. Moreover, low temperatures did not affect him at all.

"Sigh… How much longer will it take for us to arrive…" Anda sighed.

Garen did not reply as he was pondering the troubles regarding the Staff of Absolute Yin. The Staff of Absolute Yin was not exclusive and there were other people on the Mother Planet that had this item. However, as most of them did not actually use it, it was purely used a symbol of power previously. Therefore, most of them would only think of it as a collectible.

Nonetheless, obtaining another Staff of Absolute Yin would not be something that he could easily do now. Firstly, he would need to find people who actually possessed these Staffs of Absolute Yin.

When he thought of this, Garen felt his head ache slightly. Each person's collected articles were actually their personal secrets. Therefore, if they did not reveal these things willingly, no one would know what they collected. The Staff of Absolute Yin was once an emblem of the Planet Elder's power and those who managed to collect it would be extremely wealthy. The price in exchange for it would definitely be great.

His mind became stressed when he thought of this. After Nottingham had destroyed his most precious staff, this excursion would have been a terrible loss if Anda had not found the hiding spot of the Mastery Energy Ores.

He recalled Nottingham's ultimately oppressive strength. Garen simulated it in his mind and wondered about the reactions that would occur if he used all of his Potential Points on his physical Attributes. In the end, he knew that it was impossible.

His opponent's Mech already possessed too much power on its own.

Its explosive force was basically equivalent to a heavy-duty battleship that could release full-powered explosions. When the support from the Black Flood Party powerhouse arrived, the movements from the violent fight between them resulted in repercussions with Level Four strength. The terrifying difference in power between Inherited Levels and those below them could be seen clearly.

The differences in power were not merely caused by individual differences in Willpower. Instead, they were mainly affected by the difference between Mech qualities as certain Mechs could amplify their power several times, greatly exceeding the average Mechs.

While his mind remained impatient, Garen tried to use his Potential Points to increase the level of his Willpower.

Unfortunately, there was no way to upgrade it. It was clear now that his nameless Willpower had reached a point of qualitative change and could not simply be upgraded just by accumulating them.

Meanwhile, it seemed as though his Crouched Eagle Talon could still be upgraded. However, Garen understood that the main problem right now was still his Mech as there was a ten times difference between the magnification of an Exclusive Mech and a normal Mech.

This was another main reason why he was unable to withstand the little Light Sphere that Nottingham had suddenly thrown at him previously.

The Light Sphere that Nottingham flung over previously possessed powers that were of the same level as Level Five Mechs that attacked at full force. As for the power of the thousands of Level Three light ray attacks, they were even scarier because one hit was equivalent to an assault from almost ten thousand Level Three to Four Mech Pilots who were controlling their Mechs simultaneously.

He glanced at his Living Secret Technique again. He felt as if this Secret Technique was not particularly useful because his Mech and himself had suffered damages and injuries after their last consecutive encounters. It seemed as though he had no retaliation abilities at all as his Living Secret Technique was not especially useful in the Mech Pilot universe or eras that were heavily influenced by explosive weapons with terrifying powers.

"How am I going to bring the Secret Technique's advantages into play?" Garen flew while sinking into deep thought. He had thought about this problem previously but had never experienced it so vividly in his life until now.

Living Secret Techniques were truly terrifying when they were trained to the point of the highest realm and could definitely contend with Inherited Level Mech Pilots. However, there was still a long way to go before he could reach the highest realm. It was not just the Holy Spirit Level that he had yet to achieve. Instead, he was not even at the Demon King Level or even the Army Level below it.

Another important factor that led to this dilemma was the need to reconstruct the people of this world. Their physiological structure was completely different, forcing him to investigate the processes and experiences that he needed to practice again.

After thinking carefully, Garen realized that ever since he came to this world, there was not much leeway for him to develop the advantages of his Living Secret Technique.

Other than that time when he killed his Red-White enemy previously, there were no other opportunities for him to use them. Furthermore, he did not dare to release them carelessly either.

'The advantages of Living Secret Techniques affect one's physical fitness. Therefore, during individual battles that are fought outside of the Mech, there would probably be two advantages of my Secret Techniques. Firstly, once I obtain my Exclusive Mech after entering the Inherited Level, most Mech Pilots custom-make their own Exclusive Mechs according to the various factors of their qualities. Those with stronger physical bodies will get Mechs that are able to bear heavier loads, allowing them to choose Mechs that belong to stronger levels. My physical fitness would definitely exceed that of most Mech Pilots, as I've been coursing through a higher level since the beginning,' Garen thought.

'The second advantage refers to the abilities that are derived from my Living Secret Technique. Three examples of these are Devour, Distorted Seed, and Cold Chaos which are actually suitable to be placed in the logistics or support positions. However, there are unsuitable for facing direct attacks. Devour allows my fighting abilities to last longer, Distorted Seed lets me control certain parts and units and turn them into killing machines while Cold Chaos weakens my opponent slightly and creates confusion. These abilities have actually been reminding me that the Hellfrost Peacock Technique is not a Secret Technique that can be used for direct combat at all. On the contrary, it is a strategy-type Secret Technique that is used to manipulate other units and subordinates on the battlefield!'

Garen had only begun to vaguely understand the qualities of the Hellfrost Peacock Technique now. Moreover, once he had broken through the foundation level and entered the real levels, these abilities did not increase his physical fitness like the Divine Statue Technique at all. However, its resistance against radiation was simply insane. The signs from all sides clearly showed that the Hellfrost Peacock Technique was truly a strategic Secret Technique that was suitable as a support base.

He did not make any wrong guesses. Actually, during the warring period against the Warlocks, the Hellfrost Peacock Technique had always appeared as a mincing machine on the battlefield. Whenever it was present, death by cold and chaotic minds would cause a lot of casualties on the opposite side. If there was no way to counter it, a single Hellfrost Peacock would be able to destroy an entire civilization completely!

'Therefore, if I want to solidify the Hellfrost Peacock Technique's Soul Seed this time, should I walked on the path of logistics instead?' realization bubbled up in Garen's mind. As he was merely using logistic and support-type Secret Techniques to strengthen his External Techniques previously, it would clearly be impossible for him to find the right path.

However, this was also related to specific features of the Living Secret Technique. Living Secret Techniques would not release all of their own information from the beginning but would continuously reveal those Secret Techniques memories slowly as the individual trained and improved. This allowed people to gradually understand the true features of Secret Techniques.

When Garen successfully fused the Hellfrost Peacock Technique and another Evil Technique in the beginning, it was fully considered as a direct combat method. Therefore, he had mistakenly included this specific Secret Technique as a pure direct combat Secret Technique.

Once he had thought about the key factors properly now, his head had cleared up immediately.

Therefore, the most important part of the Hellfrost Peacock Technique is that it can affect control while acting as the support as well!" when he thought of this, Garen's eyes lit up at once. Suddenly, he thought of another suitable direction that seemed pretty good

-- Energy Machinist!!

Coincidentally, he had two sets of Willpower Training Methods that were aligned with Energy Machinists; One of them was Glowing Radiance that had been obtained through an exchange with the Honorable Noble. The other Training Method had been obtained from Professor Van Doe's information databank.

Strictly speaking, Glowing Radiance was the Training Method of an ancient Modulation Engineer. Modulation Engineers were mainly focused on biochemical technology and less focused on mechanical technology.

Meanwhile, Energy Machinists were the opposite as they focused less on biochemical technology and more on mechanical technology.

Garen turned his thoughts into actions. Using his watch, he opened his databank and flipped through the Energy Machinist Training Methods that he had bought earlier.

'Energy Machinist Training Method — NIS: An orthodox school founded by the ancient Elsie Republic's grandmaster, Neer. They have the most standard progression stages of Energy Machinists. Their fusion of machinery and biochemistry has achieved levels that are second to none. They were mainly famous for manufacturing flying insect-types of Energy Machinery.'

'Training Method Specialities: Each level upgrades the experimental platform to produce energy machinery with 0.5 level of basic defense and 0.5 level of speed.'

Once he had established his direction of development, Garen adjusted his route to perfect strengthening himself once again.

Although the Nameless Training Method was good and at a sufficient level, compared to the perfected Inherited Crouched Eagle Talon, it fell short by a substantial degree. He decided to purify his Willpower and specialize in the Crouched Eagle Talon in the future to support the NIS Energy Machinist. He would also specialize in Mech combat while using energy machines to support it.

There were too many roads to power. However, no one possessed enough energy to strike a balance between all of these roads. Therefore, they could only walk to the highest point by concentrating on one path properly.

"I never expected that I would walk on the wrong path because I had unknowingly been too obsessed with Training Methods of higher levels…" Garen's head was completely clear now. The thoughts that had unknowingly entered his heart when he had first come to this world were finally being stripped away slowly.

"Although the Crouched Eagle Talon is not strong yet, with the Inheritance from the Black Flood Party, it is still much more powerful than the unknown Nameless Training Method. Apparently, I was forsaking the things that were in front of me for others that were much further away…"

Garen relaxed his mind immediately.

He looked at the Willpower of the Nameless Training Method that was spinning inside his body constantly.

A thought stirred in his mind.

Hum…

A shapeless force dispersed throughout his body suddenly. Next, they continuously turned into light breezes that dissipated slowly.

The composition of the Willpower of the Nameless Training Method was breaking down as Garen was voluntarily giving up this unknown high-level Training Method. The structure of the Willpower that was trained by this method was currently breaking down while the Willpower of the Crouched Eagle Talon was being absorbed slowly.

As the nameless Level Five Willpower disappeared slowly, although a portion of it was reabsorbed again by the Crouched Eagle Talon, almost half of his Willpower dispersed out of his body after turning into just forces, completely breaking down into waste.