Chapter Fifteen: Xiao's Diary

  Today is an unlucky day, I don't even want to remember what date it is!

  Koja dust? Holy Unicorn Mercenary Corps?

  They all deserve to die! They absolutely should go to hell!

  What do I care about the losses of the Holy Unicorn Mercenary Corps? They're just a bunch of greedy parasites attached to the bodies of Roamers and Earthlings. But what about the components I ordered? What about those parts I ordered? All my savings for these years have been deposited into their account, but they got attacked! The components that were supposed to be delivered to me... are all gone!

  Damn it!

  Koja dust? Sacred Unicorn Mercenary Corps?

  I remember you!

  *

  In his black eyes, two bright blue lights flickered. He angrily closed his diary document. Grabbing a discarded mechanical arm from the edge of his workbench, Xiao unconsciously twisted this high-strength alloy mechanical arm that could withstand a load of ten tons, and a terrible force burst out from his seemingly weak arms. The mechanical arm made an unpleasant 'creaking' sound, and Xiao, in anger, twisted the sturdy mechanical arm into a broken, tattered rope.

  The blue light flickering in his eyes grew brighter, Xiao suddenly took a deep breath, his bulging muscles slowly contracted, and the light in his eyes gradually dissipated into nothingness.

  He lightly waved his arm, and with a sarcastic smile, he looked up at the sky. After being stunned for a while, Xiao looked at a large piece of machinery in his room that was almost complete, grabbed his tools without saying a word, and disassembled it into its most basic components. The Holy Unicorn Mercenary Corps had been ambushed, suffering heavy losses, including the loss of a first-class warship from the Holm family. Xiao's customized parts and components were clearly not going to arrive on time, and he didn't have any new channels to purchase new parts - after all, he was just an unremarkable mixed-blood descendant of the Holm family, and there weren't many Roam people who were willing to deal with him. He also wasn't willing to deal with more Roam people.

  This treasured creation that has exhausted his heart's blood, if it cannot be completed smoothly, then let it remain in his own mind.

  "Kuya Dust? Holy Unicorn Mercenary Group?" Xiao muttered these two names back and forth.

  He put down the multi-functional mechanical arm in his hand and walked out of his room with a depressed mood. When the automatic door opened in front of him, Xiao even felt a hint of fear in his heart. How long had he not left his house? Three months? Six months? Or... more than nine months? This spacious workshop was like Xiao's snail shell, protecting him but also constraining him. As Xiao walked out of the automatic door, he instinctively lowered his head.

  Twelve proud warriors of the Holm family marched in a neat formation past Xiao, their leader nodding slightly to Xiao as he passed by out of habit. All twelve warriors were equipped with the latest model energy armor, exquisite and luxurious metal armor covered with a three-centimeter-thick blue glow, which was said to be able to withstand the main cannon attack of a third-level warship of Earth's human forces, each piece costing an extremely high price, even the Roam people's main battle corps had not yet been equipped.

  But in the Holwarm family, even the lowest-ranking family warriors were equipped with this energy armor known as 'Shining Dragon Wing VII'.

  "The glorious and great Holrwm family!" Xiao's mouth twitched, the Holrwm family, indeed worthy of being the second-ranked imperial family among the Roam people.

  The floor, made of a material that combines Zakura energy crystals and special metal single crystal materials, emits a mysterious blue glow. The circular grand hall in front of Xiao's workshop has a diameter of over 200 meters, with a Gothic-style vaulted ceiling that is over 400 meters high, learned from the Earth people. The ceiling of the dome uses transparent crystal material, and sunlight passes through the carved light-concentrating plane of the ceiling to shine down, with a radiant beam of light falling, making this grand hall exceptionally majestic.

  The circular great hall has twelve radial corridors, each leading to various important buildings of the Holrheim family. Xiao's workspace and residence is located next to one of the corridors, which was originally a resting room for the family's servants. The converted workspace from a servant's resting room suits Xiao's mixed-blood identity.

  At the entrance of each corridor stood eight family warriors, all clad in energy armor, their nearly three-meter height making them particularly majestic. They had their left hands on their hips and their right hands grasping specially-made long-handled halberds, which were also covered with a thick layer of dim light. From time to time, powerful electric arcs shot out from the top of the halberd, emitting sharp "cracking" sounds. These family warriors seemed to have no concept of conserving energy, and at any moment they would activate these special energy weapons at full power, pursuing only that dazzling display of light.

  Even their energy armor - Xiao really wanted to tell them that they didn't need to keep the energy shield of their energy armor on all the time, the amount of Zakula crystals they wasted every hour was enough to power a light tank for thousands of kilometers. But this was the style of the Holm family, this was the grandeur that only the Holm family had!

  Twenty-four disc-shaped flying saucers, each with a diameter of two meters, flew out from a passageway on Xiao's left side, emitting a faint humming sound. On top of the flying discs stood twenty-four handsome young men wearing flowing white robes, their tall and strong bodies radiating an aura of health and beauty, as if they were celestial beings. They were excitedly whispering to each other, with a thin layer of blue light enveloping their bodies, fluctuating up and down in sync with their emotions. The surging spiritual energy waves made the atmosphere in the hall feel like it was swelling like a tide, causing Xiao's body to involuntarily retreat several steps back, his back tightly pressed against the wall.

  A Roam youth discovered Xiao's existence, but his gaze swept past him as if he didn't exist. No one paid attention to Xiao, especially not the pure-blooded descendants of the Holstrom family, who had no need to acknowledge his presence. A lowly mixed-blood, his only reason for being born was that Nanket Holstrom wanted to try his luck and see if a superior genetic mutation would appear in his offspring. Since Xiao's genes didn't mutate, since his talent was so mediocre, he was almost worthless.

  Twenty-four proud Holwarm direct descendants stepped out of the hall on disc-shaped flying vessels, with a large team of family warriors lined up neatly outside the hall. Behind each young man was an unequal number of family warriors guarding him, which is also a necessary ceremony for the Holwarm family.

  Xiao walked out of the hall with slow steps, without a single family warrior looking him in the eye.

  Outside the hall was a square, about one kilometer long and wide, where two purple-black warships over 300 meters long were neatly docked, along with hundreds of various types of armored vehicles. A strong gust of wind blew in, carrying sand and gravel, as the energy shields on the warships and armored vehicles emitted dazzling light at full power. The sand and gravel were constantly being vaporized by the energy field, turning into wisps of green smoke that drifted away. The dense explosions of sand and gravel were incessant, making it seem like thousands of popcorn machines were operating at full capacity across the vast square.

  A thick layer of clouds covered the sky, and a faint thunderclap rolled in from the horizon. A massive shadow slowly crossed over the thick cloud layer. The active electrons in the air suddenly intensified by nearly a hundred times as the shadow passed over Xiao's head. His long hair stood on end, and with just a light rub of his fingers, a small electrical arc shot out from his fingertips for tens of centimeters. A powerful electromagnetic field charged the sand particles in the strong wind, causing them to generate massive amounts of electricity through friction. The front square suddenly erupted into an electromagnetic storm, with blinding purple lightning illuminating everything. The energy shields on the warships and tanks simultaneously burst forth with several-meter-long blue electrical arcs, accompanied by a deafening "hissing" sound that made one's scalp tingle.

  This is a world like hell.

  The massive black shadow flying over their heads was the Mars defense platform named "Thunderclap" by the Roam people, a man-made monster with terrifying firepower and extremely strong defensive capabilities. The metal platform, which exceeded ten kilometers in length and width, could only slowly drift in low Earth orbit, and the huge magnetic levitation engine on the platform constantly sprayed massive electromagnetic pollution into Mars' atmosphere below, leaving nothing but desolation wherever it passed.

  Zuo Fei is a Roamer with an extremely strong spiritual field. If an ordinary Earthling were to be placed in such an environment, they would absolutely not be able to survive for more than three minutes.

  On the edge of the square, there was a withered small forest, about as thick as a child's wrist, with dry yellow tree trunks that stood weakly and crookedly on the ground. A strong wind swept up large amounts of sand and gravel towards this poor little forest, and after a burst of crackling sounds, several extremely withered tree trunks suddenly caught fire at the same time.

  Several Holwurm family samurai rushed to the front of the woods, one of whom sternly pointed at the burning tree trunks with his hand, and a white chill shot out from his fingertips. The temperature in the local area dropped to around minus 100 degrees Celsius, freezing the burning tree trunks, and the flames naturally dissipated.

  This is Mars, a terrible planet that the Roam people have spent nearly three hundred years cultivating with great effort, barely making it habitable for the Roam people.

  Many times Xiao didn't understand why the Roam people would build defensive fortifications like Thunder God's Roar, this kind of planet even if the Roam people paid Earth people to come and live here they wouldn't be happy. Xiao had seen many photos of Earth in his mother's diary, those beautiful natural landscapes were simply like heaven, would Earth people cross the galaxy to attack Mars which was like hell? Unless all Earth people went crazy!

  "Muttering to himself, he gave a fitting evaluation of the current leaders of Roam. Xiao walked towards a dilapidated 'Sand Scorpion I' off-road vehicle in the corner of the square. The history of this war vehicle was much longer than 17-year-old Xiao's, it was said that it had participated in 19 local conflicts with Earthlings, Xiao found it in a pile of wartime junk transported back to Mars and spent over a year restoring its mobility."

  Next to this old Sandrail Type I, there is a brand new Sandwolf VI assault vehicle with its own energy shield. This is the car that the Holstrom family has equipped for Xiao, after all, as the second imperial family of Roam, Xiao's dignity when going out still needs to be maintained. However, Xiao just likes this old off-road vehicle he salvaged from a junkyard and is unwilling to use the car provided by his family. The Holstrom family can't do anything about it, and Xiao becomes even more neglected in the family.

  He slipped into the relatively spacious driver's cabin, closed the slightly airtight door, and skillfully started the vehicle heading out of the valley where the Holstrom family was located.

  The harsh environment on Mars forces the Roam people to live in natural or artificial canyons, which are over a thousand meters high and can withstand strong winds of over 80%. These dense canyons are interconnected, forming the cities and city clusters where the Roam people live on Mars. The deep canyons and secret underground tunnels crisscross the entire planet, connecting everything. After hundreds of years of development, over 40 billion Roam people live in this unique semi-underground environment.

  The Sand Wraith I burrowed into a narrow tunnel on the west side of Holmstrom Valley, which was owned by the Holmstrom family. After more than an hour's journey, Xiao drove the vehicle out of the traffic network opened up by the Roam people and entered a natural valley in the wilderness. Although the Sand Wraith I looked old and worn on the outside, its performance had been modified by Xiao to be 20% higher than that of the latest Sand Wraith VII. The car lightly crossed over the fiery red sandstone blocks in the valley and finally arrived at the entrance of a cave at the end of the valley.

  The surrounding area was surrounded by cliffs over 300 meters high, and at the foot of the eastern cliff was a cave entrance less than three meters high. A compact "Sand Scorpion II" off-road vehicle was parked on a small patch of sandy ground outside the cave. When Xiao, who was normally cold and unfeeling, saw this Sand Scorpion II, his expression rarely thawed out, and a warm smile appeared on his face.

  This Sand Wraith II also came from Xiao's hands, and his ride Sand Wraith I came from the same pile of war junk. Xiao spent more effort on this Sand Wraith II than his own Sand Wraith I, because this Sand Wraith II belonged to Xiao's only friend - a lovely Roam girl of the servant race Ling tribe - Lily.

  The Lings, with a physical form similar to that of Earthlings, have pale green skin, irises, and hair. They are a humanoid species, each one slender, delicate, and lovely. They possess a unique gift. Every Ling's spiritual power is not strong enough, but it is sufficient for subtlety and gentleness. Believing that all things have spirits, they can communicate with all living beings in the world.

  The Roam people can set foot on Mars, and apart from the Roam people's powerful technological capabilities, the role of the Ling tribe cannot be underestimated. It was the Ling tribe who used their own racial abilities to catalyze several low-level algae native to Earth to make the initial modifications to Mars, and the new oxygen-rich atmosphere that can support human life on Mars came from the hands of the Ling people.

  This cave was discovered by Xiao when he was young, and the cave contained a kind of strange energy that all instruments could not detect but did exist. This energy was full of peculiar vitality, which made plants grow and evolve better. Xiao couldn't perceive this wonderful energy at all, it was Lily who perceived the existence of this energy, from then on, this place became a little secret between the two.

  A green shadow flashed, a slender and delicate little figure cautiously poked her head out of the cave entrance. When she found that the driver was Xiao Shi, the small face instantly lit up with a brilliant smile. Even before Xiao could see Lily's movements clearly, this little shadow had already flung herself into his arms, leaving behind a trail of afterimages.

  "Lily, why haven't you come to see me for so long?" The delicate and beautiful Lily excitedly hugged Xiao's neck, rapidly asking about his everything in the past few months with her clear and sweet voice. Her elegant tone was like a spring thaw that nourished Xiao's heart, slowly softening it in this wonderful sound.

  Lily's body was petite and soft, as if she had no bones, hanging on Xiao's body, Xiao didn't feel the slightest weight. Xiao affectionately reached out to rub Lily's green long hair on her head, he sighed: "I've been very busy lately, you know those things I'm making."

  Lily's eyes lit up and she grabbed Xiao's ear, pulling him up: "Then you have time to come see me, are you sure you've succeeded? Have you really succeeded?"

  Lily knew what Xiao was making, something that could change Xiao's fate. If Xiao really succeeded in creating them, Xiao's position in the Holwrum family would be greatly elevated - Xiao might even be able to enter the Roam people's highest scientific academy directly because of these few things - Xiao was making a new generation of engines that could improve the utilization rate of Zakura energy crystals. Both humans and Roamians had countless researchers studying this problem.

  More advanced engines, higher energy utilization rates, and greater unit output power mean larger warships, faster speeds, and more powerful high-energy weapons. This means being able to travel further in the universe, searching for more celestial bodies, discovering more resources, and updating them more frequently. It also means stronger comprehensive strength and the hope of thoroughly suppressing or even eliminating the opponent!

  A Roam half-breed who's not even eighteen yet dares to boast about creating a brand new engine? If this gets out, it'll make countless researchers from both races laugh their hearts out. But Xiao has indeed been researching this for years. This is also a small secret between Xiao and Lily - Xiao is actually a genetic mutant in the dreams of Southcrete Holm, possessing extremely strong innate abilities, but his talents don't lie in the spiritual power cultivation that Roam people take pride in.

  Xiao possessed a terrifying physical strength talent, and at the age of seven, Xiao pushed away a boulder weighing several tons to save the equally young Lili, which was the beginning of their relationship.

  But what was even more terrifying than Bixiao's physical strength talent was his talent in mechanics. It was an instinct, a kind of unspeakable, almost divine instinct! Lili had witnessed countless times the miracles created by Xiao.

  He let out a wry laugh and shook his head, saying, "No, I failed. Or rather, temporarily failed."

  Lily never doubted Xiao's success, so her beautiful green eyes stared at Xiao in astonishment.

  "Why didn't it work?" Lili was on the verge of tears, her green eyes filled with water, and she looked at Xiao with great grievance. She knew what this engine meant to Xiao, and as long as Xiao presented this engine to the academicians of the Roam People's highest academy, Xiao's fate would undergo a drastic change.

  "Ugh!" Xiao's face was very unsightly, he muttered the names "Gu Xie Chen" and "Sacred Unicorn Mercenary Group" again, shaking his head in anger. "This, can't blame me, Lily, this can't blame me. This is someone else's fault, it's an unfortunate coincidence, just unlucky people besides the Sacred Unicorn Mercenary Group's bunch of bastards, there's also one more person - me."

  He let out a few bitter laughs and shook his head. "It seems that now I can only go through the Kristo fusion ceremony."

  "No way!" Lily cried out in terror: "Absolutely not, you'll die!"

  Yes, it's deadly. Lili's family has a certain status in the spiritual world, and since childhood she had heard countless horror stories about the 'Cristo fusion ceremony'. In those stories, no one survived. All who underwent this ritual either died or became terrifying demons. According to rumors among the spiritual people, these failed fusion demons were monsters that fed on spiritual people as appetizers and Roam people as main courses.

  Will Shao, who can give Lily infinite warmth and a sense of security, also become such a monster?

  Lily's tears rolled down in big drops as she sobbed and asked: "Can't you think of another way?"

  "Any other way?" Xiao shook his head. Unless he could complete that engine, but he lacked some extremely important customized parts.

  As a low-ranking Roam and an Earthling hybrid, no one would or rather, no one wanted to believe his words - including Nectar Holstrom. Even if he ran around telling people that he had invented the latest engine capable of increasing the energy utilization rate of Zorvath crystals, his only outcome would be being ridiculed as a fool by countless proud Roam.

  Not to mention the stubborn, rigid and conservative Roam Academy's scholars. If Xiao dared to take his design drawings to find them, they would absolutely order the guards to execute him on the spot - even if his nominal father was the head of the Holm family, it wouldn't be able to save his fate.

  Who would believe a despicable half-breed?

  In the entire universe, the only one who can have faith in Xiao is Lili, who cries in his arms.

  After a moment of silence, Xiao Qing smiled and said: "Come on, Lily, don't cry. Let's go take a look at your treasure, hmm, also my treasure!"

  In the spacious cave, a faint green light filled the air, a magical green light that seeped out from deep within the rocky walls. On the sandy ground, a nursery of over 100 meters long and wide had been cultivated, with nearly a thousand tender shoots of small trees, each about two meters tall, full of vitality, every leaf bursting with rich, almost dripping, greenery.

  That's the little secret between Xiao and Lily.

  This cave has a magical power that can promote the growth and evolution of plants, and also stimulate Lily, allowing Lily to gain a huge boost in both physical and mental strength.

  The air inside the cave is very fresh, and the inside and outside of the cave are simply two vastly different worlds.

  Xiao hugged Lily and sat comfortably in the nursery, he took a deep breath, fresh cool air swirling in his lungs, thick vitality slowly merged into his body.

  "It's really too beautiful!"

  Xiao stared at this piece of forest in a daze.

  If it weren't for those two troublemakers 'Gu Xie Chen' and the 'Sacred Unicorn Mercenary Group', this world would be really too perfect.

  If I could successfully build that engine, and add Lily, and this wonderful forest! This world would really be too beautiful!

  "Get out of here!"

  "Holy Unicorn Mercenary Corps!"

  Xiao kept repeating these two names in his heart, and he deeply hated these two people.

  It was because of them that Xiao had no choice but to attend the life-or-death Cristo fusion ceremony.

  As he touched Lily's smooth skin, Xiao uttered the most vicious curse he knew at Gu Xianchen and the Holy Unicorn Mercenary Corps.

  ×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

  An extra updated chapter of a spin-off story...... A 6,000-word chapter......

  Alas, comrades, a new week is coming soon... Recommendations and clicks are pouring down.

  Hehe...

  It will soon be a new month...

  You give me passion, I'll give you explosion...

  Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo! ... (continues indefinitely)