Legend of the Supreme Soldier - Chapter 261

e Chong’s sense of direction was right, the mist was in fact fading away as he hovered on. He started noticing the few mysterious regularities within the mist. There seemed to be a cycle… which affected the thickness of the mist. So whenever the red mist began diminishing, the red strands would turn finer and some of them would disintegrate as well. In the midst of the mist in pale scarlet, only the strands thinner than fingers remained. The strands were outstanding as they stood in a sharper crimson than their broader counterpart, like burning flame. The strength of these strands was probably far greater than the normal strands behind. Ye Chong in his Han Jia gave a careful slash to the root and grabbed stalk of them. These were far more reliable than the usual ropes, would be perfect as a lifeline.

On little bit of curiosity, Ye Chong realized he could not even tear the fine strands apart. These were some real physic-defying threads. Well, if they were really “threads” to begin with. Ye Chong was rather intrigued by the composition of these red strands, being eager for exploration in the chemical composition of matters was a typical character setting for an alchemist like himself.

Without the hinderance of the strands, Han Jia started regaining its mobility. Ye Chong was very much avid for a fancy race on Mach 20, but he had to conserve his batteries, as he maintained Han Jia at around Mach 18. Still, Mach 18 was already a speed way different than what Han Jia used to travel at.

The mist was disappearing, as Ye Chong’s visibility restored. Han Jia’s built-in hologramic detection system had won back Ye Chong’s trust since the interference was getting overcome.

It was weird though, that Ye Chong did not see any planet despite his long travels. He technically had barely seen anything else than the red strands and red sea themselves.

In a void so vast and boundless, how could there be only a misty field of red strands? There was nothing else? Really? What is the mist for? Where do they come from? How large the field was exactly? Nobody knew, nobody could tell.

Ye Chong did have that innate curiosity to venture into the unknown, but that did not mean he would compromise his safety and jump into a potential black hole.

He travelled for the following week with the digital clock ticking inside the cabin. It was a relief when he was finally able to escape from the creepy red sea. No message was received. No notification was on his screen. There was no incoming signal as well. There were too many unknowns inside the galaxies, so many taboos they should not fondle with. It would be a miracle if he was able to encounter the Coxcomb by coincidence in a space like this. Ye Chong would not even dare to tell if Mu had successfully escaped the grasp of red mist.

He took a look around, the familiar black airless void in his surrounding. He sighed, in relief.

Till he lifted his head to the front, he stumbled upon the scenery before him.

Asteroid belt… Ye Chong realized the vast deadly red sea was actually wrapped by a far more enormous asteroid belt.

An asteroid belt was nothing new in the record of exploration by humanity. The 5 major galaxies alone would have a handful of places with asteroid belts, which some people would call it “The Zone of Dead Calamity”. Humanity today showed little understanding towards the asteroid belts for it contained, as the name stated, the deadliest calamity one could imagine, not only because of the demand of exceptional piloting, but also what lived inside the core of the belt. There was hardly anybody who had hit the depth of the belt.

No one could explain how these belts were formed, while some experts claimed them having the same formation of the ring of a planet from one solar system with the name Saturn, which was not even a good analogy to begin with. The structure of the asteroid belts was not something that was born by an explosion of planet or a byproduct of black hole throwing up, it was an unknown, with unidentified danger lurking within. People could not give a sound statement for the asteroid containment, but they all could illustrate a vivid imagery of the horrendous explosion of asteroid whirlpool as it was something that could devastate probably anything nearby, which stirred up the greatest fear in mankind.

And Ye Chong had experienced it once himself, if it was not Mu who woke up in time, he would have been permanently part of the belt now.

But unlike those he had seen before, the asteroid belt before him was the broadest by far, as the whole red sea was fully surrounded by it.

He took a look afar… there was nothing else. He had to either venture into the belt or get back into the red sea. Wait what? No, don’t be silly! Going back to that hellish place? I’d rather walk into that asteroid belt now!

Giving a few commands to Han Jia, Ye Chong advanced cautiously into the asteroid belt.

There were asteroids of all sort of sizes and shapes. There were a few with diameter about a few tens kilometers… some were about the size of his fist. Ye Chong had his attention fully to his surrounding, as he monitored those hovering asteroids around him. Those were the silent most killers one could face in the space. He had to watch and took necessary actions whenever the asteroids moved, even the slightest bit, as the memory came haunting him, reminding him of his horrible experience with the last asteroid whirlpool.

Like hell knows if there would anything funnier here!! I could not take more jokes to my life!

There were asteroids, lots of asteroids, but it was mentally-numbing as well. It was boring yet it was something to train Ye Chong’s will. After a few days of traveling in the belt, Ye Chong could already dodge the asteroids on a whim. Han Jia retreated to its below average velocity ever since they stepped into the belt, just to avoid these disorderly madness around.

Fortunately enough, despite the amount of asteroids around him, the detection system was unaffected, as it could still give Ye Chong direction. At least Ye Chong could maintain his direction and not make the wrong turn without noticing.

Ye Chong could feel his brain jamming. Well, anyone would have gone mad traveling in high alert for a few days straight without sleep.

…

… …

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

The alarm wailed.

!

An alarm? Flinched Ye Chong, shaking his head to collect his thoughts, shifting his attention back onto that outdated hologramic detection system. The hologramic system would be far more useful than Ye Chong’s naked eyes within the asteroids.

There was… sign… of life?

Ye Chong frowned. No way. Where do I find a lifeform in an environment like this? But… judging by the projection… there seemed to be quite a number of signs…

Did I take a detour back to the Black Coves? Speculated Ye Chong. It made sense since the Black Coves was a base sealed within an asteroid belt like this. The location was flawless, a solid defense with countless deceiving openings for enemies to fall prey upon. It was certainly something the 3 other forces coveted and drooled at, considering how discovery of such place would require a fateful encounter rather than blind effort. Black Coves did not rely on sheer luck anyway, as they invested a tremendous amount of workforces and financial resources on building the base itself, which simply were not something the other 3 forces could have imagined.

So are these Black Covers?

Oh wait, yeah. What I’m thinking?

Ye Chong could not help but to start giggling, finding he himself being too sensitive. Of course those could never be the Black Covers, the outdated detection system of Han Jia could never detect the advanced models from the Black Coves, hah! Practically most of the detection systems were deemed useless against the models of the 3 forces anyway.

Also, judging by the figurative data generated by the system, these should be organisms, living things. But how would living things survive in harsh conditions like the asteroid belt?

Ye Chong was feeling peculiar about this, yes, he did recognize a few living things that could survive in vacuum with the drastically mutated components of their bodies compared to those habituated on the planets. However, that did not mean Ye Chong would buy the fact that, these particular vacuum-living lifeforms would just so happen to be in the asteroid belt where he was traveling, as the place blatantly shouted “unsuitable for living, stay here if you want to die” to him. And he spotted a few asteroid whirlpools quite frequently along the way. If it was not for his quick-reaction, he would have been inside one of the space blenders.

These circumstances had just proven the fact that this asteroid belt was not as benevolent, benign as it appeared to be. It was a tumor, a malignant instability that could blow up any second. It would be a myth to have living things habituated here.

He looked at the projection again, these lifeforms did not seem to be moving the slightest bit. Ye Chong felt he was unnoticed at the moment, so he grabbed his alertness and slowed down completely. He would not want to butt his head into some territory enforced by some unidentified lifeforms and get attacked by unknown methods.

Everything in the surrounding was unknown to him. So he had to be extremely careful, as every move he made would be taken into account of his survival.

… hmm …

?!

What? There’s such zone inside the deadliest asteroid belt?

Ye Chong was stupefied.

He saw a sprout of pale lilac, with buds glowing in ghostly azure. The sprout was short, with tiny leaves and well spread over the layer of the area. Almost every rock in the proximity was covered by those sprouts. The stem was slender, bearing a fruit in haunting blue, looked like illuminating the darkness of the specks hovering nearby.

The place was filled with floating purplish rocks at a sight afar, where the blues would twinkle like the stars in the dark.

Ye Chong identified a few unknown organisms playing around the rocks. They were not tall, with a height barely 3 meters, with a pair of hind legs on the ground. Those were some real bulky legs which one would like to look out for. The top limbs were so short that it hardly reached out from their chests, armed with sharp claws that gave off hideous glows. Compared to their overwhelming hind legs, their body was rather feeble, their necks would gracefully wave at all directions along with the dark spikes over their purplish backs.

Most of their kind was busy munching the glowing bulbs on top of the sprouts. There were a few lazier ones taking a silent slumber on the cleared rocks at the side.

Ye Chong was dropping his jaws, as he never expected to see such living thing in harsh environment like this, and to top all that, those living things seemed to have taken a few turns of evolution ahead.

Ye Chong then piloted Han Jia to hide being one of the larger asteroids, since he was not sure if these organisms were naturally benevolent. He imagined that he could be skewed if he were to jump into action and alert the group’s dining. Nonetheless, the scenery was still a major shocker to his perception of the world, he would need a good amount of time to digest all these.

He had the necessary patience and nutrition capsules to last him throughout the observation, although it would be marvelous if the fleshes of these animals turned out to be edible. Hunting was one of the skills he probably was born with. Back on Trash Planet, other than the Iron Lizard which stood at the topmost of the food web, there was not any animal he could not hunt.

Moreover, as far as he had observed, these lifeforms seemed to be herbivores, which were known to be gentle by nature. Well, Ye Chong did not want to gamble just yet. The environment just turned more bizarre to his understanding. It would not be surprising if there was any funny addition to the lifeforms’ characteristic.

He analyzed the visual of the sprouts in high definition. He could confirm that he had never seen the planet before and it was not registered on Lunatic Guan’s encyclopedia.

He carried on observing in the dark. Of course he was enthralled by his latest discovery, since he would have greater likelihood to survive with these animals around.

?!

And as expected, there was something new to his Aliendex’s entry.

e was now about a kilometer away from those animals, but he soon noticed an opening about 300 meters wide between him and the animals. This empty space had no rocks, nothing.

In outer space, emptiness was expected. However, here in the asteroid region, it was very odd. This empty space was like a boundary that divided the asteroids.

Why would such two very different regions exist in such close proximity? On his side were rocks in abundance, devoid of any signs of life. However, 300 meters further out, it was a haven for life. There were plants and even highly evolved animals.

Ye Chong might not be an expert in evolution, but he could at least understand the basics. In a harsh environment like the asteroid belt, it was plausible to find microorganisms, lichen or even small insects living there. However, large animals like the ones he saw now was pushing the limits of nature’s laws.

There was only one possible solution to this dilemma. This 300-meter space of emptiness had divided these two entirely different worlds.

What was the mystery behind this empty space?

As Ye Chong studied the herbivores’ movements closely, he suddenly felt like he had a grasp of an idea. But what was it? Ye Chong could not exactly say what he felt. That vague sensation was gone in an instant.

Ye Chong did not panic. He continued studying the herbivores’ movements, knowing that he must have noticed something significant to have had that feeling.

He calmed himself down and observed quietly for 10 minutes. After a full 10 minutes, Ye Chong finally understood what he was seeing.

Ye Chong’s fingers danced on the controls. Han Jia picked up one of the little rocks floating around nearby and threw it gently towards the other side. Since he was hidden behind a rock, Han Jia threw at an angle upward.

The little rock flew at a constant speed, but when it reached that empty space, its trajectory suddenly shifted. It no longer flew upwards, but began to fall downwards, completing a parabolic trajectory.

“As expected,” Ye Chong grew confident of his own suspicions.

Gravity – that was Ye Chong noticed. Beginning from the empty space, there was gravity! No wonder the herbivores’ movements bothered him. It was gravity.

Where he was, Ye Chong did not feel even the slightest of any gravitational pull.

This was astonishing. Everything was too astonishing. Ye Chong had never seen anything like it.

However, the universe was large. Anything was possible! He quickly accepted this reality. Mankind’s understanding of the universe was so dismal.

It was not for him to figure out the reason for this miracle. Survival should be his priority. No matter the time, survival was the first thing that came to his mind. Besides, given the circumstances, he had no time to think on these matters.

Since there was gravity, why did these rocks not fall into it? Where did this gravity come from?

There were too many questions! However, what did they had to do with him? What he wanted, was to survive. Now, even the search for Mu and Shang was second in his list of priorities. If he could not survive, how could he find Mu and Shang?

As for whether Mu and Shang were still living, Ye Chong dared not even consider the possibilities.

In any case, he must survive! Ye Chong steadied himself, and immediately felt more encouraged.

After some pondering, Ye Chong began to move. While it was risky, he really did not have many options.

Ye Chong took a deep breath, and moved. Han Jia abruptly sprang out from behind the rock, and went full speed straight ahead. This time, Ye Chong did not care to reserve energy, and put the engines on full power.

With Han Jia’s speed at full engine capacity, a single kilometer’s distance could be covered in the blink of an eye.

Abruptly, Ye Chong felt his whole body sinking downwards, like everything had suddenly turned heavier.

Han Jia also was obviously falling, but Ye Chong was prepared for this. The auxiliary engines tilted, and Han Jia was back on its intended trajectory.

Just as Ye Chong reached the empty space, those herbivores immediately lifted their heads in alarm. Han Jia’s appearance had obviously surprised them. The animals panicked and quickly ran away.

Ye Chong finally saw clearly how the animals moved. Their strong hind legs allowed them to jump. They hopped from rock to rock, quick as the wind. In just a few moments, the herd of herbivores disappeared from his sight. They moved almost as fast as mechs.

Ye Chong had no time to appreciate the awe-inspiring strength of those animals, since something was going very wrong now.

The gravity was stronger than on any inhabited planet! The gravitational pull was stronger than Ye Chong expected. As he entered the empty space, Ye Chong felt his body turned even heavier.

It was like being pressed firmly into his seat. His deft hands now felt so sluggish. The abrupt gradient of potential energy made Ye Chong dizzy. Fortunately, his lengthy training kicked in, and he flew the mech without hindrance. Despite the situation, Ye Chong did not lose control of his mech.

Han Jia landed neatly on a floating rock suspended in midair. The mech’s massive weight did not even stir the rock as Han Jia stood on it.

Ye Chong quickly recovered from his dizziness. His body felt like lead, so heavy that even moving his finger was a chore. Ye Chong quickly made an estimate of the gravitational field strength, and found that it was probably about five times that of the trash planet.

Even with Ye Chong’s physical strength, the strong gravitational field was enough to make movement difficult. Thinking back on how those herbivores leaped, Ye Chong felt embarrassed of himself. If it was him running, he would never be able to match their speed. Those animals were strong.

Ye Chong felt grateful. If he had been careless, those animals would be a big mess to deal with.

Ye Chong did not continue advancing, but stayed where he was and examined his surroundings. With five times the average gravitational force, Han Jia was now less powerful in combat. Han Jia’s design was not meant for battle in strong gravity environments like this. With five times the gravitational force, energy consumption would increase steeply. Han Jia would also be unable to reach its maximum speed. Besides, in this environment, Ye Chong felt like he was carrying four times his own body weight, and his hands felt five times heavier than normal. With this, Ye Chong’s hands would slow down, and his combat endurance would also decrease.

If he did a high speed Thomas’s Spin here, Ye Chong knew that he would suffer grave internal injuries from it. With five times the gravitational force, even sitting was hard.

There was not going around the problem. Ye Chong could only exercise caution and continue on carefully. If anything was amiss, he would run away.

The test results was encouraging for Ye Chong. There was air here, suitable for human respiration. Besides, the air quality was excellent, achieving the highest quality level possible. Even so, Ye Chong was not particularly demanding about air quality. To him, it was enough as along as the air was breathable. On the trash planet, pollution was at a critical level. Staying outdoors for long hours would be damaging to the respiratory tract and lungs.

However, Ye Chong also understood that good air quality also implied that the area was suitable for life. In fact, if it was suitable for humans, it was also suitable for most living organisms.

The air quality results was a relief for Ye Chong. The mech’s air recycling system could not run forever, since it consumed energy as well. Since there was breathable air here, it was at least suitable for habitation.

With air, wildlife and the mech’s water synthesizer, he already had all the basic necessities to survive.

Even though there was air outside, Ye Chong did not leave his mech. The environment was still largely unfamiliar to him, and it was safer to stay in the mech.

Numerous floating rocks seemed to suspend in the air, as though they were supported by something invisible in this strong-gravity environment. Ye Chong could not understand how this was possible. Moreover, when Han Jia stood on these rocks, they did not move at all.

What was this all about? Ye Chong could not for the life of him understand how these things came to be.

“There’s so much in this world that’s a mystery,” he thought to himself, and quickly moved on.

Ye Chong flew Han Jia carefully, avoiding the rocks in the air as he advanced slowly.

The further he flew, the more he discovered. There were more and more rocks suspended in the air, and there seemed to be no end in sight. Besides the purple fauna that he found earlier on those rocks, there were also a brown, lichen-like vegetation.

In this dark space, many faint blue sparkling dots surrounded the rocks. They seemed to be scattered randomly around the rocks, and brought life to the darkness.

The rocks were all scattered about irregularly. Ye Chong quickly found that flying was not a wise choice. With gravity, evasion during flight was a lot harder.

Fortunately, Ye Chong was adaptable. He quickly found a wonderful alternative – leaping, just like those herbivores. Han Jie leaped from one rock to another. Since the rocks were not too far apart, it was a suitable way of moving forward. The only problem was that Han Jia was a lot larger than those herbivores. This was a hindrance when moving between the rocks.

Besides, Ye Chong found that it was impossible to move the floating rocks vertically, parallel to the gravitational pull. However, it could be moved horizontally, and that was a curiosity to Ye Chong.

Ever since he entered the rest mist, he had encountered so many strange things. Until now, he could not understand any of them. As he continued to meet new and unexplainable phenomena, he learned to accept them quickly. After all, everything was strange around here, so different from what he knew of the world.

While he did not investigate the logic behind the things appearing around him, Ye Chong still studied everything carefully. Learning about his surroundings in unfamiliar territory would greatly increase his chances of survival.

As Ye Chong moved further in, the rocks grew closer together. This made Han Jia’s advance even harder. In the end, Ye Chong could only fly upwards.

He flew on for three days. While Han Jia was slowed down in order to avoid the rocks, he still covered a fair distance in these three days. However, Ye Chong noticed grimly that the energy consumed in these three days was equivalent to the energy ordinarily used up in two weeks. If this continued, the energy would quickly run out, and Ye Chong’s most effective means of self defense would be gone.

In these three days of flight, Ye Chong encountered a few herds of those herbivores.

The only encouraging thing was that Ye Chong had finally reached the uppermost layer of the asteroid region. This was apparent from the wider expanse of empty space he reached now.

This empty space stretched on for more than 3,000 kilometers.

3,000 kilometers was the limit of Han Jia’s scanning system. “I didn’t think an asteroid belt will have such a mysterious place,” Ye Chong could not help but exclaimed. One can imagine the massive expanse of the asteroid belt.

Ye Chong paused as he studied Han Jia’s holographic scans. In the next moment, Han Jia quickly took off.

Since he was at the edge of the asteroid belt, there were no rocks to stop Han Jia, and the mech advanced swiftly.

The rocks were denser further ahead. The rocks below Han Jia grew closer and closer together. Gradually, the rocks below Han Jia formed a solid piece, like a gravelled road. Further still, the rocks were now just flat earth.

According to Han Jia’s holographic scans, what laid ahead was a huge continent.

e Chong never imagined that he would see a continent here.

How was this possible? Ye Chong had never seen any astronomical body like this. He had travelled far and wide, and the Five Galaxies definitely did not have something like this. Almost all the astronomical bodies in the universe were spherical. This was the first time Ye Chong saw a non-spherical astronomical body.

With Ye Chong’s minimal knowledge in astronomy and astrophysics, he could not fully appreciate the magnitude of the problem that this phenomenon commanded. In fact, he was only slightly surprised by his findings. If he were to publish holographic images of this place in the virtual world, it would be an earth-shattering shock to the world. The astronomy community would undergo a huge revolution. However, even if he realized what this place would mean to the world, Ye Chong would probably feel indifferent about it.

This unique astronomical body was like a huge island among the many smaller rocks scattered about the asteroid belt.

As he stepped onto the continent, Ye Chong immediately raised his guard more. There were too many strange things going on here. To survive, he must quickly adapt to his surroundings.

Returning to the Five Galaxies now seemed like an impossible task. Ye Chong was alone, and had almost used up his energy cells. He did not know where he was, not even a set of coordinates for his location that would allow for a warp jump. In any case, Han Jia was not equipped with warp jump technology.

For now, he should focus on surviving. Inside him was a strong will to live. Growing up in a harsh environment like the trash planet made Ye Chong fearless against dangerous environments. Caution would help you live longer, while fear will be the death of you. This was something that Ye Chong realized since he was nine.

It was as though he had returned to his lonely days of struggling on the trash planet. He had only Han Jia for company. Even Mu and Shang were lost to him.

However, what could he do? Ye Chong made a rare expression of elation. Han Jia was far better than Winnie. Besides, he was a lot stronger than before. The only thing that saddened him was that he was separated from Mu and Shang.

Ye Chong quickly gathered himself. Mu’s calmness was a strong influence to Ye Chong, and Ye Chong rarely found himself losing his cool.

He looked forward, and saw no end in sight. This was a huge plain. The sparkling faint blue dots covered the vast plain like a thin carpet. The view was splendid, enough to overwhelm any visiting artist.

It was a pity that the only one visiting now was Ye Chong, who had zero interest and insight into the arts.

Ye Chong was as cold as a machine, and mostly ignored the scenery. His eyes were staring straight at Han Jia’s holographic screen. Every holographic system would have certain civilian functions. While military holographic scanning systems had more functionalities, it was the civilian type that was more valuable now.

Now was not the time to use the powerful military holographic scanning system, but the all-purpose engineering holographic scanning system.

Ye Chong recalled then that he had an engineering mech. This was the one he bought at Nine Gates of Daylight. It was bought with the insect mech that he used to mine transmutated energy ore on the primary planet.

Engineering mechs were an important type of civilian mech. It could provide a certain level of security for engineers working outdoors, and had specialized engineering scanning systems that were not found in average mechs.

Ye Chong withdrew his engineering mech, but did not push forward. Instead, he made a detailed scan of the continent.

Scanning results indicated that there was a large amount of ore where Ye Chong was now. Unidentified ores made up 40 percent of them. The continent was flat, and its size was beyond the measurement limits of this engineering mech. 98 percent of the plain was covered with vegetation. This was considerably high, even when compared against primary planets that were untouched by humans. Other than the plants with light purple leaves and glowing blue orbs, and that dark brown lichen that Ye Chong had seen earlier, the engineering mech’s holographic scans had identified another five additional plant species.

Ye Chong collected specimens of each species, and stored them in the specimen storage device of the engineering mech. He was a capable alchemist, even without his tools. However, the chip that Lunatic Guan gave him had information on many ancient identification tests invented by the Guan family. These tests may be detailed and laborious, but they utilized traditional methods and relied less on modern apparatus.

From that chip, Ye Chong understood more about these plants. As the earliest field that branched out of botany, alchemy knowledge was far more useful and practical to study plants.

With five times the gravitational force acting on him, Ye Chong felt lethargic from his study.

Perhaps due to the strong gravity, the continent was extremely tough, feeling like alloy under his feet. The plants also boasted strong leaves and stems.

Soon, Ye Chong returned into Han Jia. He finally used the rope ladder that he had not used all this while to climb up. With five times the gravitational force, Ye Chong dared not climb up into Han Jia’s pilot cabin. At this height, Ye Chong felt as vulnerable as an infant. Every move was difficult. This made him yearned for the easy movements that he could make under normal gravity. However, he quickly dismissed such useless thoughts. The only way now was forward.

There was no choice – he had to adapt! Five times the gravitational force … Ye Chong’s expression was calm, but his eyes shone brightly with determination.

He took a deep breath, and Han Jia began marching forward on the plain.

This time, Ye Chong covered 350 kilometers. If it was in outer space, this distance would only take a short while. However, due to energy conservation and safety measures, the flight had took a full three hours for Han Jia.

Fortunately, the journey was smooth. Aside from the three new plant species that Ye Chong discovered, there was nothing interesting. Here were a good many herbivores that Ye Chong had seen earlier. Beside them, Ye Chong did not see any other animals, much less carnivores.

However, Ye Chong did not let down his guard. He knew that while the carnivores remained unseen, they must be here somewhere. Nature was curious this way. Even in a harsh environment like the trash planet, carnivores still sat at the top of the food chain.

Ye Chong found something new again.

Water. There was water here. In fact, ever since he saw the plants, Ye Chong had guessed that there must be water around here. However, when he finally saw it, his heart still jumped with joy.

This was a large river. According to Han Jia’s holographic scanning results, the widest part of the river was a good 15 kilometers wide. The river was calm, but Han Jia still managed to calculate the speed of the river flow. The only question was, where did the water come from?

This river divided the continent into two. Ye Chong pondered for a moment, before flying Han Jia across the river.

Just when Ye Chong reached the center of the river, Han Jia’s sharp alarm that had been quiet so far began to ring.

Ye Chong groaned.

Ye Chong’s reaction did not slow down due to the abnormal gravity.

A 10-meter thick tentacle suddenly rushed out magnificently from the river’s surface and came straight for Han Jia.

The attack was sudden, but Ye Chong had enough time to react. Mech pilots often had to make decisions in milliseconds, or they would not stand a chance in modern fast-paced mech battles.

Han Jia quickly unsheathed its two daggers and pulled its hands over the chest in a cross, the two daggers shielding before its chest. It was too late to evade using the main engines, but with slight adjustment of the auxiliary engines, Han Jia’s position shifted to face the enormous tentacle.

Ye Chong was shocked deep inside. Such a huge tentacle suggested an enormous creature under the waters. The brown tentacle was covered with curly patterns of green, making it look like a log entwined with seaweed.

Bang!

Han Jia flew straight towards the other side like a baseball off a bat.

The powerful impact left Ye Chong’s head spinning. This kind of attack should have been manageable, but with five times the gravitational force, the force on his body was five-fold, and the pain was unbearable. Without Han Jia’s hydraulic suspension system, Ye Chong would have been squished into a meat patty.

He felt a long absent feeling of wanting to throw up, and had to breathe deeply a few times to suppress the undesirable urge.

Before Ye Chong could react any further, he suddenly found himself already on the other side, and still flying further. Han Jia was still flying from the momentum of the impact. One could appreciate how strong the attack actually was. Ye Chong quickly steadied Han Jia to avoid a crash landing.

His two daggers were bloodied, a sure sign that the tentacle was injured as well. Ye Chong was confident of the sharpness of his daggers. The attacker must have suffered, probably with a large gaping wound to show.

Suddenly, the center of the river riled up like boiling water.

ut of the enraged waters emerged an obelisk of a head, a terrifying creature. If not for the three large eyes at the top of this mountain of a creature, Ye Chong would have thought it was the riverbed pushed up by some tectonic shift underneath the waters.

Even the 10-meter tall Han Jia looked tiny compared to the creature. This was the largest animal Ye Chong had ever seen.

The three black eyes were arranged to form a triangle, and they were staring angrily at Ye Chong.

Then came a screech, like the sound of metal brushing against metal. Ye Chong watched the creature calmly. Aside from his slightly pale complexion, a sign of the severity of his injury due to the creature’s attack, he looked like his usual self.

Usually, Ye Chong would have been shocked to see such a massive creature. However, he was strangely very calm now, not even perturbed in the slightest. The place was filled with too much strangeness that Ye Chong was getting used to seeing unusual things.

He was already on land. The creature was obviously a marine animal, probably not too difficult to handle. What Ye Chong wanted to avoid the most now were flying beasts. He knew from when he first saw the herbivores that the animals here could move very fast despite the strong gravitational force. It the herbivores were already so impressive, the animals that can fly must be even more so. More importantly, Han Jia’s advantage of flying would be for naught. If he had the advantage of flying, Ye Chong would at least have the option of retreating if he could not win against his opponent.

The creature in the river seemed to know that it could not threaten Ye Chong. It did not come closer, but continued to stare angrily at Ye Chong while screeching sharply.

If Ye Chong were to have a bird’s eye view of the plain right now, he would seen an extraordinary spectacle. Animals of all kinds were running away from the center that was the huge creature in the river.

Ye Chong took another glance at the creature in the river, and immediately flew away with Han Jia.

He had no intention of fighting with that creature. It was obviously at the top of the local food chain. Besides, Han Jia was not suitable for long range combat, making it difficult to fight against the creature. Just the 10-meter thick tentacle was enough to cause great destruction.

This sudden attack also led Ye Chong to be even more careful. However, to his surprise, he did not encounter any other animals as he flew on. There were a few times when he saw on the holographic screen that some animals very far away from him were running away.

This was curious to Ye Chong. While he could not understand why this happened, the lack of any animals in his way made his journey faster.

After another full day, still nothing happened. The flat plain was slowly beginning to show some contours. Ye Chong even found three mountain ranges that were about a thousand meters above ground level. However, this did not obstruct Han Jia’s advance.

It was not just the geography that was changing. Here, the animals came in greater variety, much more than at the plains.

This astronomical body was far larger than Ye Chong had anticipated. Until now, Han Jia still could not detect the edges of this continent.

Suddenly, the holographic scanning system began to ping.

A group of humans in weird clothing were attacking a wild animal that was about 7 meters tall.

Humans? How could there be humans around here? Ye Chong was startled. His surprise quickly turned into uncontained joy. No one would be able to stay composed after experiencing loneliness for so long, and finally finding other members of his own species.

However, why were there humans here?

Ye Chong suppressed his happiness for the moment and studied those people.

There were seven in total, all wearing a light purple shirt, probably woven out of the local vegetation. As an alchemist, Ye Chong had a keen understanding of plants. They were all small framed, probably due to the gravity. However, their movements were agile and quick, even quicker than the herbivores that Ye Chong had seen.

Ye Chong could not help but be surprised at their physical strength. With five times the usual gravitational force, even Ye Chong himself could not manage their speed. However, their weapons were too shabby – they were all using pikes made out of some unknown type of wood.

Were they primitives? Ye Chong was stupefied. His joy was considerably dampened. If these were primitive humans, communication would be a problem.

Ye Chong did not expose himself, but continued to hide behind a rock from afar, watching them.

The wild beast did not seem to be faring well against the primitives, already wounded in a few places. An experienced hunter like Ye Chong could see in an instant that the animal would yield, sooner or later. The wild beast had antlers shaped like tree branches, sharp as knives. Its four thick, hooved feet could stomp down on a person with fatal results. Its tail was long and strangely curled into a bunch, like a woman’s hair bun. However, from the holographic screen, Ye Chong could see that the tail could electrocute like an electric eel.

The primitives must know this as well. They attacked faster and harder, hoping to end it soon.

Just when they thought victory was close, the wild beast dimmed eyes suddenly lifted and saw Han Jia. Ye Chong saw its eyes clearly, and was very surprised. Abruptly, the animals’ eyes showed horror. The beast let out a growl of hopelessness and began to fight back stronger than before.

This sudden change threw the primitives off, and they struggled to react. They did not expect the animal to suddenly go crazy.

There was a terrifying shriek. It came from a man, injured by the beast’s antlers. The strong impact had thrown him far back, blood spilling all over him. However, the animal was absorbed in its violence to care about the attacks coming from the other primitives. It lowered its head and charged, antlers pointing straight ahead while its four hooves thrummed the ground, heading straight towards its fallen victim.

The seven-meter tall beast came charging with terrifying ferocity. It seemed to have decided to kill the man, uncaring of the pike stabbings from the other primitives.

Cries of fear and surprise filled the air.

Ye Chong stayed where he was, frozen, as he continued to stare disbelievingly at those primitives.

Sang Ling bit down on his lips, watching as the reinvolt charged towards Sang Fan. The beast had suddenly gotten into a frenzy, wounding Sang Fan with its antlers. It ignored all their attacks and had escaped from their surrounding formation. Sang Ling dared not hesitate. He tightened his right arm, pike close against his arm, and threw hard. The pike flew straight towards the renvolt’s head.

Shunk! The pike embedded itself deep into the reinvolt’s rump. “Aaa-oooh!” The reinvolt howled in pain, staggering for while before steadying itself and continued charging towards Sang Fan. The reinvolt’s eyes were spitting fire, filled with manic rage.

The primitives quickly aimed with their own pikes. Swish swish swish! The pikes all hit their mark, stabbing deep into the animal’s rump. The reinvolt howled painfully again! “Aaa-oooh!” It was filled with anger and despair. The animal ran even faster.

Sang Fan struggled to get up. There was a long, deep gash starting from his upper left shoulder, going down to his chest. Blood was gushing out, and he could see the bones underneath. Sang Fan braced himself against the pain, his face white as a sheet as he watched the reinvolt coming closer and closer.

The reinvolt’s antlers shone with a dangerous, chilling glare.

“No …” Sang Ling shouted helplessly.

Ye Chong’s eyes widened. His hands swept across Han Jia’s controls, light as air.

He understood that word!

Just when everyone thought Sang Fan was dead for certain, a silver figure came from behind Sang Fan and blocked the reinvolt’s terrifying antlers.

They only saw a blur of movement.

The reinvolt’s hooves stopped moving.

In that abrupt shift from horrified screams to utter silence, no one understood what had happened.

They watched in a daze as the reinvolt howled pitifully and regretfully, then dropped into complete silence. The whole place was silent, and everyone was confused.

When they finally recovered, they found that the reinvolt was pinned to the ground with a huge, silver dagger, and its antlers were sliced through.

The dagger was sharp! Everyone inhaled sharply. Sang Fan finally could not stand it anymore, and sat heavily on the ground.

However, Sang Ling’s eyes quickly looked behind Sang Fan. As the clever one, she recovered the quickest.

She could finally see clearly the huge figure standing behind Sang Fan.

“Heavens! Isn’t that …” Sang Ling could not believe her eyes.

he people marched quickly ahead, one of them carrying the reinvolt over his shoulder. Everyone was quiet, thinking about the massive thing that was flying slowly behind, following them.

It was a mech. Sang Ling recognized it. The Sang Family Village’s shrine had seven mechs on display, but they were ancient compared to this mech. In fact, the comparison was not an exaggeration. The seven mechs had been passed down for a few generations, known by every member of the Sang family.

“Mechs really could fly …” Sang Ling took a peek at Han Jia, flying above, her eyes filled with envy. In the legends, mechs could fly, but today she had finally seen it for the first time. The techniques to fly the seven mechs in the shrine had been long lost. They were now only a symbol of the courage and determination of their ancestors.

Sang Ling quickly lost her initial excitement. She began to worry about Sang Fan’s injuries. As childhood friends, she and Sang Fan were the most famous pair in the village. Sang Fan and her were both the most capable and outstanding of their generation.

It was this guy’s fault! Sang Ling could not help but stared angrily at Han Jia. The dagger had blood from the three-eyed giant squid, it was no wonder that the reinvolt suddenly turned crazy. Just a tiny bit of the three-eyed giant squid’s scent could trigger the reinvolt’s fear due to its sensitive sense of smell.

However, if the mech had not interfered, Sang Fan would have … Sang Lin shuddered. Besides, the guy had even offered medical supplies. With that offer of assistance, they really could not blame him now. His medicine was truly miraculous. Just by swallowing a tiny pill, Sang Fan’s breathing steadied. While he was unconscious now, his situation seemed a lot better.

What a powerful mech! Sang Ling was impressed. The mech had injured a three-eyed giant squid. Before she met this mech, she never thought that anything could ever hurt that giant beast.

Ye Chong sat in the pilot cabin, his face calm. Inside, however, he was not nearly so peaceful.

These primitives spoke the same language as him, and communication was not a problem. Could this be part of the Five Galaxies? That was Ye Chong’s first guess. Could the primitives be part of some savage tribe? That thought was quickly dismissed by Ye Chong.

If there was really such a strange place in the Five Galaxies, it would have been discovered.

From the primitives, he learned that they came from a place called the Shang Family Village. The term “village” was unfamiliar to Ye Chong. He imagined it to be some kind of city.

The other party was cautious against Ye Chong, and did not speak much. Ye Chong accepted this easily. If it were him, he would be even more cautious. At first, Ye Chong thought they came from some savage tribe, but they had all recognized mechs. That surprised him very much.

Nevertheless, their clothing and weapons felt very primitive to Ye Chong.

The two parties did not exchange many words. According to the woman in the group, any questions can be directed to the village head.

Village head? What an peculiar title.

Ye Chong quickly noticed something interesting – the group practiced strict discipline. They worked together seamlessly, delegating tasks in reasonable ways. This reminded Ye Chong of an army troop! They were very much like the Sanctuary’s standard combat squad.

This made Ye Chong suspect even more that they came from a savage tribal society.

Ye Chong was intrigued by their physique. The seven-meter tall reinvolt was heavy, but the man heaving the prey seemed quite relaxed, and did not fall behind.

Finally, they reached the Sang Family Village. The village was much smaller than Ye Chong imagined. The entire village was surrounded by a six-meter tall fence, probably to ward against animal attacks. However, if a mech were to attack this village, it would only be too easy.

There were no anti air attack measures, no field interference facilities, no long range attack weapons. Ye Chong made a quick assessment of the village. His conclusion was this – if he wanted to escape, they would not be able to stop him. This made Ye Chong feel safer. While they were of the same species, and communication was not an issue, Ye Chong still dared not be careless.

Han Jia’s simple scanning system was now quite handy.

There were about 100,000 inhabitants here. Ye Chong shook his head. This city was too small. In the Five Galaxies, any city would be home to at least a few million. Everything here was primitive, the exact image of a savage tribal society.

The return of Sang Ling and others created a slight commotion. Sang Fan’s injury had everyone busy. However, he was soon sent to a tiny purple coloured straw hut. Just as the people were about to disperse, they finally noticed Han Jia.

“A mech, it’s really a mech ..” A villager muttered incoherently.

“It’s truly a mech …” Similar utterances were heard in the crowd, all filled with wonder.

Han Jia was now surrounded by a dense crowd.

When Ye Chong came out of Han Jia, the village suddenly fall into a short silence.

When Ye Chong withdrew Han Jia with its dimension keystone, everyone was shocked. The sight of a huge machine suddenly vanishing made quite an impression.

Ye Chong quickly found himself stuck in the middle of the crowd, unable to leave.

“Make way, make way please.” A path quickly formed amongst the crowd. In came an old man, supported by Sang Ling, as he slowly approached Ye Chong.

“Cough, cough, young man, how do you do? I’m the village head, Sang De.” The village head coughed twice before finally speaking slowly.

Ye Chong was always respectful towards the elderly. He bowed slightly and replied, “Village Head, how do you do? I’m a mech pilot and I’ve lost my way. I hope to have your assistance.”

Sang De nodded, and spoke to his people, “Go back to your own businesses now.” The village head was heeded. Everyone left, and only some children were left hiding in a corner, watching them.

“Let’s talk at my place,” the village head, Sang De motioned for Ye Chong to follow.

Ye Chong and the village head had a pleasant conversation. Ye Chong finally had a rough understanding of the village. Sang Family Village was the only human settlement here. Their ancestors seemed to have come here to avoid some huge disaster elsewhere.

Their tribe had lived here for 500 years. Before that, they came from a galaxy called He Yue.

He Yue Galaxy? Where was that? Could it be an earlier name for one of the Five Galaxies? 500 years ago, the galaxies might be known with different names. However, Ye Chong could not be sure. He had almost zero knowledge of the Five Galaxies’ history.

Ye Chong’s request to stay was quickly accepted by Sang De. The cunning village head knew that this young man was a capable fighter, and could help defend the village. As for his origin, Sang De did not care for it. If the man wanted to harm the village, then they could not stop him. If that was the case, why not maintain a good relationship with him?

Besides, 500 years had passed, and they knew nothing of the advances of the outside world. Their world was still so primitive. All this while, this had been a concern for every village head. When their first ancestors arrived here with their mechs, they had sacrificed most of their combatants to protect the villagers. All the engineers died. This caused the Sang Family Village to be the way it was today. Moreover, when the backup energy cells were used up, all the mechs became useless. Until today, the problem of powering the mechs was still unsolved, and no one alive knew how to pilot a mech.

Now that they had a visitor from the outside world, and a mech pilot with his own mech at that, the Sang family’s 500 years of stagnation finally had a glimmer of hope.

However, Ye Chong was not thinking about these things. The best option for him now would be stay in the village. He did not know how to return to the Five Galaxies, and wondering around aimlessly would be foolish. This place had too many oddities. Besides, the people here had a history going back 500 years, and were familiar with this place. For now at least, he would not have to worry about survival.

Ye Chong followed the young man called Sang Pu. Sang Pu was around his age, reaching 170 meters in heights, a tall stature compared to the rest of the villagers. Sang Pu did not speak much, but seemed to be a man of reputation amongt his peers. He was rumored to be the next village head.

“These are the mechs from our ancestors,” Sang Pu explained with reverence towards his ancestors.

Seven mechs with rusty spots all over them were displayed in the shrine. These mechs were all huge, towering at around 20 meters tall, like huge iron men. The thick armor made them look unwieldy, like a metal lump. It was apparent that mechanical techniques were still quite undeveloped back then. One had to use thickened armor to protect the mech pilot in the mech.

A 500-year-old mech was definitely something that Ye Chong was interested in. Since he first heard about these seven mechs, his first request was to pay them a visit. The village head agreed easily. Even the oldest mechs in a mech museum in the Five Galaxies were only about 300 years old. Ye Chong could not help his excitement at these seven 500-year-old mechs!

The mechs’ internal structures were crude and simple. There were no hydraulic suspension systems. The circuits were made of metallic wires, and not photon circuits. There was no holographic scanning system, only an ancient radar …

A mech like this was far worse than the most low level Raven mech. However, Ye Chong still felt very excited. In reality, any mech engineer would be interested in these ancient mechs. This opportunity was not to be missed.

These mechs would not be able to inspire Ye Chong with new ideas, but he still crawled into all of them and inspected in detail. In his professional opinion, mechs like these were less than basic. However, for something that was made 500 years ago, one cannot ask for more.

Sang Pu asked, “Are these mechs still functional?” He looked at Ye Chong, hopeful. These seven mechs had been kept here for 500 years. To the people of the Sang Family Village, they should be warriors, not historical relics.

Ye Chong shook his head. “No. They’re too rusted. Some of the joints lack maintenance, and cannot be bent anymore. Besides, they use some kind of organic fuel. I’m not familiar with them.” In fact, Ye Chong was already quite surprised to find these mechs so well preserved after 500 years.

Ye Chong’s reply made Sang Pu feel deeply disappointed. Ye Chong could see those emotions in his eyes. However, Ye Chong was helpless as well.

Ye Chong was also immediately reminded of Han Jia’s energy problem. The backup energy cells were almost used up. If he could not find any new and suitable fuel, Han Jia would probably end up being put on display with these mechs here.

Nonetheless, haste would not solve this problem. There would not be any energy cell charging devices here, so the only option left was to find a replacement.

For now, he could only minimize his usage of Han Jia. It was best if he used Han Jia only when desperate.

After all, the people here had lived their lives all this while without mechs. Ye Chong believed that he would be able to defend himself, even without his mech.

It was soon meal time. Sang Pu led Ye Chong to the village head’s house. Ye Chong saw the woman from the group that brought him here earlier. Ye Chong nodded to her slightly, and sat beside Sang Pu.

Sang Ling humphed softly, and ignored Ye Chong as she began to eat.

Since the woman did not greet him back, Ye Chong did not press further. Instead, he nodded to Sang De. The village head laughed heartily, “Food is simple here, nothing grand to boast about, I hope you’ll like it!”

By now, Ye Chong could tackle these social pleasantries easily. “You’re too kind. Please call me Ye.”

Sang De laughed again. “Alright, I’ll call you Ye, and you can just call me Village Head.”

On the plate before Ye Chong was a piece of steak, with some blue berries of some kind on the side. Ye Chong did not recognize the meat, but he knew what the berries were. On the plains on the other side of the river, there were many plants with these blue little berries.

Ye Chong picked up one of them and studied it closely. Unlike when it was on the tip of the plant, it no longer glowed with that faint blue color.

Seeing Ye Chong taking interest in the blue berry, Sang Pu introduced, “This is our main source of food, we call it mayaberry. Go ahead, try it, it’s not bad. This steak is from the meat of that reinvolt you killed today. Reinvolt meat is tender and delicious.”

Ye Chong threw a mayaberry into his mouth and chewed. A fragrance began to spread in his mouth, with a little sweetness. He ate another one. To Ye Chong, this was far better than on the trash planet. He had never tasted such delicious fruits over there.

The village head and Sang Pu smiled, looking at Ye Chong enjoying his meal. Only Sang Ling still looked cool.

Eyeing the steak on his plate, Ye Chong took out his dagger and made to slice it.

Sang Pu saw the dagger in Ye Chong’s hands, and his eyes glowed. He urged, “Ye, can you let me have a look at that weapon of yours?”

s he received the dagger, Sang Pu’s calm composure gave way to an overwhelming stream of emotions. He flipped the dagger this way and that, studying it closely like a priceless treasure. Sang Ling was also staring intently at the dagger in Sang Pu’s hands.

“It’s only a dagger, do they need to be so excited?” Ye Chong thought to himself, vexed.

Seeing Ye Chong’s confusion, the village head explained, “Hehe, Ye, please forgive us, it’s their first time seeing a metal weapon. Pu, let me have a look.”

Sang Pu quickly passed the dagger to the village head.

“What fine craftsmanship!” Sang De exclaimed, “It’s sharp, tougher and stronger than bitterwood. Pu, get me a bitterwood pike here.”

Sang Pu went to a corner of the house, where a few of the pikes Ye Chong had seen earlier leaned against the wall. Sang Pu took two of them, and upon noticing Ye Chong’s curiosity, passed one to Ye Chong with a smile.

Ye Chong studied the bitterwood pike in his hands. Each bitterwood pike was around two meters long, its shaft just thick enough to grip. It felt weighty in hand. Ye Chong bent it slightly forcefully, and the bitterwood pike only bent into an arch without breaking as was usually expected. The tip of the pike was ground sharp. The shaft had natural-looking detailed spirals on it.

Ye Chong was quietly impressed. The wood was tough. What interested him more were the rounds of spiraling patterns on the shaft. They seemed to be aerodynamically designed. Once thrown into the air, the pike would spin about itself, not only increasing the impact of the throw but also enabling steadier flight.

Ye Chong had never seen any primitive weapon with such advanced designs. He was deeply interested in them.

The village head took a bitterwood pike from Sang Pu and swinged it lightly. The five-centimeter thick shaft was easily cut in half.

Everyone but Ye Chong gasped, “Whoa!”

“It’s just like in the legends!” Sang De gently tested the dagger’s edge as he muttered to himself. Everyone else looked at the dagger in his hands, enchanted by the weapon’s might.

Ye Chong was even more confused now. Legend? Daggers were quite common, what’s the fuss about? In terms of design, the dagger was not particularly laudable. It was shaped exactly like Gu Shaoze’s dagger. Gu Shaoze may be a mechanics genius, but he was no weaponsmith. To Ye Chong, the dagger’s angle design was horrible, but he had gotten used to it and never thought of replacing it.

In terms of design, the dagger was far exceeded by the bitterwood pike.

After a long moment, the village head broke his reverie and smile apologetically to Ye Chong. “Ye, please excuse me. I’ve lived my long life to this day, and this is my first time seeing a metal weapon. It’s just as our ancestors described.”

First time seeing? Even the most primitive savage tribes would have metal weapons! Besides, from the seven mechs displayed in the shrine, Ye Chong could see that they were at least able to build huge machines like them, the backward metallurgy notwithstanding. How can they not be able to make even a metal dagger?

Ye Chong could not help but asked, “So you have no metal weapons at all?”

Seeing Sang Pu and Sang Ling still in a daze, the village head replied slowly, “None. When our ancestors first escaped to this place, the journey was dangerous. Our population was 1.7 million, but only half a million people arrived here safely.”

Sang De continued painfully, “The disaster came without warning, our ancestors had no time to prepare. According to records, mechs were only newly invented, and the Sang Family tribe had the largest mech squad in the He Yue galaxy, with a total of 3,000 mech pilots. Back then, mech pilot was not a common occupation. The tribe leader was under tremendous pressure when he first founded the mech squad. However, most of the people believed that mechs represented the future of technology.”

The village head spoke lowly, like narrating an ancient legend. Everyone listened to him intently, and even Ye Chong could not maintain his calm expression.

“Back then, the disaster came unexpectedly, but the tribe leader had prepared well. All our knowledge, from the most basic metallurgy skills to the Sang Family’s core technologies were recorded in a chip. This was to prevent these knowledge from being lost forever. They made 300 copies of the chip, which meant that out of the 3,000 mech pilots in the mech squad, one in ten had a chip with them. Everyone thought that, with so many copies of the chip, it should be easy to keep at least a few of them intact. After all, back then, the Sang Family was one of the four most prosperous aristocratic families in the He Yue galaxy. Moreover, the Sang Family’s mech squad was the strongest in the entire galaxy. Everyone believed that the precautions would be sufficient. Even in a whole new world, with this knowledge, the Sang Family would thrive again without issues.”

Sang De’s expression grew even more pained, and his voice trembled as he continued, “However, the unexpected had happened.

“The only exit out of the He Yue galaxy was obstructed back then, so the tribe had to break through this enormous asteroid belt. No one expected to see the terrifying Red Sea.”

“Red Sea?” Sang Ling interrupted. This was the first time she had heard of this.

“Yes, the Red Sea,” said the village head. “It’s a huge expanse of empty space, filled with a thick red mist, stretching out endlessly like the sea. Our ancestors called it the Red Sea.”

Ye Chong was shocked. Wasn’t that the red mist where he got separated from Mu?

“No one thought that this red mist would be so dangerous. The red mist interfered with the radars, it was impossible to know which direction was which. Many lost their ways in the mist. However, the disaster had only just begun.

“Metal was actually very sensitive to the red mist. When they flew into the middle of the Red Sea, the mist grew thicker. Starships were tangled with numerous mysterious red tendrils. Almost all the mechs were deployed to cut off those tendrils. However, once the mechs exited the starships, the red tendrils would mysteriously appear and bind them up tightly, killing the pilots. The people on the starships watched as the countless red tendrils devoured their mechs.”

“So that was it,” Ye Chong thought to himself. The red mist would react with metal once it reached a critical density. No wonder Coxcomb was wrapped up tight with the tendrils. It appeared that Han Jia’s skeletal parts had allowed him to escape.

Ye Chong could not help but felt anxious about Mu and Shang. Mu and Shang were also made of metal … If only he could get in touch with them right now, then he’d be able to inform them of this peculiarity, then Mu would be able to find a solution. However …

Ye Chong smiled wryly to himself. He breathed in deeply a few times and tried not to think about them.

Ye Chong asked, “How did they escape?”

Sang De explained, “Most escaped using the emergency pods. The pods were not made of metal, to reduce their weight. I have no idea what they’re made of. Only about a hundred thousand of them escaped, and only 15 were mech pilots. They were mostly injured beforehand, and so were not deployed to cut off the red tendrils, thus surviving the incident. However, food and water were scarce, and people died along the way. When they finally reached here, the entire Sang Family was only left with about fifty thousand. Only seven mech pilots were left, and none of them had the chip. Besides, without proper medical treatment, they all succumbed to their injuries eventually. And so, we had to start again from the very beginning. Out of the fifty thousand, a few were scientists, but here, where the gravity is stronger, and vicious animals were abundant, we had no protection. In the first month, twenty thousand died of either starvation or illness. The scientists were physically weaker, and they died soon too.”

The village head spoked with a sigh, with a saddened voice. Sang Pu and Sang Ling were both surprised. Ye Chong finally understood why this place was so primitive.

“The scientists wrote down everything they knew before they died, but in the end, no one could understand them. With the harsh living conditions, the only ones who survived were the physically stronger combat experts. Without any necessary knowledge foundations, they couldn’t understand the knowledge left behind. The scientists had only written down their most forefront intellectual ideas, but did not provide any basic knowledge as a starting point. That is why we are what we are today,” Sang De explained helplessly.

Sang Pu and Sang Ling could only listen wordlessly.

Ye Chong nodded in understanding. Indeed, without any foundational knowledge, forefront knowledge would only be lost to the layperson. Such was the nature of high level knowledge.

It was no wonder that the villagers were using such primitive weapons. Given the harsh environment, they still managed to survive and prosper here. Ye Chong could not help but grow even more respectful of them.

Suddenly, Ye Chong thought of his time on the trash planet, the way he struggled alone to survive, and found that he and them were not too different after all!

Perhaps I can help you make metal weapons,” Ye Chong said this casually, but it was like dropping a bomb into the room.

“You mean it?” Even someone as weathered as Sang De could not keep his calm, his eyes shining feverently. Metal weapons might be so common in the outside world, but here it was more than a rarity. With metal weapons, the entire Sang Family tribe could make a quantum leap in strength.

Sang De had been the village head for so many years, and had always tried to find ways to increase their chances of survival. However, no one was able to understand the knowledge their ancestors had left behind. Now that this opportunity presented itself, how could he pass it up?

Was this really a blessing from Heaven to the pitiful, to give the Sang Family this glimmer of hope? Old Sang De put his hands together and muttered a silent prayer.

As for Sang Pu and Sang Ling, they were both shocked. They stared directly at Ye Chong, unable to see how this seemingly ordinary man could make such an offer.

Ye Chong caressed the spiral patterns on the bitterwood pike, as though he did not notice their stares. In fact, Ye Chong was not offering help out of kindness – he had not become so altruistic just yet. This offer was calculatively made, now that his survival depended on the strength of he Sang Family Village. It would be in his interest to make them stronger.

Besides, Ye Chong had other concerns. It would be difficult if he had to find a new source of energy by himself. Wouldn’t it be better to let the natives, the inhabitants of the Sang Family Village to help?

Ye Chong also thought of his greatest concern. The Red Sea was triggered by metal, and the chances of Coxcomb escaping was too small. However, Coxcomb had enough food and water to last Zhu Ling, Lian Yue and Little Rock for quite some time. As for Mu and Shang, who did not need to eat, they would only hibernate when they run out of energy. Even so, Coxcomb had enough energy cells to last the mech for a long while – Ye Chong knew better than anyone of Coxcomb’s resources.

It was highly probable that Mu, Shang and the rest were still trapped in the Red Sea. If he could build enough skeleton mechs … No, they did not have to be mechs, any machine that could fly in space would be enough. If Ye Chong could search the Red Sea intensively, it would increase his chances of finding Coxcomb.

In any case, he would not leave Mu and Shang behind, of this he was certain. He remembered the time when the stellar flare was coming, and Mu had tried to save him by making that extremely risky warp jump.

The bond between him and the mech was no longer that of a mech pilot and a mech. Ye Chong would sacrifice his life to save them, if it came to it. He knew that they would do the same for him, even if the odds were definitely against them. This was true, even for that usually flippant Shang.

Of course, his plan was difficult to execute, and Ye Chong was not confident of success. Even so, he would do it. If he at least tried, the probability of success would be nonzero; if he did not try, then failure was certain.

This was not the first time Ye Chong had to make such a decision. He knew exactly what he should do.

After a full five minutes, Ye Chong saw that the three of them were still caught up with their thoughts. He spoke up slowly, “Calm yourselves. I haven’t surveyed this place, so I don’t know if there are suitable metal ores. Besides, I have conditions.”

Ye Chong had to thank the elders at the Aurora. If they had not provided Ye Chong with such solid foundation, he would not dare to make such a bold offer. Here, he will find no field dissociation apparatus, no metal purification devices. To process metal in this primitive environment would require the most basic and fundamental understanding of metal smelting. However, all this depended on finding suitable metal ores. If there was no ore, they would only be building a castle in the sky.

Old Sang De answered solemnly, “Whatever conditions you have, Ye, tell us, and we will do our best to fulfill them.”

Sang Ling’s expression was one of condescension and disgust. She did not think that the man would be such an opportunist. Sang Pu may have felt the same, but his expression betrayed nothing.

Ye Chong acted like he did not see Sang Ling’s expression. In fact, he truly did not care. There are no free meals in this world. He had no reason to volunteer in helping him. Besides, Ye Chong did not feel that he was having an unfair advantage in this bargain.

Ye Chong replied plainly, “I need the Sang family to fulfill my three requests. I haven’t decided on what they are, I’ll let you know when it’s time.” Ye Chong had wanted to only ask for one request, but for some reason he thought of Shang. If was that b*stard, he would definitely ask for more. Hence, Ye Chong decided in that split second to ask for three requests instead.

“Alright.” Old Sang De promised without hesitation.

Ye Chong looked at the village head and said, “Think carefully about this. What I ask from you is dangerous, and will need significant manpower.”

Old Sang De gave a significant look at Ye Chong and replied, “The Sang family had waited for 500 years without hope. Now that we finally have a glimmer of hope, the Sang family will not let this opportunity be wasted, no matter the risks.”

Ye Chong said nothing, but he was quietly impressed with the old man’s determination.

Sang Pu was also watching him with fervent eyes. Ye Chong would not understand their helplessness and anger at having to live such primitive lives. Now that the opportunity presented itself, how could he let it go?

“Alright then, it’s a deal,” Ye Chong said this plainly, as though it had nothing to do with him.

“Aren’t you scared that we’ll go back on our word?” Sang Ling could not stand Ye Chong’s look and blurted out. The moment the words left her mouth, she instantly regretted them.

Ye Chong said nothing, but his eyes suddenly turned into a chilling stare. A sharp killing intent flashed in his eyes. Go back on their word? If they really did, Ye Chong would make them regret it.

Ye Chong said nothing, but it was as though the room had suddenly been plunged into deep winter. A chilling sense crawled up their spines. The three of them shuddered inside despite themselves. Every younger member of the Sang family had his or her own share of fighting against wild beasts, and was familiar with this killing intent.

This was the first time they had encountered such a fierce killing intent! Even the three-eyed giant squid could not compare with what they were experiencing now!

This killing intent could not be nurtured by just killing a single person. Just how many people had this man killed? Sang Pu could not help taking another glance at the dagger in his hands. The dagger suddenly felt even more chilling to the touch.

They had thought that an angel had designed to visit them, but it was actually the devil himself!

The weathered Old Sang De’s expression was unreadable, as he smiled wryly inside. He knew not if he had made the right decision. There was never a happy ending for the man who made a deal with the devil. Who knew just exactly what his deal with this man would mean for the future of the Sang Family?

Even with ten thousand villagers, they were defenseless against his mech. Besides, Han Jia was an advanced level mech. This was the power of technology.

Old Sang De said solemnly, “The Sang Family had always kept our word. In the name of the Sang family ancestors, I promise that the Sang family will do its best to fulfill your requests, dear sir. If we failed to do so, may the Sang Family be damned for all eternity.”

Sang Pu and Sang Ling were horrified. Sang Ling’s expression was one full of regret. She did not imagine that her careless words had led to the village head vowing in the name of their ancestors. To the Sang Family, vowing in the name of the ancestors was a solemn thing to do. It represented the most sacred and important of vows, never to be broken.

Ye Chong did not share the same sentiment about vows. To him, a vow was not reliable. Only strength was.

“Alright, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, at least not until I make your first metal weapon,” Ye Chong’s casual reply made Sang Ling grit her teeth in anger, but she dared to speak so easily again. Her carelessness had forced Sang De to make that vow, and she regretted that very much.

“If you need any help, sir, all members of the Sang family are at your disposal,” the village head spoke up, his expression sincere. If anyone could watch from the side and learn from him, it would be most invaluable. Old Sang De had also began to speak more respectfully to Ye Chong again, calling him “sir”, and Ye Chong could not be bothered to correct him.

Ye Chong suddenly picked up the bitterwood pike beside him and asked, “Who designed the spirals on this shaft?” Ye Chong had thought they were natural, but he knew upon touching them that they were carved by hand.

The three of them were surprised by this change of subject, and Sang Pu replied, “It’s Sang Fan’s work. Is there anything wrong with it?”

“Oh, then he’ll be my assistant.” Anyone who could design something like this must be quite capable.

Sang Pu looked ill at ease. “He was injured today, probably need some time to rest.”

So it was the man who was injured earlier today. Ye Chong said casually, “Then I’ll wait for him to get better.” He still needed time to be more familiar with this place.

Having a Sang family member as his assistant was also a calculated measure, beneficial in the long run. He could delegate tasks for his assistant to take care of.

WIthout Mu and Shang by his side, Ye Chong was like a child without support. He would have to start experimenting and exploring on his own.

he light emitted from the fruit of Hampered Bask was warm and gentle, like a touch of morning in Spring, illuminating the entire room. It was the first time Ye Chong came across such unusual sprout, that he could not find any entry regarding it on the encyclopedia gifted by Lunatic Guan. Twinkleblue, the light-emitting plant Ye Chong found in the encyclopedia, was rather giving off a gleam of the night sky compared to glisten of Hampered Bask. And so he heard that the Hampered Bask also happened to be the sole lighting plants among the members of Sang family in the village.

The ceiling was fully engulfed by the purplish blue vines, where at the center the Hampered Bask fruit hung like the sleeker chandelier with its petite size of being as large as one’s fist while emanating an intriguing fruity aroma. The scent was poking Ye Chong’s nose, it was tickling his gourmet sense so much that on several occasions he would rather remain in darkness while his hands approached the ceiling and nearly plucked the glowing fruit to have a taste.

Ye Chong shifted his thoughts back onto the materials before him, which were staring into his eyes with their expressive foreignness. Practically speaking, judging by the materials he had discovered thus far, most of them shouted literally foreign to him. He was not even sure if he could make anything likely to be called a metallic weapon with these materials.

This… mildstone that rested in his palm with heat leaking from its partially transparent body for example, seemed to be commonly used material among the villagers. It was so domestically common that even the steak Ye Chong had before was grilled using it. Its rate of heat emittance was considerably sluggish, so there would never be a problem of overcooking one’s food or even one’s hand, although the cooking process took much longer than what Ye Chong had experienced in other planets. The villagers seemed to have a practice of storing a certain amount of mildstone in every room to maintain the temperature indoors.

Mildstone was technically something new to Ye Chong’s perception.

He gave a grip, then a rub, his fingers rolled the smooth crystallization back and fro. The warmth reminded him of a mini heater.

His approach of metallurgy identified such stone as part of the energy ore category. The basic apparatus on the engineering mech was able to return an amazing figure on the amount of energy imbued within the stone. Ye Chong would love to perform a detailed analysis on its component but he lacked the necessary apparatus to do so. Similarly he could not carry out any meaningful experiment. Only if he was on the Coxcomb, he would have found out a way to utilize the energy.

And there he was, stuck on a virtually remote village without even the fundamental facility to aid his research. As someone who had gotten use on the most avant-garde devices, Ye Chong was not feeling easy of his situation.

“Sir, I’m here,” said Sang Fan at the door.

Ye Chong flinched, as he hardly discerned Sang Fan’s footsteps till Sang Fan was right by the door.

An expert! Commented Ye Chong in his mind.

Sang Fan was not tall, with a height about 1.65 meters. Most likely due to the effects of strong gravitational force here, all villagers turned out to be dwarfish by nature, where someone who stood 1.7 meter high could be considered as someone with the body of a model. Sang Fan’s body was not the hefty kind, it was fit and lean. His eyes were lustrous as they rolled around the room actively.

“Oh, so you’re Sang Fan?” asked Ye Chong flatly, even though curiosity was twitching inside him, as his mind was in a shock. Aren’t you a quick healer, Sang Fan? Thought Ye Chong. He glanced at Sang Fan, whose body seemingly recovered. If it was not his slightly pale face, no one could tell he was the one who had just received a heavy blow on his life two days ago.

“Yes sir,” politely the man replied. “The chief had me under your command.” His eyes were large upon being informed that Ye Chong was going to make weapons for the Sang villagers. His eyes went larger when he heard Ye Chong asking him to be the assistant, he almost could feel the next step to heaven.

“You’ll be my assistant from today onwards. Learn it properly. Learn with efforts. I could see the talent in you, don’t waste it,” Ye Chong sounded really like one of those elderlies from Aurora.

“Yes sir!” The formality intensified in his response.

“To begin…” The first task from Ye Chong was to sample all stones and plants around the village.

Sang Fan did not really understand what this craftsman was saying but he did not respond with skepticism as he ran to the chief right away, since this was not a task he could handle by himself.

Towards the task, the old chief also responded with bewilderment. It would be reasonable to sample minerals but… what does he want to do with plant samples? But well, I believe this Ye Chong is somebody who would do things for a reason, not on a whim. My men! The chief waved his hand and called upon all villagers to carry out the task right away.

All villagers from all walks of life were involved. Children, women searched the surroundings while the men would bring a few stones and plants every time they returned from their hunt outskirt.

And within the next few days, the room dedicated for Ye Chong’s research had been flooded with all sorts of stones and plants.

On the following days what Master Ye Chong did was having tutorials with his new assistant on categorization of plants and mineralites. Sang Fan was seemingly the intelligent and quick learner. During the process Ye Chong would also brief Sang Fan on any ores he recognized, but whether Sang Fan caught it right away would depend on his own diligence.

Ye Chong first underwent a selection process on the stones, where most of them turned out to be rather worthless in his opinion. And among the stones which he could identify the values, only a handful of them appeared to be in his recollection.

And there was this particular ore which caught most of his attention, namely the Lavagold. It was not a kind of gold, rather it was a kind of alloy precisely speaking, as recorded in Mu’s databank. Apparently, Lavagold also exerted excellent physical properties for an alloy. Its composition was not that complicated compared to the others, but it was rare. In no other way than extraction from nature the Lavagold could be acquired. Researchers so far had yet performed a successful formation of Lavagold through artificial means. And its rarity was absolute given the fact that it only appeared in a certain type of environment.

So he was holding this piece of Lavagold ore, where curvy gold lines finely rested over the surface of the tainted pebble like a stream of melted gold lava. That was probably how the ore got its name.

“Would you go and ask your men where they got this?” asked Ye Chong as he pass the Lavagold ore to Sang Fan.

Sang Fan responded with a flinch at first and then his expression looked overjoyed, as he sprinted away. It was the first different response from Ye Chong after hunting and gathering for so long, obviously it would mean…

Wow… that speed. Amazed Ye Chong as he looked the man blasted off to the outside. He could actually run even under such potent gravitational force… Ye Chong was certainly impressed since he had yet gotten used to such tedious environment, the gravity pull was wearing him out. And he thought his body was strong, till he saw villagers like Sang Fan running…

Very soon after, Sang Fan brought the villager who found the piece of gold. The catch was, according to the villager, the place where the piece of gold was found turned out to be a certain distance away from the village. To escort Ye Chong safely, a team of exactly hundred men were sent along under the lead of Sang Pu. And one could imagine how grand it would be if 100 ace fighters escorted a single man in the 5 major galaxies.

Yes, they were indeed the ace fighters. Their steps were firm and their nature was calm. Ace! Total ace! Ye Chong reminisced his encounters with the fighters from all sorts of places before, and they could hardly fill half of the army around him. Several beasts appeared on the way but they did nothing to the army.

Cleaving touch, simple yet brutal! The real combat! The true fighting! Shocked Ye Chong in his mind. The martial arts developed over five centuries after tasting countless ounces of blood and murder, the techniques were simplistic and direct, no fancy movement, no swing, only the sound of bone cracking after a violent slam. And this, would the true brawling technique.

Ironically, the brawling techniques that had been long abandoned in the outside world remained as the essential survival techniques here.

Well, Ye Chong did not shame himself as an outsider when he demonstrated his speed. The army advanced pretty quickly but never once Ye Chong was lagging behind. One may argue that such instance could not prove his speed, but that little tip to the toes he made would change the story, as his body would fling itself to the front – a burst kind of speed, unlike the villagers who were stampeding in tiny quick steps at high frequency.

The standards were there among the villagers. They were trained, Ye Chong could tell from their disciplined marching. Nobody was chattering, there was the sound of stampeding and only the stampeding itself. Ye Chong was not the chatty kind either, so his mouth remained zipped without initiating conversation, as he sank at the centermost position in the team, a protected position where the members of the outermost layer would head out from time to time to perform scouting and observation.

Ye Chong was astonished by the discipline, he was confident that even the so-called soldiers from the 5 galaxies would be wetted by their cold sweats upon seeing the quality of the army here.

The stampeding stopped.

“It was at the lowest point between the two peaks at the front, right when we hunted a Tandem Peeper,” pointed one of the villagers at the col.

Sang Pu waved his hand and 4 men sprinted their ways forward. Ye Chong was going to drop his jaws if he were to witness more of the unexpected speed among the villagers.

“They are the reconnoiter, sir,” smiled Sang Pu upon seeing Ye Chong’s expression. “They are good runners and good fighters too.” The recon- what? Reconnoiter? It was the first time Ye Chong heard of such term. Technically anyone who knew their histories well would be able to tell what a term that had appeared in the war history of humanity countless times like reconnoiter was. Ye Chong was a history-illiterate however, so such term meant nothing to his mind, although he could kind of guess what that term with complicating syllable possibly meant judging by what the 4 men were doing.

They did not actually head directly through the entrance of the ridge. Instead, they launched themselves and climbed upon the slopes around the col. And they flung themselves over the mountain agilely. It only took them a few tens seconds before one of the patrols gestured them a proceed to safety.

The 60 villagers at the outer circle disengaged from their team and flooded into the col immediately. “A moment sir.” And Sang Pu led Ye Chong and the last 35 villagers into the col only after the place had been confirmed to be safe.

Well, that was probably the best justification for their survivals on this planet. They certainly had the skills. Ye Chong was amazed.

The col was not that spacious, one could grasp every spot inside within one sight. No lava gold was discovered and no happy face was found on Sang Fan.

Ye Chong had not given up just yet, as he requested the villagers to back off.

He then deployed the engineering mech, which scared everybody else upon seeing a giant mech crawling out of nowhere. And as usual, Ye Chong the dexterous climbed right into his cabin without any rope. The difference was, nobody really cared what he was achieving. Climbing high barehanded was nothing new among the Sang villagers.

The villagers remained in awe nevertheless, including Sang Pu the sedate one, as owning a mech was like a fantasy, a wish of the fairytale for all the villagers from Sang.

And Ye Chong hopped off the engineering mech after 30 seconds.

Everyone set their eyes upon Ye Chong, as they wondered the intention of Ye Chong’s every move, but one thing for sure – they had faith in this young man.

“There,” pointed one corner of the col. “Dig it,” Ye Chong instructed.

he villagers were identified as the elites for a reason. They were selected obviously for their high efficiency and disciplined obedience. Thought Ye Chong as he glimpsed at the tiny pile of Lavagold ores before him. “Here,” said Ye Chong to Sang Pu. “Mark the place down, the Lavagold content here is rich.” Sang Pu nodded in comprehension.

Ye Chong immediately sank himself into the world of researches after they had returned to the village. He remembered it clearly, every bit of characteristic of Lavagold, but never once he had been exposed to the actual ore itself, it felt like his expertise going back to square one.

Well, he was fortunate to possess a formidable foundation of his knowledge, for he even was considerably informed of the metallurgical approaches by the ancient, which was something alien to the modernity since nobody really learned exactly how the extraction of metals worked after the invention of Magnetron-based separator. But Ye Chong knew it, and he believed he could extract Lavagold from its ore without the aid of the avant-garde. This was certainly one reward he got from the constant interaction with Aurora back then.

He started reminiscing the theoretical knowledge regarding this, as he tried reorganizing all the available options before him.

Okay, so the only thing Ye Chong needed to do would be to find something that could burn and emit a great amount of heat. His eyes, of course, went upon the mildstone sitting at the corner. The mildstone was clearly the solution because of its immense amount of energy contained, the tricky part was, how would Ye Chong bring out the energy? How would he initiate the reaction?

If I were to find a way to trigger the stone, then…

Ye Chong who held a complete systematic knowledge of the basics recognized the core of every reaction, every equation, laid within Energy itself. The breakthrough would only happen if the solution for the issue of energy activation had been discovered.

Okay, I know where the problem is. Then I should be finding ways to solve it.

And that was when Sang Fan observed his first Frankenstein in the village. Ye Chong spent all day and night in his own research room and had never left the doorstep ever since. The chief sometimes would pay him a visit to check out his progress but he always was treated with ignorance without fail, as the science maniac was too indulged in his experiment. Sang Fan held tremendous respect towards this very young yet talented teacher despite the treatment. Even though the teacher kept muttering denial towards his position as a teacher, he inevitably had already become a teacher in the Sang Fan’s mind.

Sang Fan was highly impressed by the vast knowledge and that tenacious curiosity in experimentation of his.

Sang Fan had been checking out those microchips circulated among the villagers for so long, yet he had comprehended so little. His understanding gained over the years was nothing compared to those few words coming from this young teacher.

Ye Chong had removed the processor from the engineering model and lifted it all the way to his room to perform his research. The processor was an impeccable aid to his research as Ye Chong noticed he was making significant progress. The slight disappointment was, despite all that, he had yet to discover the key factor to activate the energy stored within mildstone.

Sighhhh…

Ye Chong took a gaze at the last few samples sitting at the corner. Impatience was heating his breath, knowing the likelihood of the fate of these remaining samples. Only these samples had yet interacted with Lavagold. Assuming they also showed a null reaction as an outcome, the research could be in a stern dead-end. His tired eyes glanced upon Sang Fan who was looking at the processor and silently he left the room. Meanwhile, Sang Fan was exerting strong interests towards the processor ever since the first eye-contact he made with it. Ye Chong had spent two hours to guide him on the application of the processor. Ye Chong had even inserted a few entries of the elementary to provide a walkthrough for Sang Fan.

The chilly air kissed upon the heated cheeks of Ye Chong. It felt refreshing to be at the outside. Ye Chong, feeling relaxed, was stretching his stiffened muscles.

He could feel his bones fossilized after the days and nights he rooted himself by his desk. The research did not pay off sadly. That was annoying.

Ye Chong had a sudden urge of working out for some reason, and so he began swinging his hands, pulling punches.

The irritation clouding his head seemed to have faded away. His punches got faster and he was literally kicking alive. During the process, he began recalling the moment when he saw the few techniques performed by the villagers. It was a shocker he must admit, as it left deep impression in his mind.

Simple. Straightforward. Sedate.

Ye Chong’s body was moving in all sorts of position, there was no pattern to his punches and kicks.

Gradually, his techniques seemed to have changed. It was not obvious but he could feel the changes. It was getting… simplified? And getting more fatal, with more twisting, unpredictable angles. The reflexivity of his body being utilized with the muscle manipulation technique exclusive to the Lan family of September, allowed him to perform some really inhuman performances. The angles of his punches were getting odder.

“Great!” One compliment shot through his ears.

The young man flinched as he withdrew all his moves and stood still. His control over his movements was justified through this, for he was able to pull off and pull out the techniques by his will with immediate effect.

“Shame on me,” complimented Sang Pu, with his face filled with amazement. “Never would I have expected sir to have such skills. I actually thought outsiders like sir were those with numb limbs and eyes. But wow, the outside world… much stronger than I thought.”

Towards the comment, Ye Chong gave a straight, frozen face. Certainly he would be disgruntled over a senseless, stereotypical comment like this, he was too lazy to have a meaningless debate nevertheless.

Sang Pu was smiling, seemingly had guessed what Ye Chong was feeling, he said, “I guess I must be saying something really senseless to sir’s perception. But I got to say, that sir must be a powerful figure in the outside world… yes, with those skills.”

Ye Chong had no comment.

A moment of awkward silence lapsed, the Sang man mustered his pride, “Our tribe was already one of the 4 great aristocrats in He Yue galaxy way before our ancestors left the place. I absolutely would love to know what the situation in He Yue is looking like currently. But from what I have known, pilots had already appeared back then, so were the practitioners. The martial arts practitioners were still holding dominant forces in the galaxy in spite of the innovative approaches by the pilots. And yeah, Sang style martial arts were something from the high superior. Hmph, the Archipelago was a hideous place and countless men of our tribes lost their lives when we first came. Imagine all it took just to let us stay…” He pounded his chest in vex.

“Over the past 500 years, our tribe had been fighting with the most fearsome beasts as the routine. If you were the weakling, you would never survive. As you can see, everyone of us spend our days either by hunting or by all sorts of training, just to further enhance ourselves. And that includes women and children. We know we could never get an actual help from the surrounding, so we need to build our body, hone our skills. With the help of the gravity field, our generation has become much more competent than our ancestors.”

Well, Ye Chong had to admit that Sang Pu was making sense in his words. Human beings were the kind whose most potential would be excavated under such environment. The tedious surrounding had provided the Sang villagers the best practical to train themselves. As far as Ye Chong agreed, the practical, the experience of actual combats would forever be the most effective method to improve vitality and skills. A group of collective ideology accumulating their strength and techniques over the centuries, a generation overcoming the other generation, the gradual dethroning of martial arts over the 5 major galaxies, these men in Archipelago now would no doubt be the prime of fighters.

Nevertheless, it was nothing surprising. Ye Chong knew well in his heart, this was a decade of the pilots, for the pilots, by the pilots. The pilots would be the spotlight, the center of concern. Practitioners were potent in fact, but only in a small scope. Look how fragile they would be when they fought an actual mech, as they would get overthrown, rolling down the staircase to their previous throne.

But the last term was very new to his conception. Gravity field? What exactly was that?

“What is gravity field?” asked Ye Chong.

Sang Pu was stunned for a moment, “Hah!” he chuckled. “It’s my mistake sir. I had yet introduced this place formally.”

And Ye Chong was all ears. It would be his priority to first understand the surrounding well enough, the basics, at the very least. If it was not the research that haunted him days and nights, he probably would have not forgotten the obvious primary procedure of his space exploration.

“Sir, this piece of land is known as the ‘Archipelago’. Back when our ancestors laid their steps here, this very place of our village precisely, they had fully depleted their energy storage, so they could not conduct a proper scouting over the area. But never once we stopped stepping out, as over the time we explored the area, and to our horror, the land was nothing but danger. Not only it was filled with terrifying beasts, but also the fact that under certain condition, at some places, something much more terrifying than the beasts would occur. Gravity field, or strong gravity region some may call it, was one of them, where every region contains different degrees of gravitational forces, they were scattered all over the land like an unforeseeable trap. When you step into one super strong gravity region, you would feel like falling into quicksand, except there would be no way out. And unlike quicksand, a strong gravity region holds no sign, no boundary, no marking with the normal space we live.”

And Ye Chong was stupefied towards the introductory chapter of Archipelago, which had utterly flipped over his entire understanding towards the world, the knowledge he had learned. How would that be possible? It was already a miracle to see an actual planet within the asteroid belt, which, contrary to most planets he had seen, was not even a globe technically. He could recognize the difference in planetary shape but would there… at one corner of the galaxy, that a planet this odd exist? Would it be possible to have drastically different degrees of gravitational force over the planet?

Ye Chong’s dropping jaws were priceless to Sang Pu, since it was ultra rare to see the indifferent teacher of his to suddenly get so expressive and it was because of his description on his home, “And after much exploration, we realized there could be signs to help us distinguish a strong gravity region and non-strong gravity region. For example, the plants inhabited within the gravity field have noticeable difference than the plants in normal field. Everyone in the Sang village could actually determine if the next step they are lifting would be an invisible quicksand. And we are also able to estimate the strength of the gravity before us,” said Sang Pu as he smiled proudly.

“200 years ago, one senior of mine found a way to utilize the gravitational force, which is to perform training there. The stronger the gravity, the more burdened the body would be. Given that he no longer gained significant progress on his training in normal field, he would venture into the gravity field. Well of course, we only allow adults to perform their trainings there. Children whose bodies remain mutable are forbidden to enter the area. They would be allowed to head in only when they achieve adulthood.”

Well, if what Sang Pu said was true, the place would be wonderful for training. But Ye Chong had a better idea, it would be great if one were to carry out pilot training there as well!

Like… he could try performing a Thomas’s Spin with Mach 5 speed under 500% gravity pull, converting the figures, he would get a fancy quick consecutive trio of Thomas’s Spin with a speed of Mach 10 instead! The biggest issue of traveling in mech for a pilot would be the burden to their body overtime, while this would be the core to complete all strategic movements and techniques.

Absolutely, Ye Chong was more than excited to check out this very place mentioned by Sang Pu, the gravity bind that strengthened your physique, the double-edged sword namely the strong gravity region…

he Sang family village was surrounded by the mountains, a hideous location for a living one could say, that any man, woman or child would frown upon. The beasts lurking around the corner had been technically wiped out over 500 years under the determined contribution by generations. Ye Chong, under the lead of Sang Pu, arrived by one piece of grassfield just a stone’s thrown away from the village.

On the grassfield, an irregularly shaped circle of diameter about a kilometer was formed by the placement of a handful of rocks in different sizes. There were a few young adults carrying out their training there. They appeared to be quite young but the hushes created by the punches and kicks they pulled were not something to be overlooked.

“And sir…” Initiated Sang Pu, pointing at the circle, “This is the strong gravity region I had been telling you about. This encircled area has about 1.3 times the gravity outside. We found it to be perfect for adolescences who had undergone their puberty and possessed a considerable standard of technical achievement. As you can see, these were from the local shrine after completing the training course by their teachers. Once they left the shrine and are declared to be at completion of their course, they would be a warrior, a fighter, or a soldier in the field. And here, it does not matter whether you are a man or a woman, everyone must head to the shrine for combat training. This is what our lives depend on anyway.”

Sang Pu was expressing nonchalance in his words, he seemed to be unworried of the issue, although Ye Chong did discern a hint of despair within.

“Sir… your arrival had brought us hope. Your emergence had given all of us hope. I sometimes did envy you and the outsiders, as to you, owning a mech seemed to be something like we did our gravity field training, but to us, owning a mech, is a legend itself. Hah… we don’t really have that much to demand. We only hope for a weapon that could adequately support us through the darkest days…” Sang Pu’s voice turned more confident, “Hmph, we are indeed, the strongest tribe here. 500 years had passed, we not only have the bravest warriors, occasionally we also have the wisest few men. Ironically, nobody had understood what was written on those chips. The wisest fews eventually spent their entire life, going by the most mundane method via experiments on all kinds of things they could find around their home. And they had found mildstone, they had discovered plants which could be used as a cure, they learned about bringing us lights in the dark with Hampered Bask, still… they could not find any way of the metallurgy. And likewise to their past counterparts, they died, regretfully.”

And that was when Sang Pu set his eyes upon Ye Chong, passionately. The gaze lasted for a moment and the Sang burst out laughing, “What am I doing?? I’m just showing you the gravity field, why in the Archipelago I told you these? Mhm, it’s alright, these aren’t really much related to you, it’s just the fate of our tribe. An unchangeable fate.”

Ye Chong remained in silence. He was actually at loss of words, the proper words to tell.

“Well!” Bucked up Sang Pu, “Take a careful look at the region.”

As requested, Ye Chong took a closer look at the gravity region, which frankly speaking, nothing particularly odd could be perceived, as Ye Chong took a second look and was bewildered by the lack of difference. If it was not that visible structure by the stones, he would not even have his attention on this ordinary piece of land, nor would he ever think that this piece of land turned out to be the strange gravity region the Sang had been talking about.

Ye Chong, looked at Sang Pu with confusion, shaking his head, “Nothing strange?”

“And so we thought back then,” smiled Sang Pu. “Strong gravity region was a place of fatality but well, we still discovered it anyway. As mentioned before, take a look at the grasses. Of what difference they had with the grasses outside?”

Ye Chong shifted his attention over the grasses. A moment lapsed and he did observe something different. The grasses within the circle were much shorter than the grasses outside. A run in his schemata and he got it right away.

Sang Pu saw Ye Chong’s expression and knew that his teacher had gotten it, the explanation went on however, “Due to the additional gravitation, the plants within the circle would have a certain degree of differences with their outside counterparts. The greater the difference between the gravitation of both sides, the more noticeable the plants between the boundary would look. This region for example, its forces were stronger than the outside, which caused the shorter height of grasses.”

“What if there were no plants in the field?” hurriedly Ye Chong asked.

“You let the stone guide you,” answered Sang Pu, with impression in his eyes.

And Ye Chong got it. Provided that there was a strong gravity region ahead, the tossed stone would fall with an unnatural curve. Well, that was rather a clever move, simple and practical, without needing the aid of an advanced machine. You only need one piece of rock you could find anywhere. Ye Chong could almost imagine that high and wild the rock would fly when it got tossed by the powerfully built villagers. The foreign zone might have a different level of gravity, but that should not hinder the overall velocity of the rock during the travel.

Such creativity, such genius! Exclaimed Ye Chong in his mind.

The few steps right before the circle were nothing much, the next step into the circle was… lumpy… one could say, as Ye Chong felt himself being pulled into the ground, his body was heavier, like tied with boulders over his limbs. Sang Pu in the meantime, was walking as normal.

The few young adults addressed Sang Pu respectfully upon seeing his arrival. Sang Pu returned with a smile and a tap at one of their shoulders, few compliments and words of encouragement were given then he led Ye Chong to one corner.

Ye Chong tried swinging his limbs. It literally felt like he was in an invisible bondage or something… Man, imagine the warriors who had undergone training like this, the body must be greater than the sun. Ye Chong could imagine the fact that Black Covers would inevitably lose if they were to have a fight with the warriors here, without the mech of course. They would be snapped to death in seconds.

He took a stroll around and realized that there was indeed not much of a difference other than the additional weight posed onto his body.

Within the gravity region, other than the purplish grasses that covered the area, there were a few tiny sprouts tinting the area. From a botanist’s aspect, Ye Chong hypothesized these being a kind of fungi. The umbrella like structure on top was thick and was adorned with few white spots. Its grayish appearance was easily overlooked, but its size was a savior for it was humongous. Most of the umbrellas were about a diameter of a meter, the stem was extra thick, very contented kind of texture.

Ye Chong realized he had not seen fungi like this in his room before. As the curiosity of a chemist rang in his head, he asked, “What is this called?” His eyes watched the fungi carefully as he went to have a closer look.

“Portabella,” concisely Sang Pu responded. “We called it ‘Portabella’, it might look soft but it’s actually very hard, that it felt like you are biting on a piece of leather. It is not edible. Mostly it grows within the gravity region, very reproductive, but they only grow in trios. So you won’t see a mushrooming flock of them on the field. We have yet discovered what it could do…”

Ye Chong gave a touch. It did feel really hard. The fleshy appearance was a lie.

His pupils enlarged as he lowered his back and dug that very piece of soil with caution. He gave a stare, and another, his heart raced as his mind went wild.

Could it be…

Wait no. He still needed to confirm his wild belief. Ye Chong sprang from the ground, straightened his back, “Sir? What’s… wrong?” asked Sang Pu, as his sharp eyes discerned that unusual expression of Ye Chong.

Ye Chong did not reply. His eyes scurried around. And at the one other corner within the circle nearby, there were other trio of Portabella resting.

A tip to his toes, Ye Chong flung and launched himself like an eagle to the mushrooms. Sang Pu also reacted promptly as he followed his teacher’s steps upon understanding what that gaze from his teacher meant.

Sang Pu acted like an explosive beast. It was a simple dash behind his teacher, yet it was speedy, with an indescribable grace.

Ye Chong jumped before the Portabellas and stomped to the ground, lowering himself as he searched through the gaps below.

I knew it! Ye Chong was breathing heavily, to extinguish that bit of flaring excitement, as he picked up that tiny speck of silver particles on interior of Portabella.

The particles were of sizes of green peas, with a dull surface, mixed within the soils. Nobody would have ever noticed their existence without proper observation.

“What are these?” Sang Pu asked, as he looked at the strange specks in Ye Chong’s hand.

“This, is what we outsiders called, metal,” glanced Ye Chong, he slowly spoke.

Sang Pu was as if struck by lightning, his widened eyes gazed upon the particles. So these are metals of the myths, longed by the Sang? Sang Pu shuddered to his realization.

Sang Pu only regained his calmness after a while. His shaking hand took one particle from Ye Chong and exerted his little bit of force, the particle flattened in his grip. His hope sank, the passion went extinguished, “What’s the use of metals this soft?”

Ye Chong gave a kick to the Portabella, beside the thumping mushroom, “What’s useful is this.”

Ye Chong realized how he had been taking the wrong approach the whole time. He had been thinking of how to extract the Lavagold itself from the ore by exerting extremely amount of heat at once. So he had been desperately searching for a factor to trigger the high density of heat within mildstone to perform extraction.

That, was the approach of a metallurgy researcher. But he forgot the fact that he was also an alchemist.

There were already a series of tutorial of alchemy illustrating methods to obtain metals from the ore itself. However, metallic extraction was a much more simplified and convenient methodology, it had gone so common that Ye Chong already forgot the fact that an alchemist approach had ever existed.

Not till the moment he saw metallic particles underneath Portabella, he did not realize such a forgotten fact.

If Lunatic Guan was beside him, he probably would have been smacked on his head. Thought Ye Chong, as he smiled in wry. I had learned so much yet I only remembered this little, I hardly had anything that could be identified as a master of it…. Even my martial arts expertise became nothing after I came to Sang family village.

The root of Portabella was so deep into the earth that, it felt like a carrot from the fairytale when both Ye Chong and Sang Pu tried pulling it out.

The remaining young adults stumbled upon the sight, it was certainly astonishing to see both grown men pulling and ravaging a poor stem of mushroom which refused to succumb to their violence and abuse. It stood firmly on the ground. “Hnnnnnng!” Both men were pounding each other, pulling a giant fungus off the ground. The scene was weird, really weird.

The fluttering spores stuck on their bodies, their faces were looking dusty and sweaty.

On the way back to the village, all villagers were grinning upon seeing Sang Pu. The face was beyond their understanding and no way they could look at it with a straight face, including the ladies who were covering their faces, snickering.

His face was covered with some unknown dirts while he was shouldering stem of an unknown plant. It would have not been so impulsive if the person was an ordinary villager. But it was Sang Pu, the candidate for the next village chief, a prestigious figure, the leader of the younger generation. That respect exerted by he himself, through that unchangeable calmness of his, now all eradicated by a stem of mushroom.

Sang Pu was blushing red as the flame, though his expression was grim. At least the blushes were covered by the spores, so nobody really saw how the next chief was feeling embarrassed.

Ye Chong in the meantime was tailing him, his indifference remained, unlike the poor chief.