Legend of the Supreme Soldier - Chapter 281

ai Lian was very annoyed indeed. Man I sure have tough luck. I thought I was lucky enough to have hunted a Gigada for money and now I am a slave under some unknown tribe’s capture. Bravo, Hai Lian, you saved the day.

But he must admit, he nearly dropped his jaws upon seeing the mech of the leader.

Skeleton mech? Am I seeing things? Is that really a skeleton mech? Oh my gosh… I actually witness the legendary mech with my own eyes. Yes, some may argue that skeleton mech isn’t really the strongest, but I am convinced the fact that the mech represents the top of a certain field, a master craftsmanship. As far as I know, almost every aristocrat who came to me mentioned about their research on skeleton mechs, though I have yet heard any successful attempt from them.

So who exactly are these people? Hai Lian was shocked, he could imagine and he swore that, if this information was leaked to the outside world, it would send fire to all the medias of the entire galaxy.

These flying “objects” were looking odd to Hai Lian on the other hand, although his instinct told him to not look down upon them. As a freelancing hunter he had been talking to the beasts with his fist, so he was rather familiar with the skeletons. These flying objects must be formidable in some way as he had heard about stories of a person massively purchasing skeletons in the market back then, and as far as he eavesdropped, these materials seemed to be used for production of skeleton parts.

And at the black market of Nine Gates, there was a batch of skeleton parts quietly flowed into the market once. Almost every piece of them was astronomically priced. That was the first time an actual piece of skeleton part appeared in the eyes of humanity, different from its theoretical debut back then. Even though those were merely skeleton accessories, they had once again rekindled the interests of humanity towards skeleton crafts, which led to an inflation at the market. Hai Lian probably benefited from it the most. As a hunter he had a storage of skeletons, he could feel that happiness of his wallet exploding, the figure on his identity card ticking endlessly back then.

A few pieces of accessories were enough to stir up a rampage in the market. Now, imagine they saw a complete skeleton mech in front of them. I wonder how they would react? Maybe like the thrashing during the time when Galacly Gaga appeared. Hai Lian was pretty looking forward to it.

Of course such thought was merely a whim rolling in his head. He would never word it. He expected himself to express full respect towards this very leader of the strange tribe., especially when he could feel pierced by the leader’s cold gaze. The leader’s brows laid flat like his tone. It was a fear to overcome for him to lay his eyes upon the leader.

These were some horrible barbarians. It must be the hidden troops trained by one of the aristocrats! I could tell from every gesture they made, okay, I am getting scared. I started to lose track of the happening, I could not really tell which aristocrat could own such major troops, other than the greatest three – Xue Lai clan, the Ye family, the Xi Feng Tribe, but it would not make sense! None of those aristocrats possess a skeleton mech!

And there were skeleton flying objects. 5000 of them! Such a budget! Seriously no other aristocrat could invest such a fortune. The colors though… those were contradicting my assumption. As far as I know, the Xue Lai clan adores the color white, whereas the Ye family prefers the color black and the Xi Feng tribe has a thing for green. Those colors also happen to be the representation of the three aristocrats, which they would use to paint their mechs. But these skeleton flying objects were a mess! They do not have a standard color, it felt like I was caught by a group of underperforming troops or something! There are all sorts of colors, and some of them are even painted in patches of green and red, like a poorly done reskined mech from the wet market. Yet… their behaviors were showing otherwise. They are solemn and stern, with convincing discipline. Anyone with eyes could tell they had undergone a long period of military training.

Those eyes though, were very frightening to my sense. They were still, like too still, forceful which sometimes a glare of their shrunken pupils would make my heart run cold. Archipelago is known to be the most tedious place for humanity yet these men… these Sang villagers I heard? They survived from the slaughters from generation to generation. I also heard they had a severe war with Steelbats days ago, I know those Steelbats, they were terrifying, how in the Archipelago they handled the uncontrolled avifauna?

Ye Chong and the tribe were not really aware of this so-called frightening stares and aura, it probably was a lingering fearsomeness because of the war back then. But it was enough to give a mind crush to Hai Lian.

Okay, obviously, Hai Lian, these men were not the kind civilized one you would have expected. Yikes! Those stares! Stop it!

In reality, it was all Hai Lian’s imagination. The entire tribe surrounded him as he was the first new outsider after the teacher’s arrival. No doubt they would be all alarmed and curious.

Hey! Hey! What do you want to do with me? Where do you want me to go?

Hai Lian was called to the side by Ye Chong.

“What exactly is this place?” asked Ye Chong.

Dammit you Archipelagoose! Quit playing games with me! If you want to tease your enemy, do it properly! I had never felt so insulted in my entire life! Do you think I’m a fool? If there was anybody in the galaxy who claimed to be unaware of the Calamitous Asteroid Belt, I would be piloting my mech and – with pleasure – crashed my head right into that fella! You Archipelagoose! Try playing games with me again and you- “This place, sir, is known as the Calamitous Asteroid Belt.” Stated Hai Lian with wholehearted courtesy.

It was not the first day Hai Lian went on his little adventure, he would never show his true dissatisfaction to an enemy with fearsome appearance.

Ye Chong was finding the name pretty foreign. He tried searching the term in his mind – nope, no result. “So what galaxy are we in exactly?” asked he again.

I said stop playing games with me! Ughhhh! There’s a reason I call you an Archipelagoose you twerp! I swear I am going to- “This, sir, is known as the He Yue galaxy.”

“He Yue… what?” Flinched Ye Chong, the name rang a bell. But… He Yue galaxy was not from any of the 5 major galaxies…

“Mister, did you just mention He Yue galaxy? We are in He Yue galaxy?” Sang Pu, alarmed, asked frantically, which was intriguing to Ye Chong as Sang Pu had been all calm and steady till this statement toppled his rationality.

“Duh! Where else? The Blackhole?” responded Hai Lian, on a leak of his temper. Well, you love games, don’t you? Just carry on messing with my mind, come on. Wait, what did I just say? Oh no… dear Hai Lian, you know that your life was still in their hands, don’t you?

“He Yue galaxy? He Yue galaxy…,” muttered Sang Pu, “Oh my lord, is this true? We had actually found our root a long time ago?” The villagers were stupefied.

And only Ye Chong recalled by then, the ancestor of the Sang tribe once migrated from He Yue galaxy to Archipelago. All these while he had been assuming the He Yue galaxy being an old name of one galaxy of the current 5 major galaxies. But now this man’s statement seemed to be telling otherwise. So there was actually another galaxy than the 5 major galaxies?

Hai Lian stared at these men, confused. Their expression seemed to be joyful but not really at the same time… they did not seem to be acting though. Are they really not from He Yue? I clearly heard that mature man mentioning about He Yue being their root… so … maybe…

“How far is He Yue from the 5 major galaxies?” Ye Chong was more concerned on this.

“Five what? What Five major galaxies?” Hai Lian was looking at Ye Chong in bewilderment.

Aha! My hypothesis was right! I knew it! These men are not from He Yue at all! But assuming they really were from He Yue, probably they are some hidden elite troops trained by the aristocrat, who ventured into the Calamitous Asteroid Belt and disguised their transportation with camouflage. They should be on some kind of top secret mission, oh no, and I actually butted in. To keep the mission as a secret, they would have to kill me!!!

Luckily, Hai Lian, they were not from He Yue. Phew, I could finally flex my muscles. But frankly speaking, I am really curious of their origin. Man, I’m such a chicken at this, I could not even lift my mouth and ask. I guess, for now I should be as cooperative as possible.

Sang Pu was truly the successor to the leader, he regained his thoughts quickly and began inquiring more details of He Yue. He was more sensible in this than Ye Chong.

Of course Hai Lian was fully cooperative, answering those inquiries without hesitation.

Apparently, He Yue galaxy did not have its own government. It was currently torn between forces. It was complicated as not only there were numerous forces but also a vast number of freelancing hunting pilots joining and forming different forces at the same time, truly chaotic. And among them, the three great aristocrats were most outstanding – Xue Lai clan, Ye family, Xi Feng tribe, with their advancement in technologies as well as great battle capabilities. The catch was, these aristocrats, other than being in their respective region, were not as influential as the people outside would imagine.

Sang Pu was all ears, and he asked a few questions from time to time.

“Thank you very much,” sighed Hai Lian in a relief upon hearing the loving phrase. His wit suggested the fact that these men indeed lacked even the basic understanding of He Yue galaxy. They surely would need a guide.

Well that sounds like my safety charm! Sigh! Goodbye freedom, Hai Lian, you are eventually a bird trapped in the cage. It’s easy to say no right in the face of those pampered Aristocrats, but these are the barbarians, they would grind me for dinner if I dare to even shake my head!

In his galaxy, the outside world, none of those forces would suppress the freelancing pilots. In He Yue certainly, the greatest force consisted of the freelancing pilots like Hai Lian, since they easily outnumbered the 3 Aristocrats, which justified the fact that Hai Lian was still standing there under captive despite all the snobbish “No” he rubbed on the faces of those Aristocrats.

But obviously these barbarians would never understand the fact that I’m an endangered species. Hai Lian you would be an ignorant bull if you would die simply because of a “No”.

Sang Pu then asked his men to lead Hai Lian to somewhere else after the interrogation.

“So, what do we do next? Should we migrate again? Ask all our brothers and sisters to go back to our root?” They then had a discussion.

“Sir, how do you see?” asked Sang Pu, with his expression as passionate as the folks by his side. It had to be the greatest wish for the Sangs to return to He Yue galaxy, especially when it was near.

“We could think about that later. We have no idea how the place here looks,” declined Ye Chong. “Bringing everyone out could become an issue easily. We should scout the place first, then we build a base, we would consider about the migration after all the conditions had been met. Well, for now you could go back and spread the happy news to everybody at least.”

Ye Chong might not be the most charismatic leader yet, but his decision-making was more mature than before.

“True, sir!” His idea was approved by everybody. Their tribe had been staying in the Archipelago for generations, they had hardly seen the outside world, and only Ye Chong had the actual societal experience, so, one would of course listen to the experienced.

“Go! Go and tell them we found home!” Sang Pu sent 10 men to spread the words.

Ye Chong began pondering, as he confirmed the fact that there were indeed more galaxies beyond the 5 major galaxies, judging from the words of Hai Lian. A complete zone of foreignness…

Ye Chong began wondering if Mu Shang might happen to be there with the Coxcomb. He discarded the idea quickly however, as he realized the probability was too measly for that to happen. The figure would further decrease assuming he would go on a search boldly at this foreign world.

Only if they were lost in the 5 major galaxies. Ye Chong would be sure of what to do. He just had to log into the Virtual World and let Mu discover and trace his energy signal.

Will I see Mu Shang again?? Sighed Ye Chong in his mind.

But first, I have better things to do. I should at least ensure my survival to even be able to meet them again. I knew nothing else than the hand-on-hand, I got to learn.

I start to miss Shang’s overindulgence, at least Shang’s superior knowledge and diabolic nature would be close to my capabilities. The others… well they needed my help more… Helplessly Ye Chong took the flag of leadership, since that seemed to be the most probable move to make for now.

Luckily we got a tour guide.

“Bring Hai Lian.”

“Yes sir.”

Ye Chong called Hai Lian to the front and mentioned his request.

As expected! Thought Hai Lian, not like I have any choice though. So the free-unfree hunter accepted the request without much hesitation.

Ye Chong, suddenly had Shang’s voice echoed in his mind, “Remember, Ye, whenever the enemies agreed to your need, you should return the favor. Fair trade is fair. It’s a principle of life.” Well then…

“Since you have accepted our request, similarly, as a fair trade, we would pay you with a price accordingly. So, tell us, what do you wish for?” The principle of life is the very basic law of human interaction, emphasized Shang. Even though Ye Chong could not guarantee to when and what extend he would abide by that principle, he would at least try learning it, since he was in fact the one sitting on the throne leading the people at the moment.

Sang Pu and his men were looking at Sir oddly, as they believed the so-called price was unnecessary at all, since any resource in Archipelago would be as precious as a living necessity, plus Hai Lian had technically been enslaved by them, whatever he had performed should be unwaged.

An inexperienced beast leading a group of incomprehensible beasts – the best summary it was for Ye Chong’s current team perhaps.

A joyful twist in Hai Lian’s show. It looked like his script did not end just there, since there was no need for a fill-in-the-blank promise in this scene! Such a charismatic man! Complimented Hai Lian. But well, the hunter’s mind schemed faster than the wind, as he said, “Thank you sir for your greatest kindness, however it would be more helpful if I could know what the lord could offer at his convenience…”

e Chong blinked. He was caught off guard. As it was, everyone on his side had no money at all, not even a single zuan. Nonetheless, Ye Chong was not embarrassed over it. He never really thought highly of money, and being penniless was absolutely normal for him. Ye Chong replied, “Hmm, we have no money. But, if you’re interested in that, we’ll need time to pay you.” Mu and Shang had told him before, that almost everyone would be interested in money.

Hai Lian looked at the man before him, and felt like he could not understand him at all. He had just told him that they were broke without any embarrassment, like he was only talking about the weather.

Hai Lian spoke more respectfully, “I’m not too keen on money. If possible, please give me a full-skeleton mech, and I’ll be most grateful.” Someone as weathered as Hai Lian would know not to offer too low a price, so that there was room for negotiation.

A full-skeleton mech. Ye Chong quietly sighed in relief. To him, it was not too difficult. Ye Chong nodded. “Alright then. However, we didn’t bring any extra full-skeleton mechs. For a new full-skeleton mech, we’ll need some time to deliver.” It would take time, whether it was building a new one from scratch, or getting one from the Sang Family Village.

“No problem,” Hai Lian answered quickly, afraid that Ye Chong might take back his word. Heavens, he never thought Ye Chong would actually agree to it. To him, a full-skeleton mech would more than satisfy him, and now the man had actually agreed without hesitation. He could almost jump with joy.

He would risk his life for a full-skeleton mech, much less waiting for awhile. Besides, the other man seemed honest enough. More importantly, he understood his position in this negotiation.

The thought of having a full-skeleton mech was euphoric. Hai Lian almost fainted with joy. What’s in a full-skeleton mech? If someone were to offer a full-skeleton mech as a reward when hiring a freelance mech pilot, Hai Lian was sure that many would jump at the offer. An excellent mech to a mech pilot was like a finely honed sword to a swordsman, or a beauty to a playboy; besides, this was a full-skeleton mech!

The turn from downright miserable to absolute joy was like a dream to Hai Lian. He could feel himself enveloped in a dreamy sensation of happiness. Fortunately, the full-skeleton mech was only promised to him. If they were to present him with a full-skeleton mech there and then, Hai Lian thought he would probably faint on the spot.

“Since you’ve agreed, then let’s talk about how to make things work between us.” Ye Chong’s voice broke Hai Lian’s reverie. Hai Lian finally came to, and remembered then that the mech would come at a price.

“Just let me know what I can do for you, sir!” With the full-skeleton mech as price, Hai Lian submitted unreservedly to provide his services.

Ye Chong continued evenly, “Hmm, we’re not asking for much, other than that you work as a reliable guide for us. On the other hand, don’t try to look into our background, and don’t tell anyone about us. Any action on your part must go through my approval. Oh, right, and another thing, I’ll leave the matter of our identification documents to you.”

Hai Lian nodded as he listened. The job was not too difficult, reasonable even. Sang Pu and the rest listened on the side as well. The outside world was too unfamiliar to them.

Ye Chong took a glance at the villagers and continued, “What we have to do now is to stay low, our safety is top priority. All your plans must be based on this.” He then turned to look at Sang Pu and the others and said, “The same goes for all of you.”

“Yes sir,” Sang Pu and the rest bowed, answering in unison.

Hai Lian looked respectfully at Ye Chong. He could not understand how a young man like him could command such respect from these people. Hai Lian himself was impressed by the discipline that this group had demonstrated. He was sure that, with the exception of the three main aristocratic families, no one in the He Yue galaxy could come close to this attitude.

Ye Chong took a casual glance at Hai Lian and said, “Since we have an agreement, I hope you’ll do your part. If you turn back on the deal, you should know the consequences to that, I’m sure.”

Hai Lian could feel cold sweat rolling down along his back, down to the tip of his spine. There was a deep chill spreading from the depths of his heart. Ye Chong’s casual sentence came out like a blizzard.

Hai Lian quickly replied, “Don’t worry, sir, I will do my best.” He was moaning regretfully on the inside. The full-skeleton mech will not come easy, indeed.

Sang Pu, Sang Fan and the others quickly passed the word from Ye Chong to the rest. The Sang family members were all used to hunting, and had lived under the laws of nature. No one understood better than Ye Chong what disaster they would cause once they stepped into human society, since he had done it before himself.

Looking back at those days, he would not have survived without Mu and Shang. His own journey was not all stars and glory, but littered with a good many deadly battles.

Human society was too complicated. He was still continually vexed by it. Once, he would leave such problems for Mu and Shang to worry about; now, it was up to him to solve their predicament. Moreover, it was not just him now, but a whole 5,000 Sang family villagers. He must take every step with the utmost care.

While Ye Chong was not familiar with this kind of problem, he was at least able to calculate the best solution, out of influence from Mu. The order he just gave was based on his considerations of the situation at hand.

The only ones in the world whom Ye Chong would sacrifice so much for would be Mu and Shang, but this did not mean that Ye Chong would act irresponsibly. He would do his best to protect the 5,000 Sang family members, even if he would not die for them.

Ye Chong asked, “Are you familiar with this place?”

Hai Lian nodded. “Yes, I’ve been around for years.”

“Are there many visitors?” Ye Chong asked.

Hai Lian shook his head. “Not many. The wild animals here are nasty things, plus the land is difficult to travel. Aside from independent hunters, and mech pilots here for actual combat training, no one really comes here.”

Ye Chong was satisfied with that, since it greatly reduced the probability of the Sang family members being found out. Having 5,000 people suddenly visiting a city would have been big news, much less when they all looked vicious as h*ll.

“Is there any hidden place around here, big enough to fit 5,000 people?” Ye Chong asked.

5,000 people … Hai Lian was shocked. He thought there would only be around two to three thousand, but now … Keeping himself composed, he pondered over the question for a moment before replying, “Hmm, there’s a valley nearby, very much hidden, and spacious. I think it should be big enough for 5,000 people. It’s just that there are many wild beasts there, very vicious ones. I’ve only been there once, and nearly lost my life.” Hai Lian spoke of his experience at the valley with lingering fear.

Wild beasts? Ye Chong believed that no animal would be more vicious than the ones at Archipelago. Animals that lived with such strong gravity would be so much more dangerous than the animals here.

“Gather them up,” Ye Chong spoke with a plain but undefiable voice. He was beginning to accept and play the role of a leader. He was the perfect case study of a leader made, not born.

Sang Ling bowed, and did as commanded.

The Sang tribe was efficient. Even without communication devices, they still managed to work with such efficiency.

The 5,000-strong battalion stood in formation with a silent, imposing manner.

“There’s a valley nearby. We’ll have to clear the area of wild beasts. Sang Pu will lead the operation.” Ye Chong had no idea how to give orders, and only spoke in his usual way.

“Yes sir,” All 5,000 of them answered.

Hai Lian was pale, watching the events unfolding before him. Ye Chong’s seemingly unleaderly order had transformed the 5,000 people into formidable warriors. If those 5,000 people were like a sword in its sheath earlier, then Ye Chong’s order seemed to have unsheathed the sword.

The 5,000 strong formation did not move, and everyone’s expression was still as sombre as before, but now, one could feel the strong, deadly aura from them. Hai Lian had never seen anything like it, and was hence pale from fear.

“As expected, they’re killers,” Hai Lian thought to himself. A friend once told him that this steady but deadly aura would only come from people who had have survived countless battles to the death. However, He Yue had never seen war for years. Why would there be veteran soldiers here? And why would there be 5,000 of them?

Where did they come from? That was the main question for Hai Lian. However, he was also well aware of the situation, and would not risk his life for the answer.

Under Hai Lian’s guidance, Ye Chong and the rest quickly found the valley.

However, what happened next shocked Hai Lian once again, till his face was drained of blood.

This .. This was a massacre! Heavens, who were these people? He had nearly lost his life here, but now the beasts were killed so easily that he was having a hard time to even breathe, taking in the spectacle.

He had seen so-called infamous mech pilot squads working, but they were like child’s play compared to what he was seeing now. He dared not record it, though. If he did, he was sure that their performance would cause an uproar in the world, and the cooperation they demonstrated would be a welcome addition into the curriculum for mech pilot group strategies as a case study.

That odd-shaped flying machine was packed with such destructive powers that Hai Lian himself could freeze in fear. The valley was scattered with blood everywhere. He could hear the animals howling in fear and pain. Their savage methods were enough to make even someone as weathered as him to squirm.

Even the Ye family, known for their savage ways in this galaxy, could not compare to this battalion. The Ye family preferred close range combat, but not in the crude and brute force methods of these people, crashing into their enemies without style.

However, the way they worked with each other was intriguing in a way that Hai Lian could not exactly describe. It was like watching a huge, bearded man swinging his two large iron hammers around as he yelled barbarically, but all the while moving gracefully like a dancer. The contrast was mind bending.

The clearing operation went swiftly. Only 500 people were involved, but their astonishing efficiency would satisfy even the most unyielding critics.

Hai Lian stared at the animal bodies scattered around the area. They could all be sold for money! If all these people decided to start working as freelance hunters, then the other hunters should just choose another line of work.

Ye Chong walked to one of the bodies, took out his dagger and slit open the flesh. He inspected the animal’s skeleton, and shook his head. If it were before he entered Archipelago, he would have thought these skeletons were excellent. However, now that Archipelago had raised the bar, he could no longer be satisfied with these skeletons. They were too inferior compared to those from the Archipelago.

Archipelago skeletons were still the best!

Ye Chong’s familiar movements and his ease around the bodies made Hai Lian understand that the young man, so respected by the battalion, must have had his own share of a bloody past.

Ye Chong had no idea how to set camp or secure the perimeter, so he left all the work to Sang Pu.

On a deserted plain on Soundfall, a group was advancing swiftly, fast like a falling star.

This was Ye Chong and his people. Once the battalion was settled, and instructions were given, Ye Chong led a team himself to survey the planet known as Soundfall. Together with him was Sang Fan and a few others. Sang Pu was left at base to handle any unexpected situations. Ye Chong’s order were for them to stay hidden; if they were spotted, leave no witnesses alive. The order made Hai Lian felt a chill reaching deep to his bones.

Ye Chong took eight people with him. Together with himself and Hai Lian, they made up a group of 10. The eight included Sang Fan and Sang Ling, and the rest were all elites like Sang Huo and Sang Tie.

ith the exception of Ye Chong and Hai Lian, the rest of them had no dimension keystones for their mechs. Full-skeleton mechs were too much of an attention grabber, and if they entered the city with those mechs, they would be noticed the moment they arrived. Ye Chong knew this from his experience at the Nine Gates of Daylight.

The person left behind to defend the base was Sang Mu. Sang Mu was a socially awkward figure, but in fact he had a quick mind, a typical strategist. He was an excellent fighter, and ruthless enough to be make some of the villagers wary of him. Ye Chong’s instructions to him were to protect the mechs, and retaliate where necessary. If their safety was compromised, they were to escape immediately. To Ye Chong, survival was of the utmost importance.

The rest of them were heading towards the nearest city.

Hai Lian was shocked. He never imagined that this lean young guy would be so strong. When he was carried by Sang Tie, the wind blowing in his face made it hard to breathe. He could barely open his eyes as the man ran like the wind. His mind was in circles, and he could not even form a coherent thought!

The eight people advanced in battle formation, surrounding Ye Chong in the center. Soundfall had considerably weaker gravity than at Archipelago. On the other hand, Sang Tie and others were already quite fast on Archipelago. Hence, they moved so fast it was like they were running on engines.

Ye Chong believed that even a Jie expert specializing in running would not be able to outrun them.

With the exception of Ye Chong and Hai Lian, the rest of them wore enthusiastic expressions. They had never experienced weak gravity like this. Every Sang tribe member yearned for greater power, speed and strength. Their heightened abilities here were unprecedented, so it was only natural that they felt so excited.

Mechs flew past them from above occasionally. There came in all sorts of designs, be it humanoid or animal shaped. Sang Fan and the rest watched with awe, new to the outside world. Even so, they remained in formation and did not slow down.

Their speed was getting a little too conspicuous, as some mechs would hover over them for a while before continuing on their journeys. Soon, Ye Chong realized the issue, and asked for them to slow down. However, even then, they were still running faster than normal.

The city’s silhouette came to view in the distance.

After Hai Lian was put down, he took nearly three minutes to recover himself. He then took a look and found the city in view, and was flabbergasted. He turned back to see the group, and found that they did not look strained or even tired at all. Even Sang Tie, who was carrying him, was breathing quite evenly.

Hai Lian gulped heavily, his fear of the group now refreshed. What astonishing stamina! They had actually arrived here on foot! He could not help but think, also, that if they were to go at “it”, they could probably go on for days … He felt a little jealous

No one said anything. The group stayed in battle formation, wearing serious expressions.

However, Hai Lian quickly broke off his lewd thoughts, since he saw Ye Chong looking at him.

Hai Lian quickly spoke up, “That’s the city called Foundation, I’ve been there a few times. The city’s under the power of the Kuri tribe. Please beware, the women of the tribe cannot be touched, or there will be trouble.”

“The Kuri tribe?” Sang Fan asked. Of all the younger Sang tribe members, only Sang Pu and Sang Fan could behave naturally in front of Ye Chong. Even Sang Ling would become behave more carefully around Ye Chong in later days.

Hai Lian said, “Yes. The Kuri tribe is more conservative. Aside from weapons like mechs, they’re quite opposed to technology. They worship nature, and pray to a mythical goddess they call the Divine Lady. So, if any Kuri tribe member makes a vow in the name of the Divine Lady, you can rest assured they mean it.”

Everyone seemed interested in this.

Hai Lian noticed that he had everyone’s attention, and continued happily, “The Kuri tribe may not be a huge tribe, with primitive technology, but seldom do people meddle with them. They’re weapon enthusiasts, investing much of their efforts in weapons technology, which is above average. Besides, the tribe members are all able and eager to fight, so people usually leave them alone.”

These people listening to him were actually his employers, and the ones who will give him his full-skeleton mech, so Hai Lian reminded them, “However, the Kuri tribe is not exactly ruling the place diligently. As long as you leave them alone, they wouldn’t care what you do in Foundation city. As a result, Foundation is actually in quite a social mess. You’ll see fights anywhere, anytime, so please be careful.”

As they heard that there would be fights in the city, everyone instantly raised their guard. Hai Lian quickly soothed them. “Relax, everyone. I believe that no one in Foundation would dare to mess with us.” The residents of Foundation were all weathered fighters, and would probably recognize that this group was not one to be messed with.

As they approached Foundation, the mechs in the sky grew numerous, and so did the pedestrians. Most of them walked steadily with hardened eyes. Their clothing looked weathered, and their faces even more so. Ye Chong was curious about this. In the Five Galaxies, the people on the streets all walked casually, their faces an unhealthy pallor, more like sick people compared to the people here.

“Who are they?” Ye Chong asked, pointing at them.

Hai Lian took a glance, and replied, “They’re combat experts.”

“Combat experts?” Ye Chong was surprised. Combat experts were rare in the Five Galaxies, a forgotten line of work. Most of them only practiced in their own dojos. Here, however, Ye Chong had seen dozens of them walking around. Could combat experts actually be common in this place?

“Yes, they’re combat experts who’ve gone through ascetic training. Most combat experts who reached a certain level of skill would leave their homes for ascetic training to improve their skills and harden their resolve. These people you see are combat experts visiting here to train themselves. A combat expert who had completed his or her ascetic training is well respected here, and is usually very strong,” Hai Lian explained. However, he was immediately reminded of how crazily strong these people are. Now that was true strength.

Ye Chong grew curious. “Why are combat experts still popular here? Shouldn’t mech pilots be more mainstream?”

Hai Lian explained evenly, “Mech piloting is indeed the popular choice, but without a strong body, it’s almost impossible to improve your piloting skills beyond an intermediate level. Besides, what’s a better to way to train yourself physically than going into combat training? Also, many mech pilots still die in the hands of combat experts these days!”

Ye Chong nodded in agreement. For someone as skilled in mech piloting as him, he knew that advanced piloting skills would require more stringent demands on the mech pilot’s physical condition. Even a single change in direction, when done in half the time, would increase the demand on the pilot’s physical abilities by more than half. Ye Chong had killed more than a few mech pilots outside his mech, thus he understood that mech pilots outside their mechs were usually weak and vulnerable.

“Here, everyone learns to fight from their childhood. Since children’s bodies haven’t fully matured, mech pilot training is not suitable for them. Besides, learning to fight not only helps to strengthen them physically, but it can also toughen their minds. Their instructors are combat experts. Many mech pilots would eventually head outside to train themselves as well.” Hai Lian added, “Mental strength is more important than skills.”

“That makes sense,” Ye Chong agreed. This mindset seemed to be better than the popular mindset in the Five Galaxies. Hence, the mech pilots here must be stronger than those from the Five Galaxies.

The city was surrounded by all sorts of fauna. The wide stretch of blooming flowers was an eye-opener. One could even see some beautiful ladies among the flowers, tending to them.

Hai Lian whispered, “These woman are from the Kuri tribe. They like to take care of the plants. Please don’t damage any of the plants, or we’ll be in deep trouble. The Kuri tribe women can be very troublesome.”

Ye Chong nodded in understanding. The view was beautiful, with all kinds of flowering plants and trees neatly arranged in a refreshing manner. Outside the foliage areas were many parking spaces. The mechs in the air would land here, and the mech pilot would hop out of the pilot cabin, withdraw their mechs, and walk into the city.

Ye Chong found that most of the mech pilots here did not use rope ladders, but made their way down to the ground by themselves. As expected, the mech pilots here were mostly combat trained. They all looked like tough characters, completely unlike the superficial mech pilots in the Five Galaxies.

Sang Fan and the rest were tense. They had never seen so many strangers before. The way they held themselves got the attention of the people around them. Hai Lian groaned inside and asked them to relax themselves, to no avail.

Ye Chong said nothing. He understood that their habits could not be overcome so soon. He handled himself worse in the past. However, he also knew that they were standing out too much, which made it easier to get them into trouble. Fortunately, they were all strictly disciplined, and would not attack first without his order.

When a standard combat squad in battle formation entered the scene, its members all looking serious and deadly, it was hard to blend in the background. No one dared to stay within 20 meters of them. Even the Kuri tribe women tending to the plants stood up, and gave them odd looks.

In fact, just as Hai Lian predicted, their group stood out too much. Hai Lian saw a few mech pilot squads directing meaningful looks at them. However, with the deadly aura coming from them, no one dared to come and greet the newcomers.

The deadly aura coming from their group was too strong. Hai Lian did not know that the Sang family villagers had just fought a war, and were still fresh from that experience.

The people around them gossiped in low whispers.

“Let’s go.” Ye Chong did not want to be stared at like some creature. Besides, their wary glances made him uncomfortable.

Inside the city, Ye Chong felt like he had returned to civilization. This was not a wasteland like the Archipelago. He could see traces of technology everywhere. The wide street was filled with pedestrians bustling about, unlike in the cities where Ye Chong had visited before. In any city in the Five Galaxies, pedestrians were usually rarely seen on the road. The sky was the main road of transport. Conventional transportation was replaced with mechs. Here in the city, however, there were no mechs flying above them.

The street was lined with shops, and the holographic advertisements on display threw Ye Chong into a daze. He was reminded of Mu and Shang, and then Bai Linan, and the days gone past. Now, however, he did not know where Mu and Shang were, or how Bai Linan was doing. Truly, life unfolds in unexpected ways.

However, Ye Chong quickly focused and mocked himself, “Since when am I so sentimental?”

Sang Fan and the group had never seen these high tech holographic advertisements before, and they all gaped at them.

“Bumpkins,” someone laughed at them. The people around them were all looking at them condescendingly.

Hai Lian stopped in his tracks. These onlookers must have a death wish, to mess with the group he was with. And now … He felt deeply troubled.

However, after a long moment, Ye Chong and the others did not respond at all.

Hai Lian did not know that Sang Fan and the others did not even know what a bumpkin was. As for Ye Chong, he was well aware of the insult, but equally uninterested in such meaningless fights. Thus, he ignored the comment.

As Hai Lian had informed him, most of the stores here sell mechs, weaponry and such. The next most popular goods were mech parts and the like. Ye Chong even found a few stores specialized in less conventional or traditional weapons. This intrigued him a lot. In the Five Galaxies, stores like these were almost unheard of. Traditional weapons were more like artworks there. However, since there were many combat experts in the city, Ye Chong realized that it was only reasonable to see those stores here. As a combat expert himself, he knew that there were combat experts who specialized in these unconventional weapons.

Ye Chong asked Hai Lian abruptly, “Where can I buy dimension keystones?” He now needed a large amount of dimension keystones. Without them, Sang Fan and the rest would not be able to take Collision with them. If they found themselves in trouble, they would be more at risk without their mechs.

Hai Lian quickly answered, “All the stores selling mech parts will have them, but …” He seemed unable to continue further.

“But what?” Ye Chong looked strangely at Hai Lian.

“Dimension keystones are not cheap, do you have enough money?” Hai Lian looked carefully at Ye Chong.

Ye Chong realized his predicament then.

ver since he escaped the trash planet, Ye Chong had never worried about money. This was firstly due to his shallow understanding of currency, and secondly, Mu and Shang had always dealt with this issue for him.

Now, the first problem he faced was actually about money. He knew next to nothing about ways to make more money. If it was just him alone, he would have acted with less worries; however, with so many with him, it was just not feasible to use more extreme methods.

Ye Chong turned to Sang Fan and asked, “Any lavagold weapons?”

Sang Fan immediately responded, “Only a lavagold dagger.”

“Hand it over.” Ye Chong reached out his hand, and Sang Fan quickly released the dagger secured on his thigh and placed it in Ye Chong’s hand. Sang Fan’s dagger was made by him, the sheathe made out of tough steelbat skin, simple and practical.

Hai Lian looked at the inconspicuous weapon with interest. Lavahold dagger? What a curious name.

Ye Chong took the dagger and headed towards one of the traditional weapons stores. The others quickly adjusted their formation accordingly, keeping Ye Chong at the center as he walked towards the store.

The discipline showed by the small group gathered a few interested glances, some of them with fear.

As Ye Chong entered the traditional weapons store, the storekeeper noticed the large group and greeted them warmly, anticipating good business.

The storekeeper smiled widely at Ye Chong as he said, “How can I help you, sir? Please have a look around, if you see anything of interest, feel free to give them a try. If you need any special weapons, our store offers custom build services. Our main weapons craftsmith is Duo Lanmen, with the title Strange. He’s well suited for making more unique weapons.”

Hai Lian could not help but be surprised. He never imagined that a small store like this would have a weapons craftsmith with the Strange title. A weapons craftsmith with a title was much coveted by any powerful organization. The title denoted the specialization in their work. Duo Lanmen, for example, with the title Strange, would be specialized in unique weapons.

Hai Lian’s surprise pleased the storekeeper. Duo Lanmen was his store’s main star. He would make the same introduction to every new customer, and their look of surprise was something he enjoyed very much.

However, seeing the rest of the group unmoved, the storekeeper guessed that they must have been seasoned veterans who would not be impressed by the normal things he had on display. On the other hand, he also knew that this kind of customers were usually the ones who would spend more. Perhaps he had a huge opportunity here. Just when he was about to show them the best products from his store, the leader spoke.

“Do you buy weapons here?” The calm voice came from Ye Chong.

The storekeeper paused. They were not here to purchase anything. He was heavily disappointed, but kept the smile on his face as he said, “Of course we do, what would you be selling, sir? Please give me a moment, for your reassurance, all authentication and valuation in this store is carried out by the weapons craftsmith Duo Lanmen himself. Will this be agreeable to you?”

The group seemed dodgy to him. Best if he let Duo Lanmen to inspect whatever they had to sell, since no one would actually doubt the decision of a weapons craftsmith with a title.

Ye Chong nodded and said, “Alright.” He then turned his attention to the weapons on display in the store.

They were all unpopular or traditional weapons, and came in all types and shapes. It was definitely an eye-opener for him. Sang Fan and the rest were even more impressed. However, even in this store, they still kept their vigilance, with their formation unbroken. Their lives in Archipelago had taught them to never let their guard down.

A while later, a middle-aged man came out from a deeper part of the store. He was simply dressed and looked gaunt, with a thin face. However, his eyes sparkled with life, and his hands were broad and powerful, covered with calluses.

The storekeeper introduced, “This is the craftsmith, Duo Lanmen. Old Duo, this customer wants to sell a weapon, please have a look.”

Duo Lanmen nodded, and turned to Ye Chong. “Oh, what would you like to sell, young man?”

Ye Chong nodded in greeting and pulled out the lavagold dagger in his hand. “This one.”

Duo Lanmen took the dagger, but did not unsheathe it immediately. Instead, he studied the sheath closely, and after a long moment, asked in confusion, “What is this sheath made of, I wonder?”

Ye Chong replied, “The skin of a kind of bird, called steelbat.”

Duo Lanmen rubbed the sheath with his right hand and praised, “Tough but resilient, dark and practical. Excellent.” The storekeeper immediately felt much happier. Just by the dagger’s sheath made of animal hide that Duo Lanmen had never even seen before, the weapon was gold. Old Duo had high standards, and would rarely compliment.

Duo Lanmen suddenly unsheathed the dagger, with a flash of gold from the lavagold blade.

“Lavagold!” Duo Lanmen’s astonished declaration came in a trembling voice.

Lavagold’s beauty was apparent no matter where it was. The dagger was entirely covered in gold, shining like molten gold.

“What a pity …” Duo Lanmen muttered expressively.

“What?” The storekeeper could not help but ask, and everyone directed their attention to Duo Lanmen.

Duo Lanmen explained plainly, “I don’t know which prodigal son did this, such a waste of material. The dagger’s design is unremarkable, entirely unsuited to be made with lavagold. More importantly, he’d used so much lavagold to make such an uninteresting dagger. What a prodigal son, what a truly wasteful heir! This is impossible, if that man is my student, hmph …” Duo Lanmen grew angrier as he spoke. The storekeeper quickly took the lavagold dagger from him, the precious weapon.

Sang Fan was now blushing like a cherry, but Duo Lanmen and the storekeeper did not notice him. The rest of the Sang family members looked at Sang Fan helplessly, while Sang Ling hid a smile behind her hands. For the moment, Sang Fan was in an incredibly awkward position.

Ye Chong asked, “Then how much do you think this dagger is worth, sir?”

Duo Lanmen replied, “At least 30 thousand credits.”

The storekeeper was startled, and nearly dropped the dagger. “Old Duo, you think it’s worth 30 thousand credits?” The storekeeper was troubled. Even Hai Lian was speechless, gaping at the value. How could a dagger be worth 30 thousand credits? Heavens, what was this lavagold, to be worth so much?

“Yes. 30 thousand credits is for the lavagold and the dagger’s sheath. The dagger itself is worthless,” Duo Lanmen explained in all seriousness.

From their reactions, Ye Chong thought that the price was appropriate. However, he had no idea what 30 thousand credits were actually worth.

“Alright, 30 thousand credits then,” Ye Chong said.

As they exited the weapons store, Hai Lian thought he was still in a dream. That dagger had been sold for 30 thousand credits! Had the world gone mad? He was now feeling a little distracted, like in a dream. In that short exchange, he had suddenly added 30 thousand credits to his account. Ye Chong and the rest had no cards, so the 30 thousand credits were all added into his card.

“How much is 30 thousand credits?” Ye Chong suddenly turned to ask him.

“How much is 30 thousand credits?” Hai Lian answered reflexively, “30 thousand credits is the price of my Moonlight.” Hai Lian had always worked hard, and alone. As a freelance hunter, his income was not much. It took a few years for him to save enough to buy Moonlight. Now that he saw a mere dagger sold at 30 thousand credits, how could he still remain calm?

Ye Chong noticed Hai Lian’s mood, and knew that he was not fit to answer anything clearly. He turned to the rest and asked, “Any of you have lavagold weapons too?”

The rest shook their heads. Most of the lavagold weapons were left behind in the Sang Family Village, since they needed to fly Collision. It seemed that selling lavagold was not an option.

With the money they have, Ye Chong and the group entered a mech parts store. Sang Mu was still guarding the mechs. If he could first solve the problem of dimension keystones for at least this group, then they would be safer when facing any danger.

In the mech parts store, Ye Chong noted at the prices of the mech parts and realized that the 30 thousand credits were actually not worth a lot. A brainwave controlled dimension keystone cost at least two thousand credits, and could go up to 10 thousand credits.

The group was stunned.

“Why are they so expensive?” Sang Ling gasped. Women were more naturally inclined to be sensitive to prices. The rest of them nodded in agreement.

Hai Lian had recovered himself then, and gave them an odd look as he replied plainly, “Of course they are. Are mechs never expensive? How can you compare a mech with a traditional weapon?”

His explanation made sense to the group. To them, mechs were the pinnacle of technological achievement. How could they not be expensive?

Ye Chong heard nothing from the conversation. His attention was completely focused on a mech part displayed on the holographic screen before him.

Ye Chong’s eyes widened. How was this possible? He nearly gasped out loud, unable to maintain his calm. The products listed on the holographic screen and the mech parts on display were too unreal for him to accept.

Nanowave guns, black gold alloy shields, Greenwood engines … These mech equipments were common here, and not too expensive.

Nanowave guns were standard weaponry for the MPA; black gold alloy shields were unique to Black Cove; Greenwood engines were only used by the Sanctuary. The top class mechs from the Five Galaxies were common goods around here.

What in the universe was He Yue galaxy? Why would they have goods from the Three Forces? Could the Three Forces actually have originated from this place?

On the other hand, Ye Chong also saw many mech parts found only in Mu’s and Shang’s database archives. All this while, Ye Chong had thought of the mech’s database as a collection of the most advanced technology in the world. His battle experience with Black Cove, MPA and the Sanctuary had suggested as much. However, Ye Chong found that he could buy their weapons here, if only at an expensive price. With money, he could buy anything. Some of the weapons were enough to make Ye Chong jealous.

Ye Chong quickly scrolled through the introductions for these mech parts on the holographic screen.

The nanowave guns were built by the Xue Lai clan; the black gold alloy shield by the Ye family; the Greenwood engine by the Xi Feng tribe.

“Xue Lai Clan, Ye Family, Xi Feng Tribe …” Ye Chong muttered to himself. Weren’t they the Three Aristocratic Families, as Hai Lian had told him? What was their relationship with the Three Forces?

Now that he thought of it, he was now enemies with the Three Forces. If they were related to the Three Aristocratic Families, then the chances of him having a peaceful conversation with the aristocrats would be nil. Ye Chong smiled wryly to himself. It seemed that he had just p*ssed off all three Aristocratic Families of the He Yue galaxy.

However, Ye Chong quickly calmed himself. So what if it was the aristocrats? Ye Chong was not afraid of them. After the initial shock, he regained his composure. The current Ye Chong was much stronger than ever before. Running away was no longer his only option against powerful adversaries.

The only thing that vexed him now was the problem of laying low, staying away from the Three Aristocratic Families at least for awhile. With their current numbers, they could only escape back to Archipelago if they were found out.

It was fortunate that they had Archipelago as a retreat point. As long as he stayed vigilant, even the combined effort of the Three Aristocratic Families would not bring him down so easily. Besides, Ye Chong was confident of the Sang family members. With their strength and readiness for war, as long as he armed them well, they would at least stand a chance.

For now, though, they were definitely not a match for the Three Aristocratic Families. They held no advantage at all.

Ye Chong asked Hai Lian suddenly, “How is the intel network of the Three Aristocratic Families? Do they have power in Foundation?”

Hai Lian was caught off guard, but replied, “The Three Aristocratic Families? Of course they’re good. No one could compete with them in terms of intel! They have people in every city, including Foundation city. Are you looking for the one of the aristocrats?”

Ye Chong was startled by his words, and quickly said to Hai Lian, “Buy eight brainwave-controlled dimension keystones, and use the remaining credits to buy paint, of any color. Quick!” While he was not exactly familiar with the intel network of the Three Aristocratic Families, he was however familiar with the intel network of the Three Forces. The Three Aristocratic Families would not fare worse! With his group standing out so much, surely they would be identified soon.

Seeing Ye Chong so nervous, the group knew that something must have happened. Sang Fan and the rest quickly raised their guard. The air around them chilled instantly, enough to scatter the other customers away from them. Some customers even quietly left the store.

Hai Lian did not dawdle, since he saw Sang Tie’s eyes fixed on his throat. He could feel a chill down his spine. He made the purchase at record time, pushing down his reluctance on spending so much credits in such a short time.

The automatic vendor system soon delivered the goods to the group.

“We leave the city now,” Ye Chong announced coldly, and led the group out of the store.

he group that had just entered the city from the flower path had left a deep impression in Luo Xing. This was an elite group, he was certain of it. He could also see that they were all excellent combat experts by the way they took their steps, and the looks in their eyes. Most staggering of all was their deadly aura, one born from a long history of fighting for one’s life, something impossible to fake. All the while they were here, they remained perfectly in formation, a demonstration of good coordination.

If it were only a single person, Luo Xing would have thought he was seeing a combat expert. However, this was a group of nine; or rather, a group of eight. His subordinate had identified one of them as Hai Lian, a freelance hunter. Hai Lian was a familiar character to him. As Foundation city’s resident officer, he was at least familiar with the local talents. Hai Lian was admirably capable, someone he wanted to have in his team, but the man had rejected his offers repeatedly.

To think that Hai Lian was now together with this group! Just who were these people? Luo Xing was interested to know.

If they were a group of strong combat experts, he would have immediately invited them to join his clan. The Xu Lan clan had always appreciated good talent. However, the group’s coordination skills had shocked him. In his opinion, even the best elite groups in the clan would not be able to top their level of coordination.

These were not combat experts. They were a group of highly trained warriors. Luo Xing knew the difference between the former and latter.

Normal people would not be able to acquire these skills. This was a mysterious force, unknown to him, emerging in the city. He Yue galaxy, where the Three Aristocratic Families had ruled over for years, was now suddenly facing an unknown power. What would happen to the He Yue galaxy? How could he not be worried?

He had already sent a recording of the group back to the clan. He believed that someone in the clan must know something about them. He was waiting for further instructions. As for the group, he already had subordinates keeping an eye on them.

Beep beep beep. The comms device on his desk pinged.

Luo Xing was immediately agitated. The clan had always used encrypted text to relay instructions, and had never used his comms device. It seemed that this was a big one.

He breathed deeply twice to calm himself. Then, he tried his best to project a calm exterior as he answered the call.

A woman in white appeared on the comms device’s holographic screen. Her outfit was white as snow, and her long hair reached her shoulders. Her face was cold as ice, her skin white as snow, and smooth as glass. An aquiline nose and cherry lips adorned her enchanting profile. However, her sharp eyes looked like they could pierce through a person’s soul, that none could stare straight into them.

“You are Luo Xing?” Her crisp voice rang like an icy bell, chilling the heart of its listener.

Luo Xing replied respectfully, “I am.” H*ll, it was Lady Xue herself. It looked like the group represented a significant power indeed.

Lady Xue nodded approvingly. “Hmm, well done. It seems that our training is not wasted on you. Your vigilance is commendable, the clan will remember your service this time.”

Luo Xing was overjoyed inside, but he tried to keep his expression as still as possible.

“Luo Xing!” Lady Xue suddenly spoke commandingly.

Luo Xing sobered, and answered solemnly, “Yes.”

“The Clan Leader’s orders are to capture them, at all costs.” Lady Xue ordered with a cold and stern voice.

“Yes, my lady!” Luo Xing bowed to receive his orders without hesitation.

Lady Xue softened a little and said, “You may use all your subordinates for this operation. The entire Soundfall planet’s forces of the clan are also at your disposal. If you need more men, the espionage division is also ready to assist. The clan has informed the relevant personnel about this operation.”

Luo Xing was surprised. He did not expect the group to be so important. Rarely did orders come directly from the Clan Leader, and now the entire clan’s forces on Soundfall were his to command. Even the scarcely deployed espionage division was available for him. Who were those people? He was shocked, but curious. It seemed that this operation would not be easy. The espionage division was important to the clan, having been concealed from outsiders for decades. Once its members were exposed, there was no turning back. To think that the Clan Leader would consider using them this time! This meant that the Clan Leader was ready to use all the clan’s available resources on Soundfall to capture this group. The clan’s forces on the planet might all be exposed just for this operation.

Luo Xing gulped. This might be an operation too large for him to take on. The Clan Leader’s orders to spare no resources left him nervous. F*ck, he might just die in this operation. For some reason, Luo Xing had an ill premonition.

Lady Xue looked at Luo Xing and said, “There are some other details for this operation. Firstly, the man protected in the center must be captured alive. Try your best to capture the rest alive, but if it’s not possible, do what is necessary. Secondly, I believe that the Ye family and the Xi Feng tribe must have received intel on the group as well. They will make their move. Your second mission is to make sure that the man is not captured by any of them. Remember, this is more important than the Clan Leader’s order. It’s best if we can obey the Clan Leader’s orders, but if you can’t, better to let him escape than allow the other two families to get him, understand? If it’s impossible to even let him escape, then, you know what to do.” Lady Xue directed a meaningful glance at Luo Xing.

Luo Xing could feel cold sweat drenching his back.

“Of course, the Clan Leader knows that your forces are limited. Our combatants from the nearest three plants have been ordered to gather at Soundfall. On the other hand, all members of the clan’s Ten Pillars, excluding me and Lian, are heading your way. However, due to the distance, they’ll only reach you in five days’ time.”

Luo Xing was already speechless from shock. Eight members from the Ten Pillars were coming to Soundfall. The scale of this operation was unlike any that was carried out in decades. However, if they would only arrive after five days, how could they be able to help? Luo Xing smiled wryly despite himself.

Lady Xue noticed his expression and said, “While five days is too long, this is the fastest they can manage. Fortunately, the other two families do not have any trump card mech pilots of their own on Soundfall. You’re a smart man, work hard, and once the operation is over, the Clan Leader will make an exception and welcome you as a member of the clan.”

The call ended, and Luo Xing was left feeling lost. He never thought that the clan would place such great importance on the group. No, it was the man they wanted. The Clan Leader made it clear that the man must be captured alive, while the others were not so important. However, Lady Xue’s last words were greatly encouraging. To be welcomed as a member of the clan was a great honor. It was very difficult to be accepted into the clan. Some of his seniors had worked hard for decades, and never managed to become one.

Just then, his comms device beeped again.

“Sir, the group is leaving the city.” His subordinate reported urgently from the holographic screen. Luo Xing awoke from his dazed moment, and chastised himself for being distracted. If seemed that he was really perturbed by the scale of the operation.

“Stop them,” Luo Xing ordered in a low voice. “Send out all our combat experts and stop them. Remember, capture them alive.”

“Sir yes sir, you just wait for the good news.” His subordinate sounded excited. It had been awhile since his men were stationed in the city, and they had never seen any action so far, their days spent mostly in boredom. It was only natural that they were excited for this operation. He had 30 over combat experts under his command. They had all gone through ascetic training, and he was confident of their abilities.

Suddenly, the comms device on his wrist beeped again. When he saw who was calling him, Luo Xing felt a sudden apprehension.

“Sir, the Ye Family and the Xi Feng Tribe mech pilots are gathering. No details yet.” The low voice sounded nervous.

D*mned, so they had begun moving as well. Luo Xing cursed the mech pilots from the two families.

Ye Chong and company raced along the street towards the city’s entrance. Ye Chong looked grim. He had fought against the Three Forces before, and was familiar with their capabilities. He was sure that they were found out by now.

Ye Chong never imagined that the Three Aristocratic Families of the He Yue galaxy and the Three Forces would be related to each other. They must now quickly head back to Sang Mu and the rest, so that they at least have mechs to defend themselves. Then, they must retreat as soon as possible to the Calamitous Asteroid Belt. With 5,000 Collision mechs piloted by the Sang tribe members, even the combined forces from the Three Aristocratic Families would not take them lightly.

Ye Chong’s reaction had disturbed the rest in the group. They all looked ready to kill, scaring off anyone standing in their way. The group ran with all they had, no longer hiding their true abilities. Poor Hai Lian had to be carried by Sang Tie again, for fear of delaying them.

Ye Chong’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Leaving so soon, ladies and gentlemen? Hehe, why not stay a few more days, try out our Xue Lai Clan’s special anchovy dish before you go.” The leader hailed. The surrounding spectators heard that it was the Xua Lan Clan, and quickly moved out of the way. A few bolder souls stayed back to watch. These people were curious. The Xue Lai Clan had always been discreet, and seldom acted so openly. Who were these people, to evoke such a reaction from the Xue Lai Clan?

Ye Chong ignored them. To him, words were wasted in this kind of situation.

Seeing Ye Chong ignoring the taunt, the others followed suit. Only Hai Lian, still carried by Sang Tie, was growing very pale. To offend the Three Aristocratic Families in the He Yue galaxy was the equivalent of a death wish! His life was over, he was sure. He thought of the power wielded by the Three Aristocratic Families, and wanted to die there and then.

Seeing Ye Chong and company not slowing down in the least, the leader turned grim. “Will you not accept our hospitality?”

“Attack. Leave no one alive.” Ye Chong’s plain voice struck a chord of fear.

Sang Tie and the rest immediately sped up, leaving only an afterimage in their wake.

The combat experts of the Xue Lai clan did not expect that the group would really attack them, and panicked as a result.

The Sang tribe members were crude in their mech piloting skills, but they were shockingly competent in combat. 500 years of fighting for their survival had honed their techniques and enriched their combat experiences. Archipelago’s strong gravitational force and the strong gravity regions allowed to them to reach beyond the known limits of the human body.

Moreover, they fought with excellent coordination. Now, the Sang family, one of the Four Aristocratic Families from a time long past, finally demonstrated their strength before the world for the first time in 500 years.

Be it physical strength, speed, endurance, or skills, or even coordination, both sides were at entirely different levels.

This was a one-sided massacre. Their ruthless attitude, forced by Archipelago’s harsh environment, was finally shown to the world. Ye Chong had no need to tell them not to leave anyone alive. It was in their nature.

Ye Chong moved as fiercely accurate as before, often targeting the weak spots such as the throat, killing with a single move without wasting any effort. The rest of them did not have an understanding of the human body like Ye Chong did. It did not really matter, in the end. Even alloy metal would break under their force, much less the human body, made of flesh and blood.

Sang Tie and company killed in a bloody way. Often, limbs were broken, or skulls crushed. The observers around them nearly vomited. Even Sang Ling attacked without mercy, and the people could only watch with cold fear.

It was like wolves attacking a flock of sheep. There were no stylish moves, only breathtakingly fast movements, simple and accurate. In just half a minute, the ground was covered with corpses and pools of blood. In that half a minute, one could only hear the dull thumps of punches, cracks of bones breaking, the hiss of blood flowing out of the victims, and the terrifying shrieks coming from the combat experts of the Xue Lai clan. The mysterious group had remained silent throughout as they went on their killing spree.

The spectators around were all sporting an unhealthy pallor. They quickly retreated, afraid to get further involved.

he group was terrifying! The spectators were deeply troubled by their cold, indifferent expressions that did not change as they killed, like they were not actually executing a massacre, but doing something mundane and routine. Even butchers would not be so emotionless.

The residents here were all capable of combat at some level. They had all decided that Ye Chong’s group members had demonstrated incredible strength, strong enough to qualify them as Jie experts! Only Jie experts could be so strong.

Nine Jie experts!

This was unthinkable! No one would believe that nine Jie experts were fighting together without seeing it for themselves. Jie experts were the strongest in the hierarchy of combat expertise, the pinnacle of achievement in the ancient art of combat. Generations of combat experts thought of the Jie experts as shrouded in mystery.

There were not many Jie experts in He Yue galaxy. You can count them all with your fingers. They were mostly enlisted by larger organizations, often responsible of combat instruction for the organization’s inner disciples. They rarely showed themselves outside, only taking on the occasional role of bodyguard. Even the Ye family, with the most number of Jie experts, had only five of them.

Now, they were nine Jie experts on the streets! Just where did they come from?

Ye Chong did not look back at the corpses, since he knew that no one would survive their attack. He said, “Let’s go,” and the group vanished before the spectators’s eyes.

That was too creepy! They moved eerily fast. If anyone still had their doubts about the group’s strength as Jie experts, they were quickly disillusioned.

The scent of blood filled the air. One could hear some witnesses vomiting beyond the scene.

Up in the air of Foundation city, another form of battle was taking place.

300 mechs, made up of forces from three different sides, were at a stalemate in the skies. The tension was thick enough to cut through with a knife. None of the mechs dared to make any movements. Their strengths were almost equal to one another. If any side attacked first, the other two sides might just cooperate and finish off the instigating side.

This disquieting scenario was a conundrum for the leaders on all three sides. However, none of them dared to make a move, for fear of suffering the fatal threat from the combined forces of the other two sides.

Luo Xing was growing more and more anxious. While he knew from Lady Xue that the other two families would make their move, he did not expect them to act so quickly. Under the circumstances, he had no choice but to stay where he was.

He could only pray that the combat experts under him would do the job. It should not be a problem, with 36 against nine. He was familiar with all the combat experts. They had all completed their ascetic training, and a few of them were even successors to some ancient combat techniques. All in all, these 36 combat experts were a formidable force in Foundation city.

It had decades since the last time the Three Aristocratic Families had openly faced-off one another. Foundation city was now in a critical state. Every mech pilot with a mech had slipped into their mechs right away. Given the situation, only a mech could protect them. In just 10 minutes, the sky above Foundation city was filled with mechs.

The surrounding spectators watched in horror at the 300 mechs confronting each other. If the three sides really started a battle, the city would suffer. The more insightful ones began to wonder it this was a herald of darker times to come. Once the Three Aristocratic Families started warring against one another openly, the He Yue galaxy would probably be plunged into a prolonged state of chaos.

No one knew the cause of this confrontation.

Just then, a large fleet of mechs were coming their way, with more than a thousand mechs. However, the people relaxed at the sight of this fleet. The battle would probably not come to be. The fleet came from the real ruler of the city, the Kuri tribe.

At last, the confrontation ended under the mediation of the Kuri tribe.

When Luo Xing saw his 36 men, his already agitated heart skipped a beat, and his face paled.

Nine Jie experts had killed in their merciless ways. Hundreds of mechs from the Three Aristocratic Families had nearly started a war. Kuri tribe’s interference had stopped that. Tension in Foundation city was rising. These news spread like wildfire across the entire He Yue galaxy. Even Hai Lian’s obscure reputation grew to a household name.

There were nine Jie experts. The number was hard to swallow. One could hear discussions everywhere about how nine Jie experts had seemingly appeared out of thin air, and killed 36 combat experts who had completed their ascetic training. More notably, these 36 combat experts were enlisted by the Xue Lan clan.

Who were these nine Jie experts? Why would they kill the 36 combat experts? How were they related to the Xue Lan clan? Rumours were abound.

Everyone was waiting for the nine Jie experts to make their next move. Jie experts were like mythical characters to the average person, enough to hook their curiosity.

However, the nine Jie experts and Hai Lian had vanished into thin air. The term “vanish” was never more appropriately used. They had disappeared without a trace. In fact, when the nine Jie experts started killing, they received unprecedented attention. All the major forces had ordered their spies in every city on Soundfall planet to look for the group. Even cities on planets around Soundfall received the same orders.

However, the group seemed to have vanished without a single trace.

The public’s attention was quickly diverted to the Three Aristocratic Families. The scale of their forces deployed for the group did not escape the public eye. Members of the Xue Lai clan’s Ten Pillars were sent to Soundfall. The Ye family’s elites had arrived on Soundfall. Xi Feng tribe’s trump cards were arriving on Soundfall. The list went on and on. All attention was on Soundfall.

An undercurrent was surging on Soundfall planet.

Ye Chong had no time to consider these matters. His side was overwhelmingly disadvantaged. Any direct confrontation would be fatal to them. The group was heading as fast as they could to where Sang Mu was. Ye Chong did not care to cover their tracks any longer as they ran with all they had. He had never run like this without holding back for a long time. The rest of group noticed, and picked up their pace. However, they were not used to depending on mechs to travel, like Ye Chong. The Sang family had their own ways of running; compared to Ye Chong, they were managing more easily. After 500 years of continuous improvements, their skills were more efficient and effective.

The group’s bloody methods had left the witnesses stunned. No one had dared to follow them.

They quickly reached where Sang Mu was.

“Take your mechs. Tie, pass Hai Lian to me. We’re returning to Sang Pu the rest as soon as possible.”

“Ok, here,” Sang Tie passed Hai Lian from his hands to Ye Chong’s. Poor Hai Lian, being manhandled from one person to another. He was a full adult, but was carried by Sang Tie and Ye Chong as though he weighed like nothing.

Ye Chong withdrew Han Jia and threw Hai Lian into the pilot cabin, then entering the cabin himself. The pilot cabin was not large, and now it was packed with just two people inside.

Hai Lian finally recovered his senses. When he saw Ye Chong coming into the pilot cabin, he quickly grew horrified. “Don’t … Don’t …” Could he be thinking of … Even for someone who had his share of debauchery like Hai Lian, he never thought that he would be on the receiving end …

Ye Chong took a glance at Hai Lian, not understand, but he had no time to think on it further. His hands were on the controls dashboard, and Han Jia was up in the sky the next moment. Inside Han Jia, Ye Chong finally heaved a sigh of relief. With him piloting Han Jia, he would at least stand a chance in battle.

Ye Chong thought Hai Lian’s mech was too slow, so he brought Hai Lian into the pilot cabin with him instead. He never thought that this decision had led to the illusion of the group vanishing into thin air.

Be it Ye Chong’s Han Jia or the group’s Collision mechs, they were all full-skeleton mechs. Full-skeleton mechs had excellent anti-detection properties that allowed them to safely evade the tight surveillance on Soundfall. The group had even crossed paths with a few flotilla of starships along the way, but none of them were aware of their existence.

Han Jia’s holographic scanning system was so simply that it was practically useless. Collision was even more primitive, that it did not have a holographic scanning system; only a small observing window was installed. It was nearly impossible for them to notice that they were pursued, if there ever were. On the other hand, the starships were all used to relying on holographic scanning systems that they never thought of using the ancient way of optical scanning!

However, Collision mechs had absolutely brilliant speed.

Once they reached where the base, Hai Lian finally realised how fast the odd-shaped mechs were, and that he had actually slowed down the group last time. He was quite jealous of them. His had prided on Moonlight for its speed, but compared to these odd-shaped mechs, Moonlight seemed to crawl like a snail.

No mech pilot would not yearn for a mech that can fly faster, much less a speed-type mech pilot like Hai Lian, who relied more on speed than anything.

Once back to the base, everyone instantly felt relieved.

However, the immediate problem presented itself – where should they go next?

Should they return to Archipelago? That was the last resort. The truth was, if they went back just like this, they would only feel dissatisfied, be it Ye Chong or the Sang family members. Since the Three Aristocratic Families and the Three Forces were closely related, there must be some way to travel between the He Yue galaxy and the Five Galaxies. However, from the fact that even Hai Lian had not heard of the Five Galaxies, this travelling route must be controlled by the Three Aristocratic Families, unbeknownst to outsiders. Ye Chong did the maths in his mind.

Mu and Shang were still somewhere out there. If they had reached the Five Galaxies, Ye Chong was sure that he would find them soon enough. He had sayed with the mech for so long, and had many shared memories in the Five Galaxies. With Mu’s meticulous nature, he would definitely keep watch of the places where they had been together. Once he reached one of those places, he would be able to get in touch with them.

The He Yue galaxy, however, was too unfamiliar to him. Connecting to Mu and Shang would be a difficult task.

The group gathered around.

Ye Chong asked, “Where in the He Yue galaxy is the influence of the Three Aristocratic Families weakest?”

“Where is the influence of the Three Aristocratic Families weakest? Let me think.” Hai Lian knitted his brows together in deep thought. He knew that they had made enemies with the Xue Lan clan after that previous battle. It was too late for him to back out. Besides, from Ye Chong’s words, it seemed that the other two families were also involved. The only choice left for him would be to follow Ye Chong and his group to save his own hide.

Everyone looked to the frowning Hai Lian. None of them asked Ye Chong about his story with the Three Aristocratic Families. The man had become the leader of the Sang tribe in spirit. As for the Three Aristocratic Families or whatever, they were not scared at all. 500 years ago, the Sang family was one of the Four Aristocratic Families. They too had aristocratic blood flowing in their veins. Besides, they believed that as long as the good sir was with them, the Sang family would be restored to its former glory one day.

“Oh, right, I’ve thought of a place,” Hai Lian said, excited. “Gray Valley, let’s go to Gray Valley.”

“Gray Valley?” Ye Chong repeated the name as a question.

“Yes, Gray Valey.” Hai Lian seemed unusually certain of it, and quickly explained, “Gray Valley is not an actual valley, but a region on the other side of the Calamitous Asteroid Belt. It comprises of 124 planets. Originally, the place was inhabited by some primitive tribes, but one day, some of the freelance pilots who felt distasteful against the aristocrats escaped to that place. Soon, the population grew, consisting of people who did not like the aristocrats. They offered a helping hand to the local tribes, and gradually gained their acceptance. As more and more people grew tired of the aristocrats, the population in Gray Valley increased. They rebelled against the aristocrats. Then, Gray Valley barred any aristocrats from entering. If any mech pilot was found to be from an aristocratic family, they would be hunted down until the ends of the world. This reaction comes naturally to the area’s inhabitants. Any Gray Valley resident would do it.”

“So there’s a place like that,” Ye Chong mused to himself.

“The aristocrats tried to take over Gray Valley before, but their forces were met with unprecedented resistance. The united fleet of all the aristocratic families were annihilated. Since then, the people knew that the aristocrats were not invincible.”

Hai Lian’s mind wandered as he narrated the story. Stories about rebelling against power were always moving.

“However, Gray Valley is a dangerous place. No large organization could survive there. The largest body you’ll see is a small organization, like a mech squad. Fights are common, and the weak die fast. Mech pilots who enter the place are all the ones who are confident of their own abilities. Someone once said that the strongest mech pilots do not come from the Three Aristocratic Families, but from Gray Valley.

“It’s also the largest black market in the galaxy. In order to maintain stable trading activity, no one is allowed to attack trading fleets. That’s one of the Three Death Precepts.”

“The Three Death Precepts?” Sang Fan asked, curious.

“That’s right. Anyone who violates the Three Death Precepts will be hunted down by all the Gray Valley residents. The first Precept is to not be an aristocrat, the second is to never harm local residents, and the third is to never attack trading fleets. Gray Valley residents can and will kill anyone who violates any of the Three Death Precepts, and they’ll even be heavily rewarded for it.”

“Interesting,” Sang Pu commented casually, a flicker of excitement quickly disappearing from his eyes.

here were many routes to reach Gray Valley from where Ye Chong and the Sang tribe were now. However, all of them required the group to travel through a large part of the He Yue galaxy. This was extremely dangerous for Ye Chong and the rest. While full-skeleton mechs had anti-detection properties, the probability of being discovered if they followed any of these routes was higher than 80 percent. Besides, without Mu and Shang, it was impossible for Ye Chong to discreetly bribe their way through without leaving a trace.

Hence, Ye Chong chose another route. They would fly parallel to the Calamitous Asteroid Belt. It was equivalent to making a big roundabout along the asteroid belt. While the distance was longer, they would be inside the asteroid belt throughout the journey, which made it less likely for the Three Aristocratic Families to find them.

According to Hai Lian, there were no large outposts in the Calamitous Asteroid Belt. Most of the people there were freelance pilots, and the occasional small mech pilot squad there to hunt for wild beasts. Besides, Ye Chong’s route would take them deep into the Calamitous Asteroid Belt, where people visited. Even Hai Lian, a long resident of the area, would never have travelled to such a deep part of the asteroid belt.

Ye Chong’s plan was accepted without disputes. Before the battalion took off, Ye Chong ordered for all the mechs to be painted. The skeleton material was too unique to be overlooked. If they flew the full-skeleton mechs without concealing the skeleton texture, it would only be too easy to get into trouble.

He Yue galaxy’s paint material was of a more high quality than the ones Chong had used in the Five Galaxies. It adhered well to the surface, did not peel easily, and the colours were bright and shiny. Ye Chong did not care what colour they used. That day, the Sang tribe members seemed to have been inspired overnight to become artists. Everyone painted their mechs with vigorous enthusiasm, laughing as they went about producing their very own 3D art. Sang Ling’s mech, for example, looked beautiful. It had a bright sun, shining over many of the Archipelago’s wild beasts. Her painting was lifelike and exotic. Compared to Sang Ling, however, the rest of them were not as successful. Most of their mechs were covered with patches of random colours. Together, the 5,000 mechs were an eyesore. They looked a random motley crew of inferior mechs. They looked so miserable that Hai Lian could die of shame.

Ye Chong painted his mech in a brownish dark gray. The advantage was that his mech might be mistaken for an asteroid from afar. He was far too fond of ambushing strategies to give it up.

Ye Chong even sent a few men back to the Sang Family Village to inform them of the current situation, and asked that they do not send anyone out in the short term. To the Sang Family Village, now was the time to rest and heal, and not go out wandering. The people he sent to the village also took with them a schematics diagram by Ye Chong. This was a goods transport flying vessel that he designed recently. It was modified from Collision. It had a large body, and flew slowly. However, it was suitable for transporting goods, something that the Sang tribe needed at the moment.

More importantly, the goods transport vessel was made completely of skeletons, and can travel safely through the Red Sea.

After everything was settled, the battalion set off for Gray Valley. It was a pity that they did not have a starship, or they would be able to do a warp jump and save travelling time.

Ye Chong was now deeply troubled. For the moment, they had no money at all. Nothing. Ye Chong suddenly found that this money problem that he had never worried about was now his main concern.

He needed money for a starship, or a dimension keystone, or a comms device …

Ye Chong was poor as a pauper. If he was not together with this large battalion, he would have just robbed some rich household. However, now that they needed to lay low, with the Three Aristocratic Families onto them like mad, robbing was out of the question.

In fact, it was not only Ye Chong who was poor. The rest of the Sang tribe members had no money too. They looked at the eight people who followed Ye Chong into the city, using their dimension keystones to magically withdraw their mechs, and were so very jealous. Once they found out that this magical device could be bought with money, all of them became obsessed with this thing called “money”.

They even suggested robbing that mech parts store. They even formed a detailed and complete action plan, but were disappointed when the good sir rejected it. Hai Lian was frustrated, since the plan had actually won the approval of everyone else before it was presented to Ye Chong.

Were these people pirates? Hai Lian felt that he himself, not entirely angelic in his behaviour, looked pure and innocent compared to them.

However, once he saw Ye Chong rejecting their plan decisively, he was slightly relieved. It seemed that the leader still had a good heart. However, Ye Chong’s next comment was like a blow to his head, “The time isn’t right. Plan’s too crude. Rejected.”

After that, Hai Lian watched stupidly at Sang Pu and the rest as they discussed on ways to improve their robbing operation.

On the other hand, Hai Lian was also annoyed that the holographic scanning system and comms device on his Moonlight were removed and reinstalled onto Sang Pu’s Collision. Moonlight’s photon processor was also moved to Sang Fan’s mech. Looking at the almost bare Moonlight, Hai Lian could feel his heart bleeding in pain. Besides, he could not fly Moonlight himself, but had to sit in with Sang Tie, that savage man. Sang Tie had a strong body odour that threatened to kill off his sense of smell. Just when did the guy last shower? Hai Lian wanted to cry.

“What a bunch of savages!” Again and again, he cursed the Sang tribe members in his heart.

Soon, however, Ye Chong gave the order to move out. 5,000 Collision mechs began to advance based on the designated trajectory.

Hai Lian found it odd that the savages seemed to know the Calamitous Asteroid Belt well. They easily evaded the asteroids time and again. The difficult journey that he expected was surprisingly going on smoothly.

He did not know, of course, that their demonstrated ease was because they had gone through for worse territories.

The only thing that made the Sang tribe members uncomfortable was the fact that there were more wild animals here than in Archipelago. While the animals here were weaker than their Archipelago counterparts, they were still quite a handful. Many dead animals were left in their wake as they continued the designated trajectory.

The entire battalion’s combat power was shocking to Hai Lian. If all those wild animals were sold to the right traders, the market price for those animals would plummet to a historical low.

“These are all money …” Hai Lian was pained at the missed opportunity. However, looking at the indifferent expressions of the Sang tribe members, he hesitated. What would happen if they know that the animals could be sold for money? In the end, he kept his mouth shut. Getting to Gray Valley was their top priority right now. If the battalion lost control at this point, it would be disastrous.

The way he saw it, the entire battalion was made of up uninitiated savages, with the exception of that half-civilized leader. Fortunately, these savages demonstrated commendable discipline, and obeyed their leader without question.

Still, after so many days of flight, he began to realise some interesting and surprising details about the members that formed this battalion, people that he called savages.

The Calamitous Asteroid Belt was an irregular territory, but the entire battalion had advanced without slowing down. As he sat beside Sang Tie throughout, he could see Sang Tie’s every move as the man maneuvered his mech. The truth was, this was his first time seeing such a primitive control lever. However, this primitive control lever, controlled by these savages, could fly the mechs with incredible precision and flexibility.

On the surface, the flying machine was as simple and primitive as anything could possibly be. However, after sitting in one for so many days, Hai Lian felt like he would probably punch anyone who dared to say that.

This flying machine was anything but primitive! It could fly up to Mach 20. What mech model could do that? Besides, it could fly on for a few weeks without the need to replenish its energy supply. Where can anyone find a mech like that in the market? With a holographic scanning system, a comms device and some long range weapons, the flying machine would be formidable. Besides, these mech parts would all be found in the market readily and in all kinds. With money, they could be installed instantly.

As for these people, Hai Lian was embarrassed that he had thought of them as savages.

Without comms devices in their flying machines, they could not communicate with each other. Even so, they had maintained formation for weeks. The flight was long and boring, a test of one’s mental fortitude, much less when they could not speak with each other. If it was Hai Lian, he would probably go crazy. However, none of these people had complained.

These people obeyed their orders without question. They were determined warriors, with excellent combat intuition and coordination. They were undeniably the best soldiers one could find.

Often Hai Lian compared them with himself, and felt all the more self-conscious.

These people had demonstrated admirable flying skills. The space around them was scattered with floating rocks, but they had never slowed down. None of them were injured so far. Besides, despite the long journey, they did not look tired at all.

Hai Lian discovered new things about these so-called savages every day, and his attitude towards them changed in response.

Since Sang Pu’s mech now had a holographic scanning system, he was in charge of scouting their trajectory ahead.

The journey was uneventful so far. The place was deserted, and they had not met a single mech up till now.

“Oh, you see mechs?” Ye Chong asked, curious. With a comms device, Sang Pu could now communicate with him easily.

Sang Pu replied steadily, “Yes, 62 of them. But they’re surrounded by wild beasts. It doesn’t look good.”

“62 mechs …” Ye Chong wondered, but quickly replied, “Have they seen you?”

“No. We were careful, they did not notice us,” Sang Pu said.

Ye Chong thought about it, and asked, “How long can they last?”

“About 20 minutes.” Sang Pu’s reply was concise.

“Alright, let’s surround them first. Wait for further orders.” Ye Chong gave the orders. He had to see the mechs for himself.

“Yes sir,” Sang Pu replied. Immediately, the signal lights on both sides of Sang Pu’s mech blinked rhythmically, passing down Ye Chong’s orders.

Silently, the entire battalion split up into hundreds of smaller squads, like a river branching out into countless smaller streams, flowing between the floating rocks. Everyone was excited. These days, they were only flying and flying. The squad ahead of the main battalion, responsible for clearing the wild animals fared better, but they did their work too efficiently. The rest of the battalion did not see so much as an animal hair throughout the flight. Now that there were orders coming, how could they not be excited? Even their movements turned sharper.

“Hah, action, finally.” Hai Lian nearly jumped at Sang Tie’s loud voice.

“Action?” Hai Lian asked, still blurry from his sleep.

“Hehe, after all these days of d*mn waiting, there’s finally some action.” Sang Tie rubbed his hands together, his eyes positively shining with enthusiasm. However, Hai Lian could not see past the ferocity that was also present in him. He shuddered, no longer in the mood for sleep.

The signal lights continued blinking, and the mech squads flew to their positions in an orderly manner. In just a short moment, they had the 62 mechs surrounded, including the beasts around them.

The situation was now in his control, so Ye Chong began to study the mechs and the wild beasts.

w man! Exclaimed Old Chief Guo in his mind, as he seriously never thought he would have such a terrible day in his life before meeting these… these unknown beasts. There was a wide range of beasts lurking in the Calamitous Asteroid Belt, while they struck strong impression of being the most fearsome biological entities in the minds of the people outside. That might have been the case the whole time, but humanity had recorded most of these barbaric creatures – specifically those in the outer belt – in detail. With that in mind, Guo the Old Chief had been preparing himself ever since he was informed of his task venturing into the Calamitous Asteroid Belt, including careful inquiries on every single entry of the creatures habituated there. He thought he had been cautious enough, since this did not only concerned his survival, but also his brothers’.

And there he was, having bewilderment looking at the beasts, which none of them appeared to be in the entries he possessed. The beast was tedious at its appearance, with the two canines flashing at the corners of its mouth, and the long dripping salivation wetting the ground dark green, while at its abdomen 6 pieces of thin blades went on a fan-dancing. The entire body was fully coated with carapace, glowing in a metallic emerald, convincingly sturdy. The hexapod waved its feeble arthropod legs, the spikes over the legs were sending chills to the witness’s spines.

By common sense, any unidentified creature would be far more dangerous than the known creatures, well since to get the creature identified, one must be able to first survive from it and head back to share the words, which meant… Guo and his gang were in a zone unfrequented by humanity.

These creatures were as entangling as they seemed to be. They were hunters and the preys – being the brothers of Guo – had been hunted a few. Guo the Old Chief, the one with a strong mind was also starting to surrender to the fact that this might be the last expedition of his. Such creature was fast, really fast, that their mechs failed to get rid of it by speed. The creatures were also intelligent, they were able to dodge most of the energy beams Guo had fired.

They also travelled in groups. One could imagine the drained face of Guo when thousands of them swarmed upon his mech – it felt like the darkest day of his life, filled with green monstrosity.

What have fate prepared for me in the end? Probably death… Flinched Guo the Chief. He did not shame the death, rather he shamed himself for his inability to protect his brothers. “I shouldn’t have taken that request…,” muttered the chief in regrets. He was requested to acquire a kind of plant namely the “Rippling Orchid”. He was filled in with nothing else than the high definition hologramic visual of the said plant, while also given the estimated location of it. Guo the Chief would never ever take this stupid task in the first place if it was not for the handsome reward and the poverty of his group.

But sadly, I am a hobo, so is my group. Thought Guo, feeling bitter about how the Papatte Squad he ran was merely a group of eighty pitiful pilots being average they were as a free spirit who never desired to join the Aristocrats. The reason why they fluttered together was because they presumed it would be an easier hunt in groups. Unfortunately, their presumption, similar to their experience, was novice, as the squad did worse yearly. The best part was, most members were simple-minded, no one had the required leadership to keep the squad running. It was getting harder.

Pilot isn’t an easy job alright? Sighed the chief. The market was too competitive, those major squads were naturally way better than tiny weeny squads like his, whether concerning reputation, service quality or capabilities. It was a little bit easier in the past for those major squads only would take on the requests befitting to their organization dimensions, but well, as much as abundance of human resources, those once-in-a-blue-moon major operations no longer sufficed the demand of their squad members. So they began reaching those simple requests from the folks, and of course the tiny weeny squads, like the Papatte, were given a strike again.

When was the last time Papatte Squad got an actual request? Guo the Chief could hardly remember with that atrocious memories of his, as his soulless eyes gazed upon the disorderly, to-be-disbanded squad. And there was this particular request untouched by the other squads, he thought it would be a great fortune to make as he seized support from everybody else in his squad, accepted that request with determination. Although they would be handsomely rewarded, the requests were often associated with alarming tasks, nobody sane would have taken those requests, which resulted them lingering on the billboard for years, since… rewards were priced and life was always priceless.

Now, that one insane person, that one snapped leader called Guo the Old Chief had taken the request. He was in a hobo squad after all, assuming he would survive this time, the money could last for few years in his squad. Damn you these filthy wealthy men! Cursed Guo. Why must we gamble our life for a pot of plant to be viewed by them on a fancy tea party?!

“Sir, what do you think these pests want from us?” muttered Francis Jr. through the communication channel, as he gulped, in his shaking voice.

“Yeah, Francis Jr. has a point, these pests have been only surrounding us, do you think they want to have a dance with us?” Huang the Balloon Head had been exposed to the dead-or-alives countless times, he made a joke, a poor one though, that exposed his bit of restlessness in him.

“I have no idea. Be calm, watch,” said the chief.

The mechs they piloted were looking obsolete but one would be convinced the fact that they had been taken great care by their owners, a loving care in fact, the maintenance was well-done and they moved with immense rapports too.

Well, still a little shabby compared to the Sangs though, those were the real extreme. Commented Ye Chong in his thoughts.

There scattered numerous remnants of mechs, which some of them were raging in sparks. And one could see the pool of blood tainting the body. Obviously they had a conflict, a really bad one. I had seen such beast back in Archipelago. The Sangs called them the Seraphods*. Though I never expected that I would see them in action, at a place like this…

Swarm, surround but no strike. The Seraphods seemed to favor the more sadistic approach in hunting their preys. Ye Chong was surprised over the happening but he was not really the spectating kind, as he began planning, making sure that he had seized all factors under control. “Go.” He launched his command of attacking these emerald monsters.

Hsssssk!

Sang Pu did not hesitate and made his move along with the other pumped Sangs upon receiving the command.

Hssssssssssssssssssssssssk!!!

The ear-piercing hush was becoming ear-rupturing. A flawless collaboration of the Sangs this time, as 500 of them broke into 50 teams and accelerated themselves to the maximum, the afterimages impaled the animating ball in hideous green.

The beasts had noticed them, but failed to react in time. Boom! They were done.

All beasts were helpless under the mighty Collisions.

Funny thing was the Sangs did not even bother to take on any of the beasts particularly. The movement they made was merely a fling over the sky, forming a deadly net of their afterimages intersecting, as the 4 blades on each Collision sliced through the armors of Seraphods.

Hnnnnnnnnnnnngggggg! Aiiiiiiikkksssss!

The beasts cried painfully, in grief they begged for mercy. The Sangs did not intend to give the beasts the mercy they begged, as the Sangs launched themselves into the deadly web again, crossing over the greenish weak beasts. It was a dense crossing but none of the Sangs was having issue of crashing into each other. Clearly they were well-trained, they were pretty good at piloting.

A rain of blood tinted the area, with inner fleshes flying over the broken limbs.

…

…?

The men of the Papatte Squad were having a short-circuit in their mind. The sudden massive strike of the unknown happened so fast that It felt like a sudden slam on the keys during a concerto.

Hnnng….

Two waves of attack by the Sangs and none of those beasts could stand up. Most of them lay on the ground, half-dead with pathetic cries. Nobody would sympathize them. In front of the law of nature, the sympathy of humanity was so foolish to be conducted. The third wave happened and the cries softened, soon silence raided the place.

“The heck had just happened?” Balloon Head was confused.

Blarrghh! Blargh! Ugh!

There was a sound coming from the channel. Francis Jr. was throwing up as the brutality of the scene was too intense for his comprehension. It was too impulsive… a second ago those beasts were still swarming over their mechs and now the beasts were dead on the ground, so dead they could bleed a river. Okay I don’t know who launched the attack but this is kind of cruel. Thought Francis Jr.

Practically speaking, the Sangs were not as cruel as Francis Jr. thought. This was an act of their habit, the result of their lesson over the generations fighting with the beasts as on a few painful occasions the Sangs learned how the beasts would turn more ferocious as they were harmed, so the last blow to take their life was always necessary .

The remaining 4000 Sangs were grumbling in curses at the back. “When we finally got an operation!”

“Then it’s done, in 4 seconds!” They had been so eager to have an actual fight but the only opportunity had vanished right before them. If the Collisions were supplied with communicative facility, one could already imagine the waves of angry commentaries flooding the channel.

“When do we have the chance again? HUH!” Poor Hai Lian, as the voice of Sang Tie slammed right onto his ears. Hai Lian could almost hear the echoes right inside himself.

Are they… the pirates? Or the Aristocrats? Speculated Guo but he could not tell.

Pirates? No way. The pirates never wielded such capabilities, if they ever did, the entire He Yue galaxy would have been plunged! The secret team of the Aristocrats? This would be more likely… but they don’t seem to have a fixed color code. These greens and reds are reminding me of a circus rather than a group of trained military force of a particular aristocratic family. Sorry to say but these people look really like a bunch of scrappy troops, even scrappier than my own squad too… I don’t think those Aristocrats would fancy such mischievous approach in training their men. The Aristocrats are too busy being condescending to people, they do not have time for this.

And I must say, the flying objects were really weird. Thought Guo the chief. He was right as he immediately recognized the pros of the Collision, though he was getting shocked after one aftershock and another, not because of the mech but because of the required skills to pilot it.

“All of you have been our captives.” A young voice rang. The squad was stupefied.

Captives? I could not think of any other group that would use such terminology than the pirates. Are they really pirates?! Deduced Guo in disbelief. Pirates don’t serve for the people! They serve for the money! Are these pirates blind? Can’t they tell we can’t even spare a penny to their cruise?

Well, we don’t have anything to offer, take whatever you want – if there’s whatever that is. Thought Guo, getting calm.

The Collisions were exerting pressure to their security, as the squad hopped off their cabin obediently.

“Hmm,” muttered Ye Chong.

The leader of the pirates was surprisingly younger than I thought. This is literally a child! But wait, I am not going to take it lightly. He is a child yet he’s already leading a giant group of pirates. That is convincing enough that he is something. The other members are mainly teenagers and young adults too… Sighs… even child labor got common among the pirates. Thought Guo the Chief, getting sentimental.

Guo was showing full cooperation in his conversation with Ye Chong, knowing his fate of being captured.

Ye Chong, upon seeing these men, was merely having an idea of needing a local who was extremely familiar with He Yue and Papatte happened to be there. Hai Lian and Ye Chong had gone to Foundation city and probably they had been exposed. That was unfavored. It would be hard to even run the routine tasks in the galaxy given that they lacked the locals to help them.

Ye Chong did not have tremendous experience with society but he was thinking thoroughly, all thanks to Mu’s education. One would use one’s thinking assuming experience could not help.

“We are Papatte, merely a tiny group of pilots, sir.”

Upon mentioning “group of pilots”, Ye Chong’s eyes lustered.

That would be a way.

“Hai Lian…,” whispered Ye Chong, “would it be too eye-catching if there was a pilot squad of 5000?”

“Not exactly, sir. It would be a medium-sized group. A squad of 5000 isn’t something given that we are in an age where hundred thousands of pilots travelled together in a squad,” replied Hai Lian. “There are tons of major squads out there, like Chaniat, that group is expanded, so greatly that they have their own office at almost all planets in He Yue. Not even the Aristocrats would want to mess with them, they are one of the major forces here.”

“Very well.” And in one order, the Papatte Squad got their first new 5000 members, with Guo remained on his throne, although he was very much aware that the throne was no longer his.

“Yes sir, thank you sir,” replied Guo, as threatened by the cold gaze of the blades.

It was not that bad though, he knew what he was there for. He was an adornment, a cover for the pirates. Well it would be easier in that case. “Here you go, sir,” he said as he handed over the last few pennies in their box. His hands were shaking, not because of a heavy heart parting with them, rather it. was because he finally got to pass this accursed economy of Papatte to someone else. Of course he would have handed this puzzling, tiring and pointless errand to lead the team! He would be too dumb if he still seized that broken flag of Papatte! Finally, he got a chance to slack off. He did not have any ambition, he just wanted to live in leisure.

Let the big men do their big job…

Thought Guo, his expression looking sentimental, while his heart being overjoyed.

And Ye Chong could already feel his headache.

So what brought you guys here?” asked Hai Lian, confused, especially after seeing the gears Guo and his squad brought. With those gears, Guo would be as good as dead stepping into Calamitous Asteroid Belt. Hai Lian thought he was poor enough, till he saw the Papatte.

Guo was blushing while his balloon-headed friend shouted, “Because of money, what else? Who else would come to this cursed place?”

“All of you actually took a request here?” Hai Lian could not believe his ears as his eyes went wide. Did they really disregard their capabilities and took up a deadly request here? Hai Lian had been a freelancer long enough to understand the working of the billboard. Every single request associated with the Calamitous Asteroid Belt was immediately ignored by most sane people, as those requests were easily the most dangerous requests ever. Nobody would take those. Wow these men actually came all the way here to die? Not even the elites of the major squads would have the courage to accept the request.

Look what poverty had done to humanity. Save poverty, people!

“Mhm, pretty much.” Nodded Guo helplessly, “We are just here for a plant called the Rippling Orchid but sigh… laugh all you want, we are hobos you see. We would be disbanding in starvation if we never take up any more request.”

“I see. Now that explains it.” Nodded Hai Lian, who was informed about the competitiveness in the market, but he simply did not imagine it to be this tedious.

“Excuse me, what is this thing you called ‘Rippling Orchid’?” asked Sang Fan in curiosity.

“A decorative plant. Not much of value.” No one would have expected the answer to come from Ye Chong.

It was surprisingly to hear it from Ye Chong as he did not look like the kind who would admire the beauty of decorative plants. Not even elderlies like Guo and his men had heard of this goofy Rippling Orchid in their life before taking up the request.

Well, Ye Chong was still an alchemist and that encyclopedia given by Lunatic Guan had all the records he needed, including Rippling Orchid, which he had remembered by heart. The entry for Rippling Orchid was brief though, it seemed to be a material to produce hallucinogen? That was an overrated plant indeed. Commented Ye Chong, as he thought this hard-to-find plant was too demotivating for its capability. He could simply name a few other plants which were more common and would do probably the same as Rippling Orchid.

“Who said it is not much of value! A sprout of Rippling Orchid could cost 50,000 points!” Argued Francis Jr., blushed.

“Fifty thousands what?” Screamed everybody. How much are fifty thousand points you asked? Hai Lian was already stunned upon knowing Sang Fan’s Lavagold dagger being priced at 30,000 points. And that little plant for ornamental purpose could go for 50,000 points?

And people began coveting this plant, even Ye Chong was feeling a sudden urge. How in the world! Would this stupid plant! Worth 50,000 points!? How many mechs do I need to sell to even get 50,000 points?!

To be frank, all of them were practically hobos, be it Ye Chong and the Sangs or the Papatte. They were so poor that they would want to sell themselves.

“This is the Rippling Orchid,” said Guo as he projected the visual of the plant.

A tender little sprout with thick broad leaves flipping like a gentle breeze, the slender stem was colorful, the petals too were unique, as they were forming a perfect circle, with lines over them like ripples.

Okay, that’s a good-looking flower. Still, how! In the world! It would! Worth 50,000 points?!

“Is it near?” asked Ye Chong, since the encyclopedia did not state the habitation of Rippling Orchid.

“Yes, according to the info given by the requester. The last sprout was discovered in this area, so we came to try our luck,” stated Guo.

“Sang Pu, send half of our men to find this plant,” ordered Ye Chong as his pointed at the visual. 50,000 points, you got to be kidding me, I am so getting this plant. Thought Ye Chong. It would be a dangerous request for mere folks, but it would be simple for Ye Chong.

“Yes sir.” Nodded Sang Pu agreeably. Being the frontline commander of the 5000 men, he was manically passionate over armory but any piece inside the armory would require currencies, which soon he redirected his focus onto finances instead.

Everyone of Papatte had joined Sang Pu to search for Rippling Orchid other than Guo.

There remained about two thousand men resting at the spot. They had been traveling nonstop for the past few days and they would certainly take this golden opportunity to leave their cabin at once and have some good old-fashioned face-to-face conversations without having to shout. There were still a few skeptical ones stuck in their cabin though. Soon the Sangs formed a lively crowd of chatters, where they would sit in circles, eagerly proceeded with their recreational activity – Wrestling. As much as the word had implied, it basically suggested a game of hand-to-hand combat between anyone in interest within the circle.

“Go! Go!”

“Woo!”

Traveling in the space with the most fundamental facilities was absolutely boring them to death. And finally they got the chance to have fun, the wrestling session was intense, there were screams and overjoyed hurrahs.

The changes in the Guo’s expression were grabbing the interest of Ye Chong, it was rather dramatic to his taste as it literally underwent a metamorphosis from grimness to surprise to disbelief.

It did feel like a dream for Guo the Old Chief as he watched the group of people started fighting on each other in a simple stage they created with their formation. It was not a nightmare but it was not a pleasant dream either.

The two men in the circle were demonstrating astonishing techniques. He simply did not foresee to witness great practitioners right here! Those skills, Guo – although he did not wield even the standard moves – could confidently state them to be of the level of the top few most pilots in the major squads, only the top few, a tiny handful of them. And there he was, seeing a random two persons from a 5000 army of nowhere doing superior martial arts techniques.

He thought it was the nature’s law of strongest to the weak.

But the following participants were sending him more shockers.

He almost could feel his cheek twitching.

The combat remained as intense as ever with the following entries.

How the… Guo could not process what was happening. Don’t tell me all of them just so happened to be the greatest fighters? Thought Guo as he looked at the wrestling men in blank dismay. 2000 greatest fighters? Two thousands of them? At here? Guo wanted to deny his speculation but the reality seemed to be what he exactly speculated.

He tried shrugging such terrifying thought off.

“Sir…” He shot a glance, with much consideration, “About our base… where… umm is it?” He carefully asked.

“Base? What base? We don’t have a base.” A direct answer from Ye Chong, there was no hesitation from his side.

“No base?” Stunned Guo was, his mouth widely opened. Did you just tell me that you travelled with 5000 men around the galaxy without a base? Even the space pirates have a place to rest their voyages, how?

“Hah… I see…,” replied Guo wryly, “While Papatte is a mere squad with no base as well, I wonder where sir would like to take a rest on?”

“The Gray Valley. That’s our planned destination,” stated Ye Chong flatly.

“Gray Valley?” Guo’s face was colorless, “You can’t go there. It’s too dangerous!”

“I see? Very dangerous?” asked Ye Chong interestingly.

“Yes, very dangerous!” Asserted Guo, “I once have a mate who travelled there. He was a way better fighter than me but the moment he got there, he seemed to have vanished. The next time I was heard of him was about his death three months later. And he’s the third dead person among my mates.” Guo was grim.

“This dangerous?” Ye Chong was shocked. Frankly speaking, Ye Chong had seen quite a few pilots in Foundation city and all of them were quite strong in his opinion, even when put under comparison with those pilots from the 5 major galaxies he came. If the mortality remained that high even with their skills, the Gray Valley would be indeed dangerous.

“Yes sir. No one would understand the deadliness of the Gray Valley unless they had set foot upon it. Did sir once have a dispute with any of the Aristocrats?” asked Guo strangely, since technically only those who showed indifference or had bad blood once with the Aristocrats would head to the Gray Valley.

“Well… only the three major ones I supposed,” stated Ye Chong indifferently.

Only? The three aristocrats? Of all families this man actually picked a fight with the three greatest ones in the entire galaxy? And it did not sound like it was merely a case with one or two families judging by his wording. But well, Guo never knew the very culprit who had caused a war between the 8 Jie experts and the 3 aristocrats was standing right in front of him. This was because he got misled by the number of Jie experts involved. There were 8 of them in the case, and 8, for Jie experts, was more than enough to cause an evacuation in the local galaxy.

So did this guy hold 5000 Jie experts in the dark?

Guo felt he had snapped at some point.

“Maybe we could head for alternatives… like a more backward planet?” suggested Guo.

“Oh?”

Ye Chong was sending a stare that Guo was feeling the chill again, “Technically…” He quickly elaborated himself, “The forces of the Aristocrats might be very influential but not influential enough to affect the entire galaxy. There should be a few underdeveloped planets which aren’t really aware of the Aristocrats. We could go there for now. As long as we be careful, the residents, the Aristocrats shouldn’t be alarmed.” As he explained he could feel his nervousness fading away.

Ye Chong started pondering.

“With our strength, yes, it might not be a problem if we wanted to explore the Gray Valley, but…” He glanced at Ye Chong, “We lacked one essential – funds. Yes, I admit I do not know much about the inside of Gray Valley but I know our operation won’t work anywhere in the galaxy as long as we have nothing in our wallet.”

“You made some points,” nodded Ye Chong approvingly, since his men were armed with the most fundamental model of mechs. The Sangs might be formidable against the beasts but not against humanity. Humans were eventually the smarter opponent than the beasts. Ye Chong could not guarantee a victory if they were to face a group of real pilots out there.

It would in fact be a bad timing to go Gray Valley at the moment.

Seeing how Ye Chong was showing approval, Guo was not feeling the slightest pride. He was bewildered instead, as realizing the motive of this mysterious group being not joining any forces but to make an escape. Sighs, his bad day did not seem to be ending just yet. He did not have a choice however, if he showed anything else than cooperation, he knew what could happen to him.

Maybe this would still be a better path than handling all those tedious works leading a bunch of unmotivated squad members himself.

“Sir! Sir! We have found it! We found the flower!” Sang Pu’s voice was expressing joy.

…

“Hmmmmm?”

Fan Qing rested on her fluffy seat, as her dreamy eyes set upon the green tea engulfed within the columns of evaporations. The scent travelled through the air and tickled her senses. She was waiting for someone and that someone had about 30 minutes left till the time of their meeting. She came earlier anyway, it was her habit being proactive in an exchange after all.

She thought back the investigation on Papatte Squad. She researched the squad to discover the fact that it turned out to be a tiny squad consisted about 80 men, while also performing rather mediocrely in their records. She even checked out the list of requests they had completed before, which most of them turned out the most basic, simplest child’s play in her eyes. A half-star rating also justified the fact that they were just some rowdy ruffs from nowhere.

Being discouraged by the facts, she started to forget about her request. Probably only the hobos would go for the mission when they were starving on their last few meals.

“Hm?”

And then she got a notification from the squad itself.

“REQUEST COMPLETED.”

She was being skeptical the whole time. It was an underwhelming squad handling an overwhelming mission, chances are they should not be surviving at all. But she in fact got a notification from them. Although she believed these little rascals would not have the courage to mess with the Fan family she belonged, she prepared a cluster of guards around the corner anyway.

She took a look at the time. 5 minutes till meeting and nobody was there. Fan Qing frowned, being one who abided by time, she disgraced the late comers.

One more minute.

Nobody was there.

I am leaving the moment this last minute ticked. I’m not going to wait.

30 seconds left.

Her expression was stern as she took a careful sip on her tea. Her men at the corners were showing anxiety upon seeing that expression of hers. It was a definite anger and everyone knew what would happen when you enraged the influential figure of an influential family.

he door to the tea room was whammed open, as a queue of people hurried in after. No doubt, the leading one was Guo Ren. She recognized him at first glance, her research was not done or nothing after all. She took a look on the time, yup, 15 seconds before the time was up.

Fan Qing’s expression softened, as she stood up, with a smile, “Punctuality is a virtue, Mr. Guo and it looks like you possess such virtue.”

“Sorry for the wait, Miss Fan,” laughed Guo the chief.

“It’s alright. Your squad had ventured into the darkest zone of the galaxy for our family, it would be uncourteous if we could not hold that little more anticipation. By the way, who are these, may I ask?” Said she as her glance went upon the 5 silver-masked men at the back, which one of them was rather tall while the rest were a little stout by standards, though the rest looked leaner than the tall one. Well, all 5 of them still depicted that heroic imagery.

Clearly these men were not from the Papatte formerly. Their steps were firm, which great strength could be sensed within. Fan Qing was astonished inside, though she really disliked the pretentious outfits, she did not express her feeling directly.

“These men were the newest members in our squad. And thanks to them we completed your request smoothly. My apology for their apparel, these were some weird traditions in their tribes apparently. Hahaha, since they swore a stern vow of chastity that only their legal other half could view their appearance. Tolerance would be appreciated, Miss Fan,” introduced Guo. The five men were firing their glances around, mainly on the disguised bodyguards Fan Qing had around, which made her heart skip a beat.

“Aw, you are being too formal. Hah, it looks like the squad is doing really, really well. Congratulations I guess?” There were all sorts of tribes in the galaxy, while they also practiced extraordinary traditions, so she could understand that.

The truth was, it was pure cooked-up crap. A good excuse though, it was a scheme suggested by Francis Jr. – five thousands men wearing a silver mask each, with Ye Chong and the other exposed 8 members hiding within, it would be a miraculous jackpot if anyone could discern them in one glance. The masks were not as costly as the real silver but a purchase in bulk always gets more cost than discount. Thus, Ye Chong crafted his own masks for the moment, just a measly five of them, and he brought 4 men along for the meeting, whom never were exposed at Foundation before. All for the safety.

“Compliment’s appreciated but we are still nothing compared to the great Fan family.” Guo was real experienced in negotiation, as he made a perfect turn, “Well, Miss Fan, for the expansion of both of our families, shall we talk?”

“Right.”

“We have acquired the Rippling Orchid upon your request,” Guo took a sip on the tea, “But the situation turned out to be… a little different than what we have imagined…” The words were slow.

“A little different? What is it I wonder?” Sounds like the catchphrase she had grown up seeing for a typical daylight robbery.

“We thought we were blessed with great fortune for we found one sprout of it. However, the Lady Luck seemed to have smiled at us that day, as we found three sprouts at a time. What a surprise.” Stated Guo calmly.

“THREE?” Shrieked Fan Qing as she sprung up from her seat. Her expressive eyes were filled with incredulity.

The sudden scream alerted her guards around, as they thought something had gone wrong and rushed to her side, circling the entire scene. Meanwhile, Guo remained nonchalantly on his seat, sipping his tea, as if no other uninvited guest had joined their tea party.

Fan Qing, feeling awkward of the unnecessary alarm, waved her guards away, covering her face, “My regrets for my misconduct. And all these unnecessary staging.” She wiped her sweat and regained her expression, though her heart still raced faster than ever, as her mind replayed the very scene she saw the hideous glare from one of those masked men.

“Hahaha! It’s alright, caution is a long-lost virtue, Miss Fan. I do have faith in the working of Fan family.” The response was prompt, though Fan Qing knew it was merely a line on the courtesy act, she kind of grew upon the man.

“I’m getting all the Rippling Orchid you have. Two million points. How do the great man think?” She was truly keen on those sprouts.

One for 500,000, and 3 for 2,000,000, sounds like a deal for me. Thought Guo as he glanced at Ye Chong, “You sure know how to do business, Miss Fan, it’s an honor to trade with you. Very well, that would be it.”

The quick glance by Guo was captured by Fan Qing, “Thank you for you and your impeccable squad.”

One masked man came to her with a specimen cabinet. She tried seeing through the mask but she knew she should not be doing that at the moment, as she quickly withdrew her eyes back onto the cabinet, which contained exactly 3 sprouts of Rippling Orchids.

Her eyes were shaking. These barbarians actually knew to use a specimen cabinet to store these precious plants? “Your squad is much more interesting than I thought.”

“HAH!” Chuckled Guo. I guess wealthy family is wealthy after all, 2 millions points vaporized and she does not seem to care. Sigh, only if I am as wealthy.

“Our squad would be heading to Planet Yi Ju. If you have any inquiry, or would like to have more deals with us, please, do not hesitate,” smiled Guo brightly.

Their destination was surprising to her ears. Of all planets, Yi Ju? Why that undeveloped globe? A place without technology would be a bad nest for the squad of pilots like his. While Papatte should be more potent than I have expected, a potent squad like Papatte should be heading to a more populated planet to build their foundation. Then… why Yi Ju?

“Your plan being…?” Confused Fan Qing was.

“I understand your concern…” Smiled Guo, “We have recruited a new batch of members quite recently you see. And we would need a more spacious base for training, since we are still very lagging behind compared to most squads out there, we have to pick a less populated planet like Yi Ju. Obviously because you know… we would love to have an easier ground to stand.”

“You’re so modest!” Complimented Fan Qing emptily, though she did not buy that explanation.

The trade was a happy one anyway.

Two millions points were undoubtedly an astronomical figure to a single person, till it was thrown to a pack of 5000 wolves. You still thought it was still great? A single Moonlight piloted by Hai Lian would cost 30 grand, with that in the equation, 2 millions points could only get around 60 Moonlights. And Moonlight was quite a basic model too.

Well at least it was their first successful business, the tribe was happy, the squad was happy.

Let’s see. A dimensional keystone would be 2,000 points. A communication device would be 3,000. The detection system though, was slightly more costly, a whopping 5,000 points. These were still the entry gears… which none of them were really superior in performance. A heartbreaking price it was to Ye Chong as he missed those days with Mu Shang’s hacking to the gate.

Gearing one Collision would cost 10 grand. In the end Ye Chong decided to invest a million on gearing 100 Collisions in his hand. Technically these Collisions would be for their basic living – running missions of course. The remaining a million… well Ye Chong would not want to make a blind purchase, as he heard Guo Ren’s estimated expenditure on Yi Ju – apparently even on a nearly isolated planet, building a base that could accommodate 5000 men would cost more than a million by any chance.

Where are the points when I need them? Like where?! Screamed Ye Chong inside.

He could not rush. Everything must go according to plans. Be it the search for Mu Shang or the way back to the 5 major galaxies, Ye Chong found difficulties at the moment. He got to use his patience to slowly grow his forces. He thought of Virtual World but sadly it was not a thing in He Yue seemingly, not really a common facility. The galaxy did have several servers but those were exclusive to the Aristocrats or the major squads built for their needs.

Furthermore, they did not need Virtual World somehow, the technological advancement was more advanced than the galaxies he came from, that Ye Chong even started suspecting if there would be Photon Stimulated Intelligence as powerful as Mu Shang, or better, Mu Shang was actually originated from this galaxy! Assuming those were true, it would be too risky to log into the Virtual World for now.

Tsk, Ye Chong lacked a practical way to contact Mu Shang. He got to let it go for now. Habitually his calm thoughts replaced his tensed emotions. Given that Mu Shang still survived and obviously they would, he did not have to worry for them, he should be worrying for himself in fact.

He got to ensure his survival in He Yue first – a feasible target at the moment. His situation was looking bad but he had experienced worse, so… no worries!

…

“Welcome to Terry City.” They had arrived at Terry City, a city with a population about 3 millions. Nothing particularly fancy about it. City like this was everywhere over Planet Yi Ju. The location of Yi Ju was somewhere at one corner of the galaxy, situated towards the edge of Calamitous Asteroid Belt. That was not only the reason for its unpopularity, the resources, specifically the minerals, were considerably barren. Technologically and economically speaking, it was tragedy. Plantation farming was the sole pillar to support the economy, although the residents were fortunate to have planted a few unique fruits known to the outside world, thanks to their climate. The catch was, as far as they were from the heart of the galaxy, it would take forever to transport their crops for fortune. Merchants once showed interests but were then shunned away by the outrageous cost to even get the business running. So Yi Ju remained as barren as ever.

And Nedved woke up one morning to see a few strangers residing in his farm. With those silver masks, they really looked dubious. The entire neighborhood was gossiping the happening. Everyone knew Nedved’s plan of migration, as well as the renting of his land, more importantly. They coveted this large piece of plain, with a god-saved earth in one piece. The sun and the water were both great, anything could be imagined as a good harvest.

The next thing the neighbors realized, Nedved happily left the place. The masked outsiders actually purchased the entire land, without a sound made. The neighbors were naturally gossip-lovers but they never wanted the new men to join. Even the dumb cowboy at one side could tell the masked men being potentially malicious. Their gestures, be it a wave or a swing, all of them looked rough. The time when they first came to Nedved’s farm, it was as if a raid of the space pirates, thousands of mechs zoomed to his place and landed in sequence. They almost alarmed the police, till they saw old Nedved acting fine towards them.

Well, Yi Ju, as poor as it was, nobody cared about it, not even the space pirates.

Ever since the strangers arrived, they had been rooted in their home. It was as if they did not need to eat or to sleep. Right when several theories were brewing at the futile chatters in the neighborhood, a few teams of construction workers rushed into the farm and built a Great Wall enveloping the entire place. It took 10 days till the workers came out, exhausted.

So what the heck are these weirdoes doing?

Few days later, projection was made at the door. PAPATTE, the seven-lettered word was bright and clear. And everyone realized, it was actually a pilot squad joining their neighborhood.

Well, Ye Chong was worrying on his finance. His base was only half-done, while the bank account was almost empty. The saving grace was… the food here was surprisingly dirt-cheap, at least he did not have to worry how to feed 5000 mouths every day.

They got to get some works to do now. They would be starving in no time if they never headed out for new requests. So he led Guo and Sang Fan with other men, headed to the local office in Terry City.

The office was, as similar as the atmosphere of the planet itself, poorly decorated. A short building pitiful to the eyes, compared to those offices Ye Chong had seen on other planets before. It felt like he had been sent 500 years backwards. He gave a knock and entered, to see the few lazy men slothfully walking around. The billboard which contained the request? It was as numerous as those men. A pitiful few of them. The price? Don’t ask it, you will cry.

But they did not seem to have much options there. Survival would be the topmost priority, while stealthiness throned the second. What’s wrong if we were to live tougher? At least we are still alive and kicking? Compared to the Archipelago, this planet was heaven. On the other than, the Papatte was agreeably joining either, they had been at the bottommost of society long enough, this was their bread and butter.

The squad needed money, lots and lots and lots of money. As far as Ye Chong was informed, every man of his did not manage to fulfill their basic allocated resources. Assuming 10,000 points for each other, he would need 5 millions points, just for food and daily necessity. Ye Chong also thought of devices for mech, but every single piece of them would go by a price of 8 digits at the very least. Sigh, now thinking back, what luxury it was back when I build the Coxcomb. Three labs of three different sets of the best apparatuses, astronomically priced. And now I could not even buy a nut of it.

He consulted Guo after taking a glance at the requests on the billboard. He accepted every single request that seemed doable at the moment, which most of them required a dense man force, doing some obsolete works with pitiful pay – that had justified why no squad on Yi Ju would want to do them.

Nevertheless, Ye Chong did not lack the man force. His men were bored either as they succumbed to continuous training to kill the time, fortunately they had the walls to keep them low, so they would not give heart attacks to the elderlies next door. The victims, most likely wold be Francis Jr. and his mates, as they felt like a lamb into a pen of wolves. This was because Sang Pu could not bear to see their incapability in even the most basic combats so he forced them into training.

And that, was how, the miserable tales of Francis Jr. and his happy mates began.

In front of one anomaly, you would feel plain; In front of fifty? You probably feel why you existed.

Sang Fan and the rest remained loitering at the city to try finding some fortune, while Ye Chong headed back to the base alone.