Legend of the Supreme Soldier - Chapter 311

e Chong sat at one corner near the window in the spaceship. The columns of nebula were gorgeous and calming to his soul. While enjoying the precious peace and quiet he finally acquired, he looked at the reflection of himself. Mu Shang would probably fail to recognize him at first scan too. His skin was yellowish, a pale banana yellow, while also filled with reddish blemishes over his plain features – rather threatening if you would ask me. The other passengers seemed to have agreed too, as they were very avoidant of Ye Chong, as if he was infected by some highly infectious horrible virus from unknown space. To be honest, Ye Chong was being stalked by the securities and was demanded to have a thorough bodycheck thrice before he even got on-board, well, since he looked too convincing to be infected.

Such drastic approach of makeover he used was from the ancient by the alchemists. And somehow Lunatic Guan was very much into it, as there were rich entries on the stages of makeovers in her writing. Ironically, Ye Chong picked the most despised method by Lunatic Guan, as she found the method to be too substandard, while spoiling her pretty face. That costed too much for a mere disguise.

That was not Ye Chong’s concern however. He preferred a stat-boost rather than a decorative-boost. Furthermore, this method was proven to be highly effective, altering his appearance the most – exactly what he desired.

By combining fluids extracted from few strange plants in a prefixed proportion, a reagent would be formed, which would give a yellowish texture and poxes to your skin that would make you unsurprising even when you slept in one of the wards at the local hospital. The reagent was not harmful to the skin and was pretty lasting, waterproof too. Only a particular kind of cleaning agent could remove the coloring effect.

Ye Chong pondered long to figure out a proper disguise as he skimmed through the entries inside the chip given by Lunatic Guan, since he had hardly investigated this side of alchemy before. Quite some time was also consumed on mixing the reagent at the right proportion for his size. The other methods would require a few rare materials so it would be impractical to have all the Sangs discolored, although they seemed to be quite envious of the chameleon show their sir had performed, since it was a hassle to have a mask all the time.

Speaking of the Sangs, as the new rule enforced, they were forbidden from leaving the base as long as they failed to hide their threatening aura. Guo and the folks were also there, as to provide assistance on Sang Pu’s works.

Ye Chong also brought a Blaze-III in the keystone for usual transportation.

He leaned against the chair and closed his eyes.

The Ye family, what kind of family it is I wonder… I came all the way here just wanting to know the family directly myself, although Sang Fan and his brothers showed resistance on this, I must.

What also hurried Ye Chong out of the base was his fear of how he lacked the understanding on the entire He Yue galaxy. Practically, he could not name anything he really knew about the place. The virtual networking world was not as common as the one in the 5 major galaxies and it was a stressful experience for him to overcome the paranoia of logging in, wondering if a super Maverick like Mu Shang would be there too. If so, it would be too dangerous. Jumping into action without knowing what you are jumping into, is certainly suicidal!

To make the Sangs less worried, of course he was equipped with a communicator.

Ye Chong was a figure from a thriller now, no one would dare to join his screen time. That would be perfect, he just needed some silence, though the passengers could not stop their hustling whispers. There were passionate exchanges at some spots in the cabin, which were pleasing to his tensed neurons. For once, he felt blended in the environment.

But one particular discussion caught his attention.

“I heard that Kyaji was killed,” a blonde young man whispered.

“Good. I was getting impatient seeing him still alive. He’s a nuisance to our society.” A broad faced man in his 30s was pleased by it.

“Are you sure?” One person was showing skepticism, “Were your sources reliable? Kyaji is still something you know, who would have killed him?” The participants of the conversation were being agreeable to this doubt. Kyaji had established the authority for very long with the brutality imprinted in mind of every person, especially those who frequented the trade market for they had heard various horror stories about the murder of known pilots in the hands of Kyaji.

“Meh.” The blonde young man disdainfully replied, “Kyaji was nothing alright? I could simply name a handful of people who could kill him effortlessly. Say… the three main aristocrats, Brahmara*, Ye Yin, Huang Jiming, I swear the family would slice that Kyaji like me slicing my chicken, not to mention we have 3 godly figures I have mentioned. Even Shi Tianlun from the Shi family, Mi He from the Mi family could triumph over Kyaji easily on a one-on-one.”

“You have a point, but of all these figures you have mentioned, who would have the time to spare on defeating Kyaji?” Rebutted one person of the crowd, which stirred up a session of agreeable nodding from the others.

This was convincing as those aristocrats had always cared about benefits, they would not even care if the murder involved strangers not belonged to their family.

“Although I heard the one who killed Kyaji was not from the aristocrat,” added the blonde man, with a vibe of mystery.

“Who? Who was it then?”

“I dunno…” The young man shrugged.

“Oh… Aren’t you that Hu Chui? Man, I really thought someone killed Kyaji at first.”

“Hah, aren’t you that notorious boy who cried wolf?”

The man’s story started to lose its credibility in the crowd.

“Suit yourself. The fact is, Kyaji is already dead. The mech parts had been sent to Zhou Jian planet. The news would be coming up in 2 days. Well, we would know whether I am that boy who cried Kyaji soon enough.” The blonde young man was not annoyed by the remarks.

Kyaji? Ye Chong flinched, wasn’t that the name of the pirate guy whom Sang Tie killed?

Sadly the people thought the boy was blowing his trumpet again and had left the spot with disappointment. Ye Chong, however, was very much intrigued of the story. He got up from his seat and headed to the person, “Brother, greetings.” Politely he began while habitually he maintained a 1.5 meter distance away from the young man, which turned out to be the most suitable attacking range of his fist – if anything would go wrong that is.

The young man was astonished as first but quickly he exchanged the expression with a smile, “Ohhh, hello, hello, is there anything I could help?”

“I was very much interested in your story actually,” stated Ye Chong. “Regarding these few names you’ve mentioned, those Brahmara, Ye Yin, to be frank, I begged your briefing on this.”

“You gotta be kidding man!” Exaggeratedly the young man reacted, “I can’t believe there’s someone who did not know these celebs! Are you from the alternate dimension or what?”

“My apology for that,” said Ye Chong, without looking embarrassed, “I am from the other corner of the galaxy, please tolerate my lack of knowledge on this.”

“Mhm, mhm, alright, as long as you maintain such modesty, you’ll be fine! No worries!” The young man was acting like a teacher despite his age.

“I know right. That’s what I thought too,” said Ye Chong as he got into a posture of listening, with a smile, and a thought muttering – if this fella tried to talk more crap I am so going to drag him to a dark corner and teach him to talk concisely with an interrogating session.

“You sure are quite a learner. Alright then, let me brief you on these celebs.” The pride of the young man was fulfilled, that was like the most contented 5 minutes of his life, although those blemishes on Ye Chong’s face were pushing him away slightly.

“You at least knew the aristocrats, did you?” asked the young man.

“I had heard of them, were they the Ye family, the Xue Lai tribe and the Xi Feng clan?” replied Ye Chong honestly, well of course he knew them, he just had an intensive dance party with all three of them.

“Good. At least you know something. So regarding Brahmara, Ye yin and Huang Jiming… they are the topmost pilots in the entire galaxy. Brahmara you see, was the name of not the pilot, but the mech itself. It is the ace of the Xue Lai tribe, although no one had seen the pilot in person before. His identity has always been a mystery. Then we have Ye Yin and Huang Jiming being the ace of Ye family and Xi Feng clan respectively.”

“The ace? That means they are really great, but how great?” Ye Chong was very curious on this aspect of the story.

“‘How great’ you ask? Kek, well that would be a little horrifying. They had always been fighting an outnumbered battle, with a conquering victory in the end of course. Imagine you yourself fighting a thousand elites. Yup, that great.” The young man was sharing the tale proudly as if he was the witness of the legend.

From the story, Ye Chong knew the person was just cooking up the story. One against thousand? Even if the thousand were piloting a Raven, they could murder the so-called ace pilots by their weight altogether.

“Well…” Sipped the young man on his drink, “Speaking of ace pilots, they were not the only few.”

“Who else I wonder?” Ye Chong’s interest inflated again, he got to admit that this young man knew how to tell stories despite being a typical trumpet blower.

“Well, brother, you never knew, the world is so vast that there are lots of formidable figures in the dark.”

Wow, Ye Chong was impressed for the young man was actually able to spell out such universal law.

“Like… if we talk about technology, of course Xue Lai tribe is ahead of the other aristocrats. But if you mention about physical strength, Ye family would be taking that flag. Tsk, tsk, I wonder with those vitality, how long they could last on bed.” An indecent expression coming from the young man, as he began munching the air, somehow reminiscing a past of his.

“Cough.” He quickly got himself back to reality, “So, these two families… have their own perks, although I must say the Xi Feng clan fought in quite a strange way. We could say these families are great forces, but does that mean that all the great forces in the entire galaxy were in these families?”

Ye Chong lifted his head and stared at the young man.

“Ugh.” The blemishes made the young man nearly choked his line, he swallowed his disgust, “I would say NO to that statement.” And finally coughed out his words.

There are so many experts in this world, as many as there are stars in the sky. Besides, in recent years, the various powerful forces around have been relatively stable, and rarely clashed with each other. Without battles, the relative strength of mech pilots is hard to gauge. People can only guess how strong a mech pilot really is. Take Bi Zhibo, for example. His name has been around for more than 20 years. His mech’s called Nine Flames. The man’s never lost, everyone’s heard of him. Compared to the three super powerful mech pilots from the Three Aristocratic Families, you’ll never know who’s stronger without an actual fight. But will they fight just for the name? Never.”

Ye Chong listened closely as the blonde man continued.

“No one really knows how many elite mech pilots there are, but there should be a couple dozen. You know, once you reach a certain level of skill, it’s hard to know who’s better than who. Moreover, judging a mech pilot’s strength is no easy task. We’re looking at piloting skills, mech models used, the interplay between these two factors, and the pilot’s tactical skills and so on. Yeah, battle tactics are very important. Most strong mech pilots are good at strategizing, but some are better than others. You heard of Arwa before?” The blonde man asked.

“No,” Ye Chong answered truthfully. He noticed that the blonde man’s chattering had attracted a crowd around him.

“Ah, I knew you wouldn’t know him. Brother, this is unacceptable. Look at you, so young and all, how can you be so ignorant? You should go to a school, get a good education, or you’ll be the butt of everyone’s joke and easily taken advantage of,” The blonde man advised sincerely.

“Arwa is a mysterious man of skills. Rumor has it that his mech is only a normal advanced level mech, but he’s a real tactical genius. He brings tactical skills to a whole new level. Besides, he’s a real good pilot, and frequently won against opponents stronger than himself. One of his most famous battles is the one with Ye Yin, where he managed to retreat completely unscathed. Ye Yin has one of the best mechs in the galaxy. This was also the only time Ye Yin did not win. Ever since then, Arwa’s reputation skyrocketed, placing him side by side with other elite mech pilots. Almost every aristocratic family tried to recruit him, but he rejected them all. Hehe, he’s the hero of us common people.”

Arwa was obviously a famous character. A few young people gathering around him howled in agreement. Of course, there were some who showed disdain on their faces instead. These people were mostly from rich families.

“Later, it was said that Arwa had went to Gray Valley. Hah, he must be the best mech pilot in Gray Valley now!” The blonde man was obviously a huge fan of Arwa.

“Humph, best mech pilot in Gray Valley? What a joke!” Someone commented coolly from the crowd. Ye Chong looked towards the source of this voice, and found an arrogant looking long-haired man.

“What?” The blonde man and other fans of Arwa glared angrily at the long-haired man.

“Hua, don’t speak nonsense,” a middle-aged man standing beside the younger long-haired man reprimanded him sternly, and quickly apologized to the crowd, “Please forgive us, my friend is only joking, please don’t take him seriously.” The long-haired man called Hua looked unrepentant, but was pushed down onto his seat by the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man did not look particularly memorable, his calm face was the image of a nice guy. His gray suit made him look like a gentleman. His steady demeanor and calm personality made him easy to get along with. However, Ye Chong noticed his hands, the wide palms covered with calluses. The man’s wrists were covered by his sleeves, but Ye Chong could see that his hands must be very strong.

The middle-aged man seemed to sense Ye Chong’s attention. His hands jerked almost imperceptibly, but Ye Chong saw it anyway. The other man began to study Ye Chong as well. Their eyes met, and the middle-aged man smiled to Ye Chong. Ye Chong nodded back. He was not worried about exposing his own strength. Due to his physical peculiarities, his harsh training barely left a trace in his actual physique. Even the calluses on his hands would disappear very quickly.

The blonde man seemed to lose interest in his storytelling after the long-haired man’s interruption. Ye Chong regretted it. The blonde man was an interesting narrator. Ye Chong had learned much from his stories. He kept the names of the mech pilots introduced to him close to his heart.

Schools were not such a bad place. The simple environment reminded Ye Chong of his days in Blue Ocean Academy. He had learned plenty from that place, but was rudely interrupted by Black Cove. The thought of Black Cove brought Ye Chong’s mind back to the Ye Family. What a troublesome place!

However, Ye Chong quickly dropped that line of thought. He now realized that he lacked even the most basic common knowledge around here. If he just went out to investigate as he was now, the chances of him being successful would be less than five percent.

Hence, Ye Chong did not rush himself. Now was the time to learn more about this society. This place was entirely different from the Five Galaxies, and a place that he had to live in for the moment. To return to the Five Galaxies would require getting involved with the Three Aristocratic Families, and he could not afford to do that right now. He would have to live in He Yue galaxy for the foreseeable future. Hence, it would make more sense for him to learn how to live a better life here.

Ye Chong did a quick calculation in his mind. His talented mind was now functioning like an efficient photon processor, cool and precise. He did not act impulsively while trying to find out more about his real identity. Unlike other people, Ye Chong’s upbringing had allowed him to view his problem from a very different perspective.

It would not matter if he was really related to the Ye Family. Ye Chong did not feel a sense of belonging with the Ye Family. To him, he would rather spend more time to investigate about his Papa. Papa was his real family. He cared about Papa, about Mu and Shang, about Grandpa Qian, about Nan Nan, about Hei Zi. Compared to these people, the Ye Family was too unfamiliar to him. Ye Chong only wanted to know who his real parents were. That was all. The rest was of no consequence to him.

Ye Chong soon stopped thinking about the matter. Since he had made a decision, he should just act accordingly.

Just then, the starship began to decelerate. While the deceleration was gradual, Ye Chong was sensitive enough to speed that he detected it straight away.

“Huh, why’d they start the inspection here?” The blonde man hummed to himself.

“Inspection for what?” Ye Chong could not help but asked.

The blonde man explained with a low voice, “Zhou Jian is a commercial planet, and they’re wary of troublemakers visiting. There are some crazy fools who’d wreak havoc once they landed on Zhou Jian. The inspection here is more laxed, and intended for these troublemakers. In other places, especially where the aristocrats stay, they’d be more unwelcoming towards Gray Valley residents.”

Ye Chong nodded, understanding. If any fool were to carelessly cause destruction on the planet, the effects would be devastating.

Soon, a group of officers in blue uniforms boarded the ship. Ye Chong found many of them to be combat experts. In this irregular and narrow space, combat experts would have the upper hand against mech pilots.

The passengers on the starship were all familiar with this kind of inspection, and produced their identity cards cooperatively. Ye Chong was skeptical of the effectiveness of this inspection, since He Yue galaxy’s identity card management system was quite messy. Ye Chong’s identity card was bought with 30 thousand credits at Yi Ju planet, and it was an authentic card, complete with a background history for him. Old Chief Guo’s connections in the local community had enabled him to deal with this matter easily.

“Is this inspection effective?” Ye Chong asked, curious.

“Not really,” The blonde man shrugged in reply. “It’s just to make you feel safe.”

When it came to his turn, Ye Chong passed the inspection without any hiccups. The officer did not even bother to look at him. It was the middle-aged man and the long-haired man who got into some trouble.

“You’re from Gray Valley?” The Inspector, head of the officers, looked at the identity card offered by the middle-aged man and frowned. The long-haired man was immediately offended by the head officer’s expression, his hostile glare at the Inspector earning him unfriendly looks from the other officers back in return.

“Yes, that’s right,” the middle-aged man answered calmly.

The Inspector stopped his officers’ hostile behavior and steadily said , “We’re all commoners here, and hold no ill will towards Gray Valley. I hope your friend will stay in line, since there are many aristocrats around here. I hope you’ll not get into trouble with them. That would be very troublesome for us officers.”

The middle-aged man bowed slightly and said, “Please don’t worry, we’ll not cause trouble.” He patted the long-haired man’s shoulder, and the hostility in his gaze slowly died down.

“Gray Valley … So they are from Gray Valley,” Ye Chong thought to himself. Gray Valley residents were secretive, and never spoke of that place when they were outside. Rumor has it that Gray Valley people were strong, but he did not know exactly how strong these two were.

“No wonder, they’re from Gray Valley,” the blonde man exclaimed in realization.

The inspection ended quickly. No troublemakers were identified. The starship was allowed to enter Zhou Jian’s airspace.

Ye Chong had randomly picked a starship to switch to earlier. It did not matter which city he ended up in, so there was no need to worry about it. He only knew from the blonde man that Zhou Jian was a commercial planet.

Commercial planets were convenient. Communication was easy, and many products were available in the market. Ye Chong was now in urgent need of a few items. Perhaps he could get them here. Besides, commercial planets were usually easier to move freely about. Commercial planets were the meeting points for various powers, so the aristocrats would be more careful in these places.

For someone like Ye Chong, who wanted to get familiar with life in He Yue galaxy as soon as possible, it was a good choice of location. “Looks like I got lucky,” Ye Chong thought to himself.

A blue plane came into view. Against the dark, enigmatic space around it, the average-sized planet seemed to teem with life.

He glanced at the middle-aged man, and found him smiling back warmly at him. The long-haired man beside him seemed more excited now.

The starship made its slow way towards the planet of Zhou Jian. Ye Chong looked out of the observation window, lost in his own thoughts.

If you have the money, I’d definitely advise you to attend Engradie Academy. It’s the best school on Zhou Jian, and one of the best academies in the He Yue galaxy. The students are mostly from rich families, and many of them are aristocrats. But you don’t look rich, so maybe you’d like to try the Ze Xi Academy. It’s the best school for commoners, and the fee is cheap. While you, my friend, look a little older, it’s common to see children from poorer families to attend night classes. They won’t turn you down.” Before they parted ways, the blonde man took Ye Chong’s hands in his, and advised him with deep sincerity.

Standing in front of Ze Xi Academy, looking at the students bustling in and out, Ye Chong thought it felt surreal. His days in Blue Ocean Academy came back to him. It was impossible to forget about Grandpa Qian, Xiu and Sun Xuelin. However, times had changed, and now, he did not even have Mu and Shang by his side. It was just like the time when he was a teacher in the Academy, except that now he was a student.

Engradie Academy was a good education institution, and Ye Chong himself was not lacking money, but in the end he chose to attend school at Ze Xi Academy. The fact that Engradie Academy’s many students were aristocrats was enough to help Ye Chong make his decision.

Ye Chong was in plain attire, which was why the blonde man thought of him as poor. In fact, Ye Chong had never bought any clothing himself. The ones he was wearing were bought by Old Chief Guo and his company. Ye Chong only asked that the clothing be resilient to wear and tear. Old Chief Guo knew that Ye Chong and the Sang tribe members would not be picky with fashion, so he bought the hardiest and cheapest clothing he could find.

Ye Chong was not aware that people were often judged by what they wear. However, if even he found out, he would probably feel indifferent about it.

“First step to getting used to living here,” Ye Chong thought to himself. He had decided to put more effort into improving his social skills. He was not dumb, but was in fact intelligent; he knew exactly what he was lacking of. If Mu and Shang were with him, perhaps he would have remained the same way he was before. Now, however, with Mu and Shang missing, he would have to try everything he could to find them. If he could not mix with people, then how can he find Mu and Shang in this large world? Without connections, how could he find a way to return to the Five Galaxies from the Three Aristocratic Families?

Unlike the matter of finding Mu and Shang, Ye Chong was not as driven to find out about his past. However, given that he had no information on Mu and Shang, but had found some information about his past, the matter of his past had become priority for the time being. For now, Ye Chong must not only familiarize himself with the He Yue galaxy, but also study the Three Aristocratic Families discreetly, especially the Ye Family.

Ye Chong knew from experience that all fields of knowledge have a complete system. Only through systematic learning would he be able to understand more deeply. This was something Ye Chong thought of when the blonde man talked about joining academies. Aside from that, the community in schools were more isolated and simpler. He should be able to avoid attention here.

After paying the required fee, Ye Chong became an official student of the Ze Xi Academy.

Ze Xi Academy’s learning policy was liberal. Students were free to choose their desired courses. Ye Chong did not choose courses for mech piloting, combat, mech modification and the like. He knew what he wanted out of this learning experience. He chose He Yue’s history, language, psychology, theology, aristocracy and so on.

When he submitted his course schedule, the teacher was surprised. It was normal to see a schedule like in Engradie Academy, but the students of Ze Xi Academy came mostly from poor families – they hoped to find a reliable job in future, and so would choose courses like mech piloting, mech modification and alchemy. “This student must come from a well-to-do family, but his clothing doesn’t look like it,” the teacher thought as he took a quick glance at Ye Chong, but quickly arranged for Ye Chong’s courses.

Ye Chong’s plain clothing, horrible looks, and quiet nature had allowed him to escape attention easily.

The active student life, filled with brawls and arguments, all looked dull to Ye Chong, who had been through countless battles of life and death. He poured all his attention into studying. The humanities courses all demanded a large amount of reading. To other people, Ye Chong looked like a typical bookworm. To them, Ye Chong may look ugly, but his mild demeanor and quiet nature made him easy to get along with.

Ye Chong did not know how he appeared to other people. He only focused on his studies.

The Three Aristocratic Families were the most resilient of all aristocrats. There was plenty of historical research on them, and Ye Chong ploughed through all of them in search for clues. These courses transformed Ye Chong’s mindset. If it was before, he would never had thought of searching for information from historical material.

Sang Pu and the rest kept in touch with Ye Chong frequently. Ye Chong knew from Sang Pu that the tribe members had learnt how to better conceal their threatening aura. In fact, it was a skill that they had picked up much earlier on, but had never thought of using it now. Back in Archipelago, they had used this skill when hunting. Wild beasts were very sensitive to deathly auras, so the tribe members had to learn to conceal their aura to avoid being noticed.

This concealing skill was already second nature to them, so no one thought of applying it now. For the moment, however, they had much more to learn.

Francis Jr, on the other hand, was greatly surprised. “Wah, Boss, you look so … So ….” He could remember the word. Old Chief Guo continued his sentence, “Scholarly.”

“Yes yes yes, ‘scholarly’, that’s right. Like a really smart person.” Francis Jr looked at Ye Chong, full of admiration.

In fact, Ye Chong had changed dramatically in these two months. His cold features were now softer on the edges. With a whole two months of courses on literature and history, Ye Chong no longer consider things in only structural and calculative terms.

From the other end of the comms device came Sang Tie’s muffled voice, “Lian, what’s this scholarly thing?”

Hai Lian replied, “Er, scholarly, it means … It means the person read plenty, and gives the impression of being very intelligent.”

Somewhere not captured on the screen of the comms device, Sang Tie beat his chest and said, “Then I want that scholarly thing too.”

“Then you should go learn from the Boss.”

Hai Lian’s pained groan was met with laughter from the gang. It was an enjoyable call.

Ye Chong could not help but smiled. He remembered something then, and said to Sang Pu, “Pu, remember to send someone back to the village and teach them about concealing their aura. Everyone must learn this, especially the children.”

“Yes sir,” Sang Pu answered swiftly.

After asking Sang Pu and the rest to study those devices used to manufacture mechs, Ye Chong ended the call. He should continue reading in the afternoon. He had not finished his last book yet.

The truth was, Ye Chong was intimidated by all those reading at first. His mindset was almost crystallized, thinking only in terms of numbers and logic. These psychology and theology courses seemed like an insurmountable task to him. However, due to his good memory, Ye Chong managed to endure the suffering during his first month, and gradually immersed himself into this whole new body of knowledge.

Walking in the academy grounds, Ye Chong looked no different than any other student around, except for his slightly uglier looks.

“I say, Mi De, Ze Xi Academy is full of beautiful girls. I’ve always thought the pretty ones are all at our school!” This came from a vastly overweight youngster in casual outfit. For the initiated, they would notice that his clothing was very expensive.

At his side was another man with a hat on. “That’s what you think! Those d*mbasses back at school are all so arrogant and foolish. And those ladies, they’re all proud as peacocks, the lot. Hehe, those ladies, don’t be fooled by their elegant looks, it’s all the work of makeup. ‘Sides, you know how rotten their lives really are.” The one called Mi De was a few inches taller than Fatty. His hat was worn low.

Fatty nodded, chewing his gum as he mumbled, “That’s right, that’s right.”

“It’s totally different here. Look, the girls here rarely wear makeup. Now that’s true beauty. Tsk tsk, their skin is porcelain white. Besides, they’re quite conservative, all about purity and innocence, nothing compared to the rotten girls back at school.”

Fatty nodded strongly in agreement.

Mi De smiled cheekily and said, “Hehe, I’ve visited all 75 schools for the commoners. When it comes to the quantity and quality of beautiful girls, mm, and the girls’ temperaments, Ze Xi Academy is the best.”

Ye Chong walked past them, and heard every word clearly. However, he was thinking, just how should he analyze these two people’s behavior from a psychological perspective?

A rush of footsteps came from behind, breaking Ye Chong’s train of thought. 16 of them! The assessment came quick as lightning to Ye Chong’s mind.

“You two, please leave our school, we don’t welcome you here!” The voice was fierce and unyielding.

i De whistled and said casually, “Ah, isn’t that Peng Pengcha? I say, bro, I don’t think we’ve offended each other, why’re you accosting me?”

Peng Pengcha yelled angrily, “Mi, you b*stard, we’re not done with that matter with Miss Tan!”

Fatty was curious, and asked, “Mi De, I’ve never heard of you dating any Miss Tan.”

Mi De waved it off. “He’s only referring to Beibei.”

“Wow, you’re actually interested in that kind of woman?” Fatty was surprised.

“Don’t you dare sully her name!” Peng Peng Cha was furious, and flung the brick in his hand towards the two youngsters.

“Hehe, bro, you really looking for a fight?” “Yo, it’s the Brick, a long range weapon of mass destruction!” The two of them laughed, but they also avoided the attack easily. Fights in the academy grounds was only limited to bricks, sticks and the like; no one dared to use mechs. Fighting with bricks was an entirely different from fighting with mechs.

The usage of bricks as a fighting tool first began when a student studying ancient history found out about in the textbooks. The weapon soon became widely used in almost all academies. Bricks were a kind of building material from a long, long time ago, and no longer used. It was, however, easy to make. Since there was a demand for bricks, many specialty shops began to pop up in the vicinity of virtually every academy and school. After centuries of collecting dust in the forgotten hallways of history, bricks finally had their comeback in the form of a fighting tool used in schools.

The brick flew past the two and straight towards Ye Chong. Ye Chong heard it coming, and frowned. He took a step to the right, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Ye Chong stopped in his tracks and began to listen in.

Fatty was still reasoning with Peng Pengcha, “Sigh, I say, brother, you’ve really fallen for it this time. Tan Beibei’s a real slut, she’s notorious in our school …”

“D*mn you!” Peng Pengcha saw red, and threw another brick at them.

Fatty might be overweight, but he was surprisingly agile. The brick was once again easily evaded. However, the brick was heading straight towards Ye Chong again.

Ye Chong was listening to them, and did not avoid the brick this time. He threw his fist at the brick, shattering it into dust.

Everyone else looked in Ye Chong’s direction. They only heard a loud “Bam!”, and saw a white cloud of dust spreading out before him.

Everyone was caught off guard. Even Fatty and Mi De, who were fooling around, were startled. The white cloud of dust was blocking their view of the perpetrator. Even so, the strength in the punch had surprised everyone.

Punching a brick into pieces was easy, but crushing the brick into dust was extremely hard. This white cloud of dust was obviously the result of the brick being completely pulverized.

Could this be a combat expert teacher? Peng Pengcha felt a chill in his heart. Attacking a teacher was a serious matter in every school.

Ye Chong’s expression grew more serious. Suddenly, his eyes glowed sharply. He looked up and around, and found a streetlight at the center of the field. The streetlight was made in vintage fashion, reaching five meters tall, with a 2-centimeter diameter. The pole was made of alloy, and carved with various motives.

Ye Chong moved, and reached the streetlight in a flash.

This was the time of day when the academy grounds were most crowded. When Ye Chong pulverized the brick into dust, people began to notice him. Now, his astonishing speed made everyone gasp. Peng Pengcha was already drained of blood. Mi De and Fatty were also gulping heavily.

Ye Chong’s leg kicked, striking out like a lightning bolt, not even leaving an afterimage of motion. No one around him could see his movement clearly.

Wham! The alloy-made streetlight was forcefully broken off from its base. The students around him stared in shock. Ye Chong picked up he streetlight pole, handling the heavy alloy with ease.

“No way!” Peng Pengcha thought to himself, horrified. Sweat rolled down his forehead as he mumbled, “I – I – I … I only threw … Threw a brick …”

Just when everyone thought Peng Pengcha was done for, the shrill school alarm disrupted the silence in the academy grounds!

No one reacted to it. The alarm had never rang for the last 50 years, so no one had ever heard it before. However, the sharper students quickly realized its significance. Mi De and Fatty exchanged a look and gasped simultaneously, “The alarm!”

With that, the people around them recovered their senses. What was going on? They looked to each other, discussing potential causes of the alarm. Could it be a large pirate crew attacking them?

Mi De and Fatty signalled to each other, and made the same decision – they deployed their mechs!

Later recounts of the event would reveal that their apparent over-reaction had actually saved their lives.

Ye Chong’s expression twisted. He struck the pole deeply into the ground.

The year 5087 of the He Yue calendar would come to be a particularly memorable year for everyone on Zhou Jian planet.

Ye Chong moved so powerfully that the alloy streetlight pole in his hands became a terrifying and deadly weapon.

Rumble! Soil sprayed outwards as the streetlight pole was struck deeply into the ground.

An eye-piercingly sharp and terrible cry came from beneath the earth. The upper layer of the ground rippled like waves, an eerie sight to behold.

Suddenly, the academy’s broadcast sounded, “Special alert, special alert. All students with mechs, please get into your mechs now. Students without mechs, please make your way into the buildings around you for your own safety.”

The broadcast was repeated over and over. Above them, mechs began to appear, while the students without mechs rushed to the nearest building they could find for shelter. However, many of them were still in daze, paralyzed by the situation.

Ye Chong ignored the broadcast, his attention focused entirely on the unknown attacked underneath the ground.

Boom! The earth before Ye Chong exploded, soil spraying everywhere around him. The academy had used real soil instead of some kind of flooring in its attempt to create a more primeval feel to the school grounds. The soil flew out and hit the paralyzed students standing nearby, and they cried in pain. However, this also shook off their paralysis. Those with mechs quickly deployed them, while the rest quickly scattered away.

The soil exploding outwards did not bother Ye Chong. He stared fixedly on the ground right in front of him. He had targeted the other party from their breathing. The five-meter pole was struck into the ground before him, half of its length beneath the earth. Ye Chong’s hands held onto the pole lightly, and felt a strong vibration coming from it.

Sensing the energy coming from the pole, Ye Chong was slightly taken by surprise, but he quickly reacted. He yelled loudly and pulled out the streetlight pole straight out of the ground.

Squeak! Another terrible cry was heard from beneath.

The bottom half of the streetlight pole was covered in blood, and a strange smell wafting from it. Ye Chong had seen all sorts of blood, but this was the first time he saw one that had such a sharp smell.

Ye Chong held the pole horizontally in front of him, and stared at the dark hole before him with wary anticipation.

Squeak! A black shadow rushed out of the hole and charged straight towards Ye Chong. He noticed a much sharper smell coming from it. The black figure moved so quickly that the people around him could not even see it clearly.

A woman’s sharp cry was heard from behind him! The fact that a black figure had suddenly came out of the hole was really terrifying.

Others may only see a black figure, but Ye Chong saw it clearly. It was a rat. A rat! However, the rat was large, almost Ye Chong’s size. Its crimson red eyes had blood vessels crawling all over them. Its thin and long tail was like a whip, and it had strong legs. Ye Chong could see the muscles bulging out of it, enough to make bodybuilders blush in shame. The rat had claws that reached 10 centimeters long, looking like knives attached to its feet.

“It this really a rat?” Ye Chong thought to himself in disbelief.

Ye Chong’s expression remained calm, however. The thing moved fast, but was no match against someone as fast as Ye Chong. Ye Chong launched himself sideways, moving along the streetlight pole. His hands were still gently holding onto the pole, so he looked like he was just sliding along the pole, and the effect was simply quite abnormal. Besides, with his speed, he moved just like a ghost!

Another girl screamed in the background!

Ye Chong was not distracted. He tipped the pole upwards to meet the black figure.

Crack! The 2-centimeter thick alloy pole was bitten in half by the creature!

Ye Chong was surprised, but did not miss the opening. He took a quick step forwards and planted a kick on the rat’s belly!

Ye Chong used all his strength in this kick. Fighting against a creature he had never seen before, he could not afford to hold back!

The kick was executed with the September Lan family’s special technique! Ye Chong’s right leg expanded and shrank in a very short time!

Wham! The force on the rat came like a mech’s attack, throwing it 20 meters back! Ye Chong still kept his eyes on the rat. If it survived this attack, the it must be even more terrifying than the wild beasts on Archipelago.

Fortunately, the huge rat only twitched a few times before it lay motionless for good. Ye Chong finally calmed himself down. All around him were terrified people. Only half of Zei Xi Academy’s students had mechs. The rest of the students were still running to the nearest building in the academy they could find.

The rat’s huge body interrupted the frenzy of the students running for their lives.

Ye Chong was about to head towards the school building in front of him when a woman’s sharp cry came from behind him.

ui Bing had a terrible look on her face. With the swarms of creatures outside, a Jie expert such as her was still vulnerable to the innate revulsion towards such disgusting creatures, as was typical for the fairer sex.

When Shi Fuyin was shocked by their experience on Lunaris last time, her fragile body deteriorated even further. She had to be moved to Zhou Jian planet, which offered better medical facilities. With nowhere to go herself, Rui Bing decided to stay by Shi Fuyin’s side. She had developed a certain tenderness towards the girl.

Shi Chongming was out on an errand, leaving only her and Shi Fuyin. The sudden appearance of so many of those creatures outside left Rui Bing deeply shaken.

Rui Bing witnessed with her own eyes how the urban streets were transformed into a living hell. There was blood everywhere. People who could not escape fast enough were chewed to pieces. The sight of blood, flesh and organs here and there was nauseating.

The victims wailed in pain and distress, or shrieked in fear and despair. It was as if the world was turned inside out.

Rui Bing stood by the window, watching the tragedy happening outside from above, feeling deeply troubled.

Just what had the world come to? Why was this happening?

There was a pedestrian who could not make it in time, and his one leg was bitten off by one of those huge rats. Blood gushed out from the wound, bloodying the rat’s face. The rat chewed on the leg for a few times and swallowed it. Its blood red eyes shone menacingly. The pedestrian’s face twisted in pain from the sudden amputation, but before he could react any further, the other rats swarmed over him and finished him off. Rui Bing saw everything, including the expression of the pedestrian in the last moments of his life. That twisted face lingered in her mind, and her heart ached.

Rui Bing inhaled deeply to calm herself, and began to assess the situation. However, the conclusions she reached from her observation of the situation outside gave her pause.

The rats were strong, and astonishingly so. Their teeth could gnaw through the strong compound material used to built the walls, as easy as chewing a biscuit in their mouths.

“If this was the case, then we’re defenseless,” Rui Bing thought to herself. The hospital’s walls were all made of the same compound material, which could not withstand the assault of the rats.

She would have to fight! Rui Bing’s eys glowed with determination. As a Jie expert, she would not easily lose hope against hurdles like these.

As she walked to Shi Fuyin’s bed, Shi Fuyin woke up. She opened her eyes wide and looked at Rui Bing, and called sweetly, “Sister Bing.”

Rui Bing caressed her forehead and asked softly, “How do you feel?”

“Much better,” Shi Fuyin smiled in reply despite her pale appearance.

Rui Bing looked at Shi Fuyin with sympathy, and could not help but worry. If they leave the hospital, would Shi Fuyin’s condition worsen without the medical facilities available here? There was no other alternative, however. Rui Bing gritted her teeth and said to Shi Fuyin, “It’s chaos out there. We’re leaving now. I’ll carry you.”

“Ah!” Shi Fuyin gasped in surprised. “What about Uncle Ming?”

Rui Bing shook her head. “I don’t know why he’s not back either, maybe he’s in trouble.” Rui Bing was right. Shi Chongming was trapped somewhere outside, and in a worse situation than them.

Rui Bing walked to the window for another look, and knew that they could not afford to delay any further. She quickly helped Shi Fuyin into her clothes. Shi Fuyin managed awkwardly due to her weak body. She was wrapped up into a large bundle since she was still feeling chilly.

Rui Bing walked to the bed and tore off a few strips of cloth from the bedsheet. She took a strip and carefully blindfolded Shi Fuyin with it. She did not want the young lady to see the hellish world outside. Shi Fuyin seemed to understand her, and smiled sweetly as she accepted the blindfold without protest. Rui Bing took the headphones from the bedside and put it on Shi Fuyin. The headphones had good noise-cancelling features. Once it was put on, she would not be able to hear anything but the beautiful music coming from the headphones.

Rui Bing tied Shi Fuyin onto herself tightly. She was not scared, nor did she hesitate as she began to move.

Ye Chong turned back to see a lady holding onto some chips in her arms and frantically looking at the ground around her. The soil around her was rippling like the surface of boiling water.

Ye Chong leaped and reached her side. He gripped her arms and began to run forward.

Clatter! The chips fell from her arms. The lady paled, and cried, “My chips, my chips!”

She struggled in Ye Chong’s hands, trying to free herself and head back for her chips. However, Ye Chong’s hands held onto to her strongly like pincers, and no matter how much she tried, she could not break free.

“Let me go! Let me go! My chips, ooh, my chips!” She punched Ye Chong repeatedly, but it was no use. Abruptly, she lowered her head and bit deeply into Ye Chong’s arm!

Ye Chong’s eyes turned grim, and he striked out with his left hand!

Slap! The slap on her face was loud and clear. The lady’s face was now imprinted with a red palm!

“You – You actually hit me?” The lady stammered in disbelief.

“You’re sure you want to die?” Ye Chong ignored her reaction and asked coldly. The lady felt a chill down her spine, still not fully believing. It was still too early for Ye Chong to practice what he had learned in this short period. Given the emergency of the situation, he reverted to his old behavior of cold logic.

If the lady replied in the affirmative, Ye Chong would definitely let her go. He did not distinguish between men and women, but he still found it hard to believe that anyone could be so stubborn given the situation. If it was before, he might just break her neck there and then. However, dear Ye Chong had progressed much since then. He would only let her go, and leave her to her demise.

Behind them, rats emerged in great numbers from where the lady was standing earlier, and began to scatter about the academy grounds.

Ye Chong ran faster towards the school building in front of him. He did not have time to check his bitten hand. The block was surrounded by security mechs. There were also many mechs in the skies with their weapons pointed towards the ground, fully prepared for battle.

As Ye Chong approached the building, the mech closest to them stepped aside for them to pass through. Ye Chong slipped through and entered the school building.

Inside the building, people were huddling in corners, crying to themselves, or just spacing off, or gritting their teeth in anger. However, they all looked panic stricken and scared. The sudden calamity had caught them off guard.

“Madam Fei Si! It’s Madam Fei Si!” “Madam Fei Si!”

A few female students recognized the woman Ye Chong was having with him, and rushed to her. Some even threw themselves into her arms, crying. Fei Si was now behaving completely different from before, patting the students’ backs and comforting them.

Strange. Ye Chong took another look at Fei Si, now with a completely different personality, and went to sit in a corner. He needed to organize his thoughts. Everything happened too quickly, without any warning! Why were the rats like that? No, there was something else he saw. He recalled then that there were other animals as well. When he turned back to look at Fei Si, he remembered seeing animals other than the rats.

Could they be mutants? The idea was immediately rejected. As someone who grew up on a trash planet, he had seen countless mutants before, but none of them were like this. These rats were even stronger than the engulfers on the trash planet.

Something must have happened!

Besides, Ye Chong found it curious that no one here had any idea of the possible causes of this calamity. If no organization on Zhou Jian planet realized anything was amiss before this, it would be very strange indeed!

But why should this concern him? Ye Chong dismissed his worries. If things really got out of hand, he can always find a starship and escape to planet of Yi Ju. Hijacking a starship was a piece of cake for him. It was a pity, though, to end his studies here. He had just started his humanities studies, only beginning to grasp the important ideas in this field.

No one paid much attention to Ye Chong. In the midst of this chaos, why would they pay attention to a random student?

There were loud sounds of battle coming from outside. Everyone but Ye Chong lifted their heads and looked outside the school building. They had always lived in a peaceful life, and had never seen actual battles before. Ye Chong was unaffected by what was happening outside.

The battle was fierce!

Ye Chong was right. There were other mutants besides those rats. In fact, it seemed as though all kinds of animals had evolved into some kind of strong mutant creatures overnight.

Fortunately, however, they were all land animals. None of them fly. It they could, the mechs would lose their flying advantage. Most of the mechs engaging in fights outside were teachers. They were all experienced in combat, and fought with competence. It was their leadership that managed to keep the students calm and organized.

Nonetheless, the mutated creatures were all tough animals. Even when wounded by energy beams, they could run about unaffected if they were not hit at critical body parts. Additionally, the creatures were strong and powerful, moving too quickly to aim at them. It was due to their large numbers that almost any random shot would end up hitting a target.

The He Ye galaxy was more specialized in long range combat, just like in the Five Galaxies. However, the current emergency required more close range combat mechs. Without close range combat mechs at the frontlines, the swarming mutants would quickly overwhelm the entire academy, leaving everyone at risk.

The rats were terrifying enemies, especially when they attacked together in the dozens!

Swoosh! A mech flew in to the school building and yelled, “Any more students with mechs? We need reinforcements! All students with mechs please get in your mech and and prepare for battle, especially the close range mechs.” The mech’s bionic eyes scanned through the people around and said grimly, “The situation is critical, please lend your strength! I hope you understand one thing – your lives are in your hands! Defeat will mean death!”

The mech looked ghastly, covered with damages. Even the shield on its left arm was missing a corner, having been bitten off. Done with his speech, the mech pilot returned outside and continued to battle.

Gradually, students began to stand up and take action. In this dangerous situation, everyone began to fight for their survival.

e Chong did not get up. The situation was not too critical yet. If they put all available resources to use now, they would not be able to hold their defense line for long. However, Ye Chong also knew that he would not be given the chance to command the defensive forces, so he did not even try to interfere. Besides, the students’ mediocre abilities were not enough to interest him, not after seeing the sublime combat performance of the Sang Tribe.

It was too bad that Sang Pu and the rest were not here. The situation was not optimistic, but not to the point where Ye Chong had to worry about his own safety. This level of danger was nothing compared to what Ye Chong had experienced before. Compared to this, the battle at Sang Family Village was truly terrifying!

Everyone around him looked distressed, but Ye Chong himself was composed.

Feiss approached Ye Chong, bowed, and said in a serious tone, “I’m very sorry for my rudeness earlier that hurt you. I’m an alchemist, may I see your hand? I have medicine to stop the bleeding.”

Ye Chong kept his eyes closed as he answered calmly, “No need, thank you.”

“Ahaha, Fei dear, you’re alright! That’s wonderful,” a booming voice came from Fei Si.

Fei Si brightened, and turned to greet him, “Uncle Jalopy!”

The man was only about 160 centimeters tall, but he had a solid build, with angular, bulging muscles that made him look like a towering metal structure. Aside from that, his pugnacious looks made anyone who saw him cautious. The students around him were obviously intimidated by him, and kept their distance.

Unlike those students, Fei Si cried in surprise and buried herself into his embrace, and began to weep. The old man was unused to handling emotional outbursts like this, and received her awkwardly as he consoled her. It was a strange sight to behold. A 170-centimeter tall woman was crying in the arms of a 160-centimeter tall old man. The old man had to stand on tiptoe.

“Fei dear, what’s wrong? Don’t cry, don’t cry, what happened?” The old man was at a loss.

Fei Si’s shoulders trembled as she continued crying. “The chips … The chips are all gone!”

“Ah!” The old man gasped, “Fei dear, how did that happen? That’s your teacher’s life achievements stored in them. Didn’t you store all you work these past few years in them too?”

Fei Si cried even more then, and told him what happened between sobs.

The old man’s expression turned solemn, and consoled her, “Don’t be sad, Fei dear, you’re alive, and that’s all that matters. Your teacher in the Heavens must also be happy for that. If the chips are gone, you can still redo your research; if you are gone, then nothing can be done to save you.”

The old man walked to Ye Chong and bowed. “Young man, thank you very much.”

Ye Chong was taken by his politeness. He opened his eyes and replied plainly, “You’re welcome.”

“Hah!” The old man laughed, and reached out his right hand to pat on Ye Chong’s shoulder. “I knew you’re a good man. You may not be the most handsome man in town, but then, hehe, you’re no ordinary man.”

Ye Chong was not used to physical intimacy. He stayed in his cross-legged sitting position as he put his hands to the ground and pushed his whole body sliding to the side.

The old man’s eyes lit up. “You’re a combat expert!”

In another city on Zhou Jian, at the tip of the highest building there, two people looked down at the tragedy unfolding below them with sorrowful expressions. These two were the Gray Valley duo whom Ye Chong had met on the starship.

“Squad Leader, the situation is worse than we imagined,” the long-haired man said grimly.

The middle-aged man nodded solemnly. “Yes, it’s worse than we imagined.”

“This is inhuman!” The long-haired younger man said angrily.

The middle-aged man deployed his mech and said, “Enough talking, let’s get to work.”

Two mechs flew off into the skies.

Rui Bing ran as fast as she could, finding her footing on the buildings around her. Her movements were even more powerful than the rats. The buildings flew past her as she ran, leaving only an afterimage in her vision.

A rat suddenly leaped high up like a spring straight towards Rui Bing, who was still in midair between jumps.

Rui Bing twisted her body slightly, angling her body away from the rat in a logic defying moment, despite having no physical support to change directions.

Rui Bing’s lonely white figure stood out in the streets. The countless number of rats on the streets stared at the flitting figure. The rat that jumped up seemed to inspire the other rats, as they began to squeak in excitement.

The rats began to leap up to attack Rui Bing, who was running along the rooftops of the shops that lined the streets.

Rui Bing’s eyes flared up! This was the most dangerous situation she had ever been in her twenty over years of living, but she did not feel scared at all.

She evaded them all! Rui Bing moved like a white butterfly, dancing her way between the rats that continued to attack her from front and back. Her small evasive steps to the left and right were enough to impress even Ye Chong. Even Ye Chong himself could not have done it better!

All her steps were only just large enough to avoid the attacks, but swift and effective.

A rat in front was standing in her way with its hind legs crouched, ready for a pounce. Its crimson red eyes looked vicious. Rui Bing could even see its hind legs’ tense muscles.

Squeak! A huge rat came from above, aiming for Rui Bing. More rats were coming for her from below and to the rear. The rats were everywhere.

Rui Bing shouted, her eyes suddenly lit up brighter than the sun! The move that she had used against Ye Chong was now executed again in all its glory! Moreover, Rui Bing was far stronger than she was back then. The power of this move was now fully realized!

The rat that came from above was almost onto Rui Bing.

Abruptly, without any warning, the rat froze, its eyes bulging. Blam! It exploded. Squeak! The rat squealed in pain. The rat fell lifelessly down from midair to the ground, landing on its brethrens that squeaked with protest.

No attack was more terrifying than this!

All the rats immediately stepped back, and looked at Rui Bing with fear.

Rui Bing was now emanating an aura that was completely different from usual. It was an intimidating quality. Her eyes seemed to sparkle with life.

Rui Bing stepped forward slowly and calmly. All the rats stayed out of her way.

This was her chance. Rui Bing picked up her speed and ran, but none of the rats pursued her this time.

A large door and a line of words came into her sight – Engradie Academy. Rui Bing heaved a sigh of relief, feeling slightly comforted, but her legs weakened for a moment and she nearly stumbled. Rui Bing’s extraordinary stamina was significantly exhausted from her dangerous travel, more than she had expected.

“Hah, so you’re a combat expert.” The old man laughed, rubbing his hands together in excitement.

Fei Si spoke from the side, “Yeah, the student’s got a few moves.”

Ye Chong closed his eyes again and ignored them. The battle was imminent, and it was best to conserve his energy.

“Hehe, young man, let me show you something,” the old man said in a conspiratorial tone.

Fei Si quickly burst his bubble. “Right, Uncle Jalopy’s a lecturer in ancient machinery. He’s got many tools and weaponry suitable for combat experts, maybe you’ll find a few to your liking.”

“Ancient machinery?” Ye Chong opened his eyes wide.

Somewhere from skies came a loud cry, which was immediately followed by a few more. Everyone in the school building was startled. They all knew what this meant. Perhaps there were mutants out there that could fly after all.

The old man’s expression soured as he cursed the creatures aloud, before finally calming down again. He noticed Ye Chong’s indifference, calm as he was, and asked curiously, “Young man, aren’t you worried at all? Are you not afraid? If those creatures get in, we’re all finished.”

Ye Chong replied, “Will worrying help? Will being afraid help?”

The old man paused at his words, then laughed heartily, “Haha, to think that I’m humbled by a mere student at my age! I must be getting old.”

The situation worsened quickly. Up in the sky, mutant birds attacked the mechs ruthlessly. The most dangerous of these flying mutants were the birds of prey, which were already dangerous before their mutation. Now, they were even more terrifying with their claws and beaks. The sky was their territory. Nothing could move swifter than them in the air, not even the best mech pilots.

The fight on the ground was also becoming increasingly violent. There were many other animals beside rats which had undergone mutation. The most disgusting of all were the insects, such as cockroaches. After mutation, they grew to the size of millstones, but even more staggering were their numbers.

Compared to the other mutants, they were smaller, and greater in numbers, thus making it easier for them to break through the mechs’ defense line.

“Ah!” A female student’s voice reverberated in the building. Girls would definitely hate these creatures. Ye Chong keenly noticed a few things: 1) All the animals that mutated had grown significantly larger, 2) the animals all had red eyes, and 3) after mutation, the mutants became very violent and aggressive.

Ye Chong reacted before anyone else. He stood up quickly and planted a kick on the first cockroach that came in. Whoosh! The cockroach was sent flying.

Ye Chong’s reaction reminded the people inside of what they must do. Mi De and Fatty, who were curled up in a corner, quickly stepped forward to fight. Many of the students here learnt some combat basics, and quite a few of them were actually combat students. As such, the wave of invading insects were, for the moment, halted in their advance.

Nevertheless, while the insects were not as deadly, they were still very difficult to kill. Such was the tenacity of these bugs.

Ye Chong took a look around him, and his eyes landed on a statue in the center of the school building. This gold statue was of a woman, rumored to be the work of a Master of her time, Anye Luoxue. The woman’s naked upper body traced voluptuous curves, and her hands reached up, joining at the wrists with her fingers curling into the shape of a lotus flower.

Ye Chong ran to the statue and toppled it over with a kick. He then lifted the statue by the wrists single-handedly. The statue, which weighed half a ton, was summarily lifted from the ground.

“Out of the way!” Ye Chong yelled.

The students in front looked back and were shocked by the sight. They quickly leaped to the side.

e Chong lifted the statue and attacked!

Wham! The ground shook, and three cockroaches were instantly crushed into mush. Their body fluid splattered outwards, reeking an unheavenly stench. Everyone stared in shock. The golden statue did not look that strong, but in the hands of this young man, it was like a big hammer. Poor statue! The girls nearby looked at the statue in Ye Chong’s hands with pity. She should be put on display against red satin in a high class exhibition stand, receiving the adoration of thousands of admirers. Now, however, she was used like a hammer in the hands of a man with inhuman strength. Poor she!

The heavy statue seemed to also put a huge pressure on the people watching in the building. The old man gasped, “H*ll, I didn’t think he’s so violent!” He seemed to think of something then, and quickly ran deeper into the school building.

It had been a long time since Ye Chong had to fight himself. It reminded him of his foundation training on the trash planet, where strength training was an important part of it.

With his growing excitement, the heavy statue weighed like nothing in his hands, swinging around in the air. All the students and teachers watched, dumbfounded. The ground that trembled with each attack using the statue reminded them again and again that what they were seeing was really happening.

“This is crazy!” Mi De swallowed heavily.

Fatty nodded mechanically. “It’s inhuman! Is that guy some unknown master in the combat facuty?”

The other people in the building had the same thought. Only the combat faculty would harbour such a crazy person. They never imagined that he was actually a student from the humanities faculty. There were so few humanities students that none of them were here to recognize him.

The statue swung over easily and blocked the path of another rat that managed to enter the building. He loosened his grip and stepped lightly, and was right in front of the rat in the next second. His hands moved, and the statue drew an arch midair. Ye Chong was now holding onto its waist.

The people around him watched, stupefied. They saw a student carrying a half naked statue by the waist in a suggestive fashion. The female students blushed, and Fei Si’s cheeks also reddened in embarrassment.

Ye Chong did not care for these trivialities. He wrapped his hands around the statue in the next moment, avoiding an attack from the rat. Those who understood the situation regretted his move, since he was now in a most vulnerable position, with his back to the rat.

When everyone thought Ye Chong was going to lose this time, his next move surprised them all. Ye Chong bent backwards, still holding tightly onto the statue, and pushed the statue to the back and down.

Wham! The head of the statue hit precisely on one of the rat’s paws in a decisive attack. The paw was instantly reduced to a useless lump of flesh. The rat squealed in pain.

The people around him gulped heavily at the terrible shriek.

Ye Chong did not stop at that. He leapt backwards in a somersault, landing on the rat’s back. What happened next made everyone watching felt a chill in their hearts.

Whish! The statue seemed to disappear from Ye Chong’s hands. They heard a loud “Clang!”, and the rat’s head suddenly exploded, blood and brain matter splattered across the floor.

What an attack! Those from the combat faculty exchanged looks of shock and fear. None of them seemed to be able to see that attack clearly.

In fact, Ye Chong’s attack was simple. He had used the statue to strike at the rat’s head. However, his attack was too fast to be observed clearly. The loud clang was from 15 consecutive blows to the rat’s skull.

Ye Chong was too engrossed in the fight to notice his audience. Calmness had always been his way, but his long suppressed fighting instincts were now finally awakened. Before he met Mu and Shang, his fighting skills might be deplorable, but he did not lack the passion for combat

However, after meeting Mu and Shang, Ye Chong was deeply influenced by Mu, and began to learn to think with cold logic. That was when Ye Chong’s battle style changed markedly. It was only when he met particularly strong opponents that Ye Chong would feel his initial fervour for battle. However, even these occasions were getting rarer.

The simple bare-handed battle today had finally reignited Ye Chong’s long absent feelings of enthusiasm.

Ye Chong launched himself into the hoard of insects, waving the statue around like a scythe, attacking furiously. The only thing that annoyed Ye Chong was that the statue was unsuited for more versatile ways of attacking. He could only used it to hit directly on the enemies. There was nothing he could do about it. Ye Chong lifted the statue and hammered down again and again. Blood and flesh flew across the battlefield. The sounds of bone crushing never stopped.

When the disaster finally ended, people would return to this school building and find that the flooring in front of the building, made of a strong compound material, had been crushed to smithereens.

The statue was tough, Ye Chong will give it that. While it was now heavily deformed, there were no cracks on it. Anye Luoxue had created only five artworks in her entire lifetime. She was extremely fastidious regarding the material she used, and this statue was the one she took most pride in. However, this wonderful statue was now deformed beyond recognition, and covered with all kinds of gore and tissue.

Ye Chong never imagined that the deformed statue would still be preserved in the end, placed on display in the largest art museum on Zhou Jian planet as testimony to this calamity.

Just then, the old man wheeled over a bunch of stuff with him and arrived. “Heh, come come, there’s something for everyone. Haha, I never thought my job would actually come in handy.” He had with him an ancient wheelbarrow, carrying all kinds of ancient weapons, and metal machinery that the others had never seen before. The other people recalled then that the old man was a lecturer in ancient machinery, and quickly approached him. The old man was gratified and excited, realizing that his own obscure field of study that he was usually mocked for by others in the academy was finally useful today.

Seeing Ye Chong exterminating the insects in front, the old man picked up an archaic lance and threw it towards him, shouting, “Hey, young man, take this!”

While Ye Chong was now in a state of heightened excitement, coolness was still his default state of mind. As his stamina slowly decreased, he gradually came out of that state of excitement. He heard the old man’s voice then, and saw an archaic lance coming towards him.

Ye Chong immediately relinquished the statue and received the lance. The lance was a long forgotten weapon, but one that Ye Chong was most familiar with, second only to daggers. When piloting the Harmony of the Winter Aria, its weapon of choice was Blue Winter, a lance. Mu had even designed a set of lance techniques through his calculations.

Ye Chong now used these techniques. He drew straight lines or arcs across the air, attacking swiftly with the principle of maximum efficiency. His every attack with the lance hit dead on target, and his footwork was impeccable.

The lance was made of metal alloy, but weighed like a feather compared to the gold statue. Besides, the sharp tip of the lance made it even more effective in drawing blood. As such, Ye Chong’s efficiency increased sharply, and his stamina was exhausted more slowly.

After learning so many kinds of combat techniques, Ye Chong now had a much deeper understanding of combat. The lance swung around unpredictably, as Ye Chong modified and improved on Mu’s lance techniques. They were now Ye Chong’s very own set of moves. He grew absorbed in this process of creativity. His moves were highly varied – September Lan Family’s moves, Black Cove basic combat techniques, and the Sang Tribe’s moves were all experimented on, as he tried to combine all of them while balancing their strengths and weaknesses. Ye Chong had always learned bits and pieces of everything, and never stopped his research in combat. He had also learned under the September Lan Family’s system. All these experiences that given him enough strength to achieve a breakthrough in this moment.

The endless stream of insects had given him the best opportunity to enhance his skills.

The tip of the lance glowed, swinging around unpredictably and strangely like a firefly dancing in a summer night. The insect’s tough exoskeleton crumbled easily under the assault of this pin-sized dot of light.

The battle felt easier and easier. Ye Chong’s movements grew smaller, but the tip of the lance still managed to find the weak spots of those insects with surprising accuracy.

The people around him watched in awe. Ye Chong was like a magician to them. They were lucky to witness the transcendence and transformation of a combat expert right before their eyes. This was a valuable experience that one can only encounter through fate. Ye Chong would never have guessed that, 20 years from now, three of the students here in the school building would become Jie experts themselves.

This was Ye Chong’s first real breakthrough. Ye Chong believed that, at least in terms of combat, he would be able to win against Mu and Shang. He had found what Mu once called the spirit of combat! This was an important factor in combat alongside strength, angle and timing.

From a long time ago, Mu’s strength seemed insurmountable to Ye Chong. All this while, his greatest hope was to become stronger than Mu. Now that he had achieved it however, at least in terms of combat, he did not feel happy at all.

“Mu, Shang, where are you?”

hatever that was happening, that had happened, that was going to happen on Planet Zhou Jian struck in the eyes of everybody in He Yue galaxy. And as the mass had demanded the specific broadcast, all entertainment channels – be them talkshows, musical channel or adult program – had their schedules cancelled. The streaming of Zhou Jian had occupied every single channel online, with countless hologramic cameras capturing every single tragic moment at every single corner of this commercialized, advanced planet.

The whole galaxy seemed to have joined the historical moment, as they spectated the greatest catastrophe of He Yue galaxy in the past 500 years.

All forces available in the galaxy had been gathered, as soon as announcement was made at each faction. The leading aristocrats also sent out their best rescue team, where the Xi Feng clan had a team of 10,000 registered pilots heading to Zhou Jian straightaway under the leadership of Huang Jiming, the ace pilot; while the Ye family, having also a team of 10,000, was marching their way with Ye Yin at the head; Xue Lai clan had offered 8,000 of their best forces, as they held hands with an unconventional leader choice, an unknown lady whose name was Xue Nuolan, causing the crowd to wonder at her actual identity since the public had been expecting Brahmara the great to lead such significant operation.

This should be the most major military operation ever in He Yue, with all the 3 main aristocrats running simultaneously.

The fountain was there, yet fire was afar. They had tried to travel at their quickest, still Zhou Jian would take a 30-day galactic travel, what would remain at this poor planet after 30 days? Would the greatest army be welcomed with ruins and dead bodies?

The misfortune of Zhou Jian did not end here! The planets nearby were too weak to provide any proper assistance. Only a handful of major pilot squads attempted gathering as much forces as possible. Technically, Zhou Jian had been quarantined at the moment with a severe order coming from all rulers from the surrounding planets of forbidding entry of any escaped of the Zhou Jian episode. Certainly, people were displeased by such inhuman decision as noises swarmed upon the government the moment it was announced.

Speculations had been given by the experts, revolving around the instance of viral mutation. Given that the experts had taken the right direction of their prediction, the virus would soon cause another apocalypse the moment the population of Zhou Jian leaked their way to other places of galaxy.

There was a need for quarantine, emphasized the government, as a solution to block the escape path for the Zhou Jian residents, even if it would extinguish their lives, it was the cruel regulation of humanity.

The virologists of all known establishments including hospitals and academies had been summoned promptly to gather up at the safehouse guarded by the aristocrats, to perform research to find out that very hope to salvage humanity.

The world was cruel, so cruel that it would shatter every last bit of faith, sympathy and kindness of humanity. But that did not mean humanity should forsake their tenacity in pursuit of hope.

On the screen, countless men, women, children were engulfed by the mutated lifeforms. The public was tearing up, as they once again recognized the fragility of humanity, while the camera in high-definition, as if a punishment, delivered every frame of bloodshed to everyone out there. The flying limbs, the fleeting blood, the piercing scream, the pound of flesh, they rolled, they fell, like a play of reality taken place in front of the public.

A hellish nightmare, a nightmarish day.

…

Ug.. Ugh…

Bi Bo woke up drowsily, his tiresome eyes found a girl nearby, while his ears discerned the fiasco out there. “Finally!” The girl was pleased, “You have waken up!”

“Where… are we?” Muttered Bi Bo, as he took a careful look at the girl, who had a short hair, a fine curvy brows with a pair of frightened eyes, in the uniform of Ze Xi academy – she should be a student… Bi Bo was an experienced journalist, so he could tell.

“This…” The eyes of the girl darkened, “This is the school’s building… and you were knocked out by a piece of rock, those dirty mice had appeared so I dragged you all the way here.”

“Thank you very much!” Sincerely Bi Bo replied, he could imagine what a hassle it would be for a feeble girl like her to drag him away from the occurring danger, and she never thought of running away, still thinking of saving people while she could. Such kind heart. Thought Bi Bo, who had seen enough dark side of humanity.

“It’s… nothing…” Blushed the girl, “Really…”

Bi Bo gave a brief smile, “So how’s everything out there?” His bag was still by his side, which he quickly took a look inside – phew, the camera was inside.

“Not looking good…” Frowned the girl, “A lot of injuries.”

Bi Bo took out the camera and performed a transmission to the HQ, at least he brought a super advanced hologramic camera that could transmit visual and communication directly to the HQ.

At the HQ of Green Planet Media Corp., in the midst of depression, one shout from a staff broke the silent spell, “Sir! We had caught Bo’s signal! He’s still alive!”

“Great! He sure is tough!”

“Oh my gosh… thank god…”

The office had regained its liveliness in the older days.

A good news finally, after the whole day of distressing reports…

“So what are you doing!” Urged the director in a shaky voice, “Get it on already!” His mind was interpreting this as a golden opportunity to get more profit, as all other channels had been playing the visuals from the street cameras, now if Green Planet had an exclusive report from a local journalist itself…

Bi Bo’s handsome, well-proportioned face was then projected on the giant screen, his eyes remained expressive with his edgy brows, although looking all worn out and weak.

“Bo, you fine there?”

“Bo, take care!!”

Those words from his colleagues were more than comforting.

“Ahem…” Began the director, “Bo, are you hurt there?” When the director cleared his throat, it would mean everybody else should keep their mouth shut.

“No, of course not.” Bi Bo did not really like this director to be honest.

“Well, good…” The director continued, “Forget our former plan, now you only need to capture everything happening there. You could add in your own content, all to your liking, I would not interfere with your decision, on one condition : your camera, must be on the whole time. Simple isn’t it? How do you think?” The former plan between them was to have an interview of an important function at Ze Xi academy, which was also the whole point of Bi Bo traveling there.

The director then paused a moment, pondered, “Bo, if you did your job well, and could come back alive, I would hand over my place.”

Bi Bo was quiet for a sec, his hologramic lips then lifted, “I understood. I would do my best.” Wow this director sure knows how to make empty promises, “come back alive”? I seriously wonder if I even could see the departing port at this point. I’ll do it anyway… I am a journalist, an ethical journalist who loves his job after all. I would abide by the truth and tell everybody what exactly had happened here. Even if the director never made his promises, I would still do the same.

“Wait what?” The girl was shocked, “You’re a journalist?”

“Yeah.” Smiled Bi Bo as he turned his head to her. “I got to go.” He got up quickly, “Take care.” Holding his camera, Bi Bo walked to the outside, the camera was as tiny as a man’s palm, but it was mighty.

“Ah…” The girl got up too, biting her lips as she saw Bi Bo leaving the building. Out of bewilderment, she followed.

It was a horrendous scene when Bi Bo headed to the outside. All practitioners were holding all sorts of weaponry as they fought desperately against those mutated insects, as they crawled in aggression with their wriggly, disgusting appearance. “Kiassssk!” Their cries were echoing in the ears of the men, as the stench of blood followed.

There was one particular figure which caught Bi Bo’s attention. He was standing at the center, the top position, with an ancient lance in his hand dancing wild, protesting against the brutal raid of the insects. Obviously, he got hold of the situation, which explained why the frontline had not been intruded successfully.

Bi Bo was amazed, as he mustered the last few words he could mention on a formal journalistic stream.

“Welcome to Green Planet channel, we appreciate your attention as no matter who you are, what your occupation is, where you are and what you strive for in life, I believe… that you should be watching this very planet now on the broadcast. And we, Green Planet channel, shall bring you the latest information on the incident from another perspective.”

The scene was then switched back to the studio, “Our Journalist Bi Bo was on a plan of interviewing one academy on Zhou Jian planet, while fortunately being the survivor of the first wave attack. Now, he is trying his best to present us what exactly is going on in Zhou Jian. And by here, we, the Green Planet Media Corp., show our highest respect towards his profession.”

The visual followed, with an intensive war apparently, of humanity against the primal nature. The lance-wielding man had become the center of attention.

The war was hideous.

“Based on the information we have gotten from Bi Bo, he and another survivor are currently located at one building in Ze Xi academy, “The situation was bad,” they say, as they have yet to find any rescue team around. These warriors on the field were the students and teachers of the academy itself. Let us applaud the bravery they had gathered, for they would not simply let their head down to violence…,” said the hostess with her sweet voice, grimly.

The audience rating of Green Planet channel skyrocketed as it was the only channel with an on-the-spot report. The director then received countless sharing request from the other channels, which he, without hesitation, accepted promptly.

The audience stared at the screen, showing immense concern on the fate of Zhou Jian.

A lance-wielding boy? Of course we know who that was. Apparently, Ye Chong, your skill had caught the attention of the public once again.

A flashy move by a potent impaler, with a cold expressionless face, sweeping the wave away, Ye Chong had ascended as the idol of every youngster out there immediately. When the world needed a hero, a nameless one had appeared with his impeccable skills.

“Wow, dude, look at this.”

“I never knew a lance could be this great.”

“I am going to be his apprentice.”

“So where do I sign up?”

The replies flooded the forum board.

“As far as we have observed, judging by the apparel of this bright young man, he should be a student of Ze Xi academy. Certainly, he had demonstrated us what a fatal attack and an absolute defense are! The situation remained under control with his contribution. Thanks to this hero, again!” Said the hostess intensely.

“Well, well.” Began one of the invited guests, “Ze Xi academy has some great students there, hasn’t it? Such skill from merely a student, I am very amazed. He is the real deal of the martial arts, maybe he is a Jie expert, if you would excuse my crazy speculation. He’s really talented for his age, I don’t think it’s a sin to call him a genius.” He was a martial arts practitioner as well.

“Yes I must agree. Ancient lance has been a long-forgotten weaponry for years. Not many practitioners knew the correct way to wield it, probably he’s the only expert remains in our galaxy. From his techniques we could see what kind of potential an ancient lance possesses, it’s all about the swing, the sweep and the impale,” added the other guest.

“Please, everyone, do not bother with the lance alone, as this boy has some really interesting movement. You could take a look at his steps, tiny yet precise, I would say he’s a very experienced practitioner, too bad we have yet gotten any information on this boy. I am very much curious of his background. Furthermore, as you could see his aiming, somehow he seemed to be fully aware of the weak points of these creatures. It’s a cleaving attack from him at all those points to take them out promptly. Bravo! You could also have look at his chest, particularly his breath, it’s very calm, nothing unnerving could be seen, which means his vitality is at its prime. I salute thee!” This guest was clearly more knowledgeable than the previous two.

The show went on. The glow was glaring the moment he span tip of his spear. That slender silhouette he formed with the guard of his spear had been marked in the mind of the people, causing a trend of ancient lancing once again. The visuals had been extracted and madly distributed over the galaxy, becoming an analyzed tutorial for every fanatic.

Ye Chong was focused in his fight, being unaware of the craze out there, while the lance seemed to have his soul imbued, which would reach every insect coming to him.

The carcasses of insects piled beside his swings, while his cold eyes were giving off a peculiar glow.

As legend said, once every practitioner achieved the status of a Jie expert, a new unique ability would be unlocked.

That was when Ye Chong obtained his new ability.

he crossing lines of his lance reflected in his sharp eyes. It looked like as colorful as hallucination when Ye Chong sliced through the insects of all kinds of color crowding upon him.

What are these?

There were blue linings over the bodies, which were pale and obscure. Ye Chong realized if he focused on one of them, the blue linings would turn clear, the dots and lines would become extremely bright.

There were mice?

The mouse’s eyes were bloodshot, the whiskers were as honed as its fangs. Its limbs were firm, while its dark gray fur were like rustling stiffly.

4 lines and 3 spots to attack! On the dancing blue lines over the body of the mouse, the few lines shone bright.

Ye Chong waved his lance which sank into one spot quietly.

Kikkk!!!! The mouse squealed and collapsed. Ye Chong exerted one last force to take his lance out, which then blood was spilled over the place.

Ye Chong was surprised. Could it be…

He took a look around, as his lance jerked, aiming those blue spots that shone the brightest in the crowd.

Kurrrppp!

Splash!

The creatures around shattered! Blood was spilling sky high.

The camera of Bi Bo had captured this epic moment and everybody else saw it with their own eyes.

In the rain of blood, the boy stood still with his lance.

The place was soon dead silent, with everybody behind Ye Chong looking zoned out in disbelief.

Martial arts was a well-established field in He Yue, but the potency of a practitioner had been long undermined by the emergence of pilot, where at one point people began treating martial arts as a mere form of physical training, while the Jie experts had hardly demonstrated their skills. As scarce as visuals of their performance were, Jie experts remained as a myth in the heart of the people despite their living existence.

Their identity had been redeemed today however, as people once again beheld such amazing performance of his nameless boy. People did not know where he was from, they were not sure if he was a Jie expert himself, but his skill was an eye-opener, an epic execution convincing enough to make people pick up the knuckles and blades again.

As they realized, martial arts could be so great.

Ye Chong was not expecting to be this influential, reality was however, if it was not his performance, the martial arts in He Yue would soon decline to a stage like its counterpart in the 5 major galaxies. He was not only the savior of humanity, but also the salvager of ancient martial arts. His performance eventually became the silver bullet that prolonged the existence of martial arts for the next 500 years, whereby this very boy would be the most significant as well as the most mysterious character in the historical record of martial arts development in He Yue galaxy. Teachers of the following generation would also play the visual of this boy’s performance as a motivating source at the beginning of their course.

Over ages, people had almost forgotten martial arts, it was the first time they had seen such intensive performance.

The world exploded, in excitement and passion.

…

The hostess, as well as the guests at Green Planet channel had their mouth open. A few of them were quivering over anticipation, as they gave comments in slurred language. Bi Bo was also overwhelmed on spot, as on a few occasions he nearly dropped his camera. The visual was shaking, “What the hell! Hold your camera right! You Bibbidi Bobbidi Bo!” Cursed one of the annoyed audience.

Ye Chong was full-indulged in his new ability, he did not notice the gazillion gazes coming from the outer space.

His style had changed! A menacing strike, under the guidance of those bright blue lines, as the fleshes of the creatures flew again. The audience was stunned, seeing the striking contrast of massacre being conducted by an expressionless boy.

Slowly Ye Chong realized the meaning of the new addition. The shining point would be the weakness of the creature, which could cost its life if pierced; the blue lines on the other hand, would be the dissecting direction, which would lead to a perfect slice if the lines were followed, causing a devastation on its body.

Ye Chong was feeling this new ability being identical to the analytical system on the Guardian.

He pondered so much that he did not notice the weakening attack from the creatures as he jumped into one of the crowds, into action again.

?

And soon Ye Chong, in the midst of his hunt, noticed the reality.

The carcasses were everywhere, and he could see the tails and the legs, coated in green fluids and blood, while the screams echoed within his ears.

People were amazed. The boys were enthralled, the girls were captivated.

That coldness of Ye Chong’s face was no longer fear-inducing, rather it had formed a marvelous portrait of one lonesome hero, whose mind was clearer than the water, stronger than the beasts as he stood upon their carcasses with pride, wielding the lance in metallic glow.

“Ye, is that you?” At another corner of He Yue, everyone on the Coxcomb was stunned, while Mu’s mechanical eyes blinked frantically.

Ye Chong was still unaware of the hidden cameras, as he approached the students and staff, seeing how all of them collapsed on the ground out of extreme fatigue. The trainees of the alchemy department were weaving in and out of the group, giving those injured a good bandage and cure.

The creatures at the academy had retreated, yet the war remained roaring out there. Ye Chong’s brows furrowed, there were other places being attacked and it would be bad if this would carry on. Their forces were weakening while the waves of creatures seemed endless. In the midst of worry, a few female trainees scurried out of the building, in their drained faces they screamed upon Madam Fei Si, “Madam! Madam! Something… something was making noises at the building…”

“Something? What something?” Everyone had their attention on the girls, as the madam asked worriedly.

“Ah… Uh…” The girls seemed very frightened as they tried to squeeze that very word from their trembling lips, “Mice! I think it’s the mice!” And one of the braver ones shouted, “They seemed to be chipping the walls.”

Gasp.

Other than Ye Chong, the people flinched, realizing the horrible ability of the rodents, it would be a terror if the mice had bitten through the walls. More people would die…

It seemed hopeless, although Ye Chong did not look regretful, as he had done everything he could. A single man was still a single man against a war of millions, at least he had unlocked a new ability. He walked to an elderly, “Sir, may I ask if you still have any relative here?” The elderly was apparently the professor of ancient mechanics. While he appeared to be worthless to every other staff, he was the priceless individual that Ye Chong needed, Ye Chong would be taking him away, by hook or by crook.

“What a strange question,” muttered the elderly while he scowled briefly. “I had been alone the whole time, I do not have any other relative than Madam Fei Si, my mate. So I wasn’t bothered by death either.” Oh no, one extra person to hold. Thought Ye Chong as he glanced at Fei Is, now how in the Zhou Jian do I lift two persons away safely.

Madam Fei Si, as witty as she was, caught the undertone of Ye Chong.

“I am not leaving without everybody,” she said firmly, although the people were confused as hell. Her statement did not shake Ye Chong even the slightest though, as he never intended to escort these two persons the gentle way. He already had a few tricks in mind to get Fei Si moving if she was being resistant.

Without a word, Ye Chong began walking towards the outside, with the people clumsily followed, including Bi Bo.

The rodents were taking up every last corner of the academy. Nobody would have imagined such horror in the past. The citizens thought the rats never existed in their life, they had hardly seen them even at the valley, till they saw the entire infantry of the pest. “I can’t believe it.” Nope, I believe it – Ye Chong was not surprised, he had seen the similar infantry back on Trash Planet. They were naturally adaptive and highly reproductive that’s why.

Unless… if I… If…

A crazy idea came into the light of Ye Chong out of the blue, as his schemata ran rapidly on the logical chain, he then had a drastic U-turn, heading back to the building.

He came to Fei Si at the end of the queue, “Where are the chemical stored by the alchemy department?”

It was logical for an academy to have a storage as alchemy was a study that would require a shocking amount of reagents daily.

“Huh?” Fei Si was bewildered, “There, not very far ahead.” She pointed at one direction and said.

“How far is ‘not very far’? Be precise!” Ye Chong seemingly did not fancy the vague reply.

“Uh…” It took a moment of ponder, “3000 meters? I guess?”

3000 meters… that’s 3 kilometers, I would need a mech. Thought Ye Chong as he hmmed at her reply, “You, me, there, now.” Concisely he stated, “Both of you as well.” He pointed at Mi De and Fatty. He knew their capabilities, they were quick catcher too, just a little timid sometimes.

Both Mi De and Fatty of course were paralyzed by the cold gaze and stern finger of Ye Chong, they nodded their heads repetitively and walked to his side.

This unnamed boy probably had an idea to solve the issue somehow. But why the alchemy department? Does he know alchemy? Madam Fei Si, as an alchemist herself, could not picture the relationship of Ye Chong’s plan and the alchemy studies.

Ye Chong deployed Blaze-III and pinned his lance on the wall, then he led Fei Si to the cabin, “Please, allow me to come along.” A voice rang behind.

It was Bi Bo, who also deployed a mech, courteously stating, “Please believe in my ability, as the direct descendant of head of the family himself, Bi Zhibo.”

he line of Bi Bo was spread to all corners of the world.

Wait, that was from the journalist Bi Bo? People were shocked upon hearing the name “Bi Zhibo”, who was the very well-known pilot. So Bi Bo was the son of the great pilot himself? The people were skeptical however, wondering what had made a son of an established pilot headed elsewhere for career, like an ordinary journalist for example, since having such a father would have guaranteed him a head start for a successful career.

Bi Zhibo? The blonde young man had mentioned lots of names, there was one Bi Zhibo as far as Ye Chong could remember. He took a glance at the determined-looking man, “Alright,” nodded Ye Chong. “Come with us.”

“Wow that is just clever!” One of the audience shouted excitingly, “That excuse had worked! Everyone, we could see more of this!”

Certainly the audience wanted to see more of Ye Chong as they were curious to see a highly skillful martial arts practitioner transforming into a full-time pilot in the field.

The performance of Ye Chong was lasting enough to be remembered by people for a century.

Blaze-III was booting there. Although it was a mere model massively manufactured from a factory, somehow it had become a mysterious model as this mysterious boy piloted it. Could it be a modified mech? The audience wondered.

Blaze-III was in fact a standard close-combat model that nobody really cared due to its average components. There were the Blackgold shield of Ye family, the magnetic blade better than those you have grown familiar with back in the 5 major galaxies.

Parrying spear was also a standard equipment for all melee models. Blaze-III had a balanced attack and defense, only the mobility was slightly an eye-opener which Ye Chong aimed at the beginning anyway.

Blaze-III might be indecently equipped, but Ye Chong did not show any disdain. The design of the main body was still reasonable, the engine was great, the range of movement by its limbs was wide as well. Weaponry-wise, Ye Chong did not see the significance of adding more ornaments to it since the chance of his weapon breaking was pretty slim during battle. Moreover, having more weapons did not translate as being more potent in battle.

Ye Chong held Fei Si and got into the cabin, “Hey boy!” Shouted the elderly down there, “Take great care of her! Don’t bother to see me again if she got into something!”

Mi De, Fatty and Bi Bo also entered their own mechs afterwards.

Bi Bo’s mech was a spider-model, with 6 gigantic legs holding a flat disc body in green. There were a few ranged weapons revealed on its body, reminding the people that his family, particularly the head, Bi Zhibo was known for his godlike shooting skills, although the people wondered if the son of the legend himself would do as good. The spider mech was a radical design of ranged model, which had totally discarded the ability to fight in close-range.

The mechs both Mi De and Fatty deployed were also the advanced models, which left Ye Chong’s mech looking quite shabby among the four of them.

Ye Chong soon realized that those blue lines he saw before had disappeared. He could not even see the palest lining anywhere when he looked at his control panel… but when he took a look at Fatty and the others, those faint blue lines would appear again. The density of blue lines probably were directly proportional to his mental concentration.

Or the blue lines only work on living things?

Speculated Ye Chong in shock, since the ability was really new to him. He had seen similar lines and dots on the Guardian but it worked utterly differently.

Ye Chong the sensitive fighter was very much disturbed by the constant intrusion of these blue lines, that they still felt distracting even at the palest. Ye Chong wondered if he would be seeing blue lines on every person or animal for the rest of his life, that they would be his target only awaiting to be killed forever.

If that was the case, it would be horrifying. Ye Chong did not hate slaughter but only would do it when there was a need. He would not want to become an actual bloodthirsty barbarian. And histories had taught him that any strong man would be the public enemy once he was tainted by the name of murderer, and soon his demise would arrive.

“Are you alright?” Said Fei Si, seeing Ye Chong acting odd, “Is there anything wrong?” She was wondering if the fight had fully consumed him just now.

One cabin and two persons felt a little crammed indeed. Physical contacts were practically unavoidable. Ye Chong would have some muscle memory at the bottom usually when the contacts happened, but the blue lines would disrupt him whenever he took a look at Fei Si.

Sigh… what a pain. Is it even good to have such ability? At least it seems to be not applicable on non-living things or I should be swallowing an energy firearm now. I wonder if I could resist the urge of slicing through those lines whenever I saw somebody in future.

The happening was giving Ye Chong chills as cold sweat rolled over his forehead.

“Are you seriously alright?” Asked Fei Si in concern, “Your face doesn’t look right.” Fei Si thought Ye Chong was a man with great stamina, never she would think that he would be so drained after battle.

“I…” Ye Chong’s eyes were wavering, “I don’t know the road, guide me.”

“Aren’t you a student here? How could you not know?” Shocked Fei Si was.

Beep. Ye Chong showed ignorance as he activated the mech. He had been having his own study on history and literature the whole time, how would he know where the other department was?

Upon seeing Ye Chong’s lack of reaction, Fei Si zipped her mouth afterwards as she stood behind Ye Chong. There was only one seat in the cabin anyway, so Fei Si had to bow and hold the back of Ye Chong’s seat. It was so tiring that Fei Si had already started panting briefly after the activation, with her sweet breath constantly tapping the back of Ye Chong’s neck.

It was her first time being this close to a man, she was a little nervous.

Ye Chong on the other hand was feeling nothing other than the itch on his neck. He had a battle to fight in the end.

They were 3000 meters away from the destination, so they had to fly, as they would only arrive at the destination in the shortest amount of time under the assistance of advanced technology. There were also mutated lifeforms in the sky, but not as many as on the ground.

“Testing.” Ye Chong turned on the communication channel and engaged with the other 3 members. “Yes, we got it.”

“Alright, let’s move.” The 4 mechs zoomed into the sky, in a formation of diagonal with Ye Chong at the front.

Bi Bo connected the camera to the slot of his mech. Now his broadcast would go in a clear view from his mech.

The audience was anticipating.

A mutated vulture headed towards them upon eye-contact.

Ye Chong was already prepared for his first fight. This was just a birdie compared to the time he fought the Steelbats.

HIs hands gently placed on the control panel. He rose his fingers and… WAIT.

He realized a critical problem as he sweated heavily, his Blaze-III retreated to the center of formation, “I could not attack. Protect me.”

Ye Chong was going to start his first barrage of input, but he almost forgot the fact that he was not the only one in the cabin.

Fei Si! She was still in the cabin. He almost killed Fei Si accidentally and failed the whole escort mission.

Fei Si was fragile, with a poor physique not even close to a matured man, and his mech did not come with a pressure-buffering protection system. He could still do those dramatic turns but she would be killed as the drastic change of pressure would rupture her bloodstreams! It would depend on her luck if she would also become a splat of flesh over the floor.

With Ye Chong leading, Fatty and the others were once calm towards the enemy ahead. Unfortunately, their trump card suddenly withdrew himself and pushed forward the two novices who failed to react in time, as they still remained at the back.

Dammit! We are going to crash into the vulture! Ye Chong was sweating heavier. He held the lever carefully as he feared even the slightest acceleration would destroy the beauty behind.

The mutated vulture was approaching and Ye Chong’s blood ran cold. Blaze-III had already taken a defensive posture but the collision occurred upon contact could be fatal to Fei Si, with a chance over 80%.

I’m sorry Fei Si. I promise I would avenge you… I would-

Zap!!

A red beam pierced through the center of the vulture’s head.

Kiaakkkkk!! The vulture flinched and was grounded very soon after. There was a crater on the ground, with the carcass in one piece. The vulture could be seen as very tough from this.

The beam was fired by none other than Bi Bo at the back of Ye Chong.

Phew… Ye Chong was relieved.

Bi Bo was in fact the descendant of the great.