Legend of the Supreme Soldier - Chapter 471

t was far-fetched even for the greatest pilot to familiarize himself with a new mech within a few hours, especially when the mech was so “outstanding” itself. If one was working on a standard model, one could at least make the necessary dodges and slashes during a simple audition like this, but Ye Chong was not with the norms it seemed.

The mech not only had a non-mainstream battle style but also a funny interface. It took Ye Chong 5 hours to pass the tutorial – how to move the mech and not look like someone who graduated from pilot school yesterday.

Ye Chong was aware of his limitation yet he still worked hard in mastering the controls. Well, he had long discarded the thoughts of getting through the recruitment, knowing the standard of this examiner who swung steadily like a true warrior on a war field, unlike Ye Chong who was piloted an anomaly while being in a deviated health condition. Everything felt unrealistic but so relieving too…

Ye Chong, without being burdened by the obliged victory, was having fun fiddling the controls of his new toy. Throughout the curious learning on the new mech, he started to feel its potential, a great potential too. To be honest, he had a stunning collection of mechs, which simply deploying them would grab unwanted attention, so this new mech, well, would be a pretty good alternative when he needed some mechanical help. He had made up his mind, that he would be “borrowing” this mech from the storage after the recruitment drive ended.

It should not be hard and nobody would actually cared he reckoned, since there was nothing much in the storeroom, there was no guard too and Shang approved this plan.

When Ye Chong was indulged in something, he would lose the sense of time. He wondered if it was because of the tranquility he got when he studied something or the validity of Shang’s statement that he would recover in no time, as he was truly recovering rapidly and he had felt normal at the moment.

“Number 231. Please, proceed to the test area.” It was till the working staff called him from outside the storage when he realized the hours passed.

5 hours had lapsed and he only felt the hunger as he smelled the scrumptious food on the table aside. Without hesitation he ran towards the table gracelessly and the working staff was rolling his eyes in the dark, wondering why Mr. Powell the leader was giving so much attention on this boy. The disdain in his eyes intensified when he saw Ye Chong gargling and crunching like a caveman.

After Ye Chong had filled himself, he finally started checking out the running examination.

It was another examiner, whose mech was much advanced model than the previous, Ye Chong could tell from the enhancement in speed and dexterity. The examiner was more skillful as well, since he was able to demonstrate more flashy moves which were challenging to execute consecutively, consisting of epic turns and dodges. The youngsters were hurrahing.

The mech was also a humanoid mech armed with a sword like the examiner before, but looking way cooler with a purple metallic edge on its armor and a golden glow from its laser blade.

As Ye Chong observed, he could not help but to shake his head. Those moves were surely flashier than the examiner before but they only could serve decorative, staging purpose. This examiner was weaker as he had actual openings between each of his moves. It was merely because the moves were chained so rapidly that there seemed to be any opportunity to attack, unlike the examiner before who had an impeccable defense on his every move.

Xi Qing was also shaking his head.

“Xi Qing, what’s wrong?” asked White.

“Nothing. I just find this examiner much weaker than the last. I just afraid that he would affect the standard of our new instructors.”

“What? Xi Qing, how so? Why would you feel that he’s bad? I think he’s pretty good, I mean, look at his steps, they look so cool! His turns are unpredictable too. How I wish I could have his standard one day…,” said White.

Xi Qing was silent since then, knowing that White was the typical deaf ears to his words so he just kept his focus at the field. He was worried as none of the examiners was satisfying to his eyes thus far.

It was then the candidate was struck down by the examiner’s flashy side kick. Announcing the candidate’s defeat, the youngsters were totally excited as a fiasco could be seen at the spectators’ area. Xi Qing had no comment on this, he just crossed this candidate out on his handbook.

“Number 231, Number 231, please proceed to the test ground.”

Xi Qing then wrote “231” on his handbook and just watched.

Powell was on the top of the area, having the best view of the fight.

“Finally… 231 is on…” Muttered he as he reminisced the few epic scenes conducted by this mysterious boy. He was enthralled. “But well…” He went cold quickly, as he remembered that the boy was merely a pilot with no mech. “How much can I expect from a pilot with no mech?” He still retained a little expectation on this boy nevertheless.

“Hahaha!!”

“Look at that!”

“What is that… thing…”

The moment Ye Chong entered the field in the experiment unit, people were laughing uncontrollably. The mech did look awkward… as if some deformed baby. It took a few minutes for the mech to complete its debut as unlike most mechs, this mech just dawdled its way to the center.

“What?” Powell could not believe his eyes, never once he imagined the experiment unit being such a failure. He would never let Number 231 pilot it if he did.

Upon seeing the disproportionally designed machine, Xi Qing shook his head again, the tip of his pen was going to make the first slash of the cruel cross, but it stopped. “On second thought…” Xi Qing decided to watch the fight first.

In the midst of laughter, there was a group of people watching Number 231’s entry in dead silence. They were the following candidates and had witnessed Number 231’s performance before.

They were convinced by Number 231’s strength and surely one with such strength would possess a mech befitting to his capabilities. They would not look down upon the mech because of its appearance.

They were anticipating more surprises from Number 231.

Ye Chong was calm, as he seemed to have recovered to his prime.

If he were to fight against the examiner before, he doubted he would stand a chance. But he was going to fight a different examiner and against this examiner, he felt he had a better chance.

The examiner was none other than a piece of vase, one with only the outside. That was Ye Chong’s comment as he perceived the showy tendency of this examiner. He was not sure if the flaunting habit came from the examiner himself or it was a side effect of the screams by the spectators. Ye Chong felt everything was unnecessary and pointless. It was a poor habit that he could utilize to maximize his likelihood to victory!

Moreover, this examiner seemed to fancy turns a lot. Making turns was the bread and butter of Ye Chong’s battle after conducting the intensive training course designed by Mu. He had a deeper understanding of turn-leaping during his adventure and he believed the experience would be helpful in this fight.

Ye Chong was looking still above the triangular control panel, as the mech clumsily sank in the ground.

“Start!”

The opposing mech launched itself towards Ye Chong. The pilot seemingly wanted a quick fight, which indirectly could be translated as the pilot did not see Number 231 a worthy opponent in his eyes.

Ye Chong was not reacting towards the examiner’s arrogance.

Ye Chong’s mind captured a few spots. The left rib, the right knee! If he was piloting Han Jia, he was confident to attack any of those critical points within the few seconds. Then it would indeed be a quick fight, as the examiner wished, just the outcome would be different to what he presumed.

Too bad Ye Chong was not piloting Han Jia.

Ye Chong eventually had to give up the one golden opportunity to attack since he was sitting in a piece of failed experiment unit.

His hands foreignly inputted a few commands, which prompted the mech to make a heavy stomp and a guard with its arms.

Xi Qing shook his head helplessly as he found Number 231’s moves to be rather jarring.

Certainly the candidates were feeling the same too. They were surprised.

“When did they allow greenhorns to join the consortium?”

“Talking about standards…”

Ye Chong was on his guard. A guarding mech would have a smaller and manageable movements, while giving higher demand towards prediction on the foe’s moves. Well that was not challenging to Ye Chong, at all.

He had a plan in his mind. The experiment mech curled itself up, waiting for the attack!

quot;Hahah …”

“Haha … Oh my God … It’s too much … Ohh … No no no … My stomach hurts … Hahaha …”

The entire audience in the mech combat test arena was roaring with laughter. The young people on the stage laughed even more tickled, doubling over with laughter. Even Brahm could not help but smiled.

It was truly a very amusing spectacle. The examiner circled around the strange looking mech while attacking, but the metal stump could always avoid the attacks with all kinds of weird movements. It was not just weird to watch, for the mech itself looked like an oddball, so the end result was comedic instead.

The odd mech suddenly put its left hand and feet to the ground, attempting to do a side flip and avoid the examiner’s attack. The thickset metal limbs of the metal stump flipped unceremoniously to the side, and crashed into the ground during its unsteady maneuver. The huge fellow crashed down loudly like a building, kicking up dust that covered the examiner’s mech in a layer of dirt.

This invited even more laughter from the floor.The youngsters who were bending over themselves, catching a breath, now laughed again, but their faces showed the pain they were now experiencing in their abdomen.

Inside the pilot cabin, Ye Chong felt helpless. He had wanted to enter a command to do a horizontal step, but the mech had done a horizontal flip instead. Surprised by the mistake, Ye Chong keyed in another erroneous command, and the mech went off balance and crashed into the ground.

Ye Chong was already used to making a series of mistake in a row by now. There was nothing he could do about it. The controls were placed differently than he was used to, and that was a very fatal weakness in combat.

The only reason he had not lost yet was his ability to read his opponent’s intentions and react accordingly. Of course, there was also a bit of luck involved. Else, he would have lost a long time ago.

Even so, he was now playing a completely passive role.

The examiner was also puzzled and annoyed. No matter how he looked at it, he had the advantage, while the d*mned Number 231 could not even afford to attack him. However, the clumsy metal stump was incredibly lucky, avoiding all his attacks in ridiculously humiliating ways every single time. This annoyed him to no end.

However, he had decided to end this fight with a killer move!

“Humph, let’s see if you’ll avoid this!” The examiner thought to himself, his eyes glaring inside the pilot cabin. He was now positively furious.

The examiner’s hands flew across his controls, entering the necessary commands. His mech retreated unexpectedly, widening the distance between him and Ye Chong.

Inside the pilot cabin, Ye Chong’s face remain expressionless, but the deep calm in his eyes was tinged with worry.

“So? How’s the test going?” A casual voice asked from behind Brahm.

Brahm turned over to see a middle-aged man, his upper half body naked, walking towards him. He slung a towel over his shoulder, and his muscles glistened with undried sweat.

Brahm considered for a moment and replied, “It’s getting interesting.”

The middle-aged man sat down heavily beside Brahm, looking surprised. “If even you think it’s interesting, it must be very much indeed.”

“Well, see for yourself.” Brahm nodded towards the test arena below.

“Hehe, I will,” the other man said without meaning it as he dried himself with his towel.

Brahm turned his attention from the fight to the man sitting beside him, and spoke earnestly, “Tong, thank you for this.” The man called Tong was the examiner who piloted the mech with the shield and sword. He was sent here on a mission, and since Brahm received orders to help with the instructor’s hiring process, he had volunteered for to be a guest examiner.

Tong waved off his words. “It’s no big deal, don’t worry about it. I haven’t had a chance to fight since coming back from the front line. It was enjoyable to say the least.”

“How’s the situation at the front line? You know that the news we get here is mixed in with gossip and rumors, it’s hard to figure out what’s really going on.” Brahm sat up straight and looked at Tong.

Tong shook his head. “We’re not doing so well. So far, we’re in a stalemate. People die at the front line everyday. We know too little about those creature.” He paused, looked around them for eavesdroppers, then leaned closer to Brahm and said in a low voice, “Not long ago, Arwa’s scouts found a very strong red-tailed beast nearby, right at the edge of the asteroid zone. Only three out of 30 in the scouting squad came back alive.”

“What?” Brahm turned pale, but quickly composed himself. He looked around to see if anyone noticed, then leaned towards Tong and spoke shakily, “What you’re saying is …”

The two of them exchange a long lok. Tong nodded solemnly and said, “Yes. The higher-ups are wondering if there are other red-tailed beasts that have already infiltrated Gray Valley.”

Brahm’s face was drained of blood. He was a non-combatant still, having never been on the battlefield, and he was shocked by the news. Tong patted Brahm lightly by the shoulder to soothe him, and said, “Don’t worry too much about it. Even if they’re here, the soldiers will fight them first.” He added, “Don’t tell anyone about this. It’s classified military information, hehe.” However, from the way he told it, it did look like he cared much for so-called classified information.

Suddenly, the spectators in the arena roared in excitement, attracting their attention.

Two light yellow trails dissolved like crystals into the air.

At the beginning of these two trails were the examiner’s shining laser katars [1] that he held in his hands.

The examiner sat in his pilot cabin, his eyes full of disbelief.

He … He missed!

How was that possible? That was his first thought.

He had used a very difficult technique just now, but also a very aggressive one. This was a move that he had practised for a long time, but until now, he could rarely execute the move successfully, so he never used it in actual combat. Now, since his opponent was not dangerous at all, and the fight was dragging on, he decided on impulse to try the technique.

This time, he miraculously executed the entire move, and that made him so very happy.

He knew that, with this difficult move executed, his opponent would surely fall, either injured or dead. That was out of his control.

However … He missed!

What happened? His excitement from executing the attack move completely was immediately doused with cold water. He had anticipated victory, but missed at the very last moment. It drove him mad! It all happened too quickly that he could not figure out what went wrong.

Ye Chong panted heavily. That was a very dangerous moment that strained him to the extreme. However, he keyed in the commands on the controls quickly, without delay.

From the moment his opponent stepped back, Ye Chong knew what trouble he was about to face.

Fissure Strangle!

This technique was quite famous, though Ye Chong though it was impractical. However, he must admit that once the move was executed, it would be very damaging to the enemy.

If he had Han Jia, this Fissure Strangle would be child’s play to counter. Before his opponent could finish the preparatory moves, Ye Chong would have ample time to thoroughly conceal his mech.

However, he did not have Han Jia, but an experimental mech! Ye Chong quickly gave up on attacking, and decided to block and avoid instead. Ye Chong’s quick assessment saved him. He had immediately identified the three locations that his opponent would hit. This gave him 1.5 seconds to act on it.

However, it was in this 1.5 seconds that Ye Chong keyed in the commands on his triangular controls panel that he was unfamiliar with. During the process, Ye Chong even made a mistake, but this was quickly corrected with his extraordinary hand speed. By the time he corrected his mistake, the laser katars were already before him.

Ye Chong’s mech bent its left leg and lunged its right leg backwards for support. Its body arched slightly. The left arm held up its V-shaped shield to the front, and the right arm reached down to the ground for support. The mech went into this strange stance.

Wham!

The first to be destroyed was the V-shaped shield. It was smashed to pieces by direct impact from the attack. However, the opponent’s movement was halted, and that was Ye Chong was waiting for.

With the right arm and both legs against the ground, Ye Chong’s mech pushed forward! The mech’s engines were all installed at the limbs to increase their power. Hence, the combined power of all three engines boosted the mech’s speed and power tremendously!

Ye Chong’s mech was like a spring compressed to its limit, then released.

Bang!

A deep buzzing sound of metal against metal hurt the ears of the audience.

Ye Chong’s mech had crashed straight into the examiner’s mech. Since the attack was upwards, the examiner’s mech flew back in the opposite direction at an even higher speed.

Everyone who watched this could not help but think of an ancient sport – billiards! Weren’t these two mechs just like two billiard balls colliding?

The entire arena was shocked into silence for a good 10 seconds. Then, a thunderous roar of applause came from the stage. Everyone was won over by the battle.

The two mechs faced each other once again. The examiner’s mech still looked untouched, but Number 231’s mech had only half of its shield on its left arm. Everyone knew that Number 231 could no longer rely on the shield for cover. It would lose, sooner or later.

Even so, the audience cheered loudly for for the wonderful performance by the unwieldy looking mech just now.

o the audience, Ye Chong’s loss was inevitable. However, Ye Chong himself did not think so. In fact, he believed that victory was close at hand. Even if his opponent tried Fissure Strangle on him again, he would be able to block without his shield. Perhaps it was due to the fighting moves, he no longer felt too tired anymore. Of course, he still stuck to being passive, waiting for his opponent’s next move.

Tong took a look at the arena, surprised. “So you really do have a few capable subordinates here. This guy can use Fissure Strangle, must be a capable man. Hmm, that candidate is also doing very well, blocking that Fissure Strangle attack. You should make an exception and hire him. If the fight goes on, he could get hurt.”

“Alright.” Brahm nodded. He activated his comms and quietly spoke orders. Right now, his mind was mostly occupied with the shocking news that his friend brought to him, and his attention on Number 231 was temporarily redirected.

If Tong knew that Ye Chong was actually using a mech that he had only began to use just hours ago, he would have taken back his words. Brahm was a non-combatant, and did not realize the difference it would make. However, since Tong said the candidate was acceptable, he must be worth recruiting.

Suddenly, Tong’s comms device rang. He looked surprised, and said, “Something’s come up, I’ll be leaving.” He began to move in haste.

Brahm looked at Tong’s retreating silhouette for a moment before yelling, “Tong, stay safe!”

Brahm, who was practically running towards the exit, waved his hand in acknowledgement without looking back.

As Ye Chong stood prepared for the next attack, he received a notice that he was recruited, and that came as a bit of a surprise. Of course, his examiner was equally surprised. He did not understand why Number 231 was hired. To him, Number 231 was not up to standard at all. More infuriating was the fact that Number 231 had made him look so humiliating! He was already planning to trash Number 231 on the arena, but now it was all over. He was dissatisfied with how it turned out!

However, he was also powerless against it. He knew that Brahm was still the person who had the power to make the final decision.

The decision left all the other candidates in an uproar.

How could blocking a Fissure Strangle attack once qualify a person to be accepted? That was too bizarre! The candidates outside the arena discussed the outcome with dissatisfaction. In fact, most of the people believed that the only reason Number 231 managed to block the examiner’s Fissure Strangle attack was due to luck. Can luck be the reason someone was hired? No one could understand the final decision of the hiring board.

White stared at the arena in disbelief, then shouted angrily, “F*cking cheat? He’s hired? How can someone like that be hired? Are they crazy? Xi Qing, if someone like that is hired, no one will want to train under him. Has the hiring board turned scatterbrained?”

Xi Wing looked to the arena and muttered, “It’s hard to say, White!”

White turned over and looked at Qi Xing like the man was an alien. “Xi Qing, since when are you brain damaged as well?”

However, most of the candidates were more well behaved than the youngsters who were from the stage above. They were mostly older, and cared more about themselves. It did not matter if another extra person was hired. Their salary would not be reduced just because they have an idiot as a coworker.

A few of the candidates who had passed the test eyed the dumb looking mech, musing to themselves.

Ye Chong exited the arena gracefully, ignoring all the stares he was receiving.

The examiner could not stand seeing his opponent being so at ease and slammed angrily on his controls.

Beep beep beep! An alarm sounded. The examiner panicked. Did he just break his controls console? He quickly ran a self assessment, but could see nothing wrong. The frantic alarm made him nervous. Soon, his forehead was covered in sweat.

Hidden below the left side of the chest of his mech was a deep impression, an injury that was hard to notice. From the fresh wound, it was easy to discern that it was due to a strong impact. The position coincided with an important photon circuit node. The armor was bent inwards and blocked the photon circuits, which caused the alarm to sound.

That damage was caused by the elbow edge of Ye Chong’s mech. The mech’s elbow had a protrusion that was designed to be concealed when the arm hung down naturally. Only when the mech bent its arm would the weapon reveal itself menacingly. The elbow protrusion was made of very strong alloy, and while it was not exactly sharp, its power was amplified by the strength of the mech’s arms.

When blocking the Fissure Strangle attack, Ye Chong had sneaked in a hit on his opponent. Ye Chong had never seen the examiner’s mech before, but he could still guess at its internal structure, and had chosen to hit that exact spot.

Since the photon circuits were damaged, it would be immediately noticeable after the attack. Only after some time would his opponent’s mech began to show difficulty in movement, and maybe even become impossible to operate. That would be his chance to strike back!

However, Ye Chong found himself accepted by the hiring board before his nifty trick had borne fruit.

The candidates who were still waiting for their turn in the arena looked at the examiner’s mech curiously, for it had not moved since the battle was declared over, and the examiner had not asked for the next candidate to step inside.

The examiner was now sweating profusely. He was now frustrated at himself for not keeping calm earlier! Now that he had damaged his own mech, the upcoming tests will have to be carried out by his colleague. On the other hand, he was devastated that his beloved mech was not responding to his commands anymore.

He did not relate this damage with Number 231 at all.

The truth was, the attack was over too quickly, and Ye Chong had attacked discreetly, such that no one, including the examiner, noticed anything amiss.

It was when the mech was moved to the maintenance workshop that the damage was discovered. However, the examiner still did not think that it was caused by that infuriating Number 231.

It was the last day of the tests, and there were only about seven or eight candidates after Ye Chong. Soon, the tests were completed. There were 25 who passed the tests, and Ye Chong was ranked the last.

Ye Chong did not mind the ranking. When he received part of his upfront salary, he finally heaved a sigh in relief. Of course, there were other benefits. The affluent Research Consortium had offered generous remunerations to attract more capable people from the public. Aside from the huge upfront payment, there were other benefits, such as receiving their very own advanced level mechs. These mechs were not available in the market, and produced by the Consortium itself. Most candidates were enticed by the advanced mechs.

Of course, all candidates would have to successfully complete their training before receiving these benefits.

Ye Chong’s mech, the so-called failed experiment, was not sought by other people, so he became its owner in the end.

The Research Consortium provided luxurious accommodation for all of them. Everyone had their own rooms, which were spacious and full of amenities, and designed to look high tech. The building also had its own mech training ground and gymnasium.

After Shang verified that the room clear of surveillance, Ye Chong felt relieved.

“Shang, are you still unable to hack into the virtual world?” Ye Chong laid on the bed and asked out loud. He was beyond exhausted at this point. Everything that happened today had drained him mentally in unprecedented proportions, and he was now dead tired.

Shang replied helplessly, “I’m not done with decoding their calculations yet, so for the moment, I can’t get in.” Without access to the virtual world, Shang could not do anything, and the mech was very, very annoyed about it.

“I see,” Ye Chong replied almost in reflex. He felt sleep overcome him, and he was soon gone to the world.

When Ye Chong woke up, it was in the dead of night. After resting, much of his physical and mental stamina had recovered. He greeted Shang and ordered a meal. Then, Ye Chong activated the photon processor in his room and put on his hyperlink helmet.

Shang may not be able to enter the virtual world, but he could.

Ye Chong wondered about in the virtual world. It was already very late into the night, but there were still many people in the virtual world. The virtual world here was unlike the virtual world in the Five Galaxies, but Ye Chong was in no mood to explore. He focused on finding the information he needed.

Once he arrived at an info center, he would be able to make inquiries. Most of it would be publicly available, but since it was free of charge, it was only to be expected.

Ye Chong needed a microphoton repair device to mend the small cracks that were spread across Han Jia’s armor.

Staying in this unfamiliar territory without Han Jia, would leave him in a vulnerable position.

After about half an hour, Ye Chong found what he was looking for.

The microphoton repair device was a high precision device. Only larger research institutions or universities would have them, like the Research Consortium and the infamous Hepburn-Ladee University. On Henna, only the mech laboratory in Centuria University had them.

“Centuria University,” Ye Chong muttered to himself. He quickly looked up its location. As the largest education institution on Planet Henna, Centuria University was easy to find. He could even look up the general layout of the university.

t was already late at night, but the city was still glowing with life. Crysound City was only an average mid-sized city in Gray Valley that did not stand out in any way. However, due to its location near the edge of Gray Valley, close to the Calamitous Asteroid Belt, it became a resupply station for people before entering the asteroid region. Mech squads and individual mech pilots would frequently enter Gray Valley through this city, and it was this influx of outsiders that drove the local economy.

Nonetheless, the recent appearance of the red-tailed beasts had ignited an all out war. Since Plant Henna was close to the front line, people began to move inwards to the inner parts of Gray Valley. The local economy was severely affected. Even so, Ye Chong still got to see the city illuminated in all its glory.

Centuria University was not far from where Ye Chong was. It was about 30 kilometers way, in fact. He chose to get there on foot to avoid being noticed. Before setting out, he also changed his clothes as Shang advised. For this, he had even made a trip to the nearby store.

Currently, Shang behaved in an honest and helpful manner, perhaps contemplative of his earlier mistake. The clothing that he chose was very common looking, but its black and gray colors made it well suited or blended in the dark at night.

30 kilometers was not too long of a distance for Ye Chong. After about 40 minutes, he arrived at the perimeter fencing of Centuria University. Ye Chong found out from the virtual world that Centuria University had stopped all classes due to the war. The spacious university grounds were now empty, and all of its buildings were closed down.

Ye Chong headed towards the mech experiment laboratory, following the route he had memorized beforehand.

The university was pitch black. Ye Chong moved quietly like a fox, slipping past the university buildings.

“Mech Experiment Laboratory” – the gold embossing stood out in the night, and Ye Chong breathed a sigh of relief as he saw them. However, his troubles were not yet over, such as the current issue of entering the lab. If it was before, he would have just withdrew Han Jia and force his way through the door. Now, however, he would not.

Since Henna was close to the front line, local security would be on high alert. It was only reasonable for a huge university’s mech experiment laboratory to be guarded by security. If he triggered the alarm, the local military force, nervous from the war at hand, would definitely finish him off without hesitation. More importantly, the microphoton repair device was too large to move. The best option he had was to repair Han Jia right there without attracting any attention.

The problem now was, how could he enter the lab without triggering the alarm?

Ye Chong asked, “Shang, got any ideas?”

“Hacking in is impossible. The calculations used here are completely different from what I know of. Besides, once I enter the virtual world, I’ll be discovered. Hmm, if that’s the case, let me think …” Shang was also vexed by their predicament.

Ye Chong waited quietly for Shang’s answer. Mu was the expert in this field, and Shang was not so bad himself; Ye Chong himself, however, was absolutely clueless about it.

“Hmm, perhaps we can cut off its energy supply, shut down the entire security system, then we can force our way in.” Shang provided his opinion after a long moment of consideration.

“Alright! Let’s do that,” Ye Chong said decisively.

“Ye, just 500 meters opposite, beneath the seventh streetlamp, there’s a underground photon node. Let’s check it out,” Shang provided more concrete instructions.

With Shang’s directions, Ye Chong went to the seventh streetlamp. Just beside the base of the streetlamp was a light green colored manhole cover, measuring about 5 meters across. The cover was made of some kind of compound material.

The cover was firmly in place, but since there were no alarms set for it, Ye Chong forced it open. Beneath the cover was a dark hole. A flight of stairs ran down along one side of the inner wall, going downwards. Ye Chong went down the hole without delay, and put the cover back in its place on his way down.

He switched on the comms device on his arm. The holographic projection that came from it helped light his way in here.

“Hmm, this must be the photon node for the surrounding buildings,” Shang offered unsure. He was no longer as powerful as he wished to be without access to the virtual world. Now, he could rely on the knowledge in his memory archive to assess his surroundings.

Six three-meter all metal cabinets were arranged side to side to form a hexagon, and Ye Chong was now in the middle of them all. All six cabinets were locked.

“Ye, try and open the one in front of you,” Shang suggested after some thought.

The strong alloy lock was broken easily. Ye Chong threw it to the floor and opened the cabinet, and he was instantly baffled by what was inside. “What next?”

Right before his eyes were numerous small lights blinking irregularly like the stars in the night sky. They looked complicated and intricate, and grandly stretched out like the sea.

Ye Chong did not expect to see such a complicated structure in the inconspicuous cabinet. Since he was rarely involved in this area of expertise, he did not know what to do with them.

Shang replied swiftly, “That’s the one. Let me look at its internal structure.” He added in a mutter, “This kind of technical work should be done by that stiff guy, Mu. Now I’m the one who’s gonna lower myself to this level, what a waste of talent! Such is life …” He seemed to be struck by the oddities of life.

Despite his complaining, Shang made short work of the photon node.

“Ye, find the 316th row, the 705th light pin from the left. Break that light pin and you’re ready to go,” Shang said confidently.

The 316th row, 705th light pin from the left. Ye Chong could feel his eyes going blind. The light pins were so tiny and numerous, and they were all blinking to their own rhythm. However, since Shang had came up with a solution, Ye Chong could only start counting.

“Ye, Ye, you missed one.”

“Ye, that’s the wrong row.”

“Err, Ye, are you so degenerated inside that you can’t even do simple algebra?”

Shang’s incessant and annoying blabberings bombarded Ye Chong. This was a difficult task, and those blinking lights made his head hurt. WIth Shang’s constant interruption, even Ye Chong’s legendary patience was challenged.

“Shang, please stop talking to me. I need silence, silence!” Ye Chong could not help but emphasized the word “silence”.

“Alright alright! I’ll be quiet.” Shang saw that he was in no good mood, and quickly turned obedient.

WIthout Shang’s interruption, Ye Chong quickly located the light pin. Unlike finding the pin, destroying was a piece of cake. It was only then that Ye Chong realized, he should have just destroyed all the light pins. That would have been way faster and easier. “Looks like I’m still not calm enough,” Ye Chong noted to himself.

No matter. Now that they were finished with this, they were already halfway there. The only thing he needed to do now was to force his way into the lab and find the microphoton repair device.

Ye Chong was about to lift the manhole cover when Shang whispered in warning, “Ye, don’t go out, something’s happening!”

Ye Chong’s heart sank. He quickly stopped moving. Shang was usually a joker, but he would also be serious in the face of danger. Right now, he recognized the seriousness in his voice.

“There are 12 mechs and five red-tailed beasts. There are red-tailed beasts here? Strange!” Shang muttered to himself.

Red-tailed beasts. Ye Chong was shocked. How could there be red-tailed beasts here? When Ye Chong made his inquiry about the microphoton repair device, he also did some research on Gray Valley’s current affairs. There were a lot of information on this in the virtual world, and it was also the hottest topic. After spending some time digesting those information, Ye Chong finally had a better grasp of the situation in Gray Valley.

The front line and the rear – these were two keywords that kept popping up. War in the front line was going on strongly, but the rear was very stable. Every source of information seemed to collaborate on this fact.

Planet Henna was at the rear, why would there be any red-tailed beasts here? Could it be … Ye Chong quickly sensed the implications. Either the front line was breached, or the red-tailed beasts were beginning to attack from the rear. Whichever the case, the red-tailed beasts were here now, and this meant that the situation in the rear was about to change drastically. Perhaps, the rear would no longer be safe anymore.

Ye Chong frowned in thought. He was not concerned about the overall situation, but if the rear was getting dangerous, then he would also be in trouble. Without anyone else with him, his power was limited, and barely enough to tip the scales of battle in this war. More importantly, once the peace was disturbed, people would begin to grow nervous, and public safety would be compromised. If the red-tailed beasts started appearing in large numbers at the rear, the situation would be even more grim. Perhaps the entire Gray Valley would descend into chaos.

“Hmm, they’ve started fighting each other,” Shang reported excitedly. “Hmmm, good skills there, sigh, too bad that move was not chosen well. Ye, these guys are not as good as you. Huh, strange, this red-tailed beast looks strong,” Shang commented sporadically as he enjoyed the show.

Ye Chong did not have Mu/Shang’s holographic scanning system, and could not see what was happening outside. However, he could hear faint sounds of fighting through the cover above him. Soon, the battle grew more heated, and the faint sounds grew clearer and more frequent.

Ye Chong quietly climbed to the manhole cover and lifted it a little. The battle outside unfolded before his eyes.

t’s the red-tailed beasts!

There were 12 mechs, all different looking, fighting intensely against five red-tailed beasts. Bang bang bang! The sound of collisions never stopped. Whenever one of them crashed into the ground, it was enough to make the earth shake.

The red-tailed beasts were about the same size as the mechs, but they move more flexibly. Despite being outnumbered, they did not seem to be fighting at a disadvantage. The five red-tailed beasts evasively moved from building to building. The 12 mechs could not surround the creatures, and could only run around to keep them in sight.

Crash! Rumble! Dust was flying everywhere, as neither the red-tailed beasts nor the 12 mechs were particularly careful moving around the buildings. The red-tailed beasts were tough creatures, and the 12 mechs were also very strong. They chased each other around, destroying the buildings in their wake. Soon, all that was left was rubble.

Bong! There was a loud but dull sound. A strong wave of dust then hit Ye Chong in the face. Ye Chong instinctively shut his eyes, but he knew he was in trouble. That sound was very close to where he was. Could it be …

When Ye Chong regained his sight, his heart turned cold.

The mech laboratory was reduced to rubble. Everywhere was filled with debris, and dust was blown away from the center that was originally the lab. A red-tailed beast emerged from the dust and debris, hurling itself onto one of the mechs in the air!

“D*mn!”

Ye Chong and Shang cursed almost in sync.

Ye Chong pushed the cover away and came out. He bent over, taking cover behind the dust, and quickly entered the now defunct mech laboratory.

Looking at the microphoton repair device on the ground, or what’s left of it, Ye Chong knew that his plan had gone to waste.

He studied his immediate surroundings. Both sides were deep in the fight. The 12 mechs were strong. Perhaps they were from some kind of elite squad. Each of them could take a red-tailed beast head on by themselves.

Suddenly, Ye Chong saw one of the mechs, one in red and black, with a shield and sword as its weapon, was pinned down by a red-tailed beast. Upon closer inspection, Ye Chong recognized the pilot – it was the examiner who used an average shield-sword mech earlier that day. These two mechs were very different, as this shield-sword mech was much more advanced than the average one he saw earlier. The maroon red alloy sword looked like it was covered with blood, and the huge shield was as dark as night. Together, they made the mech look like a killer from Hell.

It was not hard for Ye Chong to recognize the similar ways these two mechs moved.

However, he was rarely over curious, and without a mech to protect himself, the current situation was dangerous for him. Since the microphoton repair device was destroyed, he should leave as soon as possible.

Ye Chong was about to leave this dangerous place when Shang suddenly spoke up, “Ye, careful, mechs incoming!”

Ye Chong quickly hid behind one of the damaged walls. Given the complicated terrain, it would be difficult to notice him, even with holographic scanning.

Almost as soon as Shang finished his sentence, three black dots appeared in the sky. They came swiftly, and Ye Chong watched them grew larger and larger. There were three golden mechs, and they were fast! Ye Chong was surprised. However, when the three golden mechs finally landed, he felt a sense of familiarity.

Where had he seen them before?

Ye Chong recalled then of the 10 golden mechs he had seen at the abandoned factory, before he entered Crysound City. No wonder they looked familiar. He had seen them before. These golden mechs had a left a deep impression in Ye Chong. They could fly up to Mach 16 within the atmosphere. Their speed was truly astonishing!

Ye Chong doubt he could make a mech that could fly so fast himself if he had not been using skeleton material to his advantage,.

The three golden mechs join the fight without delay.

The three golden mechs looked different from one another. One of them had a typical sword and shield combination; one had twin swords; the last one preferred to fight at very close range, using small weapons that looked like parrying daggers.

The golden shield was covered with dark red patterns of roses. The golden sword in the mech’s right arm was polished like a mirror. The mech was logically designed and well balanced.

It was the same combination of sword and shield, but the golden mech’s had its own fighting style. Every move was bold, quick, simple and effective. The sword and shield worked together seamlessly, as the mech pilot fought gracefully with these weapons.

The twin curved swords were four meters long, thick at the back and thinner towards the blades edge. The swords were sparingly decorated, with only a sharp point at the handles. The mech with these golden twin swords had no means of defense, opting for the more extreme choice of attack. Without proper defensive tools, it protected itself through its attacks instead. The mech was brave and aggressive. Ye Chong noticed that this particular mech’s arms must be specially designed, as they could move a lot faster than its two companions.

The last golden mech had a smaller and more compact build. Since it weighed less than the two other mechs, it could turn and move more deftly. It was similar to Ye Chong’s clown mech, but much more superior in terms of design and build material. The mech pilot behind this mech was also quick to attack, making nasty strikes and blows that kept its enemies on guard.

Three elites!

Ye Chong made a quick estimation, and his face turned serious.

If the 12 mechs earlier were considered strong, then these three mechs were absolutely masters of their art! He was also a bit shaken by the fact that these three mechs were probably from the same organization, despite their very different designs. The gold colored alloy material was like the black colored black gold, probably a special kind of alloy.

Ye Chong believed that every part of the three mechs, every curve of them, were the result of countless experimentations. The organization behind these mechs must have excellent mech manufacturing talent. These three pilots were also very gifted, and Ye Chong knew that the organization must have more than these three working for them. After all, he had seen 10 of those golden mechs flying across the sky just the other day.

Putting Ye Chong’s surprise aside, the balance of the fight outside was now changing quickly with the new arrivals.

The 12 mechs obeyed orders from the assassin-like golden mech and suddenly flew into the distance, leaving the five red-tailed beasts behind. They stopped when they were beyond the furthest of the five red-tailed beasts, and began to fly inwards. The 13 mechs formed a circular barrier, staying close to each other.

Ye Chong understood their intentions immediately.

They wanted to surround the red-tailed beasts, slowly restricting their space. Once the red-tailed beasts were forced towards the shield-sword mech and the twin-sword mech, who were at the center, these two powerful mechs would slowly kill off the creatures.

The battle proceeded as Ye Chong expected.

The 12 mechs closed in slowly towards the center, covering for each other in the process. The small-framed golden mech circled around their formation, assisting whichever mech that was attacked by the red-tailed beasts.

The plan worked. Ye Chong was able to witness the abilities of the two golden mechs surrounded in the center!

The golden shield-sword mech lured three red-tailed beasts towards itself, its sword swinging about like a huge shield, and the actual shield in its left hand defended itself flawlessly. By matching its pace and use of weaponry, the mech successfully drew three red-tailed beast towards itself. The three red-tailed beasts attacked madly, but the mech defended itself perfectly, blocking all of their attacks! The mech had simply warded off all the attacks from these three red-tailed beasts.

Strong! Ye Chong was impressed. He had never seen such a powerful defense. Ye Chong himself was more of an attacker, and he was always more inclined to attack, be it in hand-to-hand combat or mech battles. Even so, his defense was also quite good, mostly due to his strong determination and understanding his opponents well. However, he was still inferior compared to this golden shield-sword mech when it came to defense.

The golden mech with the two swords may attack ferociously, but Ye Chong thought the pilot was only just capable. Ye Chong’s specialty was in attacking. The mech with the golden twin swords was strong, but not stronger than himself. If Ye Chong used Han Jia, he could kill off all five red-tailed beasts himself.

The way he saw it, these five red-tailed beasts were not as strong as the six-fingered red-tailed beast he was pursuing before this.

Could it be that the red-tailed beast’s evolution increased its power not linearly, but in an exponential way? The seemingly unrelated question came to Ye Chong.

If that was the case, would the red-tailed beast also require an exponential increase in resources to evolve further up the ladder?

Suddenly, the battle that was going on faded into the background. Ye Chong was suddenly plunged into the issue that was totally unrelated to the battle in front of him.

Ye Chong had already identified the number of digits as an indication of the red-tailed beast’s evolution level. From Fei Si’s research, it seemed that these creatures needed pure energy and metal to evolve. If that was the case, there must be some kind of relationship between the power gained from evolution and the two elements that led to it.

Suddenly, Ye Chong remembered that the creature in the underground cave of that primary planet had a teardrop mineralite clutched in its hand, and seemed to realize something from it.

However, Shang interrupted right then, “Ye, they’re gone!”

he 15 mechs had already left, leaving behind an almost completely destroyed Centuria University in the silent darkness. The red-tailed beasts were brought away, leaving no trace of their presence.

“Looks like we’ll have to figure out something else,” Ye Chong said helplessly as he looked down at the broken pieces of the microphoton repair device.

Shang offered, “Ye, you should spend more time on Muscle Man, it’s more practical that way.” The so-called Muscle Man was the experimental failure that Ye Chong got from the mech laboratory. Muscle Man was named by Mu, in the hopes that the mech would intimidate its enemies whenever it appeared. Ye Chong did not care about something as meaningless as naming his mech, so he did not argue with Shang about the mech’s name.

“Hmm, looks like you’re right.” Ye Chong nodded. It sounded like a better plan.

The trip back was uneventful. Perhaps by taking enough rest during the day, Ye Chong did not feel sleepy. Hence, he went to the mech training ground in the building instead.

The Research Consortium really made room in their budget for them. In this average building, located in this average city, the facilities provided were luxurious. Take the mech training ground. Not only was it twice as large as its average equivalent, the training ground was also equipped with many support devices. They could capture the mech pilot’s movements from any angle and relay them to the photon processor in a corner of the room, so that the mech pilot could study them and correct their movements. Besides, the training ground was equipped with a great variety of amenities that overshadowed the usual standards.

It was late at night, so the large training ground was empty. This suited Ye Chong, since he did not like people watching him while he trained.

Ye Chong withdrew Muscle Man, climbed up the mech and entered the pilot cabin.

He looked at the triangular control console and inhaled deeply, quieting his mind to begin his training.

Unlike other mech pilots, Ye Chong did not rely on particular models of mechs. Ever since he left the trash planet, he had switched from one mech to another in no time at all. Every time it happened, he would have to get used to the new mech, so the process was not unfamiliar to him. The only thing made it more difficult this time was the weird structure of the control console.

There was a solution to this problem – he could change the console for a standard one. That would reduce the time he needed to get familiar with the mech. However, that would severely affect the mech’s combat ability. The effect was severe enough for Ye Chong to throw this solution out of the window.

Start from the beginning, then!

Ye Chong looked at the triangular control console before him, his heart burning like fire! When had he ever been afraid of challenges?

He began to work. Ye Chong studied the console little by little, like a total beginner. It was like returning to his time of harsh training on the trash planet. He felt himself filled with purpose and hope.

On the empty training ground was a clumsy looking mech. It stumbled like a baby learning to walk, slowly and clumsily executing various movements. Its every move was fueled by the determination of its pilot!

Just how difficult was it to train so intensively for five hours straight?

Ye Chong was sweating all over, and panting heavily. His legs felt sluggish.

Ye Chong returned to his room and slept right away. Just 15 minutes after he returned to his room, the rest of the recruited staff began to wake up. In just a few moments, the empty training ground was full of mechs. Some of them noticed with interest that Number 231 was missing. This made the few who were curious about Number 231 disappointed. However, they quickly gathered themselves and began to train in earnest.

It was a fact of life that regardless of one’s occupation, the path towards exceptional performance was committed and harsh training. All the mech pilots here knew this, and dared not waste their time dawdling.

When Ye Chong woke up, it was already noon. According to instructions, he should head towards the meeting place. He was the last person to reach there. Ye Chong sat in the last row of the hovercar without a single word.

The hovercar started just as he sat down.

“Good day, everyone. We are now heading towards the training camp. From now on, you are the first batch of official instructors from the Research Consortium’s Crysound City branch. Congratulations for passing the tests! I’m honored to work with all of you.” The one who spoke was a bald man. The top of his head shone brightly under the hovercar’s lamps.

He laughed and said, “Almost forgot to introduce myself. I’m Senda, Mr Powell’s second, and the person in charge for this activity. If you have any questions, feel free to speak up now. Since this is our first time organizing something like this, please forgive us for any unanticipated inconveniences.”

Everyone looked at him, but no one said anything.

Senda did not mind it, and continued, “Since none of you have questions, then let me talk about today’s agenda. After we arrive at the training camp, we will separate into groups. You will receive your group number, and the students who attend our training camp will get to decide which group to join. Of course, each group cannot have more than 20 members. If any group reaches this limit, it will be removed from the options available for the students. Hmm, based on the number of students we have this round -” he looked over the mech pilots in front of him and grinned, “- we’ll have exactly 20 students for each group.”

As the bald man explained their itinerary for the day enthusiastically, Ye Chong did not share his sentiment. His mind was completely occupied by the triangular control console. At first, he thought the console was just weird, but his earlier exploring led him to notice that there was some kind of logic to the way the buttons were placed on the console. The stressful training exercise back then did not allow him to focus and think about it, but now that he had quieted down, he automatically began to analyze the problem again.

Once he entered into this silent mood, Ye Chong could not be disturbed. He did not hear anything that Senda was telling them excitedly.

It was not until the hovercar stopped that his thoughts were interrupted.

“Shang, what did he say just now?” Ye Chong felt lost looking at the other people moving into the training camp, and could only ask Shang for help.

“Don’t disturb me,” Shang replied impatiently, “I’m busy.” The mech resumed its silence.

Ye Chong shrugged helplessly. Luckily he was at the rear of the group, and no one noticed him. Shang had been behaving these two days, perhaps because he knew that he nearly caused trouble for them both last time. The mech was also oddly quiet. Whenever Ye Chong asked about it, he would just say that he was busy. Ye Chong did not know what the mech was busy about, and could get nothing out from Shang.

Fortunately, without the mech’s insufferable interruptions, Ye Chong felt more at peace.

The instructors entered a meeting room, where a big holographic screen was placed in the center. On it were a row of numbers running from one to 25. Soon, each of them was given a number. Ye Chong’ number was the last one – 25.

Senda stood up. “Alright, everyone. You should have your number by now. This will be your group’s designated number. Next, it’s time for the students to make their decisions.” He turned to a working staff on the side and spoke a few words, signalling that they were ready.

The staff barked an order, and the digit below each of the numbers on the holographic screen began to climb up rapidly. In just 25 seconds, Group 5 was full. The mech pilot assigned with that number grinned widely. The faster a group was filled up, the stronger the instructor was as perceived by the students.

The other groups gained more and more members, but under the number 25 was the digit “1”. This digit refused to budge.

Three minutes later, all the other groups were filled up, but Group 25 still only had “1”!

Everyone in the meeting room stared at Ye Chong. Sitting at the last row, holding the last number, with his group still not filled up, Ye Chong’s posture was calm and at ease. His expression did not change, and he stared back unfazed at everyone else.

“Oh cr*p, I was too slow! There’s only number 25 left, what do I do now?” One of the students looked devastated and upset.

Another student beside him added salt to his wound by saying, “You’re the one who’s slow to decide. I told you to be quick, but you hesitated as usual. Now you’re done for. Number 25, I heard he cheated, how else could he be hired? In any case, I’ll never join his group.”

“I should’ve just picked a random number, anything is better than this.” The student who picked 25 looked regretful.

Xi Qing looked at the two of them quietly, and turned away. He had chosen Number 25 immediately, and he was the first to do so. That was why he was the only one who was under Group 25 so far. When White found out that he chose 25, the man thought he was crazy. However, Xi Qing knew what he was doing.

He quickly went to the gathering point for Group 25.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was plain awkward. On the holographic screen, the digit under the number 25 froze at “1”. The other groups were all taken up, but even so, the digit below the number 25 did not change! The meeting room was now silent, but more than a few of them looked at Ye Chong with disdain, mockery and contempt.

What did this imply? It simply meant that the students, knowing they had no other choice, still did not want to choose Number 25. It also meant that no one believed in Number 25. Oh, that was not strictly accurate. The “1” on the holographic screen told everyone that at least one person supported him still!

Sitting in the last row, in the last place of all the groups, Ye Chong looked completely unaffected!

he clock was ticking… so was the number of students enrolling to Instructor Number 25. The number froze for quite a while because of obvious reason – the students at first were reluctant to serve apprenticeship of this clearly impotent, air-headed instructor who got in his position probably by questionable means. But well, it was not like they had many options to begin with.

One could hear the teasing giggles and snickers resounding in the room, which Ye Chong seemed unaffected of. People might have looked down on his capabilities in teaching, but frankly they were very impressed of his high stress resistance. Most new instructors would have sunken under the table, deep into their grief if they were given a barrage of humiliation. This new instructor was rather young yet he was the same calm.

It took literally 15 minutes for Ye Chong’s group to fill up completely.

“Alright, folks, we would proceed with the stage. The consortium had assigned staffs to escort all the groups to their respective site. The instructors would then lead all trainees to the training ground. So, the instructors can now meet with their trainees. Should you have any inquiries, please come see me. I hope we would have a fruitful and joyful training here,” Senda sounded relieved. He was apparently feeling uneasy of such atmosphere.

“Follow me,” said one workman hurriedly coming from the other end. He and the other members were on standby for the escorting session.

Ye Chong responded with a nod and quickly followed. Nothing happened at the meeting room affected him actually. He was preoccupied with the unique interface of his new mech. He had been thinking the workarounds of dishing out the most damage, so he was silent the whole time.

“Well, yeah, tsk, you have been looked down,” said Shang, with an inhibited dissatisfaction. Shang was never the humanitarian with a heart of gold, it was rare to hear Shang speaking with such a tone.

“Look… down? I don’t care where they placed their eyes?” Ye Chong was not sure what Shang meant since he had never bothered to observe the meeting room.

“Not that. They are seeing nothing in you, not even your strength.”

“Oh…” Ye Chong finally comprehended the new phrase, “That’s good? Why must I have them seeing something in me? I don’t want their attention?”

Well, Ye Chong had a point. He would be better off being the unnoticed boy in the group. Shang could not really counter that argument.

“Mhm…” Shang was taking a different approach, “You are right of what you’ve said. But they aren’t paying much for us to last here you know. We need more money and you know that. At this rate we might be stuck in Gray Valley for good.”

“Right,” nodded Ye Chong, “You have a point.” Based on the information they had obtained from the virtual world, the consortium had the few exits under their enforcement, the strictest one too. It appeared to be no one could pass through the pathway without permit, not even a space rock, while only those cargos from He Yue could get the certificate of permission. Those merchants owning those cargos did not have an easy time either, as they had to undergo heavy inspections before they could reach the other side of the world. It came to both Mu and Ye Chong’s agreement that they were going to stay in Gray Valley for quite some time.

Since they would very likely be stuck for the next few months, the problem proposed by Shang would truly be a problem in no time. Ye Chong was very well-aware how it would be a trapping horror without gold in his pocket.

“They would be determining your pay based on the number of trainees who passed the final examination, and certainly the strength of these trainees too. Well, they are rather generous on that side of the payment.”

“I understand,” said Ye Chong flatly, as he caught the underlying meaning.

When Ye Chong had arrived at the site for Group No. 25, the trainees were already there, whose eyes were mostly, as one had guessed, filled with the disdain as if towards the filthiest dirt on their planet.

“Would you like to have a word? Or proceed with the training directly?” asked the worker.

“To the training ground.” Ye Chong was the decisive kind who held the virtue of “less talk, more work”.

“Hah!” One voice came from the group, “With your standards, I’m better off as the teacher. Shameless.”

“Right?”

“Who are you to teach us?” The students were seemingly reluctant to be taught by this air-headed bum from nowhere.

The working man was finding the situation awkward as he never foresaw such dramatic reaction.

Ye Chong stared at the bunch of noisy kids in their early puberty.

“What? Want a piece of me? Hahahaha!” The trainees were laughing as the fiasco intensified.

Ye Chong frowned, he was enraged not because of the humiliations, but the lack of action, time-wasting behavior of these young trainees. He could tolerate everything other than wasting time. He felt the need to take action, in order to cease such ridiculous waste of time.

Ye Chong’s step crushed the ground as he vanished.

Xi Qing, who was watching Ye Chong at the dark corner, had his heart raced. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, he was sweating as heat raided his throat.

Could it be?

His premonition was proven right as soon as he heard that loud cracking sound coming from the loudest guy in the group.

And the fuzzy silhouette of the instructor regained its structure.

Am I seeing things?

Xi Qing rubbed his eyes. His face was cold.

The guy was now in the instructor’s hand, passing out. He was the one who started the entire angry mob attack.

What?

Xi Qing could feel a never-before-experienced chillness crawling his back.

He could not believe how his eyes failed to capture the instructor’s speed. He did not manage to observe every gesture of this instructor. He did not even know how the instructor did the back-and-fro seizing. It was as if a giant skip of multiple animation frames in between.

The rascal might have started the commotion, but he was not the ordinary street bullies one would see on the street. He and the others were capable of joining the consortium training after all. These rebellious young men and women were potent to a certain extent.

The commotion died off the moment the youngsters saw their new classmate resting in the cradle of the devil. They could not remember an actual thing of the incident just now. They only could recall a shadow flashing by. The instructor soon grew alarming in the eyes of these trainees as clearly the instructor could take them out before they knew a thing.

The worker was dropping his jaw.

“Move,” instructed Ye Chong, with a glance as he walked towards the training ground with the fainted trainee in his hands.

They had to cooperate, unless they wanted to leave the world before adulthood.

Meanwhile Xi Qing was experiencing a boiling excitement in him after the sheer cold fear Ye Chong gave him. He knew he was right! He betted the right person! Expectation filled his head, as he wondered how much more surprise the instructor could bestow him.

Contrary to the other groups who were making bubbly, happy go lucky screams in their training ground, Ye Chong’s group was brewing wordless, dust-rolling intensity on the field. The other groups were sending mockery through their eyes upon finding out the center of the dullest void being Group No. 25.

“This would be the training ground for your group from now on. The accommodation locates right nearby. It should fulfill most of your daily necessities. If you have any need, feel free to call me or contact Mr. Senda. Now, if you would kindly excuse me…” The escort seemed to have an utter change in his tone after the incident.

“Thank you. Take care,” replied Ye Chong concisely.

Ye Chong was pretty happy of the size. The training ground could easily accommodate the 20 trainees he had.

The trainees were observing their new overwhelming instructor carefully, with curiosity in some of them and passion in the others.

And they would all play the Red Light, Green Light game, quickly silenced themselves into obedience the moment Ye Chong turned to them.

They were holding their breath, with fright in their eyes.

“Oh?” Ye Chong remembered he was lifting a problem and there he dropped the fainted trainee.

Thump! The trainees could hear the horrible ending of Humpty Dumpty on their mate. The problematic trainee rubbed his eyes and appeared to be under his sleeping spell.

Ye Chong decided to provide assistance in breaking the spell.

Ye Chong clipped the sleepy trainee, his eyes searched for a safe landing point. There was a pool. A perfect target. And he gave a skillful toss, lobbing the trainee.

Splash!

The eyes of the trainees enlarged drastically as they had just observed an inhumane act coming from their new instructor. Imagine they were the walking sandbag instead!

“Ah!” The trainee was instantly waken by the cold water. He quickly crawled out of the pool and dawdled towards the group, with confusion and fear in his steps.

“In your line. 5…4…,” said Ye Chong.

The trainee began sprinting, as if losing the last bus in the night. He only regained his soul when he got back to the line.

Ye Chong was silent.

The training ground was silent.

The trainees were dead silent.

They would not want to anger this instructor a little. It was irony when they just called the instructor an airhead a second ago.

…

… …

The trainees were in fear of the never-ending silence, wondering if the instructor was planning the next diabolical execution to the misbehaved.

The reality? Ye Chong was discussing with Shang regarding the minimum amount of pay he would need in order to progress, with details on the approximate number of successful trainees.

ased on the detailed rules of payment determined by the consortium, both Shang and Ye Chong discovered that they would need at least 15 trainees to pass the examination or 7 of them with superior performance in order to attain the target income. That spelled a total challenge as it meant either the group became the top group in the entire course or both Shang and Ye Chong would have nothing. Well, if they managed to attain the target they would need not to worry of having an empty wallet for a long time, given that they did not have to pay like a king. There was also a specialized war machines given as one of the rewards by the consortium. Such model was a hard find in the market so Ye Chong could probably make a fortune out of it even if he did not intend to pilot it.

It came to a realization that Ye Chong’s job required commitment. The consortium would pay one handsomely assuming one managed to produce what the consortium wanted. And clearly within short term Ye Chong would not find any job with higher pay than this. Both of them agreed to this. Shang could not generate figurative funds from hacking the virtual world of Gray Valley, so it was not like those days where Ye Chong could get money from nowhere before.

15 trainees who passed the test .. or 7 of them who performed really well… Ye Chong took a glance at his students. His face was grim.

Most of these students had been trained to do battles from afar since childhood. A lot of issues would surely arise if Ye Chong conducted a melee training. It boiled down to habits eventually. They had been wired with techniques of being a pilot, they had been taught to fight with ranged weaponry.

It would not be simple to alter any habit.

Fortunately, these pilots did have a good foundation. They were capable of piloting mech skillfully, which was a relief to Ye Chong.

The trainees stood obediently in front of the grim instructor, as silence magnified their heartbeats.

“Now, I want you all to deploy your own mech and complete the obstacle course,” said Ye Chong, pointing at the obstacles far ahead. “One by one,” he continued.

So these trainees deployed their mechs. In no time the training field became a giant parking lot of mechs. Ye Chong could see mechs in all sorts of color and shapes. His eyes did catch a few to his favor. He used to pilot the aged rusty Winnie back on Trash Planet-12 everyday, bearing with the worn out seat and the glitchy interface. These youngsters were lucky to be born with a silver spoon, or… at least not born among the trash.

Ye Chong walked till the very end of the line, only to find out that all of these mechs were ranged units. It did not sound feasible to run a melee training class when they were running with firearms and launchers. He eventually prompted the training plan provided by the consortium and discovered that all melee units had been sent to the frontline recently. There was no close-combat model left and for the trainees Ye Chong had to order a new batch of mechs, probably borrowed from somewhere else owned by the consortium.

And it would take 5 days for the mechs to arrive.

“You,” Ye Chong pointed his finger at Xi Qing and said, “You would be the monitor from now on, watch the trainees on my behalf.”

Ye Chong had noticed Xi Qing from the beginning since he was the only student who was calm and silent the whole time. The dramatic nature of a child in puberty was nowhere to be found on him.

“Yes, sir,” Xi Qing accepted the assigned position which stirred envy among the other trainees.

“Start the obstacle course.”

The mechs booted and zoomed towards the starting point one after another. They accelerated over the open pathway and decelerated to make perfect dodge through the obstacles. Ye Chong was impressed. These trainees were exceptional in piloting, much greater than the average pilots in the 5 major galaxies.

Nevertheless, Ye Chong frowned, realizing that these trainees needed no close-combat models but a better physique. Their vitality could last fine in ranged battles. But when it came the clashes of iron fists, they were fragile. Constant collision and thrust were typical in mech-brawling. A pilot could still be worn down quickly under the protection of hydraulic system.

These trainees would not be able to handle it. Well, naturally it was because their physique had yet undergone a complete puberty. So Ye Chong checked out the facilities in the field. Within the next few minutes, he got an idea.

“Okay, off your mechs now.”

“Go there.”

“Grip the handle.”

“Yes. Now do as I count.”

…

… …

“Hah…,” Xi Qing rubbed his sore arms, he could feel his limbs falling off after the few days of training that felt like a walk down the hellish path. They were given heavy trainings, nonchalantly by the inhumane instructor. The list of training just increased uncontrollably while his face remained as expressionless. No one dared to speak up.

They did power training the first session, then reflexibility training the second and reaction training the third…

And Xi Qing once thought he was given harsh trainings since he was born. The term “harsh training” had been given a whole new definition after the past few days. It was tough, that he actually blanked out as he ran the pavement. He thought he was becoming a mech. A fully mechanized athlete. They had a quota, regarding the number of training they had to fulfill and people were training dead.

They were convinced that the instructor would listen to nothing else than performance, judging from his surprising act on the first day of the course. The air-headed instructor was one destructive hulk as convinced by the time he took to complete their training. The instructor took only half of the time they did to complete the training.

He was not the babysitting kind of instructor as he would leave the group at the center and pick one corner to conduct his training. That was when a few of them thought they could take some short breaks themselves.

But little they knew that, the instructor knew it. He was one with the eyes of Odin and managed to identify the slackers to chastise them. Yes, it was severe to an extend that it sent them chills simply from thinking it.

The instructor probably nearly committed several murders on one day, sworn by every trainee who witnessed the scene of “punishment”. They almost heard the siren of the ambulance wailing when they perceived the strange cracks coming from those students who turned flappy on the ground afterwards. They had recognized the cruelty of this instructor. There would be no tolerance towards misbehaving students from him.

They spent the next few days in panic, fearing that they would enrage the instructor.

The special training designed by the instructor had been lethargically repetitive. It looked simple, with only a few moves to be conducted… for the rest of the day of course. A gazillion times it felt. None of them actually fell out of the line surprisingly.

Their tenacity shocked Ye Chong as well, especially when he knew he had 3 female trainees in the line. He was expecting the females, whose vitality was genetically lower than the males, to collapse the first yet they managed throughout the entire course. He did not have them in his top 15 potential successful trainees at the beginning but now… perhaps he would need to reconsider.

Hmm…

Ye Chong had been quite busy the last few days too. He did not only carry out his own training but also pieced together the designing concept of the strange mech, particularly its interface, the efficient way to use it. Once he got the heck of it, he improved dramatically on his control. The layout was actually not an utter mess on the triangular interface. There was a sense of logic behind.

So Muscle Man had gotten less graceless, as both strength and dexterity were fully demonstrated under Ye Chong’s control. The boys and girls were fascinated by his improvement. They had never imagined a boulder to be able to move with such agility, as if they were watching a ballet performed by an elephant. It did not make sense but it just happened. The instructor was moving like a baby in the mech a few days ago, and now he was moving like an assassin from one corner to another.

They had stopped doubting the instructor’s profession. They were fully convinced by it. The air-headed instructor was no longer air-headed to them. He had ascended as an unspoken legend, well-respected by the trainees who felt pumped conducting his training.

The first phase of his training course had ended. Ye Chong was astonished by the commitment of these trainees who had completed everything from A to Z. He acknowledged the difference in terms of standards between pilots of Gray Valley and others from the outside. These pilots from the Gray Valley were far more superior than all those so-called heroic young pilots he faced back in 5 major galaxies.

Well, Ye Chong could not observe much changes on his trainees’ physique. It was expected since the physical training would be carried out throughout all phases of the course. But he knew that these trainees had changed, their physique had certainly improved to certain extend, at least ready for a mortal combat.

The mech units Ye Chong ordered had already arrived for quite some time, while the other groups had already initiated their pilot training.

“Very well, we would be conducting mech training today.” Ye Chong could hear the squeak of excitement coming from the trainees the moment the keywords were uttered. They were going to make a leap of joy but their feet jerked upon seeing the expressionless instructor.

Kids were still kids… after all.

Sighed Ye Chong, seeing the blatant smiles on the children.

They were good pilots yet they remained as a group of undisciplined children. Compared to the Sangs, Ye Chong could not talk battle spirit or fighting will or the royalty of being a soldier serving their own survival. Back on those days, he would only need to give a word then the Sangs would conduct the training themselves. Well he could not expect much. They were children and they were not meant to be made into soldiers. Also, Ye Chong’s training course was too packed to include discipline training.

“Now, in line, take your new mech,” said Ye Chong upon leading them to the storage.

The machines were glowing in cold metallic colors, like a line of resting beast awaiting for release. The trainees could feel the whispering growls from the lifeless machinaries.

“Wait! That’s D-6!!” screamed one of the trainees.

mech was usually meant for combats – treading the war field, firing missiles and lasers to annihilate the enemies – unless it was a non-combat model, a more commercialized unit, like an engineering model for example, instead of weaponry it was “armed” with ore detecting mechanism as well as the other devices; the maintenance model was equipped with professional maintenance tools and was meant to repair all sorts of damage on a mech or a spaceship. There was also the rescue units which, as the name suggested, was created for rescuing wandering pilots sending SOS signals.

There were a good array of professional models yet most people associated mech with combats, which was true to a certain extent. It was always war the mechs created in the galaxies but well, similar to the professional models, there were different kinds of warring models in the market. There were ranged units, melee units, supportive units, crowd control units, short-ranged assassinating units and so on. The list could go forever.

Most of these units could serve well in a battlefield. But there was hardly any of them which was made for pure massacre that lived up to the “less on the fancies, more on the blood” spirit – a mere killing machine with simplistic design, which would make the other advanced models look like the Knock-Down Hitman. Usually the real killing machine could only be seen in the dark, under development of well-funded organizations and would not show up at the war field easily. It was the monster, furnished with irregular weaponry, the questionable weapons threatening to all civilizations, which stirred up debates upon introduction.

It was uncommon at the market even in Gray Valley, let alone the 5 major galaxies, not even the war-competitive society in He Yue galaxy had such model flying around freely.

As the introduction led, D-6 came into your imagination. Yes, as you would have guessed, D-6 was the model, a true, pure murdering model. The concept of its design had always revolved about maximizing destruction.

“D-6. A humanoid melee attacking model, fast in both mobility and reaction, created solely for the combative members of the consortium.”

The brief introduction was confusing to Ye Chong. There was nothing helpful in the one-liner. Well, he was a mech artisan, a mech maker, he needed no manual to pilot D-6. His understanding was far more in-depth than the others, that he could identify the capabilities of the unit at first glance.

Ye Chong was a little astounded, as he did identify the complete bloodthirstiness in the design. The designer, to pursue greater mobility, forsook a portion of the mech’s protection capacity. The cabin exterior was flimsy, that Ye Chong doubted if its pilot ever survived in the missile shower. The offense was different too. Unlike most melee attackers, it was not holding an alloy sword but a pair of knives – made out of unique minerals, with an ominous curve. There was no shield, as mentioned, a weaker defense. An all-out offensive unit with additional mechanisms hidden somewhere on the body. Ye Chong had yet figured them out but surely those were not meant for salvation.

Ye Chong realized something when he looked at D-6.

What would these trainees become?

They would probably end up at the war field anyway.

Ye Chong was not being sentimental but somehow there was something heavy in his chest. The design of the mech was radical yet it was a superior unit in fact. The catch was, it was not meant for beginners, it would require a more exceptional, experienced handling or it would only drive the pilots to destruction itself, before creating any. Ye Chong would not be convinced that there was nobody, in the entire well-established researching organization, who had realized the problem that they should not provide a D-6 to a bunch of children in the early puberty. Ironically, there he was, with his bunch of children in their early puberty, standing by a line of D-6s.

They probably needed more force, and they needed it fast.

Ye Chong shook his head. That was never his problem, neither it was part of his decision. “Take your mech, pick any,” he said before he left the room. “Xi Qing, watch your classmates.” The students seemed really eager to try.

He sauntered on the empty training ground, as his ears perceived fading heyhoos probably from his trainees who just got their new toys. He stopped at one random point and sat on the ground. His eyes were lifted upon the murky day, his soul wandered somewhere.

…

…(Meanwhile)…

Xi Qing was caressing his new D-6 in simmering exhilaration. From today onwards, he would be the sole owner of this unit. He was not one who was born with a silver spoon. His first mech was a birthday present from his uncle 5 years ago. He had always wanted a brand new mech of his own. He trained hard since he was much younger. He was a quick-learner so he performed much better than the majority of his age despite the more inferior model he possessed.

The motive he participated this training course was simple. He was eyeing the rewards. One of the scarcity would also be scarce of options. The consortium offered a lot, the consortium would be his only hope to ascend into something. The entry requirement of the consortium recruitment was harsh, that one should give up if one was an average resident in the Gray Valley.

So Xi Qing was enthralled when he saw the recruitment announcement. Certainly his strength was incompetent compared to the adults but he considered himself exceptional enough to have at least caught the authority’s attention. And yes, he was right, he passed the entry test. He was almost there. He would embark on his career working in the top-notch organization after this training! He knew, the recruited would eventually be in the war field. It was never a white-collar occupation to begin with.

It was a treacherous path. But his heart, the will of a youth, thirsted for an adventure, advancement, an opportunity to mark down his own history!

It would be worth, regardless of the danger threatening his life out there. Xi Qing believed so his hands stroke the machinery. D-6 was standing there soundlessly yet it seemed to breathe homicides. It was love at first sight for Xi Qing when Ye Chong lifted the gate of the storeroom.

Xi Qing might not have the money to shop at the mech market but he had professional understanding of it and absolutely he recognized to what category the D-6 belonged immediately. “The consortium is sure generous in this. They actually gave trainees a D-6!” whispered Xi Qing in exclamation. The consortium produced all types of mechs but they would not put everything on sale for the public, like D-6 which was purely for their own army. It was efficient in destruction, though not as notorious as the other known units, well-recommended by most experienced pilots. In the black market, the price of a D-6 could probably purchase a dozen of planets or a bag of dwarf planets. The letter “D” meant nothing else than Death, not exclusive to the foes clearly.

“Everyone, on your mech, the training ground. Three minutes!” said the instructor coldly through the communicator.

And they leaped into the cabin clumsily upon waking up from their daydream.

20 D-6s formed themselves into 4 tidy lines on the training field. It looked like a great formation of war field, except it appeared like a silly parking lot to Ye Chong the war savvy. He could identify a range of openings in this slightly rectangular formation, as he stood at the front in Muscle Man.

“Into 4 teams. From today onwards you’ll remain in your current line. Other than the daily physical training, I’ll also conduct lectures on mastering this mech you are piloting,” said Ye Chong.

The trainees were excited. They had been bored by the repetitive physical training to death. And there was finally a change.

Klink! A loud noise interrupted Ye Chong.

The wall behind Ye Chong was cracking and falling.

“Watch out!” shouted one trainee who perceived the premonition.

A dusty mech emerged from the rubble and zoomed towards the instructor. Nobody could react in time, other than the real soldier in the field.

Ye Chong was far more experienced than all the trainees in fights. The moment he heard the clinking and thumping he had already laid his eyes on the projection. Muscle Man was indeed an experiment unit, but it was creation of probably a genius. The detection on the unit was impeccable. It might be a failure by the consortium but it was an expensive, exceptional failure.

Ye Chong knew there was a mech coming for him.

It was a D-6. And it was not a raid, judging from its orbit. It looked more like a machinery going out of control.

Ye Chong had two options. Th first would be to make a simple dodge. That would be undesirable as the mech would crash into the formation of his trainees after he made the dodge and escaped the accident professionally. None of his trainees would be able to dodge in time.

So he was left with the second option.

Muscle Man drew a half-circle with its right leg, leading to a twist and a sink to the earth. The mechanical structure descended with the arms slightly curved over its body, leaving the two giant palms open at the sides.

Ye Chong expressionlessly added more commands.

Now!

Afterimages of his hands slid over the interface.

Crash!

The uncontrollable D-6 crashed into the hand of Muscle Man.

An accident would happen soon.

D-6 first collided with the right hand. The conservation of momentum had dented every part of the palm. Muscle Man immediately held the bottom of D-6 with its left hand.

The engines of both its arms were launched straightaway. The mechanical legs were exerting greater strength on the ground which burst into splattering mud as the legs submerged.

“Ah! Ahhh!” The pilot of D-6 felt a jerk and an uplifting force and began screaming in fear. D-6 then zoomed through the small gap and past Muscle Man’s back.

There was another mech! Ye Chong was shocked as he saw a mech rapidly approaching in the detection system.

Such speed. Ye Chong squinted his eyes, trying to make out the appearance of the mech. But it was too fast, he could only perceive the red color.

Was that a raid?

Muscle Man withdrew its legs and its arms reformed into a battle position, like a mechanical jaguar, ready to pounce.

e Chong watched emotionlessly as the mech closed in on him. He was ready to launch his attack once his opponent was within range. However, to his surprise, the mech spread its wings and swooped up, grazing past Ye Chong’s head.

What was that about? Ye Chog looked at the rapidly climbing mech, unable to comprehend the pilot’s intention. Muscle Man could only fight on the ground, and was useless in aerial battles. Still, Ye Chong prepared himself. Muscle Man’s right leg pushed backwards, and the mech leapt forward and turned around, adjusting its position.

The anticipated aerial attack did not occur. The mech in the sky changed its course and flew towards the damaged D-6.

The mech was quick, and caught on to D-6 soon enough. Its two mechanical arms rested lightly on D-6, then its wings angled to make a U-turn in the air, and the two mechs ended up landing somewhere not far from Ye Chong.

“So it’s going to rescue D-6,” Ye Chong thought to himself. After ascertaining that the mech was not hostile, Ye Chong resumed a more neutral stance.

Now, he could finally examine the mech that appeared out of nowhere. It was in gold and light red, giving off a feeling of elegance and magnificence. The mech’s body was slim and well balanced, with a strong sense of femininity. The wings on its back were composed of small and colorful feather pieces, like a pair of rainbow wings. The left arm had a diamond shaped shield, while a laser sword’s hilt was secured to its right leg, near the knee.

It was rare to see protective fins on close range mechs. Usually, protective fins were used for to stabilize atmospheric flight, and long range mechs would definitely benefit from them. For close range mechs, however, large and vulnerable fins would become easy target. Besides, since close range mechs were built to be physically stronger, they were often much heavier than long range mechs. The mech in front of Ye Chong was clearly designed for long ranged combat.

This long range mech was actually used for close range combat. Ye Chong could already guess who it was – it must be one of the instructors from a nearby training ground. D-6 should be piloted by one of the instructor’s students.

“I’m so sorry. My student lost control of his mech and interrupted your group, please accept my humblest apologies,” a pleasant female voice said.

“Oh, it’s alright,” Ye Chong replied calmly. It was as he expected.

“I am Group 16’s instructor, Shen Ruxue. I don’t know your name yet. Perhaps you’ll accept my invitation to dinner as re-compensation,” from the mech’s audio broadcast came a mellow female voice. All of Ye Chong’s students who overheard her looked jealous of him. Shen Ruxue had gathered the most attention amongst all the instructors, since she was the only woman instructor, and a beautiful one at that. Many students were eager to join her group, but before they could, the 16 spots were snatched up very quickly.

Ye Chong looked at the time, and declined, “Sorry, I’m busy.” In fact, he was getting rather impatient. His entire training schedule was jam packed, there was no time to spare. Now, this instructor from Group 16 was saying all these useless words. To him, it was just a waste of time.

“A pretty lady!” A joyful voice appeared in Ye Chong’s mind. Ye Chong sighed inside. As expected, she had gotten Shang’s attention! He knew that Shang was far more interested in beautiful women than he was, and could be very stubborn about them. More importantly, Shang’s blabbering never failed to tire his listeners, and even Ye Chong could not take him on.

“Wah, Ye, it’s a real pretty lady. Heavens, finally, something interesting in this dark existence of ours! Yes, her measurements, body shape, weight, it’s all in my archive now. Ye, she’s asking you out for dinner, what an opportunity, go for it! Why not?” Shang was practically shouting in excitement.

Ye Chong kept his mouth shut and ignored Shang.

Shen Ruxue did not expect that Ye Chong would reject her. She was slightly taken aback, but quickly replied with some anger in her tone, “I see, you don’t think I’m worthy. Then consider my invitation a shameless attempt. Goodbye!” With that, she lifted that damaged D-6 and took off, flying towards a neighbouring training ground.

“Sigh, Ye, don’t be so rigid! Wow, look at these numbers, it’s wonderful, her measurements are almost perfect, she’s definitely first class!” Ye Chong could imagine Shang shaking his huge mechanical head, blinking his blue bionic eyes erratically as he muttered indulgently.

A thin smile appeared on Ye Chong’s lips, but he ignored the mech still, and focused on his new students.

“Everyone, get familiar with your mechs. You must at least pass Level 3 of the directional change arena.”

Ye Chong’s cold voice echoed across the training ground. All his students gathered themselves and quickly moved their D-6’s towards the directional change arena, forgetting whatever nonsense ideas they were having.

“Ye, what do you think about that Shen Ruxue’s capabilities?” Shang knew exactly how to gain Ye Chong’s attention.

As expected, Ye Chong began to rewind his memory to what happened earlier. He thought about it for a moment and replied confidently, “She’s good. But I don’t know what else her mech was capable of.” Ye Chong may not have fought against her before, but he could still tell that Shen Ruxue was a top notch mech pilot.

“I see, such a competent pilot. Ye, you have to watch out,” Shang switched the topic so quickly that Ye Chong though it odd.

“Why?”

“She’s strong, much stronger than her initial performance suggests. Besides, I suspect that she’s trying to get closer to you,” Shang analyzed calmly, unlike his usual exaggerative self.

“Trying to get closer to me?” Ye Chong was shocked.

“Yes. I noticed something before the accident occured. Hehe, that pretty girl was having a practice battle with that D-6. That D-6 lost its balance because of a direct attack from her. They were about 571 meters from the perimeter fence when it happened. With her skills, she was definitely capable of stopping the D-6 before it crashed into the fence. However, she let the D-6 went down anyway. This means that she’s planning something.” Shang sounded so cold and calculative now that Ye Chong thought he sounded like Mu.

“Why would she do that?” Ye Chong stroked his chin, deep in thought.

However, Shang replied irresponsibly, “How would I know?” Then, he suggested slyly, “Sigh, Ye, talk to her when you have the chance, what’s the harm in that, hehe …”

Ye Chong was completely unmoved by Shang’s suggestion, and returned to his job.

Ever since the wall fencing was damaged, no one came to repair it. Students from both groups kept quiet about the incident as well, and did not report it to admin. Of course, Ye Chong thought it was a bother to do such a thing, while his students hoped against hope for the wall to be torn down, so that both groups could train together! Strangely, no one from the other group reported the damaged fence to the staff as well.

Hence, the two groups began to interact more frequently. Mechs would occasionally be seen flying through the hole in the wall to meet their friends on the other side. Ye Chong did not bring up the issue. If his students followed his training schedule, he saw no reason to interfere with their personal time.

That was what Ye Chong believed in. He would practice with Muscle Man every day, and would often be the last one to leave the training ground. The students grew respectful of their reserved instructor. The man might not be particularly strong, but his determination alone was a rare quality. Of course, Ye Chong did not know that he had inspired his students. Ye Chong grew more and more familiar with Muscle Man, to the point where he knew that he would be able to win against the instructor in the sword-shield mech!

The students imagined that their instructor was like a monster machine that never tired. His training routine was always so dry, and his moves were too simple and straightforward. However, the instructor repeated his training every day for tens of thousands of times.

They did not know how strong their instructor was in combat, since they had never had combat training so far. Their instructor had only asked them to repeat the most simple exercises.

However, even these simple exercises nearly drove them crazy!

At first, they were asked to crash their D-6s right into some targets, and repeat the crashing until all their targets were destroyed.

This simple training became a torture to every student. They had to watch their target grow larger and larger in their eyes before crashing right into it. The fear involved was enough to make one hesitate. At first, many students would close their eyes at the last moment before they crash. Moreover, these high speed crashes were still dizzying despite the protection offered by the mech hydraulic suspension systems. Often the students would throw up violently right after they exit their mechs. However, their instructor was not known for mercy.

Done throwing up? Get back to crashing!

Even Xi Qing vomited all over himself, his face pale from the ordeal. This crashing training went on for three days, and the students crashed into their targets for many, many times. The fear that initially haunted them soon turned into numbness.

This crazy training shocked the students who came over the fence from Shen Ruxue’s group. It was quite some time before any of Group 16’s students dropped by for a visit.

After the first step in their training, they were asked to fly their D-6s at high speed towards a target, make a turn when reaching 3 meters away from the target, then slash out with a sword and hit said target. What Ye Chong asked for was simple – sufficiently high speed and accuracy in hitting the target. Sufficiently high speed referred to the maximum speed of the D-6. Accuracy in hitting the target meant hitting no further than 10 centimeters off center.

The training was so difficult that the students could only gape in disbelief. Most of them cursed their insane instructor quietly. Who in the galaxy would fight against an enemy at their maximum speed? After all, the faster a mech was moving, the harder it was to pilot it. 10 centimeters? Were their enemies going to be flies?

However, upon seeing their instructor’s apathetic expression, the students braced themselves for this impossible training.