Legend of the Supreme Soldier - Chapter 531

he millennia old Su City was now in a period of instability. Rumours of the King’s passing were hotly discussed amongst the common people. No one knew who started the rumours, but it was now circulating around the city. Sun Sieha’s return to the capital yesterday seemed to bring some truth to the rumours. Everything that was happening seemed to be related to this unconfirmed news.

Prince Sun had rushed to the Royal Palace soon after he reached the capital yesterday, and had not left since. The people of Eastern Cloud loved their King, Ze Sieha, father to Prince Sun. Ze’s reign was transparent and efficient. Under his rule, the country had prospered and grown stronger, threatening to topple Southern Land’s position as the strongest country in the world.

By midday, the Royal Palace finally made an official announcement of the King’s passing. The people mourned. Citizens of Su City put whitebell flowers on their person as a sign of grieving. Everywhere on the streets, the people looked mournful, wearing a tiny whitebell flower on their chest.

It was a busy and chaotic day. The new King would ascend the throne on the same day as the former King’s passing, as was Eastern Cloud’s tradition. There was no dispute on who should inherit the throne, as Sun Sieha was the only Prince and heir. He would lead his people and continue forward.

The people were sad, but they were also hopeful for the future of their country. No one doubted the capabilities of Prince Sun, or rather, His Majesty the King. He was widely respected by those in the army and the government, and also the common people.

Nonetheless, not everyone shared this optimism, especially the older government councillors. The old King was kind and merciful, but the new king was entirely different. He had served in the military when he was young, and even today, still had control over a majority of the country’s armies. He was stern and decisive, with very little hesitation for violence and killing. Besides, his ruthlessness was a cause of wariness for the councillors.

After Sun Sieha was crowned King, the instability in Su City gradually dissipated. Su City reverted back to its daily hustle and bustle, unhindered by the sudden change in power, just as the old King had wished for.

On this seemingly ordinary day, a new era of ruling had begun.

Ye Chong wondered the streets of Su City, with Ba Luomeng as his guide. Trailing behind him was his only student, Kristen, and the Level 8 shooter who had been assigned to him, Sha Ya.

Ever since witnessing the fierce battle that day, Kristen behaved like a completely different person in front of Ye Chong. She was obedient and never acted arrogantly in front of Ye Chong again. Ye Chong was unused to her mannerism at first, but since Kristen would be less likely to cause trouble this way, he chose to let her be.

Kristen’s quietness, Sha Ya’s seriousness and Ye Chong’s characteristic indifference made them look like the coldest trio ever existed.

How long had it been since Ba Luomeng acted as a tour guide? He could not recall exactly, but it might be 20 years ago, or was it 30? To ensure that his honoured guests were satisfied, he had even brought along a younger servant, Man, with him. He had not felt like leading the tour himself at first, since he was already quite old, but in the end he could not get over worrying about the guests, and went along with them.

Perhaps because the strict, old butler was with them, Man started off being a little awkward. However, he slowly opened up and spoke with more enthusiasm and humour. Kristen giggled at his antics, narrowing her eyes into a smile. Even the ever serious looking Sha Ya could not help but smiled. Man was just over 20 years old. He had a strong body and a witty character. Growing up in the streets of Su City, he was familiar with its every twist and turn, making him the best tour guide one could hope for.

Ye Chong found something strange about the place. There were rarely any aircrafts in Su City. Upon inquiring, he found out that the area above Su City was restricted airspace. All aircrafts must land or take off at the landing field outside the city. If they entered the city’s airspace by mistake, they could well be shot down by the city’s aerial defence system.

The first thing to do was to find a place to settle down, only then can Ye Chong plan his future in earnest. He had a rough idea of what to do, but there were many details that he needed to think on. Without Mu/Shang by his side, there was no one else to help him. He must take care of everything himself.

Sun Sieha’s former Royal accommodation was not uncomfortable, but Ye Chong thought it safer to find a place of his own.

Ba Luomeng may not be an outstanding tour guide, but his status in the community of nobles and aristocrats was unquestionable. Soon, he was able to gather a list of people who were interested in selling their house or land.

Ba Luomeng did not cross the line of his duties. He only asked Ye Chong for details the property such as house and land size, but not the purpose of his venture.

“I have what you asked for,” Ba Luomeng bowed respectfully and reported, “You had asked for a wide piece of land, and a quiet and peaceful environment. There are many manors like these around Su City. There are currently 13 who were interested in selling. Here are the top three. If you think they’re not suitable, please wait for a few days as we will have more information by then.

“The first manor is located south of Su City, right beside a river with an excellent view. It belongs to the Count of Sware. Price estimate puts it at around 50 million. It’s about a hundred kilometres from Su City. The second manor is located at the border of Su City. The house was built by a sculptor, then sold at a high price to Sir Bikki. It has a rather unique architecture, with a valuation price of about 80 million.”

Ba Luomeng took a quick glance at Ye Chong, saw him listening intently, then cleared his throat and continued, “The third one is located to the north of Su City. It is the furthest away, at about 300 kilometers from the capital. The land area for this manor is also the largest. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and is the most affordable of the three. You can purchase it for about 15 ao. Besides, you will also gain ownership of the land around the manor, which is about 25 square kilometres in area.”

Good views, pleasant architecture and the like did not interest Ye Chong. In the end, he chose the third one. Being the furthest from Su City, it would also allow him to stay as far away from the complicated place as possible.

From the books he read, he understood that the capital would always be complicated. He was not weak and helpless now, but he still needed time to figure out ways to fight against his enemies.

From the games that he had played with Mu/Shang, Ye Chong learned that if he stood out before making sure he had the strength to back his play, failure would be a very likely outcome. Instead of doing that, he should focus on lying low and finding more effective ways to best his enemies.

Once, Ye Chong had fought in a very straightforward and simple manner. With his superior combat skills and Mu/Shang as his backup, he had managed to survive more than a few close calls.

As Ye Chong grew more experienced, he became more appreciative of strategizing. The one event that truly convinced him of this was when he had to lead his fleet to survival. Whether it was in real life situations or in the game that Ye Chong played with Mu/Shang, he had to force himself to change his methods. One would always grow fastest when through actual experience.

There must always be room for change. Ye Chong did not have a rigid mindset. He had realized that there could be easier ways to tackle the same problem. This realization helped him a lot. Whenever he was facing a problem, he would always ask himself if there was a better solution to it.

Nevertheless, despite his continuous personal growth, Ye Chong’s innate personality made him inclined towards more aggressive methods.

…

When Sun Sieha finished with Ba Luomeng’s report, he broke into a smile. He immediately gave the order for Ba Luomeng to assist with Ye Chong’s purchase.

“Now this is definitely not on me, it’s all your doing,” Sun Sieha thought to himself. He had been vexed by the problem of controlling Ye Chong, but now he just felt like laughing out loud. Behind him, a map laid open, showing the location of Ye Chong’s manor of choice. Close beside it was a marking that represented a military camp.

…

Ba Luomeng received his orders from Sun Sieha and worked even more cautiously. He had only been giving a routine report to the King. He could understand how busy His Majesty must be right now, newly ascended to the throne, with many important matters to see to. Hence, when Ba Luomeng received a direct order from Sun Sieha , he was very much surprised.

“See to it immediately.” The order was simple, but as a long time servant of Sun Sieha, Ba Luomang could tell that His Majesty placed great importance in this matter.

Once again, he was struck by curiosity of the honoured guest. Who was he, to warrant so much attention from the King?

Ba Luomeng worked efficiently. He completed all the necessary paperwork for Ye Chong’s purchase on that day itself.

As the actual buyer of the manor, Ye Chong could appreciate deeply how very much more expensive the manor was compared to houses in Yedda City. Fortunately, the deal included the 25 square kilometres of land around the manor.

The owner’s gratefulness having completed the transaction seemed a little odd to Ye Chong.

All of this was too unfamiliar to him. He could barely understand how a transaction worked. Besides, Ba Luomeng’s demonstrated expertise convinced Ye Chong that he should just let the butler deal with the matter.

Now that he owned a house of his own, Ye Chong did not want to stay in Sun Sieha’s place any longer. He, Kristen, Sha Ya and the manor’s former owner bid farewell to Ba Luomeng and flew off to the property of interest.

Since he could not use Celest, Ye Chong had to fly with Sha Ya in her fighter once again. Kristen had her own fighter, but it was far inferior compared to Sha Ya’s fighter.

This was also Ye Chong’s first time seeing the landing field. The field was almost as large as an entire city. It was split into many different sections, which were used for landing or take-off. All round the landing field were rows of storehouses used to store the aircrafts. When shooters landed on the field, they would hand over their aircrafts to the landing field staff to store them, and retrieve the aircrafts themselves later.

Some rich families would even build their own miniature landing field in their own backyards.

Soon, Ye Chong found the manor he had purchased. Once he was here, he realized how large it actually was. The manor itself was about 15 square kilometres wide, built along the slope of a mountain, giving it an air of magnificence. Together with the land around it, the total land area was close to 40 square kilometres. As long as he was not building a large warship, the space was enough for him to do as he pleased.

There was a small landing field in the manor, which could accommodate up to 100 aircrafts. When they arrived at the place, the servants had already gathered by the landing field to welcome them.

Both buyer and seller finalized the transaction swiftly.

“Do you need them?” The former owner of the manor was a businessman. He pointed at the servants and asked Ye Chong respectfully. He would not dare to be rude towards this young man, since the official witness of their transaction was the former butler of His Majesty the King.

“No,” Ye Chong shook his head.

The businessman nodded, “I understand.” He had expected this. A man of his stature would not deign to hire his servants. The higher a person was up the social ladder, the higher the requirement for their servants.

The matter of servants had never crossed Ye Chong’s mind. He did not plan to hire any housekeepers here. Soon, all the servants were sent away by the former manor owner. As the businessman took his leave, the manor now lay huge and empty, like a lifeless palace.

Kristen and Sha Ya exchanged looks of bafflement. They did not understand what Ye Chong was thinking.

Du Feng was inspecting his soldiers in training. He walked past each of them with precise, measured steps. His eyes were sharp. None of the soldiers dared to look into them. His parapsychic sense covered the entire training ground, so that he would know if anyone was lazing around.

He was the highest ranking officer in this military camp, but he did not like to watch his soldiers from high above, in his office. Instead, he preferred to walk under the sun and monitor his soldiers up close.

Du Feng had a stern face that commanded respect. All the soldiers here respected and feared him, except for one – his second in command, Li Gui.

Li Gui was an easygoing man. He could chat up almost anyone, and was close to the soldiers in the camp. Li Gui had a close relationship with Du Feng. They had met each other during their freshman bootcamp. Later, they had fought side by side through numerous battles. Their friendship had strengthened because of their shared history.

“Old Du, Old Du, come here!” Li Gui waved at Du Feng from a shaded corner of the camp.

Du Feng took a sweeping glance at his new soldiers, and gave some orders to the training officer before heading towards Li Gui. Since he suffered a particularly heavy injury some time ago, Li Gui’s health never fully recovered. Hence, he had moved to a more secretarial position, working for Du Feng.

Du Feng never acted like he was Li Gui’s superior.

He walked to the shaded corner and felt refreshed. He sat down heavily beside Li Gui and said, “I say, Gui, it’s a very hot day today, why’d you come out all the here? Careful that you don’t go down on of a heatstroke, or your siblings will come bother me again.”

“Come on, don’t you tease me just because my body ain’t what it used to be two years ago. Don’t forget who could wipe the floor with your *ss once upon a time,” Li Gui looked at Du Feng with mock disdain.

Du Feng laughed dryly, “Look at you, so sensitive, I was only joking.” Indeed, Li Gui was once much stronger than Du Feng, but his physical condition had declined sharply ever since his injury.

Li Gui nodded towards the training ground and asked, “How’s the new batch?”

When it came to military matters, Du Feng turned serious. He replied with a look of concern, “They’re barely passable. I’ve found a huge problem with them.”

“What is it?” Li Gui asked.

“All the new soldiers in this batch have reached Level 4 in parapsychic control, but their physical condition is deplorable. Some of them would even faint because of standing under the sun for too long,” Du Feng said with a stern face.

“Well, that is a problem,” Li Gui nodded in agreement. This was a common issue with shooters in general. Shooters often focused on training their parapsychic sense, but not on their physique. This was especially obvious when screening for new soldiers. There were no requirements on the physical fitness of new recruits, as long as their parapsychic control was at least level 4. The problem of physical fitness was a long enduring one. Li Gui was one of its casualties. He was never particularly strong physically, so his injury had caused his abilities to decline sharply.

“What do you plan to do?” Li Gui asked.

Du Feng looked helpless. “What can I do? These freshies will have to be toughened up. I have to say, thought, these freshies like to complain about physical training, hehe.”

“Poor fellows,” Li Gui watched sympathetically at the new recruits carrying out their training.

“It has to be done. Better to suffer a bit now than to lose their lives later,” Du Feng commented, all pragmatism.

“Yeah,” Li Gui agreed with him. As soldiers who had been through actual war, they both knew it for a fact. Suddenly, Li Gui remembered something and muttered, annoyed, “All this chatting, and I’ve nearly forgotten about something important.”

“What is it?” Du Feng asked, curious.

Li Gui said, “You probably haven’t heard of it, but the nearby manor’s changed hands.”

“Changed hands? Who’s the new owner now?” Du Feng asked with interest, “Heh, that guy’s probably had enough of us and finally sold off his manor. I wonder which unlucky b*stard bought the place. Not that I’m ridiculing them, but that place, it’s quite suitable to build a military camp there, don’t you think? Why build a manor? However, it’s been quite a convenience for us too. Thanks to your idea of using that place for drilling exercises, we’ve saved quite a lot of expenses. Now that there’s a new owner in the house, I wonder who they are, where they come from, have you figure them out?”

Li Gui shook his head and replied, “No, but I heard that there are only three of them.”

“Three? That can’t be right,” Du Feng said in disbelief, “That place is worth at least 10 million ao, who would spend that much money just to come here and suffer? I know rich people, they all like to enjoy themselves. What’s there to do here for those three? Spending 10 million for a place in the middle of nowhere is just ridiculous.”

“I haven’t got the details yet, it sure feels like a strange deal. I think we should stay off their backs first, who knows if they’re related to someone high up? That businessman last time didn’t have any backing, that’s why he never so much as squeaked. These three, though, we should look into them first,” Li Gui suggested.

“No way!” Du Feng panicked, “The drilling sessions are all planned out. We’re not expanding the camp just yet, where else can we go for practise drills?” Li Gui and Du Feng had always arranged for drilling exercises to be held at the manor since there were more buildings there, and because the surroundings were more realistic. They had conducted a few nighttime infiltration exercises and counter infiltration exercises at that place with good results. Hence, Du Feng was adamant to make it their official training ground.

The former owner of the manor was only a normal businessman, who could not do anything against the arrogant and intimidating soldiers. Besides, the only problem the businessman would have was a lack of good sleep. There were never missing items, and no one was ever hurt in the manor. Hence, the former owner had refrained from complaining.

“Why don’t we get Lil’ San to have a look? Guy knows people like no one’s business, especially the nobles and aristocrats. If they’re really from upper society, he would recognize them,” Li Gui suggested after some thought. This Lil’ San that Li Gui mentioned was born a noble. He was sent to the military by his family because of his frequent wild adventures outdoors.

“Alright! Let’s do that!” Du Feng agreed immediately. He marched quickly towards the training ground and yelled out loud, “Ren San, fall out!”

A small and cunning looking man left his formation and followed Du Feng to meet Li Gui. Li Gui whispered by his ear as Ren San nodded occasionally, his eyes looking around eagerly.

After a moment, he left the military camp under the jealous looks of his fellow military comrades.

n the large and empty manor, Kristen and Sha Ya found themselves at a loss. They exchanged a sympathetic look before following Ye Chong from behind. Ye Chong ignored them both. He took his time going through every corner of the manor. When the tour was over, he already knew what to do. Building a stronghold was not a difficult task for him.

Even so, the operation would be quite extensive, and had to be done step by step. This place was much larger than his little courtyard. He could plan larger scale defences, but it would require much more work.

Sha Ya suddenly looked up, alert. “Someone’s here.” She was looking at the top a hill.

Ye Chong followed her gaze and saw three figures on the hill. They were very far away, making them hard to make them out. The figures seemed to be watching them. “A Level 8 shooter is so sensitive,” Ye Chong thought to himself, impressed.

“Do you know them?” Du Feng asked Ren San. He would not want to lose an excellent practice site for nothing. In fact, a military establishment like theirs did not lack funding to build their own training ground. However, Du Feng noticed that his soldiers, be it freshies or veterans, were always more alert and enthusiastic when they entered the manor. All the simulation grounds that they had built never quite had this effect. Du Feng was generously funded, but buying the manor would never be approved by his superiors. In any case, even he thought it was not really justified.

Ren San picked up his binoculars and watched for a long moment. Finally, he shook his head decisively and said, “Never seen them before. They’re all unfamiliar faces.”

“Could they be nobles from somewhere else?” Li Gui asked warily.

Ren San rejected his suggestion confidently, “Don’t seem like it. They’re clothes are too casual. No noble will dress like that. Besides, look at the way they walk, there’s no grace. If any noble dared to walk like that, they’d surely be dragged back to etiquette class.”

“So you’re saying they’re not any kind of noble or councillor?” Du Feng was feeling better already.

“Definitely not!” Ren San declared.

Du Feng and Li Gui exchanged smiles.

They did not see the moment when Sha Ya looked up and right at them. If they saw this, they would never have acted so carelessly. If the woman could sense them from so far away, she was surely …

…

“You’re in charge of security,” Ye Chong said to Sha Ya. Perhaps only someone like Ye Chong would ask a Level 8 shooter to protect his living quarters. However, Ye Chong thought it was his best option. A shooter was much more effective than holographic scanning in relatively short distances.

“Yes sir,” Sha Ya acknowledged solemnly. Now that Ye Chong was her master, she must carry out all his orders with absolute dedication. Besids, Sha Ya’s experience told her that those three figures must be planning something for them.

Ye Chong and Kristen began to clean up the manor, while Sha Ya took up her gun and patrolled the land.

The previous owner did not stay here long. This was obvious from the simple and shabby furniture. This made Ye Chong’s life easier, however, since he did not have to spend much time cleaning up the place.

Kristen looked at Ye Chong, flabbergasted. She had never seen anyone lift something that was hundreds of kilograms with one hand, carry it outside the house and easily flinging it more than 50 meters away.

Was this guy even human? Kristen looked a little discomfited.

Ye Chong worked like a machine, fast and efficient. Soon, he had emptied the building closest to him. Almost all the furniture were thrown out, leaving an empty house.

Kristen could not understand what Ye Chong was up to. Those were still serviceable furniture. Kristen’s heart ached whenever Ye Chong threw one out, smashing it into pieces.

This was a retro style building. Green creepers covered the outer walls of the house, giving the structure a touch of classical elegance. There were about 20 to 30 buildings like this on the manor’s land. This particular building was situated closest to the centre. Since the servants rarely came here, the place was covered with dust in every corner.

The building was a little fancy to his liking, and not sturdy enough, but Ye Chong was satisfied with is location. The building had its back facing the precipitous cliffs. He decided to make this his control centre.

However, all of the work will have to wait till tomorrow. Right now, he had no materials to build his weapons. All the equipment and items in Celest’s ring were too sensitive to bring out, since they were lightyears ahead of local technology. Without proper defences in place, he would not take them out.

Night came. The manor was far from the city, away from the electric lights and urban noise. Here, insects sang in the gentle breeze, bringing peace to the land.

Up on the hilltop, Du Feng said to Li Gui happily, “Hehe, looks like we got lucky. The newcomer’s not some untouchable person. We’ll just proceed as usual. Hehe, let’s welcome them with real action.”

Li Gui looked concerned, but seemed hesitant to speak up.

Du Feng noticed his expression. He patted Li Gui’s shoulder and said nonchalantly, “Don’t worry, even if they’re really some noble or other, nothing’s gonna happen. Do you think His Highness, no, His Majesty now, will really kill us all? We’ll just be forced to apologize or something, as long as we don’t go overboard. We can also take this opportunity to see if the new owner’s a toughy or some loser.”

Li Gui thought it over and felt comforted. He looked at Du Feng in surprise, “I never noticed that you’ve got so much brains in your head. That’s some planning ahead there.”

“Heh, I got that from you,” Du Feng looked pleased, but he tried to brush it off. Li Gui wanted to laugh at his antics. However, Du Feng’s next sentence quickly dissolved his good mood into bitter annoyance.

“However, if apology’s really in order, you’re the one who has to go. You’re shameless, and you’re smooth with words, who else better to represent us all?”

Soon, it was time to begin the drill session. Du Feng gathered himself and turned serious. He was always serious in carrying out their drill sessions. This was why he earned the trust of Sun Sieha.

“Begin!” Du Feng’s command sounded like a threat to the enemy, marking the beginning of their training. He would be at the hilltop, observing the entire exercise.

In the darkness, Sha Ya came out of her meditative state. She opened her eyes that gleamed with killing intent. Like a slippery fox, she stood up silently and picked up the laser gun by her knees.

She pushed open the door slowly, but was interrupted by a male voice from a dark corner, “Someone’s ambushing us.” Sha Ya nearly jumped up in surprise. She turned to look to the source of the voice.

It was Ye Chong. She exhaled deeply, reverting back to calmness.

Both of them exchanged a look without a word, only nodding once to each other. Immediately after that, Sha Ya was surprised to find that the man had simply vanished out of sight.

She composed herself, calming her mind. Then, she reached out with her parapsychic waves.

…

This was Lin Dai’s fifth nighttime drill session. By now, he knew his way around the manor, perhaps even better than the previous owner. He enjoyed training here. The thought of running around some noble’s house was exciting. He knew that his comrades shared the sentiment. Every time after their training, they would come together and talk about how the owner had to silently endure their trespassing. If they were lucky, they could even catch the sight of a female servant taking a bath.

Who would not like this wonderful place?

There were many large trees planted on the manor’s land. At night, the place was dark. The terrain was complicated due to the many buildings built on the land. They must stay alert at all times to avoid biting the dust. He was very experienced in this respect.

Lin Dai hid himself in the trees, his camouflage helping him blend into the surroundings. He had already spread out his parapsychic sense around him. If anyone entered his range, he would attack.

He was patient. In fact, all veterans were patient hunters, waiting for their prey.

Someone was coming!

An “enemy” entered his parapsychic sensing range. He drew his laser gun and fired without hesitation, hitting his target.

According to the rules, the soldier who was hit must leave the battleground immediately. The light beam from the gun was not harmful, but it would leave a mark where they were hit.

Lin Dai whistled quietly. Score! This meant that even if he were to be hit tonight, he would not lose any marks for tonight’s drilling session.

Bending over his waist, he began to move between the trees. He knew that the attack had exposed his location. He must quickly move to a new location.

Suddenly, a hand appeared from behind him and covered his mouth.

He wanted to scream. This was against the rules! He tried to remove the hand with his own, but the attacker’s hand did not budge. Before he could say anything, he felt a pain in his neck, and his vision went dark. He lost consciousness. The last thought in his mind was – who was this motherf*cker?

Ye Chong put the man down carefully. He did not look at the man again. That twist had broken the soldier’s neck, definitely.

Ye Chong did not care to ask for their purpose of being here. The way he saw it, there were not many reasons that could lead a group of fully armed shooters into his manor. He looked around for his next target.

Sha Ya shared his perspective. However, unlike Ye Chong, she noticed that these men were actualy soldiers! What were the soldiers doing here? Regardless, there was no reason for them to be here. This was private property. She had the right to defend this place. Others might be intimidated by the military, but not Sha Ya – she was a Level 8 shooter, at the top of the shooter hierarchy. These Level 4 minions were not even worth the effort.

The military had many strong shooters of their own, but Level 8 shooters were still very rare. Most of the soldiers were Level 5 or 6. To qualify for Level 8 required not only hard work and talent, but also a bit of luck. The organized and stable lifestyle of a soldier did not encourage them to grow into Level 8 shooters. Most of the shooters who achieved Level 8 were independent and experienced.

No one would dare to disrespect a Level 8 shooter, not even Sun Sieha.

Sha Ya lifted the laser gun in her hand. Every Level 8 shooter had survived countless battles. Weaker minds would never achieve Level 8. To become a Level 8 shooter was not just a matter of skills.

A Level 8 shooter was so much stronger than a Level 4. Sha Ya handled the soldiers with ease. Every shot brought down another soldier. She did not have to hide herself, for her parapsychic sensing range was dozens of times larger than the soldiers. She moved fast, and fired smoothly, unlike these young soldiers.

Sha Ya was like a bright spark in the dark. Her expression was cold and merciless. Her every shot was fired without hesitation. She fired shot after shot without stopping, never missing her targets.

The soldiers cried in pain, breaking the silence in the manor.

Up on the hilltop, Du Feng and Li Gui noticed that something was wrong. They realized that they had made a huge mistake, or more precisely, they had overlooked a simple matter. There was another kind of people, aside from nobles, that they should never mess with – strong shooters.

Du Feng spoke through gritted teeth, “All of you, with me.” He led his soldiers running down the hill towards the manor. He could not just stand and watch his soldiers killed one by one.

The soldiers heard him, and quickly followed Du Feng, rushing down the mountain.

Li Gui looked pale. He turned around and said to his guard, “You, go back to camp and ask all the capable soldiers to come here, get all the Level 6’s and above. Come with their fighters! Quick!”

The guard was surprised, but made a quick bow and retreated to their camp.

Du Feng was a strong man, so he led the charge down the hill. He was panicking inside. It was a massacre down there. The crazy lady, some high Level shooter, had dared to kill so many soldiers from the Royal Military. His eyes burned with rage.

When Du Feng arrived, Sha Ya had already cleared her immediate surroundings.

She kept her gun up and walked towards Du Feng. There was not a single person alive around her.

Du Feng felt pained. These were all soldiers that he raised and trained! Despite his emotions, Du Feng conducted himself professionally as a military leader should.

“Who are you?” Du Feng asked, barely containing his anger.

Sha Ya stared coldly at Du Feng and said, “I should be the one asking you that.”

Du Feng’s expression darkened dangerously, “I serve the Royal Military as Brigade Commander of the 1st Legion, 5th Brigade.”

“Why do you allow your soldiers to enter my manor?” Sha Ya asked sternly. She was quietly surprised to find that they were from the 1st Legion. The 1st Legion was infamous in the entire country of Eastern Cloud. They served their duties with great commitment, and had been in the favour of every King that had ever ruled the country. Nevertheless, Sha Ya was not afraid of them. She was a Level 8 shooter, and had a master who was powerful enough to back her up.

“How dare you kill soldiers of the Royal Military?” Du Feng’s eyes were red with anger. He glared fiercely at Sha Ya.

Sha Ya was unmoved by his feelings. “By the laws of Eastern Cloud, if anyone were to trespass a property while armed, the property owner has the right to defend themselves. I believed you know that, Brigade Commander.”

The soldiers around Du Feng were outraged by her statement. They were proud men, not used to having their egos offended. The soldiers cried out in protest and readied their weapons.

“You dare?” Sha Ya lifted an eyebrow.

One of the soldiers ignored what common sense should tell him and raised his gun. Before Du Feng could stop him, a laser beam shot right into the centre of the soldier’s forehead. The soldier opened his eyes wide in disbelief, and fell headfirst to the ground.

“Anyone moves, that happens,” Sha Ya looked at the soldiers coldly. The killing intent in her eyes showed that the Level 8 shooter was very much p*ssed off.

Ye Chong was running in the dark. He had killed no less than a dozen men. Even so, he was less efficient than Sha Ya. The shooter’s skills allowed her to decimate the enemies with terrifying efficacy.

In just a short while, all the soldiers who invaded the manor were killed. Now, Ye Chong saw both sides of the battle facing off each another.

The soldiers stared at Sha Ya, but none of them moved. Ye Chong did not expect that his decision to have a Level 8 shooter bodyguard would come in handy so quickly.

Hidden in the shades of the trees, Ye Chong considered the situation and made his decision. The trees provided him with good cover. He made his way quietly to the back of the soldiers.

“Fine! We’ll remember this.”

Du Feng was so furious inside. He wanted to just charge ahead and crush his enemy. However, he also knew that the difference in strength between them was too great. The shooter was good, unlike anyone he had ever encountered. They might have the advantage in numbers, but not enough to cover the disparity between them.

He would not let this matter rest like this, though. The military was not short of skilled shooters.

Du Feng grieved deeply for the soldiers he had lost, for he had watched them train and grow into fine young men. He regretted not bringing more capable soldiers with him, or their opponent would not have dared to challenge him so openly.

He decided to take revenge for those soldiers, even if it would cost him his job!

Just then, a swarm of black dots appeared in the sky, far away. A low humming sound came from that direction.

Sha Ya looked slightly perturbed, but Du Feng looked to kill.

Fighters! Those were fighters!

u Feng was overjoyed – the fighters were right on time! Even a Level 8 shooter could not stand against an attack from so many fighter aircrafts. This was why even Level 8 shooters would cave in to the power of an entire country. A high Level shooter was stronger when armed with a high spec fighter.

Aerial advantage, higher velocities and stronger firepower – these were all the advantages that an aircraft would gain over an armed shooter. A whole squad of fighters was an even staggering enemy. This formation, usually reserved for an actual war, was now deployed for battle.

Sha Ya stayed calm. She had spread her parapsychic sensing range to the maximum.

High in the sky, the fighters came closer and closer. The low humming sound was now loud enough to shake the ground.

Sha Ya focused her gaze and pointed her gun up. She fired once, the laser beam shooting through the clouds.

Bang! A fighter exploded into a fireball the air. The red fiery mass expanded like a blossoming flower.

The explosion was completely unexpected. No one thought that the shooter would fire first when the odds were very much against her favour. The aircraft formation was momentarily disturbed.

Du Feng signalled to his men to prepare to retreat. If they gain distance away from the terrifying woman, the fighters would be able to shoot freely without worrying about friendly fire. Sha Ya was busy dealing with the aircrafts to notice them.

Du Feng and his soldiers had worked together for a long time. They understood him immediately.

Just when they were prepared to leave, a silhouette suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

When Ye Chong saw the fighters, he knew that their situation was about to get worse. If they come within the fighters’ range of fire, they would never be able to escape, no matter how strong they were. The enemy would be merciless against them. They will have to face a full blown aerial attack. Even Ye Chong could not survive that.

Hence, Ye Chong made his move.

Ye Chong hid in the shadows like an assassin. It was now time to make the killing move.

He dashed out like a leopard, powerful and agile.

His target was Du Feng. From the conversation between the man and Sha Ya, he knew that the man was the leader of the other side. These were professional military men. He noticed that, perhaps even before Sha Ya. As someone who had led an army before, he could recognize the military characteristics of these people.

This made Ye Chong act more carefuly. Military men were skilled in combat, especially in coordinated movements. Soldiers in a group played distinct roles when in combat. This meant that the more people involved, the harder it was for them to coordinate. Group coordination was also what differentiated military personnel from the common people. When fighting one-on-one, the difference in strength was not obvious; pitch them against each other in groups, and the military men will win for sure.

Ye Chogn moved quickly, but the veterans could still notice something was amiss. These soldiers had survived actual wars, and that made them more sensitive to their surroundings.

They all turned nervous.

This was the crucial moment, a moment of life and death. Ye Chong did not hold back.

He moved, quick as lightning, strong as thunder!

With his upper body bent forward, Ye Chong charged towards the soldiers in front of him, intending to bulldoze right through them. His body posture unchanged as his shoulder ran into one of the soldiers. His shoulder muscles vibrated quickly, and the soldier was flung away, crying out as he did towards the side.

Ye Chong inclined his body slightly and sped up, moving through the soldiers like a sharp knife.

The soldiers cried out in rage and dear. The situation plunged into chaos.

All the soldiers that Ye Chong passed by would fall. No one was a match against his one-strike attack. He was now like a human-shaped fighter. He could control every single part of his body to act as a weapon.

An attack without reserve from Ye Chong was terrifying! Blue lines danced in his vision as he moved quickly amongst his enemies, and Ye Chong would always find the perfect opening to strike out.

A Jie expert was the pinnacle of a combat expert’s achievement. This kind of close range attack was perfect for one to fully demonstrate his powers.

In just the blink of an eye, Ye Chong found his way to Du Feng. Behind him was a trail, wide enough for one person. On both sides of the trail were dozens of soldiers, lying silent on the ground. Ye Chong never left anyone alive when he fought like he meant it.

The fighters were already angled downwards, a signal that they were about to start shooting.

Ye Chong moved without delay. He closed in towards Du Feng and wrapped his right hand around the man’s neck, gripping tightly onto his throat.

The sudden turn of events took all the soldiers aback. Even Du Feng could not manage a reaction before he felt Ye Chong’s hand around his throat, and felt himself lifted up in the air.

With his left hand around Du Feng’s waist and his right hand clasping the man’s throat, Ye Chong retreated backwards quickly. The muscles on his back wriggled like snakes, repelling anything that came in its way.

The aircrafts were even closer now! Ye Chong felt a strong and dangerous pressure coming down on him, like when he was in Celest, during the battle in Dual Forest.

In the next moment, he found way his to Sha Ya’s side.

By then, the closest fighter was less than two kilometres away from them. This was close enough for the fighter to start shooting.

Ye Chong was unafraid. He kept his hand firmly on Du Feng’s throat. Du Feng’s face was turning blue, but he could not even make a sound. He tried to break free, but the other man was too strong for him.

Standing besides Sha Ya, Ye Chong’s expression was cold and emotionless. The killing intent emanating from him now troubled even Sha Ya.

The fighters did not seem to slow down. They were still coming at full speed. The sight of aircrafts coming down from above at high speeds was a tremendous pressure on the enemy, an effective strategy to weaken the other side’s morale. Every soldier well versed in military tactics would know this. Even so, few could stand straight without flinching when seeing the fighters approaching. Only a shooter with a strong mind could face this pressure.

Photon grenades rained down heavily. Sha Ya’s eyes shined brightly. Ye Chong remained emotionless and unmoved.

Tak tak tak tak tak! The photon grenades hit the ground around Ye Chong and Sha Ya. Sha Ya frowned slightly, turning her face to avoid the rocks that came flying from the ground.

Ye Chong stood still like a statue, allowing the rocks to hit his face. His right arm was extended straight, his hand around Du Feng’s throat.

One by one, the fighters flew past their heads. The photon grenades came like heavily. Ye Chong and Sha Ya were surrounded by potholes in the ground all around them. The flat earth had been repeatedly assaulted and worked to a loose layer of soil.

Ye Chong remained in his posture. When Li Gui arrived, Du Feng was already half conscious. Li Gui immediately ordered for the fighters to stop firing.

Ye Chong finally let his hand go slightly loose. Du Feng inhaled sharply for new air and woke up. Once he was awake, he felt like yelling. However, the other man seemed to know what was about to happen. The hand tightened on his throat again, and Du Feng could no longer make a sound.

Li Gui saw the interaction between them. He knew that they were against a difficult foe this time, a very stubborn one. Both of them were very strong. Li Gui could see immediately that the woman was a Level 8 shooter. The man, however, puzzled him.

If this man had not come out and snatch Du Feng, Li Gui would never know that someone was hiding in the dark. The man was like a shadow, with seemingly inhuman strength. Li Gui remembered the latter clearly.

Li Gui had seem combat experts before, but their moves were only mostly for show. They would overpower normal people, but definitely not shooters.

This man had broken through layers of defence to reach Du Feng. There were no less than a hundred soldiers around him when it happened. From the beginning, no one seemed to be able to stop this man. Li Gui had inspected the soldiers on the ground. They were all dead from a single attack.

Li Gui was surprised by the other party’s ruthlessness. It reminded Li Gui of the killing machines from the military’s special division. They were rumoured to be cold blooded killers who were trained to kill with a single attack. They were also cruel and merciless, prioritizing their mission above all others.

Should he ask the man about his identity? Li Gui thought not. Even if the man was from this special division, they were ordered to never expose themselves.

Li Gui went silent for a while before finally speaking up, “Your conditions?”

Li Gui believed that the man must recognize their current positions. A person who could assess the situation and strike where it hurts would not be oblivious to these things.

“Why do you trespass my place?” Ye Chong could not figure it out.

Li Gui answered truthfully, “It was a military drill.”

This answer was obviously not enough for Ye Chong and Sha Ya. It was only natural for them to defend their house when it was invaded by armed troops in the middle of the night! Having a drill session on private property was just ridiculous.

However, Ye Chong had no wish to inquire further. He signalled for Sha Ya to take over. Sha Ya was more experienced in dealing with these matters.

Sha Ya considered for a moment, the said, “Have your soldiers leave the manor immediately. No one is allowed to enter this place again without our permission.”

“Agreed,” Li Gui replied after some thought. In any case, their priority was to save Du Feng first. Making a verbal agreement was not hard for him.

Sha Ya looked into Li Gui’s eyes and said, “You must swear this by your honour as a shooter.”

Li Gui was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“This will encourage trust on both sides,” Sha Ya explained calmly. She was a seasoned combatant, and would not be so easily soothed.

Li Gui went quiet for a while, then vowed solemnly, “I, Li Gui, swear by my honour as a shooter that I will carry out the terms of this agreement diligently, else my parapsychic abilities will vanish completely.”

Sha Ya nodded, satisfied. Swearing by one’s honour as a shooter was a significant gesture that no one would think of going against.

Ye Chong released Du Feng to Li Gui after that.

To Sha Ya, the matter was considered settled. Ye Chong felt differently. He was certain that the soldiers would return as he had seen the strong desire for revenge in Du Feng’s eyes. Ye Chong was familiar with that look. He wanted to just kill Du Feng and end the whole incident. People like the Brigade Commander would always be a threat, waiting to strike again.

However, not was the right time. He looked up at the fighters circling his manor. If he had set up his defence system here, Ye Chong was confident that he could take down all those aircrafts.

Time was running short. Ye Chong felt danger pushing itself closer and closer towards him.

…

Du Feng had awakened halfway through their journey back. He was not injured. He walked beside Li Gui, looking exasperated. The entire army moved without a sound. They were still shaken by losing so many comrades in a very short time.

Li Gui understood Du Feng. He advised his friend, “Don’t be consumed by revenge. Those two were too strong, we can’t take them on. There’s nothing we can do about our defeat.”

Du Feng kept silent. He knew that. Even so, regret and hatred occupied his thoughts. If only he did not allow those soldiers to enter the manor, all of this could have been avoided. If only he was not so hasty, choosing to investigate the newcomers’ background instead of rushing things, they would not have suffered like this.

80 lives were lost! Du Feng’s heart ached at the thought. Many of those soldiers were even more senior than him.

There was nothing he could do now. If he had not been caught, those two would definitely have been shot to bits by the fighters! However, even this last hope of revenge was lost. Du Feng regretted it so much that he wanted to cry.

Having worked together for so long, of course Li Gu knew what Du Feng was feeling. He consoled the man, “Just let go of this matter. We’ll take it slow, there will be a chance for revenge later.” Both he and Du Feng could not just nothing about the 80 lives they had lost.

But … But …

Du Feng recalled Li Gui’s vow, and felt dispirited. He was a shooter too. Of course he knew how important that vow was. He would never seek revenge while having Li Gui pay the price.

Li Gui seemed to read Du Feng’s mind. He smiled and said, “It looks like you guys still haven’t understand what I meant by my vow earlier. I am not useless, but I will never become a shooter again. If that’s the case, what does it matter if I lose my parapsychic abilities?”

Du Feng stopped in his tracks. He felt a deep sadness rising in him. He wanted to say something, but could not find the words to express himself. His eyes turned moist.

“Gui, do you think we’re right or wrong in doing this?” After staying quiet for a long time, Du Feng asked suddenly.

Li Gui considered that for a moment and said, “Old Du, it’s pointless to think about being right or wrong at this point. Now that we’re here, it’s hard to say who’s right or wrong. Indeed, we’ve been reckless, but now that so many of our brothers have died, how can we be at peace if we don’t do something for them?”

“Right,” Du Feng lowered his head and responded quietly.

Suddenly, a soldier came rushing towards them from the front.

“What is it?” Du Feng and Li Gui were the first to notice that something was wrong.

The soldier approached the two men and reported through gasping breaths, “Sir, the – the Legion Legate and his troops are here in our camp. He asked to see both of you immediately.”

…

With the soldiers gone, Ye Chong no longer felt like going to sleep. Sha Ya was the same. Kristen surprised everyone by sleeping through the entire ordeal.

Hence, Ye Chong stayed up thinking about how to quickly set up a defence system that could protect them as soon as possible. Sha Ya practised meditation in her own space.

As the day grew brighter, Ye Chong took Sha Ya and Kristen with him and entered Su City again. He decided to start building the manor’s defence system starting today.

Ye Chong already had information on around 3,112 items in his database. These were all common materials that did not cost much. With better understanding of the properties of these materials, he was now better equipped to choose the best materials for different purposes. Knowing which material and which properties were suitable to build weapons, for example, was basic and necessary knowledge.

Ye Chong quickly made a shopping list. Money was not an issue to him now. He also ordered raw materials that could only be found in Su City, since there was greater variety here. Ye Chong’s database was about to expand again.

With the raw materials handled, Ye Chong moved on to the next step. He flew a huge transport aircraft to his manor.

This was Ye Chong’s first time seeing a transport aircraft. It was large and bulky, slower than a fighter, but steadier.

By the time he landed, the materials were all delivered and stored in the empty buildings. These elegant and refined buildings were now reduced to warehouses.

Kristen wanted to see how Ye Chong built his weapons, but was dragged away and locked outside instead.

It had to be done. Ye Chong knew that his methods must be kept secret!

ost of these materials were made of wood. Their physical uniformity was somewhere between skeletal materials and metals. They were better than skeletons, but not as uniformly dense as metals. This meant that the production of larger wooden structures can be automated, and Ye Chong need only tweak the smaller details later. The modern technology embodied in the photon processor provided a great convenience in this process. Ye Chong can design the structure on the photon processor, and the intelligent machines would process the raw materials according to the design’s requirements. This saved him a lot of work.

Unfortunately, Ye Chong had very few photon processors with him. Only a few machines and some auxiliary mechs had photon processors, and all of them had only average performance. The only advanced photon processor he had was in Celest, but it was just a single one. Ye Chong needed Celest around him at all times for safety reasons, and could not leave it in his base for research purposes.

Ye Chong was skilled in mechanical work, but he only had a shallow understanding of photon processor technology. However, photon processors were exactly what he needed right now, and highly advanced ones in fact. Only powerful photon processors can perform accurate modelling and help him find his way home.

The only plan he had now was to build a bio-photon processor. However, bio-photon processor technology was one of the main content in the chip that Kui gave him. It would not be easy to understand it. He would need to learn things step by step. Fortunately, Ye Chong was not lacking of patience.

Recent events had also prevented him from focusing on the material in Kui’s chip. He knew perfectly well that only by having the strongest weapons could keep his enemies at bay.

Hence, he decided to build a massive defence system this time.

…

Jay’s fleet, the mysterious force that everyone had once put their hope on, had vanished as mysteriously as it first appeared. Soon, people began to forget about it. It was mentioned less and less in conversations. All eyes were now on Arwa’s group.

Compared to Jay, Arwa seemed to have received Heaven’s blessings. The man now had the strongest power in Gray Valley. Xiao Wan may not be a great leader, but she was a good diplomat and an excellent second in command. Arwa and Xiao Wan had now switched roles, as the woman had asked to serve as his second.

Indeed, Xiao Wan was competent in her role. She reorganized the existing organizations that had asked to join them so that Arwa may focus on military affairs. The truth was, Arwa had benefited the most from Jay’s prophecy. He was able to showcase his military prowess to everyone in Gray Valley and built a solid reputation for himself.

He was much luckier than Jay. In fact, luck may have played a very important role in how events had played out.

After he successfully made his escape from the Calamitous Asteroid Belt, he had become a man of no equal, and Gray Valley’s last hope. Thus, when he spread the word to recruit new members to his fleet, many had replied back enthusiastically. These smaller players all converged into his fleet. Many young people had come to protect their families and their homes. His fleet expanded rapidly. Almost all of the resources available in Gray Valley were now in his hands.

True to his reputation as a genius tactician, Arwa managed his fleet effectively. He led the growing fleet, absorbing new members day after day. The fleet made a roundabout way towards the vicinity of Kasent and began to fight back. They would engage in surround and destroy operations or more aggressive attacks. The war was hard, and they lost many times more lives than the red-tailed beasts that they killed due to a general lack of battle competence. Nevertheless, they won in the end!

They managed to stop the red-tailed beasts from advancing beyond Kasent.

Gray Valley was now separated into two regions, with Kasent marking the border. Compared to Ye Chong, Arwa was much more experienced in tactical operations.

Here in the vicinity of Kasent, the fleet had built many garrisons to defend the waves of attacks from the red-tailed beasts.

To prevent the red-tailed beasts from repeating their strategy, Arwa had placed many surveillance stations around the Calamitous Asteroid Belt.

The situation quickly stabilized. The victory had boosted Arwa’s reputation even further. Gray Valley’s residents worshipped him. However, Arwa did not relax himself. No one knew how long their current stability may continue. When the red-tailed beasts were finished devouring all the food within their territory, they would surely all converge at Kasent. That will mark the beginning of the final battle between both sides.

By then, who knew how much the red-tailed beasts would have evolved? Arwa could not say for sure, but he knew that the red-tailed beasts would definitely be much stronger than they were now. For now, they needed time to gather their strength. All the mech pilots needed training, especially the younger ones. He must do everything do to train them all to become close range mech pilots.

Factories churned without stopping, as they were all lacking precious resources for war.

No one complained. They all knew lay ahead if they lost this war. The Gateway that led to He Yue Galaxy was still under the control of the red-tailed beasts. Fortunately, the Gateway was too narrow for the red-tailed beasts to conquer the other galaxy as well. If they lost Kasent, the entire Gray Valley would fall into enemy hands.

This was a battle they cannot afford to lose. Desperation drove these people to do extraordinary work.

Everyone, be it human or red-tailed beast, was racing for the finish line. Could the humans gather enough strength and resources for war before the red-tailed beasts absorbed all the energy and metals and underwent evolution?

The first one to strike would have the upper hand.

…

Planet Spectre was busy with life when Jay and Arwa were both trying to cross the Calamitous Asteroid Belt. As time passed, the place reverted to its usual peace and quiet, as people no longer felt interested in the desolate and uninhabited planet.

No one knew that the seemingly lifeless planet was actually harbouring a starship fleet –Jay’s mysterious fleet.

They had taken over the Research Consortium’s former headquarters. Mu/Shang became the fleet’s commander. Some in the fleet were unhappy with this change, but the earliest members of the fleet all remembered the mysterious partner of Sir Jay. With Shang’s inclinations, he was able to solve these kinds of issues much more easily than Ye Chong.

The Research Consortium had left behind a highly advanced base with wonderful facilities. The things stored in the warehouse showed how rich the Research Consortium once was. These resources were more than enough for the midsized fleet. Even though Ye Chong had already emptied the central laboratory, the other labs still had valuable treasures of their own.

As the fleet settled down in the base, its members trained hard every single day.

Aside from close range mech pilots, Mu also began to train long range mech pilots. The Research Consortium’s long range weapons were proven to be effective against the red-tailed beasts. Moreover, long range combat was Mu’s specialty. Had Ye Chong not been so devoid of any talent in this field, he would have become an extraordinary long range mech pilot.

The current Spectre was now true to its legends. All mechs and starships that went close to the planet would mysteriously disappear.

All of them were kidnapped by Mu/Shang. Not everyone agreed with this forceful recruitment, but Shu had supported the idea adamantly, while Xi Qing agreed quietly. Thus, this kidnapping plan developed into a full blown operation. In just a short time, the fleet had grown three times larger. Those who were kidnapped had all chosen to stay when they found out that this was Sir Jay’s fleet.

Compared to close range combat, long range combat training was easier. Besides, the grandmaster Mu himself had crafted a comprehensive training routine for the mech pilots. Xi Qing and Shu were in awe of their new leader.

Here in the base, everyone trained hard for the day when they would once again show themselves to the world and restore Sir Jay’s glory.

…

Du Feng asked in a slow voice, “What you’re saying, Sir, is that we should just let this go? That’s 80 lives of our own! Sir, when has the 1st Legion ever suffered this much humiliation?” Beside him, Li Gui thought of adding something too, but did not say anything in the end.

Sitting in front of Du Feng was the 1st Legion’s Legate, Ming Xiao. Ming Xiao was about 60 years of age. He had a clean shaven face, which made him look like an ordinary thin elderly. Sitting next to Ming Xiao was a middle aged man with a cold, expressionless face.

Du Feng had explained the entire incident to Ming Xiao, but Ming Xiao had forbidden them from exacting any kind of revenge. Du Feng could not understand it. He knew his superior well. The thin old man was in fact quick tempered and highly defensive. Du Feng had thought he heard it wrongly when the old man asked him to let the matter go.

Ming Xiao’s face turned solemn as he glared at Du Feng and said, “It’s not so simple. Let me tell you, I still haven’t forgotten that you started this whole debacle. Humph, I’ll deal with you later.”

Du Feng could read between the lines that the old man was keeping him out of trouble, but the thought of those 80 men he lost just made him furious. He wanted to continue arguing, but suddenly felt a strong tug from behind him. He turned back and saw Li Gui shaking his head at him.

Du Feng trusted Li Gui, and knew that the man would not try to harm him.

“Alright, you’re both dismissed. I have things to discuss with Sir Huang,” Ming Xiao waved them off in dismissal.

Outside the office, Du Feng looked frustrated. He confronted Li Gui antagonistically, “Gui, why’d you stop from me from speaking just now?”

Li Gui was familiar with his friend’s temper, and was not offended. He smiled and said, “Come on, don’t XXXXX. What kind of man yells at his best friend?” Du Feng felt embarrassed. He knew that he was in the wrong.

Li Gui immediately turned serious and said, “Indeed, the situation’s not that simple. Think about it, the Legate pays a sudden visit. That in itself is unusual. Besides, didn’t you see how Sir Ming Xiao’s expression changed when you were explaining how we got into trouble with the three newcomers? Maybe the Legate is here because of those three.”

Du Feng recalled what happened in the office and felt riled up again.

Li Gui took a glance at Du Feng and continued, “There’s something else. That Sir Huang was not properly introduced to us, but even Sir Ming Xiao seemed to offer him great courtesy. He must be someone important. You remember also, don’t you, that Sir Huang seemed very interested when you were recounting the incident. He even interrupted you to clarify some details. I suspect that he is here because of the new owners of the manor.”

“Those men came with Sir Huang, what do you think of them?” Li Gui asked abruptly to Du Feng.

Being absorbed in Li Gui’s narrative, Du Feng replied without thinking, “They’re strong!” Du Feng remembered all of them clearly. They all looked expressionless, but Du Feng could tell that those few men were definitely competent.

Li Gui continued asking, “What Level do you think those shooters are?”

“That’s hard to say,” Du Feng replied hesitantly.

Li Gui gestured the figure eight with his hand.

Du Feng looked shocked.

“Of course, it’s just a guess, but I think they’re not far from that,” Li Gui added.

Du Feng kept silent. Li Gui’s words were often prophetic.

“Certainly, these men are not your average shooters! No, they must be exceptional! Not everyone can command the powers of these men. Think about it, even our Legion has only but a few of them. Exactly three of them, I’m sure you know. But that Sir Huang has brought seven of them with him. That’s eight in total, including Sir Huang himself. Who can possibly command a force like this?”

Li Gui did not hesitate to surprise his friend, “Only His Majesty!”

Du Feng was stunned.

He never imagined that those three commoners could gain the attention of the King.

Li Gui went silent. He knew that he needed to give Du Feng time to absorb the news. In fact, Li Gui could still feel his own heart thumping heavily as he too was surprised by his own conclusion.

Nevertheless, being seasoned as he was, he quickly composed himself.

He tried to delve deeper. There was something missing, he felt.

Suddenly, Li Gui’s eyes lit up in realization.

“I understand now!” Li Gui’s exclamation shook Du Feng out of his confusion. He quickly asked, “Gui, what is it?”

“I think I understand what Sir Huang and his men are here for. His Majesty must be very interested in these three commoners, that much is obvious from the people he had sent here. However, if the King only wanted to protect the manor owners, he could have just sent guards to the manor directly. Instead, the King had ordered Sir Huang to visit our camp on the quiet. This seemed to suggest something to me,” Li Gui’s eyes shined with wisdom as he explained.

“And what is that? Gui, stop keeping me in suspense!” Du Feng asked anxiously.

“I think that His Majesty has sent Sir Huang here partly to protect them. On the other hand –” Li Gui hesitated to continue.

“Just tell me!” Du Feng urged him.

Li Gui looked around them. Seeing that they were alone, he whispered, “On the other hand, I suspect that if those three people try to leave, or do anything suspicious …” Li Gui made a cutting motion with his hand.

Du Feng felt his heart went cold.

“It’s only a suspicion. Who knows what the real story is? But if things are really as I suspected, then that will be the only time for us to make our move,” Li Gui said, his eyes glistening brightly.

“What if they do nothing?” Du Feng asked.

“Then we will do the same!” Li Gui looked at Du Feng and replied, slowly but firmly.

Both men lapsed into silence.

After a moment, they both received orders from the Legate to return to the office.

They exchanged a quick look before making their entrance.

Sir Ming Xiao had reverted back to his inconspicuous look. The sharpness in his gaze had faded.

“Listen to me now, both of you. If I hear that you get into more trouble again, humph, I’ll not let you off so easily! I think you’ve missed a good ol’ whipping from me, you *sses! Humph!” Sir Ming Xiao berated them loudly.

Du Feng and Li Gui had both trained under the Legate personally. He would not go easy on them both. Both of them had received his whipping when they were younger, when he was only a Brigade Commander. Despite the fierce berating, it was clear that he meant to keep them out of harm’s way.

“Yes sir!” Du Feng and Li Gui replied together, touched by his concern.

Ming Xiao nodded, satisfied. “That’s more like it! Come, let me introduce to you, this is Sir Huang!”

Du Feng and Li Gui quickly bowed in greeting. Sir Huang took a glance at Ming Xiao and lifted his chin a little, “I’ve heard that you two are Sir Ming Xiao’s beloved soldiers. Indeed, you look like excellent military men. My men and I will be staying here for some time, I thank you for your hospitality,” he spoke coldly. His words were cordial, but it still brought a chill to his listeners.

The two men in question quickly returned the gesture, despite their discomfort, “You’re most welcome, Sir Huang. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do for you!”

Sir Ming Xiao smiled and said, “Sir Huang’s position is unique, so you can stop with your guessing. As long as you obey his orders diligently, His Majesty will not forget your services. The camp will operate normally, as Sir Huang will not be interrupting with your affairs. However, any orders from Sir Huang must be carried out to the letter, understand?”

Both men accepted their orders in quiet surprise, “Yes sir!”

Sir Huang finally broke into a thin smile, but it only brought a sinister look on his face.

e Chong took the laser gun that he had just completed and tried to aim. The truth was, Ye Chong did not improve very much in long range attacking, mostly because he did not train himself in it. He had chosen to specialize in close range combat since the very beginning. However, this did not mean that Ye Chong was completely clueless about long range combat. On the contrary, he had studied the art deeply.

Long range attacks will be the main threat of close range mech pilots. Every close range mech pilot would study about long range attacks to learn how to avoid them.

Ye Chong was no exception. However, unlike other close range mech pilots, he was lucky enough to have an expert, Mu, to help him out. Mu had in fact given Ye Chong a comprehensive training program for long range mech pilots.

Shooting was basic knowledge for all long range mech pilots, but was not enough by itself. Knowing how to predict a target’s movements was also crucial to become a competent long range mech pilot. Unfortunately, Ye Chong had stumbled at the very beginning of the list of prerequisites. That was why he always thought that he lacked talent in long range combat.

Shooting was the most basic requirement. Ye Chong had never mastered it before, but could he have changed over time?

Ye Chong lifted the laser gun and aimed, narrowing his eyes like a hawk. Every object in the room showed up clearly in his vision. He had hands that were as precise as mechanical instruments, allowing him to make the slightest adjustments in any way, even though these movements were still new to him.

Fire!

Ye Chong steady arms did not move at all when his right hand pressed onto the trigger, and a laser beam shot out of the gun, hitting squarely on a black dot on the wall. Puff! A thumb-sized hole was left on the wall. Sunlight from outdoors flooded through the hole.

Sha Ya arrived quickly, in an alerted state. She was puzzled when she saw nothing was wrong, but left Ye Chong to his devices.

Ye Chong looked at the hole in the wall, momentarily taken aback.

Was that it?

Surprised by his action, Ye Chong lifted the gun and fired a few more times. All of them resulted with the same accuracy.

Ye Chong stayed where he was, stunned.

In fact, the result was hardly surprising. Compared to his younger self on the trash planet, he had grown so, so much. He had improved in many respects, such as muscular control, observational skills, and understanding in combat. If his abilities were represented as numbers, his current numbers had increased many times over compared to when he first started. This kind of gradual change often happened unnoticed. If the current Ye Chong were to try his hand in the training routines that he had practiced with before, he would find himself managing all the harder parts with ease. Ye Chong was surprised but also happy with the massive changes within him.

Ye Chong may not have focused his training in long range combat, but many of the close range combat skills he picked up were also essential for long range combat.

However, this was still the first step. Shooting on a fixed target was the most basic training for every long range mech pilot.

Ye Chong soon realized the reason for his improvement. He was not overwhelmed by happiness due to his achievement, but instead felt a little melancholic. All his efforts throughout the years, his hard earned victories through sweat and tears had allowed him to become who he was today. His hands had moved faster and faster; his combat skills had developed from the initial mimicking to a Jie expert’s level; he had started mech piloting with the most basic Raven, and ended up with Celest today; he had also learned alchemy, and mech manufacturing, and more …

Who could understand the hardships that he had endured throughout it all?

And who had he become today? “What’s with me being so emotional today?” Ye Chong laughed at himself mockingly.

Soon, Ye Chong relieved himself of these emotions. He had never allowed his own emotions to trouble him for long. All feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or tiredness would come to pass. In the end, the only way to solve any problem was calm thinking, courage in making decisions, and the perseverance to carry out the necessary actions.

Ye Chong was now still a beginner in shooting. If he wanted to improve himself, he must train hard. His current level would not be threatening in actual battle. However, Ye Chong did not dismiss this skillset. Even though his shooting could not be very helpful in actual battle, Ye Chong realized that it presented a new pathway for him.

Indeed, he could not be like the shooters in this world who could aim with their parapsychic sense. However, he had something they did not have – holographic scanning. Of all the long range mech pilots he had encountered, none of them could aim through mental control. Nevertheless, they were still excellent combatants. Even Xi Feng Tribe’s mech pilots were aided by holographic scanning systems.

He had an advantage in shooting distance.

Ye Chong finally had a few peaceful days for himself. Unexpectedly, the soldiers did not come knocking to seek revenge. In these few days, Ye Chong drew up a plan for the main structure of the manor’s defense system.

12 cannon arrays did not feel like enough for the huge manor, but they would at least provide some form of protection against aerial threats. The holographic scanning system for the manor was already set up. With the manor at its center, Ye Chong now had a 120-kilometer radius of land under surveillance.

The military base was only 40 kilometres away from Ye Chong’s manor. This allowed Ye Chong to feel safer. Knowing the enemies’ every movement was a desirable outcome.

Nevertheless, Ye Chong did not lower his guard. There was no huge response from the camp, but it would still send scouts to spy on them regularly.

Ye Chong did not react to that. As long as the soldiers did not invade his space like that night, he would not retaliate. This kind of spying activity was useless against him. Unless they had a highly advanced mech like Mu and Shang, they would not penetrate the thick walls around the manor. If they tried to trespass the manor, Ye Chong’s defense system would identify them and initiate an attack.

Ye Chong was now more than capable of setting up an effective defense system. Every weapon was placed strategically and well hidden. The rich greenery on the manor’s land and the uneven terrain was also to his advantage.

Ye Chong built a good number of heavyweight firearms in a few days, with enough time in his hands. Aside from the 12 cannon arrays, he also installed more than 600 laser guns all around the manor. Besides the high accuracy firearms, Ye Chong also created a new kind of weapon that he called the Hive.

Each Hive was a set of laser shooters arranged into a matrix, like a beehive. Each Hive could fire up to 144 shots simultaneously, where each laser beams was separated from the ones around by 20 centimetres. This was a weapon designed to take on the more capable shooters. The attack had larger coverage, so that even if the enemies noticed the attack with their parapsychic sense, they would not be able to avoid it. Besides, the Hive could adjust its shooting angle through the control photon processor.

The only disadvantage of this weapon was its high energy consumption. Nevertheless, given how energy rich materials come easily in this world, and at affordable prices, it did not really matter.

Ye Chong was inspired by the G-Z laser gun structure of the Research Consortium when he developed this new weapon. The final product was devastatingly powerful with the excellent raw materials he found on this planet. Even an aircraft would be destroyed by this weapon.

Hence, Ye Chong modified some of the Hives to have larger spaces between the lasers. These modified ones would be used to target aircrafts.

Now, Ye Chong’s defense system was making headway. He could continue with his research, being safer against external threats.

…

Sun Sieha was very busy. There were too many matters that required his attention. Despite all the preparations he had gone through since he was a child to inherit the throne, and despite his long experience in governance and military affairs, he still found himself strained by the workload. He could now appreciate the pressure that his father once faced.

Nevertheless, all the work did not make him forget about the weaponsmith called Ye Chong.

The mysterious young man was such an interesting character! Whenever he had a moment’s idleness, he would think about that cold young man. A smile would come to him whenever he thought about how he was forced to an impasse that day. Being a proud man, he would only ever think favorably of talented and skilled people. However, he quickly dismissed all of these subjective thoughts and emotions. He was King, and he needed to consider every matter from the country’s perspective.

Sun Sieha’s expression reverted to his usual coolness. He considered for a moment, then summoned, “Ask Master Karu to see come see me!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” A guard hastily left the King’s study.

Sun Sieha tapped his finger rhythmically on his desk, thinking about the report he had just received. The report informed him of the conflict between the 1st Legion’s Du Feng and the cold weaponsmith. Du Feng’s defeat did not surprise him. If the weaponsmith could not hold his own against the Brigade Commander, he would not have been able to force Sun Sieha to an agreement that day.

How would this conflict affect future events? This was what he needed to consider.

Just then, a guard interrupted him, “Your Majesty, Master Karu is here.”

“Let him in,” Sun Sieha said.

Master Karu was 77 this year, and one of Eastern Cloud’s most prestigious weaponsmiths. Sun Sieha had gotten to know the man when he was young. He was confident of the man’s skills.

Master Karu entered the study and bowed to Sun Sieha, “Your Majesty, you summoned me?” Master Karu’s hair had all turned white. He looked sharp despite the deep wrinkles sprawled all over his face. He was obviously unimpressed by Sun Sieha interrupting his work.

Sun Sieha smiled, unoffended, “Master Karu, please have a seat. I have something to ask you.”

Master Karu nodded and sat down.

“Have you seen the cannon array, Master Karu?” Sun Sieha asked.

When Karu heard the question from Sun Sieha, his eyes lit up immediately. He replied quickly, “I have, I have! I’ve done a round of tests on the cannon array. It is truly powerful! Where did you obtain this powerful and huge cannon array, Your Majesty?”

Sun Sieha smiled and did not answer him immediately. Instead, he continued calmly, “I have seen the abilities of that weapon, but, from your professional viewpoint, Master Karu, you must surely understand more about it. Could you explain the weapon to me briefly?”

“I see,” Master Karu nodded, his eyes shining enthusiastically as he spoke more quickly, “Begging Your Majesty’s indulgence, but this officer of yours has never seen anything so powerful and yet so lightweight. It’s built with advanced technology, and the design is unique. I have never heard of anything like it. The most interesting part of the cannon array was its internal structure. I believe that it is designed based on knowledge that is far beyond everything we have learned in the field. It’s much smaller than our main cannons, and much lighter. Some of our more powerful aircrafts can probably lift these cannon arrays. If we can produce these cannon arrays on a larger scale, our military strength can be improved by at least five-fold. However, I regret to inform Your Majesty that despite all the hours of studying the weapon, there are still many aspects about it that I cannot figure out.”

Sun Sieha was at first overjoyed, but his mood took a nosedive at Master Karu’s final sentence. “Master Karu, do you think you can reproduce this weapon?”

Master Karu confessed, “Your Majesty, there are still many things that I do not understand about this weapon. The weaponsmith behind this cannon array must be truly extraordinary! May I enquire as to how Your Majesty came to obtain this weapon?”

Sun Sieha had hoped that Master Karu could at least reproduce the cannon array, but his hopes were dashed. He was heavily disappointed, and replied dismissively, “I bought it.”

“You bought it?” Master Karu was shocked. “What country could possibly come up with such advanced weaponry?”

Sun Sieha shook his head and explained, “It’s not a country, just a weaponsmith.”

Master Karu was even more surprised now. “Which weaponsmith? Who is the person behind this masterpiece?”

“His name is Ye Chong.”

“Ye Chong? I have never heard of the name,” Master Karu sighed, “To think there could be such a talented man in this world. This Master must be skilful enough to start his own school of teaching. What a capable man, but unknown to the world. He must not think highly of fame and status. Where is this great man now? If it pleases Your Majesty, I would like visit him as soon as possible to know more.”

“Great man?” Sun Sieha had an odd expression his face.

“What is it, Your Majesty? This Master is many times more capable than this officer of yours. I am more than willing to admit that,” Master Karu said solemnly.

Seeing Master Karu’s seriousness and his white hair, and comparing the old man with the cold young man, Sun Sieha could not help but explained, “Master Karu, this great man you speak of is in fact only in his twenties.”

“Impossible!” Master Karu rejected the idea immediately. He looked straight at Sun Sieha and said, “Your Majesty, please do not jest with me in this matter. It is not funny.”

Seeing how serious Master Karu was, Sun Sieha could only clarify, “I’m not lying. He really is only about 20 years old. He had come to Su City with me, and now lives in the vicinity of the capital.”

Master Karu saw that Sun Sieha was being honest. He muttered to himself with an unreadable expression, “20 years old! 20 years old! Can there really be a person who was born a genius?”

He gathered himself and asked urgently, “Please introduce me to this weaponsmith, Your Majesty.”

Sun Sieha thought of Ye Chong’s cold and uninviting face. He frowned and said helplessly, “Let’s set this matter aside for the moment. We’ll talk about it later. Don’t worry, Master Karu, I will put you in touch with him.”

Master Karu was puzzled by Sun Sieha being troubled by the matter. He asked gently, “With such a talented man by your side, why would you feel troubled, Your Majesty?”

“I am worried about the cannon arrays.”

“If that weaponsmith is willing to sell, then Your Majesty can always purchase more. What’s there to worry about?” Master Karu could not understand.

“He’s only willing to sell two of them every month. Moreover,” he took a glance at Karu with a pained expression and continued, “Each cannon array costs 20 million ao.”

“20 – 20 million ao …” Master Karu was speechless.

Sun Sieha nodded and added, “That’s 20 million ao for each cannon array. It’s alright to buy a few more of them, but it will be impossible to arm the entire military with it.”

“This price …” Master Karu could not say another word for a long while. Finally, he managed, “What a sky high price! I have inspected the cannon array. Based on the materials used, it should cost no more than 8 thousand ao.”

When Master Karu revealed this, Sun Sieha felt even bitter about it. He was silent for a long moment before groaning angrily, “What a thief!”

Master Karu mused quietly, “It’s expensive, but the technology is worth the price. Your Majesty, you should be careful, if another country is able to procure one of these weapons …”

Sun Sieha nodded, understanding him. “Don’t worry, I have an agreement with him. Eastern Cloud has exclusive rights to purchase his weapons.”

The guards in the Royal Palace saw a strange scene today. As Master Karu left His Majesty’s study, he looked listless, muttering to himself, “Just 20 years old … A genius … 20 million …”

The day also became even more difficult for the guards because of their King. After Master Karu had left, His Majesty looked so grim that the sky seemed to darken as well. All the servants and guards behaved warily as the atmosphere in the Palace turned heavy with tension.

here were many, many things that Ye Chong needed to attend to.

Shooting practice was absolutely necessary. If he could become an effective long range attacker, he would no longer be so helpless against shooters, especially when he was in his mech. This skill was crucial for his survival, and must be prioritized above all else.

Modifying his base was a massive and long term operation. With a basic defense system in place, his safety was at least not a concern. This job can be delayed for later.

Studying the contents of the three chips from Kui was an equally long and laborious effort. There was so much knowledge in those chips that Ye Chong could not possibly hope to master them all in his lifetime. Nevertheless, he had no choice, for he needed to get back home. How could he stay here? Mu, Shang, Rui Bing, the Sang Tribe … Ye Chong suddenly realized that he was no longer the isolated and lonely young man he once was.

He must return, no matter what it takes! Ye Chong tightened his fists, his gaze determined. No matter how long it would take, no matter how much work it would require, he will return to them.

Compared to these three tasks, the rest were not as important. He did not need to socialize or bow down to another person’s wishes. He only needed to do his research in his base, by himself.

Ye Chong exhaled deeply. There was work to be done. It was no use for him to ruminate on his thoughts.

Ye Chong thought that the planet he landed on was very interesting. The place had an abundance of natural resources and lifeforms. There was enough energy here to mass produce energy crystals. This was the reason native plants were highly compatible with pure energy, and why the planet had highly advanced energy manipulation technology. Nevertheless, Ye Chong found that the technology here had developed in an unusual way. Their theories and other fundamental research works were much too primitive compared to energy manipulation technology.

There was also a very significant weakness in this place – there were no metals. The plants here had excellent physical properties, but they were still plant based material, limited by what plant cells could achieve. There was no expertise like alchemy to harvest the plants in a more scalable manner. In fact, the natives gathered their plant materials by simply harvesting them from nature. Ye Chong thought it was a very backward method.

Ye Chong’s extensive knowledge allowed him to assess the local technology from a wider perspective.

Of course, in the end, all of these were not relevant to him. He could not be bothered to get involved. What he needed to do now was improve his own situation through the resources available to him. Abruptly, he had a feeling that this was just like the game he had once played with Mu and Shang. He was biding his time in a secluded place, strengthening himself, until the time came for him to strike out.

Ye Chong reminisced on his difficult but fulfilling days. A thin smile brightened on his face, as he felt a warm, eager sensation bubbling within him.

Let them see, he will be back soon enough.

…

A month passed quickly enough. It was time for Ye Chong’s trade with Sun Sieha.

Sun Sieha came as planned. Together with him was an old man with white hair – Master Karu.

This was the first time for both of them in visiting Ye Chong’s manor. Master Karu looked around curiously. Most of the buildings had been modified by Ye Chong such that they no longer fit into the leisurely nature of the manor. Sun Sieha controlled himself more, but his occasional wandering gaze betrayed his own curiosity towards this place.

Sun Sieha was naturally accompanied by his guards. However, he also knew that Ye Chong did not like many visitors. Thus, he only brought five of them. The way they conducted themselves suggested that they were all Level 8 shooters.

“You’re here,” Ye Chong greeted the King nonchalantly.

Sun Sieha did not behave like the King he had become. He only nodded back in an equally casual manner, “Yes, I am.”

That the two of them would speak to each other so casually surprised Master Karu and the guards. Master Karu knew Sun Sieha well enough to know that the King was a very strict person who would only be more amenable towards truly capable people. However, this degree of friendliness was a little too much …

The guards were also shocked. Their immediate suspicion was that the young man might be His Majesty’s illegitimate son! However, when they saw Sha Ya, they immediately tightened their guard. A Level 8 shooter can pose a serious threat to His Majesty! They quickly surrounded the King to protect him.

Sun Sieha was annoyed by their overreaction. He waved them away unhappily, “Stand down.”

He then turned to Ye Chong with a smile and asked, “Are they ready?”

“Yes,” Ye Chong nodded and pointed towards two huge boxes casually placed under a tree. The boxes were elegantly designed, caved with many intricate patterns. These two boxes were Kristen’s work. As Ye Chong’s first assignment to her, she dared not slack on her job. She chose the materials herself, and added many decorations on the side. The boxes ended up looking like fine artwork.

Sun Sieha took a glance at the two boxes and nodded. Two guards immediately went for the boxes.

“Pay up,” Ye Chong put out his hand without delay.

Sun Sieha looked a little helpless as he replied, “Here you go.”

Master Karu watched their interaction with amusement. He had never seen anyone speak to the King like this. The young man did not seem afraid of His Majesty at all.

“This is Master Karu, Eastern Cloud’s most prestigious weaponsmith. He asked to be introduced to you, so here he is now,” Sun Sieha made the introductions.

Master Karu smiled gently, his wrinkles showing underneath his smile, “I wouldn’t call myself Master in front of this great talent, Master Ye. I am here to learn from you.”

“You are too kind,” Ye Chong responded out of courtesy.

Sun Sieha said to them, “Enjoy yourselves then. I won’t be bothering you. Sigh, what a carefree life you have, I’m just jealous of you.”

Sun Sieha then took his guards with him and left Ye Chong’s manor.

Master Karu asked carefully, “May I visit your workshop? I’ve tons of questions regarding the cannon array you made.”

“Sure,” Ye Chong replied after some thought.

Ye Chong brought Master Karu to a red and white colored building. “This is my workshop,” Ye Chong introduced. Having learned his lesson, Ye Chong had prepared this particular building for his cover. Everything inside were normal equipment that locals used to build their weapons. In fact, Ye Chong rarely came here himself. It was Kristen who frequented the place often. She had bought most of the equipment in here.

Thus, when Ye Chong brought Master Karu into the building, he surprised Kristen, who was working inside. The woman was quick to notice that the old man was no ordinary person.

“Teacher,” Kristen greeted Ye Chong, as was proper. Ever since she witnessed Ye Chong’s prowess in battle, she never behaved arrogantly towards him again.

“Ye Chong’s student?” Master Karu thought to himself, intrigued. Kristen’s beauty also led him to consider a possibility – could this cold, young man actually be interested in beautiful women? The thought came and passed.

“Mm,” Ye Chong nodded in acknowledgement. He introduced the old man to Kristen, “This is Master Karu.”

“Mas – Master Karu!” the words stumbled of Kristen’s mouth. She could not believe her eyes.

Master Karu was pleased by Kristen’s reaction. He laughed it off, “I didn’t think that Master Ye would have such a beautiful student. You make me jealous.”

“Kristen, my student,” Ye Chong introduced Kristen briefly, completely unmoved by them. Regardless of why Ye Chong had accepted her as a student in the first place, he was actually impressed by her. Kristen was talented, hardworking and determined. Ye Chong did not have much time to teach her. Usually, he would just pass some basic knowledge for her to study by herself.

Kristen did not complain about his teaching methods, but instead focused on absorbing new knowledge given to her.

Ye Chong always had a soft spot for hardworking people.

“Are you really the one and only Master Karu?” Kristen was overjoyed. Every weaponsmith would know the name of this old man. As Eastern Cloud’s iconic weaponsmith, he was an idol to many, including Kristen. Seeing her long admired idol made Kristen a little emotional.

“Haha, I don’t think anyone would be interested in pretending to be me,” Karu laughed it off. He thought the girl was amusing.

His attention turned to a few items on the desk, which looked like unfinished work.

He asked warmly, “Are these yours?”

Kristen blushed and nodded almost imperceptibly, “Yes.” She felt embarrassed to let the honorable Master Karu to see some unfinished work of hers. For someone of her level, Master Karu might just be left unimpressed …

Master Karu picked up one of them and inspected it carefully. He wanted to know how good this young man’s student was. A student’s abilities were usually a good reflection of the teacher’s. Of course, there were exceptions to the rule.

Master Karu nodded, “Not bad. This energy activation chip’s structure is interesting. Your workmanship is good. Ah!” Suddenly, the old man gasped in surprised.

An energy activation chip was every weapon’s core component. It was used to extract energy from energy crystals. This energy was then focused using other components into a directed beam of energy, capable of damage. The energy activation chip was second in the hierarchy of weapon components that required great skill. The component that demanded the most skills was the focusing component.

Master Karu had spent more time than both Kristen and Ye Chong combined in building weapons. Of course he could identify all the elements necessary in an energy activation chip.

This particular chip looked strange. It was only the size of an almond nut, with a complicated internal structure. However, Master Karu could make out every detail of the structure.

“What energy grade is this energy activation chip for?” Master Karu asked Kristen warily.

Kristen answered without hesitation, “Three million Lux.”

Master Karu could barely contain his shock as he repeated shakily, “Three million Lux?”

“Yea,” Kristen answered, feeling worried. The energy activation chip that she built was much smaller than those commonly available in the market, but the great Master Karu might not find it impressive enough.

What a humiliation! Kristen felt her cheeks burning up. She stole a glance at Ye Chong and found him looking pretty much expressionless, not the slightest bit angry with her. Kristen groaned inside. She could never make out Ye Chong’s moods. Her previous teacher had always minded his image very much, especially amongst others in the same trade. If she happened to embarrass his in front of his colleagues, she would suffer for sure!

Karu’s eyes flashed with fear. Making a three million Lux energy activation chip at this small size was a difficult feat. An energy activation chip had a very complicated internal structure. Any kind of miniaturization was hard to achieve. Besides, the higher the energy grade, the larger an energy activation chip must be to accommodate. In his own workshop, an energy activation chip designed for three million Lux would have been at least the size of a fist. This particular chip was only the size of an almond!

The seasoned Master Karu did not let his expression betray his thoughts. He smiled at Kristen and said, “Three million Lux, that’s a heavyweight there. What do you plan to install it in?”

Kristen’s mature, womanly face turned shy as she replied, “I was thinking of making a laser gun.” Ye Chong had built two laser guns at five million Lux earlier. One was for his own training, and the other for Sha Ya to replace her gun made of speckled blue fir.

Kristen wanted one as well, but Ye Chong thought it was unnecessary, and did not make one for her.

Hence, Kristen thought of building a high energy grade laser gun for herself. These days, all the new knowledge had inspired her greatly to try out some things. Of course, building a five million Lux weapon was beyond her. In the end, she settled for three million Lux.

The highest energy grade laser gun one can get from the market was at 1.5 million Lux, and at a sky high price. Kristen was not confident of building this three million Lux weapon, but she wanted to at least try it out. Master Karu was a legendary weaponsmith. Kristen thought that, if she could do it, surely it would be a piece of cake for Master Karu!

A laser gun!

Master Karu was shocked beyond words. How can a three million Lux energy activation chip be used for a laser gun? If Ye Chong had not been standing calmly beside him right then, Master Karu would have thought he heard it wrong.

Kristen looked embarrassed, but Karu could see that she was serious about her work.

No wonder the energy activation chip was made to be this mall. The weird internal structure was probably why the chip could be made this small.

Karu felt an impulse to disassemble the energy activation chip to its basic parts there and then and study its design. Fortunately, he was a seasoned man. He suppressed his emotions quickly. A quick glance to the side showed Ye Chong looking calm as usual. Master Karu managed a smile and said, “Master Ye is indeed outstanding. The chip’s structure is unique.” In fact, he felt that the energy activation chip was in a league of its own. However, it was only natural for a weaponsmith who could build the cannon arrays to be able to come up with something like this.

Ye Chong shook his head and clarified, “The design is hers.” He fixed his gaze on the energy activation chip for a moment. There was still much room for improvement, but he thought Kristen’s proactive attempt a worthy and meaningful effort.

Karu was now shocked beyond words. Could it be that even Ye Chong’s student was as capable as this? Minimizing the size of an energy activation chip had always been one of the difficult problems in weapon building. Now, however, this young man’s student was able to solve that problem by herself, without help from her teacher.

“This … This is … ” Karu’s thoughts slowed down to a halt. For the first time ever, he considered the possibility of having grown too old himself to catch up.

Master Karu quickly gathered himself and laughed, “Haha, looks like our country, Eastern Cloud, will have another Master in its grace. Master Ye has an excellent student!”

Kristen was overcome with joy, having been complimented by the great Master Karu. She felt like she was walking on clouds. At the same time, she felt greatly relieved. She stole a look at Ye Chong, but the man still looked as expressionless as ever, not showing any signs of happiness or contentment.

“If this is your student’s work, perhaps I may be able to purchase the rights for this technology on behalf of Eastern Cloud?” Master Karu inquired carefully, looking at Ye Chong.

Ye Chong did not care. “It’s hers, you can just discuss with her.”

Karu’s wrinkled face stretched into a wide, cunning grin. He said to Kristen, “Dear Ms Kristen, we are willing to offer 30 million ao to buy the rights for this energy activation chip technology. You will receive five percent of every energy activation chip sold for 20 years from now. What do you say?” Karu could tell from experience that this chip would allow their country to be at least three decades ahead of other rival countries in terms of technology. The price he offered for this advantage was not high at all.

Kristen felt a little dizzy. She stared at Karu in amazement, then looked to Ye Chong’s calm face for help.

risten was not unfamiliar with trading, but the largest amount that she had ever dealt with was two million ao, and that was when she asked to be Ye Chong’s student. She did not know how to handle this huge sum. Naturally, her thoughts went to her teacher, Ye Chong.

Ye Chong was experienced in dealing with huge sums, but usually the numbers mean nothing much to him. He was not experienced, nor was he expert in it. However, there was one thing that he was better at than Kristen – no matter the situation, he could still remain calm.

When Ye Chong saw Kristen looking to him for help, he considered the offer by Master Karu for a moment and said, “The price is acceptable, but with some alterations. She will get 10 percent from every three million Lux graded energy activation chip made. For similar models at other energy grades, she will get five percent for each of them.”

Ye Chong knew what Kristen’s energy activation chip meant to Eastern Cloud. Once they fully integrated this technology, their weapons will immediately reach a new level of power, and the first people to own these weapons were surely the military soldiers! In summary, Eastern Cloud’s military was about to get a massive upgrade.

As a man who had led a whole fleet before, Ye Chong knew that replenishing an army’s resources would cost a lot. If it were the army of an entire country, the amount would be staggering. The process of upgrading would be gradual, but the total expenditure remained the same.

As long as they continued to offer better and better technology, improving the energy activation chip to other energy grades and for more kinds of weapons, they would be able to benefit a whole lot more! How much more could they make? Ye Chong could not offer an estimate.

In the short term, their income might not seem significant, but two or three decades later they will reach an impressive sum. Ye Chong would leave this place sooner or later, but Kristen would still be here, and Ye Chong knew how to alter the terms to her advantage.

Ye Chong spoke calmly, but his words did not invite arguments.

Master Karu’s face twitched. The man was a thief! It may not seem obvious, but Master Karu understood the plan behind Ye Chong’s suggestion. Compared to his original proposal, they would now earn eight times more. In particular, “similar models at other energy grades” meant that as long as they were manufacturing energy activation chips with similar structure, at any energy grade and for weapons, Kristen would be able to benefit from them all.

Karu knew the value of this small energy activation chip, or he would not have felt the urgency of acquiring rights for the technology. He believed that by acquiring the rights for this chip, they would be able to use it for all their weapons, regardless of energy grade. “What a sly b*stard!” Master Karu thought to himself, wincing at the huge cost it would take. He could be grateful that the country was paying for it, instead of him.

Besides, Karu could not do anything against the young man’s calm and confident expression. If it was anyone else selling the energy activation chip technology, they would surely be enticed by the 30 million ao offer. However, this young man’s student here … Did she lack money? Her teacher would get 50 million ao every month for the cannon arrays – it was robbery!

These two were not in desperate need for cash. However, His Majesty would probably not agree to coerce them through other methods.

Karu hesitated for a moment before finally agreeing, “Very well!” Did he have a choice? He saw the glazed look in Kristen’s eyes and could not help but sighed to himself – when this young girl looked back at this agreement many years from now, she would appreciate how her teacher had helped her earn so much more.

What a fortunate lady!

The formalities of the deal were left to Karu and Kristen. Since it was possible to negotiate, Karu would not consider using other less courteous means. Since he knew the magnitude of financial impact this agreement would have, he drafted out the contract meticulously to avoid future disputes.

Kristen signed the contract without fully understanding the details. She was completely overwhelmed by the 30 million ao offer in the agreement. She still remembered clearly how giddy she felt when her teacher had sold off a cannon array at 20 million ao. Nevertheless, the money was not hers. This time, she was unprepared for the 30 million ao offered to her. It had momentarily left her stunned.

“Would Master Ye be available in the near future?” Master Karu asked respectfully.

Ye Chong nearly said no, but then he hesitated, and asked, “What is it?”

“There will be a weapons design contest soon, perhaps Master Ye would be able to volunteer some time to serve in the contest’s judge panel,” Master Karu asked expectantly. If he could get this heavyweight to become a judge, the contest would surely be something to look forward to!

“A weapons design contest?” Ye Chong inquired.

Master Karu smiled and explained, “The King organizes the contest every four years as a way to encourage weapons development in Eastern Cloud. There will be many impressive weaponsmiths who will partake in this contest. There are many parts to the contest, such as live demonstration of the weapons and comparisons between theories. In the past, each contest has served as a platform for many new ideas to be introduced to the public. These young contestants may not be excellent weaponsmiths, but they can offer some bold ideas. These ideas are very valuable to us. Besides, this weapon design contest coincides with the largest and most well attended weapons trading market in Eastern Cloud. A good weapon is often expensive, so many shooters from other countries will visit the market to explore their options,” Master Karu tried his best to persuade Ye Chong.

Ye Chong considered the offer for a moment, then nodded and said, “Alright.” Ye Chong had initially thought to decline, but then felt that it would be a good opportunity to understand the general state of technology in this world. Understanding the level of technology of Eastern Cloud, and perhaps even of the entire planet, would definitely provide him with great insight.

Karu was overjoyed. “Excellent! With Master Ye as part of our judge panel, the coming contest will surely leave its mark in history!”

Ye Chong waved off the compliment flatly, “You’re too kind, Master Karu.”

Karu left Ye Chong’s manor with a sense of accomplishment. There were still many questions that he wanted to ask about, but today’s outcome had far exceeded his expectations. That tiny energy activation chip can surely bring about a revolution in Eastern Cloud’s military weapons! He looked forward to it.

On the other hand, today’s trade agreement had also allowed him to get to know the cold, young man personally. Knowing an expert weaponsmith like him might just pay off in future.

Karu respected the young man, but also felt that he could not hope to reach the same level as him. Even his student could improve an energy activation chip to this extent. Surely her teacher could do far more! The man was a mystery, but Karu was certain that the young man was far more capable than he was, and probably the most skilled weaponsmith in the world. Once upon a time, Karu had thought he had reached the pinnacle of weapons making, but now he found himself still at the bottom of the hill, looking up hopefully.

Nevertheless, the young man’s cold and emotionless face dampened Karu’s excitement.

What a difficult person to read! Karu dared not play any tricks with the young man. He could finally understand why the King felt so dissatisfied but helpless against him. In comparison, his beautiful student was more naive. Perhaps she would offer a point of vulnerability.

Of all the intel His Majesty had informed him of the young man, most of them were about his student, but there was almost nothing on the young man himself. They only knew that he came from Dual Forest. Both Karu and Sun Sieha were relieved that Ye Chong’s student, Kristen, was a bona fide Eastern Cloud citizen.

…

Kristen watched as Master Karu left their place. She was still feeling high from the exchange. Ye Chong had returned to his own building. That was a restricted area for Ye Chong only. Even Kristen was not allowed inside.

“Time for practice,” Ye Chong thought to himself as he took in a deep breath. He picked up his gun smoothly, his eyes sharp as knifes. The gun fired again and again, always hitting the moving targets that flew around in the building.

After this long period of training, Ye Chong had improved a lot compared to before. He had once studied the long distance combat training manual. Unlike before, he could now complete the trainings much more easily. His muscles moved according to his will. His eyes were sharper than ever. Moreover, his calculation skills aided him in shooting moving targets.

Still, he was only taking beginner steps towards becoming a long range mech pilot. There was still a long way ahead of him. Nevertheless, it was already a huge improvement for Ye Chong. At least the laser gun no longer served a decorative purpose in Ye Chong’s hands. Ye Chong did not hope to become a shooter like the ones in this world. It was simply impractical for him to aim for that.

Besides, Ye Chong felt that shooters were only powerful midrange combatants. Only a mech fitted with a holographic scanning system could be considered a true long range attacker. On this planet, 30-kilometer midrange shooters were the main highlights, but Ye Chong thought the distance still too restrictive. Besides, an average shooter’s parapsychic sense could only expand out to six or seven kilometres away.

Parapsychic abilities strengthened a shooter’s combat abilities, but it also restricted a shooter’s potential.

Ye Chong believed that the advantage of long range attacks was not fully realized in shooters.

Celest was not significantly faster than its opponents, but it could veer and turn much easily than others. Ye Chong learned from his previous battle experience that he could use this advantage to shake off a shooter’s parapsychic sense. However, once he became a true long range attacker, the hunter would become the hunted.

The problem of fighting using Celest was thus solved, but Ye Chong was not easily satisfied.

The test results for all the items he had bought in Su City were ready. All this information was entered into Celest’s database. Since he could not build photon processors yet, the combat mech Celest was used a temporary storage drive.

Ye Chong studied the numbers and picked a few interesting materials.

Candygrass secreted a very sticky slime. The slime was chemically stable, suitable to be used as a binding agent. Weapons here commonly used a kind of binding agent derived from the Japonicum plant, but the slime from candygrass was 15 times stronger than the former. Ye Chong called it candyglue. He also found that this candyglue could be used for binding metals together, with far better results than traditional soldering. However, the only drawback was the slime secretion from each candygrass plant was very little. This was why the ingredient never became mainstream.

It was not a problem for Ye Chong. As an excellent alchemist, this was an interesting problem to look into. He just needed some time.

The Grimacing Creeper was also a cheap and neglected species. Its surface layer had a special component that allowed it to absorb parapsychic waves. This was one of Ye Chong’s most important findings so far. He was overjoyed to find the natural anti parapsychic property. Ye Chong had always been vexed with the shooter’s parapsychic waves. If he could extract the component to make anti parapsychic products, Ye Chong was confident that no aircraft would ever be a threat to Celest again.

So much to look forward to!

There was work to be done, though. Ye Chong was mentally prepared for them. No matter how hard this was going to be, he must produce this anti parapsychic material.

At the same time, things were not going well for Du Feng. He was plagued with nightmares of that horrible night where his comrades died right in front of his eyes, and the shadow that lurked in the dark. Often times he would be woken up from his dreams, finding himself covered with sweat. However, there was nothing he could do. Sir Huang was always either going about his business secretively or staying in his room. Du Feng could not glean his intention.

On the other hand, Du Feng was facing problems at work. Many of the new recruits could not keep up with the physical training. His camp had never suffered so much outside of actual combat. He was also helpless against this issue.

“Gui, what do you think we should do now? We can’t go on like this. I’ve been to the patient ward yesterday. Those little brats have all collapsed, injuring their muscles. They won’t be getting up jumping for at least a couple of weeks,” Du Feng sighed worriedly as he watched the few remaining new recruits on the training ground, pushing themselves beyond their weak bodies.

Li Gui looked concerned as well. “You’re right, Old Du, it’s bad. I went to the medical officer yesterday to get to know more. The officer said that these guys are all too weak, plus our training is too intense for them to keep up.”

“I guess we’re out of luck for the friendly match between the new recruits,” Du Feng said, dejected.

Li Gui shook his head, “That’s not quite the case. I’ve heard that almost all the military camps have the same problem with their new recruits. Some of the camps even lost two thirds of their recruits. I think that His Majesty will have to be informed of this problem soon.”

Du Feng looked up at that, “That may be a good thing. His Majesty is wise, he will not let this problem remain.”

…

As Li Gui expected, the issue was brought to Sun Sieha just two days ago.

Sun Sieha looked deeply concerned. He was upset with having this issue so soon after he took the throne. As someone who had trained with the military since he was young, Sun Sieha thought highly of the military, more so than his father. He knew that if the issue was not resolved soon, the young shooters will suffer many casualties once they were in the field. As a King who intended to expand his kingdom to the entire world, this was a problem that must be solved.

The military department held a meeting to discuss the issue, while Sun Sieha listened patiently to the suggestions from his military officers. All of them agreed that that the military’s unreasonable prerequisites for new recruits had caused the problem they faced today. Besides, it had become a norm to expect shooters to prioritize parapsychic training over physical training. All the military officers expressed their concern over the matter.

Sun Sieha understood that this was a problem that needed solving, but altering a worldview that had long gone unchallenged was not an easy task. He could have used the law to change the prerequisites for new recruits to encourage physical fitness, but Sun Sieha was not naïve to believe that it would work straight away.

As a worldly ruler, Sun Sieha knew exactly how hard it was to change a person’s beliefs.

They could only be persuaded, not forced. Sun Sieha labored over the problem, trying to think of a solution.

The sky darkened. Time flowed pass unnoticed while Sun Sieha was deep in thought. Suddenly, Sun Sieha thought of Ye Chong, the best expert in close range combat.

Sun Sieha’s eyes lit up in the darkness. If anyone were to see him now, they would surely be reminded of the fact that their King was a level 8 shooter as well.

In just three days, Sun Sieha made his second visit to Ye Chong’s manor.

un Sieha left Ye Chong’s manor in a good mood. People began to wonder why. In Su City, Sun Sieha’s every move was under silent scrutiny. The councilors and officers were all trying to figure out their new, strict ruler. That His Majesty had visited the same place twice in three days and returned to the palace in a good mood each time was of course highly suggestive.

The more experienced people had already gotten hold of information regarding Ye Chong and his group, including their conflict with the 1st Legion. Details of that exchange were scarce, but it was said that 80 soldiers had lost their lives, that Du Feng had been held hostage, and that there was a Level 8 shooter in the manor. These three points were all shocking by themselves. To think that the owner of the manor had such power!

Besides, it was now known His Majesty’s former butler, Ba Luomeng had served as witness to the purchase of the manor. This information suggested once again of the close relationship between the King and the owner of the manor.

The nobles, on the other hand, were surprised by the 1st Legion’s reaction to their defeat.

Every noble knew of how Eastern Cloud’s 1st Legion was too proud and overbearing. Their Legate, Ming Xiao, was a short tempered man. He did not bother to be respectful to anyone but the King himself, and easily took offense. Nonetheless, since he was a military top dog with rows of medals to show it, everyone in the government, be it the Prince or the most favored councilor in the cabinet, would be very mindful in dealing with him.

Contrary to their expectations, Ming Xiao had kept quiet about the matter, and did not retaliate. The arrogant and trigger-happy 1st Legate behaved like peacekeepers, never speaking of the battle again. Even Du Feng himself stayed passive.

This was shocking to all those who were familiar with the 1st Legion. Who in the world were they dealing with? There was not enough information to glean the manor owner’s identity, but one thing everyone could agree to was this – no one can afford meddling with the man in question.

A mysterious manor, owned by a mysterious man – Ye Chong did not know that his name had already reached the ears of the top officials in the Eastern Cloud government. It was a piece of intel that was spread quietly but surely.

For now, however, everyone focused on two immediate matters – the King’s birthday celebration three months later, and the weapons design contest a week after the celebration.

The first event was important, that went without saying. With a new ruler on the throne, it was a golden opportunity for the officials and nobles to leave a good impression. Those who performed well would be rewarded accordingly, but those who did not will suffer certain consequences. His Majesty, being the combat enthusiast, had also passed down the order to organize a nationwide combat tournament at around the same time. Anyone who won, no matter their profession, age, or methods, will be granted the title of Master, and could even have an audience before the King. If the winner was interested in becoming a government official, His Majesty would grant the position immediately. Of course, a huge monetary sum would be part of the grand prize.

The councilors were all unsettled by this. The tournament was not as simple as it seemed to be. Since the tournament would be just three days away from the quadrennial weapons design contest, Su City would be flooded with an unprecedented volume of visitors. The weapons design contest was attended by weaponsmiths from around the world. Some of them would even arrive at Su City a month ahead of time. For those who were looking for a better weapon, there was also the huge weapons trading market for them.

The councilors must first deal with the problem of security. With so many skilled weapon users entering Su City at once, they must ensure the safety of Su City and their King. This was the first issue that they must deal with.

No one knew why His Majesty suddenly fancied having this combat tournament. They all knew how this tournament would attract battle enthusiasts across Eastern Cloud like bees to honey. Perhaps Su City might not even be able to accommodate everyone by then.

Nonetheless, there was nothing they could do about it. His Majesty was intent on carrying on the event, giving the order without prior discussion. Those who tried to speak up were immediately discouraged by the cold look from their King. Besides, they had no reason to speak up. It was His Majesty’s birthday celebration. Would it not be suicidal to be a killjoy right now?

Thus, they could only try their best to handle the situation.

…

Ye Chong frowned. Evern since Sun Sieha left his place, he fell into long period of deep thought. His shooting exercise had to stop. He was preoccupied with the discussion with Sun Sieha that day. If it really worked, then an important step in his plan would be completed earlier than expected. This was very important to him.

However, Ye Chong was not confident of it. This gave him a headache.

There were more people sneaking around the manor recently. Sha Ya had expressed her interest in the matter. However, Ye Chong ignored them. As long as they did not step into his property, he would let them be. If anyone tried to enter his manor, they will not leave the place alive.

Ye Chong called both Sha Ya and Kristen to him.

Sha Ya and Kristen shared a look of puzzlement. Ye Chong rarely asked for them.

“I’m about to undergo three months of isolated training. Kristen, I’ve given you everything you need to study in this period. You need only learn to understand them. Remember, you must understand them thoroughly. I will test you after my isolated training is complete. Sha Ya, you will join me in my training.”

Sha Ya could not hide her surprise. Kristen acknowledged his orders. She will need a long time to figure out what Ye Chong had given to her. She did not mind Ye Chong’s isolated training, for the man rarely came out of his building most of the time anyway.

On the other hand, Sha Ya was completely taken by surprise. She did not expect to be his training partner.

Ye Chong had arranged for this isolated training with a very specific goal in mind. He was preparing for Eastern Cloud’s national combat tournament two months from now. Sun Sieha had visited him last time to discuss this matter. He hoped that Ye Chong would enter the tournament. Ye Chong had declined immediately at first. To him, time was too precious to be wasted on unimportant things like this.

However, Sun Sieha had come prepared. He made an offer that Ye Chong could not refuse. Soon, the ever pragmatic Ye Chong agreed to the King’s terms.

Since he had agreed to participate, he must make the necessary preparations. Ye Chong had not come up with an effective strategy to fight against highly skilled shooters, and it bothered him. While making his entire body vibrate could shake off a shooter’s parapsychic sense, a Level 8 shooter would be immune to this move.

A Level 8 shooter’s parapaychic waves felt strong and dense. Ye Chong’s quick movements could not hope to disrupt the waves.

Ye Chong had prepared one of the buildings in the manor for this isolated training. Of course, the training ground was essentially an empty building, the floor covered with a layer of wooden planks.

“This is your weapon,” Ye Chong said and passed a small and silver laser gun to Sha Ya. The silver material had a good texture. The gun was simple, but with a streamlined design. Sha Ya felt it fit comfortably into her hands. She instantly fell in love it.

Ye Chong saw Sha Ya caressing the gun appreciatively. He said, “This laser gun is only at 10 Lux, harmless against the human body. If you’re interested, I’ll modify the gun after this training to about three million Lux. Take it as compensation for being my training partner. What do you think?”

“Done!” Sha Ya agreed immediately, feeling pleasantly surprised.

“The gun is no different than your average laser gun, aside from the energy grade.”

Sha Ya loved the feel of the gun. She looked even more absorbed in the weapon as she tossed the silver gun around in her hands.

“You need to attack me with all you have. The laser gun can fire a thousand times after each recharge. All you need to do is to fight me like in actual combat. Do you understand?” This was Ye Chong’s plan. He could not think of anything else. Perhaps through actual combat, he would be able to figure out some countermove.

Back when Ye Chong was negotiating with Sun Sieha in Yedda city, he had already had this idea when he asked for a Level 8 shooter. If Level 8 shooters were a kind of commodity, they would be very precious and invaluable. Without Sun Sieha’s assistance, Ye Chong would find it very difficult to get a Level 8 shooter’s help.

Initially, Ye Chong did not see finding an effective way to against strong shooters as a very high priority. It could be done later. However, Sun Sieha’s visit had pushed this problem up the priority ladder.

Sha Ya nodded, understanding Ye Chong.

They stepped away from each other to gather distance, then Ye Chong signalled for Sha Ya to start.

Suddenly, Ye Chong felt an extremely powerful parapsychic wave locking onto him. He felt it immediately. It was like being watched by a snake, and it made him highly uncomfortable.

He moved! Ye Chong leapt away, bouncing off the wooden planks on the ground.

Fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh! Three laser beams hit Ye Chong between the eyebrows, throat, and heart, respectively. Ye Chong looked perturbed. It Sha Ya was using a normal laser gun, he would already be dead three times over.

Fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh! Another six shots were fired, all of them landing on Ye Chong’s body. Ye Chong looked simply terrible.

…

Kristen’s life did not change much due to Ye Chong’ isolated training. Whenever she passed by the building that functioned as the training ground, she would always hear non-stop explosions or sounds of impacts. Kristen was initially shocked by the noise, but had soon grown used to it.

Kristen shook her head and muttered, “They’re both crazy, I’m not gonna be a part of it.” She turned back and headed towards her own weapons workshop. After she sold her patent to Master Karu, her confidence got a boost. This encouraged her to try even more new things. She would try her best to understand the new knowledge she got from Ye Chong through experimentation.

Kristen could see that Ye Chong was uninterested in weapons. He was a mystery to her, but all the knowledge he imparted were solid gold. Kristen knew that this was an opportunity that should not be wasted, so she worked hard to make it count.

…

As the King’s birthday celebration got nearer, more and more people came to Su City. The combat tournament that His Majesty announced earlier was now a hotly discussed topic in Eastern Cloud. Perhaps the true experts, like Level 8 shooters, did not need to prove themselves, but the tournament was very attractive for younger people who wanted to test themselves.

It had been very long since Eastern Cloud had a large scale combat tournament like this. The only way to become a government official of Eastern Cloud was through the military, starting from the bottommost rung. Since His Majesty would be watching the entire tournament, it was a splendid opportunity for the younger generation to gain fame and status!

Unlike in Su City, Ye Chong’s manor was relatively peaceful.

In the training building, Sha Ya had felt growing admiration towards Ye Chong, who was trying hard to execute evasive manoeuvres. She had never seen anyone persist for so long through harsh training like this. Even she was starting to feel tired. She had not stopped shooting with her laser gun yet. Who knew many shots she had taken? After so many days, she had exhausted enough energy crystals to make a huge pile.

Nevertheless, Sha Ya held on. Every time she saw the tenacious figure trying to avoid her shots, she felt invigorated and motivated to carry on. For two whole months, she had not rest more than necessary. She aimed and fired every single day through sheer determination. Her hands were aching by now. After shooting so frequently and intensely for a long period, the act of shooting felt like second instinct. She could not fire much faster than before. The tiny silver gun had become a part of her, obeying her every thought.

She Ya realized that her stagnating skills were finally improving once again.

What about her training partner? She Ya wondered, looking at the shadow of the silent but determined man.

e Chong looked exhausted. Even his strong body was pushed to the limit as he trained intensively every single day for so long. In these 80 days, Ye Chong had to run almost constantly to avoid the laser beams. He ran and ran like a leopard in the forest, dodging the laser beams that never stopped coming from Sha Ya. In the end, he could only hold one thought in mind – run for his life!

Ye Chong’s explosive power was impressive. Sha Ya had seen that before, but she now found his stamina equally formidable. He could move quickly in the training ground throughout the entire day, never slowing down. Being a Level 8 shooter, the quick movements and afterimages did not affect her performance much, but staring at someone moving so quickly for so long had also affected her. After the first day, Ye Chong was so tired he could just collapse onto the floor, while Sha Ya could only see everything vibrating in her vision.

On the second day, Sha Ya changed tactics. She closed her eyes, since her parapsychic sense was more reliable than her vision at this range. The only thing that surprised her was how Ye Chong had returned to the training ground on time, as though nothing much had happened the day before.

The first thought that came to Sha Ya was – was this person really human?

Naturally, Ye Chong defaulted to running on this day. Ye Chong ran wildly in the small training ground, but every time he did a quick veer, the laser beam would still find its mark. Nevertheless, he continued running undeterred.

At the end of the day, Sha Ya could hear and was appalled by Ye Chong’s heavy panting. Ye Chong no longer moved so quickly and easily. His every step and every turn became heavy stomps on the wooden planks beneath him. A few cracks would show on the reinforced wooden floorboard. Sha Ya knew that by now, Ye Chong was running on his last reserves.

Whenever this happened, Sha Ya would start counting down. However, Ye Chong was able to hold on until the end of training. By then, Ye Chong was already drenched in sweat. A thick vein throbbed violently on his forehead.

For 80 days, the routine repeated itself.

Sha Ya found it difficult to imagine how a slim body like his could store so much energy!

She found that the young man before her had shattered her beliefs on what was possible. Ye Chong’s intensive and perhaps masochistic training won Sha Ya’s complete respect and approval.

This did not mean that Sha Ya was starting to have feelings for Ye Chong. It was in fact a feeling of respect from one strong combatant to another.

Shooters were sensitive to their surroundings. Their parapsychic sense allowed them to notice the details in their environment. As a Level 8 shooter, she could sense the tiniest details around her.

Ye Chong’s breakthrough happened on the 57th day. The number did not mean anything in general, but it held a special meaning for Sha Ya. On this day, Sha Ya had witnessed a breakthrough of the strongest combat expert in Eastern Cloud, and perhaps in the entire world. The man had finally found a way to shake off a Level 8 shooter’s parapsychic sense.

She did not know he achieved it, but Sha Ya could feel the moment when her parapsychic sense lost contact with Ye Chong. She quickly tracked him down again, but Sha Ya knew that a person like Ye Chong would have noticed the slip on her side, no matter how temporary it was.

Sha Ya was right. Later, Ye Chong became harder and harder to lock on to. Sha Ya found it harder and harder to keep track of him with her parapsychic sense.

Sha Ya knew that Ye Chong was not yet a threat to the authority of shooters in general, but from that moment on, the dominance of shooters would gradually fade over time.

Ye Chong was very, very tired! However, he could not afford to be careless. He knew that this opportunity was hard to come by. Every second was precious to him. He must quickly familiarize himself with this feeling, so that it could become instinctive to him. Only then could he fight on even ground with Level 8 shooters.

At the beginning, Ye Chong did not really have a plan. He could not do anything against parapsychic waves. Hence, he decided to just let Sha Ya attack him. To defeat an enemy, one must first understand them. Ye Chong endured Sha Ya’s powerful parapsychic waves every day as he tried his best to avoid her attacks that never seemed to miss the mark.

The method was effective. Soon, Ye Chong grew familiar with the feeling of being targeted. In the beginning, he would always feel highly threatened whenever he was locked on by the parapsychic waves. Later, he gradually got used to the feeling.

A month later, Ye Chong could already sense minute details in Sha Ya’s parapsychic waves. If Sha Ya’s parapsychic waves were like water, then Ye Chong was beginning to understand the physical properties of the waters. This was a priceless advantage. How often was it that another combat expert as good as he was could train with a Level 8 shooter continuously? Every Level 8 shooter was a master in their own right. They had good reason to be prideful.

This was something very important. Ye Chong was not an actual mentalist. He knew the logic behind the skill, but he could not have a more personal and fundamental understanding of it, not like Huang Baiyi or Sha Ya. Now, however, as he continued to train with Sha Ya without stopping for weeks, the shooter’s powerful and repeated demonstrations allowed Ye Chong to familiarise himself with parapsychic abilities at an astonishing rate.

Once he had a better understanding of parapsychic abilities, Ye Chong’s rich battle experience, calm mind and Jie level skills allowed him to find a way to conquer his foe in a relatively short time.

When Ye Chong tried it for the first time, it was actually him using one of his special skills as a Jie expert. He had tried it before, but to no avail. When he tried it again this time, he could see in his vision a strange curving line of blue that blinked quickly out of existence. Ye Chong had never seen a wavy line like that before.

Before this, Ye Chong used his special ability, he would only see straight or angular lines, but never curved.

Ye Chong following the blue curve instinctively. In that moment, he felt a relief over his entire body, like a man walking in water suddenly finding all the water drained away. Ye Chong would never forget that sudden moment of ease.

In that moment, Ye Chong felt a sudden burst of joy in his heart. As he continued to push his limits every day in his training, he was straining himself both physically and mentally near his breaking point. Now, all the tension in his body was released. Overwhelmed by his emotions, Ye Chong quickly lost control of this state of freedom, and was locked on by Sha Ya again.

From that moment on, Ye Chong was able to avoid more of Sha Ya’s shots. Ye Chong soon found the key to escaping Sha Ya’s parapsychic waves – he must be calm, as calm as the waters. This was not difficult for him. In fact, it was his strength.

As Ye Chong grew more familiar with Sha Ya’s parapsychic waves, the mysterious wavy line appeared more frequently. They looked different each time. In the end, Ye Chong could easily move through Sha Ya’s parapsychic waves. There were more lines in his vision now, giving Ye Chong more options.

Ever since he attained this ability as a Jie expert, Ye Chong seldom spent time on it. Ye Chong had many ways to do battle, and this unique skill had only been used a few times.

The skill was crucial to escaping Sha Ya’s parapsychic waves. Ye Chong never expected it.

Why did it not work before, but turned out to be so effective right now? Ye Chong could not understand. Later, Ye Chong realized that he did not actually understand much of this unique skill of his. He had never thought to question the logic behind his skill. When he first discovered what he could do, Ye Chong found it hard to believe. He had thought that anticipatory skills like this would have been more reasonable to be found in strong mentalists like Huang Baiyi. It did not make sense to appear in him, someone who had no talent in mentalist abilities. Nonetheless, since he rarely needed to use the skill, Ye Chong did not think of it further.

This breakthrough changed Ye Chong’s perspective of his unique skill. It was not anticipatory, like a mentalist’s abilities, but more like a vulnerability pointer, the result of heavy computation! This was why the skill did not work at first. As Ye Chong grew more familiar with Sha Ya’s parapsychic waves, his brain was able to process all the information and determine the weakness of her senses.

From this point of view, his unique skillset did not seem so mysterious after all, but Ye Chong finally understood how powerful it was. With his usual abilities, Ye Chong would not be able to determine the weakness in Sha Ya’s parapsychic sense, but this unique ability could.

When using this unique skill, his brain could process information close to a hundred times faster.

What a terrifying ability!

Judging by the outcome, the isolated training was a success. Not only did Ye Chong get the breakthrough that he desired, his strong body had also improved significantly after the long training. After three days of rest, Ye Chong’s body was restored to top condition. He realized then that the energy in his body made him feel very comfortable.

“I didn’t think you would actually succeed. Congratulations,” Sha Ya spoke with a low voice. She congratulated Ye Chong sincerely. Ye Chong’s determination and hard work could sometimes squeeze a little sympathy out of her stone cold heart. In these 80 days, she had witnessed how Ye Chong had trained himself. The floorboards had all crumbled into tiny little pieces evenly across the training ground. Step a little harder, and the boards would disintegrate into dust. This was all the result of Ye Chong’s training.

After the isolated training, Sha Ya finally realized how Ye Chong earned the skills that did not fit with his age.

Ye Chong had already recovered from the ecstasy he had felt earlier from his success. He accepted Sha Ya’s congratulatory words calmly, “Thank you. And thank you for training with me all this while. I would not have succeeded without you.” Ye Chong meant what he said. Without Sha Ya’s serious and active participation in their training, he would not have been able to come up with his countermove in such a short time.

Sha Ya smiled, and her face lit up instantly. She spoke with a sigh, “I have never seen anyone so crazy and yet so calm like you. No need to thank me. The training has helped me a lot as well. I’ll have to thank you for helping me improve myself.”

“Your laser gun will be done tomorrow.” Ye Chong had a very straightforward way to expressing his gratitude.

“I’ll hold you to it, then. But I’m curious, how did you do it?” Ever since Ye Chong first slipped her senses, Sha Ya had tried to change her own parapsychic waves to keep him targeted, but Ye Chong could always find a way to escape her. Slowly, it became harder and harder to keep Ye Chong locked. Now, it was simply impossible.

In fact, Sha Ya was also worried. The current Ye Chong was a real threat to shooters. If Sha Ya was not on Ye Chong’s side …

Ye Chong replied with a weird expression, “I’m not sure.”

Sha Ya nodded in understanding. She knew that the man was not trying to hide anything. At their level, there were many things that could not be explained.

On the second day, Ye Chong presented the silver laser gun to Sha Ya. Kristen had also handed over the money from three months’ worth of cannon arrays to Ye Chong.

Ye Chong’s life returned to normal. Without the intense training, his daily routine went on a slower pace.

A breakthrough in hand-to-hand combat was great news for Ye Chong. It meant that as long as a shooter was not in an aircraft, they would not be a threat to him. Hence, Ye Chong now need to consider the problem of aircrafts. If he could solve that one as well, then his two most urgent problems would be dealt with.

In this world, aircrafts were like mechs.

As a Level 8 shooter, Sha Ya’s fighter aircraft was very advanced. It was custom made from an aircraft manufacturer. Eastern Cloud had many aircraft manufacturers, but not many could actually design them. Feinscott Company was one of them that could. Sha Ya’s fighter came from this company. It’s name was Redsound.

Compared to other common stock aircrafts available in the market, Redsound had a few obvious differences. Its body was almost fully triangular. Only when one stepped to the side of the aircraft could one notice the aerodynamic curves of its two wings. In the atmosphere, the aircraft could fly as fast as Celest due to its more aerodynamic design, while Celest encountered more air resistance.

Sha Ya looked pained while Ye Chong disassembled Redsound into pieces until he finally found the fighter’s engine.

The engine’s design surprised him. This was the first piece of advanced technology that he had seen in this world. The engine’s design was based on very advanced principles, but not as powerful as Celest’s. Local raw materials were key to high performance. They were lighter but with excellent physical properties.

Redsound was mainly made of a kind of red coloured wood, called woodrift. It was the lightest wooden material, but with equally excellent physical properties. It was also very costly. Redsound was a very expensive aircraft. Since it was very fast, and the aircraft’s body very light, it was a difficult aircraft to fly. Only the truly skilled Level 8 shooters would buy this model for their own use.

Ye Chong shook his head. The aircrafts were designed for atmospheric flight only. This made them impractical. Celest may be about the same speed as Redsound in the atmosphere, but it would definitely be faster than the aircraft in outer space. Besides, Celest was much more flexible in application than Redsound. The only reason Redsound could pose a threat to Celest was a device in it that Ye Chong did not understand – the trackball.

She Ya demonstrated using the trackball. Ye Chong fond the blinking lights intriguing. To him, the trackball was like a photon processor controlled by parapsychic waves.

Aiming and firing via one’s parapsychic sense made it a much faster process than targeting the enemy through holographic scanning and keying in commands in the photon processor. This was why Celest was at a disadvantage against aircrafts.

This mysterious crystal-like trackball was the most powerful part of the fighter.

It was unfortunate that he did not have the least bit of parapsychic abilities to use it.

Just then, Sun Sieha arrived for a visit.

Ye Chong wondered to himself if every ruler in this world had so much time in their hands.

When Sun Sieha’s gaze landed on Ye Chong, his expression changed. The bodyguards around him reacted as well.

Sun Sieha inhaled deeply and regained his composure. He smiled and said, “What a surprise, what a really pleasant surprise! You really are full of surprises.”

Ye Chong ignored Sun Sieha’s emotional outburst and asked him flatly, “Why are you here?” He frowned and added, “The national combat tournament is still some time away.”

Sun Sieha laughed dryly and said, “Can’t I just visit with no particular reason? I heard that you’ve been busy with training, so I’d thought of dropping by to visit you. Since you’re done, might as well take you out to have some fun.”

Sun Sieha’s guards were already used to the way their King interacted with the young man. His Majesty never could do anything against the young man.

Ye Chong continued watching Sun Sieha quietly, waiting.

Sun Sieha was not used to Ye Chong’s resistance against both forceful and friendly treatments. His eyes flashed with a cold glare, but he quickly composed himself and explained, “This is all part of the plan.”

“I see.” Ye Chong looked at Sun Sieha. He did not fully understand the King’s way of doing things, but he knew that Sun Sieha was not the kind of person to spend time carelessly.

…

Prince Desnio’s mansion was located at the most prosperous area in Su City. Music was frequently heard from inside, and people would looked towards the mansion enviously. Evening balls at the Prince’s mansion were well known in Su City. The place was always served by the best liquors and beautiful ladies. Of course, the mansion was also a hotspot for talents. Famous musicians would perform at the parties, where people were served by the best chefs in Eastern Cloud. It was an entertainment centre made for nobles. Being invited to the Prince’s evening balls was considered as a mark of status. Only by attending the evening ball could anyone be viewed as accepted by the noble society. Many people would derive all kinds of schemes to get an invitation. In the black market, a blank invitation card to the evening ball could be sold at a sky high price.

Desnio was Sun Sieha’s uncle. His title as Prince was one of great importance. Sun Sieha had once stayed at his uncle’s place for a long time when he was young, and shared a close relationship with him. The Prince was of high status, but he never stepped out of line, and never involved himself in politics. Instead, he focused on organizing his evening balls.

Nonetheless, no one would forget the political influence that Prince Desnio had. Besides, the new King on the throne further improved his position. However, the Prince continued to maintain a low key presence, and never make any statements on the state of politics and governance.

Prince Desnio’s evening ball was the favourite of all nobles. The place was uniquely decorated, and had an easy ambience. It was the first choice of the nobles for a place to relax and socialize.

Prince Desnio was a stout man. His face was always slightly flushed, and his voice was loud and energetic.

“Hah, Duke Warren, I haven’t seen you here in a long while. Did you find somewhere new to have fun? You have to tell me,” Prince Desnio laughed happily when he saw Duke Warren, and went to embrace him.

Duke Warren could not step back in time, and was quickly crushed by Prince Desnio’s bear hug. He was hurting and annoyed as he said, “Not so tight, not so tight, do you want to crush this old bag of bones?” Duke Warren was one of the most influential councillors in court during the previous King’s reign. His hair was all white, but his skin was smooth and well care for despite the tired look on his face.

Prince Desnio looked Duke Warren up and down and exclaimed in surprise, “What’s the matter? Could it be that last night, you …” He smiled suggestively.

“I don’t have the energy for that at this age,” Duke Warren smiled bitterly.

“Then what is it?” Prince Desnio asked, puzzled.

Duke Warren looked even more bitter as he explained, “It’s His Majesty’s celebrations. His Majsety announced a national combat tournament out of the blue. I’ve got all hands on board just for this, and still it’s not enough. I am going crazy from the workload these few days, and I happen to have the time to visit today to de-stress.”

“Why don’t you have enough manpower?” Prince Desnio was baffled. As the Home Secretary, he controlled almost all the manpower available in Su City. How could he not have enough people?

Duke Warren looked positively frustrated. “The King’s birthday is almost upon us. We need people to usher ambassadors from other countries, and representatives from local authourities.”

“That’s true,” Prince Desnio nodded.

“You must have heard that the King wants to organize that d*mned combat tournament for his birthday,” Duke Warren said, obviously unhappy with the decision.

“Hah, of course I have. That got me excited for a good while. It’s been so long since we did anything interesting. We’re going to have a battle between the strongest in the world, isn’t that exciting?”

“Oh, certainly. If I don’t have to organize the event, of course I would agree to having the tournament. What an excellent source of entertainment!” Duke Warren raved sarcastically, “But of course, I am the one who’s in charge of organizing this thing. By God, I swear, I’ve never worked so hard in my life. Look, my wrinkles are beginning to show.”

Prince Desnio did not, in fact, spot any wrinkles on Duke Warren’s face, but he could see how tired the man was. Prince Desnio asked, “Why’d you work yourself into a twist?”

Duke Warren nearly burst into tears as he complained, “There’re too many people, way too many of them! The entire Su City’s flooded with visitors from all across the country. The King’s birthday celebration, the national combat tournament,” Duke Warren counted weakly with his fingers, “and the weapons design competition, all happening within a week of the King’s birthday. Don’t you know that any one of them is enough to give me a headache? Now that I have to deal with all three together, it’s just driving me crazy!”

Prince Desnio gave sympathetic look at Duke Warren and said, “My good Duke, you must take care of yourself.”

Abruptly, the Duke’s expression smoothened, all traces of his emotional outburst gone. He said solemnly, “Nevertheless, it is our duty as councillors to serve the King.” Duke Warren looked around them as Prince Desnio gave him a look of disdain. The Duke then lowered his voice into a whisper, “Rumour has it that the King announced his decision to organize the national combat tournament after a visit from that manor. Honestly, do you think it’s got something to do with the manor’s owner?”

Prince Desnio smiled warily and spoke just as softly, “Hehe, I don’t know. There are so many rumours going around about that manor’s owner. I’m too lazy to go through them.”

“What are you talking about, gentlemen?” A loud voice suddenly interrupted them.

Both men looked up to see the 1st Legion’s Legate, Ming Xiao. Even in this function, he wore a neat military uniform that stood out from the crowd. Ming Xiao approached them with a glass of red wine in hand.

“To think that Sir Ming Xiao would grace this evening ball with his presence, it’s like the sun rising from the west!” That was Prince Desnio’s thorny greeting to Ming Xiao.

The legendary hot-tempered man, Ming Xiao, did not take offense. He smiled easily and said, “I was bored to death recently, and heard that you serve excellent snow clams here. Since I had some time tonight, I decided to give them a try.”

Warren exclaimed with bordering rudeness, “Sir Ming Xiao is famous for his discipline, but now he’s slipped up for a plate of snow clams. Tsk tsk, it’s not easy, not easy at all. I say, my Prince, you have to reward that chef of yours.”

“That I will,” Prince Desnio continued the mockery.

Ming Xiao laughed loudly, and looked at the two of them with a smile that was not exactly friendly, “Ah, one of you is the mighty Home Secretary, and the other a Prince. What could you possibly be discussing about so enthusiastically, so secretively? Could it be something of national importance? As a military man, I cannot help but feel curious.”

Everyone around them was listening closely to their exchange. Sie Ming Xiao, Duke Warren and Prince Desnio were best friends when they were younger, but the gap between them grew larger and larger as they reached adulthood. The military had an unpleasant relationship with the rest of the government, especially between Ming Xiao and Duke Warren. The Prince acted as a mediator between the two.

“I heard that Sir Ming Xiao’s beloved student, Du Feng, had lost many of his soldiers some time ago. The Prince and I were thinking about paying a visit. Brigadier General Du Feng has served his country well. His soldiers must also be strong and capable. Their loss is also the country’s loss. We think it prudent to express our condolences,” Duke Warren said coldly.

Ming Xiao was momentarily taken aback, but he quickly regained his composure and said, “Oh, I wonder where you heard of that, Duke Warren. Sigh, the rumour mill is quite a force to reckon with! No wonder His Majesty repeatedly emphasized that spreading fake information is a serious crime. This is the reason, this is exactly the reason!”

Now it was Duke Warren’s turn to be taken aback. Ming Xiao made it clear that His Majesty did not wish for this information to become widespread.

Prince Desnio looked at the two hostile men helplessly, and offered, “I say, look at you two, why so serious? Come come, let’s have all have a drink!”

Just as the Prince was about to raise his glass, a servant rushed to him in a panic and whispered something by his ear.

Ming Xiao and Duke Warren were standing closest to the Prince, and they heard everything. Both men exchanged a look, then quickly broke eye contact, wearing an odd expression.

His Majesty had arrived!

hen Sun Sieha and Ye Chong presented themselves at the back door of the Prince’s mansion, Prince Desnio and his two companions were already there waiting.

Sun Sieha looked at the three of them with their heads bowed low, and nodded, “No need to announce us.” The three of them nodded in an understanding. When they saw the cold man standing beside their King, the three of them felt unsettled.

“This is … Erm … Master Ye Chong. He’s a master weaponsmith, and a close combat expert,” Sun Sieha briefly introduced Ye Chong.

The three of them realized then that the man was an excellent weaponsmith. No wonder the King treated him well. They ignored the part about him being a close combat expert. There were no Masters in close range combat anyway. The King was probably just being nice to the man.

Sun Sieha turned to Ye Chong and introduced their audience, “This is Prince Desnio, my uncle. This is Duke Warren, Home Secretary. Hmm, you can contact him if you need anything.”

Duke Warren laughed and said, “Anything you need, Master Ye, just drop me a message.” He was not a fool. If the King made this offer to the man, he must be a very important man to the King. It was only appropriate to curry his favour, or at least be on good terms with the man.

“This is Ming Diao, Legate of the 1st Legion,” Sun Sieha pointed at Ming Xiao and said. Ming Xiao nodded at Ye Chong with a smile.

“This is the most exclusive evening ball in Eastern Cloud, where nobles and aristocrats liked to congregate. Hehe, of course, there are also many beautiful ladies. Getting to know nobles will be beneficial for you.”

“I see,” Ye Chong nodded and turned to leave.

When Duke Warren and the other two men saw Ye Chong, they knew instantly who he was. They thought it strange, the way His Majesty spoke to that man. A popular rumour sprang to their minds – that the young man was actually the King’s illegitimate son. They all knew how strict the King was. He rarely spoke to anyone with such cordiality.

Nevertheless, they dismissed the thought immediately. Prince Desnio, as the host, took care of his guests. He quickly asked the man, “Do you need a servant to show you the way?”

“No,” Ye Chong replied crisply, not mincing words.

Sun Sieha flashed a mysterious smile, but quickly reverted to his royal solemnity and said to the other three men, “All of you, meet me in the study.” He then led the way himself, having been familiar with place due to his long stay with the Prince when he was younger.

Duke Warren, Ming Xiao and the Prince understood that the King had matters to discuss with them, and quickly followed him.

Ye Chong went the evening ball alone. This was a freeform function. Aside from invitation card, everything else about the evening ball was not restricted in any form. Dainty dishes and excellent liquor were served in every corner of the function room. There were also some quieter corners with plush sofas and tasty finger food, more suitable for conversation. At the centre of the room was an empty clearing, which served as the dance floor.

Ye Chong had attended events like this with the Shang Family. That experience was not particularly a pleasant one, but unlike last time, Ye Chong at least knew how to conduct himself this time.

Ye Chong took a glass of wine from one of the waiters and headed towards a quiet spot in the ballroom.

The truth was, Ye Chong had no idea what the plan was for today. However, since Sun Sieha had actually went to his place, he decided to go along with his plan. Ye Chong did not understand Sun Sieha, but he knew that the man was not one to do anything unnecessary.

There were a few people sitting in the corner where he was. They were mostly talking in a low voice, but with Ye Chong’s excellent hearing, he could hear exactly what they were saying. Some of the noble ladies had their pet dogs in their laps as they sat around in a circle, chatting about minor affairs.

Suddenly, Ye Chong noticed someone approaching him.

A young man with a glass of red wine in hand approached Ye Chong, seated on his sofa, and greeted him, “Hey, man, are you bored, sitting alone by yourself? Haha, I’m feeling bored too. I don’t know why these people all look so excited, don’t they get tired too?”

This young man was obviously from one of the noble families. His skin was fair and smooth, and his demeanour was friendly and inviting. He sat down naturally beside Ye Chong and sighed comfortably.

“Hah, I still don’t know your name. Mine’s Yise,” the young man spoke warmly to Ye Chong.

“Ye Chong,” Ye Chong replied succinctly.

Suddenly, Yise nodded towards the dance floor and asked, “Say, Brother Ye, what do you think of that lady in the centre of the dance floor?”

Ye Chong followed Yise’s direction and saw a beautiful woman dancing joyfully at the centre. The woman had long, flowing hair down her back. She had charming eyes and an innocent smile. A white dress wrapped tightly around her thin waist, and flowed downward and out like a flower. Even Ye Chong, who did not appreciate aesthetics, could see that she stood out from the crowd.

Nevertheless, Ye Chong was not interested in the topic. He looked away and said, “She looks alright.”

“Oh, my goodness! That’s Miss Man’er – Su City’s number one beauty, Shu Man’er. She’s the goddess to many of our young elite men! If you’re not interested in her, could it be …” Yise gave Ye Chong an odd look.

Shu Man’er. The name reminded Ye Chong of Shu Mo’er. Perhaps they were related. Ye Chong turned back to look at her, but could not quite decide on the matter.

“Haha, brother, now you see her! You said she’s just alright, but look at you now! Hehe, your eyes betrayed your thoughts. I know that look in you. Of all the people in Su City, 80 percent of them will look like that when they saw Shu Man’er. Of the other 20 percent, 10 are women,” Yise said, pleased with himself.

“What of the last 10?” Ye Chong got interested at that.

“They’re blind,” Yise declared.

Ye Chong suddenly had an idea, and began to study Yise. He was surprised to the find man’s build suitable for combat. His figure was well balanced; his bones were strong and thick; his movements were coordinated. However, one look at his smooth skin and Ye Chong and could tell that the young man had never suffered in any way.

“What’re you looking at me like that for? Let me tell you, I’m not interested in men,” Yise said with an odd tone.

Ye Chong turned away.

Suddenly, the dance floor erupted into chaos. Ye Chong heard a barking sound coming from there. Everyone in the ballroom turned to look.

When the barking sounds began, Yise looked shocked, “Dmmit! Which bstard brought a snowhound in here? This is going to be very dangerous!”

“Snowhound? What’s that?” Ye Chong asked.

Yise replied anxiously, “It’s not a thing, but a species of wild animal. They’re small, like a dog, all furry and adorable. But if it suddenly goes mad, things go south very fast. The animals are quick and aggressive. Someone probably thought it’s just a cute pet.”

“I see.”

“We’re in trouble now. They don’t allow weapons in here. All the guards are outside,” Yise looked panicked.

Suddenly, the barking sound got slower and slower to Ye Chong. Yise paled. He saw the mad snowhound now, and it was heading straight towards them.

Ye Chong saw the animal too. It was no larger than the small pet dogs that the noble ladies had on their laps. It’s body was covered with thick fur, which made it look a snowball, but its eyes were now red. The adorable little mouth was now salivating menacingly.

Ye Chong’s eyes turned cold. He had his fair share of dealing with wild animals, and this one was definitely classified as a threat.

The four limbs hidden underneath the animal’s thick fur were powerful. The snowhound moved too quickly to be captured. It had already bit into the throats of three servants now.

“No no no –” Yise was trembling all over.

Ye Chong picked up a butter knife from the table. As Yise watched with hopeless eyes, the butter knife slipped through his fingers and shot out.

Swish! Crack! Both sounds were heard almost simultaneously.

The snowhound was pinned down on the floor by the butter knife. The knife had entered at its throat. Blood spluttered out along the knife. The glow in the animal’s red eyes gradually faded. Its four limbs struggled in vain as it gurgled through the blood in its throat.

Everyone was shocked by this sudden turn of events. Many of them looked at the now innocent and adorable snowhound with pity. Some of the noble ladies even tossed a look of hatred towards Ye Chong. No one bothered with the three dead servants, who were now being removed quietly by the other servants from the ballroom.

“Thank goodness you struck out so quickly! Brother, you saved my life! By the way, that attack was way too cool, can you teach me?” Having survived the danger, Yise was now getting excited.

“Snowy!” A lady’s voice cried out with grief.

The young lady approached the snowhound, stuck to the floor. Tears sprang out from her eyes. She crouched on the floor, caressing the now lifeless snowhound and began to sob.

Ye Chong recognized her as Shu Man’er, the lady who was at the centre of the dance floor.

A few energetic young men soon appeared beside Shu Man’er. They were enraged what caused Shu Man’er to cry so pitifully.

“Which mtherfcker did this? Come the f*ck out!” the young man yelled to the crowd.

“Han, how many times have I told you, we nobles should curse! I’ll forgive you this time though. Humph, some fool is feeling very daring tonight,” a young man with pointy eyes said in an androgynous voice.

Both of them flanked a handsome young man whose charisma shined like the sun. This young man had a solid, angular face, like it was carved out or marble. He had an air of authority about him. The young man looked around at the crowd. As the other people quickly lowered their gaze, the young man finally found his eyes on Ye Chong.

Of all the people around him, Ye Chong was the only who held his gaze.

“Did you do it?” the young man asked slowly but confidently.

Ye Chong nodded, “Yes.”

Standing beside Ye Chong, Yise panicked and whispered to Ye Chong, “That’s the son of the 2nd Legion’s Legate. His name’s George. A young man, but already a Level 6 shooter. He’s always been interested in Miss Shu Man’er, and the most likely candidate to become Shu Man’er husband. However, according to my sources, Miss Shu Man’er did not seem interested in him.”

“The dog is Man’er’s beloved pet, why did you kill it?” George asked firmly.

“A dog? That’s a snowhound!” Yise could not help but spoke up from beside Ye Chong.

George flashed him a sharp look, and Yise quickly shut up.

“As long as you apologize to Miss Man’er, I’ll let the matter go. What do you say?” George looked at Ye Chong.

Yise did not expect the situation to be so easily resolved. He was overjoyed and was about to agree with the young man when Ye Chong gave a reply that made his heart sank.

“No,” Ye Chong replied firmly.

George and his two companions looked surprised. The two friends of his were about to throw insults when George lifted his hand to silence them. He asked lowly, “Will you not give face?”

Ye Chong looked at George with cold eyes. He could not understand why the man’s logic was so bad. He had only acted as protector, so why should he apologize to the lady?

Just then, Shu Man’er, who had been sobbing all the while, stood up abruptly with tears all over her face and approached Ye Chong. She bowed down gracefully and said, “Sir, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that Snowy was a snowhound. I’m really sorry for terrifying you.”

Shu Man’er apology was like a slap to George’s face. George’s expression looked terrible right now. He did not think that Shu Man’er would make it so awkward for him.

His eyes flashed ruthlessly as he said, “So it’s just me who wants this after all, I understand! However, I cannot let things stand as they are. I request for a duel with this man!”

The crowd burst into an uproar upon his announcement.

“George, are you crazy? This is between you and me, don’t get anyone else involved. This is not his fault. I didn’t know that Snowy was a snowhound, and that led to this terrible mistake. I’m the one to blame!” Shu Man’er said in a panic, and shot an apologetic look at Ye Chong.

Ye Chong thought it strange. Why would his opponent waste time with words? He should have just acted, like he was about to do now.

Ye Chong closed the gap between him and George so quickly that the crowd only saw him when he appeared before the other man.

Georged looked startled and was about to react when he felt a tight grip on his throat. His feet left the ground.

Ye Chong held onto George’s throat and lifted him up easily.

The entire ballroom went silent immediately. Everyone looked at Ye Chong with horror. George was the son of the 2nd Legion’s Legate! Was he suicidal? As for the combat experts amongst them, they were shocked because Ye Chong had moved so quickly!

Was this the limit of human speed?

At the moment, the entire ballroom was dead silent.

Splash! Crash! The guests dropped their glasses. The crowd panicked again, knocking down tables and chairs and cutlery and even other people.

“Let him go! Don’t hurt the man!”

“Do you want to die? How dare you do something like this?”

“Young man, think carefully about this. Don’t do anything stupid. You have to think about the consequences, think about your family …”

…

“What’s going on?” Prince Desnio’s low voice managed to silence the crowd once again.

The guests saw the man standing behind the Prince and were all startled. They quickly bowed and greeted, “Your Majesty!” When did the King arrive? Some of them immediately thought of the young man who started this whole incident.

Suddenly, everyone was down on their knees, leaving only Ye Chong holding onto George’s throat.

“What happened? Isn’t that Aliz’s son?” Sun Sieha saw Ye Chong lifting George off the ground and asked incredulously.

“He asked for a duel,” Ye Chong briefly explained the situation.

George, that idiot! Sun Sieha cursed the troublesome man inside. Had it been anyone else, he would have just let the matter slide, but this was the son of the 2nd Legion’s Legate.

“He’s no match for you,” Sun Sieha said with a smile, “Just let him go. Don’t mind his antics.”

The guests were surprised by their King’s words. They all knew that His Majesty was a Level 8 shooter. If even His Majesty thought that George was no match against the young man, then the latter must be very strong indeed! On the other hand, the King had sided with the young man immediately without asking for details of the incident. This implied that the young man was greatly favoured. Who in the world was this young man?

“Switch,” Ye Chong said, and held out five fingers. Ye Chong was not impressed with Sun Sieha. He had attended this evening ball without understanding why, and now he had to deal with this nonsense.

Sun Sieha could see that Ye Chong was not happy. He looked at the five outstretched fingers and felt helpless and pained, but still he nodded, “Alright.” Inside, he cursed Aliz again for having that useless son. He will get the money from Aliz to settle this.

None of the guests understood the exchange between Ye Chong and Sun Sieha. Only Duke Warren had a glimpse of the story behind it. He lowered his head and felt deeply unsettled.