Legend of the Supreme Soldier - Chapter 561

e Chong collected a great deal of mineral samples. Fortunately, the Spider had enough storage space to keep them. Darkniss was truly a place of treasures. Ye Chong kept thinking about it. If there was a place like this in the He Yue Galaxy or the Five Galaxies, people would definitely try to gain control of this place, no matter how strong the creatures who lived there were.

Nevertheless, here in this world, only shooters at Level 7 and above could enter. This made Darkniss an unexplored territory. This same place was like a beacon for Ye Chong. Ye Chong was more familiar with metals than any other material. He believed that he if could build a base in here, it would offer him many important advantages. In particular, it would speed up his progress in finding a way to return to the He Yue Galaxy.

This was a plan for the future. In the short term, he did not have the ability to build a base here. Building a base here without enough power in Darkniss would be like serving himself on a silver platter to the animals that lived here.

His objective in visiting Darkniss this time was clear – he wanted to have a better understanding of the place.

They walked along Lava River and continued forward.

…

This was their seventh day in Darkniss. The Lava River was already far behind them.

“No one’s been here before, I’m sure. We are very likely the first humans to enter this place,” Xuan Ning said with a smile, “This is all thanks for this Spider. We wouldn’t have been able to go so deep into Darkniss.”

The huge spider was slower than a mech, but it was still much faster than walking. It would take a shooter like Sha Ya more than a month to cover the distance traveled by the Spider in seven days. As far as Xuan Ning and Sha Ya knew, no one had ever stayed in Darkniss for so long.

The terrain around them was now very different compared to a few days ago.

The forest was thicker. There were more metals around, lying on the ground in small pieces. The sky was darker. Lava was not spotted as frequently as when they first entered Darkniss. Most of them were tiny branches of lava flow. There were more fluorescent plants as well. Some of them looked like trees covered with metal hooks that shined in a bright white color, giving the illusion of a metal tree with dazzling silver flowers.

During the occasional breeze, thousands and millions of spores would scatter into the wind, glowing a faint purple light like in a fairytale.

There were all kinds of plants in here, many that Ye Chong had never seen before. The golden leaf that Sha Ya gave to Ye Chong when they first met came from a plant that was seen everywhere in this place. The plant had a significant metal content. Probably up to 90 percent of the plant’s composition was metal. This made the plants robust enough to survive the harsh environment.

There was a kind of flat, black colored weed. The leaves of the weed were at least 15 meters long. Ye Chong thought of them as alloy ropes. They were flexible and resilient, much stronger than even the usual alloy ropes. These black colored weeds grew in wide patches on the ground. They were a strong species that could be seen everywhere they looked.

Xuan Ning and Sha Ya had never been so deep inside Darkniss before. They looked around them curiously. Ye Chong, however, was relatively calm. He had seen too many strange things, such as the Archipelago where the Sang Tribe lived. That was also a place full of inexplicable things.

The wild animals here were sensitive creatures. Most of them would stay away, watching the huge spider from afar.

The animals here were not huge. The Spider was relatively big compared to anything else here. They had not yet encountered any animals that reached 10 meters tall, like the red-tailed beast.

Ye Chong quickly noticed that the wild animals here kept to their own territories. Apart from that, they had seen nothing strange along the way. Why, then, would the snowshade leopards appear near the entrance of Darkniss?

Ye Chong suddenly thought of something. He asked, “Where do the snowshade leopards live?”

“I don’t know,” Xuan Ning and Sha Ya answered in unison.

“Didn’t you say that no one has ever come so deep into Darkniss? How do you know about the snowshade leopards?” Ye Chong asked.

Sha Ya replied, “I’ve seen the snowshade leopard in the autobiography of a legendary shooter. It’s written by the only Level 10 shooter in the history of Eastern Cloud.”

Ye Chong looked to Xuan Ning, who nodded and said, “I also knew about it from Lascher’s book. The book describes the snowshade leopard’s characteristics and great strength.”

“What you’re saying is, someone has been here before, and perhaps even deeper inside?” Ye Chong found the crux of the matter.

“Who knows? Lascher’s been dead for over 300 years. Can’t ask a dead soul, can I?” Xuan Ning said jokingly.

Suddenly, Ye Chong pointed towards the screen and cried out, “Someone’s here!”

“What? Are you joking? How can anyone be here?” Xuan Ning asked in disbelief.

Sha Ya followed Ye Chong’s finger and looked. “There’s someone here!” she gasped.

To the front and right of the Spider was a cliff. At the foot of the cliff was a huge rock, which a person was standing on. Around the rock were dozens of horned tyrasaurs.

Horned tyrasaurs were not huge, reaching the height of an adult human when standing. Each horned tyrasaur had a single horn on its forehead. Its body was covered with many tiny scales that offered strong protection. They were fast and aggressive animals. A lone horned tyrasaur was not as strong as a snowshade leopard, but the animals often hunted together in a pack of dozens. They were also capable of impressive coordination, and were difficult to get rid of.

Fortunately, they had only encountered a few horned tyrasaurs along the way. The Spider’s two powerful main laser guns and the pair of capable shooters onboard helped them ward off the animals effectively.

Now, they were watching a single person facing off against a whole pack of horned tyrasaurs! From the looks of it, the person was fighting calmly in a way that suggested experience.

Xuan Ning and Sha Ya were both flabbergasted. There was a human right here! They exchanged a look in disbelief to what they were seeing. Xuan Ning had been so certain that no one would be able to go so far into Darkniss without Ye Chong’s Spider, but now, someone was obviously here before them!

Who could possibly be so strong?

Unfortunately, they were too far away to make out the person’s face.

In the short instance when they were hesitating, some of the horned tyrasaurs surrounding the rock had already fallen to the ground. The rock was about 10 meters tall, and the animals could not reach up far enough. They could only leap up seven to eight meters high. It was a mystery how that person managed to get onto that rock.

The person had a laser gun, and was shooting at them with no hurry.

The mysterious shooter’s laser gun did not seem particularly powerful. It was, in fact, much weaker than the two main laser guns of their Spider. However, the shooter was patient, firing shot after shot with great accuracy at the same spot until the scales of the horned tyrasaurs finally crumbled. It took about five shots to kill a horned tyrasaur, but Ye Chong had never seen anyone fired so fast before. The average laser gun became a terrifying weapon in the shooter’s hands.

Sha Ya looked anxious. Even Xuan Ning, as a Level 9 shooter, was sweating.

“Do you know the shooter?” Ye Chong asked.

“I can’t see the face,” Xuan Ning said as she narrowed her eyes, trying to identify the shooter. Sha Ya shook her head as well.

Ye Chong moved the Spider a little closer. By the Spider’s third step, all three of them felt something.

Parapsychic waves! These were strong parapsychic waves!

Now it was Ye Chong’s turn to be surprised. He estimated at least 15 kilometres between them and the shooter. That the shooter’s parapsychic sense could extend so far out was amazing! Xuan Ning’s eyes lit up. For the first time since he reached Level 9, he extended his parapsychic sense as far out as he could reach.

Sha Ya extended her parapsychic sense to her limit as well.

Ye Chong quickly calmed himself down, being in the middle of all three strong parapsychic waves. He returned his attention to the screen.

The unknown shooter seemed to notice their presence, and looked towards them.

By now, they could all see the shooter’s face. To everyone’s surprise, the powerful shooter was actually a woman!

When Xuan Ning saw her face clearly, he shivered. His expression was one of shock and disbelief when he cried out, “It’s her!”

Ye Chong threw a side glance at Xuan Ning and asked, “You know her?” Sha Ya looked to him as well.

“Quick, help her,” Xuan Ning said firmly, “I’ll explain later.”

Ye Chong heard him. He immediately had the Spider running towards the woman. Sha Ya and Xuan Ning went to their weapons stations without delay.

With a Level 8 shooter and a Level 9 shooter behind the Spider’s powerful weapons, the horned tyrasaurs were quickly overpowered. The Spider’s two main laser guns could easily tear through the horned tyrasaur’s layer of scales.

The woman was surprised by the powerful weapons of the Spider. However, she gathered herself quickly and continued firing at the horned tyrasaurs.

In just a short moment, most of the horned tyrasaurs had already fallen, leaving only about a dozen of them left. These survivors realized their terrible position and escaped without looking back.

The huge spider brought three of its riders towards the huge rock.

The rock had a smooth surface, with no anchor points for climbing. It was hard to imagine how the female shooter got onto the rock. The woman took one last glance at the huge spider, then slid down along the surface of the rock. She kept close to the rock and made her way down smoothly.

Ye Chong was surprised by her maneuvre. If he had not seen her shooting the horned tyrasaurs, he would have thought she was a combat expert, and a pretty good one at that.

Xuan Ning lowered his voice and said, “She is Mei Wu. Mind your words.” He took a look at Ye Chong and felt the advice wasted on him.

Mei Wu sounded familiar. Ye Chong tried to recall when he had heard that name.

Sha Ya had a complicated expression on her face.

The three of them came out of the huge spider, and Ye Chong finally had a good look of the woman called Mei Wu. She had long eyes and thin lips, with an air of apathy about here. She wore an old and gray colored combat uniform, and had a laser gun of an old design in her hand.

Mei Wu watched the newcomers. When she saw Xuan Ning, her eyes lit up in recognition. “So it’s Sir Xuan. Seems that this lady is safe thanks to you.” Her voice was sharp and stressed with mockery.

Xuan Ning bowed in greeting. He shrugged helplessly and said, “You’re too kind. I hope I was not interfering with your fight. How did you get here? His Majesty has missed you all these years.”

“His Majesty?” Mei Wu laughed coldly. “Looks like he finally got the throne, just as he wished. Missed me? Just what kind of relationship is there between us? Since when did he dictate where I should be?”

Xuan Ning had nothing to say to that. He kept his head bowed low and his mouth shut.

“Whatever, it’s not your fault anyway. You don’t have to look like that. You’re his subordinate, and you’ve got nothing to do with me.” Mei Wu sighed, as though she had remembered something.

Ye Chong watched the two of them, amused. He finally remembered who Mei Wu was – she was the Shu sisters’ teacher. What luck to have met her in Darkniss.

Mei Wu studied Xuan Ning for a moment and asked, “You’ve reached Level 9?”

Xuan Ning nodded obediently and replied, “Yes, just recently.”

Mei Wu smiled coldly and said, “He’s going to be very happy about this. Tsk tsk. A Level 9 shooter. Eastern Cloud’s got herself a symbol of power alright.”

Xuan Ning did not know how to respond to that either.

Mei Wu turned to Ye Chong and Sha Ya. “These your friends?”

“Yes. This is Ye Chong, Master weaponsmith. This is Sha Ya, a Level 8 shooter.”

“Oh, a weaponsmith.” Mei Wu studied him with interest. “Do you make laser guns? I need a new one. This one’s too old for me.”

“A laser gun,” Ye Chong considered, “That can be done, but what do you have to trade for it?”

Xuan Ning was alarmed by his words. He quickly interfered, “Just get the laser gun. We’ll pay for it.” “Really, this guy offends people so easily,” Xuan Ning cursed Ye Chong inside.

Mei Wu raised an eyebrow. “I will pay for my own things, thank you very much.” She turned back to Ye Chong and said, “What do you want? Money’s out of the question. I haven’t left Darkniss in a long while.”

“You – You’ve been staying in Darkniss all this while?” Xuan Ning was shocked.

Mei Wu replied nonchalantly, “Why, yes, is that a problem? By the way, do any of you have energy crystals with you? Mine’s almost used up. There is no way recharge energy crystals here, and going outside is too much of a hassle.”

Xuan Ning shuddered as his mind caught onto an idea. He asked Mei Wu carefully, “Did you … Did you also reach Level 9?”

“Yes, what about it? Are you the only one allowed to do that?” Mei Wu threw a side glance at Xuan Ning with an unreadable expression. Sha Ya looked surprised. She had met another Level 9 shooter!

Xuan Ning looked overjoyed. He asked excitedly, “When – when did you reach Level 9?”

“Don’t remember, it’s been awhile.” Mei Wu cut him short and turned to Ye Chong. “You haven’t said what you want.”

Ye Chong considered for a moment. “You must be familiar with Darkniss, having lived here for so long, right?”

“Just so so. I didn’t venture too deep inside. The animals there are too strong for me. Besides, I don’t have a suitable weapon,” Mei Wu explained frankly.

“I need you to be our guide. Take us on a tour to the places you’re familiar with. In return, I’ll make you a laser gun, and throw in some energy crystals into the deal too. What do you say?” Ye Chong asked.

“Deal,” Mei Wu agreed happily.

Ye Chong had a few laser guns with him. He had wanted to use them for trading at the weapons design contest. However, he did not find anything interesting there except for the rubbery germ. Hence, he stored all the laser guns in Celest’s dimension keystone. Ye Chong went back into the Spider and pretended to search in the storage room. He then withdrew a laser gun from the dimension keystone. Sha Ya and Xuan Ning did not know what was in the storage room of the Spider, which was why they did not suspect anything was wrong.

Mei Wu took the laser gun from Ye Chong and examined it. Her eyes lit up in approval. “Nice one!” It was an honest compliment, but her voice was still uncomfortable to listen to.

Ye Chong considered that particular laser gun to be only average, but Mei Wu thought it was an excellent model, and loved it immediately. It was fortunate that she did not see Sha Ya’s laser gun. Hers was even better.

“Did you build this huge spider?” Mei Wu looked at Ye Chong from head to toe with admiration. “As expected of a Master weaponsmith. Not bad, not bad at all.” She suddenly remembered something, and looked curiously to Xuan Ning. “I seem to remember you have your own duties. Why would the King allow you to come here?”

Xuan Ning explained, “His Majesty has reached an agreement with Ye Chong. I’m here to assist him.”

Mei Wu smiled coldly. “He’s still the same as before. He’ll use anything he can get his hands on.” She turned back to Ye Chong and relaxed a little. “Are you looking for raw materials? I remember weaponsmiths are fond of gravstones. Let me show you this one place I’ve been to.”

e Chong’s group travelled with more confidence, with Mei Wu as their guide. Mei Wu was familiar with the area. This was obvious from the way she led the group. She was also generous with compliments about the huge spider that Ye Chong built.

Xuan Ning decided to inform the King of Mei Wu’s whereabouts once they left Darkniss. As for the complicated relationship between Mei Wu and the King, it was not his place as a mere government servant to get involved.

Mei Wu was not aware that her two students were suffering under Ye Chong. Sha Ya and Xuan Ning knew, of course, but they were not foolish enough to bring up the topic. This powerful shooter was known for her unpredictable temper. It was not difficult to imagine her just shooting them all if she found out.

Mei Wu had been living in Darkniss for years. Aside from the annual trip to the world outside to resupply, such as getting energy crystals, she spent the rest of her time within the darkness of Darkniss. It would be much easier for her to go outside with the huge spider as transport.

Mei Wu had a pale complexion, for she had long since been exposed to sunlight.

She was a tenacious woman who survived the loneliness and dangers that lurked in the shades of Darkniss. That itself made her impressive.

Mei Wu treated Xuan Ning badly. She was also not interested in Sha Ya. A Level 8 shooter could not interest a shooter like her, who had passed the Level 9 mark. Ye Chong, however, was something else. Mei Wu had a bad temper, but she was also cunning. There was no reason to offend the Master weaponsmith whom she wanted something from.

She wanted the Spider. The Desert had sandstorms, while the Mist was a stretch of suffocating foliage. Aircrafts were useless in these environments, but the Spider could easily traverse through them. This was very useful for Mei Wu.

Darkniss was rich with minerals, but there was not even the slightest bit of energy crystals in this place. Mei Wu could tolerate having mediocre weapons, but she could not live without energy crystals. Every trip to the outside world for energy crystals was a great hassle for her. If she had the spider, she could bring more energy crystals with her in every trip, enough to last her a long time.

“It’s here. This place has plenty of gravstones compared to its surroundings. I found it while hunting a horned tyrasaurs a few years ago.” Mei Wu pointed towards a wide clearing.

Ye Chong was flabbergasted.

The place was once a lake, but now that the water had all dried up, what was left behind was a shallow impression in the ground that was the bottom of the lake. There were all kinds dazzling and colorful minerals in the soil, scattered about the clearing. They shined with a metallic luster than was absent in the other gravstones Ye Chong had seen along his journey in Darkniss, perhaps because they were cleansed by lake water long ago.

The entire clearing was about five or six square kilometres wide. There were palm sized gravstones everywhere in this clearing.

It was incredible! Ye Chong estimated no less than two dozen rare minerals in this wide clearing. Just a tiny bit of the rare minerals would greatly improve the properties of normal metal alloys. That was why the rare minerals were valuable. The rare mineral ores here were enough for him to extract a significant amount of rare minerals. They could be used to strengthen alloy structures, or improve alloy resilience, or improve their heat capacities …

Ye Chong decided very quickly that this was an important place. He immediately made a mark on his 3D holographic map. Mei Wu had never seen a map like that before, but she kept her curiosity in check to maintain her impersonal image.

However, she could tell from Ye Chong’s reaction that the man valued this place. She was secretly pleased by it. She knew from their first round of negotiation that Ye Chong was a practical man. The best to deal with people like him was to make solid offers.

Now that she knew what Ye Chong was interested in, she could better plan her next moves. There were a few others like this that she knew about, and they would give her enough leverage. The fact soothed her. She had also never seen such a detailed map like the one on the Spider. She respected Ye Chong even more because of it. She did not feel any parapsychic waves from Ye Chong, but she also knew that a Level 9 shooter could never build a weapon as good as a Master weaponsmith.

Ye Chong made detailed markings in his map whenever they arrived at a new place. The map recorded every spot they had been in Darkniss, including the local distribution of plants and wild animals. With this map, his next visit to Darkniss would be much easier.

When Ye Chong was finished, Mei Wu slowly asked, “Well? Are you satisfied?” All the coldness vanished from Mei Wu as she asked with an alluring smile. Sha Ya felt her heart skip a beat, then berated herself for it. She thought to herself, “What a beauty! She didn’t look like she was in her thirties at all.” Xuan Ning thought to himself, “No wonder His Majesty still misses her.”

Nevertheless, Ye Chong was immune to her expression. He could not understand the expression at all, much less respond to it.

On the other hand, he did understand what Mei Wu was trying to say. “Yes. Do you know any other places like this? What do you want in exchange?” Ye Chong asked calmly. Mu and Shang had taught him repeatedly about the rule of equal trade. Of course, most of the time, it was only appropriate to be used on people on the same level as him. Fortunately, Mei Wu was one of those people.

“I know of three more,” Mei Wu said as she reverted back to her cold attitude. However, her eyes betrayed her satisfaction with their negotiation method. It was much easier to deal with smart people. “I want a Spider.”

Ye Chong expected that much. He considered it for a moment and said, “I can’t give you this one, since we need it to leave Darkniss. If you want it, you’ll have to wait until I enter Darkniss next time.”

“Alright,” Mei Wu agreed eagerly, and followed up with a question, “I don’t understand, why are you interested in Darkniss? Is it the gravstones?”

Ye Chong nodded, then shook his head. “It’s not just the gravstones. You’re familiar with this place. Have you ever seen an animal that’s about 10 metres tall, with a red-tipped arrow tail?”

Xuan Ning knew immediately what Ye Chong was talking about. He stared at Ye Chong and asked, “So you’re interested in that? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Just say the word, and His Majesty will give it to you.”

Mei Wu spoke up sharply, “Don’t mention the b*stard Majesty in front of me again, Xuan Ning, or I’ll put a hole in your head! Humph, I’m still way ahead of you as a shooter.” Mei Wu lifted her chin and stared down arrogantly at Xuan Ning.

Xuan Ning felt himself showered in cold sweat. He quickly bowed his head and nodded, “Of course, of course!” Sha Ya stared at him. Who would have thought that the infamous Xuan Ning would cower before a woman just like that? And what was Mei Wu’s relationship with the King?

Mei Wu breathed heavily with her right hand on her chest, and recovered after a while. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply and gathered herself. She shook her head at Ye Chong and said, “I have never seen that creature you speak of. However, if you’re talking about an animal that size, you will probably need to go deeper into Darkniss.”

“Have you seen this before?” Ye Chong took out the colloid fungus. Sha Ya and Xuan Ning studied the thing in Ye Chong’s hand. They did not actually know why Ye Chong wanted to visit Darkniss. They also did not recognize the thing in his hand.

Mei Wu took the colloid fungus in her hand and scrutinized it. Abruptly, she lost her composure. “Why do you have this?”

“You recognize it?” Ye Chong kept his gaze on Mei Wu.

Mei Wu nodded with a trace of fear in her eyes. “Once, I was chased by three slitherlizards. I couldn’t throw them off my back, and so I decided to run further into Darkniss out of desperation. Fortunately, I did not encounter any other wild animals along the way. I ran and ran for a long time, it must have been at least three weeks. It was then that I came across a meadow. The entire field was covered with this kind of fungus that you have. I was exhausted by then, and at my limit of parapsychic control. I thought that was it for me. When I saw the field, I simply slumped onto it. Once I was on the ground, I didn’t have to strength to get up again. I closed my eyes, waiting for the end, but to my great surprise …”

All three of her listeners keenly followed her words.

“The three slitherlizards left, just like that. I didn’t think much about it back then. I was too tired, my eyes won’t open. I fell unconscious. After some time, I woke up and saw a red patch underneath me. I was so shocked I quickly shot up from the ground.

“It was so quiet in the field. There wasn’t a single sound. The long hairs of the plant swayed in the wind. I looked closer and realized that it was not grass at all, but a kind of thin, hair-like plant. I call that place the Sea of Threads. I didn’t see other animals in the Sea of Threads. I was scared of what I found, but then something else happened that made my truly afraid. Out there, I couldn’t spread my parapsychic waves!”

“What?”

“Impossible!”

Sha Ya and Xuan Ning gasped.

“I was horrified! I never experienced that before. Never! A shooter without parapsychic waves cannot defend themselves. I ran away from the Sea of Threads without delay.” Mei Wu smiled bitterly. “I wasn’t so lucky on the return trip. I encountered many powerful creatures along the way. It was a dangerous trip, and I was badly injured from it, but in the end I got back home, alive. That was the most horrifying experience I ever had.”

Mei Wu could still recall the horror she felt from that incident. Beside her, the three listeners were chilled by her story as well.

How do I get to the Sea of Threads?” Ye Chong asked. He would be able to understand better by going there himself. However, Ye Chong believed that Mei Wu was being truthful. That she could not use parapsychic waves in the Sea of Threads was a fact that matched what he knew about the colloid germ. Perhaps the three slitherlizards had left because they could not sense Mei Wu’s presence.

Mei Wu looked at Ye Chong in surprise. “You want to go there?” She was baffled. “Why are you so interested in the Sea of Threads?” Sha Ya and Xuan Ning both looked at Ye Chong with surprise as well. They were curious why he would brave the dangers to see that place.

Ye Chong did not answer, but continued to look at Mei Wu.

Mei Wu saw the determination in his eyes, but still she shook her head “We’re too weak to do that now. Do you know how strong the wild animals are along the way? I was lucky last time, avoiding all their territories. The return trip was horrible. Besides, I don’t remember the way.”

“There are four of us, and there’s the Spider. Aren’t we enough?” Xuan Ning asked, sceptical. They were two Level 9 shooters, one Level 8 shooter and a Master weaponsmith. It was a powerful and exclusive combination.

Mei Wu tossed a look of ridicule at Xuan Ning. “Just because you’re a Level 9 shooter, do you think you can go anywhere? Humph, without this huge spider, you wouldn’t have made it here. A Level 9 shooter like you who are so up about himself despite not honing his skills is no better than a Level 8 shooter.”

Xuan Ning’s cheeks flushed. He knew that Mei Wu was right. They were both Level 9 shooters, but Mei Wu was far more powerful than him.

Mei Wu looked at Ye Chong and said firmly, “Even if we are two times stronger than we are now, it’s still impossible. I know the strength of those creatures.”

It seemed that the matter will have to wait. Barging further into Darkniss on impulse was too dangerous. Ye Chong can be patient when it mattered. He remembered about the three snowshade leopards, about how strong those animals were. He asked, “We saw three snowshade leopards a few days ago. Are there any of them nearby?”

“Snowshade leopards?” Mei Wu looked surprised. “You saw snowshade leopards?”

Xuan Ning described their encounter with the animals to her. Mei Wu considered the incident and muttered to herself, “You killed three snowshade leopards, in part due to having the huge spider, and also due to Ye Chong’s unpredictable poison attack. There was also a geographical advantage, with the Raging River in the way. Without these conditions …” Mei Wu did not finish her sentence. She just looked at the three of them quietly.

A win was a win. That was how Ye Chong saw it, unlike what Mei Wu and the two shooters thought. The shooters felt that the Spider was only an accessory, not a person’s own battle ability. That was why Mei Wu chose to train herself in this dangerous place, all alone. Ye Chong admired her resolution. After all, this kind of training required tremendous courage. However, Ye Chong believed that anything that could help him win was also part of himself. This was a difference in perception.

Xuan Ning and Sha Ya lowered their heads and heeded the stronger shooter, Mei Wu’s words. Ye Chong was unmoved by her conclusion. He asked calmly, “Where do the snowshade leopards live?” If the animals lived nearby, he could never have a base here. The creatures were too strong. His base would be torn down as soon as he built a new one.

“I don’t know,” Mei Wu answered, shaking her head. “I never saw any snowshade leopards nearby. They must live further inside Darkniss. Where did you see them?”

“Near the entrance of Darkniss.”

“That’s not possible!” Mei Wu looked unsettled. “Snowshade leopards live only in the inner parts of the Darkniss, perhaps even further in than the Sea of Threads. I’ve never encountered creatures as strong as the snowshade leopard.”

Ye Chong asked, “I heard that the animals in Darkniss stay within their territories, and will not move about freely. Having stayed here for so long, do you think that’s the case?”

Mei Wu nodded solemnly. “People do say that. The wild animals in Darkniss often have a clear territory of their own, and will seldom go beyond their boundaries. There are exceptions, though, like when the three slitherlizards were chasing me. It rarely happens, and that was my only experience with it. If you really met snowshade leopards, they must have been chased by other creatures, or chasing something.”

Ye Chong and his two companions considered her words.

Mei Wu paused, and then added, “There is another possibility …”

The three of them looked at up her. Mei Wu hesitated before saying, “It’s possible that something strange is happening in Darkniss.”

Mei Wu saw the puzzled look in her listeners, and explained, “Darkniss has always been a stable place. However, it is also constantly changing. I have lived here for years, and felt it, but I can’t exactly describe the nature of this change.”

Ye Chong and his companions thought about what Mei Wu said. Personally, Ye Chong was more inclined to believe in the third scenario. If it was only the snowshade leopards that were the anomaly, then the first two scenarios were more plausible. However, since the country of Western Frost had found a red-tailed beast in Darkniss … Ye Chong considered both events together, and felt that the third scenario was more likely.

It seemed that they would not be solving this mystery anytime soon. Mei Wu brought Ye Chong to the other three lake beds. There were so many rare mineral ores there Ye Chong wanted to just harvest them all and bring them home. However, that was an impractical wish. The Spider had limited storage, and it was unwise to use Celest’s dimension keystone in front of these three shooters. Besides, these rare minerals were not particularly useful without normal alloys.

Ye Chong decided to build a base in Darkniss no matter what. However, he would have to think about exactly how he was going to achieve that.

Ye Chong made detailed markings on his map for these three locations.

When the Spider brought all four of them to Mei Wu’s place, Xuan Ning took one look at it and felt like crying. “You … You’ve been staying here all these years?”

It was a cave, fitted with some simple furniture made of rocks. The ground was covered with a thin and soft layer of brownish grass. It was very bare. The only things that suggested this was a human’s house were the artificial lights in the cave and a food heater. These were the most basic appliances in a normal house. The light and heater both ran on energy crystals, but they consumed energy at a very low rate. The heater would not attract wild animals since it did not generate fire when operating. Just a small distance away from the cave was a source of spring water.

Even the poor people of Eastern Cloud lived in better conditions than this. The thought of Mei Wu living in this cave by herself all this while, isolated from society, and having to hunt for her own food, made Xuan Ning’s heart ache for her.

When Sun Sieha was a young man, he liked to travel around the world. Xuan Ning was his guard back then. He knew all about His Majesty’s relationship with Mei Wu. As the three of them travelled around together, Xuan Ning came to think of Mei Wu as the King’s rightful partner. Later on, Sun Sieha and Mei Wu got into a quarrel, and Mei Wu abruptly left him. Mei Wu was being childish back then, but still mild compared to her solitary and unpredictable nature right now. Ever since that incident, His Majesty’s character changed. He turned colder and apathetic. The King never had a partner after that, and many of the government officials worried about it.

Xuan Ning had thought that Mei Wu would surely become the Queen of Eastern Cloud. Hence, seeing Mei Wu living like this in Darkniss brought tears to his eyes.

Mei Wu seemed to read his thoughts. She softened a little and said, “Life is alright here. The dangerous and harsh training that I went through all these years made me improve so quickly you can’t imagine it.” She paused, and then continued, “You just reached Level 9. You don’t know what it’s like to be Level 9 yet. You know too little about parapsychic control. Living in Su City, you will never achieve Level 10. Others have taken the path I chose now. Don’t waste your time persuading me. I will not leave here until I reach Level 10.”

Xuan Ning assented quietly to her wishes. He knew how obstinate and extreme Mei Wu can be. There was nothing he could say to change her mind.

Ye Chong was not interested in the history between Mei Wu and Sun Sieha. He took out half of the energy crystals stored in the Spider and gave them to Mei Wu. Life in Darkniss was much better than Ye Chong’s life on the trash planet, and still better than the Sang Tribe’s life in Archipelago. Before the Sang Tribe met Ye Chong, they did not even have metals, much less advanced weapons like laser guns.

That night, Ye Chong and his group stayed in the cave. In actual fact, it was impossible to tell day from night in Darkniss, as the sky was always dark in here. On the second day, Mei Wu led them in the Spider to continue their exploration of Darkniss.

The whole exploration took 25 days, as Mei Wu was familiar with a huge part of Darkniss. Sometimes, they encountered wild animals on their way. It was then that the three outsiders experienced exactly how strong Mei Wu was.

Her strength was not only expressed in her shooting skills. It was hard to imagine a shooter climbing 30 metres up a smooth cliff. In addition, she moved with great agility. Ye Chong thought she was fit enough to learn proper combat. He also thought her parapsychic control was far superior compared to Xuan Ning. She could also restrict her opponents with her parapsychic waves, much like how mentalists restrict their opponent’s movement. Her parapsychic waves were much stronger than Xuan Ning’s, but they could cover a wider area. She also used her parapsychic waves in many extraordinary waves. Xuan Ning and Sha Ya could only watch in fascination.

Xuan Ning could see that he would never reach Level 10, unless he left everything behind and dedicate himself only to being a shooter, just like Mei Wu. Without doing this, Level 10 would forever be out of reach.

Ye Chong said to Mei Wu, “The next time I enter Darkniss, I’ll bring you the Spider.”

“Alright.” Mei Wu looked assured. She believed that Ye Chong would not lie to her. “You should leave now. I’m going out to hunt.” Mei Wu nodded to the three of them and turned to lead the way, vanishing quickly into the darkness.

Xuan Ning watched her retreating figure with mixed emotions. He wanted to say something, but could not find the words. “His Majesty should decide on this,” Xuan Ning sighed inside.

Thus, Ye Chong’s trip into Darkniss concluded. He was quite happy with the outcome.

His experience at the entrance to Darkniss told him that Celest’s dimension keystone had an effect on spatial windows. He also collected tissue samples of the snowshade leopard. There were many more other specimens in the storage room. He had drawn a detailed map of one part of Darkniss, including the locations of the minerals. There was also a clue to the colloid germ – the Sea of Threads.

For a single investigative trip into Darkniss, he had learned far more than he expected.

Ye Chong and his companions left Darkniss without delay. The road back was much smoother. Mei Wu had marked the general territorial boundaries of the wild animals on their map. Hence, Ye Chong and his group made their way out of Darkniss with relative ease.

The path that their Spider cleared out in the Mist was still there. The plants here grew quickly, but not quickly enough to cover the path. They had no incident in the Desert as well. There were no sandstorms, and the sandscorpions were pretty much wiped out by Ye Chong. The trip was smooth, but Xuan Ning, who should have appreciated this rapid travelling the most, looked occupied with his thoughts throughout the journey. Ye Chong and Sha Ya were not the talkative type, and so the trip back was largely completely without conversation.

Once they arrived at Yedda, a transport aircraft was there for them. They took the aircraft back to Su City.

Ye Chong began to organize the results of their expedition. There was a lot of complicated information to sort through, and none of them immediately applicable.

“Sigh, there’s so much to be done,” Ye Chong sighed to himself as he thought of the huge pile of specimens waiting for him. He felt daunted but fulfilled.

e Chong got busy with his work again, but it was not as though he had ever been idle.

First signs of success in the students’ training were now apparent. Three months was a long time. With the hellish training designed for them and special medication that Ye Chong prepared with alchemy, the students improved at an astonishing rate. Now, they no longer looked as fragile as they were a few months ago. No one dared to slack when the vicious Liao San was in charge. Everyone was pushed to their very limits. For those who could not keep up, horrible consequences awaited them. Instructor Liao was notorious on his one-on-one extra classes.

Even Duan Qian, who was used to the realities of training, could not help but felt stricken whenever Liao San whipped his students. In these three months, Duan Qian improved the most. As a mostly self-taught person who had struggled to understand things by himself, he now had professional guidance. It was only natural for him to improve so quickly.

Besides Duan Qian, there was also another group of students who were improving quickly. These students had excellent physical qualities. Their talent in combat was revealed through the training program. The surprising thing was, almost a third of these students were from noble families. They lived in good conditions, much better than their poorer counterparts. However, they did not devote themselves to training before this, living a life of pleasure and idleness. Nevertheless, with Instructor Liao, all students were equal. They could only train hard like everyone else. Their physical advantages made a difference in the outcome.

Soon, Ye Chong picked out these students to undergo a whole new set of training. The other students watched jealously at the selected students, while the ones who were chosen puffed up their chests with pride.

To Ye Chong’s surprise, Shu Mo’er and her sister were also amongst these fast improving students. They had improved so quickly that even their instructor in charge, Gui Gui, would occasionally compliment them. Ye Chong had no bias against the sisters. Here, the only that mattered was one’s true abilities.

The students that he selected came up to five thousand, which was the number that Ye Chong had agreed upon with Sun Sieha. Ye Chong cleared up a space for their training ground in his manor. Duan Qian would be in charge of general training, while Liao San as assistant. All the students groaned when they saw Liao San there. They had thought that they could escape Liao San’s grasp, but Ye Chong had assigned the instructor to them again.

The training routine for the students changed drastically. Physical training was still an important part of the routine, but Ye Chong had also introduce the steel beads training that he had the most trouble with to them. Ye Chong did not have steel beads, so he had to make metal beads with the rare metals found in Darkniss.

If anyone from He Yue Galaxy or the Five Galaxies saw this, they would be shocked! What a waste of heavenly resources! On the wide training ground, five thousand students sat and pushed around colorful metal beads on a wooden board in front of them. These metal beads were all made from rare metals!

After setting aside a very small amount of these metals for analysis, Ye Chong used up all the metals he brought back to make the metal beads. It was just enough for the five thousand students. After all, the Spider’s storage room was nearly full with the mineral ores.

The students were clumsy at first, but Ye Chong did not worry about that. He had also taken a long time to get used to the training.

The training program started in full force. Sun Sieha never came to bother him again. It was a wonderful life!

Ye Chong dived straight into his research. There were so many things he needed to study, but even so, he would take time to train with Celest every single day.

His underground base was mostly completed, and his five laboratories were done. Additionally, Ye Chong had built a mech training ground for his own use.

He had begun growing snowshade leopard tissue, but in order to use them to upgrade Celest, he would have to be familiar with the bio-mech’s structure. Celest was the product of the Research Consortium’s most advanced technologies, and probably had the most complicated structure. Even with the chips Kui gave him, it would not be easy to understand Celest’s structure.

Ye Chong devoted all his attention to research.

In this world, nothing beats dedication. Ye Chong was a man of dedication.

Nevertheless, the scale of his work was far larger than he expected. He did not expect it to take him six months to replace Celest’s tissue with that of the snowshade leopard. Of these six months, five of them were spent on studying and research. The actual upgrade happened in the last month.

Armed with snowshade leopard tissue, Celest was now more powerful than Ye Chong could ever imagine. He was already impressed with the explosive strength of the bio-mech’s original form. After the upgrade, Celest’s strength almost doubled. How much power was that exactly? Ye Chong was not sure. He only knew that piloting the upgraded Celest would be a strain on even his own strong body. Celest also had its engine tweaked. Wood from this world had great compatibility with pure energy and low density, making it suitable for building an engine. Ye Chong picked the best wood he could find, even though the price was shockingly high. The wood itself had cost 50 million ao.

It looked like he would have to train himself further! He must be able to unleash the full potential of Celest.

Ye Chong gained something else from his intense research work. Each day, he immersed himself in the most advanced biological theories and experiments. This improved his understanding in the field greatly. He was now able to build his own photon processor. Of course, the photon processor he made was not comparable to Celest’s, but it was at least an average level photon processor, which was good enough for him.

After hiding in his underground base for six months, Ye Chong emerged to find Xi Yan waiting for him.

Xi Yan quickly approached him. “Teacher, Sir Xuan Ning had dropped by three times when you were gone.”

“Did he say anything?” Ye Chong asked. He recalled abruptly that he had promised the man a Spider.

Xi Yan shook his head. “He only asked when you’d be coming out, then he would leave.”

Ye Chong nodded. “Alright. Xi Yan, get Kristen and make two sets of mechanical parts for the Spider.” One for Xuan Ning and another for Mei Wu – he might as well build them at the same time.

Xi Yan nodded. “Okay.” Recently, Xi Yan felt like as though he had been reborn. His teacher had taught him not only about weapons, but also machinery in general, and it opened his eyes on things. Once upon a time, he only knew how to build weapons, but not the logic behind the building process. With his teacher’s guidance, he could now see things clearer than ever.

He was thoroughly impressed with Ye Chong.

…

Ye Chong went to the training ground, and found the atmosphere there thick with concentration.

Ping ping ping! Metal beads hit against each other, sounding like a thunderstorm. Every student focused on the wooden board before them as they flick about the metal beads on the board, quickly and deftly. Not one of them noticed that Ye Chong had arrived. Liao San was circling around the students, keeping a tight watch over them.

For normal students, the metal beads training did not only improve their hand speed, but also their reflex. Many of them could barely stand six months of this dry form of training. However, Liao San said that the king had ordered for anyone who failed to go through the training to be sent to labor camp. Once the announcement was made, no one thought of giving up again.

The fact was, human had infinite potential. Even students with only average talent were forced to their current level of expertise due to the intense training they underwent.

…

Sun Sieha wondered how the students would turn out at the end of Ye Chong’s training. That was why he gave that harsh order, to prevent the slippery ones to escape training. His Majesty’s words were final, this was common knowledge. No one doubted if the order would actually be carried out. Hence, they pushed themselves to keep up with their training. There were many rumours of people never returning from labour camps.

Sun Sieha was also very busy lately. His men had finally digested and understood the technology in the cannon arrays that Ye Chong built for him. The problem now was how to mass produce the weapon. Even though Master Karu finally knew how to build the weapon from scratch, Sun Sieha knew that Ye Chong had already taken so much money from him by now.

He did not feel good about that at all!

Nevertheless, he had no time to think about Ye Chong. Right now, he must focus on the cannon arrays. The military had concluded that if they could be armed with the cannon arrays on a large scale, their overall battle capacity would be at least doubled. Their battle strategies would also be modified to incorporate the cannon arrays.

Almost all the military factories were ordered to produce the cannon arrays. Sun Sieha waited patiently for the relatively low cost but very powerful cannon arrays to be fully incorporated into the military. There was also the technology they had bought from Kristen to inject into Eastern Cloud’s military.

Once these changes were incorporated into Eastern Cloud, their military would become the strongest in recorded history. What more could demand Sun Sieha’s attention so much? His ambition was fuelled by the endless possibilities! Ye Chong’s role in this important matter also drew the attention of spies from other countries. They began to show up more frequently around his isolated manor.

It was not a problem for Ye Chong to worry, however. Sun Sieha waved his hand, and the land around the manor was declared as military property. Unrelated personnel were not allowed to trespass. Every morning, royal guards who worked directly for the King would bury a few bodies on the land. This was a routine mission for them.

Ye Chong ignored all of these. It was not related to him anyway. He did not care if Eastern Cloud had the strength to wipe out other countries. He did not need so many people on his side for now. Besides, soldiers who did not pass the basic requirements were only a drag on the army’s overall strength. The five thousand soldiers he had under him right now were far from passing the basic requirements.

Ye Chong estimated another three months was needed for the hand speed training for the students to satisfy his minimum requirement. Their physical stamina was good enough now, after their vigorous training. However, Ye Chong still made physical training a part of their schedule every day. In fact, physical training was the goal of all their training sections. Physical fitness was a necessity for mech pilots.

Ye Chong did not expect much from his students in terms of hand speed – he would happy as long as they could reach Mach 5. When Ye Chong demonstrated his maximum hand speed, all the students were stunned.

They could not see the metal beads at all. They were only shadows, like Ye Chong’s hands. The sound of metal beads colliding against each other sounded like a stampede. Even Liao San swallowed with difficulty as he watched Ye Chong’s demonstration. It was when Ye Chong declared the minimum requirement for them that the students heaved a sigh of relief.

Those who passed the hand speed requirement would begin another training set. However, only three students passed so far. They were Duan Qian and the Shu sisters.

The three of them were each given a strange keyboard, with keys arranged neatly on it. If any mech pilots were around, they would recognize it as the control console in a mech. The keys were arranged exactly as it would be in a normal mech. They were also given a list of complicated key sequences. Ye Chong’s task for them was to memorize all the sequences and type all of them as fast as possible. To pass, they must type at least 90 key sequences of Level 3 difficulty in one minute; typing 120 key sequences would be considered outstanding.

The keyboard’s design was simple. Ye Chong placed an order of five thousand identical keyboards from a random manufacturer.

If he wanted to cultivate five thousand mech pilots, he would need five thousand mechs.

Five thousand mechs were a lot, no matter how one looked at it. The raw materials required were staggering, and the actual manufacturing part was time and energy consuming. There was the photon processor, holographic scanning system, engine … Too much technology were involved!

The typing training for these three students would be all for nothing if they did not have mechs.

It was a serious issue, but Ye Chong did not lose his cool because of it.

If he had enough metal, the problem would not be so dire. Ye Chong had the best equipment with him. Automating some of the manufacturing process should not be difficult. However, in order to obtain metal, he would have to enter Darkniss.

To ender Darkniss, one must be strong enough. To be strong enough, these students must become mech pilots. To become mech pilots, these students must have mechs.

It was a chicken-and-egg problem.

What if he used wood to build the mechs? The wooden material he found here had excellent physical properties, but they were not suitable for building complex structures, like mech parts.

It seemed that he would have to come up with an alternative for his students as a temporary solution. Ye Chong quickly found a compromise. Designing machines for combat was not a challenge for him.

Ye Chong dismissed the option of fighter aircrafts. Aircrafts could not change direction as easily as he liked, and they were impractical in outer space. The most important things for his students to learn were how to manage the force that came from high speed turns, how to lock onto their enemies, how to shoot, and how to coordinate as a team.

In short, his new machine must be able to move with great flexibility and fitted with a photon processor, a holographic scanning system, long range shooting weapons, and a safety system.

Not long after he breached in fresh air again, Ye Chong returned to his underground base. Three days later, he returned outside with a detailed schematic.

This time, his assistant was Xi Yan. When Xi Yan saw the schematic, he was dumbfounded.

“Teacher, what is this?”

It was a spherical machine, about six metres in diameter. Two straight belts crossed over each other on the surface of the machine. The belts were just shy of a metre in width, and had 16 holes evenly perforated in each of them.

“It’s a training vehicle. Your task is to simply its structure. This is to improve its stability. Understand?” Ye Chong asked Xi Yan. He had picked Xi Yan because he was more experienced than Kristen.

“I understand.” Xi Yan nodded absently as he stared at the schematic.

Ye Chong gestured with a wave. “Alright, off you go.” He then left the dumbfounded Xi Yan to tend to other matters.

A day later, Xi Yan visited Ye Chong.

Ye Chong studied his schematic and nodded, satisfied. He made some minor tweaks as he said, “Good work. Hmm, the structure is simplified by a lot. How much will it cost to build this thing?”

XI Yan did not understand the logic behind this training vehicle. The structure was not suitable for flight. It was not aerodynamic, unlike an aircraft. Besides, it had a higher drag than aircrafts, and would fly much slower. The only good thing about the vehicle was its great flexibility in changing directions. The two belts that on the sphere had 16 engine exhaust expellers that could make the machine travel unpredictable trajectories.

What was the cost of this machine? Xi Yan had to pause and consider the question. “What material are you using?”

“Hanatsubaki wood.” Ye Chong’s reply came instantly.

Xi Yan paused again. Hanatsubaki wood was the cheapest wooden material round. He replied frankly, “If it’s Hanatsubaki wood, we can build one for about three thousand ao.”

“I see. Find a manufacturer to build five thousand of these. That will be 15 million ao.”

“What about the engine?” Xi Yan asked.

“Use the LLK-1 model. I remember that each costs about a thousand ao,” Ye Chong said.

Xi Yan knew the numbers. “We get discounts for bulk buying. Five thousand of them will cost around four million ao.” He could understand his teacher’s reasoning. The LLK-1 was a very old model. There was no reason for anyone to buy the engine, except that it was cheap.

However, training five thousand people was not easy. Just the training vehicle would cost him close to 20 million ao. If he wanted to build aircrafts for his students, he would only be able to pay for less than a thousand of them.

There were also the photon processor and holographic scanning system to consider. He should not forget the safety system too. Ye Chong would not want the students he had trained with so much effort to lose their lives because of inadequate fittings in theirs training vehicles.

It was all too much!

All three components required Ye Chong’s personal attention and effort. It was so much work that Ye Chong felt like he was pushing his limits.

…

Down in the underground base, in his alchemy lab, were many culture containers. Ye Chong needed five thousand bio-mechs for his five thousand students. Fortunately, a bio-photon processor was not too different from its mechanical counterpart, or Ye Chong would have to work himself to death trying to figure it out. Even so, growing the cultures was a challenge. It was a magnificent view, to see five thousand culture containers all placed in the same lab.

Building the holographic scanning systems was even more exhausting. Without familiar metals to work with, he had to use native raw materials. Fortunately, Ye Chong had already run an analysis on all common materials for their properties, or the job would have been impossible. To save time, he had created a simplified version of the holographic scanning system. Even so, he could only make a hundred of them every day. It will take two months for him to build enough for his entire army. This was the simplest holographic scanning system found in Kui’s chips.

With some calculations, Ye Chong knew that he could not finish the safety systems himself. Hence, he went to Sun Sieha. Naturally, His Majesty was more than willing to help him. He immediately called for Master Karu.

Master Karu studied the schematics with barely suppressed excitement, and asked to buy the rights for it without hesitation. Of course, Ye Chong would still earn royalties, and Sun Sieha would have to build five thousand sets of them for Ye Chong, free of charge, as part of the contract. Both Sun Sieha and Master Karu were prepared for Ye Chong’s nasty contracts, but they knew how important the technology was, and so had agreed to the terms without argument.

With the five thousand sets of safety systems handled, and a long term source of income in his pocket, Ye Chong felt satisfied with his decision.

Now, it was his turn to do the hard work. Five thousand holographic scanning systems to go!

e might really die from this! Even though he chose the simplest form of holographic scanning system, building five thousand of them was really exhausting. However, since Xi Yan was there to help, he was able to finish making them ahead of schedule.

Just then, the five thousand training vehicles that Ye Chong ordered had arrived. Ye Chong had to expand the landing field area to accommodate all the training vehicles. Fortunately, his manor was large enough.

All five thousand training vehicles were neatly arranged on the landing field. As seen from above, they looked like a neat display of five thousand glutinous rice balls.

The training ground of the five thousand students was very close to the landing field. However, the students were all focused in their training, and did not think to look around them. By now, 60 percent of the students had passed the hand speed training, leaving only 40 percent of them to go. However, these students were very close to passing already. It would probably take only another week for them to join their other cohorts.

The students who passed were now learning about their very own keyboard models. The complicated key sequences were a headache. They did not know what they mean, but had to memorize them anyway. However, they were given no other choice but to forge ahead.

This was a test on memory power. The more intelligent students quickly stood out.

Ye Chong found that one of the students used only three days to memorize all the key sequences, and another three days to type 150 key sequences of difficulty Level 43.

Even Ye Chong was impressed by the student. Some talented people would find themselves unnoticed by society until they were given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities. Then, they would shine more brightly than anyone else.

This student was obviously talented. Ye Chong would definitely pay special attention to him. The student was not Duan Qian or the prominent Shu sisters, but a young man who had only had average results in previous trainings. His name was Appilok, and he was singled out by Ye Chong from the other students.

He would receive even stricter training. Ye Chong would personally train him to become a qualified mech pilot.

Appilok’s first hurdle was physical stamina. He had gone through the physical training all this while, but that was far from enough, the way Ye Chong saw it.

All the students were curious about the five thousand spherical machines laid out not far from their training ground. Even their instructor, Liao San, had his interest piqued. Ye Chong was officially known as a Master Weaponsmith, and those were obviously his latest creations. Liao San had been hoping to get one of Ye Chong’s Spiders for a long time, but he knew he did not rank high enough in the government to request for one.

The five thousand training vehicles were a huge motivation for the students, especially when they found out they could have one for themselves if they passed the training of typing key sequences.

Moreover, once they knew that the training vehicles could fly, the students cheered out loudly with joy. All of them, except for Duan Qian and the Shu sisters, were only average people. They were trained in parapsychic control and hence, never flew an aircraft before. They had been envious of shooters for a long while, but now found themselves given the chance to fly as well.

Ye Chong could not sympathize with their emotions, but he could see that their morale was high. This surprised him, since the typing test was a very dry training. However, this was good news for him. Of course he preferred that they stayed that way.

Ye Chong was dead tired after finishing all five thousand holographic scanning systems. Xi Yan was also exhausted. However, Ye Chong did not take a break. There were too many things that demanded his attention.

Getting used to the upgraded Celest was one of his main priorities. A child holding a heavy axe was more likely to injure himself than others. To Ye Chong, Celest was now like that heavy axe. It was a powerful tool, but he would need time to master it.

Appilok watched Ye Chong in quiet surprise. He was not even surprised this much when he was brought to the training ground in the manor’s underground base. Ye Chong demonstrated the most basic combat moves, and would do so hours at a time, repeating the moves over and over again. It was hard to imagine a master in combat expert to spend so much time in basic training every day.

Appilok understood how fortunate he was and appreciated this opportunity given to him. He forced himself to go through the dull training every day. He reminded himself always to learn from Ye Chong.

Appilok was very talented, at least in the mind. Ye Chong felt that he was born to become a mech pilot. The young man had a calm mind and excellent memory. He was also committed and dedicated. The only thing he lacked was physical fitness. His body was not naturally suitable for combat. Ye Chong had trained him for a long while, and he had indeed become stronger, but still far from ideal. However, he displayed exceptional skills in other areas, especially in strategizing.

Appilok was more suited to become a long range mech pilot. However, Ye Chong did not have a long range mech. That would have to wait until he build a base in Darkniss.

With Ye Chong’s personal teaching, Appilok improved much faster than the other students. Even Duan Qian was envious of the special attention he was getting. Duan Qian was the second fastest improving student in the cohort. He had the best physical build compared to the other five thousand students. No one who worked hard enough to reach where he was would have a mediocre mind.

Duan Qian was the first to enter a training vehicle. When the spherical training vehicle alighted from the ground, everyone below watched him enviously. Suddenly, the training vehicle spiralled uncontrollably like a balloon losing its air, and landed heavily on the ground. When Duan Qian emerged dizzily from the machine, the training ground was silent, and then exploded in laughter.

More students began their practice in flying their training vehicles. When they entered their training vehicles and saw the control console looking exactly like their training keyboard, they finally realized what the key sequences were all about.

Being new to flying, they were not afraid to try out their training vehicles. Everywhere in the sky were wooden balls, flying around in different trajectories. Often, a training vehicle would go out of control and crash land into the ground. After a while, the training vehicle would begin its shaky ascent into the air once again.

Ye Chong was grateful to have installed the safety systems. If they were not in place, the students would have been crushed into meat patties when they crash landed from high above. Now, they would only feel dizzy in the aftermath.

The students who were up in the air were having fun, but the ones who were still down below and the royal guards stationed around the manor were in for trouble. With so many training vehicles crashing down unpredictably, anyone who found themselves in the way would die for sure. Hence, from the day Duan Qian began his flying training, the royal guards moved their camp 150 kilometres away. Together with them were the students that were not selected by Ye Chong. The students who were still have not passed continued their training in Ye Chong’s manor.

Liao San roared at them, “You little mtherfckers, hehe, if you don’t buck up, get ready to be crushed! Hell, you ask me if there’s a safer place? Haha, are you idiots? Can’t you use that rusted brain of yours? It’s the sky! That’s right, the sky! If you don’t wanna be hit, fcking pass your training. The faster you get up there, the safer you are. Then you get to choose who you wanna crash into! Of course, whichever fcker thinks of crashing into me, you know what happens to anyone who murders a General of the country!”

These students were scared to death, and moved their hands even more quickly. Ye Chong had thought they needed at least a week or two to pass their training, but in the end it only took them three days.

From this incident, Ye Chong also learned that a desperate situation was the most effective way to harness a person’s full abilities.

Inspired by this realization, Ye Chong decided to incorporate this concept into the rest of the students’ training program. If Shang were here, the mech would definitely be more ruthless than him.

Oh, Mu/Shang …

Ye Chong suddenly felt his heart all warming up. He looked into the distance and gripped his hands together into tight fists.

Liao San came to report to Ye Chong. “Sir, I just received orders to leave for my original post.”

Ye Chong was surprised. Liao San was a good instructor, He never questioned Ye Chong’s training program, and would perform his tasks diligently. Without Liao San, Ye Chong would have to deal with the students personally. With his current jam packed schedule, that was hardly feasible.

Ye Chong frowned. “What happened?”

“His Majesty gave the order.” Liao San explained in a serious tone. “The conflict between Eastern Cloud and Western Frost has escalated recently. The border is now under a very real threat. War could happen at any moment now. As His Majesty’s Royal Guards, we are bound by duty to protect the King.”

Ye Chong understood the situation. He considered for a moment and nodded calmly. “Alright. All the best to you. Oh, by the way, bring Xuan Ning’s Spider to him.” It was no wonder that Xuan Ning did not have time to come for his Spider.

“Yes Sir!” Liao San bowed to Ye Chong and left.

After Liao San’s departure, Ye Chong immediately made his way to the training ground. He felt a strong sense of urgency. War was imminent. With Eastern Cloud’s military fitted with new weapons, they were now much stronger than ever. Sun Sieha had waited for this day for a long time. War would begin soon enough.

Once the battles started, the current peace would be broken. It would also be the best opportunity for Ye Chong to leave. Ye Chong knew that with Eastern Cloud’s current strength, winning the war was a matter of time. When Eastern Cloud won the war against Western Frost and Ye Chong had not left by then, leaving would become much harder, especially when he was taking five thousand people with him.

The best time would be when Sun Sieha was focused on the war and not on him.

Ye Chong already knew where they would be headed for.

The students enjoyed their latest training program. It was much more interesting than typing meaningless key sequences in their keyboards. Besides, for many students, flying was the dream of their lives. After all, whether it was in Eastern Cloud, Western Frost of Northern Lands, only shooters were allowed to fly.

To these students, the training vehicles were like a miracle. The holographic system allowed even normal people to know what was outside their line of sight. There was also the photon processor thing, which was equally fascinating. The training vehicle was slower than an aircraft, but more flexible in the air. It could even fly as close as five meters away from the ground.

That was what Ye Chong had asked from his students. They must learn how to fly in low altitudes. Every day, Ye Chong would lead his students flying in the air. Appilok’s personal training had to stop. Now, he trained with the rest of the students.

The entire Su City found out about those strange aircrafts. People were shocked at first, but soon grew used to them. Rumours had it that the manufacturer who built Ye Chong’s training vehicles received a lot of enquiries about those strange aircrafts.

The students flew further and further distances. Long distance flight practices became common. It was hard to say if it was more fascinating or funny to see a swarm of five thousand balls flying high up in the sky, but the sight left a deep impression in anyone who saw it.

The students would sometimes even venture out for thousands of kilometers, like an actual fleet of aircraft. This had alerted local authorities at first. However, once news of Master Ye Chong’s weird aircraft spread across the entire Eastern Cloud country, the local military relaxed.

No one would raise a fuss about Master Ye Chong for something so inconsequential. Some of the soldiers even took the initiative to greet the students.

After this long period of training, the students flew better and could execute formations, at least in form. However, Ye Chong knew that the students were only still not capable of facing an actual battle. The only thing he was thankful for was that his students could shoot very well.

The military’s recent new fittings also brought Ye Chong a fortune. Ye Chong prepared to buy new supplies, but found that the government now had a tight hold on all resources due to the state of emergency in the country. Hence, Ye Chong went to Sun Sieha.

“What do you need so many things for?” Sun Sieha went through Ye Chong’s very long list, dumbfounded.

Ye Chong replied calmly, “Refitting.”

Sun Sieha realized then that Ye Chong wanted to make new gear for the five thousand students. No wonder he needed so much resources. He had heard of how people referred to Ye Chong’s team as the Army of Glutinous Rice Balls, and laughed. “Alright, you can have them. However, you know that we are in a state of emergency right now. Everything will cost 20 percent more, agreed?” Ye Chong’s fortune came mostly from Sun Sieha. Even the King was getting jealous of his wealth. How could the King possibly let go of this wonderful opportunity?

Ye Chong nodded without expression. “Agreed.”

“Are you upgrading your Army of Glutinous Rice Balls to, well, an Army of Dumplings? Hehe!” Sun Sieha teased. Since the training vehicles were round, and flew slowly and even shakily in the sky, people nicknamed the group as the Army of Glutinous Rice Balls.

Ye Chong ignored him and left with the King’s approval letter for his supplies.

atches and batches of raw materials were sent to Ye Chong’s manor. Even though they were sold 20 percent above market price, Ye Chong thought it was worth it. He spent most of his money on raw materials, especially the rare ones, and was always offered than he needed. Sun Sieha’s letter also helped him with the purchases.

In Su City, all the businessmen were also nobles. When they found out through their sources that the great Master Ye Chong was visiting, they all tried to curry his favour. Ye Chong responded to them coldly, but never stopped them from offering their services. This was a pleasant surprise for the businessmen. Building a relationship with this man of status was a wonderful opportunity!

No one asked him what the materials were used for. After all, it was common for weaponsmiths to store raw materials. Besides, Ye Chong had the King’s approval. In the end, Ye Chong received more raw materials than he expected, and some of them did not even cost him a single ao. A few of the businessmen even gave him the transport aircraft that came with the materials.

Kristen gaped at the materials and asked, “Teacher, why you do buy so much of them?”

“They’re useful.” Ye Chong did not explain. The truth was, Kristen was a good student. She was talented and hardworking, and she improved quickly. More importantly, she was young. However, Ye Chong did not plan to bring her along. That had been decided early on.

His students’ training continued without pause.

Ye Chong began to reorganize his five thousand students. He was no longer ignorant of military structures. He incorporated strict status rankings, rules, and practiced reward and punishment just like in the military. Ye Chong was familiar with these concepts.

Ye Chong promoted students who performed well in their training to low ranking military officers. The effect was immediate. The five thousand students conducted themselves more professionally, no longer behaving as free and easy as they once did.

Here on the training ground, the five thousand students stood in formation, all standing straight and with a serious expression on their faces.

Ye Chong stood in front of them without emotion. The students were afraid of Ye Chong. Rumor had it that Master Ye Chong had the authority to form a five thousand strong security detachment. This was exciting news to him. To be able to serve someone as prominent as Master Ye Chong in Eastern Cloud was a great honor. From now on, their lives would be heavily influenced by Ye Chong. Anything that Ye Chong do in the future will directly affect the course of their future.

“From now on, you are my personal security detachment. Any of you who object to this, please step forward.” Ye Chong spoke with a normal tone.

All the students could not hide the excitement on their faces, but tried they did as they stood even straighter. Today, the rumor was confirmed. Their future was secured.

Ye Chong’s plain voice continued to reverberate in the air. “As my personal security detail, you will follow me wherever I go. You will leave behind your families, your homes. I’ll allow you 10 minutes to reconsider.”

No one moved. Ye Chong was not aware that leaving home was common in Eastern Cloud, especially for young shooters. They would travel far and wide to hone their skills. The journey was hard and dangerous. Few made it back.

Ye Chong was satisfied that none of them left. These young people were far from actual warriors, but they were molded according to Ye Chong’s idea of an ideal soldier. Ye Chong was not interested in shooters. He was more in need of shooters who could pilot mechs. However, almost all shooters could not do this. Their bodies were simply too weak. A shooter who could pilot a mech would be very powerful, especially against creatures like the red-tailed beasts.

Nevertheless, it was rare for anyone apart from pure geniuses to excel in both mental and physical abilities.

These students would be Ye Chong’s basis of protection. Ye Chong distributed all the money he had left to the students, for them to send back to their families. This gesture improved his reputation amongst the students even more.

Ye Chong called Xi Yan out. “Of all the weaponsmiths you know of, do you anyone who is good but has few close social ties?”

Xi Yan considered the question and replied, “I know a few.”

“Give me the list of names and addresses,” Ye Chong said.

…

Ye Chong went to Master Karu.

When Master Karu heard that Ye Chong was here to visit, he dropped everything he was working on and came to him. He knew that Ye Chong was not here for a chat, so he asked, “Why are you here to visit me? How can I help you?”

Ye Chong handed over a list of names to Master Karu. “I need these people.”

Master Karu scanned the list briefly and said, “Of course.” He turned to speak to a servant, and then went back to Ye Chong. “You’ll have to wait a moment. Why do you need them? Don’t you already have two students?”

Ye Chong found a good excuse. “I have an operation, and I need the manpower.”

“I see.” Master Karu’s interest was piqued. “Is this a huge project?” Larger projects often needed the collaborative strength between many weaponsmiths. That was why Master Karu thought to ask. When Ye Chong mentioned an operation, the first thing he thought of was a large scale project.

Ye Chong nodded. “Yes.”

“Haha, you should’ve just told me that. There’s no need to find outsiders to help you when you can get them from me. Hmm, I’ll assign 20 weaponsmiths to you.” Master Karu offered warmly.

He did not wait for Ye Chong’s consent before he called out a group of weaponsmiths. When Ye Chong saw them, he realized what Master Karu was trying to do. These so-called weaponsmiths were all young and inexperienced disciples only. They would not be able to offer any real help.

Master Karu had offered manpower to Ye Chong, but he was actually hoping to send these students out to learn from Ye Chong. Hopefully, they would return with much greater abilities than before.

Ye Chong looked straight at Master Karu and kept quiet.

Master Karu blushed awkwardly, and then coughed lightly. “You know, don’t you, that the situation is a bit dangerous recently. We’re also having a shortage of manpower here. These are the only people I can give you. You should teach them a few when you’re free, err, and in exchange, they’ll work for you, like labor work and stuff.”

Ye Chong continued looking quietly at Master Karu.

Master Karu was feeling guilty now. Since Ye Chong refused to speak for a long moment after, he coughed again. “Sigh, you people, why so serious? How about this, I can offer you some compensation?” Master Karu asked, testing the waters.

“What compensation?” Ye Chong’s reaction was exactly what Master Karu had hoped for. As long as Ye Chong was willing to negotiate, all was well. If they could make this work, he would not lose anything from the negotiation.

Hence, Ye Chong bargained for some more valuable raw materials from Master Karu before “grudgingly” accepting the 20 young weaponsmiths. Master Karu’s raw materials were much more high quality than the ones commonly found in the market.

Throughout the negotiation, Ye Chong only spoke a few words, and mostly kept silent. Master Karu was happy with the outcome, and grinned widely. Soon, the people in Ye Chong’s list of names were brought to them.

Master Karu changed his whole bearing into one of great seriousness, and cleared his throat. “By the Eastern Cloud’s law of war, you are all conscripted. From today onwards, you will serve your country without reserve. Master Ye Chong here will be in charge of you. Your duty is to assist and obey him. If you disobey your orders, you will be charged with treason!”

The weaponsmiths all looked shocked by Master Karu’s stern announcement.

Master Karu turned back to Ye Chong, and the stern expression vanished immediately. He winked playfully at Ye Chong.

With that, Ye Chong brought the valuable raw materials, the 20 young weaponsmiths and the eight clueless civilian weaponsmiths back to his manor.

These weaponsmiths were divided between Kristen and Xi Yan. They spent half the time learning, and the other half making weird mechanical parts according to the schematics given to them. With thirty people working together, they were now much faster.

The war began very soon after.

Eastern Cloud now had a tense atmosphere. Prices for all goods and items soared. However, Ye Chong was not affected. When he and his Army of Glutinous Rice Balls were training, they were slowly making their way towards the central region of Eastern Cloud instead of the border without drawing any attention to them.

On this day, 10 days after the war first started, Ye Chong suddenly gathered all his students.

Five thousand training vehicles were all in position. The students were all inside their vehicles. After more than a year’s training, they now looked like capable soldiers.

Ye Chong led their operation this time.

Ye Chong asked Xi Yan, “Ready?”

“Ready, teacher,” Xi Yan replied. He took a long look at Ye Chong, then boarded the transport aircraft. Everyone else was there, except for Kristen.

There were five transport aircrafts, all modified by Ye Chong. They were piloted by five of the students, respectively.

“Move out.”

Ye Chong announced the beginning of their flight just like usual. The five thousand training vehicles, or more precisely, the 4,995 training vehicles and five transport aircraft took air at the same tie. They were flying towards Yedda City.

Ye Chong turned back to look at his manor, which grew smaller and smaller in view. He watched without expression.

“Goodbye, Kristen.”

ha Ya was already waiting at Yedda City. She was sent to the city ahead of time. Though she did not know what Ye Chong was up to, she obeyed Ye Chong’s orders dutifully. Knowing how strong Ye Chong was, she left for Yedda City feeling assured that Ye Chong did not need her protection. Here in Eastern Cloud, abandoning one’s master was a despicable act. Sha Ya was grateful that her master was not that of a bad person.

When Sha Ya saw the massive army arriving, she was still caught off guard. She was used to seeing all five thousand training vehicles together, since they all flew together during the usual practice flights. However, this was the first time they had a few transport aircraft tagging along. She threw Ye Chong a look of bafflement, but discreetly kept her questions to herself. Sha Ya had already contacted the local authorities and prepared supplies for the army. Ye Chong and his security detachment replenished their stock of food and water here. Yedda City authorities were used to this. Master Ye Chong was a local celebrity. Besides, they were already used to having the Army of Glutinous Rice Balls restock their supplies in the city. Since they could claim for reimbursements every time the army resupplied, it was a good opportunity for the local authorities to profit from it.

Instead of flying in her own aircraft, Sha Ya boarded the transport aircraft that Ye Chong was on.

Ye Chong had modified the transport aircraft for greater load, better flight stability and slower flight. More importantly, the aircraft can now land vertically on the ground, bypassing the need for a landing field. These were all functions that normal transport aircraft and fighters lacked.

“What’s our next stop after the resupply?” Sha Ya asked. Sha Ya was one of the few people in the Army of Glutinous Rice Balls who had actual battle experience. She was also a shooting instructor for the army. Sometimes, she would lead the group of young recruits herself out for training. Everyone in the army knew her.

Ye Chong replied with an air of calmness, “Dual Forest.”

Sha Ya was surprised. “That’s too dangerous! They’re not ready to enter Dual Forest.” Dual Forest was not particularly challenging for Sha Ya, but it would be a very dangerous place for the inexperienced young soldiers. Sha Ya thought that the students would need at least another year’s training to be ready to enter Dual Forest to practice actual combat. Surely her master understood this, but why did he still choose this course of action? Sha Ya did not think Ye Chong was the kind of person to train his soldiers without regard of their lives. This was clear from the way he designed the protection systems for the training vehicles.

Ye Chong replied without expression, “If we move quickly enough, there should be no problem.”

“You want to enter Dual Forest?” Sha Ya gasped.

Ye Chong nodded. “Yes.”

To enter Dual Forest would mean … Sha Ya began to have an inkling of what Ye Chong was planning.

Dual Forest was full of tall and imposing ancient trees. Strays of sunlight found their way through the foliage, leaving scattered shadows on the grassy floor below.

The students were hesitant. This was a dangerous operation. Shu Mo’er was the only one amongst them who had been here. Not even Duan Qian and Shu Man’er had visited Dual Forest. Nevertheless, all of them were aware of the risks of entering the place.

The transport aircraft landed. The hatches opened up, and a huge spider walked out of it. Another Spider followed from behind, then another Spider, and another, and another …

There were 40 Spiders in total. The first Spider looked leaner and more agile than the other 39, which had a larger pilot cabin. Ye Chong and Sha Ya were in the first Spider, the only one designed for battle. The rest of the Spiders were built for transport.

Duan Qian and the other students had a simple order – follow the first Spider. The training vehicles were not fast, but they would fly quietly in the air while following the Spider. Besides, their smaller built allowed them to navigate through the forest more easily. All five thousand training vehicles slowly ascended until they were about five meters from the ground. They maintained this altitude and followed the first Spider in a long line. The five thousand training vehicles were separated from each other by three meters, and formed a long line behind the first Spider.

At the leading position was a student called Fisher. He was the best pilot in the army, especially when navigating complicated terrain. Hence, he was assigned to the first position. Since all the training vehicles used identical photon processors, geopositioning systems, comms systems and holographic scanning systems, all the training vehicles can be programmed to follow the route taken by the first training vehicle.

Ye Chong gave the order, and the army began its journey into Dual Forest. Many members of the public saw them, but none dared to follow.

The fully armed Spider led the army, with Ye Chong and Sha Ya in it.

Dual Forest did not cause them any distress. The creatures in Dual Forest all remembered the terrifying Spider. None of them approached to challenge its power. Having been here before, Ye Chong had the Spider marched full speed ahead, wasting no time investigating the route.

His time, they took only two days to traverse Dual Forest.

The students were all excited, having never been into Dual Forest. The looming trees and scattering wild animals that they saw along the way had gotten them stirred up.

After Dual Forest was the Desert.

Sha Ya watched the desolate place with cold eyes and reminded Ye Chong, “We need to go pass the Desert as quickly as possible. The longer we spend time in here, the riskier it gets.”

Ye Chong nodded. He shared the same concern. With such a large army and so much cargo, the only ones who were combat ready were him and Sha Ya. This meant that he and Sha Ya had to ensure the safety of the students.

It was a difficult situation, but Ye Chong also realized that this was the best chance to escape. Once he missed this window, it would only get harder to leave. Ye Chong had prepared extensively for this operation. Without Mu/Shang’s help, he had to figure things out himself. Fortunately, this was not his first time leading an army. Compared to last time, he was now more composed and mature to deal with the situation. This was an improvement for him.

Before this, he had arranged for the students to practice long distance flights frequently. Yedda City and its vicinity were a common destination for them. Hence, they had had no trouble so far. The local authorities thought they were only having another routine training session. No one imagined that this was actually an attempt to escape.

Moreover, Ye Chong had taken great care when designing the so-called glutinous rice ball training vehicles. They were designed mainly with this escape operation in mind. The vehicles did not fly fast, but they were small and agile. As long as they did not encounter a sandstorm, they should be able to reach Darkniss without a hitch. Of course, Ye Chong had also prepared many other tools for contingencies.

The operation was sudden. Not even Sha Ya was informed of it. Ye Chong wanted no surprises. The students, whom he had promoted now to be his security attachment, were also oblivious. They only thought it was one of the more important training exercises that Ye Chong would lead sometimes.

Ye Chong released the Hummingbirds. He used all 16 of them, instead of four. The students were too vulnerable now. Ye Chong had to be extra careful to reduce the odds of an accident.

All 16 Hummingbirds took off into the air, sending back images to Ye Chong in his Spider.

All good so far! Ye Chong sighed in relief. The sandstorm was his biggest concern. They were in luck this time. Everything was going smoothly so far.

Ye Chong delayed no further. He ordered the army to advance as quickly as possible.

320 training vehicles separated from formation and went to the 40 Spiders. A hook came down from each training vehicle, which was now attached to a mounting ring found on each of the Spider’s legs. Eight hooks secured each Spider, which was then lifted by eight training vehicles into the air.

Ye Chong had come up with various scenarios in crossing the Desert, and found this to be the fastest way to get them across. He had also insisted that every student pass their training in lifting objects in a team. The students now realized the significance of their seemingly pointless training before this.

Weather in the Desert was unstable. The longer they stayed there, the more dangerous it would be. What was the fastest way to get across the Dessert? It had to be flying.

All five thousand training vehicles took off into the air, with the 320 training vehicles carrying the Spiders positioned at the center.

Now suspended in midair, Ye Chong did not spend his time idling around. He looked grim, or at least that was how Sha Ya perceived it. She knew the pressure that Ye Chong was facing now. The plan was simply too crazy for her to accept!

She could see that Ye Chong had made plenty of preparations for this operation. Now that Ye Chong decided to leave Eastern Cloud, Sha Ya felt that she understood her master better. However, she still could not understand why Ye Chong would choose to bring an army of inexperienced students to Darkniss. It looked like a suicidal operation, at least to her.

“Why are you bringing them there?” Sha Ya could not help but asked. The matter puzzled her greatly.

Ye Chong did not answer. He kept his gaze firmly on the holographic screen, where the live feed from the Hummingbirds were displayed.

The training vehicles were slow, but still much faster compared to the Spider. Since there was no sandstorm, the students flew without meeting much resistance. With the exception of Shu Mo’er, none of the students knew they were now in the notorious Desert.

Being ignorant of the facts, they traveled without pressure.

After a whole day and night, they finally crossed the Desert. With no sandstorms, and with improved fighter aircraft, the Desert was actually not too dangerous for a shooter.

Now that they arrived in the Mist, it was still dangerous for them, especially for people without parapsychic sense. Nevertheless, Ye Chong had prepared for this as well. The training vehicles were now all linked in a straight line with hooks and mounting rings. As long as the leading training vehicle was heading in the right direction, the army would be able to advance without issue. For this part of the journey, Duan Qian was assigned as lead. He was one of the few students who had parapsychic sense. The Spiders were also linked to each other with hooks. This deceptively simple strategy was also very effective. In the Mist, comm channels were no longer usable. It was the only way to keep them together.

With the comms down, the students faced a challenging situation. The longer this went on, the more likely for the students to have a mental breakdown. With no view of or communication with the outside world, it was a harsh situation for the inexperienced students to deal with.

Ye Chong did not to stay long in the Mist. He had also prepared the army for this.

Just outside the forest, his Spider came to a halt. Behind him, the training vehicles all crashed gently into the vehicle in front of them like a domino effect. The students were also used to this part thanks to their training. No one panicked. They simply stopped their training vehicles, and the whole army came to stop as well.

Ye Chong came out of his Spider, and took out a big heap of mechanical parts. These parts were all big, some even bigger than Ye Chong.

Sha Ya looked at Ye Chong, confused.

Ye Chong quickly assembled the parts. After five minutes, Sha Ya something she had never seen before – a big *ss photon cannon!

The barrel diameter was seven meters across, enough to fit a few people in it. Sha Ya swallowed with difficulty. She felt a little numb.

Ye Chong redirected the cannon’s barrel, and then began to fill it up with energy crystals. He stopped at 50 of the energy crystals. Sha Ya was shocked speechless. This was simply too crazy! The world had gone crazy!

A ship cannon! Ye Chong was familiar with these. He had thought of building one ever since his last visit. It was easier to clear out a path using a ship cannon.

Hence, he brought one with him this time.

e Chong’s huge cannon surprised not only Sha Ya, but also Duan Qian. His parapsychic sense kept him in touch with anything happening around him.

Ye Chong made further calibrations. Five minutes later, he was done.

He inhaled deeply and pushed the button to fire the weapon.

Boom!

A massive photon beam shot out soundlessly from the cannon barrel, a silent beam of dazzling light. Ye Chong narrowed his eyes. Even through the dense mist, the beam was still too bright to see with the naked eye.

The beam vanished soon enough, but Ye Chong had to wait a second for the afterimage from the beam to vanish before he opened his eyes again.

In front of Ye Chong, a 10 meter wide cylindrical passage was formed. In this passage, all the plants were destroyed, leaving only charred marks on the ground. The heat from the photon beam had essentially vaporized everything in its way. Ye Chong could even see a red spot at the end of the cleared passage that was the Red Wasteland, but the mist soon covered the entire passage.

The view reverted back to plain purple.

Ye Chong was happy with the outcome. He did not look back at the ship cannon, which was now just useless. Ye Chong did not use rare materials to construct the cannon, but opted instead for common materials. The ship cannon was too large, making it too costly to use rare materials. Besides, the ship cannon was not too important for Ye Chong. It was only needed for this single shot. Since the ship cannon was made of normal materials, it could not withstand the energy load from the first shot.

However, this was enough for Ye Chong.

Ye Chong went back into his Spider and advanced into the passage. Behind him, the other Spiders followed. Duan Qian caught up as well. He was still shocked by that powerful cannon shot. If it was directed at a person, even the edges would take off any limb or finger in its way.

Nevertheless, Duan Qian quickly focused back on his task. As leader of the army, and given the arrangement of the training vehicles, his duty was important. If he had any missteps, the students him would all be in danger.

All the students were now tensed. They could only know what to do next from the pulling force of the hooks on their training vehicles. Even though they had gone through this training repeatedly, they were still very nervous when it came to the real thing. Some of them were already sweating all over. The pressure on them was immense.

The Spider moved very quickly, but also carefully. A line of Spiders were trailing behind Ye Chong. Ye Chong had chosen a special batch of students to man these Spiders. The Spiders had a control console identical to the ones in the training vehicles. Hence, the maneuvring part was mostly similar.

The only thing the Spiders needed to be careful about here were the swamps. Ye Chong had repeatedly taught these students how to free themselves of obstacles in swampy areas. As for the training vehicles flying at low latitudes, they need not worry about the swamp.

Ye Chong’s teachings did not go to waste. The students traversed through the swamps without issues behind him, and did not hamper the army’s advance.

In the end, the army crossed the Mist without trouble.

Once they reached the Red Wilderness, Ye Chong heaved a sigh of relief. He had made all the preparations he could think of, but still he felt nervous throughout the entire journey. The students were too vulnerable. If they were normal mech pilots, Ye Chong would not have worried so much.

Ye Chong ordered the army to rest here for one full day.

The Mist did not take them too long to traverse, but it was a test unlike any before it for the students. The mental stress was exhausting for the inexperienced students. Since the Red Wilderness was safe, Ye Chong had ordered the army to stay here and recuperate for an entire day.

The students had never seen so much of the world in their entire lives as they had in these few days. This made a lot of them excited, but got some of them nervous. They had never been in such a dangerous situation before. Nevertheless, the students still gathered and talked eagerly over their meals.

Sha Ya looked at the young and naïve faces of the students, and sighed inside.

“These students, how many of them will survive this?” Sha Ya directed the pointed question at Ye Chong.

Ye Chong replied calmly, “The ones who qualify will survive.” Ye Chong did not think he was being cruel. He had been treated more ruthlessly than this before. The way he saw it, those who were not fit enough would be left behind. To survive, one must be strong enough, simple as that. It was a rule of Nature, and of human society.

The rule was fair to all, even to himself. There was no cruelty or kindness to speak of.

Sha Ya went quiet. She could not understand Ye Chong’s reasoning. She thought Ye Chong was being contradictary. He can stand being humiliated or told off, but he would kill anyone whom he ascertained to be a threat to his life. There would be no warning before he made his move. A cold and cruel man like him had, however, chosen to spend so much effort on his students, and would even care for their welfare.

Ye Chong was not in this operation alone. He and Sha Ya stood guard. The Red Wilderness did not have any dangerous creatures, but Ye Chong knew that there were other shooters here. Darkniss did not belong to any country. Its borders were connected to multiple countries, so it was possible for them to encounter shooters from other countries.

Any shooter who could reach the Red Wilderness must be quite competent. If they showed up, the inexperienced students would not be a match for them. Hence, Ye Chong and Sha Ya had to babysit the students.

Now that they were here, Ye Chong did not have to be too discreet with his actions.

He withdrew Celest.

When the huge figure that was Celest appeared before everyone, they were all flabbergasted. The entire camp went silent. Everyone was shocked.

Celest’s 10-metre tall figure was intimidating. Black armor covered its entire body, leaving only the face exposed. The giant had sharp angles on its face and half lidded eyes. On its helmet was a red feather that shot up toward the sky like a flame. There were eerie decorations of red flowers on its wrists, elbows, knees and waist. The giant carried a black box on its back, which also had a large and splendid red flower on it.

“The giant!” Shu Mo’er cried out, looking very pale. She and her group had gone to Yedda City because of the giant that Duo Ka spoke of. That was also how they came to know Ye Chong and got into a conflict with him. Shu Mo’er felt like her brain was about to explode.

Ye Chong threw a cold glance at Shu Mo’er. Celest’s pilot cabin opened up just then.

Under the close attention of his large audience, Ye Chong entered the pilot cabin. He would not have time to enter Celest if any shooter were to appear suddenly. Ye Chong did not have watch his actions too much here. Besides, there should not be any fighter aircrafts here. Even if there were, Ye Chong was not afraid of them. The upgraded Celest was so powerful that not even its pilot, Ye Chong, knew exactly what it was capable of.

It would not hurt to be too careful. Ye Chong always chose the option that guaranteed the best results, even if it might be a lot of work.

The rest of the army watched with surprise, awe and disbelief as Celest finally moved!

Celest opened its half lidded eyes that shone brightly with life. Its eyes were devoid of emotion, just like Ye Chong’s eyes.

Celest stepped forward slowly, its heavy footsteps hammering into the hearts of its audience.

In the pilot cabin, Ye Chong tapped on the control console with familiar strokes and activated its holographic scanning system. Celest’s holographic scanning system was far more advanced than its primitive counterpart in the training vehicles. In fact, its holographic scanning system was top of the line.

There was no one around them. Ye Chong had given an order for Celest to expand its holographic scanning range to its maximum.

After this precautionary step, Ye Chong did not stop to relax. To the inexperienced students, the past few days had been very stressful, but Ye Chong considered them to be all part of his normal life. His mind was much tougher than normal people.

Time should never be wasted. This was one of Ye Chong’s core principles.

Now, what should he be doing? Training, of course!

Training had been a huge part of Ye Chong’s life. Whenever he had the time, he would dedicate himself to practicing. No matter how dry or basic the routine, he would repeatedly practice them. At his level, he might only be able to perform a basic move one millisecond faster after a million repetitions, but still he never faltered. This was why he could become so strong, and continue to become stronger and stronger.

Despite the audience, his training routine was not disrupted.

Ye Chong began his training as usual. First was the basics. Ye Chong never gave up on fundamentals. This was because Mu had once told him that all combat moves were made up of the basic moves. He never forgot this lesson, and held onto it as one of his training principles.

When Duan Xian saw the giant in black armor began to practice basic moves, he was stunned.

He never imagined that he would get to see a 10-metre giant in black armor performing basic combat moves like a combat expert.

It was mind-bending, to say the least!

He was a combat expert himself, and could see that Celest’s every move was actually designed for battle!

More surprising was the fact that the giant could move deftly and quickly despite its size. Duan Qian found himself shaken by this observation. If a massive fist was able to strike out so quickly, it must be very powerful.

Compared to Duan Qian’s more informed observations, the other students only saw the giant moving about. Nevertheless, it left quite an impression for them. The giant was huge, like a small hill. It was so heavy that every step shook the ground beneath them. The students who were sitting on the ground felt this more acutely than others. They could feel the weight and power behind the tremors that radiated through their bodies.

When a small hill in front of you was moving faster than a fighter, and more agile than a leopard, that feeling was simply …

It was simply too exciting!

Ye Chong completely ignored his surprised audience as he immersed himself completely into his training. After the basic moves, he moved on to more complicated battle moves.

When had the students ever seen such a dazzling display of mech combat? Every punch and kick was powerful and imposing. They could even hear the air whistling whenever the giant struck out quickly.

Duan Qian watched with his mouth gaping. The combat moves that the giant was performing were already more complicated than what he had learned so far. His biggest question now was, just what in the world was this giant?

Ye Chong did not know that his training demonstration had completely convinced his students of a mech’s strength. When the students were offered the chance to use mechs as their weapons, there would be no objections. This was because they had seen Ye Chong train in one. Unlike shooters, they did not have so-called shooter’s pride, and could accept mechs faster.

When Ye Chong was finished, he finally noticed the worshipping stares from his students.

He was not pleased because of this. In fact, he felt nothing at all. He rarely cared about how others saw him.

He only stayed true to himself.

Ye Chong did not exhaust himself from his training, since he must be prepared for enemies. Even so, he was already drenched in sweat by now. Ye Chong panted slightly, and focused on recovering.

Waiting and guarding his students were both tasks that required patience, but that was always a quality of Ye Chong’s. Perhaps what he was doing now seemed dry and uninteresting, but Ye Chong could always find the energy to continue and persist in doing them.

There were no surprises so far, and this comforted Sha Ya. By now, the students had gotten used to having the giant moving among them.

The army soon reached the entrance to Darkniss, with Ye Chong and Sha Ya leading the students.

e Chong did not let his students enter Darkniss without taking precautions. He had a student drive a Spider, with Sha Ya onboard. Ye Chong’s orders to Sha Ya were simple – eliminate all creatures within a 10 kilometre radius around the entrance of Darkniss. Ye Chong believed that with Sha Ya’s capabilities and the Spider’s firepower, this should not be too hard to accomplish.

If Sha Ya could drive a Spider, she would be even stronger in battle. Sha Ya might not be able to pilot a mech due to lacking physical fitness, but the Spider would not be too hard for her. It seemed that she would have to be trained for the Spider soon. Right now, every form of resource was precious.

Ye Chong and his students all waited at the entrance to Darkniss.

Three hours later, Sha Ya returned. Ye Chong knew that the work was done. He quickly ordered for everyone to go through the entrance.

It was a strange looking spatial window. Many of the students were intimidated by it, but they dared not go against Ye Chong’s orders. In the end, all the students entered the spatial window.

Ye Chong was the last one to enter Darkniss. Celest’s dimension keystone would affect the spatial window, so he had to keep Celest back into its own dimension and cross through the eerie black circle that was suspended in midair. There was a weird sensation the moment he crossed the boundary between spaces, but Ye Chong did not have time to study it in detail.

Once in Darkniss, Ye Chong found all the students huddled together nervously. The dark and mysterious Darkniss was now before their very eyes.

Even the bold and daring Duan Qian looked a little unsettled. He approached Ye Chong while his eyes wandered and asked, “Teacher, what is this place?”

The students were now officially Ye Chong’s personal security detachment. By right, they should address Ye Chong as “sir”. However, a few of them, like Duan Qian, still called Ye Chong “teacher”. Ye Chong never cared about titles, and so he did not bother to correct them.

“Darkniss,” Ye Chong replied plainly.

“Darkniss?” Duan Qian paled instantly. He gulped heavily and asked, “Teacher, why are we here?”

“That’s right, Sir, it’s too dangerous here, let’s turn back.”

“Sir, only Level 7 or 8 shooters can come here!”

The students all spoke up, tensed. They wanted to leave right away. Darkniss was no tourist attraction. It was the most dangerous place in the world. Any random creature in this place could tear the army apart. None of them imagined that Ye Chong would bring them here to Darkniss.

Ye Chong ignored their outbursts and looked towards Sha Ya.

Sha Ya nodded. “The perimeter is clear.”

Ye Chong nodded slightly, and then turned towards his students.

“Fall in.”

Ye Chong commanded softly without expression. He was not loud, but the coldness in his voice went straight to the hearts of his students.

The rowdy crowd went silent immediately.

The students squirmed under Ye Chong’s gaze. They realized immediately that their master was angry! In the next moment, all of them scurried towards their positions.

Their training was still worth something. In just a few moments, five groups in formation presented themselves before Ye Chong.

It was silent once again.

All the students were nervous. If it was Instructor Liao who got offended, the consequences would be unthinkable. However, even the short tempered Instructor Liao was always respectful towards Ye Chong. To the students, Ye Chong was even more intimidating than Instructor Liao. All the students kept their mouth shut.

“You are all members of my security detachment. You are in no position to disobey my orders. You have two choices – to obey or disobey me. I will kill anyone who disobeys me.” Ye Chong’s announcement was delivered quietly and flatly. Even so, he made his point very clearly.

All the students were shaken by his words. They regretted for all the complaints they were making earlier.

Indeed, their master was even scarier than Instructor Liao!

Sha Ya stood expressionless beside Ye Chong. However, she was also unsettled by Ye Chong. The killing aura from Ye Chong was unlike any she had encountered before. She had her share of vicious and ruthless shooters, but Ye Chong’s aura was markedly different from theirs.

His was calm and unassuming, but solid and undeterred. It was clear that he was a veteran who had been through a lot.

“From today onwards, we will set our base here. From now on, you will live here. I will teach you how to fight, and provide you with new weapons. However, this is Darkniss. Only the strong will survive.”

Ye Chong explained the situation to his students clearly, leaving no illusion.

When he was done, he turned to leave. He knew that the students needed time to digest the information. Ye Chong approached the weaponsmiths, who were also white as a sheet. The weaponsmiths were all trembling with fear, with the exception of Xi Yan. Xi Yan was not unafraid, but he was confident that his teacher did not force all of them here to Darkniss simply to die.

“Gentlemen, we have no time to be scared. We need to start working now, unless you want to camp out here in the wilderness tonight,” Ye Chong said to them, and turned to leave. Xi Yan was the first to react, following Ye Chong from behind. The rest of the weaponsmiths exchanged looks, and slowly came to accept their situation. They still looked scared, but they all got up and followed Ye Chong.

Ye Chong had originally planned to have about eight weaponsmiths to help him, but now there were 30 of them, including him. Even though the 20 young weaponsmiths were only of average abilities, they were still precious manpower for Ye Chong.

The more energetic and resolved students, like Duan Qian, realized what they must do very quickly. They started to unpack the load from the 40 Spiders. Ye Chong had already prepared many tools for them. The machines were too complicated for Duan Qian and the other students to understand, but the weaponsmiths learned how to use them quickly. They would use the tools to build simple laser cutting machines.

The weaponsmiths were surprised by the fancy new tools. This helped to soothe their fear and boost morale. They immersed themselves in their work soon enough.

As for the design of their base, Ye Chong had already drawn up the plans in his manor.

The simple laser cutting machines could be fitted onto the training vehicles and used to cut huge rocks into blocks of five metres by two metres. Once they got familiar with the machines, each block would take only 15 seconds. The simple laser cutting machines were easy to maneuver. Ye Chong taught his students how to use them, and then they got down to business.

They cut out blocks of rock from the cliffs nearby, and used the clamps fitted into their training vehicles to move the blocks back to base.

Here in the darkness of Darkniss, the first signs of large scale human activity emerged.

The armed Spider was given to Sha Ya. Her task was to learn how to maneuver the Spider, and then patrol the perimeter to kill any wild animals that tried to trespass.

Work progressed quickly. In just seven days, they were nearly done. Ye Chong used the binding agent derived from candygrass to glue the blocks of rocks together. Just a tiny amount was enough to keep the rocks firmly in place.

Their base looked like a standard stronghold. It was hexagonal when seen from above. This stronghold constructed with rocks was only for temporary use, but Ye Chong did not neglect in its functionalities. The stronghold could accommodate the entire army, with room for specialized laboratories and mechanical workshops. There were also three physical training grounds and 15 standard mech training grounds. There was an infirmary as well. There were only a few types of medication available, and no advanced equipment, but Ye Chong had still allocated space for the infirmary.

The stronghold was heavily armed. Ye Chong installed many laser weapons for the base. All the weapons of the stronghold were connected to photon circuits, even though it was time consuming to do so. When Ye Chong first started designing the base, he had been vexed by the problem of armaments. The safety of the base was of the highest priority. Without enough firepower, it was impossible to survive in Darkniss.

Accurate aiming could be achieved if he had sufficiently sophisticated photon processors and holographic scanning system. Ye Chong did not have both. Hence, he had to switch tactics. He recalled the battle around Yi Ju, where laser weapons were used. Even the powerful red-tailed beasts were curbed by the laser weapons, provided the weapons were powerful enough and in great numbers.

The laser weapons did not require sophisticated photon processors and holographic scanning systems. Instead, it relied on wide coverage attacks at high energy intensity. The disadvantage to this approach was that it was highly energy consuming. Fortunately, Ye Chong did not have to worry about energy supply.

Energy crystals came cheap in Eastern Cloud. He purchased a sizable amount of energy crystals without spending a fortune. The energy crystals that he brought with him for this operation were enough to last them quite some time. Apart from that, once they established a firm position in Darkniss, they would have enough power to return to Eastern Cloud as an independent force. By then, it did not matter if they wanted to purchase or resort to other means …

Either way, it would not be so difficult! That was Ye Chong’s conclusion. Once his stronghold was armed, the lasers would cover all directions around the base.

Ye Chong finally relaxed a little with the weapons installed. All the students felt relieved as well. After sleeping overnight in their training vehicles for the past week or so, they could now rest within the safety of the stronghold. The structure was much larger than they thought. Such a massive stronghold was nearly the size of a small town. It was something for them to feel proud about, having built the stronghold themselves.

Now, they felt more hopeful for their futures!

No one had ever built such a massive and grand structure in such a short time. They thought that Ye Chong was truly a man of wonders. What other miracles would he bring to their lives?

The students could not wait to find out!

Ye Chong took out everything he kept in Celest’s dimension keystone. All the weaponsmiths stared at the great variety of equipment that Ye Chong conjured out of nowhere. When Ye Chong declared that they could use the equipment, the weaponsmiths, including Xi Yan, cheered with joy.

Everyone was now in the stronghold. Flat floorboards and cosy rooms awaited them. After all the hard work, the students were all smiles at their new home.

Ye Chong was not satisfied with the rock structure of the stronghold, since the rocks did not offer enough protection. Once they could extract metals on a large scale, Ye Chong would fit the rocks with thick metal shields. That would make this a real stronghold. When that happened, even the red-tailed beasts would not threaten Ye Chong.

After a resting for half a day, Ye Chong summoned everyone.

From this moment onwards, the students must learn. They must learn how to fight and improve their capabilities. The weaponsmiths must learn new mechanical concepts.

Ye Chong demonstrated how to use a photon processor. Everyone had their own photon processor. These bio-photon processors were not very powerful, but they were more than enough for the students to learn how to use the machines. Here in the stronghold, all the photon processors were connected, and can be used for communication. Ye Chong had prepared basic course material from a wide variety of subjects and stored them in the photon processors. The students would study in this way. That was how Ye Chong studied when he was in the Five Galaxies.

No one had ever seen such an advanced way of teaching. Only Xi Yan knew about it when Ye Chong gave him memory chips and a learning machine earlier.

It was like living in a dream. Everything was new and intriguing. The students soon forgot about the darkness in Darkniss, and instead bean to think about the warmth and brightness in the stronghold.

Next, Ye Chong announced that the first 100 students who mastered the course material would get their own mechs.

The students were all invigorated by this reward. They already knew what a mech as, and looked forward to being a mech pilot as described in their photon processors. The peaceful stronghold was now filled with determined students who were eager to learn. The weaponsmiths had a better appreciation of what was offered to them. They studied everyday with great diligence. All the knowledge in the photon processors was new to them, and far advanced than anything they had learned. How could they afford to waste such a wonderful opportunity?

Just as everyone was absorbed in their learning journey, Ye Chong visited the nearby Lava River unnoticed. The stronghold was positioned strategically. It was near the entrance to Darkniss on one side, and separated from the rest of Darkniss by the Lava River, a natural form of defense. It would take an extraordinarily powerful creature like the snowshade leopard to cross the Lava River, which stretched a few dozen meters across.

Bright red lava flowed sluggishly in the Lava River. When the lava encountered a drop in the riverbed, it would crash down and splash like magnificent fireworks. Simply standing by the River, feeling the heat waves coming from it, made breathing difficult for Ye Chong.

Ye Chong watched the lava slowly flowing pass him, where bright red wavy stripes would frequently emerge. Lava was formed when rocks melted. Metals would often be melted in the process as well. These metals in liquid form were responsible for the bright red stripes.

Ye Chong planned to extract these liquid metals. If he could figure out a way to extract them, they would be metals of high purity. Extracting the metals in this way would also save time, effort and energy.

However, the problem of extraction remained to be solved.

After observing for a while more, Ye Chong returned to the stronghold.

He went to his lab and began to work. This went on for three days. When he finally emerged from the lab, he called for Xi Yan and a few of the younger weaponsmiths.

The group went to the Lava River in a Spider. Xi Yan and his colleagues had no idea what Ye Chong was thinking of.

Ye Chong unloaded all the things in the Spider and directed his men to work. After two hours, they constructed a small building by the River. The building housed a photon processor and holographic scanning system, with complicated piping works and a confusing control console.

They then used an excavator to dig three trenches about a hundred metres from the building. Each trench was a hundred meters long and 15 metres deep. A thick pipeline ran along the building, connecting to three metre-wide ditches at the farther end. These three ditches continued downhill at a 30-degree slope, until they were connected with the three trenches, respectively.

“What is this?” Xi Yan looked at the strange building by the Lava River, and could not figure it out. The heat from the Lava River made him uncomfortable.

“It’s a liquid metal auto-extractor.” Ye Chong pushed the activation button.

The pipes that reached above the Lava River lowered themselves into the River. Then, bright red liquid was pumped out through the thick pipeline, flowing down along the first ditch until it reached one of the trenches. Through the holographic scanning system, they could track exactly where the liquid metal was.

Suddenly, a mechanical claw suspended above the River lowered itself into the lava and emerged again with a black colored object the size of a human head.

Ye Chong saw Xi Yan’s confusion, and explained, “That’s solid metal. It’s melting point is too high for the lava to melt it. This kind of metal is even more valuable.” Xi Yan and the other weaponsmiths began to understand what they were seeing. Ye Chong added, “The mechanical claw and the pipeline are all made of metals with high melting points.”

Xi Yan and his team were all interested in the auto-extractor. They went inside the building and studied the machinery inside, marvelling at the details of the structure. Ye Chong saw how absorbed they were, and had to return to the stronghold himself. He left the Spider behind for them to return with. Ye Chong found that Spider to be an excellent means of transport within Darkniss. They were easy to use, and did not move too quickly, perfect for beginners.

The liquid metal auto-extractor was linked to the main photon processor back at the stronghold. Once a trench was filled up, it would redirect the liquid metal to the next trench. When the liquid metal in the first trench had cooled down, Ye Chong would send people here to retrieve the solidified metal block.

The solid metal block was still a mixture of different metals, and had to be further processed. However, this was much easier than mining for metal ores directly.

On the third day, the first trench was filled up. Ye Chong had to send 50 training vehicles to move the huge solid metal block back to the stronghold.

The metal block was stored in the warehouse. Ye Chong had not built his metal isolator machine yet, but he ordered the students to cut the metal block into many smaller pieces.

Time was precious. All the weaponsmiths were assigned to help Ye Chong build this huge machine.

One of the many devices Ye Chong obtained from the base on Spectre was a metal isolator, but it was only suitable for laboratory experiments, not for large scale processing. Ye Chong had to build a larger metal isolator based on the smaller version, or his goal to extract metals on a large scale would never be realized.

Ye Chong was beginning to appreciate how hard it was to start from scratch!

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ava River was like an endless source of treasure, full of natural resources. However the liquid metal obtained from it cannot be used directly, since it was a mixture of different metal elements that must isolated out from the mixture. The metal isolator machine would do the trick, but even though there were now three huge blocks worth of metal in the warehouse, Ye Chong was still not done with the machine.

The larger version of the metal isolator was more difficult to build than Ye Chong anticipated. He spent nearly half a month just to build the machine.

The completed machine was about 20 metres tall. Just standing before this huge machine made people realize just how small humans were.

The small metal pieces cut from the large metal block were transported to the isolator machine via a conveyor belt, and would leave the machine in purified forms of different metal elements. These pure metal elements would be delivered to different zones. Each element had its own unique zone and processing procedures. The huge metal isolator worked efficiently, completing the elemental isolation processing work in just half a day.

The weaponsmiths could hardly believe what they had achieved. They never imagined that they would be able to build such a wonderful machine in their lives. While Ye Chong was the one who did the heavy lifting, they were still grateful for having being part of the construction.

By now, they were all convinced of Ye Chong’s abilities. Such a complicated piece of machinery was unheard of. They did not even think it was possible. Additionally, they never imagined that the gravstones could be used in this way, producing pieces of beautiful and pure metals. The pure metals looked otherworldly. They now realized how underused the gravstones were in their hands.

Having seen first-hand what they could achieve, the weaponsmiths studied the materials in their photon processors with even more fervor. As long they studied hard, they would be able to master this mysterious field of knowledge.

Ye Chong was basically working as the engineer of the army. With heaps of pure metals lying around, he must use them to build something in order to unleash their full potential.

Even in the He Yue Galaxy, such a huge metal isolator machine was challenging to construct. However, Ye Chong had forcefully brought the machine into existence. He was the biggest benefactor of this endeavor. With this experience, it should be easier the next time he wanted to build other large machines.

Now, he must prepare a smelting furnace. Only with the furnace could he be able to produce metal alloys. Alloys were much tougher than pure metals, and could exhibit physical properties not found in normal metals. Ye Chon had many types of alloys in mind to produce. He would be able to produce alloys on a large scale with the smelting furnace.

The advanced equipment at Ye Chong’s disposal had been very helpful. The laboratory grade advanced smelting furnace allowed him to produce high quality metal alloys. These alloys were abundant, but they were sufficient enough to build mechanical parts for large machinery.

The most important thing now was for the stronghold to be able to produce its own machinery. Ye Chong had to put his personal training sessions on hold to study more about machinery. Fortunately, with his strong foundational knowledge and years of wide experience, he would usually be able to find his way through complicated issues after tinkering with them for some time. Even when he found himself stuck, there were still the three chips left behind by Kui for him. The three chips contained details of all the research work done by the Research Consortium since its formation. Some of the technical skills described inside were not very advanced, but what they lacked in depth was made up with breadth. Ye Chong thought of the chips as his very own encyclopaedia.

Suddenly, Ye Chong’s comms device rang. Ye Chong did not have many comms devices for all the students. Only a few of the main personnel had one, such as Sha Ya, Xi Yan and Duan Qian. The other students could only watch them with jealousy.

Ye Chong took the call. It was Sha Ya.

“What is it?” Ye Chong did not mince words.

Sha Ya replied with her characteristic hoarse voice, “We have a situation. I spot two shooters nearby.” Sha Ya was the only person in the army who did not address Ye Chong as “sir” or “teacher”.

“Where?” Ye Chong asked calmly, but he had already set aside his tools and stood up.

He hurried towards Celest, which he stored nearby, and climbed into its pilot cabin. He walked quickly but calmly. He had always left Celest close by in case of emergencies, so that he could leave as soon as required.

“In Grid D9-F4.” Sha Ya was familiar with the geopositioning system on the photon processor by now, and responded quickly. She added, “They’re 20 kilometres away from me, and they have not spotted me yet. I’m sending over my exact location.”

“Keep an eye on them and maintain your distance. I’m coming over,” Ye Chong replied succinctly. Celest lifted off just as he finished.

The advantages offered by the holographic scanning system were apparent in situations like this. Even a simplified version of the holographic scanning system was more powerful than parapsychic sense. This advantage gave them the upper hand to initiate contact, and was especially important in the event of a war.

Celest was fast. Here in Darkniss, Ye Chong piloted the mech without reserve.

Ye Chong had long anticipated this day. There were not many Level 7 or 8 shooters, but most of them would definitely visit Darkniss to challenge themselves. However, these two shooters were in D9-F4, which was not near the entrance of Darkniss. Were they already here before his army?

Ye Chong was not worried about Level 8 shooters, but a Level 9 shooter like Mei Wu would be cause for concern. He still did not know exactly how strong Mei Wu was. It was rare for Ye Chong to not be able to gauge his opponents. That was why Ye Chong did not seek Mei Wu when he arrived in Darkniss.

Ye Chong soon located Sha Ya’s Spider. Sha Ya’s daily routine was to patrol the perimeter of their stronghold. Her job was to kill any approaching wild animals and to look out for trouble.

Sha Ya noticed Celest in the air. She could not figure out how the massive thing could fly so high up in the air.

Up in the air, Celest looked as powerful and indifferent as a God.

Celest’s holographic scanning system was far more powerful than the Spider’s. Ye Chong’s holographic feed showed a much clearer image than the one Sha Ya received. Ye Chong transmitted the clearer feed to the Spider below.

On the holographic screen were two shooters, advancing cautiously. They had their laser guns out, and had backpacks. Ye Chong noticed that their outfit was different from the shooters he had seen before.

“They are shooters from Western Frost,” Sha Ya reported confidently. Western Frost and Eastern Cloud were enemy countries, but the animosity did not extend to its resident shooters. Level 8 shooters like Sha Ya were not interested in contributing towards their countries. They were more interested in improving their own capabilities, and did not care for materialistic gains. Aside that, high level shooters never had to worry about money. Their visits to Darkniss would always yield enough returns for them to buy high quality weapons from the weaponsmiths and enough to spare for a decent living.

Hence, nationality did not matter much for high level shooters. Sha Ya knew high level shooters from other countries personally, and had a close relationship with many of them.

“How strong are they?” Ye Chong asked.

Sha Ya pondered for a moment. “About Level 7 or 8.” Shooters were always keenly aware of their kind.

“Capture them.” Ye Chong considered, and then gave the order. If the two shooters were captured, it would be easier for him.

“Alright.”

Celest and the Spider moved out together. High up in the air, Celest shot towards the two shooters. On the ground, the Spider moved its eight legs quickly, unhindered by the uneven terrain.

However, Celest was much faster than the Spider. When Celest was about five kilometres away from the shooters, they finally noticed the bio-mech. By then, it was already too late.

Five kilometres was a very short distance for Celest. It was just a short sprint away.

The massive figure in the air came as a shock to the two shooters. Celest was so fast that they could barely react. One of them managed to pull the trigger.

A laser beam shot straight at the massive figure.

The two shooters felt relieved, but quickly realized in disbelief that something was wrong.

How was this possible?

The laser beam that could have shot through all kinds of wild animals left only a charred mark on the giant’s armor.

Before they could fire the second shot, a huge spear, wider than a pail in diameter, was directed at them. The giant held the weapon in one hand and pointed the cold gleaming tip at the two shooters.

The two shooters froze, looking very pale. They dared not move, for fear of being crushed into mush by the massive weapon.

The giant behaved oddly. It simply held onto the weapon and pointed it at them, but did nothing else. Just when the two shooters were still trying to figure it out, they saw a huge spider, about seven metres tall, running towards them. It was almost twice as fast as a biped tyrasaur.

Heavens! What were these things?

The shooters nearly blacked out from shock and fear. Here was a 10-metre giant and a 7-metre spider right in front of them. Had they arrived in a world of giants?

Both shooters remained absolutely rigid. Even their fingers were frozen in motion.

The shooters stared in horror as the huge spider made its way towards them eagerly.

When Ye Chong and Sha Ya brought the two unconscious shooters back to the stronghold, people barely noticed them. The students were all focused in their studies. They had all the course material with them, and knew exactly what they had to do. However, there was simply too much knowledge to absorb, so the students had to work as hard as they could manage. They did not need further reminder from Ye Chong to study hard. The students understood their situation. No one dared to take shortcuts. As Ye Chong had told them, only the strong will survive.

Besides, the first 100 students who mastered their course material will get their mechs in advance. This was enough motivation for the students. They had seen the huge metal blocks extracted from the Lava River recently. These strange materials looked enticing. They could not wait to try their hands on actual mechs.

Ye Chong and Sha Ya were now getting ready to interrogate the two shooters. Ye Chong had confiscated their weapons. Personal firearms like those laser guns could not harm Celest. Only firearms from fighter aircrafts could pose a threat to Celest.

Shooters without their weapons could not threaten Ye Chong.

Sha Ya looked at the two unconscious shooters, and asked with a grimace, “Should we wait until they wake up?”

“No need.” Ye Chong picked up a pail of cold water and splashed them mercilessly.

Sha Ya shuddered inside, feeling sympathetic towards the shooters. With their abilities, they would have been treated with respect no matter where they went. Even if they captured, they would never be treated so harshly. Only Ye Chong would treat high level shooters just like anyone else.

The two shooters woke up slowly, shuddering from the cold.

It was a harsh treatment, especially for shooters. They were very sensitive to their surroundings. Even the cold would be magnified in their senses. The two shooters, now awake, looked very pale. Their lips had turned blue-black as they shivered from the cold.

Sha Ya looked at them sympathetically and asked, “What are your names?”

“Albinia.” “Lotesh.” The two shooters answered with trembling voices. They were shocked and terrified, and not fully themselves yet. What they saw today was simply too strange to be true, it felt more like a nightmare.

Both shooters laid themselves bare to Sha Ya’s questioning.

As suspected, they were from Western Frost. They had just reached Level 8, and wanted to try out their skills in Darkniss. However, they came across a terrible accident.

Then, they recalled the giant, and the huge spider …

The shooters exchanged a look of disbelief. Could it be …

“You two … The huge spider … The giant …” Albinia faltered.

Sha Ya noticed Albinia’s wrist then. She looked into his eyes and asked, “Who is your teacher?”

>>>Dear readers,

Legend of the Super Soldier has been included in the premium program. This means that chapters will only be accessible through Spirit Stones. A mass release of at least 10 chapters will be done the day Premium is implemented. Please continue to support us! Thank you!