Chapter 211: Puppet

An odd twist! Dodged the beams, the clown mech easily span out of the way.

Eerie it was, as the 5 men rubbed their eyes in skepticism. How could that be possible?

How in the world did the mech curve away from the beams? They were all firing at once, trapping the clown in the area. It was not even the case of aiming once at a time. The clown mech should have failed to make an escape, yet the clown just twisted out of the area – a stark truth scorching their eyes, shattering their sense of reality.

This is against the law!

Tai Zuo was in dismay. He thought he had great eyes to help him comprehend the situation but his eyes merely captured the deceitful moment when the clown mech made a misleading gesture before the twist, it happened so fast he could not see clearly. He just understood the fact that the clown mech turned out to be a success, and such level of skill was giving the teacher of pilots cold sweat.

And the next movement of the clown mech was spine-freezing!

The clown mech used to ridicule them because of its amusing finish. Then this twist happened, the 5 men no longer felt amused. The clown mech made the second twist. A shake and the 5 men rotated along, repositioning themselves to keep the clown mech surrounded.

A rapid spin from the clown mech, as it effortlessly escaped from their grip. Leaped the clown mech, it pounced upon one mech at the edge. “Holy!” Tai Zuo’s stare intensified. That twisted turn was superb! A standard Thomas’ Spin, just as illustrated in my textbook! Be it the moves, the timing, the pilot had performed it perfectly!

Tai Zuo was not even confident enough to claim that he was able to do the same.

The movement went so habitually in his eyes, yet the perfection was the horror in the eyes of the 5 men.

Unpredictable, petrifying, the movement tinted the atmosphere with terror, as the clown mech glided like a phantom. The colorful clown mech looked like vengeful spirit by then, grooving its strange anatomy in their circle.

The Puppet traveled fast like a fired arrow towards the mech. Ye Chong knew the importance of motion to a mech, so even if the Puppet was a random toy he made, he provided it with the best engine.

It was boring. Ye Chong’s face was straight. Battles like this no longer piqued his excitement. These were utter noobs compared to the Black Coves and the Sanctuary, even though he retained his caution, since it was not his habit to be reckless even if the foes were clearly inferior to his strength. Unlike the battle with the Black Coves, he was cautious but he was not disturbed.

The dodging style he adopted was a combination of Non-orderly Wavy Leap and Condensed Multiple Turnings. The Puppet might not be as frail as it appeared, still Ye Chong did not want to be shot as those mechs were fearsomely ranged attacking models.

The 5 pirates had their faces drained as they attempted to lock on the target. They realized they never managed to place their crosshairs right. The clown mech was behaving too confusingly. They fired a few times and they missed. It was depressing. No way, my aiming should not be this bad, what happened to me today? What is this bad luck haunting me? How could I not even land a single shot?

Tai Zuo was more alarmed than the pirates. He was the professor for pilot studies, no one understood better the proficiency within that set of movements the clown mech performed, other than himself.

Terrible! This is too terrifying! Even he was terrified by the clown mech. He finally came to the understanding of the reason that from an entire gigantic Zika craft, only one mech was sent.

The answer is obvious. One mech was more than enough.

Well, the professor would never have imagined that there only Ye Chong himself on the Coxcomb, that was why only one mech was sent.

It was not the end of the show yet.

Ye Chong remained as calm as ever, despite getting closer to his foe.

Right before contact, Ye Chong’s hands moved fast and bright. He did not feel anything particular with his speed since it had been quite sometime since he broke the cap of his hand movement speed.

The spears within the arms of the Puppet sprang into action upon contact. Sparked, the spears smooched the the machinery. A slide to the side, the clown mech swung like a breeze away from the mech.

Like who exactly is this person? Tai Zuo was dumbfounded and forgot the fact that he was also involved in the battlefield. The pirates were also shocked. The ever-moving flock of mechs eventually paused awkwardly.

Ye Chong disregarded the awkwardness and moved on. Once you are in the battlefield, you are supposed to stay 100% focus, no matter how weak the foes might have appeared. That was the rule to his fight.

Boom! An explosion occurred, as the mech which came in contact became a fireball. The glaring light illuminated the space, highlighting the horrified expression of the men.

One more twist, the clown danced with its spears. The petite clown mech had taken the role of an assassin in darkness, where the patches of the greens reflected his amusement.

There was no plot twist to save those 4 mechs, as even the ability of running away had turned into a unreachable luxury. Tai Zuo saw 2 mechs, trying to run away, being skewed by the clown’s spears. The spears oozed out of the murdered machineries. There was no glow on the cruel spears, even though they were made out of black gold alloys, the same one used for electromagnetic tubes production. Ye Chong was not happy with the eye-catching glow, so he exfoliated the surface.

No flashy move, only the most painful, brutal ones from the clown mech. The kind that would murder men in one blow, cutting away all the unnecessary struggles.

Cold sweat dripped off his face, as Tai Zuo heard the wavering whispers from Han Ben, “Zuo… this guy, he’s spooky…” Even an iron man like Han Ben was frightened like a scalded cat.

It was a relief however, since the person had proven his or her expertise in handling this alone. Tai Zuo and his team could have their life guaranteed. Although he had not the slightest idea of the identity of the man leading this capable pilot on his throne at the Captain’s room, at least it was better than getting engulfed by the pirates. He would rather end up with a potential savior than a pack of wild wolves.

The clown mech was quick as he finished off the remaining members in a matter of seconds. It went so smoothly and naturally that it almost felt like the pilot’s routine. The pirates were utterly terrified by the clown mech’s brutality. Their faces were screaming before they exploded and ended up as the one being dismantled instead.

The parrying spears waving in the hands were as if invisible, like the scythe of the deadly reaper. Tai Zuo found the spears unusual however, as the mechs were immediately dismembered upon contact, despite their sturdy appearance. Why?

Basically it was the result of Ye Chong’s in-depth understanding of anatomy of mechs combining with his accurate cleaving.

The clown mechs who had finished the remaining mechs, without hesitation, jumped at the deadlocked group. The turn still went like a twist, with indecipherable orbit. The clown mech behaved like a killing machine, frightening everyone in sight.

The 10 mechs ran away like animals on a forest fire however. A plot twist to Ye Chong it was. It was as if, they were being chased a demon clawing from hell.

The scene, where the clown stared coldly at the running pirates, felt like a disdainful look upon the insect on the ground in Tai Zuo’s eyes.

The pirates dismissed themselves after seeing their partners being ruthlessly murdered by a clean killer. The clown mech stared on and did not intend to chase them after. Well Tai Zuo was not the kind of demanding person who would request the clown mech to hunt them down.

Very quickly after the clown mech approached the team and it came so naturally that it lifted its arm, signifying a welcoming attitude to board on the ship. They accepted the offer with pleasure of course, not like they had other choice. And that was when everyone stumbled upon the number of staff in the Zika graded ship the moment they got out of the cabins – there was one, and only one, being the owner of the corvette. His actual appearance was seen when he hopped out of the deadly clown, it was one man who expressed cold unfeelingness.

And who that man exactly was? For he owned a humongous spaceship all himself. No folk could have done that. Tai Zuo’s ponder was swirling in his head.

“Follow me,” the man spoke coldly as he began walking, without even taking a look at them. Well, as he had said, the team only could follow the lead hurriedly. Tai Zuo, being acutely observant, immediately noticed the fact that the man was indeed different from folks. His steps were of the same exact width, as if he had measured the distance he should walk. The top body was firm, there was no swing of his shoulders. Tai Zuo had a friend who also happened to be a practitioner, and surprisingly his friend walked the way this man lifted his steps. Don’t tell me… he is also a practitioner…

“Oh my! Are you seeing what I’m seeing?!” As they passed one room, Phal shrieked upon discerning something really familiar to his eyes in the room, “Magnetron separator! See that?!” Phal looked exhilarated, as if he had landed on treasure island. He stormed into the room and hugged on that strange machine Tai Zuo had never seen before. A gentle touch on the surface, a tap on the handle, like a child of exploding curiosity, Phal was stuck. “Oh Phal…” Tai Zuo was having a headache. There’s always time and place for this but not now! We are at somebody else’s place! If the owner of the place doesn’t like us, we are going to be skewed! Thought Tai Zuo. But well, Phal was the kind of researcher who behaved on pure innocence and curiosity, he only lacked the exposure to mannerism of the society. He glanced at Ye Chong, who seemed to be not reacting to his mate’s misbehavior. What a relief… he thought.

Tai Zuo was not very much into the natural science but given that he had been spending at the academy for long enough, he could tell the room being a research laboratory. In addition, from that shocking reaction of Phal, this should be a very advanced laboratory. Phal the old guy was not that pleasing to the eyes but his standard was recognized by the institute, for he was the authority in the field of metallurgy and mineralogy.

And the mystery of this owner grew in the mind of Tai Zuo. The fact that the man owned a giant spaceship showed that he should be from a rather strong family background, with feasible wealth. The truth that he won in a 1 on 5 fight against the pirates demonstrated his excellence in piloting. He swore that he would never find an expert like the man even from his own institute, the Mid-Alliance University, the known “cradle” for most pilots. And then there was the point that the person seemed to be a practitioner… “Well, maybe…” That was a wild guess from him. Moreover, he should be well-established in metallurgy and mineralogy. The lab gave him away. Lastly… he was calm throughout the event, even when Phal was acting like a fool in his lab filled with expensive devices. That just depicted his good-natured personality. He could control his temper like the back of his hands… Everything was terrifying for his age.

Provided that these characteristic were seen on an elderly, Tai Zuo would respond with respect. But no, it was on a young man, at most at his twenties. Now that is incomprehensible, he thought. Is there really, really… a genius this fearsome?

Ye Chong was not angered particularly. The elderly who ran into his lab abruptly could look a little shabby on his appearance but he seemed to be the same passionate kind towards his own research. If that was the case, Ye Chong would not dislike such person. Instead, he would portray admiration. He reminded him of the days he spent at Aurora, with the elderlies behaving the way this old man was in his lab.

Ye Chong held his steps and waited for Phal patiently.

Phal seemed to have lost himself over the marvelous technologies sitting in the lab, as he span and danced around the separator.

Tai Zuo signaled Han Ben and Han Ben got it right away. He went to Phal. “Excuse me!” Boomed Han Ben, alerted Phal.

Everyone was watching Phal, whose face reddened out of embarrassment. He then waddled back to his mates. Ye Chong started walking again after seeing the old man joined back to his teammates. They walked on. And Phal… constantly turning back to take one last glance at that separator, as if parting with his beloved.

Meng Fei’er, the second teammate of Tai Zuo, staggered when she passed the alchemy lab. The same emotional reaction as Phal, she was stupefied, excited but she was more well-behaved than Phal, even though she almost drooled on the sight. That thermostatic plasma room, that self-controlled cultivation machine, there was also a duo enzymic mixer?! She wondered if she was visiting the central alchemy research institute by mistake. Seriously, other than the institute, she could not imagine any other place having these precious.

She controlled her behavior. She held her excitement, although that flinch she made had already gotten Tai Zuo’s attention. Tai Zuo slowed his steps and joined Meng Fei’er at the end of the walking team. Her sight rose over Ye Chong at the front, her head lowered, whispered, “He could be a chemist.” Tai Zuo was the leader of the entire team. He was very experienced so everyone would give their feedback directly with dignity.

Tai Zuo’s heart skipped a beat. A skinny young man owning all these while holding possibly a long list of profession on his resume… the mystery deepened, where the darkness looked back into Tai Zuo’s eyes.

Chapter 212: Teardrop Mineralite

Ye Chong brought them to the bridge.

Ye Chong spoke plainly, “Everyone, you’re safe now.”

The people exhaled in relief, as tension finally drained out of them. Qin Zuo bowed to Ye Chong and thanked him profusely, “Thank you for your help, if not for you, we would all have …” Qin Zuo shuddered at the thought, and was very grateful, but revealed nothing more, a testimony of his discretion.

In fact, Ye Chong had wanted to use violence – it was the simplest and most direct way to end things in the way he saw it. Even if it would sometimes worsen the situation, it was still mostly a reliable method. However, his considerable amount of time spent with Shang made Ye Chong understand that violence was not the only answer, and that there were far more craftier solutions.

Of course, even if he understood this, practicing it was an entirely different matter. Till today, Ye Chong still preferred direct means to achieve his goals.

“Alright, I’ll not mince words here, I offered help only because I’m interested in your research. I think you must all be open to sharing your findings with me.” Ye Chong still spoke casually, as if he was only commenting on the weather.

Indeed, Shang was slowly changing Ye Chong. In a certain corner, a devil was flicking away its forked tail, howling in excitement, while Mu provided commentary on the side, “Vocal tone has exacerbated the situation, effectiveness has dropped by 0.37 percent.”

The difference between Mu and Shang was that Mu would focus on the precision and angle of a weapon in hand, while Shang preferred the cunningness of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Ye Chong’s words were as chilling as an autumn breeze, and everyone instantly fell silent. They never expected to escape from certain danger, only to be greeted with another. It was their first time hearing a threat delivered so plainly.

Besides, how did the other party get his information? They had kept their movements inconspicuous, certain that no one had found them out. The fact was shocking. Phal’s face was red with anger, his eyes spitting fire. Qin Zuo groaned inside. Now that the other party had so clearly stated his intention, he must know all about them. Could this mysterious person be targeting them from the start?

However, Qin Zuo did not have the luxury to consider any further. Since the other party had been so frank, he must be prepared for them.

Besides, the young man was very calm when he dealt with those five mechs earlier. Qin Zuo believed that the young man was not a stranger to murder. They must surely look like five little lambs ready for slaughter to him.

Qin Zuo considered all these quickly, and understood the situation they were in. He sighed. Under the circumstances, their lives were more important than anything else.

Zuo Qin looked to Meng Fei’er, who was watching him, and shook his head in defeat.

Meng Fei’er tightened her lips and looked towards Ye Chong with angry and unwilling eyes, but her right arm moved to remove her backpack, and she emptied her bag onto the floor. Pa’er gritted his teeth in anger, but Vicente seemed to be unaffected.

Ye Chong ignored their fury with ease. He bent over and inspected the rocks and tools emptied by Meng Fei’er from her backpack on the floor.

Ye Chong sorted through the things on the floor quickly, grouping them by category. His actions surprised Qin Zuo and his team – could this young man recognize all those things?

They exchanged glances, and Qin Zuo signalled to Meng Fei’er.

Meng Fei’er hesitated for a moment before speaking up, “Do you know these things?” Meng Fei’er spoke with a sweet, clear voice. Meng Fei’er was the team’s medic, and a teacher from the Unity Academy. Her specialty was alchemy, but she also studied botany on the side. Meng Fei’er was about 25, at an age where a woman was in her prime. Her natural charisma and her feminine and sympathetic nature made her well liked in the academy by students and teachers alike. When dealing with strangers, Meng Fei’er was good at winning their hearts.

Qin Zuo knew this, for many people would unconsciously be less defensive against women. While he could not hope for the young man to release them all, he would still try his best to lower the other party’s guard by any means. The more unguarded the other party was, the more likely they were to escape.

Nonetheless, Ye Chong was not listening to Meng Fei’er. He was having a lively discussion with Mu.

“This is carmine, a rare mineral, able to amplify energy, commonly used in large energy based weapons as firing parts.

“This is a nimbus rock. It looks attractive, though not quite useful for our purposes, but it’s excellent material for construction.

“This green one is an emerald crystallite, mainly used for jewellery and decorations. It’s a kind of gemstone, rarely found in the Five Galaxies. I’ve never seen any reports of this. Cutting this kind of gemstone requires high craftsmanship.”

Ye Chong organized the rocks on the floor based on Mu’s comments into two heaps, one useful for him, and the other irrelevant. In the end, he arrived at a rubbery piece that looked much like a water droplet. If not for his sharp eyes, Ye Chong would probably have missed it.

The object emanated warmth in his hands! Ye Chong was deeply surprised.

Ye Chong asked, “Mu, what’s this?”

Mu was quiet for awhile before replying, “It’s a teardrop mineralite, formally known as high energy compound colloid.”

From Mu’s voice, Ye Chong could sense the unusualness of this teardrop-sized mineral. “Is this useful?”

Mu reverted to his usual composure. “It is. It is a material with the highest known energy density, and scarcer than even the Do Kun stone. Energy cells made of this material could store a lot more energy than usual. Besides, it has its own energy. Upon depletion, the material will become a good energy storage medium. Starships fitted with these energy cells of this can undertake very long voyages. Equipping a mech with this kind of energy cell can increase its combat strength by at least five times. Unfortunately, a small part of my database is damaged, and there is a gap in my knowledge on building energy cells from teardrop mineralite. If you’re interested, you can try to complete this knowledge. Of course, we still lack some other materials required to build this energy cell, but as an important high grade mineral, this material is still worth keeping. We must also try to find our best to find more teardrop mineralite.

“In any case, it’s better if this material is safely in our hands.” Mu declared his conclusion with dominating prowess.

“Is that necessary?” Ye Chong asked, curious. He had never seen Mu placing as much importance on anything as this teardrop mineralite, even more than he did on Do Kun stone. The way Ye Chong saw it, it was an impossible feat. He might believe it possible for one of the Three Forces, but how could he alone own all the teardrop mineralite in the world?

“It’s very necessary.” Mu paused for a moment before continuing, “My database still has some information on the usage of teardrop mineralite energy cells. Based on this information, I conclude that mechs or warships fitted with this teardrop mineralite energy cell are terrifyingly powerful. Be it Black Cove, the Sanctuary or the MPA, obtaining the teardrop mineralite would allow them to expand their powers rapidly. The balance between the Three Forces will be disrupted, and that would be not favorable for you.”

“But this is obviously an operation beyond our means. We don’t have enough manpower, and we lack the experience in mining for minerals.” Ye Chong could not understand why Mu would propose such an impossible mission.

Mu explained, “Unlike other minerals, teardrop mineralite is an aggregating mineral. Usually, it is found localized in a small area. If we locate where this team found this teardrop mineralite, the probability of finding more of it in the area is very high. Based on available information, planets mined for feardrop mineralite are all exhausted today, so these people must have found it on an untouched planet. With so many rare minerals, it’s undeniable that this planet must have escaped the attention of Black Cove and the Three Forces till today, or the planet would have been seized. We must mine all the teardrop mineralite before any of them realize this. Teardrop mineralite is a resource like no other for war.” Mu emphasized again at the end.

Ye Chong quickly grasped his logic, and agreed that no matter which of the Three Forces came out the winner, it would not help his situation. While Ye Chong believed that he would settle himself on some planet after investigating the Prometheus Group, and that the chances of meeting the Three Forces again was low, but what if it happened anyway? This was a probabilistic event, and not entirely impossible. Instead of allowing this threat to exist, better to nip it in the bud.

Ye Chong quickly agreed with Mu’s suggestion.

Meng Fei’er was surprised to find the young man ignoring her, fully occupied in organizing the things on the floor. All the minerals were grouped into different heaps, and now he was starting to sort the plants that she had gathered. Meng Fei’er grew more and more intrigued by the young man. She had collected all those plants herself. As a botanist, it was imperative to study these previously unknown organisms. The young man before her, however, seemed to be familiar with these plants that were not recorded in any available illustrations of plants, and was now quickly sorting them based on their type.

Meng Fei’er now recalled that this young man seemed to be an alchemist, and as an alchemist, it was not uncommon for them to also be botanists.

Once he was done, Ye Chong finally straightened himself. From the beginning, Ye Chong had kept himself vigilant. It was already instinct for him to always prepare himself for any eventualities. Fortunately, the other party did not do anything unusual.

He was not aware of how much these people feared him, especially Qin Zuo. Qin Zuo was the most insightful of the team, and that was why he dreaded Ye Chong even more than the others.

Ye Chong gathered all the materials that were useless to him and pushed them towards Meng Fei’er as he said plainly, “These are not useful to me, you can take them back.” Ye Chong did not seem embarrassed at all, as though everything was his in the first place.

The team largely ignored his demeanor, and Pa’er finally could not resist asking him loudly with bulging eyes, “Young man, do you know these minerals?” Seeing Pa’er making his move, everyone else kept silent and looked towards Ye Chong.

Ye Chong was calm as ever as he replied, “I do.”

The team stared in disbelief. Pa’er picked up one of the minerals from the heap he returned to them, a light grey rock, and asked urgently, “What is this?”

“That’s a nimbus rock, good for construction. It’s a strong material, suitable to be mixed in with a wide range of binding materials. It has particularly good performance in structure and strength.”

Pa’er immediately opened his auto-recording system. Ye Chong’s confidence as he spoke had already mostly convinced Pa’er. As an eminent mineralogist, he could tell that Ye Chong was probably right, even though Pa’er had only seen this material for the first time.

Pa’er now acted like an enthusiastic student, listening intently, only that his teacher was a young man at least a decade younger than him.

Pa’er picked up another mineral and asked eagerly, “What about this?”

Ye Chong did not answer this time, but looked at the team and said calmly, “I think I’ll be able to tell you all more about these minerals, but I believe you should all share your information with me too.” Qin Zuo felt growing doubt on his earlier conclusion. He had thought that the young man was a genius in the natural sciences and mech maneuvering, but now he looked more like a young heir to a large business conglomerate, all hypocritical without shame, but still acting naturally throughout.

In any case, Ye Chong seemed even more powerful to him. He still could not make much of the 20-odd young man, but from what little he could gleam. Qin Zuo knew that his team was disproportionately at a disadvantage.

Even so, a certain devil with his flickering tail grew even more delighted with Ye Chong, while Mu still maintained his calm observer stance.

Ye Chong finally got to know who these five people were.

Chapter 213: Alliance

The team of five were all teachers from Unity Academy. Qin Zuo and Han Ben were from the mech faculty, responsible for their safety. The quiet Vicente was a geography lecturer, Phal was a lecturer in mineralogy and metals, while Meng Fei’er was a lecturer in alchemy.

Unity Academy was a reputable tertiary education institution in the Five Galaxies, and most people revered its high standing. Unity Academy’s teachers were also widely respected.

The young man before them, however, seemed unmoved. This calm composure seen in an adolescent only alerted Qin Zuo even more.

The young man’s calm gaze seemed to penetrate their hearts, as though no lies could ever escape him.

Everyone was wondering if this calm youngster was actually the same person as that shameless young man earlier.

In truth, they had misjudged Ye Chong. Ye Chong was only imitating Shang’s way of speaking. In Ye Chong’s mind, there was no such thing as honour or shame. The way he saw it, he was the stronger of them both, and it was only natural if he took everything the team had. The laws of the Five Galaxies did not play a role in his actions.

Under Ye Chong’s scrutiny, Meng Fei’er explained everything.

Vicente had a student who was an explorer. In truth, the number of explorers were always increasing. In the age of peace, people needed heroes, and in the age without heroes, these explorers were modeled by the media as heroes. The potential profits in this occupation made it even more attractive. Once anyone found a primary planet never before explored, then by law, he or she was entitled to own a tenth of the planet’s resources. While people nowadays did not lack for basic necessities, the quest for wealth and power never ceased.

When this student brought his findings to Vicente, Vicente was shocked. As a geographer, he found geographical features that he had never seen before in his student’s holographic recording. Hence, he organised this expedition.

Ye Chong was surprised to find that their expedition was actually initiated by the quiet, old man. Phal was a prominent specialist in mineralogy and metals, while Meng Fei’er was not as famous, her track record as a competent botanist who once studied under well known experts and her medical expertise made her a part of the team. Qin Zuo and Han Ben were partners. They worked well together and had much experience in explorations. Thus, they became in charge of protecting and guiding the team in their expedition.

The exploration team was reasonably prepared. Since primary planets usually have wild animals, Qin Zuo and Han Ben could keep them safe.

Everything was arranged in secret. Vicente’s student never contacted him since, but considering that if news leaked out, Vicente’s student would lose everything, everyone kept their silence.

Their meticulous planning resulted in a smooth expedition. The primary planet was much larger than they had ever imagined, and was significantly evolved. For safety reasons, they only did a surface inspection of the planet. Even so, they found minerals that they had never seen before. With the exception of Qin Zuo and Han Ben, everyone gained much from the expedition. They hoped to return to the academy as soon as possible, where they had their own laboratories to process their findings.

Everything went smoothly, and just when they thought things were going perfectly, the space pirates arrived.

And they were saved by Ye Chong.

Meng Fei’er finished her narration and looked silently at Ye Chong. In fact, all five members kept their eyes fixed on Ye Chong. This young man held their lives in his hands. They could disregard wealth and fame, but would never give up their lives so easily.

Ye Chong was quiet, obviously still processing the information he got from Meng Fei’er.

As expected, they had discovered a primary planet, just as Mu predicted. Everything seemed logical, and Ye Chong could find nothing amiss. Besides, Mu reported that Meng Fei’er’s heartbeat was normal when she was speaking. Ye Chong could be assured that Meng Fei’er was not lying.

Perhaps to encourage independence, Mu did not lend much assistance to Ye Chong this time.

Ye Chong had two choices now. He could either investigate the Prometheus Group and Gao Shichang, or solve this problem of the teardrop mineralite. This was a difficult decision, and personally, Ye Chong would prefer to deal with the issue of his Papa first.

Ye Chong asked abruptly to Vicente, “You said your student never contacted you again?”

Vicented was startled, and nodded. “Yes, that’s right. I waited, but he never got in touch.”

“I see.” Ye Chong nodded with a measure of resolution.

Vicente seemed to realize something, and his expression turned worse. “You mean …”

Ye Chong only nodded and said, “It’s only my conjecture.” Ye Chong suspected that Vicente’s student must have been targeted. If that was the case, he must move fast. It would not do to let others be ahead of him. Since Mu was so focused on this teardrop mineralite, Ye Chong could not afford to treat it lightly as well. As for the matter with his Papa, it was not as urgent. In that instant, Ye Chong made his choice. Here, one could notice the influence of Mu’s rational nature on Ye Chong. Even when it came to his beloved Papa, Ye Chong could still make the accurate and wiser choice.

Everyone else seemed confused, but Vicente was now looking very pale. Suddenly, tears ran down silently along his cheeks, and Vicente seemed to have aged a decade instantly.

Everyone was shocked, and gathered around Vicente, asking him what was the matter.

Qin Zuo was the second of the five to realize what Vicente was thinking. Qin Zuo looked at the steady young man with disbelief and asked, “You mean he’s dead?”

As he said those words, everyone else finally understood, and were shocked to the core.

Ye Chong shook his head. “It’s only a conjecture, and there’s no way to confirm it at the moment. Besides, even if he was captured, chances are he’s still alive. The one who captured him must have preferred him alive rather than dead. Of course, your student must be smart enough in the first place, then his chances of survival will be above 60 percent.” Ye Chong was now speaking like Mu.

Vicente was moved, and his eyes glowed with renewed hope. Phal yelled, “We’ll save him, we’ll save him!”

Meng Fei’er quickly held him back and shook her head, signalling him to be quiet.

Qin Zuo could feel a headache coming. These people were in danger themselves, but still worried about the safety of someone else. He laughed mockingly at himself. However, he was the kind of person who would rise against a challenge, and the situation now only aroused his fighting spirit. Even so, a rescue operation was a fool’s errand. They did not even know who was responsible, and out of the five, only he and Han Ben had any combat capabilities. The other party, on the other hand, was probably an entire group. With only himself and Han Ben, Qin Zuo could not help his pessimism.

“They’ll bring him to the primary planet. If we’re lucky, we might meet them.” Ye Chong said calmly.

Everyone looked towards Qin Zuo, the decision maker for the team all this while. Vicente did not speak up to disturb Qin Zuo’s thoughts even though his student’s life at stake. He understood that they were only his teammates, and were not obliged to be further involved.

Qin Zuo smiled wryly inside – what other choice did they have? He understood that the young man had led them to this conclusion, probably because he wanted to visit the primary planet himself. This young man might not be better than the ones who captured Vicente’s student.

Qin Zuo considered for a moment before speaking seriously, “You want to visit the primary planet yourself, yes? I think you’ll find no better guide than us. Even if we meet the other party, I hope you could lend your assistance and keep us safe.” Qin Zuo had explained the importance of his team to Ye Chong, hinting that if Ye Chong could not keep them safe, he would never get anything more out of them about the primary planet. He chose to be frank instead, against this young man who thoughts he could not penetrate.

Ye Chong answered straightforwardly, “Alright.”

In truth, Ye Chong had many other ways to get information out of them, such as Shang’s interrogation methods. Even if a mentalist could not withstand it, Ye Chong believed that they would yield too.

However, Ye Chong was beginning to understand that direct methods were not always the simplest, and indirect methods were not always more troublesome. In terms of effectiveness, these indirect methods were actually quite useful. In Ye Chong’s mind, effectiveness and efficiency mattered the most, and methods were only a means to an end.

In any case, having the stronger position allowed him to be proactive. Ye Chong understood this deeply. Strength was the basis of everything.

WIth this temporary alliance established, everyone relaxed a little. At least they were safe now. The way the clown mech clashed against the five space pirates coldly was constantly on their minds.

After entering the location of the primary planet, Mu charted the fastest course towards the planet.

Ye Chong began to explain more about those minerals, imitating Mu.

Vicente and Phal listened closely, and interjected with questions. At the side was Meng Fei’er, waiting patiently for Ye Chong to finish explaining the minerals. She was more interested in the plant specimens she had collected.

Qin Zuo and Han Ben wandered around the starship.

Qin Zuo and Han Ben exchanged glances, and both could the read the shock in each other’s eyes. They had went through the captain’s cabin in detail, and found no one other than Ye Chong and their team of five. The starship looked just like any other Zika class starship.

This was why they were so surprised. Starships and mechs were entirely different constructs. Mechs moved much faster than starships, but fared a lot worse in terms of long distance flight. Starships also had a feature that no mech ever had, which was warp jumping. Starships usually had this feature, which greatly shortened the travel time across space and made interstellar travel possible.

Without warp jumps, travelling between planets would take longer than a person’s entire lifetime.

Starships may have features that mechs could never have, but it was proportionately more complicated to maneuver. A Zika class starship like this, for example, would need at least a crew of 20. Now, however, he and Han Ben saw no one steering the starship, and the starship was apparently flying on autopilot.

A starship with autopilot features! Qin Zuo was vexed. Who was this young man? How did he come to own such an advanced starship? Starship maneuvering required strict training, and the maneuvering itself was daunting to most people. Up until now, Qin Zuo had never heard of anything like starship auto piloting functions.

Who did he have as his backing? To own such advanced technology? It was terrifying!

Qin Zuo could not help but feel anxious again. Plenty of things in this starship could be considered classified material in any organization. Now that they had boarded the ship, perhaps …

Qin Zuo did not like where his thoughts were leading to. He forcefully stopped himself from thinking about it any further, and quickly signaled to Han Ben. They settled in with the other three members of the team, sitting around the young man.

The actions of Qin Zuo and Han Ben did not escape Ye Chong’s attention, but he kept silent about it, continuing on his explanation of the minerals to Phal and the others. Ye Chong could at least keep his promise to them, provided, of course, that he was not harmed in the process. Ye Chong was not yet willing to devote himself to that extent yet.

“This green one is an emerald crystallite, mainly used for jewellery and decorations. It’s a kind of gemstone, rarely found in the Five Galaxies. I’ve never seen any reports of this. Cutting this kind of gemstone required high craftsmanship.” Ye Chong explained exactly as Mu worded it.

Meng Fei’er was growing bored, but immediately brightened at this, grabbing the green gem away from Ye Chong’s hands. Women were naturally attracted to gems and the like, even though this particular one was still uncut, without the typical luster of gems.

Qin Zuo’s eyes brightened as well. “Rarely found in the Five Galaxies? Are you telling me there are people beyond the Five Galaxies?” His questions gained the attention of everyone around him.

Chapter 214: Landing

The five of them were deeply affected by this new piece of information. Any resident of the Five Galaxies would be. This young man had just divulged something truly unexpected.

Ye Chong did not care to explain further to them, and continued talking about the minerals. These minerals were all precious items, but to Ye Chong, they were not useful, and so Ye Chong returned them all to the team.

Qin Zuo was feeling a little fazed, shocked by the news from Ye Chong. The lack of further elaboration from Ye Chong convinced him more of the truth of this news.

What if, beyond the Five Galaxies, a society was thriving, and this society dominated over them without ever being discovered …

Ye Chong ignored their reactions. The Five Galaxies were nothing special to him. While the Orbits and Black Cove did not spread as far and wide as the Five Galaxies, their technological achievements and overall strength were superior to that of the Five Galaxies. Perhaps the MPA would have a similar base. Ye Chong thought is plausible.

Besides, based on his experience, it was not as though the higher ups of the Five Galaxies did not know of the Three Forces. Every time the any of the Three Forces had a major operation, Ye Chong could see that the various authorities of the Five Galaxies cooperated without much fuss.

The only person who was truly pondering this issue was Qin Zuo. Phal and Vicente were focused on digesting whatever information Ye Chong had provided on the minerals. Meng Fei’er, on the other hand, was watching Ye Chong with her large, mesmerizing eyes, listening to his words with an air of worship as he talked about the plant specimens. To Meng Fei’er, this cold young man was a highly educated academic, and while she was bored by the entire session on minerals earlier, she believed that he was probably even more learned in botany than her own teachers.

Ye Chong’s knowledge came from the chip that Lunatic Guan left for him. Alchemy aristocrats with their long histories had a store of knowledge that no academy could ever hope to achieve.

Han Ben in his straightforward nature would never stop to consider this issue. Once he was permitted to use the mech training room, he spent most of his time there. Vicente and Phal were permitted to use the metals laboratory, and they were overjoyed with the opportunity to use all the available top class apparatus. They immersed themselves completely in their work. As for Meng Fei’er, she mostly stayed in the alchemy laboratory. Ye Chong allowed them to use the labs to use how they would use them. While he was not watching in person, Mu had recording of what they did for Ye Chong.

Qin Zuo looked at the four of them helplessly. How could the four of them not feel threatened? Qin Zuo suspected that they may even have forgotten the whole point of this operation. Looking at the back of the young man’s thin figure, Qin Zuo had the impression that he could successfully ambush him. However, he recalled the young man’s calm gaze, and Qin Zuo could not suppress the shudder that followed and reconsidered his thoughts on ambushing.

Once, he saw the young man breaking a stuck metal alloy cylinder in half. Qin Zuo gulped heavily, thankful that he did not attack the young man. As expected, the young man had the power to suppress a few people himself, and Qin Zuo grew confident that the young man must have a background in combat. In the days that followed, Qin Zuo avoided looking at Ye Chong directly.

Coxcomb enjoyed a smooth journey ahead, with no space pirates in sight. The large starship could only be targeted by large pirate crews, not a suitable target for smaller crews. Mu’s plotted trajectory was the shortest distance, so when Ye Chong announced that they had reached Tappero Galaxy, everyone looked a little confused. They did not expect the journey to be so swift.

The Five Galaxies were all near to one another – Fal and Cyana formed a straight line that was perpendicular to the line formed by Tian Luo and Tappero, while Csebesini was in the middle of these four galaxies. The Five Galaxies were surrounded by the vast space of the universe, populated by numerous uncharted worlds.

As they left Tappero Galaxy, the space around them became emptier. There were no starship fleets, no space outposts, no space stations. It was rare for them to chance upon one or two small explorer starships along the way.

As the explorers ventured further out, more and more planets were ascertained, but with the exception of those with valuable resources, most planets were still mostly untouched. Vicente’s student was most daring – the planet he discovered was very far away from the nearest inhabited planet at the edge of Tappero Galaxy.

Space was not always quiet and peaceful. On the contrary, it was full of unpredictable dangers. The further away one explored, the more difficult it was to resupply, and any hopes for assistance in the face of danger would be dismal. However, in this world, risk was accompanied proportionately by profit. Every year, many explorers ventured away from the Five Galaxies into the vast, unknown territory beyond. Of course, most of them never returned.

Without the star chart provided by Vicente’s student, it would be most difficult to find the primary planet of interest. Mu’s star chart extended only up to the edge of Tappero Galaxy. Even so, it took plenty of effort for the team to find the primary planet. Ye Chong was surprised that Vicente’s student could find it in the first place. Perhaps it was attributable to his luck.

“Is it that one right ahead?” Ye Chong pointed at a large, green planet displayed on the holographic screen. The planet was larger than he expected.

Vicente nodded as Phal agreed loudly, “That’s the one. Hah, I didn’t think we’d be back so soon!” Qin Zuo buried his face in his hands and sighed inside. Heavens, did these people not understand what they were getting into?

Due to atmospheric turbulence, the starship trembled slightly as they descended through the atmosphere. Ye Chong did not land immediately, but orbited the planet once beforehand. The team did not study the planet extensively last time either, and it was best to be cautious against any possible dangers.

The primary planet was mostly covered with forests unspoiled by any human activities, stretching endlessly to the horizon. Through scanning, they found the forest to be dense and full of life. Herds of wild animals could be seen between the trees as they swooped past. Unfortunately, interference was heavy in the area, and even Mu’s holographic scanning accuracy suffered. Nevertheless, it was clear from Mu’s scanning results that the place was full of natural resources. The value of timber from the trees alone was unimaginable.

Oceans covered about a fifth of the planet’s surface, not as large as the forest coverage, but they glimmered with an odd light purple, unlike the natural blue found on most planets. Mountain ranges soared, their peaks covered with snow. The ocean shined in light purple, while the forest sprawled densely across the lands. The view was magnificently scenic. Like the trash planet, this place was uninhabited, but it was teeming with life, unlike the desolation on the trash planet.

After orbiting one round about the planet, Ye Chong determined the precaution to be mostly useless. Interference from the geomagnetic fields was strong, and scanning was useless. Even Mu’s holographic scan could only extend to a much shortened range of about three kilometers. Ye Chong believed that other models of holographic scanning would be useless here.

Ye Chong arrived at the landing spot used by Qin Zuo last time. His main goal was the teardrop mineralite, everything else was secondary, even though there were many other useful things around here. Ye Chong said nothing, unwilling to expose his true intentions to the team.

From high above in the air, one could see that the land was covered by dense forests, but the leaves were too thick to see through.

“You’re sure it’s here?” Ye Chong repeated his question. Ye Chong needed them to be exactly where they were last time. Unlike from outer space, Mu’s scanning perimeter here was only three kilometers. If they could not find their last landing spot, finding the teardrop mineralist on this massive planet would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

The five of them nodded in unison as Qin Zuo said, “Yes, right here. You see those two rivers joining over here, making a fork, I’m sure it’s here. Last time, we walked along the wider of the two rivers towards that direction.” Qin Zuo pointed.

Seeing their unanimous agreement, Ye Chong decided to land there.

Zika class starships were not comparable to the small starship that Qin Zuo and his team used. The noise from their landing was staggering. The Zika class starship was five kilometers in length, and Coxcomb flattened all the trees that lay beneath it. Nearby, wild animals scattered in fear. The sight of those animals escaping in hordes was magnificent.

The five of them watched sadly. Those timber could be sold at a high price in the Five Galaxies, but they were now all destroyed. Many other plants were destroyed in their landing, and the one who was affected the most was Meng Fei’er.

Coxcomb landed on the forest, forcing a clearing out of the trees.

When the five of them disembarked from the Coxcomb, they felt refreshed by the moist air outside. Air produced by starships was still incomparable to natural, fresh air born out of the forests. No matter how much technology had advanced, some things were still irreplaceable with human effort.

The team left the starship cautiously. The forest terrain was complicated, holographic scanning was ineffective, and travelling with mechs was inadvisable. Hence, all of them could only wear their protective suits as they left the ship. Unfortunately, the starship was not equipped with weapons like heat ray guns, and this bothered all of them, aside from Ye Chong. While they did not meet any vicious wild animals the last time they were here, but it was still better to be prepared for the possibility. The five of them could only pray that their protective suits were solid enough to keep them safe. These protective suits came from Coxcomb; if it were up to Ye Chong, he would not have bought them.

Ye Chong noticed then that the scenery was completely different than what he saw from above.

Flowers bloomed in all colours, and the moist, warm climate nurtured the rich life on this planet. For a short moment, Ye Chong took in the view in a daze.

Light gold branches were traced with a network of gold colored lines, and crimson palm-shaped leaves also had gold colored veins on them. Many small, black-gray fruits hung from the trees. Ye Chong immediately recognized that those were golden tilia – he had seen them before in the chip given to him by Lunatic Guan. These plants were ornamental, their fruits edible, but these did not mean that the plants were suitable for planting indoors. Sap from the plants would turn poisonous upon contact with blood, and could kill a human within seven seconds. In the chip’s records, there was once an ancient tribe that liked to cover their weapons with this horrible tree sap. However, the tribe was eventually wiped out by the human race.

Ye Chong really wanted to pluck a few of those leaves for research, but he restrained himself. Now was not the time for this, he should focus on the teardrop mineralite instead. Based on Mu’s feedback, there were no teardrop mineralite deposits within a three-kilometer range.

Not many inhabited planets could offer this wonderful sight. While Qin Zuo and his team had came here before, they were still deeply entranced by the area in their second visit.

“Alright, let’s move.” Ye Chong’s plain but firm voice brought them back to reality.

“Do we follow our tracks from last time?” Qin Zuo asked.

“Yes.”

The team marched ahead in a line along the river. Leading the team was Qin Zuo, while Han Ben guarded the rear. Since the protective suits had propulsion systems, they could fly slowly along the way. This allowed Phal and Vicente to keep up despite their age. Ye Chong wondered how far both of them could go without those suits.

The forest flourished. Humongous trees reached for the skies, covering the ground with their dense canopies. Only an occasional break in the leaves allowed for some stellar light to pass through.

Vines sprawled out in a frenzy between the ground and the large trees, a hindrance to their way forward. Fortunately, it was much cooler beside the river. Ye Chong examined the plants as he passed by them, surprise growing beneath his calm expression. The plant life here was extensive, and it was not 20 minutes into their journey that Ye Chong had already recognized 22 of the rare plant species recorded in Lunatic Guan’s chip. Moreover, these plants seemed to be growing quite healthily.

This was undeniably heaven for all alchemists.

A plant with a massive flower in fiery red caught Meng Fei’er’s attention. The flower was vivid red, and its petals were oddly shaped, like two human face contours stuck together back-to-back. The stem was thick. This was probably the first time Meng Fei’er had ever seen this kind of plant, and as she wondered at why she had never seen it before, as her body was moving closer and closer towards the plant.

Ye Chong looked back unintentionally, and saw what was happening. His eyes widened immediately!

Chapter 215: Twin Sisters

There was no time to warn her. Ye Chong whipped out the dagger from his thigh and flung it towards her. A silver glimmer flickered across the air.

In that moment, Meng Fei’er realized that the red wormlike creature in the fiery red flower was aiming towards her, moving so fast that she could only see a flash of red. “Ah!” Meng Fei’er gasped in shock, and saw the red worm coming closer and closer to her. She wanted to step back and avoid the attack, but could not react in time. Her heart sank as she realized that she was done for!

Her eyes widened in horror. When a shiny glimmer swept past her, she did not react still.

What broke her out of her trance was a thumping sound. Meng Fei’er looked towards the source, and found on her left a dagger embedded to its hilt on a tree. The force of the attack was enough to make the tree shake violently. Leaves scattered in the wind, creating a beautiful sight.

The group finally noticed something was wrong. Just beside Meng Fei’er’s feet was a 15-centimeter long scarlet red vine, coated in a layer of sticky slime. The slime was corrosive, burning holes in the ground as they dripped from the vine. A thin green smoke curled upwards as the slime did its work,and the sharp corrosive smell made everyone else back off.

Lying silently in the scorched pit was a finger-thick scarlet object, with a thin smoke curling upwards from it. It was an eerie sight.

Meng Fei’er was already plunged into a daze, looking confused at everyone.

Ye Chong could not help but frowned – she was obviously in a state of shock. As the rest of them watched, Ye Chong moved towards Meng Fei’er. He moved so quickly that the rest of the team were startled, and looked towards Ye Chong with respect.

Seeing Meng Fei’er not even wearing a mask, Ye Chong believed that she might even thought of this expedition as a sightseeing trip! If she was not his comrade for the moment, Ye Chong would have just ignored her.

There were many ways to treat shock, and Ye Chong chose the simplest way.

Slap! Slap! Ye Chong slapped her twice in the face. To Ye Chong, someone as weak as her should not have joined an expedition like this. Ye Chong did not pity her just because she was a woman – the enemy would never do so anyway.

The rest of the team stared in shock at Ye Chong, their mouths gaping wide open. They never thought anyone capable of hurting Meng Fei’er like that.

Meng Fei’er was a beauty by all respects. She was sympathetic, tactful and understanding. To many, she was the perfect image of a modern woman. In every annual appraisal of the Unity Academy, no other woman was her match. Meng Fei’er was undisputedly the most popular member of her sex.

Meng Fei’er had a special quality to her. Standing before her, anyone would feel self conscious, and no one had ever spoken roughly to her. With her, one could not help but be mellow. Even Qin Zuo with his excellent self control was affected by Meng Fei’er. On the other hand, Meng Fei’er had never been conceited because of this, but continued to be modest, gentle and understanding.

Now, someone had dared to slap her! How could anyone do that expressionlessly? The four them had just seen something almost unimaginable. If word of this reached the Unity Academy’s teachers and students, they would probably overcome this cold young man by sheer numbers. The four of them exchanged horrified glances.

Meng Fei’er’s snow white cheeks were now imprinted with two red, symmetrical palm prints, almost like the fiery red flower with its back-to-back petals.

Ye Chong’s method was, if anything, effective. Meng Fei’er was startled, but quickly felt the full wave of terror overcoming her. Meng Fei’er finally burst into tears, and threw herself into Ye Chong. Even though Meng Fei’er was usually calm and composed, she was still a woman, and her first reaction to this unprecedented terror was to look for protection.

Ye Chong could not help but frown again.

Seeing Meng Fei’er embracing Ye Chong was enough to make Qin Zuo feel envious. No normal man would reject the embrace of a beautiful woman, especially a flawless beauty like this one.

Ye Chong was not used to being physically close with anyone, and keeping people at a distance was second nature to him. However, he did not avoid the embrace, since Meng Fei’er would then fall to the ground, and their expedition would be further delayed. Too much time was already wasted.

Ye Chong noticed Qin Zuo looking towards him from the corner of his eye, and knew what to do.

His left hand pressed gently on Meng Fei’er’s shoulder, while his right reached for her waist and pushed. Meng Fei’er was sent like a sandbag towards Qin Zuo.

Qin Zuo was watching everything, but did not anticipate what Ye Chong had just done. He reacted quickly enough, though, and opened up his arms to catch Men Fei’er. The moment he caught her, he took a few steps back to absorb the momentum, afraid to hurt Meng Fei’er.

Qin Zuo did not expect fortune to smile upon him. He only caught Meng Fei’er out of reflex, and when the fact that Meng Fei’er was in his embrace was fully registered, he was thoroughly overjoyed.

Ye Chong ignored them all as he quietly retrieved his dagger from the tree. Gu Shaoze’s gift had helped him many times in the past. Ye Chong wiped the blade with great care.

Then, he moved towards the fiery red and apparently dangerous plant to inspect it.

The two faces were actually its petals, and it was hollow inside. Ye Chong moved closer, the other end of the vine that he severed with his dagger was now lying quietly within. The severed end was oozing a bright red slime, looking a little like blood.

Even though the plant was obviously not threatening now, Ye Chong still acted carefully. The strong corrosive nature of the sticky slime filled him with apprehension. It looked like the chip was right. However, the corrosive slime seemed to be ineffective against the petals. It was truly an impressively adapted organism. This plant’s most terrifying part was the tip of its scarlet red vine. That was the core of its attack. Without it, the flower was harmless.

Ye Chong’s left hand carefully held the two face-like petals, while his right hand wielded the dagger and cut the stem that supported the flower. The petals were now the perfect container for the scarlet red slime within. Ye Chong moved his shoulders, and his backpack slithered down unnaturally to his right hand.

Studying Lan Yixing’s chip, Ye Cong could now control his muscles to an unusual extent. His way of retrieving his backpack just now was a good example, though it went by unnoticed. If Ye Chong was naked waist up, they would have noticed the way Ye Chong’s muscles rippled from the shoulder down like waves, passing the backpack to Ye Chong’s right arm.

Lan Yixing’s chip did not teach this technique; it was a trick that Ye Chong came up with himself. This was also a way to train his muscles. Ye Chong could only do this with his shoulders and arms for now, still quite aways from controlling his entire body in this way.

Fortunately, everyone was looking at Meng Fei’er at the moment, and did not notice this tiny detail.

Ye Chong opened the backpack with his right hand and took out a rectangular metallic container. He opened the container, and cold air slowly wafted out from within. One could see rows of spheres lined through the cold air. Ye Chong took one of those fist-sized spheres from inside the container. It had a peculiar texture – the surface shined with a metallic luster, but through the semi-transparent shell, one could see inside the sphere. This one was empty. Since it was stored at a constant cold temperature, the sphere was cold to the touch.

Ye Chong pressed on a protrusion beneath the sphere, and the sphere buzzed as its upper half opened up, leaving a hemispherical bowl in his hand. Ye Chong carefully placed the fiery red petals inside. He pressed the protrusion again, and the sphere closed up into its initial spherical semi-transparent form. From the outside, one could see the flower within. Ye Chong kept the sphere with its new content back inside the container.

The container was a special specimen container used by alchemists. It kept its contents fresh by maintaining a cold temperature within, and once the container was sealed, the spheres within would become suspended in a zero-gravity vacuum. Such a cutting edge specimen container was like a dream toolkit for every alchemist.

“What was that?” Meng Fei’er spoke. Her voice was still tinged with fear. It took only a moment for Meng Fei’er to compose herself again after she landed into Qin Zuo’s embrace. Qin Zuo could only regret that the moment passed by too soon. Meng Fei’er watched Ye Chong’s every move, and she finally understood what had happened. The young man who was currently looking very focused was the one who saved her.

Ye Chong relaxed at last. He had to be very careful handling such a dangerous sticky slime. The petals were worthless for him, but he wanted the vine with its sticky slime. In Lunatic Guan’s chip, there were quite a few concoctions that called for this ingredient. Since Twin Sisters was a rare plant, who knew when he would see one again?

Ye Chong put the specimen container back inside his backpack and turned to her. “This is Twin Sisters. Its known for its ability prey on other organisms. Inside the petals is a red vine, like a snake. This vine secretes an extremely corrosive slime. The slime also has paralytic properties. Please wear your mask, your carelessness will delay us. Also, please don’t approach unfamiliar plants without thought. The forest is more dangerous than you think.” Ye Chong lectured coldly.

He ignored Meng Fei’er after that.

They were very much delayed, and Ye Chong did not intend to waste any more time. Meng Fei’er knew that she had acted too recklessly. As the young man turned his back to her, Meng Fei’er quietly put on the mask from her protective suit.

The group advanced.

Ye Chong grew more and more anxious. He could not understand how this team had managed to venture so deep into the forest and return unscathed.

Many of the plants here were recorded in Lunatic Guan’s chip. Looking at the easy expression on the four members of the team, aside from Meng Fei’er, Ye Chong marvelled on how the ignorant could afford to be fearless.

Less than half a meter from Phal was a dark brown vine, from the infamous Blood Sucking Vines. These vines were covered entirely with thorns. Any animal that was pricked would be injected with a very powerful anaesthetic. The poison from 25 thorns was enough to make an adult lion defenseless. Once a prey was anaesthetised, it would be drained of all its blood until only a dry corpse remained.

Three meters above Ye Chong was an egg-shaped fruit, from the honey juniper tree. Honey juniper fruits were sweet and fragrant, and rich in nutrients. One could smell its scent from a long distance away. However, the fragrance was equally terrifying.

Honey juniper fruits were natural nests for the black-winged hornets. One would almost never see one without the other. Ye Chong noticed with his sharp eyes that a few black-winged hornets had just burrowed into one of the fruits. Black-winged hornets were horrible beings, and if you accidentally touched their nests, you would have sealed your deadly fate.

These insects were very aggressive, and even vengeful. A healthy member of the black-winged hornets would penetrate a centimeter-thick alloy board with the stinger on its tail. Besides, the stinger was packed with enough poison to kill a person very quickly. Ye Chong had no confidence of their protective suits against these insects.

The were too many dangerous plants around here! Moreover, Ye Chong did not recognize many of them, and did not know if they were harmful. Of course, he would not care to experiment now.

Fortunately, the incident with Meng Fei’er had made everyone more vigilant. The corrosive slime had left a deep impression in them.

If the walk along the river was this hard, trekking through the forest would be even more so.

The river water was clear, and the sound of flowing water helped create a peaceful atmosphere unique to the forests.

Up until now, they had not encountered anything like vicious wild animals. Ye Chong was disturbed by the fact. If even the plants were so dangerous here, Ye Chong would not believe that the animals here would fare any better.

Coxcomb’s landing may have scared off plenty of the animals, but Ye Chong still understood the territorial nature of the more intelligent animals. On the trash planet, Ye Chong had fought against various mutants, and he had grown familiar with the ways of these animals, especially the fiercer ones.

Ye Chong would never underestimate the strength of wild animals. Take the iron lizard on the trash planet for example. Ye Chong believed that if all the mech pilots from the Five Galaxies tried to take on the iron lizard one-on-one, most of them would never survive. This dangerous forest, on the other hand, was home to hundreds and thousands of creatures undisturbed by mankind. Ye Chong could not begin to imagine what they would be like.

However, with a water source like this, it must be where animals nearby quench their thirst.

Why have they not encountered a single animal? This baffled Ye Chong. After all, they were quite a distance from the Coxcomb already.

Could it be …

Ye Chong had an ill premonition. Behind him, the river flowed, and many silver lines flickered into existence.

Chapter 216: Creature

Most of the more vicious wild animals were territorial, and other animals would avoid entering their territories. Of course, usually only the scarier wild animals were like this. The iron lizard on the trash planet, for example, was the strongest animal on the planet, and no other animal would dare to trespass its home.

This was what Ye Chong was most worried about. No matter how he looked at it, the environment was suitable. Ye Chong had even passed by and seen creatures such as the black-winged hornet not too long ago. Here, however, he could see no signs of other animals, not even some animal feces. This was odd.

It also made him more alert, and even increasingly wary.

“Careful, from the back!” Mu’s warning was always so timely.

Ye Chong leapt forward like an arrow released.

Bangbangbang!

He could hear a series of blasts, followed by a few horrified screams. Qin Zuo and the rest could not move as fast as Ye Chong. They were all more relaxed and did not expect an attack, since the last time they were here, things were peaceful.

Ye Chong saw that there were no threatening plants ahead, so he continued running forward as he looked back to see what it was.

On the river, tens of pipes, thick as a thumb, broke the water’s surface. The pipes were directed towards them. Ye Chong was alarmed. What was that?

He swept a glance behind him. Qin Zuo and the rest were all on the ground, wailing. Many arrow-like things were stuck on their bodies, as thick as the pipes. The protective suits were useless against those weapons. The areas where the needles went in them were now bloody, and the five of them were obviously in pain.

Ye Chong was shocked. Anything that could penetrate these protective suits was no joke. What was that?

Suddenly, the river splashed into waves. Ye Chong watched an unfamiliar creature emerge from the waters.

The creature looked very odd. A flat disc supported the animal as it floated on the waters, and from the edges of the disc, numerous silver tentacles extended outwards. These tentacles were hollow, and looked like straws when they straightened. These were the pipes that Ye Chong saw earlier above the river surface. The disc itself was covered with thorns. From afar, it looked like a circular archery target completely covered with arrows. At the center of the disc was a thick, meaty cylinder that went upwards and ended in a black globular sac. On the sac, a pair of scarlet red eyes seemed to cry for blood, and they were looking straight at Ye Chong.

What was that? Ye Chong was baffled. He was sure that he had never seen anything like it. He took a quick glance at the five on the ground again. They did not look good. In truth, when encountering an unfamiliar animal like this, the best course of action would be to escape. Now, however, Ye Chong had to face it head on. If he did not rescue them, the chances of him finding the teardrop mineralite on this vast planet would be worse than him killing this creature.

Ye Chong deployed Guardian without a moment’s hesitation.

A few rays of light broke through the leaves and shone on Guardian, and the dazzling gold reminded one of the mythical warriors that once fought for the Gods. It was a pity that Ye Chong could not see it himself, but he probably would have complained that the gold was too eye-catching. Ye Chong was not adjusting himself. It had been awhile since he used Guardian for battle, and he needed time to get used to the black and white vision.

The sudden transformation in Ye Chong’s exterior apparently surprised the creature.

Suddenly, the globular sac expanded like an inflating balloon. At the same time, the disc expanded quickly as well, and those thorns mysteriously disappeared into the creature’s body. All the tentacles aimed at Ye Chong.

Swish swish swish!

The sound was most familiar to Ye Chong – it was the sound of objects travelling very fast through the air. His vision immediately filled up with dozens of white spots, and the information window at the side of his vision refreshed quickly, responding to the attack.

Ye Chong whipped out his dagger, fast as lightning. Ye Chong could do this inhumanly fast in person; with Guardian, his speed was beyond what the human eye could perceive.

Guardian did not retreat, but charged forward like a golden streak of lightning towards the creature. Z-steps, curved steps … Ye Chong used everything he had, treating the creature as a most formidable enemy.

As he avoided some of the needles, Ye Chong used his dagger to block the ones that he could not avoid. The flying needles were packed with power, and came at a very dangerous speed. Even with Guardian, Ye Chong dared not let down his guard.

That thing could attack continuously! Ye Chong focused hard in the fight.

The creature’s tentacles spit out the needles, again and again. The silver needles looked like waves of silver rays under the sunlight, flying towards Ye Chong.

Guardian was successfully approaching the creature. In his vision, Ye Chong could see Guardian beginning to analyze the creature. A fatal white line marked the spot between its eyes! Ye Chong understood that the white line indicated the weakest spot of the creature.

There was no time to think any further. Ye Chong focused on the white line.

Behind Ye Chong, the trees and the ground were full of silver needles, glimmering like exquisite artefacts under the sun. These needles were all aimed at Ye Chong, so the wounded five were not attacked instead.

The creature was finally out of needles! Ye Chong felt calm as usual. The white line between the creature’s scarlet red eyes was growing larger and larger in sight.

The creature was finally showing some fear in its eyes. It had always reigned supreme in this forest, and now it was facing something even stronger than itself.

Guardian’s Mach 10 sprint was unleashed in all its glory. When something came at you with the speed of Mach 10, the impact was devastating.

The creature thought to escape and quickly began to submerge. It believed that it would have the advantage underwater.

Before it could submerge its round disc beneath the waters, all of a sudden, it felt a chill between its eyes.

Ye Chong saw that it was trying to escape, and flung out his dagger in his right hand. The throw was flawless, both in accuracy and strength.

Ye Chong stopped by the riverside, watching the creature’s corpse floating on the water. He dragged the corpse to shore, and retrieved his dagger. Ye Chong withdrew Guardian and did not waste time studying the creature as he rushed back towards the rest of the team.

He quickly checked their injuries, and found them to be non-fatal. Meng Fei’er was the medic, and the one with the medical supplies. Ye Chong took the medical kit off her. Meng Fei’er had never experienced such terrible injuries in her life, and had already blacked out from the pain.

Ye Chong removed the needles from them all, and treated their wounds. Phal and Vicente were too old, and they too had fainted. Hen Ben and Qin Zuo were both athletic – while they were both pale, they remained conscious.

Their expressions betrayed shock and horror. The creature was the most fearsome they had ever seen. Its needles could go through the protective suits, which could withstand an attack from normal heat ray guns. That ugly creature was too horrifying! If not for the young man with them, they would probably have ended up as sustenance for the creature.

Qin Zuo’s fear, however, was not reserved only for the creature. To him, the creature was horrifying, but compared to this seemingly weak young man before him, it was only an annoyance.

That golden armor that suddenly appeared was mostly likely a miniature mech model. As a teacher of the Unity Academy, if he could even recognize that, he should probably shoot himself. Of course, that was his first impression upon seeing Guardian.

In the next moment, he almost overturned his previous thought. “Heavens! Was that really a miniature mech?” Qin Zuo was stupefied. He could barely register the pain from his wounds. “What speed! Definitely above Mach 7!” He thought to himself as he made a conservative estimation.

How could there be a miniature mech that could go up to Mach 7? The fact could turn his world upside down.

As he saw the way the miniature mech avoided all those needles, switching directions at will, Qin Zuo could feel his mind coming to a halt.

“Was that even human?”

Qin Zuo was speechless. He realized now that the young man before him had exceeded all the standards of a normal human being.

Switching directions so quickly would produce a burden so heavy on the human body that survival was almost impossible. Qin Zuo was certain of it, as he saw what had happened. Even for the legendary character, YC that rose to fame so quickly in the virtual world, this was an entirely different level. Long ago, he had once watched a recording of YC’s battle, making eight consecutive acute angle movements in three seconds. Before he met this young men before him, he had thought that that was the limit of the human body.

He never would have guessed that this young man was actually YC himself. To him, they were at two very different levels.

Ye Chong ignored the way Qin Zuo and Hen Ben were looking at him, as they thought he was a creature himself. He picked up a needle and inspected it closely. From its texture, it seemed to be a skeleton. That was Ye Chong’s conclusion, thanks to his rich knowledge in skeletons. The needle was light, but strong, with a very sharp tip. It was silver and about 15 centimeters long. The tail end was flattened for easy flight. This was a natural skeleton arrow. Ye Chong began to collect all the skeleton arrows on the ground.

Ye Chong bundled up the 200 odd skeleton arrows together with a strong vein, and kept it in his backpack. He walked back to the creature’s corpse and looked it over. It seemed that the creature had no more bones other than its skeleton arrows. It was no longer useful to Ye Chong.

Walking back to the rest of the team, Ye Chong found himself in a difficult situation. Of the five, three were unconscious, and the remaining two were heavily injured and could not walk. Without a guide, Ye Chong would never be able to find the teardrop mineralite.

Qin Zuo was sharp, and seemed to realize what Ye Chong was troubling about. He smiled wryly and said, “While I don’t know what you are looking for, you should know that the last time we were here, we basically just walked along the river and kept going. We didn’t go very far, at most five kilometers from where we are now. You can find the way yourself.” Qin Zuo knew that, with the young man’s abilities and their current situation, the young man could finish them all off quickly and easily. There was no one to stop him.

Qin Zuo knew people. The stronger ones usually had a touch of arrogance in them, and would not easily accept favors from others. Hence, he offered it instead, hoping to at least get on the young man’s good side, and increase their chances of survival.

Qin Zuo’s cooperation obviously came as a surprise to Ye Chong. He looked at the five of them, and knew that they would be defenseless without him. As long as they stayed where they were, the risk was not too great. Considering the strength and aggressiveness of that creature, Ye Chong believed that there would be no other animals in the area. Mu’s scanning results confirmed Ye Chong’s suspicion.

Ye Chong nodded and said, “You all stay here. There are no wild animals around. I’ll be back.”

With that, Ye Chong turned his back and began to run along the river. Without the rest of the team slowing him down, Ye Chong ran fast, like an energetic leopard running through the forest.

Along the way, Ye Chong did not encounter any other wild animals, but saw a few dangerous plants. It looked like the creature back there held great power in this area.

Five kilometers was a piece of cake for Ye Chong.

“Stop! Ye.” Mu suddenly spoke up. Even with his calm composure, Ye Chong could not help but feel overjoyed. If Mu had asked him to stop for no apparent reason, he must have found something.

As expected, Mu said, “Ye, to the left.”

Ye Chong followed Mu’s instructions as he moved. Foliage was thick here, and a big hindrance to Ye Chong. Seeing the numerous intertwining vines that stretched above him, Ye Chong gave up on the idea of flying.

Ye Chong deployed Guardian instead, thinking that no plant should be able to break through Guardian’s armor. WIth that, he advanced faster ahead. However, using an advanced mech like Guardian just to open a path was probably something only Ye Chong would do.

“Alright, it’s here.” Despite Mu’s usual calmness, his voice betrayed a trace of nervousness. This made Ye Chong realize once again the importance of this teardrop mineralite.

There was a clearing. Strangely, no plants were growing within a 50-meter radius. This was a perfectly circular area of bare earth, and in the center of this clearing was a dark hole.

The perfectly circular clearing, with nothing growing in it amidst the dense forest, was eerie and unsettling.

Chapter 217: The Cave Underground

The forest was vast and dense, yet there was this particular area, barren, without any sprout of plant in sight, forming a perfect circle, giving off a peculiar feeling.

Ye Chong got out of the Guardian. It was a relief to his eyes when he returned to the normal, colorful vision after remaining in the monochrome sight for quite some time. The Guardian was amazing indeed, but he had identified one blatant weakness in it, which was exceptionally prominent in areas with complicated landscape like this forest. The Guardian had a full run on its visual analysis when Ye Chong came to this forest. The lines and dots were increased by a gazillion times as they stranded over each other, becoming nearly indistinguishable visual in Ye Chong’s eyes. That was why he got out of the Guardian instead.

According to Mu’s detection, there was no threat within their proximity.

The abyssal opening looked real deep, or even bottomless Ye Chong wondered, as he tossed one pebble into the nothingness. He then heard the sound of pebble bouncing a few times, “Mhm… the opening was not a straight one… apparently…”

Ye Chong, from the bag on his waist, withdrew a dimensional keystone which took a lifelike appearance of an insect. This was one of the mechs Ye Chong bought in a batch during his visit at Nine Gates City, an engineering model, mainly for the purpose of excavation and ore-extraction, which seemed to be a suitable arsenal to travel through the cave.

The mech carried the name, “Multipede”, which took the form of a mutated insect obviously, with dark-brown segmented body, allowing agile movements deep in the cave, especially with the miniature engines installed at every segment in addition to the pseudo-antenna mechanical legs of passive-activation

Deployed the mech, he hopped into the cabin, took a firm seat and he launched the mech.

Multipede crawled into the opening within a few hushes nimbly. The mechanical legs were on passive-activation, which turned out to be an ease to Ye Chong’s piloting. The terrain within the cave was unexpectedly in various winding shapes, with limited lighting that the night vision on Multipede was proven to be ineffective. Fortunately Multipede was pre-installed with a set of bursting plasma lighting. The ride was not as bumpy as Ye Chong thought. It was a smooth sail for him, which he complimented the designer of this mech a little.

Multipede travelled quite quickly. The tunnel was becoming more winding than he presumed. Mu had detected the location of the teardrop mineralite, which was about 3 kilometers away from their current location, although Ye Chong already felt that they had travelled more than 3 kilometers.

Tick!

Phew… finally. They made it to the end, his sight brightened as they arrived at a large flat ground at the bottommost of the cave, with the sound of water dripping through his ears.

Multipede was parked on the ground carefully. Ye Chong then flipped out of the cabin.

Gasp… Ye Chong inhaled intensely upon seeing the sight before him.

The deep cave was dark at first and now it was glowing in all kinds of lights into Ye Chong’s eyes.

A stream across the ground, sinking right at the ankle of Ye Chong, flowing to the other side with discernible hushes in the deserted underground. And that was when Ye Chong realized, the stream was not wholly a stream after all, the glow came from the stream, where the ores were shining in dazzles brighter than the stars in the sky, lighting up the darkness of the menacing cave.

Ye Chong had seen quite a variety of ores before, but never ever he had seen ores which could produce such glow alone and now he was standing in a stream of them, with all types of colors he could imagined, in all kinds of shapes which were staggering for him to name.

“Transmutated Energy Ore!” Mu’s voice was too filled with fascination.

“Transmutated energy ore? Mu, what’s that? Is it anything useful?” asked Ye Chong in bewilderment.

“Yes! Useful! Of course it is useful!” Mu’s tone was firm, “Mhm, and the teardrop mineralite has to be somewhere nearby, which explains the energy transmutation occurred in these ores… So…” Mu sounded as if he was talking to himself.

Ye Chong was confused. Energy transmutation? What is that?

“Ye.” And apparently Mu was not in the favor of giving an explanation, rushed he, “Quickly gather these transmutated ores. All of them. They are very useful.”

“All… of them…?” Gulped Ye Chong, as his eyes set upon this milky way of glowing ores.

He reached his hands to the ore, “Ye.” Said Mu again, “Get the teardrop instead, it should be just around here, no more than 300 meters away from here, while I do the collection of these ores.”

“Okay,” responded Ye Chong as he began searching the Teardrop within this flock of transmutated energy ores. Mu on the other hand began piloting Multipede to perform the extraction. Well, Multipede was born for tasks of such kind, so the efficiency was satisfactory. The ores extracted were kept inside the storage of Multipede. There were 13 segments on its body, where only the first segment was used as a cabin and the remaining 12 segments were used as the storage for ores collected.

Ye Chong followed the winding streams, yet he did not find a single sight of the Teardrop throughout his way.

At the very end of the cave, Ye Chong discovered a few teardrop mineralites scattered on the ground in a gentle glow.

Phew… at least it was not a wild goose chase after all.

Ye Chong was going to advance forward, but the sudden rush of goosebumps stormed upon his body. A strong sense of danger roared in his instinct, “Ye. Stay still.” Mu’s words echoed almost immediately after. His words were fearful, which was the first time Ye Chong perceived, from such a fearful Mu.

What was the danger that caused such fear even in this artificial intelligence? The thought flashed in his mind.

He took a careful look around. Nothing strange in particular, even though that strong sense of danger lingered in his mind.

“What exactly is wrong?” Inquired Ye Chong, “Mu, I just feel something wrong…”

“Ye, deploy me now.” Hurried Mu, “Take a look beyond the Teardrops.”

Beyond…? Ye Chong had only been looking at the Teardrops, he had hardly looked beyond th… He lifted his head, the darkness stared back at him. Ye Chong flinched, as he pinpointed the source of his sense instantly. His sight was great, despite in the faint glow of the Teardrops, as he could discern the silhouettes of objects around. But there was one spot, 5 meters beyond the Teardrops, which formed an absolute darkness, where the lights were engulfed and failed to shine upon. Since the cave was already dark by nature, one would easily overlook that one darker area.

It was a blatant twist in the plot, where Mu even demanded to deploy himself right away. It was the first time Ye Chong faced such a grave danger after they left Trash Planet.

“What, is this?” Ye Chong’s gaze intensified, as he asked Mu.

“Currently unidentifiable. Calculating…” Replied Mu, as his mechanical eyes flickered drastically, apparently running a rapid calculation in the background.

Ye Chong pondered slightly, he began sprinting! He sprinted over the stream, through the tunnel and jumped into Multipede, which had completed its extraction and was resting at the other end. The stream had been dried out, as the ores were cleared out, “Then…” He remembered the bursting plasma lighting installed at the head of Multipede, a few taps on the control panel he shifted the lighting to the darkness.

…

… …

!

!!!

“What… is this…?” Exclamation escaped from Ye Chong’s mouth widely opened.

The brightness of the plasma lighting shone throughout the area in the cave. The ground was white, the walls were white, the tunnel was wide, except that one corner, beyond the Teardrops, a dark circle about 3 meters in diameter hovered over the distance 5 meters away from the Teardrops. The bright light was fully engulfed by this circle.

The circle was as if a masterpiece illustrated by the best architecture tools, in a darkness which gave fright to anybody.

It was strange, really strange, that even a fearless boy like Ye Chong began to quiver.

What, exactly, is this?

The Teardrops were only a stone’s thrown away from him, yet Ye Chong was too feared to even lift a step. The peculiarity was incomprehensible…

“Spatial Distortion Rate: 71%.” Mu’s voice rang cold.

…

“Spatial Distortion Rate: 75%.” Mu’s voice was shaking.

“Spatial Distortion Rate: 78%.” Mu’s voice sounded agitated, “Ye, quick! Pick up the Teardrops!” Alarmingly he shouted, “But do not be within 10 meters of the Space Distorting Disc’s proximity!”

Space Distorting Disc? Is it the dark circle?

But providing that I do not approach the Teardrops, how would I collect them? He looked at the Teardrops, which had a size, at the maximum, of a thumb… the mechanical legs of Multipede could never pick them up.

“Spatial Distortion Rate: 82%.” Mu’s voice grew louder.

“Spatial Distortion Rate: 87%.” Mu screamed, “Ye! Fast! Now!”

Ye Chong understood he did not have the time to waste. As soon as Mu hurried, he got an idea, he jumped off the cabin and picked one rock of size of his fist.

“Spatial Distortion Rate: 90%.” Mu seemed calmer now…

Once he picked the rock, a force exerted at tip of his toes, flipped in a large curve he reached the side of the Distorting Disc, which looked like a fine lining in his eyes by then, as if the width was non-existent.

“Spatial Distortion Rate: 93%.” The strange form of Mu’s countdown haunted Ye Chong.

A shake on his arm, the rock was flung towards the Teardrops. In another large curve, he shifted to the other side of the disc, no time for him to see if his plan worked.

“Spatial Distortion Rate: 95%.”

Thump! The rock he flung accurately landed at the densest point of the Teardrops, where they had flown up high as conservation of momentum occurred, all the way towards Ye Chong.

The Teardrops travelled in different heights, forming an irregular shape of a fan. Ye Chong breathed in deeply, as he became countless afterimages, grabbing the Teardrops flawlessly. It was not that challenging to grab falling things with his sight and hand speed.

“Spatial Distortion Rate: 99%.”

Mu’s voice rang calmly. Ye Chong made a flip and got back to Mu.

Phew… He regained his stance. As long as he stood by Mu, he would be in good hands, although the disc was bizarre, his confidence towards Mu had grown deep inside himself. Mu was unbeatable, the ideology stood like a flag in Ye Chong’s subconsciousness.

He then put the Teardrops into his bag. He took a look at that disc.

Wait… Ye Chong realized he missed one little Teardrop which was lying right before the disc. His strike did not work fully just now it seemed. But he did not mind, since he was considered rather lucky for he was able to retrieve stones of irregular shapes this many within such a brief timeframe.

“Spatial Distortion Rate…

…

100%.”

Mu’s voice came like the vaporization of dry ice.

Ye Chong glared upon the disc. Even though he did not understand the phrase “Spatial Distortion Rate”, he at least understood what 100% could mean – it meant a completion, which would be proceeded by a change, a metamorphosis.

What kind of change, that’s the question. Speculated Ye Chong in his mind.

5 seconds lapsed. The disc remained hovered in the air. Nothing happened.

10 seconds lapsed. Nothing.

Mu wh-

Right when Ye Chong lifted his lips and was going to ask, that disc which seemed to be at its eternity had an unexpected development.

It was… a hand.

A strange hand of an unknown creature crawled out of the darkness. The dark skin was coated with dense linings in crimson, like checkers all over the hand. Ye Chong had never seen such skin before, which its glow was of metals and was glaring under the plasma lighting. The hand had 8 fingers, with noticeable hardness on its bones. The tip of the fingers… was made out of metal, if Ye Chong was right, as it glowed coldly. The fingers were connected with a layer of flesh, a strangeness Ye Chong could hardly word into.

Ye Chong did not see the elbow of the hand. The hand was reaching out to its everywhere, literally everywhere, once it got out of the disc, as if it had no bone, hitting any direction of any angle.

And that hand stopped abruptly. Ye Chong took a careful look. Wait… what… isn’t that the Teardrop I missed in its hand?

The hand, as soon as it seized the Teardrop, retreated back into the disc.

Ye Chong was stoned upon the sight. Hell knows what that thing was. Mu did not speak either. The man and his mech just looked at this phenomena occurring.

After the hand completely sank into the disc, “Mu, what is this?” Asked Ye Chong, gulping.

“Unidentifiable,” stated Mu, with also a confused tone, “No match was found in my databank.”

“What that dark disc is then?”

Shook the artificial intelligence, “Negative. Only distortion of space was detected.”

What do you mean by…

“Mu what d-”

Ye Chong was going to ask, but something happened!

Chapter 218: Hypersonic

A shrill in the cave!

Ye Chong could feel his head pounding. Boom! A force came after, breaking his shaking stance. Thup! He was lifted by the violent wind and slammed upon the rocky wall behind. He could hear his backbones cracking and his insides were rumbling. Splash! He spat a pool of blood as he landed on the ground.

That slam had woken Ye Chong, as he discovered the waves coming from the dark disc. He looked at Mu, whose legs were dragged behind, forming a trail. The artificial intelligence had its eyes frantically flickering which meant he was clearly fighting against this force.

Ye Chong stumbled upon the sight, where Mu was at the edge of defeat, the first time it was. And the foe was merely using sound to fight…

The strong sonic waves wrecked the surrounding atmosphere. The fright and its overwhelming strength put upon Ye Chong was no longer imaginable.

The sound did not seem to be stopping anytime soon, as its pitch grew higher, the pressure intensified within Ye Chong’s body, a stream of blood dripped off the corner of his lips. The droplet of blood did not survive the waves as well, as it shattered into vapors, flying away.

A shockwave of high frequency could be fatal to human anatomy, even for sturdy ones like Ye Chong’s, as discomfort drained his face pale.

Ye Chong knew it well that he could be dead right there if he did not take any action. It was the biggest danger he had ever faced. His muscles were forced to vibrate along, as the atmosphere was shaking drastically. The fatigue stung his body, dizziness clouded his head.

He took a deep breath and tried to regain his calmness. As he understood, the way to deal with death was to grab the lining of life within it.

He tried his best to disregard these influences. Ye Chong’s cold gazes set upon the ripping dark disc. He readjusted his respiration with his chest pulled forcefully like an accordion and slowly it regained the inner peace.

His mind flowed through the cold water, as Ye Chong felt withdrawn from his physical body slightly. It felt like his usual meditation, other than the fact that he was doing it consciously as the pain still lingered in his body. He felt like an audience to his own agony, standing at the edge of his body.

He looked at the dark disc, his arms somehow mustered a bit of strength. His right hand drew the dagger out and with all that bit of strength he mustered, he tossed it right into the dark disc.

He had no idea what the dark disc was. He had no idea what the owner of that frightening arm was. But he knew he had to attack and that was the only way he could think of.

The dagger zoomed into the dark disc.

Ye Chong could feel his senses returning almost simultaneously after, when a wave of pain surged in him. Oww… He could no longer hold his whimper.

The deadly shrill ceased…

Ye Chong was already half-fainted. Mu, at his quickest speed, grabbed Ye Chong up right after the shrill stopped. He opened up his cabin and placed Ye Chong gently inside. He then turned away to the tunnel and began running, with Multipede following like a pet behind.

Mu would not let go of the ores even under such devastated circumstance. Poor Multipede, being the engineering model, had barely any appropriate armor on its body. That demolishing shockwave dealt great damage on it. Sluggishly it dragged its shattered body. Fortunately, the processor remained intact, so Mu could remotely control its movement.

The winding tunnel to the outside was troublesome for Mu to travel but that was not the time for him to calculate. He would most likely bombard the underground to create a pathway directly to the surface, if he had the right weapon for it.

Ye Chong remained unconscious. If he had woken up at any point he would probably be ranting about how long the tunnel was.

Mu still travelled faster than Multipede as it only caught up 2 seconds after Mu hit the opening.

Mu used his only hand to grab Multipede and blasted off into the sky.

An infuriated shrill roared violently from the underground.

The ground was shattering the second after Mu flew off. The opening collapsed under the hypersonic of the unknown. Half a meter of the barren circular ground crumbled, forming a large rift.

Mu did not look down, he flew on, as long as he reached the sky, he would get back to Coxcomb.

Halfway through their journey, Ye Chong regained his consciousness. Thanks to his well-built body, he got back to his usual condition. That shock caused only an emergency shutdown to his system as a form of defense.

“M-Mu…” His words rang softly, “What was that…”

“Unidentifiable. Object: Unknown according to database,” Mu replied.

“It is horrible…” Even an in-human like Ye Chong was exclaiming at the frightening event before. And that was also his first time seeing Mu behaving so gracelessly, he did not even have the energy to fight back. What kind of living thing could produce such scream…?

Soundwave-based weaponry was not something foreign to Ye Chong. Well, its development was rather primitive in the 5 major galaxies. It was a kind of area-of-effect attack, which disregarded friends or foes. In other words, if you wanted a stronger sound wave attack, you would have to be much stronger to withstand it. Also its effective areas were of limited choices, as it required a medium like the air in the atmosphere to travel. But most of humanity spent their lives in the airless space now, which justified the underdevelopment of soundwave-based weaponry.

Despite all that, Ye Chong experienced the potency of sound-waves, and there was this particular living thing that was capable of producing them. How horrible… The three forces, be it the MPA, the Sanctuary or even the Black Coves, might be nothing compared to its power. Obviously one could say the attacker was no way a human.

And, under such existence, there were humans who always assumed themselves to be the ruler of the galaxy. What was the truth, the very truth of the rulership in the end, anyway?

The sight before Ye Chong widened, Mu had left the forest completely and reached the sky. Ye Chong sat steadily inside Mu. A sense of nostalgia struck, as he remembered the days back on Trash Planet when he had to log into the Virtual World almost everyday inside Mu. Well, that was no longer the case ever since they left Trash Planet. He hardly had the chance to board Mu. It felt warm… the memories, as the stiffened expression of Ye Chong melted.

!

“Mu!” Ye Chong yelled as he saw something approaching, “Look out! The mech behind!”

Mu’s detection was based on hologramic scanning and on this planet, Mu’s detection only was capable of proximity about 3 kilometers, and 3 kilometers to a mech were hardly a distance, not even the distance of safety. So Ye Chong’s naked eyes could do better than the mechanical eyes under such condition, especially when they were in the sky, away from the blockage of the woods.

A few mechs were flying towards them, in spread.

Ye Chong modified the setting as he switched Mu’s camera to photographic mode, to have a better look at the mechs. They were of the same models, which Ye Chong could not recognize. A total 5 of them. Ye Chong directly related them to the case of the student of Vicente. The flock underneath could possibly be the organization who abducted that student.

The 5 mechs were pretty strange to him. He looked at the screen and made a few estimations. The height of the mechs were about 15 meters, which were much taller than most mechs; their body size were much larger than most mechs as well – a little bulky in design.

Those were not strange enough to Ye Chong, as he realized the mechs of such model were somehow a conglomeration, with the energy shooter in the hand, of a large musket, which made those energy shooters from MPA look like a toy pistol of a kid, at most an art piece rather than a real killing weapon. From the weapon they were holding, it obviously labeled them as a ranged model, and their shooting chamber further supported Ye Chong’s assumption.

But, the catch was, there was an ancient lance made out of alloy at their back, along with a pair of laser swords installed on their body. They were not activated yet but Ye Chong could see the handle flashing at their sides. They were even armed with parrying spears, and a shield on the left arm, which its size was above average as well.

Ye Chong’s eyes widened. What is this? Did a rack turn alive from someone’s armory?

Judging from the enemies he had encountered before, be it the Black Covers or those from the MPA, they all had very distinctive characteristics, either identifying them as the close-attackers or ranged attackers. This was applicable even for the Sanctuary, the one who struck the balance between yet they picked the other path as they collaborated a unique skill of theirs into the combats.

Closed-ranged and ranged attacking were two different concepts, that a single pilot could hardly wield both. This was exceptionally true as a pilot further honed his or her skills, usually they would prefer to have one of the paths fully improvised, since the saying of “when you are good at everything, you are good at nothing.”

Frankly speaking, despite Ye Chong’s comment of labelling them as the walking rack from someone’s armory, they did not look that bad. It felt like an ancient coat of arms. With that ancient lance on the back, it looked pretty chivalrous. The edge of the shield was coated with sky blue, capsuling the golden brand in the center, giving off the vibes of the nobility.

There were shrills from the ground. Ye Chong could hear it clearly even above the sky. But the shrill had transformed into a mere sound traveling through air, since the shockwave had been fully absorbed by the ground.

“The mechs were probably attracted by the sound waves,” speculated Ye Chong.

Mu was obviously not in the mood of having any duel with the mechs. His goal had been achieved while there was this unidentifiable monster rampaging underground. The sanest choice would be to get back to their warship.

Ye Chong was confident of Mu’s velocity as he still travelled faster than most of the mechs even with Multipede in his grip.

At first he thought Mu would lose the 5 mechs in a matter of seconds. However so far, the only change was the distance between him and the 5 mechs. Yes, Mu was gaining distance from the 5 mechs, nevertheless it should not be the case since Mu had such an insane speed.

Ye Chong had the thought and was shocked, as the speed of the 5 mechs could compete with the unmodified war machines of the three forces… with such bulky body, yet they had such velocity which Mu could not zap away from right away. It was shocking indeed. They were also flying in perfect position, their rapports were trained.

So which of the three forces were the mechs from?

This was the biggest mystery to Ye Chong currently.

Mu’s speed also seemed to surprise the 5 mechs, as Ye Chong could occasionally see tiny flinches from them.

“Mu, be careful. They are shooting,” warned Ye Chong as he saw two of the mechs charging energy at their muskets. Compared to Javelin Wing of the MPA, the charging action was too blatant in the eyes. He recalled the time he fought Javelin Wing, which the energy shooter did not even seem to be charging before it fired an explosion. That would be the ideal way of fighting, Ye Chong supposed.

“Understood,” Mu replied flatly.

Ye Chong felt his head falling. He understood that it was Mu, doing the standard dodging procedure by disrupting the foes’ shooting in unpredictable rhythm. This was Ye Chong’s first time sitting right inside Mu experiencing the shaking of standard dodge.

Mu was still Mu, the skillful artificial intelligence, as his debut was a series of super duper advanced rapid disorderly turnings, which gave the sturdy man Ye Chong a lingering dizziness in his head. Ye Chong could not imagine doing the same turnings by himself.

Mu’s moves were effective, as they confused the foes successfully. The light beams traveled right by Mu’s side. Boom! The forest was seared into two baldy zones. “Man!” exclaimed Ye Chong in his mind. The energy shooter was not the random shooter from the market!

The firings from the foes came off as a warning. Well they intended give a warning, till Mu’s dramatic spin made them missed their shoot, reminding them that they had messed with the wrong guy.

One of the mechs fired a signal into the sky right after that. The bombardment occurred as a flash of red signal covering the sky. It might be a primitive methodology, but anyone would have used such a primitive technology, since the magnetic interferences were so strong that any communicative device would fail.

Mu’s orbit was still confusing as hell. But Ye Chong could see their destination being not too far away – the Coxcombs, resting at the corner silently.

Chapter 219: The Foxes and the Hare

The gigantic Coxcomb was more eye-catching than anything else when Mu flew towards it without hesitation. Hm? Ye Chong took a light breath, as through the photon camera of Mu he saw Tai Zuo and his gang sitting by the opened gate.

Tai Zuo was the first who discerned the incoming “intruder”, as he hurried the other folks to get up and hide under the shadow of Coxcomb. Wow, that’s actually pretty smart. Complimented Ye Chong in his mind.

What actually happened was, everyone regained consciousness after Ye Chong left the ship, especially after being given expert care from Meng Fei’er, where their condition had improved a lot. Tai Zuo’s reaction towards the incoming object was justified, the fact that he had taken the personality of the distant young man into consideration and had identified that if any incident were to happen, they would be the last few persons on ship to be directly involved. Thus, he ran away with the remaining members to the shadow. At least there were engines installed on their protective suits. It felt miraculous when they actually made it back to the Coxcomb despite their laid-back hovering. But the gate was already closed by then. So they only managed to sneak into the shadow of Coxcomb and wait for Ye Chong’s return.

“Ah!” And Mu opened the gate right before he arrived by Coxcomb, which left the 5 men in dismay upon seeing this never-before-seen mech flying towards them. “What are you waiting for?” shouted Ye Chong, hustling the gang in their daydreams.

They might have never seen that mech before, but they heard Ye Chong’s voice, and started space-swimming towards the opened Coxcomb.

The hunting mechs behind Mu ceased their acceleration upon seeing the Coxcomb. Anyone of them could imagine the size of an army inside a spaceship of such hugeness. They might have strong rapports with each other and also armed with something, but they would not dare to infuriate the hundreds, no, the thousands inside the ship.

“Well, Mu,” stated Ye Chong, “It looks like there is a need to equip you with some weaponry, or you would be too passive in the situation.”

“Agreed,” said Mu, “Our achievement this time is great. The loots are sufficient to produce a few weapons.”

“What kind of weapons would you like, Mu?” Ye Chong asked with full of interest, since Mu was never armed with a gun or a blade from the very beginning he picked the machine from the trash, and Mu had always been fighting with weapons “borrowed” from the opponents, which were discarded right after the duel ended. Ye Chong did recognize that bit of pride in Mu, where probably he disdained those substandard weapons so much that he would never keep them as his toys for long-term.

“Regarding that… Ye, you would know when time arrives.” And the artificial intelligence returned with a brief statement imbued with slight mystery, which further intrigued the young man inside the cabin.

The 5 mechs remained afar. Apparently they had never made a wild guess that the ship could also be literally empty. They fired a yellow signal next.

Mu soared in after seeing the running men having made back inside Coxcomb. The gate was closed right after.

Ye Chong gave a sigh of relief after Mu had landed safely. Their safety would be at better guarantee as long as they were inside Coxcomb.

“Oh how glad am I to-” Ye Chong was welcomed by the gang when he left the cabin, but the corner of his lips caused an astonishment, as stained by blood. What kind of danger had this young man faced that he was actually wounded while being inside a mech? The mystery lingered within the mind of the gang. And he survived? Wow. The capabilities of the indifferent young man had convinced the gang.

“Are you alright?” asked Meng Fei’er, being the medical staff of the team, “Do you need help?”

The indifferent young man shook his head, as he took a glance at the members, who looked to be in the pink of health, well, at least their expression did not seem agonized, even though it looked a little pale. Ye Chong could have provided some help since whatever Lunatic Guan had taught him before could be used for medication as well, but he was still a novice compared to Meng Fei’er the trained.

Ye Chong’s body had also recovered from the fatigue, as he felt the strength in his muscles.

The first thing on his priority list was to change the detection mode of the Coxcomb to Photon Mode, instead of Hologramic Mode which had proven its helplessness under such strong magnetic interference. The Hologramic System had been jammed, so it would be a sane choice to use the traditional Photon Mode instead to retain the visibility of the surrounding.

Of course Ye Chong had made up his mind to depart. The planet nearby had given him ample horror, which that unidentifiable lifeform underground was the most threatening. He had fulfilled his mission here, “Time to move.”

Ye Chong was going to pull the lever and blast off to infinity and beyond, but then… There seemed to be a white spaceship traveling towards them, if what he saw on the photon display was right.

Oh no… Ye Chong’s hope sank.

It could be the first time Ye Chong saw such model of spaceship, but he could tell, that obviously it was a corvette from the MPA. There was a distinctive style on all MPA ships, from the aspect of weaponry that is. To someone who had been through the weaponry production like Ye Chong, no doubt that would be the first thing crossing in his mind. Whether the ship was a warship or an ordinary spaceship, well, a ship that was sent to a dangerous zone like this, it had to be a warship. Thought Ye Chong.

So the MPA came to join the party? Even the indifferent young man could not help but to frown upon the situation, as he reminisced the times he fought an actual corvette from the MPA. It was not a good experience. And the Coxcomb had zero experience in the warfield, his potential remained something to gamble with.

Ye Chong had automatically identified the incoming warship as being hostile. But how did the MPA get here? It was puzzling to Ye Chong since Vicente had only one student but there were already two organizations hovering around. Had the whole world found out the news?

The corvette of MPA travelled quickly. It was much quicker compared to the Coxcomb.

As they inched towards the Coxcomb, Ye Chong could finally see the exact appearance of the ship. Unlike the Twin Moon he had encountered before, this corvette had merely a curved body painted completely in white. And compared to the Coxcomb which had a length of 5km, this corvette was much smaller. Probably a mere 2 kilometers, Ye Chong supposed, although that huge pipe on top of the corvette was a gasp-worthy surprise.

Gradually Ye Chong could see the weaponry on that approaching corvette. He flinched. Wasn’t that an electromagnetic cannon? Ye Chong who had produced few of his own immediately pinpointed that firepower setting. The tubes were plain white. Nevertheless they looked exactly like the tubes Ye Chong made.

“Ye, this is the Eclipse. Unlike Twin Moon, this is a warship of single-moon, a conquering model, where its main firepowers are scattered into 22 electromagnetic firings. The main cannon

Is great but only suitable for passive-aggressive position, like on a galactic stronghold for example. The Eclipse is chiefly used for its reflexibility, its petite size and mobility while retaining a certain level of firepower,” introduced Mu and he sounded as if he was reciting from a textbook.

“Mu, you know this warship?” asked Ye Chong. There had been occasions where Mu showed unreasonable amount of knowledge on the working of MPA, although he was not that shocked by the detail.

…

The artificial intelligence went silent for a moment. “Mhm, it seemed like there is a massive amount of information regarding various aspects of Mech-Pilot Association inside my databank, where part of them has been destroyed. Ye, I might have an undeniable association with the MPA, although I have yet discovered any information to justify that hypothesis.”

“Mu…” Ye Chong could not help but to ask, “Do you want to know your past?”

“Not really.” Flatly Mu replied, “My past self has nothing much to do with my current self. It was solely for formation of a much logical relationship. Ye, you are the only person both of us would approve. At least on this extent, both Shang and I would mutually agree.”

“Oh no…”

“Ah… i-i-i-i-i-is this the warship?” Tai Zuo’s face was pale as he stood by the horrified team of his, while watching the the visual of the Eclipse becoming bigger and clearer on the projection. This was probably the exact expression from anyone of the 5 major galaxies upon a warship’s arrival, since the warship had become a pronoun, a term of the history the moment the governments of the 5 major galaxies forbade the research and development of war units like the warship. They had gone extinct after the production was ceased, which their former glory as once a jaw-opener to everyone was fading into a discolored scenery.

But there Tai Zuo and his team were, seeing an actual warship heading towards them.

The arrival of the MPA seemed to have alarmed that 5 mechs watching at the corner. Well that was what Ye Chong speculated, since they should at least recognize that incoming warship being the MPA’s.

“Hey!” Shouted Meng Fei’er, pointing at the other side of the projection, “Look! What is this?”

There was clearly a black dot at the corner, which seemed to be enlarging over time.

Ye Chong’s expression melted…

The black dot approached them quickly, it did not take long before everyone recognized what it was.

“A-a-a-another warship?!” screamed Han Ben, as he looked at his mates in graceless manner.

Ye Chong was more silent than ever, as he knew.

It was a warship.

From the Black Coves.

The ships of the Black Coves always had a badge in the shape of a long, narrow leaf. It was really obvious, as the war units of Black Coves were thoroughly black. A glowing kind of black, probably they had infused the armor with their specialty, the black gold.

It was a major plot twist in Ye Chong’s script. There were already the MPA and the Black Coves. It would not be far-fetched if a Sanctuary warship came nonchalantly into the scene soon, supposed Ye Chong.

“Look at that!”

Right after his speculation went wild in his mind, he saw the third warship… in a shape of some kind of unnamed bird in the projection. Wait. A. Minute! Don’t tell me… is it a reunion day for the three forces? Ye Chong could no longer word his feelings.

Well, the 5 mechs watching at the corner seemed to be more panicked than Ye Chong himself, as they continuously cursed the pilot of the warship from their side, “Where the hell are they? We need backups!” The sudden participation of the other 3 uninvited guests was pressuring them to death.

They probably had never thought that it was the signals they sent off that attracted the guests.

“Leader!” shouted one man. It was a relieving sight as the leader turned back, as the warship had finally arrived. The 5 mechs were calmer the moment an antique-looking warship flew into the scene. No more delay! The 5 mechs flew to their mothership like a group of lost children, being chased by the darkest nightmare in their dream.

Ye Chong … He was at utter loss of words. The namely secret he had been holding had all gone into the light, it was as if the whole galaxy had known it. At least he made his travel fast or he would have to snatch the ores with the forces.

The reality? The planet was not wholly discovered by Vicente’s student alone. There were 4 of them, where one turned out to be a big mouth. Seemingly unable to watch his mouth, he leaked the information which then everybody else knew their discovery. Then the 4 organizations around Ye Chong now. No doubt, no organization would go uninterested on a planet like this. Not only the inhabited planet would signify a free base, but also there would be resources, countless of them, thus the income, the rolling cash into their base.

The moment they knew the pioneering folks of the inhabited planet, they raided upon them, almost simultaneously. It was such painful coincidence that they had to bump into each other every time they wanted to work something on the project. Inevitably, they had to fight for the 4 members and they realized none of them would overcome the other at this rate. So they shared the members. A member for each organization. And this particular 4th force joining the Battle Royale, had their first time banging their head against the 3 forces, and the funny thing was, they did not lose badly apparently.

After the 4 members had been escorted to each organization, their information extracted, the organization was well-aware of how their counterparts would have the same amount of information and how they would likely to lose anything if they never acted fast. So immediately after they sent off their ships to the planet, trying to get a share of the pie on the table.

It was surprising that the planet was capsuled in the magnetic force, that all their hologramic detection system had gone offline and in the end, they had never come across each other, nor they had seen the planet.

Fortunately, thanks to the 5 meddling mechs for sending off a signal, they had been guided and thus, reunited at this place. Wonder how the pilots on those 5 mechs would react if they knew themselves being the cause of the scene…

And this scene, this grand scene of a brewing storm was something not on everyone’s script as well. None of them took action. The space was boundless and dark, where 4 warships and 1 spaceships were standing against each other, freezing. The 4 warships were familiar of existence of each other, nothing surprising. But the Coxcomb, the 5th ship that should not be here, was appearing odd in between them.

Everyone’s eyes went upon the Coxcomb, as they wondered where the warship belonged to. The Coxcomb was humongous, which was a perfect walking bullseye.

They were eager… very eager.

The team at the Coxcomb had their faces distorted into something indistinguishable. It was fear, but more than fear; it was hopeless, but more than hopeless. Meng Fei’er even covered her eyes, her body quivering. It was a pitiful sight.

Ye Chong remained calm.

Tai Zuo marveled at the calmness of this young man.

The 4 warships had the same thought – one side less meant one less share, one less share meant one more loot. Simple math, simple logic. Obviously neither of the side could no longer dominate the entire planet on its own. They got to share and if that was the case, lesser the share the merrier.

The armor of a Zika spaceship could be all sturdy and mighty but would be feeble when being gashed upon by the other warships. Mech? It would be a joke, all of the forces were the expert of mech-piloting.

The forces thirsted the loot, as they approached the spaceship together, like the 4 foxes eyeing a wild hare.

Just when everyone was going to flaunt their offenses, the harmless-looking rabbit raised its fang out of sudden!

It was a plot twist. It was not in the script. And everyone was gasping, heavily.

Chapter 220: Shockwave

The length of a Zika-graded spaceship would be about 5 kilometers. A whale in the space one could call. The warships, for they sought dexterity and momentum, would be designed petite and light. The difference in size was blatant as they flew towards the Coxcomb.

?

In visuals of every ship, the Coxcomb suddenly rose its bars, and within the opening, countless pipes were raised towards them. The laser firing devices were filled between the remaining gaps.

And they thought they were the foxes, hunting for the hare, which turned out to be quite the opposite. The dark tubes were exerting fearsome brutality. The laser firing devices were quiet, inactive but one could imagine the density of the firing with that amount on a giant ship.

The change in the script was unacceptable to the forces, where most of them dazed upon. That expression of theirs would make people wonder if they were really the elites in combat.

“Hey! Aren’t those electromagnetic cannons?” The scream of one man from the Eclipse caught the attention of everybody else. They knew their cannons and a glance was more than enough for them to verify the validity of the object before them. They crowded upon the visuals and got into a noisy discussion. The leader of the ship however, was pale.

“Oh my MPA, that’s really an electromagnetic cannon.”

“Stop messing around, the cannon is our secret weapon, how would that warship have it?”

“Beats me. Someone has probably leaked it.”

“The confidentiality department should be executed, like right now.”

…

The captain was at loss of idea too. He had been the captain for years and there had been cases where he led the entire crew on the Eclipse successfully. No one had known the ship much better than himself. The main firepower of the Eclipse, the electromagnetic cannons, their properties were something he knew like the back of his hands. The weapon could give a large area a heavy blow, in spite of its deadly weakness, the high energy consumption, which eventually limited the performance of the Eclipse in offenses since they lacked the space to install more batteries.

And there was this Zika graded spaceship precisely, the warship holding an outrageous amount of electromagnetic cannons, that had outnumbered those on the captain’s ship. The captain was overwhelmed that he corrected his perception of this warship before him, that it was clearly no longer an ordinary spaceship, rather it was a killing warship. Although he could not give the exact figure on the number of tubes at that ship, he was well-aware that he and his crew would be the one sinking under the foe’s bombardment instead. Being an experienced captain, his comment did stand a certain extent of credibility. Of course, if the foe wanted to launch the cannon and initiate the war, he as the captain himself would not hold back but to send off his elites and demonstrate what true rapports between the captain and his crew were. His crew was not something to be defeated by some random warships. With his expertise, it should be a 50:50 in the end.

Furthermore, the outnumbering electromagnetic cannons would also suggest that the foe depleted the energy of the ship much faster. Zika-graded warship might be giant in size to be convincing enough to have tons of batteries, but one must know that it would also require a major crew to fully pilot the entire ship. Thus, there would not be a sustainable amount of batteries for multiple electromagnetic blows, since this ship was not for warring purposes in the first place, as justified by the sturdiness of its armor, which was something never competent compared to the real warship. It also would sail sluggishly and make turnings much later than the others. These would inevitably be the lethal weaknesses of the ship.

The SWOT analysis ran rapidly in the mind of the captain.

His expression would be priceless if he were to be informed that there were no more than 6 persons on that ship.

!

“Observers!” The eyes of the captain froze the moment they lay on a specific spot of the ship, as if they made a major discovery, “Enlarge the visual! Now!” The voice roared throughout the room, as the face of the captain tightened. Temper, agony resounded and silenced the remaining crew as their eyes set upon the enraged captain, wondering what had gotten into their wise and usually undisturbed leader.

The observers on duty who had been adjusting the Photon Visual System shuddered. Their experience and knowledge saved them for they managed to perform what the captain asked within milliseconds although being extremely panicked.

“Enlarge the cannons.” The voice was profound.

The electromagnetic cannons of the Coxcombs were immediately enlarged, to a point where everyone in the room could see the details, how dark the tubes were.

And the face of captain ran as cold as the tubes in the visuals.

What … is this? How would the captain not immediately identify it as being made out of something he recognized, after all these years he had been warring with the Black Coves? Black gold was the metal exclusive to the Black Covers and any metal coated by the black gold would exert a kind of strange glow, just like this. It was something impossible to be imitated by the other alloys, which the members of the MPA authority would resentfully covet upon. These were only extractable deep inside the Black Coves, they were likely going to stay as a green-eyed monster for all eternity, although their research on a replacement, a replica never stopped once. Their research had shown that the black gold had much stronger expression in energy-based weaponry compared to physical weaponry for its energy activity was very high, which would be perfect for energy-based weaponry production.

The details of the research were not something open to the public, not even a frontline member like the captain himself, but he was once informed the information on the black gold accidentally during an occasion. It was irony although Black Coves had such a god’s gift, they were lagging way behind in development of energy-based weaponry. It would be considered as a miracle despite all the overpowered effects of black gold, they remained at a similar standard of capabilities.

And there he was, with his eyes wavering at a thing he was confused of. The tubes were obviously made out of black gold, which were installed on electromagnetic cannons, something that should be exclusive to the MPA. The foe was one with the technological standard of MPA and the amazing metallurgical development on the black gold application, who also built an actual set of electromagnetic cannons. The firepower… the firepower… It would be something the captain too feared to predict. The MPA never once had the opportunity to perform sufficient experiments on the black gold infusion as the ores were very scarce.

Assuming only the captain understood such fact on the MPA’s Eclipse, the Black Covers should be well-aware of the situation as well. They knew their black gold better than the MPA, even though their focus on close-combats had led them an underdeveloped weaponry. It was a known fact among the Black Covers on the application of black gold on energy-based weaponry, while also the electromagnetic cannons were something they long coveted. No matter how hard they had tried in the past, they never got their hands on the actual print of electromagnetic cannon.

Now, after that round of astounding discovery, there was one question in all of them.

Where did he get this much of black gold?

Black gold was in fact exclusive to the Black Covers but it was uncommon. Quite the contrary to the captain’s assumption, being naturally a strategical material as well as an expensive metal ore, its transport was carefully watched the whole time. It would be impossible for it to accidentally leak to someone out there to be made into tubes of electromagnetic cannon.

Also, not only the Black Coves and the MPA were at confusion, the Sanctuary and that mysterious organization seemed to have noticed the same.

And everyone was there, speculating, wondering, hypothesizing, inferring the identity of the leading one in the Zika ship.

The hare had transformed into something beyond their control. The supposedly weakest one had ascended and outraced them to be one with the strongest firepower, which made everybody else hold their fire. The weaponry on that ship was one to be feared of. No one was confident enough to assure their victory upon fighting against the ship officially, since it was simple – the moment they were damaged, they would be weakened and very likely they would lose their former share of the loots in the end as they would be forced out of the race prematurely. Moreover, it had been a bloodshed known fact that each force had bad blood with each other, written in countless bleeding histories one would gash upon, given one of the forces were weakened, how would they miss the golden opportunity to deliver the necessary final blow?

A new rule, in the form of a new balance was set upon the playing teams.

…

Out of sudden, the shrill came after. Everyone was shocked. Ye Chong frowned, his men were astounded, as never they would expect an undisturbed young man like Ye Chong having such a disturbed expression. What kind of monster would make such sound? The question sprouted in their heads.

It was merely a frown, which Ye Chong withdrew from soon after.

“Mu, let’s leave this place now,” Ye Chong first contacted Mu.

“Yes. Logical suggestion accepted. Execute promptly,” Mu acknowledged.

The combat squads of the 4 warships looked at their mates, especially after seeing how that largest warship was backing away upon hearing that strange shrill.

Did the ship… chicken out?

The Coxcomb might seemed to chicken out and backed away, but his cannons were still pointing right at those 4 warships around, so the warships around did not take any action, although their leaders were dissatisfied of their helplessness. On a second thought, that would be good, one less member to the game, one less share to be given away. The captains snickered, as experience had reasoned the Coxcomb as the foolish one who seemed to be assuming a war was happening between them. “Well, not today.” They would not be warring each other and this foolish ship would not stand a chance to steal the loots from them in the midst of chaos. If the ship still insisted his uninvited participation, no doubt the 4 ships would join forces and get rid of him.

The strange shrill did slip through their ears. It was never part of their attention. It would be a joke if a warship powerful like theirs to be defeated by a mere living thing.

Ye Chong was relieved. His exit was a peaceful one, as he saw the remaining warships shrinking in his visuals. He wondered how the warships would handle the monster if the monster ever got out of the ground. But he already speculated a painful fight if he were the one involved. Regarding what could happen to the 4 warships, “None of my business.”

Ye Chong felt safer. There was no medium for the hypersonic to travel in the space, so he would not be wounded. That hypersonic was not something to mess with.

Ye Chong was at peace, especially after he confirmed to have left out the proximity of that peculiar planet.

The other members on his team, well, were at horror. Their injuries remained and now they were shocked almost to their death.

“Was…w-was that a warship?” asked Meng Fei’er, biting her lips, never wanting to believe what she saw and what she was going to say, but she said it anyway. Their eyes set upon Ye Chong, who were nonchalantly on his seat. Obviously the young man had known more darkness in the background than the team.

“Yes.” Ye Chong found her question a little strange so he took a glance at her and nodded, “Those were the warships.” Well it was because the Coxcomb was also a warship in disguise, just that the members never got to see his true appearance.

“No…No…” Out of the blue, teardrops rolled off the maiden’s cheek, “Is there going to be a war soon?” Her expression was not agitated, softly her question went.

The question was probably what everybody else was thinking. The impression upon seeing a warship appearing out of nowhere, they would associate its appearance with war itself. Fear filled the men’s eyes the moment Meng Fei’er voiced her doubts. They were not the young folks, they had experienced, and had understood the brutality of war.

“We would know after we got into Tappero galaxy.” Ye Chong’s voice was low, “But, whether there would be a war, it would be only a matter of time.” He was surprised that the 3 forces could retain their balance and relationship for so long. But there was already a plot twist in their book, the emergence of the 4th force would no doubt lead to a transition period, the balance had already been broken, and to build a new balance to accommodate the 4th force, they would have to do it the painful way.

“Ha… H…” Her voice was shaky, her tears were streaming, her mates were escaping the reality. No way Ye Chong would comprehend her feelings, the feeling of a resident re-experiencing the war itself after years of peace being in the 5 major galaxies.

Even if Ye Chong could compute her feelings, he would only think of ways to improve his strength, rather than being somber over what already happened, to give better chance of his survival if a war were to happen.

Ye Chong got to a single room, where Multipede was placed. It was an isolated room for Ye Chong believed, the lesser people knew the source of his strength, the better it was to himself.

And it was Ye Chong’s favorite past time – counting the loots.

He took out the Teardrops from his bag. One… Two… Oh he had seven of them. The Teardrops were indeed a marvel but similar to Do-Kun stone, they were something unusable at the moment, unlike those ores inside Multipede, practical and immediately useable.

Speaking of Multipede, it was terrorizing to look at its appearance. The hypersonic attack nearly murdered the machine. The armors were either cracked or shattered. Most of its mechanical legs were broken. And Mu forced Multipede to travel through the winding tunnels, one could say it was close to malfunction.

The transmutated energy ores on the other hand, were doing good

And after Mu’s explanation, Ye Chong finally understood what exactly the ores were.