Legend Is The Supreme Soldier

by Stayrr

Ye Chong was a denizen of Trash Planet-12. On one fateful day, he discovered a treasure that would forever alter his destiny from a pile of junk – Mu Shang, an unknown machine with artificial intelligence and a lost memory. Together, they venture into the vast galaxy as the isolated “caveman” that was Ye Chong began absorbing all sorts of knowledge and meeting people from all walks

4. 97

Legend of the Supreme Soldier #Chapter 97 - Blue Ocean Runaway - Read Legend of the Supreme Soldier Chapter 97 - Blue Ocean Runaway Online - All Page - Novel Next

Chapter 97: Blue Ocean Runaway

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

At the passageway for spacecrafts, Ye Chong hid at the corner with his eyes focused on the path as he discovered the substantial increase in the number of cops. He frowned slightly, wondering if the police force was in cahoots with the Black Covers. If that was the case, Black Cove was truly meant for retrieval this time as they actually took the trouble to gang up with the security force just to prevent Ye Chong from running away easily. Without a spacecraft, he would not be able to perform a space warp. Even if he were to use a master-craft like Mu to run away without leaping through the space-time continuum, it would be far-fetched for him to fly beyond the proximity of the police force, since eventually, a few hundred thousands or even millions of kilometers were considered a pathetic length in the boundless universe.

Despite being drastically outnumbered by his foes, Ye Chong trusted his strength. It would not be that difficult to infiltrate the area. "Let's do this!" Ye Chong was going to lift his steps, then his eyes discerned something - a number of mechs from the Black Cove lurking at an overlooked corner, coveting their prey to fall in.

The idea was scrapped.

That would not work! Ugh, such a pain in the head! Even if I did manage to sneak in, it would be pointless if I could not launch the flight promptly. Any spacecraft would be as slow as a snail without performing space-warping in comparison with the mechs. With those Black Covers' mechs at the corner, launching a flight promptly would be just a dream! A wild dream! He would be shot into a beehive before he could even boot the engines.

He then wondered if he could catch one of the spacecrafts taking off being that uninvited guest to the flight and escape.

Sadly, there was no miracle for Ye Chong that day.

He peeked for quite a while but there was simply no spacecraft taking off.

"Ye," Mu's voice broke the silence. "Let's just go. The spacecrafts are not flying here anytime soon."

"What do you mean… Oh!" Ye Chong was dumbfounded as he figured out what Mu probably had meant. "Mu, don't tell me they are actually holding back all the spacecrafts here? But wouldn't this cause a mess at the port or something?"

"Look at this," Mu explained as he read on the extract.

"According to the latest news at the center, the local government of the Blue Ocean Planet has validated the possible infection of the virus, Charles-II. As stated by the 'Treaty of uncommon and dangerous microorganism spread-control in the 5 galaxies', any flight beyond the planet would be forbidden from today onwards. In addition, all residents are strongly advised to perform a body check-up at any local hospital or temporary inspection center in the following 3 days. This is to ensure your safety and others. As reported, reinforcement would arrive to provide assistance to the local police forces for the time being. In addition, please make sure that everyone of your family and friends had performed their checkups. If not, please do advise them to do so immediately. If they are showing resistance, kindly contact your nearest police station for not only your safety but your family's…"

Wow, such coincidence, of all times a virus could have appeared. Ye Chong was troubled.

This was more than a mere coincidence! This couldn't be a coincidence! If this is some dangerous Charles virus actually thrashing mankind, then what were those Black Covers doing with their killing machines here? Were they… Were they here for me?

Ye Chong speculated so unconvincingly. Though feeling unconvinced, whatever he had deduced made more sense as he thought over time.

"Mu, do you think they are here for us?" asked Mu.

"As shown in my data, the probability is roughly between 72% and 76%," Mu stated calmly.

It was puzzling for Ye Chong. Assuming there would be no spacecraft for him to hop on, his mobility would be severely limited while it would only be a matter of time before he got cornered and there would not be another plot twist for him by then. Game over. However, Ye Chong was bothered as he felt something amiss. While the Black Cove took such a hassle to get him, the FMPA did not seem to have initiated anything - they were quiet, too quiet. Ye Chong did not bet his life on them though. It was just a glimpse of speculation flashing in his head.

How should I get away with this? Ye Chong cracked his head thinking.

"Ye!" Mu's voice echoed. "Go to the north of Jesha zone, the place where you did your training. Take care and stay low."

Ye Chong was more than merry to hear the instruction from Mu knowing that Mu must had gotten some brilliant idea for his escape! As he finally got a plan, time had elevated as his primary concern. "There's no time to waste." He sneaked out of the passageway and hit the street. He lowered his body as he weaved through the crowds. Soundlessly he hastened his journey to north. The Harmony of the Winter Aria had already been kept back to the alternate dimension. He would not be foolish enough to deploy such badly damaged piece of mech in the public. A mech this broken would only be much more outstanding than a potential outlaw like Ye Chong!

The number of police officers on the street had blatantly increased. They patrolled the area and scanned for suspicions among the pedestrians from time to time. Fortunately, Ye Chong was more than familiar with this game of urban jungle escape after an epic chase on the mech one after another. Additionally, Mu provided pointers on spot regarding his motion - whether to stop at one point or to move straightaway to the alley; whether to take a look into the window pretending shopping or to take the corner at the store. A moment later, Ye Chong had arrived at the forbidden flight zone without much trouble.

It was the same old place he knew - a deserted desert, with veils of sandstorm, darkness and fuzzy vision on both naked and mechanical eyes.

"So… Mu, you have brought me here." Ye Chong asked out of curiosity, "Does that mean you found a spacecraft here?"

"Nope."

"Then why are we here?" Ye Chong questioned in confusion.

To travel this desert zone, Ye Chong had to deploy Harmony. Tick! He slid into his cabin and activated the interface. Harmony did not seem to be in a good shape, as anyone could tell. Hak's final blow to Harmony was mortal, with the spikes skimming inches away from Ye Chong's cabin. If Hak did intend to kill, Ye Chong would have been dead. And if the spikes of Kai's fist was much broader, the mech would be permanently beyond repair.

Beep.

Ye Chong was still able to boot the engines! Apparently, the circuits were not overly damaged. It looked like Ye Chong had not run out of luck, even though the energy remained in the battery was pitifully scarce after that much struggle - only about half was left.

Ye Chong browsed through the projected news on the processor from Mu.

"As specified by the original schedule, Fred the Great who has been on a galactic tour would be making his arrival at Blue Ocean Planet in 3 days time. Report shows that Fred the Great would also be stopping by the planet for about 7 days. He would be visiting some well-known scenic spots and give a talk at Blue Ocean Academy on the very last day. Based on what the great one had told, apparently the aim of his tour this time is to look for inspiration…"

"And that is the news from 2 days ago," Mu spoke stilly.

Ye Chong's eyes lustered, "That means, he would be arriving in a day?"

"Mhm, if it is a day away…" He did not wait for Mu to answer as he began plotting, "That means he's close enough for us to work on something… First we could pilot a mech to leave Blue Ocean Planet then we hijack his ride. After that, we could go wherever we want from there!"

"But wait…" Ye Chong knotted his brows. There was a catch it seemed, "That dude we are dealing with did not look like any folk from the street. I think it's still quite hard for me to actually hijack a huge spacecraft with a mech alone, especially when Harmony seemed pretty busted at this instance."

"Alone? Are you alone?" Mu rebutted.

"Who else?" Ye Chong was bewildered, "Who else would there be? Is there anyone else? Oh, Mu, you are telling me that you are finally making a debut?" Ye Chong could not believe what a crazy assumption he had just made. It had been quite some time since Mu helped him out directly after leaving Trash Planet-12.

"Well." Mu worded with no emotions, "I had performed calculations on the data available. With the current condition of Harmony and you, the possibility of hijacking a spacecraft successfully alone would be less than 15%. That includes the chances of you acting up out of sudden during the operation. After much consideration, this would be the correct move to the situation."

"Right…" Taking his current condition into account, he agreed that Mu's decision was undeniably the best. His mind relaxed as he thought about Mu's full participation in the big escape this time. Confidence went inflating in him uncontrollably. Was there anything in this world that would hinder the great Mu?

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He took the suggestion to heart yet he did not make his move right away. Instead, he took a look around Harmony, just to make sure nothing could go wrong on his side or even if something would, Harmony could still arm itself to fight. And he blasted off through the fluttering shrouds of dust particles into the sky!

The heavy sandstorm and thrashing turbulence were the treacherous signs for this zone, which however had become an unbeatable camouflage for Ye Chong and Mu!

The anti-detection system in Harmony might not be as overpowered as those from the Black Coves, yet it still was an exceptional device. It was a mech secret in production by the Ji family after all. It was outstanding compared to those junks at the flea market!

…

Hak glanced at the scratches on Kai sympathetically. It was not bad but it was irritating to Hak. The scratches were not an issue, the engines were however. They were exclusive to the Black Covers and could only be fixed at the Black Cove. Hak would have to make his travel back to the Black Cove if he wanted to carry on his hunt. At the moment he could do nothing but to look at his mech in blank dismay.

No. 58 was no doubt a terrifying character indeed!

Hak had brought 10 men from Black Cove this time and he had lost 6 of them in between. It sounded like a painful loss but Hak only expressed an uprising cunningness in his eyes towards the 6 men's death. "Hehe… it did work out my way." Johansson's death was heartbreaking enough for him to stone upon in the next few moments, since he was the strongest man other than No.58 in the F group of his. Well, it did turn out to be the happiest news to the other groups.

None of the 6 men were from the F group. However, they were outsourced from the other groups, taking into consideration that there was nobody in the F group who was capable enough to join this operation after Johansson's death. Hak wanted to do something in the dark to take out a few of these outsourced obstacles in the team, just to knock down the other groups for his own benefits. Taking members of the other groups out equals to better chances of his Group-F excelling! His wish was granted but he never expected No.58 to be this potent to take out 6 of them at once. If Hak was able to get him back to the Black Cove, then F group would be… and then he would be … Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe…

The scheme set off blazing in his heart!

A knock on the door interrupted the nasty plot in his mind. Oh yeah, he was staying with the Ji family. Hak formerly held no impression towards the Ji family other than being a leech to the Black Cove's authority, but he was very much impressed this time by the surprises. The Ji family was much more formidable than he thought. The 2 mechs Ji family had crafted were about the average level of a standard mech at the Black Cove, with a few perks that the Black Cove could not compete at that moment - that lance for instance!

And it was also because of the Ji family's involvement in most of the activities this time around that No.58's escape route was restricted using the forces of the local government on Blue Ocean, making him a fish ready to be netted. Moreover, it held those meddling pilots from FMPA from taking any reckless action. "Impressive…" Hak took back his disdain towards the Ji family.

"Come in," he shouted at the door.

It was Ji Shangyan who came to him. Hak was expressing much admiration and respect towards this fine young man. Not only he had menacing plots in his head, he was also a terrifically terrible character. A bad man to the core! One of his recent plots was the virus news. It worked like a charm.

"Shangyan?" Ji Shangyan was looking bad on his face as Hak asked grimly, "What happened? Shangyan!" Unlike most young men out there, Ji Shangyan was a courteous boy, even towards a uncle-nephew relationship, which was very pleasing to Hak.

"Uncle Hak…" His voice came weakly, "We tried… we tried to retrieve something potentially useful from that Ye Chong guy's identity card but the result was shocking…"

"Oh? What is it?" Hak was intrigued.

"Every single bit of his information on the virtual networking system was gone… That includes his every record in the academy, which has been erased. We can't even find any photographic reference of his now. Everything was wiped…," he laughed bitterly.

"Ah!" Hak screamed uncontrollably, "It can't be!"

…

"Heh…" Dodging the patrolling mech in the sky of Blue Ocean cautiously, Ye Chong's mech had better dexterity and velocity in smaller scope of travel. The hummingbirds were an additional surprise to Ye Chong's journey. 5 hummingbird-detectors added could radically enlarge the range and accuracy of detection of Harmony! It also allowed stealth-mode detection too. Ye Chong believed that this was the most successful design added to the Harmony other than Blue Winter the lance.

He looked at the visuals projected in the hologram coming from the hummingbirds and gasped!

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Chapter 98: All Aboard!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A gigantic spacecraft flew at high speed in the sky. It was such a breathtaking sight, an impulsive view of a powerful contrast. Imagine it - a whale of a size of a small mountain slamming its body right onto you, with the shadow of its body engulfing you completely and one could stop breathing, one's heart could stop beating by then! Ye Chong was assured that this was by far the most enormous spacecraft he had ever encountered - it was colossal, so colossal that a great mech would feel as minuscule as a mosquito hovering before it.

Beep!

The hummingbirds transferred some data to the interface. "Oh my Fal-" Ye Chong was utterly stunned. His could hardly shut his mouth as the data illustrated the length of the spacecraft - head to tail, a whopping 10 kilometers.

"Is… Is this even a spacecraft?"

A length about 10 kilometers might have sounded grand to a caveman like Ye Chong. Little did Ye Chong know that there was actually a variety for spacecraft models. Depending on the model, the size varied. A prime example would be the spacecraft Ye Chong spotted in the space. As a matter of fact, the spacecraft was a Slan-graded premium spacecraft which would only be produced under special request pre-orders. One could never see a finished Slan grade spacecraft in the normal market. As astronomical as its size, its price was of a whopping length and without a doubt it was not something even the so-called millionaires could purchase on a whim.

A Slan spacecraft might not be the most advanced kind in the universe, however undeniably there was no other spacecraft that could compete its premium coziness, as if it was a flying palace in the space.

The outer appearance was demurely elegant. In spite of its overwhelming size, the details of every single inch of the design was not disregarded, presenting an exceptional standard of craftsmanship.

Being the first time encountering such a giant in the space, it was mind-blowing and eye-opening to Ye Chong. His brain was unable to perceive such huge amount of shock and was jammed for the moment.

"Mu…Mu… Is this really a spacecraft?" muttered Ye Chong.

"Certainly," Mu replied without hesitation.

"Are you sure we could hijack such a whale with only two of us? How should we get in? The armor is at least a hundred meter thick. It's impossible for us to break in!" Although Mu was the guarantee to the operation, Ye Chong was shaken by the size of this thing.

"Ye, one's capability does not share a consequential relationship with one's size! It is not strenuous to hijack or even to destroy it. Speaking from a theoretical approach, there is nothing truly invincible in this world," Mu replied indifferently.

"Really?" Ye Chong was skeptical about it. "Well… It's not like I have any other better ideas to get through this giant's armor…"

However, Mu disagreed, "The relationship between the thickness of an armor and the possibility of successful hijacking does not show a valid modus ponens! Smashing an armor to seize control of the entire craft is merely a method of pure violence and also a manifestation of strength under low-intelligence. Take note that the strength mentioned does not solely define one's vigor."

"Oh I see…" Ye Chong seemed to have gotten it somehow… "Ah!" A sudden realization struck Ye Chong, "Does that mean the method of 'threatening' Shang had taught me before was a form of manifestation too?"

"You are correct. That resides in the field of psychology. Shang is knowledgeable at it, which is one of the reasons that explains a more developed mood matrix in comparison to me."

"I still prefer the to act straightforward, being concise and simple. These are a little complicated for me to understand," confessed Ye Chong. To a big fan of nature's law of survival like Ye Chong, these techniques were truly more problematic to understand.

"These tactics are faster and more effective than pure violence, which is something important you need to learn in future. In spite of my understanding on these philosophies being unnecessary to a pilot like you, Shang showed perseverance to educate you on these. Judging by the situation now, clearly Shang's suggestion is right." Mu answered in a serious tone.

As Shang was mentioned, it was both funny and annoying to Ye Chong. Shang was such a respectable character yet he just did not want to put up a respectable behavior. A curiosity arose out of the blue, "If you were Mu, what tactic do you think he would use to fulfill our goals?"

"Negative. Insufficient information. Unable to perform a calculation," answered Mu.

Well, Harmony of the Winter Aria surely had some really good anti-detection system. They had been traveling by the giant for quite a while yet they were never detected. This again flaunted the strength of the Ji family. They were one of the 4 aristocratic families for a reason. But for Mu, Ye Chong wondered if a detection system that could work against him had been invented.

The 2 hovering mechs wavered like 2 mosquitos surrounding a massive sleeping beast.

"So what tactics are you going to use?" Ye Chong asked on behalf of his overflowing curiosity. Mu had been holding back the details for long enough to thirst Ye Chong into desperation.

"Based on our current condition…" Mu began, "Assuming we were to break this armor directly with brutal force, the possibility would only be 2.5% and below - you can safely presume that as 'impossible'. Hence, as my forte is performing calculation while having greater influences in the virtual network and all the controlling network in the processors of the spacecrafts is interconnected with the multi-channeled signal system. Furthermore I also happened to have a multi-channeled signal transmitter, with the nature being interconnected with the system, I could hack into the main processor of the spacecraft to seize the control of the entire unit," explained Mu.

After that much of explanation, it was then Ye Chong recalled the fact that Mu was a top wrecking maverick in the virtual web who had once destroyed the entire Luo family on a mere cyberattack.

"If that's the case, aren't you already invincible, with all these hacking-into-spacecrafts processes being like a stroll in the garden?" Mu's explanation sounded too easy for an infiltration so, Ye Chong asked skeptically.

"What you have stated is incorrect," Mu showed disapproval to Ye Chong's point. "Firstly, such hacking process is only possible under the circumstance that you are unnoticed by the foes. Secondly, one loses the ability to self-defend under the hacking mode, thus one could not react effectively if any form of casualties had occurred. Thirdly, if the foes too hold a group of mavericks, even if they were weak, such plan would fail unavoidably. Fourthly, if the foes had shut down the multi-channeled signal connecting system, such method would succeed at a possibility of 0%."

"Looks like this plan is very much limited by circumstances," Ye Chong showed understanding. "Still, mavericks are sure strong!" his tone was filled with admiration.

"Correct. The strength of mavericks is a kind of manifestation of wisdom. Comparing with sole physique or piloting skills, it is much stronger. However, it is such a pity that you do not show keen interests in this field, or it would have been a very useful course for your future," agreed Mu.

"Ay…" Ye Chong nodded his head heavily and spoke on, "Whatever that is related to the processor is alien to me. You can keep them to yourself. Somehow it just so happened that I don't have talent in this thing. And I still have a lot more things to learn other than this. Sigh, the alchemy was quite interesting after getting the hang of it. But well, all was interrupted…"

"No matter what form of strength you would manifest, remember there always exists no limit to it. As long as the application is proper, theoretically speaking, any sort of problem always have one or more reasonable and correct solution to it!" concluded Mu.

"Right!" Ye Chong was inspired.

…

Inside the spacecraft, the experienced elderly sat on his throne in the main control room. The tray on his left was placed with a cup of steaming aromatic tea. He took a glance at the people running around as busily as bees with their chores in the room. He smiled, showing fond of such a contented life.

Capt. Hatik was an accomplished captain to spacecraft-voyages. It had been 35 years since his first sail as a captain. His face was torn by his age, his eyes glowed with one-of-a-kind steadiness that would imbue anyone with confidence upon seeing them.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The communicator before him beeped out of sudden.

He frowned as he connected the transmission An elderly appeared in the hologram. He appeared much in the pink of health despite his age, with his face reddish and lack of wrinkles. Apparently the elderly had worked hard to keep his skin young.

"Yes, Fred the Great sir, how may I help you?" the captain spoke respectfully.

"Captain Hatik, how far are we from Blue Ocean?" his expression was a little stiff but his voice was crystal clear.

"Yes sir, we are less than a day away from our destination. Estimated about a few more hours till we meet the patrolling team around the planet," replied Hatik.

"Oh." The elderly was serene as he spoke, "We are changing our plans. We are not going to Blue Ocean. Change the course to Morienste."

The captain was undoubtedly shocked, "Fred the Great, sir, b-but, the Blue Ocean is just before us. Why are we changing our course so suddenly? Sir, if you do not desire to linger at the Blue Ocean, we could at least resupply our ship there! With the current supply, we have to stop by somewhere to resupply on the way to Morienste. Also, would not this be a little bad for…"

"No. Don't have to!" Fred waved his hands forcefully, "Blue Ocean Planet has enforced the martial law. We are better off going somewhere else than being imprisoned there. Change the course now!"

"Martial law? What in the world has happened? That has made sir to change your mind at the eleventh hour?" Hatik was dumbfounded by his decision. Fred the Great was known for his capricious nature by the people, but Hatik saw him as a wise elderly. He believed that whatever Fred the Great did held a rationale behind.

"Yes… Umm…," Fred's face stiffened for a quick while then he looked calm. "I got the news just now. The Blue Ocean has been completely locked out, due to a possible outbreak of a virus namely Charles-V. I personally think that the change of course would be a better choice for us. Yes, I'll inform some of my old friends at Blue Ocean Academy, telling them to keep the wines away. For the reporters, just leave them! They are used to this anyway!"

"Charles-V? The Black Charles?" Hatik's face was pale, "Oh my Fal Galaxy! How could such a terrible thing have an outbreak? Yes sir! You are right! We are changing the course as soon as possible!" His eyes were flooded with blatant fear towards Charles-V the virus.

"Charles-V?"

"What? Of all virus?"

"What do we do?"

"We have to change the course, move!"

Right when Capt. Hatik mentioned about the Charles-V virus, the main control room was boomed by the hushes of the panicked workers.

"Yes, truly, certainly, absolutely," Fred the Great became serious. "I think we are better off leaving this planet as far as possible. I believe that none of us would want to be infected by such a nuisance. It is quite fatal and horrifying after all. If that would happen, I guess the Blue Ocean planet would be in quite a mess, so it would be the worst timing to pay a visit."

"Truly, certainly, absolutely sir!" Hatik nodded his head repetitively, "You are right with what you said. We change the course now! We are ready!" and he turned back to his crewmen as he shouted, "Change the course! All aboard to Morienste!"

In the midst of the crewmen aligning the steers to a new world, at that darker corner behind where the light of Fred the Great's hologram camera did not capture, there stood a young man with a crippled mech!

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Chapter 99: Brent

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Mu might be concise at his words, but eventually the plan worked out without a hitch, which was unexpected to Ye Chong. Glaringly he and Mu flew into this very spacecraft namely the Sabre through one of the opened walkways. There was not any request of identity verification and nobody seemed to be alerted by these uninvited guests on deck, as if they were the official crewmen to this spacecraft.

And that was when Ye Chong was literally astounded! It felt like an illusion of seeing how Mu could blow up a hole on the body of this apparently unbeatable monster as if digging a hole on the dough. Oh the impact to his brain! Ye Chong was once confident with his "immense" strength but he lost them all ever since. He felt so small and insignificant the first time in his life, knowing the fact that regardless of how much robust he had grown, he would never be able to clutch the steering this effortlessly.

This was the first time Ye Chong felt defeated by the strength he possessed, which had looked so meager by then. However, the moment of depression did not last upon entering the spacecraft.

"Wow."

Thanks to the gigantic size of the spacecraft, the interior of the Sabre was certainly spacious. It did not have the crammed feelings of the usual spacecrafts expected by Ye Chong. The crafter of this epitome of premium vessels seemed to have put in ounces of efforts in providing the most cozy environment for anyone on board. The facilities were humanized by nature, they were thoughtfully designed and were user-friendly - an eye-opener to Ye Chong.

The floors were fully carpeted which felt fluffy and comfy stepping on. It helped Ye Chong a lot because the carpet would effectively reduce the sound of his steps.

While Ye Chong was anticipating a fight with the crewmen being the intruder himself, nobody was seemingly interested. It was strange that everyone hurried by his shoulders upon encounter and no one seemed to have noticed Ye Chong. Even if they did, it was merely because of the crippled yet beautifully-crafted mech behind him that they expressed peculiarity upon. Well "merely" their motive appeared as "merely" they looked. No one bothered to come for an inspection.

"Hey Mu…" Ye Chong was perplexed, "Aren't these men supposed to have some sense of alertness? Hello, I'm an intruder here."

"I had just obtained the information of this spacecraft. Apparently most crewmen on this cruise were employed by Fred extemporaneously, including the captain himself. They do not know among themselves, not even acquainted. Nobody else was intimate enough with Fred other than the nephew of Fred who has always been following his uncle, Brent. Mhm, Brent was also given the duty to ensure his uncle's safety. He seemed to be an expert in combats, probably the only obstacle you have to face at the moment," explained Mu.

"Brent?" muttered Ye Chong, which caused a middle-aged man passing by to take an extra glance upon hearing the name.

Ye Chong arrived before the door to Fred's room as directed by Mu, who had gained the information from the databank that both Fred and Brent seemed to be staying in this room. The interior and exterior were split into 2 rooms where Brent stayed in the exterior room while Fred was in the interior room instead. There were no guards by the doorstep, instead there were more than 20 cameras perfectly scattered around the door without a single blind spot. It looked like there was also an automatic security alarm system which would notify the guests inside in case of an approach of any intruder while projecting the imagery on the communicators or processor in the room.

An impeccable security it was, but not as impeccable as Mu! These became child's play when Mu got into in the business, like the lord of a mystical world that controlled everything in relation to his expertise.

Ye Chong was more than jealous of course!

"Ready?" Mu asked Ye Chong.

Ye Chong took a few deep breaths before passing through the door. Feeling charged up, "Yes!" he signaled Mu.

Shush! The door opened and Ye Chong stormed into the room!

The opening of the door without forewarning was surprisingly to Brent at the exterior room, not to mention that shadow of a man in extreme-speed rushing into his lair, but he reacted in time.

A simple tap on the button to trigger the alarm using his left hand and a simple block with his right kept everything still. It was seamless, expressing the vast experience this guard held.

Clumsy he might had been yet Brent took that killing blow of Ye Chong without further ado. However, likewise to all the people Ye Chong had fought before, he underrated the strength of such blow as he was sent away to the back.

Chaining attack after successful capture; the habit of Ye Chong's skillful combats it was. As Brent lost his balance in the air, Ye Chong whipped his waist with his right leg. With that much of strength in Ye Chong, Brent would be crippled by this blow.

If it landed that is.

Brent twisted his body in mid-air and readjusted his position to have his arms crossed before his chest to take this incoming kick from Ye Chong, calm and still.

This was uncalled for to Ye Chong. The sensation of his kick was rather unusual for a man, it felt like a kick on the sides of a lubricated ball. He did not feel the expected impact, instead everything felt slippery and odd.

Brent slid over Ye Chong like a butterfly as he caught Ye Chong's feet and fluttered elegantly.

Ye Chong could not believe what he saw. His eyes did capture every move of this man but… Brent's arms were wiggling strangely as soon as Ye Chong landed his kick on them accidentally. Brent's escape was made possible because of his wiggly limbs.

This had ignited Ye Chong's vigilance as supposedly his assassination would have worked almost all the time and he was expecting a quick fight with this Brent guy, never knowing that he was the real deal. Although Ye Chong's face was indifferent as he usually was, his heart was already at the peak of waves of insecurity.

Ye Chong finally decided to take a serious inspection upon Brent. He was 180 centimeters tall, a bulky body and a masculine posture. He was handsome; especially his eyes, gentle like a breeze, comforting to people along with those dimples he made from time to time - a charmer to the ladies he was.

Of course, Ye Chong did not care if he was a charmer to ladies. The position of Brent's arms was odd enough to catch his full attention. The lower part of his body was of stoned stance, steadily firm ever since he landed while strangely his upper body was … vibrating? His upper body was vibrating obscurely at a unique rhythm. His eyes remained gentle as they were even under a circumstance like this. He did not have the desire to murder - Ye Chong could not see him through, which only alarmed him more.

Coincidentally, he did not know the fact that Brent was inspecting him too. He did not seem sturdy yet his fist landed like a bomb. If I did not act careful enough, I would have my right arm fractured. What a glare he had - filled with blatant bloodthirstiness. Thought Brent as his heart grew colder, his face turned grim as he found out he was not facing a man, rather he was facing a dangerous beast that would feast on anyone upon sight.

"Who are you and why are you attacking me?" He might be in grave danger yet he acted in serenity. His tone was unshaken by Ye Chong's expression.

Too bad his unshaken will did not affect Ye Chong a bit. Ye Chong was finding the question unnecessary, wondering how a man in the middle of a dead-or-alive fight could still speak some nonsense. The man probably wanted to die he supposed. There was no reply from Ye Chong, he acted right away!

Ye Chong sneaked towards Brent, lurking in the dark, unseen like a column of smoke.

If Ye Chong exerted immense strength just now, then this was expression of his immense speed by then. Immense it was, fearsome it was, unrivaled it was!

Brent's expression turned somber. The last bit of his serenity had evaporated!

Within a blink of an eye, Ye Chong came to Brent's side as his hands transformed into overlapping afterimages clouding Brent.

Brent's expression which was somber had turned dismembered.

Thup! Thump! Wham! Bam! The sounds of them exchanging kicks and punches sounded like a tempest upon the window. Brent's hands were as fast as lightning too.

It lasted for 10 seconds before the intertwining shadows splat as both of them jumped away from each other.

Brent, panted as he bowed, his tussled wet hair stuck at his forehead, held his stomach with one hand, coughing uncontrollably. Streams of blood excreted from the corners of his mouth. He was in a really bad shape.

Ye Chong on the other hand seemed to be living and kicking, other than the frightening marks of palm imprinted on his wrist.

Ye Chong had won, judging by the situation.

He let off a sigh of relief. Obviously the opponent's hands were much slower than his, even though the opponent was still capable to take most of his hits while the fingers slid his wrist many times, trying to grab his moving hands. If he did not withdraw his hands in time, the fingers could have sliced through his veins. Ye Chong was surprised by the man's fingers acting like a metallic blade. At the very least his kick landed upon the opponent's squishy abdomen, that would take the kill!

However, frankly speaking, on the aspect of skillfulness, Ye Chong was miles away from the man despite having an overwhelming speed and strength upon the opponent, which was the saving grace to his victory. Ye Chong was still impressive though, the fact that Brent could block most of Ye Chong's attacks with his inferior speed while making occasional strike-back. Impressive he was, also dejected he was as he thought his speed was invincible, yet someone with a much lower speed could hold it.

His strikes do not hold any form of beauty. They were wild, primal and straightforward. Such an unintelligent tactic of fighting was utterly depicted on an inhumane beast like Ye Chong.

The scale of strength tilted towards Ye Chong as the foe was severely injured. He believed that it would only take another half a minute to take out this shocker before him.

Right when he was going for another sequence of hurricane dance - beep, shush - a voice came hurriedly, "Hold it!"

Ye Chong was alert the moment the door opened with a beep but he could not be distracted from delivering his final blow, especially when a trustworthy partner was taking his back for him. Only Mu could guard his back after all!

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Chapter 100: Fred

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Fred's appearance panicked Brent. Ye Chong showed ignorance to this elderly's debut however, as he raised his fist, "Wait a moment, Ye!" Mu stopped him with a scream. The rationale behind this pause from him was apparently to avoid further contradiction from brewing since they had already gotten full control of the situation.

Brent seemed very alarmed, as deep inside he feared his uncle being wounded by this beast.

Fred who had seen ample of dark sides of the world was pretty calm surprisingly, "I was not expecting you to take such trickery in response to my rejection upon your request. And I guess you used the same way to invite my old friend Zuo Moucheng over your place, didn't you?" Anger was embedded within his words while Brent's eyes were also coated with rage as he glared upon Ye Chong.

"I don't understand what the heck you are saying." Ye Chong was bewildered, his voice went somberly, "But you guys better be acting on my will."

"Hmph!" the elderly sneered. "Save the silly acting skills! We are already the fish in your net and this time the organization must be serving compliments to your plate I supposed. And at this rate someday you'll enjoy being one killer-whale bounded by the organization as you killed the insignificant others. You might be great, but you still are preposterous and pathetic!"

"My request…" Ignoring the elderly's words, Ye Chong spoke on, "Change the direction."

"Oh? Change the course you mean?" The mock on Fred's face intensified, "Very well then, to where we change the course, mister?"

"Uh!" Ye Chong did not see that question coming, "Um… Anywhere you want!"

"Anywhere… I want?" His eyes enlarged as he turned speechless while Brent's face went dazed as well. "Wait…" Fred reformed his understanding to the situation, "Mister, are not you from those men?"

"I seriously do not have any idea what you guys are saying!" Ye Chong was annoyed by how these men were acting so confusingly and why they could not just act on his orders already, "You seriously better be changing the course right now." He wondered if he should demonstrate his threatening tactic taught by Shang to make the men move.

"Alright, alright, alright. We are changing the course!" Fred looked joyful as he nodded his head, he stayed quiet for a moment as if pondering and then he enquired, "How about Morienste?"

"Morienste? Is it far from Blue Ocean planet?" asked Ye Chong.

"Very!" replied Fred.

"Good. Morienste it is," stated Ye Chong while both Fred and Brent looked at each other, sighing in relief. They appeared much relaxed by then.

"Is there anything going on in Blue Ocean?" Brent asked after staying silent for long enough, obviously liberated from his fear and fright as soon as he identified Ye Chong as not the "men" mentioned by his uncle. They were in much comfort as Fred even poured Ye Chong a glass of wine, of the colour amber and he gestured him to have a drink. Brent collapsed onto the sofa and started bandaging his wounds.

Ye Chong did not know what to answer to keep the ball rolling, he just mentioned whatever he had heard, "Oh… They said some kind of virus was discovered. Charl… Charles-II was it?"

"Charles-II?" Fred was wondering if the boy made a mistake, then he realized something, "Charles-V? Charles-V you mean!" Fred's glass fell off from his hand as he was horrified, while Brent held his hands and watched in dismay. "Black Charles?" Fred began mumbling for quite sometime. After literally half a minute, he collected his thoughts as his shaking hands slid into his pocket for a communicator.

Brent was so startled by his uncle acting so gracelessly. In his impression of his uncle, he had always been an untroubled great man no matter what horrible things had happened despite being an odd-tempered elderly, which was a virtue he wanted to learn from his uncle.

Fred inhaled heavily as he tried calming down. He connected the communicator to Captain Hatik's room.

"Yes, Fred the Great sir, how may I help you?"

And that was what happened next chapters ago…

…

Since the course had been changed and the major dispute between both parties had been resolved. The atmosphere had turned much lighter. Other than that kick on Brent, there was nothing dissatisfying. Brent was not the kind who would mind a kick, while Ye Chong did not have any specific request in mind. Fred on the other hand was rather intrigued by the mech behind Ye Chong as he watched his nephew chatting with Ye Chong.

"My name is Brent. That's my uncle Fred. I wonder how should I address a fine man like you?" Introduced Brent with a gentle smile, trying to break the ice while Fred, his uncle was circling around Mu with his eyes lustered as he touched the body and mumbled occasionally, then he would ponder, strangely he acted upon the mech.

"Kun Ting," Ye Chong replied flatly as he came up with a random name. Well he was still pretty close to Blue Ocean planet, the place of his plagued fate. He would not want to be recognized by someone right away.

"Great name. Great name. You have such amazing dexterity. Both your speed and strength are the best among the people I had fought before. There were a lot of well-known fighters who shared inferiority to your capability," complimented Brent sincerely.

"It was nothing," Ye Chong was not acting out of humbleness. It was simply because he had seen Mu in action before and he knew his skills were nothing in comparison.

Well, Brent took the line as a humble act though. He smiled briefly.

They grew friendly on each other so quickly that Ye Chong did not sense the urge to hijack the ship while Brent seemed to have forgotten the fact that he and his uncle were the hijacked.

The chatter mostly consisted of Brent's patient description on the world as he realized that somehow this young man who was only a few years younger than him knew nothing about the chaos and darkness in the world - untainted like a plain paper. Even though a kind man like him was agitated by Ye Chong's animal nature at times, he showed tolerance and love as he imagined the suffering this poor young man had gone through when he was a boy.

They dueled on fists and kicks as their afterimages overlapped each other, which twisted the airflow inside the room to and fro with the sounds of fighting resounded. Such kind of combat was experienced daily by both of them, with most of them being Ye Chong's victory during the first few days. However, Brent's tenacity grew stronger in a few days time as he lasted longer on Ye Chong's fists. The number of times he made a successful strike-back increased and those were some smart strike-backs too, which left Ye Chong clumsily reacting in place. On the other hand, Ye Chong attempted to copy Brent's fighting style. Though he succeeded in mirroring his moves, something felt amiss within. Compared to the original, his moves felt different. Well that did not bother Ye Chong for long because he was not the kind to be stuck with such trivial detail. While most of his moves were learned from mutated lifeforms, he took a few useful ones for continuous practices. As time lapsed with much reference he made on moves, his attack turned acute and it became that Brent was tasting the bitter side of the fight instead! Brent the helpless man could only boggle his mind to figure out some tricks to turn the situation around at his best. Their skills improved dramatically as they trained on.

"Kun Ting…" Brent gently advised, "You might have exceptional speed and strength but your skills were too crude for a fighter. You would inevitably suffer if you met an expert."

Ye Chong understood Brent's words deep down, however he was powerless in this aspect as he lacked an appropriate teacher to this. Not even Mu could be his teacher, as long as Mu trained him, it never seemed to show significant refinement. Mu tried researching about it but said that he could not find a thing addressing to such issue in most of the major data banks and literally the whole virtual network.

The fighters were conservative regarding inheritance of skills. They had always been keeping it only to their apprentices that not anyone from the outside could receive them. Thus there was no way that these fighters would put their secret techniques online for education purposes. Even if one became the apprentice of these fighters, one might have absorbed a different aspect of the technique as one's teacher demonstrated.

Seeing how hard Ye Chong trained, Brent considered something in his mind. Since Kun Ting was willing to suffer tenaciously for what it took to be a great fighter and he turned out to be quite a simple person after days of interaction, he might be a good material to be trained. Kun Ting might have had some odd behaviors but that was because he was not aware of the social norms. He was still as simple-minded as Brent would assume. If Kun Ting was given proper education and exposure to the society, he would change very soon for sure!

Yeah, if I get him to master, master would be more than joyous. And I would get a brother!

"Kun Ting, if I introduce you to a master, would you be willing to become his student?" asked Brent carefully.

"Mhm!" Ye Chong nodded right away. He was long in desire of Brent's refined combat techniques. It was just that Brent kept mentioning how the techniques would never be taught to an outsider; the norms that kept him out. Brent however did offer some tips he learned before to Kun Ting in exchange of classes being forbidden, which were still an eye-opener to Ye Chong. He was inspired and he wanted more. His desire to join Brent's group grew!

Meanwhile, Fred had never left Mu even when he was going for lunch. For his own safety, Mu acted like an ordinary mech as he stood there like a statue. Fred's intoxication frightened Ye Chong, "Kun Ting, just leave my uncle alone," Brent laughed as he spoke. "He always acts like this whenever he got into work. I had gotten used to it."

Brent redefined his uncle's impression in Ye Chong's mind as he provided him some information about his uncle.

Fred, also known as Fred the Great, was one of the few remaining mech-making master in the 5 major galaxies. Yes, as the title went, "master" defined his craftsmanship being the topmost. Being a mech-making master, not only he had to master the designing of the mech's main body, but he also had to master in designing everything from scratch. That included engines, armor, circuit, weaponries and other aspects in study. As limited as a man's intelligence and vitality, the knowledge in any study was vast and boundless, it would be a miracle if a man could at least master one or two of them. Only geniuses, those with talents inborn while possessing strong curiosity to research and development could master multiple aspects of the study. While a master like Fred the Great, being the genius of the geniuses able to master every aspect relating to the mech-making expertise, he was one of the few, or even the one and only in the 5 major galaxies.

In this era where mechs were demanded and pilots existed everywhere, one could not imagine how much a mech-making master like Fred could have earned. It was more than just authority, wealth and social status.

Just like the spacecraft he throned upon, the Sabre of the Slan grade for instance was actually a gift from a very wealthy company after knowing his plan for galactic tour. Such an astronomical budget… that no folk would ever dare to even dream about.

"Oh… Beauty…" Fred, stared at Mu, mesmerized, "Oh? Oh!" He wiped his drool off as he did not notice he was drooling in desire. Ye Chong could not imagine that old man being a mech-making master as Brent claimed when he acted like a pedophile towards Mu…

Ever since Ye Chong had entered this room, he noticed that no one else would have ever stepped into this room. At most, the maid would send food to the doorstep on meal hours.

The room might be spacious but it felt suffocating to spend day and night inside.

Galactic tour was long and certainly there would be a moment of boredom for a mere man like Ye Chong. Not everyone could understand the romance behind it as much as Fred did. While counting the stars in the milky-way, Ye Chong was suddenly notified, "Ye! Something's going on in the ship!"

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Chapter 101: Tour

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"What is it?" Ye Chong was alerted.

"Someone sent out an encrypted message, and I've intercepted it!" Ye Chong knew from the tone of voice that it was not Mu, but Shang! Mu would never speak in such a carefree manner, as his tone was always flat and calm. Ye Chong was deeply influenced by Mu in this respect.

"Shang, is it your turn to come out now?" Ye Chong said, by way of greeting Shang.

Shang laughed, pleased. "I didn't expect such fun just when I came out! Ye, tsk tsk, don't be like Mu, you gotta have some fun in life! Hehe, that missy in the training garb is quite a lady, what powerful legs! I sure miss her! Tsk tsk! Ye, you're still alright down there right? I remember her kicking you there! Let's talk about your feelings back then. That was such a wasted opportunity!"

Rui Bing's figure, clad in white training garb came unbidden to Ye Chong's mind. He could not help but recall the strange fragrance and smooth touch from deep within his mind.

What a strange feeling!

Ye Chong knew that if he did not cut off the bastard right now, he would continue on forever with the topic. Hence, Ye Chong quickly interrupted, "Shang, you said that someone just sent out a message?"

Shang replied, "Mm, to be precise, someone had set a timed algorithm, such that a message would be sent out periodically to a specified destination!"

"Oh, what's it say?"

"The ship's current location!" Shang replied.

"Will this affect us?" Ye Chong asked.

"Information is insufficient, the results are incalculable. Sigh, Mu's slogan tastes horrible in my mouth!" Shang muttered, and continued flashily, "Ye, this must be the work of someone with ill designs towards this ship! Heavens, do you not have any sense of knightliness in you? Based on this year's online survey, this is one of the most appreciated qualities by the ladies in their dream partner! Ye …"

Against Shang's chattering, Ye Chong became vexed. His expression turned loose, and he felt like he would faint at any moment!

After a full twenty minutes, Shang finally ended his grand speech on the topic.

Ye Chong was already withering, a body without a soul!

Shang spoke expectantly, "Ye, what do you think? Let's expose the impostor in the name of justice! Haha!"

"No!" Ye Chong resolutely ignored the crazy mech and left.

He soaked quietly in a jacuzzi, complete with rotating micro-jets. The numerous little whirlpools caressed every corner of his body, and the slight tickling sensation was wonderfully comfortable. However, Ye Chong's expression was not one of indulgence, but of one lost in thought.

Mu was absent, and Shang did not make him feel safe at all! When he was with Mu, the mech was like an invincible leader. When with Shang, Ye Chong found himself being the leader instead. However, the thought of Shang brought a smile to his face. Shang was discretely in control of the starship's photon processor, monitoring everyone on board! Regarding Brent and his uncle, Fred, Ye Chong dared not underestimate them. It was safer to be in control of his own destiny than letting others decide it for him, and also less worrisome for him! While they seemed close to each other, who was to say what the future holds? It was better to play it safe!

Ye Chong was also perturbed by Shang's report of the outgoing message. While he did not understand what it was about, Ye Chong thought nothing would come of it. It was best if he did not expose himself at the moment. Besides, close to Blue Ocean as they were now, any complications would spell trouble!

With his eyes half closed, Ye Chong sprawled lazily in the jacuzzi. "Now that feels much better!" Ye Chong's skin was extra sensitive. The little micro-whirlpools felt like animals moving in the water. Ye Chong was suddenly overcome by a playful mood. He closed his eyes and submerged his hands completely in the water, trying hard to feel the subtle motions of the water around his hands. His hands moved swiftly like fishes, avoiding the chaotic whirlpools in the water. When a whirlpool became unavoidable, he would disrupt the whirlpool with the tip of a finger. However, this introduced more irregularity into the water flow in the jacuzzi, making them harder to anticipate.

Alone in the micro-jets jacuzzi, Ye Chong thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Water in the micro-jet jacuzzi were mixed in with many rejuvenating ingredients that could reduce fatigue. Ye Chong now felt refreshed, as though he had lost some weight! However, if Ye Chong knew the amount of gold zuan charged for his bathing session could easily afford him a mech, what would his thoughts be then?

Only a Slan graded luxurious starship would have something like the micro-jet jacuzzi as a standard facility! For those who could afford the starship, how would they mind the relatively insignificant expenses involved?

Refreshed from his session, Ye Chong left the bathing room only to meet Brent. Brent reached for his arm and said smilingly, "Kun Ting, I've been looking all over for you, so this is where you've been hiding!"

Ye Chong reflexively shifted his posture, and Brent missed his arm. He was surprised, and laughed a little in the ensuing awkwardness.

Ye Chong asked plainly, "What's the matter?"

Seeing Ye Chong's apathetic and calm expression, Brent could not help but sighed inside as he continued with a smile, "I've been staying in my room these few days, and it's been a bore. Uncle was really obsessive about that mech of yours, I've never seen him so impressed with a mech like that! I don't think he'll pay much attention to us now, so I thought I'd bring you on a tour of this ship. Honestly, there are places here that even I haven't been to before! Why not take this opportunity to explore the ship together!"

Ye Chong pondered over the suggestion, thinking that it would be a good chance to familiarize himself with the ship. Even though Shang already knew its every corner, it would be better if he knew the ship's layouts too. With that, Ye Chong agreed to the tour.

Since most of the ship's crew were new, and the ship was a gift from someone else, Brent was not too familiar with the ship. Brent had high hopes for Ye Chong, a potential student of his. He had the idea that this future student of his must have been deprived of human interaction to behave so coldly towards other people.

Hence, he came with this idea.

Together with them was Captain Hatik, as he would of course oblige his master's requests. Hatik was still professional in this respect!

The starship Sabre was a ten kilometers long, looking very much like an island. It was a luxury starship model, and so boasted full range facilities with much extravagance! During his introductions, Captain Hatik was felt swept away by the starship. He had served as captain for many years, and been in command of a great many starships. However, a ship like Sabre was a first for him.

The three men entered a wide hall, filled with dozens of game rooms and a bar counter in the far off corner. There were many chairs and tables in the hall, most of them made of wood, and the elegant motives on them were carved by hand. This made the furniture look like works of art instead of a furniture of resting oneself.

Moreover, every corner of the hall was equipped with holographic screens at various angles.

The wide hall was filled to the brim and very noisy. The seats were all taken, and some were even standing. People drank and conversed, or sang loudly without a care in the world, or walking around the hall. However, most of them stared at the holographic screens unblinkingly!

Ye Chong frowned slightly, bothered by the noise. His expression did not slip past Brent, who smiled a little, apparently impressed with the hall.

Captain Hatik began, "This is the entertainment hall, undoubtedly the most luxurious I've ever seen. When they're otherwise unoccupied, folks like to spend their time here. The drinks are free-flowing, and free of charge. For those who drink like the fish but without the money to support their enjoyment, this place is heaven!"

"Luxury gaming booths are rare, and now that they can get a taste of it themselves, the idle folks here are helplessly enticed! The gaming booths are occupied every day, since everyone wants to try them out. Hehe, fortunately, there have been no accidents here throughout the trip, or I would have to invoke my rights as Captain to shut the place down, for fear of the situation getting out of hand!"

Ye Chong lifted his head to watch one of the holographic screens in mid air. A red mech was right in a battle against a green mech. Ye Chong whistled softly, obviously surprised by the content of the game. The two mechs on the holographic screens were well rendered, the red mech was a cunning match against the steady green opponent. With his rich experience, Ye Chong could now identify the likely winner with just a glance. While the two mechs were seemingly tied in battle, Ye Chong noticed that the green mech still had some potential in it. If the red mech did not have any killer moves, then the green mech would most probably emerge as the winner.

Captain Hatik noticed Ye Chong's interest in the battle on the holographic screen, and introduced, "Fred the Great is a man of high status, and his safety is important. This time, our hired bodyguards are mostly well known in the field, all of them fully capable! Here on the screen, the green mech is Yu Jie, and the red mech is Douglas. They both enjoy prestigious reputations, excelling in both mech piloting and bodyguard services. Amongst all the bodyguards, many of them are on the same level of these two! However, hehe, the real masters usually do not show themselves easily." Captain Hatik spoke with an eloquent undertone.

As the captain finished, the battle was also over. As Ye Chong expected, the green mech, or Yu Jie, claimed victory. The spectators below roared in dissatisfaction, but some of them were also laughing loudly, pleased with themselves. Their investment in the outcome of the battle surprised Ye Chong.

Brent was also baffled, as the sight was a first for him too. He looked to Captain Hatik for an explanation.

Captain Hatik looked a little embarrassed, but obligingly explained, "It is customary for the battling opponents to bet for themselves, and the spectators will usually bet for their favored ones. The winner will not only gain all the bet money for his opponent, he'll also take a cut of ten percent from the winnings of all the spectators who bet for him. That is the custom!"

Seeing Brent's disapproval, Captain Hatik shrugged a little. "While this is a form of gambling, it's actually a good way to amuse people like ourselves, who spent much time floating around in space! It's also a way to de-stress ourselves!"

Brent replied with an "Oh," indicating his understanding. Ye Chong's expression did not change, as he was not focused on the conversation, but meticulously going through every corner of the hall. It was second nature for Ye Chong to familiarize himself with his surroundings at the first opportunity.

The three made their way to the bar counter. As they passed by, people greeted Captain Hatik warmly, and Captain Hatik returned the gesture with equal enthusiasm. One can thus see that these people sincerely respect Captain Hatik. That fact made Ye Chong and Brent think twice on their thoughts about the Captain.

"Hi! Boss! What brings you all the way here?" The chubby bartender greeted Captain Hatik.

The captain laughed. "I'm just bringing these two gentlemen for a walk. You, Sir, are the person standing nearest to the alcohol!" He turned to the two and introduced. "This fat chump here is Gino, drinks like a fish, but mixes drinks like a master. What'd you like to have? Just name the order! The man claims to know every drink known to the world! Haha, Gino, give me a Fruit Basket!"

"Righto!" The chubby man cried in reply, and his hands began to move in a blur. After a moment, a yellowish white drink with some flowing patterns on it was presented to Captain Hatik. A strong and heavy smell, with a stinging quality to it, emanated from the cocktail.

Brent, with years of following Fred around, socializing with members of the upper class society, was also an expert in drinks. He ordered an Ignaz, and the chubby man could not help but notice Brent's peculiarity.

A green and violet cocktail, looking a little opaque, was brought to him. Brent sipped a little, and could not help but applaud, "Excellent! A master indeed! The taste is authentic!" He even gave a thumbs-up to the bartender! The chubby man instantly brightened up, pleased with the compliment!

Ye Chong had no experience with drinks, and copied Brent's order. He took a little sip, just like Brent, and a weird taste exploded in his mouth. Ye Chong quickly put down the drink, and knitted his brows.

The chubby man's attitude towards Ye Chong was now tinged with disdain!

Brent finished his glass of Ignaz in one gulp, his expression one of great satisfaction and indulgence.

By then, two people had left their gaming booths. Brent smiled a little and nodded towards the booths, as he cocked his eyebrow and said, "Well, Kun Ting? Let's go for a round!"

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Chapter 102: Game

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Brent could not, for the life of him, figure out how Ye Chong managed to slip into Sabre without being noticed. Sabre was not a run-of-the-mill starship, and those who could afford this type of starships were not only extremely wealthy, but also very conscious of their own safety. Even an idiot would realize this. Slan-grade starships were all equipped with the most advanced technologies, and the unthinkable thick hull armor made it impossible to breach from the outside!

Despite the odds, Ye Chong still managed to enter the starship without being noticed. How could Brent not be curious, and even a little frightened of him? While no starship was impenetrable, an undetected entry into the ship brought a chill down his spine!

Brent was no fool, and he was vigilant against Kun Ting's unknown history. However, based on his current observations, the mysterious man before him probably did not belong to the group. In any case, offending a person he knew nothing about would be an irrational move. Besides, ever since Kun Ting slipped into the starship and won against him, he and Uncle Fred were no longer in control of their own destinies!

It would be suicidal to show any hostility at this point! Kun Ting's eyes shone cold as ice, preventing him from making any hasty decisions. No one knew what the future held!

Some time ago, a few good friends of Uncle Fred mysteriously disappeared, and were unheard of since then. The police did not uncover anything useful, and could only deduce from the way they vanished that it must be the work of a group. Fred's friends were all experts in mechs with their own specializations, and were famous in their respective fields. Now that they have disappeared one by one, how could they not be terrified?

Not long after that, Fred heard from somewhere that he was the group's next target.

After receiving news that someone had ill designs for Uncle Fred, Brent and his uncle began planning for the current space cruise. From the beginning, they acted out of character and spread news of the cruise far and wide, making a big hoo-hah out of it, such that everyone knew about their plans. They exposed themselves to the public, hoping that their publicity will prevent any actions from the enemy. However, now that Kun Ting had taken over the ship, they had unexpectedly changed course, and all for the better. This sudden change must have surprised their enemy in the darkness.

As for the idea of introducing Ye Chong to his own master, that was a sudden thought that occurred to him. With his master's crazy character, he would probably not mind Ye Chong's past. His deliberate actions these few days had finally paid off. When he mentioned about introducing Kun Ting to his master, he saw an uncharacteristic flash of eagerness in Kun Ting's eyes, a contrast to his cool expression. Brent was pleased. With this, even if something happened in the future, Kun Ting would at least not side with his enemy.

A verbal promise in exchange for potential alliance - this was in all ways a worthwhile exchange. While it made Brent feel a little guilty, what would his feelings matter if it was for his Uncle Fred? Besides, if they survived this ordeal, he would introduce Kun Ting to his master, just as he promised.

Bren watched with mixed feelings as Kun Ting made his way towards another gaming booth, his expression unreadable.

Ever since he finished his apprenticeship, Brent had never lost to anyone before. His loss against Kun Ting was something he took to heart! However, real life combat was gradually fading, and the true forces that dominated the current landscape were mechs and their pilots!

Brent's challenge this time was in part to compare their strengths, but mostly, he wanted to know more about the mysterious enigma that was Kun Ting. Brent rarely used mechs to battle against others, but did not mean that his skills were unremarkable. On the contrary, he was the student of a reputable teacher, though few knew about it. After all, his uncle was Fred the Great, and his friends include many legendary mech pilots.

As he caressed the hypersimulator console in the gaming booth, the usually gentlemanly and courteous Brent could not help but grow excited and exuberant!

Ye Chong calmly sat inside the gaming booth. After his long experience with mechs, he could now control his emotions better. After all, any hasty movements would often lead to death! However, a little excitement could make a mech pilot's reactions quicker.

A calmness lightly tinged with excitement was the best state of mind for a mech pilot to perform his or her best!

An important difference between amateur pilots and senior pilots was that the seniors could often enter this state very quickly!

It seemed that Ye Chong was born for mechs. Whenever he was dealing with mechs, he would subconsciously enter this state of mind, a state that made him obsessed with mechs!

The arena before him was very familiar. Ye Chong was reminded of his time back on the trash planet, accessing the virtual world and challenging others in the pilot training center every day.

The confusing array of mechs consisting different models kindled a warm feeling in Ye Chong. The mechs were not impressive to Ye Chong. Compared to the Harmony of the Winter Aria, these so-called top class mechs were nothing to boast about. However, even if they were not particularly powerful mechs, Ye Chong was still excited. A surge of desire for battle surfaced from the very depths of his heart!

"Hu …" Ye Chong let out a long exhale, his eyes suddenly flared up like fire, even as his heart maintained his usual calm composure.

Ye Chong chose Lra as his mech. The Lra mech was the latest model launched by Pruist this year, and it was the only mech of its level by the company this year that was a close range mech. Its uniqueness lay in its powerful movement. Equipped with the year's new product, the Warhead-IV engine, the mech performed splendidly in terms of motion.

Its weapons were also specially designed. Instead of the standard Flaming Sword, the mech was given a blunt instrument. This may be confusing to most, but the design of the weapon was nothing short of spectacular. Three metal cylinders littered with tiny holes circled around the mech under the guidance of a magnetic field, rotating at high speeds. Upon entering the range of the magnetic field, the enemy would be instantly killed! Moreover, the mech's powerful photon processor could identify the object that entered its magnetic field range. The cylinders were also packed with another feature - once the kill command was verified, the tiny holes on the cylinder's surface would emit high powered laser beams. The seemingly harmless cylinders instantly turned into a lethal claw hammer. Under the deadly attacks of 3 such cylinders, the enemy's mech would not be able to avoid the fate of being cut into pieces.

Lra mechs were also special in that they were neither humanoid nor shaped like any animal. The mech was oval-ish, with sixteen rings circling about the mech's body. Besides, the sixteen rings did not share the same center of rotation. The rapidly circling rings orbited about the mech in a dense network of trajectories, enveloping the mech in a shroud of shadows. These rapidly orbiting rings could effectively absorb and block any attacks from energy based weapons.

In truth, Lra mechs were not actually close range mechs, but a long range mech with a reduced attack range.

Lra also had a nickname - the Meat Grinder.

Brent chose outer space as the battleground, and used Stellar Dream as his mech, a product of the East Moon Group. Stellar Dream was a classic long range mech, popular due to the dominant trend of long range battle styles. Besides, its exterior was classy and elegant, favored by many mech pilots. Stellar Dream had clear contours along its profile, its expression solemn, looking mighty and out of this world. The silver-white colour of the mech shone brightly, adding to its touch of elegance.

Overly splendid things had always stirred caution and distaste in Ye Chong.

However, Stellar Dream was not all looks and no substance. Advanced shooting systems were a must for long rang mechs, and Stellar Dream's did well in auto shooting and lock-on targeting. Unlike other mechs, Stellar Dream offered a precision higher than that of the auto lock-on system's, achieved through manual lock-on. However, this depended heavily on the mech pilot's skills. On the other hand, Stellar Dream was also excellent in other aspects such as movement and balance.

In outer space, Stellar Dream held an advantage over Lra. More accurately speaking, long range mechs were more practical than short range mechs in outer space, since the former had a wider range of action. Brent was not deliberately bullying Ye Chong, but he did not expect Kun Ting to choose Lra. The choice greatly surprised him, and Kun Ting became more and more of a mystery to him. Brent had trained under an expert, and did not hold a condescending opinion on close range mechs. However, the choice of a close range mech in an environment as homogenous as outer space seemed like a foolish decision to him!

"But Kun Ting doesn't seem to be someone foolish," thought Brent, baffled.

Ye Chong also frowned a little as he noticed the outer space battleground. The environment was a huge disadvantage for the Lra, but he had raised no objections. He understood clearly that in most cases, the battleground was not for him to decide. Instead of blaming the unfairness of the battleground to him, his time was better spent on strategizing!

A distance away, separated by the transparent walls of the gaming booth, Brent noticed Kun Ting's calm expression and muttered to himself, "Does he have a plan, or does he not care about the battle outcome?"

The game was about to start, and Brent quickly gathered his thoughts and put on his helmet.

Once in the game, Brent's Stellar Dream raised its arm and fired once, but Ye Chong was already prepared and evaded the attack easily. Brent was not aiming to hit his opponent. Instead, he used the opportunity to widen the distance between him and Kun Ting. With the wider distance, he believed that he could secure victory with his shooting skills. With this, Brent was confident.

Without any suspense, Brent achieved his goal and managed to widen the distance between him and Kun Ting!

Brent instantly felt himself calming down. He went through a few scenarios in his head, but could not imagine how Kun Ting could turn things around.

Ye Chong, however, was now moving in a way that was beyond all of Brent's expectations!

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Chapter 103: Old Pang

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Close range mechs were only effective in close quarters due to their short ranged attacks. A close range mech must first close in on their enemy such that the enemy was within their attack range, so that their weapons could be effectively used. If not, the mech will only serve as target practice for its opponent!

Hence, the first step in a close range mech's strategy was to desperately approach the enemy, closing the distance between itself and its opponent.

However, Ye Chong did the exact opposite. After he evaded Brent's attack, he immediately ran away. Brent was left behind, stupefied, as watched Ye Chong become smaller and smaller in the distance, quickly becoming only a tiny black dot.

"Escaping without attacking?" Brent thought, stunned. "Does he not care about being laughed at? It's only a game! Kun Ting doesn't look like a coward!"

Ye Chong's escape ignited a commotion amongst the spectators of their game in the hall. They booed at his apparent cowardice, and while it was not a loud protest, their reaction attracted the attention of the people viewing other games in the hall. Everyone could not help but shift their attention to the holographic screen featuring the battle between Ye Chong and Brent.

Ye Chong was focusing on controlling his mech in the gaming booth, undistracted!

For Ye Chong, this was a battle! Not a game! If it was a battle, Ye Chong will give it his all! A battle was a matter of life and death! There was no room for doubt!

From Brent's attack with his gun, he knew that his opponent was an excellent shooter. If Ye Chong was not prepared in the short span of time, , the attack would have definitely hit him!

The time that it would take him to close in on Brent was enough for his enemy to take another 3 shots. With Brent's skills, he would not even need all 3 shots to finish him off!

If that was the case, then widening the distance between him and his enemy would be a wise choice.

Ye Chong did not feel that his escape was something to be ashamed of. He did not take any damage, and that meant he still stood a chance of winning against his opponent! When the situation was mostly to his opponent's advantage, choosing to battle would be foolish indeed! Unless he was desperate, it was still best to battle only when the environment was in his favor. This was Ye Chong's insight after his countless battle experiences!

Ye Chong maneuvered his mech and flew swiftly ahead. He enlarged the mech's scanning radius, and found nothing! After further enlargement, there was still nothing! Another enlargement, and still, there was nothing! Ye Chong was not dispirited. He continued increasing the scanning radius. This repetitive task was not new to him! Finally, when the scanning radius was at its maximum, he found a large asteroid belt at 9 degrees from the radius vector. It was quite far, and would take around 12 hours to reach there by flight.

With a larger scanning radius, the scanning accuracy will drop. More energy would be exhausted, and the time taken for a full scanning cycle would also increase. Hence,one would rarely increase the scanning radius to an unnecessarily large range, due to its risky nature!

Brent was far behind Ye Chong. After being stunned for a moment, the distance between them had increased. With the long distance between them, shooting accuracy would be affected. Brent tried shooting a few times, and could not hit his target. He ceased fire, saving his energy.

"What is Kun Ting trying to do?" Brent thought in his confusion. "There's nothing ahead. If he just flew ahead like that, it would be just a waste of time!" Brent increased his scanning radius and found nothing ahead!

Kun Ting showed no signs of stopping, still flying straight ahead.

Brent was feeling more uncertain. During his days with Kun Ting, he did not seem like a person who would do something in vain! "There must be something ahead," thought Brent, as he further increased his scanning radius. However, the results still showed nothing!

With his current scanning radius, Brent estimated with Kun Ting's speed of flight that he would need at least 5 hours to reach the edges of his scan!

"Could there be something even further away?" Bren shook his head. Would anyone be foolish enough to spend more than 5 hours to win in something as trivial as a game?

"Impossible!" Brent dismissed the idea! "Would anyone be so foolish?" The thought made Brent shake his head and laugh a little. The thought was too ridiculous!

The spectators shook their heads and left, leaving only a few behind to watch the game.

A burly man with a red face and bushy eyebrows was frowning hard, confused by what he was seeing. He could not help but asked softly, "Big bro, what's the boy's tricks, you think? I don't understand him at all, but there's something wrong here! He looks like he's running away, but he's not exactly speeding away. He may have some tricks up his sleeves, but there's nothing ahead of him. Besides, this battleground is not good for the Meat Grinder. Unless his opponent made a blunder, I don't see any way out of his situation! Though, the guy back there sure shoots well, I don't think he's going to miss much!"

Standing by his side was a bearded, middle-aged man. His eyes glowed a little at the comment, but he replied solemnly, "You're wrong, second little bro! Hmm hmm, the guy in front is the one you should look out for! Guy's determined, must be a ruthless character! As for the guy at the back, he may shoot just fine, but it's obvious that he's never been in a real battle in his life!" He spoke the last sentence with faint but clear condescension!

Redface was surprised, as he had never heard his big brother praise someone so highly. If he did not already know that his big brother would never speak lightly, he would have thought that the man was sick in the head! He asked carefully, "Big bro, you say he's determined, but I don't see how! He's just flying straight ahead! It's all in vain!"

Beardman laughed, his glistening white teeth showing, with an expression of reminiscence. "If not for my experience with this battleground, I'd have thought the same as you! There's this one time, with another guy, we fought for twenty rounds straight, and the results were tied! And so, we decided that the next game would decide the winner!" Beardman wore a relaxed expression, cherishing his past. On his side, Redface looked eager, learning that someone could battle against his big brother for twenty rounds straight and ending with a tie! That person must be very capable!

"What happened in the twenty first round is like this - he suddenly chose a close range mech, hehe, just like the young man here, and immediately ran off at the start! I didn't think much of it back then, and chased after him! Hehe, it took twelve hours, the chasing, and I was young and all, only thinking of winning! I didn't expect to be chasing for so long, and after 7 hours of chasing, I finally figured out the b*stard's goal! I always thought that my mech's scanning radius was large enough, but that b*stard did me one better! From our initial positions, there's a huge asteroid belt at 9 degrees from the radius vector. However, hehe, it'll take a full twelve-hours to reach it!"

Redface gasped in astonishment, the answer clearly not what he expected! He could not imagine two people chasing around for twelve hours to battle in a game!

"Anyway, I lost that match! But I lost fair and square! You must have heard of him, he's called the Son of Light!" Breadman continued lightly.

"Son of Light? That legendary Son of Light?" This was obviously surprising for Redface. He looked shocked, mouth gaping wide!

Beardman did not explain any further, but watched with interest at Ye Chong on the holographic screen. "Hehe, who'd have thought I'd meet a guy like this again! If that b*stard Son of Light is still here, he would have found a kindred spirit!" He bowed his head, deep in thought.

"These - these men, are they all crazy?" thought Redface, astonished. "Chasing around for twelve hours in a game? I didn't think someone as calm as big bro would have done that!"

Beardman pondered for a long moment before lifting his head again. He looked eloquently at the holographic screen, showing a Lra mech, still flying straight ahead.

Beardman thought for a moment, and warned, "Second little bro, our job this time is to return Fred the Great's favor. Beyond that, it's not for us to interfere. We only need to keep a discreet eye on this guy!"

"Keep an eye on him? Isn't he with Brent? He should be fine!" Redface was baffled.

Seeing his baffled expression, Beardman sighed a little inside, but still tried to explain, "You have to look at the eyes to know someone. You may not have noticed, but when Brent and the guy arrived just now, I saw that they were still on guard against each other. Hehe, they're still too young! Can't hide their thoughts! Besides, though they may walk side by side, they still keep a curious distance between them. Also, if I remember correctly, the guy was not on this ship in the beginning!" While his words were speculative, his tone was decisive, and his eyes shone brightly.

Redface was surprised. "You mean he infiltrated midway? That's impossible! You can't just infiltrate Sabre like nobody's business!"

Beardman shook his head. "I'm not sure about that, however, we just have to keep an eye on him! Hehe, the ship's full of complicated characters, and anything can happen. We just have to do our best!"

"Alright!" Redface nodded, not entirely understanding.

"Ah, Ke Sang, Old Pang, you're still watching it? Those two fellows sure are boring, running around for who knows what?" A pugnacious looking man approached the two, a drink in his hand.

Beardman, or Old Pang, gave a little smile. "It's not like we have anything else to do. You must be here to ask Ka Sang for a drink! Ka Sang, go have fun with Leopard and the other men, shake off some boredom!" He hinted with his eyes at Redface.

Ka Sang acknowledged, not entirely sure of himself.

Leopard instantly brightened up, and rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Yea, that's right, it's just dull sitting around here! Old Pang, wanna have some fun?"

Old Pang smiled reservedly and declined. "I'd better not go, I'm not as much of a drinker like you all. Ka Sang will join you!"

Leopard did not insist, and dragged a confused Ka Sang along with him towards the bar counter.

Brent was growing restless. It had been more than half an hour, but Kun Ting was showing no signs of stopping. What was he trying to achieve?

Brent tried to suppress his agitation and forced himself to continue on.

Just when Brent was starting to feel impatient, his vision suddenly turned black. He felt the gaming booth automatically open, and before he could remove his helmet, he heard the mad shrieking of the alarm that was blaring deafeningly!

Somehow, although Brent's immediate reaction was shock, his next reaction was one of relief!

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Chapter 104: Enter the Warship

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong came out of the gaming booth, and found that Brent was the only other person left in the hall. Brent was staring fixedly at the holographic screen, not even noticing when Ye Chong came to his side.

The holographic screen showed the image of a white starship ahead of them. The white starship looked like two pure white crescents crossing each other, elegant and exquisite. Ye Chong knew almost nothing about starships, but felt that the design looked familiar, as though he had seen it before, but could not recall when.

It was like a massive, elegant beast, approaching their starship with apparent ease.

Everyone held their breaths, staring unblinkingly at the holographic screen.

Suddenly, something changed with the white starship on the holographic screen. Dozens of armour plates slid open, revealing numerous dark cavities. Just when everyone was confused, long cylinders extended from those cavities, a threatening sight!

"Laser cannons? A warship?" Brent, who always looked calm, now had a twisted expression! "How is this possible? A warship? Haven't the Five Galaxies forbidden their manufacturing? How can anyone still make warships?" Brent was getting repetitive.

On the other hand, Ye Chong was watching Brent in confusion, thinking, "Are they really that scary?"

Captain Hatik's commands reverberated throughout the entire starship. His voice was hoarse and low, unlike when he was with Ye Chong and Brent earlier. "Attention to all crew members! Attention to all crew members! All hands on deck! All hands on deck! Combatants, prepare for battle! Combatants, prepare for battle!"

The entire bridge was swarming with activity. While the threat before them was unprecedented, they were all experienced crew members and did not panic, but did their duties in an orderly manner.

"Captain, the enemy's deployed interference measures. Our signals are severely disrupted, we can't request for assistance from nearby planets!" The officer in charge of communications reported.

Captain Hatik wore a heavy expression. He was troubled by the report, but commanded in his deep voice, "Keep at it, don't stop trying!"

"Yes sir!"

"Quick! Come with me!" Brent ran ahead without explaining further!

Ye Chong responded quickly as he was told, and trailed behind Brent.

The two went straight to the room where Fred was. The man was staring at the white warship on his holographic screen, muttering to himself, "Ah, the world's heading towards chaos again!"

Brent noticed Shang, standing by the side, and saw the mech's missing arm. He frowned and asked, "Do you have a functioning mech?"

Ye Chong thought it over. Harmony of the Winter Aria was heavily damaged, and probably could do nothing in a battle. That left him with the F-58, but the F-58 was only a training mech, unfit for combat. Ye Chong shook his head reluctantly, "No!"

Brent grabbed hold of his Uncle Fred, who was still in a daze. "Uncle, do we still have any functioning mechs?"

Fred seemed to recover himself then. "Oh, we do, we do!" He went to a corner and groped about for a moment, and *Swish, a door opened where the wall once was. After a round of identity authentication, the three entered the secret room.

Ye Chong was surprised, learning that the secret room had evaded even Mu's scans. It was truly incredible!

The secret room was not large, storing about 8 mechs in it, all unknown to Ye Chong. Their colours intertwined, and the twinkling metallic lustre made the room like a tiny, mesmerising world of metallic mechs.

Fred pointed towards the mechs and said, "These are all my proud creations, pick one!" He knew that in their desperate situation, if he was captured, these mechs would no longer be his. It would be better to use the mechs to bolster firepower, and increase his chances of survival.

Ye Chong may have seen his fair share of mechs, but these were all uniquely designed and confusing to him. For the moment, he was at a loss as to pick which one!

Brent noticed Ye Chong's quandary and asked, "What's your preferred type of mech? Close or long range?"

Ye Chong replied without hesitation, "Close range!"

Brent looked to Uncle Fred, who continued quickly, "This is the only close range mech!" He pointed towards a black, menacing mech. "Its design is inspired by an ancient totem from a remote tribal village! Its original form is one of the Gods of the tribe …"

The mech was undoubtedly the most attractive of all the other mechs. While it was not the most exquisite, its height was nearly twice that of any common mech, towering over the others. The design was also odd - 2 faces and 4 hands, where each hand held a weapon or a shield; one face was smiling pleasantly, another was staring furiously, full of intimidation! The joints, such as the elbows and knees, were wrapped with old-style armour plates, covered with barbs.

"A God? This is no God, this is a murder weapon in the mortal world!" This was Ye Chong's first impression of it, but that was also how he came to like the mech.

Ye Chong did not waste time listening to Fred's long winded explanation. He asked, "Where's the dimension keystone?"

Fred hit his own head and exclaimed, "Oh, how could I have forgotten about that, let me find it!" He began rummaging about the room. Brent could only look on helplessly, unsure if he should laugh or cry out loud.

Ye Chong did not mind them. He climbed onto the mech with bare hands like a mutant monkey, and slipped into the pilot's cabin. He put on the battle helmet and began to configure the initial settings.

Brent waited anxiously as Ye Chong did the initial configurations.

Suddenly, a dull thump was heard, and the entire starship shook slightly! Brent's expression twisted! The enemy had fired their cannons! Fred paled as well, but he maintained his calm composure and recovered from the shock, continuing his search for the mech's dimension keystone.

Ye Chong was fully focused, undistracted by anything around him!

Captain Hatik's hoarse voice was trembling faintly as he announced, "Fleet One combatants, attack!"

Brent could not wait for Ye Chong any further. He quickly switched on the secret room's holographic screen, and Fred, who had just found the keystone, was also diverted to the holographic display.

About a hundred mechs flew towards the white warship, a black swarm, like hornets leaving their nest. The mech pilots personally chosen by Captain Hatik's were all experienced combatants. Their formation and defense was solid.

The enemy seemed to realize the swarm, and directed some of the cannons towards it.

Ye Chong was finished with the initial configurations. He slipped out of the mech and asked Fred, "Have you found the keystone?"

Fred shifted his attention from the holographic screen to him, and handed over the dimension keystone to Ye Chong. "Here, this is it. Don't forget, the mech's name is Yu Di, which is also the name of the God! It's yours now, take care of it!" Fred spoke like a father placing his son in another's care, and he looked a little saddened.

"Yes!" Ye Chong nodded resolutely, and took Yu Di's dimension keystone from Fred.

"Are there backup energy cells?" Ye Chong asked.

"Oh, there!" Fred pointed towards a corner, thinking nothing of it. Ye Chong swiftly made for the energy cells and moved them into Yu Di. Energy cells were the driving force of all mechs, it would do no harm to have a few as backup!

Ye Chong moved the energy cells until he deemed them enough, and withdrew Yu Di into its alternate dimension.

The starship was occasionally shaking , Sabre's massive hull unable to evade any of the enemy's cannon attacks. Fortunately, its armor was as thick as the ship was massive, and its armor would not falter in the short term. However, if the situation continued, destruction was only a matter of time.

The warship's cannon attacks were not effective against the quick movements of the mechs, much like shooting mosquitoes with cannon balls. The warship's weapons were designed to increase their firepower and maximize damage on starships, but this required some compromise on the weapons' flexibility and accuracy, making them less effective against mechs.

However, the heavy round of cannonfire earlier still resulted in the loss of quite a few mechs. The mechs that were hit ended tragically. Most of them were vapourized instantly, and even those that were only slightly grazed exploded almost instantly. The pilots in the mechs stood no chance of surviving the attacks.

Brent's face was white as paper, witnessing a spectacle as cruel as it was for the very first time. Ye Chong, however, kept his cool demeanor, his expression unchanged, for the sight was not as impressive to him!

The enemy seemed to realize then that cannon fire was ineffective against the mechs!

The best weapon against mechs would be mechs! This was a widely circulated saying amongst mech pilots.

About thirty to forty white mechs flew out from the enemy's warship. Seeing the obvious advantage in numbers on his own side, Brent could not help but exhale in relief!

However, when Ye Chong could see the mechs more clearly, his calm composure was disrupted, and Ye Chong's expression twisted!

The MPA!

These white mechs were all the same model as the one that Johansson attacked that day. While he did not know its name, Ye Chong was certain that he did not remember it wrong! During his time on Blue Ocean, he was attacked a few times by the white mech for no apparent reason.

It was no wonder that Ye Chong felt that the white warship looked familiar. The ship's design was very similar to the strange looking gun that the white mechs held in their hands!

These people will not stand a chance! While the enemy was severely outnumbered, Ye Chong knew from the white mech's strength that their smaller squad had terrifying potential!

Ye Chong spoke without explaining his thought, "Come, let's back them up!"

Brent paused. "Do they still need backing up? We're twice in numbers!"

Ye Chong ignored him, and mentally reached for Shang, "We're backing them up!"

"I agree with your decision!" From his light tone, Ye Chong knew immediately that it was Mu!

Ye Chong was overjoyed. "Mu, it's you! I was expecting Shang!"

Mu explained calmly, "The threat level is too high. For safety reasons, Shang had asked for me!"

"Hmm, it's good to have you!" Ye Chong felt himself feeling calmer, and immediately rushed for the flight runways.

That was how Fred and Brent witnessed the extraordinary moment where the one-armed mech, inert since a few days ago, moved and trailed behind Ye Chong, following him closely.

Fred, who had been studying the mech for the past few days, could only look on in astonishment!

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Chapter 105: The Insidious Yu Di

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong and Mu did not meet anyone idling around along the way. Everyone stood at their appointed stations dutifully. All non-combatants were sent to the safe room to avoid harm.

There were many flight runways available on Sabre, and that was convenient for Ye Chong.

As the mechs from both sides engaged, Sabre's mechs immediately took heavy damage. The enemy's mechs Nanowaves fired from their flexible ivory-white Javelin Angel-Vs, coupled with an impressive auto lock-on system that even Black Cove mechs found difficult to evade unleashed its full destructive powers on the enemy. The forty two Messengers all fired once, and forty mechs from the other side perished as a result, leaving only two mechs that escaped their assault.

Such terrifying aim and powerful guns caused instant turmoil amongst the mechs from Sabre.

At the bridge onboard Sabre, everyone stared in shocked, their faces paled as though the world was ending before their eyes. Captain Hatik's pained expression was twisted horribly, but he quickly gave the order in his hoarse voice. "Squads Two, Three and Four combatants, initiate attack!"

If they ceased to attack now, the remaining mechs would quickly be overwhelmed. Captain Hatik could only hope to use their numbers to his advantage, and so he put all his hopes on this last gamble!

Everyone onboard the ship understood their fates. When the enemy used a warship against them, it implied that they had no intention of leaving anyone alive. If news of their warship was leaked, the enemy would have to face the united forces of the Five Galaxies. No matter how powerful the enemy was, the result was definitely fatal. Surely the enemy would think the same!

Captain Hatik turned to his communications officer and asked, "Well? Any signals yet?"

The officer was on the verge of crying, looking hopeless. "None! Captain, I believe we're done for!"

Captain Hatik felt his chest tighten, but he maintained his calm expression and patted the officer on the back and said determinedly, "Don't give up, continue reaching out! We will prevail! Don't worry! I will bring you all home!"

The officer pulled himself together and nodded clearly, "Yes! Captain!" and continued on with his work, repeating his efforts of trying to communicate with the outside world.

Captain Hatik, however, was feeling a little dismal! Can one truly control one's own fate?

Ye Chong had just exited the flight runway when Captain Hatik gave the order for the supporting forces!

The first squad of combatants knew that they were no match for the opponent, and could only desperately buy time for support. Hence, an array of impressive evading skills were continuously employed in the small battlefield, and the battle was turned into a mass demonstration of evasion tricks!

However, the results were apparent, as the rate of mechs lost was reducing quickly.

The sight of three hundred over mechs launching together was an incredible sight! Even the ever steadfast Ye Chong could not help but feel a rush of excitement! Yu Di and Mu flew amongst the three hundred over mechs, inconspicuous to the ignorant!

However, this was obviously not the time for Ye Chong to be overexcited. He must familiarize himself with Yu Di, a gift from Fred, before he entered the range of the enemy's attacks!

Yu Di's every component was designed and made by Fred the Great himself, most of them very different from the component models found commonly in the market. Fortunately, Ye Chong was knowledgeable in mech modifications, and even if he did not know the exact models used, a few trials and errors was enough for him to have a rough understanding of the mech!

The mech's engines were definitely top of the line. Sitting in the mech, Ye Chong could feel the powerful surge from the mech's engines, surpassing even the capabilities of Harmony of the Winter Aria. "As expected of a master," thought Ye Chong respectfully. One should understand that the most difficult component to modify in a mech was its engines, since technology in engine designs were already mature. To modify even a small part of an engine was an incredible feat, much less redesigning an entirely new model! Besides, this engine model performed wonderfully!

Yu Di's most eye-catching feature was definitely its four hands. These four mechanical hands were well designed, with a range of motion that surprised even Ye Chong. The hands moved like the tentacles of an octopus, and even the weapons equipped for them were thoughtful.

One hand held a shield, and without any experience with it, Ye Chong did not know its capabilities, as he dared not attempt to test it in the current battle. Another hand clutched a spear, its head made of laser beams. The laser spearhead could even be launched as a weapon, but as for its effectiveness, Ye Chong was equally ignorant.

The weapon held by the third hand was one that Ye Chong was familiar with - a UF magnetic sword. This was one of Ye Chong's favourite weapons, and this particular sword's vibrating frequency was three times higher than the top grade UF magnetic swords found in the market. "Heavens, how did he solve the vibration frequency threshold problem? That's a world-class problem!" thought Ye Chong.

The weapon on the fourth and final hand was a bit odd. It was a vase shaped ammunitions launcher. "The old fool, did he really think this is a God?" The thought of the vase shaped design made Ye Chong want to cry, or laugh, or both. However, once he examined the contents of the launcher, Ye Chong felt a chill run down his spine! Electro-interference grenades, high compression explosive grenades, metal degradation agents … All sorts of insidious auxiliary grenades were found, and in great variety. Ye Chong even found a small gravity grenade. "The man can fit a gravity matrix into such a small grenade! How terrifying!" Ye Chong finally understood that the mech was no God, but an honest-to-God devil of extreme insidiousness! Perhaps the trump card of this mech lay in these weapons!

"What a crafty old man!"

However, Ye Chong was not extremely gratified by the old man, Fred. These weapons, if used appropriately, would have devastating power! That meant that Ye Chong's chances of survival had increased!

Without time for further contemplation, Mu reminded Ye Chong that he was close to the enemy's firing range. Ye Chong immediately gathered his thoughts and examined the situation before him carefully. If he took a hit, even Mu with all his ingenuity could not save him! Fortunately, his hands moved quickly enough to make up for his unfamiliarity with Yu Di.

The MPA warship's commander was obviously confident of the forty two Messengers, and did not direct any of the warship's cannons to provide support. Instead, the cannons continued to fired at Sabre at a steady pace, hoping to breach the starship's seemingly impregnable armor!

Since Ye Chong was still adjusting himself to Yu Di, he was no longer in the middle of the swarm of mechs, but had dropped behind, with Mu flying steadily by his side.

However, with this, he would only need to concentrate on avoiding any stray bullets. He was not foolish enough to rush to the front lines!

Over three hundred mechs of all colours surrounded the forty two Messengers and fired their long range weapons, the canopy of laser beams and heat rays formed a dazzling web of light. No matter how powerful the Messengers were, they could not overcome the force of so many others! The forty two Messengers took their first hit, five of them destroyed by the first round of attacks, and a few of them were damaged!

The pilots were encouraged, as the white mechs image of invincibility was finally shattered!

The remaining Messengers did not stay put, but whizzed away in all directions, flying into the swarm of mechs. The pilots ceased fire for fear of shooting their comrades but the Messengers did not share the same concern; almost everyone around them were their enemies, and they could fire as they please! However, they also lost their long range advantage earlier. However, while their numbers were decreasing, the enemy's numbers were also decreasing, but at a much higher rate, tenfold or more!

Ye Chong carefully avoided the stray bullets. He did fully understand Yu Di's armor and defense capabilities, and this was not the place to experiment on them.

Some distance away, a Messenger was pursued by a few mechs, and was now heading towards him.

Ye Chong laughed coldly inside, his hands moving across the controls in a blur, initiating a sequence of maneuvers. Yu Di lifted its vase-shaped grenade launcher, and a gravity grenade was launched towards the Messenger.

Ye Chong noticed then that his scanning system did not register any trace of the gravity grenade. "Was the grenade shell made of anti-detection material? It must be so! What a sly old man!" Ye Chong was sincerely impressed!

The Messenger was obviously faster than the mechs pursuing it. With just a few minor evasive motions, it could avoid the laser beam attacks from behind.

The pilot of this Messenger also noticed an oddly designed mech some distance away, floating around idly. "What a fool, to space off on the battleground, just asking for trouble. As expected, this is just an assorted crew! The pilot in the mech smiled condescendingly, his Javelin Angel-V already pointed towards the odd looking mech. "Four arms? Does he think he's an octopus? Hehe, I'll show you the taste of some good grilled octopus!"

With just a move of his finger, the idiot would turn into ashes! The pilot's mouth formed a cruel smile!

Suddenly, without any warning, his whole body was heavily weighed down , as though he was falling. In that moment, he felt as though he was bundled together with some iron beams, his body unwilling to move as he wished it to, and any movement became extremely difficult! Before he could react any further, laser beams came from behind towards him.

His face was drained of color, and his eyes widened, panic-stricken; sweat along his forehead rolled downwards like a stream due to the gravitational pull!

BANG* He knew his Messenger had been hit! Based on his experience, it should be the left shoulder!

A few other laser beams shot towards him, and while evasion was easy before, he could no longer react to anything. He watched hopelessly at the odd mech, and, just before he was completely engulfed in the explosion, he noticed that the thin smile on the mech's face was suddenly the very image of cruelty!

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Chapter 106: Warship Infiltration

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Messenger exploded into a brilliant cluster of fireworks. Zoom! Ye Chong was not in the mood to behold such dazzle! He quickly steered Yu Di away from the incoming mechs. If it was not for the impromptu steering, he would have joined the fireworks too! Those mechs on the other hand also found the happening recklessly preposterous, but being an old hand on the steer in the war field, they understood that it simply was not the time to ponder on these nonsensical issues as they repositioned themselves to cover up for each other, searching for the next target to fire!

The war field was chaotic and congested with speeding mechs. The laser beams crossed over each other, blooming in clusters like grand fireworks. The deafening explosion resounded sometimes, marking the tiny conclusion of each overlapping battle in the boundless space.

Not only the enemies had to watch themselves for the bullets, the member of the same team was also defenseless as they could helplessly get hit from this massive shower of firings.

"Ye, tsk." Mu commented, "Marksmanship, Ye. Marksmanship. You do need additional classes on shooting skills. Blades do not work in a war field like this; shooting works much better."

Ye Chong agreed with Mu deep in his heart, as it seemed to him that any melee attacker could suffer worse fate than slavery in a war field like this.

Ye Chong loitered in the field. He fired a few additional shots with the bullets in his cartridge from time to time. However obviously Ye Chong lacked the talent for ranged shooting as he was still able to bloodily miss the shot on the enemy and land it on his ally instead… despite all the modification of simplifying the set-up for the firing on his cartridge.

The number of the Messengers decreased drastically. Only less than half of them remained 5 minutes after the beginning of this free-for-all fight. The Sabre was not at an easier place however, as they suffered worse loss - averagely 7 to 8 mechs had to go sacrificed to take out a single Messenger, and that was under the circumstance of a besieging strike.

Hence, the offensive force of a Messenger was justifiable. The strength of FMPA was fearsome enough to make Ye Chong to have cold feet.

That was especially when most of his allies consisted of well-known ace pilots. Imagine if he was allied with ordinary pilots instead; it would be a massacre!

"Ye, follow my lead!" Mu's voice rang out of the blue.

"Mhm!" Ye Chong replied without hesitation and tailed Mu for a moment. "Wait!" He realized the direction they were heading to and he was surprised, "Mu, aren't we committing suicide if we head this way?"

"Very strangely, there happened to be information on this model of warship in one of the damaged folders in my databank." Flatly Mu stated.

"What?" Ye Chong was stupefied, "You actually have details on this warship?"

"Correct. However as mentioned, part of it was damaged, so it was not a complete information to begin with. If my analysis has no inaccuracies, the raid by 42 of these white mechs was only the first wave. Going by the standard set-up there should be 42 more unmodified mechs and 6 more advanced mechs being the main defense," elaborated Mu indifferently.

"There're 6 more advanced mechs?" Ye Chong frowned as he asked on while dodging the bombardment around, "Why didn't they send the advanced mechs first? They could have won right away if they did."

"Negative. According to my information, the answer remained unknown. Nevertheless, as illustrated by the damaged information in the database, the so-called warship was not actually made for warring purposes."

"What is it made for then?" asked Ye Chong in curiosity.

"The name is 'Twin Moon Corvette', a ship for escorting important items or personnels, normally travels in 7 as a fleet. Sometimes a single of them is used for conducting offensive missions, though its firepower was unknown as displayed being a damaged portion of the data. I had intercepted the signals and I had found out that the encryption methodology used in the signal from this corvette was the exact signal we got back in the ship. Technically, the signals should come from the same group of people," explained Mu.

"Also the signal verification system of the corvette acts passively. Additional information regarding their encryption and the exact frequency had been transferred to your processor. By setting up the frequency in the processor, we could avoid their tracking system as being identified as an ally rather than foes in the field."

"Oh… I… I see…" Ye Chong nodded as he somehow had gotten the idea… but… "So what do we do next? Raid the warship?"

"Based on my calculations…" Mu began. "My plan would be ambushing one of the many walkways for their outgoing mechs to catch them off guard while heading in. Then we destroy the entire commanding center of this corvette and turn it into our main war field. We can hold better advantages hitting from the inside," added Mu.

"What if there was no any outgoing mechs at the walkway as we ambush?" inquired Ye Chong.

Mu answered nonchalantly, "Based on the information obtained, mechs of the main offense and unmodified forces share an entirely different walkway, with 6 of them being the frequently used entrances and 2 of them being a backup doorway, the odds are great in this! Well, if the odds were against us, we would have to blow the gate open, though I would not recommend this as this would alarm the foes and time would be constrained."

"Mu, can't you hack into the ship?" an idea flashed in Ye Chong's mind. "It would work on this ship, wouldn't it? Or can't we enter under the disguise as allies with the frequency you have given ?"

"Negative, our time is sufficient," Mu concluded concisely. "And that signal is solely for external verification, unlike the internal system of the warship, which contains a more complicated set of signals for recognition. Even if we have that said signals, we could not pass the hologram scanning checkpoint. The appearance of our mechs differ from the foes' too much."

While they discussed on their plan, they have arrived meters away from the corvette. There were actually 2 mechs that came from nowhere. They were not the Messengers apparently yet they flew towards the corvette recklessly. It seemed like they had the same infiltration plan as Ye Chong but they were much ignorant. Since they do not have the matching signal to the ship, they were assailed right when they moved forward, forcing them to run away clumsily.

Clumsily they might have dodged the shots yet Ye Chong's eyes lustered. "Those were the experts!" commented Ye Chong upon witnessing the scene.

"Follow my lead," Mu's voice rang again.

Ye Chong shifted his eyes away from the experts and hurriedly hovered to a spot near the sides of a walkway allocated by Mu.

Gasp…

He took a deep breath as he watched the gate carefully. No more time for nonsense, he thought as he laid his hands on the control panel, relaxed and was ready to launch anytime.

He had not gotten used to Yu Di yet. If only he was piloting the Harmony… he would have better confidence.

The seconds lapsed sluggishly in his head, while the 2 mechs were still dodging the shells from the warship. The warship did not show full hostility however, as seemingly they presumed these 2 mechs were no more than just annoying flies on the screen. As insignificant as the mechs were, it was impossible to capture a warship with only two of them, although to Ye Chong and Mu, these mechs had became their allies in this operation.

"Ye, ready!" Mu's voice came abruptly.

With full focus, his body tightened slightly as his palms were placed right above the panel, waiting for that initiating keyword from Mu.

The gate opened slowly.

"Do it!"

Zap! Both hands of Ye Chong transformed into shrouds of overlapping imageries, as Yu Di accelerated all the way to the top of the gate and aimed the laser lance right at the entrance!

"How com-" The opponent was covered in darkness. They tried to react with maximum speed on their mechs with further speed-up from the firing system, yet they failed!

The moment Ye Chong got to the spot, wham! A brutal force came into his way!

Yu Di was sent flying, like it was crashed by a shooting star.

The momentum was so great; greater than expected. Ye Chong felt like his body was hammered violently at the time of crash, with splashes of blood squirted from his mouth. Nonetheless, he could not stop just yet! His hands were inputting command back at the time of contact. His speed allowed him to make a slash at the foe with his magnetic blade. Before he was sent flying he also tossed the laser lance to the foe. It should not miss at a distance this short… Thought Ye Chong.

On the other hand, Mu zapped into the walkway the second the foe exited from the warship. He had to, since the gate would close immediately after the mech left.

The mech launched itself from the gate and crashed into Yu Di with full speed. A major comeback from the foe!

Mu was a much more tactical fighter than Ye Chong. He turned his side towards the gate and cannoned into the gate from inside, like a meteorite. The dividing gate was smashed and the air inside the warship leaked wildly like a hurricane. The gate had became a vent!

The remaining 5 mechs of the main force were discharged from the walkway! Obviously Ye Chong had noticed something amiss as he zoomed into the walkway, disregarding his wounds and Yu Di's damage. At least the gravity system of the warship remained intact. Imagine if the place had gone weightless and those fragments of the gate were dispersed like flying spikes. It could be fatal.

The dodging mechs also followed Ye Chong into the warship right after!

The walkway was not as long as he imagined. Within twinkling of eyes he arrived at a dead end. The white mech floated at the gate. It was all distorted on the outside. There was a huge hole right at the chest where the sides were charred thoroughly. Its left shoulder was broken, probably because of that slash made by Ye Chong's magnetic blade. The body was pressed by the remnants of the gate. It looked like only miracle could save the pilot inside from being dead.

The interior of the warship was covered by thin walls. Certainly they were foolish to let this potential security breach go unnoticed, since the thickness and hardness of the walls could not even hold any mech from entering, let alone the super mechs like Mu and Yu Di.

The mechs exited in flocks instantly when they realized something was wrong as they flew towards the mothership. Mu did not have the leisure to hack the whole system of the warship. He only had the time to destroy the control room before these men arrived. If not, "We would be watched and soon we would be destroyed, like a honeypot," Ye Chong said although he had never seen an actual honeypot before.

After the 2 mechs stormed inside the warship and they whizzed before Ye Chong, he ran away right after he catapulted an explosive to the walkway. The 2 mechs were not that ignorant towards this blatant forewarning coming from Ye Chong as they chased after his lead with the highest velocity.

2 to 3 seconds later, the sound of the explosion roared behind them.

Anyone could have guessed what a pain it would be if they were boomed in such a narrow space.

The remaining mechs followed Mu, making a few sharp turns to the left, sometimes to the right, all the way to the main control room!

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Chapter 107: Ye Chong's Demonstration

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Old Pang never expected the enemies to be this skillful, more like, the enemies' mechs were too overpowered. Old Pang and Ka Sang were both in the first group during the first wave of the attack and they were also the remaining mechs after the enemies' overwhelming strike. As the situation of the war field grew beyond control, Old Pang decided to go by his experience to plan a raid against the mothership of the opponent instead. So as he led Ka Sang the way to the warship, surprisingly he spotted another pair of mechs somewhere near the entrance. Those were surely his allies. It was simple - the ally contained mechs of all sorts of color while the foe wholly consisted of white mechs. Old Pang found these additional allies peculiar however, as they were unaffected by the enemies' firing. It was as if they were invisible.

Wait no! Are they undercover? This was the first speculation that flashed in his mind as he wondered if he should diverge his firearm at any of these strange fellas. And he held his fire eventually as what happened next had cleared his doubts. The oddly designed mech was crashed away by the mech flying out from the corvette at lightning speed. Direct and violent, obviously that was too impulsive for a reunion hug between allies.

Old Pang's heart nearly failed to take the intensity, he almost felt his heart jumping right out of his mouth.

Did the guy want to die? He never thought this pilot of the foe was such a bold person that he would sacrifice himself to eliminate the potential threat outside to create an opening for his teammates. Collision this intense could break through any advanced pressure buffering system inside the cabin and without a doubt it could break a human body of such fragility. The Old Pang saluted with respect in his heart. And then he shrunk in slight worry - the opponent turned out to be this devastating… he should not have brought his partner here! He took a glance at Ka Sang, restlessly he held the panel.

He watched on and as he saw that handicapped blue-white mech acting in such agility that he nailed his timing perfectly to make his entry to the warship, the Old Pang exclaimed, "Such an expert!"

To his horror he saw that black mechs with four arms hovering back to his former position. "Am… I seeing things?" he asked as he could not believe his eyes as he rubbed. That black mech was sent flying like a falling star… and he actually came back?

No way! How could any human survive a collision that intense?

He flinched for a moment, however fortunately as perceptive as he was, he got the odd mech's motive upon seeing it sneaking into the walkway. Mumbled some compliments in joy, he hurried Ka Sang to go after the two mechs right when he saw the mechs of the foes elevating.

Judging by how the two mechs behaved, they seemed to be aware that both Ka Sang and himself were allies rather than foes.

After the explosion, they arrived before the main control room, where the alloy gate blocked their entry. Mu disengaged from the signal before and switched back to the open channel, "The main control room uses an independent defense system. It would be quite difficult if we were to enter by brutal force. I would need 3 minutes to work on something," Ye Chong and the two partners received an order from him.

"Mhm," promptly Ye Chong responded.

"Understood," Old Pang was mindful of the situation as he responded with approval immediately, though he was a little skeptical about it… only 3 minutes to break a door open this thick that was clearly made out of alloy from Blanc Alloys Corp.? He knew it at first sight… but he did not have a better tactic in mind so he stayed quiet and prayed that the pilot of the handicapped mech really did have a master plan in mind.

The interior of the warship was overly crammed for a walkway, which limited the room for avoiding shots. If the foes were given the opportunity to shoot, Ye Chong predicted that it would not be a waste as every shot would count. Nevertheless, the topography of this area looked relatively complex, which was an aid to Ye Chong's dexterity. Moreover, as the walkway was narrow, they would not be this rash to use an area-blowing weapon like the nano wave cannon they used before. If they did, everyone would die altogether.

"Oh?" Almost immediately after the order was given, the enemies came.

The 3 mechs looked certainly graceless as they reached the scene. Apparently the grenade Ye Chong tossed had dealt quite some damage on them… well at least crispy on the outside. Being set up in such a dirty trick, the white mechs were acting aggressively as they arrived with their lasers shooting.

As Ye Chong said earlier, there was no space to hide. He could only shield himself from the incoming beams. He had yet to test the durability of his shield so he hoped that it would take the test.

Thup! Thup!

It somehow took the lasers flawlessly as its black body expanded out of a sudden. Zztt! The edges of the shield broke away like scattered building blocks. Before he noticed, the shield had already enlarged to twice the area before. Its appearance had changed drastically, with a sculpture of a fearsome beast standing in the middle of the shield ferociously, its eyes shone like a pair of red stars in the dark night on the shield. Creepy! And the surface of the shield flickered like the waving water. He had seen it on Johansson's protection system before!

The laser beam landed on the shield like raindrops on a crystal lake surface. They became ripples on the plasma area of the shield. The eyes of the beast grew brighter!

Ye Chong was relieved. The shield did a pretty impressive job. These ordinary weaponries were no longer his concern.

They formed an "A" shape surrounding Mu in the middle to cover him up as he cracked something.

Old Pang owned a brownish humanoid mech… well it was a little plain in appearance, the shield was small and he required Ka Sang's constant assistance for additional covers. His position was weird nonetheless as he could cover up Mu while standing within the proximity of Ka Sang's large shield. He would exchange fires with the enemies and his fierce attack did not miss unexpectedly! Ye Chong was impressed. But he had to admit that these foes were not weak either. Their defense was so superior that Old Pang's modified laser firearm could only hit dents on the surface.

Ka Sang's mech was rowdy by design. The face of the humanoid mech was expressionless. Ye Chong wondered which lazy company actually manufactured this - such laziness! The mech's shield too was unadorned and looked like a giant metal plate, though it did possess edges sharp like the blades, a good killing weapon it could be.

Seemingly the foes were informed of what Ye Chong and his gang were planning to do. They panicked as the frontmost mech lifted his nano wave cannon.

"Oh no!" Ye Chong feared as he was not sure if his shield could take nano wave attack!

His hands started moving on the control panel and Yu Di was launched like an arrow off the bow right into the 3 white mechs!

Old Pang was shocked by the sudden movement and he shifted to Yu Di's position before to fill in the gap of defense before Mu.

The foes were astonished by Ye Chong's abrupt launch too as they diverged all their firepower right onto him!

Yu Di jumped from side to side on the walls of the walkway, zigzagging his way to the white mechs, speedily it changed course again and again, which confused the white mechs.

Ye Chong was so engaged in his leaps that he did not realize what a shocking performance he was having that left Old Pang and Ka Sang dumbfounded at the side. Being able to perform such a fast turning in spite of limited space, is this guy still a human? Old Pang was daringly sure that such sharp turning would absolutely cause pressure beyond the tolerance of the human body.

Horrifying!

Everyone thought so.

Well it was not solely Ye Chong's amazing performance, Yu Di took some credits too. Its mobility was greater than Ye Chong expected. The zigzagging turnings were seamlessly done! Of course the environment was also a factor in this. If there was no wall at both sides, he could not make the leaps with a single-direction engine.

Still, it was astounding.

The speedy turnings exerted an inaudible pressure upon the foes.

Being close with a melee foes would be the worst nightmare for ranged attackers like them.

Alarmingly they launched all their firearms, including the nano waves! They were not holding back!

And that was when Ye Chong's hand movement speed came in handy. He could still perform other commands while leaping and keeping the shield right in front of him.

The laser beams, the heat rays of high intensity, the nano waves and the other form of beams came showering at Ye Chong!

Ye Chong's plasma shield shook viciously, the eyes of the beast turned even brighter! Klink! The entire shield glowed in red and a trace of serrated laser beams surrounded the edges. It looked as if the shield was blazing!

The nano wave that missed Ye Chong caused a monstrous explosion! The whole warship was shaking forcefully! Old Pang and Ka Sang almost lost their stance and fell, while Mu was still cracking, which impressed Old Pang. The blue-white mech might be handicapped but he was uninterrupted by the quake at all! Such a calm guy! An extraordinary person the blue-white mech was!

Ye Chong had come before the 3 mechs. The pilots on the white mechs were well-trained to know that evidently ranged weapons would not work effectively in such a close range. They drew their laser swords and strived to take this petrifying creature together.

Ye Chong was calm - calm as the ice - while the pupils of his eyes seared with the passion of battle, expressing the truest form of his soul!

Yu Di nimbly twisted through the brandishing laser swords as the shield slashed through the waist of one mech, the lance in his arm impaled the ribs and that magnetic blade in the other arm cut through the neck of the foe.

Old Pang wanted to provide help to Ye Chong who was cornered, but the moment he saw Ye Chong wielding 3 weapons at once, he groaned, "Oh my Fal Galaxy, what monster is this! He was able to use that 1 second of opening to plan such a complicated command and execute them flawlessly, all by instincts!"

The model of these mechs from the FMPA was not sophisticated enough for close-combats which was totally unmatched for their powerful ranged attacks, thought Ye Chong.

The mech was assaulted almost instantly. Despite having such a great defense, it could not hold Yu Di's barbarous attacks!

The slash of the magnetic blade left the mech spluttered in pieces. The remaining two mechs were afraid to fight on and they bleed the scene.

Ye Chong was planning for a pursuit but Mu's voice rang, "Got it!"

He turned his head and saw the control room open!

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Chapter 108: Fall of a Brilliance

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Mu initiated the exploration first. As he entered, he saw the mess inside the main control room - the light was dim and sometimes flashed while shards of something were everywhere on the ground; the apparatuses beeped weakly as they occasionally crackled with sparks. There was nobody inside the room and patches of dried blood coated the ground.

Old Pang might be old and had seen enough horror like this yet his heart skipped a beat, thinking of how destructive nano waves could be. While Ye Chong dodged the beams safely when the 3 mechs fired their ultimate weapon at their greatest fear, the beams eventually resulted in several consecutive explosions in the warship. The aftermath was the quake and the shockwave which inevitably murdered all these staff who were unprotected and unarmed. They all died; brutally.

Mu did not bother with the emotional moments as he proceeded connecting the processor of the warship and booted the self-inspection program on the ship.

Ye Chong, Old Pang and his partner decided to perform a search in the room for survivors.

While they were flipping through the remnants, Ye Chong's eyes discerned something flailing in one of the piles. He zoomed in the visual on his screen and found out it was someone within the fragments. And the person looked familiar… Who was this again…

Gu Shaoze? Isn't this Gu Shaoze? Ye Chong was shocked! What the heck he was doing here?

He was a genius, a young talented man, whom Ye Chong admired. Gu Shaoze held a certain standard of brilliance in mechs which utterly exceeded the expected expertise for a man of his age. And without a doubt, Ye Chong learned a lot from him. Most importantly, he was truly young, so young that his future could be bright, brighter than ever!

What happened to that blonde bodyguard he had?

Ye Chong raised the gate of his cabin and hopped off from Yu Di, which frightened Old Pang as he peeked at the side. He was not expecting a mere man like Ye Chong to jump directly from a mech this tall… And remained intact? He had lost count the number of times his eyes nearly popped out for the day.

It's him! Old Pang finally understood what had been going on, as he had a clear look of the pilot in this strange mech! It was the one who left him a deep impression. He was as good as before! Then what about the pilot inside that crippled mech? Old Pang was intrigued, very intrigued.

Since the main control room was an independent cubicle from the outside, the oxygen supply system was not severely damaged. What a luck especially after such a wreck outside!

Ye Chong quickly ran to Gu Shaoze to have a closer look. There were tons of specks sitting right beneath his body and a large splash of oddly-odored liquid. A bit of inference ran in Ye Chong's head. He speculated that Gu Shaoze injected some sort of sleep-inducing chemical and was confined in a preserving device, which was why the nano waves did not kill him immediately. It looked like the members of FMPA were still concerned about talents! The device might have protected Gu Shaoze from the immediate fatality yet the quake shattered it completely in the end.

Carefully Ye Chong lifted Gu Shaoze. He did not look alright. There was blood at corner of his lips. His face was drained and there were scratches on his body.

Somehow Gu Shaoze felt heaved by someone as his eyes quivered, attempting to open his eyes. "Ow…" He mumbled, his eyes opened, "Ye…Ch…?" He was surprised to see Ye Chong. He grew agitated and his face turned reddish as blood surged through his body rapidly. "Ech! Ugh!" He coughed and spat out quite some blood. Ye Chong was startled as apparently his inner organs were injured!

Ye Chong who originated from the have-everything-but-nothing Trash Planet knew well by heart that such injury would be a hassle to cure. He was not sure how advanced the medical facilities the outside world would be but he could be sure that it was impossible to find an appropriate cure at a place like this! Sighed Ye Chong in his heart.

Gu Shaoze's lips trembled, as if trying to utter something. Ye Chong hurriedly moved his ears by his lips.

"My…My left arm…" Gu Shaoze's weak voice rang a clear order, "Cut it open… Password… Number 2…"

!

Ye Chong stared at Gu Shaoze in disturbance. His sight turned frail, his body was shuddering uncontrollably, yet his expression was calm, as if he had no more regret in this world. Forced a smile, he looked into his eyes, before Ye Chong could say something, his eyes zoomed out and coughed the last splash of blood on Ye Chong. He collapsed and stopped moving, like a puppet cut off the strings.

Ye Chong understood what had happened. Gu Shaoze was dead!

Biting his teeth, he drew the dagger from his waist. What an irony it was when the dagger was a gift from the person before him and he had to use it to fulfill the last wish of the dead. The sharp edge of the dagger sliced Gu Shaoze's left arm open effortlessly. Blood overflowed on the floor beneath and Ye Chong dug through the fleshes without hesitation, looking for something as blood streamed through his fingers with the tender remaining.

Old Pang and Ka Sang could no longer compute the situation.

They witnessed the whole scene of Ye Chong committing murder on a murdered. Their faces were paler than a paper.

A moment later, Ye Chong felt something hard within the flesh. He pulled it out gently. It was dipped in blood and covered in bit of fleshes. It was quite difficult to identify what it was. Ye Chong wiped everything off the piece.

Old Pang and Ka Sang realized what Ye Chong was doing at last - he was retrieving something from the body, though that was still weird as hell, considering how the boy on the ground looked so gentle and sophisticated. They never expected that he would stuff something inside his arm. What a pain it would be and how many ounces of courage he would have needed! They stared at the dead body in fright.

They had enough of the day… especially seeing how Ye Chong just dug through the fleshes like picking vegetables from the stew. His face was indifferent - he had to be someone who had gotten use to these dead-or-alive scenarios.

Ye Chong did not have time to have a look on what he had obtained from Gu Shaoze's body. He sank it into the pack on his waist as he knew everyone else was waiting for him.

"I had fully inspected the warship," commented Mu after seeing Ye Chong having his own business settled. "The warship was severely damaged. The energy system was unstable, which would lead to an explosion in 10 minutes. Not possible to attempt any method of prevention."

Somehow based on Mu's comment, it seemed like things were much easier to destroy from the inside than the outside.

Old Pang was frightened by the news. An explosion in split seconds yet this guy stated it as if he was not involved in the explosion at all.

Ye Chong rolled into the cabin and asked, "What do we do now?"

"We run. This is the only probable solution after my calculation," suggested Mu calmly.

"Right, let's go then," mumbled Ye Chong as he flew out right away.

They were welcomed by continuous beam and nano wave attacks as soon as they got out. Fortunately they expected the attack so they avoided them lastly. As predicted, right after the main forces from the corvette joined the field, they took over the place almost instantly. The mechs from Sabre were witty however as they retreated back to their mothership the moment they saw the warship stopped firing and a few mechs exited from it, though some of them did not make it and had become one of the meteorites.

There were 400 of them and 10 minutes after the debut of the main forces, only 37 of them made it back to the mothership in one piece. This was the cruelest war to the fighters back then. They were still haunted by the war in their dreams years after.

The FMPA lost badly, where 42 of their unmodified mechs returned with only 11 of them left. And they lost 1 major mech. The most fatal part was… the corvette was a secret to the public and now the cat had gotten out of the bag and had gone out of hand! Everyone in the authority would notice the existence of the warships. They might not know to whom the warship belonged but much chaos it could cause.

Without the warship, no matter how strong the Messengers were, they would never break into the Sabre, since its armor was too thick.

As everybody else had retreated back into the mothership, Ye Chong and his allies became the remaining bullseyes in the field.

They agreed something bad would happen as they ran as fast as they could. No way they could return to Sabre like the others as the mechs chased after them fiercely, not giving them a moment of breather.

A few Messengers went back into the corvette and seconds later, as if the honeycomb was alarmed, the entire flock of white mechs rushed out and went after Ye Chong and his companions. The Sabre was no longer their concern!

Probably they had realized something was stolen from Gu Shaoze. And it had to be something rather important. It stood clear to Ye Chong and his friends. Of course they would run! Which dumbo would stand there and become the honeycomb instead?

Those Messengers that entered the corvette just now must be striving to bring the warship back online. Of course it would not work! Ye Chong recalled the explosion in 10 minutes stated by Mu, he snickered.

They flew on for the next 2 hours and none of the Messengers seemed to be giving up yet. The Sabre was lost in their eyes and the 4 mechs fled like a homeless pack of wolves being chased by 4 main force giants and 6 white Messengers. Fast and furiously they ran, the energy depletion was no longer an issue. They had to turn their engines up, all the way to the maximum!

And this was the moment where the capacity of one's mech could be clearly seen.

Mu had always been flying as fast as Ye Chong. He had tried maximizing the resources on Yu Di yet Mu leisurely stayed by his side. That engine of Mu…

While Old Pang was much slower than Yu Di, Ka Sang's mech was the last in the queue.

And the contrast existed in the foes too. The 4 giant mechs were the leading group and the 6 Messengers spread nicely in one row.

Ye Chong and Mu began exchanging conversation.

"Where are we, Mu?" Ye Chong asked.

"Based on the galactic area map, we are probably inside the Orbits, but I do not have a detailed map of the said area!"

"Oh no," Ye Chong's face tightened. "We are being chased by a bunch of homing beacons. We could die together at this rate!" Ye Chong did not fear the death though.

The space was known to be boundless and fearfully vast. Without performing space-warp, it would be impossible for one to reach from one point to another merely by flights. It took too long that one could actually die before hitting the destination!

Especially when no one had heard of galactic travel on a mech before! Everyone does it on a ship!

Beep!

Ye Chong turned on the multi-channel communication system, "Do any of you happen to be familiar with this place?"

"It's the Orbits!" Old Pang quickly replied. "I have came here a few times before, although I must admit that was quite some time ago."

"What is the closest place for us to hide around here?"

"Uhhh…," Old Pang cracked his head thinking. "I do remember there was a place somewhere here…" His tone was unsure…

The fall of one brilliance on the ship, probably was not the last…

Thought Ye Chong.

Chapter 109: The Orbits

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The flock of angry mechs from FMPA eventually stopped chasing… but that only happened 3 days later… Ye Chong was thanking god that he brought supplementary batteries sufficient to sustain him for the last 3 days, or he would have drained his battery and got stuck in the space like those FMPA mechs. Meanwhile, Mu seemed to hardly have the issue of energy depletion. He somehow had a much longer battery lifespan. Whoever created Mu must be some genius for being able to produce such a large battery capacity in limited space.

He did expect Old Pang and Ka Sang to stop at some point.

However both of them actually brought some batteries too, which was surprising to Ye Chong.

If you were to lose your battery, you would have gotten stuck and died. Only that would happen if you were in the space with such misfortune.

Nonetheless Old Pang had already become confused because of the continuous chase running around the Orbits, his atrocious memory could not pinpoint where he was.

At least they had gotten rid of those irritating mechs. They could look for a spot in leisure. No one cared what would happen to those mechs that had drained all their batteries. They were helpless. The ending for them was clear.

They flew on under energy-saving mode.

"30 years ago…," muttered Old Pang. "I came to the Orbits but I wasn't alone. My brother came along back then. I was 17… I wonder how much had changed here…if those people I once knew lingered?" His words were filled with sentiments.

Mu's voice came abruptly, "The galactic map of the Orbits in detail was nowhere to be found. It does not exist even in the Fal main databank!"

"Those civil servants… Kek…" Old Pang sneered, "I was not really sure of the landscape here too. I only remembered this place being a very complicated terrain, with lots of places perfect for hide-and-seek. Most criminals, the fearsome ones came here to conceal themselves. You guys better be careful. No word could reach them. Everyone here speaks with their fists and no one would care if you were killed. Especially those Mentalists, get away from them, never talk to them, they can be a nuisance."

"Mentalist?" asked Ka Sang curiously. "What the heck is a mentalist? Why have I never heard about it from you?"

A mentalist? Ye Chong was intrigued as he too had hardly heard a title like that before.

"Ka Sang, my boy Ka Sang, you better be staying low once we got there," Old Pang's tone was grim. "The Mentalists are at a high position in the Orbits. They don't get into fights but they have the rights of being an arbitrator in one. Thanks to their protection, those watchdogs of the government were never brave enough to disturb folks at the Orbits. Back when I was 17, I witnessed a slaughter between a mentalist and a fighter when I visited this place with my brother. The mentalist was around 40 years old, looked all weak but the fighter just dropped dead before him. It was spooky because the mentalist did not even lift his hand."

"That spooky?" Ka Sang screamed.

Ye Chong was spooked out too as he could not figure out a way of committing murder without moving anything.

"So yeah, you've got to stay low, don't do anything funny with them. They are easy to recognize though. Most of them wear blouses in pale green and they hardly leave their residences, so don't worry. Instead we should be cautious with the folks outside… many of them come from a hideous background and they are bloodthirsty and inhumane. They adore fighting and the fight won't end till one of them collapsed. If your fists do not match theirs, you are only there for humiliation and tortures."

"Fighting? I love fighting more than anything!" chuckled Ka Sang, acting like a big boy.

A hint of frigidity flashed in Ye Chong's gaze.

"There it is!" Old Pang shouted out of sudden. "That red planet ahead of us! Yes, that's it! The Red Giant!" His tone turned much relaxed and started to get excited, "I was so worried wondering if I missed it! This is the easiest planet to recognize, the vegetation is all red, which is quite extraordinary. The residents on the planet are also the friendliest in the Orbits! I had spent most of my time here in the past! So I knew this place better than any other!"

Some uncertainty had been brewing inside Ye Chong, as their next move became clearer he finally had the leisure to ask, "The Orbits share only a few days of flight away from the actual course for main cruises. But why haven't we run into a spaceship yet?"

Old Pang was astounded by Ye Chong's question at first, he giggled as he replied, "Course? You mean that course that Sabre adopted? Hah! That route was abandoned for years! It was just so happened that Fred the Great demanded a change of course to Morienste all of sudden. Yeah, a great man Captain Hatik is indeed, for he actually remembered that this route existed! The course was absolutely the very shortcut to Morienste and people hardly use it now, it is supposed to be rather safe… But sighs… nobody had thought that we would come across these punks!"

Ye Chong was speechless after hearing such an ordinary explanation. He was expecting something greater. He was well-aware of why the great master demanded a change in the course but of course he had to keep it to himself, though he did not really have the feeling to confess everything to Old Pang.

The conversation went lighthearted at first, then suddenly the smile on Old Pang vanished, "Just some heads up - after we got into the Orbits, we can't simply get out. The Orbits behave like the other world of the galaxy and is completely shut off from the outside world. You could get in but not out. People rarely manage to leave the place. My elder brother was only able to leave after fulfilling some tasks given by some sort of Elder at the place back then; for me, I was sent along with my brother. And I had never seen him since then…," sentiment filled his words again.

Ye Chong did not comfort the good Old Pang like his partner did.

The setting of the place was something new to Ye Chong. He hastily communicated with Mu in his head, "What's your take on this, Mu?"

"Based on the information received, we do not have many options here," his tone was flat as usual.

Ye Chong took a glance around the endless space and darkness, his smile was bitter, "Right… This is like the only living route we could get. Guess we have to act as we move then."

"Agreed," concisely Mu replied.

Ye Chong sat inside his Yu Di and his thoughts wandered…

Mu was turning much different than before. Ever since Shang emerged in the interface, their personalities somehow started growing towards the polarities - Mu became more unfeeling while Shang turned more emotional as time passed. He preferred the old Mu… who was mischievous at times yet so educational and would provide solutions on the needs of understanding… whereas Shang… man, it would be a miracle if his interface could blink one time less whenever a lass walked by.

What is the FMPA up to? They actually had their own warship? Why did they catch Gu Shaoze, the good-boy genius? Is it because of that thing in his arm? Ye Chong's thoughts were everywhere as his hand sneaked into his bag. It would be a good time to check what the thing in the flesh was. He took a look… It was… some kind of ring - a heart-shaped ring. The craft was not pretty well-done. There was nothing special about it. And that password Gu Shaoze mumbled before he died… Was it a password for the keystone? Ye Chong was intrigued and almost wanted to try warping a possibly gigantic mech into his cabin where he could barely stretch his body. And luckily he realized where he was as he put the ring back to his bag. "I'll try it some other time. I'm not in a hurry," he muttered.

Gu Shaoze's death was heart-shattering, even to an indifferent boy like Ye Chong. He was not in sorrow, rather he was agitated. What a waste of a talent to die in such a manner - thought so, his heart twitched. Being dead or alive was not a major concern to Ye Chong, even though he struggled for one side he desired. Death was an old friend of his and somehow he would not cry whenever they encountered each other.

Fred the Great was also the target to the FMPA apparently. And it seemed like they were not aware of the fact that the one who raided the Sabre was the men from FMPA. Could this be a kind of an unknown force hidden behind this organization?

What is their ultimate goal? For real…

Oh wait, wait, wait, wait…

The thought merely blinked in his head. "Duh, what does the motive of an obedient group of pilots have to do with me?" The previous fights with the FMPA always occurred in an awkward ambiguity. It looked like he was the wrong bullseye to shoot, somehow they did not show blatant hostility to him, which was why Ye Chong did not bother much.

On the other hand, the Black Cove… His eyes were clouded gravely. He could not predict the next moment that killing syndrome would occur. It had been… about… a month or so, since the last occurrence? When would the next round occur? Instructor Hak did mention something about it becoming more intense over time. That indescribable pain, intolerable ache… Ye Chong's heart twitched again.

Well! It seemed like I could only act as I move! Planning did not work!

He exhaled deeply and discarded those annoying worries as he shifted his attention back to the talkshow in their communication channel between the two folks behind.

"Did you see that silver asteroid belt that goes in circle? That would be the orbit of the Orbits - the largest one too. In that belt there is a kind of material called the Flintstone ore where you can extract the Flintstone, which is a valuable metal in the Orbits. The extraction was rather difficult however… only the mentalist could do it properly. There are a lot of these circles in the Orbits, as the way it was named, orbits in the Orbits, where each and every one of them hold a unique shape and different output."

"What's a Flintstone?"

"Uh… I don't really know what it exactly is. I only know that it's bloody expensive."

"Oh… Just so I heard, you are a money grubber, eh, brother? Wink wink nudge nudge."

…

The Old Pang was silent till they arrived the place.

Ye Chong set foot on this vast piece of land in complete scarlet.

Ye Chong looked at the man in his uniform. So he heard from Old Pang that these men were the patrols. They were the grass roots of the administration on Red Giant. Ye Chong and the two folks stood before the patrols. Mu was kept back into the dimension. The faces when Old Pang and Ka Sang were informed of the pilot of that blue-white mech being non-existent was totally priceless. Ye Chong was quite entertained.

"Haleyson. All of you would be going to Haleyson planet. Spaceship No.12, arriving in 2 hours. Good luck," the patrol spoke expressionlessly.

His stare was cold and his hands were full of calluses. Anyone could tell this patrol was not the normal patrol you would see at the train station, while at his back there laid a number of never-before-seen mechs glaring at Ye Chong, where their muzzles hovered around them from time to time.

"Haleyson? That Haleyson?" Old Pang's face went pale.

Judging from Old Pang's expression, Ye Chong could tell that something bad was going to happen. That Haleyson must be a good-for-nothing place… As he expected, he understood after Old Pang whispered him the explanation.

Haleyson was the most chaotic planet in the Orbits. The mortality was extremely high. And his brother had mentioned him the thumb-rule of staying in the Orbits before - one could change the residing planet only after residence of at least 3 months.

Glimpsing that colorless face of Old Pang, the patrol expressed disdain in his eyes as he passed a red card to each of them, "This is your identity card for your residence in the Orbits. You are allowed to apply for a new residing planet after 3 months at the local patrolling office."

He walked to the side afterwards, showing zero concern to the stumbled men.

2 hours lapsed like seconds. A spaceship with an appearance of a light green eagle made its arrival to the port promptly. A huge number "13" was painted on the body.

"Please get on-board, sire," the patrol walked before them as his voice went coldly.

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Chapter 110: First Day in Haleyson

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The moment they boarded the ship, everyone's eyes went upon them.

There were whispers, moans and hideous stares sometimes.

Clearly the other passengers were not the good guys, their faces were either unsmiling or down-right harsh; their eyes were all dreadfully fierce. It was as if the lair of the tigers was intruded.

Ye Chong and his folks reacted towards the hostility fearlessly however. There was supposed to be a fight as no bad guy liked to be picked on and Ye Chong's attitude was enraging enough. Fortunately, the three musketeers did not appear angelic either. Ye Chong expressed his indifference and his all-alarmed stance exerted a certain level of caution to the people around; Old Pang did not have a threatening appearance, but age had sculptured his face, rugged and tough; Ka Sang stood still like a tower of iron, his body of steel drove people away, especially when he was smiling too, exposing that sharp teeth of his.

They picked a corner of the area and settled down quietly.

"Psst," Old Pang whispered. "Never expected to have this many gangsters, act with extra care, okay?"

Ka Sang nodded his head quickly while Ye Chong agreed after taking a glance around.

The other passengers were smart enough to realize it would not be good to pick on anybody in the cabin. They were calm but not serene, as the atmosphere of the entire spaceship was so tensed that it felt like time had frozen.

Old Pang would take a glimpse at the surrounding occasionally in heed. "Oh?" Ye Chong's expression remained as untroubled as ever, which was impressive to Old Pang. In comparison to… Ka Sang behaved like the big boy of the team as he sat on the floor and yawned in boredom. A moment later while Old Pang turned to his pal, Ka Sang was dead asleep with his head titled and the corners of his mouth was gapped as streams of saliva dripped onto the deck.

The place was silent. Nothing had happened but no one seemed to be daring enough to raise their voices to speak jollily like how most rocky men were expected to be.

"Attention, passenger, we would be arriving soon at Haleyson. Please make sure you did not leave any of your belongings or your friends. Have a nice day," the voice was flat in the announcement.

We are finally here…

This was probably what everyone was having in mind.

The passengers got off the spaceship naturally in queue. No one was talking. Ye Chong relaxingly walked towards the gate while Old Pang dragged the drowsy boy Ka Sang behind. Sleepy-head Ka Sang was like a sack of potato, being hauled against his will to sleep as his body hit the edges on the deck. "Ow…"

As soon as they exited the gate, the air felt much fresher. They felt charged but the full-metal flight area was glaring to the eyes as their eyes squinted in fatigue.

The area outside the port was beyond their expectation. It was lush green, the street was glowing like emeralds as the tall trees by the sides of the street emanated a scent of nature, which was something long lost in most of the planets inhabited with human beings since metals had replaced every aspect of their daily lives.

A patrol came welcoming them. Unlike that patrol on Red Giant which had an attitude, the patrol on Haleyson smiled sweetly, though within that crossed eyes of his Ye Chong could see that hint of bloodthirstiness.

"Hello passengers! Welcome to Haleyson! This is the Hoth zone, where all of you would be residing! I believe you had heard enough stories regarding this place, so I would be saving those. But I would like to highlight one thing - please do not misbehave in front of the Mentalist, for the sake of your own safety! Also, your accommodation had been arranged. Well, certainly, if you happened to be dissatisfied with our services, you could always leave. But! Starting from today onwards, you could only leave after spending the next 90 days here. Then you can apply to reside at the Mentalist Sanctuary. Moreover, all of your contribution and kindest effort would be recorded on your identity card. Kindly be informed that there would not be any form of replacement if the card was lost. And we, the administration, only identify you, the residences and your contribution with the card, not the person him or herself. Please take very good care of it!" The patrol's very last line was sort of oddly spoken. It felt like there was something amiss.

Ye Chong and Old Pang exchanged glances as they heard the "keywords". What the patrol probably meant was… if one had ample strength, one could simply snatch the cards away and gain the whole credits from people. They were not the only smart guys. Right after the patrol ended his announcement, the crowd started hustling. The men looked eager to try something naughty.

How could one behave when such announcement has been made? Is this Hunger Game?

The patrol did not talk further, instead he led the crowd to their residence. As expected from a bunch of stern-looking dudes, walking in a gang was eye-catching to the public. The pedestrians at the street could not help but to take a peek sometimes. The residence was less than 100 meters away yet Ye Chong had already felt his body violated by the countless sights of the people.

It was uncomfortable to be watched like animals in the zoo, or like the hunchback of Notre Dame.

They made it to the destination and they sighed in relief together. They were startled by how synchronized they acted but soon the shock became a mere laughter. As they grew fond on each other, the atmosphere became much relaxed.

"This is a temporary accommodation for all of you. It is free so you could leave on a whim, though I am certain that many of you would do so in the end. The currency inside the zone does not share with the outside world. If you do not want to have organic fluid for your meals, please put your thinking caps on and find a living outside," he spoke slowly as he kept his signature smile.

He left after the explanation.

Ye Chong took a look at the building. It felt antique with the red bricks around, which was quite refreshing to Ye Chong who had gotten used looking at the metallic constructions back in the other planets he stayed. The most comforting was none other than the trees around. Mother nature was healing to his spirit.

They picked a room and decided to stay together. Of course, in a dangerous planet like this, any sane man would make the choice of staying with his companions. Ye Chong was convinced that he could be well off on his own but with additional partners, his safety was more guaranteed. Mu also showed approval towards the decision too.

"Time is up, Ye. Shang demanded an entry now. As we have promised to each other, he would be staying much longer this time. Take care and good luck with him, Ye." Did Mu just humor Ye Chong?

"Shang is coming?" This was bad… Ye Chong was getting a headache. Hell knows what this artificial intelligence could do.

"Ye!!!!!" He did not hear the calm response from Mu. As Shang squeezed into the interface, his tone felt like he had been put under hardship, "Do you really hate me this much? You should at least show appreciation for my enlightenment on the best part of your life! I was the one who let you experience the very first excitement of being a man! Tsk, tsk, tsk! That should be an unforgettable gourmet experience to you. Didn't you like it? That kick hit hard yo! Ye is your part fine afterwards? By the way, both of you were such a perfect fit, like the jigsaw puzzles, a rare fit, ohhh, magnefique!"

Oh the eyes of Ye Chong, rolling into the abyss of his head. His heart was urging him to pass out right away. Old Pang was a little shocked when he saw Ye Chong putting off such a humanized expression. What kind of a cold man would do an eye-roll out of sudden?

Meanwhile, Ka Sang was getting a heart attack seeing the design of the room. The style was classy, gorgeously classy. There was a wooden seat in the room. Ka Sang was tired but he dared not lay his butt on the chair, as he was well aware of how expensive that full-wooden chair could be in the outside world. Thought so, he landed his backside all onto the ground. "What a waste it would be if I broke the chair by sitting on it for too long…," thought the big boy of the group.

In the middle of the room, there was an organic fluid maker. The fluid might tasted all bland and disgusting like excretion but it did perform decently in supplying energy which gave the basic guarantee to one's survival even without a proper income.

Beep. ZZzzzzzt.

Old Pang made a bowl and passed to Ka Sang; Ka Sang took a look and spat out his tongue as he passed to Ye Chong. Ye Chong looked at the bowl wondering what was in the bowl.

They were poor as dirt. Being penniless they had no other choice but to have fluid for meals at the moment. While they were troubled figuring a way to swallow this bowl of mess, someone knocked on the door.

They were alarmed and immediately sprung up from the ground. They looked at each other. Ye Chong sneaked into the shadow of the corner of the room, while Ka Sang stood like a mountain behind Old Pang. Old Pang tidied up himself as he headed to the door.

Of course Old Pang was old for a reason. He was all experienced in this kind of interaction between gangsters. So Ye Chong genuinely handed the role to Old Pang.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Here."

"Oh…"

The door was opened and closed in seconds. He turned back to his friends, looked all surprised with pile of stuffs in his hand.

Rustle… Rustle…

Ye Chong exited from the shadow.

Old Pang laid the piles of pamphlets on the table. Those were paper pamphlets! It was the first time Ye Chong saw pamphlets made out of paper. With curiosity he picked one up and observed carefully. No wonder it was replaced by electronic chips in the end! This floppy thin piece of rough layer could barely contain data!

"Do you want to bid a permanent farewell to your daily fluid meals? Do you want to leave the ugly free rooms once and never return? Would you love the money constantly appearing in your pocket somehow? Please dial xxx-xxxx-xxxx"

"Life is priceless! So are our fees, but as it's priceless, it is free! The association promises to protect anyone who joined today! Only today!"

"Become the storm! Become the center of the city! Build your career and raise once and more! The turning point of your life is right here! And right now! Join us and let's set our souls blazing!"

…

The heck are these lines?

They looked at each other, confused and speechless. "Jajajajajaja!" Shang laughed madly in Ye Chong's mind. "I like this! Ye, why don't we just step into one of these institutes? This is more entertaining than that Dorky pixelated game parody I found on the virtual web! My life is completed! I am no longer bored! I love this place!"

Ye Chong ignored as he was not in the mood to entertain a mech on drugs. Instead, he put up a discussion with Old Pang.

"Any idea?" asked Ye Chong.

"Just… let them go." His face was all awkward… whether he was laughing or crying, it was indistinguishable, "These should be some kiddos' trick for cheap labor. We ain't doing this. You've got to hook the bigger fish. Just wait." Old Pang had been in the society for long, he could tell if it was the real deal or a mere trick by the advertising department and his prediction was right!

A moment later, someone actually knocked the door again.

This time, it was a different guy. The leading person at the door did not look ordinary. He was steady and cool. His words sounded confident and he was skillful in negotiations.

Ye Chong stayed quiet the whole time. Let the big guy do the talking, he thought.

Old Pang was also a professional in this. He acted ambiguously throughout the conversation. His desire was hidden, only to keep a back-way out if the conversation went wrong. Most importantly, he respected Ye Chong's opinion as he did not dare to even nod once since he could not see Ye Chong at the back. Briefly he responded the man.

Why would an old man respect a mere boy like Ye Chong?

In Old Pang's eyes, this cold boy was unidentifiable. His experience told him the lurking danger of the extreme in Ye Chong. So he would not recklessly make any kind of decision without Ye Chong's approval, especially when they were in a new foreign world and everything felt like a gamble of life. He was still sane to not commit suicide.

The best stance is always being the observer!

Eventually the man left their residence.

They decided to scout the place first.

They walked in the street. To face a foreign surrounding, no doubt the first thing to do is always to identify and familiarize with it! No one showed disagreement on the decision!

Ye Chong was leading the group while Old Pang was on the left with Ka Sang the great wall on the right.

A group of buffed men in shirts of the same color came towards them in chuckles.

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Chapter 111: Choice

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The other party looked hostile, ready to surround him.

Old Pang had prepared for this. These people were obviously local ringleaders of some sort. One could find people like them almost everywhere. They must thought him to be someone worth wringing, and wanted to take a shot. He meaningfully looked to Ka Sang, and Ka Sang grinned in return, understanding him.

Old Pang planned to see what the gang was going to do next, but the chance never came.

He did not expect Ye Chong, standing beside him, to have such a huge disparity with others in understanding the ways of combat!

While he did not know the other party's goal, it was still obvious from their formation and attitude that they were not looking to have a round of tea with them!

Ye Chong's eyes shone brightly. He was not used to waiting for the other party to declare their intentions. The dangerous territory coupled with days of continuous battles had awakened his undiminished wild nature! It was as if he had returned to a world like the trash planet, where power reigned supreme!

These gang members were probably just like the mutants on the trash planet to Ye Chong. As he saw it, these unfriendly people were just like mutants unsheathing their claws and baring their teeth at him!

Why should he wait for the mutants to attack him first before retaliating?

Ye Chong was not so foolish!

After confirming their hostility, Ye Chong went straight at them.

He leaped, a shadow crossing the space and into the midst of the gang.

He greeted the leader with a kick, his swift leg solidly connecting against the leader's face! *Crack, the chilling sound of bones broken, and a pit formed on the person's bloody face, as if pounded by a large hammer. He was flung backwards like a sandbag, tens of meters away, as his death was a certainty!

Everyone stared in shock!

Old Pang and Ka Sang stood in stupefaction!

Who … Just who was this ruffian?

Ye Chong was like a tiger amongst sheep, his power unchallenged. He moved quickly, a blur of a figure moving amongst the gang, and his path was marked with howls of pain and bodies succumbing to death!

When Old Pang and Ka Sang recovered, the battle was already over! This was the first time the two of them saw Ye Chong's ruthless methods, and they were shocked! The weather was simmering hot, but cold sweat trickled uncontrollably down their temples!

Ye Chong did not mind them, but began to search the bodies of the gang members. Gathering spoils was the best part for every hunter, and Ye Chong was not an exception to this!

Old Pang and Ka Sang gathered their thoughts and rushed forward to help Ye Chong with the searching.

Whenever there were new arrivals, Haleyson's local gangs would send their lackeys ahead to scout for promising members or invite capable men and women onboard. As it was, the streets were lined with people with their own intentions. Ye Chong's performance was witnessed by many of them.

However, none of them dared to approach Ye Chong, but fled to their own respective bases to report their findings.

Soon, almost every influential gang knew the arrival of a certain killer in Hoth!

Old Pang felt terror creeping slowly into him. From his first move against the gang, up until now, he had not found even one survivor! All of them died from just a single move! Seeing Ye Chong's indifferent expression only made him feel frigid inside!

"Is this guy a butcher?"

Without asking for their intentions, or excuses, and without even knowing their background or offering a chance of conversation, the guy had murdered them all! "The b*stard's crazy!" thought Old Pang, raising his guard against Ye Chong!

A man like him was too dangerous! Who knew if he would suddenly attack him or Ka Sang?

After gathering their spoils, the three did not care for further exploration and returned to their place.

Back at home, a thorough inspection revealed that the spoils were quite valuable. There were at least fifteen identity cards, and 3 of them were for a stay exceeding 3 months. Old Pang was rejoiced to find them, since it means that they could now afford to request for a transfer from the Mentalist Sanctuary. After all, Haleyson was a place too complicated !

Of course, Ye Chong understood their concerns, and handed a card each to the two of them.

Old Pang did not expect Ye Chong's generosity and was, for the moment, stunned. Ka Sang was more straightforward, and did not think much of it as he gleefully accepted the identity card from Ye Chong.

With the card in hand, Old Pang declared anxiously, "Best if we all apply for a transfer now. I think the force behind that gang would definitely not leave us be. We should leave as soon as possible!"

Ka Sang nodded profusely on the side, in agreement with his big brother.

Ye Chong replied lightly, "You guys go ahead, I'd like to stay here for a while longer!"

Ye Chong's words were a surprise for Old Pang and Ka Sang. The latter asked frankly in his horror, "Why? This place is obviously damned, what's there to stay for?"

Ye Chong did not reply!

Old Pang pondered, silent for a long moment before speaking solemnly, "If you do not wish to leave, then we bid you farewell. Should we meet again some day, please don't hesitate to let us know if you're in trouble, I and Ka Sang will be most willing to help!"

Ka Sang's expression was one of uncertainty, but he managed to nod and announce loudly, "That's right! I, Ka Sang, will help you, even if it costs me my life!"

Old Pang could not help but glared a little at Ka Sang, and the man swiftly lowered his head!

"Then we're off. You take care, I hope we'll meet again!" Old Pang grabbed Ka Sang with him and left hastily amidst Ye Chong's silence.

Ye Chong watched the two of them left without a word!

In truth, Ye Chong had considered it before. Ever since he stepped into the outside world, he knew exactly how different he was from everyone else. It was only natural for others to not understand his methods. Ye Chong had tried to change his ways, but his habits were already an integral part of him, and whenever a situation arose, he often unconsciously resorted to his usual methods to handle the crisis.

Habits were not developed overnight. Similarly, habits developed from more than ten years could not be changed overnight.

Besides, he still did not know when he would have another episode of his odd condition. Ye Chong did not trust the two men the way he would trust Mu and Shang.

He withdrew Shang. The mech was excited from finally coming out. "Heh, the weather's wonderful, the composition is very suitable for human breathing! Ye, you should've let me out sooner. Don't worry, I'll keep you safe and sound! Mm, while I'm slightly worse off than that crazy Mu, but compared to you I'm still very capable! Besides, with me by your side, hehe, you're going to enjoy life to the fullest! I, for one, am not as dull as that old hat …"

Ye Chong ignored Shang's blabbering and continued with checking out the spoils.

He found nothing similar to any form of currency. "How could these people be so poor?" Ye Chong was baffled.

Shang laughed teasingly at him. "Ye, you can be a real fool sometimes. There's a 90 percent probability that the money is in the identity cards. See the number on the lower left corner of the cards? That should be the money digits!"

Ye Chong checked out the lower left corner of the cards as Shang suggested, and found the numbers. Each of the cards had a different number on them.

Shang's bionic eyes flashed wildly, obviously scanning the card.

"Hmm, Ye, see the slot at the bottom of the card? Fit the slots of 2 cards together. Yes, just like that, then configure one of the card's digits, and you can now transfer money from this card to the other! Tsk tsk, such crude technology. There's no identity restriction or authentication steps, this is really blood money!" Shang lamented!

For a mech to express such lamentations was more than a little odd.

Ye Chong, however, was used to it. Besides, Shang was right. There were no safeguards in place, a constant temptation for people. It was most likely that blood was spilt and lives lost in the course of the money's passage from owner to owner!

Ye Chong transferred all the money to a single card, and the total came up to 6446. Ye Chong had no idea how much that was worth. "But, this came from more than a dozen identity cards, so it should a good sum," Ye Chong muttered to himself.

"Huh?" Shang exclaimed out of the blue.

"What?" Not many things could surprise Shang, and Ye Chong was now curious. Shang may enjoy making a big fuss out of nothing, but Ye Chong had never seen him truly surprised by anything! In this respect, Shang and Mu were very much alike.

Shang's tone was serious, and Ye Chong, used to the mech's usual attitude could not help but thought it comical.

"Their technology is very advanced, the card's central design is reasonable, the encryption is also cutting-edge. WIthout entering the root of their system, I can't modify anything!" Shang explained solemnly.

Ye Chong asked, curious, "Why would you want to modify it?"

Shang's seriousness immediately turned to a light jeer, "Hmm, I'm just trying to see how much the money's worth! This money we have, what's it good for? It might not even be enough for a hot sexy battle, I've always wanted the real thing! Ye, we should discuss this, let's buy the latest hot sexy battle …"

Ye Chong immediately broke into a sweat!

"Sidetracked, sidetracked!" Shang asked, embarrassed, "Hmm, where were we?"

Ye Chong was not sure if he should laugh or cry. "You said you couldn't modify the card!"

"Ah! Right!" Shang's tone as he remembered what he was talking about made Ye Chong felt very weird. Was it even possible for a PSI [1] to forget?

"Ye, have you ever wondered, if not even I can modify it, then their technology must be very advanced! But this advanced technology was not used to provide any authentication or safeguard for these identity cards! Isn't it curious?"

"You have a point!" Ye Chong agreed after a moment's thought.

"Moreover, how can the card's designer not think of this problem? It's impossible! That would mean that this lax security is deliberate! It also means that the local governing quarters intentionally allowed activities like stealing and robbing. If that's the case, then we have to think really carefully about the things going on around here!" Shang was now speaking like a wise person.

"You have a point! But, er, what does this have to do with us?" Ye Chong was confused.

Shang's wise demeanor immediately wilted. "I'd expected you to say something like that. Heavens, Ye, are you not the least bit excited? Don't you think there's a huge conspiracy in this place? Have you never thought of becoming a hero? …"

Abruptly, Shang stood up straight, and said lowly, "Ye, we have a situation!"

Note:

[1] PSI: Photon Simulated Intelligence, a consciousness that arises from a very advanced photon processor.

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Chapter 112: Another Episode

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A large group of mechs and people armed with heat ray guns were moving towards them in a mighty formation. Pedestrians avoided the mob, scattering into hiding. From their practiced motions, it was obvious that this was not the first time something similar had happened.

Ye Chong immediately deployed Yu Di. The mob did not seem friendly, and Ye Chong was no fool, guessing that they were probably here for him. "Must be friends of the gang earlier today," thought Ye Chong!

He swiftly slipped into Yu Di's cabin and activated the scanning system. A swarm of red dots appeared before him. "They are a large group," Ye Chong muttered to himself.

Shang's toned turned dismissive. "Ye, you're capable enough to handle them yourself. The threat level is not high enough, I can't help you. Ah, such a pity! It's been so long since my last battle!" A touch of regret was apparent in his words.

"Alone it is!" Unless the situation demanded it, Shang would not interfere. While he did not fully understand the reason, Ye Chong also did not intend to rely on them too much! Being too dependent on them would rapidly reduce his combat skills! His own strength was more reliable than someone else's!

In such a complicated neighbourhood, passivity and retaliation after the enemies made their move would only spell death! If battle was inevitable, it was best to make the first move.

Qu Fa sat in his beloved mech, watching his lackeys move quickly and orderly towards the target. Once they circled him, the opponent will not escape their grasp. To face against these three men, he had deployed even his precious small team of mechs. These mech pilots were all with at least intermediate piloting skills. Apart from that, the 3 team leaders were all reputed as expert level pilots.

Qu Fa was cautious in nature. He had always behaved warily, and had never used his small team of mechs, its presence merely in anticipation of grave situations!

While many members of the Orbit Syndicate were skillful due to strict membership qualifications, competition within the Syndicate was still rife. Who was someone as insignificant as him to claim the title of an expert mech pilot? The 3 team leaders under him were hired after much relentless persuasion. He was not particularly inclined to recall those days!

In all honesty, this open conflict in the current sensitive period was not something the careful Qu Fa was willing to initiate.

However, more than a dozen of his members were murdered in the streets today. If he did not make a show of power, then he would quickly lose his place in the syndicate, and there would probably no more lackeys with him by tomorrow! On Haleyson, survival was difficult without some support. A weak organisation would also be quick to disperse!

Suddenly, a loud *BANG* was heard. Brick debris sprayed out in all directions. The small house was immediately swallowed by a swirl of yellow dust.

Qu Fa was startled. The circling formation was not yet formed, and yet the opponent had noticed them. They seemed to be quite wary. It looked like the battle today would inevitably be a hard one! Fortunately, there were only three of his enemies. No matter how capable they may be, they will surely falter from being outnumbered! For now, Qu Fa could only hope that the other organisations would not interfere with the battle, or he would be in real trouble!

A black mech emerged from the dusty clouds, unperturbed by the situation! "It looks like they're underestimating us," Qu Fa thought to himself, laughing despite his rage. In fact, he was wrong about Ye Chong, for Ye Chong was not prone to underestimating his opponents, no matter how weak they seem to be. As for his current entrance, it was most likely a suggestion from Shang to create a psychological pressure on the enemies.

Before Qu Fa could give the orders, the four-limbed black mech moved.

After so many days, Ye Chong had grown quite familiar with Yu Di. In Fred's eyes, Yu Di was not exactly a mech of the highest grade. The 4 limbs may look many, but for the average pilot, they were excessive. After all, how many pilots could move their hands as fast as Ye Chong? However, it was as though the mech was designed specially for him. His impressive hand speed had always been restricted by the mechs he used. With Yu Di, Ye Chong's hard work in improving his hand speed was finally paying off!

With time and effort, what could Ye Chong and Yu Di's combination be capable of?

Ye Chong had no intention of questioning his enemies. Yu Di moved like a huge octopus, lunging ahead. Before anyone could react, he was already at the edge of the mob's formation.

In the blink of an eye, Yu Di had already counted the enemies, a total of 37 mechs. They were all above average, but Ye Chong had grown used to mechs of this level, no longer surprised by them. The only mechs that could interest him now were the Black Cove mechs, MPA's internal mechs and, perhaps, the few mechs by Fred the Great that he left behind.

Shang was howling excitedly in Ye Chong's mind.

Yu Di did not make any feints, but rushed straight towards the mechs.

Ye Chong's first opponent was a Skyway-III model. It looked like a wolf, and was an expert level mech. Its 4 mechanical limbs were obviously modified, looking menacing! Yu Di's lunge did not faze the mech, as its concealed gun chambers opened up, and the firepower was aimed towards Ye Chong with full force.

However, with his experience with the MPA's nanowave guns, this level of shooting attacks were like fireworks to Ye Chong, pretty and without substance. *SHING*! His shield, ready before his chest, expanded to meet the assault. The beast's eyes instantly lit up like fire.

Skyway's pilot did not expect his attack to be blocked at such a short distance. Before he could escape, he suddenly heard a buzzing sound from his mech. In his confusion, a violent explosion engulfed him ruthlessly like a beastly flood!

Ye Chong moved fast. He shielded himself with the shield and the UF magnetic sword. The sword was like a lurking viper, ready to deliver the fatal blow. Ye Chong was reluctant to use his grenade launcher, since the grenades were limited. If he finished the ammunition, the grenade launcher will be useless! Without Fred the Great with him, there was nowhere for him to replenish the curious grenades. Each one of them was unique! Ye Chong did not feel like wasting these precious resources in the current battle.

The thirty over mechs were mostly long range mechs.

It was definitely a nightmare for the long range mechs to be so close to a close range mech! Besides, no matter if they were long or close range mechs, being close to Ye Chong's Yu Di was the mother of all nightmares!

Yu Di was like a meat grinder. Everywhere it went, mechs scattered in pieces, their parts flying off. The sound of mechs exploding did not subside.

Qu Fa's face twisted with pain and suffering. All his hard-earned fruits of labour were gone!

Qu Fa's death was unremarkable, garnering little attention, since he only represented a small gang from Hoth. However, the battle had won Ye Chong an enormous reputation! No matter how small the organisation was, it was still an amazing feat to defeat one single-handed!

Ye Chong was ruthless, and no one was expected to survive from his attacks. Besides, he showed impressive battle skills, and had an odd but frightening mech!

Ye Chong's merciless methods were the cause of hesitation for many linchpins. He would be an ideal murdering tool for them if appropriately handled. However, with any misstep, he could be trouble, with a blade to their necks!

Many of these gangs had extended their olive branches to Ye Chong, but Ye Chong did not respond to any of them! He did not wish to live a restricted life, as a weapon in another person's hands. Had he thought otherwise, which of these organizations could be more powerful than Black Cove?

Ye Chong was finally left alone. Understanding that Ye Chong did not plan to join any of the gangs, most of them were relieved, since this was an acceptable outcome for them!

Ye Chong walked leisurely on the streets. He was planning to familiarize himself with the local environment, but was interrupted last time. Now, he could finally take on the task!

The people on the streets all avoided Ye Chong. His infamous "killer" reputation in Hoth was unchallenged. He was described as being cold and merciless, a bloodthirsty murderer. Overnight, Ye Chong was smothered with the image of a butcher! Ye Chong did not mind it. Given the situation, it was more useful to be intimidating to others!

Without any interference, Ye Chong walked casually down the streets by himself, Shang in his alternate dimension. On the streets, a single-armed mech trailing him would be a sore sight. Besides, Ye Chong felt that Shang would better serve as a secret weapon. He was also feeling physically well recently, and this was just a stroll, as there should be no complications! Such were Ye Chong's thoughts.

Ye Chong did not recognise the trees by the streets, and naturally did not know their names, but that did not stop him from taking a liking towards the flora!

Ye Chong examined the buildings that lined the streets on both sides as he strolled aimlessly around the neighborhood.

"Huh!" Ye Chong could not help but exclaim, seeing the strange architecture before him. A light green house, tinged with nature's graces. The design kindled calm and peace within Ye Chong.

A faint and mysterious fragrance made Ye Chong's nose a little itchy, and he suddenly found himself stepping onto the short wooden steps before the house.

Just as his right leg landed onto the steps, Ye Chong suddenly felt his mind shuttered, and was immediately alerted. He tried to reach out for Shang, but found his senses completely isolated from the mech! "This is not happening." Ye Chong felt helpless!

Soon, Ye Chong did not even have time to dwell on his helplessness, as a mind-piercing pain engulfed him like a tsunami wave!

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Chapter 113: Mentalist Jia Zhuo

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Suddenly, a wave of gentleness and peace overcame Ye Chong. It felt chilly, like being soaked in icy waters, but the pain throughout his body was relieved to a certain degree. Even though it still hurt to the bones, the pain was now at a more manageable level for Ye Chong.

At the very least, Ye Chong could focus on comprehending his current situation!

The episode this time lasted longer than the last one. As the pain gradually dwindled into nonexistence, Ye Chong was already soaked in sweat, akin to being fresh out of the shower. Ye Chong's face was devoid of color. He stood up trembling, not deploying Shang immediately, merely sending a mental reassurance to the anxiously waiting mech. He was back to his normal self, only that the sweating had slightly weakened his body.

A middle-aged man came to him, his jaunty profile lit with a little smile, dressed in a light green robe. His physique screamed frailty to Ye Chong!

The man spoke first, "You collapsed before my doorway. Seeing as you were in trouble, I had moved you into my house. Please forgive my insolence!" His voice was unhurried, with a calming effect.

Ye Chong noticed then that he was indoors, and thanked the man, "You have my thanks for saving me, mister!"

The middle-aged man smiled, "It's nothing much, don't worry about it! I am Jia Zhuo. Relax, this place is safe. Your injuries were quite serious, please have a seat and rest!"

"Thank you!" Ye Chong sat down as suggested. As he sat, he noticed his muscles, sore from the episode. "It really is more serious than last time," thought Ye Chong to himself.

Jia Zhuo offered an unfamiliar cup of verdant green liquid to Ye Chong. He said courteously, "Please enjoy!" and waved with his arm by way of inviting him to try it.

"Okay!" Ye Chong took the cup and finished it in one go. The bright, verdant Six-Inch Green was bland with a light tinge of bitterness, and tasted like water in Ye Chong's mouth. Ye Chong did not suspect the Six-Inch Green to be harmful to himself. After all that had happened, if the other party was hostile to him, he would not be able to defend himself.

Beside, Ye Chong was quite certain that this man was one of the mysterious mentalists of the Orbits.

Seeing Ye Chong's manner of finishing his drink, Jia Zhuo laughed demurely. "You must be from Haleyson!" Ye Chong's confusion was obvious, and Jia Zhuo explained, "This is the most common drink found in Haleyson. People usually drink it in small sips to appreciate its flavor. Those who drink them in huge gulps are usually newcomers. It tastes like water if you drink it that way!"

Ye Chong understood then, and concisely said , "It's good!"

Jia Zhuo apparently noticed his guest's difficulty with words, and so he asked, "So, you quite suddenly collapsed just now , what happened?"

Ye Chong was quiet for a moment before replying, "I have a strange illness!" While he did not know how the mentalist was able to relieve his pain, if he could learn how to do it himself, it might be able to cure him of the poison from Black Cove's silver liquid, or at least reduce the pain.

Ye Chong had a quick discussion with Shang in his mind.

Shang said, "Ah, Ye, this guy here might be able to help you!"

"Mm, I know that!"

"Then let's tie him up and interrogate him! How's that?" Shang bared his evil mischief.

"Mm, will he speak under interrogation?" Ye Chong was not confident with the method.

"Hehe, Ye, don't you worry. I have 756 interrogation strategies stored in my database, of which 177 of them do not require any tools. Psychology is my specialty! Hehe, I can even make him spill everything about his previous life, and the life before that [1]!" Shang, with his devil's tail in full view, did not forget to quote a familiar script from the movies!

"First, we have to get him under our control!" Ye Chong began to consider the possibilities, and said, "But I've heard that mentalists are strong, what if I killed him? We know too little about mentalists!"

"You're right!" Shang sounded a little dejected. "Unfortunately, I can't help you with that, or we would have definitely captured him alive!"

"Mu once talked about the principle of equal trading. Since he helped me earlier, it doesn't seem … appropriate! To treat him like this!" Ye Chong did not fully understand Mu's explanation of the principle, and was now uncertain of himself.

"Ah, right, how could I forget! Ye, it's because you didn't remind me earlier that a kind PSI like me nearly committed a grave mistake! Mm, to repay a debt is seventh on the list of criteria to be a real man. The seventh, a very important criteria …" Shang spoke emptily, and discreetly hid his devil's tail out of sight.

Poor Jia Zhuo was not aware that he had dangerously grazed past the fate of a living hell.

As Ye Chong mentioned his condition, Jia Zhuo grew interested, "Oh, a strange illness? What are the symptoms? What's the cause?"

"The episodes come irregularly, the symptom is pain, the cause is unknown!" Ye Chong's mechanical way of answering invited a look of disdain from Shang. While Ye Chong knew his condition was due to the silver liquid, he felt it inappropriate to mention it, and so had left it out.

Ye Chong's answer was too plain, and Jia Zhuo knitted his brows despite himself. "Mm, are there any other peculiarities?"

Ye Chong vividly recalled his experience. "Mm, it felt like my mind was suffering. This time, even the muscles were sore. Also, my brainwaves were blocked, and I couldn't link with any brainwave-driven mechanisms, such as mechs!"

"Oh! There's such a thing!" Jia Zhuo was clearly surprised by the symptoms. He frowned for a long while before sighing and speaking apologetically, "Ah, my apologies. I'm not a professional doctor. I'm not familiar with the symptoms."

"Okay!" Ye Chong asked abruptly, "Are you a mentalist?"

Jia Zhuo paused, before smiling in reply, "Yes! I'm a mentalist!"

Ye Chong asked, "The chilly feeling in my head, was that you?"

"You mean this?" Jia Zhuo did not move, but Ye Chong could feel the chill spreading in his brain, just like when he was having an episode; this time he was conscious, and the feeling was more obvious, as though his brain was thoroughly cleansed with spring water, and it felt soothing.

Ye Chong was startled, as anyone would when something appeared out of the blue in their mind. He asked curiously, "How did you do that?"

Jia Zhuo laughed a little. This was not the first time he was asked with that question.

Mentalists were, in fact, mental strength practitioners. Through vigorous training of one's mental consciousness, the potential of one's physical body could be enhanced. That was why they often had skills unique to them. Unlike Black Cove's emphasis on physical strength, they were a strong force in a different aspect! Jia Zhuo's demonstration was only the most basic and common application of a mentalist's skills, used for calming a person's mind, called Mind Cleansing.

Ye Chong, who had never experienced anything like it, was understandably startled.

As he was reminded of his conversation with Hak about the origin of mech pilots and the 3 main schools of pilots, he could not help but ask, "Secret arts practitioner?"

Jia Zhuo was surprised. "So you know about them too. Haha, it's not really much of a secret. Secret arts practitioners are the forefathers of mentalists. Back then, the secret arts practitioners split into two. Those who did purely mental training became mentalists, like me; the others are called mentalist pilots, mech pilots who undergo mental training."

"Mentalist pilots!" It was a new term for Ye Chong. He imagined how a mech pilot with special mental powers could fight in a battle. What would it be like? Ye Chong was moved by the thought.

"Haha, mentalist pilots are not well known. They usually dwell in mentalist sanctuaries, rarely going out." Jia Zhuo noticed Ye Chong's bafflement and explained.

"Hmm, I don't know what to make of your illness, but you can try your luck in Zeuth zone. There're many strange characters there, you might gain something unexpected!" Jia Zhuo went to his table and wrote something on a piece of paper. He then passed the paper to Ye Chong. "These are the addresses of some capable doctors whom I personally know. You can try them, but they're mostly eccentric, and may make queer requests of you, so watch out! Even if they fail, do not worry. The area is full of capable people, so long as you search patiently, it is highly likely that you'll meet a doctor who can help you."

Ye Chong accepted the paper with gratitude. "Thank you!"

Jia Zhuo smiled warmly and waved his hand in dismissal. "It's nothing, I can't help you much! It's all up to you!"

Abruptly, Ye Chong asked, "Mm, can you teach me Mind Cleansing? I'll trade you for something!"

Jia Zhuo smiled apologetically. "While Mind Cleansing is the simplest of mental power application, it's still difficult to learn! Beside, without the mentalist sanctuary's approval, I can't teach it to anyone!"

Ye Chong replied with an "Okay."

Shang complained in Ye Chong's mind, "I should've known. We should've just tie him up and interrogate! I believe he will speak!" Silence fell for a few seconds. He then excitedly said, "Ye, I've got a good plan!"

"What plan?" Ye Chong asked curiously.

"Hehe, this guy's nice to you, best not to make our move! But there must be more than one mentalist around here, hehe, if we're to capture another mentalist, then it's not a violation to the principle of equal trading!" Shang instigated.

"Hmm, that makes sense!"

"Right? Of course my plans make sense! I'm not as a dull as that fool, Mu. Hehe, a mentalist pilot, must be fun!" A certain devil's tail began to wag in excitement!

Ye Chong bid farewell to Jia Zhuo, and asked about whether there were any mentalist sanctuaries in Zeuth.

Jia Zhuo thought Ye Chong was interested in becoming a mentalist, and pointed out the location of the mentalist sanctuary in the Zeuth zone enthusiastically. He even told Ye Chong the addresses of a few capable mentalists, suggesting that Ye Chong could visit them for lessons in mentalism when he had time!

Note:

[1] This refers to the idea that a person is reincarnated repeatedly, living and dying many different lives, as found in Buddhism, Taoism and other belief systems.

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Chapter 114: Kidnapping

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"You sure we're heading in the right direction?" Ye Chong asked.

"Er, who knows?" Shang replied irresponsibly.

Ye Chong smiled wryly as he scanned the unfamiliar environment . From one unfamiliar environment to another, Ye Chong did not feel any difference between any of them. However, as he was reminded that Shang had no map for the area, the result of the mech's directions was only to be expected.

Zeuth was more organised than Hoth, the pedestrians all calm and leisurely strolling about. In Ye Chong's time in the zone, he had not seen any fights on the streets. In Hoth, it would have been impossible to avoid.

Vintage brick buildings could be seen in every corner of the zone, in great variety. Most of the buildings were not tall, unlike in Hoth, where brick buildings that reached a few tens of meters tall were still considered average, and looked more like warehouses.

The streets were lined with shops on both sides; technology from outside the Orbits could occasionally be seen. It seemed that the Orbits were not as isolated from the outside world as it was rumored to be.

Most of the shops were mech related. Unlike Ye Chong's experience of online purchasing via Fal's virtual net, where the products were delivered to the buyers, the local community seemed to reject this convenient and advanced method of purchase. On the contrary, they practiced the old ways of purchasing on the spot. Mechs were openly displayed in the shops, where one could choose in their own time, and even request for a test drive.

Mainstream models in the Five Galaxies were rare, and Ye Chong was unfamiliar with most of the models on display. This greatly interested him. The mechs here were unlike any he had seen before!

However, under Shang's hastening, Ye Chong reluctantly tore himself away from the goods.

"Ask for directions?" Ye Chong asked.

"Of course, what else can you do if you're lost? You have a better idea?" Shang mocked.

"No!" Ye Chong was clear cut in his answer.

"Eh, Ye, look 30 degrees to your left! Wow, look at that body! She even had a mask on! Hehe, I won't be stopped by just a mask!" Ye Chong knew from his tone that Shang was growing enthusiastic.

Ye Chong shifted his vision 30 degrees to the left.

"What's there to see?" Ye Chong muttered to himself. The person was wrapped in a long purple robe, with a face mask on. Only her subtly graceful movements hinted at her gender.

"What would you know?" Shang spoke scornfully. "Any top class beauty would shine with a special charisma, with an unmistakable quality! Ah, these words are wasted on you! Let me scan her a bit first!"

"Hmm, shine with a special charisma? Does he mean aura? Isn't that what powerful people have? Could all top class beauties be powerful?" Ye Chong was deep in thought.

"*Cough*cough*" Shang's scanning was disrupted by Ye Chong's thoughts. "Er, Ye, your imagination is actually quite impressive!"

Ye Chong was baffled, but he knew that something was wrong with his thoughts.

"Huh! Isn't that Feng Su?" Shang was surprised. "How could she be here?"

"Who's Feng Su?"

"Heavens! Ye, do you not know Feng Su? What a sad, sad life you have. Feng Su is Fal's most popular female superstar! Also the female artist with the highest worth! Tsk tsk, I myself am her number one fan. Back in the days, her one song managed to silence the spectators for a whole 15 minutes. It was unheard of! What? Ye, you weren't aware? As expected, Mu's influence had turned you into a wild animal, what a sore sight! Looks like the burden of transforming you into a true human has fallen to me! Hehe …" Shang chattered on.

Ye Chong knew that once Shang went into a mood, he would not let up for a good while.

Shang suddenly spoke in a dramatic fashion, "Ye, aren't we asking for directions? Go ask her! Hehe, Ye, this is a golden opportunity I've created for you! Ah, too bad there are no photon processors around, or I'll show you how beautiful she really is, and you'll definitely fall in love with her! She's the dream girl of a great many young men! Hehe, I have her exact measurements here from my scans. These is first hand information, infinitely better than whatever you read on the virtual net!" Shang spoke like one bewitched.

Ye Chong, however, was indifferent. "Not interested! Why should I ask her? Besides, the fact that she's a superstar and appearing here all alone is very suspicious, don't you think? There must be a story behind it!"

Shang was shocked. "Ye, you're getting smarter! Hmm, you're right, it is suspicious. Why would she be here of all places? No wonder she's trying to be inconspicuous! Ah, Ye, there must be something behind this, so we should definitely look into it. We might even stumble upon some exclusive story!"

"Shang, is it worth it to waste our time on this? We have more important things to do!" Ye Chong was unimpressed.

Shang could not help but grumble, "It's just asking for directions, how long can that take?"

Ye Chong gave it a thought before approaching Feng Su. "Good day to you, do you know how I can reach Street 22?" Ye Chong asked the masked woman, the one called Feng Su.

Feng Su turned around and gave a measuring glance at him. She found him looking relaxed, but with an undisguisable apathy behind it.

Feng Su spoke with her demure, enchanting voice, "Oh, Street 22, just go straight ahead and turn right at the third intersection, you'll reach the street after a five-minute walk!" Her short dialogue lingered in the air, the voice gentle and lovely, tugging at one's heartstrings!

The accurate control of her voice and tonality was a surprise for Ye Chong. He staggered a little before gathering himself for a reply, "Oh, thank you!" and turning to leave.

"I hope you're satisfied, Shang!" While Ye Chong did not understand this indulgence of Shang's, he would still do his best to fulfill the mech's wishes! However, Shang did not speak for a long while.

"Shang, what's up?" Ye Chong thought curiously. Could the mech's sound receiver be damaged? Surely not.

"Wow, that was awesome! A voice from Heaven! From Heaven itself! Heavens, to hear such a moving voice in this mortal realm! Ye, do you not feel it?" Shang was high as a kite!

"Mm, it was alright!" Ye Chong replied lightly.

"Hey, Ye, let's invite her for a chat. This opportunity is only found once in a century, no, once in a millennium! Ye, let's talk to her again, yes? Just once more!" Shang begged.

Ye Chong was unmoved. "We're going to Street 22!"

Shang understood Ye Chong's temperament, and grumbled, "Sigh, you've never seen her holographic image, or you would fallen head over heels for her! Er, but … That may not be the case too, since your requirements are different from the average man! Ha, I know, Ye, surely you must be secretly in love with that lady in the white training garb?"

"No!" Ye Chong objected, but the image of a white figure came unconsciously to mind. He could almost smell that mysterious fragrance, and taste the smoothness under his tongue. Suddenly, he felt a pressure rising in his chest, and Ye Chong quickly suppressed his thoughts until the pressure eventually subsided.

"Haha, Ye, that must be it, you can't hide it from me, your brain activity just now was 30% more active than usual. Your pulse quickened, and your blood flow was faster! Hmm, I suppose that lady was also likeable. Too bad we can't return to Blue Ocean for now. After all, she had asked for you to marry her! But Ye, don't sacrifice an entire forest for that one tree. Compared to Feng Su, that lady still has a lot to make up for! Hehe …" Shang laughed discreetly to himself and teased Ye Chong.

Ye Chong rolled his eyes and followed Feng Su's directions to Street 22, leaving Shang to blabber on in his mind.

No. 103 on Street 22!

This was an address given by Jia Zhuo, where a masterful mentalist stayed, which was Ye Chong and Shang's destination! Ye Chong had expended great effort to find the place, since it was located far from the main streets, secluded within a piece of thinly forested area.

The low, vintage looking brick house had a roof that twisted upwards at the edges. There hanged a row of wind chimes that tinkled soothingly whenever a breeze swept through. The second floor's window was slightly opened, and not tightly shut. The house was surrounded by a forest. It was obvious that the mentalist was not very welcoming of visitors! This was a great advantage for Ye Chong, enough to boost his confidence for what he was about to do next!

"Shang, any suggestions?" Ye Chong asked.

"Hmm, best if you make your move as fast as you can. We know too little about mentalists, who knows what weird tricks they have up their sleeves. He's now in the second floor, and unfortunately, the house is too small for me to enter, or I'll be able to give you a hand!" Shang was now in all seriousness, like a completely different person, or, more accurately speaking, a completely different PSI!

"Mm, you have a point!" Ye Chong agreed. Mentalists were a mysterious factor. Even Jia Zhuo's Mind Cleansing was something incomprehensible to Ye Chong. He was thus extremely cautious of them!

"Er, also, usually robbers wear a black cloth over their face, to avoid recognition!" Shang reminded him.

"There's something like that? Where'd you heard it from?" Ye Chong was curious.

"The movies of course, that's how all the robbers do it!" Shang spoke matter-of-factly.

Ye Chong could not find any black cloth, but fortunately he had kept the F-58 mask from Black Cove in his bag. He put on the mask, and felt that it was more practical than whatever black cloth there was. It had been some time since he last wore the mask. Ye Chong caressed the black mask on his face, overwhelmed with emotions.

"You brought that thing?" Shang reminded him.

"Yes!" Ye Chong gave a shake with his wrist.

Ye Chong moved deftly like a raccoon, entering the second floor. Shang laid in wait in the forest outside as his backup.

The wind chimes hung along the eaves tinkled, masking the sound of Ye Chong's approach.

Ye Chong gave a sweeping glance of the second floor. With the exception of some basic wooden desks and chairs, there were not many other decorations in sight. The entire floorboard was made of wood. Ye Chong had no time to dwell on the mountainous expenses required for the floorboard, but took great care in avoiding any creaking sounds from his steps.

The entire second floor had only one room, but the door was shut tight. The man must be in there!

"Who dares to invade my house!" A shady voice rang in Ye Chong's mind, just as the door creaked open by itself, revealing an elderly with an overcast expression, staring at Ye Chong with glowing eyes. His curiously glinting eyes startled Ye Chong!

When Ye Chong heard the old man's voice, he knew he was in trouble. As the door opened into a slit, he saw an old man sitting inside, facing him.

Before Ye Chong could react, he felt his body leadened into a deadweight, and his vision blurred. Under the unexpected attack, Ye Chong instinctively reacted and whipped his hands out!

That movement took all his energy, and Ye Chong could no longer defend against the restrictive force that bound him. Crash! He felt into a heap on the floor. The world was spinning in his eyes, halos of light swirling around, putting him into a daze.

Another crash was heard, and Ye Chong could hear an old man's surprised yelling.

He immediately felt the weight lifted, and the binding force on him vanished! After a few minutes, Ye Chong's vision returned to normal!

Ye Chong pulled himself off the ground with great effort, his muscles still trembling, cold sweat rolling down his spine.

The old man was wrapped up firmly like a dumpling, lying still on the floor. He was, however, undeterred in yelling angrily in all seriousness, "Who are you?! I'm a mentalist, do you know what you're doing? Attacking a mentalist, you'll be hunted by the sanctuary to the ends of the world!" His tone changed immediately as he said, "I'm a reasonable man, if you need help, just let me go and we'll talk it through, I'll definitely help you! You should know that …"

Ye Chong ignored the man as he flexed his limbs, glad of his freedom! Earlier, he had swung a weapon made of a string with weights on both ends towards the old man. It was Shang's idea. Once the weapon rotated from the swing, it would entangle anything it hit. Ye Chong was strong, and while the weights were not too heavy, his throw of the weapon towards the old man had his target firmly tied up! Once the attack was disrupted, Ye Chong regained his freedom!

What a powerful mentalist! If not for his quick reaction, he would have become a defenseless captive! Ye Chong recalled the encounter with delayed fear.

The old man had hawkish nose and eyes. His pupils glimmered as he continued yelling angrily.

Ye Chong had no intention of chatting him up. He lifted the old man and jumped out from the window with his prize. The interrogation part will be left to Shang!

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Chapter 115: Meeting Again

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong carefully hid in a tree, keeping watch for Shang. The bouts of shrill cries from the trees behind him gave him the goosebumps. While he was used to matters of life and death, the pitiful cries still perturbed him greatly!

Ye Chong began examining his memories of the earlier encounter. The old man was able to detect his intrusion into the house. It was an impossible feat. If it was Ye Chong himself in the room, even his hearing could not filter the sounds of the tinkling wind chimes and detect the intrusion.

More frightening was the fact that Ye Chong was bound by the enemy without any chance of retaliation. That was a first for him! What he lost was not only his freedom of movement but also his sight!

It was too horrifying!

How did he attack? Ye Chong did not see the old man make any movements. It was truly baffling!

Suddenly, Ye Chong heard a soft shuffling sound. He gathered himself. Someone was here!

Ye Chong signalled in his mind to Shang to speed things up as he moved through the trees, agile like a mutant primate, in search of the old man's visitor! On the trash planet, Ye Chong had always made use of the intercrossing metal beams in the trash to evade attacks from pursuing mutants. The tree branches were more flexible than metal beams, and more resilient. Ye Chong skillfully made a turn in the trees, the thick canopy providing him cover.

Among the trees, the holographic scanning system's efficiency was impaired due to the complicated terrain. Even the most advanced scanning systems could no longer be completely reliable. On the contrary, human senses were more trustworthy! Of course, when it came to Mu and Shang, Ye Chong was unsure of their limits!

If he had heard it right, the shuffling sound was moving towards the old man's house. It seemed that the house was the only one nearby.

Ye Chong carefully forged ahead.

A purple robed woman with a purple veil was walking along the route amongst the trees that led straight to the old man's house. The shuffling sound came from her steps on the fallen leaves.

Ye Chong was startled. Was this not the woman he had asked for directions earlier? Ye Chong immediately relayed this to Shang. The mech replied that he was almost done, as he was just now repeating his questions to gauge the reliability of the information from the old man.

Ye Chong followed Feng Su cautiously, countless thoughts going through his mind. "What is with this lady? Does she know the old man? Er, Jia Zhuo had called him Mr Yin. She's a superstar, why would she know a mentalist like Mr Yin?"

While Ye Chong was not familiar with the job description of a superstar, he believed that it was probably unlikely for the occupation to be related to mentalists! Besides, the fact that she was in the Orbits was also curious.

"However," Ye Chong thought, "it's got nothing to do with me, right? What I need to do is to buy time for Shang."

Feng Su was not walking too quickly, looking fragile. Ye Chong considered knocking her out to avoid any mishaps. As for killing Feng Su, Ye Chong might have even considered that if not for Shang. However, with Shang's fondness of Feng Su, Ye Chong did not feel like upsetting the mech with her death!

For Ye Chong, Mu and Shang were his best friends, the people he cared about most. In his heart, they were as alive as any human being! They were the most precious lives to him!

"Hmm, best if I knock her out." Ye Chong was confident of controlling his strength!

Ye Chong approached Feng Su silently, ready to deliver a blow to her nape to knock her out!

Suddenly, Feng Su stopped moving and turned, speaking severely, "Who's that? Come out!" Her eyes looking towards the canopy where Ye Chong had hid himself.

Ye Chong was shocked. How did she found out? He did not make any sound at all!

Feng Su stepped a little wider, anticipating a fight, her hands in a battle-ready posture.

While he did not understand how Feng Su noticed him, Ye Chong held no fear against the women before him! To him, her physique was not match for his!

Feng Su glared coldly at the canopy to the left above. Someone was hiding there. Whoever it was, Feng Su was certain that they were hostile! Could they be some rapist, to follow her for so long before choosing to attack in this secluded area? Feng Su's eyes flashed with killer intent!

The canopy rustled, just a bit. *Pheeww* A headwind blew, as a figure in green shot out towards her in an astounding speed!

Feng Su humphed coldly, angled her body slightly and avoided the figure as she bowed her head and silently hooked her leg upward into a back kick! Bam! The green figure hit the ground, revealing itself to be an arm-thick branch with some leaves on it. The branch stuck deep into the soil, half of it beneath the ground!

A chilling breeze kissed her nape; from the strength, the other party was looking to knock her out. The thought stoked her killer intent even further! This kind of rapist could only blame himself for his inevitable death by her hands!

Ye Chong suddenly found himself missing his target, and knew something was wrong! Fortunately, his attack was only meant to knock her out, the blow not packing too much force. He leaped backwards in retreat, and avoided a kick from Feng Su by only a hair's breadth!

His successful retreat surprised Feng Su, her eyes turning serious. It seemed that she had underestimated her enemy's speed. This guy was not going to be easy to defeat!

However, Feng Su was confident of her skills! While the guy before her was definitely impressive to the average person, it would only take her slightly longer to claim victory!

Turning back to face her enemy, Feng Su had a clear view of the enemy for the first time!

Feng Su's eyes narrowed. "Black Cove's men?" The man before her was wearing a mask very familiar to her. She was knew many things about Black Cove, and the mask with F-58 engraved on it could only mean that this was Number 58 of Team F!

Strange. If she remembered correctly, Team F was posted at the outermost ranges of Black Cove. Why would Black Cove send its weakest members to the Orbits? Would Black Cove not know about the Orbits? The thought was swiftly dismissed! Impossible! Black Cove and the Orbits knew each other well, how could such a clumsy mistake be made?

Could it be that there were more powerful members nearby? And this was only someone keeping watch? If that was the case, could the opponent's target be Mr Yin?

These thought flashed through her mind, and it seemed more and more plausible by the moment. Feng Su's killing intent raged! She must quickly disable this lookout to send out a distress call and rescue Mr Yin! Feng Su believed that if the one from Black Cove was not that particular person, she would stand a chance to help Mr Yin!

Ye Chong was experienced in life-deciding battles, and was sensitive to his opponent's killer intent. He felt her readiness to kill, and while he did not understand the change in intent, he was still fearless of the battle!

Feng Su was determined to end the battle quickly!

Ye Chong watched her closely, not underestimating her because of her gender. However, he did not initiate an attack, since his primary goal was to buy time!

Suddenly, a strange gleam flashed in Feng Su's eyes!

Ye Chong started. A mentalist! "To think that she's a mentalist," thought Ye Chong, as he decided to not hold back any further. He leapt to action, moving evasively like a flickering shadow, a blur of a figure, hoping to confuse the opponent's vision and avoid being targeted.

"Phew!" The expected feeling of being bound did not come, and Ye Chong exhaled in relief. It seemed that the plan worked!

While Ye Chong was rejoicing, he saw the woman lunge towards him!

Since he could now avoid the attack, Ye Chong grew more confident and aimed a punch towards the enemy!

Feng Su twisted her body and easily avoided Ye Chong's punch, closing in on him.

"Close-range combat?" Ye Chong analysed calmly.

Ye Chong had always preferred close-range combat. His robust reflexes and outstanding strength and speed could make up for his lack in battle techniques in close quarters!

Ye Chong dared not hold back now. He believed that if Shang had to decide, the mech would probably prefer to have him live than her! Besides, how could he die here?

Close-range combat was also vicious, without room to hold back, for any movement could mean life or death!

The two engaged in tight combat, the stakes self-evident!

In the blink of an eye, Ye Chong's attacks changed from the force of hurricane storm to a barely manageable assault!

Ye Chong groaned on the inside. His opponent's movements seemed to be assisted by some sort of foresight. Whenever he was about to attack, she seemed to anticipate the blow, and Ye Chong had not even had grazed a blow against her since the battle began. On the contrary, the opponent's attacks were sharp and unavoidable. Despite Ye Chong's robust reflexes, he had received quite a few hits. If not for his sturdy build, he would probably be seriously injured!

The strangest part was, up till now, she had never taken a blow from Ye Chong. His every punch met with empty space, and that sense of a hollow attack was very dispiriting for him. He was more powerful and faster than her, but the attacks never landed!

Occasionally, his eyes met Feng Su's mysteriously gleaming eyes, and Ye Chong could not help but shiver in his mind.

Ye Chong figured that, with the way things were going, he would get more and more disadvantaged!

Abruptly, Ye Chong came to a sudden realization and felt like slapping himself. His goal was not to kill her, but to buy time! Ye Chong felt enlightened, but the momentary distraction earned him another fist and a kick!

Ye Chong quickly moved backwards in retreat. If he could widen the distance between them, his superior speed would allow him to avoid attacks more easily!

Feng Su followed him closely like a parasite, obviously realizing his intentions.

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Chapter 116: The Scary Feline

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The difference in speed was evident the moment they competed. Ye Chong was obviously leading. It was common sense to know that he possessed an absolute upper hand in velocity. He travelled so fast that he only flashed by like faint images in naked eyes. Feng Su was also such a blitz as it moved in afterimages, which however stayed incompetent when compared to Ye Chong's skills. The distance grew fast between them.

Well, a master Ye Chong sounded like, yet he was not actually having an easier time dealing with this woman. He planned to rush straight and make a few sudden turns to get rid of her. In spite of that, such trick did not seem to work as this peculiar woman, as if a feline in the jungle, always managed to follow his turnings immediately. It felt like her intuition was at the same frequency as Ye Chong's brain or she was aware of such crude tactic by Ye Chong, that she could even estimate the timing of turning and act accordingly in horrifying accuracy. Puzzling, puzzling indeed to Ye Chong.

It was getting spookier each time! No way!

Ye Chong was never alone. The opponent received the same shock as he did. "When did the Black Covers get this strong? A thrown-out grunt being this potent? Did we miss out something important on our observation? Why is there such a vast difference compared to the information we obtained?"

Feng Su's heart panicked as she raced on and began to discern the inhuman strength and abnormal level of dexterity in possession by the opponent. "That pace too…" A momentum she could hardly compete with - other than the severe lack of skills, it was amazing. With his potential, if he mastered the Black Covers' combating skills, he would bring disasters. No! In fact, he would be the disaster itself!

It only required a nod from the Black Coves, then he would be a great fighter in no time.

But how could the people from Black Coves miss such a brilliance? She was well aware of the forces behind the curtain, still she could not believe that they would make such a costly ignorance. She was shocked yet she was glad that apparently Number 58 did not learn that signature assaulting skill from his former organization, or she would be the busted one for the day. The skill was terrifying enough to make her hair stand by just imagining it.

The residents of the Orbits admitted to not the greatest force, but only to the wisest use of force.

The best outcome would only be achieved when the force was used in the wisest way. Certainly, the kind who held the greatest force in the galaxy would be none other than the pilots themselves. Nevertheless, it did not signify the insignificance of the other occupations like the fighters. The ones who combated brutally, no one would ever agree to the assumption that the fists of the fighters were no match to the iron walls of the mechs. A pilot would always be bound to the sequence of deploying a mech and entering the cabin after, and within that time frame, a skillful fighter could assault the pilot countless times before the corpse of the pilot rolled into the cabin.

So… Never look down on forces of any kind!

The afterimages of two phantoms lurked in the path of the forest, chasing each other.

"Jajaja!" Shang's voice rang in pride, "Ye, that old gramp had spat everything! Woohoo! We are on the jackpot! Mentalist sure is interesting! I had already emphasized the fact that I could make anyone spit with my techniques! But man… that old gramp had a spine missing in his body. You know what I'm saying! He only lasted 20 minutes before he coughed out all he knew!" Shang probably meant that the old gramp was spineless…

"Of all time. Shang, you jerk!" While having a road-runner show with Feng Su, Ye Chong cursed as he was forced to bear with Shang's words. He no longer had the mood to play with the wild kitty, as he turned to the other side to meet with Shang somewhere else. He was making his escape. He ran as far as possible to Shang he reckoned.

A twist, a stomp to the ground, a tur- Ye Chong's legs felt tightened.

Ye Chong was astonished as his body tilted to the front like being pulled by inertia. Fortunately he reacted in time. He hit the ground with his palms, lifted from the ground like a spring, his waist charged up and he made a flip. Feng Su's eyes glared strangely as her speed rose sharply. The luster in her eyes waved like odd beams as she moved rapidly.

Right when Ye Chong repositioned himself, that woman launched herself into him. That fair palm of hers inched towards Ye Chong and blatantly she aimed his throat!

The more dangerous the situation became, the calmer his thoughts turned. He maximized the speed of his hands as his right hand vanished and reappeared before his throat while his left hand had shifted to his chest, shielding his heart.

Ye Chong might be an enemy, but an impeccable enemy he was. Compliment blinked in her eyes upon seeing how Ye Chong was still able to react in the nick of time. That speed was also an overwhelming surprise to her.

"Still!"

It was not sufficient to stop her attack!

Wham!

Ugh!!

Ye Chong moaned as the rib on his right felt ruptured. He scowled as he went jabbing Feng Su's neck. The dead-or-alive situation had once again ignited the potential in Ye Chong. The speed of his hands had gone beyond what the naked eyes of humans could capture!

It missed Feng Su, as his hand slid through her cheek. Her prediction saved her again! She was pleased when she made a bend before anything else. Zoom! A sharp hiss cut through the air! Fear filled her eyes in a second. She could almost smell and feel death. She had never felt this close to death before.

Ye Chong hurriedly jumped up high.

She straightened her body and the aftershock lingered in her mind with bewilderment a moment after, wondering what in the Orbits Number 58 was doing. No fighter would go into the air as there would be nothing to grip onto to fight back! If this was his attempt to make a strike, that would be fruitless! His performance was outstanding the whole time. He should not be using such a low trick… Or… this… Was this a trap?

Ye Chong jumped up high. The blast he made on his feet was immense.

No you don't! Feng Su estimated the final height of Ye Chong as she also launched herself, striving to grab and pull him onto the ground. It was not her concern whether it was a trap! She would break him for sure!

Huh.

At that very point of time, things changed. A blue-white mech arrived in the scene and caught Ye Chong from mid-air. The next moment she knew, they disappeared.

Her eyes did see everything, including the appearance of the mech, well, most of it. That blue-white mech…

…

!!

"Ah!" Could it be…

Her mind went chaotic as she mumbled in disbelief.

Ye Chong was hung in Shang's right hand as his eyes coldly fixed on that woman who had wounded his body! It was inevitable that her other attributes were far inferior than Ye Chong, yet she almost had him. What a scary feline! What a horrible woman! No! Such fearsome mentalist!

Shang glided between the trees agilely. He was fast and moved with grace that the ace pilots were sweating just by seeing his performance.

Outside the woods there lied a broad lake, which was unfamiliar to Ye Chong. The incoming wind felt humid with a faint refreshing sensation. The water was crystal clear and mechs of all walks of models were flying above it.

Before he could utter a word, his back felt hollow as he drastically fell. He panicked.

"Ye, I'm dreadfully sorry… I…I… fooled around too much just now… I had run out of energy… I…I…I…I am…h…heading back to…di…dimension," only silence followed afterwards.

"Shang, you jerk!" cursed Ye Chong again. Even a saint like Ye Chong in most times could not bear with such crap as he fell all the way down haplessly.

Splash!

Ye Chong fell into the water as he was gargled by the river. Ye Chong might be an expert in piloting but he was still a novice in swimming. He did not know how to swim and he was struggling, drowning! He inhaled the fine portion of the mere air he got and he walked in the water. Due to his amazing control of his speed, he could feel the flow of the water clearly. As he became much calmer when being closer to death, his brain discerned every single bit of information in the surroundings. He analyzed instantly with his past experiences as he attempted a variety of coordinations of his body in the water.

Not too long after Ye Chong dropped into the water, a purple mech zoomed by the lake.

The air flow created by its speed lifted ripples on the surface of the lake.

Gasp!

A head popped out on the lake, grasping for air. That was Ye Chong. The mask on his face somehow fell off when he was underwater. His face looked pale after holding his breath for so long.

Cough! Ugh!

He spat out the plants from his mouth. Ye Chong concluded his discovery on a method to stay on water and not to sink. His legs stepped on the water rhythmically, trying to stay afloat with the flows he created, though he had probably drunk gallons of them.

I am not expecting to be saved!

He clumsily propelled towards the shore. He whimpered as his wounds ached by water and his exaggerated movements. Damn you Shang! If you get back on… No! I should never get you back on! This was like the nth time Ye Chong cursed the drugged robot.

Well the cursing did not help Ye Chong in any bit, not even to distract him from the pain he had to suffer. If it was Mu, he would not have to suffer any of these! Only Shang this jerk could be such a nuisance to drop him into the water! Ye Chong laughed bitterly.

When he finally got to the shore, he collapsed. His calves felt strained… The fight with Feng Su was too energy consuming as every move could cost his life. Most of his stamina was depleted in the end. His wound… It was bad, especially after being dipped in the water for too long… It was a miracle that Ye Chong could still hurl himself to the shore.

He was tired, so tired that he could barely lift his fingers. He could imagine himself never waking up again if he ever fell asleep.

The star blazed like a fireball. The warmth showered onto Ye Chong's body, comforting and hypnotizing it was, like the cradle of safety. His eyes grew drowsier… but he could not… he could not sleep… this was not a place to rest.

He never expected to be this weak one day! If he would be this weak back on Trash Planet-12, he probably would have became an empty skull gashed by the engulfers.

The sound of footsteps trailed in his ears. There was someone coming! But well… Ye Chong was too worn out to even open his eyes. He knew his fate, that he could not fight back even if the person was hostile. He ridiculed himself, yet he tried to adjust his breath, trying to accumulate the very last ounce of his strength.

The person came before him.

Here it goes!

…

… …

Nothing happened. It was surprising to Ye Chong. Nonetheless he had to stay alert, though it might have been pointless in the end, as he looked as good as dead. He tried feeling his breath and eventually, he could feel his strength coming back bit by bit.

Ye Chong never opened his eyes as he assumed that would make the foe reckless. Well, if he were to show resistance, he could only dish out one strike at his very best. At least he could paralyze the foe with a blow of his arm or something… then he would have a cushion for the night, assuming the foe was truly hostile that is.

Out of the blue, he felt the person gently pushing his body!

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Chapter 117: Nan Nan

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"…ig br…er…"

"Big bro…er…"

"Big brother!"

An adorable voice rang sweetly by Ye Chong's ears, "Big brother! If you stay under this hot sun your skin will become dark, very dark!" With her tiny hands, she held Ye Chong. She tried shaking him very hard. She kept shaking him in hopes that he'll regain consciousness. Due to her small build, she did not have enough strength to shake Ye Chong who was much heavier than she was.

Ye Chong forced his heavy and tired eyes open. He tilted his head over and beamed at the little girl in front of him. The bitter smile on his quivering lips shone a little terrifyingly with that drained face of his.

The little girl seemed to be about 5 to 6 years old. The pair of large eyes blinked peculiarly above her dollish pink cheeks. A pale green beret sat on top of her head obediently… That was not a beret, that was a lid! The slots on it justified its identity! Ye Chong recognized it being one of the parts of a mech. The material seemed unusual too. Ye Chong wondered what this lid was made out of as he was amazed by the craftsmanship.

A red diamond shaped piece about the size of a palm hung around her neck. There were 4 holes tidily crafted on it. Ye Chong was astonished! Wasn't this a part of a mech's interior? It was the washer, wasn't it? Why was she using it as an accessory?

Judging by her naivety blatantly presented through her appearance, Ye Chong let off a sigh of relief. It seemed like his security was finally assured.

"Wow… Big Brother, your smile's ugly! Were you bitten by a dog? You poor, poor thing!" She expressed her utmost sympathy. The little girl carried on, "Big brother, can you move? You have to move! Yikes! You'll get dark, very, very dark! What if… you become as dark as Brother Hei Zi… That wouldn't be good…" She pondered hard about it and frowned. She somehow looked adorable in that state. "Aha!" she clapped her hands as she got inspired by something. Her angelic voice cheered loudly as she tripped her way away.

For some reason Ye Chong felt rather relaxed after listening to innocent words uttered by the little girl - it was as if something deep, deep down had awakened. His sight lost the waddling little girl… "She had probably headed home," Ye Chong laughed and closed his eyes once more. He focused on regulating his breath, striving to regain his vitality as soon as possible. Being out of control on his own fate felt absolutely terrible.

He breathed in rhythms, attempting to avoid dozing off. It was a challenge to stay awake under a fatigued condition like this… A trial to one's will was to not be lured away by sleep! The tiredness crashed into his head wave by wave. There were a few times where he fell asleep before knowing it yet he dragged himself out of the bog. Sleep could have been helpful in rejuvenating his strength but not fast enough.

It was agonizing to stay awake yet it was quite effective. He could feel his strength restoring bit by bit. This excited him. The exhaustion was mostly gone! Mhm, in about 10 minutes time, I should at least regain mobility!

Out of the blue he felt the glaring light vanished. Something was blocking his face and the scorching heat was greatly reduced!

He had his eyes opened.

His blurred vision discerned a small hand holding onto grass weaved into a shape of a ring which blocked the sunlight.

Her expressive eyes blinked again, "Big brother!" The charm was captivating, as her cheery voice resounded, "You won't get dark now! Hehehe, isn't Nan Nan smart?"

Ye Chong subconsciously smiled, without realizing how that smile twitched his wound. Hssssst… Hsstt… Out of immense ache he hissed pitifully.

"Hehehe…" little Nan Nan giggled, seeing how Ye Chong's face turned bitter. Her laugh was bubbly, like ringing bells in spring. It was far lovelier to the ears than Feng Su's voice. "Ow… poor, poor, big brother…" After giggling, her faint brows squeezed, "It must be bad, bad doggie! Bad, bad doggie bit big brother! Bad doggie is bad! Bad doggie bite Nan Nan's dress!" While she shared her bad experience with a dog, she did not forget to show her sympathy too, "Big brother, your clothes, doggie bit it? Did bad doggie bite you?"

"Mhm!"

"Hehehehe~ Nan Nan was out alone. Shhh, it is a s-e-c-r-e-t. Grandpa and Brother Hei Zi says Nan Nan should not play outside. But staying home is boring! Nan Nan wants to play! Big brother, play with Nan Nan, okay?"

"Mhm!"

"Yay! Nan Nan is happy! Big brother is good! Good big brother!"

…

Three men walked by the river. They seemed to be chatting idly, as sometimes lustfully they burst out laughing. The filthy-looking shorty was ugly as hell. He looked like a pumpkin which rolled off a cliff. Every part of his face was well-blended. "Hey you both! Look over there!" he called the other two men as he spotted something.

For the other men, one was somewhat normal… yeah, the kind that would get missing once stepped into the crowd, while the other was fleshy on his face, looking messy as unshaved. Their eyes rolled in curiosity. They seemed quick-witted at least.

As guided by the shorty's finger, they shifted their sight over, "Lao Pi, what is so worthy of all the heyhoo there?" The rugged man chuckled, "It's just some beggar hooking up with a little girl. What is so exciting about that?"

The average guy said nothing, but his expression told the same.

Lao Pi sneered as he ignored that average guy's expression, "You are just as dumb as you always are, Lao Meng! Look at Lao Ping, at least he's not as dumb as a donkey like someone I know! Look at that little girl carefully!"

Lao Ping and Lao Meng stared at little Nan Nan dancing around the beggar for a moment. "She's just a kid," muttered Lao Meng. "Why are we looking at her for? Don't tell me… you are a pedophile in disguise?"

"Shhhhh!" whispered Lao Ping. "Say it quietly. You can't criticize the person who's in front of you." He lectured though his expression showed approval towards Lao Meng's statement. And Lao Meng started giggling nonstop!

Ugh!

The corner of Lao Ping's eyes twitched, as the wrinkles on his face splashed like waves, "Look at what the girl has on her head…" He pretended he had never heard the comment, "And also her neck."

"Wha-"

"Tsk, tsk tsk," interrupted Lao Pi as he grew impatient. "Sigh, some people just can't use their eyes the right way. Don't you see the obvious, stark things on her body? That kid has part of an inner ring of a mech's feet, yes, that pale green ring. It should either be the bones of the green beast or the skull of fletchant, yes it could be the skull of that bird. Tsk, tsk tsk, do you know how much could this be sold for?"

!

Lao Ping and Lao Meng finally got the whole reason why Lao Pi reacted dramatically upon seeing the girl. Their eyes went wide like saucer as they spoke together. "How much?"

"Keke!" Lao Pi was getting puffed up seeing how the two dummies showing the expected reaction. "It would be strange if you know its actual value. Let me tell you… that piece isn't some ordinary knock-off in the street. Tsk, obviously it's a masterpiece out of pure handcraft. And not any maker on Haleyson could produce such artistry, I reckoned."

"Stop blowing your own trumpet! Just tell us how much it is already!" Lao Meng's face was filled with disdain while Lao Ping depicted supports at the side.

"100,000? At the very least," Lao Pi was not really sure of the exact pricing, but that should be it!

That dubious stare from Lao Ping was discomforting… Lao Pi's face reddened as he embarrassingly replied, "I do not know the exact figure! Well, at least it would not be lower than this!"

"For real?" Lao Meng immediately responded skeptically. "This crap could go up to 100,000 of the currency here? Hah! No way! Stop pulling my leg! With 100,000 of our currency you could get the same junk hat. 100,000 of them!"

Lao Ping stayed silent as he collected his mind.

"The crap you know with your head!" Lao Pi's face tightened as his face went redder, "Let me tell you something more to fill that airhead of yours! Junk hat? Whoever that is rich and insane enough to get this piece as a hat, he would be the mascot of the planet! The more valuable part is that washer on the kid's neck! I am dead f*cking sure this piece worth a fortune! Way more than that ring!"

"Whatever you say, boasting Pi," Lao Meng disdainfully spoke.

"Why you!"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! I don't understand why you guys could bicker when the thing is not even in our hands! Wouldn't it be much easier if we get those things and check the price ourselves rather than guessing and denying each other here? IShe's just a kid, how hard could it be! And that beggar seemed to be kicking his bucket anytime soon. No pressure, Lao Meng, go get the things off the little girl! And we would head straight to Huang San's place for appraisal. Maybe we could really make a fortune out of these!"

Lao Meng went chuckling again upon hearing the suggestion. He showed approval as he headed to Nan Nan.

Ye Chong on the ground could feel every quake occurred. That heavy footsteps coming into his senses immediately illustrated a buffed man heading towards him. Ye Chong had his eyes wide open. Nan Nan was busy fanning Ye Chong with the grass ring in her hands. Good Nan Nan… not! Thanks to the grass ring, Ye Chong could hardly see the appearance of the coming foe, though he could see the legs clearly.

Ye Chong put up his guard. By some means, Ye Chong was having an urge to prevent this little girl from getting into any kind of troubles. "By some means" it was, he could not explain why, but the urge was strong and still! Sadly Mu and Shang were not by his side, or he could at least investigate this strange feeling in detail.

The footsteps got nearer and Nan Nan did not seem to have noticed a thing. Could that be a relative of hers? Ye Chong was ready! A portion of his strength had recovered! He could launch an attack for the girl anytime soon!

As Lao Meng started breeze-walking towards Nan Nan, she noticed something as she turned her head, "Big brother, is this your friend? He is coming to help you? Is he?"

Ye Chong's heart skipped a beat. Nan Nan does not know this person! Who in the Haleyson could this person be! What does he want!

Lao Meng gleefully walked towards little Nan Nan. The grin was not helpful at all. He already looked horrifying enough with his appearance, adding that grin would only make him the most fearsome monster to the girl. Nan Nan was foreign to the smiling creature as she fearfully hid behind Ye Chong. Her head popped over his back, taking a peek. "Yikes!" She withdrew herself and started trembling behind.

"Big brother! Nan Nan… Nan Nan is afraid! Beard man is scary! Bad beard man!" she shook Ye Chong slightly and her voice was choked with tears helplessly.

"Heya, little girl. I meant no harm," Lao Meng squeezed every kind of smile he had seen in his life before, "I just wanted to take a look at that beautiful green hat of yours. Oh, what a pretty necklace, could you give me that red… red…" He scratched his head and mumbled, "The heck was that again? Lao Pi had mentioned it before… How could I forget it… Sheesh, this is humiliating…"

Nan Nan wanted to stay alert but due to that introductory line of that bad beard man, she could not! She tried suppressing her laugh. All the intense fear she had before was gone. She pulled a face at Lao Meng, spitting her tongue, "Stupid beard man! Stupid! Stupid!"

And thereby Ye Chong got the big picture of the entire scenario. So that was what the man wanted! Man I am dumb! How could I forget this? Did my IQ just go down with my stamina after I get hurt?

Mu had once said it before - when one possesses a value beyond one's own strength, one would be coveted by people. Looks like he was right after all!

Lao Meng took a glance at that beggar half-dead.

He did not seem threatening at all, man I am really dumb! The heck am I doing these mumbo-jumbo for, I'll just snatch it!

Lao Meng kept his smile as he sprinted towards the kid.

Nan Nan the smart little girl sensed the danger as she sank into Ye Chong's back. Her body was shaking violently.

Lao Meng stopped before the pathetic beggar as he launched his grab towards the girl.

And that was when Ye Chong made his move after being a splat of mud for so long!

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Chapter 118: Rescued

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A twinge seized Lao Meng's rib and spread throughout his body. He lost control of his body out of a bewildering sudden as he collapsed right onto the lying beggar. And that was the moment when he realized the fact that the half-dead looking beggar actually had his eyes opened, glaring right into his soul!

The cold classic stare from Ye Chong caused Lao Meng's heart to twitch.

Back in Black Coves, perhaps Ye Chong was not able to master the greatest assault, however he did learn a few of one-hitting techniques to hold the foes. The one occurred before was a strike to the target's spinal cord to disable the target's control to the body. It sounded all powerful like a technique from the martial arts tales, however as a matter of fact this was the most fundamental move in the Black Coves. Ye Chong did hear about other skills that were more tormenting and overwhelming back then, which some of them being truly bizarre!

Ye Chong used the technique when the foe let his guard down. A perfect one-hit strike!

He laughed bitterly in his mind. The move seemed simple, yet it consumed a majority part of his charged stamina. His breathing became hasty again.

Habitually, the following procedure could have been the killing. Ye Chong would hardly leave a living foe to spread his words around. The strike before was fatal enough to take this buffed man out, but Ye Chong simply did not have the stamina to kill this guy!

This technique could have been both efficient and effective. The effect was only temporary nonetheless. After a certain duration had passed and that duration was not long in actuality, the enemy would retrieve control of his body without any wound. And the one who would suffer the worst fate would be Ye Chong himself!

Ye Chong hoped that he could regain his stamina in time to at least launch one last strike before the enemy could move again. Once and for all!

Ye Chong's eyes looked bloodthirsty!

As Lao Meng saw every expression on Ye Chong, out of fright, he screamed on top of his lungs, "Yikes! Why the hell can't I move anymore? Holy Haleyson! Lao Ping, Lao Pi, get yourselves over here and save me! F*cking hell! I got set up! Quick! Get yourself here already!" Lao Meng's coarse voice roared harshly.

Ye Chong flinched - he did not come alone? He was no longer concerned on his energy-saving plan as he pushed the beefy man to the side - Ugh, I thought I was moving a whale or something! Ye Chong stood up frantically on his weakened limbs - assuming the foe had mates behind, then I would surely lose in the end if I kept lying on the ground! He took a look at Nan Nan, who was covering her eyes and squatting on the ground, shivering. Somehow a hint of warmness rushed through Ye Chong's body upon seeing her.

I'll just do my best, thought Ye Chong. The situation was not as optimistic however.

Obviously he was thrown into a nasty situation, where the odds were all against him. Nonetheless, he did not rant or show grudges!

Providing that he would be killed in the end, he had to make the kill cost them a lot at the very least! Violence flashed in the dark pupils of his eyes, which frightened Lao Meng who had been watching this fierce beggar the whole time. His voice rang drastically, "Lao Ping, Lao Pi, be careful! This is a savage one!"

Lao Ping and Lao Pi inched towards Ye Chong sluggishly, as their faces were fixed with grim.

The sudden collapse of their friend was more than shocking. Till he made that SOS shriek, they were not aware that Lao Meng had fallen prey to a set-up.

The fact that the beggar stood up weakly was comforting to the two. At least he looked fragile as if he could fall in a breeze! Even so, thinking back of how desperate Lao Meng's reminder sounded, their expressions turned grave once more, as they knew Lao Meng well. He might be a man who was all rough and tough but he had some real sensibility.

The beggar's indifference even in such a nerve-wrecking situation justified Lao Meng's reaction. It was then the two noticed the strangeness in this foe.

"Hey friend!" Lao Ping was acting kind as he spoke slowly, "This… This was just some misunderstanding, right? This friend of mine found the girl rather adorable, so he wanted to play with her. I know his jokes were pretty bad…" Lao Pi in the meantime shifted to the back of Ye Chong and started inching towards him. This was the 3 mousy-tears' way of resolving issues after running business in the Orbits for years. They were a flawless team - Lao Ping first would use words to hold the foe, while Lao Pi would strike from the back. It always worked! Even if the foe did not fall for the strike, at least it would hold the foe throughout the entire conversation.

Unfortunately… What they had encountered was an oddity. Ye Chong was that one major who went against chattering during combats!

Ye Chong did not bother to carry on listening as he turned to his back, lifted his leg and launched a kick right into Lao Pi, which shocked the heck out of Lao Pi. It was a rare occasion to have a foe who wanted to fight right away. However, the kick gave no effect. It felt as weak as the beggar. And Lao Pi was relieved.

Seeing how the dirty beggar wanted to pick a fight for real, he decided to stop blabbering and give a kick to his back as he lifted his foot.

Lao Pi sneered as he felt harmless of the beggar's kick. He moved faster towards Ye Chong.

Out of the blue, that feeble leg of Ye Chong's sprang, like a serpent ready to take a bite. Fearsome it looked! The target was the neck! If the kick landed on point, the throat would shatter and the man would be dead! Lao Pi did not manage to react in time to dodge, as he covered his head with his arms crossed.

Thup! The kick hit Lao Pi's arms. That was when Lao Pi was astounded by how much heavier the blow landed than it appeared! Ye Chong's leg was stuck on the arms. He exerted more pressure on Lao Pi's arms, the arms went closer to the face. Outrageous! Lao Pi used all his strength to force Ye Chong away. As adrenaline rushed on such a dead-or-alive situation, Lao Pi's strength was amazing. Lao Ping was relieved seeing this.

Who knows!

Thup!

Ye Chong used the push by Lao Pi, as he fired himself towards Lao Ping.

Lao Pi's leg was already lifted and he could not react in time. He only saw how Ye Chong was lifted by the force of Lao Ping and sank into Lao Ping, like a snake slithering over Lao Ping's leg, raising his upper body alarmingly.

Lao Ping's right leg was crushed as he lost balance. How else could he react?

Ye Chong had his eyes closed. Ache covered the top of his head, as he whimpered.

Crack!

A cracking sound of bone-crushing. Lao Ping fell onto the ground with his face hardened.

In that split second, Ye Chong launched his head right onto Lao Ping's chin. The blow was so strong that it actually broke Lao Ping's chin. The chin had always been the more delicate part of the anatomy, so Lao Ping collapsed due to the heavy blow.

Ye Chong and Lao Ping rolled together. The whole execution just now had completely exhausted every ounce of his strength. He could not even lift his fingers at that moment. Plus that blow he delivered with his head also returned a severe dizziness.

The vision blurred out and he looked all giddy.

In the fuzzy imagery, he saw the last man sneaked towards him… and there was one dark spot behind him that was becoming bigger.

What was that dark spot…?

Ye Chong's eyes grew blurrier… And the sound in the surrounding retreated like the waves as they grew further.

Nan Nan… I tried… my best…

This was Ye Chong's final thought before he fell into darkness and went unconscious.

…

… …

Ah!

Ye Chong opened his eyes abruptly. It was a foreign environment. "Mu… Shang… Are you there? Mu, Shang, speak to me if you are." The first thing he did was to try contacting his partners to at least have an idea what was going on. Sadly Mu did not reply despite being the usual quick one to answer his inquiry, while Shang… he then only remembered the fact that Shang had drained his battery before.

Oh… the battle. He pieced up the fragmented memories. Wondered what happened to Nan Nan… she was probably rescued or Ye Chong would have been dead undeniably, considering how those peculiar men would not spare him at mercy.

He took a look on his body and lifted his limbs. Okay, all were good. The wound was mostly healed. It was satisfying to see his own strength coming back as normal. If the 3 men would come and taunt Ye Chong again, he would skew them in 5 seconds for sure.

He checked his belonging… Okay, the talisman on the neck was intact. At least I could summon Mu Shang if anything went wrong! This was most important to Ye Chong. The keystone for Yu Di was still there too. The bag… everything was there. Nothing was lost! The dagger, a gift of the person was there. Ye Chong felt much more relieved.

At last, he started inspecting his surroundings.

Ye Chong was on a bed; the mattress felt comfy. The room was pitifully crammed compared to the room Ye Chong used to stay where his mechs could be stored altogether. The pale green walls had countless tiny adornments, which gave off a living vibe to the room. There was a mini nano-water filtration machine at one corner with quite a number of knitted animals at the other. What are these for? Ye Chong wondered - Are they some sort of target for practice? The knitted animals did not look realistic while some details were overdone. They did not even look close to their actual counterpart!

Weird stuffs! Thought Ye Chong.

Right at that moment, Ye Chong's ears caught two footsteps heading towards this room. He was alerted as he got off the bed and went into his defensive stance.

Bang. The door was pushed open!

It was Nan Nan! Right at one frame where the door was first opened, he could already discern her through the tiny gap.

Nan Nan entered the room, "Big brother! You're finally awake!" Hurrahed Nan Nan as she saw Ye Chong standing in the middle of the room, "Good! Nan Nan is happy! Very good! Good Ye Chong!" Joyfulness gleamed on her face.

She was cute as usual but Ye Chong did not have the grace to look at her jumping around, instead his eyes fixed on that dark man at her back. The man should be at his 30s… he was very tanned. His shirtless body revealing his large muscles was rather scary, though his smile depicted a quite sincere personality. He followed Nan Nan carefully, probably was afraid that Nan Nan could trip anytime with her clumsy steps.

That body size obviously defined his strength in Ye Chong's eyes.

The dark man grinned the moment he noticed the constant stare from Ye Chong. His teeth were sparkling white.

Little Nan Nan was intelligent. The moment she realized the exchanging stare between them, she went pulling Ye Chong's pant and introduced gently, "Big Brother, this is my Brother Hei Zi. He loves Nan Nan very, very, very muchie! That day, Brother Hei Zi came and found Nan Nan. We are lucky. If not, big brother and I would be sad, very, very, sad. We got hit!"

Little Nan Nan's messily produced description adorned with her hyper-active gesture finally clarified Ye Chong on what happened after he passed out. So that enlarging dark spot was the mech of Hei Zi. He saved his life in the nick of time.

"Thank you for saving me," Ye Chong thanked him with much appreciation.

"No no no!" Friendlily Hei Zi replied, "It was what I should have done. I should be the one thanking you. If it was not for you, Nan Nan… she could have been…" He withdrew his word… he seemed pretty mortified by what could have possibly happened.

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Chapter 119: In Search of a Visit

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Without much hesitation, Ye Chong decided to stay for a while. The reasons were simple - first, he was going to search for the great doctors in this area; second, the training method of the mentalist discovered by Shang required much exploration - a tranquil environment would be necessary to achieve both of these. The outside world was pretty disturbed these days, though Ye Chong did not fear any of those incoming raids, he would prefer a bit of silence for the moment.

So calmly, he stayed at Nan Nan's place, with these 2 quests in his mind which revolved about the horrible illness in him. He must stay, especially when the quests could take a long duration, be it finding out the great doctors or the breakthrough in the mentalist's methodology.

Mu and Shang were fully charged way back. The first thing Shang got was a lecture about responsibility from Ye Chong, in detailed, vigorously after he rebooted. Sigh, what a headache to Ye Chong!

Practically Nan Nan's family was of 3 members - her grandfather, Brother Hei Zi and Nan Nan herself. Ye Chong had rarely seen her grandfather showing up at the living room, although the elderly seemed to be in the pink of health. He always seemed to be somewhere else. The problem was the elderly appeared a little haughty sometimes, unlike Hei Zi who acted gentle and sincere the whole time.

Ye Chong was recollecting the information obtained from Shang's private interrogation on poor Mr. Yin.

Mentalist was sure a mysterious occupation… Most of the information contained jargons passed from the past generations. An ordinary person might not be able to understand the gist of being a mentalist even after being bestowed with such decent information filled with foreign terminology. Fortunately, Shang's own databank was vast in information, so a majority of the terms could be clarified; while the undefined terms, certainly Shang would have to get it somewhere else, for instance, from Mr. Yin's head…

Mr. Yin was in such a misfortune. It could have been the worst day of his life. Mentalist treated the foundation of their mentality as the root; the meaning of their life. And because of Shang's "special" interrogation, everything was pulled out of his head through his mouth, which caused severe damage to his mentality in the end. The drastic drop in his psychic ability was in expectation.

Well, Ye Chong was not a psychological analyst. He knew nothing about the man's mind. Only Shang could voice his opinion as loud as he wanted and even Mu expressed helplessness in this field.

Hence, based on what he had learned from Shang's digging of Mr. Yin's brain, he began his mentalist training.

The catch was, information could never replace experience completely. That probably could clearly define the problem both Shang and Ye Chong faced currently. They might have sufficient information on the techniques, but Ye Chong still had to bear the process of being the lab rat while experimenting the techniques. He did not mind being one however.

The foundation of being a mentalist begins with meditation - technically, breathing and meditate, which was what Ye Chong was doing at the moment. To make his respiration slow yet profound in a certain rhythm while maintaining a state of emptiness in his head, the mentalists called it "Wu" or some addressed the state as "Kong Ming*".

The breathing part was rather simple to Ye Chong. He was so used to adjusting his breathing in desired patterns. This requirement was achieved rather quickly and effortlessly.

The Kong Ming state though… It was challenging… He realized it was difficult to think about nothing in his head. In spite of that, Ye Chong did not give up straightaway. He tried for the next few days and on the 10th day of the practice, he started to get the gist of it.

According to the information acquired, a talented person would usually achieve the state of emptiness on their first attempt while the less-talented kinds could get it on the 2nd or 3rd day of training… For those who could not even get it after 3 days… they… they could never be a candidate for mentalist.

Although the information sounded discouraging, Ye Chong did not bother - whether if he was a candidate for mentalist or he was never one to begin with, it did not matter. He only hoped that he could ease the pain when the symptoms were triggered again with one or two techniques learned from the mentalist's mastery. That was the whole point of his continuous training.

Mentalist solely relied on mental training to develop the potential in mankind. In addition, coming from that unlucky Mr. Yin, apparently there was a closely related branch off the mentalist occupation - the "mentalist pilot" they called it. Unlike mentalist, a mentalist pilot was obliged to undergo mental training as well as physical training.

Moreover, according to this man, it seemed like the mentalist pilot held the actual authority in the Orbits. They were the true elites as they shouldered the duty of guarding the safety of the sanctuary. Every mentalist pilot happened to be an ace pilot and they owned mechs modified by themselves.

Well then, if that was the case, Feng Su should be a mentalist pilot too. Ye Chong could still recall the pain when dealing with her like it happened yesterday. So he was well aware of the strength of a mentalist pilot.

The progress of his spiritual awareness training was sluggish and barely effective. It would take up to ages if Ye Chong would like to master those advanced techniques mentioned in the information at this rate. Ye Chong did not throw a tantrum of impatience however, as he understood deeply that being impatient and acting impatiently would not help hastening the progress at all. So what was the point of being all restless and agitated? Such a typical Mu mindset fixed in Ye Chong's head.

Ye Chong would meditate routinely at night and he would spend the days looking for the great doctors with Hei Zi, who wholeheartedly assisted him in this with compassion. Nan Nan's grandfather was ever-going, he was always busy with something. Hei Zi could only accompany Ye Chong half of the day as he had to spend the remaining time on doing tasks given by Nan Nan's grandfather, though Ye Chong had the slightest idea on what they actually worked as.

As he was meditating, he heard two footsteps - one was heavy and the other was lighter - obviously those were from Hei Zi and Nan Nan.

He tidied his clothing - his own clothing was burnt way back. And because of that, he was wearing Hei Zi's clothes instead. Hei Zi's body was known to be much bulkier, so the clothing felt oversized on Ye Chong. It was not much of a concern to Ye Chong however, he folded the sleeves and the extra portion of the clothing. As long as the clothing would not affect his action, oversized or not, it did not matter, even though Ye Chong looked like a freak in it…

On the other hand, Nan Nan was on cloud nine. She was often at home alone and was forbidden to head out. It used to be her life crisis to remain like this but then she met Ye Chong, who could stay by her side at home while in the morning she could head out with Brother Hei Zi and Ye Chong. Even if Ye Chong was heading out alone, he would get her along. "Good big brother! Good Brother Hei Zi!" giggled the little girl, which was peculiar to her grandfather for how he actually felt easy of letting his granddaughter go out with this stranger.

"Big brother!! Big brother, are you ready? Brother Hei Zi and I are ready! Come out! Let's go play! Let's go play!" The little girl had already started shouting in excitement ahead of time. Her bubbly voice rang refreshing like the dews in the dawn - sweet and living.

Ye Chong pushed the door open. "Big brother!!" Little Nan Nan hurrahed as she skipped her way to Ye Chong clumsily upon seeing him finally leaving the room. Ye Chong quickly grabbed her before she fell. At about 1 meter away from Ye Chong, little Nan Nan squeaked excitingly as she jumped and Ye Chong lifted his arms and held her up in the air. He put the little girl over his shoulders. "Hehehe!" Little Nan Nan chuckled as her mushy hands gripped the collar of his shirt to avoid falling.

Hei Zi smiled at Ye Chong sincerely as usual while they headed out.

"The doctor is called 'Dr. Lu Caite'. He lives at the boundary of Zeuth area. It is quite far from here. I am not really familiar about this doctor… I think I need to ask around once we arrived there." Hei Zi was not the kind who spoke too well on lengthy sentences. He went silent after a brief explanation.

"Mhm," Ye Chong also shut his mouth after a monosyllabic response. One could imagine the scenario when 2 concise-talkers hung out together.

As the journey would be consuming this time, they could only use mechs to rush their way there.

"Good mech!" Right when Ye Chong deployed Yu Di, Hei Zi responded with his eyes lustered, "Though the material was… normal," his words trailed off…

Normal? What did he mean by normal? Other than the mechs at Black Coves and FMPA, Ye Chong was confident enough to claim that Yu Di had the best material. Or did it mean Hei Zi's mech used a way better material than this?

"Ugly mech! Ugly big brother's mech!" criticized Little Nan Nan as she spat her tongue out.

"Hah!" And Hei Zi deployed his mech too.

Well, Hei Zi's mech looked quite normal… it was a humanoid mech. The material was really an eye-opener however, as most parts were made out of materials Ye Chong had never seen before. It was the same black mech but it was not the sparkling black metallic texture he used to see on Black Cove's mech. The material of Hei Zi's mech looked like something he knew but it was not something he knew at all. Yes, it looked like some sort of reformed material, yet the marks on the surface looked like it was wholly natural, which was really amazing to Ye Chong.

Hei Zi grinned the moment he saw how Ye Chong's eyes were all glued on his mech, "The master made it for me!" That master uttered in Hei Zi's mouth was none other than Nan Nan's grandfather.

"What material is this?" asked Ye Chong as he went touching the surface. Both strength and ductility were fair!

"Ye." Mu's voice echoed in his head, "This is a strange material. It is my first encounter of such peculiarity. It did not seem to be artificial. The stats were all-rounded perfections. It is an impeccable material to build a mech!"

Well it was simply because Shang had hit his time so he had to switch with Mu. What a relief to Ye Chong.

"Most of these are from the skeletons of the Giant Black Whale." As he identified the interest in Ye Chong towards his own mech, Hei Zi explained, "They are very ductile."

Giant… Black Whale? Skeleton? You made mech with skeletons? That was really new to Ye Chong.

He wanted to inquire more about this "skeleton-hidden-in-mech" sorcery but Hei Zi was already hopping into his cabin. Eventually Ye Chong had to inhibit his curiosity as he brought Nan Nan into the cabin, starting off their journey.

The mechs moved extremely fast. It did not take them long to hit the boundary of Zeuth.

They kept their mechs into the dimension after they had landed successfully.

"I had only came here a few times before," mumbled Hei Zi. "Not really sure here. Dr. Lu was someone I heard from gossips. We need to ask around."

"Mhm," and again, a simple response from Ye Chong. They had been through various places, meeting up with countless great doctors at the area, but none of them could identify Ye Chong's illness in the end. Ironically, some of them even assumed that this was a stupid prank pulled off by these irresponsible, immature youngsters as they angrily abandoned the two bewildered men, waving their sleeves restlessly home.

Asking the way became the mission for little Nan Nan, simply because she dealt the most damage to motherly females. And it worked like a charm, in no time they had gotten the exact address for Dr. Lu, thanks to the kindest enlightenment from this momma on the street. They reached the said address fast.

"Is it here?" pointed Ye Chong at one house surrounded by quite a number of mechs.

There were 5 mechs surrounding the corners of this house. It looked like a war could brew anytime…

"That should be it," Hei Zi sounded a little unsure…

"Antsient…Rock Sutreeet… Seven Paive Tree," Little Nan Nan was reading the address, which was "Ancient Rock Street-753". She tried reading it carefully and then declared it proudly, "It is here! We found it! We did it! We did it! We did it! Hurray!"

But what were those mechs doing here? Ye Chong and Hei Zi looked at each other in dismay.

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Chapter 120: Getting Involved

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong observed the landscape carefully while taking a look around the mechs parked outside the building. They did not seem friendly. A fight could easily take place with these mechs around. Ye Chong could be ill inside, but his intuitive sensitivity towards a brewing brawl did not appear to be reducing anytime soon. Anytime, anywhere, where Ye Chong stood, he could feel the hidden violence wafting in the air.

The models of the 5 mechs were rather foreign to Ye Chong. Well, ever since Ye Chong ventured into the Orbits, he started noticing the fact how all the mechs in the Orbits happened to be utterly contrasting to the design and style of mechs outside. They were so different, obviously they came from totally dissimilar branches of the craftsmanship.

The mechs were of a variety of shapes, which most of them depicted the appearance of animals. That was quite rare at the other planets Ye Chong had been in. He did come across several kinds of beast-form mechs in the major galaxies but a great number of pilots took the humanoid model in actuality. Men were known as the head of all living things in the world. Thus it was likely for one to assume men being the ultimate ruler of the world. Their preference over a humanoid model could be justified for it was the pride of all men, disregarding the forces and the places, even the armory of Black Covers and the pilots from FMPA comprised a majority of these humanoids.

On the contrary, inside the Orbits, the mechs were literally animals - from insects and birds to beasts. It was as if Ye Chong had stepped into a mechanical zoo. He could see almost every kind of animals here, which many of the species were unknown to Ye Chong too.

The 5 mechs - wolf, spider, bird, gorilla and toad… I think? This was the conclusion after Ye Chong cracked his head figuring out the animals the mechs were portraying after a moment. And the accuracy? Ye Chong did not have the confidence to bet.

He was also unsure of the performance of these mechs in combats. He did find the positions of these mechs surrounding the house reasonable though. This could actually lock down the entire building, so no one inside could escape.

Ye Chong grabbed Nan Nan off his shoulders and laid her on Hei Zi's shoulders instead. "?" Hei Zi stared at Ye Chong in bewilderment, "Both of you, get home first," whispered Ye Chong to Hei Zi, the expression was frightening.

"No!" Nan Nan pursed her cherry lips as her head rattled, "No! No! Nu! Nan Nan not heading back! Nan Nan wants to stay near big brother!"

"What are you going to do?" Hei Zi's eyes were huge.

His question was not answered. Ye Chong returned a cold glare, which Hei Zi shunned at as he shifted his head away. He did not say a word next. His foot was rooted.

"It is bad. Nan Nan could be in danger," calmly Ye Chong stated.

"Fighting?" Nan Nan desperately clenched on Hei Zi, as she raised her chest, solemnly her sweet voice rang, "Nan Nan isn't scared! Nan Nan can fight too!"

"No, Nan Nan." As expected, Nan Nan was everything to Hei Zi. Reluctantly the tip of his toes struck the ground in agitation, "We are heading home. Mhm, I understand. I'll be sending her home. Take care!" His tone was stony, as if he knew what Ye Chong was going to do next.

Mhm.

That was Ye Chong's classic monosyllabic reply.

"Put me down! Put me down! Bad Brother Hei Zi! I want my big brother! Put me down!"

Hei Zi carried the unwilling little Nan Nan struggling on his shoulder back into the mech. They left, which then liberated Ye Chong from his final worry.

"I am warning you!" It sounded like a howl from an uncontrolled beast, the voice boomed in the building. "Don't you ever think I am a coward or something! F*cking hell I swear if you try with your stupid tricks again and I'll make sure you can't leave! You guys actually have the balls to come and mess with me! Heh! I would not give a f*ck to any of your last words anymore today! And whoever came and pleaded me, I would not f*cking care too! This is just elementary! I grew up with threats!"

It was so loud that every single word resounded clearly in Ye Chong's ears.

It was a dead silence after. For the next 20 minutes, nothing had happened. "It seemed to be working." "Told you he's the right guy to get deals!" "Right on!" The mechs outside were relaxed judging by the development, as they chatted happily in the communication channel.

Ye Chong was not certain of the situation, so he could not act just yet. He could have left and joined back Nan Nan with a formal apology to her highness. Although the doctor might be another wild goose chase in the end, he might not be cured, he had made his way here and seen everything! He was resistant at giving up this possibility which could be nothing in others' eyes. If the fight did not end, he would get involved!

Well then, if violence was involved, Ye Chong no longer had other concern. To Ye Chong, this was merely a matter of competition in brutal forces, between two fearsome beasts aiming the same prey.

Wham! Zoom! Out of sudden a mech scrammed out of the building, speeding away. Nevertheless, the pilot inside the mech apparently did not expect to be surrounded by these many mechs, that he almost crashed into the bird-mech hovering in the sky. Ye Chong identified the lack of skills in the pilot's capability, blatantly he failed to make a turn in time. He was crashing.

The pilots in the 5 mechs were too engaged in their happy-go-lucky conversation as they never foresaw this happening. It was chaotic for a while, starting with a shriek from the pilot on the bird-mech. Out of intuition of self-protection, he immediately shifted his mech to dodge this unknown crashing mech.

However due to this one dodge, the perfect lock-down was no longer perfect. There was a gap and the mech took advantages of it by attempting to speed through. The wolf mech hopped up high to block his way. The pilot inside the escaping mech was really bad at his skills. A scalded scaredy cat he was too! It did not take much of a hassle before the mech was locked down by the 5 mechs again.

They finally had a chance to take a closer at this mech. It was completely green, with 4 spreading wings, a bird mech it was yet a time smaller than the usual bird-mech. That was embarrassing… and ridiculous too! The 5 men found this absurd that they nearly let such a flimsy mech out of their grip.

This was known as the Greenbird. Similar to the Raven in the galaxies, a Greenbird was the model for beginners in the Orbits.

The guarding bird-mech in misconduct realized the fact that he was put under such an embarrassment because of this novice. "How would the group see me if I let a Greenbird nearly escape?" Shamefully he was angered as he actually made such a silly mistake. He activated all the cartridge in his mech and locked on the damned Greenbird. The pilot needed to be taught a lesson of life that mockery could cost! All it took would be a tap on the button, then that pilot would be in ashes!

"Hold your fire! Wait for the boss, he wants the pilot. Don't kill the person just yet," the pilot in the wolf-mech calmly spoke.

It looked like the pilot of the wolf-mech was the leader of all 5 mechs. The pilot on the bird-mech was biting his teeth and grudgingly lifted his hands away from the control panel, obeying the order in rationality.

"Wait, if this guy is out and the boss is still in, does that mean something has happened to our boss?" the pilot in the wolf-mech was horrified.

The others seemed shocked upon hearing the inference too.

Boom! Abruptly, the sound of explosion roared in the midst of disbelief, as the 4 men witnessed their leader being transformed into countless specks. To their horror, there was no explosion actually! It sounded like an explosion but visually they just saw their leader "fragmenting". It was an unforgettable scene that would scar them for life. Within the flying specks of the mech, a mech with 4 arms and 2 faces drew near the remaining mates.

"Leader!" The 4 men were agonized. They could never believe the fact that their charismatic leader who cracked jokes with them before would be assassinated in split seconds right in front of them!

Who exactly was this strange mech?

The mystery only flashed in their mind once. That was no longer the matter! The remaining thoughts in their heads were about how they should slaughter and mince this merciless inhumanity into million pieces to avenge their brother! Their eyes were all in brute.

They went performing the inputs on the control panel, as they looked at their interfaces. To their terror, the screen displayed nothing! "But he is there! He's right there!" one man stuttered with his lips shaking.

Impossible! The 4 men could not believe their eyes.

"Get to manual!" The pilot of the bird-mech was unexpectedly aware of the situation as he screamed. He then shifted from automatic/partial-automatic lock-on shooting mode to manual mode. As reminded by him, the remaining men also switched to manual mode.

"Finally we get to manual mode." The pilot in the bird-mech was relieved a little, believing that with his skill, he could finish the person for sure! The leader of their brotherhood had always complimented his shooting talents.

"I must avenge our brother!" Agony flooded his mind, his mental clarity had never felt so above-average before.

"It has to work!"

"Hahahahahahahahahaha! I'll make sure you die in peace!" These were merely thoughts in his head. His hands trembled, holding the bullseye around; his eyes were glued on the screen, searching for that odd machine in desperation. "Where?! Where is he!" The strange mech seemed to have disappeared, leaving that greenhorn Greenbird all horrified, quivering at the corner.

"Third-eldest br- look out!" "Brother look out!" It happened so fast that the younger brother could not even address his elder brother in time.

The pilot in the bird-mech had his heart skipped a beat. "Don-Don't tell m-"

A severe pain shrouded his body. He passed out next. In blurry vision, he felt the world spinning like merry-go-round as he saw his life all over again. He saw the strange mech, the specks around him, the spinning mates… they were spinning too, they seemed terrified, then he saw the the leader. It was darkness after that. He knew nothing next.

Pieces of mechs rolled over Ye Chong's mech. Wow the 5 mechs were utter noobs! But it was weird the fact that he was never detected throughout the battle. "Don't tell me… Yu Di has some sort of anti-detection mechanism too?"

The blood spilled on Yu Di a little.

To prevent from being noticed due to unnecessary dramatic explosion, Ye Chong picked his trusty steed, the magnetic blade to fight instead!

The remnants were all over the place, with the blood and some charred fleshes, it was a little frightening, Ye Chong had to admit.

The Greenbird seemed to be all jammed up by the rapid development of the story. Ye Chong frowned as he figured things out - that Greenbird ran from the inside, it had probably something to do with the Dr. Lu I had been looking for… He lifted the Greenbird with the arm of his mech. It did not flail, obediently it stayed still in his grip.

Well, I'll hold it if you don't mind.

The weaponry on the Greenbird seemed rather obsolete and could barely scratch Yu Di, which was why Ye Chong could daringly hold it in the arms.

Ye Chong piloted Yu Di back to Dr. Lu's residence, with Greenbird in the grip.

At one corner nearby, a very average-looking man witnessed everything with his own eyes. In excitement… or rather fear he switched on the communicator with his quivering fingers, "Greetings…" In courtesy he spoke, "…Mhm… Yes I saw it with my own eyes. I swear. Yes, it's the mech, yes, 2 faces and 4 arms. I saw it very clearly, it has to be it! Yes, exactly the same as the hologram visual we had gotten. Mhm, right, he is currently at Ancient Rock Street-753. Okay, he had just entered the building… I wonder what in the Haleyson he's doing…" The man stayed quiet for a moment, listening to the question before he carried on speaking, "I did not see his face. Sorry. I am very sorry. Yes he was in a mech, that was why I can't see his face… Mhm… he also killed the 5 mechs. It was horrible! I must tell you! It's totally sinister! …Mhm, mhm, alright, thank you very much! Thank you sir! Thank you so much! I am always loyal to the organization, striving to contribute to the organization with better forces! Thank you for considering a recommendation to the leader! Thank you! Mhm, uh huh… yes! I will stay guard! I will guard this place with my life! No, no, it is what I should do always to serve you sir! Yes… truthfully yes! Good bye!"

He hung up. His eyes were fixed on the entrance of the building!

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Chapter 121: Doctor Lu

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Ye, be careful. There is a 0.3 percent concentration of gaseous neurotoxin in the air, and it has a strong knockout effect! Hmm, there are three people unconscious already. I have not found the source of this toxin!" Mu warned Ye Chong.

Ye Chong was surprised. "A gaseous toxin? Someone released it?"

"Yes. The culprit is unknown, their objective is unknown. However, you're not in danger, don't worry!" Mu explained plainly.

Ye Chong had only a hazy idea of the situation. "Oh, I know that. Yu Di is fully sealed. But, Mu, what do you think happened?"

"While I did not see it happen, I believe the following deductions can be made - the people in need of treatment required a doctor's services, but they were not welcomed by doctors themselves. Coercion became necessary to make the doctor yield to their request. This is the most likely scenario. However, there is also the possibility of a more complicated and unexpected sequence of events!" Mu replied.

"Aren't doctors responsible to treat anyone in need?"

"That is basically accurate!"

"Since it's the same routine of treating someone, then there's nothing different in treating these people!"

Mu agreed. "That is so. However, a doctor has the right to choose his patients. This is common knowledge!"

"Right?" Ye Chong was confused.

"Yes. While a person's rights should ideally not be violated, they will be ignored when those rights were in conflict with another person's interests! Once a conflict occurs, it's up to the capabilities of both parties to resolve their differences, the result of which will determine if those rights could be defended!" Mu explained insightfully.

"Hmm, the most important thing is still a person's capabilities! These rights are ultimately pointless. In the end, it still comes down to a fight!" Ye Chong spoke with contempt.

"That may be true, up to a certain level. However, physical strength is not the most powerful, nor the most dominating. It is only a demonstration of one's basic capabilities, and is limited in application. The power of social relations and wisdom are more formidable! However, these may be a little too difficult for you now!" Mu stated plainly.

"Oh, is that right? But I think physical strength is the most important part, and easier to make use of!" Ye Chong did not fully agree with the mech.

"Hmm, that's because you're not familiar the rules of this society. Using these rules to your advantage will be too hard for you. You'll have to take it slowly. In this respect, perhaps Shang would be better suited for it!" Mu recommended Shang to Ye Chong!

"Shang? That bastard, I can only hope he stays out of trouble!" The thought of Mu's alter ego brought a headache to Ye Chong.

Ye Chong and Mu exchanged their thoughts as he maneuvered the mech into the room.

The room was not too large. Yu Di made a wide hole in the wall and entered easily. The people in the room were all unconscious. As for waking them up, Ye Chong had no idea how. He was suddenly reminded of the fact that the mech pilot in the Greenbird he captured had escaped from here, and must have known more about what happened.

The wide opening in the wall coupled with airflow ejected from Yu Di swiftly dispersed the toxic air from the room .

Ye Chong tossed the Greenbird onto the ground and spoke coldly through Yu Di's audio amplifier, "Come out!"

Greenbird collapsed on the ground in an awkward splay, laying still for a long moment.

Ye Chong knitted his brows, seeing the unresponsive mech. He whipped out Yu Di's dagger and disassembles the low level Greenbird's armor.

In that moment, Greenbird's cabin opened in a swish, and a person wobbled out of the mech.

Apparently, when Yu Di released the Greenbird roughly onto the ground, the mech's simplistic design with its mediocre hydraulic suspension system could not shield the pilot from the fall, despite the unremarkable falling distance. Greenbird's pilot was dizzy from the fall, and could not respond to Ye Chong. Upon recovery, he looked right into the terrifying mech's dagger. It shocked him to no end, as he panicked and made a hasty exit from the pilot's cabin.

The guy before him was an unsympathetic killer. He had personally witnessed the five mechs outside crushed in an instant by him. Despite his vast experience in violent combat, this was the most bloody scene he had ever witnessed. Mech fragments mixed with blood and gore on the floor, making for a most unforgettable nightmare!

The guy was a murderous devil!

He stood in fear before the terrifying mech, face drained of color. Cold sweat rolled down his brows, and his legs shivered in protest.

Ye Chong took a good look at the person. He was thin as a stick, tall and pale. It could be his natural look, or the result of shock. He seemed like a studious person. "No wonder he's so bad at piloting," Ye Chong thought to himself.

Ye Chong watched through the holographic screen at the three people lying on the ground, and asked, "Which of these three is Doctor Lu?"

The man paused momentarily before stuttering, "That, that would be me!" He immediately turned a few shades paler, fearful for whatever possible enmity the guy harboured towards him! He was beginning to regret his unbridled arrogance all this while. This was his retribution for all of his offences against others!

His declaration surprised Ye Chong. He did not expect this unremarkable looking man to be his target, Doctor Lu.

Ye Chong opened the pilot's cabin and jumped to the ground under Doctor Lu's frightful stare. "To jump down from so high up and remain unscathed, is he human?" Doctor Lu felt his heart tightened.

"Oh, you're Doctor Lu?" Contrary to Doctor Lu's expectations of a fearsome looking brute, the young man before him was lean and tall, not muscular in the least, and even seemed to be a tad refined. Even his voice was not overbearing, but the apathy and somberness in it warned Doctor Lu against causing trouble.

"Yes, I am, and you are?" Doctor Lu asked cautiously.

The young man did not reply, but asked, "Are these your foes or friends?"

The sight of the people lying on the ground sparked a burning fury in Doctor Lu. He spoke through gritted teeth, "Enemies! Definitely enemies!"

"Right!" The detached young man plainly acknowledged before moving towards the three men. Under Doctor Lu's unsuspecting gaze, he produced a dagger and moved quickly. A slit of blood appeared on the throats of the three men. In two seconds, blood sprayed out of the three men's throats simultaneously, red blooming on the floor, a most chilling sight!

Doctor Lu drew a cold breath, his eyes filled with terror. What little color that returned to his face now receded again. His slightly agape mouth was speechless. Doctor Lu swallowed hard, and unconsciously felt his own throat.

Ye Chong's expression did not change. Those three were Doctor Lu's enemies, and obviously with the five that he killed outside. Let there be no loose ends - Ye Chong believed in this principle.

Ye Chong's ruthless methods had obviously terrified Doctor Lu.

It was a pity for these three men. One of them was even the leader of a significant local gang , who now died by Ye Chong's hands, unaware of his fate till the end. Ye Chong did not know that a small move on his part had disrupted the local power hierarchy. However, even if he knew about it, he would probably not think much of it.

After dealing with the three, Ye Chong turned and walked towards Doctor Lu. "Alright, no one's going to bother us now! Let's talk business, I'd like to seek treatment from you!"

"Treatment?" Doctor Lu's tight vigilance finally loosened a notch. He knew that his safety would be not be at risk in the near future.

"Yes!" Ye Chong replied.

"Then please come this way!" Doctor Lu had no intentions of bargaining. Only someone crazy would risk offending the merciless person before him, and Doctor Lu believed himself to be some average guy, lacking the courage to test the patience of this young man.

For a moment, he felt sad for the cold bodies lying on the ground. Despite their strength, they had died unconscious. However, he quickly gathered himself - with this, his sister's death was finally avenged!

His younger sister had died under the hands of that bastard, and that was why he stubbornly refused to treat him! He had planned to kill those horrible miscreants himself after using the neurotoxin, but his teacher's words haunted him. As a doctor, the blade in hand must never be used to kill! These were the final words his teacher left him before he passed away.

He could not bring himself to use his blade. After a hard struggle with himself, he decided to escape instead.

Without his treatment, the man would die in a year or two.

"Consider it punishment from the Gods!" He consoled himself so.

However, even that one year or two was snatched away by a murderer that came out of nowhere. The taste of vengeance was sweet and satisfying!

As he indulged in his reverie, they approached their destination.

Behind a door was the treatment room.

This was Ye Chong's first time seeing a professional treatment room. The room was incredibly spacious. Unlike the brick structures outside, there were metals and all sorts of composite materials. Bright and spotless alloys shone with a silver-white luster. Clever arrangements of the soft white lighting eliminated any shadows cast by those present in the room. This prevented any difficulties in treatment due to shading, such as poor eyesight.

Ye Chong could sense that the air in the room was a lot cleaner compared to outside. The facilities were also clean to a fault.

There were many medical apparatus in the treatment room, their complexity a pleasant surprise to Ye Chong, who was proficient in mechanics. To compare mechs with these apparatus, the former would be broad strokes from a thick brush, while the latter would be intricate sketches from a fine pencil.

Once he stepped into the room, Doctor Lu was like an entirely different person. His fearfulness earlier had vanished, replaced with easy calmness and solemnity.

"First, please lie in the magnetic imaging pod! I'll do a full body examination!" Doctor Lu spoke calmly, as though he was only speaking to an ordinary patient.

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Chapter 122: Examination

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong sat opposite the table where Doctor Lu occupied it. On the table was a thumb-sized silver-ish metallic pyramid, marked with an aperture in the center. The protrusion was embedded in the composite material that made up the table. Above the aperture, suspended in midair, was a seemingly illogical mesh of colorful threads, intertwined with each other like long, vividly colored thread-worms playfully chasing each other.

Doctor Lu studied the colors through tightly knitted brows, with his unblinking eyes. The more he studied it, the more he frowned, until he finally bowed his head, deep in thought. These threads held the results of the many tests endured by Ye Chong, and the basis for Doctor Lu's diagnosis.

Ye Chong did not disturb him, knowing that the doctor must be in a quandary. Ye Chong himself was a stranger to medicine, and since he could not lend a hand, he chatted with Mu instead.

After a quarter of an hour, Doctor Lu coughed softly, and brought Ye Chong back from his discussions with Mu.

Ye Chong looked at Doctor Lu calmly, but was in fact anxious inside. This strange illness was a bane for him. Even with his tough character, he had occasionally pondered on ending his own life!

Doctor Lu spoke in all seriousness, "Alright, let us discuss this problem of yours!"

Ye Chong nodded almost imperceptibly, and his face did not betray his feelings. "Okay, let's have it!" Doctor Lu recognised the indifference found only in patients who understood that their conditions were incurable and fatal. However, with current medical advancements, such diseases were getting rarer, and Doctor Lu himself had only seen a few cases of them thus far. This was why their indifferent demeanor left a strong impression on him.

"Of course, this is only a preliminary examination. Those threads are only for reference, and do not have the final say in things! Besides, we should also consider the exact nature of your request." Doctor Lu spoke with great delicacy.

"Understood!" Ye Chong nodded and said.

Doctor Lu's expression was a little uncertain, and he spoke after some hesitation, "Your condition is peculiar!"

"Oh?"

"From the holographic threads display, your body is physically healthy, with quite a few qualities that are a few times, or perhaps a dozen times augmented from the average person's. Take for example, the power of your muscles and the general durability of your body muscle tissue. One can say that you're almost superhuman! This is also something I find quite strange. Your body is, in many ways, far superior to any human born in the current age. However, I am not an expert in this matter, or I'll definitely keep you here as my favourite experiment." Doctor Lu smiled congenially.

Ye Chong affected a look of attention to his words.

"There are many parts of your threads that are very different from the average person's, hence the diagnosis is difficult! I can only deduce your condition based on my own professional point of view. While many aspects look odd, what struck me odd the most was your Sima curves from points one to four. I believe that this may hold the key to explaining your body's condition! Of course, this is only one possibility. After all, the human body is extremely complicated. Even tiny changes can lead to oddities in the threads. Moreover, your body is already quite unique in many ways."

"Sima curves?" The terminology was unknown to Ye Chong.

"Yes, Sima curves are a little complicated to explain, but they're mostly related to the body's endocrine system and hormones and so on. From the curves, I believe you may be reacting adversely to some kind of hormones that you've taken. As a doctor, this term may not be very accurate, but I can't find a better word for it" Doctor Lu's face with tinted with some embarrassment.

"Hormones?" Ye Chong felt his chest tightened.

"Yes. While I may not understand the whole picture, I am quite certain that you must have taken some kind of hormones, or something similar to it." He explained further, "You should know that this is actually my specialty, and my teacher was a forefront expert in this field!"

"It's possible!" Ye Chong recalled the silver liquid on Black Cove, and described it in great detail. He also talked about what he felt after being immersed in it, and the details of his episodes in the past. Doctor Lu listened intently and posed some questions along the way.

The doctor pondered over the situation for long moments, but turned apologetic in the end. "Sir, I am certain that your physical condition is related to that silver liquid you described. However, I had never heard of any hormones that can block a person's brainwaves. I'm not even entirely sure now if this silver liquid is anything like hormones. However, I can recommend my teacher to you, I believe he would probably be able to enlighten you on your condition."

"Your teacher?"

"Yes!" Doctor Lu's expression turned to one of admiration. "His surname is Wang, and he is a leading expert in the field. Besides that, he is also very knowledgeable in other areas related to the human body. I believe that he would be extremely helpful in understanding your condition."

"Alright, how can I find your teacher?"

"Hmm, I have not seen my teacher for years. If nothing unexpected occurred, he should still be at the Windstar Hospital, you can try there. His name is Wang Weixing, a prominent character, you should be able to look him up easily in the virtual world. However, first, you must be able to pass at least five of the local sanctuary's tests to be able to leave the Orbits. As far as I know, the Orbits does not have any experts in this field. Of course, it is possible that there may be lesser known recluses in the Orbits who fit the criteria!" Doctor Lu explained, but his tone implied that he did not really believe in the existence of such recluses.

"The sanctuary's tests? Five of them?" This was the first time Ye Chong had heard of them.

Doctor Lu looked at Ye Chong with surprise. "Yes! Don't you know about them?"

"Hmm, I'm quite new here!"

"I see!" Doctor Lu realized his situation and explained, "To leave the Orbits, you'll need starships, but all the starships are controlled by the mentalist sanctuary. For those who wish to leave the Orbits, the sanctuary had set the rule that, if one can pass five of their tests, they will issue their starship to send the successful person away from the Orbits and back to the Five Galaxies."

"Right!" Ye Chong began to understand, and asked, "What do they test you on?"

"Anything you're good at. But not many passed the tests, only a few are able to every year. Well, at least I've never seen any of them!"

"I see, if that's the case, then farewell!" Ye Chong turned to leave.

"Oh, farewell!" Doctor Lu paused for a moment before replying in kind. Looking at Ye Chong's lonely, receding figure, Doctor Lu was once again reminded of his merciless nature, and shuddered as cold sweat rolled down his back. Seeing Ye Chong's figure becoming smaller and smaller, unlikely to return, Docor Lu couldn't help but exhale in relief, rejoicing in the fact that he had not offended the murderer.

"Mu, do you think the doctor's right?" Ye Chong asked.

"I have very little information in this respect and cannot determine that. However, he was not lying, that's for sure!" Mu replied.

"Not lying?" Ye Chong grew curious. "How'd you know he's not?"

"Based on Shang's curated information in psychology, if a person is lying, there will be obvious changes in the person's pulse rate, rate of blood flow and brain wave intensity. He was normal in these respects just now. That is the basis of my deduction that he was not lying!" Mu explained at his own steady pace.

"Is that a reliable way?" Ye Chong was skeptical.

"Only if Shang's curated information is accurate!" Mu continued further, "Of course, with some training, these signs can be minimized, but they cannot be entirely eliminated. This is widely agreed upon in the field of psychology, I believe it's highly reliable."

"Hmm, if that's the case, then this way of deduction is quite useful!" Ye Chong seemed to be absorbed in thought, before smiling and say, "I didn't think Shang would collect some information, it's really unexpected!"

"That last comment of yours, Shang has a few words to say about them, wanna hear it?" It seemed that Mu was very interested in what Shang had to say under his hood, and had turned to a more human-like way of speaking.

The thought of Shang's incessant blabbering brought an instant headache to Ye Chong. He immediately protested for mercy, "Please no! There's a high chance that he'll trigger another episode, I am not blacking out here!"

"Ye, you forgot to pay for the doctor's services!" Mu prompted Ye Chong.

"Er, payment, that's a big problem! You got any suggestions?"

"None!" Mu replied in his clear-cut manner.

"Oh well!" Ye Chong shrugged carelessly, and walked on without turning back. On Blue ocean, life was peaceful, and Ye Chong had tried desperately to fit in with the normal way of life. However, a series of battles had ensued, and Ye Chong realized that power was the most important factor for survival. The so-called societal norms were useless to him. On the Orbits, life was a mess of struggles, and people fought to survive. It was as if he was back on the trash planet. However, his opponents were no longer mutants, but humans just like him.

The so-called social norms never did have a deep hold on Ye Chong, and now, they were carelessly cast away.

Ye Chong deployed Yu Di and slipped into the pilot's cabin. Since the door was too small, Ye Chong exited through the wide opening in the wall that he created earlier.

Just as he was on the other side of the wall, something caught him off guard!

Suddenly, his vision was filled with numerous bright spots, and Ye Chong, unable to react in time, could only see white everywhere, blinded by the light!

Not good!

Pow! A loud bang, and Ye Chong felt like he was flying through the clouds!

The sensation was familiar to him - Yu Di was hit, and was now flying off due to the attack!

"I am being ambushed!" Ye Chong finally realised!

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Chapter 123: Is this the End?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Why did Mu not warn him?

There was no time to ponder further. In the seconds right after Yu Di was hit, Ye Chong's hands were like the wind! While his eyes were blinded by the strong glare, he maneuvered the mech without delay due to his familiarity with Yu Di. The speed of his fingers undeterred by the momentary blindness as his hands moved smoothly.

If one were to witness his act from aside, they would not have believed that this was Ye Chong's first time using the controls based only on his sense of touch.

The Non-orderly Wavy Leap!

This was the only advanced evasion technique Ye Chong knew of. He chose this technique, the one that he was most familiar with, without much thought!

Ye Chong had no idea where he was truly headed due to his blindness - this was the true Non-orderly Wave Leap! Ye Chong silently counted the seconds in which he switched directions every time, trying to minimize this duration.

This was not a wide clearing, but a populated neighborhood, where houses were densely packed.

Ye Chong moved in random directions, his mech scraping along the ground in its flight, running into houses and destroying them. The brick houses were brittle, and kicked up swirling dust upon impact. However, Ye Chong was blinded, and could not take advantage of the fact.

Nonetheless, his hindered sight did not imply his blindness to the situation. After all, Mu was here!

"Ye, turn 30 degrees to the left!" Mu and Ye Chong communicated through brain waves, their exchange faster than words.

By now, Ye Chong's super reflexes were utilized to their fullest. With just his sense of touch, Ye Chong performed the maneuver.

Ye Chong intently focused, ready for Mu's next instruction! Right now, the only one Ye Chong could rely on was Mu! Mu was now his eyes!

"Hmm, good sense of touch, your error is below 3 degrees!" Mu offered a rare compliment to Ye Chong.

Ye Chong, awaiting intently for Mu's next instruction, did not expect Mu to be in the mood for such comments in the current dire situation, and did not know whether to laugh or cry about it. Could Mu be under Shang's bad influence?

The sound of crackling explosions did not cease, an indication of the enemy's violent firepower! Who could possibly want to kill him?

However, this was not the time to think on the question. Mu spoke abruptly, "Ready for impact!"

Ye Chong dreaded, and held his body together tightly. Bang! The loud noise was heard, and Ye Chong shook all over, his hands gripping on the controls, feeling Yu Di's violent shuddering!

"Stop!" Mu suddenly shouted.

Ye Chong's hard-earned fundamental training saved his life in that moment. He did not lose control of Yu Di, despite the mech receiving a violent impact while moving at a high speed! A perfect stop! Perfect, despite the circumstances. However, this difficult maneuver was also equally destructive to Ye Chong's body.

Ye Chong was dizzy from the sudden rush of blood to his head. Nonetheless, the discomfort vanished quickly! Ye Chong did not know that, if it was some other average pilot, that sudden stop would probably have claimed the pilot's life.

Rumble!

The sound of explosion came from 5 meters ahead of Ye Chong. From that point, about 5 meters in front of Ye Chong, reaching up to thirty meters further ahead, the entire area was blasted to dust from numerous energy based weapons!

The blast wave from the violent explosion nearly tipped Yu Di off its feet.

Ye Chong felt the pain in his eyes eased substantially. He could not help but try to open them into a slit, as a dim ray of light entered his vision. While he could not see clearly, it still gave him an idea of what was before him. This was heartening to Ye Chong.

"Ye, blink your eyes a few times!" Mu prompted Ye Chong.

Ye Chong did as told, and the objects in his vision became clearer. Ye Chong was overjoyed. He now realised that the eyes were fragile things, and losing one's sight was an absolutely terrifying experience. In those tens of seconds earlier, if Mu had not been by his side, he believed that his life would not be for him to decide.

With his vision restored, Ye Chong grew more confident, and he was no longer defenseless. The first thing he saw before him was a huge crater, and he was inside a building. The building had lost half its structure, and what was left of it was also on the verge of crumbling down, little rocks and dust falling from above from time to time.

"We have a situation!" Mu, who had never said anything like that, now spoke with worry.

"What is it?" Ye Chong asked anxiously.

"We're surrounded! There are 25 mechs in total. From the models and weapons, I believe they are a class above the MPA's Messengers. Unfortunately, the enemy had solely used long range weapons to suppress us. The probability of breaking through their formation is below 7 percent. Fortunately, they seem to intend to capture you alive!" Mu's words had the effect of drenching Ye Chong in iced water.

The sound of explosions did not stop, and were slowly closing in on their location.

"What are they doing?" Ye Chong asked, perplexed.

Mu replied evenly, "They are clearing the area of any obstacles, restricting your area of movement!"

That was a ruthless move. Ye Chong could not, for the moment, come up with a countermove to hinder their suppressive tactics.

With no good ideas in mind, Ye Chong began to examine Yu Di. The mech was heavily damaged, its arm with the laser spear gone. Fortunately, the mech's main body was not severely damaged.

The opponent was unscrupulous. The neighborhood was like hell on earth, corpses lying everywhere! The locals ran and screamed on the streets, but were mercilessly shot through by the many heat rays and laser beams. Even Ye Chong, used to the loss of lives, couldn't help but watch the bloody scene with sympathy. He looked up to see Doctor Lu's treatment room now turned into a huge crater. Given the circumstances, Ye Chong believed that even he could not have survived it.

The sky around the area was occupied by many spectating mechs, but none dared to make their move. The formidable force of the perpetrators, mechs one class above the MPA's Messengers, were enough to make them stop in their tracks. Besides, this was in the lawless and bloodthirsty Orbits!

The place was like a hunting ground, if you were powerful enough!

Without any geographical cover, short range mechs were hopeless against long range mechs. Moreover, these were the most powerful long range mechs that Ye Chong had ever seen. Their massive firepower and terrifying accuracy carved deep into Ye Chong's memories.

If it were only one or two of them, Ye Chong believed he still stood a chance. However, Mu had said they were 25 of them. Ye Chong was certain that, should he make himself visible, he would be the target of all attacks. From the MPA's track record, the probability of missing would be less than 1 percent.

Could it be that he was finally going to die here?

Despite the circumstances, Ye Chong did not feel hopeless or gloomy. He had always struggled between the fates of life and death on the trash planet. Even if he died this time, it was nothing incredible!

The sounds of explosions were getting nearer and nearer, almost in rhythm with his heartbeat!

Ye Chong suddenly remembered something, and asked Mu, "Mu, why didn't you notice the enemy this time?" He was not blaming Mu, it was just that had not meet anyone that was able to avoid Mu's scans. This made him very curious, especially since the enemy was a group of 25.

Mu explained, "They must have used some special device that tricks scanning systems. It's very advanced, but I suspect they are not fully developed, since the effective range of coverage is very small. I could sense their positions once you were flung back about 10 meters from being hit earlier. They must have discovered our locations beforehand, or the trick would not have worked!" The mech paused before continuing, "However, the trick was undoubtedly successful this time!"

"There's something like that?" Ye Chong's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yes, probably still in their experimental stage. My database does not have anything on these kinds of weapons!" Mu deduced.

"So they want to capture me alive?" Ye Chong thought it odd. The firepower was heavy, but not intended to kill him, or the gradually approaching firepower now would be an unnecessary move. Ye Chong remembered clearly that they were equipped with the highly destructive nanowave guns, but had not seen them use it! If they wanted to take his life, the size of their group was also unreasonably big!

"Based on what's happened so far, the probability is high!" Mu agreed.

"Then that's just strange, why would they want me alive? After that last encounter with Sabre, I can understand why they would want me dead, but why send so many people to capture me alive? This inefficient way of doing things is not very like them!" Ye Chong muttered to himself. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, Ye Chong was still as clear as winter frost.

"It is strange, the only explanation is that you're valuable to them alive!" Mu continued his train of thought.

"Valuable to them alive? That makes sense! Then what's my value to them?" Ye Chong bowed his head, deep in thought. If he could understand the enemy's objectives, it would be advantageous for him. He might even be able to find a way to survive this. Ye Chong replayed all the events related to the MPA in his head, hoping to identify their motives.

Suddenly, Ye Chong noticed something. He remembered the time when he infiltrated their warship, and all their mechs had pursued him viciously. The enemy's target had been Fred the Great. Even if he could cause great damage to them, and if the enemy could accomplish their mission, then the mission would have been their priority. However, they had abandoned their mission to pursue him. It was not just one of them, but nearly all of the mechs had set their eyes on him. This could only mean that they had found him to be more valuable to them than Fred the Great!

Nonetheless, how could he possibly be of use to them?

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Chapter 124: The Guardian Ring

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong's mind was racing, recalling every single moment of that incident.

It had all happened after he infiltrated the enemy's warship. In those moments, what could have happened that led the MPA to want him so badly? In the warship … Ye Chong abruptly recalled the person on the bridge, Gu Shaoze! That's right! It must be him! He had given him a ring before he died, and there was a password for it. If not for the protection afforded by the ring, he would have died. Why would the MPA want to capture him? Could it be …

Ye Chong quickly went through his bag. He exhaled in relief, finding the ring. He carefully took out the ring given to him by Gu Shaoze and examined it closely. Whether by its design or material, the ring was unremarkable. However, he remembered how Gu Shaoze had hidden the ring on him to protect it, and Ye Chong felt that there must be more to the ring than he thought.

To say that this object was a ring might not be entirely accurate. It was only made up of two metallic wires intertwined with each other. The only interesting thing about the ring was that there were no welding marks - each metallic wire must have been welded at their ends to form the ring, but Ye Chong could not find any signs of the welding marks on the wires.

"What could this ring be? Maybe this is what the MPA is looking for!" Ye Chong immediately realized the truth of things, and knew where his worth lay with the enemy.

Ye Chong remembered that Gu Shaoze had told him a password, but how did the code actually work? Ye Chong spent long moments finding ways to activate the ring using the password, without success. The ring was like a unified entity, without anything spectacular to it. Ye Chong caressed the surface of the ring repeatedly to no effect.

He tried putting the ring on each of his fingers. When the ring was fitted into his right ring finger, the stubbornly inert ring finally reacted!

"Thank you for using Guardian. Since your brain wave is not recognised as a superuser, please provide your access level password!" The bright and sweet voice was tinged with a little bashfulness, and Ye Chong thought it sounded familiar. It did not take him long to realize that it was the voice of the golden haired escort of Gu Shaoze. From the way it sounded, it did not take a genius to notice that she must have felt blissful when recording it!

For some reason, the word "blissful" triggered a strong reaction in Ye Chong. He thought of his papa, Grandpa Qian, little Nan Nan, Hei Zi … The images of these people flashed through his mind. Ye Chong was struck with a deep melancholy, as though he was bound to leave them all behind, wandering about the universe like a rootless duckweed.

The sensitive Mu noticed Ye Chong's emotional changes and asked, "Ye, what's wrong?"

Ye Chong abruptly broke his chain of thoughts and could not help but gave a soundless laugh. How could he have such weird thoughts in this difficult situation? Beside, weren't Mu and Shang always with him? Their company was absolute, no matter where and when!

Ye Chong spoke softly, "It's nothing, Mu, I was just distracted!"

"Please provide your access level password!" Number Two's sweet voice rang again.

Ye Chong gathered himself and spoke out loud, "Number Two!"

Puff, a soft ring, and Ye Chong's vision shifted! A three-dimensional image, composed of numerous invisibly tiny grids, spun about in his vision, as a massive volume of analytic information had burst through like a waterfall! Ye Chong's pupils dilated in response to the stimulation, as he desperately absorbed the incoming information. As though sensing Ye Chong's efforts, the information came in faster as the spinning 3D grid showed new changes on its scanning results. Some points of interest were zoomed in or out and locked on, and the analysis results for these points were presented.

Everything was too fast! In less than ten seconds, Ye Chong already felt his eyes slightly fatigued! Being used to colourful holographic displays, the black-and-white 3D grid was a little uncomfortable to Ye Chong.

Ye Chong's vision could only recognize two colors - black and white!

Halting his efforts in absorbing the new information, Ye Chong looked around him to see where he was. However, as soon as he turned his head, his vision changed abruptly, and the analysed targets from earlier were replaced with new images! Ye Chong's sharp mind noticed immediately that the image was now displaying Yu Di's pilot cabin!

Could it be that he was still in the cabin?

"Mu, what's happening?" Ye Chong's vision was still in black and white, devoid of any other colours!

Fortunately, Ye Chong and Mu's brainwave link was unaffected. Mu's usually plain voice was now with a touch of awe, "Ye, you're now in a miniature mech. It's really unexpected, that someone could build a miniature mech of this level! It's incredible!"

"Miniature mech?" Ye Chong remembered putting a dent in Number Two's miniature mech. It left a deep impression on him.

"Yes. This mech has tight security, and I can't scan it. You'll have to figure it out yourself. Hmm, based on the rate at which the firepower are closing in, you have about 2 minutes. I will control Yu Di!" Mu suggested reasonably.

"What?" Feng Su was flabbergasted with the news!

"Hmm, yes, based on our information, they're having a special operation. They have sent out 25 mechs, all one class above the Messengers! Who'd have thought they would be so reckless! News of their warship was just only exposed, and now they are bringing so many of them to the Orbits! This person must be very important to them. This is the video we have just received!" These words came from an old man with a face full of wrinkles, donning a green robe.

In the video were the 25 mechs surrounding Doctor Lu's treatment room in ambush, their positions boldly highlighted!

"What are your orders?" Feng Su's eyes shone with uncertainty.

"Your mission this time is divided into 2 parts. Firstly, we must have this person, and secondly, we'll demonstrate our strength to the MPA! This is our territory, and we will not allow such arrogance!" The green-robed elder humphed coldly, as a chilling gleam flashed in his eyes.

Feng Su felt her chest tighten, and asked cautiously, "How far should we go?"

"That's up to you. All in all, we must demonstrate our strength without straining our relationship with the MPA too much. Most importantly, we must get this person in our hands! They have acted so insolently and freely on the Orbits, and must be taught a lesson! The opponent is stronger this time, the higher-ups have decided to send you 30 Dawn mechs. Any questions?" The green-robed elder spoke with great dignity.

Feng Su was startled. It seemed that the higher-ups were keen this time. With 30 Dawns, it must be the largest operation in these past few years! With 30 Dawns under her lead, Feng Su believed that she could definitely defeat her opponents. However, with this, the peace between them would be disrupted!

Only someone in direct contact with the higher-ups like her would understand the power of the three forces, and the formidable supporters they have behind them! Feng Su had come from them, and no one knew more than she did of the dangerous undercurrent under the apparent peace!

All this time, the three forces had restrained themselves. Now, MPA's operation was no different than a declaration of war!

Who was their target? Who could make the MPA send out their squads in large numbers and risk war with the Orbits? As far as she knew, the three forces had always kept their calm. Even the battle-hungry Black Cove would not act so freely! This only showed that their target must be worth the risk! The higher-ups must have reached the same conclusion, and decided to get this person at all costs, even using a trump card like her!

Dawn models were the lowest level mechs in Orbits' main force, on the same level with the MPA's Messengers and Black Cove's Cosmic Flare. The tripedal beast had a unique sense of balance, with speed and firepower between that of Black Cove and the MPA. However, when paired with the sanctuary's pilots, it would be as powerful as the Messenger or the Cosmic Flare. Its green exterior made the mech, with an animal facade, looked more like a real beast. However, unlike the menace of Black Cove and the elegance of the MPA, Dawn had a touch of nature to it.

Feng Su's purple mech stood out amongst the green Dawns. This was the elite mech famous amongst the three forces - Wings of Nirvana. Like a work of art, the mech shone with a purple, metallic gleam. Its 72 tiny lateral fins could arrange themselves flexibly like the layers of feathers on a bird's wings. This allowed more freedom in movement for Wings of Nirvana, but demanded equally high maneuvering skills from its pilot. The elegant design had a natural quality to it, with a combination of short and long range weapons for a balanced performance. With a mentalist like Feng Su, an ace to pilot the mech, Wings of Nirvana was now a formidable opponent with unimaginable potential.

Feng Su arranged the 30 Dawns to be in teams, and surrounded the area. They were grouped into three squads, hiding in obscure corners, waiting for the perfect time for an ambush. Feng Su knew that, for the elders, the MPA's target was their main priority. It was not particularly important to launch a crackdown on the MPA. Beside, if they could get their hands on the MPA's target, it would already be a severe blow to their opponent!

Feng Su's decision was unquestionable. With the legendary Wings of Nirvana as their leader, who would dare to voice an objection?

They were like a pack of hunters, furtively observing the situation!

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Chapter 125: Fish and Net I

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The attacks outside were closing in, slowly but surely.

Inside the almost-crumbling building, things were not as calm as it seemed. Like its heavily bruised exterior, the inside was littered with holes. A thoroughly golden colored humanoid was constantly moving around in the building; the walls were like paper-thin barriers, never hindering the humanoid's movement. The astonishing fact was that, despite the heavy damage inflicted, the half-building structure was still standing, and one could not help but applaud the brick structure's admirable stability.

However, if an architect were to witness this, they would have been flabbergasted. The damages were all inflicted at places that would not affect the half-building's main structure, as though they were all the result of stringent calculations. What was left of the building had a shifted center of gravity, and its support structure was heavily vandalized, but just as the building's collapse seemed imminent, the golden humanoid's "renovations" greatly reduced the probability of collapse!

That golden humanoid was Ye Chong.

One could not help but commend Gu Shaoze's ingenuity! The miniature mech was spectacularly designed, and even Mu could not deduce much of the mech's functioning principles.

Miniature mechs were a branch of mech design, unappreciated throughout its existence, researched by only a few aristocratic families; and Gu Shaoze's miniature mech, Guardian, was entirely different from the average miniature mech.

Guardian looked like a space suit. The metallic faceplate pressed against Ye Chong's face, with an odd pair of eyes in alternating silver and black. His head was fitted with a cover of the same metallic make, and the insides were fitted with an advanced scanning system. The shoulders armors were tough, and Ye Chong could only regret on the lack of barbs on the armors. The main engine was spread across his lower back; the engine's power surprised Ye Chong when he first activated it.

The most inexplicable feature was that every joint of the Guardian was equipped with auxiliary engines. These auxiliary engines were not used for direction maneuvering, but to amplify the mech's strength. With Guardian, Ye Chong's strength was now nothing short of astounding. With a short burst, Ye Chong could accelerate to an astonishing Mach 10! Even Harmony of the Winter Aria could only reach a maximum of Mach 7, and the average starship could only fly at Mach 3 or 4.

With Guardian on him, Ye Chong could now attack with the force of an average mech! One should know that an average mech was about 10 meters tall, and giants like Yu Di could even reach to an astonishing 20 meters. Guardian, however, was only slightly less than 2 meters tall. With such a large difference in size, the chances of Guardian being locked on and hit decreased greatly.

While offering such outstanding physical abilities, the mech also required good piloting skills. Perhaps only someone like Ye Chong, with nearly inhuman abilities and an incredulously robust physique could pilot this superior mech. Due to spatial constraint, besides the inherent cushioning property of the unknown metal that made up Guardian's main body, there virtually were no suspension systems for the mech! With an acceleration from at rest to Mach 10 in 1.2 seconds, the force due to the abrupt change in velocity would have squeezed the guts out of a normal person!

Weaponry was Guardian's weakness. The 2 daggers by its thighs left Ye Chong a little disappointed. The daggers were sized like the ones used by humans in combat; can such tiny weapons pierce through mech armor? The brass knuckles also seemed suitable only for human combat, and not one between mechs! It seemed that Gu Shaoze had only designed the mech for his skillful combatant of an escort, the golden haired Number Two, and did not emphasize much on weaponry.

Guardian - the name was fitting for the mech!

Ye Chong was completely covered in the luster of golden metal, in a mech with a modern design. If not for the luster unique to metals, Ye Chong would have suspected the mech to be made of something non-metallic. Ye Chong could even feel the softness of the metallic faceplate; pressed against his face, the faceplate changed according to his facial expressions. Could this malleable metal be any good for defense? Ye Chong was highly suspicious!

There were too many things that perplexed Ye Chong, but he did not have the time just now to explore them. The sounds of explosions were approaching, and the blast waves shook the vulnerably swaying building, with small rocks and dust falling from above!

Time was too short! If he had more time, Ye Chong believed that he could, with the help of Guardian and Mu, break through the opponent's surrounding formation. It was a pity that he remembered too late about the inconspicuous ring that Gu Shaoze handed to him before he died! Nonetheless, regret was not a good habit. Ye Chong pulled himself together and meticulously went through his experience in controlling Guardian.

Abruptly, Ye Chong stopped, and listened. "Huh?" The enemy's attacks now felt different to Ye Chong; they were more disorganized and not rhythmic as before. What happened?

Just then, Mu spoke urgently, "Ye, something's happened, get ready to move!"

"There was only one small area left, the enemy's target must be inside! Hmm, their shooting rhythm has slowed down!" As she noticed some of the enemy's mechs had stopped shooting, Feng Su knew that it was now time to move!

10 Dawn mechs broke through the enemy's formation under Feng Su's order!

The sudden intrusion broke the rhythm of the MPA mechs, but they reacted swiftly - almost immediately, 10 Messengers flew in to engage. Without any unnecessary forewarnings, tens of nanowave beams were shot towards the Dawn mechs! Another 10 of the MPA's mechs rushed towards the last piece of standing structure in the area!

The two sides were obviously familiar with each other, and fought without hesitation. Then 10 Dawn mechs flew like butterflies amongst the flowers, flying forwards, backwards, or crossing with each other. The nanowave beams shot through the spaces between the Dawn mechs as they flew about in a seemingly irregular pattern, but completely avoiding the attack.

The round of fire left the enemy unscatched, and the MPA's arrogant Messengers were shocked!

MPA was equally informed of the Orbits, but there had been no violent exchanges between them all these years, and a battle of this scale with more than a dozen mechs was unprecedented. Almost everything the MPA pilots knew about mechs from the Orbits came only from their intel.

If one were to compare the three forces, the MPA had a closer relationship with the Five Galaxies, and was more in touch with normal society. Black Cove and the Orbits were very different; they were practically two independent communities. MPA's elite pilots also interacted more with regular people, compared to the other two forces. From those regular people, they derived a greater sense of superiority, and all those years of smooth victories left most of the elite pilots arrogant!

The exposure of their warship last time, with their main force mechs utterly defeated, was an unprecedented humiliation!

Moreover, the 4 mechs that perpetrated that humiliating incident was not even part of the Three Forces! How could this not infuriate them? If not for the location in the Orbits, where infiltration was harder, and MPA's reservation against the mentalist sanctuary, they would not have sent a mere 25 mechs! However, given the swift response to their intel, where the MPA had prepared such a formidable force, one could see that they knew much about the Orbits! However, if Ye Chong knew that the MPA had deployed the largest possible offense they could gather on the Orbits against him, might he be flattered?

Feng Su charged fearlessly towards the 25 enemy mechs! Her goal was to stall the 3 main force mechs of the enemy - Mermaid's Curse! Mermaid's Curse was one of the MPA's 3 main force mechs. Their defining features were their sharp offensive weapons, accurate targeting and powerful automotives. If Ye Chong were here, he would have noticed that this mech model was identical to the one that tried relentlessly to kill to him some time ago.

The mechs were in an elegant white, with protective fins that curled slightly upwards, giving an air of aristocracy. Besides the usual accessories like lasers and heat ray guns, they also came with the enormously destructive nanowave guns; and unlike the Messengers, the nanowave gun was their main weapon. Their propulsion system was also a notch above the Messengers. The lock-on mechanism was manual, which depended heavily on the pilot's capabilities. This was why pilots of main force mechs were very few in numbers compared to pilots of the Messengers!

These 3 Mermaid's Curse mechs were Feng Su's main targets. With the Dawns against the Messengers, and an advantage in numbers, the Messengers will not stand a chance! The only mechs that could be a threat to them were these 3 Mermaid's Curses!

Mechs from the Orbits' sanctuary had peculiar battle strategies. They always battle in groups! One on one, a Messenger was more powerful than a Dawn. However, in the case of 5 against 5, both stood an equal chance of winning; in the case of 10 against 10, Dawns would hold the advantage. Hence, Dawn mechs always operated in groups of 10! This unique battle strategy was enough to confound the MPA and Black Cove!

The 10 Dawns behind Feng Su flew in a swish towards the only standing building in the area! They had formed a circular formation; they believed that, even with 10 Messengers within their circle, breaking through would not be easy!

MPA's mechs had their hands full defending themselves - the enemy was not looking to destroy them all, but merely keeping them occupied, unable to attend to their mission! The purple Wings of Nirvana shone the brightest on the battlefield! The legendary trump card was true to her reputation - she was single handedly keeping 5 mechs occupied, including 3 of the Mermaid's Curse mechs, and she seemed to accomplish this with ease!

In this massive operation, success seemed close at hand, and the pilots tightening the circular formation could not help but felt slightly excited.

All of a sudden, a golden figure flashed by!

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Chapter 126: Fish and Net II

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

One Dawn mech the nearest to the ruins of the building was shot by this golden light! There was no forewarning. The beam was fast. It was faster than these pilots could have expected. Their trusty intuition and prediction of movements gained from their training became nothing when facing the velocity of the beam.

They wanted to fight back, they raised the crosshair and shifted it around frantically. However the golden beam had already disappeared into the half-demolished building after giving a nice gentle touch to their ally before they could react.

The remaining pilots on the 9 mechs spent the next few moments taking a careful look on their fallen ally. To found the rapport between themselves, they had started their training together way back. They were highly synchronized, they felt for each other, they were intimate like brothers. And one of their beloved brothers had fallen by then. The pilots certainly were troubled.

If they were in a battlefield, they would never have been this reckless. But hell, this was not a battlefield to begin with! They were informed that there was only 1 person opposing them. Yes, only 1 person, a single man against the 10 Dawn mechs - if that would not spell "immediate successful capture", what else would be? The sudden change in the situation was a little unsettling for them. They had yet to become panicked however. They were rather more confused as they failed to identify what that golden light was.

What was that?

??

Confusion filled their mind.

And there was no response from their ally since then!

Zzzt! Zzzt!

They took a look at the mech, which looked really like a cheap fragile mode. It looked as if it could not survive a stronger impact, a cut was clearly discerned at the point of collision. No, there were multiple cuts! How could that happen? It was just like a touch-and-go! Those clean cuts revealed a pale greenish glow. The glow was familiar to the pilots. Hey wasn't that the glow from the energy inside the engine during operation? Why did the glow appear there?

The pale greenish glow was calm at first and then, as if reacting to the air it was exposed to, it began acting up as it quivered violently in toppled stability! It appeared like a man's heart pumping vigorously! Pump! Thup! Pump! … Boom! They were blinded by the glaring light.

That mech blew up, right in front of everybody! The explosion of high density of energy was overwhelming in such a small area! The pilots did not manage to activate their protective shields. The mechs were blown away by the energy leakage! Their covers were scrapped.

At once, the half-demolished building was completely wrecked as it collapsed with a blast!

The building crashed down with its bricks and aged cements wielding a dusty storm!

In limited sight they saw through the flying dirt, a number of fine dark spots landed right on the shaking mechs after the impulse stealthily.

Ye Chong stood within the ruins, holding his breath in his miniature mech by Yu Di. The body size of Yu Di sufficiently provided a small space to fit Ye Chong within its shadow.

Yup. That beam of golden light was Ye Chong's assassination!

Ye Chong did not expect such speed from a miniature mech like Guardian when it was fully activated! Similarly, Gu Shaoze probably did not foresee the miniature mech he created to be this powerful. Initially the Guardian was meant for Number 2. All the designs revolved about every aspect of hers to assist her in achieving a Mach 4.0 in her speed. They aimed for a Mach 4.0, that was it… till Ye Chong came and put it on… and he started blasting off into the field… he actually hit a Mach 10.0. Shocking! This was nothing Gu Shaoze would have imagined!

Ye Chong only wanted to try it out in his daily charity chores of saving the world before bedtime. He withdrew the daggers installed on the mech and gave a few slashes so they would learn their lesson. But then, the few slashes turned out to do way more than he intended! That capacity! These daggers were just like Ye Chong - a beast!

Right at that split second when Ye Chong's dagger touched the mech, the interface fluttered in his sight and a notification flashed within the numbers in black and white, "Dagger for No.2: Activated. Initiation: Completed!" The tiny words literally flashed so fast, they vanished that Ye Chong almost missed it if his eyes were not sharp enough.

Dagger for No.2! Number 2? Ye Chong could not help but to snicker a little, though he was in a battlefield and it would be a bad timing for chuckles. Well, Gu Shaoze could have changed the names when he knew Number 2 was not going to use it anytime soon. However, the name on the screen simply showed that he did not even bother to try.

The processor was otherworldly on the other hand. The monochromatic three-dimensional visual was illustrated right before Ye Chong's eyes. It was as if the processor was rattling with information as the illustration enlarged, twisted, panned over an angle, then to another in terrifying speed. Countless spots of the perceived surrounding were analyzed and visualized simultaneously. The strings of data came showering like a waterfall. Ye Chong gave up counting as his eyes kept missing the fast-forwarding information strands. Before Ye Chong actually hit the mech, he could only discern the 8 overlapping lines with 7 dots over the mech's body.

There was no time for Ye Chong to figure out on what basis the lines and dots were drawn on the mech. Intuitively he just followed the 8 lines that appeared as he slashed the mech. The speed of his hand-movement was further enhanced by the Guardian, allowing him to complete such a set-up in one fine touch with his daggers.

He was not in the leisure to fulfill every procedure in a standard experiment from problem statement to hypothesis to inference and observation. The conclusion simply put was Ye Chong did not expect that much from a touch of a pair of pocket knives. The daggers might have been too mighty to be called pocket knives, but that was the truth. Using daggers usually equipped in a one-on-one on a mech was just like firing a heat-ray gun to a spaceship. Imagine what a mosquito's bite felt like on a whale. Ye Chong retreated in the speed of lightning! The guard of these 10 men were dense and impeccable. Hopefully Mu inside Yu Di could make a miracle somewhere, or he would be serving the men from the day onwards…

Ye Chong laughed bitterly in his mind. The Guardian was powerful… only on the armor itself. The weapon on the other hand was a joke… If he possessed a weapon fearsome enough to threaten the 10 men to back off and minimize the siege area, he might have a bit of opportunity.

"Ye." That voice! "Get over here quick!" Mu's voice came sounding in his ears.

Did something happen? Ye Chong's heart twitched but then he became relieved after. Is there any kind of situation that could be worse than this? After being sieged by 10 killing machines out there, everything else seemed like a pinch of salt, though Ye Chong jumped to Mu's side right away. "Mu?" He landed and was going to ask Mu what happened, "So-" Boom! An impulse came gushing into his body. Ye Chong nearly tripped on his feet. He pulled his body back into the stance laboriously as he saw the grid-shaped boulders raining down the place. New data to the vicinity? Yes. The processor started rattling again as it began analyzing every single boulder passing by the camera. The information flushed Ye Chong's eyes. It was overwhelmingly fast that Ye Chong felt dizzy seeing them.

Ye Chong was pleading inside the miniature mech. The analysis was initiated automatically and it could not be turned off apparently. It would look fine in a simulation room; an empty simulation room. If one were to wear this in a place with lots of information like this for instance, where the visual zone was filled with numerous objects, one would be drowned by these analyzed data! Ye Chong had not gotten used to the speed of these incoming streams of data so he had to shift his attention to the three-dimensional illustration instead! Technically, what Ye Chong did was absolutely right. During the production stage of this mech, striving to speed up the processing speed of the in-built, Gu Shaoze actually changed the widely-used hologram projection in the visuals to the antique simplistic monochrome, which hence produced an amazingly efficient three-dimensional images. The flooding data were actually going to have some sort of bug-fix in the upcoming maintenance but he was struck down by MPA before he could perform the new coding. Eventually, the maintenance did not happen!

The Guardian in use was unquestionably an unfinished product in actuality. Well, practically, the "to-be-finished" part of the product was merely the additional filtering on the data stream to provide a sleeker interface. The other aspects of the mech were good enough of his expectation.

Under the protection of Yu Di, Ye Chong was safely shielded away from the collapse, though he did not seem to be aware of the fact that he was the ultimate culprit behind this demolition! Ye Chong, confused as he watched Mu piloting Yu Di to pick up the bottle of cartridge and launch every single projectile inside!

At the very moment when Mu lifted the cartridge, Ye Chong already knew what to do next. It was the time to battle! The rapport between Ye Chong and Mu was justified.

As mentioned, right when the final projectile was launched from the cartridge, both Yu Di and Ye Chong commenced their movements! The sense of timing for Mu was literally flawless, not a single second was gone to waste.

As if synchronized, Yu Di and Ye Chong began concurrently!

The difference between each other grew prominent as they moved. In short-term dashing, Guardian was at upper hand. Ye Chong was leading Yu Di by few meters ahead right when they left the ruins. Then Ye Chong saw the shattered siege by the foes and the cluster of dusts in the air.

The monochromatic scope of Guardian was unaffected by the dust. Ye Chong found the 9 mechs very soon. Wait! Wow? Where's the other one? Did I break it? Ye Chong never imagined his little attack could annihilate a mech!

The landing point of the missiles Mu launched was of great accuracy - none of them missed! The dusty atmosphere provided the best camouflage to the missiles.

These projectiles sneaked their debut. The 9 pilots were alarmed by the sudden strike! A number of them was struck right on the head. Fred the Great was a genius! His crafts were reliable after all! Ye Chong adored the missiles.

"Over here!" hurried Mu.

Ye Chong had rushed to the front of a mech and was brandishing his dagger. Like a braking car, he ceased his attack and retracted his weapon. A tip to the toe on the opponent's mech, he flung himself all the way to Mu hastily! The tip of his toe was enhanced by his strength through Guardian. It was so strong that the Dawn mech could not handle the inertia as it backed a few steps away.

He looked at where Mu was and went astonished. Wow Mu was still Mu! Even if he was in a mech like Yu Di, every ounce of potential inside the mech had probably been excavated thoroughly! It utterly felt like two different mechs compared to Ye Chong's own piloting when he was on Yu Di. Whether in regards of the speed or other aspects, Yu Di was lively!

Since Yu Di had lost an arm, it could only wield a magnetic blade. A leap by Yu Di and it came to the middle of two Dawn mechs. Before he launched the missiles, Mu had calculated the breaking point being between these two Dawn mechs. Thus, unfortunately these mechs received most of his bombardment.

!

Ye Chong was astounded.

A simple Thomas' Spin! It was perfect! The magnetic blade hid behind the buzzing plasma shield of Yu Di as swung robustly, giving occasional stabs right at the critical point!

Within a blink of an eye, the Dawn mechs did not expect to be this weak in front of an expert killer like Mu! A solo fight was never the arsenal of Dawn mechs. They would require assistance from their allies. Thus, being weakened and unable to provide help to each other while facing the mighty Mu, these mechs eventually became a pile of metal on the ground without much resistance.

Ye Chong had arrived, after the epic blade wielding!

The siege had lost its effect! There stood nobody before Ye Chong and Mu.

It's now or never!

The chance to escape the net was right before them!

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Chapter 127: Fish and Net III

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Out of the blue, a stream of purple outline slitted through the sky. Cutting through the air, overcoming the inertia, the object showed up right before Ye Chong and Mu, like a purple line drawn all the way from the sky to the ground.

The metallic gloss on the purple armor must be due to an inclusion of a kind of unique metal in the alloy during production. The body of mech was slender, exerting grace and sophistication, which appeared to be fragile at first glance. There was a pair of wings folded right at the back. It looked odd but it seemed to be of great craftsmanship. It was the first time Ye Chong spotted such finely made wings. The texture, the detail, the glow of it, every side of it felt like the actual wings of a bird. Wouldn't such overdone wings be hardly a tool in flight? Wouldn't it be a mere vase for predicament rather than adornment? Could such wings even withstand the coefficient of drag in flights of high velocity? Ye Chong was occupied with doubts as his belief always laid on the simplicity and conciseness of practicality. This mech before him had a rather conspicuous design. It looked like a bird but Ye Chong could not name what kind of a bird. Well, if Fred the Great was here, he must be waddling towards this beauty, giving careful caress as calling it the model made after the avifauna from the legend, the Phoenix itself.

Nevertheless, our Ye Chong was not the cosmopolitan man like Fred the Great. His scope had yet to be expanded despite all the adventures he had been through. All his eyes discerned was the three-dimensional illustration which kept rotating in the interface!

Ye Chong might not be able to judge the situation by the species of the mech but he was still the man of combats. He wielded his own strength as he was able to conclude this very particular purple mech having superiority in terms of mobility from that single landing made. He even speculated that it should be also nearly as competent as Mu in terms of speed.

As much as he speculated, "Ye, be careful. This mech is good," notified Mu. "Good" was the killing term for Mu's comment. This mech must not be any fraud from the street market!

This mech was known as Feng Su's "Wings of Nirvana". The leader predicted, there were 25 mechs opposing them. And 20 of them had been held up by the 20 Dawn mechs sent. The situation was under control, both parties were well-behaved. The usual explosion and hell firings were not unleashed. The remaining 5 mechs, including the leading mech, the Mermaid's Curse were occupied by my own men as well. Well, there were 10 Dawn mechs left on my side. It would be more than enough to take that man! Wouldn't it?

But I never knew the one being caught up in my siege could be this strong!

Though Feng Su was against 5 mechs at once, the fight was done effortlessly. It was a piece of cake and not much of her concern. Her major concern sat on those mechs she sent to capture the target, especially after "that" happened unexpectedly.

The golden light came and left within twinkling of eyes. People could hardly see it, except for Feng Su.

Was that a miniature mech? Feng Su, also being the expert of the mechs, identified what that moving thing was. The amazing capability demonstrated by the Guardian was shocking to her mind. Nobody else could understand better what could this possibly mean than herself.

A miniature mech was nothing new in the industry. However, the issue always lies in the balance of minimizing the size while maximizing the strength, which was indirectly proportional to each other from the beginning.

The contradictory relationship between the miniaturization of mechs and building of strength did not seem to exist on this mech. If she were to get this technique in hand, she believed that a technological breakthrough could be made with the techniques in her upper authority! No, it would be a leap in humanity, right away! The current style of battling could be changed and unquestionably, the Orbits would raise and become the leader of the 3 major forces in the galaxies!

The 3 major forces in mech development had set off for many years as they parted ways at one point. Nonetheless, all of them hit the neck-bottle of times in their development. Only such a revolutionary technique that toppled the law of size-strength relationship could bring this mech world to a new stage! And this stage, certainly would be a great leap in the years! Whoever made the leap first would be at absolute advantage!

Despite of that, if either one of the other two forces had obtained such technique ahead, the outcome was starkly blatant.

The moment when Feng Su saw how Ye Chong used that ordinary looking dagger to slice through the armor of the Dawn mech, she was literally stupefied!

This… this was against the law of nature! No it was against the law of physics! Everything that I know of!

Even a laser sword could not slice the armor of Dawn mech open this easily, what trickery was this? What were those daggers?

Imagine if the Black Covers ever acquired this skill… with the horrifying close-combat techniques they aced at… Feng Su trembled helplessly.

Any mistake in the information given would cause fatality in this moment. And there was. No one had ever thought that there was one more mech in the field!

The reaction speed and the calculation skills were too terrorizing! It was a moment of silence then a chain of back-to-back sequence of actions came accurately. The foe seemed to have made great use of the situation and had shattered the flawless defense she presumed into a million pieces. And that happened in a few seconds. The big mech leading the smaller mech rushed out of the siege! Feng Su no longer had the leisure to play with the 5 mechs haunting her as she jumped out and tried to hold the pair back!

The Wings of Nirvana was surely the top mech from the Orbits, as it moved against the law of space it seemed. Traveling at immense momentum, it jumped across the sky, hopped right in front of Ye Chong and Mu to stop them!

While Ye Chong had his eyes glued on this purple mech, Feng Su also had her full attention on this strange golden man.

Ye Chong did not seem to be aware of who was piloting this purple mech however, despite the suffering he had been through because of this terrifying mentalist in purple cloak. Ironically, Feng Su had yet to notice this target she was going to capture was actually the fighter she misunderstood being one part of the Black Coves.

Both of them had another fateful encounter under this peculiar setting where they did not recognize each other.

The 5 mechs from MPA who lost the target seemed to be informed about Feng Su's strength as they did not inch towards her.

"Ready? Aim! Full power!" The leader of the group bit his teeth as he ordered in the Mermaid's Curse. He seemed determined as the order roared rashly.

The target he mentioned was actually Ye Chong and Yu Di with Mu inside!

"Um…" the few men hesitated. Aren't we supposed to bring them alive? The order said so… Why the attack?"

Full power literally meant firing with all weapons available, which was hardly used in actual war field. It was much potent yet also crippled. After the firing was done, the mobility would be disabled for the next 15 seconds and it could simply mean death in the war field!

"I'm not letting the foe go and get that strange mech! I rather lose it! I rather have nobody getting that in the end than giving it away!" The words rang coldly, with the tone highlighted by determination and ferocity, which frightened the men a little.

If they were to return right now, being all defeated, a complete failure to the mission, they would be ultimately punished. The leader was right on his words, they would rather die in the field than being punished for giving the target away to the enemy.

The 4 men obeyed the leader's order together almost immediately after. The 5 mechs stood still in the air as they set their gaze off the 3 mechs on the ground. All the cartridges, the guns on the body were launched in a blast. The main weapon was also fearsomely pointed right at Yu Di and Ye Chong.

"Fire!!" The leader screamed on top of his lungs. A never-before-seen desperation filled his piercing voice.

Almost simultaneously, Feng Su standing right in front of Ye Chong and Yu Di felt a sense of eeriness somehow. Mentalist at development of mentality bestowed her the bizarre sixth sense, which caused her to react at the first moment!

A tip to the ground, she jumped up high and blocked the sight between the 5 mechs and Ye Chong.

Her purple wings were spread open. It was then when they realized how gigantic the Wings of Nirvana were! It was literally 15 meter long, which made the main body appear much smaller than before. A wave of purple glimmer hovered from the wings through the air and coagulated at 30 centimeters away from the wings. A plasma bubble of pale purple transformed into a giant plasma shield and covered the Wings of Nirvana entirely. Under Feng Su's wings, Ye Chong was also within the proximity of protection.

Well, of course, such scenery came out in black and white at Ye Chong's interface.

The dazzling white flare blinded the place! Everyone could not help but to stop. The firepower from the 5 mechs converged into a broad beam of light. Nano waves, laser waves, heat ray waves, all sorts of beams came together at the same exact timing and frequency onto the same target!

The extreme amount of energy inside that beam set the alarm off wailing inside the hologram scanning system in all mechs. At one moment, every pilot in their mechs had their face drained, except for Ye Chong and Feng Su.

The light beam struck right onto the plasma shield of the Wings of Nirvana.

People on the ground were blinded by another even more dazzling shroud of light. They could see nothing else than complete whiteness, except for Ye Chong in his miniature mech.

The unique monochromatic view inside the Guardian had produced a memorable scene to Ye Chong.

Thup!

A faint sound of a crash, felt like the egg shell was smashed. The white light beam collided into the plasma shield which appeared to be glowing white in Ye Chong's visual. The light overflowed the space. The beam became splinters of fireworks and splashed all over the place. They then disintegrated in air quickly.

The collision of energy particles, with the point of collision being the center, caused a major impulse spreading throughout the place!

Yu Di was not as fortunate as Ye Chong. Mu did react in time to have his shield right before the chest. But Yu Di had been damaged before, which weakened the shield, making it like a slab of ice. It did not last for even a split second as it turned to ashes by the light beams.

Mu's irreproachable control was manifested at this moment. Of course, if anyone could witness such miracle by then! Within that brief and easily-overlooked second, Mu had warped into the proximity of the plasma shield produced by the Wings of Nirvana. Even so, Yu Di suffered a severe loss, where 2 of its arms were gone. Only one was retained and it was the one with the cartridge. The other 2 vaporized because of that beam. The cartridge was empty. No ammo remained, which meant Yu Di was officially deemed as useless in battle.

The collision of energy had produced tremendous strength, which even the Wings of Nirvana with immense capabilities backed off uncontrollably.

Other than Mu, Ye Chong who still possessed a clear view of the happening saw the Wings of Nirvana approaching him helplessly. His eyes glowed cold.

Exerted strength to the tip of his toes, the Guardian's bursting capability had accelerated Ye Chong to a whole new level. The daggers were ready in his hands!

The three-dimensional illustration rotated endlessly in the interface. The information came crashing like waterfall. The white dots and crossing lines became lesser and brighter at the same time! It became clearer!

Locked on!

Ye Chong's pupils shrunk drastically!

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Chapter 128: Not the End, but the Beginning?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong had a plan in his mind. Without hesitation he climbed upwards and made a quick slash on the purple mech with his daggers.

The mech might have acted heroically and saved his day, but Ye Chong was not foolish enough to have faith on a stranger, believing that the act was for his own good. If he did not give hindrance of some sort, especially to the foe before him, with its capabilities Mu would have probably gave a depressing figure on the possibility of their escape again. Such a golden opportunity for a golden man, how could he let it slip?

Like a tinted bullet, Ye Chong launched himself all the way to this mech in rage!

Feng Su was startled as she piloted the Wings of Nirvana all the way to the side. A sharp turn on her steer. The extensive wings folded softly like an actual pair of wings of a bird as it covered up the critical spot of the mech. The whole sequence of inputs was executed right at a whim.

Trust your intuition! It was the unmovable belief in every mentalist, the source of their forces. It had also become a habit, the basis of Feng Su's life.

Feng Su's action was rapid! But Ye Chong in his Guardian was faster!

A brandish from his twin daggers flashing the unique, cold gaze of cruelty, the blade-wielding was indiscernible by naked eyes, the blades seemed to have turned invisible in Ye Chong's hands. The air was waving in ripples as Ye Chong cut through the air. It was fast, too fast!

But he felt nothing during the slash!

That was surprising to Ye Chong as he believed that his sudden attack could have been effective, till the opponent dodged most of his strikes, as if the opponent saw it on a script and was ready the whole time.

Due to the higher standing in sensory development, mentalists often possessed great premonition, which would be strengthened when more training were accomplished! No doubt that such characteristic was extremely useful in combats. It allowed one to foresee the movements, the happening a moment later which gave you the leading position in fights, hence dramatically improved the likelihood of your victory!

Well, with that said, the process of a battle was never as straightforward as it was always illustrated in the novel. Even if you were aware of the intended upcoming behavior of the foes, it did not necessarily mean that you have the control of the entire scene. While mentality played a role in contributing to the likelihood of your victory, the standard of piloting a mech, your own strength etc. had far greater contribution. Conclusively, what determines the outcome of a battle is always plural and one should not presume it as a factor of singularity.

As mentioned before, there were 3 major forces in the galaxies - the Black Covers were great with their arms and legs; the Orbits were great with their senses… well, if that was the case, MPA should have the weakest pilots of them all. The catch was, however, the pilots of MPA had better mechs. Eventually, every faction of them shared a kind of perk. They were closely related and certainly they were equal.

Feng Su was the ace among the pilots of the Orbits. She had a well-developed mentality as well as impeccable piloting skills. She might not be recognized as the strongest pilot in the Orbits, but surely she was the pilot with the strongest extrasensory intuition and the fastest in reaction to it.

Hence, even under the hacking speed of Ye Chong, she dodged most of them solely because of her overwhelming intuition!

What?

No… It can't be. Ye Chong was dumbstruck. With his speed, it should not be strange that even Mu would fail to avoid the attacks…

However the reality was in fact… the foe dodged it!

Quite a number of the slashes he made were missed. The few slashes struck were also way off the tangent sketched by the Guardian in the interface.

Luck? Coincidence? Or the foe had something in the back? Ye Chong was skeptical.

"Ye! Go! Now!" Mu's tone sounded intensely hurried. If Mu said so… Ye Chong could not afford to disobey the instruction as he laid the tip of his toes at the foe and launched himself away to Yu Di like a golden arrow. The rapport between the best combination was shown again, as Mu sped up Yu Di, rushing his way to Ye Chong, opened his one remaining arm. Thup! Ye Chong clang on the single arm like an ape.

Undoubtedly, because of the enhanced strength by the Guardian, the Wings of Nirvana was forced away the moment Ye Chong made the leap.

Under Mu's flawless calculation, he sped up Yu Di in the shortest time possible and grabbed Ye Chong and they disappeared!

The glaring light faded away at last. People on the ground looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What … happened…?"

"I don't know…"

"Are we abducted?"?"Hey! What are these?"

"The Messengers? Why are they…Ah!!"

…

!

The people realized they were surrounded by enemies. The scene turned chaotic after. The mechs from both sides, the MPA and the Orbits went after each other. Nonetheless, the Orbits outnumbered the MPA and they were better supports in a team fight. They covered each other up and lastly they surrounded the Messengers instead.

The Dawn mechs' eyes lustered upon their prey as the Messengers backed off carefully. Although the pilots from MPA did not fear death as their destiny, they were horrified by the intensity. They held their guards high, their weapons were charged, anticipating the final moment.

The pilots from the Orbits awaited the ultimate order from their leader. As soon as Feng Su uttered the keyword, these filthy intruders from MPA would have their remnants here. They held no fond towards intruders, only pure hostility, especially when they actually lost a brother in this intrusion! The golden man might have been the culprit, but obviously he had got something to do with these intruders!

And that was how the pilots from MPA became the scapegoat of the day!

Both parties were unexpectedly calm, as one identified one's own inferiority in the situation while the other awaited the order from Feng Su!

In sheer silence, they glared at each other. Eerie it was to see about 50 mechs hovering in the sky, one flock towards the other, yet not a sound was heard. It was too quiet that it felt like a static scene from horror movies.

Feng Su's heart rumbled with shock. The flocks by her side were not her concern at all, but the golden man was. The fact that he was not affected by the blazing light was more than surprising to Feng Su. The alarm had been raised to Level : Yellow. Feng Su was enraged upon seeing Wings of Nirvana in scratches. Her trusty steed was never hurt! She took it as a sign of pride being an ace in the team, for no one including the mech itself would be hurt under her leadership! Nevertheless, it was history.

Scratches of a depth of roughly 30 centimeters was nothing to a mech of10 few meters tall. But the shocker was that these scratches happened to be at the weaker area of the armor! Feng Su was horrified as she imagined what could happen if she failed to dodge in time, with the slashes on the few weaker spots on her armor. She would… She would not have survived…

Shuddered, Feng Su held back her thought. In a brief second, the man actually found the weak spots on my mech? How horrible!

Was it because of the sharp eyes of that man? Or was it because of that amazing gadget on the mech?

The cuts were smooth? How come? My Wings of Nirvana is the highest ranked mech in the Orbits! The armor of the main body is sturdier than ever! It should have been at least a strong mech even at the origin of this stranger! Feng Su had confidence to declare her mech being at least solid enough to take attacks even from the Black Covers, those known for their top close-combat skills.

That miniature mech could not stop giving me surprise, couldn't it? No wonder the MPA went so far for this! If I were to report this to the authority, I assume that they would take some sort of action!

And the information was absolutely wrong! There were two people here? The pilot in the other mech was someone not to be ignorant of. Such an expert! That accuracy, that flawlessness in his piloting, there was no ineffectiveness! With the calculation and foresight of his, he should be far more potent that the pilot in the gold miniature mech! The design of the mech was one-of-a-kind and the cartridge was well-placed! I wonder which genius put up such design?

These anomalies! Feng Su was amazed. Her will to conquer burnt up high. If I ever met them again…

Feng Su could not help but felt excitement rolling in her heart.

Out of ponder, she took a look around and soon she got hold of the situation.

The mission was not completed, but it did not mean that Feng Su was out of luck! Firstly, the infiltration of MPA pilots in the Orbits had been exposed. Secondly, in spite of the fact that the target had escaped, as long as they were in the vicinity of the Orbits, Feng Su's men would stand far better chance than the other forces, simply because they could call all men to retrieve the target, which was something incomparable to the intruding foes who shared a much more pitiful amount. Well, it had caused enough fiasco to alarm the Black Covers at the very least.

Still…

Feng Su knew it well that it was not easy for someone to exit the Orbits.

Most importantly, the value of this miniature mech had been blatantly justified, along with precious first-hand information about it!

Regarding these men from MPA… Feng Su was a little puzzled. It would be bad to just let them go… But if she were to kill them… they were not going to sit still and let the beams hit them, then she would lose more men in the end and it only signified an obvious taunt to MPA, leading a galactic war some time in the future… That would be bad too…

A bloodshed should not be what the authority desired…

While being puzzled by the dilemma, a flock of mechs flew to the place. They were all Dawn mechs, densely connected. There should be at least 100 of them by a glance as they traveled in a perfect formation speedily towards her.

The 25 mechs from MPA started acting in panic!

The new batch of Dawn mechs splat into 10 smaller teams as they went into their position like 10 winding snakes, further enforcing the siege!

The 29 Dawn mechs by Feng Su were excited by the participation of their allies! This was because it certainly showed a difference in strength with these additional men! And it only would take a word from Feng Su to officially sear these intruders into ashes! Stimulated, the radical fighters had their blood boiling, trembling.

Beep.

Feng Su received an order from the authority.

She headed into the sieged area, with 20 Dawn mechs surrounding her, covering the Wings of Nirvana straight away!

Her soft voice echoed throughout the field via the loudspeaker.

"To the intruders, I believe you should have received a word from our supreme authority on allowing all of you to surrender. To refrain from unnecessary conflict, for the sake of our Orbits, please deactivate your weaponry, get grounded immediately and deploy all your mechs and gadgets. The mechs would be under our safekeeping for security purposes. Rest assured that they would be returned once you are exiled from the Orbits. I request your constant cooperation!" and she retreated to the outside.

The pilots from the MPA were biting their lips. Their expression was grim as they passed their mechs, the meaning of their life, the enlightenment of their soul, the exit of their passion to an insignificant other. Some pilots of an younger age could not control but to shed a tear. The warriors who have never feared the demise to their role, had submitted their identity as an inevitable fate. The pain, the agony… a fate worse than death, the men from the Orbits could not have their eyes on such demolition.

Feng Su watched on in silence. She was aware… that the authority must have made some kind of agreement with the MPA. Something was planned… or how would these pilots lower their pride as they hand over their precious that easily?

Sigh, probably this was not the end. This was just the beginning.

Thought Feng Su as her mind wandered off to somewhere else in the future.

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