Chapter 2452 - 129 - 136

Chapter 129: God-Slayer

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

Achieving fourth tier Soul Power was already difficult regardless of the fighter's league. However, soldiers with fifth tier Soul Power would reach over two hundred sols of soul power, a number that was only seen on a handful of veteran warriors. Therefore, Wings of Heaven's 180 sol soul energy was an extraordinary scene to behold to most PA players, and some IPA players swore that Wings of Heaven's soul energy had exceeded Einherjar Wannabe.

People liked Einherjar Wannabe not because he was invincible — everyone knew that he wasn't — but because of his fighting style. Although his fame had been soaring, everyone had expected that sooner or later, someone who was much stronger than him would defeat him. Although no one wanted that to happen, they accepted it as an inevitable event, while hoping that their idol's winning streak could last as long as possible.

Ever since the invention of the METAL suit, fighter's soul energy had dictated the ultimate strength of the fighters as techniques had become obsolete. Because of that, it became less and less frequent that people heard about new fighters becoming a dark horse and won an impossible fight.

Regardless if Wings of Heaven was truly the Captain of the Golden Star, he was fighting exactly like a professional METAL warrior rather than an amateur IPA player. His superior soul energy had given him a definite advantage against Einherjar Wannabe, whose soul energy had hovered at around only 170 or so.

Many people thought that perhaps this fight would be the one that would eventually halt Einherjar Wannabe's winning streak.

Wings of Heaven attacked again, his blade cut through the air and forced a deadly sense of threat upon his opponent. He had turned himself into a killing machine.

These aggressive hacks and slashes landed one after another on Wang Tong, all aimed at vital points of his body and were from the most awkward angles. Wings of Heaven's attacks had only one intention: to kill his opponent. He cared much less regarding methods. Such techniques that directly aimed at opponent's vital body parts were sneered at by the Academy School of fighting since they were deemed as "cheap" and lacked actual skills. Many METAL fighters, such as those in the Golden Star, didn't agree with the views of the Academy School since they believed that the best kind of techniques were the ones that could finish off their opponents in the quickest way.

After seeing the deadly techniques on the screen, the members of the Golden Star were convinced that Wings of Heaven was indeed their captain. Their captain had been praised for his quick and effective killing moves that looked dull and unprepared, but extremely effective in a chaotic battlefield. Many pirates had been deceived by his seemingly unsophisticated moves and thought that he was a rookie, but in the end, they all had paid the ultimate price for their mistake.

"170 is nothing. While at his peak, he has been a fifth tier fighter!"

Members of the Golden Star watched their captain with admiration, and they were confident that he would win this fight with ease.

Having been caught in the deadly web of attacks, Wang Tong knew better than anyone else that his opponent was the real master of METAL combat. With that unmatched skills in using blades, Wings of Heaven could always be one move or half ahead of Wang Tong, keeping the pressure on him.

Although Wang Tong was surprised by his opponent's power, he didn't waste any time on pondering his true identity. Instead, he executed his signature move, the Parallel Shift, and was then out of his opponent's attack range. Despite the unfamiliar appearance of the technique, Wings of Heaven had immediately understood how the Parallel Shit was carried out.

It would be unwise for Wang Tong to use the same trick twice once it had been seen through. While fighting Cisco, Wang Tong had also used the Parallel Shift. It was Wang Tong's self-invented techniques that took much inspiration from the Zergs. It required him to exert an immense amount of pressure to the tip of his toes and was hard to pull off.

This technique had been caught on camera, and Wings of Heaven had already studied it very carefully. He had formed an idea as to how this seemingly impossible move was achieved and how to counter it. Seeing it in person only confirmed his theory. This was the time to put his research into use. His next move required super human reaction and solid close combat skills, and both were considered crucial and fundamental skills to a good fighter.

The long blade suddenly turned through an angle and cut toward Einherjar Wannabe's neck in a fluid motion that turned the metal into a stream of silver liquid. The ordinary blade had taken on a shimmering hue — the blade aura — indicating that this attack was impossible to block.

So far, the attacks of Wings of Heaven had been rather straightforward and to the point. He didn't care to use any embellished moves that looked more astonishing. It was not to say that he looked down on those moves, it was simply not his style. The style that deployed carefully-choreographed moves were called the Academy School. Wing of Heaven had based his fighting style off of the Academy Style, but through years of real-life battle, he had also gone beyond it and eventually formed his own style: the Neutral School.

As the captain of the Golden Star, his first and foremost duty was to finish off criminals quickly to ensure the safety of his crew, and he had never failed once. Very rarely would he encounter a tough opponent like Einherjar Wannabe, and therefore he needed to adjust himself according to the level of his opponents. That being said, after the couple exchange of attacks, the "Warrior" in him was revived, and he could feel himself getting stronger by the second.

As the blade whizzed through the air at Einherjar Wannabe, many in the audiences closed their eyes, unable to find it in themselves to witness the inevitable downfall of their hero.

The warrior had been awakened, with both superior technique and soul energy at his disposal, Einherjar Wannabe had little to no chance of winning this fight.

However...

The audiences heard a series of raging blares that sounded like powerful but brisk explosions, and then, they saw the blade — still with its blade-aura intact — being knocked away. Einherjar Wannabe paralleled shifted again and was out of harm's way.

Wings of Heaven was also caught off guard. He brought the blade closer to his eyes and studied the back of the blade, wondering what had happened to it just then.

Wang Tong flexed his fingers in relief. His opponent's attack had come too fast for him to use even his fists to defend himself, but he then realized that he could still use his fingers. Leveraging the results of his recent training, he flicked his fingers rapidly at the blade — more than 50 times in a blink of an eye — and he was able to save his skin in this moment of life and death.

The success of his finger technique had also exhilarated Wang Tong. This was the best way to test the effectiveness of the micro control of his GN force.

Although his fingers felt a bit sore after having endured so much strain, Wang Tong was thrilled with the outcome.

Other than Wings of Heaven who was greatly impressed by the move, no one could make out what had just happened. As a veteran Warrior, Wings of Heaven didn't not blindly believed in soul energy. Although soul energy was a good indication of a fighter's strength, overly relying on it would make one overlook the role that other factors played in combat, factors such as fighting styles, skills proficiency, and GN force.

Wings of Heaven was also in awe of Einherjar Wannabe's ability to copy other fighters abilities as he had reckoned that the finger flicking was no doubt inspired by Einherjar Wannabe's former opponent, Cisco.

On the big screen, DREAM had just updated Einherjar Wannabe's current level of sol reading, and it remained around 170.

"That was my self-invented technique: The Blood Craze," as Wings of Heaven spoke, he realized that this might be the last time he would ever use his signature technique. He felt content to have such a powerful opponent in his last fight. A true warrior's dream was to die on the battlefield, although his fate had refused him such an honorable conclusion of his life, he decided to use a tough fight to bid the overdue farewell to his military career.

The audience heard a low booming sound coming from the body of the former captain. His soul energy was still on the rise as it had yet reached the peak.

The eyes of the captain started to glow red as his soul energy soar.

190, 191, 192... Everyone's heart was caught in their throat. Would it exceed 200? After the 200-threshold, his soul energy would become so powerful that he could overwhelm Einherjar Wannabe with ease.

As Wings of Heaven started to tremble slightly, his soul reading finally stopped.

203!

Wings of Heaven had entered a near-trance state. Although his soul energy increased by only 15 percent or so, he had jumped an entire soul-tier, which would give him a decisive advantage over Wang Tong.

What made his soul energy even more dreadful was the sense of death and aggression that made Wings of Heaven seem like a bloody demon straight out of the hell.

In most cases, the terrifying sense of dread emanating from Wings of Heaven would have paralyzed his opponent.

The faces of the members of the Golden Star lit up with excitement. They had recognized this scene, and it was a reenactment of that hellish battle against the Wasp. Their Captain had entered a battle trance and slaughtered the entire fleet of pirates to save their lives.

At that moment, their captain had leveled up his soul energy to the fifth tier and unleashed the most terrifying attacks upon his opponents. If it were gods that he was against, he would have been called the god-slayer.

On that day, only half an hour after the Golden Star boarded the pirate ship, they were surprised by the swarms of pirates when they had been expecting only a dozen of scattered criminals. Most of the members went down quickly after being severely outnumbered. When the leader of the Wasp announced their final charge against the few remaining soldiers, Wings of Heaven entered a battle trance, and the rest was only history.

"Einherjar Wannabe is in grave danger!"

Cao Yi and his friends were surprised by the identity of Wings of Heaven. They had never expected to see such a powerful fighter with so many stories in the IPA league.

"That's Ulysses," Apache had finally spoken. He had been in the Special Unit for over a year and had seen many powerful fighters there, but yet, he had to concede that none were stronger than the captain of the Golden Star, Ulysses.

"KILL!"

Ulysses charged at Einherjar Wannabe with a roar. His eyes lit up with craze, and in there, Wang Tong didn't find his own image but the scene of the battle that had broken this once proud warrior.

On that day, when Ulysses had uttered the same roar in the same trance, he didn't think for himself, but only for the lives of his dear comrades. He was willing to give up anything, including his life to save his friends.

With such power and advantages, Ulysses had been, and was, unstoppable.

By then, it was evident to everyone that Wings of Heaven was indeed Ulysses.

Chapter 130: Also a Hero

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

Despite the carelessness and reduced perception Wings of Heaven suffered after entering the battle trance, he still had superb intuition and years of training at his disposal. That advantage, combined with the deadly power granted by the battle trance, had made Einherjar Wannabe helpless and hopeless in defending himself.

Even the audience wasn't sure who they should be cheering for as they became torn apart between their virtual hero and the real-life hero.

Einherjar Wannabe was soon forced into a corner; he was overwhelmed by his opponent's sudden surge of power.

Suddenly, Ulysses hacked squarely at Wang Tong. It was a direct and straightforward attack without any unnecessary feints or embellishments; however, it was more powerful than any attack Wang Tong had seen before.

The blade traveled so fast, its aura left a streak of reddish blur along its path.

Einherjar Wannabe didn't flinch; instead, he closed in. Some of his fans had recognized this move and wondered if he wanted to pull out his old trick of stopping the blade with his bare hands. That might have worked before, but it would be impossible this time.

Wang Tong gritted his teeth and poured out his soul energy into his fingers, as they flicked at lightning speed and with explosive force at the blade.

When the blade was only a hair-thin distance away from Wang Tong's head, it finally stopped, followed with a loud shattering noise as pieces of the blade fell to the ground.

Before Wings of Heaven realized what had just happened, Wang Tong raised his hand and hacked with full force at his opponent. Wang Tong's blade-fist was not less deadly than Ulysses's blade as it also took on a blade aura. Similar to a blade-aura, the aura of the Blade-fist could disintegrate anything upon contact, and unknown to many people, this was the real power of the Blade-fist.

Ulysses was shaken by the attack as he took the strike with its full force. And then the two fighters stood still without saying a word. The audience waited and then was confused.

"Is that it? This is the end?"

"None of them had fallen to the ground yet. It can't be the end."

"I... lost," Ulysses heard himself saying.

He then looked up at the sky and heaved a deep sigh. He had never expected to see the real form of the Blade-fist. Thanks to his opponent's kindness of not following through with the attack, he was still able to stand on the stage. He was in awe of the immense power this young soldier possessed, and therefore, he decided to give up his forlorn attempt to win the battle.

"Thanks to you, honorable veteran, I was able to finally understand the real power of the Blade-fist. It was I who is in debt to you," Wang Tong announced as he bowed deeply at Ulysses. His sincerity was unmistakable.

"Haha! Hahahaha..." Ulysses suddenly burst out laughing. There were many mixed feelings in his laughter: joy, pain, regret all coalesced into a gale of laughter that shot through the air.

Ulysses signed off, and that was the last time he appeared in the IPA.

The members of the Golden Star saluted in unison in reverence of their captain. The other in the audience also felt a sense of deep respect to this veteran that rose inside of them. This was a truly meaningful fight.

In a squalid corner somewhere on earth.

"Hey, Boss, Boss! Where have you been? Einherjar Wannabe has won again! And again, you have missed it."

"Yeah, what a pity that you have missed that fight, it was wild!"

Ulysses cracked a smile and said, "I couldn't help it, guys! My belly becomes upset whenever I am nervous! I had to go number 2!"

"Haha, fine, you don't have to watch it, as long as you keep this virtual café running."

"Haha! Einherjar Wannabe! Hooray!"

A group of teenagers cheered for Einherjar Wannabe's victory around Ulysses.

As Ulysses walked away from the teenage crowd, he somehow felt strangely satisfied.

In the PA system, although the two combatants had already signed off, lots of people remained online discussing the fight. There were too many unsolved riddles surrounding this fight.

Someone had checked the polls and announced that, toward the end of the match, the majority of the people of the audiences had thought that Einherjar Wannabe was going to lose due to the unbridgeable gap.

However, not only Einherjar Wannabe was victorious, he seemed to have done it against all odds.

"Oh for f*ck sake! He won? Again? HOW!" Miao Xiu's yelled on top of his lungs, and his rage had startled Luv Ma.

"Is that excitement or resentment? What the f*ck man." Luv Mar gave Miao Xiu a dirty look for disturbing him.

"Of course, it is excitement! It's great news! You know what it means?" Without waiting for an answer, Miao Xiu continued, "It means that only I, Miao Xiu, can defeat that bastard."

Luv Ma rolled his eyes, "He didn't even accept your challenge, dude. He had just defeated someone who is a tier above him. That is unthinkable."

"What's your estimate of his soul energy?"

"Hold on." Luv Mar moved his fingers furiously on the keyboard for a while. "175 at its peak... I'm dumbfounded. Did technique really play such an important role? Or was it because he had a much greater GN force."

"Not likely. Even if he had a stronger GN force at his disposal, with the same level of soul power, the utilization rate of GN force should remain the same. It is evident in this fight that his overall power has remained same as his previous fights. Regarding natural talent, I don't think he is even as much as me."

"To be honest, I had felt the same. But..."

The two of them suddenly found themselves out of words as they stared at each other. But they were thinking of the same thing: the power copy ability. Everyone's signature moves or coup de grace required specific tactics to implement; therefore, it was almost impossible for someone to pick it up quickly and use it, much less master it. However, Einherjar Wannabe seemed to have had done just that in every fight.

Not only Miao Xiu found it implausible but also did everyone else. Many more mysteries surrounded Einherjar Wannabe. For example, no one had figured out how he had blocked the last attack and what did he use at the end... was it really the Blade-fist?

It was common knowledge that a fighter could infuse his weapon with his GN force, and thus creating a blade-aura to increase the damage. However, it was much harder to do the same with one's own body as it required exponentially more GN force. An ordinary fourth tier fighter would be able to create a blade aura, but only a handful of very talented fifth tier fighter had supposedly achieved having an aura on their body parts. No one had ever heard of a fourth tier fighter, such as Einherjar Wannabe, achieving the same.

On top of all the mysteries, Einherjar Wannabe's strikingly young age had made things even more perplexing.

The employees of DREAM were engrossed in their work, trying their best to create a video analysis as soon as possible. Ever since Einherjar Wannabe appeared, they welcomed working over time since they knew that some surprises were guaranteed in store for them. The immense joy of witness miracles at first hand was something even money could not buy.

When they had first confirmed the identity of Wings of Heaven, they had felt a little bit disappointed, fearing that Einherjar Wannabe's defeat would be inevitable. Even Cameron had felt unnerved. He had hoped for a tougher opponent so that the fight would be more exciting, but he was also afraid of Einherjar Wannabe's defeat since once that happened, the mysterious fighter would lose all of its commercial values.

When Einherjar Wannabe released his final strike, even the usually-calm Cameron had jumped out of his seat and cheered loudly.

By then, Cameron felt that even the official tournaments seemed pale and boring in comparison with Einherjar Wannabe's fights.

As Einherjar Wannabe's fame grew, his influence had eventually reached beyond the PA system, bringing much-needed attentions to the PA system that was otherwise slowly dying-by-attrition

The official release of the video analysis had hit the internet soon after the fight, and it had stirred up another wave of disturbance. People's jaw almost dropped to the ground as they watched Einherjar Wannabe's fingers jabbed 325 times at the blade during the last second of the standoff.

Some seemingly incredible moves would lose its novelty under scrutiny, but studying carefully at Wang Tong's move only evoked more curiosity.

The recording also cleared people's doubt regarding his aura-infused Blade-fist. The aura and the techniques were both authentic. Although Einherjar Wannabe didn't follow through the strike until the end, the attack had shattered Ulysses's defense and ended the fight spectacularly.

"What scares me is how calm he was, despite being a crazy bad*ss," Miao Xiu commented in one of his online posts.

Meanwhile, in Bernabeu, students were having a heated debate about the mysterious fighter. Apache was about to leave the video room with a solemn face. He had come to watch this fight willingly, without Cao Yi's urge.

Cao Yi stopped him and asked, "Don't go yet, tell us what you think." Cao Yi then took out a notebook and was ready to record what he was about to hear.

Apache turned his head around said, "He doesn't seem like a 16 years old, but rather a veteran." Then he scurried out of the room.

At the moment of life and death, when most ordinary fighters would have been shaken and paralyzed by the fear of facing the battle trance, Wang Tong did not waver even the slightest. Wang Tong's calmness and steadfastness had unsettled Apache, for he knew at first hand that it would take years of brutal killing to forge such an adamant will.

Chapter 131: A Girl's Feeling

Translator: Double_L Editor: Tehrn

It was the match that everyone had hoped to witness, and everything seemed to be going on the right track. The sixteen-year-old Einherjar Wannabe had once again created a miracle. If his previous wins were all surprises, this victory would fall under the "mind-blowing" category.

Most of the time Einherjar Wannabe was intimidating during battles, yet there were also times that he would be careless, especially since he had the "fetish" of knocking out his opponent with their own techniques, which everybody loved and hated at the same time.

Nevertheless, everyone was eager to find out the real identity of Einherjar Wannabe. They couldn't help wondering how a sixteen-year-old boy could be so experienced in fights and what sort of tactics he practiced that could sustain battles like this. In fact, even the Five Greatest Tactics wouldn't be able to do so, if people would have to pick one from those five tactics, the House of Dower's flawless Tactics of the Deva King might be the only one with the highest possibility. Yet they knew that Einherjar Wannabe was not one of the successors of the Tactics of the Deva King because his movements were not elegant and graceful at all, his movements were too much sloppy.

However, if that really was the case, was there any tactic in this world that could exceed the Five Greatest Tactics? Somehow the match had brought out a lot of questions that awaited to be answered.

Wang Tong didn't leave immediately after the match, he sat and tried to remember what just happened. Wang Tong was actually planning to unleash the power of his two hundred and fifty-six nodes Tactics of the Blade when Wings of Heaven pushed him to the corner with his brutal attacks. However, Wang Tong didn't do so because he knew that it wouldn't bring any benefit to his training since it would only be a temporary solution. In the end, Wang Tong managed to overcome his fear and defended himself from Wings of Heaven's fatal strike by overclocking his GN Force as he counterattacked. Wang Tong might be able to withstand such an attack in PA, yet he knew he would've been sliced into half in real battles due to various circumstances.

Nevertheless, it was a fruitful battle, and he managed to learn something new. At least, he made a breakthrough and uplifted his confidence, this was important as one would have to believe in one's own strength in order to thrive.

Wang Tong's fight and Soul Energy at the moment was induced through his sixteen nodes Tactics of the Blade, and he had made a rather strange discovery recently. Apparently, the two hundred and fifty-six nodes Tactics of the Blade had significantly boosted his GN Force, yet it did not affect the power of his Soul Energy. However, no one was able to notice this previously, even Wang Ben thought it was his own mistake for not being able to defend himself from Wang Tong's attack.

Even Einherjar Wannabe — the only one who had fully practiced the Tactics of the Blade — had no answer to this question. To him, the simplified eight node Tactics of the Blade was total rubbish. It might be safe for everyone to practice, but it wouldn't have much help in the practice of one's Soul Energy, which was obviously why the other tactics were stronger than this one. Furthermore, the Tactics of the Blade only served as the base of the training process, which allowed one to avoid becoming deranged and reduce the chances of turning berserk during the practice of other tactics.

Wang Tong's sixteen nodes version was way much stronger than the usual eight nodes version though, which explained why his Soul Energy would skyrocket once mind opened. Moreover, the dangerous life on Norton served as the key for him to master the power within; nevertheless, it had been the two hundred and fifty-six nodes version that had changed him completely. However, there were still a couple of things that bothered him; one of them being the amount of his Soul Energy that didn't increase significantly even though the two hundred and fifty-six nodes Tactics of the Blade had applied a finishing touch to the mastery. It also explained why there wasn't any huge contrast when he unleashed his Soul Energy, but it did manage to enhance his abilities to fight. Hence, Wang Tong suspected that the two hundred and fifty-six nodes Tactics of the Blade was most probably meant to have a direct effect on his GN Force only.

Anyhow, that was only his speculation since the real explanation was not available yet. Nevertheless, the mystical Tactics of the Blade was unlike the other conventional tactics so everything might be possible.

Wang Tong knew that he would have to train harder because the sixteen nodes Tactics of the Blade was the core to every connection. His fighter instinct was telling him that things would go terribly wrong if he got obsessed with the two hundred and fifty-six nodes version since power that could be obtained easily was always unstable and unsustainable.

How he wished he had a mentor by his side, then he wouldn't have to figure it out through trial and error and guess everything on his own every single time. Hopefully, he wouldn't go crazy as time went on.

Previously, Wang Tong had learned the delicate control of his GN Force through the match against Cisco, as for today, he was able to learn a new hand-chopping technique. Wang Tong then waved his arms to imitate the chopping action and chuckled as he struck a pose at the end, he even began to realize that he was quite handsome when he did that at the final part and might really have what it takes to be a celebrity. Instantly, the unrivaled warrior had turned into a silly, narcissistic boy in the game room.

Growl… growl…

"Aww, come on, I just fed you!" Wang Tong smacked his belly as he grumbled.

In order to eat, Wang Tong would have to spend money again, but it couldn't be helped. He was starving and needed to eat to replenish his stamina since he was drained after the match with Wings of Heaven a while ago.

"Yes, yes, stop growling. I'm gonna feed you in a minute!" the growl from his stomach got louder as Wang Tong spoke while smacking his own belly. It was obviously "protesting" against him for causing the intense hunger. Wang Tong had gone through a lot of hardships while he was trapped on Norton, yet now he was going through starvation; then again he blamed the big man up there for making him suffer.

"Boss, the bill please?"

"Haha, it's okay, you can just swipe your card right there. So how was the match? Exciting?" The shopkeeper smiled brightly.

"Of course, it was awesome! Hey, thanks for reserving the room, by the way, I'd have been damned if I'd missed it!"

"You're welcome, our shop might be small, but privileges would definitely be provided for the VIPs! Well, see ya next time, go… good night!"

The shopkeeper waved his hand happily, all thanks to this kid, tonight was yet another full house. With the customers screaming and shouting in his shop and drinks selling fast, the shopkeeper almost called Wang Tong "golden goose" by mistake.

However, Wang Tong didn't suspect anything, as a matter of fact, he thought the shopkeeper was being nice to him probably because he looked cute and honest!

After leaving DREAM Heaven, the somehow narcissistic Wang Tong went off to assuage his hunger.

"Xiaoru, I'm sure that my dream of crushing Capth will definitely come true if this Einherjar Wannabe dude becomes one of us!" Samantha said as she gulped.

"Looks like you're eager to recruit every single elite into Ayrlarng, Sam."

"The more, the merrier! Now that I've obtained Paradise Island as the training base, I'm finally able to relax... gosh, I really feel like kissing you right now, come closer my dear little princess."

"Eww, get off me, you're disgusting!" Ma Xiaoru might be able to handle the Tactics of the Enchantress, but she was helpless in front of Samantha.

"Why the long face my dear little princess? What's bothering you? Wanna talk about it?" Ma Xiaoru had been very moody lately. Even Einherjar Wannabe's incredible match was not able to get her interested, and Samantha believed she knew the reason.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Ma XIaoru shook her head.

"Oh… I think I know why. Did that idiot make you upset again? Didn't you use the method I taught you? Men will not appreciate you for being nice to them, in order to get their attention, you must act proud."

"He wasn't like that!" Ma Xiaoru defended.

"Oh, so it's really about that idiot huh."

"Sam!"

"Alright, okay, my bad. Why don't you tell your big sis what's going on? I can't believe my methods failed!" Samantha was really curious to know why Wang Tong would ignore such a perfect girl like Ma Xiaoru.

Ma Xiaoru then began to explain how she applied Samantha's "proud peacock" method, and Samantha was showing a weird expression after hearing Ma Xiaoru's words.

"Sam, do you think… do you think he already has someone he likes?" Ma Xiaoru looked worried. Somehow, her mood swings were caused by the fickle and unpredictable qualities of the Tactics of the Enchantress, but if the person who practiced it were losing her mentality, the tactics itself could become uncontrollable.

Even though she had been practicing hard on her Tactics of the Enchantress recently, her progress had become stagnant. Apparently, not everything could be under control by being rational, especially since her personality was totally different from Samantha's.

"Perhaps he's..." Samantha's serious look made Ma Xiaoru nervous, could he be…

"Perhaps he's gay!" Samantha said in a serious tone.

"Sam! I'm not gonna talk to you if you keep teasing me."

Samantha couldn't help teasing Ma Xiaoru, even she was attracted to this kind-hearted and pretty little girl. Nice girls like Ma Xiaoru were getting lesser and lesser, not to mention her wonderful family background, yet that idiot Wang Tong kept ignoring her…

"Do you really like him that much? I mean, you two barely know each other; moreover, there are tons of guys who are better than him." It seemed like Samantha was also curious about Ma Xiaoru's feelings for the kid as if it wasn't supposed to be like that.

"Even I have no idea why... Perhaps it's because I'm comfortable being around him, it's hard to explain verbally though, I dunno what's wrong with me."

"Relax Xiaoru, whether he likes you or not, it's not a big deal; furthermore, you are not sure of your own feelings as well, so there's no need to get tangled up with it. Just be normal and be direct at school tomorrow, feel free to talk to him or have lunch together, you don't have to hide your feelings," Samantha said.

"You're right, Sam! Silly me!" Ma Xiaoru jumped up all of a sudden.

"A-hem, missy, you just flashed your panty to me, please mind your image!"

Without a doubt, Ma Xiaoru's figure was stunningly gorgeous for her young age, and her prettiness was one of a kind, not to mention she was armed with the Tactics of the Enchantress. Rumor has it that every woman who practiced the Tactics of the Enchantress was hard to be "tamed", yet it would be the best thing to ever happened to a guy if he was able to do so. In fact, the first person who was able to do so happened to be General Li Feng, and it turned out that his ability to hit on girls was just as impressive as his glorious achievements. According to the legend, even General Rilangalos Dower, the greatest rival and also the mightiest Zerg slaying partner of General Li Feng, was deeply impressed with his charm around women.

Even though General Rilangalos was known as mankind's greatest Mr. Perfect, he didn't marry someone stunningly beautiful. Many Ivantian girls were heartbroken when the news of his marriage was made public.

Those happened many years ago though.

It seemed that Ma Xiaoru had also become hard to be tamed, only God knows what would happen in the future.

"Your figure is better than mine, Sam. I wish that someday I could be like you." All of a sudden, Ma Xiaoru hugged Samantha from behind. Obviously, her practice on Tactics of the Enchantress had also brought up her impishness.

"Oh you naughty little lady, how dare you to ambush me like that. Looks like someone needs to be punished!"

The two pretty ladies began chasing each other across the carpet, if there were men in the room, they would be completely mesmerized by their pearly white feet. Present or future, these two beauties definitely had what it takes to make the world go round…

Monday Blues was common amongst most people, yet Wang Tong looked energetic and excited. It seemed like he was satisfied with yesterday night's match, and also the fact that he ate well and had a good night sleep.

He noticed that most people were talking about Einherjar Wannabe's match, and he had even got the attention of some Ivantians since the former captain of the Golden Star was involved in that fight. When the Ivantians were interested in something, Martians would barge in for sure. Apparently, Martians had frequently been competing against Ivantians in recent years, mainly because the economy of Mars was growing strong and rapidly as it was the main transit planet of the Centaurus Cluster. With such a development, it would be normal for both of them to compete against each other.

Chapter 132: The Twin Sisters

Translator: Double_L Editor: Tehrn

Generally, both Ivantians and Martians had agreed on making planet Earth as the hub planet, and even reluctantly agreed to have Earth as the political hub. However, neither of them would compromise when it came to deciding which planet would be the economic hub and the one with the most popular city. Thus triggering the Martians and Ivantians to go head to head against each other in order to prove who was stronger and better.

Through gaining help from the Kaedeians, Mars had been developing rapidly in recent years and was even turned into a planet that was suitable for Earthlings to live in. Besides that, unique species of plants were also brought to Mars, transforming its habitat to a green as vibrant as Earth. Furthermore, two out of the three largest spaceports were also located in Mars, which also explained one of the reasons behind their arrogance.

"Wang Tong, all of us from S will be going out for lunch later, my treat, so make sure you come along, Captain!" Ma Xiaoru said to Wang Tong in a jolly manner. It seemed like Ma Xiaoru had really come to her senses. In fact, it wasn't a big deal at all so she really had no reasons to have scruples since youngster shouldn't be hesitating that much from time to time.

"Wow, a treat from our dear vice captain, of course, I'll bring along my appetite!" Wang Tong loved free lunches.

"Alright, I'll be expecting your arrival later!"

"An invitation to a banquet from the princess, obviously, everyone will be there," Wang Tong joked.

"That's very kind of you, I'll let you sit beside me later then," Ma Xiaoru said in a charming manner.

"Thank you, your Highness." Ever since Wang Tong defeated Bernabeu and became one of Ayrlarng's aces, no one was jealous of him getting too close to Ma Xiaoru anymore.

Wherever there was free food, Carl would be there. Somehow the word "polite" didn't exist in his vocabulary, no wonder he was called the grandmaster of cheekiness.

Ma Xiaoru went to confirm her reservation as soon as the class was dismissed, and Wang Tong went off to inform Zhou Sisi about the lunch gathering; she had to be very busy lately for not replying to his message on Sky-net.

Wang Tong was always enthusiastic about food, which was why he didn't want to be late because he knew that Wang Ben and the other few members with a huge appetite wouldn't be waiting for him even though he was their captain.

"Ah, there she is, but why is she walking in the opposite direction?"

Apparently, the way Zhou Sisi walked looked so elegant today, she was wearing a cap, and even the way she dressed looked different, simple yet stylish.

Wang Tong rushed forward and surprised her from behind, "Sisi!" Then he hooked his right arm on her shoulder and whispered, "You think I wouldn't recognize you in another outfit?"

All of a sudden, Zhou Sisi grabbed Wang Tong's hand and elbowed his ribcage, it caught Wang Tong by surprise, luckily he had good reflexes and managed to defend Zhou Sisi's elbow strike with his left hand. Then, Zhou Sisi's elbow strike was quickly followed by another kick aiming toward his crotch, of course, Wang Tong managed to dodge her attack again.

"Woah Missy, don't you think you're going a little too far? You could've killed your own mentor!"

"Get off me!" Zhou Sisi seemed to be kind of embarrassed.

"Okay, okay, don't hit me. I'm just here to tell you that Xiaoru has invited us for lunch to celebrate the establishment of S, and since you're not replying to my messages on Sky-net, I took the trouble to run-around looking for you. C'mon hurry up, Wang Ben and the guys are gonna finish all the food if we're late!" Wang Tong said with a smile on his face.

"Oh."

Somehow Zhou Sisi looked strange today. Usually, she wasn't that defensive.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Sisi asked.

"Dunno… you look weird today."

"You're thinking too much, c'mon let's go! I thought you said we're supposed to hurry?" Zhou Sisi gave Wang Tong a little push.

"You look weird with a cap."

"Shut up, I was just trying on a mysterious look today." Wang Tong zipped his mouth immediately, it seemed like Zhou Sisi was having a bad day.

"The best thing a man can do is to shut the hell up when a woman is infuriated." Quotes by Old Fart.

As both of them arrived, the other members were already there.

"What took you two so long? Wow, Sisi, you're looking different today!"

"Alright fella, that's enough. Well, since we're all here, cheers! Bottoms up!"

"Vice captain, aren't we supposed to have alcohol for such occasion?" Carl asked aloud.

"No, we're having Gansus' class in the afternoon, unless you are planning to skip his class," Hu Yangxuan said.

"I don't drink alcohol," Rumi said softly as she rubbed her fingers.

"Alright, fine, if you guys say so... cheers guys!"

Everyone raised their glasses together and clank for the cheers, creating a joyful atmosphere.

The boys then began to gobble up. Since they already knew each other, no one was acting shy at all. The girls, on the other hand, kept looking at each other, obviously ashamed of the guys' embarrassing expressions.

Tita from the Heavy Arm Force had the biggest appetite amongst the boys, not to mention that he was also the biggest in terms of body size. In fact, the training of the Heavy Arm Force was the toughest compared to the other faculties because Heavy Arm Operators were required to maintain a strong body, which was why their physical training was harsher. Ever since his humiliating defeat against Bernabeu, Tita learned that he wasn't as strong as he thought; hence he had been working out really hard recently.

"Hey guys, looks like Einherjar Wannabe had done it again, do y'all think he's actually some sorta top-notch from another academy?" Tita mumbled while chewing his food.

"Possible, since weirdos always exist in S-Ranked academies. Apparently, they don't like to compete in school, but they'll rampage at some other places!"

"Nevertheless, the outcome was absolutely mind-blowing! His opponent was a fighter with fifth tier Soul Power, yet Einherjar Wannabe was able to defeat him with his level fourth tier Soul Power, he is really something else." Although they were the top-notches of Ayrlarng, they were thrilled when watching Einherjar Wannabe's matches every single time. His strength and ability were off the chart.

"Yo, everyone is having a conversation yet you're still eating." Zhou Sisi gave Wang Tong a little push.

"Oh, wha… yea, he's good, really good," Wang Tong murmured a few words and carried on with his feast.

At the other end of the table, Wang Ben was also eating in silence. Instead of spending time commenting on Einherjar Wannabe's amazing performance, he'd rather focus his mind on what he could do to ask for a rematch.

As a matter of fact, Wang Ben was incredibly excited after watching the match between Einherjar Wannabe and Wings of Heaven. Einherjar Wannabe was special to Wang Ben since that guy was the one who made him who he was today. However, the more excited he felt, the more prudent he would get. If Wang Ben was still the old him, he would have been eager to challenge him again, but he had changed! Now, all he wanted was to be well prepared in order to push himself further, and Wang Ben would not ask for a rematch unless he was able to reach his own expectation. Furthermore, he knew it would be meaningless if he were to re-challenge him without any preparation.

Wang Ben assumed that Einherjar Wannabe would like to see him again in the battle ring too, but he definitely did not want someone who wasn't fully prepared. Apparently, Wang Ben was quite pressured by Einherjar Wannabe's recent performances, yet he didn't back down and turned those pressures into urges instead.

Zhou Sisi was left speechless as she was a bit disappointed in Wang Tong's slapdash attitude.

"I heard that Einherjar Wannabe has become the most wanted person of Capth right after Cisco was defeated, and a lot of students have been sending him challenge invitations ever since," Ma Xiaoru who was sitting right next to Wang Tong changed the subject all of a sudden, she began to envy the natural intimacy between Wang Tong and Zhou Sisi, which was kind of impossible for her to achieve.

"Students of Capth have always been ambitious, but unfortunately for them, Einherjar Wannabe isn't someone who could be easily defeated. In fact, these youngsters will never stand a chance against Einherjar Wannabe… unless you're one of the Four Princes," Hu Yangxuan said.

Hu Yangxuan didn't over-exaggerate Einherjar Wannabe's ability because there were still quite a handful of aces hidden among the students of Capth, and besides Capth, there were also a lot of young aces in the Court of the Templar. Usually, higher ranked disciples in the Court of the Templar were not interested in battles like this; however, he had no idea if the hidden aces of Capth would be interested since those weirdos were always full of surprises.

"I still can't believe that we will be facing off against Capth soon," Kyaero said while touching his head, he felt that it was already a huge honor just being able to participate in such event, as most of them who entered Ayrlarng would never expect such privilege.

"Hmph, what's so amazing about Capth? As soon as we crush them into pieces, then it will be the moment for Ayrlarng to bask in the glory again! Hahaha!" Carl was full of confidence as usual. No one said nothing as he laughed, but Carl wasn't embarrassed at all. Most probably because he was born with an optimistic personality, he was always joyful.

Zhou Sisi shook her head as she stared across the fellow elites of Ayrlarng.

"What's wrong, Sisi? You seem quiet today, it's not like you."

"Yea, are you feeling okay, Secretary Zhou?" a few of the boys questioned.

Bam…

Suddenly, someone slam-opened the door as Zhou Sisi was about to speak, and everyone couldn't believe what they were witnessing; the poor Carl almost stuck his chicken drumstick into his nose. Wang Ben and Wang Tong were the only ones who were still eating when this happened, but Wang Ben stopped eating too when he looked up, but Wang Tong had no idea what happened as his back was facing the door.

"What's wrong fellas?"

Wang Tong turned around and immediately got stunned by what he saw; there were two Zhou Sisi's! One was standing by the doorway while the other one was joining them at the dining table! What in the name of God was going on here?!

"There you are, Yiyi!" Zhou Sisi was surprised as well.

"Sis!" The other "Zhou Sisi" got up from the dining table and gave Zhou Sisi a big hug while kissing her on the face.

"You naughty girl! Oh, I'm so sorry guys, this is Zhou Yiyi, my twin sister!"

The other "Zhou Sisi" took off her cap and revealed her long dark hair, "Hello everyone, I'm Zhou Yiyi, the younger twin sister, nice to meet you all… you guys have been very entertaining." Zhou Yiyi then burst into laughter.

"You… you… you're..." Carl stood up all of a sudden, and the rest of the group finally realized what was going on. Both Zhou Sisi and Zhou Yiyi's figures were identical, and Zhou Yiyi managed to fool their eyes since she was wearing a training outfit and she covered most of her face with the cap; however, the group was able to see the difference between those two girls as Zhou Yiyi took off her cap.

Zhou Sisi had the appearance of a good student, while Zhou Yiyi, on the other hand, looked vibrant and rebellious. Although the two of them looked exactly the same, somehow people were still able to differentiate the two of them from their silent and active personalities.

"You're YIYI from Happy Girls!" Tita yelled, apparently the tough guy was also one of those Happy Girls fans.

Happy Girls was currently the most popular teen idol group consisting of three members, one from Earth, one from Moon, and one from Mars; two of them were Earthlings while the other one was a Kaedeian girl.

These girls were the biggest rising stars in recent years. All three of them had their own characteristics, and their voices and images were widely accepted amongst the younger generations, not to mention that they were also very talented in singing; hence their fame skyrocketed as soon as the album entitled "Happy Girls" was released.

Chapter 133: Recon Zergs

Translator: Double_L Editor: Tehrn

"No wonder I thought Sisi looked like YIYI. Turns out both of you are really twin sisters. Good God, and you've been keeping this secret from us since day one!"

"Yea, Sisi, you should've told us earlier since we're friends!"

"Kiddo, you're the one who caused this trouble, so fix it yourself." Zhou Sisi waved her hand helplessly. However, Zhou Yiyi stuck out her tongue instead. Although both of them were at the same age, people were able to see that Zhou Sisi was obviously the older twin sister as Zhou Yiyi was still behaving like a child.

Everyone sat back down, and apparently, most of them were still overwhelmed by what had happened awhile ago, Wang Tong, on the other hand, was terribly ashamed of making that horrible mistake.

"I'm guessing you're sneaking out again huh?" Zhou Sisi pulled Zhou Yiyi toward her.

"C'mon sis, I barely had the chance to go home, so of course, I had to sneak out! Just so you know, I'll be going back tonight in order to get prepared for the Sub Zero Polar Concert."

Most of the boys got excited by the unexpected appearance of a celebrity. To be honest, Zhou Sisi herself was already quite pretty amongst the girls, but now that they had learned about her idol twin sister and her resemblance to Zhou Yiyi, suddenly they all realized that Zhou Sisi had become even prettier.

However, not everyone seemed to be interested, as the others were busy looking at the twins, Wang Ben and Wang Tong carried on with their feast.

Everyone left right after Carl got his signature from Zhou Yiyi, leaving the twin sisters to do their catch-up. Thankfully this was a military academy, so they didn't have to worry about getting discovered by crazy fans.

"Yiyi, can't you stay a bit longer?" Zhou Sisi said as she held her little sister's hands. Both of them had made their own choices, Zhou Sisi enrolled in the Academy of Ayrlarng, while Zhou Yiyi decided to pursue her dream of becoming an idol. In the end, the two of them had achieved their goals, and this was the first time they got to see each other after parted ways for more than a year.

"Don't worry sis, this time I'll be staying on Earth a little longer, and your ticket for the concert is already with me, so please come and see me perform on that day."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely be there as long as nothing special occurs!"

"So that's Wang Tong huh, the dude that you were talking about?" Zhou Yiyi gave a rather ambiguous smile as she said.

"Did you say something weird to him just now?"

"Nope, but that guy sucks, Sis! I suggest you look for another one," Zhou Yiyi replied.

"Shut it, kiddo! You're talking nonsense again."

"C'mon sis, you're only a few minutes older than me, but I do feel that the other pretty lady has some feelings for him too," Zhou Yiyi was talking about Ma Xiaoru.

Zhou Sisi smiled and said, "Just take care of yourself, no need to worry about me, I'm fine."

"Yea, yea, I'll be a good girl. Anyway, promise me you'll come to my concert or I'll stop listening to you, Sis! Haha, of course, you can bring him along."

"We're just friends and schoolmates, it's not what you think it is."

"Hmph, that picky bastard! You want me to help you talk some sense into that idiot, Sis?" Zhou Sisi seemed to be pissed.

"Don't do anything stupid!"

"I'm standing up for you, Dear Sister. Most importantly, just now I heard they were saying about challenging Capth, is that true?" Obviously, Zhou Yiyi was quite familiar with Capth.

"Haha, yea, you'll support me right?"

"Of course, Sis, you can do it! Let's keep up the good work together!"

"It's hard to believe that YIYI is actually Zhou Sisi's twin sister."

"It's even harder to believe that you've mistaken her as Zhou Sisi and brought her along, that's hilarious dude!" Hu Yangxuan joked.

"Shut up dude, you and everyone else didn't realize either that she was not Sisi." Wang Tong was obviously embarrassed by his mistake, but who in the world would have thought that she was actually her twin sister?

"Nevertheless, I have to say, I just realized that Sisi has become much prettier lately," everyone laughed as Hu Yangxuan said that.

Zhou Sisi chose to keep it as a secret from everyone because she didn't want herself to become the center of attentions because of this, and it also explained why she was so good at singing and dancing. Perhaps Zhou Sis might also have become another successful idol if she had chosen the same path as her twin sister, yet Sisi pursued her own passion and joined the military instead.

Both sisters had different personalities even though they were twins.

Zhou Yiyi left right after lunch as she had a busy schedule ahead; nevertheless, she was glad to sneak out and visit her dear sister even though they could only chat for a little while.

Despite that the secret of her idol twin sister got discovered, Zhou Sisi remained the same, so was Wang Tong and the rest of the group; not to mention that both Wang Tong and Wang Ben were not some regular star-struck teenagers.

After that little incident, everyone went back to attend Gansus' lecture. This time, Ma Xiaoru took the initiative to sit beside Wang Tong after realizing that she had no reasons to distance herself, all she had to do was to act normal. Ma Xiaoru felt more relaxed after she managed to overcome the awkwardness.

"So, what do you think about Yiyi? Beautiful isn't she?" since Gansus hasn't arrived, Ma Xiaoru took the chance to ask Wang Tong.

"Yes she is, but you look prettier," Wang Tong answered honestly.

"That's very kind of you."

"Well of course, since it would be impolite for me to bite the hands that fed us good lunch," Wang Tong joked.

Ma Xiaoru got angry and gave Wang Tong a good hard pinch when no one was watching. Of course, Wang Tong didn't scream in the class since it would be embarrassing, so he bit his lips and endured the pain.

"Yo, Wang Tong, are you not feeling well?" the other guy sitting beside him asked.

"Nah, he's good, I think he ate too much just now." The guy was totally mesmerized by Ma Xiaoru's charming and cheerful smile.

How Wang Tong wished he could pinch her back for his revenge, but obviously he would never do that since the other classmates might be watching, and it wasn't right to hurt a lady.

After all, women always got the best of men.

In the end, Wang Tong had no choice but to endure the pain, while Ma Xiaoru smiled at him triumphantly.

The whole class shushed when Gansus' heavy footsteps echoed through the doorway of the classroom as everyone knew Gansus preferred silence. Then, Gansus stomped his left foot on the ground, examined everyone and began his lesson: "Today we'll be learning about another type of Zerg. These species of Zergs might be weaker in terms of combat compared to the other Zergs, but they all have one common ability, which is flying."

The Airborne Zergs were one of the most notorious kinds of Zergs among fighters because they could expose the whereabouts of mankind's troops, and their flying ability was really a pain in the *ss. However, there was nothing to be worried about during full force attacks as these Zergs would be handled by units specialized in anti-airborne warfare. Additionally, the Airborne Zergs were also the weakest in terms of defense.

"Take a look at this, this creature here is a Meganeura Zerg[1], or commonly known as the Green-eyed Zergs. They are one of the most common types of Airborne Zergs which specialize in reconnaissance surveys." The image was quickly followed by the detailed data of the Meganeura Zergs. Their size was about three meters in length, their main arsenals were a pair of claws and the tail spine, which allowed them to stab and fling their victims up in the air. The Meganeura Zergs also specialized in close combats. Their large, green eyes had absolutely no dead angles, and they also had excellent flying speed.

"Since y'all have gone through and understood its profile and data, now I'd like to hear about yer thoughts." Gansus laid down the question to the class.

Being the most active student in the class, Carl raised his hand and volunteered to give his opinion, he loved to talk, and nothing could've stopped him.

"Go ahead, Carl."

"Sir, these Green-eyed recon-bastards are one of the most expendable cannon fodders in the legion of Zergs. They have weak combat abilities, all we have to do is to avoid getting detected on the battlefield as fast as we can and kill them as quickly as possible once we see them, or else our whereabouts will be exposed."

"Anyone else wanna add anything to that?" Gansus asked after hearing Carl's thoughts.

Apparently, everyone else in the class too had the same thoughts as Carl, since these lowest ranked Green-eyed Zergs were no strangers to most of them, no one said anything in addition since they had no other thoughts; however, some students did briefly discuss it among themselves.

"Thank you, Carl. Well, it seems like all of ya think that the Green-eyed Zergs are only some sorta weak recon scouts and there's nothing to be feared as long as ya stay out of its radar huh?"

Everyone in the class nodded and began to think what would Gansus say; as far as they knew, those were the only data in its profile, and there was really nothing scary about recon scouts.

"However, these type of Zergs would already be obsolete if we could perfectly avoid their detections. Yet, these Green-eyed bastards still exist up until now even though the Zergs keep on evolving, which means that they are still very useful in the battlefield. The fact is, it is impossible for us to avoid being detected by them, even if we proceed cautiously in the thick jungle. Those huge eyes are not just ordinary eyes, they are actually made out of hundreds of thousands of compound eyes. Normally, those eyes won't react to rocks, trees, and the other stuff, but they're very sensitive when it comes to detecting mankind, like spotting charcoals in a land full of snow, easy peasy!"

"Sir, how far are they able to see?"

"Good question, I'd say around five hundred meters to about one kilometer even in a rough environment. When these creatures detect humans, they'll directly send the image of what they saw to the brain of their leader."

"Oh God, so it means we will be detected anyway?" the class immediately kicked up a fuss.

Even though Gansus was a strict lecturer, he had never forbidden his students to speak up or having discussions in his class.

"What I'm trying to say is, no one can ever escape from the vision of the Green-eyed Zergs," Gansus made the final conclusion.

"But sir, that means we could be ambushed by Zergs anytime on the battlefield!"

"Yea, don't we have any sort of technology or mechanism that could deal with those creatures?"

Somehow Gansus was fed up with these hot-blooded idiots.

Bang bang bang!

"Silence, silence, I said silence! Like I said previously, these creatures will be handled by a recon team specialized in anti-airborne warfare during full force attacks. However, most of the time, the recon teams will be unavailable during squadron missions, and when you happen to encounter the Green-eyed Zergs, that means your team's whereabouts is already exposed, so the only thing you can do is to act accordingly to the situation," Gansus explained.

"Sir, so you were saying that they'll definitely see us if we see them, am I right?"

"Yes, that's what I'm saying, and don't you guys ever think that there might be exceptions. There are 99% chances that the Green-eyed Zergs would have already transmitted the info of your whereabouts when you encounter them, and since their job is done, they will definitely switch to attack mode."

"But Sir, why would these creatures continue to stalk us instead of just directly attack when they see us?"

Notes:

1: Meganeura is a genus of extinct insects from the Carboniferous period, which resembled and are related to the present-day dragonflies. Wikipedia

Chapter 134: Wang Tong's Doubts

Translator:Double_L

Editor:Tehrn

Gansus gave a stone-cold sneer and explained, "Luckily for us, these creatures have low IQ, or else we would be dead for sure. Listen up, even though the Green-eyed Zergs have good visions, they are also the ones with the lowest rank in the legion of Zergs. They are 'programmed' to transmit images of what they saw before switching to attack mode, so we can actually see it as a chance for us to improvise according to the situation."

"You mean we can actually beat them at their own game?"

"That's right, we can use their tricks against them! Although we should never underestimate their capabilities, we should also never overestimate them. Since the Green-eyed Zergs are the ones with the lowest rank, they might be good at observing and detecting, but they don't have the ability to analyze what they see! They can't tell if the info they obtained are true or false since it is always up to the ones with the brains to analyze."

Everyone began to understand after hearing Gansus' explanation, at least now they knew that it was not going to be one man's responsibility when it came to fighting off Green-eyed Zergs during full force attacks. Moreover, both recon team and intel analysis department of the military would have their own sets of skills to handle these creatures, and thankfully, mankind was still able to outsmart the Zergs in terms of intel gathering. However, instead of large-scale battles, most of the fights against the Zergs were mainly dispersed warfare in the recent decade, which was why normal troops should also be cautious and pay attention to these creatures as it would become a matter of life and death even though it might not have anything to do with the overall situations.

Everyone nodded, they seemed to have understood one thing in Gansus' lessons: remember the methods and act spontaneously when encountering that particular species of Zerg.

Wang Tong tilted his eyebrow and hesitated to speak; however, Gansus was able to notice his minor change of expression.

"Wang Tong, ya wanna say something?"

Wang Tong paused and said, "Sir, recently I've been doing a lot of readings about Zergs, but it seems that some of the info in those materials are already outdated and became unusable. Besides, most of the things you said in class are not even mentioned in the textbooks."

"Hmph, that's because the authorities of the Earth Confederation are always busy expanding their military might, and although some of them have been focusing on education development, yet it is still not enough."

"I've seen these Green-eyed Zergs before; however, if I'm not mistaken, they've also evolved into another type of Green-eyed Zergs. The new ones are smaller in size, approximately one meter long, the color of their bodies are scarlet instead of the generic green, and they are extremely weak in their attacks, but their flying speed is twice as strong as the conventional ones. The rough estimation of their charging speed is around two hundred kilometers per hour. Not to mention they're also quite aggressive, but I'm not sure if they share the same archetype with the common Green-eyed Zergs."

Gansus was surprised to hear what Wang Tong said, and everyone else in the class was also started by Wang Tong's words. Aside from being a teacher, Gansus was also the expert in the study of Zergs, and for the sake of his lessons, he had a lot of friends and comrades who were constantly updating him with the latest info about Zergs. Not every teacher in Ayrlarng was as hardworking and passionate as him.

"So you've seen them before?"

"I can't be specific, but they do share a similar appearance. These smaller ones are very timid, and they generally don't participate in battles. Personally, I think they might be the ones giving commands," Wang Tong explained further. He had no proof as the info was all based on his observations during previous battles.

Gansus remained silent for a while and said, "Let's continue after class." Then Gansus asked Wang Tong to sit down and carried on with his lesson about Green-eyed Zergs.

"Way to go, Mr. Know-it-all," Ma Xiaoru praised impressively.

"Nah, it's just my luck."

Somehow Ma Xiaoru was unable to fully understand Wang Tong, it didn't seem like he was acting and showing off, but everything he did was beyond what people usually achieved. Most of the students had never seen a Green-eyed Zerg before, let alone its archetype.

However, everyone had gotten used to Wang Tong's extraordinary performances as they had already been learning together for quite some time.

Gansus asked Wang Tong to follow him to his office as soon as the bell rang. Obviously, Gansus was very keen to learn about this himself even though it was way above the syllabus.

"Take a seat." Gansus' office was very simple but surprisingly neat and tidy. "Ya want something to drink? I've only got water."

"Water will do, Sir."

"So tell me about this weird looking Green-eyed Zerg that's not included in the archive of Zergs." Gansus looked very interested.

Wang Tong began to tell him what he saw, and Gansus seemed to be amazed by what he had heard, "It's absolutely a miracle for you to be able to survive on Norton."

"Sir, I've had this thought for quite some time, but I'm not sure if it's okay to say here."

"Don't be a wimp, feel free to say anything in my office."

"I have a feeling that the Zergs are using Norton as an experimental base. During my later days on Norton, I've been spending quite some time observing these creatures. Not only I've discovered that their species have increased, but apparently, they were also fighting among themselves. According to what the biologists said, the Zergs should be self-evolving creatures, but from what I saw, it felt like more like a breeding farm controlled by another party which allows the Zergs to kill each other in order to survive. Besides the new Green-eyed Zergs, there are also quite an extensive amount of Zergs which are not available in the archive."

Gansus lit up a cigarette and said, "What'cha said is totally different from what we've heard, the Confederation had been spending more than a year eradicating those troops of Zergs, yet they didn't manage to discover what you just said when they were doing their extermination. If what'cha said is true, then it's possible that the legion of Zergs is plotting something disastrous."

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, Sir, but if they really are plotting something big, that would also mean that their intelligence has tremendously improved."

"It's possible since these creatures are very good in evolution. However, the only thing I could do in my position is to submit a report to my old pals and see if they can offer any help, yet I'm not sure if the Confederation would be taking this seriously."

"I see, to be honest, what I saw might only be a part of the big picture, since I could only move around the area of my hideout and the radius was very small."

"Actually, this is what I'm concerned about, it does sound like a biological research facility since the small area was turned into a breeding farm that consists of a Zergs' complete pyramid system… Anyway, I'm very impressed with yer splendid memories, I can't believe ya can remember everything clearly," Gansus praised him, although there was no proof to backup Wang Tong's claims, yet Gansus believed that his student would never lie.

Gansus too had no idea why would the Zergs attack Norton since they had been laying low for the past years, yet a large-scaled legion of Zergs suddenly invaded Norton, but they only managed to last for a year. Everything sounded suspicious since the Zergs were not stupid enough to waste their forces to do something that meaningless.

The Earth Confederation had always been bragging about its unrivaled military might, yet somehow it sounded like they had underestimated the capabilities of the Zergs. To be honest, mankind was able to live in peace now all thanks to General Li Feng's splendid battle strategies combined with the help from the FFC Corporation's advanced technologies, and there was also the god-like Blade Warrior who dealt a fatal blow to the Zergs at the beginning of the war. However, neither of them were able to exterminate these creatures completely. In fact, the Zergs' tenacity had surpassed all other lifeforms throughout the galaxy as they were able to survive anywhere, whether it was a tiny planet or even a cluster of meteorites. Not to mention the Zergs' mysterious Space Hives that were capable of performing Hyper Jump and leap through spaces even though they were bio organisms, which was another reason why mankind couldn't destroy them completely.

Throughout the battles with the Zergs, mankind was constantly researching new methods to counter the Zergs, while the Zergs' evolution patterns also tended to focus more on countering mankind. Many people knew that learning and researching were the greatest strength of mankind; however, people began to worry if the Zergs would also develop the same ability throughout as they evolved because the whole galaxy would definitely be doomed if this really happened. Nevertheless, it would be pointless worrying about it since no one was able to predict what was going to happen next.

"It has nothing to do with my memory, Sir. I just happen to use some of them as the ingredients for my 'meatballs' since there was nothing to eat on Norton, and I've been constantly switching to another type of Zerg as I might get bored of eating the same type every day," Wang Tong looked embarrassed as he said that.

Gansus might be tough, but the words from Wang Tong was more than enough to send a chill down his spine. Those monsters… were they edible?

"Kid, I have to say, you really are something else! By the way, I think it would be better for you not to talk about this in public since the Confederation is still submerged in his period of complacency, and your claims might provoke certain departments, not to mention you're also one of the survivors of this incident."

"I understand. Thank you, Sir!"

"You may go now. Remember kid, stay sharp and focus, what you're learning now will definitely be able to aid you when you put your expertise to good use in the future."

"Yes, Sir!"

Gansus felt pleased while staring at Wang Tong's back as he left, originally he chose to stay away from power struggles and became a teacher because he was tired of fighting among each other. After defeating the last force of Zergs in the Solar System, he was expecting peace for at least another few decades, but he had never expected that these creatures would rise from their own ashes in less than ten years.

In the middle of his thoughts, Gansus moved his wrists, wondering if he was still as tough as he used to be.

Mankind was made out of advantages and disadvantages; no man was complete without having a few weaknesses, and contradictions were always the essence of life.

After running a few thoughts, Gansus decided to write the report he mentioned a while ago. Anyhow, he decided to take the trouble to give those guys a heads-up, as there were still a few guys in the Confederation who were willing to hear him out.

Ironically, no man would be satisfied with being able to live in harmony. During the few years of peace, the former forces led by the Five Houses and the new military government were not able to see eye to eye on a lot of matters and ended up creating economic conflicts and power struggles...

Wang Tong received a message from Samantha's Sky-net once he left Gansus' office, he had not been hearing from her since coming back from Bernabeu. However, Wang Tong didn't expect anything since he knew Samantha had moved on and she was busy preparing for the huge tournament against Capth.

Apparently, she had something to announce for the training program.

Ma Xiaoru, Wang Ben,[_Accepted suggestion_] and some of them were already there when Wang Tong arrived, and they were smiling as he walked in; the group was quickly joined by Tita, Kyaero,[_Accepted suggestion_] and the rest. It was the same ten candidates against Bernabeu, and it seemed like Samantha would be relying on the same team for the fight against Capth.

The candidates of Capth were way much stronger than the elites of Bernabeu. In fact, Bernabeu kept challenging Capth in recent years,[_Accepted suggestion_] but they kept getting defeated; even though Apache was able to win in one of the rounds, yet generally speaking,[_Accepted suggestion_] Bernabeu was the one who got owned [_Accepted suggestion_]most of the time. Rumor has it that Capth didn't even send out their top candidates in the previous tournaments.

Chapter 135: Bucket Full of Confidence

Translator: Double_L Editor: Tehrn

Unlike Ayrlarng and Bernabeu, the S-Ranked academies like Capth or Yalden didn't have to plot anything or even persuade anyone to join them when it came to elite recruitment because every ambitious student would do whatever it took to enroll in these ultimate academies. Undeniably, Capth was like a colossal fortress standing in their way.

This time, it was still ten candidates as Samantha didn't add anyone else to her list. Somehow, this looked dismaying because it had also reflected Ayrlarng's problem of their talent shortage. Obviously, the candidates against Capth had to be unique as normal students would be useless in this situation. However, the ten elite candidates of Ayrlarng were only able to defeat Bernabeu by a hair, let alone the almighty Capth. Aside from Carl who was over-confident as usual, the other candidates were looking very upset since they knew their odds of winning would be extremely low.

After waiting for a short while, the team was finally joined by Samantha, who was looking charming as always.

"Listen up everyone, I'm sure all of you already know why you were summoned. That's right, I've decided to send all of you to a special training program in order to ensure a good result during the tournament against Capth!"

"Ma'am, what do you mean by 'good result'?" Wang Tong asked in a funny manner.

Samantha glared across Wang Tong and replied, "Of course, I'm talking about claiming the victory! Do you think I would waste so much of my time, money, and effort on nothing and watch all of you get owned by Capth's candidates?"

"Capth, here we come!" Carl yelled.

"Ma'am… do you think we'll able to do it?" Rumi was the complete opposite of Carl, she had no confidence at all, the others too seemed to be depressed.

"Obviously, now would be impossible, but I'm pretty sure you boys and girls would do fine after the training, so please have faith in yourselves!"

Samantha seemed confident, then she continued, "In addition to that, Ayrlarng will be teaming up with Bernabeu against Capth, so Bernabeu too will be sending over ten candidates, and you all will be training alongside with them. In the end, we will select ten of the most outstanding students among all of you as our final candidates against Capth!"

"Joining forces with Bernabeu? That's absurd ma'am!" Carl and the others were startled by the news.

Samantha smiled and said, "Do you guys think you're already good enough to be the final candidates? The only way for all of you to improve is through competitions. The first phase of our training will be held at FFC's Paradise Island. I'm sure this full-fledged experimental base of the FFC will be the perfect venue to shape up you guys."

"Ma'am, don't you think this is too good for Bernabeu?" Tita seemed frustrated as the team fought very hard in order to obtain this once in a lifetime opportunity, yet Samantha had decided to share it with Bernabeu instead.

Samantha looked around the crowd sternly and replied, "Do I have a choice? You will still be able to represent Ayrlarng if you're strong enough, but if you're still not strong enough, then step aside and let the aces from Bernabeu handle the job. I'm doing this to prevent you guys from embarrassing yourselves in front of Capth!"

"Ma'am, I think you've underestimated our potentials, we've already defeated Bernabeu, so of course, we will also be able to crush Capth, am I right, Captain?" Carl looked toward Wang Tong.

"Captain?" Samantha too turned toward Wang Tong, "I'm glad you guys have chosen your own captain, which saves me a lot of trouble. Oh, another thing, Principal Martyrus will be handling the first phase of the training all by himself, so be prepared!"

"Ma'am, so you were saying that the final candidates against Capth will be chosen based on our performances during the training, am I right?" Wang Tong asked.

"That's right, all ten spots will be yours if all of you are strong enough, or else you'll be joining the benchwarmers if you're not. Do take note that Bernabeu will be sending over their best elites as well like Apache, Cao Yi, and the others... and of course, dear Best who couldn't wait to see you again," Samantha looked at Wang Tong when she said that, she was still surprised to see him gotten over her that fast.

"Since we've defeated Bernabeu last time, I'm sure there's nothing to be feared of, so bring it on!"

"That's actually not bad, I haven't had enough fun last time." Obviously, Wang Ben was eager to try his hands on Apache.

"Very good, I'm glad all of you are not scared by my announcement, go back to your rooms now and pack your bags, we're flying over to Paradise Island tonight. Dismiss!" Samantha ordered as she waved her hand.

"We're leaving tonight? For real?"

"Is there any problem, Mr. Carl?"

"No Ma'am!"

Everyone gathered around Ma Xiaoru once Samantha left. "Xiaoru, since Paradise Island is a property of your family, why don't you tell us some internal information so that we have more advantages than Bernabeu?"

"Sorry guys, I have no idea since I've never asked anything about Paradise Island. All I know is that Paradise Island is an important base for researches and experiments, and all I can tell you is that the training will be much harder than you will expect."

"Stop trying to take some advantages, Carl. I think ma'am principal was right, we really don't deserve the chance of fighting Capth if we can't even defeat the guys from Bernabeu, not to mention that most of us were not able to give our best performances previously. Since this is an opportunity for us to improve, I'd really like to see if all of the elites from Bernabeu are as strong as I expected!" Kyaero said while grabbing his fist. He would always remember his terrible defeat during the tournament against Bernabeu, and he had sworn to become better ever since. Clearly, Samantha had ignited the flame of victory in every student's heart. No one liked to be defeated, and losing was the most terrible moment to be remembered.

"Don't look at me like I'm a chicken, of course, I'll be going will all of you, I'm not afraid of them!" Carl laughed.

Everyone then went back to pack up their bags.

Zhou Sisi was walking in the same direction as Wang Tong, "Hey Wang Tong, don't you think what happened back there was well played by ma'am principal? Apparently, she has pushed all of us to the edge of the cliff!"

"So do you agree with her method or totally disagree with her?"

"Haha, every one of us is in the danger zone except you, Ma Xiaoru, and Wang Ben, and I'm also hanging on the edge of the danger zone, but I'm fine with this arrangement since I was hoping for some excitement!"

Wang Tong smiled as he heard that, he knew Zhou Sisi would be thinking like that since she had always been a headstrong and competitive person even though she looked gentle. Wang Tong still remembered that Zhou Sisi would always bruise her fingers when she was busy practicing her Cloning Technique, yet the girl didn't even complain once.

"I'm feeling the same way. Instead of focusing on Bernabeu, we should be worrying about Capth which is also known as Earth's Ultimate Academy. Their elites are way stronger and even more hardworking than all of us, not to mention how super competitive it is in this academy. There's really nothing much we can do except giving our best performances if we badly want this victory!"

"Looks like you're having doubt about us too."

"Everyone is doubting us, but that doesn't mean that we won't stand a chance. Actually, all of us have our own uniqueness and specialty; however, most of us are lacking training, so hopefully, every one of us will be able to improve and become better on what we are good at," Wang Tong explained.

"You're right, everyone said that Principal Martyrus is one of the best principals amongst A-Ranked academies since he's very good at discovering the talents and potentials of his students; however, I have to say that I'm really proud of Principal Samantha's generosity. I can't believe she is able to share the slots with another academy," Zhou Sisi couldn't stop admiring their principal who was only a few years older than them. Without a doubt, Ayrlarng was given a new life under the administration of Samantha, and no one had underestimated her ever since. However, no one knew if the changes would last forever or she was just another ninety-day wonder.

"I'm looking forward to participate in this training program very much, and I'm terrifically excited to see Principal Martyrus, whose ability is well-known amongst A-ranked academies, teaming up with Principal Samantha who is very good with her brains." Somehow Wang Tong was a little unsatisfied of his usual courses, he was quenching for stronger power and bigger challenges. Honestly, the lessons lately tended to focus more on theoretical stuff, even METAL Combat classes and the lessons about Zergs were unable to satisfy his strong thirst for knowledge.

"But I didn't expect everything to happen in such a hurry, she barely gave us anytime to get ready."

"Haha, we are students of a military academy, and we will also be joining the military after we graduate, so we should learn to be prepared for anything at any time."

"Yea, yea, enough of those big theories, I know what you mean. It is easier for boys since you guys have fewer things to pack; however, girls are more troublesome, got it?"

"Yup, loud and clear. So did your sister go back to her place?" Wang Tong quickly diverted the conversation.

"Oh, sounds like you're very interested in her even though you two just met each other, I have to tell you that my sis has a high taste in men though," Zhou Sisi acted defensive all of a sudden.

"No thanks, she's not my type, she almost turned me into Mr. No-nuts with her Nutcracker Kick," Wang Tong instantly crossed his hands when he said that. He would definitely not be able to sleep in peace at night if Zhou Yiyi was his girlfriend.

"Hey, it's all your fault pervert! This is your first time meeting her yet you're bold enough to wrap your hands around her shoulder! Lucky for you, I've been talking to her about you a couple of times, or else I'm sure you would have already been dead by now." Zhou Sisi smirked impishly, she absolutely enjoyed watching Wang Tong embarrassing himself.

"Hey! I didn't harass her, I did that because I thought she was you! Oh, so you've been telling her about me huh, no wonder she agreed following me to the restaurant after that, you little fiend, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because you're a dummy that's why. See ya later, alligator!" Zhou Sisi said as she walked toward her dorm.

Wang Tong faked a smile, all of a sudden he began to realize that Ma Xiaoru was a wonderful girl; given by the fact that most of the beautiful girls were hard to handle, and it was even harder if the girl was pretty and popular. However, Ma Xiaoru was nothing like them; aside from looking gorgeous, she was also kind and gentle, it was like the personality of a real princess.

Wang Tong shook his head and cleared his thoughts. Basically, he had nothing much to pack aside from a few clothes since most of his valuable belongings were inside his Space Crystal. He assumed they would also be providing clothing for all trainees as Paradise Island sounded like an island in the middle of nowhere with no supermarkets, and how he wished they would also take care of their daily meals, then he would be able to save more money. Wang Tong couldn't help smiling as he began to calculate how much money he would be saving.

Everyone from S was already gathered at the field in the evening. As the helicopter landed, Samantha gave them the signal to come on board, and the team hopped into the chopper one after another, none of them needed to worry about their luggage, all thanks to the convenient and handy Space Crystal.

Approximately ten minutes later, the helicopter docked itself to an aircraft, then everyone boarded the aircraft, which was actually the chartered flight toward Paradise Island.

Their flight landed at Base No.5 on Paradise Island, which was a semi man-made island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It was called a semi man-made island because most of its infrastructures and facilities were built on the expansion around the original island. The island was one of FFC's private property, and tens of kilometers radius around the island were well-protected by the FFC's private armies.

As one of the Five Houses of mankind, the House of Ma definitely had the privilege of owning an island and its surrounding water. Moreover, the FFC was also known as one of mankind's wonder corporations as it had kickstarted the new era for mankind with its innovative technologies.

Chapter 136: It's Too Much

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn

It's Too Much

The FFC had given mankind not only technical innovations such as the space crystal and the METAL suit, but also an episode of the mysterious relationship between the FFC, General Li Feng, and the Blade Warrior.

Stories and legends aside, the human world had improved their standards of living thanks to the FFC.

After many years of technology advancement, the FFC had remained a heavyweight player in the military industry. However, it was no longer the hegemony that it used to be. Both the Moon and Mars had their independent military research and manufacturing facilities that rivaled the FFC. The competition had become fierce, as every faction was trying to gain an edge in the next wave of innovation.

The standard METAL suits could be divided into six tiers, each to be used by the fighters of equal soul power. However, these were merely the standardized versions, and even the sixth tier was no match to the one used by the Blade Warrior. Therefore all the research institutes devoted themselves in technology advances in order to re-create the god-like abilities of the Blade Warrior.

The Human's discovery of the GN force had opened the door to endless power. There were only two key factors in better harnessing this power: one was to realize one's potential, and the other was to use the various tools.

The FFC owned many boot camps similar to the one Wang Tong and his friends were going. Although it would not be a top secret facility, it was an ideal place for training. Not only it was equipped with all kinds of training equipment, but there were also living, breathing Zergs on the island used as training targets. Conventional wisdom had taught human that to defeat their enemy, they had to know their enemy first. Besides, there were many things that a human could learn from the Zerg race. For example, if the human gained the key to unlock the secret of the Zerg's never-fading life force, they would also be able to spread throughout the Universe without the struggle of finding an inhabitable planet.

The flight could not be any more pleasant as Samantha's luxurious private plane was equipped with different kinds of entertainment units to keep everyone occupied.

"Attention everyone, I need you to sign a waiver form please."

The students stopped what they were doing and were curious as to why Samantha suddenly became so serious.

As they studied the content of the waiver, they realized that it was a waiver form for liabilities of injuries and even death.

Wang Tong and Wang Ben signed the form without any hesitation. People thought that the two weren't scared because they were the strongest and thereby would have the lowest chance of having an accident. However, following Wang Tong and Wang Ben, the usually skittish Rumi had also signed the waiver without any sign of backing out. Rumi's action had motivated the rest to sign the paper, after all, no one wanted to be the coward that bailed his friends.

Samantha was impressed by everyone's willingness to overcome their fear and thought that their action was a step in the right direction.

Since there were still a few hours before the plane would arrive in Paradise Island, everyone decided to take a rest to prepare for the training.

At around 5 am, the plane started to approach its destination. The morning sunlight shone on the broken surface of the sea, rendering the sea into a shimmering blue. Everyone was woken up by an obnoxiously loud alarm.

"What! What's happening? Are we gonna crash?" Carl rushed out of his seat with only a pair of underwear.

The rest of his teammates slowly appeared as well, although much better dressed.

Samantha was already dressed in her formal attire, and she wore that signature charming smile on her face. "Welcome to Paradise Island! I wish everyone good luck from here on, as you will be tested by Principal Martyrus."

"Here?" Tita looked out through the window, "We are still above the sea."

"That's right, you are still 3 kilometers away from the island."

"You are suggesting that we swim across the 3 kilometers of water?"

"Ahah! I always told others that you are not as dumb as you seem, Carl. You are right! Farewell then..." Samantha waved a hand at the students.

Before the students had time to take in Samantha's message, they found that the floor beneath them opened up. All the while, they had been standing on a trap door.

"What the… ARHHHH! ARHHHH! MOM!"

The ten of them were falling through the air like dead rocks.

No one had seen this coming, they knew the training would be gruesome, but no one had been expecting it to be terrifying and deadly.

The students initiated their GN forced one after another as they quickly realized that free falling at this height would mean death. Unfortunately, the skittish Rumi was so scared by the height that she had passed out. Sensing that Rumi was in danger, Wang Tong grabbed her body, trying to protect her from the fall. "Everyone! Control your GN force. Carl! What the heck are you waiting for? DO something!"

Carl was still panicking, although he had already initiated his GN force, he quickly lost control as he was near the verge of a mental break down.

"ARHH… I... NO! No swim! Help! ARHHH!"

Not far away, Tida also let out a heart-wrenching wail: "Why do I need to swim? It's METAL combat, METAL, not LIQUID!"

The crisis seemed to have risen from multiple fronts, but Wang Tong's hands were tied. He could not help but lament at the cruel methods of his principal.

The surface of the sea was fast approaching, Wang Tong slammed his palm downward, creating an uplifting force that helped to slow him down. He would be fine landing into the sea at fast speed, but Rumi had a relatively fragile body, and he had to make sure the landing would not break any of her bones.

A dozen feet away, Wang Ben speared toward the sea and at the last moment before impact, he punched at the water with his fist, making a massive explosion, and the force turned the sea underneath into a big whirlpool. Meanwhile, the forced lifted Wang Ben's body up, he backflipped and then descended slowly into the disturbed water below.

Hu Yangxuan also plunged into the sea safely using his GN force, although his landing was less spectacular than Wang Ben.

The most graceful of all was Ma Xiaoru. Ma Xiaoru's tactics could amplify her GN force many times than usual under life-threatening circumstances, and therefore, her descent was the most steady.

The rest of the students all plopped into the sea making a huge splash around them, luckily, no one was injured.

Wang Ben and Hu Yangxuan swam to Tita and Carl to give them a hand. The pair was probably the only two Academy students of the entire Confederation who didn't know how to swim.

"I'll do a headcount!" Wang Tong announced. They all knew right away that their training had already begun and the first test was to get to the island.

"Wang Ben."

"Here."

"Hu Yangxuan."

"I'm all right." Hu Yangxuan waved his fingers in the air.

...

No one was left behind, and even Rumi had wakened up by a few splash from the cold sea water.

"Carl, Tita. You two would have to learn to swim right now. There are still three kilometers ahead of us," Wang Tong told them.

They could take turns to carry the two; however, Wang Tong knew that greater challenges were waiting for them on the shore; therefore, they couldn't afford to waste too much energy right then.

Wang Tong was the only one who had thought that far ahead. The life on Norton had taught him many things, but the most valuable lesson was to be prepared.

The two had agreed to learn swimming on the spot, and Hu Yangxuan had volunteered to teach them. Meanwhile, Ma Xiaoru was assigned to take care of Rumi who was still recovering from the shock.

Carl had quickly gotten a hang of it, but Tita was still struggling. However, with the aid of his GN force and the other classmates, he could manage just fine.

Everyone looked toward the direction of the island, and they saw a speck in the distance. "That must be it!" Carl had just learned how to swim and felt the urge to swim as fast as he could. But he had depleted his energy in just 30 seconds.

Ten minutes later, more and more students started to feel exhausted, and hopelessness began to set in.

Half an hour later, except for Wang Tong, all the other students were so tired that they felt as if their body had become a heavy rock. While they looked for the island, they were all disappointed to find out that they were not getting any closer than where they had started.

They huddled together and decided to take a break and reconsider their plan.

"Are we even heading to the right direction?"

Not only were they tired, to have been submerged in the water for so long had also taken a toll on their inner balance. Ma Xiaoru had protected herself with a GN shield, but Zhou Sisi and Rumi had not.

The environment also seemed to have added to their torture as the sun beat down on their head, draining their determination.

"The direction must be correct. There is nothing else around, except for that spec."

"Then why are we still not there yet? Would it be a miscalculation on our principal's part?"

Some students started to waver as various kind of speculations sprout out.

Wang Tong considered their options calmly. He had gone through hell on Norton; this seemed like a stroll in the park. Although neither Ma Xiaoru nor Wang Ben had endured the same level of crisis as Wang Tong did, they both held a calm expression and did not panic.

The sun beat down on them ruthlessly. It not only made them grumpy and flustered but also taken away the precious water inside of their body.

Wang Tong knew that a decision needed to be made; it had become a time of life and death. What complicated Wang Tong's option was the fact that he was not alone, and therefore, he had to come up with a solution that could ensure everyone's safety.

"Who has brought food?" Wang Tong asked.

Everyone stared at Wang Tong with disdain as Wang Tong's question had reminded them how hungry they were since they had been thrown off the plane without breakfast. Rumi fluttered her eyes, and she looked so sad as if she could break into tears at any minute. "I... I have brought some snacks," she muttered, her voice was barely audible.

When she took the snack out of her crystal, everyone's excitement had turned into disappointment as they saw it was a few bags of "Cheesy Cheese" cheese stick. Without water to go with it, it would only make them even thirstier.