Chapter 2468 - 256 - 264

Chapter 256: Big Head's Song

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

"Perhaps," Li Ruoer thought, "the real reason that my plan would never work as I intended it to was due to the Tactics of the Enchantress. Maybe that was why I could be so sunburned at times as well."

Zhou Zhi used to say that 'the best way to increase one's willpower was to battle with oneself, and regardless of one's purpose, winning something or someone should be the only goal.'

Although what Zhou Zhi had said didn't make sense to anyone who didn't practice the Tactics of the Enchantress, it was treated as one of the most fundamental tenants of the Enchantress. Every generation of cultivators had their own take on the meaning of these words, but Li Ruoer believed that her understanding was the only correct meaning.

Li Ruoer's father had told her that she was the most talented among all who had cultivated the Tactics of the Enchantress. Her soul energy was extraordinarily adaptive, and could be molded into a different shape in a blink of an eye. However, despite the frequent changes, Li Ruoer could always hold onto the threads of order in the chaos, and control the power of the tactics to release its full potential. The hardest part of using the tactics of the enchantress was self-control. The cultivator was exposed to wide range of emotions caused by the tactics by design. Without a tremendous self-restraint, one would easily become deranged. General Zhou Zhi was able to exercise extreme self-control because General Li Feng was her only desire. Thanks to the 'perfect' mismatch of the wielder's steadfastness and the tactic's erratic nature, General Zhou Zhi had become the second most powerful human on earth, closely behind the very source of her power: General Li Feng.

Li Ruoer often felt indignant that her father and everyone else seemed to considered her brother as the only legitimate heir and ignored her feelings.

That being said, other than assuming her brother would eventually take over the family business, everyone treated Li Ruoer with the utmost respect. Li family had a considerable influence in the military, thanks to the family tradition of producing Einherjars. Although at times, there were one or two members of other families who would achieve the status of Einherjar, the majority of the Einherjars were from the Li family.

Regardless of the power struggles, no one would be able to challenge the status of the Li family. The Li family and the other four great houses had become too big to fall.

On the Mars, House of Lie dictated all matters on the planet. Their only opponent was the Divine Master Sect, but it was unlikely that the sect would intervene in any worldly matters, as their sect disciplines forbade such actions. On the Moon, the Dowers and the Zhang had reached a mutual understanding, and had divided the monopolization of the Moon between themselves. Thanks to the more advanced technology and the brand of 'elite living,' life on the moon were much more comfortable than that on any other planet. It had a highly democratic and developed society, which both Doer and the Zhang worked very hard to protect and preserve. Thanks to the two families' hard work and genuine concern for its people, they had enjoyed a very high approval rating on their home planet.

The alliance between the Li and the Ma on the earth was also very stable. The two families had a rough go in the first three hundred years after General Li passed away, but they had slowly rebuilt the earth and brought it back to prosperity. The earthlings were much better at politics than the Martians, and had a greater craving for power than the Ivantians. Driven by the insatiable desire for control and power, the Li Family had slowly extended its influence, in an attempt to seize control of the confederation and the council meetings.

Li Daozhe had gone so far as to embed his hope in his children to complete the family's grand plan in their names: "Li Shiming"—name of the greatest ancient emperor, and "Ruoer" — "like the son."

On Mars, Lie Jian was fuming over his challenger bailing on him without even sending him a notice.

It was the first time in Jie Jian's life that anyone had ever dropped the ball on him.

Lie Jian had been getting increasingly impatient a few days ago. At first, he thought Einherjar Wannabe was playing some trick on him. But as time passed, he realized that his opponent had dropped out the match entirely.

Lie Jian felt like he had hosted a lavish banquet but his guest of honor had failed to show up. The reason he requested a real combat was that he had reserved opinions about the PA system's fairness. After all, it was the untrustworthy earthlings who developed the PA system.

It had become tough for him to find a worthy opponent, but the only one he had discovered in a long time had decided to hide away from him. Therefore, Lie Jian had since lived in the agony of regret and anger, suffering the torment of waiting.

In addition to waiting, Lie Jian also sent out his spooks, trying to figure out if that powerful fighter called Einherjar Wannabe really existed, or was he just a ruse played out by the DREAM to intentionally mess with him and his family. However, Lie Jian's intuition told him that that wasn't the case.

He conceded that, for the sake of his face and his family reputation, he needed to be patient.

The soldiers of the ninth platoon found their life had been becoming joyful. They completed all their missions with ease, and while they were off duty, they could tease the young "couple," Wang Tong and Ma Xiaoru, for their unspoken intimacy. Whenever they made the pair blush, the two would stare at jesters indignantly, and the look on their face would make the soldiers burst out laughing.

Jansining had soon become Wang Tong's close friend. From time to time, he would pull out the picture from his inner pocket and brag about her cute daughter. Jansining was the only member of the platoon who had a kid, and therefore, he was the only who felt the guilt of not being able to be there for his lovely daughter as she grew up.

Luckily, Jansining's wife was very supportive and understanding. Although it was an honor to be the wife of a soldier who fought for the safety of mankind, the wives of the soldiers had to take on more stress in their lives and endure the loneliness. Jansining understood what his wife was going through, so he video chatted with his family whenever he got the chance.

Whenever Jansining video chatted with his wife and daughter, the other soldiers would crowd the screen with their faces, trying to take a look at the cute little toddler.

They quickly learned that the little toddler had a sharp mind and sharper tongue. When Jansining introduced Wang Tong and Ma Xiaoru to her, she asked blatantly if the two were dating, and then immediately asked her father the meaning of the word "dating."

The one that got jested by her little sharp mouth the most often was Big Head. Big Head was her godfather, so she decided to sing a song to him, and it went like this:

Big Head has a big head,

Raining and pouring but don't you fret,

Stay close under his chin,

and I guarantee you

that you won't get wet!

The little girl sang the song and clapped her small hands together as if measuring the tempo. Her seriousness and the hilarious lyrics sent everyone laughing. Big Head smiled amiably at the camera while trying to endure his teammates' laughter.

It was these little moments that made Wang Tong and Ma Xiaoru feel like they were home, and appreciate the deep connections they had built with the soldiers.

It had been a while since the two students landed on Norton, and Ma Xiaoru had been adapting to the new environment very quickly. Wang Tong admired Ma Xiaoru's ability to adapt so quickly to such an austere and harsh lifestyle. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and was used to plush life and busy streets. It was her adaptive and easy going personality that had helped her adjust.

The number of Zergs had been dwindling ever since the ninth platoon had killed the queen, and soon, the entire area had been cleared of bugs. The ninth platoon was praised publicly at a gathering, and received a trophy for killing the queen.

The human force slowly pushed forward. It was hard to discover the location of the hives, and even when they did, killing the Zerg Queen also presented a problem. Since the GBD cannon could not guarantee the death of the queen, the military had to dispatch extermination teams to the lair. But so far, only the ninth platoon and came back alive from such a mission.

Once the military was certain that there was no more Zergs left, they put up a defense perimeter and moved on District E. News had come that there was substantial Zerg activity in District E, so the promise of killing Zergs motivated all the soldiers on the day they left District D.

The terrain in District E was much more complicated than that of District D, due to its dense coverage of forest. When the military discovered a group of Zergs hiding in the woods, the standard practice was to bombard the woods until there were no trees left to conceal the Zergs. Luckily, the scourge of the environmentalists hadn't reached this planet yet.

There are only two goals for a soldier on Norton: Kill Zergs and stay alive.

"Guard up, everyone! Ma Xiaoru and Wang Tong, you two be really careful. The situation could get messier than you could imagine here."

"Roger that, lieutenant!"

Chapter 257: Zerg's Counterattack

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

Even without Jansining's warning, experience had already told Wang Tong to tread carefully in the forest. Zergs' evolution had allowed them to blend seamlessly into the woods, which made their ambush more unexpected and deadlier. Although human soldiers could detect ambushes using their soul energy, the higher tier Zergs still posed a real threat in an environment such as this.

The military had formed an encirclement around District E. The third battalion was not the primary attacking force. Therefore, they were in charge of clearing out the remaining Zergs behind the front line.

"Lieutenant, when are we going to stop doing these cleaning jobs and have a real mission instead?" Big Head complained.

Big Head felt it was safer on the front line than behind it, because there were more soldiers at the front line while the ninth platoon always carried out the clearing mission by themselves. Both humans and the Zergs would agree on that one—there was safety in numbers.

"Stop babbling. I wish we could too!" Jansining rebutted. He wanted to join the front line, but he also knew that his teammates need to improve their skills before they could be put to use in an actual battle.

"It's bullsh*t! The thirteenth platoon had been transferred to the first battalion. They probably have a great time killing Zergs right now. When is it going to be our turn?" Third was also very jealous of the elite teams that got transferred to the frontline.

To put it simply, the ninth platoon was a mediocre platoon in a mediocre battalion.

When Jansining heard that there would be a member of the great house being transferred to their mediocre team, he thought he had heard it wrong. But luckily, Ma Xiaoru had proven to be a competent soldier.

As they made their way across the field, they killed three waves of attacks. In each encounter, they had Wang Tong and Ma Xiaoru at the forefront, while everyone else supported the two with firepower. All three groups of Zergs initially tried to ambush the human soldiers, but with Wang Tong's experience and Ma Xiaoru's incredible detection ability at work, the Zergs ended up shooting themselves in the foot by revealing their hideouts.

As the platoon went further into the woods, Wang Tong found that things didn't add up: the Zergs they had encountered were all higher level Zergs than one would expect to see in an area this far away from the hive, unless, the hive was nowhere near the front line.

The military had been using the number of Zergs as an indicator of the location of the hive. However, the lesson learned from last hive battle was that the Zergs would be able to relocate their hive very rapidly, thanks to their incredible ability to bore holes. Therefore, Wang Tong reasoned that the hive in District E had been shifted as well, and most likely was somewhere close to where they were right then.

Wang Tong shared his thoughts with Ma Xiaoru, and the latter told him that she, too, had a nagging feeling of eminent danger. Unlike Wang Tong who had arrived at his conclusion using logic and observation, Ma Xiaoru relied on her intuition of the Enchantress. It was said that a real Enchantress could predict the future events, and had many seemingly magical abilities. The soul energy was the greatest gift from the creator to mankind. Both wealth and body would eventually run out, but not the soul energy. Its supply was limitless once one was truly enlightened like General Li Feng and Zhou Zhi. Only a few close friends of General Li Feng and Zhou Zhi, such as the Ma family, knew that the two generals' appearance had stayed at that of age 28 after they reached the highest level of cultivation.

Ma Xiao had always believed that it was only a legend until she started to reach the higher level in her cultivation and felt the subtle but seemingly magical changes in her body, such as the ability to detect danger ahead of time. She decided to continue the path of cultivation, hoping that one day, she would be able to stay young forever like general Zhou Zhi.

"We are not getting anywhere. Let's split up into three groups. Wang Tong and Ma Xiaoru, you each take a couple of soldiers and scout left and right flanks, and the rest follow me in the center. Keep within 100-meter distance with each other, and keep your radio on; if the situation gets hairy, regroup with the center group. "

Ninth platoon took action immediately. There were only a few Zergs scattered around in the woods, so even if one team encountered enemy, the other teams could quickly rush to their aid. However, time was of the essence. When it turned dark, the Zergs would gain a significant advantage over the humans, forcing the soldiers to quit their mission during the night.

While the ninth platoon was carrying out their mission, Li Shiming and his team had encountered a horrific Zerg counterattack at the camp. The majority of the Zerg army was made out of middle-level Zergs; the number of Tank Zergs alone had reached 18. Although Li Shiming knew that he was within the area where most higher tier Zergs were spotted, he did not anticipate such a large number of powerful Zergs sieging a human camp.

LI Shiming saw that surrounding the higher tier Zergs were countless lower tier Zergs; he registered that the Zergs might have poured all their forces in this counter-attack, and therefore, if the human could come out victorious, the number of Zergs in this area would be drastically reduced, at least for a while.

Despite the horrific scene and the gruesome battles, this scenario was exactly what the military wanted.

The human was best at defense; breaching the human defense was not an easy task even to a mighty Zerg army such as this. The besieged human force would only need to hold off for about half hour until the reinforcements arrived, and a few minutes later, the spaceships would be in position, ready for a devastating slaughter from above. Therefore, the situation was completely in favor of humans the moment the massive Zerg Army showed up. Some soldiers wondered what had made these Zergs act so carelessly.

Ever since he arrived in the military, Li Shiming had been promoted to a corporal, leading his fire team at the forefront of the formation. His prestigious family name, exceptional combat ability, and the no-nonsense attitude had won the respect of many soldiers. The quality that soldiers admired in him the most was his bravery. He always led the charge at the front of the line, and fought with the toughest Zerg during battles.

Li Shiming had quickly become the paragon of bravery and strength. He was also approachable and fair as he treated every soldier equally, regardless of their rank. The soldiers could only sense the air of dignity and honor of being the member of House of Li in Li Shiming, but not the arrogance and pomposity.

As soon as Li Shiming's fire team engaged in the combat, a dozen high tier Zergs rushed towards him. There were over ten Were Kongs and a few Nightmares. The Nightmare was a terrible creature that once stuck to a human body would drain all of the life force in a matter of seconds. The mortality rate was extremely high in combat involving Nightmares. In addition to them were the Diamond Beetles. One should not be fooled by its name, since not only was it worthless in a pawnshop, it was also incredibly deadly. The Diamond Beetle got its name due to the almost unbreakable exoskeleton. Only a fifth level warrior would be able to do any real harm to its hard shell, and anyone lower than level five wouldn't even be able to make a dent on it. The Diamond Beetles were only the size of a human fist, and their attack mode was simple. They charged at the humans at an incredible speed, and used the kinetic energy to penetrate anything that was in their way. Although they were small, they were extremely deadly due to being able to penetrate a dozen soldiers wearing tier one armors on one charge. Even the enhanced armor of the heavy armor tanks would give in after their constant ramming.

Despite the shocking display of strength, Li Shiming remained calm. As if the Zerg had sensed that he was the strongest of all soldiers, they all rushed at Li Shiming. Li Shiming held his ground under wave after wave of attacks, and he saved the precious time for the reinforcements and the spaceships to be mobilized. A few minutes after the reinforcements came, the battle was over.

This was one of the greatest victory human had achieved ever since they had taken the planet of Norton from the claws of the Zergs. It should take the Zerg a while to recover from such a devastating blow, and humans would not even give them the chance to do that since they had already sent out extermination teams around the area to chase off any Zergs that had escaped.

Li Shiming's performance in this battle was perfect; he stood against a large number of high tier Zergs while sustaining only minor injuries.

Li Shiming was also satisfied with his performance. Although he had taken a significant risk, he had never doubted himself. He believed that all great accomplishments came with risks, and he would just have to learn to manage it.

He was puzzled after hearing that Ma Sa had requested to see him. Ma Sa was a member of the NNT unit, a special unit within a special department. To put it simply, they were the assassins working for the Confederation. They had strict rules about not being involved in political struggles of the great houses. So, members of the NNT unit would usually avoid meeting with the great houses during wartime.

Li Shiming mulled over Ma Sa's intention and Ma Sa's mission on this planet before he set off to his office. Li Shiming had heard of Ma Sa's methods, and knew that he was a force to be reckoned with. What made Li Shiming so cautious was the fact that Ma Sa had requested the meeting as the colonel of the NNT, instead of his superior during the war.

"This is Corporal Li Shiming reporting to you, sir!"

"Come in please."

Ma Sa's eyes locked on to Li Shiming's as soon as the young soldier walked into his office.

"Shi Shu, what's the matter?" Li Shiming asked directly.

Both Ma Sa and Li Shiming had trained at the Templar's court when they were young, and one of Ma Sa's Templar brother stayed with the Templar and eventfully become Li Shiming's master when he entered Templar. Therefore, Li Shiming had called him "Shi Shu" — "brother of the master."

Chapter 258: Material for Evolution

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

"Grab a seat. There is some minor detail I'd like to go over with you." Ma Sa knew Li Shiming was trying to kiss his a*s by calling him Shi Shu.

"Please."

"I am here on a secret mission..."

"Shi Shu, you don't have to tell me the details. I would assist in your mission. It will be my honor to serve the Confederation." Li Shiming said sincerely while looking Ma Sa in the eyes.

Ma Da admired Li Shiming's crafty language at such a young age.

"House of Li is the pillar of the Confederation, so you must have already picked up some clues. We suspect that Zerg's intention in invading Norton was not to conquer the planet but to collect material for evolving further. According to a few survivors, the Zergs killed the ones with lower soul levels, like they always did. However, they had tried to capture the higher-level fighters alive. They didn't even send out that many space hives. So, their eyes were not on the planet. It is doubtful that the crafty Zergs slipped up, unless..."

Ma Sa glanced at Li Shiming, whose face had remained placid, and continued, "…unless the Zergs were on to something entirely different, and meant to keep it a secret."

"I was wondering if you would offer me some suggestions as to what exactly do these Zergs want?" Ma Sa asked.

Silence fell into the room as Li Shiming chewed on Ma Sa's question under the calm facade, then broke the silence. "I don't know, but I can gather this much: since you asked me about this but not anyone else, it means that the answer you were looking for also relates to my experience. The only notable activities I partook was the recent battle. In other words, you are implying that my appearance on Norton had made the Zerg's change their behavior. But what are they looking for in me?"

Ma Sa and Li Shiming's eyes both lit up. Ma Sa marveled at Li Shiming's incredible ability to pick up clues and his methodical deduction.

Almost in the same instance, they both realized the only thing in Li Shiming that might have piqued the Zerg's interest could be his DNA.

The Zergs constantly mutated their genes to adapt to different situations. Ever since they had encountered human, they had been researching humans, like they had done to them, by tinkering the makeup of human genes.

Luckily for both parties, they practically knew nothing about each other.

The source of human's power flowed in Li Shiming's blood, and therefore, once he showed up on the battlefield, the Zergs attacked him with abandon. It was not a coincidence that Li Shiming happened to attract the most potent Zergs.

"Don't worry soldier. It is not that easy to extract what they want from a few strands of DNA. The vigor of a human soldier comes from the combination of the soul energy and his tactics, and not just his physical body. Should the Zergs spawn a new generation of freaks that mimic the way the human body works, they would have to give up their superior brute force, and that might even give us an edge on the battlefield."

"Shi Shu, it is not unlikely, neither is it unthinkable that Zergs would eventually come up with a higher form of existence and become more of a threat than they already are."

"Well said lad. Many clues we picked up had confirmed our suspicion. We had watched your combat video many times, and it seems that the Zergs never wanted to kill you. Look there on the screen, pay attention to the ground."

The video played a clip of Li Shiming's combat during the earlier heroic battle. Li Shimin was injured, his blood splattered onto the ground. A little turtle like Zerg crawled near the blood and sucked the blood dry before it vanished amidst the chaos.

"We can only see it after knowing the fact. No one would be able to notice it, much less do anything on the spot during the heated battle."

"It might not be as bad as we think. At least now we know what they are after. It is also proof that our strategies are working. Otherwise, they won't be so desperate."

Li Shiming wasn't ruffled by the content of the video. He reckoned that it was inevitable for his DNA samples to be collected, since all it took was a strand of hair or a few drops of blood. However, Li Shiming reasoned that despite the ample collection of human DNA samples, it would take the Zergs a while to crack open the secrets of the human genome, just like human's snail pace in discovering that of the Zergs.

"Back to the reason why you are here: We had concluded that there must be one of their more advanced brains on Norton coordinating these muscles to execute such a sophisticated plan. It is, we believe, a kind of Zerg that we have never seen before —the mastermind. It has the highest intelligence and total authority, and it might even be the architect of the hives."

The conjecture quickly piqued Li Shiming's interest. The Zerg Queen was only in charge of reproduction, and the Encephalon Zerg was the commander during battles. But so far, the humans had not yet discovered the identity of the so-called mastermind that had plotted the course of their destructive path, and made the decision in the grand scheme of things.

What kind of a Zerg would it be?

As humans spent more time with Zergs on the battlefield and in the lab, they started to peel off and reveal the complex layers of the Zerg's social structure. Based on the Zergs' high skill to adapt, one could even argue that the Zergs' social composition had mimicked that of the humans. They might consider the humans' way more advantageous in the solar system, and felt the revolutionary pressure of natural selection.

Ma Sa said something; it was a request that Li Shiming could neither accept nor refuse. After a while, Li Shiming said in his seemingly placid voice, "This is a matter of great importance to both the Confederation and my family. Please allow me a few days to consider it."

"Yes, make sure you send the message in an encrypted channel when you reach your decision. Remember, time is of the essence."

Li Shiming nodded, his expression holding the fragile edge of a calm that threatened to explode.

Wang Tong's team had quickly found an entrance. Although Goldie wasn't entirely sure if there was a Encephalon Zerg at the end of the tunnel, the odds were looking pretty good.

Wang Tong probed the cave with his soul energy and registered that the size of the cave system was similar to that in which he had killed the Zerg Queen. He held back the team and decided to venture down by himself.

"Lieutenant, let me go in first. I can feel something is in there."

"It's too dangerous to go by yourself. I will go with you. Third, you can give orders in my stead. Overbite, report to the HQ right now, 'possible hostile forces, we are investigating the situation right now.' " Jansining commanded.

"Lieutenant, let me go with him" Ma Xiaoru pleaded. Although Jansining knew Ma Xiaoru possessed incredible power, he could not afford to expose her to this much danger.

"I can run much faster by myself. Why don't you stay here and wait for my message? I will be careful not to disturb the Zergs while I scout out the Encephalon's whereabouts."

Jansining couldn't bring himself to agree to Wang tong's request. However, pragmatism came over him, and he conceded that anyone except Ma Xiaoru would be a hindrance rather than help to Wang Tong. Meanwhile, the same pragmatism had refused him to let Ma Xiaoru enter that cave.

"Go, but be careful. We want a living brother, not a dead hero. Do you hear me?" Jansining said with a solemn face.

"Yes, Sir!" Wang Tong saluted confidently.

"Wang Tong!" Ma Xiaoru called out to Wang Tong who had already half stepped into the entrance. Wang Tong turned back and asked, "What's up?"

"Be careful!"

The tenderness in Ma Xiaoru's voice sounded familiar to Wang Tong for a second; The words were a thin thread leading into Wang Tong's memory. But, before he could tug on it and drag out the old Ma Xiaoru with all her affection, the thread snapped. He realized that Ma Xiaoru cared about him just like she cared about other comrades.

"Don't worry about me. I have more than nine lives. Be careful out here too; it could be a trap." Wang Tong let out a laugh and disappeared into the tunnel.

The cave turned pitch dark soon after Wang Tong entered. Wang Tong could have turned on the illumination unit on his METAL, but he had something better—his eyes burned with a golden luster in the darkness.

Wang Tong's night vision would not give away his location like the illuminating unit would, so he slipped like a shadow in the darkness. He had learned many tricks to cover his tracks while sneaking about on Norton, and even his breath was controlled to minimize the chance of being detected.

"Goldie 2, what's the surrounding like?" Wang Tong asked.

"Master, no unusual life signals so far."

"Balls! Was I wrong about this? They wouldn't have built this big cave system for no reason, eh?"

Wang Tong pressed on, believing in his intuition. The complexity of the cave was a tell-tale sign that something big was hidden in its bowel. Zergs were intelligent, but they were predictable nonetheless, if one knew where to look.

As Wang Tong went further, he noticed that the cave was even more massive and more intricate than the one he was in last time. He doubted that the GBD would be able to penetrate this far and kill whatever was hidden at the bottom.

A few moments had passed, yet Wang Tong still had found nothing. Recognition dawned on his face as he realized there were only two possibilities to this strange development: The Zergs had already moved away, or it was a trap.

Chapter 259: Kill Kill Kill

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

Wang Tong's heart sank. He wondered if he had been followed ever since his first encounter of the day with the Zergs.

Suddenly, Wang Tong thought about the crazy behavior of the Zergs who chased after him while Jansining was murdering the queen. The Zergs even passed Jansining despite their queen's agonizing shrieks… Unless, the shrieking was not a plead for rescue, but it was the last command: Kill the strongest.

"Shit!"

"Master, I have registered a large number of biological signals. They are all converging toward you."

Before Goldie's voice slipped away, Wang Tong had initiated his tactics to the full extent and stormed out. He was concerned for the safety of his comrades on the ground, and wondered why the Zergs would want him dead so badly. Then, it occurred to him that there must be a Encephalon Zerg somewhere in this cave. Otherwise, these cretins would not have the patience nor the memory to continue their dead queen's dying wish.

It was the first time in a long while that Wang Tong ever fell into a Zerg's trap.

The situation on the ground was much worse than Wang Tong would like to see. The platoon had retreated at first sight of the attackers, but was then forced to separate into two groups with communications to both Wang Tong and each other cut off by the disturbance signals.

The lower tier Zergs had encircled the platoon, letting the higher tier Zergs flex their muscles against the human soldiers in the middle of the encirclement.

Very quickly, half of the platoon were either mortally wounded or dead. The Zergs inched toward the last two members of the platoon, brandishing their sharp claws, some of which still had bits and pieces of human flesh hanging on it.

"Ma Xiaoru, I command you to leave the battle!" Jansining shouted.

"I can't and I won't!"

Ma Xiaoru had initiated her super METAL. Despite its power, it drained her soul energy rapidly. After killing a dozen high-level Zergs, her attacks came with less frequency and vigor. She should have a chance of breaking the encirclement by herself had she focused on escaping from the beginning of the engagement. However, she could not leave her comrades to die. So she stayed, struggling to save her teammates' lives, and then failed. Her teammates died one after another, then it was her turn.

Jansining had already lost an arm. A piece of bone stuck out from the stub, the whiteness of the bone was jarring against the mush of meat and blood. Having witnessed his brothers' death, Jansining's mind had been fried many times over.

He had known this day would come.

"Take this!" Jansining handed over a mini nuke to Ma Xiaoru using the only arm he had left.

"Bros, wait for me. I am coming!" Jansining plunged himself at the Zerg while screaming profanities at his enemies hideous but indifferent face.

A sharp talon penetrated Jansining's chest. Only with slight hesitation, Jansining continued his charge, driving the tip of the claw deeper into his body. A warm smile appeared on Jansining's bloodstained face; his last thought was his wife and daughter, home sweet home.

In a blink of eyes, Ma Xiaoru was the only one left on the slaughter ground. She felt the flow of soul energy was threatening to falter at any time, and she was aware that the moment her METAL suit turned off due to lack of soul energy was the moment of her demise.

Wang Tong stormed towards his teammates while annihilating any resistance he had encountered in an instance. The tip of his blade trembled against the immense GN power it was imbued with, and its body hummed like a rumble of thunder. It was the lightening effect of the GN force that could only be unleashed by an Einherjar.

"Get away! away!"

Nothing could stop Wang Tong as he screamed and stormed through the tunnel. Goldie's voice repeated insistently: "Master, please be aware of your power usage. Large hostile force detected on the ground. Large hostile force detected on the ground."

"Shut up!" Wang Tong bawled out.

Finally, with a blaring thunder, Wang Tong emerged out from the tunnel entrance, but it was too late.

Ma Xiaoru attempted at the mini nuke, but lacked the proficiency in using such a sophisticated weapon with limited time. Before she could aim at the mass of the Zerg army, a Diamond Beetle flew into her wrist and came out from the other end. She dropped the nuke, but another air born Zerg flew by and picked it up before it even landed on the ground. The pain in her wrist sucked the remaining soul energy dry. Her METAL disappeared as a Scorpian Zerg cast a stretchy shadow over her frail body.

Under the sun, the ground glistered with fresh blood; red, human blood.

Wang Tong let out a saddened howl laced with the unswerving promise of death. His eyes burned with an unnerving golden luster that screamed for vengeance, and his soul energy soared up to an uncountable magnitude. Wang Tong's soul energy permeated through the air, drawing the Zerg's attention.

Wang Tong dashed forward, and with a bright flash, a Diamond Beetle was sliced in half

The attack had broken Wang Tong's blade in two. The upper portion of the blade was then lined by a deadly glow of GN force, forming a sharp edge that protruded out from where it had broken off.

In one sweep of the blade, Wang Tong had ended the life of a dozen Zergs in front of him. Waves of soul energy spilled out from his body like boiling poison in a cauldron. The rest of the Zergs retreated a step back, fearing to wade into that deadly deluge of soul energy.

Fear was contagious, even among the Zergs. But their collective fear, once sensed by the mastermind, quickly turned into an appetite for power. The mastermind had locked onto his target: the strongest opponent it had met in a few hundred years, a satisfying entrée.

Ma Xiaoru's face was pale, and she still refused to take off that warm smile in front of Wang Tong "If... I will never let you go!"

Ma Xiaoru reached out to Wang Tong's face, and her blood-stained finger paused midway before it collapsed with her arm.

It was too late for Wang Tong to be finally convinced that Ma Xiaoru had recovered her memory.

Throwing his head back, Wang Tong screamed at the sky. Regret and remorse would not bring Ma Xiaoru back, but that heartache was the only thing left of her. Rage burned through the thin pretense of reason, leaving Wang Tong with only one thought: Kill

"I am sorry Mr. Wannabe; I won't be able to bring you to the Hall of Valhalla anymore" Rays of bright lights shot out from his skin as his physical body was no longer able to contain the roaring torrent of GN force.

As he laid Ma Xiaoru's body on the ground, he felt her body was light as a feather.

"Kiddo! Kill these bastards!"

Wang Tong heard Mr. Wannabe's voice.

"METAL!"

The heat of anger had vaporized the tear and sorrow in Wang Tong's eyes. Instead, the two golden pools burnt with the luster that meant only death.

"Master. Weapon."

Two curved blades suddenly showed up in Wang Tong's hands, surrounded by a dark light that threatened to devour all living things.

Kill! kill!

Kill! Kill!

KILL! Kill!

KILL! KILL!

The blade traced dark and forbidden curves one after another, slicing and cutting through the shell into the flesh of Zergs.

KILL! KILL! KILL

More Zergs swarmed at Wang Tong; their sanity seemed to be nibbled away by the extreme display of power in front of them.

Among the Zerg forces stood a strange shadow. It was strange preciously because it was standing like a human. There was a particular measure of placidity in the strange shadow that contrasted the crazed action around it.

The Tactics of the Blade whirled inside Wang Tong's body. It was expanding and exerting more control over Wang Tong's consciousness, like a red hot train engine driving a train towards a rock cliff.

Wang Tong's soul energy had long since depleted, what was fueling the flame in his body was his life force. Wang Tong didn't mind; he didn't expect to get out of this alive.

Wang Tong let go of his life as he exploded, squished, and twisted the Zerg's bodies into pulps. But after a hundred Zergs had fallen, another thousand followed suit.

Wang Tong felt his attacks were slowing down already, and he had been burning Einherjar Wannabe's soul energy for a while. Fearing that he would kill Mr. Wanna by depleting his soul energy, he turned off the METAL, hoping one day, another lucky lad would stumble upon the loudmouthed ghost.

'Goodbye, Mr. Wannabe.'

Another wave of Zergs charged at Wang Tong. He picked up Ma Xiaoru's body and held it tight in his arms.

Only after she was gone had he truly appreciated her existence. Her care and love were subtle and insubstantial like the air—he wouldn't even realize he needed it until it was gone.

Old Fart always said that money could buy anything except for bribing your way out of regrets. He was right like he always was.

Wang Tong pressed his lips on Ma Xiaoru's as if a kiss before bed.

At the last moment of his life, before the nuke exploded, he finally found his true love.

Chapter 260: Escaped Death

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

Wang Tong heard the countdown on the mini nuke, and then something else.

"Level one alert, master's body has sustained 70% damage. External threat: 100%... Request permission to access back up energy pack."

"Permission granted. Initiating back up energy pack."

The mini nuke swooshed away from Wang Tong's palm as a golden light started to emanate out from Wang Tong's body, until it was about ten meters in circumference, and then rose swiftly above Wang Tong's head and stretched out into two magnificent wings.

As soon as the eerie shadow among the Zergs saw the mini nuke, it sank into the ground. The rest of the Zergs swarmed to the end of the mini nuke's trajectory, trying to shield as much damage as they could.

After a thunderous rumble, a shockwave rushed, and eventually came the agonizing fire; the world was reduced to ashes.

What did life look like after one died?

Old Fart always babbled about how the enlightened had a second choice called the "divine path" after their physical bodies perished from this world. Could Wang Tong be presented with the second choice?

The so-called "divine path" was the ultimate state sought after feverishly by the disciples of the Divine Master sect and the Templar's court. They believed that General Li didn't die. Instead, he had chosen the divine path, which led him to immortality. Whenever Old Fart talked about these seemingly illusory stories, Wang Tong noticed a haze in his eyes as if he was yearning for something to come.

The divine path?

Although Wang Tong couldn't quite grasp the full meaning of the words, he knew that this was something beyond one's combat strength. Therefore, even a real Einherjar could not enter the divine path without specific prerequisites. That being said, Wang Tong reasoned that without the same soul energy as an Einherjar, the divine path would still be elusive to the holiest man in the known Universe.

Back on the battlefield, Wang Tong had conceded to his doom and was ready to die, but his lingering consciousness caught him by surprise. His surprise was followed by the feeling of being folded, tucked and jammed into a tiny container like a ball of yarn.

Slowly, Wang Tong found his consciousness, and it was followed by a sharp pain in his chest.

"Wang Tong, Wang Tong! Can you hear me? If you can, please move your finger."

Wang Tong moved his finger and heard a wave of cheers.

Outside the large can where Wang Tong was lying, people cheered and applauded for the miracle. Wang Tong had survived the nuke while standing in the dead center of the blast. Was it sheer luck? If not, what else could it be other than the will of the God?

Although the mini-nuke had limited power, it was deadly for anything within two to three hundred meters. God had been generous that day, as not only had Wang Tong survived, so did three of his comrades.

Jansining had lost an arm, Third had lost an eye, and Big O had lost a brother. Little O had protected Big O with his last reaming strength. Like he always did, Little O was one step ahead of Big O, even on their way to death.

These three survived mainly due to the rolling hills that provided some sort of a shelter. Plus, the three were situated relatively further away from the center of detonation. When the rescue team found them, they had passed out among fallen limbs, and charred Zerg carcasses that looked no different than piles of collapsed lumps.

The ninth platoon had finished yet another impossible mission. Members were rewarded greatly, and the military spared no expense in saving their lives. Due to the lack of medical equipment on Norton, they were transported back to earth for better treatment.

The three soldiers' injuries were manageable so as long as the military kept their medical bill up to date; they would be back to a normal life in no time. Jansining had permanently lost his hand, so the medical experts installed a cyborg arm for him. They had also replaced one of Third's eyes with a cyborg eyeball. Big O didn't lose anything on his body, but he had lost his brother that he had sworn to protect.

It was tragedies like this that kept the feud between the Zergs and the human going for centuries. There should be only one survivor between the two rivals.

Wang Tong had been lying in the medical bay over 20 days, and at this point, many next of kin would have already given up. Even if Wang Tong woke up, he would very likely become a vegetable.

However, not only had Samantha and the military handled all the medical bill, the Li family had also flown in a soul energy recuperation expert from the moon to help Wang Tong.

When Wang Tong moved his finger, among the people who watched and cheered stood Li Ruoer with a wicked smile on her face. "I won't let you die so easily."

The servants' hair stood on their ends after hearing Li Ruoer's words as they lamented over the cruel heart of their young lady.

After Wang Tong lifted his finger, sleepiness came over him and he quickly fell asleep again.

In his dream, time seemed to have lost its meaning. When he woke up again, he heard the voice of Jansining.

"Wang Tong, hey kiddo!" Jansining shouted at the half-conscious Wang Tong as he pounded on the transparent cover of the medical bay.

"You are finally awake! Time to get up!"

Wang Tong recognized the three familiar faces, and he noticed the cyborg's eyeball on Third's face. It was a grim reminder of what happened that day, and it made Wang Tong feel melancholic.

Jansining felt for Wang Tong. He had been like Wang Tong when he was at his age, but soon, Jansining reasoned that Wang Tong would see the war for what it was and accept the reality.

Jansining knocked on the cover again and said, "Be strong kiddo. If you miss the others, then you need to live, and one day. you might seek revenge for them."

The three outside the medical bay had since long learned to bury their sorrow deep down, lock it up, and throw away the key.

As the three plastered a joyful expression on their faces, Wang Tong felt slightly relieved. He had only one question, "Where is Ma Xiaoru?"

"We didn't see her name on the survivor's list. Only four of us got sent back to earth."

The smiles on the three's face faded away. They remembered that Ma Xiaoru had the chance to break through the encirclement by herself, but she stayed nonetheless.

Wang Tong felt a pain start from his heart, and it shot through his entire body. His vital readings began to destabilize as the pain increased intensity.

"Don't worry Wang Tong, it's too early to say anything. We survived, didn't we? Can you remember the relative location of Ma Xiaoru to the nuke when it went off? Was there any cover?"

"Yea bro, I think she's fine. We didn't hear anything on TV. I say no news is good news. You need to focus on your recovery, and we will ask around for you." Big O said.

Wang Tong's vitals started to stabilize as the pain slowly dissipated. He reasoned that if he had survived, given the proximity between him and Ma Xiaoru, the girl should be fine as well.

Wang Tong finally gained a measure of hope.

The other's heart ached at the sight of Wang Tong's hopeful expression. What if they were wrong and Ma Xiaoru was indeed dead?

Wang Tong called out to Goldie and Mr. Wannabe, but neither answered him. As he searched deeper into his sea of consciousness, he realized why his call was unanswered. His sea of consciousness had turned into a desert. He realized that he was in deeper trouble then he had thought. He cleared his thought and decided that the most critical task right then was to recover and regain soul energy.

Samantha watched Wang Tong through the window pane of the emergency room. She felt excited and relieved at Wang Tong's recovery. She knew that Wang Tong and Ma Xiaoru had gone through a lot on Norton, and she understood that true love was not about being joined at the hips. But when she saw that Wang Tong's first thought after recovery was Ma Xiaoru, she could not help but feel bitter.

"Principal Samantha, Wang Tong's condition has been stabilized. As long as we have enough stem cell supply, he should recover back to full health pretty quickly, except for..."

"Dr. Andrew, if you have anything you need, just let me know," Samantha demanded.

"The resources are not the issue. It's just that his soul energy was depleted and we are not having any luck in recharging it." Andrew sighed as he felt sorry for this to happen to a young boy with a promising future.

Chapter 261: Life Goes On

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

Andrew was an expert in soul energy recovery, so his concern had unnerved Samantha. When Wang Tong was brought back from the scorched battlefield, he was practically dead since he had used up all his life force to survive a nuclear blast.

"Aren't you going to see him, principal?"

Samantha didn't speak. After a while, she shook her head and said, "Maybe later, I don't want to disturb him."

Andrew nodded; he was touched by the care and attention that Samantha had given to her student.

While Wang Tong was recovering, the military was pulling out its forces rapidly. When the Earthlings were questioned at the council meeting by the Martians, their answer was, "Routine operation."

Almost all the students were sent back to their schools without giving any reasons; the situation seemed to suggest that the entire campaign was a slip-up. The politicians boiled over on the matter immediately, calling the whole campaign a failure and a waste of money and lives.

However, what if they were wrong? Why would the Confederation be willing to risk losing their face and pull back the students?

Were the casualties among the students too high?

There had been minimal casualties among the students, and all the injuries were manageable.

Then why did the Confederation pull them back?

Ma Sa was a pragmatic person. Despite the NNT's rule of the drawing the line at dealing with the great houses, his pragmatism told him that some lines should be crossed to complete certain missions. No one on the council would listen to him no matter how much he pleaded, so he needed Einherjar Li Zhedao on his side. Once the council had approved his proposal, the retreat from Norton could be carried out immediately.

Ma Sa had decided that he would rather destroy the entire planet than let them obtain any information on the genetic makeup of the Li family.

It appeared that the only viable solution was to destroy the planet using weapons of mass destruction.

This was a serious matter, and they couldn't afford to let the politicians from the Mars and the Moon get involved. Ma Sa had been preparing for this operation for a while, but without any support, it had been difficult to convince anyone to give up their properties on Norton for the sake of the greater good.

Luckily, Ma Sa had gained a valuable ally, the Li, and soon, he reasoned that he would have the second grief from the Ma. The House of Ma was convinced that the Zergs were after Ma Xiaoru's gene during the battle.

The situation was shifting silently and swiftly under the disguise of a routine operation.

Wang Tong's body had recovered quickly. During his recovery, Jansining's constant encouragement and the hope of seeing Ma Xiaoru had helped in stabilizing his condition. He had since figured that his friends had used Ma Xiaoru's possible survival as a way to coax his level of stress down to normal. After much thought, he reasoned that their white lies might not have strayed too far from the truth. He had reasoned that the Zergs had wanted the powerful fighters alive; the three survivors were the living proof of their intention. Ma Xiaoru was even stronger than those three who had been deemed worthy by the Zerg. Therefore, Zergs would not have killed her. As for the mini nuke, Wang Tong reasoned that it would not be a threat to Ma Xiaoru either. Wang Tong was spared from the destruction of the mini-nuke thanks to the coverage provided by the terrain and Goldie. By the same logic, Ma Xiaoru should have survived the blast as well since she was right in his arms.

No one knew where Ma Xiaoru was and if she were still alive. But in this case, no news was indeed good news.

What happened on that day still gave Wang Tong the chills. The Zergs had acted unusually as they had attacked one platoon with half of their force on Norton. Weren't they afraid of revealing their location and receiving deadly blows from the space? What were they after exactly?

Wang Tong wondered if the Zergs had come after him because they knew he was the successor to their nemesis, the Blade Warrior.

Wang Tong decided to give up his train of thoughts as he realized that his priority right then was to recover quickly, so he could find out if Ma Xiaoru were alive.

A few days later, Wang Tong was discharged from the medical bay. He learned from his comrades to bury his sorrow deep down and try to cope with the grief from such a traumatic event.

"I have decided to go home and visit my parents." Big O said calmly. He needed to bury his brother's remains close to their childhood home.

"Sure, let me know when you want to be back," Jansining said.

"You bet I will. I got no relatives left, and my only wish is to kill more Zergs."

"What about you, Third?"

"I got an aunt here on Earth who I was planning to visit. I will come back after the visit. You should retire Lieutenant; you got a family."

Jansining shook his head, "I can't."

Jansining loved his wife and daughter, but the thought of giving up the standard that his teammates had bled on made him feel incredibly guilty.

"Big Head always wanted to see your daughter." Big O sighed.

Wang Tong's heart sank at the thought of Big Head and Jansining's daughter. Big Head wanted to save money and buy the kid a piano as a gift, but he didn't have the chance to do so.

Jansining clapped his hands loudly, trying to break the darkening mood. "Well... That's the way it is. Big O, your leave is granted. Let me know when you are back."

"Thanks, Lieutenant! Wang Tong, keep up the good work, and don't give up hope!"

"Will do." Wang Tong cracked a smile.

The three of them knew that Wang Tong had dried out his sea of consciousness, and marveled at Wang Tong's positive attitude at such a devastating blow to his future.

After Big O and Third had left the hospital, Jansining stood behind to make sure that Wang Tong had recovered well.

Although Wang Tong acted as nothing had happened, Jansining knew that he had tucked his sorrow under his plastered smile. Wang Tong had been a powerful fighter, and fighting meant everything to him. Jansining figured that the sudden loss of all abilities ought to be a more devastating blow to Wang Tong than any other soldier. Therefore, he stood behind to make sure Wang Tong wouldn't do anything stupid out of utter desperation.

Wang Tong would be lying to say that he didn't feel sorry for himself. The lack of any soul energy had frustrated him a great deal. However, most of his attention right then was on the well-beings of Ma Xiaoru, so he was somewhat distracted from his own misfortune. Plus, Wang Tong was a very adaptive person; he had lived well, relatively speaking, when he had nothing except for a drunken old fool to look after. So, he should be fine in the future even as an Ordinary Joe.

Jansining's concern might seem legit when it was applied to most people, but to Wang Tong, it was unnecessary.

Getting bored, Wang Tong surfed the internet, looking to buy a piano and send it to Jansining's daughter on behalf of Big Head. However, when he saw the price tag, he almost gave up his thought.

Wang Tong lamented over how unfair the world was. But the bigger the challenge, the more eager Wang Tong wanted to accomplish it.

"But, where could I get the money?" Wang Tong asked himself.

He could have fought for DREAM in the PA system, but then, he would no longer be a fighter.

Wang Tong then thought about his other talent: Dancing. He picked up the phone and dialed up Mike's number.

Chapter 262: Dawn

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

Making an MV could be cheap, as long as one knew how to do it. Instead of a real stage, one could use the virtual stage and when mixed with some background music, voilà, you got an MV.

Wang Tong's only experience in making an MV came from what he had overheard from other professional music video makers while loitering at the backstage before and after his performance in Aurora City. He wasn't sure if this piece of roughly patched up work would be worth anything, but he decided to give it a go anyways.

Other than the injury he had sustained in his sea of consciousness, his body had recovered fully.

After Wang Tong lost his power, the world around him seemed quieter. He enjoyed this quiet, free time, as it gave him an opportunity to put his plan of making an MV into action. He went to an internet cafe and started working on his MV right away. He first researched online about the methods of making an MV, and then realized what he had wanted could be accomplished easier than he had expected. Since he didn't like the frivolous decoration, he had decided to go with a black and white background.

Wang Tong took a deep breath as he searched for inspiration deep inside his mind.

Wang Tong was quickly engrossed in his search, slowing teasing out all kinds of emotions. In this material world, he found something real and untouched within the myriad of convoluted feelings, and that was humanity.

Wang Tong's dance was a heart-touching performance. Without the GN force, he had given up on tricky moves, but the whole arrangement seemed even more sincere and touching, as it spoke in a language that everyone could relate to.

After he had finished recording, tears poured out from Wang Tong's eyes.

Wang Tong sent the unedited MV to Mike.

Three days later, Wang Tong followed Jansining to his home. It was a beautiful little town called Provence. A fussy warmth rose inside Wang Tang when he saw Jansining embrace his wife and daughter. Wang Tong reckoned that the fussy feeling was a feeling of home.

"BeiBei, this is Wang Tong. He is a great soldier," Jansining spoke to his daughter, pointing at Wang Tong.

"Hello, Wang Tong!"

Watching her cute chubby face, Wang Tong cracked a smile and gently patted at the top of her head, then said, "Hello!"

Children were innocent because they didn't know the cruelty of the world. "Papa, Papa! Where is Uncle Big Head? I have already got his gift. I really like it!"

"Gift?" Jansining was confused. His wife then told him that she had just received a gift from Big Head; it was a piano.

Wang Tong squeezed Beibei's chubby little cheek and said, "Uncle Big Head is on a very important mission far, far away. You will understand it when you grow up."

BeiBei pouted and said, "That's what grown-ups do, lie! He promised me many times that he would come, but he never did."

Wang Tong's finger trembled slightly as a rush of sadness came over him. Jansining kept silent, fighting his own demons. Jansining's wife had guessed what had happened, so she said, "BeiBei, you are very selfish. Uncle Big Head is a soldier, he needs to protect other people. "

BeiBei squeezed her hand together and nodded. "Wang Tong, I am sorry. I just really really miss Uncle Big Head. I want to touch his head."

On her way home, BeiBei clapped her little hands, and sang the Big Head song, "Big Head has a Big Head..."

All Academies had pulled back their students. Despite the fact that their stay in the military was short, all the students had learned a lot. The most valuable lesson they had learned was the harshness and cruelty of the war. Some students had already accepted the reality and started training with a newfound determination.

The moment Wang Tong stepped into the Ayrlarng Campus, he reckoned that he had forgotten the person he shouldn't have forgotten.

Perhaps there had been more passion between the two when they first started dating, but both Wang Tong and Samantha knew that their infatuation wouldn't last long. However, Wang Tong never regretted anything he did for Samantha, and he knew that the feeling was mutual. Although Wang Tong had matured a lot during the military campaign on Norton, he held on to the thought that he did love Samantha when they first fell in love, and so did she.

Wang Tong decided that he wouldn't meet Samantha before he was fully recovered. He tried every day to use the tactics, but with the very little soul energy he had recovered over a few weeks, he couldn't move even one GN node. That being said, the small progress in recharging his soul energy exhilarated Wang Tong, and it gave him a sliver of hope.

Wang Tong figured that that reason why Mr. Wannabe and Goldie's had kept silent might be more than just because of his lack of soul energy. Mr. Wannabe had spent a great deal of his soul energy while Wang Tong was battling the Zergs, and Goldie had practically absorbed all the damage from the mini-nuke for him. Wang Tong felt a sense of guilt, and he wished that he was stronger, so his friends wouldn't have to suffer for his incompetence.

The pain and guilt made Wang Tong more adamant in recovering his power. He decided to start from the basics. As long as he was still alive, he would give all he had to find his power back. He made up his mind that he would join up with Jansining, Third, and Big O after he graduated.

Wang Tong went to Ma Xiaoru's mansion in Shangjin, but the gate was locked. Suddenly, he felt helpless in this big world. Without his power, he was a nobody.

If it were Wang Tong when he still had the power, he would have rushed in without permission. However, he had learned a lot from Jansining, so he knew what he should do.

Although the school life remained the same, Wang Tong couldn't stop feeling like he didn't belong there. The classroom and the classmates were the same, but the war had changed him.

Zhou Sisi and Karl had not returned yet, thanks to the Martians interference with the operation. The Martians had tabled a proposal to slow down the retreat process, as they tried to learn more about Earthling's real intention behind all these maneuvers. All mobilizations were halted until the council made their decision about the Martian proposal.

The average person wouldn't care about the military strategy as much as the council did, but their attention was attracted by a breaking news in the entertainment industry.

A poorly edited music video had gone viral on the internet, and quickly became the most watched music video of all time.

Mike posted the video, and it was the same mysterious masked dancer dancing to Zhou Yiyi's song "Dawn."

No one asked questions about the identity of this masked dancer since their curiosity paled under the comparison to the emotions the performance had summoned inside of them.

The song was not any mainstream pop dance music, but the dance pierced through the pretense of worldly desires like an arrow, and stroke home at the hearts of the audience. It made them see themselves as who they really were—creatures of sentiments.

The masked dancer's performance was soul touching; it would be an insult to compare his performance with those empty-brained swaggering of a*ses one saw so often on their home TV.

The masked dancer's performance could light up the desires for a genuine relationship among his audiences, regardless if they were watching from Earth, the Moon or Mars. Despite the different artistic appreciation on every planet, the video swept through all medias of the human world, as it evoked a universal feeling in humans: life was beautiful.

"Don't complain it was gone, be happy because it was beautiful" An ancient wise man used to say.

The video was the most touching to the veteran families, as if it had spoken out loud for their sorrow and reconciliation of losing their loved ones.

Using the profit he made from the video, Mike had formed a charity for veteran families. Mike had also announced that he would donate all of his wealth to this organization.

This series of developments had shocked everyone, from ordinary citizens to the politicians. They all found a measure of respect for this seemingly feminine man.

At Ayrlarng, the scene in the school lunchroom was unusual: no one was fighting for the best meal. Instead, the students lined up in a row, eyes glued to the screen of a TV.

It was an interview with Mike about the new MV and the masked dancer. It had been a few months since the release of the MV, but people's enthusiasm didn't seem to die down the slightest.

Wang Tong watched as he stood at the end of the line. He noticed that Mike had changed a lot. He used to wear frivolous shirts and talk with a tense and demanding tone that meant only business. Wang Tong could have seen the money signs in his eyes if he watched close enough. However, the new Mike seemed much laid back. Even the color and style of his clothes were muted, and much more comfortable to look at.

"Mike, did you know that everyone, your friends, enemies, they all want to know what had made you give up your wealth? You had gained so many fans, I included, hehe... But If I were you, I won't have the gut to give away all my money, you know?"

The interviewer was the most influential talk show host, Clayton.

"When I was young, I worked for my craft, not for the money. But it changed, and I wasted too much time on things that were not really important. The masked dancer made me think a lot about that. I am just an average person like everyone else. I simply wanted to do something meaningful, and I believe you do too." Mike answered calmly. His spirit was free the moment he relinquished his worldly possessions.

"Hehe, Mike, maybe one day I will do the same and give away all my money. On another note, the dancer, when I watched his performance, he reminded me a lot of my youth. I am not ashamed to tell you that I still cried on the 20th time I watched the video. So, who exactly is this young man?" Like everyone else, Clayton was eager to know the identity of the masked dancer.

"Clayton my friend. I wish I could tell you who he is, but I can't. One thing about him though, he is a brave warrior, and dancing was just his hobby. He sent me the MV hoping that I would be able to fulfill one of his comrades' final wish. His comrades died on the battlefield, but the veteran family didn't even get any compensation. I wish to bring this issue to the government's attention, and hope they would table something out that is more effective than my charity in helping these people who bled and died for us." There was a determination in Mike's voice, and he was rewarded with a wave of approving applause.

"Well said, Mike. I will donate five million credits to mike's charity for veterans. I would like to join forces with Mike and urge the Confederation to pay attention to the living conditions of our veterans and their families. After all, without them, none of us would be here today. Thank you, Mike and thanks everyone. That's our show tonight."

Mike had indeed changed a lot.

The students cheered at the show, but Wang Tong sat at the table and ate his lunch quietly. He knew he could change profession and become a successful dancer, but he wouldn't give up what he had started. He had chosen to be a soldier, and he would stick to it. Even if he couldn't fight, he would still volunteer at the military, help them with other activities that didn't require fighting.

Mike had proven to be a trustworthy friend. He might seem crazy in giving up all of his money, but everyone's life was different, because everyone held a different answer to the meaning life.

Chapter 263: There She Goes Again

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

Two days later, all the students had returned to Ayrlarng. All the faces of the S club lit up with joy as they were eager to share their experience with everyone else. Apache had not responded as he had already been officially admitted to the military due to his exceptional performance. Martyrus let Apache go without any hesitation or remorse; he knew that military, instead of the academy, was where Apache belonged. Plus. It was a teacher's duty to help the students to get on their true stage.

Everyone was happy for Apache, and his success had helped the S club extend its influence. By word of mouth, many A and B class students learned about the S club and knew that its leader was the incredible fighter that defeated Capth, so they handed in their application without a second thought.

"Sh*t!... Is this for real?" Hu Yangxuan asked incredulously, mouth wide open.

The news about Wang Tong's injury had caught everyone by surprise.

"Don't you worry about me. The doctor said that there are still hope for recharging it. Plus, fighting is not the only way of participating in a war. I can still do the logistical work."

"Balls! Hu Yangxuan, your family, is rich. Why don't you find him a better doctor?" Karl shouted.

Wang Tong shook his head and said, "That was not the problem. I had depleted my soul energy, and it's all up to me to gain it back. Anyhow, thanks for your concern. Haha, stop pulling that sullen face!"

"Yea, Wang Tong, make sure you let us know what you need, ok?"

"Don't worry about it, Boss. Based on your palm lines, I can tell you are destined to become an Einherjar. Maybe this injury was just a blessing in disguise! " Karl announced gleefully.

"Ha-ha, I hope you are right!" Wang Tong laughed. The company of his friends had already made Wang Tong forget about the frustration of not being able to use any of his soul energy.

Everyone wanted to help, but were not sure how, so they all offered their moral support.

In the night, when Wang Tong laid on his bed, he studied his sea of consciousness carefully and found it was still dry as a desert. He missed Mr. Wannabe's scathing advice, but even his most trusted advisor could not answer his call.

Wang Tong grimaced. He wondered what would be the point of living if he didn't have any soul energy to use.

Could he really be a logistical worker? No.

Wang Tong tried a dozen more failed attempts to summon his soul energy, and eventually gave up.

In her dorm, Zhou Sisi buried her head in a pile of books relating to the treatment of soul energy depletion. She found out that depletion happened more often then she had thought. However, so far there was no viable treatment for it. In some of the cases, the soldier regained his soul energy over time, but the new soul energy was only a fraction of what it used to be. Only in a few very rare cases would the soldier regain the soul energy to its former strength, but records related to those cases all referred elusively to certain "matching force" or "the right moment" as the main contributor to the full recovery. The real meaning of these ambiguous terms escaped Zhou Sisi.

She also discovered some alternative methods, such as the method of Golden Needle, where a professional energy acupuncture would stimulate the soldier's dantian with a Golden Needle.

However, not only was it incredibly hard to find a professional energy acupuncture therapist who knew how to wield the "Golden Needles.", but the healing process was also very long as it would take up to decades.

Cao Yi and the Zhang brothers were also busy in finding a treatment for Wang Tong. They had hacked into high clearance documents hoping to find an answer there. All the while, they felt indignant for Wang Tong as fate had played this cruel joke on him.

Life went on, and the world wouldn't slow down for one person. So, in a few weeks, the students had accepted the reality, and so did Wang Tong towards their pitiful look.

Wang Tong focused his attention on recovering as well as learning to fly the spaceship, one skill that did not require soul energy. Although Wang Tong had lost all of his soul energy, he was more determined than ever to become a soldier.

He didn't care about what other people might think of him, but focused solely on doing a great job in what he wanted to do.

His friends had given him much support. Hu Yang even broke his routine of sleeping that he had so religiously kept for the sake of a younger-looking skin, and joined Wang Tong in his morning exercises.

Wang Tong was moved by his friends' whole-hearted support, so he worked even harder, afraid of letting his friends down.

Half a month later, on a starry night, Wang Tong walked out of the library quietly. He had been spent much time in the library, researching techniques of fleet combat. Although his micro control was gone with the same wind that blew away his soul energy, he still held a solid understanding of the macro management of the space battle. After much research, he registered that the Soring Heaven and the Art of the Iron Wall could be refined further.

He hoped that if he could do well in fleet control, he might have a chance of becoming a first mate on a fleet without any soul energy. While Wang Tong was engrossed in his thoughts, someone stopped him cold. Even without soul energy, Wang Tong could tell that this person was a powerful fighter.

"This way, Wang Tong." The man in black said.

Wang Tong recognized that voice right away, "You are from House of Li."

"Our lady sent us." The man in black said placidly.

"I have nothing to say to her."

"Wang Tong, I might have to fight you into submission before, but now... you better do as I say."

"Over my dead body!"

"You got a quite an attitude, don't you? Lad, I like that. But you know our lady's temperament., I would be worried about your friends' lives if I were you. "

The man in black softened his voice. He was just doing his job. As a matter of fact, he liked this kid based on what he had heard about him. He conceded that Wang Tong was extremely unlucky to have offended Li Ruoer when she was at the critical point of breaching into her next level of cultivation. As the agitated soul energy rattled Li Ruoer's sanity, no one knew what the next crazy action she took would be. This was supposed to be a normal process in cultivating the Tactics of the Enchantress, and this man was hired by the House of Li to look after Li Ruoer when she was at her craziest, and also the most vulnerable.

Wang Tong nodded as he registered that he had no other options.

The man in black led him to a five-star hotel in downtown Shang Jin, where Li Ruoer had rented out the entire floor to ensure secrecy.

Li Ruoer was in a sleeveless tank top and jean shorts, revealing a pair of beautiful long legs. She waited impatiently for Wang Tong as she planned out her revenge.

It had been a while since they last met at the Aurora City, but it still seemed too short to Wang Tong.

Li Ruoer's face lit up at the sight of Wang Tong, but her smile quickly faded as she was disappointed by that arrogant and defiant look on Wang Tong's face.

"Wang Tong, long time no see. You barely changed at all!"

"What do you want?" Wang Tong grunted indifferently. He no longer cared about their petty feud as he just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

Li Ruoer couldn't stand his indifferent tone and anger sprout out inside of her. The flame twisted her lips into a contorted laugh. "Who do you think you ARE? You are nothing without your abilities."

"Perhaps, but I did kick you're a*s pretty good, and I will do it again if I could." Wang Tong rolled his eyes as he spoke.

Wang Tong's words added more fuel to the flame in Li Ruoer's eyes, and made it burned brighter. She wanted to enrage Wang Tong, but it had appeared that it was her rage that had gone out of control. She squeezed her hands, trying to rein in her anger as she wondered what had supported Wang Tong's pomposity even after losing his soul energy.

She applauded methodically, and then stood up in front of Wang Tong, "What a hero! Alright then, tough guy, let me tell you why you are here. I had invited you to watch a show with me."

Li Ruoer knew that physical pain would have little to no effect on crippling Wang Tong's will. To succeed, she needed something more personal.

Li Ruoer waved her hand as a projection appeared on the wall. The initially blurry image gave an impression of someone sitting on a chair, but as the picture took a few seconds to become clearer, Wang Tong's heart sank after seeing that the person was Zhou Sisi, and her hands were tied to the chair.

"This girl must be obsessed with you! She was researching ways of healing you in the library, but unfortunately for her, she forgot about the danger on the streets."

"You are crazy!" Wang Tong bawled out.

General Li Feng was wise to not leave the Tactics of Blade to his sick and morally degenerate b*stards.

Chapter 264: A Blessing in Disguise

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

"What have I done? I have done nothing! Come on... I just want to watch this show with you. Ohh...She looks so pretty, don't you think? I wonder if her body is as nice as her face?"

Li Ruoer glanced at Wang Tong and felt that he was getting angrier by the second. 'Perfect! it's working!' She thought to herself.

Wang Tong heaved a sigh and pleaded, "Release her, and I will give you whatever you want."

Li Ruoer's face beamed with satisfaction as and she said, "All I want is to continue watching this show with you. Don't you want to as well?"

Wang Tong wanted to calm his anger but failed. He lurched towards Li Ruoer, but without any soul energy, it was like hitting a rock with an egg.

Wang Tong flew away at a slight touch of Li Ruoer's fingertip, crashing into a wall. He thought he heard his bone snapping under the pressure. Li Ruoer laughed joyfully, savoring every moment "Be patient, Haha! Fine, fine, kowtow to me one hundred times and call me 'master' from now on. Then, I might let both of you go. "

Wang Tong stood up slowly, and the pain seemed to make him more alert to details. He found it strange that as an heir of house Li, Li Ruoer would be so careless as to kidnap a girl while risking her family's reputation. This kind of boldness was not common among the great house.

A strange sensation shot through Wang Tong's body. He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened his eyes again, Wang Tong noticed that the image on the wall had already disappeared.

It was an illusion created by the Tactics of the Enchantress!

Wang Tong marveled at the level of effort Li Ruoer had gone through just to torture him. She could have done away with him with ease using her power.

The development had relieved Wang Tong's stress since it was clear that Li Ruoer had not gone completely insane.

But immediately, Wang Ton was perplexed by another question: how did he see through the illusion without any soul energy?

Wang Tong held back the pleasant surprise and tried to initiate the Tactics of Blade, thinking that the tactics might miraculously start working without any soul energy as well. However, he was disappointed to find out that not only his soul energy was depleted, the link between the sea of consciousness and his Dantian had also ruptured. So, the tactics wouldn't be initiated.

Wang Tong's silence burned through Li Ruoer's patience. She finally asked in an annoyed voice: "Well, are you going to do it or not?"

Seeing Wang Tong still not answering her questions, Li Ruoer closed in and picked him up while shouting, "Do it! Don't you care about your friend?"

"Is this all you can do? I really wish I didn't say this."

Gazing at Li Ruoer's beautiful face, Wang Tong uttered his hatred slowly, "F-*-C-K Y-O-U."

The rage exploded in Li Ruoer's eyes. Sensing that Wang Tong would not fall for her trick, Li Ruoer threw Wang Tong into the air and followed with a roundhouse kick.

She suddenly remembered that Wang Tong had lost the protection of his soul energy, but it was already too late. With only the slightest hesitation, Li Ruoer continued her kick, and Wang Tong crashed back to the same wall that he had crashed into earlier.

The pain was unbearable, but as the pain propagated to his sea of consciousness, it was sucked dry like a drop of water on a parched land.

Could it be the effect of the Tactics of Enchantress? After all, general Li Feng and Zhou Zhi were couples.

Swallowing down the pain, Wang Tong struggled up and taunted his opponent, "Too soft. Even my grandpa can do better than this."

Li Ruoer's eyes turned into two pools of molten anger, "You still think that I wouldn't kill you?"

At this critical moment of her cultivation, Li Ruoer's soul energy was volatile. By then, anger had burned away the thread of order she needed to control the chaotic energy, and her soul energy quickly took control of her body, as it expanded through the air towards Wang Tong. The tremendous soul energy slightly ruffled wang Tong's mind, but his body seemed to crave it like a kid craving for treats.

"Good, "Wang Tong thought to himself "Come at me now!"

Wang Tong yearned for the recovery of his soul energy. He didn't even mind risking his life for it.

"Hey, you! I will slap your sassy a*s if you don't hit hard this time!" Wang Tong gave Li Ruoer a scornful look.

Li Ruoer's body trembled as boiling soul energy seeped out from her body; she could no longer control the power inside of her. She yanked her hand up and caused a gust, which blew Wang Tong to the edge of the wall. Despite the pain in his muscles and joints, Wang Tong felt the wave of energy was as refreshing as a dampening mist blow over a dry field.

Wang Tong then knew that this could be his only chance, as long as his body could survive Li Ruoer's attack.

"Wang Tong! You asked for it!"

Li Ruoer's GN force weighted on Wang Tong like a smothering blanket. However, as his soul energy absorbed more soul energy, Wang Tong felt the sea of consciousness was slowly coming alive.

Wang Tong finally saw a sliver of hope as well as the full extent of Li Ruoer's real power. Her soul power had reached over 300; Wang Tong reasoned that if he didn't dodge this attach in time, he might be in danger.

He struggled to make up his mind as to whether he should run away or stay. After all, he had promised himself to never back away from danger. Finally, he mustered all of his courage and gritted his teeth as he darted toward the exit.

It was locked.

Li Rouer's body floated in the air. Her eyes burned with a purple luster, and hair tossed around by the intense soul energy that spilled out from her body. Bottles, cups, phone, and lamps rattled violently under the influence of the invisible power.

Wang Tong wished helplessly that Li Ruoer would forget about him amidst her trance.

With a full sweep of her arm, Li Ruoer attacked Wang Tong with her soul energy directly. This was the most potent form of attack the Tactics of the Enchantress could unleash.

Wang Tong's body tensed up as Li Ruoer's soul energy surged into his dantian, but Wang Tong didn't seem to be in any mortal danger. His sea of consciousness gulped down one wave after another of the soul energy from the enchantress. Although at one time, Wang Tong felt he was about to drown in the flood of energy, as his sea of consciousness picked up its speed of absorbing soul energy, the drawing sensation quickly went away.

Wang Tong's soul energy was recovering rapidly while the Enchantress's soul energy was depleted by the second. A few moments later, the enchantress finally used up her power and fell back to the ground.

Wang Tong still couldn't move his body, so he stood still and let his body recover. He heard Mr. Wannabe's voice calling out to him, "Kiddo! What a miracle! You have connected all your GN nodes in your body! Ha! You would be able to walk the divine path in no time! I wish I had this much luck" His last sentence was practically a grunt.

Due to the complicated structure of the human's GN node, only a few GN nodes could be used at one time. However, it was not the case for the most potent fighters such as an Einherjar, who would be able to use all of the GN nodes at the same time, resulting in an exponentially increased damage output.

Li Ruoer's soul energy had been the key that unlocked the mechanism in Wang Tong's body, that would allow the utilization of all GN nodes.

Wang Tong felt an intense heat rise inside his dantian, eventually culminating in an explosion within his sea of consciousness. Wang Tong soon registered that this explosion was not destruction, but creation like the thunder of early Spring, signaling the genesis of a brand new world.

Wang Tong tried the Tactics of the Blade and found it ran exceptionally fluidly. The smoothness resulted in a newfound clarity in the movement of the GN nodes, that enabled Wang Tong to see the moments in his mind.

He no longer needed to prime the 256-node version of the tactics by first running the eight nodes, then to the 16 nodes, all until the number of nodes eventually reached 256. With the new soul energy, he could start at any number of nodes he wanted to.

With all the GN nodes connected, there would be no more bottlenecks of cultivation that Wang Tong could not surpass. As long as he continued his training and cultivation, he would be guaranteed to become an Einherjar, and the first person in history that achieved the status of Einherjar through his own diligence.