Ye Chong was troubled.
He had been training on his speed lately, and did not spend any time on strength training. Now, he had reached another bottleneck in his speed. Since speed was achieved through strength, without support from the appropriate amount of strength, his speed could only stay at its current level.
However, this was not the trash planet, where metallic trash was abundant and everywhere, as it was easy to find a piece of metal of suitable size there. Ye Chong had trained his strength with the most basic and simple method - using weights. He did weight lifting and used weights in exercises such as running and squatting. However, he was considerably stronger now, such that if he continued with the same training method, he would need much heavier weights to fulfil his needs. Otherwise, it would be difficult to achieve the desired results.
Except for a few rare materials, none were dense enough to meet Ye Chong’s requirements. However, one thing he could be certain of was that the materials that were dense enough were not obtainable at the present moment. Without a high enough density, the weight would be too much, besides being inconvenient. It would then be impossible to carry out training at Grandpa Qian’s house!
Mu was interested in the dilemma with Ye Chong’s muscular development. "Ye, your muscles are still not significantly developing!"
Ye Chong was not too concerned. "Didn’t you say it’s alright like this?"
Mu evenly replied, "It is alright, I’m just curious about your state of development!"
Ye Chong shook his head. "I don’t know the reason for it too. I’ve always been like this since young, never very muscular. Based on what you said, I should be much more muscular by now!"
Mu agreed. "By right, you should not be having this body form. However, I cannot inspect your body without proper measuring equipment."
Ye Chong did not mind about it. "At least it isn’t a bad thing!"
Mu bluntly replied, "Information is insufficient to calculate that!"
Ye Chong suddenly thought of something. "Mu, my basic pilot training is almost complete. When are you teaching any advanced techniques? I can only perform one now – the Non-orderly Wavy Leap!"
Mu said, "Advanced techniques are based on fundamental movements executed with unique battle strategies in mind –"
Ye Chong cut him off. "Just tell me if you’re teaching or not!"
Mu responded, "Only if you insist on it! However, do you have a spare mech?"
Ye Chong thought about it, and felt discouraged. "Ah, I only have the F-58. That white mech seems to have a grudge against Black Cove. If we meet again by accident, it will be disastrous! If it was not for the good terrain last time, it would probably be a lot riskier!"
Mu said, "It seems that the probability of you performing any pilot training is zero!" Ye Chong felt that Mu was definitely taking pleasure in his misfortune.
Ye Chong suddenly brightened up. "How about if I go for the NR Training Center?"
Mu disagreed. "The NR Training Center is incapable of granting you further improvement! What you lack now is experience in actual combat. However realistic the virtual net may feel like, it is incomparable to engaging in reality!"
Ye Chong groaned. "Actual combat? There’s nothing I can do about that!"
Without his training routine, Ye Chong felt idle most of the time. Mu suggested that he go out more often, since Ye Chong was still far from fully integrating into society, and many of his thoughts were still too different from the average person’s!
Grandpa Qian agreed with the idea that Ye Chong should explore the outside world more, commenting that he looked the very opposite of lively, and should leave the house for a while every day. He even generously offered Ye Chong some zuan credits as allowance!
Thus, Ye Chong went out to the streets under the support of both Mu and Grandpa Qian.
Unlike last time, where Ye Chong had the very definitive aim of obtaining his identity card when he went outside, this time it was purely for leisure. Ye Chong stood outside the main door, unable to decide where to head to first. Should he turn left? Or right? Or just walk straight ahead?
The observant Grandpa Qian noticed Sun Xuelin and Xiu some distance ahead, and greeted them loudly, "Xuelin!"
Sun Xuelin looked towards the direction of the voice, saw Grandpa Qian, and immediately grabbed Xiu along to meet the old man. "Good day, Grandpa Qian!" Xiu also greeted demurely, "Good day, Grandpa Qian!" Grandpa Qian laughed in delight, "Hehe, today Xiu took the initiative to greet me first, what a rare occasion!" Xiu immediately blushed in a cherry shade.
Grandpa Qian asked the two, "Are you going out for a walk?"
Sun Xuelin replied, "Yes, would grandpa like us to get you anything?"
Grandpa Qian smiled. "Oh no, but Ye has since only arrived at Blue Ocean for a short while, and he’s still unfamiliar with the place. If you’re heading out for a walk, can you bring Ye with you? Besides, you’re of the same age, he should be good company!" Grandpa Qian dragged the awkwardly standing Ye Chong over to the girls.
Sun Xuelin answered readily, "Sure! No problem, leave it to us!" She had been extremely curious about Ye all this while. Now that the opportunity presented itself, there was no reason for her to reject it.
On the other hand, Xiu watched curiously at Ye Chong from behind Xuelin.
Ye Chong still wore a plain expression.
Grandpa Qian was overjoyed. "That’s great! Then I leave it to you! Ye, you go along with them and have fun!"
Ye Chong acknowledged with an "Okay," since he had no idea where to go himself. Having a guide familiar with the area was not a bad idea, since he would then also be able to observe how normal people live their lives!
The trio walked along side by side.
Ye Chong watched the occasional mechs flying over him, filled with envy. It was a pity that he had a mech but was unable to use it. The fact soured his mood.
Ye Chong did not take the initiative to speak, and Sun Xuelin, feeling that the situation was getting awkward, spoke up to ease the tension. "Ye, is your real name also Ye?"
Ye Chong formed a short and firm reply, "Ye Chong!" No words came from him after that.
Since Ye Chong kept silent, Sun Xuelin continued, "I’m called Sun Xuelin, this here is Xiu!" Sun Xuelin braced through the introductions.
"Mm, I know!" Ye Chong replied.
Just as Sun Xuelin was beginning to run out of ideas, the usually timid Xiu made her move. "Ye, where are you from?"
"Er," Ye Chong almost continued with "trash planet", but stopped himself just in time and quickly asked Mu in his mind, "Mu, where am I from?"
Mu replied, "Your identity card indicates that your origin planet is Richie."
Being superficial, Ye Chong replied calmly, "Richie!"
"Richie?" The two girls shook their heads at that, since they had never heard of it. There were countless planets in the galaxy, and a vast number of planets in the five main galaxies were inhabited. Unless one was a specialised researcher in planetary geography, the average person would not know the names of many inhabited planets.
What Sun Xuelin would like to know the most was the condition of Ye Chong’s mech. However, she was unsure of how to approach the subject. She had initially planned to get familiar with him by chatting before asking him about it, but she did expect Ye Chong to be a man of few words.
Of course, she was not aware that if she had asked Ye Chong in a direct manner, the man would have probably answered her straight.
"I can’t believe this guy is so simple-minded!" Sun Xuelin thought with outrage.
In reality, no one could not blame Ye Chong for this. Ye Chong would only show his more casual side to Mu. He could not do so Grandpa Qian, much less someone he was unfamiliar with like Sun Xuelin and Xiu!
Ye Chong observed the people on the streets. They all seemed very calm, lacking the vigilance and hostility that wild animals show against an unfamiliar entity entering their territory. They also do not seem aggressive. "Hmm, it seems that the living principles of the mutants on the trash planet are not suited here after all. I’ll have to be more wary in future" Ye Chong thought.
Suddenly, the three noticed a huge commotion up ahead!