Chapter 193: Brewing Storm IX
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Ye, someone’s investigating you! And he’s good at what he does." Shang’s sinister voice was very different from usual.
What was with Shang? Ye Chong asked carefully, "Shang, what’s with you?"
"Humph, that d*mned b*stard, to play his tricks when I’m around. He’s too arrogant, does he think I’m so easy to bully?" Shang’s cold voice quickly turned exasperated.
So that was it! This tone was more like Shang's. Ye Chong continued on with what he was doing and said casually, "Shang, then you should take care of him!"
"Hehe, you know me best, Ye!" Shang was pleased. "Humph, while my computations are not as good as Mu’s, but in other aspects, hehe … If this guy wants to show off in front of me, then he’s found the wrong target!" Shang spoke his last sentence haughtily.
Ye Chong did not feel like pitying the guy. It was just his bad luck! Shang was usually happy-go-lucky, and may seem careless, but Ye Chong never doubted his abilities. While he may not be as powerful as Mu in terms of computations, Shang was a master in the art non-physical sciences such as psychology. The methods of threatening that he shared with Ye Chong and that entire scheme with the Sanctuary’s starship were all meticulously woven plans.
Mu behaved like a typical PSI, but was more powerful than others. He possessed the trademark rationality and computation-heavy mindset typical of PSIs. Shang, however, completely overhauled Ye Chong’s concept of PSIs. He was irrational, less competent in computations, but extremely well versed in non-logical areas like emotions and psychology. It was definitely an odd PSI.
In any case, one could be sure that Mu and Shang were both very powerful.
Powerful characters typically could not stand having their authority challenged. This behavior was clearly present in Mu and Shang.
"Just be mindful of what you’re doing!" Ye Chong said impartially, and continued with his practice.
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Zuo Ling looked at Rui Bing openly with fiery eyes.
To think that this ice-cold lady was actually a Jie expert like himself! A Jie expert at such a young age was incredible. He had received strict training from the Zuo family since young, and his natural physique allowed him to attain Jie at such a young age. If not for the Zuo family’s resources, his achievements would only be just a dream. For a 26-year-old to attain Jie was a remarkable feat, even back in the old days when combat was popular.
Today, however, he had seen someone even younger than him, a Jie expert that came from an unheard of family. The Rui family? He was certain that it was not any one of the combat based aristocratic families with long histories; he had never even heard of this family before. What surprised him the most was that this Jie expert was actually a woman!
The female body was relatively limited compared to a man’s in terms of combat, and this limitation could only ever be removed by attaining Jie, since Jie experts no longer rely solely on physical strength in combat. However, without years of efforts, it was difficult to attain Jie. Based on the existing records of combat history, female Jie experts were few and far in between.
Her icy smooth charm and dignified manner was wrapped up in a white training garb that fluttered slightly in the wind. Her snow white skin was flawless, and her long, dark hair flowed down smoothly like a waterfall. Her faint red lips hid a certain warmth beneath. Her calm gaze was like a creek flowing through the glaciers, silent and chillingly unapproachable.
Zuo Ling was certain that he had never felt such desire, a desire to wrap her in his arms and melt her with his burning embrace! Zuo Ling was not a stranger to women; on the contrary, he had met and reciprocated countless of them. However, the icy woman before him was the first who had ever let him feel this way.
Zuo Ling’s open stare was vexing for Rui Bing. She humped coldly, pouring cold water on Zuo Ling’s feelings. He immediately gathered himself, and when he looked at Rui Bing’s leaving figure, the only thought that crossed his mind was this - Rui Bing, you must be mine! Zuo Ling fisted his hands tightly.
Hua Shangmei, Deng Chong and Zheng Zhongxing stared in stupefaction. They never imagined that the fragile looking Senior Sister Bing would be so powerful! Perhaps even their master would not be a match against her. In the friendly match earlier, Rui Bing had tied with Zuo Ling.
Hua Tiankai looked at Rui Bing’s retreating figure and felt happy for his friend who had passed away, but also felt shame when he thought of how his three students had performed.
Rui Bing sat alone in her room, her eyes on the clear water in her glass, but her heart was elsewhere. She could see his figure reflected in the water, looking calmly at her. For a moment, she felt lost in her feelings.
"Where are you?" Rui Bing murmured ever so softly to herself.
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Ye Chong continued his practice, going through his dull routines every day. Shang, on the other hand, looked like he was up to something, busying himself with things.
Abruptly, Shang spoke to Ye Chong, "Ye, go to the virtual world!"
"Virtual world? What happened?" Ye Chong was baffled. Besides, where could he find a hyperlink helmet?
Shang continued to hasten him, and Ye Chong could only deploy Shang in the room. The room was small, and Shang could only curl into himself into an odd position.
"Strange, what’s with Shang today?" Ye Chong could not understand him. Usually, he would never submit to curling himself up like this. Why was he asking for it this time?
Ye Chong wandered as he opened Shang’s pilot cabin and entered. On the trash planet, Ye Chong had used Mu and Shang’s piloting helmet as a virtual world hyperlink. While it was nothing fancy, its functionalities were enough to make anyone envious.
Long deprived of the virtual world, Ye Chong felt a little excited.
His vision transformed, and Ye Chong found himself staring at a holographic feed. It showed a very thin black worm moving very quickly. At the side were a few other inset images of the black thread from multiple angles.
Shang laughed. "Hehe, Ye, that’s the guy investigating you!"
"Him?" Ye Chong pointed at the moving black thread, flabbergasted.
Shang was obviously satisfied with Ye Chong’s expression. "Yes, him!" He explained, "This guy used a unique way of calculation that made his appearance turn into a black threadworm."
Seeing Ye Chong’s confused expression, Shang could not help but chastise, "Sigh, how could I forget that you know nothing about photon processors, that I would explain to you in those terms? This is surely my biggest mistake of the day!" Shang’s exaggerating manner made Ye Chong smile.
"What’s the use of this appearance?" Ye Chong had always asked when he could not understand something.
"It allows the worm to pass through most passcode protected doors, and avoids attention. Tsk tsk, the guy’s a genius, I’ll give him that, this degree of creativity must have been hard for him. Hmm, the calculations are carefully made, and the improvements are good. Unfortunately, he has met me!" Shang’s haughty tone made him sound like a villain.
It would definitely be very difficult to explain to Ye Chong what it meant to be a villain. However, Shang’s compliments to the guy made Ye Chong become wary of him. After all, he knew that it was not easy to squeeze out any good words out of Shang. This, he knew from experience.
Shang continued laughing connivingly. "Hehe, I found him just a few days ago, however, I don’t want to alert him. This guy must have sensed something, as he’s more vigilant recently. Hehe, while it’s easy to destroy his appearance there and then, but such an interesting fellow is hard to find, it’ll be such a shame to finish him off so fast!
"So, I followed him, and just now, it’s that door over there, you see? I placed some tracking larvae on it, hehe, those things are much smaller than him, and very hard to detect. It’s something Mu came up with …" Here, Shang seemed to realize that he had misspoke, and laughed it off before continuing, "Anyway, I can now follow his every movement. You see, he’s heading back right now!"
As expected, in the holographic feed, the black thread was heading towards the dark opening of a very large door.
"Tsk tsk, I don’t know who created this door, but it is sure amazing. If not for this guy leading us through, it will be hard for us to enter without alerting them." Shang offered another round of compliments.
"It seemed that the other party is really strong," Ye Chong thought to himself. He stared at the holographic feed, the image suddenly morphing as they went through the door. Unexpectedly, what was beyond was a jungle, an endless stretch of greenery. In truth, it was almost refreshing to see something that could only be found on some untouched planets.
"A multiarray matrix firewall?" Shang gasped in surprise.
"What’s this thing?" Ye Chong could not understand at all. However, based on Shang’s tone, he figured that this must be something incredible.
"It’s good stuff, rarely do people use this kind of calculation. It’s very complicated, even Mu might have a hard time if we want to break through it with brute force!" Shang grew excited. "Ye, looks like we’ve got ourselves a big one!"
The black threadworm was apparently very familiar with the territory, making its way through the forest without hesitation.
"Hehe, Ye, do you see that? That green-black grass, yes, the one with serrated edges, if anyone touched it, it will immediately activate at least 20 levels of authentication verification. If you’re determined to be an enemy, then you’re done for!" Shang then pointed to the numerous red fruits hanging from the trees in the holographic feed, vivid and enticing.
"Ye, these may look very appealing, but they’re nasty stuff. These torrent soursops are linked to each other. If you activated one of them, the rest of the fruits will all explode. Hehe, the torrents of signal pulses that follow will be so painful it will scar you for life. But that’s not the scariest of all, no, you see those thin vines? Yes, the ones with many tentacles on it. The pulse torrents would affect your real body by stimulating your brain, and these olfactory vines would then use those pulses to find you in the real world, which is where you are right now. Hehe, as for the consequences, I’ll leave that to your imagination!" Shang pointed out each of those threats to Ye Chong.
Ye Chong could feel a chill running down his spine.