Chapter 439: Prediction
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It must be said that earning money had become a most difficult problem for Ye Chong right now. He was not ready with a solution for the problem, and could only wait for Mu, Shang and the others to arrive in the meantime.
Right now, he focused mostly on monitoring the area with spatial instability. Since they had no specialized devices to measure spatial stability, they could only use the simplest method of having patrol units monitor the area at all times.
Ye Chong had been there himself, but since he did not have any specialized measurement device with him, he could not find warning before the instability onset.
Planet Yi Ju's external communications were now under the control of the Papatte Mech Squad, and this was largely thanks to Zhang Yu. Communications between the other planets and Yi Ju were severed, and Yi Ju became isolated.
Due to the lack of natural resources, Yi Ju had never been under the scrutiny of the Three Aristocratic Families. This was a planet that even pirates would not care to plunder from.
Aside from that, the Three Aristocratic Families themselves were fully occupied. In fact, there were seven areas with spatial instability in the He Yue Galaxy. The Three Aristocratic Families had four within their territories. The Ye Family had one, and so did the Xue Lai Clan. The Xi Feng Tribe was unfortunate enough to have two within their territory. The other three areas with spatial instability were scattered around the He Yue Galaxy, and one of them was near Yi Ju.
The Three Aristocratic Families were now fully prepared for war. The Xi Feng Tribe had reacted the strongest, gathering nearly all their military personnel back to headquarters for defense. The war strategies deployed by the Three Aristocratic Families had alerted the entire He Yue Galaxy instantly. The Three Aristocratic Families had kept the incident at the Gateways under wraps, so the outside world had no idea of the terrible war that they had just survived. Hence, the rumor mill began to churn out all kinds of theories. None of the Families spoke up. They offered no explanation of their behavior.
"Have you figured out what happened?" Xiao Wan stared at the man in front of her, asking with a stern voice. A black and smooth damask wrapped around her silhouette, showing her perfect curves. She had a silent quality about her that spelled power. The woman was like a black colored lily in full bloom, invoking a sense of dignity and elegance.
The middle aged man before her answered respectfully, "Not yet. The Three Aristocratic Families kept a tight lid on things. We have yet to uncover any useful intel." The man's looks were not look particularly outstanding, but his peaceful expression was soothing. His hands were huge and strong, covered with old calluses. It was Gray Valley's elite, Bei Guang.
Beside Bei Guang was a younger man in a simple outfit. He had thick eyebrows, and his shoulders were wide. His short hair was as rigid as steel rods. A short stubble made him look even more manly.
Xiao Wan turned to the younger man and asked, "Arwa, what do you think?"
The down-to-earth looking man was Gray Valley's famous genius tactician, Arwa!
Arwa pondered silently for a while before replying, "Recent activities of the Three Aristocratic Families are indeed strange. From their latest overall military formation, they are probably not trying to start a war with us, but defending themselves against someone else. Right now, we know nothing about their situation, and it's hard to figure out the truth behind their actions."
Xiao Wan turned on the photon processor in the room. Her fair and slender fingers pointed elegantly on the image that was projected onto the holographic screen. "This just came in from the Research Consortium. There's something interesting in the report, you can have a look at them." Xiao Wan smiled gently and invited them to view the report.
Bei Guang and Arwa exchanged glances. Interesting? The Young Miss rarely described anything as "interesting". The two of them quickly turned their attention towards the report.
The report was done professionally, but also in a straightforward manner. They finished reading the report quickly. After they were done with the report, they looked to each other again and noticed the fear in each other's eyes.
"In this report, areas seen with spatial instability in the He Yue Galaxy were identified. Coincidentally, four of these areas are where the Three Aristocratic Families have concentrated their forces. For now, we do not know if this is purely coincidental or otherwise. Unfortunately, Gray Valley also has an area with spatial instability.
By then, Xiao Wan was no longer smiling. The other two men also looked grim. They had finished the report. They had also noticed the coincidence that the Young Miss spoke of.
Xiao Wan looked faintly concerned. "If this is not a coincidence, the situation would be very serious. The Three Aristocratic Families must know something, or they would not be so nervous. The area with spatial instability is within the territory of the Koure Mech Squad. However, I doubt they can keep the situation under control. We need to start making preparations. Sigh, Gray Valley is too disordered. Many years of conflicts has damaged our own strength. I'm afraid that this time …"
Xiao Wan did not finish her sentence, but both Bei Guang and Arwa understood her. Gray Valley's internal strife was unknown to the outside world. Throughout history, only the invasion of the Three Aristocratic Families managed to bring everyone together. Xiao Wan and they only represented one of the many powers in Gray Valley. It would be hard enough to keep themselves safe from the impending threat.
In fact, Gray Valley's power structure was quite strange. Of all the organizations in the area, the Research Consortium was the most peculiar.
The Research Consortium treated every power and every mech pilot in Gray Valley equally. It was an entirely independent organization, not belonging to any other force in Gray Valley. The Research Consortium had set up a comprehensive set of exchange rules. Everyday, the Research Consortium would commission a good number of missions, such as finding some unique raw ingredient or obtaining classified information from some organization or aristocratic family. They did not care about the methods used to achieve these missions. As long as you can accomplish the mission, you will be rewarded with an appropriate number of credits.
These precious credits can be exchanged for knowledge of certain skills, or, for individuals, they could be exchanged for a top class mech that could not be found in the market. Any true resident of Gray Valley would know that the technology offered by the Research Consortium was at least on par with that of the Three Aristocratic Families!
Bei Guang's Sentry and Hua's Graycrawler were both from the Research Consortium. The Consortium was truly capable in technological matters.
In Gray Valley, the Research Consortium was the ultimate power, and no one would dare to cross them.
Xiao Wan pondered on the issue for awhile, then resolutely declared, "Order Hua to return immediately. Order all our men who are stationed outside Gray Valley to return. We are now in the highest state of emergency."
"Yes, Ma'am!" Bei Guang and Arwa replied in unison. They knew that the Young Miss may look weak, but she was in fact quick to decide, with a mind of her own. Besides, she understood the bigger picture better than the two of them. The orders from the Young Miss had greatly surprised them, since they did not think the situation was so serious. Nonetheless, they obeyed without hesitation.
The reason for this was simple - the Young Miss was never wrong in her decisions. Her astuteness and wisdom had long impressed both of them.
As the two of them began to leave, Xiao Wan called on Arwa. She smiled and said, "Arwa, if everything went well, your new mech, Pioneer, should be in your room now. It's the latest product by the Research Consortium!"
Arwa was surprised and overjoyed to hear that. He kept his emotions hidden as he replied respectfully to Xiao Wan, "Arwa will definitely repay this favor, Young Miss!"
Any mech pilot would have probably dreamed of piloting a first class mech, much less a tactician prodigy like Arwa. As a normal citizen, Arwa had always flown in average mechs. No one would have thought that the prodigious Arwa was not born talented. In fact, he could not afford better mechs due to his financial situation. Hence, he could only use normal mechs to fight against others. There was nothing he could do but figure out tricks to win. As he spent more and more time strategizing, he slowly developed his reputation as an ingenious tactician.
Although he was proud of his reputation, any mech pilot would yearn to own a first class mech! However, the amount of credits required to exchange for a mech of that class from the Research Consortium was nearly impossible to achieve by any single individual.
To think that this dream of his all these years was finally realized! On the other hand, he was touched by the importance the Young Miss had placed on him. Of all the mechs offered by the Research Consortium, Pioneer was ranked at number nine in terms of the number of credits required to exchange for it! Compared to this, Bei Guang's Sentry was only at the 45th, while Graycrawler was at 67th.
It was evident how powerful this mech was. How could he not be touched by the Young Miss?
Bei Guang had been in his position before, and understood Arwa's emotions right now. He patted the man's shoulders and smiled. "Why're you still standing around here? Go have a look at your new mech!"
Arwa chuckled out loud at that, and quickly rushed out of the room.
Bei Guang watched as Arwa disappeared from view, and could not help but laughed quietly himself. He turned to the Young Miss and bowed. He then left the room, closing the door behind him.
Now that she was the only one left in the meeting room, Xiao Wan sighed deeply and sat back down, massaging her temples with her fair hands. She did not look as calm or capable as she was just now. Now, she only looked tired.