Chapter 525: Pressure
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Duo Ka's study was large. It could host a dozen people and still felt spacious. Currently, there were about seven people in there. Some were sipping tea; a few were chatting quietly in small groups; some were resting their eyes; some were already asleep, and even snoring a little.
"Lil' Mo'er is back." This came from Duo Ka, the owner of the house.
"I'm back," Shu Mo'er nodded obediently. She was adored by everyone here. They would all offer the beautiful and kind young lady their utmost attention and generosity.
However, do not be fooled by her innocent looks. She was not shabby at all, qualifying herself as a Level 6 shooter at a very young age. This showed how talented and hardworking she was. Besides, she had more combat experience than many shooters of her age, and that was quite rare.
"Did you enjoy yourself today, Mo'er?" Wei Zheng asked. His age was closest to Shu Mo'er compared to that of the rest in the group. At 24, only 4 years older than Shu Mo'er, he was also considered a genius shooter.
Shu Mo'er did not like Wei Sheng for some reason. Logically speaking, Wei Zheng was remarkable in both his looks and heritage. Wei Zheng came from an aristocratic family. He was a well-bred young man who would always have a mesmerizing smile on his face. He conducted himself gracefully in a pleasing manner. Besides, as an heir of the Xi Ding Tribe bloodline, he was absolutely handsome. After all, the Xi Ding Tribe was known for their men's good looks.
Many women would have thought of Wei Zheng as their dream partner, but Shu Mo'er was an exception. If Wei Zheng was not as skilled as he was, or part of the group, she would not have cared to tolerate his presence. Even the drunkard Edward was better company than Wei Zheng.
However, Wei Zheng seemed to treat Shu Mo'er with exceptional interest, and that was a bother to Shu Mo'er. The man had asked to accompany her on her trip today, and Shu Mo'er had spent a long time convincing him to stay behind.
She did not feel comfortable talking to him, but Shu Mo'er still answered him obediently, "Yes, I did. Thank you, Brother Wei."
Wei Zheng smiled handsomely, "That's wonderful."
"What did you do today, Mo'er? I see that you're quite happy," Duo Ka asked with interest.
The subject of her outing today filled her with excitement, "Uncle Duo Ka, Mo'er met a very interesting person today!"
Duo Ka looked at her with complete adoration. He asked with a smile, "What could possibly make our Mo'er so excited?"
"Haha, maybe our Mo'er has met the man of her dreams," the joke came from Peng Acha, the oldest in the group. The man had a drunkard's nose, and his hair grew uncontrollably like a wild bush. He often behaved like a child, and liked to make jokes.
Wei Zheng still had a smile on his face, but his eyes widened meaningfully at the joke.
Shu Mo'er quickly explained herself, "No, that's not it! I met a very skilled weaponsmith today. He's built a weapon for a Level 8 shooter before."
"Oh, so Yedda has someone like that?" The rest of the group who were resting had all sat up by now. They were curious of this news.
Duo Ka frowned, "That's impossible, I would have heard of it if there's someone like that. If you're talking about a skilled weaponsmith, the only one around is probably a woman called Kristen. However, skilled as she is, even she was not good enough to make a weapon for a Level 8 shooter."
Shu Mo'er smiled, pleased of herself, "Hehe, I've met that Kristen today too. She's the weaponsmith's student." Shu Mo'er's expression turned a little odd at the mention of Kristen. That woman was a little scary!
Wei Zheng caught her look. For some reason, his eyes turned colder, but his smile was even wider.
Duo Ka was surprised. "Kristen's teacher? I've never heard of that. If it is Kristen's teacher, then I suppose it's quite possible."
Shu Mo'er teased them, "By the way, you all know this Level 8 shooter."
"Who is it?" Peng Acha asked, curious.
Shu Mo'er declared victoriously, "Sha Ya. You all know her. It was said that she exchanged a piece of amapolla wood for the weapon. I heard that it was a laser gun that could shoot through five centimeters of nubis stone."
Everyone was riled up by the revelation. "Five centimeters of nubis stone? Amazing!"
Shu Mo'er felt even more pleased of herself, as if she was the one who made the laser gun. "You wouldn't have guessed what the gun's made of."
"What is it made of? It is wood from the star birch tree? Or nightmist fir?" Peng Acha asked, intrigued.
"Hehe, you're wrong!" Shu Mo'er was close to Peng Acha. She smiled teasingly, "I knew you couldn't guess it. I was very surprised when I found out. The laser gun was made of the most common material – speckled blue fir wood."
"Impossible!" A few of them broke out simultaneously.
The ones who still looked sleepy moments ago were now wide awake. They exchanged looks of concern. It was surprising news, indeed. It was unheard of for a weapon made of speckled blue fir wood to shoot through five centimeters of nubis stone.
"Lil' Mo'er, bring to that person now! Hah, I must get me one of those!" Peng Acha's eyes were practically shining. He was eager to visit the mysterious weaponsmith immediately.
Shu Mo'er looked hesitant, "Peng Peng, that man's weird. I couldn't even get through to him. Besides, Sha Ya had traded amapolla wood for her laser gun. What do you have to trade?"
Peng Acha was crestfallen, "Nothing. Amapolla wood can only be found in the inner parts of Darkniss. This old friend of yours isn't capable of entering that dangerous place."
"Be patient, Peng Peng, I'm also trying to figure out a way. Since we're going to here for a while, let's take our time and come up with a plan," Shu Mo'er consoled the older man.
The rest of the group went silent. Amapolla wood and the like could only be found in the hands of Level 8 shooters. They were all only at Level 6, a large gap of strength from Level 8.
Just then, someone rushed into the study. It was a man with bushy eyebrows.
"Naver, what is it?" Zong Wen asked. He was the group's leader. Zong Wen had a thin face and a pair of keen eyes. He was 40 this year, the prime age for shooters. Naver was usually more reserved and composed, but his panicky look today alerted Zong Wen.
Everyone directed their attention to Naver.
Naver raised his eyebrows in agitation as he explained, "I met someone."
"Who was it?" Zong Wen asked, concerned. Naver would not be surprised by just anyone. Who amongst them did not have an enemy or two? Could Naver have encountered of his enemies?
"I was walking around the streets today when I sensed that someone was being robbed close by. I headed towards that direction, but saw something shocking. A single person had killed the two robbers," Naver spoke in a low voice. His expression was grim.
Peng Acha smiled at the man, "I say, Nav, you're just overreacting. What's so surprising about one person killing two robbers? If it was me, humph, even seven or eight will be a piece of cake."
Everyone else looked to Naver in confusion. Peng Acha had voiced their question out loud.
Naver shook his head and elaborated, "It's not uncommon for one person to be able to kill two robbers, but what if he did it with his bare hands?"
"His bare hands?" Everyone turned concerned.
Naver nodded, "Yes! The robbers had a laser gun each."
Now that shut the rest of group up. How many of them in the group could stand against two robbers unarmed? Soon, everyone concluded that it would be impossible for the man to fight the two robbers with his bare hands unless the robbers were not shooters themselves.
"The two robbers were shooters. One is Level 3, the other's Level 4," Naver added, thus eliminating even that possibility.
"That's impossible. Even a Level 8 shooter can fight against two armed shooters with their bare hands," Wei Zheng said sceptically.
Naver inhaled deeply before he continued, "I saw it myself! They were fighting just in range of my parapsychic sense."
The rest in the group believed him then. They knew that while the eyes could be fooled, their parapsychic sense could not. Besides, this calm Level 6 shooter's parapsychic sense was definitely trustworthy.
"That man was callous. He only attacked once, twisting the necks of the two robbers. I inspected the two bodies, and found that their throats were completely destroyed!"
Naver's low voice sounded like it came from a dream, delivering a shocking piece of news to all of them.
The study was quiet and heavy with tension. Each of them was considering their odds against this terrifying man.
Naver looked up at his group mates, and smiled bitterly, "I have come to realize that if I were to face the man one on one, I will definitely lose."
His words shocked the rest of the group.
Zong Wen forced a smile and said, "Don't underestimate yourself like that. You're a Level 6 shooter. If your words got out, those who don't know us might think that we're just a bunch of useless thugs."
Zong Wen's words were encouraging to his group members. It was true that they had all qualified themselves as Level 6 shooters. That set them apart from the rest.
Naver looked even bitter as he said, "I said that because when the man made his move, my parapsychic sense could not pick him up at all, much less lock on to him."
"How's that possible?" Now, even the calm Zong Wen was shaken. The rest of the group too looked alarmed.
Seeing everyone's reaction made Naver calmer, for some reason. He elaborated, "It's true. He moved fast, like lightning. I couldn't sense him clearly. He seemed to notice my parapsychic reach. From the moment he made his move, my parapsychic sense lost track of him."
He looked like he was reliving the moment as he said, "I had never seen anyone move so fast, so deftly before. His hands are strong, being able to crush the throats of the two robbers in just one attack. The robbers never had time to shoot. He was simply too fast. Besides, he was able to jump up a wall three meters tall without any assisting device, just his legs. I had thought I was watching some kind of fox or something."
"Did you see his face?" Zong Wen asked.
Naver shook his head in reply, "No, only a shadow."
When Naver was finished, everyone went into deep thought. In just a single day, they had come across two very strong people. Could this small city of Yedda actually be harboring so many masters of their art?
…
Ye Chong ignored Kristen, who was behaving lifelessly. He had much to do. He had just finished inspecting some of the materials that he had used before. He now understood the properties of commonly found materials like the speckled blue fir wood. This was all thanks to the high end gadgets from the Research Consortium. The equipment was all highly advanced. Some were even unheard of in public. The Research Consortium's secretly built devices were now benefiting Ye Chong.
Ye Chong had a solid foundation in weapon making, especially when it came to the underlying principles of the weapons themselves. He had the elders in Aurora to thank for this knowledge. It was why he was able to adapt to these new materials quickly and easily.
The defensive weapons that he built earlier were crude since he was not familiar with the materials. Now that Ye Chong had a better understanding of the materials, he decided to modify those weapons accordingly.
…
He took out all the weapons that were hidden in the courtyard.
Kristen stared at him with her mouth wide open. She was absolutely flabbergasted!
What was he trying to do?
She never knew that this seemingly empty courtyard was hiding so many deadly weapons! The corners of the courtyard and the edges of the walls were all hiding weapons. Even more extreme was a stone block at the center of the courtyard that could be slid to the side, revealing beneath it a cannon array that consisted of 49 large-caliber photon cannon barrels. There were no less than five of these cannon arrays in the courtyard.
Kristen was shaken. All this firepower was enough to arm a military outpost.
When Ye Chong began to dismantle these terrifying weapons right in front of Kristen naturally as though it was only part of his daily routine, Kristen felt that she could go mad right there and then!
No, the one who was mad was this man! This man was the real crazy!
Kristen was also chilled by her observation of Ye Chong. The man looked entirely peaceful and calm when he was modifying the weapons. He did not look like he handling dangerous materials, but only doing something very ordinary, like sipping his tea. Besides, he worked swiftly with familiar moves. It was obvious that he was experienced in the business. Kristen swallowed heavily.
When Kristen saw Ye Chong sitting on a large cannon that could bring down a fighter with a single shot, munching his lunch, she finally fainted.
The last thought she had before she blacked out was how crazy her world had become!