Chapter 538: Breakthrough
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ye Chong looked exhausted. Even his strong body was pushed to the limit as he trained intensively every single day for so long. In these 80 days, Ye Chong had to run almost constantly to avoid the laser beams. He ran and ran like a leopard in the forest, dodging the laser beams that never stopped coming from Sha Ya. In the end, he could only hold one thought in mind – run for his life!
Ye Chong's explosive power was impressive. Sha Ya had seen that before, but she now found his stamina equally formidable. He could move quickly in the training ground throughout the entire day, never slowing down. Being a Level 8 shooter, the quick movements and afterimages did not affect her performance much, but staring at someone moving so quickly for so long had also affected her. After the first day, Ye Chong was so tired he could just collapse onto the floor, while Sha Ya could only see everything vibrating in her vision.
On the second day, Sha Ya changed tactics. She closed her eyes, since her parapsychic sense was more reliable than her vision at this range. The only thing that surprised her was how Ye Chong had returned to the training ground on time, as though nothing much had happened the day before.
The first thought that came to Sha Ya was – was this person really human?
Naturally, Ye Chong defaulted to running on this day. Ye Chong ran wildly in the small training ground, but every time he did a quick veer, the laser beam would still find its mark. Nevertheless, he continued running undeterred.
At the end of the day, Sha Ya could hear and was appalled by Ye Chong's heavy panting. Ye Chong no longer moved so quickly and easily. His every step and every turn became heavy stomps on the wooden planks beneath him. A few cracks would show on the reinforced wooden floorboard. Sha Ya knew that by now, Ye Chong was running on his last reserves.
Whenever this happened, Sha Ya would start counting down. However, Ye Chong was able to hold on until the end of training. By then, Ye Chong was already drenched in sweat. A thick vein throbbed violently on his forehead.
For 80 days, the routine repeated itself.
Sha Ya found it difficult to imagine how a slim body like his could store so much energy!
She found that the young man before her had shattered her beliefs on what was possible. Ye Chong's intensive and perhaps masochistic training won Sha Ya's complete respect and approval.
This did not mean that Sha Ya was starting to have feelings for Ye Chong. It was in fact a feeling of respect from one strong combatant to another.
Shooters were sensitive to their surroundings. Their parapsychic sense allowed them to notice the details in their environment. As a Level 8 shooter, she could sense the tiniest details around her.
Ye Chong's breakthrough happened on the 57th day. The number did not mean anything in general, but it held a special meaning for Sha Ya. On this day, Sha Ya had witnessed a breakthrough of the strongest combat expert in Eastern Cloud, and perhaps in the entire world. The man had finally found a way to shake off a Level 8 shooter's parapsychic sense.
She did not know he achieved it, but Sha Ya could feel the moment when her parapsychic sense lost contact with Ye Chong. She quickly tracked him down again, but Sha Ya knew that a person like Ye Chong would have noticed the slip on her side, no matter how temporary it was.
Sha Ya was right. Later, Ye Chong became harder and harder to lock on to. Sha Ya found it harder and harder to keep track of him with her parapsychic sense.
Sha Ya knew that Ye Chong was not yet a threat to the authority of shooters in general, but from that moment on, the dominance of shooters would gradually fade over time.
Ye Chong was very, very tired! However, he could not afford to be careless. He knew that this opportunity was hard to come by. Every second was precious to him. He must quickly familiarize himself with this feeling, so that it could become instinctive to him. Only then could he fight on even ground with Level 8 shooters.
At the beginning, Ye Chong did not really have a plan. He could not do anything against parapsychic waves. Hence, he decided to just let Sha Ya attack him. To defeat an enemy, one must first understand them. Ye Chong endured Sha Ya's powerful parapsychic waves every day as he tried his best to avoid her attacks that never seemed to miss the mark.
The method was effective. Soon, Ye Chong grew familiar with the feeling of being targeted. In the beginning, he would always feel highly threatened whenever he was locked on by the parapsychic waves. Later, he gradually got used to the feeling.
A month later, Ye Chong could already sense minute details in Sha Ya's parapsychic waves. If Sha Ya's parapsychic waves were like water, then Ye Chong was beginning to understand the physical properties of the waters. This was a priceless advantage. How often was it that another combat expert as good as he was could train with a Level 8 shooter continuously? Every Level 8 shooter was a master in their own right. They had good reason to be prideful.
This was something very important. Ye Chong was not an actual mentalist. He knew the logic behind the skill, but he could not have a more personal and fundamental understanding of it, not like Huang Baiyi or Sha Ya. Now, however, as he continued to train with Sha Ya without stopping for weeks, the shooter's powerful and repeated demonstrations allowed Ye Chong to familiarise himself with parapsychic abilities at an astonishing rate.
Once he had a better understanding of parapsychic abilities, Ye Chong's rich battle experience, calm mind and Jie level skills allowed him to find a way to conquer his foe in a relatively short time.
When Ye Chong tried it for the first time, it was actually him using one of his special skills as a Jie expert. He had tried it before, but to no avail. When he tried it again this time, he could see in his vision a strange curving line of blue that blinked quickly out of existence. Ye Chong had never seen a wavy line like that before.
Before this, Ye Chong used his special ability, he would only see straight or angular lines, but never curved.
Ye Chong following the blue curve instinctively. In that moment, he felt a relief over his entire body, like a man walking in water suddenly finding all the water drained away. Ye Chong would never forget that sudden moment of ease.
In that moment, Ye Chong felt a sudden burst of joy in his heart. As he continued to push his limits every day in his training, he was straining himself both physically and mentally near his breaking point. Now, all the tension in his body was released. Overwhelmed by his emotions, Ye Chong quickly lost control of this state of freedom, and was locked on by Sha Ya again.
From that moment on, Ye Chong was able to avoid more of Sha Ya's shots. Ye Chong soon found the key to escaping Sha Ya's parapsychic waves – he must be calm, as calm as the waters. This was not difficult for him. In fact, it was his strength.
As Ye Chong grew more familiar with Sha Ya's parapsychic waves, the mysterious wavy line appeared more frequently. They looked different each time. In the end, Ye Chong could easily move through Sha Ya's parapsychic waves. There were more lines in his vision now, giving Ye Chong more options.
Ever since he attained this ability as a Jie expert, Ye Chong seldom spent time on it. Ye Chong had many ways to do battle, and this unique skill had only been used a few times.
The skill was crucial to escaping Sha Ya's parapsychic waves. Ye Chong never expected it.
Why did it not work before, but turned out to be so effective right now? Ye Chong could not understand. Later, Ye Chong realized that he did not actually understand much of this unique skill of his. He had never thought to question the logic behind his skill. When he first discovered what he could do, Ye Chong found it hard to believe. He had thought that anticipatory skills like this would have been more reasonable to be found in strong mentalists like Huang Baiyi. It did not make sense to appear in him, someone who had no talent in mentalist abilities. Nonetheless, since he rarely needed to use the skill, Ye Chong did not think of it further.
This breakthrough changed Ye Chong's perspective of his unique skill. It was not anticipatory, like a mentalist's abilities, but more like a vulnerability pointer, the result of heavy computation! This was why the skill did not work at first. As Ye Chong grew more familiar with Sha Ya's parapsychic waves, his brain was able to process all the information and determine the weakness of her senses.
From this point of view, his unique skillset did not seem so mysterious after all, but Ye Chong finally understood how powerful it was. With his usual abilities, Ye Chong would not be able to determine the weakness in Sha Ya's parapsychic sense, but this unique ability could.
When using this unique skill, his brain could process information close to a hundred times faster.
What a terrifying ability!
Judging by the outcome, the isolated training was a success. Not only did Ye Chong get the breakthrough that he desired, his strong body had also improved significantly after the long training. After three days of rest, Ye Chong's body was restored to top condition. He realized then that the energy in his body made him feel very comfortable.
"I didn't think you would actually succeed. Congratulations," Sha Ya spoke with a low voice. She congratulated Ye Chong sincerely. Ye Chong's determination and hard work could sometimes squeeze a little sympathy out of her stone cold heart. In these 80 days, she had witnessed how Ye Chong had trained himself. The floorboards had all crumbled into tiny little pieces evenly across the training ground. Step a little harder, and the boards would disintegrate into dust. This was all the result of Ye Chong's training.
After the isolated training, Sha Ya finally realized how Ye Chong earned the skills that did not fit with his age.
Ye Chong had already recovered from the ecstasy he had felt earlier from his success. He accepted Sha Ya's congratulatory words calmly, "Thank you. And thank you for training with me all this while. I would not have succeeded without you." Ye Chong meant what he said. Without Sha Ya's serious and active participation in their training, he would not have been able to come up with his countermove in such a short time.
Sha Ya smiled, and her face lit up instantly. She spoke with a sigh, "I have never seen anyone so crazy and yet so calm like you. No need to thank me. The training has helped me a lot as well. I'll have to thank you for helping me improve myself."
"Your laser gun will be done tomorrow." Ye Chong had a very straightforward way to expressing his gratitude.
"I'll hold you to it, then. But I'm curious, how did you do it?" Ever since Ye Chong first slipped her senses, Sha Ya had tried to change her own parapsychic waves to keep him targeted, but Ye Chong could always find a way to escape her. Slowly, it became harder and harder to keep Ye Chong locked. Now, it was simply impossible.
In fact, Sha Ya was also worried. The current Ye Chong was a real threat to shooters. If Sha Ya was not on Ye Chong's side …
Ye Chong replied with a weird expression, "I'm not sure."
Sha Ya nodded in understanding. She knew that the man was not trying to hide anything. At their level, there were many things that could not be explained.
On the second day, Ye Chong presented the silver laser gun to Sha Ya. Kristen had also handed over the money from three months' worth of cannon arrays to Ye Chong.
Ye Chong's life returned to normal. Without the intense training, his daily routine went on a slower pace.
A breakthrough in hand-to-hand combat was great news for Ye Chong. It meant that as long as a shooter was not in an aircraft, they would not be a threat to him. Hence, Ye Chong now need to consider the problem of aircrafts. If he could solve that one as well, then his two most urgent problems would be dealt with.
In this world, aircrafts were like mechs.
As a Level 8 shooter, Sha Ya's fighter aircraft was very advanced. It was custom made from an aircraft manufacturer. Eastern Cloud had many aircraft manufacturers, but not many could actually design them. Feinscott Company was one of them that could. Sha Ya's fighter came from this company. It's name was Redsound.
Compared to other common stock aircrafts available in the market, Redsound had a few obvious differences. Its body was almost fully triangular. Only when one stepped to the side of the aircraft could one notice the aerodynamic curves of its two wings. In the atmosphere, the aircraft could fly as fast as Celest due to its more aerodynamic design, while Celest encountered more air resistance.
Sha Ya looked pained while Ye Chong disassembled Redsound into pieces until he finally found the fighter's engine.
The engine's design surprised him. This was the first piece of advanced technology that he had seen in this world. The engine's design was based on very advanced principles, but not as powerful as Celest's. Local raw materials were key to high performance. They were lighter but with excellent physical properties.
Redsound was mainly made of a kind of red coloured wood, called woodrift. It was the lightest wooden material, but with equally excellent physical properties. It was also very costly. Redsound was a very expensive aircraft. Since it was very fast, and the aircraft's body very light, it was a difficult aircraft to fly. Only the truly skilled Level 8 shooters would buy this model for their own use.
Ye Chong shook his head. The aircrafts were designed for atmospheric flight only. This made them impractical. Celest may be about the same speed as Redsound in the atmosphere, but it would definitely be faster than the aircraft in outer space. Besides, Celest was much more flexible in application than Redsound. The only reason Redsound could pose a threat to Celest was a device in it that Ye Chong did not understand – the trackball.
She Ya demonstrated using the trackball. Ye Chong fond the blinking lights intriguing. To him, the trackball was like a photon processor controlled by parapsychic waves.
Aiming and firing via one's parapsychic sense made it a much faster process than targeting the enemy through holographic scanning and keying in commands in the photon processor. This was why Celest was at a disadvantage against aircrafts.
This mysterious crystal-like trackball was the most powerful part of the fighter.
It was unfortunate that he did not have the least bit of parapsychic abilities to use it.
Just then, Sun Sieha arrived for a visit.
Ye Chong wondered to himself if every ruler in this world had so much time in their hands.
When Sun Sieha's gaze landed on Ye Chong, his expression changed. The bodyguards around him reacted as well.
Sun Sieha inhaled deeply and regained his composure. He smiled and said, "What a surprise, what a really pleasant surprise! You really are full of surprises."
Ye Chong ignored Sun Sieha's emotional outburst and asked him flatly, "Why are you here?" He frowned and added, "The national combat tournament is still some time away."
Sun Sieha laughed dryly and said, "Can't I just visit with no particular reason? I heard that you've been busy with training, so I'd thought of dropping by to visit you. Since you're done, might as well take you out to have some fun."
Sun Sieha's guards were already used to the way their King interacted with the young man. His Majesty never could do anything against the young man.
Ye Chong continued watching Sun Sieha quietly, waiting.
Sun Sieha was not used to Ye Chong's resistance against both forceful and friendly treatments. His eyes flashed with a cold glare, but he quickly composed himself and explained, "This is all part of the plan."
"I see." Ye Chong looked at Sun Sieha. He did not fully understand the King's way of doing things, but he knew that Sun Sieha was not the kind of person to spend time carelessly.
…
Prince Desnio's mansion was located at the most prosperous area in Su City. Music was frequently heard from inside, and people would looked towards the mansion enviously. Evening balls at the Prince's mansion were well known in Su City. The place was always served by the best liquors and beautiful ladies. Of course, the mansion was also a hotspot for talents. Famous musicians would perform at the parties, where people were served by the best chefs in Eastern Cloud. It was an entertainment centre made for nobles. Being invited to the Prince's evening balls was considered as a mark of status. Only by attending the evening ball could anyone be viewed as accepted by the noble society. Many people would derive all kinds of schemes to get an invitation. In the black market, a blank invitation card to the evening ball could be sold at a sky high price.
Desnio was Sun Sieha's uncle. His title as Prince was one of great importance. Sun Sieha had once stayed at his uncle's place for a long time when he was young, and shared a close relationship with him. The Prince was of high status, but he never stepped out of line, and never involved himself in politics. Instead, he focused on organizing his evening balls.
Nonetheless, no one would forget the political influence that Prince Desnio had. Besides, the new King on the throne further improved his position. However, the Prince continued to maintain a low key presence, and never make any statements on the state of politics and governance.
Prince Desnio's evening ball was the favourite of all nobles. The place was uniquely decorated, and had an easy ambience. It was the first choice of the nobles for a place to relax and socialize.
Prince Desnio was a stout man. His face was always slightly flushed, and his voice was loud and energetic.
"Hah, Duke Warren, I haven't seen you here in a long while. Did you find somewhere new to have fun? You have to tell me," Prince Desnio laughed happily when he saw Duke Warren, and went to embrace him.
Duke Warren could not step back in time, and was quickly crushed by Prince Desnio's bear hug. He was hurting and annoyed as he said, "Not so tight, not so tight, do you want to crush this old bag of bones?" Duke Warren was one of the most influential councillors in court during the previous King's reign. His hair was all white, but his skin was smooth and well care for despite the tired look on his face.
Prince Desnio looked Duke Warren up and down and exclaimed in surprise, "What's the matter? Could it be that last night, you …" He smiled suggestively.
"I don't have the energy for that at this age," Duke Warren smiled bitterly.
"Then what is it?" Prince Desnio asked, puzzled.
Duke Warren looked even more bitter as he explained, "It's His Majesty's celebrations. His Majsety announced a national combat tournament out of the blue. I've got all hands on board just for this, and still it's not enough. I am going crazy from the workload these few days, and I happen to have the time to visit today to de-stress."
"Why don't you have enough manpower?" Prince Desnio was baffled. As the Home Secretary, he controlled almost all the manpower available in Su City. How could he not have enough people?
Duke Warren looked positively frustrated. "The King's birthday is almost upon us. We need people to usher ambassadors from other countries, and representatives from local authourities."
"That's true," Prince Desnio nodded.
"You must have heard that the King wants to organize that d*mned combat tournament for his birthday," Duke Warren said, obviously unhappy with the decision.
"Hah, of course I have. That got me excited for a good while. It's been so long since we did anything interesting. We're going to have a battle between the strongest in the world, isn't that exciting?"
"Oh, certainly. If I don't have to organize the event, of course I would agree to having the tournament. What an excellent source of entertainment!" Duke Warren raved sarcastically, "But of course, I am the one who's in charge of organizing this thing. By God, I swear, I've never worked so hard in my life. Look, my wrinkles are beginning to show."
Prince Desnio did not, in fact, spot any wrinkles on Duke Warren's face, but he could see how tired the man was. Prince Desnio asked, "Why'd you work yourself into a twist?"
Duke Warren nearly burst into tears as he complained, "There're too many people, way too many of them! The entire Su City's flooded with visitors from all across the country. The King's birthday celebration, the national combat tournament," Duke Warren counted weakly with his fingers, "and the weapons design competition, all happening within a week of the King's birthday. Don't you know that any one of them is enough to give me a headache? Now that I have to deal with all three together, it's just driving me crazy!"
Prince Desnio gave sympathetic look at Duke Warren and said, "My good Duke, you must take care of yourself."
Abruptly, the Duke's expression smoothened, all traces of his emotional outburst gone. He said solemnly, "Nevertheless, it is our duty as councillors to serve the King." Duke Warren looked around them as Prince Desnio gave him a look of disdain. The Duke then lowered his voice into a whisper, "Rumour has it that the King announced his decision to organize the national combat tournament after a visit from that manor. Honestly, do you think it's got something to do with the manor's owner?"
Prince Desnio smiled warily and spoke just as softly, "Hehe, I don't know. There are so many rumours going around about that manor's owner. I'm too lazy to go through them."
"What are you talking about, gentlemen?" A loud voice suddenly interrupted them.
Both men looked up to see the 1st Legion's Legate, Ming Xiao. Even in this function, he wore a neat military uniform that stood out from the crowd. Ming Xiao approached them with a glass of red wine in hand.
"To think that Sir Ming Xiao would grace this evening ball with his presence, it's like the sun rising from the west!" That was Prince Desnio's thorny greeting to Ming Xiao.
The legendary hot-tempered man, Ming Xiao, did not take offense. He smiled easily and said, "I was bored to death recently, and heard that you serve excellent snow clams here. Since I had some time tonight, I decided to give them a try."
Warren exclaimed with bordering rudeness, "Sir Ming Xiao is famous for his discipline, but now he's slipped up for a plate of snow clams. Tsk tsk, it's not easy, not easy at all. I say, my Prince, you have to reward that chef of yours."
"That I will," Prince Desnio continued the mockery.
Ming Xiao laughed loudly, and looked at the two of them with a smile that was not exactly friendly, "Ah, one of you is the mighty Home Secretary, and the other a Prince. What could you possibly be discussing about so enthusiastically, so secretively? Could it be something of national importance? As a military man, I cannot help but feel curious."
Everyone around them was listening closely to their exchange. Sie Ming Xiao, Duke Warren and Prince Desnio were best friends when they were younger, but the gap between them grew larger and larger as they reached adulthood. The military had an unpleasant relationship with the rest of the government, especially between Ming Xiao and Duke Warren. The Prince acted as a mediator between the two.
"I heard that Sir Ming Xiao's beloved student, Du Feng, had lost many of his soldiers some time ago. The Prince and I were thinking about paying a visit. Brigadier General Du Feng has served his country well. His soldiers must also be strong and capable. Their loss is also the country's loss. We think it prudent to express our condolences," Duke Warren said coldly.
Ming Xiao was momentarily taken aback, but he quickly regained his composure and said, "Oh, I wonder where you heard of that, Duke Warren. Sigh, the rumour mill is quite a force to reckon with! No wonder His Majesty repeatedly emphasized that spreading fake information is a serious crime. This is the reason, this is exactly the reason!"
Now it was Duke Warren's turn to be taken aback. Ming Xiao made it clear that His Majesty did not wish for this information to become widespread.
Prince Desnio looked at the two hostile men helplessly, and offered, "I say, look at you two, why so serious? Come come, let's have all have a drink!"
Just as the Prince was about to raise his glass, a servant rushed to him in a panic and whispered something by his ear.
Ming Xiao and Duke Warren were standing closest to the Prince, and they heard everything. Both men exchanged a look, then quickly broke eye contact, wearing an odd expression.
His Majesty had arrived!