Chapter 554: Always Be Prepared
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Sha Ya was still isolating herself, thinking about Xuan Ning's battle. Ye Chong arranged for Xi Yan's accommodation without much difficulty. There were many empty buildings at his place after all.
He must start making preparations since Xuan Ning had agreed to the trip.
Ye Chong took out both samples of the colloid fungi. He wanted to find out what was special about them. He assembled all the testing equipment available to him and began to examine both specimens thoroughly.
To his great surprise, all the equipment yielded no results. It was weird!
This was his first time encountering this problem. It was not until the third day that he realized that the fungus could avoid all senses. Electromagnetic wave scans were ineffective against both specimens. Ye Chong had never seen anything with this unique attribute. It felt a little magical. He took Krisen to the samples and made some experiments. As expected, parapsychic waves were ineffective against the two colloid fungus samples.
This was treasure! Ye Chong quickly recognized the importance of this colloid fungus. If he had enough of them, he might be able to derive some form of substance that could help him avoid being locked on by parapsychic waves.
However, two specimens were too little, even for just one mech. Fortunately, Ye Chong was a brilliant alchemist. If he could find a way to cultivate them in large batches, Celest would become a true Kind of Darkness. All forms of detection would be ineffective against the bio-mech.
This shocking discovery was encouraging for Ye Chong. The two colloid fungus specimens were very useful for him!
Since Laboratory 2 was completed recently, Ye Chong decided to set it up as an alchemist laboratory. He even fitted the lab with its own independent HVAC system [1]. There were even facilities like temperature-controlled rooms and a vacuum sealed room. About half of all the equipment Ye Chong salvaged from the Research Consortium's base was related to biology. With all these advanced equipment, Lab 2 became the most well equipped laboratory in his base.
Fortunately, Ye Chong had the Guan family's auto-analytics mechanism to figure out the best way to cultivate the colloid fungus. It would have taken him years to figure it out himself otherwise. Ye Chong had made a copy of this mechanism. One was with him; the other was with Mu and Shang.
Once again, Ye Chong marveled at the usefulness of the Guan Family's auto-analytics mechanism. He suddenly thought of Lunatic Guan, and felt an emptiness inside him. Some prodigies suffered cruel fates despite their extraordinary gifts, like Lunatic Guan and Gu Shaoze.
Ye Chong tried his best to push away these negative thoughts. He looked up at the photon processor that showed the formula for the colloid fungus' cultivation medium.
Penthorum Ison, Mica-cobalt, Shigaran Zinc ...
Ye Chong frowned. It was a list of metals.
Strange! Ye Chong had never seen a cultivation medium formula like this. According to this recommended formula, the colloid fungus thrived in a metal rich environment. Ye Chong suddenly had an idea - if this colloid fungus really came from Darkniss, perhaps the place was really had an abundance of metals!
The formula seemed to suggest this. However, Ye Chong now had a another dilemma. Metals were easy to find in his own world, he only needed to pay for them. This world, however, produced no metals. All the obscure metals listed in the formula were impossible to find.
Unless …
Unless he went to Darkniss. There were some metals amongst all the things that Ye Chong salvaged from the Consortium's base. However, they were only enough to cover half of what was on the list.
Ye Chong's dream to mass produce the colloid fungus would have to wait.
Nevertheless, the discovery had further convinced him of the necessity to visit Darkniss.
Sha Ya was still occupied with her thoughts, and Ye Chong still needed to prepare for his trip. Anyone who knew Darkniss would describe it as a very dangerous place. Ye Chong did not want to lose his life from this trip to Daniss because of lack of preparations on his end.
People have talked that about most of the water in Darkniss was poisoned. Hence, food and water supply was an important issue. On the issue of food, Ye Chong could make nutrition pills. The high energy pills were tiny and easy to carry. As for water, Ye Chong had a few ideas, but none were safe enough. In the end, Ye Chong decided to just bring enough water into Darkniss. It was the safest way.
Ye Chong took some time off to visit the training ground. All the students, be it commoners or nobilities, yielded to the militaristic social structure in the training camp. They improved quickly. Their stamina was much better than before.
Liao San could not quite understand the reason behind all this. He had diligently performed his duties as Ye Chong asked him to, and he had seen the students improve. Their bodies were tougher, and they were stronger and more resilient. But so what? Even a normal shooter could kill them with a single shot.
What baffled him even more was how their wise King was also very keen in this business.
Ye Chong did not explain himself to Liao San. Instead, he called out the top 200 students who performed the best in stamina and rate of improvement, and then proceeded to teach them a few basic moves. These strange moves were supposed to improve flexibility.
These 200 were the best of the 20 thousand people in the training camp, but the new routine nearly killed them. Three of them quickly suffered from torn muscles, leaving the other 197 of them screaming in pain. The rest of the students in the training ground were appalled.
Ye Chong did not react to the cries of pain and suffering. He stared emotionlessly at them as they performed the new routine from beginning to end. If anyone shied away from the pain, Ye Chong would step up and help them personally with their new moves. This was always followed by a terrifying shriek of pain. As a bystander, Liao San felt his skin creep. He thought Ye Chong would make a good interrogator.
When Ye Chong was satisfied and announced that they had all passed, the students felt immensely relieved. Ye Chong then ordered them to each those new moves to the rest of the students. After all the suffering they had been through, these 200 people now studied the rest of the students running in the training ground, ready to pass on the experience.
Ye Chong did not spend too much time there. He had much to do. He just received the news that the second student intake was full. There were 50 thousand students in this round! The battle between Ye Chong and Xuan Ning had led to the former's celebrity status. Hence, allocations for the second intake were fully taken up in just two days.
Now, Ye Chong had to build another training ground that could house 50 thousand people as soon as possible.
The 50 thousand new students arrived soon after Ye Chong was finished with building the second training ground. To Ye Chong's surprise, there was one student who was actually skilled in combat - this was Duan Qian.
Duan Qian could not get the chance to meet Ye Chong before this, so he applied for the student intake immediately when he knew about it.
Duan Qian soon caught Ye Chong's attention. Duan Qian had an air about him that was unique to combat experts, and Ye Chong could sense it a mile away. After testing Duan Qian's skills, Ye Chong found himself impressed. It was hard enough to meet anyone good in combat in this world, who could absorb his teaching with ease. Since Duan Qian looked excited, Ye Chong decided to leave the second batch of students to him. He thought that Duan Qian should be able to handle teaching the basics. Besides, Liao San would be there to assist him.
When Ye Chong went to his manor, Xi Yan was there to greet him.
Xi Yan informed him respectfully, "Teacher, the raw materials your ordered for have arrived."
"I see." Ye Chong quickly made his way to the warehouse, with Xi Yan close behind him. Recently, Xi Yan noticed from his interactions with Kristen that his own level of expertise was far below Kristen's. He could not understand many of the things that Kristen had built, and it was baffling and annoying. It was some time earlier that Xi Yan found out Kristen had improved this much after studying under Ye Chong for less than a year. It was invigorating news for him, since it showed how learned and capable his teacher was. Xi Yan felt hopeful for his future.
Ye Chong had ordered some high strength materials this time, such as wood from the hardy linden tree. This material was commonly used to build aircrafts due to its impressive physical properties. From the volume of Ye Chong's order, Xi Yan could not be certain what they could be for, since they were more than enough to build an aircraft.
Soon, Ye Chong brought out a stack of paper to both his students.
Xi Yan and Kristen exchanged a look of confusion before studying these papers. They were schematics of strange mechanical parts. Details of each part were listed down extensively.
"Can you build these mechanical parts?" Ye Chong asked them both.
Kristen went through the schematics and considered the question. She replied frankly, "Most of them should not be a problem, but some are a bit too complicated for me. I may have some trouble with them."
Ye Chong looked at Xi Yan. Xi Yan remained quiet. He studied the schematics closely, and then shut his eyes in contemplation. After awhile, he opened his eyes again and replied firmly, "No problem. I can make these parts."
Kristen was a little surprised. One could tell from this difference that Kristen lacked the fundamental skills and experience that Xi Yan had.
Ye Chong nodded. "Both of you should stop whatever you're working on now and concentrate on making these parts. I need two of each."
No one would question Ye Chong's order. Besides, these strange mechanical parts had hooked their curiosity. What would the end product be once they finished making these parts?
Ye Chong was a man of surprises. What form of surprise would they be having this time?
The curiosity was enough motivation for them both. They worked tirelessly to build these mechanical parts. Xi Yan's solid competency in building these mechanical parts impressed Kristen.
After seven days and seven nights, the parts were all done. The empty floor of the warehouse was now scattered with all kinds of parts.
Xi Yan and Kristen both sported bloodshot eyes. They had been working without much sleep in the past few days, but still they kept their eyes open for fear of missing out on any single detail. They wanted to know what the result of their seven days of hard work would be. They could sense that Ye Chong placed heavy importance on this project.
Both Kristen and Xi Yan were competent weaponsmiths. The mechanical parts were built up to Ye Chong's standards. However, Ye Chong did not immediately assemble them together. Instead, he took out a pail of light yellow liquid and used a spray gun to spray the light yellow liquid evenly on the surface of these mechanical parts. Ye Chong had prepared a strengthening solution to improve the physical properties of these parts.
Xi Yan and Kristen studied the spray gun in Ye Chong's hand with interest.
After that, Ye Chong began assembling the parts as his students watched from the side.
Ye Chong did it slowly enough for Xi Yan and Kristen to understand exactly what he was doing.
Slot two linden wood bars together and secure them with mortise and tenon - you get working mechanical arm. Glue 18 curved surfaces together, and you get a pilot cabin the size of a house …
Xi Yan and Kristen watched with amazement as Ye Chong continued with the assembly. Despite their wildest imaginations, what they were seeing right now was still too much to process.
Ye Chong worked with ease, and began to assemble faster. He lifted the heavier mechanical parts with one hand, like they weighed nothing at all. His hands could do anything - high pressure hammering, hole puncturing, heavy weight lifting …
A strange artificial product made of natural raw materials was built.
When it was finally completed, the massive object casted a huge shadow on its observers. Xi Yan and Kristen both watched in quiet astonishment. They had no words to describe what they were feeling right then. Only their eyes revealed how much their worshiped the creator of this miraculous work.