Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
Despite their young age, Flash and Karl were both paragons of skills and talent among the fleet commanders. However, their reputation was limited only in the technical field.
If Flash were the commander in chief, he would not allow the armada to simply sit around in the name of ‘preserving strength’. What human force needed right then were real actions that produced real results. However, such actions also meant taking risks. Over the five years, the human fleet had been circumspect and distant from any risk-taking actions. This approach had maintained the strength of the Armada, but also lost many opportunities to make meaningful progress.
Risk and reward were two sides of the same coin, and one could not look for one while ignoring the other. That being said, Flash was certain that he had made the right decision this time.
“Judging by the makeup of the fleet, it’s more likely than not that we are going to wage a harassment tactic on the enemy. The point is not to damage the opponent, but to lure them to the location where Wang Tong wants them to be.”
“True that! But, if I were him, I wouldn’t expect the armada to provide him any assistance fire.”
“The key is in unpredictability, to confuse the Zergs and catch them by surprise constantly.”
“Haha…I think we should stop guessing and simply wait for a couple of days to see what Wang Tong has in store for us. Damn, it’s been a while since I was so excited about a mission.”
“Tell me about it! It’s about time!” Flash smiled broadly. He had served House Li long enough to pay back the debt he owed. He took no joy in working for House Li, but now, he could finally work for someone who he really supported: Wang Tong.
Flash’s involvement was sensational news among the commanders. At first glance, his decision seemed to have gone against the grain of his pragmatic and prudent personality.
Preparation of the mission had stirred things up; everyone was talking about Wang Tong’s plan. What would be done with such a small force? The lack of diversity in the fleet’s composition made his plan of attack sound almost absurd. Meanwhile, Wang Tong was having a good time reuniting with his old friends and carrying out the preparation at his own pace.
While the METAL warriors from Mars were getting used to space METAL combat, Wang Tong decided to teach the casters how to harness the natural force from the nothingness of the space.
The five legendary warriors—Guan Dongyang, Xiao Yuyu, Ye Zi, Wu Ling, and Linda—followed Wang Tong’s lead as they slowly channeled their soul energy to tap into the primordial force in the space. When they finally felt the raw and silent energy resting around them, the casters’ hearts were filled with awe.
Unlike the energy present on any planet, these energies were silent and raw. They lacked any attributes as their planet counterparts, and all energy pooled together to form a reservoir of placid and boundless power. Due to its unthinkable magnitude, even a small ripple in this sea of energy was enough to devour an unskilled caster.
For the sake of those five casters’ safety, Wang Tong had protected them with his soul essence. When the five of them finally opened their eyes and beheld the vast vista of endless energy, they were trembling with fear and excitement.
Guan Dongyang grimaced and said, “I don’t think I can handle it.” He was shaken with fear before the power at the display. Although he was one of the best casters in the human world, he scarcely dared to channel his soul energy anywhere near the deadly silence.
Wang Tong knew he could not rush them; this was a challenge they had to overcome by themselves.
“Let’s take a rest for now.” Wang Tong announced and then pulled back his soul energy. The rest of the caster followed suit, and afterward, they filed back into the ship.
Although they were not METAL warriors, they had sufficient soul energy to yield the space METAL with ease. Truth be told, the environment in space was more facilitating than that on a planet due to its lack of gravity. Should the warriors learn to tap into the primordial forces, they could unleash spells ten times more powerful than on Mars.
The five casters returned to the ship, worming themselves out of the space METAL. Their faces were pale as a parchment paper as fear still gripped their nerves. They had been staring at the calm sea of primordial force for over an hour, and no one moved a muscle.
Wang Tong conceded that he could not do anything to help them at this point. He possessed the soul essence which alleviated, if not canceled, the overwhelming fear before the primordial power. Therefore, although he knew how the casters felt, he did now know how they could cope with it.
“Wang Tong, why don’t you check on Vorenus and his crew> We need some time to reflect. Balls! It’s so embarrassing. I know exactly what to do, but I can’t help but panic!” Guan Dongyang very rarely let fear override his body to completely. He was level twenty three, and Xiao Yuyu was level twenty-two, while the other two casters were at level twenty one. Since he had the highest achievement out of all three casters, he had to be the first one to try.
Inside the gym, Vorenus and his crew were training in zero gravity chambers. Their activities had garnered a lot of spectators. Apache was sparring with Vorenus; although the latter was one level higher than Apache, the latter had significantly more experience in space combat. Vorenus reckoned that it would not be an easy battle, and he would have to get used to the zero gravity as soon as possible in order to prevail.
Many people wanted to spar with the Martians; their reputation as the deadliest warriors on Mars spurred the earthling soldiers to challenge them.
As soon as Wang Tong walked into the training room, a pin drop silence fell into the gym. The officers on board were mostly from two categories: the METAL warriors and the commanders. Most METAL warriors were awestruck after seeing Wang Tong’s fight against Moye. However, most commanders lacked the skills to appreciate his finesse and prowess.
Wang Tong was caught off guard by the sudden silence and thought that he had walked into the wrong room at the wrong time. Even as he was about to turn on his heels, a swell of applause erupted and filled the room. Wang Tong cracked a smile in return.
One would always find someone who appreciated their work, so one couldn’t give up!
“Wang Tong, why don’t you show us your moves?” Apache smiled broadly.
“I think you are feeling itchy. Let me scratch it for you.” Wang Tong jested.
“What? Being scratched by the most fearsome warrior in the universe? Suits me! Haha! Come one!” Apache laughed. It was a perfect time to let Wang Tong impress the space METAL warriors on the ship.
“No worries, I would gladly scratch the thick hide of yours…Haha! “Wang Tong laughed as he climbed on to the sparring stage. Tan Bu watched as Wang Tong hopped right into the zero gravity zone. He had taken a beating from the space warriors during training. Despite his superior power, it had been difficult for him to adjust to the gravity. Nonetheless, he didn’t give up and kept on finding ways to handle the curveballs the environment threw at him constantly.
The space warriors had been really hard on their Martian visitors, but it wasn’t long before empathy bested their ego and they started to slow down. The Martians’ pained faces reminded them of their gruesome training while they first joined the fleet. It had taken a month to get used to fighting in the space eventually; however, these Martian soldiers had only days at most.
Standing before Wang Tong, Apache pulled a serious face. When they first met five years ago, the two warriors’ power was at par with each other. However, five years later, even Apache conceded that victory was impossible for him.
The warriors cheered for their champion. Apache attacked first, his first coming at Wang Tong with the same ferociousness of a solar storm. Apache had improved his fighting techniques a lot over the five years by matching the moves to his strength. His attack came at Wang Tong from all directions, leaving the latter nowhere to evade.
Wang Tong countered Apache’s moves with equal measure of aplomb and repose, being able to block attacks from all directions with ease. He knew Apache’s fighting style like the back of his hand. The latter had spent half of his life training in the military, so Wang Tong knew Apache’s attacks would be direct and open like most military fighting styles. Compared to the combat moves five years ago, Apache’s attacks were even more to the point and uncompromisingly straightforward.
If the soldiers were to learn anything from the two warriors sparring, they would have learned it from Apache instead of Wang Tong, since the latter was way above their league. Copying Wang Tong’s move without truly understanding what it meant would be a hindrance rather than help.
The heat of the battle quickly cracked up amidst cheers and shouts. After a while, Apache finally released his coup de grace: Starlit Slash!
His GN force burst out around him, turning into flashes of intense lights, each flash being a deadly slash of blade aura aimed at Wang Tong.
Suddenly, the flashes were gone as if Wang Tong had snuffed them at the same time—he did, but no one was fast enough to catch him doing so.
Apache grimaced, “Well, that was embarrassing.” He turned to face his space warriors and remarked in a booming voice, “Behold, this is the power of the heir of blade Warrior, the hero who had killed Moye with ease. I have known him for many years, and he has yet to let me down. I will follow him to liberate our people! What do you say?”
“Yeah!” The soldiers shouted in unison.
The METAL warriors valued strength more than anything. After Wang Tong’s impressive display of strength, he had quickly won the hearts of all METAL warriors, further solidifying his position.
In the days that followed, Wang Tong took his time and handpicked each and every one of the team members with the help of Karl and Flash. Skills and talents were not the only requirements to be drafted into Wang Tong’s team since he also expected his pilots to be extremely disciplined and good team players.
Samantha had made sure that they could choose anyone into any position that seemed appropriate without considering their rank and experiences.
Karl and Flash didn’t miss that opportunity to shake things up. They had promoted a few lieutenants to the rank of captains, and gave them each a former captain as their first mate.