Chapter 12: Onwards and Upwards

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His opponent asked for a rematch, but Ye Chong ignored him. The way he saw it, the deliberate mistakes committed by his adversary would have cost his life a dozen times, and what Ye Chong needed was an expert that could sharpen his skills to grow stronger, not a brazen fool like him.

Mu Shang swiftly appeared by his side. “Hmm, not a bad performance, but the opponent was pathetic!”

Ye Chong nodded in agreement.

Mu Shang asked, “However, it seems that the Raven can no longer keep up with your battle skills. Hmm, are you interested in using another mech?”

Ye Chong beamed at Mu Shang’s suggestions. “A new mech? What model?”

“What are your thoughts on the Apollo?” Mu Shang inquired.

Ye Chong speculated before replying, “It’s alright! It’s pretty agile with thoughtful modifications!”

“You win points for every victory in battle, and these points can be traded for new mechs or accessories at the maintenance hub, as mech modifications are allowed here. Of course, I advise that you refrain from using modified mechs for now even though you are not entirely new to it. My suggestion would be for you to get familiar with various mechs before exploring the options offered by modifications.” Mu Shang explained.

Mu Shang barely finished his little speech before Ye Chong headed straight for the maintenance hub. The spacious main hall exhibited a great variety of mechs, and Ye Chong eyed the displays like an eagle as he wandered around the displayed mechs, occasionally petting or caressing the machines, unable to hide his excitement.

Ye Chong instantly realized that every mech was labelled with the amount of points required for redemption. He fumbled with his phone scrolling through his incoming messages and finally found what he was looking for – a thousand points under his name. Ye Chong heaved a sigh of relief – fortunately, the Green Wolf mech offered two models, and each only cost three hundred points. Looks like I have quite a number of points. Ye Chong thought gleefully.

Ye Chong decided to heed Mu Shang’s advice as Mu was never one for thoughtless opinions.

Even though he eyed the other mechs longingly, his decision was finalized – he decided on a sophisticated Green Wolf-I.

The Green Wolf was a quadruped; built very much like a wolf, with a double-bladed light sabre held in its mouth – both sides of the weapon are capable of activating laser sabers of half a meter long. The Green Wolf model was a classic mech for land battles although it lacked the Raven’s wings; rendering flight impossible, and its engines were not designed for optimum performance in space. On land, however, the mech’s powerful drive, agile movements and commensurate speed made it a popular model.

Compared to the Raven, the Green Wolf came with quite a few upgrades.

Mu Shang appeared like a spirit before Ye Chong, and threw a quick glance at the Green Wolf behind him before commenting in earnest, “Tis’ an alliance between beasts!”

Ye Chong glared back at Mu Shang. “You dare compare me to a beast?!”

Mu Shang replied lazily, “Are you not one?”

“Of course I’m not!” Ye Chong defiantly sulked.

“Then what are you?” Mu Shang retorted.

Ye Chong declared shamelessly, “I am the king of beasts!”

Mu Shang was flabbergasted, and couldn’t help but surrender and roll its eyes. “Definitely like a beast!”

Ye Chong stood proudly with his arms akimbo, and the background music began to play the roar of a thousand beasts. The music changed abruptly replaced by the raucous cries of beasts having sex. Ye Chong felt goose bumps all over him, and immediately begged Mu Shang for mercy.

Mu Shang chuckled, and reasoned languidly, “But you are the King–– of–– Beasts––!”

Ye Chong pulled a face.

Mu Shang tossed a name list to Ye Chong. “ The names recorded here are those who have a winning rate of over 90%, and had registered for training here within the last three months. You should challenge them one at a time. Oh, and do remember to start from the last one on the list.”

Sun Xuelin and Xiu stared at the empty training ground in dismay.

Xiu announced flatly, “Xuelin, he’s not here.” Inside the Raven’s cabin, tears began to flow down her delicate contour.

Xuelin was enraged. “That bastard, he’s crossed the line, we’ve known each other for so long how can he just upped and left without so much as a goodbye? This is too much. I’m going to give him a real beating the next time we meet!” She had completely forgotten her losing track record against Ye Chong.

“Let’s check out the battle grounds!” Xuelin said as she grabbed Xiu by the arm.

They searched the battle areas one by one, but there was neither a sight of the Raven, nor the one who piloted it.

They were not aware of Ye Chong replacing the Raven for another mech, and were also ignorant of the fact that he had left the battle area for Gutista right before their arrival on the battle grounds.

“Hey! Young man, what’re you up to these days? Haven’t seen you in a while!” An elderly man greeted Ye Chong as he was on his way to Gutista.

Ye Chong gave a slight bow. “Grandpa Xu, how do you do? My schedule’s a little hectic with training these days, hence the absence.” The elderly named Xu was someone Ye Chong respected dearly, for he was an old engineer who was generous with his teachings, and Ye Chong had benefited much from the old man.

Grandpa Xu chortled, “This old man is doing quite well, and this young man here is still as polite as always! What a nice lad, them old folks must be happy to see you there! Well then, I must be off, you enjoy yourself young man!”

Ye Chong smiled bashfully. “I will, have a good day Grandpa Xu!”

Ye Chong visited the central hub of an association in Gutista called Aurora. The association was infamous; its members consisting mainly of retired mech engineers and pilots of high stature with great knowledge on all things mech. The conglomeration of these individuals was a force to reckon with. Many existing companies consulted with them for their renowned expertise. The eccentricities of the association’s members were also well known where each member offered a unique set of skills and experience. The fact that the members retired with enviable pensions made financial rewards ineffective as a means of gaining their assistance. If they find someone amenable, they would offer help even if unasked for; if one is unpleasant, even a shipload of gold would not change their minds. Their disregard for money was always a cause of concern by various companies.

However, the stakes were high, so the superiors have to lower their sights and dance to the members’ peculiar tunes, while secretly cursing them for their humiliation. It did not help that most Aurora members were well-versed in the art of politics and negotiations – the company executives who were used to taking advantage of others had found their match!

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