Chapter 181: Undercurrent IV
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Even though he had seen the holographic recording last night, Wei Yuan was still deeply moved when he saw it in person!
He stood dumbstruck, without moving a muscle!
Marvel! An absolute marvel! He watched in enchantment, his mind empty except for the bright glowing circle, the glowing spheres and its vanis.h.i.+ng fragments, and the barely visible shadows of the mech.
Training rooms could be secured with a pa.s.sword to avoid disturbing the user. Ye Chong had never made it a habit to do so, and that was why Wei Yuan could enter easily! Ye Chong did not notice him, since his training required intense concentration, and he could not afford distractions.
While he still could not break through the five minute mark, Ye Chong could feel that he was gradually improving. People had tried to incorporate normal combat skills into mech battles, and he was but only one of them. Besides, now that he thought about it, when he got into a fight with Instructor Hak, the instructor had used similar moves, which he did not notice then. Ye Chong was almost certain that Black Cove was miles beyond everyone else in this field.
Ye Chong knew his own strength. With his level, he was nothing compared to Black Cove, and that was why he was very vigilant against them. Nonetheless, he did not give up because of this. Even if he was meager in skills compared to Black Cove’s mech pilots, he could still feel himself improving bit by bit.
Mu’s suggestion to train this way, for example, had helped him tremendously.
Ye Chong no longer fought mechanically. The recording of the two combat experts on the Nast had helped him greatly. The moves demonstrated and the strategizing involved had deeply influenced Ye Chong.
Tissot’s battle moves were based on from the recording of the two combat experts. They were basic moves that those two experts used most frequently in their battle, and suitable for easy learning.
However, Ye Chong was not entirely unadaptable. Normal battles and mech battles were different, so he did not imitate the moves exactly, but modify them incrementally to make them suitable for mechs. As for whether these modifications could work, he would only know in actual combat!
Ye Chong could not control his body very well, and imitating the moves was not too difficult. However, maneuvering the mech to reproduce those moves was a different story. A slight change in movement could lead to a disproportionate increase in difficulty in maneuvering. Ye Chong finally understood why the basic moves for mech battles that he learned earlier were all so simple.
Fortunately, Ye Chong could move his hands very fast, allowing him to make Tissot execute the moves!
Ye Chong trained diligently. As he grew used to the maneuverings, his quick hand speed could finally be put to good use. The more he practiced on each move, the faster he could execute them. This was reflected by the longer and longer time Ye Chong spent for each training round in the room.
"I’m new to this, so plenty of training is necessary! Sigh, if only I can cure this strange illness in me, then I can find a planet to stay where no one knew me. As long as I’m careful, the chances of Black Cove, the Sanctuary or the MPA finding me will be very small!
"Then I’ll be able to do all the things I’m interested in, researching in mechs, practicing mech combat, normal combat, alchemy, make some skeleton mechs, I can even practice meditation …"
Lost in his thoughts, Ye Chong suddenly found that he had plenty of things of he wanted to do, though he did not have the time, and found himself travelling often. Life was a mystery, it was like an invisible hand was controlling him, ushering him from one place to another. In truth, after the initial excitement, Ye Chong was getting tired of this kind of irregular lifestyle, and even grew to detest it a little. However, he must always stay alert, since any misstep could lead to disaster! Compared to this exciting life, he preferred and even yearned the simple and innocent life on the trash planet!
Ye Chong got distracted and was immediately hit by countless glowing spheres. The round was over!
"How could I be distracted during practice?" Ye Chong mocked himself, but quickly gathered his thoughts to resume his training.
Wei Yuan was shocked!
Heavens! Was this guy human? All those so-called elites at school were trash compared to this guy! This YC’s mech piloting skills had reached the level of a professional.
Slowly, Wei Yuan began to notice something.
The almost solid looking glowing circle around the mech was gradually expanding outwards!
Yes, it was really expanding! Wei Yuan was afraid he saw wrong, and quickly called out his personal aide system and took a photo. About 10 seconds later, he took another shot. He used his personal aide system to calculate, and found that the glowing circle was indeed expanding outwards! Personal aide systems were automatically provided for each citizen in the virtual world, used mainly to a.s.sist in solving common problems in the place. It could also perform simple photon processor operations.
Wei Yuan could not help but grew excited!
For the whole duration he was watching YC, the glowing circle formed by the glowing spheres was limited to a very small perimeter.
Now, however, this perimeter was gradually increasing. This also meant that YC’s attack range was increasing! Wei Yuan was not YC’s fan; he was not excited because YC managed to achieve this! Wei Yuan was excited because he knew that, with the increasing range of attack, YC would have to cover a larger area with his movements. This was what he was most interested in!
Since Wei Yuan was most confident with his mech piloting skills, he also wished to see what YC could do with his mech! Perhaps he can even learn a few tricks from him!
Wei Yuan watched with his eyes wide, unwilling to miss a single detail.
The glowing circle was slowly but surely expanding outwards!
The glowing circle expanded, as it also grew dimmer and more transparent. Wei Yuan could now see Tissot’s figure more clearly beyond the glow.
As Wei Yuan suspected, when Tissot’s attack range grew larger, Ye Chong had to make larger movements to cover the perimeter!
Wei Yuan stared at Tissot, noting every detail he could find!
As Wei Yuan watched on, his face turned a few shades paler! If anyone were in the room with Wei Yuan, they would clearly see his clothes turning moist; after a few minutes, it was thoroughly drenched, as though he was scooped out of the water. Large pearls of sweat rolled down from his face along the neck, now gathering together and forming rivulets!
In the virtual world, Wei Yuan did not exactly feel hopeless, but he was definitely very much affected!
Now, he had only one question on his mind - who was this YC, a monster like this?
Wei Yuan did not miss any of Tissot’s movements, and that was why he was utterly shocked! With YC under the hood, Tissot moved like a spirit, like a machine come to life!
That was Wei Yuan’s first impression!
As someone skilled in mech piloting, he was of course aware of the illusion!
The longer he watched, however, the more he sweated, and soon he could feel the damp chill on his spine!
The mech moved so quickly, as if impact mitigation was not a problem! Wei Yuan had seen Tissot stepped back quickly a few times, like breaking the laws of physics. The effect was almost supernatural!
Impossible! He almost jumped at the shock of realization!
Backward movements were a taboo for mech pilots! The movement was damaging to the mech, and a great burden for the pilot! Mech pilots could die from the maneuver!
What exasperated Wei Yuan the most was that YC had not only done it, but had did it repeatedly!
Was this guy really human? Wei Yuan groaned inside him! While no person could actually die in the virtual world, the environment was still modeled based on reality. Any moves that could be achieved here was very likely achievable in the real world!
With that, another thought came to him. No mech pilot would execute this move that could damage his mech, unless the situation demanded it. YC, however, had made this move during training. Strange indeed!
Wei Yuan believed that YC was not a mech pilot that did not take care of his mechs - there must be some reason for his actions! Since Wei Yuan could not understand this, he filed it away for the moment.
Fortunately, he had already activated his holographic recorder, else he would not be able to study it later!
Wei Yuan continued observing!
He was more and more horrified. That guy had maintained his speed even as the glowing circle expanded! The faster a mech moved, the harder it is to control it. Wei Yuan would not have believed it was possible to move a mech at such a high speed in a restricted area if he had not seen it first hand!
Wei Yuan made a back of the envelope calculation of YC’s turning frequency, and the result was enough to make him even paler!
It was terrifying!
So this was the meaning of true strength! Wei Yuan’s att.i.tude gradually changed throughout his observation. He now understood that, compared to YC, he still had a long way to go!
This change in att.i.tude made him more humble, and now he was eager to learn!
With this change in att.i.tude, Wei Yuan noticed more problems. Logically speaking, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. However, YC had moved mainly with curved steps, and rarely did he take straight line steps. If he had not seen YC made a straight step backwards, Wei Yuan might have guessed that it was because YC could not handle the force that came with this change in momentum, and chose to take curved steps instead. However, since YC had taken straight steps backwards before, this was obviously not the reason, since that kind of motion produced that largest burden on the pilot.
Another problem to solve then. Wei Yuan reluctantly filed away this question as well for another time.
As he watched on, Wei Yuan began to move out of his dispirited state, and slowly felt encouraged again.
This was because he saw that there was still hope left for him through YC. Throughout his training, YC had only used basic mech footwork, simple but executed quickly. The mech’s footwork was also comprised of only common techniques, only executed faster and more abruptly! There were no so called advanced level techniques!
Was this not the same for him? Wei Yuan found that he was actually very similar to YC in this respect! He felt like he could see himself in YC. He was not exactly interested in mech combat skills, but if he could learn to pilot his mech like that, that would be awesome!
While Wei Yuan grew absorbed in himself, Ye Chong had left the virtual world!
He was significantly less fatigued than last time. It seemed that Ye Chong was now stronger mentally! Due to his relations.h.i.+p with Robert, Ye Chong was treated as an honoured guest. Hence, Ye Chong did not hesitate to ask for servants of the Shang family to send him lunch.
"Ye, someone was watching when you were training!" Mu would only ever use neutral terms. If it was Shang, he would probably describe the act as peeping!
"Oh, who was it?" Ye Chong asked.
"Wei Yuan, male, 17 years old, current student of planet Richie’s Wei Lan Academy in Year One, Cla.s.s 107 …" Mu had discreetly looked up Wei Yuan.
"Richie?" Ye Chong was a little sensitive to the place. Was that not his destination? What troubled him was that w.a.n.g Weixing would only return to the planet after about two months. As for the observer of his training, Ye Chong did not mind him so much.
"Hmm, the Shang family is a little weird. I must not stay for too long, best to leave soon!"
Ye Chong did not know that the Shang family’s weirdness was related to him! Of course, he was also not aware that the girl he licked that day was the daughter of the head of the Shang family. While Shang Lan was also there during that banquet, Ye Chong was busy keeping his head down and eating.
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"You’re back!" Looking at the thin figure of his second daughter and her tired eyes, Shang Zhangming felt agony in the heart. Of all his children, his second daughter was the most reliable. Demure but intelligent, and a keen sense of people, she was the most authoritative figure in the Shang family, second only to her parents.
Combing her fringe to the side, Shang Yue smiled and said, "Yes, I’m back. The negotiations were successful! Nothing uneventful happened!" Shang Yue and Shang Lan looked very much like each other, but Shang Yue’s face was more balanced, with a tiny mole above an eyebrow, adding a charming touch that differentiated the two sisters. Shang Lan was like a fairytale princess, adorable and fragile looking. Shang Yue, however, was like an attentive elder sister, a mature lady that could read one’s heart.
"I see, go see your mother now!" Shang Yue was the most diligent in managing their family’s affairs, and that was why Shang Zhangming felt most regretful for her.
However, the thought of the incident with Feng’er made his brows knit tightly together.
Shang Zhangming’s expression did not escape Shang Yue’s notice, but she did not ask about it, merely dutifully acknowledging her father’s suggestion and headed towards her mother’s room.
"What?" Calm as Shang Ye usually was, she still gasped in shock when her mother told her about that incident with her younger sister, Lan!
Mrs Shang also wore a troubled expression. She had worried over this for the past two days. The rest of the Shang family were also tormented by the incident. Lan’er was everyone’s beloved little princess, so her uncles were all up in arms about Ye Chong’s behaviour, and would have gone to confront him directly if not for Shang Zhangming and his wife restraining them.
Shang Yue pondered over the issue before asking carefully, "What does Lan Lan think?"
Mrs Shang’s expression soured even further. "Sigh, it’s because we don’t know what Lan’re is thinking that we’re all troubled! We asked, but she never answered!" This was the root of the problem. No one knew what Lan’er thought of the matter, so none of them dared to make any moves against the cursed w.a.n.g Xing! What if, even in the slightest chance, that their princess took a liking towards this w.a.n.g Xing?
Mrs Shang’s troubled expression was mostly an act. She knew that her youngest daughter was always solitary and disliked socializing. As she aged day by day, this nature of hers did not change. Under the doting love of her elder relatives and her elder cousins’ care, she maintained an innocent heart. However, that was what worried Mrs Shang. Lan knew nothing of how the real world worked, and her solitary behavior had always made Mrs Shang worried for her future!
Mrs Shang had secretly arranged for many young and handsome men to introduce themselves to her youngest daughter, but every time without fail, her daughter would be scared as a rabbit, her fearful eyes a soft spot for all the older members of the family. This made Mrs Shang fret even more. All her attempts had met with failure, and Shang Lan expressed no interest in getting to know any of them. This was a constant worry for Mrs Shang!
However, that odd w.a.n.g Xing was now a sign of hope for Mrs Shang!
To think that Lan’er would invite him to dance by her own initiative! When Mrs Shang first heard of it, she thought she heard wrong! However, when she found out that w.a.n.g Xing had kissed Lan’er, she almost fainted. She rushed to her daughter’s room, for fear of Lan’er doing anything unexpected! However, when she arrived, Lan’er was pressing her face into her blanket, unwilling to talk, only moaning through the blanket. She had no idea whether Lan’er was really crying!
However, seeing that Lan’er was not doing anything dangerous, Mrs Shang relaxed, and could finally dedicate her mind to thinking about the incident. Her youngest daughter’s future worried her most. If Lan’er can find a man of her choosing, Mrs Shang would accept him as he was. For a wealthy family like hers, political marriages were almost obligatory! Mrs Shang knew this, and so had asked for Shang Zhangming to swear before their wedding that their children would have the right to decide their own marriage partners, free of interference from anyone in the Shang family!
For Lan’er to react so violently against this man, how could Mrs Shang not detect the cracks in her emotions?
This desire was also noticed by Shang Yue.
Shang Yue and Shang Lan were very close to each other, and Shang Lan would ever share her thoughts with her second elder sister.
After absorbing the news, Shang Yue’s heart finally calmed down. She swept her fringe and spoke steadily, "Alright, it looks like what’s most important now is Lan Lan’s thoughts on the matter. If we know that, the next step will be obvious!" Shang Yue had never felt so curious about a man like this. It was interesting that he could make Sister Lan react like that. If she was not about to visit Sister Lan now, Shang Yue would have headed straight to w.a.n.g Xing and see if he was actually born with three heads and six limbs!
Shang Yue came to Shang Lan’s room and knocked twice lightly as she spoke softly, "Lan Lan, it’s me!"
"Ah!" A tender voice came from within, and then some clunking sounds. Shang Yue could not help but smiled. The door opened into a tiny slit, revealing a pair of bashful eyes, looking carefully outside.
As expected, it was Shang Yue, alone. The door opened wide. "Second elder sis!" She exclaimed with a pleasant surprise, and leapt forward to embrace Shang Yue. Shang Yue held the little princess lightly in her arms, patting Shang Lan’s back softly.
After the initial surprise, Shang Lan’s glowing eyes began to mist.
"Second elder sis!" Her voice this time was closer to a sob, filled with unspoken grievance.
"Don’t cry, don’t cry, my good Lan’er!" Shang Yue’s motions became even gentler as she consoled Shang Lan. "Let us go inside and talk!"
...
"You don’t know how silly he looked like when he’s eating! Like he’s been starving for ages! I’ve never seen anyone eat like that in front of Daddy, not even Brother Ling!"
...
"It’s even funnier at the ball! When Third Elder Sis and Brother Ling, and Third Elder Sis greeted him, do you know what he said? Heehee, he said, what do you want from me! Heehee, I’ve never seen anyone so dumb!"
…
"He stood alone in the corner, bored, like everyone around him was from a different world than him, what a lonely person! For some reason he reminded me of myself, and I almost cried! Second elder sis, don’t you dare laugh at me! I was really sad back then, I don’t know, and I thought of asking him for a dance! I said don’t laugh!"
…
"His dancing is quite peculiar, looking so serious all the time, heehee, but he’s no good at it, he’s so rigid, like a rock! But his steps were all so precise!"
…
"At the end he threw me high up, and it felt wonderful, it’s like I was flying! His eyes were still so serious!"
…
"But in the end, he … He …"
…
After a long session with her sister, Shang Yue finally understood the entire incident!
Right now, all she wanted was to know more about w.a.n.g Xing. She believed she knew what Younger Sister Lan was thinking now; after meeting w.a.n.g Xing, she and her mother can then discuss on how to proceed.
Ye Chong was practicing meditation in his room. Mu had ascertained that the room had no surveillance in place - the Shang family probably would not dare to offend their honored guests!
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
Mu warned, "It’s a woman!"
Ye Chong opened the door and saw a woman he had never met before! Ye Chong suddenly felt a wave of grat.i.tude - luckily it was Mu right now and not Shang!
The woman spoke first, "Hi there, you must be Mr w.a.n.g Xing!"
"I am!" Ye Chong studied the woman casually. He quickly decided that the other party could not harm him physically.
The woman smiled and spoke warmly, "I’m Shang Yue, hmm, the elder sister of that girl you danced with that day, may I come in?"
"The girl I danced with?" Ye Chong thought in surprise. This woman had a completely different aura than that princess! The woman before him now had a calm steadiness, a quality Ye Chong had never seen before in a member of the opposite s.e.x. While Ye Chong knew he was not good at faces, he was still quite confident with his intuition.
Ye Chong did not know why she was here, but he still stepped to the side and replied plainly, "Please!"
They stood face to face, close to each other. This suited Ye Chong - at this distance, if the other party did any sudden movements, she would not be able to avoid his attack.
Ye Chong looked straight into her eyes, and Shang Yue also did not avert her gaze. They looked at each other calmly. Shang Yue’s mouth slowly arched into a smile, and her tiny lips looked incredibly sensuous. However, Ye Chong was obviously unaffected, his expression unchanged since he first set eyes on Shang Yue.
Ye Chong felt that the staring was getting pointless, and looking at the other party’s expression, she did not seem likely to back down first. He decided to initiate the conversation. "Why are you here?"
Shang Yue swept her fringe lightly to the side. She knew that it was better to be straightforward with a person like him. "I’d like to know what you feel about my younger sister!"
"Your younger sister?" Ye Chong looked at the woman before him in bafflement.
"Yes! The one you danced with last night!" Shang Yue’s eyes shone with determination.
"What I feel?" Ye Chong confusion did not subside.
"Yes! What you feel!" Shang Yue repeated.
"Why should I answer that?" Ye Chong looked coldly at the woman. The unexpected question made him wary.
Shang Yue found herself speechless. While her expression was still calm, Ye Chong could still see from the way she swept her fringe that she was a little startled. This further convinced him that the other party was up to no good. However, he could not understand how it was related to his dancing with the girl last night.
Could it be because he danced with her? It could not be, she had initiated the dance.
Or could it be because he licked her? That was not very plausible either. Ye Chong remembered that the girl’s neck was completely undamaged! This was too strange!
Ye Chong was not aware of the severity of things.
Ye Chong’s rudeness offended Shang Yue, but her smile only grew sweeter. The mole above her brow looked enticing, and her exquisite profile was suddenly looking very attractive! Her eyes sparkled alluringly like stars through a mist.
Shang Yue stepped closer.
Ye Chong looked coldly at Shang Yue, waiting for her next move.
Shang Yue closed in on Ye Chong, looking up at him with bewitching eyes and spoke demurely, "Mr w.a.n.g, why don’t you tell me! I really want to know!" Her voice was soft and husky.
Shang Yue had never failed with this method. With her usual decorous demeanor, her transformation in character always managed to bewitch her targets. Shang Yue was intelligent, and rarely encountered situations that she could not overcome; she had only used this method twice so far.
When she saw w.a.n.g Xing at the door, she knew instantly that he would not be easy to handle. She opted for a straightforward approach, since she believed that she would quickly be ushered out otherwise. The other party was obviously not a patient man!
She did not expect him to face ignorance! That was what infuriated her.
With this method, she could still continue pursuing the question while checking if the man was susceptible to such approaches.
She was not without preparation. On her left wrist was an emergency beeper. Once she pressed on its b.u.t.ton, the guards outside would come to her. After all, she was not inclined to be taken advantage of!
Their faces nearly touched, and Shang Yue’s breath kissed on Ye Chong’s face.
Her snow white skin and red lips were accentuated by a faint fragrant scent and that enticing little mole!
Ye Chong suddenly felt his chest burn inside, like something was stoked to life within.
Shang Yue’s vaguely parting lips were beckoning to him!
Without realizing it, Ye Chong moved forward and kissed!
Shang Yue was shocked! She did not expect him to really make a move! She suddenly felt a strong sense of abhorrence for him. To think that he was actually such a lewd person!
While she was shocked, she still maintained some composure. Her right hand reached towards her left wrist. Once she activated her beeper, she would be safe!
However, even in a daze, Ye Chong’s body still reacted quickly. He grabbed onto Shang Yue’s hands, his right hand quickly searching and obtaining the beeper. Ye Chong threw the item without looking towards the bed! The bedding was soft as feathers, and the emergency beeper sank into it!
He was still kissing her!
w.a.n.g Xing’s hands grabbed hold of her like steel roots, and Shang Yue could not escape!
With the tightly closed door and excellent soundproofing, she could not be heard even if she screamed with all she had!
"I’m done for!" That was Shang Yue’s last thoughts!