Chapter 281: Charcoal Is a Genius
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
w.a.n.g Tong grinned as he reflected on the h.e.l.lish time he had endured to gain more power to fight Li s.h.i.+mming. w.a.n.g Tong knew from the beginning that as the protege of Li Feng, his fate would cross path with that of Li Feng"s descendants, regardless if w.a.n.g Tong had met and fallen in love with Ma Xiaoru or not.
"Boss, what are they talking about? Try it on me!" Karl said as he pointed the finger at himself. Karl had also made a significant improvement in his soul energy, but he didn"t spend much time on training METAL combat skills. Instead, he had chosen to focus on fleet combat.
Hu Yangxuan wanted to warn Karl about w.a.n.g Tong"s new power, but it was already too late. As soon as w.a.n.g Tong initiated his tactics, Karl"s face turned bleak and stumbled back a few steps before he was pressed against the wall.
It took Karl a while to gather himself.
Looking at Karl"s painful expression, w.a.n.g Tong realized that he was too hard on his friends. While in the Crystal s.p.a.ce, he had gotten used to attack his enemy relentlessly and forgotten the importance of controlling his energy while in the real world. His cla.s.smates were not Zachery, so they would not be able to withstand nearly as much power as Zachery could.
Hu Yangxuan and Zhou Sisi helped Karl to his feet, "Oh s.h.i.+t! Boss, are you trying to kill me? I felt like being dropped into an icy pool!"
Hu Yangxuan nodded and then said, "w.a.n.g Tong, that move was brilliant. But excuse me, I wouldn"t be able to spar with you any longer… I want to live."
w.a.n.g Tong"s power had even caught him off guard. However, he knew that the magnitude of his current power was only the bare minimum of what it would take to survive in a real war.
"I am not sure if I want to attend the tournament any longer if I would have to stand up against freaks like you." Hu Yangxuan announced helplessly.
"I disagree. We all have our roles to play and try our best. You should still attend." Zhou Sisi encouraged Hu Yangxuan.
"I will. I will. I was just saying how unfair it is. It"s tough to be a friend with w.a.n.g Tong, you know. Luckily, we also have you in our rank." Hu Yangxuan cracked a smile at Zhou Sisi.
"Let"s all try our best. Especially you, w.a.n.g Tong."
"Will do."
"Awesome! Boss, we can finally fight alongside each other again! Oh, I am here to tell you guys that our school has made it to the top ten list!"
"What"s the ranking?" Zhou Sisi asked.
"Number six." Karl beamed from side to side. Ayrlarng had never been on the top ten list, but ever since it had defeated Capth, Ayrlarng had brought a lot of attention and fame to itself.
"Not bad! But I say we will show them that they had still underestimated us!" w.a.n.g Tong patted on Karl"s shoulder and said.
"Well said, boss! We want to be number one!"
w.a.n.g Tong usually would like to stay low-key. However, he was affected by Karl"s ambition and spirit, and felt he was ready to march into the tournament.
"Very well. Let"s use the school intranet for our training and invite Cao Yi as well."
Everyone agreed.
Every academy, as well as the military, had set up the intranet to be used inside their inst.i.tutions. Students would only need to use their student ID to log in to the school intranet. They logged onto the intranet and looked for their allies from Bernabeu. Without Apache, Cao Yi had quickly become the leader of Bernabeu.
Cao Yi was pleasantly surprised by w.a.n.g Tong"s recovery. He had been worried that w.a.n.g Tong would not be able to reach his former strength after the soul energy was depleted. However, right then, it seemed that his worry was unnecessary. The group of students developed a new set of training methods that aimed to learn from w.a.n.g Tong"s far-superior skills.
After the training, w.a.n.g Tong and Zhou Sisi walked home together.
Zhou Sisi could feel that w.a.n.g Tong had been increasingly opening up to her, and considered her as a trustworthy friend. However, the thought of being "befriended" made Zhou Sisi feel bitter.
Zhou Sisi had prepared herself for the worst, and being w.a.n.g Tong"s friend was far from the worst that could happen. She conceded that she would be content seeing w.a.n.g Tong"s happy face every day.
w.a.n.g Tong went straight to bed and didn"t turn the light on. Charcoal stood beside the bed, faithfully protecting his master.
w.a.n.g Tong loved Charcoal"s presence when he went to bed, because it made him feel that he was not alone. Without Charcoal"s companions.h.i.+p, w.a.n.g Tong would have already gone mad in the crystal s.p.a.ce. w.a.n.g Tong liked to talk to charcoal, and he found out that the robot was an excellent listener. He often lamented that without Charcoal, he would not speak a single word after he got home.
w.a.n.g Tong understood that despite the immense power of the Tactics of the Blade, the other five major tactics were no less potent. Besides, what determined a fighter"s ability was not just the type of tactics they had cultivated, but also their talent and the amount of time they had spent on honing their skills. w.a.n.g Tong reckoned that Li s.h.i.+ming ought to be a more powerful fighter than him, because not only was Li s.h.i.+ming talented, through years of cultivation, he had also built a more solid foundation than w.a.n.g Tong. Also, he had an experienced father who could continuously provide him with guidance.
Thanks to Mr. Wannabe"s boot camp, w.a.n.g Tong had gained a more realistic view of his power.
w.a.n.g Tong conceded that Patroclus must have a more accurate estimation about w.a.n.g Tong"s power, and therefore, the reason for his challenge must be because he was impressed by the tactics, but not by w.a.n.g Tong as a fighter.
If it were anyone else who had piqued Patroclus"s interest, he or she would be thrilled. But w.a.n.g Tong couldn"t find any joy in him, because his goal was to defeat Patroclus.
The deal Wong Tong made with Ma Dutian seemed simple. However, as w.a.n.g Tong mulled over his situation, he started to doubt if the Ma would be able to fulfill their end of the deal and reject House of Li"s request should he succeed the mission.
Suddenly, w.a.n.g Tong realized that Ma Dutian had also hinged his decision on the outcome of the tournament. Should w.a.n.g Tong able to prove himself and defeat Li s.h.i.+ming, Ma Dutian would also gain an excuse to back out of the marriage proposal.
w.a.n.g Tong was right. As a figurehead of a great house, the crafty Ma Dutian would not disclose his real intention up front. But, he had believed that w.a.n.g Tong was smart enough to figure it out himself.
w.a.n.g Tong had thought that Ma Xiaoru"s father would humiliate him for asking his daughter"s hand, since the Li and Ma had been traditional allies, and Li s.h.i.+ming was also a competent young man. Therefore, w.a.n.g Tong was pleasantly surprised when he was given a second chance to prove himself. It would have made thing easier for Ma Dutian if he had rejected w.a.n.g Tong, but Ma Dutian"s love for his daughter"s had eventually changed his mind.
w.a.n.g Tong mumbled his thoughts to Charcoal, and the latter listened quietly.
"Charcoal, how would I make Li s.h.i.+ming attend the tournament? He didn"t seem to be that interested."
w.a.n.g Tong heaved a sigh and continued his mumbling, "It would be easy if it were Lie Jian who I had to defeat. I could always lure him into the tournament using Einherjar Wannabe"s ident.i.ty, but Li s.h.i.+ming was never on PA."
"..." Charcoal muttered something quietly.
"Oh, Sh*t! You are a genius, Charcoal!" w.a.n.g Tong embraced Charcoal and kissed on its cold metal panel out of excitement "Now, clean the room for me. I want it to be tidied up before I am home."
w.a.n.g Tong rushed out as soon as he released Charcoal.
w.a.n.g Tong realized that the best way to lure Li s.h.i.+ming to the tournament was to use a bait whose power was at par with Li s.h.i.+ming. Charcoal had reminded w.a.n.g Tong that he just so happened to have one such bait wrapped around his little finger.
When w.a.n.g Tong arrived at the familiar virtual Cafe, the owner of the cafe almost broke into tears as he had missed his lucky charm day and night. Without w.a.n.g Tong visiting the cafe, his business seemed to be slumping.
w.a.n.g Tong was puzzled by the tears held in the owner"s eyes as he walked into his VIP room. All this while, he wondered why Lie Jian didn"t challenge Patroclus to avenge the defeat of Lie Wushuang.