The human fleet had already arrived at Mars" outer s.p.a.ce and was ready to a.s.sist the Martian ground force to deliver a death blow to the remaining Zergs. The cooperation of forces on the ground and in s.p.a.ce was crucial for victory as proven by the failure of Moye. Blinded by his conceit, Moye had failed to mobilize the s.p.a.ce units, and that excessive combat had, in part, led to his demise.
The humans" top priority right then was to solidify their victory and deliver the final blow to the Zergs on their last leg.
"They are awakened? Great!"
"Flash, please cover my duty for a while, I will be right back. "
"Yes, sir!"
After the final battle was over, Samantha had promoted all warriors who had partic.i.p.ated in the X-6 mission. Their reward was well deserved considering the risk they had taken.
After the total victory, Samantha had secured her position in the Armada. No one would think of opposing an admiral who had led the fleet into such a glorious victory. Although Samantha was not the warrior who had delivered the final and decisive blow to the Zergs, her brilliant management of the fleet was what made everything possible.
After Samantha had told the four medics about the details of what had happened after they pa.s.sed out, Xiao Yuyu covered her mouth with surpa.s.sing a gasp. "It was such a close call!"
"Hehe, more like a blessing in disguise. I feel thankful to that traitor who had given us an opportunity to lure the entire Zerg Armada to us." Samantha exclaimed.
"Yeah! The fight against the immortals is bound to be more difficult because of people like him. I wonder if he was the only one." Ye Zi said with a frown.
"He is very likely to be the only one, at least among the higher rank officials. Nonetheless, lesson learned." Samantha said. She was confident that Sailuofu was an anomaly, although the initial revelation had caught her by surprise.
As she reflected on the incidence, an officer announced another good news: Guan Dongyang and Michaux had woken up as well. Seeing the visible changes that happened to the four medics, Samantha wondered what the recuperation would have done to the other two casters.
When Michaux and Guan Dongyang first woke up, they knew something about them had changed, although it was not obvious by looking at their appearances. Neither of them spoke a word once they woke up as they immediately started to meditate, trying to find out what had happened inside their system.
"How are they doing right now?"
"Lord Guan Dongyang"s body felt hot as if he had a bad fever." The guard answered Samantha worriedly as she walked into the room. Although there was no sign of flames on Guan Dongyang"s body, she could feel its presence in the temperature of the room.
Unsure of what was going on, Samantha could only stare ahead. Meanwhile, the four medics loosened their jaws in surprise, their eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with disbelief.
"Guan Dongyang has entered level twenty-five." Xiao Yuyu finally broke the silence. "The human world gained its first super Fire caster."
A level twenty-five super mastery caster?
The officials and the guards were shocked by the development. Ever since the METAL warriors had witnessed the power of the asteroid storm, no one dared to look down on the casters as they used to. The power of the mastery casters had gone beyond that of the deadliest human warriors.
Level twenty-five meant that Guan Dongyang was an Einherjar, and from then on, they had to address him as Einherjar Guan.
Meanwhile, Michaux was hovering in the air so quietly that the visitors almost didn"t notice him at one corner of the roof.
"What"s going on with Michaux?"
"Hard to say. His power is beyond our comprehensions. I bet only w.a.n.g Tong and Michaux could understand each other"s power, other than him." Ye Zi said with a smile.
"Him? Who is that?" An officer couldn"t resist a question.
"Patroclus."
"Their biggest enemy," Samantha added. "There is no need to fear him now, since w.a.n.g Tong is fighting for us. Anyway, we cannot harbor a dream of avoiding the conflict with the immortals either. As long as we have w.a.n.g Tong, humanity will prevail."
The mastery casters" improving condition quickly spread throughout the fleet, and the human soldiers cheered for their recovery. Previously, despite the celebrations for their victory, their hearts were gripped by the concern for the heroes" safeties.
General Li Hong also arrived at the room to pay the heroes a visit. "How is everyone?"
"Thank you for asking. Everyone has woken up except for w.a.n.g Tong. But, we doubt he is in any danger." Xiao Yuyu said politely.
"We need to celebrate after w.a.n.g Tong wakes up." Li Hong said with a broad smile. w.a.n.g Tong had proven his ability and earned his rightful place in the Armada, and Li Hong would think twice before he challenged w.a.n.g Tong"s position again. A soldier"s instinct told Li Hong that the fleet would be under w.a.n.g Tong"s command once he woke up, since the latter was the only person who could lead the humans to victory.
When w.a.n.g Tong finally woke up a week later, the humans had restored order and peace on Mars. Only a very few Zergs still hid in the wilderness, and it would take a while for the humans to weed them out.
Meanwhile, Martians" first new fleet had marched into s.p.a.ce and joined the Confederation armada. Soldiers from both sides and put away their differences and decided to work toward the same goal: restoration of the confederation s.p.a.ce force.
During this time of turmoil, it was essential for the humans to have a strong leader and no one fit the definition better than w.a.n.g Tong. Only he could have turned the tables around on Mars by defeating the dark lord and completely annihilating the Zerg armada. Someone might have claimed that they could lead humanity in their darkest hour, but without backing the bold claim with facts—which no one could—the imposture of the true savior would be hard pressed to gain any support.
The soldiers followed w.a.n.g Tong not because of his might, but because they admired and revered him.
While w.a.n.g Tong was asleep, everyone, including the leaders of Mars, was deeply concerned about his life. Without him, the human resistance would soon crumble into dust, and signs of disrepair had already started to surface among the distraught soldiers while w.a.n.g Tong was absent.
w.a.n.g Tong was not only the de facto leader of the human coalition, but also the spiritual leader of millions of confederation soldiers. His existence lit up a beacon of hope during this hardest time of the human world.
Even after he had wakened up, he remained relatively elusive to the public, and only a very few soldiers had personal access to him. Samantha had s.h.i.+elded w.a.n.g Tong away from the insistent queries of the press and other faction leaders.
By then the human fleet had reached over than a thousand sails strong, many of which were of Zeus cla.s.s battlecruisers. Most of the sailors on those s.h.i.+ps were freshmen, and nothing would make a finer soldier than a difficult voyage and even more difficult battles.
"w.a.n.g Tong, what is our next move?"
"What are the immortals up to lately?" w.a.n.g Tong yawned and asked. The last battle had completely exhausted his energy, and therefore, it had taken him so long to recover.
"The immortals" fleets are mobilizing, but not toward Mars. We are not sure what they are planning." Samantha said, then shot w.a.n.g Tong a caring glance and asked, "Are you sure you will be fine?"
Samantha had been looking after w.a.n.g Tong by herself ever since he fell unconscious, as she found it difficult to trust anyone else with the task.
"No problem at all! I have learned a lot too." w.a.n.g Tong said with a satisfied smile.
"Did you really create that asteroid storm on Saturn? It was amazing! Even Michaux confessed that he had no clue what was going on." Samantha"s eyes lit up with curiosity.
"Haha! Since when did you start paying attention to mastery?"
"Being curious is women"s second nature." Samantha piped up. She didn"t talk down to w.a.n.g Tong as princ.i.p.al would to her student; instead she spoke in a soft womanly voice that begged the attention of her first love.
"Hehe, mastery is the future. Although it is much more powerful than METAL combat, it could cause harm to the human society if not used properly. I have to be more responsible with its power next time."
w.a.n.g Tong shrugged, but his gloomy face had betrayed his concern. With great power came great responsibilities. When Li Feng revealed the GN force to the world, he could have also introduced mastery, but he feared the irresponsible use of such a tremendous power. Without a positive moral bearing, a powerful mastery caster could be much deadlier than nuclear bombs.
Learning to wield the power of the mastery began with exposure to the soul energy and GN force, and learning how to use these powers responsibly. These newly enlightened humans had lifted their minds from their primitive and savage past, and it was then, and only then, that the secrets of the mastery started to surface for the enlightened individuals.
"It was a truly terrible sight to see…It"s not natural." Samantha heaved a sigh and then lamented, "This changed so many things on so many different levels."
"Unnatural? Haha…Are you suggesting that I am a G.o.d? I am not a G.o.d… Otherwise, I wouldn"t be able to stand here and talk to you like this."
"You mean G.o.ds do exist?" Samantha asked in surprise.
w.a.n.g Tong moved his fingers through Samantha"s silken hair. "Yes, and their realm is cold and indifferent. On another note, we have much graver issues to worry about than the G.o.ds. We need to find a way to strike back at the Immortals."
"Why? Things are looking up, aren"t they? In your absence, Mars was finally liberated. And with the new GN crystal technology, we should be able to build a fleet large enough to face the immortals in s.p.a.ce."
"Hehe, you have underestimated Patroclus."
"Why do you say that?"
"Don"t you find it strange that the immortals had done nothing despite our victory on Mars?" w.a.n.g Tong asked abruptly.
"Because Patroclus didn"t want to help his rival, the dark ones…" Samantha said with a smug smirk; w.a.n.g Tong was not always right. Knowledge about the rivalry between the dark ones and the immortals in earning the queen"s favor wasn"t a secret among the highest ranks of the confederation officials.