Chapter 158: A Surprising News
Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_, Tehrn
The girl smiled back. "Smart kid, how could you tell that I wasn’t afraid? I was caught up in the middle of these sickos for real."
"Ma’am, the act of fear is not as simple as you think, and please don’t tell me that you were sent here to kill me. I’m only a poor student who has nothing in his possession, or are you here because you’re interested in me?" w.a.n.g Tong joked.
The girl replied with a bright smile, "Wow, students nowadays are better than I’d expected. But first, I have to correct one thing, please don’t call me ma’am, I’m too young for that t.i.tle as you can see. Second, I am really here because of you. As for the reason..." She continued with a cunning grin, "that’s a secret."
Finally, the rest of the inmates realized that they got screwed, so everyone charged towards her instantly. Within minutes, everyone stayed put as they witnessed their leaders getting owned in a flash. Her Soul Energy count was four hundred Sols, meaning that she was able to knock out everyone in the cell in a blink of an eye... and without sweating at all!
w.a.n.g Tong squinted. He had never met anyone that strong before.
The girl then wiped her hands with a piece of tissue and threw it on the ground as she finished. Then, she walked towards the gate and knocked on it a few times. Immediately, the gate started to rise gradually. She turned back and looked at w.a.n.g Tong. "I believe we’ll meet again soon, Mr. w.a.n.g Tong. Take care."
She was then escorted out by two wardens. It was clearly a set-up since the beginning, and those perverted pigs happened to become the bunch of supporting characters in this mini "sitcom".
Knowing that w.a.n.g Tong was another "dangerous" person, the rest of the inmates retreated and stayed put quietly. w.a.n.g Tong started to make his own a.n.a.lysis after hearing that he was targeted. He doubted that it was a probe, because he had never met her before, and he was not related to anyone in the military.
Things were getting more and more confusing, and eventually, w.a.n.g Tong gave up trying to put back together the pieces of the puzzle one by one. ‘Whatever will be, will be.’
Obviously, the incident on Paradise Island would take time to settle. Both the FFC and the military had sent their own men to do the negotiation, and things might get even messier in the future. Hence their special training would have to s.h.i.+ft to another location. Fortunately, the first phase of the whole training was complete, so Martyrus and Samantha decided to s.h.i.+ft the whole team to Bernabeu for their upcoming training.
Although both Bernabeu and Ayrlarng had similar hardware, Bernabeu had a better environment, training systems, and trainers than Ayrlarng, especially in Battlecraft Combat and Intel Programming Battle.
However, Martyrus and Samantha were frustrated about two things. The first one was w.a.n.g Tong and Apache’s detention; both princ.i.p.als had contacted the military regarding this, and finally, the military had agreed to release the two boys after a series of investigations and finding out that the boys had nothing to do with the incident. Both princ.i.p.als were very mad about this, but they could do nothing about it. Nevertheless, Martyrus and Samantha had prepared to file a complaint against the military and ask for a proper explanation because this was not a small matter. But clearly, the military was only going to punish a few officers as their "sincere" apologies, retaining the dignity of both sides.
Yet, both princ.i.p.als were equally puzzled by the second problem. Apparently, w.a.n.g Ben had requested to be transferred to another academy, and not just to any other academies: he wanted to be transferred to Capth, which was giving Samantha a severe headache. Without w.a.n.g Ben, their odds of winning would be severely affected. w.a.n.g Ben didn’t give any reason when he left, causing Samantha to be very confused. But still, she would have to face the reality.
w.a.n.g Ben’s strength made him in the top three amongst his fellow trainees, and he was improving quickly. Both he and w.a.n.g Tong had been learning a lot within these few days. He was a tough fighter with lots of potential. Samantha valued w.a.n.g Ben very much, and even saw him as one of her important element in restoring Ayrlarng. But everything had vanished the moment he stepped out of Ayrlarng’s gate.
Samantha decided to break the news to everyone when w.a.n.g Tong and Apache returned safely. She didn’t want to hide anything from her students. However, this shocking news might deeply impact the spirit of the alliance which was badly weakened already.
w.a.n.g Ben’s enrollment to Capth had just made their colossal opponent even stronger, turning the bad situation into worse. Nevertheless, Samantha remained positive, as she knew that it was important to retain the fighting spirit regardless they won or lost; furthermore, she had never thought of crus.h.i.+ng Capth in one shot.
After spending a night waiting on the watercraft, w.a.n.g Tong and Apache were finally brought back by a military vessel early the next morning. Samantha seemed calmer when she saw that the boys were okay. Then, she gathered everyone around and broke the news about w.a.n.g Ben’s transfer to Capth.
"Transfer to Capth? What the f*ck? Are you kidding me?" Karl was the first one to react. "Is he insane? How could he join the side of our enemies?"
The others were shocked to hear that too.
w.a.n.g Tong and Apache looked at each other. They had been worried at the beginning, but they hadn’t expected that it would be more serious than they could even imagine.
"Ma’am. Are you sure? w.a.n.g Ben would never..."
"There’s no mistake, and he didn’t say why. But the academy has approved his transfer due to his special case, and the agreement between him and the academy. Moreover, Ayrlarng has no place for fence sitters. Perhaps all of you will be meeting him in Capth, and by then, he will not be your ally, but your enemy. So be prepared," Samantha said.
"That ba*tard! Sonuvabi*tch! Traitor!" Karl banged on the table angrily as the others shook their heads. Everyone was disappointed and infuriated because they had been fighting together, training together, and going through hards.h.i.+ps together as a team. Yet, w.a.n.g Ben chose to leave and join the other side at this critical moment.
w.a.n.g Tong remained calm even though he was stunned by the news. However, based on his understanding of w.a.n.g Ben, w.a.n.g Tong believed that he had to have a good reason for doing so. Nevertheless, he wasn’t frustrated by his decision, as long as he knew that he was doing the right thing.
Samantha then glimpsed at w.a.n.g Tong and noticed that the kid was quite good at keeping his cool. "As we all know, w.a.n.g Ben is very strong, so without a doubt, he will receive a series of intensive training when he arrives in Capth. Furthermore, I’m certain that he will be partic.i.p.ating in this compet.i.tion. Even if we don’t take into account the fact that that he is very familiar with our strengths and weaknesses, our odds of winning have become even smaller."
Martyrus stood aside and observed everyone’s expression. Even the candidates from Bernabeu were saddened by the news. To be honest, the students of Bernabeu had been really depressed for failing all of their previous attempts. But this year, however, the students had regained their confidence as they were given another chance by collaborating with Ayrlarng. But w.a.n.g Ben’s sudden change of side had caused them to become crestfallen again.
w.a.n.g Tong looked at everyone’s expression, then he smiled and said, "Ma’am, our odds of winning against Capth weren’t very high anyways. Now, I believe that we already have a better reason to train harder." w.a.n.g Tong turned toward the team and continued, "We will prove to w.a.n.g Ben that he has made the wrong choice... by vanquis.h.i.+ng Capth!
"Karl, anger is a sign of weakness. If you wanna say anything to w.a.n.g Ben, say it after we defeat Capth!
"There’s practically nothing to fear, since we’re all only a bunch of n.o.bodies!
"Let’s fight with all of our might!
"Yeah, time to defeat them and destroy their reputation!"
Everyone seemed to believe that Capth was the one behind the incident. But no one would have the time to figure out what was going on, as the hards.h.i.+p they were about to face was tougher than before, and they were all required to be extremely focused in their upcoming training.
Anyhow, Samantha noticed that they were still not quite confident about themselves, even though they had regained their fighting spirits. However, it was normal, since they were aware that their enemies were extremely strong.
"We will be heading to Bernabeu for our upcoming training. Princ.i.p.al Martyrus has prepared your training programs, so listen up folks. If you really want to prove to w.a.n.g Ben that he was wrong, all of you will have to muster two hundred percent of efforts during your training!" Samantha said. w.a.n.g Ben’s decision to leave would more or less affect Ayrlarng’s reputation, and the media might even be reporting it as Ayrlarng’s fault due to the poor level of strength, which was not enough for w.a.n.g Ben’s growth.
Nevertheless, they would still have to take on Capth, and the students would have to maintain their spirit and confidence, or else this would be the end for Ayrlarng.
"I’m not going to discuss every detail. All you need to know is that all of you will be facing a bunch of geniuses, hard-working geniuses to be exact, and you’ll have to work even harder in order to defeat them. Suck it up as there’s no room for regrets anymore!" Martyrus said. This was a challenge that they had to overcome, but once they succeeded, they would become unstoppable.
Everyone got ready and flew back to Bernabeu in their private charter flight. No one said a word in the plane throughout the journey, and even the talkative Karl kept quiet. Honestly, the gap between their strength was not the reason for their sadness. Everyone was sad because of w.a.n.g Ben’s betrayal.
After all, they were a group of teenagers who valued friends.h.i.+p more than anything else.
On the other side of the planet, w.a.n.g Ben was all alone, feeling even more hurt, and staying silent ever since. The only thing he did was training non-stop to tire his body and tire his mind. In that way, he wouldn’t have to think about anything else.
However, some things were not meant to be forgotten, like his happy life in Ayrlarng, all of the fun he had, and the hards.h.i.+ps they had been through together. He was confused, and couldn’t understand why his father didn’t value the emotion that he held dear, and used it as a tool of betrayal.
"WHY!?
"WHY!?"
w.a.n.g Ben flung punches after punches towards the wall. His hands were bleeding, yet he was still depressed. He couldn’t forget the life and death moment when w.a.n.g Tong saved him and took a hit for him! w.a.n.g Ben sat down helplessly, grinding his teeth in anger. The immense pressure had caused him to fell into a great dilemma.
Meanwhile, General Hu Ben quietly observed his miserable son through the window. He might be a famous warrior of the Earth Confederation and a legendary general who worked his *ss up from a foot soldier all the way to his current position, yet he was aware that he wasn’t a good father, and wasn’t good at expressing himself.
The clock was ticking.
Everyone remained silent as they reached Bernabeu, and they were immediately given the schedule of their upcoming training. This time, all of them would be training according to their own subject, and Martyrus had hired a team of professional trainers to shape them up thoroughly. This was the best way of getting them trained. As for their performances, it would be all up to them.
After all, trainers would only provide guidance, and the students had to rely on themselves to master what they had learned.
The team kickstarted the next morning by doing the weighted jog; somehow this had become their daily routine. However, w.a.n.g Tong was not as solemn as everyone else. Taking on Capth might mean a lot to most of the team, but w.a.n.g Tong remained optimistic, not because he was confident to win against Capth, but because he had been through a lot when he was young. Without mentioning all of the life and death moments on Norton, which explained why he wasn’t caring too much about it, all that mattered to him was that he would have to give every inch of effort into it. Instead of feeling pressured, he was more interested in going head to head with the elites from Capth.