Chapter 181: Undercurrent IV (1/2)

Chapter 181: Undercurrent IV

Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: 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 vanishing fragments, and the barely visible shadows of the mech.

Training rooms could be secured with a password 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 assist 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 attitude gradually changed throughout his observation. He now understood that, compared to YC, he still had a long way to go!

This change in attitude made him more humble, and now he was eager to learn!

With this change in attitude, 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 relationship 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, Class 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 Wang 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.