Chapter 522: Under Attack IV (2/2)
Just as Ye Chong was considering this new offer, she upped her game, ”Make it two million ao.”
Ye Chong made his decision then, ”Deal.” He needed money.
Kristen burst into a grin, ”Wonderful! Hehe, you should've just told me, I can afford to pay you. And just when I was getting nervous, haha!” Kristen was not exaggerating. As a famous weaponsmith, she did not lack income.
Ye Chong opened the door and let Kristen in.
Ban Meng wanted to follow her in, but the door was shut in front of him.
”Humph, b*stards, both of you,” Ban Meng muttered in complaint, but only quietly to himself. He went back alone. Ever since he met the cold and emotionless man, his life made a turn for the worse. This time, he had to bring his cousin sister all the way here, dragged by the ear, and he was not even invited inside.
Ye Chong closed the door and put out his hand, ”Pay first.”
”For real? Are you a man? I've never seen anyone so blunt,” Kristen groaned, but upon seeing Ye Chong's stony expression she conceded, ”Alright alright, I'll pay up.”
She produced two green cards and handed them to Ye Chong.
Ye Chong accepted them unabashed.
”Hey, now that I'm your student, where will I be staying?” Kristen asked.
”Staying?” Ye Chong threw an odd look at Kristen, ”You'll stay at your own house.”
”No way, the student has to live with the teacher. How else can I learn from you?” Kristen shook her head in protest, then smiled and said, ”Don't worry, I'm not interested in your skinny figure. I'm more into the muscular type.”
Kristen looked at Ye Chong up and down suggestively.
Ye Chong ignored her look entirely and said without expression, ”You can stay here if you want to, but there are rules.”
”What rules?” Kristen asked, curious.
”You will have your own space, but there will be restricted areas.” Ye Chong looked serious about it.
”Why?” Kristen asked, intrigued, ”You hiding something here? Scared I'll find out about it?”
”Either you agree or you stay elsewhere,” Ye Chong said without expression, his voice turning cold.
For some reason, Kristen felt a chill from his response. She mellowed, ”Alright alright, I agree, not that I care.”
”Then you'll stay there,” Ye Chong pointed towards a small house at the edge of his courtyard.
”What, you're asking me to stay there?” Kristen studied the house in disbelief. It was so small that it would accommodate only one person.
Ye Chong did not deign to explain. ”Is that a yes or no?”
”I'm staying,” Kristen declared with grievance, but Ye Chong was unmoved by her. Before he turned back to his own house, he said, ”You're allowed only to move around your house and the courtyard.”
”What?!” Kristen looked her own little house and the empty courtyard, and wanted to cry.
Ye Chong returned to his own house and worked on his door. Now, the door can only be opened from inside. If no one was inside, the photon processor will scan if the person outside was Ye Chong, and allow only him to open the door. If the door was forced open, it will trigger a defense system that will blow the intruder to bits.
…
Kristen felt extremely bored.
She never saw Ye Chong come out again after her first day there. Her so-called teacher never left his house. She could not understand how someone could stay indoors for so long. More importantly, she had been surviving on simple rations all this while.
The place was too secluded. No one was willing to send meals over. Besides, she was ordered to stay in her own space, which was her tiny house and the courtyard. There was nothing she could find here that she could use to cook a proper meal.
On the third day, she could no longer stand it. She went to Ye Chong's door and knocked.
”What is it?” Ye Chong's stony expression appeared through the crack in the door.
Kristen could feel a dam of resentment within her burst open when she exclaimed, ”Just what do you think you're doing? I've been living out here alone, what about my meals? F*ck, it's been three days, and I've learnt nothing new, so you tell me, right now, are you going to teach me or not?”
Kristen was practically spitting her words out as she rolled up her sleeves in agitation.
Ye Chong found it a curious request. ”Should I be providing you meals?”
Kristen wanted to laugh. She grabbed Ye Chong by the collar and said, ”Of course, you think I live on air and sunshine? Let me tell you, you got paid so you need to act responsibly -” She stopped abruptly, caught up with an idea, and blushed.
Even with his collar grabbed by her, Ye Chong was unaffected. He tilted his head in thought, and asked earnestly, ”You really think that I should be providing you with meals?”
Kristen was stunned. She spat back, ”Of course!”
”I see,” Ye Chong replied calmly, ”Since this was not part of our initial arrangement, please pay up for your meals.”
”You - you -” Kristen pointed at Ye Chong, unable to continue.
Was he in the wrong? Ye Chong did not think so. They had agreed that he would be her teacher, not caregiver.
”Fine, fine by me. I've never seen anyone so greedy. Fine, I'll take care of my own meals. But since I've paid you two million ao, how can you just leave me alone outside?”
”You can come to me if you have questions.” Ye Chong's reply could drive her crazy.
After awhile, Kristen calmed herself down and said with a cold smile, ”Hehe, I have questions, loads of them, just you see, boy.”
Kristen was not joking. She had plenty of questions ever since she saw the laser gun that Ye Chong built. Now, she began to go through them, one by one.
...
Back in Dual Forest, a group of 13 were at where the battle against the giant took place, deep in discussion. They were Duo Ka and the 12 Level 6 shooters he brought with him.
”As you can see, this is where we fought that day,” Duo Ka pointed at the forest.
No longer was the place all lush greenery. The ground was full of broken branches and twigs. There were holes in the ground, where the grenades landed. The soil was charred from the explosions.
Everyone in the group looked solemn. They had been suspicious of Duo Ka's narrative, but now that they were here, they believed him.
The fallen trees and broken branches here told them how intense that battle was that day.
They knew how strong Duo Ka was. If the battle escalated to this degree, the giant must be formidable, and if what Duo Ka said was true, it was very worrying indeed.
All the shooters here were combat veterans. They identified the damages caused by the giant with ease.
”Look here,” one of the shooters pointed at a huge footprint in the ground. It was imprinted a good 30 centimeters deep.
The other shooters exchanged wary glances.
”The foot size suggests a 10-meter height, alright. Hmm, it must be quite heavy. I'm curious how a bulky creature like that can fly, and move with such agility. It's remarkable.” The one speaking was the tracking expert of the group.
They continued to search the forest. The giant left obvious marks in the forest, and this allowed them to follow its tracks easily.
They tried to guess the giant's methods and its intentions.
When they finally reached the river, all traces of the giant were gone.
”It must have flown away from here,” the tracker suggested. The group agreed with him. However, it was no easy feat to escape the extensive search by the aircrafts. How did it manage to slip away unnoticed? Why did it choose to fly when it reached this river? Was this a coincidence or was there some other factors at play?
The 13 shooters all had questions of their own.
”Let's not rush things. We should stay in Yedda in the meantime. I think that this giant will re-appear soon enough, and we'll get our answers then. Besides, Du Ka had said that the giant is not a threat to us. Let's treat this as a vacation of sorts,” someone in the group, their leader perhaps, offered.
His words relieved the tension in the group. Someone added, ”Duo Ka's sponsoring our vacation!”
”Haha!” Everyone laughed.
”Of course!” said Duo Ka warmly.