Chapter 569: New Beginnings (1/2)

Chapter 569: New Beginnings

Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong did not let his students enter Darkniss without taking precautions. He had a student drive a Spider, with Sha Ya onboard. Ye Chong's orders to Sha Ya were simple – eliminate all creatures within a 10 kilometre radius around the entrance of Darkniss. Ye Chong believed that with Sha Ya's capabilities and the Spider's firepower, this should not be too hard to accomplish.

If Sha Ya could drive a Spider, she would be even stronger in battle. Sha Ya might not be able to pilot a mech due to lacking physical fitness, but the Spider would not be too hard for her. It seemed that she would have to be trained for the Spider soon. Right now, every form of resource was precious.

Ye Chong and his students all waited at the entrance to Darkniss.

Three hours later, Sha Ya returned. Ye Chong knew that the work was done. He quickly ordered for everyone to go through the entrance.

It was a strange looking spatial window. Many of the students were intimidated by it, but they dared not go against Ye Chong's orders. In the end, all the students entered the spatial window.

Ye Chong was the last one to enter Darkniss. Celest's dimension keystone would affect the spatial window, so he had to keep Celest back into its own dimension and cross through the eerie black circle that was suspended in midair. There was a weird sensation the moment he crossed the boundary between spaces, but Ye Chong did not have time to study it in detail.

Once in Darkniss, Ye Chong found all the students huddled together nervously. The dark and mysterious Darkniss was now before their very eyes.

Even the bold and daring Duan Qian looked a little unsettled. He approached Ye Chong while his eyes wandered and asked, ”Teacher, what is this place?”

The students were now officially Ye Chong's personal security detachment. By right, they should address Ye Chong as ”sir”. However, a few of them, like Duan Qian, still called Ye Chong ”teacher”. Ye Chong never cared about titles, and so he did not bother to correct them.

”Darkniss,” Ye Chong replied plainly.

”Darkniss?” Duan Qian paled instantly. He gulped heavily and asked, ”Teacher, why are we here?”

”That's right, Sir, it's too dangerous here, let's turn back.”

”Sir, only Level 7 or 8 shooters can come here!”

The students all spoke up, tensed. They wanted to leave right away. Darkniss was no tourist attraction. It was the most dangerous place in the world. Any random creature in this place could tear the army apart. None of them imagined that Ye Chong would bring them here to Darkniss.

Ye Chong ignored their outbursts and looked towards Sha Ya.

Sha Ya nodded. ”The perimeter is clear.”

Ye Chong nodded slightly, and then turned towards his students.

”Fall in.”

Ye Chong commanded softly without expression. He was not loud, but the coldness in his voice went straight to the hearts of his students.

The rowdy crowd went silent immediately.

The students squirmed under Ye Chong's gaze. They realized immediately that their master was angry! In the next moment, all of them scurried towards their positions.

Their training was still worth something. In just a few moments, five groups in formation presented themselves before Ye Chong.

It was silent once again.

All the students were nervous. If it was Instructor Liao who got offended, the consequences would be unthinkable. However, even the short tempered Instructor Liao was always respectful towards Ye Chong. To the students, Ye Chong was even more intimidating than Instructor Liao. All the students kept their mouth shut.

”You are all members of my security detachment. You are in no position to disobey my orders. You have two choices – to obey or disobey me. I will kill anyone who disobeys me.” Ye Chong's announcement was delivered quietly and flatly. Even so, he made his point very clearly.

All the students were shaken by his words. They regretted for all the complaints they were making earlier.

Indeed, their master was even scarier than Instructor Liao!

Sha Ya stood expressionless beside Ye Chong. However, she was also unsettled by Ye Chong. The killing aura from Ye Chong was unlike any she had encountered before. She had her share of vicious and ruthless shooters, but Ye Chong's aura was markedly different from theirs.

His was calm and unassuming, but solid and undeterred. It was clear that he was a veteran who had been through a lot.

”From today onwards, we will set our base here. From now on, you will live here. I will teach you how to fight, and provide you with new weapons. However, this is Darkniss. Only the strong will survive.”

Ye Chong explained the situation to his students clearly, leaving no illusion.

When he was done, he turned to leave. He knew that the students needed time to digest the information. Ye Chong approached the weaponsmiths, who were also white as a sheet. The weaponsmiths were all trembling with fear, with the exception of Xi Yan. Xi Yan was not unafraid, but he was confident that his teacher did not force all of them here to Darkniss simply to die.

”Gentlemen, we have no time to be scared. We need to start working now, unless you want to camp out here in the wilderness tonight,” Ye Chong said to them, and turned to leave. Xi Yan was the first to react, following Ye Chong from behind. The rest of the weaponsmiths exchanged looks, and slowly came to accept their situation. They still looked scared, but they all got up and followed Ye Chong.

Ye Chong had originally planned to have about eight weaponsmiths to help him, but now there were 30 of them, including him. Even though the 20 young weaponsmiths were only of average abilities, they were still precious manpower for Ye Chong.

The more energetic and resolved students, like Duan Qian, realized what they must do very quickly. They started to unpack the load from the 40 Spiders. Ye Chong had already prepared many tools for them. The machines were too complicated for Duan Qian and the other students to understand, but the weaponsmiths learned how to use them quickly. They would use the tools to build simple laser cutting machines.

The weaponsmiths were surprised by the fancy new tools. This helped to soothe their fear and boost morale. They immersed themselves in their work soon enough.

As for the design of their base, Ye Chong had already drawn up the plans in his manor.

The simple laser cutting machines could be fitted onto the training vehicles and used to cut huge rocks into blocks of five metres by two metres. Once they got familiar with the machines, each block would take only 15 seconds. The simple laser cutting machines were easy to maneuver. Ye Chong taught his students how to use them, and then they got down to business.

They cut out blocks of rock from the cliffs nearby, and used the clamps fitted into their training vehicles to move the blocks back to base.

Here in the darkness of Darkniss, the first signs of large scale human activity emerged.

The armed Spider was given to Sha Ya. Her task was to learn how to maneuver the Spider, and then patrol the perimeter to kill any wild animals that tried to trespass.

Work progressed quickly. In just seven days, they were nearly done. Ye Chong used the binding agent derived from candygrass to glue the blocks of rocks together. Just a tiny amount was enough to keep the rocks firmly in place.

Their base looked like a standard stronghold. It was hexagonal when seen from above. This stronghold constructed with rocks was only for temporary use, but Ye Chong did not neglect in its functionalities. The stronghold could accommodate the entire army, with room for specialized laboratories and mechanical workshops. There were also three physical training grounds and 15 standard mech training grounds. There was an infirmary as well. There were only a few types of medication available, and no advanced equipment, but Ye Chong had still allocated space for the infirmary.