Chapter 245: Returning to Norton (2/2)

Becoming a captain was fairly important, as it meant that he or she would be a few steps ahead compared to the other students. Generally speaking, students would be assigned to respective annihilation teams across Norton upon completion of their training. As for those who became unit captains, they would be recognized as mankind’s future leaders, and would even be given the title of Corporal if they passed with flying colors. Hence, being two steps ahead of the race was extremely important for one’s career path.

However, Turner didn’t let Zhao Zhiting return to his position, because he noticed that some of the students were unconvinced by his decision.

”It appears that some of you are not convinced by my decision, but let me be straight, only the toughest would be chosen as leaders, or else, the safety of the rest of the team would be jeopardized due to one’s weak performance. So, anyone would like to challenge him?” Turner sneered with his ruthless expression. Without a doubt, higher ranked officers were allowed to directly appoint someone to become captain, yet he or she would still need to go through the whole team in order to convince them.

Meanwhile, some other teams had already begun their challenges in the training field. This would be the first round of duel that students had to participate in Norton.

Even though Yalden was the strongest academy amongst the rest, that didn’t mean that all of its students were the strongest. There could still be chance for the students of the other academies as long as the students of Yalden didn’t major in METAL Combat!

Clearly, one’s combat intelligence totally had nothing to do with one’s academic performance.

Suddenly, a tiger-like roar echoed from the other end of the training field. It appeared that one of the students was being surrounded by the rest of the unit.

Of course, the owner of that familiar roar was none other than Earth Confederation’s direct descendant of Fist of the Racing Tiger!

Wang Ben’s actual strength was obviously the mightiest amongst his unit. Hence, he would have to go through the whole team in order to convince them! Anyhow, it was clear that none of them would be able to win, since Wang Ben was already a Level 5 fighter, not to mention he was armed with Fist of the Racing Tiger.

”That’s enough. I now declare Wang Ben as your new unit captain!”

Everyone could tell that the officer-in-charge was very fond of Wang Ben, not to forget that General Hu Ben’s popularity across the land force as well as Wang Ben’s dramatic life experiences. Hence, most officers did treat Wang Ben like a real fighter.

After all, an eagle would never hatch a dove!

As for the rest of his teammates, they were finally convinced by the might of this peer.

”Quit staring the others. Come out if you want to become the unit captain. Don’t say I didn’t warn you that your unit captain has to be the strongest amongst all of you, or else, the whole unit would be doomed!” Turner yelled, and a few stood up to challenge Zhao Zhiting immediately.

The rules were simple, which was to win by knocking out the opponent. Three amongst the unit decided to challenge, yet none of them were able to knockout Zao Zhiting. After all, he was a Level 4 fighter who possessed approximately one hundred and fifty sols of Soul Energy. Clearly those who were still at Level 3 or even Level 2 would never be able to knock him out.

Same went for the other units. Basically, those who became unit captains were third or fourth graders who possessed the Soul Energy of a Level 4 fighter.

Soon, most teams had finished with their own duels, as there was obviously a distinctive difference in terms of skills and Soul Energy.

Zhao Zhiting frowned as he stared at his teammates. He didn’t expect that they were so weak, and he couldn’t even imagine how good this team would be able to perform.

As for Wang Tong, he originally assumed that the missions on Norton would be individual assignments, yet he didn’t expect that new recruits were arranged to act as a unit in order to ensure their safety on this dangerous planet. In other words, he would have to obey his superiors, since he was in the military, and he didn’t like the idea of having his life held in the hands of another person.

In the end, Wang Tong realized that he had no choice but to compete for the unit captain position. At least, Wang Tong knew that he would be able to make all the right decisions if he became captain, and most importantly, he would not have to put his own fate in the palms of another person.

Wang Tong made up his mind and got up, ”Sir, I’d like to challenge!”

”Hurry up then!” Turner didn’t expect someone else would be willing to challenge Zhao Zhiting. After all, there was a huge difference in terms of skill between him and the rest of the team.

Zhao Zhiting glanced at Wang Tong for a few seconds, then threw out a punch without giving any warning. However, Wang Tong had no intentions to dodge. Just as Zhao Zhiting’s fist was about to land on Wang Tong’s face, Wang Tong swiftly countered with a chop attack onto the back of Zhao Zhiting’s neck, instantly knocking him out without a fuss.

One hit K.O. in a blink of an eye.

Turner was stunned. Being one of the veterans in the military, he was pretty experienced himself, yet he was not as observant as Massa.

”Who are you? What sort of concealed weapon were you using?!” Turner said after examined Zhao Zhiting. He couldn’t believe that a Level 4 fighter like Zhao Zhiting would be knocked out that easily.

”Sir, my name is Wang Tong, I’m a student of A-ranked Academy of Ayrlarng, and I didn’t use any concealed weapons, sir!” Wang Tong stood still and said confidently.

Turner turned towards Wang Tong with a suspicious look. After all, he couldn’t detect any sign of Soul Energy from Wang Tong, not to mention Wang Tong managed to negate and counter Zhao Zhiting’s attack without breaking any sweat, which was fairly impossible if the boy weren’t equipped with concealed weapons.

”Stand straight you punk. Are you trying to mock me?!”

”No, Sir!”

”Then spill it out. What are you hiding?!”

”Sir, I’m not hiding any weapon, and I’m not familiar with concealed weapons!”

Unfortunately, not everyone would be easily pleased in the military, and for those hard-headed officers, they would stick to their own thoughts no matter what sort of reasons or excuses were given.

Turner was pretty upset. Not only that Zhao Zhititng, the person he chose, was defeated by a kid from nowhere, but he was also unhappy about Wang Tong’s ”arrogant” attitude.

Without giving any warning, Turner raised his baton and smashed onto Wang Tong.

Wang Tong was a straightforward person. He would never escape from punishment if he knew that he was wrong, but that didn’t mean that he was an obedient sheep. Since he didn’t do anything wrong, his mind automatically classified the incoming baton-strike as an ”attack”.

As Old Fart used to say, ‘No mercy against enemies.’

Wang Tong effortlessly angled his body and dodged the attack, then countered with another chop attack and instantly knocked out Sergeant Turner.

The whole training field was dead silent. Everyone understood that their lives laid in the hands of their respective officers-in-charge, not to mention those officers were also their superiors in the battlefield. Hence, everyone knew that they were not allowed to attack their officer-in-charge!

Yet, Wang Tong knocked out his officer-in-charge.

To be honest, most of the students were sick of their officer in-charge’s arrogant attitude, but since they had chosen to join the military, they learned to obey orders. Since they were new recruits, of course, they would also learn how to bear with it. After all, it was rather normal for officers to act a little arrogant.

Unless one’s name was Wang Ben, who had a powerful military family to back him up…

Soon, Wang Tong found himself surrounded by a group of fighters equipped with METAL Suits, instantly causing the situation to escalate.

All of a sudden, one of the fighters charged towards Wang Tong without any warning. It startled Wang Tong a bit, yet he managed to negate and fight back. For some reason, Wang Tong believed that this was a setup from Li Ruoer. After all, the House of Li was powerful enough to hire a few people to mess with him.

Wham! Wang Tong countered by throwing out a punch towards the fighter who was wearing a 2nd Class METAL Suit, knocking him back for more than ten meters and shattering the entire suit. The fighter was seen lying on the ground unconscious.

The rest of the gang of fighters then drew their blades and charged angrily towards Wang Tong. However, it didn’t scare Wang Tong at all. Instead, he was pissed that they were really trying to kill him.

In a blink of an eye, Wang Tong threw out another punch towards the other fighters and shattered all of their armors. Somehow, their METAL Suits were not as tough as they seemed.

Within seconds, all four fighters were seen moaning in pain while rolling on the ground.

Suddenly, the siren rang, followed by the entrance of an officer as well as a huge group of METAL Fighters. ”WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?”

”Colonel, this student attacked his officer-in-charge as well as four METAL Fighters.”

Wang Tong stood still fearlessly. After all, he would not be able to undo what was done. As Wang Tong turned towards the colonel, he was surprised by what he saw, and so was the colonel.

It was Massa!

Massa kept his cool and said, ”Hmph, you little b*stard, how dare you attack your officer-in-charge. Explain yourself right now!”

The other soldiers expected that Massa would immediately take the kid into custody. Instead, he chose to question the kid on the spot, but no one said anything, as Massa was not an ordinary officer.

”I’m here to become a soldier, but not a slave!” Wang Tong explained confidently. He was relieved for being able to meet Massa in this place.

After listening to the further explanation from his men, Massa replied, ”Seems like you’re quite confident about yourself, kid.”

”Sorta.”

”Very well, you’re excused from the training program. From tomorrow onwards, you’ll report for duty at Praddo District D instead!”

Massa’s decision of sending Wang Tong to Praddo District D caused an uproar amongst the other students, while a few other instructors were seen shaking their heads. Colonel Massa was originally serving in the special force, but he was assigned to Norton recently, and became one of the main officers. Soon, he was even given the nickname ”Viper”.

In fact, the whole Norton was the battleground of mankind against Zergs, yet Praddo District D was a living hell. The chances of Wang Tong making it back in one piece was very rare.

”Yes, Sir!” Wang Tong replied and saluted.

”Follow me!”

Wang Ben, who was standing amongst the crowd, intended to stand up for Wang Tong. Yet upon seeing Massa’s arrival, Wang Ben knew than Wang Tong would be alright.

”Hehe, long time no see, coach!” Wang Tong said in a happy tone as he followed behind Massa.

”Knock it off, you troublemaking good-for-nothing. Were you planning to kill everyone if I didn’t barge in?” Massa replied in a cold tone.

”Of course not, coach. However, it seemed like your men were trying to bully me, and I am rather pissed right now.” Wang Tong complained.

Massa was well aware of such ”bullying”, as most soldiers were not very fond of those pampered students. Yet, everyone would leave one eye open as long as the bullying wasn’t too much. After all, pampered students had to be taught a lesson in order to grow tougher.

Unfortunately for those guys, Wang Tong was not the kind of kid to be messed with.

”Hmph, stop causing me troubles, will ya? Go on and get your arms and legs stretched in Praddo!” Massa said.

”Thanks, coach!”

”Listen up kid, that area is infested with Zergs, as well as the toughest territory to conquer throughout Norton. Be careful, and don’t miss me if you die!”

”Don’t worry coach, I won’t let you down!” Wang Tong replied.

Wang Tong was well aware that this was the only way for Massa to save his a*s. After all, Wang Tong still had hit a superior officer, regardless of reasons, and it would upset the veterans if Massa didn’t punish Wang Tong. Hence, since Wang Tong was not afraid of challenges, and it would be meaningless to have Wang Tong training with the bunch of newbies, Massa decided to send him to Praddo, literally killing two birds with one stone.

Massa even noticed that Wang Tong had improved significantly over this period of time.

In the end, Wang Tong was officially assigned to Praddo District D.

Fortunately, Wang Tong’s incident didn’t cause the uproar to escalate. It was obvious that students were all terrified of Praddo District D upon hearing the high number of casualties in that area. For some reason, Zergs in that area were extremely aggressive, unlike the other areas where Zergs were playing guerrilla. Praddo District D would be covered with blood and gore every day.

Military recruited students from various academies in order to assign them to the less aggressive secured territories, while focusing their main firepower on those Zerg infested areas. The main reason of all that was to seize those important mining areas that the legion of Zergs was currently sitting on.

The war had been going on for a long period of time, yet the military was still unable to fully control Norton, which upset the congressmen a lot, because that meant higher military expenses as well as greater pressure from the public. The confederation was afraid of getting disgraced from its own people, as well as being discriminated by Martians and Ivantians.

As a matter of fact, Massa’s arrival on Norton had nothing to do with the war. He and his men were actually sent to Norton for a special mission. In short, ”Colonel” was only his cover for the classified assignment.

”Lorr, what happened just now? Why were they attacking the kid named Wang Tong?” Massa asked coldly while flipping through his documents.

Lieutenant Lorr was one of those who knew about Massa’s real identity. He found out that those fighters were from another department, which was being handled by a ruthless man with great authorities, someone not to be messed with.

However, Lorr decided not to tell the truth, ”It’s just a small misunderstanding, Colonel.”

Massa lifted his head and glared at Lorr fiercely. Since Lorr was in-charge of the personnel department, of course, he would know what was going on. Even though taking down an officer was a serious offense, yet armed METAL Fighters had no reasons to barge in.

After all, Wang Tong was just a normal student from a military academy, and based on Massa’s understanding towards Wang Tong, he would never hurt anyone unless he felt threatened.

”Cut the crap, Lieutenant Lorr. Stop wasting my time!”

Lorr wiped the sweat from his forehead and replied, ”I’m sorry Colonel… Actually… the party who’s responsible for the fuss is rather… untouchable.”

”Do continue. If that’s really the case, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything.” Massa said with a stiff smile.

Finally, Lorr was relieved and said, ”It’s the House of Li. They wanted us to teach Wang Tong a lesson. I’m sorry sir, but it’s not up to me to disobey their request.”

”Oh, really? Tell me everything. Perhaps, I can help you as well.” Massa smiled and said.

Realizing that Massa was also trying to kiss House of Li’s ass, Lorr decided to tell him everything...

To Wang Ben as well as the sons and daughters or relatives of a few other congressmen, this trip to Norton was a chance for them to ”polish” their portfolios.

However, the biggest ”celebrities” of all had to be Li Shimin, Li Ruoer, and Ma Xiaoru. To be honest, their participation had given the military a hard time, because they had to ensure the safety of these ”princes and princesses”. If anything happened to them, those military officers would be doomed.

As for Li Shimin, he was known as one of Earth’s top-notches amongst the younger generation, as well as the descendant of Einherjar Li Taoche. Everyone knew that Li Shimin was mature and had a finesse in terms of handling problems. Since he was quite experienced himself, he was assigned to one of the main battlefields in Norton. So far, Li Shimin’s performance on the battlefield had received many praises. Some even thought that he was fit to become a general.