648 Martian Brutes (2/2)
Many people wanted to spar with the Martians; their reputation as the deadliest warriors on Mars spurred the earthling soldiers to challenge them.
As soon as Wang Tong walked into the training room, a pin drop silence fell into the gym. The officers on board were mostly from two categories: the METAL warriors and the commanders. Most METAL warriors were awestruck after seeing Wang Tong's fight against Moye. However, most commanders lacked the skills to appreciate his finesse and prowess.
Wang Tong was caught off guard by the sudden silence and thought that he had walked into the wrong room at the wrong time. Even as he was about to turn on his heels, a swell of applause erupted and filled the room. Wang Tong cracked a smile in return.
One would always find someone who appreciated their work, so one couldn't give up!
”Wang Tong, why don't you show us your moves?” Apache smiled broadly.
”I think you are feeling itchy. Let me scratch it for you.” Wang Tong jested.
”What? Being scratched by the most fearsome warrior in the universe? Suits me! Haha! Come one!” Apache laughed. It was a perfect time to let Wang Tong impress the space METAL warriors on the ship.
”No worries, I would gladly scratch the thick hide of yours…Haha! ”Wang Tong laughed as he climbed on to the sparring stage. Tan Bu watched as Wang Tong hopped right into the zero gravity zone. He had taken a beating from the space warriors during training. Despite his superior power, it had been difficult for him to adjust to the gravity. Nonetheless, he didn't give up and kept on finding ways to handle the curveballs the environment threw at him constantly.
The space warriors had been really hard on their Martian visitors, but it wasn't long before empathy bested their ego and they started to slow down. The Martians' pained faces reminded them of their gruesome training while they first joined the fleet. It had taken a month to get used to fighting in the space eventually; however, these Martian soldiers had only days at most.
Standing before Wang Tong, Apache pulled a serious face. When they first met five years ago, the two warriors' power was at par with each other. However, five years later, even Apache conceded that victory was impossible for him.
The warriors cheered for their champion. Apache attacked first, his first coming at Wang Tong with the same ferociousness of a solar storm. Apache had improved his fighting techniques a lot over the five years by matching the moves to his strength. His attack came at Wang Tong from all directions, leaving the latter nowhere to evade.
Wang Tong countered Apache's moves with equal measure of aplomb and repose, being able to block attacks from all directions with ease. He knew Apache's fighting style like the back of his hand. The latter had spent half of his life training in the military, so Wang Tong knew Apache's attacks would be direct and open like most military fighting styles. Compared to the combat moves five years ago, Apache's attacks were even more to the point and uncompromisingly straightforward.
If the soldiers were to learn anything from the two warriors sparring, they would have learned it from Apache instead of Wang Tong, since the latter was way above their league. Copying Wang Tong's move without truly understanding what it meant would be a hindrance rather than help.
The heat of the battle quickly cracked up amidst cheers and shouts. After a while, Apache finally released his coup de grace: Starlit Slash!
His GN force burst out around him, turning into flashes of intense lights, each flash being a deadly slash of blade aura aimed at Wang Tong.
Suddenly, the flashes were gone as if Wang Tong had snuffed them at the same time—he did, but no one was fast enough to catch him doing so.
Apache grimaced, ”Well, that was embarrassing.” He turned to face his space warriors and remarked in a booming voice, ”Behold, this is the power of the heir of blade Warrior, the hero who had killed Moye with ease. I have known him for many years, and he has yet to let me down. I will follow him to liberate our people! What do you say?”
”Yeah!” The soldiers shouted in unison.
The METAL warriors valued strength more than anything. After Wang Tong's impressive display of strength, he had quickly won the hearts of all METAL warriors, further solidifying his position.
In the days that followed, Wang Tong took his time and handpicked each and every one of the team members with the help of Karl and Flash. Skills and talents were not the only requirements to be drafted into Wang Tong's team since he also expected his pilots to be extremely disciplined and good team players.
Samantha had made sure that they could choose anyone into any position that seemed appropriate without considering their rank and experiences.
Karl and Flash didn't miss that opportunity to shake things up. They had promoted a few lieutenants to the rank of captains, and gave them each a former captain as their first mate.