Chapter 438: Peerless Prodigy!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
Jiang Shaoyu’s eyes narrowed and he ran through some quick calculations mentally. Should he just give up now? But when he looked at that proud and lovely appearance of Luo Lang, his heart itched something fierce. He could not bear to just give up on such a delectable girl. Perhaps hoping for some lucky break, he instantly came to a decision. He shouted to the members still standing, “Number 3!”
This cry startled Zhao Jun and Luo Lang, but before they could figure out what Jiang Shaoyu meant when he called out this number, they saw Jiang Shaoyu’s group whip out spherical objects from the bags at their waists.
As soon as Luo Lang and Zhao Jun saw this, they knew that something was not right. These things were sure to be bad for them. The two shared a glance and then leapt in silent rapport towards the respective opponents they had targeted, trying to stop them from carrying out their next move.
Despite how quickly Zhao Jun and Luo Lang reacted, they were still not faster than their opponents. Before the two could reach them, their opponents flicked the item in their hands and a column of green smoke was sent straight at them from the spherical objects. Zhao Jun and Luo Lang did not have time to dodge and plunged head first into the smoke.
The two of them smelled a light fragrance and, in the next second, their heads began to swim.
A soporific? Shocked, the two of them decisively moved to bite down on the tips of their tongues, thinking to use the sharp pain to chase away their dizziness. They soon found that it was useless, however, because they had already lost their strength. Their entire body felt weak, so weak that they could not even move their jaw to bite down.
“Crap!” The two of them were extremely frustrated at this moment; they did not expect that they would still fall for the opponents’ scheme. Just now, they had still been too careless.
“Grab them both.” Jiang Shaoyu saw the two of them finally succumb and fall over, and his lips pulled up into a satisfied smile as he gave orders to his men.
“Yes, Leader!” The team members immediately moved forwards to do as their leader had said when a white light suddenly flashed across their eyes. After that, they felt themselves being struck by a massive force and were sent flying back uncontrollably to crash heavily to the ground.
Some of the weaker members instantly spewed blood from their mouths, their entire bodies slumped on the ground, unable to stand up for that moment.
Jiang Shaoyu’s eyes narrowed and the smug smile on his face stiffened. A white-clothed youth was currently already standing right in front of Zhao Jun and Luo Lang. His face was cold and emotionless, and when his placid gaze swept over to look at Jiang Shaoyu, Jiang Shaoyu actually felt a chill creeping over his heart. Due to his arrival, the temperature of the entire mecha equipment store instantly dropped several degrees and those people still within the store could not help but shiver.
“You … are planning to take my people?” The other spoke. His cold voice, cold gaze, and cold expression seemed calm, but Jiang Shaoyu could still sense the turbulent storm underneath the calm surface. An unprecedented sense of pressure descended in the ensuing silence.
Jiang Shaoyu was able to become the number one in the Second Men’s Military Academy and the leader for the representative team of his school to this Mecha Grand Tournament because he was a steady and determined person. Although Ling Lan’s unexpected appearance had caused him to waver, he had soon regained his composure and had begun to study this new opponent, trying to figure out his stats and considering how he should handle him.
White was an uncommon colour for uniforms among the military academies of the Federation, and the other’s uniform was very well made, so it definitely would not be some ordinary uniform … a notion sparked through Jiang Shaoyu’s mind. He had thought of the First Men’s Military Academy. A dux would be chosen from every year of students from every specialization and white was the exclusive colour for the uniforms of those duxes. Jiang Shaoyu combined this knowledge with the information he had received, about how Luo Chao had gone shopping with the First Men’s Military Academy …
Jiang Shaoyu could pretty much guarantee at this point that this austere youth was most likely a student from the First Men’s Military Academy. However, this person did not look at all familiar, so he could not be the well-known Qiao Ting. Could he be the dux of some other specialization?
This speculation calmed Jiang Shaoyu considerably. Even though he kept feeling as if he had overlooked something, he still had a lot of confidence in himself. He definitely would not allow someone to interfere and make him lose face, so he said with a sneer, “This is a matter between myself and the First Co-ed Military Academy. Are you, a dux from the First Men’s Military Academy, also going to try and be a hero and meddle in this matter?”
If Qiao Ting was the one who had stepped in, he might perhaps have given Qiao Ting some face. But as for this punk who had come from god knows where … did he think that he could swagger around as he liked just because he was a dux from the First Academy? Hmph, he was thinking too highly of himself and looking down on others too much!
“The First Co-ed Military Academy?” Ling Lan’s eyes narrowed, and the temperature around her dropped several more degrees. She smiled coldly and said, “I did not know myself — when had my team members entered the Co-ed Military Academy?” After bullying her people, the other actually dared to fabricate lies and find unreasonable excuses? Even though the First Men’s Military Academy had been suppressed by the Second Men’s Military Academy for seven consecutive tournaments, this did not mean that they from the First Men’s Military Academy were pushovers!
By this time, Ling Lan had also been able to determine which school the opponents were from based on their uniforms. The other side was behaving in such an arrogant and audacious manner, likely in large part due to their academy’s results for the past seven tournaments. Their heads were swollen beyond belief.
Hearing what Ling Lan said, Jiang Shaoyu sneered back just as coldly and pointed at Luo Lang, saying, “This sweet and delicate little beauty … is also from your First Men’s Military Academy? I never knew that men’s academies were taking in females now.”
Only then did Ling Lan understand what this commotion was all about. She threw a glance at that troublesome face of Luo Lang and sighed mentally. No wonder he had been mistaken for a girl. This fellow had unexpectedly grown to look more and more like a girl as the years added up — he was so enchanting that it was hard to distinguish whether he was male or female … no, to be accurate, the more one looked at him, the more one would think he was a girl.
Ling Lan felt deeply hurt by this. Say, why had no one ever mistaken her for a girl? Er … well, these words were slightly skewed. She was a girl to begin with, so the question should be — why the hell did everyone just accept that she was a boy? She could be considered quite lovely, right? Ling Lan had the utmost confidence in the genes of both her parents …
“D*mmit, who’s a girl now?” Right then, Luo Lang and Zhao Jun who had been slumped on the ground suddenly stood up. Luo Lang cursed darkly and then turned his head to complain piteously to Ling Lan, “Boss, you didn’t have to be so harsh in giving us the antidote. ”
He gritted his teeth and bore the pain as he plucked a miniature syringe from his neck. Apparently, while Ling Lan had been rushing forwards to prevent their capture, she had not forgotten to shoot out two miniature antidote syringes to clear the drugs from the system of the two boys on the ground.
Likewise, Zhao Jun deftly plucked the syringe from his neck. At this moment, his expression was stony — he felt very humiliated that he had actually been caught by the opponent’s scheme, and in front of his own clan leader to boot!
Ling Lan could not bear to look directly at that pitiful look of Luo Lang’s — she turned her head away and said coldly, “If you have any objections, you can go discuss them with our clan doctor personally.”
Ling Lan’s words made Luo Lang’s pitiful expression vanish instantly, and his face even looked a little twisted. The present Senior Li Shiyu was no longer that nice guy senior who had first joined the battle clan. Under constant exposure to his boss, Li Shiyu had already been stained absolutely black and had become corrupted. He, who had originally only known to focus on creating good medicine of healing, had now also begun to manufacture poisonous agents. Luo Lang recalled how he had been tormented savagely with agents once when he had offended Senior Li Shiyu by accident, and he could not stop his body from trembling … he absolutely would not go and seek out Senior Li Shiyu!
Luo Lang abruptly turned his head to stare at Jiang Shaoyu. Since he did not dare to argue with Boss, then he would need to find some other place to vent his emotions. This person who had mistaken him for a girl was definitely a very good option for a punching bag — he turned fully to face Jiang Shaoyu and asked fiercely, “Actually saying this lord is a girl, hells, which part of this lord looks like a girl, huh?!”
At his words, an answer surfaced unbidden in Ling Lan’s and Zhao Jun’s hearts. ‘Other than that extra bit you have below, everything else is like a girl.’ Luckily, Luo Lang could not know what his boss and teammate were thinking, otherwise he would definitely … challenge Zhao Jun to a duel. Boss was naturally excluded — Luo Lang did not want to die just yet.
Luo Lang’s furious demeanour made a trace of wondrous appreciation pass through Jiang Shaoyu’s eyes, but Luo Lang’s words quickly snuffed that appreciation out. He had finally found what was off about the situation. Only now did he notice that the uniform Luo Lang was wearing was certainly not the uniform of the First Co-ed Military Academy. Although it was different in colour from the uniform on Ling Lan’s body, it was in the exact same style. This meant that this beautiful and eye-catching girl before his eyes was in fact a boy, a student of the First Men’s Military Academy.
Even though Jiang Shaoyu had noticed the problem, he still could not believe it. After all, this person before him looked exactly like the Luo Chao he had seen yesterday at the registration hall. Doggedly, he asked, “Are you not the second-year student from the First Co-ed Military Academy, Luo Chao from the Starship Navigation specialization?”
The moment he said this, the three of Ling Lan’s group finally understood what all this had been about. So this person had mistaken Luo Lang for Luo Chao, leading to this mess.
“Hells, you actually dare to lust after my little sister? You’re asking for it!” When Luo Lang learned that the other’s intended target was his precious little sister instead of him, he was instantly consumed with rage. Without thinking, he threw a punch at Jiang Shaoyu.
Right then, Luo Lang’s only thought was to beat this scum before him to death. Compared to being mistaken for a girl, this matter drove him crazy even more. How could he allow the little sister he kept cradled in the palm of his hands 1 to be coveted in such a lewd way by an outsider?! In Luo Lang’s mind, the only one who could give Luo Chao happiness was his boss.
Jiang Shaoyu saw the other’s angry fist coming right at him and without thinking, he met it with a punch of his own. There was a ‘bam’, and the two of them were sent stumbling back again respectively once more. Luo Lang’s anger-infused attack actually did not benefit Jiang Shaoyu any, but similarly, Luo Lang had not gained the upper hand either in the attack. Their exchange ended in a draw.
Zhao Jun’s feet shifted slightly, but Ling Lan suddenly stretched out an arm to stop him. She said softly, “You go finish off those small fry. Leave him to Luo Lang.”
Zhao Jun nodded. He had initially been planning to help Luo Lang out a bit as, after all, the opponent was two ranks higher than Luo Lang — he was definitely no match for the opponent in a one-on-one fight. However, since the clan leader seemed to have a plan, Zhao Jun gave up on his original intention. He believed that with the clan leader as backing, Luo Lang would definitely be fine.
Setting aside his concern for Luo Lang, Zhao Jun turned to leap at the team members of Jiang Shaoyu. Zhao Jun had not forgotten how he and Luo Lang had been cornered by underhanded means earlier. This grudge had to be avenged.
Seeing Zhao Jun leap at them like a ferocious tiger, the remaining seven people glanced at each other and then, gritting their teeth, they surged up to meet him. Despite knowing the opponent was formidable, since their team leader had not said they could leave, as members of his team, they could only bite the bullet and push forwards.
On Zhao Jun’s end, due to his strength exceeding the opponents by such a significant margin, he was handling all the attacks coming at him with ease despite being besieged from all sides by the other party. If not for the fact that these people worked well together, forcing Zhao Jun to look harder to find any openings, Zhao Jun would probably have brought these people down a long time ago.
Ling Lan saw that Zhao Jun was doing fine on his own, so she turned her full attention onto Luo Lang’s fight. Right then, Luo Lang had already traded several blows with Jiang Shaoyu. Although Luo Lang’s rage was off the charts, the gap between him and his opponent’s physical skills stage was still slowly pushing Luo Lang into a disadvantageous position, and the situation was becoming increasingly unfavourable for him.
Ling Lan was not anxious, however, because Luo Lang still had an ace in the hole. As soon as he activated his innate talent, Luo Lang’s strength would increase exponentially. The battle would only be truly decided then.
Sure enough, after Luo Lang and Jiang Shaoyu exchanged a few more blows, Jiang Shaoyu felt that victory was within his grasp. But then, he suddenly felt his heart skip a beat as a powerful sense of danger swept over him. Jiang Shaoyu reacted swiftly — he decisively discarded the advantageous situation at hand and slid back, instantly pulling several metres away from Luo Lang.
With a loud ‘boom’, Luo Lang’s fists slammed into the ground. The ground caved in, creating a deep pit of about a metre wide. Not only that, with the pit as the centre point, a spider web of cracks spread outwards across the ground. This obviously massive display of strength not only caused Jiang Shaoyu’s complexion to pale in shock, but even the face of the store owner was white as a sheet. He now realised that his store may very well be destroyed at the hands of these two people.
The store owner’s reaction was caught unerringly by Ling Lan. Her body shook minutely and the hems of her crisp uniform suddenly swayed a little despite there being no wind. Those people still inside the store immediately felt the surrounding temperature plunge to freezing point. They all began circulating their internal energy, and only then did they manage to banish the chill from their bodies.
Among them was a middle-aged man who had been observing things from the side-lines. His eyes suddenly narrowed as a trace of shock coursed through them, his gaze fixed on Ling Lan who currently had her back to them.
Jiang Shaoyu’s expression was currently extremely grim. The Luo Lang before him was already completely different from how he was before. His initially lively pretty face had lost all colour now and seemed frozen in ice. His entire being radiated cold air, not much different from the white-clothed youth standing not too far behind him. What scared Jiang Shaoyu even more was the palpable sense of danger coiled around this practically emotionless Luo Lang.
“So he has finally activated his innate talent. I did not expect Luo Lang to choose this personality.” Ling Lan had thought that Luo Lang would use the Savage personality which had the highest combat strength — although the Transcendent Cold personality was also a decent choice, it would not be enough to raise Luo Lang’s strength up to the level of his opponent. If Luo Lang wanted to defeat the other, he would have to pay a price.
Jiang Shaoyu felt Luo Lang’s force of presence grow stronger and stronger until it was almost equal to his own. The sudden increase in the other’s realm confused and frightened him; he could not tell how far his opponent could raise his realm. Still, though he was hesitant to gamble, he finally could not hold back anymore and attacked.
Seeing Jiang Shaoyu’s attack coming at him, Luo Lang merely peered at him calmly before raising a fist and punching it out fiercely to meet the attack.
The two boys’ fists once again collided and were held frozen like a tableau for several seconds, and then the two boys were sent hurtling backwards in opposite directions. Strangely enough, after flying back several metres, they seemed to be caught by something, losing all momentum to fall directly to the ground.
When the middle-aged man saw this, the shock in his eyes was unmistakable, and his mouth twitched uncontrollably. Although he did not speak, and the people beside him could not know what he had wanted to say, the middle-aged man was well aware that he had been about to say ‘Domain’. Only a Domain ability could seal Qi-Jin capable of affecting the store within a specified range.
There were not many Domain masters in the Federation — what shocked him so much was the apparent youth of this young man before his eyes. Judging from the youth’s appearance, he was definitely not yet 20 years old, and the record for the youngest person in the Federation to have broken through to Domain was a 23-year-old. And now, the reality before him was telling him that this record had once again been broken. Another peerless prodigy had appeared in the Federation.