Chapter 189: Brewing Storm V
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The scene was all theatrical and majestic yet the audience turned out to be not as grand in number, as hardly few of them truly stayed back and spectated the entire sequence. The pace of the daily life had always been a race of time which would only keep accelerating. This is exceptionally relatable on a working morning where workers and students would head over their respective places in a rush - the peak hour of the traffic and people would mostly zoom above the sky right past the scene. There were few pilots at the lower altitude and negligible number of pedestrians on the street. With this much of action going on their working morning, anyone would shake their head muttering how this was too much for their Mondays and walk away.
Well, it was not stone age where a mech would be a luxury. Everyone could own a mech, even those armed with regular weaponries which were actually allowed by the government, till that line was crossed, where these weaponries were not used for self-defense, but to harm people. Government would severely punish anyone who abused the weaponry yet it had been an issue for them to do so. Performing weapon control was a hassle to begin with. Nonetheless as the government enforced the control sternly over the years, a pedestrian versus pedestrian with open fires like this was already halted quite effectively, compared to those chaotic years in the 5 major galaxies. It was a relief to the older generation as they reminisced those dark ages.
No doubt, the enforcement had something to do with the surveillance cameras they set at every corner of the city. The hologramic camera could monitor and record the happenings at the corners to assist the forces.
And due to this, it had become a habit for Mu and Shang to get into the surveillance system for Ye Chong, to wipe every frame containing him off the record.
It was beyond Shang’s expectation to see Ye Chong getting into action this quickly.
The pair of daggers in dark emanated the smell of death as they swung into two images striking onto that Cosmic Flare without a sound! Klink! The fist fell, then the elbow, the knees, everything collapsed like a rain of gears, as the loud rushes of clinking roared throughout the place.
Han Jia’s anti detection system cloaked itself in Cosmic Flare’s radar, which made Cosmic Flare a blind man being quietly slaughtered by an assassin from the back. The result? It was obvious.
Klank! Within twinkling of eyes, Cosmic Flare had fully transformed into a pile of junk with countless cuts on it. The fleshes oozed out of the wounds were a disgusting sight. Ye Chong never intended to spare anyone in battle, especially when the one was from Black Coves!
"Ye, why did you move? Don’t you think this is a bad idea? Don’t you?" Shang’s tone was inflated with disbelief when he thought Ye Chong would be the last person in the galaxy to commit such a novice mistake. All this while, Ye Chong’s behavior had been greatly influenced by Mu, being totally logical and analytical in the situation and that did not translate into such a reckless act from him today. This was never-before-seen.
"Oh? So my modification on you had started to work finally?" Shang’s pride in the words was awkward to Ye Chong.
"Mhm, maybe I was a bit reckless today." Ye Chong regretted slightly himself the moment he withdrew that pair of daggers, since likely he was going to be revealed after the move. Could it be the spite accumulated over the endless time he was hunted by the Black Covers? However, this was a single player fight so Ye Chong was confident to finish him before the Black Covers could even notice. Then, that was not a painful mistake after all.
"So Shang…" As he thought of his unusual recklessness today, puzzled he asked, "What happened to me?"
"To be or not to be, that’s the question. But to finish the problem before you, that’s a better question!" Shang’s words were more puzzling to Ye Chong, it felt as if they had both switched places.
Well if he had done it, he should not be wasting time resenting it. The best solution would always be figuring on how to get to the optimal path of the situation. Shang was right, finish the problem before me, that’d be first. Hmph, seems like we could not spare the remnants either! He took a glance at the cluster of spectators far away, who were dumbfounded or even stoned. Ye Chong calculated his next move, he got to finish whatever he had to before they realized the situation.
If it was the Ye Chong years back, he probably would have annihilated the audience as well. But that was in the past, the present him would never do that.
At that moment of repentance where he could not believe how Shang could be more logical than himself, "Ye! Look at the back of your mech!" Shang shrieked.
Ye Chong was struck by his shriek. Am I getting snuck upon? Did the Black Cover call for backups?
He changed the camera to his back hurriedly. He took a glance. He took the second glance. He took the- "I saw nobody?" In the midst of confusion, Shang made a literal earth-obliterating statement in the history of Ye Chong, he howled, "Ye, look over there! It’s your Bing Bing!" The tone was dramatically excited and intensified!
Judging by the tone, Shang probably had detected some proclaimed "beauty" again, I guess? Sighed Ye Chong, though he had never seen Shang being so intense before. Then it should not be a beauty which he would be complimented on every female he came across in focus… Well, he only got this intense when he saw a Do-Kun stone?
Wait.
Bing Bing? And my Bing Bing?
"What Bing Bing?" asked Ye Chong, bewildered. Could it be also the name of ultra rare ore like Do-Kun stone? No, judging by his tone, it could be rarer! That has to be it, or why was Shang jumping up and down in the screen claiming that Bing Bing was there and Bing Bing was mine? Such weird wording…
The artificial indulgence shut himself up. A moment of silence and then he somehow rebooted himself to respond with an increase pitch, "Ye! Don’t tell me!" He could not be convinced, "Don’t tell me you even forgot who Bing Bing was!" Ye Chong could hear the clogging tears in the tone.
"Bing… as in… the outdated search engine? I think I had seen them on Trash Planet before. Or you meant ‘Bing, bing, bong, bong, bing, bing, bing’? You know I really hated politician speech, especially that one you forced me to watch right?" Ye Chong was figuring out as his mind launched a dedicated search program to find out the items related to ‘Bing Bing’, his eyes rolled over the scanning zone behind him. There was nothing interesting in particular other than those few spectators…
"Holy! Matrimony! My Fal! Galaxy!" Shang sounded like he was crying now… "Ye, how can you be reckless on things like this? You are missing out the best part of your life! And, man, I never knew you could be this heartless, Ye, that you could not remember the very first vict- I mean partner you licked, that girl in the white garb, remember? Did you forget it? Tsk, tsk, tsk, you are indeed a potential candidate to be the bad boy who played dope on girls. I could still recall the time when she asked for your eternal loyalty in marriage…"
Garb? The girl in her fair white garb flashed in his head. Her face was fuzzy but her garbs remained clear as yesterday, with that formal posture of her, sitting down. It was permanent in his head, a sealed memory in the drive!
White garb… white garb… The search program rebooted as Ye Chong mumbled the new keyword, his eyes wondered upon the crowd.
!
His pupils enlarged. I saw it! White garb!
Out of the blue, a strong sense of familiarity rose in his heart. It really was her! The fuzzy imagery of her regained its clarity in his head, with the charm, the sense. Ye Chong’s finger gave a tap on the control panel, the visual of Rui Bing was quickly enlarged before him.
She was still the same demure and nonchalant self. Her dark hair was long and smooth, her white garb was untainted as her personality. Her knotted brows… they seemed to be displeased.
Ye Chong carefully looked at this girl who remained in his thoughts for so long. It felt like time had turned back to two years ago where she asked him for marriage and he was innocent or more like… lack of awareness. His heart felt warm for some reason…
A while back Ye Chong took up an emergency Biology course conducted by Shang. After consecutive bombardment of information, at last, he came into senses of the workaround of this feeling and relationship. "Shall we move onto the other chapters?" It was fun while it was lasted, Ye Chong declared to shift his attention onto the more interesting aspects of biology such as the anatomy of human body as well as myology to study the dynamic of how his muscles could work better. And certainly it was silencing to Shang.
And it was this tuition class which allowed Ye Chong to understand how that lick he made was nothing but an act upon instinct of humanity, well, although he strongly believed that it would be essential to control and inhibit such intuitive act in his career.
Subconsciously, that peculiar aroma came into his nose again as the sight of her fairness reflected in his eyes. The tingling feeling of his tongue… Ye Chong’s heart raced, an urge to jump to her rose!
…
Ugh… Ugh…
Wei Yuan who was biting his teeth climbed out of the cabin. For a 14-year-old boy like him, it was quite rare to see such tenacity.
Mech combats? The intensive battle caught his eyes immediately. No, that felt more like a mismatch… One mech bashing up the other… That evil mech was now thrashed like a sandbag.
Ah! Screamed Wei Yuan.
Those steps! The steps he had learned through these days… That unique offenses… They were before him. Really? His eyes grew in size, fearing he was at illusion.
No! It is him! Muttered Wei Yuan, Oh my gosh! I finally met this guy!
YC! That strange-looking mech must be YC!
"YC!" Boomed Wei Yuan, worked up, "I knew it’s you! YC!" He waved his hands excitingly, Owwwwww… He somehow had forgotten the wound on his left hand.
Ah! I could not voice it… Ow ow ow ow! The piercing pain came form his arm. A slide on his feet and he rolled off the mech.
!
Ye Chong snapped out of his confusion as he regained control of the mech, even though he was finding the experience to be truly eerie. Such a potent instinct… that I lost control of myself so easily.
Ye Chong shrouded to Wei Yuan upon seeing him falling. He reached out his hands and grabbed Wei Yuan.
The boy had already fainted by then. The excitement triggered the pain in his fractured arm which sent his mind away as being torturing it was.
"Oh? Isn’t this the fella who peeked at you?" Mu and Shang shared the same databank, it would be natural for Shang to be aware of Mu’s investigation over Wei Yuan back then.
"Peek", of all verbs, Shang chose "peek", as expected from the artificial indulgence. So Shang-ish.
"Why did the Black Cover attack him? The member seemed to be striving to capture him alive," asked Ye Chong.
"How the heck would I know?" Shang’s tone was carefree as usual.
Ye Chong took a look at Wei Yuan in his embrace but the observation could not give him a proper explanation.
"Ye, are we moving? Or are you planning to have a nice reunion with your Bing Bing?" teased Shang.
"Not mine," rebutted Ye Chong. He glanced at Wei Yuan and almost dropped him to the ground. He got an idea. He tossed the boy to the back.
Wow. The pilot of this mech is crude… Frowned Rui Bing. He literally murdered the opponent in seconds. When did the security of Windstar turn this bad? People actually fight and commit murder on the street whenever they like now?
And she saw that boy from the rescued mech flying towards her.
What does he want? Rui Bing went alert. She saw the tumbling boy being unconscious. He would be the mud on the ground if she did nothing.
Coincidence? Or was it on purpose?
The boy inched towards in the air. Curses! Rui Bing scolded at the pilot in her mind as she positioned herself. If that jerk got out of the cabin, I am so going to toast him! The boy came quickly and she got to make her move. She spread her legs slightly and lifted both her hands at the height of her chests back and front. Till the moment her hands touched the body of the boy, she muttered and exhaled slowly as she exerted slight forces on her palms. Her top body remained still, her legs were backing off rapidly.
7 to 8 steps back, she awaited that timing where the inertia vanished, Rui Bing slammed the ground with her heels and ceased moving.
Boom!
Rui Bing was shocked by the explosion. She caught the boy yet her hands were shaking for once. That horrible mech had disappeared and the remnants of the black mech… all turned into flares…
What a plan. He actually remembered to destroy the evidence. Thought Rui Bing as she dodged the pieces with agility.
Han Jia performed the sequence in a whirlwind that it came so suddenly everyone was still in shock. Right when they got the situation, this happened. Those in the mechs were fine at least, but the pedestrians? They could not find any shelter technically. Most of them were wounded by the specks of the mech as well as the explosion.
"The hell is going on!"
"How could he do that!"
"This is satanic!"
Curses echoed within the street.
Rui Bing on the other hand, was holding the fainted boy, wondering what she was supposed to do next.
Ye Chong sneaked to the the far corner. Only after Shang confirmed the course being clear, he kept Han Jia away at a deserted place. With a thumping heart, he returned to September dojo.
What a relief. At least he would be safe for now.
"Ahem, Ye, you should learn from your mistakes as this is utterly irresponsible," Shang sounded serious.
"But kekekekekekekeke… I thought of forgiving you since the fact that we saw your lovely Bing Bing today." Laughed Shang naughtily, "A more important issue! Come, shall we gents talk about our Bing Bing? Hmm, tell me, Ye, what was your feelings back there? Were you excited? Or…"
Wow, Shang, could you leave me to "learn from my mistakes" now? I could be repenting wholeheartedly… like really…
Whimpered Ye Chong.