Chapter 464: Shang’s Reasoning
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ye Chong hid behind a damaged part of the wall and peeked out from behind to look outside.
About a dozen golden colored mechs whizzed past the sky. The sound was from their speedy flight across the air. Their velocity slightly surprised Ye Chong. The mechs must be flying at no less than Mach 17 or 18. After all, they were now within the atmosphere. It it was in outer space, even reaching up to Mach 20 was not particularly difficult.
To think that he was lucky enough to see their advanced mechs just as he arrived in Gray Valley! They mechs were now vanishing dots in the sky. Ye Chong watched them in a daze. It was a pity that they flew so fast that he could not make out what they looked like. However, their dazzling gold left a deep impression in him.
Ye Chong returned to Mu and Han Jia's side still thinking about the golden mechs. However, he quickly composed himself and began to work on the technical issues that he was facing.
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The atmosphere in the control room was tense. They had just received news from Scholes, informing them of a very powerful red-tailed beast in the Calamitous Asteroid Belt. The situation was dangerous for them.
After receiving the report, Arwa sent out a squad of 300 mechs as reinforcement.
However, they received no word from them until now. Arwa had a bad feeling about it, and he began to feel nervous.
The red-tailed beast had appeared at the border between the asteroids and Gray Valley. What would this mean for them? All this while, he was worried that the creatures would manage to go around their defenses and attack them. That would be a problem. Now that all the powers within Gray Valley were coordinated by the Research Consortium, they had managed to set up an effective defense. Recently, the attacks from the red-tailed beasts were beginning to falter.
Even though they had not begun to launch their attacks into the purple gas cloud that first appeared and started it all, people were beginning to feel hope. Indeed, what was there to worry about? Morale was high; resources were stocked up; the military was sufficiently manned; the Research Consortium was offering all kinds of technical support. The combatants were also the best of their community. So far, they were doing quite well.
The situation had been quiet so far, except for the daily mech troops deployed by the United Army to engage the legion of mysterious creatures.
Despite all this, Arwa sensed a dangerous undercurrent through it all. He would mention it occasionally during meetings with the commanding officers, but helpless against the indifference that he would receive. In fact, he lacked evidence to prove his suspicions. As the war progressed, the red-tailed beasts received substantial damage. That was certain. They were not like humans, who could resupply themselves almost indefinitely. It was only natural that they were faltering now.
Still, Arwa had sent many scouting squads at their flanks out of wariness. To think that he would receive news of a red-tailed beast sighting today!
What surprised him more was the fact that the scouting squad had been greatly overwhelmed by the creature! Scholes was one of the better mech pilots under him, and his abilities were undoubted. Arwa was very surprised to learn that the scouting squad led by the man would be forced into a desperate situation.
"Sir, reinforcements have reached the 13th scouting squad. They will be back to base in five hours," the operator's report interrupted Arwa's thoughts.
"However …" The operator hesitated.
Arwa knitted his brows together. "What is it?"
"According to reports from our reinforcement troops, only three mechs survived," the operator forced the words out of his mouth.
Suddenly, the control room went silent.
Only three survived out of the 30 mechs. It was a fatality rate of 90 percent! What in the world happened?
Everyone in the control room exchanged looks of fear and distress.
Five hours later, the reinforcement troops were back. When the three surviving mechs landed in the base, people finally realized how devastating the fight had been!
Scholes and his two surviving comrades were called to the Commander's Office immediately after they exited their mechs.
Arwa was shaken by the tired, pitiful and scared looks of the three faces he greeted.
"You must be tired! Please have a seat," Arwa spoke gently to the three subordinates. According to protocol, they should have reported to their superiors while standing. Arwa activated his comms and said, "Bring three meals in here. Make sure they're warm." After that, he returned to his own seat.
The three mech pilots looked gratefully at their superior. Half a minute later, food arrived.
Arwa made a gesture. "Please eat first. Your reports can wait."
The trio was ravenous, and ate quickly. Soon, nothing was left on their plates, and they looked much better. The three of them abandoned their empty plates and waited for Arwa to ask his questions.
"Alright, now tell me exactly what happened." Arwa nodded towards Scholes, signaling for him to speak.
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"Ye, it's been too long! I have missed you," Shang declared without meaning it at all.
Ye Chong did not expect the one to emerge after recharging to be Shang. This was to be a problem.
"Where are we heading now?" Ye Chong asked, straight to the point.
"Oh, Ye, you're still so boring. Sigh, it's been a long time since we last saw each other, and you don't even try to do some catching up with me, tsk tsk …" Shang affected a mood of complaint.
Ye Chong was speechless. He decided to ignore the mech. He was thankful that at least he could control whether the mech was out here or not. The alternative was unbearable.
Ye Chong withdrew Shang into his dimension keystone without hesitation.
"Ye, you're too cruel! How dare you put me back into this empty space of nothingness?" Shang sounded resentful.
Ye Chong ignored him completely and went into Han Jia. He activated the holographic scanning system and began to search for the nearest city. Shang continued to mutter constantly to himself, but Ye Chong was determined to ignore him.
Soon, Ye Chong found a city 320 kilometers northwest of their location. He flew Han Jia out and away from the factory without delay and headed in that direction.
Shang seemed to know that his behavior would do him no good, and so he switched tactics. "Ye, what do you think is the first thing we should do when we arrive at the city?"
"Study its surroundings." Ye Chong's answer was brief and to the point.
"Oh, righto! Ye, I agree with your assessment." Shang sounded exaggerated. He continued asking, "Then how do you think we should go about doing this?"
Ye Chong was confused by why Shang would start asking about these things, but they were practical matters, and so he answered readily, "Take in the landmarks, memorize the landscape of the place." This was a method that Ye Chong has used plenty of times when he first arrived in a new area. History had proven that is was very effective, and Ye Chong had managed to escape from danger many times because of his familiarization with the area early on.
"That's right, that's exactly right. This method will help you tremendously. But, Ye, is that all you can think of?" Shang was now like a cunning man with a bait.
"Oh, what else is there?" Shang's way of asking had hooked Ye Chong's interest.
"When you arrive in a new and unfamiliar place, there are many things to do. Getting familiar with the surroundings, as you say, is one of them. However, there are other important matters that cannot be ignored. For example, getting to know the local forces at play, the relationship between these forces and so on. This will help you avoid getting involved in local power plays, which can be very dangerous. Another example will be the local culture. After all, some local cultures can be dangerous to outsiders. I suggest that you first make a few escape plans, so that when any unexpected incident occurs, you can make better decisions," Shang spoke eloquently.
Ye Chong considered his suggestion and thought they sounded reasonable. "Do continue."
Shang was secretly pleased at Ye Chong's reaction. He was afraid that Ye Chong would ignore him, and that would be just too dull.
"All of that's not enough. Ye, a lion will stand out when it is within a herd of sheep. People will be able tell that you're different from the others very easily. That will invite trouble to you. Wary people will try to probe you, to see if you're dangerous. I must say, Ye, that that will be the beginning of your troubles!" Shang sounded helpless as he came to this conclusion. To him, Ye Chong and Mu were too straightforward and rigid, both in behavior and action. They did not seem to understand the idea of indirect approaches with their confined minds!
"You're right." Ye Chong agreed with Shang. Many times he had gotten into trouble just like that.
"Hehe, Ye, don't panic. There are many solutions aside from calculations to solve these problems. Err, perhaps you can think of it as a situational calculation." Shang sounded pleased with himself.
"A situational calculation?" Ye Chong muttered to himself in thought.
Shang continued, "So, when you first arrive in a new area, it's very important to blend in with the surroundings. A lion will of course stand out within a herd of sheep. But if you can disguise yourself as sheep, wouldn't that make you safer?"
"Yes, you're right." Ye Chong gave it some thought and agreed with him.
Shang suddenly changed his tone. "Of course, there are many other way of self defense. If a lion found itself within a herd of sheep, it can demonstrate its prowess to the sheep so that they would not mess with him. This is what we called intimidation, as discussed before." His tone changed again. "However, I must say, Ye, there are not many sheep here, as most of them are wolves. One wolf might not win against one lion, but a pack of wolves can. Besides, in this time and place, it's very difficult to determine if you're facing sheep or wolves."
Shang's metaphor was simple, but Ye Chong could grasp the idea behind it.
"Do you think what I said make sense?" Shang asked.
"Yes," Ye Chong replied in the affirmative.
"Then, I suggest we use the first method to enter the city. What do you think?" Shang sounded weird.