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Chapter 239: Planning the Attack

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

Li Daozhe waved his hand in dismissal of his son's lack of patience, "You had been brash indeed, but it is also good to teach the Ma a lesson. We need to let them realize that without the Li, House of Ma means nothing. You should have thanked your sister; she had handled things better than you this time. Ma had agreed to order their daughter to return to Capth, and that means they had felt the pressure."

"Do you mean that Uncle Ma has agreed to marry Xiaoru to me?"

"Maybe, or maybe not. Ma had already made a compromise, so I cannot afford to pressure them further. The rest is all up to you. Look to your sister for help if you need it. Ruoer is a rebellious girl, but she knows the right from wrong better than you do."

"Yes, father. I will handle it with Ruoer as soon as I come back from Norton."

Li Daozhe watched his son calmly and then said "You have done the right thing. Have you ever thought why our household's influence is weakening as we speak? It is because we had become out of touch with reality and what's going on outside our comfortable bubble. I am glad you didn't make the same mistake as I did. Go now; I will wait for your good news."

"Understood, father. I am honored."

Li Daozhe nodded, and he gestured his son out of his study.

The house of Li might appear that they were only slightly less active than the time of General Li, but that appearance was far from the truth. They had not only lost all of its edge over the other great houses, but it was also on the brink of losing their most important ally, the Ma. Li Daozhe had achieved the status of Einherjar, yet, his mismanagement had eventually eroded the influence of his family to its lowest.

Since Einherjar Wannabe had chosen Lie Jian as his opponent, the match had piqued the interests of the Kaedians as they wanted to study Lie Jian's Art of Soaring Heaven further.

A tough choice laid in front of Lie Jian. Should he accept the challenge and win the battle, it would substantially boost his family's reputation, but should it be any other case, he would become a laughing stock.

Lie Jian's nickname was 'brute.' It was a name given by his earth and Ivantian counterparts due to his uncouth and brash actions that were the paragon of Martian traditions.

Nonetheless, Lie Jian was not dumb by any stretch of imagination. He initially wanted to cause some trouble for Li Shiming, but he didn't expect the latter to just ignore him and then Lie Jian ending up shooting himself in the foot as he received a challenge invitation from Einherjar Wannabe.

Ever since Lie Jian lost the match against Li Shiming, he had been training extra hard, biding his time to regain his honor in a rematch.

It occurred to Lie Jian that perhaps Einherjar Wannabe's challenge was the moment that he had been waiting for.

After thinking about it for a while, he decided to accept the media's interview. He had announced that he had taken Einherjar Wannabe's challenge. As a fighter and a martian, he would face any difficulty with mettle, unlike certain cowards on earth.

The news of Li Jian's reply went viral. Soon, Lie Jian had chosen a close family member as his champion to fight in the battle with Einherjar Wannabe. His name was Lie Wushuang.

Lie Wushuang was Lie Jian's cousin. As the number one fighter of the Lie family, he mostly kept to himself when he was not on a battlefield. He was a fourth-year student, but he had already been serving the military.

Lie Jian's decision of letting Lie Wushuang be his champion was a smart move before he fully understood the strength of his opponent. It not only reduced his risk of failure, but also saved his reputation. He had ordered Lie Wushuang to be ruthless in the battle and to teach this ballsy Einherjar Wannabe a lesson that he would never forget.

During the meeting with the media, Lie Jian pointed his finger directly at the Li Family, saying that the Li family should have stood up and fought this pretender, Einherjar Wannabe. After all, the Li family had been the Blade Warrior's closest ally. He went even further to say that he had mistaken the Li family's rank for its mettle and suggested that the Li had become weak.

Lie Jian's plan was clear: he would test Einherjar Wannabe's ability with his cousin, and use this as an opportunity to put pressure on the Li, continuing building the atmosphere for a rematch with Li Shiming. The more aggressive Lie Jian acted towards Einherjar Wannabe, more the credibility of the Li Family would erode.

Lie Wushuang would obey Lie Jian's order and give all he had during the battle with Einherjar Wannabe. Lie Jian's dominance over the younger generation was not due to his purer bloodline, but because of his strength as a fighter.

Everyone was elated by the news of the battle. Should Einherjar Wannabe be able to defeat both Lie Wushuang and later, Lie Jian, the outcome would pose a significant question to the world: who the hell was Einherjar Wannabe? To make the matter more perplexing, the mysterious fighter was only 16 years old.

The battle was arranged on the weekend. After reading the message, Wang Tong was happy. It didn't matter which Lie accepted his challenge, as long as they knew how to use the Tactics of the Blaze. He hoped that Lie Wushuang was strong enough to evoke the cold GN force inside him, so he could learn to control it.

After Wang Tong confirmed the battle, he started to mull over another decision he had to make.

Ever since the school had announced the Confederation's new edict of recruiting students to Norton, the students had been extremely reluctant in responding. Wang Tong understood where they were coming from. After all, even Wang Tong would never want to return to that hellish destitute planet. However, the school needed an icebreaker to break the chain by being the first one to volunteer.

Wang Tong never thought about the politics behind the edicts, but he knew that experience on Norton would aid the study in the future. The students would have an entirely different attitude towards school and training after being baptized in the war.

Although Wang Tong had already gained his fair share of experience with the Zergs, he was still attracted by one specific reward: it would be easier for him to get into a fleet when he graduated, should he be a volunteer.

Without any prestigious family background, Wang Tong knew that he had to grasp any advantage that he could reach to compete with the princelings of the Confederation.

Charcoal was bustling about in Wang Tong's room, helping him clean and tidy up the place.

"Ojisan, do you think I should volunteer?"

Mr. Wannabe's eyes were glued to the TV, laughing from time to time. He had been enjoying his Ojisan life and had no brain cells left for Wang Tong's trouble

"If you want to." Mr. Wannabe answered casually.

Wang Tong knew that he would not be able to get an answer from Mr. Wannabe. He had already made up his mind, and he had decided to enlist himself, not just for the reward, but also to help Samantha. For some reason, the thought of Samantha tugged at Wang Tong's heart.

The next day, Wang Tong had announced his decision to the S club. As the model to Ayrlarng's students, Wang Tong was no less influential than Samantha. So, Wang Tong's decision had motivated every student in Ayrlarng.

Students were passionate, if not irrational. They would act on a whim as long as someone gave them motivation.

As soon as Wang Tong decided to go to Norton, the other students started to reconsider their decisions. Apache at Bernabeu had already volunteered himself, but Wang Tong's application needed to be approved since he was still a first-year student.

The most sensational news relate to the edict was that Li Shiming had also decided to be a volunteer. He didn't choose to serve the fleet as a perfunctory demonstration of his 'bravery' like most people had expected. Instead, he had chosen to join the ground troops where it was the most dangerous.

It had been a while since anyone from the Great House experienced the life as a foot soldier.

Even if it was a show, it was a very risky nonetheless.

In Ayrlarng, more and more students followed Wang Tong's lead and enlisted themselves every day.

Chapter 240: An Anonymous Recommendation

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

Hu Yangxuan didn't want to assume the risk of being killed by Zergs, since his family had been counting on him to pass down the family name. Although he was hand-picked to attend the Templar's court, he never liked adventures. That being said, he did acquire the taste for group activities, so he eventually decided to go to Norton if his friends were going.

Karl had always followed Wang Tong wherever he went, so he had signed up as a volunteer the minute he knew that Wang Tong was going to do so. Due to his excellent performance in the tournament, one of the fleet captains had noticed his name and requested him to his fleet. Everyone knew that serving in the navy was the quickest way to climb to the top, so most of Karl's classmates were very jealous of his luck.

Karl wanted to refuse the invitation and join the ground forces where Wang Tong was going to be, but his appointment in the fleet was set in stone, so he had no other choices but to obey the order.

The fleet captain was very impressed by Karl's performance during the tournament. As a young fledgling, Karl had established a unique technique that was named after himself, and he had quickly become famous outside of Ayrlarng.

The few students who had taken the initiative to join the military had given a measure of pressure to the rest of the students. In a few days, the number of volunteers at Ayrlarng started to increase steadily.

It was clear then that the influence of the S club had exceeded all the other student groups combine. It had also exerted its influence in the Bernabeu thanks to Cao Yi. Cao Yi had been working diligently on all matters of the club since Apache was too lazy to do anything. That being said, Best and Luo Manman also helped Cao Yi in handling some minor tasks. Despite the considerable influence of the club, only the members of the club knew that their leader was Wang Tong, the boy who had defeated Capth.

The victory of the Ayrlarng and Bernabeu alliance over the Capth was the hard earned honor for both schools, and it was Wang Tong who had saved the day. Otherwise, Wang Tong would not become the club leader so quickly.

Cao Yi's initial intention of working for the S cub was to make the exchange of information between the two schools more convenient. However, he didn't expect the club to develop such a far-reaching influence.

Having heeded Zhou Sisi's suggestion, Wang Tong published a motivational letter in the name of S club to his schoolmates. The message called out to all students who were confident and determined to become future soldiers to challenge themselves and partake in the campaign.

Zhou Sisi drafted the letter, and Wang Tong signed it. The passionate rhetoric and Wang Tong's scintillating speech had motivated a lot of students.

'Do you want to be the next Wang Tong?'

'Do you want to be a real soldier?'

'Take your first step TODAY!'

'Let the danger on Norton be your stepping stone to your success!'

This motivational speech would be meaningless in other schools since no one knew who Wang Tong was, but it had proven extremely effective in Ayrlarng and Bernabeu. Thanks to Wang Tong's emotional speech, all the members of the S club had volunteered to go to Norton. Although their application still needed to be approved since most of them were in their first year, they had made their voice very clear.

Humans were strange creatures since they were willing to risk their life for their pursuit. Danger meant challenge and challenge meant opportunity and success.

For a whole week, the S club had successfully carried out their own campaign and created a wave of enthusiasm among the students of Ayrlarng and Bernabeu that was rarely seen in any other academies.

Although the battlefield was dangerous, the government and the military would ensure the safety of the future of the Confederation.

Watching the pile of applications in front of her, Samantha was pleasantly surprised and also afraid at the same time. She knew right then that only a few out of these hundreds of applications would be approved. As the principal, she was responsible for the safety of her students, and therefore, she would have to make sure the applicant was qualified to join the battlefield.

Thanks to the S club, Samantha and Martyrus had been two of the luckiest principals in the matters of filling their quota. Although the military didn't set a clear quota, principals knew that it was essential to provide a satisfactory number of 'volunteers.' If they didn't, there might be an adverse effect on the relationships between the academy and the military. And everyone knew that a good relationship with the militarily was the key to running a military academy.

There were only so many new positions with a promising outlook for new graduates, and the competition was fierce. Therefore, the "relationship" would become the determining factor in securing these positions.

The students' enthusiasm at Ayrlarng and Bernabeu had greatly pleased the military. Feeling pressured, the other principals started working hard on encouraging their students to partake in the military campaign on Norton.

Although the military didn't set a quota, it did set an upper limit on the number of volunteers from each school. In a few days, the situation had reversed entirely as the students got all excited by propaganda and motivational speeches, and were practically competing with each other for the rights to be the volunteer. The military soon followed up with an announcement saying that they would be looking for another group of volunteers when the first group had done their duties.

Wang Tong had submitted his application, and all he could do now was wait for it to be approved. As Samantha stared at Wang Tong's name on the approved list, she was dumbfounded.

Samantha had never handed in Wang Tong's application for personal reasons. She had reasoned that it was better and safer for Wang Tong to continue his school since he was guaranteed to earn more reputation during future tournaments. She was confident that Wang Tong would do well on Norton, but she also understood the way military worked: reward was reserved only for those who prevailed, even if it meant that they had to steal it from someone else.

Samantha was caught off guard when she saw Wang Tong's name on the list, and It had occurred to her that someone had been messing around with the application.

Samantha quickly pulled her strings in the military to investigate. Her friend told her that someone had recommended Wang Tong and he would definitely be sent off to the Norton unless any unforeseen event happened that stopped him from leaving Earth.

However, even Samantha's source in the military was not able to confirm the identity of the person who made the recommendation.

Samantha sank her body into the chair, feeling exhausted. She heaved a sigh and rubbed at her temples as she started to miss Ma Xiaoru.

The right sense was always cruel. Many politicians had warned about the danger of an infatuation to one's career. Once one became sentimental and emotional, they would quickly lose their judgment, and their love would also quickly become his or her weakness, ready to be taken advantage of by opponents. This had been the unbroken rule for many professionals, and there had never been any exceptions.

Samantha wasn't sure if Wang Tong truly wanted to return to Norton. If he had gone back to his nightmare in the name of helping her, she would do anything she could to stop his foolish act.

The motivation of the person who had recommended Wang Tong seemed perplexing. It could be as benign as someone wanting to challenge Wang Tong after witnessing his incredible performance during the tournament at Capth, or, it could be more sinister as someone wanting to hurt Wang Tong and thinking that Norton would be the perfect place to finish him off.

After thinking on it for a while, Samantha decided that the latter was not very likely since the odds of a student offending anyone as powerful as the instigator was very little. Eventually, she had decided to talk to Wang Tong and see what his thoughts were.

Karl had already received his approval to join the fleet, which made Wang Tong jealous.

Wang Tong knew that the odds of him being assigned to a fleet was very small, so he took what he got and tried to be positive. After all, the 5G environment would be very useful in improving his tactics.

Karl would be leaving for Norton next week, and the students who were assigned to the ground units would leave a week after that.

Wang Tong thought the timing worked well since he still needed to finish that battle with Lie Wushuang. While Wang Tong was still pondering on his schedules, the ring tune of Skynet startled him.

Wang Tong read the message and it was from Samantha, she wanted him to go to her office.

When Wang Tong arrived at Samantha's office, he saw her sitting quietly at the other end of her desk, waiting for him. The two of them stared at each other without saying a world.

Finally, a laugh escaped Wang Tong's teeth and broke the silence.

"What's up, principal?"

"Grab a seat, how's everything going?"

"Could be better." Wang Tong grimaced.

Samantha smiled knowingly. She took off her glasses and said, "Good. I was wondering if you had forgotten about your first love. I have heard that women would always remember their first man, but men were the exact opposite."

Wang Tong grinned with a slight hint of indignation in his eyes.

Chapter 241: Lie Wushuang

Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_

As a matter of fact, Ma Xiaoru wasn't the main reason for what happened between Wang Tong and Samantha. After all, Samantha had her own career goals and ambition which she would never give up, while Wang Tong also had his own path to pursue that he wouldn't give up. Not to mention he would never get Samantha involved in the mysteries and secrets that had been burdening him for years.

In short, both Wang Tong and Samantha would never choose to give up for the sake of each other, which was why they were not destined to be together.

Wang Tong was more mature than he looked. After all, he had really been through a lot since the day he met Old Fart. Hence, Wang Tong didn't complain or blame Samantha for it. At least he knew that Samantha had never treated him like an expendable pawn.

"Wang Tong, as ordered by the military, you'll be assigned to the Ground Forces on Norton. But before that, I want to ask you… Is this your real intention, or are you doing this for me?"

"A bit of both I guess. But since the order has been given out, I'm willing to go."

"Actually, I never submitted your application form, yet your name still appeared in the military order. I have no idea if it is a chance for you to succeed, or a setup. After all, Norton is an extremely dangerous place as you know." Samantha said.

The first thing that popped into Wang Tong's mind was Li Ruo-Er, but still, he was very grateful for Samantha's warning. Someone had obviously gone through a lot of trouble to put Wang Tong into this situation. Either the person was trying to observe him or using this as a chance to eliminate him for good.

Wang Tong was well aware that he had offended Li Ruo-Er on many occasions, and the infuriated little enchantress would do anything to make him suffer and burn.

"Don't worry, I'm very familiar with Norton's environment. To me, this seems more like an opportunity to succeed, making me one step closer to become a Battlecraft Commander. Relax, it'll be a piece of cake for me." Wang Tong smiled and replied with confidence.

If this really were Li Ruo-Er's plot, then it would be best for him to go, because he was worried that it would cause people around him to be involved in the mess between him and Li Ruo-Er if he chose to stay at Ayrlarng. Anyway, Wang Tong doubted that Li Ruo-Er would be able to turn his life into a living hell, because to him, Norton was just a walk in the park!

To Wang Tong, the planet was just like a child's theme park filled with creepy crawlies, not to mention he still had Einherjar Wannabe by his side. Although he was only able to equip the METAL Suit for a short period of time, still it would be more than enough for him to escape.

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry, I'll come back in one piece!"

Both Wang Tong and Samantha stared at each other in silence. Honestly, Wang Tong was the only person that had ever seen the gentle side of Samantha. He was certain that after they bid farewell, Samantha would have no problem in doing her part as Ayrlarng's multitasking principal. However, he couldn't help wondering what was in front of him…

Still, Wang Tong believed that this was a good opportunity for both of them to prove themselves to each other. Who knew, maybe there was a chance that they could get back together if they succeeded. Even if they really couldn't get back together, the sweet memories they had together was already more than enough for Wang Tong.

Both of them officially engaged in their own "quests" the moment Wang Tong closed the door of Samantha's office…

The members of "S" Society decided to throw Carl, Rumi and the others who were going to Norton a farewell party on Friday afternoon. After all, they all deserved to enjoy themselves before exposing themselves to the unknown dangers that were lurking on Norton.

Hu Yangxuan even sang them a song with his passionate vocals. In the end, the mic hog was kicked off the stage because he had sung too many songs.

As for Wang Tong's team, they were scheduled to leave within the week after Carl's team departed. The military didn't inform them about the exact time of departure, but they were told to get packed and standby.

As always, Ayrlarng's students would be the last to leave.

Saturday seemed a lot more quiet than usual. Aside from the excitement, everyone also began to worry about the challenges ahead. After all, they knew nothing about Norton aside from some basic information mentioned in the overall data.

Wang Tong had nothing much to prepare this time, since he knew that it would never be worse than his previous experiences. Wang Tong was feeling a different kind of excitement, yet he wasn't too bothered by it, and carried on with his regular workouts instead.

The increase in Soul Energy had given Wang Tong a lot more benefits as soon as he became a Level Five Fighter. Aside from his Soul Energy, Wang Tong could also tell that the circulation of his Cinnabar Field had improved as well, even though the improvement couldn't be reflected in his Soul Energy. Yet, something was telling Wang Tong that the improvement of his Cinnabar Field was far greater than his EMF. Hence, he was really looking forward to tonight's battle!

Wang Tong visited DREAM Heaven after dinner, and it seemed like the shopkeeper had told his staff to treat Wang Tong nicely. The business of the shop seemed great as it was already jam-packed with players before Wang Tong arrived. Obviously, everyone was agitated about the biggest fight of the weekend.

Tonight, Einherjar Wannabe would be challenged by Lie Wushuang, a Level Five Fighter who was also one of House of Lie's direct descendants. Being a Fourth Grader in Academy of the Deity, Lie Wushuang was a super experienced fighter, and his Soul Energy was off the chart. If it weren't because of Lie Kent's order, Lie Wushuang would never show up in PA. Nevertheless, it couldn't be helped; unlike the other four Great Houses, the successor of House of Lie loved to live under the spotlight.

Many even used all sorts of illegal methods to watch the live stream of this anticipated brawl. But surprisingly, the government didn't interfere this time, partially because they were afraid of offending the powerful House of Lie.

The government decided to stay out of this. After all, DREAM would be the only one that would be held responsible if there were any problem.

People of the other planets might have never heard of the name Lie Wushuang, but this top descendent of House of Lie was extremely popular in Academy of the Deity, and was being idolized by the younger generations of Martians.

Church of the Deity's Cardinal had the Four Fencers by his side, while Lie Kent was always accompanied by the Ferocious Five, and Lie Wushuang was one of them. It seemed like Mars was the only planet that could accept religious governance and dictatorship of one family, as these methods would never be accepted by the people of Moon and Earth. Even the religion of Blade Warrior himself (later known as Court of the Templar) had no such influence at all. And as time went by, Court of the Templar seemed to have become less famous than it used to be. Court of the Templar might be based on Earth, yet their "shadows" could still be found across Moon. Ever since Blade Warrior established the rule that prohibited Ivantians from interfering in Court of the Templar, the latter then developed into a non-political society that focused only on nurturing elite fighters as well as strengthening the basics of the talented ones. Aside from that, they also served as the guardians of the mysterious Hall of Valhalla.

However, Court of the Templar was not that popular at Mars, as Church of the Deity and House of Lie had rooted deeply into the hearts of fellow Martians. In Mars, Church of the Deity was the one who nurtured young elites, and surprisingly they were able to cooperate perfectly with House of Lie, thus creating the current political overview.

As a matter of fact, fellow Martians were pretty embarrassed over Hwo Quan's defeat, yet their confidence rose again as Lie Kent had decided to send in one of his strongest sidekicks to challenge Einherjar Wannabe, and everyone was fairly excited about it.

The hype was even bigger on Earth. Fights like this had caused the number of players logging into PA skyrocket, and helped DREAM's share price increase significantly by three percent, big enough to make their rival companies extremely jealous.

The other reason behind the increase of DREAM's share price was actually the recent performance of Ayrlarng. Apparently, Samantha, who was Ayrlarng's principal as well as the biggest shareholder and future successor of DREAM, had been doing an excellent job. In fact, she had even surprised a lot of experts with her intelligence, proving her abilities in multitasking and juggling between a military academy and a multi-million corporation. However, some did sense a deeper meaning in the CEO of DREAM's decision of letting her daughter take over the administration of a military academy. After going downhill for a long period of time, DREAM had finally caught the attention of many people recently.

The founder of DREAM, President Galber, was known as the right-hand man of the legendary General Li Feng, as well as the only one who spoke on the Blade Warrior's behalf. This unique identity had granted the Galber family a well-deserved position in the history.

As for Cameron, he had been busying with his preparations for the match, while being closely monitored by the board of directors. Although the workload had increased a lot, his staff members were pretty excited about the fact that the number of players had broken the record of PA since it began.

Nevertheless, breaking the record itself wasn't enough at all. Honestly, more people were looking forward to see the rise of the next Blade Warrior. But sadly, Einherjar Wannabe was not as God-like as the legendary Blade Warrior. Apparently, Einherjar Wannabe still hadn't demonstrated his ultimate uniqueness!

Miracles only happened once in a blue moon, and as of today, there were only four divine existences that were closest to God being known by men, namely Buddha Sakyamuni, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed and the Blade Warrior…

Wang Tong then proceeded to his usual room, and this time, both Mr. Einherjar Wannabe and Charcoal would be joining the audiences. Apparently, Charcoal was very excited about the upcoming battle.

Unlike Lie Kent, Lie Wushuang behaved more like a soldier. He showed no interest in whatever interviews, and all he cared about was to fulfill Lie Kent's order.

Both fighters remained silent as the crowd went wild. Most of the audiences were Earthling and Ivantian students from various academies. It seemed like the students were here to observe and study Einherjar Wannabe, probably hoping to find his weaknesses.

As promised, the battle would begin at 2000 hours sharp.

Both players then entered the battle ring. Einherjar Wannabe requested for the realistic level being adjusted to one hundred and twenty percent. On the other hand, Lie Wushuang requested for the ring temperature being adjusted to forty degree celsius.

It was known that Martians had better adaptation than Earthlings and Ivantians. Although Mars had been developed into a liveable planet, it's environment was still not as perfect compared to the natural Earth and synthetic Moon.

Chapter 242: The Authentic Blazing Palm Strike

Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_

Those who practiced Tactics of the Blaze were definitely not afraid of high temperature, which was incredibly handy because people would always have to deal with extreme temperatures while spending time in the outer space.

Both fighters were allowed to make one request for this battle, and it seemed like Wang Tong was quite happy about Lie Wushuang's idea. Perhaps the higher environmental temperature would be able to strengthen the sheer cold power that he had recently unlocked.

Meanwhile, the students of every military academy seemed to have gathered at their own auditoriums, and were patiently waiting for the live stream to begin. In the beginning, the teachers were not that interested. But ever since Einherjar Wannabe and his unrivaled capabilities gradually rose to fame, they immediately became interested and even noticed that they were able to enhance the observation skills of fellow students through watching Einherjar Wannabe's battle.

All eyes seemed to be focused on Lie Wushuang. After all, he was the top-notch fourth grader of an S-Ranked academy.

The fact that he was older than Einherjar Wannabe also meant that he had attended more training in terms of Soul Energy, which was the key factor in one's performance during battles. Instead of a Level Five newbie, Lie Wushuang obviously looked more like a Level Five veteran fighter who was experienced in manipulating his Soul Energy. Generally speaking, he was completely different from Hwo Quan.

People began to wonder if Einherjar Wannabe would be able to create another miracle this time, as he would be facing a stronger version of Tactics of the Blaze.

However, some were more eager to know if Einherjar Wannabe would be able to mimic Tactics of the Blaze!

Everyone was waiting patiently.

Both fighters were seen doing their final checks.

Just like how Martians normally looked like, Lie Wushuang was pretty tall and well-built. But unlike Hwo Quan's impatient personality, Lie Wushuang looked steadier, like an experienced fighter. In fact, it was Wang Tong's first impression on Apache. However, it seemed like Lie Wushuang was even steadier than him.

Despite his appearance of a student, Lie Wushuang's hidden killing aura could not be underestimated.

Meanwhile, Lie Wushuang was also checking Einherjar Wannabe out, and immediately learned that he wasn't using his real appearance as the avatar, because it looked too plain and dull. Actually, Lie Wushuang was never interested in fighting such an opponent, but he had no choice because he was ordered to do so. Still, he never took it lightly, because Martians treated the opportunity of participating in battles as a sublime privilege.

Both fighters' stamina was put to the test under the elevated temperature, as their energy consumption would increase in this situation, not to mention the level of pain had also been adjusted to one hundred and twenty percent.

Lie Wushuang raised his arms and ignited his GN Force, demonstrating what Tactics of the Blaze really looked like as his scorching hot aura spread across the arena. People immediately realized that Hwo Quan was nothing but a goliath-looking rookie. After all, being one of the Five Great Tactics, Tactics of the Blaze was not as easy to be mastered as it seemed. In fact, not even the Einherjar would confidently say that he had completely mastered a Xinfa, because it contained a great amount of technical stuff. After all, different people would achieve different masteries even though they were all learning the same set of tactics.

Lie Wushuang immediately obtained the upper hand. Not only was he not affected by the heat, he seemed to be enjoying it while his opponent was troubled by it.

Basically, Hwo Quan's attacking methods were quite boring, aside from the fact that he could demonstrate Tactics of the Blaze. However, Lie Wushuang was totally different, as he was armed with the Authentic Blazing Palm Strike. This set of attacks was created by the descendants of House of Lie, and basically, it was a series of palm strikes infused with Tactics of the Blaze. Since Lie Wushuang was Lie Kent's right-hand man, of course he was given the opportunity to master this ultimate heritage of House of Lie.

Lie Wushuang unleashed his forceful Blazing Palm Strike that was packed with a bundle of pressure. The attack was pretty intense, and even Wang Tong's GN Force was unable to defend against the scorching pressure.

However, Wang Tong didn't back down. Instead, he decided to try out his defending methods because that was one of the main reasons he accepted this challenge.

Lie Wushuang was surprised when he discovered that Einherjar Wannabe was trying to take on his palm strike with another palm strike. He began to wonder if Wang Tong was trying to make fun of him.

Bang…

Wang Tong was shot backward due to the recoil from the impact, yet Lie Wushuang remained still. The difference in terms of strength was very clear. Even Wang Tong was a bit startled as he stared at his reddish palms. Obviously, without equipping METAL Suits, there was no way that a person could defend against the Blazing Palm Strike simply by generating defense with GN Force. That was one of the reasons why Tactics of the Blaze was known as one of the Five Great Tactics.

While engaging in battles, the attacker using Blazing Palm Strike would generate a scorching hot pressure. It would be like fighting against a human torch, and the sensation was not pleasant at all.

The match immediately reached its climax as soon as it began. Unlike the other fighters, Lie Wushuang had no intention to mingle with Einherjar Wannabe at all. His GN Force kept increasing while rapidly unleashing his Blazing Palm Strike. People who were watching on Mars cheered aloud when they witnessed Lie Wushuang's performance. To them, Earthling's gimmicky fighting styles and Ivantian's step-by-step methods were nothing compared to Martian's engaging methods. After all, battles were all about dominating the opponent with full-strength!

Five minutes later, Lie Wushuang's GN Force had reached Level Five, and his Soul Energy remained at two hundred and forty nodes. It seemed like he had dominated the whole fight with his Blazing Palm Strike, turning Einherjar Wannabe into a weak little clown.

The development of this match seemed pretty obvious. Lie Wushuang's Level Five Soul Energy had overpowered Einherjar Wannabe's Level Four Soul Energy. With Tactics of the Blaze being one for the greatest tactics of mankind, Lie Wushuang's Blazing Palm Strike was boosted to the maximum by the forty degree celsius heat and the realism level of one hundred and twenty percent. It seemed like Einherjar Wannabe had dug his own grave this time!

Somehow, he asked for it.

Einherjar Wannabe could only dodge by moving as swiftly as possible. Apparently, none of his techniques were effective against Lie Wushuang's Blazing Palm Strike. But most importantly, he barely had the chance to deal any counter damage. As for Lie Wushuang, it seemed like he wasn't even afraid of Einherjar Wannabe at all. The more Einherjar Wannabe struggled, the more he would suffer.

Meanwhile, Lie Kent was watching the match happily, while a brunette hottie was sitting on his lap. To him, life was all about enjoyments, one of them being watching an interesting fight while having a sexy lady in his arms.

It seemed like Einherjar Wannabe had made a huge mistake by expecting Lie Wushuang to be similar to Hwo Quan. Hwo Quan's amateur Tactics of the Blaze was absolutely nothing compared to Lie Wushuang's version. In fact, Einherjar Wannabe might have stood a chance if he was also able to neutralize the poison from Lie Wushuang's flame. Yet for some reason, things were not looking good…

"Master, that punk is totally no match against your mightiness!" The sexy lady said in a flirty manner as she kissed Lie Kent's chest.

Lie Kent signaled the lady to switch her position in order not to block his view. Apparently, Lie Kent was almost certain that the climax of the fight was coming soon. After all, Lie Wushuang was one of Lie Kent's best guys. With his Soul Energy of about two hundred and fifty sols, Einherjar Wannabe would never stand a chance even though he was hopping here and there like a bunny.

The pressure from Lie Wushuang's attack was getting more and more intense, and the heatwave from his movements was getting bigger and bigger. Meanwhile, Einherjar Wannabe's movements were gradually getting slower. In the end, he had no choice but to play defensive. Without a doubt, the poison from Lie Wushuang's flame was beginning to kick in. For the first time, Einherjar Wannabe was pushed into a passive situation, and he wasn't able to do anything at all. If this continued, this match would end up with Lie Wushuang's unrivaled dominance in less than a minute.

Wang Tong was extremely frustrated with his current situation. Originally, he expected that the high-temperature environment and his opponent's blazing flame would be able to stimulate and enhance his sheer cold power. But it didn't happen as planned. Not even a breeze of cold air was unleashed from Wang Tong's GN Force as he initialized Tactics of the Blade.

Wang Tong was a little panicked. He had no idea why this happened, and even began to wonder if this sheer cold force was only able to be used in the South Pole and other environments of cooler temperature.

Instead of fighting, Wang Tong seemed to be focusing on the problem he was facing. While he was busy thinking, he was hit by one of Lie Wushuang's palm strikes all of a sudden!

OVER!

Meanwhile, Lie Kent was standing in the middle of his spacious living room with floor-to-ceiling windows, where his well-built naked body was completely surrounded by the magnificent view of Mars, as he had the sexy lady in submission and he made love to her.

Slam…

Wang Tong was hit hard, and the poison immediately began to penetrate his body.

Without a doubt, the high temperature and the one hundred and twenty percent realism had become the perfect combination for Blazing Palm Strike. Einherjar Wannabe was doomed for sure.

Einherjar Wannabe's bad performance had caused the crowd to go silent…

Although Lie Wushuang was a tough opponent, they still couldn't believe that Einherjar Wannabe would be completely overpowered like this.

The students of every military academy on Earth were stunned. Obviously they were supporting Einherjar Wannabe since he was from Earth, while Lie Wushuang was a Martian. Somehow, Earthlings were always born with a hint of racism in their blood.

Lie Wushuang seemed to be very confident in his attack!

While the sexy lady was busy providing her "service" to Lie Kent, the impulsive Martian suddenly pushed the lady aside.

Instead of being attracted to the woman, Lie Kent was more interested in this match!

Back at the arena, Wang Tong got back on his feet as he finally figured out what was going on. Lie Wushuang's attack almost knocked him out, but because of that, his problem was solved at last!

It was dead simple!

Wang Tong found himself pretty amusing. All this time, he had been understanding the simple theory in a complicated way, which was why the mastery was not as good as he expected.

Still, Wang Tong would like to conduct the "experiment" one more time. And of course, the "lab rat" of his experiment would be Lie Wushuang.

The audiences were all relieved when they saw Einherjar Wannabe get up, they felt he might still have a chance!

Meanwhile, at DREAM Heaven, the crowd had also begun to cheer aloud. After all, they were just a bunch ordinary people who truly believed in miracles!

Einherjar Wannabe grinned and dashed towards Lie Wushuang with a palm strike.

Swoosh…

No one was able to believe their eyes!

Einherjar Wannabe had unleashed the Blazing Palm Strike!

Was he really the reincarnation of God?

Unlike the previous version he used against Hwo Quan, this time it was absolutely the real deal!

Bam…

Lie Wushuang was startled as well. Based on the fiery yet familiar sensation from the hit, without a doubt Einherjar Wannabe had unleashed the genuine Blazing Palm Strike!

However, this set of techniques had to be guided by a mentor. Not only was it impossible to be learned by oneself, the learning process was also quite dangerous, as those who practiced were fairly prone to the risk of going berserk. Without the monitoring and guidance from the seniors from House of Lie, the practice of Blazing Palm Strike would become a chronic suicidal activity.

Wham… Wham… Bang…

What happened a while ago had completely blown Lie Wushuang's mind!

Chapter 243: Ice and Fire Combo

Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_

All five Great Tactics had a decent number of successors, yet they were difficult to be spread to the public because the learning processes required mentors. Furthermore, the disciples had to be protected while learning, because the process was somewhat dangerous. In order to thoroughly master everything, the training would have to be guided by seniors or mentors. This was why the Five Great Houses weren't worried about their tactics being stolen, not to mention no one dared to mess with them uptill now.

Einherjar Wannabe had successfully demonstrated the genuine Blazing Palm Strike, and even used it against Lie Wushuang himself. Yet, being Academy of the Deity's elite fighter amongst fourth graders, Lie Wushuang managed to keep his cool.

Instead of being surprised, Lie Wushuang decided to treat Einherjar Wannabe as another fighter who knew Tactics of the Blaze. After all, Einherjar Wannabe's Level Four Soul Energy was no match for him at all!

However, he seemed to have forgotten that if Einherjar Wannabe was just an ordinary Level Four Fighter, he would've been knocked out by the previous attack already.

On the other hand, Wang Tong was extremely excited!

Hell yes!

Finally, he had figured it out!

All this time, he had been focusing on channeling the sheer cold GN Force from the specific genome sources, yet it wasn't that complicated at all. During that time when he was kidnapped by Li Ruo-Er, all Wang Tong did to channel the force was just telling himself that he needed the sheer cold genome force!

It was just that simple!

In other words, Soul Energy served as the guide of the elemental GN Force instead of the genome sources!

Wham…

Wang Tong took a step back due to the recoil, yet the impact was strong enough to push Lie Wushuang back for three steps. This time, Lie Wushuang was startled. He had no idea that he would be knocked back by a lower level fighter, not to mention he was attacked by his own Blazing Palm Strike!

The students of every academy on Earth were mesmerized by the unexpected happening, while the students on Moon seemed to be discussing this discretely. Yet on Mars, every Martian who was watching seemed to be shocked by that moment. What happened a while ago was absolutely unbelievable!

Lie Wushuang took a deep breath as he began to feel the pressure. Einherjar Wannabe seemed to possess an extraordinary amount of GN Force, or else his Soul Energy level would never be able to achieve so.

Soul Energy might be able to lift one's fighting spirit, yet it was unable to enhance one's ability to fight!

Lie Wushuang then maximized his Soul Energy and decided to charge towards his opponent with all his might. After all, he was still having the upper hand in terms of Soul Energy level!

Lie Wushuang's Soul Energy skyrocketed to two hundred and seventy sols!

Yet, Einherjar Wannabe's Soul Energy was only one hundred and eighty sols!

Based on the current difference, somehow, this match looked sort of unfair.

However, Lie Wushuang remained solemn and calm, even though he had the advantage.

On the other hand, Wang Tong seemed to have discovered another conclusion. Apparently, aside from Soul Energy, the channeling of elemental forces also required the circulation of one's Cinnabar Field. Both Soul Energy and Cinnabar Field had to work with each other in order to achieve so.

Suddenly, Wang Tong began to doubt Mr. Wannabe's theory about elements. As Old Fart would always say, what looked real might be false, and what looked unreal might be the truth.

Most people believed that the body was fixed with only one element, yet Wang Tong had his doubts regarding this statement.

Meanwhile, Lie Wushuang's aura had turned into an intimidating, fiery goliath, as he unleashed his tactics of the Blaze. The pressure was extremely intense, and it seemed like Lie Wushuang had made up his mind to fully utilize his advantage in terms of Soul Energy.

Whoosh… Howl of the Blazing Daemon!

Lie Wushuang yelled as he charged towards Einherjar Wannabe with his enlarged blazing palms, like he was trying to perish with Einherjar Wannabe together!

Apparently, Martians were born with an impulsive personality, and they would strike at all cost whenever they felt that their lives were threatened!

Wang Tong grinned when he noticed that the proud fighter had finally lost his patience… Payback time had arrived!

As soon as Einherjar Wannabe unleashed his attack, the whole arena was stunned once again… All of a sudden, the whole atmosphere was completely frozen still…

Palm strikes were strong against punches, punches were stronger than finger strikes, yet finger strikes were good against palm strikes. Apparently, Einherjar Wannabe countered by using his finger!

People wondered if Lie Wushuang had forgotten that Einherjar Wannabe was also very skillful with his fingers aside from palm strikes. Perhaps, Lie Wushuang had never watched any of his previous matches.

Furthermore, that was not some ordinary finger strike!

It was the Fingers of Frost!

Lie Wushuang yelled in pain as the force from Einherjar Wannabe's finger penetrated his body. Although Lie Wushuang was a veteran fighter, no one would be able to bear the pain that was sent directly by an opposite element, not to mention the level of realism was already preset to one hundred and twenty percent.

The bone-drilling pain was extremely intense. Lie Wushuang immediately felt like a scorching furnace that was thrown into the Arctic Ocean. Within seconds, he was completely knocked out by the pain.

Originally, Wang Tong was planning to finish him off by adding a palm strike in order to complete his experiment on elements. Yet, Wang Tong abandoned the idea the moment he saw Lie Wushuang's condition. Wang Tong was actually trying to stimulate his own senses by increasing the level of pain, but he didn't expect that this would happen.

Everyone in the arena was horrified by the unexpected happening. Meanwhile, Lie Wushuang's avatar was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, he was forced to retire due to safety issues.

Back at Academy of the Deity, Lie Wushuang collapsed onto the ground right after he was removed from PA. His face was pale as a ghost and was trembling badly while lying on the ground. As a matter of fact, this had never happened before in the history of PA. Apparently, Einherjar Wannabe's elemental force was too strong.

Instead of being sent to the hospital, Lie Wushuang was immediately handed over to the people of House of Lie.

Meanwhile, Lie Kent immediately rushed to see Lie Wushuang. He suspected that the sheer cold aura had penetrated deep into Lie Wushuang's body and had to be neutralized by a stronger fiery force. But, it turned out that Lie Wushuang had suffered some sort of mental damage from Einherjar Wannabe's elemental force and needed some time to recover.

Lie Kent was absolutely amazed by Einherjar Wannabe's surprising performance. In fact, Soul Energy had been utilized by people across the universe for many years, yet this was the first time someone demonstrated the sheer cold element GN Force. It was mind-blowing indeed!

Meanwhile, Wang Tong was standing in the middle of the arena in silence. He had discovered that both scorching and sheer cold forces were just different forms of Soul Energy, or at least that was how he tried to make sense of it.

After three minutes of thinking, Wang Tong gave up and logged out.

No one said a word as they stared at Einherjar Wannabe during those three minutes.

As for the staff members of PA, all of them were seen gathered in front of the monitor. They had been witnessing the performances of a great deal of strong fighters and the birth of a few miracles for years, yet they were still surprised by what Einherjar Wannabe had achieved.

Fire? Ice? DOUBLE ELEMENT?

One elemental force was already enough to shock the whole Confederation, yet this man had demonstrated two different elemental forces!

Cameron's mind was completely blown away. This victory was beyond his expectation!

Einherjar Wannabe had done it again!

Students from different academies regained their senses, yet no one cheered and applauded. Instead, they were all wondering what had happened a while ago. How on earth was an Earthling able to do that?

The demonstration of dual elemental had completely subverted their general understandings about Soul Energy!

Was EInherjar Wannabe really the reincarnation of God?

Immediately, Einherjar Wannabe was being crowned as the new God of the post Blade-Edge Era!

…

For the first time in this era, people were addressing a second person with the title of "God".

Somehow, he was similar to Blade Warrior, creating new theories in the utilization of Soul Energy and elements. People were all the more eager to find out who was hiding behind the mask of this Einherjar Wannabe character.

Einherjar Wannabe had become an existence of whole another level. In the eyes of most people, he was invincible!

Not only was he undefeatable even if one possessed greater level of Soul Energy, his scorching and sheer cold elemental forces were out of this world. People had no idea what sort of tactics would be able to support these contrasting elements. Normally, doing so would cause the fighter to go berserk. But, Einherjar Wannabe had successfully mastered it!

Nevertheless, people like Cisco and Jiang Long were finally relieved. All these months, they had been feeling bad for their defeats. But now, they had realized that they lost simply because Einherjar Wannabe was an existence of another dimension.

Instead, they should be proud of being able to fight with him!

Zhang Jin, who was attending a conference on Earth, was completely amazed by Einherjar Wannabe's performance. In the beginning, she suspected that Einherjar Wannabe was the descendant of Blade Warrior himself due to the similarity in their palm strikes. Yet surprisingly, Einherjar Wannabe was beyond what she had imagined. But still, Zhang Jin believed that the two of them were somehow related. After all, only Blade Warrior himself was strong enough to create something this powerful.

Even if Einherjar Wannabe was not related to Blade Warrior, both of them most probably came from the same place. Could it be the Divine World?

Wang Tong packed his stuff and left DREAM Heaven after logging out. Somehow, the shop had turned into a pub, and Wang Tong just couldn't stand the crowd's crazy screams and shouts. Still, he had no issues with the shopkeeper's decision to sell booze. After all, he was just trying to profit from his business while giving the customers what they wanted.

Charcoal had finally shown himself around Mr. Wannabe after being ordered by Wang Tong to do so. To Charcoal, Wang Tong was the only person that mattered, and he would only take orders from Wang Tong himself.

Wang Tong was amazed and pleased by the supreme loyalty of this man-made "android". Honestly, Wang Tong couldn't tell if Charcoal belonged to the "family" of robots. In fact, there were still a lot of questions regarding Charcoal that he was not able to answer.

"Yo kiddo! How did you do that?" Mr. Wannabe asked excitedly. He too couldn't believe that Wang Tong was able to possess two different types of elemental forces!

Wang Tong grinned, "Oh, finally there's one thing that you don't know… Wonderful!"

"Hmph, don't get too cocky kid. I might not have heard of dual elements, but that doesn't mean that it's impossible for the others to achieve. You're just lucky for being born as a genius!" Mr. Wannabe scolded back.

Chapter 244: Showdown

Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_

Wang Tong laughed while Mr. Wannabe scolded. Although he was not able to disaffirm Einherjar Wannabe's theory on elements, it had still inspired him to discover the method of utilizing elements.

Wang Tong got the idea of his scorching element from House of Lie's tactics, while the idea of his sheer cold element actually came from his previous experience at the polar region, as well as his urge to counter Lie Wushuang's fiery attacks.

In fact, those happenings served as Wang Tong's triggers to unlock those elements. However, he was not able to unleash the forces of other elements, because his EMF had never come across any of those elements before, and Wang Tong was not able to make that up.

Nevertheless, Wang Tong's biggest discovery was his ability to copy his opponent's element through making contact with it, and somehow, his copied version was even stronger than the opponent's original version.

Sometimes, by utilizing the right opposing elements, fighters would be able to generate a great deal of damages to his or her opponents, just like Wang Tong's battle a while ago. Honestly, Lie Wushuang would be left unhurt if Wang Tong had only infused his attacks with normal GN Force. Yet, by infusing the opposite element, Wang Tong was able to significantly enhance his attacks and maximize the damages dealt.

Wang Tong too had begun to accept the fact that he was quite a genius. He was very proud of his flawless and risk-free decisions.

In the end, Wang Tong got lectured by Einherjar Wannabe for being too cocky. However, Einherjar Wannabe couldn't help wondering how Wang Tong demonstrated the dual elements that effortlessly. Yet, instead of begging Wang Tong for answers, Mr. Wannabe decided to find out on his own. After all, he was the almighty omniscience Einherjar Wannabe.

Nevertheless, Einherjar Wannabe decided not to put too much effort into finding out. After all, Wang Tong had inherited Blade Warrior's mystical Tactics of the Blade.

Most of all, this was the first time Einherjar Wannabe discovered something that he didn't know. Moreover, he was deeply surprised by Wang Tong's godly improvements.

Upon noticing Einherjar Wannabe's troublesome look, Wang Tong decided to reveal his "secrets". However, he was stopped by Einherjar Wannabe before he could say anything.

"Hush, I'll figure it out by myself!"

"Relax, big guy, take it easy."

"No, no, no, I insist on figuring out by myself!" Einherjar Wannabe threw down the words and returned to the Space Crystal in a flash.

Wang Tong was well aware that the utilization of elements was not as simple as it seemed. Now that he has unlocked the door, the rest of his mastery would be all up to his imagination.

The overjoyed boy then happily skipped and hopped on his way home, while the other people on the street stared at him thinking he was a lunatic.

No one in the administration of PA dared to bring excessive publicity to Einherjar Wannabe's recent success, as it might sabotage House of Li's position and infuriate them.

Moreover, the Blade Warrior would always remain as the existence closest to God, and the only legendary warrior of mankind.

However, most people reacted differently. To them, Blade Warrior's legend was already centuries old, and had become unreal. Some even doubted Blade Warrior's ability to destroy the whole armada of Battlecrafts by himself, and wondered if it was just an overexaggerated "fairy tale" created by the Confederation to boost mankind's fighting spirit. After all, that sounded simply fake, and seemed impossible for a normal person to achieve.

Nevertheless, no one cared to find out the truth, since it was already ages ago. Furthermore, Blade Warrior's tale did help a lot in boosting the fighting spirit of mankind during their fights against Zergs.

Yet, a new legend had been born — a boy wonder named Einherjar Wannabe!

Basically, Einherjar Wannabe was the only level four fighter in this world that possessed the ability to subdue level five fighters. Most importantly, he was the only one who possessed two elements!

Not to mention he was only sixteen!

Two private forums seemed to have become big hits right after the match. One of them was called "Hero's Blade", founded by Skyscraper himself. Being a PA fighter as well as a student of a military academy, Skyscraper had begun to upload his own analysis videos on Einherjar Wannabe recently, and the new perspectives in his videos seemed to have drawn a lot of attention from TPA players. Hence, the forum was getting more and more popular.

The other forum was called "Rise of the King". It was the first forum to discover the amazing abilities of Einherjar Wannabe. In the beginning, it was just an unpopular forum with only a few viewers, yet all of a sudden, it was packed with PA players and had instantly gone viral.

The uproars in those forums had proven that Einherjar Wannabe represented a miracle, and apparently, more people had begun to place their faith on him!

After all, Einherjar Wannabe had never once let them down, even though he would face tough challenges from time to time; not even once.

Unlike the other elites or even Einherjars who focused only on hand to hand combats, Einherjar Wannabe was even able to miraculously dominate Battlecraft Combat aside from dominating METAL Combat. His signature battle strategy, Art of the Soaring Heaven, was truly amazing. Even the elites from Kaedeian Royal Academy were not able to withstand for more than ten minutes.

In fact, no one except him in the Confederation was able to achieve so, let alone the descendants of the Five Great Houses, who were lucky to be born in different well-respected families.

One post in "Rise of the King" even boldly predicted that Lie Kent would not be challenging Einherjar Wannabe, as he would never want his a*s to be kicked by a nobody!

Apparently, Einherjar Wannabe had begun his conquest as the people's new God!

As soon as that rumor was posted in the forum, even more people were turned into Einherjar Wannabe's supporters. It seemed like Einherjar Wannabe's splendid performance had penetrated deep into their hearts.

As a matter of fact, mankind would always need the presence of an idol, regardless of the era!

Even the Five Great Houses had always been trying to become the spiritual sustenance of mankind. However, they were yet to achieve that. As for Martians, they found their sustenance in the Church of the Deity. However, Court of the Templar seemed not to be interested in gaining popularity amongst citizens of Earth and Moon. Instead, they chose to hide behind curtains while silently training generations of elites.

Moreover, even if Court of the Templar did wish to expand their forces, the Confederation would never let that happen.

Nevertheless, Einherjar Wannabe's influence had begun to spread like wildfire.

As for Lie Kent, people were somehow curious about how he would respond to Einherjar Wannabe.

Moments later, Lie Kent responded through the live telecast on Mars, agreeing to fight Einherjar Wannabe, but only if Einherjar Wannabe agreed to one condition, which was to fight in a real duel. As the descendant of House of Lie, Lie Kent would never bother to waste his time in those childish "games".

To Lie Kent, real men were not supposed to fight in the virtual world like sissies!

Lie Kent even left Einherjar Wannabe to decide on the venue, date and time, as long as he agreed to show up in person!

What a tricky response indeed!

Nevertheless, Lie Kent really meant what he said. After all, he had placed the pride of his family at stake the moment he challenged Einherjar Wannabe. However, he wasn't scared at all. Instead, he saw it as a good opportunity to boost up his popularity.

Still, being one of the descendants of the Five Great Houses, Lie Kent had to maintain his "supremacy". Furthermore, his tricky request had also once again caused a lot of people to question Einherjar Wannabe's real identity.

Most importantly, would Einherjar Wannabe take the bait?

If he really wanted to become the next God, Einherjar Wannabe would need to show that he really had what it took. Just like the mysterious and secretive Blade Warrior, he was crowned as people's God in the end because he suddenly disappeared and left no traces behind.

However, that was centuries ago, when the detection methods were not as advanced. In fact, Einherjar Wannabe's secret identity would immediately get revealed as soon as he showed up.

Given the fact that Lie Kent was not an ordinary person, a duel in the virtual world would do him no good, as people were eager to see him betting the pride of his family into a life and death battle in reality. Compared to Einherjar Wannabe, who had nothing to lose, Lie Kent seemed to have more burden on his shoulders.

Lie Kent did wish that Einherjar Wannabe would take the bait!

At the end of the broadcast, Lie Kent turned towards the camera and arrogantly taunted, "So, are you chickening out, Mr. Einherjar Wannabe?"

Gauntlets were thrown for sure!

Yet, there was no immediate response from Einherjar Wannabe. In fact, most Martians were born to be straightforward and outgoing, and they hated people like Einherjar Wannabe who were always secretive.

People were expecting to see the clash of titans!

Generally speaking, the difference in terms of terrain and culture had caused Earthlings, Ivantians, and Martians to develop different ideologies. Based on personalities, Earthlings appeared to be moderate, while Ivantians were proud of themselves, and Martians were very outgoing.

Nonetheless, Earthlings were okay with Einherjar Wannabe's secretive characteristic. To them, this should be how an unrivaled fighter looked like.

As for Ivantians, aside from strength and secretive characteristics, arrogance was also another key personality of a strong fighter!

The Ivantians did believe that they were the most perfect race compared to Earthlings and Martians. Ivantians represented the future, while Earthlings represented the old times; they seemed not to give a damn about Martians though.

This was why Ivantians were mostly born with a great sense of pride. Same went for the House of Dower, who seemed to be keeping a low profile, but in fact, chose to keep their distance because they didn't like to be compared with the other houses.

However, even the Ivantians did recognize Einherjar Wannabe's strength and mysteriousness.

Chapter 245: Returning to Norton

Translator: Double_L Editor: Hitesh_

Nevertheless, Martians had a totally different criterion when it came to the recognition of a strong fighter. To them, an ace had to be brave, ferocious, and never back down from any obstacles.

In the eyes of Earthlings and Ivantians, Lie Kent always looked like an irrational fool. Yet, in the eyes of fellow Martians, Lie Kent was a cool and straightforward person who followed his heart regardless of situations, which was why they admired him a lot.

After all, cultures were expected to vary on different planets.

In recent years, the development of Mars had increased significantly due to their strategic whereabout, causing Martians to become extremely proud of themselves. In their point of view, Martians were the toughest fighters throughout the human race, and they had sacrificed a lot in the development progress of mankind.

Many years ago, Mars was being known as the battleground of Martians and Kaedeians against Zergs, a living hell indeed.

Somehow, this was also another reason why Martians were born aggressive.

As soon as Lie Kent made that announcement, all fellow Martians cheered, and couldn't wait for that day to come.

To be honest, Martians would be extremely disappointed if Lie Kent were to fight Einherjar Wannabe in the virtual arena of PA. Some even thought that it would be a disgrace to the great House of Lie!

Generally speaking, Martians were never fond of Li Shimin and Patroclus; they hated Li Shimin's guts for playing down-to-earth. As for Patroclus, they disliked him because he would always distance himself and act like a sissy instead of showing off his actual power, and they had no idea why he would do that.

Without a doubt, everyone on Earth would be supporting Einherjar Wannabe if he were to face off against Lie Kent. After all, Earthlings were born with a great sense of pride for their own race, and not to mention they hated Lie Kent's arrogance.

In fact, they couldn't wait to see Lie Kent get his ass kicked by Einherjar Wannabe.

The supporters of both Einherjar Wannabe and Lie Kent soon began their "chat war" on the official forum, causing the traffic to become slow. As the "chat war" kept escalating, there was still no reply from Einherjar Wannabe himself.

Actually, Wang Tong was well aware of what was going on, yet he was uncertain about going to Mars.

It was not only because he couldn't afford the travel ticket, but he would soon be joining the troops towards Norton. Hence, he decided to put it aside and let the uproar die on its own. After all, there was not enough time for him to bother that much.

Most importantly, Wang Tong couldn't think of any ways to protect his secret identity if he agreed to do this. As Einherjar Wannabe, Wang Tong would be able to try out his new fighting ideas without any worries. Yet, if he chose to reveal himself, he would immediately be placed under the spotlight. Somehow, it also meant putting his life at stake, and he would never want that to happen.

Instead of paying attention to the uproar, Wang Tong would rather focus on training and perfecting his own elemental forces, especially when it came to the mastery of interchanging between two different elements.

Carl and the rest of the team were the first batch to leave for Norton, while Wang Tong and Zhou Sisi were scheduled to depart two days later.

As for Mr. Wannabe, he decided to do nothing but watch TV for as long as possible, because life would never be as easy as soon as they arrived at Norton.

Since Einherjar Wannabe wasn't replying to Lie Kent's request, the Martians immediately became arrogant and assumed that Einherjar Wannabe was afraid of Lie Kent. Almost all of their TV channels even began to trash Einherjar Wannabe and Li Shimin while flattering and touting their "almighty highness of Mars".

In the eyes of Martians, Einherjar Wannabe and Li Shimin were nothing but a couple of timid chickens.

Mr. Wannabe was infuriated when he saw that. How he wished he could strangle Lie Kent to death immediately!

"Yo Wang Tong, let's teach that arrogant as*hole a lesson right now. I'm sick of him sullying my name!" Mr. Wannabe roared angrily, as mad as a lion.

"Chill man, we're leaving for Norton in two days, and we have no time for this idiot at all. Most importantly, how are we supposed to get to Mars?"

"Ask him to come to Earth then!"

"Like I said, we're leaving in two days. Right now, it's already too late for us to make such a demand. Furthermore, how am I supposed to reveal myself as Einherjar Wannabe?" Wang Tong replied with a laugh.

"But.. that m*therf*cker is too cocky!" Mr. Wannabe couldn't hold back his anger. Apparently, those television programs sure did a good job in teaching him how to swear.

"Haha, relax! Martians are all like that. Even the Blade Warrior himself had the lineage of Martians." Wang Tong smiled and said.

"What the f*ck man? How I wish I could teach them a lesson right here right now!" Mr. Wannabe was trying to cool down his fury. He would really consider teaching those Martians a lesson if only he had Blade Warrior's legendary METAL Suit...

All of a sudden, Wang Tong and Mr. Wannabe turned towards each other the moment the word "METAL Suit" came across their minds.

No one would be able to recognize Wang Tong as long as he was equipping the METAL Suit!

Yet, there was another catch. Apparently, Wang Tong's lack of Soul Energy would not be able to support the METAL Suit for a long period of time, and his face would be revealed the moment he unequipped the METAL Suit.

Suddenly, Wang Tong remembered the mask that he once wore on stage. That simple mask sure did a great job in protecting his identity. However, he was afraid that his identity would be discovered easily by using facial comparing technology. But perhaps, this problem would be solved if he would wear a ghoul mask that people normally wore during Halloween.

Nevertheless, Wang Tong shook his head and dropped that idea; he had no time for this kind of fuss.

As Old Fart always said, 'Do the right thing instead of keeping it real.'

Mr. Wannabe was pretty upset, but there was nothing he could do except watching television. Within minutes, Mr. Wannabe's anger was washed away by some funny sitcoms…

Two days later, Wang Tong had once again boarded the spacecraft towards Norton. Although he was travelling back to the same planet, yet it felt completely different, not to mention he was also accompanied by different people this time.

The first batch consisted of more than ten thousand students in all five spacecrafts, and they were also accompanied by teams of soldiers; it seemed like Earth Confederation was trying to eradicate the pests on Norton as quickly as possible.

For most of the students, this was their first time leaving Earth, and amongst them, only a few had been to Norton before. One of such students was Wang Tong, who had never dreamt of revisiting that living hell once again.

Even though there wasn't much stuff inside a military spacecraft, yet it was way better than his previous ride, more comfortable to be exact. The cabin was filled with excitement from fellow students, yet it seemed like most of them were not aware of the purpose of this "field-trip".

Most people assumed that mankind had completely taken over Norton, and all that was left to do was to exterminate the remaining Zergs. Yet in reality, the military's requests for reinforcement had been gradually increasing for the past two years, and based on the current situation, they were still far from gaining total control of the planet.

Back then, Wang Tong didn't pay much attention to that, since it was none of his business. But now, things were different as he would be heading back to Norton again, and he needed to recollect his past experiences and new knowledge about dealing with Zergs as soon as possible. After spending months studying in Ayrlarng, Wang Tong realized that what worried him the most was not the number of Zerg's legion, rather it was their huge and complicated species breakdown.

Wang Tong even began to suspect if there was actually another reason for Zergs to invade Norton instead of simply to ambush mankind's army.

New species of Zergs had once again being discovered on Norton, and of course, those species had yet to be included in the latest textbooks. Somehow their process of evolution had become quicker in recent years, which was exceptionally strange, unless this was also part of their plan… What if they were able to think like humans and managed to combine R&D with their evolution abilities?

Wang Tong shook his head and decided not to let his imagination go wild. However, the whole universe would be in deep trouble if that really happened.

"Attention to all passengers… Extreme speed cruising will begin in one hour. Please gather at the vessel cabin immediately!"

Wang Tong proceeded as told. Apparently, the students of Ayrlarng were being distributed to different platoons, and there were no familiar faces in the one he got sent to. This time, the military had decided to combine students of all academies together and redistribute them to different groups, hopefully to balance the level of every team.

The students in this vessel were all from S-ranked, A-ranked, as well as B-ranked academies. Only a small amount of students from B-ranked academies were recruited as foot soldiers, because their performances were weaker compared to the others. As for the students from A-ranked academies, they served as the main forces, and were distributed to various departments in the army. Most of the students from S-ranked academies were recruited in the Battlecraft Fleet crew.

The purpose of combining students from various academies together was to build-up relationships between academies, as well as to stimulate the competitiveness amongst students.

Most of the students in Wang Tong's platoon had not seen each other before, and some outgoing ones had even begun to chat with the other team members. Although Wang Tong was quite talkative himself, yet the mixed feelings about revisiting Norton had killed his mood of talking.

Wang Tong's platoon consisted of about twenty students, and without a doubt, the most popular student had to be the one from Yalden. After all that was the student from one of Earth Confederation's strongest academy. Soon, that person became the center of attraction, and was seen happily chatting with the other platoon members.

Instead of joining their chit-chat, Wang Tong decided to close his eyes and get some sleep before extreme speed cruising, he was hoping to get enough rest before reaching Centaurus Cluster. It appeared that Wang Tong wasn't the only one who remained silent, but Wang Tong could tell that they kept quiet due to nervousness.

Mankind might have found ways to boost up one's physical strength, yet they still couldn't find a way to overcome their shyness.

As the spacecraft shut all cabin doors and began to cruise at extreme speed, most of the students soon began to fall asleep. Wang Tong had fallen into a deep slumber, and soon, he would be waking up in a different continent of the universe.

Wang Tong saw Ma Xiaoru in his dream. The charming lady was gently smiling at him while whispering his name in her sweet voice…

"Ladies and gentlemen, we would be arriving planet Norton shortly. This is the first planet being discovered in the Centaurus Cluster that is suitable for mankind to live in, as well as full of mineral resources..." A brief introduction of Norton was being played on the cabin's monitor as students began to come out from their sleeping capsules and gather in the lobby. Many of them were startled by the magnificent view of the outer space and that beautiful planet.

Most of the students were extremely excited. Some were even seen grabbing their fists, as this would be their chance to perform and build up their own portfolios!

"Haha, it seems like our future generals are quite excited."

"Sir, would you like to teach them a lesson?"

"Not now. Let them be for the moment. I'm sure their officer-in-charge will shape them up later."

Two officers sneered while observing the excited students through the glass window. Somehow, they were extremely annoyed by the fact that they were given orders for taking care of those kids by the military. After all, they were all trained fighters and proud warriors, not nannies and babysitters!

Without a doubt, the garrisons were absolutely not fond of those lucky little brats, yet they had no choice but to obey for the order from their superiors.

"At least they can be our "housekeepers" for the time being, since they're still weaker in terms of combat performances."

"Well, perhaps that kid from the S-ranked academy would be more useful."

"Compared to the others, he might be better in terms of abilities, yet his lack of experience would only make him a burden for us on the battlefield. Hence, we have to teach all of them the rules of this place. Even though they have signed the life and death agreement before getting on board and the Confederation is okay with a number of casualties, still they need to know the basics of surviving this war between the mankind and Zergs!"

"Yes, sir!"

Planet Norton's five times stronger gravity kicked in as their spacecraft entered its thick atmosphere. Almost all of the students began to cheer as the vessel prepared to land.

However, Wang Tong kept calm while the others were busy getting excited. He was amused by their crazy cheers like "Men conquer all!" or "Send Zergs to Hell!" and so on. Those people had no idea what was going to happen in the future.

Anyhow, they were just a group of students filled with passion. Sooner or later, their passion would be washed away by reality for sure. Hopefully, the whole mission would only be "exterminating the remaining Zergs", as stated by the military.

Finally, their spacecraft landed on Norton's Headquarter Base. Apparently, the reconstructed building was five times bigger than the last one that was destroyed by Zergs, and it also had a better defense system.

Everyone got off the vessel and queued up at the assembly area according to their ID number, and each unit was then being ordered to different places under the lead of their respective handling officer.

Wang Tong's unit of twenty students was then finally greeted by their handling officer, "Ladies, welcome to Norton. I'm Sergeant Turner, and I'll be responsible for shaping you bunch of sissies into real men. Only then we'll be able to kick some Zerg-asses!"

Turner arrogantly scanned across the whole team. He was pissed off by this bunch of weaklings who couldn't even stand straight!

"Mr. Turner Sir, but we're already men!" Some random guy from an A-ranked academy replied proudly. He was unhappy to be called a sissy, since he was already the well respected top-notch in his academy. But most of all, he didn't sign up for this to be treated like a low-ranked foot soldier.

Turner walked towards the boy and stared at him ferociously, yet the male student bravely stood still and stared back.

All of a sudden, Turner attacked the student without giving any warning, and broke the student's left arm before he could defend with his GN Force.

The student was left alone crying in pain.

"Medics, get this weak-ass sissy out of my sight!" Turner roared.

"Listen up you bunch of p*ssies, I don't care how you were pampered back then. From now onwards, you will be treated like a low ranked soldier, and you have no choice but to obey to my orders, IS THAT CLEAR?" Turner roared again, and the rest of the team replied discreetly.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"UNDERSTOOD, SIR!"

"From today onwards, your only reply will be YES SIR! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"LOUDER, YOU BUNCH OF PUNK-A*S WEAKLINGS!"

"YES, SIR!"

"Good! That's the first step of becoming a standard soldier. Now, pay attention. As soldiers, there are three rules that you need to obey; Number 1, follow orders! Number 2, follow orders! Number 3, follow orders! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir!"

Turner scanned through the team of nineteen dumbasses once again. All of the students were given the same military uniforms as normal soldiers, yet they were instructed to wear their school badges on the right side of their uniforms in order to tell them apart.

Turner walked around the team and stopped in front of the boy from Yalden, "Forward private, announce yourself!"

"Zhao Zhiting from S-Ranked Academy of Yalden, Sir!" Zhao Zhiting stepped forward and announced himself briefly yet full of spirit. After all, S-ranked academies like Yalden did provide an excellent academic training to their students. The only problem would be his lack of military exposure.

Nevertheless, Turner was quite happy with Zhao Zhiting's soldier-like performance, and could even do better if he were given proper military training.

"I'd like you to become the unit captain in-charge for this group of ladies. Do you accept?"

"Yes, Sir!" Zhao Zhiting answered spontaneously and saluted. To him, this was his opportunity to shine brightly.

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.