Chapter 72

The guys introduced themselves as Tom and Jerry, which made Bill laugh.

Then the girl said her name was Samantha.

Sitting on a bench, Bill began to leaf through the Moonwalk manual.

He had received it almost four months ago, and despite all his efforts, at best, he could only feel like he was "splashing in water" when he tried kicking the air.

Of course, this meant he was on his way to mastering the technique, but the skills required to execute it were truly astonishing, and the final steps turned out to be the most difficult.

One of the things that helped him was that he didn't have many responsibilities lately. His daily routine consisted of eating, training, reading, and sleeping. On days when he could, he sparred with Sentomaru. Bill thought he might be annoying, but he was as helpful as he could be.

He still had four months left before classes started, and by that time, he had already leafed through the introductory books on the fields of study he intended to explore.

The content of these books was dry but precise, as the scientific method and evidence of concepts existed in this world.

"Well, of course, they have to be precise," Bill smirked to himself. After all, in many ways, things here were more advanced than anything he could envision on Earth.

He would get to that in the future; for now, he focused on the study guides from the Scientific Division.

The division was split into three branches, but Bill was really only interested in procurement. This was because, in field conditions, you couldn't just "pick up" something unknown.

While the Scientific Division studied many strange biomes and life forms of the world, it was procurement that had to safely collect and transport the samples. Every unknown substance had its own collection protocols, every unknown species its own safety and containment systems.

These measures varied from placing flowers in rubber bags to holding animals in gel capsules for hibernation.

Additionally, underwater samples had to be collected, and this was mainly done using submarines, although Bill was shocked to learn that this world had human divers capable of swimming to the bottom of most parts of the ocean, using just diving bells.

Bill knew he was a good swimmer, but the thought of diving several kilometers underwater without protection made him shudder.

Then he thought about how he could control his entire body. Could he prevent decompression sickness?

That was something he would never rush to test. Bill thought that maybe he could expel the excess nitrogen from his body, but he also knew that one mistake could cost him his life.

"I hope that never happens," he decided to simply think and forget about it.

Standing up from the bench, Bill returned to the center of the arena.

The Moonwalk manual described other applications of the technique, such as running on water or using it on land to significantly increase speed. There was also a suggestion to use both legs to better "grab" the air—something like a rabbit's hop.

But for Bill, these were all half-measures. He wanted to master the technique using one leg. This method was more difficult but obviously superior because it allowed him to sharply change direction.

At the moment, he couldn't close the gap between himself and Sentomaru during their bouts. Because of this, he couldn't use the more powerful aspects of the Art of 9 Limbs.

Without headbutts, elbows, and shin strikes, Bill was left with half his arsenal against the captain.

With these thoughts, Bill knew what he was aiming for and began stomping. According to the manual, he needed to stomp on one spot six times in a split second to achieve lift with one leg.

Of course, "split second" was the key phrase. Initially, despite everything he saw, he thought it was impossible, but after a few months, he could do it three times.

After a few stomps, he stretched slightly and was about to start when he suddenly heard a woman's voice.

"Hey! Lieutenant!"

Turning his head, Bill immediately recognized the face. It was the girl with short chestnut hair who always carried a cleaver. She was a recruit in the Marine Science Division, just like most people here who had been transferred from the regular fleet.

Waving his hand, he called back to her, and seeing this, she ran up to him and saluted.

He didn't laugh at this formality. Although he was still undergoing cadet training in the Marine Science Division, within its context, he was an officer, albeit of low rank due to lack of experience.

"There's no need to salute if the situation is informal. What do you need, Marron?"

Upon hearing this, the girl continued to salute and responded, "Sir! The situation is formal. Captain Sentomaru is calling for you!"

Hearing this, Bill raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is it urgent? Or do you know why he needs me?"

"No, Sir! "Captain Sentomaru instructed that you should come as soon as you finish here!"

Nodding in response, Bill looked at the girl and said he would be there in a few minutes, then headed to the locker room to change.

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