On Board the Ship

Vella watched the mech that was slowly closing in on the starship.

Vella was greatly surprised when he received a message from the other party as he did not notice their presence earlier. Shocked, Vella began to adjust the holographic display and finally found the other party’s location after much effort.

Vella was in his forties. His short, bushy moustache made him look like a macho man.

Vella was secretly impressed. The other party had obviously entered their warning zone. However, their ship’s warning system did not sound an alarm. This implied that the other party’s anti-detection system was far more sophisticated compared to the warning system of this ship!

Once he received the signal that requested for boarding, Vella rest assured that the other party harboured no ill will. He was very much relieved. An invisible enemy was not someone anybody would like to encounter.

After receiving the green light from Old Mr Wang, Vella accepted the request.

As the mech neared, Vella finally saw what the other party really looked like - his expression twisted and his heart raced.

Vella was adventurous during his youth and had established a small reputation amongst the like-minded. He had also spent some time at Black Cove for a certain period of time. He would never forget the appearance of this mech - it was a symbol of incomparable strength and cruelty. He had seen many whom disregarded the prohibition of violence at Black Cove killed on the spot although there were quite a number of them who were stronger than him.

For countless years, he had never seen anyone from Black Cove leave the place. Vella was intrigued but he wasn’t planning on treating his life as a joke. As such, he brushed away his curiosity quickly.

Beside him, Wang Weiqi curled her lips in distaste. “That mech looks hideous!” Wang Weiqi was tall and her exquisite face was complemented with a charming smile. Her soft, shiny long hair was braided, giving her a clean look. Her large, glistening eyes blinked as though they could speak and were a fatal charm for most men!

The F-58 was around ten meters long and was thoroughly black in colour, making it look unremarkable. Since it was a training mech, it was not armed with excessive weapons and was only equipped with a UF magnetic sword as per Ye Chong’s request and two redesigned parrying lance. For safety in the asteroid belt, the F-58 also carried a big alloy shield of over five meters long on its back. The slightly arched shield resulted in the comical look of the F-58, looking like it was carrying a shell. However, the sharp edges of the shield clearly indicated that the shield was not only for defense purposes. What caught most of Vella’s attention were the two curved blades at the elbow joints of the mech. They normally lay flat on the upper arms, but by bending at the joints, the sharp tip of the blades and the terrifying edges would show their vile selves.

Wan Ziqing, who was also with them, nodded in agreement. “Of course he’s not as beautiful as Qi’er’s Phantasm, tsk tsk, that look is surely awful…”

Wang Weiqi was Old Mr Wang’s granddaughter whom had passed the exams for intermediate level of mech piloting at a very young age. The main reason of tagging along with her grandfather on this trip is because she was worried of his safety. Besides, she would also get the opportunity to widen her knowledge in preparation for the expert level of mech piloting exams. Wan Ziqing was Wang Weiqi’s senior. He began making his move on her at school, and now he was here with her! In all honesty, Wan Ziqing was a fine-looking man. However, Wang Weiqi was indifferent and being neither friendly nor aloof with him, and that drove him crazy.

Vella smiled wryly hoping that the pair of naive youngsters would not meddle with the jinxed newcomer. Vella was uncomfortable with the thought and could not help but speak up to the two, “You two better not meddle with that person. He’s not someone you can afford to mess with!” When he saw that they were not taking him seriously, he raised his voice and spoke firmly, “Qi’er, Ziqing, you hear me?”

Wang Weiqi stuck her tongue out a little and made a silly face at Wan Ziqing. Uncle Vella had always took care of them and the two could only give him an obedient look.

Vella rushed out of the bridge and welcomed the mysterious guest!

“Black mask and black windbreaker. Exactly as I imagined.” Vella thought to himself. The black mask with a peculiar glimmer had a soft quality to it and the silver irises were intimidatingly chilling. The strong visual contrast between black and white captured the attention of everyone around, such that they did not notice the little insignia on the mask’s edge that marked “F-58”. Of course, Vella was an exception for he had seen the black masks before. The loose windbreaker wrapped Ye Chong entirely adding to his mysteriousness of the medical volunteers.

Wang Weiqi thought to herself, “It would be so cool to have a mask like that! Definitely eye-catching!”

Ye Chong was always particularly respectful towards the elders since they reminded him of his deceased Papa and the Aurora’s elders who treated him well.

Ye Chong’s actions were surprising to Vella. He did not think that a cold-blooded guard from the Black Cove would be so courteous to the elderly. Perhaps they weren’t as heartless as they all thought they were. Vella finally began to feel assured.

He was just in time for lunch and Ye Chong was invited to join them. Ye Chong ate heartily at the dining table, ignoring the stares of others at him. After his seventh bowl of food, Ye Chong rubbed his almost full stomach and thought contentedly, “While this is still far from the delicacies at Black Cove, it’s still much better than the F-58’s high energy organic liquid food.”

After greeting the people around him, Ye Chong returned to the room Vella prepared for him under their astonished gazes.

Exercising to assist in his digestion was Ye Chong’s habit.

He began with a full-body routine. Ye Chong did a little warm up, then moved and ran across the room. “Running” might not be an accurate term. Ye Chong moved with the tips of his feet - his toes touched the ground and his body flew forward in response. However, the room was too small and Ye Chong had to keep changing directions. He ended up circling around the room instead.

Ye Chong increased his speed. His tip-toed landings on the ground began to produce muffled sounds. Now, the rhythm grew faster and the sound became louder.

After ten minutes, Ye Chong finally stopped. Beads of sweat marked his forehead and his breathing became heavier. Ye Chong shook his dizzy head forcefully.

Mu was a little surprised. “Ye, you’ve improved!”

Ye Chong laughed cheekily in response as he took out the steel spheres from the waist pocket in his windbreaker and placed them on the ground. He took a deep breath and placed his hands above the spheres, barely touching them. Ye Chong felt clear headed enough and exhaled slowly before his hands began to move.

Ye Chong gathered his attention and focused, banishing all distractions.

A shadow shrouded over the steep spheres and the spheres began to collide with each other violently. They moved really fast and their trajectories after impact were difficult to predict. However, they always bounced back from the edges of the shadow region. The steel spheres moved faster and the shadow continued to spread. The crisp sounds from the colliding steel spheres within the shadow were almost continuously ringing.

Ye Chong was about to put more strength onto his hands when he was suddenly alerted which broke his concentration. He shouted, “Who’s that?” as he swipedall the steel spheres back into his hands.

He rolled backwards on instinct and shot three steel spheres!