The Jinxed Man

News of Reno’s number two murder spread posthaste to Scarlet Star Shoal. Reno’s leader, First Elder Bei, who was also Second Elder Bei’s brother, vomited blood on the spot, and made a vow before everyone that he would definitely seek revenge for his younger brother! Ye Chong’s strong capabilities and his ruthless methods were greatly exaggerated by the masses. He was described as Asura’s reincarnation, or a killing machine. In the meantime, all the local linchpins were reconsidering whether they could afford the costs of drawing Ye Chong to their side.

Was all this relevant to Ye Chong? At least Ye Chong himself believed it to be none of his business!

Ye Chong was now practicing his shooting skills. Shooting in combat was definitely a very effective mean, involving a variety of skills. Ye Chong could not help but blush at his missed shots last time! Before this, he lacked the right conditions; but now that they were available, he would surely not pass them up!

Bai Linan sat and yawned while he watched Ye Chong’s practice from afar in disinterest! However, he dared not stay more than fifty meters away from Ye Chong for now. The bloody scene from a few days ago was still fresh in his memory. No doubt many would keep their eyes on them from now on. Bai Linan scanned the surroundings, and found that the few people who were stealthily observing them a few days ago were no longer in sight.

Bai Linan was pleased and smiled despite the current situation, for this was his doing. A few days ago, he realized that a few people were secretly watching them in the vicinity, and reported this to Ye Chong. He thought Ye Chong would definitely put on his mech, wield his magnetic sword and charge howling towards them, cutting them to pieces! He did not expect Ye Chong to be indifferent - his master believed that they had nothing against him, and so they can watch if they want to! With that, Ye Chong continued practicing! This left the expectant Bai Linan standing in astonishment.

The spies realized that Ye Chong did not care for their presence, and began to act more aggressively, throwing all manners of stealth out of the window!

However, Bai Linan was no amateur - after years of leading as a general amongst the pirates, how could he lack the means to do something about them? Bai Linan put on a serious demeanour and explained that spying was preparatory work for an imminent attack, meant to identify the enemy’s weakness and so forth, and so on! This made Ye Chong immediately thought of his time as a hunter, observing the mutants’ natural behavior to device a countermeasure against them.

Ye Chong realized the severity of things, and eyed the observers with a cold stare! Bai Linan knew that his words had achieved the desired effect, and so he kept his silence.

Against the enemy, there will be no mercy!

Gold Wheat’s parrying spear, held in Ye Chong’s hands, looked like a longspear. Bai Linan had never seen a mech weapon wielded by one’s bare hands, but this weapon looked as light as a feather in Ye Chong’s hands, and the scene was quite peculiar.

Ye Chong slowly stepped towards the few observers.

Those few people must have not seen the incident a few days ago, as they greeted Ye Chong with a cheeky grin.

With a twist of his wrist, the flexible parrying spear drew an arc of light, and those people clutched their throats in agony, blood still flowing through their fingers, and their eyes were filled with disbelief. A few seconds later, they all fell to the ground.

Ye Chong could not be bothered with the bodies, and continued his training!

Bai Linan’s offense against them was not personal, but was due to his understanding of their ways from his days as a pirate. They would resort to any means necessary, and if they found a weakness, they would find some way of using it against you. Bai Linan was also an expert in such things. However, now that almost everyone knew that he was with Ye Chong, and as long as Ye Chong was doing fine, he would be left alone; but if Ye Chong was to fall to some misfortune, he would definitely follow suit!

Bai Linan was afraid of more mishaps occuring in Reno, and desperately advised Ye Chong to head for Black Cove. After a great deal of words were dispensed, Ye Chong finally agreed reluctantly, since his shootings skills had slightly improved. It was truly a mystery - Ye Chong had remarkable talent in piloting mechs for combat, such that even Mu would occasionally express his marvel at it; but when it came to shooting, while Ye Chong may not shoot clumsily, he was only average in this aspect.

Following Bai Linan’s suggestions, Ye Chong sold all his average level mechs in exchange for ready Zuan. The shopkeeper saw Ye Chong emptying his bag to produce a heap of dimension keystones, and was immediately stunned! No matter in which galaxy, selling mechs without license would mean the death sentence! While this was Reno, and the government’s laws had yet to extend to the area, this was still the first time the shopkeeper saw someone smuggling mechs as an individual, and offering all white mechs.

Ye Chong and Bai Linan left the shop with a big bag of gold Zuan. Ye Chong picked up a piece of gold Zuan and inspected it - this was his first time seeing the real deal. The gold Zuan was slightly larger than his fingernail. It was in a transparent yellowish gold color and rhombus-shaped, with many rich and complex patterns inscribed on its surface. The rims were rounded for the two to three millimeters thick Zuan, and the material was extremely tough. Ye Chong gave it all he had and he could just only break the Zuan in two! “Tough material indeed,” Ye Chong assessed the Zuan internally!

Bai Linan gaped widely, his eyes completely dull. How could someone break a gold Zuan with brute force? The gold Zuan was said to be able to last five centuries without taking damage, and from his extensive experience, these were definitely not fake currency!

Following that thought, he immediately felt his heart ache - Heavens, that was one gold Zuan, now losing half its value for no reason! A damaged Zuan can only be redeemed for half its value at the bank!

“This big shot’s origin is really a mystery, he even lacked an identity card, is there still a place in this world where people don’t carry identity cards?” The shopkeeper from earlier was nervous from the trade. He did not think there could still be someone in this world without an identity card. The shopkeeper had always charged his customers with the swipe of a card, and did not have so much gold Zuan with him. He had to get someone to withdraw the large sum of Zuan from the bank. Gold Zuan was too high in value, and people rarely keep them in person and use them as circulation currency for business.

Extraordinary strength, a callous nature, and a mysterious origin!

What an enigmatic master!

The deft Bai Linan picked up the broken halves of the golden Zuan piece that Ye Chong carelessly discarded on the ground. He meticulously brushed away the dust on it and carefully placed it in his pocket.

The two travelled through a great part of Reno. Of course, the journey was not without Bai Linan’s incessant speeches, indicative of his way with words. Ye Chong’s expression did not change throughout his speeches, and one would not know if he absorbed any of his words!

Under Bai Linan’s guidance, Ye Chong bought many energy cells. According to Bai Linan, the road to Black Cove was perilous and impenetrable to starships. One would have to pilot a mech to traverse the way, and extra energy cells can prepare one for unexpected incidents. This fitted Ye Chong’s style - with regards to preparation, Ye Chong had always chosen to do more instead of less!

At the same time, news of the living jinx’s imminent leave from Reno had travelled far and wide. Those who caught wind of the news could not help but heave a sigh of relief! The God of plagues was finally leaving! No one dared walk the street where Ye Chong last slaughtered members of Reno Society. The foul smell of blood still hung in the air despite repeated washings of the area. They also heard that someone dared to spy on his behavior, and this startled all the local linchpins. They immediately went to the particular linchpin involved and advised him to stop his dangerous actions, and threatened to join hands and eliminate him should he refuse! It was then when someone came to report that the spies were all killed!

Everyone was only too eager to see the living jinx leave Reno as soon as possible, but this raised another question in their hearts - why was he heading towards Black Cove?

Upon listening to Bai Linan’s analysis, Ye Chong felt reluctant to leave the starship behind - it had such good specs, and most importantly, it had quite a solid build! It was a waste to discard it, and while it may look miserable, that was not something Ye Chong minded about!

After preparing themselves, the duo was now ready to leave for Black Cove!