Battle Frenzy

Long before arriving at his destination, Wang Zhong could see a city-sized army garrison camp far in the distance. The entire army camp was built on a vast and flat plain, with countless military barracks that were lined up in an orderly manner. Without any high walls present, most of the single-storied barracks could be seen even from a very far distance.

However, it would be a big mistake for anyone to think that those low-levelled barracks were a step backward in society. Despite being in the vehicle, Wang Zhong discovered many extraordinary matters hidden under the peacefulness upon entering the camp.

For example, the various kinds of defensive barrier projecting devices that were present within the camp. From the vast number of them present, it was most likely for creating a defensive barrier capable of enveloping the entire camp! There were also various kinds of large vehicles present with trailers carrying military-related items, as well as many new- weapons that Wang Zhong had never seen before. In fact, he was even able to see terrifying artillery cannons towering 7-8 meters high into the air. These guns were completely unlike those outdated ceremonial guns used by Stuart during the CHF opening ceremony! A single look was all it took to notice their exquisitely constructed gun barrels that radiated with a chilling glow, that would cause anyone’s heart to palpitate in fear, as they could clearly picture the terrifying might these cannons had when fired.

However, this was just the tip of the iceberg as Wang Zhong discovered, when the off-road vehicle drove past a rather well-guarded circular region within the camp.

One look, and anyone could tell how unusual this place appeared, as the buildings present within were completely different from that of any ordinary military camp. Present outside of the thick, arm-sized giant metal grilles were hundreds of fully-armed guards standing in a tight-knit defensive formation. Upon closer inspection, one would discover a dense amount of runic patterns and arrays engraved on the surrounding fences. In fact, the metal and the material those fences were made of didn’t seem to be products of Earth, as both of them radiated with an abstruse glow.

Looking into the tightly-guarded area, one could occasionally see a mysterious power rushing towards the sky, or descending from the sky. One could even the large stretch of runic arrays sparkling, illuminating the skies, possessing enough brightness to light up half the entire army camp during the night.

“That’s the 7th Regiment’s dimensional base station,” said Lieutenant Will with a smile. “If you want to head towards the blessed lands, you will have to go in from there. Do you see those light beams that shine towards the sky? That’s from the activation of the hyperdimension passageway, with the light beam coming down from the sky being the return signal. As for those runic arrays sparkling with light, they are the prelude towards the activation of the transmission channel. Tsk tsk. Using one’s fleshly body to enter the hyperdimension! I really want to go in, though it’s a pity that I’m too weak. I probably won’t get the opportunity to do so in my entire lifetime.”

Truthfully speaking, every soldier out there wished to have a go at touring the Hyperdimension, and to search for their own destiny, as they might even be able to reach the heavens in one go. For those people who had yet to step into the Hyperdimension, it was undoubtedly filled with opportunities and miraculous encounters. Naturally, the most basic prerequisite was that they needed the strength to enter; if not, death would be what awaited them.

At the very least, Wang Zhong had an inkling of knowledge about this, as he had accompanied Ma Dong to take a look at the new city Assassin was constructing beside Tianjing city. It was said that even after locking onto a spatial coordinate and creating a transmission array, every single transmission would result in a massive surge of power being created, one that was 10, maybe even 100, times stronger than the blast from the engine of a spacefaring rocket. It was incredibly easy for this shockwave of energy to destroy the surrounding infrastructure, and it also had a massive radius of destruction. Furthermore, the dimensional base station required protection, so the problem couldn’t be solved by building it outside the new city. This was a difficult problem that had left Ma Dong and the project manager with a massive headache, and was one of the main issues that Ma Dong had come to Stuart to deal with.

Now, Wang Zhong was finally able to see how the 7th Regiment’s dimensional base station looked like. The fences and metals made from unique materials, as well as those runic arrays, must have been built to defend against the energy shockwave created from the transmissions. This was a simple and foolproof method to resolve the problem. Indeed, this was one of the main building blocks behind the massive development and progress of the Federation.

Wang Zhong sighed in admiration as he observed the passing scenery, while quietly taking down mental notes in his head. Perhaps this information might be a good reference for Ma Dong. The off-road vehicle weaved through the dense lattice of building within the army camp, before finally reaching the guesthouse.

There wasn’t any special reception present. Instead, after helping Wang Zhong sign his name on the guest list, Will escorted him to his room.

“Just stay here for the night. By tomorrow, or by the following day at the latest, you should be receiving an order from headquarters.” Will said in a somewhat apologetic manner. Due to him having chatted idly with Wang Zhong along the way, he had driven the vehicle at a slower speed. Furthermore, there was also some delay when he had picked Wang Zhong up in the morning. If he had arrived here earlier, the headquarters might have come up with different arrangements for Wang Zhong.

“Over the next 2 days, please contact me via Skylink if you need anything. I’ll make sure everything gets settled.” said Will with a smile as he extended his hand. “However, remember that all of that has to be before 11pm, okay? The communication blackout for this military camp starts at 11 pm, so even the Skylink cannot be connected. Finally, it has been a great pleasure to meet you!”

After sending Lieutenant Will off, Wang Zhong had just tossed his stuff onto his bed before his Skylink started to ring.

“Hi, have you reached already?”

The faces of Laura and Scarlet appeared on his Skylink screen. From their background, he could see that the 2 girls were currently within a cabin of an armored train, and a VIP one from the looks of it. Both of them were dressed rather casually, appearing as though they had just taken a bath. Their wet hair glistening with sparkling drops of water coupled with the thin clothes that were utterly incapable of hiding their well-developed bodies would cause anyone witnessing the scene to be lost in wild and fanciful thoughts.

If any other person was seeing this, they would have definitely had a nose bleed. It was only due to Wang Zhong having been acclimatised to these 2 girls, to the point of being impervious, that he was able to withstand this impulse.

“I’ve just arrived.” Wang Zhong was also curious about this matter. Before he had left, Laura had said that she would remain in Stuart to await the order from the armed forces. That was why he was surprised to see that she and Scarlet were in an armored train.

Grinning along with Scarlet, Laura replied, “It’s rather boring to stay in Stuart by myself, so I plan to visit my grandfather in Tianjing. It appears that we will be going in much later than you. Furthermore, it’s a good thing to accompany my good sister, and relaxing for a while. There’re quite a few nice places that I’ve missed out during my previous visit to Tianjing.”

At this moment, Scarlet was already counting the number of fun places to visit in Tianjing city, the most prominent being the river. There was a rather large and scenic river by the side of the city. Mankind had an innate love of water bodies, though it was a pity that the seas and oceans were restricted areas and could not be entered. Therefore, rivers were the next best place. Although there were mutated life forms within the river, they weren’t aggressive. Therefore, it was definitely a place for someone hailing from a high-altitude plateau like Copperfield to see and visit.

“There’s one known as ‘Billowing Waves’, and is extremely spectacular!” Scarlet gave an introduction.

“I’m really looking forward to it.” Laura’s eyes lit up like torches. “We’ve agreed to it earlier. When it comes to then, you have to teach me how to swim, okay, Scarlet.’

Scarlet shot a grin at Laura’s chest before replying, “I don’t know whether there are any swimming suits that are suitable for you.”

“I hate you!” Laura cursed back with a smile, causing the two girls to giggle as they tussled with each other.

This…

Despite having gone through hundreds of battles, Wang Zhong still felt a little giddy watching them.

The blood-stimulating scene of Laura and Scarlet in swimming suits while playing and swimming in the river at the “Billowing Waves” had already appeared in his mind, causing Wang Zhong to sigh in admiration. These 2 girls were increasingly ignoring the fact that he was a man! Such an intense scene had popped up as it wished, leaving him retreating miserably in return.

Despite having some reluctance present in their eyes, Laura and Scarlet still reminded Wang Zhong to be careful in the hyperdimension. Nevertheless, they were unable to give any further advice. Wang Zhong had given them some peace of mind, as he had personally experienced how terrifying the Hyperdimension could be. However, this time, he was entering it with his fleshly body. Therefore, he had to be even more careful. If not, he might actually lose his life!

Right after hanging up on his call with them, Ma Dong was the next to call.

“Who are you talking with, boss? I’ve called you several times, and your line has been engaged all this while.” Ma Dong said with a grin. From his cheerful expression, it seemed like today’s business had gone extremely smoothly for him; this seemed to be the status quo during this period of time. After saying those words, his eyes lit up before continuing. “How’s life in the camp? Did they bring you to the dimensional base station? You have to make sure you get a good look at it, brother. This will be a good knowledge for us to use in the construction of the dimensional base station at Tianjing’s new area.”

“Didn’t the related technological departments over at Stuart already promised you that they would deal with this issue?”

“We have to understand as much as we can, right?” Ma Dong gave an expression of righteousness. “It’s always better to learn and see it for yourself than always being taught by others, right? What if they try to dupe me? In any case, I want to know what’s likely to be correct and wrong. Furthermore, even if I don’t care about the technical aspect of things, I have to care about aesthetics, right? After all, I’m the engineering head for this new area, so how can I take everything they say at face value?”

With a chuckle, Wang Zhong gave an elaborate rundown of the exterior of the dimensional base station he had seen earlier.

“The issue about the energy shockwaves created from transmissions should be able to be negated with the use of special construction materials. I feel that those materials are obtained from the hyperdimension. With the scale of the construction that is required, the cost to build it is definitely going to be high. You have to be mentally prepared for the costs, as it will be astronomical.”

A frown and a pained expression appeared on Ma Dong’s face. “Is that for real? I was still thinking that they were duping me. They’ve just informed me today, and I’ve been pondering about the possibility of using other materials as substitutes. It’s really too expensive! Just a single metre of fencing has an asking price of 300 thousand credits! Just think about how much it will be to cover over a thousand square meters! Just kill me! The main issue is that this is just a low-end estimate. Fuck! When everything’s built, we can just forsake everything else in our new area. Even our coffers don’t have enough to pay for everything.”

“The dimensional base station is, without saying, one of the most protected things of the Federation, so spending massive amounts of money is an extremely understandable.” in contrast, Wang Zhong was able to get over it. Truthfully speaking, he was the major shareholder of the new city. However, he had yet to show his face even once since the start of its development. Everything had been left to Ma Dong to settle. Furthermore, with the manpower and capabilities of the Assassin Family, there were times where he was quite embarrassed to join in. “In any case, if there’s any issues with money, I can go and have a discussion with the old Potter on that. The Potter Family is extremely wealthy, so they might just invest to help us with this.”

“Let’s consider this after seeing the situation. That’s right, what kind of high ranking official did the military send to receive you?” asked Ma Dong with a grin. “Could it be some beautiful female officer? Do you know that your fame and reputation within the armed forces is insane? The few people from the Federation armed forces that I’ve met over the last few days have been pestering me about the kind of underwear you wear after finding out that we’re brothers, you know?”

“What official reception. I’ve only reached here after 10 pm, and Lieutenant Will’s the one who brought me here, and was the one arranged for me to stay here.” Wang Zhong replied while yawning, showing his fatigue. “Don’t drag this call. The camp has a communications blackout at night. If you there’s anything else, just call me tomorrow.”

Wang Zhong did not feel that he was receiving any special treatment. Although he had put on an impressive show during the CHF, he was just an ordinary person within the armed forces. Therefore, he shouldn’t be getting any special treatment here.

Nevertheless, Ma Dong was feeling slightly suspicious about this whole matter. Naturally, the armed forces would not do so. However, the problem was that Wang Zhong wasn’t part of the armed forces, and was still under training. Under such circumstances, people would not casually brush him off like that.

After hanging up his Skylink, Ma Dong was getting an increasingly stronger feeling that something wasn’t right, as this was too unlike the management style of the armed forces. Leaving a good impression on Wang Zhong would be rather helpful in convincing him to join the armed forces or the personal guards of the various great aristocratic families in the future. How could they be willing to give him up?

Was there a surplus of people in the Federation armed forces?

After thinking about it, Ma Dong immediately called Grai’s Skylink.

A soft and soothing music rang out from the other end, sounding rather tranquil and elegant.

Grai had gone back to Tianjing alongside Colby and the others. Although Tianjing city had yet to calm down from the post-CHF fever, Grai was still able to find a way to evade it.

“Senior Ma Dong.” Grai was currently chilling on the sofa, grinning as he greeted Ma Dong.

“Grai, did you receive any orders from the armed forces? The one about the blessed lands. Have you heard about it?”

Being one of the few people with the most outstanding performances in this CHF, especially the display of his supreme Blood Race talent against Mo Ling, he was completely able to suppress anyone within the Casted Soul Stage. If not him being affected by the blood coagulation drug, Grai might have even been able to defeat Mo Ling without sustaining a single injury! This would probably have led to a different outcome in the group battle!

A super-genius like him had received a pretty high evaluation from various parties. The officials had ranked him beneath Carolyn and Vladimir for the sole reason of giving face to the two of them, as Grai definitely wouldn’t lose out in terms of strength. Therefore, Grai should be among the first batch of people to receive the armed forces’ orders.

“I’ve yet to receive anything.” Grai was able to pick up on the underlying question from Ma Dong. Although he only had poor understanding of the matter, it did not pose an issue to him. “Regardless, captain Wang Zhong should be the most highly regarded person among us. Therefore, it is reasonable for him to deserve some kind of special treatment. Furthermore, since the armed forces’ order is genuine, there should be no problem with this.”

What he said was correct. There was no problem after hearing Grai’s explanation, though Ma Dong still felt that something was dubious.

Ma Dong had always trusted the judgment of his 6th sense. When it sensed that something didn’t feel right, it would cause him to be on guard towards any bad thing that was about to happen.

One couldn’t just plan for the best outcome, and contingency plans were always good to have.

Ma Dong was rather clear that Wang Zhong had offended quite a few people, which included the Gui and Zhao Families. The only reason why they did not dare to deal with Wang Zhong earlier was due to the amount of attention CHF was receiving across the entire world.

However, with the CHF over and public opinion waning, the craze had disappeared before even 20 days had passed. At the same time, Wang Zhong’s popularity had also proceeded to drop rapidly, caused in some part by the natural decline after the end of the competition. Also, although the Federation didn’t want to deliberately water down his fame, they definitely didn’t want to deliberately mention and bring him under the limelight. Of the concluding articles written by various big media outlets, the majority of them talked about the main objective of this CHF, which was an embodiment of the magnificence and prosperity of the Federation. Even the occasional mention of individual participants would only involve those within the champion squadron. As the past has proven, it was always the outcome, not the process, that was recorded and passed on.

Due to all of these factors, Wang Zhong’s radiance gradually started to recede, with the attention and his public exposure dropping far below the levels he had during the competition period. Naturally, this had also caused him to lose the “protective bubble” around him.

Furthermore, with the potential and radiance Wang Zhong had displayed, countless powers and influences should be fighting against each other to recruit him. However, other than Carolyn, the majority of the people coming to visit him in the hospital room were from various media outlets and academies, all of them being rather pointless matters like coming over for a student exchange or an interview. There were extremely few people from the Parliament that had come over, much less the 10 Great Families. In the past, he had not put much thought into this, but now, it caused extreme fear to surface within his heart upon remembering!

Could there really be some kind of sinister plan behind this?