The Almighty Ring

It had been called at a rather short notice. There was no way Jiang Fei could gather forty players in such a short time and challenge the Heroic Difficulty of the “Bottom of the Bloodpool. After breezing through the Normal and Elite difficulty, Jiang Fei went off to the wild like everyone else, joining their ranks as just another level grinder.

After an entire day, neither the guild members of The Aristocrats nor Smart Tomato returned with any news about Lord tier bosses. There was a good reason for it as well. Most of the players were simply incapable of venturing outside Level 30 maps. They simply would not survive, let alone stumble upon a Level 50 field boss.

When the night ended, Jiang Fei got up and proceeded to the training center to train. Even though Han Tianyu had said he would take him to a gathering, it would only take place in the afternoon. Hence, Jiang Fei spent the entire morning training. When noon came, Han Tianyu arrived to pick up Jiang Fei at the 80th floor of Manda Square, where the training center was.

“Let’s go!” said Han Tianyu, and he took Jiang Fei to top. A helicopter sat waiting on the helipad.

“Woah. Where are we going?” Jiang Fei asked worriedly. What sort of meeting required a helicopter trip?

“Oh, just some island in the Pacific ocean.” Han Tianyu said with a smirk. He gestured to the pilot to start powering up the rotors.

“What the hell? That far? Can this chopper even make it there?”

“Relax little brother. We are just taking the helicopter to a private airport. That’s where we’ll find our real transportation. Don’t worry though. It won’t take more than an hour.”

Several minutes later, Jiang Fei arrived at a militarized air base. There, Jiang Fei finally caught a glimpse at the so-called “faster mode of transportation.”

“Are we really going ride that?” said Jiang Fei, gaping at a fighter jet.

“That’s right. This is Manda Group’s latest prototype! May I present to you the FA41 Fighter Jet, codename Blacksheath. It would give those Westerners a run for their money. This one even has a cloaking system! Up for sale now!” said Han Tianyu, beaming across his face.

“Huh. Shouldn’t you be worried about other competitors?”

Jiang Fei had little understanding about arms trading, but he did know that only faulty or obsolete products would be put up for sale. How could a newly made prototype be sent out into the market?

“Hoho. This baby was once the best in the world. But some happy, recent accident led to a boom in technological evolution. As it is, anything that gets exposed to the masses would quickly turn obsolete. I won’t wait till this baby ends up in the trashcan. Before having such technology exposed, we might as well exploit it to our best. Get it?” Han Tianyu laughed.

“I see! Hoho!” Jiang Fei laughed along and asked no more. The government had very claim over such weapons. Even so, the government had the say in how and where those weapons were being sold. Even if Han Tianyu lost his mind, the government would never allow him to sell top-class weapons to just anyone in the world. If this jet was actually being put up on sale, it had to already be obsolete.

“Hop on! This jet is a two-seater. You can take the backseat. Relax, we’re not going to fly into battle. I’ll be piloting this,” said Han Tianyu, as he jubilantly hopped into the front seat, like a little boy calling shotgun.

“You… You can fly?” said Jiang Fei, his eyes close to popping out of their sockets.

“Naturally. What do you take me for? I spend my free time wisely! Always picking up something new along the way! Stuff that actually served a purpose!” said Han Tianyu, rolling his eyes.

When both of them were finally strapped in, Han Tianyu flipped some switches, did some check-ups before promptly blasting off into the blue sky.

The so-called latest prototype fighter jet was indeed carrying some modern technology. Jiang Fei knew his physics well enough to know that the jet was equipped with some sort of pressure dampening technology that adjusted the air pressure in the pilot cockpit to reduce the immense gravity load on the pilot. Jiang Fei, who never once rode a fighter jet in his life, was feeling rather comfortable.

At that point, Jiang Fei was sure that Han Tianyu would continue to surprise him. When he said that they would be taking a faster mode of transportation, he was not kidding. The jet tore through the sky at Mach 4, and they arrived at their destination within an hour.

When the jet landed, Jiang Fei took a while to regain his bearings. He still could not believe that he had just sat in the cockpit of a fighter jet! All young boys would kill for such an opportunity!

“Brother Yu. Just what kind of meeting are you taking me to?” Jiang Fei asked when he noticed that the surroundings were just… surreal.

The island was not very big. Most of the limited real estate had been taken up by a landing strip. What was left of the tiny island was a small, hotel-like building. Across the edge of the islands, endless streams of battleships were docked. This meeting was definitely not for civilians. There was even two Airship Carriers and a few submarines that had surfaced above the water level.

As Jiang Fei walked a little further, he soon learned that their jet was not all that special. Not far off from the Blacksheath were other fighter jets. One could easily be convinced that the island was a command center for war! Therein was the problem. No two jets were the same. It was rather apparent that they all hailed from different countries. It may serve as a small comfort that none of the fighter jets had been equipped with weapons.

“The meeting? Haha. Well, it’s nothing much. Just a get-together of weapon manufacturers from around the globe. We are all sharing the same cake here. If one takes a slightly larger piece, the others will have less. We’re just checking in on each other and ensuring that the balance is maintained. Wouldn’t want to start firing nukes at each other now, do we?” Han Tianyu laughed.

“Hmph. Han. You’re alone?”

A blonde, middle-aged man approached them as they spoke.

“Well, hello there Mr. Smith. It pleases me to see that you would personally come to greet me!”

Han Tianyu turned around and greeted the man.

“Han! I see that your father has decided to pass the baton to you! No wonder he would allow you to come to this meeting alone!” said Mr. Smith with a smile on his face.

“So it seems! Haha!’ Han Tianyu smiled back.

After exchanging a few words with each other for a while, Smith left. As young as Jiang Fei was, he could tell that the friendly chat between the two had barely contained an all-out, violent altercation.

“Who’s that Smith guy?” asked Jiang Fei.

“The biggest weapons manufacturer in the European Union. Smith Industry’s current C.E.O. He’s one of the main competitors of the Manda Group in Africa.”

“Hm.” Jiang Fei nodded.

“Hah. Back in the days, my father would be the one attending such meetings. However, something came up, and he could not attend. That’s why I’m here. Since you have nothing better to do, I just thought that you might be interested in this sort of thing. That’s why you’re here. Open your eyes a little, take in more of what the world has to offer.”

“What use am I here?” said Jiang Fei as he held up air quotes. “You guys are just weapon merchants!”

“Oh no no no my little brother. You’re too naive! In this world, the sky’s the limit! Ever since the day that you used that mystical, magical potions on me, the world has never stopped trying to get their hands on it. Take the Zhangs for example. Despite the best of our efforts to keep it a secret, they would soon learn about it. Soon, you will be one of us, sitting at the same table. Selling something similar, yet different. I sell weapons, you sell medicines. Yin and Yang. It’s the same sh*t.”

“Like hell, it’s the same!”

Jiang Fei fell silent. He had always assumed that his potions would only reach as far as Han Tianyu and Chen Kaiyin. Even when there was that mishap that drew the Zhang family’s eye to him, it was just a small bump in the road. However, Han Tianyu had just opened up the book of revelations to him. He feared that he had already been marked by others, and there was no escaping it.

The skies were still clear as of now. But what if someone wanted to have his own slice of the cake? What would happen to his family? Could Han Tianyu protect him and his family? That depended on the severity of the situation. Han Tianyu was not all-knowing and all-seeing! Take the Zhangs as an example. Han Tianyu had even forced to cave in and take the short end of the stick. What would happen if a more powerful family appeared?

With the looming threat, Jiang Fei hoped that he could gain more strength soon. That way, he could stand on the same stage with the rest of the world. At the very least, no one would dare threaten him.