Chapter 569: New Beginnings

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong did not let his students enter Darkniss without taking precautions. He had a student drive a Spider, with Sha Ya onboard. Ye Chong's orders to Sha Ya were simple – eliminate all creatures within a 10 kilometre radius around the entrance of Darkniss. Ye Chong believed that with Sha Ya's capabilities and the Spider's firepower, this should not be too hard to accomplish.

If Sha Ya could drive a Spider, she would be even stronger in battle. Sha Ya might not be able to pilot a mech due to lacking physical fitness, but the Spider would not be too hard for her. It seemed that she would have to be trained for the Spider soon. Right now, every form of resource was precious.

Ye Chong and his students all waited at the entrance to Darkniss.

Three hours later, Sha Ya returned. Ye Chong knew that the work was done. He quickly ordered for everyone to go through the entrance.

It was a strange looking spatial window. Many of the students were intimidated by it, but they dared not go against Ye Chong's orders. In the end, all the students entered the spatial window.

Ye Chong was the last one to enter Darkniss. Celest's dimension keystone would affect the spatial window, so he had to keep Celest back into its own dimension and cross through the eerie black circle that was suspended in midair. There was a weird sensation the moment he crossed the boundary between spaces, but Ye Chong did not have time to study it in detail.

Once in Darkniss, Ye Chong found all the students huddled together nervously. The dark and mysterious Darkniss was now before their very eyes.

Even the bold and daring Duan Qian looked a little unsettled. He approached Ye Chong while his eyes wandered and asked, "Teacher, what is this place?"

The students were now officially Ye Chong's personal security detachment. By right, they should address Ye Chong as "sir". However, a few of them, like Duan Qian, still called Ye Chong "teacher". Ye Chong never cared about titles, and so he did not bother to correct them.

"Darkniss," Ye Chong replied plainly.

"Darkniss?" Duan Qian paled instantly. He gulped heavily and asked, "Teacher, why are we here?"

"That's right, Sir, it's too dangerous here, let's turn back."

"Sir, only Level 7 or 8 shooters can come here!"

The students all spoke up, tensed. They wanted to leave right away. Darkniss was no tourist attraction. It was the most dangerous place in the world. Any random creature in this place could tear the army apart. None of them imagined that Ye Chong would bring them here to Darkniss.

Ye Chong ignored their outbursts and looked towards Sha Ya.

Sha Ya nodded. "The perimeter is clear."

Ye Chong nodded slightly, and then turned towards his students.

"Fall in."

Ye Chong commanded softly without expression. He was not loud, but the coldness in his voice went straight to the hearts of his students.

The rowdy crowd went silent immediately.

The students squirmed under Ye Chong's gaze. They realized immediately that their master was angry! In the next moment, all of them scurried towards their positions.

Their training was still worth something. In just a few moments, five groups in formation presented themselves before Ye Chong.

It was silent once again.

All the students were nervous. If it was Instructor Liao who got offended, the consequences would be unthinkable. However, even the short tempered Instructor Liao was always respectful towards Ye Chong. To the students, Ye Chong was even more intimidating than Instructor Liao. All the students kept their mouth shut.

"You are all members of my security detachment. You are in no position to disobey my orders. You have two choices – to obey or disobey me. I will kill anyone who disobeys me." Ye Chong's announcement was delivered quietly and flatly. Even so, he made his point very clearly.

All the students were shaken by his words. They regretted for all the complaints they were making earlier.

Indeed, their master was even scarier than Instructor Liao!

Sha Ya stood expressionless beside Ye Chong. However, she was also unsettled by Ye Chong. The killing aura from Ye Chong was unlike any she had encountered before. She had her share of vicious and ruthless shooters, but Ye Chong's aura was markedly different from theirs.

His was calm and unassuming, but solid and undeterred. It was clear that he was a veteran who had been through a lot.

"From today onwards, we will set our base here. From now on, you will live here. I will teach you how to fight, and provide you with new weapons. However, this is Darkniss. Only the strong will survive."

Ye Chong explained the situation to his students clearly, leaving no illusion.

When he was done, he turned to leave. He knew that the students needed time to digest the information. Ye Chong approached the weaponsmiths, who were also white as a sheet. The weaponsmiths were all trembling with fear, with the exception of Xi Yan. Xi Yan was not unafraid, but he was confident that his teacher did not force all of them here to Darkniss simply to die.

"Gentlemen, we have no time to be scared. We need to start working now, unless you want to camp out here in the wilderness tonight," Ye Chong said to them, and turned to leave. Xi Yan was the first to react, following Ye Chong from behind. The rest of the weaponsmiths exchanged looks, and slowly came to accept their situation. They still looked scared, but they all got up and followed Ye Chong.

Ye Chong had originally planned to have about eight weaponsmiths to help him, but now there were 30 of them, including him. Even though the 20 young weaponsmiths were only of average abilities, they were still precious manpower for Ye Chong.

The more energetic and resolved students, like Duan Qian, realized what they must do very quickly. They started to unpack the load from the 40 Spiders. Ye Chong had already prepared many tools for them. The machines were too complicated for Duan Qian and the other students to understand, but the weaponsmiths learned how to use them quickly. They would use the tools to build simple laser cutting machines.

The weaponsmiths were surprised by the fancy new tools. This helped to soothe their fear and boost morale. They immersed themselves in their work soon enough.

As for the design of their base, Ye Chong had already drawn up the plans in his manor.

The simple laser cutting machines could be fitted onto the training vehicles and used to cut huge rocks into blocks of five metres by two metres. Once they got familiar with the machines, each block would take only 15 seconds. The simple laser cutting machines were easy to maneuver. Ye Chong taught his students how to use them, and then they got down to business.

They cut out blocks of rock from the cliffs nearby, and used the clamps fitted into their training vehicles to move the blocks back to base.

Here in the darkness of Darkniss, the first signs of large scale human activity emerged.

The armed Spider was given to Sha Ya. Her task was to learn how to maneuver the Spider, and then patrol the perimeter to kill any wild animals that tried to trespass.

Work progressed quickly. In just seven days, they were nearly done. Ye Chong used the binding agent derived from candygrass to glue the blocks of rocks together. Just a tiny amount was enough to keep the rocks firmly in place.

Their base looked like a standard stronghold. It was hexagonal when seen from above. This stronghold constructed with rocks was only for temporary use, but Ye Chong did not neglect in its functionalities. The stronghold could accommodate the entire army, with room for specialized laboratories and mechanical workshops. There were also three physical training grounds and 15 standard mech training grounds. There was an infirmary as well. There were only a few types of medication available, and no advanced equipment, but Ye Chong had still allocated space for the infirmary.

The stronghold was heavily armed. Ye Chong installed many laser weapons for the base. All the weapons of the stronghold were connected to photon circuits, even though it was time consuming to do so. When Ye Chong first started designing the base, he had been vexed by the problem of armaments. The safety of the base was of the highest priority. Without enough firepower, it was impossible to survive in Darkniss.

Accurate aiming could be achieved if he had sufficiently sophisticated photon processors and holographic scanning system. Ye Chong did not have both. Hence, he had to switch tactics. He recalled the battle around Yi Ju, where laser weapons were used. Even the powerful red-tailed beasts were curbed by the laser weapons, provided the weapons were powerful enough and in great numbers.

The laser weapons did not require sophisticated photon processors and holographic scanning systems. Instead, it relied on wide coverage attacks at high energy intensity. The disadvantage to this approach was that it was highly energy consuming. Fortunately, Ye Chong did not have to worry about energy supply.

Energy crystals came cheap in Eastern Cloud. He purchased a sizable amount of energy crystals without spending a fortune. The energy crystals that he brought with him for this operation were enough to last them quite some time. Apart from that, once they established a firm position in Darkniss, they would have enough power to return to Eastern Cloud as an independent force. By then, it did not matter if they wanted to purchase or resort to other means …

Either way, it would not be so difficult! That was Ye Chong's conclusion. Once his stronghold was armed, the lasers would cover all directions around the base.

Ye Chong finally relaxed a little with the weapons installed. All the students felt relieved as well. After sleeping overnight in their training vehicles for the past week or so, they could now rest within the safety of the stronghold. The structure was much larger than they thought. Such a massive stronghold was nearly the size of a small town. It was something for them to feel proud about, having built the stronghold themselves.

Now, they felt more hopeful for their futures!

No one had ever built such a massive and grand structure in such a short time. They thought that Ye Chong was truly a man of wonders. What other miracles would he bring to their lives?

The students could not wait to find out!

Ye Chong took out everything he kept in Celest's dimension keystone. All the weaponsmiths stared at the great variety of equipment that Ye Chong conjured out of nowhere. When Ye Chong declared that they could use the equipment, the weaponsmiths, including Xi Yan, cheered with joy.

Everyone was now in the stronghold. Flat floorboards and cosy rooms awaited them. After all the hard work, the students were all smiles at their new home.

Ye Chong was not satisfied with the rock structure of the stronghold, since the rocks did not offer enough protection. Once they could extract metals on a large scale, Ye Chong would fit the rocks with thick metal shields. That would make this a real stronghold. When that happened, even the red-tailed beasts would not threaten Ye Chong.

After a resting for half a day, Ye Chong summoned everyone.

From this moment onwards, the students must learn. They must learn how to fight and improve their capabilities. The weaponsmiths must learn new mechanical concepts.

Ye Chong demonstrated how to use a photon processor. Everyone had their own photon processor. These bio-photon processors were not very powerful, but they were more than enough for the students to learn how to use the machines. Here in the stronghold, all the photon processors were connected, and can be used for communication. Ye Chong had prepared basic course material from a wide variety of subjects and stored them in the photon processors. The students would study in this way. That was how Ye Chong studied when he was in the Five Galaxies.

No one had ever seen such an advanced way of teaching. Only Xi Yan knew about it when Ye Chong gave him memory chips and a learning machine earlier.

It was like living in a dream. Everything was new and intriguing. The students soon forgot about the darkness in Darkniss, and instead bean to think about the warmth and brightness in the stronghold.

Next, Ye Chong announced that the first 100 students who mastered the course material would get their own mechs.

The students were all invigorated by this reward. They already knew what a mech as, and looked forward to being a mech pilot as described in their photon processors. The peaceful stronghold was now filled with determined students who were eager to learn. The weaponsmiths had a better appreciation of what was offered to them. They studied everyday with great diligence. All the knowledge in the photon processors was new to them, and far advanced than anything they had learned. How could they afford to waste such a wonderful opportunity?

Just as everyone was absorbed in their learning journey, Ye Chong visited the nearby Lava River unnoticed. The stronghold was positioned strategically. It was near the entrance to Darkniss on one side, and separated from the rest of Darkniss by the Lava River, a natural form of defense. It would take an extraordinarily powerful creature like the snowshade leopard to cross the Lava River, which stretched a few dozen meters across.

Bright red lava flowed sluggishly in the Lava River. When the lava encountered a drop in the riverbed, it would crash down and splash like magnificent fireworks. Simply standing by the River, feeling the heat waves coming from it, made breathing difficult for Ye Chong.

Ye Chong watched the lava slowly flowing pass him, where bright red wavy stripes would frequently emerge. Lava was formed when rocks melted. Metals would often be melted in the process as well. These metals in liquid form were responsible for the bright red stripes.

Ye Chong planned to extract these liquid metals. If he could figure out a way to extract them, they would be metals of high purity. Extracting the metals in this way would also save time, effort and energy.

However, the problem of extraction remained to be solved.

After observing for a while more, Ye Chong returned to the stronghold.

He went to his lab and began to work. This went on for three days. When he finally emerged from the lab, he called for Xi Yan and a few of the younger weaponsmiths.

The group went to the Lava River in a Spider. Xi Yan and his colleagues had no idea what Ye Chong was thinking of.

Ye Chong unloaded all the things in the Spider and directed his men to work. After two hours, they constructed a small building by the River. The building housed a photon processor and holographic scanning system, with complicated piping works and a confusing control console.

They then used an excavator to dig three trenches about a hundred metres from the building. Each trench was a hundred meters long and 15 metres deep. A thick pipeline ran along the building, connecting to three metre-wide ditches at the farther end. These three ditches continued downhill at a 30-degree slope, until they were connected with the three trenches, respectively.

"What is this?" Xi Yan looked at the strange building by the Lava River, and could not figure it out. The heat from the Lava River made him uncomfortable.

"It's a liquid metal auto-extractor." Ye Chong pushed the activation button.

The pipes that reached above the Lava River lowered themselves into the River. Then, bright red liquid was pumped out through the thick pipeline, flowing down along the first ditch until it reached one of the trenches. Through the holographic scanning system, they could track exactly where the liquid metal was.

Suddenly, a mechanical claw suspended above the River lowered itself into the lava and emerged again with a black colored object the size of a human head.

Ye Chong saw Xi Yan's confusion, and explained, "That's solid metal. It's melting point is too high for the lava to melt it. This kind of metal is even more valuable." Xi Yan and the other weaponsmiths began to understand what they were seeing. Ye Chong added, "The mechanical claw and the pipeline are all made of metals with high melting points."

Xi Yan and his team were all interested in the auto-extractor. They went inside the building and studied the machinery inside, marvelling at the details of the structure. Ye Chong saw how absorbed they were, and had to return to the stronghold himself. He left the Spider behind for them to return with. Ye Chong found that Spider to be an excellent means of transport within Darkniss. They were easy to use, and did not move too quickly, perfect for beginners.

The liquid metal auto-extractor was linked to the main photon processor back at the stronghold. Once a trench was filled up, it would redirect the liquid metal to the next trench. When the liquid metal in the first trench had cooled down, Ye Chong would send people here to retrieve the solidified metal block.

The solid metal block was still a mixture of different metals, and had to be further processed. However, this was much easier than mining for metal ores directly.

On the third day, the first trench was filled up. Ye Chong had to send 50 training vehicles to move the huge solid metal block back to the stronghold.

The metal block was stored in the warehouse. Ye Chong had not built his metal isolator machine yet, but he ordered the students to cut the metal block into many smaller pieces.

Time was precious. All the weaponsmiths were assigned to help Ye Chong build this huge machine.

One of the many devices Ye Chong obtained from the base on Spectre was a metal isolator, but it was only suitable for laboratory experiments, not for large scale processing. Ye Chong had to build a larger metal isolator based on the smaller version, or his goal to extract metals on a large scale would never be realized.

Ye Chong was beginning to appreciate how hard it was to start from scratch!

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