Chapter 152 – Undercurrents

Barran gawked and said, “Of course I trust you! Senior, you’re my idol!”

Wang Zhong nodded and said, “Then feel relieved. I just checked the condition of your soul sea and found that it hasn’t yet been destroyed. There is definitely a way to recover it. All I need for you to do is not use your soul power discriminately for the next few days.”

Barran stared blankly at Wang Zhong and asked, “Really?”

“Didn’t you just say you trusted me!?”

“Yes, senior!”

“Eat and sleep lots!”

As the two left, Scarlet supported Wang Zhong and said, “Actually, I think it’s best not to give him this kind of hope.”

Scarlet hadn’t said a word all along. She had told the doctor early on that Tianjing would accept any method and wouldn’t give up. Yet, the doctor said the condition was untreatable and that they could only rely on the heavens. Maybe his luck would work out and his soul sea recovers.

Naturally, in the Federation’s history this had actually happened, but it was like finding a needle in the haystack. It would truly be heaven-defying good luck. But the majority of those that recovered were experts and not someone of Barran’s level.

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

“There is definitely a way!”

Wang Zhong said this determinately. Simba’s stage props in the dream world were illusory, but the Fate Roulette was real. Weapons brought out of the dimensional world were classified as soul tools. They were existences that were as precious as soul beasts. In fact, they were even more precious than that.

Most of them were weapons. For example, they were similar to the Ten Great Divine Weapons. But soul tools like the Fate Roulette was even more precious as soul tools could become stronger as the wielder grows in strength.

Simba had explained before that the Fate Roulette’s Judgement range couldn’t exceed its current capabilities. If Barran’s soul sea completely disappeared then it might be very hard. But right now his soul sea was just cracked and in disarray. The Fate Roulette should be able to do a single Judgement.

The Fate Roulette’s energy level was close to being filled. At most, one or two fights was needed for it to absorb in order to operate.

And if it didn’t work, then there was still next time. If this year was impossible, then there was always next year!

As long as he was strong enough, he would definitely be able to help Barran recover!

Scarlet treated Wang Zhong’s words as just bolstering his own conviction. This method couldn’t just be found in the library.

☀

Two days later, Wang Zhong checked out of the hospital. Ma Dong held a large lump of ricecake in one hand and smacked his face with it. “Brother, don’t do such a dangerous thing in the future! Do you know how lucky you are to have escaped a Level 5 mutated beast!? Right, you should hurry up and go buy some lottery tickets. Remember to use my name!”

Ma Dong was dressed in his flashy white outfit. He had been tossing and turning the past few days until he grew crazy. The Prodigy Society’s Four Great Generals had almost been wiped out! They were all lucky in the end. Emily told him that if Barran hadn’t guarded them at the most critical moment, he probably wouldn’t have been able to see her now.

Regardless of whether it was Emily or Ma Dong, neither was able to give up on Barran. Even so, they did not have a way to cure him.

Perhaps the Assassin Clan could do so after paying an extremely high price. But the problem now was that Ma Dong was just a branch member while Emily was a mere successor. Frankly speaking, she wasn’t even that highly treated.

The clan system within the Federation placed bloodline as the number one ranking criteria. After bloodline was capability, which in turn required a strong bloodline. It was impossible to advance with just capabilities. The clan would nurture the strong, but it definitely won’t increase their authority and position.

Emily was only ‘demoted’ to Tianjing as a way of indulging her.

Others might not know it, but Ma Dong was the most clear about this. He lacked ambition, however, and felt this was a good life. Money was spent happily and he enjoyed his time. But as he grew older, he realized his thoughts had been too childish.

The Assassin Clan was, after all, in charge of the finances and had many channels. Even when he made a few enquiries in all directions, he realized that the price wasn’t something he could bear.

“I’m fine, but you should all go see Barran more,” said Wang Zhong.

Ma Dong shook his head and said, “That fellow is very staunch in his acting but inside he’s still as soft as ever. This isn’t the time to have more people agitating him. But what exactly did you say to him? When I checked up on him yesterday, he looked much better. He ate when he should eat and slept like an obedient baby.”

Wang Zhong simply smiled and answered, “Recluses have their own ingenious plans!”

“Wang Zhong! Congratulations for leaving the hospital. Also, you are officially a member of the Tianjing Squadron!” Scarlet came to congratulate him.

“Wang Zhong, ah… I shouldn’t say this but for the past few days it was Scarlet that took care of you day and night. Sigh. Mimi, if I’m injured you should take care of me like that,” Ma Dong requested with a smile.

Milami smiled faintly as she said, “Then how about I beat you into a pulp so that you can test my gentleness?”

A cold shiver crawled up Ma Dong’s spine and he coughed. “Be a bit more reasonable… Oh! Today’s weather is quite nice!”

Everyone laughed at his reply. When Wang Zhong returned to the Prodigy Society, he felt a close and dear emotion of returning home. Even so, he didn’t embrace the previous easy and comfortable atmosphere. The academy was both a safe haven and, using Teacher Grace’s words, a greenhouse.

Tianjing Academy announced the official members of the squadron.

Captain: Scarlet. Manager: Ma Dong.

Core Line-up: Lily, Colby, Grai, and Emily.

Substitutes: Wang Zhong, Hymin, Milami, and Barran.

These nine people were the confirmed participants. They would continue to scout for more in the upcoming days if needed, and this included Barran’s position. The reason they kept his name there was due to Scarlet wanting to give him a bit of confidence. A person needed confidence in order to live.

But with Reeves and his group’s expulsion, Tianjing Academy really was unable to make ends meet and became worse off.

Once the squadron was confirmed, they started strengthening areas such as strategies for group battles and one-on-one dueling. Group battle was a completely different way of fighting and included making arrangements and pairing up groupmates. Collaborating with other soldiers tested the firmness of an academy’s foundations.

Tianjing Academy lacked this aspect the most!

☀

Distant lands of the Kaiser Empire.

Inside the empire’s conference room, a crowd of powerful individuals had ugly expressions on their faces.

“Your highness, the Stuart Clan is simply bullying us! They gave us a pile of scraps! And every time we fire it, we’ll have to buy cannonballs from them too!” A middle-aged man was roaring furiously. One look at his aura and one could tell he was just a normal human. Within the Kaiser Empire, the population of normal humans was tiny, but they were still able to live on. In the end, however, only those with astonishing capabilities could live comfortably in this place.

“Professor Ranga, please give everyone a detailed presentation of the research report.” Solomon stayed extremely calm and tranquil. Enoch, who stood beside him, smiled faintly as he used a small knife to trim his fingernails.

Professor Ranga stood and started explaining, “Although the batch of rune cannons sent over by the Stuart Clan was made twenty years ago, the design and concept behind them is still exceptionally useful when taking in our current standards. The key question here, however, is with regards to the cannonballs.”

“Professor Ranga, the rune cannon has already been constructed. What’s the use of the cannonball?”

“City Lord Dolon, the most important part of the rune cannon is the cannonball. It is the origin of its might. The core of the cannonball would be like this.” Ranga took out a transparent bottle. Within the bottle floated a lump of light. “This is the origin of the cannonball’s might; dimension energy.”

“Does this mean the Federation has been gathering large quantities of mutated beasts’ dimension crystals just for this?”

“A portion, yes, but it isn’t that simple. Pure dimension crystals don’t have the active might for such ammunition. Instead, they react with a certain type of energy to form this shape. This constitutes the core might of the rune cannon and without it the rune cannon is pitifully weak. At most it would only be able to fight against Level 3 and below mutated lifeforms. But with this power its might increases until it could even defeat a Level 7 mutated creature. There is also an improvement in its range.”

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