150 Surprised.
Shi Lang and Amelia lay next to each other wearing their sleeping pajamas. The girl asked, “Why are you smiling at the ceiling?”
The boy did not say anything but hugged her close to himself and said, “The nano tracker found something nice.”
Amelia was blushing but she woke up from her stupor when she heard his words, “She asked, “What is it?”
The boy did not reply, he connected the team using the nanobot communicator and said, “The tracking was successful. The queen was a body double, dancing on the instructions of the real queen.”
The people were surprised, Darcx asked a few questions and so did Jenkins, however, Shi Lang ignored their non-sense. Rosa Blues asked, “Shi Lang, what do you think the queen intends to do.”
Shi Lang replied, “She intends to play it safe. I would like to check up on a few more things before we begin infiltration.” his tone was solemn and everyone understood that he was not joking. This was something big.
The people nodded in understanding. Shi Lang said, “We do not have any plans for the morning, I would like all of us to be ready and meet in the corridor, time to scout the place.”
Jenkins nodded and said, “Oh, finally some activity. Shall I wear black?”
Shi Lang sighed and said, “I like you more when you were a cold, choked asshole than what you have become now, Jenk.”
The people laughed and Jenkins fell silent for a few minutes. They have developed a good bond during the training and the journey, so they were aware of the circumstances each other a bit better. After speaking Shi Lang closed the communication channel and hugged Amelia closer to him.
Amelia buried her head in his chest, and surrounded by silence the two people, went to sleep. The night was calm, Zysha was laying beside the bed, and suddenly her ears flickered. However, when she raised her head, she could not see anyone. Thinking of something she yawned and stood up from her spot changing her posture and lying down again.
In the meantime, she said, “Lang, someone is inside the room, wake up.” telepathically in Shi Lang’s brain.
The young man replied, “I am aware since the door was opened. Relax, they are just probing.”
He could guess who it was that had entered the room. The medicine he took back in Ragnarok camp, enhanced his ability. Shi Lang was able to see things very clearly. In his mind, a three-dimensional model of the whole room appeared. He could use the echolocation and tell that the person in the room was a lady.
She was using some sophisticated tech similar to the stealth armor to completely hid herself physically. Her steps were not as slow as those of Shi Lang and the rest of the people when they used the same tech in Terran standards.
After sensing the person, Shi Lang did not act hastily. He activated the nanobot communicator and placed one of his hands on his forehead and contacted Rosa Blues. The lady was a veteran and she slept very lightly. When she heard the message, replied quickly.
It was in the wee hours this incident took place, Rosa Blues dressed in sports gear and walked out of her room. The guards in the corridor saw her and immediately became alert. One of the guards asked, “My Lady, do you need help with something?”
Rosa Blues smiled at the armored lady and said, “Thank you, but can you please help me wake up the kids, they all need to be up and get ready for daily practice. Space travel has hampered our muscle control and we need to workout in normal gravity again to restore complete control.”
The armored soldier asked, “My Lady, were they all not fine yesterday?”
Rosa nodded and said, “That is because I gave them some massage on the ship. We were aware that it will be a busy day. So, I had to do what I could, if they were to fall in front of her majesty, it will be very bad.”
The soldiers nodded to her and they began to knock on the doors to wake up the children. One of the armored guards asked, “My Lady, why do you wake them up so early?”
Rosa smiled and said, “Discipline is necessary. Is it not? They will only know the value of rest when they sweat their lives out.”
The guards nodded and they knocked at the doors. One of the guards knocked on Shi Lang’s door. They heard a voice from inside, “Coming.”
…
Shi Lang sat up with a jerk as if a dead man came out of the coffin. The lady inside the room froze in her tracks. She glanced at the door and Shi Lang could sense the density of her glare. He said, “Amy, wake up, lazy bones, Instructor Rosa is calling.”
He gently patted Amelia on her face, the girl rubbed her eyes as she woke up. She was about to say something when Shi Lang pecked her lips and whispered in her ears, Good morning, my love. You go to the bathroom, I will open the door.”
Before the girl could even react, Shi Lang was already off the bed and opened the door slightly. He asked, “Yes.”
Rosa said, “Get up, time for daily exercise.” her voice was stern. Her status was that of the instructor in the team, so even if he was the leader, some of her arrangements had to be followed, and this one was something he asked her to do for him.
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Five minutes, Instructor.”
Amelia had already entered the bathroom, but she did not say anything as Zysha had told her about the presence of the lady inside the room. Five minutes later, Amelia and Shi Lang moved outside the room with Zysha in tow.
The rest of the people were already present there. They nodded to Shi Lang and then they went outside the palace under the guidance of their protection detail. Rosa asked, “Is there any training area?”
The soldier nodded and said, “Yes, madam, there is one. Please follow me.”
Rosa nodded and gestured to the people to follow her and they quickly came to the training field outside the palace. At this moment the place was empty. The instructor smiled and said, “Good, Ace, lead the team, I want you all to finish ten laps of this place.”
Shi Lang almost gawked at her. The training field in front of him was as big as four football grounds placed together. With a sigh, the young man said, “Let’s go. The last one is the lazy ass.”
That said, he led the four people inside the fields to run. The guard detail allocated for them was shocked. They did not expect the instructors to be so cruel. However, when they saw how the people were running, they were surprised.
The movements of the hands were completely flawless, and the five ‘students’ were sorted in a neat queue, they moved like a unit. The guards were surprised.
When the team was out of the earshot, Jenkins asked, “What happened?”
Shi Lang replied, “Night visit, female, advanced stealth tech, trained movements.”
Quinn asked, “Motive?”
Shi Lang replied, “Unknown.”
The mood of the people became solemn. Darcx said, “We need to have at least something to track her.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “The floor of my room is covered with Nanobots. They will not break when stepped on, but they will stick to the people I wish them to.”
Amelia smiled at his meticulousness. Jenkins asked, “When can we track her down?”
Shi Lang replied, “After we finish this session. Like heck, the head teacher has not changed a bit.”
The rest of the team chuckled and they began to move faster. By the time they were done running, a lot of palace guard soldiers had come over to practice. Shi Lang and the team stood in front of the instructor and they all had some ragged breathing.
Rosa said, “Self-defense, battle royale, the aim is to stand till the end.” her voice was unfeeling.
Shi Lang said, “Instructor, this battle royale, are you sure?”
Rosa nodded and said, “I am sure, get going now. The combat area is limited to thirty meters in each direction, one inch out, and you will be eliminated.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” said the team. They looked at each other and Amelia asked, “Wooden Knife?”
Everyone agreed. Shi Lang turned to look at the guards and asked, “Madam, can we get some wooden knives to practice?”
The lady nodded and cast a gaze to a subordinate, who god knows from where brought up wooden knives. She said, “here.”
Shi Lang nodded and said thanks before accepting the knives. He distributed it to all of them and then he said, “Let’s go.”
They all walked to relatively open space. Their movements attracted the attention of the palace guard troops in the field. After they all stood facing each other, they all took ten steps each. Rosa said, “Begin.”
Shi Lang had Jenkins to his left, then Quinn, Darcx, and Amelia forming a pentagon. As soon as Rosa said, “Begin.”
The people charged at each other. The palace guards were surprised by the method of fighting.