Tempest of the Battlefield

“Haha…We are on the same team now. Many people back home want me to fail, so please don’t disappoint me.” Syracuse said hopefully. Wang Tong nodded and then saw the GN weapon specialist Syracuse was talking about. The specialist was of the same age as Wang Tong, but that was not where their similarity ended, as their names also struck a resemblance: his name was Wang Tung.

Wang Tung was wearing a stained lab coat; dark circles haunted around his eyes, and below his eyes was a full set of unruly beard. He went straight to the point as soon as he started talking to Wang Tong.

“In my humble opinion, I could comprehend the theory in my mind, but unable to describe it in any meaningful sentences. It’s rather easy to understand, you see? Allow me to explain it to you. The amplification coefficient of the crystal was in linear correlation with that of the humans’ GN force. This correlation allowed the two to establish a certain kind of synchronization, which will, in turn, construct a force matrix. This force matrix was not very hard to reproduce on an individual basis, but it was nearly impossible to…”

“To mass produce. Yea, yea, I know all of that.” Wang Tong cut Wang Tung short.

“You have heard of the force matrix?” Wang Tung asked incredulously. He had never thought that anyone other than himself would have such a firm grasp on the secret weapon of the Kaedeians.

“Yes. You must have heard of those special crystals. They work on the same principle. Loading mastery spells into the energy crystal was the same process as that of loading GN force. They also face the exact same problem: mass production.”

“Hold on a second. How could you load a spell?” Wang Tung asked attentively.

“First of all, I am a mastery caster. Secondly, I have an ability called the Soul Scan.”

Wang Tung paused again while he chewed on the answer. The quietness inside the room unnerved Syracuse, who was standing outside and having a cup of coffee. He trusted the skill of Wang Tung as a weapon expert, but he was less sure about his temperament. ‘May the Gods be good to him and refrain him from starting an argument with Wang Tong.’ Syracuse still wanted him alive before he had solved the technical difficulties for him.

Worried and curious, Syracuse cracked open the door and peeked through a slit. He needed to be very careful as Wang Tong was his most valued client right now.

There were no arguments or fights; instead, he saw a crystal gun laid on the ground, while Wang Tong was conducting a soul scan on it. Syracuse watched as Wang Tong channeled out his soul energy and pointed the finger at the forehead of Wang Tung, connecting their sea of consciousness. This way, Wang Tung was able to see exactly what Wang Tong was viewing underneath the surface of the crystal gun.

As Wang Tong started the soul scan. Wang Tung was lost in the intricate patterns of energy inside the crystal gun, while he had completely forgotten about the Wang Tong’s incredible control over his power.

After a while, Wang Tung drew a large gulp of air and pulled his mind back into reality. He shot Wang Tong an admiring glance and then said, “I got it!”

Wang Tong grimaced. “I understand what the problem is just like you did, but I have no idea how to fix it.”

“I have brought my lab with me. I won’t leave Maersa until I figure out a satisfactory solution for you!”

Wang Tung’s determination reminded Wang Tong of his soldiers before they walked into a battle of life and death. Wang Tong had given him a problem, and now it was his turn to find the answer.

Without sparing any more words to his host, Wang Tung turned around and started to unpack his lab equipment. All the while, he murmured to himself as if Wang Tong was not there.

Wang Tong backed out of the room quietly, but as soon as he went through the threshold, he was stopped by Syracuse.

“How did it go?”

“Good! I need this man.”

“No way! He works for my family; he can’t stay here. My father is going to kill me if he finds out.” Wang Tong didn’t speak; instead, he stared at Syracuse with a searing glare until the latter’s hair stood on their ends.

“Don’t…Don’t look at me like that! Fine, fine! I will let him stay here. But, be quiet about it! I am taking a huge risk in doing this.”

“If he succeeds, your family would have the rights to the pattern. “Wang Tong said plainly.

“I want fifty-fifty.” Syracuse’s face became serious as soon as he started to talk about business.

“Ten and ninety!” Wang Tong’s expression didn’t change, but his counteroffer had startled Syracuse. This was outright blackmailing!

“Are you kidding me? Even if we were able to mass-produce the weapon, I can’t survive on just ten percent! I have employees, and they all have families to feed. What about thirty and seventy?”

“I meant ten percent for me, and you get the ninety percent.” Wang Tong explained.

Syracuse was shocked again. He took out a cigar and lit it in between his lips as he took time to ponder what exactly Wang Tong was after. He knew that Wang Tong’s too-good-to-be-true offer must come with a caveat.

“What do you want?” Syracuse asked.

“I want only one thing: you need to sell it as cheap as possible so that all human forces can use them. The final battle is near…We need to hurry.”

“Stopping bluffing me! The situation on Mars is very stable. It is true that we are not able to push the Zergs back right now, but it’s not as bad as you make it sound.” Syracuse piped up.

“Both the Earth and the Moon have fallen under the Zergs’ control, leaving Mars the last bastion of human civilization. If the humans on Mars fail to turn the situation around soon, only death awaits them when the Zergs finally join the forces. Perhaps, the human resistance on Mars will not even last that long. The dark lord hasn’t even revealed one-tenth of his real military might to the humans, since he is still waiting for the completion of his master plan.”

“What plan?” Syracuse asked curiously.

“Perhaps there are still people out there hoping that the struggle between Moye and Patroclus would provide a turning point for the human to strike back. I call them delusional dreamers! The Zerg that had burrowed into Patroclus’s chest was the Zerg’s highest commander, the Mother Supreme.

Therefore, the conflict between Patroclus and Moye would never escalate any further. Moye’s plan right now was to improve the abilities of his dark ones using human as a practice target. If he wanted to, he could raise an army big enough to overwhelm the entire planet. ”

“You mean, Moye is using us humans to level up his soldiers in order to prepare for his final showdown with Patroclus?”

“It’s a competition between two of the evolution branches. To the Zergs, only two things really matter… evolution and the destruction of the others. The general direction of their evolution train was already set, which was to evolve closer to a human. However, somewhere along the line, the original path forked into two branches. But in the end, only one branch can be adopted by the Zergs. This war is no longer between the humans and the Zergs. It is a war among the humans, immortals, and the dark ones. So far, the humans have been the weakest of the three parties.”

“What makes it even worse for the humans is that some of us still haven’t realized how bad their situation has gotten.” Syracuse puffed a cloud of smoke and then said. Wang Tong’s words had rendered him at a loss. Truth to be told, humans on Mars lived a much more comfortable life than their earth and moon counterparts. Over time, they came to believe that there was something special about themselves that had made them thrive during the crisis. However, their wishful thinking was far from the truth. As the weakest of the three parties, both the other two factions had treated the humans like a practice target. So much so, that Moye didn’t even want to spend his best soldiers on them, as he had deemed the humans unworthy.

“I see where you are coming from. I can try to talk to my old man back home. But, I doubt his old mind will accept your idea.” Syracuse announced.

Although Syracuse was a businessman, he was a citizen of Mars first. At that end, he knew very well where his duty lied.

Wang Tong cracked a smile. “Let’s focus on the Energy crystal gun first. If we are able to achieve mass production, we will be able to increase the number of human soldiers by a few folds.”

“As soon as our friend finishes his research, I can help you contact more resourceful families. I assume that you don’t mind House Lie joining our venture, do you?”

“Of course not!” Wang Tong nodded. “Meanwhile, I will try to create a perfect storm for the Zergs while we wait. ”

“Haha, I will take you up on that.” Syracuse laughed. He wondered what kind of storm Wang Tong was brewing this time.