Tempest of the Battlefield

Chapter 432: The Hybrid Monster

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

"Of course! I bet both of us will be chosen to join the fleet, but he will keep us away from his secrets."

"I am waiting for the opportunity that I mentioned to you. " Li Shiming nodded.

"Hehe, brilliant! Although your chance is slim, as long as Ma Dutian is still on the fence, you are likely to regain Ma Xiaoru's hand. It's a pity that she is no longer a virgin. I hope you are OK with that…" Porten gave Li Shiming an ugly grin. To him, women were no more than clothing that he could change at will.

Li Shiming didn't reply, so Porten left it at that. He knew Li Shiming too well; he had purposely folded some sharp edges in his comments to anger the other. An angry beast was always easier to manipulate than a calm one after all.

Li Shiming fell for Porten's trap for a second. The series of defeats and setbacks had taken a toll on Li Shiming's confidence and his ability to reason. A few months ago, he would simply shrug off the insult and carry on his business. However today, Porten's sharp words jabbed at his heart like a cold needle.

After the meeting was over, the 3D projection of Porten faded away.

"My lord, should I teach this jerk a lesson?"

Li Shiming waved in dismissal. "He is a barking dog, but I still have the leash in my hand. I need to keep him for use later on."

"As you wish, my lord."

"We need to prepare. I need all information we can get on the Noah's Ark. The more detailed the information, the better."

"Yes, my lord."

A sudden urge to acquire information had come over Li Shiming after his defeat. The situation had gone entirely out of his control right under his nose, yet he had failed to find the culprit based on current information.

Although Porten's proposal regarding Ma Xiaoru was very tempting to him, he reckoned that it was a bad move, not because it was immoral, but because the price was too high. In addition to that, Li Shiming reminded himself that in order to achieve greatness, he needed to learn to control his desires.

Li Shiming was not after Ma Xiaoru's warm embrace, nor the title of the champion; he wanted the whole world. In a way, the chaos stirred up by mighty warriors such as Wang Tong and Patroclus was not entirely a bad thing, since turmoil would bring opportunities.

Thinking on these lines, Li Shiming reckoned that the most urgent task at hand was to sieve through the shreds of evidence, piece together critical information, and decide on a logical and clear path amidst the chaotic situation.

…

"You are interested in the Noah's Ark's expedition?" Zhang Jin asked with astonishment on her face.

"I can't pass up such an exciting adventure, can I." After Patroclus' first ever defeat in his life, he seemed to have changed into a different person.

Patroclus's personality shift had unnerved Zhang Jin. It was well known that most geniuses were eccentric and stubborn. Therefore, Zhang Jin had been quietly observing the Ivantian prince ever since he returned to the Moon, just in case the defeat had done harm to his sanity.

"Alright! Maybe it's a good thing for you to go out and have some fresh air. The Noah's Ark has really caught the Confederation off guard. I was called to assist their investigation as well."

"Hehe, I don't think you can pry anything out of me." Patroclus jested and continued his painting.

He dipped the paintbrush into the water and slapped the wet brush on one leg of the easel violently. "Beat the devil out of it," Patroclus said as he turned to Zhang Jin and gave her an eerie smile. The creepy curl on his lips made her hair stand on their ends.

"Just a happy little tree...right here. " Patroclus said as he completed the final touch, his voice like a whisper of a ghost.

"Here, isn't it pretty?" Patroclus flipped the canvas around and revealed his work to his visitor.

Zhang Jin was horrified. It was a menacing creature—half human and half Zerg, a morbid display of grotesqueness in full glory.

What was Patroclus thinking?

"Jin, you worry too much," Patroclus said after reading Zhang Jin's overwrought face.

"I know you have researched this creature. Have you find anything?"

"It's an advanced living organism. We still have no clue how Zerg was able to produce such a terrifying creature. But, one thing is clear: the bugs know about us more than we do about them. However, it also seems to suggest that the Zergs are losing confidence in the capability of their bodies."

"Touche! But, we can't relax just yet. I don't think their ultimate goal was to scare us with their half-blood hybrid. "

"Since when did you become so interested in the outside world? Why don't you let the military worry about those issues and focus on your own problems?"

Patroclus didn't reply. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the painting and said, "Can't you feel the energy in the brush strokes?"

…

Ever since Michaux came back to Mars, he had locked himself inside the tower of the Divine Masters. Disappointed by his back to back defeats on the Moon and the Earth, his best friend/advisor's disappearance had added more fuel to the anger inside Lie Jian.

Lie Jian thought he would enjoy a period of peace after the ordeals on the Earth and Moon. However, the Ark's expedition had made that impossible. Even if Lie Jian were not yet ready to face Patroclus and Wang Tong, he had to since the family name was at stake. The first thing that Lie Jian would need to take care of was to choose some expedition candidates from the members of House Lie; the more, the better. Since House Ma had revealed the new technology to the public, the other houses would try their best to gain as much information as they could, and House Lie could not afford to lag behind.

Meanwhile, House Ma also knew that it was impossible to stop the other houses from prying. Ma Dutian's strategy was clear: instead of being overly protective of his hard-earned knowledge, he chose to be inclusive and encouraged anyone who was interested in handing in their application. In reality, he knew that it was impossible for the other houses to replicate the new battery, not with the current level of technology. The knowledge that Wang Tong had brought back from the Hall of the Valhalla was at least half a century ahead of the world. It included over twenty breakthroughs in multiple fronts of technology.

The other houses regraded House Ma as a fierce protector of their own secret technologies. However, House Ma never wanted to horde the knowledge to themselves, as they believed that the secrets passed down from the Blade Warrior belonged to the entire human race.

House Ma quickly realized that one month was not enough to prepare for the expedition, as it started to attract the interests of people with over-qualified political status. This was meant to be a military mission, but the fame had driven many politicians, who had never seen a drop of blood in their life, to apply.

The unexpected interested was a double-edged sword to the expedition. On one hand, Ma Dutian was more than happy to accept the generous donations from affluent applicants, since the battery research and construction of the Ark and depleted House Ma's coffer, on the other hand, non-military involvement would undermine the goal of the mission. Fair treatment of all crew members had also become a problem, as the powerful brought up increasingly ridiculous demands. One of the applicants had even demanded to bring his mistress along with him on this "vacation trip." However, Ma Dutian was not worried, because he had full confidence in the capability of the ship.

…

The news about the Ark had immediately piqued Wang Tong's interest. He had always wanted to become a captain of an unsinkable spaceship. The irresistible temptation of the Ark's expedition and the boredom at the Templar's court had caused Wang Tong to make up his mind to return to Ayrlarng.

On the day he left, Wang Tong felt light-hearted as he saw the envious look on Old Fart's face.

"Eat your heart out, Old Fart!"

"Xiaoru, will I be on the list?"

"Don't you worry, I will make sure of that!"

"Haha! Awesome!" Wang Tong shouted out. He wished that he could one day become the captain of the super battle-cruiser.