Section 585: Reinforcement
The six-toed Red-Tailed Beast seemed quite wary of the fortress, only watching it from a distance. After a little over ten seconds, it began to turn away.
Ye Zhong was only curious about one thing regarding this Red-Tailed Beast: where did it come from? Killing a single Red-Tailed Beast wouldn't serve much practical purpose. But if he could find out where they came from, that would hold far greater value for him. However, it seemed to possess intelligence. Should he kill it or not? If the leader of a Red-Tailed Beast "tribe" was intelligent, then eliminating them would become much more difficult. Ye Zhong was confident he could kill it; his stamina had mostly recovered. When piloting the Han Jia, he had been able to kill a six-toed one, let alone now with the Chen, which was more powerful than the Han Jia, and himself, who had grown much stronger.
But doing so would make it very difficult to trace where this Red-Tailed Beast came from!
After just a few seconds of contemplation, Ye Zhong quickly made his decision.
With an expressionless face, Ye Zhong ordered: "Dispatch one hundred cadets with scores of ninety-five or above in mecha control. Have them follow it and report any developments immediately."
"Yes, sir." An Biluoqi swiftly went to arrange it. He was most familiar with the cadets and knew exactly who to assign for such a mission.
The mecha, already on standby, immediately took off from the fortress, closely tailing the Red-Tailed Beast. Pursuit required relatively strong mecha control skills; it demanded that the pursuer have a good sense of distance and the ability to quickly anticipate the target's next move.
After arranging all this, Ye Zhong finally turned around.
"What are you doing here?" Ye Zhong looked at Rui Bing.
Rui Bing, calm and composed, replied softly, "It's because of Ali Yuede. He was conducting a space experiment, and a minor problem occurred."
"Are they all right? Did they find Mu Shang?"
Rui Bing nodded, then shook her head. "Sang Pu and the others are all fine. The development of Yiju Star is progressing rapidly now, and they are all very busy. Did you also lose contact with Mu Shang? Before I left, they still had no news of Mu Shang."
"We were separated in the Grey Valley," Ye Zhong said.
Sang Kan, standing nearby, suddenly understood and couldn't help but interject, "So the young master was in the Grey Valley? No wonder we couldn't find you. Everyone has been searching for you; we've scoured almost the entire He Yue Star Domain but found no trace. The passage to the Grey Valley has been occupied by Red-Tailed Beasts, so we didn't go there."
Ye Zhong nodded, his gaze falling upon Ali Yuede. "You are Ali Yuede? The space scientist?"
"Yes, sir," Ali Yuede replied, having vaguely heard of this lord and naturally knowing what attitude to adopt. After all, the upper echelons of Yiju Star were his sole investors.
"What experiment were you conducting?" Ye Zhong was curious. What kind of experiment could send them safely to Darknett?
"We are conducting experiments on spatial windows, and I've discovered that by applying high-intensity energy stimulation, we can generate spatial windows. My dream is to create a faster and more convenient method of travel. The principle behind my experiment is..."
Once Aliyode started talking about his experiments, he immediately became animated and滔滔不绝. Ye Zhong didn't interrupt him, instead listening very patiently, occasionally asking a few questions, which made Aliyode even more delighted and energized.
"So why did you have an accident?" Ye Zhong asked.
Aliyode shrugged. "Because I didn't know the Ice Maiden was wearing a space button."
"Do space buttons affect spatial windows?" Ye Zhong's heart suddenly stirred. He remembered how he had been sent from the Ghost Star base to the Liang'an Forest. Also, when he first entered Darknese, Xuān Nìng had told him that space buttons have a very strong influence on spatial windows.
Ye Zhong immediately decided to let Aliyode continue his research. Perhaps he would find their way back. Moreover, he already had an assistant in mind for Aliyode—Shā Yà. After breaking through to the ninth level, Shā Yà could clearly perceive changes in spatial windows, which would be a tremendous help for a spatial scientist.
"Where did you get this tear stone?" Ye Zhong took out the tear stone the size of a little finger. This tear stone was very large, even among the tear stones in his possession, it was considered extremely rare. Darknese did not produce energy crystals, a fact he had long verified. To alleviate energy pressure, Ye Zhong had spent considerable effort searching for energy crystals, but the results had been very disappointing—so far, he had found nothing.
Now, discovering a tear stone left him quite incredulous. That the tear stone had attracted so many wild beasts, even powerful ones like the Night Snow Leopard and the Red-Tailed Beast, didn't surprise him.
He thought back to when he had obtained the tear stone—that pitch-black spatial window, and that eight-toed Red-Tailed Beast. Tear stone... spatial window... Red-Tailed Beast—was there some connection between these three?
Mèi Wù said with awe, "A few days ago, I was on my way home from an expedition when I discovered many animal corpses along the road. I found it strange, so I followed the direction indicated by the corpses all the way to the lakeside. There, I found two two-legged snake-lizards fighting over this stone. Out of curiosity, I snatched it. But I didn't pay much attention to it afterward, as I didn't recognize it. I never expected to later be pursued by a pack of wild beasts, and it was only by chance that I encountered this young lady and her companions, who came to my aid."
She could naturally see the unusual relationship between Ruì Bīng and Ye Zhòng, and by extension, her attitude toward Ruì Bīng became respectful. The strong rule—this is true everywhere, and among shooters, it's even more evident. The status and overall standing of high-level shooters and low-level shooters are not on the same level.
In Mèi Wù's eyes, Ye Zhòng's combat prowess far exceeded her imagination. Witnessing Ye Zhòng kill a Night Snow Leopard with her own eyes, and even hold off three Night Snow Leopards for twenty minutes, had deeply震撼ed her. Everything in the fortress seemed to challenge the limits of her imagination, and its creator was none other than this冷峻 young man before her.
Twelve hours later, the students tracking the Red-Tailed Beast returned. They reported that not far from the Sī Cǎo Hǎi, there was a very narrow fissure, and the Red-Tailed Beast had eventually entered it. They provided the exact coordinates of the fissure, making it easy to find next time.
Later, Ye Zhòng specifically went to check out that fissure. The entrance was very隐蔽, extending straight into the Sī Cǎo Hǎi. However, since he couldn't see inside, Ye Zhòng didn't enter. But he had already made up his mind: once the time was right, he would personally lead a team to explore it. He strongly suspected that the Night Snow Leopards and Golden Birds had emerged from this very fissure.
The addition of Ruì Bīng and the others wasn't just an enhancement in strength for Ye Zhòng; it also had a very subtle influence. Ye Zhòng only vaguely sensed this subtle effect, but upon careful consideration, he couldn't quite figure it out. Ye Zhòng quickly abandoned this highly difficult question with a very low probability of success and turned back to his grand development plan.
None of the students' mechas had space buttons. Now, with Aliyode, this problem was easily solved. For a spatial scientist with profound expertise in spatial studies, this really wasn't an issue. Ye Zhòng also gave Aliyode all the spatial science-related materials from the three chips Quì had given him. Aliyode treasured them like gold, diving right in.
Ye Zhòng ordered Shā Yà to assist Aliyode. Although she had nothing to do every day now, she remained calm and composed. Compared to when she was at the eighth level, her mental state had improved significantly.
The construction of the宇宙舰 was still ongoing; the project wasn't interrupted because of this incident. Supplies continued to pour in from Southland, which also allowed Ye Zhòng to proceed without worries about logistical support.
The training progress of these several hundred shooters was quite rapid, as marksmanship training came very easily to them. Their physical training was minimal, focusing more on mastering the use of various highly complex weapons and executing tactical coordination among teammates.
Ye Zhong had no intention of having them pilot mechas, as their future posts would be on warships.
Rui Bing was like Ye Zhong’s shadow, following him closely wherever he went. She rarely spoke, her expression always calm, and she wore a snow-white training suit that gave her an extraordinary presence. The relationship between Ye Zhong and Rui Bing was now well-known throughout the fortress.
The training suit Rui Bing wore now was no longer the one she had on when crossing the Vast Silk Grass Sea. Instead, it was a gift brought by Jin Weidong when he returned specifically to meet the lady of the house. Even the usually expressionless Rui Bing couldn’t help but show a hint of delight upon seeing these snow-white training suits. Ye Zhong’s other subordinates were both envious and impressed by Jin Weidong.
With an impassive face, Ye Zhong ordered Jin Weidong to bring back a few more sets. Though Rui Bing’s expression remained calm, perceptive individuals like Jin Weidong could see the genuine joy hidden beneath her cool demeanor.
Sang Kan, meanwhile, spent most of his time assisting Ali Yuede, but during his free hours, he often sparred with Duan Qian. Duan Qian suffered terribly under Sang Kan’s relentless training, often left battered and bruised. Yet, Duan Qian’s resilience was remarkable—he never gave up, no matter how many times he was defeated. Sang Kan secretly admired this tenacity and began offering more dedicated guidance, leading to Duan Qian’s rapid improvement.
Mei Wu received the spider that Ye Zhong had long promised her and also met the Shu Mo’er sisters. However, her relationship with them was quite distant. After asking a few questions, she left. As a ninth-level shooter, despite Ye Zhong’s immense strength, she had no intention of acknowledging him as her master. Still, she felt it was fortunate that her two students had found such a powerful master.
The Shu Mo’er sisters had changed significantly. They now seemed no different from ordinary students. Among the trainees, they had many admirers, but it was unclear what they truly thought—they paid no attention to any advances. Even the once cheerful and smiling Shu Man’er now wore a cold expression in such matters.
The warship continued to be refined, a massive project that required considerable time. Fortunately, Darkness was rich in metal resources; otherwise, completing such a colossal undertaking would have been impossible. Even so, it would still take some time.
In addition to the warship, the fortress’s second round of upgrades was also in full swing. The trainees were currently using the first batch of mechas, "Elegy of Frost," which were made from ordinary alloys due to material constraints.
Now, with several additional rare mineral deposits under Ye Zhong’s control, he was able to produce a new batch of high-performance alloys for upgrading the mechas, even while constructing the warship. Ye Zhong even managed to find several extremely rare metals to enhance Rui Bing’s "Guardian."
All tasks proceeded in an orderly manner. The weapon craftsmen led by Xi Yan were no longer the novices they once were. Having been tempered by numerous large-scale projects, they had grown rapidly.
The conflict between Dongyun Kingdom and Xihan Kingdom remained deadlocked, which was good news for Ye Zhong. However, he no longer needed to cater to Su Men·Xiyehua’s whims. Ye Zhong was not an ambitious person, but that did not mean he was willing to remain subordinate to others.
The trainees trained with intense dedication. Having witnessed formidable creatures like the Red-Tailed Beasts, they were acutely aware of their own shortcomings. During the previous tracking mission, one trainee had nearly lost his life to a Red-Tailed Beast’s arrow-like tail. Their inability to pose a threat to such powerful creatures left them feeling utterly inadequate.
Tested in real combat, they began developing a unique and effective combat style.
For commanders like An Biluoqi, the focus was on practicing volley fire, while ordinary trainees had one simple task: train their shooting skills relentlessly.
The most direct result of this frenzied training was the constant and rapid breaking of shooting records within the fortress. These trainees, with their obsessive dedication to marksmanship, formed the early foundation of what would later become the famous "Strong Sniper Unit." Driven by this fervor, the overall strength of the trainees rose swiftly.
Even Ye Zhong dedicated time every day to improving his proficiency with "Chen." During these moments, Rui Bing would sit quietly by the field, watching him undergo his monotonous training.
Strength was growing, bit by bit—Ye Zhong could feel it.