Chapter One Hundred: Fred

Frederick’s appearance made Brant’s face change abruptly. Ye Zhong was just about to make a move when Mu stopped him. Mu’s explanation was simple: since they already had the situation under control, they should avoid escalating the conflict as much as possible.

Brant looked extremely tense, terrified that Ye Zhong might lose control and injure Uncle Frederick.

Frederick, however, having seen more of the world, remained remarkably calm. He said evenly, “So when a direct request failed, you decided to use this method instead? I suppose my good friend in Zuo Muchen City was also invited away the same way!” His words carried unmistakable indignation. Brant too was glaring at Ye Zhong, his eyes blazing with anger.

Ye Zhong found all of this utterly baffling. He said in a low voice, “I don’t understand what you mean, but you’d better do as I say.”

Frederick gave a cold snort and mocked, “Why pretend ignorance before us, sir? In any case, we have no way of escaping your grasp. This time, your organization must be rewarding you handsomely. Your rise to fame and fortune is surely just around the corner.”

Ye Zhong ignored the sarcasm and said flatly, “My demand is simple: change course now.”

The disdain on Frederick’s face deepened. “Oh? And where would you have us go, sir?”

This time, Ye Zhong was the one who froze. “Uh... anywhere.”

“Anywhere?” Frederick cried, eyes widening in disbelief. Brant also looked stunned. Then Frederick seemed to realize something and asked in sudden delight, “Could it be that you were not sent by them?”

Ye Zhong was growing impatient. Why were these two so inexplicable? His expression hardened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’d better alter your course immediately.” He was even considering whether he should show them a little of his own means.

Frederick hurriedly nodded, looking quite pleased. “Fine, fine, we’ll change course.” After a brief pause, he asked tentatively, “How about Morentis?”

“Morenstis? Is it far from Blue Sea Planet?” Ye Zhong asked in return.

“Very far,” Frederick answered.

“All right, then we’ll go to Morenstis.”

Frederick and Brant exchanged a glance, then both let out a breath of relief. Their manner visibly relaxed.

“Could something have happened on Blue Sea Planet?” Brant, who had remained silent until then, asked. Now that he knew Ye Zhong was not one of the “them” Frederick had mentioned, both men had started to relax. Frederick even poured Ye Zhong a glass of amber liquor and raised it toward him with elegant courtesy, while Brant settled into a soft sofa and tended to his injuries.

Ye Zhong, completely thrown off by the atmosphere, blurted out a random answer. “Oh, I heard they discovered some sort of Charles Five virus on Blue Sea Planet!”

The glass slipped from Frederick’s hand and shattered on the floor.

Brant stopped what he was doing and stared at Ye Zhong in shock. “Black Charles?” the stunned Frederick murmured.

It took him a full half minute to recover. Then, trembling, he took out his communicator.

Brant looked at Uncle Frederick in astonishment. It was the first time he had ever seen him so失态—so shaken. In Brant’s memory, Frederick had many odd habits, but no matter what happened, he never panicked and always remained composed. That was one of the things Brant had always tried to learn from him.

Frederick drew several deep breaths. Once his face had regained some color, he called Captain Hadiq on the communicator.

And that was how the scene at the beginning came to be.

Since they had already changed course, the main conflict between the two sides had been resolved. Once the tension eased, the atmosphere became much more harmonious. Apart from the fact that Brant had been kicked by Ye Zhong, nothing unpleasant had occurred, and the generous Brant did not make an issue of it. As for Ye Zhong, he made no other demands. Frederick was clearly very interested in Mu, who stood behind Ye Zhong, while Brant took the initiative to draw Ye Zhong into conversation.

Frederick, alone and eyes shining, circled around Mu. At one moment he would reach out to touch this and that, at another he would mutter to himself, and from time to time he would furrow his brow in deep thought. His behavior was so odd it was almost amusing.

Brant, meanwhile, began cautiously probing this hard stone called Ye Zhong.

With a gentle smile, Brant said, “My name is Brant. That is my uncle Frederick. May I ask your name?”

Ye Zhong answered indifferently, “Quentin.”

He had made the name up on the spot, thinking that since they were not far from Blue Sea Planet, he had better not be recognized.

“Oh, that’s a fine name. Your skill is truly admirable. In both power and speed, you are the finest I have encountered so far. Even many combat experts who have been famous for years are far inferior to you,” Brant said sincerely.

“Average,” Ye Zhong said. He was not being modest. Anyone who had seen Mu in action would know that his description of “average” was no empty courtesy.

Brant clearly took it as politeness and smiled faintly.

Before long, Ye Zhong and Brant had become quite familiar with each other. Ye Zhong showed no awareness at all that he was a hijacker, while Brant seemed to have forgotten that he was a hostage.

Most of the time, Brant patiently explained things to Ye Zhong. He found that this young man, only a few years younger than himself, was ignorant of the ways of the world, as innocent as a blank sheet of paper. Yet the beastlike aura that occasionally leaked out from him made the naturally softhearted Brant rather uneasy. Still, when he thought about the kind of environment Ye Zhong might have grown up in, the kind-hearted Brant could not help but feel protective toward him.

Two figures tangled together, fists and feet flying, stirring the air in the room into violent currents. Each collision rang out with sharp cracks.

They sparred like this nearly every day, several times a day. At first, Ye Zhong defeated Brant every single time. But little by little, in just a few days, Brant’s resilience grew stronger. He could withstand Ye Zhong longer and longer, and his counterattacks became more and more frequent. Those counterstrikes were so incisive that they often left Ye Zhong scrambling.

Ye Zhong also began studying Brant’s style of attack. Although he could imitate the form, he always felt something was missing. Compared with Brant’s own movements, his imitation never quite had the same flavor.

Fortunately, Ye Zhong was not a rigid person. Most of his attack methods had been learned from mutated creatures, and he kept practicing the moves he thought useful. His attacks grew sharper by the day.

Then it was Brant who started feeling the strain.

With no other choice, Brant had to rack his brains and work hard to regain the upper hand. In this back-and-forth struggle, both of them continued to improve.

Brant said gently to Ye Zhong, “Quentin, although your speed and strength are unmatched by most, your technique is undeniably too crude. If you meet a true expert, you will surely suffer for it.”

Ye Zhong agreed deeply with this. Unfortunately, he had never had anyone to guide him in this respect. Even Mu, who seemed all-knowing, had no solution to this problem. According to Mu, they could scarcely find any information about it in the virtual network or in large data repositories.

The inheritance of combat arts was extremely secretive. It was always passed only to disciples and never made public, much less uploaded to the virtual net. And even among disciples, what each one learned might well be different.

As Brant watched Ye Zhong train diligently on his own, he could not help reflecting.

Quentin could endure hardship. He was steadfast in spirit. And after spending these days with him, Brant found that Quentin was actually a simple and sincere person; he just did not understand the world, which was why he seemed difficult to get along with. If he were properly taught and exposed to more of the ways of society, Brant believed Quentin would change quickly.

Yes—if he introduced him to his master, his master would surely be pleased. Then he would have a junior brother.

“Quentin, would you be willing if I introduced you to my master?” Brant asked cautiously.

“Mhm.” Ye Zhong nodded.

Brant’s fighting techniques had long been a source of envy for him. Unfortunately, Brant kept saying things about secret family teachings not being passed on to outsiders, though he did teach Ye Zhong some of his personal insights. Even so, it had opened Ye Zhong’s eyes, and this only deepened his longing for Brant’s school.

For the past few days, Frederick had not left Mu’s side even when eating, and Mu remained as motionless as an ordinary light armor unit. Frederick’s rapt fascination rather startled Ye Zhong, but Brant laughed and said, “Don’t mind my uncle, Quentin. The moment he starts working, he gets like this. I’ve long since gotten used to it.”

It was only through Brant that Ye Zhong learned something of Frederick’s background.

Frederick was one of the very few surviving master armor makers across the Five Star Regions. In any field, being called a master meant that one’s achievements had already reached the pinnacle. To be a master armor maker, one had to be not only proficient in the main structure of light armor, but also in engines, armor, light circuitry, weapon systems, and every other discipline connected to it.

Human energy is limited. Each of those fields contains knowledge as vast as an ocean, and most people could spend a lifetime mastering only one or two of them. Only those born with extraordinary talent, abundant energy, and a relentless spirit of inquiry could master multiple disciplines. As for someone like Frederick, a genius among geniuses who had achieved mastery in every field related to light armor, there were only a handful in the vast Five Star Regions.

In this age of mecha warriors, the power, glory, status, and wealth possessed by a master armor maker like Frederick were things ordinary people could scarcely imagine.

For example, the luxury interstellar vessel they were riding, the Saberi, a Slan-class ship, had been gifted to him without charge by a super conglomerate after learning that Frederick intended to embark on a round-the-galaxy journey. Such extravagance was beyond what most people would even dare dream of.

Watching Frederick, who kept staring stupidly at Mu while drooling without realizing it, Ye Zhong could not for the life of him connect him with the so-called master armor maker.

Since entering this room, Ye Zhong had noticed that no one ever came in. Even meals were only delivered to the door by servants.

Though the room was large enough, staying inside all day still grew stifling after a while.

A journey through the stars is long, and the dullness of it can only be truly understood by those who have experienced it. Just as Ye Zhong was beginning to feel restless from idleness, Mu suddenly sent him a message: “Leaf, there’s movement on the ship!”