Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Edited by Aelryinth
After returning to Mercury, the elemental queen immersed herself into the online world again, playing chess all the time.
Her skills improved greatly. With no teacher coaching her, she actually played her way to the seventh-dan on the internet. According to the standards of casual players in real life, she was around the level of amateur fourth-dan.
If any senior member of the Go circle learned about this, they’d probably fight to accept her as their student, with hopes of nurturing the number one female Go player in the world.
Of course, if someone really intended on doing so, who knew what they’d think after learning the elemental queen was actually not human?
Well, it went without saying the elemental queen wouldn’t go become a professional Go player… although if it was peacetime, perhaps there was really a possibility of that happening.
In any case, no one would know she wasn’t human as long as Zhang Che kept her identity a secret. However, Zhang Che was also very curious to see how high a level she could reach in this field. Could she surpass the top human players and reach the level of artificial intelligence?
Speaking of which, the elemental queen’s ability to calculate might really be comparable to artificial intelligence, not to mention how gifted she was at the game. If she really were to walk the path of Go, no one could say for sure how far she could go.
Of course, Zhang Che was only wondering about all of this, with no intention of acting on it.
“Perhaps she is really a great Go player impeded by the times?” Zhang Che couldn’t help but muse, glancing at the elemental queen seriously playing Go to one side.
Shaking his head, he forgot her matters. Zhang Che piloted Dijiang-hao, flying in Bei Du’s direction. He wondered if Huang Tielan would allow him to follow her into the beast world.
Well, although Miss Tienan told Zhang Che about the field trip, she didn’t mention anything about him accompanying her inside. The original plan was for the freshmen to enter the beast world according to their classes under the accompaniment of beastmaster teachers, and the military had also arranged for personnel to guard them to a certain extent during their trip.
If Zhang Che really were to follow Huang Tielan inside, heavens knew what others would think. As a student, being too different from others wasn’t very good, after all.
Otherwise, Huang Tielan wouldn’t have requested to go along on this trip into the beast world. She could totally rely on her status as a genius beast card cultivator to skip the trip to the beast world with her privileges.
Since she had decided on it, then she’d definitely not act too independently.
“What a headache. Although activities organized by the school shouldn’t be dangerous, who can say for sure about matters regarding the beast world? If an accident happens, it would be too late for regrets already.”
Zhang Che wasn’t assured. After all, Huang Tielan was too weak. If they encountered a powerful exotic beast during their trip, the accompanying beastmasters from the school and the military might not react in time.
This time, all the freshmen from this cohort would be entering the beast world. Thousands of students would be going in together. At that time, they would be spread out into groups and operating separately. Even though experts would enter the beast world with them to protect them, how could they protect everyone perfectly?
“Hmm, forget it. I’ll just follow them in without them finding out. It’ll be fine as long as she doesn’t know.”
Zhang Che ultimately decided to just not let Miss Tienan find out about this. He’d act on his own and let the Purple Jade Condor scout from the sky. It should be fine…
Not only that, Zhang Che had even planned on acting the day before the trip and entering the beast world in advance, scouting the area Bei Du University was going to thoroughly and eliminating things that posed more of a threat.
That way, there wouldn’t be any accidents, right?
As for Bei Du University keeping their plan on entering the beast world highly confidential, Zhang Che wasn’t worried at all. He wasn’t the only one worried for Huang Tielan’s safety. His father-in-law would definitely not feel assured either and he could totally find out all the information he needed.
Well, Huang Tielan probably didn’t tell this matter to her father, precisely because she was worried Huang Juyun might worry for her safety and forcibly arrange a few bodyguards for her. That wouldn’t be nice….
If things were really going to be like that, she might as well not participate in the trip. As a result, until yesterday, Huang Juyun had no idea of this matter.
Of course, with the “traitor” Zhang Che tipping him off, naturally Huang Juyun had learned of it, and had made use of his connections to gather information on the beast world Bei Du University was planning to go to.
At the same time, in order to be doubly safe, Huang Juyun even communicated with Bei Du University, wanting to send a company of high-tier beastmasters to mix with the personnel the military had originally sent and act as another protective force. Bei Du University was naturally happy to agree with this proposition.
Although the purpose of the school organizing a trip to the beast world was to train the students, the school was not the military, after all. They couldn’t allow any casualties to happen!
With the Huang family arranging a company of high-tier beastmasters to join them, naturally there was a better guarantee for the safety factor.
“I wonder if Miss Tienan will beat me to death if she finds out..?” Zhang Che wondered if Huang Tielan would become angry at him if she were to find out that he had tipped off Huang Juyun. It’d definitely be a very frightening situation…
Well, he’d just try his best to not let her find out.
Soon, Dijiang-hao arrived at the skies above Bei Du. Zhang Che followed the directions to the airport and landed there.
——
At the same time, far off in southern Hua Xia, in a plain building…
He Luotu’s eyes were emitting dark light. He was listening to a subordinate talk about the activity Bei Du University was planning to host.
“Perhaps this is a good chance to kill the seedlings of humanity with high potential?”
He Luotu immediately thought after hearing this news. Not only that, he immediately decided to make use of this opportunity and send some of his men over, no matter what. It’d be for the best if he could disrupt Bei Du University’s training session for the freshmen.
He had naturally come to understand that the freshmen in Bei Du University’s beastmaster faculty would also take part in this activity.
After possessing He Luotu, this supreme demon’s clones had learned what kind of an occupation beast card cultivators were.
If he allowed those people to develop, they’d definitely bolster the strength of humanity by a lot in the future. Naturally it’d be a great thing if he could kill them now. It’d make it much easier for when the demonic army invaded Mercury again.
Moreover, he had also learned that there was an incredible genius among Bei Du University’s beast card cultivator freshmen. She was only in her first year, and had already become an intermediate beast card cultivator!
If a genius like that was to grow up, it was very likely she’d help humanity nurture many more top-tier beastmasters in the future. She was a target who had to be removed!
He Luotu knew it was very rare to have an opportunity to get rid of such geniuses on Mercury. It was completely different if it was in the beast world, however. In the beast world, all technological products were rendered useless. Even though it was certain there’d be experts accompanying them on the trip, thousands of freshmen would be entering the beast world, and would split up afterwards. The Freemasons would surely have a chance to take action!
“Pass my word down. Tell the person in charge in Bei Du to continue gathering information. It’s best if he finds out today which beast world Bei Du University has decided to enter, then we can send enough men over and make their way into that beast world in advance.
“This time, our prime targets are the Bei Du University’s freshmen in the beast card cultivation faculty, especially the one called Huang Tielan; this person must be eliminated!”
Facing the suspicious gaze of his subordinates, He Luotu explained, “According to a trustworthy source, many freshmen of Bei Du University’s beast card cultivation faculty were controlled by the demons, and the girl named Huang Tielan was confirmed to be possessed by the demons. Otherwise, how could she display such talent?”
After hearing He Luotu’s words, his subordinates were immediately impressed. Their president was remarkable, indeed! He had actually discovered the demons’ spies so easily!
“Rest assured, President. I’ll definitely pass down a strict order to those in Bei Du to complete their mission this time no matter what. We can’t let those damnable demons escape again!”
His subordinates’ faces were fanatical, their eyes shining with abnormal light. They had no idea their minds were being controlled by He Luotu.
If this continued, the higher-ups in the Freemason would completely lose their sense of self and become He Luotu’s most loyal fighters in the end.
At that time, He Luotu would no longer need to make up excuses like eliminating the demons’ spies. He could casually send an order down, and these people would fight to their deaths for him.
Seeing his subordinates leaving, He Luotu’s gaze was deep and dark, feeling some regrets. -Regrettably, due to the unique force field in these lands, it’s still too difficult for all my clones to combine. It’s impossible to do so without taking some time to prepare for it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have to act so cautiously and directly control some of the human elites, making them fight among themselves. I could control a huge group of people to enter the beast world and lay down a huge array to destroy the spatial barrier, letting our demonic army in directly!-
There existed a unique energy and force field in this world. Not only did it place restrictions, forbidding the stronger demons from crossing over into this world previously, it had also affected the fusing of his clones. Otherwise, when all of his clones combined, he would have become the strongest entity in this world, even if he didn’t recover to the peak of his strength. He wouldn’t have to act as cautiously as he was doing now, afraid of letting the humans figure out there was something wrong.
——
After returning to Bei Du, Zhang Che made his way home first, and spent the day with Huang Tielan. He’d say he had something to do tomorrow and needed to leave Bei Du for some time.
Huang Juyun had already spoken to Bei Du University and learned which beast world they were planning on entering, and soon relayed the news to Zhang Che.
Huang Juyun’s men would enter the beast world together with the freshmen, claiming they were sent by the military to protect them. No one would know they were actually the elites of the Huang family. Their main purpose was to keep Huang Tielan safe, and they would strengthen the security forces for Bei Du University at the same time.
As for Zhang Che wanting to enter the beast world to protect Huang Tielan in the dark, Huang Juyun naturally agreed to it happily. He wouldn’t feel it was too much no matter how many people were sent to protect his precious daughter! Zhang Che entering the beast world with them would naturally add another layer of security.
There were already signs of chaos appearing in Mercury. Putting aside whether the beast world would be dangerous, there were traces of evil cults appearing in many places recently among humanity.
Heavens knew if those evil cults would find out news about the younger generation of some large clans and try to assassinate them?
Wasn’t there an assassination attempt on Zhang Che by the evil cults just recently?
Although Zhang Che was strong and managed to repel the evil cult’s beastmasters in the end, he was injured nonetheless. Not only that, the authorities had yet to find out where the headquarters of that evil cult known as the Freemasons were, and some of the branches of the Freemasons had relocated underground. It had become much harder to get rid of them.
Under such circumstances, to be on the safe side of things, letting Zhang Che enter the beast world with the freshmen wasn’t considered too much at all.
Just like that, Huang Tielan had unknowingly became a student who brought her “family” into the beast world.
Even Bei Du University was only aware of the Huang family’s arrangements. They didn’t know Zhang Che had entered the beast world to act as security and protect Miss Tienan in the dark as well!
——
Dijiang-hao flew a circle in the skies above Bei Du, then stealthily landed near a small city in the suburbs to the southwest.
A spatial gateway stood in a ravine about thirty-some kilometers away from the small city. Naturally there was a huge military camp constructed nearby.
After landing Dijiang-hao in that camp, Zhang Che spoke with the military personnel here. Soon, an officer piloted Dijiang-hao to a secret military base nearby. Meanwhile, Zhang Che silently entered the beast world, together with the elemental queen.
