Chapter 434: The Riddle

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

Although the Ark"s expedition still was the most sensational news, the s.p.a.ce battle between the two Einherjars was quickly catching up its popularity.

This would be a milestone in METAL combat history. A fighter so mysterious that he might as well be imaginary was going to come out of the digital backstage to reality.

There were still many rumors about Einherjar Wannabe"s background floating around on the internet. The previous school of thought that believed Einherjar Wannabe was related to the Blade Warrior had been utterly discredited due to the new development at the tournament. However, it only made the real ident.i.ty of Einherjar Wannabe a bigger mystery.

A small group of people was convinced that Lan Qinyue was the only person who would know the answer. She had entered the inner world of the warrior during their last fight, and based on her recollection, Einherjar Wannabe used to be a soldier who had faced thousands of Zergs alone by himself.

However, no one could recall such heroic deeds in the entire human history since the first contact with the Zerg. At any rate, even if there was such a hero, how could he be still alive after many centuries?

Was he a ghost? An immortal soul? If so, why would he choose to step into the fighting pit right now?

Perhaps he had lost his memory, and fighting was the only way for him to hold on to the fading pieces of his past self.

After she walked out of Valhalla, Heidi went straight back to Mars. She had achieved her first goal and confirmed w.a.n.g Tong"s ident.i.ty. However, she was at a loss as she didn"t know what to do next.

"Grand Priestess, what did you see?"

"The darkness is fast approaching. Hurry up, my Princess!"

"Is he ready? He is not even an Einherjar yet."

"We won"t know until he has tried."

"He only has one shot..."

"Do your best, Heidi. Let your destiny guide you. You need to prepare for the Ark"s expedition. Our entire race"s survival depends on it."

Heidi was very confused. The threat of the Zerg had been brought under control over the centuries, so what kind of world-ending catastrophe was the grand priestess talking about?

Was it a full on civil war? No, there was no sign of it whatsoever. However, a civil war would force the Kaedians into a very awkward position; they would have to choose w.a.n.g Tong"s side.

The more Heidi thought about the mess, the more question surfaced.

s.p.a.ce pirates controlled many back-water s.p.a.ce cities in the darkest corners of the boundless deep s.p.a.ce. Although these territories were technically under the control of the Confederation, one would likely get lost without a star chart while trying to navigate to these cities.

Pirates became a significant player during the great war between the humans and the Zerg. For a very long time, the Martian government had even funded some pirate activities due to the lack of proper s.p.a.ce fleet. During the time of financial hards.h.i.+p, the Martian government had painted their wars.h.i.+p black and turned it into a pirate s.h.i.+p. After Martians had finally developed their own fleet, the pirates had already grown out of their control. The Martians eventually drove the pirates out of their doorstep, but lacked the funding and the technology to eradicate them entirely.

In order to reach the backwater places where the pirates were hiding, the government would need a long-distance cruiser, such as the Ark. Although the pirates had learned beforehand that the Ark was coming after them, they were not afraid. The audacious pirates couldn"t wait for the Ark"s arrival, as they were confident that they would be able to capture it.

Whoever captured the Ark would yield so much power that even the Confederation would fear them, and he or she would become the Pirate King!

Soda"s pirate band was a mid-size, relatively unknown band with just over one thousand crew members. The leader of the band, Soda, wore an eye patch, hiding the eye that he had lost during a battle with the Anti-Smuggling unit.

"My lord, what is your order?" Soda asked.

"I need something on that battlecruiser."

"As you wish my lord. We will retrieve it for you." Soda said obediently.

"You are not strong enough. I will have to do it myself."

Excitement list up Soda"s eyes as he asked, "Does it...does it mean the new era is about to come?"

"Gather all of our forces. We need the Ark and two children on it, alive."

"I understand, my lord. You had chosen your candidates."

"Go now, don"t disappoint me."

"Yes, my lord." Soda answered as a light flickered in his eyes that was definitely not human.

…

"Ahh!" w.a.n.g Tong howled. Inside the virtual s.p.a.ce, no one would hear him and come to his aid.

"I"m almost there. Let"s try it again."

"Ok!"

"METAL!" w.a.n.g Tong shouted. As soon as a s.h.i.+mmering METAL covered w.a.n.g Tong"s body, he stumbled and fell to the ground.

"b.a.l.l.s! That"s all you got? How many more times do we have to do it?" Mr. Wannabe complained.

"Go on!"

"Hey, can we take a break? I need to eat something!"

"No! Keep going!"

"It"s torture!"

"I said...KEEP GOING!" Mr. Wannabe refuted.

In the real world, Ma Xiaoru was preparing a delicious meal for w.a.n.g Tong. She had taken on the responsibility of looking after w.a.n.g Tong"s life. Although she felt it being difficult in the beginning, she was pleased with her life now.

Twelve days later, w.a.n.g Tong and Ma Xiaoru boarded the Ark to take a peek at the battlecruiser. The giant battles.h.i.+p was parked right in between the earth and the moon. Its size dwarfed all the other transport s.h.i.+ps around it, making it look like a floating city. In addition to satisfying his curiosity, another reason that made w.a.n.g Tong come to the vessel was to learn about the deep s.p.a.ce, since the battle with Lee Moshan was fast approaching. Although he had practice s.p.a.ce fighting in a simulation, he was not certain how the real fight was going to pan out.

w.a.n.g Tong reckoned that he had to be very careful during the fight, as the fight was deeply personal for Lee Moshan.

Despite the wild rumors about Einherjar Wannabe and Lan Qinyue, w.a.n.g Tong was certain that Mr. Wannabe was not interested in Lan Qinyue at all. w.a.n.g Tong always had a nagging feeling that Mr. Wannabe already had a love interest, but had chosen to keep his silence about it.

Lee Moshan had proposed the fight to take place right next to the giant s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. He never agreed with the blind wors.h.i.+ping of technology. The location of the battleground was symbolic of his protest. Time of advanced machinery had already past, and only cultivating inner power could bring humans the salvation they needed.

It went without saying that many spectators would not join the fight. In the s.p.a.ce and without any protective measures, the audience would be easy victim of collateral damage.

A few days later, the fight was finally about to start!

Lee Moshan was in a full suit of Einherjar METAL, and the Thunder Blade was strapped onto his back. With the help of the METAL, an Einherjar could survive the deep s.p.a.ce with ease.