As Quinn announced his victory the people applauded. They were all at the same level of strength, five-star Terrans. However. they were stronger than the average five-star Terran. How? No one knew, but they were all capable of competing with a six-star with ease. Given such a stat card, Shi Lang was able to beat the lights out of Apollo, which meant he was at the top of this group.
The battle came to an end and Shi Lang turned around to walk away from the gym area. he did not wish to waste any of his time here. His focus was to learn more about this place and this required him to study the place. He was going to the classroom. That was the only place with a computer system. Even his room did not have one.
As for the communicator being used like a much more sophisticated device, that was not possible. The communicator was barred from doing anything more than a messaging back home or notifying one about the schedule of the card class. This was done to prevent the information regarding the base from leaking.
Shi Lang had no intention of messaging back home for the time being. He came to the classroom and sat down on the sit in the front row. Then he began to access the computer to read about the place. The details regarding Mythya were not very elaborated but they were enough to let him survive.
The reason he was keen on reading all this was the upcoming hunt that X had mentioned earlier. Shi Lang did not wish to become a beast’s food, and looking at the data, he found that there were a lot of predators on this planet. More than the beasts, they needed to be worried about the primitively intelligent species of this planet.
As Shi Lang read about them he became very fascinated. He cupped his chin with his right hand while his left hand scrolled down the page slowly. He ignored the fact that Quinn had come to sit down next to him. She had been staring at him constantly, but the guy did not budge, it was as if she was not present there.
A woman can tolerate anything but the ignorance of a male she was interested in. Quinn said, “Say, do you have any issue with your libido? Can you not see a pretty girl sitting next to you, waiting for you to make a move?”
Shi Lang lowered his head and manipulated his communicator to retrieve a picture of him and Amelia. He showed it to her and said, “That is my Fiancee, you are still lagging behind. Now if you do not mind, leave me alone.”
Then he turned his attention back to the holographic screen in front of him. Quinn just sat there with a stunned visage. She did not expect him to be so blunt. He directly told her that she was not pretty enough. She stood up from the seat with an infuriated expression on her face. However, even as a girl, she had to admit that Amelia was the fairer one among the fair gender.
Gnashing her teeth in anger the girl left the classroom. Shi Lang did not react, this had nothing to do with him, he just focused on reading the details of the planet. He had no concern about the time. If he felt hungry, he would go to the cafeteria, grab a protein bar and come back to the classroom to continue where he left off.
All his movements were being scrutinized by the higher authorities, that is the generals. Edwards, the first general of the federation had taken a special interest in him, but Shi Lang was unaware of this at the moment.
A week passed by in a blink, Shi Lang had learned about this planet as much as he could. He was sleeping inside his room when during the wee hours his communicator went off. Opening his eyes, he found that it was a message from X, and everyone was called to report to the classroom. They were all to leave the base with the first light.
The rules and regulations of the hunt were not yet clear, thus Shi lang got up, showered, got dressed in the black and white suit, and left his room. He jogged his way to the classroom. They were all given ten minutes to report so this was the only way to rush over.
X stood at the podium with his face hidden behind the mask. The man waited till the ten minutes he gave them all ran out before he said, “A hunt is an event that will decide which one of you is strong enough to venture out in the unknown. What you have read in the data on the holo-comps, is just what we wanted you to read. The situation is a simulation of how the enemy can play with your mind. Now, I want you all to go out there, with the wrong intel, and survive in the wild for a week.”
Shi Lang was surprised, he was not the only one, but every student was discussing the topic in a hushed tone. However, the bombs had not yet finished dropping. X said, “You all are forbidden to team up, rescue, and aid each other in any circumstances. However, you are not to pillage and rob each other as well. Your communicator will show you a map and the satellite scans, every half an hour. If you and another classmate are within a radius of five kilometers, then you will be notified and asked to move away. Anyone failing to follow the rules will be disqualified and imprisoned in solitary confinement for two weeks.”
The people gulped at the mention of punishment. This was how X worked. He will reward you for good work, but he will not hesitate to break your face if you screw up. The students replied in a clear voice, “Yes sir.”
X said, “You will be boarding the bombing shuttle and airdrop in the zones in random order. Now, move out.” his voice was calm, revealing no emotion at all.
Shi Lang and the rest of the people followed X to the bombing shuttle. It was a spaceship, but only ten times bigger. The payload carried in this ship will take two circles around the earth to run out. You can guess the destruction from that. Shi Lang and all the people boarded the ship and X said, “You will now put on the masks. Jump out when the light turns green.” with his finger pointing at a red indicator bulb at the bay door.
The spaceship took off and the people began to wish each other luck. They all had been staying here for a few months and had yet to go out of the base to explore, the only reference they had to the planet was the data recorded on the holo-comps. However, now that data was told to be wrong and deceitful. Their brains were working like a machine at the moment, constantly telling themselves, to question everything they do out there.
Suddenly, the light on the bay door turned green, Shi Lang was standing at the side, he saw that everyone else was hesitating, so with a sigh he ran forward and jumped through the bay door, surprising everyone. They did not expect this newbie to be so valiant and brave.
Shi Lang had no scruples in his mind about the expedition. The reason was simple, he thought, so what if the data was wrong? He would have to jump sooner than later. So the sooner this impending anxiety gets over, the better. As he jumped down from the spaceship, his anxious heart calmed down.
Shi Lang did not have any particular trait about himself, it was just that when he focused on something, he would do his best. The wingsuit deployed and the youngster guided himself to a relatively clear patch of the woods below. As soon as he landed he did not stay in the same place, he rushed ahead to get himself a higher vantage point. The trees in the surroundings were all medium lengths high.
He had spotted a tall tree when he was freefalling. That tree was his goal. He moved quickly, shuttling through the trees, on his way the boy did spot some animals, however, he was not in a hurry to nab some of them. Since the Data they were fed was not trustable he would have to make sure that the food he grabs was not poisonous.
On the way, he did pick up some pebbles. After climbing the big tree, he sat on the crown of the trunk and gazed around, looking at the forest, trying to identify a source of water. However, his luck was not heaven-defying. The area he had chosen had no freshwater sources. So now he would have to move to a larger area if he was to find one.
As he stood at the top of the tree, his communicator buzzed, it showed a message, “The hunt begins.”