Chapter 168 – I’m Really Not a Baldy!
The baldy unexpectedly discovered two strange individuals—to be exact, a human and a very unique soul beast—and assumed they had come from the Federation side. He had seen others from the Federation but never one so young.
This made the little baldy very happy. He extended his hand forward and called out loudly, “Good day!”
A crash echoed some distance away… The ground started to shake, with tremblings increasing in magnitude with each passing second…
Simba couldn’t help but roar as though his hair had been singed off, “ ‘Good day’ your face! Idiot!”
Wang Zhong was between laughter and tears as he shot out like an arrow whilst shouting, “Quickly, run!”
He called out to tell the little baldy to hurry up and run. While the fellow’s idiocy had caused trouble, he was able to resurrect using the Fate Stone. It would’ve been an injustice for the fellow to die just like that.
Yet, Wang Zhong and Simba were once again shown their naivety. When the little baldy discovered the aura of the Level 7 dimensional creature, he quickly closed his coffin and disappeared with a puff of smoke.
This instantly made Wang Zhong dumbfounded. This fucker runs faster than me!
An intense shockwave suddenly broke the earth as it rushed toward them. This dense earth ability had created a 10 meter tall wave that erupted in all directions, causing Wang Zhong and Simba to yell as they fled as quickly as they could.
“I hate baldies!” Simba shouted as they flew away.
Humans had vast potential that seemed limitless when faced with dangers. This was clearly evident in the fact that both Wang Zhong and Simba were able to run away with such an astonishing pace. They ran in the direction of where the baldy went.
The three of them ran with all their might, with one of them carrying the large coffin. It was obvious that he had great strength as the large coffin did nothing to impede his running speed. As for the Level 7 Craggy Beast King, small bugs like them were of no interest to it. Though it was pissed that they disturbed its slumber, it calmed down after roaring for a while.
The three of them seemed to have escaped the worst of the dangers. They all rested against a large stone, gasping frantically for air as sweat streamed down their faces. While resting, the little baldy stole a glance at Wang Zhong and Simba, the flames of curiosity flaring up in his eyes. Wang Zhong, looked at the little baldy the same way. All of a sudden, the two of them started to chuckle heartily.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Woodson. This is the first time I’ve seen anyone from the Federation travelling by themselves.” Woodson opened with an introduction, a grin on his face.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Wang Zhong replied while sizing Woodson up. “I’m Wang Zhong. Did you enter this place with your consciousness?” Wang Zhong concluded that Woodson shouldn’t have crossed over with his physical body based on the sensations he was picking up from the fellow.
With a faint smile, Woodson replied, “We, of the Tutankhmen, name this place the Spirit Realm. Our method for entering this realm is through a Spirit Door. For the Freedom Federation, their preferred mode of transport is via a spatial crack. You’re the weird fellow.”
Rubbing his nose, Wang Zhong commented, “Brother, you’re the one that’s more bizarre.”
“Your pet is such an intriguing creature,” Woodson said. “This kind of dimensional beast is rarely seen.”
Simba immediately became enraged with fury. His singed hair danced around him as he shouted back, “Who are you calling a pet? You’re the one who is a pet! In fact, your entire family is nothing but pets! I’m the almighty Fate Trickster! Little baldy, call me a pet one more time and that is the last thing you will do!”
Feeling embarrassed, Woodson scratched his head and apologized. “Oh, my apologies. I had assumed you were a low grade dimensional lifeform. I’ve heard tales of higher grade dimensional lifeforms with intelligence and strength that rivals that of humans. I assumed you were also a low grade one as… you look very weak.”
Rolling his eyes, Simba shouted back, “Little baldy, get this straight. A true expert only needs to use his brains.”
“I’m not a baldy. I just shave my head regularly.”
“You’re still a baldy!”
“Being bald and shaving one’s head are two distinct things. One of them is unable to grow hair, the other just requires regular removal of hair…”
Unable to hold it in anymore, Wang Zhong burst out in laughter. The two of them seemed to have an innate enmity for each other, similar to that of mortal enemies. Only with such dislike would they be able to kick up such a fuss over a topic like that. But based on what Woodson said, Wang Zhong gleaned quite a bit of information.
First and foremost, this place was in fact the hyperdimension. Secondly, other than him, there appeared to be other individuals with the ability to enter this place, and it even included members of the empires. The main difference was their preferred mode of entry. In fact, the ‘frontlines’ that teacher Grace mentioned before seemed to have a connection with this place.
Being just a student, however, his qualifications were simply too low. This limited his access to information pertaining to items such as this. Thus, Wang Zhong wanted to grasp this opportunity presented to him ever so tightly. The only gripe was that Woodson didn’t have much of an understanding with the Federation’s side of things. The only information he obtained was when he had seen large numbers of Freedom Federation troops surrounding and attacking dimensional beasts.
This also answered one of Wang Zhong’s doubts, the one which questioned the abilities of the various great continents to maintain communications even though the seas and oceans were sealed off. Perhaps the earliest mode of contact might have started from the hyperdimension. Wang Zhong was like a curious baby trying to figure out everything about his surroundings. Woodson also acted in the same manner.
“Is coke nice to drink?”
“So you guys truly don’t need to fight on a regular basis? Is killing people against your laws?”
As they were of similar ages, the differences in experience created a deep interest in one another to better understand their counterpart.
“Are there a lot of mutated bugs that form armies in your area?”
“Are there still oases in the desert?”
The two of them talked like they hadn’t seen another human being in ages. Their discussion caused Simba’s eyes to grow wide as saucers before he interjected, “Oi, oi! Can the two of you let me, the almighty Simba, say a word!? You two have been bantering for half an hour already!”
It has been so long since I had someone to talk to! This was such a rare opportunity for me to be let out, but to think I was actually being ignored!
Wang Zhong and Woodson were in the middle of a heated discussion and paid no attention to Simba. However, they didn’t talk any much longer before the coffin-like box behind Woodson started to pulse with light. Upon seeing this, a look of regret surfaced on Woodson’s face. “Looks like we have to put this conversation on hold until the next time. The soul energy I’ve accumulated for this trip is about to be exhausted. Wang Zhong, you’re a formidable guy!”
Woodson looked at Wang Zhong with admiration in his eyes. The latter had arrived in the hyperdimension using only his consciousness. Not only did this method require a soul weapon, but the person engaging in it had to possess a strong energy source. Never would he have thought there would be such a youth his age who lived more freely than he did and possess such a unique soul beast.Woodson
“I hope we will have the chance to meet once again,” Wang Zhong replied. He was in a happy mood for having met someone so interesting in a place like this. Wang Zhong now felt that if he were to enter the hyperdimension and meet friends like Woodson, it would be well worth the pain. Most importantly, his encounters would allow him to increase his understanding of this vast and expansive world.
“Me too.” Woodson opened up the coffin and stepped into it. Before the coffin closed, he stuck his head out, looked at Simba, and said, “I’m really not a baldy.”
“I’m also not a pet!” Simba snapped back stubbornly.
Not long after Woodson left, Wang Zhong felt his body turning blurry and indistinct. As his body gradually dissipated, he sank once again into the darkness of sleep.
☀
Last night’s adventures were clearly distinct from the previous night’s, and Wang Zhong woke up feeling light and happy. He had cleared a few of his doubts and the Tianjing Squadron was hopeful of the future to come. The troubles that Reeve’s departure created had been completely dealt with. With Wang Zhong’s display of strength, he was appointed as captain of the squadron. Now, the Tianjing Squadron truly possessed a soul and was brimming with confidence. Wang Zhong’s powerful long ranged attacks and Grai’s skills meant that the Tianjing Squadron would no longer get easily eliminated in the first round of the CHF. Especially since the other members of the squadron like Emily, Scarlet, Lily, and Colby weren’t weaklings.
Wang Zhong’s outstanding theoretical knowledge helped them concoct quite a number of strategies and ideas for group battles, distinguishing him from the previous Reeves in many aspects. In the past, his theories and analyses would be disregarded and tossed away immediately, and could even potentially result in him being treated badly. Now, it was different. Everyone was focused on being a part of the group to
Everyone’s role in the group battle would be different depending on the opponent they faced. This meant the strategies had to be changed in real-time. As an example, if there were an opponent with a strong offensive might, then the heavy soldiers shouldn’t move to attack but stick to the defensive. Then what if an opportunity were to present itself? Such advantages could themselves be a trap to lure a person in. Don’t perceive the opponent as idiots. Just do your part and believe in your own squadmates. All of this coalesced into the essence of a squadron.