<h4>Chapter 577: Distance II</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    There were two wild animals fighting. They looked like panthers, but with a small patch of white hair on their forehead. Rui Bing and Sang Kan had never seen such a strong panther. These two were deep into the fight, too absorbed to notice the two human observers near them.


    They were strong and quick, leaving holes in the ground wherever they fought. Even rocks around them were vulnerable. Just a single swipe from their paws could smash the rocks into pieces. The panthers dashed around like heavyweight mechs, shaking the ground beneath them.


    One of the panthers was flung against a cliff. Huge rocks rained down from above, kicking up a cloud of dust everywhere. Through the dust, Rui Bing and Sang Kan heard roaring from both panthers, and the sound of rocks crushing. The low rumbling sounds of impact were terrifying.


    Both panthers were facing off against each other in a fierce battle, but Aried was still snoring lightly on Sang Kan''s back.


    To their surprise, the fight between the two leopards did not end conclusively. After a stalemate thatsted for minutes, both animals left the field simultaneously.


    When they were far away, Sang Kan heaved a long sigh of relief. "What powerful animals! Even back in the Archipgo, we don''t see many that are so strong. Additionally, they look intelligent." The Sang Tribe was experienced in fighting wild animals. They had a better understanding of wildlife than normal people.


    Sang Kan wasplimenting the panther animals. He had seen many wild creatures, and hunted almost all of them, but never had he seen such powerful panthers. The Sang Tribe had always respected strong creatures. Of course, this did not mean they would hold back when fighting against said creatures.


    Rui Bing said nothing. She was still nervous from their encounter with the two strong panthers. They had extraordinary strength and speed. Their intelligence made them terrible foes to deal with.


    The two panthers also made Rui Bing and Sang Kan more nervous, despite having left the purple mist.


    They advanced more carefully. Even though there did not seem to be many of these panther animals, who knew what other creatures lived here?


    The long mountain ranges were interspersed with barren and green mountain peaks. This phenomenon did not scare them. Back in the Archipgo, there were much scarier things like strong gravity regions. Besides, there was nothing much they can do except to move forward.


    They moved quickly but carefully, for fear of drawing the attention of native wildlife. These creatures could survive despite living near the red-tailed beasts. It showed how strong they were. They must be extra careful now, moving in the territory of these unknown creatures, or suffer the consequences.


    Fortunately, with the dense foliage around them and Sang Kan''s experience as a hunter, their problem of food and water was promptly solved. Sang Kan could always find some tasty wild fruits or other food sources for them. Rui Bing and Aried, both inexperienced in surviving in the wild, enjoyed their food.


    They dared not build a fire to grill meat, to avoid attracting the attention of strong wild creatures. Those two panthers they encountered earlier would have been enough trouble to deal with, even with Rui Bing''s Guardian. Besides, Aried could hardly defend himself. If it was just Rui Bing herself, she would not have needed to be so careful.


    The mountain ranges stretched further than expected. They could only see mountains all around them. Every time they crossed one mountain, another woulde into view. Fortunately, they did not encounter anything stronger than the two panthers they saw earlier.


    Their journey was long and uninteresting. They crossed the mountains day after day for three months, but still remained within the mountainous region. The weather changed unpredictably, being stormy in one moment, then windy in the next. Even Sang Kan was wet all over, much less his teacher, Aried. Rui Bing, however, had Guardian to shield her.


    Soon, Aried fell sick, perhaps due to the rain. This put their travels to a halt. Aried was old. It would be dangerous if he was left untreated for too long. Since they had no medication in hand, Sang Kan had to find suitable nts in the forest to treat him.


    Aried''s temperature fluctuated wildly. He was now barely conscious. Rui Bing and Sang Kan worried for him. They found a cave and settled down.


    …


    Ye Chong kept a firm hand on the stronghold''s expansion. The students took turns going out to seek battle, and the results were apparent. As more and more realbatants were produced, the overall battle capacity of his army increased significantly. From the highest casualty rate of 20 percent at the beginning, they were now able to reduce their casualty rate down to nearly zero. The students got more and more used to fighting. However, there were now only 4700 students left in the stronghold.


    Currently, there would be students heading out for battle every day. They would bring back with them the animals that they hunted. The wild game was delicious, much tastier than the basic nutrition in the stronghold. As a result, the students became more motivated to head outside for battle experience.


    With the aid of the improved Hummingbirds, exploratory work into Darkniss progressed quickly. For now, Ye Chong had already increased the coverage area by 125 timespared to when he first started. However, the operation had also cost Ye Chong more than three thousand improved Hummingbirds.


    Ye Chong did not find the spatial window to Western Frost, but he did find the one that led to Northern Lands. This was an important discovery, as it would directly affect the future of the stronghold.


    The war between Eastern Cloud and Western Frost did not extend to Northern Lands. Ye Chong had already found seven shooters in Darkniss, and he had held them all captive. Without fighter aircrafts, the shooters were defenseless against their mechs.


    Life in the stronghold was structured. Even though it felt a little dull to some of the students, most of them were happy with their current situation. They were living the dream of their lives, achieving greater strength through their own hard work and earning respect from other people.


    They no longer had the look of naivety or impulsiveness. They were steadier and more trusting of each other, working together in a tightly knit team. While their individualbat skills were not as good as the mech pilots Ye Chong once led, they still qualified as realbatants.


    The stronghold was expanded once again. It now lookedpletely different from before. Thick metal armor covered the outer walls. The buildings looked modern, including a tall pulsed signal ry station. Mechanical work stations were built in neat lines. The stronghold was interspersed with training grounds here and there …


    Su City looked like a small, backwards vige inparison. The students were proud of their new home. The shooters that Ye Chong abducted hated him at first, but slowly eventually warmed up to the power that lied within this mysterious stronghold.


    Only the strongest could be at the top of the food chain. This was the rule wherever one went, including Western Frost and Northern Lands. Those who were epted to serve the strong would see their service as an honor. Learning was highly encouraged in the stronghold. The students interacted with each other frequently and openly. It was hard to find another ce like this outside. Shooters usually kept their knowledge of parapsychic control to themselves. They would only ever discuss it with their students or people they were very close to. Here in the stronghold, the shooters could look up many theories on parapsychic control. Sha Ya told them that it was the work of theirmander. Besides, Sha Ya herself had shared her own ideas generously with them. Thus, the shooters quickly fell in love with the ce.


    The fact was, openmunication was very helpful in improving the skills of a shooter.


    The onlyint the shooters had was the physical training. They could not understand it - why would shooters need to train their bodies? Every time someone raised the issue, Ye Chong felt like bringing them to Mei Wu, a Level 9 shooter even more powerful than Xuan Ning. However, considering their current circumstances, he would have to put the thought on hold. Fortunately, here in the stronghold, no one dared to disobey him. Even Sha Ya would diligentlymit herself to physical training. She had seen Mei Wu''s incredible skills, and so felt more driven to train herself.


    Mechs were not suitable for these shooters. Ye Chong prepared Combat Spiders for them instead. These Spiders were smaller than the original model, and more flexible in motion. It was meant for a solo pilot, and fitted powerful weapons, a shooting system and a holographic scanning system to aid them. This greatly improved their capacity asbatants.


    Never wastebat resources - that was Ye Chong''s principle.


    …


    A thousand mechs fell in formation in front of Ye Chong. This was now a mature army with structured leadership. Through actualbat experience, the current thousand-strong mech army was formed. The other students watched jealously at their peers. Those students were personally chosen by theirmander. They knew that this was a very important mission. Theirmander would be leading them personally. It had been a long time since theirmander took the helm. The fact that theirmander had finally stepped up told them how important the mission was.


    Besides the one thousand mechs, Ye Chong also had 10 Combat Spiders with him, led by Sha Ya. The rest were Transport Spiders, carrying goods. There was a massive troop of 800 Transport Spiders in total. The stronghold had enough resources to overwhelm their warehouse. They must find a way to exchange extra resources for other necessary goods.


    Ye Chong decided to stock everything in the warehouse into the Transport Spiders.


    The massive troop formation moved out towards the spatial window that led to Northern Lands.


    Due to thebat exercises they were having all this while, nearly all the wild animals around the stronghold were wiped out. Where once there were animals popping out frequently, now it was simply quiet.


    However, the students were already used to it. Two months ago, they had started to venture further away to hunt those delicious wild beasts.


    The wild creatures of Darkniss were smart, and avoided the massive troop formation from far away. Those that survived their encounters with mechs panicked even more. They quickly moved further into Darkniss.


    After seven days of flight, the troop reached the spatial window to Northern Lands. They had already set up surveince devices nearby. They would be able to see anyone who tried to enter Darkniss from here.


    With seven shooters from Northern Lands leading the way, the troops maneuvered its way safely through the dangers along the way.


    After 14 days of flight and on foot, they finally reached one of the cities near Darkniss, called Ganming City. Ganming City was famed for producing a kind of high quality wooden material known as Gan wood.


    "The trading volume is too big. We need to discuss with the merchants first. I don''t think there''s anyone around who can take all we have," Jin Weidong said, looking worried. He was the strongest of the seven shooters from Northern Lands, the one with the highest reputation. He was also only second in strength to Sha Ya amongst all the shooters under Ye Chong.


    Ye Chong''s troops did not enter the city. They hid in the mountains nearby instead. There were too many of them, and would certainly raise a few eyebrows if they showed themselves. Besides, no one here had seen mechs before.


    Ye Chong did not need to remind his students to set up their positions ording to the terrain. This time, they were not facing vicious beasts, but more dangerous opponents - humans.


    Three hourster, Ye Chong''s students had the mountain under control. They set up a temporary signal station that covered a radius of 2500 kilometres around them.


    Jin Weidong''s advice was sound. Only tradesmen withrge businesses can handle their request. Besides, the materials they wanted in exchange can only be obtained from such tradesmen.


    There were not manyrge scale businesses in Ganming City. They would have to venture to further cities to find suitable merchants.