Five days went by quickly. With the exception of the initial chaos, followed by the open war between Black Cove and the MPA, it seemed as though all other criminal activity had ceased. After the initial confusion, governments reacted swiftly and organized police mech patrols all over the skies. Daily goods were delivered door to door.
However, the destruction left from the war was difficult to recover from. Even though it was only a war that involved over 50 mechs, their scientific advances far exceeded anything the Five Galaxies had ever seen before. It was a traumatic experience for Windstar. Thousand Birds zone received the heaviest damage. The prosperous area was now littered with ruins, and the casualties came in staggering numbers. War was cruel, and everyone could feel the cold atmosphere spreading from it.
This was a one-in-a-century kind of disaster! These five days felt like centuries to the residents of these 23 planets. The most discouraging thought was, no one knew how long it would go on. Would it be a month? A whole year? None could answer this question.
Just when everyone was quietly enduring the disaster, the virus in the virtual world seemed to have vanished unexpectedly. People discovered to their surprise that all systems were beginning to function again.
Communications were up, traffic was organized … It seemed everything had returned to normal. People went to the streets to celebrate the end of the disaster.
"Hah, you wouldn’t know it, let me tell you, this time it’s thanks to the alliance of the governments of the Five Galaxies that killed that d*mned virus. I heard there are also some experts from the military …"
This seemed to be the most reasonable explanation, and people accepted it quickly. They fully relaxed and cheered jubilantly. After the disaster, the joy of rebuilding was accompanied by the sorrow that came from the disaster.
Things began to get back on track.
Soon, a massive influx of aid agencies arrived at Windstar, bringing with them a large amount of various direly needed resources. Together with them was also a good amount of reporters.
Of the 23 planets, Windstar received the worst of it all.
The diligent reporters amassed a great amount of information, such as recordings of the fights on Windstar. The most precious one was of a courageous citizen, who recorded a holographic video of the war between the MPA and Black Cove.
This recording caused a huge uproar. All the mech designers realized that their so-called advanced mechs were useless against these black and white mechs. The advanced level mech pilots were shocked by the piloting standard demonstrated by those mech pilots. Unbelievable mech maneuvering, extraordinary shooting skills - in their mind, most of the skills demonstrated in the video was impossible for any human. Mech combat experts in the virtual world recognized that the black mechs were actually using close range battle techniques. Close range mech models rapidly gained popularity.
For the average people, they were horrified by the cruelty of those mech pilots.
No one knew who they were, where they came from, or the name of their mech models. Everything was shrouded in mystery. However, one thing was clear - no one in the Five Galaxies had such power in their hands. People began to realize that the world was not as peaceful as it seemed to be, and that not all forces were governed by their laws.
War had been such an unfamiliar term to them. This holographic recording, however, seemed to suggest the advent of one. Windstar’s Thousand Birds zone beared witness to it. The spillover effects from more than 50 mechs had nearly destroyed the entire administrative zone. The thought was chilling.
Just as terrifying were the curved guns held in the hands of the white mechs, as beautiful as they were dangerous!
Only experts specialized in nanowav
es would realize that the guns had actually shot out nanowaves. In the Five Galaxies, nanowaves were only at an experimental stage, and far from any real application.
The nanowave experts were not the only ones to feel dejected. The scientific technology demonstrated by both sides in this holographic recording made all scientists realize the difference in their abilities. The difference was not negligible, but a truly huge disparity.
Who were these people?
It was not that the world had never heard of the Three Forces - Black Cove, the Sanctuary and the MPA. The Three Forces were deeply entangled with many local governments around the world, but the magnitude of this war was enough to overcome the suppressive forces of these governments.
Information about the Three Forces began to leak, little by little in the virtual world. The Sanctuary was never heard of by the public, and were now a deep mystery to the people. The benevolent MPA now inspired fear.
For anyone with a little common sense, it was easy to realize that the former peace was over.
Together with the Sanctuary that had not been openly exposed thus far, the Three Forces had enough power to rival that of the Five Galaxies, governor of their worlds. This meant that the Three Forces were not ruled by the laws of the Five Galaxies. With the authorities at war, how could the people live peacefully?
All these matter were, of course, ignored by Ye Chong.
Ye Chong waited for Wang Weixing’s return, the only thing that mattered to him. According to Wang Weixing’s schedule in the hospital building’s control photon processor, this was the day Wang Weixing would come back. Ye Chong was afraid that the chaos on Windstar would delay his return.
However, Ye Chong did not expect Wang Weixing to not only reach Windstar on time, but head straight towards the hospital from his flight without returning home to rest. A doctor’s heart was still difficult for Ye Chong to understand. Windstar had too many casualties that swarmed the hospital, and the medical team was overwhelmed. That was why Wang Weixing had rushed to the hospital.
With his part of the plan perfectly executed, Mu retired to give way to Shang. Shang took the schedule between them seriously, and would not allow himself to have less surfacing time. As for Mu, he was uninterested in "surfacing", and seldom argued with Shang. Fortunately, Shang had not developed the habit of taking advantage of Mu.
"So many people!" Shang sighed.
"Yeah, it’s a lot of them!" The large hospital building was swarming with people, and the wounded could be seen everywhere. Windstar Hospital was not only a medical facility, but also a research center. However, due to the enormous volume of casualties, all medical staff had been called to service. Looking at the situation before him, Ye Chong began to have doubts on his decision in executing this plan.
Shang affected a sympathetic tone as he said, "Sigh, war, such a horrible thing!"
Ye Chong burst his bubble. "Don’t pretend, you’re the main culprit!"
"Cough, cough, Ye, don’t simply say these things, I’m as pure as an angel!" Shang lied outright.
"What’s an angel?" Ye Chong’s many adventures in the outside world had obviously not touched on old legends and myths.
"It’s a mythical God with wings, one with a pure and kind heart."
"Oh, a birdman!"
"Cough, cough …"
Ye Chong finally saw Wang Weixing, and immediately find him looking very familiar. When Ye Chong had just escaped from Black Cove and boarded a starship, he had encountered one old Mr Wang, and he looked just like Wang Weixing. Was this really a coincidence? Nonetheless, aside from a tiny sigh on how small the world was, Ye Chong had no other concerns. He was wearing a mask back then, and Wang Weixing would probably not recognize him.
Wang Weixing looked weary from his long interstellar travel, and the fact that he had not rested since he stepped into the hospital only made him look even more tired. Wang Weixing smiled and said, "Young man, have a sit."
Ye Chong found a seat and sat down without hesitation.
After Ye Chong finished explaining his situation, Wang Weixing spoke after a moment’s thought, "Alright, why don’t I perform a full examination on you first. Your issue might be more complicated, and I’ll need time to do some research. Besides, as you can see, there’s a lot of people out there who needs immediate medical attention, so I’ll need longer."
Ye Chong asked, "How long?"
Wang Weixing gave it a thought and said, "Hmm about four days."
Ye Chong nodded. "Alright, then I’ll come back in four days."
Wang Weixing gave a small laugh. "Thank you for your understanding."
Ye Chong replied calmly, "It’s alright." While he really hoped for Wang Weixing to examine him immediately, Ye Chong understood that it was not an option. Ever since he stepped into the hospital, he had seen many casualties, and he could do nothing to ease the situation.
He quietly returned to the main hospital building’s photon processor control room. Four days was not too long for Ye Chong. He had plenty of things to keep him occupied in the meantime. Alchemy, for example, or that chip left by Lan Yixing, or meditation. The control room was spacious enough for him to even practice piloting Guardian. As for Mu and Shang, they would help him find out more about the man called Gao Shichang.
Ye Chong did not know that the investigation on Gao Shichang was going to be a lot harder than expected.