Ye Chong were leading his party, consisted of Xi Qing, White and two random trainees whose names were Zhao Gang and Shu respectively. The two trainees were the outstanding performers in the group other than Xi Qing. Zhao Gang was a brave fighter, a careful one too, while Shu was a rather strategic, situational fighter with a stern, cold personality. Three of them were the best students who had won over Ye Chong's trust with their capabilities.
Well, Ye Chong never knew he was actually educating his trainees. Having them in company would no doubt be a strategy to broaden their horizon while providing them opportunities to learn further about the world outside the classroom. Ye Chong did not intend to do that, he just felt their skills could mature faster, while being able to have a safer journey through this accompaniment.
Other than White, who looked confused and tensed, Xi Qing and Shu were looking calm. Zhao Gang was excited in the meantime.
Ye Chong, on the way to the docking zone, gave a briefing on the few dos and don'ts while stealing a ship. Yes, they were going to steal a spaceship. Nope, it was not proposed by Shang the evil genius but Ye Chong after a few thoughts himself. Ye Chong believed it was necessary to show these children the true, gruesome side of wars. They were calm and intelligent but they were still children who had never experienced wars, a dead-or-alive situation. And Ye Chong was well-aware of how the upcoming journey would impose peril on them. There could be red-tailed beasts anywhere, there could also be pirates or any opportunistic robbers who eyed at their fragile appearance.
He had these four children with them, so they could have a careful look, a direct experience on what battles truly were. Well, there was not much risk to be frank, Ye Chong was capable to settle most dangers by himself, so it should be a golden opportunity for the children. Shang not only agreed but also was very much impressed at his idea.
Ye Chong's group of children did not catch any attention inside the decking zone. Soon they had already arrived by Haskel, the target this time.
It was a giant spaceship.
Thought the children when they spotted Haskel. Their faces were pale.
"Please don't tell me we are stealing this giant..." They looked at Ye Chong in utter doubts.
Stealing a gigantic spacecraft while there were only 5 of them? That was insane. It would be a game-over before Player 1 hit the gate!
The children thought they would be sneaking into a tiny, overlooked spaceship at one corner. But hell they were wrong.
Haskel was a spaceship with a length about 17.8 kilometers, categorized as Large in spaceship sizing. One could hardly see over 100 units of such model in Gray Valley, especially when half of them were under the consortium's examination.
Xi Qing could feel his tininess as he set his eyes upon the ship. The instructor almost sounded like a crackpot when he pointed at the ship. The plan felt bizarre to Xi Qing, as his heart raced. To be honest, he was pessimistic with the plan. It was clear that Haskel was under careful guard. There should be a kind of defense mechanism that would prevent intruders. It was certainly a fight against the whale yet he did not retreat. The instructor might sound like a crackpot but he was a careful strategist. It must not be a wild plan coming from him. It was the trust that kept Xi Qing in line.
His lips cracked as he licked slowly. He had never conducted anything this exciting since he was birth. He looked at his mates whose gestures too had been stiffened by the electrifying thrill. The docking zone was busy. People were occupied by the loading schedule. No one bothered to lay even a glance at the strange group of children awkwardly lifting their steps.
They then shifted to a dark corner. Ye Chong looked at his trainees, "That, is Haskel. The target this time, just in case any of you was lost. There are 9 entrances. We would be infiltrating through the 7th entrance. Now, the important information. Listen, I would only say it once." Anticipation intensified as Ye Chong stared the children with his soulless eyes, "Act fast. No survivors."
What?
Xi Qing flinched. His horrified eyes looked back into the abyss of the instructor's eyes. He and his mates lowered their heads.
Was Xi Qing right on this? The instructor is indeed a real deal? A ferocious killer?
White was astonished.
Ye Chong turned away after giving his final command, with no spare time for the novices.
"Shang, how's the preparation?" asked Ye Chong.
"Done. Make your move~" said Shang in relaxation.
"Move!" He turned back to the children and urged them, before sprinting towards Haskel, with the children followed.
The 7th entrance was empty. There was nobody but the gate to the corridor was shut.
How do we even get in there?
Xi Qing was very bewildered, as he observed the gate while they ran.
It was a gate with extremely, almost colossally thick armor, made out of probably a highly dense and strong alloy. No one could break in with brute's force while the instructor did not seem to be deploying his mech anytime soon. He just sprinted on.
They were approaching the gate, crashing soon. The instructor did not seem to be decelerating. Instead, he accelerated.
Were they going to do a meteor strike on the gate? The group was confused. At the next millisecond, the gate suddenly opened itself, as if connected to the instructor's will. The timing was impeccable.
The children's eyes were large.
Did the instructor make an "arrangement" beforehand?
Who is he?
That was when the children realized the monosyllabic instructor, who lived up to the action-speaks-louder-than-words spirit, could be a somebody.
But well, they had to steal a ship. No time for figuring that out at the moment.
The corridor was illuminated by the lamps at first. But it went out completely the moment they went in and heard a loud shout which shocked them.
"Who are you!?" Shouted from the interior, which a hmph, thump and dead silence followed. The children hesitated as their steps jerked, "Follow up!" Ordered the instructor ahead, which caused them to accelerate.
They then passed by a man passing out on the deck, with a distorted neck.
Oh the cruelty. The children was having cold sweat.
The instructor just moved on indifferently, which sent chills to their soul. They thought they knew their instructor, that maybe they had "tamed" him, but the horror returned. It was not because of his strength, but his indifference towards the dead, as if he once crawled out of the corpses and stood upon them after an apocalypse.
There were impression, fear and curiosity in their mind. A very complicated feelings they reckoned.
"FOCUS!" Frowned Ye Chong as he shouted and turned back as he ran.
The children went back to the reality and followed Ye Chong carefully.
Xi Qing was surprised that the instructor seemed extremely familiar with the layout of this ship. He did not have any form of reference with him, nor he ever got lost. He did not even look at the signs, or try checking out the rooms. And he had a shadow partner somewhere in the ship, who provided impeccable assistance.
As the instructor said, "Act fast. No survivors," the instructor was efficient in taking out his foes. The foes always collapsed before they could take any action. It was then Xi Qing was reminded of the instructor's insane brawling skills again. The most memorable one this time? He would say the battle of 1v12, which lasted only 48 seconds. None of the 12 men survived!
Dead bodies were everywhere, with distorted expression and anatomy. Blood painted the ground.
Xi Qing could feel his inside getting restless, and he heard White throwing up. It was a signal when he smelled the death. He finally could not hold the disgust wrenching his inside as he puked. Zhao Guo and Shu also halted and omitted.
Ye Chong stopped and looked at the trainees.
"Man, Ye, your students are weak," teased Shang.
"It's always the most unbearable the first time. They would do better the next." Replied Ye Chong.
"Well, if we have the next that is. To be honest, I am very much worried when we are having a bunch of kids in the team," said Shang.
"More is better than nothing," responded Ye Chong.
"Oh?" Flinched Shang, "Hahahah! You are right. It's still better than getting stuck here forever!" He seemed to have remembered something, "Oh yes, Ye, almost forgot, I need to open the air valve for you. The smell must be unbearable. These kids need to learn about hygiene, particularly the right spot to discharge their lunch, seriously, who else is going to take care of their mess after this?" Ranted Shang.
"It's alright," said Ye Chong. The smell was nothing compared to Trash Planet-12. He was used to that.
"The kiddos had done discharging. Ye, we need to catch the time," reminded Shang. The quicker they completed the operation, the less likely things would go wrong. Shen Ruxue was guarding the base at the moment and honestly both Ye Chong and Shang had little confidence in her capabilities.
"Mhm," said Ye Chong, as he looked at the children standing up after the overwhelming disgust, appearing pale.
Well Xi Qing felt better after throwing up, though fading fear lingered in his thoughts. He glanced at the instructor who still looked indifferent. His heart skipped a beat for a sudden, for some reason.
"Let's move, we are running out of time," said Ye Chong calmly as he began heading towards the gate with a password lock.