It's Too Much
The FFC had given mankind not only technical innovations such as the space crystal and the METAL suit, but also an episode of the mysterious relationship between the FFC, General Li Feng, and the Blade Warrior.
Stories and legends aside, the human world had improved their standards of living thanks to the FFC.
After many years of technology advancement, the FFC had remained a heavyweight player in the military industry. However, it was no longer the hegemony that it used to be. Both the Moon and Mars had their independent military research and manufacturing facilities that rivaled the FFC. The competition had become fierce, as every faction was trying to gain an edge in the next wave of innovation.
The standard METAL suits could be divided into six tiers, each to be used by the fighters of equal soul power. However, these were merely the standardized versions, and even the sixth tier was no match to the one used by the Blade Warrior. Therefore all the research institutes devoted themselves in technology advances in order to re-create the god-like abilities of the Blade Warrior.
The Human's discovery of the GN force had opened the door to endless power. There were only two key factors in better harnessing this power: one was to realize one's potential, and the other was to use the various tools.
The FFC owned many boot camps similar to the one Wang Tong and his friends were going. Although it would not be a top secret facility, it was an ideal place for training. Not only it was equipped with all kinds of training equipment, but there were also living, breathing Zergs on the island used as training targets. Conventional wisdom had taught human that to defeat their enemy, they had to know their enemy first. Besides, there were many things that a human could learn from the Zerg race. For example, if the human gained the key to unlock the secret of the Zerg's never-fading life force, they would also be able to spread throughout the Universe without the struggle of finding an inhabitable planet.
The flight could not be any more pleasant as Samantha's luxurious private plane was equipped with different kinds of entertainment units to keep everyone occupied.
"Attention everyone, I need you to sign a waiver form please."
The students stopped what they were doing and were curious as to why Samantha suddenly became so serious.
As they studied the content of the waiver, they realized that it was a waiver form for liabilities of injuries and even death.
Wang Tong and Wang Ben signed the form without any hesitation. People thought that the two weren't scared because they were the strongest and thereby would have the lowest chance of having an accident. However, following Wang Tong and Wang Ben, the usually skittish Rumi had also signed the waiver without any sign of backing out. Rumi's action had motivated the rest to sign the paper, after all, no one wanted to be the coward that bailed his friends.
Samantha was impressed by everyone's willingness to overcome their fear and thought that their action was a step in the right direction.
Since there were still a few hours before the plane would arrive in Paradise Island, everyone decided to take a rest to prepare for the training.
At around 5 am, the plane started to approach its destination. The morning sunlight shone on the broken surface of the sea, rendering the sea into a shimmering blue. Everyone was woken up by an obnoxiously loud alarm.
"What! What's happening? Are we gonna crash?" Carl rushed out of his seat with only a pair of underwear.
The rest of his teammates slowly appeared as well, although much better dressed.
Samantha was already dressed in her formal attire, and she wore that signature charming smile on her face. "Welcome to Paradise Island! I wish everyone good luck from here on, as you will be t
ested by Principal Martyrus."
"Here?" Tita looked out through the window, "We are still above the sea."
"That's right, you are still 3 kilometers away from the island."
"You are suggesting that we swim across the 3 kilometers of water?"
"Ahah! I always told others that you are not as dumb as you seem, Carl. You are right! Farewell then..." Samantha waved a hand at the students.
Before the students had time to take in Samantha's message, they found that the floor beneath them opened up. All the while, they had been standing on a trap door.
"What the… ARHHHH! ARHHHH! MOM!"
The ten of them were falling through the air like dead rocks.
No one had seen this coming, they knew the training would be gruesome, but no one had been expecting it to be terrifying and deadly.
The students initiated their GN forced one after another as they quickly realized that free falling at this height would mean death. Unfortunately, the skittish Rumi was so scared by the height that she had passed out. Sensing that Rumi was in danger, Wang Tong grabbed her body, trying to protect her from the fall. "Everyone! Control your GN force. Carl! What the heck are you waiting for? DO something!"
Carl was still panicking, although he had already initiated his GN force, he quickly lost control as he was near the verge of a mental break down.
"ARHH… I... NO! No swim! Help! ARHHH!"
Not far away, Tida also let out a heart-wrenching wail: "Why do I need to swim? It's METAL combat, METAL, not LIQUID!"
The crisis seemed to have risen from multiple fronts, but Wang Tong's hands were tied. He could not help but lament at the cruel methods of his principal.
The surface of the sea was fast approaching, Wang Tong slammed his palm downward, creating an uplifting force that helped to slow him down. He would be fine landing into the sea at fast speed, but Rumi had a relatively fragile body, and he had to make sure the landing would not break any of her bones.
A dozen feet away, Wang Ben speared toward the sea and at the last moment before impact, he punched at the water with his fist, making a massive explosion, and the force turned the sea underneath into a big whirlpool. Meanwhile, the forced lifted Wang Ben's body up, he backflipped and then descended slowly into the disturbed water below.
Hu Yangxuan also plunged into the sea safely using his GN force, although his landing was less spectacular than Wang Ben.
The most graceful of all was Ma Xiaoru. Ma Xiaoru's tactics could amplify her GN force many times than usual under life-threatening circumstances, and therefore, her descent was the most steady.
The rest of the students all plopped into the sea making a huge splash around them, luckily, no one was injured.
Wang Ben and Hu Yangxuan swam to Tita and Carl to give them a hand. The pair was probably the only two Academy students of the entire Confederation who didn't know how to swim.
"I'll do a headcount!" Wang Tong announced. They all knew right away that their training had already begun and the first test was to get to the island.
"Wang Ben."
"Here."
"Hu Yangxuan."
"I'm all right." Hu Yangxuan waved his fingers in the air.
No one was left behind, and even Rumi had wakened up by a few splash from the cold sea water.
"Carl, Tita. You two would have to learn to swim right now. There are still three kilometers ahead of us," Wang Tong told them.
They could take turns to carry the two; however, Wang Tong knew that greater challenges were waiting for them on the shore; therefore, they couldn't afford to waste too much energy right then.
Wang Tong was the only one who had thought that far ahead. The life on Norton had taught him many things, but the most valuable lesson was to be prepared.
The two had agreed to learn swimming on the spot, and Hu Yangxuan had volunteered to teach them. Meanwhile, Ma Xiaoru was assigned to take care of Rumi who was still recovering from the shock.
Carl had quickly gotten a hang of it, but Tita was still struggling. However, with the aid of his GN force and the other classmates, he could manage just fine.
Everyone looked toward the direction of the island, and they saw a speck in the distance. "That must be it!" Carl had just learned how to swim and felt the urge to swim as fast as he could. But he had depleted his energy in just 30 seconds.
Ten minutes later, more and more students started to feel exhausted, and hopelessness began to set in.
Half an hour later, except for Wang Tong, all the other students were so tired that they felt as if their body had become a heavy rock. While they looked for the island, they were all disappointed to find out that they were not getting any closer than where they had started.
They huddled together and decided to take a break and reconsider their plan.
"Are we even heading to the right direction?"
Not only were they tired, to have been submerged in the water for so long had also taken a toll on their inner balance. Ma Xiaoru had protected herself with a GN shield, but Zhou Sisi and Rumi had not.
The environment also seemed to have added to their torture as the sun beat down on their head, draining their determination.
"The direction must be correct. There is nothing else around, except for that spec."
"Then why are we still not there yet? Would it be a miscalculation on our principal's part?"
Some students started to waver as various kind of speculations sprout out.
Wang Tong considered their options calmly. He had gone through hell on Norton; this seemed like a stroll in the park. Although neither Ma Xiaoru nor Wang Ben had endured the same level of crisis as Wang Tong did, they both held a calm expression and did not panic.
The sun beat down on them ruthlessly. It not only made them grumpy and flustered but also taken away the precious water inside of their body.
Wang Tong knew that a decision needed to be made; it had become a time of life and death. What complicated Wang Tong's option was the fact that he was not alone, and therefore, he had to come up with a solution that could ensure everyone's safety.
"Who has brought food?" Wang Tong asked.
Everyone stared at Wang Tong with disdain as Wang Tong's question had reminded them how hungry they were since they had been thrown off the plane without breakfast. Rumi fluttered her eyes, and she looked so sad as if she could break into tears at any minute. "I... I have brought some snacks," she muttered, her voice was barely audible.
When she took the snack out of her crystal, everyone's excitement had turned into disappointment as they saw it was a few bags of "Cheesy Cheese" cheese stick. Without water to go with it, it would only make them even thirstier.