Wang Tong slowly made his way in the blizzard, each step requiring all of his willpower and strength. But Wang Tong believed in himself, and would never give up.
After a while, Wang Tong paused to check his direction. He noticed that the two behind him were not doing very well. Li Ruoer's body had already become stiff, and Xiaoru was in an even worse condition. She had lost her consciousness, and her body temperature was dropping drastically.
The blizzard howled as if it were laughing at Wang Tong. Wang Tong realized that their walking speed was too slow, and even if they could eventually make it to the Aurora city, Xiaoru might be in grave danger. He needed to do something to help with their situation.
Wang Tong's eyes glinted, and then he shouted," Einherjar Wannabe!"
"Hey, kiddo! You got at the most half hour in you. This is not a game, and there will be consequences!"
"I will take her to safety even if it leads to my death."
Mr. Wannabe stopped talking. He knew that he would not be able to change Wang Tong's mind. He still remembered that day when the stupid kid risked his life to save that low tier robot. Mr. Wannabe knew that Wang Tong would not leave anyone behind.
"Come on."
"Get ready, kiddo!"
Wang Tong channeled his GN force, and a golden glow erupted from his body. Wang Tong shouted at the top of his lungs." METAL!"
In the darkness of the blizzard, Wang Tong's body shone with golden light, as if a lighthouse lit up the promise of home.
Wang Tong clutched the two girls under his both arms and started to run against the gale.
With the protection of the METAL suite, Wang Tong's speed had increased five folds, and he was able to see clearer in front of him. However, all these benefits came at the cost of drastic depletion of his GN force.
Wang Tong focused entirely on his speed. He had traveled another half hour against the wind... but the Aurora city was still nowhere to be seen.
Wang Tong suddenly realized that he had made a terrible mistake in calculating direction, he had overlooked a key variable: the earth's rotation.
"Hey kiddo, time is almost up. You need to think for yourself!"
Wang Tong pretended he didn't hear Mr. Wannabe's earnest suggestion. He recalculated his course in his mind and turned his face about 25 degrees to the left.
The wind was still howling. Wang Tong started to feel dizzy, a sign of his soul energy being overspent. His soul energy had reached only level four, but he was wearing a full coverage METAL suit. This was a suicidal act.
Wang Tong didn't mind the pain. He was willing to suffer any consequence as long as he could deliver the two to safety.
Mr. Wannabe also became quiet. Two seconds later, Wang Tong felt that the rate of depletion of his soul energy seemed to have slowed down. A few more minutes later, it had suddenly occurred to him that Mr. Wannabe was helping him with his own soul energy.
A grin flashed across Wang Tong's face. Although he was confident in his calculation, he was not so sure if he would be able to reach his destination.
"Remove the METAL."
The METAL suit retracted. "Mr. Wannabe, if I die here today, please find someone else to save you from your prison."
"You idiot! I can hold my ground for a bit longer yet!" Mr. Wannabee howled out at him. Without the protection of the METAL suit, Wang Tong was one step closer to his demise.
Wang Tong clutched the two girls tighter under his arm and prepared for his final exertion. In a blink of an eye, the ruthless snow had already reached to his knee.
"I am Wang Tong. No one will stop me!" Wang Tong shouted and then he drew a gulp of fresh air and started running again. Wang Tong knew that this would be his final chance. Once he stopped, he would not be able to move again.
A few moments later, Wang Tong started to lose the feeling of his body. Soon, he began to lose his consc
iousness, except for only one thought," Keep running."
A light appeared in the distance, but Wang Tong was no longer be able to tell if it were the Aurora City or heaven.
"Xiaoru...If..."
Before Wang Tong could finish his mumble, he collapsed.
When he woke up, he saw that sparkly stars surrounded him, yet he could still not feel his body. Wang Tong was convinced that he was dead and this was heaven.
"Is this heaven? Gosh, this is boring."
"Of course not."
A voice behind him answered abruptly and startled Wang Tong. Wang Tong turned back and saw a thirty-year-old looking man with a very familiar face.
As Wang Tong realized where he had seen the face in front of him, he waved his arms in the air and asked in disbelief," Are you...General Li Feng?"
"Haha, you can call me Li Feng, or Blade Warrior." Li Feng cracked a smile.
Wang Tong pinched his cheek, and he still could not feel anything. He was more convinced that he had been dead and this was his afterlife.
"You didn't die. You are in the soul dimension of the space crystal. Your soul energy had reached two hundred, and therefore, you had unlocked my interactive message. I know you have lots of questions, and this is the time to ask."
Wang Tong calmed himself. He found it incredulous that General Li Feng and the Blade Warrior were the same person.
It took a while for the reality to sink in.
"Is my space crystal yours?" Wang Tong wanted to know from whom the Old Fart had stolen the crystal.
"That's right, and you are my protege." Li Feng looked at Wang Tong approvingly.
"Why didn't you leave the Tactics of the Blade to your family? Like you did with the Tactics of the Vayu and the Enchantress?"
"Haha... The reason was simple: Balance. The same reason why I didn't leave the technology to my family. Instead, I gave it to the Ma."
"You are not afraid that I would become stronger than your family members? Based on the secrecy, I would bet that the Tactics of the Blade is more powerful than any other tactics you had left." Wang Tong asked.
"When you have reached a higher state, which you will, you will understand my intention. 'Goldie' had chosen you as my successor, it means that there is going to be great danger ahead of the human race. Your task is to save the world."
"Er... Great General Li. I wonder if that 'Goldie' made a mistake? I am rather useless, and always have been, so I had never dreamed of carrying the weight of the world on my shoulder or that sort of a thing. Could you please... maybe... choose another protege? " Wang Tong paused to think for a second and then said," How about your kindred, Li Shiming? He is a hell of a bad ass fighter."
General Li was caught off guard by Wang Tong's request," 'Goldie' has already chosen you. That, I cannot change. But it's up to you to accept it or not."
Wang Tong was surprised how laid back General Li was about the whole "save the world" business.
"Are there any other questions?"
"What happens if I have conflicts with your family in the future? say, they want to kill me for the tactics of the blade."
"You and my family are all the same to me, so I won't choose a side. But, if possible, please don't be too hard on them."
Wang Tong scratched his head and wondered why General Li would ask him to go easy on the House Li. The Great House Li could kill him like killing an ant, and the best he could do was to poke them with his antenna.
"Fine, I will do my best." Wang Tong answered candidly.
Li Feng cracked a smile and said," That will be it for now. You are losing your soul energy so you should head back now. I will see you again when you are ready."
"Hold on, Wait! What's up with that Ojisan in the crystal, can you save him?"
A faint smile crossed General Li's face," That is his fate.", and then, the image of General Li disappeared, leaving Wang Tong annoyed by the vague answer.
Suddenly, the world around Wang Tong started to crumble, revealing a vast whiteness.
In the Emergency care facility inside the Aurora City.
Ma Xiaoru recovered her consciousness, and she remembered that it was Wang Tong who had saved her.
"It was a miracle!"
"No kidding! He carried the two under his arms and banged his head on the energy barrier while running full speed."
"The two girls were wrapped up pretty well, so they were fine, but that poor lad had already turned into an ice sculpture by the time the rescue arrived. It has been two days, yet his condition still hasn't been stabilized."
"I wish someone would do that for me..."
Two young nurses chit chatted.
The glow of light that Wang Tong had seen the moment before he collapsed was indeed Aurora City. The three were soon discovered by patrols and were sent to the hospital.
Although Ma Xiaoru and Li Ruoer's condition was not great, it was not life-threatening thanks to their heavily padded jackets. Wang Tong, on the other hand, was in a much grimmer state. When he was sent to the hospital, he had lost all functions of his body except for the brain, so he was practically dead, and only alive theoretically.