"Boss, we have received a letter from Einherjar Wannabe."
"Oh? Forward it to me." Cameron's eyes sparkled. He was mired in a pile of paper works, but the news caught his attention immediately.
Upon reading the letter, Cameron's face turned black.
"Ridiculous." Cameron lit up a cigarette, "Lie Jian is not just any no-account that he could challenge as he pleases."
The fight could be a commercial success, but, Cameron was worried that Wang Tong would lose the battle since the gap between the two players' strength was unbridgeable.
After having chewed on his options for a while, Cameron replied Wang Tong and asked him politely to reconsider his decision.
"Perhaps we should pick another opponent?" Mr. Wannabe asked.
"It's alright! From a commercial point of view, DREAM is the benefactor, I am not. Let’s see them pass up the opportunity to make money."
"Is that all? You are not afraid that once you have piqued too much of their interest, they will decide to investigate your identity?" Mr. Wannabe's words had hit the mark. It suddenly made Wang Tong feel that his identity might have already been compromised.
"Ojisan, let's hit the road. You are right. Sooner or later, DREAM would be able to find us out." Wang Tong was agitated with paranoia. Even the familiar face of the café owner seemed ominous.
"Calm down Kiddo. I don't think things are that simple. If they wanted to figure out your identity, they must have already had done so. Your previous fights had stirred up things quite a bit, but they didn't come bother you. So why now?"
Wang Tong considered what Mr. Wannabe had said and found it reasonable. He had raised the suspicion when he defeated Huo Quan, yet, nothing had happened to him. So, Wang Tong reasoned that DREAM might not have the capability of tracking him down.
But why? Wong Tong found it incredulous that an omnipresent company like DREAM was not able to track a user's location. Even the Zhang brothers from Bernabeu could do that much without a sweat.
Suddenly, Wang Tong noticed his crystal was flashing.
Wang Tong put reached into the crystal and searched with his soul energy.
"Yes, master."
Wang Tong was startled by the voice and jerked his hand back. He looked at Mr. Wannabe, and the latter shot him a look that said: "What the heck was that?"
"Who was that?"
"Yes, master."
A black box rose out from the space crystal; it was Charcoal's mainframe. Wang Tong was shocked.
"Hey, Kiddo, what the heck is that thing?" Mr. Wannabe asked.
Wang Tong gestured him to be quiet and then asked the black box, "Did you speak to me?"
"Yes, master." A voice came out from the black box as it suddenly morphed into a miniature version of Charcoal.
"Char...Charcoal? Is that you?"
"Yes, master. I am Charcoal. Charcoal- Goldie 2"
The light inside Charcoal's visual sensor flashed as he staggered a few steps before he regained balance, "Master, I am your assistant, Charcoal-Goldie 2."
Wang Tong scratched his head.
"Charcoal-Goldie 2?"
"Master, you had met the minimum requirement to unlock me. MINIMUM REQUIREMENT: FIFTH LEVEL SOUL ENERGY."
"Hold on a second, can you please tell me what are you first?" Wang Tong was confused.
"Master, I am your assistant. I am the incarnation of Goldie." Charcoal said.
"Who is Goldie?" Wang Tong found his explanation as clear as mud, "OK, how about you start from the beginning?"
Charcoal then explained the relationship between Goldie, the Blade Warrior, and General Li Feng. Based on what Wang Tong had understood, Goldie was an intelligent life form from another dimension, and the technology of FFC was inherited from General Li Feng. Even the rate of the 'new' technology being 'discovered' was decreed by General Li before he passed away. The purpose of this seemingly redundant micromanagement was to prevent the human from gaining too much power at once.
Wang Tong started to gain measures of respect towards General Li Feng after hearing the responsibility he had carried on his shoulders. Then and there, he realized that it was his turn to take the weight.
"Alright Goldie, since you have already merged with Charcoal's mainframe, I think I'd prefer calling you Charcoal. How about that?"
Charcoal-Goldie 2 nodded.
"Where is General Li Feng?"
"He is gone. Perhaps you will follow him one day, but that would be your decision. I only assist."
A smile appeared on Wang Tong's face as he found delighted to have a loyal assistant, "Charcoal, could you assist me with my rent next week? Do you know what I mean?"
"Master, this command is...unavailable...Execution attempt failed."
Wang Tong rolled his eyes. "What a stingy general! It won't hurt him to leave me a couple million credit or so." Wang Tong muttered.
"What else can you do for me?"
"Master, someone was trying to trace your IP address, and I had blocked their attempt." Charcoal said.
Wang Tong shrugged, he figured that this was probably the only function of charcoal.
"What about that Einherjar Wannabe? Can you help him get out of the crystal?"
"Master, my level of clearance depends on your soul energy. I am not able to access that data based on your current soul level."
"OH! For f*ck’s sake... How much can you access?"
"One percent."
Looking at the dead-serious expression of charcoal, Wang Tong wanted to curse out loud at his former owner. "Why don't you make it fifty percent, you stingy Li?" Wang Tong screamed in his mind.
But then, as he watched the familiar face of Charcoal, a smile appeared on Wang Tong's face. Charcoal was alive, and that was something worth celebrating.
"That will be it for now; I will call you when I need any help."
"Yes, master. " Charcoal bowed in a cumbersome manner. The comic appearance of Charcoal had brightened Wang Tong's mood.
Wang Tong thought that despite the stinginess, General Li Feng had done him a favor. Without him and Goldie, Charcoal would still be a piece of metal lying in his space crystal.
For some reason, Einherjar Wannabe had temporarily lost consciousness while Charcoal was out of the crystal, but he regained consciousness as soon as Charcoal disappeared. Wang Tong went on and told Mr. Wannabe about what had happened. Mr. Wannabe appreciated Wang Tong's honesty since he could have chosen not to tell him anything.
"That's strange. Oh.. What about your invitation? Did the DREAM reply?"
Wang Tong was surprised to find out that it had already been an hour since charcoal came out from the Crystal. He checked the message, and it looked like DREAM and agreed to his request and posted his challenge on DREAM's official website.
Cameron had wanted to give Wang Tong the cold treatment by not replying his request. However, the joke was on him as he started to get anxious seeing Wang Tong didn't make a move for a long time. Cameron eventually gave in and conceded feeling that he could not change Einherjar Wannabe's mind. During that one hour, Cameron felt being ignored, as if DREAM and the PA system wasn't crucial to Einherjar Wannabe at all, and that had scared the sh*t out of him.
The Mysterious Einherjar Wannabe was in full control of the situation because everyone needed him, but he, as it had appeared, was not interested in anything. Cameron regretted playing his little game with Einherjar Wannabe, and decided to agree to all of his requests from now on.
As for right then, Cameron figured that he should try as much as he could to persuade Lie Jian into this match.
Facing a successful businessperson, Wang Tong had won his battle by accident.
If Wang Tong was aware of the passage of time during that one hour, he might have wavered. Wang Tong would not afford to be disconnected from the PA system as it had become the only viable option for him to improve himself. He made a mental note of being more cautious and not to reveal his identity, so he could keep on reaping the benefits of the PA system while remaining anonymous.
While Cameron was lamenting over his wrong move, Wang Tong was surprised by how quickly his request was approved.
Wang Tong heaved a sigh and said, "There are lot of nice people in this world after all."
The news of Einherjar Wannabe's challenge to Lie Jian had shocked everyone. If Lie Jian accepted the request, it was going to be a fight of a lifetime.