Dark Moon Era

“This is as far as I can send you.” Glory Square was cleared out and then sealed. Not wanting to break the rules, Su Yao stopped right in front of the entrance.

He was crazy, not an idiot or someone reckless.

“Mm-hmm.” Tang Ling kept chewing on a piece of boned meat in his hand and replied with a muffled grunt.

After the match yesterday, ‘it’ started to behave a little unusually.

The frequent hunger tortured Tang Ling greatly. He woke up a few times last night just to eat. The generous bowl of meat that Rona prepared was emptied early on.

He also woke Su Yao up to cook another big bowl of meat for him. In his foul mood. Tang Ling heard Su Yao preparing half an iron bristle hog for him.

His cooking was rather miraculous. The meat was a little raw and Tang Ling had a hard time chewing it. “I guess he didn’t add enough water.”

He did not care though as he was sporting enough to eat everything. Now, the last piece of boned meat was in his hand. The hunger stopped for a while.

Satisfied, he wiped his hand on Su Yao’s cape, stunning the man. Then, he conveniently wiped his mouth.

It was Su Yao who had told him to be a man along the way, and that a man should behave boldly.

While Su Yao was lecturing him, a matured and beautiful tanned lady appeared beside the road. Since Tang Ling felt like being a man was an important quality to learn, he applied it right away.

“You little bastard, do you want to get your ass kicked?” The veins on Su Yao’s forehead twitched. The voluminous black cape that he wore was made from a mutated beast rug, yet Tang Ling used it to wipe his mouth!

Since there was still time before the exam, Tang Ling was not in a hurry to go in. He ignored Su Yao’s anger and asked, “What is ‘it’?”

“This exam is very important, and based on the rules, the invigilator this time will be the leader of the Purple Moon Warriors.” Su Yao frankly forgot his anger after Tang Ling’s question, so he started to talk about something else.

Tang Ling did not hope for Su Yao’s honest answer. He muttered to himself softly, “I’m a little worried. As a matter of fact, after that night, ‘it’ has been happening a lot more frequently. Since yesterday, the hunger never once settled down.” He suddenly looked up with a straight face. “Uncle Su Yao, lunch money.”

“Huh?” Su Yao was not able to react. What lunch money?

Tang Ling was a little agitated. “I don’t have any money. I’ll never go to work, not in this life anyway, so I’ll have to owe you first.”

Tang Ling actually seemed depressed. All he ate was half an iron bristle hog yesterday.

So, after all this blabbering, was this little rascal trying to become a freeloader? Su Yao could not hold his anger back and kicked Tang Ling several meters away.

However, when he saw Tang Ling get up while relentlessly muttering, Su Yao still frowned lightly. Tang Ling’s appetite was a problem. It was a huge problem, to be exact. Was the decision he made back then the correct one?

Thinking about that, Su Yao’s thoughts drifted away. He did not even notice that Tang Ling had walked back.

“Uncle Su Yao, I’m going in,” Tang Ling called out after he waited for the man to regain his senses. He did not know whether Uncle Su Yao would give him lunch money or not this time, hence he felt even more depressed.

“Mm, okay.” Su Yao seemed a little dispirited, but a quick pause later, he called out to Tang Ling right before the boy entered Glory Square, “Hey, kid, if you pass the exam and enter the First Reserved Camp, I’ll find the time and tell you what ‘it’ is.”

Su Yao could not hide it forever since Tang Ling would eventually have to face it.

“Okay!” Tang Ling grinned happily. The secret had plagued him for years, and it was the first time he got so close to an answer!

The smile came from the bottom of his heart and was as bright as the first light of dawn.

The familiar feeling stung Su Yao’s heart, making him feel dismal and sad. While he looked at Tang Ling’s back, he did not know why but he sighed.

“This kid is really still a kid.”

Tang Ling was indeed only 15 years old. He was strictly considered as a teenager, not a man, and those who had not matured were still considered kids.

However, at this exact moment in Glory Square where everyone gathered yesterday, less than ten 15-year-old boys and girls stood straight in a line.

They were waiting for the second First Reserved Camp entrance exam to begin.

Should they pass, they would be officially recognized as reserved warriors. They would face cruelty, even more than before, and no one would pity them just because they were kids.

The era was like a giant urn holding killer insects. Only the strong that slaughtered the weak were qualified to climb higher up and had the right to survive,

After yesterday’s exam, they were no longer strangers to each other.

Yu, Orston, Amir who also came from the settlement, the short fellow who stood beside Tang Ling yesterday, an unfamiliar boy plus two girls, and Tang Ling himself made up a total of eight teenagers.

The rejection rate was so high during the first round. How many of the eight would make it through the second round?

Out of instinct, Tang Ling looked at Amir first with a friendly gaze, but he did not notice the gesture as he held his head lowered with many thoughts racing in his mind.

That short little fellow, however, smiled at Tang Ling kindly.

Tang Ling managed to nod back politely before he heard Orston’s voice, “Tang Ling? Come, you are standing here.”

As he spoke, Orston impolitely pushed Amir, who was standing third in line, aside. He told Tang Ling to take his spot.

At that exact moment, Amir looked up at Orston, but he quickly lowered his head as if he was embarrassed. He also seemed to have glanced over at Tang Ling, but his messy bangs blocked his eyes and covered his gaze.

Tang Ling shook his head at Orston and stood at the end of the line like yesterday.

Orston grumbled, “Strength is everything. If you don’t respect the honor and glory that come with your strength, your strength won’t favor you either.”

Tang Ling did not answer. He also did not understand why Orston was so concerned about where he stood.

The short fellow beside Tang Ling was still as talkative and as wimpy as yesterday. He reminded Tang Ling in a very soft voice, “Go stand over there. Don’t offend him.”

Tang Ling sighed.  What a merry scene so early in the morning.

Fortunately, a Purple Moon Warrior with a scarlet cape walked over. Even within the inner city of the sector, he was still wearing his purple armor.

Following his approach, the whole waiting line fell into a hush.

Tang Ling’s hands, which were behind his back, trembled fiercely to the point that he had to pinch his right hand vehemently with his left. He used all his might and barely controlled the trembling.

Purple Moon Warriors were exceptionally sharp with their senses. Even if Tang Ling’s hands were behind his back, they would still be able to notice the unusual trembling, were they not?

Tang Ling clenched his teeth tightly as his heart raced and his anger burned like a raging flame. The hunger started to rumble at his chest again.

On the outside, his breathing was calm, and so was his face. No one was able to notice his unusual reaction.

In fact, how serious could it be? Tang Ling told himself.

The man who stood in front of the line was none other than the man who gave the simple order, “Kill!” ten days ago on that stormy night.