Chapter 127: Reemergence of the Merciless Legend
Chapter 127: Reemergence of the Merciless Legend
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Tehrn
On this seemingly ordinary weekend, one group of people with vastly different ages were unusually agitated. Their age ranged from preteens to middle-aged men in their 40 and 50s. Despite the age gap, they shared the same passion: METAL combat.
They were promised an epic fight tonight, and unlike most other fights of similar nature, tonight's fight was scheduled ahead of time, and it would take place at 8 pm.
Many of the METAL enthusiasts had cleared their schedule, even canceling dates, just to make sure that they wouldn't miss the fight.
For every fan of METAL combat, this was a fight that they could not pass up.
The employees working in the background of the PA system had readied themselves, watching carefully at various kind of indicators. This was the time to put Einherjar Wannabe's popularity to the test.
People started to pour into the system after 6, the red line indicating the viewing rating lifted its head and was ready for a jump.
Cameron sat in his chair, trying to calm his nerves the best he could. He had done the show countless times, but he still felt butterfly in his stomach this time.
"Have we got any intel on Wings of Heaven? "
"Boss, as far as we can tell, he is pretty much a lone wolf, but he is deadly powerful. The only thing we are sure so far is that he is an Ivantian."
"Oh? Interesting!"
"Based the recordings of his previous fights, he is very likely not an ordinary IPA player. His fighting style resembles that of the Military, and all the executions are almost perfect. Thanks to that Dream Ranked METAL suit, this guy has never lost a battle. We suspect that he is a retired soldier from the Military."
"He is too young to have already retired."
"I agree, but it is hard to derive anything concrete from just the data."
Cameron nodded in agreement; he knew that there were riddles in this world that would never get solved.
After dinner, Wang Tong walked toward the virtual cafe. He decided to be a bit early to avoid the rush hour.
When he arrived the entrance of the cafe, he was startled by the throng of people.
There were even more people standing inside the hall; some even had burgers and fries in their hands. They had skipped the dinner table so they could get a seat for tonight's fight. Most of them were so engrossed in heated debates about the abilities and strength of the fighters, they had forgotten about the annoyance of the lack of seats in this crowded room. To most audiences, they would rather be watching a fight in a large group than watching it alone at home.
Wang Tong grinned as he realized that he didn't beat the rush hour after all.
"Hey kiddo, I have reserved for you the terminal number 5, go use it while you still can."
"Thanks! That is very kind of you!"
"You are welcome, that is the benefit of becoming our VIP. Today is the fight between Einherjar Wannabe and the Wings of Heaven, so I figured that you would be here!"
"Thank you so much! You are a smart businessman too! Wish your business grows better every day!"
"Thanks !"
The owner patted on Wang Tong's shoulder. For some reason, the little boy had grown on him. His business always seemed to be much better whenever Wang Tong showed up. Just a while ago, a fortune teller had even told him that he would be visited by his lucky star who would lift his business up from the current sorry state.
Wang Tong walked into the quiet VIP room and felt he was fortunate not to have to share that crowded space. The recent streak of lucky events had made him convinced that his charisma must have grown considerably.
Wang Tong still had some time to kill, so he didn't sign in right away. Instead, he started researching dance moves. After the awkward dance party last weekend, he had decided to widen his after school activity. Although he could not count on dancing to make a living, he figured that he should at least dabbled himself in it just enough to avoid being called uncouth.
Wang Tong was immediately lost in the millions of search results, unsure which song to play, and he clicked on the most popular one. He was not sure who had made this song, and neither did he care to find out, but he found that the music was soothing and relaxed him before the fight.
Fully engrossed in the music, Wang Tong had forgotten the passage of time. Meanwhile, in the PA system, more than two hundred thousands people had signed in. DREAM had also made the fight free for everyone to watch which had further increased the number of audiences.
Many people believed that as long as Wings of Heaven didn't make mistakes like Solitary Snow, he should be able to win this fight with ease.
Wings of Heaven possessed much stronger power than Solitary Snow, and with the help of his Dream ranked METAL suit, he should be invincible.
Neither Wang Tong nor Wings of Heaven had yet signed in. If it were anyone else, they would have signed in early just to bask in the audience's admiration and attentions. Unfortunately for the fans, neither of the fighters enjoyed the limelight, and none of them replied to their messages.
There was an hour left before the fight started, and most virtual cafes had already been packed with customers. The crowd had greatly pleased the owners of these virtual cafes. They had never seen so many customers even during the national tournament. The service fees aside, they also made loads of money on the drinks and food the customers had ordered while waiting for the fight to start.
Meanwhile, on the Moon, a dozen people walked into a crowded virtual cafe. They all seemed to carry a chip on their shoulder and held an awful expression on their face. As people felt the squeeze from the movement of the crowd to accommodate the dozen new visitors, they turned their head toward the new customers with angry stares. However, as soon as people saw the newcomer's uniforms, they choked back any dissidents.
The new customers were from the Anti-Smuggler Special Unit.
None of the dozen officers talked after entering the cafe, they simply stood quietly and stared at the screen as if no one else existed in the room.
Everyone knew how powerful the members of the Special Units were. With the growing pirate activities, the survival rate of the Special Unit had dropped even below the Army. The military dealt with Zergs, and the Special Unit had to deal with the human, which had proven to be even more dangerous.
Some muted conversation started to mix into the loud debates in the cafe: "What is the Special Unit doing here?"
"Boss, the total number of user online has reached 30 million!" the excitement made his voice shaky. 30 million was close to one-third of all registered users. This rating had never been achieved even during the final matches of official tournaments.
Cameron finally felt a sense of relief. He knew that at least, the sponsors would be happy with the match regardless of the outcome.
Einherjar Wannabe signed in.
Everyone was surprised that Einherjar Wannabe, who was never early for a fight, had signed in before his opponent.
Ten minutes before the fight started, Wings of Heaven was still nowhere to be seen. The audience began to become agitated, thinking that he might have already given up.
All kinds of speculations spread like wildfire on the internet. Some were convinced that Wings of Heaven had already given up and would not take up the challenge.
"No way, he had such an OP METAL suit!"
"Shut the f*ck up!" the younger member of the Special Unit bawled out at the crowd. There was a sense of indifference to life in his tone, although he didn't speak loudly, his soul-energy-infused voice had shaken everyone.
The crowded cafe suddenly became deadly silent. No one wanted to get on the wrong side of the Special Unit, not because of respect, but because they knew that the Special Units were full of crazy psychopath that would kill without reason.
At the last minute before the game started, Wings of Heaven finally signed in.
The younger Special Unit member who had spoken earlier became excited at the sight of Wings of Heaven, but then he said, "Is that... Captain?"
"Yes, it is!"
The Special Unit members looked much more cheerful than they were when they first came in, anticipation and excitement burned brightly in their eyes.
Wings of Heaven looked calm. He didn't acknowledge anyone in the arena as if the discussions around him had nothing to do with him.
Wang Tong studied his opponent's eyes for a moment, and then he knew that he had picked the right opponent.
"Ten, Nine... Five... One!"
"Check."
"Check."
The two combatants gestured the referee that they were ready, then the fight was on.
Einherjar Wannabe vs. Wings of Heaven!
However, as soon as the match started, people noticed that wings of Heaven didn't use his signature METAL suit. This unexpected development made the audiences question his sanity.
"No METAL suit?"
"He doesn't want to fight with his METAL suit? And he expects to win?"
The audiences let out a wave of boo, as they were disappointed at the thought of an extremely short game.
However, having watched this development, the Special Units on the Moon straightened their back and saluted to their leader. Respect was written all over their solemn faces.
The other audiences at the same Cafe were shocked by what they saw and wondered who this Wings of Heaven really was.
"Gosh! He is a member of the Golden Star!"
Finally, someone in the crowd recognized the faces of the Special Units. Team Golden Star was one of the three strongest team in the Anti-Smuggler Special Unit. They had won many legendary battles, the most famous of which was the battle that eliminated the Wasp, a notorious pirate fleet. The rumor had it that they had slaughtered the entire two thousand METAL-armed pirates, and the Golden Star was therefore well known for their mercilessness.
But who could evoke respect in the cold-hearted members of the Golden Star?
The answer was their Captain.
Wings of Heaven did not know that his teammates were watching him. He never cared about what others thought of him and always acted accordingly to his own will. Ever since he had watched the fight between Einherjar Wannabe and Solitary Snow, he felt an urge inside of him that eventually led him to this stage.
Wings of Heaven attacked first without his METAL suit.
As everyone was expecting the match to end after their first round of exchange of fists, they saw Einherjar Wannabe stumbling back at the impact while Wings of Heaven stood still, steady like a mountain.
"Gosh! What kind of power is that?"
The entire exchange lasted less than one second, but within that one, brief second, the audience didn’t saw an IPA player in Wings of Heaven, but a TPA fighter with superhuman power.