Chapter 535: Kristen’s Project

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

There were many, many things that Ye Chong needed to attend to.

Shooting practice was absolutely necessary. If he could become an effective long range attacker, he would no longer be so helpless against shooters, especially when he was in his mech. This skill was crucial for his survival, and must be prioritized above all else.

Modifying his base was a massive and long term operation. With a basic defense system in place, his safety was at least not a concern. This job can be delayed for later.

Studying the contents of the three chips from Kui was an equally long and laborious effort. There was so much knowledge in those chips that Ye Chong could not possibly hope to master them all in his lifetime. Nevertheless, he had no choice, for he needed to get back home. How could he stay here? Mu, Shang, Rui Bing, the Sang Tribe … Ye Chong suddenly realized that he was no longer the isolated and lonely young man he once was.

He must return, no matter what it takes! Ye Chong tightened his fists, his gaze determined. No matter how long it would take, no matter how much work it would require, he will return to them.

Compared to these three tasks, the rest were not as important. He did not need to socialize or bow down to another person's wishes. He only needed to do his research in his base, by himself.

Ye Chong exhaled deeply. There was work to be done. It was no use for him to ruminate on his thoughts.

Ye Chong thought that the planet he landed on was very interesting. The place had an abundance of natural resources and lifeforms. There was enough energy here to mass produce energy crystals. This was the reason native plants were highly compatible with pure energy, and why the planet had highly advanced energy manipulation technology. Nevertheless, Ye Chong found that the technology here had developed in an unusual way. Their theories and other fundamental research works were much too primitive compared to energy manipulation technology.

There was also a very significant weakness in this place – there were no metals. The plants here had excellent physical properties, but they were still plant based material, limited by what plant cells could achieve. There was no expertise like alchemy to harvest the plants in a more scalable manner. In fact, the natives gathered their plant materials by simply harvesting them from nature. Ye Chong thought it was a very backward method.

Ye Chong's extensive knowledge allowed him to assess the local technology from a wider perspective.

Of course, in the end, all of these were not relevant to him. He could not be bothered to get involved. What he needed to do now was improve his own situation through the resources available to him. Abruptly, he had a feeling that this was just like the game he had once played with Mu and Shang. He was biding his time in a secluded place, strengthening himself, until the time came for him to strike out.

Ye Chong reminisced on his difficult but fulfilling days. A thin smile brightened on his face, as he felt a warm, eager sensation bubbling within him.

Let them see, he will be back soon enough.

…

A month passed quickly enough. It was time for Ye Chong's trade with Sun Sieha.

Sun Sieha came as planned. Together with him was an old man with white hair – Master Karu.

This was the first time for both of them in visiting Ye Chong's manor. Master Karu looked around curiously. Most of the buildings had been modified by Ye Chong such that they no longer fit into the leisurely nature of the manor. Sun Sieha controlled himself more, but his occasional wandering gaze betrayed his own curiosity towards this place.

Sun Sieha was naturally accompanied by his guards. However, he also knew that Ye Chong did not like many visitors. Thus, he only brought five of them. The way they conducted themselves suggested that they were all Level 8 shooters.

"You're here," Ye Chong greeted the King nonchalantly.

Sun Sieha did not behave like the King he had become. He only nodded back in an equally casual manner, "Yes, I am."

That the two of them would speak to each other so casually surprised Master Karu and the guards. Master Karu knew Sun Sieha well enough to know that the King was a very strict person who would only be more amenable towards truly capable people. However, this degree of friendliness was a little too much …

The guards were also shocked. Their immediate suspicion was that the young man might be His Majesty's illegitimate son! However, when they saw Sha Ya, they immediately tightened their guard. A Level 8 shooter can pose a serious threat to His Majesty! They quickly surrounded the King to protect him.

Sun Sieha was annoyed by their overreaction. He waved them away unhappily, "Stand down."

He then turned to Ye Chong with a smile and asked, "Are they ready?"

"Yes," Ye Chong nodded and pointed towards two huge boxes casually placed under a tree. The boxes were elegantly designed, caved with many intricate patterns. These two boxes were Kristen's work. As Ye Chong's first assignment to her, she dared not slack on her job. She chose the materials herself, and added many decorations on the side. The boxes ended up looking like fine artwork.

Sun Sieha took a glance at the two boxes and nodded. Two guards immediately went for the boxes.

"Pay up," Ye Chong put out his hand without delay.

Sun Sieha looked a little helpless as he replied, "Here you go."

Master Karu watched their interaction with amusement. He had never seen anyone speak to the King like this. The young man did not seem afraid of His Majesty at all.

"This is Master Karu, Eastern Cloud's most prestigious weaponsmith. He asked to be introduced to you, so here he is now," Sun Sieha made the introductions.

Master Karu smiled gently, his wrinkles showing underneath his smile, "I wouldn't call myself Master in front of this great talent, Master Ye. I am here to learn from you."

"You are too kind," Ye Chong responded out of courtesy.

Sun Sieha said to them, "Enjoy yourselves then. I won't be bothering you. Sigh, what a carefree life you have, I'm just jealous of you."

Sun Sieha then took his guards with him and left Ye Chong's manor.

Master Karu asked carefully, "May I visit your workshop? I've tons of questions regarding the cannon array you made."

"Sure," Ye Chong replied after some thought.

Ye Chong brought Master Karu to a red and white colored building. "This is my workshop," Ye Chong introduced. Having learned his lesson, Ye Chong had prepared this particular building for his cover. Everything inside were normal equipment that locals used to build their weapons. In fact, Ye Chong rarely came here himself. It was Kristen who frequented the place often. She had bought most of the equipment in here.

Thus, when Ye Chong brought Master Karu into the building, he surprised Kristen, who was working inside. The woman was quick to notice that the old man was no ordinary person.

"Teacher," Kristen greeted Ye Chong, as was proper. Ever since she witnessed Ye Chong's prowess in battle, she never behaved arrogantly towards him again.

"Ye Chong's student?" Master Karu thought to himself, intrigued. Kristen's beauty also led him to consider a possibility – could this cold, young man actually be interested in beautiful women? The thought came and passed.

"Mm," Ye Chong nodded in acknowledgement. He introduced the old man to Kristen, "This is Master Karu."

"Mas – Master Karu!" the words stumbled of Kristen's mouth. She could not believe her eyes.

Master Karu was pleased by Kristen's reaction. He laughed it off, "I didn't think that Master Ye would have such a beautiful student. You make me jealous."

"Kristen, my student," Ye Chong introduced Kristen briefly, completely unmoved by them. Regardless of why Ye Chong had accepted her as a student in the first place, he was actually impressed by her. Kristen was talented, hardworking and determined. Ye Chong did not have much time to teach her. Usually, he would just pass some basic knowledge for her to study by herself.

Kristen did not complain about his teaching methods, but instead focused on absorbing new knowledge given to her.

Ye Chong always had a soft spot for hardworking people.

"Are you really the one and only Master Karu?" Kristen was overjoyed. Every weaponsmith would know the name of this old man. As Eastern Cloud's iconic weaponsmith, he was an idol to many, including Kristen. Seeing her long admired idol made Kristen a little emotional.

"Haha, I don't think anyone would be interested in pretending to be me," Karu laughed it off. He thought the girl was amusing.

His attention turned to a few items on the desk, which looked like unfinished work.

He asked warmly, "Are these yours?"

Kristen blushed and nodded almost imperceptibly, "Yes." She felt embarrassed to let the honorable Master Karu to see some unfinished work of hers. For someone of her level, Master Karu might just be left unimpressed …

Master Karu picked up one of them and inspected it carefully. He wanted to know how good this young man's student was. A student's abilities were usually a good reflection of the teacher's. Of course, there were exceptions to the rule.

Master Karu nodded, "Not bad. This energy activation chip's structure is interesting. Your workmanship is good. Ah!" Suddenly, the old man gasped in surprised.

An energy activation chip was every weapon's core component. It was used to extract energy from energy crystals. This energy was then focused using other components into a directed beam of energy, capable of damage. The energy activation chip was second in the hierarchy of weapon components that required great skill. The component that demanded the most skills was the focusing component.

Master Karu had spent more time than both Kristen and Ye Chong combined in building weapons. Of course he could identify all the elements necessary in an energy activation chip.

This particular chip looked strange. It was only the size of an almond nut, with a complicated internal structure. However, Master Karu could make out every detail of the structure.

"What energy grade is this energy activation chip for?" Master Karu asked Kristen warily.

Kristen answered without hesitation, "Three million Lux."

Master Karu could barely contain his shock as he repeated shakily, "Three million Lux?"

"Yea," Kristen answered, feeling worried. The energy activation chip that she built was much smaller than those commonly available in the market, but the great Master Karu might not find it impressive enough.

What a humiliation! Kristen felt her cheeks burning up. She stole a glance at Ye Chong and found him looking pretty much expressionless, not the slightest bit angry with her. Kristen groaned inside. She could never make out Ye Chong's moods. Her previous teacher had always minded his image very much, especially amongst others in the same trade. If she happened to embarrass his in front of his colleagues, she would suffer for sure!

Karu's eyes flashed with fear. Making a three million Lux energy activation chip at this small size was a difficult feat. An energy activation chip had a very complicated internal structure. Any kind of miniaturization was hard to achieve. Besides, the higher the energy grade, the larger an energy activation chip must be to accommodate. In his own workshop, an energy activation chip designed for three million Lux would have been at least the size of a fist. This particular chip was only the size of an almond!

The seasoned Master Karu did not let his expression betray his thoughts. He smiled at Kristen and said, "Three million Lux, that's a heavyweight there. What do you plan to install it in?"

Kristen's mature, womanly face turned shy as she replied, "I was thinking of making a laser gun." Ye Chong had built two laser guns at five million Lux earlier. One was for his own training, and the other for Sha Ya to replace her gun made of speckled blue fir.

Kristen wanted one as well, but Ye Chong thought it was unnecessary, and did not make one for her.

Hence, Kristen thought of building a high energy grade laser gun for herself. These days, all the new knowledge had inspired her greatly to try out some things. Of course, building a five million Lux weapon was beyond her. In the end, she settled for three million Lux.

The highest energy grade laser gun one can get from the market was at 1.5 million Lux, and at a sky high price. Kristen was not confident of building this three million Lux weapon, but she wanted to at least try it out. Master Karu was a legendary weaponsmith. Kristen thought that, if she could do it, surely it would be a piece of cake for Master Karu!

A laser gun!

Master Karu was shocked beyond words. How can a three million Lux energy activation chip be used for a laser gun? If Ye Chong had not been standing calmly beside him right then, Master Karu would have thought he heard it wrong.

Kristen looked embarrassed, but Karu could see that she was serious about her work.

No wonder the energy activation chip was made to be this mall. The weird internal structure was probably why the chip could be made this small.

Karu felt an impulse to disassemble the energy activation chip to its basic parts there and then and study its design. Fortunately, he was a seasoned man. He suppressed his emotions quickly. A quick glance to the side showed Ye Chong looking calm as usual. Master Karu managed a smile and said, "Master Ye is indeed outstanding. The chip's structure is unique." In fact, he felt that the energy activation chip was in a league of its own. However, it was only natural for a weaponsmith who could build the cannon arrays to be able to come up with something like this.

Ye Chong shook his head and clarified, "The design is hers." He fixed his gaze on the energy activation chip for a moment. There was still much room for improvement, but he thought Kristen's proactive attempt a worthy and meaningful effort.

Karu was now shocked beyond words. Could it be that even Ye Chong's student was as capable as this? Minimizing the size of an energy activation chip had always been one of the difficult problems in weapon building. Now, however, this young man's student was able to solve that problem by herself, without help from her teacher.

"This … This is … " Karu's thoughts slowed down to a halt. For the first time ever, he considered the possibility of having grown too old himself to catch up.

Master Karu quickly gathered himself and laughed, "Haha, looks like our country, Eastern Cloud, will have another Master in its grace. Master Ye has an excellent student!"

Kristen was overcome with joy, having been complimented by the great Master Karu. She felt like she was walking on clouds. At the same time, she felt greatly relieved. She stole a look at Ye Chong, but the man still looked as expressionless as ever, not showing any signs of happiness or contentment.

"If this is your student's work, perhaps I may be able to purchase the rights for this technology on behalf of Eastern Cloud?" Master Karu inquired carefully, looking at Ye Chong.

Ye Chong did not care. "It's hers, you can just discuss with her."

Karu's wrinkled face stretched into a wide, cunning grin. He said to Kristen, "Dear Ms Kristen, we are willing to offer 30 million ao to buy the rights for this energy activation chip technology. You will receive five percent of every energy activation chip sold for 20 years from now. What do you say?" Karu could tell from experience that this chip would allow their country to be at least three decades ahead of other rival countries in terms of technology. The price he offered for this advantage was not high at all.

Kristen felt a little dizzy. She stared at Karu in amazement, then looked to Ye Chong's calm face for help.