Swallowed Star

by Alexander Buchanez

  "Hm, so you count as a beginner warlord now" nodded Gao Feng.

  "Captain" Wei Qing also spoke, "My fist strength is around 9510 kg, my speed is 106 m/s, and my reaction speed test results qualify for a 'beginner warlord'".

  Both Gao Feng and Luo Feng slightly nodded.

  "Haha, it's my turn" laughed Chen Gu, "My fist strength is around 7100 kg, my speed is 81 m/s, and for my reaction speed test results, I got excellent for a 'beginner warlord'".

  "Brother Chen's reaction speed is so quick" Luo Feng couldn't help but to praise.

  Gao Feng laughed: "He uses guns, so he already possessed a quick reaction speed in the first place. With the help of the genetic medicine this time, it became even faster. Looks like you can use guns with an even higher rate of fire now". It was quite rare for the reaction speed of a fighter that used heated weapons to reach the beginner warlord level.

  And Chen Gu got a grade of excellent for a beginner warlord.

  "Alright, you three. In conclusion, it seems that the effects of the genetic medicine are showing" Gao Feng looked at Wei Tie and Wei Qing, "Wei Tie, you brothers still have to keep working hard! Even though it's been around a month, the effects of the genetic medicine haven't completely disappeared yet. If you keep training, you can still get some of the effect out".

  "Understood" Wei Tie and Wei Qing nodded.

  Gao Feng looked towards Chen Gu: "Old Chen, it's time to change your machine gun".

  "Yea, it's time to change it" nodded Chen Gu.

  Chen Gu's heated weapons are a machine gun and a heavy sniper rifle. The fastest rate of fire his machine gun is capable of is 300 rounds per minute, which is five rounds per second! With Chen Gu's old reaction speed, he could make four of these rounds hit four monsters' heads, and the final round will hit the fifth monster's body.

  In other words.....

  For Chen Gu, his machine gun is basically firing at nonmoving targets! This requires a horrifying level of reaction speed. Chen Gu's reaction speed is probably hundreds to thousands of times higher than the people before the Grand Nirvana period, so it's not weird that he is able to do this.

  "I'll probably get a type RG112 heavy machine gun. It has a caliber of 12.7 mm and carries immense power" Chen Gu's eyes lit up, "The fastest rate of fire it can reach is 1500 rounds per minute. This machine gun is basically the gun with the highest rate of fire that a fighter who uses heated weapons can use. If the rate of fire increases even more, then there's no point". As of now.....

  There are machine guns with rate of fires that can reach 7000 to 8000 rounds per minute. Some can even go above 10,000 rounds per minute!

  However, that's not efficient.

  For Chen Gu's current reaction speed, he can make sure that all 10 bullets fired in one second will hit the head of a monster. This is efficient!

  "Old Chen, buy your gun and then practice with it. Make sure you get used to it" Gao Feng slightly smiled as he nodded, "Wei Tie, you brothers should also train at home. Even though your body fitness levels rose, you still need to transform that power into fighting strength. Make sure you're able to completely use every ounce of power".

  "No worries, captain" nodded Wei Tie and Wei Qing.

  Luo Feng let out a smile as he watched this scene.

  This is how the fighters of China think--You should find a way to completely turn your power into fighting strength!

  "Control your power skillfully" is how people in the east think. The westerners also have their own way of thinking. As of now..... the strongest fighter on earth, 'Hong', is Chinese.

  The second strongest fighter, 'Thunder God', is mixed between the east and west. However, he also has some Chinese blood in him. Some of the thoughts in Chinese martial arts are very popular in today's society of fighters.

  "Captain, brother Chen, brother Tie, brother Qing" Luo Feng looked at the group and laughed as he said, "I've bitterly trained at home for a month and I can feel that my strength has increased by quite a bit. However, I feel that the best way for me to improve my techniques is to fight against monsters!". No matter how you swing your blade at home, you're just imagining your opponent.

  That way of practicing can never compare to real combat experience against a real monster.

  "So, I'm going to go into the wilderness alone and practice my technique and blade technique" said Luo Feng.

  "What, alone?" the faces of Gao Feng, Chen Gu, and the others instantly changed.

  "Yes" laughed Luo Feng as he nodded.

  Actually, he already had these thoughts before, but he wasn't completely certain. The words from Xu Gang have touched him. If he wants to become the strongest fighter on earth...... then he has to be decisive! So Luo Feng decided to use the most efficient way to improve his skill.

  "That's too dangerous" said Gao Feng.

  "No, captain. I'm just going to the #0231 country level city next to the military's resupplying base to train myself" explained Luo Feng, "I won't be going to any of the other larger cities".

  "#0231 country level city? Next to the resupplying base?"

  Gao Feng, Chen Gu, and the Wei Jia brothers all let out a sigh of relief. The monsters surrounding the resupplying base are pretty weak. Monsters like horde leader level ones wouldn't dare to stay in a city right next to the military's resupplying base. So..... most of the monsters in the cities surrounding the resupplying base are soldier level. There are a few commander level monsters, but they are mostly 'low level commanders'. Even 'intermediate level commanders' are very rare. Since there are barely any commander level monsters, each commander level monster has hundreds to thousands of soldier level monsters under its command.

  Since there are gigantic hordes of soldier monsters and barely any commander level monsters, how do the fighter squads kill them?

  You can say--

  Strong fighter squads wouldn't even bother with these kinds of cities, since there's not much of an incentive.

  "Since that city is near the resupplying base" laughed Luo Feng, "I can hunt during the day to improve my blade technique and return to the resupplying base at night to rest". Since it's near, and with Luo Feng's speed, he can naturally go back and forth between the country level city and the resupplying base.

  "That #0231 country level city indeed doesn't have any strong commander level monsters. However, there are a ton of soldier level monsters" Wei Tie couldn't help but to say, "If you get surrounded....."

  "Tie, would Luo Feng even be afraid of being surrounded?" laughed Chen Gu.

  Wei Tie and Wei Qing froze, and then laughed.

  Monster hordes are horrifying, but spirit readers are the group of people that are least afraid of them. Not only can they attack them from the front, but just with their spiritual force, they can jump all the way to the top of an apartment building. Monsters can jump pretty high, but how can they compare to a spirit reader than can fly?

  "Good idea" Gao Feng couldn't help but to praise, "Luo Feng, even I feel like practicing with my hammers now. However...... I don't have the power to guarantee that I'll survive in a horde".

  "Luo Feng, when are you going to leave?" asked Chen Gu.

  "If nothing happens, I'm going to prepare today and then leave tomorrow" laughed Luo Feng, "Captain, send me a message when you guys are ready to leave to the wilderness".

  On the path of the strong, it takes one bitter step at a time to get to the peak!

  Chapter 62: Lurking Killer

  Since he decided to enter the wilderness, Luo Feng naturally doesn't hesitate anymore. Afternoon in Yang-Zhou city's Ming-Yue sector, Luo Feng told his dad, mom, and brother about his plans. Ever since Luo Feng decided to become a free fighter, his father and the others have mentally prepared themselves for the fact that Luo Feng will be leaving the city often.

  ���

  Night, the starry light shone through the square shaped glass in the training hall.

  A video was playing on the white wall of the training hall. In the video, someone was fighting a
gainst a huge bear monster that was around 8 or 9 meters tall. As the man fought with the monster one on one, the sturdy trees fell, the mountain rocks split apart, and the ground cracked. It was a horrifying scene of destruction.

  The man was as fast as lightning and a sound of thunder was hidden in his blade.

  The video's explanation echoed through the training hall. This is one of the videos in the discs that came with the��Nine Stage Thunder Blade�� instruction manual.

  "An A rank monster, 'Boulder Bear Statue'. Even with its gigantic body, its speed still reaches the speed of sound!" Luo Feng listened to the explanation with his heart in shock. This is a clip of a professional who has trained in the ways of the��Nine Stage Thunder Blade��and was fighting against the A rank monster 'Boulder Bear Statue'. The boulder bear statue ranks number two out of the bear type monsters.

  According to the level classifications--

  H level, G level, and F level are soldier levels.

  E level, D level, and C level are commander level monsters, low level, medium level, and high level respectively.

  B level, A level, and S level, are horde leader level!

  This boulder bear statue is a medium level horde leader, whose power is unrivaled. Even a cannon can't blast open its rock-like skin that's tougher than diamond! With such a huge body, its speed still manages to reach the speed of sound. Of course it'll be classified as horde leader......

  It's not much for its speed to reach the speed of sound. However, the power that boulder bear statue holds is much more horrifying.

  "BOOM!"

  After a bit, with a sound like rumbling thunder, the gigantic head of the boulder bear statue directly flew in the air.

  "Are you done recording? When we get back, sell it. And don't forget the copyright fees" teased the powerful fighter who just killed the 'Boulder Bear Statue'. The sound carried throughout the training hall. As for his face, it was clearly edited and very blurry, so nobody could tell who he was.

  KA!

  As the video ended, the screen on the wall returned to the menu, where there were large amounts of channels available.

  "I wonder when I can get to the point where I can kill even a boulder bear statue in one slash!" thought Luo Feng to himself. The super strong fighter's battle with the boulder bear statue was turned into a video, which showed that he was very confident he could easily kill the 'Boulder Bear Statue'. He's probably an advanced level wargod.

  The discs that came with the��Nine Stage Thunder Blade��are prohibited on quite a few channels.

  Quite a few channels on powerful fighters are about training in the way of the��Nine Stage Thunder Blade��. However, out of all the channels, only one of them has 'Thunder God' himself in it. The video about Thunder God showed him training by himself in a training hall. With just a simple training scene like that, Luo Feng couldn't tell what was so special about it.

  "Clearly, there are quite a few powerful fighters training in the way of the��Nine Stage Thunder Blade�� all around the world" Luo Feng looked up towards the sky out of the square shaped glass, and saw the limitless starry sky.

  Starting from tomorrow, he's going to start his bitter training.

  With a heartbeat, he turned off the projector in the training hall and went to the first floor.

  The door to his brother's room on the first floor wasn't completely shut. With a glance, Luo Feng saw his brother, on his wheelchair, in front of his computer desk. However, he wasn't looking at his computer, but had his head lowered and was playing with his cell phone.

  "Luo Hua" Luo Feng lightly knocked.

  Luo Hua raised his head and turned towards Luo Feng at the door, and couldn't help but to say: "Brother, you don't even knock anymore?".

  "You're the one that didn't close the door completely" laughed Luo Feng as he entered and closed the door behind him, "What're you doing? Texting with your girlfriend?".

  "Yea"

  Luo Hua let out a smile, laughed, and nodded.

  After Luo Feng saw his brother's goofy look, he could clearly tell that Luo Hua truly liked the girl named Xiao Nan. What this Xiao Nan looks like...... Luo Feng wasn't too sure either. However, when dad and mom push his brother's wheelchair to the park, they see the one named Xiao Nan. And it seems like she left a pretty good impression.

  His parents have way more experience in life and are better at judging a person. If they think she's good, then that Xiao Nan is probably actually good.

  "Has Xiao Nan brought you to meet her parents?" asked Luo Feng.

  "It's way too early for that" laughed Luo Hua as he shook his head, "Xiao Nan is only a freshman in college this year, so she still has three or four years left before graduating. Xiao Nan isn't in a rush to tell her parents. And..... I'm handicapped. Xiao Nan probably has to think of some way to tell her parents; it'll be troublesome to just tell them directly. Most parents don't want their daughters marrying handicapped people".

  As he looked at his brother's bitter face, Luo Feng's heart hurt a bit.

  His handicapped status...... is the scar on his brother's heart. No matter how tough he acts, he can't act with complete confidence in front of Xiao Nan. In other words, he has low self-esteem!

  "Hm, well, keep at it. I'm sure her parents will be understanding" comforted Luo Feng, "There's no rush anyway".

  ......

  That night, Luo Feng chatted with his brother for quite a bit. After a good nights rest, he was fully equipped with his backpack, shield, and blade by dawn and was ready to head into the wilderness. And this time, alone!

  ���

  Jiang-Nan city, northern military sector.

  After the train stopped at the military's station, Luo Feng and some other fighters got out of the train carriage.

  "The wilderness" Luo Feng took in a deep breath as he took the trail to the resupplying base alone. Very quickly, he arrived at the resupplying base.

  "Luo Feng, just you?"

  The guardsman at the resupplying base's gate looked at the message displayed by the scanner and then looked towards Luo Feng with a shocked expression, "You were with the fire hammer squad before. How come you're alone now? Coming to the wilderness alone is very dangerous".

  "Haha, am I looking for death? I've been to the wilderness before, so I know the dangers. Hurry and give me the key" laughed Luo Feng.

  "You have a point, you've been here before so you know the dangers".

  The guardsman laughed as he handed over a key, "H322. Since you're alone, I gave you a small sized villa". The fire hammer squad went to a larger villa, since they were a squad. One person naturally doesn't need that much space.

  "Oh yeah, the name's Wang. It's fine if you call me brother Wang. Luo Feng, if you ever get any materials from monsters, you're welcome to sell them to me. I'll be sure to give you a satisfying price".

  "Alright"

  Luo Feng received the key and headed towards his villa.

  Beside the window on the second floor of one of the villas in the resupplying base, a few men were looking down as they watched Luo Feng walk past.

  "It's Luo Feng!"

  "It's Luo Feng from the fire hammer squad. Captain, should we take this chance to take him out?". The one who said that was indeed Zhang Ze Hu of the tiger fang squad.

  The tiger fang captain walked beside the window and looked down silently. Luo Feng quickly left his field of vision. The tiger fang captain coldly said: "How come he's alone? Did you guys see the other members of the fire hammer squad?".

  "We didn't see them" the other members of the squad shook their heads.

  "Luo Feng's alone" said Zhang Ze Hu confidently, "I saw him enter the resupplying base's gates alone; I didn't see anyone else with him".

  With that, Zhang Ze Hu's eyes lit up: "Captain, we were the ones who made the first move against the fire hammer squad. Most importantly, the fire hammer squad knows that we were the ones who did it, so we're enemies now. You said so yourself, that we need t
o completely destroy this enemy to stop them from threatening us anymore".

  "Yea" the others nodded in agreement.

  The most dangerous thing about making a move on others in the wilderness isn't the act itself, but the chance of them surviving and finding out who did it!

  "Don't rush"

  The tiger fang captain spoke coldly, "Yes, we have to destroy them completely. When we get the chance, we have to obliterate the fire hammer squad. However..... Luo Feng is alone. He's just a normal warrior level fighter! Once he enters the wilderness, he's sure to stay in a safe area".

  "It won't benefit us much to kill him. In fact, it'll just stir them up"

  The other squad members nodded in agreement. What the captain said made sense.

  "The person who poses the largest threat against us is actually twin hammer Gao Feng!" said the tiger fang captain seriously, "Gao Feng himself is quite strong; he's about my level. And he's been in this field for ten or so years already, so he has many connections and knows quite a bit of strong people...... If he really goes all out on us, we will suffer too!".

  "So, don't act unless completely necessary. If we act, we have to kill Gao Feng first! After that, we can take out the little shrimps" said the tiger fang captain indifferently.

  Clearly, the tiger fang captain didn't take the other members of the fire hammer squad seriously at all.

  "The captain's right" nodded Zhang Ze Hu. After that, he laughed coldly as he glanced out, "We'll graciously let this shrimp Luo Feng live for just a bit longer".

  ......

  In the H322 villa of the resupplying base, there were three bedrooms, two lobbies, and one large bathroom. Luo Feng took off his equipment, took a bath, and then put on a relaxing robe.

  "Hello, I'd like a portion of the #12 meal with three dishes and soup. Also, change the drink to tea" Luo Feng hung up and laid on the sofa.

  "After lunch, I'll head out towards the #0231 country level city" Luo Feng's heart suddenly skipped a beat, "I'm going to train bitterly for around two months, going back and forth between the city and the resupplying base. I might bump into the tiger fang squad sometime. Hmph, if I see them, I'll follow them secretly!".