Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
All of Tang Ling’s battles had been secretive except for the first exam in which he purposely exposed his abilities under the public eye.
That particular battle with the Leceister silverback bear was considered astonishing and surely left a deep impression on everyone.
In fact, with the support of his Precise Instinct, every battle that he had been through was near perfect, including that very first virgin battle against a mutated beast, the black horn purple-striped snake, that Quark witnessed.
As for the battle with the chameleon black-winged mantis, had there been viewers around, they would have surely been amazed by the dance on the blade tips. What else could be a better sight than that?
Actually, it could be better like the acknowledgment of the Level 3 mutated insect’s self-consciousness that could have been added into his Precise Instinct calculations.
Whether it was anger, sorrow, happiness, or excitement, emotions could affect a battle, especially when it might affect the opportunity between life and death that could seal the outcome.
However, it was difficult to pull off. His Precise Instinct could only simulate precise numbers and was useless against emotions.
After all, the anticipation of emotions and even the grasp of human nature could only be processed by his own thoughts and feelings. At times, that would be even more reliable than his Precise Instinct.
For example, when Tang Ling took the risk and tore towards the black-winged mantis, if the creature had stronger self-consciousness, it would surely respond and not revert back to its machine-like reflex to deal with the situation.
Thanks to the rigid thinking of the mantis, Tang Ling was able to buy himself some precious time.
However, at the same time, it clearly stated that the most efficient ones on the battlefield would always be the ice-cold machines. If the dull brutality remained and was combined with precise calculations and battle wisdom, it would be…
Tang Ling was getting lost in his maze of thoughts. The foundations of battling would still be one’s abilities, but on top of that, battle wisdom would reign as king!
******
Even though he was absorbed in his thoughts, Tang Ling’s pace was brisk.
Since his risky hunting had ended and he was exceptionally familiar with a certain area in the northern forest, Tang Ling had a relatively safe path towards his destination, hence saving him a lot of time.
In less than half an hour, he was at his secret base.
His secret base was actually an orange jasmine tree. The tree did not mutate much though. Only its leaves and trunks were unusually fragrant.
The fragrance sort of functioned as an insect repellent and it could cover scents to a certain extent, although it was not as effective as the Sournia Tartar.
Tang Ling hid all his spoils in the trunk of the tree inside a space that he had carefully carved out.
He carved along the pattern and extracted a piece of tree bark from the trunk. He dug the inside clean and formed a storage space that was a square meter wide in the center.
Since the tree was big enough, the storage space did not even take up half of its diameter. In addition to that, the location he chose was close to where the troops from Safety Sector No. 17 were stationed, so it decreased the chances of any accidents happening.
Tang Ling was confident that he would never be discovered by the others. The fragrant orange jasmine covered the scent of his spoils, and he used that extracted piece of bark as a cover. Since he carefully carved it out along the pattern of the bark, the cover seemed very natural.
Although the piece of bark would surely decay over a certain period of time and appear different from the entire tree, it was not a problem either. Tang Ling did not plan to keep his spoils in a single spot or keep them for a long time.
The spoils would only be valuable when exchanged for useful items. On top of that, he was not a collector anyway.
With that thought in mind, he was already 5 meters away from the orange jasmine tree. He would be free for the day after he hid his spoils.
However, strangely, when he came up to his secret base, Tang Ling unusually slowed down and pretended to search around. In the end, he picked a huge rock near his secret base and sat on it.
Exhausted, Tang Ling took a cigarette out to smoke as he finished his remaining water.
Although he had not gotten used to the stink of cigarettes, he had to admit that they were somewhat useful for relaxing his fatigue.
He stayed there for more than a minute before a figure in military attire appeared further away. The figure looked a little hesitant when he revealed himself.
Tang Ling feigned a calm look as he looked at the sky, but his hand was holding the sharp military knife tightly.
“Hey, brother, I come in peace. Please believe me!” As soon as that man appeared, he stood where he was and did not simply advance toward Tang Ling. Instead, he tried to prove his goodwill.
Tang Ling glanced over at the man and did not say anything.
The man did not leave despite Tang Ling’s silence. Instead, he pulled his coat closer around him and tried his best to display the bronze badge at his chest.
“I am a second class sergeant of the Second Camp. Can you see my badge? I can toss it to you and you can check my identity using yours by just putting them together.” As he spoke, the man removed his badge and tried to hurl it over.
The identification badge of the Safety Sector No. 17 worked as such. Touching the badge with another would produce a unique beep. Of course, the verification process was only limited between warriors.
Su Yao once tossed a transparent badge to Tang Ling, and now he finally understood that the transparent badge belonged to the normal civilians of the inner city.
In short, the transparent badge was much more difficult to acquire than a common warrior’s badge since it represented the right to live in the inner city.
As a matter of fact, Tang Ling already noticed there were people around the area because the little indicators that he set up around his secret base had traces of having been meddled with. Such traces could only be left behind by a human’s touch which had a very subtle difference from a wild beast’s. Furthermore, the trace was fresh.
That was why Tang Ling pretended to search the area earlier. He could not afford to simply expose his secret base.
As for what came next? Observation.
The secret base was very important to him, so he used his Precise Instinct to specifically measure the area within a certain range since he would be able to notice anything that was out of the blue.
Therefore, before the man even appeared, he already knew where he was standing. He did not sense any danger, but he could not rely on his feelings, so he was cautious.
Until the man took the initiative to show himself and express his goodwill, only then did Tang Ling size him up and determine his capabilities. He also repeatedly made sure there was no ambush in the area before he heaved a breath of relief.
Tang Ling replied to the man’s enthusiastic reaction, “No need. I’ll be going back to the Hope Barrier after some rest.”
His indifference disappointed the man a little. The man wanted to leave but seemed to stop unwillingly and turn around, “Hey, brother, do you want to… trade something?”