Dark Moon Era

When they got closer to the Tower, Tang Ling could no longer hold back his curiosity about the three men and the woman, so he asked, “Who are they?”

As a matter of fact, anyone who was not an idiot could tell that the three of them were absurdly powerful. With the three of them around, as long as Worf remained still, the whole Safety Sector No. 17 would surely be overturned.

Why all the trouble then?

“The Tiger Generals.” Ah Bing had no intention to keep their identities a secret.

The buff man wielding the heavy hammer beside Tang Ling spat all of a sudden and criticized them, “Generals, my *ss! They are still wearing the honorable war robe, yet they forget the gratitude. They...” Maybe because the man was too agitated, the beard on his face twitched as he criticized them.

Ah Bing was quiet for half a second before he decided to speak, “Sorin, it’s just different ideologies.”

“F*ck their different ideologies,” cursed the man known as Sorin.

“Enough. There’s proof that they remembered the debt of gratitude. From another perspective, they are the ones who inherited the great leader’s will. Get it? Stop criticizing them.” Ah Bing sighed in the end.

Sorin shut up in grievance, but his eyes were burning with rage. Clearly, he did not agree with Ah Bing about the identities of the three Tiger Generals.

Tang Ling had no idea what they were talking about, let alone know who the ‘great leader’ Ah Bing referred to. What was this will that he mentioned? Nevertheless, he managed to catch the point in the conversation, so he asked Ah Bing, “Uncle Bing, are you saying that the three Tiger Generals will only fight this one time?”

“Yes, because Su Yao begged them to. Now, fighting the safety sector is actually against their ideals and desire.” Ah Bing was calm as he explained.

They were getting closer to the Tower. Maybe because all the troops were summoned to Glory Square, there were only two elite warriors guarding the entrance of the Tower.

When the two guards saw the group advancing, they fled nervously. Tang Ling and company did not go after them. Instead, Sorin stepped up and rammed the door to the Tower open.

“Young Master, quickly go in.” Sorin stood guard at the door with his heavy hammer.

Tang Ling was not in a hurry to go in. He asked in a stern tone, “What do you mean that they will only fight this one time?”

“They’ll only fight during the most critical moment, and it is up to them to decide when. Since they appeared in Glory Square and dealt with the enemies, they will leave soon.” Ah Bing did not withhold the information from Tang Ling.

The mist grew thick under the windy night. Right after Ah Bing finished explaining, as though he sensed something, he immediately spun in the direction where the battle was happening.

Amidst the fierce battle, a man holding a black longsword walked out and headed to the Tower step by step. Tang Ling also saw the man at the same time. He knew the man. How could he forget the moment when he was overwhelmed by a high tier battle?

The man was none other than Anthony.

“Sorin, hold him back. I’ll go in with the Young Master.” Ah Bing seemed a little more serious when he said that to Sorin. He then dragged Tang Ling into the Tower.

There were only several warriors in the Tower. They were not the elite warriors of the safety sector, but the warriors wearing Stardust uniforms. Perhaps because they were overconfident about Glory Square, not a single Purple Moon Warrior was stationed in the Tower.

Ah Bing stepped up and cleared the Stardust Warriors while Tang Ling kicked the door to the office open.

The beautiful lady from last time was still on duty. When she saw Tang Ling barge in unannounced, she instinctively wanted to scold him, but he sped up to her and seized her by the neck.

“Unlock all the access. I want to search the entire Tower.” Tang Ling skipped the chatter. His expression was unfriendly, and as he warned the lady, his fingers slowly tightened around her neck, making her difficult to breathe.

“You...are...seriously breaking...the rules.” The beautiful lady mustered enough strength to utter those words. She remembered Tang Ling, the New Moon Warrior who came for cultivation with all his belongings. She did not understand what made this New Moon Warrior so bold all of a sudden.

Tang Ling chuckled at the lady’s ignorance. Then, he dragged her out to the entrance of the Tower.

When she saw the dead Stardust Warriors along the way, she screamed, “Who are they? Why are they stationed here in the Tower?”

Tang Ling really wanted to laugh out loud. What a total fool! Had she planned to lock herself up in the Tower for the rest of her life?

Back at the entrance, Sorin was already hurt since he was no match for Anthony at all. The clash lasted for an instant, but there were already burn wounds on Sorin and electrical sparks lingered around him.

However, Anthony did not kill Sorin. He stared at Tang Ling instead. “I don’t hate you, kid, and I don’t know what these black-mantled people are doing. I’m here on orders to arrest you. Follow me and the battle might end. My sword has no interest to kill humans.”

Tang Ling ignored Anthony as he pulled the lady out of the doorway and pointed at the battle happening in Glory Square. “See that? This is war! And I’m obviously the bad guy here. Do I need to give you another reason?”

After that, Tang Ling then glance over at Anthony. He had mixed feelings about the man. Even until now, both of them were people from different worlds and would never be on the same side.

“Anthony, right?” Ah Bing stepped up with the butterfly knife at his waist drawn. It twirled beautifully in his hand and suddenly became twice as long.

Pak!

The two hilts of the knife clapped together in Ah Bing’s hand before he gripped it tightly.

Anthony did not answer Ah Bing. He just frowned slightly at him because the man with the black hair who had succumbed to the vicissitude seemed a little familiar.

Tang Ling then dragged the lady into the office again. He did not have to worry about Ah Bing. What he needed to do was trust the man to deal with the situation.

The beautiful lady’s hands were shaking while her mind was flooded with all sorts of messy thoughts. Is this New Moon Warrior who brought everything here for cultivation a bad guy? Is he one of those black-mantled people? Are they starting a war to...kill?

As a matter of fact, she was on a 15-day shift in the Tower a month, so she barely knew what happened outside. The Tower was like her own little world.

Providing all access to a bad guy to search the Tower is seriously going against the rules!

Had it been before, the beautiful lady would never have granted full access to anyone by herself even if she had the courage of a lion. However, she could not control her hands. Despite shaking violently, she inserted many complicated passwords on the computer at the reception desk.

When she saw Tang Ling’s solemn gaze, she believed he would kill her without a second thought if she so much as delayed a second. Even though her death would mean that entering the training room would be more difficult, the beautiful lady believed he would use all kinds of methods to break in.

After the passwords were accepted, the internal blueprint structure and the training rooms, whether closed or opened, were all displayed clearly on the monitor, but Tang Ling was not interested in all that. He only sought a particular room.

“Where’s the energy reserve of the Tower?” Tang Ling pointed at the monitor, or more precisely, the black squares denoting the closed rooms. Other than where the big energy gatherer was installed, one of these few closed rooms would be his destination.

The beautiful lady stared at Tang Ling in shock and stammered, “Y-you want to go to the energy room? That place...”

“Shut up and open it!” Tang Ling frowned and scolded her. There might be a problem, but by now, he could no longer alter his plans.

The beautiful lady gulped and said carefully, “The energy gathered in that room is very rich. If it isn’t gradually released, the energy can be quite volatile...”

Could he wait for the energy to be released slowly? He did not have the time. The whole safety sector was plunging into chaos and the Agnes family would surely grasp first-hand information about the riot. He could not wait for them to escape! Never!

“Show me the energy room and open it!” Tang Ling shouted at her.

“Other than this room, the others are all energy rooms. Are you sure you want me to open them?” the beautiful lady sought for confirmation once more.

“Open all of them,” Tang Ling simply said. He knew about the condition of the energy reserve in the Tower, and he was afraid that one room might not be enough.

The lady dared not delay anymore. She pressed more buttons and the energy room on the monitor turned gray, meaning that it was vacant.

Tang Ling then knocked her out and strapped her tightly to the chair before sprinting towards the unlocked energy room.

...

Aber looked a little pale. He kept telling himself to be faster, but even though he was a Purple Moon Warrior, he still could not steady his trembling hands to pack his things.

What a terrifying scene!

Are they really the legendary Tiger Generals? No, no, no, they must be! If the Tiger Generals are here in Safety Sector No. 17, even one of them could render the whole safety sector hopeless, let alone three.

They’ll surely massacre all the Purple Moon Warriors! And without the Purple Moon Warriors, the Agnes family will become nothing more than a puppet to the Stardust Council! We can’t even speak for ourselves and we might not have the power to anything!

Aber stood up nervously. He wanted to switch off the giant screen that showed the battlefield in Glory Square, yet he clung to a thread of hope for the best when he glanced at it. Should he just give up on packing and run out of the Agnes family’s mansion? Would he die if he went out recklessly?

In a state of panic, he started regretting stepping on Tang Ling’s tail. Even the Tiger Generals joined the fight, would there still be doubts about Tang Ling’s identity?

Will Tang Ling come here and kill me? He could barely stand on his feet in his room. He wanted to make a call to his mother but obviously could not since it would only make him look useless to her.

What should he do then? Should he ask his grandfather for help? The riot had started, yet there was nothing from his grandfather. The old man had not even stepped out of the mansion.

His grandfather must have something to support him. What could it be? Was it the Level 2 Sector Protection Machine? If it was, there was still hope to turn things around.

Aber finally calmed himself down before he forced himself to swallow a glass of liquor. He had to calm his mind and support himself with his ideologies. He put the familiar vinyl disk on the phonograph and the familiar music played. Soon, his body stopped shaking.

Clyne saw his grandson slowly calm down through the monitor. Despite him trying to comfort himself, Clyne could not help but be disappointed in Aber.

His grandson was not decisive enough. Why would he pack his things all of a sudden in the middle of the riot? As a prestigious member of the Hermes family, was he worried about not having a future or enough money to spend?

He was not brave enough. If he was really worried about the war, he would have decisively waited at the promised place. He was a Purple Moon Warrior after all. With his ability, at least, escaping amidst the riot would have sounded better.

He was also not smart enough. Despite the Tiger Generals’ appearance, would the Stardust Council just sit back and do nothing? He knew the operation was escalated to the next level, so he could conclude that the Stardust Council had gotten the news. Otherwise, they would not have simply escalated the operation, so why should he be worried?

The Tiger Generals were powerful, but they were not compelling enough to threaten the Stardust Council. By now, the Tiger Generals were nothing but losers, so they might not even touch the Stardust Council at all.

While thinking about that, Clyne clicked his tongue. The words that Tang Ling said about Andrew being better than Aber rang in his ears again.

It troubled him a lot. Frustratedly, he lit a cigar. As a matter of fact, he should not be thinking about that anymore since Andrew was dead. No matter how good Andrew might have been, his identity had determined his fate.

The Agnes family had to thrive. Maybe after Aber got into the Ivy League Alliance Academy, things might finally become better for the family.

Since Aber had calmed down, he must have figured out the key to the whole incident.

There were only two uncontrollable elements in this whole matter. The first was Tang Ling, and the second, Su Yao. The man had not shown up even now. Although he was the first man who protected Tang Ling from the start, it did not reveal who he really was.

Tang Ling’s matter should not be much of a problem. Despite getting into the Tower, how much power could he get from the Tower? How much time did he even have left?

Powering up at the last minute, eh? How childish... Clyne spat a cloud of smoke out. He did not expect such a matter to be possible when it came to such a great kid like Tang Ling.

Therefore, he had doubts about the matter, but they were just doubts. Power was the base of everything, and it limited Tang Ling greatly.

The key was Su Yao.

Clyne picked up the document in front of him.

Su Yao, born in Safety Sector No. 31, was a civilian who participated in the Dragon Army in his early years. After the Dragon Army collapsed, he became a nomad warrior.

Clyne repeatedly flipped through the document about Su Yao. He did not get the information himself, but it had been given to him by the Stardust Council, so it was quite authentic.

Nevertheless, because of that, he doubted it. Su Yao’s profile was very clean. Even if he participated in the Dragon Army, he should not have been anyone important and he should have joined during the later period.

After that, he was nothing but a nomad warrior. The document even identified where he had been throughout the years. In short, there was nothing about Su Yao’s background. He was nothing but another rather powerful person in this whole world.

Then, how could a man like him play such an important role in this matter?

Clyne shook his head. He should not be worrying about this. He should just mind his own business. Thinking beyond his position and capability was not a healthy habit.

In conclusion, be it Tang Ling as an expected factor or Su Yao, the Level 2 Sector Protection Machine was not a decoration. At the most critical moment, Clyne would not hesitate to use it.

...

The inner city became a field of slaughter. The outer city might be temporarily safe, but the people were nervous.

Rona was weeping softly. Su Yao actually brought her to a small black market underground area to hide a few days ago. He had asked her to leave Safety Sector No. 17, but she insisted on staying because she had a feeling that if she left, she might never see him again.

As expected, Su Yao then disappeared until this very night that he reappeared before her.

“Rona, you must leave. I let you stay a few days ago because I still wanted to see you one last time, but not this time. I cannot allow you to be reckless anymore. You don’t have a choice,” Su Yao told Rona when he came back.

He hugged Rona and told two men to bring her away by force. Su Yao stood there and watched Rona leaving his sight as she finally broke down in tears.

She was just a normal woman who had feelings too. Be it Su Yao or Tang Ling, both of them were not people that should have appeared in her life, so being able to interact with them for a short time was considered a great miracle.

What was she even crying about?

Rona turned around and Su Yao sighed. He walked into the underground cottage that she had hidden in before. Her scent remained in the cottage, so Su Yao grabbed the sheets for a quick sniff.

It was still the same clean and simple smell of honey locusts. The scent suddenly brought him back to more than 20 years ago.

He too had a wife and a daughter once.

However, when the thought appeared, he clenched the sheets tightly to the point that his veins popped. He could not reminisce about the past because it was too painful for him.

If he could, he would want to live a peaceful and simple life with Rona, just like how he had lived with his wife decades ago. The two of them wore the same scent of honey locusts which was unusually refreshing.

That was the reason why Su Yao was always brazen about his feelings for Rona. Even though their relationship was rather flirtatious and Rona just wanted a man in her life, no one would care about how their love came to be. All that mattered was never to forget the responsibility and the promises made.

With that thought in mind, Su Yao took a colorful and dreamy vial of serum out from his pocket. Even in the dark, it was glowing alluringly. It was finally time to use it.

Without a second thought, he uncorked the vial and drained the serum to the last drop. It was unusually bitter when the serum entered his throat, followed by a burning sensation as if he had just drunk acid.

As tough as Su Yao was, he could not help but punch the wall in agony, leaving a deep hole in the surface. He clutched the sheet with the honey locust smell tightly as his face turned red. He tried to muffle his shouts while his muscles were bulging. Green veins bulged like snakes crawling under his skin.

“Ah Siao, did you know anything that is related to time is considered forbidden? Even with my eyes, I cannot see through time.”

“Didn’t you just say that time is just a concept that doesn’t exist?”

“Yeah, because it doesn’t exist, it’s hard to define it. But from a certain perspective, we can feel it. For example, this very second, time just passed by and we can never get it back again.”

“Hmm.” Su Yao did not understand.

“This vial is considered a forbidden serum. It allows a person to return to prime form. What should I call it? What about Backtrack, like how time backtracks?”

Backtracking in time? Su Yao’s body was in anguish as if he was being sliced open alive, especially his face. He could not help but touch his face. Alas, what he felt was a piece of his skin falling into his palm!

What the...? Su Yao widened his eyes as mixed feelings rumbled in his mind. Is this Backtrack Serum really going back in time?