Chapter 155: Taken into Custody
Translator: Double_L Editor: Tehrn
The idea of keeping the worm-like creature as a specimen did cross Wang Tong’s mind; however, he decided not to do so because this creature was generally the root of all evil. Keeping it as an experimental specimen was totally suicidal since it was able to lure out more Zergs towards the person who was carrying it. Wang Tong had come across these creatures a couple of times, and he had learned that when the creature knew it was about to die, it would shrink and dry out like a dead jellyfish, not without letting out a dying squeak which Wang Tong hated. Furthermore, he found the blob-like structure on its head that enabled it to blend into the environment extremely disgusting; hence he came out with the technique of killing these creatures by burying them head side down, just like how he used to plant vegetables when he was a kid.
Wang Tong immediately fell in love with the burial-annihilation method the first time he heard that little explosion, it was like a victorious blast even though it sounded quite weird.
All of a sudden, Wang Tong heard a loud whiz that came from the other side of the woods. Knowing that it wasn’t a sound made by the Zergs, Wang Tong collapsed in fatigue, wondering why the troops would always arrive when he had finished all the killing.
The Confederation Army managed to get into Paradise Island a short while after the FFC’s private mercenaries moved in. Their METAL fighters were immediately engaged with the remaining Zergs, yet somehow it looked more like a mess-cleaning battle since there was only a handful of Zergs roaming the area. Furthermore, since the Zergs’ commander had been tortured to death by Wang Tong, it was only a matter of time for the troops to completely extinguish the Zergs on this island.
Instead of only focusing on killing Zergs, Zhao Yongzhuo also immediately sent a few of his men to conduct a search and rescue operation after learning that Wang Ben was among the trapped trio; mostly because Wang Ben was quite popular and he was afraid to offend General Hu Ben. Furthermore, Zhao Yongzhuo also seemed to notice that this wasn’t entirely an accident, yet he asked no questions as his job was only to follow and execute the orders from his superior.
Even though the chances of them surviving was very little since the three of them could have already been eaten by the enormous legion of Zergs on this island, he still prayed for their safety.
As for most of the FFC’s private mercenaries, their main objective was to secure the base, and as long as the base wasn’t completely destroyed, the corporation would be able to minimize their loss. On the other hand, Ma Xiaoru and the others began to search for Wang Tong’s party under the protection of their own troops, everyone was extremely worried.
Suddenly, one of the Confederation’s squadron discovered a huge open area filled with piles of corpses of Zergs and three unconscious young men that were lying on the ground.
"Sir, we’ve found them!"
"How many of ‘em?"
"Three, sir. All unconscious, badly wounded."
"Very well. Bring them back at once, and remember not to let anyone from the FFC found out about this."
"Copy that, sir!"
The Confederation soldiers then signaled the others to bring in three sets of clothes, and after changing their clothes, Wang Tong and the other boys were quickly carried back toward their fleet.
Zhao Yongzhuo, who was giving orders in the commanding fleet, sighed in relief when he was told that Wang Ben survived. Obviously, the objective of this mission was to sabotage the public image of the FFC; however, it would become an entirely different story if Wang Ben died or was critically injured. Fortunately, Wang Ben was safe and sound so the next step would be collecting evidence to prove that the experiments on Paradise Island had violated the law. The FFC would definitely have a tough road ahead since they would soon be questioned for the exceeding numbers of Zergs and the chaotic incident on the island itself.
As a member of the younger generation in the military who was loyal to the Confederation, the first thing that Zhao Yongzhuo did was of course to report the status of Wang Ben and also the current situation to his superior. To his surprise, he was immediately given a new order after delivering that news, one that sounded weird, but he decided to do as he was told.
Approximately ten minutes later, Ma Xiaoru’s team received the information about Wang Tong’s party being taken into Zhao Yongzhuo’s fleet, and Martyrus and Samantha were both infuriated at the military for detaining their students!
"Colonel Zhao, why are you taking our students!?" Principal Martyrus of Bernabeu questioned in a serious tone.
Despite Samantha being the successor of DREAM Corporation, it was only a business company that had nothing to do with the military. Not to mention that she was still very young, her family might be related to the House of Ma and the Blade Warrior, but that didn’t mean the military would listen to her. However, Martyrus was different since most of the elites graduated from his academy; hence Zhao Yongzhuo wouldn’t dare to offend the old principal.
"Principal Martyrus, I’m sorry, but we have to detain Wang Ben, Apache, and Wang Tong because they are witnesses and also suspects of this incident!"
"Are you kidding me, Colonel? The three of them being involved is obviously a coincidence! These students are also the victims, so please release them at once!" Samantha got angry, the military seemed to have gone crazy for dragging students into the pond of muddy water.
"Please calm down, Principal Samantha. I’m just carrying out my duty as ordered. The number of Zergs on Paradise Island was about five thousand, which has already exceeded the regulated limit from the government; however, more than one thousand Zergs were already dead when we arrived, and we suspect that something must have happened, which is why we have taken them into custody for further questioning. However, please note that they are in safe hands, and the military will provide the best medical treatment for the three of them. I promise that we will not do anything to them before getting the permission from your side!" Zhao Yongzhuo replied formally.
After Zhao Yongzhuo delivered the news about Wang Ben to his superior, he was immediately ordered to send the boy back, which then led to all the dramas. Zhao Yongzhuo was no idiot as he also had sensed that something was definitely going on, yet he had no idea why he was ordered to bring all three of them back to the military. Probably this was only about Wang Ben, and the other two were just "unlucky bystanders".
Nevertheless, Zhao Yongzhuo decided not to worry about that; however, he was startled when his subordinates showed him the images of the battlefield. Within the radius of a few hundred square meters, every inch of the ground was filled with piles of Zerg corpses. It was definitely done by some ace fighter since it was technically impossible to be accomplished by the three boys, but the question was: who on earth did that?
Judging from their anxiousness, clearly it wasn’t someone from the FFC’s side, but if that was the case, why would an ace from another party appear on this island?
According to the legend, the eldest successors of the Five Great Houses were born with a "protector". Of course, that was only a legend, and since legends couldn’t be served as scientific explanations, Zhao Yongzhuo would have to look into the facts and search for a better explanation.
"Do remember, Colonel, you will be held responsible if anything happens to them!" Ma Xiaoru said with a solemn expression; obviously, she was completely pissed off.
"I’m only following the orders from my superior. Feel free to contact the chief commander if there’s any question." As a member of the Golden Hawk Union, Zhao Yongzhuo wouldn’t care too much about Ma Xiaoru’s threats.
For Ma Xiaoru, due to her involvement in this incident, she knew that she had to think of a better solution to this as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would become a bigger matter once it was made public by the media, not to mention that the prestige of the House of Ma was put at stake.
Both Samantha and Martyrus didn’t expect that the military would be so harsh this time; nevertheless, they were relieved upon knowing that Zhao Yongzhuo didn’t intend to harm the three of them. However, both principals had no idea why the military wanted to detain the boys. Both principals turned to each other, and immediately, they knew that the two of them were having the same doubts.
Most people were well aware of the power struggle between the Golden Hawk Union and the old forces, which explained why no one was too astonished about the intensity and also the set-up against the FFC; however, everyone seemed to be confused about the detention of the three boys. Eventually, people from both sides began to gossip about the incident discretely.
The three boys managed to regain consciousness after getting some simple medical treatments. Apache and Wang Tong were puzzled as they came to realize that they were surrounded by armed METAL fighters; somehow the rescue had turned into imprisonment.
Zhao Yongzhuo went down to check on them as soon as he was told that the boys had regained consciousness; however, he only released Wang Ben from the detention.
"I’d like to meet my father."
"The general is waiting for you." The face of a serious looking middle aged man then appeared on the screen as Zhao Yongzhuo connected the video call. The man only had one single facial expression and showed no signs of any other emotion as he saw his son. Wang Ben was the one who spoke first: "I’d like to go home."
"You heard the boy, Colonel Zhao."
"Yes, General!" Zhao Yongzhuo acknowledged the order, yet he couldn’t help wondering about the awkwardness between the boy and his father. Even though he wasn’t serving under General Hu Ben, Zhao Yongzhuo chose to follow the orders due to the general’s well-respected reputation.
"You don’t want to bid farewell to your friends back there?"
Wang Ben shook his head gently and said nothing. After that, Zhao Yongzhuo ordered his men to escort the boy out.
Although the three boys were injured, they only suffered minor internal injuries, and no bones were broken. The medical team managed to heal most of their wounds by using a cell regeneration treatment; however, they would be sent for further detailed treatments when they got back.
In the beginning, Zhao Yongzhuo thought this time that he had scored the jackpot, but as he was about to visit Paradise Island by himself, the man received a new order. It was a strange order indeed, he was told to send both Wang Tong and Apache back to the headquarter immediately.
As a member of the military, his only duty was to follow orders; however, he was well aware that the two kids were innocent, yet someone else was trying to use the boys as a scapegoat.
Most of the Zergs on Paradise Island had been annihilated by well-trained METAL fighters, and both parties were sending more troops to the island for a thorough extermination. However, it seemed like the commanders of both parties were arguing with each other in front of the base; apparently, the troops from the Confederation Army were demanding an "inspection" in the base, but the FFC’s troops refused to let them enter.
The outbreak of the Zergs was under control; however, a clash between the FFC and the military had occurred, and the tension was escalating.
Samantha and Martyrus both understood that instead of caring about the tension, right now they should be focusing on finding a way to rescue the trio because the students still had to attend training for their upcoming challenge; however, the military was not giving them any answers. Hence the only thing Martyrus could do was to ask around using his connections to the military; nevertheless, he was sort of disappointed at the military for involving kids into this mess.
As for the rest of the students, they couldn’t do anything aside from staying put in the watercraft. Apparently, there was still a lot of training remaining to do. Everyone would have their second round of training respectively according to their assigned classes in the academy. For example: Battle techniques for the students of METAL combat classes; Battlecraft combat strategies, operation and control maneuvers, and also some basic awareness for the students of Command Force; while the students of Heavy Arm Force would be learning about the controlling maneuvers for the Heavy Armed Chariots and also the distribution of physical strength. Even though Zhang Yan, Zhang Kui, and Rumi did a good job a while ago, they would still have to learn more about defensive techniques in Intel Programming Battle aside from offensive techniques only; the three of them still had a long way to go.
Carl and the rest had no choice but to focus on their training and leave the rest to both principals; however, everyone was relieved that the three of them were safe even though they were held in custody; after all, they were wrong for trespassing. Anyhow, everyone expected that the military would only ask them a couple of questions since they were only students, especially since the principals were still around.
Both parties had been spending the whole day confronting each other, and no one was backing down. However, Martyrus received the news at night that Wang Ben went back to Europe, while Apache and Wang Tong were taken back to the military’s headquarter for further interrogation. Things were getting weirder and weirder, they began to wonder why the military would only release Wang Ben, and why did Wang Ben choose to go back to Europe instead of returning to the team. Furthermore, what on earth was the military trying to get from Wang Tong and Apache?