Dark Moon Era

What was the benefit?

It would be the little boost in power that he gained from the risk of swallowing the crystal. Tang Ling realized it when he jogged for several steps. He discerned that he was faster, hence his change in expression.

However, the feeling was subtle. Back when he was in the situation, Tang Ling could not verify it and had no idea how much stronger had he become.

Therefore, he wanted to return to the Hope Barrier as quickly as possible to verify his speculation, and then use his Precise Instinct to provide the most accurate answer.

He was excited as he thought about it. It seemed like Worf’s absurdly stalwart abilities invoked his admiration towards power once more.

To Tang Ling, he did not fear others being stronger than him, but he was afraid that he would reach the end of his power-seeking quest easily.

During the old civilization, the boxing champion of the people, ‘Sonty’, could punch with a force of 800 kgs per blow in his prime state and age, which was almost the limit of human beings of that time.

The thought of it bored Tang Ling quickly. Humans of the old civilization concentrated more on the external power that the advancement of technology provided, unlike the humans of the current era that concentrated on developing one’s abilities.

The faint sweetness lingered in the air. After Worf voiced his warning, he stayed for less than three minutes before leaving the battlefield in a hurry.

Of course, Tang Ling saw the meteor leaving after he quietly crawled up to the peak of the slope, but he did not assume that Worf would not get a reply to his warning. A powerhouse had his own dignity. If he somehow did not get an answer or any kind of tacit acknowledgment, he would probably not leave in silence.

The answer was displayed brazenly when Tang Ling crawled across the peak of the slope. The beasts, zombies, and mutated insects that tried to attack the Universal Source Rock suddenly looked very sloppy with their movements. They seemed lazy and sleepy, and were ultimately scattered away.

Tang Ling was utterly shocked. What kind of method was this? He could even control the enemies on the battlefield? If the Hope Barrier mastered such an ability, what would that mean?

The 20 elite Purple Moon Warriors who were tasked to protect the Universal Source Rock stopped fighting. They held their weapons back as they remained guarded around the rock.

They did not go after the scattering enemies. The sudden sleepiness that struck the enemies raised their alarm as well. Because they felt that continuing to siege the rock would be dangerous, they left.

If the Purple Moon Warriors pursued the monsters and slaughtered them without mercy, it might very well start a real war.

Explosive cheers came from the Hope Barrier once more after the monsters decided to retreat. Their respect for Worf the castellan deepened once more.

Tang Ling, on the other hand, was thinking.  Could the situation be related to the faint sweetness in the air?

That should be the only explanation that made sense. One must rely on strong controlling methods to stop such a large-scale war in such a short time.

If it was as he speculated, how scary would the enemy of Safety Sector No. 17 be? How dangerous would the situation be?

Moreover, it seemed like Tang Ling was deep in the conspiracy as well. He carefully analyzed all the clues he had albeit not being able to reach a conclusion or the truth. He was certain that the hands that targeted him and the forces that opposed Safety Sector No. 17 were closely related.

A heavy sense of danger was planted deep in Tang Ling’s heart. He had to quickly power up himself in the shortest time possible and every second counted.

The searchlights in the garage were being turned off. Since the battle was over and the group mission should be considered a failure, the searchlights were no longer of use.

The battlefield turned dark once more. Under the cover of the night, Tang Ling stood up, eager to give it a try. He wanted to know how much had he grown after consuming the crystal.

The steep slope was definitely the best testing ground for Tang Ling.

It was near the crevice, and if he sprinted downwards at his maximum speed, he would have to control his body with very strong precision so as not to fall into the crevice. His method would not just test his speed, but it also proved to be a huge test to his reflexes.

Nonetheless, he was always very confident in his reflexes. He was just frustrated because he did not have an accurate way to measure it.

‘Hmm, how about this? It might not be as accurate as the reflex testing machine, but I can get a general idea by testing it,’ thought Tang Ling as he inhaled deeply.

With the night wind blowing at his face, he peered down the steep slope and sprinted downwards at his maximum speed.

The height of the slope was almost 50 meters. Using the simplest Pythagorean theorem to calculate the distance of the slope, it was no longer than 70 meters in actual distance after a rough calculation. Moreover, the slope was very steep at almost a right angle.

With his maximum speed, Tang Ling reached the bottom in less than three seconds.

His Precise Instinct provided him with the most accurate numbers. He crossed 62 meters in 2.2 seconds. His hundred-meter speed had reached an astonishing 3.55 seconds.

Back when Tang Ling tested his speed for the first time, he could run 18.18 meters per second.

A piece of vicious beast meat together with the training and growth in the First Reserved Camp raised Tang Ling’s speed by almost a third of his original, reaching 24 meters per second.

Now, with a rough test, he was able to reach 28.18 meters per second. Aside from the acceleration factor from the steepness, the difference in the numbers would not be more than a meter.

His 2.2 seconds included the acceleration that he gained from the steepness.

Had a single crystal provided such a huge bump in his abilities? Or did the improvements he earned through the tough battle increase the numbers?

Many thoughts flashed in Tang Ling’s mind. Even under his maximum speed, he had to control his body to a timely stop.

With the confidence he had in himself, Tang Ling purposely chose a spot very close to the crevice to stop. It was considered a risky move as he was no more than a meter away from the crevice.

Shuaaa!

Tang Ling stopped perfectly right before the 60 cm mark. Due to his sudden brake, a gale was left in his trail, blowing everything within his proximity.

He was satisfied with the result. Before the little power-up, he might have been barely able to stop his body at the very edge of the crevice. However, before he could celebrate, the uncomfortable crevice suddenly sent out a mini quake.

He was shaken and uncontrollably faltered forward by two steps before he regained control of his body.

The Purple Moon seemed a lot mistier.

Half-squatting, Tang Ling supported his body single-handedly and was ready to stand up. The wind felt a little warmer as it whistled over the entire crevice.

Suddenly, the crevice moved again and a giant face emerged from it, fixing its gaze on Tang Ling who instinctively wanted to find out what happened.

Time felt like it had stopped.

As long as Tang Ling was awake, his brain was usually filled with all kinds of thoughts and calculations, yet in this exact moment, it went blank.

“What the hell?” That was the only thought in Tang Ling’s mind.

The face before him, the eyes of the face…Was it human? A zombie?

Neither! It did not have the grayish-white eyes of a zombie. Besides the eyes and the rotten flesh, a zombie heavily resembled a human. The face before him looked human but was definitely not one.

When Tang Ling moved his eyes, the face opposite him moved its eyes together.

At the next moment, he stopped sizing up the face. He remained in his half-squatting posture for a second and leaped towards the face.

He smashed his head against the front teeth of the face, and at the same time, he took the last grenade from his waist which he had not used in the battle earlier. He pulled the pin out with his mouth and tossed it into the open mouth.

“You f*cking scary bastard!” Tang Ling immediately tumbled aside. Due to his rapid change of posture, even with his new body and the excellent control, all he could do was slightly alter his direction.

He almost fell into the crevice but managed to hold his ground.

The giant face shook as blood and flesh mixed with sharp teeth exploded from its mouth.

The blood and flesh were orange in color when they flew out and made a sizzling noise when it landed on the ground as if they were hot.

Several drops of orange blood caught Tang Ling by shock and melted several holes in his battle uniform instantly.

Then, the giant face turned to Tang Ling, anger blazing in its gaze.

“Not dead yet?” Tang Ling could not believe it. He climbed up without thinking and ran towards the other direction.

The crevice behind him was shaking non-stop, but he did not even turn around for a look. Even an idiot knew it must be the giant monster crawling out from the crevice.

“Tang Ling, Tang Ling…” It was at that moment when Tang Ling heard someone calling his name.

What the f*ck! Am I that famous now? Some crazy monster that crawled out of the crevice knows my name!

Tang Ling’s scalp was instantly numbed. He actually did not want to be this unfriendly, throwing a grenade into the giant face’s mouth at the first meeting.

Should he at least greet the face?

However, a sense of disgust and hostility rose in his bones when he saw the giant face although he could not explain why.

“Tang Ling. Tang…” The voice behind him kept calling his name, sounding a little tired and weak this time.

Why does it sound so familiar now?

It was only three seconds after he started running, but he was already some distance away. The voice behind him was getting softer, but the familiar voice put him in a dilemma, so he turned around for a glance.

“What the hell?!” Tang Ling shouted after a quick single glance. With the purple light from the moon, half the body of that giant face had crawled out of the crevice, but it seemed to be heavily injured and could no longer hold on.

It latched strangely onto the edge of the crevice and its boiling blood splashed everywhere, causing a huge cloud of steam to puff out around its body.

Amidst the steam, Tang Ling vaguely spotted something struggling on the back of the monster. If he was correct, the voice came from the thing on the monster’s back.

“A monsterling?” Tang Ling gulped nervously. The thought popped in his mind and he stopped running.

Should I take the risk and capture the monsterling back to the Hope Barrier? It might have some research value.

Being a doer, Tang Ling thought that was a brilliant idea. He carefully went closer to the monster. He was certain that he had never come across a monster with a youngling. It must be that monster’s special ability since there were all sorts of strange abilities among monsters in this era.

The mist was getting thicker as a pungent sulphuric smell rose in the air and the temperature around the monster increased.

Tang Ling endured the pungent smell and the uncomfortable temperature as he made his way closer to the monster.

The mist was thicker than before, so he could barely see his fingers now. Even with his excellent eyesight, all he could make out was a vague location of that monsterling on the back of the withered body.

He swung his hand and the Wolf Crunch appeared in his hand. On second thought, he switched it for the brass knuckles.

He thought of keeping the monsterling alive to increase its research value. He did not think it was a reckless move since he was able to kill the monster easily with a grenade, so how powerful would its youngling be?

With the thought in mind, Tang Ling reconfirmed the location and charged forward with a shout. He grabbed the struggling figure and started pummeling it violently.

“Oh sh*t!”

“My goodness! You can even curse like a human?” Tang Ling continued his beating, landing a barrage of punches on the target.

“You f*cker, Tang Ling, you…”

“How dare you call my name, you little monster?!” Tang Ling was fierce and did not hold back, but he felt the monsterling was rather tough, so he struck many punches directly on its body, yet the monsterling showed no signs of weakening.

Nonetheless, he was not concerned. The heavy mist around the body and such a commotion would surely attract people from the Hope Barrier to investigate. Before they arrived, he, Tang Ling, had to snatch the credit for himself and capture this monsterling that had the ability to mimic human speech like a parrot.

In between Tang Ling’s punches, the monsterling seized the second and shouted out loud quickly, “I’m Fei Long, you little prick!”

“What Fei Long? Not even Fat Long can save you.” Tang Ling landed another punch and then he stopped, stunned. He was so carried away with the punches and did not react to Fei Long’s name right away.

Well, it was not exactly Tang Ling’s fault since he only met Fei Long twice before the man disappeared.

“Cut me loose and I’ll let you go,” Fei Long gasped. Deep in his heart, he vowed to find a chance to beat Tang Ling up once he was released.

This little bastard…It’s only been a month. How the hell are his punches so hard? It’s crazily painful.

Tang Ling blinked blankly. Fei Long? The leader of the Purple Moon Warriors? Strapped on a monster’s back? Would pretending to lose his memories work now? Or should he pretend that he was not himself and that it was actually Yu wearing his face?

Hmm, Yu’s family used some advanced technology to achieve it like the plastic surgery of the old civilization. Damn it, why is my face so recognizable? I think I’m the standard of all faces.

Fei Long was a little anxious this time, so he bellowed seriously, “Tang Ling, if you don’t hurry up, when this bastard’s host comes out, we are all going to die.”

Pak.

Tang Ling switched off his little torchlight after shedding it on Fei Long’s face and making sure the person was indeed Fei Long. He quickly released Fei Long from the ropes without a second thought.