Tempest of the Battlefield

"Welcome back, brother Wang Tong!" Li Shiming extended a welcoming hand. Wang Tong held his hand and pumped it rigorously. "Nice to see you again, Brother Li."

The two of them both had poised bearings, and the situation filled Li Shiming's heart with wistful emotions. Like Lie Jian, he could have risen to power without much consideration for humans' unity, but he had chosen the right but the more difficult path of helping Wang Tong.

"Why are you two so formal? Men are strange creatures." Li Ruoer's remark amused the two.

"Someone needs to teach my brassy sister a lesson." Li Shiming put in. Over the years, Li Ruoer's affection for Wang Tong was no longer a secret. No matter how Porten tried to win Li Ruoer's heart, his efforts had all but failed. After getting fed up of Porten's unwanted attention, Li Ruoer told him straight out that she would marry him if he could defeat her in a one on one battle. Porten never showed up at her doorstep again after that.

And now, whatever little chance he might have had in winning Li Ruoer over was gone with the return of Wang Tong.

It was the first time in six years that Li Ruoer, Ma Xiaoru, Zhang Jin, Zhou Sisi, and Wang Tong had sat in the same room. Their friendship went way back, particularly that among Ma Xiaoru, Zhou Sisi, and Li Ruoer. As they caught up with each other about what they had been up to in the six years, memories of their academy life flooded back and bonded them tightly together. The topic of discussions was mainly about Zhou Sisi's escape; however, the focus of the discussion quickly shifted to Wang Tong.

"Xiaoru, believe me, you have to be careful with those Martian women. Wang Tong is a nice guy, but all men are the same. It's true!" Li Ruoer said hotly. She didn't just resent the martian girls around Wang Tong, but also Zhou Sisi. However, Ma Xiaoru's acquiescence about Wang Tong and Zhou Sisi's affair seemed to legitimized her own outward affection for him.

Zhou Sisi knew what had happened between Li Ruoer and Wang Tong, and only she knew that he liked Li Ruoer deep down. Otherwise, Li Ruoer would have long since given up her pursuit. She lacked the courage of dissing Li Ruoer for doing what she was had done. At any rate, Li Ruoer would have to gain Ma Xiaoru's approval first; without her permission, Wang Tong would scarcely dare to get near Li Ruoer.

"Good point! He had been reveling on Mars, surrounded by field medics and even princesses. We need to keep a close eye on him." Zhou Sisi chimed in.

Ma Xiaoru cracked a smile. Six years ago, she would not have to take the two girls' advancements on her man so kindly. But after having experienced so many things while living on the edge, she had changed her perspective. She knew that, with her permission, Wang Tong would gladly take Zhou Sisi as his mistress. But, she was less sure about what he would do with Li Ruoer.

Li Ruoer had been her best friend ever since college, and Ma Xiaoru knew that she never lacked male admirers. However, as fate would have it, Li Ruoer had her mind set on only one person.

The war was coming; Ma Xiaoru realized that it was an inappropriate time for gossips and frivolous sentiments.

"This is a great plan!" Li Shiming nodded as he agreed to Wang Tong's proposal. Although Li Shiming prided himself as an astute strategist, he marveled at Wang Tong's plan for its simplicity and comprehensiveness. If he had doubts about Wang Tong's leadership skills before this meeting, they were gone by then.

"Haha, you would do the same planning if you were me."

"I bet Lie Jian is feeling kind of down for being out-matched by you." Li Shiming remarked. He conceded that Wang Tong was the only person who was able to lead the human world, since neither Li Shiming nor Lie Jian would be able to force either one into submission.

The power struggle between House Li and Lie had not disappeared even during such a crisis. Deep down, Wang Tong was with House Li since he was the heir of the Blade Warrior, Li Feng. Although not directly, Wang Tong was connected to House Li.

"Haha, you know me. I don't care about politics or money. I just want to help others and just be myself. " Wang Tong smiled broadly. He lived in a completely different, and happier world than Li Shiming, without any politics or intrigues to slow him down.

Li Shiming paused and then smiled wryly. "I envy you, I truly do." He felt he finally could open up to Wang Tong and come to terms with the fact that Wang Tong, and not he himself, was the heir of the Blade Warrior.

Li Shiming was an ambitious man, and he never had the public's interest in his heart. He knew he couldn't change himself into a saint, but he admired Wang Tong for being able to do what he couldn't.

"What is it so great about being me?"

"Shut up, you a*shole! You are living in many people's dream." Zhang Jin refuted. She was pleasantly surprised by how well the meeting had been going. She had been expecting much worse exchanges between Li Shiming and Wang Tong.

If the world were at peace, someone as complex and multidimensional as Wang Tong might have never appeared in the world. During the time of peace, the persons was most likely to succeed were the likes of Li Shiming and Lie Jian. Michaux would be out of the picture because of his individual pursuit, and so would Patroclus despite his perfect personal prowess.

However weird it might sound, it was the rise of the Zergs that had given Wang Tong and Patroclus a chance to rise with them. Wang Tong was a very simple man with simple needs; therefore, without the enormous external pressure to push him forward, he would never have achieved a fraction of what he had so far.

In other words, Wang Tong and Patroclus were two sides of the same coin; they were both a product of the extreme circumstances, a self-defense mechanism of the human world.

When the group talked about the hiding spot of the queen, Li Shiming agreed with the notion that the queen was on the Ark. "Let me know if you ever need any help. We never stopped looking for the Ark, but so far, we have had nothing. We had suspected that it was hiding in a detached segment of the hyperspace. If that is the case, Patroclus must keep the key to the portal very close to him." Li Shiming said. If he were right, then Wang Tong wouldn't get the key unless he confronted Patroclus, which would defeat the purpose of the operation.

"The ark is huge, so there must be some traces. I have tracked Patroclus activity over the years, and there is a clear pattern to it. I believe that is where the portal is."

"You mean you can get through the portal without using a key?" Li Shiming asked incredulously.

"If we can do that, we can separate the Zergs from the Immortals' force. It would be devastating for Patroclus."

"We would then wage a full-on counterattack on Patroclus. However, we are running out of time. We need to act quickly before he becomes fully committed to the war!" Wang Tong announced.