Dark Moon Era

“Tang Ling.” Aber did not answer Andrew’s question and called Tang Ling’s name instead. His long, fair fingers tapped the arm of the sofa rhythmically as he took a sip of his whiskey on the rocks.

The firewood in the wall hearth was a little too much. The blazing flames coupled with the strange aroma brought sweat to Andrew’s forehead.

His cousin, Aber Agnes, was a handsome man with elegant manners and outstanding talents. Even his wisdom was considered the top.

How could the Agnes family not choose him as the heir?

People were different from birth.

Aber’s mother was a lady with a noble background and position. Her status was higher than all of Safety Sector No. 17. Even Castellan Worf would have to be respectful in front of her.

It was also the reason why the Agnes family had the right and was bold enough to make a choice because even if Safety Sector No. 17 was wiped out and they failed, they would still have someplace to go, a better place to be exact.

With that being said, the family had to rely on Aber and comply with his every wish. He might not be the master of the family yet, but his position was on par with Clyne Agnes.

Despite his powerful background, Aber was neither foppish or domineering. He was appropriately humble and maintained the suitable pride and integrity of a noble. He had a great reputation and commendable achievements on the battlefield.

Andrew felt weak when he thought about it. He came from a plain background, his looks were not memorable and his talents were, at most, decent. The only thing he could claim he was proud of was his patience, vigilance, tenacity and...Hank.

Hank...

“Andrew.” Aber’s voice entered his ears, sounding a little unhappy.

The tinge of dissatisfaction made Andrew sweat. The beads on his forehead clumped together and rolled down his cheeks. Lowering his head, he was only sitting on the edge of the sofa, and when he heard Aber calling him, he leaned his body further.

“Cousin, I was just thinking about something. I got carried away.”

“What are you thinking about?” Aber stood up and poured a glass of whiskey on the rocks for Andrew. “Don’t be so nervous. We are all Agneses.”

Andrew accepted the cup, and when he looked up, he saw Aber’s bright and sincere smile. His golden hair and handsome facial features made him look like the son of Ra.

Andrew then lowered his head, taking a sip of whiskey to calm himself down. “I’m thinking about why you didn’t kill Tang Ling in the cradle.”

“I know you are thinking about that.” Aber sat down and continued, “It’s not shocking enough with your evidence alone. I mean, it’s not explosive enough because sometimes, you need to view things from a different perspective.”

“Please enlighten me, cousin.” Andrew seemed puzzled. Deep in his heart, he never thought about killing Tang Ling now, but the thought was further solidified after he got the news.

Not only would he let Tang Ling live, but he would also let Tang Ling be for a while. Nothing would happen in the near future, so everything would be peaceful and smooth for Tang Ling.

However, Andrew would never speak his mind. He had to show his dumb loyalty off to his cousin.

Maybe it was because of Andrew’s attitude, Aber was rather satisfied. He said, “First, you need to understand that this world exists in a chaotic era. The world is in chaos, meaning humans are splintered into different forces and govern themselves independently. Due to many reasons, they can’t even establish the simplest communication between each other. The many forces are destined to cross path in this era and the complications during the encounter are far beyond one’s imagination.”

Aber then looked at Andrew, “The reason why we put Tang Ling under our crosshairs is that we heavily suspect that he has popped up on the list. That’s why we decided to increase our actions taken. It will only get more severe from here on, and ultimately, he will be killed.

“On the other hand, there might be other forces who noticed a thing or two about him, so they might also boost their protection for him. Safety Sector No. 17 is still under control, but in the event that we startle him and Tang Ling leaves Safety Sector No. 17, the Agnes family cannot bear the consequences of losing him.

“What I’m trying to say is that if he really is the last person the list seeks, our family will be annihilated overnight because we allowed him to escape.” Aber looked serious when he said that. Evidently, he was not in a joking mood.

“Cousin, do you think Tang Ling is...” Andrew also looked grave. He dared not even imagine what Aber said.

“I don’t think so, but if there’s even the slightest hint about him being it, I’ll treat it as such.” Aber drained his whiskey to its last drop.

“Even if he is, what if killing him is beyond what the Agnes family can do? Will we be annihilated as well? Moreover, is it that serious? What about your mother?” Andrew furrowed his brows upon realizing that he had limited knowledge of this and the world.

“Mother? No, she can’t do anything about this. Don’t ever underestimate this world and never become the frog inside the well.” Aber stood up and walked to a corner of the room.

There was an ancient phonograph in the corner. The brass horn had a layer of patina that could have only formed through time. Aber stroked the horn carefully. He then pulled the drawer beneath the phonograph out and revealed a stack of neatly organized phonograph records.

These ancient relics were considered rare even in the old civilization. He went through the records and picked his favorite song. This favorite song of his did not originally come in record form. For the sake of the so-called ‘texture’, Aber had asked his mother to make a phonograph record for this particular song.

Aber put it on the phonograph. A noise that sounded dated slowly buzzed into music.

He closed his eyes and indulged himself in the music. It was a song for men, or rather, a song that resonated well with men.

It once belonged to a hero. Whenever he thought of the hero, the music would automatically play in his head. This hero was someone Aber admired from the bottom of his heart. His glorious achievements shone brightly in the old civilization and he was nothing short of great.

Nonetheless, so what? Aber’s admiration for the hero was not the respectful kind. He wanted to overtake the hero, trample him and become the hero to take his place.

Andrew looked down with slight resentment on his face. His ears almost bled with the music playing as he thought Aber was being illogical with this dream of his.

“You know how things go. Do as I said. All you need to do now is stay in the First Reserved Camp and watch Tang Ling. I told you to let him be. Let him go on with his training. If any trouble knocks on his door, you have to take care of it without letting him know and don’t leave any traces behind when you clean up.

“When will you bring that person that you found to meet me? Try to be quick. Oh, and call Densen in. I want to know why hasn’t the thing I asked him to take from the Parliament been delivered yet?”

With that being said, Aber then unconsciously looked at the giant screen.

The footage was frozen on a particular frame. It was the garage under the searchlights. It was being bombarded, and in the corner closest to the crevice, a certain section of the garage was also caught in the bombardment.

“Yes, cousin, but what do you want me to tell Densen? What is it you seek?” Andrew appropriately showed confusion on his face.

Densen was Aber’s personal assistant, and Aber tended to give many complicated orders and requests, so it was natural and reasonable for Andrew to ask clearly.

Without thinking much, Aber responded, “The surveillance footage of that night from the Level 2 Sector Protection Machine.”

“The night at the garage,” Aber added.

“Very well, cousin.” Andrew respectfully stepped back while facing Aber like he was leaving a king’s presence. He only turned around when he was near the door and left the room.

When he closed the door, Andrew was instantly shaken. Did Aber find out something about that night?

It was obvious that Aber would not share what he knew with Andrew, yet the person that he found, the precious person that he found with his effort must be offered to Aber unconditionally.

Hatred and jealousy rumbled in his heart as he walked away to find Densen.

******

It was 7.13 p.m.

17 minutes more and the staff from the Tower would come over to bring Tang Ling inside for the 1-hour training session.

Those who knew what the Tower was would find it funny. A person, who had not started cultivation class, going into the Tower to train would be a total waste of resources.

Just think about it. Going into the Tower not to cultivate but to train repeatedly in the lowest level with machines, hoping to get a little improvement from the extreme training was akin to looking at a piece of delicious apple pie, but one could only eat an apple and hope to be full with imagination.

Almost everyone in the First Reserved Camp felt that Tang Ling going into the Tower was a joke.

“His talent is too weak and he’s eager to start cultivation class, so that’s the only way.”

“Give me 100 Hope credits. I can get a lot of things to make him improve and it wouldn’t even cost me 100 Hope credits.”

“He is just being lucky, getting close to Yu. Oh, that Orston from the Gordins is also very close to him, but he’s trash. Would trash become useful after going into the Tower?”

All kinds of comments and discussions were going on in the First Reserved Camp. In short, everyone believed and accepted the fact that Tang Ling entered the Tower to raise his standards closer to the cultivation standards.

However, the comments were not kind to Tang Ling because he violated the rule. Every New Moon Warriors from each year had to offer to their seniors and go through tough times, yet one of the New Moon Warriors from this year’s batch, who was the last on the ranking list and a well-known rascal, had broken the rule.

Still, the number of New Moon Warriors of this year was more than the previous. There was Yu, Orston, and Amir, the genius, and they were loaded with wealth and talents.

Being unable to lay a finger on these loaded descendants increased the seniors’ hatred towards Tang Ling. Unfortunately for them, the seniors could not do anything.

They were not afraid of Yu or Orston’s noble backgrounds. The nobles were always prestigious and had a reputation to protect, so it was not convenient for them to openly intervene with the matters of the First Reserved Camp, which was under the Purple Moon Warriors.

However, no one dared to step on Fei Long, the leader and the general captain of all the Purple Moon Warriors’ tail because of his relationship with Tang Ling. All the seniors still wanted to have a future after becoming a Purple Moon Warrior.

On top of all that, there was the ambiguous attitude of the castellan towards Tang Ling.

In short, a person’s luck was not convincing enough to persuade the others because everyone tended to admire strength in the First Reserved Camp.

Tang Ling cared nothing about the comments. His face was thick enough to become the new walls of the sector or the Hope Barrier. He was actually having a headache about how should he explain all this.

The Wolf Crunch was following him into the Tower. The brass knuckles, a weapon with a high cost-performance ratio should also come along. As for the grade C alloy longsword, forget about it. Why would he carry such a long sword into the Tower? To kill people?

What about the Desert Eagle? He had three more rounds of bullets left, which he had gotten from Yu, but bringing it into the Tower...

Tang Ling’s arm was burning since three hours ago. It was constantly reminding him about the countdown to the dream world.

It was not a joke or a test. Tang Ling dared not enter the dream without full preparation.

“Whatever. Here goes nothing.” At almost 7.30 p.m., Tang Ling donned his battle uniform and added an extra high-fiber ceramic vest to his outfit. It was similar to the bulletproof vest from the old civilization, but the material used in this era was a lot better than the old.

It was also better than the equipment that the squad used during the garage mission because Tang Ling had exchanged it with Hope credits. He tricked Orston to lend him some Hope credits for the vest. 25 Hope credits was not exactly expensive anyway.

Even with the vest, Tang Ling was still not satisfied. He was thinking about the tactical movement disk of the Purple Moon Warriors. Unfortunately, that was no longer a problem of Hope credits. Instead, it was a problem of authority. Only Purple Moon Warriors could exchange such an item for now.

If he could get the disk, together with his Precise Movement, it would really be...

With that thought in mind, Tang Ling had fully prepared himself. The brass knuckles were in his hand while the Wolf Crunch was sheathed in his sleeve and the Desert Eagle was slotted in his waistband.

He ultimately decided to bring the longsword along as he brazenly carried it on his back.

There were also pieces of Level 2 vicious beast meat jerky in his pocket, and the most luxurious thing that he brought along was a bottle of Level 2 drinking water on his back.

The staff who was to escort him to the Tower finally arrived.

Fully armed, Tang Ling stood at the entrance of the cave excitedly. When the staff saw Tang Ling, he explained in shock, “The Tower is absolutely safe.”

“I know, but I’m afraid that someone will steal my precious items.” Tang Ling was extra loud when he said that to the point that everyone in the lobby cave heard that and looked at him with raised brows and fierce glares.

Who the f*ck is interested in stealing your things?

New Moon Warriors would exploit or even rob others, but there was definitely no stealing among one another.

Tang Ling returned their glares without stepping down. I’m bringing all this with me. What the hell are you going to do about it?

The staff did not expect Tang Ling to be this strange. Even the general captain of the Purple Moon Warriors, Fei Long, had purposely told them to give Tang Ling the best training room on the lowest floor.

“It’s fine. You can bring all your things along. Uh...the rules didn’t say you can’t bring weapons...I mean, your heirlooms, into the Tower, but not all weapons are allowed. If there are some restricted weapons with you, you’ll need to leave them outside and they will be returned to you when you are done with the training.”

“We’ll talk about that later.” Tang Ling did not care about the staff’s reminder. He walked arrogantly behind the staff and headed toward the Tower.

However, deep in his heart, he was very concerned. He had decided to keep the Wolf Crunch, the brass knuckles and the tactical vest no matter what, even if he had to go full-on rascal.

Behind him were people gaping at him as if he was an idiot. Soon enough, the news about an idiot bringing everything to train in the Tower would spread throughout the Hope Barrier.

Tang Ling soon arrived at the bottom level of the Tower through a secret tunnel which was not usually open to the public.

The moment he stepped into the tunnel, he felt energetic as if he was soaking himself in a revitalizing hot spring. Safety Sector No. 17 must have done something to fill the secret tunnel with the purple light of the Universal Source Rock. The intensity of the purple light in the tunnel was stronger than anywhere on the battlefield.

It was nothing special though as it did not surprise the staff at all. Until they finally reached the entrance of the Tower, Tang Ling was shocked once again.

The whole base of the Tower was built with stones, and in the seam of every three to five stones, there was a piece of Universal Source Rock the size of a fist embedded.

It was like a wall of gemstones covered with neatly organized gems. Tang Ling had the urge to knock out the staff and carve the Universal Source Rock out for himself. Being this close to the Universal Source Rock pieces, even the seed in his heart greatly yearned for it as well.

“These are the rocks that the castellan brought back.” The staff carried pride in his words. The battlefield ruins maintained a subtle balance all year long, and it was very difficult to break the balance just to get a piece of the Universal Source Rock.

Suppressing the urge to snatch the rocks, Tang Ling praised Worf from the bottom of his heart, “The castellan is really great.”

Of course the castellan was great, that astonishing lance strike, that incredibly powerful punch, Tang Ling wondered when would he be as strong as Worf.

The staff remained smiling as if he shared the pride of the Tower. He then brought Tang Ling inside the base of the Tower where there was a door. Behind the door was a small elevator that could fit seven to eight people at once.

Maybe it was Tang Ling’s praise for the castellan that won the staff’s fondness, or maybe it was Fei Long’s intentional visit to tell them to take special care of Tang Ling, but the staff provided extra explanation to Tang Ling during the elevator ride.

“Actually, the Tower’s energy isn’t from the Universal Source Rock. The function of the rock is only to provide energy to a big machine that is installed on the highest floor of the Tower. It’s also one of Safety Sector No. 17’s biggest secrets.”

“What machine is that?” Tang Ling asked, actually curious about the Tower.

Back in the settlement where the walls of the sector stood, all the people of the settlement could see was the heaven-piercing Tower. Staring at the Tower, the people of the settlement had fantasized about life in the safety sector and they wondered what the skyscraper with a past was for.

“It’s a machine specifically built for the Purple Moon. As for its function, I can’t tell you given my level of authority. In short, because of it, the Tower is supplied with pure energy from the Purple Moon. The energy is very similar to the energy from the Universal Source Rock, but it’s richer and purer. That’s why training in the Tower has proven beneficial. The higher the training level, the better.” The staff was like a qualified and experienced lecturer.

Tang Ling was so convinced that he had the urge to stay in the Tower every day for the foreseeable future. Then, the rather slow-moving elevator finally reached its destination. With a quick chime, the elevator door opened, and a round, average-sized room appeared before them.

The room was dazzling bright. A closer look at the wall revealed that the whole room was built with clear crystals.

“The crystals have better properties to absorb the energy,” said the staff. He then brought Tang Ling to the only room in the crystal lobby.

Tang Ling followed the staff and sized up the crystals as he walked. He felt strange. Was the Tower not filled with high purity energy? Since the crystals could absorb the energy better, why was there not a hint of energy in this crystal lobby?

It was not only weaker than the secret tunnel earlier, but it was also weaker than the Fierce Dragon Squad’s little cave.

As though the staff saw through Tang Ling’s doubts, when he opened the door, he stated, “The high purity energy mustn’t be wasted. It is stored in the Tower during normal days. If there’s no booking, no energy will be released.”

“Oh, I see.” Tang Ling finally had his doubts cleared. Deep in his heart, he was thinking about how long the Tower had been around, and how shocking its energy reserve would be after all these years.

While Tang Ling was being carried away by his trivial thoughts, the sweet voice of a female echoed in his ears, “Tang Ling, am I right? You’ve booked training room No. 136 at the bottom level, haven’t you?”

When Tang Ling came back to his senses, he realized the smaller room was actually an office. On top of the large office desk was a machine that resembled a high-end computer from the old civilization but was a lot more advanced.

Behind the machine was a beautiful lady who was similar to the beautiful receptionist back at the training base that Su Yao had brought him to.

Nevertheless, being so young, Tang Ling had no thoughts about women now. He replied, “Yes, I’m Tang Ling. Can I start training now?”

According to the timer on his arm, he had 37 minutes left before entering the dream. The time was now 7.45 p.m., meaning he still had a quarter of an hour to prepare himself.

He had to enter the dream in his prime form. He was also worried about his training hour running out while he was still stuck in the dream.

However, it seemed like his worries were unnecessary. Similar to the dream test, he spent a lot of time in the dream, but when he woke up, judging from the hourglass in the room, it had only been less than ten minutes.

So, nothing would go wrong this time either, would it?

Without any expression, the beautiful lady reminded Tang Ling with a formal smile, “Please hand over your badge. We need some identification.”

Tang Ling handed his badge over and passed the identification process smoothly.

“According to the rules, you aren’t allowed to bring any kind of weapons into the training room under normal circumstances,” said the beautiful lady.

Tang Ling was stunned. “Any kind of weapons?”

“Yes, all lethal and destructive weapons are prohibited inside the training room.”

“You said under normal circumstances, so what are the other kind of circumstances?” Tang Ling blinked in confusion. He would never comply with such rules since entering the dream unequipped would result in severe consequences.

“There are, but you aren’t under any special circumstances.”

“Of course, I am! I’m very poor and this is all I have, so I must bring them with me! I can never trust others with my stuff.” Tang Ling slammed the desk and behaved like a true rascal.

“Please remove all your weapons. Only then will I open the training room for you.” The beautiful lady maintained her smile. The curl on her lips did not even change despite Tang Ling’s complaint.

“No way! If you don’t let me bring my heirlooms inside, I won’t train today. I’ll come back whenever you allow me to bring my heirlooms.” Tang Ling stiffened his neck and went all out with the lady.

In fact, it was his last resort in this worst-case scenario. After tonight, even if he was only allowed to wear a single piece of underwear inside the training room, he would be happy to comply.

“You can’t do that. You’ve delayed your training because of your personal reasons. The training rooms are arranged and booked every day, and if you miss it, you’ll need to reapply for entry,” the beautiful lady replied formally.

“Do you really think 100 Hope credits grow from trees?” Tang Ling was at his boiling point. If he could not make it, he would really have to give up on the training and return to the Hope Barrier for a better place to enter the dream.

After that, he would have to be even more shameless to borrow more Hope credits from his friends to apply for another training session in the Tower.

However, that was completely out of the blue. His actions would be completely illogical and with careful thoughts, the intentional parties would figure out something.

So, Tang Ling decided to fight for it.

He inhaled deeply and laughed as he looked at the beautiful lady. “You mentioned that it’s possible to bring weapons inside under special circumstances, didn’t you? Why not you treat me as one, please? The little brother of Captain Fei Long shouldn’t be treated this way, should I?

“Moreover, the castellan took great care of me. I don’t want to go up to him crying and stuff because bothering the castellan with such petty things isn’t really appropriate.”

The beautiful lady was stunned. Even her formal smile on her face was frozen. She looked at the staff who escorted him as if she blamed the staff for bringing such a strange person here. Why was Tang Ling insisting on bringing weapons into the training room? Was leaving his weapons behind and retrieving them an hour later not a simple thing to do?

Tang Ling already showed a depressed expression as he looked up at the ceiling worrisomely and said, “I now suspect there are some bastards trying to put me in harm’s way.”

Ahem... The staff cleared his throat and signed the beautiful lady to ask her superior for instructions. A petty matter like this would never reach the castellan, but it might reach Fei Long’s ears.

Because of his delusion of persecution, he caused this much hassle. Moreover, Tang Ling’s weapons in the eyes of the powerful were just some broken toys, so it would not really cause much of a problem.

Since the beautiful lady was capable enough to work in such a prestigious position, she was not stupid either. She did not want to argue with Tang Ling anymore. Wearing her earpiece, she activated the wristband on her wrist and started to communicate in a whisper.

Tang Ling did not pay attention to what she was saying. He was just a little envious of the communication tool. They were the products of some advanced civilization, but where did they come from?

A minute later, the beautiful lady was surprised after she got instructions from her superior. Her eyes stared at Tang Ling in shock.

Soon enough, she hung up the communication device and said, “I’ve gotten instructions from my superior. You can bring your...heirlooms inside if you like.”

“Is there anything else?”

“That will be all.” Tang Ling reacted righteously as if it was natural for it to happen. However, deep in his heart, he was a little suspicious. Which superior is this understanding? Is Fei Long’s name that effective?

Of course, the beautiful lady would never answer Tang Ling’s doubts. After she worked on the machine, the red light outside training room No. 136 lit up.

The staff brought Tang Ling into the little room, which was a special elevator that connected to the real first floor of the Tower.

The staff was afraid that Tang Ling and Fei Long had an unusual relationship. Tang Ling might be closer to Fei Long than a real little brother, so the staff treated him better and with more respect.

Throughout the elevator ride, the staff seized the time and explained the important things in the training room, especially what should Tang Ling, a New Moon Warrior who had not started cultivation class, do to better absorb the energy.

On top of that, according to the booking, Tang Ling’s session started at 8 p.m. sharp, but when they arrived in the training room, there were 8 minutes left before 8 p.m., so the staff allowed Tang Ling to enter earlier than the booking time.

Pak!

After the door of the training room closed, the electronic lock was activated.

According to the staff, unless Tang Ling opened the door from inside, in order for others to barge in from outside, they would at least need weapons with superalloy grade material to destroy the electronic lock.

Therefore, Tang Ling would have an hour inside the room, free of any external disturbances.

“Is this really a good thing?” The change of events was a little surprising. He had made it to the training room smoothly to the point that it raised anxiety in him. Tang Ling would never take things for granted.

He always had a feeling that someone out there was brewing a storm in the dark and it would soon explode. Deep in his heart, the rough contour of the entire conspiracy had yet to be drawn out, but he still needed more evidence to support his speculation.

Nevertheless, any conspiracy would be a joke in front of absolute strength. All he could do was seize the time and power up himself.

With the thought in mind, Tang Ling inhaled deeply and looked satisfied.

So, is this what pure high-intensity energy feels like?

Right after he stepped into the room, every single cell of his was energized. They were lively and happy, and he felt he felt refreshed and revitalized.

Even though the cell cycle was quicker, his body consumption was decreasing.

The energy was warm and firm as it was granted to every single cell in his body. It baffled him though. Was this the energy from the Purple Moon?

Tang Ling scanned the training room. He realized that the room was filled with many kinds of machines and instruments like the best gym in the old civilization.

The staff also told him to think of a way to exhaust his stamina to the limit and spend every bit of energy in his body. Only then could he get the most out of the training.

If he was tenacious enough, he could hit his body limit again and again, and it would be even more beneficial to him.

“What an amazing place this is!” Tang Ling unconsciously stroked his chest. After he knew ‘it’ was a seed, his feelings towards ‘it’ was a little more obvious.

Tang Ling could also feel the liveliness from the seed as if it was a baby that was forever hungry being soaked in a milk bath.

“I’m really sorry,” Tang Ling teased himself. Even with his current appetite, he could barely feed the seed full, so he felt like he treated the seed badly.

The countdown timer to the dream was decreasing by the second. If it was not because of the dream, Tang Ling really wanted to push his limits in the training, and it proved to be a huge temptation.

Unfortunately, he could not. Tang Ling simply sat down in the corner, calculated the time, and took the Level 2 vicious beast meat jerky out. He cut them into thin strips and weighed them to be around 100 grams.

“There’s still time to digest this.” It was just Level 2 vicious beast meat. Plus, the eating method that Su Yao taught him allowed him to digest faster, so he could make it before the timer ended, but he would have to endure the pain.

Even with doubts lingering in his mind, Tang Ling stuffed the meat jerky into his mouth and chewed as hard as he could before he swallowed it.