Tempest of the Battlefield
chapter-238

Chapter 238: Father's Counsel

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

Cameron had sent the challenge to Lie Jian on behalf of Einherjar Wannabe. In the invitation, it specified that the realism would be cranked up to 120%

That was a blatant taunt to Lie Jian, a member of one of the most hawkish families of the great houses.

Some believed that the battle was Einherjar Wannabe's retaliation for the fight instigated by Huo Quan. The bigger question was: "Would Einherjar Wannabe win the fight if Lie Jian accepted the challenge?"

It was common knowledge that no outside of the great houses had ever defeated anyone who was a part of them. Therefore, this fight was not the same as any fight, and it was a test to the power of the great houses. As one of the most influential fighters of his generation, Lie Jian had never lost a battle except for once when he was against Li Shiming, and even that had been a close call for his opponent. Should the two fight again, it would be hard to forecast the results.

Everyone was worried for Einherjar Wannabe, who was only a fourth level fighter as he had to stand up against a fifth level warrior from a great house.

The news about the fight had also reached beyond the PA circle. Ever since he defeated Huo Quan, Einherjar Wannabe had become the target of hatred for people who didn't like earthlings.

Shocked by Einherjar Wannabe's bravery, students from both earth and the moon waited impatiently for Lie Jian's reply.

Some audiences had reasoned that Einherjar Wannabe's bravery came from his arrogance. They believed that Huo Quan's defeat had convinced Einherjar Wannabe that all fighters from the Mars could be easily defeated.

Such a brazen taunt angered the Martians. To them, Einherjar Wannabe didn't only send a challenge to Lie Jian, but also insulted every Martian.

The online community soon became sizzling with debates between the earthlings and the Martians. The Ivantians remained neutral and just wanted to enjoy the fight.

Truth be told, Lie Jian didn't have to accept this challenge, because he no longer needed to prove himself to anyone. However, the real stake in this fight to Lie Jian was his family's reputation. As the heir to the Lie Family, he could not afford to overlook any element that threatened to weaken his family's position.

Meanwhile, Wang Tong had much less burden. He thought that if Lie Jian wouldn't accept his challenge, then he would gladly accept the reality and find himself another opponent.

Wang Tong browsed the website as he waited for Lie Jian's reply. He suddenly realized that his dance video had gone viral online. He figured that it had become so popular because the name of HG and Mike must have grabbed viewer's attention.

The entire entertainment industry went crazy over the masked dancer as they tried to figure out his identity. However, all their attempt had failed.

There had been some trails behind the dancer that was still hot, but Li Ruoer had ordered them to be covered. Without enough evidence, no one could make the connection between an ordinary student with the best dancer they had ever seen.

Wang Tong shook his head after reading the comments. He wondered what the fuss was all about since he only moved his body with the music the way he felt like it. It proved to him that he was not meant to be in the entertainment industry. Perhaps, he thought, being an entertainer would be a good fit for Hu Yangxuan, but he doubted Hu Yangxuan would be willing to give up his future as a soldier.

As the protector of human civilization, the social status of a soldier had been elevated higher than that of any other profession.

Wang Tong decided to sign off the terminal and go home. He didn't bother to look at the heated debate on the online forum about his challenge, neither did he care about other people's opinion about him. He reminded himself to check his mailbox more often in a couple of days to see if his challenge had been accepted. He figured that he had been using the terminal quite a while, and he shouldn't take advantage of the kind owner.

The next day, Wang Tong came to school as usual. The S club had been running very well, thanks to Zhou Sisi. But, Samantha seemed to have encountered a conundrum.

As per the new edicts of the confederation, all military academies were to dispatch some of their students to Norton to help the army to eradicate the Zergs. The confederation's goal was to help the ground tropes by enlisting fresh blood into their ranks while offering the students an opportunity to prepare themselves for the harshness of war. Most of the students would not be assigned a combat mission. Instead, they would be doing ground keeping works in the barracks.

It all seemed noble and grandiose on paper, but as a principal, Samantha understood the reasons for such a move at a much deeper level.

Samantha knew that recently, the council and the military had been butting heads over the matters of campaign funding.

The pan-human race council had been dominated by Earthlings ever since General Li. However, things seemed to be changing rapidly. Martians had publicly challenged Earthling's position a few times, and had exerted significant influence on the new colony states, thereby weakening the earthling's position in the council.

The debate over the funding of the Norton campaign was also part of the Martian's plan to challenge the earthing's dominance.

Under pressure from both outside and inside of the council, the Li family eventually came up with a compromise that was this so-called 'official edict' in Samantha's hand.

The students' lacked experience and had weak combat skills, but they were, nonetheless, incredibly cheap.

From a strategic point of view, the confederation's military academy system was not without its weakness. It had done little to no help in advancing the combat ability of the next generation soldiers since the best graduates all eventually ended up becoming officers who would not partake in combat. This had caused the officers of the military to be out of the touch with the foot soldiers at the bottom. General Li Feng, on the other hand, was a paragon of earnest and bravery. He started from the bottom and worked his way to the top, and therefore, he understood the difficulties the first line soldiers had.

However, right then, the idea of having the best academy graduates spend time among the ranks of the foot soldiers would seem like a joke. The students then were more pragmatic, as they considered becoming an officer as fast as they could their only goal. Therefore, Samantha knew that this edict would meet student's resistance as soon as she had finished reading it.

Anyone could do the math themselves: the risk was too high, but the benefit was nonexistent.

The students were not very eager to volunteer for the program. So far, Ayrlarng had no student who had shown his or her interest yet.

There was no position in the fleet, but even if there were, Samantha, reasoned, the situation wouldn't change the slightest since the life on a ship out in the nowhere was excruciatingly dull.

Confederation had sensed the lack of motivation among academy students, but there had been no data to draw any conclusions. Therefore, they had purposely decreed the enlistment a voluntary act, so the edict served a census across academies. So far, Ayrlarng had zero volunteers.

House Li.

"Are you looking for me, father?" Li Shiming asked respectfully.

"You volunteered to go to Norton?"

"Yes, father."

Li Daozhe turned around to face his son. Lights reflected off the hard lines etched to his face. His gaze was soft and caring, but his figure projected a sense of dominance. He was the backbone of the Confederation: Einherjar Li Daozhe.

"You had done well in the recent series of events, although your methods could be more discrete."

"Please father, I am listening."

"The exercise on Paradise Island was near flawless, but your involvement won't escape Ma Dutian."

"Father, I had just visited Uncle Ma. He seemed normal to me. Plus, we had cleaned all evidence on the island."

"Hehe. Don't underestimate your Uncle Ma; he is smarter than anyone else. The lack of evidence was a telltale sign. Who else, except for the Li Family could have done so much damage without leaving any evidence?"

Li Shiming chewed on his father's words for a while and bowed deeply, "Thank you for your counsel, father. But, what should I do next?"