Chapter 2: Brother, Fight?

The dumping was true.

Being defeated was also true.

The former sentence was the end of their story, the latter was the beginning of this story. The two sentences together concluded what happened in the past years.

This time travel made the relationship between the two look as if it was hastily stuffed into a bag and into a drawer. Before any proper handling, the bag had already gotten wrinkly and thrown to the side.

Gu Ang had never been one to tell lies, but now whenever he mentioned his relationship with Ye Fei, he could only do so in a somewhat joking manner.

The campus was so big that the two of them walked for almost ten minutes before reaching the freshman assembly area. Most of the people in front of them had already registered, and the orientation teacher was looking down at the electronic screen, sorting out the information.

“New student Gu Ang, reporting in.” Gu Ang bowed down slightly and gently tapped his fingertips on the table, making soft muffled knocks.

“Gu Ang, right? Come and look at this.” The teacher moved the robot next to him and registered his ID for him, “Okay done. Go to the side and get your equipment, the freshman battle is about to start.”

“Thank you, teacher.” Gu Ang nodded and looked at Bai SiNing, “What’s the freshman battle?”

He had heard of this before when he enrolled, but back then, he skipped it on purpose. Now, he wanted to try it out, and if the results turned out differently, maybe it would have a butterfly effect.

As a dutiful volunteer, Bai SiNing guided Gu Ang to the equipment area to collect his items, “This is the game of the gods now. Five hundred freshmen, each of them given a custom school badge. No matter what method you use, grab nine other people’s school badges and reach the end of the line within the specified time. The top twenty can enter Class S directly without counting their entrance grades.”

After explaining, he also thoughtfully advised, “The process is extremely ferocious. If anyone comes to grab yours, obediently give it to them, lest your handsome face get broken.”

Gu Ang unfastened his tie and went into the locker room to change into sportswear that was easy to move around in before he came out, lazily saying, “Oh, I’m afraid others might not have this ability.”

Bai SiNing: “?”

Never mind, this young master is all talk, I should mind my own business .

The two walked towards the entrance of the tournament, and the voice of the Principal Zhong Zhan sounded from the speaker, “Welcome to everyone who was able to break out this year and become a freshman of the 62nd class of our Red Flame Military University! The freshman battle is about to begin, and students who have come to watch the battle can do so via our StarNet live stream or the big screen on site.

“The contestants will enter the back mountain from twenty-five different entrances at the same time. There are combat weapons scattered in different locations in the arena, waiting for you to discover and utilize them. There is a certain chance of injury in this Freshman Competition, and there are heart rate detectors on your sports uniforms to ensure the maximum possible safety of your lives. This will be a battle that tests intelligence, physical strength and luck as one, so please give it your best shot!”

Gu Ang squinted at the big electronic screen. The picture presented an angle overlooking the race course, the lush mountain forest covered the path. The trees were trembling wildly in the dense rain, and a red school flag waved up and down, symbolizing the finish line.

This was a world that promoted force to win, where the strongest stood on the top, and each new batch of fighters became the focus.

In addition to the live audience, the number of live streamers online increased by tens of thousands per second, and soon the pop-ups covered the entire screen.

[Red Flame’s freshman battle really has bad luck. It rains every year…]

[This year there is something to see, Four Kings and one God are in this session! I can’t wait!]

[Who are the Four Kings? Aren’t they just a group of four people with Wang surnames?]1

[The Four Kings are not of the same level in terms of strength with our God Ye, please don’t associate them together. Thank you.]

[Who’s trying to pick a fight here even before the battle?]

[The camera caught a sight of God Ye! He’s so fucking handsome, I’m in heat, I’m wet!]

Platform management 003: Netizen ID: [Ye Fei’s Wife] live comment suspected of obscene and pornographic behavior, has been blocked.

[Hahahahaha! Everyone be a little more reserved ah! Careful if your account gets blocked.]

[being reserved I would like to see if there are other good-looking hotties this year.]

[Has anyone placed their bets at the platform yet? Wang Ye Zhu’s betting has surpassed God Ye’s.]

[God Ye should be number one without a doubt, right? This bet is not fun at all.]

[I’ve seen God Ye’s previous individual fights, and all of them finished within seconds. Even if he gave them a twenty minute head start by taking a nap, he’d still be number one.]

[Shooting hearts at the cameraman, please focus the shots on my God Ye, thank you!]

…… 

With ten seconds left in the countdown, Gu Ang stood at the seventh entrance and quickly surveyed the surrounding terrain.

Lots of slopes, covered with debris, plus the mud because of the rain, the combat environment was perfect.

He put his custom school badge in his pants pocket, crossed his arms and flexed his fingers. He cracked his knuckles and the battle spirit inside him was ignited by the sound of the drums that marked the beginning of the battle.

He will definitely take first place.

But there was also something else that was equally important; to find out if Ye Fei was that man from eight years ago, or if he had time traveled as well. He had no intention of messing with Ye Fei again, and it would be better to not even start anything if the ending was… like that.

But he wanted to know whether this time travel was accidental, or intentionally caused by someone.

If he had been unlucky enough to fall through time warp and time traveled, he would accept it.

But if two people coincidentally time traveled at the same time, he would need to look deeper into whether or not there was someone behind it and if he was used as a pawn.

After all, no one liked being a pawn.

— 

Dark clouds overwhelmed the sky, and the sound of rain faded.

Gu Ang entered the combat zone, deliberately avoiding the crowds rushing up the hill and started wandering around. He took care of two passersby on the slope and picked up a protective helmet that had been tossed aside. Most of the people who enrolled in the First Imperial Military Academy would go straight for a sword or stick and choose offense without a doubt, thus never taking a second look at defensive gears as such.

Gu Ang took the helmet in his hand and played with it casually while continuing to search deeper in the forest. Ten minutes later, he finally found Ye Fei surrounded by a dozen people in the pine forest.

A tall tree attracts the wind2.

But this person wasn’t hard to notice since he could wear the same boring sportswear but exude a male model temperament. He stood lazily in the middle of that group of people, a trace of impatience between his eyebrows. He wasn’t alone, but exuded an air of loneliness in spite of the people ganging up on him

Gu Ang randomly found a tree to hide in the blindspots of the camera, braced against a branch and easily leapt up, by stepping on a trunk. This was a good place to watch the battle, the distance wasn’t too close, but he could clearly see the battlefield.

It just seemed a bit boring at the moment, they were still at the stage of trash talking.

The crowd of ‘dogs’3 started to throw out threatening barks, “Boss! Fucking end him!” 

“That’s right.” Overlapping sounds of agreement from the crowd, “Show him who’s the boss!”

Ye Fei cocked his brow and looked at the white haired man in the middle, “Who are you?”

The youngest touted, “Our boss is the first of the four kings, Wang YeZhu!”

God damned wild boar4, Gu Ang almost laughed out loud.

Seeing that Ye Fei had no intention of answering, Wang YeZhu sounded a little upset, “Never heard of me? After today you’ll remember my name!”

Gu Ang lifted a leg onto the trunk, let out a yawn and criticized, “If you want to fight, just fight, so much nonsense.”

“If you want to fight, just fight, so much nonsense.” At the same time, Ye Fei said the same thing word for word, only with a more emotionless voice and it was like an ice pick, stabbing at his heart.

Gu Ang was slightly stunned, this was part of the tacit understanding between the two of them from being together for years. 

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Saying the same words, doing the same things, the angle of kissing, the habit of fighting, even their second gender, they were all the same.

Gu Ang returned to his senses and saw Ye Fei pulling the cuffs of his sleeves upward, revealing his fair wrists and forearm.

In the blink of an eye, he picked the nearest one to attack.

As soon as the two sides came into contact, Ye Fei’s arm muscles immediately tensed up in reflex, and his fist was thrown into the man’s chest at an incredible angle.

The other person’s pupils constricted, his body reflexively tried to reach up to block the attack, but he felt the sharp pain in his chest before his reflexes could send the signal to his brain.

Unable to resist or block, the unlucky little cannon fodder flew straight out.

“Punching power, five hundred kilograms.” Gu Ang commented, his eyes staring straight at Ye Fei, afraid to miss any details.

The man on the ground gasped and tried to stand up, but his limbs went limp and fell to the ground again, “Fuck… Where did this monster come from?”

The scene wouldn’t stop replaying in everyone’s mind, and after just one encounter, someone was thoroughly disqualified from participating in this battle.

“Look at your wimpy faces, go now!” Wang YeZhu frowned and beckoned the others to attack.

Ye Fei rotated his wrists, “Come together.”

His voice was low but filled with arrogance.

They exchanged looks and stared at each other for a good few seconds before reacting and swarmed towards Ye Fei.

The one-on-one suddenly became a group fight scene, with fists flailing around.

Ye Fei’s stance was strong even as he weaved among the throng of people, striking with precision and power.

The ones who could enter the Red Flame weren’t straw bags5, they themselves had excessive physical qualities. Most of them had been trained vigorously since childhood, practicing combat skills and using guns, and had never been disgraced to this extent.

This moment, no one could get close to Ye Fei. His reactions were swift and he was able to dodge every attack, and then counter with heavy blows.

Amidst the curtain-like downpour, Ye Fei looked too relaxed and at ease.

“OP6, abusing noobs. I can’t watch this anymore.” Gu Ang complained, but his eyes were still fixed at the battlefield, and there seemed to be a huge stream of data flashing in his eyes, calculating the strength of the punches, trying to determine which Ye Fei this was.

But this fight didn’t last long.

Even if someone picked up a dropped weapon in the field, a sword against Ye Fei was to no avail, as they simply couldn’t get near Ye Fei.

After going back and forth a dozen rounds, Ye Fei only suffered slightly messed up clothes, while the rest of them were all sprawled out on all fours on the ground.

“You’re all useless!” 

Wang YeZhu frowned and cracked his neck. His words only left his mouth for a split second before his figure turned into a shadow and rushed towards Ye Fei’s direction. The two met and soon entangled in a fight at high speed.

Bang, bang, bang!

The air erupted with countless thundering claps, causing several people present to groan and cover their ears.

Gu Ang licked his lips, this Wang YeZhu wasn’t bad, definitely better than those cannon fodders.

It was just that his fighting style was rough, full of openings, and still a bit too rushed.

After the exchange of a hundred rounds, Wang YeZhu had bloodshot eyes and he was trying to reach out to grab the other’s throat.

Ye Fei pretended to fall for his attack, and before his fingertips even touched his neck, he instantly grabbed his opponent’s wrist. Wang YeZhu’s body instantly blurred as he was struck by a reversing kick to the calf at an almost impossible angle. Ye Fei slammed his palm onto the top of his head, pressing the man into a mud puddle and splashing dirty water in the next second.

“Using your specialty, huh?” Gu Ang narrowed his eyes. He was all too familiar with this move, Ye Fei would use it when he wanted to end the fighting match quickly and without fail.

Unfortunate Student Wild Boar became the poor thing that fell under his trick. His face paled, embarrassment, foolishness, and unwillingness written all over his face.

Ye Fei looked at Wang YeZhu, who was breathing heavily, and slowly pulled the zipper of his sweatshirt back to the top, “Hand over your school badges.”

His five slender fingers were spread out towards them, its meaning obvious.

One, two, three…… 

The people present, whether willingly or reluctantly, handed their school badges to Ye Fei.

The comment screen exploded:

[Holy! Ye Fei has collected ten school badges just in one wave? Fucking awesome!]

[I held my breath and watched the whole show before coming to my senses, God Ye marry me!]

[Those who bet on Wang YeZhu, does your face hurt7?]

[1 vs 10. I’ve truly seen how strong this man is.]

[Now God Ye’s odds have dropped again. There’s no point in betting on this man. He’s a sure winner.]

[I’m so fired up right now! This is what we call a true battle!]

[This year’s freshmen are too aggressive… gotta hide, gotta hide.]

[This is the first time I’ve seen Wang YeZhu lose so badly, I want to laugh.]

…… 

Wang Yezhu was indeed in a mess, his body was covered in mud, sticky and disgusting. He disgustedly took off his jacket and chucked it aside, discontent in his tone, “Fuck off! Is this still not embarrassing enough?”

Ten couldn’t even defeat one.

So shameful!  

The crowd said what they wanted to say and dismissed themselves. Ye Fei grabbed the badges and put them into his trouser pocket, then turned towards the direction of the mountain.

Gu Ang was still immersed in the process of the combat. Ye Fei was indeed strong, but this strength was also very consistent with that of an eighteen-year-old. This man was the monster who butchered the so-called geniuses as if they were boars back then, and the current exchange in combat wasn’t enough for him to tell if Ye Fei had also traveled back in time.

Leaking not even one drop of water8, he could only test this person himself.

And of course, he has his own ulterior motive. The fight he had spectated just now was so fulfilling and made him so content, that it ignited his fighting spirit. It had been a long time since he had a serious fight with this man.

Gu Ang grabbed the helmet from the tree, put it on and then leapt forward, his body lithe as a swallow.

The pine forest fell back into silence, the rain dripping down on the treetops, the trees wanted to calm down but the wind kept blowing9.

Ye Fei felt something cold on his nape, a drop of rain rolled down along his collar.

The next thing he knew, a vigorous fighting aura erupted behind him, like a hunter had firmly locked on his prey. The aura was provoking, suppressing, and screaming with the desire to fight. 

He stopped in his tracks and stood still, turning around and asking, “Who’s there?”

 

Translator Notes:

Wang is also homophone for King Idiom: When someone is famous or influential, they easily attract attention and trouble follows. Bad guys relying on their master’s position to bully others. Homophone for Ye (wild) Zhu 诸/猪(boar). Idiots Overpowered. Used when a player overpowers the enemy with relative ease. Internet slang that when one does something stupid, it’s so embarrassing, as if one gets a slap across the face. Idiom to describe someone meticulous Idiom: the world changes, whether you want it or not.

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