Chapter 53 - Return.

Inside the monitoring room, the people sat watching the scene in a daze. They just saw Shi Lang fighting with a guy stronger than him. The strength of the Shamanti leader was so strong, that a kick was enough to fling Shi Lang's whole body to a distance of a few tens of meters. Yet the boy immobilized his right hand with precise calculation. 

They did not know that Shi Lang's ribs were cracked slightly when the two people duked it out. The other thing that surprised them was how the boy lured the enemy inside the circle with his weird actions. They did not have an audio feed going on here, or they would be laughing to death. When they confirmed that the target was destroyed/evaporated, they ordered a chopper to head out and pick up Shi Lang. 

It was night time but the boy had finished his task three days before the due time. He has earned his ride back home. Charlotte said, "Dalia, you will be passing on his orders, I have to report to Kantor base, things came up." 

Dalia stood up and said, "Yes, General." 

Charlotte nodded and after passing on her commands to the few of them, she stood up and left the place. She was to report to another base and take charge of the situation there as soon as this camp ended. Good thing, now she can just go early. 

Yuu asked, "Who compiled the data given to him?" 

John said, "I did. Why?"

The girl looked at him and said, "Just curious." with that said, the meeting was adjourned. 

...

Shi Lang kept holding the phasor-nade in his hand in case any predator became curious and found his way over to him. The boy did not want to engage in another fight, after gaining some energy, he decided to move further away from this place. He climbed the tree, consumed some ration, and picked up his gun. 

Then he made his way away from the site. He did not take the risk of being attacked by the Shamanti forces. Who knew if they sent reinforcements? So, he moved to a slightly further distance and hid. He was exhausted to the core. In the past four days, constantly maintaining his vigil and traveling through the forest resulted in the accumulation of slight tiredness, but the bigger cause was the mental strength.

To think that he almost died in a trap. He was cursing himself for taking up this camp. However, he also realized that he has learned a lot of things, and in just a span of twenty-one days he had become stronger. As he thought about it, he found that all the training he had received was linked to one thing, his ability to sense things. 

He had seen how strong the abilities of the instructors were. Yuu had great speed, John could meld in the shadows, Dalia was a super-brain. He did not know about Carlos and Charlotte. The abilities were all kept a secret. Diluting the details to everyone will make it a security issue, and if the details are unveiled to someone with a malicious heart, the result could only be imagined. 

Shi Lang was lost in thoughts and was sleepy but he did not dare to close his eyes even for a second. At night, the forest was active, and a lot of noises could be heard. predators feasting, insects coming to life, all of it. He gazed at the sky through the foliage of the trees and mumbled,

"Roars and howls, 

Wolves and Owls, 

Silent on Sun,

Come at night to have fun.

Rules of the forest always prevail,

If you are loud, you will wail." 

As he recited a broken poem, his communicator vibrated. He sat up and spotted a distortion in the sky This was the chopper sent to pick him up. Shi Lang rushed over and found a rope hanging down from the vehicle. At the end of the rope was a hoop. Shi Lang placed his foot inside the hoop and held onto the rope tightly. 

The chopper seemed to have no intention of letting him up and the boy was taken back, hanging from the vehicle. It took them a couple of hours to reach the base, and Shi Lang set foot on the concrete floor. He looked around and found no one approaching him. His communicator vibrated and he heard a calm voice, "Until you are clear of that stench, do not take a step outside the bathroom. Also, burn down your gear, it is of no use." 

Shi Lang chuckled and said, "Yes, Ma'am." 

Then he made his way to the camp and through the same door and maze pathway, he came to his room and took off his clothes in a jiffy, and made a beeline to the bathroom. Dalia has told him, if you cut off the communication with your nerves for prolonged periods, they will degenerate. Thus he had been keeping a switch on his nasal neurons. 

While Shi Lang was drowning himself in shampoo and shower. Things in Metropia were getting hyped up. The entrance exam for the military ranks was coming up. Those who were not eligible to be enlisted in the army were asked to take the tests for the civilian tests. Even the richest civilian could not hold a candle against a military officer. 

Those were the rules of the federation. The strong protect the weak. It could be said, that the strong could also bully the weak, but they were not given a chance to. The strong were sent at the fronts and with just a limited time to come home. So. they would just spend time with their family and relax. 

Also, the federation also had a monitoring department, they were the stronger ones keeping the balance in the society. 

...

Principal Stevenson stood in front of a window, overlooking the campus grounds.. He sighed and mumbled, "Let us see, what waves your return will bring, Student Shi Lang."