"You're my squad member. Whether to give up or not isn't up to you to decide." Han Qingyu looked up, avoiding what seemed to be Shen Yixiu's pleading gaze, and stared at the snow-white wall across from him. "Rusty Sister, do you know how many source energy blocks you owe me?"
Of course, Shen Yixiu didn't know; she only knew it was probably a lot. No one spoke in the quiet hospital room.
Only Han Qingyu earnestly continued:
"That first block from when you sparred as a training partner counts as what you earned through your own hard work. But later, during that mission tracking the Cleansing Faction, it was four blocks plus one—you took more than I did."
"Then there's your daily consumption."
"At the Nepal training grounds, you also used more than everyone else. And that time you followed me on that robbery, you missed one and didn't pick it up. Did you know that?"
"I actually noticed it at the time, but I had to lure the Great Spike away on the run, so I didn't have time to look back and remind you to look for it... Just because I didn't bring it up doesn't mean I wasn't keeping count."
"Then that time you were split five blocks, not to mention the shares from other places... Just from last night until today, do you know how many you've used? Seven... nearly eight blocks."
The few remaining people present listened quietly, thinking to themselves... They rarely saw Han Qingyu like this. Although he joked around normally, he was never particularly talkative, and even less prone to such nagging mumbling.
"Y-You actually really kept count."
Shen Yixiu felt so wronged, irritated yet wanting to laugh, but she was just so exhausted, in so much pain.
"Nonsense, I remember it crystal clear. I'm not afraid to tell you all: I have a little ledger book specifically for keeping track of source energy blocks."
As Han Qingyu spoke, he reached into his inner pocket with his left hand, fumbling around before pulling out a palm-sized notebook with a dark green hardcover.
He flipped it open; row upon row of numbers lined the pages inside.
"Damn it, it's actually real!"
The ledger was real. Wen Jifei cursed, and after a few seconds, laughed with tears welling in his eyes. "Look, Rusty Sister, this guy... you have to pay him back. Otherwise he'll cry himself to death, believe me?"
"...Mm."
Shen Yixiu believed it. Every single source energy block Han Qingyu had just recited represented a memory from her new life, an event they had all experienced together, starting from when she had served as a robotic training partner...
It was just that it had been far too brief.
In reality, Shen Yixiu had always known she lived in a state where death could come at any moment. But days like these—even just one more day would be wonderful... Clenching her teeth beneath the iron armor, she said, "But back then, the researchers already said there was no way, and neither could the doctors."
"That's why the person we're looking for isn't a doctor, and he's not going to take off your iron armor either."
This was a desperate measure. The person they had sought out through Xin Yaoqiao was named Jiang Chou. Barely anyone knew of him, however, or those who did rarely addressed him by name. They usually called him "that damn blacksmith"—he was a smith.
Not long ago, he had forged a new blade for Han Qingyu. According to Xin Yaoqiao, he was likely one of the few people in all of Azure who possessed the deepest understanding of dead iron.
As things stood, Rusty Sister couldn't take medicine, couldn't be infused with source energy, and couldn't have her iron armor replaced. Their only option was to attempt a permeating repair from the armor's exterior. Such a repair was naturally not as simple as laying a patch of dead iron over it; it involved the balance and operation of the entire circulatory system, and everything had to be precise to perfection.
Because Shen Yixiu's very survival was a singular anomaly, no one knew if tripping a single wrong thread in the armor would claim her life.
Every subsequent second of waiting was agony.
Shen Yixiu endured the pain in silence, no longer making a sound. Instead, the others kept talking to her—enticing her with delicious foods, amusing her with fun stories, and teasing her with things to annoy her, calling out "Iron Chick" and "Bucket Girl" over and over again... because they were terrified that she might stop listening.
In this state, every passing noise that sounded like an airplane made everyone present surge with hope and joy, yet instantly tense up.
"Why don't I just go wait at the airfield? As soon as he arrives, I'll bring him straight here," Xin Yaoqiao suggested. Although people had been arranged to wait at the airfield, she still wanted to see him as early as possible.
Han Qingyu nodded. "Thank you."
Xin Yaoqiao left at eight in the morning. When footsteps approached, it was around eight-forty. Han Qingyu had keen hearing and could tell there were several sets of footsteps.
Then, outside the doorway, only two sets remained.
"He's—he's here." Xin Yaoqiao had run fast. The moment she entered, she stepped aside to make way for the person behind her—that damn blacksmith.
Because he was associated with blacksmithing, Han Qingyu and the others had subconsciously pictured a burly, bearded middle-aged man. But seeing him in person proved otherwise.
A man in his twenties wearing glasses stood there, fair-complexioned and rather slender, carrying a toolbox. Behind him, people carried in piece after piece of equipment that Han Qingyu and the others couldn't comprehend, nearly cramming the entire ward full.
When they met face to face, he merely nodded in greeting before walking straight to the source energy chamber to observe, taking out tools to measure data.
Xin Yaoqiao had already briefed him on everything that needed to be said on the way over.
"I know about her... A very peculiar machine." Just a machine. Having said this, the blacksmith named Jiang Chou turned around and glanced at Han Qingyu.
"Then we leave this in your hands," Wen Jifei stepped forward to say.
"Don't talk about entrusting it to me. I'm not a doctor; life and death are not my business. I came only because repairing this dead iron source energy internal circulatory system—the only one in history—is an interesting challenge. Even if it fails, it will still be a very valuable piece of research and experimentation."
As Jiang Chou directed his crew to set up the workspace, his tone and expression remained completely flat—not out of arrogance or coldness, but simply stating facts.
Xin Yaoqiao stood beside Han Qingyu and tugged at his clothes, whispering, "Now do you see why everyone calls him that damn blacksmith? That 'damn' is mandatory."
Han Qingyu said nothing. It was entirely normal for geniuses to be abnormal.
"It may be very painful, because I only know how to handle machinery," Jiang Chou said suddenly, pausing mid-task to address Shen Yixiu.
"It's fine. I'm not afraid." The voice came from within the iron armor, weak yet resolute.
"Good." After responding, Jiang Chou walked up to Han Qingyu, held out a hand, and said, "Give me at least two metal blocks—not too small—and twenty more source energy blocks... I'm not charging you for this. As for money, you just need to cover the flight expenses. But the only thing that can truly melt dead iron is source energy, and this isn't the blade-crafting process."
Han Qingyu turned his head and signaled to Wen Jifei.
*Clack, clack-clack... thud.*
Three metal blocks and thirty blue crystal source energy blocks were laid out on the table.
Then Han Qingyu still insisted on saying, "Thank you. We're counting on you."
Glancing up at Han Qingyu, Jiang Chou hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Xin Yaoqiao can stay and watch. After all, I'm a stranger. The rest of you, wait outside. If it fails... I'll try to notify you to come in for one final goodbye."
He finished setting up the makeshift workstation and demanded that all external source energy supplies be cut off, explaining that anything from outside could interfere with the reconstruction of the internal circulation.
Han Qingyu let go, stood up, and then leaned back down, gently cupping Rusty Sister's cheekplate. "Remember what you said: once we win the war, you're coming to our hometown to hang out with us." With that, he turned around.
"Don't worry, just come. When you get there, we won't sell you off as scrap metal," Wen Jifei added with a smile, turning his back as soon as he finished speaking.
Beneath the iron armor, Rusty Sister let out a soft yet firm hum of agreement.
...
Downstairs at the foot of the hospital's side wall, He Tangtang, Wen Jifei, Han Qingyu, Liu Shiheng, and Wu Xu sat in a row against the bricks.
"Say, once Rusty Sister gets better, should we treat her a little nicer?" The suffocating silence felt unsettling, so Liu Shiheng took the initiative to break it, offering a light chuckle. "Like, teasing her a little less?"
"Well, of course not," Han Qingyu replied, spitting out the blade of grass from his mouth and picking a fresh one. The bitter flavor helped keep him alert.
Nearly forty minutes had passed.
Forty-five minutes.
Suddenly, a hurried clatter of footsteps echoed as Xin Yaoqiao ran down the stairs, burst through the door, and stood outside, frantically looking left and right.
All five saw her, but in that first instant, not one of them dared call out to her. They were afraid to ask.
Ultimately, it was Xin Yaoqiao who spotted them first. Standing at a distance, she sniffled and called out, "Xiuxiu's own source energy blocks... have started supplying power."
With that, she spun around and sprinted back upstairs.
The five sitting by the wall remained silent, exchanging glances. They understood that this likely meant the internal circulatory system had begun to recover.
There were no thrilled screams, no celebrations. Wen Jifei pulled out a pack of cigarettes and passed them around, muttering, "Scared the absolute shit out of me."
"Yeah," He Tangtang and Liu Shiheng both agreed.
"Next time there's dangerous business, I'll go with you." Wu Xu spoke his first words since last night. From childhood until now, his life experiences had made him accustomed to losing those around him, and he had heard that on Azure's front lines, sacrifice was commonplace. Yet from last night to today, what he had witnessed and felt firsthand seemed to be entirely different.
He said this directly to Han Qingyu.
At the same time, Wen Jifei was just passing a cigarette to Han Qingyu. "Qingzi, want one? Qingzi... Qingzi?!"
Han Qingyu's head hung low. He had already fallen fast asleep.
Even now, he had not yet changed out of his bloodstained combat uniform.
"He fell asleep," someone murmured in the distance. In fact, over the past forty-odd minutes, Nie Xiaozhen and the female squad members hadn't wandered far. They had seen them and were watching from behind the trees nearby.
There were things, unspoken yet deeply moving, that one could feel in their chest, though words could scarcely describe them.
"Alright, let's go. Don't look anymore. If I keep watching, I'm afraid I'll never be able to get married," that short-haired girl teased with a giggle. "Come on. Xiaozhen, are you coming?"
"I'm coming." Nie Xiaozhen took one last look, turned around, and walked away with her teammates.
"Aren't you afraid it'll be hard to find a husband now?" Once they were further away, someone teased her.
"I'll definitely get married! And someday, I'm going to tell this story to my kids. Such a wonderful story—it'd be a pity not to tell it," Nie Xiaozhen said with a smile.
The world hadn't gone mad, so hearts could still skip a beat; the world hadn't gone mad, so not every flutter of the heart had to end in a romance.
In the future, she could always visit his squad to give science demonstrations and performances, and then ostracize him just to enjoy the petty satisfaction... She could also tell her kids about that legend of the Nepal training grounds—about the strongest recruit in a decade, Han Qingyu, who once gave flowers to their mom, begging to watch their mom dance, and their mom didn't let him watch at all.
Chapter 177