Touched?

At the same time Chen Buer and the veteran staff officer were outside... In the conference room, Xin Yaoqiao was speaking in her professional capacity: "The core part of that warning command sent by the Great Spikes should mean their central hub or base has come under attack. There is one detail indicating that their source energy may have been damaged. Regarding that point, my hypothesis is that Comrade Han Qingyu managed to get close to the dreadnought and carried out sabotage. "Therefore, there is an urgent question we need to consider: what exactly is that hub, and what does it intend to do? The answer might be obvious, isn't it? So, could we consider launching a direct assault against it? "In addition, the Red Shoulder's appearance is very likely aimed at recapturing or destroying the craft that Comrade Han Qingyu and Teacher Lyu are currently fleeing with. That object most likely cannot be commanded to self-destruct. "However, my view is that if the danger is too great or the price too high, we can only consider abandoning it for now. After all, the Great Spikes' fleet is right there, and we will certainly have other chances in the future. "I... I have finished speaking." Xin Yaoqiao sat down with her back straight and composed. Qu Zhongshi and Xin Mingzhi exchanged a glance... For the girl to calm down like this was truly rare. Her speech seemed plain and rigorous, merely stating objective facts—and those were indeed facts. Yet beneath the surface lay two clear motives: *The frontline could consider besieging Wei to rescue Zhao! Grandfather, Grandfather Qu! How about we just abandon the craft? Grandfather, Grandfather Qu!* It was solely for this that she had forced herself to stay so remarkably calm and composed. Her heart was truly tied entirely to that person on Xilang Peak. Yet regarding the situation on the battlefield, they were practically unable to intervene in time. At most, they could offer recommendations. *** The Xilang Peak battlefield. A moment earlier: Han Qingyu wanted God Lü to hand the blue-light craft back to him, or at least lend him the blade of a super combat power so he could split an opening into it, snatch the metal block, and run. Having hauled it for so long, he had gained some feel for it. The metal block inside was slightly different from ordinary ones; it might very well be of even higher purity. Yet Lü Moyi's mind was filled with the thought that this kid had fought desperately to save lives and was now trying to bring an intact advanced craft back for Azure... Now that I'm here, it's naturally my turn to take over the burden. Wanting Han Qingyu to escape first, Lü Moyi carried the blue-light craft on his shoulder and led more than half the Great Spikes along, dodging him the entire way. He had run Han Qingyu completely into confusion. It felt just like handing one's bag to a stranger for a moment to tie a shoelace, only for that stranger to turn out to be a mugger. Their thoughts aligned on only a single point—they both knew they could not lead this charging swarm of five to six hundred converging Great Spikes head-on into the Azure battle lines. Sixty ordinary soldiers could easily overwhelm and slaughter a single Great Spike, a one-sided execution. But thirty thousand soldiers facing five hundred Great Spikes charging in formation would be pierced straight through, turning the battlefield into a river of blood. In such circumstances, the swarm could hardly be split apart, and Azure's standard battle formations could not be deployed effectively. No matter how many people were present, no more than two to three thousand could engage those five hundred-plus Great Spikes at the same time. Thus, without prior coordination, both of them began running along the mountainside... Dragging two masses of Great Spikes behind them, they sprinted full tilt around Xilang Peak. Their goal was to stretch out and scatter the swarm, or run until an opening appeared, allowing them to break away in another direction. Just when they felt they were about to succeed, not far below the summit, a towering set of iron armor—at least a head taller than the blue-sheened Great Spikes—appeared on a cliff ledge. The armor stood on an icy boulder like a general, exuding an eerie human likeness as it gazed down at the two sprinting figures below. It even turned its head, sweeping its gaze across the Azure battle formations down the mountain. Two red bands extended from its shoulders across its chest. "Red Shoulder!" Cries of shock rang out at that moment beneath Xilang Peak throughout Azure's thirty-thousand-man battle lines. A moment later, the news was relayed to Alliance headquarters and the coalition fronts of every nation. A massive commotion rippled through the frontline command, the regular soldiers, Squad 1777, and every corner of the field. "What do we do?" "Mobilize super combat powers... Elite squads, prepare!" "Should we charge? At least let us block the black armors!" "Wu Xu! Rusty Sister! Do not move! Wait for command's orders first!" "..." *Skrrrtch... clack-clack-clack.* The Red Shoulder strode forward, dragging a massive column sword that shimmered with a brilliant, starlike blue radiance. The sword ground against the earth behind it, plowing through snow, ice, dirt, and stone as it moved. If Chen Buer were here to see this column sword, he would notice it differed from the one carried by the Red Shoulder he had slain back then. Perhaps because this one was a commander?! The column sword... suddenly cut through the air from the high cliff. Across a distance of at least one to two kilometers, the blue-radiant column sword shot toward Lü Moyi like a colossal arrow... Snow, ice, and rock were torn up along its path, the air whipping into a swirling gale. Thirty years later, the Red Shoulder's first strike sent the column sword flying through the air, carving a visible trench directly across the snowy mountain slope. Even to those far down the mountain, it was unmistakably clear. Furthermore, it arrived almost instantaneously. *Boom!* Amidst gasps echoing across the field, Lü Moyi hurled the blue-light craft aside with both hands. It was already too late to dodge... He drew his blade and slashed! A strike without knowing whether life or death lay ahead. A vertical cleave gripped with both hands. Thirty years later, a human super combat power met the first strike of a returning Red Shoulder head-on. A thunderous crash! The column sword rebounded. The man held his ground. He held his ground?! *Drip, drip.* *Boom!* Where Lü Moyi stood, the ground beneath his feet shattered explosively. Then his entire body was blasted into the air as if lifted by detonating dynamite. "Run!" he shouted in midair, drawing his second blade at the same time. *** Seeing that he was still able to draw his blade, Han Qingyu felt slightly relieved. It seemed that although God Lü couldn't defeat the Red Shoulder, the Red Shoulder couldn't instantly kill him either. Since that was the case, God Lü should be able to get away. After all, a legend had long circulated in this world regarding two of the Huaxia Front's super combat powers: *God Lü's strikes cannot be seen; wherever Marshal Hua goes, none ever know.* His full-power burst of speed should be swift. Just as that thought crossed his mind and he was preparing to flee first, Han Qingyu's next thought made him curse internally: *Goddammit, you tell me to run... then why the hell did you throw the blue-light craft at me?! Why didn't you give it back earlier... I don't fucking want it anymore!* By this time, the Red Shoulder had already leaped down the cliff and caught the column sword parried back by Lü Moyi. It stood still and looked toward him, appearing faintly startled. Then the Red Shoulder pivoted, swinging the column sword downward with a tearing roar of wind... Lü Moyi landed in the distance and took one look, instantly overwhelmed by guilt and remorse. Hurling the blue-light craft to Han Qingyu just now had been pure instinct. Now he saw the Red Shoulder's column sword change direction, slashing horizontally on a downward angle through the wind, hurtling straight at Han Qingyu. Up and down the mountain: "...I got him killed." "He... he's going to die." "Qingzi..." People had just witnessed their super combat power withstand a blow from the Red Shoulder. Even though he had been at a complete disadvantage, he had withstood it, leaving them both thrilled and awed. Yet in the blink of an eye, they saw today's Azure hero on the verge of martyrdom. He was not a super combat power. Wu Xu and Shen Yixiu had already burst from the battle formation, sprinting frantically toward the snowy mountain. Not even Wen Jifei tried to stop them. But... the distance was simply too great. Under tens of thousands of gazes from the mountain's crest to its base... The colossal column sword tore through the air, carving off a massive chunk of rock as it flew. The boulder flew ahead, rocketing toward Han Qingyu. The column sword followed close behind, sweeping horizontally toward Han Qingyu. In everyone's eyes, the scene looked like a battered little skiff facing a monstrous, sky-blotting wave. *Clang!* The instant Han Qingyu severed his source energy flow, the violent gale kicked up by the Red Shoulder's slash picked him up, sweeping him backward like a leaf in a tempest. This sight filled everyone below with sudden dread: as expected, he couldn't block it. Yet the true experts understood... Not only did they understand, but they were also astounded. To devise a way to dissipate the brunt of a head-on impact in such a dire moment—and actually pull it off! Still, the wind could never outrun a hurled boulder or the column sword! Han Qingyu was naturally even clearer on this point than anyone else. While still suspended in midair, his blade had already swept forward from behind his shoulder... At the same time, his maneuver gear's source energy surged, his liquid source energy surged, five metal blocks instantly dissolved, life source energy overflowed, and his bone source surged into resonance. Four turbines peaked in a simultaneous surge. *Whirrr—* The most powerful slash of his blade to date cleaved outward. *—Boom!* The boulder exploded in midair. The long blade struck the flying column sword without slowing in the slightest. There was no echo; the two impacts happened so fast they merged into a single sound. *Pfft!* The strike drove the blade back against his chest, slamming heavily into his body. Han Qingyu sprayed a mouthful of blood in midair, the scarlet stark and vivid against the snowy white slopes... His entire frame was blasted backward and plummeted beneath a cliff like a kite with a severed string. "Did he block it?" "Is he... could he be...?" "Qingzi?!" At the same time, the column sword rebounded off the impact in an eerie arc, shearing straight through the blue-light craft in midair. It destroyed it outright; it did not retrieve it. Having exhausted its momentum, the column sword dropped alongside the shattered craft debris. Behind the Red Shoulder, Lü Moyi was already throwing himself forward in a desperate, reckless assault. ...By this point, no one cared anymore that the blue-light craft had not been brought back intact. All they prayed for was that those two on the mountain might survive. A grueling minute, then two minutes crawled by. Lü Moyi fought desperately to tie down the Red Shoulder. Yet the person below the cliff still did not reappear. Instead, the Great Spike swarm vanished beneath the cliff. "Is he... dead?!" Even if he hadn't died from that blow, being surrounded by the Great Spike swarm while severely wounded... Despair spread through the ranks... Wu Xu and Shen Yixiu had already reached the foot of the mountain. Three other super combat powers were even further ahead of them. And yet, people remained steeped in despair. Until... "Holy crap... l-look over there!" "This..." Thirty thousand people at the base of the mountain gasped, then fell dead silent. In their field of vision, the front of Han Qingyu's combat uniform was soaked crimson with blood. Clutched in his arms was the Great Spike's starry blue column sword, his pocket was bulging with a metal block salvaged from the destroyed craft, and dragging an entire swarm of Great Spikes behind him, he came sprinting out along the mountainside... The commanders, along with everyone holding binoculars, naturally couldn't see the metal block, but they could see that column sword plain as day. Did he... fight his way through hell just to snatch the Red Shoulder's column sword?! No wonder the Red Shoulder was currently fighting God Lü barehanded.