Liang Ge stopped breathing. Thirty-four years of life and sixteen years in Azure reached their final and most brilliant stroke at the end of summer 1991, atop the summit of Xilang Peak.
His body was laid temporarily to rest in a snowbank along the edge of the peak.
That crude, constantly despised, utterly exasperating madman could finally no longer blab without a filter, crack tasteless crude jokes, or gross people out.
Yet the corners of his mouth still seemed curved in a smile, wearing a proud, swaggering look.
"All right, get back to your guard posts, all of you. You should have gotten used to this long ago... We'll all get used to it." With red-rimmed eyes, Wei Jiang chased the White Eraser members standing behind him back to their stations.
Having said that, he stepped forward two paces, wrapped an arm around Bai Ji's head as the young man wept with his chin buried in his chest, and gently patted his cheek. "It's all right, don't cry. Don't cry."
Just moments ago, many present had red eyes and shed tears, but Bai Ji was the only one who had truly wailed aloud. Because he was young, and because he had been very close with Liang Ge. Over the past year, they had spent practically all their time together... After all, they both hated the exact same person.
"To be honest, who knows how smug that idiot is feeling right now? You all know him, don't you?" Wei Jiang forced his mouth into a slight smile and continued, "Hasn't he always been like that? Always eager to stick his neck out, thinking all day long about basking in glory and being a badass.
"So right now, he's definitely satisfied to his heart's content. If he could still talk, who knows how cocky he'd be toward me, or how much he'd brag in front of you all... The most badass thing in White Eraser's entire history was done by Liang Ge."
In White Eraser's glorious history as a squad, there had been many heroes, but... Wei Jiang turned his head and gestured with a glance at the Great Spike mothership behind him.
The significance of this vessel to Azure and to human history was simply monumental. Liang Ge was destined not just to leave his name in the annals of White Eraser; he would leave his mark across the entire history of mankind.
The defensive formation around the mothership was reorganized. The commanders also stationed men along the cliffside, heightening their vigilance once again.
The Great Spikes' intent to destroy the mothership was already abundantly clear.
Furthermore, organizations like Snow Lotus, or indeed any group among the Cleansing Faction or Self-Preservation Faction, would surely attempt something at any cost if they learned of this.
Liu Yiwu sent someone down to summon the Supers below to come up as quickly as possible.
During this time, inside the mothership, Han Qingyu's body was still being ravaged by the immense power surging from the traction field. The violent source energy churned in chaos, unable to find an outlet. At the same time, something bizarre was occurring within his body.
Those three Bones of Eternal Life were dissolving into him... The bones in their entirety were melting away, rather than merely being absorbed for source energy.
Two had already been consumed, vanishing directly into his body. Normally, only overflowing vitalized source energy could affect even a fraction of them. Yet ever since he entered the traction field, he had been enveloped in boundless life source energy, and just a moment ago, the fusion had unexpectedly begun.
The dissolved Bones of Eternal Life merged directly into his physical frame without feeling like solid matter. They did not add extra bones anywhere in his body, yet they were stored in two distinct locations, plainly perceptible to him.
At the same time, after they disappeared, no residue remained outside.
Whether this meant the bones were fully converted into source energy, or that they had originally been source energy manifesting in the form of bones, Han Qingyu had no way of knowing. Just as he had no idea what state he would end up in after consuming them.
Perhaps, at present, only the Great Spikes knew the answer.
And now, in a state completely beyond his control, the final Bone of Eternal Life upon him was dissolving.
Wu Xu still stood silently not far from Han Qingyu. Occasionally, Han Qingyu could hear the grinding clatter of his clenched teeth. Sweat streamed continuously down the hand gripping his spear, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
*This guy isn't going to hold on until he literally blows up, is he?!*
"Wu Xu? Wu Xu?"
"Yeah... *Pfft!*" As soon as Wu Xu opened his mouth, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Can you move?"
"...Yeah," Wu Xu said after an attempt. "I can."
"That's good. Watch yourself and don't explode."
"Yeah."
***
"Has everyone noticed something?" Commander Depp from Mitli took off his binoculars, curbed his expression, and said, "What I mean is, have you noticed that the mothership is still there...?"
"..." Nitesh, the supreme frontline commander, froze. They had overlooked it in their excitement. If the battle was already over and the mothership remained intact, what did that imply?!
The old commander bowed his head, his double chin tucking in, his hand pressed against the seam of his trousers clenched into a fist, trembling faintly.
"I'll go report this to headquarters and the various national fronts!" an excited communications officer beside them said, turning to run off.
"No." At least ten people spoke up at once to stop him.
"There's no definitive conclusion yet; no rush," the commander from the Folansi Front put it rather tactfully.
Nitesh, on the other hand, was blunt, issuing a direct order: "For now, impose a complete information blackout on everything concerning the Great Spike mothership. We will report it afterward. And do not prompt anyone else to pay attention to this, either."
The implications were simply too immense, and right now, both at Alliance headquarters and across the various fronts, far too many people from all walks of life were listening in on the battle reports.
Even if the news could not ultimately be kept secret, keeping it shielded for even a little longer was worthwhile. At the very least, it would buy the frontline time to make plans and preparations.
"Then can the support units head up now?"
"And the medical teams?"
Those beside him asked.
Nitesh hesitated, thinking it best to first send dependable scouts up to assess the situation.
At that moment, the sound of commotion broke out once again not far below the elevated platform.
"Why is that damn thing back again?!" Liu Shiheng muttered, pointing into the sky at the blue-light craft that had inexplicably reappeared, looking utterly perplexed.
Everyone had thought it was long gone, but it had come right back. He Tangtang gave a chuckle. "Did it run out of fuel or something?"
"No," Lao Jian and Wen Jifei said in unison. Armed with binoculars, they could see more clearly: the blue-light craft appeared to be descending deliberately.
Those atop the peak noticed the change as well...
Yet before they could even think, the aerial situation shifted in the next instant, far faster than anyone could have anticipated.
*Whoosh!* The explosive roar and stirred air currents were still high aloft... barely reaching their ears before the blue-light craft plunged with staggering speed to within a thousand meters of the ground.
Then, with a sudden *boom*, it detonated outright.
"It exploded?!"
"Did it really run out of fuel?"
Probably not.
Because out from the exploding shuttle craft, a figure threw itself forward—the Red Shoulder was back. Perhaps the craft couldn't make the journey back either? Or perhaps destroying the mothership was simply more important to them... No one knew the reason, but it had returned without a doubt.
Having survived the avalanche, the two war correspondents, Ian and Ashleia, were now positioned under a jutting ledge of rock, filming the scene above from an angle.
In the viewfinder, the descending Red Shoulder looked like a fireball, as if ablaze.
And outside the fireball, its column sword trailed an azure luminescence.
It seemed to have no intention of ever returning.
*Boom, boom, boom...!* The sky abruptly resounded with an immense, terrifying fury. The blast of sonic booms and the surge of source energy through the air made the Red Shoulder plunge like a falling meteor.
No one could fathom how much power, how much raw energy, was contained in this desperate, suicidal strike from a Red Shoulder.
And its target was the mothership.
"It's trying to destroy the mothership!" In that instant, there was no time for command; no order could possibly be issued in time.
Yet some reacted without needing orders.
*Crack!* A sonic boom split the air.
Cuo'en, an elite warrior of the Bhutan Front, sprang into a sprint. In full stride, his right foot stamped against the mothership, followed by his left, vaulting him into the sky.
Leaning back midair, he straightened his torso and swung his blade toward the heavens at an angle, flying to intercept the descending Red Shoulder.
From another side of the mothership, the figures of Ryan and Elena, elite warriors of the Mitli Front, appeared almost simultaneously with Cuo'en, though they were faster and leaped even higher.
Elena's golden ponytail trailed in the air.
Three, four, five... In the first breath, at least twenty-odd figures vaulted into the sky at varying heights, more than twenty combat blades rising to meet the falling Red Shoulder and its blue-light column sword.
Yet that might still not be enough. The sprinting silhouettes of Supers appeared upon the knoll... but no one could tell whether they would arrive in time.
Cao Min, charging forward at full tilt, was suddenly grabbed from behind. The pull was tremendous, halting his entire momentum and hurling him backward.
Crashing hard onto the ground, Cao Min scrambled into a sitting position and looked up.
"Do Long Blade proud."
Squad Leader Lu Chengzhong's figure moved so fast it blurred into a ghost of motion, his voice dispersing into the rushing wind. The eruption of source energy from a top combat power caused his step onto the mothership to ring out in a heavy, muffled *thud*.
Springing off that single step, Lu Chengzhong shot into the sky like an arrow, swiftly overtaking numerous soldiers as he rode the whistling winds to meet the Red Shoulder in a slash.
Right after him, another top combat power from Brazil leaped with blade raised toward the heavens...
The relentless chain of defenders never broke. More and more silhouettes hurled themselves into the sky behind them.
To those with binoculars down below the mountain... the scene unfolded in silence, veiled in distance.
Against the backdrop of a starry night sky, only a single descending figure plunged like a blazing fireball... while dozens of black specks rose through the air, scattered yet layered, leaping to confront the red-and-blue sphere of light.
...Azure's iron and blood, bodies blocking the vast sky.
Even after enduring an agonizing, bloody battle, the onlookers were deeply shaken by this silent sight. The entire mountainside went hushed.
They were blocking it with their lives.
What were they blocking?
In this instant, everyone understood.
Across the slopes and valleys, hands rose in solemn salute, silently watching the imminent collision and sacrifice.
Suddenly, *boom!*
"Out of... the way!" A voice echoed across the open air, carried on the churning gale.
Inside, Han Qingyu thought, *Screw your ancestors, you showed up at just the right time.* Then he thought: *Looks pretty damn fierce—I won't die, will I?!*
He had just finished absorbing the third bone source. Combined with the constant absorption from the traction field, the power within him surged to its absolute peak.
And so, he slashed upward.
Those on the peak heard the shout clearly and saw the silhouette at the same time. They knew who it was. Only that person could launch a strike from that position, and only that person could produce such earth-shattering momentum—he had already delivered a similar slash earlier, even if that hadn't been his own strength.
Down below, the soldiers could not see clearly. Yet amid the sweeping grandeur and sorrow, they suddenly saw a blazing beam of blue light erupt from the Great Spike mothership atop the summit, piercing straight into the sky like a laser.
"What is that?!"
"A person, isn't it?"
"A Super?!"
"Fuck, it can't be that bastard Qingzi, can it?"
"No way, the guy isn't that badass yet."
"Good, then."
"Wait, that looks like a blue-light column sword."
"...No way, it can't be."
Even as they spoke, *boom!*
The thunderous reverberation rolled down all the way to the mountain's base.
In the distance, the blazing blue light overtook everyone at an unbelievable speed, colliding head-on with the red-and-blue fireball at the highest point... A deafening blast erupted.
The collision struck a single point... yet that point blossomed.
A tangible, spherical shockwave expanded outward along the plane of impact.
The air currents turned savage and chaotic, flinging every silhouette in the sky back down toward the ground.
Then, with a low, trembling drone—*hum*—the sphere of compressed air high above burst!
The two colliding figures separated.
First, the blue light receded, revealing a silhouette that leveled out horizontally in midair before plunging toward the earth.
At the same moment, the crimson glow extinguished. The Red Shoulder's body was knocked backward through the air, forced momentarily upright before a loud *pop* burst from its chest. The residual force erupted through its frame, sending it flying violently away.
Chapter 281