Natural Beauty Is Hard to Conceal

"No, that wasn't Qingzi that day." Shen Yixiu waved her hands in front of her chest—both of them together. Her earnest tone gave the impression of a little girl trying her hardest to clear up a misunderstanding. The question was essentially the same as before. Only this time, a suit of iron armor was seated on the chair in the center of the military tent. The overall color of the armor was a deep blue bordering on black, yet beneath the light, flowing radiance occasionally surfaced, revealing another crystalline, dazzling blue. This was Rusty Sister's visual appearance after Jiang Chou modified her through source energy fusion—both premium and intensely technological in feel. Unfortunately, the iron plates on her body could still only be modified, not replaced, for the time being. In terms of strength enhancement, she was limited by the nature of the base material, making major progress difficult. To address this, Jiang Chou's follow-up improvement plan was: if better materials could be obtained, they could consider wrapping an extra layer over it, and another layer after that. This was also something Rusty Sister had always worried and hesitated about. Because while she would get stronger that way, she would also become thicker and bulkier (she refused to use the word "fat"), taller and more massive. Until one day, when she stood beside Han Qingyu, she could reach out, pat his head, and say, "Little boy, watch closely—let the iron giant go smash them to pieces!" At this moment, at the far end of the long table opposite her, the young interpreter was dazed, her brown eyes reflecting the dazzling blue of the iron armor. *So pretty! It looks like sunlight shining into the deep sea, mmm, or like a gorgeous crystal brimming with super energy.* Even now, the interrogation had yielded not a shred of progress, but that had nothing to do with her; she was merely a small translator. If one were to speak of gains, the young girl only found herself growing increasingly fascinated by this group of people. Take Han Qingyu, for instance—he was truly as good-looking as the rumors claimed. Although overbearing, he was just so handsome! And so strong! Besides, he had treated her quite well. As for Wu Xu... he happened to be the exact type she was most crazy about. And the third one, this little sister right in front of her—she looked so cool. Yet her muffled, resonating tone of voice, along with those two iron arms waving together in front of her right now, made her seem so lively and endearing. Glancing down at the file information, it showed that Second Lieutenant Shen Yixiu was still two months away from turning eighteen. *So she really is still a little girl, even younger than me, yet she wears such a cold, ruthless suit of metallic iron armor. And her combat evaluation: top-tier!* *What a huge, delightful contrast! She's amazing!* Unaware of the true circumstances, the young female Azure soldier couldn't help feeling intensely envious. Howard had run out of patience. He reached over and tapped the tabletop beside her, "knock, knock." Waiting until she turned around... he asked with a displeased expression: "What did she just say?!" "Um... she said the person that day wasn't Major Han Qingyu." Having said that, the young translator paused, momentarily confused herself, before turning back to confirm with Shen Yixiu: "Second Lieutenant Shen, that's what you just said, right?" Shen Yixiu nodded. In fact, among the four of them, she was the only one capable of bilingual communication—she even knew a bit of French. However, to see if she could pick up anything from Arthur and Howard's conversation, she had kept that hidden. "Yes, I said that person that day really wasn't Major Han Qingyu himself," Shen Yixiu reaffirmed. Unlike Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei, her understanding among the four matched Wu Xu's: she thought Shao Xuan's previous instructions were meant for them to deny the whole thing. In the tent, before the translator could even relay the words, General Liu Yiwu had already been stunned first: *Why does this feel more and more preposterous?!* "Absurd! Councilman Howard said," the translator relayed. By now, everyone in the room felt utterly dumbfounded and bewildered. "He said, have you people truly become so absurd as to deny Han Qingyu even appeared at the scene? So many people saw him with their own eyes..." "But the person they saw—wasn't he a bit dark?! Mmm, pretty dark, with a reddish tint under the dark skin! I've asked around, and you can ask anyone you like." Shen Yixiu blinked, though unfortunately no one could see it. At that moment, all eyes turned collectively toward Jackson, because on that day, he had been present. Jackson turned helplessly, thought about it, and confirmed, "Yes, very dark, with a sunburn like a plateau flush." Han Qingyu that day had just returned from baking under the sun on the plateau for days; he was indeed both dark and red. "And what does that prove?! What does the condition of someone's skin show?!" Arthur spoke up in challenge. "Well, there's a problem, and it shows a lot," Shen Yixiu said. "You can think back—Major Han Qingyu, whom you just saw earlier, doesn't his skin look exceptionally fair and tender compared to you men?! Fairer and more tender than many girls, even?!" "Tsk, natural beauty is hard to conceal," Liu Yiwu chimed in despite himself, knowing full well the kid was talking nonsense. After all, he was a man who could chat up even a Great Spike. "Mm-hmm," Rusty Sister agreed emphatically. *This was truly an angle that took painstaking effort to stumble upon! Who told our Qingzi to conveniently happen to shed his skin? Hmph!* Feeling rather proud of herself, Shen Yixiu waited ten-odd seconds. Seeing that the room silently conceded the point, she continued: "Right? Exactly. Now, can anyone go from being that dark to this fair in just two days? No! Therefore, that person was simply not the real Major Han Qingyu." The entire room: "..." They were truly losing track of what on earth they were interrogating. If this went on any longer, people were going to go insane... Howard raised a hand to rub his temples and questioned: "Then what about you?! You were also at the scene, along with the other two." "The other two were deceived, obviously." Shen Yixiu stood up, swaying left, swaying right, showing off her iron armor as she said, "As for me, I'm very easy to impersonate." Looking at the bewildered faces all around, Rusty Sister grew intoxicated with success. When she sat back down in the iron armor, she misjudged her strength. With a loud crack, the chair splintered. Shen Yixiu felt slightly embarrassed, but feeling like she had already taken control of the situation, she excitedly remained standing and continued: "The fact of the matter is, Qingzi was sleeping right beside me at the time..." "Wait!" Unexpectedly, this time it was General Liu Yiwu who raised a hand to cut off Shen Yixiu, staring straight at her. *The Huaxian general is actually stepping in to challenge her?!* Everyone wondered in confusion. Shen Yixiu was also momentarily dazed, turning sideways to look at Liu Yiwu. "With your armor off, or on?!" Liu Yiwu asked. Rusty Sister: "Huh?" "You just said he was sleeping beside you—did you have your armor off or on?!" Liu Yiwu's gaze was brimming with deep concern. Rusty Sister finally realized what he was asking. Her heart panicked, and she hurriedly waved her hands, clanking and clattering as she said, "On, it was on! He was just asleep from his injuries, and I was worried, so I sat beside him." "...Oh, so that's how it was." Liu Yiwu slowly nodded, then looked back up at Shen Yixiu and said awkwardly, "Well, your grandfather and I are old acquaintances, as you know, cough cough... Hearing that out of the blue, it's only natural for me to show a little concern. Er, I mean, concern for your health." "Mm." The iron armor let out a creak as she nodded, her heart suddenly racing. *Still, I really do sleep beside him a lot.* This little interlude thus ended. The room suddenly fell into silence. Why did the logic of this entire affair seem to be drifting further and further off course? Howard and Arthur exchanged a look, and Arthur pressed sternly: "Then who was the other person?! Since he looked identical, are you suggesting Major Han Qingyu has a twin brother?!" On the spot, Shen Yixiu froze. Because time was short and she hadn't thought things through, her lie had only reached the previous step. Now suddenly asked this, she found herself oddly curious too—who was that other person, really? "Um, yes, he does." Left with no choice but to bite the bullet and keep fabricating, Rusty Sister thought for a moment and said, "They're twins. The other one is named... Han Qing... Han Qingwa." *Now that's going too far!* Liu Yiwu was taking a sip of water, and upon hearing this, he spat out a mouthful with a loud spray. Great, one was Qingyu, the green fish, and the other was Qingwa, the green frog... Seeing all eyes turn to him, Commander Liu waved a hand. "Don't look at me. I'm fine, just choked a little." "So, this Han Qingwa...?" the young translator relayed the question. "Well... when Qingzi was little, his family was very poor and couldn't afford to raise two children, so Han Qingwa was carried away by someone. Adopted, understand?! So nobody knows where he ended up later, and maybe he stopped going by Han Qingwa long ago... But yes, there really is such a person." The iron armor nodded resolutely, bolstering her own confidence. *Heavens, what on earth did I just say?!* Looking around at the room, Shen Yixiu asked with a guilty conscience: "Isn't that terrifying?!" The moment she asked it, she herself felt it was terrifying. If that were really true, it would be terrifying; and if Qingzi found out, the consequences would probably be terrifying too. The young translator: "Mm, so terrifying."