Corpse Man Weize

No one had ever told Lubi Azha the details of his parents' death over all these years; it was simply too cruel. From the fragmented bits and pieces he had vaguely overheard, it seemed they had faced two blue-sheened Great Spikes at the same time back then... "Father probably just wanted to bring Mother back." Thinking this, tears welled in Azha's eyes, yet a silent smile cracked across his lips. Father was really strong. And he never stopped loving Mother and me, even though Mother and I were both only Grade C. He turned his head to glance at Uncle Shiliang, who was leaning against his shoulder. Today's Uncle Shiliang—or more accurately, Uncle Shiliang right now after returning from the alley—seemed a bit strange. Azha could sense a rare joy emanating from him, mixed with a certain flavor of grim resolution. That was probably why he had suddenly brought all this up. "Uncle Shiliang." "Hmm?" "Why did you and my dad leave Azure back then?" Lubi Azha plucked up his courage and asked in a low voice. Uncle Shiliang didn't seem angry, but he raised a hand and cuffed Azha on the head. "Mind your own business and don't go poking around." Then, after about two seconds, he turned back, his eyes bright. "Hey, Azha." Azha: "Yeah?" "If one day you have the chance to go to Azure, would you go?" "To the Sole Witness Legion?!" Azha's voice suddenly shot up. Terrified someone might overhear, he hurriedly clapped a hand over his mouth. "Yes, the Sole Witness Legion," Uncle Shiliang said, his eyes deep and proud. Azha replied immediately, "I would." "...Good." Uncle Shiliang gave a heavy nod and reached out to ruffle Azha's hair—a rare display of warmth between them. Just like that, they returned to headquarters with the rest of the ranks. The medics arrived and began treating the wounded, prioritizing the most severe cases before moving to the lighter ones. Uncle Shiliang sat propped against the foot of an interior wall. He called Azha over to sit down, fished out two source energy blocks from his bag, tossed them to him, and said, "Absorb them when you have a free moment. There's more when you finish." "Eating" meant absorbing them outside of combat. Uncle Shiliang himself was in the middle of absorbing one right now... Azha dumbly caught the source energy blocks in his hands, looked at them to make sure they were real, and asked, a bit baffled, "Are we not saving for a rainy day anymore, Uncle?" That was Uncle Shiliang's catchphrase, but this time it was Azha's turn to say it. "Just take them and absorb them. Why all the chatter? If you stay this weak, watch out or no one will want you," Uncle Shiliang scolded grumpily. He turned back around, blue light flashing over him as he resumed absorbing. It looked as though he was even more terrified of being too weak himself. Azha followed suit. Outside the walls, people came and went. The fighters of the alliance chatted and laughed together, every voice laced with excitement and joy. Two days remained. The Wild Band Alliance hadn't won yet, but the scales of victory had undoubtedly tipped completely in their favor. ………… The following morning, the fourth daytime of Culling Day, only one night remained of the official deadline... Along the main thoroughfare of the Third District, a few bold shop owners had already begun reopening for business. As they opened their doors, they discussed among themselves whether the rent might be discounted once the new power took over. At least in the beginning, they felt, there would definitely be some perks. "Did you hear? Two top-tiers came out last night... and in that two-on-two, the ones from the Big Five couldn't hold their ground. Got wounded and ran." "Well, yeah. If we hadn't heard, who'd dare open up shop?" "That's why I said Boss Dao... Boss Dao bided his time for thirty years without making a move. Now that he's struck so suddenly, he was bound to be certain of victory." "Did you ever say that? I remember you saying they were courting death..." "Of course I said it! Right here, I said it!" Amid the chatter, the beauty mark at the corner of the small shop proprietress's eye crinkled with delight. She tore open a carton of good cigarettes, took out a pack, and set it aside, waiting for a certain scoundrel of a kid to come back and return the keys... Suddenly: "Holy shit, where's my pot?!" the noodle shop owner yelled right after opening his doors. A few seconds later: "Wait, where are my noodles?!" From the sound of it, the pot had probably been found, but the noodles were gone. "Old Tang! It's definitely him... That bastard, just because I didn't help you place... Argh! I didn't end up placing my bet! Ten to one! Holy shit..." After a while, the noodle shop owner dragged a chair outside, set it in front of his shop, and lay there like a man whose wife had run off, staring up at the sky in agony, ignoring his business. In truth, he was waiting for Old Tang to come by. *That kid was so dead sure back then. He definitely had insider info... To know something like that, Old Tang is no ordinary guy. I've got to suck up to him properly,* the noodle shop owner thought. Yet, all the way until past four in the afternoon, Old Tang's group never showed up. Not a single person from the Wild Band Alliance appeared on the streets. Then, around five o'clock, the metal block refining workshop at the end of the district was the first to start closing its doors. Under normal circumstances, the refining workshop under each faction's jurisdiction was one of their greatest sources of profit. Correspondingly, news at the workshops was usually the quickest to arrive. "What happened? Why close so abruptly?!" The proprietress of the small shop stepped out to look and ask, and many others walked out just like her. In reality, there was nothing wrong with the refining workshop closing early—after all, today could hardly count as an official resumption of business. The problem was how they closed: from the technicians to the odd-job doormen, every face wore an expression of sheer anxiety and panic. Once everyone from the refining workshop had left, a chain reaction rippled down the street. Shop after shop closed in haste and panic, the owners grabbing as much of their valuables as they could before hurrying away. "You're closing too?!" The shop proprietress turned her head to ask. "What on earth is going on?" The noodle shop owner had just run off a short while ago and now returned, immediately moving to shutter his doors. "Shut... shuttering the shop... Corpse Man Weize," the noodle shop owner panted, out of breath. "At three-forty, Corpse Man Weize announced he's joining Fire Scorpion." The proprietress: "..." Fire Scorpion was one of the factions tied to the Big Five in this conflict. Corpse Man Weize was rumored in the City of Iniquity to be one of the top three combat powers below super combat power, standing above the top-tier, and he was one of the few top experts unaffiliated with any faction. Coincidentally, tonight was the final night of Culling Day. Thus, for Corpse Man Weize to suddenly announce he was joining Fire Scorpion at this precise juncture, the intent was glaringly obvious. "Isn't that just shameless?!" Sitting where she sat, her heart had been set on Little Chicken and the rest winning. She hadn't even had a full day to celebrate before this. Stamping her foot, the proprietress grumbled in indignation. "What choice is there? In a situation like this, as long as Kill God doesn't intervene, it flies. And right now, it looks like they won't intervene." The noodle shop owner turned, his brows locked tight. "Besides, if they had the means to convince Weize, that's their own skill... That guy isn't an easy man to sway." The noodle shop owner quickly locked up and left, urging the shop proprietress to hurry as well before he took off. Left with no choice, the proprietress shut her doors, leaving the pack of good cigarettes on the small counter facing outward before departing. Around the same time, at the Wild Band Alliance's headquarters. When the iron armor walked through the courtyard, almost everyone stared at her, seemingly at a loss for words. That afternoon, the entire camp had plunged into a state of plummeting dread and desperate struggle. "H-Hello." Lubi Azha caught up to her past a corner. The iron armor turned her head to look at him. Rusty Sister had not yet spoken to anyone else in the alliance camp. "I'm, whew... the guy you threw back," Azha said on his own initiative. "Oh, I remember." The iron armor nodded. "Did you need something from me?" "Yeah." Azha looked at her, paused for a moment, and said in a low voice, "Don't fight Corpse Man Weize." "Why? Am I weaker than him?" Rusty Sister asked, sounding a bit displeased. "No... I don't know. But he's terrifyingly strong. Everyone says he's terrifying... He's killed top-tiers. More than one," Lubi Azha said earnestly. Corpse Man Weize was ranked seventh on the Cloud Piercer Leaderboard, the oldest among them at thirty-two years of age. By right, an expert of that age should no longer appear on a ranking meant for the rising generation... The explanation given by the leaderboard was that Corpse Man Weize's true rise had actually begun only two years ago. At the same time, the leaderboard noted: [What Weize teaches us: this world shouldn't only feature stories of sudden genius youths bursting onto the scene. With Grade B fusion, he walked out from purgatory.]