Why Me?

Come to think of it, dead iron straight men were not entirely without a market. To date, Han Qingyu had encountered two sufficiently direct confessions—anything less direct, he would never have caught onto anyway. Unfortunately, of those two, one and a half were foreigners. One was the girl behind him, Lynne. The half was Yin Caixin, who had once offered to "sacrifice herself to marry him." As for Milla also being a foreigner, Han Qingyu had never really thought about it—perhaps because she served in the Huaxia Front, they had known each other from the start, and she had always given off the comforting air of a teacher and older sister since his recruit days. Now that Plague Chicken suddenly brought her up, he pondered for a moment and said with a touch of worry, "I wonder how the situation in Xiongzhanli is right now, and whether Captain Milla is doing well. We promised we'd go fetch her." He remembered. Back then, Milla had left Squad 1777 mainly because of the instability in Xiongzhanli; the alliance had dispatched trustworthy personnel over, and her entire family was on the list. Thus, if the situation in Xiongzhanli stabilized, they should go fetch her. If it worsened, they had all the more reason to go fetch her. "The news I heard isn't great. The forces breaking away from Azure and militarizing into a government hold the upper hand... but a while back, their leader was kidnapped, so it should buy some time," Wen Jifei said. "Their leader was kidnapped?" Han Qingyu asked, stifling a laugh. "Yeah, probably Marshal Hua's handiwork." Wen Jifei nodded and remarked with regret, "I was just thinking, if Marshal Hua were still here, our lives would be so comfortable. Huaxia too—they haven't even sent another super over." "They sent one," Wu Xu chimed in, a rare occurrence. Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei both turned to look at him. "We lost him," Wu Xu said. Han Qingyu said, "...Oh, right. I wonder where Master Longchi is wandering now. Does the corps know he's lost?" "Well, if they knew and couldn't find him, they should've sent another one anyway. Looking to the future, whether in resources or combat reserves, this place is contested ground," Wen Jifei said. The three walked ahead, chatting as they went. Watching their utter calm made Lynne angrier by the second. "What's so great about you anyway?!" With one arm held by Jenna, the girl could not hold back anymore. Her eyes reddening, she shouted from the street corner, "Is being a top-tier that amazing?! I'm going to marry a top-tier in the future too, and he'll be better-looking than you, stronger than you..." Han Qingyu turned to look at her, his gaze earnest. At that moment, Lynne almost blurted out, *I was just mad! I was only kidding!* "That would be good." Having said that, Han Qingyu turned back. In his view, Lynne would be safer in this city that way, and he wouldn't have to look after her anymore. Otherwise, if someone cornered or hunted her down one day and he found out, he really would not be able to just stand by and ignore it. The logic was entirely sound. Having said his piece, Han Qingyu felt relieved, turned around, and continued forward. Lynne froze far behind him for three seconds. Then, her source energy erupted with a violent burst. "Aaargh, I'm so mad! I'm going to kill him! Waaa... Jenna, don't hold me back!" Jenna engaged her gear as well, clutching Lynne's arm with all her might and tugging. "We can't beat him, Lynne!" ...Oh, right. Lynne froze and thought about it. "Then I want my money back! And the dead iron fragments! And the source energy blocks... I'm not giving them to him anymore!" At that single sentence, Jenna and Lynne noticed the guy ahead suddenly speed up. She was utterly speechless! The breath caught in her chest felt like it was about to burst. Humiliated, the young girl was desperate to salvage some pride, while also comforting and convincing herself. In the end, she yelled at the top of her lungs from afar, caring little whether he could hear her or not: "Don't get so smug, you jerk! I've figured it out now—I never liked you at all! I just really liked The King!" Before her words even faded, he seemed to speed up yet again, his silhouette vanishing around the street corner in a flash. Right then, someone walked out of the Hall of Definitive Kills and posted a notice on the bulletin board. Lynne and Jenna were standing right in front of it. They turned their heads to look. [A'Jing of the Azure Dragon Gang challenges the Hall of Definitive Kills. Assessment passed. Confirmed opponent for the opening battle on July 3: Assassin Rankings No. 15, Slog the Tall.] One hour later... Wearing loose silk pajamas and eating his brunch, Slog abruptly spat a mouthful of steak across the table. The nearly raw steak was bloody, making it look as though he were coughing up blood. "Why?! Why me?! Even if that savage Weize wasn't officially on the ranking, his rating was sky-high... Are the people doing combat assessments at the Hall of Definitive Kills complete dumbasses?!" Slog leaped to his feet. Regardless of whether rumors claimed it was a sneak attack, that kid had cut down Corpse Man Weize. Slog was virtually certain he could not beat him. If he couldn't beat him, he would die. "Wait, wasn't he my employee before?" Slog asked blankly. A servant standing by nodded. "Yes, Mr. Slog. He and several companions used to wash cars at your bar." "So, when he was there, did we treat him badly?" Since he couldn't possibly have paid attention to a car washer, Slog asked. "No. After he defeated Weize, we immediately conducted a very thorough investigation. Their days at Bar No. 15 were peaceful, even quite lucky," the servant replied. "Then why the hell me?!" Slog asked, aggrieved. Servant: "..." *Wasn't that arranged by the Hall of Definitive Kills?* "Are they out of their minds?! Because of those bastards, the major factions have almost completely poached every worker from my bar! If it's a person, they poach them! Anyone I hire gets poached, over and over..." "And now he wants to challenge me?!" Slog roared. In truth, Slog had already begun his transition. Ever since he had entered Huaxia to assassinate Han Qingyu and ended up terrified by Marshal Hua's intimidation, he had never accepted another bounty after returning. His plan had been to leave his ranking to slowly slip away while he focused on living as a gentleman of wealthy leisure. After all, his strength was right there; he could never end up doing too poorly. Who could have imagined such a thing would suddenly happen?! ... The next day, Kill God issued an announcement: [Slog withdraws from the assassin rankings and forfeits all privileges. A'Jing of the Azure Dragon Gang advances in ranking to challenge No. 14, Filthy Williams.] The entire city was stunned. On July 3, 1992, in the opening battle, Filthy Williams heavily injured A'Jing of the Azure Dragon Gang before ultimately being defeated; he survived. On August 13, A'Jing of the Azure Dragon Gang fought a bitter 47-minute battle, taking four blade wounds, to defeat No. 13 on the assassin rankings, Supreme Full Armor Yodsanklai; he was victorious without killing. On September 27, A'Jing of the Azure Dragon Gang wielded twin blades for the first time, fighting to a standstill against No. 12, Dual-Blade Style Kawabata Taisei. The next day, fighting through his injuries, he claimed victory without killing. After two months of recuperation from severe wounds, on November 29, A'Jing of the Azure Dragon Gang brought "that cloth-wrapped object" into battle for the first time. In a life-or-death climax, he defeated No. 11, the 1.9-meter-tall woman Roxanna, leaving her alive. Rumors spread of an ambiguous relationship between the two, only to be shattered by A'Jing's famous quote: "I don't like foreigners." Countless female fans across the city turned against him as a result. That night, while retreating heavily wounded, A'Jing was ambushed. Two thousand members of the Azure Dragon Gang arrived on the scene, forming ranks to escort him. Later, Eric the Viking, leader of one of the four major factions, stepped forward in person to recruit him, only to be refused. At the same time, because A'Jing won every match without taking a life, Slog the Tall was mocked as the unluckiest top-tier in the entire city. Had he not withdrawn back then, he would probably still be ranked 16th or 17th. Additionally, Bar No. 15 under Slog announced a temporary closure due to staffing issues. A little over a month later... On January 15, 1993, the Little New Year's Eve of Huaxia, Kolosky the Gatekeeper, ranked tenth on the assassin rankings, failed to guard the gate to the top ten despite holding the advantage throughout the fight. Spanning half a year, A'Jing of the Azure Dragon Gang had fought his way into the top ten. No one believed his victory over Corpse Man Weize was a sneak attack anymore. The Azure Dragon Gang, once a mere alliance of wild bands, now saw its fame and influence reach its zenith. At the same time, a rumor began to spread like wildfire. Someone adamantly claimed that A'Jing of the Azure Dragon Gang was very likely the super-genius who had vanished over a year ago—The King. Because of this rumor, the countless women across the city who had previously turned against him defected right back, becoming his fervent fans once more.