It had been many, many years. Shen Yixiu, who had once relied entirely on a dead iron source energy internal circulation system to stay alive, had felt no hunger, had possessed no normal blood circulation, and hadn't even had tears when she wept in sorrow...
She was a living corpse.
Zhe Qiuhong had said that her vomiting blood and swallowing reactions indicated she was regaining parts of a normal person's physical state; her bodily functions were returning.
This might be related to that piece of jade bone from the Great Spike mothership.
Following her inquiries and deductions, she had raised the estimated survival rate of Rusty Sister leaving her iron armor from ten percent to forty percent.
It was a massive improvement, something to celebrate, but Zhe Qiuhong said that was the ceiling—it could never go higher.
Because Rusty Sister's "miraculous survival" was itself the only known exception under such circumstances to date. It was a phenomenon science could not explain, and there was simply no way to begin researching it.
Therefore, no matter how optimistic one was, that figure could never reach fifty percent. Even if another ten or twenty years passed, even if Rusty Sister was in peak condition and stronger than ever, wanting to come out would still mean taking that same risk.
Forty percent!
Under normal circumstances, who would be willing to make such a gamble? Even if one had to drag out life with disabilities or disease, wasn't it still better to be alive?
Yet Shen Yixiu was willing! If time could be turned back, back to before she met this group around her, she would have been willing to try even with ten percent.
She even suspected Grandfather would agree with her choice.
And then her aunt, her cousin... everyone who loved her would ultimately approve.
If only they took a moment to imagine what that little girl living inside the sheet metal had felt.
From age twelve into her girlhood, from that empty white hospital room to that sealed vehicle, and then to the research institute's laboratory, Shen Yixiu had grown up in loneliness, fear, pain, and tears.
She was always afraid of so many things: afraid of those cold, useless instruments; afraid of the faces she had seen in the lab during those two years; afraid of eyes turning to look at her; afraid of them speaking to her...
She was even afraid of herself. Every time she imagined what she looked like, it was a nightmare.
Later, because of the accident that had nearly cost her life, Grandfather had charged into the research institute alone with a blade in hand and brought her home.
By then, Grandfather had already stepped down from his post as commander of the Ninth Army. He had grown very, very old, his eyes cloudy, his hair completely white.
It was from that moment on that, afraid of hurting Grandfather, Shen Yixiu learned not to cry out loud when she was grieving or terrified...
And then, she couldn't even weep in silence.
Because she had no tears.
"Which year was it that I wanted to go to school, to see the teacher and classmates?" "I've forgotten."
What lingered in memory was a little girl's last bit of pride. She had once been the little princess of her class... Stubbornly, little Yixiu refused to let her former classmates and teachers see what she had become.
So, the sheet-metal robot was treated like a decoration, standing in the back corner of the classroom just like an Azure globe.
Class began, class ended...
Sometimes between classes, those once-familiar classmates, who had slowly grown bigger, would come over out of curiosity or boredom and fiddle with the strange, battered robot.
Little Yixiu didn't make a sound. She didn't move.
"I don't want to think about it anymore... sniff," Rusty Sister thought as she lay there quietly.
When that tear slipped from the corner of her eye—warm, round, like a dewdrop—Rusty Sister froze for a long time... before breaking into a happy laugh.
"Next time you bully me, I'll cry. Hmph."
The iron armor silently rolled onto its side.
"I'm not coming out, Qingzi, everyone. I don't want to die. Besides, Second Lieutenant Shen in iron armor is super good at fighting anyway."
At the same time, inside the room, Zhe Qiuhong gave Wu Xu an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry. I really don't understand things... creatures like you. I can't explain it, I can't treat it, and I can't give you any prognosis."
Wu Xu nodded. "Mm."
...
The next morning, which by the lunar calendar was the first day of the New Year, the few people sleeping in the central room woke up a bit late.
"Wake up... wake up!" Zhe Qiuhong nudged each of them with her foot. Once they were all awake, she stood before them and whispered, "There's something I need to tell you..."
"Wu Xu has fallen from top-tier," she said.
"...Does he know?" Han Qingyu asked.
"Yeah."
"Long-term or temporary?"
"I don't know." Zhe Qiuhong shook her head and turned toward the kitchen.
Before long, the front door was pushed open from outside. Wu Xu walked in, just like any other day... having just finished his routine morning training.
He glanced at everyone sitting on the floor, picked up his washbasin and toothbrush mug, and stepped outside.
The sound of running water came from the doorway.
Once washed up, Wu Xu came back inside, set down the basin, and turned to head out again.
"Where are you off to, Wu Xu?" Wen Jifei asked, standing up and walking over.
"To buy youtiao," Wu Xu turned and replied. "It's my turn today."
They couldn't deep-fry youtiao at home, but they all loved eating them. Since vendors sold them on the street, they took turns sending one person out each day to buy some.
"Better not," He Tangtang also wandered over and hesitated. "After last night, the whole city's in turmoil. You're so weak right now, going out alone probably isn't safe..."
Wu Xu stared at him without a word. For once, his eyes held a faint hint of feeling wronged.
"Besides, at your current speed, making a round trip will probably take forever. What if we've already eaten our fill by the time you're back..." He Tangtang went on.
Bang!
With a shoulder throw, Wu Xu slammed He Tangtang into the floor.
This was unprecedented in human history: Wu Xu feeling wronged, and the resulting wrath that followed.
Seemingly unprepared for it himself, he froze for a moment. As he straightened up, pretending nothing had happened, Wu Xu turned his head to glance at Wen Jifei, who was visibly itching to chime in... He couldn't help it; there were simply too many bastards in this gang.
Having done this to steady the situation, a flicker of awkwardness flitted through his eyes.
"I'm going to buy youtiao," Wu Xu said, feigning nonchalance.
...
The courtyard gate opened, then clicked shut.
Just as Wu Xu's figure disappeared around the corner of the street, a white-haired Huaxian elder walked up from the far end of the avenue with his granddaughter. The girl was about ten years old, dressed in a brand-new handmade floral padded jacket.
"Look, this is Major Qing's home. See the couplets on the door? Your grandpa wrote those," the old man said to his granddaughter with a hint of pride.
"Wow!" the little girl gasped in wonder. She turned to look at the courtyard gate, then up at her grandfather. "Is it really Major Qing?"
"Who else?" The old man chuckled.
"Then... then will he come out in a bit?"
The little girl stood on tiptoe toward the courtyard, but she wasn't nearly tall enough to see inside.
Her big round eyes blinked, and she mumbled, "Grandpa, everyone says Major Qing looks really handsome now that the scar on his face is gone."
Thump! With a light rap of his knuckles against her head, the old man scolded crossly, "You're only ten!"
Then he turned his granddaughter around and said, "Come on, Grandpa has to set up the stall."
The two figures, one tall and one short, passed the courtyard entrance and walked toward the other end of the avenue.
"Does Xin'er want to visit our Huaxia one day?" the old man asked suddenly.
"Yes!" the little girl chirped. She turned, looked up, and fluttered her big eyes. "Can I go, Grandpa?"
She remembered Grandpa used to say they couldn't go.
Grandpa had always described everything about Huaxia to her in great detail.
"Maybe... who knows," the old man said.
"Mm! Then Grandpa, will you tell me the story of what happened by the sea last night?" What had unfolded by the shore the previous night had already become a story in the little girl's mouth this morning—a story about Major Qing, Second Lieutenant Wen, and the others.
Yet the old man hadn't been to the shore either; how could he know all the details? First thing this morning, he had only caught bits and pieces himself.
"All right!" Gathering his thoughts, the old man struck the pose of a storyteller and began: "Listen well: in the night battle, Binggu struck at an angle, the iron armor crushed buildings, Second Lieutenant Wen's rifle barked on and on... and blood flooded the long street!"
"Where was there a street? People said it was by the sea," the little girl asked skeptically.
"Ahem! My mistake! Listen: fireworks illuminated the sea, Major Qing stepped into super with a single stride... and because it was by the shore, that ocean surge rose a thousand feet high with one stroke of his sword!"
"How high is a thousand feet? Is it that tall?" The little girl pointed toward a church spire in the distant mist, clutching her grandfather's jacket hem and looking up. "If it's that high, will the fish die from the fall?"
"...Keep asking nonsense and Grandpa won't tell the story anymore."
"Oh, I won't ask then! Grandpa, please go on! You said the ocean surge rose a thousand feet high..."
Chapter 509