Are You Really Not Coming Back?

For some among Stream Vanguard, when they had chosen to join the fleet in the City of Iniquity and follow Major Qing, they had never actually seen him fight, nor had they seen how he treated people. In other words, they had not known him at all. It had merely been a gamble on fate, a possible future, a way out that might prove bright. Now, they had seen it all. For people like them, everything that had taken place today meant a great deal... Who would not wish to march alongside a man like this? Especially when they had all been cast out into blood and cruelty, at a time when the world was almost certainly headed toward an apocalyptic struggle. The lines the Little Prince had taught them did not roll off their tongues smoothly just yet, but the sentiment was gradually becoming just that. "Where do you live? If I want to find you for another fight in the future..." Han Qingyu said to the Ivan-brand bone-melting digestive tablet. Ivan paused, seemingly surprised that he would speak. Without turning around, his frame swaying slightly, he said, "I used to live in Antarctica. After I went mad, I stayed there... Later, Azure showed up again, and I don't know where I'll live from now on." *It feels like it's been a very long time since I spoke to someone so peacefully...* Ivan thought to himself. He was mad; in his moments of lucidity, he knew it full well. Battle after battle, the aftereffects of his frenzied trait eruptions had plunged him into intermittent madness beyond his control, driving him to commit terrible mistakes he dared not recall. He had chosen to wander off into exile, dwelling in the coldest, most desolate place on earth. He had lived like that for many, many years, until the crisis in Antarctica broke out and he began slaying Great Spikes... cutting them down in swaths. Later, the main force of Azure arrived. They discovered him, watched him in secret, investigated who he was, remained wary of him, and shadowed him... So he had left Antarctica. "Oh, then we'll just have to leave it to luck," Han Qingyu muttered with regret. Ivan nodded, giving a rare, non-ferocious smile. Then he continued walking forward. This exchange was not overheard by any third party. "Kill him! Kill him, hurry... and then kill Chen Buer!" Mosorijin roared hysterically from the side, seemingly having lost his mind completely at this moment. For he did not understand martial might at this level. Because his hopes... were about to shatter. Without Butcher Ivan on the Splinter Faction's side, and with Chen Buer still standing across from them, the other two supers were completely outmatched. All their bargaining chips were rendered utterly meaningless. The only fate left for him was merely a question of how he would be dealt with. Ivan turned his head and shot a single glance at Mosorijin. In the end, he did not utter a single word, continuing forward at a slow, bleeding pace. He had only come to pick a fight with Chen Buer; he had wanted to be killed by Chen Buer. Though of course, he would inevitably fight with everything he had, fighting all the way to madness. He hated Azure. Only after Ivan's silhouette disappeared below the grassy slope on the opposite side did Han Qingyu finally move. This seemed to serve as further proof that he had, in fact, lost this duel. Unlike Ivan, he did not spare Mosorijin even a glance. Nor did he look at the Huaxia battle formation, or at Chen Buer. He turned half a circle on the spot, located one of his dead iron straight swords, picked it up, and slid it back onto his back with some difficulty. Then he staggered a short distance, found the other one... He turned back to retrieve the column sword, letting it drag along the ground as he walked. Just like that, between the two battle formations whose fates he had just decided, in a state that seemed indifferent to everything, he slowly walked toward the grassy slope off to the side. "Are you really not coming back?" Amidst the silence of tens of thousands, Chen Buer suddenly called out loudly. The entire field fell quiet, filled with concern. Han Qingyu stopped and turned his head to look at the old man. "I'm not," he said. "Then you..." "I'm going to kill Alphonse." "Oh. Alright." Just like that, the conversation ended. The Legion Commander who had vowed to the old chief of staff back in Huaxia that he would bring Han Qingyu back, the invincible warrior under heaven who had just been thinking, *Now that you've come, you're not getting away,* did not offer a single word of persuasion in the end. *Leaving just like that? Even staying behind for a chat would have been nice,* the old man thought, but he was unwilling to suggest it himself. Han Qingyu turned back around and continued walking forward until he reached the base of the grassy slope. He Tangtang and Wen Jifei hurried over, supporting him from either side as they brought him back into their own formation. "How are you feeling?" Zhe Qiuhong came running over in a rush and asked. "About to pass out, cough," Han Qingyu coughed up blood as he said. "Then hurry up and lie—" "They'll probably disarm them down there in a bit, and confiscate everything." Han Qingyu had already turned to Wen Jifei. The moment the words left his mouth... he blacked out. *** Stream Vanguard departed, but they did not go far. Come dusk, when the Huaxia Front had finished disarming the enemy, piled up the collected supplies, and posted guards while the rest continued hunting down the remnants of the rebel army, a unit of over a thousand men suddenly emerged from the falling night. The tense Huaxia soldiers drew their blades in unison, but quickly saw clearly that the ones approaching were Second Lieutenant Wen Jifei, Second Lieutenant Shen Yixiu... "Don't, don't, don't, it's fine, they're our own people!" The officer sheathed his blade and relaxed, feeling a faint glimmer of hope in his heart that perhaps the daytime exchange had just been polite formalities, and Major Qing might actually return. "Haha... have a smoke." Wen Jifei stepped forward with a smile, offered a cigarette, helped light it, and then asked, "Which army are you from, Colonel?" "Fourth Army," the colonel said, puffing out a cloud of smoke. "Whoa! Then we're very familiar with your Commander Zhang Chiyuan! That time we were being hunted down, we were lucky enough to run into Commander Zhang. He led a hundred logistics troops to hold back eight hundred men..." Wen Jifei brought up the past. The colonel felt immense pride and said happily, "Our commander just has that kind of temper—totally reckless!" The conversation took off from there. As they chatted, the colonel suddenly froze, a cigarette between his fingers, his eyes staring blankly at the soldiers who were carrying off the supplies. "They..." the colonel said woodenly. "Our own people," Wen Jifei said. "Right! But..." "Qingzi is still unconscious right now, his life hanging in the balance." Wen Jifei's gaze grew heavy as he said, "Besides, in today's battle, at least a small portion of the credit belongs to him, wouldn't you say?" *Far more than a small portion! If not for Major Qing, who knows how many more would have died!* The colonel nodded. "And you heard it too—we still have to go hack Alphonse to pieces." "I know." "With us, two soldiers share a single blade." "Really?" The colonel was taken aback, tilting his head back to recall the scene from the daytime, Stream Vanguard's formation. "It clearly looked very orderly..." "It was a bluff. Half of them are ordinary iron blades," Wen Jifei said with a bitter smile. "Ah? Then are you going to go hack Alphonse like that?" "Yeah, just like that, with one-third of a source energy block per person just to keep up appearances." Wen Jifei's eyes reddened as he spoke, slowly exhaling a breath. By this point, the colonel had already agreed in his heart. After all, the supplies would ultimately have to be handed over to the Coalition anyway. Still, duty was duty... The colonel thought for a moment and said, "How about this: what you've already taken, I'll pretend I didn't see. Don't touch the rest for now. I'll go ask the Legion Commander for instructions. If he gives his tacit approval..." "Understood! Sorry to trouble you, brother." Wen Jifei rose to see him off. The colonel engaged his device and sprinted off, his silhouette vanishing down the street. Wen Jifei slowly turned his head back. "The colonel said he'd pretend not to see it. You all heard that, right?" *** The colonel waited outside the house where Chen Buer was temporarily staying for over half an hour. Because the guards told him that Doctor Zhe from Stream Vanguard had brought some people over and was currently conducting an examination on the Legion Commander. Just like that, after waiting for half an hour, Chen Buer finally emerged. "What is it?" the old man asked. "Second Lieutenant Wen Jifei came..." The colonel briefly explained the situation. Chen Buer stared blankly for five seconds. "Quick, take me there." When they sprinted all the way back to the supply depot, the place was already empty. Completely cleaned out. "Lieutenant Wen said they were having a very hard time," the colonel said feebly. "Hard time, my ass! They have crates upon crates of metal blocks, who knows how many crates! Did you think I didn't send people to tail them?" Chen Buer growled under his breath, roaring like a tiger. "Uh?!" The colonel carefully looked up at the Legion Commander's face, gathering his courage as he continued, "Anyway, even if we kept it, we'd have to hand it over to the Coalition, wouldn't we?" "...Have you ever seen me hand over anything that made it into my hands?!" Chen Buer retorted in a heavy voice. With that, the old man turned his head, casting a melancholy gaze into the distant night sky. "They really haven't changed a bit."