No one knew whether this was the very same Daie that had been besieged in Antarctica by Bochen and the others, only to be scared off because it was overly cautious... Word had it that it could speak human tongue.
Yet this was indeed the first time since then that a Daie had appeared and struck.
With a single blow, Han Qingyu was routed.
In truth, he was perhaps not as fragile as he appeared. In that clash, whether in timing, positioning, or readiness, the Daie held every advantage.
Still, results were results, and life and death were life and death.
Under that stomp, his sternum fractured. Han Qingyu fell face-up toward the ocean surface, his eyes looking upward to see the Daie diving after him with its sword leveled.
In that split second, none of the people listening from the shore could make it in time.
In that split second, Han Qingyu felt closer to death than ever before—so close he doubted he could escape it this time.
It was also in that split second that the curtain of water to the side was sliced clean through.
A blade swept up seawater and slashed it into a gleaming circle, like a massive mirror interposed between Han Qingyu and the Daie.
The Legion Commander had arrived.
His surging excitement instantly turned to dread. Han Qingyu knew all too well that the old man had already unleashed an extravagant attack earlier today. No matter how relaxed he had seemed afterward, the toll on him had undoubtedly been immense. Facing a Daie under these conditions...
Clang!
Above, the column sword in the Daie's hands struck the mirror of water. The collision between water and iron actually produced the sharp, ringing clang of clashing metal.
The water mirror shattered.
Yet at the same time, the Daie's frame was jolted and shifted sideways a fraction.
Checked by a mirror of water, it hung frozen in midair for an instant, turning its head in shock.
Han Qingyu turned his head as well, looking over just as his back hit the water.
Chen Buer descended through the air, his foot stepping into empty space. Buzz! The air beneath his sole trembled under the force as if it were solid matter.
The old man's entire figure surged upward, blade raised high.
"So you're that motherfucking Daie?!"
Then, boom!
Behind the white-haired figure, a towering surge of waves rose like a water dragon half-submerged in the ocean, arching forward and lunging at the Daie along the path of the Legion Commander's blade.
"Help him!" Submerged in the water, his vision warped and blurred, his ears ringing incessantly. Han Qingyu had no idea how much he could still do, but he had to do something.
Han Qingyu was never one to express much emotion. Even during that phone call after the Legion Commander had rescued Yang Qingbai, he had called Yang Qingbai instead of the Legion Commander himself.
Yet deep down, he feared Chen Buer dying—especially dying to save him.
As someone often mocked as shameless, Han Qingyu could shoulder being called stingy, greedy, ruthless as dead iron, petty, vengeful, and many other things... but he could not shoulder this.
Roar!
In an instant of dying struggle, his life source energy erupted to its absolute limit, and his bone source erupted to its absolute limit.
Crash! The sea boiled upward, and the dragon-like roar manifested in the air once more.
This phenomenon had appeared around Han Qingyu twice before in Xiongzhanli.
Back then, it had taken the form of a faint outline in the air—so indistinct that Rusty Sister, Plague Chicken, the Little Prince, and the others had even argued over whether it was a worm, a snake, or a dragon.
This time, however, there was water—vast amounts of water. Han Qingyu's eruption took place right beneath the sea.
And so, roar!
A dragon rose from the sea.
Perhaps it still could not truly be deemed a dragon, since it did not resemble one all that closely, but one thing was certain: it was no worm. Before the eyes of the people on shore, the blue ocean churned with white foam as a hundred-meter beast surged abruptly from the deep.
The beast pounced forward.
Turning sideways with his column sword held horizontally, Han Qingyu slashed upward from beneath the water.
At this moment, the battlefield across the sea looked as if two colossal water dragons were lunging simultaneously at the Daie.
Boom!
Boom!
The Daie raised its sword with both hands to parry. The column sword rebounded, slamming violently into the iron armor over its chest. The armor caved in, and the creature's massive frame plummeted backward through the air.
Cheers erupted from the shore.
His strength spent, Han Qingyu turned his head, casting a worried yet bewildered glance at Chen Buer... before blacking out.
Cries of shock rose from the shore.
It was not because Han Qingyu had lost consciousness and was falling toward the water; from the shore, people could not yet make out his condition. The gasp came because, out on the sea, the Great Spikes' rectangular craft abruptly tilted back and wheeled around. The Daie tumbled back into the vessel, and the craft shot straight into the sky...
It fled?
The Daie fled?!
It had actually... again?!
Yet the craft had not flown far, and the Legion Commander was still right there.
Unconsciously, everyone began to hope—hoping the old man would slice down that craft and strike down the Daie, just as he had cleaved that train in the sky earlier...
Yet he did not.
Chen Buer merely glanced at it, turned around, and caught the falling Han Qingyu in midair.
At the same time, the Great Spike craft vanished into the distance.
The crowd on shore was stunned. No one had expected this earth-shattering battle to come to such an abrupt, anticlimactic close after just two clashes.
***
"He's awake! Major Qing is awake!"
When Han Qingyu opened his eyes, he was in a field hospital near Linzhou.
Because of that Daie and its supersonic craft, the others had not dared risk using an airship to fly him back to the Third Fixed Exploration Site for the time being.
He Tangtang and the Little Prince had already headed back; they would bring Zhe Qiuhong over.
Beside the bed, Wen Jifei, Rusty Sister, and the others had stepped out after checking on him, leaving only Wu Xu still lying in an adjacent bed.
A soft sound came from the doorway. Chen Buer walked in, followed by the old chief of staff.
The two came over to Han Qingyu's bedside and circled it, scrutinizing him as if examining some rare, exotic beast.
"A snake, seriously. You should've seen it back then—it came roaring right out from under the water... a giant snake," Chen Buer said, pointing at Han Qingyu and turning toward the old chief of staff.
"Is that so? Tsk, tsk." The old chief of staff clicked his tongue in wonder, squinting as he peered closer, looking as if he might pull out a magnifying glass at any second.
Han Qingyu parted his lips, wanting to say "get lost," but hesitated and held it back... He weakly shut his eyes, choosing to ignore them.
"What, you mad?" Chen Buer asked, forcing an easy, hearty tone that nonetheless betrayed a hint of awkwardness and guilt.
He sounded much like a grandfather who had let his grandson down and didn't know how to make amends.
Han Qingyu knew he wasn't referring to the "snake" remark, but to the battlefield earlier. After that joint twin-dragon strike, Chen Buer had actually had an opening to press the attack and slay the Daie.
It had looked like an excellent opportunity.
Yet he had let it pass.
That was also why, just before fainting, Han Qingyu had turned to give him that worried, puzzled look.
"Not mad," Han Qingyu said, his lips twitching faintly in mock disdain. "What's there to be mad about? If the Legion Commander couldn't beat it, I understand."
"Bullshit!" Chen Buer snapped, waving an arm in annoyance. "If I'd really wanted to hack it down, it would've dropped dead right then and there. I was only trying to scare it off in the first place."
"Oh? Bragging, are we?" Han Qingyu opened his eyes to look at him.
"No, not bragging. It just wasn't worth it." A shadow fell over Chen Buer's eyes. "Given my current state, killing it with everything I've got isn't worth the price."
"...Oh." Han Qingyu understood. He wanted to nod, but couldn't move; even the slightest twitch sent sharp pain through his entire body.
Beside the bed, Chen Buer drew a breath, returning to his former demeanor. "The doctors consulted and concluded you're ruined."
"Is that so?" Han Qingyu said.
"Yeah. So what do you say—how about we just pretend that's the truth, and I have someone send you back to your hometown?"
Beneath the joking tone lay a veiled attempt to persuade him to retire. Han Qingyu had nearly died, and in the future, he was bound to face such life-and-death crises again and again.
Having said it, Chen Buer didn't even know what answer he was hoping for.
From the standpoint of all humanity, who would ever genuinely want Han Qingyu to walk away?
Yet from a personal standpoint, Chen Buer had thought the boy was about to die right before his eyes.
"My hometown?" Han Qingyu looked thoughtful, glancing down at his battered state. "I'll go back eventually, but I can't go back like this."
"Going back like this is still better than going back as a corpse one day." Chen Buer paused, then suddenly said, "To be honest, even if you were going to die back there, I wouldn't have risked my life to save you with everything I had..."
"I won't throw away my life to save yours. I won't die to save anyone," he added.
The old man's words carried profound weight, born of a thing called duty... When you have stood invincible under the heavens for forty years, you have no choice but to carry the weight of this world on your shoulders.
Yet from the hospital bed, Han Qingyu merely said offhandedly, "Oh. Then just make sure you stay alive."
Chapter 628