And so, amid the clamor of the surrounding crowd and the high tension of life and death, the two of them casually chatted, completely absorbed in their conversation.
The Han Qingyu speaking at this moment was vivid and full of life. It was hard to imagine words like that coming from his mouth—*dimples must be pretty nice, let me look next time*—yet he truly had said them, and said them in all seriousness.
And Rusty Sister, who had promptly answered in the affirmative, was just as vivid and lively.
In the past, whenever anyone brought up something similar, she could never help feeling down, or at the very least wouldn't look forward to it. But this time was different.
"I think I might be coming out soon, Qingzi." Second Lieutenant Shen Yixiu's iron armor hesitated for a moment, wavering over whether to tell Qingzi this news in advance.
If not for the heap of troubles cropping up lately, she probably wouldn't have been able to resist telling everyone two days ago.
In fact, the changes Rusty Sister sensed in her own body had been going on for over a year. Over this past year and more, many occurrences—some she could speak of, others she felt too embarrassed to mention—all pointed to one and the same thing: she was becoming more and more like a normal person, a girl with a normal body.
Over the past half-month or so, the signals from her body had grown increasingly clear and intense. It seemed to be urgently, earnestly telling Rusty Sister: *It's time. Come, let's get out. Let's leave this suit of iron armor.*
*If I hadn't just fallen out with Zhe... Doctor Zhe, I could have taken this chance to let her examine me, or simply give it a try.*
Thinking of this, the iron armor's motion of lifting its head to speak paused slowly.
*Since that's how things are, better wait for the next chance, or give them a surprise once I'm truly out. Otherwise, if I say it first and fail to get out, they'd probably be disappointed too.*
*Yes, that'll be more fun anyway. They definitely won't recognize me. Because even I don't know what I look like right now.*
Shen Yixiu thought to herself. Imagining returning before them looking like an ordinary person while none of them knew who she was, she felt it would be tremendously fun.
*What if they whistle at me... Haha, you definitely have to be a great beauty, Shen Yixiu,* she told herself.
"What did you want to say?" Han Qingyu asked, looking at her in confusion.
"...Nothing," Rusty Sister said, snapping out of her reverie.
"Oh. Then are you pretty?" Han Qingyu asked out of nowhere.
Because he had no memories, he quite naturally believed what Rusty Sister had said earlier, assuming that since she had agreed he could look next time, she would definitely be able to come out.
"Huh? I... What business is that of yours?!" When they had just been chatting along nicely, Second Lieutenant Shen Yixiu suddenly grew flustered and exasperated.
Sure enough, men really were all pigs! Back when they knew she was trapped inside the iron armor indefinitely, they had cared about her life and health. Yet the moment they thought she might come out, all they cared about was whether she was pretty!
What if she wasn't pretty—what then?! Second Lieutenant Shen suddenly felt an enormous mountain of pressure.
"Hey, what are you two talking about so seriously?" He Tangtang had originally planned to devour Zhe Shouzhao, but hadn't managed to, which left him a bit gloomy. Coming back, he called out loudly.
Han Qingyu was gloomy too. They had been having a perfectly good conversation, only for him to get chewed out for no reason... So he turned his head and shot back, "What business is that of yours?!"
"Oho, quite a temper on you, kid! Never suffered a bite from the Yanxiu Devourer, have you?"
He Tangtang had just coined another nickname for himself. Rolling up his sleeves as he spoke, he made a move as if to pounce on Han Qingyu.
*Shing!*
"Try it." Han Qingyu didn't raise a hand. The saber on his back gave a slight twitch, his eyes watching him with steady calm.
The great Yanxiu Devourer paused, suddenly remembering that Dimple Slash from just moments ago, and suddenly recalling that he was actually a scavenger...
"Forget it. I won't lower myself to argue with you for now."
"No way. How could you let it go? You have to argue." The moment He Tangtang finished speaking, Wen Jifei walked over, chiming in with a chuckle.
He didn't mention to Han Qingyu that he had just demanded the life source energy blocks back from Zhe Qiuhong, nor did he let his current feelings show... Passing He Tangtang, he walked straight up to Han Qingyu.
"How do you feel? You just killed someone."
Han Qingyu froze for a second.
*Right, I just killed someone!*
*Why don't I feel anything at all?*
*Is it because I've slaughtered countless enemies before, and that state remains in my subconscious? Or is killing in the world of source energy truly this easy and commonplace?*
As if hearing what was on his mind, Wen Jifei laughed. "Maybe you didn't see him as a human being? That's right—don't treat him like one. In this era, plenty of people aren't human anymore."
Han Qingyu gave a small smile and nodded, changing the subject: "Right, how is that kid doing?"
"He's fine. The kid's pretty tough." In the world of source energy, short of maiming or death, ordinary injuries could generally be described as "fine." Wen Jifei said, "By the way, guess what he said when the people from the Shenghai Theater asked what follow-up help he needed?"
"What?"
"He said he wants an exception to take the source energy degree of fusion test. So that one day in the future, he can go with you to the Dome."
"But he still looks so young."
"I asked around. He's just shy of turning fourteen, but his build looks frail, which makes him look younger," Wen Jifei said. "Still, that has nothing to do with fusion degree. Did you guys forget? Last time in Thailand, there was even a delicate beauty who transitioned as a child and tested as an S-grade fusion degree."
The example Wen Jifei brought up made several of them chuckle. It was a true story, and that "young lady" had been the only S-grade to emerge from Thailand in this general conscription drive.
Supposedly, because of this, a rumor had even circulated among the public in Thailand claiming that men and women had equal chances of fusion, and only transitioning might increase one's fusion degree...
The country seemed to have gone completely off the rails.
"All right, so did they agree?" As Han Qingyu asked, the ambulance had already vanished from sight.
"They agreed. The older sister saw she couldn't stop her brother and wanted to go too, so both siblings ended up being approved together. Don't forget, they're people connected to you," Wen Jifei said with a smile.
"Oh. But hasn't the conscription screening in our Huaxia already ended? Seems like nearly the whole world is basically done with it."
Han Qingyu remembered hearing Wen Jifei mention before that setting up every single Azure testing site incurred an enormous cost; if not for the massive harvest from the Zenith War, humanity could never have conducted such wide-scale testing and conscription.
Thinking of this, would Huaxia build a dedicated testing ground just for the two siblings? That was impossible too.
"Apparently there are still two countries in Africa that haven't wrapped up." Wen Jifei meant that the siblings would likely be sent there for the test.
"So that's how it is." Han Qingyu nodded and said no more. He expressed neither concern nor anticipation, much less any intention to dissuade them.
In this era overshadowed by the threat of doom, everyone had the right to choose their own path, whatever their reasons might be. And whether they grew powerful because of it or marched faster toward death, it was their own decision and destiny.
Han Qingyu also had a decision to make now: whether he himself would go or not to that Antarctic Continent expedition two months from now.
Chapter 759