Chained Cock-Killing Kicks

As it turned out, Yang Qingbai, whose F-tier fusion degree prevented him from wearing armor, was still dreaming of breaking beyond the dome to this very day. He wanted to stand alongside everyone, risking his life together, and survive. Meanwhile, Wen Jifei—who "inexplicably" couldn't wear armor either—had been practicing his marksmanship even more diligently after receiving the three-dimensional apparatus left behind by Zhang Dao'an. With his right hand suffering from a hairline fracture these past few days, he practiced with his left hand, training to hold the rifle steady. Sometimes he only practiced aiming without firing a shot, wholly absorbed and locked onto a target for an hour or more at a stretch. The teamwork between Qingzi and Captain Milla in the battle of Squad 1123 had shown Plague Chicken the hope and value of stepping onto the battlefield. At the same time, like Milla, he had begun harboring hopes in his heart for a breakthrough from Azure's scientific research divisions, hoping for a firearm that could propel dead iron bullets using source energy—even though Milla had said that due to various complications and flaws, research in that direction had most likely been suspended. As for Han Qingyu... there was even less need to say. The people around him and everything they were striving so hard to accomplish only left Liu Shiheng, the second-generation heir from Gangcheng, feeling increasingly troubled and bewildered. Every day now, he made a point of spending a certain amount of time recalling his wonderful past life in Gangcheng, afraid of forgetting... not to commemorate it, but simply to keep himself from accidentally getting carried away by a surge of hot blood one day and throwing his life away in reckless abandon. He had a blade inscribed with serial number 9-771233. It was his, without question. This blade had struck two Great Spikes and carved a deep wound into the chest of a blue-sheened Great Spike, but that hadn't been his doing... Why the hell should I feel like I'm not worthy of a damn blade?! ...*Sigh.* Besides, I'm working hard in training too; I just don't want to risk my neck, that's all. After mulling this over for a while, Liu Shiheng leaned out from his bunk and said to Han Qingyu, who was slumped on the floor: "Qingzi." Han Qingyu looked up. "Yeah?" "Whenever you're free, how about taking me through some live sparring too? Just... hold back a little." Liu Shiheng laughed awkwardly. "A bit of practice so I can save my own skin." In Dorm 22, He Tangtang actually sparred with Han Qingyu from time to time. After all, his degree of fusion was B+, and his strength had grown rapidly. Han Qingyu smiled and nodded. "Sure." "Beat him to a pulp when the time comes," Wen Jifei chimed in as he walked in through the doorway. Bantering with a grin, he came up to Han Qingyu and held out a brown envelope. "Letter for you. Probably from home... Want me to open it for you?" The envelope showed only a forwarding address, not their actual hometown address. With some difficulty, using his elbow alongside his left hand, Wen Jifei helped slit the letter open and unfolded it for Han Qingyu. Then, with a smile of indefinable emotion, he said, "Yao Yue wrote to me too. I didn't reply last time... so she sent another one." "Then you have to write back. What did she say?" "Just talked about her life at college. She's studying journalism, so she's naturally inquisitive. Asked how I'm liking it in the army, if it's hard, if I've made any progress... asked a whole bunch of things, anyway, and encouraged me to work hard and get into military academy. She also mentioned some guy at school was pursuing her, but she already turned him down and told me not to worry." "...How wonderful." "Yeah, I know. Read your letter first." Having said that, Wen Jifei returned to his bed, leaned back, tilted his head up, and covered his face with Yao Yue's letter. "Do you think... could a day really come when everything about the Great Spike invasion can't be kept secret anymore, and the whole world finds out... and just like Yang Qingbai said in his letter, right in front of the entire world, we take to the skies and break beyond the dome?!" After quite a while, he suddenly spoke from beneath the sheet of stationery. Dorm 22 fell silent for several seconds. "Then I'd have to seize the chance to find a wife first," He Tangtang said earnestly. "Then I want to take you guys to Gangcheng for a few days first," Liu Shiheng said. "..." "I'd want to go see Yao Yue without hiding a single thing, and tell her that these past few years, I never slacked off." Plague Chicken, who had done nothing but "disappoint" Yao Yue ever since their middle school promise, was the last to speak. "I just don't know if she'll already be married by then..." A brief silence followed. "Qingzi, what about you?" He Tangtang noticed that Han Qingyu hadn't spoken yet. Han Qingyu looked down at the letter. "My parents said in the letter they want to open a small sundry store." "They're asking for my thoughts." Han Qingyu looked up and asked Wen Jifei, "Plague Chicken, you understand this sort of thing better. What do you think? That roadside diner by the big bend on the way to my village—you've seen it... My parents said the owner is looking to transfer the lease lately, and the price isn't high." Wen Jifei thought for a moment. "Then why not just open one in the county seat?" "Well, they're probably worried they wouldn't be able to look after the fields at home. That spot is closer. Plus, storefront rent in the county seat is expensive." Han Qingyu glanced back down at the letter. "Besides, there are rumors going around back home that they're going to upgrade the road into a highway, cutting through the mountains straight to the neighboring province." "Then that works," Wen Jifei said after thinking it over. "Since it serves food, remember to tell Uncle and Auntie in your reply to hire a few more villagers so they don't wear themselves out." "Yeah." Han Qingyu nodded, then continued reading the letter. It was clearly such a trivial matter, yet Liu Shiheng could feel the genuine sincerity in Han Qingyu's words as he talked about it, an aura of fulfillment, even joy and contentment... He didn't understand it, but he felt a touch envious. ... The following day marked the seventh day of Han Qingyu's live sparring against S-19—the end of the first cycle, and payment day. Apart from Wan Xiujing and the cat sunbathing in the sunset by the high domed window, no one else was present. "How does he seem to take a beating better the more he gets beat up?" Resting her chin in her hands, Wan Xiujing watched the battle on the ring and recalled how the fights had evolved over these past few days, marveling slightly. "Whoa, he can even strike back now." At that moment, on the sparring stage, Han Qingyu's right sword swept upward from lower left to upper right. S-19 raised its right arm vertically to block. *Chrrrrr... Thump-thump-thump.* From the very instant of contact, the dead iron straight sword spun rapidly in Han Qingyu's palm, carving repeatedly into S-19's right arm. The vibrating force pinned it down, temporarily freezing that arm in place. At the same time, his left sword thrust insidiously toward S-19's lower abdomen. Just as it was about to connect— *Bang!* Faced with this situation, S-19 opted to pivot sideways and charge head-on. Like an artillery shell, it slammed its shoulder sideways into Han Qingyu's chest, sending him flying. S-19 didn't stop after the collision. It surged after him, lifting a leg to kick with an agility that hardly belonged to a pile of scrap iron. Han Qingyu glanced down at where the iron leg was aiming... and hurriedly crossed his twin blades to block in front of his groin. Barely managing to parry the blow, cold sweat drenched his forehead as he dodged aside. But S-19 spun around with another lateral sweep, coming at him again. Still at that same height... Block again. Another kick came. "This... family-line-ending foot... Chained Cock-Killing Kicks!" Had S-19 turned sinister, or had it discovered a weak point here? Han Qingyu completely forgot that he had been the one to stab at the robot's lower abdomen first... After all, it was a robot! Right then and there, S-19 unleashed a ceaseless barrage of Chained Cock-Killing Kicks, and Han Qingyu dodged for dear life. After narrowly avoiding two kicks by a hair's breadth, he was just about to shout for Wan Xiujing to call a halt. *Screeech—* Suddenly, S-19 stopped on its own, freezing stiffly in place as though the power had cut out. "...Phew." His heart still pounding, Han Qingyu exhaled a long breath. Turning indignantly toward Wan Xiujing in the spectator stands, he shouted with an aggrieved look, "Did you do that on purpose? Little girl, how could you be so vicious?" Wan Xiujing looked flustered for a moment and didn't speak. Han Qingyu didn't wait for her answer either. He turned right back around. *Clang!* He lifted his leg and used the top of his foot to kick the robot right between its legs. Followed by a *smack!* He slapped it across the head. "Can you just be a proper, decent robot?" Having vented his frustration and spoken his piece, Han Qingyu reconsidered and felt that S-19's actions weren't entirely unjustified either—after all, no one could guarantee a Great Spike wouldn't target that spot. "Uh, hey," Han Qingyu called out as he turned back again, his tone softening. "Did it run out of source energy blocks, or is it a malfunction—" "Ah!" Rather than answering, Wan Xiujing pointed a finger at him and let out a sudden scream. Hearing a noise, Han Qingyu looked back. Too late. *Boom!* In what was probably S-19's most powerful punch since the sparring began—as if fighting for its very life—it blasted Han Qingyu straight off the stage. And it didn't look like it was stopping there. He coughed up blood. The robot had gone mad. Scrambling to his feet, Han Qingyu spun around, buried his head, and bolted straight for the door. In truth, there were still two minutes left before the fifteen-minute mark was up... Yet for the very first time, Han Qingyu, who had always treasured every single minute and second, didn't bother keeping count. "You're not fighting anymore?" Wan Xiujing stood up in the stands and yelled. "Not fighting!" Han Qingyu was already dashing through the exit. "Then you haven't given me the source energy blocks yet!" "Tomorrow... and then we sign on for the next seven days!" His voice echoed from outside the simulated combat arena. "..." "Whoa, he's spitting blood!" a passing recruit remarked.