User Manual for Pink-Hair

*Ch-long!* *Ch-long!* *Ch-long...* Every time Pegmont's afterimage and that tuft of pink hair whipping in the wind swept past, the soldiers along that section of Stream Vanguard's battle lines were granted roughly two seconds of breathing room. On a battlefield like this, those two seconds were beyond precious; they could change everything. This circular defensive formation had endured crushing pressure for far too long. Ever since Daie forced Han Qingyu away, they had not gotten even a tenth of a second of respite—right up until Pegmont and his pink hair suddenly appeared like a god of war. What was more, these two seconds were not just a one-off. It was two seconds each time, recurring at regular intervals. Pegmont had already completed six laps around the hexagon he had carved out, and he showed no sign of stopping. "A perpetual motion machine?! Is Pink-hair's trait perpetual motion?!" "He isn't going to just carve up the entire swarm of Great Spikes like this, is he?" For a moment, many warriors could not help letting their imaginations run wild. Yet during a brief lull, a tall soldier stepped onto a comrade's knee and craned his neck to look into the distance. Beneath the traction field, the swarm of Great Spikes remained an unending mass, continuing to churn like a vast black swamp... "Maybe... it's impossible after all? Not even Major Qing could do it. Even Legion Commander Chen at his peak probably couldn't pull off a harvest like this." A wave of pessimism spread once more. The soldiers had no way to guess the limits of Pegmont's strength, just as they had no way to fathom how he had suddenly become so powerful. Even so, by this point not a single soul among them could bring themselves to be annoyed by this fellow anymore—even though for a very long time, everyone in Stream Vanguard had been convinced that the pink-haired freak had a massive screw loose in his head. Pegmont had no idea Stream Vanguard had ever disliked him. True, he had provoked this bandit army—the one boasting humanity's highest average combat power—several times for no apparent reason. He had taken advantage of their vulnerability and deliberately targeted them; he had even tried to snatch Miss Milla's gun. But Pegmont had provoked so many people throughout his life... over time, he had come to feel it was completely normal and perfectly understandable. *Just because I wanted to snatch your gun means I have to be hated? I stole it for Markov! In the end, isn't it still used to kill Great Spikes?!* *Just because I went after Han Qingyu when he had amnesia means I have to be hated? If you want to defeat someone stronger than you, if you don't slash at him while he's weak, are you supposed to wait until he's at his strongest?! What's wrong with your heads?!* *Back in the day, I even ambushed Aunt Christine when she had her period!* *You guys in Stream Vanguard are way too petty!* *Totally unreasonable!* Of course, even if Pegmont knew they hated him, it wouldn't matter in the least. It wouldn't change a thing. *What, you hate me? Oh, so what? I'm just here cutting down Great Spikes with you, not trying to date you.* That was likely how his mind worked. Then, once the fight was over, if the chance arose while Han Qingyu was away, he would probably snatch Wen Jifei's or Milla's gun and take off running. And after that, hide out somewhere for a while. ... *Bang!* *Bang!* As Pegmont charged and slashed, the warriors never actually stopped fighting, nor did the sniper rifle in Wen Jifei's hands cease firing. At long last, Great Spikes on the battlefield were exposing their backs to them. He and Milla had just noticed that the Great Spikes heavily wounded but not killed by Pegmont and the Stream Vanguard warriors—including those left crippled on the ground earlier when Qingzi was still there—had suddenly begun turning around and retreating toward the traction field. With their backs exposed, the source energy bullets could target their right scapulae. Stream Vanguard's two Endless sniper rifles operated at peak lethal efficiency during this window. "Still, this kind of retreat by wounded Great Spikes never seemed to happen on this battlefield before." "Have they finally felt the pressure? Or is it... Xilang Peak?!" The Xilang Peak Flag War—memories of the past surfaced in Wen Jifei's mind. Back then on the snow peak, wounded Great Spikes seemed to have returned to their mothership for rapid repairs. *If that's what's happening, breaching that super traction field will be virtually impossible...* Wen Jifei looked up and gazed toward the distant traction field, a spike of anxiety welling in his chest. Yet given the present situation, no amount of anxiety or unease would allow him to do anything about it. Stream Vanguard could no longer even dare entertain the luxury of launching a direct assault on the traction field. *Bang!* *Bang!* He kept firing. The sniping took virtually no effort. Wen Jifei drew a deep breath and stole another glance at that roaring, rushing figure, an irresistible curiosity rising in his mind: *Just what is this guy's trait? Is it really because of a trait? How else could he suddenly become this powerful? And not just stronger in a specific aspect, but an all-around surge across the board.* Based on prior information, Wen Jifei could roughly deduce that Pegmont's trait was very likely linked to psychology. This could not help but baffle and astound him. Wen Jifei had had plenty of dealings with Zhe Qiuhong, yet even from her, he had never heard of the existence of any psychological trait. *Jealousy? Refusing to yield to Qingzi, so he achieved a breakthrough? But his past behavior showed he clearly acknowledged Qingzi's superiority—crawling three kilometers just to steal a gun and bolting the second he was spotted, or only daring to settle scores while Qingzi had amnesia and was wounded...* *Han Qingyu?!* That name—Qingzi's name—suddenly sprang to Wen Jifei's mind. *Could Pink-hair's trait literally be Qingzi? Is there some special connection between them, so when Qingzi recovers, he grows stronger too?!* *No, that's still not right. If that were the case, he should have stepped Beyond the Zenith during the Zenith War just like Qingzi!* *Chhh, ch-chhh...* Amid his thoughts, red light pulsed on his communicator: an incoming call on the high-level channel. Wen Jifei raised his hand to connect. From the other end came Xu Xiaohong's voice. "Pegmont is with you?" "Yes!" "His trait—listen carefully. However strong he thinks he is, that is how strong he is!" Xu Xiaohong stated it outright. This actually violated the Elder Council's highest resolution, but so what?! Wen Jifei froze entirely. "Huh?!" "Yes, it is exactly as you heard. However, this conviction must come from his own mind and certainty—it cannot be forcibly fed to him by others. Take note: certainty. He must believe it with absolute conviction himself," Xu Xiaohong said. "Of course, even now, we cannot determine whether this trait of his has a limit, or where that limit lies." "..." Wen Jifei nodded, momentarily forgetting that the other person couldn't see him nod. "Keep two points in mind," Xu Xiaohong continued. "First, he must never know this about himself; otherwise, his logic will collapse. Second, the benchmark of strength he currently believes in is Han Qingyu. He thinks he's roughly on par with that kid, trailing by just a hair." Wen Jifei naturally understood why the Chief of Staff was revealing what might be Azure's highest-level secret at this very moment. "Understood," he said. "Then I leave it to you." Having said that, as if to lighten the tension, the Chief of Staff adopted a relaxed tone for the first time and added: "Relax. Given his brain and personality, you don't need your logic to be anywhere near airtight. As long as it revolves around Han Qingyu, good enough will do. My only request... please, under no circumstances let him find out about this."