Descent of the Mecha

"Gie! Gie! Gie! Gie!" The bizarre, piercing shrieks tore through the dark night. They clearly came from human vocal cords, yet what issued from them sounded like the screeching of demonic beasts, instilling an instinctive revulsion. Combined with the half-human silhouettes crouched atop the dark roof tiles... Han Qingyu looked at them, considered it, and naturally arrived at a term: human-monkeys. Modified humans. Was this one of the areas where Snow Lotus was ahead of Azure? If so, it was better not to pursue it. If the vast apparatus of Azure were to push in this direction as well... then even before the planet fell, the human species itself—or rather, human nature—would be the first thing lost. Some floodgates, once opened, could never be closed again. Like a devil's temptation, impossible to resist, the final outcome would be dominion by the devil. What meaning would there be in guarding anything then? In fact, precisely because the organization was so vast, scientists throughout the history of the Azure Alliance had naturally attempted to venture in this direction, and people had supported them. The human body was certainly not an ideal structure for hand-to-hand combat—fragile, lacking explosive power, with nearly all its fatal vulnerabilities exposed on the outside. That was beyond question. Yet the rigid principles and ideas of the Azure Alliance that were so often criticized found their true worth right here. It remained insulated, vigilant, restrained... enterprising yet conservative. Because of this, mainstream doctrine had been preserved, enduring for nearly a century. For instance, the core reason Shen Fengting had been "urged to retire" back then was not really that he had squandered immense quantities of dead iron and dismantled several three-dimensional apparatuses, but rather that he had unilaterally freed several lunatics from the "Human Modification Department," violating Azure's core principles. Fortunately, the final ruling on Shen Yixiu was not human modification. After fierce debate, the Alliance's Scientific Council ultimately classified her condition as "analogous to placing a stent in the heart, only a vastly larger operation." Her subsequent mental, spiritual, and physical development had proven this. Moreover, she had never been replicated. "Tear them to shreds... Mmh, except that one. Keep him to carve up slowly—better yet, bring him back for experiments," ordered the slightly chubby middle-aged man known as Mr. Zhu. "Gie-aoww..." Two human-monkeys sprang into the air, lunging down at them. "Looking to die!" He Tangtang raised his blade, stepped forward, and timed his strike to the point in one creature's leaping arc where it could not turn, slashing straight out. *Whoosh.* With uncanny agility, the human-monkey curled into a ball and twisted, evading the edge. Then, with a sharp *crunch*, its claws raked across the back of He Tangtang's shoulder, leaving three bloody gashes. At the same time, the other human-monkey facing Han Qingyu pulled off an almost impossible maneuver, kicking out and arching its torso to slip between his twin blades. Its iron claws caught Han Qingyu's shoulder and tore straight down his arm... *Rippp.* Blood gushed from Han Qingyu's left arm. "Damn, they're fast!" The two fell back, closing ranks around Liu Shiheng on high alert, He Tangtang cursing. "Yeah," Han Qingyu agreed with a nod. The trajectory of the human-monkeys' physical modifications was obvious at a glance: they had taken the path of "agility." Han Qingyu had expected them to be fast, but not this fast. And that speed was not merely linear. The flexibility and rate at which they shifted directions and moved mid-air were what made them truly incredible—and most difficult to handle. "Fortunately, their destructive power doesn't seem that high." Han Qingyu glanced sideways at the wound on his arm. It wasn't deep, not even enough to impair his ability to wield his blades for now. "Yeah, I'm fine too. It's just that right now, we can only hold out and take hits... Annoying as hell," He Tangtang said, spitting onto the ground. Han Qingyu nodded and whispered, "If the fight drags on, remember to look for a chance to swap your source energy blocks." *** Meanwhile, at the Ninth Army War Training Base, inside the Classified Mission Information Control Room. "It will still take a while for our people to get there. Could it be that..." The communications soldier turned his head, a worried look on his face. "Could what? If a guy hailed in the Ninth Army as a once-in-a-decade or even once-in-two-decades prodigy can't even manage to escape from a minor Cleansing Faction outpost... then even if he dies, it won't be that great a loss." Qi Shantong rose to his feet, stretched his waist and shoulders, and rolled his neck a few times. Azure soldiers were different from researchers. Even geniuses had to be forged on the battlefield... Soldiers capable of going to war could not be raised in a greenhouse on source energy blocks. Countless Grade A and even Grade A+ candidates had ended up fading into mediocrity. "Es—escape?" The soldier caught the key word in Qi Shantong's sentence, looking momentarily baffled. "B-but he brought people with him... How can he just run?" "Yes, that's exactly how it should be." Qi Shantong nodded with a twisted glint in his eye, then said slowly and earnestly, "There are only two best paths for a soldier's rapid growth... brothers fighting to the death as one, or the death and injury of brothers." *** Back on the long street, all four human-monkeys had joined the assault, constantly leaping through the air and across the ground, attacking, retreating, and lunging again. The entire street echoed with their repulsive, screeching cries. If one had to describe the sensation of facing this onslaught, it felt like being caught in a swarm of locusts—coming from every direction, blotting out the sky. The difference was that these things tore into flesh and took lives. *Rippp.* Liu Shiheng turned in the nick of time, taking a swipe of iron claws against his back. Against four human-monkeys, no matter how hard Han Qingyu and He Tangtang tried, they could not completely block every surprise strike aimed at him. This was about the third time. Liu Shiheng's back was already soaked with blood. "Dammit... kind of feels good," he wheezed through the pain, laughing bizarrely. "I used to know a girl at a nightclub with long nails. Whenever we got down to business, she loved digging them into my back." The comparison was more than a little sickening. "You need to swing your blade," Han Qingyu said quietly. Blade in hand, Liu Shiheng nodded. "Got it." "Make it sudden. Slash toward me." "Huh?... Understood. But I—" "Gie!" Before he could finish, another human-monkey sprang at Han Qingyu. Han Qingyu struck with both blades—one a horizontal cleave, the other a vertical chop. The human-monkey balled up to dodge, kicking in mid-air to vault directly behind him... *Slash.* Liu Shiheng's blade came down right on target. "Awoo!" A gash opened along the creature's leg. Screeching, it leaped back onto the rooftops. Han Qingyu's follow-up strike cut through empty air. He Tangtang glanced back. "What a pity." "..." Liu Shiheng looked up at the back of Han Qingyu, who had already reset his guard. Another wound had appeared behind Han Qingyu's shoulder. Feeling helpless, he said, "I'm sorry, Qingzi, I..." If it had been anyone else—someone stronger, more decisive—that slash might have severed a limb or at least pinned the creature in place for Han Qingyu. "It's fine. Landing a hit on your first try is already great." Han Qingyu didn't have time to turn around, because after suffering an injury, the human-monkeys' attacks grew even more rabid... One minute, two minutes... relentless, unending strikes. The thrill of watching an Azure prodigy being slowly slaughtered made the eyes of the surrounding Cleansing Faction operatives burn with twisted excitement. Especially after Han Qingyu had cut down their lieutenant in a single blow, this sadistic spectacle felt like an exhilarating release. "Kill him!" "Whoo!" "Tear 'em apart!" They jeered and shouted, using the human-monkeys' dominance to banish the lingering dread Han Qingyu had struck into their hearts. "Fall back." At a sudden command, the four human-monkeys darted back onto the rooftops to gather their strength. The scene briefly returned to stillness. "What a pity. Geniuses always die young." The middle-aged man on the roof spoke, looking down at Han Qingyu. "To be honest, I was thinking of capturing you alive just a moment ago. But now I've changed my mind. I think it's best to kill you right here... For some reason, I suddenly want very, very badly to watch you die," he added, as if passing a final sentence. "Oh... is it because you're terrified inside?" Han Qingyu smiled, glanced at the middle-aged man, and then turned his gaze toward the major. "...Think what you like," the middle-aged man replied, not really denying it. The major, meanwhile, avoided Han Qingyu's gaze. "What about you? Do you have the guts to come down and fight me one-on-one?" Han Qingyu asked, looking at him with a grin. The major hesitated for a moment. "No need." "Hahahahaha!" He Tangtang burst into laughter. "No need, my ass! If you don't dare, just say you don't dare! If you're scared, just admit you're scared!... Qingzi, he's terrified of you." "Looks like it." "How long have you even been wearing that gear?" "About a month." "Hahahahaha..." Amid his wild, arrogant laughter, He Tangtang suddenly slipped in a hushed whisper: "Qingzi, find a chance and run... Run!" Han Qingyu glanced at him... and acted as if he hadn't heard a thing. The street fell quiet once more. The major and the middle-aged man exchanged a look. "Time to end this. This time... fight until they're dead." Mr. Zhu gave the order. Then he looked at Han Qingyu, flexed his fingers, and murmured, "Bye-bye... genius." Right at that moment, a Cleansing Faction member stumbled into view from one end of the street... He was sprinting, looking back over his shoulder as he ran, and tumbled to the ground after only a few steps. Yet even as he hit the dirt, his eyes remained glued behind him. What was going on? The major and the middle-aged man looked at each other, their hearts tightening in unison. They had sent two human-monkeys and over a dozen men down that way! "What happened over there?!" the major yelled. At the same time—"Gie!"—the four human-monkeys that had just received their kill order did not falter for an instant. They sprang simultaneously from the rooftops. At the same time, a battered van roared into the street—*screeech!*—braking hard and swinging sideways into a drift. At the same time—*BANG!* While the van was still sliding sideways, the rear of its roof abruptly blew apart. A figure shot straight up into the air from inside the vehicle. Immediately after came a piercing shriek: "Gie-yaaa!" In the next instant—*THUD!*—iron armor struck the ground. Shen Yixiu bent her knees, straightened her posture, and stood firm. Held in her dead-iron-clad hand was a human-monkey she had just plucked straight out of the sky. Clutching its throat, she held it suspended. *Crack.* She snapped its neck, crushing the life out of it.