Fight Me

In truth, facing two super Puta'ers in this battle, humanity might not win even with Chen Buer here... If they thought about it calmly, many present could likely figure this out. After all, rumors that the old man was merely clinging to a breath of life, left with only one final invincible strike, had circulated for who knew how many years. Moreover, the soldiers all knew he had been unconscious until recently, hovering on the verge of death. Only, at this moment, no one wanted to think about any of that calmly. All that mattered was that the Army Commander was invincible in the mortal realm and had never lost; all that mattered was that from a hundred li away, he had already repelled two Puta'ers with a single slash; all that mattered was that after holding in so much foul rage in this damned battle, they might as well vent their hearts out now that the Commander had arrived... And then, if they won, wonderful; if they still lost, they had truly given everything and would all be dead, so nobody would have to feel embarrassed. On the battlefield, the mortal struggle between the human fleet and the Great Spike fleet raged on. Because of the skeletal remains, the fighting had grown even more savage than before. The only ones who had stopped were Han Qingyu and the two Puta'ers. Han Qingyu paused because he lacked the strength to press an attack. As for the two Puta'ers, they likely figured the entire battlefield was already within the attack range of that human aboard the airship, and waiting for him to descend would make countering him easier. Rushing to execute Han Qingyu held little value for them anyway. The airship bearing Azure Huaxia Front livery moved with extreme speed, soon reaching the upper sky above the battlefield. Hovering in midair, its side hatch opened. Chen Buer stepped forward into free fall. Contrary to expectations, however, he did not descend toward the airspace occupied by Han Qingyu and the two Puta'ers. Instead, he dropped straight down, landing atop a thousand-meter peak on the Moon's surface. And the crater valley behind this nameless mountain was precisely where the pile of skeletal remains Azure was fighting to the death to protect lay. With his war blade still slung across his back, Chen Buer stood calmly with his hands clasped behind him. Raising his head slightly, he surveyed the entire aerial battlefield. This had clearly been planned beforehand with Wen Jifei. Soon, Wen Jifei began issuing orders over the command channel: "All airships, fall back behind the mountain where the Army Commander is stationed." "Once in position, assemble and form Azure standard battle lines to assist the Army Commander in aerial defense. At the same time, all super-combatants and top-tier combatants with awakened Yanxiu, disembark immediately into the crater valley, locate the remains corresponding to your Yanxiu, and begin assimilation on the spot." "Qingzi, get over to the Army Commander." "Understood," Han Qingyu replied. Immediately, all human forces across the airspace began retreating, repositioning, forming lines, and entering the valley in accordance with Wen Jifei's orders. The situation across the battlefield shifted from a chaotic aerial dogfight to an altitude-based standoff. This sudden shift clearly caught the two Puta'ers off guard, so much so that they failed to direct an effective interception in time. Regardless, the pile of remains was right there; allowing humans to openly search through and assimilate them before their very eyes was out of the question. Summoned by the Puta'ers, the remaining Great Spike ships rallied together as well. Spearheaded by the super dreadnought, they hovered above, glaring down at the human positions. The final decisive battle hung on a hair-trigger. ... Han Qingyu landed behind and to the side of Chen Buer. "Oh? You've already died once?" Chen Buer asked the moment they met. Died once? Han Qingyu thought about it. That did seem to be the case. He nodded, feigning annoyance: "Because I did what you said—relied entirely on my human self to deliver a slash—and slashed my life away." "Good, good," the old man said happily. "Remember that feeling. No matter how powerful your Yanxiu becomes, that will be the true reason you surpass me in the future." He spoke with absolute sincerity. Han Qingyu nodded solemnly as well. Then, out of necessity, he nudged the old man's shoulder to direct his gaze toward the swarm of Great Spike ships and the two Puta'ers in the sky. "You only saw these two, right? There aren't any more, right?" Seeing the Great Spikes finish assembling, the old man turned his head back and asked in a low whisper. Just these, and he wanted more? Any more and what chance would they have left?! Han Qingyu nodded and whispered back, "The slightly smaller, dark-gold one is stronger. In a moment..." He wanted to say that once the fight started, he would try to stall the dark-gold one for a while so the Commander could seize the chance to finish off the silver one as quickly as possible before coming to back him up. That was the tactic he had planned in advance. But before he could finish, the old man turned back around, raised his head toward the two Puta'ers in the sky, and shouted: "Then both of you come at me together! Come, fight me!" Han Qingyu: "..." The Army Commander's style of fighting was truly... unadorned and straightforward. Then again, he seemed to have been like this for decades. "Gunie." "Yeke." The two Puta'ers in the sky suddenly spoke. Chen Buer froze for a moment. "What are they doing? What did they say?" "Their names, or maybe titles. Probably announcing themselves to show respect to an opponent. I'm not really sure about their customs either, but anyway, they never did this when fighting me before," Han Qingyu explained, exasperated. "Oh." Chen Buer understood. Facing the sky once more, he declared, "Chen Buer." With that, the mutual show of respect concluded. The instant Chen Buer spoke his name, the two Puta'ers led the charge with their fleet behind them, plunging into a decisive dive. Because of Chen Buer's presence, they no longer dared to lead with their ships, as that would likely invite an area-of-effect strike from humanity's strongest warrior and inflict catastrophic losses all at once. "Hold," Chen Buer said, stifling the restless human battle line behind him with two words. "The first clash isn't yours. If you're worried about lacking kinetic energy when charging, execute a synchronized cradle sway. Above all, do not sortie without orders from me or Chief of Staff Wen Jifei." "Yes, sir!" Acknowledging the command, the human airship formation began swaying collectively in cradle motion to maintain acceleration momentum, ready to enter the fight at a moment's notice. Over two hundred source energy airships executing a collective cradle sway created momentum like an overturning mountain and sea. Before that mountain and sea, Chen Buer drew his blade with one hand. His first strike slashed horizontally through the void from left to right, blade radiance solid as a crescent moon, cleaving toward dark-gold Gunie and Silver Yeke. In midair, both Puta'ers decisively raised their swords and swung back. Boom! The massive blast of energy nearly pushed back the fleets behind both sides. Just as Han Qingyu had noted before, a life-and-death struggle at this level would never drag on for long; victory and defeat were usually decided within three to five exchanges. For the second exchange, the two Puta'ers took the initiative to unleash their might. With two loud thrums, they erupted in midair. This was the first time Han Qingyu had seen Puta'ers execute a source energy eruption before attacking in battle; previously, they had likely deemed it completely unnecessary. Following the eruption, both Puta'ers moved in lockstep, raising their swords in a vertical cleave. Chen Buer did not stay standing where he was, letting them bring their downward momentum to full bear. The instant they raised their swords, he leaped skyward, ascending to the exact same altitude, then raised his blade and met them in a head-on clash. Boom! Another violent collision. Midair, Chen Buer's figure swayed. And the two colossal Puta'ers, while reeling backward, suddenly parted to the left and right... The super dreadnought, having already completed maximum acceleration, surged out from between them, hurtling straight at Chen Buer! "Danger!" someone cried anxiously over the channel. By the rules of combat governed by source energy surges, the instant after unleashing a full-power surge was often the most vulnerable moment. No matter how powerful a person was, there was always an interval and a lull between two peak surges. However, Chen Buer did not fight with source energy surges. What he fought with was his life. As long as he had life, he could slash.