Meddling for Once

Qi Li tossed the two severed arms onto the ground. When he looked at Kimiko again, fresh arms were already regenerating from her mangled stumps at a rate visible to the naked eye. "Super-regeneration," Qi Li enunciated, drawing out each word. Curiosity gleamed in his eyes. He asked, "Who are you?" Though superhumans were not rare, their total number barely exceeded ten thousand. People with self-healing abilities like Steelclaw Man were rare enough, let alone super-regeneration. As far as Qi Li knew, there was definitely no such person among their ranks. Where had she sprung from? Kimiko didn't speak. Instead, her newly sprouted hands began gesturing rapidly in front of her. Uh—as fast as weaving hand seals in Naruto back in her homeland. "Mute?" Qi Li glanced at Kimiko's motionless lips, then gave Kate an inquiring look. Having been confined at home for years with nothing to do, Kate had watched sign-language tutorials. Just a few nights ago, she had even slipped on silky opera gloves in front of Qi Li to show off what she had learned. Right now, however, Kate spread her hands helplessly. "That's not standard sign language. It looks like something made up by her, or someone else." Fair enough. Qi Li withdrew his gaze, choosing to assume the Japanese woman was cursing him out viciously. That was probably it. In reality, Kimiko's signs meant, *We have no grudge between us. I only want to go home. Why are you trying to kill me?* Even if Qi Li had known what she meant, he wouldn't have wasted his breath explaining. Woman, why don't you first explain where the blood soaking almost all your clothes came from? Any law enforcement agency seeing a superhuman who acted like a lunatic, had just killed someone, and was sprinting through the streets would immediately move to subdue them. Of course, going by America's glorious tradition, over ninety-nine percent of law enforcers would, without a second thought, pump several pounds of lead straight into her torso. Qi Li's conduct was already quite by the book. For the woman before him to cry foul like this, she was either completely ignorant of the local customs or just plain stupid. "Let's see where the limits of your healing lie." Qi Li wasted no more words. With an explosive boom, he crossed over a dozen meters in an instant. His right fist, carrying a suffocating pressure, smashed toward Kimiko's head. This time, however, Kimiko was prepared. Reacting with lightning speed, she ducked low, crossing her arms in front of her. Even as she blocked the kick Qi Li threw in follow-through, her ten fingers locked tightly onto his leg. Using his momentum, Kimiko flipped through the air, carving a fierce arc like a pinwheel, and brought a surprise kick crashing down from above, whipping violently against Qi Li's neck. *Bang!* Qi Li tilted slightly, his left foot stomping hard into the ground. With a boom, a deep crater blasted open beneath his boot. He snapped his eyes shut just in time. The very next second, Kimiko scrambled onto Qi Li's shoulders like a monkey, wrapping her legs tightly around his neck while clawing furiously at his eyes with both hands. *Screeech—* A sharp sound tore through the air, like metal grinding against metal. Kimiko raked her ten fingers forcefully across Qi Li's eyeballs, yet left behind at most a few faint white marks while tearing away a few eyelashes in the process. With her attack failing to deal damage, Kimiko moved to smash both fists into Qi Li's temples. Having gathered his wits, Qi Li reached back and clamped his hand around Kimiko's tailbone. Amidst her wincing grimace of pain, he hurled her violently away. It all happened too fast for Kate to even step in. Then came a succession of crashes and collapses. *Crash! Crash! Crash!* In an instant, Kimiko flew like a high-speed artillery shell, blasting through several apartment buildings across the street. In the blink of an eye, she was flung a hundred meters away. Only after the dust settled did panicked screams and shouts erupt along the path of destruction. "Underestimated you a bit." Qi Li cracked his neck, then strode off toward Kimiko's position. Going by the practiced combat techniques she had just displayed and her ruthless, lethal style, she was certainly no ordinary superhuman; she looked more like a warrior who had undergone long, grueling training. Were there really superhumans like this who remained completely unknown? Regardless, with such a deranged, formidable threat lurking right here in Chinatown, it was best to deal with her as soon as possible. This time, Qi Li didn't have cameras broadcasting his every move. He was actually taking a risk, playing the busybody superhero for once. Qi Li stepped into the apartment building Kimiko had plowed through. Inside the bedroom, a naked couple on the bed, who had not yet recovered from the shock, began screaming again at the sight of him. A second later, however, the woman seemed to recognize Qi Li. She sat up instantly, paying no heed to the bedsheet slipping down and exposing her bare breasts, her voice brimming with ecstatic disbelief: "Oh my god! It's Bronze!! He must be fighting a villain! I'm actually seeing it in person! I'm so lucky!!" Hearing the commotion, Qi Li glanced in their direction. As if injected with adrenaline, the woman kicked off the sheet completely and, stark naked, shrieked as she charged toward Qi Li—a wild, rabid fangirl in the flesh. As for the boyfriend she had entirely forgotten in bed, he looked at his girlfriend throwing herself at another man, then at the two person-shaped holes punched through opposite walls of their room, his face blank with utter despair. Fortunately, Qi Li ignored her and sped up, leaving her hopelessly behind. Just as she stood there brimming with disappointment, footsteps approached from behind. The woman turned around. Kate curled her lip slightly, holding a palm out toward her. "Here's your girl back," Kate said coolly to the man on the bed, and the woman obediently walked back. Her boyfriend stared blankly at Kate, then suddenly blurted out, "Can I swap for you instead?" Kate pursed her lips in exasperation. She scanned the room, her gaze landing on a baseball bat in the corner. Raising her hand again, she walked toward the man. "From now on, at the top of every hour, you will pick up that baseball bat, aim it at your crotch, swing as hard as you can, and shout 'I love Major League Baseball!' Sound good?" "Terrific!" The man's face instantly broke into a grin of eager anticipation. On the other side, Qi Li had reached Kimiko. She lay amidst the brick-and-mortar rubble, an arm and a leg twisted at horrifyingly unnatural angles, looking thoroughly battered. Seeing Qi Li arrive, Kimiko continued to heal rapidly while struggling onto her stomach like a wounded beast, glaring ferociously and baring her teeth at him. Qi Li shook his head expressionlessly. Raising his right foot, he brought it down ruthlessly toward her head.