A few days later.
An unpainted, dark gray military transport plane cut steadily through the sea of clouds, flying smoothly toward Yuanxing City.
Luo Yang leaned against the porthole, staring blankly at the layers of clouds outside.
His mental state had mostly recovered, and the burn mark on the back of his hand had already formed a layer of pale pink new skin.
Yan Zhi sat in the seat next to him, having changed into a white and pink casual outfit.
The military personnel had given her a simple physical examination, and the results left everyone bewildered. No heartbeat, no body temperature, no blood energy reaction—yet she could speak, think, and move, like a piece of precision machinery that operated eternally without a power source.
Cao Tianlin acted swiftly. After the military researchers conducted several basic, non-invasive tests and confirmed that she indeed carried no radiation, viruses, or life signs, the deputy commander waved his hand and released this “living fossil” shrouded in mystery.
After all, compared to forcibly keeping an extremely dangerous and unknown existence in the military district, letting her follow Luo Yang—who was also a monster in his own right and had managed to suppress a Level 4 mutant beast—was clearly a safer choice.
“She only recognizes you anyway,” Deputy Commander Cao’s expression had been quite subtle at the time. “Rather than locking her in a lab and causing trouble, it’s better to let you take her. But there’s one condition: if anything goes wrong, you’re responsible.”
The cabin was very quiet.
Yan Zhi was curled up in a large aviation seat, covered with an olive-drab woolen blanket.
She seemed to lack interest in everything around her; ever since boarding the plane, she had kept her pupil-less black eyes closed, sleeping soundly like an exquisite doll with its strings cut.
Luo Yang sat in the aisle seat next to her, fiddling with the still-sheathed Night Owl-Slash.
The one Cao Tianlin had originally given him had been ruined by his near-manic infusion of blood energy and the enhancement of Weapon’s End, Ember’s Birth. This one was a reward given to him in the name of the military district.
His gaze crossed the center aisle and fell on Qiu Shubai, who was resting with her eyes closed on the other side.
The wound on her left shoulder was almost healed, and the state of Bloodfall was much more stable than before.
Since being borrowed by Luo Yang in the Rift that day, the sword was no longer constantly restless and demanding blood energy. It just slept quietly in the depths of her consciousness, occasionally emitting a faint hum or two, like a satisfied cub turning over in its sleep.
“Miss Chief,” Luo Yang suddenly spoke.
Qiu Shubai’s eyelashes flickered as she slowly opened her eyes. Those water-clear eyes held a trace of inquiry.
“I have an academic question I’d like to ask you.”
Luo Yang placed Night Owl-Slash on his lap and leaned forward slightly, the gaze behind his glasses filled with pure curiosity.
“Back in the core hall of the Rift, my ability took over your Bloodfall. Normally, weapons controlled by Weapon’s End, Ember’s Birth have their materials and energy circuits squeezed to the limit in a short time, eventually becoming completely scrapped and turning to ash.”
He paused, his eyes fixed on Qiu Shubai.
“But Bloodfall is the manifestation of your ability, not a physical weapon. So I want to know, at the moment it was controlled by me and the moment that control was released, what exactly did you... or rather, Bloodfall, feel?”
Qiu Shubai’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly upon hearing this question.
What did it feel like?
It was an experience that was very novel and stimulating for her.
The moment Luo Yang’s mental power and blood energy forcibly intervened in Bloodfall, she felt as if her soul had been forcibly wrapped in another power that was extremely domineering yet carried a strange sense of comfort.
The hunger and thirst of Bloodfall, which felt like an unfillable curse, had actually produced an unprecedented sense of being “stuffed” under the infusion of Luo Yang’s blood energy.
And the moment the control was released, that power suddenly withdrew, followed by an emptiness and trembling so intense that her legs nearly went weak.
That feeling was too invasive, so much so that even now, as she recalled it, a faint, unnatural heat rose uncontrollably to the tips of her ears.
“There was no special feeling,” Qiu Shubai said, looking away and closing her eyes again, her tone flat.
“I just felt a massive influx of external blood energy that disrupted the original energy structure balance of Bloodfall. After the control was released, there was just some fatigue from the ability’s core being overloaded.”
“Just that?” Luo Yang raised an eyebrow, clearly unsatisfied with this perfunctory answer. “There were no signs of structural collapse or ability backlash?”
“No,” Qiu Shubai’s voice grew a few degrees colder, as if trying to hide something.
“Your ability is very domineering, but the rank of Bloodfall isn’t low either. If you’re thinking of making this a regular tactical cooperation, I advise you to drop the idea. I don’t want to spend days readjusting to my ability after every battle.”
With that, she turned her head toward the porthole, signaling that the topic was over.
Luo Yang met a soft rebuff and rubbed his nose, feeling a bit bored.
He had a feeling this girl was hiding some details.
Two hours later, the plane landed smoothly at the Yuanxing City dual-use airport.
The moment they stepped off the air stairs and breathed in the slightly humid, hot air of Yuanxing City, the two of them had a disagreement over the upcoming travel arrangements.
The core of the disagreement was Yan Zhi, who was obediently tugging at the cuff of Luo Yang’s shirt.
“She’s coming with me,” Luo Yang pushed up his glasses, his tone natural. “Since Deputy Commander Cao has handed her over to me, staying at my place is the most logical arrangement. Besides, there are still too many unsolved mysteries about her. I need to keep her where I can see her for easy observation and communication.”
“No.” Qiu Shubai refused without hesitation, her grayish-white hair fluttering slightly in the wind, her eyes filled with unquestionable determination. “Even though she claims she doesn’t know how many years she has ‘lived,’ her current appearance is that of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl.”
She took a step forward, her gaze piercing Luo Yang. “You are a single adult male, and she is a girl. Do you think it’s appropriate for you to live alone together?”
“Huh?” Luo Yang’s eyes widened. “No, sister, what could I possibly do to a thousand-year-old walking corpse? I don’t have that kind of hobby!”
“Excuses,” Qiu Shubai coldly spat out.
“Furthermore, your house is outside the Third Ring Road in a remote location with poor living conditions. It’s fine if you want to live on instant noodles, but are you going to make her eat junk food too?” Qiu Shubai glanced at Yan Zhi’s sickly pale cheeks.
“I have a detached villa in the city center where I usually live alone. It has many rooms and a top-tier security system. Placing her with me would be a hundred times better than your place in terms of both living conditions and safety.”
Luo Yang was momentarily choked by this statement filled with “money power.”
He had to admit that Qiu Shubai had a point.
But how could he easily give in? Yan Zhi held the secrets of that mysterious hall, and she was even linked to the Level 4 mutant beast core he had tucked away in his space ring.
“Miss Chief, don’t forget, she specifically asked to follow me.” Luo Yang reached out and tapped Yan Zhi’s forehead. “A-Zhi, tell us yourself, who do you want to go with?”
Yan Zhi looked up, her deep, pitch-black eyes moving back and forth between the two.
She gripped the cuff of Luo Yang’s shirt tightly, her voice soft but firm. “I’ll listen to you.”
“Hear that?” Luo Yang raised his chin triumphantly.
Qiu Shubai’s brow furrowed, and just as she was about to argue back, a resonant and somewhat teasing laugh drifted over from not far away.
“Yo, yo, yo. I could hear you two arguing from all the way over here. What, did you just get back from a long trip and already start splitting up over a child custody battle?”
The two looked toward the sound and saw Zhang Xian, wearing his custom gray Zhongshan suit, walking slowly from beside a black internal transport vehicle. A fox-like smile that made Luo Yang want to punch him was plastered on his old face.
He wasn't surprised by Yan Zhi’s presence at all; Cao Tianlin must have informed him in advance.
Behind Zhang Xian followed two young people, a man and a woman, who looked to be about the same age as them and were both wearing the Middle Division uniforms of the Punisher Academy.
“Principal Zhang.” Qiu Shubai reined in her emotions and lowered her head slightly in greeting, while unobtrusively distancing herself from Luo Yang.
“Old geezer... cough, Principal, why are you here to pick us up personally?” Luo Yang swallowed the words that almost slipped out.
Zhang Xian ignored Luo Yang’s lack of decorum, his gaze lingering on Yan Zhi for two seconds as a trace of deep meaning flashed in his eyes. He straightened his expression and pointed to the two people behind him. “Come, let me introduce you.”
He first pointed to the tall boy on the left with sharp short hair and a keen gaze. “Chu Zimo, second year in the Middle Division, level 3 Core Consolidation Punisher, Sharp Edge-rank ability ‘Shadow Bind,’ specializing in control and assassination.”
Then, he pointed to the girl on the right with a high ponytail, chewing bubble gum and looking somewhat cynical. “Tang Xuan, first year in the Middle Division, level 2 Core Consolidation Punisher, Peerless-rank ability ‘Light Flame,’ a heavy fire bombardment specialist.”
Chu Zimo nodded expressionlessly at the two, acknowledging them.
Tang Xuan blew a pink bubble, and after it popped with a “snap,” she whistled at Luo Yang. “Hey there, so these are the famous Luo God and Miss Chief? I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Luo Yang and Qiu Shubai glanced at each other, both seeing a trace of confusion in the other’s eyes.
“Principal, what kind of play is this? Does my re-examination mission have a sequel?”
“As for the re-examination, Cao Tianlin’s report has already reached me. You did an excellent job.” Zhang Xian waved his hand, his expression suddenly becoming more serious than ever before.
He looked around at the four of them and finally turned to Qiu Shubai, saying in a deep voice, “I’m introducing these two to you primarily because from today onward, the three of you will form a fixed squad.”
“Form a squad?” Qiu Shubai keenly sensed something was wrong. “Why?”
“Because the Shenzhou Academy League is about to begin.”
The words Zhang Xian threw out were like a thunderclap exploding in the ears of Luo Yang and Qiu Shubai.
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