Chapter 31: Long Time No See_1

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"Even the Must-Hit First Strike becomes avoidable after dying so many times, huh? Even a fool would learn to dodge instinctively, right?"

Now, Huai Shi had nothing to rely on but his luck and extensive death experience to contend with him.

If one were to rate it in the Book of Fate, the Red Gloves' specialized dagger combat level was undoubtedly above LV8. For a weakling like himself, this was a horrifically insurmountable gap that was nearly a one-hit kill.

If he wanted to win...

Right in front of Red Gloves, he loosened his left hand, and the heavy weapon made of Source Substance dissipated instantly, returning to Huai Shi's soul.

He had so abruptly given up his most advantageous weapon.

In the next instant, as he awkwardly twisted his body to dodge Red Gloves' dagger, his feet suddenly planted firmly on the ground, he bent at the waist into a horse stance, and then...

First set, first form of military boxing.

— Bow stance punch!

Bang!

His fist crashed into Red Gloves' chest, and through the bandages, the ruptured wound reddened.

After ditching the heavy axe, his movements were more than just twice as fast, but his strength was still too feeble. Compared to a boxing champion's powerful cannon that could knock out an opponent in the ring with one punch, it was nothing more than an annoyance.

However, the moment Red Gloves was struck, his movements came to an abrupt halt. His eyes widened in disbelief, his face turned so red it almost bled, and suddenly, in the downpour, he was brought to tears, coughing and choking incessantly.

"How does the Tear Gas feel?"

Huai Shi grinned and clenched his left fist again.

As his fingers tightened, black iron sand continuously seeped through the gaps, vaporizing in the abundant moisture and flowing downward.

Apocalypse.

The essence of the Hand of Confinement lay in the conversion between Source Substance and material—meaning, Huai Shi could transform the Source Substance, which was originally part of his soul, into material, limited to the range of iron composition.

As a byproduct of Huai Shi's ability, these iron sands, laden with intense pain and sorrow, were almost too fine to be seen with the naked eye.

Once they entered the bloodstream through a wound, they would explosively revert to Source Substance—forcing Huai Shi's pain onto his enemy!

Paired with military boxing, this move could tentatively be called Military Killing Fist • Tear Gas, right? If he were a positive person, this could even be turned into a "Happy Otaku Fist."

Too bad; what does this have to do with me, a cold and ruthless Negative Energy Producer?

So, he advanced, dodging the wildly swung dagger, clenched his left fist, aimed at Red Gloves' face, and struck a punch!

"This punch is for Old Yang!"

And another punch!

"This punch is for Old Liu!"

Ignoring the dagger that grazed the side of his face, he grappled with Red Gloves like a wild beast, throwing his awkward military boxing attacks onto that disintegrating face, and then, he shared his pain with Red Gloves without reservation!

Finally, he clenched his fist, pouring all his rage and pain into it.

"This punch is for myself!"

Bang!

Red Gloves' dagger fell from his grasp, embedding in Huai Shi's neck and shoulder, while his head, under Huai Shi's punch, almost burst like a broken basketball from his neck.

He mustered all his strength, lifted his leg, and kicked the boy off him. Staggering to his feet and clutching his skull, which felt like it might explode from the pain, he roared hoarsely:

"...What the hell are you?!"

"Why ask for so much detail? Are you recruiting cowherds over there too?"

In the pouring rain, Huai Shi slowly rose from the ground, grinning at him, his bloodied face breaking into a smile: "Huai Shi, male, seventeen years old, probably a righteous high school student."

This was the introduction upon their first meeting.

Then, Huai Shi once again spread his hand, pale fire ignited in his palm, exhausting his last bit of Source Substance, and he gripped an invisible weapon.

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Thus, dragging the heavy axe, he moved forward step by step, "Come on, the halftime break and introductions are over now, friend.

Let us——"

The sharp sound suddenly burst forth, an invisible axe carving deep grooves in the ground, ephemeral sparks flying from amidst the torrential downpour.

Rage burned like fire, heating the unseen blade of the axe red-hot, illuminating the pale face of the youth and the grim arc of his lips:

"——let's begin again!"

Above the pitch-black dome of the sky, fierce electric light streaked across, its violent glow weaving through the suffocating heavy rain, thunder lagging behind.

This was the end of the battle.

Behind Red Gloves, the rock music blaring from the sports car finally peaked, an elegy hoarsely sung, reverberating through the rain as if to drown out the whole world.

Red Gloves rose to his feet expressionlessly.

Confronting Huai Shi, he clenched his fists, knuckles riddled with cracks rubbing against each other, making a snapping sound.

Standard Rome Bare-handed Fighting Technique.

This time, he had no hesitation or fear.

Even if it meant perishing together.

Just one strike was needed.

At that very moment, the screaming of both men rose from the steaming mist, cutting through the dense curtain of rain with a metallic clash amidst the thunder.

In the midst of a desperate run, Huai Shi roared, exerting all his strength to throw the axe in his hand. The rain curtain was torn apart, shrieking in agony.

Before the blade vanished, it cut into Red Gloves' shoulder.

The sound of the collarbone being split resembled the crackle of firewood breaking in flames.

In that instant, Red Gloves couldn't dodge in time, feeling the teenage boy crash into him, carrying the cold iron that pierced through his body.

——It was the dagger that had originally been pinned in Huai Shi's shoulder.

The tremendous force pushed him backwards, step by step, until he was pinned against a scrapped sports car, the dagger piercing through his body lodged deeply into the car's body as if it were a nail.

"Farewell, Red Gloves."

This was Huai Shi's final whisper.

In his confusion and drowsiness, Red Gloves seemed to hear Huai Shi say something, but when he lowered his head, he couldn't make out anything, the sound of the rain was too loud.

Only the fragmented song from the broken CD player lingered in his ears, the singer's raspy murmur.

"You're face to face..."

"With the Man who Sold the World..."

——Facing you is the man who betrayed the world.

At the sight of Huai Shi lighting a match, he laughed at himself in a self-deprecating manner, wearily closing his eyes, "Ah, it turns out even the high school students of Dongxia... are also monsters..."

In the endless torrential rain, that match slowly fell from Huai Shi's hand.

Into the ruptured fuel tank.

Soon, with the interruption of the song, a mighty explosion burst forth.

Fiery red flames surged out from the fiery red sports car, soaring into the sky, engulfing everything within reach.

Burning everything to ash.

Quickly, it died down, leaving only a charred red glove lying quietly among the wreckage in the acrid smoke, with no other trace left.

"It's finally over," murmured Raven, perching on his shoulder with a sigh, "As beautiful as a miracle, well done, Huai Shi."

Huai Shi didn't speak, just leaned tiredly against a shipping container, sitting in the rainwater.

For some reason, he suddenly remembered himself seven years ago, the first time he had taken up a weapon.

If the old Huai Shi had seen what was before her eyes, she surely would have broken down and cried, right?

But the Huai Shi of the past had been killed by my own hands, along with that nightmare...

This must be what is called growth, right?

"I gazed a gazley stare at all the millions here..."

He closed his eyes and softly sang the unreleased ending of that song, "We must have died along, a long long time ago..."

We must have died one after the other, a very very long time ago...

And also a very very long time later.

.

.

It wasn't long before the sound of brakes came from afar.

A row of massive headlights shone straight at Huai Shi.

Amidst the heavy footsteps, the entire scene was surrounded by the familiar Sublimators Suppression Troops.

After all, it was the Special Affairs Department; once mobilized, the whole of Xinhai was under surveillance, not allowing any Source Fluctuation to escape their sight.

Mobilizing so many troops and arriving at the scene in ten minutes was quite fast indeed.

Unfortunately, things here ended quicker than anyone anticipated.

Soon, a middle-aged man in a raincoat stood out from the crowd. He appeared slightly aged, with some graying hair, and beneath the heavy raincoat, the outline of his quick response vest protruded, vaguely revealing the heavy firearms beneath.

He looked around and finally turned his gaze to Huai Shi.

"Where's Red Gloves?" he asked, "Where is he?"

Huai Shi raised her hand and pointed to the wreckage of the car.

"Dead?" The middle-aged man was startled as he looked at the completely charred corpse and the remaining scorched glove, disbelieving, "Was it you?"

"Actually, it was a bald hero passing by."

Huai Shi chuckled softly, "Just when I was about to be harmed, he descended from the sky and saved me. After striking Red Gloves dead with a palm strike, he left with a flick of his robe. If you really want a name, you might as well call him Peppa of Huaihai Road."

Obviously, this nonsensical story held no credibility at all.

Because there were surveillance videos at the scene.

The dock security weren't fools; they'd alerted the police at the first sounds of explosions and gunfire.

"It was actually a Sublimator?"

The middle-aged man quickly finished the surveillance video, gazing at Huai Shi with complexity. Although Huai Shi had killed a Green Day terrorist, there were too many uncertainties in her actions prior to that... For everything to go back to normal as if nothing had happened was too dismissive for the Special Affairs Department.

"So..." he sighed, "Kid, before you cooperate with our investigation, do you have anything else to say?"

Huai Shi thought hard, scratching her wet hair: "If I really must share my reflections, then it's that you really shouldn't listen to rock music on a phone, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I should save up to buy a CD player."

"..."

The middle-aged man had no more words for Huai Shi's bluntness, waved his hand, and his subordinates stepped forward, handcuffed Huai Shi's left hand, and escorted her to the armored vehicle in the back.

Looking at the slowly opening doors in front and the separate confinement room inside, Huai Shi couldn't help but sigh: It seems impulsive actions like this really aren't the way to go, right? Well, now I don't have to worry about how to eat; maybe for the rest of my life, I'll have someone to provide meals.

So, next time I do this, I really should buy a mask first, huh?

Just relying on a Peppa mask is completely useless.

"...So, Director Fu, where are you planning to take the Astronomical Society's employee?"

In that moment, he heard a cold voice behind him, "If I'm not mistaken, although the Special Affairs Department has supervisory power over members of the Astronomical Society, it is the central management of the country concerned that has the authority to detain, dispose of, and try them, right?"

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Moreover, he had just represented the Astronomical Society tonight in eradicating a cancer planted in Current Circumstances by Green Day. There was no reason, no matter how you looked at it, for him to receive this kind of treatment."

Huai Shi turned his head in astonishment, seeing the teenage girl sitting in the wheelchair.

It was Ai Qing.

Her expression was calm, her hands serenely clasped together on a blanket before her knees. Perhaps because of the chill of the late night, her fingers were pale and translucent, every blue vein distinctly visible.

Behind her, a diligent female driver held a large umbrella, ensuring not a single drop of rain fell upon her.

The middle-aged man who had just been addressed as Director Fu for the first time was stunned for quite a while. He looked at Ai Qing and couldn't help but turn his head back to look at Huai Shi several times, "A member of the Astronomical Society? Him? When?"

"Five days ago, when Huai Shi volunteered to be bait and signed the Astronomical Society's civilian obligation assistance contract, with a duration of one month. Which means, as of now, he is still a temporary employee of the Astronomical Society."

While speaking, Ai Qing took out a contract from her file and showed it to Director Fu, "So his personal safety and actions are the responsibility of the Astronomical Society.

If you still have any doubts about this dispute, I will bring him to the Special Affairs Department the day after tomorrow to give a detailed explanation. But for now, could you please unlock his handcuffs?"

Director Fu looked down at the contract in Ai Qing's hands with an expressionless face and didn't take it. After a while, he laughed softly, "It's the first time I'm hearing the word 'you' from your mouth; it's quite flattering."

He waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to let go, and they unlocked Huai Shi's handcuffs.

Before leaving, he patted Huai Shi on the shoulder, "Remember not to get cocky, kid. I really hope I don't see you in the Special Affairs Department's prison someday..."

After he said that, he got into the car and led the team away.

In the silence, there was only the dazed Huai Shi and the girl under the umbrella.

"When did I sign that contract with you?" Huai Shi stared at the pile of contracts thrown by Ai Qing into the puddle, asking blankly, "How come I don't know about it?"

"That was me signing for you, just printed out over ten minutes ago, still warm, the ink hasn't even dried yet. It looks like that guy figured it out too, right? He gave me some face."

"...By the way, weren't you supposed to be in Jinling?"

"Ah, I lied to you about that."

Ai Qing calmly held a small hand warmer, "If I said, 'I felt something was being hidden from me, so I put a tracker in your pocket, and I watched everything from beginning to end here,' would you be mad?"

Huai Shi was stunned for a long time before nodding, "…A little, yeah?"

"Oh, well, be mad then; I'm not short of one more."

Ai Qing nodded dismissively and casually pulled something out of her pocket and tossed it into Huai Shi's chest.

He clumsily caught it and found it seemed to be a magnetic card, but it felt like some kind of alloy, heavy in hand, with an embossed Earth logo on the front, thorns and laurel wreaths on both sides, and a clip on the back to wear on the chest.

"What's this?"

"Your lifeline."

She said indifferently, "From today onwards, you are the key secretary for the Astronomical Association East Asia Branch's Xinhai Prosecutor — to be honest, I don't care what you're hiding, but if you don't want to end up in prison for murder, get ready to work your ass off for me."

Huai Shi was astonished, "Am I... being co-opted here?"

Just like the saying goes in Water Margin, 'To be an official, commit murder or arson and be co-opted.' I've just killed a man and started a fire, and now I'm a member of the Astronomical Society?

And as a secretary, no less. Geez, a male secretary—how novel..."

"It's not co-opting. It's 'serving your sentence.'"

Ai Qing glanced at his foolishly grinning face and mercilessly crushed that bit of hope in his heart, "Put simply, you do the work, you write the report, you take the blame, you face death... That's how simple your job is.

Hope you're prepared, because before your summer vacation is over, there's a lot of work waiting for you—"

Thinking of Liu Dongli who was still in the intensive care unit, Huai Shi suddenly felt a chill in his heart: he felt like he wasn't long for this world, what to do, seeking advice online, quite urgent.

"And one more thing..."

Before leaving, Ai Qing turned back, giving him one final glance.

In that moment, amid the gradually thinning rain, Huai Shi saw the corner of the girl's mouth curving slightly under the umbrella.

She said, "Long time no see, Huai Shi."

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