(Congratulations to 'Night Eve' for becoming this book's Alliance Leader!)
"----!"
Under everyone's gaze, the blood that had splashed into the air rained down, scattering across the ground.
It dyed the ground where Fang Li stood red.
To everyone's eyes, that scene seemed to have slowed to a crawl, making their hearts tremble slightly.
Fang Li alone gripped the dagger in his hand tightly, staring at the figure that had suddenly appeared before him, his face filled with astonishment.
"Aaaaaaah!"
Ikoma, who had charged over at some unknown point, was straddling the Kabane that had Fang Li's foot in its grasp. The spike of the Tsuranuki-zutsu in his hand was viciously driven into the Kabane's heart, and he let out a roar.
Then, Ikoma pulled the trigger of the Tsuranuki-zutsu.
"Bang—!"
With a muffled boom like exploding gunpowder, the Tsuranuki-zutsu in Ikoma's hand pierced the membrane around the Kabane's heart like a pile driver, shattering its glowing heart.
Only then did Fang Li react.
He had been saved.
Saved by this youth who had only recently become a Kabaneri.
"Quick!" Ikoma ignored Fang Li's astonishment and shouted directly at him, "Get out of here!"
Fang Li took a deep breath. There was no time to worry about anything else. He ran back with Ikoma as fast as he could.
Before long, Fang Li and Ikoma finally escaped back to the samurai.
Seeing Ikoma rushing toward them, quite a few samurai instinctively raised their guns, only to stop at Kurusu Kunoichi's shout.
"Shoot while retreating! Fall back to the Iron Fortress!"
Thus, with Kurusu Kunoichi and Kibito Aragane at the center, the samurai began a fighting retreat.
Fang Li and Ikoma, meanwhile, ran all the way to Mumei's side and stopped before her.
"You..." Mumei raised her head and looked at Fang Li, who was covered in blood. In a weary voice, she said, "You really are reckless..."
Looking at Mumei's exhausted appearance, Fang Li panted and gave a bitter smile. He stepped forward, took the restraint from her hands, fastened it around her neck himself, and said softly, "That's why I said you have no right to criticize me."
"...No matter what, I'll leave the rest to you." Mumei obediently let Fang Li fasten the restraint around her neck, or perhaps she no longer had the strength to refuse. Her voice grew quieter and quieter as she said, "I... have reached my limit..."
"I know." Fang Li smiled faintly. "I just hope that when you wake up, you won't find that I've dumped you by the roadside."
Mumei glared at Fang Li, then gently closed her eyes as her body tipped forward.
Fang Li stepped forward and caught Mumei in his arms. Then he swept her up in a princess carry.
Luckily, Mumei was incredibly light. Otherwise, with Fang Li's pathetic strength of only 1, he really did not know whether he could have carried the girl.
"Alright." Fang Li said to Ikoma beside him, "Let's get on the Iron Fortress quickly."
"What about her?" Ikoma glanced at Mumei, who was sleeping quietly in Fang Li's arms. After hesitating for a while, he asked tentatively, "What happened to her?"
"She's fine, just tired." Fang Li replied casually. "She'll wake up soon."
With that, Fang Li carried the sleeping Mumei toward the Iron Fortress, which had begun accelerating.
Seeing this, Ikoma could not help but mutter.
"You two are really close..."
However, Ikoma was thinking too much.
Fang Li and Mumei's relationship could not be called good at all.
After all, they had known each other for less than an hour.
"Toot toot toot toot toot—!"
The Iron Fortress's whistle once again echoed through the skies above Aragane Station.
While shooting and retreating, the samurai finally all boarded the Iron Fortress and escaped into this moving steel fortress.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!"
The army of Kabane let out unwilling roars as they foolishly blocked the Iron Fortress's path.
Under such circumstances, those Kabane naturally became mangled flesh beneath the Iron Fortress's wheels, crushed and smashed apart like garbage.
And so, the Iron Fortress sped faster and faster along the tracks, heading toward the city gate meant for escape.
Iron Fortress, carriage.
This was the last carriage of the Iron Fortress.
There was not a single person in the carriage, only one functioning boiler after another, making the temperature inside somewhat high.
Fang Li entered this carriage with Mumei in his arms, accompanied by Ikoma.
The surroundings were somewhat quiet, with only the hiss of steam from the boilers and the rumble of the Iron Fortress's wheels audible.
Fang Li gently placed Mumei against the wall, removed his cloak, and was about to cover her with it when he suddenly stopped. Frowning, he looked at Ikoma.
"Uh..." Ikoma froze for a moment and asked, "What is it?"
"Is your cloak useful?" Fang Li said directly. "If not, lend it to me."
"My cloak?" Only then did Ikoma notice something.
Fang Li's cold-weather cloak had already been stained completely red with blood, making him look as though he had just been pulled out of a pool of blood. It was terrifying.
Fang Li clearly wanted something to cover Mumei with, so naturally he could not use that blood-soaked cloak.
"Here." Ikoma did not hesitate much. He took off his cloak and tossed it to Fang Li.
Because Mumei had torn it before, the cloak was somewhat ragged. Still, it was more than enough to cover Mumei's petite body.
Only after doing this did Fang Li sheath the dagger he had been gripping at his waist. He leaned against the wall beside Mumei and let out a breath.
His stamina had recovered somewhat.
However, all that excessive slashing had left Fang Li's muscles sore, and he was mentally exhausted as well.
Still, despite all that hardship, and even nearly dying, the rewards had been extremely gratifying.
Under the cover of Mumei and the samurai, Fang Li had slaughtered his way through the Kabane army. Not only had he comprehended a skill through it, he had also gained a massive number of Exchange Points.
So, how many Exchange Points did Fang Li have now?
----24700.
Fang Li had killed over a hundred Kabane, causing his Exchange Points to undergo an unbelievable leap in growth!
He had earned over twenty thousand Exchange Points in his very first Instance World!
This achievement was absolutely enough to make every Main God Envoy who had just entered the space look up to him!
Although Fang Li had not achieved this result alone, all the benefits had undoubtedly fallen into his hands!
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