Even Though You Died of Embarrassment, I Put On a Show

Even though you died of embarrassment, I put on a show.

The Rose Army had been an Outland rebel force active since the era of the Frostplate Republic. It was the largest in scale, the most influential, and had even come close to succeeding once.

Throughout history, none of those who resisted the Four Nations had met a good end.

Either they were ruthlessly torn apart by the state machine, or after briefly achieving success, they rapidly degenerated into the very bureaucrats they had once fought and hated.

Li Aoz did not agree with the saying that dragon slayers would eventually become dragons. He firmly believed that everything was predetermined: the kind of person who did a certain kind of thing had their outcome decided from the start.

The reason the Rose Army had achieved so much was, in fact, thanks to the unwavering struggle of three generations of leaders.

Though the Rose Army's soldiers were great and brave, if the leadership forgot its original purpose, it would have been impossible to continue the undertaking of resisting a behemoth like the Four Nations.

Although the Rose Army changed later on, it proved one thing: annihilating the Four Nations with absolute violence, then letting new life bloom from their ruins—this path could never be wrong.

Janelia was an Esha Infected who looked quite young, her speech full of faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance. She could be called an ambassador of civilization.

In reality, she was a rebel fighter raised from childhood at a Rose Army base, and her Combat Power was quite formidable.

"Comrade? Really?"

The girl calling herself Nomi shrugged, disdain surfacing in her purple single eye.

"You didn't contact me for two years, and now that fighting has broken out, you come looking for me. Why do I feel like you're deliberately using me as a weapon?"

"I won't deny that such a need does exist."

Li Aoz stated calmly.

"I was also pleasantly surprised to find a Rose Army comrade here, but the most urgent matter right now is preserving our lives."

"You're pretty straightforward."

The girl lay flat on her back on the floor, yawned, and said casually.

"Haah... A few words aren't enough to convince me. Even if you really are with the Rose Army, you've been cooperating with those Nethermark Humanity dog doctors on experiments these past few days, so you're no good either—but you do know how to read the situation. Go on, what do you want?"

"I want you, Nelia."

Bang! Nelia punched the bulletproof glass, raised her middle finger at Li Aoz, and cursed, "Don't get all mushy, you son of a bitch! Do you think I'm some little girl? That's disgusting!"

Li Aoz did not care. It sounded a little overconfident, but with his high Charm attribute, even if he threw away a used tube of lipstick, men would fight to have it.

Besides, the female-to-male ratio in Frostplate was far too high. Finding a reliable male teammate was troublesome.

It was not out of misogyny. Li Aoz's upcoming journey would be a long one, and male bodies were sturdier and better suited for travel. They could do hard labor like beasts of burden without complaining.

On the other hand, Starcallers were lone-wolf professionals. Managing a faction would waste too much energy. Li Aoz's plan was to recruit only a small number of teammates and form an elite group. By comparison, men were more suitable for the team.

Moreover, according to official data, due to the influence of culture, economics, war, and politics, the proportion of male superhumans had always overwhelmingly exceeded that of women. Recruiting more male superhumans would not draw attention.

Li Aoz said no more. He simply watched her quietly and waited for an answer.

"—Tch!"

The girl crossed her arms and said unhappily.

"If you need labor, just say so. You make it sound like human trafficking—fine, then. You let me out, and I'll be your muscle."

"Not muscle. You'll protect my personal safety." Li Aoz said, "Think of yourself as my bodyguard."

"In your dreams. You want to trick me into working for free? Pah! Let's be clear: once we reach the Rose Army base, we go our separate ways!"

"Fine."

Li Aoz could not be bothered to waste words. He pressed a hand against the lock, reversed gravity, and the door unsealed.

The next moment, the door burst open. Her petite figure shot free like a leopardess, slipping beneath Li Aoz's ribs. As she fled, she turned around and smugly tugged down an eyelid. "Nyeh nyeh nyeh—did you really think I'd obediently listen to some stranger? This girl's outta here. Bye-bye!"

The instant she finished speaking, she turned and ran wildly, only to realize that the environment in front of her seemed a little off.

The farther she ran, the farther her feet drifted from the ground. After only a few steps, her body suddenly lost balance, and she crashed onto the ceiling.

Smack! "Ow!"

She rubbed her face. Even her mask had flown off as she muttered and struggled to stand.

"That hurt like hell—I mean, what the fuck is going on? This is seriously messed up. How did I end up on the ceiling?"

Nelia suddenly came to her senses. Her feet were standing on blazing hot lightbulbs, and she hurriedly pulled back her bare soles. Looking up, she saw Li Aoz standing upside down with his arms crossed, meeting her gaze.

"Am I that scary? Are you in such a hurry to get away from me?"

Li Aoz said blandly, "Go on, run."

"Uh... hehehe, ahahaha, look at you joking around. Someone as well-proportioned and dignified as you, so tranquil you're like an orchid, so graceful you put flowers and the moon to shame, so calm and elegant—a little beauty like you—how could I possibly find you scary?"

Nelia smiled sheepishly and slowly approached Li Aoz. Then she suddenly threw a punch. "I'll fucking kill you, you bastard!"

Li Aoz did not move. A golden ring lit up in his eyes, and gravity shifted again. Before Nelia's vicious punch could reach him, she was pulled as though sucked toward the end of the corridor, falling straight at Li Aoz and slamming hard into the door.

"Ow ow ow—this hurts like hell!"

The door warped under the heavy impact. Nelia coughed repeatedly, rubbing her spine as she struggled to rise from the door.

Li Aoz unhurriedly approached her again. Nelia immediately tried to punch him once more, but Li Aoz mercilessly kicked the door lock, stopping her movement. "You were fifteen meters from this door just now. Converted, that's the equivalent of five stories. You're lucky you didn't break any bones."

Even though he had lost his bodyguard skills, his Charm attribute, equivalent to twenty points, still made his words highly persuasive. "And this door is a full hundred and twenty meters from the end of the next passage. Do you want to experience falling from the top of a skyscraper? Friendly reminder: from that height, even if there's water below, it won't be any different from steel plating."

"I didn't go to much school, but I vaguely remember that h equals one-half g t squared. That is: height H equals one-half gravitational acceleration G multiplied by the square of time T."

"With an initial velocity of zero, taking g as 9.8 meters per second squared, and ignoring air resistance, we can estimate in reverse that from the moment you fall to the moment you hit the ground, it would take less than five seconds."

Li Aoz lightly evaded her two attacks. He walked along the wall and ceiling as if on level ground, circling around before extending his hand and spreading all five fingers.

"Five seconds. That's all it takes."

"A cute little girl like you would be smashed directly into a lump of flesh."

"You terrorist! You cultured brute! You well-dressed beast! Fuck your mother! You fucking idiot! I'll definitely kill you first! Did you hear me?!"

Nelia gritted her teeth. Her petite body trembled slightly. The thick door beneath her no longer seemed safe; every creak of its deformation sounded like a call from the abyss of hell.

She could neither hit him nor touch him. Her fate was entirely under his control.

What the hell was this guy's ability?

Even if those dog doctors kept saying he was a Level 5 Infected—he should not have been this mysterious, right?

Gulp...

Red-black traces faintly emerged in her pale purple eye. "Sooner or later, I'll kill you!"

"Is that so?"

Li Aoz made as if to kick open the lock.

"Then I'll open the door."

"—Fuck!"

Nelia hurriedly shut her eyes and screamed shrilly, "Mommy! Murder! Someone is publicly torturing a cute girl to death! Is there no justice? No law? No legal system?! Waaaah, there are still so many things I haven't eaten! Chocolate pudding, red bean buns, mango juice, apple pie, crispy fried chicken, cupcakes, beef pies, cheese pizza, premium sirloin steak, frosted milkshakes—aaaaah, I don't want to die!"

She cried and screamed for a long while, but the anticipated ending of being torn apart and reduced to meat paste never came.

"Huh?"

She suddenly realized something. She carefully opened one eye, then jumped up in delight. "I'm alive? Yay!"

"Yes, congratulations." Li Aoz's voice slowly drifted over. "That screaming was loud. Very loud. Although you have not died in the biological sense, I recommend looking around."

"Huh?"

Nelia suddenly realized something and stiffly turned her head.

Before her stood several medical staff and Infected who had appeared at some unknown point. They might originally have been hiding nearby from the bandits' attack, but Nelia's loud commotion had drawn them all over. They stared at the girl sitting on the ground with confused, strange expressions.

The exposed skin on Nelia's body visibly reddened and heated up. She hurriedly covered her bandage-wrapped face.

She had thought the bandages were too tight and stuffy before. Now she wished the doctors would wrap several hundred more layers around her. No—she might as well find a building and jump off it! "Don't worry. Even though you died of embarrassment, that was a pretty good performance."

Li Aoz patted her shoulder, then leaned close and whispered in her ear, "Come with me. At least I won't harm you. Nethermark Humanity lost quite a few people in battle this time. Maybe it's a good opportunity."

"Don't talk to me. Get me out of here!"

Nelia covered her head and pleaded urgently, "Quick, tell them you just beat me with an iron rod!"

"So you agree to act with me, comrade?"

"I agree! Get me out of here already, you—uh, what's your name?"

"Li Aoz." He grabbed Nelia by the scruff of her neck as though lifting a cat and casually asked, "Then what should I call you?"

"Nomi! If you dare say the name Nelia again, I'll bite your head off!"