Now, Who Wants to Die?!

Li Ming rolled his wrists, then moved his feet. Watching the roaring flames spewing from the Zhu Yan Mech, he felt no fear at all. With Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds, he closed in and passed straight through the wall of fire.

Li Ming only felt a wave of heat wash over him, his armor turning slightly red as its system warned him, "Armor unit overheating. Damage will occur in one minute."

One minute? Give me one minute and I'll blow the bastard apart!

After repeatedly using Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds, Li Ming was starting to feel short of breath. Fortunately, he had broken through the flames—but the moment he emerged, Zhu Yan's cannon was already aimed at him.

Li Ming could even see the flash of fire within the barrel.

He ducked low and narrowly, somewhat awkwardly, dodged the incoming rocket. After it flew into the sea of flames, a violent explosion followed.

Honestly, Li Ming had been blown up so many times that he could barely hear the explosions anymore. If his armor's temperature-control system had not been so effective, he would probably have been cooked senseless by now.

He raised Moon God's Protection and aimed at the opening in Zhu Yan's abdomen. Yellow light flashed along the gun's body as Li Ming decisively activated Moon God's Protection's skill, [Crescent Strike].

The gray bullet was unlike any of the previous rounds. After striking the Zhu Yan Mech, its immense force lifted the entire machine into the air. Grayish-purple energy swirled around it, as though something had restrained it, leaving it suspended in midair.

Skill [Crescent Strike]: Sends the target enemy airborne and locks it in time and space for 3.3 seconds. Costs 12 SP. Cooldown: 12 seconds.

Seeing the Zhu Yan enter a time fracture state, Li Ming immediately put away Moon God's Protection and began gathering power in his hand. Of the 3.3 seconds of time fracture, he needed only one second to charge up. "Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt!"

The two-meter-wide yellow sphere of energy in his hand carried a violent cyclone, sweeping up dust from the ground. After learning Mountain Collapse and Heaven Render, Li Ming's mastery of Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt had risen another level. Yet after unleashing it, his movements did not stop.

Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt slammed into the Zhu Yan Mech. Suspended in the air, the Zhu Yan Mech had no way to retaliate. The yellow energy sphere crushed against its frame, cracks spreading across its heavy armor. Even the small fragments that broke off its body did not fall, remaining frozen in midair.

Li Ming drew back his right hand to his waist and lowered into a horse stance. Inch Strength Extreme: Thunderbolt had taken around two seconds to unleash, and the 3.3-second time fracture was about to end. As the pale purple energy slowly dissipated, the Zhu Yan Mech seemed to regain its ability to move, and time began flowing again over its body.

Before the Zhu Yan Mech could react, Li Ming had already finished gathering power. It had only just landed when Li Ming suddenly vanished from where he stood, his whole body trailing yellow streams of light—the result of leaking energy.

"Inch Punch: Mountain Collapse!"

His right fist struck Zhu Yan's body. The armor around its abdomen had already been completely shattered, and through the gap, Li Ming could even see the pilot's horrified expression. Fear now covered that dark, sinister face.

But Li Ming showed no mercy. Those people from the organization had shown no mercy when they attacked the combat squads, and this Zhu Yan Mech had certainly not held back when it bombarded them.

"Inch Punch: Heaven Render!"

One foot stomped the ground while the other kicked Zhu Yan into the air. That single kick sent it directly into an overloaded state. Although the Zhu Yan Mech tried to struggle, how could its bulky body compare to Li Ming striking in fury?

All it could do was continuously fire its flamethrowers, attempting to use the intense flames to suppress Li Ming's next assault.

Although the Zhu Yan Mech had entered overload and its shield was exceptionally thick, Li Ming did not care. By the time his body passed through the flames, his armor's shield had fallen to 89 points.

"Warning. Armor damage exceeds 60%. Breaches detected in outer armor. Temperature-control system is about to fail. Warning..."

This time, as Li Ming passed through the flames, he clearly felt their scorching heat. Although the temperature-control system was still functioning somewhat, he could feel the fire slipping through the gaps in his armor.

The licking flames burned him, bringing a trace of pain—but they also cleared his mind.

Though he was only three meters above the ground, the Zhu Yan pilot felt as if he were being tortured beyond measure.

Through the gaps, he vaguely saw the armored man burst from the flames, sweep past him, and fly above his head. Pale yellow streams of light surrounded him, and the pilot had no idea whether it was leaking electricity or something else.

At that moment, he felt that all the legends the old folks used to tell were true. So martial arts really could reach such a profound realm that one transcended humanity itself—like the giant sword that pierced heaven and earth, or the demonic beasts that ravaged Shenzhou.

He had joined the Chiyou Organization because he thought those legendary demonic beasts were cool, but he had never believed in any stories about Immortal Chi Yuan. Now, he was starting to believe.

"Grandma... so everything you said was true..."

Unfortunately, Li Ming gave him no time for sentimentality. He stepped on the mech's body to borrow force, violently swung himself around, then raised his leg. His right leg came down like a battle-axe.

The Zhu Yan Mech's overloaded, reddened energy shield was shattered to pieces by that kick. Carrying the mech with it, the enormous force sent it crashing down like a massive fireball with a deafening boom.

The shockwave made everyone nearby turn their heads. The violent blast swept across the entire airport, and smoke soon filled the area.

Everyone was curious about who had survived in the end.

The Chiyou Organization members cared even more, because it meant the previously balanced situation—one that had slightly favored them—had been broken.

But contrary to their wishes, when the dust cleared, Zhu Yan's massive figure did not appear. Instead, only a somewhat slender figure stood there.

It was Li Ming.

When the person in charge at the combat center saw Li Ming, his heart surged with excitement. At first, he had not even noticed someone like Li Ming. He had only called in the capable fighters who had filed records locally. If Raiden Ryoma had not contacted them and told them to pay special attention to protecting Li Ming, he would not have pulled Li Ming's file to review.

And there it was: a B rating stamped on his record, with only one comment—Defeated a Quasi-Herrscher. A Quasi-Herrscher was an existence close to a Honkai Emperor. That was no ordinary achievement.

But in truth, he had misunderstood. The counterfeit Boss Yang was merely a clone. His energy level had reached that of a Quasi-Herrscher only because of the core, but judging by the counterfeit Boss Yang's actual abilities, calling him a Quasi-Quasi-Herrscher would not have been wrong either.

After seeing that file, the person in charge had been fired up. Especially after seeing the three men he had summoned being beaten back, he could no longer worry about Raiden Ryoma's order to protect Li Ming. The place was about to be torn apart—who could still care about that?

Still, he had not forcibly drafted him. Just like the local martial artists he had summoned, he asked first. Though he still did not know what the compensation would be, his own job was probably secure. When the time came, it would be the branch's turn to bleed heavily.

But destroying a Titan in just twenty minutes—this strength was far beyond an ordinary B-rank.

He looked at his watch. Support from the other branches would arrive in ten minutes. The Chiyou Organization had apparently mobilized everything and joined forces with the outside HK Organization. They were not targeting only this place; every city had been attacked, though Changming City and the surrounding cities had suffered the heaviest assaults.

For a place like his, a city farther inland with relatively little unrest, an A-rank Valkyrie leader and two mech squads had generally been enough to handle all kinds of problems within the city. There was not even a dedicated training institution in the city. It could only be said that years of peace had made them forget the chaos outside.

"Good. It's time for things to change—not just in Changming City..."

He no longer kept his attention on Li Ming and instead turned to command the combat squads. When the mechs and Valkyries could not spare a hand, the combat squads were the main source of firepower. Now, he had to direct them on how to deal with the group that had entered the airport.

Li Ming walked out of the smoke. His armor mask's filtration was excellent, so the dust did not choke him into losing composure.

He checked his condition. HP: 645, Shield: 80, SP: 245.

His energy bar was nearly full. Even though blowing apart the Zhu Yan Mech had consumed some SP, it had immediately filled back up again. He had no idea what was going on.

Yet he was full of energy now. Aside from the severe damage to his armor, his HP loss was nothing much—not even comparable to one slap from Canned Food.

"Now, who wants to die!"

Honestly, Li Ming was getting a little carried away. But even so, no one present dared say anything. He had to put on a show, after all—he had taken first blood.

He swept his gaze around. The Valkyries were still deadlocked, though destroying a Zhu Yan had greatly raised their morale. The Titan squad and Zhu Yan squad were still playing their little back-and-forth game; without another half hour, neither side would likely enter overload. As for the three men who had been summoned, they still had the will to fight, but they were being suppressed badly.

After thinking it over, Li Ming decided to help those three men first. Otherwise, they probably would not last until he finished supporting the Valkyries.

With his decision made, he moved his feet and charged straight toward the three Shaman/Vermillion Bird Mechs.