Li Ming, having been kicked out, had no choice but to return to his apartment. But before he even entered, he saw Raiden looking at him with an expression that said, "Well, aren't you something."
It left him completely baffled. What was with the cryptic act?
But Li Ming was exhausted and had no time to chat with Raiden. After a simple greeting, he returned to his room and placed the half core fragment on the coffee table. It was his trophy, after all!
However, after showering and lying on his bed, Li Ming looked at the bruise still lingering on his waist and cautiously touched it. It was no longer as numb as before he went to the hospital, when even a light touch felt sluggish. He guessed the injection or medicine must have contained painkillers. Otherwise, it could not have been like this.
After applying the medicine, Li Ming focused his mind on the system and opened the armor interface. He found that some additional data had appeared:
Character: Li Ming
Ability: Candlelight Armor: First Light
Star Rating: B, Level: 20, Physical
Weapon: Moon God's Protection
Stigmata: None
Skills: Level 60
That was roughly what his character panel looked like. The classified information section was otherwise unremarkable: no affiliated organization, male, birthplace Shenzhou, birthday February 8, height 181 cm, weight 65 kg.
Armor Story
The candlelight left behind by the Heroes fifty thousand years ago had finally blossomed into its first light in the New Era!
Armor Story (??)
His childhood story was shrouded in shadows. All the warrior had tirelessly sought was the radiance a child longed for.
Armor Story (Requires Affection ????)
Current Affection ?? Li Ming wanted to know more about you.
Armor Damage: 70% (Repair requires Fluid Alloy *30 and Micro Reactor *3, or Fluid Alloy Block *10 and Micro Reactor *3)
Huh? When had the affection increased? Why had it suddenly gone up?!
I hadn't even put you on the bridge! How could you just scam me like this?
Li Ming thought it over and over but could not figure out why Candlelight Armor: First Light's affection had risen. Eventually, unable to make sense of it, he turned his attention to the armor damage section. This was a field that had never even appeared in the game.
But that put Li Ming in a difficult position. He had never stockpiled Fluid Alloy. When he crafted Candlelight Armor: First Light, it had taken *100 Fluid Alloy to complete the armor.
Moreover, Li Ming had estimated at the time that every unit of Fluid Alloy had to weigh at least 100 grams. Even one gram less would not do. Just thinking about it, the full 6 kilograms of Fluid Alloy had cost him all the reward money he earned from helping take down the Chiyou Organization and the HK Organization.
That had been worth at least three million!
And now this repair needed thirty units of Fluid Alloy. Wasn't that another 1.5 million?!
Once, three million lay before me, but I did not cherish it. Only after losing it did I regret it beyond measure. There is no greater pain in this world. If heaven could give me another chance, I would ask for more. Ten million would not be out of the question.
But there was no point thinking about that now. He might as well figure out a solution. There were only 170,000 left on his card. When he came to America, Su Qizhe had given Li Ming 50,000 for living expenses, but who knew that in just a few days, he would spend nearly 30,000 of it? Li Ming was furious!
"What should I do? I wonder whether materials might be cheaper in America. Or maybe I could purchase them under the laboratory's name?"
Li Ming's head was now filled with making money and where to get materials. What, hunting monsters?
Did they think he could just run into monsters everywhere?
Still, complaints aside, Li Ming had considered that method. If he could get materials as monster drops, he would grind them out in a single night.
But there were no monsters here, and he did not even know which monsters dropped what materials.
"Ordinary Deadwalkers basically drop Gemini Soul Crystals and Soul Crystals. We also collected Soul Crystals during the Changming City operation last time, so how is that determined?" Li Ming began pondering the rules behind monster material drops. This was not a game, after all, and there were no guides. "But that operation had mechs, so we got Fluid Alloy and Fluid Alloy Blocks. So only mechanical monsters drop Fluid Alloy."
Li Ming's thoughts gradually drifted to the day Anti-Entropy went bankrupt. Woohoo, just how much Fluid Alloy and how many Fluid Alloy Blocks could the Queen get with that move?
Shaking his head, Li Ming hurriedly flung those unrealistic thoughts out of his mind. It was better to earn money honestly. Still, if only he had asked Mobius for the Fluid Alloy Block formula before the Elysian Realm closed. He would not have to work so hard for money now. After all, he already had *4 Fluid Alloy Blocks. As long as he got the formula, getting six more Fluid Alloy Blocks would definitely be faster than getting thirty units of Fluid Alloy, right?
Forget it. Out of sight, out of mind. He would leave it to fate.
Li Ming then turned his attention elsewhere. The main damaged area was his kidney. There was a fist-sized hole in the left side of his waist and abdomen. Actually, it was hard to notice without close inspection.
Three of the jet ports on his back were damaged, and there was also a gash across his back that nearly split his upper body apart. The scale-like armor on his legs was damaged as well. If not for that, Li Ming figured he would not need to spend so much Fluid Alloy. It hurt just thinking about it!
So Li Ming first spent three Micro Reactors to repair the jet ports on his back.
Then he selected three Micro Reactors and clicked repair.
Fortunately, he did not have to repair it manually. Otherwise, without even a laboratory here, he would be totally helpless trying to fix a jet port.
Seeing that the armor still needed an hour to finish repairing, Li Ming turned off the lights and prepared to sleep.
But after Li Ming fell asleep, he suddenly opened his eyes, slowly sat up from the bed, and raised his hand for a look. In the darkness, the pale red lines on his right hand that had been corroded by Honkai Energy were extraordinarily vivid.
Li Ming was slightly dazed. He looked around the room, only to find the walls bathed in the glow of dusk. But it had clearly been nighttime when he went to sleep!
Had he slept for an entire day?
He shook his head and found himself unusually alert. When he pushed open the door and entered the living room, he was startled.
A man sat in Li Ming's usual spot with his back to him, watching the setting sun outside the window while holding the bottle of beer Li Ming had bought.
Li Ming quieted his steps, ready to go over and give this unknown little thief a beating. What, why not Raiden? Raiden was not that tall!
When he reached the man's back, Li Ming raised his hand, prepared to land an Inch Punch on the man's crown.
But just as his fist came down, the man spun around at incredible speed and raised a hand to block it.
Li Ming was certain he had not held back at all. What shocked him even more was that the man before him looked exactly like him. No, perhaps he was Li Ming?
"Dear me, why are you hitting so hard the moment we meet? Please, are you trying to crack open your own skull?"
"Li Ming" looked at him with a smile, but Li Ming felt that "his" smile had a distinctly smug, irritating quality.
Although this man had his face, Li Ming did not stop. Instead, his attacks became even faster and fiercer.
But every move was blocked by "Li Ming." This "Li Ming" moved like someone who had practiced martial arts for years. With a couple of nimble dodges, he avoided all of Li Ming's punches while complaining, "Oh my, why are your fists so soft? You're not decisive at all!"
Li Ming gritted his teeth. His footwork changed, and a Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds step carried him before that "Li Ming." Raising his hand, he unleashed a set of White Tiger Listens to the Wind.
"White Tiger Style of Inch Punch?" That "Li Ming" casually watched the incoming fists, batting them all aside one after another. "I remember you could already achieve Returning Heart. Where are your Three Hearts?"
His technique being exposed so suddenly by this "Li Ming" left Li Ming uncertain. But what puzzled him was that this "Li Ming" did not have the technique entirely right.
What he practiced was the Cunxin Fist Technique, not Inch Punch. And it should have been the Six Forms of White Tiger Listens to the Wind, not White Tiger Style. Yet this man's movements showed that he was indeed familiar with every one of Li Ming's moves.
His movements changed again. An energy sphere instantly condensed in his hand and shot forth with his palm. "Inch Punch: Chaotic Thunder!"
This was a non-combo version of Inch Punch: Thunderbolt, mainly meant for instant casting.
"Hahaha, Chaotic Thunder Style? Good!" That "Li Ming" drew one hand behind his back as a crimson energy sphere gathered in his palm, then struck out in an instant as well.
The two energy spheres collided in midair for a moment. The yellow sphere vanished, while the crimson sphere continued onward without losing force, flying straight toward Li Ming.
Li Ming could only unleash another Inch Punch: Chaotic Thunder to cancel out the crimson Chaotic Thunder.
Seeing that this move would not work, Li Ming changed techniques again and closed in. "Inch Punch: Azure Dragon Emerging from Water: Rock Breaker!"
When Li Ming unleashed Rock Breaker, that "Li Ming" seemed to freeze for a moment, as though confused. But both his physical ability and reaction speed far exceeded Li Ming's expectations.
With merely a casual crossing of his palms, he deflected the mountain-shattering force of Li Ming's attack.
Seeing that Azure Dragon Emerging from Water had some effect on him, Li Ming decisively chose to use it against him. But after using Rock Breaker and Cloud Mist, the two forms of Azure Dragon Emerging from Water, Li Ming realized it no longer worked.
This "Li Ming" seemed to possess a photographic memory. A move only had some effect the first time it was used. Once he had seen it, he could easily block all of Li Ming's attacks.
"Hm? A new move? You actually have the leisure to invent new techniques?" That Li Ming seemed disdainful. "You cannot even achieve the most basic Returning Heart of the Black Tortoise Style anymore, yet you still have the mind to learn other things!"
That "Li Ming" raised his brows, his gaze sharp as a blade. The smugness vanished from his face at once. "You clearly gave up, so why can you still come out? Since you refuse to keep the agreement, don't blame me!"
His figure blurred. Under the glow of dusk, Li Ming could only see a faint afterimage before that "Li Ming" closed in. Li Ming instinctively wanted to resist and use Azure Dragon Emerging from Water, but to his surprise, the other man did not retreat rapidly while using Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds.
Instead, he surged forward with the momentum and drove a heavy punch into Li Ming's stomach.
A tremendous force hit him. Li Ming felt more pain than when he had been struck by the beam from that Code??? Clone I today. But what shocked him even more was that the move just now seemed to be, "Inch Punch: Vermillion Bird Treading Clouds: Red Sparrow Chasing the Sun!"
This was the Cunxin Fist Technique's only counterattack after a dodge. Exert seven parts force and hold back three; turn retreat into advance, move like a vermillion bird—this was Red Sparrow Chasing the Sun!
Hua had explained the principles of this move to Li Ming, but he had never managed to grasp it. Though he had gained some insight when facing the Zhu Yan Mech last time, he still could not perform it.
But the "Li Ming" before him had mastered it. Why?
The blow sent him crashing into the wall behind him. He dropped to his knees and vomited several mouthfuls of bitter fluid.
"That really hurts!" Li Ming wiped the corner of his mouth. He had thought this was some kind of dream, but now it seemed otherwise. "Then what exactly are you?"
Li Ming looked at him and finally asked the question that had been bothering him. But "Li Ming" looked back with pity in his eyes. "So you've forgotten everything. Then why did you come out?"
That "Li Ming" did not press his advantage. Instead, he sat down and looked at Li Ming. "Didn't we agree? You would give me the body so I could find them and demand an explanation. Ask them why they abandoned us. Why did you come out now? They obviously don't care about us. They obviously don't care. Why did you come out? Those people obviously want to kill you. Why did you come out?!"
With each accusation, his voice grew louder, his tone full of indignation. Even the sky flashed with a clap of thunder.
As Li Ming endured the questioning, a nameless fire slowly rose in his heart, and a faint light flickered around his body.
"...Is it that girl named Himeko? Hahaha, you obviously don't care about her. Didn't you see how much her father hated you? We are wanderers. We are people who have been abandoned. They forgot us. No one has ever cared about us. That girl will become just like them in the end!"
"Shut up!"
As soon as that "Li Ming" finished speaking, Candlelight Armor: First Light suddenly appeared on Li Ming's body. At this moment, Candlelight Armor: First Light truly resembled first light, releasing a wavering yet steadfast glow like candlelight.
Li Ming struggled to his feet. As he looked at that "Li Ming," the flames in his heart burned fiercely. The moment he mentioned Himeko, the rage filling Li Ming's chest erupted completely. He had still restrained himself somewhat in the apartment.
But once his fury was ignited, he no longer cared about any of that. He drew his body in slightly, widened his stance, and pulled back his fist to gather strength.
"What, are you angry?" Though "Li Ming" had been hysterical just moments ago, the smug look suddenly returned to his face. Yet his gaze at Li Ming was serious as he assumed a stance and waited for Li Ming's attack.
"Inch Punch: Mountain Collapse!"
Yellow streams of light ignited around him, and in an instant, he closed in on that "Li Ming." Though rage surged through his heart, Li Ming found his mind exceptionally clear.
His fist shot toward "Li Ming," but that "Li Ming" raised both hands before him and stepped back, avoiding Li Ming's punch. Yet after entering that unknown state, Li Ming did not panic. He followed through, transforming the force of his fist into the power of a kick and sending that "Li Ming" flying with one strike, smashing straight through the ceiling!
With a powerful push, Li Ming shot through the hole he had made and soared high into the air. Yellow energy flared around him as his body twisted like a dragon. He raised his leg high. That "Li Ming" flew through the air, staring at him in astonishment as Li Ming descended with the momentum of a battle axe, intent on tearing him apart.
"Inch Punch: Heaven Render!"
Yellow light poured down like a meteor, slamming that "Li Ming" heavily into the ground!
Before you continue