"You said you wanted humanity to understand the weight of life anew, yet aren't you also taking the lives of others?! Someone like you! What right do you have to make choices on humanity's behalf?!"
"I'm not making choices on humanity's behalf!"
It was a heavy exoskeleton armor, after all. Even though V2V's output was already seven times that of GD-78-2, his attacks could still be blocked effortlessly by Sazabi.
So that meant... Xia Ya should be enduring the same terrifying gravity as he was!
This guy... Was he also continuously strengthening his body's ability to withstand the strain for this armor, for this plan, just like him?!
"This is evolution!"
Xia Ya drew a beam tomahawk from behind him and swung it at V2V's waist with terrifying force! Xu Qi was forced to block it with his beam saber.
And at that very moment! Relying on Sazabi's weight, Xia Ya charged forward!
The entire weight of the exoskeleton armor slammed into V2V, sending it flying as expected! It crashed into the wall of the passage behind him, leaving a deep dent.
"Ah!!"
V2V's excellent force-dissipation system had helped Xu Qi withstand most of the impact, but not everyone could endure Sazabi's charge.
"It's the growing pains humanity must endure to evolve toward a more perfect direction! Now that you know what happened to Romieu, why don't you understand?! Xu Qi!"
"Wha... What a joke!"
V2V rose again and kicked off, forcing Sazabi back.
"In your eyes, everyone whose soul is shackled by gravity should be wiped out!"
Xu Qi precisely blocked Sazabi's giant ax, then immediately counterattacked, driving his head into the other machine's helmet and making Xia Ya endure a considerable impact inside the armor as well.
"But many people will die because of that. There's no question that it's wrong! What use is there in creating a world that doesn't understand how to cherish the human heart?!"
"That's exactly why they need to experience true pain, so they can understand the weight of life!"
"That's not how it works!"
Xu Qi kicked Xia Ya away, gritted his teeth, and pushed the Solar Furnace to maximum output! HK Particles spread across the entire machine! Fifteen Gs of acceleration pressed down on Xu Qi in an instant!
I won't stop... I can still endure it, and I have to endure it!
Those people... the passengers on 956! And all the countless people still waiting for them! Right now, I'm their hope!
"If everyone can't understand one another, then what use is everything you're doing?! The pain itself doesn't bring respect or understanding for life! It only brings fear!"
"Then!" Xia Ya controlled Sazabi as it struggled back to its feet.
"Bring your convictions and resolve, and prove to me that you're right!"
Sazabi's shoulder armor suddenly opened! Within Xu Qi's field of vision, five cylindrical flying objects on each side—ten in total—shot out from inside Sazabi's shoulders.
What was this...
"Funnels!"
"What?!"
The cylinders rapidly approached V2V and instantly fired high-heat beams at it from different angles!
At that moment, Mobius was watching the video feed. Her originally normal human pupils suddenly contracted, briefly forming slits!
"Floating cannons?!"
There was no possibility of resisting at all. In this already cramped space, the floating cannons were practically invincible!
"Ah!!"
Thanks to V2V's high-strength armor plating, the first volley from the floating cannons injured Xu Qi, but not severely enough to leave him critically wounded.
"Damn it!"
Xu Qi performed an almost vertical flip in the cramped passage, dodging the second volley. At the same time, he swung his beam saber with precision and destroyed one of the floating cannons!
"How about this, then?"
Xia Ya concentrated his Mental Power to its limit. The floating cannons fired at intervals while moving chaotically, from different distances and angles!
Upper right, lower left, straight ahead—every angle, every direction, and... completely jumbled timing!
"Ah!"
Xu Qi could only desperately dodge the most dangerous high-heat beams, but there was no way he could avoid them all. The floating cannons' hits brought him immense pain.
And then!
Xia Ya controlled Sazabi as it charged ferociously, throwing a punch! It struck V2V directly in the head!
"Ah!!"
The damage caused by this blow was tremendous! The head of any exoskeleton armor was where a direct attack caused the greatest harm to its operator!
The neural connection passed directly through the cerebral cortex. The pain and damage caused by the violent shaking and impact were undoubtedly fatal!
Especially when it came from a heavy exoskeleton armor with an output as high as Sazabi's.
V2V was sent flying by the punch!
Its body smashed through the wall at the corner, revealing the hollow space behind it. V2V collapsed onto the floor.
And Xu Qi... had also passed out...
"Xu Qi!!"
In Meilong's command center, if Fu Hua hadn't instantly reached Mei's side and caught her, she would have fallen straight to the floor and passed out just like Xu Qi.
Elysia, who was relying on Vil-V's monitoring equipment to keep the livestream running, immediately covered her mouth. Her breathing nearly stopped at that moment...
In front of the screen, countless other people were watching as well. They all knew that the boy wearing the black-and-white exoskeleton armor was trying to save the lives of everyone aboard an entire train.
And yet... he had fallen.
At the rail network center, Vil-V had still been doing everything she could to help restore the system when she saw this scene. She stared blankly at the screen and murmured softly, "Get up..."
At the substation, Kevin frowned. "Don't stop here... Xu Qi."
In the command center, Fu Hua supported Mei and murmured, "It's not time to give up yet..."
Pardofelis clenched both fists. "How can you fall here, boss..."
Yae stared fixedly at the screen. "Get up! Xu Qi!"
Inside the Golden Courtyard, Aponia clasped her hands together and prayed alongside Griseo.
Kalpas, meanwhile, faced the window in silence.
Su, who was rushing toward Xu Qi from Jinqiao Base at full speed, naturally saw this scene as well.
"If you have to fall, at least fall onto my operating table..."
Aboard 956, the boy Kosma, who was crouching on the floor with both hands clasped over his head, seemed to sense something. Xu Qi...
Aboard the helicopter, Mobius and Eden had somehow clasped hands.
"Get up! Go become the hero... you want to be! Xu Qi!"
Go Back and Show Griseo Some Love
"When you're ready, the Grim Reaper won't come for you, Xu Qi."
The words were clearer than ever before. No... it wasn't a matter of clarity anymore! It was as if... someone was speaking to me?
Xu Qi suddenly opened his eyes! Yet what he saw was not the place where he had been fighting. Mist filled every direction, obscuring everything...
"Who are you?"
Xu Qi froze. He hadn't opened his mouth to speak. The instant the thought appeared in his mind, however, his voice naturally began echoing through the space.
"You... truly are someone who qualifies."
"Qualifies?... I don't understand. What does that mean? Where is this?"
"This is the Mental Domain belonging to a New Type."
"New... Type?"
"Under the interference of the HK Particles produced by the Solar Furnace, when humans continuously use their neural cells to control exoskeleton armor, those with highly developed brains may see their cerebral utilization exceed a certain threshold.
"Those who successfully surpass that threshold will see their cerebral utilization rise to a considerable level, allowing them to use Mental Power. That is the New Type—the New Humans."
"New Humans? No... How do you know all this? Who are you?"
"My name is Romieu."
Xu Qi's expression changed! Romieu?! Wasn't he already...
"That's right. I'm already dead."
"You..."
"Only a few fragments of my consciousness remain in these subway tunnels."
"Were you also the one who tried to speak with me in my dreams before?"
"That's right... Our master, Xia Ya. I'm sorry. It seems he has completely lost faith in humanity and fallen into such despair."
Xu Qi shook his head.
"This isn't his fault, and you don't need to apologize for him. All we need to do is stop him and make him understand once more what it means to be human."
For some reason, after Xu Qi finished speaking, he felt as though he had heard Romieu laugh.
"The boy I saved back then has already grown to this point..."
"Back then? Saved? What... What are you talking about?"
"The human brain is a wondrous thing. It automatically seals away certain memories of pain so overwhelming that they could kill a person, waiting for the right time to release them.
"Your experience was even more unusual. Someone deliberately helped seal away those memories. That's why, as you grew, you could never remember anything related to them."
Xu Qi froze.
Before his eyes, the world that had been filled with mist suddenly gained a few golden butterflies fluttering through it.
This was...
"Aponia?"
The golden butterflies paused briefly. Then, like a mother, they circled Xu Qi with tender affection. In the end, they transformed into specks of golden light and scattered around him.
"Oh? It seems... she's a very kind person as well. Xu Qi, please, on my behalf, help restore our master to the person he once was."
······
"Hey, kid! Stay away from me, and stop crying! It's not time to despair yet!"
The young Xu Qi stopped crying. He stared blankly at the big brother in front of him. For some reason, even now, the other man could still display such a bright smile.
"My name is Romieu. What's yours, kid?"
"Xu Qi..."
"Xu Qi? That's a wonderful name. You have to live bravely! No matter what happens, you're not allowed to give up! Understand, kid?"
"Mm... What about you?"
"Me?" Romieu seemed surprised to be asked such a question. He froze for a moment, then smiled. "As for me... I suppose I can only become your hope, kid."
"Hope?"
"Mm! It's something that can guide humanity ever forward... Goodbye, kid! If... we ever meet again."
······
Xu Qi opened his eyes once more! This time, what entered his vision was the pitch-black ceiling of the tunnel.
Pain instantly spread throughout his body, but Xu Qi merely clenched his teeth and forced himself to endure it. At the same time... everything was clear... incredibly clear!
Not only his six senses, but also his connection with the entire exoskeleton armor! Everything had become exceptionally clear!
I see now... No wonder Mobius never wanted me to use V2V. So there was something like this hidden inside the exoskeleton armor.
And I remember everything now...
Why had I wanted so badly to join the Metro Company after graduating from university? Why had I always felt such a strange attachment to this company?
And why... had I been unable to turn a blind eye to those tragedies that were about to happen...
Before you continue