Long Time No See

Even if it was a guaranteed first-meet kill, after dying that many times, even an idiot would instinctively learn to dodge, right?

Now, aside from luck, Huai Shi could only rely on his abundant experience with death to contend with him.

If the Book of Destiny rated it, Red Glove's specialized dagger fighting was undoubtedly above LV8. Against a weakling like him, that level of skill was a terrifying gap that meant near-instant death.

If he wanted to win...

Right in front of Red Glove, he released his left hand. The heavy weapon formed from Source Matter vanished in an instant and returned to Huai Shi's soul.

He had abandoned his most advantageous weapon so abruptly.

The next moment, after awkwardly twisting aside from Red Glove's dagger, his feet suddenly planted themselves on the ground. He bent low into a horse stance, then—

The first move of the first set of Military Boxing.

—Forward stance straight punch!

Bang!

His fist struck Red Glove in the chest. Beneath the bandages, ruptured wounds bloomed scarlet.

After discarding the heavy axe, his movements were more than twice as fast. But his strength was far too feeble; compared with a heavyweight boxer's punch that could KO an opponent in one blow, it was still barely painful.

Yet the moment he was hit, Red Glove's movements abruptly froze. He stared wide-eyed in disbelief, his flushed face nearly dripping blood. In an instant, tears streamed down his face beneath the torrential rain, and he began coughing violently.

"Does tear gas feel good?"

Huai Shi grinned and clenched his left fist again.

As his fingers tightened, black grains of sand continuously leaked through the gaps between them, atomizing in the heavy moisture and flowing downward.

Tribulation Ash.

The essence of the Hand of Confinement lay in the conversion between Source Matter and physical matter—in other words, Huai Shi could turn the Source Matter that originally formed part of his soul into matter, limited to substances within iron's domain.

And as a byproduct of Huai Shi's ability, these iron grains—so fine they were nearly invisible to the naked eye—carried the intense pain and sorrow within the Tribulation Ash.

Once they entered the blood within a wound, they would immediately erupt and return to Source Matter—forcefully pouring Huai Shi's pain into his enemy!

Combined with Military Boxing, this move could barely be called Military Path Killing Fist: Tear Gas, right? If he had been someone full of positive energy, perhaps it could have become Happy Fat Guy Punch instead.

Unfortunately, what did that have to do with a cold, merciless negative-energy generator like him?

So he stepped forward, avoiding the wildly swinging dagger. He clenched his left fist, aimed at Red Glove's face, and threw a punch!

"This one's for Old Yang!"

Then another punch!

"This one's for Old Liu!"

Ignoring the dagger slicing past his cheek, he tangled with Red Glove. Like wild beasts fighting to the death, he struck that crumbling face with his clumsy Military Boxing without any form or pattern, sharing every bit of his pain with Red Glove without holding anything back!

Finally, he clenched his fist and poured every ounce of rage and pain into it.

"This one's for myself!"

Bang!

Red Glove's dagger flew from his hand and embedded itself in Huai Shi's neck and shoulder. Under Huai Shi's fist, Red Glove's head was like a battered basketball, nearly knocked clean off his neck.

He gathered every scrap of strength he had and kicked the youth straddling him away. Staggering to his feet, he clutched his skull, which felt ready to burst beneath the assault of pain, and roared hoarsely:

"...What the fuck are you?!"

"Why ask so many questions? You recruiting male escorts over there too?"

In the downpour, Huai Shi slowly climbed up from the ground and grinned at him. That bloodstained face broke into a smile. "Huai Shi, male, seventeen years old, a righteous high school student... probably."

That was his self-introduction upon their first meeting.

Then Huai Shi opened his hand again. Pale fire ignited in his palm as he exhausted his last trace of Source Matter and gripped the invisible weapon.

Dragging the heavy axe behind him, he advanced step by step. "Come on. Intermission and introductions are over, friend.

Let us—"

A piercing sound suddenly burst forth. The invisible axe carved a deep groove across the ground, and fleeting sparks sprayed from the waterfall-like rain.

Anger blazed like fire, heating the invisible axe blade red. It illuminated the youth's pale face and the savage curve at the corner of his mouth.

"—begin again!"

Above the black Sky Dome, blazing lightning streaked through the suffocating rain, while the thunder arrived long after.

This was the end of the battle.

Behind Red Glove, the burning rock music from the sports car had finally reached its climax. The elegy sang out hoarsely, echoing in rain that seemed ready to drown the whole world.

Expressionless, Red Glove slowly rose.

Facing Huai Shi, he clenched both fists. His cracked knuckles rubbed together, crackling sharply.

A standard Roman unarmed combat stance.

This time, he had neither hesitation nor fear.

Even if they died together.

All it would take was one strike.

At that instant, their roars rang out through the steaming mist. Through the heavy curtain of rain, the clash of iron erupted between peals of thunder.

As he charged forward, Huai Shi roared and hurled the splitting axe in his hand with all his strength. The rain curtain was torn apart with a shrill howl.

Before the axe blade dissipated, it cleaved into Red Glove's shoulder.

The sound of his collarbone shattering was like firewood snapping apart in a blaze.

In that instant, Red Glove had no time to dodge. He felt the youth slam into him, driving cold iron through his body.

—It was the dagger that had originally been embedded in Huai Shi's shoulder.

The immense force drove him backward step by step until he was pinned against the wrecked sports car. The dagger piercing his body sank deeply into the car's shell like a nail.

"Farewell, Red Glove."

This was Huai Shi's final whisper.

Through the haze and dizziness, Red Glove seemed to hear Huai Shi say something. But when he lowered his head, he could not make it out. The rain was too loud.

Only the song from the broken CD player lingered in his ears, the singer's hoarse murmur.

"You're face to face..."

"With the Man who Sold the World..."

—Face to face with you was the man who had forsaken the world.

The instant he saw Huai Shi light a match, he laughed at himself and lowered his eyes wearily. "Ah... so high school students in East Xia... are monsters too..."

Amid the endless downpour, the match slowly fell from Huai Shi's hand.

It dropped into the ruptured fuel tank.

Soon, as the song abruptly cut off, a deafening explosion erupted.

Crimson flames burst from the crimson sports car and surged toward the sky, swallowing everything within reach.

Burning it all to ash.

Soon, they went out again. Amid the choking smoke, only a charred Red Glove lay silently in the wreckage. There was no trace of anything else.

"It is finally over." Crow landed on his shoulder and sighed softly. "It was beautiful, like a miracle. You did very well, Huai Shi."

Huai Shi said nothing. He merely leaned wearily against a shipping container, sitting in the rainwater.

For some reason, he suddenly remembered himself seven years ago, when he had first held a weapon.

If the Huai Shi of that time had seen the scene before him, he surely would have broken down and cried like a coward, right?

But that Huai Shi from the past had already been killed by his own hands, along with that nightmare...

This must be what they called growing up, right?

"I gazed a gazely stare at all the millions here..."

He closed his eyes and softly sang the ending the song had never reached. "We must have died alone, a long, long time ago..."

We must have died one after another, a long, long time ago...

And also a long, long time from now.

Not long afterward, the sound of brakes came from afar.

A row of enormous headlights shone directly on Huai Shi.

Amid heavy footsteps, the entire scene was surrounded by those familiar Ascender suppression troops.

After all, this was the Special Affairs Department. Once they mobilized, all of New Sea fell under surveillance, and no Source Matter fluctuation could escape their eyes.

With so many units mobilized, reaching the scene in ten minutes could not be considered slow.

Unfortunately, everything here had ended far faster than anyone expected.

Soon, a middle-aged man in a raincoat pushed through the crowd. He looked somewhat old, with graying hair. Beneath his thick raincoat, the outline of a rapid-response vest bulged, with the faint shape of heavy firearms visible beneath it.

He surveyed the surroundings before finally looking toward Huai Shi.

"Where's Red Glove?" he asked. "Where is he?"

Huai Shi raised a hand and pointed at the wreckage of the car.

"Dead?" The middle-aged man stared in astonishment at the thoroughly burned corpse and the remaining charred glove. Disbelief filled his face. "You did this?"

"Actually, it was a bald hero passing by."

Huai Shi chuckled softly. "Just as I was about to be murdered, he suddenly descended from the heavens and saved me. After killing Red Glove with one palm strike, he brushed off his clothes and left. If you insist on a name, you may call him Peiqi the Hero of Huaihai Road."

Obviously, that pile of nonsense had no credibility whatsoever.

Because there was surveillance footage at the scene.

The dock's security guards were not idiots. The moment they heard explosions and gunfire, they called the police.

"An Ascender?"

After quickly reviewing the footage, the middle-aged man looked at Huai Shi with a complicated expression. It was true that Huai Shi had killed a Green Sun terrorist, but there were far too many suspicious details in what had happened before that... If everyone simply went home and pretended nothing had happened, it would be too disrespectful to the Special Affairs Department.

"So..." He sighed. "Kid, before you cooperate with our investigation, do you have anything to say?"

Huai Shi lowered his head and thought seriously for a long while, scratching his soaking-wet hair. "If I have to offer some takeaway, it is that you really cannot listen to rock music on a phone, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I should save up and buy a CD player later."

"..."

The middle-aged man had nothing more to say about Huai Shi's thick-skinned attitude. He waved a hand, and one of his subordinates came forward, cuffed Huai Shi's left hand, then hauled him toward the armored vehicle behind them.

Looking at the slowly opening door before him and the confinement cell separated within it, Huai Shi finally could not help sighing. Sure enough, I should not have acted on impulse in situations like this, right? Well, that is great. I will not have to worry about food anymore. Maybe someone will feed me for the rest of my life.

So next time I do something like this, I really should buy a hood first, right?

A Peiqi mask alone is completely useless.

"...So, Director Fu, where exactly do you intend to take an employee of the Astronomical Society?"

At that moment, he heard a cool voice behind him. "If I remember correctly, although the Special Affairs Department has the authority to supervise members of the Astronomical Society, the authority to detain, handle, and try them belongs solely to the central governing council of the country in which they are located, does it not?

"Furthermore, tonight he has just represented the Astronomical Society in eliminating a malignant tumor Green Sun planted in the Present Realm. No matter how one looks at it, there is no reason for him to receive such treatment."

Huai Shi turned around in astonishment and saw the girl in the wheelchair.

It was Ai Qing.

Her expression was calm, her hands folded composedly atop the blanket over her knees. Perhaps due to the late-night chill, her fingers were so white they seemed translucent, each blue vein clearly visible.

Behind her, her diligent female driver held a large umbrella, not allowing a single drop of rain to fall on her.

The middle-aged man, whom she had called Director Fu for the first time, was stunned for a long while. He looked at Ai Qing, then could not help looking back at Huai Shi several times. "A member of the Astronomical Society? Him? Since when?"

"Five days ago, when Huai Shi voluntarily became bait, he signed the Astronomical Society's civilian duty assistance agreement. It is valid for one month, which means that he is still a temporary employee of the Astronomical Society."

As she spoke, Ai Qing took an agreement from her document case and displayed it to Director Fu. "Therefore, his personal safety and his actions are the responsibility of the Astronomical Society.

"If you have any doubts about this fight, I will bring him to the Special Affairs Department tomorrow or the day after to provide a detailed explanation. But for now, could you please remove his handcuffs?"

Director Fu looked expressionlessly down at the agreement in Ai Qing's hand, but did not take it. After a long time, he gave a quiet laugh. "This is the first time I have heard you use the word 'please.' I am truly flattered."

He waved a hand, signaling his subordinates to release Huai Shi and remove the handcuffs.

Before leaving, he patted Huai Shi on the shoulder. "Remember not to get too full of yourself, kid. I really hope I will not see you in a Special Affairs Department prison someday..."

With that, he got into the vehicle and led his team away.

In the silence, there was only the stunned Huai Shi and the girl beneath the umbrella.

"When did I sign that contract with you?" Huai Shi looked blankly at the stack of agreements Ai Qing casually tossed into a puddle. "How come I did not know?"

"I signed it for you. It was printed a little over ten minutes ago, still warm. The ink has not even dried yet. It seems that guy saw through it too, though. You could say he gave me some face."

"...By the way, did you not go to Jinling?"

"Ah, I lied to you."

Ai Qing calmly held a tiny hand-warmer. "If I said that I felt you were hiding something from me, so I put a tracker in your pocket, and that I watched everything from beginning to end here, would you be angry?"

Huai Shi stood there stupidly for a long time, then nodded. "...A little?"

"Oh, then be angry. You are not special."

Ai Qing nodded unconcernedly and casually took something from her document case before tossing it into Huai Shi's arms.

He caught it in a fluster and discovered that it seemed to be a magnetic card, though it was made of some kind of alloy and felt heavy in his hand. Its front bore an embossed globe symbol, flanked by thorn and laurel-leaf crests. There was also a clasp on the back, allowing it to be worn on the chest.

"What is this?"

"Your life-saving charm."

She said coldly, "From today onward, you are the confidential secretary to the New Sea prosecutor under the East Asian branch of the Astronomical Society. To be honest, I do not care what exactly you are hiding. But if you do not want to be imprisoned for murder, you should prepare to work obediently for me."

Huai Shi stared at her. "I... have I been recruited into the establishment?"

Sure enough, Water Margin had been right: if you wanted to become an official, commit murder and arson, then accept recruitment. He had just killed someone and started a fire, and now he had become a member of the Astronomical Society?

And he was even a secretary. Heh, a male secretary. How novel...

"This is not recruitment. It is 'serving your sentence.'"

Ai Qing glanced at his foolishly delighted smile and cruelly crushed that tiny shred of hope in his heart. "Simply put, you do the work, you write the reports, you take the blame, and you go die... That is all your job entails.

"I hope you are prepared. Before your summer vacation ends, there will be plenty of work waiting for you—"

Thinking of Liu Dongli, who was still in intensive care, Huai Shi suddenly felt a chill run through his heart. I feel like I will not live much longer. What should I do? Waiting online. Urgent.

"And..."

Before leaving, Ai Qing turned back and gave him one final look.

At that moment, amid the gradually thinning rain, Huai Shi saw the corner of the girl's lips lift slightly beneath the umbrella.

She said, "Long time no see, Huai Shi."

Ah, I originally thought about splitting this chapter into two chapters and dragging things out for another two days. But after thinking about it, why bother? I cannot chop the plot into fragments just because I am lazy, so I posted it all at once.

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