In the bar.
Princess Anna rubbed her eyes and looked at the light screen again.
The Great Grandmaster's corpse still lay on the ground.
"This makes no sense..." Her eyes were full of disbelief.
From the first moment she saw the boy on the screen, he had deeply shaken her. Even as he walked out to face his enemies, she had been thinking that if things went badly, she would step in and save him.
She hadn't expected this outcome.
A mysterious veil seemed to shroud Gu Qingshan. She couldn't see through him, yet she found herself drawn to him.
"Exactly. This is completely wrong. He's improved far too quickly—unless he was hiding his strength last time," Feng Huo De said.
He fiddled with his Light Brain, called up the assessment results, and enlarged them on the screen.
"Preliminary assessment of target strength: Great Grandmaster realm. Abilities undetermined, possibly Heaven Chosen or Transcendence. Specifics unknown."
"Loading target's life file..."
"Target has never used a Gene Potion."
"Conclusion: Gu Qingshan, male, eighteen years old, potential rating: S."
Feng Huo De gazed at the screen and sighed. "He's already capable of fighting a Great Grandmaster at eighteen. I really want to know what Heaven Chosen Skill this monster has."
Suddenly, the communicator beside them began buzzing nonstop.
Anna pressed a button. "What is it?"
"Mole reports: White Sand County's mech squad is advancing and will reach the battlefield in seven seconds. A hundred kilometers away, White Manor's fleet is assembling."
Anna slapped the communicator off and stood. "I'm going to save him."
Feng Huo De hurriedly stopped her. "Your Highness, you absolutely cannot show yourself. If the Princess of the Empire went on a killing spree in the Federation, it would be the worst political crisis in history and could trigger an all-out war!"
"I don't care!"
As Anna spoke, she pressed her hands together in prayer.
"Death! Amid the flames, I call—"
With a sharp slap, Feng Huo De knocked her hands apart.
"Your Highness, let me bring him out. You leave first," Feng Huo De said with a grave expression.
"No! Your Shadow Heaven Chosen Skill's evolution level is too low. You definitely wouldn't evade the fleet's life scans."
The communicator began buzzing again.
Feng Huo De, on edge, slapped the communicator and shouted, "What is it?"
A voice came through, unable to contain its panic. "Bird reports! Bird reports! The Federation's Martial Saint is here!"
"What!" Anna's eyes widened. "Where did he come from? How did I not sense him?"
"He's descending! He's descending!"
Gu Qingshan drew an arrow and squinted at the rapidly approaching mechs.
"091 Harrier Assault Armor. Decent firepower," he said, drawing the bow to full strength. "But the design isn't very sound."
He released the string. It snapped back, sending the arrow flying, wrapped in a faint layer of Spiritual Power.
In a flash—
The arrow struck a mech with a sharp crack, glanced off, and veered away, vanishing into the distance.
"Tsk. Again."
Gu Qingshan swiftly drew another arrow and let it fly.
Boom—
The arrow pierced the center of a knee joint. The steel armor's leg was shot through, and the mech toppled sideways to the ground.
Gu Qingshan kept retreating, dodging the miniature cruise missiles fired at him. He took another arrow from his hand and drew his bow.
The arrow tore through the air.
A mech was raising a heavy rotary, high-explosive machine gun when the arrow shot into its barrel and pierced all the way through, detonating the chambered laser-grade high-explosive round.
The blast was powerful. Half the mech was blown away, its components scattered across the ground. It was left motionless where it stood.
"Damn it, can a bow and arrow really do that?" Feng Huo De gritted his teeth as he watched the screen.
Anna stared fixedly at the screen. "He hit a weak point in the 091 Harrier Assault Armor. It's recorded in our intelligence research."
"Maybe it was a lucky hit. How could he know something that classified?"
"It wasn't luck. I saw him aim."
"Damn, the Martial Saint's here!"
The two fell silent at once, barely daring to breathe.
Anna pressed her hands together and anxiously watched what was happening on the screen.
Outside.
Gu Qingshan took brief aim and drew his bow to fire again.
Suddenly, he sensed something and lowered his hand, looking up at the sky.
A shadow plunged down from the horizon.
So fast!
Gu Qingshan hastily retreated and hid behind a high wall.
With a thunderous crash, a meteor crater ten meters in diameter appeared in the street.
Several mechs came to a wary halt.
"The enemy's arrows are extremely powerful. Suspect a Transcendent. Requesting reinforcements! Requesting reinforcements!" The lead mech quickly reported up the chain.
"Reinforcements?"
A voice came from inside the crater.
"Looks like things aren't too bad."
As he spoke, a figure leaped out of the crater.
He was a middle-aged man.
Thick brows, hawk-like eyes, dark skin, and a posture straight as a spear.
He wore a dark green military uniform and black combat boots. On his shoulder strap were a sword and shield—the insignia of a general.
Facing the battle-ready mech squad, he said, "I am Zhang Zongyang."
Every mech stopped at once. Several soldiers jumped out of their cockpits and saluted smartly.
"The Martial Saint!"
"Lord God of War!"
"The 477th Special Company of White Sand County reports to you!"
Zhang Zongyang looked at them. "As soldiers, who gave you permission to drive mechs around a busy city killing people?"
The soldiers looked uneasy. Their leader answered, "It was an order from the governor of White Sand County."
As troops stationed in White Sand County, they were obliged to serve the governor of White Sand.
"Damn nobles."
Zhang Zongyang spat and stopped blaming the soldiers. He turned toward the spot where Gu Qingshan was hiding and called, "Gu Qingshan, come out."
Gu Qingshan thought for a moment, then walked out.
Zhang Zongyang looked at the boy, his expression complicated. "The President wants to see you."
Time rewound to fifteen minutes earlier.
Outer space.
The Divine Temple.
It was still the same enormous room where Gu Qingshan had stayed.
Symbols and numbers streamed across hundreds of light screens, not pausing for even a second.
The screens were arranged in a circle around a uniquely designed Mobile Armor, frantically analyzing every detail of the armor.
The armor stood completely still.
It wasn't as clumsy as an ordinary mech, nor was it loaded with an array of advanced weapons like other specialized mechs.
It looked much more agile.
The soft white light from the screens washed over the armor, like water flowing to a rhythm.
The mech's head moved.
After a while, it changed its stance.
Yes, the mech was silently observing its surroundings.
—as if it were a living being.
Suddenly, all the hundreds of light screens went dark.
Only the screen closest to the armor remained lit.
Two words appeared on it.
"Perfect."
After those words faded, three more appeared.
"Epoch-making."
Then line after line of text appeared.
"According to the verbal agreement, conceal Gu Qingshan's personal data. Goddess of Justice will weigh and determine the use of the research results."
"Raise citizen Gu Qingshan's Personal Merit Points. Based on his contributions to twenty-one major, groundbreaking research projects, calculate as follows:"
"Gu Qingshan's total Personal Merit Points: 799873957281439."
"Raise Gu Qingshan's personal clearance level."
"Calculate Gu Qingshan's clearance level according to the Human Civilization Progress Contribution Act."
"Calculation complete. Raise citizen Gu Qingshan's clearance level to: Supreme Leader."
"Detected personal information indicating charges of murder and theft. Begin analyzing charges."
"Charges unfounded. Reclassified as justifiable self-defense; pardon granted. Begin further analysis of the situation."
"Changning Prefecture's military forces are mobilizing. Target identified as the Supreme Leader."
"Situation level raised to: Critical."
"In view of Gu Qingshan's Supreme Leader status, initiate protective measures."
"Generate plans: one, two, three, four."
"Based on the success-rate principle, select plan three. Contact the President."
Before you continue