Syria Players

This...

An indescribable, bizarre feeling surfaced in the minds of Qi Lin and Officer Wang Yuan. Amid the joy of victory and survival, and their admiration for Wang Ji, that feeling emerged with crystal clarity.

So Qi Lin froze for a moment.

Meanwhile, the artillery fire finally resumed. Stray shells and missiles began bombarding the bowed large mecha monster, while quite a few Chinese soldiers and vehicles approached Qi Lin and the others from nearby.

Clearly, the officers on this battlefield had quickly figured out who had dealt with the monster and understood who was friend and who was foe.

"Let me help you up, little brother! Thank you so much! You saved so many of us! You're truly our hero!"

A soldier speaking heavily accented Mandarin stepped forward with gratitude and admiration, intending to help Wang Ji up. He was also one of the people Wang Ji had saved earlier.

"Looks like you can still hold on, but you need medical treatment soon!"

He was warm and had reacted the fastest.

But something strange happened. He grabbed Wang Ji beneath the arms and by the arm, yet no matter what he did, he could not lift the kneeling Wang Ji.

It was as if Wang Ji were stuck to the ground, like an enormously heavy lump of iron, utterly immovable.

Wang Ji directly shifted backward as well, remaining in front of Qi Lin. Then he began swaying wildly from side to side, shaking his head and butt around as a voice came from his body. "Save me!"

For some reason... it was a woman's voice, and it sounded somewhat familiar.

"Save me!"

Qi Lin's eyes gradually widened, filled with shock. A sudden flash of inspiration engulfed her body and mind!

She felt...

It should be...

She took a deep breath. Not daring to delay any longer, she crouched down, bent over, dropped to one knee, and reached out with her left hand to touch the hand Wang Ji was using to brace himself against the ground.

Then she waited quietly.

Speechlessly, Wang Ji, who had been somewhat anxious moments ago, also calmed down. He stopped swaying and simply knelt there in silence.

"Uh... shouldn't we help him up?" a young soldier beside them asked, scratching his head.

Officer Wang Yuan watched as if his entire worldview had collapsed. He merely waved a hand to stop them without saying anything.

Qi Lin maintained that half-kneeling posture while Wang Ji knelt on the ground clutching his abdomen, both of them utterly still.

Ten seconds later...

"You don't happen to have a Flare Gun too, do you?"

Qi Lin wore a complicated expression as she watched Wang Ji rise and immediately start drinking Pepsi Cola. He was still squatting as he drank, rising and squatting while spinning in circles...

It was like he was checking whether there was danger nearby... His actual skills were pretty lousy, but he sure had learned this stuff convincingly.

She asked.

As for Wang Ji pulling things out of thin air as if he possessed some legendary storage ring, she was no longer all that surprised... Superpowers already existed, so this seemed perfectly reasonable.

Anyway, she did not understand any of it.

Wang Ji was busy drinking Pepsi Cola. Squatting and rising while spinning in circles kept him quite occupied too, so he had no time to answer her.

More and more soldiers gathered around. Once they understood what had happened, they all regarded the young man at the center with solemn respect... Yet for some reason, Qi Lin felt so embarrassed on Wang Ji's behalf that her toes could dig out a three-bedroom apartment.

Anyone without absurdly fearless social confidence probably would not have the nerve to perform such a cringe-worthy move while being watched by so many people...

"Burp~ No Flare Gun, and a solo kill doesn't count as winning chicken dinner."

After downing three bottles of cola, Wang Ji burped, then stood up and answered Qi Lin's question.

"Then what about bandages and First Aid Kits?"

"They haven't been added yet, and they might not work very well... Things in reality will always be different. Take First Aid Kits, for example." Wang Ji's matter-of-fact expression left Qi Lin speechless.

Anyone watching would have felt an equally strange inability to respond.

Still, Qi Lin quickly smiled. She stepped forward and hugged him. "Thank you for saving me, my colleagues. Thank you for saving so many of us."

As for his superpowers, she did not tactlessly pry.

It was still so soft, so pleasantly fragrant. Wang Ji froze for a moment, then watched Qi Lin let go and could not help scratching his head with a foolish chuckle.

Qi Lin could not help smiling at that. He looked fairly mature, tall and broad-shouldered, but in the end, he was still just a child.

A child...

Just a little too young, otherwise...

Qi Lin's cheeks reddened imperceptibly. Beneath the night sky, it was not particularly noticeable.

She knew her heart was beating faster, but she did not know whether it was from the tension of surviving a disaster, or...

"Hello! Zhang Youdan, Captain of the Wild Wolf Commando, on behalf of all personnel who participated in the battle and those who lost their lives, I offer you our heartfelt thanks!"

A fully armed special forces soldier approached, saluted Wang Ji solemnly, and thanked him loudly.

"Salute!" he shouted.

More than twenty soldiers who had arrived here snapped to attention and saluted in unison, their faces filled with respect.

"Uh... There's no need to be so polite."

Wang Ji raised a hand somewhat awkwardly and returned a less-than-standard salute.

When Zhang Youdan saw it, a glint flashed in his bright, tiger-like eyes, and he instantly made a judgment.

"I'll go check on that big robot first. If your weapons can't penetrate its defenses, you won't be able to kill it anytime soon.

"If it recovers after enough time passes, I might have to do this again."

It was not as though Wang Ji had failed to notice what the other man was thinking. In fact, his senses had always been sharp. It was an acquired sensitivity born from his childhood experiences, not to mention that he was no longer an ordinary person.

He was not surprised that the other party could tell from a single glance at his salute that he was not affiliated with any government department. At this point, he did not care either.

From the moment he had arrived here, unable to worry about exposure and forced to act, he had already anticipated some of the consequences. He just could not say whether they would be good or bad.

It could not be helped... Plans never kept up with changes.

"I'll have the troops cease fire first. Then please be careful."

Captain Zhang Youdan of the Wild Wolf Commando immediately nodded upon hearing Wang Ji's words, then shouted into his radio, "All units, attention! All units, attention! This is Zhang Youdan, Captain of the Wild Wolf Commando!

"All units, cease fire immediately! Our superhero is about to join the battle! All units, cease fire immediately! Avoid friendly fire!"

Superhero—the title made Wang Ji smile awkwardly, but he said nothing.

There was an indescribable feeling in his heart, like warm blood pulsing through his veins, though he was somewhat shy as well.

After all, he was only eighteen.

After all, he really had been an ordinary person before this.

The deafening artillery and gunfire ceased. The fiery flashes and streaks of explosions faded, revealing a sizable crater in the road at the center of the blasts. Inside it was the large mecha, clutching its abdomen as it crawled with difficulty.

Wang Ji moved his feet. Under the night sky and streetlights, he became a dark blur and swiftly arrived five meters from the crater, where he saw the large mecha.

It looked miserable. Its white-painted armor was covered in scratches, with occasional damaged and shattered sections. Clearly, even it had suffered some injury under the concentrated barrage.

But it was still not very effective.

Though Wang Ji did not know much about it, this thing had clearly surpassed humanity's era and understanding. The metal or alloy composing its body would not be destroyed by ordinary Cannonballs and missiles.

Perhaps continued bombardment could destroy it with the firepower of the remaining tanks, armed helicopters, and special forces, but they might not have enough time.

Half an hour, or several hours?

The longer the night, the greater the chance of trouble.

So, even though it might expose something, Wang Ji could only see his good deed through to the end and send it all the way west.

A flash of light appeared in his hand, and a round little object materialized in his palm. Two seconds later, before everyone's eyes, they watched him toss an utterly ordinary grenade into the crater.

Qi Lin saw everything clearly from afar, and her eyelids twitched violently!

She seemed to understand how Wang Ji had collapsed earlier...