Volume Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - Mechanical War God (Happy Dragon Boat Festival!)

"Don't make it sound so easy, you bastard!"

Loh-ha... Loh-ha... Loh-ha...

Breathing deeply of air thick with radioactive dust, Xiao Wu grumbled as she crawled out of a large patch of rubble that showed signs of melting. Her skin had just begun to heal from the burns and damage caused by the shockwave. The same was true for the Sin Annihilation next to her.

"What kind of weapon is this...? Have you ever seen Sin Annihilation before?"

No, uh.

"Strange, this thing... why does it feel so unpleasant! It's hard to breathe, I feel nauseous, and my body feels numb. Is it just because of the impact and the high temperature?"

"It felt like those shells released something else, but I don't know what it was."

The two looked around with bewildered expressions. Although Xiao Wu had used her fastest speed to send the cannonballs and mechanical centipedes flying into the upper city, she was still inevitably affected.

Looking up, I saw a large hole in the foundation of the fourth floor, through which I could vaguely see the bottom of the third floor, which also appeared to have been damaged by the shockwave. Countless surrounding buildings had collapsed, and the strangely shaped smoke and light from the explosion were quite unsettling.

"Hey, hey&gt"

"You're still here..."

"What do you mean 'present' or 'not present'? Since it's something I invented, I naturally have ways to protect myself! But you guys! Are you kidding me? Are you joking with me? A nuclear bomb with a capacity of 10,000 tons is still a nuclear bomb! It's the culmination of my and my father's wisdom, a superb example of violent aesthetics! And you actually tried to withstand a nuclear explosion with your bare bodies!?"

Even if you say that...

Xiao Wu and Sin Annihilation exchanged a glance and shrugged.

"... To be honest, back in the day, even a casual ultimate attack from a god-like monster on the West Saint Continent was more powerful than yours."

"But its moves are purely destructive, unlike yours, which seems to have some strange attributes attached, making it quite unsettling."

"Of course! After all, it's a nuclear weapon. Besides the shockwave and intense heat, the main effects are the penetrating radiation, radioactive contamination, and various radioactive fallouts! You guys breathe air full of all sorts of harmful rays and radioactive dust so comfortably, are you on too many drugs!?"

"No wonder."

"Right? You're actually feeling a lot of pain right now, aren't you?"

"My skin feels a little numb and itchy, my eyes are slightly uncomfortable from the flash, my breathing is a little difficult, and I feel a bit nauseous."

"And then what?"

"And then... what's this 'and then'?"

"This is gone, gone, gone!?"

What else do you want?!

Julia stared at the two of them, dumbfounded, then suddenly realized something.

"Hey, where's your goofy teammate?"

"Here."

Sin Annihilation held up a large ball of flesh with one hand; something inside seemed to be struggling wildly.

"Waaaaah, let me out! I want to fight too! Meow meow meow!"

"Let's put her away for now. It wouldn't be good to release her rashly. Let's keep her away from the battlefield for now—hey!"

The arm of the Sin Annihilation transformed into a spring-like ejection device, instantly launching the fleshy ball containing Little Ying upwards, disappearing from sight after passing through the hole in the fourth layer of the city.

As for you...

The two men glared menacingly at Julia.

"Your strongest weapon is completely useless now, shouldn't you give up on it? Besides, I didn't even kill your father!"

"Oh, it doesn't matter."

"... Huh?"

"Actually, when you think about it carefully, it doesn't really matter. My father's role was at most to create me and provide me with knowledge. After completing these two tasks, he seems to be of little use anymore."

Julia tilted her head and said in a completely indifferent tone.

"Then why don't you—"

"In the end, it doesn't really matter what the cause was, right? Thinking about it carefully, I just wanted to give myself, who was inexplicably created into this world, something to do. I think, maybe fighting you and then killing you would be a good option--"

"Stop spouting nonsense. Before you started spouting rubbish, didn't you ever think you'd get beaten to a pulp?"

Without hesitation, Xiao Wu appeared in front of her instantly and grabbed her head with one hand.

"Get out of here, you madman!"

Click!

Xiao Wu crushed Julia's head as easily as squashing a block of tofu, leaving only a headless corpse.

"!?"

Xiao Wu's incredibly sharp combat instincts made her act instantly. In a flash, she grabbed Sin Annihilation and leaped dozens of meters away. The ground where she had just stood was completely lifted up, and hundreds of laser beams shot out one after another, piercing through the road surface! The laser beams were like waves, one after another, relentlessly approaching Xiao Wu as if they had eyes!

"Playing tricks!"

He smacked his lips, then slammed his fist into the ground. The shockwave from the explosion spread in all directions, and the road surface within a radius of several kilometers—except for Yu He's office building—was completely pulverized. The thing beneath the ground was finally revealed!

It's Julia

"Hello, hello, did you miss me?"

Julia x2

"Aunt Urushihara, you're really something!" "So violent!"

Julia x3

"They start fighting at the drop of a hat," "They resort to physical violence," "How can anyone like you if you keep going like this!"

Julia x5

"But it's alright, it's alright." "Don't forget I'm..." "Smart, cute, and kind-hearted." "Super Julia!" "So it won't end like this!"

Julia x10

"How about it?" "A duel between masters" "Always indispensable" "Grunts as decoration" "Right?" "So hurry up and thank me" "I've" "emptied my pockets" "A huge financial blow!"

Julia x 100

"Come on," "Appetizers," "those," "small and cute," "nuclear bombs," "already," "finished," "next," "is a group fight of appetizers," "What's the main course again?" "The main course one-on-one!" "A superb peak duel," "Oh yeah, and this too," "And dessert?" "Of course, for both of them," "both badly injured," "using willpower and tenacity," "paving the way," "The classic storyline, hahahahahaha..."

Julia ×...

"So much!?"

Sin Annihilation couldn't help but gasp, but Xiao Wu remained unmoved, her eyes fixed on one direction as she looked past the group of mass-produced identical creatures.

At the very center, surrounded by countless Julia, stood a magnificent mecha... or rather, a person perfectly integrated with the mecha?

"War Weapon Number Four, Exoskeleton Aurora VII..."

That's probably Julia's true form.

After all, the best things are always reserved for the main body.

The streamlined blue-green armor was attached to Julia's chest, hips, limbs and back, with geometric patterns drawn according to the golden ratio. Despite being a very heavy exoskeleton, it felt as light as a feather when worn by her, achieving a perfect harmony and unity in both engineering and aesthetics.

"Connect, on... Loading complete... Adaptation complete... Hanger unit checked and working properly... Full power operation... Safety released!"

Buzz buzz buzz buzz!

All the geometric patterns on the mecha's body emitted a bright light simultaneously—a high-energy electron flow, more dazzling than ordinary lights or LED lights. The metal-like components on its back also fully extended, sprouting radial light wings composed of lasers.

Most notably, as the exoskeleton was fully activated, tiny specks of light emerged from the junction of the armor surface and the components, slowly rising and increasing in number. The trajectory of individual specks appeared erratic, but overall they spread out evenly to the left, right, and upward, like flowing curtains of water.

A flowing curtain of blue-green light.

Xiao Wu felt this thing looked familiar, and after thinking for a while, it suddenly dawned on her.

"... aurora?"

"That's right!"

Once activated, will a light curtain resembling a miniature aurora emerge from the armor...? Regardless of its practicality or significance, the visual effect is absolutely perfect.

"But unfortunately, I've already said that--"

Xiao Wu didn't appreciate it much; all she wanted to do was get rid of Julia as soon as possible.

"--I'm too lazy to waste my time with you!!!"

Ding!!!!

The simple action of charging forward and throwing a punch, when performed by Xiao Wu, was enough to shake the earth. Having returned to her peak strength, this unadorned strike was enough to tear apart any metal.

But,

"Stress adjustment - complete!"

It was accepted.

The armor on her right hand was arranged in a fish-scale pattern. It looked thin and fragile, yet it steadily withstood Xiao Wu's direct attack.

"Generalized strain calculation -- nuclear filler OK -- explosion!"

Boom! "Huh?"

An immense force, seemingly without limit, erupted from his right hand, and after a brief stalemate with Xiao Wu, he completely pushed her fist away!

(My wrist... it hurts so much!?)

Xiao Wu was taken aback. She was aware of her own physical abilities, and objectively speaking, there were very few beings in the world who could directly confront her! Although she hadn't yet awakened her demon form, Julia's sudden burst of power was definitely abnormal!

"Whispering sound--"

Underestimating your enemy is tantamount to suicide—her mother's childhood teachings suddenly flashed into her mind. Xiao Wu her teeth, and the Demonic Power materialized; intense purple lightning shot from between her fingers! Her fingers, wreathed in purple lightning, came together, forming a blade, aimed straight for Julia's head. However—

"A concentrated version of the Ship Slicing Blade!"

Julia's left arm was connected to an equally electrifying blade, smaller than an ordinary fruit knife, but its blade seemed to be the condensation of tens of millions of volts of lightning! Under the immense pressure of the force, the space around them visibly distorted, the air was pierced, the energy from the electricity was converted into intense heat, and at the same time, the pervasive killing intent brought a bone-chilling cold! The ground beneath their feet crumbled inch by inch, bricks turned into fragments, fragments turned into fine sand, and fine sand shattered into tiny dust particles invisible to the naked eye!

"... Hey, are you excited, Urushihara?"

Why get excited?

"The clash of extremes, the intertwining of life and death, the thrill of success and failure, and the feeling of embracing life in the cracks between life and death."

"I don't understand or want to understand your nonsense."

That's a real shame.

"You seem to have misunderstood something. Just because you frequently use violence doesn't mean you enjoy fighting."

"Oh?"

"Unlike a madman like you, I'd never find joy in fighting, conflict, or risking my life!"

"That would be very disappointing!"

Hand knife and lightsaber

Purple lightning and shimmering blue lightning,

Without the slightest hesitation, they clashed head-on!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This month has been so bleak, lol. Monthly Votes... /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~