Volume Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - Chapter 596: Butterfly's Wings (I)
I'm still making a final struggle, my only remaining hope, which is—
"Sick Spider... Sick Spider! Why are you listening to him? Is the resurrection of the Blood Fiend really that attractive to you? Hurry up... Please, at least I've given you back your physical body!"
"I..."
"And how do you know Yu He succeed? How do you know what he will do to you after he succeeds? If you both like Blood Fiend, then you are his rival in love!"
"I... I know what you're going to say, I... I know everything, so I'm really sorry..."
"Then let me go!!!"
"But even so..."
She raised her head.
Her face showed a tearful expression.
Even so... I want to see her again! You're very important to me, and I've probably started to consider you a comrade without even realizing it. But... if I had to choose between you and her, I... I would definitely choose her! Because... you're not Kasser after all!!!
Bang!!!!
The super alloy shield, and being an autonomous impact calculation armor, cannot withstand even a single blow.
Ding!!!!
The launched missile was deflected and exploded in mid-air, but remained unharmed even when hit by the flash.
Click!!!!
The severed Ship Slicing Blade was caught with one hand, and with a gentle twist, it was rendered completely unusable.
Boom!!!!
He was punched in the face, a really hard punch, and flew backward. His visual system was severely shaken, which indirectly damaged his central nervous system as well.
Previously, in order to maintain optimal mobility and integrate all the body's components to reach peak performance, it was necessary to transplant the critical organ—the brain—back into the cranium. Initially, it did perform much better than usual, but now its shortcomings have become apparent.
That's too dangerous.
"Who was it that kept yelling about killing me? Don't make a fool of yourself!"
Clang clang clang clang!!!!
An immense tearing force struck from both sides of the body simultaneously. Accompanied by the sound of metal deforming, the left and right arms were ripped off, and sparks flew from the severed ends, just like blood spurting from a severed human limb.
The robots immediately swarmed around, disassembling her into parts to repair Julia's injuries, but in the next instant, Xiao Wu appeared in front of her. Indestructible claws—not hands but scarlet claws—grabbed Julia's neck in an instant, making a squeaking, twisting metallic sound.
"Hey, hey, I'm a... robot, you know! I don't need to breathe, what's the point of choking me?!"
With a slight exertion of its claws, Julia was decapitated.
"Waaaaah! So cruel! So cruel!"
Julia's head, muttering to itself, spewed flames from the fractured section, using the propulsion to escape, while the rest of its body—
Boom!!!
The nuclear reactor hidden somewhere inside the body exploded, a violent explosion equivalent to a 4-megaton nuclear bomb. A small sun rose from the dark red sea, and the violent shockwave instantly reduced countless houses to ashes. The hellish heat turned the explosion center into a scalding pool of magma. The shallow seawater evaporated completely, turning into white vapor that shot into the sky. The ejected radioactive dust filled the sky, blocking out the sunlight. The downward shockwave even penetrated the second layer of the foundation, causing a chain reaction that affected the layers below.
(Did it work?)
Julia, who had been thinking for a while, thought that a 4-megaton nuclear bomb, and being hit by one at almost zero distance, was far superior to being hit by four 10-megaton bombs from a great distance.
The pre-prepared parts box flew over at the command of the summoning order, and the various parts reconstructed the lost body. Unfortunately, its performance was probably not as good as the previous, meticulously adjusted one. Oh well, it would have to make do.
"As long as the only original body—the brain—is still inside the skull, everything else can be replaced at any time. Besides, we haven't finished using the War Weapon Series yet—wait, what!?"
The life detection device reacted.
At the epicenter of the nuclear explosion, something is still alive.
Well...
Okay, not only are they alive, but they're also approaching at an amazing speed.
Ding!!!
A violent impact.
Then, she appeared.
A very surreal appearance.
"This is unbelievable! I... I don't remember any report mentioning this form..."
Xiao Wu was covered in a scarlet, armor-like substance that, at first glance, had a leathery sheen, but was covered with intricate patterns and barbs of varying sizes, making it look quite ferocious. Perhaps because it had just been hit by a 4-megaton nuclear bomb explosion, the armor had many fine cracks and scorch marks, but that was all; Julia's self-destruction below the head had not caused any effective damage.
Hiss...
The armor gradually disappeared, not shattered, but turned into many reddish gases. These gases resembled both smoke and water vapor, drifting and swirling while also possessing a subtle viscosity, and contained an indescribable ferocious power.
In a sense, she and Xiao Wu are a perfect match.
"Of course you wouldn't know, because this is the first time I've used it in actual combat."
Xiao Wu manually peeled off the pieces of armor stuck to her face, revealing her true appearance.
She looks a little different from usual now, but she hasn't turned into a demon.
Her bright purple eyes had turned purplish-red, and several strands of wine-red hair were mixed in with her white hair. Red lines resembling cracks appeared around her eyes, temples, and fingers. Her skin was even paler, but in contrast, her originally pale lips had turned a bewitching blood red, as had her sharp nails.
The malevolent power of the Rakshasa True Word and the rage of Xiao Wu as a demon are almost perfectly compatible. Compared to a certain busty woman, she is more suited to wield this power.
"Don't think I've just been passively waiting for the enemy to attack. I've been thinking about how to make good use of this power whenever I have a spare moment, and even combining it with the Demonic Power. Qi-Haoyue should be doing the same thing, right? And I don't believe she didn't do something similar while she was trapped in the other dimension."
"I don't quite understand... What? Isn't using cheat codes on the spot a privilege reserved for protagonists like me? And isn't using cheat codes something you do when you're losing and yelling that you can't win? Why are you doing this right from the start? Where are my human rights?"
"That's not human rights, it's mechanical rights... I'll say it one last time, I never killed your father or anything like that, and stop using this as an excuse to make a fool of yourself! If you admit defeat and get out of here right now, I might spare your life, otherwise—"
"Shut up, that kind of line is so boring, the result is definitely not going to be yes!"
Click, click, click, Julia was just about to stand up--
Glug glug!
Her newly formed mechanical joints suddenly stopped moving. Upon closer inspection, it was found that many tiny pieces of flesh were blocking them and were slowly eroding deeper.
"Xiao Wu has already given you face, don't be shameless."
Sin Annihilation had appeared behind her without her noticing.
There are wolves in front and tigers behind.
Demons loom ahead, monsters lurk behind.
There was no way to ascend to heaven, nor to descend to earth.
"Tsk tsk, a desperate situation? Really, it's been the ultimate path from beginning to end. Well then, I have no choice but to—"
Just then,
"--Um?"
"Huh!?"
"How!"
All three stopped moving at the same time.
Look up at the sky. Here it comes.
Something is getting closer.
That was an aura of power, the aura of a strong person.
Both the lady Yu He give off a similar sense of oppression.
But this one is different; in terms of both quality and quantity, it's not on the same level as those two.
This oppressive force was like a vast, boundless ocean, or like a collapsing sky, leaving no one able to escape its reach.
"They're here--!!!"
Rewind a few minutes --
"Hurry up—hurry up!"
A beam of moonlight was rapidly traveling through the sky; it was the bright moon moving towards the sea. The unconscious Little Butterfly was held in her arms. Feeling the warmth of the small body in her embrace, the bright moon suppressed its excitement and increased its speed.
Little Butterfly was finally rescued.
During Little Butterfly's kidnapping, Ye always worried about her, and Haoyue felt the same way. After all, Haoyue was the fruit of his and Xiao Ye's love (in his own eyes)!
"Neumann, Neumann... I'll trust you one last time!"
The reason for moving towards the sea was to entrust Little Butterfly to Neumann was waiting on the surface. The original plan was to hand her over to Xiao Wu, but on the way, they found her and Zimie fighting with some guy who Sin Annihilation in and caused trouble, so they had to change their plans at the last minute.
So far, things have gone smoothly. After handing Little Butterfly over to Neumann, it's time to go back and help Xiao Ye deal with Yu He.
If it were faster--
(Use that one!)
Pure white holy light suddenly erupted from her back, coalescing into a pair of enormous wings, somewhat resembling the monsters of the Divine Law Cult, only lacking their chilling eyes. The moment the wings unfurled, Haoyue's speed increased to a whole new level; she directly broke through the second-level base, pierced through the seawater, and burst forth from the surface—
(It works fairly well; the long period of getting used to it in the other dimension wasn't in vain... Hmm?)
Haoyue scanned the area and quickly spotted a small dot on the distant sea – that was Neumann.
But she seemed to be in very poor condition.
Haoyue's eyesight had also improved, and she discovered that Neumann was "lying" on the sea surface, his hands laboriously stroking his body, seemingly writing down one number after another.
What is she doing? Has she encountered an enemy attack?
Haoyue frowned, then accelerated and flew towards her, arriving in front of her in the blink of an eye.
"Hey, Neumann!"
"Haoyue... Miss? I'm sorry, I... cough cough!"
Neumann's face was even paler than usual, and dark red streaks spread across her skin, covering half of her face!
"This is..."
"Blood Sister's... blood poison... may also contain cold blood... I don't know why, but I've been poisoned by... this stuff... I'm afraid there's... a traitor among us!"
"A traitor!?"
Haoyue was taken aback. With her intelligence, she should have noticed if there was a traitor. It seemed that either she had been too careless with the inside, or that guy was too good at hiding!
Ye and Xiao Wu are out of the question for now, as for Sin Annihilation... we can tentatively rule them out as well. As for Si Nan Ying and Sick Spider... we'll have to decide on those two.
"No... regardless of who the traitor is... take your hand away, I'll treat you."
"No, that's impossible! Blood Sister's blood poison is—"
"Holy Moon, Holy Healing!"
The Healing Moon rune was enveloped in pure white holy light, radiating an indescribable sacred aura; this was no ordinary Healing Moon.