Act.5·[BB's Theme]
Foreword:
[He who remembers everything feels burdened.]
[--Ilya Ehrenburg]
[Part 1: A Sudden Attack by Soul Power]
The group successfully arrived in the wilderness of the near-shore tundra.
The place was a scene of devastation, with corroded and rusted steel parts and neglected electrical lines along the way. Only the high-voltage power lines extending from the Pavlov substation, like a thick umbilical cord, connected the RSH front-line outpost.
A few hundred meters away, you can see a solid concrete platform, with layers of fishbone-shaped high-voltage power poles sending this vital power line to the far seaside.
Xue Ming waded forward, his steps uneven, his gaze unable to leave the giant's body on the nearshore beach.
It seems to possess a Magic Power that can captivate one's mind and spirit.
It's just too big--
--Its neck and lower leg parts were eroded by chiral molecules in the ocean, triggering a series of violent reactions in its physical essence.
The swollen abscess burst open, its thunderous roar echoing through the silent, vast wilderness.
The exposed texture was a deathly gray, clearly visible through the binoculars. Some of the fossil-like bone and ligaments were exposed to the air and immediately weathered and corroded into dust.
Before the giant creature's body could collapse due to its exaggerated weight, with long, muffled breaths like thunder, followed by a slow, rhythmic inhalation and exhalation lasting over a minute, the shattered tissues began to rapidly regenerate.
In the face of such bizarre and strange changes, the ancient, mountain-like creatures were like resilient trees standing firm in a storm, swaying slightly with the humid sea breeze, but never falling.
To put it more intuitively—
When we walk down the street, we rarely have the chance to see huge buildings that are more than a hundred stories high.
At this moment, the [JoeStar] team has spotted a total of eight giants in the nearshore waters.
Each of them is of this size, and when magnified again and again through a telescope from a distance of several kilometers, compared to the observation balloons and village buildings at the RSH outpost, they appear like even more blurred and indistinct giant shadows in a dark gray ocean.
With the enhancement of the [Phoenix]'s soul power.
Grayish-white health bars appeared above the heads of these giants, and their health points were constantly decreasing. When their health points dropped to about 50%, they would recover by breathing and return to normal.
It seems that Teacher A Ling's Soul Power has a bug--
--As Xue Ming carefully observed the giants, some messy runes would appear on the health bars of these strange individuals. The strings were constantly changing, sometimes turning back into the unobservable [???], and sometimes into various Chinese aliases and codes.
[Mountain Giant]
[Fire Giant]
[Frost Giant]
[Death Giant]
This series of naming attempts is like Teacher A Ling's soul power is performing a species identification on this mythical creature, but the identification process repeatedly fails. More than five minutes have passed, and its scientific name is still randomly changing, making it impossible to identify its true form.
[Ice Man]
The giant that Xue Ming had been eyeing finally revealed its provisional name.
This giant is only 700 meters away from RSH in a straight line, and is closest to the coastline, so the most details of its limbs can be observed.
The other seven giants were scattered further out on the mudflats near the shore, their vague outlines visible only in the darkness. The furthest one was submerged in the sea, with only its shoulders, neck, and head protruding above the surface, making it difficult to discern its true form.
Apart from Diamond and the three children from RSH, all the other people with Inspiration simultaneously exhibited unusual symptoms.
Xue Ming had an almost complete understanding of his physical condition; when any part of his body malfunctioned, he was the first to react.
With only two kilometers left to go before RSH, his vision began to blur. Repeatedly wiping the pressure plate and visor of his bulletproof helmet did nothing to help; it was as if everything was shrouded in a fog.
Xue Ming then realized that it wasn't the excessively cold temperature and moisture that left fog on the mask, but rather that his central nervous system was being attacked by some inexplicable spiritual pressure, causing his optic nerve to become less efficient!
"Everyone, stop for a moment!"
Under the lights of the base station platform, Xue Ming told everyone to stop.
He had several companions form a circle around him, shielding his head in the center of the crowd. He then removed his helmet, and the misty feeling in his eyes hadn't subsided, finally confirming the fact. He then had his companions check each of their five senses.
When Meteor took off his helmet, everyone was startled.
The once energetic young man now had a livid face. He inhaled a puff of dioxin gas produced in RSH, then immediately exhaled it, turning the dizziness from the previous ride into a mess of filth.
Xue Ming asked nervously, "A Xing, can you sense anything unusual? My vision is blurry, and it's hard for me to focus my eyes."
Meteor waved his hand, acid reflux rose in his throat, and part of his tonsils were burning with stomach acid, a fiery pain that made him unable to speak for a moment.
Xiao Qi cut in line, took off her helmet, but felt nothing.
"Employer, I don't see anything wrong."
Xue Ming: "You're okay with looking at things?"
Xiao Qi looked up at the telephone pole. "No problem, I can see and read the markings on the fishbone at the top of this pole! It was produced on October 24, 1969."
Xue Ming: "Did you smell something?"
Xiao Qi shook her head, then her expression changed drastically.
Xue Ming: "Can't you smell the stench of the poison gas?"
Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Qi snuggled up to Xue Ming and started inhaling deeply.
Her face showed panic and surprise, and she kept muttering to herself.
"Why can't I smell it? What happened? What if I can't smell it at all in the future? Oh my god!"
Only then did Meteor catch his breath. He looked curiously at his palms, took off his chainmail gloves, and reached out to pinch 3301's arm.
"Huh? I don't feel anything?"
The meteor lost its sense of touch; specifically, the nerve endings in its skin stopped functioning.
The kid touched the hard, 3301-style bulletproof helmet hanging from his chest, got slapped hard across the face, and only realized what had happened when he felt the pain.
"Oh! Ming Ge! Ming Ge, I can still feel pain! I can feel pain! It's just that my skin is numb! How amazing!"
This is not a good thing.
Xue Ming looked at 3301, wondering if the half-wolf girl's body had also undergone a mutation.
3301 took off his helmet, immediately showing a disgusted expression, and Xue Ming.
"I'm fine. I can hear clearly, and my nose is very sensitive, it's just that my eyesight isn't very good."
Xiao Qi hugged 3301 and sniffed for a while, then said, "Your eyesight is already bad, and the lenses of your glasses are so thick they could stop bullets."
It seems that this spiritual pressure is ineffective against non-human or half-human beings.
Xue Ming was more concerned about the symptoms of the two VIPs, who were indispensable reinforcements on this trip. If they lost their five senses, Teacher A Ling's [Phoenix] would probably lose many of its functions.
Seemingly sensing Jiang Xueming's gaze, Su Ling and Xia Xia took the initiative to remove their helmets to observe the symptoms of the others.
Teacher A Ling carefully examined the buff slot on her head.
[High morale]
Full of energy
[Spiritual Unity]
[Mental Shield]
[Bleed]
Xue Ming also looked up at the buff bar above his head, where there was a gray eye-shaped icon.
[Amblyopia]
He looked at the shooting star, who also had this buff.
Loss of touch
Next up is Xiao Qi.
Loss of smell
Before Jason Megan could remove his helmet, under A Ling's observation, [Phoenix] had already detected the debuff on him.
Language loss
Jason had barely shown his face and exhaled a breath of stale air when he started barking incessantly, seemingly unable to speak.
Finally, Katusha --
--This girl has an additional "loss of taste" buff.
Xue Ming asked in confusion, "Teacher A Ling, why are we all losing our five senses, but you are bleeding?"
Su Ling replied without batting an eye, "As long as you don't look at this buff, it doesn't exist."
Before Xue Ming could read the details of the [bleeding] phenomenon, Su Ling grabbed the bright red mark on her head, crushed the part of the spirit, and threw it away like trash.
Meteor exclaimed in surprise, "There's such a thing?"
This kid also wanted to follow in the footsteps of Teacher A Ling and, after joining the team, he tried to scoop up and crush the spirits on his companions' heads. However, the symptoms did not disappear as Teacher A Ling had said. This idealistic method of resisting spiritual pressure seemed to be ineffective, and everyone remained blind.
Xue Ming thought about it for a long time but still couldn't understand what the [bleeding] was all about.
Only Su Ling's terrifying gaze deterred him from pressing further.
"--Master is a woman, and women bleed every month," Xiao Qi whispered in Xue Ming's ear.
Just then, Xia Xia tugged at A Ling's sleeve and spoke to the people.
"I'm blind."
The tone was as casual as saying, "I ate, I slept."
So much so that Xue Ming didn't react for a moment.
The young woman walked the whole way without any apparent difficulty in moving around. She traversed the complex, rocky road as if it were flat ground, showing absolutely no signs of blindness.
Teacher A Ling didn't notice anything unusual about Xia Xia's eyes. The spirit of the [Phoenix] slowly floated onto Xia Xia's head, adding a [Blindness] buff.
This type of soul power is like a logbook that monitors and records everything in real time. It is very convenient, but it also has the characteristic of information lag. If the main body does not receive valid information, it will misread and falsely report, resulting in bugs such as data errors.
Xue Ming immediately removed Xia Xia's helmet, finally seeing the VIP's true face.
She looked like an albino, with white hair and pink eyes.
Her eyes were already experiencing blackouts, her pupils were dilated, and she couldn't focus at all.
A pair of wolf ears stood erect on its head, twitching from time to time.
Facing Xue Ming's gaze, Xia Xia calmly asked, "How is it? Is there a way to cure it?"
Xue Ming: "I have absolutely no idea what's going on. Why didn't 3301 get hit, even though they're both half-wolves?"
Jason rushed to Xue Ming's side, extremely nervous, but unable to utter a single word.
He took out paper and pen, quickly wrote down the handwriting information, and then typed out the sentence on his phone, asking the AI to read it to Xue Ming.
"This wasn't the case when I was here last time! No! This isn't caused by spiritual pressure! This is an attack of soul power!"
Su Ling immediately said, "If someone uses their soul power against me, I should be able to sense it."
Xia Xia added, "It's very likely it's not targeting us! A Ling! The [Phoenix] target acquisition mechanism only works on the target it's targeting. If this guy isn't targeting you, you won't sense it, and neither will I!"
Katusha crouched on the platform, raised her gun, and looked into the distance, glancing at the other utility poles along the way she had come.
"Something's happened, brothers."
Everyone pulled out binoculars from their backpacks and looked in the direction Katusha had pointed.
At the previous streetlamp, there was a group of blurry figures.
--These people looked exactly like [JoeStar]'s team, only their dark, ghostly outlines remained, as if a part of their consciousness had been left there forever.
These blurry humanoid figures remained motionless under the light source, as if they had heard some kind of bewitching demonic chant. Although their physical bodies had already rushed forward hundreds of meters, this part of their senses remained in place, not moving forward even half a step.
They all faced the same direction, standing and gazing towards the windward side of Elephant Trunk Hill to the northwest. The spirits at the very front of the group belonged to Jason and Xia Xia. These two were most severely affected by the Soul Power, and were completely blind and mute, with their optic nerves and language areas of their brains having stopped functioning.
Then, based on the degree of impact, the order is Katusha and Xiao Qi, Xue Ming and Liuxing.
They did not see Su Ling or 3301's spirit forms, and Diamond and the three children were also safe and sound.
Like a bomb exploding, the silent aftershocks swept over the expedition team. A few people on the northwest side became a human wall, protecting their teammates, but some of the spirits remained in place.
"Is it the power of the Lord of Cinder?" Jiang Xueming immediately thought of these humanoid monsters that hunted giants.
Su Ling pinched her eyebrows with her fingers, adopting a serious expression. "It's very likely."
The costume was a bit comical, but Xue Ming couldn't laugh.
The ability to deprive others of their five senses and even directly pull a spirit from its body is truly terrifying. Its range and activation conditions are so daunting. Perhaps this Lord of Cinder was somewhere dealing with an even more powerful ancient being, and it was only the aftershocks of his soul power that swept over everyone that he was able to achieve such a result.
When did it arrive? Through what medium did it attack?
Xue Ming knew nothing about these things. This journey was indeed, as the BOSS had said, a severe test of fighting across levels before he could emerge from his cocoon and become a butterfly.
Everyone immediately turned around, preparing to retrieve the spirit left at the previous lampstand. Losing a certain sense was almost tantamount to cutting off an arm in the harsh environment of RSH.
Along the way, Xue Ming asked three RSH natives questions.
Has this happened before?
The young man who was leading the group was only seventeen years old. His facial muscles drooped unnaturally, and he had Down syndrome. Upon hearing Xue Ming's question, he immediately replied, "Anything can happen here. Temporarily losing your hearing or sight isn't unusual. This place is pitch black, and all sorts of strange noises keep people awake. We're used to it."
Xue Ming couldn't get any useful information out of him, only that these RSH children had congenital deformities and were relatively numb to sound, light, and smell. Growing up in this environment would make their nerves much more resilient.
They don't even need air purifiers to breathe freely here. Apart from some chronic diseases, as long as they can live indoors for a long time, they won't get any serious illnesses.
Returning to the previous lamppost, people finally saw their spirits that they had left behind there.
They seemed to be bound together by dark ropes, like puppets on strings, all gazing towards the northwest.
Xue Ming immediately summoned his spirit form, which transformed into a utility knife, intending to cut the strange spirit ropes.
Su Ling called out, "Wait a minute!"
Xue Ming's spirit arm froze halfway through.
Su Ling carefully observed these black lines--
--They stretched into the far distance, swallowed by the darkness of the tundra, their origins completely obscured.
"Its range is over 1,400 meters." Su Ling took out the golden energy bar of [Soul Power] and marked it next to the black line. "It can be blocked by spirits. If we rashly cut it off, it might alert the Lord of Cinder."
Xue Ming withdrew his spirit body and waited quietly.
Su Ling continued, "The Soul Might won't last long. My [Phoenix] needs a lot of Shining Stones to sustain its mental energy consumption. Let's wait—until this Lord of Cinder voluntarily relinquishes this superpower."
They waited for a full ten minutes.
The black lines slowly began to writhe, leaving scars on everyone's spirits. Xue Ming felt a sharp pain in her brain, and her eyes involuntarily stung and teared up.
He reacted quickly, pulling a can of fluorescent tracer from his backpack.
Ms. A Ling had the same idea, so she took out a bottle of glitter and splashed it onto the black lines.
Under the influence of the fluorescent tracer, these linear spirits were stained a vibrant green and raced wildly into the distance, like a fisherman's clue, about to return to the Lord of Cinder.
The gold and red glitter left a trail of light in the dark wasteland, until it was too bright to see and even a telescope could hardly detect it, and then it finally disappeared.
Teacher A Ling then used her Soul Power to record the event.
"The effects of this Lord of Cinder's Soul Power can last for about twenty-six minutes, which is more endurance than most men boast about."
The Phoenix's spirit transformed into lines of text.
"Retrieving the spirit only takes about thirteen seconds. 1,500 meters is the maximum range of this Lord of Cinder, and the spirit can reach a speed of over 100 meters per second during retrieval. I wonder how fast it will be when unleashing an attack."
A loud flute melody drifted from afar, and everyone heard its clear, melodious notes.
"When reclaiming his Soul Might, the Lord of Cinder seems to perform this flute-playing ceremony."
Su Ling scratched her head, and finally punched the words onto the new UI page of [Phoenix], turning them into document data that could be accessed at any time.
The instant the soul's power dissipated, aside from the effects of the spiritual body's injuries on her physical body, Xue Ming felt a sudden lightness in her body and was pulled forward several steps by an inexplicable force.
He almost collided head-on with his own spirit, and his vision gradually cleared, returning to normal.
Meteor's eyes were filled with disbelief. He hopped around, and when he felt the touch return to his body, he immediately reached out to touch 3301, only to receive another slap.
3301 couldn't believe it. "Can't you be a hooligan in private?"
Half the group was pulled forward by the spirits, staggering several steps before crashing into their own spirits.
Xia Xia was the only one who didn't move. Her spirit seemed to be attracted by a magnet. After returning to her body, she spoke to A Ling.
I'm all better now.
The feeling is still the same as "I ate, I slept".
Su Ling didn't say much.
"Walk!"
[Part ② Arrival Station]
The group continued on their way, but this time they moved much faster and more quickly.
Especially Ms. A Ling, her stride was extremely long, almost like she was jogging.
Meteor pressed for an answer.
"A Ling- sensei, why are you leaving in such a hurry?"
The road is full of loose rocks; you could easily twist your ankle and fall if you're not careful.
Su Ling rolled her eyes. "With your intelligence, it's hard for me to explain to you. The reasons are too complicated. To put it simply, it's a woman's intuition."
Xue Ming followed, pressing, "You'd better explain yourself, teacher."
Su Ling then explained the reasons in detail to her clever little darling, Xue Ming.
"In any case, based on the information we have so far, a Lord of Cinder unleashed his Soulfire on the northwest beachhead. This guy was fighting a giant, or a giant's minion—now this Lord of Cinder has dispelled his Soulfire, and the battle is over. In the wild, we encountered wild beasts hunting, which is relatively safe, but the most dangerous time will be when the beasts finish their hunt and turn their attention to us."
Su Ling demonstrated the Phoenix's range, with a beam of light extending forward as temporary illumination.
"My Soul Power can only illuminate a range of about a hundred meters at most, which is my maximum range. But that Lord of Cinder can attack units more than a thousand meters away. I don't want to fight such a monster in an open area."
Jason suddenly slapped the shooting star hard.
"Quiet! Quiet! Quiet!"
He gestured with his index finger to the people, signaling them to be quiet. This wasn't his first time here, so he naturally knew what was around the RSH outpost.
The three children clung to Jason's arms and waist, their faces beginning to show expressions of terror.
Xue Ming crouched down with Jason, turning off all the lights on his body, including his IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) markers.
The Phoenix's soul power dissipated instantly, and the indicator bar disappeared without a trace.
Something flew through the air.
--It flapped its wings, and the dust in the air grew thicker and thicker.
Until a huge dark shadow blocked the light source of the observation balloon above the distant outpost, it fell like a meteor under the orange and red light, crashing headfirst into the seven o'clock position of the column, landing in the wasteland of steel scrap and mud.
The sharp, rusty iron nearly shredded it to pieces, scattering sparks that illuminated the monster that had fallen from mid-air and died suddenly.
It is Madness Butterfly--
--A Madness Butterfly with a wingspan of over twenty meters, jet-black wings, and grayish-white eye stripes.
It seemed to have escaped from the body of Death Giant. After flying a distance, it lost all its strength and, driven by the insects' instinct to follow the light, fell to its death on the road surrounded by lights.
Immediately afterwards, Xue Ming heard terrifying sounds of flesh breaking and bones cracking emanating from the insect's body.
Emerging from the belly of the dead morpho butterfly were countless White Lady, each about the size of an arm. At this moment, they could no longer be called "White Lady"; "black ladies" would be a more fitting description.
These black caterpillars are completely different from the round, chubby, and adorable White Lady.
Like the larvae of the black monarch butterfly, which grow by feeding on poison, these insects are covered in bristles. However, in such harsh conditions, they curl up and become a pile of dead matter within seconds of being born.
Jason still didn't get up; he covered the mouths of the three children, trying to make their breathing quieter.
The giant, Madness Butterfly's body began to writhe, sliding towards the sea surface.
--Like the [[Outlaw]], it also seemed to be influenced by the Immortal Lune, carving scars on the iron-clad rocks along the way and leaving behind clumps of black blood.
Finally, the bloodstains, resembling sludge, rushed towards the sea along with the butterfly's corpse, while the fragmented larval shells followed the mother's sliding trajectory, returning to the Death Giant's body.
Jason finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Let's go.
Katusha was almost paralyzed with fear.
She stood frozen in place, and it took Jason a long time to call her before she came to her senses.
The feeling just now was like an airplane made of flesh and blood flying over people's heads and finally crashing.
The malevolent spiritual pressure emanating from the insects, the unknown substances that make up their bodies, and the highly toxic chiral molecules—even if one of their appendages broke off in mid-air and struck or grazed her, it would be a fatal injury.
Humans seem so insignificant in this environment.
People finally breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived at the RSH outpost.
This enormous village is filled with all sorts of heavy weapons, with a forest of shore guns on the side facing the sea.
The man who came out to greet the guests was a very enthusiastic, strong Slavic man named Ibrahimovic, just like the football star.
Yibu's face was flushed, and he was wrapped up in a thick cotton sweater, looking like a ball. He stretched out his rough, scarred hand towards Jason.
"Welcome back, Comrade! We've been waiting for you for so long!"
When Jason saw his old friends, he suddenly burst into tears and hugged Yibu tightly.
Meteor couldn't understand where this inexplicable emotion came from.
Teacher A Ling then spoke to this innocent and adorable little darling.
"Whoever remembers everything feels burdened."
Jason will likely start missing Wendy, the waiter, once he returns here. Wendy was a defeated deserter who fled back to the station three years ago. He was greeted by Yibu again, but without any blame or complaint. All of this makes the Dacian man feel ashamed.
Yibu dismissed the children and sent them home, then exchanged credentials with the two VIPs.
Did you hear the lullaby before you got here?
Xue Ming immediately understood. "Uncle, are you talking about the Lord of Cinder's soul power attack?"
Yibu ran to a tall building and opened the door for the guests.
"Yes, it's the Soul Might of the Lord of Cinder—it's called [Lullaby]. They've built two outposts on the northwest side to collect runes from the giants. The aftershocks of their hunt also affect the inhabitants of the outposts. This group only arrived here recently, about fifty-one days ago. We've communicated with the sentinels of the Heaven's Ladder, and as long as we don't interfere with their hunting activities, everything will be fine."
People took turns entering the tower. Jason found a spot near the fireplace and sat down, asking Yibu about these things.
"I spoke with the people at the Pavlovian engineering station, and they said the concentration of Spirit Calamity here is decreasing. What's going on?"
"It's probably related to the Lord of Cinder's hunting activities." Yibu, the elder brother, added fuel to the fireplace, which was filled with coal, while delivering canned goods. "When they take some of the runes, some of the giants' subjects fall into eternal slumber. As these Spirit Calamity decrease, the concentration of Spirit Calamity will also decrease."
Jason muttered, "It's a good thing."
If the Lords of Cinder continue this hunting activity, this place will become increasingly safe.
Jason then asked, "Any news about Wendy?"
"No." Yibu's older brother said dejectedly, "I've never seen her again, except for the last time three years ago when she was commanding troops on the beach to fight against the Death Giant from Niflheim. I haven't seen her since."
Xue Ming pondered for a moment, then asked Yibu, "Is it possible that Wendy went to the Lords of Cinder?"
If Wendy fights the giants on the coastline and dies, she will not leave a body; her essence will be absorbed by the Madness Butterfly within the giants' bodies, eventually becoming part of these ancient artifacts.
If she had survived, she should have re-established contact with the station and wouldn't have been missing for so long.
Jason immediately denied it. "No way! She's a staunch materialist, she never believes in superstitions, I know her."
Yibu poured Jason a drink, hoping to warm his younger brother's body and heart together.
"Look ahead! Jason! Look ahead! Capitalism always talks about its glorious past, but we can only look forward to a better future—I believe you can find her. Perhaps she has just lost her memory. As long as we complete our mission and turn this dead land into a living place, the increasing human activity and the increasingly prosperous Dead Sea port will bring her back. When you meet again, she will remember your name."
Jason laughed awkwardly, not even really believing his own words of comfort.
The bitter wine stung his throat and his heart ached; the heat rising in his stomach made him feel somewhat tired.
"Let's get down to business—Brother Yibu, the boss sent me to this godforsaken place saying there was something only I could do, but he never told me what it was."
Ibrahimovic looked at everyone present.
He exchanged documents with people, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
"You couldn't do it last time, but you should be able to this time!"
He patted Jason on the shoulder and took a map from the small table beside the fireplace.
This is a panoramic aerial view of the RSH outpost, taken by a drone.
"As I just said, we're going to build a port at the outpost, construct a sea railway outwards, and go to Niflheim to see what's there."
Jason looked dejected. "But how are we supposed to deal with those giants? On our way here, we encountered many strange Spirit Calamity, and the construction crew couldn't build the railroad in this environment."
Ibrahimovic: "Isn't this what VIPs do? You're the one who needs to figure this out!"
Jason pondered the word "VIP" with a sense of bewilderment, seemingly having forgotten his original purpose for coming to RSH.
The path arranged for him by the BOSS is also a test for VIPs.
Jason rallied his spirits and temporarily put his search for his wife behind him.
"How much oil, how much ammunition, how much equipment do we have? How much can we utilize with manpower alone?"
Yibu immediately pulled out another topographic map. On the scattered armed positions on the outer edge of the RSH outpost, there were still many heavy weapons, but no one was operating them.
"That's all the equipment we have for each soldier, about forty guns, and over two hundred mortars with inertial fuses. That's only enough for two artillery squads to fight a defensive battle—but the bipedal infantry fighting weapon platform can carry heavy firepower. We have plenty of heavy firepower; hopefully, they haven't expired, and hopefully you know how to use these antiques."
"What about the weapon platform?" Xue Ming asked, referring to the infantry fighting mech that Brother Xingchen had mentioned. "Take me to see it."
Yibu had seen Jiang Xueming's passenger pass and knew he was a highly skilled mechanic.
"Why don't we rest for a bit? I still need to introduce you guys to my brothers! The reinforcements from the station—to paraphrase the leaders of the capitalist world, I have a dream! We all have a dream! Our dream is to build a railway across this ocean, to see what's in the sea, what's on the other side. The boss recommended Jason Megan to us, and I believe he can do it."
The members of the [JoeStar] team bent over, rubbing their backs. After several days and nights of travel, their bones felt weak. They took off their heavy helmets in their simple yet warm rooms and fell fast asleep wherever they could find a spot.
Teacher A Ling was even more straightforward. She found a blanket in her backpack, wrapped herself up like a chicken roll, lay down by the fireplace, called out to Xue Ming, "Kick me if you need anything," and then fell asleep at lightning speed to recharge her brain.
Xue Ming gave up at that point.
He leaned against the frosted glass, peering out at the window at the sparsely populated, quiet, and desolate village.
"Let's rest for a while."