Duel on the Rooftop (3)

Immediately afterward, with a smack, the spot pierced clean through by Castle's laser blast erupted with dazzling electrical sparks.

"Nice one!" Pei Shao, having narrowly escaped death, immediately shouted in praise.

A deafening alarm blared from inside the square robot's body. Castle's voice rang out: "Dodge!" But the warning came too late! Seriously wounded and enraged, the square robot charged forward recklessly. Its long mechanical arm lashed out, sweeping Pei Shao away viciously like fallen leaves in an autumn wind. Then, smoke pouring from its entire body, it smashed a huge hole through the floor with its body as solid as a wall of bronze and iron, rolled over, and took the opportunity to escape.

After taking that brutal hit, Pei Shao rolled several times across the ground. His head buzzed, and the sudden, violent impact had nearly knocked him unconscious. His insides felt as though they had been shifted out of place, stars flashed before his eyes, and his ears were filled with a continuous roar.

Castle ran over at that moment. Looking at Pei Shao lying on the ground and groaning, then at the square robot that had vanished before its eyes, its gleaming electronic eyes experienced a disruption in their flickering frequency for the first time.

"Logical analysis error. Unable to determine whether to rescue first or pursue first."

After hesitating for that brief moment, Castle lost the best opportunity to pursue its opponent.

Fortunately, Pei Shao's vitality was far stronger than expected. After only about two minutes, he sat up with a jolt. Looking at Castle standing blankly before him, he could not help clutching his head and shouting, "Mr. Castle, why didn't you chase it?"

To Pei Shao's surprise, Castle did not say something like "Insufficient data, unable to determine" this time. After a moment of silence, it gave him a very strange answer: "A nonstandard error has occurred in logical analysis!"

Pei Shao was dumbfounded.

The man and machine stared at each other for a while. Castle finally returned to normal, turned around, and deftly jumped down through the large hole in the floor. Pei Shao got to his feet and looked down. Just as he was about to jump after it, a thunderous boom shook the entire building.

Pei Shao said in horror, "What was that? Did the demolition crew start tearing down the building already?"

"Holy crap!" Pei Shao did not dare hesitate any longer. He aimed for the pitch-black hole and shot through it. Though the landing left him thoroughly battered, he quickly got back to his feet and limped toward the stairs with all his strength.

"Damn it, why did they have to demolish the building now?" Pei Shao had only just made it down one floor with great difficulty when another huge crash sounded. Then a white figure flashed out from the stairwell, followed by Castle's voice: "The opponent has destroyed two of the most critical load-bearing walls. Calculations indicate that the building will completely collapse in 31.33 seconds..."

"What?" Pei Shao cried. He grabbed Castle in his hand and ran for his life. At that moment, he had no time to think about the bruises all over his body; all he wanted was to escape. Castle apparently knew that pursuit was now hopeless, and obediently transformed back into the shape of a phone in Pei Shao's hand.

But just as Pei Shao reached the third floor, the dilapidated building finally gave way under the damage to its load-bearing walls and began collapsing in sections. Dust and debris that had accumulated overhead sifted down from the cracked concrete and exposed steel bars, instantly leaving Pei Shao covered in grime.

"Damn! Is this a movie or what?" Startled, Pei Shao stumbled as he quickened his pace. But at that critical moment, another piercing scream, sharp enough to split stone, came from the stairwell below.

"There's someone downstairs!" Castle warned.

Pei Shao wished he could grow wings and fly straight out.

After running down another two steps, Pei Shao's body jolted. He cried out in shock, "Sister Meijing?"

The woman sitting on the ground with a pained expression was none other than Lin Meijing. In his earlier panic, Pei Shao had failed to recognize that the scream had come from his beautiful superior.

Though Pei Shao was stunned, he did not dare slow down in the slightest. He rushed to Lin Meijing, then, without another thought, hoisted her onto his shoulder.

At that moment, Pei Shao had no idea where his sudden strength came from. He could not feel Lin Meijing's weight at all. There was only one thought in his mind: escape alive!

"Let... let me go..." While running, Pei Shao suddenly felt Lin Meijing's breath against the back of his neck. Yet what she said left him completely bewildered.

"At a time like this, who cares about propriety between men and women? Forgive me, Sister Meijing!" Pei Shao shouted as he sprinted all the way to the first floor.

The collapse was accelerating, and broken walls and rubble were everywhere as the thunderous noise became a chaotic din. "No, I'm not... Sigh..." Lin Meijing seemed as though she wanted to say something more, but only let out a long sigh. Pei Shao was utterly confused and muttered to himself, "Not? Not what?"

Bang!

As one of the apartments on the first floor collapsed piece by piece like dominoes, Pei Shao finally dashed out of the building entrance just before the "end of the world." He ran a long distance before turning back. In the night, the crumbling building somehow possessed a bleak kind of beauty in his eyes.

Sigh... If only I had a digital camera right now! Pei Shao briefly lamented. At the same time, police sirens sounded from another street not far away. He did not dare linger and quickened his pace, disappearing into the darkness...

But after only a couple of steps, Lin Meijing struggled and jumped down from Pei Shao's shoulder. With an expression that seemed both annoyed and amused, she said, "Were you planning to carry me until dawn?"

"Ha..." Pei Shao thought, I'd love to carry you until dawn! But he said, "Sorry, Sister Meijing. It was an emergency just now, I..."

Before Pei Shao could finish, Lin Meijing stumbled. He was just about to rush over to support her when he saw that she had already leaned against the wall in the alley, her chest rising and falling as she panted heavily. The pain on her face had eased somewhat.

Awkwardly, Pei Shao withdrew his arm. Only then did he notice that Lin Meijing was wearing exactly the same clothes she had worn at dinner. She still had on high heels, while her black silk dress was now rumpled and worn in places from scraping against things, faintly revealing glimpses of skin beneath. Pei Shao's old face immediately reddened.

For some reason, he turned his head away, as though he did not dare look again.

Lin Meijing, on the other hand, gave Pei Shao an interested glance, a faint curve appearing at the corner of her lips. But when Pei Shao looked back at her, her expression had already returned to normal, and her pretty face was once again covered in a frosty chill.