Lin Feng's elegy

"Bronze Skin and Iron Bones, full power!"

After watching Dan Heng and March 7th leave, Lin Feng, who had still been swinging his baseball bat wildly, dropped the act and simply lay down.

There were just too many of these Voidranger monsters, after all. They practically covered the entire bridge.

"Clink, clink, clink! Clang, clang, clang!" Physical attacks rained down on Lin Feng, ringing out crisply like hammer blows on an anvil.

"Come on, give me a back massage!"

Seeing that the Voidranger monsters' weapons barely hurt him at all, Lin Feng grew even more brazen.

He even turned over and let their blades hammer against his back.

"Put some muscle into it! Didn't you charge your batteries?"

Lying flat on the bridge, Lin Feng frowned and complained.

Whether it was his talent's effect or a trait of being a Stellaron vessel, those seemingly vicious Voidranger warriors could barely scratch his itch.

"Roar!" With an enraged bellow, a Voidranger Trampler shaped like a mechanical centaur charged over and viciously kicked Lin Feng's back with his heavy hooves.

"Mmm!"

"Ah!"

"Ooh!"

"This masseur's pretty good. That's the spot!"

"Keep going... I can still take it!"

"Fighting? Not a chance. There are too many to kill, so all I can do is lie here and wait for rescue! I just love it here at Herta Space Station!"

[Host's comical behavior has earned 100 Path of Elation points!]

[Current accumulated path simulation points: 900. Please keep up the effort, host!]

"Interesting... even this earns points. Aha, the Aeon of Elation, really seems to be looking out for me."

"I, Lin Feng, have wandered for half my life, regretting only that I have never served a worthy lord. If you would have me, I would gladly call you my adoptive father!"

"..."

A response like a whisper from the abyss reached his ears, but this time it conveyed no information. It seemed even the sly Aeon of Elation, Aha, had been left speechless by Lin Feng.

The corners of his mouth curled into a smug smile. Lin Feng was in a very good mood.

Of course, from a bystander's perspective, his plight was utterly tragic.

"These Antimatter Legion monsters are completely deranged."

"He's already dead, and they're still trampling him so brutally..."

"Ah... what a shame. Lin Feng was such a good man. I'm afraid there won't even be an intact body left..."

At that moment, Arlan, who was observing the situation from behind cover, let out a long sigh, his face filled with sorrow.

Though they had only known each other briefly, Lin Feng's selfless willingness to sacrifice himself for others had deeply moved him.

And so Arlan resolved to make Lin Feng his role model, determined to become someone just as noble and great.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

A few minutes later, after sprinting all the way, Dan Heng and March 7th had passed through the Master Control Cabin's corridor and reached Himeko.

Dan Heng's expression was somewhat grim, while March 7th looked utterly pitiful, her face streaked with tears.

Throughout the journey, Lin Feng's warm smile had kept surfacing in March 7th's mind, and the floodgates of her heart had long since burst.

Lin Feng had cut off his own chance of survival so that she could live. She could not understand what was so good about her that she deserved such a sacrifice.

"Forget you? But... I just can't!"

"Lin Feng... I shouldn't have said those things to you. It's all my fault..."

"Once I leave Herta Space Station, I'll find a beautiful planet and build you the grandest headstone!"

Her voice caught as she took Lin Feng's photo from the pouch beside her thigh strap. March 7th's slender body trembled, and tears streamed from her lovely eyes, wetting her delicate, beautiful face.

March 7th always carried her exquisite Instant Camera with her and loved taking pictures to commemorate her Trailblaze journeys.

But she had never imagined that she would never again see the bright, carefree smile in that photograph.

And this photograph might be the last keepsake she had to remember Lin Feng by.

"Little March... what on earth happened?"

Seeing March 7th's pitiable state, the elegant red-haired woman could not help furrowing her brows, confusion showing on her pretty face.

"Sob... Lin... Lin Feng, he..."

Biting down on her rosy lip, March 7th wanted to say something, but she was too choked up to speak.

She could not help it. Her heart hurt so much. Looking at Lin Feng's photograph, once her sorrow began to spread, it raged out of control like a wildfire.

"Never mind... Dan Heng, you tell me!"

Himeko shook her head with a rueful smile, then turned her gaze to Dan Heng.

"Here's what happened. Lin Feng was..."

"In the end, Lin Feng stayed behind alone to cover our retreat. He probably..."

"Ah, I'd even said I wanted him to join the Astral Express. What a shame..."

With a mournful look on his face, Dan Heng gave a concise account of what had happened.

After hearing Dan Heng's account and understanding the situation, Himeko also let out a long sigh, grief appearing on her face.

"So that's what happened... Lin Feng truly was a warrior worthy of respect."

"We of the Astral Express crew owe him an enormous debt!"

"Dan Heng, Little March, come with me. We'll go there, wipe out those damned Antimatter Legion monsters, avenge Lin Feng... and bring his body back for burial..."

Clenching her delicate hand into a fist, a resolute gleam gathering in her amber eyes, Himeko swept her sleeve and led Dan Heng and March 7th back at a run along the route they had come.

"All remaining combat personnel of the Herta Space Station Security Department, follow me to Central Elevator B6..."

"Yes, Station Manager Asta!"

Having listened to Dan Heng's story from the sidelines, the beautiful girl with long pink hair and a white uniform immediately gave the order. Leading several dozen fully armed personnel, she followed Himeko and the others.

As the station manager of Herta Space Station, Asta naturally had no intention of staying out of this.

Besides, she felt a measure of admiration and reverence for the man named Lin Feng.

Even in the face of the Antimatter Legion's terrifying monsters, he had remained so calm and unruffled, choosing to leave his companions the chance to live. What noble chivalry that was.

Ever since humanity had ventured into the sea of stars and mastered all manner of advanced technology and methods, life had grown more leisurely.

A noble knight like Lin Feng, who pitted his own insignificant strength against the Antimatter Legion, surely existed only in epic biographies.

"Lin Feng... Herta Space Station will always remember your sacrifice!"

After murmuring those words to herself, Asta had already formed a plan.

Didn't Herta Space Station have a Legacy Exhibition Hall? She would frame Lin Feng's memorial photograph and hang it alongside those of the Genius Society's honorary members, commemorating the deeds of the brave Lin Feng for future generations to admire.