Under the blazing sun, Daoist Wang was slightly out of breath, drenched in sweat. He was carrying two huge terrain detectors and stood on top of a sand dune in the Sarir Desert, watching the figure of Ling Tong leisurely riding a sand bike ahead.
Well, well, well! This little battle sister has quite the revenge streak!
At that moment, Daoist Wang just wanted to rebel! However, since there were other military reconnaissance teams around, he didn’t waste his energy or use any talismans. He was already feeling a bit sore from the effort. Luckily, he had been consciously training his body; otherwise, he would have collapsed after the first few dunes.
Suddenly, Ling Tong, looking cool in her beach camo short sleeves and long pants, stopped her sand bike in front of him. She looked energetic and cheerful, with her ponytail bouncing slightly.
“Why isn’t Teacher Wang moving? Is your shoe refusing to walk?”
Wang Ji Xuan’s eyes filled with resentment. “Can’t we just put the equipment on the bike?”
“It would get stuck in the sand.”
“What about that?” He pointed to a helicopter flying by.
The pilot of the helicopter shivered for no reason.
Ling Tong raised her chin slightly. “They are surveying terrain data, and we are verifying geological data. This is an important task to prevent being ambushed by blade beasts from underground.”
“And those?” Wang Ji Xuan turned to point at two large mechanical dogs following them from a few hundred meters away. They weren’t even loaded!
Ling Tong glanced at his sweat-soaked collar, looked up at the harsh sun, and calmly said, “Are you going to trick me into guarding the gate again next time?”
“I must emphasize again, that was not a trick!”
She twisted the throttle, and the four-wheeled bike kicked up sand as it surged forward.
Daoist Wang gritted his teeth and shouted, “I’ll give you an extra two hours of massage later!”
The mechanical girl rode her four-wheeler back and summoned her loyal mechanical dogs.
“Get on.”
Ling Tong tilted her chin, indicating for Wang Ji Xuan to sit behind her.
Wang Daoist hesitated a bit. It wasn’t that he was old-fashioned; in this world, the idea of men and women keeping their distance was pretty much unnecessary. It was just that… Ling Tong was wearing jeans and a short top, exposing her toned waist to the air. Sitting behind her meant they were only a few centimeters apart. Wasn’t that a bit too…
“Hmm?” Ling Tong noticed his expression.
“Maybe I should ride instead.”
“Sure,” she said, casually moving to the back seat, hands gripping the handles behind her, still smiling.
Wang Daoist sighed in relief, climbed on, quickly learned how to operate the bike, tucked his legs in, and twisted the throttle. The tires kicked up a cloud of dust.
He adapted quickly and managed to drive the bike before it flipped over, heading for the next survey point according to the flashing markers on the projection screen.
As he drove, a mechanical arm reached from behind… and slipped a few talismans from his pocket.
“What’s the principle behind this thing?”
“Alien technology,” Wang Ji Xuan replied firmly.
“Did you really see the stars flickering when you were dying, like Zhou Zhengde said?”
“Yes, I can swear to that,” Wang Ji Xuan added silently—swearing on the loyalty of a spirit user to humanity.
Ling Tong made an “oh” sound, stuffed the talismans back into his pocket, but didn’t pull her hand away, leaving it there.
Wang Ji Xuan asked, “You seem to be feeling emotional.”
“I’m just wondering why someone as strange as you exists.”
Ling Tong said softly, gazing at the vast land. “Many people claim to be conservatives, but in reality, they just want to inflate their own value. They don’t control their desires, but you seem different.
“You’re overly disciplined, making me feel like you walked out of a storybook, like a scholarly old professor who’s been single for decades. You can talk at length about your field, but stay quiet in unfamiliar territory, and you’re cautious around the opposite sex.”
Wang Ji Xuan clicked his tongue. “That’s my disguise, to make more girls like me.”
Ling Tong replied, “Even the tissues in your room don’t have extra usage.”
“Wait, how much do you observe me?”
“Only by collecting details can I provide a convincing report.”
Ling Tong’s voice held a hint of pride, then she sighed and murmured, “Looks like war is about to start again.”
Wang Ji Xuan asked in surprise, “Are you afraid of war?”
“It’s not fear; it’s the unknown. The unknown is uncertain and ungraspable.”
Ling Tong retracted her mechanical arm, resting her hands on the back of the bike, looking at the clear blue sky. Her loosely tied long hair danced in the wind.
“In my vague memories, my father used to carry me like this, racing in a similar environment. He was a senior mechanic. But when I came to my senses, they were both killed by blade beasts. That was in another war zone, where a fortress was breached, and sixty percent of the refugees couldn’t evacuate in time. My parents were among them. I was only eight, participating in the selection test for battle sisters, so I had temporarily left the fortress…
“I never fear blade beasts. Every day I live is to prepare for killing blade beasts or to kill more of them. The only thing that makes me feel fear is not being able to kill enough king-level and general-level blade beasts before my life ends.”
Wang Ji Xuan said solemnly, “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself; you can enjoy life too.”
“The Commander told me the same thing, saying I’m too extreme.”
Ling Tong shrugged. “Who knows? The Commander said that only by experiencing the beauty of life can I have enough will to protect that beauty. But as you can see, in the era of fortresses, finding beauty is difficult. Fortress 76 is like a microcosm of the entire era—lower city, middle city, upper city, self-righteous spirit users, corrupt humanity, the cage-like middle city, and the high-class nobles in upper city… where is the beauty?”
Wang Ji Xuan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Ling Tong said calmly, “That’s why I like to read novels when I’m not on a mission, especially those filled with cliché romance plots. The emotions described in them seem to me just fluctuations of individual hormones, but the environments they reflect fill me with longing.”
“What kind of environment?” he asked curiously.
“Cooking together, brewing tea together, enjoying the rain on the tea mountains in a light drizzle, brushing past each other on the streets of a golden age city, and then… a train that should have taken away a lover suddenly departs, but after it leaves, the lover miraculously appears on the opposite platform…”
Ling Tong asked, “Aren’t those beautiful?”
Wang Ji Xuan smiled easily, “They are quite beautiful.”
“Can I try it out?”
“How do you want to try?”
“Just, if we were a couple,” Ling Tong said with interest, “I want to feel that kind of sensation.”
Wang Ji Xuan focused on driving the bike, “Sure, what do you need me to do?”
“Try not to talk.”
“Okay, okay!” Wang Ji Xuan pressed his lips together, making a few sounds to indicate agreement.
Ling Tong’s eyes sparkled as she moved closer to him, her mechanical arms hesitating before wrapping around his waist in a circular motion.
They made contact, but not fully.
Wang Ji Xuan smirked slightly and ‘accidentally’ pressed the handbrake, then twisted the throttle to the max.
Ling Tong, following the momentum, bumped into him and instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist.
She froze for a moment, then rested her forehead on his back, quietly feeling the moment, as if meditating or thinking about nothing at all.
Wang Ji Xuan glanced at the map in front of him; they were almost at the next survey point. He wouldn’t dampen the mood, so he kept the speed steady, enjoying the desert scenery and studying the helicopters and drones flying around.
About half an hour ago, fighting had already started outside the Middle Ages Basin defense line. Over twenty groups of blade beasts were simultaneously rioting, trying to break through the human defense line.
The population in the Middle Ages Basin exceeded sixteen million—some agricultural fortresses could support a relatively large population—making it an important human stronghold, with the D5 combat zone continuously mobilizing support.
In recent years, the frontline between humans and blade beasts had been in a dynamic balance, but now the blade beasts had actively broken that balance, creating extra opportunities for humans.
Now it was just a matter of which group of blade beasts could break through the defense line and come towards Fortress 76.
The military at the fortress was well-prepared, and the entire fortress was operating like a giant machine.
The population in the outer expansion area was temporarily relocated to the upper city of the fortress, and the fortress was fully sealed off, planning to open three battlefields on the surface.
The first battlefield was a trap set with Ling Tong as bait; the second battlefield centered on the fortress, mainly to defend it and prevent blade beasts from harming humans; the third battlefield was the ‘uncertain battlefield,’ where the battlefield location would change randomly, with humans maintaining enough reinforcements and firepower.
Wang Ji Xuan learned all this through his spiritual sense while on the road.
A few commanders were discussing the battlefield arrangements.
The desert they were in was not far from the outer expansion area C, where a fake military camp would be set up shortly, with Ling Tong acting as bait.
Ling Tong would also pilot a special firepower annihilation mech, which Wang Ji Xuan was looking forward to.
He was curious about how terrifying the blade beast hordes were and even more curious about how humans fought against them.
Ahead, a helicopter was approaching, and someone jumped down from it. This person opened a pair of steel wings behind them, and Wang Ji Xuan recognized who it was with a sweep of his spiritual sense…
Has Ling Tong not reacted yet?
Did her biological radar not activate or something?
Just as Wang Ji Xuan was about to remind her, he felt Ling Tong’s forehead rub against his back.
She whispered, “Thank you, this is nice… Do you have any romantic experience?”
“No,” Wang Ji Xuan replied softly.
“Then if you want to try this kind of thing in the future,” Ling Tong looked to the side, “if… I mean… hypothetically… would you consider… a battle machine like this…”
“Yoho! Ling Tong! Your charming and adorable brother Zheng is back! Hahaha!”
Suddenly, a loud shout came from the side.
Ling Tong froze for a moment, then immediately looked to the left front, her mouth twitching slightly as she regained her indifferent expression and raised her left mechanical arm.
Pew! A purple beam shot into the sky, grazing the newcomer’s scalp, causing him to lose control of his flying wings and drop from several meters up.
“What did you just say?” Wang Ji Xuan asked softly.
“Nothing,” Ling Tong looked at the sky. “This is troublesome; he knows your background. I’ll go negotiate later.”
Wang Ji Xuan casually said, “Don’t rush into mechanical modifications. I have a way to enhance your physical abilities beyond other battle sisters, but if you undergo too many modifications, I might not be able to help later.”
Ling Tong paused for a moment, nodded slightly, then jumped down, her face dark as she walked toward Zheng Shiduo.
From her stance, it looked like she was ready to silence him.
(End of Chapter)