Chapter 2020: Naysha’s Response

Ning did not have to wait long to find out what Naysha would do.

The moment the soldiers admitted that they had destroyed her helmet, something in her expression changed, and the anger that had been simmering beneath the surface turned sharp enough that even the men in front of her seemed to notice it.

"You destroyed it?" Naysha asked, her voice suddenly much quieter.

One of the soldiers gave her a mocking smile. "What, you thought it just stopped working on its own?"

Another laughed beside him. "You should’ve seen your face when you found out."

Naysha stared at them for a second longer, then stepped forward without another word and drove the edge of her hand directly into the first man’s throat.

The attack came fast enough that he barely managed to tense before it landed. His eyes widened, and the laugh disappeared from his face as he stumbled backward, both hands flying to his neck while he dropped to one knee and struggled to drag air back into his lungs.

"What the hell—"

The others moved immediately.

One of them rushed her from the front, trying to grab her around the shoulders, but Naysha shifted aside just before he reached her and let his momentum carry him past. At the same time, she grabbed another soldier around the waist, turned with him, and drove him hard into the ground.

"Get off me!"

He barely had time to raise an arm before she went down with him and landed on top, striking him across the face with enough force to snap his head sideways.

"That was for the helmet," she said before punching him again. "And that was for laughing about it."

A hand suddenly tangled in her hair from behind.

Naysha cried out as she was yanked backward, but instead of wasting time trying to pry the man’s fingers loose, she moved with the pull and threw her weight back until she created enough room to kick at his leg.

Her heel struck the side of his knee.

The man’s leg bent awkwardly, and his grip loosened with a curse.

"You crazy—"

Naysha twisted free before he could finish, turned around, and punched him straight in the face.

His head jerked back as blood immediately began running from his nose.

She barely had time to recover before the last soldier came in from the side and drove a kick into her back.

The impact sent her stumbling forward, and she hit the ground hard enough to roll several times before finally stopping a short distance away.

Ning remained seated against the wall throughout all of it, still looking every bit like the weak beggar he had pretended to be, though his attention never left Naysha for even a moment.

She pushed herself back up almost immediately.

Her breathing had become heavier, blood was running from a split in her lower lip, and her hair had fallen loose around her face, but none of that seemed to make her reconsider the fight. She wiped at her mouth with the back of one hand and glared at the soldiers as they regrouped.

The first man had finally started breathing again, though every breath sounded rough, while the one she had tackled was getting back to his feet with one side of his face already beginning to swell.

For a moment, Ning thought they were going to continue.

Naysha seemed to think the same.

She shifted her stance and said, "Come on, then. If you’re going to threaten people who can’t fight back, don’t suddenly get shy when someone hits you."

The soldiers exchanged looks.

There were more people watching now, and enough of the crowd had slowed down that continuing the fight would be difficult to hide afterward.

One of the men pointed at her angrily.

"You attacked fellow military personnel."

"We’re reporting this."

Naysha wiped the blood from her lip again. "Go ahead. Go tell them how you four got beat up by a girl. I’m sure that will reflect great on your records."

Their eyes wavered for a moment, seemingly realizing that they couldn’t afford that.

The man who had been holding his bleeding nose glared at her. "You think command is going to take your side after everything you’ve already done?"

"I think command might be interested in the actual evidence," Naysha said. "My helmet’s been recording this entire time."

"Liar. It’s broken," one of them said.

"The screen and camera, yes. But you failed to destroy the microphone. Everything you’ve said until now has been recorded," she said. "Please keep talking."

"We don’t believe you," another one said.

The first man finally managed to stand straight again, one hand still pressed against his throat.

"We’ll see what the truth is," he said in a hoarse voice. "And good luck getting another helmet after this. If one shows up, maybe we’ll break that one too."

They left as soon as he said that.

Naysha’s expression darkened immediately, but she did not go after them.

Instead, she stood where she was and watched as the group disappeared into the crowd, waiting until they were far enough away that there was no chance of them suddenly turning back.

Only then did she spit a small amount of blood onto the ground and wipe her mouth again.

For a few seconds, she remained focused on the direction the soldiers had gone, still visibly angry, before she seemed to remember why the entire confrontation had started in the first place.

Naysha turned toward Ning.

Her expression softened slightly when she saw him still sitting against the wall, and she quickly walked over before crouching down beside him.

"Hey," she said, looking him over for any obvious injuries. "Can you hear me?"

Ning gave her a weak nod.

"They kicked you pretty hard," she continued. "Did they hit your head?"

"No."

"Good. Can you breathe properly?"

"I’m fine," Ning said. "Thank you for saving me."

Naysha let out a small breath.

"Ah, that’s no problem. You should’ve never been hit to begin with."