Spare Me, Great Lord!

Transportation of the tens of thousands of bronze armor sets became the most crucial task at hand. Everyone understood its significance, as the excellent defense it provided would drastically increase the individual combat effectiveness of Heavenly Network soldiers.

The usual countermeasure against such heavily armored troops would be the employment of elemental-type Metahumans, as their armor could only guard against physical attacks. However, hardly any organization could manage a huge army of well-disciplined Metahumans.

The military carriers drove towards the Capital under Chen Baili’s supervision. The very fact that a Class A’s protection was necessary for the transport of a pile of armor could reflect the degree of emphasis the Heavenly Network placed on it.

All Daoyuan Class students conscientiously surrendered their armor to the people in-charge. Their military contributions were recorded as well.

Although some of the armor was bought by girls for the ones they liked, no one would be so greedy to claim the military credit for themselves. It was a tempting thought indeed, but one would certainly have his reputation tainted by doing so.

Despite the high price quoted for the armor, in fact, one set of armor or the military credit it was the equivalent of, was worth much more than 500,000 yuan. Yet, conventional thinking made the students unable to realize the truth, until they received their cultivation techniques and promotion of military ranks. Only then did they turn their grudges towards the Flood of Bronze to sincere gratitude…

Members of the Flood of Bronze, including Mo Chengkong, still had to return to their own cultivation college in the end. But over the short span of only ten days, the name “Flood of Bronze” had become their title of honor.

This time, all the Daoyuan Class students were involved in the military training. Hence, no one was unaware of the glorious accomplishments of the Flood of Bronze on Safety Island. After they returned to school, all of its members would carry a sense of pride for their common identity.

“Brother Shu, we hope to see you again,” Mo Chengkong led the members of the Flood of Bronze to bid Lu Shu farewell.

Lu Shu smiled and said, “Take care of yourselves. I wish you all the best.”

Then Lu Shu and Lu Xiaoyu left the Lop Nur campsite at once on the special car arranged by Chen Baili.

They had to head to the nearest city and wait for the next flight back to Yuzhou. Instead of staying in their hotel room, Lu Shu and Lu Xiaoyu climbed to the rooftop of the 27-storey building. They extended their lower legs over the rooftop. At the moment, the setting sun was hanging over the horizon, spreading peace and quietness across the world.

“Lu Shu, where is my small silver fish?” Lu Xiaoyu asked, expressionless.

“Haha, of course it’s with me. But now we have no utensils, and we can’t eat it raw. Stop staring at me,” replied Lu Shu. He tried to fool her because it was almost impossible to even find a similar fish right now. They were still in a depopulated area!

“Let me have a look at it,” said Lu Xiaoyu.

“Do you not trust me?” Lu Shu pretended to be unhappy.

“No, I don’t.”

“Well, Chaos ate the fish…” Lu Shu said, distress all over his face. Lu Xiaoyu would never give up until she got what she wanted.

Then, Lu Shu lowered his voice and explained Chaos’ background story. In the end, he added, helplessly, “Actually I also didn’t expect it to wake up suddenly and eat that fish…”

“Okay.” Lu Xiaoyu gave a nod of understanding.

Lu Shu smiled and said, “I knew it! Xiaoyu, you are the most understanding…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Lu Xiaoyu interrupted, “Since Chaos or whatever it is ate my small silver fish, it’ll be fine if you let me eat Chaos.”

“From Lu Shu’s distress, +666…”

“It’s born from the divine water and it was only loosely related to the evil dragon by blood before it became a weapon spirit. Therefore, strictly speaking, it’s not a living thing now…” Lu Shu explained, trying to say that it was not edible…

“Hey, Lu Shu…” Sadness suddenly surfaced on Lu Xiaoyu’s face. “A girl I met in the military training, died in the remains.”

Lu Shu suddenly went silent. Then, he said, “We always have to face these, don’t we?”

“I wasn’t that close to her,” Lu Xiaoyu said softly, “She was pretty when she smiled. She would always offer to share her snacks with me when she saw me. We didn’t talk much. It’s not that I’m very saddened by her death. I’m just thinking, how heartbroken her family must be.”

Lu Shu was suddenly reminded of what Taniguchi Bunndai had said to him when she made a 90 degrees bow to him in the courtyard. Those words flowed out of his mouth naturally, “But, some things must be done.”

“You’ve changed, Lu Shu,” Lu Xiaoyu said in a serious tone, “This time, for real.”

Lu Shu remained silent for a long while, as though being surrounded by a warm web. It was not that he wanted to be selfless, or willing to contribute, but he had been influenced unconsciously by those people’s action, which had reminded him of the importance of honesty and sincerity.

There were things he must do. He would do it, but only if he wanted to.

Suddenly, he smiled. Lu Shu rubbed Lu Xiaoyu’s head and asked, “You’ve changed too, haven’t you?”

“Lu Shu.”

“Yes?” Lu Shu turned to look at Lu Xiaoyu.

“Anyone can die, except you,” said Lu Xiaoyu.

“Xiaoyu,” replied Lu Shu, gazing at the distant sun as it finally disappeared at the end of the cityscape, “Neither of us can die.”

…

Liuhai Lane Courtyard House, the Capital.

Shi Xuejin was reading a thread-bound book in his deck chair. Suddenly Nie Ting passed him a not-so-important document, a record of Lu Shu’s doings in the remains this time.

There was no mention of the black armor, but only a detailed account of how Lu Shu had eliminated the threat outside the remains, formed the Flood of Bronze to alleviate the overall combat pressure and ventured into the depths of the sea alone. The document was definitely compiled by Chen Baili because no one else knew what happened in the sea.

Shi Xuejin read through and smiled. “A heart of gold, right. A fist of iron, also right. But why was he struck by lightning?”

“Are you really surprised?” Nie Ting said, emotionless. To him, that fellow’s irritating words and actions deserved a bloody lightning strike long time ago.

“Haha, don’t be angry,” Shi Xuejin said. After some thoughts, he continued, “We’ve discussed the divine punishment and I think the lightning must be a form of the punishment. The transformation of certain creatures will attract lightning, though the ceiling seems higher for humans. I always believe that reaching the peak of Class A will encounter divine punishment because it defies the natural order. Hence, it’s unrealistic to think that Lu Shu himself was punished. Instead, it must be due to some creature that was with him.”

Shi Xuejin had correctly deduced what happened to Lu Shu with just a few sentences.