Chapter 55: Speeding Rescue

The night wind stilled.
The roar of the engine, the crack of gunfire—everything came to an abrupt halt.
The entire sea fell into a suffocating silence.
It was like that brief, oppressive stillness before a storm descends.

Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.

Four figures leapt onto the powerless speedboat’s deck from four different directions at once.
Lin Yu jerked her head up, the faint spark of life that had just returned to her emerald eyes shrinking to needlepoints in an instant.
She saw who had come.

At the front stood a woman in heavy smoky makeup and a revealing black leather outfit.
Scarlet Fox.

A lazy, cat-and-mouse smile played on her lips, and in her narrow phoenix eyes flickered a cruel amusement, the gleam of a predator toying with trapped prey.

On either side of her were two burly men gripping submachine guns.
They were bare-chested, muscles tight and hard beneath tattoos of snarling demons etched across their skin.
Their eyes glowed red, wild with lust and violence—whatever they had taken was still burning in their veins.

But when Lin Yu’s gaze fell upon the last figure, her breath stopped.
(How… how could it be—?)

That should have been Ah Que—the one who’d taken Lin Yu’s Heart Bomb head-on, reduced to ashes without a trace.
Yet now she stood there. Whole. Unscathed.
No—not unscathed.

Her complexion was ghostly pale, drained of all warmth.
The calm, hound-like eyes that once held razor focus now glowed an eerie crimson, fevered and hungry.
At the corner of her mouth, a faint streak of blood remained, not yet completely wiped away.
The sight was so grotesque that Lin Yu’s skin crawled.

(…That’s impossible.)
Her mind froze.
(How could she—)
(Didn’t she… already die?!)

“Tsk, tsk…”

Scarlet Fox was the first to speak.
She ran her crimson tongue over her cracked lips, her lazy smirk returning.
“Run.”

Her voice was low, but it slid into the air like a serpent’s tongue—cold, sticky, and poisonous.
“Why aren’t you running anymore, my cute little maid?”

She seemed to delight in Lin Yu’s expression—shock tangled with terror—and her voice grew bright with mocking exaggeration.
“What’s wrong? Surprised? Wondering how that little sparrow you roasted black could flap her wings and stand again?”

A silvery, deranged laugh spilled from Scarlet Fox’s throat, her body trembling with it.
“You little flowers raised in the greenhouse of Dawnlight—do you really think closing your eyes and chanting a few sweet spells can fix everything?”

“Let me give you a lesson, my darling maid…”

She raised a gloved hand and pointed toward the two men beside her—their muscles swelling grotesquely, eyes burning from the Immortal Dust.
“See them?”

“They were once the cheapest fuel this damned city ever had—just like us monsters!”

“Before dawn even broke, they had to crawl out of pigsties they called homes, drag themselves to the black factories, and sweat every drop their bodies had left! You think that’s building a city? No! We were just burning our lives to keep the lights on in the offices of those bastards in District A—so they could earn their filthy war money!”

“When they were young, they could fight through it. But people age. Bodies rust. Every old wound from the construction sites starts itching like a thousand ants gnawing at your bones when it rains! Get sick, and you can’t even afford an appointment at Ruikang! So you crawl to some back-alley clinic without a license, buy whatever pills they hand you, and choke them down like candy!”

“And what happens next? The damn painkillers become your only friend! You buy one, then another, then another box! Till your wife runs off, your husband disappears, and your kid looks at you like you’re a dog!”

Her laughter turned wild, echoing over the sea—a manic, broken sound filled with bitterness and self-mockery.
“In the end, we don’t even know what we did wrong! Just one day—bam!—we’re kicked out, shut out of this rotten city forever…”

“But then, one day, the Immortals came! And the Immortal Dust they gave us—changed everything!”

“With just a pinch, those weaklings who could barely grip a steering wheel turned back into fighting beasts! They could beat those little punks extorting our streets until even their mothers wouldn’t recognize them! That’s the gift of the Immortal Dust! The evolution of us failures!”

She spread her arms wide, as if embracing some invisible god, a fanatical glow flooding her face.
“Of course, power always comes at a price. The stuff’s addictive—once you taste it, you can’t quit. But it’s all worth it!”

Her smile twisted into something eerie, eyes gleaming with insanity.
“Besides… once you take enough of it, something even more interesting happens.”

Before her words even faded, she swung her hand sharply.

Shhk!

A crescent-shaped bone blade shot from her fingertip, slicing through the air!
The burly man beside her didn’t even react before his arm—still clutching the gun—was severed clean at the shoulder.

The dismembered limb traced a bloody arc through the air before splashing into the sea.

“Ugh—ah?!”

The man froze for a heartbeat, then screamed in agony.

But then—the grotesque began.
No blood spurted from the wound.
Instead, dark red tissue, like corroded iron rust, writhed and multiplied at frightening speed.
In seconds, a new arm had grown in its place.

“See?”

Scarlet Fox’s smile bloomed with superiority.
“We’ve transcended humanity. Become one with heaven and earth.”

She slowly lifted her right hand, fingers spread elegantly.

Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!

Five razor-sharp blood-bone blades shot from her fingertips.

“And lucky ones like me, who’ve danced with the Immortal Dust longer…”
She grinned, voice dripping with pride.
“…can even mold the Immortals’ gift into whatever form we desire.”

“For example—this.”

She swung her hand.
A scarlet slash tore through the air, gouging a deep, bone-revealing gash across the deck at Lin Yu’s feet.

“As for our dear Ah Que…”
Scarlet Fox glanced at the red-haired girl beside her.
The girl said nothing, crimson eyes locked solely on Lin Yu.

“She’s far more special than any of us.”
“As long as there’s life left in this domain for her to feed on—she cannot die.”

“It’s like those human stories, what do you call it again?”

Scarlet Fox tilted her head, searching for the word.
Then her manic eyes lit up.
“Oh, right.”

“Vampire.”

She spoke the word with a dazzling, cruel smile.
“Now then, my adorable little maid—class is over.”

“Are you ready for your exam?”

Scarlet Fox’s triumphant declaration still hung in the deathly still air— when Lin Yu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly smiled.

“…Heh.”

The laugh was soft, but it pierced through Scarlet Fox’s arrogance like an icicle through glass—sharp, cold, and merciless.
Her smirk froze.

“What are you laughing at?”
Her voice was laced with a chill, the kind that came when pride was wounded.

Lin Yu slowly lifted her head.
The blood-smeared face that had been twisted with fear and despair just moments ago was calm now—almost amused.
Her lips curved into a small, knowing smile.

“No,” she said quietly. “The one who should be taking the test… is you.”

“…What?”

Scarlet Fox blinked, dumbstruck.
For a second, she thought the little rabbit cornered before her had gone mad from blood loss.

But in that instant of confusion—

BOOMMMMMMM—!!!

A deafening roar shattered the stillness. From the eastern horizon, an engine’s fury rose, deep and violent.
Then, like a steel leviathan tearing through the waves, a massive silhouette charged toward them at terrifying speed.

“What the hell is that?!”
“It’s an assault boat! How is there one here?! Didn’t the boss already cover this area?!”

Panic erupted across the surrounding speedboats.
The Akacheng Gang men scrambled, raising their rusted submachine guns and firing wildly at the oncoming black beast that cut through the waves.

RATATATATATATA—!!!

Flames from the muzzles painted the night, forming a useless web of death.
The bullets clanged off the warship’s reinforced armor like raindrops against iron—leaving not even a scratch.

“[Great Wall]—Deploy!”

A cold, commanding voice rang out from the assault craft’s bow.
Then, with a mechanical roar, a ten-meter-wide shield of dark metallic plates unfurled from its prow.

Like a fortress wall rising from the sea, it split the waves apart and crushed the rain of bullets beneath its weight.

The gangsters could only watch in horror as the assault ship transformed into a siege hammer of death.

SPLAT—!
SPLAT—!
SPLAT—!

In seconds, three smuggler boats that dared block its path—along with the screaming men aboard—were obliterated, smashed into a storm of blood and debris.

The carnage was so sudden that even Ah Que’s crimson eyes flickered with animalistic fear.
Abandoning the barely-breathing Lin Yu, she leapt with impossible agility onto the last remaining speedboat.

Shoving aside the paralyzed helmsman, she took the controls herself, preparing to face the monstrous warship head-on.

But before she could—

WHUP-WHUP-WHUP-WHUP—!!!

The air above them erupted with a new sound—the slicing rotors of a helicopter descending from the clouds!

“—?!”

Ah Que’s head snapped upward, her face twisting in disbelief.
From the southern sky, a sleek black assault chopper dove toward her like a phantom.

And in its open side door stood a small, colorfully dressed figure—aiming a massive black rifle straight at her.
A Barrett anti-material sniper rifle.

A flash of light bloomed in the distance—one kilometer away.

Before Ah Que’s mind could even register the threat—

BOOOOOOM—!!!!
SHHKKKK—!!!!

The gunshot and the wet, cracking sound of flesh exploding echoed together.

Ah Que felt her world implode—an invisible hammer crushing her skull from the front.
Her head burst apart like a melon hit by a sledgehammer.
Her body fell backward, thudding against the deck, twitching twice before going completely still.

Inside the helicopter, a kilometer away.

Li Qing sat cross-legged, the Barrett still pressed against her shoulder, her right eye glued to the scope.
But she didn’t relax.

“Oh…?”

Her voice was soft, curious.

Through the scope, the “headless corpse” below was still moving.

At its neck stump, dark red tendrils like writhing worms began to grow and weave together.
As if… it was trying to regrow a new head.

“I see…”

Li Qing’s lips curled into a delighted grin.
“So it was the ‘Mantis’ that fought the senior last time, huh?”

Without hesitation, she dropped the Barrett beside her.
In her hands materialized a new weapon—sleek, glowing with pink light.

The standard-issue psionic armament, Crimson Fox’s Fang.

“If one bullet won’t kill you…”
Her eyes burned with icy fire.
“…then I’ll just shoot a few more.”

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!!!

Beams of shimmering pink light rained down like the wrath of heaven.
Each shot struck with surgical precision, engulfing the last speedboat—and Ah Que’s regenerating body—in a storm of burning psionic fire.

KABOOOOOOOM—!!!

When the final explosion faded, a blazing orange fireball bloomed across the sea—
and silence fell once more.

Scarlet Fox could only stare, frozen, her once-triumphant smile turned to stone.
Her mind couldn’t keep up with what had just happened.

In less than a minute, they’d gone from hunters to prey.

First the assault ship that crushed their fleet like paper,
then the death from the skies—unerring, unstoppable.

(Monsters…)
(They’re all monsters…)

The realization struck her like a sledgehammer, shattering the pride she’d built upon Immortal Dust.

“Damn you… Dawnlight Corporation!!!”

She roared, her voice feral and desperate.
But she didn’t give up.
Cornered animals don’t.

She spun around, eyes blazing like a venomous snake’s, locking onto the wounded Lin Yu.

“If she’s so precious to you…”
Her grin twisted into something deranged.
“…then she can die with us!”

Her arm, now a rusted blade of flesh and blood, slashed through the air toward Lin Yu’s head.

But—

KRAAAAAASH—!!!

A blinding pillar of blue light speared down from the heavens.
It struck the sea less than ten meters away, detonating with godlike force.

SPLAAAAAASH—!!!

The ocean boiled.
Waves surged like an awakening beast, battering the boat violently.

“Ugh—!”

Scarlet Fox was thrown to the deck, choking on seawater.
When she lifted her head, she froze—

Above the churning waters floated a dark figure, silent and terrible.

Her body seized. She couldn’t move. It felt like prey under a predator’s gaze.

“Y-you… who are—”

Her words cut off.

SHHK! SHHK!

Two clean sounds—like hot blades through butter.
The men beside her collapsed, their heads severed in a single stroke.
Blood fountained upward.

The shadow vanished and reappeared behind her.

Scarlet Fox felt something cold encase her head—
a massive, mechanical hand.

Her body went rigid.
Terror crushed her voice into strangled gasps.

“W-wait! I… I can—”

SPLAT—!!!!

Her skull burst like an overripe tomato, splattering red and white across the deck.

And just like that—Scarlet Fox was no more.

Yano Mayu (Night-Cocoon) expressionlessly shook the blood from her mechanical hand, as if wiping off an annoying insect.

She pressed a finger to the communicator in her ear.

“Manager Qian.”
Her voice was flat, emotionless.
“Site cleared. Sixteen hostiles confirmed neutralized. Gray Crystal—seriously injured. Black Iron, Crimson Fox—unharmed. Civilian assets—critical condition. Report complete.”

She paused, her eyes flicking toward Lin Yu, a rare softness beneath her cold exterior.

“The bracelet on your wrist,” she said, “is a company-issued employee terminal. It’s implanted with a signal chip. If the wearer’s vitals drop too low or the band is damaged, it automatically sends a level-one distress beacon to headquarters.”

Her gaze lingered on the shattered remains of the device.
“…Shot through by a bullet?”

“Y-yes…” Lin Yu murmured, barely audible.

Yano said nothing for a while. Her lips parted slightly—
perhaps to scold her as usual.

But when her eyes met Lin Yu’s—her ruined uniform, her trembling frame, those green eyes glowing faintly with relief—
the words wouldn’t come.

Finally, she sighed and muttered, almost impatiently:
“…Next time, try not to be so careless, idiot.”

“Yes, ma’am! Thank you, senpai!”

Lin Yu straightened up instantly, her voice bright, like a student proud to be praised.
Her energy made even her wounds seem lighter.

Then, a weak male voice called out nearby.

“Um…”
It was Luo Shaotian.
“Thank you… for saving me. But who exactly are—”

Yano didn’t even glance at him.
Her blue eyes said clearly: You’re not worth addressing.

Without a word, she knelt, sliding an arm under Lin Yu’s shoulders and legs—lifting her effortlessly into a princess carry.

“Let’s go.”

And, stepping across the water with measured grace, she carried Lin Yu toward the approaching assault ship.

“Wait—!”

Luo Shaotian started after them, but before he could move, several new boats surrounded him.

Men in sterile white hazmat suits and masks disembarked, faces expressionless.
They moved silently, like worker ants, enclosing him.

The leader raised a strange device—something like an old-fashioned camera.

“Officer Luo,” came a muffled, emotionless voice from behind the mask,
“thank you for your bravery tonight. But what happened here… was merely a dream born of fatigue and overwork.”

A soft flash burst from the device’s lens.

“Good night.”

And the world went white.