Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.
With each step, yellow dust billowed from her boots.
Behind her, a pack of Mad Beasts gave relentless chase.
The setting sun, dipping below the horizon, shone on the face of the girl running ahead, a long sword dragging in her hand.
Sweat dripped down, soaking her clothes, which clung to her body, outlining its curves.
The girl dashed into a pile of rubble, splitting the Mad Beast pack apart.
Ambushing from behind a rock, she thrust her sword through a beast searching haphazardly for her.
Then, bursting out from cover, she held the blade horizontally and decapitated another beast that had come forward with the first.
Another group of Mad Beasts heard the commotion and turned, lunging at the girl.
She kept her body steady, leaped onto a nearly vertical rock face, pushed off again with her legs, and swung her blade, slicing off a beast’s head.
Without a pause, her long leg pierced the air, kicking the beast behind her—the force practically shattered its skeleton, sending it flying backward.
A gruesome death.
The girl wove repeatedly through the rubble, wiping out the trapped pack one by one.
By then, the sun had long set, and the world had lost its light.
But the night gave the Madman a chance to rest.
“Come back, Leng Qiongling. The tent is set up.”
“Got it.”
Leng Qiongling pressed the earpiece, and the world fell silent again.
The bright crescent moon had risen, its light seeming gentler than the sun’s.
“Your light comes from the sun—so do you thank it or hate it?”
The moon received the sun’s gift and gained the power to shine.
Yet precisely because of that, it forever appears as the sun’s substitute, perhaps merely a tool to prolong the sun’s glow.
Lost in thought, Leng Qiongling stared blankly.
The bright moon would not change because of her wild fancies.
Maybe it lacked any emotion—just a thing assembled from countless mindless objects.
And what about herself?
She could feel her own warmth, her heartbeat, her blood—but did these truly prove she was alive?
What was the meaning of being alive?
Was having consciousness, joy and anger, and your own dreams the same as being alive?
Leng Qiongling shook her head.
She had already decided: no matter what she was now, staying true to herself and surviving was the most important thing.
Brushing the dust off her clothes, she rode the night chill and jumped to the nearest tall stone peak.
In one glance, she spotted flames flickering on an open clearing not far away.
That’s the place.
She leaped down and hurried toward the fire.
With all those Mad Beasts still around nearby, these people actually dared to build a fire in the middle of an open space.
Even so, Leng Qiongling understood why they dared.
They had already lined the perimeter with the corpses of Mad Beasts.
Seeing that, the remaining beasts probably wouldn’t dare to break in.
Jumping into the circle of corpses, Leng Qiongling walked into the erected tent.
Wu Yin and the others had already prepared dinner.
“Sniff, sniff. Smells good.”
“Of course. This is cooked by Xi Si Te, the wife type. Eat it with gratitude—ow!”
“Captain, if you call me that again, I won’t give you any food.”
“Sorry, sorry. I’m hungry—let’s eat already.”
Rubbing my head, which still ached faintly, I took the bowl and chopsticks Xi Si Te handed me.
A full bowl of steaming white rice had been filled—perfectly cooked.
“By the way, what did you cook the rice with?”
“With a rice cooker, of course.”
“No, where did the electricity come from?”
“Batteries.”
“There’s no way batteries can power that, right?!”
“Hai Shi.”
I signaled Hai Shi to bring it over.
She rummaged through the car for a moment, then brought out a battery almost the size of a pillow and placed it in front of Leng Qiongling.
“This is the battery needed for their weapons. Plenty of power, so using it to cook rice is no problem.”
Leng Qiongling’s hand froze midair.
The chopsticks in her hand loosened and were about to fall.
I quickly reached out and caught them.
“Thank you…”
Leng Qiongling snapped back to reality, took the chopsticks from my hand, and kept shifting her gaze between Hai Shi’s weapon and the battery.
“I’ve been wanting to ask—how heavy are these weapons exactly?”
“Haven’t you held one?”
Leng Qiongling shook her head.
It seemed Xi Si Te hadn’t let her try it.
But she chose such a sword without even testing it?
“Probably a few hundred kilograms. Le Paxi’s weapon is the heaviest—should be over a thousand kilograms.”
“Only Madmen can wield weapons like these, right?”
“Of course. Why else would they be the symbol of a Madman? But I’ve heard rumors that somewhere they’re developing an armor suit. Once you wear it, you become incredibly strong. Not sure if it can fire lasers though.”
“Can something like that really be developed?”
“Hard to say—I’m not in that field. But if it is, it could boost combat power quite a bit. You wouldn’t need several people just to gang up on one beast, and you could fight outside.”
“Is the combat ability of ordinary soldiers really that bad…”
“It’s not that their skills are lacking. It’s just that against Mad Beasts that have already evolved tolerance, ordinary bullets can hardly inflict real damage. Without using Rocket Soldiers, a pack of just a hundred beasts would be enough to wear down an entire regiment.”
“But…”
I paused there, and Leng Qiongling didn’t interrupt.
I closed my eyes briefly, then spoke:
“Even facing such a huge disparity in strength, they still burn with passion to protect their homeland. That alone is enough to make people see them as the Strongest Legion.”
Leng Qiongling seemed surprised I would say such a thing.
Her eyes widened, her lashes glimmering in the firelight.
“Captain…”
“Oh! Captain can say such inspiring words—are you thinking about the past? That would make me sad! How can you neglect your teammates and dwell on what’s behind?”
“You’ve been drinking, haven’t you! Stop clinging to me—you reek of alcohol!”
“Sorry, Captain—I couldn’t stop her in time…”
“Hehe, just a little… Captain, you still haven’t answered my question!”
“Alright, alright. First, get off me.”
I struggled free from Ou Mi You’s embrace and looked at my teammates.
They were all staring at me intently, clearly expecting my answer.
Haah…
I took a deep breath.
I just needed to say what was on my mind.
“Of course I put my teammates first. That will never change.”
But…
“Since we’re paid by others, it’s only right to help them out, isn’t it?”
In the end, I couldn’t say it seriously and masked it with a witty remark.
The teammates wore their usual expressions of being used to this.
Only Leng Qiongling, not following the conversation, tilted her head in confusion.
“Let’s eat first.”
I forcefully cut off Leng Qiongling’s urge to ask more, ending today’s topic.
The moon was beautiful tonight.
It was the kind of night that made you daydream.