Chapter 8 Gliding Glimmer
Ding-ling-ling-ling-ling!
The urgent ringing of the alarm clock sounded like a death sentence, and a few seconds later, a trembling hand slapped the alarm clock to stop it. Ji Huaisu had just woken up, his eyes were bleary, his hair was a mess, and he got out of bed as slowly as a newly unearthed golden-haired zombie.
She dragged herself to the bathroom, splashing a handful of cold water to sober herself up. As she tied her hair into a ponytail, she glanced at her watch. It was exactly 7:35.
Wow, this sleep was so luxurious... It’s the first time I woke up after 5:30 this month!
Yesterday's downfall of Hugos was a rare blessing in disguise. The to-do list had been nearly halved, allowing her to enjoy a leisurely sleep. She yawned loudly and, in a wonderfully good mood, changed and washed up. After finishing her duties, Ji Huaisu looked out the window. Her room was one floor above a newlywed's, and with a little effort, she could easily jump to the rooftop of the house opposite.
The window of Chu Heng's empty room was open, and the morning breeze blew on the empty bed.
"...Where did that guy go?"
Chu Hengkong was on the roof of the dormitory building. He turned sideways with his right half facing forward, his lower body in a horse stance, his right arm bent at the elbow and supported himself, his left arm slightly retracted and placed on his waist like a fist.
This seemingly awkward stance was the Liang Yi stance in Bajiquan. Even a lifetime practitioner could hardly stand for 40 minutes, yet Chu Hengkong had already been standing there for an hour. He usually enjoyed relaxing in this way, but the longer he stood, the more he felt conflicted.
"Standing still and being lazy, your left hand keeps moving."
The sound arrived before the person arrived: a crisp laugh from behind. Simultaneously with the laughter came a tricky kick, the visitor's toes hooking directly at Chu Hengkong's ankle. Chu Hengkong didn't dodge, but took the stumble, his lower body motionless.
He turned to look at the girl behind him: "Nice strength. How many times have you been kicked by Mr. Ji before?"
Anyone with experience in martial arts would be amused by this scene. The first lesson in most traditional martial arts is standing still. The stricter ones require holding a bowl of water or an apple, or at the very least, standing in the scorching sun. While the apprentices tremble, the master strolls by, his hands behind his back, his eyes as sharp as a hawk's. The more stern ones will immediately strike anyone who dares to move, sending them sprawling, no matter how tall or strong they are.
Ji Huaisu had obviously suffered similar hardships, and as he spoke, he felt a sense of unbearable recollection of the past.
"Don't even mention it... It took me two years to master this stance. Even my father, who teaches everyone, has to admit that I'm not cut out for boxing." She sighed. "How could you, a seasoned veteran, make such a basic mistake?"
Chu Hengkong's tentacles had been constantly moving while he was standing still, sometimes slightly adjusting their position, sometimes adjusting their length. This was also the reason for Ji Huaisu's joke. He put away his stance and slowly exhaled.
"I'm not used to my new arm. I'm adjusting my center of gravity."
The tentacle was slightly lighter than Chu Hengkong's original left arm, and as the tentacle stretched and retracted to different lengths, the body's center of gravity shifted subtly. These minor changes could be slowly adapted to by adjusting while standing still. The real serious problem lay in the differences in "shape" and "hardness."
The biggest difference between tentacles and human hands is that they lack fingers, bones, and joints. Without five fingers, they can't perform actions like poking and grabbing. Without arm bones, they can't raise their arms for defensive purposes. The lack of elbow joints is even more fatal, meaning that powerful elbow strikes like thrusts and slams are completely unavailable to the left arm.
Last night's failed Iron Mountain Backstroke attack had sounded a wake-up call for Chu Hengkong. While his retractable tentacles were a powerful weapon at mid-range and long-range, they became a liability in close combat. If he couldn't quickly address the shortcomings of his new arms, he would inevitably stumble. However, new fighting styles couldn't be developed overnight. What was needed now were contingency measures... such as handy weapons or concealed weapons...
"I tried my best to persuade you to cut off your arm last night, but you didn't listen. Now you regret it, don't you?" Ji Huaisu said with a gloating look on his face. "Let's go! Quickly finish breakfast and get going."
"Okay, Captain, who are we going to kill today?" Chu Hengkong responded positively.
"Please have some self-awareness as a law enforcement officer and stop acting like a thug... although I know you're already a high-level thug." Ji Huaisu held his forehead. "Don't work on your first day. I'll take you to the workshop to get the relic you care about most."
Ji Huaisu walked towards the side staircase, and Chu Hengkong stayed there for a moment, quietly moving his ankle.
He acted normal during the conversation, but inwardly he was taken aback. Ji Huaisu's hook was far more powerful than it appeared; he almost thought he'd been tripped by a demonic Hugos. Such immense strength, disproportionate to her size, was inexplicable unless she was born with extraordinary talent.
In Mr. Ji's eyes, such people were considered untalented. How high were the requirements of warriors from another world? He suppressed his doubts and quickly followed the captain, feeling a faint sense of excitement in his heart.
I have to find an opportunity to have a good fight with her.
·
The two had goose meat buns and soy milk for breakfast. Captain Huaisu, who was eating while walking, led him into a wonderful "elevator".
The elevator was located deep within the headquarters building, at the end of a narrow corridor. A faint sandalwood scent lingered in the air, and the surrounding brown walls felt rough to the touch, with grain like raw wood. Its ascent was incredibly rapid, reminding Chu Hengkong of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It was once the world's tallest building, built by oil-rich sheikhs with their extravagant wealth. Its elevator was also once the fastest, reaching the top floor in under a minute.
The elevator at headquarters was more than a hair faster than the Burj Khalifa, and they had already been standing in it for over two minutes. If this had been Chu Hengkong's first trip to the "upper level," he would have been astonished by the height he had mentally calculated. Now, he was simply amazed by this seemingly insignificant technique.
This was his second time here.
The elevator stopped silently, the overhead panel swung open, and the whistling sound of swords and weapons swept through the sky. The water curtain sky and the tide of weapons, so close that it seemed so close, appeared before Chu Hengkong again. He returned to the place where he had been summoned. Chu Hengkong immediately prostrated himself on the ground after exiting the elevator, just like Ji Huaisu had done before him.
“Is there an ordinary road here?” Chu Hengkong shouted. He had to shout loudly, the noise of the weapon tide was too loud.
"There used to be some, but they were all destroyed after the war!" Ji Huaisu shouted back, handing over a small, somewhat heavy cloth bag. "Don't run around, follow me!"
Ji Huaisu was well aware of the "safe route" here. After the two men advanced about ten meters in stealth, they stood up and half-crouched at a slightly higher point in the tide. After another ten meters, they lowered themselves to a low position, and by the edge of the platform, they were fully standing. Ji Huaisu opened the cloth bag, revealing a simple, rolled-up hang glider.
"Is this also a relic?" Chu Hengkong sorted out his equipment neatly. The small hang glider was made up of a triangular cloth with a magic circle drawn on it and several wooden sticks. Its safety could not be described as worrying, but rather like a portable suicide tool.
"This is standard equipment for the Resurrection Unit. Just hold the tripod tightly to activate it." Ji Huaisu gave a thumbs-up. "Here we go, new guy. If you fall from here, you'll become the biggest joke of the entire team!"
She took two steps back, propped up her crude, toy-like hang glider, and rushed out to a cheer. Professional athletes on Earth would probably have had a stroke from seeing this. Chu Hengkong wrapped his tentacles around the support and, imitating Ji Huaisu's movements, leaped into the wind.
His vision instantly turned pure white, the frenzied wind raging high in the sky nearly obliterating his hearing. For a moment, he thought he'd leaped into a chasm between heaven and earth, a void filled with nothing but endless loneliness and falling. Then, a flash of gold appeared in the pure white world: the swaying ponytail of a girl. Her delicate face, glimmering from the wind, shimmered in her eyes, as bright as purple jade, like ripples on water.
"Light," she said.
Light truly appeared. Two circles of faint golden light formed a transparent sphere, completely enveloping the two people in the air. Chu Hengkong suddenly felt his body lighten. The noise and wind pressure faded away as if they were nonexistent. The magic circle on the wing surface glowed faintly, transmitting a miraculous thrust and lift, allowing him to move steadily through the air.
He slightly adjusted the angle of the wing, allowing himself to arc closer to the girl. The two balls of light merged as they approached, like two glowing raindrops merging into one in the sky.
Ji Huaisu winked at him and said, "The professional killer's first gliding performance is not very good."
"I was able to control myself when you attacked." Chu Hengkong's face was tense.
"Really?" the female captain drawled out.
"One second later." He admitted reluctantly, "Is this your ability?"
"It's a little trick. Now look behind you, and you'll have a pretty good idea of the place at a glance."
Chu Hengkong slowly turned around, and a towering brown wall suddenly came into view. From a distance, he realized it was actually a magnificent tower, and their previous location was the top floor. As he lowered his gaze along the tower, he could see hundreds of thick, sturdy "branches" extending from the brown bark-like structure.
The branches twisted and tangled, stretching far into the distance. At the end of each cluster, they supported an island-like patch of land, dotted with gray workshops and stone towers. Dozens of these "empty islands" stretched out in circles, like a gray canopy covering a city. No, not "like," but actual branches and leaves.
The giant tower is a huge tree standing tall and straight.
"Now it's time for the captain's friendship education." Ji Huaisu whistled. "Huilong City is a three-dimensional city, divided into three levels. These sky islands are the topmost area, the 'workshops' for salvaging, appraising, and selling relics. The loot you're most concerned about is on one of the workshop islands. When we get there, follow me closely and don't run around."
But Chu Hengkong didn't listen at all, and he even forgot about his spoils. In front of such a magnificent and even grand view, the mere relics were like dust.
A long-lost feeling of youthful joy rose in the killer's heart, and he once again felt that he had truly arrived in another world. He was heading to the workshop on the sky island, and beside him was the blonde girl who could control light.
(End of this chapter)
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