Chapter 56 Just Partners 01
A video circulating on the StarNet shows a boy carrying a little girl as they escape from the jaws of an alien species.
The video appears to be taken from surveillance footage in some remote galaxy. The image quality is blurry, and the fixed position of the surveillance camera is not stable, causing the picture to shake slightly from time to time. Compared with other high-definition videos online, this is like a low-quality film made in an ancient era. It is a shoddy production that even video creators who use the names "antiquity" and "nostalgia" would not dare to use to appease the audience.
However, even with such a rough clip, the barrage of comments and bullet screen messages was incredibly lively, and it was pushed to the top of the homepage trending list by netizens on Xingwang.
[Holy crap! Am I seeing things?! No exoskeleton! No mecha!! Bare-handed!!]
[Fighting aliens bare-handed! I'm bowing down to this amazing guy!]
[Can someone tell me if I'm related to this expert? We're the same species.]
[Yes, yes, they're all human, so how can the difference between people be greater than the difference between a person and a dog?]
Comments floated across the screen, but the descriptions were exaggerated and untrue.
It's important to understand that what makes humans human is their ability to use tools. Although the video footage is unclear, the boy was indeed holding a somewhat worn-out energy gun. It was with this rudimentary means of attack that he was barely managing to hold his own against the mutant, whose upper body was five times the height of an adult.
However, those exaggerated comments were not refuted; instead, they were met with a chorus of enthusiastic agreement.
While the power of a light gun is indeed terrifying for ordinary people, it's merely a slightly dangerous children's toy to most Xenomorphs. An attack landing on an Xenomorph's exoskeleton would only leave a quickly disappearing white mark; only when it hits relatively vulnerable joints or the mouth could it cause any damage.
The boy in the video has managed to survive until now by precisely landing every attack on those spots.
Amid a series of screams of "I'm kneeling!", some viewers in the live chat began discussing the boy's identity.
[This must be a top-tier A-grade gene, right? No, no, A-grade isn't enough. Could it be... the legendary S-grade?!]
[Looks young, another genius? Have I been wasting my time all these years?]
[Is he a military academy student? Anyone want to claim him? The Alliance's First Military Academy, the Capital Military Academy, and the Ninth Military Academy]
[S-rank? I remember last year the First Affiliated High School recruited a really awesome freshman, he was S-rank, I think his name was Duan Rui?]
However, this guess was immediately refuted: "[I can tell you for sure, that's not the case.]"
[Although we can't see his face, we can tell the difference by his body shape; Duan Rui isn't this thin.]
[Besides, he just came out of closed training recently, he doesn't have time to run that far.]
The person in front clearly knows the inside story. The big shot in the video is visible but untouchable, but this person in the comments is real, and someone immediately started yelling—
[Alive, military cadet]
[Wow! A pro is in the entertainment section too?]
[Judging from the tone of this big shot, he knows Duan Rui. So, so what?! What's the difference between S-level genes and ordinary people? My neighbor's little niece swears he has six eyes.]
The second half of the sentence was clearly a joke, but netizens were indeed extremely curious about this celebrity who was once sought after by nine military academies.
Military academies are not the entertainment industry. Back when various military academies were vying for students, it did cause quite a stir on the internet, giving netizens a lot to eat. But once the students enrolled, there was absolutely no news about them, leaving those who had been feasting on gossip feeling regretful.
This sudden appearance of a big shot momentarily veered the tide of the chat, but some comments were particularly peculiar: "[I checked the schedules of various military academies, and none of them are on holiday right now. Aren't you afraid of getting caught by the drill instructors for going online at this hour?]"
Zhou Zhehao froze behind his computer, glancing around furtively like a thief. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that no one was around.
He looked back at the personal terminal and typed heavily, "[I'm on vacation!]"
Even if it's a fake injury leave, it's still embarrassing.
The infirmary is one of the few places on campus that can connect to the internet. It was discovered that he wasn't properly recovering from his injury and was instead surfing the internet. Once he's healed, the training ahead will be incredibly tough.
Zhou Zhehao was still feeling guilty, so he pulled the blanket up higher, curling up into a small ball on the bed—a futile attempt to cover up his guilt. However, he seemed oblivious to this. After doing all this, he finally felt relieved and looked back at the boy in the video.
He stared at him for a while, and felt that he didn't seem like Duan Rui, but rather like someone else...
Thinking of that person, Zhou Zhehao's face lost the exuberant mood he had just displayed while arguing with netizens. Instead, his lips turned down, revealing a heavy expression that seemed to be both sad and regretful.
What Zhou Zhehao was thinking was of course unknown to netizens on the other end of the StarNet.
Although it's rare to see military academy students in the comment section, netizens are the fastest-attention-shifting creatures in the world. They were quickly drawn to the scenes in the video and completely forgot about the previous conversation.
The alien creature in the video has a rather peculiar appearance. Its upper body resembles a praying mantis, and its forearm is a giant, gleaming scythe as tall as a person. However, its lower body is a very long tail, somewhat like a snake's tail, but covered with sharp bone spikes. Even without considering the sharp spikes that look difficult to deal with, the power of the tail alone is enough to make people shudder.
Netizens just witnessed how this mutant species snapped a tree that was as thick as several people could hug with a single flick of its tail. If that had hit a person, it would probably have shattered their bones into dust.
The boy in the video was always aiming at the eyes, the mouth, ear canals, joints, etc., which were exposed when he roared. The scythe on the alien's right limb was now difficult to open and close due to the previous attacks.
The alien creature possessed a strong learning ability. Realizing the damage it had inflicted, it would instinctively dodge whenever its vulnerable spots were targeted. The boy used this opportunity to further distance himself from the creature. Although he remained within an extremely dangerous zone, the distance between him and the alien was visibly increasing, causing onlookers to hold their breath, anxiously awaiting the moment of complete escape.
But the unexpected always comes first. The boy raised the energy gun again, this time aiming at the alien's eyes. This action should have been no different from before, and the audience even anticipated the boy's usual pattern of creating distance again.
But the unexpected happened at that very moment—
"ah!"
It wasn't the comments on the screen, but rather the audience members who were watching this scene who couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Aiming was indeed not a problem, but the energy of the light gun decayed rapidly at a visible speed after leaving the muzzle, and it dissipated into the air before it even got close to the alien.
The enormous size difference between the alien and humans not only brought a disparity in strength and a tremendous sense of oppression, but also a difference in movement speed. The boy was already maintaining an extremely dangerous distance from the alien, and after just one mistake, the alien quickly closed in.
The enormous scythe swung down, seemingly capable of slicing a person in two with effortless ease.
At the critical moment, the boy suddenly rolled in one direction, narrowly avoiding the scythe, but a deep, bone-revealing bloodstain appeared on the arm holding the energy gun.
Someone sighed, "Ah! What a pity! We could have avoided it!"
This comment floated alone across the screen, but it didn't get any approval from others. Even the person who posted it realized it was inappropriate and quickly deleted it before the comment protection period ended.
The boy could have easily dodged the attack unscathed, but if he hadn't raised his hand and pressed down on it, it wouldn't have been his arm that was cut open, but rather the entire back of the unconscious little girl in his arms.
It was his duty not to block, but in that split second, his unthinking act of blocking touched everyone's hearts.
But no matter how much it is triggered, the current crisis remains unresolved.
The distance they had painstakingly created was completely lost because of this, and the boy and the alien were once again brought to a dangerous point. Coupled with the wound on his arm and the previous exhaustion, the situation was made even worse.
The near-despair of the onlookers did not seem to shake the boy in the slightest.
The blurry image obscured the boy's facial expression, but judging from his decisive and efficient movements, he must be very calm at this moment.
To avoid the pain affecting his accuracy, he switched the energy gun in his hand to his uninjured hand.
The little girl who was originally in his arms was moved to a different position and placed directly on his shoulder. He supported her with his injured arm—a position that looked extremely uncomfortable. But no one was foolish enough to accuse the boy of being "inconsiderate" at this moment. Being able to survive and have a chance to escape was more considerate than anything else.
This failure seemed to have no effect on the boy's mindset whatsoever. He continued at his previous pace, even repeating the process with greater caution. His composure even infected the audience in front of the screen, making them calm down as well. What should have been a life-or-death situation was instead met with unfounded belief from these onlookers that the other person would escape the crisis.
This slightly relaxed atmosphere finally gave the audience time to discuss what exactly happened with the energy gun.
The most common guess was: "Is it due to insufficient energy?"
This conjecture was immediately supported.
I think so too.
[+1+1]
[I haven't counted exactly how many shots the pros fired. Has anyone kept track? Could you share some data? But I think it's about right.]
This freeloader didn't get the data he expected, but he got a rebuttal first.
[I don't think it's an energy issue; I haven't seen the big shot reloading energy stones.]
[Yes, yes, the boss immediately followed up with a shot, and the alien dodged it, which is why the others had time to avoid it.]
[Was it changed too quickly and you didn't see it clearly? Aren't there several fast-handing players in section A who often do this? And this pro in the video is even more so!]
[This has nothing to do with hand speed; he didn't even make a charging motion while reloading, he didn't even touch the energy zone.]
Before the argument erupted in the comment section, a knowledgeable expert finally arrived with some information—
I just checked the information, and it shouldn't be an energy issue.
[The energy gun that the expert is currently using, although the model designation is unclear, I compared its appearance and estimated attack parameters with the database. There's a greater than 93% chance it's the Gale series X200 model released four years ago. Only two batches of this energy gun were ever produced before production ceased.]
Long blocks of text, highlighted in a special color, slowly floated across the screen. Immediately, people recognized the well-known ID, and a series of comments appeared before they could even read the details.
[Front row group photo]
[I never expected to be in the same frame as the legendary Aika!]
[What day is it today? I need to go out and buy a lottery ticket!!]
Others interpreted it differently: "[To be called a 'big shot' by Aika, just how big of a 'big shot' must this person in the video be?]"
[Worship the master]
After a flurry of excited chatter from the fans, someone finally started to pay attention to the scientific content.
[A said only two batches appeared, is there something wrong with this Gale 200?]
Seeing that the topic had refocused on science popularization, Icarus breathed a sigh of relief in front of the screen and quickly replied, "[Yes, there is a question.]"
[Initially, the Gale X200 series was popular among medium-powered weapons, with low recoil, long endurance, and fast rate of fire for the same penetration power.]
However, problems were quickly discovered after it was used in actual combat. After being used for a certain period of time or firing at a certain speed, the energy conversion part would overheat and go into hibernation. The most typical case is the phenomenon encountered by the expert in the video just now.
[The experts should be well aware of this issue, so the firing intervals were deliberately lengthened afterward.]
Once the slowdown in the attack pace was pointed out, even those watching the video belatedly realized it.
However, because the person in the video appeared calm and composed throughout, with perfect timing, few people noticed it beforehand. Even those who did notice mostly attributed it to exhaustion and not having thought of that detail yet.
Ah, this...
The audience, suddenly bombarded with information, had mixed feelings. After a long pause, someone quietly posted a message—
[I suddenly have a bold idea]
Immediately, someone else chimed in, "Me too!"
[+1]
[Although... I think... it might not be impossible?!]
[I must be crazy, jg]
And then there are those with less associative thinking who keep asking, "[What? What?]"
...
After several "+1" comments, someone finally typed that "bold guess" on the screen: "[If the pro player had the latest model from the Blaze series, could he turn the tables?]"
Encountering aliens in a dangerous zone and fighting back without relying on mechs or exoskeletons, but only with handheld weapons—it sounds like a joke, and even slightly conservative movies wouldn't dare to make it.
This statement was utterly absurd, but surprisingly no one refuted it for a while.
Even with a defective weapon, the expert can outmaneuver the aliens; with a higher-end weapon, it would be a piece of cake.
—Thinking about it carefully, it's actually quite possible?
If Ren Yi knew that netizens were praising him so highly, he would probably ask someone to put two more cooling patches on his head to calm him down.
Take a closer look at the video. Which side is actually being walked like a dog?!
As for changing weapons, forget about it.
Thankfully, he had the Gale X200. If he had been equipped with the famous high-damage Flame series, the recoil alone would have been enough to give him a run for his money.
What misunderstanding do netizens have about his slender frame, which is clearly visible even through the StarNet?!
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