Chapter Six: I, Yu Lian, the Sensitive One

Page (1/3)

The lieutenant felt a bit embarrassed, but fortunately, no one had time to pay him any mind. Perhaps it was because Yu Lian’s previously steady, almost habitual composure had reassured everyone, the soldiers remained relatively calm. Many had already begun checking their weapons. Ina had even loaded her rifle early, raising it and looking toward Yu Lian, awaiting orders.

“Don’t get attached to the fight,” Yu Lian said. “Help me up, we’re retreating into the cave! Sergeant Youyou, you lead the way.”

The tall black man, who had just donned his power armor, held his gun with a resolute air, as if ready to charge through fire and sword.

“I’ll cover the rear,” Ina said, adjusting her weapon with a serious expression.

“No need.”

“Then I’ll...” Sergeant Bear Man spoke gravely.

“I said no need! Why the solemn sacrifice? Did I say anyone has to die?” Yu Lian snapped angrily.

Everyone fell silent and pressed on without a word.

An hour earlier, the lieutenant, who had wielded his sword fiercely, shook his head and carefully followed the group.

The cave was indeed quite deep; the further in they went, the more difficult the path became—rugged and winding—but still passable. Just as they finally saw light ahead, the hiss and shrieks of the bugs sounded behind them.

To be honest, the bug swarm’s biological structure was indeed closer to that of insects, and such creatures didn’t make noise while hunting. However, perhaps it was some cruel whimsy of the queen Yu Lian had fought many times in a previous life, who thought the oppressive effect of a chorus of howling bugs was fitting, so she endowed her offspring with this trait—it made sense. After all, zombies in siege scenarios groan “aowu aowu” even though their vocal cords have long rotted away.

Ina and Baka, at the rear of the team, each held a weapon—one a gun, the other an axe—and looked toward the stretcher carrying Yu Lian.

“Speed up! I’m telling you, if any of you try to be heroes, I’ll dismantle this thing!” Yu Lian waved the cluster shock bomb in his hand.

The two sighed but followed along. Although they thought the warrant officer was a bit impulsive, they were nonetheless touched. Everyone else shared the same sentiment; even the plain-looking nurse pulled out a handkerchief to wipe Yu Lian’s sweat.

He was truly in pain again now. Earlier, he had felt numb below the waist and as if every bone in his body was aching. Now, it felt as if a steel rod had been thrust through his waist, freshly pulled from a furnace.

Dragging their now nearly incapacitated comrade, they finally reached the cave’s mouth. At that moment, the screeches of the terrorclaw bugs sounded as if right beside their ears, making their legs weak.

Yes, the howling was effective—even in the space age, classical methods never go out of style.

Ina was already aiming to fire. She hadn’t lost her mind or stopped covering the rear, but was shooting while moving.

“Shoot between their jaws! That’s the head’s control center!” Yu Lian shouted.

Ina trusted him, firing two bursts of three shots each, and was pleased to see two massive bugs at the front collapse, blocking their path.

Then Sergeant Baka grabbed her and quickened their pace. They finally saw the exit—actually, it was a slanted opening carved into the rock wall.

“Is this the exit you mentioned?” the sergeant major wanted to curse. Not because they couldn’t climb out, but because this unlucky fellow with a broken spine was being dragged at an angle, probably risking his life.

Indeed, Yu Lian felt he was about to die. If before it had felt like every bone was broken, now it probably was true, with his internal organs all in turmoil, and a dizzying flood of colors—black, yellow, red, purple, green—rushing into his nasal cavity, nearly causing him to vomit.

Miss Belinda hurriedly wiped her tears, a natural physiological reaction, but Yu Lian felt utterly embarrassed.

Fortunately, everyone climbed out of the cave. Ina emerged mostly, and at the rear, Bear Man Baka pushed him out—the only one capable of exerting enough force to move a man wearing over a hundred pounds of power armor.

Page (2/3)

Ina strode out of the cave and reached to grasp Bear Man’s hand. Yu Lian held the cluster bomb tightly, eyes fixed on the two at the entrance.

Terrorclaw bugs were frontline assault troops. Although their large size made it seem they couldn’t pass through narrow caves, they had the skill to dig rapidly—much faster than a groundhog.

Yu Lian knew well the cave wouldn’t hold them for long. Once outside into the open, his ragtag group wouldn’t last more than a round or two.

They had to strike while the bugs were crowded here!

Thankfully, as bio-weapons, their leader was a simple-minded AI, unable to grasp trap concepts.

In a few years, these creatures wouldn’t be so easily fooled. At least in Yu Lian’s time, they never were.

He watched Ina pull the towering Bear Man directly out of the cave.

By then, Yu Lian had crawled to the entrance, gripping his pistol in one hand and the bomb in the other. From the cave’s mouth, several terrorclaws thrust their massive pincers and eight sharp claws, squeezing through. Behind them, more bugs howled wildly, with a serpentine form darting swiftly through the gaps.

Without hesitation, Yu Lian activated the bomb and threw it into the swarm.

The battery’s flickering glow froze the bugs for a moment—they were biological, yet still required energy. Genes—their evolutionary material—and abundant energy fueled their actions.

A different sound came from the swarm, like scolding their own kind, but it was too late. Yu Lian fired at the bomb’s activation device and tumbled away, clutching his head.

Such a move was agonizing for someone half crippled with a broken spine—the burning steel rod inside felt like it snapped.

A thunderous boom erupted at the entrance, like a pressure cooker exploding a hundred times over.

Everyone felt as if at an earthquake’s epicenter, struggling to keep balance. Yu Lian no longer fought his weakened body; the shaking ground moved him.

As the flood of colors surged anew into his nose, nearly overwhelming him, a massive steel hand grabbed him, lifting him up and leaning him against a strong shoulder.

It was Ina.

The exoskeleton’s stabilization allowed the sergeant major to immediately regain balance; her armored frame now served as a sturdy chair.

“You pushed yourself too hard, officer!”

“No choice. Besides you, I don’t trust anyone else’s marksmanship.” Tossing the bomb into the swarm and following up with a shot was no easy feat. The guard squad’s low status was well deserved.

“I could do it too...”

“And then we’d both be dead? Buried together?”

Ina clenched her teeth and fell silent, determined to repay this life-saving grace.

Yu Lian felt a bit awkward, though. Though she was clad in cold iron, he was now leaning against her.

“Want to relax a bit?” Ina offered.

...Girl, do you know how easily that sounds suggestive? Yu Lian was taken aback, but the sergeant major had already opened the storage compartment on the right thigh of her exoskeleton, revealing energy bars, a cigarette case, a cigar tube, and a flask, gesturing for Yu Lian to help himself.

Never expected such a big-browed, bold-eyed girl wasn’t entirely proper!

Page (3/3)

“I don’t have anything stronger, not my taste,” she added.

“Who would want that? And judging by your tone, it sounds like the stronger stuff is already widespread?”

Realizing her slip, the sergeant major turned her head aside, noticing Yu Lian staring intently at the silver metal tube on the rack, her cheeks twitching—she had worked hard to get that, hadn’t had time to enjoy it yet. But she couldn’t refuse her savior!

“Green Garden Bay cigars! Out of production for 30 years!”

“Out of production? Weren’t they named the Galaxy’s top ten cigars just last year?”

“Never mind what I said.”

Yu Lian shook slightly, holding the metal tube resembling a small torpedo, feeling a flood of emotions. After all, his jump back fifty years wasn’t all bad. Since the Green Garden Bay tobacco fields on the fertile planet were obliterated by orbital bombing, this famous universal cigar had become a coveted collector’s item.

The coalition’s elites believed luxury goods like premium cigars created more value and prestige before galactic civilization, so they shut down Earth’s metallurgy, chemical, energy, and arms industries. Yet, a single destroyer’s intimidation bombing completely destroyed a century-old luxury brand.

How ironic.

Yu Lian pulled out a cigar and prepared to savor it, looking up to ask Ina for a light. His eyes instantly widened—not because he was captivated by her grimy but still pretty face, but because of the shadow leaping behind her.

The Thorned Serpent King, who should have died in the blast!

Though heavily wounded, with half its body mangled and its shell peeled back leaking brownish fluid, thin membranes had spread along its abdomen, glowing faintly with a chilling blue light.

It was about to evolve, gaining a rudimentary energy shield! This explained how it survived the explosion.

Despite its injuries, its movements remained fast beyond normal eyesight. This elite bug soldier often served as a wartime squad leader and assassin.

Yet Yu Lian could clearly track every move in slow motion, even discerning the natural patterns on its armored head, every blade-like tooth in its blood-red maw, and the six bug blades springing from its curled abdomen.

But seeing clearly didn’t mean he could act. His veins and nerves felt filled with liquid lead; even the slightest movement was impossible.

The Thorned Serpent King raised its blade toward Ina’s unguarded back. Only then did the sergeant major finally show surprise, but still no reaction.

Would Ina Nishika—the “Witch with Burning Eyes”—die here? The greatest sniper in galactic history, whose prey ranged from imperial princes to alliance magnates and titan beasts, perish before even leaving her rookie village?

What of the Earth youth who had taken up resistance because of her? What of her countless tutorials on crafting light spear cannons and militia training?

Is this the butterfly effect caused by my rebirth?

In an instant, the red, green, black, purple, and yellow floods surged again into Yu Lian’s throat, and this time he couldn’t hold them back.

But instead of vomiting anything unpleasant, a ripple-like shockwave burst forth, sliding over the sergeant major’s shoulder and striking the Thorned Serpent King squarely in the face.

“So, I’m a sensate too, huh!”