38: Chapter 38: A Sword Severing an Arm!

Lu Beiyuan pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.

His gaze swept over the Tier 4 Six-Eyed Ghost Spider that had been nearly cleaved in two.

Deep in his eyes, a flicker of irrepressible heartache flashed.

This Source Beast was something their elite team from the Federal Research Institute had been tracking for half a month.

It was all for the nearly perfect Source Energy skeleton inside its body.

That was the core material for manufacturing the next generation of heavy mechs.

And now, it had been cleaved in two by this woman with a single strike.

"Commander Huangfu, long time no see."

Lu Beiyuan's voice was gentle and polite, as if he were catching up with an old friend.

But the aloofness and questioning tone in his voice were undisguised.

"However, isn't this way of stealing a kill a bit too unsightly?"

He paused, a hypocritical smile curling the corners of his lips.

"The Source Energy skeleton of this Six-Eyed Ghost Spider is an experimental material that our Federal Research Institute has been eyeing for a long time.

We are all serving the Federation, so do me a favor. You take its core Source Crystal, and I'll take the skeleton back. How about that?"

Upon hearing this, the faces of the three Vermilion Bird team members behind Commander Huangfu Jing darkened.

What do you mean by stealing a kill?

In the Source Abyss, ownerless items belong to those capable of taking them.

This Six-Eyed Ghost Spider was killed by their commander through her own ability.

The spoils of war should naturally belong to their Vermilion Bird Legion.

This guy named Lu wanted a piece of the pie the moment he arrived.

And he asked for the most valuable skeleton right off the bat.

He was shameless.

Lu Beiyuan seemed not to notice their expressions and continued to add bargaining chips in a leisurely manner.

"Besides, isn't my younger brother currently teamed up with your beloved student to carry out a training mission?"

"For the sake of the two juniors working together happily, Commander Huangfu, are you really unwilling to even share some bone scraps with us logistics researchers?"

The implication was clear.

My brother is looking out for your student.

As a teacher, you should at least know how to return the favor, right?

However, his carrot-and-stick approach not only failed to make Commander Huangfu Jing show any restraint, but instead seemed to ignite a powder keg.

Within her deep red double pupils, a chilling killing intent instantly became icy to the extreme.

"Clang!" A harsh, metallic explosion suddenly rang out!

Commander Huangfu Jing moved.

She couldn't be bothered with small talk and simply raised her right hand.

The [Crimson Lotus Broadsword] lying at her feet was instantly in her hand.

The blade was nearly half a meter wide and over two meters long.

The giant blade, crimson as quenched lava and weighing a thousand catties, felt as light as nothing in her hands.

A violent sword aura, carrying a terrifying sonic boom, shattered the air directly.

It transformed into a visible half-moon arc of light, surging into the sky in a completely unreasonable manner!

"Crack!" A loud sound echoed.

Lu Beiyuan's pupils constricted; he didn't even have time to react.

He watched helplessly as the blood-colored sword light severed the entire mechanical left arm of his silver Commander mech—a machine he was proud of and worth hundreds of millions of Federal Credits!

The cut was as smooth as a mirror, and the high temperature had melted the complex circuits and alloy structures into a glass-like state.

"Alarm! Alarm! Port side main armor destroyed by 100%! Balance system failure!"

Red lights flashed inside the mech, and the piercing alarm siren resounded throughout the entire valley.

Lu Beiyuan turned pale with fright and stumbled.

He took a sharp step back, nearly falling off the pilot's console.

"You, Commander Huangfu Jing! Are you fucking crazy?!"

He roared, losing his composure.

He could no longer maintain his gentle and elegant elite persona.

He never dreamed that this woman would dare to attack him in public without a second thought!

And she severed his mech's arm right from the start!

This was the S-class experimental mech [Silver Wing] that he had personally designed; it was the result of three years of his painstaking effort!

Yet, this mech, whose defensive power was enough to withstand a direct hit from a Tier 5 powerhouse, had actually been cleaved by her with a single sword strike?

"Working together happily?"

Commander Huangfu Jing held the greatsword in a reverse grip with one hand, dragging the tip along the ground and creating a trail of sparks.

Beneath her scarlet long hair, she smiled like an Asura crawling out of hell.

"Lu Beiyuan, you used the pretext of high-level technical exchange to trick me into signing that team application for the training mission.

Did you really think I didn't know about the dirty schemes of your Lu family?"

Her gaze swept over the battered, armless mech with extreme contempt.

"However, now that you've come to cozy up to me, it seems you still don't know what kind of 'good deeds' your idiot brother has done in Jiangcheng, right?"

Lu Beiyuan's heart sank abruptly.

A strong, ominous premonition welled up in his mind.

"What do you mean? What happened to Beichen?"

Commander Huangfu Jing sneered, shouldered her greatsword, and turned to walk into the depths of the broken valley.

Leaving behind only an incredibly arrogant figure and a light, airy remark.

"Rich second-generation kids really are brainless idiots!"

"Go ask the Jiangcheng City Defense Headquarters yourself. Also, you had better pray that Mr. Shen has been in a good mood these past two days."

"Otherwise... even if your Lu family patriarch comes in person, I'm afraid he'll only be able to collect your precious brother's corpse."

As her voice faded, she and her three team members disappeared into the dense fog of the abyss.

Leaving behind only a Lu Beiyuan with an ever-changing expression and four heavy mechs caught in a dilemma.

Mr. Shen?

Which Mr. Shen?

In a D-class satellite city like Jiangcheng, what kind of big shot could be worth Commander Huangfu Jing mentioning in such a tone?

And what on earth did Beichen do to make this crazy woman, Commander Huangfu Jing, dare to attack him directly?

Countless questions and anger churned in Lu Beiyuan's mind.

The pilots of the four mechs behind him didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

In the communication channel of one of the mechs, a young team member lowered his voice, trembling with the fear of having just survived a disaster.

"Captain Han, was that just now... the 'Red-Haired Asura'? She's... she's fucking fierce."

"...Shut up!" the man known as Captain Han scolded in a low voice.

"Do you want to die?"

"The Academy's 'Blue Eagle' and the independent 'Vermilion Bird' team are natural rivals."

"Today, a grudge has been completely formed..."

Lu Beiyuan ignored his subordinate's whispers.

He forcibly suppressed the anger and suspicion in his heart, his face gloomy as he opened an encrypted communication channel.

He didn't have the contact information for the Jiangcheng City Defense Headquarters.

Besides, Commander Huangfu Jing told him to ask, so he specifically wouldn't.

He had his own information channels.

The communication connected.

A respectful voice came through.

"Chief Engineer Lu, what are your orders?"

"Investigate all the movements of my brother, Lu Beichen, in Jiangcheng over the past two days for me!"

"Especially everything related to the Xinghuo Scrap Processing Plant!"

"Immediately! Right now! I want all the information within ten minutes!"

"Yes!"

Hanging up the communication, Lu Beiyuan looked in the direction where Commander Huangfu Jing had disappeared.

His eyes were so cold they could almost drip water.

Commander Huangfu Jing.

And that... Mr. Shen.

I want to see.

In a backwater place like Jiangcheng, who exactly gave you the audacity to do this!