157: Chapter 157 The Palm Cannon Unleashed in Full Power, Lu Li: I Really Didn't Want to Be a National Treasure

Su Qingxue was never a person who would easily express her emotions.

But at this moment, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The wind scattered her laughter into the night sky, light as a wisp of smoke.

"Lu Li..."

"Hmm?"

"This is just too outrageous."

"What's outrageous about it?"

"You."

She looked up at the half-profile of his face where the helmet faceplate hadn't fully closed yet, her eyes reflecting the city lights, her voice soft and tender, "You are outrageous through and through."

Lu Li felt great hearing this, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly.

"Then do you like it?"

"I do."

Su Qingxue answered almost without hesitation.

After she said it, she was stunned for a moment herself.

Because she rarely expressed her emotions so directly.

But on this night, at such a high altitude, in Lu Li's arms, she suddenly felt that hiding and holding back were quite pointless.

Like is like.

Admiration is admiration.

Pride is too.

Lu Li didn't speak again, just held her and slowly glided across the night sky of Mingzhu City.

The altitude wasn't too extreme.

On the night of June 3rd, there was only a slight chill in the wind, far from being bone-chilling.

Any higher, and Su Qingxue probably wouldn't be able to handle it.

But this altitude was just right.

She could see the lights of the entire city and feel the freedom of the wind brushing past her face.

It was like a dream someone had secretly sent up to the sky.

And on the other side.

Elder Wu's phone had already been blown up with calls.

Inside a heavily guarded office, encrypted reports from several special security personnel were being streamed synchronously on the screen.

"Report, the target just donned an unknown model of Battle Armor and conducted a short-range, high-mobility flight test over the manor."

"Report, the Battle Armor possesses stable hovering capabilities, rapid ascent capabilities, and energy weapon output capabilities."

"Report, according to the kinetic energy feedback estimates from the scene, its palm weapon still possesses extremely strong penetration and destructive capabilities without any obvious charging process."

Elder Wu stood at the desk, feeling his temples throbbing.

He was old and had seen more storms and waves than most people had in their entire lives.

But at this moment, his scalp was still tingling.

"Iron Man Armor?"

"This kid... can he even tinker with this kind of thing?"

The technical advisors beside him looked at each other, none of them able to speak.

If it had been those previous black technologies—Full-screen display, batteries, systems, Robots, Virtual Helmets—no matter how exaggerated, they could at least barely fit into the "peerless genius" box.

But what about this one now?

This is a piece of individual Battle Armor that can push a person directly into the sky and even fire cannons.

The concept from the movies was forcibly dragged by him into reality.

The difficulty of integrating that level of propulsion engine into such a small volume was outrageously high.

Moreover, energy was an even more exaggerated problem.

He couldn't really be using lithium batteries, could he?

Elder Wu was silent for a few seconds, suddenly having an absurd thought.

This kid...

Doesn't he really have some kind of system?

Of course, this thought only flashed by.

After all, even he felt this kind of thing was too ridiculous.

He quickly pulled his attention back.

No matter how Lu Li achieved it, at least one point they had confirmed for a long time—

This kid's heart was on their side.

So compared to worry, Elder Wu was now more envious.

Especially envious.

If this kind of Battle Armor could really field a hundred-person formation in the future...

Thinking of this, Elder Wu's eyes changed.

The improvement to the entire nation's military strength would be more than just "obvious" could describe.

Not to mention, according to the dynamic data simulation just transmitted back, when that palm cannon shattered the rocks just now, it clearly hadn't reached its maximum output by a long shot.

No charging.

No obvious wind-up.

What does this mean?

It means once this thing truly hits full power, god knows what kind of effect it can produce.

Maybe it could really melt through a building.

Elder Wu took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in his chest, and slowly let out a sentence:

"This kid..."

"Is really becoming more and more like a national treasure."

And in the night sky.

Lu Li had already taken Su Qingxue on a big loop.

When they glided over the river, the ripples below were reflected into fragments by the lights; when they flew over the elevated bridge, the traffic looked like two glowing rivers; the glass curtain walls of several office buildings in the distance reflected cold white light in the night, and the entire city looked like it had been stepped into a glowing map.

Su Qingxue held onto Lu Li, her arms never letting go.

She wasn't usually clingy, and in fact, she was often too independent.

But tonight was different.

Tonight, Lu Li seemed to have lifted her entirely out of reality and carried her into another dimension.

She suddenly wanted to be even closer to him.

Even closer.

Thinking of this, she gently tilted her face up and leaned into Lu Li's ear.

"Lu Li."

"Hmm?"

"I want to kiss you."

The wind was light.

Her words were even lighter.

But Lu Li heard them clearly.

He turned his head, looked at her, and the smile in his eyes spilled out bit by bit.

Then, the faceplate slowly retracted to the sides.

The night wind immediately brushed against his face.

The next second.

Su Qingxue reached out to hook her hand around the back of his neck and took the initiative to kiss him.

High altitude, night, lights, wind.

All the background seemed to quiet down at this moment.

Her kiss was a little cool and a little urgent, as if she had been holding back for a long time, and finally, in this night where no one could reach them, she completely let go of her emotions.

Lu Li held her, his arms steady without the slightest tremor.

Until the kiss ended, he pressed against her forehead and gave a low laugh.

"President Su."

"You've been getting better and better at this lately."

Su Qingxue's cheeks burned, but she didn't want to feign calmness like she usually did.

"Learned it from you."

"Am I that good at it?"

"Don't you have any idea?"

Lu Li was amused by her words and couldn't help but lightly touch his lips to hers again.

"Alright."

"Then I'll let you win tonight."

Su Qingxue had been ready to bury her face back in his chest, but suddenly remembered something and looked up at him.

"What exactly is the surprise you mentioned earlier?"

After asking, she even narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Lu Li, don't keep me in suspense."

Lu Li looked at her expression—clearly dying of curiosity but insisting on pretending to be calm—and his mischievous streak was immediately stirred up.

"If I told you now, would it still be a surprise?"

"Once I've finished it, you'll naturally know."

Su Qingxue stared at him for a few seconds, clearly not very satisfied with this answer.

But she also knew that once this guy started playing coy, ten cows couldn't pull him back.

In the end, she could only let out a soft hmph, buried her face back into the armor on his chest, and added in a low voice:

"It better really be a surprise."

"Otherwise, you're done for."

Lu Li was amused and patted her back gently through her coat.

"Don't worry."

"I guarantee you'll like it."

After flying for a while longer, the two slowly landed back at the villa.

The next morning.

Not long after dawn, sunlight fell through the curtains into the room, warming a small patch of carpet by the bed.

When Su Qingxue woke up, Lu Li was already sitting by the bed putting on his coat.

She was indeed exhausted last night, having gone crazy in the high altitude, and had fallen asleep almost as soon as she hit the bed after returning.

Just opening her eyes, her brain still retained a bit of unreality from the night flight.

It wasn't until she saw the mark 45 armor, now neatly stored away beside the coat rack, that she belatedly confirmed—

That last night wasn't a dream.

"Awake?"

Lu Li turned to look at her, his tone casual, "I had No. 18 heat up breakfast, you can snooze for another five minutes if you want."

Su Qingxue propped herself up halfway and glanced at the Battle Armor, which had now turned into an ordinary briefcase.

"Are you taking it with you today?"

"Taking it."

Lu Li was very frank.

"This thing is my trump card now, and a life-saving artifact; I won't feel at ease if I don't take it with me."

He didn't have much emotion when he said this, as if stating a perfectly normal fact.

After experiencing being worked to death in his previous life, he had always regarded the words "saving one's life" as more important than anything else.

Besides.

The system had just refreshed a mission yesterday.

It was clear that Tianqiong Interactive Entertainment was ready to do something desperate.

He wasn't arrogant enough to think he was invincible, nor could he foolishly pin his sense of security on others.

Su Qingxue nodded, not objecting.

She knew very well that although Lu Li was usually lazy, hated trouble, and had a physiological repulsion to going to work, he was never ambiguous when it came to truly important matters.

Moreover—

She had personally experienced this Battle Armor last night.

The sense of security was outrageously exaggerated.

Downstairs.

No. 18 had already driven the car to the door.