Who left their last words here?

Chapter 38 The Death of Lieutenant Han

"Buzz...Sizzle—"

Blue arcs of electricity flickered.

A mechanical left arm, disconnected from its original position, lay horizontally on the ground, occasionally thrashing and jumping, like a dying fish.

The cut was smooth, and the cross-section was covered with broken pipes and flashing electrical sparks. Black engine oil mixed with blood splattered all over the ground.

"mean!"

"Bai Zhou!!!"

Screaming in agony, the amputee lied on the ground writhing, his forehead covered in sweat, his back hunched over like a roasted shrimp.

——I was careless!

This is not a child at all!

The smashing of the cup serves as a signal, but it is actually a way to awaken a trap.

Shouting "Watch out for the next strike!", a burst of intense light suddenly appeared out of nowhere...

This person is black inside and out!

People even more evil than the Blood Worship Cult—

"who is it?"

"Who are you anyway?"

His only remaining right hand groped in vain to the left, finally slapping the empty ground.

"squeak……"

The fingernails scraped wildly against the cold, hard ground, making an exceptionally piercing sound.

The scarlet mechanical left eye blinked wildly, dripping incessantly.

Only now... did Lieutenant Han's vision return to normal.

But the first thing he saw when his blurred vision returned was someone lying on the ground not far away—

My own arm.

Immediately following was immense pain, which belatedly swept through all the nerves in my body.

"what--!!"

An intensely suppressed cry of pain, accompanied by a shrill voice, echoed in the tranquil resting place.

The rows and rows of tombstones remained unanswered.

They remained silent as always.

He watched silently as the boy rolled on the ground.

"clatter……"

Footsteps approached slowly.

The dark, short stick cast a shadow on Adjutant Han's face.

Lieutenant Han instinctively jolted awake, his mind clearing considerably.

Don't you have my file?

Bai Zhou approached Han's adjutant and examined the wound on Han's severed arm.

Pipes of various colors intertwined and clung together with flesh and blood, flickering with weak, unstable electrical sparks and occasionally emitting a "buzzing" sound.

Steel fragments were densely embedded in the muscle, the marks of being scorched by high temperatures turning the area black, forming a black tumor mixed with silvery-white metal.

A faint wisp of smoke rose, the smell of burning metal mingling with the stench of rotting flesh, making one want to vomit.

"It seems you've lost your means of support."

The once majestic mechanical half-body has been transformed into this appearance in the blink of an eye.

After losing his metal left arm, which was his primary means of attack, Han's remaining metal half-body was also mostly rendered useless.

The battle is decided.

—The winner is the white boat, which is protected by "light".

"call……"

Bai Zhou let out a long sigh.

Refreshing.

It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders, or like my seven orifices had suddenly opened up.

It's hard to describe how I feel now that my identity has been reversed.

All along, the base was filled with caution and suffocating tension.

It was as if all of that energy was released with the unleashing of that single strike, "Moonlight Oath Saint Slash."

He let out a long sigh of relief.

It's like eating a chilled strawberry drizzled with milk on a sweltering summer day.

It was as if Shiraishu was finally beginning to realize...

Even with all the unknowns, mysteries, and suffocating injustices and chaos in the world,

He could trust the knife in his hand.

No matter how vast the disparity between us and the enemy...

In short, let's execute first and talk later!

However, on the other hand, Lieutenant Han was very uncomfortable.

"This shouldn't be happening...this shouldn't be happening!"

Gradually, Lieutenant Han stopped howling.

Perhaps he felt that it was somewhat shameful.

He tried to appear calm and authoritative...

But this was of course futile, because no matter what he did, he remained lying on the ground.

Bai Zhou stood to the side, expressionless, watching his every move and change in demeanor, as if observing...

A bedbug.

A clown.

This infuriated Adjutant Han.

He raised his head and struggled to sit up, still as arrogant as ever.

But he soon realized that his life was in the hands of this boy he had never taken seriously, so he couldn't help but lower his head.

"If... it could happen again, it shouldn't be like this."

"You attacked from behind!"

He gritted his teeth, his mouth stained with blood, and said in a low voice.

"If you're so capable, set up your formation and fight again!"

"I will kill you!"

He cannot accept such a failure.

He was truly unwilling to have his arm cut off like that.

He was just one step away from being promoted to Level 3 Extraordinary.

He had already prepared a mechanical briefcase for himself that was comparable to, or even stronger than, that of a Level 3 Extraordinary.

how come……

"But, my Adjutant Han..."

Bai Zhou shook his head, finding it amusing.

Hailing from the simple and honest town of Wancheng, Baizhou achieved extraordinary success in just one week.

With a serious expression, he said this to Han, the adjutant who had achieved remarkable success over the past decade:
"You should have understood long ago."

"—This is the real battle."

A life-or-death battle!
In a true life-or-death struggle, only the survivors enjoy everything; who cares about the means used?

Besides...

"Doesn't every action I take seem aboveboard and honorable?"

That's how we adventurers are.

But Lieutenant Han remained silent for a while, seemingly wanting to speak but stopping, his expression quite constipated.

indeed.

It's too "open and aboveboard"; the 80,000 lumens of light is enough to blind everyone.

But Bai Zhou always made his move clearly in advance, including "smashing the cup as a signal".

He resembled a gentleman from ancient times who highly valued martial virtue.

...Whether what they shouted and what they did were related or not is another matter entirely.

However, Shirazuki must also admit...

In a direct confrontation, he is indeed no match.

This is thanks to the battlefield ruins deep within the Void Realm—

The swollen behemoth's "tutoring" gave Bai Zhou experience in dealing with monstrous objects whose numerical power could overwhelm him.

The short stick gave Bai Zhou the ability to fight against the robotic arm.
The ability to summon "light" can cover the release of secret techniques.

It was the chemical reaction of a combination of techniques that led to the final, fatal blow.

Otherwise, even if Bai Zhou unleashed the "Moonlight Oath Saint Slash," it might not be effective.

No wonder Ya Hui didn't think Bai Zhou would make a move against Deputy Han.

After all, she never imagined that someone could undergo such a transformative change overnight.

"May the light forever soothe your trembling soul."

Bai Zhou inexplicably thought of the words "Leia" had left for him.

Is this what it feels like to be protected by 'light'?

On the eve of the battle, I ventured alone into the depths of the Ruins...

This decision, which Crow couldn't understand and which only he himself comprehended, in a sense changed the course of his fate tonight.

"Why must you kill me..."

Do you know what we're going to do? Do you know how grand our vision is?

Lieutenant Han lay on the ground, panting, with a look of utter bewilderment on his face.

"The birth of every new order in the world requires the paving of countless lives."

"Isn't it good that you are fortunate enough to become bricks and stones, paving the way for us?"

He said earnestly:
"We will become heroes of history, and so will you; all of us have followed one another in the same cause."

"Old Liu had a grand funeral, and people all considered him a hero because of that, didn't they?"

"...?" Bai Zhou paused, then blinked. Then,

"Snapped--!"

Then Lieutenant Han received a very forceful slap from Bai Zhou.

A tooth, mixed with blood and foam, flew out.

Just like when the officers slapped the man in black robes on the public trial platform.

"You made a mistake."

"I have no intention of communicating with you."

Bai Zhou rubbed his wrist, pondering whether to use the short stick next time.

He already understood that this Deputy Han, or rather, the many people behind Deputy Han,
They were even more aloof than Bai Zhou had imagined, even less persuasive, and even less repentant...

They deserve to be killed even more!

however.

Bai Zhou was quite taken aback by Han's next reaction.

Because of the major's protection and pampering, Lieutenant Han had never suffered such grievances.

Proud as he was, he was so angry that he coughed up blood twice, and then—

She spread her legs wide like a winnowing basket and burst into loud sobs:
"What are you doing! What are you doing?!"

"Am I your benefactor? I unconditionally fulfill all your requests, allowing you to live a life you never dared to dream of!"

"Now I need your help for my ideals, shouldn't you help me?"

“Even if it costs us our lives to help, we must do it—isn’t that the essence of integrity since ancient times?”

The more Han Lieutenant spoke, the more aggrieved he felt, and he said in a muffled voice:

"Liu Zhen is just dead, not wasted. He has become part of the outstanding individuals!"

"—Don't you want to see Lao Liu move on to someone better?"

Bai Zhou: "..."

Then, "snap!"

Lieutenant Han received another hard slap in the face.

"Did you even ask Brother Liu for his opinion?"

Bai Zhou was so angry he laughed.

"Go and say what you have to say to him!"

Now Bai Zhou understood why the major "liked" his adjutant Han so much.

A sissy who loves to hug cute dolls every day... even though he's secretly a pervert who concocts corpses.
But in reality, he is still a "giant baby" deliberately spoiled by the major.

An easily controlled puppet, a brainwashed fanatic, a twisted and immature giant baby—

That's so convenient.

With a "click",
Bai Zhou opened the briefcase he had brought and rummaged through it.

"Wait, Bai Zhou! You've got something wrong!"

Seeing Bai Zhou make another move, Lieutenant Han felt inexplicably uneasy.

"I did recruit the talent, that's true, but I didn't kill Lao Liu!"

"—He was killed by the major!"

"Because a major needs to have an extraordinary quality."

Han's voice made Bai Zhou stop bending down to rummage through the briefcase.

Major...

Row.

understood.

"Anyone would have been fine, but they chose Lao Liu, who just happened to be in his office..."

"—Heaven knows why Old Liu was looking for him when he had nothing better to do!"

“I kept Liu’s old age for myself. Now that he’s gone, I’m more heartbroken than anyone else.”

Lieutenant Han, thinking Bai Zhou didn't believe him, hurriedly and earnestly explained:

"But that's precisely why I want to mentor you even more! I'm putting in extra effort to help you get promoted!"

"Therefore, you cannot kill me; this is repaying kindness with enmity!"

Look how wronged the child is.

Lieutenant Han was in tears, as if he had lost his parents.

He seemed to genuinely believe that.

He genuinely believed that Bai Zhou had no reason to kill him.

"Besides, you certainly don't know how much power the major wields..."

“If you kill me, he will never let you go.”

With his eyes still blurry with tears, Lieutenant Han said solemnly:

"Of course, if you want to..."

"I can also introduce you to our great cause!"

Faced with Han's pleas for mercy, threats, and inducements,
Bai Zhou simply shook his head:

"He said enough in his last words."

"In my imagination... you should be more profound and arrogant, or more intelligent."

As he spoke, Bai Zhou took a small black box out of his suitcase.

Looking at the air above the little black box, Bai Zhou felt as if he were seeing a familiar old friend.

“You know, in Night City, we usually use fire against someone like you.”

"Because fire can purify impurities."

"—Unfortunately, there is no cross here."

As he spoke, he walked over.

Under the uneasy gaze of Han's adjutant, Bai Zhou slowly opened the small black box.

A stiff, thick tube dangled inside, its walls full of wrinkles, occasionally wriggling in a rhythmic, breathing-like manner.

"【The Legacy of Thirst】?!"

The adjutant screamed.

How dare you—?

"Don't worry."

Bai Zhou smiled and waved his hand.

The black box was dangerous, but he didn't intend to take it with him.

This was prepared for his adjutant, Han.

"Those who eat people should also be prepared to be eaten, right?"

Just like the tests that Bai Zhou faced when he first arrived at the base.

F-1120 Black Box, [The Legacy of Blood Thirst]...

It gradually began to wriggle and awaken.

But for some reason, when Bai Zhou's "left hand" approached [Bloodthirst Legacy]—

【Blood Thirst】Clearly fearful and wanting to avoid.

Then, Bai Zhou threw it, along with the black box, at the screaming and waving adjutant Han.

"hiss--"

[The Thirst of Blood] He greedily pounced on it.

"No--!!"

The unbridled thirst for blood would soon drain Adjutant Han of his life force, leaving him a dried-up corpse.

There aren't even any "talented individuals" to be found.

Then, it will spontaneously seek out the next target.

—This is the ending Bai Zhou prepared for Lieutenant Han.

"This is just the beginning."

Bai Zhou stretched, brandishing the short stick in his hand, and pointed it at his adjutant Han, who was writhing on the ground like a maggot:
"...a little interest."

Soon, with a "snap"—

Bai Zhou used a short stick to flick a black notebook out of his arms.

"No!"

Upon seeing this, Deputy Commander Han's already pale face turned even paler, almost bluish.

Bai Zhou picked up the notebook from the ground and glanced at it.

Hmm, I can’t understand.

But it's genuine.

A ledger that records transactions.

Satisfied, Bai Zhou put away the notebook and looked at his adjutant, Han.
"As for the major's pursuit..."

“I never said I would abandon him in the future.”

Under the adjutant's gaze, as if he were looking at a madman,
Bai Zhou's eyes grew brighter as he rubbed the "golden ring" that had appeared on his left hand, and turned to look in the direction of the base.

Sporadic gunfire could be heard intermittently.

A war is nearing its end.

But it's time for the white boat's preparations to take center stage—

"The performance will continue, but I don't know if you'll have the chance to see it again."

Bai Zhou turned to look at Deputy Commander Han, grinning to reveal his white teeth.

But his eyes were filled with a murderous aura that chilled Deputy Han to the bone.

He solemnly promised:

"The major will come to join you in a while."

I assure you—

"soon."

　The following chapters are all satisfying reward chapters featuring Bai Zhou's miraculous appearance, so you can read them with peace of mind and enjoy!
　　By the way, I'd like to ask for your votes! We're almost in the top 400 on the monthly vote ranking! You guys are amazing!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)