You're my wife, don't doubt it!

"Understood!" Xiao Yao shouted.

"Benevolence, righteousness, honesty and integrity are my armor, and the holy way is my sword." Xiao Yao heard Yu Bo sing at the top of his lungs.

"Faith is my strong shield, able to ward off the devil's arrows." Yu Luying's heavenly voice also joined in the singing.

The girl's voice was like a ray of morning sunlight, gentle and warm, soft yet powerful, as if a sacred force was flowing straight into Xiao Yao's heart.

The tank roared, its cannon blasting a fireball hurtling towards Xiao Yao. With lightning reflexes, Xiao Yao leaped into the air, using the recoil from the cannon to successfully evade the attack.

Then, he brandished his longsword and slashed fiercely at the tank's tracks. However, the surface of the tracks was incredibly hard, and Xiao Yao's sword was deflected, forcing him to nimbly dodge.

“Hitting the tracks won’t do any good!” Yu Bo shouted at Xiao Yao.

"Where should we attack?" Xiao Yao asked anxiously.

"I don't know. Seventy years ago, in this situation, the only thing we could do was try to open the top cover and throw in a grenade."

"Hand grenades, do you have any? The kind that play Hallelujah?"

"of course not."

"We are the Great King's guard..." The girl's voice still echoed in the air above the playground. Her voice was clear and moving, and every note was so accurate.

The tank then rushed toward Xiao Yao, its tracks spinning violently forward, accelerating as if to run over Xiao Yao's body.

"We are companions of the savior..."

Xiao Yao leaped aside swiftly, dodging the tank's attack. He realized that as Yu Luying's singing continued, his strength and speed were gradually increasing. However, the tank was extremely fast and quickly caught up, unleashing a fierce barrage of fire on Xiao Yao. Xiao Yao's expression turned serious as he exerted all his strength to dodge before the tank could launch its attack.

The boy was panting heavily; he knew his strength was about to give out.

"We are the crusaders of the Holy Church..."

Yu Luying's singing helped Xiao Yao recover some of his strength. Xiao Yao realized that he had to hurry and find and attack the tank's weak point.

"We are the guardians of the Holy Sacrament..."

Song Haijian seems to have finally realized who should be the priority target to be addressed.

The tank's cannon slowly rotated, moving towards the girl who was singing loudly.

"Silly girl, be careful!" Shen Jie shouted anxiously.

Xiao Yao seized the opportunity and slashed hard at the tank's road wheels.

This time, he finally succeeded.

The longsword struck one of the tank's road wheels, producing a piercing metallic clang. The tank lost its balance and tilted unsteadily to one side. Seeing an opportunity, Xiao Yao swung his longsword again, destroying another road wheel on the same side of the tank.

The tank's turret began to have difficulty rotating due to the imbalance of the vehicle body.

But it still fired a shell.

This time, Xiao Yao didn't have time to dodge.

He raised his shield, though he didn't know if it would do any good.

Hearing the whistling sound of shells approaching, Xiao Yao closed his eyes.

However, the shell did not hit him.

Xiao Yao opened his eyes and saw a huge ice barrier blocking his way, which was then shattered by a cannonball.

Yu Luying also collapsed on the playground due to exhaustion.

At the same time, Xiao Yao saw a small girl wearing a junior high school uniform and sandals who, with the agility of a monkey, successfully climbed up the commander's tower, broke an observation window, and jumped into the tank.

Xiao Yao and Yu Bo helped the weak Yu Luying up, and the three of them were surprised to find that the tank had stopped moving completely.

Climbing onto a completely stationary tank was strenuous, but not particularly difficult. The three of them helped each other, lifting, pushing, and pulling each other into the tank's interior.

The interior still resembles the "Great Monastery Corridor" and hasn't transformed into anything else.

"Shen Jie! Shen Jie! Where did you run off to?" Xiao Yao called out anxiously as he walked.

The three found a tall and solemn double gate.

He pushed the heavy door open with both hands, only to find that he was only half right.

Xiao Yao had imagined it would be a grand throne room, or a hellish palace filled with all sorts of terrifying torture instruments, or a war maniac's command center. But what he saw was more like a super-large ammunition depot.

A central aisle was flanked by rows of tall shelves, each holding a long cannonball. However, the nameplates on the sides of the shelves did not indicate the type of ammunition, but rather the subjects such as mathematics, Chinese, physics, and chemistry, including question types, key points, exam years, and question-setting approaches. The content encompassed the college entrance examination syllabus, original exam papers, mock exam papers, and even backup exam papers for all subjects from various provinces and cities across the country over the years.

"This is practically an arsenal for the college entrance exam!" Xiao Yao exclaimed in disbelief.

Yu Bo said thoughtfully, "Perhaps in Mr. Song's eyes, the college entrance examination is really a life-or-death war."

"But in the end, war only brings destruction and death to the participants," Yu Luying commented.

The three of them passed through this "college entrance exam armory," where there was a small, half-open door at the back.

Xiao Yao, Yu Bo, and Yu Luying exchanged glances and cautiously pushed open the small door.

What came into view was the back view of a girl, wearing a junior high school uniform, black shorts, and sandals without feet, standing motionless.

"Wife!" Xiao Yao exclaimed with delight, "Are you alright?"

Yu Luying subtly pursed her lips.

Shen Jie remained motionless. Xiao Yao hesitated, then stepped forward and placed his hand, clad in armor and gloves, on Shen Jie's shoulder.

……

Xiao Yao's heart tightened, and he turned Shen Jie's face towards him with some trepidation.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Shen Jie's face was intact and showed no signs of injury, though she looked somewhat panicked.

"What are you doing--"

Only then did Xiao Yao see clearly that there was a person lying on the open ground in front of him, barefoot, wearing a white robe, with a halo around him. Who else could it be but Song Haijian?

Song Haijian lay motionless on the ground, a dagger with a handle inlaid with a pale yellow gemstone stuck in his back.

Xiao Yao sighed – it had finally come to this.

In this situation, there's no way to blame anyone.

"It wasn't me!" Shen Jie saw what Xiao Yao was thinking and stamped her foot, saying, "He was already dead when I arrived."

"Be careful, the assassin might still be nearby!" Yu Bo stopped Xiao Yao, who was about to go forward to check.

"Be careful, Teacher Song might try something tricky," Yu Luying warned.

“Possibly,” Xiao Yao stopped in his tracks. “This guy might be faking his death. But if there really is an assassin, they might not be an enemy. Besides, Shen Jie has been standing here for ages and nothing’s happened to her—”

“That’s right, we are certainly not your enemies.” A lazy male voice came from behind Xiao Yao, startling him so much that his hair stood on end. He instinctively drew his sword and turned around, but the blade collided with Yu Luying’s axe and the priest’s gun barrel.

The owner of that languid male voice was squatting on the roof beam.

The man was of medium build, dressed in loose, light white clothes, a white hood, and a blue and gold checkered cloak covering his face, giving him a mysterious appearance. His trousers were rolled up high, and he wore desert boots. He carried a crossbow on his back and a beautifully decorated scimitar at his waist—judging from the style of the scimitar, it was from the same series as the dagger that had been used to stab Teacher Song in the back.

"Who are you? Are you human or a shadow? How did you get in?" Xiao Yao asked a series of questions.

He had intended to ask, "Why did you kill him?" But then he changed his question, asking instead, "Did you save us?"

The man proclaimed in an exaggerated tone, "Welcome to witness the first great victory of me—the Earl of Nottingham, the messenger of justice!" At the same time, he struck a pose to pose for photos with reporters.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Yu Bo asked sharply.

"Didn't I say that I am Earl Nottingham, the messenger of justice? I have just accomplished what ordinary adventurers can only dream of but cannot do: I have defeated the evil schemers, protected the peace and tranquility of the future, and composed a great heroic epic. Shouldn't we give him a round of applause?"

"Do you know what the consequences are of killing someone's shadow?" Yu Bo looked up and questioned.

"I know, he'll become a complete idiot and live a peaceful and happy life from now on. As a major villain, this ending is already pretty good—it's much better than him causing someone's death, being retaliated against, and dying a violent death in the street."

"How do you know all this? Who exactly are you?" Xiao Yao asked.

"Since you have asked so sincerely, we will mercifully tell you. In order to prevent the world from being destroyed, in order to protect the peace of the world—" Earl Nottingham recited in a hushed tone.

"Stop being an idiot, Nottington." A cool female voice came from outside the door: "The matter is settled, we should go."

Everyone looked toward the "armory" and saw a woman standing at the entrance. She was slender and tall, wearing a flowing black scarf and completely wrapped in a dark blue leather bodysuit. She wore white gloves and metal knuckle dusters, and her shoulder and knee pads were equipped with iron studs.

The reason she's described as a "woman" is mainly because of her voice, which sounds quite young. Her figure also appears rather feminine, and she's wearing a motorcycle helmet, completely obscuring her face.

But to Xiao Yao's surprise, the helmeted man in the leather jacket had a completely flat chest, flatter than the horizon and flatter than himself.

This made him start to doubt the other person's gender—if they had a gender at all.

“Yes, Ms. Joan.” Nottington gave a slight bow to “Joan.”

Parked beside the woman known as "Joan" was an extravagantly designed motorcycle—a pure silver-white machine with the styling of a race bike, yet larger than a cruiser and boasting wide, thick wheels. The motorcycle lacked headlights; instead, a human face sculpture behind a dark blue fairing served as a headlight, much like a figurehead on a warship. Sharp metal structures extending below the fairing merged with the front fender, forming a concealed "ramming head."

Even though it was an illogical alternate world, Xiao Yao couldn't help but wonder how she managed to drive such a large motorcycle in without making a sound.

“Well then, until we meet again.” Nottingham cupped his hands in greeting, and a window on the wall of the room opened. A long rope hook shot out from the “Earl’s” glove, nailing directly to something outside. Then he leaped off the roof beam and “flew” out of the window.

Joan also got on her motorcycle, nodded to the group, pressed the clutch, and the turbocharger roared to life.

"Stop him!" Yu Bo patted Xiao Yao's arm.

Xiao Yao wasn't sure if he should make enemies of "Earl of Nottington" and "Joan", but he didn't have time to think about it right now and could only carry out the priest's orders first.

Just as the Earl of Nottingham was about to fly out of the window, a shield flew in at a very tricky angle, blocking the exit and pinning the rope above the window frame.

"Damn it," said the Earl of Nottingham.

Meanwhile, Yu Bo led the charge towards Qiong An, who was about to drive off, while Yu Luying raised her hands and bound the motorcycle's wheels with several ice chains.