As someone in sequence 001, I also want to give up today.

Just as Li Xian was nestled on the sofa, using electromagnetic micro-vibration technology to fry the exotic animal steaks into perfect medium-rare pieces for Lingdang, enjoying the fun of "raising a child" (feeding)...

His sister, Li Yu, and her fiancé, Chen Zhe, are currently engaged in a grueling... turtle-hunting activity on the banks of the Li River, 300 kilometers away from Jiangcheng.

The Li River, renowned for its breathtaking scenery, has now become a paradise for a certain mutated turtle species.

The target this time is an S-class alien beast codenamed "Xuanjia".

Its appearance is very similar to a giant turtle magnified hundreds of times, with a jet-black carapace.

Covered in jagged bone spurs and natural energy patterns, it is over fifteen meters in diameter, resembling a small, mobile fortress.

Its attack methods are not fancy; they mainly consist of brute force charges, high-pressure water cannons, and that extremely troublesome—absolute defense.

After the "man in gray" transformed the world and superpowers evolved, Li Yu and Chen Zhe's strength did indeed improve significantly.

Li Yu's [Consciousness Severing] is sharper, the range of mental power manipulation is expanded, and the ability to microscopically interfere with matter and energy is stronger.

Chen Zhe's [Flame Core Control] temperature limit has been broken, and the speed and precision of flame shaping have been greatly improved, making his endurance in combat much greater than before.

In theory, any one of them could fight a regular S-class alien beast in a one-on-one battle, or even win.

However, "Xuanjia" clearly does not belong to the category of "ordinary".

Its tortoise shell is not only incredibly strong in physical defense, but also naturally possesses a unique energy absorption and dispersion property.

When Li Yu's mental attack struck, most of its power vanished like water into the sea.

The attack was gradually neutralized by the thick shell and the strange energy structure inside, leaving only faint white marks on the surface that vanished in an instant.

Chen Zhe's Flame Impact was even less effective.

When the high-temperature flames scorched it, the energy patterns on the surface of the tortoise shell lit up, and were able to guide most of the heat energy and disperse it into the surrounding water.

It stirs up a cloud of steam, but it is difficult to actually harm its own body.

"This turtle's shell is incredibly hard!"

Li Yu dodged the sweeping tail of the "Mysterious Armor" like a battering ram and hovered in mid-air.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his breathing was slightly rapid.

She had lost count of how many times her attacks had failed.

Her consciousness segmentation is more adept at targeting the spiritual consciousness and energy nodes of living beings.

This kind of pure, extreme physical superposition of energy defense feels like punching cotton.

Chen Zhe's condition wasn't much better.

He had just tried to compress the flame into a high-temperature ray for a point-like breakthrough, and the ray burned a red dot on the tortoise shell.

After lasting for more than ten seconds, just as it was about to melt through, the energy patterns around the red dot suddenly began to flow wildly, drawing energy from further away to replenish it.

It forcefully blocked the melting point again, and even rebounded a scorching wave of air, forcing him to retreat.

"It's not simply hard."

Chen Zhe wiped the moisture (a mixture of sweat and steam) from his face and analyzed the situation with sharp eyes.

"Its carapace has something like an energy circulation system that can disperse the attacks it receives throughout its carapace, and even channel them into the river water beneath its feet. Brute force won't work; we need to find its energy core or a weak point in its defenses."

"The problem is that this thing is shrunk up like an iron bucket!"

Li Yu, annoyed, slashed at the edge of the tortoise shell with another spiritual blade, leaving only a faint white mark.

"It protects its eyes and mouth like crazy; if you get even a little close, you'll get splattered in the face with water cannons! And its stamina... doesn't it ever get tired?!"

They had been battling this "black-armored" beast for nearly an hour.

This section of the Lijiang River was left in a state of chaos, with broken trees and cracked rocks along the banks, and the river surface churning incessantly.

The two took turns attacking, restraining, and recovering.

The tactical coordination was impeccable, and the expenditure of resources was considerable, yet they were unable to achieve any decisive progress.

This turtle... no, this bastard, is practically an impregnable mobile fortress.

"Xiaoyu, let's do it one more time!"

Chen Zhe took a deep breath, and flames rose around him again, changing from orange-red to incandescent white.

"I'll focus all my energy on burning a small area to draw its defenses away. You use the highest precision of 'Consciousness Cutting' to try and find the energy gap where its armor plates connect, even if it's just for a moment!"

"clear!"

Li Yu composed herself, a silver light swirling in the depths of her eyes, her mental energy highly concentrated, like the most precise surgical scalpel.

The battle intensified once again.

Chen Zhe transformed into a human flamethrower, and the blazing white flame tornado bit into a section in the center of the "Xuanjia" back armor, burning it wildly. The high temperature distorted the air.

The river water below was boiling and vaporizing, creating a terrifying spectacle.

As expected, the "Mysterious Armor" was attracted, and the energy patterns on its back armor brightened dramatically as it fought against the continuous high-temperature attack.

It's now!

A surge of silver light appeared in Li Yu's eyes as she activated her consciousness cutting to its maximum.

Instead of brutal slashing, it transformed into countless silver threads finer than a hair, silently seeping into the tiny gaps between the plates along the edge of the "Mysterious Armor" back armor.

Her mental strength was like that of the most patient explorer, searching for any possible discord in the turbulent flow of energy.

found it!

At the junction of the third and fourth carapace plates on the left, Chen Zhe's fierce attack caused a very slight delay and disorder in the flow of energy!

There was a momentary vacuum in the defenses there!

"That's it!"

Li Yujiao shouted.

All the silver threads that had seeped in instantly converged and twisted, transforming into an invisible blade refined to the extreme, which pierced fiercely into the tiny gap!

"roar--!"

The "Xuanjia" armor, which had been silently taking hits and remaining as steady as a mountain, finally let out its first painful roar since the start of the war!

The voice was deep and thunderous, filled with intense pain and anger.

Its massive body suddenly shuddered, and the area on its back armor where Li Yu had pierced it developed fine, spiderweb-like cracks.

A wisp of dark blue energy blood seeped out from it!

It works! But it's not lethal enough!

"Chen Zhe!"

"Li Yu shouted. She was already struggling to maintain this precise cut, and her face was pale."

"receive!"

Chen Zhe understood immediately and changed his strategy.

The blazing white flame tornado instantly contracted, transforming into a pure white line of fire only as thick as a finger, yet dazzlingly bright. It then precisely burrowed into the gap that Li Yu had torn open!

A pincer attack from both inside and outside!

The consciousness severed the connection between the internal energy structure and the physical body, causing the high temperature controlled by the Flame Core to erupt internally!

The struggle of "Xuanjia" instantly turned frantic and desperate. It tried to retract its tail and limbs, but the excruciating pain from the internal damage distorted its movements.

Dark blue blood gushed from cracks in the carapace and from the mouth and nose, mixed with scalding steam generated by the high internal temperature.

It let out a final, mournful wail, its massive body churning violently in the river, stirring up towering waves.

Finally, its movements gradually weakened, the jet-black back armor lost its luster, and it slowly sank into the murky river, leaving only a desolate battlefield and the fading smell of blood.

The battle is over.

Li Yu and Chen Zhe hovered in mid-air, looking at the gradually calming river below. They both let out a long breath, their faces full of exhaustion.

This battle was far more difficult and took far longer than expected.

Both of them had exhausted most of their energy, and their mental strength was severely depleted.

"Finally... it's done."

Li Yu landed on a relatively intact boulder on the shore and sat down without any regard for appearances.

He took out high-energy compressed biscuits and a sports drink from his small supply bag and handed one to Chen Zhe.

He started eating heartily, complaining as he ate.

"When will this part-time job ever end! They said I'd be a coach at the school, which would be easier, and I could visit my brother and Lingdang more often… It's been days! Where's the news? Where's the shadow? It's always about killing this person or suppressing that person. Are S-rank spies popping up like cabbages these days?"

Chen Zhe accepted the food with a wry smile, gulped down a few mouthfuls of water to ease the burning sensation in his throat.

"There must be reasons behind this. Things are not peaceful in various places right now, and there is a shortage of high-level combatants. The 'Torch Relay Project' has a very high priority. School site selection, teacher screening, curriculum development, student recruitment... all of these take time. Moreover, I heard that the General Administration is particularly focused on finding high-ranking new recruits. Director Zhou is personally overseeing the work. We 'veterans' naturally have to step up and buy time for the new recruits to grow."

"I know..." Li Yu sighed, munching on a cookie, her eyes somewhat vacant.

"I just feel tired. I used to think that being S-rank was pretty impressive, but now... after the rankings came out, I realized there are always higher levels out there. We 016 and 025 are only slightly above average in the new rankings, and there are so many monsters above us. The prophecy about 004... ah, no, it should be 006 is like a knife hanging over our heads. The higher-ups are anxious, and the lower-ups are in chaos... Sigh."

She thought of her lazy older brother and her innocent and adorable cat-eared niece (whom she unilaterally identified as chuunibyou), and a sense of longing and worry welled up in her heart.

My brother is just a "low-sequence" ability user, and Lingdang has a special background. Although things seem peaceful now, this world is becoming increasingly dangerous...

Don't overthink it.

Chen Zhe sat down next to her and patted her on the shoulder.

"At least Xian-ge and Ling-dang are safe now. Once things stabilize at the school, we'll have more time to go back. Besides, teaching students might be more interesting than dealing with these tough guys."

"Hopefully! I've heard those brats are all incredibly troublesome, and once they awakened some abilities, they became arrogant and reckless, even harder to manage than alien beasts! But at least... at least I won't have to fight these iron turtles every day!"

She kicked a piece of shell that had fallen from the "mysterious armor" at her feet, which made her toes ache and she grimaced.

Chen Zhe was amused by her appearance and shook his head.

"Alright, stop complaining. Mission accomplished, report it out. The logistics and cleanup teams should be here soon. Let's get out of here quickly, find a place to recover, there might be a new mission this afternoon."

Li Yu stuffed the last bit of biscuit into her mouth, patted the crumbs off her hands, stood up, and gazed at the faint outline of the city across the Li River.

"Let's go back and write the report, then wait for the next mission notification—who knows if it'll be a rabbit, a bird, or some other iron turtle."

After resting for a while and regaining some strength, the two got up and started their journey back.

The setting sun cast long shadows of them onto the desolate riverbank after the war, making them appear somewhat weary, yet still upright.

Meanwhile, in an apartment far away in Jiangcheng.

Li Xian just cut the perfectly fried exotic animal steak into small pieces and placed them on the plate that Lingdang had specially made, which was printed with a cat pattern.

Tender, juicy meat slowly seeps out along the perfectly browned cut surface, releasing an irresistible aroma.

"Dinner's ready, little one."

"Here he comes! Old Deng is the best!"

Bell cheered and pounced on the dining table, its ears and tail expressing joy in unison.

Outside the window, the city lights are just coming on, and the night in Jiangcheng is gentle.

One place is filled with the weary sighs of the post-war era and the hopes for the future; the other is the warm glow of feeding under the lamplight and the daily hustle and bustle.

At this moment, the two sides of the world are connected by a vast distance and the same starlight, each operating independently yet subtly intertwined.