“Hiss—!”
The metal door emitted a faint, delicate friction sound as it retracted into the wall.
Gu Ya appeared at the doorway, clutching his black trench coat.
He walked slowly to the bedside, lay down, and let out a long sigh.
Fatigue and sleepiness immediately washed over him.
“I’m back.”
...
“Gu Ya!” Ye Ying’s beautiful, graceful figure appeared before Gu Ya, smiling at him tenderly.
Gu Ya stepped forward and embraced Ye Ying, whispering, “I avenged you. The video has it all.”
“I know.” Ye Ying gently pushed Gu Ya away, still smiling. She lowered her head and pulled a three or four-year-old toddler from behind her.
Ye Ying softly and gently said to the toddler, “Say uncle.”
Gu Ya froze, asking, “This… this is…”
Ye Ying tenderly picked up the toddler and smiled at Gu Ya, saying, “I didn’t tell you, but I got married.”
“No… impossible… no!”
“No!”
Gu Ya sat up in terror, gasping for breath. It took him a long while to realize it was just a dream.
“Hoo—” Gu Ya let out a long sigh, looked out the window,
It was already afternoon. The sun hung in the northwest, about to disappear behind the tall teaching buildings.
Gu Ya got up, checked the time: 4 PM.
He had slept for a full eight hours, but his head still felt dizzy.
After showering and changing into a new school uniform, he sauntered to the mecha training ground, leaning against the side of the hangar door and watching the training arena.
On the training ground, ten mechas from Class A formed a large circle.
Inside the circle, five mechas were fiercely attacking one mecha, belonging to some unknown class.
A clang of metal fists colliding drew cheers from the onlookers; the scene was lively.
But to Gu Ya, it was truly boring.
Just as Gu Ya thought the outcome of this dull battle was decided,
The mecha from the unknown class suddenly executed a flip and flew headfirst towards a Class A mecha above it.
It instantly drew two iron short swords, made a quick parry, and effectively eliminated it.
Gu Ya’s eyes widened instantly. Ha, an original mecha maneuver.
Next, the mecha performed an even more astonishing maneuver.
It landed swiftly, then exploded upwards, hugging the ground, instantly circling around one mecha and charging straight for a second one.
Others might not have seen clearly, but Gu Ya knew it had eliminated two mechas in an instant.
Gu Ya’s eyes widened, and he slowly straightened his body.
The mecha immediately began to ascend, flying over the remaining two mechas, and suddenly dived, tracing an unbelievable “z” shaped flight path.
It had defeated its opponents with a flourish that was deadly.
Could a student in the academy possess such skill? Gu Ya was puzzled. Was it a teacher or some expert acting as a sparring partner?
These were academy mechas, with very poor power performance, maneuverability, and course-changing capabilities.
It had defeated five Class A mechas in just twenty seconds.
Moreover, the entire set of movements was very fluid, showing no signs of rigid execution; it was completely unrestrained.
To perform such maneuvers with such inferior mechas was truly astonishing.
That person’s combat style was completely different from Gu Ya’s.
Even Gu Ya might not be able to control an academy mecha so smoothly.
“Who exactly is it?” Gu Ya muttered to himself.
Several defeated Class A students crawled out of their cockpits, dejected, and walked towards that mecha.
They turned out to be Fan Mengtian, Chen Xingke, Wang Can, and others—all the elites of Class A.
Gu Ya’s interest was piqued. He walked towards that mecha, wanting to see who could pilot an academy mecha so skillfully.
“Ling Baifeng, you are truly strong. We concede defeat,” Fan Mengtian said, leading the way.
The mecha’s cockpit opened, and a tall, slender boy jumped out. He nodded at everyone, pursed his lips into a smile, and remained silent.
Gu Ya moved behind them, looking at the boy. Wasn’t this Ling Baifeng, the elite from Class B back then?
During the class competition, Gu Ya had single-handedly defeated Class B’s trio, which included Ling Baifeng.
“Gu Ya, you’re back!” As soon as Fan Mengtian saw Gu Ya, he smiled like he had found a long-lost brother.
Chen Xingke leaned in and whispered to Gu Ya, “This is Ling Baifeng, the new war god of Class C. The five of us sparred with him all afternoon and didn’t win a single match.”
“That bad!” Gu Ya sighed softly. “It can’t be that serious.”
Chen Xingke lowered his head in shame, unable to lift it.
“Gu Ya, we meet again. Can I spar with you?” Ling Baifeng asked with a gentle smile, appearing as amiable as usual.
The five Class A boys all looked at Gu Ya, their eyes filled with pleading.
Well, the atmosphere had been set.
Let’s have a match then!
Both contestants took their positions, using academy mechas.
Having witnessed Ling Baifeng’s mecha maneuvers, Gu Ya had a general understanding of him.
Ling Baifeng’s seemingly unrestrained control was a testament to his confidence in his skills and his full utilization of his talent.
He was a naturally gifted fighter.
Suddenly, with an explosive roar, Ling Baifeng charged forward first.
Gu Ya smiled slightly, intending to use [Explosive Flash] to finish the opponent in one move. But he suddenly remembered that this was an academy mecha with poor performance.
Using [Explosive Flash] would not only instantly defeat the opponent but also destroy himself.
The opponent had already rushed in front of him. Gu Ya steadied his mind, calmly pulled the joystick to dodge the first round of attacks,
Before the opponent could stabilize to launch a second attack, Gu Ya suddenly burst forward.
“Taste your own move.” Gu Ya’s eyes hardened. He quickly tapped the mecha’s control panel and micro-adjusted the joystick.
In the eyes of the onlookers, Gu Ya’s mecha charged forward and quickly circled around Ling Baifeng’s mecha.
With a “clang!” sound, as the two mechas collided, their cold swords met, sparking countless sparks.
“Fast reaction,” Gu Ya muttered.
If he had his Youyin, Gu Ya could have cut the opponent in half with one move. This mecha completely restricted his performance.
Both mechas spun around in the air and charged at each other again.
This time, Gu Ya directly used [Overclocked Driving], adjusting the thrust to below 10% without damaging the mecha, and executed [Explosive Flash].
A very short-distance, super-simplified version of [Explosive Flash] was used.
In an instant, Gu Ya appeared behind Ling Baifeng.
With another “clang!” sound, Ling Baifeng’s mecha instantly powered down and crashed heavily to the ground.
“Wow, Gu Ya is still the best! His nickname ‘Jungle Butcher’ isn’t for nothing!” Chen Xingke exclaimed.
“Speaking of which, Gu Ya always has to save the day. We’re really weak! We need to work harder in the future!” Wang Can said.
“Brother Gu Ya is just too awesome! And he’s got great character too…” Fan Mengtian said like a little fanboy, his eyes filled with admiration.
Gu Ya easily jumped out of his mecha and walked towards Ling Baifeng’s mecha.
At this moment, at the entrance of the academy hangar, someone watched the battle, shook their head, and turned to leave.
Gu Ya felt that person’s gaze. When he looked back, he only saw a retreating figure flash past.
“Huh? Is that Master?” Gu Ya muttered to himself.
Ling Baifeng smiled faintly, straightened his body, shook Gu Ya’s hand, and said, “You are as strong as ever.”
Gu Ya nodded, smiled at him, and said, “You were great too.”
One round of combat ended, and it was already 5:30 PM.
Gu Ya had been away from home for over a week and missed it dearly. He summoned his mecha motorcycle and flew out of the academy.
Half an hour later, he arrived at the entrance of the preparatory junior academy in the 12th wastewater treatment area.
It was just after school, and groups of students were walking out of the school gates, chatting and laughing.
“Brother!” The moment Youyou saw Gu Ya, she didn’t even bother saying goodbye to her classmates and ran over excitedly.
Gu Ya couldn’t help but smile. “You’ve gotten taller again!”
“Brother! Watch this!”
Youyou scrambled onto the mecha motorcycle in two or three moves, hugged Gu Ya’s waist tightly, her head resting against Gu Ya’s back, and said with a smile, “Impressive, right? Hehe.”
“Very impressive! Is Youran at home?” Gu Ya asked, holding Youyou’s little hands tighter.
“Yes! Ranran likes literature, so Lingling-jie enrolled her in a regular school, and she gets out earlier,” Youyou said excitedly.
Just then, Gu Ya saw a familiar figure appear at the school gate.
Ling Baifeng, he was also picking up students.
Ling Baifeng also saw Gu Ya and smiled at him.
“Brother, how many times have I told you, I’m already grown up, I can go back by myself,” a boy who looked about twelve or thirteen walked up to Ling Baifeng with a cold expression.
Seeing the boy, Youyou pouted, her expression showing some disgust. “Smug guy.”
“Don’t talk about him like that,” Gu Ya said with a faint smile. He waved at Ling Baifeng and sped away with Youyou, leaving a trail of dust.
As soon as they reached the doorstep, a familiar sense of warmth washed over him.
Home is the best!
Gu Ya lifted Youyou down, and the two of them quickly entered the house.
The android was cleaning the living room and nodded at Gu Ya with a smile.
Youran was cooking in the kitchen, looking very domestic, making it hard to believe she was only a five-year-old child.
Seeing Gu Ya, Youran was first stunned, then smiled happily and said affectionately, “Brother, you’re back.”
Gu Ya stroked Youran’s head and said, “So good. When did you learn to cook?”
“I learned from Ge-jie! Ranran learns things so fast!” Youyou shouted loudly, already sitting at the dining table waiting for the food.
“Go wash your hands!” Gu Ya said sternly.
Youyou stuck her tongue out at Gu Ya and ran into the kitchen, saying, “Ranran, I’ll help you, hehe. Otherwise, our brother will be upset~”
“Our brother cares about you the most, hehe,” Youran said generously, smiling.
“He cares about everyone.”
Just then, the front door was suddenly knocked upon, and a deep male voice called out, “Is anyone home?”