Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 130 - 50: The Gift from Heaven

Chapter 130: Chapter 50: The Gift from Heaven

Secrets of the "Long Branch" armor and its bearer were within reach. Duan Mingyuan propped up Tian Yun, who had already shown no signs of life, to sit on the ground. However, after searching the armor from head to toe, he still couldn’t find the button for the emergency release mechanism.

He always had a strange feeling, as if the person who designed this suit of armor never intended to let the person inside come out again.

Then...

How does one eat?

What about going to the bathroom?

In the sweltering heat, being trapped in such heavy armor—and with the high-intensity combat of "Long Branch"—wouldn’t the person inside faint from their own stench?

Duan Mingyuan felt that he could never be a member of "Long Branch." Just three days in this metal enclosure would drive him insane.

Left with no choice, he could only attempt to force his way through with his ability.

Fortunately, the company seemed to have designed a ventilation system. When he took off the helmet, there was no pungent smell of sweat attacking him, but when he saw the bearer’s face clearly, Duan Mingyuan was stunned for a long while.

What on earth is this thing?

Human? Fox?

It somewhat resembled both, yet it was neither.

When he extracted this peculiar creature from the armor, Jiuyue, who had been watching from a distance, furrowed her eyebrows and her tail stood up high in a bristled state.

"Mr. Mingyuan, what exactly is this thing?"

She would absolutely not consider the thing inside the armor to be one of her own kind.

A human body with fox limbs and a face half human, half fox—such a bizarre scene was triggering her Happy Valley effect.

A failed fusion, retaining flaws from both sides, thus presenting the most twisted and ugly form.

Fox Demons are creatures that greatly value appearances; they would never allow themselves to become this unsightly. Jiuyue had to emphasize that her kind, with human faces and bodies but retaining the fox’s sharp ears and long tail in the details, was the correct way of shape-shifting.

"He was originally human."

After some research, Duan Mingyuan reached a conclusion and seemed to understand why the armor was not designed with an escape mechanism for its bearer.

"Human?"

Jiuyue, who had been covering her eyes, opened a slit between her hands, then quickly closed it again. She felt that if she kept looking, this monstrosity would surely come to haunt her in her dreams.

"Transitioning from human to fox, perhaps one would end up looking like this," he conjectured.

Though Duan Mingyuan had categorized Extraterrestrials into a sub-type of malevolent creatures, besides differences in attire, most Extraterrestrials appeared quite similar to them. The most obvious Extraterrestrial he had ever seen on television had only dark cyan skin that was as hard as stone.

He thought Tian Yun should have looked similar to them, and that it was the armor that had transformed him.

When Western Wind’s chest was pierced through by a combined attack from Jiuyue and Liu Heli, what was revealed was not a human body but a swirling ice storm—much like the blizzards that raged on that distant planet, as mentioned by Bai Kou.

This suit of armor was realized through the power of Ruihu, and it might have been gradually transforming its bearer into a fox. Tian Yun claimed to be a reserve member of "Long Branch," indicating that his transformation might not have been complete.

"When I extracted him from the armor just now, his skin was fused with the inside of the armor as if they were grown together, no wonder I felt this armor was alive from the beginning."

Now, Tian Yun was dead, yet the armor was still alive.

As Duan Mingyuan’s fingers touched the interior of the armor, he suddenly felt an inexplicable yearning.

The armor was calling out to him.

Inviting him to put it on and become the next Tian Yun.

He reassembled the helmet, and the seams of the armor closed at a visibly fast rate.

A thunderous noise coming from outside the library forced him to abandon his plan to continue his research. A bright light shone down from the clouds to the ground, creating a brightness like dawn, though several hours were still to pass before morning truly arrived.

The sound, like a ferryboat’s horn, forcibly awoke everyone who was asleep.

The Mohawk head, the bio-troopers, and the tabletop game judges disappeared at the same time. Students, groggy from sleep, walked out of their dorms to the sports field; and when they looked up, all were frozen in place without exception.

Having been bathed in the intense light, the Second Prince, still lying on the ground, suddenly began to laugh.

It looked more like a laugh of self-abandonment.

"It’s over, all over, they’ve come."

Ning Ruyue had a vague premonition deep in her heart, and the strong light shining on her made her feel suffocated.

Su Qin was also frightened, demanding, "Who has come?"

"That’s the Council’s flagship, you’ve actually drawn them here."

The Second Prince, with his neck craned, watched as the sky above was enveloped by a massive flying object, making even Qing Chi Peak seem insignificant in comparison.

No one noticed how this massive object had appeared.

It did not descend like a typical flying object, but instead materialized out of thin air in the blink of an eye high above the clouds.

Several blinding beams of light shone down to the ground, and within those beams, three mechanical beings materialized.

Mo Song felt a chill in his hands and feet, for he had read about them in a certain book in the library—they were the creations that the company had deployed, eleven of them, who had completely quelled warfare hundreds of years ago.

Chen Chou, who was far in the rear mountain, naturally also witnessed this scene. This represented the sworn enemy of his memory, the "Long Branch" that young Mingyuan had spoken of.

The highest security department of Universe Company, each of its members were the strongest selected from various planets, and on top of that, the company had granted them invincible armors.

The time for vengeance had arrived!

Although his mind was aflame with the fire of vengeance, when the gaze of one of the "Long Branch" members swept over Chen Chou, he faltered.

The overwhelming pressure left him rooted to the spot.

At that moment, he finally understood profoundly what Duan Mingyuan meant by the disparity of more than two levels.

He would die.

If he made a move, what awaited him would be an unquestionable instant kill.

A middle-aged man in a formal suit, with a holographic visor floating in front of his left eye, walked behind the three "Long Branch" members. The light blue screen scanned each person present, finally resting on the Second Prince who was lying on the ground.

A flash of irritation passed, which he concealed very well.

Escorted by "Long Branch", he walked straight up to Mo Song, his tone polite yet unmistakable, "We’re here to retrieve the company’s property. Where’s the armor?"

"Armor, what armor?"

Mo Song was completely confused.

"The armor you’re looking for is here."

The middle-aged man and the three "Long Branch" members looked in the direction of the voice, only to see Duan Mingyuan laboriously carrying the pitch-black armor on his shoulder, walking towards them.

He was the only one in the academy who could still move freely since the arrival of "Long Branch".

"I encountered Mr. Tian Yun in the library, and some friction occurred."

"Friction?"

The man stared at the armor placed on the ground by Duan Mingyuan, which remained motionless as if it had become an empty shell.

"Yes, friction."

Duan Mingyuan stopped his steps, not moving any closer under the watchful eyes of the three "Long Branch" members, keeping a safe distance from the man.

Judging from the energy fluctuations, those who had descended were not reserves but bona fide "Long Branch" members.

Three had been dispatched at once, and above their heads hovered a flagship even larger than Qing Chi Peak.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Tian Yun has left us forever."