In fact, if he'd been even more unscrupulous, he could have rehashed those non-existent romantic trysts from his imprisonment to divert their attention.
But that would have been too heartless.
Even without a conscience, one must have some bottom line... If he hadn't been truly facing a do-or-die scenario with no other choice, he wouldn't have stooped to that.
Having his reputation ruined was just too painful; social death and biological death were both fatal, but the former felt even more excruciating.
His reputation was already in tatters, so he figured he'd better accumulate some good karma quickly... as much as possible. He had a feeling he'd need it if this maneuver went south.
A fourth Shadow Burial Shuttle.
Huai Shi's figure erupted suddenly from the dark cover. He delivered a flying kick, stepping on the back of an Eye of Nightmare member's head, and fled in desperation under the relentless hail of machine-gun fire.
"Hmph, move aside, let me do this!"
The enraged Colonel had lost his patience. He shoved aside the sniper in his way, then reached down and pulled a hefty steel object from a box on the ground.
He hoisted it onto his shoulder.
The heavy cannon barrel swayed as it aimed at the distant Huai Shi, while the crosshairs on the display screen firmly locked onto his evasive, leaping figure.
To hell with you!!!
With the sharp whine of a completed lock-on, the Colonel pulled the trigger.
Instantly, scorching flames burst forth.
With terrifying firepower capable of turning an entire battle tank into ashes, the shoulder-fired rocket launcher roared to life, blazing with a blinding light as it pounced towards Huai Shi.
Death Perception instantly washed over Huai Shi from the back of his skull.
In fact, he felt as though he had fallen into an ice cave, surrounded by bone-chilling cold from all directions; a little more or less made no difference at all.
But death always has its order and priorities.
Some deaths are fairly peaceful, while other methods of dying... are exceedingly brutal.
I just freaking escaped from prison! Why are you using rocket launchers on me?! Huai Shi cried out in bitter anger, expending every last bit of his Source Substance for a fifth Shadow Burial Shuttle!
Suddenly, his figure appeared a hundred meters away, dodging the rocket's blast, but immediately, everything went dark before his eyes.
As the shockwave spread, countless fragments of rock and soil flew at him like arrows. He was swept up by the hot blast and the Burning Wind from behind, involuntarily soaring into the sky.
And plummeting towards the fiercely contested no-man's-land.
As the world spun around him, he finally saw the cover and formations of the Iron Crystal Throne's Exploration Team and couldn't help but burst into tears.
He was so close, so close to crawling back to the fountain...
Just then, in mid-air, on Abnormal Hell·Teralocan, the soaring Great Pyramid, a light suddenly flared. Then, the torrential rain that had been swept up into the sky abruptly shuddered.
A dazzling bolt of lightning, thick as a bucket, emerged from the brewing dark clouds, illuminating Huai Shi's stunned expression.
At that moment, the killing intent from the High Priest descended from the sky. Everything in the lightning's path was swiftly burned to charred cinders and shattered to pieces.
Fooled you, little brat!
But when the lightning was a hair's breadth from Huai Shi's face, it abruptly stopped.
Because in the sky above, a giant hand had pinched the end of the lightning as if catching a snake's tail, preventing the lethal venom and teeth from crossing that final threshold.
It defied all logic, utterly incredible.
It was like tap dancing on the ashes of physics!
But Alchemy is precisely such an irrational thing.
In the hands of Atlas, the Dome Giant, as his fingers clenched, the lightning was effortlessly crushed to pieces as if it were glass.
And Huai Shi, finally bursting from behind the Ivy League's cover, flew out and landed upon the scorched earth of the no-man's-land between the forces.
He vanished in an instant.
It felt as if the earth had become some kind of liquid, engulfing him.
Huai Shi's vision darkened, and the world spun around him. He was swept into an undercurrent, carried rapidly underground, and then propelled upwards by an immense force.
Ejected by the earth, he soared up only to crash down onto hard stone pavement, gasping heavily.
Still disoriented, he found himself within the Iron Crystal Throne's fortress.
Only when he saw the familiar face of his teacher, Andrea, did Huai Shi finally breathe a sigh of relief, moved to tears.
"That was close, so very close to getting killed!"
He grasped Andrea's hand tightly and shook it vigorously. "At the critical moment, Teacher Andrea, you're the one I can count on!"
Andrea, awkwardly having her hand gripped by Huai Shi, explained helplessly after a moment, "Uh, I'm a Fourth Stage Sublimator. According to the covenant, I cannot directly participate in combat..."
"Huh?"
Huai Shi was stunned. He looked over blankly. "Then who was it?"
Andrea coughed twice and pointed behind Huai Shi to a sullen-faced young man—Martin.
Huai Shi was taken aback.
This was totally unexpected...
He hadn't even considered Martin. His presence was usually so faint that the thought hadn't crossed Huai Shi's mind.
Yet the rescue just now was undoubtedly the result of Martin's specialty, 'Liquify.'
Although there had been some unpleasantness between them, the fact that Martin had decisively lent a hand at such a crucial moment made Huai Shi see him in a new light.
"Thank you, thank you," he said, enthusiastically shaking the young man's hand.
Martin tugged his hand a couple of times but found he couldn't pull away. He could only snort coldly and turn his head. "Just don't cause any more trouble."
What kind of tsundere character is this?
A group of medical staff rushed to give Huai Shi emergency treatment. Fortunately, other than a few bullet holes in his back, there were no major issues. A bit of stitching and patching, and he'd be ready to continue serving as a useful tool.
While he was receiving a blood transfusion, Andrea leaned in, her face serious, looking as if she wanted to say something but was hesitating.
"What's wrong?" Huai Shi asked.
...
After a moment of silence, Andrea looked around, tucked her hair back, her lovely face cast downward as she leaned in, inching closer.
Huai Shi froze, his eyes widening.
Just as he was debating whether to resist, he heard her whisper in his ear, "So, is that rumor about the child true?"
???
An awkward silence descended. Huai Shi's expression gradually stiffened. He stared blankly at the earnest and curious Andrea, incredulous.
You people are seriously weird!