Right on Target (TARGET)
No one saw how Su Heting arrived—it was as if the cat had teleported, leaving everyone present stunned and unable to react.
Zhu Yin’s head rolled on the ground, half of its face shattering upon impact. The outer layer of its Night Aspect peeled away instantly, revealing the intricate mechanical gears beneath. Its vocal mechanism was damaged as its voice was no longer as natural as before, now stuttering like a glitching tape, cutting in and out.
Su Heting looked as small as a matchstick in front of Zhu Yin, but he was already consumed by a kind of frenzy, driven by excitement as he raised his arm and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the beast.
The Invincible Cannon boomed repeatedly, blasting pieces off Zhu Yin’s face. Its vocal mechanism was completely wrecked, leaving only the crackle of static. The cranial processor, after defensive calculations, abandoned its tail, but this made its firing mechanism even faster—no pause needed, it opened its maw and fired another shot!
—BOOM!
The ground shook violently as the powerful blast scorched the earth and the shockwave sent two people flying.
The two tumbled together. Su Heting choked on the smoke and his mouth full of dirt. He spat twice and shouted, “What the hell do we do with this thing?!”
Xie Zhenshu yanked him up. “Aim for the head!”
Before they could say another word, the next blast was already upon them.
—BOOM!!!
Su Heting’s tail nearly got singed as the shockwave knocked him over again, sending him sprawling forward. Both of them rolled across the ground and paused for half a second before wordlessly scrambling to their feet and bolting.
Zhu Yin’s steel limbs propelled its head forward, skimming the ground in rapid pursuit while firing its cannon in a relentless cycle.
Su Heting yelled, “Is this thing insane?!”
Xie Zhenshu replied, “Just run!”
The two sprinted in the opposite direction of their teammates, luring Zhu Yin away.
Flames roared around them, crackling wildly. Zhu Yin rampaged unimpeded through the ruins, but with its Night Aspect shattered, the silencing effect was fading.
The earpieces crackled back to life, and Dong Fang gradually picked up the faint cries of survivors. He stowed his steel construct while still watching Zhu Yin’s retreating figure before taking a few steps backward, then turning sharply. “Call for backup now—let’s move!”
Zhu Yin’s cannonfire struck the road, pulverizing debris into dust. Its massive eye locked onto the two fleeing figures as its processor feeding it commands fueled by rage, making it reckless in its pursuit. Suddenly, it reared up and slammed back down with a thunderous crash—BOOM!—the entire road collapsing beneath them!
A violent gust of wind blasted outward, sending Su Heting flying. His cat ears and tail flailed wildly as he tumbled through the deafening chaos and slammed hard into a diamond-fragment shield.
—Damn, that hurt!
Zhu Yin’s cannonfire erupted again, the blinding white light stark against the night.
Su Heting’s coat flapped wildly in the wind. He yanked it down, gripping the shield with one hand as he turned to glare at Zhu Yin through the gale. “If we keep running, we’ll cross the boundary!”
Beyond the city lay the Divine Demon Territory, which Su Heting simply understood as forbidden ground. He had no intention of venturing there tonight to fight more creatures—better to finish Zhu Yin here and now.
Xie Zhenshu thought the same. He took a few steps back, then suddenly retracted his arm. The shield dispersed, and Su Heting landed safely. The two turned to face Zhu Yin.
Zhu Yin roared in fury—or at least, it tried. With its vocal mechanism destroyed, all that came out was a silent, impotent rage.
Xie Zhenshu's iron arm reassembled behind him as he shouted, "Smash its head first!"
The iron fist swung out, striking Zhu Yin on the side of its face. The massive eye of Zhu Yin snapped shut—a protective mechanism indicating severe damage to its head, prioritizing the safety of its intracranial data processor.
Now!
Xie Zhenshu yelled, "Cat!"
Su Heting snapped, "Cat, cat, cat—can't you just call me by my name?!"
Before the words even finished, Su Heting had already darted forward. The "X" in his modified eye spun wildly—if he had an engine, it would have roared across the sky. The relentless bombardment from Zhu Yin couldn’t stop him.
His speed surpassed all limits, breaking through the heavy resistance in the span of a single breath and arriving right in front of Zhu Yin.
But his invincible cannon was still cooling down!
Su Heting twisted mid-air, gathering all his strength, and took a deep breath.
BOOM—!!!
The earth-shaking kick sent Zhu Yin’s unsteady head spinning before it crashed sideways into the ground.
In an instant, dirt and debris exploded into the air.
Su Heting landed with his tail flicking behind him as if an entire army stood at his back. He suddenly raised his arm, pointing forward, and shouted, "Xie Zhenshu!"
Asura emerged from the billowing smoke, casting its colossal shadow over the cat. "Slaughter" carried a cannon in one hand and a rifle in the other, switching modes with a sharp click before unleashing full firepower!
The heavy artillery and machine guns roared without end, their ammunition streaking like fiery dragons, forcing Zhu Yin to keep its eye shut. Soon, its eyelid mechanism shattered and parts flew everywhere as the intracranial data processor blared frantic alarms.
[X-lock engaged. Target charging for attack.]
A red exclamation mark flashed.
[Self-destruct countdown initiated: 3, 2—]
Zhu Yin activated its final defense—the data processor self-destructed.
Asura stood unshaken, its three-phase arms crossed as it deployed an impenetrable iron shield, blocking the explosion. Flames surged into the sky, the ground quaked violently, and the shockwave sent everything nearby flying.
After a long moment, the fire burned on as Su Heting gasped for breath and collapsed onto his back.
Thud!
Not far away, Xie Zhenshu also lay down.
The hail had stopped at some point, leaving only the rain.
Both of them panted heavily.
Covered in dust, Su Heting asked, "You’re Xie Zhenshu, right?"
Xie Zhenshu stared at the sky and replied, "No."
"You are."
"No."
Su Heting surrendered. "Fine, I am. I’m Xie Zhenshu, okay?"
Xie Zhenshu didn’t answer.
Su Heting said, "Next time we go on a date, I’m not playing with you."
Xie Zhenshu suddenly grabbed a handful of mud and flung it near Su Heting.
Su Heting asked, "What’s that for?"
Xie Zhenshu snapped, "I am Xie Zhenshu!"
Su Heting laughed. "What’s with you? Why so mad? Hey, don’t walk away—Xie Zhenshu!" He sprawled out, unmoving, and just kept shouting, "My arm hurts so bad, the steel-blade guy’s cut hasn’t healed yet. Xie Zhenshu, Xie Zhenshu, Xie Zhenshu!"
Xie Zhenshu covered his mouth to shut him up.
The cat’s eyes gleamed as he stared at Xie Zhenshu.
Dirt speckled Xie Zhenshu’s face. After a moment, he removed his hand and hoisted Su Heting onto his back.
Su Heting clung to him and persisted, "What are you mad about?"
Xie Zhenshu said, "Nothing."
Su Heting pressed, "Mad at me? Because I said I wouldn’t play with you?"
Xie Zhenshu stayed silent.
Even when angry, his expression remained the same—as if the whole world owed him money, his eyes cold and indifferent to everything.
Su Heting looped an arm around Xie Zenshu's neck, adopting a buddy-buddy tone as he said, "Just kidding—we're practically life-and-death comrades now. If you ever run into trouble, I won’t just stand by and do nothing."
Xie Zenshu ignored him.
Su Heting leaned in and blew lightly on Xie Zenshu’s cross-shaped earring, trying to get his attention.
The earring swayed slightly, and Xie Zenshu abruptly turned his head.
The muscles in his shoulders and back tensed, his glare warning Su Heting to stop, as if the latter were some kind of delinquent.
Undeterred, Su Heting inched closer and whispered, "You’re so pale—do you never go outside? Oh right, you’re always holed up here. So when do you work out? Before bed? Your muscles are—"
Xie Zenshu cut him off. "Don’t blow on it."
"Okay," Su Heting agreed—then immediately did it again.
He was just like that—if something was off-limits, he’d do it without fail.
Xie Zenshu’s earlobe flushed red from the breath. Annoyed, he snapped, "Su Heting!"
Su Heting answered crisply, "Present!"
Xie Zenshu abruptly turned his head away, refusing to look at him.
Thinking Xie Zenshu was angry, Su Heting quickly tightened his hold, even draping his tail around the other’s waist, afraid he’d be tossed aside.
It was strange.
Su Heting usually cared about saving face, but with Xie Zenshu, it didn’t seem to matter—as if they were close enough that he could afford to back down temporarily.
Like now, in this pitch-black area where who knew what else lurked. Su Heting was exhausted and had no desire to fight again.
Su Heting said, "What makes you happy? What pisses you off? You can tell me. We agreed to stick together through thick and thin, but even so, two people still need to communicate. Like right now—why won’t you talk to me?"
Xie Zenshu remained silent.
Su Heting loosened his grip and rested his chin atop Xie Zenshu’s head. "Hey."
Xie Zenshu replied, "What?"
Su Heting asked, "Do you really have precognition?"
Xie Zenshu said, "No."
Su Heting frowned. "Then how do you know when Xingtian’s undercover agents log in?"
"Information monitoring and data analysis," Xie Zenshu replied, walking through the darkness as the rain gradually lightened. "Xingtian’s operation times are easy to predict."
Su Heting pressed, "What about the locations?"
Xie Zenshu answered, "Same. The login points for smugglers are fixed—only a hundred of them."
Su Heting mused that Xingtian still believed their agents’ login spots were randomized. Clearly, their understanding of the Punishment Zone was superficial, and even their leader was kept in the dark about many things.
Su Heting asked another question. "That explosion that attacked you when I first got here—what was that? Another kind of demon?"
Xie Zenshu said, "No. That was the Liquidation System. It launches surprise attacks at irregular intervals."
Seventy percent of Xie Zenshu’s deaths were caused by the Liquidation System. Its mechanics were ruthless—it could be seen as the "hand" of the Main God System, targeting Xie Zenshu exclusively.
Su Heting said, "Oh."
A quiet moment passed between them.
Su Heting tilted his head and slid back down to rest against Xie Zenshu’s neck. He settled in, but his cat ears twitched restlessly—folding flat one moment and perking up the next—their soft fur brushing Xie Zenshu’s neck until it too turned pink. After a while, Su Heting’s eyelids grew heavy, and he was nearly asleep.
His voice muffled with drowsiness as he asked, "Is there anything you want to ask me?"
Xie Zenshu said, "Yes."
But that "yes" was left hanging.
Su Heting, too tired to wait, yawned and closed his eyes. "I’m gonna rest for a bit..."
After the stimulating signals faded, endless exhaustion set in. Su Heting's breathing was shallow as he nestled against Xie Zhenshu and fell asleep. He drifted off almost instantly, offering no resistance at all.
Xie Zhenshu walked out of the night as dawn began to break.
The sun was about to rise, and the city started to reset.
The skyscrapers that had been flattened by Zhu Yin silently rose again, countless fragments swirling like a shattered crystal ball reassembling itself.
It was then that Xie Zhenshu asked softly, "Why did you come back?"
There was no answer.
His eyes lowered slightly as he turned to look at Su Heting, his expression tinged with sorrow.
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