The joint military exercise was on a grand scale. The sight of thousands of mechs starting up simultaneously stunned many people. The shockwaves from the thrusters spread out in waves, and if not for the protective energy barrier, it might have toppled the stands.
Qi Ze first paid his respects to the emperor and the federal leaders, conversing with them for a while before returning to Li Ziqian's side. He was known publicly as an orphan from Neptune, but faced with such a grand spectacle, he wasn't the least bit timid. Even when confronting the most powerful figures of the Black Eye Galaxy, he could remain composed, neither servile nor arrogant, speaking eloquently. Gradually, some speculated that he was the descendant of a reclusive family, while others guessed that he hailed from an outer Galaxy, a remnant of the Huaxia lineage, but regardless of the speculation, it added a layer of mystery to his identity.
His handsome features, elegant demeanor, and speech imbued with ancient charm quickly made him a star adored by the empire's citizens.
The mech combat was spectacular, yet dozens of flying recording devices persisted in circling around Master Qi, filming without pause. Qi Ze, growing impatient, quietly asked, "When will Yan Junyu make his appearance?"
"He'll be the finale, only showing up after the competition ends." Li Ziqian hesitated for a moment before finally asking, "You're specifically waiting for him?"
"Otherwise, why would I come here? For sightseeing and vacation?" Qi Ze waved his hand. "I hate socializing the most."
Li Ziqian smiled without comment. When he looked back at the stands, he suddenly felt disinterested. In fact, he disliked such occasions as well, but was willing to make changes for someone... Neither of them had the heart to watch the ensuing competition; one was lost in thought, and the other was engrossed in a game on his terminal. Ouyang Ye and Meng Kui were thoroughly enjoying themselves, their large heads huddled together, chatting animatedly.
After the combat, the Federation and the Empire simultaneously sent out two super mechs for a show, and even without any display of performance or firepower, the public watched with rapt attention. Qi Ze's sparkling eyes turned dull as he gritted his teeth and said, "Is this the most attractive part of the show? It's not as good as the combat! Why don't they fight? Just flying around, occasionally separating, occasionally crossing paths, occasionally somersaulting, who can't do that?"
Li Ziqian smiled bitterly. "The super mechs' firepower is too powerful. If they were to battle in the air, not to mention the spectators below, even War God Star might be destroyed. Who dares to play for real? Taking out super mechs is just for the public's entertainment."
Qi Ze slumped in his chair, like a deflated balloon, not wanting to move. Had he known it was this kind of performance, why would he have traveled such a long distance? He would have been better off refining artifacts at home. Just as he was thinking this, the two super mechs ended their performance and began to slowly descend, but for some reason, one of them suddenly lost balance and fell from the sky. It was none other than Yan Junyu's Kaiyang.
"Ahhhh, what's happening?" The spectators screamed in terror, and the dignitaries in the VIP section paled. Mu Ran, who was about to take a drink, let go of his cup, spilling water all over his legs. But he didn't feel a thing, only strained to open his eyes, watching this scene with unease. When the mech was about to touch the ground, he finally turned away, unable to bear to watch.
Qi Ze, who had been as soft as dough a moment ago, suddenly stood up. With people seated on all sides, he had nowhere to go, so without hesitation, he jumped onto the table, stepping on other people's shoulders as he rushed down from the stands. His heart was in turmoil, feeling that something was about to happen. However, just a few meters away, the out-of-control mech suddenly ignited its thrusters, executing a spectacular leap to turn the situation around and landing steadily.
The public holographic screen immediately played scenes of fireworks blooming, then replayed the previous scene over and over again, annotating the distance between Kaiyang and the ground, a mere half a meter, and they would have collided, creating a powerful shockwave that would have engulfed all the spectators on the stands, turning them into mincemeat.
Without a doubt, this was the most dangerous part of the aerial showâthe limit drop. The operator would suddenly shut down the engine after the mech rose to a great height, letting it free-fall before turning on the engine at just half a meter above the ground, lifting the mech to complete the leap, flip, and landing.
Many daredevil mech pilots loved to do this, but they used civilian mechs, which were light and easy to control. Few used combat mechs for this maneuver, let alone super mechs. Super mechs had higher sensitivity than any other mechs, but to control them flexibly required a tremendous amount of mental energy. If the mental energy couldn't keep up, it could easily go out of control. Getting hurt would be minor, but crushing a few heads of state would be a major national security issue.
No one understood why, at the end of the show, Yan Junyu would suddenly pull this stunt, but fortunately, his courage matched his strength. He executed the move cleanly and beautifully, terrifying the audience while also greatly enhancing the Empire's prestige. Cheers and applause echoed over the stands, with leaders of various countries standing up to applaud.
The spectators whose shoulders and heads Qi Ze had stepped on were initially very angry, but upon closer inspection, they realized it was Master Qi. They quickly put away their anger and put on a fawning smile. They lifted Master Qi, carefully returning him to his seat and consoling him not to worry, that it was just part of the show and there were no problems.
"Really no problem?" Qi Ze thanked everyone and whispered to Li Ziqian, "What is Yan Junyu's personality? I should know him well enough. He's very reliable, the calmer he is when faced with a grand scene. There's no way he would perform such a reckless show without warning. What limit drop? I think there was a malfunction with the mech!"
"Maybe not without warning. What if it was a surprise arranged by the military? I'll ask someone to check," Li Ziqian patted the boy's shoulder and then had Meng Kui go find the head of the Li family sitting on the main stage.
"That was definitely not a mech malfunction, it was the limit drop!" Ouyang Ye was completely enamored with Young General Yan. Excitedly, he said, "Damn, if I had known Yan Junyu was such a big, cool dude, I would have hugged his golden thigh long ago! His mech piloting skills are simply god-like, even cooler than when he took out ten modified mechs in a row! Look, he's coming down!" Pointing to the center of the field.
Yan Junyu jumped out of the mech, reaching out his hand to shake hands with the Federation's pilot, then saluted towards the stands before stepping back, every move made with ease, showing no signs of having encountered danger. Qi Ze stared at him intently for a while, then looked at Old Master Yan, who was sitting on the main stage and clapping his hands in a smile. Only then did his heart, which had been in his throat, begin to settle. It was good that nothing had happened.
But what he didn't know was that his clumsy actions, using his hands and feet to climb onto the table and then stepping on people's heads and shoulders to rush down the stands, had already been transmitted to the Star Network by the flying recording devices. Netizens began speculating about his true relationship with Young Master Yan and confidently stated that Master Qi must deeply love Young Master Yan, which was why he was so concerned.
At the moment, Qi Ze didn't know that his scandal had become the topic of conversation for the entire Galaxy's population. He was trying to call Yan Junyu. The other end remained unanswered, and it was only after about twenty minutes that the call was returned. His voice sounded hoarse, "Little Ze, what's wrong?"
"Are you alright?" The feeling of panic returned, furrowing Qi Ze's brows.
"I'm fine, just a bit tired from preparing for the military exercise recently. Did I scare you?" Yan Junyu laughed gently. "Don't worry, it was a planned part of the program. This is the Empire's home turf; we have to show the guests the Empire's power."
"It did scare me," Qi Ze was honest, not pretending. "I thought something had happened to you. Don't play like that in the future. One misstep, and you'll lose your life."
"I know." Yan Junyu paused for a long time before continuing. "I have something to do here. I won't be back for the next two months. Take care of yourself, don't be picky, don't starve yourself, don't bury yourself in the workshop and forget to rest..."
"Okay, okay, I'm not a two or three-year-old kid, you don't need to nag." Qi Ze, afraid of listening to his nagging, quickly hung up the call and rubbed his ears.
This was the last time they would see each other. After that, Yan Junyu indeed didn't return to the dorm, and his calls and messages gradually diminished. Qi Ze was busy crafting a body for Li Ziqian, so he didn't pay much attention. Unknowingly, a month passed...
Li Mansion, living room.
A group of people gathered around an elderly man with gray hair seated in the main seat. Instead, the head of the Li family and Lady Li were relegated to guest seats. The robot butler brought a pot of tea, filling the old man's cup before quietly retreating to a corner. When the old man raised the teacup to sip, the living room was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. Even though Uncle Li of the second branch was scratching his heart out with anxiety, he didn't dare disturb the old man's elegant mood at this time.
"Tea cultivated on an alien planet is not as good as tea from our home planet," the old man sighed slowly. He was the previous patriarch, with immense prestige, usually not involved in matters but once he spoke, no one could defy him.
"Where's Ziqian? When will he return?" He put down the teacup and closed his eyes in contemplation.
"On his way, he'll be here within ten minutes," the head of the Li family spoke respectfully. "Old Patriarch, you brought so many people over today. Are you planning to..."
"What do you think?" The old man didn't bother to lift his eyelids.
Although the second branch of the Li family lowered their brows and looked down, they all involuntarily curled the corners of their mouths.
"But I've already contacted Master Qi and am preparing to give Ziqian a new body. If you want to replace the heir, you should wait until Ziqian has recovered, right?" The head of the Li family's tone was slightly dissatisfied.
"What's the point of changing his body?" The old man was extremely stubborn. "Those prosthetic limbs he changed before, do you think I didn't see them? Breaking down every three days or so, how much money did you spend looking for materials for him alone? And what was the result in the end? He was still a cripple. No matter how skilled Master Qi is, can he restore him to his original state? When Ziqian first got into trouble, someone suggested replacing the heir. I held it back once because he was a war hero. Now it's been twenty years. How far has the Li family declined because of the lack of a leader? Can't you see? Everyone has their own interests, I can understand, but you have to consider the family as well, otherwise, I'll replace you as the head of the family as well."
"But the Master said that he could get Ziqian back to his peak state," Lady Li countered.
The old man laughed in contempt. "What Master Qi? Just a charlatan. That so-called super mech modification technique is nothing but a trick, using up a mech after one use, just burning money. I admit his creativity is novel, and his techniques are first-class, but he's not godlike. No matter how strong a prosthetic limb is, can it compare to a meta-human's original body? Don't be fooled by him."
"The Master isn't a fraud. Give us a little more time. Can't we talk about replacing the heir after Ziqian puts on the prosthetic limb?" The head of the Li family asked in a low voice.
"I've given you twenty years, isn't that enough?" The old man asked back.
"After replacing Ziqian, who will be the Young Master? Li Zecheng?" The head of the Li family said angrily. "What kind of person he is, you wouldn't be so unclear."
The second branch of the Li family looked up together, their eyes filled with resentment. The old man glanced at them and smiled lightly. "When I chose you to be the head of the family, you should have trusted my judgment. Li Zecheng isn't fit, but Zi Xu is. What do you think?"
The one who had been hidden behind the crowd, the old man's great-grandson Li Zixu, came out slowly, nodding and smiling at everyone. He was a 2S-level meta-human, although he didn't enter the Imperial Academy, he entered the second-ranked Taka Military Academy for further studies. He had been living on Taka Star before, rarely coming back, and was not very prominent among the family's children. But at this moment, when he stepped forward, everyone suddenly realized that compared to Li Zecheng, the usually low-key and reserved Li Zixu was the best choice for the Young Patriarch.
No wonder the old patriarch was willing to come out of retirement, but not to stand up for the second branch, but to pave the way for his great-grandson.
The head of the Li family looked at the fuming Li Zecheng and then at the unflappable and unhurried Li Zixu, suddenly speechless. He didn't think Li Zixu was much better than his own son, but with his son unable to recover, handing the Li family over to Li Zixu might be the right choice.
Should he continue to plead for his son? The head of the Li family was at a loss, and Lady Li had nothing to say. Just at that moment, the sound of a flying car's engine came from outside. Soon, Meng Kui wheeled Li Ziqian in, accompanied by a handsome young man.
"Old Patriarch, you've come. Allow me to introduce you, this is Master Qi," Li Ziqian introduced the two sides with a smile. "Master Qi, this is the previous patriarch of our Li family, Mr. Li Yening, a 3S-level Metal-type meta-human."
"Hello, Master Qi." Although Li Yening had spared no mercy in belittling Qi Ze earlier, in front of the man, he still put on a respectful demeanor.
"Hello." Qi Ze was very impatient with such social niceties and bluntly said, "I've come to help Young Master Li install the prosthetic limbs. Could you, Lady, find a quiet place?"
"Are the prosthetic limbs ready?" Lady Li was overjoyed and quickly led him upstairs. "Please follow me, Master. We've prepared a workshop for you a long time ago. Zhenhai, you entertain the guests, I'll go see my son." As she spoke, she had already disappeared behind the elevator doors, not caring about the guests in the hall at all.
The head of the Li family also became restless and, with a slap on his thigh, compromised. "Fine, you can replace the heir if you want. Our family of three will move out of the main residence and live on the affiliated star." As for the fact that Tianzhu had been scrapped, he had concealed it for so many years; it was time to pass the pressure on to the clan.
The old man nodded in satisfaction, but Li Zixu smiled. "Uncle Li, we're not here to force you. If you say to wait until Big Brother has changed his prosthetic limb to talk about it, then we'll be fine waiting for him."
"Yes, let's wait for Ziqian then." With his great-grandson already recognized by the clan, it was necessary to show a little humility at the right time. The old man was very satisfied with his great-grandson's unpretentious performance and couldn't help drinking a few more sips of the tea that wasn't quite pure.
Li Zecheng, who was about to spit blood from anger, suddenly smiled in a strange way.
In the top floor studio, Qi Ze was laying out the finished limbs, dantian, and demon seed on the table, then began dismantling Li Ziqian's prosthetic limbs. Lady Li couldn't bear to see her son's battered body and quickly turned away with her eyes red.
"Deng Feng is a talent, actually putting the drive into your abdomen," Qi Ze took out a turbine-style drive from Li Ziqian's abdomen, then removed the steel plate blocking the wound, revealing the continuously decaying organs. If Li Ziqian wasn't a meta-human with a very strong self-healing ability, he probably wouldn't have survived until now.
Without the drive providing energy, Li Ziqian's legs couldn't move at all. Meng Kui hurriedly carried him to the sickbed and carefully laid him down.
"Are you nervous?" Qi Ze asked with a light smile as he unscrewed the bolts on the mechanical leg.
"Not nervous," Li Ziqian focused on him. "I trust you, so I'm not nervous at all."
"I'll give that answer full marks," Qi Ze removed the legs, took off the hands, and installed the newly crafted limbs, dantian by dantian. The black crystal had not yet touched Li Ziqian's body when a thick black mist emerged. This black mist touched and probed the black mist at the amputation site. Although still two separate masses, they faintly showed signs of merging.
Meng Kui held his breath, afraid to disturb these black mists.
Lady Li had dared not look at first, but sensing Meng Kui and her son's nervousness, she quietly walked over and then covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. She saw that the two black mists seemed to have recognized each other's "common origin," finally merging completely, while the wounds that had never healed were rapidly growing muscle, tendons, and bones.
A miracle was happening: the prosthetic limbs made with crystals were actually merging into one with Li Ziqian's living body. They could bend, had a sense of touch, and were strong. If one ignored the completely different color, they looked as if they had been born from the mother's body.
Lady Li was both shocked and delighted, her tears starting to fall.
Meanwhile, Li Ziqian was suffering unspeakable pain. When the youth put the demon seed into his almost closed abdomen, the pain reached a peak in an instant.
"AAAAHHHH..." His heart-wrenching scream echoed through the Li Mansion. Even with the soundproofing walls, it was still terrifying. The head of the Li family was covered in cold sweat, frequently looking up at the upper floor. The old man frowned and said, "What's going on? It's just installing prosthetic limbs, why is he screaming so desperately? Is something wrong? I said Qi Ze was unreliable. An eighteen-year-old kid, not even grown!"
"Elder, don't worry, I'll go up and take a look."
As Li Zixu said this, he stood up, but was stopped by the robot butler. "Sorry, you don't have the authority to enter the top floor at will. Please return to your seat."
Li Zixu's expression didn't change, but his gaze grew cold as he looked at the head of the Li family and asked, "Uncle Li, aren't you going up?"
"No need, your aunt is there, nothing will happen. Drink tea, everyone drink tea." Li Zhenhai, worthy of his name, could hold his ground. In the continuous screams of his son, he continued to entertain the guests.
Meanwhile, Lady Li was almost blinded by tears, wanting to hug her son but afraid of hurting him. She saw a fully-limbed Li Ziqian curled up on the ground. The previously intact torso was constantly oozing black-red sticky liquid, like blood but not blood, with a terrible smell. In just a moment, the floor was filled with it.
Qi Ze stood not far away and shouted, "Hold on. Each extra second is heaven, each less second is hell. Whether it's heaven or hell is entirely up to you!"
Even in extreme pain, Li Ziqian seemed to hear his voice, digging his fingers into the floor, crawling inch by inch towards him, as if the direction he was in was heaven. One meter, two meters, a black-red trail was left on the ground. When he was only a few inches away from the youth, the black-red sticky liquid finally flowed out, and his body was covered layer upon layer with black scales. His originally golden-brown vertical pupils turned dark red, looking eerie.
Lady Li was stunned and exclaimed in shock, "Master, what's wrong with Ziqian? There's a bloodline of the Eagle Clan in him, if anything should grow, it should be feathers, why did scales grow? We Eagles have never had scales!"
"I added dragon tendons to the prosthetic limbs I made for him, he's probably mutated," Qi Ze squatted down and touched the scales, quickly coming up with a reasonable excuse for the panicked Lady Li. "Isn't your Eagle Clan's Supreme God the Golden Peng? The Golden Peng is the Kunpeng, capable of flying in the sky and entering the sea. It's a bird in the sky and a fish in the water. It's normal to grow scales."
"The Golden Peng is the Kunpeng? The divine beast recorded in ancient dictionaries?" Lady Li was immediately taken in.
Qi Ze seriously spouted nonsense, "That's right. So when you take him back to the clan, you don't have to worry at all. His lineage is still very pure." In his heart, he silently apologized to Young Master Li, whose bloodline had mutated.
"Ah, that's wonderful! Thanks to the Supreme God's blessing! Your subjects will always worship you!" Lady Li made a praying motion, then knelt down, holding her no longer screaming son in her arms and gently wiping away the sticky liquid on his face. She didn't find it smelly at all, but rather, was moved to tears. Under the cover of black scales, she sensed her son's body temperature and pulse, so hot and strong.
"Is he healed? Completely healed?" She looked at Qi Ze, her eyes shining brightly.
"It can be said so. Once he adapts to the power of this demon seed, you can find a more powerful demon seed for him. Come to me again then, and I'll replace it for him." Qi Ze held his breath, waved his hand. "Take him back to clean up first. He'll wake up soon."
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll take him to bathe right away." Lady Li was a tough woman, lifting up her 200-pound son in one motion and choking back tears. "Master, thank you. If you have any use for us, the Li family is willing to do anything for you!" With that, she took large strides out of the studio.
Downstairs, the head of the Li family became anxious again, unable to hear any more sounds.