Headache.
Intense pain like a sharp spike driving from the temples deep into the skull.
Lin Du’s vision flickered between blur and clarity, the road ahead undulating like waves. His hands gripping the handlebars loosened powerlessly. His foot slipped, and he fell off the motorcycle.
‘Is this… my limit…?’
The motorcycle lost balance and fell to the side of the road, its wheels still spinning.
The morning street was empty. The streetlights were still on. Only occasional vehicles passed, their headlights sweeping across the road before disappearing at the end of the street.
No, I can’t fall yet.
Lin Du pushed against the ground, trying to stand.
His arms were trembling. His knees had just left the ground when they slammed back down heavily.
There were still people who needed his help—how could he give up!
The Slimes rampaging through the streets, destroying everything. The residents trembling in corners. The Containment Team members holding their weapons and barely holding on.
He was a Knight. He couldn’t fall.
Lin Du gritted his teeth, clutching his splitting head, and barely lifted his head to orient himself.
The Strange Person had appeared in East City. He took a deep breath, gathering strength in his legs.
But just as he was about to launch, his vision suddenly dimmed.
A red film covered it again. His sense of direction completely vanished—he could no longer tell east from west.
He only knew he was flying forward, but not where.
Boom—! Crash—!
After a moment, the sound of armor colliding with a concrete wall rang in his ears.
His body was embedded in the wall. Bricks shattered, dust flew.
Even the hard reinforced concrete had been torn open by his impact.
Rebar jutted out from the broken edge like snapped bones.
He crashed through another partition wall and finally slammed heavily into the floor.
The squeak of metal scraping against his eardrums, sharp as fingernails on a chalkboard.
Lin Du lay on the ground.
‘No… I messed up.’
He closed his eyes, frowning in pain.
‘This is… someone’s home. Is anyone… hurt?’
At that moment, his father’s retreating figure suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Just as the heavy blast door was about to close, he glanced back at Lin Du.
His lips seemed to mutter something. Then he resolutely turned and ran, the door slowly closing behind him.
That was the last time Lin Du saw him.
Since then, he had never let anyone stand in front of him again.
It wasn’t because of PTSD or to look cool. It was because he never wanted to see anyone’s back again.
He wanted to be the one standing at the very front.
“Uh…”
White Li stared at the Knight on the floor, mouth agape, too shocked to speak.
What happened?
How did this happen?
Why did the Blazing Knight smash through her house and lie on the floor like a dead fish?
Was he… beaten into this state?
Impossible. Who could defeat this monster?
White Li silently stared at him.
The Knight was curled up, clutching his head, occasionally letting out muffled groans from his throat.
He seemed to be in great pain. It didn’t look fake.
She suddenly lowered her head, realizing belatedly that her current appearance was wanted—she absolutely couldn’t be discovered.
Could it be that the Blazing Knight had found out her true identity and had come to arrest her?
“No! The wristband—where’s the wristband?”
White Li quickly looked at the bedside table.
The bedside table had already been crushed into a pile of wooden planks by the collapsed wall.
“Don’t lose it again! This is life or death—come out!”
She dropped to the ground, scanning the floor.
Finally, she spotted the wristband at the foot of the bed, lying quietly among the broken stones and glass shards.
She crawled over, reaching out to push aside the rubble.
The glass shards bit into her skin, making her grit her teeth.
Biting her lip, she pushed the debris aside, stretched her arm to reach the wristband, wiped it clean, and clutched it in her palm.
“Thank goodness, found it!”
She put the wristband on. When she opened her eyes again, she had transformed back into a black-haired, ordinary boy.
White Li let out a long breath.
Then she took another look at the Blazing Knight lying on the floor.
His silver-gray armor was covered in dust, like a movie standee that had been sitting for ages.
The blood on the armor’s surface had already dried.
The visor was dim and lifeless. The red lines no longer flowed, as if they had been completely extinguished.
Just earlier, she could still hear faint groans, but now he lay completely still.
Could he be… dead?
White Li crouched and slowly approached, staring at the dim visor.
“Hello?”
She reached out and waved her hand in front of the visor.
No response.
“Hey!”
She waved again.
Still no response.
Who could have beaten him like this?
No word from headquarters yet, right?
Could it be… the Slimes?
White Li was stunned for a moment, a sudden thought flashing through her mind.
Did Madam’s plan actually work?
The Blazing Knight was worn down by those little things that popped with a single squeeze, to the point he couldn’t even stand?
This was a perfect opportunity.
Strike while the iron is hot!
If she took him out, wouldn’t she be able to go back?
Just as White Li was thinking of grabbing a knife from the rubble, the figure in front of her suddenly stirred.
“Cough!”
A coughing sound came from before her.
The visor flashed brightly, like a candle that had been extinguished suddenly reigniting.
“Whoa—!”
White Li took half a step back, her foot making a crisp pat on the floor.
Her heart jumped, pounding wildly, but she quickly regained her composure.
She was using her disguise now. She was “White Li,” not “Rico.”
Besides, he was the one who crashed through the house—she was the victim!
White Li took a deep breath and stood up straight.
She took a step forward, looking down at the silver-gray figure on the floor, and kicked him.
“Hey, are you awake?”
Her voice was nine times louder than usual.
“You idiot, do you know you have to pay for damages?”
The Knight slowly lifted his head, his visor glowing again.
“…”
His gaze moved up from White Li’s toes, past the hem of her white dress, her slender waist, her slightly heaving chest, and finally landed on her face.
“White… White Li?!”
His voice trembled. The shock seemed to spill out from the cracks in his mask.
“Hm?”
White Li looked down at him, her brow slightly furrowed.
The wind blew in through the broken hole in the wall, making the hem of her dress flutter gently.
“You know me?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t remember having a friend who wears a tin can.”
Lin Du’s heart tightened.
He’d let it slip.
The Blazing Knight shouldn’t know this ordinary high school student.
He made a show of pressing his hand to his ear, as if receiving information.
“Cough!”
Then he recited mechanically:
“White Li, student of Class 4 at Hongsha High School, male, resides at Building 1, 5th Floor, Sunshine Garden.”
He lowered his hand and tilted his chin toward White Li.
“Holy shit!”
White Li’s eyes went wide, and she blurted out:
“Huh?!”