Beyond the Zenith

Qi Shantong was not a good person by any definition. The way he thought about people and things differed from most of the people Han Qingyu had encountered in the Azure Coalition. His tendency toward obsession and unhinged behavior made Han Qingyu uneasy.

At this time, Han Qingyu was widely considered a genius, albeit a strange one with no awareness of his own prodigious nature. Even if he was a genius, he was simultaneously still that village boy who had failed the Gaokao and never seen the world beyond.

From when he first came into contact with Lao Jian all the way through every day he had spent with the Azure Coalition since, he had actually been using a stubborn, narrow logic to disguise and protect himself.

At first, he only cared about money; then he only cared about energy cores. He also maintained a cold distance‌ from people. Apart from his existing friendship with Wen Jifei, he refused to form any deep emotional bonds with anyone.

Even on the day that Grave Robber Lai Shitou proclaimed his identity as a Pure Purgatory operative, almost everyone else in Dormitory 11 had voiced many thoughts, driven by all kinds of emotions.

Despite being the target of the assassination, Han Qingyu had said the least among them, only asking a single question: “Is your name really Lai Shitou?”

He noted the name and committed it to memory, but that was it. He didn’t even ask whether Lai Shitou would die until later, and even then, only in private.

There were many other examples like this.

Perhaps he really was just a narrow-minded village kid who wanted to survive. If the Azure Coalition emerged victorious, he would go home. If they lost, he wanted to have the ability to protect the few people he cared about and go on the run.

The lights of nearby buildings lit up the mountainside at the edge of the living quarters. Qi Shantong stood there while his soldiers set up a perimeter and secured the area around the buildings.

In truth, while Qi Shantong wasn’t a good person, he probably couldn’t be called a bad one either. As he had said, he too was fighting, giving, and sacrificing for the Azure Coalition.

That was why, in Han Qingyu’s eyes, even if Qi Shantong did pose a danger, it was at least not an immediate one. As for the high-level considerations that Qi Shantong had just talked about, Han Qingyu didn’t understand them, nor did he want to.

“That traitor, Old Wu, thinks he didn’t reveal anything, but I actually managed to get a few things out of him. I also used this building as bait to draw out a few people.” Qi Shantong turned to look at Han Qingyu. “I’ll give you ‌the credit for all of this. Best of luck climbing the ranks.”

“This isn’t part of the training, is it?” Han Qingyu asked seriously, not responding to Qi Shantong’s generous gesture.

Qi Shantong nodded slightly. “You could say that.”

Without another word, Han Qingyu turned and walked away.

This caught Qi Shantong off guard.

Three of his soldiers moved to block Han Qingyu’s path. None of them expected Han Qingyu to activate his dormant maneuvering device, grab his blade, and charge straight through them before vanishing rapidly into the night.

Qi Shantong’s laughter came from behind Han Qingyu. “Gutsy kid.”

“Keep bothering me, and I’ll report you to Army Commander Lu,” Han Qingyu threatened.

“Lu Wuzheng has already been removed for negligence.”

Han Qingyu did not respond.

“Is that so?” an amused voice asked from nearby. It was none other than the Ninth Army’s army commander, Lu Wuzheng. “I was indeed removed... After which they added one word to my title. I’m now the acting army commander of the Ninth Army.”

After saying that, Lu Wuzheng turned to Han Qingyu. “Go on. Do what you want to do, the way you want to do it.”

Han Qingyu left, so he didn’t hear the conversation that followed.

“Leave him alone, or you’ll have a problem on your hands,” Lu Wuzheng warned Qi Shantong. “Careful, or the old man will come after you... And I’m not talking about the legion commander.”

***

It was almost nine by the time Han Qingyu had returned his device at the equipment hall.

He was starving, but the mess hall had probably run out of food already.

After thinking it over for a moment, he took a slight detour to the shop at the living quarters and bought some cookies to fill his stomach. The shop attendant told him they were called butter cookies and that they came from overseas.

Han Qingyu had never tried them before, so he sampled one on the spot. Deciding they tasted pretty good and figuring he would have the money to cover it anyway, he bought three jin[1] worth—enough to fill a large bag. He then headed back to the barracks, eating as he walked.

As he approached the barracks, he suddenly heard the familiar sound of S-19 starting up. The metal robot came charging aggressively out of a dark corner. Han Qingyu pulled out an energy core just in time.

S-19 stopped in front of him—or rather, in front of the energy core—with a click.

“Sorry, someone called me away at the last minute,” Han Qingyu said, handing the energy core over.

The metal hand paused for two seconds, then reached out and took it.

Out of habit, Han Qingyu popped the remaining half of his cookie into his mouth, munching on it as he added, “I’m heading out for field exercises tomorrow. I’ll buy another cycle when I get back.”

His crunching of the cookie was audible in the silence of the night.

“Fine, but next time you have to hand over the energy core first,” Wan Xiujing said, stepping out from the corner. As she stared at him, her gaze lingered on his mouth before darting to the bag of cookies in his hand.

“Have you two been waiting here for me this whole time?” Han Qingyu couldn’t help but laugh. “You haven’t eaten either?”

In a rare show of generosity, he opened the bag of cookies and said, “Help yourself.”

Wan Xiujing seemed to be genuinely hungry. Not bothering to stand on ceremony, she reached in and grabbed as big a handful as she could.

“We thought you were going to skip out on the payment,” she said, sounding a little aggrieved, or even on the verge of tears. It was as if her need for energy cores went beyond mere greed and was something closer to necessity.

She stuffed a cookie into her mouth with a crunch. Then, glancing at the cookies left in her hand, she hastily grabbed another fistful with her other hand before Han Qingyu could close the bag. Her small hands meant that even two handfuls weren’t actually that many.

Astonishingly, S-19 reached out to grab a handful as well.

Wait, it can do that? Han Qingyu blinked down at the bag of expensive butter cookies. A sizeable chunk had disappeared in an instant. “You—How dare you?!”

“I...!” Wan Xiujing trailed off, then burst into an infectiously delighted laugh.

The tension and unease from his encounter with Qi Shantong melted away, and Han Qingyu found himself wanting to laugh too.

Robots and people who only care about energy cores really are easier to be around, Han Qingyu thought as he closed the bag and shifted to carry it in one hand.

Stepping around S-19, he reached out and swatted it twice on the backside before walking away.

“Take it in for a checkup while I’m gone,” he called back to Wan Xiujing over his shoulder. “The last thing we need is another crazy episode like last time.”

A click came from behind him.

Han Qingyu noticed Wan Xiujing staring at him in alarm.

“What’s going on?” He turned to look, then took off running.

S-19 had just nearly lost it again.

1. 1 jin is 0.5kg ☜