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Chapter 15 - Chapter 15: You Smell So Delicious

The metallic corridor blurred beneath his pounding feet, the scenery on either side dissolving into streaks of light. Xiang Lie gripped the long spear, his heart hammering against his ribs like a war drum.

The immense power, a symbiotic fusion with Jing, propelled his body to speeds far exceeding his normal limits. Yet, simultaneously, every muscle in his physique felt like fuel hurled into a furnace, rapidly consumed, dissolving.

'WARNING! NON-TRAPEZIUS MUSCLE TISSUE DETECTED TO BE CONSUMED AT HIGH SPEED! TRAPEZIUS REPAIRING… TRAPEZIUS REPAIRING…' The cold system alert echoed relentlessly in his mind, a constant reminder of the power's steep toll.

"Left turn! That big silver door ahead, marked '03,' is the kitchen!" Ling's urgent command crackled in his earpiece. "Hurry! The screen shows Ye seems to be disoriented, rampaging through the base, occasionally pausing to sniff the air! She could re-acquire your scent at any moment!"

"Good," Xiang Lie grated through clenched teeth, his fighting spirit undiminished, if anything, intensified.

Soon, the silver kitchen door materialized at the end of his vision. However, just as he reached out to push open the door, his movements abruptly froze.

A thought, unbidden, shot into his mind: Weapon Girls… eating meat… surely, this wasn't… Would he find bloodied human remains, strung up like in a slaughterhouse? A chill rocketed from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

"Don't worry." A clear, calm voice resonated directly in his mind, dispelling his wild conjectures. It was Jing. "This is Mister Yi's personal kitchen, separate from our mess hall. It only contains regular food for his personal consumption."

Xiang Lie's taut nerves instantly relaxed, and he let out a long, shuddering breath. Without further hesitation, he shoved the door open.

The kitchen was brightly lit and spotless, stainless steel utensils gleaming coldly under the lights. Yet, Xiang Lie's heart sank as he scanned the room. There were crisp green vegetables, vibrant red tomatoes, lush green cucumbers—everything but the one thing he craved most: meat, to provide him with abundant protein and energy!

"..."

"Your Mister Yi… doesn't eat meat?" Xiang Lie couldn't help but ask, rummaging frantically through the storage cabinets. Jing's voice responded again: "Mister Yi dislikes the smell of raw meat."

"Alright then." Xiang Lie abandoned all thoughts of meat. He was hungry enough to devour an ox and had no time for niceties. He snatched a few cucumbers and two raw potatoes from a produce basket, ignoring the need to wash them, or even their taste. He simply opened his mouth wide and, like a wild beast, crammed them in, devouring them with loud, savage crunches. A bitter, acrid taste exploded in his mouth, so foul it made him wince, but the gnawing hunger that hollowed him was, little by little, momentarily eased by the raw intake.

"Xiang Lie! Ye's coming for you! She's in your corridor!" Ling's voice in his earpiece suddenly turned sharp, piercing!

Xiang Lie's heart seized. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted several plump, white steamed buns in a nearby steamer. Without a second thought, he grabbed them all, stuffing them into his mouth, and mumbled indistinctly to Jing in his mind: "I feel much better! Ready?"

"Yes," Jing's voice remained calm.

Man and spear, they spun and burst through the kitchen door!

At the end of the corridor, the blood-red figure had appeared. Ye, wielding the emerald longblade, slowly advanced towards him. She saw Xiang Lie, paused for a beat, then her face contorted into an expression even more fervent than before. Saliva, uncontrollable, drooled from the corners of her mouth, dripping onto the floor with soft, wet splats.

She inhaled deeply, as if savoring the world's most exquisite delicacy, a look of intoxicated rapture on her face.

"Human…" she rasped, a soft, purring whisper. "You smell… so delicious…"

Before the words even left her lips, she was a blur, a crimson lightning bolt. The wicked green longblade sliced through the air with a razor-sharp hiss, descending without preamble, aiming directly for the crown of Xiang Lie's head!

In that instant, Xiang Lie felt time itself dilate. Every one of Ye's movements, every inch of the blade's trajectory, was utterly clear in his eyes. The vast repository of spear techniques in his mind instantly activated, his body's instincts reacting even before his thoughts could form.

"Careful!" Jing's voice cut in sharply in his mind. "Your muscles are too massive, especially… especially around your neck and shoulders. They might hinder the execution of some precise spear techniques! We need to try and draw her out, don't meet her head-on!"

Muscles… hindering performance? Xiang Lie's brain blue-screened on the spot. The heroic spirit, the feeling of a god of war incarnate that had just flared within him, was doused by that single phrase like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing more than half of it. Ah Zuo… Ah You… you've actually… become a burden?

"No, no, no! I'm sorry! Mister Ah Zuo! Mister Ah You!" Jing immediately sensed the mountain-crushing, tsunami-like surge of emotion from Xiang Lie, her voice bordering on tears as she hastily apologized directly to the two muscles in his mind. "I didn't mean you're not beautiful! Or that you're useless! I just… from a purely combat-technique perspective… I… I…" She herself didn't know how to explain, she only knew that if she didn't rectify this immediately, this powerful host before her would likely suffer a shattered conviction and simply throw in the towel on the spot.

CLANG—!!! In the very instant Xiang Lie's conviction nearly faltered, he instinctively flicked his wrist. The long spear in his hand darted out like a black dragon emerging from its lair, its tip striking first, with absolute precision, against the side of the green longblade!

A vast, immense force transferred, jolting Xiang Lie back three steps before he could barely regain his footing, his tiger's mouth tingling with numbness. Ye, too, was thrown off balance by the force of that spear strike, her blade slamming into the adjacent metal wall, leaving a terrifying, bone-deep gash!

Her strike missing, Ye erupted into even greater frenzy! Abandoning all pretense of defense, the green blade in her hand dissolved into a whirlwind of blinding slashes, surging towards Xiang Lie like a furious storm!

Xiang Lie forcibly suppressed his inner turmoil, funneling all his attention into the fight. The black long spear in his hand now seemed to possess a life of its own. At times, it was a viper striking, its angle devious, thrusting directly at Ye's weaknesses; at others, a tiger descending from the mountain, wide and sweeping, scattering the blade-shadows with pure force; then again, it stood like an unyielding rock, the spear shaft weaving a dense, impenetrable black curtain, deflecting every attack. Sweeping strikes, crushing blows, precise points, deflections, entangling maneuvers, seizing controls, and charges…

Those spear techniques, once mere data in his mind, now flowed from his hands with seamless grace. The clang of metal, the hiss of weapons, and Ye's frenzied shrieks intertwined in the narrow corridor, weaving a symphony of death. Xiang Lie fought with growing ferocity, even beginning to revel in the sensation of dancing on a blade's edge.

However, Jing's earlier concern soon manifested as stark reality. During one dodge, he intended to execute a swift counter-thrust, aiming for a difficult, reverse angle at Ye's ribs. But as he twisted his torso, he distinctly felt his overly massive trapezius and latissimus dorsi muscles, like two rigid iron plates, restricting his shoulder's range of motion, introducing a faint, almost imperceptible lag into what should have been an incredibly swift move.

In a clash of masters, a mere flicker of hesitation meant the difference between life and death! Ye, acutely seizing upon this opening, twisted her green blade. She abandoned her attack, instead striking with a brutal backhand, aiming fiercely for his spear-wielding right shoulder!

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