"Are you talking about me?"
The white-haired, red-eyed little loli stepped out from the crowd. Although her height wasn't even a third of Hoolay's, that small face of hers remained calm and composed, exuding the aura of a powerhouse all on its own.
Regardless of whether others had expected it or not, Stelle certainly hadn't. Her reunion with Clara was actually happening in a scenario like this.
The front was practically hell—Hoolay!
Stelle shook her head sympathetically, then flashed a brilliant smile at Clara: "Hey~ Sis K, long time no see. Your little sis's here to pay her respects."
"No need for respects." Clara shook her head helplessly: "What's the situation right now? Is this some Luofu show for dramatic effect?"
She saw that Stelle didn't seem panicked at all.
Stelle shook her head: "Nah, nah, this Hoolay is a real wanted criminal, the death row kind. Sis K, don't hold back—punch it to death!"
Clara: "Can't do that. I'm afraid of accidentally hurting you."
Stelle whipped out her fire lance in one swift motion, grinning cheekily: "No worries, Sis K. I've got a new skill now—I'm not afraid of friendly fire. Just go all out, and it'll be done."
"Um... alright then."
—"Hey! I mean you two!"
Cirrus could no longer tolerate it and interrupted their conversation: "What do you two take me for? Chatting right in front of me? And where did you pull that lance from? Since I've caught you, just behave yourself!"
"And you! You little shorty—small stature, big mouth. You think you can take me on? Why the scary face? You think you can beat me? I could even let you have one free punch!"
(The clever Stelle had already silently activated her battle skill.)
Cirrus puffed out her chest in front of Clara. "You wanna hit me? Hit me!"
Clara stepped back with her right foot, clenching her delicate little fist tightly. Without hesitation, she slammed it straight into Cirrus's pride-and-joy pectoral muscles!
The air seemed to wail, space seemed to weep, cells seemed to cower in fear. It was such a plain and simple punch, yet it brutally compressed the air into something tangible, complete with trailing airflow effects!
Cirrus's facial expression slowed down in afterimage: contempt and disdain → slight interest → mild surprise → utter shock → extreme horror → peak terror → utter regret.
Thud!
This punch landed solidly on Cirrus's chest. The terrifying kinetic energy erupted in an instant, instantly pulverizing Hoolay's organs and bones clean through, nearly forcing out even Cirrus's true form.
"Pfft!"
Cirrus collapsed weakly to the ground, suddenly spewing a huge mouthful of blood from her mouth. Her eyeballs struggled to turn, her voice hoarse and trembling: "B-Big sis, what do you do for a living?"
Clara's face was expressionless: "I'm out here hustling. Name's Clara—folks on the street usually call me Sis K."
Cirrus: "G-Got it, Sis K. I was the ignorant one before. You're the bigger person—spare this little bro, yeah?"
Clara glanced at the now-safe Stelle, let out a cold snort, and said nothing.
But fortunately, this flesh body was Hoolay's, built for durability. After about half a minute, Cirrus stood back up. She knew she no longer had any hostages in hand, and her plan to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys had failed. Right now, to escape this predicament, she either had to jump ship and run or try a desperate last stand.
The mechanics... That one just now must've been due to the matching system!
She must've been unlucky, getting matched against the strongest fighter in this group! (In fact, that was exactly what happened.)
Her gaze swept around the crowd, and she immediately pointed at a purple little loli and shouted: "That shorty over there, you come out! Don't think hiding in the crowd means I can't see you—come on out!"
The purple little loli silently stepped forward. Upon raising her head, it was a Herta puppet in Araki-line art style, with distinctly angular muscles on her body, dragging along a massive hammer about the same size as Hoolay in her hand.
"Eh? Come on, big sis, I wasn't talking about you, okay? I meant... I meant that one over there, that, that, that... uh, the white-haired one, not too tall not too short, pale like a corpse!"
"Tch, why are you looking at others? I'm talking about you! And with that black eyepatch, can you even see people? Get out here! I've been putting up with you for a while now!"
A white-haired woman slowly stepped out from the crowd. For some reason, when Cirrus saw this woman, she suddenly couldn't control Hoolay's body, and it began to tremble uncontrollably.
It was like Hoolay's body had an automatic stress response.
Cirrus: ???
"...Are you the one challenging me?"
The white-haired woman slowly removed her eyepatch, revealing a pair of heart-palpitating crimson eyes. Ice crystals condensed in her hand, swiftly forming into a greatsword.
Thump thump thump thump thump thump—
Cirrus suddenly felt like even breathing was difficult, her vigilance heartbeat automatically kicking in, blaring alarms like mad.
Wha-wha-what's going on? Why isn't this body under control anymore?
For some reason, Cirrus just felt like blurting out, "Mom, you're not dead?"
"Gulp."
Cirrus swallowed hard with difficulty and quickly waved her hands: "N-No, no, that's, alright alright, sis, you can go back. I've been a bit inflamed lately, so my temper's short—not meaning to bully you or anything."
The white-haired woman silently retreated back.
Cirrus scanned her surroundings once more, then slapped her thigh: "Aiya, not a single normal person here. This is on you guys for not stepping up—oh well!"
"The duel for today is canceled. Go back wherever you came from, do whatever you were doing. Ah, scatter, scatter."
Creak—
Just as Cirrus decided walking away was the best policy, a strange noise came from behind her. Looking back, there was nothing—just the ship's railing and the endless sky.
Huh? Wasn't she on the spaceship's deck? Where did that sound come from...
Crack!
A hand suddenly reached out from outside the spaceship, gripping the railing tightly. Then, March 7th's head popped up from below the edge of the ship, her eyes fierce, looking more like a Borisin than an actual Borisin.
Cirrus: ???
Sis, how did you even get up here? This is a spaceship, isn't it?! Aren't we in the sky?!
Thud!
March 7th flipped in from outside the ship with crisp efficiency, casually picking up the fallen Starhunting Arrow from the ground, her gaze unfriendly.
Stelle sidled over to March 7th's side, pointed at Cirrus, and tattled: "March, it bullied me just now."
Cirrus: ???
Bro, I haven't even done anything yet!
"Hey! You're her big bro? I..."
Smack!
March 7th swung the Starhunting Arrow right into Cirrus's face. "Big bro, huh!"
Cirrus backed away while protesting: "Aiya, I'm the Borisin warlord!"
Bang!
March 7th chased and struck: "Borisins, huh!"
Cirrus turned and started fleeing: "Even fugitives have dignity!"
Bang!
March 7th ran and hit: "Dignity, huh!"
Duang!
Cirrus: "Fine! You got guts! Think just 'cause I don't wanna fight you means I can't beat you? If you've got the skills, let me have three free moves!"
March 7th kicked her to the ground, mounted her, and unleashed a flurry of punches: "Can beat you, huh?"
Bang!
"Guts, huh!"
Bang!
"Let you have three moves, huh!"
Bang!
...
Later, a reporter captured this scene on film, and this footage became the highest-viewed entertainment news in the history of the Xianzhou. The headline was "March's Big Thunder."