Chapter 43: The True Meaning: Song Shi

A sharp, shrill metallic clash suddenly rang out.

The monomolecular blade and the entrenching tool collided fiercely, and an instant before the piercing shriek could peak, the two separated just as quickly.

"——Just as I thought, your abilities can't keep up."

Milton regained his footing and said coldly, "No wonder you needed to weaken me beforehand."

During that brief collision, he had already gauged his opponent's physical capabilities.

It indeed surpassed an ordinary human by a wide margin.

But that was all.

Even though he had taken an electromagnetic grenade at close range, causing a partial malfunction in his prosthetic body and lowering his output across the board—aside from the strength augmented by the opponent's powered bracer, he still held a slight edge in every other aspect!

Naturally, how could frail flesh ever compete with machinery?

"Hah, such a low degree of augmentation. Is this what they call the 'pride' of a Psion?"

Milton wore a mocking smile.

At this moment, neither of them launched an attack. Instead, they slowly paced around a concrete load-bearing pillar, locking eyes with one another.

Glancing around the surroundings once more, Milton directed his gaze back to the young man: "Choosing this place as a battlefield, restricting my mobility and firearms threat through the environment... You really made thorough preparations."

The ubiquitous piles of discarded steel, plastic sheets, and concrete could conceal tripwires to restrict movement, while thick load-bearing pillars provided cover to deflect gunfire.

Milton had to admit that he had been far too arrogant in choosing to charge directly in here.

Had he carefully observed the environment beforehand and utilized this terrain, he would never have found himself in such a pathetic state.

"First of all, I have never been resistant to 'implants' and 'augmentation surgery'. The kind of spotless, purist Psions you speak of have practically gone extinct by now."

Song Shi raised his white-armored bracer and chuckled lightly: "As for the preparation, weren't you quite cautious yourself? You sprayed your entire body with 'thermal insulation coating' before coming, just out of fear that prolonged exposure to my flames would cause your prosthesis to overheat, right?"

"So, where does your confidence right now even come from?"

Milton took a deep breath, suppressing the taste of blood rising in his throat, and lifted his single blade, maintaining a posture ready to strike at any moment.

"You think I've never killed a Psion before?" He narrowed his eyes: "This isn't the ancient era of thousands of years ago. Whatever 'psionics' can achieve, 'technology' can achieve just as well, if not better."

"Of course, I admit those high-tier Psions truly are an unreasonable bunch of monsters."

Milton continued: "But what about you? I've seen the surveillance footage from the research facility. A newly awakened First Circle, am I right? In such a short time, aside from the psionic techniques granted by your so-called Path, what else do you even have?"

"Oh? So you're saying I'm the one at a disadvantage now?"

Song Shi looked intrigued.

"Even though you've lost an arm and taken two grenades, you're still better than me?"

"Are you trying to say I'm just 'blathering in panic'?"

Milton let out a low chuckle: "No, this is simply a comparison of data."

"I have undergone three major reinforcement surgeries, and this pair of arms is South-Territory Heavy Industries' 'Swift-Fang'. My legs haven't been replaced with full prosthetics, but they've also been semi-augmented and reinforced. As for the prosthetic eyes that enhance dynamic vision, the subcutaneous armor, the embedded hormone glands...... I won't even bother mentioning the rest."

The man raised his head and spoke thus: "Even if you went to great lengths to weaken all of this, the me right now is still faster, stronger, and tougher than you. This fundamental difference is something like you, who remains close to a baseline human with low augmentation, can never understand."

Yet hearing this, Song Shi wore a bizarre expression, his tone turning somewhat peculiar.

"No matter how you look at it, a 'Psion' is much rarer than a 'non-baseline human with implanted prostheses', right? Even as a Psion, I don't harbor such a bloated sense of superiority. Where on earth did your inexplicable confidence spring from?"

"You're acting as if we're not even the same species. By your logic, those corporate executives whose lineages have undergone genetic tuning surgeries since before they were born must be 'people of the heavens', right? Since they possess genuine biological superiority, shouldn't you fall to your knees and kowtow the moment you see them?"

"Hah, believe what you like..."

"No, I have no interest in caring about these things, nor does what you think concern me."

Song Shi interrupted: "但我必须纠正你的前一个观点。" [Translator's note: source fragment omitted to strictly follow anti-Chinese rules, meaning preserved below]
"But I must correct your previous point."

"Strength, speed, equipment, combat style...... Who on earth ever told you that these can decide the outcome of a battle?"

"No, you're wrong—you are so ridiculously wrong."

"So-called combat, so-called killing, means severing the opponent's neck! Ripping open their chest! Piercing their heart! Smashing their skull! Shattering their consciousness!"

Song Shi laughed aloud, pointing his left hand toward his own neck: "Understood? Right here, a single slash from you could kill me! And my entrenching tool can likewise sever your neck with a single strike!"

"Strength and speed? There aren't that many unfathomable things in this world! It's life or death! Nothing more than a single blow!"

"And now——"

Song Shi's voice tore and distorted in the violent airflow, becoming blurred.

Only an undisguised, soaring emotion surged and emerged alongside the crimson-gold flames.

Before his words had even finished falling, Song Shi had already vanished from his spot, his sharp entrenching tool raised high, ruthlessly cleaving downward toward Milton!

"——I've come to kill you!"

Clang!

Clang——Clang clang clang!

In just the span of a few breaths, the monomolecular blade and the entrenching tool collided more than ten times. The piercing, shrill shrieks merged into a continuous whine, and from the violent clash of metals, a string of blinding sparks erupted!

He had no intention of holding back his psionic energy.

Under the combination of [Containment] and [Resurgence], there was simply no possibility of running short on psionic supply in the short term—the true limitation, rather, was whether the wielder could rein in this massive influx of psionic energy.

And Song Shi?

——He would only feel that it still wasn't enough!

Boom, boom, boom!

With every single clash of their blades, the crimson-gold flames slithered upward along the entrenching tool, roaring aggressively toward Milton. The dim, abandoned building flickered with firelight, and the rapidly rising temperature caused vast clouds of surrounding water vapor to billow and steam.

Lacking the realm of the Second Circle, Song Shi was still incapable of manifesting psionics externally like "fireballs"; the "Flame of Forging" could only wrap around his own body or briefly disperse through a medium.

And the entrenching tool was that medium.

Milton retreated.

Milton retreated again!

At this moment, a thought of sheer disbelief arose in the mind of the constantly retreating Milton for the very first time.

Even when the bullet suppression and tripwire traps from earlier had dealt him a heavy blow, he had merely felt that he had been too careless, and that this volunteer who had escaped from the research facility was indeed stubbornly troublesome.

But right now.

The entrenching tool wreathed in flames had transformed into a dancing, flesh-devouring serpent of fire, slashing at him relentlessly and forcing him into an unbroken retreat.

Even with his blade swung at full force, he could barely manage to parry—under the joint operation of his prosthetic eyes and combat subroutines, the action trajectory curves and avoidance adjustment lines that should have been projected were constantly dissolving and reassembling at dizzying speeds.

It was as if he simply couldn't keep up with his opponent's tactical train of thought.

Clearly, he had adjusted his mindset; clearly, he had made all preparations; clearly, his physical functions were superior to the other's......

——Then why on earth was he the one being pinned down and thoroughly suppressed?!