Xie Litang took down a box.
Upon opening it, inside was a suit of cool-white battle armor named Crane Whisper.
The suit featured a modular design, making it extremely convenient to put on.
There were three slots on the leg sections where various potions could be placed and injected via disposable needles.
In all three slots, Xie Litang loaded high-grade stamina recovery potions.
She wasn't afraid of high damage output from her opponents.
Her only worry was that her own stamina couldn't keep up.
After putting on the battle armor, Xie Litang stretched a bit and looked at a glass display window by the roadside.
Even with her blunt, straight-laced aesthetic sense, Xie Litang couldn't help but sigh in admiration. “Linling's taste is truly top-tier. It's just... the way it makes me walk is a bit too provocative.”
She swore she was just walking normally.
Yet her reflection in the window showed her hips swaying with a slight, alluring twist with every step.
Xie Litang didn't usually walk like this, so she could only blame the Crane Whisper Battle Armor for accentuating her figure a bit too much.
“Roar~”
Dense swarms of Skin Corpses surged forward.
Without overthinking it, Xie Litang drew her sharp longsword and slashed forward.
【CLANG CLANG CLANG...】
Heartsteel's attack effect had a thirty-second cooldown against the same target.
However, when striking different targets, there was no such restriction.
With over a hundred thousand Vitality...
...and dealing over three thousand true damage...
...a single clang would instantly kill an ordinary Skin Corpse on the spot.
Bang, bang, bang~
Somewhere in the shadows, an unknown Skin Corpse opened fire, but the bullets left only shallow indentations on the Crane Whisper Battle Armor.
She lost track of how much time had passed.
When Xie Litang opened her eyes to scan her surroundings, crimson filled her view; the entire street was dyed red with blood.
Corpses piled up layer upon layer until they formed mounds as high as earthen hills.
All the low-tier Skin Corpses could do was hurl themselves endlessly like a tidal wave of corpses, trying to drown her under sheer numbers.
Perhaps only when Xie Litang's stamina was completely exhausted, when she could no longer swing her sword or lift a single finger, would they stand a chance of killing her.
Until then...
...no matter how many came, they would all die.
Far away in low Earth orbit...
...a satellite was locked firmly onto this location. Inside a war zone military intelligence station, a sudden gasp rang out.
“Heavens...”
“What in the world is happening in Liyang City?”
“Report this immediately! Skin Corpse riot in Liyang City! Raising risk assessment!”
The satellite camera zoomed in.
Suddenly—
“Ahhh!”
A scream echoed across the intelligence station, instantly drawing the eyes of nearby colleagues.
The operator stood up, gesticulating wildly to express something, but couldn't find the words to describe it.
In desperation...
...he simply projected the live satellite footage onto the main screen of the intelligence station.
Thanks to breakthroughs in materials science, although low-orbit satellites could not reveal microscopic details, the picture was clear enough to see an entire street dyed crimson.
Then came the piles of corpses stacked high like small hills. If one had to describe it in a single phrase...
...it would be a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
And atop that pile of corpses...
...stood a figure clad in Crane Whisper Battle Armor.
Surrounding the figure was a vast ocean of corpses. Just glancing at the screen was enough to fill anyone with despair.
“She cut down all of these one by one? How... how is that possible?”
“Even a Seven-Star Demon Beast Hunter or higher couldn't possibly pull this off without wide-area destructive abilities or heavy weaponry!”
Everyone felt it was utterly absurd.
Yet the reality was laid bare right before their eyes.
Soon, however, their hearts tightened. Facing an endless tide of corpses, there was virtually no way out; dying in battle seemed inevitable.
“What a shame...”
People in the intelligence station shook their heads.
Some couldn't even bear to look at the main screen.
Because they weren't witnessing the heroics of a champion, but the tragic finale of a solemn dirge.
They could do nothing but watch as the figure on the screen slowly met her end.
“Um, should we report this and request support?” someone muttered quietly.
“Impossible. The closest city to Liyang City is Jianghai City, and that's over seven hundred kilometers away.”
“What about orbital weapon strikes? Perform a precise tactical perimeter cut. I think it's feasible.”
“Orbital weapons? Are you insane? A single shot costs billions!”
“Sigh...”
No matter how they debated, it was an inescapable dead end.
They wanted to switch off the feed and look away...
...yet nobody moved, continuing to stare at the screen.
Inside Liyang City, the stamina recovery potions Xie Litang had loaded into her slots were completely depleted.
However, it was no big deal; taking advantage of a brief opening, she loaded three more vials into the slots.
These Skin Corpses were not entirely mindless creatures; once the dead piled into mountains, they began throwing flammables into the heap.
A fierce fire erupted and raged.
A sickening stench filled the air.
Xie Litang thought about carving a path in one direction; urban warfare had its advantages.
Both sides of the street were lined with buildings. Xie Litang only needed to climb up anywhere, and if she wanted to leave, she could just parkour across the rooftops, rendering nearly half of the Skin Corpses' encirclement useless.
Suddenly—
【Ding.】
【You have acquired 3,846 gold coins. Would you like to repay your system loan early to unlock more system features?】
Xie Litang's eyes lit up. “Yes, repay it right now.”
【Congratulations on paying off your loan early.】
【Unlocked Achievement: Good Credit.】
【Gained Skill Point.】
【Would you like to allocate the skill point?】
“What, a skill point?”
Xie Litang's mind raced.
She had already learned Steel Tempest. That left Wind Wall, Sweeping Blade, and the ultimate skill, Last Breath. She took a closer look.
Alright, the ultimate skill was grayed out.
That meant she had to choose between Wind Wall and Sweeping Blade.
The effect of Wind Wall was creating a wall of wind that could block all enemy projectile attacks.
The effect of Sweeping Blade was dashing toward a target enemy.
“Is this even a question?”
“Who plays Yasuo without dash-sliding all over the place?”
“Lady Lulu's advice was spot on—Yasuo absolutely must slide around.”
Besides, in Xie Litang's view, Sweeping Blade was more akin to a movement technique.
Back when she chased Old Tapir for seven hundred kilometers, she had long grown sick of lacking a movement technique and being unable to catch up.
“System.”
“I choose E skill: Sweeping Blade.”
In the next moment...
...movement techniques belonging to Wind-Style Swordsmanship flooded Xie Litang's mind.
The wind connected all things in existence.
The wind around every Skin Corpse felt like an anchor pulling at her.
“Sweeping Blade.”
Xie Litang's figure suddenly turned into an afterimage, dashing behind a Skin Corpse.
Her sword slashed across the Skin Corpse's body.
【CLANG.】
Xie Litang smiled.
Surrounded by the endless tide of Skin Corpses, she twirled her sword into a flourish and said, “Face the wind!”
Sweeping Blade's cooldown was only 0.5 seconds, which was practically nonexistent.
“Sweeping Blade.”
“Sweeping Blade.”
“Sweep... forget it, no need to shout it out. Bottom line: just keep sliding!”
Tide of Skin Corpses? What tide?
Xie Litang dash-slid all the way out from the center.
Inside a certain military intelligence department, a huge wave of cheers erupted.
“Awesome! She finally broke out!”
“Wait... why is she sliding back in?!”
Bro.
We're begging you, stop sliding around!
Rate on N.U.
