Chapter 167: Mars Planet, Girl Lita

What a city full of sin!

Staring at the screen's endless blood‑soaked scenes, dozens of grotesquely altered humans kept battling, chasing, scheming, all to seize the fast‑rolling, volleyball‑sized metal kinetic sphere equipped with a propulsion launcher ahead.

To win the tournament championship, they would stop at nothing.

After watching for a while, Fulade suddenly shifted his gaze back to the medical clinic that had just been left.

Then, frowning, amid the surrounding clamor, he vaguely sensed that an unpredictable anomaly was occurring inside the clinic.

His eyes flickered for a moment, and Fulade, unhurried, turned and walked toward Yi De's clinic.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

Ding‑dang, clank—squeak!

A reprimanding shout rang out, followed by a muffled grunt, and the chaotic clatter of metal chairs and tables erupted.

"No!"

A man with electronic mechanical eyes and arms replaced by prosthetic limbs suddenly sprinted out of Yi De's clinic.

Behind him, the doctor seethed with hysterical fury.

The man burst through the door, glanced at Fulade, then hurried into a dark alley, fleeing in a rush.

At the clinic entrance, what met his eyes was a wheelchair toppled on the ground, its wheels spinning and swaying.

On the wheelchair, the delicate, frail blonde girl had vanished.

His gaze flickered as he stepped into the clinic.

Inside, about seven or eight meters from the wheelchair, in a corner, Dr. Yi De, his hair streaked with white, cradled the leg‑paralyzed blonde girl and wept silently.

His eyes were filled with self‑blame and remorse.

The girl's complexion was pallid, devoid of color, with thin streams of blood spilling from her mouth.

At her soft, unexpanded chest, breaths were short and rapid, with obvious sunken indentations; it looked like a candle in a dying lantern, the flame of life about to go out.

At the same time, a faint, elusive sweet scent drifted into Fulade's nostrils, his throat churned, and his breathing began to quicken.

Yi De, writhing in pain, seemed unaware of Fulade's approach until Fulade's voice rang out.

"Do you want to save her!"

A faint voice entered his ear, like a sudden thunderclap, instantly startling the doctor holding the girl.

"... You, you say you can save Lita?" Dr. Yi De looked up, seeing the mysterious cloaked figure who had come earlier; though his vacant eyes held a hint of doubt, he still clung to a sliver of hope and pleaded to Fulade: "Whatever you want, if I have it I can give you! Just save my daughter."

"... Dad." A barely audible voice sounded.

The girl seemed to try to comfort her father, but the severe injuries left her pale little hand powerless to lift.

"... Well, Dad is here, Dad is always with you, Lita, you must hold on, Dad will save you. Didn't you say you wanted to see the sea, to run freely? As soon as you recover, Dad will take you there."

Dr. Yi De, clad in a white coat, wore a face of agony, sobbing uncontrollably, a tear sliding from his eye, wetting the frame of the mirror and blurring his view.

He clutched his daughter tightly in both arms, overwhelmed with grief.

"... Move her upstairs, if you don't want her to die."

As soon as the words fell, Fulade turned first and walked upstairs, as if entering his own home, moving along the familiar path to the girl's room.

The devastated Dr. Yi De, hearing the faint indifferent voice beside him, was still dazed and couldn't react.

It wasn't until the thudding footsteps on the stairs echoed that he was abruptly awakened.

Now a spark of hope rekindled, he could no longer care why the mysterious person knew the clinic's layout; he hurriedly lifted his daughter and followed.

The bed, clean, tidy, pink‑themed, held a plush, punk‑style teddy‑bear pillow, while the walls were adorned with hand‑drawn landscape pictures.

A sea of flowers under the setting sun.

A sparkling, rippling sea surface.

The girl laughed and ran through the street, weaving among crowds; a shaft of sunlight fell, she turned suddenly, a breeze ruffled her hair, clinging to her face as if a holy halo were cast.

Bright, sweet, and hopeful for the future.

Clearly, despite her disability, the girl still clung to perseverance and dreams for the future.

"You go out, I don't want anyone disturbing me."

Watching the girl being carefully placed on the bed by Dr. Yi De, Fulade withdrew his gaze and said lightly.

"... this." Dr. Yi De hesitated, unsure whether to heed the stranger before him, since they were strangers, especially concerning Lita…

But noticing the stranger's cold gaze and his daughter's precarious state, Yi De hardened his heart and stepped outside, for his daughter's life was paramount.

Moreover, with his daughter like this, what could he hope to gain?

Shaking his head, Yi De realized his concern was chaotic; as a doctor he knew his daughter's injuries, even organ rupture, were relatively mild.

More crucial were the collapsed ribs, deeply pierced into the lung lobe, rendering him helpless; he knew his clinic's resources were limited, mostly supplies for augmented humans, insufficient for the surgery his daughter needed.

Stepping out of the room, Yi De's mind raced; after a moment, his thoughts circled back, and he suddenly realized he had no certainty about what that person would do, and he lacked even the equipment for surgery.

At that thought, Yi De's expression shifted; he hurriedly halted his pacing, intending to rush back into the room, yet clinging to a sliver of hope.

In the room.

When Fulade reached the bedside, the blonde girl named Lita, with blood continuously streaming from her mouth, began to see her vision blur.

Weak, as her eyes were about to close, she faintly saw the previously visiting mysterious stranger remove his hood, revealing a handsome face.

Then, Lita vaguely thought she heard the handsome man say something, but she was too weak to discern.

She then saw that handsome face slowly draw close to hers, his hot breath striking her pale cheek, and inexplicably a never‑before felt flutter rose in her heart.

"If only I could have a romance." The shy thought just sparked, and the blonde girl Lita's vision went black as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Just before losing consciousness, she seemed to feel something bite her neck, a slight pain, then a sudden chill in her chest as something snapped.

Hallucination, perhaps; it didn't matter, she was dying. A suffocating tingling spread through her body, and with a soft gasp, Lita closed her eyes and fell into darkness.

……

Lita had a long dream.

In the dream she fell in love.

They ran together and laughed together.

Facing the sea, spring warm and flowers blooming…… In the end she woke up, because she suddenly forgot the lover's appearance in the dream, only remembering that he wore a black trench coat and was very handsome.

"... black trench coat."

Dawn's first light poured into the room; Lita, who had lain there all night, suddenly awoke from her sleep, murmuring words she herself could not quite make out.

Sitting up, Lita looked at the familiar room before her, a little dazed, as dream and reality seemed to blur at that moment.

In her daze, Dr. Yide's voice, full of joy, reached her, pulling Lita's thoughts back to reality.

"... Dad." Lita looked up, meeting her father's tear‑streaked, overjoyed face.

On his pale, pretty face a hint of bewilderment appeared; as he was puzzled, the memories from before the fainting rushed into her mind, making Lita recall everything that had happened before.

"... Dad, I—I'm still alive!?" Lita's eyes widened as she said in a very surprised tone. The deep joy on his pretty face could not be shaken off.

"Yes, yes, my dear, my Lita, you're alive, you're alive." Dr. Yide held Lita tightly, his voice trembling with fear and faint self‑blame, repeatedly repeating the words.

"Dad, I—I thought I'd never see you again." A few tears fell; Lita, also a little frightened, clutched her father tightly, speaking with tear‑filled eyes.

As the father and daughter poured out their affection and confided, a black cloak flashed into Lita's field of vision.

The Lita who had been whimpering and crying nonstop instantly stopped, her gaze blank as she looked at the cloaked Fulade.

"... Brother!" Lita, seeing the black cloak for an instant, opened her eyes wide and blurted out incredulously.

Standing aside watching the father and daughter confide, Fulade frowned, looking at the girl's delighted eyes, somewhat puzzled.

Fulade naturally would not know the great joy the girl felt upon seeing him at that moment.

But the girl, at this moment, clearly confused dream and reality.

Regaining his senses, Dr. Yide finally began introducing Fulade's situation to his daughter Lita.

Listening to her father's account, Lita's gaze toward Fulade became even more radiant, completely shedding the timidity she had when meeting strangers before.

For this, Dr. Yide felt slightly surprised but did not think much of it.

Since the incident of rescuing Lita, Fulade has been staying at Dr. Yide's clinic.

What surprised Dr. Yide was the change in his daughter Lita.

The former Lita, aside from her parents, nurses and a few limited people, was always vigilant and insecure toward strangers.

Always caring about others' strange looks, the sensitive Lita rarely appeared before outsiders; even when encountering them, she became a little invisible, shrinking into a corner, fearing attention.

But now Lita chatters nonstop, appearing much more cheerful and lively than before.

All these changes stem from Fulade's arrival here.

Of course, it is limited to Fulade, but even so, Dr. Yide was very happy; regarding where Fulade came from, Fulade said nothing, and Yide did not ask.

Everyone has their own privacy, right?

"Brother, this is made by my own hands, do you like it?"

A coquettish voice came, Fulade stopped the tool knife in his hand and turned to look behind him.

Lita sat in a wheelchair, her short golden hair sleek, her fair pretty face bathed in golden sunlight filtering through colored glass, making her look pure and beautiful.

Large eyes with a hint of shy unease; her tender white hands held a charming scene of sea, spring warmth and blooming flowers.

Fulade looked at the vivid oil painting before him, a strange glint flashing in his eyes, because in the center a large hand held a fair little hand running on the beach, the girl smiling so joyfully.

The owner of the big hand clearly resembled Fulade in several ways.

He averted his gaze, silently watching the girl.

"... Am I being confessed!?" Fulade blinked, recalling the process of treating the girl, realizing that aside from dissecting her body and sucking a drop of her blood, he hadn't used any mental suggestion or magic.

At most, when dissecting her chest, he saw some……

But perhaps Lita didn't know.

How could Fulade know that Lita's behavior was only related to a dream she had while unconscious?

It was so realistic that Lita could clearly remember every detail of the dream between them.

Although they had known each other less than a week, for Lita it felt as if they'd known each other a lifetime! This is why Lita kept clinging to Fulade, almost revealing her feelings to him.

Suppressing her nervousness and anxiety, Lita lifted her delicate, slightly frail, fair face, looking expectantly at Fulade as if awaiting his reaction and answer.

As seconds passed, Lita's once shy pretty face grew pale, her hands raising the painting trembling weakly; just when she thought her confession had failed, Fulade in front of her spoke.

"Not bad, very pretty, take it to my room."

This brief sentence sounded to the girl like heavenly music; her previously drooping face suddenly lifted.

Tears welling to burst in her eyes clung to the corners, stubbornly flowing back, revealing a bright sunny smile that tugged at the heart.

"Mm!" Lita nodded forcefully, showing a happy smile, lifted the painting, pressed the wheelchair's switch, and headed upstairs.

She shook her head slightly, sighing inwardly at the inexplicable new emotional debt, then picked up her tool to examine the still‑living artificial girl she had found when she first arrived.

It had been a week since Fulade arrived here.

By drawing Lita's blood and searching on the computer, Fulade also roughly grasped the basic situation of this world.

Mars Planet originally belonged to one of the member states of the Mars Federation.

Six hundred years ago, this place was a highly advanced technological plane.

Thirty‑six Sky Cities floated in the sky, each a highly developed metropolis and also a heavily armed fortress guarding the planet! If necessary, these cities could ascend into space for high‑intensity space combat and long‑range fire support.

However, six hundred years ago, the low‑level civilization Mano Alliance of the Mars Federation launched an attack here.

The two sides fought for a total of three hundred years.

Until three hundred years ago, this highly advanced technological civilization had become a ruin.

The sky still guards the Mars Planet with thirty‑six Sky Cities, of which only three remain today.

Surface civilization was completely destroyed in this war.

The surviving people had to eke out a meager existence amid the ruins of the original city, and rebuild a civilization of their own.

(End of chapter)