Chapter 465

"Strength is surging."

Hui Yu rolled up her sleeves, clenched her fists, and tensed her biceps and triceps.

As she willed it, her tendons and bones optimized themselves automatically; her body curve approached the perfect golden ratio, and the slight belly fat from overeating vanished.

"Drink up!"

Hui Yu wrapped both arms around Li Cheng and, amid his protests, lifted him up and down like a barbell, "I'm carrying you, Cheng."

"Carry your head, carry your nonsense."

Li Cheng gave Hui Yu a sharp knuckle rap on the head, wriggled free, and handed her a fiber-optic data cable, sighing, "First share your vision with me, then try striking the target wall?"

"Say 'strike,' not 'target wall'—be civilized, you and me and him." Hui Yu muttered nonsense, tied the fiber-optic cable to her hairpin, shared vision with Li Cheng, then sprinted to the concrete target wall, stepping half a pace forward.

In the shared perspective, a translucent, full-frame panel floated, its information vast as the sea, including but not limited to gravitational coefficients, air density, internal stresses of the target, and selectable attack angles.

As Hui Yu twisted her waist into a punching stance, the panel's data instantly simplified, showing only the optimized trajectory of the punch and specific limb coordination schemes for power generation.

Boom!

One punch launched—concrete reinforced with metal fibers, capable of withstanding a 155mm shell—shattered into a spiderweb pattern across its face, collapsing slowly like a Zack Snyder film's signature slow-motion shot.

"Phew."

Hui Yu blew dust from her fist, turned her back to the target wall, tilted her head slightly toward the warehouse's overhead lights, and whispered softly, "This punch was for you—did you hear it, Asheng?"

"??? I'm not dead yet. You trying to rob the old man's coins?"

Li Cheng's eyebrow twitched; he casually drew a steel flag spear from thin air, spun it in a flourish, and said, "Try attacking me—no holding back."

"You're sure?"

Hui Yu arched an eyebrow, pulled down the golden thread from her forehead, and pressed it against her nose bridge like frameless decorative glasses. "I'm insanely strong now, really."

"Go ahead."

Li Cheng held the spear behind him with his left hand, gestured with his right—masterly poise.

"Got it."

Hui Yu didn't waste words; she kicked off the ground and shot forward like a cheetah.

Li Cheng raised his spear and thrust—three skills combined: Multi-Threaded Brain Method, Instant Thunder, and Knight Never Dies Empty-Handed—he moved like a Wudao Sect master, the spear lashing out like a dragon, aimed straight at Hui Yu's brow.

As the strongest tank, Hui Yu's physical resistance was maxed out; a headshot caused zero damage.

Thus, this thrust targeted not her head—but the 【Silver Wing Optical Path】 on her nose bridge.

The visual sharing continued; the 【Silver Wing Optical Path】 massively enhanced Hui Yu's optical perception and other sensory organs, labeling Li Cheng as an orange-tier high-threat target.

It analyzed frame-by-frame, in millisecond intervals, his muscle contraction and relaxation trends, every movement, every micro-expression, the direction of his pupils.

Synthesizing this data, it predicted Li Cheng's next move—and even ten possible future moves.

It generated over a hundred combat strategies, each with a feasibility assessment.

Hui Yu's left foot slammed down instantly; her boot sole became a suction cup, anchoring her to the ground as she dropped downward, narrowly avoiding the steel flag spear.

Simultaneously, her right hand transformed into a blade, lunging inside the spear's guard to slash at his gripping hand.

Li Cheng instantly released the spear, his hand darting down to grasp Hui Yu's wrist, while his other fist punched forward, infused with condensed qi internal explosion.

The 【Silver Wing Optical Path】 lacked the data integration functions of a reconnaissance scanner; it could not see hidden skill bars or inventory slots concealed by the Player Death Immunity system, so it could not predict player tricks.

A sly grin spread across Hui Yu's face; the wrist Li Cheng held rapidly melted, solidifying into a gauntlet that locked his grip.

At the same time, a large hole melted open in her chest, avoiding the condensed qi explosion.

Her toe hooked the falling steel flag spear, kicked its end, and thrust it forward.

Li Cheng had no choice but to retract his punch, activating the temporary skill 【Cheetah Leap: Double Jump】; his body leapt sideways in a motion defying physics, mid-air he activated 【Assemble Puppet】, disassembling the bones beneath his skin to rotate his arms 360°.

Without using equipment or items, Hui Yu had already surpassed Lv21 base Li Cheng.

After a moment's thought, Li Cheng drew the Taiyi Blade, sliced lightly across his chest, and switched into his two-and-a-half-meter-tall Insect Form, his voice deep and muffled: "Continue." Hui Yu's expression hardened; in the 【Silver Wing Optical Path】 combat interface, Li Cheng's color shifted from orange to red—threat level more than doubled.

She released his wrist; her chest, abdomen, and back skin folded and flipped, transforming into hexagonal hard-metal armor optimized for impact absorption.

Elbows, knees, and ankles became hollow spherical multi-joint structures.

Then—a knee strike!

Hui Yu slammed into Li Cheng like a cannonball; her mass of nearly a ton, combined with velocity, forced even Li Cheng—who had clamped both hands around her thigh—to recoil several meters.

The more data the 【Silver Wing Optical Path】 gathered, the more comprehensive its tactical strategies became. Hui Yu hovered mid-air, half a head taller than Li Cheng, hands clasped together, bringing down a chain-hammer strike.

Clang—

The Mantis Bone Blade unsheathed, rising from below, severing Hui Yu's arms.

But liquid metal was immune to physical strikes; as it fell, it instantly melted into silver fluid, seeping toward the Insect Form's respiratory pores.

Li Cheng willed it—the pores sealed automatically, switching to the higher-consumption oxygen internal circulation mode. He crossed his arms and slashed upward with the bone blade.

The bone blade cut through the hard-metal armor, spraying dense sparks—but failed to slice through immediately.

Meanwhile, Hui Yu's upper body liquefied again, flowing along Li Cheng's body, "passing" behind him, her arms extending backward to lock around his neck, blocking his use of the energy-based Dragon Breath skill, then pressing down hard.

This move resembled a wrestling neckbreaker; the 【Silver Wing Optical Path】, working with limited data, deduced the general function of 【Assemble Puppet】 and the strength boundaries of Li Cheng's insect body, confidently concluding his brain remained human—and still vulnerable to massive impact.

At the critical moment, the hover engine's anti-gravity effect activated; Li Cheng planted one hand on the ground, dissipated the downward force, and countered with 【Ride the Tide: Wind Churns Clouds】, blasting Hui Yu away.

Understood.

Li Cheng twisted his slightly sore neck; the 【Silver Wing Optical Path】 looked at first glance like a passive, underwhelming effect—almost embarrassing—but in truth, it perfectly fit the definition of a legendary item.

Hui Yu, a liquid-metal robot millennia ahead of Earth's technology, fused with Zelos civilization's war tech and the finest plunder from interstellar pirate Isaac across the star seas,

possessed an inherently high stat sheet, but had lacked suitable software to drive it—so she relied entirely on instinct.

Like tying a smartphone to a stick and using it as a hammer.

Li Cheng had installed a CPU via 【Assemble Puppet】, unlocking partial functions; now, with the 【Silver Wing Optical Path】 added, she reclaimed further power hidden within the nanomachines.

"Continue."

He swung the Mantis Bone Blade, no longer suppressing his strength, and resumed sparring with Hui Yu.

Li Cheng didn't use the Hover Engine, the Ape Degeneration Gun, the Dragon Breath series of equipment skills, and Grey Rain didn't use Spirit Ambush or the Skull-Crushing Power Hammer either — basically, they traded wins and losses.

【Silver Wing Light Path】 couldn't liquefy along with her, which meant that while it was greatly enhanced, it also gained a weakness.

"Holy crap, a sudden awakening, a sudden enlightenment. What kind of wizard-stream novel is this — a thousand chapters in and the protagonist finally becomes an apprentice wizard and lights up the skill panel."

Li Cheng scratched his head, watching Grey Rain toss the barbell around like a toy with an air of smugness, and felt quite gratified inside.

Just then, the long-absent system notification chime suddenly rang out,

【Quest trigger conditions have been met】

【Quest Type: Scenario Quest (Team)】

Here it comes.

Li Cheng pressed his lips together; calculating the time, he figured it really was about time for a scenario quest.

At this very moment, he had one Legendary, three Epics on his body, Dragon Breath in his left hand, Summon Concept God Farmer in his right. Even if it were a god, he'd kill it for you to see.

Full of ambition, confident of success — until

His expression instantly froze on his face, and Li Sheng lost all composure, cursing wildly, "Holy shit, System, you're screwing with me?! F*ck you, you f*cker!"

On the panel, a line of text quietly appeared,

【Quest Name: Escape from Loli Island】

(End of Chapter)