Chapter 1 "Dragoon"

"Hmm?" Seeing the mecha split in two, Aiwotanabe did not show a triumphant expression, but rather a look of doubt.

As a master like her, even if everything happened in a fleeting moment, she could confidently determine that the separated mecha was not "cut" by her katana, but rather broke apart on its own.

Klak klak klak...

Just as she was pondering, several strange sounds came in succession.

At that moment, the Void Lightning God Beast EX split into six parts like a dismembered body: the head, torso, left arm, right arm, left leg, and right leg. Each part, after separating, maintained high-speed movement using its own propulsion devices.

"Hahaha!" The next second, Feng Bujue's wild laughter came from the torso of the mecha. "Naive! So naive! This daddy's machine is equipped with the Dragoon System (dragoon_systework_system, a detached, integrated control, high-speed mobile weapon group network system)!"

"The Dragoon System..." Unexpectedly, Sasuke Ming's sinister voice sounded immediately, "Heh... that makes it even easier..."

Having said that, he made another move, a super-fast slash that purely pursued speed, targeting the right leg of the Void Lightning God Beast EX.

"Tch... troublesome guy..." As soon as Feng Bujue saw Sasuke Ming's action, he understood that the other party clearly knew the weakness of the Dragoon System. Therefore, he simply abandoned that leg and controlled the torso to flee quickly.

Sure enough, in less than two seconds, Sasuke Ming's attack hit the thruster of the Void Lightning God Beast EX's right leg, causing it to stop. Seeing this, Aiwotanabe also took advantage of the situation and attacked, cutting the right leg component into four pieces with two neat slashes, causing it to catch fire and explode.

"The weakness of the Dragoon System lies in... the system itself not having the ability to dodge attacks. Without targeted operation, the separated parts will only try to reduce the possibility of being locked onto and destroyed by the enemy by constantly making irregular high-speed movements." Sasuke Ming said, rushing towards the left leg of the Void Lightning God Beast EX. "Feng Bujue... no matter how fast your mind and hand speed are, as long as the operating medium remains at the physical level... its reaction speed will always have a limit. Even if controlling six components at the same time is not a burden for you, the machine is not your hands and feet after all. Once it comes to a competition of speed, you definitely can't dodge!"

Zheng...

By the time he finished speaking, he had already used another high-speed assault to stop the left leg of the Void Lightning God Beast EX. Aiwotanabe also followed suit, chopping that leg into pieces with her unrestrained slashes.

At the same time, an even greater threat arrived...

Due to the reduced barrage attack caused by the separation of the mecha, Xincihe, descending from the sky, successfully passed through the barrage after several "stepping air changes", approaching the top of the "torso" component on which Brother Jue was riding.

"It's over..." Xincihe showed an expression of determination to kill, indicating that at this distance, he was absolutely sure... that he would not miss.

However, at this instant!

"Heh... I already said... you're too naive..." Feng Bujue's insidious voice sounded again.

Immediately afterward, a blue light flashed around.

In the blink of an eye, the several scattered parts of the Void Lightning God Beast EX, including the wreckage of the two destroyed parts... all disappeared abruptly.

"Nani?" Xincihe stopped in shock and landed again.

Aiwotanabe and Sasuke Ming also looked surprised, not knowing what had happened.

And Feng Bujue... was driving the intact Void Lightning God Beast EX, appearing at the position he had stood thirty seconds ago, when he had just fired the positron cannon.

Obviously, in addition to the Dragoon System, he had other methods... stronger methods.

The "Reverse Time Flashback System," from the hands of Dr. Eternity, was an extremely dangerous system driven by time magic. In their own universe, the use of such magic was forbidden in most cases. But as mentioned before... since the Void Lightning God Beast EX was going to be given to Brother Jue to take to another universe, the bigwigs of the Universal Super Federation did not mind installing these black technologies that they usually could not use themselves.

"Attack the torso!" After a moment, Sasuke Ming, who had calmed down, made a very accurate judgment again and issued instructions to his teammates and Xincihe.

Although Xincihe was not someone who would take orders from others, in order to conquer this strange device brought out by the "foreigner," he had no choice but to resort to the help of the Sengoku duo, who were also "foreigners."

So, this time the three of them joined forces, attacking the torso of the Void Lightning God Beast EX from three directions...

"Finally discovered that they should directly attack the energy furnace and the pilot..." Feng Bujue in the cockpit operated with flying skills, his attitude as calm as ever, "Heh... too bad, I have many more interesting weapon systems here..."

[Warning, the time limit for your mecha is thirty seconds remaining.]

Just as Brother Jue was feeling proud, the sudden system voice was like a straight punch to his stomach, causing his expression to change.

"F*ck?" While cursing, Feng Bujue's mind was also running like lightning.

About two seconds later, he figured things out and muttered in his heart, "Only six minutes of use, huh..."

Yes, the Void Lightning God Beast EX only had a six-minute usage limit each time it appeared; moreover, the player could only make it appear once per scenario.

Because this mecha was stored as a special item in the Poker Knight Hero ID Card, it did not have the detailed description of a normal item (the Chuck Norris series of items, just_we, Tiangang Earth Fiend Box, etc. were also like this). It was precisely for this reason that Feng Bujue did not realize how strong it was until he summoned the mecha. If Brother Jue had known the mecha's combat power and "usage time limit" earlier, his strategy might not have been what it was now.

"It took forty seconds to kill Leng Yuqiu... one minute and thirty seconds to familiarize myself with the weapon system... about forty seconds to fly over from outside the town... and then another two minutes or so to fight them here..." Feng Bujue silently calculated the time. "Hmm... let's tentatively say that I've measured a useful piece of information, and I can calculate the time next time I use it; but... the current situation... is a bit bad..."

While he was thinking, the three people's attacks arrived.

The surrounded Void Lightning God Beast EX still had weapons to deal with the attack. A "Howling Cannon," an indiscriminate sonic wave attack that erupted with the machine as the center, bloomed in an instant, forcing the three people back.

[Your mecha has twenty seconds remaining.]

The system prompt was like a death knell, reminding Feng Bujue of the approaching crisis.

"It's impossible to kill all three of these guys in twenty seconds..." Brother Jue was thinking of a way in a busy manner. "After twenty seconds, the mecha will disappear, and I'll have to go into battle myself... today is different from the past. Now my skills and equipment have been cleared, and without the Spirit Consciousness Body Gathering Technique - Modified, I might be killed instantly..."

Looking at it now... Feng Bujue's strategy of driving the mecha to play "Musou" was not so wise; if the Void Lightning God Beast EX did not have a time limit, there would be no problem with him doing so - relying on the advantage of "infinite energy," even if he could not wipe out the enemy, he would definitely be able to kill his opponents in a mess before the mecha was scrapped, if he could drag the fight on.

However, as the saying goes, plans can't keep up with changes. He only realized halfway through the fight that the mecha could only be used for six minutes at a time, putting Brother Jue in an extremely unfavorable predicament...

Of course, he had not reached the point of "absolute doom." If it really came to it, he still had the Demon Descent, and Chuck Norris's Razor. Relying on these two trump cards, it was more than enough to kill the three people in front of him.

It was just that... the risks and rewards associated with using these two moves were equal; once the duration of the moves passed, Feng Bujue would basically be half dead, and all the remaining opponents who had not been dealt with would have to be dealt with by Ruoyu alone.

Speaking of Ruoyu... she had already taken action.

Although she had a lot of confidence in Feng Bujue, believing that "since he came out to play Musou so ostentatiously, he must be more than 90% sure," but... after watching for a while, perhaps out of intuition, perhaps out of other thoughts... she faintly felt something different behind Brother Jue's "ease" and "arrogance."

Even the three people who were besieging Brother Jue had not noticed this.

But Ruoyu found out, so she rushed over at the fastest speed, wanting to help Brother Jue out of the predicament.

Unexpectedly...

"Please stay where you are!" Suddenly, a stern shout, like a shocking wave, came from the side.

Along with the shout, there was also a sword move.

The Myriad Attraction Heavenly Pivot Sword Returning to the Source was one of the Shadow Sword Maniac's trump cards.

Without probing, and without the need to show mercy, facing an opponent like Li Ruoyu, Sword Master made a full-force, extreme move from the start.

In the same second, another figure rushed from the opposite direction of Sword Master.

I saw, Not Afraid Little Sister holding a golden, strangely shaped weapon, one end of which was a flat, circular hook shape, resembling a crescent moon, and the other end was a full sphere, resembling a full moon. At this moment, Not Afraid Little Sister waved the "full moon" end, using a Apocalypse Attack (Fake) to directly attack Ruoyu's blind spot on her side and back.

Faced with this sudden pincer attack, Ruoyu drew both swords at the same time, using two completely different sword techniques—

The Xuanyuan Sword was a heavy sword, using the Devil Flow Sword, wanton and crazy; the Original Water God Sword was a light sword, using the Wind Trace, calm and fast.

The heavy sword was for striking, responding to Sword Master's ultimate move.

The light sword dissipated energy, avoiding Not Afraid Little Sister's sharp edge.

In the entire Thriller Paradise, there were probably only a handful of people who could directly block the combined attack of two top-tier experts like this using conventional combat methods.

Ruoyu was one of those people who possessed this kind of strength, but... at this moment, she was unable to display her due strength.

Due to her eagerness to provide support, Ruoyu's attention had been prematurely placed on the killing array where Feng Bujue was, which made her vigilance towards her surroundings somewhat relaxed.

This level of relaxation did not matter in most cases, but when encountering a sneak attack from players of the level of Shadow Sword Maniac and Cai Bupa Ne, it became a problem...

A duel between top experts could not tolerate the slightest hesitation or distraction... a slight deviation could determine the outcome.

In the end, Ruoyu's reaction was a beat too slow, and this slight difference brought about a devastating result...

Bang—

The heavy sword was half a beat too slow, and the power at the time of the blade collision could not be brought to its highest.

Therefore, Ruoyu's right-handed sword was bounced away.

Zheng—

The light sword was half a beat too slow, and the technique of dissipating energy could not be fully deployed, and the opponent's attack trajectory would not completely shift according to her intentions.

Therefore, the effect of Ruoyu's left-handed sword was also greatly reduced.

In the end, the Shadow Sword Maniac's sword move slashed into her shoulder, directly hitting Ruoyu's right collarbone. Not Afraid Little Sister's skill, although not directly hit... still had most of the force hit Ruoyu's left waist.

As the moves landed, Ruoyu's whole body flew out horizontally, in a state that was simply like being hit by a train...

I saw her figure swept across the street at high speed, crashing heavily into a pillar on the side of the street, breaking the wooden pillar as thick as a tree trunk. Even so, her momentum still did not dissipate. After her body landed after breaking the pillar, she still rolled and slid a long distance on the ground before stopping.

Obviously, she had taken this round of attacks very solidly... so solidly that she had lost control of her body for a period of time, and could not even adjust her posture in mid-air.

Originally, Ruoyu was very likely to die at the moment of being hit. If the Shadow Sword Maniac's sword had been lowered a few more points and torn open her lungs, she would definitely have been beyond saving. Fortunately... the enormous impact generated by Not Afraid's Apocalypse Attack (Fake) blew Ruoyu away, preventing Sword Master's move from hitting the bottom.

"Guh... cough... ha... ha..." Ruoyu, lying on the ground, had her clothes stained with blood. For a while, she couldn't tell which blood was coming from her mouth and which was coming from her wounds... She spent a lot of effort to get her lungs to start breathing again, but breathing made her pain even clearer. In contrast... Ruoyu's consciousness and vision became blurred.

"She's still not dead after this... truly amazing..." Soon, Not Afraid's figure appeared in front of Ruoyu.

"Sorry... this is the killing game..." Sword Master also appeared immediately, and raised the sword in his hand as he spoke.

It must be admitted that their sneak attack was very successful, and it was not in vain that the two of them had waited patiently in the dark for so long.

As outsiders, the two of Jianghu naturally did not know that Feng Bujue's data had been cleared, nor did they know that the Void Lightning God Beast EX had a time limit. Therefore, in their view, the two of the Hell's Frontline were currently the strongest existences in the scenario. Taking advantage of the two being separated, breaking one of them was undoubtedly the best policy.

The sword fell...

Ruoyu, however, had not yet stood up.

At this moment, her snow-white face and black hair were stained with mud and blood from the ground. Her injuries had reached a point where she could not handle them alone.

She had never been so embarrassed before. Even though she had been killed in scenarios more than once before, this was the first time that she had been successfully sneak attacked due to her own mistakes...

"I've changed..." In the moment before death arrived, Ruoyu thought about other things in her heart.

"When did it start?"

"When I met him... or, even earlier..."

…………

Half a year ago, June 19th, evening.

Feng Bujue followed Ruoyu furtively to the latter's home. Ruoyu, on the other hand, acted as if nothing had happened, calmly opening the door, taking Brother Jue upstairs, and going directly to her room.

"Uh... are you going to give it to me now?" After entering the room, Feng Bujue seemed a little uneasy.

He rarely felt nervous, and it was even rarer for him to show this kind of undisguised nervousness.

"Yes, it's getting late, take it and go back early." Ruoyu replied in a very ordinary tone.

Hearing this, Feng Bujue swallowed and couldn't help but repeatedly think about Ruoyu's words a while ago—"'Strictly speaking, that was originally your thing, and I've been keeping it for you for many years. I think it's time to give it to you', 'It can't be said that I suddenly remembered it. I wanted to give it to you many years ago, but I never had the chance. When I first met you in Thriller Paradise, I also had the urge to give it to you directly, but after hesitating a little, I dragged it out until now.'"

"Hmm... no matter how I think about it, it's that, right..." Feng Bujue thought to himself, "Logically speaking, she's being so proactive that I'm a little embarrassed..."

Just as he was thinking wildly, Ruoyu had already taken something out of her bedside table at a leisurely pace, and then walked to Brother Jue and handed it to the latter.

"Here." When Ruoyu said this word, Brother Jue instinctively froze for a moment.

Two seconds later, he came back to his senses, looking at the thing in his hand: "Uh... is this what you want to give me?"

"Yes." Ruoyu nodded, and it was rare for her cheeks to flush red, as if she had done something quite embarrassing.

Feng Bujue looked at the thing in his hand. It was an exercise book, the kind of standard exercise book that was commonly used by elementary school students when he was still one.

The notebook was not thick, and it looked quite old. The cover of the exercise book had two words written on it - "Sword God."

Brother Jue immediately recognized that the handwriting of these two words... came from his own hand, and he immediately understood the origin of this exercise book.

"This daddy completed his debut short novel Sword God by handwriting it in an exercise book when he was only ten years old..." (from Chapter 322) These were the original words that Feng Bujue said to Honghu, Qiufeng Se, and Yuzhong Ji Chang in the Reasoning Club.

Although it seemed like he was arguing at the time, in reality... what he said was true.

Sword God was his first novel in the true sense of the word. The story was not long, and it was just enough to fill an exercise book. The plot was not very complicated either. It was a description of how a fledgling swordsman grew into an unparalleled sword god.

However, since it was written by Feng Bujue, even if he was only ten years old at the time, there would naturally be some highlights in the story's setting. The most unexpected setting in Sword God was that... the cold and aloof protagonist with a perverse personality that he depicted was actually a female swordswoman who dressed as a man from beginning to end. He had left foreshadowing everywhere in the entire novel, but he did not explain the reasons for those abnormalities until the end, when he revealed the truth.

Of course, no one could say whether this story was well written or not, because this was a practice work that Brother Jue wrote out of interest. After writing it, he looked at it himself and felt that there were many flaws in it, and he saw some of his own childishness in it. Later, he put this exercise book together with some old books at home, and he didn't know when, it was taken to be sold to the old book collectors.

Feng Bujue never imagined that he would see this Sword God again at this time, in this place, and in this situation...

He opened the exercise book, looking at the dense, handwritten words that he had written one by one, and he couldn't say what kind of feeling he had in his heart.

"Where did you get this from?" Feng Bujue asked as he flipped through it.

"I passed by a used bookstore when I was a child, and I accidentally saw it, flipped it open, and... bought it back for a few dollars." Ruoyu replied.

"How did you know that I wrote this?" Feng Bujue asked this because he didn't write his name on that exercise book at all.

"After reading so many books you wrote when I grew up, I naturally knew." Ruoyu said.

"Heh..." Feng Bujue smiled, "Judging from the traces on this notebook... you seem to have read it many times..."

"When I was a child... I didn't have many friends." Ruoyu leaned against the bedside, replying thoughtfully, "Besides Xiaoling, no one else played with me... I didn't even have one peer to talk to..." As she spoke, she looked at the exercise book in Brother Jue's hand, "I knew after reading a page or two of that exercise book that it was written by a child who was about my age; at the time, I felt that I, who was not good at communicating with people face-to-face... might be able to understand some of my peers' thoughts through words."

"And the result?" Brother Jue closed the notebook and continued.

"Heh..." Ruoyu also smiled, a bitter smile, "I seem to have opened something that I shouldn't have opened..."

"No wonder I had a familiar, indescribable feeling when I first met you..." Feng Bujue said.

"Sigh..." Ruoyu sighed, "I can only blame myself for being too young back then, and unknowingly, I was influenced by you..."

"If I could go back to the moment when we first met, I think I should say to you..." Feng Bujue showed a warm smile, "I once wrote a book, and you are very similar to the person in the book..."

"Then I will also answer you..." Ruoyu said with a smile, "I once read a book, but I accidentally... made myself become the person in the book..."

…………

"Which one is the real me?"

"Is it the me before reading that book?"

"Is it the me before meeting him?"

"Or is it the current me..."

"Am I lost because I'm sealed?"

"Is the obsession and concern with him my original intention, or am I telling myself how I 'should' do it?"

"Are my feelings real, or are they an illusion... am I imitating something? Chasing some kind of phantom in my heart?"

Thoughts can transcend time, and moments can be almost eternal.

In this moment before death, Ruoyu thought a lot, as if she had been thinking for a long, long time...

But, death finally arrived.

The Shadow Sword Maniac's finishing blow was very precise, a sword to the throat. Ruoyu, who did not have much survival value left, was hit and began to turn into white light.

After succeeding, the two of Jianghu immediately turned their attention to the other end of the battlefield.

At this time, the time limit for Brother Jue's Void Lightning God Beast EX had also arrived. Like ordinary summoned creatures, the mecha turned into light again and returned to the card in Feng Bujue's inventory; and he himself... was exposed to the encirclement of a scenario Boss and two top players.

"Looks like... Brother Feng's situation is not good either..." Shadow Sword Maniac said when he saw this, "But with his strength, he may not lose."

"Don't worry, anyway, Ruoyu has already been solved by us..." Not Afraid continued, "No matter how strong Feng Bujue is alone, he will show flaws sooner or later... look, Old Bi and Juan Meng still are also watching, we can wait a little longer."

Just as they were speaking, suddenly...

"Hey hey... who did you say has already been solved?" A voice with a tone that sounded like a hooligan came from behind Sword Master and Not Afraid.

Just hearing the voice, the two of them were so shocked that they gasped in unison.

"How is that possible?" Not Afraid suddenly turned her head, but saw a disheveled face shrouded in shadow already close to her, the tips of their noses almost touching.

"That just now was so painful..." At this moment, Ruoyu's tone of voice and her entire temperament had changed drastically.

For some reason, her body had now returned to the state before she was injured, as if she was completely unharmed when she first entered the scenario. Even her clothes had become clean, and her sword was sheathed.

"It's my turn this time..." While Ruoyu was speaking, her left hand had already pinched Not Afraid's neck; and Not Afraid, the famous girl with monstrous strength among the female players, was actually unable to break free from this restraint.

In just one second, only a "gulp" sound was heard, and Not Afraid's neck was snapped off by Ruoyu with one hand.

This series of changes came too quickly. It was not until her teammate died instantly that Sword Master managed to recover from the shock. He immediately roared and slashed with his sword...

Dang—

This time, Ruoyu's sword appeared before the Shadow Sword Maniac's attack trajectory, firmly catching the opponent's full-strength blow in anger.

"You seem to have quite a bit of research on swordsmanship..." Ruoyu's usual cold temperament had now turned into a coldness with a hint of playfulness, "Then I'll exchange a few more moves with you to make you happy."

As she spoke, her left hand was raised slightly, with fingers pointed towards the sword, lightly stroking it.

Suddenly, frenzied energy soared, and demonic flames attached to the blade; the Xuanyuan Holy Sword... actually revealed the appearance of a demonic sword.

In the blink of an eye, Ruoyu had released ten sword moves, each of which was dangerous, and each of which was deadly.

Whether it was in terms of strength, speed, or moves, the Shadow Sword Maniac had fallen into a disadvantage. In that brief exchange... he seemed not to be sparring with a player, but to be confronting an incarnation of some kind of violent sword intent.

"The warm-up is almost done, right?" After a round of continuous slashes, Ruoyu said calmly, with a terrifying smile on her face, "The really interesting part is about to begin..." After saying this, she flipped her left hand, and the Original Water God Sword suddenly appeared, and another type of swordsmanship was also displayed...