The Frenzied Savior - Chapter 3

Even then, the man’s grip on little Muqi’s arm remained deadlocked, tightening by the second.

Everything Yifu did in her desperate struggle was like an ant beneath an elephant’s foot—easily crushed, utterly futile. She couldn’t leave a single scratch on the man, let alone save her poor child.

Drowning in despair and agony, the last flicker of light was fading from her eyes.

Thud—

A trash can struck the man’s spine with lethal precision and speed. The force was far beyond human limits, tearing through the man’s clothes and visibly denting his back.

Sizzle—

The sound of surging electricity crackled. The skin over the indentation on his back split open, revealing a metallic spine and skeletal frame.

This man was mechanical from head to toe.

He wasn’t a man at all; he was a robot.

Having rushed over in a panic after receiving the news, Li Jiarun stared, his eyes wide with horror. Realizing the entity holding his wife and son hostage wasn’t human, Li Jiarun suppressed his mounting anxiety. He frantically dialed the police and emergency services while his eyes darted around, searching for any way to help.

Finally, his gaze landed on the trash can lying at the robot’s feet.

A spark of realization flickered in his mind. He whipped his head toward the direction the trash can had flown from, spotting a languid youth stepping off a skateboard.

The youth kicked the board aside and walked forward, casually dusting off his hands. Once finished, he meticulously pulled a spectacle case from his pocket.

Opening the case, the youth took out a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, their right temple piece inlaid with a deep blue diamond, and perched them upon the high bridge of his nose.

“Hey, you over there. You hunk of scrap metal.”

The youth reached up to brush the stray hairs from his forehead. His lazy eyes were clouded with a growing sense of mockery and disdain.

Lacking the programming to interact with humans, the robot continued to throttle little Muqi. It held him in a way that made breathing nearly impossible yet kept him just on the edge of life, while its other hand mechanically gripped Yifu’s shoulder, attempting to tear her away.

Seeing that mechanical hand grab Yifu, Li Jiarun made a move to rush forward in terror, only to be stopped by the sound of a soft scoff.

That scoff was low and sensual, possessing the icy texture of wind-blown snow on a cold mountain, yet laced with a strange, inexplicable excitement.

The moment the sound faded, a shadow blurred past him, charging headlong and brutally toward the vicious robot.

Clang—

Accompanied by the heavy thud of metal hitting the ground, the robot’s arm gripping Yifu was sliced in two. The fingers choking little Muqi dropped away simultaneously, causing the boy to fall toward the pavement.

A silver scalpel spun in a blur. The youth murmured a string of numbers, using his free hand to catch Yifu and toss her toward Li Jiarun. Before she even landed, his hand whipped back to snatch the falling Muqi out of the air, tucking the boy securely into his arms.

With a slight flick of the wrist, he drove the silver scalpel ruthlessly into the robot’s fingerless stump.

Having “parked” his scalpel for a moment, the youth used a touch that looked rough but was perfectly calculated for a child’s safety to clear Muqi’s airway.

A few seconds later, the boy’s breathing returned to normal.

Cradling the little boy, the youth pivoted to dodge a blast from the robot. Having detected an attack, the machine had initiated its combat protocols and fired an energy round. The youth then lashed out with a long leg, delivering a kick so powerful it sent the robot flying, the very same robot Yifu hadn’t been able to budge an inch.

After sending the machine reeling, the youth took a few quick strides to reach Li Jiarun, who was currently clutching the traumatized Yifu. He handed the unconscious Muqi over.

Li Jiarun, who had just managed to steady his wife, shifted his grip to take the boy with trembling, careful hands.

He opened his mouth to thank the person who had saved his family, but his words died in his throat when he met the youth’s gaze. Those eyes were frigid, yet burning with excitement and a hint of sheer violence.

In that instant, Li Jiarun felt as though he were looking at a predatory beast, its tail twitching with thrill at the sight of a favorite toy.

The youth, carrying the arrogant grace of a high-born feline that had been provoked, turned back toward the robot as it climbed out of the crater. He reached out and plucked his scalpel from the robot’s arm.

“Come on, scrap metal. Let’s have some fun.”

Having rushed here from the northeastern suburbs of Kyoto, Fu Qingya tapped his finger against the silver blade. His phoenix-shaped eyes, usually clear as spring water, were now sharp and cold. Yet, within that coldness was a manic fervor, a look of someone who had found a precious treasure. This fusion of ice and fire gave those eyes a breathtaking, terrifying beauty.

Facing the scalpel-wielding youth, the red lights in the robot’s eyes scanned rapidly.

“Hostile low-level carbon-based lifeform detected. Executing termination command,” a cold, mechanical voice droned from the man’s face, where the torn skin revealed a steel skull.

With a mechanical click, the robot’s mangled arm transformed into a small, wide-bore cannon. The machine leveled the muzzle directly at Fu Qingya.

In the distance, Li Jiarun held his breath in a grip of suffocating tension, terrified that a single shot from that brutal machine would end the life of the kind youth.

However, the object of his worry, Fu Qingya, only watched as his eyes grew brighter. “High-hardness alloys and a new energy-forged barrel? Not bad. Once I tear you apart, I’m sure I’ll find some decent materials in there.”

Fu Qingya licked his lips in anticipation, his eyes narrowing.

Despite the simplicity of his movements, he exuded an aura of immense confidence and utter contempt for the machine. He viewed the robot as nothing more than a specimen on a dissecting table.

Li Jiarun, shielding his family as they backed away, broke into a cold sweat.

Is saying that really a good idea?

Even if a robot didn’t have feelings, surely its data analysis would flag the phrase “tear you apart” as a threat, triggering a heightened combat state.

Not to mention, there might be a cold-blooded operator behind this machine.

Just as the thought crossed Li Jiarun’s mind, the robot’s eyes flashed crimson. The cannon fired a sphere of brilliant white light.

The moment the orb left the barrel, the surrounding air seemed to grow heavy with pressure. Li Jiarun could swear he heard the sound of space itself warping and cracking under the strain.

He realized instantly that this wasn’t just any bullet; it was something far more advanced.

And it was heading straight for the youth.

Li Jiarun’s pupils shrank as he screamed, “Get out of the way!”

In the next second, however, the youth raised his scalpel and lunged directly toward the incoming projectile.

Clang—

The round slammed into the silver blade. Contrary to Li Jiarun’s expectation of the scalpel shattering, the youth remained unfazed. With a calm, fluid motion, he spun the blade and flicked it upward, parrying the strange projectile away in an instant.

The ease of the movement made Li Jiarun wonder if that glowing orb was just some harmless toy rather than a deadly weapon.

And then—

He watched as that “toy” hit the ground and detonated, carving a massive crater into the earth.

As the dust from the explosion billowed toward him, Li Jiarun finally found his voice and began to swear.

“Dammit!”

“That wasn’t a bullet!”

“That was a freaking grenade!”

“Since when do bullets have that much firepower?”

Humans have a biological instinct to fear the powerful and the unknown. Seeing the robot fire such a devastating shot so casually, Li Jiarun’s fear and anxiety spiked.

Abandoning his usual gentlemanly demeanor, he clutched his terrified wife and sleeping son, cursing at the crater to mask the sheer terror rattling his bones.

Before he could finish his tirade, he saw the youth step forward and kick the cannon right off the robot’s arm.

Li Jiarun choked on his words. He had almost forgotten, this kid was a powerhouse who could parry a “grenade” with a pocket knife.

Thanks to the youth’s sheer dominance, Li Jiarun’s fear didn’t even last three minutes before it dissipated. He retreated a bit further, sitting on the ground to wait for the police and ambulances while watching the youth’s every move with a mix of awe and admiration.

Fu Qingya caught the severed cannon as it flew through the air, squinting at it. “A failed forge? How disappointing.”

Clang—

He tossed the broken weapon aside. He looked at the robot, which was currently glitching and stuttering as its programming struggled to process the loss of its primary weapon. Fu Qingya tapped his scalpel against his palm. “Truly just a pile of scrap metal.”

Fu Qingya’s face was a mask of disappointment, layered with a destructive urge to ruin an imperfect creation. He lowered his eyelids, his head tilting slightly as he approached the robot with reluctant steps.

Twirling the scalpel out of habit, he leveled the tip at the machine. “Let me take you apart.”

Before his voice even trailed off, his hands became a blur. The silver scalpel moved so fast it was nearly invisible to the naked eye.

Clank, clank—

One after another, metallic components were stripped from the robot and tossed onto the pavement.

It was at this moment that the police finally arrived.

Rushing to the scene after the emergency call, the first squad of officers nearly mistook Fu Qingya for the perpetrator.

To an outsider, the scene was horrifying.

A handsome youth with longish hair and gold-rimmed glasses stood before a man dressed in black, wielding a scalpel with terrifying speed. Every few seconds, he would discard a piece of metal, all while muttering a rhythmic string of strange numbers.

The man in black had his clothes shredded, his sleeves were empty, and even the back of his head seemed frozen in place, as if he were being held captive.

From their perspective, it looked like a sadistic killer was torturing a hostage.

It wasn’t until the youth shifted positions, continuing his surgical precision, that the officers saw the other side of the “man.” They saw a face that was half-machine, and a chest cavity, already opened by the youth, revealing a mechanical skeleton and a throbbing mechanical heart.

Seeing the full picture, the police immediately realized the truth.

The real culprit was the mechanical man cloaked in human skin.

After all, the original report had warned that the attacker might be a robot.

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