“Roll off my body!”
“It looks like you truly don’t want those eyes of yours anymore.” Unable to shake free from Zhuang Xingyu’s grip, Ston narrowed his eyes and spoke with fierce menace.
Regaining his composure, Zhuang Xingyu not only failed to exhibit any embarrassment over his unseemly behavior, but instead hooked the corners of his mouth and retorted with an intensely punchable expression: “I didn’t tear your pants, so why would you want to gouge my eyes out? There’s no such punishment in the Federal Penal Code; could it be that the Grand Justice intends to knowingly break the law and abuse his authority?”
Catering zero patience for idle banter, Ston furrowed his brows and barked angrily: “Roll off me!”
“Rolling off, rolling off! What are you shouting for?!”
Zhuang Xingyu barked back with equal irritation, then utilized strength in his legs to push himself up from Ston’s body. Because he was still gripping Ston’s two wrists without releasing them, he naturally pulled his captive along with him the moment he stood up, intending to hoist Ston to his feet as well.
Ston, however, evidently harbored zero desire to accept Zhuang Xingyu’s courtesy. Clenching his fists, he gave a violent wrench and ripped his wrists free from Zhuang Xingyu’s palms, before steadying himself against the ground to stand up on his own.
Knowing his right palm was still clutching the tracking watch, Ston deliberately kept his fist clenched the entire time to prevent Zhuang Xingyu from discovering it.
Watching Ston push himself to his feet, Zhuang Xingyu noted with an observant eye that when Ston steadied himself against the deck, his right hand remained balled into a fist, which defied normal human habits.
Because protruding knuckle joints possessed a smaller surface area to distribute force, hands naturally bore greater pressure upon rising; owing precisely to this mechanical reality, most individuals chose to support their weight using the broader, more forgiving surface area of an open palm.
Standing upright, Ston narrowed his eyes to meet Zhuang Xingyu’s naked, blazing gaze, and stated coldly: “Turn around if you’re done looking.”
Tilting his head, Zhuang Xingyu allowed his gaze to sweep across Ston’s tightly clenched right fist with feigned nonchalance, before casually inquiring: “Justice, with your uniform in that condition, exactly how do you plan to put yourself back together?”
“None of your business.”
“How can it possibly not be my business? It’s entirely because of me that your clothes ended up looking like this,” Zhuang Xingyu declared, suddenly taking a step forward to close the distance directly in front of Ston.
Ston froze momentarily before snapping back to reality, instinctively preparing to wrench his right hand behind his back and thrust it as far away from Zhuang Xingyu as possible.
Yet the moment he initiated the movement, he realized doing so would scream of desperate concealment, forcing him to abruptly arrest his own motion mid-way. Instead, he lifted his chin slightly to lock eyes directly with Zhuang Xingyu’s scarlet pupils.
Zhuang Xingyu towered over Ston by a fraction of a head; coupled with his robust, muscular physique and the pair of feathered wings spanning over three meters trailing behind him, closing the physical distance instantly projected an overwhelming aura of oppression.
Yet Ston met his gaze without a single flicker of intimidation, refusing to yield an inch of ground.
For a stretch, neither man uttered a syllable. They appeared locked in a silent standoff, glaring at one another with unyielding stubbornness Ston wearing an expression of pure annoyance, while Zhuang Xingyu radiated provocative mockery.
Amidst the howling, sand-whipping gale, the two men stood motionless like a pair of flawless human sculptures. Unseen sparks danced between them, crackling with such intense friction that a roaring fire seemed poised to ignite at any second.
Suddenly, without the slightest warning, Zhuang Xingyu shot out a hand, clamped unerringly around Ston’s right wrist, and forcibly hoisted it high into the air right between them.
“Justice, isn’t this hand proving rather inconvenient? Could it be because you’re clutching something exceptionally crucial inside?” Zhuang Xingyu curled his lips into a smile, though not a shred of warmth touched the depths of his eyes. “How about I assist you in tidying your clothes properly, shall we?”
A jolt of alarm chilled Ston’s heart. Realizing Zhuang Xingyu had undoubtedly deduced the existence of the watch, he involuntarily tightened his grip into an even harder fist.
Ignoring his resistance, Zhuang Xingyu pressed his thumb downward with ruthless force right against the nerve cluster in Ston’s wrist, applying merciless downward pressure until the pain forced Ston’s fingers to uncurl and spring open against his will.
The timepiece slipped from his palm. Releasing Ston’s wrist, Zhuang Xingyu moved with lightning reflexes to catch it in mid-air, hoisted the watch directly before Ston’s face, and with a sharp crunch, crushed it into pieces.
“Justice, thanks to your little stunt, we now have to move out immediately.” Tossing his hand outward, Zhuang Xingyu scattered the pulverized fragments of the shattered watch into the wind, where they blended instantly into the swirling dust storms and vanished.
“We’ve wasted a good ten minutes up on this rooftop. Judging by the operational velocity of the Federation’s most elite special task force, they’ll arrive at this location in five minutes at the absolute latest.”
This timeframe closely mirrored Ston’s own estimations. After all, Zhuang Xingyu had formerly served as an exceptionally distinguished captain within the Federation’s special task forces; executing rescue missions of this exact caliber was something he had undoubtedly orchestrated countless times.
Yet perhaps even Zhuang Xingyu himself never anticipated that a day would arrive where he would transform into the target of such an operation.
Realizing his plan lay exposed, Ston offered a blank, expressionless nod and offered a helpful reminder: “Yet your wings are currently injured. Relying solely on foot travel, you won’t make it very far in five minutes.”
Zhuang Xingyu burst into laughter, his scarlet pupils flashing with a teasing glint: “Who said a damaged wing grounds me? Justice, I’m about to show you how it’s done.”
Before the echoes faded, Zhuang Xingyu abruptly hooked his arm around Ston’s waist, hauling the man tightly into his embrace. Without granting Ston a fraction of a second to react, he anchored Ston’s physique so his feet were forced clear of the deck, and sprinted like an arrow straight toward the edge of the rooftop.
Startled, Ston realized Zhuang Xingyu was still mounting a desperate resistance. Furious, he cursed mentally, then began raining heavy, unsparing punches against Zhuang Xingyu’s chest and face.
Dodging a couple of blows, Zhuang Xingyu found his evasive efficiency severely compromised by his refusal to let go of Ston, resulting in numerous punches landing squarely across his chest, jaw, and cheek, stinging him with sharp jolts of pain.
The resulting irritation prompted Zhuang Xingyu to tighten his grip with desperate, life-or-death force, squeezing Ston against his chest with enough pressure to risk inducing asphyxiation, while roaring aloud: “Damn it! I have zero desire to kill you I’m merely seizing you as a hostage! Once I’m safely away, I’ll naturally cut you loose, but if you keep playing dirty, don’t blame me if I…”
Zhuang Xingyu had intended to spit out a harsh threat warning Ston that any further tricks would earn him a one-way ticket tossed off the building structure. However, before a single syllable of the threat could clear his lips, Ston delivered a heavy, decisive punch straight across the corner of his mouth.
Because his mouth had been open mid-speech, the impact forced Zhuang Xingyu to clamp his teeth down hard upon his own tongue, instantly flooding his oral cavity with the rich, heavy taste of iron as agonizing pain shot through him.
Spatting out a mouthful of blood with a distorted grimace, Zhuang Xingyu unleashed a string of blistering curses, hoisted Ston tightly against his body, bounded onto the low perimeter parapet of the rooftop, and hurled himself out into open space.
Two grown men plummeted downward through the air at terrifying velocity, heading toward the base of a thirty-story structure in the blink of an eye. The primal, visceral terror of weightlessness stripped Ston of any remaining bandwidth to throw punches; instead, his survival instincts took over, wrapping his arms tightly around the nearest, most accessible anchor point Zhuang Xingyu’s neck while pressing his entire body instinctively flush against the other’s frame.
Amidst the howling gale, abrasive, coarse grains of sand whipped relentlessly across Ston’s exposed skin through his torn garments, scraping raw and burning with pain. His sole recourse was clinging tighter still to Zhuang Xingyu’s body, utilizing the other man’s natural body heat to shield himself against the elements.
Though the thin layer of white feathers blanketing Zhuang Xingyu’s physique possessed a bizarre, otherworldly tactile quality, Ston had to concede that being embraced by such a frame felt remarkably soft, supple, and most importantly blissfully warm.
Closing his eyes tight, Ston maintained his death-grip around Zhuang Xingyu’s neck while sheltering against his body, yet that didn’t prevent him from bellowing at the top of his lungs: “Zhuang Xingyu, you absolute lunatic! Dragging me down to die with you, you—”
Yet in the very next second, Ston’s eyes snapped wide open in sheer astonishment.
For the instant they plunged to a mere twenty meters above solid ground, Zhuang Xingyu suddenly snapped his powerful, flexible left wing outward, utilizing the aerodynamic adjustment to forcefully alter their downward trajectory and bank smoothly into horizontal low-altitude flight.
Because he possessed only a single functional wing, his fractured right wing had to trail behind, twitching and adjusting minimally through searing waves of agony, making Zhuang Xingyu’s flight path visibly labored and uneven. Yet, purely to spite and torment Ston, he kept flying while grinning wickedly: “Justice, look how panicked you were bet you’ve never gone skydiving before. No need to look so terrified; hold onto me tighter, a bit tighter still! Care to wager whether I can cover fifteen kilometers in five minutes flat?”
Recovering from the suffocating terror of impending doom, Ston panted heavily. Realizing that everything that just transpired was simply a malicious prank orchestrated by Zhuang Xingyu to exact petty revenge, his complexion turned ashen and dark, wishing he possessed a heavy artillery piece to blast this wretch straight to kingdom come.
“Hey, don’t look at me with those suspicious, murderous eyes,” Zhuang Xingyu gloated, thoroughly reveling in Ston’s expression of unmitigated fury coupled with utter helplessness at being trapped in mid-air. “You’re so delicate and frail; holding you while flying doesn’t register an ounce of weight. Ah!”
Abruptly, a sharp yelp of pain tore from Zhuang Xingyu’s throat, cutting his smug commentary right down the middle.
Because Ston’s arms were locked around Zhuang Xingyu’s neck and his legs were clamped firmly around his waist rendering all four limbs completely occupied with holding on the deeply proud and arrogant Grand Justice had resorted to uncharacteristic, unsportsmanlike warfare: he leaned forward and bit down viciously straight into Zhuang Xingyu’s ear!
Flying for less than five minutes total, Zhuang Xingyu finally reached his physical limit. He brought them down for a forced landing within a dilapidated, abandoned park, releasing Ston and collapsing weakly against a rotting, decayed tree trunk to suck in ragged breaths of air.
Ston stood upon an open patch of ground nearby, panting heavily. Though he hadn’t expended energy propelling them through the air, the harrowing roller-coaster scare orchestrated by Zhuang Xingyu, compounded by the vice-like grip around his waist during the flight, left his entire body aching and thoroughly distressed.
The two men, one seated, one standing lapsed into a heavy, silent recovery period. Finally, scanning his surroundings, Ston narrowed his eyes and demanded sharply: “Where on earth are you taking me? Why stop in a location as hazardous as this?”
Compared to rooftops frequented solely by avian pollutants, an exposed, unshielded open ground like this introduced the lethal threat of ground-dwelling mutant beasts.
Pride wounded, Zhuang Xingyu would rather die than confess that their emergency descent stemmed from his right wing screaming in agonizing pain and lacking the stamina to sustain flight; instead, he artfully deflected: “Naturally, somewhere safe for my purposes. Don’t ask so many questions just obediently cooperate until we reach the destination, and I’ll cut you loose.”
Ston narrowed his eyes, bypassing idle chatter with Zhuang Xingyu to execute a cautious, meticulous sweep of the surrounding environment.