Ling Kuang only stopped in a place where there was no one else before he slightly furrowed his brows and looked at the girl in front of him. Then Lin Muci heard him take the initiative to ask her.
"Why are you here?"
Being asked this, Lin Muci actually felt a little guilty.
"I--"
"I'm just looking around."
But Ling Kuang turned his face. His gaze seemed to see through everything, and he directly asked Lin Muci.
"Does your father allow you to run out like this?"
Lin Muci fell silent at his question, she stopped talking. Wasn't this exactly why she felt so guilty!
Ling Kuang then said to her.
"I was planning to look for you anyway. Have you heard about the matter with the Mech Academy?"
Lin Muci's spirits immediately lifted.
"Is it about the rumor of executing a special mission?"
"Of course I've heard. It's said that students from the Mech Academy were selected to go with a general of the military..."
Before she could finish speaking, the man opposite her narrowed his eyes. A hint of melancholy appeared on his exceptionally handsome face. Then he grasped the girl's chin and said.
"You are not allowed to go."
His words were incredibly firm, like a warning. Lin Muci didn't buy it at all. Upon hearing him say she couldn't go, she immediately raised her head huffily and challenged him.
"Why am I not allowed to go?"
"I am going!"
The man opposite her then said.
"Because that is not a trap or a good opportunity to earn merit at all. Those idiots in the military think the Zerg in that place are easy to deal with, so they are having the general lead the students there to gain experience, and even planning to broadcast it live to boost the military's prestige..."
Ling Kuang's expression gradually darkened. After a long while, he raised his eyebrows again and said with a chilling tone.
"The people in the military are dreaming."
"The people in the military are seeking death. They have no idea what kind of hell that place has become. It's impossible to gain anything there!"
The girl was still a bit confused.
"Hell?"
"Aren't you being a bit excessive saying that?"
"With the current technological level of the central planet, it's unlikely they would miscalculate."
"They say there are Zerg in that place... but they should only be some low-level Zerg, easy to deal with."
Ling Kuang looked at the innocent little girl in front of him, at her confused eyes. Ling Kuang's eyelashes trembled slightly, but his tone revealed a bone-chilling coldness.
"Low-level Zerg that are easy to deal with?"
"They thought that research institute was ordinary back then too. But I went, and I was faced with combat Zerg that had evolved to almost their ultimate form. If I had been a moment later, if I hadn't destroyed that research institute, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
"Then, that entire star domain would have fallen, and all living beings would have suffered."
"But the military doesn't take this kind of threat seriously. They think I'm exaggerating."
"They are arrogant and complacent, thinking the Zerg are still nothing to be reckoned with..."
Ling Kuang let out a scoff. His eyes were filled with icy coldness, like snowflakes in the freezing cold that could pierce directly into one's heart.
"Arrogance is a sin in itself."
"Moreover, the military has been too peaceful for too long and is completely unprepared for true terror."
"They are so arrogant that they would send students, so arrogant that they would broadcast it live. If the people of the central planet were truly to face the fear of the Zerg returning, I can't be sure what would happen."
Ling Kuang slowly raised his gaze.
The coldness in his eyes gradually spread. He said.
"But the only thing I am sure of is that you cannot go."
He looked at the girl in front of him, gently reached out, and held her fair, delicate wrist.
"That is not a place you should go."
The girl was silent for a while, then suddenly said softly.
"Then if--"
Her tone suddenly became resolute, and she said.
"If I really want to go?"
"Why should I hide? Just because I'm a female beast, should I be protected, watching the front lines people bleed and fight from the safest place?"
She pursed her lips, and then her answer was.
"Then I can't do that."
The person opposite her said.
"Even if you have destiny, destiny is not truly born for the battlefield. If you were to witness that scene, you would regret it. You'd be better off staying on the central planet; everything would be fine. Why risk your life?"
He reached out and grasped the girl's wrist. The girl stopped talking. Ling Kuang glanced at her.
"Circumstances create heroes, but heroes are never easy to be."
"Countless people who have died once dreamed of becoming heroes."
Lin Muci looked at him. She was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked.
"Can I see your mech?"
"I want to see your 'Burning Heart'."
The young man probably felt that his previous tone had been too harsh.
So, hearing Lin Muci's request again, he couldn't refuse it. He hesitated for a moment, and finally, in front of her, he summoned the mech Burning Heart!
Lin Muci silently looked at the mech Burning Heart.
Its obsidian-black exterior was covered in irreparable scars. Judging by its appearance alone, one might feel that this mech was not glamorous enough and appeared extremely ordinary. It was even hard to imagine that such an ordinary, scarred mech could be the legendary divine-grade mech.
She was silent for a moment, wanting to reach out and touch it, but Ling Qianhe stopped her.
"It's best not to touch it. This mech has been cursed, and only I can pilot it."
Lin Muci hesitated for a moment. She suddenly remembered that she carried her destiny with her, so she took two steps back and summoned her own mech, Destiny!
She did it casually, but she never expected that the moment her mech Destiny was summoned, the mech Burning Heart in front of her underwent a mysterious change. This Burning Heart began to emit a soft, faint black glow, and this black glow continuously spread outwards.
Lin Muci was a little surprised, not knowing what was happening.
"What is this?"
She looked up at Ling Kuang.
Ling Kuang also shook his head. This was because he had never seen his mech react like this before. He slightly furrowed his brows, also wondering what had happened. The light from the mech gradually expanded, and then the system installed on the mech emitted an automatic prompt.
"Special mech detected, activating special mode."
"Mech is beginning to evolve automatically... Please wait a moment..."
"Evolution complete."
"New mech functions activated."
Lin Muci was slightly stunned—then she felt a suction force towards her ear. She was only momentarily stunned before she was drawn towards the mech. Then Burning Heart opened its cockpit door, as if welcoming her inside!
She froze.
Ling Kuang's eyes were cold. He watched Lin Muci, remained silent for a moment, then spoke.
"My mech is welcoming you."
"I haven't seen this situation before either... But this mech is indeed very special and requires very high mental strength to pilot."
"Since this mech is welcoming you, then—there's no harm in you going in to take a look."