Chapter 5: The Clash of 0.5 Seconds

“Warning: High Energy Level condensation effect detected. Danger rating C++.”

“Automatically switching to Emergency Mode. Visible light spectrum undergoing blue shift.”

With these words, Lin Lei felt his vision darken, then brighten again. The objects in the surrounding environment all took on a blue-purple halo, while on Yan Siyu’s fingertips, a cluster of deep purple light flickered, beautiful yet dangerous.

“Extracting deep human potential, constructing brain Protective Force Field. Duration 0.1 standard seconds.”

“Forcibly increasing limb muscle cell activity by three times. Duration 0.5 standard seconds.”

“Combat capability assessment: Enemy at fifteen Mohs index. Our instantaneous peak combat power is twelve Mohs index. Victory probability fluctuation range 20%-35%.”

“Victory probability too low. Activating Death Battle Mode. Primary objective: eliminate the dangerous target’s life.”

Although a long stream of information flashed through his brain, to the outside world, it was merely an extremely short instant.

Lin Lei suddenly felt a wave of incredibly powerful strength surge through his limbs. In the next instant, he rushed straight towards Yan Siyu who was standing there, with unimaginably swift speed!

“Snap!” Lin Lei saw the deep purple light on Yan Siyu’s hand strike towards his head like lightning. He couldn’t dodge at all. Immediately after, he felt a bit dizzy in his head.

“Attack energy is 0.5 Energy Level. Brain Protective Force Field deflected 0.45 Energy Level. Field collapsed. Host’s surface consciousness slightly damaged. Activating auxiliary system to adjust Host’s posture.”

At this moment, Lin Lei’s left hand formed a Phoenix Eye Fist, pointing straight at Yan Siyu’s temple, while his other hand formed a claw, targeting Yan Siyu’s fair, tender neck. If an ordinary person were hit by either strike, it would be a fatal situation.

However, Yan Siyu was no ordinary person; she was a highly evolved Aostarian, and an elite among them at that.

“Encountered high Energy Level body Protective Force Field. Energy as high as 2.85 Energy Level. Unable to forcibly break through!”

Lin Lei’s hand felt as if it had hit a ball of tough, flexible old cowhide; he simply could not pass through the air ten centimeters in front of Yan Siyu.

“Analyzing Protective Force Field attributes and frequency band. Deducing field function…”

An instant later—

“Analysis and decoding successful. Reactivating deep body potential. Injecting corresponding Destructive Force Field into right fingertips. Duration 0.1 standard seconds!”

The obstruction of the Protective Force Field was broken. Lin Lei’s right fingertips had already touched the smooth skin on Yan Siyu’s neck. He even saw Yan Siyu’s eyes wide with shock.

By this time, only 0.3 seconds had passed. The muscle enhancement time still had 0.2 seconds remaining.

Should he kill Yan Siyu and cut off the hope of escaping Earth? Or should he show mercy, let her go, and then risk being killed by her powerful counterattack in his weak state? It was a dilemma.

Forget it. Lin Lei ultimately did not tighten his fingers to destroy the beauty before his eyes.

His body swept past Yan Siyu to her back, but his hand lingered on Yan Siyu’s neck.

Thus, the situation turned into Lin Lei hugging Yan Siyu from behind, his right arm wrapped around her neck, while his left hand hung weakly at his side due to the end of the enhancement time.

Even Lin Lei’s right hand was slightly repelled by the Protective Force Field around Yan Siyu.

Yan Siyu did not move. She sensed Lin Lei’s weakness behind her, but the danger just now still left her shaken. After all, she was just an ecological observer from a Life Planet, not a warrior.

“You showed mercy. Why?” Lin Lei posed no threat now, so Yan Siyu let him hold her.

Lin Lei was extremely weak. A sense of failure emanating from his bones made him feel waves of dizziness. He could stand now only by leaning on the beautiful girl in front of him.

“You let me go first. I don’t think you can only launch an attack of 0.5 Energy Level, though that already exceeded my tolerance limit.”

“Who exactly are you? I feel like you know me, and we should be very familiar!” Yan Siyu frowned slightly, feeling very strange about the person behind her.

He looked like just an ordinary Earthling, yet he could erupt with such powerful strength capable of killing her in an instant. He felt completely different from yesterday, yet she found a trace of familiarity amidst the strangeness. All this made the brain of this high-IQ girl tie itself in knots.

Lin Lei’s nose was filled with the faint fragrance of the girl. He felt the soft touch of the girl’s body in his arms, yet his heart held no improper thoughts, instead feeling a sense of warmth. He was close to fainting.

“Si Yu, do you know? In my past life, I wanted to hold you in my arms. Now this wish has finally come true. Hehe, I feel like I possess the entire Universe…”

A faint murmur came from behind, conveying the deep affection of an ordinary Earth man, making Yan Siyu’s heart tremble slightly. She suddenly felt a weight sink behind her and hurriedly turned around, only to find that Lin Lei had lost consciousness and collapsed on the sandy ground by the river.

Yan Siyu looked seriously at Lin Lei. There was a satisfied smile on the corner of his mouth, but his brows were slightly furrowed, bearing a desolate air that an Earthling of his age should not possess. It was just like that incredibly desolate smile Lin Lei had when he first woke up in the morning class. He was out of place with this era.

Shaking her head to shake these thoughts out, Yan Siyu faced a realistic problem. What should she do now? She couldn’t just leave Lin Lei here.

Just then, a slight noise came from behind a tree a hundred meters away.

“Who is there?” Yan Siyu shouted clearly.

“It’s me, it’s me, hehe.” A large black man moved out from behind the tree. It was none other than the new P.E. teacher, Li Dasong.

“Little beauty, don’t get angry. Let me introduce myself. I am the new P.E. teacher, Li Dasong. Cough, cough. I came to the riverbank for patrol. You two, a boy and a girl alone by the river, are you talking about love? Don’t deny it, I saw it all!”

…Those words were meant to deceive ghosts. Patrol wasn’t a job for a P.E. teacher. Besides, was there such a sneaky way of patrolling?

Yan Siyu dismissed Li Dasong’s threat. Earthlings were good at opening their mouths to spin lies.

“That’s perfect. Come over and help carry Lin Lei back. He fainted.”

“What? Fainted? What happened? Didn’t I see him acting like a hero, jumping out of the school wall just now? And in just a while, he turned out like this!” Li Dasong stepped forward and looked seriously at Lin Lei lying on the ground.

“Hmm, symptoms of low blood sugar. This is a sign of extreme weakness. Little beauty, you didn’t play some trick, did you?”

Li Dasong saw it clearly from behind the tree just now. This little girl raised her hand and pointed at Lin Lei, then Lin Lei rushed up to strangle her regardless of everything, and then fell to the ground. The whole process took only ten seconds.

This Lin Lei really deserved to be a practitioner. Just that forward rush and jump earlier, his speed was like a ghost, astonishingly fast.

“It wasn’t me. Hurry up and carry him to the hospital!” Yan Siyu looked annoyed. How could this Earthling talk so much? Didn’t he see his student fainted on the ground?

Li Dasong was dazzled by the beauty Yan Siyu inadvertently displayed and forgot to ask anything. He nimbly threw the lying Lin Lei onto his back and ran away as if flying.

Yan Siyu looked at the fleeing P.E. teacher and didn’t follow. She looked at the blue sky, the green trees, and the silently flowing river. She sighed imperceptibly. It was almost time for her to leave here too.

…

Lin Lei arrived at the school clinic for the second time in a day. The one receiving him was still that old school doctor.

“Doctor, doctor, my student fainted! What should I do?” Li Dasong asked breathlessly, panting heavily.

“What happened this time? Let me see. In the morning it was injuries from a fall, and now he fainted directly. It gets more serious each time! Is this how you torment students?”

Li Dasong found it hard to explain. Lin Lei couldn’t speak now. He was facing the old school doctor’s barrage. Trying to stay silent and blend into the background was impossible. He was sweating profusely from anxiety.

“Eh? What about the wounds on his hands and feet? Wasn’t the one who fell in the morning him?” The old school doctor was surprised.

Li Dasong was surprised too, but he had a reason to explain to himself. A practitioner’s body was bound to be strong. But he wouldn’t say that. Hehe. “Doctor, the one in the morning was his twin older brother. They just look alike.”

The old school doctor said “Oh” and didn’t pursue it. At this moment, the examination results came out. Obvious low blood sugar symptoms. There was nothing to say. First, hook up a glucose drip to replenish energy.

The unconscious Lin Lei was in a hazy state. He felt cold all over. This coldness seeped out from his bones, making him want to shiver.

“System has switched to body monitoring mode. Detecting body status…”

“Blood sugar content far below normal level. Danger! Subcutaneous fat burning has started!”

“Micro-cracks appeared all over the bones. Calcium release has been blocked. Severity: Medium.”

“Muscles all over the body showing atrophy after over-excitation. Severity: Medium.”

“Body gene potential over-extracted. Energy depleted. Gene structure in danger of collapse. Extreme danger! System has started basic molecular structure reinforcement. Suggesting Level 1 Body Strengthening to completely fix gene hidden dangers!”

When the stream of information flowed past, Lin Lei couldn’t help but curse. Leaving everything else aside, that last item was as serious as it could get. Was this fighting with his life or committing suicide?

He activated the force field twice in total, for 0.2 seconds, and he ended up in this wretched state. Yet Yan Siyu kept her full-body Protective Force Field on the whole time and didn’t lose a single hair. This was the gap!

No, he had to strengthen. No man could endure this current situation!

A slight stinging pain came from the back of his hand, followed by a stream of warm liquid flowing in, making Lin Lei feel incredibly comfortable.

“Detected high-energy organic molecule C6H12O6. Starting to reserve energy. Fat burning has stopped.”

Although he still felt cold deep inside his body, his cold hands and feet had started to warm up. Lin Lei felt much better. It seemed this Emergency Mode really wasn’t meant for humans. It was strong, but it was a fighting style that injured both sides.

“Doctor, is my student okay?” Li Dasong was bored out of his mind and leaned in beside the old school doctor who was reading a book.

The old school doctor adjusted his reading glasses, looked up at the foolishly grinning Li Dasong, and said, “He’s fine. He’s just hungry. I think you’re the one with problems.”

“Ah, really? I feel great. I’ve never been sick.” This was true. Li Dasong had a strong body since childhood. He hadn’t even had a cold.

The old school doctor didn’t mention any illness. He said without looking up, “I just think it looks a bit like it. Why don’t you go to the City First Hospital and get an MRI on your head? Maybe they’ll find something.”

This… Li Dasong saw that the old school doctor was speaking seriously. He scratched his head and thought about it. Maybe he really should go check. If he had a brain tumor or something, he could discover and treat it early.

“Oh, then I’ll go to the hospital as soon as possible. Thank you.”

“Silly boy!” The old school doctor laughed muffledly, amused at his book.

At this moment, Lin Lei woke up. As soon as he woke up, he felt sore all over. He felt lazy and didn’t want to move. His mind was blank. He didn’t want to think about anything. Even turning a thought seemed tiring.

“Oh, this is… this is the school hospital. The one with graying hair over there seems to be the old school doctor from this morning. Hiss! What to do? Did he discover anything?” But this thought just flashed through Lin Lei’s mind and passed. His head didn’t want to think right now. Whatever happens, happens. A dead pig isn’t afraid of boiling water.

The old school doctor walked over and used the back of his hand to test the temperature on Lin Lei’s forehead. It felt basically normal, so he said, “You kid, your brother got injured this morning, and now you get sent in for fainting from hunger. You really are brothers in hardship.”

What brother? What brothers in hardship? Lin Lei was confused. He turned his head and saw Li Dasong winking at him furiously. Disgusted, Lin Lei understood. So this big brother had smoothed things over.

He just hummed along with the doctor’s words to show he was very weak.

“Have these symptoms appeared before?” The old school doctor was definitely responsible. He had to figure out if it was a physical condition or just a coincidence today.

“No, today is the first time. I didn’t eat breakfast. I ran 5,000 meters in P.E. class in the morning. After running, I had no appetite for lunch. Then I fainted. I woke up here.” The excuse came easily. Lin Lei knew his own situation. How could he tell the truth?

Saying he had a life-and-death clash with an Alien, and that the Alien was the school belle Yan Siyu? Only a ghost would believe that. It would be strange if they didn’t think he was mentally ill.

Hearing this, the old school doctor recognized it as a standard condition caused by low blood sugar and felt relieved. However, he still gave medical advice: “Alright. After this drip is finished, go back and have a good meal. You are growing right now, and your study burden is heavy. You can’t withstand hunger. Hmm, if you feel any discomfort, come over quickly. I think you might be slightly anemic.”

Lin Lei agreed repeatedly. He waited for a while longer. After the drip was finished, he leaned on Li Dasong’s shoulder and walked out of the school clinic.

“Where to? Dormitory, cafeteria?” Li Dasong turned his head and asked.

“Let’s find a restaurant outside school. I’m starving.”

“Alright, you wait. I’ll go get my bike. Seeing you in this state, watching you walk worries me!” Hehe, this Li Dasong was quite enthusiastic. He had helped him twice today.

…

On the way to the restaurant, Li Dasong wanted to speak several times but stopped. The words circled in his mouth and were swallowed back. Finally, he seemed to make up his mind. He braked his bike, put his foot on the ground, turned around, and said to Lin Lei, “Lin Lei, what exactly is your relationship with that Yan Siyu?” Yan Siyu’s name was famous throughout the school; there was no one who didn’t know her.

Lin Lei was startled. Could this big guy be an admirer of Yan Siyu too? Did he drag him outside to beat him up? His combat power was at the lowest point in his life right now. If that were the case, he would have to play the coward.

“No relationship. We’re just classmates and deskmates.”

Li Dasong listened, turned his body directly, and said seriously to Lin Lei, “I’m telling you seriously. I saw everything that happened by the river just now. If you tell me it’s puppy love, I don’t believe it. Puppy love doesn’t look like that. If it did, it wouldn’t be hard to ban. I’ll just tell you, that Yan Siyu is too beautiful, beautiful in a weird way.”

Lin Lei became interested. Could this big guy be so sensitive? Did he also discover Yan Siyu’s identity as an Alien?

“Brother Li, tell me, how is it weird?”

Li Dasong scratched his head and thought for a while before saying, “I can’t explain it. I’ve just never seen this kind of beauty. It feels like a fox fairy in those ghost stories, looking unreal. Do you know that feeling?”

Lin Lei nodded and said, “She is indeed overly beautiful. Brother Li, not being confused and even discovering anomalies, you are indeed a man of true temperament, hehe. But in three years of high school, there haven’t been any rumors of monsters harming people. Brother Li, you’re overthinking it.”

“Hehe, let’s not talk about it. Let’s go eat. In the future, pay attention and stay away from her. Don’t cause any more trouble. Against a monster, no matter how high your kung fu is, it won’t be enough. You took a fall today, didn’t you?”

Lin Lei was speechless. This guy was convinced he was a practitioner.