Han Sen was still troubled, thinking about how he might convince Li Xinglun and Philip to attack the royal shelter. Right now, Qi Xiuwen had volunteered to rally their support, saving Han Sen some trouble.
Convincing Li Xinglun and Philip would not be easy. They still had the problem of the silver beetles to sort out, after all. Without full support from both of them, taking on the royal shelter would be impossible.
Back in the Alliance, the Daphne was still under repairs. It made him wonder if he'd ever further his military career and take on more missions.
The unicorn beetle was slowly climbing inside a cage Han Sen had made, so he lay down and watched it for a while. He could not figure out whether was it was a life form of the Crystallizers or an invention of Crystallizer technology?
If it was created by Crystallizer technology, Han Sen couldn't see the point in this weak thing. However, if it was Crystallizer life, and they were the ones who created civilization, how could it not have intelligence?
Han Sen had read a lot of books regarding the Crystallizer, but he could not find out anything about this beetle.
"Still looking? Did you find out where this thing comes from?" Ji Yanran entered, lay down near Han Sen and observed the beetle on the table.
"Nope. I have no idea." Han Sen shook his head and turned around to look at Ji Yanran. He smiled and said, "My dear Captain Ji, how have you spared some time to come see me?"
"Please don't be mad, but I really have been awfully busy lately. I know you are the best." Ji Yanran reached her hand out to touch Han Sen's face and giggled. She then said, "Your skin becomes the envy of every woman. Whatever magic pills you are taking, please share them with me."
"There are no magic pills, sorry." Han Sen moved her hand away gently.
"I don't believe you. If you didn't take pills, what about the smell? You possess such a pleasant scent, but you also say you don't use perfume. Don't tell me a stinky man can smell good." Ji Yanran's face drew closer to Han Sen's neck. She sniffed the tantalizing scent with her nose, which refreshed her.
Han Sen was thinking of something to say, but all of a sudden, he shivered. Ji Yanran brought out her tongue and licked his neck. Holding his jaw in a flirty way, she said, "Pretty boy, you better tell me. Don't make me punish you."
"Hmm. I'll die before I tell you," Han Sen responded.
"Then don't take it out on me for being cruel to you." Ji Yanran's mouth opened, and she gently dug her teeth into Han Sen's neck, leaving teeth marks. Then, she brought her face upwards, sealing Han Sen's lips with her own.
Han Sen decided to visit the training room to work on his Dual Fly while he was still feeling good. Then, he went on Skynet and entered the official battlegrounds.
It had been a while since he last logged on and this time, no one was sending him invites requesting a duel. It looked as if people had given up on him, which made sense, since it had been several months since he last came online.
Han Sen decided to use system automatch, and he was quickly introduced to an opponent. When that person saw Han Sen's ID, he was extremely happy. The first thing he did was send a group message to his friends, telling them, "Guys, I matched with Kill Dollar. Come take a look!"
"Holy smokes! Is that legit?"
"Wang, you're not lying, right?"
"I'm coming!"
"Is that really Dollar?"
Many people entered the lobby to watch. After seeing Han Sen's ID, they were all super excited, and everyone kept extending invites to their own friends.
"Guys, come look! Dollar is back."
"Dollar is getting ready to battle. Quick!"
Word quickly spread, and the venue was packed to the brim with people. Han Sen had hoped to have a quiet duel, seeing as it had been so long. But after randomly matchmaking, a rabid audience had turned out in droves before the countdown had even finished.
When the countdown was over, Han Sen and his opponent entered the arena. The man who was to fight Han Sen said, "Dollar, although I am fond of your battle style, I won't go easy on you. I will do my best to beat you, in a showing of the respect I have for you."
"Good." Han Sen had no prepared response. This was only going to be a virtual battle—did things have to be so prim and proper? Did things have to be so wild?
After the man said this, he went to punch Han Sen. The fists came at him thick and fast, with a fair amount of power packed into each.
"Light Thrust Punch? Not bad." Han Sen was quick to move and dodge the attack, of course.
Light Thrust Punch was the weaker variant of Medium Thrust Punch. Due to its lesser power, it was quicker, but it wasn't as fast as Spike Jab. When performed correctly, Light Thrust Punch could be cast consecutively, locking an opponent into a position where they could only defend and not attack. Its ability to stun-lock was special in this regard.
"Haha! I got you good. That wasn't Light Thrust Punch; it was Mechanical Fist." After this, the person's whole body began to move. All of a sudden, his body transformed into a lethal weapon. His fists, legs, back, elbows, butt, feet and knees became terrifying weapons, attacking Han Sen simultaneously without reprieve.
Han Sen was surprised, not expecting to come across another elite who knew how to use Mechanical Fist. Although it was the most popular fist skill, it was incredibly difficult to learn and even harder to master. You needed a very high amount of fitness and practice points to use it, so the number of people that were able to take advantage of the skill was quite low.
Mechanical Fist was all about turning your body into some sort of a machine, using every part of your composition to fight.
Han Sen had once seen a video of an elite who was exceptional at using Mechanical Fist, and could use only his hair to take out an opponent of the same rank. It was a weird thing to see.
Earlier, Han Sen saw that his opponent's ID was "Dancer." He thought he was going to use rather big, open skills to fight. He did not expect him to use the strange and delicate skills - Mechanical Fist.
Dancer's body showed no restraint as he continued to attack. This strong move outperformed every other fist skill there was, too.
When the fist moved, the elbow moved. When the elbow moved, the shoulder moved. When the shoulder moved, the body moved. When the Dancer got in range of Han Sen, he could keep attacking. Although the attacks looked strange, they were performed with incredible finesse.
With this creepy, raging attack, Han Sen could only fall back and dodge Dancer's assault.
"This is a powerful Mechanical Fist. Who is this Dancer? He is very good. He even seems to be suppressing Dollar, robbing him of his ability to fight back."
"Don't you know him? Last time he came third in the Alliance's silver fist fight. His Mechanical Fist is pretty awesome."
"Really?"
"Sacred-blood royals don't have weak people. To be able to go up against someone like Dollar, you'd have to be an elite."
Dancer was being really cocky in his heart, as this was the exact sort of reaction he had hoped to receive. If he could beat Dollar, the fame of his name was sure to spread far and wide.
But Dancer did not want to be heard for the purpose of simple vanity, it was for the betterment of his family's training business. They focused on training Mechanical Fist, and if he could use this skill to beat Han Sen, they would build up the reputation of the business and receive a lot more income.