Counterfeit Hero

The shock wave instantly tore the clothes on Fatty’s back into shreds, and several shards that pierced through the bed board left gaping wounds in his back, embedding themselves into his flesh. Almost in an instant, he turned into a blood-soaked figure, with singed hair and a horrific appearance.

Suppressing the unbearable pain, he climbed up. Beneath him, Helen’s eyes were wide with horror. Fatty forced a smile, his expression hideous, with tears brimming in his eyes, and his whole body shivering violently. In his heart, there was an uncontrollable fear. If it weren’t for the large, heavy, palace-style wooden bed in the bedroom blocking most of the explosion, he believed he would be a dead man by now.

Fatty knew that Kubo would strike sooner or later. He could even guess the timing of Kubo’s attack. Especially after seeing those mercenaries hidden within the crowds on the street, Fatty was convinced of his suspicion.

By sheer coincidence, if not for another Mecha Team intercepting Absolute Kill Stream’s Hariman, he should have ’disappeared’ under the attack of the Bandit Army Mecha Team by now! In a few hours, he should be aboard the Magic Cube, looting wantonly while watching the show.

Everything is totally messed up!

The intense pain was unbearable for Fatty any longer. His lips quivered, and tears, snot, and saliva uncontrollably trickled down to Helen’s chest below him.

As a coward, the reflex to pounce on Helen was not Fatty’s instinct.

Since his cowardly escape when he encountered hooligans with Ann Lei as a child, Fatty had often locked himself up at home, training actions opposite to his fear. Back then, he was just a kid in his teens, far from mentally mature. Facing his inner fear, he desperately tried to make himself strong and brave, to become unyieldingly heroic.

But all of this was easier said than done.

As a child who didn’t understand courage, he could only encourage himself repeatedly with a diehard spirit. Watching horror movies, standing up to big kids while mustering his courage, again and again, trying to stand firmly amidst the fear and trembling.

It wasn’t until later that Fatty realized, no one wants to be a martyr or a hero. Those heroes who sacrifice themselves heroically, at the moment of facing life and death, have a mind blank. Their beliefs and morals, their responsibilities drive them to conquer the fear of death.

Better to die on one’s feet than live on one’s knees!

Fatty grabbed Helen, dragging the now completely dazed woman, scrambling and crawling out of the bedroom already ablaze with fierce fire.

Helen let herself be pulled by Fatty, and although her mind was blank, she didn’t forget to grab the mini camera that had fallen by the door as they left.

War is bloody and brutal.

However, when that rocket exploded nearby and the plump, somewhat clumsy figure pounced on her like a fierce tiger, pressing her down firmly, Helen felt a kind of soul-stirring thrill from the depths of her soul.

Being held by the blood-covered Fatty, swiftly passing through the smoke-filled corridors, running through the trembling building due to the explosion, hearing the seemingly close whizzing of bullets, dodging burning, toppled furniture, Helen knew that this scene would be unforgettable for her lifetime.

Human memory often vividly recalls the most dangerous moments.

But this memory, however, had nothing to do with life and death.

In the fire and explosions, holding that thick hand, following that broad figure, this was a bloody romance. For a woman, what could be more fulfilling and satisfying than following a man who risked his life to save her?

Running quickly to the passageway leading to the Mechanical Training Ground of the backyard, Fatty stopped, peeked around, and saw that the attackers were still blocked outside the Mechanical Armor Hall by the armed trainees. He let out a sigh of relief. Not knowing what happened to the three silly elders standing at the doorway, with this thought in mind, he turned and looked at Helen, only to be shocked.

Helen’s eyes were glistening, staring affectionately and blankly at his face...

Damn it!

Fatty, who was insensitive to romance, grabbed Helen’s cheeks with both hands, anxiously shaking her: ”Wake up, hey, silly woman, what are you dazing off for at this moment, scared stiff? Wake the hell up!”

.........

The bandit army was a new force.

A typical mixed army formed at the pirate base, composed of various different groups of people.

No one could understand how these pirates and soldiers, with completely different worldviews, values, and personality traits, were melded together.

Only those who witnessed how these people trained under that Fatty every day knew it was a kind of metamorphosis, akin to a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. It was a transformation, where dignity and faith accumulated bit by bit through extremely harsh training.

Whether former pirates or Leray Warriors, they were all tightly united.

Surviving in war, fighting desperately for the legacy of their genes. In this vast universe, leaving a personal mark in their brief lives. This simple and straightforward belief had been deeply rooted in the heart of each person through rigorous training.