...
The Power Armor Maintenance Base in the teleportation zone of Canaan Star Martial Arts University.
This was where all Warband members came to rest and perform equipment maintenance after completing high-intensity missions.
A faint smell of smelted metal and energy conduction permeated the air.
Massive mechanical arms moved slowly through the air, precisely delivering sets of battle-damaged Power Armor into fully automated repair bays.
Qin Feng’s figure appeared on the Teleportation Platform.
He didn’t return directly to his dorm, but came here instead.
His "Minglong I-type" Power Armor, which had accompanied him for over ten years and was already covered in scars, was on the verge of being scrapped after the bloody battle against the Green-skinned Army.
The armor was covered in savage slash marks and the scorch marks of explosive rounds.
A huge gash on the pauldron, carved by a Green-skinned Elite Veteran, had almost completely destroyed the shoulder’s structure. The entire front of the armor was torn open by the Green Skin Lord’s Power Claw.
And its core energy system had long since fallen silent, its power completely depleted.
He needed to give his "comrade-in-arms" a complete overhaul and resupply here.
He skillfully operated the terminal, sending the Power Armor into the highest-grade repair channel.
Fortunately, it was all free of charge.
This was a special privilege Canaan Star Martial Arts University offered its students.
While waiting for the repairs, Qin Feng leaned against a nearby alloy wall and closed his eyes to rest.
The experiences of the past year or so flowed through his mind like a bizarre, fantastical dream.
From a hopeless situation of certain death to a miraculous, heaven-sent rescue;
From utter confusion about the Ten-Complete Hand to sudden enlightenment under Master Sun’s personal guidance...
Just then, a large teleportation ring not far from Qin Feng suddenly flared with a brilliant light.
Three familiar figures strode out from within.
They still carried the lingering scent of blood and fire from a brutal battle just fought.
Qin Feng’s eyes slowly opened.
His gaze fell upon the three of them, and a trace of warmth from a long-awaited reunion surfaced in his eyes.
Those three were his closest friends, from whom he had been separated for over ten years—Shi Potian, Tie Mu, and Xiong Yanfu.
In the ten years since they’d last met, the three had changed dramatically.
Shi Potian’s arms, which had been severed due to Shi Dang’s betrayal, had long since been regrown using top-tier regeneration technology.
He now wore a suit of heavy, defense-oriented, special-issue Power Armor, and his eyes were deeper and steadier than before. He stood like a bedrock that had weathered millennia of wind and frost, exuding an air of immense reliability.
The same was true for Xiong Yanfu.
His lower body, once severed at the waist, had also been perfectly regenerated.
His physique was now even more burly and robust than before.
He was grinning, a hint of post-mission fatigue on his face, but his eyes shone with a vibrant, flame-like vitality.
As for the ever-taciturn Tie Mu, his change was the smallest, yet also the greatest.
His build was still lean and powerful, his expression still stern.
But his eyes no longer held the deep-seated pain of the past. Instead, they were like drawn swords, razor-sharp and brimming with unstoppable Battle Intent.
Ten years was long enough to change so much.
They were no longer the somewhat naive freshmen they had once been.
Now, every one of them was a true "veteran" who could hold his own.
From the naivete of their first steps on Canaan to their current calm and reliability.
In the blink of an eye, more than fifty years had passed.
’Time really does fly.’
The sentiment arose in Qin Feng’s heart as he gazed at his three close friends.
Against the backdrop of a vast and boundless Cosmos measured in light-years, time was different for powerful individuals like them, whose life forms had long since transcended the mundane. A decade, or even a century, was as fleeting as a dream, passing in the blink of an eye.
Shi Potian and the other two noticed Qin Feng leaning against the wall as well.
Expressions of delighted surprise appeared on their faces simultaneously.
"Qin Feng?!"
Xiong Yanfu’s booming voice was the first to ring out.
They strode over quickly. The four were reunited, their eyes filled with a joy and understanding that needed no words.
They clapped each other on the shoulder.
Then, they fell into a strange, yet perfectly harmonious, silence.
As if by unspoken agreement, no one mentioned that taboo name—Shi Dang.
That name was a shared, unhealable scar on all their hearts.
They didn’t need words to remind each other of their goal of vengeance.
For that monstrous hatred had already seeped into their blood and been carved into their very marrow. It had become the most primal motivation for each of them to train frantically over the past ten years.
They simply chatted about recent, unimportant things.
But between the lines, each was showing the others the fruits of his labor over the past decade.
"The three of us finally finished that damn ’Aperture Merging’."
Shi Potian was the first to speak, his tone calm. "For the last ten years, we’ve spent nearly all our time buried in missions. The rewards from the Warband ranking tournament are truly generous. Once this tournament is completely over, the three of us plan to use our saved-up Contribution Points to buy a Mental Power control technique. After that, we’ll officially start making a push for the realm of a sixth-level Sky Soaring Martial Artist."