Chapter 226 : Chapter 226 We can go home now
Herta's heart was shaking violently, and she had no time to ponder any coincidences.
In her vision, all that remained was Qi Zhimu carrying her out of the deep sea and onto a patch of scorched earth.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but scalding lava and raging flames.
Qi Zhimu didn't have the luxury to observe the dangers around him; the first thing he did after landing was to save her.
His tense face only relaxed slightly once she woke up.
Having survived the ordeal, Herta was weak to the extreme; even saying a few words was incredibly difficult.
Qi Zhimu knew the road ahead was long and decided to use all of his slowly recovering Abundance Power on Herta, leaving his own mangled wounds exposed to the high heat.
He hoisted the girl onto his back, secured her with a specific rope, and then resolutely set off.
A Lava Monster roared and blocked their path; they couldn't leave without killing it.
When the battle subsided, Qi Zhimu had severe burns across a large area of his chest and abdomen, emitting a strange smell of char and cooked meat.
They entered a world ravaged by hurricanes, where agile cheetahs lurked in the wind, each wind blade carving deep, bone-deep bloody gashes into Qi Zhimu's body.
Even so, he never let a single wind blade touch the girl on his back.
The enemies were too fast, so Qi Zhimu could only resort to a life-risking strategy, intentionally leaving an opening.
The moment a bloody maw was about to bite through his throat, he smashed an elbow into its face like a lightning bolt, shattering the cheetah's head with brute force.
The price was a mangled elbow and flowing blood.
Clinging to his back, Herta witnessed all of this personally.
After experiencing the world of flames, she could no longer shed a single tear.
She was well-protected by Qi Zhimu, yet she could not be immune to the erosion of the harsh environment.
If Qi Zhimu hadn't been using Abundance Power to protect her every second, she would have likely died long ago.
But even so, Herta's current state was very uncomfortable.
Qi Zhimu moved rapidly during combat, causing immense jolting; she had fainted several times from the inertia.
"Ugh..."
Qi Zhimu let out a muffled groan full of pain.
His knees buckled, and he finally couldn't hold on, half-kneeling on the gravel ground, breathing heavily.
The girl could only see his unrecognizable profile and his cracked, pale lips.
"...Are you okay?" Herta whispered in a barely audible voice; listening closely, one could hear the sob within it.
Qi Zhimu forced a smile, feigning calmness.
"During the years trapped in the Memory-Substance World, I spent every waking moment strengthening my body and practicing swordplay and boxing."
"Although I can't handle crises as gracefully as the young mage in fairy tales, at least... I can protect you now."
"Don't worry, Little Ta, I said I would take you home."
"I... ugh..."
Blood clogged his throat, but Qi Zhimu forced it back down, trying his best to suppress the trembling in his voice.
"I am... very strong..."
Herta, clinging to his back, knew exactly how bad Qi Zhimu's current state was, even though she couldn't see his face.
But the Herta floating like a ghost saw it clearly—clearer than anything.
One of Qi Zhimu's eyes, which had been injured before, was now blind; the corner of his remaining right eye was stuck with blood scabs, and the pupil was filled with fine blood vessels.
Even more terrifying were the several crisscrossing wounds on his chest, where his ribs were faintly visible.
The skin tissue on his lower abdomen had died from high-temperature burns, a shocking sight.
"...Brother Zhimu, don't act like the tsundere young mage in the stories, okay? Little Ta isn't stupid..."
"Stop moving for a bit, can we rest for a while? Just a little while..."
The girl's tone was almost pleading.
"...There isn't much time, we can't rest."
Since a long time ago, Qi Zhimu almost never refused any of the girl's requests.
But this time, he firmly shook his head.
The words he spoke made the Hertas from different timelines choke up simultaneously.
"It's already ridiculous enough that the Azure Star has to rely on a 15-year-old girl to save it..."
"There isn't much I can do for you now, and I can't guarantee anything else, but I have the confidence to do one thing—"
"I will take you back."
"...As a man, if I can't do something, I will absolutely not say it."
Without giving Herta time to speak again, Qi Zhimu stood up tremblingly and took another heavy step forward.
The enemies encountered in each subsequent world left even more wounds on Qi Zhimu's body.
His senses had long since gone numb, supported entirely by obsession.
Gradually, the situation became so dire that even Herta was injured, with blood dripping from her fingertips onto Qi Zhimu's shoulder.
The moment he felt that warm blood, Qi Zhimu's only remaining right eye instantly turned bloodshot.
A terrifying power erupted from nowhere as he smashed an Earth-element dragon creature in front of him into pieces with a single punch.
Before he could catch his breath, a bone claw reaching out from a void rift hooked out several of his intestines, nearly cutting him in half at the waist.
Seeing the attack coming again, Qi Zhimu's figure suddenly lunged forward, reaching the center of the debris and shattering the crystal dropped by the dragon's corpse with a kick.
A spatial portal emerged, swallowing the two of them.
When the surrounding chaos finally subsided and the coordinates aligned, Qi Zhimu looked up.
"Look, Little Ta, the spaceship... we can go home..."
Qi Zhimu's voice was no longer clear; it was hoarse and dry, sounding like the weakness of someone on the verge of death.
But his remaining eye was exceptionally bright. Even though his vision was severely impaired and the spaceship appeared as an afterimage, he couldn't hide his excitement.
"Just hold on a little longer!"
It was unclear whether he was saying this to Herta or to himself.
"...Little Ta?"
There was silence on his back; it seemed even her breathing had disappeared.
Qi Zhimu's expression changed drastically, and he frantically felt for the side of her neck.
Feeling a weak, thumping pulse, he didn't breathe a sigh of relief; instead, the panic on his face intensified.
He subconsciously tried to mobilize Abundance Power, but he couldn't squeeze out even a single drop.
You must not!!
Qi Zhimu's hair actually turned white at a speed visible to the naked eye.
At the same time, a bright green fluorescence enveloped Herta.
It seemed... he was using an unknown method to extract his own life force and transform it into the power needed to heal Herta.
Only when Herta's breathing became steady did he stumble toward the spaceship, opening the hatch and boarding it.
He painstakingly changed Herta into a spare protective suit and fastened the triple safety belts.
After doing all this, he collapsed into the pilot's seat, exhausted, and started the spaceship's engine to speed away.
"..."
Looking at the white-haired Qi Zhimu, Herta could no longer suppress her emotions which were on the brink of collapse; tears poured down like a fountain.
She had not forgotten that among the enemies they encountered were The Propagation Stingbugs.
Fortunately, only a small swarm of bugs appeared, looking to be only about a hundred or so.
While Qi Zhimu piloted the spaceship to dodge the Stingbugs' attacks, he continuously retaliated.
After a long struggle, they finally eliminated all the Stingbugs.
Unfortunately, the spaceship still sustained significant damage, and the urgent sound of alarms echoed through the cabin.
[Warning! Energy leak!]
[Warning! Energy leak!]
[Warning...]