Chapter 5: I Get 1TB Seeds
Ye Lin was ready to set off for the Red Ribbon Army's southern division base, which intelligence indicated was formerly under the command of General Blue.
Siruba posed a threat, one Ye Lin could not afford to leave unchecked. If this cancer of the Red Ribbon wasn't excised, Yage Village would eventually become collateral damage in their pursuit of domination and android research.
Ye Lin unrolled a wrinkled tactical map he had confiscated from the defeated Red Ribbon redhead guards. Using a marker, he circled the precise coordinates of the enemy facility—a remote outpost near the ruins of Muscle Tower, not far from Jingle Village.
"Boss, what's our next target?" Kiraen asked with visible curiosity, his wings folding and unfolding restlessly behind him.
"We're going to collect some heads I've marked for reaping," Ye Lin replied coolly, marking a series of Xs on the map. "After that, things are going to get messy. Don't slow me down, Kiraen."
Despite having accepted Kiraen as a subordinate, Ye Lin still couldn't be sure if the creature's submission was genuine or merely opportunistic self-preservation.
"The boss's enemies are my enemies!" Kiraen declared solemnly. "I'm your gun, your blade! I'll be the first to charge, just say the word!"
"Enough with the bootlicking. Keep up if you can."
With a sudden sonic boom, Ye Lin used Shave—a technique derived from high-speed movement principles, similar to Goku's early Burst Speed and the Afterimage Fist. His body vanished, leaving only airshock ripples behind. Kiraen flapped his wings frantically, struggling to keep up.
Kiraen's heart trembled. Despite pushing his maximum aerial acceleration, he could barely track Ye Lin's afterimages. The difference in power was undeniable—Ye Lin had moved beyond what Kiraen thought was possible for a human.
"Boss Ye Lin… is truly unfathomable."
Kiraen's admiration deepened. Any remaining ideas of rebellion dissolved entirely, buried under layers of awe and fear.
After extensive use, Ye Lin discovered that Shave did not drain stamina like the high-output Spiral Pill. Unlike the Rasengan-style technique—which consumed enormous ki reserves and had daily use limitations—Shave only required momentary bursts of leg strength and ki control. That efficiency made it ideal for sustained combat raids.
…
Red Ribbon Army – Siruba Division Base
After receiving reports that his elite red-haired guards had been annihilated, Colonel Siruba, an officer promoted in the wake of General Blue's failure was enraged. Rather than hiding, he chose confrontation.
Siruba assembled over two hundred troops, all lined up in tight formation in the training yard. These soldiers were outfitted with high-grade RRA flak jackets, automatic rifles modeled after the classic Red Ribbon SMGs, and scouter visors designed using remnants of Dr. Gero's technology.
Siruba, clad in a modified blue officer's coat with the red ribbon insignia prominently displayed over his left breast, barked with venom:
"A backwater hick village dared to challenge our might? This is treason against the Red Ribbon Legion's legacy! Level Yage Village! And that martial artist Ye Lin—tear him limb from limb!"
He slammed his gloved fist into his palm, eyes burning with hatred and the lust for payback.
"Beeeeep! BEEEEEEP!"
The base sirens wailed. Red strobe lights bathed the room in flashing alarm.
"Colonel Siruba! Two unidentified intruders just breached the outer gate!"
A soldier sprinted in, saluted, and gave his report. Siruba's expression twisted with fury.
"Two?! That damned Ye Lin actually came to my doorstep? Brazen fool! All units deploy! Gun that bastard down until nothing's left but scraps for the vultures!"
Siruba's rage intensified as he recalled Ye Lin's audacious message carved into the chestplate of his downed guard: "Next time, I'm coming for you."
…
Ye Lin stood calmly before the Red Ribbon base a massive, ovoid structure covered in defensive plating. The iconic red "R" was emblazoned across the structure like a target begging to be hit.
Around the facility stood a high-security wall lined with automated turrets and security cameras. But the defenses meant nothing. Kiraen flew forward with a snarl and smashed the reinforced gate with a charged ki punch, scattering metal and circuitry like paper confetti.
"Make way, trash," Kiraen growled, stepping aside as Ye Lin walked in.
The base's low-level guards swarmed out to meet them, but they were no more effective than the Red Ribbon's Muscle Tower infantry. Kiraen mowed through them with monstrous ease his mutated physiology and ki-enhanced strength rendering him a walking disaster.
These cannon fodder troops, once meant to guard Dr. Gero's cybernetics labs and secret vaults, were now little more than warm-up targets for Ye Lin's true objective.
The real battle was about to begin.
At this moment, the base erupted into chaos as dozens of mechanized gates opened simultaneously, releasing wave after wave of Red Ribbon Army soldiers. Clad in black combat armor and equipped with advanced firearms modified by leftover tech from Dr. Gero's abandoned Android program, they quickly surrounded the intruders.
Hundreds of rifles plasma-type semi-autos and classic RRA submachine guns were locked and aimed squarely at Ye Lin and Kiraen. Their red monocle-like scouter visors gleamed ominously.
"Ye Lin!" a voice rang out with poisonous contempt, "You're more reckless than I imagined. Walking straight into my territory… you've signed your death warrant!"
Colonel Siruba stepped from behind the ranks. He wore a sharp navy officer's coat reinforced with bio-fiber plating and slung a submachine gun in each hand. His scarred jaw tightened into a crooked smile, the kind that spoke of absolute confidence in firepower.
With this many guns trained on him, not even a fighter with Goku's toughness could survive, he thought smugly.
Kiraen instinctively stepped forward, wings flaring as he positioned himself between Ye Lin and the barrage of gun barrels, acting as a living shield.
DING!
"System Task Triggered: Eliminate Red Ribbon Southern Division Base – Difficulty: Easy. Reward: One God-Level Lottery Draw!"
Ye Lin's lips curled upward in a smirk. This was exactly the kind of chaos he had been anticipating—getting to trash the Red Ribbon and earn a juicy reward at the same time.
"Kiraen, step back. Watch carefully. This is what it means to follow someone worthy."
Startled, Kiraen nodded and shifted to the side, still keeping a wary eye on the soldiers.
Ye Lin stepped forward, his stride slow but purposeful as he advanced toward Siruba and his battalion. The dust shifted under his feet as the pressure in the air began to rise.
"Didn't I warn you already? I told you to wash your neck and wait. But you" Ye Lin's voice rang with contempt, " you thought I'd fear your little collection of popguns?"
Siruba's grin twitched. The memory of his elite red-haired guards being obliterated still lingered. Even the contract mercenary, Hong Xiong, a cyborg-enhanced killer-for-hire, had perished at Ye Lin's hands. A flicker of unease passed through the colonel's eyes.
Could this man… actually surpass ordinary martial artists? Could he even rival… the android prototypes?!
Siruba's brief hesitation was all Ye Lin needed. A smirk crossed his face—he vanished in an explosive burst of Shave, leaving a shockwave and a sonic boom in his place.
"Open fire! Kill him! Now!!"
Siruba roared, panic cracking through his voice. The soldiers responded with a thunderous hail of bullets.
But Ye Lin had already condensed a spiraling orb of glowing energy in his palm—a shimmering cyan sphere nearly the size of a van, humming with tightly coiled ki.
"Ōdama Rasengan!" (Great Jade Spiral Pill)
As the bullets raced toward him, the swirling spiral of ki drew them in and effortlessly deflected them with its rotating force. The whine of ricochets filled the air.
BOOM!!!
The massive impact detonated on the frontline, kicking up a cyclone of dust, concrete, and shattered tech. The shockwave leveled a swath of the base perimeter.
When the dust finally settled, a two-meter-deep crater had been carved into the ground. At the center, only Ye Lin remained standing—his body calm and upright.
All around him, Red Ribbon soldiers lay unconscious or worse, scattered like discarded dolls. Siruba had been blown backward, his body embedded halfway into a reinforced steel wall. His head slumped forward lifelessly, blood running down the insignia on his uniform. No breath escaped his lips.
Kiraen's eyes were wide, his heart pounding. That sheer pressure—he had never seen anything like it, not even among the genetic monsters of the Red Ribbon's failed experiments.
"Boss is mighty! The boss is invincible!" Kiraen bellowed in stunned admiration.
Ye Lin casually dusted off his sleeves. "Siruba wasn't strong. He just hid behind numbers and steel. This much power is barely worth warming up."
Then, the System's Lottery Box appeared mid-air, shimmering in every color. It spun rapidly before spitting out a single glowing white capsule.
Ye Lin raised an eyebrow as he caught it.
"Congratulations! You've received an E-rank prize: 1TB of Seed Resources!"
"...Are you serious?" Ye Lin muttered. "This is a reward? Total scam!"
A small USB-like flash drive materialized in his hand with the words "1TB Seed Collection" printed on its shell. Ye Lin almost hurled it across the battlefield.
He sighed. "I knew E-rank rewards were trash, but this is basically a glorified anime hard drive. What am I supposed to do with this?"
Even the system's voice sounded a little sheepish, as if it, too, was embarrassed.
Still, Ye Lin pocketed the device. If nothing else, it might make a decent paperweight.
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