Gundam: A Deadly Reckoning

I heard the war broke out along the coast of Min Province, and street fighting was already raging in the provincial capital, Rong City.

“We’re rather lucky here in Zhang City. Although we’re also on the coast, we’ve been pretty much invisible, so the flames of war haven’t reached us immediately,” Xiao Rong said, resting her left hand on the handle of her rolling suitcase while linking her right arm with Liu Lang’s.

“Where do you think they’ll transfer us?” Xiao Rong asked with a smile.

Liu Lang sighed. “To Gan Province, I suppose. It borders Min Province and is a bit further inland.”

He carried only a backpack and naturally brought Xiao Rong’s suitcase alongside him.

Xiao Rong’s parents had passed away early, and Liu Lang’s parents had insisted since childhood that he look after her. Over the years, he had grown accustomed to this responsibility.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “Here they come!”

The students all lifted their heads to look toward the school gate. Because there were so many students lined up, those in the back could only hear the sound of engines.

Xiao Rong seemed to realize something too late. Liu Lang pressed down lightly on her head, using it as leverage to spring up.

He saw a green military truck rolling in through the lines, but instead of coming down as expected, his body continued to rise.

“Ouch! I told you not to do that! I’m short because you’re always pushing me down!” Xiao Rong, flustered and annoyed, gave a strong headbutt—so powerful it felt like a thousand pounds—and Liu Lang jumped higher than ever before.

Nearby students glanced over, some who knew Liu Lang were astonished. “I didn’t think you could jump that high!”

Losing his balance, Liu Lang flailed as he fell, but Xiao Rong caught him steadily in a princess carry.

After a brief silence, everyone burst out in amazement.

Liu Lang stood tall at 1.8 meters; Xiao Rong was a petite cutie barely over 1.5 meters.

“X-X-Xiao Rong, y-y-you…” Liu Lang was so startled he couldn’t finish his sentence.

Xiao Rong smiled faintly, her fair cheeks tinged with a soft blush, eyes clear and beautiful, her brows neat and slightly sharp. “You messed up my bangs.”

“Oh.” Liu Lang stepped down from the princess carry and tried to smooth her bangs—but only made them messier.

“Students, line up by class and get on the bus!” the teachers began calling their students aboard.

Xiao Rong’s homeroom teacher came over and asked her to return to her own class.

Reluctantly, she glanced at Liu Lang, who wore an indifferent expression and didn’t speak up for her. With a slight sigh, she obediently followed her homeroom teacher back.

“That guy still hasn’t wised up? I gave him the ‘Y’ back then to wake him up, but it seems to have done no good,” Liu Lang thought to himself, relieved as he joined his own class’s line to board the military truck.

About an hour later, the line of military trucks started moving.

The students who had been joking and chatting on the truck seemed to suddenly realize their situation and fell silent.

Some girls’ eyes were red as they watched the familiar school gate grow smaller in the distance. Liu Lang felt deeply moved; the world had changed without giving him a chance to prepare.

“Students, don’t worry. We’ve heard we’ll be relocated to a school in Gan Province. If all goes well, we’ll be attending classes there tomorrow. The college entrance exam won’t be postponed; we’ll take it directly in Gan Province.”

The homeroom teacher pushed up her glasses and flicked her long hair behind her shoulders.

If the earlier quiet had been a flutter of youthful hope, now the silence was the withering of youth.

The top students had already taken out their vocabulary books to study.

Liu Lang cursed silently, “Sailimu, what a ridiculous wish. How did I ever believe it?”

“Liu Lang, everyone else is studying, why are you still spacing out? Don’t you know the exam is less than a month away?” The teacher’s gaze was sharp as a blade, cutting through his wandering thoughts.

“Teacher Zhang, I get car sick if I read on the bus…”

“Hahaha, Teacher Zhang, Liu Lang didn’t bring a single book!” someone else mocked him mercilessly.

Teacher Zhang sighed and pulled a small stack of A4 papers covered with printed text from her bag. “Here, memorize some ancient poems.” She was not only the homeroom teacher but also the Chinese teacher.

Amid the chorus of studying from the truck, Liu Lang faintly heard distant rumbling. It was too far away to discern clearly.

Suddenly, the truck braked hard. Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat. They stopped for maybe seconds or several minutes, then suddenly the truck roared back to life and sped forward!

“Teacher! Is it—”

Teacher Zhang grabbed the student’s mouth fiercely. “Don’t cry. Shut up!”

Three soldiers sat in the truck’s cab, sweat pouring down their brows.

“This can’t be! If it’s true, what about all these kids?” one soldier muttered repeatedly.

“We’ve received orders. It must be real,” said the heavier-set soldier, probably the squad leader, pressing his dry lips together.

“Xiao Li, protect the radio. Xiao Dong, you’re from Gan Province; you pick a route. After the highway exit, obey orders and scatter.”

A massive shadow moved rapidly across the ground, drawing many eyes.

“Look up!”

“Damn! An AV nation Gundam!”

“Am I dreaming?”

In the sky, a vividly colored fighter jet that looked like it jumped right out of a comic suddenly transformed into a gigantic humanoid robot—a Gundam!

The Gundam hovered in the air, its twin wings spraying dazzling streams of particles.

“How does something that huge run on power?” Liu Lang’s mind reflexively questioned.

The Gundam raised its hands; its palms turned into dark cannon barrels.

Charging up—fire!

Two laser beams swept the ground, explosions roaring, death screams filling the air.

Liu Lang watched helplessly as a military truck behind them was engulfed by the lasers. His mind went blank; he even saw a vocabulary book fly out.

“Get off! Scatter and run!”

The soldiers jumped down, frantically slapping the truck’s side to shove students out. Xiao Li clutched the radio, shouting hoarsely, “Requesting backup!”

Xiao Dong scrambled onto the truck bed, kicking terrified students off. “Run! Run fast!”

The Gundam began charging again, and despair rose in everyone’s hearts.

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