Chapter Twenty-Four: Reunion with an Old Friend

After a brief silence, Wang Yue, having finally gotten a good look at Onizuka’s face, exclaimed in mild exasperation, “Are you kidding me? After all that fighting, it turns out to be a woman.”

Hua Feng quickly collected himself and began to scrutinize the elusive Onizuka, who had battled the group for so long. She wore a skin-tight black combat suit, a stark contrast to the white outfit of the Onizuka she had impersonated earlier. Suddenly, something clicked—her clothes... That was a specialized combat suit for Chinese astronauts, a prohibitively expensive uniform reserved for special missions. Hua Feng had never worn one himself, but he’d heard instructors rave about its remarkable capabilities—wearing it in battle was like having an extra life.

He never imagined that today he’d actually face someone wearing it, even using his secret weapon, the Golden Light Rod, to no avail. Staring absentmindedly at the woman’s body, his gaze unwittingly lingering on a certain prominent feature, Hua Feng was jolted back to reality by Xiaomeng’s sudden outburst. “Look! Look! Just what exactly are you staring at?” She punctuated her words with a sharp, jealousy-tinged punch—not especially forceful, but enough to make Hua Feng cry out in pain.

“Ow! What’s wrong, Xiaomeng? Why did you hit me so hard?” Hua Feng protested, bewildered.

“You’re one to talk! Why do you keep staring at that part of her? There are plenty of pretty girls at the academy for you to admire if you want to. I won’t say a word about it,” she huffed.

“Uh... what? Xiaomeng, you’ve got it all wrong. What do you mean, ‘that part’? I was looking at her suit; it seems to be a specialized combat suit for our nation’s astronauts, not what you think. Besides, don’t you know what kind of person I am? If I’m not mistaken, she might have been sent by headquarters to support us.” Realizing the situation, Hua Feng quickly tried to steer the conversation away from the awkward topic, beads of cold sweat forming on his brow. When had Xiaomeng become so jealous? He’d only been looking, nothing more.

Wang Yue and Shuangning couldn’t help but tease him after witnessing the scene. Once the laughter died down, Hua Feng closed the virtual space and put away his weapon. Approaching the girl, he dispelled the sensory restrictions he’d placed on her and asked, “Alright, who are you? And why are you wearing a Chinese astronaut’s combat suit?”

“And why did you stalk and ambush us?” Wang Yue added.

“So many questions—where should I start? Is this how your commander trains you? With skills like these, you hope to thwart the enemy’s secret plans? I can’t tell if you’re naive, or if your commander expects miracles from you,” the woman replied, answering their questions with pointed ones of her own, leaving Hua Feng and his companions momentarily speechless.

Only now did they truly notice how beautiful she was—large eyes, delicate nose, thin lips, fair skin, and lustrous black hair. Her shapely figure was flawless. If Xiaomeng’s beauty was like crystalline snowflakes and Shuangning’s had an exotic allure, then the girl before them embodied a mature, natural elegance—captivating yet unpretentious.

“Don’t look at me like that, you’re making me blush,” she said lightly. “Since you’re not talking, let me introduce myself. My name is Wang Fengxian, a member of the top-secret Special Operations Team at the Chinese Astronautical Academy. I was sent to assist you in disrupting the plans of the R-Ben war party. Everything up to now was just a little test—before teaming up, it’s only fair to gauge my teammates’ abilities. I hope you don’t take offense. Oh, and by the way, Hua Feng and Xiaomeng, I believe we were classmates in elementary school. Fate has brought us together again.” With that, she rose gracefully to her feet; at some point, the restraints Hua Feng had placed on her had become ineffective.

There could only be one explanation for this—her strength far surpassed Hua Feng’s.

“A classmate? Wang Fengxian? Now that you mention it, I do remember someone by that name. We sat together in elementary school, but after half a year, she vanished. Eventually, I forgot. Who would have thought we’d meet again here? I suppose it’s fate. From now on, we can fight side by side,” Hua Feng said with a smile, unfazed by Wang Fengxian’s effortless rise.

With the newcomer revealed as an ally, everyone’s guard relaxed, relief washing over them. Thank goodness they hadn’t run into the Onizuka from Fortress 798, or their mission would have been nearly impossible.

Sensing her energy, Hua Feng was a little stunned—she was at the very peak of the Yuan King rank. Their chances of success had just increased dramatically.