Chapter 100 King's Retreat
"I won't fight."
King mused for a moment before stating softly.
"Why?"
G1's voice was as cold as ice, "Are you unwilling to fight, or are you afraid to? Do even the Strongest Man fear death?"
"You're right, I'm afraid of dying."
King scoffed inwardly but maintained a poker face, saying coolly, "You want to challenge me to collect battle data, right? However, I've been rushing around since this morning without eating anything. Now I'm hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. My current state makes it impossible to exert my full strength. Therefore, even if you defeat me, the battle data collected will be unreliable. So, challenging me right now is meaningless."
G1's single eye flashed with a red light. He said coldly, "King, you're trying to fool me. I never eat or sleep, so how can that affect my combat status?"
"Heh..."
King smirked. "Big brother, you're a robot. Not eating, drinking, or sleeping is perfectly fine for you. But we humans are different."
He explained, "For me, eating and sleeping are like replenishing energy. Now my energy is insufficient, and my body's functions are not at their peak. It's like your energy being low and unable to circulate freely, understand?"
G1 retracted the mechanical sword from his back into its scabbard. "I understand. Does that mean you'll be in your optimal combat state once you've eaten and slept?"
"That's right. Once I'm full and have slept enough, I can adjust my condition to the best."
King looked at G1's earnest expression and breathed a sigh of relief. Although this robot's combat power was high, its intelligence seemed to be a bit lower.
Snek and the others looked on in surprise. King, who could usually defeat people with a single punch, was actually arguing with the robot G1 today. It was hard to believe that the G1 robot, which typically acts decisively from the moment it engages, would believe King's deceptive lies. The two together were simply too incompatible.
"Idiot!"
Bofoy, who had been silently observing from behind the scenes, watched as King so playfully tricked G1, the robot he himself had proudly created. He was so angry that he almost smashed through the screen to beat up G1 and then drag it back for remanufacturing, to save himself from public embarrassment.
"G1, stop talking nonsense. Fight directly. If King doesn't resist, just take him down."
"..."
"Alright, King, I'll wait for you..."
Just as G1 was about to reply, agreeing to fight after King had eaten, drunk, and slept, instructions from a backend processor immediately came through. Its single eye flashed red, and the metallic armor plate on its chest *whooshed* open, revealing several small rocket launchers.
"What the hell? What's going on? Are you attacking directly?"
King was just about to trick G1 when G1 suddenly fired several rockets before he could even finish his sentence. King's body tensed up, and he quickly attached the three-star monster card to himself. His movement speed was extremely fast, and with a thought, his entire being vanished from the spot.
*Boom!*
After King dodged, G1's rockets hit the floor tiles, exploding with bursts of booming sounds, kicking up dust and debris. The spot where King was originally standing now had a large crater.
Child Emperor, seeing his laboratory repeatedly damaged, frowned. He had an unapproachable look on his face.
"This world is too terrifying. Even a robot can act. I really believed that this thing would wait for me to eat and sleep before attacking!"
King cursed inwardly and his body moved rapidly within the laboratory, his gaze fixed on G1.
He didn't know that G1's actions were remotely controlled by humans, which caused his attitude to change.
"Should I run away?"
He pondered, "With my current speed, running away would be as easy as turning over my hand! The problem is whether I should run or not."
While King was struggling, G1 extended its mechanical arm, and a small hole appeared in its palm, from which a beam of light gradually condensed.
"Energy cannon!"
As the energy gathered, its palm swept past the afterimage King left behind, and two beams of light energy cannons instantly shot out. After streaking across the air, they violently struck the laboratory's wall, creating yet another large hole.
"Energy cannon!"
"Energy cannon!"
"Energy cannon!"
G1 continued to fire energy blasts, chasing King's afterimages all over the laboratory. The laboratory echoed with bursts of thunderous sounds. In a short period, the laboratory was riddled with damage.
"Ah, why hasn't King made a move yet?"
"I've waited until my flowers have all wilted."
Snek and the others watched disappointedly, looking at King darting chaotically everywhere. They had hoped to see King effortlessly defeat G1 with a single punch, but the scene they saw was nothing like the passionate and exciting one they imagined.
Child Emperor's face turned pale. He gritted his teeth and shouted, "King, quickly deal with that robot. If this continues, my laboratory will be completely destroyed!"
"Is that so? No worries, I'll find the Hero Association to report the damage later."
King looked at the crumbling laboratory and couldn't help but shudder. It was precisely this hesitation that almost caused him to be hit by one of G1's energy blasts, making him break out in a cold sweat.
"I'm telling you, you iron and tin piece of junk, are you done yet?"
Seeing G1 relentlessly pursuing him, King became angry. "Isn't it just a fight? Who's afraid of whom!?" He now had a three-star monster card on him. Even if he couldn't defeat G1, he could definitely last for a round.
His escape route suddenly changed. He circled around the laboratory and headed straight for G1. He gathered all his power in his right fist and stared at G1, roaring, "Don't underestimate me, do you think I'm a pushover?!"
Seeing King charging directly at him, G1 immediately stopped firing energy blasts. Its mechanical feet quickly sprayed out two rocket flares from the sole, and its entire body shot out, heading towards King.
"In a narrow confrontation, the brave prevail! Taste my punch!"
King's eyes narrowed as he observed G1's movements, his right fist clenched. He estimated the distance between them.
"Five meters..."
"Three meters..."
"Two meters..."
"One meter..."
"Emperor's Punch!"
Unexpectedly, G1 seemed to have predicted King's attack trajectory. Just as it was about to enter King's attack range, it stopped its forward momentum, transforming from extreme motion to extreme stillness.
King watched in disbelief as his fist passed a few centimeters in front of G1. Due to overexertion, he even stumbled.
He didn't dare to stop. With a leap, he instantly vanished in front of Snek and the others.
"Hey, King, where are you going?"
Child Emperor, with his sharp eyes, immediately realized that King... had run away?
"I'm going to be late. I'll leave the rest to you guys to solve."
King cleanly broke free from G1's pursuit and used his speed advantage to run straight out of the laboratory and towards the train station.
As for the problems with the laboratory and G1, he left them to Child Emperor to solve. Anyway, he felt that he couldn't defeat G1. The cost of a four-star monster card also made him feel distressed, so he finally decided to run away, leaving the troublesome mess to Child Emperor to clean up. Hmph, everyone's happy!
(end of chapter)