Ironclad: How can hand-crafted knight belts not be considered genius?

Laira stared intently at Jiang Ning's face, but when her gaze unexpectedly met his eyes, she froze.

There was no trace of disgust or gloating mockery in Jiang Ning's eyes, only a surging, clearly visible anger.

But...why?

She's the one who lost confidential information and ruined her future, so who is this guy getting angry about now?

Leila was completely bewildered and couldn't figure it out.

"...Why?"

A deep, rhetorical question suddenly rang out, not from her, but from Jiang Ning standing before her.

"I just can't understand it!"

His tone suppressed surging emotions, and his volume suddenly rose.

"Is your future that important? Why do you guys value fame and fortune more than your lives?"

Think about your parents! Isn't there anyone in this world you should care about?!

These words, seemingly a question directed at her, sent a jolt through Leira, making her realize something was amiss.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but her intuition told her that something was off about Jiang Ning at that moment.

"I……"

Jiang Ning suddenly gritted his teeth, abruptly raised his hand to brace himself against the ground beside Leila, trapping her in a small space and forcefully interrupting her words.

Laira's body trembled instinctively, and the torrent of tears she had just shed suddenly froze at that moment.

"Stupid woman, let me tell you."

Jiang Ning's voice was deep, cold, and urgent.

"I've already wasted too much time trying to get here to save you."

Do you know that the entire Black Tower space station is currently under attack by the antimatter army? Every single second, people are struggling on the brink of life and death.

The burden I carry on my shoulders has never been just your life.

You may give up on yourself, but others still want to live. Even if we have some friendship, I cannot disregard the lives of others just for your sake.

Jiang Ning paused, then took a deep breath.

"I'll only give you one piece of advice. There are many things in this world worth risking your life to protect, but fame and fortune are definitely not among them."

The weight of life is far heavier than you imagine.

All the pent-up frustration in Jiang Ning's heart finally burst forth. He frowned and let out a long sigh.

"Enough, let's leave this heavy topic of life and death here."

"If I've said all this and you still insist on dying... then I'll stop caring about you. If you're determined to die, then so be it. That's all I have to say."

He withdrew his hand from his side and slowly stood up. The Build Driver at his waist clicked back into place.

Jiang Ning took out the rabbit and tank energy bottles and precisely embedded them into the driver.

As the handle was turned, the Build Armor, gleaming with a cold light, instantly covered the entire body.

Just as he said, he didn't look at Laira, who was slumped on the ground, again, and turned to walk straight into the depths of the space station.

Laira propped herself up and sat up, gazing at the receding figure, her heart filled with a mix of emotions.

"etc."

Jiang Ning paused, then slowly turned around.

Through the cold mask, the moment that gaze fell upon her, Leira felt a sudden, inexplicable unease. She pursed her dry, chapped lips, and after a long silence, finally spoke in a low voice:

"I'll go with you."

Beneath the mask, she couldn't see Jiang Ning's expression, nor dared to speculate. Laira stood quietly, head bowed.

A moment later, Jiang Ning seemed to have unloaded some burden, and his slightly impatient voice suddenly rang out:

"If you're going to leave, hurry up. What are you standing there for?"

"I...I twisted my ankle," Leila stammered, her voice tinged with embarrassment.

..............................

Inside the Black Tower space station, flames danced wildly in the crisscrossing corridors.

Jiang Ning hoisted Leila onto his shoulder with one hand and ran swiftly through the flames and smoke.

"The battle has already spread here; we must hurry."

Laira's face was deathly pale, and her breathing was weak; she was clearly in extremely poor condition.

"Faster? I can't take it anymore... Seriously, can't you change positions? Why do you have to carry a weak woman like I'm a sack of rice?"

Jiang Ning completely ignored her complaints and increased his speed again.

"Serves you right, just bear with it."

If it weren't for saving you, it wouldn't have taken so long.

Besides, if I'm holding you in my arms, what weapon do I have to fight with?

If we really encounter a pawn, are we going to swing you out as a weapon?

Laira imagined the comical yet dangerous scene, and immediately gritted her teeth, shut her mouth, and behaved herself.

Before long, the two arrived at the junction of Zone B and Zone C.

Looking at the completely malfunctioning and tightly sealed alloy gate in front of him, Jiang Ning decisively put down Laira and raised his hand to summon the Drill Crusher.

Inserting the tank's energy bottle into the weapon slot, the drill crusher instantly bursts forth with a blinding light.

He took a half step back, gripped his weapon tightly, and slammed it down on the heavy alloy door.

With a loud crash, the sturdy alloy door shattered.

Behind the door, a dense array of illusory soldiers were entrenched. Startled by the loud noise, they all turned their heads and locked their gazes on Jiang Ning.

At that moment, the air fell into an eerie stillness.

The deathly silence lasted only a moment before a piercing roar exploded out.

Countless imaginary soldiers stared intently at the intruder with their crimson compound eyes, and a dense barrage of imaginary energy projectiles instantly rained down, bringing with them a chilling aura of destruction.

Jiang Ning immediately shielded Laira behind him, and the high-speed spinning Drill Crusher was positioned in front of him, precisely shattering the first wave of attacks. The scattered energy fragments exploded into sparks on the bulkhead.

"Holy crap, are these cuties just camping out and fishing?!"

Jiang Ning reacted quickly, and seeing that things were not going well, he immediately picked up Laila and ran away.

The melee phantoms swarmed forward, brandishing their claws, while the artillery phantoms continuously built up their firepower.

Jiang Ning, wielding the drill bit in one hand, charged forward, the powerful energy from the tank's energy bottle repeatedly knocking down the charging monsters. However, there were simply too many phantom soldiers; as soon as one wave fell, another immediately took its place.

Leira watched quietly as Jiang Ning single-handedly withstood the onslaught of the entire enemy force, his Craft Rider armor constantly sparking under the barrage of artillery fire. Only then did she truly understand the weight of Jiang Ning's words.

If he hadn't been so stubborn, Jiang Ning wouldn't have been in such a dangerous situation.

Just as Jiang Ning had barely dealt with a group of melee phantom soldiers, three energy projectiles suddenly attacked from a blind spot. He couldn't dodge in time, and the armor on his shoulder was shaken by the aftershocks of the phantom energy, causing him to stagger slightly.

Laila's heart tightened, and she instinctively reached out to steady his arm, nervously reminding him, "Watch out behind you!"

Jiang Ning glanced at the target out of the corner of his eye, then swung the drill with his backhand, blasting the sneak attacking pawn to pieces.

He turned his head to look at Laira, whose face was still pale but who was trying hard to be vigilant about her surroundings, and the look of disgust in his eyes faded a little.

"At least he wasn't completely terrified."

Jiang Ning seized the opportunity and, carrying Laiira, quickly distanced himself from the illusory army.

"This can't go on... Do you have any other methods to deal with them?"

Leira's words instantly awakened Jiang Ning, who turned and walked into an empty laboratory.

Under Leila's astonished gaze, Jiang Ning raised his hand, pulled out the energy bottle from the driver, and voluntarily deactivated the transformation.

"Wait... what's going on...?"

The next moment, Jiang Ning took out a huge soda can from his pocket, decorated with red, blue and silver. The can was engraved with an abstract rabbit tank form of Build Rider's face, but it was slightly different from Build Rider's rabbit tank form in that it had silver lightning symbols added to its face.

Jiang Ning then shook the soda can vigorously in front of him, the sound of liquid mixing and bubbles boiling faintly audible.

"Um...why did you take out a can of soda...?"

Thirsty? Or are you planning to blast them with soda?

Leila curiously stepped forward, examining the oddly shaped soda can.

"Don't ask questions you don't know the answers to!"

Jiang Ning tossed the Rabbit Tank Energy Bottle he had just taken from his hand to Leila.

"Hold this for me for now."

Leila caught it, looking at Jiang Ning with a puzzled expression.

Jiang Ning remained silent and slowly took a deep breath.

"I didn't expect it to come in handy so soon..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Ning raised his hand and placed the soda can in front of his chest, then suddenly pulled the tab on the top of the can.

A violent bubbling, churning, and splashing sound arose, and the compound eyes of the Craftsman, engraved on the can, burst forth with dazzling light.

【Ratbbit Tank Sparkling——! ! 】