As soon as he finished speaking, Axel laughed, draped an arm around Rogge's shoulders, and headed toward the crowd gathered ahead.
The moment people noticed him approaching, the crowd froze briefly before scrambling aside.
Those at the front stared directly at Axel, while those farther back watched the people in front. Within seconds, a broad path opened before him.
Lucy and her group, caught between fear and confusion, instinctively moved with the dispersing crowd.
Beside Lucy, Rebecca snapped out of her daze and grabbed her arm excitedly.
"Our luck is incredible! The path opened right on our side!
That god is about to walk right past us. Damn, he wiped out dozens of buildings in a single attack. I even saw the basements after everything collapsed!
I was too far away earlier to get a good look at him. Maybe now I'll finally see his face properly, haha!
We're actually going to be this close to him. Maybe he'll even say something to us when he passes by~"
Rebecca cleared her throat and continued in an exaggerated imitation of Axel's lazy tone.
"Hey, you little punks, you're unexpectedly pleasing to the eye.
How about it? Want to try following me? I'm not just anyone. You'll definitely have food if you follow me, little girl Rebecca~
Hahahahaha!"
After finishing her impression, Rebecca puffed out her cheeks carelessly.
She had always been that kind of person. Even on the verge of death, she'd rather grip her oversized gun and enjoy the moment than wallow in fear.
Looking at her carefree friend, Lucy took a deep breath and immediately grabbed Rebecca's wrist.
"Rebecca, don't imitate him. What if he considers that disrespectful?
That guy might really be a god. Even if he's human, he and his people already possess the highest authority in this world.
I specifically checked the news from Ohio earlier. Nuclear missiles really did detonate in the sky there.
Everything he said was true. He's the most dangerous person on Earth, and the closest thing to a deity.
Show some respect, girl. Please, show some respect!"
As she spoke, Lucy nervously glanced toward Axel, who was steadily making his way down the path.
Behind her, Pilar raised a hand and lightly patted her shoulder.
"Being nervous only makes people suspicious, Lucy. We should act naturally and avoid drawing attention to ourselves.
And Rebecca, don't celebrate too early. Sure, we're standing right beside the path everyone made for him, so we'll get a good look at him.
But being close to a god isn't always a blessing. What if one of us accidentally farted while he walked by?
Then we'd become the idiots who got farted to death, hahaha!"
Laughing loudly, Pilar took a few steps back while nervously rubbing his mechanical fingers.
Maine exchanged a glance with Dorio before nodding.
"He's got a point. We need to watch our expressions.
He's not one of those corporate parasites. He's the man destroying the corporations.
Show respect, real respect. People like us, who've spent our lives scraping by on the streets, have every reason to respect him.
If it weren't for him, even if we paid ten thousand times the price we paid today, we never could've brought down all those corporate towers."
By the time Maine finished speaking, Axel was already less than a hundred meters away.
He immediately lowered his head and waited respectfully for Axel to pass.
Seeing everyone else react this way, even Rebecca could only shrug and force herself to look serious.
Meanwhile, Axel continued walking with Rogge.
"I don't like Japanese food. Don't put any of that on the table later. Get something hearty and greasy instead.
No need to make it fancy. Just make sure there's enough to go with rice.
Stuff like stewed pork with vermicelli and braised pork.
Oh, and get me some Huazi and Taizi cigarettes, assuming those things still exist.
After we eat and rest for a bit, we'll head straight for Arasaka Tower.
Right, contact Rayfield and tell those idiots to send me some cars.
Especially the Rayfield Caliburn. I've never driven one before, so they better send several.
Then we'll drive the Caliburns all the way to Japan."
Rogge glanced at him.
"You know the Caliburn can't drive that far, right?"
"That's nonsense. If I say it can drive that far, then it can definitely drive that far."
As Axel shamelessly declared this, he was already only thirty meters away from the Edge Runners.
The entire group watched him with admiration.
Some people might think behavior like that damaged his image.
But when someone stood at the very top of the world, who would mock him over something so trivial?
Only weak people obsessed over maintaining an image.
For the truly powerful, there was only one image.
The image of strength.
Rebecca's eyes sparkled even brighter.
A passionate girl like her naturally admired someone reliable who didn't hide behind a stiff, untouchable persona.
Beside her, Lucy noticed Rebecca's fists clenching again.
She pursed her lips and stared at Axel absentmindedly.
He looked like an ordinary man, handsome but otherwise unremarkable. No visible cyberware. No implants.
So why was he this powerful?
Was this what a god looked like?
And if gods truly existed, why had none of them ever seen the suffering of the world?
Why had none of them seen hers?
Just as that thought crossed her mind, her train of thought was abruptly cut off.
Because Axel stopped directly in front of her.
Lucy's eyes widened in disbelief.
Her head immediately lowered, strands of her gradient-colored hair swaying gently.
Even Rebecca suddenly became tense.
Everyone's heartbeat accelerated.
At the same time, Rogge paused and quietly asked,
"Something wrong?"
"Nothing. Wait a minute."
Axel let go of Rogge and walked toward the Edge Runners with a grin.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Lucy felt as though her heart was about to burst from her chest.
The pounding was so loud that she could barely hear anything else.
A moment later, Axel stopped before the group.
His gaze swept over Lucy, who was staring at the ground in nervous silence, and Rebecca, whose eager eyes were fixed directly on him.
Meeting Rebecca's excited stare, Axel grinned.
Then he reached out and heavily ruffled her hair.
Wearing a mischievous smile, he spoke in a tone dripping with amusement.
"Hey, you little punks, you're unexpectedly pleasing to the eye.
How about it? Want to try following me? I'm not just anyone. You'll definitely have food if you follow me, little girl Rebecca~
Hahahahaha!"
His laughter echoed through the street as he vigorously messed up Rebecca's hair.
Her expression shifted from shock, to confusion, to complete mental shutdown.
When she started swaying and nearly collapsed from excitement, Axel blinked before bursting into laughter.
"Puhahaha!
Girl, I thought you had a bigger heart than that. One sentence and you're already crashing?"
He then glanced at Lucy.
"You're Lucy, right?
Take this crashed little idiot, grab your team, and come with me.
Don't you all want to follow me?
I think you're pretty pleasing to the eye too, so what are you waiting for?"
With that, Axel gently handed the frozen Rebecca to the stunned Lucy before waving casually.
Lucy stared at him in disbelief and pointed at herself and her companions.
"Wait... you mean us? Us?"
"Yeah, you guys."
Axel waved impatiently.
"What are you standing around for? Hurry up and come along."
Then he turned around and continued walking beside Rogge, leaving the stunned Edge Runners staring after him.
===
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