–This bow is a bit easier to draw. ZiCang, you should be able to shoot about 70–80 yards without problem. Give it a try.–
Yang Zicang nodded, took the bow, and stepped out. Mu Xiaoyu and the other two, carrying dried meat, chatted and laughed with Yao Chiming and the others as they stepped onto the large balcony on the second floor.
The three newcomers caught a glimpse of the minerals and weapons piled up inside the room. Liu Ming let out an exclamation of amazement.
–These stones even glow. That’s incredible. Wait… they’re not radioactive, are they?–
The burly and robust Yao Chiming chuckled.
–Don’t worry, these are all precious products of this world. Many items require the energy they contain to be crafted.–
Zhao Xuemei looked at Yang Zicang and said:
–Mr. ZiCang, would you like to try using a bow? This kind of weapon… isn’t very good.–
Since she had already said it wasn’t good… Yang Zicang had already lowered his expectations for ranged weapons like guns and bows.
–Let me give it a try first.–
Yang Zicang walked to the edge of the balcony, drew the bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed at an open area in the distance. There, wild grass and weeds lay neglected, strewn with trash.
[Allocate Chronos, 300 years.]
[Because I am the great Quad, I can quadruple-amplify Chronos—1200 years!]
A faint, pale golden phantom emerged from the arrowhead, like swaying mist or an ethereal flame.
–Tsk, tsk, casually firing an arrow a thousand years—how enviable.–
Everyone in the Monster Hunter Alliance couldn’t hide their envious glances.
Yang Zicang’s fingers tightened.
[Trajectory Adjustment!]
The moment he released his fingers, the golden arrowhead streaked across the sky in a flash.
Whoosh!
Some people in nearby buildings seemed to sense it; they peered through windows at the afterimage of the arrow shifting from gold to black, all letting out admiring sighs.
–Which idiot is showing off Chronos?–
–That speed is crazy fast—looks like it’s from the Monster Hunter Alliance.–
At this moment, Yang Zicang, having just shot the arrow from behind the battlement, immediately perceived the information relayed to his mind.
Stunned, he turned to look at the others.
–What a marksman!– Chu Jiang chuckled. –So? Has Chronos returned?–
Yang Zicang nodded hesitantly. –It feels like Chronos came back less than thirty meters out.–
–It should be exactly thirty meters. That’s thanks to this bow; otherwise, this arrow carrying Chronos would only take it twenty meters at most.–
–That’s what this bow does—it extends Chronos’s effective range by ten meters.–
–No wonder. Now I get it.–
Yang Zicang glanced at the wooden bow in his hand.
It had extended his Chronos attack range by ten meters; without it, his long-range attack coverage would only be twenty meters.
Back in the subway tunnel, he really had been gambling.
As luck would have it, those two monsters never exceeded that range—especially the bus monster, which took the brunt of his over four thousand years of Chronos strike almost at the maximum range.
–Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. Otherwise, a single arrow infused with tens of thousands of years of Chronos would wipe out any threatening opponent from a distance.–
Reluctant as he was, he soon let out a sigh and accepted the reality.
–Haha, don’t lose heart. What I mean is, your main move should still rely on close-combat weapons. If you ever get your hands on a pistol in the future, it’d be a good addition—you’d be nearly unstoppable in short-range combat,– Chu Jiang said.
Beside him, Yao Chiming nodded in agreement.
–But pistols are hard to come by, and producing them can be dangerous. For now, what’s more common on the market are bows and arrows. Come on, let me show you something cool.–
He turned and led the group toward the house.
After passing through the screen door, Yang Zicang and the others beheld a curved blade resting on a weapon stand that gleamed like dark iron.
He took it down from the stand, hefted it in his hands, and said solemnly,
–This is a weapon awarded to one of our team members by headquarters. You can feel it.–
As Yang Zicang took the curved knife, which weighed at least over twenty jin, his hand sank from the weight.
Holding it with both hands, Yang Zicang tried to infuse Chronos into the blade, but failed.
–Huh?–
[It doesn’t acknowledge me as its master. Damn it.]
Yang Zicang gripped the hilt with both hands and swung it. A message came through in his mental feedback: this blade already contained fifty years’ worth of Chronos.
With every strike, it would produce the attack intensity of fifty years of Chronos, without needing any additional Chronos replenishment!
What a treasure!
–These weapons undergo special treatment. Only someone who has fully mastered them can inject Chronos into them. Moreover, it comes with an automatic fifty years of Chronos, and every swing delivers the same damage, which won’t be fully neutralized. It’s the most valuable piece of equipment here.–
–This truly is a gem.–
There was no need for further explanation—Yang Zicang had already sensed its preciousness.
For him, he might ostensibly possess thousands of years of Chronos, but it was all for consumption. A single clash previously had cost him hundreds or thousands of years, and after just three or four swings, it would be depleted.
But with this knife, everything changed.
What did it matter if the opponent had high Chronos? One slash wasn’t enough? Then take ten more.
–However, as valuable as this knife is, it still falls far short compared to the armor you obtained.–
The others looked at the battered armor Yang Zicang had brought, its collar damage plain to see.
–Zhang Fei was a legend, yet you managed to take him down. I reckon those Heroic Elite folks are losing their minds right about now. Yang Zicang, watch out for their retaliation—they’re a bunch who’ve chosen to walk with monsters, and their temperaments have already been twisted by those beasts.–
–What’s this Heroic Elite group all about? Back then, I almost thought I’d stumbled into some Three Kingdoms universe.–
The round-faced girl let out a tinkling laugh:
–They’re a bunch who prefer code names over real ones. They’ve not only got Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, but also Lu Zhishen and Little Red Riding Hood—and their leader is Lyu Bu.–
Little Red Riding Hood and Lyu Bu… Yang Zicang felt a headache coming on.
–In short, be careful around all those Red Moxel folks—they don’t answer to headquarters.–
Everyone’s eyes turned to Chu Chiang as he spoke.
–So, what do you say? Interested in joining us? If you come aboard the Hunter’s Alliance, we’ll prioritize gear like this for you in the future.–
Mu Xiaoyu and the other two looked at Yang Zicang.
–I…–
Seeing the young man’s hesitation, Zhao Xuemei grew anxious:
–If you choose to stand with us, we’ll offer you the best treatment to help you grow.–
–I still don’t understand much of anything… I’d like some time to think it over.–
The three who came with him were clearly caught off guard by Yang Zicang’s refusal.
This was a rare opportunity, after all.
Liu Ming wanted to say something, but Chang Yang gently patted his wrist, signaling him with a look not to meddle.
It was obvious to anyone with eyes that these people held this young man in high regard.
The three of them were fortunate just to be able to follow him. At a time like this, it’s best to tread cautiously and not make decisions on others’ behalf.
It was only now that Chang Yang and the others realized the man who could run upside down was actually extremely powerful.
And yet, Yang Zicang had crippled him with a single punch.
They had hit the jackpot—sticking with him surely meant a better chance of survival.
–How about this—you can stay here for the next half month. Once you understand our affairs, it won’t be too late to decide,– said Chu Jiang.
Yao Chiming thought for a moment and chimed in to keep him around:
–In the coming days, we can offer you an investment of over five hundred years of Chronos each day. Friend, you won’t easily find such a chance to acquire Chronos elsewhere. You should give it serious thought.–
–Alright. Whether I join in the end or not, I’ll repay this kindness for your explanations someday.–
–Yeah!– Hearing that Yang Zicang had finally loosened up, Mu Xiaoyu, who had already been running all day, leaped with joy.
If they didn’t settle down here, she had no idea where she’d find dinner.
They lingered here for a while longer, listening to Yao Chiming’s explanations about some common weapons and materials.
Just then, Chu Chiang seemed to receive some kind of message, his expression turning grim.
–What happened?– Yao Chiming looked over.
–On the way back for Team Two, a powerful nightmare blocked the path. No one nearby dared to Invest them. It seems the monster carries a trace of bloodline remnants.–
Yao Chiming exclaimed anxiously, –What?! That nightmare hasn’t awakened its bloodline, has it? I told you we should have cleared out that entire dimension back then.–
–Probably not, or they wouldn’t have had time to contact us.–
Chu Chiang furrowed his brows. –There’s no point complaining now. We’ll find a chance later to clean all of it out thoroughly.–
Yang Zicang looked at the two curiously, and Chu Chiang turned to him with a heavy gaze.
–Sorry, Zi Cang, I need to ask you for a favor. I think you’re the only one who can help us now.–
–What’s wrong?–
……
Soon, he found out.
A sensory perspective appeared before Yang Zicang’s eyes.
It was a long, dark cavern. Beneath a towering obsidian bridge stretched an endless, pitch-black abyss, from which faint, agonized roars rose up.
Four figures carrying blades and longbows gathered on a nearly hundred-square-meter circular platform with over a dozen men, women, and children, all wearing panicked expressions.
On the opposite side of the stone bridge before them, a worm-like monster, over ten meters long, crawled up from below, its enormous maw spewing a mass of corrosive green liquid onto the path they had to cross.
–Where is that?–
This scene simply didn’t look like something that should exist in the normal world.
–It’s called the ‘Surplus’ world—before it stabilized, it was known as the Intersecting Lands. After clearing out the major monsters inside, it’s now referred to as the ‘Heterospace’.–
Chu Chiang said, –Many parts of this city harbor hidden, peculiar terrains. When people first began awakening here over a decade ago, they mistook this place for Earth, so they called those spots the ‘Surplus Worlds’.–
Chu Chiang chuckled, almost as if mocking himself.
–Later, they realized it wasn’t those eerie places that were surplus—it was us.–
–Surplus… is us?–
–Those monster-infested regions are the true face of this world. Our Earth-like cities are nothing but simulated projections cast into it. Still, since they’ve been called that all along, the name stuck.–
{Can he handle it? That’s a B-grade Heterospace.}
Chu Chiang received a mental image from Yao Chiming’s telepathic transmission. He glanced at Yao Chiming nearby and silently thought to himself:
–This is the perfect moment to see just how capable Yang Zicang really is. Besides his twenty-meter Chronos strike range, we know nothing else.–
On the balcony, Yao Chiming nodded to himself before stepping into an adjacent room. He struggled to lift a bow as tall as a man, bringing it out with difficulty.
–I’m really counting on you this time, brother,– he said to Yang Zicang.
The bow’s entire body seemed covered in scales, exuding an eerie aura.
Just one glance made a trace of hatred well up in Yang Zicang’s heart.
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