Beneath the earth, currents of energy coursed, seeping into the stone coffin and forming countless cobwebs, yet finding nothing to bind.
An oppressive weight pressed down, and rope-like shadows slithered across the palace walls.
{Let’s go. We can’t stay here long.}
The earthbound spirit lowered its head, stretching out its palm so that the crippled Hong Haocheng could step onto it.
The enormous figure turned and strode outward, plunging into the horde of monsters that hemmed them in.
The clouds above swirled, and the sunlight slowly turned a bloody red.
Beside a collapsed wall of rubble, a giant leaned against the stone. At his side stood a small, frail-looking boy.
–What’s your name?– Hong Haocheng asked, curious.
{Bo’an. It’s the codename the team leader gave me.}
Bo’an, still in his earthbound spirit form, looked up at the vortex of dark clouds.
{I need to go somewhere. Only there can I keep from wasting the flesh you gave to awaken me. Otherwise, I’ll soon turn back into a monster that can’t tell friend from foe.}
In Bo’an’s giant hand, Moxel’s broken lines traced out ten small badges.
{Use this if you’re in danger. It’ll let me pinpoint your location.}
–What is this?–
{Something the team leader cooked up. It lets us teleport near its location. Costs a year of life every time you use it.}
Bo’an set Hong Haocheng down beneath a shattered building.
{Sorry, but I can’t watch you recover. If I don’t get there now, I’ll lose myself again.}
The enormous bound spirit’s body shrank slightly, becoming only a little larger than an ordinary bound spirit, and it walked into the waiting horde of monsters.
……
Hub Town.
Morri looked up in shock.
–The Hong Haocheng you mentioned—that same Hong Haocheng?–
–It must be him.–
Yang Zicang set down the milk tea Popoli had brought back and watched the white sunlight pierce through the frosted window, flooding the spacious room.
–Really… he hasn’t even been here long, and he’s already chased the guy into cutting off his own arm. Tch.–
–My fault. I should have figured it out sooner.– Morri’s tone carried a hint of remorse.
–Figured what out?–
Yang Zicang looked at this old friend—the one who, true to his word, had been locking himself in this room ever since he returned from Rose Creek, never stepping out even once.
–If only I’d gotten someone to draw that kid’s face and given it to you back then, none of this would have happened. Tch!–
Yang Zicang’s eyes fell on a few sheets of white paper that Morri had picked up from the wall. He took them.
They were several lifelike portraits of a woman, drawn with oil-based markers.
–These are?–
–She’s Julia.–
Morri gently touched the portrait on the paper with a loving hand.
–A few days ago, a sketch artist was earning Chronos in the city. A lot of people who missed their hometowns and families queued up for his sketches. It was wonderful—just from their descriptions, he gave them back beautiful memories. Hah, the whole town nearly drowned in tears back then.–
Yang Zicang thought of his parents and his younger brother.
–Is that sketch artist still here?-
–Hmm, he went back, but he should come again. He didn’t expect to earn so many Chronos. He was dumbfounded at the time. Many people wanted to tip him, but he refused, because he was afraid they would disappear. Haha. So someone thought of me. My ability helped him earn over a hundred thousand Chronos, so he drew all of these for me for free.-
Yang Zicang nodded. Just now he had only thought of going to get some sketches done himself. But after Morri mentioned it, he realized that for ninety-nine percent of people, it was indeed a touching act.
Especially in a place like Hinge Town, where experts abound, one could easily earn Chronos just by using knowledge learned on Earth.
–Take a few with you. If you ever see Julia in the future, you’ll recognize her.-
–Okay, I’ll take this front view, side view, and this full-body portrait.-
Yang Zicang threw away the empty milk tea cup, walked over, and patted his shoulder: –Bear with it. Just hold on for two more years and nine months.-
–Ha,- Morri smiled bitterly. –I know. Actually, it’s not like being in prison. Every day I contact your friends in the Lost Frequency Land, and they show me the scenery and let me do immersive handicrafts.-
Wouldn’t looking at the scenery of the Lost Frequency Land make one even more depressed?
Yang Zicang forced a smile.
He went to see Li Mi, and Liang Xi, who was playing games crazily with Boboli, among others. Zhao Xuemei showed him the completed Zhang Fei armor and invited him to dinner.
The armor’s ability to counter Chronos has significantly decreased; each time it can reduce Chronos attacks below ten thousand years by 10% to 20%, and the cumulative offset cannot exceed fifty thousand years.
As for the handstand running ability, it still remains, but the duration is short.
Nevertheless, it still ranks among the super-grade tier.
Thinking that Zhao Anlong had become so powerful after disappearing for just half a year, Yang Zicang let Zhao Xuemei continue using the armor. As long as he protected this lady, Zhao Anlong would have no reason to cause trouble for him later.
……
The time left to enter the 11th City would soon be only five days.
Yang Zicang still drifted around in the sky on his giant carpet.
On the ground, Cheng Yunze’s team members saw the floating giant carpet from afar and shook their heads.
–Last time, they figured out the captain’s secrets.-
–To be honest, I only knew that the captain’s skeleton was incredibly powerful. I never expected that he could already transform into that state and even store his body in the mysterious space where he keeps his skeletons.-
The man sighed, –What a freak.-
Just after he said that, Cheng Yunze walked out of the tent.
The two immediately fell silent, pretending to look at the scenery.
Cheng Yunze looked far into a certain direction. At the same time, the flying carpet in the sky also flew over.
–Captain, what’s wrong?-
–A special spiritual aura erupted just now, very similar to the earth-bound spirit from before. Hong Haocheng is fighting someone.-
Yang Zicang in the sky swiftly approached the area of the psychic eruption.
On the ground, several horrifyingly large pits lay, with a few human corpses strewn gruesomely across the earth.
He jumped down. These people weren’t from either his side or Cheng Yunze’s—someone else must have encountered Hong Haocheng.
–Still maintaining his humanity after all this time.-
He frowned. It seemed this –Cleanup Target Intelligence Gathering Mission- triggered by Hong Haocheng really required raising the clearance level. However… a conscious bound spirit—the Lost Dream Company probably wouldn’t actually kill it.
……
Two days later, the oppressive pressure of that psychic fluctuation reappeared. And this time, it struck twice in one day.
Cheng Yunze’s connection linked with Yang Zicang.
{Are you hunting him?}
[I was about to ask if you were hunting him.]
{That means some team from another city has Hong Haocheng—or that special bound spirit beside him—as their target.}
Yang Zicang squinted.
[I’ll go take another look.]
In the darkness, a ghostly train carried Yang Zicang, weaving through the city.
……
At that moment, Hong Haocheng was panting heavily, his fingers broken, though the wounds were already wriggling and scabbing over.
–Damn it.-
He pointed his sword at the person held by Bo’an and shouted, –Why do you keep coming after me? Are you really not afraid of death?!-
The man’s face was twisted in pain, but he still stubbornly said:
–In a world like this, who wouldn’t die? It’s only a matter of time. I’ve had enough. As long as I can capture you, death is a relief.-
–Then go die!-
Hong Haocheng, enraged, slashed his sword across the other’s throat.
Another translucent body within this man was shattered by the blade’s strike, its energy scattering in all directions.
Though he still breathed, he was as dead as dead could be.
{It seems their city is under high-pressure rule.}
The giant Bo’an said.
The halo faded from Hong Haocheng’s eyes, and he turned to look at Bo’an.
–Have you been alright these days? Does my constant summoning make you suffer? If so, I can give you a few more fingers.-
Bo’an shook his head.
{Bloodline doesn’t care about quantity—only about whether it is or isn’t, pure or impure. And for us, repeated use creates antibodies. It can’t keep me lucid indefinitely.}
The giant looked up at the swirling dark clouds.
{And as long as this city exists, I can never truly return to normal.}
–Then what if the city disappears?-
{We are Xuling—the so-called Xuling means roughly non-existent. So if the city vanishes, there is no reason for us to exist either.}
Magic patterns emerged behind the giant, enveloping it, then vanished in a flash.
Hong Haocheng checked the badges in Moxel that could summon Bo’an; only seven remained.
Just then, the huge flying carpet swept in from the horizon. Yang Zicang at its edge glanced down, then guided the carpet away.
–What an arrogant prick.-
The young man muttered a complaint and furrowed his brow.
Why did he always manage to track him down?
He really needed to thoroughly study the recorded knowledge about stealth and reconnaissance.
……
The Land of Lost Frequencies, a gathering place for the Great Client.
At the edge of the lush green fields, Aya sat by the door, mending a large tear in a man’s coat. The half-grown beast cub, which could spit lightning, lay at her feet, panting with its tongue out.
–Woof woo~ woof woof~-
The woman looked up, pausing her sewing, and studied the newcomer—a woman leaning on a long walking stick, draped in a thin sand-proof cloak, her face bearing the marks of a weathered life.
The little beast barked twice, then rested its head back on its paws. The stranger exchanged a glance with Aya, smiled, and nodded. She approached, crouched down, and stroked the cub’s head.
–Hello, are you new here?- Aya asked.
–Tsk, tsk, tsk,- the woman coaxed the little beast, then looked up at Aya. –I’m just passing through. Thought I’d drop by and see you.-
–See me?-
The woman in the thin cloak turned to survey the surroundings, a hint of regret in her eyes. –This place has changed too much.-
–Have you been here before? Well, ever since the Great Client arrived, it has indeed changed a lot.-
–A pity it was never meant to be this prosperous. But since it’s come to this, I’ll just have to let it be.-
The woman looked up at Aya, who was smiling.
–You no longer have any regrets.-
–What?- Aya was taken aback.
The woman grasped her long crutch and stood up. –Compared to the destruction here, what I regret even more is…-
She turned around. –You, who were always filled with regret, actually no longer regret anything now.-
–You… what are you talking about!-
Aya grew nervous. This woman with skin so dry it was cracked spoke in a very strange manner.
A halo lit up on her chest, about to release threads, but a weathered hand pressed onto her shoulder, and a mysterious aura instantly enveloped Aya, causing her to recall all of her past in an instant. The intense fear, confusion, sorrow, and endless regret she had experienced kept flooding her mind, as if trying to shred her will to pieces.
Fortunately, those rampant emotions finally came to a halt… starting from the moment she realized she had already moved to the Great Stakeholder’s settlement.
She suddenly had an epiphany: from the moment she met the Desert Station Team, her fate had been reversed.
When Aya recovered, the strange woman was already gone. Aya wanted to inform the person in charge of the Great Stakeholder about this odd occurrence, but as soon as she had the thought, she immediately remembered that Robin Lo and Lü Zhi were not around at the moment, and since nothing had actually happened to her, why create unease among the others?
Better to just let it be.
She quickly cast aside her worries and began her needlework lightheartedly, while the little beast continued to lie peacefully at her feet.
–Hmm… heh hum, hum, hum…-
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