–I… confirm.–
Yang Zicang dodged the grasping hand of a –train passenger– chasing him from behind, leaping off the platform onto the tracks.
The phantom of the subway train swept in from behind, brushing past his body as it thundered by.
Inside the train, various silhouettes wore headphones listening to music, played with their phones, or smiled and chatted with each other.
None of them could see that beside the train stood an elderly man in his sixties or seventies, his face covered in dust, casting a gaze of envy into the carriage while gasping for breath and struggling to keep up with the speeding train, only to be swiftly left behind.
The silver-white circle on his chest, like a ring, glowed faintly.
Yang Zicang felt an unseen connection with certain individuals within a radius of several dozen miles.
[I have issued Life Financing.]
[An anonymous donor has invested 1 in me.]
After pausing for a few seconds, Yang Zicang first thought of Mu Xiaoyu and the others.
–What about my traveling companions…–
The person on the other end of the phone said:
–You want those friends to invest in you too, right? If so, I can help. They don’t have Moxel, and without my radio Nightmare relay, they won’t receive your Life Financing Moxel from a distance.–
–Yes!–
Yang Zicang had no idea what the other person was talking about; he just knew that right now, he needed more lifespan.
Just as he finished speaking, several more notifications appeared.
[Mu Xiaoyu has invested 10N for me]
[Chang Yang has invested 1N for me]
[Liu Ming has invested 3Y for me]
They’ve received it!
Mu Xiaoyu was even willing to gift him ten years of her own life. Yang Zicang knew that the girl was already nearing sixty, perhaps with little life left herself.
He was now nothing but a decrepit old man, fragile enough to die from a mere touch from that dwarf, yet she still chose to invest ten years of her lifespan for him…
Frankly, Yang Zicang felt a twinge of gratitude towards this slightly naive girl.
Suddenly, a message arrived—a faint flash of gold shimmered and vanished within the white circle.
[Monster Hunter Alliance has invested 1000N for me.]
–What?!–
Yang Zicang’s eyes widened in disbelief; he suspected he had misperceived it.
In his sensory vision, a minuscule number appeared inside the circle on his chest, surging explosively from zero, transforming in an instant!
A full thousand years! Such a colossal gesture—how dared they?
The man’s voice continued from the phone after a few seconds of silence: –You should have realized it by now, right?–
–Yes, a thousand years… you people…–
–We are the Monster Hunter Alliance, and for this millennium, this has been our calling card. Here, there are many brothers and sisters like you and me. If you manage to walk out alive, you can come to No. 12 Zuoming Avenue. We sincerely await your arrival.–
A map was transmitted to the phone.
[I have enough Chronos now; I should be able to replenish the life I’ve consumed with Chronos.]
–Wahaha, where do you think you’re running off to~!–
Yang Zicang was just about to replenish what was consumed when the dwarf’s voice came from behind him. Suddenly, a thought stirred in his mind… Wait a moment.
From a high vantage point behind him, the monster armor that called itself Zhang Fei and its being—whether –master– or –slave-—was charging forward, carried along by a blood-red triangle.
[The Abandoned City invested 500N into me.]
–The Abandoned City?–
A blurred figure appeared in his consciousness. It smiled faintly at him, and then the indistinct form quickly faded away.
[Bai Yuan invested 10N into me.]
That runaway still had the nerve to give him an investment.
[Another twenty anonymous individuals invested a total of 219.11N into me.]
–Haah! Die, you worthless piece of trash!–
Above his head, a stocky man clad in a vest-like armor clasped his hands together and came crashing down with the force of Mount Tai!
Yang Zicang turned his head to look, a cruel smile creeping across his face.
–I’m not the same as before.–
With a flicker of insight, 40 years vanished from Chronos in an instant. But in return, his strength and energy were rapidly recovering, and his skin gradually became full and supple.
Driven by some instinct, a glimmer of light appeared in his hand. It bloomed, forming faint, ashen-white wisps of flame around his fist.
[Because I am Quad, I can amplify the Chronos I possess fourfold. As long as Chronos isn’t depleted below the –principal,-** I’ll lose no additional Chronos.**]
[This is me, the great Quad.]
[So, how much Chronos should I allocate to this punch? I still need to guard against attacks from other parts of my body… I’ll have to consider this carefully.]
–All in!–
The numerals within the ring on his chest drained to zero like a flood, leaving only a single digit after the decimal point.
The light on his fist instantly shifted to a pale gold.
[!]
–Hah!– He hurled a punch toward the figure crashing down upon him from the sky.
–Boom!–
The stocky man’s powerful arms instantly disintegrated into ashes. With a thunderous roar, he was sent flying by the immense force, crashing violently into the tunnel.
The short man’s body tumbled several times on the ground before halting after colliding with the hologram of an electronic billboard.
These billboards displayed an identical image every few meters.
–Cough, cough… He was hiding three times my level of Chronos… Causing devastating…–
The stocky man, watching the approaching young figure, coughed up blood as he said, –You have… that much… Chronos… and you still… pretended to be old… to fool me.–
–With intelligence like that, you truly disgrace the name of Zhang Fei.–
A golden, flame-like radiance emanated from the young man’s right fist. Influenced by the monstrous emotions within, his lips parted, revealing a maniacal grin.
–Two thousand two hundred years, huh? Not bad. That single punch just consumed two thousand two hundred years of my Chronos. Just how many people have you killed!–
The man’s expression shifted dramatically; after sensing his own lifespan, terror flashed in his eyes.
–You… you reckless fool! Aren’t you afraid… of the other parts…–
–Sorry, I’m new here. I don’t understand a thing.–
Several figures with vacant, expressionless faces came running, and Yang Zicang swung his fists.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Massive holes instantly burst open in the bodies of the three mind-controlled humans, and they collapsed to the ground.
At this moment, he was cold and merciless. These controlled and brainwashed individuals each possessed a Chronos shield of about 50N. Taking them down had cost him 153N.
[I’ve acquired their principal amounts, roughly equal to 50N.]
Their total combined Chronos neared fifty years, suggesting they too were amplified threefold.
The Chronos he had just depleted began to increase once more. After being quadrupled by the square, it turned into two hundred years, culminating a total of over four thousand two hundred years of Chronos.
Yang Zicang felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and exhilaration—a natural richness bestowed by an extended lifespan, a serene joy that stemmed from deep within his soul.
–Ha, haha, as expected, the reckless beat the veteran. Who would’ve thought I’d fall to someone who knows nothing… cough.–
{Wait, if you join us, I can choose you as my master.}
The eyes of the monster armor fixed on Yang Zicang, its voice ringing directly in his mind.
–Do you think I’d trust a monster?–
Yang Zicang stepped closer, raising his hand before smashing down with a punch.
The monster armor suddenly writhed, swallowing the man whole.
–Boom!– The force field vibrated from his fist—a strike loaded with thousands of years of Chronos, yet it cost only a hundred.
The short man let out a whimpering cry; as his head was being devoured, Yang Zicang saw the skin beneath the armor rapidly wrinkling.
{I’ve already eaten it.}
The monster armor sprang nimbly into motion. Yang Zicang seized its foot, yanking it downward, while its other foot lashed out, aiming straight for his head with a gust of force.
[Dispatch!]
Yang Zicang’s head twisted at an odd angle, dodging the blow.
In the subway tunnel, the roar of the monster bus drew closer from afar.
The monster’s armor broke free from the grasp, flipping backward several times before shooting toward the ceiling, crouching inverted at the top of the passage.
{Quad, same as Linear — both are rare Moxel. But Linear is the weakest, like an ordinary human. They can only spend their principal to fight back. They’re ants. They’re bugs.}
Yang Zicang looked up toward that spot, finding himself completely unable to reach his opponent.
–But you are different. So, for the last time, I invite you to join our Xiongying Group. You will become a presence above the vice-steward level. You will uncover the truth of this world.–
The young man’s eyes narrowed slightly as he crouched down to pick up a stone and held it firmly in his hand.
–The ability of the armor… it should be to limit every Chronos attack within 100 Newtons, right?–
–Exactly. What, tempted? If you’re willing, you will become Zhang Fei.–
The armored monster spoke calmly through telepathy, its voice directly ringing in the mind.
–Heh, tempted? You underestimate me too much.–
The bus monster, crawling as if from the depths of hell, charged forward at lightning speed, while the fiery gaze on its shoulders instinctively glanced sideways.
Yang Zicang’s eyes grew resolute. His palm clenched tightly around the stone before he hurled it with sudden force.
[**Trajectory Tuning! **]
The golden light in his hand rapidly diminished, and the stone, carrying that golden radiance, emitted a buzzing sound as it crossed the distance between them like a bullet.
The stone traced an eerie S-shaped curve, laden with 4,100 years of Chronos, and appeared before the dark, vacant helmet of the armor as if teleporting.
That was the only hollow spot on its entire body!
Boom!
The armor’s head exploded from the inside out.
The blazing eyes on the armor’s shoulders showed shock, then their flames dimmed, and this suit of armor covered in scale-like ripples fell from the sky.
It simply couldn’t react in time—this was a strike imbued with over four thousand years of Chronos.
–Indeed, all defenses are on the outside.– Yang Zicang watched coldly as it clattered to the ground.
[The Chronos I expended has returned, and I gained an additional 923N.]
A one-shot kill, without excessively draining the monster’s natural lifespan.
A ringing sound echoed. Yang Zicang answered swiftly, and the man’s voice came through: –That armor is a fine piece. Once you strip away the monster’s lingering will, it can serve us. Secure it carefully.–
Another phantom subway train surged by, its silhouette overlapping the bus monster as it rapidly approached. Yang Zicang had already caught sight of Director Huang’s manic expression.
He dashed forward swiftly, scooping up the tattered dark red armor that had transformed into a vest, then turned and fled.
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