Yang Zicang’s clenched fist suddenly thrust outward from the rapidly expanding red phantom, whoosh!
[Deploy!]
The fierce wind, carrying wild fiery red flames, exploded!
[Morris refunded my 2000NInvest.]
The Chronos that had just been consumed was immediately replenished!
Yang Zicang’s thigh muscles bulged, and one leg swept with a heavy and unruly gale towards the figure engulfed in flames, the air in the entire carriage seeming to tremble and roil from the force.
Bang! Matt Chao felt as if he’d been blasted off by a truck.
The sword he thrust was too late to pull back and defend in front of him; in that moment, he had to endure the pain and swing it horizontally.
Yang Zicang twisted his head slightly, extended his arm, and struck the sword’s blade with a punch.
The long sword flew away with a buzzing sound and embedded itself into the train’s ceiling.
Rumbling and roaring, the Nightmare Train’s body trembled.
Chronos continuously canceled each other out.
[Morris refunded my 2000 NInvest.]
–You actually have this much Chronos… you want to kill me that badly?–
–The moment you started dragging the people around me into this, you were already dead!–
Yang Zicang’s fists carried a swifter and fiercer force, smashing down fist after fist on his head.
[Morris has returned my 2000N Invest.]
[Morris has returned my 2000N Invest.]
–Woo—–
The train raced swiftly through the phantoms, heading toward the next station.
By the time Yang Zicang delivered his tenth punch, he already knew someone must be Investing for Matt Chao on the other side; otherwise, that bastard would have died long ago.
–Where do you think you’re going, you think you’re so tough?!–
Yang Zicang, infected by Moxel’s emotions, roared in anger as he swung his fists.
Blood oozed from Matt Chao’s mouth and nose, and he ranted like a madman: –You fool, I’ll make sure you die with no place to be buried!–
–Is that so?–
Yang Zicang turned his head, his punch mixing flame and gale slamming into the train floor like the thunderous boom of a giant drum.
Thump! The high-speed train abruptly jolted to a halt, and Yang Zicang could hear its tragic screeching even from within.
The longsword lodged in the ceiling was shaken loose by the shock; its vertical descent defied the laws of physics as it flickered mid-air, twisted its tip, and darted toward an object on the ground several meters away.
Matt Chao’s face shuddered in shock.
–You dare?!–
–Hell yeah, I dare to go right at you!–
Clang! The longsword pierced straight into the kaleidoscope on the ground.
This longsword was also a Chronos weapon; after the kaleidoscope took that hit, it shattered with a crack, and the color-tinged energy layer enveloping the train began to weaken.
The Paleshade Wyrm tore off a chunk of the train carriage wall in one bite, leaving a chaotic gaping hole.
–Ah! How dare you!– Matt Chao swung his fist in fury—the only psychic defense treasure in the entire city had shattered before his eyes!
He rained down countless phantom punches, one, two, and on the third, the red light on Matt Chao’s hand vanished, replaced by a golden radiance.
Now!
Seizing this fleeting window for Invest, Yang Zicang landed a punch squarely on Matt Chao’s heart. But his opponent reacted swiftly, almost simultaneously, initiating an Invest defense to block the blow.
Yet now, his –flowery armor– was gone. The Paleshade Wyrm charged in and, with a single bite, ripped out Matt Chao’s psychic entity.
In that instant, through the Paleshade Wyrm, Yang Zicang seemed to hear faint Invest chants and telepathic whispers.
[Someone is trying to Invest 5000N in Matt Chao.]
[Invest failed…]
[Matt Chao, leave this city immediately. Head to…]
[Run… or you will truly die!]
[Someone is trying to Invest 5000N in Matt Chao.]
[Invest failed…]
Countless silver trajectories flickered and converged.
{Yang Zicang, stop! If you kill him, we’ll die!}
{The Heroic Group will retaliate ruthlessly. Cease now!}
The person opposite actually dared to expose the identities of these rebels, publicly using crowdfunding Moxel to call out to him.
{Countless innocents will die because of you—stop while you can!}
Yang Zicang merely sensed their pleas and brushed them all aside without a second thought.
The outside world, as everyone desperately fled toward the evacuation zone, was thrown into an uproar upon receiving these flashing Moxel requests.
Chu Chiang, who was retreating, nearly stumbled.
He stared in disbelief at the information embedded in the flashing fold line over his chest.
So many people were actually trying to stop Yang Zicang!
And someone even said the Heroic Team from Xiongying would retaliate fiercely?
Watching this scene unfold in Hubville, Morris couldn’t help but swallow hard. He muttered to the curly-haired youth beside him:
–See that, Boboli? That’s the big shot who handled all those contracts for you. Hell, he even conjured up that ghostly Soul Dragon! I’m witnessing his entire rise, my Bro.–
Boboli’s eyes gleamed with envy: –Oh my God, you managed to get help from someone like that? Amazing!–
……
In Yang Zicang’s hands, with its power boosted fourfold, over 20,000 years of Chronos energy wrapped his fist, striking the carriage beside Matt Chao’s chest as the monster bellowed in agony.
[I offset 20000N.]
From outside came the thud of human bodies crashing to the ground. Turning his head, he saw passengers in other carriages aging and collapsing in droves, their breaths ceasing.
Yang Zicang’s heart trembled—the Chronos energy from his punch had been spread across all of them.
With a single blow, dozens—even hundreds—of lives were snuffed out. Yang Zicang felt a jolt of shock run through him.
{He isn’t as good as you… y-you… don’t kill me. You are my new master, please.}
–You!–
His eyes at this moment were like those of a malevolent dragon, yet he fought the impulse to annihilate this grotesque evil fiend. This spectacle jolted Yang Zicang from his frenzied rage.
A flicker of regret surfaced.
Matt Chao’s Astral Form hung limply from the mouth of Paleshade.
Because his astral presence had left his body, the man before him failed to vanish as he desired.
The blurred humanoid astral form, after passing through initial confusion and struggle, now seemed to regain a sliver of clarity. This was all because the parasitic dark fiend was also a psychic entity.
Matt Chao’s agonized voice came through in fragments:
{Kill… me.}
{Kill me, and Yang Zicang will die too, haha… take all my… Chronos… and Yang Zicang can… leave this place. Someday, someone will… avenge me…}
He muttered to himself maniacally, rambling on about something; at this moment, Matt Chao had lost his sober mind, merely babbling like a patient under anesthesia.
Taking this opportunity, Yang Zicang calmed his emotions and asked, –How much Chronos before it disappears?–
{That would be… ten thousand years.}
Matt Chao’s psychic body became illusory, sometimes resembling a pig, other times a monster with four hands and fangs protruding from the corners of its mouth, and more often than not distorting into an ugly figure gradually exuding a sinister aura.
But occasionally, it would revert to Matt Chao’s image again, and whenever this happened, he would utter his self-muttering words.
{That… strongest person in Xiong Ying Group… will kill Yang Zicang there… to avenge me.}
Yang Zicang glanced at him and said to the train without much emotion:
–Where was he originally going to take me?–
{To your Hubville… or to Lyu Bu’s place.}
–Hubville, how many of your people are there?–
{Very few, I could only take one person each time. Because there’s no permission, the stays are short. But they’ve bribed some people there.}
This is what Morris referred to as smuggling.
For those outside the Chronos Diffusion Zone, a few dozen hours inside equates to just a few hours outside—sending oneself over takes little time, but inside the zone, a long period will have passed.
–What are your people doing? How did they get into the nest to hasten the maturation of the Defenders?–
Train Channel:
{The new Huang Zhong, the small bus can sink into the ground.}
Yang Zicang naturally thought of someone surnamed Huang—that guy… it had to be him!
But yes, Director Huang possesses the ability to burrow underground, so it’s not surprising he was chosen by beings akin to council members, and besides, he was likely in this very zone back then.
The Blaze Blade’s strike ignited, scorching Matt Chao’s body, but his silver uniform appeared intact amidst the flames—not only unblemished, but even the chest area he had shattered recovered completely.
As Yang Zicang’s hand touched the silver uniform, it instantly transformed into a mass of light, merging into his mind and consciousness like a station platform.
[It seems I’ve become the conductor of the Midnight Train.]
He sensed it for a moment—fine; Paleshade Wyrm could easily tear this thing apart, putting Yang Zicang’s mind at ease.
–What’s a Defender?– Yang Zicang asked the train.
{By containing the Defiants, we can learn more about the ‘Monsters.’ I also want to know why I was born into this world, a world absent from the memories I’ve devoured. Lu Zhishen should succeed in containment soon.}
A flicker of contemplation crossed Yang Zicang’s reserved eyes.
He stood up. –How does Lu Zhishen compare to Matt Chao in terms of strength?–
{Correction: Matt Chao is me; this person is merely my conductor.}
–Then let’s call him Little Matt Chao.–
{I’m quite big…}
After that retort, the train wisely dropped the subject and shifted gears:
{Lu Zhishen’s combat skills are slightly stronger than the former conductor’s. Containing the Defiants requires items provided by the Senators—whoever wields that item can contain it, provided the Defiant is willing to be contained. Lu Zhishen is currently in control of that item.}
–Take me to Lu Zhishen. I believe you can do it.–
{Then can you spare me a bit of Chronos? Just 1N is enough.}
A silver uniform materialized on the youth’s body, its fabric patterns glowing with a faint crimson light. This coat was the nexus controlling the train.
Yang Zicang placed his hand on the nameplate on his chest; its light shifted, displaying the words [Conductor: Yang Zicang].
As he poured everything into Chronos, a towering, bald-headed figure materialized in Yang Zicang’s mind like a telepathic apparition.
[I have consumed 1N of principal. The Midnight Train has departed.]
[Next stop: Lu Zhishen Station. Estimated time: three minutes.]
–WHOOSH——–
The piercing sound of the train cleaving through the air at breakneck speed filled the space.
Yang Zicang straightened up and gazed at the phantoms flickering outside the window—fragments of memories from countless human lives.
Some brimming with laughter, others lost in confusion, weighed down by loneliness, soaring with hope, or gnawed by restless longing.
He wanted to go to the end of the carriage, and the moment he willed it, he stepped into the next carriage, appearing in the one where the old man in Zhao Bomin’s clothes was.
The old man had already fallen beside the chair, having lost his breath. Were it not for this outfit, Yang Zicang wouldn’t have recognized his aged features.
Beside this man were two elderly men and women who had escaped with him—the three people he had once rescued.
Yang Zicang watched for a long time, until he felt they were close to the monster’s lair. Only then did he crouch down, gently sweeping his hand over Zhao Bomin’s unclosed eyelids to let him close his eyes.
–I already know—it wasn’t you who invited them. I hope that if there’s a next life, you can live in a beautiful world.–
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