Yao Chiming handed the heavy bow to Yang Zicang, letting him feel its weight.
–How far can this bow shoot, Chronos?–
–Fifty yards. Add that to ZiCang’s own twenty-meter range, and the strike radius should reach the monster on the bridge. But…–
–But what?–
–Forget it—I’ll just shoot this bow myself later. You can help with acceleration and aiming.–
Yao Chiming looked at Yang Zicang, who kept stroking the long bow.
–To draw this bow, it costs thirty Chronos per shot. Not the amplified kind—principle, real lifespan.–
Yang Zicang and the others were secretly stunned.
One pull of the bowstring, thirty years of life gone in a flash.
{Captain Yao, have you made up your minds? That thing’s nearly as smart as a human now. It’s blocking the road like it’s waiting for something.}
The scout relaying images from afar urged via telepathic communication again.
Yao Chiming said:
–We plan to bring out the Bow of Malice.–
{The Bow of Malice? That thing has short range and devours time…}
Yao Chiming reassured him: –Don’t worry—I have someone extremely capable here who can unlock more of the bow’s power.–
{Hmph, how capable? Is Zhao Anlong back?}
–Close enough.–
A distinct shift flickered across the other person’s face.
What he had just said was nothing more than an offhand remark, yet unexpectedly, this was the reply he received.
Someone on par with Zhao Anlong? Could it be a new possessor of the QuadMoxel?
The one waiting for rescue fell silent, but the weapon gripped tightly in his hands betrayed the renewed strength surging inside him.
On the stone platform beside them, one of the dozen or so men and women, their faces pale with panic, rasped out in a hoarse voice:
–Hey, are you guys actors or not? This is some kind of variety show, right? There must be a cameraman here.–
–Shut your mouth. We risked our lives crossing a dimensional rift to save you, and you’re still spewing nonsense.–
–Tsk, who knows if it’s real or fake? Back there, that thing in the room was probably just a machine prop anyway.–
The four ignored him, their vigilant gazes fixed solely on the chasm below, where vague shadows writhed, hinting at something crawling upward.
–Deploy the force field.– The squad leader commanded with caution.
One member from the Monster Hunter Alliance suggested: –I think, if worst comes to worst, we retreat and take a detour instead.–
–No way—it’s too far. None of these people have awakened a Moxel. They’d trigger the Nightmare Eggs all the way, and we’d all end up dead.–
Suddenly, a fist-sized creature, its wings vibrating furiously, shot up from below.
Bang! It slammed headfirst into the force field.
The man sustaining the force field changed his expression as countless buzzing sounds rose from below.
……
Led by Yao Chiming, Yang Zicang sat in a battered off-road vehicle, jolting along a rocky path toward the ambush site, occasionally glimpsing figures in the distance.
–Never mind the car—how did you still manage to find gasoline?–
–It’s modified. Trust me, you don’t want to know what it burns.–
Smelling the faint hint of blood, Yang Zicang stifled his curiosity.
He looked around. In the distance, a jagged mountain range sprawled low on the horizon, shimmering with a purplish-red luster under the sun.
–Brother Yao, can we still get back to Earth? Forget it, that question’s unfair to you.–
Yao Chiming let out a hearty laugh: –Let’s hope so. Hold on tight—I’m about to speed up. It’ll take half an hour to get there.–
Yang Zicang glanced at the tachometer; the engine was already roaring, yet the needle only showed sixty or seventy.
–How long will it take for the Chronos consumed by the boost to recover?–
–For me, about two days. You should be faster. If I’m not mistaken, maybe just over twenty hours.–
–I see. That puts my mind at ease.–
–What?– Focused on driving, Yao Chiming hadn’t yet realized what the young man beside him was planning.
[Deploying…]
A brilliant white ring, akin to a ring, emerged on Yang Zicang’s chest, and from it Quad diffused outward.
Before Yao Chiming could react, the tachometer needle instantly surged to one hundred and sixty.
A deep –vroom– rumbled by his ears; the off-road vehicle beneath him sprang forward with a roar, like an awakened beast.
–Haha! Now this is what off-roading’s all about!– Yao Chiming excitedly stomped on the accelerator.
Vroom~
By the roadside, two men carrying ore in bamboo baskets only heard a thunderous roar sweep past, as the blast of wind from the off-road vehicle whipped their clothes, sending them flapping loudly.
Ten minutes later, the off-road vehicle came to a halt before a dilapidated commercial building, where the interior was shrouded in black mist and a few columns lay collapsed in the shattered hall.
–It feels amazing not getting a ticket!–
Yao Chiming stepped out of the car, patted the smoking hood, and gazed into the building, saying:
–After the monster born here was slain, the overlapping part between the building and another world vanished, manifesting a glimpse of that other world—just inside there.–
He pointed toward the interior of the shattered building that cut through, where the opposite side seemed to connect to a deep, narrow and rugged mountain valley trail.
–Enter from here, and we can reach the other side of the city within two hours. If we take a safe route on the ground, it would take three to four days. Let’s go in. By the way, can you still use that acceleration ability from earlier? On me.–
Yang Zicang gave it a try, Yao Chiming sprinted in place for a moment and felt a slight lightness in his body.
–Use a double dose of Chronos. Let’s go. You lead the way, and we’ll hurry over.–
–Alright, I’ll contact them first.–
A triangular pattern surfaced on Yao Chiming’s body, elongating and folding into the void. Within two seconds, his expression jolted.
–Hurry, they’re under attack! That creature below sensed the presence of ordinary humans and wants to trap them all there!–
This burly man quickly tossed a wrapped bundle containing arrow tips to Yang Zicang, then removed a steel sword over three fingers in width from his side and slung it onto his back.
Chisel marks were still visible on the sword’s notches, unevenly polished—clearly it had been cut from a thick steel plate and handmade.
Yao Chiming raised the heavy-looking bow of utmost evil, straining slightly as he said, –Move!–
The two of them sprinted toward the building’s interior like nimble athletes.
The path went increasingly deeper down, gradually resembling entry into a mountain gully unfamiliar greenery covering the slopes. Due to the lack of sunlight, a faintly chilly aura pervaded the air.
RUMBLE!
From the cave up ahead came trembling and the roars of monsters, a terrifying sound that set one’s heart racing.
–ZiCang, you can activate your Moxel now. Chu Chiang has prepared a new Invest for you.–
A circular ring bloomed from within the heart.
[I, the mighty Quad, am about to face a formidable foe. Who will advance with me? Half of the Chronos shall be shared with them!]
Light radiated from their body, instantly forging a mental link with Chu Chiang.
[The Monster Hunter Alliance has Invested 1,500N in me.]
[Mu Xiaoyu has Invested 5N in me.]
At that moment, Mu Xiaoyu, who remained at the base, realized she could no longer use her lifespan to Invest.
She had already profited from 60 years of it, but their multiplier had been exhausted; it would take two or three days to regenerate.
She turned her head to look at Chu Chiang, just about to ask something, when Chu Chiang said, –From now on, if you want to invest your own lifespan, it’s best to go through me. I’ll control the safety for you, though it’s not a hundred percent guarantee.–
He patted the –corpse– of a strange beast in front of him, which resembled a radio but was covered in scales.
–This thing can broadcast our financing requests to farther places. Moreover, compared to other financing radios, it can keep the financing link active while allowing the invested to simultaneously receive others’ mental connections. Quite a convenient piece of equipment.–
He looked at Liu Ming and the other two: –Apart from this, few other radio stations allow ordinary people without Moxel to actively make long-distance investments. That’s why we can go so far to save others. It was also a habit of the former captain.–
Liu Ming and company watched his earnest explanation, a sense of weirdness filling their hearts…
Financing radios—they too were things that had become after nightmares died.
Zhang Yang thought, was he trying to make himself and the other two feel goodwill, to get Yang ZiCang to stay?
……
[Zhao Xue Mei invested 100N in me.]
[Feng Cai Lin invested 100N in me.]
A continuous stream of sounds echoed in Yang ZiCang’s heart.
{Hey, who is this? How did they get so many investments?}
A strange mental voice appeared in his mind.
{Ah, isn’t this Captain Yao of the Monster Hunters Alliance? This place must be the cave passage you control.}
–Invest if you want to; if you don’t want to, then stay away.– Yao Qi Ming said coldly as he ran.
Facing others, this burly man showed no good temper, not even bothering with a pleasant expression.
{I still have to consider Captain Yao’s face.}
[An Ji Xiu invested 500N in me.]
What boldness this person had; as an individual, they invested 500N of Temporal Sequence at once.
[Liang Xi invested 10N in me.]
[Thirty-two Anonymous Individuals invested 276.11N in me.]
[Zhang Yang invested 1N in me.]
[Liu Yang invested 1Y in me.]
–2493 years!–
Yang Zi Cang directly transferred all those investments into his hands.
He refrained from casually using his own centuries of temporal energy.
In case unexpected situations arose during the remaining day, he’d be left fighting with –principal– alone if he couldn’t amplify—a costly loss.
The cave grew deeper into darkness, though fluorescent rocks along the walls dimly illuminated the path underfoot.
–Hiss~–
–Hss, hiss~–
Soft, spine-tingling tongue-flickering echoed through the air. After rounding a bend, the two could already hear the clashing of weapons resonating from afar.
Suddenly, a dark figure clinging to the wall lunged at them.
–ZiCang, watch out!–
Just as the claw was about to strike his head, Yang ZiCang, reacting belatedly, shifted his form and narrowly dodged it.
[Anonymous investor withdraws 10N.]
It was a gecko half the size of a human. Yang ZiCang caught a faint, sickly-sweet odor.
[I canceled 13N.]
–Toxic! Use temporal energy to protect your nose and mouth, or the poison will hit your organs.–
A single breath cost him over a decade of temporal energy. Such lethal gas rivaled an unrelenting onslaught of temporal attacks.
Yao Qiming spun around, stomping the ground and thrusting his steel sword upward in an arc, cleaving the lizard in two with a pale-golden blade.
–Seventeen years. The monsters here are getting stronger—it started with mere months of lifespan.–
Over the next stretch of the road, the man slowed his pace a bit, handling any stray monsters that popped up.
–What do you want? This guy’s speed looks decent, but his reactions seem off.–
An Guei-show remarked.
Yang Zicang swallowed his grumbling, keeping it locked inside; his earlier performance had indeed been amateurish.
–What do we want? We’re hunting monsters, of course—this time, it’s a Nightmare tainted with residual bloodline.–
–A bloodline? They haven’t even awakened their Bloodline Ring.–
In the Moexel financing group, another voice chimed in.
–You can all rest assured!–
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