–Qian, Brother Qian.– The crowd turned their heads to look behind. –That guy’s a tough nut to crack.–
At that moment, the man who had been in the rear, commanding the team to charge forward, let out a cold laugh and stepped out. In his hand, he now held a bloodstained long chopping knife he had retrieved from the car.
The man called –Brother Qian– gripped the cleaver and glanced at the fat guy writhing on the ground with bent legs.
–I’ll avenge you. Come on, everyone, Invest your Lifespan for me. If I don’t whittle you down into a human stump today, then my last name ain’t Yang.–
Yang Zicang wore a peculiar expression as he said:
–Fine, in that case, how about we make a bet. If I lose, I’ll take your last name. If you lose, you give me a hundred years of Chronos. Deal?–
–Alright, tempting me with a bet, huh. Heh, Yang Qian would like to see just how much Chronos you have.–
Yang Qian wrapped the bloodstained long cloth around his hand from the blade, tying a tight knot with it.
As the triangular Moxel unfolded, countless investment reversals surged into Yang Qian’s mind.
Yang Zicang said:
–A real man stands by his word. If either of us reneges on our bet, we’ll be branded a coward for life, laughed at by everyone. It’s still not too late for you to back out.–
–Less of your damn nonsense, man. As if I’m scared of some greenhorn like you today.–
–So, you agree then.–
–Just get ready to change your last name.–
[Yang Zicang has Invested 0.1R for me.]
The outrageously low feedback from ChronosInvest left Yang Qian, who was gripping his spear, momentarily stunned.
–Later, you can just use this investment to give me a surplus feedback on Chronos.–
Realizing he had been toyed with, Yang Qian scoffed in fury.
–Fine, fine, you fucking scoundrel — toast thrown away for penalty. Come on then!–
–Draw your spear!–
Yang Zicang dissolved into a blurred afterimage, thrusting forth like a comet with his spear in a blazing, lightning-fast surge.
Clang! In the nick of time, Yang Qian clapped his hands together. Starry radiance flickered as he conjured a force field.
While deflecting the attack, the force field jutted stalwartly in place, like a pane of bulletproof glass.
–You think you can fucking play tricks on me?–
Yang Qian flashed a contemptuous smile, casually propping up the force field while unhurriedly raising his long chopper.
Yang Zicang shifted his stance with a light toe tap, the lance in both hands instantly sketching multiple blossom-like thrusts.
After it struck the force field for the fourth time in just over two seconds, the field shattered with a crackling sound into fragments of light before vanishing.
The force field’s defensive power lasted exactly five hundred years!
Just as expected, it was the same as that mouse’s Chronos force field defense.
As Yang Qian stared in shock, the fifth thrust shot straight toward his right palm.
Bang! The tip of the lance touched his skin but failed to pierce through.
Yang Qian’s arm was jolted by the force of the blow, skewing the intended arc of his strike, yet still far from causing injury.
–Why do you only use a hundred years for each attack? Is it that you have too much Chronos to spare?–
Yang Qian’s expression shifted sharply after taunting those words as the realization struck him.
–No, that can’t be—we can hear Moxel’s feedback, which means you haven’t mastered this Chronos weapon yet. You’re probably not even its owner. This, this is…–
The surrounding onlookers, initially skeptical, suddenly snapped to awareness!
If a Chronos weapon remains unmastered, no external Chronos can be infused into it; it must rely solely on its inherent capabilities for battle.
–Cent-Arms!–
–This is Cent-Arms, a Century-level Chronos weapon!–
The crowd erupted in realization—this was the incomparably rare Cent-Arms!
–Ah!–
Yang Qian was instantly driven to madness.
The blade in his hand swept down relentlessly, trailing a phantom of golden light, as if he had given up all care for his own life.
Yang Zicang thrust his spear straight forward; with a sharp clang, the long blade was knocked aside, and three spear blossoms rained down toward his opponent’s head.
Despite possessing Chronos for defense, this second master of the Red Iron Gang was still startled by primal instinct into instinctively twisting his head to dodge.
In that single moment, Yang Zicang used his high speed to tap him three times on the body, while simultaneously, seizing the opportunity, he fumbled a ZiCang stone from his pocket into his palm.
[Chu Chiang wants to perform Pro-Invest for me.]
[Angiexiu wants to perform Pro-Invest for me.]
Chu Chiang? He didn’t use the team’s ChronosInvest.
Yang Zicang directly ignored Angiexiu, but he also did not confirm Chu Chiang’s Invest intention.
Countless segmented rays shot forth.
Now everyone knows he’s got something good on him.
{Ahahaha, it’s actually a Cent-Arms.}
Robin Lo’s slightly unhinged voice rang out.
[Robin Lo wants to add Invest for me.]
[Robin Lo added 300N for me.]
Basically, for every three or four attacks Yang Zicang made, Yang Qian could scarcely land a single slash; he was either forced to shut his eyes to evade the streak of the lance’s shadow, or his limbs were pinned by Lance’s rhythm, disrupting the arc of his swings.
Soon, the man enhanced by nearly six thousand years of Chronos power wore a mask of sheer terror on his face.
In that fleeting moment, nearly a millennium had already been lost, yet the blade in his hand kept veering off target.
–Aaargh!–
Striking empty air every time, Yang Qian simmered with raging frustration.
Blazing with fury, he could only glare helplessly at the elusive youth before him, knowing that one moment’s inattention would earn him a brutal strike from that cudgel.
Those around him were too intimidated by such strange speed to dare step forward. At this moment, they had finally learned not to be the first to stick their necks out.
–Beg for mercy now, and I’ll let you go.–
Yang Zicang twirled his spear like a club as he spoke.
–Damn it! If you’ve got the guts, just wait right there.–
Yang Qian turned and ran toward the car, fuming inwardly as he wondered what the hell was wrong with his hand!
–Run him over!– Yang Qian shouted at the car.
Yang Zicang gave chase for a few steps and drove his spear into Qian’s back with monstrous force three or four times, sending him staggering and draining hundreds of years of Chronos in an instant.
It was as if he was being hunted by a vengeful demon.
On the asphalt road, a car roared and sped toward him at breakneck speed.
Yang Qian, having scrambled away on all fours, turned his head while running, a cruel smile spreading across his face:
–Even if it doesn’t run him over, it’ll knock him down! I still have over four thousand years of Chronos amplification left—just you wait, I’ll hit him with something massive.–
If he were truly hit at such high speed, even with Chronos’s defense, the internal organs would suffer considerable damage from the immense impact.
That is, unless the victim could use Chronos to shield every inch of his skin and every internal organ.
Yang Qian brandished the long blade in his hand, while the golden phantom swiftly grew denser. One more slash, or two, and this kid would be completely done for.
–Bro, need an Investment? Just say the word, and I’ll transfer it to your account right away.–
Robin Lo transmitted the thought.
[Give me full authority over Chronos for a thousand years.]
Yang Zicang watched the modified car charging toward him, his expression solemn.
The internal injury from a fall of over ten meters requires an equivalent duration of recuperation to offset. If that were the lethal damage from a car crash, how much Chronos would be needed to counteract it?
Would it be the length of one’s remaining lifespan?
[Give me a thousand years of Full-Fledged Chronos, and I guarantee I’ll get that done for you.]
Yang Zicang murmured inwardly.
On the neighboring street, the crowd had already swarmed over noisily.
{You really dare to ask for it.}
–Then farewell, and stop bothering me.–
[I, the Great Quad, return to Investor Robin Lo their 100N of Full-Fledged Chronos.]
A silver filament of light shimmered, refracted.
[Robin Lo wishes to make an additional Investment to me: 1000N of Full-Fledged Chronos.]
[I have received 1000N of Full-Fledged Chronos.]
Yang Zicang was astonished that the other party was truly willing to give him a thousand years of Full-Fledged Chronos through an Investment.
This was actually not good news—it meant the other party was in deep trouble. And what virtue or ability did he possess to deserve this?
Still, he accepted it.
–Rest assured, I guarantee on my character that I’ll get that done for you.–
Since he had this thousand years, there was no need to perform that high-difficulty stunt later—such a move wasn’t one he had much confidence in anyway.
The engine roared, and Yang Zicang stood rooted to the spot, watching it draw closer. The crowd cursed and yelled, urging the driver to floor it.
These people had gone mad—they no longer belonged to any civilized society.
Some moral barriers within Yang Zicang shattered amid the torrent of shouts and curses.
Thirty meters, twenty-five meters, twenty-one meters…
Yang Zicang’s foot moved; he raised the spear and took a stride, making a throwing motion.
The people around him laughed at the sight.
–Haha, he’s not even running—does he really think he can take on a car with that spear? Hahahaha!–
If this were a fully controlled Cent-Arms, they might have been worried, but right now, it just looked utterly ridiculous.
It was like a fierce warrior from a primitive tribe, trying to defeat a Humvee H1 at close range by hurling a javelin.
A light gleamed on his chest as the shimmering Quad emerged from the ring.
Yang Zicang’s face turned mature and steady, like a battle-hardened veteran!
[4100N!]
The Lance slipped from his hand and fell backward.
A pebble flickering with a golden phantom shadow was cast from his palm. It rose high and then descended, yet in the air, it traced countless rippling arcs before darting into the chassis of a car over ten meters away.
–Boom!–
The shockwave spread like a detonating cyclone.
[I have gained 150N.]
Suddenly, a sharp tearing presence appeared within the gust.
Yang Zicang’s eyes narrowed; his body spun swiftly, his hands seizing the silver Lance being wrapped and dragged away by an unknown force.
Someone was ambushing him!
–Who’s there?!–
At the tip of Lance, faint signs of gravitational pull emerged. It wasn’t triggered by himself; this person seemed to be groping and experimenting with the ability.
Yang Zicang was startled!
The opponent had already discovered the power contained in the gun and was trying to control it.
It was a few flying kite strings.
[Initial opening of –Gravity Space-** requires 1000N of Chronos.**]
[I’ve invested 1000N.]
Before the assailant could make sense of the situation with the spear, Yang Zicang seized the moment without hesitation.
The instant he began to take control of the Gravitational Space, a surge of power forced its way in through the silk threads wrapped around the spear, only to be repelled.
[Gravitational Space Resonance 10%]
That was close!
Either the attacker was less than a millennium’s worth of Chronos, or was shaken by the information feedback from the spear.
The opponent had not anticipated that becoming its master wasn’t about seizing control of the weapon, but resonating with the Gravitational Space instead.
At any rate, he failed to invest a millennium’s worth of Chronos right away.
[Gravitational Space obtained another’s infusion of a thousand years of Chronos. I, the great Quad, naturally won’t be slower than it. Current resonance level 15%.]
Nice, so a quad-pede is actually just a bit more sturdy than a triangle!
Through the dust, Yang Zicang tightly gripped the gun.
We’re all just country bumpkins visiting the Grand View Garden for the first time, touching something this good. A bit of psychological misalignment is perfectly normal.
But just being a mere second or two late, the opponent had missed the chance to obtain Lance.
Under Four-Deformation’s swift control, the opponent’s despair grew deeper with every passing moment.
Amidst the billowing dust, threads of silk flickered, slicing through the air.
Countless people strained to see what Yang Zicang was doing, only to be engulfed by the surging wave of heat churned up by the rolling and exploding cars.
[Grav-Arc activated.]
Yang Zicang’s long legs slid across the ground, the silver lance trailing with a shudder. As a teacup-sized black vortex spun into existence at the joint of the blade, the force of gravity sucked in the strands of silk lingering in the air.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The vibrating threads, entangled, snapped apart one after another, vanishing into the Grav-Arc. Each tremor they produced signified a century of Chronos being neutralized.
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