Ning Yang nodded somewhat awkwardly, essentially conceding that the rumor of Jiazi Term single-handedly dominating the entire Peng Zone wasn’t baseless.
Zhao Qi remarked in surprise, –So there really is someone that formidable. And a guy like that went and became a thief?–
–He didn’t steal anything—it was just a misunderstanding.–
–Oh?– Zhao Qi’s eyes flickered with interest. –That’s not what your people were saying.–
–We were just trying to throw off the real thief,– Ning Yang said.
Suddenly a jagged line shot through the air, and a silver-white ring automatically materialized on Ning Yang’s chest.
{Brother Ning, some of our residents just said their friends spotted a top-quality well core engine being auctioned off over at Wu You’s place—looks like the one we lost.}
–Are they sure they didn’t see wrong?–
{Absolutely certain.}
Ning Yang’s anger surged like fire.
Two things drove him into a fury: one, that the engine was being put up for auction; two, that pretty much everyone knew his household had lost something.
How long were these people’s tongues?!
–Who the hell’s selling it?–
Too furious to start blaming the loose-lipped bunch in Peng Zone, Ning Yang asked urgently.
{Someone claiming to be Jiazi Term’s assistant.}
Ning Yang nearly coughed up blood.
Could that guy really have stolen it? What the hell does he want—to toy with me?
–Can we buy it back?–
{Brother, the price is too high. It’s been driven up to four thousand eight hundred years.}
–Damn it!–
……
Inside the auction venue, the price of water wells kept climbing. Meanwhile, more people from afar learned about the emergence of high-quality water wells through their informants.
{Bid with all you’ve got, but don’t exceed eight thousand.}
–Understood.–
{Do you know who the Maker is?}
–It’s said he’s nearby. Many people have spotted him already, but he didn’t accept the Syn-Link.–
Similar exchanges were happening everywhere in the venue. Several major Peng Zones were stirring with activity.
–Jiazi Term hasn’t replied to me. The good news is they probably haven’t replied to them either.–
Among the rows of wooden seats in the venue, someone spoke to the Penglord behind them.
{After we get out, make a sign asking for him. Indicate that we’re willing to buy a large quantity of this kind of Shin Engine from him, at a price of five thousand Chronos each.}
–Alright, I’ll have someone do it right away.–
……
Inside the materials shop, Sue Ching smiled and said, –So, you’ve tasted the troubles of being a celebrity, haven’t you?–
Yang Zicang felt utterly helpless. The flickering fine lines showed no sign of stopping. He finally understood why the earlier person had known about him.
The person who stole the water well engine had the audacity to impersonate his assistant and sell it here!
And by such an unfortunate coincidence, he showed up in person.
–Damn bastard.– Yang Zicang, grinding his teeth in fury, cracked his knuckles.
He wondered what the intruder pretending to be his assistant looked like. He was itching to go wait at the auction hall right now—what expression would that thief make if he directly intercepted the supplies from the auction?
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
The sound of a crowd of footsteps echoed outside the house.
–Sue Ching!–
A deep, resonant voice boomed from beyond the door. A man with solid muscles stood warily, eyeing the few people inside the room.
Sue Ching gently stepped back two paces, while Yang Zicang stared intently at his every move.
–Unfold your Moxel,– the squad leader barked, gesturing for a few of them to come out.
Professor Chen and the other person hastily dragged the boxes out, still clueless about what was happening.
–Oh? Squad Leader Wang, I think there’s some misunderstanding between us.–
–If you don’t do as I say, don’t blame me being ruthless, brother.–
Squad Leader Wang raised his sword, pointing it straight ahead, while also glancing at the young man in the khaki coat who looked utterly indifferent inside the room.
–Stop the crap.–
–Ha, since that’s the case.– Sue Ching chuckled, –Thank you, everyone. I’m very satisfied with today’s visit.–
Suddenly, the earth outside churned violently.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ah! Ah!
Two bodies were instantly flung into the air. A monster, part-crocodile, part-pangolin, burst out from the ground. Someone was bitten in two by the creature, their Chronos torn away, and the beast ripped their body apart.
–Look out!– Everyone shouted in alarm.
Yang Zicang’s eyes gently closed, and a ripple of spiritual force radiated outward.
In an instant, everyone felt a subtle sense of being abandoned by the world, as if the surrounding ground, trees, and even the air had all been stamped with a label that wasn’t theirs.
Whispers echoed around their ears.
–Ah, help!–
Someone who had been tossed several meters into the air and was now falling downward screamed in terror.
Suddenly, Quad lines flickered to life within the circle that had already materialized before Yang Zicang due to the continuous Syn-Link, spiraling outward.
Whoosh! The body of the man already inside the crocodile’s mouth suddenly accelerated forward, arcing through the air amid his screams and landing in a parabola on the eaves of the roof.
Yang Zicang pressed his toes against the ground, kicking out a grain of sand, a building material, infused with Chronos. It cut through the air in a curved arc, rushed out of the house, and then exploded. Meanwhile, the airborne scattered soil was instantly gilded with a golden radiance by the exploding sand.
In that split second before they fell, a look of shock crossed Sue Ching’s face inside the room, which quickly gave way to a furrowed brow.
Boom boom boom boom.
Those golden-glowing pellets of soil, missile-like, swerved mid-air and crashed into the monsters poking up their heads.
The smell of blood instantly filled the air, and Professor Chen and her companion, shrieking, shrank back onto the steps.
–Good heavens!–
The ground looked as if it had been bombed, with crocodile corpses missing half their bodies still writhing underground, their life force slowly fading, while those untouched by the dirt dared not surface again.
Su Li trembled as he leaned against a tree trunk, turning his head to look at the young man in the room, unable to believe he could achieve such a feat.
–So strong.–
The crowd erupted in uproar.
–So, why are you unwilling to unfold Moxel?–
Yang Zicang opened his eyes, looking at the sweat-drenched Sue Ching.
Sue Ching’s hand gripping the Shin Engine was slick with sweat.
–Misunderstanding, buddy.–
QuadMoxel—no less a Quad that could attach Chronos several meters away. Sue Ching’s heart plummeted to rock bottom.
Yang Zicang held out his hand toward him and shook it; Sue Ching blinked before realizing he was asking for the Shin Engine about to tucked away in his own pocket.
The engine arced perfectly into the hand of the man across from him.
–Impressive. No wonder you know so many recipes.– Sue Ching forced a smile.
Yang Zicang, leaning against the wall, moved his arm lightly with a faint smile.
–Hand over all the Chronos, and surrender without a fight.–
Sue Ching slowly exhaled the stale air from his lungs as he cast a glance at Su Li outside, who looked as if she wanted to devour him alive.
–I admit you’re strong, but how do you know that my end lies here?–
A red ring materialized on his chest in an instant.
With a heavy thud, the ground collapsed, and Sue Ching’s smiling figure dropped into the pit.
The Paleshade Wyrm lunged forward and shot into the hole.
–A psionic body?!–
A shocked human voice rang out from below.
Boom!
A torrent of mud and filthy water erupted, partially flooding the building.
The Paleshade Wyrm bit into several crocodiles that sprang from the deep pit walls; greedy to devour their psionic energy, it was stopped by Yang Zicang, who ordered it to keep going deeper.
Seeing the terrifying, semi-translucent phantom burst through the dirt toward him, Sue Ching felt his spine tingle, as if being locked onto by Death itself.
–Damn thing!–
His hand quickly reached his chest, fingers gripping the zipper of the garment under his jacket and pulling it down with one sweep.
Rip! The skin of a crocodile monster beside him burst open, split to the sides like a zipper being undone.
The Paleshade Wyrm surged forward from among over a dozen creatures traversing beneath the earth; their psionic bodies bought Sue Ching a few precious moments.
The skinless man, stripped of Sue Ching’s appearance, reached out mid-fall, touched the crocodile hide, and swiftly slid it onto his body.
After Paleshade Wyrm charged to the man’s original position, it turned its head to look at the crocodile clad in a human jacket.
A red circle flickered on the crocodile’s chest as it grabbed the edge of the pit, burrowing its head into the soil.
{Hurry and summon more crocodiles to save me, Geya!}
{Molt, do you know how many of my darlings you’ve killed? I’ve toiled here so long, and today you’ve ruined everything!}
{Shut up, once we get the formula, we’ll earn it all back. Save me now.}
The jacket-wearing crocodile scrambled frantically, clawing forward through the hole. Molt could feel the deathly aura closing in from behind!
More hidden crocodiles surged from the earth like a flood of monstrous beasts.
–Quick! Hurry!!–
Molt, feeling himself gradually turning feral, had blood seeping from his eyes. If he remained beast-like too long, he would truly become a beast.
–Aaarr!– He couldn’t help but let out a panicked howl from his monster’s throat.
Just as Paleshade Wyrm was about to charge once more, the darkened earth suddenly loosened, and a crocodile emerged, shedding its skin in haste while contorting its claws, hooking toward a zipper running along its chest and abdomen.
BAM! Paleshade Wyrm pierced through the crocodile ahead, snatching its psionic body in one bite—only to have the psionic body fade away, losing its energy in an instant.
Shedding had completed its body swap in the two seconds prior; what remained was merely the unsloughed flesh of a crocodile from the previous sequence.
Inside the room, the sudden deluge of crocodiles threw everyone into chaos.
Torn between defending the others and chasing the escapee underground, Yang Zicang felt utterly stretched thin.
Below ground, a horde of crocodile monsters burst through the earth, tumbling together before Paleshade Wyrm—this, a stacked feast of delectable prey.
Sensing that Paleshade Wyrm was once again lured by the psionic bodies of those monsters, Yang Zicang grew bitterly resigned, realizing that he must have lost his target.
The situation between him and Nian Long was something peculiar—one could say it was a part of him, yet not exactly, but to claim otherwise, this monster existed purely by borrowing his mental energy.
Driven by the lingering will of Yang Zicang, Nian Long cast a puzzled glance into the soil. It could perceive many delicious psychic forces, but the target’s unique aura was constantly being muddled by the scents of other crocodiles, gradually weakening its distinct flavor.
–I almost really died!–
The Ecdysis felt as if his head was about to split from the pain.
–Damn it, where did that bastard come from? How infuriating!–
Having reached his absolute limit after unleashing his Nightmare power five consecutive times, he vomited out blood and flesh filth as massive as his own body from his gaping mouth as he burrowed. Dizzy and disoriented, he continued digging desperately toward the front.
This was, without a doubt, the most perilous escape journey in history.
–How could a monster like this exist in the Shibin Wastes?–
The Ecdysis had never anticipated that the newcomer—the so-called Engine Forgemaster—would possess such formidable strength.
–And I just had to run into him.–
The commotion here quickly drew the attention of the guards at the Wuyou Trade Zone.
Before long, after a group had cleared the accumulated mud from the material depot, the captain of the guard took a glance at the damaged hole’s edge, and immediately felt a dizzying vertigo.
–Damn these things.–
The captain of the guard at the Wuyou Trade Zone felt as if the sky had fallen.
Seeing the monsters that had been hidden underground actually launch a collective attack on the edge of the Trade Zone and even dig a hole dozens of meters deep underneath, the rushing Guard Captain Yuan Xuelin burst into curses.
If they used this to attack the commercial district or the valuable goods area, the losses would be enormous, and accordingly, he would definitely take the fall.
–Captain Yuan, those monsters can actually be driven by people—it seems someone has been scheming against us all along.–
–Do I need you to tell me that?–
Captain Yuan gave him a glare, then turned to look at Su Li, who was kneeling at the edge of the pit, looking utterly lost.
–Xiao Su, I don’t want to say much in the way of consolation, but anyway, here, death might as well be a release.–
He turned and walked over to Yang Zicang, who was standing at the door.
–Thank you, sir. I am Yuan Xuelin, the guard captain here. If it weren’t for you today, we would have definitely been kept in the dark, which would have caused huge losses in the future. May I ask who you are?–
Sincerely grateful for the young man before him, he clasped Yang Zicang’s hand with both of his, unwilling to let go.
–Just a nobody.–
Yang Zicang didn’t even know what to say.
–His name is Jiazi Term.– Professor Chen enthusiastically chimed in from the side, acting as if the two were on quite familiar terms.
Unbeknownst to them, a large crowd had already gathered around, with some seasoned onlookers beginning to reverse-engineer the battle, deeply etching the name and visage of that young man at the doorway into their memories.
–It’s you!–
Suddenly, they noticed two small spheres of light had appeared atop the building, their arrival shrouded in mystery.
A squad of people wearing red armbands approached.
–Hello, Mr. Jiazi Term. Our Lord Penglord wishes to see you.–
The woman at the head was exceedingly polite in inviting the trio.
It seems my fame has grown once more, Yang Zicang thought, turning his head to glance at Professor Chen and the other person.
–Both of you come along, lest you claim I’ve swindled you out of your engines.–
The two shabbily dressed individuals were overjoyed immensely.
Leave a Reply