Chapter 508: Time Gap
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
System Prompt: Magic array activation runtime, remaining: 16 minutes and 41 seconds.
Chen Xiaolian glanced at the time, then turned to look at the figure standing in the distance.
This cave has undergone a complete transformation!
As the Demon King's magic array continued to run, the entire cave was being reshaped by the power of magic.
What was once a crude cave has now grown into a vast underground palace! The surrounding rock walls have been replaced with meticulously fitted black bricks, and the walls are adorned with magnificent reliefs. In the smallest details, it is exquisitely beautiful.
Every relief seems to come to life, shrouded in a black mist, and within it, scenes appear one after another.
In the depths of the abyss of the cave, two groups of people are moving forward.
The two groups of people are attacking each other across the chasm.
There are knights riding unicorns, moving effortlessly on the mountainside.
Some people fall into the abyss, spears striking like lightning!
Finally, on the floating bridge across the abyss, the candles on that round platform...
Chen Xiaolian watched calmly.
In the center of the underground palace, there was a figure that was becoming increasingly blurry. The intense black mist surrounding their body made it impossible to see their original appearance.
Around the underground palace, several places were emitting a faint glow, and the ground bore the pattern of a hexagram, each one pulsating regularly.
Members of the Meteor Rock Guild stood silently on each hexagram, waiting patiently.
As for Chen Xiaolian, he stood on the thirteenth hexagram.
Thirteen remained silent, lying on the ground. It wasn't until Chen Xiaolian placed his foot on Thirteen's back and applied pressure that Thirteen couldn't help but let out a groan.
"Don't pretend," Chen Xiaolian smirked. "I think you've already conveyed all the information you needed to, right?"
Thirteen opened his eyes, supporting himself with his arms beneath him, attempting to get up, but Chen Xiaolian firmly kept him down, and he struggled, saying, "You..."
"Of course, I knew you were pretending to be unconscious," Chen Xiaolian chuckled softly. "Otherwise, how could I deliver a message to your companions through your mouth?"
Thirteen, pinned down, finally lay face down on the ground, finding it difficult to even open his mouth.
Chen Xiaolian's face grew increasingly ominous, and he whispered, "Is speaking too difficult? You don't need to strain yourself anymore because you've already done everything you needed to do."
Thirteen spat vehemently, but due to his mouth being pressed against the ground, he couldn't manage to spit it out no matter how hard he tried.
Suddenly, Chen Xiaolian released his foot, and Thirteen immediately spat forcefully. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Chen Xiaolian laugh, "Your companion has arrived."
On the wall of the underground palace, the black mist on one of the reliefs suddenly wriggled a few times, and a figure slowly emerged from it.
Short, slender, yet sturdy.
"We've been waiting for you for a long time, 'Mysterious One'!" Chen Xiaolian raised his eyelids to look at the figure, one hand gripping the hilt of the sword embedded in the stone. The blade lightly scraped against the ground, making a sizzling sound.
The diminutive figure entered the underground palace, surveyed everything around, then fixed their gaze on the central figure shrouded in black aura. After a deep look, their attention turned to Chen Xiaolian.
They paid no heed to Chen Xiaolian, taking confident strides towards the central dark silhouette. Chen Xiaolian remained in place, making no attempt to stop them.
Even the members of the Meteor Rock Guild surrounding them made no move to intervene!
The diminutive individual reached the side of the central dark silhouette, furrowing their brow as they glanced at the figure enveloped in black mist. They reached out and tried to grab it.
With a single grasp, they found nothing.
It was as though the black mist and the figure within it were both illusions.
He furrowed his brow and then turned to look at Chen Xiaolian, who was watching him with a smile.
"It seems like you've made preparations," the diminutive individual spoke with a raspy voice.
Chen Xiaolian smiled faintly, "To welcome guests, one must always make some preparations."
The diminutive figure finally sized up Chen Xiaolian and asked, "What preparations?"
"It's quite simple," Chen Xiaolian pointed at the central mass of black mist, obviously the location of the Demon King young Will, and said calmly, "This is a magic array, and the Demon King is about to awaken. However, as the first demons to arrive here, we have some advantages. One of these advantages is that... the Demon King can make favorable adjustments to the magic array."
"It seems breaking the formation won't be that easy," the diminutive figure stroked their chin, showing keen interest on their face but displaying no hint of nervousness.
"Of course, it's not easy," Chen Xiaolian's tone was calm. "This magic array has already transformed into several different dimensional spaces. You may see us all here now, but in reality, it has been split into different dimensions. You need to ascend through each dimension, defeating the guardians of each dimension one by one, before you can reach the Demon King."
"So... I have to eliminate each one of you?" the diminutive figure chuckled. Then he furrowed his brow and looked at Thirteen lying on the ground. "You knew all of this? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I... I couldn't send messages on my team channel all of a sudden," Thirteen said with frustration, giving Chen Xiaolian a resentful look. "This guy figured me out a long time ago! It must be his doing!"
"Oh?" The diminutive figure turned to look at Chen Xiaolian, curiosity evident on their face. "How did you do it?"
Chen Xiaolian glanced at the time in the system – 14 minutes and 55 seconds remaining.
"I had a previous encounter with some strange knights in Jerusalem," Chen Xiaolian deliberately explained slowly. "I killed one of them and wounded a unicorn."
"Ah, I see," the diminutive figure had a sudden realization, giving Chen Xiaolian a thumbs-up. "You killed one of Meine's subordinates? Bold move! So, you received the Sacred Curse of the unicorn? The Sacred Curse temporarily disables some system functions as a punishment... I've always thought that this kind of setup is boring. Clearly, someone in the game development team must have a fascination with unicorns to come up with such a dull setting. So... what did you do to Thirteen? Let me guess..."
Chen Xiaolian shook his head, "No need to guess. I killed that knight and the weapon that wounded the unicorn had their blood on it. I simply used the same thing to make a cut on Thirteen quietly."
Chen Xiaolian glanced at Thirteen as he continued, "I was just experimenting, and I didn't expect it to work. In fact, I don't really care whether he can eventually tell you the settings of these magic arrays."
"I'm curious, what are you really planning?" The diminutive figure looked increasingly puzzled. "Why spare Thirteen? Why?"
"Firstly, your team's strength is quite impressive, no, I should say it's quite powerful," Chen Xiaolian said calmly. "Surviving the indiscriminate annihilation by the Thornflower Group in the first phase indicates your team's formidable strength. And when One-Eye and his three companions ambushed us, although they failed, it also demonstrated their power.
"And finally, when I discovered that there were still members of your team outside, I made a judgment."
"What judgment?" the diminutive figure asked.
"You, you must be very powerful," Chen Xiaolian sighed. "Being able to make Thirteen and the others willingly follow your orders, in a team where you hold a dominant position and can act alone, I believe... every team leader wouldn't like having someone like you under them. But you can, which means... your strength is so great that even One-Eye, the leader of that group, can't control you, or maybe, it's the opposite, and you are actually the true controller of this team. You acting alone, not being with the other members of the team, implies that your strength can match or even surpass the combined strength of the four of them, perhaps... even stronger."
The diminutive figure chuckled, "Although I know you're deliberately saying these things to stall, but who can blame me for being curious? Go on, we still have time."
Chen Xiaolian's heart skipped a beat!
He had indeed spoken the truth, but he was also deliberately stalling for time. The fact that this guy had seen through it and didn't seem to care meant that he truly had confidence in his strength!
"Well then, the next question is... with someone like you outside, a powerful opponent who is confirmed to be in the Light Camp, I must do something about it, can't waste this discovery," Chen Xiaolian smiled. "So, I was thinking, how can one deal with a formidable expert?"
"How can one deal with it?" the diminutive figure inquired.
"If a skilled individual arrives simultaneously with a group of companions, it will undoubtedly be troublesome for us," Chen Xiaolian smiled. "However, you like to operate outside the team, and it can be deduced that you're a proud individual, someone who enjoys standing out and is very confident, perhaps even arrogant. So, there's something we can work on."
Chen Xiaolian paused deliberately and glanced at the time again.
The countdown still had 13 minutes and 5 seconds.
"Dealing with one person is easier than dealing with a group, there's no doubt about that," Chen Xiaolian shook his head. "But how can we make you come running alone? Well, that's easy... You're too confident and want to reap the maximum benefits, and the benefit is, of course, completing the mission. But... if you can kill a few more members of the Dark Camp and earn more points in addition to completing the mission, that's also good. And we, we are the bait to lure you for points.
I intentionally had Thirteen spill all the information about our team, everyone's strengths, skills, everything, to you.
And skilled individuals like you usually have a flaw, which is being daring!
People who like to operate alone often have a special fondness for clearing levels on their own.
Furthermore, there's an insider who helped you understand the strengths and weaknesses of all the opponents, everyone's skills, and you know them all. I'm your hidden enemy, so..."
"Understood, so your goal is to make me develop overconfidence through Thirteen, and then make me come alone to eliminate all of you?" the diminutive figure laughed. "Although this method is a bit crude, considering that you figured out Thirteen's true identity relatively late, it's not easy to fully exploit such a small value in such a short time. You must be Chen Xiaolian, the leader of this team, right? I heard from Thirteen that you're a cunning guy, and you do have some cleverness."
Chen Xiaolian nodded slightly, "You're too kind."
"So now I'm here, and it fits your plan. I came alone, and I promise you that the other guys won't arrive for at least another five minutes. Make good use of the time you have now and figure out how to deal with me."
The diminutive figure said, looking around. "Let me see, your teammates haven't spoken or moved... so that means none of them are in this dimension, right? In this dimension right now, I only have you as my opponent?"
"That's correct," Chen Xiaolian smiled. "Killing me means you can move on to the next opponent. After all, in a game, it's more fun to clear each level one by one."
The diminutive figure looked at Chen Xiaolian and said, "I heard from Thirteen that you're the strongest in your team. Your appearance alone led to the complete annihilation of Thirteen and the other four. It seems that if I kill you, I win, right?"
"I'm not sure how many people are left in the Light Camp, and I don't know how many are left in the Dark Camp either. To be on the safe side, I can only lure a skilled expert like you here alone. Maybe it will make the battle a bit easier for me," Chen Xiaolian sighed. "You're right, start with the tough ones first. If you kill me, you win."
"You're quite an interesting fellow," the diminutive figure looked at Chen Xiaolian. "I'm starting to admire you a bit. So, before we get started, let's make a proper introduction."
He raised his left hand and made a strange salute-like gesture toward Chen Xiaolian. "I'm Left Hand."
"Left Hand? Is it because you have some special, formidable skill with your left hand?" Chen Xiaolian frowned.
"You'll find out soon enough."
Left Hand chuckled and took a step toward Chen Xiaolian.
Chen Xiaolian's eyes narrowed, and he glanced at the system's countdown. Then, in a swift motion, he raised his sword and struck!
The sword pierced through Thirteen's back, impaling him directly to the ground. The Stone Sword pierced through Thirteen's heart, and Thirteen let out a grunt before his head slumped lifelessly.
Simultaneously, the system's countdown changed instantly from "11 minutes and 55 seconds" to "11 minutes and 45 seconds"!
"Killing a member of the opposing camp reduces the mission time by 10 seconds."
Chen Xiaolian withdrew his sword, his expression unchanged as if he didn't care about taking a life. He held the Stone Sword high, facing the approaching Left Hand.
He leaped!
Left Hand took two steps forward and suddenly jumped into the air. Chen Xiaolian's pupils contracted, but in the next moment, the figure in front of him disappeared?!
A voice whispered in his ear, "I've made my move, just so you know."
Boom!
Chen Xiaolian felt a tremendous force crashing into his back, sending his body flying horizontally.
He rolled on the ground and saw Left Hand behind him, lightly shaking his hand. Chen Xiaolian gritted his teeth, ready to counterattack, but he found that Left Hand's movements disappeared once again!
Instantaneous movement?
Chen Xiaolian's heart sank for a moment, but he quickly dismissed that thought!
This wasn't instantaneous movement!
When he saw himself lying on the ground, the floor underneath was shattered, and debris was flying around.
It was with this reference point of flying debris that Chen Xiaolian suddenly realized!
It wasn't that the opponent was fast!
It was... I had slowed down!?
Boom!
Once again, Chen Xiaolian felt an immense pain in his waist as his body staggered forward.
The distorted sensation of those moments made Chen Xiaolian certain of one thing!
Chen Xiaolian... was somehow locked by the opponent's ability!
He suddenly released the Stone Sword in his hand, letting it fall alongside him. However, the Stone Sword landed on the ground while his own body became twice as heavy!
Chen Xiaolian, who had fallen to the ground, immediately reached out and grabbed the Stone Sword again. He turned his head to look at Left Hand.
But Left Hand's voice echoed beside him, "Where are you looking?"
Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath. "You can control the speed of my movements?"
"Speed?" Left Hand chuckled, and his voice appeared behind Chen Xiaolian. "I'm not controlling your speed; I'm controlling... your time, little guy."
Chen Xiaolian felt a pain at the back of his heart.
There was a sharp object piercing his back!
"[A] class protective suit? Your equipment is quite impressive," Left Hand unexpectedly commented.
Chen Xiaolian staggered and turned around. He saw Left Hand raising his left hand, and his fingertip lightly licked the corner of his mouth, with a trace of blood on it.
"You didn't even tear your [A] class protective suit with one strike. Impressive."
My time is being manipulated? Chen Xiaolian stared at his opponent.
"11 minutes and 26 seconds left," Left Hand smiled. "You're somewhat clever, but you seem to have forgotten that strategy is built on strength. You've lured me here, but it seems like you can't defeat me. Your strength... from my perspective, doesn't seem as powerful as what Thirteen described."
Chen Xiaolian snorted and suddenly drew a gun from his waist, then pulled the trigger at Left Hand!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Left Hand's body immediately moved!
But Chen Xiaolian's eyes revealed a strange glint!
In the midst of Left Hand's evasive movements, he noticed something subtle!
Left Hand's evasive action began before he raised the gun and fired!
What did this mean?
It meant that...
His ability could only lock his own time!
But it couldn't lock the time of external objects!
For example... bullets, which were external objects!
Chen Xiaolian realized this and, as he watched Left Hand evading with astonishing speed, coming to his side and extending his left hand with hooked fingers toward his throat.
That was when Chen Xiaolian made a move!
He suddenly flicked the Stone Sword in his hand vigorously!
The massive Stone Sword, with a motion akin to shooting, was propelled forward solely by the strength of Chen Xiaolian's fingers!
The Stone Sword was quite large and much heavier than ordinary throwing knives or daggers.
However...
Chen Xiaolian possessed the strength to shoot it like a throwing knife!
Moreover, the forward shooting motion was short and discreet.
In Left Hand's eyes, he had clearly locked onto Chen Xiaolian, and all of Chen Xiaolian's movements seemed to be in slow motion.
But suddenly, Chen Xiaolian's hand released the Stone Sword!
Once the Stone Sword was released, it was no longer in Chen Xiaolian's control, and it also broke free from the time locked by Left Hand! It returned to its normal speed!
Left Hand watched Chen Xiaolian move in slow motion, but as the sword was released, it moved at a normal speed—clearly, he was somewhat surprised. He immediately tried to dodge, but the Stone Sword still grazed his arm, cutting it!
Snatch!
After being shot out, the Stone Sword stuck into the ground about ten meters away.
Left Hand held his shoulder, taking two steps back with a frown as he looked at Chen Xiaolian.
"It seems your ability is to control time. However, apart from that, your other aspects seem quite ordinary," Chen Xiaolian chuckled. "At least, that last strike, even an ordinary martial artist could easily evade."
"Controlling time is enough to kill you," the injured Left Hand seemed a bit irritated. His eyes squinted, and he suddenly bent over, accelerating as he ran towards Chen Xiaolian.
Chen Xiaolian watched in amazement as the opponent approached rapidly, nearly about to collide with him!
Left Hand's fingers were like hooks, and his target was clear – Chen Xiaolian's throat!
"Garfield!"
Three four-eyed battle cats suddenly appeared by Chen Xiaolian's side and pounced at once!
Left Hand's eye twitched, and he rolled on the ground, his movements somewhat awkward. He managed to evade the cat's claws and, without getting up, waved his hand towards the pouncing three four-eyed battle cats.
Soon, the movements of the three Garfield cats all slowed down simultaneously, and Left Hand easily found an opening in their attacks. He forcefully squeezed through and, at the same time, slapped one of the Garfield cats in the abdomen!
A miserable scream, and when the three Garfield cats landed, one of them had curled up in pain, whimpering.
Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath and looked at Left Hand.
Left Hand sneered, "Your pets are four-eyed battle cats, and you have three of them? Ridiculous..."
Chen Xiaolian watched as Left Hand, although smiling, had a subtle trembling in the fingers hanging by his side.
"It seems that locking onto four targets at the same time must consume more of his energy," Chen Xiaolian thought to himself and immediately shouted loudly, "Attack again! All together!"
He bent his knees and jumped out like a cannonball, charging towards Left Hand! The three Garfields also moved simultaneously!
Two of them attacked from the left and right sides, while one pounced over Chen Xiaolian's head towards Left Hand!
"Fool! The gap in time cannot be bridged," Left Hand laughed triumphantly.
Seeing the two Garfields missing their attacks from the left and right, Left Hand effortlessly slipped through their claws with an easy movement. Then, facing Chen Xiaolian's charge, he easily dodged to the side and, at the same time, kicked the Garfield in mid-air in the waist!
All of this happened in less than two seconds. When Chen Xiaolian and the three Garfield cats landed, he rolled on the ground and felt a tremendous pain on his body.
Left Hand showed off the blood on his fingers, saying, "How does it feel?"
Chen Xiaolian snorted and asked, "How many targets can you lock onto?"
"What?"
"Bai Qi! Come out!"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone