Boom!
After Bai Feifei pulled Ye Yu away, an iron fist equipped with brass knuckles slammed heavily into the spot where Ye Yu had just been standing.
The wall was instantly covered in a spiderweb of cracks. The whistling shockwave of the impact sent Ye Yu’s hair flying wildly.
Ye Yu finally seemed to snap out of it. She had been so mesmerized by the battle between the two Edgerunners that she had nearly lost herself in the spectacle.
Her heart was practically leaping out of her throat. She looked at Bai Feifei, who had just saved her life, and gasped out, “Thank... thank you!”
“Don’t get distracted. Your life is on the line here,” Bai Feifei warned her seriously. Then, with practiced ease, she pulled Ye Yu behind her.
The movement was entirely natural, born of a pure instinct to protect the weak.
But in Ye Yu’s eyes, as she looked at the figure before her—who seemed just as slender as herself yet still stood as a shield—a strange light flickered in her beautiful eyes.
She’s so strong...
Bai Feifei didn’t have time to worry about her. She drew a longsword from her storage ring and immediately engaged the Rangers.
These Rangers possessed incredible individual skill and high combat experience, and they fought with ruthless efficiency.
In a standard fight against Dawn City’s Scavengers of the same rank, a Ranger could typically take on two or even more opponents at once.
But Bai Feifei was no ordinary person. Under the Evil God’s influence, the combat experience she had gained over the past few days was more intense than what most people saw in years.
Combined with her ability to mimic the Evil God’s combat style and the boost from the Killing Machine Medal, her performance was not a single bit inferior to the Rangers. In fact, she was even stronger.
Soon, the Rangers in the melee began to take notice of the young girl.
The Ranger with the brass knuckles, who had been the first to attack Bai Feifei, nodded in approval even as he fought.
“For a woman, you’re impressive. No wonder Boss Aries has his eye on you.”
“You’re so young—what’s your Scavenger rank?”
Bai Feifei replied casually while parrying an attack, “Rank 1.”
The Ranger: ?
Upon hearing this, the punch he was throwing with smooth, practiced force suddenly hitched, and he nearly stumbled.
Rank 1?!
His expression shifted from shock to a look of pity.
“Your strength is definitely not just at the level of a Rank 1 Scavenger.”
“Are they suppressing you and refusing to give you a promotion? Dawn City’s internal system is truly corrupt to the core.”
Bai Feifei: ...
What on earth is this guy talking about?
...
In the cramped space, the Rangers and the people from Dawn City were locked in a chaotic melee, and Aries Hong Jiu was starting to get annoyed.
Though Li Gui was no match for him, as a fellow Edgerunner, his persistent attempts to stall him were becoming a nuisance.
Hong Jiu spoke with blatant impatience, “Enough, just get lost. You lot of scraps can’t possibly be our match.”
“We have other places to explore.”
Li Gui’s eyes were wide with fury, his voice low and vicious.
“Stop your nonsense, you outlaws.”
“The people of Dawn City do not fear death. If you want to steal what belongs to us, you’ll have to step over our corpses!”
Hearing Li Gui’s righteous declaration, Hong Jiu was so amused he was practically fuming. He barked out a curse:
“Bullshit! I’ve seen plenty of your kind—you talk a big game.”
“In reality, you old fogey are more afraid of death than anyone. You’re planning to wait until your men are all dead, and then you’ll use your Escape Art to flee, won’t you?”
“That way, you can report back that you fought to the bitter end, earning yourself a reputation for bravery while shifting all the blame onto us.”
“You absolute dumbass!!”
Aries was an interesting fellow; he worked himself into a rage just by shouting, even before Li Gui could respond.
He suddenly stepped into a deep lunge, pulling his right fist back as he drew a sharp breath. Flames from across his body converged entirely onto his right fist.
“Go to hell!”
Hong Jiu’s entire fist turned a glowing, molten red, as if he were holding a bomb about to detonate in his palm. He smashed it toward Li Gui.
Not good!
Alarm bells rang in Li Gui’s mind as he sensed the danger. He desperately tried to turn his body into sand and stone to escape, but he was too late.
Boom!!
In the dim underground tunnel, it was as if a sun had been ignited. Hong Jiu’s punch slammed heavily into Li Gui, embedding his body directly into the ground.
“Ugh... cough!”
Li Gui spat out a mouthful of blood. His chest was partially caved in, and his eyes flashed with uncontrollable terror and a desperate will to live.
After becoming an Edgerunner, he had thought his cultivation had finally brought him to a safe shore where he would never have to fear death again, allowing him to go anywhere in the world.
Yet, facing Aries’ punch, he felt the threat of death for the first time.
In that moment, he threw all dignity aside and roared, “District Head Wan, save me!”
At the same time, he frantically pushed his Word Soul ability to its limit. Like a cornered dog leaping over a wall, he caused the surrounding walls to shatter, turning them into a torrent of stone that surged toward Aries Hong Jiu.
He intended to use this to create an opening for his retreat.
In the wake of that fierce strike, the shockwave had been so intense that Hong Jiu hadn't noticed that several of the dials on the surface of the sealed sphere in his hand had been shattered.
And now, under the impact of Li Gui’s desperate, life-or-death counterattack, the sphere—wrapped in its protective casing—shattered!
The seal holding the S-rank Containment Object exploded under the combined force of the two Edgerunners.
An intense golden light suddenly erupted within the tunnel, forcing everyone to instinctively squint.
Buzz—
A high-pitched hum rang in everyone’s ears simultaneously, like an electric current passing through them, causing them to turn in unison toward the source.
It was a crown floating in the air, radiating a brilliant, magnificent golden light!
——Sequence S-079, Crown of Time Lag!
With just a single glance, people found they could no longer look away, as if their deepest, most profound desires for power had been awakened.
Aries Hong Jiu, being the closest, raised his hand to seize the crown.
But suddenly, he realized he couldn't move!
No, it wasn't that he couldn't move, but rather that his movements had become incredibly slow!
His finger lifted slightly, advancing toward the crown at a speed of 0.000001 millimeters per second.
The surrounding space was the same. The burning flames flickered with agonizing slowness, and flying debris drifted through the air as if caught in thick glue.
In the entire area enveloped by the crown’s influence, time had become unnaturally sluggish, as if it had congealed.
At that very moment, on Xu Mo’s game panel, a prompt box popped up right next to the crown.
【Sequence S-079, Crown of Time Lag. Contain directly?】
【Yes / No】
Rate on N.U.
