Chapter 14: End-of-Month Intelligence

“Of course, the module can’t be returned.” The man named Yu Fei, standing by the roadside vehicle, said, “But the amount of time sequence we’ve lost is incalculable. How do you think this score should be settled?”
The people in the car shouted indignantly, “You take all the benefits, but we get the beating—that’s hardly fair.”
A buzz of murmuring arose.
Yang Zicang understood now. He had killed the man himself, but the Hero Group had taken it out on them. No wonder they were seething with anger.
Yao Qiming let out a cold laugh:
“Someone from headquarters will soon deliver this month’s staggered frequency crystal. If you have no business here, please be on your way. Today marks the start of the second half of the month, and everyone’s busy—no time for arguing with you lot.”
“He’s right,” several voices nearby chimed in. “You didn’t have to set up camp on Right Street. It was your choice to face those guys head-on.”
“Oh? Really.” A voice shot back. “Remember those very words you’ve just spoken. We were going to discuss this with you with sincerity, but apparently, that’s no longer necessary.”
Yao Qiming frowned, but he couldn’t think of anything the other party could hold against him to threaten him with.
Yu Fei chuckled, “Since you mentioned headquarters is sending the frequency crystals this month, let that A-grade frequency crystal be the compensation.”
Yao Qiming was shocked and furious: “What did you just say?”
Yu Fei replied calmly, “After all, the condition for using that Crimson Moon–grade staggered frequency crystal for all of us has already been met, hasn’t it?”
“What’s that?” Mu Xiaoyu, stepping outside, whispered softly to the round-faced girl.
“It’s essentially the key to entering the interleaved space. Other entrances to interleaved spaces can occasionally be found in the city, but a Crimson Moon level—what everyone calls an A-level interleaved space—must be unlocked using the frequency crystal generated monthly by resonating the quadrilateral model’s owner with the great statue.”
Another person explained in a low voice: “Also, interleaving frequency crystals can stabilize chaotic regions within the interleaved realm. Without them, entering that realm might mean never being able to come out.”
Yu Fei, up ahead, didn’t even glance at Yao Qiming’s expression as he smiled and said:
“Besides that crystal, lend us the Zhang Fei armor for half a year, and we’ll consider this settled—the Shennv Brothers Alliance will take the heat off your hands.”
“You’re dreaming.”
Yu Fei didn’t care at all: “Your Zhao Anlong is already gone. You guys don’t have the strength to enter an A-level interleaved place, so keeping that good stuff locked up is just wasteful.”
Yao Qiming furrowed his brows in anger.
“They’re bullying us because we’re short-handed.” Those around him were furious.
Yang Zicang stepped forward and said coldly: “Sorry, but the armor is my trophy loot. You say rent it out for half a year, just like that?”
“I’ve already reported the matter to headquarters, and they agreed, allowing us to rent it out.”
Yang Zicang made a stop gesture with both hands.
“Wait, headquarters agreed?”
“Heh, you really are a newcomer, out of the loop on how things work.”
Yu Fei laughed softly.
“Whose place do you live in now? Where does everything you eat and use come from? From the production staff.”
“High-tier spoils of war are to be turned over to command, which will allocate them accordingly and lend them to those who’ve made contributions. Otherwise, someone like you, whose abilities are unsuitable for direct combat, will find it tough to acquire high-grade equipment.”
Yang Zicang said coldly, “Oh, so from what you’re saying, Zhang Fei killed himself?”
“Arguing’s pointless.” Yu Fei shook his head. “If Zhang Fei had taken you a bit more seriously and synchronized his armor earlier on the surface, you’d be the one dead. You’ll have to admit that much.”
Yang Zicang gave an angry snort.
The group in the vehicle laughed. “Kid, Zhang Fei just died of his arrogance. As for you, while you do have that quadrilateral temporal boost, the team can surely compensate with collective contributions. Don’t you get it yet?”
Yao Qiming pulled Yang Zicang’s hand and made him step back. Zhao Xuemei walked over and said in a low voice:
“Forget it, Zicang. Wait till you’ve grown stronger. Those guys have been hanging around there for too long—they’re not on the same page as us anymore.”
Soon, command personnel arrived, bringing this month’s interleaved frequency crystals.
After Yu Fei stepped forward and submitted his application, two staff members glanced over the mana crystals they’d offered as collateral.
“Captain Yao, your team hasn’t submitted new intel on any Class-A interleaved site in six months. According to regulations, after three months without new records, we reserve the right to turn over the frequency crystals resonated from Mr. Zhao Anlong’s birth to any other requesting team. Any objections from your side?”
“But I…” Yao Qiming looked pale as a ghost.
“Is there anything to object? Captain Zhao Anlong is no longer with us,” murmured others nearby.
Yu Fei triumphantly took the dazzling blood-red crystal, holding it up to the sky to examine the faint, scarlet circular pattern within.
“Everyone, wait for our good news.”
“Haha.”
……
Liang Xi was lying on the ground, his iron rod already slick and slippery, covered in bloodstains.
“Two hundred and thirty years in total—I haven’t let that investment down; I’ve earned it back…”
He glanced at his own body, riddled with horrific wounds.
The half-grown boy’s palm rested on the monstrous rat, and a folded line shaped like a blunt angle on his chest flashed down to his hand, where a small, translucent light resembling an eggshell appeared in his palm.
It slowly flipped from the inside out, like an ethereal physical model.
[Treatment room of the slaughterhouse…]
The massive rat, which had already stopped breathing, began to tremble.
[Time sequence reduced by 1Y.]
Muscles beneath the monster’s skin writhed, swelling and then collapsing as streams of dim energy transmitted through his palm force field from the monster’s body to his own. The horrific wounds rapidly squirmed, scabbing over.
The scars on the boy’s body had multiplied until they covered him like armor scales.
“Burp~”
Liang Xi let out a small burp. After feeling a slight discomfort in his stomach, he suppressed his nausea, smeared himself with the fresh blood of the rat monster, and then cautiously moved forward along the pipeline.
This godforsaken place isn’t short on the scent of blood; what it lacks is the smell of humans. Compared to the danger of blood, the scent of humans is a far more potent lure for monsters.
A few minutes later, he struggled to climb into a dark ditch at the top of a narrow passageway.
Just as he closed his eyes and prepared to rest for a while, a refracted ray of light appeared on his chest, lighting up his model of a small ring.
A glimmer of joy appeared in Liang Xi’s eyes—it was the person who had helped him.
[How are you?]
Yang Zicang silently asked in his heart.
{Brother Zicang, I’m doing well now. I’ve already accumulated over two hundred years of timeline sequences. Um, bro, your phone hasn’t been disposed of, has it?}
In the image, Yang Zicang was sitting by a wooden bed against the wall, holding his phone and leafing through a photo album, yearning for Earth.
[Disposed of?]
Yang Zicang looked at the void before him with confusion.
Earlier, Chu Qiang had indeed given him a box, emphasizing that it was for storing items.
{That might be because your base has stronger features. Where I am, using these man-made objects is forbidden, especially things like game consoles, DV players, and such. Of these, phones are the most critical contraband—they all get dismantled completely and burned to ashes.}
[That serious?]
Yang Zicang was taken aback; no one had mentioned this to him.
{Yeah, because all of these can give birth to Nightmares, even certain shoes, clothes, plastic or tempered glass cups—basically any man-made item brought over has the potential to spawn a Nightmare. I thought you, big brother, just weren’t afraid of these at all.}
Yang Zicang glanced at the gear he was wearing, then touched the blue earring on his left ear, instantly grasping the gravity of the situation.
Was it because he wasn’t considered “one of them” yet that Chu Qiang and Yao Qiming hadn’t shared much information about this world with him?
Yang Zicang looked at the wooden chest under the bed. It appeared quite ordinary, but when he opened it now, he found intricate patterns woven from fine gold threads etched inside, seemingly decorative.
But who would carve decorative patterns inside an ordinary wooden chest?
If he let his mind wander a bit, Yang Zicang could easily come up with terms like “magic array” or “seal.”
{But don’t worry, big brother—once the model has been obtained, touching these man-made items might only start spawning a Nightmare after half a year or even a year or two. Plus, your base was likely built with materials applied for from headquarters, making it more resistant to Nightmares.}
[In any case, thanks—without you telling me this, I’d still be kept in the dark.]
Thankfully, he still had this little brother offering him such crucial intel for free; good deeds really do pay off.
He glanced at the phone screen, which showed no signal, and continued to muse inwardly.
[What about what you mentioned yesterday regarding the lead on that legendary weapon? How likely is it?” You
After yesterday’s long-term investment, the boy moved himself and, thinking he might die inside, confided a hidden secret about that kid’s whereabouts to him.
{I’m absolutely sure it’s true! Deep inside this monster lair, there must be a Century Weapon. I heard them say that last year, someone from the headquarters found a Century Weapon in another dimension—one that packed a hundred and five years of timeline per strike! The entire city’s hunters went wild.}
Liang Xi’s eyes gleamed with excitement; if he weren’t in danger, he would have shouted it out loud by now.
Only at moments like this could one still see the childishness in him.
Yang Zicang sighed.
No wonder Captain Luo Xin couldn’t stand such a guy—too naive.
[I suggest you go back. If you stay here and run into a horde of monsters, you’ll end up dying a gruesome death.]
Liang Xi’s gaze flickered with hesitation, then steeled into resolve.
{No, I have to survive. I need to earn three hundred years here. I no longer… have anyone to protect me.}
Clearly, Yang Zicang caught some underlying meaning in the kid’s words.
A thought suddenly struck him.
[Earn three hundred years? Is there a specific time you’ll need them?]
{End of the month! Brother Zicang, did you come to this world on the fifteenth of last month?}
[I came yesterday.]
{Huh?!}
Liang Xi revealed a look of disbelief.
Thinking of the scene he had seen when investing those ten years for him yesterday afternoon, the boy’s body trembled slightly, followed by a deep sadness.
Yang Zicang felt a chill run through his body as well at that moment.
No one told me that three hundred years of time would be deducted at the end of the month.