Chapter 8: Heading Out

The enraged rat attacked at close range; this swing landed directly on its grotesque head.
Crack!
Thick liquid splattered everywhere. The rat’s massive body stood still for a moment before collapsing straight down on him.
[I have gained 39.4N. This is all thanks to the strong dual…]
The boy was pinned under the pile of meat. He endured the pungent stench, gasping for breath as he struggled out from beneath the monster. His eyes were slightly unfocused as he murmured, “Thank you… everyone…”
He actively severed all connections with them, and the model automatically distributed temporal adjustments.
Then, he closed his eyes and sensed that person named “Yang Zicang,” who had invested in him. The light from his chest extended into the void beside him.
“Big brother, before I die, I want to tell you a secret…”
……
[The chosen one returned my investment and distributed 80% of the dividends, totaling approximately 206.8 N.]
Yang Zicang was stunned for a moment. Fifty-six years?
That final battle was over in a flash, and then he sensed the feedback.
So that’s how he got an extra fifty-six years of life?
“That little brother is amazing. I actually got eleven years and three months! That’s incredible. Is this real?”
Mu Xiaoyu beside him was a little excited.
She saw Yang Zicang choose to invest, so she followed suit, never expecting to earn so much in just thirty years!
Zhang Yang exclaimed excitedly, “I also earned nearly four months of time! Sigh, it’s that kid, I wonder what will happen to him later.”
Seeing Yang Zicang seemed lost in thought and didn’t respond to them, Zhang Yang turned to the gray-haired Liu Ming beside him.
“Time is money. Now I truly understand that.”
“Damn it.” The aged Liu Ming turned his face away.
“No wonder Ah Liang daringly went to that kind of place. Although it’s dangerous, just those two rat monsters alone earned him so much time—it’s really profitable.”
“That was only because we were the only ones investing, and he was willing to give out eighty percent of the time as dividends. If others had joined in, even just coming in for a few decades, our dividends would have been pitifully small.”
“But seriously injured as he is, I don’t know how much longer he can hold on.”
Yang Zicang suppressed the urge in his heart to go and help, knowing he himself still didn’t understand anything yet. Although Captain Luo Xin’s words were harsh, they were true—here, the first thing to learn was rationality.
However…
[I chose a long-term investment, lasting until the end of the month, reducing my Timestream by 100N.]
Yang Zicang decided to grant Liang Xi a baseline of a century of life as a fail-safe, seeing it through to the end.
Suddenly, a chilling aura spread from the distance, diffusing across the sky and earth.
The ground trembled faintly. Turning back, they saw a dense black fountain-like entity at the site of the previous metro station. Towering magnificently, it stood as high as a forty- or fifty-story building.
The monster opened countless crimson eyes all over its body, sweeping its gaze around.
The four of them panicked and started running again, gripped by urgency.
……
“Captain Yao, I wonder if the one who conceived a quadrilateral-model Timestream will come.”
In a rock house as tall and sturdy as a fortress, a strikingly beautiful girl dressed like a career woman in a mini-suit clutched a folder, looking at the road outside with worry.
“Xue Mei, it’s already the third time you’ve asked. He’s quadrilateral, but no need to quiz me four times an hour. Or are you still missing that Zhao Anlong guy?” a chubby girl said, slightly bored.
“Enough. If Zhao Anlong can make it back, he’ll be a great asset for all of us.”
Yao Qiming stood up. His dark eyes glistened like smooth black jade, shining with sharp intelligence and insight.
He said, “In such a situation surrounded by powerful enemies, Chu Qiang dared to invest a thousand years of temporal flux for him, precisely to convey our goodwill. That kid has lived up to our high expectations—well-deserved as a quadrilateral, naturally blessed with one to two times more temporal amplitude than most people.”
Fulrry Zhao showed a thoughtful expression:
“Judging from his several choices, this person is of good character. Even if he doesn’t come, we will at least have formed a favorable connection with him. Later, let Chu Qiang keep in touch with him and share some ways to grow stronger. Perhaps he might agree to investigate Anlong’s whereabouts.”
Before she finished speaking, those in the room saw a delighted expression light up on Xue Mei’s face.
“Could it be that he’s here?”
Feng Yilin also stood up and walked to the doorway to take a look. As Chu Qiang had said, there were indeed four people. Yao Qiming breathed a sigh of relief—just the fact that this kid had shown up meant half the battle was already won.
……
Yang Zicang, following the map of Zuoming Road etched in his memory, came running. Along the way, he spotted strange areas that didn’t exist on Earth, including a pitch-black medieval high-rise not far behind him.
Yao Qiming, along with the other two, came out together to greet him.
“Is this the Monster Hunter Alliance?”
Yang Zicang looked up at the four-story building. The second floor had a broad balcony, and the stone wall was even shaped into battlements.
“Welcome, all of you! That’s right—this is our team’s base. For now, everyone else is out. We’ll throw you a celebration tonight.”
“Uh, before we celebrate…” Liu Ming moved his parched throat with difficulty, straining to say, “Do we have any water here?”
……
Half an hour later, at the second-floor terrace, YangZicang saw the tall, lean youth who had just descended from the fourth floor.
“Finally, I get to meet the one who can nurture a quadrilateral model.”
Though this youth was wiry and thin, his sinews seemed full of strength, and his voice carried a steadiness beyond his years, as if he had weathered many experiences.
“Hello, I am YangZicang.”
“I’m Chu Qiang. Before coming here, I was a circuit designer. Now I’m a support staff member for the team.”
The two extended their hands and shook.
“As a newcomer, it’s truly beyond my expectations that you managed to achieve this much. If it weren’t for headquarters’ restrictions, I wouldn’t have withdrawn that one thousand years of temporal order.”
“Headquarters?”
“The headquarters of the Monster Hunter camp. Actually, never mind that.” He gave a wry chuckle.
YangZicang nodded. “I understand you have your difficulties too. And I didn’t actually kill him.”
As long as he refrained from falling into an excited state, the influence of the negative emotions harbored within his inner model on him was not that significant.
But at critical moments…
At this thought, recalling his intense killing intent towards Bai Yuan at that moment filled YangZicang with apprehension—that he might be influenced and make irrational decisions in future battles.
“What exactly is this place? Do you know?” From the terrace, YangZicang looked up at the distant sky. “I saw many buildings and terrains along the way that don’t exist in the city.”
“This place is no longer Earth,” the man sighed. “As for where it is, we’re not really sure, but we should gradually find out in the future.”
“Why are you so certain that we’ll gradually find out?”
Yang Zicang keenly picked up on the information Chu Qiang had hinted at in his words.
“Hah, if you join us, I’ll share some information with you. And there’s a lot more I can share too—like that kind of amplification field, better weapons, healing items, and so on.”
His eyes shone intently as he looked at Yang Zicang, who hesitated a little.
“You can come and try it out with me.”
As he spoke, Chu Qiang pushed open the heavy metal door, revealing rows of shelf-like structures inside the room. On them were all sorts of oddly shaped items—ores, trees, and even the scales of monsters.
“Any pistols? I seem to suit ranged weapons better,” Yang Zicang said as he looked at the dazzling array of items.
But Chu Qiang shook his head. He chuckled and said,
“I saw you kill ‘Zhang Fei’ in a single strike with a pebble. It’s probably because of that rhombus. Your model ability is really strong.
“An ordinary subway station model with just two or three lanes can at most speed itself up or slow down the enemy, but yours can affect objects and living beings. This single aspect already makes it far more useful. But if you think using bullets can achieve that same effect, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”
Yang Zicang’s heart tightened. “Why?”
“Let me get you something; you’ll understand once you try it.”
Chu Qiang walked deeper into the room, twisted open the door, and after entering, brought out a wooden bow and an arrowhead that appeared very ordinary.
“Have you ever used a bow?”
Yang Zicang shook his head.
He was good at playing basketball, but when it came to bows and arrows—aside from toy bows as a child—he had never even touched the real thing, let alone seen one.
The skinny man handed him this half-person-tall wooden bow and passed him an arrowhead.
“Give it a try.”