“There’s less than half a month left.”
In the dormitory, Yang Zicang, having finished his work, took out the sub-ether channel photo, activated it, and stepped into the dark cube, appearing at the edge of the turbulent city.
Very few company employees came to vacation here. At this moment, on the quiet beach, he was alone. After a few glances, Yang Zicang took out a silk scarf, spread it out, sat on it, and flew toward the depths of the dilapidated city shrouded in an aura of despair.
Seeing Yang Zicang’s arrival, Li Sumei and several other girls ran over.
“Mr. Zicang, look, this is our Virtual Zero Sequence Timeline Weapon; we finally succeeded once!”
“It’s even worth fifty years.”
She handed Yang Zicang a half-arm-length short sword, a weapon small enough to be tucked directly into one’s clothing.
“Rose Creek finally has its own Virtual Zero weapon.”
“Hehe, that’s right, thanks to Young Master Yang’s blessing.”
Yang Zicang took the sword, its surface etched with dim, rippling patterns like fine waves, and examined it.
[I have acquired a 50N Virtual Zero Sequence Timeline Weapon, totaling 65N.]
Yang Zicang’s eyes lit up, saying, “Very good. If it is kept close to the body, it will provide better protection for its owner.”
“Of course, we’ll give it to Sister Rose.”
Yang Zicang nodded and returned the sword, then smilingly looked at the other people in the camp who had gathered to greet him, and asked, “How’s everyone’s haul? Any good finds?”
“The chances of finding good items are really low.”
“But we’ve managed to get two slightly better Timeline Weapons so far; the rest are only five or ten years.”
After a few days of testing by everyone, it turns out that Timeline Weapons are essentially a conversion of a Bound Spirit Core’s fixed temporal attacks into Virtual Zero Sequence within the weapon.
As a result, the teams that can enter during this time have start trying every means to purchase high-sequence weapons on the market.
Captain Qin walked over and said, “A weapon that comes with eighty years of time attack power; when a Bound Spirit Core’s energy is attached to it, it converts the time from zero to eighty years proportionally. For now, we only have the chance to take down ordinary Bound Spirits, so most of these cores can only convert three to four times out of ten of the weapon’s time sequence.”
One person said, “But Young Master Wang’s team is strong; they’ve already successfully killed a high-bloodline Bound Spirit. That’s how we got this sword.”
“But, Brother Yang, your man Luo Bin has already scored a bloodline-rich Bound Spirit Core. I’m so envious.”
At the mention of Luo Bin, some of those who had come in by submitting pages couldn’t help showing envy in their looks. And at the same time, many people in the team subconsciously puffed out their chests.
“Catching one that was alone, a stroke of luck, hahaha.” Luo Bin proudly put his hands on his hips, “And that was only possible with everyone using elemental techniques together.”
“Yes, yes, Mr. Zicang, we’ve confirmed that secret techniques with elemental attacks, like the ‘Frost Snow Sword Art’ and ‘Blazing Flame Sword Path,’ can also be used with weapons to harm those Bound Spirits!”
“Our speculation is that the reason we need to attack these monsters bare-handed is that our human bodies naturally carry various elements. As our ancestors used to say, the human body is composed of the ‘Five Elements.’ And these elemental secret techniques carry something like the Five Elements—’Fire’ or ‘Water,’ for instance.”
“Although the effect is greatly diminished, it’s much safer.”
As the people in the camp shared their accumulated experiences and guesses one after another, Yang Zicang felt more and more that reasoning was sound. He recalled the Group Leader’s earlier hint that dealing with Bound Spirits relied on ‘vital force,’ and now the Five Elements seemed to have only a minor effect—perhaps there was some deeper link between them.
“Since everyone is getting more and more experienced, the chances of our camp gaining a firm foothold here are also increasing.”
“It’s just that those solitary Bloodline monsters are hard to find, and whenever a fight starts, they swarm in groups.”
That’s exactly the hardship here. It’s extremely difficult to obtain even one, let alone ten.
Most weapons converted from ‘Common Bound Spirit Cores’ only transform about twenty to thirty percent, only cores with clear patches of ‘dark red’ and ‘gray-white’ colors can offer a high-ratio transformation.
And those Bound Spirits are very hard to attack—the moment you go near them, their roars bring a host of muffled Bound Spirits swarming in.
When the crowd had mostly finished chatting and Ma Bin was about to start serving the meal, Young Master Wang walked in with a smile, holding out a long sword covered in faint, dim ripples.
“Brother Zicang, this sword is for you.”
As soon as Yang Zicang took it, a voice rang out in his mind.
[I, the Great Quadrilateral, seem about to obtain a 70N Virtual Zero Sequence Timeline Weapon!]
“An eighty-five-year timeline weapon?”
Yang Zicang looked up at the young gentleman before him. “And seventy years of it are Virtual Zero Sequence attacks. This sword is quite valuable. You’ve already paid with the pages; there’s no need to give me a Virtual Zero weapon.”
Just as he was about to hand it back, another young man, bearing a resemblance to Young Master Wang, walked up from behind him.
“Hello, Mr. Zicang. I am Wang Xiang, Wang Yue’s elder brother.”
The man extended his hand and shook Yang Zicang’s.
“I’m sure you’ve heard that, recently, our people out there have been frantically buying up timeline weapons.”
“Of course, I’ve heard a thing or two.”
“Besides this sword, our family’s workshops have managed to acquire two weapons around the ninety-year mark,” said Wang Xiang. “This one, though only eighty-five years old, was fortunately converted to seventy years of Virtual Zero Sequence attack. Of the other two ninety-year weapons, one managed only forty-five years of conversion. Alas, it stopped us from reforging the last one.”
“Even then, it’s not impossible. As long as you get a decent Imbued core, another divine weapon should come out of it.”
“True enough,” Wang Xiang said affably, withdrawing his hand and continuing:
“But that’s for the future. For now, this sword is the best weapon in the camp. As the saying goes, ‘A fine sword for a hero.’ It’s our token of appreciation. Master Zicang previously gifted Training Contracts to my younger brother and other members of our public factory, which deeply moved and grateful us. We’ve been looking for an opportunity to repay your generosity. So please, do take this sword.”
Young Master Wang also urged, “Even if you, Master Zicang, don’t think much of it, you could give it to someone close to you.”
“Well…” Yang Zicang glanced at the others.
Luo Bin let out a chuckle and said, “I think we’ll all land better weapons eventually. Zicang, since this sword is from all of them, just accept it. It’s really the best one for now.”
Yang Zicang shook the longsword in his hand, remembered the look on Liang Xi’s face when that kid once touched his Century Weapon, and couldn’t help but smile.
“Alright, I won’t be awkward about it. I’ll take this sword with thanks. I’m truly grateful.”
“Hahaha, Master Zicang is a straightforward man.”
Some people stepped forward: “Besides the Binding Cores, we also found some once-used items and materials from the city, though most are damaged. There are plenty of Magic Crystals Stones, though.”
“We also found some buildings that look like the alien structures acquired by City 11’s top experts in the past. If we dismantle and bring them back to the Lost Frequency Zone, they could make excellent Lost Mind Engines.”
“That would be wonderful, but it might be quite the undertaking.”
“Absolutely, it’s not something that can be done in a month. However, with the Great Star around, we have all the time in the world.”
As Luo Bin spoke these words, several small teams composed of personnel from various cities immediately and eagerly expressed their willingness to contribute strength and help dismantle the buildings.
These people wished for this camp to continue indefinitely, and they also wanted to use this as an excuse to bring in more hands.
A folded line shot over, and Luo Bin said through the Mental Link:
{Zicang, come here. I have something to tell you.}
Yang Zicang followed him to the side, and Luo Bin continued through the Mental Link:
{I’ve seen people from other cities in the past couple of days.}
“Isn’t that pretty normal?”
{It’s not normal. I feel like someone’s been watching me.}
“Watching?” Yang Zicang’s heart tightened slightly.
{So I’ve already investigated them several times using information extraction. My model finally uncovered a critical piece of information just now: those few people suspected of spying on us are from 23rd City. Hey, these little shrimps must be coming to gather data on our strength to prepare for the year-end.}
Yang Zicang pondered for a moment. He turned his head to look around, his eyes darkening slightly.
A mental wave spread outward.
Everyone suddenly felt a panic in their hearts, as if they were being rejected by all things, but this emotion passed in an instant. With his mental power having grown, Yangs Zicang no longer found it difficult to distinguish friend from foe like when he first used Silent Night.
“Zicang, what’s wrong?”
Then everyone saw Yang Zicang pull out his silk scarf and, with a flourish, unfold it into a giant carpet and hop on.
It quickly rose into the air and rushed toward one direction.
Several hundred meters outside the camp, a figure that had been hidden for who knew how long, upon seeing the black shadow rising into the sky, immediately turned and fled.
The other party’s speed was agile, darting left and right before slipping behind a building as cover. Yang Zicang realized that this person was even faster than his own flying speed.
[Position Expansion, Thousand-rank!]
The giant blanket’s speed surged dramatically, but it was still incomparable to Xingmiao’s control back then.
Seeing the huge fur blanket rushing toward him like an airplane, the figure fleeing on the ground was terrified. He crushed an Ability Sphere and sprinted with gritted teeth, his body becoming a blur like a fleeting shadow.
In the Mental Link, Luo Bin’s nostrils flared with anger as he watched the scene.
{Damn, that’s bold, coming right to our doorstep.}
“The opponent probably has a secret technique plus model ability, on top of a speed-boosting Ability Sphere. Even I’m having trouble catching him.”
{Looks like we can’t just bring people with decent fighting skills from now on—we’ve got to guard against these bastards aiming for our weak spots.}
The figure on the ground blurred as he sprinted to widen the distance, leaving afterimages in his wake. No wonder he was the one chosen from Area 23. But his burst couldn’t last; soon, the effect of the Ability Sphere faded, and he slowed down. Yang Zicang caught up, the setting sun casting the giant blanket’s faint shadow over the already dark and deep city ground, like a black cloud about to engulf this man.
“He could be that fast!”
In the mental link of the fleeing figure, Wang Yunze coldly watched and said:
{As expected of Yang Zicang. Wang Zhuo, hurry up, or you’ll end up “gone.”}
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