The awakening of the Nightmare caused everyone in deep slumber to flee, dragging their families without grabbing any belongings. In just a few minutes, two colossal demon tower pillars collapsed, making the fleeing crowd involuntarily slow their steps.

“Someone’s in there. “

“Who is saving us. “

The clamor of the crowd echoed through the night.

In other parts of the city, the garrison forces and the Security Department finally began to mobilize and rush over.

Among them, quite a few were Fogfolk who had rushed over from within the city.

Beneath the tower.

“How about this deal? ” asked Odyssey from a distance.

Amidst the swirling smoke and dust, Yang Zicang struggled to his feet, propping himself up with his sword, a searing pain radiating from the wound on his shoulder.

“This… ” Yang Zicang hesitated.

Could the flames within those halos be neutralized by the temporal order? If so, Yang Zicang was reluctant to accept another transaction from this distributor.

The humming emanating from the bases of the crimson and cyan pillars grew increasingly louder; two intertwined energy vortices of red and blue were madly siphoning the decaying, decaying energy of the withered black pillar.

{Little did I expect that, having just taken a second glance at this New World, I would be forced to appear in a ‘Triphase Resonance’ stance. }

“Triphase Resonance! ” A strange glint flickered in Bai Yuxian’s eyes.

Boom!

Just as Yang Zicang was about to move, a vortex of energy, born from the merging stone tower, smashed towards the people outside the field.

He Yishu hefted his battle axe and slashed it towards the swiftly approaching energy vortex, only to be sent flying back by a powerful recoil force.

“Watch out! ” Yang Zicang shouted urgently!

It was at that precise moment that the playing cards in Odyssey’s hands emitted a faint glow, coalescing into a barrier.

Bang!

The energy struck the barrier formed by the playing cards. The shield shuddered violently, yet it managed to protect him and the other three figures behind it, including Lina and her companions, who had descended a great distance and were nearing the ground.

Seeing this, Yang Zicang gritted his teeth and charged forward. He sensed the disappointment from Dian, the reseller inside. This was the very first distributor who had signed a contract with him.

Before, without the Bloodline Statue, it was one thing. But now, it would be best to sell it to him first.

However, come to think of it…

As he ran, Yang Zicang wondered, what layer did that distributor behind him belong to?

｛I am executing the Frost-Snow Sword Art!｝

The short sword carried a destructive cluster of frost and snow as it converged, but they instantly evaporated into high-temperature steam upon gathering.

It was at that moment that a broken line radiated outward from the void.

{Who’s in there? Do you need our investment? }

{Who took down that big guy! }

A flash of delight lit up Yang Zicang’s eyes.

The model on his chest instantly projected beams of light in a quadrilateral pattern.

｛I deploy the financing model.｝

｛Florian invests 50000N for me!｝

｛Leander invests 32000N for me!｝

｛Zhang Ziqiang invests 61000N for me!｝

In an instant, over a hundred thousand N in chrono investments arrived—an inconceivable windfall in the previous Track of Fate.

And here, this was merely from three shares.

｛I, the Great Quadrilateral, begin a fourfold amplification.｝

｛I amplify the chrono to 680000N!｝

{How dare you challenge my authority! }

The sole colossal tower bellowed in fury. A blinding glare ignited at its apex.

{Watch out for the flame ray! }

{These are decayed-rank Nightmares. They have awakened the Blood-line Circuit—don’t try to withstand them with Chronological Force! }

Shouting out the warning from afar, several men who had been monitoring the situation through the Financing Model rushed over.

Yang Zicang was fully aware of this.

｛Trajectory Master!｝

In the scorching beam of high-temperature flame, Yang Zicang’s figure suddenly accelerated. The few watching him through their perceptive perspectives instantly felt their vision blur.

{What terrifying speed! }

{Wait… this guy… Could he be the one from the newspaper? }

{What! My goodness, I think it really is him! }

Yang Zicang had no time to dwell on their exclamations. His movements, honed through long-term training, were nearly doubled by the boost from the Model. On top of that, the Trajectory Master trait propelled his speed to nearly threefold higher than normal. Under these combined effects, Yang Zicang’s speed had crossed into absolutely terrifying territory.

Leaping beyond human limits, he could now rightly be said to be moving with superhuman swiftness. A range of several hundred meters was devoured in an instant under his lightning dash.

From the outside, Bai Yuxian, Odysseus, and the others only caught a glimpse of a black streak before the figure had already arrived at the foot of the tower, an arc cleaving from his sword.

BOOM!

The colossal tower trembled violently.

｛I have offset 99,950N!｝

What?!

A flash of shock lit up Yang Zicang’s eyes as he looked up at the towering structure covered in those two layers of faint shrouds.

It had only just begun its fusion, and yet its Chronological Offset degree was already terrifyingly high!

｛Is anyone else still out there? Provide me with more temporal financing!｝

The model on his chest rapidly spread into the deeper night, covering the city, crossing the leased land, sweeping over the railway, and charging recklessly toward the more desolate wilderness beyond the city walls.

Among those jolted awake by the pervasive fear, more Fogfolk with unshielded links sensed this sudden financing request emerging from the surrounding darkness.

{Whoa, youguy, between thetwoof us, our investment’s nearly a hundred thousand N of chronological shimmers, and youstillwant more? }

{Youtwo? I also invested sixty thousand chronological shimmers in him! }

{Ah, dude, don’t tell me—this newcomer hasn’t been here more than a few days… is his seat expansion already beyond thefifth seat? }

Ptoo! Ptoo!

Scorching flames carved devastating ruts into the ground.

But their speed couldn’t keep up with Yang Zicang’s evasions.

The young man gripping the Sword stopped, panting. The high temperature so close caused his body to shrivel up, nearing collapse.

No wonder Zhao Anlong was too scared to bring his girlfriend this way. A single side sweep of malice from the residents here—successful as an ambush—would leave her incredibly possible recumbent or dead.

｛Ir · ene: contributed project inflow support: … NINETY THOUSAND!｝

｛L · eonshatter: joined program remittals : EIGHTY – FOUR THOUSAND!｝

｛Start Silverbridge Protocol #701 — fund insert of TEN BATTALION DATA — hit: 100k SHARD RUSH C｝

{Brother, hold fast just**until I force the locks and tear the director’s head out of his power couch field. Promise: toward your table everything clockwaves run full tonight! }

｛Light Cascade From Starting Coast Clearshallow → entry: 72000 d ~ — subdue my OWN flux｝

{What’s the highest astronomical total of potential you could squander in a tight!? Best answer straight… }

Gazing at the several bright specks of light merging into the chest model of Yang Zicang, which were clearly multiple investments close to one hundred thousand time-sequences, someone couldn’t help but ask.

｛It’s okay, I can still accept about five hundred and sixty thousand in investments for now.｝

This statement silenced many within the model—those who had been here for almost a year or even muddled through for several years.

{Bullshit, I… a friend of mine still hasn’t expanded to a fifth slot. }

Not to mention the 990,000 time-sequences required for opening the sixth slot; just expanding the fifth slot alone costs 99,999 time-sequences.

Many people simply couldn’t bear to spend that many time-sequences to expand their model.

The sky’s scorching heat surged once again.

{Such delicious food, become my nourishment~ }

Within the crimson eyes, silhouettes of two other pupils emerged. The three eyes overlapped in misalignment, forming a circuit.

{Bzzz!!! }

Yang Zicang felt a sharp pain in his head, and the momentum of his sword-raising abruptly stalled.

Crackle! The boots under his feet suddenly split apart and burst into flames.

“Brother! ” Lena outside cried out in panic, her voice trembling with tears.

{Foolish ant! Do you think destroying my vessel means victory? }

｛Nightmare declares it has named itself “Ebros. “｝

The eyes atop the tower suddenly shifted from a solid, condensed red to a deep indigo.

In turn, the entire tower’s heat rapidly cooled down.

A dull boom echoed as Yang Zicang let out a pained groan, his entire body seared by the high-temperature steam that had suddenly burst forth.

This time, he had no cards to resist the heat.

｛I negated 100000N.｝

｛I negated another 100000N.｝

“What’s going on there! “

“What a strange evil nightmare ability, ” Bai Yuxian said, turning to look at Lena on the flying carpet, which was about to touch the ground. “What exactly is the knowledge about the Secret Box your family guards? “

“It is… ” The Secret Box, now fully transformed into an evil nightmare, had lost all its secrecy. After a brief hesitation and amidst the housekeeper’s sigh, Lena spoke.

“It is… the delayed choice experiment. But this monster… isn’t as eerie as the records suggested. “

“And I only mentioned the name, anyway, ” Lena added, as if trying to justify herself.

“The name. ” Bai Yuxian thought for a moment, then turned to look at the distributor beside him.

“Sir, was that the information you were looking to sell earlier? “

“Ah ha, hmm… ” Odysseus smiled lightly. It seemed the safety of those present was all that concerned him; the ultimate fate of anyone else mattered little.

He Yishu wanted to charge in and help, but he was driven back by the searing heat before he could even get close.

He turned his head and looked at Odysseus beside him. “I’ll sell you my life’s story. Give me that card of yours! “

“Oh? ” Odysseus eyed He Yishu skeptically.

“But your tale hasn’t been quite thrilling enough so far. “

He Yishu gritted his teeth and said, “But, my friend is already… ” He gazed into the smoke.

Yang Zicang’s voice could no longer be heard!

{Hahaha. }

An illusory, phantom sound emerged from the vicinity of the tower.

{But I must thank you, mortals. By destroying my symbiosis, you have instead allowed me to break free from my binds and descend in my true form! }

A massive, illusory face of varied colors coalesced beneath the three vertical eyes atop the tower.

In the distance, two figures blazing with the radiance of Star Source charged into the scorching heat.

Rustle!

Numerous nail-like, bluish-black rock-wood growths shot out from the tower like a porcupine’s quills.

The two who had just rushed in were nearly struck by these spear-like projectiles.

Odyssey’s eyes narrowed slightly. “It has switched forms again. “

“This ability… could it be the nightmare born from the Era adapting the literal meaning of ‘Delayed Choice’ and combining it with the Turbid Bloodline? That’s what you intend to sell, isn’t it? “

“Ah, you bastard. “

Odyssey shot Bai Yuxian a very displeased glare.

Clearly, Bai Yuxian knew he had guessed correctly. But how were they to resolve this?

Two threads of light diffused outward from the air, oscillating before the anxious He Yishu.

With a thud, Lena, along with another person and her father’s corpse, fell to the ground, still entangled in the rug.

“Miss Lena! ” Thorne, bearing his own injuries, helped the fallen Lena to her feet.

Just at that moment, a person leaning on a wooden staff suddenly emerged from the darkness.

The others looked toward him, and Odyssey’s eyes instantly turned sharp.

Joshua smiled as he fixed his gaze on the distributor, Odyssey.

“Hello, sir. According to the general agreement, you’re not supposed to meddle with the alterations in this era, right? “

“That’s right, as you can see, I’m just standing here, merely keeping this body of mine from being harmed by these dangers. “

Odyssey shrugged, “After all, half of my identity belongs to this world, doesn’t it? “

“Hmph. ” Facing this reply that seemed to be an admission but was actually a threat, Joshua took a light breath. Barefoot, he turned his head to look at the stone tower capable of cycling and switching elemental powers.

“I never expected there’d be a Malignant Nightmare that could choose between several elemental powers. I want to take this mold-device model away. ” Saying this, Joshua turned around, intending to walk toward the edge of the high-temperature mist.

“Are you trying to ruin my business? “

Joshua looked back and smiled, “I’m just informing you. “

Just as he was about to step forward, he suddenly sensed a trace of dangerous energy locking onto him. The man propping himself with a wooden staff tilted his head. Behind him, the distributor was slowly shuffling a deck of cards in his hands.

The two stared at each other in silence.

“Excuse me, you two! How’s my friend in there? ” He Yishu, anxious, shouted loudly from the edge of the mist.

“We… we can’t see anything! Damn it, this Malignant Nightmare is impossible to get close to… “

“What?! “

The faint voices coming from inside instantly startled the few who were already growing worried.

{Our Telepathic Link was also severed with him. }

A voice from an expanding Financing Model said.

{Me too! Hey, he couldn’t have been vaporized, could he?! }

{That’s Yang Buchen, right? He doesn’t even have a Stellar Yuan yet, he’s probably already been torn to pieces by the extreme temperature difference! }

Just then, a broken line suddenly spread out from high in the sky.

{Please, let me invest one more time! }

“What?! “

Everyone looked up in disbelief.

At the top of the tall tower, a figure had appeared there at some unknown time.

The Nightmare’s eye slanted to look.

{You! When did— }

｛William Rocky invested 170,000 N for me.｝

｛Bai Bangrong invested 43,000 N for me.｝

｛Bergara invested 20,000 N for me.｝

｛Yuval Har-Mon invested 130,000 N for me.｝

｛……｝

In an instant, the number within the halo on Yang Zicang’s chest increased from over a hundred thousand to eight hundred and ten thousand!

“Just now! “

Yang Zicang grinned ferociously, raising the brilliant sword in his hand.

• ｛Distributor February. Di’an gave me a Favorable Review.｝
• ｛Distributor Di’an raised the bid for my glorious prelude by 10%.｝

At this moment, the giant face howled in disbelief and uncertainty:

{What are you doing?! }

Yang Zicang looked up, his eyes wild with madness, and roared, “I’m learning, ” his voice echoing with rage, “learning how to shove you, a stinking worm without even a mouth, back up your own ass! “

A violent, thick, earth-yellow ethereal flame instantly erupted from the blade.

｛I have received a response from the Elemental Field.｝

On the surface of the ethereal flame, streams of red, blue, gold, and yellow light spun furiously, radiating a powerful aura!

Joshua’s face below changed drastically in an instant.

“No! That’s its core, leave this replicator alone! “

Even Erebos’s colossal face showed fear for the first time: {No… impossible! That’s… }

“Go to hell and die! “

Yang Zicang thrust his sword forward.

The silent blizzard, carrying the glory of earth and gold, flew soundlessly toward the giant face, devouring all colors, sounds, and energy in its path.

A desperate shriek from the colossal face as it tried to flee, but the blizzard spreading from the blade edged onward, tearing, shredding, swallowing it bit by bit…

Crrrrack…BOOM!

Bang! Crash!

Giant stone fragments collapsed rapidly.

The ground shook again, turning into a battlefield of devastation.

Yang Zicang fell from the mid-air, landing softly on the ground. He Yishu swiftly ran over with a surging ethereal flame enriched. The man was almost covered in wounds—hardly a patch of skin left untouched—but his consciousness remained sharp.

Odyssey approached slowly, peering at him with a complex gaze: “Do you have any idea what you just did? Not only did you destroy our priceless replicator, but you nearly took yourself down with it. “