Chapter 25: Resonating with a Chrono Weapon

The threads vanished bit by bit. In less than two seconds, YangZicang heard exclamations from the far end of the street.
The remaining Chrono infused into the spear by the opportunist was hastily withdrawn.
“Who’s plotting against me?” YangZicang burst out from the dust.
At the end of the street, an elderly woman collapsed into the arms of a few young men. She weakly raised a hand and pointed at YangZicang.
“Ahh, demon!”
“My legs, my eyes…”
Behind YangZicang, on the other side of the smoke and dust, the rabble’s cries of misery rang out. The massive shockwave from the explosion threw the two on the car to the ground, bleeding and convulsing. With their longevity already limited, they couldn’t fully defend their internal organs.
Also convulsing were the scattered fragments of the nightmare engines. He finally realized what fuel these cars had been burning—blood was pooling on the ground.
On the desolate street, Yang Qian watched with a dazed expression, the hand grasping the golden phantom longsword trembling slightly.
“You, you…”
The one who had been utterly powerless against the Rat-men in that previous battle—so this was how many of his Temporal Sequences he had kept hidden! And not only that; this guy’s attack range was astonishingly far.
Yang Zicang bent down, picked up a small pebble, and tossed it outward.
“No, don’t do it!”
The people in that direction instantly burst into cries and terrified sobs, scattering frantically in all directions.
Thud! The pebble hit the ground, bounced a few times, and rolled noisily to the middle of the road. Just an ordinary pebble, nothing more.
Yang Qian was knocked to the ground by the milling crowd.
Yang Zicang walked over and looked at him impassively. “If I were to hand this Daggerlance to you right now, do you think you could hold on to it? With these people of yours?”
[Resonance Rate: 50%]
{What are you wasting words with him for? Get over here.}
Ignoring Luo Bin’s urging, Yang Zicang continued to gaze at the man before him.
“Get going. I admit I underestimated you. But next time——”
Yang Zicang shook his head, cutting off the other man’s tough talk. “I’ll give you a chance to make a real investment.”
Yang Qian looked at him, utterly baffled.
“Go back—and back the investment you think someone deserves if they possess both a quad-model Frame and a Century Weapon. I will offer you suitable assistance in the future as repayment.”
Investing in the legendary quadrilateral owner was something Yang Qian had never even considered.
For him, all temporal investments were simply about following the model’s feedback.
But now, such a rare figure, seldom seen in normal times, stood right before him.
Moreover, he was the target of his robbery.
“You’re trying to fool me.”
Yang Zicang swept a glance at the people around him, their eyes burning with anger.
When his gaze fell upon them, they dared not even take a deep breath, fearing that the stone capable of altering its trajectory might land on them.
How pitiful. Yang Zicang felt a sense of sympathy for them. This place was not suited for their survival at all.
“Forget it, I’m leaving. Goodbye.”
Yang Zicang turned and quickly walked away.
Seeing Yang Zicang’s rapidly disappearing figure, Yang Qian rose with a hint of agitation, standing still.
“What does he want?”
He called out to Yang Zicang several times, wanting to ask what reward he would give. But the other man moved too fast, quickly vanishing into the twilight buildings along the roadside.
“Damn it!” Yang Qian, vexed by a sense of loss and gain, hurled his blade to the ground with force. But because it was tied to his hand, he didn’t succeed—only the blade tip scraped against the ground, sparking a few tiny flashes.
“Second Chief, that bastard is way too arrogant! Next time, we’ll knock him down good.”
“Brother Qian, don’t fall for it.”
The crowd finally stirred up again, cursing Yang Zicang as he ran far away.
They once again surrounded the vice captain.
[0.1R: Investors expect a return from the fundraise.]
Yang Zicang hadn’t expected to sway the other party with just a few words. He said that merely to give a subtle reminder to those watching here.
Even if you obtain the Century Weapon, can you hold onto it?
He hoped these few words might curb the covetousness of those with relatively sane minds.
……
“Ha, my top investor, where am I supposed to find you?” In the abandoned building, Yang Zicang said half-jokingly to the one who funded him, using this remark to ease the earlier tension.
{Go two hundred meters northwest from the residential building on your right. There’s a small door. You can use that route to avoid the other team coming this way.}
“Then where do I find you after that?”
{The Science and Technology Museum.}
An hour later, Yang Zicang, reunited with Liang Xi, arrived at the abandoned public building Luo Bin had mentioned.
The desolate city, shrouded in a faint purple mist, was bathed in the twilight glow. Yet after so long, the sunset had barely dipped. Time here was stretched far too much.
“Need some water?”
The investor’s voice came from the stale, dark corridor.
“No need. But I am a bit thirsty.”
Yang Zicang said it unconsciously, only realizing after the words left his mouth why he had bothered to respond to his own instinctive thought.
“How about some beer?”
“……”
After feeling himself on the verge of blurting out, “I’m not really into beer,” Yang Zicang quickly steadied himself, refusing to be drawn into answering by that voice.
“Oh, don’t worry, I mean no harm. It’s just my ability. I can’t help it, and I can’t control it well either.”
A furtive man’s figure appeared at the stairway entrance; he looked at the gun in YangZicang’s hand, showing expressions of surprise and envy.
“Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Luo Bin. Of course, it’s just a code name. How does it sound?”
“I only know there’s a Luo Binwang.”
“See, I knew you’d immediately guess where I got the inspiration for the name, hahaha. Come on, quench your thirst—this stuff is a luxury.”
He turned on the small light on his shoulder to illuminate the hallway, then handed out two cans of beer.
“Kids can’t drink alcohol.”
YangZicang refused on Liang Xi’s behalf.
Liang Xi glanced at him, seeming to want to say something but stopping.
“I want to know, what exactly are you trying to do?” YangZicang asked.
In the light, he could now clearly see the man’s face. It belonged to a slightly chubby middle-aged man with a bulbous nose, dark, dull skin, and large pores—a friendly, easygoing-looking man.
Wearing a blue cloth cap, he looked like an oversized blue dwarf.
Liang Xi watched the man warily.
“Hehe, before we get into that, let me ask you: back in the original world, did you ever read that book?”
“Which book?”
“‘In the forest, in the city of Ma—something, I lived a very lonely life.’ The author of that book began with that sentence, and it perfectly describes my life these past three years. How’s that? Pretty cultured, huh? Ah, but now, I’m about to turn the page on that life. And I hope you’re the key figure to make that happen.”
“Have you been here for three years?” Yang Zicang was secretly shocked, then his heart pounded. He urged, “What do you mean by a turning point in life? Going back to Earth?”
“Don’t count on it.”
The strong expectation that had just risen was dashed.
[Chrono Weapon resonance rate 100%]
Fortunately, he had luckily gained something that could help him establish a foothold in this world, Yang Zicang thought.
[I obtained an additional detachable ability, Gravitational Arc Light. Current slot: Zero.]
Information about the use of the ability was transmitted from consciousness.
[I invested 9N. Gravitational Arc Light slot expanded. Current slot: Single unit.]
……
The three of them were walking through the spacious but half-collapsed large building. Before long, they arrived beside a hidden pit next to a toilet, piled high with garbage, once a septic tank.
“Heh heh, no one would ever guess there’s a C-level alien space inside the septic tank. Brothers, trust me and come down. In this world, trust is more precious than time.”
With that, Luo Bin jumped down.
The two above exchanged a glance. Just as Yang Zicang was about to say something, Liang Xi showed a determined look, pursed his lips, and jumped down.
“I’ll go first, big brother. If there’s danger, you leave.”
Liang Xi’s voice came from below.
Thump.
The moment he finished speaking, Liang Xi rose and bumped his head on the cover of the pit.
“Ha ha, you’ve got a really admirable companion here.”
Luo Bin poked his head out through a gap in the wall that was barely big enough for a person to squeeze through sideways.
YangZicang, who landed later, patted Liang Xi on the shoulder, taking no notice of the bloody stench on him, and said:
“I’ll go in first; you hold the weapon and wait for me outside. Run if there’s danger.”
“Ah, I…”
Liang Xi took the silver long spear that was shoved into his hands and stood there somewhat at a loss.
Watching this older brother slip into the crack in the wall, Liang Xi was deeply moved. Once both had disappeared, he couldn’t resist pulling a magic crystal the size of a thumb from his pocket, using its faint light to feel along the silver long spear, both thrilled and envious.
……
This “extra” area was a tunnel, as if someone had carved a transport road through the mountainside.
“You trust your little companion quite a lot.”
“It’s mutual. He trusts me too.”
“Yeah, that’s how it should be. But someone always breaks that trust.”
The man ahead said, taking off his hat and pointing to the horrifying wound on his head, located at the back of his skull.
“Thankfully, this world has plenty of unusual items. I was fortunate to survive—of course, thanks to my companion’s help too.”
“Such a terrifying wound you’ve got there…”