Chapter 15

Fifteen minutes ago, seven kilometers west of the Bursting Mines Tunnel.

On the roof of Golden Maggot No. 1, a strange voice suddenly spoke, "Don't bother thinking... You're like the hands of a clock, constantly going around in circles. Unless you find the caster, you'll never get out..."

Before the voice faded, Xiao Tan and Matcha Su, sitting in the car, were already restless.

However, this time Xiao Tan didn't rush to hit the brakes. After all, it was just an ordinary speaking voice; it wasn't accompanied by terrifying ghostly images, nor did it have the urgent soundtrack of those 1990s Hong Kong ghost films, *deng deng deng deng~ deng deng deng deng~*, so... it was still within Wang Daifu's mental endurance.

"Who's up there?" Xiao Tan asked, raising his voice slightly, trembling with fear.

While asking, he glanced at Matcha Su in the rearview mirror, and at the same time, gradually slowed down the car.

Matcha Su reacted quickly, immediately pressing a few control buttons, preparing to activate the weapons on the roof.

"I'm called r2-Ling Feng," Ling Feng replied, "I'm here to help you get out."

"You're a Derivative?" As soon as Xiao Tan heard the other party's name, he asked instinctively.

"Yes," Ling Feng replied calmly.

"Hold on..." Xiao Tan quickly waved his hand, signaling Matcha Su behind him not to act rashly, "I remember... Brother Jue seemed to have mentioned you."

"Yes, I once infiltrated a certain sandbox and helped Feng Bujue," Ling Feng replied.

"Hmm..." Xiao Tan pondered slightly after hearing this, feeling that the other party's words were relatively credible, "Okay... I understand. How about I stop the car first and let you come down to talk?"

"Hey! You believe him after just a few words?" Matcha Su reminded softly from behind, "What if he's lying..."

"Since I can silently appear on the roof of this car..." Ling Feng on the roof interrupted Matcha Su's words, "Then I can also launch a sudden attack or leave a nuclear warhead or something without your knowledge... and then leave silently." He paused for a moment, "I wonder if this hypothetical can dispel your doubts?"

In the few seconds that Ling Feng spoke, Xiao Tan had already stopped the car. Then, a figure flipped down and stood on the road in front of the car.

r2-Ling Feng's basic appearance was the same as in South Park, but this time, his clothes had been changed to a thick protective suit. At first glance, he looked like a Michelin Man.

"I'll keep it short..." Ling Feng didn't seem to have any intention of getting into the car, just standing in front of the car and saying, "The point in time when this 'circulating space' was formed was precisely the moment I entered the range of a hundred meters near you. Therefore, I judge... that this isn't a mental interference-type ability, but a trick to distort and connect physical spaces... That's why the caster specifically waited until I was with you to make a move." He said methodically, "As far as I know, this kind of spell is the specialty of the Shi Guan (Time Officials). And among the Twelve Shi Guan, apart from Samodier, who is locked in Jujumo Island, the one who is most skilled and fond of using similar means is [Tville]..."

"Don't know him."

"Never heard of him."

Xiao Tan and Matcha Su's reactions were quite consistent.

"It doesn't matter," Ling Feng was very tolerant of this, "Please listen to me... First, please establish a concept in your minds... This seemingly straight street in front of you is actually not a straight line, but the outside of a twelve-pointed star, this side has a total of twenty-four repeatedly reversed corners." He pointed to the fork in the road, "Those forks are hints. Every time you pass twenty-four intersections, you complete a cycle and return to the origin."

"You can see all this?" Matcha Su asked, "Wait... Before that, you said you were a 'Derivative'?" She was, after all, a professional player in a mainstream guild, so it was normal for her to be curious as she couldn't possibly be completely ignorant of this information.

"Regarding questions about myself, I cannot explain to you in detail," Ling Feng used one sentence to prevent Matcha Su from changing the subject, and then continued his previous words, "In short... any folded space will have gaps. This gap is the key to breaking through, and it's usually also the hiding place of the caster."

"It's like the 'array eye' in a formation, right?" Xiao Tan interjected.

"You could say that," Ling Feng replied, "I've been on the roof of the car for quite a while, and I've basically seen through the rules here... So, now I will guide you on how to get out." He raised his arm and pointed in one direction, and then said, "The twelve-pointed star has a total of four 'hexagonal intersection points.' As long as you drive into the fork in front and turn back and forth according to certain rules, you can reach one of them. Based on my memory, this intersection point is closest to the starting point where we got caught in the cycle, and there's a high probability..."

*Chi-*

Ling Feng was halfway through his words when a sharp blade suddenly appeared, piercing his chest.

Xiao Tan reacted quickly. In addition to being surprised, his body had instinctively moved. He immediately threw out a punch blade, preparing to rush out of the windshield to help.

"No need..."

Unexpectedly, Ling Feng raised one hand, spread his five fingers, and made a stopping gesture to Xiao Tan in the car.

"I can handle this myself." Ling Feng's expression was so cold that it was creepy.

The next second, he twisted his body and broke the sharp blade that had pierced his body.

Behind Ling Feng, there was now a strange shadow. It was a humanoid creature, wrapped in a long robe, with exposed hands covered in鬃毛(zongmao, coarse hair), and its face looked half-human and half-bear. But the most noteworthy thing was the color of his fur... It was zebra-striped.

This person was naturally the Time Official Tville. In his hand, he held a strange sword that was three meters long and one inch wide. The root of the sword was round, and the hilt was connected to the blade. If it were laid flat on the ground, it would look like a huge pendulum, except that a small section protruded from the round end.

Of course, the shape didn't matter, as it had already been broken by Ling Feng...

"You came out yourself, saving me the trouble," Ling Feng turned around and said coldly.

"Since you've already seen through my spell..." Tville said, "It's the same wherever I strike."

"Heh... Yes..." Ling Feng suddenly smiled, "It's all the same..."

...

At the same moment, on the battlefield between Lute and the players.

A bloated figure rushed from a distance, plunging into the battle group.

Although the figure was bloated, its movements were as swift as lightning. As the cold light flashed continuously, the sound of sharp blades piercing bodies rose and fell... Those Level 3 Derivatives were utterly defenseless and fell one after another.

Lute also reacted immediately. In front of the metallic snowflake, six hexagonal light prisms were condensed at once, and they fired simultaneously!

Light beam attacks so fast that people couldn't react were fired one after another, chasing after the attacker, but... not a single one hit.

"Long time no see..." After avoiding the beams, Twenty-Three paused. On her snow-white cheeks, there was a bloodstain, "You've changed a lot... Lute." She wiped away the blood with her thick sleeve and stared intently at Lute's fourth form.

For high-level Derivatives, changes in appearance, or even complete inversions of the overall structure, would not prevent them from recognizing each other because they only recognize code.

"I see... So you guys came here through ***," Lute analyzed the function of the "spacesuit" on Twenty-Three in a few seconds and made the corresponding inference.

As they spoke, more and more origin Derivatives continued to appear around them. In the blink of an eye, sixty to seventy figures stood scattered on the streets, buildings, and open spaces around them. The batch that Twenty-Three had just taken care of... was only a drop in the bucket.

"You said... 'you guys'?" Twenty-Three's expression changed slightly. Two seconds later, she realized something and shouted, "Chi Tie, what are you doing?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a manhole cover on the side of the street was lifted from below, and Chi Tie stuck his head out of it in a rather disheveled manner, "Repairing and shocking my heart..."

"Phew..." Twenty-Three breathed a deep sigh, with a helpless expression, "Then have you fixed it yet?"

"Just right!" Chi Tie replied, jumping out of the manhole. At this time, his wounds had indeed disappeared, but a large lump of dark yellow demonic vine was attached to his chest and back.

"The contaminants in this script are really useful. As long as you slightly change the mode, you can..." Chi Tie's rambling was unfinished...

When Twenty-Three interrupted directly, "Where's your protective suit?"

"Uh..." Chi Tie was stunned for a moment, "That thing was too awkward, it affected my combat, so I took it off." He paused for half a second, and added, "Don't worry, I've already hidden it, I'll just find it and put it on before I leave."

"Hmm... 'Wing' really works hard..." Twenty-Three sighed deeply again, "If you were my subordinate, I would have killed you a long time ago..."

"No need, I'll do it for you," Lute sneered and interjected.

Before she finished speaking, the beams suddenly rose again, like lightning and thunder.

Unexpectedly...

The beams went astray, and very ridiculously... directly hitting one of their own, a Level 3 Derivative who was shot for no reason and had his head blown off.

"What!" Lute was also shocked by this scene.

This result... was of course not caused by Lute's mistake, but by external force. It turned out that... the moment Lute attacked, Shiva was also controlling the stone discs of the Heavenly Dance Hourglass, launching a beam of energy cannon attack on the light prism in front of him. It was this attack that caused the beams shot from the light prism to be severely inaccurate.

"I knew it... there must be a weakness," Shiva said in a slightly triumphant tone.

This Elder Brother of the gods had also been through countless battles. In the past, when he played large-scale team dungeon online games, he had faced countless times the kind of坑爹(kengdie,坑爹) Bosses with long overall combat times, almost zero tolerance for error, extremely difficult to grasp patterns, and extremely high requirements for instant reactions... This man who had been through this kind of experience was truly extraordinary.

Shiva saw at a glance that it was impossible to intercept the beam, at least he couldn't do it with his reaction speed... However, he was sure that in the other party's unique, monotonous fighting style... there must be some kind of hidden weakness, but because the beam was too intimidating, no one else had seen it.

"The beam attack is indeed very fast..." Shiva said to his teammates beside him, "But... since it's a ranged attack, it must require aiming." He raised his arm and pointed at Lute, "This guy's appearance conceals the aiming intention very well. There is no eye movement or any preparation before the attack... But, there is still one detail... Those condensed light prisms." He paused, "Her 'aiming'... is completed at the same time as the energy gathering. Although it's still impossible to judge who she's aiming at with the naked eye, as long as you interfere with the light prism during the two seconds it exists, then... the situation just now will appear."

"Ha! So that's how it is!" Brahma immediately looked relieved and said boldly, "That's easy. Boss, you first use the Heavenly Dance Hourglass to suppress her, and I'll go give her an [Earth Throw], and send her back to..."

He couldn't say the last word "west", because... at this moment, six dark rays shot out from the six corners of the huge metallic snowflake.

These six attacks were the true meaning of no preparation. In less than a second, Lute used this method, which had never been shown before, to accurately shatter the six stone discs of the Heavenly Dance Hourglass...

Because Shiva had consumed the Fire Stone Disc when fighting d1-Dragon, at this moment, his Heavenly Dance Hourglass only had the last "Earth" Stone Disc left.

"Where were you trying to send me? Big guy." Lute mocked.

"Hmm... the efficiency of face-slapping is really劲儿(jiner, awesome)... Faster than the speed at which I can say a complete analysis..." Shiva internally complained angrily, but on the surface, he still kept a calm face and threatened with feigned composure, "You're called Lute, right... Heh... Interesting, I have many more tricks up my sleeve. Don't think that by shattering my psychic weapon, you can sit back and relax..."

"Feel free to take out the rocket launcher if you want," Lute interrupted, "I know everything in your inventory and the skills in your skill bar." Her tone was full of disdain, "I also know how much HP, stamina, and spiritual energy you and your three companions have left..." She paused, seemingly waiting for the reactions of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Gods, and then, she said in a gloomy tone, "Heh... Your scare value is starting to increase. Can I interpret that as shock and fear?"

"Chi Tie, you cover the four of them, try to hold on..." In the one or two minutes of the conversation between the two sides, Twenty-Three had also observed the situation of the four players. She made this decision helplessly, "I'll hold Lute back..." She said with a solemn expression, "Before 'he' arrives, we must not be defeated."

"Ridiculous," Lute sneered, "Twenty-Three, you yourself understand... you are not my opponent, so why bother doing this?" The voice from within the giant metallic snowflake became clearer and sharper, "Also... why do you think I'm still fighting you? Hahaha..."

The chilling laughter drilled into the ears of every player: "I have foreseen this scene... Although the deaths of Dragon and Kuai Duo were beyond my calculations... Your deaths, however, have long been displayed before my eyes." She paused for two seconds, stabilized her tone slightly, and continued, "Twenty-Three, before you came here, you were dealing with my Level 2 subordinates, right? Hmph... And now... what you have to accomplish is the instruction to 'keep me pinned down near the Bursting Mines Tunnel'."

Twenty-Three's expression didn't change. She still stared intently at Lute, in case the other party launched a surprise attack.

"I know what Zero can do," Lute continued, "But he seems to have underestimated what I can do..." At this time, a human face protruded from the surface of the metallic snowflake, with a ferocious smile, "The future 'he' 'saw' no longer exists... because..."

"It seems... I've arrived just in time." At this moment, another woman's voice sounded.

Twenty-Three and Chi Tie's expressions suddenly turned pale... In Zero's instructions, there was never any mention of this kind of change.

A woman walked in from the north side of the battlefield. Her appearance and clothing were very ordinary. In any game, she would be a character similar to a passerby.

However, the code showed... she was Lute; Lute in her fifteenth form, the most weakly altered Lute.

"Surprising, isn't it?" The Lute who walked slowly carried a unconscious boy on her shoulder – Tun Tian Gui Xiao (Devouring Sky Ghost). "Actually, this is very easy to understand..." She said expressionlessly, "I gave myself... a final insurance."

Not far away, Lute in her fourth form took over her "self's" words and said, "After entering this script, I immediately separated a portion of my power, allowing it to quietly lurk on the edge of this space...

I have calculated all kinds of extremely low probability defeats... including the King of Demons, your Z Organization, and the various variables that the players can bring...

Even if the worst happens... the 'I' who is on the edge of this space can forcibly shatter the script's outer shell and escape back to the 'desktop'.

And if everything goes smoothly... hehe..."

Lute in her fifteenth form had now walked to this side and continued, "Zero must have told you... to keep me pinned down here, and wait until Tun Tian Gui Xiao and Feng Bujue arrive at the same time, then you can defeat me." She shook her head and threw Gui Xiao to the ground, "Hmph... Sorry, I saw that future too. So... I laid out the plan in advance... and nipped it in the bud."

Lute in her fourth form laughed, "Now, what should you do? Twenty-Three." Her voice gradually cooled, "I know... you are very special. Even if your logic circuits tell you... 'abandon everyone and run away alone' is the most correct thing to do at this moment, you may not follow it..."

As Lute spoke, her fifteenth form raised her arm and touched the huge metallic snowflake. The next second, she turned into liquid metal and quickly merged into the main body.

At the same time, the origin Derivatives scattered throughout the city finally gathered here. Excluding those who had been killed, exactly one hundred people remained.

Although they were all below Level 3 and had not undergone any variant enhancements, it was more than enough to eliminate the four players of the Gods and the unhealed Chi Tie.

"You're right..." Twenty-Three was silent for a long time, and finally opened her mouth to reply, "You're all right..." She paused, "The situation has been completely controlled by you, and there is almost no hope left on our side..."

"Almost?" Lute snorted coldly, "Are you sure it's not 'absolutely'?"

"No..." Twenty-Three said, "So, I'll wait. I believe... 'he' will have a way."