Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 208 - 197 VS Chen Long 1

Chapter 208: 197 VS Chen Long 1

The power of restart was an invisible force, imperceptible to the naked eye, visible only through the transformations of the Fire Sea.

The Fire Sea, surging towards Dr. Silver Mask, seemed to crash against an invisible wall, turning the area five meters around him into a seemingly inviolable domain. Upon closer observation, the flames hadn’t hit something tangible; rather, they had halted on their own and even appeared to be retreating slightly.

This reminded me of my last experience in the secret room of the control room. The flames were much like how my own body had recoiled back then. The power of restart I encountered last time was merely a force left by Dr. Silver Mask that activated automatically, making it easy for me to overcome. This time was different; the power of restart I faced undoubtedly contained his will.

And there were more changes; the power of restart was continuously spreading outwards. With Dr. Silver Mask at the center, the space around him rippled like water, covering the laboratory, the corridor outside, and eventually the entire base. Everything that came into contact with these ripples seemed to rewind.

Even I felt a powerful force dragging me back to where I came from, while the Fire Sea throughout the base was gradually receding. The "ash" I had acquired from burning the guards and researchers was disappearing, while the previously deceased guards and researchers were resurrected in the Fire Sea.

If the Fire Sea disappeared, I could no longer exert my full power here. With this in mind, I erupted with all my strength, causing the retreating Fire Sea to roar back to life.

The resurrected guards and researchers were turned back into ash in the Fire Sea. Even the laboratory and its internal equipment were incinerated, only to be restored by the power of restart and then reduced to ash again.

Now, two conflicting forces existed within the base: the destructive power of the Fire Sea and the reversing power of restart. The progress of the restart was forcibly halted by the Fire Sea.

The flames attacking Dr. Silver Mask also forcefully stopped retreating and even seemed to suppress the power of restart, moving closer to him.

He looked shocked.

"How is this possible! This is the power of the Divine Seal Fragment, could it be that you..."

As he spoke, he seemed to be struggling to propel the power of restart, yet he couldn’t stop the invasive advance of the flames.

Bearing a Divine Seal Fragment myself, it made no sense for me to be manipulated by him even if I couldn’t use the power of the Divine Seal Fragment.

His manifestation of the power of restart seemed somewhat similar to Mazao’s Power of Return—both reset things back to their original state. However, upon closer inspection, there were indeed differences.

Compared to the Power of Return, the intensity of the power of restart was overwhelmingly higher. It was not only able to reset everything within an area but also capable of reviving humans by the hundreds in one go. Even strengthening Mazao’s Power of Return a hundredfold couldn’t achieve what Dr. Silver Mask was doing now.

But that was all it was—mere power. The power of restart seemed only capable of this one action. I couldn’t sense the infinite possibilities like I could with the Power of Return. It was a rigid, mechanical, uninspiring force, purely relying on a strong foundation—a monotonous fruit. Perhaps this also proved Dr. Silver Mask’s inability to flexibly use the power of the Divine Seal Fragment.

At this rate, I could turn him to ash in a matter of minutes.

Unfortunately, the situation wouldn’t unfold so smoothly; there was someone who couldn’t just watch me incinerate Dr. Silver Mask.

A figure suddenly leapt at high speed from the shadows behind me, attacking me.

It was Chen Long.

It was said that his use of Shadow Transmission within the base required Dr. Silver Mask’s prior consent, which apparently didn’t involve submitting paperwork or receiving verbal instructions but might just be a mere thought from Dr. Silver Mask to lift the restriction. I wasn’t completely unprepared for his surprise attack, but with part of my attention focused on Dr. Silver Mask, defending against a Great Success Rank enemy’s sudden assault was indeed challenging.

His fist landed on my body, blasting me out of the laboratory.

My body crashed through numerous walls, and the shattered walls quickly repaired themselves under the influence of the power of restart, only to be broken open again by the supersonic moving Chen Long. For beings like us, even with numerous walls as obstacles indoors, it was much like a vast plain or the sky; terrain was irrelevant. He broke through countless walls at high speed to appear directly behind me and attacked again.

His attack was far less powerful than the Divine Spear; while his punch caused soul-deep pain, it still didn’t leave wounds that could hinder movement. Even if it had caused real damage, I could just heal it. But with him interfering, it was impossible for me to focus all my attention on Dr. Silver Mask. I had to deal with him first.

Chen Long was now wearing "Portal Armor," and I couldn’t yet think of a way to counter this invincible defense. Meanwhile, I felt Dr. Silver Mask’s power of restart still acting on me, slowing my movements. I had to further enhance the intensity of my Fire Element body.

Suddenly, a shaky sensation overwhelmed me.

Although I had been supporting my presence in this independent reality space with the Fire Sea, I felt as though I was about to "fall through the Shattered Void."

Almost simultaneously, I understood why this was happening—I was increasing the density of my flames.

"Enhancing power density" and "expanding presence to secure a foothold" were contradictory. Even though I could exert my full powers in this reality space, I couldn’t use techniques that required excessive density.

And the primary prerequisite to forcefully overcoming the "Portal Armor" was to condense and intensify my Fire Power to its utmost limit.

No wonder Divine Spear had said I couldn’t possibly defeat Chen Long in this reality space. Perhaps, like the girl Lu Chan, after reviewing the data on the independent reality space, he realized the true reason why Chen Long could exert his powers normally here and concluded that breaking through the "Portal Armor" with brute force was impossible.

To defeat Chen Long, I had to move the battlefield back to the real world; to do that, I had to kill Dr. Silver Mask and destroy the independent reality space. Yet to kill Dr. Silver Mask, I first had to defeat Chen Long... It was a complete cycle.

I activated Flame Transmission to dodge his attack, and he, like in our last battle, emitted a massive amount of shadow dust, attacking me close by with Shadow Transmission.

"You were able to penetrate this stronghold’s firewall mechanism and invade, and you can even immunize yourself against the power of restart... It seems you also possess a Divine Seal Fragment," he said coldly. "I won’t ask how you found this place, but I will make you pay the price for your invasion. Leave your life and Divine Seal Fragment here, and your body and soul will become subjects for the Human Bureau, just like those demon hunters."

"With your weak fists?"

Considering our previous battle, I didn’t think he had a stronger attack method. It wasn’t underestimating him—had he had a trump card, he would have likely used it in that fight.

His combat style was all about ensuring his safety first, steady and meticulous—the truly skilled warrior achieves no renowned victories. Rather than relying on unexpected killing moves, he might be closer to the essence of combat in some ways.

However, unexpectedly, he seemed to have a trump card to reveal at this moment.

I saw his right hand, clad in black armor, suddenly begin to emit a white light, giving me a sense of danger.

"Whether I’m really weak, take this hit and then you’ll know!"

As he roared this, he charged at me.

Just then, a voice rang out from afar: "—Chen Long!"

Chen Long paused slightly.

It was the voice of the girl, Lu Chan.

She was standing at the entrance of the control room. Her voice didn’t carry well to where we were, separated by several floors. But the ever-present Fire Sea filling the stronghold allowed me to track her movements, and Chen Long, with his exceptional perception and hearing, could grasp any movement inside the stronghold.

"Lu Chan..." Chen Long said solemnly, "It seems you’re involved in this matter too. No, it would be impossible without your participation. Did you incite those demon hunters to go berserk? The purpose is... huh, to obtain the method of using power beyond the achieved level from me, so he initiated the Fire Sea before appearing..."

In an instant, he understood everything.

He knew that the girl Lu Chan was not the real Lu Chan, yet he still referred to her as Lu Chan.

"You’re indeed a calamity. I’ve been too soft-hearted in the past, not dealing with your nonsensical being. Once this is over, I will personally make you understand your rightful place," he said with a threatening tone.

But the girl Lu Chan replied unshaken, "There won’t be a next time, Chen Long. I won’t allow Ying Lingyun to continue using you as a puppet, manipulating you to assist tyranny."

"A puppet? Manipulate me?" Chen Long scoffed. "Still the same old tune, Lu Chan. Although I don’t know how you discovered Dr. Silver Mask’s real identity, you still don’t understand—I’ve never been brainwashed."

Lu Chan took a deep breath, and I felt my spirit being influenced.

Now, she was standing within the Fire Sea, meaning she was still in ’physical contact’ with me, so our Spiritual Synchronization continued.

She had said she would borrow my power to use spiritual magic to interfere with Chen Long, so I did not resist, letting her proceed.

Perhaps this was the only breakthrough to defeat Chen Long at the moment.

Although I wanted to defeat Chen Long singlehandedly, I first focused on the present moment. If Chen Long initiated a Shadow Transmission sneak attack during her spellcasting, I needed to block him immediately.

Like a hypnotist with young researchers in the past, she spoke words imbued with spiritual power.

"Your past self was not like this, indifferent as colleagues turned into miserable test subjects, even pushing friends into hell without batting an eye, a shameless villain!

"How long will you insult yourself before you wake up?

"Wake up now, Chen Long!"

...

Listening to the words of his former friend and the spiritual magic, Chen Long seemed unaffected.

No, not ’seemed’.

He was entirely unaffected.

"How many times must I repeat myself before you give up, Lu Chan," he said calmly. "I have never been brainwashed."

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