Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 374 - 348 VS time stop 1

Chapter 374: 348 VS time stop 1

"Maybe?" I said. "Does that mean he might not be here?"

"After all, I’m just deducing from past experience that he is probably in this research institute right now, but there’s no guarantee that nothing unexpected will happen, like him coincidentally being outside or something," Lu Chan said.

Although he mentioned it was a research institute, it looked nothing like one from the outside. By now the sun was completely set, and under the veil of the night, this vast building looked like an elegant museum with two demon hunters dressed as guards standing at the entrance.

Since it is a facility under Ming Zhuo, who knows what sort of secret experiments might be carried out here. I tried to probe with my Perception, but I encountered significant resistance. Much like the former secret strongholds of the Human Bureau, there were many anti-investigation barriers set up here, and they bore the trace of Ming Zhuo’s Mana, likely set by Ming Zhuo himself.

"Do you remember what I told you before? Ming Zhuo once captured a large number of people naturally endowed with strong Spirit and killed them, attempting to knock open the door to Naraku... This is the place where he conducts those experiments," Lu Chan said with a complex tone. "He spends most of his time here locked in the laboratory, cutting off all external disturbances and forbidding his subordinates from bothering him unless necessary.

"And the demon hunters at the institute are also engaged in vile experiments that are banned in plain sight, studying how to enter Naraku and how to extinguish the Xuanming Fire within Ming Zhuo’s body. As far as I know, from the senior staff to the gatekeepers, not a single one of them has clean hands off innocent blood, so you needn’t show them mercy later.

"The sins committed here also include a portion of mine. Zhuang Cheng, if after seeing what’s inside you feel I too deserve to die, then you can kill me."

Perhaps he felt a duty to live and repent for his sins on the one hand, while on the other, he was trapped in self-doubt, wondering if death was the only absolution, thus seeking my judgement.

"You can go back now, Lu Chan," I said. "Leave the rest to me."

"I..." Lu Chan hesitated to move.

"You don’t expect me to judge you based on good and evil, do you? Those people inside are Ming Zhuo’s subordinates, so I shall kill; you are my man, so I shall protect. I don’t care if you are a good person or a bad person. If you want to take on all the sins of Lu Youxun and wallow in self-reproach, that’s your own affair. Keep me out of your internal strife," I said coldly.

"...I see," he let out a sigh. "That is so like you."

He turned and left the place.

I stood there a while longer, waiting for him to get far enough away, then turned my gaze back to the research institute. The two guards at the entrance, noticing I was still standing opposite, seemed to have some doubts. One of them stepped forward and questioned, "Hey, you are..."

"Dead," I said.

Even the power of Impermanence’s Word Spirit was enough to decide the life and death of the common folk with just one word, and the two guards in front of me, at most Residence Level demon hunters, still fell within the realm of the commoners for Impermanence.

As the word "dead" dropped, the guard who came to interrogate fell to the ground without warning, dead on the spot. The other guard’s face showed panic, and then his eyes rolled back, losing breath and pulse, he too collapsed dead. I stepped over their bodies and entered the research institute, unleashing my Flame Ability all at once.

Bursts of flames directly overwhelmed all anti-investigation barriers they encountered along the way, plunging the entire research institute into a Fire Sea.

Considering there might be some victim test subjects inside the research institute, I didn’t infuse much lethality or destructive power into this action; it was more about "knocking on the door," aiming to call Ming Zhuo out from the deepest part of the institute.

Yet, Ming Zhuo didn’t show up immediately. Instead, I was met with a barrage of trap-like Spells. Fire, lightning, frost, earth spikes... and invisible psychic forces and mysterious attacks akin to curses swept towards me from all directions. These seemed to be traps triggered by an invader’s presence. And just like when the demon hunters recently tried to cast spells in front of me and failed automatically, these attacks didn’t even touch my body before dissipating into the air.

The alarm sounded throughout the facility, and there was a lot of noise from people inside running for cover in a panic, with some guards dressed as demon hunters rushing towards my direction while shouting.

Since Lu Chan said that Ming Zhuo would eliminate all disturbances from the outside world during the experiments, that means "soundproofing" barriers with superb effects must have been set around the laboratory, or some other Spells. Or could it be Ming Zhuo wasn’t here from the start? If that’s the case, I would have to find Lu Chan later to complain, and incidentally curse him to only drink scaldingly hot beverages when eating spicy food.

I was about to deal with these rushing guards, but just then, a low chant came from behind them.

"― Time, halt."

As this voice rang out, the scenery in my field of view seemed to be covered with a strange filter, turning into shades of grey with varying depths. All the guards rushing towards me, and the triggered trap spells attacking me from all directions—flames, lightning, chill, earth spikes... all stopped in mid-air as if the pause button had been pressed.

At the same time, I found that I couldn’t move my body either.

Yet in this still world, there was something that could move. I saw a figure walking out from behind the guards, a male dressed in the black uniform of the Impermanence.

—Has time been stopped?

I had heard Lu Chan mention that in Luo Mountain, there indeed exists a Great Success Rank that can freely stop time. Could this male be that rumored Time Manipulator? Is he a subordinate of Ming Zhuo?

Although time was stopped, somehow, my thoughts could still function normally. I tried to break free from the Time Power binding me, but found it impossible. Or rather, there wasn’t any Mana binding me, there was just the fact that I couldn’t move.

One shouldn’t be able to move in frozen time, but the phenomenon of time stopping itself wasn’t something that should be taken for granted. This Time Manipulator should be using Mana to control time. If I can disrupt this Mana, I should at least be able to get my own time moving again. But if the target that should be disrupted doesn’t exist from the start, then naturally it couldn’t be the key to solving the problem.

I attempted to perceive the outside world. Even a Great Success Rank Time Manipulator couldn’t possibly stop time over a large area. However, the reality was different from what I imagined. My Perception instantaneously covered the entire Luoshan Headquarters, yet I saw that time throughout the entire headquarters had stopped. Continuing to investigate further, the vast expanse of the Primordial Forest surrounding Luoshan Headquarters was also frozen in motion.

Even the moon and stars in the night sky seemed to have stopped, and some of the stars that should be twinkling were frozen.

Could it be that this Time Manipulator has stopped the time of the entire universe? How’s that possible?

"You’re the rumored new Great Success Rank Flame Ability User who challenged Ming Zhuo, the reckless Zhuang Cheng... right?"

The Time Manipulator stood before me and said emotionlessly, "What are you doing here, to challenge Ming Zhuo? If so, I truly admire that. I thought you were all talk.

"I heard from Ming Zhuo that he encountered you in a dream not long ago, and you took advantage of his distraction to luckily escape... After that incident, you should have realized the gap between you and the Great Impermanence. Yet you still dare to come to Luoshan Headquarters... It seems you aren’t really naive, but rather came with a resolve to die.

"There’s no need for Ming Zhuo to take action personally, if you wish to die, I’ll grant that wish. Dying at my hands wouldn’t be too disgraceful for you.

"...However, even though I’m saying this, you probably can’t hear me anyway."

As he spoke, I carefully perceived the surrounding time and space.

Leveraging my Perception that can directly probe even causality and concepts, I soon discovered the secret contained within.

And then, I spoke.

"Is Ming Zhuo here?"

Seeing me suddenly speak, his face showed a look of shock, as if he had seen a huge cockroach in his normally comforting bed, retreating a great distance as if electrocuted.

"You moved?" he said in shock, "Why..."

"It’s just that I can move in stopped time. Ming Zhuo can do it too, right? Why shouldn’t I be able to?" I said.

"What nonsense are you talking? Just because Ming Zhuo can do it, you can do it? You’re not the Great Impermanence, what right do you have..."

As he spoke, he seemed to realize a certain impossible possibility, his expression becoming increasingly incredulous.

I moved my body a bit, having freed myself from the frozen time, and then said to him, "This really has been an eye-opener for me. I never expected that there would be a method like this to stop the time of the universe."

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