Chapter 15 The Beginning of the End

Fifteen minutes ago, seven kilometers west of the Baoming Tunnel.

On the roof of Golden Maggot No. 1, a strange voice suddenly spoke, "Don't bother... you guys are like the hands on a clock, just going around in circles. If you don't find the caster, you'll never get out..."

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

However, Xiao Tan didn't rush to slam on the brakes this time. After all, it was just an ordinary voice; it wasn't accompanied by terrifying ghost images, nor was it backed by the urgent *deng deng deng deng~ deng deng deng deng~* music from a 90s Hong Kong ghost film. So… it was still within Wang Daifu's mental endurance.

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

While asking, he winked 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 buttons, preparing to activate the weapons on the roof.

"I'm called r2-Lengfeng," Lengfeng 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 instinctively asked.

"Yes," Lengfeng 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," Lengfeng replied.

"Hmm..." Xiao Tan pondered for a moment after hearing this, feeling that the other party's words were relatively credible. "Alright... I understand. How about I pull over first and 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 come to the top of this car silently..." Lengfeng on the roof interrupted Matcha Su, "Then I can also launch a sudden attack without you knowing, or leave a nuclear warhead or something... and then leave silently." He paused. "I wonder if this hypothesis can dispel your doubts?"

In the few seconds Lengfeng spoke, Xiao Tan had already stopped the car. Then, a figure flipped and landed, standing on the road in front of the car.

r2-Lengfeng's basic appearance was the same as it was in South Park, but this time, his clothes were replaced with a thick protective suit. At first glance, he looked like a Michelin Man.

"I'll make it short..." Lengfeng didn't seem to have any intention of getting into the car, just standing in front of the car and said, "The point in time when this 'looping space' was formed was exactly the moment I entered within a hundred meters of you. Therefore, I judge... this is not a mental interference ability, but a trick to distort and connect physical space... That's why the caster waited until I was with you before making a move." He said methodically, "As far as I know, this kind of technique is a specialty of the Shi Guan (Time Officials). And among the twelve Shi Guan, besides Samodiel, who is locked up on Jumo Island, the one who is best at and most fond of using similar methods is [Tvil]..."

"Don't know him."

"Never heard of him."

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

"It doesn't matter." Lengfeng was very tolerant of this. "Please listen to me... First of all, please establish a concept in your minds... This seemingly straight street in front of you is not actually a straight line, but the outer edge of a twelve-pointed star, and this edge has a total of twenty-four repeatedly reversing corners." He pointed to the side roads. "Those side roads are the clues. 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 also a professional player from a mainstream guild, so it was impossible for her to know nothing about this information. It was normal for her to be curious.

"Regarding questions about myself, I cannot explain them to you in detail," Lengfeng used one sentence to prevent Matcha Su from changing the subject, and continued with what he had just said, "In short... any folded space will have gaps, and these gaps are the key to breaking through. They are usually also where the caster is hiding."

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

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

*Chi-*

Before Lengfeng could finish speaking, a sharp blade suddenly appeared, piercing his chest.

Xiao Tan reacted quickly. In shock, his body moved instinctively, immediately throwing out his fist blades, preparing to rush out of the windshield to help.

"No need..."

Unexpectedly, Lengfeng raised a hand, spread his fingers, and made a gesture of stopping Xiao Tan in the car.

"I can handle this myself." Lengfeng's expression was chillingly cold.

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

Behind Lengfeng, there was now a strange shadow. It was a humanoid creature, wrapped in a long robe, with hairy hands and a face that looked half-human, half-bear. But the most noteworthy thing was the color of his fur... it was zebra-striped.

This one, of course, was the Shi Guan Tvil. In his hand, he held a strange sword three meters long and one inch wide. The base 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, whatever the shape, it had already been broken by Lengfeng...

"You came out yourself, which saves me trouble," Lengfeng turned around and said coldly.

"Since you've already seen through my technique..." Tvil said, "It's the same no matter where I make my move."

"Heh... that's right..." Lengfeng suddenly smiled, "All the same..."

...

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

A bloated figure came rushing from afar and plunged into the battle.

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

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

Beams of light that were too fast to react to shot out one after another, chasing after the attacker, but... none of them hit.

"Long time no see..." Twenty-three stopped after dodging the beams. A bloodstain had been added to her snow-white cheeks. "You've changed a lot... Lute." She wiped the blood with her thick sleeve, her eyes fixed on Lute in her fourth form.

For high-level Derivatives, changes in appearance, or even a complete upheaval of the overall structure, would not affect their ability to recognize each other, because they only recognized code.

"So that's how it is... you really did come here via ***," Lute analyzed the function of the "spacesuit" on Twenty-three's body in a few seconds and made a corresponding guess.

As they spoke, more and more Origin Derivatives continued to appear around them. In the blink of an eye, sixty or seventy figures had appeared sporadically on the surrounding streets, buildings, and open spaces. The batch that Twenty-three had just eliminated... was just a drop in the bucket.

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

As soon as she finished speaking, a manhole cover on the side of the street was lifted from below, and Chitie poked his head out in a rather disheveled state: "Repairing and electrocuting my heart..."

"Hoo..." Twenty-three let out a deep breath, her expression full of helplessness, "Then are you done yet?"

"Just finished!" Chitie replied, leaping out of the manhole in one go. At this moment, his wounds had indeed disappeared, but a large mass of earth-yellow demon vines was attached to his chest and back.

"The contaminants in this script are really easy to use. As long as you slightly change the mode, you can..." Chitie's rambling was unfinished...

Twenty-three interrupted directly: "Where's your protective suit?"

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

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

"No need, I'll do it for you," Lute replied with a cold smile.

Before she finished speaking, beams of light suddenly rose again, as fast as lightning.

Unexpectedly...

The beams of light actually missed, and missed outrageously... directly hitting one of her own men next to her. A Level 3 Derivative 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... at the moment Lute made her move, Shiva was also manipulating the stone discs of the Heavenly Dance Sandglass, launching a barrage of energy cannons at the light prisms in front of her. It was this attack that caused the beams of light shot from the light prisms to be seriously inaccurate.

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

This elder brother of the Gods could be considered a veteran of many battles. In the past, when he played large-scale team raid online games, he had faced countless boss battles that were lengthy, had almost zero tolerance for error, were difficult to figure out the rules, and required extremely high instant reactions... A man who had gone through this kind of experience was truly extraordinary.

Shiva saw at a glance that it was impossible to intercept the beams of light, at least not at his reaction speed... But, he was certain that the opponent's unique and monotonous combat method... must be hiding some kind of weakness, but because the beams of light were too intimidating, no one else had seen it.

"Those beams of light are indeed very fast..." Shiva said to his teammates next to him, "But... since it's a ranged attack, it must require aiming." He raised his arm and pointed at Lute, "This guy's appearance cleverly conceals her aiming intention. There is no eye movement or any preparatory action before the attack... But, there is still one detail... those light prisms that condense." He paused. "Her 'aiming'... is completed at the same time as the energy gathering. Although it is still impossible to tell who she is aiming at with the naked eye, as long as you interfere with her during the two seconds that the light prisms exist, then... the situation like just now will occur."

"Haha! So that's how it is!" Brahma immediately felt relieved and confidently declared, "That's easy to do then. Boss, you first use the Heavenly Dance Sandglass to suppress her, and I'll go over and give her an [Earth Upper Throw] and send her back to..."

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

These six attacks were the true meaning of no preparatory action. In less than a second, Lute used these previously unseen methods to accurately shatter the six stone discs of the Heavenly Dance Sandglass...

Because Shiva had consumed the Fire Stone Disc when fighting d1-Dragon, his Heavenly Dance Sandglass only had the last Earth Stone Disc left that he could use.

"Where did you want to send me? Big guy," Lute mocked.

"Hmm... the efficiency of slapping my face is really something... it's even faster than me finishing my analysis..." Shiva complained inwardly, but on the surface he still kept a straight face and pretended to be calm as he threatened, "You're called Lute, right... Heh... interesting, I have many more tricks, don't think that you can sit back and relax after shattering my psionic weapon..."

"Feel free to take out the rocket launcher if you want," Lute interrupted, "I know everything in your pack, every skill in your skill bar." Her tone was full of disdain. "I also know how much survival points, stamina points, and spiritual energy points you and your three companions have left..." She paused, as if waiting for the reaction of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Gods, and then she continued in a gloomy tone, "Heh... your panic value is starting to increase, can I interpret that as astonishment and fear?"

"Chitie, you cover the four of them and try to hold out..." In the one or two minutes of the conversation between the two sides, Twenty-three had also observed the condition of the four players. She helplessly made this decision, "I will restrain Lute..." she said solemnly, "Before 'he' arrives, we must not be defeated."

"Ridiculous," Lute sneered, "Twenty-three, you yourself understand... you are not my opponent, so why bother to go to this extent?" The voice coming from within the giant metal snowflake became clearer and sharper, "Besides... 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 before my very eyes, although the deaths of Dragon and Kuai Duo were not in my calculations... but your deaths have already been displayed before me." She paused for two seconds, calmed 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 complete is the task of 'restraining me near the Baoming Tunnel'."

Twenty-three's expression did not change. She still stared intently at Lute, in case the other party suddenly 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 metal snowflake, revealing a ferocious smile, "The future that he 'saw' no longer exists... because..."

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

Twenty-three and Chitie's expressions suddenly changed drastically... In Zero's instructions, such a change was never mentioned.

All that was seen was a woman walking from the north side of the battlefield. Her appearance and clothing were very ordinary, like a background character in any game.

However, the code showed... that she was Lute; Lute in her fifteenth form, the weakest form of aberration.

"Very unexpected, isn't it?" The Lute who walked slowly carried a comatose youth on her shoulder – Tun Tian Gui Xiao (Devourer of Ghosts). "Actually, this is very easy to understand..." she said expressionlessly, "I left myself... a final insurance."

Not far away, Lute in her fourth form took over the words of her "self" and said: "After entering this script, I immediately split off a part of my power and let it quietly lurk on the edge of this space...

I have calculated all kinds of low-probability defeat situations... including the King of Demons, your Z organization, and the various variables that players can bring...

Even if the worst situation occurs... the 'me' on the edge of this space can forcibly shatter the outer shell of the script and escape back to the 'desktop'.

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

Lute in her fifteenth form had already walked over at this time, and continued: "Zero must have told you... to restrain me here, and when Tun Tian Gui Xiao and Feng Bujue arrive at the same time, you can defeat me." She shook her head and threw Gui Xiao on the ground. "Hmph... sorry, I saw that future too. So... I have arranged it in advance... to strangle it."

Lute in her fourth form laughed: "Now, what are you going to do? Twenty-three." Her voice gradually turned cold, "I know... you are very special, even if your logic circuit tells you... 'abandon everyone and escape alone' is the most correct thing to do at this moment, you may not follow it..."

As Lute spoke, the fifteenth form of her raised her arm and touched the huge metal 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, there were exactly a hundred people left.

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 Chitie.

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

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

"No..." Twenty-three said, "So, I'm going to wait, I believe... 'he' will have a way."