Chapter 317

Ning Hai held one hand against his chest, raised his right hand, and gently touched the mask with his index finger.

"You still have some sense, but not much. Your plan is impossible even in theory, because a reverse time flow within the same spacetime would cause a paradox. Moreover, the two worlds have already established a spacetime link, which means the temporal anchor point is fixed. Even if my technology were more advanced, I cannot connect to a node in the original world that predates the previous connection; I can only continue from the established anchor point and link to the subsequent time period of the original world."

Those words directly fried the chairman's brain.

He understood each word, but when put together, he truly couldn't comprehend.

Ning Hai sighed, brushed the bridge of the mask with his right hand, and ordered:

"You go back first. Just guard the positioning device I placed on your side, keep its core from damage. It will only take a few hours to ten-some hours; you'll see me again. If you can't even guard it for such a short time, then you don't need to stay alive."

Since it was a direct order, the chairman didn't waste brainpower pondering the principle, and immediately kowtowed, "Yes, Lord Ning, I will hold the line to the death until you descend upon the original world."

no.

A metal syringe fell onto the floor in front of the chairman.

"Take it," Ning Hai said to him, "This is a third-generation gene serum, freshly synthesized not long ago, very potent and very rare; you might need it at a critical moment."

no.

The chairman's pupils trembled involuntarily, his expression agitated.

He knew that those who injected the first-generation serum would become powerful yet inhuman monsters; those who took the second-generation serum could become warriors like the Descending Society's guards, possessing monster-like combat power while retaining a human form, but they would also become cold‑blooded, bloodthirsty, and have a drastically shortened lifespan, averaging less than thirty years.

Although the effects of the third-generation serum were still unknown, the second generation was already so formidable; wouldn't the third be god‑defying?

Moreover, Lord Ning had said the third-generation serum is extremely potent and very rare.

"Thank you, Lord Ning... thank you for your generosity!" the chairman exclaimed as if he had found a treasure, carefully lifting the syringe.

After the Descending Society chairman left with utmost respect.

Ning Hai stood by the floor‑to‑ceiling window, gazing at the distant grayish sky, his thoughts unknown.

"Dad!" Ning Yao's voice pulled him out of his reverie.

He turned, and Ning Yao hopped and skipped over, laughing brightly as she approached.

"My daughter..." Ning Hai's tone softened, he reached out and gently patted Ning Yao's head, then suddenly remarked, "You still look the same as before, but Dad is truly getting old now..."

"Dad..." Ning Yao carefully leaned in, gently embracing Ning Hai.

Most of Ning Hai's skin had been affected by the abnormal ability years ago, remaining in a semi‑healed state; even slight contact caused him excruciating pain.

That's why Ning Yao was so careful, fearing she might hurt him.

Even with such lightness, Ning Hai still felt as if a blade scraped his skin, but he showed no sign, clenching his teeth as he held his daughter.

"Dad, what's wrong today? Bad mood?" Ning Yao asked.

Ning Hai shook his head, "No, I'm just worried—when the day comes that I'm gone, what will you do?"

"That won't happen!" Ning Yao hurriedly said, "You'll always be here! Our technology is so advanced now that in the future we can definitely cure you and grant you a thousand‑year lifespan!"

Ning Hai said with a hint of a smile, "All the technology we develop is aimed at war, even in medical biology. In the rush for speed, we've completely abandoned conventional research and veered further down unconventional paths. You must promise Dad never to meddle with genetic engineering. As for me, I should still live until the day we return to the original world; then, using the original world's top‑tier medical methods, I can probably still be cured."

Hearing him say that, Ning Yao felt relieved and also sensed Ning Hai's mood improve considerably, so she gathered courage and intended to confess her true relationship with Lu Xingfeng.

"Dad, what do you think... Uncle Lu... how's his performance?" Ning Yao tentatively asked.

Ning Hai replied, "His performance is quite good; not only did he capture Xuan Guo faster than I expected, but now he's almost handling the entire Asia as well."

"Hehe, seems you quite approve of him."

"Approve him?" Ning Hai chuckled lightly, a hint of disdain in his laugh, "I merely exploited his obsession with Xuan Guo; replace him with someone else and you won't get the same efficiency."

Ning Yao froze for a moment, "Dad, you... were you just using him?"

Ning Hai said, "We merely use each other; he too has used my power to achieve his goals, and if I hadn't saved him, could he have survived until now? Daughter, this person can only be a tool, not a confidant. Used well, he is a sharp weapon; used poorly, he may turn on his master. If necessary, he can even be killed. From now on I will teach you how to become a leader; everything I have will later be inherited by you."

Ning Yao's eyelids twitched; the words at the tip of her mouth were swallowed, and she silently hummed.

no.

The Descending Society chairman had just returned to the original world's headquarters, and the United Defense Force had already stormed into the great hall.

Moreover, other locations of the headquarters had also been fully seized by the Defense Force, with thousands of managerial personnel arrested.

Only a dozen or so severely wounded Descending Society enforcers remained stubbornly resisting.

Super soldiers injected with the second‑generation gene serum continued to fall back step by step under the United Defense Force's desperate onslaught.

Inside the massive, ornate cathedral‑style hall, the bodies of the fallen United Defense Force piled up like a mountain, and the air was thick with an unrelenting scent of blood.

"Found it! The portal is here!" a Defense Force squad leader shouted, pointing at the huge mural.

He had noticed the massive mural glowing amid the melee, and the Descending Society chairman emerged from within.

His voice rang out, invigorating all the Defense Force present, who launched an even more reckless charge.

The statue's exterior was indestructible, so they could only clear obstacles from within to destroy the Spacetime Portal; casualties were massive, yet none of the Defense Force soldiers ever showed cowardice.

The Descending Society chairman trembled in fear, hurriedly snatched the golden scepter and tucked it into his chest, ordered the enforcers to hold the line to the death, and twisted his head to slip through the back door beside the mural.

Another bloody battle ensued; after sacrificing nearly a thousand soldiers, the United Defense Force finally eradicated the dozen or so heavily wounded Descending Society enforcers.

Without a moment to rest, they immediately set up explosives in front of the mural.

At that moment, machine‑gun fire suddenly rang out inside the hall.

The United Defense Force was caught off guard, and a large swath fell on the spot.

It turned out there was a hidden layer of defensive installations inside; high on the surrounding walls of the hall were concealed heavy machine guns that could auto‑target.

The Descending Society chairman slipped through the back door specifically to reach the control room and activate the switch.

When the machine‑gun bullets interwove into a dense fire net, the Defense Force inside the hall had nowhere to hide; their ballistic vests were as flimsy as paper against bullets thicker than a finger.

Just as they were about to be annihilated, a tall, sharp figure surged into the hall like lightning.

"Everyone down! Don't move!" an unquestionable command rang out.

The still‑surviving Defense Force instantly froze in place.

With the sudden stillness, all the machine guns locked onto the sole moving target.

Dozens of bullet firelights converged and shot over.

But that figure was not only incredibly fast, it could also use the environment to nimbly dodge; a few seconds later, the figure leapt onto the huge mural, using hands and feet to cling to a relief on the mural and stopped.

The Joint Defense Forces only then realized that this was actually the global supreme commander of this major operation—Shangguan Ying!

Within half a second after stopping, Shangguan Ying's eyes swept every corner above the hall.

When all the machine gun muzzles were aimed and concentrating fire, she then pushed off the relief with both feet and leapt sharply to the side.

Rat-tat-tat!!!

Bullets like a torrential rain simultaneously struck the spot where she had just briefly paused, instantly blasting a huge hole in the middle of the huge mural.

Shangguan Ying's combat uniform was torn in multiple places by machine-gun bullets, blood staining the rips, but she had no time to tend to her own wounds, using the previous method to continue drawing fire and destroying the wall while directing the defense forces via her earpiece walkie-talkie to evacuate the wounded.

Until the last surviving wounded was dragged out of the hall, Shangguan Ying also used the hall's machine guns to blast apart the entire wall bearing the huge mural.

Then she was the last to withdraw from the hall's doorway, after which she had the defense forces already prepared outside the door fire a volley of shoulder-launched rockets inward.

Nearly a hundred rockets streaked straight in, using their built-in infrared probes to lock onto the hot machine-gun barrels, followed immediately by a series of explosions.

When everything finally calmed down, the interior of the hall was almost reduced to ruins, and all the machine guns had been destroyed.

"General Shangguan Ying, your wounds..." a subordinate accompanying her looked at her combat uniform stained with blood in multiple places.

Shangguan Ying waved her hand, "Just minor injuries, no problem—hurry and send the wounded out for treatment."

"And you?"

"I still need to check the situation here to make sure the passage has been destroyed."

"Yes, General."

Shangguan Ying adjusted her breathing, stepped forward, and walked slowly into the hall.

Everywhere was devastation; the sacrificed defense forces were countless, and many didn't even leave intact corpses.

But now was not the time to feel anguish; Shangguan Ying gritted her teeth, fixed her gaze on the breached wall, and only upon approaching did she discover a spherical device about two meters in diameter behind the wall.

It looked utterly ordinary, yet it hovered in midair, surrounded also by a layer of protective energy field.

It was precisely the existence of this protective energy field that left the sphere unharmed.

Without a doubt, this is the spacetime portal device used by the Advent Cult to connect with another world.

Shangguan Ying drew her pistol and fired several shots, discovering that the bullets were deflected by the energy field; after a brief thought, she reached out with her hand.

Sizzle—

At the moment her palm made contact, the tactical glove was burned through, and an intense searing pain shot through.

But Shangguan Ying did not stop, for she found that her palm could slowly pass through, the sensation like probing into thick magma.

Next, she held her breath and focused; an invisible breath surged into her palm, then she lunged fiercely at the spherical device.

Boom!

A muffled thud.

The spherical device showed a dent.

A few more strikes like that would surely destroy it.

Shangguan Ying's right hand was already split and bleeding, yet her expression remained unchanged as she prepared to strike again.

Just then, a figure suddenly lunged at her, its tremendous impact hurling her more than ten meters away.

While being flung, Shangguan Ying quickly adjusted her posture, kicked off the wall corner, and without hesitation charged at the figure, unleashing a series of swift, fierce punches and kicks.

But to her surprise, the opponent was only forced back a few steps.

"Heh heh... indeed worthy of the third-generation serum," the opponent clenched his fists, slowly lifted his head, "You must be General Shangguan Ying of Huaxia Guo, I've long heard your name—killing you would be my honor."

"You're the leader of the Advent Cult?" Shangguan Ying frowned, "How did you become like this?"

The man before her had shifted from a gray-haired middle-aged appearance to a nearly two-meter-tall muscular brute, muscles bulging, veins standing out, as if harboring explosive power.

"Come, let's have some fun!" the Cult Leader declared, then darted forward in a lunge toward Shangguan Ying.

Shangguan Ying drew another pistol, firing as she retreated.

Each bullet struck the opponent's vital spots, yet left only a faint red mark on his skin.

The Cult Leader had closed in; Shangguan Ying dropped her pistol, swiftly drew her dagger, and slashed across his face.

The blade emitted a metallic scraping sound, leaving likewise only a faint red trace.

At the same moment, the Cult Leader smashed a punch into Shangguan Ying's abdomen.

Bang!

Shangguan Ying spat blood, slamming heavily into the wall behind her.

"You can't possibly hurt me," the Cult Leader sneered, "Conventional weapons are ineffective against me—unless you have a nuclear bomb on you; of course, even if you did, you'd surely die yourself, whereas I might not perish on the spot, heh heh."

Shangguan Ying knelt on one knee, one hand pressing her abdomen, blood pouring onto the floor.

The Cult Leader approached triumphantly, his palm like a cattail fan gripping Shangguan Ying's crown, looking down and saying, "Rumor has it that Huaxia Guo's finest officer is nothing special—aren't you about to have your head crushed by my single hand? General Shangguan Ying, I'll send you on your way."

Before his words faded, Shangguan Ying suddenly swung her dagger again, aiming for the Cult Leader's wrist.

The Cult Leader paid it no heed, not even attempting to dodge.

But the next second, his wrist was cleanly severed.

"How... how is this possible!" the Cult Leader stared at his spurting severed wrist, face full of disbelief.

It was the same blade; before it clearly could not inflict even the slightest harm on him, so how could it now sever his wrist?

Shangguan Ying wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes gleaming, "Conventional weapons truly are ineffective against you, but you don't know that ordinary cold weapons in my hands have a different use."

The Cult Leader hastily glanced at her dagger, only to see a faint, wavering layer appear on its surface, as if some kind of breath coated it.

"What is that?" the Cult Leader sensed danger.

"This is..." Shangguan Ying whispered, "a gift left to me by the most important person in my life."

Swish—

The blade's light flashed.

The chairman hadn't even reacted before his head hit the ground.

His burly body remained standing.

Shangguan Ying swung her dagger again, the blade flashing like lightning several times.

The headless corpse crashed down, shattering into over a dozen pieces upon impact.

New flesh kept sprouting at the cut sites, but the pieces were too far apart to rejoin.

Shangguan Ying kicked the chunks aside as she approached the chairman's head.

"Don't... don't kill me!" the chairman begged, eyes wide, "I... I can serve you!"