Chapter 405: The Third Time

Just after surging through the spatial rift, Gao Jie Ming felt a sudden dizziness, as if someone had struck the back of his head with a blunt object.

But he immediately stabilized his form, regaining clarity almost instantly.

"Captain?" came a voice from behind, one of his squad members asking.

"Fine." Gao Jie Ming raised a hand to signal, his gaze already sweeping ahead.

Having crossed the dark spatial rift, their thousand-strong force appeared high above the battlefield's rear.

Before them stood the wizard army, fully prepared—millions of wizards arranged in formation, countless rune cannons towering, energy shields shimmering faintly in the air.

Farther still, along the horizon, the enemy forces loomed in a dark, oppressive mass.

And now, the alert units behind the wizard army had turned their weapons toward them.

"Reinforcements?" A sixth-rank wizard flew out from the ranks, his voice brimming with suspicion, "At this time?"

Gao Jie Ming said nothing; he simply raised his Magic Net terminal.

A beam of light projected into the air, revealing the command document from the Forgemaster Altrius, its eighth-rank wizard spiritual imprint blazing like the sun.

The sixth-rank wizard's pupils contracted slightly; he immediately saluted: "Verification passed."

He turned and signaled backward; the alert units lowered their weapons.

But the tension remained—every wizard's eyes held confusion; they clearly had no idea why reinforcements had suddenly appeared.

"Thankfully, Master Altrius prepared in advance," Gao Jie Ming thought inwardly.

Had that eighth-rank wizard not evacuated all troops from the realm and explained the truth of the time loop first, he'd now have to spend precious time convincing them.

Now, only one order was needed.

Soon, the seventh-rank wizard in command flew down from the command platform.

He was a middle-aged man with a stern face, clad in a silver-gray robe, a silver seven-star medal pinned to his chest.

He took the command document and examined it carefully; his expression grew darker by the second.

"So—" the seventh-rank wizard looked up, a flicker of understanding in his eyes, "we've been trapped in this cycle for a long time, haven't we?"

"Yes, General Frost," Gao Jie Ming nodded. "According to headquarters' observations, we've endured one hundred thirty-eight cycles."

Frost fell silent for two seconds, then let out a cold laugh: "No wonder the reconnaissance units reported the enemy's formation changed completely."

"I thought it was just outdated intel—"

He turned to Gao Jie Ming's thousand troops: "You are the new variable. Master Altrius hopes you can break the stalemate?"

"We are the First Combat Team," Gao Jie Ming replied plainly. "Our mission is to gather intelligence during the cycle and probe the enemy's response limits."

"Good." Frost nodded. "Then no time to waste. Proceed to the central command, take charge of the 203rd through 207th"

"Formations. Observe carefully—don't rush into battle. I need to know how the enemy changes."

"Understood."

Gao Jie Ming led his team toward the designated position.

The central command lay near the rear center of the battlefield, offering broad visibility and relative safety.

Around them, other wizard squads nodded in greeting, then took their positions.

Gao Jie Ming landed on the command platform; his squad members quickly dispersed, beginning to inspect rune cannons and energy nodes.

These were standard equipment—every command platform had them.

"Captain, the cannon-fodder formations are linked," the adjutant reported. "Deploy now?"

"Deploy," Gao Jie Ming said, his spiritual sense already sinking into his dantian.

By protocol, he should immediately release the Black Giant Legion into the front lines.

But as Gao Jie Ming's spiritual will swept rapidly through his dantian, he froze.

The five thousand Black Giants, once neatly lined up, now numbered only half—two thousand five hundred dark figures stood silently, while two thousand five hundred positions—were empty.

Before the vacant areas, two white metal plaques lay on the ground.

One bore the mark "1."

The other bore the mark "2."

Gao Jie Ming's pupils shrank sharply.

Knowing himself well, he quickly realized what this meant.

The numbered plaques—this was my habit of leaving myself markers.

"1" and "2"—I've already experienced two cycles?

He snapped his gaze to the charging platform—three Flame Annihilation Divine Staves were planted on it, their energy readings showing 47%, 63%, and 22% charge.

I've used them.

In the previous cycle, I already deployed my trump cards.

Good news: my dantian seems unaffected by time reversal.

Bad news: once something is removed from it, it won't reset with the cycle.

"Time paradox—" Gao Jie Ming whispered the term.

His dantian was essentially an independent miniature realm, though attached to him, its time flow and rules didn't fully synchronize with the cycle realm.

When the cycle realm reversed time, the dantian's timeline might continue—or at least, events that occurred wouldn't be undone.

The vanished Black Giants were beings "erased" by the time paradox.

They no longer existed in this timeline, nor had they returned to the dantian—they simply—vanished.

A chill rose along Gao Jie Ming's spine.

This silent, imperceptible loss was the most terrifying.

Had he not seen it, he'd never have realized he'd already lost half his Black Giant Legion—and that he'd endured at least two brutal cycles.

"Captain?" came the adjutant's voice. "The enemy is advancing."

Gao Jie Ming forced himself back to the present, instinctively searching his dantian for other clues.

Fortunately, he found them easily—behind the metal plaque marked "2," a small pile of recording crystals lay stacked.

They were intelligence left by his past self.

But the enemy was drawing near; there was no time to examine them now.

Gao Jie Ming took a deep breath and pulled his awareness back to reality.

He raised his hand; a fissure opened in his dantian. After a moment's hesitation, he selected one thousand of the remaining two thousand five hundred Black Giants and sent them into the front-line cannon-fodder formation.

His gaze swept past his own lines, stretching toward the distance.

On the horizon, a black tide was surging.

It was the Insect Army.

Billions of creatures with mantis heads and cockroach bodies, clad in chitinous armor, crawling or flying, most bearing what looked like highly precise energy weapons.

Their movement emitted a dense, clicking "clack-clack" sound, merging into an unceasing downpour.

Behind the black tide, faint silhouettes loomed—dozens of colossal shadows, each as massive as a mountain, seventh-rank beings.

Farther still, five suffocating auras hovered in the sky.

Eighth-rank.

"What a—luxurious lineup," Gao Jie Ming murmured.

Frost's voice echoed across the army via the Magic Net: "All units, prepare for contact! Remember—change the rhythm! After the first volley, the left flank advances, the right flank retreats and reorganizes!"

The wizard army began adjusting its formation.

But at that exact moment—

Gao Jie Ming suddenly sensed the Scythe Skull army's formation—also shifting subtly.

Their aerial units concentrated toward the left flank; ground forces visibly strengthened their defense of the right flank.

As if—they'd already known the wizards would make this change.

"Of course," Gao Jie Ming tightened his staff. "They remember. Every cycle, they remember."

The black tide suddenly accelerated.

Every wizard immediately sharpened their focus, preparing to respond.

The enemy charged.