Chapter 944: 542 Time-Split Staff

「……」

According to this calculation by Atifé 00, Prince Andre’s chance of victory is still seventy percent?

After glancing at Atifé 00 speaking through the cleaned one’s head, unable to judge whether it was true or just bluffing, Li Ang paused briefly, then narrowed his eyes and said:

“I’ll assume everything you say is true. Since you’re not aligned with Prince Andre and don’t wish him to win, how exactly do you plan to help us? Will you turn on him the moment I storm Research Zone One?”

“That won’t work~”

The head of the sixth cleaner shook its head:

“During the soul-coding experiments, to secure Fain’s support, I had to embed a top-priority instruction into the foundational code of every ‘Atifé’—requiring all soul-coded recipients to obey the orders of the Time-Split Staff holder.”

“Time-Split Staff?”

“The Time-Split Staff is a pair of anomalies passed down in the Krook Kingdom, possessing the peculiar ability to distort the perception of time.”

Atifé 00 explained:

“The person chosen by the hour hand staff experiences one hour as if it were one minute; the person chosen by the minute hand staff experiences one minute as if it were one hour.”

“A time-based anomaly?!”

“Not quite. Take the hour hand staff, held by each generation of kings—it only makes one hour *feel* like one minute, not actually turn one hour into one minute.

Simply put, the Time-Split Staff confuses time perception to boost the user’s reaction speed sixtyfold, then locks onto opponents, reducing their reaction speed to one-sixtieth of normal. It cannot truly manipulate time.”

Even if it’s not a time-based anomaly, that’s still insanely powerful!

Imagining his own reaction speed slowed sixtyfold while his opponent’s sped up sixtyfold, not only did the three Level Two cleaners feel a jolt of alarm—even Li Ang couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath.

Sixty times sixty equals a full 3,600-fold difference in reaction speed. If movement speed matched reaction speed, even an ordinary ant could chase down a speeding train.

No wonder Atifé 00 said Prince Andre still had a seventy percent chance of victory. With such a monstrous anomaly in his hands, our odds of winning are barely thirty percent—granted only by sheer mercy.

“Don’t worry, the Time-Split Staff isn’t that powerful.”

Seeing Li Ang fall silent, seemingly losing confidence in confronting Andre, the head of the seventh cleaner hurried to reassure him:

“These two staffs can only be used by members of the Krook royal family, and their consumption is extremely high—roughly one Liang value corresponds to one minute of effect.

If someone with one Liang value uses it, they can only make another person’s one minute feel like fifty-nine seconds—an increase of just one-sixtieth. Even someone with ten Liang values can only boost reaction speed by ten percent.”

After hearing Atifé 00’s words, Li Ang paused briefly, then narrowed his eyes.

The statement was true—but if this artifact fell into the hands of someone with thirty Infection values, it could create a fourfold gap in reaction speed. And if a cleaner crossed the human-god divide with sixty Infection values, they could still achieve the full 3,600-fold disparity.

So no matter how you look at it, this is an incredibly terrifying “late-game divine artifact”!

After recording the information about the [Time-Split Staff], Li Ang frowned and said:

“Why would you tell us such vital information? Aren’t you afraid of being shut down for betraying Andre?”

“It’s fine~ This information isn’t important~”

Atifé 00 smiled sweetly:

“Andre isn’t a cleaner—he has none of your cleaners’ Liang values. The Time-Split Staff has no effect in his hands; it’s merely two tokens used to control me.

And since these staffs hold supreme authority over all ‘Atifé,’ he can’t hand them to anyone else. Besides, only recognized royal family members can use them—and the royal family has already been wiped out by him. Even if he wanted to give them away, he couldn’t.”

So that’s how it is.

After nodding slightly, Li Ang continued:

“So back to the original question—how exactly do you plan to help us defeat Andre?”

“I already answered that. I won’t help you fight Andre.”

Atifé 00 blinked:

“His odds are still higher, so I’m hedging my bets—giving you a little favor just in case~”

You’re being awfully blunt about being a fence-sitter…

Shaking his head in disbelief, Li Ang pressed:

“So what exactly are you offering me?”

“The whereabouts of your captured comrades—would that be enough?”

The head of the eighth cleaner lifted up, smiling:

“The cleaner named Nicole didn’t die in the earlier ambush. She’s been imprisoned by Andre, locked away underground in Industrial Zone Three.”

“Oh.”

Li Ang nodded upon hearing this.

“I see. Anything else?”

“Isn’t that enough?”

Atifé 00 blinked, puzzled:

“Aren’t you her comrades? Aren’t you going to rescue her right away?”

“Why should I rescue her?”

Li Ang, slightly sobered, shook his head and countered:

“Will you kill her?”

“Um… no…”

“Are you torturing her? Interrogating her?”

“Well… no…”

“Then why rush? Let her stay with you!”

Glancing at Atifé 00, Li Ang said calmly:

“Since you can’t betray Andre—not only can’t you help us, you can’t even reveal his remaining cards—you wouldn’t come here specifically to boost our strength at this moment.

So if I’m not mistaken, Nicole is either under control or her anomaly has been sealed. Even if we rescue her, she can’t do anything, right?”

“…”

“Looks like I’m right.”

Amid Atifé 00’s silence, Li Ang concluded:

“If I don’t rescue her, we face no danger, and you’ll still have to feed and guard her properly—she’ll suffer no real harm beyond lack of freedom and terrible food;

But if I go to rescue her, we risk danger, and she won’t help us at all—she’ll be trapped in a sealed anomaly state, dragging us down, slowing us down, hindering our mission. It’s better to leave her locked up.”

“…”

It… really does make sense…

“So if you want to cooperate with us and avoid being purged after we defeat Andre, you’ll need to offer something more substantial.”

As Li Ang pulled the fishing line, tying together the severed cleaner heads, he spoke calmly:

“Since you can communicate through them, I won’t knock them out. If you want something from us, think carefully about what you can give us first… I’m leaving now. I’ll wait for your good news.”

“…”

Amid Atifé 00’s silent stillness, Li Ang turned and entered the Krook Palace, its door blown open, then spoke with a grim expression:

“Senior comrades, we may need to prepare for facing Director Edward.”