Chapter 199: Valve

Zhao Zijing couldn't help saying, "What are you talking about?"

Li Cheng grinned and said, "Zhao Zijing from Group C blew her own head off with a psychic arrow, while Zhao Zijing from my team took her psychic arrows and used them against Cliff—only to have Cliff snap two of them."

The question is, if both psychic arrows were ruined, where did Group C's Zhao Zijing get new arrows from?"

There's only one answer: Group C's Zhao Zijing is your future self; Group C and Group B are the same."

The loop of us in the bushes always follows the ABABAB pattern."

Zhao Zijing from my team, Group A, is most likely already dead."

And you from Group B, along with Catherine from Group B, will survive into the next cycle and evolve into the C-form.

In the next cycle, you'll kill Catherine from Group B who tries to warn us, kill the Group A driver, steal the Group A battery, charge the still-corpse-state Silver with it to awaken him, then kill yourself."

Remember? In the AB pattern, Silver always recharges twice and regains his Lv15 power."

He specializes in both Psychic Precognition and Psychic Enchantment, capable of brainwashing superiors below his level."

Even if he himself is reset and cleansed during the loop, the you he brainwashed will still carry out his orders, just like Cliff, controlled by this nail."

Li Cheng spun the 【Slave Master Nail】 in his hand and said calmly, "If I'm not mistaken, even the incident with the Mercury Alloy Guild was a lie."

Silver, once Lv30 and possessing Psychic Precognition, could never have failed to sense the immense danger here and led his team straight into it."

He knew full well that time eddies and time loops existed—but he was willing to risk everything to break the Corpse Net Curse."

I'd even dare say he foresaw that in one year's time in the real world, our team would enter here and use the battery to revive him."

Once he accumulated enough charge, he could rise from death and fully restore his original power."

"What's your proof?" Group B's Zhao Zijing asked grimly. "What evidence do you have?"

"The proof is this."

Li Cheng pulled out a prophetic painting: he stood in the bushes, his feet littered with the severed limbs of Midnight Howl, Mendoza, and others, along with the mission battery.

Before him stood the Crimson Driver and Zhao Zijing, both covered in blood.

Both wore twisted expressions as they jointly drove a metal arrow into Li Cheng's own chest.

"Even in death, I look this handsome in the painting."

Li Cheng said, "At first, when I saw this painting, I thought you'd finally had enough of my jokes and decided to fight back."

Nearby, Grey Rain muttered under her breath, "Found the joke kid. @BringMasterPiFu."

"Now that I see this painting, it wasn't wrong—it just didn't depict the Group A loop version of me, but the Group B loop version."

Li Cheng smiled without changing expression: "When I lured Cliff away, the following sequence must have occurred in the mud pit:

Group A's Zhao Zijing found the Group B members, brought them back to the mud pit, and used the Group B battery to charge Silver, restoring him to Lv15."

Silver erupted, using his Psychic Enchantment to brainwash Zhao Zijing from Groups A and B, Bandage Man from Group A, Catherine from Group A, the Group B driver, and Midnight Howl from Group B."

Perhaps due to insufficient power, Silver failed to control me from Group B and Catherine from Group B."

Catherine fled into the bushes, while I from Group B fought everyone else, killing the Group B driver, Group B's Midnight Howl, and Group A's Zhao Zijing—and possibly severely wounding Silver himself, leaving him immobilized in the mud pit."

That's why Bandage Man's clothes were stained with the Group B driver's blood."

As for Grey Rain from Group B, she was probably sealed inside a Pet Egg, like the Pokémon belonging to the Group A driver, and never reappeared."

Li Cheng paused, then smiled: "And why am I so certain that I from Group B could take on all of them and strike back at Silver?"

Because I'm simply that strong—no matter which loop, I stand out like fireflies in the dark, impossible to hide."

This boastful remark froze the atmosphere.

Group B's Zhao Zijing's expression calmed. "You've said all this—but what can you change?"

The existence of the AB loop proves all this is useless."

Silver isn't like Cliff, who relies purely on close combat. As a Lv15 psychic, he'll always find you, kill you, and restart the loop."

This conversation has been repeated countless times."

"No, no, no—you've misunderstood one thing."

Li Cheng waved his hand. "The bushes themselves have energy-isolating properties. In other words, you right now aren't under Silver's direct remote control—you're merely executing the program of commands he gave you."

Therefore, Silver has never known there's another way to end the loop."

A more direct way."

He gestured, and from thin air pulled out a stone tablet.

【Achilles Toy Factory Key 3】

This stone tablet key is tied to the Achilles phone booths scattered across the killing field—the most mysterious item Li Cheng possesses."

If anything on Li Cheng can withstand the time eddies, it's this."

He gripped the tablet, spun, and hurled it toward the right side of the pipe.

Shhh—

The stone key flew toward the pipe, piercing through the violent torrent of time eddies, its surface crumbling into dust—but the tablet itself remained intact, precisely lodging into the pipe's gap.

The golden energy flow stalled, shrinking from a roaring river to a dripping faucet.

Now."

At Li Cheng's cry of "Merge," Grey Rain, who trusted him absolutely, surged forward and transformed into armor.

Like travelers through a sandstorm, they passed through the thinning time eddies, gripping the valve on the right side of the pipe with both hands.

Only then did Li Cheng see clearly: the valve itself required 500 rotations; it had already turned 490 times, leaving only ten more.

Each rotation meant the sacrifice of two Li Chens."

【Will this one succeed?】

Yes."

Li Cheng strained to turn the valve; as he and Grey Rain were washed by the omnipresent time eddies, they rapidly aged and disintegrated into ash.

Every cycle began, Li Cheng noticed and wondered about the ash carrying the insect god's corruption.

The still-young Zhao Zijing of Group B tried to step forward, but was seared by the chaotic currents and aged into the appearance of Group A's Zhao Zijing.

The valve creaked and slowly rotated.

Ten. Nine. Eight.

Hair fell out, teeth dropped away.

Seven. Six. Five.

Bones snapped, spine bent.

Four. Three. Two.

Eyes went blind, both legs turned to ash.

The final turn.

Click!

The right-side valve was completely shut off; the time-chaos currents leaking around first stalled, then violently expanded.

A golden energy stream swept across the entire patch of grass, passing over bismuth-yellow, passing over Cliff, passing over mithril, reaching the roadside at the grass's far end.

Then it abruptly rebounded, shrinking back into the gap.

Like the universe—first exploding outward, then contracting back, returning to the origin point.

All sounds fell silent.

As if a second had passed, and as if countless years had passed, Li Cheng slowly opened his eyes. He and Ash Rain stood unharmed on the empty ground; the pipe beside them had stopped leaking.

The Maze Lock—broken.

(End of this chapter)