Chapter 382: Return to Zero

120 seconds...

119 seconds...

117... 116... 115...

Time passed rapidly. Chen Che gritted his teeth and looked toward the palace. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him: "Burton disappeared into the crowd so quickly; he must have hidden inside the palace... The Destruction Device must be in the underground of the palace!"

"Then let's go find it!" Xie Wanning shouted and was about to rush out, but Chen Che pulled her back.

"There's no time. You stay here, I'll go myself!"

Having said that, without waiting for Xie Wanning's response, Chen Che had already rushed into the palace. At the same time, he formed hand seals and activated his Pupil Technique, and the entire structure of the palace came into his view.

"Chen!"

Princess Laila broke free from her mother's embrace, shouted at Chen Che's retreating figure, and chased after him, burning with anxiety.

Xie Wanning took a step forward and dragged her back: "Princess, none of us can help!"

Laila was on the verge of tears and said stubbornly: "Yuri is dead, I don't want Chen to die! Even if I have to die, I want to die with him!"

Xie Wanning was stunned, then smiled: "That's right, if he can't succeed, we will all die together, but if he succeeds, none of us have to die!"

"But he is alone..."

"There are no 'buts'! Princess, I know what you are worried about; he will not die! Chen Che will perfectly resolve this crisis, and he will return to our side safe and sound!"

Xie Wanning said with a firm gaze.

Laila nodded, pressed her palms together, looked in the direction where Chen Che had disappeared, and prayed silently.

Xie Wanning bit her lip hard, suppressing the worry in her heart, and shouted: "Everyone, come to my side!"

A massive Protective Shield spread out with Xie Wanning at its center. Seeing this, even though everyone knew that once the explosion happened, this weak Protective Shield would be useless, the instinct to survive still made them run over and gather together.

100... 99... 98... 97... 96...

Chen Che moved through the palace, climbing as high as possible so that he could see more when looking at the ground.

Finally, he stood on the lightning rod of the palace's arched roof and looked down.

The underground of the palace and the underground of the square were in full view.

"Found you!"

Chen Che quickly locked onto Burton's figure. Moving like a thunderbolt, he jumped off the lightning rod and smashed straight into the ground, arriving in the underground tunnel.

The ceiling collapsed and shattered. Burton was startled; he instinctively dodged, but it aggravated the injury on his leg, causing him to fall to the ground, and a large rock pinned him underneath.

Chen Che didn't bother with Burton at first, but instead stared at the giant "Iron Box" in front of him with a look of astonishment.

Standing before him was a massive device, cast from sturdy metal and emitting a cold luster.

This device was over a person's height, shaped like a giant Iron Box, its surface covered in intricate pipes and gears that intertwined like some kind of ancient and mysterious runes.

Steam occasionally sprayed from the gaps on the device's surface, accompanied by a low rumbling sound. This steam rose slowly into the air, adding a sense of mystery and danger to the device.

On the front of the device was a huge instrument panel covered with various needles and scales, which appeared and disappeared under the shroud of steam, as if telling of the complex and precise mechanical operations inside the device.

In the center of the instrument panel was a large red knob; its presence appeared particularly abrupt, as if it were the key to starting the entire device.

At this moment, the dusty knob had already been turned, and the device was emitting even more violent vibrations. The eruption of steam also became very frequent, gushing out from every corner of the device like an angry giant dragon, shrouding the entire underground space in a haze.

The sound of metal friction, the roar of steam, and the turning of the gears inside the device intertwined, each one tugging at Chen Che's heartbeat.

And those most conspicuous scarlet numbers on the instrument panel were ticking away mercilessly.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

60... 59... 58... 57... 56... 55...

Less than a minute left!

Cold sweat slid down from Chen Che's ear. He used his Pupil Technique to see the internal structure of the device, but he was at a loss, without a single clue.

Chen Che turned to look at Burton, squatted down, grabbed his hair, and forced him to lift his head: "How do I stop this thing? Speak!!!"

Burton's face was covered in blood, and he looked at Chen Che with a ferocious and mocking expression: "Suicide device, there is no way to stop it, you all go die! Die together!"

"Bang!"

Chen Che slammed his hand down, and Burton's face hit the ground, becoming unrecognizable, and he breathed his last.

30... 29... 28... 27... 26... 25...

The sound of the countdown ticking was distracting. Chen Che took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He grabbed the knob and turned it back, but found it was useless. He pushed his Pupil Technique to the maximum, observing every single part inside carefully yet at high speed.

Finally, he discovered the principle of this device.

After the main switch was activated, the fourteen small switches inside also started.

The small switches were fourteen intricately styled gears. They rotated rapidly, and the screws, beams, and other parts connected to them would transmit the "command" to start to every corner through the pipes behind the Iron Box.

This was what could cause the entire city to explode simultaneously.

So.

Chen Che guessed that the main switch was useless now, but if he could block the rotation of the fourteen small switch gears, perhaps he could stop the device's operation.

"Beep... beep..."

10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5...

"No time left, whether it works or not, I have to gamble!" Chen Che quickly took out the Ghost Gate Needle and, in the final three seconds, pierced the iron skin with the Ghost Gate Needle and jammed it into the small switch gears.

The rotation of the gears was successfully restricted; however, there were only thirteen Ghost Gate Needles, and one gear remained that, in the next second, had already completed the transmission of the "command".

3... 2... 1... Beep~~~~

The countdown hit zero, and the device's piercing warning sound before the explosion echoed throughout the entire underground space.

Chen Che was in total despair: "Old man, couldn't you have made one more Ghost Gate Needle?! Now I'm going to come find you..."

BOOM!!!!

The entire world was a sheet of brightness; the scorching white light swallowed everything in an instant.

Rumble, rumble...

The explosion traveled from the bottom up; the people located in front of the palace square all felt that powerful energy, and under a violent shaking, the ground split apart and collapsed.

"Ah!!!"

"Mommy! I don't want to die!"

"It's over, it's over! I'll never be able to go home again!"

The screams of the masses rose and fell, all of them plunged into despair.

However,

After the ground collapsed, it did not cave in any further, and that massive energy was spent in an instant, with no other energy rushing up from the ground.

Xie Wanning was scratched by debris from the ruins; she panted as she looked around, her expression agitated as she said, "It worked! Chen Che succeeded! We survived!"

Princess Laila and the Queen looked at each other, their eyes instantly brimming with hot tears, and they embraced and wept.

The masses looked around with bewildered expressions, and after a while, realizing that they were truly fine, the crowd immediately erupted into sharp, piercing cheers!

"We really survived! That's great!"

"Mom, I can finally see Mom again!"

"I want to go home! I can finally go home!"

The masses were jubilant, weeping with joy, and excitedly hugged one another, sharing the happiness of having survived the disaster.

Yet at this moment, Xie Wanning jumped out of the large pit where the square had collapsed, searching for Chen Che's figure.

Laila also left the side of the Queen, Fatima, and disregarding the sharp rubble tearing her clothes and cutting her hands and feet, she scrambled out of the pit, her large, watery eyes searching for Chen Che's figure in a state of burning anxiety.

However, as time passed minute by minute, no matter how the two searched, they did not discover Chen Che's figure.

He had vanished into thin air, completely gone without a trace.

For a moment, both of their hearts felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

"It can't be... it can't be... you won't die... you won't be hurt... it can't be..."

Xie Wanning muttered to herself, her expression becoming increasingly distraught; she arrived at the ruins of the square and began moving stones, "I will definitely find you... we still have to go back to Xia together... I still have a dress I wanted to wear for you to see... you cannot die... cannot die..."

Laila came to Xie Wanning's side, wanting to ask something, but discovered that she was already streaming with tears.

For a moment, Laila also could not hold back her tears, and she joined in the work of moving stones to find him.