Chapter 656: Price

This membrane is formless and colorless, standing between future and past; he is the embodiment of physical law, it is.... the place Zhang Jie can never reach.

Zhang Jie has already fallen from chief, returned to elite guard, but this membrane has never been torn open; it remains tough.

"Get... out of my way!"

A punch striking the membrane feels like hitting cotton; there is no feedback, the force vanishes into thin air, not even a reaction force.

As Zhang Jie felt utterly helpless, he seemed to see an illusory silhouette of someone beside him.

He stared at Zhang Jie, seeming to frantically pull his hair, but only for a moment before he vanished.

"Wait..."

Inspiration suddenly struck Zhang Jie's mind again; he truly was having his brain washed away by grief, the greatest difference between humans and animals is the use of tools.

He unleashed his strongest strike upon the barrier; the living shotgun, after years of growth, is no longer the shape of an ordinary shotgun, now resembling Ceng Tian's sniper rifle.

But even such a shot left the barrier unscathed.

"No way..."

In the end, only... the Ordinary Blade remained.

This was the first gift Zhang Yan saved money to give Zhang Jie; because of its usefulness and its commemorative significance, Zhang Jie could never bring himself to discard it.

And will this one work?

"Screech!!!"

A sharp tearing sound rang out; that impenetrable membrane was now sliced like a rag, and Zhang Jie froze in place.

"It really cut open!"

Ordinary Blade, an anomalous item, with the characteristic of cutting anything; originally the lowest-grade anomalous item, yet now it effortlessly sliced the membrane of past and future.

He... can now shift to the past!

Zhang Jie exclaimed in delight, reaching his hand forward, when an indescribable sensation surged—an indescribable pain.

It felt as if his body were constantly being erased.

"I can endure it."

Zhang Jie gritted his teeth, instantly activating Light Cone Vision; the world, from this moment, began to flow backward again!!!

"Done!"

Zhang Jie exerted all his strength to shift to the past; the world seemed as if a rewind button had been pressed, and he saw himself, he saw Qi Yu, and saw... the group that ruthlessly attacked her.

"They're not from the Abnormal Bureau?"

They retreated backward through a rift, a spacetime crack similar to Zhang Jie's.

The rewind continued; the bullet that had pierced Qi Yu's chest, carrying flesh and blood, rewound from her back into the gun's chamber; Zhang Jie couldn't make out who had fired, who exactly it was.

But Zhang Jie felt those silhouettes were especially familiar.

"Continue!"

Qi Yu appeared alive once more; at this moment, her cheeks were flushed, unaware of what interesting thing she was looking at.

"Qi Yu..."

Finally, time arrived at the moment when that group of mysterious people came here; Zhang Jie stopped, his body already utterly weak.

Could he, in this state, save Qi Yu from their hands?

Zhang Jie took a deep breath; don't ask if you can, just act!

Only by doing will you know if you can!

One step forward! In an instant, time resumed flowing!

But Zhang Jie was shocked to discover something!

He did not go out as expected; instead, he remained in the 'past'.

'What the hell!'

Just as he tried to shift again, he discovered an even more shocking fact: another version of him appeared before those people!!!

He stepped in for Zhang Jie, blocking those people!

A sudden panic spread through his body; he wanted to go back! Who is this person!

But despairingly, he cannot return, no matter what method he tries, he is unable to go back.

"....."

"Is this... the price?"

Zhang Jie watched the display as he stood before Qi Yu; he possessed chief-level strength, and the mysterious people, upon seeing him, froze in place for a moment.

His face was grave, yet strangely, they did not attack Zhang Jie; instead, they exchanged a glance and all left.

What's going on?

Zhang Jie didn't understand, but he seemed to faintly guess something; that other him over there is likely himself.

Because, just as he was shifting to the past, he could see in that rewound world that he too existed there.

So the question arises: if there is only one person, who is shifting to the past?

It is himself; the one outside is also himself.

Spacetime split him into two, two identical copies.

Have you ever seen a sci-fi work? The protagonist, to escape a desperate place, endured countless hardships, one of which was uploading and transferring consciousness from various servers.

Eventually, he finally connected to the mother planet's server, eagerly uploaded his consciousness, but upon opening his eyes again, he found he was still in the same place.

The consciousness upload succeeded, yet also failed; his consciousness indeed returned to the mother star, but it was a copy.

In other words, along this path, countless versions of him, in the same manner, remained on the other side of the servers.

Zhang Jie is now in this state; the real him clearly knows what to do.

"Then what... what should I do?"

Zhang Jie desperately looked around, but that glance made countless brilliant light streaks flash in his eyes.

"That's....!"

Those are countless possibilities.

"They just left like that?"

Zhang Jie frowned, puzzled, while Qi Yu shrank fearful behind him; those people's power was too strong!

She didn't smell any pheromones!

"Don't be afraid, it's safe, it's safe."

Zhang Jie turned, wearily patted Qi Yu's head.

The cost of jumping to the past was too terrifying, causing his strength to drop even to the level of a Senior Investigator.

"Master!"

"How! How did you become this weak!"

Zhang Jie forced a smile, said nothing, yet grabbed Qi Yu in a hug.

She blushed deeply, her hand hanging in the air for a while, not knowing where to put it.

"Master... you!"

"It's fine."

Zhang Jie let him go, took a deep breath; what comes next will be troublesome.

You should know, when Qi Yu was attacked, he was actually there confronting the Abnormal Bureau.

Although time has reversed now, his realm has dropped, so speaking like this would lack confidence.

"What should we do about this..."

Zhang Jie worried, and at that moment, an anomaly appeared again.

His strength began to recover at an extremely fast speed!