Chapter 200: Shatter the Rank Barrier!

Crack.

Wu Chang stared at the drunk on the lamppost as he executed a tucked triple-and-a-half backward somersault through the air and slammed headfirst into the ground dead in front of him, and a string of question marks instantly popped up over his head.

So this is a regular routine for you two brothers, is it?

Just like last night, the drunk on the ground gave a score of 10 while lavishing wild praise on Xiaoliang on the ground.

Wu Chang shook his head after watching; this kind of stunt still packed some punch the first time, but the second viewing lost a lot of its flavor.

Just as he turned to leave, the drunk's voice rose behind him.

"Hey, outsider, welcome to Shelter 88, have a good time!"

Wu Chang turned around in confusion, pointed at his own face, and said, "We just met yesterday."

The drunk didn't answer, just waved his hand and said, "Don't try to get chummy with me. Your Brother Hu danced all night at the bar yesterday—don't think you can pull a fast one on me just because I'm drunk."

After the drunk finished speaking, his gaze gradually went blank; he leaned against the lamppost and sat on the ground, and snores quickly came from his mouth.

Wu Chang's brow furrowed; he felt things seemed to be developing in an unexpected direction.

He continued forward along the main road. Before long, just as he was about to cross an intersection, a blue off-road vehicle suddenly blared its horn, startling the muscular man inside the sports car ahead; his hand jerked, and the ice cream scoop he was holding dropped onto his crotch.

The muscular man couldn't swallow his anger, so he got out of the car on the spot and squared up against the fat man from the car behind, trading blows.

As expected, the muscular man ended up on the ground. The fat man wiped the nosebleed from his face with the back of his hand, then grabbed the half-melted ice cream scoop from the muscular man's pants and popped it into his mouth, letting out a satisfied little hum.

Watching the scene before him, brimming with déjà vu, Wu Chang sucked in a sharp breath.

Could it be that the entire underground shelter's time has undergone a rewind?

He had originally planned to head straight to the bus stop and go straight to He Yun's home to check things out, but the scene unfolding before him made him change his mind and enter the Broken Bottle Bar first.

Just as he expected, on the bar's ring, the Mediterranean boxer and Scalpel each occupied a corner, warming up.

Sure enough, the entire Shelter 88 had undergone a time rewind.

If the underground shelter's residents might still be repeating certain set times to play their roles, as He Yun had said, the appearance of Scalpel conclusively confirmed that the entire underground shelter had undergone a time rewind.

Why is it that when ordinary underground shelter residents die, only they themselves rewind, but when He Yun dies, the entire shelter rewinds along with her?

Could this be the reason Scalpel and the helmeted man wanted to assassinate her?

Tch, that woman definitely didn't tell him the truth before. The abnormality on her absolutely cannot be brushed off with some flimsy excuse about being the survey team's sole survivor.

She must know far more about everything happening in the underground shelter, and her involvement runs far deeper.

This discovery made Wu Chang grow even more excited.

He had already wanted to fight for this Pillar of the Present World, and now that he'd also gotten an early connection to the Pillar's core, he was even more determined to have it.

Helmeted man, right? Rank barrier, right? Just you wait.

Last time he didn't take you down not because numerical stats are useless in the face of Rank, but only because their last encounter was too hasty, leaving him no time to stack his Power stat.

If the Rank barrier can withstand 100 points in all attributes, then I'll give you 100 points in all attributes!

This time, he's going to make a name for himself as the mysterious newcomer, so this bunch of Abyss Layer Two players won't keep thinking he's made of clay, someone anyone can stomp on whenever they feel like it.

Just like yesterday, Wu Chang plopped down on an empty stool at the bar and ordered a glass of hot milk.

The same scene played out again; he earned the bartender's mockery, along with the provocation from the green mohawk after he came back from the bathroom.

Wu Chang took down the green mohawk in a few moves. Unlike yesterday, after directing the bartender to serve him a glass of hot milk, he dragged the mohawk out of the bar and into the alley.

The green mohawk, known as Viper, was indeed one of the top fighters in the mech-boxing ring. By now he had come to from his daze; lying on the ground, he turned his head, glared hard at Wu Chang, and said:

"Outsider, I've memorized your face. You think you can fight? In a bit I'll call over a few dozen of my brothers, and we'll see just how well you can fight!"

Wu Chang crouched down, looked down at Viper before him, and asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

Viper, taking advantage of the fact that Wu Chang was a newcomer and didn't know the internal rules, let out a cold snort.

"There are no people in Shelter 88 who are afraid of death. If you've got the guts, kill your Grandpa Viper right now—better do it thoroughly, or I'll definitely come back as a ghost to haunt you!"

Wu Chang sighed. Kill him thoroughly—this was the first time he'd ever heard such an outrageous request.

"Then have a safe trip."

Bang!

Wu Chang slammed his fist down, and Viper's head burst open on the spot like a watermelon dropped from the tenth floor.

Taking out Viper was certainly not for venting anger.

Wu Chang's eyes went wide as he fully activated his Law-Breaking Eyes, while simultaneously mobilizing the divinity within him activated by the Authority, attempting to see clearly the reason the locals of Shelter 88 revived.

With the participation of divinity, he indeed spotted the clue.

After Viper died, the vitality representing life within him did not dissipate; an extremely hard-to-detect Calamity Mist kept his vitality within his body while simultaneously powering it, repairing Viper's form.

This might be the reason the shelter's locals revive. If he drew out the vitality from Viper's body, would it kill him for good?

"I didn't want to in the first place, but since you insist so strongly, I can only oblige."

Having said that, Wu Chang reached his hand through the Calamity Mist, physically pulled Viper's vitality out, and swallowed it into his belly.

Viper's vitality provided him with 45 points of Power, bringing his Power stat to 193.

As the price, his Will dropped by one point.

After absorbing Viper's vitality, he observed Viper carefully. Viper's body shrank rapidly like a doll with a hole in it, and in the blink of an eye was only half its original size.

Just as Wu Chang thought that extracting the vitality could break Shelter 88's time loop and kill the locals for good, Viper stopped shrinking; his body began to glow, and a massive surge of Calamity Mist poured in to make up for the vitality he had lost.

When the light faded, the green mohawk was gone from the alley, and inside the studded jacket only a newly born infant remained.

The rule that the underground shelter's locals cannot die ultimately triumphed over the rule that losing vitality means death; the Calamity Mist maintained the minimum threshold for Viper's immortality, letting him live on as an infant.

Through his actions against Viper, Wu Chang drew two conclusions.

First, the existence of the Calamity Mist is not only, as He Yun said, something that brings disaster and summons monsters; it is also the foundation that maintains the underground shelter's time cage.

Second, the underground shelter's locals really are super tanky; with the Calamity Mist backing them up, even when their vitality as living beings is completely lost, they can still come back to life.

This further highlights that the helmeted man, who can kill the locals, definitely came prepared.

Wu Chang returned to the bar. The sensible bartender had already prepared the hot milk, and Scalpel on the ring had also defeated the Mediterranean with the codename "Oil Barrel" and was ready to continue challenging.

"Our outsider — Scalpel, has defeated Oil Barrel with a score of 15-5, and once again claimed tonight's victory!"

"Now, Scalpel's record has reached a terrifying 9-0! Could the Broken Bottle ring be conquered tonight by a stranger from outside? Let me see — who else can stop him?"

The host, just like last night, began searching for an opponent for Scalpel.

The bartender sighed. Just as he was about to deliver his line, Wu Chang raised a hand and cut him off, saying: "Tell the host, I want up."

The bartender hesitated. "That's not appropriate. The guy is 9-0 after all — he fought all night to earn his current standing. I know you're strong, but challenging him directly breaks the rules."

"Indeed, following the rules is very important." Wu Chang nodded, then, starting from the bartender, pointed in turn with his finger at the several customers gathered around the bar.

Like venomous snakes, they were all wearing boxing mechs — clearly all fighters.

Wu Chang looked at the bartender and said: "If I take all of you out, that satisfies the 9-0, and the rules aren't broken. Let's start with you."

Wu Chang's words proved his respect for and commitment to the rules, earning the approval of the bartender and the customers at the bar. The rule-abiding bartender immediately raised his hand and shouted:

"Wait! This gentleman here wants to challenge Scalpel! He just took out Venomous Snake — his strength is absolutely up to it, we can all testify!"

The fighters around the bar nodded in unison, singing Wu Chang's praises without end.

The original purpose of hosting mech boxing matches was simply to have some fun. As long as it's exciting enough and the match is good to watch, nobody cares about any rules.

Besides, letting Wu Chang join is completely different from inviting He Yun to step in.

He Yun is steady, but his appearance fee is very high. Wu Chang is different — if he loses, there's no cost; if he wins, because his record is so poor, he'll only get the lowest tier of prize money, saving the bar a large sum.

Win or lose, the bar doesn't lose out.

A guaranteed-profit deal — how could the host possibly refuse? He immediately allowed Wu Chang's challenge. But since it was an exception, before going up, the host worried Wu Chang's skill was too poor and that an ugly loss would draw boos from the crowd, so he considerately asked:

"Mr. Peace, our ring provides standard-issue boxing mechs for fighters. Would you like one?"

"No need." Wu Chang refused immediately. He looked at Scalpel and said with full confidence: "He doesn't need one, and neither do I."

That line drew a sidelong glance from Scalpel — and ignited the entire ring.

"Alright, if you insist."

The host stopped pressing the issue, opened the iron cage outside the ring, and let Wu Chang in.

Scalpel saw through Wu Chang's player identity at a glance, and Wu Chang taking out Venomous Snake at the bar earlier had also been seen by Scalpel clearly.

Scalpel said in a matter-of-fact tone:

"You shouldn't have come up. Judging by combat performance, you might think the gap between us isn't large, but in reality the gap between us is like a chasm. Before the gulf of rank, you don't have the slightest chance of winning."

It wasn't that Scalpel was being kind, looking out for a fellow player and worried about hurting Wu Chang — he was afraid Wu Chang had some special skill that would force out his real hand.

If too much was revealed, and that local named He Yun refused to fight, what then?

Wu Chang paid no heed to Scalpel's words and said arrogantly: "Seeing is believing. What's the use of bragging your way to number one?"

After both sides had finished trading threats, the host began telling Duan Zi to warm up the crowd, while Wu Chang and Scalpel each took a corner of the ring and started warming up.

!

"As you can all see, both fighters have chosen to forgo mechs and go in barehanded!"

"Next, here at the Broken Bottle Bar, two powerful outsiders will deliver a rare match for all you viewers. I believe this will be an absolutely spectacular clash of titans!"

Where there's ring combat, naturally there are people setting up bets.

Not far from the ring, the bar had set up betting robots for spectators to place wagers.

Wu Chang had the bartender's full backing; Scalpel had a genuine nine-win streak. On paper, each side had their own merits.

On the odds publicly posted by the betting robot, Wu Chang had odds of 1:5, with 10 bettors against 115, trailing Scalpel by a small margin.

Thinking that ten people still dared to bet on him, Wu Chang couldn't help but sigh inwardly, secretly remarking that these were the real gamblers.

How about throwing the match and losing one round, letting those ten brothers pay for a lesson and helping them quit their addiction from now on?

Just as Wu Chang was considering whether to do a good deed without leaving his name, he saw He Yun in the corner had also bet on him to win.

If he lost this, he probably wouldn't be able to get through the door tonight.

Wu Chang kept his gaze calm, looking at Scalpel with an expressionless face.

The referee on the ring asked Wu Chang: "Fighter Peace, are you ready?"

Wu Chang's cheeks were puffed out. He shook his head without speaking.

The referee asked Scalpel, saying the waiting period had passed and whether to forcibly start the match.

Scalpel also refused, saying to wait until Wu Chang was ready before starting. After speaking, he closed his eyes to rest, preparing to gather strength for one decisive strike.

Wu Chang glanced at Scalpel. He really wanted to ask the guy one thing — I'm waiting for the poison gas to take effect, what are you waiting for?

Yes, although he was putting on the air of a master, arrogantly spouting all kinds of threats,

the instant he stepped into the ring, he had switched into the Abyss-Bottom Giant Serpent transformation and begun releasing poison gas.

"Bloodline Talent: Deep-Sea Aberrant — Abyss-Bottom Giant Serpent"

"Transformation Description: Omitted."

"Talent Skill: Deep Water Bite"

"Skill Description: In the Deep-Sea Aberrant state, your Energy attribute increases by 70%; you can convert energy into a special toxin — Deep Water Bite. Targets hit by Deep Water Bite gain a Poisoned status, unknowingly lowering their own maximum attribute cap, and taking continuous toxic damage. The damage value and duration are affected by the user's Energy and Inspiration attributes respectively."

"Deep Water Bite: Legend has it that a demigod once dove in the deep sea and unfortunately strayed into the Abyss-Bottom Giant Serpent's territory. By the time it noticed, the poison had already seeped into its marrow, and escape was impossible. The suppression of divinity means that demigods and below cannot gain immunity to Deep Water Bite's toxin."

"Talent Skill: Abyss Bottom"

"Skill Description: Release energy to convert the surrounding air or water domain into Deep Water Bite, constructing your own domain — Abyss Bottom. Any prey that strays into the Abyss Bottom will, without realizing it, become the Abyss-Bottom Giant Serpent's food."

"Talent Skill: Amphibious Dual-Life"

"Skill Description: Every ten years, the Abyss-Bottom Giant Serpent periodically climbs onto land, basking in sunlight to shed its skin. This grants the Abyss-Bottom Giant Serpent powerful adaptability. The user gains partial transformation abilities, able to use parts of the Abyss-Bottom Giant Serpent's abilities in any environment at any time."

After using the Evil Remnant Body to activate the bloodline, Wu Chang's Sea Serpent transformation awakened into the Abyss-Bottom Giant Serpent.

The leap from Sea Serpent transformation to Abyss-Bottom Giant Serpent — the magnitude of improvement was no less than that from Giant Whale transformation to Sea Giant, and in terms of threat level, the Deep Water Bite that could harm demigods appeared more threatening than pure Strength attributes.

At this moment, Wu Chang was using his talent skill to turn the entire ring into his domain — his Abyss Bottom.

In his eyes, deep blue mist had already blanketed the ring, while Scalpel was completely unaware, continuously breathing the poison fog in.

The toxic mist inhaled into his body was lowering all his attributes, making him feel his physical state hadn't been adjusted to its best, and he didn't dare to rashly begin the fight.

But Scalpel didn't know this was like boiling a frog in sulfuric acid—before he noticed the water temperature rising, he would already have dissolved into slag.

Everything was going smoothly; the only flaw was that his True Self couldn't fully adapt to the Abyss-Bottom Giant Python bloodline. Although he could use the Abyss-Bottom Giant Python's power, he couldn't perfectly control the transformation.

For example, he didn't dare to open his mouth to speak right now, or even make a sound, because the moment he opened his mouth, that thick, long snake tongue over half a meter long inside would uncontrollably slip out.

Feeling the timing was about right, Wu Chang switched his transformation back to the Sea Giant. Feeling much more comfortable in his mouth, he spoke to the referee:

"I'm ready."

On the other side, Scalpel, who felt his condition growing increasingly wrong, actually got cold feet at this point. He had just wanted to signal the referee that he still needed a moment to rest, but who knew the referee, seeing the audience below already growing impatient, immediately said:

"Player Scalpel stated earlier that the match could begin once Player Peace was ready. Now Player Peace has signaled he is ready. The match begins now!"

Clang!

Hearing the sound of the match beginning, the audience immediately erupted into enthusiastic cheers.

Scalpel was pinned on the field. He checked his attribute panel multiple times but found no abnormalities. Even taking advantage of the audience's inattention, he used a consumable that cleansed abnormal status, yet his body showed no improvement.

Judging from the results, it seemed to be psychological, but for veteran players, psychological effects were often a manifestation of inspiration conveying information.

Under normal circumstances, he should have ended the match, but conceding now meant he wouldn't encounter He Yun on the arena today, and only on the arena, while the opponent's mecha wasn't equipped with a weapon system, did he have a chance to assassinate successfully.

Off the arena, this credit would have to be given to someone else.

After a brief hesitation, Scalpel decided to fight.

Opportunity knocks but once; the opponent was a player on the first layer of the Abyss, separated by a rank barrier—could he really turn the world upside down?

Wu Chang and Scalpel moved toward each other. As a combat courtesy, both sides should first touch each other's boxing gloves.

But at this moment, the two men, both equally filled with wariness in their hearts, made a common choice.

That was to feign a fist bump while actually launching a sneak attack!

The moment they moved, Scalpel instantly noticed the abnormality in his body. Why was his speed so slow, and why was the opponent's speed so fast?

With his Agility attribute cap drastically deducted and severe loss of bodily control, Scalpel lost his previous swift and precise attacks; his movements were like slow motion.

Wu Chang pressed his body forward, dodging Scalpel's fist while driving an elbow upward from below, striking directly at Scalpel's chin.

"Mamba!"

Facing a player on the second layer of the Abyss who possessed a rank barrier, Wu Chang couldn't afford the slightest carelessness; his strike was a killing move from the outset.

When the Mamba Iron Elbow touched Scalpel's chin, Wu Chang this time concentrated his spirit, using all his inspiration to sense, and detected the layer of rank barrier on Scalpel's body surface.

However, his power base was too large. 193 points of Strength, minus 100 points, still left nearly half the force penetrating the barrier and striking Scalpel's chin.

If at full strength, an elbow strike of 93 points of Strength wouldn't cause much damage to Scalpel.

But after enduring the erosion of the Deep Water Bite for several minutes, let alone taking an elbow strike of 93 points of Strength, even a slap of 39 points of Strength could spin Scalpel around on the spot.

This elbow directly sent Scalpel's feet off the ground, launching him flying into the air.

The massive impact to the jaw, combined with a long string of abnormal statuses attached to the Mamba Iron Elbow, instantly blanked Scalpel's mind, and he gave up resisting.

Wu Chang wouldn't play at any "stopping at the point of contact." He took a deep breath, and the instant Scalpel hit the ground, delivered a smashing fist blow onto the top of Scalpel's head.

This time, it penetrated the dimensional barrier—pain shot straight through the crown of his head!

(End of this chapter)