Chapter 166: Arrangements and Defiance

Chapter 166: Arrangements and Defiance

This world was strange from the moment Lu Ke was born. There was something off, something that didn’t quite fit. He found it hard to describe, but if he had to, it was like a seemingly perfect apple that was rotten inside.

At first, he thought it was because he was a time traveler in a future world nearly a century ahead, and he was in a foreign country. But everything changed when he suddenly appeared in a strange base at the age of three, and the true nature of the world was revealed to him.

He remembered that day clearly.

A madman blew a golden horn, looking at him with confusion, as if surprised that a child had appeared.

But soon, the man knelt before him, his head touching the ground, and spoke respectfully.

"Divine Messenger, you must be the harbinger sent by the Horn of the Apocalypse."

Alarms blared outside, and the blinding red lights illuminated everything. Four or five fully armed individuals rushed in.

"Are they intruders? No, they must be high-level personnel with access, like managers!"

"It's Manager Wang. Damn, he’s been corrupted by the 'Ultimate Engraving'!"

"I knew foreigners couldn’t be trusted. We need to tighten their promotion policies!"

They moved with superhuman speed, quickly restraining the man. Then, their eyes fell on Lu Ke.

"How did this child get here?"

"It seems he was summoned by the Horn of the Apocalypse..."

Everyone quickly stepped back. The lead middle-aged man, with messy hair and a cloudy right eye, spoke with a grave expression. "Use the sealing artifact to imprison him immediately, with the highest level of security!"

"Designation: Derivative Three!"

...

"The Horn of the Apocalypse doesn’t seem to consider the time parameter. I was summoned because I wanted to destroy the world, and being imprisoned made me want to destroy the world even more."

"Hmm... So it’s a cycle, then?"

The feeling of being watched disappeared, and Lu Ke slowly closed his book. The title, illuminated by the light, was an old, worn book—The Count of Monte Cristo.

"It doesn’t matter. Edmond Dantes would forgive, but I won’t."

On the monitor, everything appeared normal, but in reality, Lu Ke had already risen from his seat. He walked to the door, placing his hand on it.

Before, when he was powerless, he found this world strange. Now, after a night’s sleep and gaining access to the shared powers of the mysterious space, he still found it strange.

The depth of information about each sealed artifact was outrageous. In his perception, some entities were so powerful that even with the combined forces of other worlds' Lu Ke, they still made him feel uneasy.

Take the 1408 doorplate, a Level 3 sealed artifact. One of its derivatives contained attributes of time, space, replication, and cycles, achieving infinite loops and temporal dislocations. Theoretically, it could replicate an infinite number of derivatives.

"Truly outrageous."

The door was silently corroded, but what appeared before him was another clean hotel suite, with a new, intact door.

His invisible domain expanded, and the door offered no resistance. However, the part of the domain that extended beyond the hotel suite entered another identical hotel suite.

He used spatial techniques and secret portals, anchoring them to the outside world, but every environment on the other side was a hotel.

"Brute force won’t work."

Lu Ke was not discouraged; he had anticipated this. Green light flowed from his fingertips.

Among all his abilities, two were related to time: one was the Sharingan’s Mangekyo techniques "Amaterasu" and "Tsukuyomi" from the Naruto world, and the other was time magic from the Marvel world’s Kamar-Taj.

In Loki’s time loop, he had maximized his proficiency in magic. Without the Eye of Agamotto, time magic couldn’t be used on a large scale, but it was effective for personal use and small areas.

Time reversed, and the corroded door miraculously returned to its original state.

The Future Fund monitored sealed artifacts, and he knew that a Level 1 sealed artifact called "Crisis Management" would alert if a sealed artifact tried to escape. A Level 0 artifact called the "Tree of Wisdom" could answer any question, though the cost was significant.

Escaping wasn’t impossible. If he analyzed the 1408 doorplate thoroughly, he could understand its spatial dislocation principles and use his spatial mastery to escape.

But it would take too long.

Just completing this step would require three months.

Lu Ke didn’t want to wait a moment longer, so he chose a backup plan.

He looked up, and his eyes revealed countless intertwined, dense threads. One node, at the center of all the threads, was particularly prominent.

"This name... he’s the son of that person."

He was about to adjust the threads when they started moving on their own.

"This is..."

...

Wang Lang felt that everything had been going wrong lately.

After graduating from university, he found a job in graphic design. The pay was low, and he had to work overtime every day. He returned home exhausted, feeling like he was about to fall apart.

There was no way around it; if he didn’t do the work, someone else would. Everyone was working the dreaded 996 schedule, and as a new employee, he dared not refuse overtime.

His father had been working away from home for nearly two decades, and sometimes he wondered if the man had died somewhere out there. His mother’s health had also taken a turn for the worse, diagnosed with liver cancer.

His relationship with his girlfriend had entered a stage of fatigue, with her often criticizing him for not being ambitious or capable enough. Recently, she had even refused to share the bed with him.

He was running on empty, juggling work, family, and love, feeling like a dog by the end of each day.

Today marked the third anniversary of his relationship with his girlfriend. He had tried to put on a sad face and flatter his bald, pot-bellied boss for a day off, but the boss only gave him a dismissive look.

That look must have meant he was approved.

He sighed in relief, planning to surprise his girlfriend. However, just as he bought some flowers, the hospital gave him a shock.

Rushing to the hospital, Wang Lang sprinted to the familiar ward, drenched in sweat and out of breath. Seeing that his mother wasn’t in her bed, he anxiously grabbed a nurse and asked, “Where’s Mrs. Qin Fang from bed 302?”

The nurse, who had seen many such situations, showed a bit of sympathy as she informed him, “Her condition suddenly worsened. I’m very sorry.”

Noticing Wang Lang’s dazed and helpless look, the nurse tried to comfort him, “Liver cancer is a painful disease. Try to stay strong.”

Wang Lang went through the formalities in a daze and returned to the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, feeling a sense of unreality.

Before he even entered, he heard a familiar sound.

Wang Lang felt his heart constrict. He silently took out his keys and walked in, only to see his best friend lying on his bed, chatting with his girlfriend. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t notice him.

He silently walked into the kitchen, his eyes fixed on the objects on the cutting board.

“I must be dreaming.”

He repeated it over and over, trying to convince himself. Just then, his phone vibrated with a call from his boss.

Before Wang Lang could say anything, the boss said, “You don’t need to come in tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Did I give you a vacation?”

“My mom just passed away. Do you have any decency?”

The call ended abruptly.

Wang Lang put down his phone and picked up the kitchen knife.

He had never had an easy life. Without a father, he was bullied in school, which made him timid and prone to avoidance. He was obedient and honest, like a child who never grew up.

But at that moment, his anger had overwhelmed his reason.

He couldn’t remember what happened next, only that everything was a blur of red, with muffled screams and his girlfriend’s shrieks filling the air. Soon, even the shrieks stopped.

Afterward, he calmly took a shower, calmly picked up his fallen phone, and calmly called the police.

“Hello, is this the police?”

“Yes, how can I assist you?”

“I want to turn myself in.”

He briefly explained what had happened, then waited for the police to arrive. Following their instructions, he left the apartment and saw the police cars and officers who were cautiously signaling him to raise his hands.

Just then, a large, out-of-control dump truck sped toward him, moving fast and looking ominous.

The sky suddenly brightened.

Wang Lang saw the police officers retreat in terror. He looked up and saw a massive, burning meteorite falling from the sky.

Boom.

The ground shook violently, like a magnitude 15 earthquake. The impact threw everything around, and the edge of the meteorite hit the dump truck, which was about to collide with him. The meteorite’s immense mass and weight obliterated the truck and its driver.

Wang Lang felt his body fly through the air and crash to the ground. He coughed up blood and looked around, seeing the area engulfed in dust and flames, disoriented and confused.

Not far away, a beautiful blonde woman approached, extending her hand.

“Finally, I’ve found you, Wang Lang!”

Wang Lang looked at her in a daze. “Who are you?”

“I’m Kelly, the head of FutureTech Security.”

...

In a remote village in Florida, a white tower stood out prominently.

On the thirteenth floor of the white tower, four masked men gathered around a typewriter.

The typewriter read:

“Just then, a large, out-of-control dump truck sped toward him, moving fast and looking ominous.

Wang Lang looked at the rapidly approaching... (crossed out)



The sky suddenly brightened.

Wang Lang saw the police officers retreat in terror. He looked up and saw a massive, burning meteorite falling from the sky.”

“Brothers, someone’s messing with our story!”

“Damn it, which third-rate writer threw in a meteorite?!”

“Yeah, dropping a meteorite in a busy city, that’s just insane. The dump truck was classic!”

Daily annoyance with the review system.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end