In [Virtual Realm], all illusions were controlled by Oliver. He straightforwardly revealed the old madman’s secrets through theme park announcements so scattered companions could hear.
Finally, Oliver left one message in the broadcast—
“You know where to find me, right?”
Zhan Pingchuan set down Popov from his shoulder, looking at the distant Golden House with understanding.
Worthy of being a good friend—this move was absolutely lethal.
The old madman was trapped in illusion, unable to see the prison’s structure clearly, so he didn’t know how to move spaces anymore.
Popov awakened just then, slowly opening his drowsy eyes. After looking around, he muttered: “Holy shit, so this is what the underworld looks like.”
Different from what he’d imagined—a bit noisy, but acceptable. At least there was ice cream for sale, which he loved.
But Popov soon felt dull pain throughout his body, like wounds had healed but nerve pain remained.
He might not be dead yet, or maybe this was his life flashing before his eyes.
“I’m not really a childish person though. Why isn’t my life review a barbecue restaurant?” With that, he closed his eyes again.
Zhan Pingchuan flicked his head: “Wake up.”
Popov lifted his eyelids and saw Zhan Pingchuan in the black hood.
“Holy shit, Young Master, you? How are you so young and already—”
Zhan Pingchuan covered his mouth: “Not dead. Stop cursing me. You’re not dead either. Hurry up and come with me.”
Popov instantly snapped back, jumping up: “I didn’t die from all that? Holy shit, I’ll have bragging rights when I get back!”
Zhan Pingchuan patted his shoulder, pointing to the distant Golden House: “The main force is there. See it? Go find Fata for some power pills to recover, tell them what happened here. Lance, Lily, and Atiya are on the seventh floor rescuing Utopians. I’m going to find my uncle and Uncle Lucas.”
“Oh!” Popov responded, running energetically toward the Golden House.
Zhan Pingchuan looked at the prison transformed into a theme park, chin in hand: “How should I break through [Virtual Realm]’s influence to accurately find the second floor?”
After pondering, Zhan Pingchuan suddenly had an idea—he could go back to before [Virtual Realm] appeared to see the real scenery!
But [Time Travel] was quite draining on stamina and pheromones…
Though he complained internally, he still activated his fourth-tier ability.
Sure enough, going back one minute, he saw the familiar corridor and familiar prisoners. He memorized the direction, traveled back to the present, and ran toward the second floor.
But surprisingly, using the fourth-tier ability this time didn’t bring the deep exhaustion of the first time.
He discovered his stamina and abilities seemed to be evolving at an incredible speed.
In the Tasman Pirate Nation, he couldn’t even control his third-tier ability properly—who knew where he’d sent that thorn-cutting net.
But when fighting the lava man in prison, thinking of the moon, the space he tore actually led directly to the moon.
And he’d even awakened his fourth-tier ability [Time Travel] on the same day.
Awakening aside, the first use had exhausted him thoroughly. He’d thought fourth-tier abilities needed years of adaptation to master, but unexpectedly, after just a few hours, traveling again wasn’t so taxing.
Was this a normal human advancement speed?
Zhan Pingchuan raised an eyebrow.
Why not? He was just a slightly lucky human.
On the seventh floor, Lance’s trio was consuming pheromones looted from guards while violently breaking down cell doors when [Virtual Realm] appeared out of nowhere.
Atiya had never seen a theme park—to her, it was a luxury beyond imagination.
She stared at the Cabbage Maid wiggling her bottom in front of her and murmured: “It’s over, I’m hallucinating from drinking too much.”
Lance explained: “This isn’t a hallucination. This is Oliver’s ability—you’re in an illusion he created.”
After hearing Oliver’s broadcast message, Lance smiled knowingly.
Having a quick-thinking, high-level teammate was truly effortless.
Atiya blushed instantly as the graceful Cabbage Maid took her finger, feeling extremely shy.
She let the illusion’s characters lead her in dance—this dreamlike paradise brought her unprecedented sweetness.
Lance snapped his fingers by her ear: “Wake up. Time to rescue people.”
Only then did Atiya come to her senses, nodding dizzily.
Suddenly, she remembered something.
“Ah, I think I saw that main body he mentioned!”
Lance was quite surprised.
Atiya: “When I first came in, I couldn’t tell directions and kept running around randomly. Then I broke into a very narrow, dark corridor on the bottom level. I ran to the end only to find just a green-bronze door that didn’t lead anywhere. Later two guards came with keys to open the door. I saw a terrifying old man inside, sitting in a chair with a tube in his stomach, constantly receiving nutrient fluid. I remember now! They really did call him old madman, and he kept shouting about becoming a high official!”
This was truly an unexpected delight. Lance’s eyes lit up instantly.
Finding the old madman meant finding the truth about the rebellion suppression—the root of all tragedies, the starting point of all conspiracies. Even his own origins were related to that war.
Dark Adrian wasn’t affected by [Virtual Realm] at all. Though he didn’t understand why guards along the way were spinning around like headless flies, he didn’t care.
He had only one destination—where Asmodeus had beaten him to death.
Thinking of that splashing blood and bone-deep pain, every cell in his body became excited. He couldn’t wait to return that pain to Asmodeus a hundredfold, a thousandfold.
It had been too long since he’d had a chance to vent freely—he’d been suppressed too long, suffered too much.
A smile gradually appeared on Adrian’s face, his gray-blue eyes revealing ultimate obsession and madness.
Walking quickly, he snatched a long rod from a bewildered guard’s hands, weighing it in his palm, satisfied with its bone-crushing weight.
Then he directly threw off his heavy coat, ripped off his face-covering hood, tore open buttons fastened to the top, and with long strides, stepped on the damp stairs and climbed to the second floor.
He didn’t care about exposing his face at all. He hated being the flawless good guy. He wanted to fully enjoy this unrestrained playground, to enjoy his dominance as a fourth-tier S-level.
Underground Level 2.
Asmodeus was interrupted by the sudden illusion, his knuckle duster failing to pierce Mad Clown’s gland.
He looked around warily. Suddenly, a child ran past him laughing, holding a little lion-shaped helium balloon.
Asmodeus immediately raised his hand, brandishing his joint blade, but after a moment, he slowly lowered it.
The child seemed unaware of his presence, instead tiptoeing to buy something at a popcorn machine by the roadside.
What was going on?
Had he been transferred elsewhere and was no longer in the prison?
No, he clearly saw Mad Clown take this opportunity to nimbly get up from the ground and run wildly into the crowd.
This must be some kind of ability, deceiving his eyes!
Asmodeus’s face darkened. He lowered his knuckle duster and quickly chased after Mad Clown. However, the constantly moving crowd obstructed him, and the complex amusement facilities interfered with his vision. For a while, he actually couldn’t catch Mad Clown.
Soon, he heard a gentle, calm voice on the broadcast completely revealing the old madman’s secrets they’d been hiding.
But where exactly was the place the broadcast claimed you could find the speaker?
Seeing Asmodeus’s moment of confusion, hope rekindled in Lucas’s heart. He smelled the olive fragrance, knowing Oliver had used his ability.
Without hesitation, Lucas rushed toward the nearest corridor. This time, without the old madman’s influence, he quickly saw the stairs leading down.
Finally, he could find his family!
Lucas was almost moved to tears. He jumped down the stairs and ran desperately toward the lower levels. To evade Asmodeus’s pursuit, he even showed off some serpentine footwork.
Fortunately, Asmodeus was affected by [Virtual Realm], his reactions always a beat slower.
Almost there, almost!
“Oliver! Fata! Abaddon! The Zhou siblings! Little loli! Where are you?” Lucas shouted loudly.
Asmodeus’s anger surged from his core. He wished he could immediately skin and flay every member of Black Lantern Society.
With Black Lantern Society being so blatant, were Lord Benbu and Director Si just watching helplessly?
He also recalled that when Mad Clown provoked Si Hongche, Si Hongche had only dislocated Mad Clown’s arms.
Who exactly said Si Hongche was so imposing and ruthless?
If Si Hongche had severed Mad Clown’s tendons back then, he wouldn’t need to waste this effort now.
Sure enough, outside officials were just figureheads. Dealing with these vicious traitors required his methods!
“Where do you think you can run? You think without the old madman’s help, I can’t catch you?” Asmodeus ground his molars, a metallic taste rising from his gums.
He pursued Lucas relentlessly from behind, eventually simply using his joint blade to cut the throats of obstructing tourists on both sides. Sure enough, before long, the obstacles between him and Mad Clown lessened.
He leaped up—only one meter left, and he could grab Mad Clown’s collar!
Lucas was terrified, leading Asmodeus in circles through the corridor. He could feel Asmodeus’s fingers already touching his prison clothes. One misstep and it would be completely over.
In the tense situation, a clear cold laugh rang out among the crowd, leather shoes striking the cement floor with a grating sound.
Adrian wore a pure black suit, his shirt collar open, buttons missing who knows where.
His left hand rested in his pocket, his right shoulder carrying a police rare lead ore baton. His trained arm muscles slightly lifted his sleeves, leaving unavoidable creases at the elbow.
He walked through the chaotic crowd as if entering an empty space, gloomily approaching Asmodeus.
“How did you end up here? I’ve been looking for you for quite a while.”
“Adrian, it was you just now!” Asmodeus’s pupils trembled wildly, extremely excited.
He recognized this face—the expelled eldest son of the Howard family, the personnel director of Ghost Eye Guild.
He’d finally caught Black Lantern Society’s secret. The Howard family was going to be wiped out by the Federation!
Dark Adrian looked up and sighed, his shadowy heart briefly satisfied. He really enjoyed being recognized by his killer.
“Being counter-killed by the person you killed—isn’t that the most wonderful experience in the world?”
Lucas was about to say “Brother” but swallowed it back.
He was mistaken—this dark bastard definitely wasn’t his brother!
##
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152