Chapter 216: Smart Home System

Within accelerated time, everything moved with agonizing slowness. By the time Ji Liu carved a bloody path forward, the man blocking the outer entrance, already cleaved cleanly in two, had yet to finish collapsing to the ground.

Ji Liu didn’t look back or allow himself a moment to breathe. Blood and fire flared around him as he smashed through the wall before him, his great halberd pushing through the layers with unstoppable force. Suddenly, he sensed an immense spirit matter reaction close at hand, as though he had struck an invisible wall.

Ji Liu was overjoyed. Found it! The outer defenses of the esoterism core!

In the slowed stream of time, he had no attention to spare for the chaos and attacks behind him. He entrusted his back and his life entirely to his companions and charged forward without looking back. With both hands above his head, all the rushing blood and fire tangled around his battle axe and great halberd. At last, all flames vanished, leaving only mottled crimson rust coating the blades. All their power of ruin and destruction had been concentrated within.

His eyes flew wide with fury. Within his pupils, a scarlet light turned into flames. “Open up!”

The shout that followed was so loud that even telekinesis couldn’t fully isolate it. Many streaks of crimson burst from the sweeping axe blade, converging into one vast arc. Once the tremendous swing came to an end, he brought the weapon down. The impact sounded like a bubble popping.

Screams rang out as chaos erupted and terror spread. A spirit matter barrier appeared out of thin air, only to shatter. Then a new one emerged, but it still couldn’t hold. Under the power of Warforged Edge, unleashed at the cost of its user’s vitality, the defenses protecting the esoterism core crumbled with a deafening crash.

Cracks abruptly surfaced all over Ji Liu’s body, and scorching blood mist sprayed from him. He felt a gust of wind sweep past his side.

Two figures had already rushed inside without looking back. As they passed him, they merely reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

“Thanks, Big Brother.”

“Heh...”

The corner of Ji Liu’s lips curled ever so slightly. Only at moments like this did Ji Xue actually seem like his little sister. He smiled, but said nothing as he braced himself and turned back. Facing the figures who finally snapped out of their shock and those already charging toward him, he raised his battle axe and halberd, their edges chipped and cracked. Laughing wildly, Ji Liu rushed forward to meet them.

Beyond the rift, which had appeared for only a fleeting second before rapidly sealing itself shut again, the workshop was in complete disarray. The craftsmen had only just realized what was happening. Acting on instinct, they rushed toward the towering central core, desperate to sound the alarm.

Unfortunately, it was too late. As the sixth second in the real world quietly slipped away, marking the end of one accelerated minute, Ji Xue stumbled and collapsed to the ground. Every one of her enhancements immediately vanished. Blood seeped from her mouth and nose—her spirit matter had run dry.

But in that final moment, she had poured every last bit of strength into accelerating the flow of Ji Jue’s time. The incredible strength she had built up over years of trading blows with her big brother exploded forth as she swung him overhead and hurled him toward the towering central pillar like a cannonball.

For a single second, time moved ten times faster for Ji Jue.

A blur flashed past. He dropped from midair, his left hand pressing down on the central control unit that the craftsmen had painstakingly created. Without the slightest hesitation, he activated Deus Ex Machina.

Bang!

The moment his spirit matter flowed into the control unit, it was violently repelled. It had no effect whatsoever, and the core remained unmoved. As an alchemical creation made by craftsmen, it rejected Ji Jue. Any spirit matter input that did not possess a verified sequence couldn’t act within it.

Unfortunately for them, Ji Jue slammed his right palm onto it again.

Dissociation Technique!

Spirit matter ripples spread around him. The control point’s complex structures and modules surfaced in Ji Jue’s mind, but none of that mattered anymore. What Ji Jue intended to apply at this moment was total destruction aimed at all spirit matter structures and alchemical creations.

As time became a hundred times faster than normal, even the faint buzzing caused by vibration turned into a shrill, scraping noise, like nails scratching glass, by the time it reached the outside world.

In the blink of an eye, something ruptured. Within the core’s intricate structure, Ji Jue ruthlessly smashed a hole through the outermost circuits and defenses before injecting Deus Ex Machina into it. Everything within the bank appeared before his eyes.

By the time a craftsman finally threw himself forward and pressed his hand onto the control panel, countless error warnings had appeared in the projection. There was no response whatsoever. His access privileges had already been completely revoked. In the span of a single snap of the fingers, the internal authentication had been wiped clean and had fallen entirely under Ji Jue’s control.

The craftsman stared blankly, then slowly looked up at Ji Jue, who was drenched in sweat.

Ji Jue also lifted his head and smiled back at him. As he browsed through the core’s functions, he could not help but raise an eyebrow and sigh with admiration. “Well now, I didn’t expect this. You even outfitted the whole place with a smart control system?”

This makes things a whole lot easier for me!

Click!

With a mechanical snap, the spirit barrier under the esoterism core’s control suddenly reversed direction. Instead of facing outward, it turned inward, completely sealing everyone inside. Every locked door throughout the bank swung open, and all internal defenses were deactivated.

On the core’s detection system, all signals marking friend or foe abruptly switched sides. The towering central core rumbled as it began operating at full capacity. Every supply of spirit matter was cut off, and matrix suppression and blessing interference spread throughout the bank in rippling waves of chaotic light.

“We’re good, No-Fun,” Ji Jue delightfully said over the channel, now completely free of interference. “Go all out.”

“Understood.”

In Tong Shan’s hand, the vortex manifestation on the flag contracted until it reached its limits. A faint disturbance in the air swirled around the staff, condensing until it became a ghostly-white spiral. It looked ready to burst at the slightest touch, like a bubble.

The storm, now compressed to its absolute limit, was released straight downward. Together with Tong Shan, it pierced through every obstruction as it fell from the sky. As the altar shattered, blood mist made the air boil, and crimson spread in every direction.

There was no longer any need for Tong Shan to continue destroying the underground vault. It had already been reduced to complete ruin. Everyone inside was still reeling in shock, and the priest, who had only just exhausted himself driving away the aberrant Hunger House, didn’t even have time to react.

The Burning Star Manifestation appeared. Like a blade, the tip of the staff came piercing toward him.

***

As the group stormed into the bank, a relentless barrage of tremors and muffled explosions echoed from within.

Lou Feng, who was standing guard outside, was growing anxious. Unable to figure out what was going on or what was happening inside, he kept absentmindedly rubbing the rifle’s grip until the heavy sniper rifle trembled in irritation. Pervert, keep your hands off me!

Sensing the weapon's unmistakable displeasure, the corner of Lou Feng's eye twitched. He had an overwhelming urge to curse. Just as I thought. Of course Ji Jue would make a gun like this. Not a single thing that bastard creates is normal!

The sniper rifle sat firmly mounted on its base, utterly motionless. Lou Feng, however, was restless and annoyed. Almost unconsciously, he used Exquisite Work to process the bullets, pressing them into the magazines one by one. By the time all four spare magazines had been entirely filled, hardly any time had passed.

“Relax. No news is good news,” Xu Guan reassured him, not noticing that the record book clutched in his hand had been creased out of shape.

Lou Feng let out a sigh, completely at a loss for words. Or rather, every curse in his heart was reserved for Ji Jue. What the hell was he thinking, dumping this thing on me out of nowhere?

He glanced at the sniper rifle in front of him, completely baffled. Even with only a basic understanding of firearms, he knew there was a world of difference between different types of guns. At most, he’d learned how to shoot a small caliber pistol for self-defense whenever his spirit matter ran dry. As for how to use a sniper rifle, he knew absolutely nothing.

“Never learned? Even better. Makes it easier. Look, this is the trigger, this is the bolt. Pull this to chamber the next round. That’s the safety. Don’t worry about it. You can leave it on the whole time. It won’t misfire. Aim? You don’t need to aim. Just listen to it. Once the BGM starts playing, just let it rip!”

What the hell? What kind of user manual is that?!

BGM? Let it rip? Were those technical terms? Why did he not understand a single thing?

Lou Feng was utterly baffled. He racked his brains, searching through his memory for anything remotely related to operating the thing, only to realize in despair that he knew absolutely nothing about it.

That bastard Ji Jue wasn’t trying to screw him over, was he? Was he planning to catch Lou Feng dragging down the whole team and use it against him?

No, that didn’t make sense. He hadn’t offended Ji Jue recently. Was it because of what happened in the rift realm last time? He had already been kidnapped and extorted for a huge sum, all right? Could that bastard really hold a grudge to this extent?

It didn’t matter if he died. His family wouldn’t miss one more like him, anyway. But what about his aunt?

At this point, he had no choice but to lower his head and compromise. He couldn't hand over his teacher’s secret techniques, but he still had quite a few shares he had inherited from his mother. If things really came down to it, he could first...

Lost in his wandering thoughts, Lou Feng unknowingly broke out in a cold sweat. He didn’t even notice Ji Jue’s voice over the comms.

Just then, the sniper rifle in front of him suddenly let out a ding. Lou Feng snapped back to his senses and looked up. The small speaker hanging from the mount started vibrating as a barrage of intense drumbeats and piercing electronic music came through.

The tacky DJ compilation Ji Jue had gotten from Lu Feng suddenly started playing!

Through the completely ruined sound quality caused by the aberration environment, amid the static and electronic distortion, a ridiculously energetic voice blasted, “P-P-P-Packed up my bags...”

So tacky! So damn tacky! It’s fucking unbearable!!!

No matter how many times Lou Feng heard it, his face scrunched up under the violent assault of the sound. The moment he reacted, he subconsciously grabbed the sniper rifle from the stand and pulled the trigger.

Boom!

The bullet flew from the barrel, pierced through the wall, and vanished. Via the Aether perception Xu Guan transmitted to him, he saw a red silhouette suddenly burst to pieces before falling silent.

Lou Feng turned the muzzle. It felt as if he were holding a furious, struggling dragon in his hands. He used all his strength to keep the gun steady and pulled the trigger by instinct.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The thunderous shots and vibrations continued without end. In his Aether perception, red outlines broke apart one after another under the ravaging force of the alchemical bullets.

In less than a few seconds, an entire magazine had been emptied. Lou Feng fumbled to swap in a new one, then continued firing.

The stock kept slamming into his shoulder under the massive recoil, but he didn’t even notice the spreading pain. Lost in a rush of unprecedented focus and exhilaration, he was suddenly overcome by a dizzying sense of pure, unrestrained joy. All his earlier tension and confusion had long since vanished. In their place was a certainty and conviction unlike anything he had ever felt before.

He was on a roll! It felt as though the whole world were revolving around him.

Laughing wildly without even realizing it, Lou Feng nodded along to the pounding beat of the DJ music. Carried away by the moment, he threw back his head and sang at the top of his lungs.

The world had truly started spinning!