Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 947 - 750: Surprise (Part 3)

Sparks flew.

As that figure rushed in close, the two daggers collided, briefly lighting up two completely different faces.

One was a horse face rimed with frost, and the other looked like some random Ultraman mask bought off a street stall.

"Ace?"

Amid the fierce fight, Tony was actually amused: "Your tastes are seriously niche."

"I’m Sophie, you idiot, you know jack shit about the Titans of Light!"

Liu DongLi roared, "Taste my Ultraman Kick!"

But in the darkness there was no sound of a kick tearing through the air. Instead, muzzle flare burst to life behind Tony’s back.

A sharp crack split the air as the blazing bullet was knocked away by his combat knife.

Tony cursed, "The fuck kind of ’kick’ is that?"

"Shows what you know. Anything can be a kick. RPGs can kick, why can’t bullets count as kicks?"

Liu DongLi pressed in step by step, like he already knew every move Tony was going to make. He slipped past all of Tony’s counterattacks with ease, using just a dagger and the curse bombs in his pistol to completely suppress the Third Stage Frost Giant!

Tony retreated, dodged the dagger aimed at his horse face, then suddenly dropped his blade. Extreme cold and a blizzard burst from his palm, condensing into a razor-sharp long knife that hacked down.

Empty!

When he reached back to rip off the flash bomb, he heard a crisp click from where the flash bomb was.

Right after, a blinding flare exploded in front of his eyes.

He didn’t even have time to shut them.

Then came a punch.

It smashed into his face through the horse-mask, making him stagger back—but there was nowhere left to retreat. He’d already been driven into a corner.

The dagger, webbed with cracks, pierced straight through his palm in an instant and nailed him to the wall.

Then the black muzzle pressed against his forehead.

"Don’t move."

Liu DongLi warned coldly, "This time, I won’t be holding back, Centaur."

In the silence, Tony panted under his breath. Through the dim blinking lights on the server racks, he stared at that long-lost face—and those eyes that looked like they had no focus.

At last, realization dawned.

"...Timeline desync?"

He asked in an icy voice, "Just how many jumps have you done, Liu DongLi?"

As if he’d known that question was coming, that face twisted into a mocking smile. "None of your business, Tony. Why do you ask the same thing every single time?"

"You should know exactly what time jumps do. Without the main Rainbow Bridge framework, the time lag between perception and body just keeps getting worse..."

Unstable time jumps introduce errors, ripping apart Soul and consciousness, throwing the timing of senses and body out of sync.

The body is active in the now, but the consciousness slips out of control, drifting off into the Future.

That’s not some nice little precognition perk.

It’s the prelude to breakdown.

If anything, the real surprise was that after more than seventeen jumps, Liu DongLi hadn’t collapsed yet.

Even a single unauthorized jump should’ve torn his Soul apart and triggered self-destruction.

The fact that he was still alive was the miracle.

"How did you pull this off?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"That is, of course... a secret."

Liu DongLi gave him a final, faint smile and pulled the trigger.

Darkness slammed over Tony’s vision. His body convulsed against his will, all strength draining away fast.

"Ta-da, tranquilizer rounds. Surprised?"

With a cheerful whistle, that grinning face backed away and vanished into the surrounding dark.