# 81
Chapter 81 – Mandarin Arrow
“You think I’ve been tangling with that moon-masked assassin for so long just for fun?” Shen Qingzhu narrowed his eyes at Mask Squad and spoke slowly.
“I admit, in a straight fight, us rookies can’t beat you. But we’ve already woven a net of heaven and earth. Here… we can grind you to death!”
His figure shot backward, vanishing into the dormitory behind him. A solid wall of air slammed down at the entrance, blocking Mask Squad’s charge.
“Bit tricky.” Whirlpool studied the rookies ambushing from every direction and scratched his head.
“Fifty-plus… Looks like more than two teams were lying in wait. Nearly half the rookies on site have gathered—quite the spectacle,” Tianping sighed.
He turned to Wang Mian. “Captain, time for you to make a move, right?”
Wang Mian stood silently, saying nothing.
Inside the dorm.
Shen Qingzhu looked down at the five below and flicked his hand.
“Fire.”
Ratatatatat—!!
Guns braced in every window opened up together; black muzzles spat blinding flames, bullets pouring like tidewater toward the five at the center.
Besides grenades and bullets, rookies with offensive Forbidden Ruins struck as well—raging elements mixed with bizarre abilities rained down.
Whirlpool inhaled, opening a giant purple vortex above the team that devoured every attack.
“He’s only in the Lantern Realm—he can’t hold long,” Shen Qingzhu said calmly.
Sure enough, seconds later the purple vortex shuddered violently.
“Captain, I can’t hold it!” Whirlpool’s face was pale as he turned to Wang Mian.
The sky-filling barrage wove a brilliant light that reflected off Wang Mian’s white mask; beneath it, his calm eyes flashed!
His palm settled on his hilt—
And jerked.
Clang—!
The blade left the scabbard half an inch.
Instantly every attack seemed to hit a pause button, hanging in the air and crawling forward like snails!
More than that, the rest of Mask Squad and the rookies ambushed on the three dorm roofs were as if flung into a swamp, every motion sluggish beyond belief.
In this slowed world, Wang Mian quietly drew the black blade at his waist.
As the sword came free, its surface glowed brighter and a terrifying pressure rippled outward.
He stepped forward half a pace and slashed.
Interwoven arcs gathered into a net of blades that, equally slowly, hovered about him, wrapping him round.
Click—!
The black sword returned to its sheath.
Everything snapped back to normal.
The next instant, savage sword marks erupted outward with Wang Mian at their center, slicing the three dormitory buildings to fragments—yet each cut precisely avoided every rookie, sparing their lives.
Boom—!!
The buildings, diced into dozens of pieces, collapsed!
Rolling smoke swallowed the five Mask Squad members; screams rang out as the whole dorm area became rubble.
Far away, Lin Qiye’s trio—about to flank Mask Squad—were dumbstruck.
“That… that’s the Lantern Realm?” Molly stared, muttering.
“He slowed time and still slashed out those insane blades… what is his God’s Ruins?” Lin Qiye frowned, eyes full of doubt.
They had been far enough to escape the time-slow zone, so they’d seen the whole swing clearly.
But… a Lantern-realm agent, even a god’s proxy, shouldn’t wield two unrelated abilities, right?
“Actually, his God’s Ruins is just time control,” Baili Pangpang scratched his head. “Those crazy slashes… think of them as cheating.”
“Cheating?”
“The black blade is a relic. It activates the sequence-301 Forbidden Ruins 【Mandarin Arrow】: it condenses the user’s speed into sword-force—the faster the user, the stronger the slash. Though the relic’s own danger-rating isn’t high, in his hands it’s as lethal as an ultra-hazard, and with Lantern-realm acceleration he can already produce River-realm force.”
“So… even suppressed to Lantern, he still dishes out River-realm damage? That’s broken!” Lin Qiye couldn’t help complaining.
And if Wang Mian released his full realm… how strong would he be?
This is a special-team captain—freak among freaks!
“Then the god behind him is…” Lin Qiye suddenly recalled something.
“God serial 017, Time God, Cronus.” Molly gazed at the distant ruins. “Because he’s captain of Mask, wears the ‘King’ mask, and is proxy of the Time God… some call him the Time King of Mask.”
Lin Qiye’s expression turned grave.
When he’d researched Goddess of Night Nyx, he’d skimmed other Greek gods. Cronus, second-generation king of the Greek gods, stood at the very pinnacle. As his proxy, Wang Mian was bound to be terrifying.
Still, while Cronus was mighty, the Nyx in his asylum was a primordial god—senior to Cronus. If he ever fully gained Nyx’s power, Wang Mian wouldn’t be his match.
“By the way, how do you know so much about him?” Lin Qiye looked back at Baili Pangpang.
“Uh…” Baili Pangpang coughed. “Because that 【Mandarin Arrow】 was a gift my family sent to win him over. When I was little I used that blade to swat mosquitoes.”
Lin Qiye: …
“Your family?” Molly’s brows knit; shock flashed in her eyes. “What did you say your name was again?”
Baili Pangpang beamed, solemnly extending his hand toward her eyes.
“Miss Molly, allow me to introduce myself again: I’m Baili Tuming.”
“Baili…” Molly murmured. “The clan called the Museum of Relics… the Baili family?”
Baili Pangpang coughed, lowering his voice with a wave.
“Keep it quiet—low profile… I’m just an ordinary kid.”
Molly met his gaze, disgust deepening; she snorted, turned away, and ignored his outstretched hand.
“I hate rich playboys—the richer, the worse!”
Baili Pangpang’s smile froze.