# 882
Chapter 883 Chrono Outlaw
Twelve days earlier.
Seven figures draped in gray cloaks passed through the beast's esophagus and arrived before the pitch-black stomach wall.
The gray-robed figure wearing a vortex mask lightly raised their palm, and two massive purple vortexes unfurled simultaneously—one drawing all the seawater from within the stomach cavity, the other sealing the esophagus to prevent the outer seawater from rushing in.
Within seconds, the seawater within the stomach cavity was drained.
Wang Mian raised his head, gazing intently at the 【Mandarin Arrow】 deeply embedded in Chen Yangrong's chest, and the slowly rotating ring of flowing light at its tail end. His eyes narrowed slightly...
"Captain, that blade looks exactly like yours?!" The vortex glanced at the blade in Chen Yangrong's chest, then at the 【Mandarin Arrow】 at Wang Mian's waist, exclaimed in shock. "Could this be a couples' edition?"
"..." Wang Mian spoke helplessly. "That's indeed the 【Mandarin Arrow】, but it doesn't belong to this time."
Tianping frowned and thought for a long time. "Could it be that the blade is..."
"Yes, it should be the blade from the 'future me' that the 【Nightfall】 squad encountered." Wang Mian nodded.
"That's amazing, Captain!" Rose兴奋地说道. "Does that mean you'll definitely break through to godhood in the future?"
"Of course! Captain is already about to break through to become a Human Apex—is godhood still far away?" Moon Ghost agreed.
"That's hard to say. With changes to the timeline, the future can also change." Wang Mian shook his head.
"You mean the future you coming back to change the timeline will affect your future?" Tianping asked疑惑地问. "But if the present is changed, the trajectory of the future will also shift. What if he doesn't become a god in the end, doesn't come back to the present? Wouldn't that create a paradox?"
Wang Mian shook his head. "What you're describing is the traditional 'grandmother paradox,' which is different from the principle of my 【Chrono Outlaw】.
Every divine pantheon in the world has a god of time, but their God's Ruins all have variations. Chronos granted me 【Chrono Outlaw】—'The Chaotic Renegade Beyond Time.' Once I possess this God's Ruins, even if I return to the past and change history, the timeline shift won't affect my predetermined past.
Using the grandmother paradox as an example—even if I return to the past and kill my grandmother, I won't cease to exist because of her death..."
"Then couldn't you go back to the past and arbitrarily change history?" The vortex exclaimed, jaw dropping.
Tianping walked up behind him and slapped the back of his head. "What nonsense are you spouting? Captain has only traveled back in time twice to change history, and he's already become... How could there possibly be no cost?"
"There is indeed a cost." Wang Mian nodded slightly. "The karmic backlash generated from篡改 the timeline greatly diminishes my lifespan. The further back in time I go, the greater the butterfly effect of changing the timeline, and the more terrifying the lifespan reduction.
The previous two instances of time reversion, although neither exceeded one day of regression, created such intense butterfly effects that cumulatively, they reduced my lifespan by nearly twenty years."
Wang Mian's two instances of time reversion both involved returning to just a few hours in the past, warning the Night Watch in advance about enemy attacks. Though the actual time reverted wasn't long, his early warning saved tens of millions of lives. Such massive karmic backlash, entirely borne by him, naturally resulted in an extremely terrifying depletion of his lifespan.
Looking at Wang Mian's graying temples and haggard, weathered face, the members of the 【Mask Squad】 fell into silence.
When Wang Mian performed his first time reversion, he was not yet twenty years old. Even with years subtracted from his lifespan, he remained young and vigorous, so they hadn't noticed. But after Wang Mian performed his second time reversion not long ago, they noticed that Wang Mian had aged significantly...
They had speculated that this might be a consequence of Wang Mian's time reversion, but they never imagined the cost would be twenty years of life.
How many twenty-year periods does a person have?
After the two instances of time reversion, Wang Mian—who should have been only twenty-six—jumped directly to nearly fifty years old. His best and most precious years of youth vanished in an instant.
Seemingly sensing the heavy atmosphere among the group, Wang Mian smiled faintly and said:
"Don't be so pessimistic. I am the agent of the god of time. Perhaps once I become a god, I'll gain eternal life."
Wang Mian's comfort didn't seem to lift the group's despondent mood. The vortex glanced at the others, and after a moment of silence, scratched his head and burst into laughter: "Captain, once you become a god, don't forget about us!
I'm not asking to stay young forever or anything, but surely you could extend our vacation days a bit, right?"
Hearing the vortex's jest, everyone rolled their eyes. The originally沉闷的气氛又重新活跃了起来.
Just then, the old man pinned to the stomach wall by the 【Mandarin Arrow】 slowly opened his eyes.
"A few mice have slipped in..." Chen Yangrong said calmly. "If you want to live, pull this blade from my chest. Once I'm out, I'll repay you generously..."
The moment his voice echoed through the dim space, the members of the 【Mask Squad】 immediately tensed. They exchanged glances, and Wang Mian's voice quietly appeared in their minds.
"The future me stabbed the 【Mandarin Arrow】 into his chest. This old man is definitely suspicious... I'll sense the timeline contained in that closed loop. You buy me some time."
As his words fell, Wang Mian slowly closed his eyes, connecting his God's Ruins to the 【Mandarin Arrow】 in Chen Yangrong's chest, rapidly flipping through the timeline within that ring of flowing light.
The vortex gave an almost imperceptible nod, then turned to look at the old man on the stomach wall, putting on an act of feigned ignorance:
"Repay us? Really? What could you possibly repay us with?"
Chen Yangrong froze, apparently not expecting anyone to actually believe such nonsense. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Whoa! Found a fool!
"Supreme power, eternal life... Whatever you desire, I can grant you!"
"Supreme? How supreme? Higher than 'Klein'?"
"Far higher than that."
"Wow, you're so powerful!"
"..."
During this utterly meaningless exchange between the two, Wang Mian's brow furrowed more and more tightly. After an unknown period, he abruptly opened his eyes, his expression more solemn than ever.
"This is bad..." He raised his head, gazing at the pitch-black stomach wall, murmuring to himself.
"What's wrong?"
Rose noticed the change in Wang Mian's expression and asked with concern.
Wang Mian turned around, took a deep breath, steadied his chaotic thoughts, and spoke seriously:
"From this point on, listen carefully to every single word I say..."