# 883
Chapter 884: Time That Cannot Be Outrun
"Red moon descends, all creatures slaughter each other, giant beasts revive... So, the purpose of this time loop is to prevent this giant beast from reviving?"
After hearing Wang Mian's account, everyone in the [Mask] Squad stood frozen in place.
"That's right." Wang Mian nodded.
From the cyclical timeline, Wang Mian had already seen through all the secrets of this fishing village. He could also guess why his future self had set up a time loop here. Similarly, he was the only person present who understood the severity of the situation.
Up until now, he had already rewound time twice. How terrifying the aftereffects of [Chrono Outlaw] were, he knew better than anyone. Since his future self had不惜耗费生命也要回到这里，用闭环锁住这里的时间，就说明一旦那只巨兽复苏，就会造成极其恐怖的蝴蝶效应……
The best way to solve a mistake is to prevent it before the mistake even occurs.
"So you've discovered it, have you..." Seeing that the [Mask] Squad had learned the truth, Chen Yangrong, embedded in the stomach wall, regretfully shook his head. "Since that's the case, you should know what awaits you if you don't pull out this blade?"
"What, the allure didn't work, so now you're threatening us with death?" Xuanwo laughed. "You underestimate us far too much. We've been through all kinds of storms over these many years. Do you really think a single threat like that can make us afraid?"
Xuanwo disdainfully looked at Chen Yangrong, quietly stepping back half a pace, and nudged Wang Mian with his elbow, lowering his voice:
"Captain, what do we do? We're not really going to die here, are we?"
Wang Mian's brow furrowed tightly.
After carefully thinking for a moment, he spoke: "You all wait here. Be careful to control your emotions, and don't let that red moon affect you... I'll rewind time and see if I can get back to before we entered this village, to stop all this from happening."
The [Mask] Squad members nodded one after another.
Wang Mian reached out and gripped the [Mandarin Arrow] scabbard at his waist, releasing the aura of a "Klein" realm peak master. He slowly closed his eyes and activated his God's Ruins to the extreme.
The flow of time around him rapidly stagnated.
Dust floating in the air gradually stopped moving. Wang Mian's breathing grew increasingly long and drawn out. His pale white hair hung suspended in mid-air. He stood there like a statue frozen in time.
In an instant, his eyes suddenly snapped open!
Silver rings interlocked and rotated within his eyes, like precise clock components being reversed. Just one glance made people feel dizzy, as if containing some profound and mysterious rule.
At the same time, he forcefully stepped forward, his figure crashing through the void. A flash of white light instantly enveloped his body, and the next moment his entire person vanished.
Time passed second by second. Dozens of minutes later, the time around him rippled once more. White light flashed again, and Wang Mian's figure stumbled out, coughing violently. A streak of black hair at his temple visibly turned silvery white...
He bent over, removed the "王" character mask from his face, droplets of sweat the size of beans falling down. He gasped heavily.
"Captain!"
"Captain, are you alright?"
Seeing this, the [Mask] Squad immediately stood up and rushed to Wang Mian's side.
Wang Mian raised his head, gazing into the empty void above. His eyes were full of exhaustion and frustration.
"It won't work... I can't escape this loop..."
If it were under normal time flow outside, Wang Mian using his God's Ruins to rewind time back to a day ago wouldn't be difficult at all. But here was different.
Here, time had been warped by the stream of light ring at the tail end of [Mandarin Arrow]. It wasn't a straight line but a circular loop where beginning connected to end. Moreover, what formed this loop was the Law of Time, not simply a God's Ruins. With Wang Mian's current speed of time reversal, he simply couldn't outrun the loop's cycling speed.
He was like a hamster trapped in a circular exercise wheel. No matter how hard he ran, he couldn't escape this cage.
He couldn't return to the past and change the history of the [Mask] Squad entering the fishing village.
Hearing these words, the [Mask] Squad members exchanged glances. Tianping reached out and patted Wang Mian's shoulder.
"It's alright, Captain. If this method doesn't work, there might be another way out... Yuegui, Tanxiang, Xinghen, you three form a group. I'll go with Xuanwo and Qiangwei. We'll search the edges of the village in separate teams. There might be gaps we haven't discovered yet."
Tianping calmly commanded the [Mask] members, and the others nodded, quickly departing.
Tianping turned around, looking at the exhausted Wang Mian. After hesitating for a moment, he still said: "Captain, rest here for now. Leave the rest to us."
Before Wang Mian could speak, Tianping's figure had already turned into an afterimage, vanishing from Wang Mian's field of vision.
"Hehehe..." Chen Yangrong coldly laughed. "Wasted effort. I've already told you... You cannot leave this place."
Wang Mian gazed at the direction where everyone had departed, silently for a long while. He lowered his head and put the "王" character mask back on. Taking a deep breath, a resolute look appeared in his eyes.
Having witnessed countless cycles of the looping timeline with his own eyes, he knew very well that Chen Yangrong wasn't lying. If this loop had gaps, the power of the red moon would have long leaked out... Since there was no other way out of here, the only path forward was still time reversal.
No matter what, he had to outrun time here. If once didn't work, he'd try twice. If twice didn't work, he'd try three times... He had no other choice.
Because on his shoulders rested the lives of everyone in the [Mask] Squad.
He placed his right hand on the scabbard and activated [Chrono Outlaw] once more. His figure charged into the river of time and vanished.
This time, he was gone for a full two hours.
When that white light appeared again, Wang Mian's body heavily crashed to the ground. He curled up in pain, all the hair on his head having turned silvery white. His withered and pallid face was covered with startling wrinkles. The entire person looked nearly ten years older than before.
Now, he was an old man approaching sixty.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Wang Mian's weak coughing echoed in the vast stomach walls.
He had swum against the current of time, running for a full two hours, and still couldn't escape this loop...
He had failed again.
Damn it! DAMN IT!!
Why still won't it work?! Why can't he outrun time?!
Wang Mian's spotted hand tightly clenched into a fist, slamming heavily against the ground. Those turbid eyes were full of anguish and frustration.