Chapter 99: Life and Death Speed

Before this battle with the Black Viscount, Zhang Wen’s combat energy had only recovered to about thirty or forty percent of its original level. Just now, in order to dodge the sudden burst of mental energy exploding from within the Black Viscount’s body, Zhang Wen consecutively used his “Ghost Steps” several times, consuming most of the precious combat energy he had好不容易 managed to store up.

Translation:

Before this battle with the Black Viscount, Zhang Wen’s combat energy had only recovered to roughly thirty to forty percent of its original level. Just now, in order to evade the sudden burst of mental energy erupting from within the Black Viscount’s body, Zhang Wen repeatedly employed his “Ghost Steps,” consecutively using them several times and thereby depleting most of the precious combat energy he had painstakingly managed to accumulate.

“That’s right!” Lord Black slowly floated up from the crater until he was at the same height as Zhang Wen. “No matter how clever the Ruby Serpent is, he never would have guessed that I would be carrying such a powerful item that could turn the tide of battle. To be honest, this ancient reagent I obtained wasn’t originally meant for confronting you; it was intended for another purpose. But I suppose, you could say it’s just your bad luck. Andrei Stein, you came dangerously close to winning.”

The Black Viscount smiled and indicated a very small distance with his fingers.

“Hey! Since you had such a powerful secret weapon on you, why didn’t you cooperate with Hector and the others beforehand to deal with me? If you had used the ancient reagent back then, along with Hector and the other five Saint-level experts, even if I wanted to escape, I wouldn’t have been able to.”

“Hehe! No wonder you were once the ruler of the southern realm; your words are as bold as ever! Ancient reagents aren’t like crops in the field, something you can just obtain at will. If Hector and his group could solve the problem, why would I waste an ancient reagent? And now, even without Hector and his group, what difference would it make?” The black viscount laughed and suddenly asked curiously, “However, I’m quite curious to know how you managed to find me?”

The effects of the ancient reagent numbered zero can last for three to four days, so the Black Viscount isn’t in a hurry to deal with Zhang Wen. Facing power of a higher rank, without an equal force to counter it, any intelligence or strategy becomes utterly useless.

“Hey! It’s just a coincidence.” Zhang Wen was naturally willing to spend a bit more time chatting with the Black Viscount. He was fully activating the Spring Water Technique to restore his severely depleted combat energy. The more time he could stall, the greater his chance of escaping would be. Therefore, Zhang Wen deliberately pretended to be extremely weak, slowly explaining to the Black Viscount with a sluggish manner.

“When I first went to Kemal Arena for reconnaissance, I encountered the Mr. Sandru beside you. At that time, he treated me rather unfriendly, and there was also a bounty warrior with him who didn’t seem like an ordinary gang thug. Out of curiosity, I left a small mark on him. I never expected that Mr. Sandru was actually the liaison between TK Team and you.”

“Oh! Haha! What a coincidence! Andre, if you hadn’t caught up this time, I might not have been willing to waste that priceless vial of Formula Zero. I guess this is just fate. Heaven has decided your death, so you’ll just have to accept your destiny!” The Black Viscount laughed loudly toward the sky. When he turned his gaze back toward Zhang Wen, his eyes were already filled with an overwhelming murderous intent.

“Is that so?” Zhang Wen suddenly curled his lips into a smirk, uttering just two words. Then, he calmly sheathed the long sword in his hand, yet his body subtly crouched forward like a cheetah ready to strike.

“It’s just a pity that my principle has always been: my fate is in my own hands, not determined by heaven!”

Just as Zhang Wen shouted, “My fate is mine, not heaven’s to decide!” Lord Hei, his face already cold with fury, unleashed two full-powered Neng-Pao at him. Two crimson orbs, nearly the size of basketballs and shrieking loudly, streaked toward Zhang Wen from both left and right. However, when those two destruction-laden Neng-Pao reached the spot where Zhang Wen had stood, they struck only an empty illusion.

Boom!

Where the two red orbs struck, brilliant red energy erupted instantly. In the center of the steel-constructed building, two massive holes, each over ten meters in diameter, were blasted open.

Soon, the massive steel structure, hundreds of meters tall, could no longer bear the pressure of its hollowed-out center. With a painful, creaking groan, it collapsed in a thunderous crash.

As for Zhang Wen, who had been attacked by the Black Viscount, he had already activated his ghostly steps and was now swiftly gliding like a phantom toward the southern part of Babylon City!

“Hehe!” The Black Viscount glanced indifferently in the direction Zhang Wen had fled, then his body seemed to transform into a red lightning bolt, chasing after Zhang Wen with full force.

If the attack by the Black Viscount on the Kemal Colosseum had merely caused disturbances in several of Babylon City’s busiest streets, then this time the collapse of the Empire State Building threw the entire Babylon City into chaos.

The citizens of Babylon City first watched in stunned silence as a red beam of light shot up into the sky. This red beam was clearly a sign of the arrival of an extremely powerful individual. Then, to their even greater horror, they saw the “Empire State Building,” which symbolized Babylon City’s thousand-year glory, suddenly tremble a few times before collapsing with a thunderous roar!

“Ahh!” After a brief moment of shock, nearly all the Babylonian citizens who witnessed this scene screamed in terror almost simultaneously.

Since that rampaging Overlord-class强者 didn’t even regard the Empire State Building, which represents Babylon City, and the Colosseum symbolizing the strongest power on the Filia Planet, where in Babylon City could still be considered safe?

Of course, the greatest chaos still occurred on Linwei Street, closest to where Zhang Wen fought with the Black Viscount. On this street, once the second most prosperous in Babylon City, crowds of panicked, screaming people could now be seen everywhere.

However, in front of a hotel at 137 Linwei Street, stood two women who were completely different from the crowd.

After losing track of Zhang Wen, Leica thoroughly searched every street near the TK Group headquarters with Vicky, but in the end, they still couldn’t find even a trace of Zhang Wen. Furious, Leica made up her mind and took Vicky back to the hotel to wait in ambush like a fool.

As a result, Leica and Vicky hadn’t been waiting in the hotel for long before they saw, not far from their window, a red beam of light shooting straight up into the sky.

“Damn it, what just happened back there?” Leica grabbed a fleeing man by the collar as they walked out of the inn.

“Quick… run away! They are Over-Class warriors! They just destroyed the Empire State Building! Next, it will be our turn!” The man cried out desperately.

“Tsk! Who asked you about that? Did you see what the person you fought looked like?” Leika threw the man onto the ground, stepped on his head with one foot, and asked again.

“No… no, I didn’t!” The man burst into increasingly uncontrollable sobbing. He had never imagined that, having not yet escaped from a terrifying battle involving an Overlord, he would end up in the hands of such a terrifying woman!

“Get out! Get out! Get out!” Leika said in disgust, wrinkling her nose as she impatiently kicked the man aside with one foot. For such a pathetic guy, Leika couldn’t even be bothered to feel like killing him.

“That surge of psychic energy just now felt a lot like the Black Viscount,” Vicky suddenly whispered into Leika’s ear.

“Yeah. I also feel a bit like it’s a setup against that bastard. But him suddenly using Overlord-level power really puzzles me. Who could it be? To the point of forcing that guy to reveal his last trump card.” Leika frowned, gazing intently behind, her eyes as if piercing through the inn and settling on the distant south.

“Just go and have a look,” Vicky said to Lika with a faint smile, her eyes carrying a hint of mischief rarely seen on her.

“Hmm! That’s right. Just go and take a look. Haha!” Leica lowered her head in thought for a moment, then suddenly burst into cheerful laughter as well.

Zhang Wen had no idea how much of a stir his confrontation with the Black Viscount had caused in Babylon City. He also had no time to think about how to deal with the aftermath. Under the relentless pursuit of a transcendent powerhouse, the only thing on Zhang Wen’s mind was how to save his own life.

Zhang Wen’s “ghost steps” were indeed astonishingly fast. If judged solely on speed and agility, Zhang Wen might even rival ordinary super-tier experts. However, the complex street conditions of Babylon City severely restricted Zhang Wen’s speed. In contrast, Black Viscount, who was flying through the air in pursuit, remained completely unaffected by the surrounding buildings.

“Tsk! Today can’t get any worse!” Feeling the dark viscount’s presence approaching from behind again, Zhang Wen spat out in frustration. Using the opportunity of stepping onto the edge of a building, he forcefully twisted his body mid-air, propelling himself sideways into the alley between two towering buildings.

The Black Viscount fired another telekinetic blast at Zhang Wen, which once again struck the steel tower. The blast hit near the middle of the tower’s base, creating a massive gash that looked as if it had been torn open by a monster.

In fact, it was precisely by using these ubiquitous alleys in Babylon City that Zhang Wen had been able to keep entangled with the Black Viscount until now. Unfortunately, once he left the city center of Babylon, Zhang Wen would no longer be able to find alleys as densely interconnected as those near Linwei Street. Moreover, as Zhang Wen moved further south into Babylon City, the gaps between buildings that he could use became increasingly sparse.

At the same time, a close look would easily reveal that Zhang Wen’s combat suit had already been torn multiple times. Each tear represented a bleeding wound. Among them, the most severe injury was a deep gash on Zhang Wen’s back, stretching diagonally from his right shoulder almost to his left rib.

That was the result of Zhang Wen being accidentally scratched on the back by a piece of flying glass debris while dodging an attack from the Black Viscount earlier.

“Andrei, how much longer will you keep running? What’s the point of proving yourself like this, other than causing yourself even more pain?” shouted the Black Viscount, closing the distance between them once again as he tightly pursued Zhang Wen.

“Hey!” Zhang Wen’s lips curled slightly upward as he continued speeding forward between the skyscrapers of Babylon City.

“Fine! If you insist on continuing this game of cat and mouse, I wouldn’t mind playing along.” The Black Viscount had never expected that a few simple words could shake Zhang Wen’s determination. Seeing Zhang Wen’s movement, the Black Viscount immediately adjusted his stance accordingly and fired another Neneng Pao.

Zhang Wen swiftly leaped to his right, dodging the Black Viscount’s attack with a quick change of direction. Then, he lifted his head, his lips curving upward into a more noticeable smirk. Because after a full thirty minutes of relentless pursuit, Zhang Wen had finally spotted in the distance the long-awaited restricted area enclosed by barbed wire and heavy metal doors.

Military restricted area, no entry allowed!

Huge metal boards hung on both sides of the barbed wire fence, each displaying two identical rows of bright red characters. At the same time, a large skull symbol was painted right in the center of the gate within the barbed wire fence.

Black Viscount soon noticed the military restricted zone appearing ahead, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.

Unlike Casares, which is an administrative planet located at the forefront of the empire, the planet Fira is situated in the central part of the empire’s southern border territories and has been under imperial control for thousands of years!

On this planet, which had already become part of the empire’s heartland, the empire naturally had no need to station a large garrison force. Therefore, the strongest captain of the imperial garrison in Babylon City, Laine, was merely a tenth-stage expert. When faced with a battle between someone like Black Viscount and Zhang Wen’s caliber, their usefulness wouldn’t be much greater than Shandor’s.

Clang!

Zhang Wen dashed toward the gates of the military restricted zone marked with the symbol of death. Ignoring the angry shouts of the imperial guards stationed on both sides, he swung his sword with all his might, creating a crack in the gate just wide enough for him to pass through. Without hesitation, he quickly squeezed sideways through the opening he had created.

“Damn it! Do you know where you are? This is an imperial military restricted zone! How dare you cause trouble here? Do you want to die?” A thin, frail soldier from the garrison, under strict orders from his superior, shouted fiercely but with underlying fear.

Not long after Zhang Wen passed through the gate, the Black Viscount, who had been closely pursuing him, quickly caught up. Upon hearing the noisy chatter of the minor soldiers nearby, the Black Viscount, who originally could have simply leaped over, didn’t even hesitate. He raised his hand and fired a thought-energy cannon, roughly the size of four basketballs. With a deafening “Boom!”, the entire gate, dragging along a large section of barbed wire, was thrown high into the air like a toy.

“I… I… damn it…” Several unfortunate Imperial Guardsmen were knocked down by the blast wind, watching in horror as the heavy metal door was lifted into the air, spun around several times, and then slammed heavily into the ground.

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Wen and Black Viscount had already breached from the entrance of the military restricted zone to its core. Meanwhile, the few terrified Imperial Guards soldiers finally snapped out of their shock and frantically triggered the alarm signaling an attack.

Amidst the piercing wail of alarm bells, countless searchlights suddenly switched on, instantly illuminating the entire military restricted area within the barbed wire as brightly as daylight.

Just then, Zhang Wen suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“What? Have you finally come to your senses and decided not to run away anymore?” Lord Hei said with a smile, landing on a tower-like structure resembling a water tower more than ten meters away from Zhang Wen.

“Hehe… Yeah. I don’t plan to run away anymore,” Zhang Wen said slowly turning around, offering the Black Viscount a smile in return.

“Oh? You don’t seem like someone who’s ready to surrender and wait for death. What? Do you expect the imperial guards stationed here to be of any help to you?” The black viscount sneered with a mocking laugh.

“Haha! Of course not,” Zhang Wen’s lips curved into a very noticeable arc. He shrugged casually and smiled as he said, “Probably no one else but me can ever guess why I came here.”

“Oh? Do you have some other scheme up your sleeve?” Lord Black asked with growing interest.

“Of course,” Zhang Wen said with a mysterious smile, raising one finger and placing it in front of his lips.

Indeed, as Zhang Wen said, even if Lord Hei ransacked his brains, he would never guess why Zhang Wen was willing to take such a great risk to escape to a place that seemed utterly useless.

However, if someone were to open a map of Babylon City and move their finger to the location where Zhang Wen and Viscount Hei currently stand, they would clearly see on the map a line of small text beneath the label “Military Restricted Area”—the Filia Planet Psychic Energy Power Center.

The念Energy Power Center. As the name suggests, the core area of this military restricted zone is where the entire念Energy of the planet菲拉 is controlled. Every day, countless念Energy practitioners working on the planet菲拉 gather their念Energy here. Then, through the equipment and circuits of the念Energy Power Center, an immense amount of念Energy—beyond the imagination of ordinary people—is distributed to every imperial citizen’s home across the planet菲拉.

Of course, although the psychokinetic energy gathered daily at the psychokinetic power center is incredibly powerful, these are merely civilian-grade psychokinetic energies and cannot be used for combat. However, Zhang Wen’s target isn’t the vast amount of psychokinetic energy accumulated at the power center either.

Zhang Wen’s goal is… the native stone!

The profession on Earth had endowed Zhang Wen with extraordinary caution. In fact, when Zhang Wen agreed to Melissa’s request and prepared to confront the Black Viscount in a decisive battle, he had already considered such issues.

What should we do if we encounter an opponent of a higher tier while fighting against the Black Viscount?

Only a Transcendent can stand against another Transcendent—that’s a truth universally acknowledged by the world. Even Zhang Wen, who cultivates the Spring Water Technique, doesn’t possess the strength to defy this rule. So, if one wishes to confront a Transcendent enemy, there’s only one solution—to break through to the Transcendent realm oneself!

While Zhang Wen was participating in a survival competition in the jungles of Casares, there was a vein of native stones right beneath his feet. At that moment, he could clearly feel his strength increase dramatically from within the vein of native stones! During his battle with Wang, he even unleashed power beyond the ordinary level!

Unfortunately, the only native stone ore vein on the planet Phira was almost half a planet’s distance away from the city of Babylon. Any idea of utilizing that ore vein was clearly impractical. Thus, Zhang Wen ultimately set his sights on the psychokinetic power center located in the southern suburbs of Babylon.

In such a planetary-level psychokinetic energy relay station as the “Feyla Planet Psychokinetic Power Center,” the amount of psychokinetic energy gathered and redistributed daily reaches astronomical figures. To contain and distribute such immense levels of energy, the power center must inevitably house an equally astronomical quantity of raw stones.

The total amount of these native stones might not be as much as the reserves in Casares’ vein, but the purity of the native stones within the power center is far superior to those found in the ore veins!

Of course, Zhang Wen also didn’t know whether these purified primal stone crystals could produce the same effect on the Spring Water Technique. However, suddenly being hunted by the Black Viscount, who had obtained an Over-ranked power, Zhang Wen had no choice but to take a gamble.

Fortunately, Zhang Wen’s luck in gambling has always seemed to be quite good.

Wuwu… With a sound like chirping insects, the originally faint blue battle energy surrounding Zhang Wen’s body, which had nearly faded to invisibility, began to grow brighter and brighter.

As is well known, the radiant glow surrounding a martial artist’s body, resembling an energy shield, is essentially the uncontrolled energy leaking out when the martial artist is using their combat energy at full capacity. The brightening blue glow around Zhang Wen indicates that his nearly depleted combat energy is rapidly recovering.

Under the gaze of the Black Viscount, the blue light emanating from Zhang Wen’s side gradually shifted from dim to bright, then from bright to dazzling, until finally it became blinding—like the noonday sun, impossible to look at directly!

The blue aura surrounding Zhang Wen’s body did not, like after the Black Viscount had injected the Number Zero serum, suddenly swell out of control and erupt into a towering column of light. Yet, the Black Viscount could clearly sense that the smiling Zhang Wen standing before him was no longer the Saint-level martial artist he could manipulate at will. Just in that brief moment, Zhang Wen had already completed his breakthrough from Saint-level to Super-level, becoming a true Super-level expert!

“How… how did you do that?” Even someone as composed as Viscount Hei, witnessing this unimaginable scene with his own eyes, couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock. High-level martial artists aren’t like high-rankers of battle-arts; they don’t have something as convenient as the No. Zero Reagent—a miraculous drug that allows them temporarily to break through to the Transcendent level!

Moreover, the Black Viscount could tell that although Zhang Wen was not familiar with the energy of the Transcendent Stage, he did not, unlike himself, experience an instantaneous loss of control over his energy upon breaking through to the Transcendent Stage. This alone was enough to indicate that Zhang Wen was certainly no stranger to reaching the Transcendent Stage! When the Black Viscount himself had first entered the Transcendent Stage, he had nearly lost half of his mental energy due to not knowing how to control that explosive power.

The strengths and weaknesses of both sides reversed once again in an instant!

“Do you really think I would tell you?” Zhang Wen smiled at the Black Viscount, his hand flashing with blue light as the sharp longsword reappeared once more.

“Tch! So you had set up a trap here in advance, specifically to lure me into chasing you here?” The Black Viscount’s gaze gradually turned extremely sharp, and the peaceful smile on his face had long since vanished without a trace.

“Hehe… What do you think?”

“Hmph!” Lord Hei snorted coldly, tightening his grip on the curved short sword in his hand.

The Black Viscount had indeed considered fleeing, but in the end, he still dared not. In the recent chase, he had already experienced Zhang Wen’s astonishing speed. When Zhang Wen was still a Saint-ranked cultivator, he possessed speed rivaling that of an Overlord-ranked expert. After advancing to the Overlord rank himself, the Black Viscount had absolutely no confidence in escaping Zhang Wen’s pursuit.

The murderous intent in Zhang Wen’s eyes made the Black Viscount shudder with fear. The Black Viscount could sense that the moment he turned his back, Zhang Wen would immediately chase after him at top speed and strike him down.

Zhang Wen stood in silent confrontation with the hesitant Black Viscount. Beside them, the alarm bells within the military restricted zone continued to ring deafeningly, their noise unceasing.

General Lane, the balding commander of the Nen Dynamics Center and a tenth-rank expert in charge of the military restricted zone’s defense, was also woken up by his subordinates from his warm bed.

Upon learning that someone had blasted through the gates of a military restricted zone and闯ed inside, General Lane, furious, immediately led a large contingent of Imperial Guards soldiers to surround the area where Zhang Wen and Baron Hei were located, encircling it tightly in multiple layers.

However, when General Ryan rushed over and saw the energy flames emanating from the two “terrorists” standing in the center of his military restricted zone, he was completely taken aback.

Turning around, General Lane immediately flew into a rage, grabbing his aide’s collar and yanking him fiercely toward his face.

“You bastard, why did you wake me up? Are you trying to get me killed?”

Anyone with a clear eye could immediately tell that the two figures standing in the middle of the military restricted zone, facing off against each other, were both top-tier experts. Such monsters causing trouble right in his own military restricted area—General Lane wished he knew nothing about it!

“I… I don’t know either.”

“Damn it! You don’t know either? I didn’t know that either! What do you suggest we do?” General Lane shook his aide back and forth like a rattle.

“In my opinion… since it was an Archmage who attacked the military restricted zone, no matter what happens, higher-ups won’t blame us for it. So…” The dazed aide, holding tightly onto General Lane’s iron-clad hands, desperately pleaded.

“Tch! Pass the order, everyone fall back two kilometers… no, three kilometers! Move your asses! If anyone is too slow and gets caught in the fight between those two monsters, I won’t give a damn!” General Lane angrily shoved his aide toward several guards, shouted at the top of his lungs, then without even looking back, immediately fled in the direction opposite to Zhang Wen and the Black Baron.

Soon, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard, who had originally been only a few hundred meters away from Zhang Wen and Baron Black, also turned around and fled in panic. In no time, there was no one left in sight of Zhang Wen and Baron Black.