Chapter 198 VS Chenlong 1

The power of reactivation is a colorless power that cannot be detected by the naked eye; its shape can only be discerned through the changes in the sea of ​​fire.

The sea of ​​fire surging towards the Silver Masked Doctor seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall, creating an inviolable domain within a five-meter radius of him. Upon closer inspection, the flames didn't seem to have struck anything; rather, they had stopped advancing and even showed a faint tendency to retreat.

This reminded me of my experience in the secret room of the supervisor's office last time; the flames felt like my body retreating backward back then. The Rebooting Power I encountered last time was probably just a force that Dr. Silver Mask left there and activated automatically, so I overcame it easily. This time is different; the Rebooting Power I'm facing undoubtedly contains his will.

But the changes didn't stop there; the power of rebooting continued to spread outwards. Centered on Dr. Silver Mask, space rippled like water, instantly covering the laboratory, the outer corridor, and even the entire base... Everything that came into contact with these ripples was rewinding.

Even I could feel a powerful force dragging me from where I came from, and the sea of ​​fire that had engulfed the stronghold was gradually receding. The "slag" I had obtained by burning the guards and researchers to death was disappearing one by one, while the guards and researchers who had died earlier were being brought back to life in the sea of ​​fire.

If the sea of ​​fire disappears, I won't be able to continue using my full strength here. With that thought in mind, I unleashed my full power, and the receding sea of ​​fire roared up again.

The guards and researchers, who had been resurrected, were once again reduced to ashes in the inferno. Even the laboratory and its various equipment were burned to the ground. Then, under the rewinding power of the restart, they were restored to their original form and once again vanished into thin air...

Currently, two conflicting forces exist within the stronghold: one is the destructive power of a sea of ​​fire, and the other is the power to reverse everything and restart. The restart process has been forcibly halted by the sea of ​​fire.

The flames that were attacking the Silver Mask Doctor abruptly stopped their retreat and even seemed to have the power to suppress and restart, moving closer to him.

He showed surprise.

"How is this possible! This is the power of a fragment of a divine seal, could it be that you..."

As he spoke, he seemed to be trying to harness the power of restart, but he still couldn't stop the flames from encroaching.

Even though I also possess fragments of the Divine Seal, there's no reason for me to let him manipulate me, even if I can't use the power of those fragments.

His power of resetting is somewhat similar to Asahi's power of returning. Both are powers that reset things to their original state. However, upon closer inspection, there are indeed differences.

Compared to the power of reversion, the power of reboot is overwhelmingly stronger. It can not only reset everything within an area, but also resurrect an entire population with hundreds of deaths in one go. Even if Asahi's power of reversion were a hundred times stronger, it would be impossible to do what Dr. Silver Mask is currently doing.

However, it is merely powerful. The power of restart seems to be able to do only this one thing. I cannot sense the infinite possibilities it possesses, unlike the power of rebirth. It is a rigid, mechanical, and unpromising fruit, a monotonous result purely from a strong foundation. Perhaps this is also evidence that Dr. Silver Mask, as the user, cannot flexibly utilize the power of the Divine Seal fragments.

At this rate, I can burn him to ashes in a few minutes.

Unfortunately, things won't go so smoothly. There's someone who won't just sit by and watch me burn Dr. Silver Mask to death.

Suddenly, a figure leaped out of the shadows behind me at high speed and attacked me.

It was Chenlong.

It's said that he needs Dr. Silver Mask's permission to use Shadow Teleportation within the base. It seems this permission doesn't require written documentation or verbal instructions; perhaps Dr. Silver Mask could simply grant it with a thought. I wasn't entirely unprepared for his sudden attack, but with some attention focused on Dr. Silver Mask, defending against this powerful enemy's teleportation attack was indeed beyond my capabilities.

His fist landed on my body, blasting me out of the laboratory.

My body crashed through more than a dozen walls, but the shattered walls quickly repaired and closed under the power of restarting, only to be smashed open again by the supersonic Chenlong. For people like us, even indoors with countless walls and obstacles, it's really no different from a vast plain or the sky; terrain doesn't exist. He crashed through countless walls at high speed, circled around to my rear, and attacked me again.

His attack power is far inferior to Divine Gun. Although that heavy punch just now caused excruciating pain on a soul level, it didn't leave any wounds that would hinder my movement. Even if it did cause damage, I can simply repair it later. It's just that with him in the way, I can't concentrate all my attention on Dr. Silver Mask. I definitely have to take him out first.

He's now donned the "Portal Armor," and I still can't think of a way to break through this invincible defense. Meanwhile, I feel Dr. Silver Mask's reactivation power still affecting me, slowing my movements. I have no choice but to further strengthen my fire elemental body.

Suddenly, a feeling of swaying and collapsing rose in my heart.

Even though I had already used the sea of ​​fire to maintain my existence in the independent reality space, I felt like I was about to "shatter the void" and fall out.

Almost simultaneously, I understood why this was happening—because I was increasing the density of my flames.

The principle of "increasing power density" is contradictory to "expanding the scale of existence to establish a foothold here." Even if I can exert my full strength in this independent reality space, I cannot use skills with excessively high density.

My primary prerequisite for brute-forcely breaking through the "portal armor" is to compress and enhance my own fire power to the extreme.

No wonder the sharpshooter said I couldn't possibly defeat Chenlong in this independent reality space. He probably realized the truth behind Chenlong's ability to exert his power normally here after reading about independent reality spaces, just like the girl Lu Chan, and thus concluded that it was impossible to brute force through the "portal armor" here.

To defeat Chenlong, the battlefield must first be moved to the real world. That requires killing Dr. Silver Mask and destroying the independent real space. To kill Dr. Silver Mask, Chenlong must be defeated first... It's a vicious cycle.

I used fire teleportation to evade his attack, while he, just like in the last battle, unleashed a large amount of shadow dust and then used shadow teleportation to attack me nearby.

"To be able to penetrate this stronghold's firewall and infiltrate, and to be immune to the power of reboot... it seems you also possess a fragment of the Divine Seal." He said coldly, "I won't ask how you found this place, but I will make you pay the price for your invasion. Leave your life and the fragment of the Divine Seal here, and your body and soul will become research subjects for the Department of Humanity, just like those demon hunters."

"With just your weak and feeble fists?"

Based on my experience from the last battle, I don't think he has any more powerful attack methods. This isn't to underestimate him, but if he had any special moves, he would have used them in the last battle.

His fighting style is to fight steadily and surely while ensuring his own safety. As the saying goes, a good warrior does not achieve great feats. Compared to winning by using unexpected finishing moves, he may be closer to the true path of combat in some ways.

However, contrary to my expectations, he seemed to actually have some trump cards to reveal at this moment.

Suddenly, his right hand, clad in black armor, began to emit a white light, giving me a sense of danger.

"Whether they are truly weak and powerless or not, let's take this hit first!"

He roared as he attacked me.

Just then, a voice rang out from afar: "—Chen Long!"

Chenlong paused slightly.

That was the voice of the young girl, Lu Chan.

She was standing at the door of the supervisor's office. Actually, her voice didn't carry very well to our location, as we were several floors apart. However, I could keep track of her movements through the sea of ​​fire filling the stronghold, and Chenlong could now mostly use his extraordinary senses and hearing to pinpoint any activity within the stronghold.

“Lu Chan…” Chen Long said in a deep voice, “It seems you were involved in this matter as well. No, it would be impossible to say you weren’t involved. Did you drive those demon hunters into a frenzy? The purpose… Hmph, it was to get the method from me to use power above the level of a certain level here, which is why he unleashed the sea of ​​fire before showing himself…”

In just a moment, he understood everything.

He should have known that the young girl Lu Chan was not the real Lu Chan, yet he still referred to her as Lu Chan.

"As expected, you're a menace. I was too lenient in the past and shouldn't have left such an ignorant fool like you alone. After this is over, I'll show you what your proper stance should be." He said in a threatening tone.

The young girl, Lu Chan, replied without wavering: "There won't be a next time, Chenlong. I will also no longer allow Ying Lingyun to use you as a puppet and continue to manipulate you to aid and abet evil."

"A puppet? Manipulating me?" Chenlong sneered. "You're still using the same old tricks, Lu Chan. Although I don't know where you got the information about Silver Mask's true identity, you still don't understand that I've never been brainwashed."

The young girl Lu Chan took a deep breath, and I felt as if my spirit was being drawn.

She is currently engulfed in flames, which means she is still in a state of "physical contact" with me, so our mental synchronization is still ongoing.

She said she would borrow my power to use mental magic to interfere with Chenlong, so I didn't resist at this moment and let her do as she pleased.

Perhaps this is the only breakthrough to defeat Chenlong at present.

Although I wanted to defeat Chenlong single-handedly, I first focused my attention on what was in front of me. If Chenlong launched a shadow teleportation attack during her spellcasting, I had to stop him immediately.

She spoke words imbued with spiritual power, much like the young researchers who used to hypnotize others.

"—You weren't like this before, a shameless villain who was indifferent to colleagues becoming tragic experimental subjects and even pushed friends into hell without batting an eye!"

"How much more do you have to humiliate yourself before you wake up?"

"Wake up right now, Chenlong!"

"..."

Listening to the words and mental spells of his old friends, Chenlong seemed completely unaffected.

No, it's not "like".

He was completely unaffected.

"How many times do you want me to repeat myself before you give up, Lu Chan?" he said calmly. "I have never been brainwashed."

(End of this chapter)