Chapter 158: Rules

When he saw Qianxi disappearing into the computer, Zhang Wenda instantly forgot the calm reasoning he’d just used on Hu Maomao. His body blurred into an afterimage as he shot toward it. His uncle was in there!

However, just as he was about to reach the breach, a swarm of crows blocked his path. "Halt. What do you think you’re doing?"

Zhang Wenda skidded to a halt and hastily explained, "I’m going in to help! Can’t you see the computer is under attack? It’s smoking!"

But Tang Xingxiong regarded Zhang Wenda with a knowing, skeptical look, clearly unconvinced. "Is that so? I don’t see it that way. Even if the boss says you’re trustworthy, I’ve never let my guard down with you. I’ve been watching you this whole time. You vanished for a bit just now. Where did you go? And what were you whispering to Hu Maomao about? Tell me, are you a spy for the Third Line?"

Seeing the suspicious glares from the others and noticing them starting to close in, Zhang Wenda quickly retorted, "Why are you always so suspicious of me? You can’t abuse your authority for a personal grudge! You can’t keep targeting me just because my uncle kicked your ass in the past, can you?"

At these words, the restive crowd stopped in their tracks and settled in to watch the drama unfold.

A flash of fury crossed Crow’s face, but this time she didn’t lose her cool. Instead, she grew even calmer. "You’re just as disgusting as your uncle! If I’d known you were his nephew when we first met, I would’ve wanted to kill you on the spot!"

"We’re in the middle of a crisis! And you have time for this? Get in there and help!"

Seeing his urgency, Tang Xingxiong still didn’t move aside. "The boss doesn’t need your help. I have a new mission for you. Aren’t you my subordinate? Fine. Listen up. Go to the other Thought Waves immediately. Don’t come back until I call for you!"

As the thick smoke from the computer gradually died down, an anxious Zhang Wenda was about to say something, but Tang Xingxiong cut him off. "I knew you wouldn’t want to go. In that case, I’ll give you a send-off! If I’m wrong about you, I’ll apologize later! For now, get as far away from here as you can! Go!"

Experience Dragon, whom Zhang Wenda had met once before, had two flashlights strapped to the sides of his head and two more in his hands. He shone four different colored beams at Zhang Wenda. The moment a rainbow-hued cage of light formed around him, Zhang Wenda dodged.

He had just started to move when Saber lunged forward without hesitation, blocking his path.

In that brief instant, by the time Zhang Wenda managed to forcefully shove Saber aside, his surroundings had already changed. He was on the familiar athletic field, next to the familiar school building. He was back in Thought Wave One.

The thought of his uncle under attack by Qianxi’s cavalry made it impossible for Zhang Wenda to stay put.

He wanted to run back, but after a moment’s thought, he immediately changed direction and headed for the Xinhua Bookstore.

’I can’t possibly fight off hundreds, maybe thousands, of cavalrymen on my own. If I want to save my uncle, I need to get some help.’

’Qianxi is about to destroy the world. I don’t believe that old fox Tan Yougen can just sit back and do nothing!’

But just as Zhang Wenda reached the school gate, the familiar face of Saber appeared before him. The guy had actually followed him.

"Miss Tang said you’re to stay here!" Saber said, tilting his head.

"Piss off!" Zhang Wenda glared at him. "Don’t make me take you down! You hear me? I don’t have time to waste on you!"

A forest of tri-bladed military bayonets materialized behind Saber. "Then by all means, give it a try."

In an instant, Zhang Wenda blurred into an afterimage and lunged, crashing heavily into Saber. However, his impossibly sharp scythe failed to pierce his opponent’s body. Saber, wielding a massive Obsidian Giant Sword, had firmly blocked the attack.

"What do you think? Not bad, huh? It’s an import I managed to scrounge up. So much better than the domestic crap!" Gripping his new weapon, a smug look appeared on Saber’s iron-plated face.

"Fine! You asked for it!" Zhang Wenda quickly retreated, his body rapidly turning transparent. He vanished just as the bayonets rained down on his position.

Before Saber could react, cuts began to appear on his body out of thin air. He swung the Obsidian Giant Sword around wildly, but hit nothing.

Even when he had the hovering bayonets circle him at high speed, they struck nothing. A moment later, covered in wounds, he could barely remain on his feet.

"Impossible! This is impossible!" Saber couldn’t accept it. In such a short time, this little punk had become so powerful.

Gritting his teeth, Saber struggled to pull a small, blood-red dagger from his coat. He was about to plunge it into his chest when, in that exact instant, every wound on his body transformed into a gaping, fleshy maw and began to whisper in unison.

Overwhelmed by the whispers, Saber’s body went limp. Unable to even hold the dagger, he collapsed into a pool of blood.

Zhang Wenda’s form gradually materialized in front of Saber. He snatched the dagger from his hand. "You got this from that pointy-headed Mayan, didn’t you? It’s not going to work, I’m telling you. You should just stick to the kids’ table from now on."

Saber was filled with bitter indignation, but he could only watch helplessly as Zhang Wenda dropped the dagger into an enamel mug.

RING RING RING... Just then, the school bell signaling the end of class suddenly rang.

Seeing Pan Dongzi emerge first, schoolbag on his back, Zhang Wenda quickly moved to block the blood-soaked Saber from view, terrified the boy would see.

But the boy paid him no mind, walking toward the gate with a vacant stare. The former light in his eyes was gone. The schoolbag on his back had swelled to the size of a small house, crushing him to the point he could barely breathe.

It wasn’t just Pan Dongzi. His own deskmate, Glasses, and the other classmates he had gone to the Youth Palace with—they had all become like walking corpses, utterly devoid of their former life and energy.

"Students of the pre-fab class whose parents have a monthly income below 200, gather here."

As Teacher Ouyang, her face a web of cracks, shook a small bell, the vacant-eyed students gradually formed a single file line. They stood pressed tightly against one another, hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot, like the components of a precision machine.

They remained pressed tightly together, swinging their arms and taking each step in perfect unison as they marched out of the school, accompanied by the setting sun.

The scene was hauntingly familiar, reminding Zhang Wenda of the pre-fab people used as building materials in Thought Wave Two.

’What’s happening? Why have Pan Dongzi and the others all turned into pre-fab people?’

A powerful sense of dread washed over Zhang Wenda. He suddenly looked up and saw the sky above the school tear open. Through the rift, he could see cities formed from pre-fab people, and on the other side of that fissure lay the bizarre, kaleidoscopic world of Thought Wave Two.

The barrier between Thought Wave Two and Thought Wave One had been broken. The rules of the adult world were leaking into the world of the children!