Lord of Prayer

Simultaneously, their physical forms were enhanced. Their Power, speed, Endurance, and especially their Recovery Ability, now far surpassed that of a normal low-level member of the Blood Race. They even looked younger.

“Professor Howard, the dream you and your teacher pursued your entire lives has finally been realized! You will go down in history!” Steve said, a joyous smile on his face as he looked at the elderly scholar.

The aged Howard slowly removed his reading glasses, letting out a breath he seemed to have been holding for years. A great weight was lifted from his heart. The brief excitement passed, and he composed himself with a scholar’s rationality. In a solemn voice, he said:

“As for the Eternal Life Machine, my teacher Charles and I successfully built one sixty years ago. The greatest trial is what we must face now.

We must protect this miracle!

Back then, my teacher absorbed the Eternal Energy generated by the experiment and regained his youth. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky. I was thrown back by a sonic shockwave, fell from the third floor, suffered multiple fractures, and ended up in the hospital.

The immense Energy and the anomalous magnetic field attracted the Crimson Sect… and you, the Blood Race. They began to hunt my teacher, wanting to obtain the Eternal Life Formula that existed only in his mind.

I was recuperating in the Star Association’s medical department due to my injuries. The next news I had of my teacher… was of his death.

He secretly built another Eternal Life Machine while on the run from the Blood Race and the Crimson Sect. But afterward… something happened. My teacher died, the members of the Blood Race died, the members of the Crimson Sect died, the Eternal Life Machine was completely destroyed, and the book that recorded the forbidden knowledge vanished.

My teacher was a true genius. It took me sixty years of research just to reach the level he had already achieved. It’s a tragedy that he died because of everyone’s greed, and that the Eternal Life Machine was destroyed in the ensuing conflict.

Now, the Crimson Sect is resurgent. I don’t want to see history repeat itself. I hope that you, the Blood Race, and Omega can protect this miracle of eternal life. In the future, there will undoubtedly be a place for you among the immortals.”

Steve nodded. “Rest assured, Professor Howard. This is the lifeline of the Blood Race. We will protect the Eternal Life Machine, even if it costs us our lives… However, the experimental instruments need replacing. This test destroyed over fifty percent of the equipment, and we only managed to run the Eternal Life Machine for less than ten seconds…”

Professor Howard nodded in agreement. “The materials for the instruments require further research, but for the Blood Race, money isn’t an issue. Contact the Alchemy Association.”

Standard instruments can’t withstand the immense Energy generated by the Eternal Life Machine. Only instruments meticulously crafted by Alchemists can endure that awesome power and allow the machine to run permanently.

·

·

「The Hotel.」

Yang’s mouth fell open, the freshly lit cigarette dropping to the floor.

He quickly scanned the room, then got up and searched every corner, but there was no sign of Zhou Chen.

In the instant it had taken him to light his cigarette, Zhou Chen had vanished as if by magic—gone in a flash, without a trace. If not for the clatter of a phone hitting the floor, Yang probably wouldn’t have noticed for some time.

‘Damn it, am I seeing ghosts?’

As an elite double agent from Omega, Yang figured he’d seen his fair share of strange things, but never anything this bizarre. He picked the cigarette up off the floor, took a hard drag, and let the nicotine quickly calm his nerves. Then, he dialed Jiang Che’s number.

“Boss, your Secretary is gone!”

“…”

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

“The moment I took to light my cigarette, he just… vanished! It wasn’t his displacement Ability; he just disappeared into thin air. He didn’t even take his phone,” Yang added.

Jiang Che finally let out a deep sigh and put a hand to her forehead. “Next time, say everything at once.”

‘She thought Zhou Chen had made some heroic sacrifice.’

“Have you searched the room?”

“I’ve searched everywhere. Nothing. It looks like he was taken away by some sort of Mysterious Power. One second he was on his phone, the next it was on the floor… He didn’t take his Weapon or gear, either.”

Jiang Che’s eyebrows shot up. ‘That is strange.’

She set down her phone, and with a clatter of keystrokes, she pulled up the data feed for Hong City. A moment later, she froze.

“Yang, did you feel anything unusual just now?” she asked.

“No… Why?”

“The satellite Investigation Mirror shows a massive Energy spike erupted in Hong City one minute and twenty-seven seconds ago. The blast radius was huge, blanketing the entire city. It disrupted the magnetic field, tore a rift in space, and even…”

Jiang Che paused, her eyes narrowing. Her tone grew grave. “It affected the temporal axis.”

“The temporal axis?” Yang frowned. ‘Isn’t that the kind of thing only big shots at Tier Five, Demigod, or even Divine Level should be messing with?’

Another furious clatter of keys came from the other end of the line. Jiang Che was clearly searching for information at top speed.

A few minutes later, her tone was complex.

“I’ve pulled the detailed archives on Hong City. It turns out there were two similar Energy surges sixty years ago… The readings from one of them are a ninety-percent match for this one. I’m uploading the data to the HQ research lab for analysis now.”

‘Sixty years ago…’ Yang lit another cigarette, recalling the files he’d read. ‘Sixty years ago… that’s when the war between the Blood Race and the Crimson Sect started!’

A few minutes later, Jiang Che got a response from the research lab at HQ.

“The energy readings from the two eruptions are nearly identical. This Energy is unique—it creates a sort of resonance along the temporal axis, affecting it directly. This might briefly open a Time Tunnel. Anyone who’s unlucky, or who possesses a strong enough ‘gravitational pull,’ could fall in and tumble out the other side,” the projection of a scientist from HQ explained.

“…”

“…”

Jiang Che and Yang both fell silent.

They had a pretty good idea of where Zhou Chen had gone.

Disappearing so suddenly, under these exact circumstances… there was only one logical explanation.

“Wait a second. If the kid really went back sixty years, can he even get back? And won’t him traveling to the past trigger some kind of butterfly effect? Cause some world-ending chaos?” Yang asked urgently.

“Well… on the optimistic side, there was another Energy spike on the temporal axis, wasn’t there? Perhaps he can use the Time Tunnel that one opens to return to the present.

On the pessimistic side… he might knock on your door in the next second, only for you to open it and find an old man standing there… a much older version of him. Hmm, although if he manages to become a High Tier Ascender, his lifespan would increase, so there’s that.

As for the butterfly effect… time travel is a highly complex phenomenon. It could very well trigger one, but there is another possibility…”

The chief scientist from HQ paused. “—Everything he does is already part of established history.

To put it another way, his time travel itself, and everything he does sixty years in the past, are all necessary components of what has already happened.”

·

·

Zhou Chen entered the Desolate Forest, ducking behind a tree to observe from the shadows.

He saw a short-haired girl with a satchel fleeing for her life. A monster in a black robe pursued her, brandishing its claws and emitting a nauseating, corrupt stench.

The short-haired girl was enveloped in a golden glow, a light only Zhou Chen could see.

—The letter writer!

The short-haired girl ran, gasping for breath. She wasn’t an Ascender, just an ordinary person, and after running for so long her Physical Strength was failing. She glanced back and saw the monster closing in. She let out a scream and, with a final burst of energy, desperately tried to increase the distance between them.

She didn’t scream for help; it would waste what little energy she had left and break her stride. Besides, who would be out here in this desolate wilderness to save her anyway?

‘That’s a Corrupter behind her, and this girl is the letter writer…’ Zhou Chen’s mind raced. He prepared to save the girl and figure out what the hell was going on.