Sorry, I Was Late

In the distance.

A loud crash rang out from a corner on the fifth floor of the mall.

It was the sound of something heavy slamming violently into the ground.

He knew the chaos had begun and accelerated around the mall corner.

Before Su Wen's eyes.

Twenty meters away.

A little girl lay on the ground, too terrified to speak.

Above her, the structure of a small shop was swaying precariously, about to collapse.

"Mommy, I'm scared."

One of the little girl's feet was trapped beneath a collapsed wooden bar counter, leaving her unable to break free.

She cried,

"Can someone save me? Mommy, I'm scared."

Nearly everyone in the mall was fleeing in extreme terror. Several stampedes had already occurred.

Screams, curses, and fear swept through the crowd.

They drowned out that faint cry for help.

Su Wen had once seen a line on the title page of Qin Mingyuan's Civilization Chronicle:

*(Only a few can stand tall in the face of nightmare-like fear,*

and among them.

Most leave this world silently before they even have the chance to write their own epitaph.

*We call them heroes. But perhaps the word "hero" is not praise, only an elegy.)*

And at that very moment.

Su Wen saw that familiar figure.

She tossed aside the handbag she cherished dearly.

Then she pushed desperately against the bar counter, trying to save the little girl.

But.

The girl was far too weak to move the long wooden counter.

The next second.

Jiang Menghan realized that the beam above her had lost its last shred of support as it swayed.

She gently shielded the little girl beneath her and said softly,

"If I hadn't had all that bad luck, maybe you wouldn't have run into something like this.

I'm sorry... I can't save anyone."

In what was probably the final moments of her life.

The girl did not maintain her usual coldness. Instead, she said wistfully:

"I hope that idiot listened to me for once and already left this place."

In an instant.

The structure came crashing down.

Yet it did not harm her in the slightest.

Under the terrified gaze of the fleeing crowd.

A massive knight's shield of brilliant gold stood between the girl and the falling beams.

It became an unshakable Doomsday Great Wall.

Please Judge Me First!!!

Su Wen arrived just in time.

"Jiang Menghan, idiots don't feel fear."

Hearing that familiar voice behind her, her reply could not help but choke with sobs.

No matter how strong she was, Jiang Menghan was still just an ordinary girl who had never encountered supernatural events:

"Didn't I tell you to leave?"

Hearing her say that.

He gently smoothed the hair by her ear and answered,

"Sorry, I was late."

'Please Judge Me First' judgment successful

'Fair Judgment' ruling: Protected target Jiang Menghan suffered blunt-force damage from a falling object. Damage transfer rate: 95% (maximum level). This damage was below 0.5. Injury state not triggered.

Guardian—Chief Player Su Wen. After recalculation following deflection by the stance shield, transferred blunt-force damage totaled 17 points.

No external structural damage to the body detected.

Sublimation Lineage—Knight—Tough Physique (active). Origin Origin Point: Trade Wind—Recovery (active). Slowly self-healing.

He felt a heaviness in his chest.

This was Su Wen's first time experiencing supernatural power in reality.

Compared with dying and loading a save in the game, the feedback of pain was far more real in reality.

He suppressed the discomfort from the transferred damage and silently braced the beam pressing down on the brilliant golden Judgment Shield.

The first-tier Spiritual Energy Vortex within him continuously accumulated more strength.

The next second.

He heaved the wooden structure aside with all his might, sending it crashing onto an empty stretch of floor with an even louder bang than before.

In the distance.

The supernatural being who had already lost his mind looked over because of the tremendous noise.

Roaring, he charged toward them with a bone cleaver dripping flesh and blood across the floor.

"Can you beat him?"

Jiang Menghan struggled to her feet. She was not a weak girl.

On the contrary, the instant she escaped danger, she forcibly suppressed her fear with reason. She did not want to become Su Wen's burden:

"We need to leave."

"It's fine."

Su Wen smiled.

"Take the little girl and get somewhere safe first."

He equipped the title: Counterattack

Then he raised a middle finger at the out-of-control man in the distance, who had lost all humanity and could only be called a monster:

Achievement Description: Supernatural being? You're weaker than the old hen at the village entrance.

In the distance.

That roaring monster did not know whether he understood a knight's provocation.

But he sensed the abundant spiritual energy activity and surging vitality within Su Wen's body.

He wanted—

Blood!

Appraisal: Huang Zhiming, kitchen butcher, spiritual energy berserker. Due to contamination by a Pollution Source (@*# not yet identified), his Extraordinary Characteristics (Strength Specialization, Bloodthirst) were stimulated, resulting in an irrational rampage. Danger Rating (Tier 1).

In an instant.

The moment Su Wen finished appraising him.

The massive bone cleaver swung down before his face.

Storage Box: Store—Bone Cleaver

The target weapon is being held and cannot be taken. Storage failed.

Su Wen had anticipated something like this. After all, during the Transcendence Act game progression, he had only managed to take that supernatural assassin's pistol by catching him off guard.

So.

While operating the Storage Box, he had already planned his rolling route and steadily dodged the slash.

Then, Su Wen felt around among the collapsed clutter beside him.

Storage Box: Store—Solid Iron Round Stool

Storage space full (two slots).

Storage Box Operation: Project

In an instant, the enormous solid iron stool was projected above the berserker and smashed heavily into his body.

Su Wen knew this strike was not enough to render a Strength Type Awakened incapable of moving.

The instant his enemy lost balance, he followed up with three rapid, precise, vicious kicks, completely destroying the berserker's already wavering leg balance.

With a boom.

The kitchen butcher's grotesque, bulging-muscle body fell to one knee before him.

Su Wen looked at him and said calmly:

"Murderous violence, reckless folly, defiance of order, and no struggle against it with one's own will."

Judgment complete.

Guilty.

Moments later.

A Judgment Hammer of pure silver, covered in intricate patterns, solidified in Su Wen's hand.

Then.

Resonating with the heavy will-based spiritual energy and the vast collective consciousness of the Silver Sea, it came crashing down.

Conviction!