The Eerie Twisted Realm

A gunshot rang out, and Du Qiangwei, who had just emerged from a wormhole, collapsed to the ground!

This time was different from before. She had been shot in the head. The Super Gene within her body was frantically repairing her injuries, but the agonizing pain of her skull being pierced by something sharp and her head ringing never stopped tormenting her, driving her nearly mad!

This was not the outside world. She could not connect to Deno 3 to replenish her energy, nor did she have Yu Qin to grant her a state of complete restoration. She could only rely on herself.

Her energy was about to run out, yet her opponent still had no intention of appearing to deliver the killing blow. It was a terrifyingly cautious venomous snake, hiding far away after injecting venom into its prey, refusing to show itself until it was certain the prey was completely dead.

Seeing that playing dead could not lure out her opponent, Du Qiangwei braced herself against the ground and tried to stand. But another bullet suddenly shot out of the void, blasting a huge hole through the hand supporting her!

With a crack, the bone broke. Blood streamed out in gushes, and Du Qiangwei finally could not hold back a shrill scream as she crashed heavily onto the ground.

The pain pierced her heart!

Ever since entering Area 9 alone, she had suffered the greatest setback of her life, trying again and again, failing again and again!

She, who had arrogantly believed her Space-Time Gene to be unparalleled, had actually lost to her opponent in wormhole techniques!

Du Qiangwei pounded the ground hard with her other intact hand. Tears she refused to shed came pouring down, mixing with the blood spilling out and staining the dry ground...

She thought of that bastard—the bastard who could clearly use his ability to lock down her wormholes, yet always pretended to be afraid of her and let himself be bullied alongside A Jie until they fled in panic; the bastard who would rather consume his own origin energy than let an unrelated silly Goddess cover up her embarrassment; the bastard who was obviously stingy, yet still paid for the most expensive dress she had chosen; the bastard who would rather expose himself to Lena's bombardment than fail to appear and catch her badly injured body...

Scene after scene, image after image, the memories that bastard had left in her mind flashed before her eyes, weaving together into recollections that were both painful and warm whenever she awoke in the middle of the night...

"Wormhole Calculation is forbidden here!"

I'm about to die, aren't I? Du Qiangwei thought. She was even having auditory hallucinations now. She could not help but give a bitter smile. What could unwillingness change? She had still lost... in the field she excelled at most...

"Stupid woman!" A familiar voice sounded beside her ear. Then she felt a pair of large hands scoop her up in a bridal carry. She suddenly opened her eyes and saw that handsome face that filled her with both longing and pain.

"Whew!" Wei Zitong let out a long breath. Du Qiangwei's map was no simple matter either. That strange figure came and went like a ghost, causing him quite a bit of trouble the moment he entered. Its wormhole abilities seemed far stronger than Du Qiangwei's!

That made sense. If it had been weaker than Du Qiangwei, she could not possibly have been in such a miserable state. More importantly, this was a distorted space. Anyone unfamiliar with wormholes could easily fall into an endless loop of overlapping space. He had fallen for it twice on his way in.

But when it came to strange abilities, so far he had not seen anything stranger than his own. As long as he had enough energy and sufficient Computing Power, he could use his ability in countless ways. Unfortunately, those two things were currently his greatest weaknesses.

But Du Qiangwei's injuries were extremely severe. She had been shot in several places, with the worst being the two huge holes in her skull and arm. She could only withdraw from this area to recover.

Wei Zitong had noticed this as well. No matter how severe the injuries were, as long as one withdrew from the corresponding combat area, they could recover quickly. It was a bit like returning to town in a game and recovering to full health...

Perhaps this was a protection mechanism, Wei Zitong thought. Then he carefully carried Du Qiangwei out of Area 9 step by step.

The moment he came out, he heard Jace's reprimanding voice from the void. "Wei Zitong, who allowed you to use your special ability to alter the system settings? Do you know how much impact a system error could have on everyone else?"

"Sorry..." Wei Zitong lowered his head. "Qiangwei's injuries were too serious. I got carried away, so..."

"That was her own choice. It has nothing to do with you!" Jace's tone was stern. "If you truly cared about her, why didn't you form a team with her from the beginning?"

"I..." Wei Zitong had nothing to say.

"Forget it this time." Jace's tone softened. "Caring for your comrades and protecting your companions reflects your fine character. But remember, there will not be a next time!"

"I understand..." Wei Zitong said quietly.

"Here's what we'll do." Jace's voice continued from the void. "Temporarily leave Lena's team and form a temporary team with Du Qiangwei. Assist her in completing the mission."

"Yes!" Wei Zitong immediately straightened up. He wanted to salute, only to realize that he was still carrying Du Qiangwei and had no free hand, which made him feel rather awkward.

"That will be all..." Jace's voice drifted over, then fell silent.

Having recovered quite a bit after coming out, Du Qiangwei listened to their conversation and roughly understood what had happened. She learned that Wei Zitong had forced his way into Area 9 for her. Though warmth filled her heart, her expression turned cold as she said, "Put me down!"

Only then did Wei Zitong realize that he had continued carrying Du Qiangwei after coming out. He crouched down and carefully placed her on the ground, saying softly, "Rest and recover for now. Later, I'll accompany you and clear this map."

"Who wants to go with you?" Du Qiangwei said coldly. "Where's your Lena? Aren't you going to accompany her? Her opponent can't be simple either, right?"

Wei Zitong seemed to catch a different meaning in her words. He supported himself with one hand, turned around, and sat down beside Du Qiangwei with a smile. "Lena's mission map is a trial in Blazing Sun. She doesn't need me..."

"Oh, so because she doesn't need you, she kicked you out? That really is the Goddess's style!" Du Qiangwei interrupted him before he could finish, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Wei Zitong was instantly left speechless, feeling rather helpless. He figured he should not mention Lena again. Whenever Lena came up, Du Qiangwei's reactions became intense, which would not help with their upcoming battle. So he forcibly changed the subject. "Tell me, what exactly is your mission target? It's slippery as an eel—I couldn't even catch a glimpse of its shadow!"

At the mention of her mission target, Du Qiangwei's eyes reddened. After taking several deep breaths, she slowly said, "It's someone extremely skilled at using wormholes. It can use wormholes to create Spatial Dead Loops throughout the entire space. And it has a sniper rifle that fires Godslayer No. 1 rounds. It's very troublesome!"

"Hiss!" Wei Zitong could not help drawing a sharp breath. The combination of a sniper and Wormhole Calculation—wasn't that the combat style of a High-Level Demon? Could the target be a Demon? Luckily, he had activated his skill to prohibit Wormhole Calculation as soon as he entered. Otherwise, he would have fallen in there too. After thinking for a moment, he lowered his head to look at Du Qiangwei and asked, "Did you see what it looked like?"

"No." Du Qiangwei shook her head. Then she looked up at Wei Zitong and asked in confusion, "Does that have anything to do with dealing with it?"

"No, I just wanted to confirm an idea." Wei Zitong said, "But you don't need to be too discouraged. I checked. Aside from Mengmeng's map and mine being somewhat different, everyone else's mission targets are powerful opponents corresponding to their Gene Models. Yours is probably the same. I estimate the other side is at the level of a Third Generation Super Soldier. But our abilities will also be enhanced to a certain extent. Under the stimulation of powerful external forces, reaching the level of a Third Generation Super Soldier is possible too."

He paused, thought for a moment, and analyzed, "The reason your mission target is so difficult to deal with is mainly its ability. The map itself is also an indispensable factor for Space Control. The other side has remained in there for so long... oh, the system setting is a thousand years. It must know that space like the back of its hand. It was your first time entering that space, so you were bound to suffer badly."

Du Qiangwei said nothing. Instead, she gently closed her eyes. Her body was recovering, but she enjoyed the feeling of this man sitting beside her and talking endlessly. No matter what he said, it all sounded good.

In truth, once she had Wei Zitong's help, she already had a plan. She understood this failure more deeply than he did, and she knew more about spatial knowledge, as well as her own strengths and weaknesses and those of her mission target. She simply wanted to hear his voice. When the two of them were alone, even if he was grumbling and complaining, it was still good...