Fang Zheng could imagine that Tom Cruise must have had it rough.
You couldn't tell in the movie, but after truly arriving in this world, Fang Zheng was certain that he had already died more than a hundred times.
Fang Zheng had reached that conclusion after idly counting the save-load cycles all the way to one hundred and one. But what did it matter? A real man had to die a few hundred times, after all. Hadn't he died... how many times back when he faced those two rat Lords of Cinder in the sewers? Forget it. Fang Zheng couldn't be bothered to remember.
That should be about enough.
After another save-load cycle ended, Fang Zheng let out a long breath and turned to look at the forest behind him. From afar, there appeared to be nothing unusual about it. But Fang Zheng knew very well that beneath this forest surrounded by mountains, amid its lush trees and bushes, the Zerg were already everywhere. Hydralisks lurked underground, Zerglings prowled through the grass, and Mutalisks folded their claws and wings as they quietly perched among the branches. Everything was ready. After so many repeated cycles, the Zerg under Fang Zheng's command now numbered in the tens of thousands. He was certain that once this wave charged in, it would beat those Alien Creatures until they cried for their mothers and fathers, letting them truly experience what a real destroyer was. Compared to the Zerg, who could effortlessly wipe out eighty or a hundred planets, these Alien Creatures were hardly worth Fang Zheng's notice aside from their ability to manipulate time.
What Fang Zheng truly couldn't understand was this: putting the time paradox aside, how exactly did conservation of energy work here? He had mined out the deposits below dozens of times, even pumping every last drop of shale oil dry. Yet once time reset, the resources came back. So where did they come from?
His Zerg hadn't vanished because of Time Reversal, after all. They had genuinely consumed those resources.
A parallel world? Or something else entirely?
Fang Zheng thought about it for a long time and failed to understand, so he stopped thinking about it. This stuff was far too troublesome. He hadn't been a scientist in his previous life, nor had he studied Quantum Mechanics or read up on relativity. Anyway, he was having a great time using it now, so why not keep using it? As for whether it would cause problems... he would deal with them when they came.
So next, first of all... he needed to prevent time from rewinding again.
Fang Zheng wasn't worried about the Alien Creatures, but he was deeply concerned about Tom Cruise, that ticking time bomb. The intervals between save-load cycles were growing longer and longer, which meant the plot had reached the middle stage, perhaps even the late stage. But Fang Zheng had no intention of giving Tom Cruise the chance to save humanity. He needed that Boss for a quest turn-in. If it got blown up by a grenade, everything would be over.
That was why he had come here.
London, Heathrow Frontline Base.
Fang Zheng stared intently at the figure of a man in uniform ahead. He was currently running laps with the other soldiers, yet he looked completely at ease, as though he had done this many times before. If this were your first time seeing him, you would never associate him with a desk officer. You would assume he was a battle-hardened veteran.
This was the protagonist of Edge of Tomorrow, the man with terrible luck and incredibly good luck at the same time: Tom Cruise.
The entire base was heavily guarded. Logically speaking, Fang Zheng should never have been able to sneak in. But in truth, he didn't need to. With Psionic power, he could project his mind throughout the entire Heathrow Base and lock onto any target he wanted.
Honestly, Fang Zheng found Psionic power quite useful. There was only one problem: when he had Kerrigan's Soul Stone equipped, he couldn't use Arthas's skills, and naturally, he couldn't use Holy Light either. Perhaps that was the flaw of a Dimension Mage. Although Fang Zheng's Zerg were currently invincible, he knew that if he didn't have Kerrigan's Soul Stone equipped, the Zerg likewise wouldn't acknowledge him as their master.
Don't ask Fang Zheng how he knew. That story was nothing but tears.
Still, Fang Zheng had no choice, because this had been the original design of the Dimensional Codex. In fact, most skills players learned while equipping Soul Stones were derivative skills of those Soul Stones. For example, the Royal Cross Swordsmanship Fang Zheng had learned through a quest belonged to the skill branch under Arthas's Soul Stone. Therefore, that skill could only take effect when Fang Zheng had it equipped. Without it, Fang Zheng could still swing a sword for show, but he couldn't use Holy Light, so the skill's effects were naturally useless.
Once all uses of a Soul Stone had been exhausted and it shattered, the player could choose one skill with the highest proficiency to inherit onto their status panel. Only then would that skill break free from the Soul Stone and become the player's exclusive skill. Of course, if the player hadn't raised their skill proficiency much... heh heh heh, then it would depend on luck, or perhaps even be random.
Fang Zheng had originally thought that this design of his was brilliant, certain that it would fleece plenty of big-spending players. But now that he looked at it... it really was best to leave people some room.
Using Psionic power, Fang Zheng watched Tom Cruise begin doing push-ups under the instructor's orders. But he knew that before long, Tom Cruise would use a passing vehicle as cover to slip away, then meet up with the female lead and continue their endless journey of slaughter.
What Fang Zheng needed to do was take care of Tom Cruise while he had the chance.
There was something interesting about this. Other movies rarely explained how to disable the protagonist's cheat ability, but in Edge of Tomorrow, practically every viewer knew how to get rid of Tom Cruise's cheat. The process was ridiculously simple: just don't kill him immediately. Let him bleed slowly, or give him a blood transfusion, and Tom Cruise's cheat would be completely finished.
So Fang Zheng's task was simple. He only needed to find an opportunity to seriously injure Tom Cruise and get him a blood transfusion. Then it would be time for Fang Zheng and the others to make their entrance.
As for how to do it... had he ever watched Final Destination?
Just then, a vehicle drove past the line of soldiers doing push-ups. Seeing it approach, Tom Cruise's expression changed slightly. He glanced around, then, at the instant the vehicle came near, rolled sideways beneath it. At the same time, Fang Zheng activated his Psionic power. The vehicle suddenly swerved sharply, and its rear wheel immediately rolled toward Tom Cruise's legs!
That was Fang Zheng's plan!
In Fang Zheng's view, as long as the vehicle successfully broke Tom Cruise's legs, he would immediately be sent for treatment. Then, once he received a blood transfusion, Fang Zheng's mission would be complete. After that, the Zerg army could march out, and nothing would be a problem.
But then, something Fang Zheng hadn't expected happened.
Perhaps the driver was either too skilled or too terrible. Just as the rear wheel was about to crush Tom Cruise's legs, the entire vehicle suddenly lurched sideways and flipped over onto the roadside. This startled everyone else, and soldiers quickly rushed over to help. Tom Cruise was also startled. He stood up and gave the overturned vehicle a wary look. After thinking for a moment, he hurried toward the end of the road while no one was paying attention.
"..."
Fine. Maybe he still wasn't proficient enough at controlling Psionic power.
Watching Tom Cruise's retreating figure helplessly, Fang Zheng shrugged and locked onto him again. There would be plenty more opportunities along the way while Tom Cruise went to find the female lead. There was no need to rush.
Then Fang Zheng watched Tom Cruise arrive at the training ground and risk entering the grounds to approach the female lead. At the same time, Fang Zheng made another move.
"Whoosh!!"
A mechanical target that had been still suddenly began spinning at high speed and charged toward Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise froze at the sight of the suddenly activated target. But just as he was about to be injured by it, perhaps because it had been used for too long, the base of the mechanical target suddenly snapped with a "crack." The spinning target skimmed past Tom Cruise and slammed heavily into the wall beside him.
"..."
Fine. I knew these old pieces of junk couldn't be trusted.
At the training ground, Tom Cruise met with the female lead. After exchanging a few words, the two turned and left. Led by her, they drove toward the maintenance center.
"Bang!!"
But just as they reached the entrance to the maintenance center, the front-left tire suddenly burst. The out-of-control jeep lurched toward the nearby wall, while the female lead stomped hard on the brakes. Under her control, the jeep slowed down more and more, until it finally stopped just before hitting the wall.
"..."
Fine. It was my fault for not calculating action and reaction forces.
As the two hurried into the maintenance factory and headed deeper inside, a fragment from a Mecha that was being repaired suddenly sprang up with a "ding," flying toward Tom Cruise's arm. Just as it was about to sever his arm, a gust of wind suddenly blew through, knocking the fragment off course and into the wall beside him, startling Tom Cruise.
"..."
Fine. I didn't account for aerodynamics... my ass!
Watching the scene through Psionic power, Fang Zheng was practically ready to flip the table.
Once or twice was a coincidence. Could three or four times still be a coincidence? Did they think he was an idiot?
"Ugh..."
Thus, Fang Zheng helplessly realized that before disabling the other man's cheat ability, there was one more thing he needed to do.
That was to face Tom Cruise's Protagonist Halo head-on and get rid of it.
Before you continue