One Hour

The term "free fall" wasn't hard to understand. A little thought made it clear what was happening, but precisely because they understood, they looked at Zhang Wei with even greater horror. Are you a demon?!

"Boss, are you saying Jie Ge has been in free fall this whole time?" Pardo accepted Zhang Wei's coin, and even her tone became much more enthusiastic.

"But Jie Ge is very strong. He should be able to break through Imaginary Space, right?"

Pardo's question was also the question on the minds of several Flame-Chasers. If Chrono unleashed his full strength, breaking through the space and escaping should not have been a problem.

"Normally, Chrono's strength could break through it, but I sealed his power. So he's essentially an ordinary person, undergoing free fall with no landing point," Zhang Wei said casually.

Pardo and the others looked at Zhang Wei with strange expressions. Are you a demon?! Who would have thought that such a cheerful, handsome guy could be so devious? Thinking of Chrono, they could not help observing a moment of silence for him. Poor Chrono.

"The Authority of Binding?"

Kevin fell into thought. With the Authority and Power of Finality, Zhang Wei could naturally use the Authority of Binding. It was indeed one way to prevent Chrono, a Memory Body, from using his power.

"Bingo, correct. It's the Authority of Binding. You shouldn't be unfamiliar with it!" Zhang Wei smiled and said meaningfully. It was not purely Binding, though. The Power of Finality was simply so strong that it forcibly suppressed Chrono's strength.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of the Flame-Chasers turned extremely grave. Even the ever-optimistic Elysia fell silent. The tragedy of Binding had left only Flame-Chasers like them behind. It could be called their most painful battle.

Almost no Flame-Chaser was willing to mention the Law Herrscher from back then. It had simply been a nightmare.

In the end, Elysia broke the oppressive silence. "Captain Zhang Wei, when will Chrono come back?"

She knew that Chrono might be right beside them now, only in a different space. Zhang Wei, who wielded the Power of Finality, had banished him there, and they could not bring him back. Only when Zhang Wei relented could Chrono return!

Aponia and the others also looked at Zhang Wei. Their attention had shifted away from those painful memories.

"An hour. Let Chrono calm down first. We'll have afternoon tea in the meantime. Mei, I'll leave it to you!" Zhang Wei glanced at the nonexistent watch on his wrist.

"Okay, leave it to me!"

Mei nodded and returned to the Hyperion's kitchen. With so many people, she needed to prepare more pastries and black tea. Oh, right, Eden seemed to like red wine. Zhang Wei happened to have plenty of fine wines in his collection. Rather than letting Himeko keep drinking them, she might as well take some out.

"..."

Elysia opened her mouth. Even she could not imagine what free-falling for an hour felt like. But she knew she definitely did not want to try it. That would absolutely be a nightmare.

The other Flame-Chasers all silently observed a moment of mourning for Chrono. When he came out, he probably would not calm down at all. He would instead completely lose his mind.

Mm!

Seeing the looks in the other Flame-Chasers' eyes, Aponia understood what they meant and sighed softly. Once Chrono came out, to keep him from suffering further, she should probably restrain him with her Discipline. The passionate Master Chrono had never known how to back down.

"Captain, so spatial authority can be used like that! I want to try it next time too!" Kiana looked as though she had discovered a whole new world. She had never expected spatial authority to have such a use. Just thinking about it made her a little excited.

Buzz!

Zhang Wei used his spatial authority to move over parasols, tables, and chairs. While sailing through the Sea of Quantum, they often had afternoon tea while admiring its profound beauty.

"Come whenever you want. There shouldn't be anyone in this world who can defeat you!"

Kevin and the other Flame-Chasers believed Zhang Wei. As the Herrscher of Finality, she truly had no opponents. She could just walk around with her hands in her pockets. Fortunately, Kiana and the others had not become inhuman, or else it would have been a disaster for the world.

As for who had come up with such a vicious tactic as free fall, Elysia in particular could not help wondering. The Previous Civilization had faced the Herrscher of Void, yet they had never seen her use this move. Otherwise, it would have been an experience Elysia would never forget for the rest of her life.

"The refreshments are ready. Please pick whatever you like; I made plenty!" Mei quickly brought out a large spread of tea snacks. They looked, smelled, and tasted perfect, as expected of Cooking Wife with maxed-out cooking skills.

"What delicious pastries, Mei!" Elysia did not stand on ceremony at all. Very naturally, she picked one up and put it into her mouth. Her blue eyes instantly lit up.

"I'm glad you like them!" Mei smiled faintly and looked at Eden. "Miss Eden, this is the Captain's red wine. The decanter is over here!"

Zhang Wei pulled himself away from his "food fight" with Kiana and looked up at the red wine Eden had accepted. His expression changed slightly. Wasn't that one of the only ten bottles he had? And it had been aged for seventy thousand years. Once it was drunk, it would be gone. (Don't ask why red wine could last that long. The answer was omnipotent Honkai Energy.)

"Thank you!"

Before even opening it, Eden knew it was a top-tier wine, far surpassing any she had ever tasted in her time. She could not help looking forward to it.

"Mei, that's my seventy-thousand-year-old treasured wine, you..." Zhang Wei did not know what to say. She really was such a spendthrift wife!

"Captain, should I switch to another bottle?"

Mei's eyes widened. She had not expected the wine to have such a long history. Even Eden, who bore the Signet of Gold, widened her eyes and stared at the red wine in her hand in astonishment.

Everyone else was thinking the same thing: would seventy-thousand-year-old red wine still be good to drink?

"Forget it, drink it if you want. Wine is meant to be drunk!" Zhang Wei felt a little heartache, but he was not that petty. Keeping it was just keeping it, and he still had plenty anyway. Himeko also swiped a few bottles from time to time.

"I never expected it to be such precious wine. I have nothing that could move your heart, so take these—my Signets."

Eden directly took out a pile of Signets and stuffed them all into Zhang Wei's hands. These were all the Signets she had. Elysia's mouth twitched slightly. She knew just how much her best friend loved fine wine. Compared to it, treasures like gemstones were merely worldly possessions.

(What do you mean, nothing that could move my heart? Aren't you enough?)

Zhang Wei casually put away the Signets and muttered to himself, but he did not say it aloud.

"Captain Zhang Wei, can you let Chrono out now?" Aponia reminded him. By now, Chrono's time should have been up.

"Let me see... yes, it's time!"

Snap!

Zhang Wei nodded and snapped his fingers. An Imaginary Channel facing downward appeared above the open ground beside them.

Bang!

The instant the channel opened, Chrono crashed heavily onto the ground with a bang, face-first. He suddenly raised his head, clenched his fists, and spoke in a hoarse voice filled with fury.

"I fell... for an hour..."