Dominator of Time and Space

Black Sugar Bar, Shanghe District—

Before dawn had broken, Fang Xiu stood there holding the Black Sugar Bar card and discovered that the place had already burned into ruins. The sign at the entrance had fallen to the ground, and a cordon had been set up around the area.

"Burned down? What happened here before?"

Fang Xiu looked the place over and found that the fire had occurred some time ago. It must have been enormous, having destroyed the entire bar as well as the first and second floors.

Fang Xiu stepped over the yellow cordon and entered. By the faint light of dawn, he could see chalk outlines on the ground marking where people had fallen.

"Looks like quite a few people died?"

Fang Xiu searched inside and out and found that there had indeed been many deaths. The ground was covered with them; judging by the number, there had to have been at least twenty.

Fang Xiu suddenly recalled the news from ten days ago. He had heard that a major fire had broken out in the city, causing panic and a stampede inside a bar. More than twenty people had failed to escape and died within. He had not expected this to be the very place.

Yet when Fang Xiu looked at the body outlines on the ground, many of the corpses had been dismembered—heads severed, bodies cut in half at the waist. This did not look anything like a fire-and-stampede incident.

"Was this connected to that white monster Killer and his two companions? Or were the so-called fire and deaths caused by those three?"

As he passed through the bar's main hall, Fang Xiu suddenly noticed a flicker of light seeming to flash from the restroom, only to vanish in an instant.

Fang Xiu immediately ran toward the restroom, but the moment he rushed inside, he felt himself slam into an invisible wall. With a bang, his whole body was plastered against it, his nose nearly knocked crooked.

"Ah!..."

Fang Xiu tilted his head back and pressed his nose, looking ahead of himself, but he still could not see anything.

But at that moment, silver light suddenly flickered in Fang Xiu's eyes. Gorgeous silver clocks replaced his eyes and pupils, illuminating the true scene before him.

In the pitch-black bar restroom, there was actually a slanted Void Wall. It was entirely golden, with countless runes writhing and flowing across its surface.

This miraculous sight completely shattered Fang Xiu's understanding and worldview.

He retreated again and again. The invisible wall slanted like a vortex, quietly flowing and turning. The golden radiance and drifting motes it gave off dyed the entire space into a golden world. Fang Xiu stretched out his hand and saw fine golden sand flowing through his fingers.

Fang Xiu walked over and lightly pressed his finger against the Void Wall. At once, a silver mark lit up upon it—it was his handprint.

"Drip!"

Like a stone falling into water, the entire Void Wall was completely activated. Runes flowed like mad, surging from the vortex and gathering into a great river, forming a golden pillar of light that shot into the sky.

Fang Xiu's mouth fell open. He sensed a powerful aura arriving from the depths of the vortex, crossing Endless Spacetime to reach him. A gaze like that of Gods and Devils fixed upon him.

A shadow that seemed both god and demon appeared upon the Void Wall. The golden figure stood three meters tall, entirely composed of mysterious runes and words. Fang Xiu could only make out its movements; standing before it, he was like a tiny dwarf. Everything seemed to exist solely to set off its entrance.

"Whoa?" To Fang Xiu, this sight was so outrageous that if someone told him the Jade Emperor had descended to the mortal world, he would have believed it.

Then the other party spoke, and the very first sentence left Fang Xiu utterly bewildered.

"Are you the Dominator of Time and Space of Time and Space No. 22856? I am the Dominator of Time and Space of 12568 Space-Time. Due to my negligence, three low-level lifeforms escaped through this Spacetime Distortion Node into your spacetime. Please fulfill your duties and eliminate or apprehend them." The other party's tone was cold and detached, like an emotionless machine—or a god standing high above all things.

"Huh?" Fang Xiu could not understand a word of what the other party was saying.

"I kept this Spacetime Distortion Node open, waiting for the Dominator of Time and Space of your spacetime to contact me. I did not expect it would take until now to reach you. The three low-level lifeforms are a Deep One, a Red Devil, and a Deceitful Clown Demon."

"I investigated and found that your spacetime is a Non-Magical Technological Plane. Thus, extraordinary lifeforms such as them must find you and attach themselves to a high-dimensional extraordinary lifeform like you in order to continue surviving. I assume you have already encountered them?"

Fang Xiu fell silent for a moment. He felt that he might be conversing with a powerful existence from another spacetime. Setting everything else aside, a title like Dominator of Time and Space sounded incredibly lofty.

Fang Xiu raised his head to look at him. "I'm not the so-called Dominator of Time and Space you mentioned. But one of the three people you spoke of has already been killed by me. The other two are hunting me down. I'm sorry, but I currently have no ability to apprehend or kill them."

The other party fell silent at once, perhaps astonished by Fang Xiu's uselessness—unable to handle even such low-level lifeforms.

"You are No. 22856! There can be no doubt!" The god-and-demon-like gaze fell upon Fang Xiu, utterly certain of his identity.

"As a Mythical Lifeform, I cannot pass through this narrow spacetime node in my divine posture. Moreover, my descent would cause tremendous destruction to your location and everything around it. From what you have said, you should have only just become a Dominator of Time and Space and are not yet able to use your own abilities."

The other party extended a golden hand from the vortex. Its palm shone with dazzling light as it held a ring. "This is a Saint Ring. It can summon a Saintly Posture, but because the plane where you are located is a non-magical plane without a magic net, its power is suppressed to the limit. It may be destroyed after only a few uses, but eliminating the remaining two low-level lifeforms should not be a problem."

"I must erase this Spacetime Distortion Node, or it will trigger even greater spacetime turbulence."

After the other party finished speaking, the enormous pillar of light began to disperse bit by bit. This twisted golden vortex was gradually repaired as well. As the golden sands of time slowly receded, the other party's huge figure of light also began to fade.

"At the next Time-Space Management Conference, I will thank you in person. Farewell, No. 22856." After leaving those final words behind, the other party vanished completely before Fang Xiu's eyes, and everything returned to the dark ruins.

The sun had just risen. Early Morning's golden-red light shone in, falling behind Fang Xiu and casting a long shadow before him.

A white ring fell to the ground. Fang Xiu picked it up, then involuntarily scratched his head, feeling as though a huge character for embarrassment had been written across his face.

Fang Xiu's mind still had not caught up. He had not even remembered what that guy had said. "Twenty-two-whatever-number Dominator of Time and Space?"