Buzz!
A dazzling golden clock face rose beneath Bai Ye's feet, and the gears of time came to an abrupt halt.
All sounds seemed to peel away from his ears, leaving only the sound of his own breathing between heaven and earth.
Carried by inertia, Bai Ye ran another two meters before barely managing to stop.
As everyone knew, it was difficult for a person sprinting at full speed to change direction sharply due to inertia. That was why he had not chosen to forcibly turn around and fire, instead decisively activating Time Stop.
When he turned around, he came face-to-face with a pair of pale, lifeless eyes—the gray sparrow's eyes!
The eagle-like gray sparrow was frozen in midair three meters above the ground like a specimen, its gray-feathered wings spread wide and its sharp talons aimed straight at Bai Ye's head.
That was close!
If Bai Ye had activated Time Stop one or two seconds later, his skull would have burst open.
A nameless fury rose in his heart. "Trying to blow my head off? I'll blow yours off first!"
Click!
Breath of Bones was cocked, its muzzle aimed straight at the gray sparrow's head.
At such close range, firing at a motionless target, even an elementary school student would not miss. Bai Ye certainly would not.
Bang!
A blood-glowing bullet flew from the muzzle, yet the scene of a head bursting apart did not appear.
Bai Ye froze. He stared blankly at the crimson bullet suspended in midair, only two centimeters from the muzzle.
It hung there without moving.
"What is this?"
"Could it be..."
Bai Ye suddenly thought of a possibility. He had stopped the entire world's time. In a time-stopped world, the only things that could move were himself and objects he was touching. The bullet had left him, so it too had become frozen.
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Otherwise, he could only run around naked during Time Stop, since clothes counted as external objects too.
So he quickly pulled away from the gray sparrow, then restored time.
The instant time resumed, whoosh!
The previously frozen crimson bullet vanished from Bai Ye's sight in an instant. At the same time, the gray sparrow's head exploded, spraying blood everywhere.
The headless corpse flapped its wings twice before falling to the ground.
"Good, good. Firearms work. It's just a little more troublesome." Feeling Blood Qi surge through his body, Bai Ye took off running again without looking back.
By then, there was no one left on the streets. More precisely, aside from Bai Ye, there were no living people.
Over a thousand gray sparrows rampaged through Gray Soil Town, killing more than a hundred people in just a few minutes. Everyone else had hidden indoors.
Some gray sparrows perched on corpses, tearing and gnawing at them bit by bit. Others slammed frantically into windows and broke inside, and before long, miserable screams rang out from the houses.
Another group had set their sights on Bai Ye.
The only person running down the street was simply too conspicuous.
More than a dozen gray sparrows flapped their wings and flew toward Bai Ye in unison.
Bai Ye abruptly dodged into an alley formed by the houses. The cramped terrain prevented the gray sparrows from attacking together, forcing them to come one at a time to their deaths.
He stopped, and a hint of savagery surfaced in his defiant eyes.
He coldly watched the first gray sparrow rushing toward him, holding Breath of Bones as he waited quietly.
Ten meters, five meters, three meters... now!
Bang!
Bloodlight and firelight burst together. The headless gray sparrow dropped from the sky like a crashing plane, its mangled body scraping violently across the ground under the force of inertia and kicking up clouds of dust before barely stopping at Bai Ye's feet.
This time, he did not use Time Stop. Instead, he relied on the terrain. Firing in the narrow alley at gray sparrows swooping straight at him, it was hard for him to miss.
The Blood Qi flowing from Breath of Bones entered his body. Feeling something called strength grow wildly within him, the savagery in Bai Ye's eyes deepened, and a cruel grin curled across his lips.
"Hehehe... become my strength!"
Bang bang bang...
The handgun's roar rang out continuously. Firelight flickered in the dim alley, repeatedly illuminating that bloodstained face.
A moment later, gray sparrow corpses were piled beneath Bai Ye's feet, and the foul-smelling blood had soaked his shoes.
Yet gray sparrows still charged at him without fear of death.
"Halftime break."
Like the referee of this battle, with one command, every contestant froze where they stood.
A sharp talon stopped half a meter from his face. He could even clearly count the feathers on the gray sparrow's body.
In the dark alley piled with corpses, the blood-covered youth lowered his head with an indifferent expression, using his blood-smeared palm to load bullets one by one. Once all six bullets were loaded, he flicked the revolver in his hand, and the cylinder snapped back into place with a crisp mechanical click.
The youth raised his head, a savage grin on his lips. "The slaughter continues."
Bang bang bang...
After emptying the cylinder again, Bai Ye turned and ran, because he had run out of bullets.
This time, he ran much faster than before. His physical abilities had improved again, but he still could not outrun the gray sparrows. It was a racial advantage—he did not have wings.
Left with no choice, he repeatedly activated Time Stop to shake off the gray sparrows, wasting quite a bit of time before finally reaching Tire Tavern.
But when Bai Ye arrived at Tire Tavern, he found the door locked. He pushed it twice and peered through the crack, seeing many tables and chairs piled behind the entrance.
Someone was inside?
"Open the door!" Bai Ye shouted.
There was no response from inside.
So he kicked the door several times.
At last, a voice came from within.
"Leave! Don't lead the gray sparrows here!"
Bai Ye recognized the speaker. It was Old Wang, the owner of Tire Tavern.
Old Wang was also one of Tan Jie's people. Although he was older, he had read some books, knew how to brew alcohol, and had some cooking skills, so he was specifically in charge of logistics.
He was the one who had named the tavern Old Times. He did not like associating with Tan Jie and the others. On ordinary days, he always held a few books from before the Cataclysm and read them, often complaining that he had not been born in the Civilized Era.
"Old Wang, it's me. Open the door. There's no danger outside for now. I need bullets to deal with the gray sparrows."
He had temporarily shaken off the gray sparrows with Time Stop. They would not catch up anytime soon.
"I know it's you, Bai Ye, but I can't open the door for you. What if the gray sparrows take the chance to get in?" Old Wang's trembling voice sounded from inside.
"Don't blame me for leaving you to die. I just want to live. I have no obligation to save you."
Bai Ye stopped kicking the door. He stood quietly in front of it. By then, the gray sparrows circling in the sky had already noticed him.
"I'll say this one last time. Open the door."
There was an unquestionable edge to his indifferent words. Panicked inside, Old Wang seemed to have been provoked, and he began shouting wildly.
"You really think you're some deputy commander?! You're just a lucky brat who stepped in shit! You haven't even gone to school—what makes you qualified to order me around?!"
Old Wang shouted as if venting his frustrations, but there was no reply from outside. All he heard was the sound of gray sparrows flapping their wings as they swooped in to kill.
His face instantly turned pale. He curled up in the corner by the liquor cabinet, trembling all over, not daring to look up.
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