Beyond the Cage

Time rewound one second.

The moment the glass barrier in front of Rabbit Nurse vanished, Chen Feng activated his Sandevistan without hesitation.

"Za Warudo!"

"Time, stop!"

In an instant, it was as though someone had hit slow motion. Everyone around him moved at a crawl.

It felt like stepping into a world playing at quarter speed.

Chen Feng, however, was unaffected. He strolled up to Rabbit Nurse, who showed no reaction at all.

Die, you bastard!

Chen Feng clenched his fist and hammered her head again and again. Basic attacks between normal punches, normal punches between basic attacks—he landed more than a dozen blows squarely on her face!

As soon as he finished, the world spun around him. He felt sick, like a drunk about to throw up.

After several days of private practice, Chen Feng knew his body had reached its limit. He stopped while he was ahead and deactivated the Sandevistan.

"Time, resume!"

In an instant.

The dozen-plus punches Chen Feng had thrown exploded against Rabbit Nurse's head all at once!

Each blow carried enough force to pulverize a brick. Even a tank like Pig Instructor would have been lucky to learn a lesson for his next life after taking that barrage.

Rabbit Nurse's head burst on the spot.

She Qingqing's eyes widened at the sight. "How did you do that?"

"With my hands."

Chen Feng's expression remained calm, as though he had done nothing more remarkable than eat or drink.

Then he wandered over to Rabbit Nurse, crouched down, and searched her.

Strange. Where did the Logbook go? Did it vanish when she died?

She Qingqing couldn't help asking, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

Chen Feng promptly denied any ulterior motive. "I just want to make sure she's completely dead, so she can't come back."

Li Guolong, still unsure what had happened, asked, "Brother Feng, is it over? Can I open my eyes?"

Seeing that She Qingqing had put on her blindfold, Chen Feng said casually, "Open them if you want. It's over. We can leave."

But then a white figure blocked their path.

"Without my permission, no one leaves the sanatorium."

Rabbit ears. Nurse's uniform. Rubber shoes.

The monster whose head had just been pounded into minced meat stood before him again, completely unharmed. Chen Feng's heart sank. "You're not dead?"

Before the last word had left his mouth.

Chen Feng activated the Sandevistan again. Attacking under cover of conversation was his specialty.

This time, though, it failed.

Bang!

Chen Feng slammed into a translucent barrier. He hastily took two steps back and deactivated the Sandevistan. "Damn it. This rabbit's pretty smart. She set up a barrier in advance."

Li Guolong blinked, wondering if his eyes had deceived him.

Brother Feng had been standing right beside him. How had he suddenly appeared in front of the monster?

Rabbit Nurse was startled too. "That speed... You're not human?"

Chen Feng sneered. "Hey, hey. We're here to fight, not trade insults. Why are you calling me names?"

Then She Qingqing said worriedly, "Chen Feng, your nose is bleeding."

"I know."

Chen Feng wiped his nose. His hand came away red.

The Sandevistan's side effects were severe. In his current condition, using it once a day was still safe. Any more would damage his memory and body.

Come to think of it, Chen Feng found that strange.

The Sandevistan was a body modification from a mechanical future. V, the protagonist of Cyberpunk 2077, and David, the protagonist of the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime, had both used one.

In the Cyberpunk universe, the more modifications someone had, the stronger they tended to be.

V was a super-soldier who had undergone all kinds of modifications. There was barely enough flesh left on his body to make a stir-fry, so Chen Feng had no objection to him strolling around with the Sandevistan running.

But David in the anime had only been a student, yet he had used the Sandevistan eight times on the very first day he got it.

Eight times!

"And I can only manage once."

"I can't even match a student?"

What Chen Feng didn't know was that although his physique was stronger than David's, David was a man from the future year of 2077. He already had other compatible implants. Apart from the Sandevistan, Chen Feng had nothing but the original flesh and bone his parents had given him.

It was like fitting a racehorse with a car engine. Of course it would struggle to adapt.

Rabbit Nurse noticed his weakness too. She lowered the barrier and taunted him. "As long as I'm in the hospital, you'll never kill me."

She had meant to crush his hopes with those words.

To Chen Feng, however, they revealed two crucial pieces of information.

She said she can't die as long as she's in the hospital.

Then if I were strong enough to blow up a building and could punch her out of the hospital, wouldn't she die?

Chen Feng wasn't strong enough to blow up a building, but the other piece of information gave him another way to beat her.

The Sandevistan activated for the third time!

The instant Chen Feng entered bullet time, a splitting pain tore through his head. It felt as though his skull was about to burst.

I can't hold on. Hurry!

Chen Feng reached Rabbit Nurse in a flash. This time, instead of trying to kill her, he snatched her Logbook and pen.

The Logbook automatically scanned the names of nearby beings. That included Rabbit Nurse!

Chen Feng quickly flipped to her page.

Breaking her immortality was a difficult problem.

But in the run before last, Nurse had already shown him how to solve it.

You revive whenever you die?

Then what if I turn you into an Imposter that can't die but can't move? What will you do then?

Chen Feng swiftly drew five circles with the pen.

At that very moment, the Sandevistan shut off.

Rabbit Nurse was still laughing wildly. But as she laughed, her body suddenly stiffened, and she gradually lost control of it. Panic seized her. Before she could ask what was happening, she lost control of her throat and vocal cords too. Not a word came out.

Chen Feng watched Rabbit Nurse turn into an expressionless Imposter before his eyes.

He spat. "Some villains die because they get cocky. Others die because they talk too much. You did both. If you don't die, who will?"

Then Chen Feng's head suddenly grew heavy, and he fell flat on his face.

"Brother Feng!"

"Chen Feng!"

Chen Feng waved for them not to panic. "I'm fine. Just dizzy. Listen carefully. There's a village around this Mental Hospital, and all the villagers are Imposters. There's no way to avoid being spotted by them."

"So go to the Internet Addiction Academy. Qingqing, the Imposters there are no match for you. You and Guolong need to release all the students. Have them scatter and run to draw attention away."

"Then we'll hide at the Happiness Internet Cafe. The third floor is a separate space. It's very safe. Remember, once you get out, don't call your parents or the police..."

After giving them his instructions, Chen Feng's vision went black, and he passed out.

When Chen Feng woke again, a familiar voice reached his ears.

"You're awake?"

Did I die again?

Chen Feng opened his eyes in despair and found himself staring at a round face. "Good grief, you've been asleep almost a whole day."

Scared the hell out of me. It's just the fat guy.

Chen Feng breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he notice that he was lying not on filthy, cold marble but on a soft bed. He looked around: computers, gaming chairs, beds, central air-conditioning.

There was no mistaking it. This was the staff dormitory on the second floor of the Happiness Internet Cafe.

So they had made it out last night.

Chen Feng almost saved his progress right then to calm his nerves. Out of caution, though, he decided to find out what was going on first.

"Brother Long, he's awake!"

At the fat guy's shout, Li Guolong, Yellow Hair, and She Qingqing entered the room.

As they talked, Chen Feng learned that they had secretly released every student and patient the night before. Then, under cover of darkness, they had avoided the cameras all the way to the Internet Cafe.

Chen Feng nodded approvingly. "You even thought to use the students and patients to draw attention away. Guolong, you did well! Very well."

Li Guolong froze. "Brother Feng, what are you talking about? You told us to do that."

"I did?"

Chen Feng tapped his head in confusion. He had overused the Sandevistan, and his head still ached. His memories of the previous night were hazy too.

"Then we should be safe now?"

"Only for the moment."

Li Guolong turned on the computer in the room and pulled up a news report for Chen Feng. "Brother Feng, see for yourself."

A rich male newscaster's voice came through the speakers. "Yesterday, a major security incident occurred at the Fourth Mental Hospital in Cihang City. Several patients with mental illnesses killed their attending physician and escaped via Xuetian Road. Most have since been recaptured, but five remain at large. Police are conducting an intensive search and ask citizens to report any relevant information immediately."

"..."

"At a press conference, Dean Ox of the Fourth Mental Hospital made the following statement."

On the screen, a middle-aged man in yellow training clothes looked into the camera and said evenly, "I assure every citizen of Cihang City that we will catch these lunatics as soon as possible and return them to the hospital."

"No one escapes the hospital. No one ever has."