Time rewound to one second earlier.
Seeing the glass barrier in front of the Rabbit Nurse disappear, Chen Feng decisively activated his cybernetic implant, the Sandevistan:
"Za Warudo!"
"Time, stop!"
In an instant, as though someone had pressed the slow-motion button, everyone around him slowed to a crawl.
It felt as if he had entered a world playing at 0.25 speed.
Chen Feng himself was unaffected, though. He ran calmly up to the Rabbit Nurse, who showed no reaction whatsoever.
Fucking die!
Chen Feng clenched his massive fists and hammered her head over and over, weaving basic attacks between normal attacks and normal attacks between basic attacks, landing more than a dozen punches squarely on her face!
Once he finished, Chen Feng suddenly felt the world spin around him, with the same nauseating discomfort as being drunk and ready to puke.
After several days of private training, Chen Feng knew his body had reached its limit. He quit while he was ahead and deactivated the Sandevistan.
"Time, resume!"
In an instant.
The dozen or so punches Chen Feng had thrown detonated against the Rabbit Nurse's head all at once!
Each punch carried enough force to pulverize a brick. Even a meat shield like the Pig Instructor would have had to learn his lesson in his next life after taking that combo.
So the nurse's head exploded on the spot.
She Qingqing's eyes widened at the sight, and she couldn't help exclaiming, "How did you do that?"
"Easy. All you need are hands."
Chen Feng looked completely unruffled, as though he had just done something as trivial as eating or drinking.
Then he strolled over to the Rabbit Nurse, crouched down, and began searching her.
Strange. Where did that Logbook go? Did it disappear when the nurse died?
She Qingqing couldn't help asking, "What are you trying to do?"
"Not her."
Chen Feng firmly rejected the idea and explained, "I'm just checking whether she's really dead, so she doesn't come back to life."
Unaware of what was happening, Li Guolong asked, "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 now."
But just then, a figure in white blocked their path.
"No one leaves the sanatorium without my permission."
Rabbit ears, a nurse's uniform, rubber shoes.
Seeing the monster whose head he had just pounded into minced meat standing before him again, completely unharmed, Chen Feng's heart sank. "You're not dead?"
The instant the last word left his mouth.
Chen Feng activated the Sandevistan again. Launching a sneak attack under cover of conversation was his specialty.
This time, however, he failed.
There was a bang.
Chen Feng slammed into a translucent barrier. He hastily backed up two steps and deactivated the Sandevistan. "Fuck. This rabbit's pretty smart. She put up a barrier in advance."
Li Guolong blinked, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Feng had been standing right beside him. How had he suddenly appeared in front of the monster?
The Rabbit Nurse was startled too. "That speed... you're not human?"
Chen Feng sneered. "Hey, hey. A gentleman uses his fists, not his mouth. If you want to fight, then fight. Why resort to insults?"
Just then, She Qingqing said worriedly, "Chen Feng, your nose is bleeding."
"I know."
Chen Feng wiped his nose. Sure enough, his hand came away red.
The Sandevistan had severe side effects. In his current condition, using it once a day was still within safe limits. Any more would damage his memory and his body.
Speaking of which, Chen Feng found that rather strange.
The Sandevistan was a body-modification component from a mechanized future. Both V, the protagonist of the game Cyberpunk 2077, and David, the protagonist of the anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, had used it.
In the Cyberpunk universe, the more modifications someone had, the stronger they generally were.
V was a super soldier who had undergone all sorts of modifications. There wasn't enough flesh left on his entire body to cook a plate of minced pork vermicelli, so Chen Feng had no complaints about him strolling around with the Sandevistan running.
But David from the anime was just a student, yet he had used the Sandevistan eight times on the very first day he got it.
Eight times!
"And I can only use it once."
"I can't even match a student?"
What Chen Feng didn't know was that although he was physically tougher than David, David was a man from the future, from the year 2077, and already had other supporting cybernetic implants installed. Apart from the Sandevistan, Chen Feng's body was entirely the original flesh and blood his parents had given him.
It was like fitting a car engine into a fine horse. Compatibility problems were perfectly normal.
The Rabbit Nurse noticed Chen Feng's weakness too. She lowered her barrier and taunted him. "As long as I'm in the hospital, you can forget about killing me."
She had meant those words to crush his spirit and drive him to despair.
But to Chen Feng, they revealed two important pieces of information.
The nurse said she couldn't die as long as she was in the hospital.
Then, conversely, if I had Building-Burst Rank strength and could punch her right out of the hospital, wouldn't she be able to die?
Although Chen Feng lacked Building-Burst Rank strength, he found a solution in the other piece of information.
Sandevistan, activate for the third time!
The instant Chen Feng entered bullet time, he felt a splitting headache, as though his skull were about to explode.
I can't take this. Hurry!
Chen Feng appeared beside the Rabbit Nurse in an instant. This time, however, he didn't try to kill her. Instead, he snatched her Logbook and pen.
The Logbook automatically scanned the names of nearby creatures, and the Rabbit Nurse was no exception!
Chen Feng quickly flipped to the Rabbit Nurse's page.
Overcoming immortality was indeed a difficult problem.
But two runs ago, the nurse had already shown him how to solve it.
You revive whenever you die?
Then what if I turn you into an undying Imposter who can't move? What will you do then?
Chen Feng swiftly drew five circles with the pen.
Just then, the Sandevistan wore off.
The Rabbit Nurse was still laughing wildly, but as she laughed, she suddenly felt her entire body stiffen. She gradually lost control of it, sending her into an instant panic. Before she could ask what was happening, however, she lost control of her throat and vocal cords, leaving her unable to utter a word.
Chen Feng watched the 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 fucking do both. If you don't die, who will?"
But just then, Chen Feng's head suddenly grew heavy, and he fell flat on the floor.
"Feng!"
"Chen Feng!"
Chen Feng waved a hand, telling them not to panic. "I'm fine. Just a little dizzy. Listen carefully. There's a village surrounding this mental hospital, and all the villagers are Imposters. There's no way to avoid being spotted by them."
"So you need to go to the Internet Addiction Academy. Qingqing, the Imposters there are no match for you. You and Guolong should release all the students and have them scatter to draw attention."
"Meanwhile, we'll hide at the Happiness Internet Cafe. Its third floor is an alternate space, and it's very safe. Remember, once you escape, absolutely do not call your parents or the police..."
After giving all his instructions, Chen Feng's vision went black, and he passed out.
When Chen Feng woke again, familiar words reached his ears.
"You're awake?"
Did I die again?
Chen Feng opened his eyes in despair. A fat face filled his vision. "Man, you've been asleep for almost a whole day."
Scared the shit 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, icy marble, but on a soft bed. He looked around at the furnishings: a computer, a gaming chair, a bed, and central air conditioning.
There was no mistaking it. This was the staff dormitory on the second floor of the Happiness Internet Cafe.
So we managed to escape last night.
Chen Feng nearly saved his game straight away to calm his nerves, but out of caution, he decided to figure out their current situation before doing anything else.
"Guolong, he's awake!"
At the fat guy's shout, Li Guolong, Yellow Hair, and She Qingqing entered the room.
From their conversation, Chen Feng learned that they had secretly released all the students and patients the previous night, then escaped to the Internet Cafe under cover of darkness, avoiding surveillance cameras along the way.
Chen Feng nodded approvingly. "You actually thought to use the students and patients as a distraction. Guolong, you did great! Really great."
Li Guolong froze at those words. "Feng, what are you talking about? Weren't you the one who told us to do that?"
"I... I was?"
Chen Feng patted his head in confusion. Because he had overused the Sandevistan, his head still hurt a little, and his memories of last night were somewhat hazy.
"Then we should be safe now?"
"Only for the time being."
Li Guolong turned on the computer in the room and pulled up a news report for Chen Feng. "Feng, take a look for yourself."
A rich male announcer's voice came from the speakers. "Yesterday, a major security incident occurred at Cihang City's Fourth Mental Hospital. Several psychiatric patients murdered their attending physician and escaped via Xuetian Road. Most of the patients have now been recaptured, but five remain at large. Police are conducting an intensive search. Members of the public with relevant information are urged to report it immediately."
"..."
"At a press conference, Dean Ox of the Fourth Mental Hospital made the following statement."
On-screen, a middle-aged man in a yellow training suit spoke calmly into the camera. "I assure every resident of Cihang City that we will capture these lunatics and return them to the hospital as soon as possible."
"No one escapes from the hospital. No—one—ever."
Before you continue