The Altered Anchor

With Li Qing unleashing his full power, the blade moved so fast it was like a phantom.

A flash of cold light swept by, and the neck snapped instantly.

Before the blood could even gush out, Li Qing's head was swiftly severed and slid off with the force of the blade.

The head rolled to the ground with a thud, completely exposing the smooth, flat, blackish-red cross-section of the neck.

"Mr. Li Qing!"

Even Josuke Higashikata, was horrified at this moment:

He never expected that Li Qing would be so crazy and so decisive.

That was his own head that was chopped off!

Does he really have that kind of confidence that he can guarantee the success of this outlandish plan?

Hot blood gushed from the headless corpse in front of him.

Josuke Higashikata's body was half-stained with blood, his expression one of shock and disbelief.

But he didn't remain stunned for long, because just then...

Li Qing's head, which had fallen to the ground, suddenly twitched, then he glared fiercely at Josuke:

"Don't just stand there, there's no time left!"

Although no sound was uttered, the meaning in his eyes was crystal clear.

In fact, Li Qing himself only just found out that his body was now so strong that he was not human at all. Even if he only had his head left, he could still live for half a minute.

"."

Josuke Higashikata was startled by the stare and only then did he realize what was happening:

Crazy Diamond!

Despite his severe injuries, he used the Crazy Diamond to pick up Li Qing's head and the arrow together.

"Du la la la la la ah!"

A phantom-like gust of wind from the fist swept out.

Li Qing's head and the arrow shattered into pieces in the force of the punch, but were immediately bound together by a strange power.

Soon, Li Qing's head was completely integrated into the slender arrow shaft.

He's completely depraved now.

He was just an arrow, like the Angelo Rock before him, becoming a dead object with a living consciousness.

"What a wonderful feeling."

"I still retain consciousness, and I can even perceive the outside world with my soul."

"But now I am indeed a lifeless 'dead thing,' with no body to command."

At that moment, Li Qing suddenly understood Angelo's feelings.

At first, it felt novel, but later I quickly fell into the great terror of "death and eternal life".

Fortunately, Li Qing knew he was very confident he could return to human form; otherwise, the terrifying feeling of having his soul imprisoned forever would have been enough to suffocate him.

"Next, we have to fool Diavolo."

"If it should work, it definitely will."

That inexplicable confidence welled up in Li Qing's heart again.

And as he watched intently, the plan was indeed proceeding smoothly as he had envisioned:

Diavolo threatened to kill his mother to force Diablo to help him.

With the help of others, they handed over the arrows.

Diavolo caught off guard and grasped the arrow in his hand.

And after the predicted ten-second safe period ended, the cautious and fearful man couldn't help but activate his past ability.

"The Ouroboros!"

An invisible force of spacetime enveloped Diavolo at that moment.

Diavolo's physical body, clothes, personal belongings, and even the arrow in his hand were all transformed into some higher-dimensional existence in that instant.

"It's a success!"

Li Qing's consciousness could also sense that indescribable, strange power.

His soul was hidden in the arrow, sneaking onto Diavolo's Time Ship.

The blurring is deepening, and in just one second, the arrow that Li Qing has transformed into will follow Diavolo into the river of time.

But Diavolo suddenly fell into deep thought at this moment:

"What if this is a trap set by Li Qing?"

"."

"An arrow! A trap... Could it be that arrow?"

Diavolo's hand, which was gripping the arrow shaft tightly, trembled slightly.

That ominous feeling swelled to its limit at that moment; he believed that the arrow in his hand probably held a hidden secret.

"King Crimson, destroy this arrow!"

Diavolo made his decision without hesitation.

Since he already possessed sufficient power, the other arrow was neither indispensable nor irreplaceable to him.

Destroying an arrow for peace of mind was not a bad deal for him.

In that instant, the King Crimson struck the arrow.

Although the arrow was in an "unselectable" state, that "unselectable" status only applied to other people.

Diavolo and King Crimson are both in a state of ethereal invisibility, similar to the arrow, and can both touch it.

Otherwise, if Diavolo couldn't touch an object that was also in a blurred state, his clothes and watch would have already fallen off.

"To launch an attack at a time like this!"

"Has Diavolo already spotted me?!"

Li Qing felt a chill run down his spine, even though he didn't have a scalp right now.

Regardless, the King Crimson's incredibly fast Riot Games was already hurtling towards them.

Li Qing must show himself and fight back, otherwise, once the arrow is destroyed, he will die helplessly like his predecessor Angelo.

"Datafication—"

"Activate!"

With a thought, Li Qing instantly entered Digitization Mode.

Thus, a contradiction immediately arose between the capabilities of Crazy Diamond and the effects of the Digitization Mode:

Crazy Diamond's ability to alter quality is limited. Li Qing was able to merge with that tiny arrow entirely because he had chopped off his own body, leaving only his head.

On the other hand, due to the system's rules, Li Qing will always have an absolutely complete body when the Digitization Mode is activated.

It's like Dr. Banner wearing a normal person's shirt when he's not transformed.

Once he transforms into the Hulk, the shirt designed for normal people will naturally burst open instantly due to his enormous size after the transformation.

That arrow is now "Dr. Banner's shirt".

Because of the data-driven rules, Li Qing instantly reverted to being a "prankster," and his perfect fusion with the arrow naturally collapsed immediately.

And so, under Diavolo's utterly astonished gaze...

Before the King Crimson's Riot Games could even land, the arrow suddenly shattered into dust.

And from among the fragments of the arrow, an incredibly familiar figure appeared before Diavolo like a phantom.

"Li Qing?!"

Diavolo's eyes were filled with shock:

He initially just felt that there was something strange about the arrow.

But to everyone's surprise, the strange thing about this arrow was Li Qing himself!

What horrified Diavolo even more was that at this very moment, he clearly saw:

Li Qing actually had the same ethereal phenomenon as him!

This guy was also enveloped by the power of spacetime and had silently boarded the time machine that should have been used only by him.

"Damn it! How could this happen?!"

Diavolo was caught off guard by Li Qing's unexpected move:

The "Ouroboros" should not be able to carry living beings through time and space.

But Li Qing Sin used some strange substitution ability to merge himself with the arrow, turning a living thing into an inanimate one.

He transformed himself into a unique being with consciousness but no life force, thus bypassing the rules of the "Ouroboros".

By the time the power of spacetime begins to transform his body and lock onto his consciousness, it will be too late.

Even if Li Qing later reverts to his original form and becomes alive again, he will not stop traversing time and space, as he is already shrouded in the power of time and space.

This is like someone sneaking onto a high-speed train to avoid paying the fare.

The train has already started moving; it's impossible to stop halfway and kick someone off.

Diavolo doesn't even have the ability to make Li Qing pay the fine; he can only watch helplessly as Li Qing's body, like his own, continues to become ethereal and transparent.

"It's beyond stopping now."

"This guy will soon be joining me in the River of Time, going back to the past!"

Diavolo felt a sudden sense of unease amidst his shock:

The cooldown time for "Ouroboros" is a full 10 minutes!

Moreover, the "Epitaph" that peeks into the future could not be used in the past.

This means that in the 10 minutes he just returned to the past, the only ability he could use to deal with Li Qing was "Time Reduction," and he couldn't refresh the cooldown.

"If this continues, I'm definitely going to lose!"

Diavolo's brain raced through this almost frozen moment:

While the King Crimson's strength and speed were indeed comparable to Li Qing's, his mental strength was insufficient to sustain such prolonged, high-intensity close combat.

Li Qing, on the other hand, was tough and resilient, and could withstand a beating.

After experiencing an explosion, a fierce battle, and being decapitated and reborn, and considering the brief period of automatic health regeneration, he now has nearly 30% health remaining.

Don't be fooled by the fact that your health is less than 30%.

When used against the King Crimson, who cannot use "Ouroboros" and cannot "instantly restore full health and mana," 30% of his health is enough for Li Qing to wear him down.

"What should I do? How am I supposed to survive those 10 minutes?"

Diavolo's mind was in turmoil.

The process of blurring the image while holding the *** is coming to an end.

He and Li Qing are about to be sent into the river of time, to a certain "Time Anchor" in the past.

"That's it! I've got it!"

"We cannot stop this time travel, but we haven't officially entered the River of Time yet."

"I can still change the 'Time Anchor' we've returned to!"

Diavolo considered his only advantage at that moment:

He cannot stop this train of time, but he can decide its destination.

In other words, he cannot avoid fighting, but he can choose a time and place that gives him the greatest advantage.

Where should we go?

"At what time and in what place can I stop Li Qing?"

Diavolo's brain was working at lightning speed:

The "anchor point" must be a certain period of time that he himself has erased from the past; this is the target "time".

After time travel, he and Li Qing will both appear near their past selves; this is the target "location".

To find a battlefield that would be advantageous to him, Diavolo must diligently search his memory for the most suitable time and place.

"Etc."

"If the goal is to restrain Li Qing..."

"'There' should be the most suitable place."

At that last moment, Diavolo found the answer.

That memory wasn't far away, but upon closer reflection, it seemed so distant that it felt unfamiliar to him.

But in any case, that time and place that remained in his memory was definitely a perfect battlefield that could help him get out of his immediate predicament.

At that time and in that environment, Li Qing's abilities would be most limited.

"The Ouroboros changes the 'Time Anchor'!"

"Target--"

"March 26, 1999, 4:53 PM."