Chapter Eleven: Sorry, I'm Late
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In the distance.
A tremendous crash rang out from a corner on the fifth floor of the shopping mall.
It was the sound of some heavy object being violently slammed to the ground.
Knowing that chaos had begun, Su Wen accelerated past the corner.
Twenty meters ahead of him.
A little girl lay sprawled on the floor, too frightened to speak.
Above her, the structure of a small shop swayed precariously, on the verge of collapsing onto her.
“Mommy, I’m scared.”
One of the girl’s feet was trapped beneath the fallen wooden counter, and she could not pull it free.
Crying, she pleaded,
“Somebody, please save me! Mommy, I’m scared!”
Nearly everyone in the mall was fleeing in terror. Several stampedes had already broken out.
Screams, curses, and fear swept through the crowd,
drowning out the girl’s faint cries for help.
Su Wen had once seen a line in the frontispiece of Qin Mingyuan’s Civilization Chronicle:
(Few people are capable of standing forth when confronted by a terror worthy of a nightmare.
And among those few,
most leave this world in silence before they even have the chance to write their epitaphs.
We call them heroes. But the word “hero” is perhaps not praise at all—only an elegy.)
And at this very moment,
Su Wen saw that familiar figure.
She had thrown aside the handbag she cherished above all else.
Then she strained with all her might against the fallen counter, trying to save the little girl.
But—
the young woman’s strength was far too feeble to move the long wooden counter.
The next second,
Jiang Menghan sensed that the ceiling beam above her had finally lost the last thread of support amid its precarious swaying.
She gently shielded the little girl beneath her, then said softly,
“If I hadn’t been burdened with all that bad luck, perhaps you would never have encountered any of this.
I’m sorry. I can’t save anyone.”
In what was likely the final fragment of her life,
the girl abandoned her usual coldness and spoke with wistful remembrance:
“I hope that idiot listened to someone’s advice for once and has already left this place.”
In an instant,
the building structure came crashing down.
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Yet it did not touch her.
Under the terrified gaze of the fleeing crowd,
a radiant golden knight’s tower shield stood between the girl and the beams crashing down upon her.
It transformed into an immovable Great Wall at the edge of despair.
【Judge Me First】!!!
Su Wen arrived in time, a split second before disaster struck.
“Jiang Menghan, an idiot wouldn’t be afraid.”
Hearing that familiar voice behind her, her reply caught slightly in her throat.
For no matter how strong she might be, Jiang Menghan was still only an ordinary girl who had never encountered anything supernatural:
“Didn’t I tell you to leave?”
Hearing her say this,
he gently smoothed the strands of hair beside her ear and replied,
“Sorry. I’m late.”
【“Judge Me First” determination successful】
【“Just Judgment” ruling: Protection target Jiang Menghan suffered blunt-force damage from falling debris. Damage transfer rate: 95% (maximum level). Damage sustained this time: below 0.5. Injury status not activated.】
【Guardian—Chief Player Su Wen: after recalculation following positional shield deflection, transferred blunt-force damage settled at 17 points.】
【No external bodily structural damage detected.】
【Ascension Lineage—Knight—Tough Physique (active); Origin Source—Trade Wind—Rejuvenation (active). Slowly recovering.】
He felt a tightness in his chest.
This was the first time Su Wen had experienced supernatural power in the real world.
Compared with 【Death】 and 【Reload】 within the game, the feedback of pain in reality was far more genuine.
Suppressing the discomfort caused by the transferred damage, he silently braced the beam pressing down upon the radiant golden Judgment Shield.
The first-order psionic vortex within his body continually accumulated strength.
The next second,
he heaved the wooden structure upward with all his might, then sent it crashing into an empty area with a noise even greater than before.
In the distance,
the supernatural being who had already lost control of his mind turned toward them at the tremendous sound.
Roaring, he charged over with a butcher’s cleaver dripping with blood and flesh.
“Can you win?”
Jiang Menghan struggled to her feet. She was not a weak girl.
On the contrary, the instant she escaped danger, she forcibly suppressed her fear with reason. She did not want to become a burden to Su Wen:
“Let’s go.”
“It’s fine.”
Su Wen smiled.
“Take the little girl somewhere safe. Go on ahead.”
He equipped 【Title: Turning the Tables】.
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Then he raised his middle finger at the distant berserker, who had lost all humanity and could only be called a monster:
【Achievement Description: Supernatural being? You’re so weak you couldn’t even beat the old hen at the village entrance.】
In the distance,
the roaring monster might not have understood the provocation issued by a 【Knight】.
But he sensed the abundant psionic activity and immense vitality within Su Wen’s body.
He wanted—
blood!
【Appraisal: Huang Zhiming, kitchen butcher and psionic berserker. Due to contamination by an unidentified source (@&*#), his supernatural traits (strength specialization and bloodlust) have been intensified, resulting in an irrational rampage. Danger Rating: First Order.】
In an instant,
the moment Su Wen completed his appraisal,
the enormous butcher’s cleaver swung toward his face.
【Storage Box: Store—Butcher’s Cleaver】
【Target weapon is currently being held. Unable to seize it. Storage failed.】
Su Wen had already anticipated something like this. After all, during the previous progress of the 【Overlimit Act】 game, he had only managed to seize the supernatural assassin’s pistol by catching him off guard.
Therefore,
while operating the Storage Box, he had already plotted his rolling path and narrowly evaded the slash.
Then Su Wen reached toward the scattered debris beside him.
【Storage Box: Store—Solid Iron Round Stool】
【Storage space full (two slots).】
【Storage Box operation: Projection】
In an instant, the massive solid-iron stool was projected from above the berserker and slammed heavily into his body.
Su Wen knew that this blow was not enough to deprive a strength-type Awakened of his ability to move.
At the instant the enemy lost his balance, he followed up with three precise, swift, and vicious kicks in rapid succession, completely destroying the berserker’s staggering legwork and balance.
With a thunderous crash,
the grotesquely muscular body of the kitchen butcher collapsed to one knee before him.
Su Wen merely watched him and said calmly,
“The killer is brutal and wanton, follows no order, and resists not with his own will.”
【Judgment complete】
【Guilty verdict confirmed】
A moment later,
a pure-silver Judgment Hammer, covered in intricate patterns, solidified in Su Wen’s hand.
Then,
amid the resonance between the heavy psionic force of will and the vast silver sea of the collective consciousness,
it came crashing down.
【Absolution】!
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