Chapter 47: 46. This protagonist's aura is really strong!
Chapter 47: 46. This protagonist’s aura is really strong!
Editor: Exodus Tales
Fang Zheng could imagine, Tom Cruise must be in a miserable state.
It wasn’t obvious in the movie, but after actually coming into this world, Fang Zheng could confirm that he had died more than a hundred times.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
This conclusion came after Fang Zheng, while bored, counted the number of times he loaded his save file to the one hundred and first time. But what did it matter? A real man had to die a few hundred times. Back then, when he faced those two Rat Kings in the sewer, didn’t he also die… how many times was it again? Forget it, Fang Zheng couldn’t be bothered to remember.
It should be enough now.
After yet another load, Fang Zheng let out a breath, then turned his head to look at the forest behind him. Viewed from a distance, the forest appeared normal. But Fang Zheng knew very well that beneath the lush trees and underbrush of this forest surrounded by mountains, Zerg lurked everywhere. Hydralisks were hiding underground, Jumping Bugs prowled in the grass, and Flying Dragons nestled quietly among the branches. Everything was ready. After so many loops and reloads, Fang Zheng’s Zerg army numbered in the tens of thousands, and he was confident that this wave of attack would make those alien life forms understand what true destruction was. Compared to the Zerg, which could easily destroy hundreds of planets, these aliens didn’t impress Fang Zheng, aside from their time manipulation skills.
What Fang Zheng couldn’t figure out was, leaving the time paradox aside, how did energy conservation work here? He had emptied the mines underneath multiple times, even drained the shale oil, yet whenever the resources reset, they came back. So where were these resources coming from?
He knew his Zerg hadn’t disappeared due to time retrospection. They genuinely used up all those resources.
Was it parallel worlds? Or something else entirely?
Fang Zheng thought about it for a long time but couldn’t find an answer, so he stopped thinking about it. This stuff was too complicated. He wasn’t a scientist in his past life, didn’t study quantum mechanics or relativity theory. Anyway, he was using it happily now, so he’d just keep using it. As for potential problems? He’d deal with them when they happened.
So next, he needed to… stop time from resetting again.
Fang Zheng wasn’t worried about the aliens, but he was very concerned about Tom Cruise, the ticking time bomb. The intervals between loading the save were getting longer, which suggested the plot was already advancing to the mid or even late stages. But Fang Zheng wasn’t willing to give Tom Cruise the chance to save humanity. He needed that boss for his mission, and it would be a disaster if a grenade killed it.
So he came here.
London, Hisro Frontline Base.
Fang Zheng carefully observed the figure of a man in a military uniform ahead. He was running laps with other soldiers, but he looked at ease, as if he had experienced this many times before. If you were seeing him for the first time, you would never associate him with a staff officer; instead, you would think he was a battle-hardened veteran.
This was the protagonist of “Edge of Tomorrow,” the unlucky yet lucky man, Tom Cruise.
The entire base was heavily guarded. Under normal circumstances, Fang Zheng would never get inside. But in fact, Fang Zheng didn’t need to get in. He used his psionic ability to project his spiritual power throughout the Hisro Base, locking onto any target he wanted.
Honestly, Fang Zheng found psionic power quite useful, except for one downside: when he embedded Kerrigan’s Soulstone, he couldn’t use Arthas’s skills, and naturally, he couldn’t use the Holy Light. This was probably a flaw of the Dimensional Mage system. Even though Fang Zheng’s Zerg were unbeatable now, he knew if he didn’t have Kerrigan’s Soulstone embedded, the Zerg wouldn’t recognize him as their master.
Don’t ask how Fang Zheng knew that. It’s a tale of sorrow.
But Fang Zheng was also helpless because this was how the Dimensional Codex was initially designed. In fact, skills learned from a Soulstone were essentially its derivative skills. For example, Fang Zheng’s Royal Cross Swordsmanship was under Arthas’s Soulstone branch. Therefore, this skill only took effect when Fang Zheng had it equipped. Without it, Fang Zheng could only make gestures with the sword, but he couldn’t use the Holy Light, rendering the skill ineffective.
When the Soulstone was used up and shattered, players could choose to inherit the highest proficiency skill to their panel. At that point, the skill would detach from the Soulstone and become the player’s skill. Of course, if the player didn’t level up the skill proficiency much, then it would come down to luck or even be randomized.
At first, Fang Zheng thought his design was brilliant and that it would make whales spend a lot. But looking at it now… one should always leave some room for maneuver.
Using his psionic power, Fang Zheng watched as Tom Cruise did push-ups under the instructor’s orders. He knew that soon Tom Cruise would find a cover and leave that spot when a vehicle passed by, going to meet the female lead to continue their endless slaughter journey.
What Fang Zheng had to do was take care of Tom Cruise during this opportunity.
Interestingly, most movies never explain how to neutralize the protagonist’s cheat. But in “Edge of Tomorrow,” almost every audience member knew how to remove Tom Cruise’s hack. The process was brutally simple: don’t kill him immediately; instead, make him bleed out slowly or give him a blood transfusion. Then Tom Cruise’s cheat would be completely nullified.
So, what Fang Zheng needed to do was straightforward: critically injure Tom Cruise, force him to get a blood transfusion, and then it would be his and his team’s turn to shine.
As for how to do it… ever watched “Death Has Arrived”?
At this moment, a vehicle drove by the group doing push-ups. Seeing the approaching vehicle, Tom Cruise’s eyes flashed. He glanced around, and in that instant, he rolled under the car. At the same time, Fang Zheng activated his psionic power, causing the vehicle to suddenly swerve, with its rear wheel heading straight for Tom Cruise’s legs.
This was Fang Zheng’s plan.
In Fang Zheng’s view, if he could successfully crush Tom Cruise’s legs, Tom would be sent for treatment immediately. After the blood transfusion, Fang Zheng’s mission would be complete. Then the Zerg army would mobilize, and everything else would be a non-issue.
But what happened next surprised Fang Zheng.
Not sure whether the driver was too skilled or too poor, the vehicle’s rear wheel suddenly veered before hitting Tom Cruise’s legs, causing the vehicle to flip to the roadside. This incident alarmed others, and soon soldiers rushed to help. Tom Cruise, visibly startled, stood up, glanced at the overturned vehicle with uncertainty, and quickly walked towards the end of the road when no one was looking.
“………”
Okay, maybe I’m not proficient with psionics yet.
Watching Tom Cruise’s departing figure helplessly, Fang Zheng shrugged and refocused on him. There would be more opportunities on his way to meet the female lead; no need to rush.
He watched as Tom Cruise entered the training ground and, risking danger, walked towards the female lead. Meanwhile, Fang Zheng made another move.
“Whoosh!!”
An inactive mechanical target suddenly started spinning, rushing towards Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise, slightly taken aback, was about to get hit, but just then, the mechanical target’s base snapped with a “pop,” and the spinning target whizzed past Tom Cruise, hitting the wall heavily.
“………”
Alright, I knew these old machines couldn’t be trusted.
In the training ground, Tom Cruise met up with the female lead. After a brief conversation, they turned and left, driving off under the female lead’s direction towards the repair center.
“Bang!!”
But just as they approached the repair center entrance, the left front tire blew out. The out-of-control Jeep swerved towards the wall, and the female lead slammed on the brakes. Under her control, the Jeep’s speed gradually decreased, finally stopping just before hitting the wall.
“………”
Alright, miscalculating the forces was my mistake.
As they rushed into the factory and headed inside, a mech fragment being repaired suddenly popped up. It flew towards Tom Cruise’s arm, but just before it could sever his arm, a gust of wind blew, diverting the fragment to the wall beside Tom Cruise, startling him.
“………”
Alright, I didn’t account for aerodynamics… Not!
Seeing this through his psionic power, Fang Zheng almost flipped the table.
Once or twice could be coincidental. Three or four times? Do you think I’m an idiot?
“Sigh……”
Fang Zheng realized he needed to accomplish something else before neutralizing the opponent’s cheat.
He had to withstand Tom Cruise’s protagonist halo and finish him off.
What do you think?
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