Chapter 126: Heavy Rain, Tokyo, The Bloodstorm Auction (10) |
In the real world, within an inconspicuous corner of the auction house.
Black Cocoon had wrapped his entire body into a giant transparent chrysalis, hanging motionless upside down from the ceiling.
When his gaze fell upon the sudden appearance of Ghost Bell, he raised his eyebrows with keen interest. 'Dad really came,' he thought to himself. 'But he can't possibly fight everyone alone. Even as a chronokinetic Esper, a Near-Calamity-Tier still has limits.'
'So... I need to use this time to find a way to help him create an opening.'
At this moment, before the brigade members could even process the man in the jet-black cloak and Z-shaped breathing mask, something else caught their eyes first:
It was an enormous bell tower.
The four-meter-tall bell tower stood like a pitch-black giant directly in front of Blue Arc. Its hour hand spun rapidly before finally locking in place right at the "12 o'clock" position.
Amidst the deafening chime of the bell, the entire world seemed to freeze for a single second.
A wave of tangible sound then rippled outward from the massive tower. It instantly distorted the Blood Progenitor's blood arrows, An Lunsi's billiard balls, and Ayase Origami's paper butterflies, scattering them in every direction. The only person untouched by the shockwave was Blue Arc.
Ghost Bell looked down at Blue Arc, who was drained of blood and practically half a corpse. He then slowly raised his head, his crimson pupils reflecting the figures of the brigade members.
His entire body trembled slightly, his mechanical respirator emitting an overloaded whine as he asked, grinding out every word, "Who... hurt him like this?"
He paused, his expression suddenly darkening before roaring in sheer fury:
"Get out here!"
The bellow pierced through half the auction house, slamming into the ears of the brigade members like a booming bronze bell.
Lan Duo Duo was absolutely stunned. Covering her ears, she babbled to the three people beside her, "Hey, hey, hey, what is going on now! Why did another jinx pop up? Isn't this guy a superhuman criminal? Shouldn't he be teaming up with us to rob the auction house?"
"Who knows?" The Blood Progenitor spread her hands, indicating her own ignorance.
"Maybe... Blue Arc is the illegitimate son of Ghost Bell and Black Cocoon."
Xia Pingzhou delivered the deadpan joke with a straight face, earning speechless glares from the rest of the members.
"The kitten... is hissing," Ayase Origami remarked.
"Hissing what?" he asked.
"A weird joke," she replied.
At that moment, on the mirror world auction stage, Qi Yuanli was looking up at the battle between Red Dragon Wales and the White Wolf. Hearing the powerful chime from the wooden door behind him, he casually sent a crow through the door, flying out from the mirror world.
Immediately after, peering through the crow's crimson eyes, Qi Yuanli naturally caught sight of Ghost Bell.
"...Ghost Bell?"
Qi Yuanli slightly raised his eyebrows, murmuring the moniker.
How could he not know who Ghost Bell was?
The infamous superhuman criminal from China, a renowned chronokinetic Esper. Officially a Near-Calamity-Tier, but due to the terrifying mechanics of his ability, he had long since touched the threshold of the Calamity-Tier, which was exactly why the United Nations had specifically dispatched Rainbow Wing to arrest him.
In truth, it was not just the United Nations... even the so-called villainous factions were wary of Ghost Bell.
It was safer to say that regardless of the faction, everyone feared this time-controlling monster reaching his full potential. Yet, despite everyone understanding the true value of a chronokinetic ability, no one had ever successfully recruited Ghost Bell in any real sense.
Because no one knew what Ghost Bell's actual goal was or what he was fighting for, they had no way to even start an approach.
But right now, Ghost Bell was here, standing guard in front of a Transgressor whose stance was entirely opposed to his own.
The sight was simply incomprehensible.
Qi Yuanli instinctively suspected an unspeakable relationship between Ghost Bell and Blue Arc, or perhaps the yakuza had hired Ghost Bell to guarantee the safety of Blue Arc and his group during this operation.
At that thought, a strange glint flashed through Qi Yuanli's deep eyes. He swapped positions with his crow, appearing in the real-world auction house.
Qi Yuanli looked up, staring straight at Ghost Bell as he unhurriedly issued orders to his surrounding members.
"Number 12, Origami, Lan Duo Duo, Andrew. Go to the mirror world and help White Wolf fend off the Red Dragon."
"Huh?" Lan Duo Duo pointed at herself, her face a mix of suspicion and shock. "Me, fighting the Red Dragon?"
"Just provide cover, no need to get close," Qi Yuanli added. "Prioritize your own safety."
"Oh, okay." Lan Duo Duo nodded.
"Understood," Andrew said, flashing a playful grin as he packed up his sniper rifle from the ground. "Then I'm off to shoot that stupid dragon. We'll leave the weird bell tower uncle here to you, Captain."
"Roger that," Xia Pingzhou said. His reply was crisp, but in truth, he had no idea what he was supposed to do.
He figured he would just place two rook pieces on the auction stage and fire a couple of symbolic shots at the Red Dragon, just making his presence known.
Ayase Origami did not reply, simply following quietly behind Xia Pingzhou as they stepped into the mirror world.
With the departure of the four called-out members, the real-world auction house instantly felt much more spacious. The heavy breathing echoing endlessly from Ghost Bell's metal mask filled the entire venue.
Watching Ghost Bell, who was currently stopping Blue Arc's bleeding, Qi Yuanli spoke in a low voice, "Jack, Blood Progenitor, An Lunsi, the three of you will handle Ghost Bell. I will step in if necessary."
As his words fell, The Ripper, who only had half a face remaining, and An Lunsi walked out of the mirror.
The gruesome, shattered faces of the two members were exposed under the light of the crystal chandeliers. Half bone, half still wrapped in flesh and skin, they looked just like Izanami when Izanagi saw her in Yomi-no-Kuni.
An Lunsi glanced at Ghost Bell, blinking his one remaining eye, and asked with a look of pure curiosity, "Whoa... Captain, why is a superhuman criminal protecting a Transgressor?"
Qi Yuanli remained completely silent.
The Ripper raised her dark red long saber, her eyes as cold as the polar night. "You always talk too much nonsense."
The Blood Progenitor twitched the corners of her lips, her crimson eyes reflecting Ghost Bell's figure.
"Though I'd much rather go check out that Red Dragon, this side looks pretty fun too. Besides, it's been a long time since I fought alongside the Captain," she said mildly.
After employing a few methods to temporarily stanch Blue Arc's bleeding, Ghost Bell rose from the ground.
He looked up at the long saber in The Ripper's hand, narrowing his eyes slightly as he compared it to the blade wounds on Blue Arc. Immediately, the face beneath his breathing mask twitched. His gaze instantly plummeted to absolute zero, glaring like a ravenous beast ready to devour someone alive.
"So it was you..." Ghost Bell muttered hoarsely, his eyes locked onto The Ripper without blinking.
At that moment, the bell tower's hour hand still rested on "12 o'clock," but the previously motionless second hand began to tick. The rhythmic tick-tock echoed throughout the auction house.
Gears clicked and clacked, overlapping with the heavy breathing from his mechanical mask.
Black Cocoon, hanging upside down beneath the ceiling, silently cheered Ghost Bell on: 'That's right, that's right... It's her, it's her, it's this Ripper! Kill her, Dad!'
An Lunsi shrugged, reluctantly hefting his billiard cue and resting it behind his neck. "I really want to switch weapons... I absolutely hate the slot machine today."
"Isn't it the ability you developed yourself?" The Ripper mocked.
"Who told my ability to end up like this?"
"You're a gambling addict, what else did you expect?"
Amidst their banter, both of them vanished from their spots simultaneously.
Continuing the same strategy they used against Blue Arc, one wielding the billiard cue and the other brandishing the dark red long saber, they launched a pincer attack on Ghost Bell from the left and right.
Meanwhile, the Blood Progenitor forged a sanguine longbow in her hands. Standing on the auction stage, she drew back the bowstring and knocked a blood arrow.
In that very instant, the deafening bell chimed once more, sweeping through the entire auction house like a gale, rushing past everyone's face.
Immediately, everyone's movements ground to a halt. An Lunsi and The Ripper froze motionless in mid-air.
Like a freeze-frame in a movie, the two were caught maintaining their attack postures.
The bell tower's hour hand still pointed unmovingly at "12 o'clock."
When the bell tower's hour hand hit "12 o'clock," time in the vicinity would pause for one second every ten seconds. And during that fleeting second, the only ones capable of moving in the entire world were Ghost Bell and his shadow.
This was the strongest of the twelve hours, Ghost Bell's ultimate mode.
Ghost Bell snapped his head up. In this mercury-hued world, the only bright spots were the crimson glow of his pupils.
He raised his left hand into a fist, bypassing the trajectory of the billiard cue, and smashed into An Lunsi, who was charging from the left. His iron-like fist slammed unreservedly into An Lunsi's abdomen, blasting open a bloody crater. In an instant, his taut fingers were dyed crimson with blood.
Immediately after, he gathered his strength, twisting his body with bloodshot eyes to pierce The Ripper's abdomen with his right metal wrist blade. He then viciously tore the blade upward, brutally carving open a gash identical to Blue Arc's—perhaps even deeper.
The Ripper's internal organs and ribs were crushed together by the razor-sharp wrist blade, a violent spray of crimson erupting within the silvery world.
Time resumed its flow. The bodies of An Lunsi and The Ripper were sent flying backward in opposite directions.
At the exact same time, the Blood Progenitor's slender fingers released the bowstring.
"Bang—!"
With a sonic boom tearing through the air, the blood-red arrow transformed into a piercing beam of crimson light, shooting straight for Ghost Bell's head.
In this split second, Ghost Bell had just repelled An Lunsi and The Ripper. Naturally, he had no time to block the incoming blood-red arrow. If everything went as expected, his skull would be pierced in the blink of an eye.
However, his shadow abruptly "stood up" from the floor. Stomping the ground, it charged forward, raising its pitch-black hands to catch the blood-red arrow like a raging bull.
The shadow braced itself, using every ounce of its strength to drag the arrow to a halt. Its feet sank deep into the floorboards, forcibly plowing two five-meter-long black trenches as it slid backward.
Finally, the crimson arrow shuddered to a stop less than half a meter from Ghost Bell's pupil.
With a wet splat, it dissolved into a puddle of blood that splashed onto the floor, staining Ghost Bell's metal boots red.
Recalling the scene just now, the Blood Progenitor arched her delicate eyebrows. "Did he pause time again?"
An Lunsi clutched the bloody hole in his stomach, blood seeping through his fingers. He scrambled up from the ground.
"So ruthless," he remarked, breaking into an ugly grin.
The Ripper stabbed her katana into the floor, using it to prop herself up as she gasped for breath. Fresh blood gushed furiously from the deep trench carving up her abdomen, spilling fragments of organs and bone all over the floor.
Her internal organs were almost completely destroyed. With this amount of blood loss... she would die in no time.
Qi Yuanli's expression remained calm. He glanced up at the bell tower behind Ghost Bell. 'Did the second hand sweep past the 10-second mark...?' At this thought, he slightly raised his voice to command the members:
"An Lunsi, Jack, Blood Progenitor, keep your distance from him for now. Attack from long range and await my instructions." As his voice fell, massive flocks of crows rose with a flutter from behind Qi Yuanli, swarming toward the bell tower.
However, a wave of tangible sound expanded outward from the colossal bell tower. The crows were instantly shattered into pieces by the sonic blast, their black feathers mixing with blood and flesh as they pattered to the ground.
Blood stained the bell tower red, splattering wetly.
Qi Yuanli stepped forward in silence, two crows taking flight from his fingertips.
Ghost Bell and his shadow looked up simultaneously.
His shadow stood guard beside the bell tower and Blue Arc.
Ghost Bell himself advanced step by step toward Qi Yuanli, each footfall as heavy as thunder.
The next instant, he stomped the floor and lunged forward.
A web-like crater cracked open in the floorboards. With a resounding boom, he launched himself forward. Wrapped in a fierce gale, his metal fist smashed directly toward Qi Yuanli's head. It felt as if a speeding train was colliding head-on; Qi Yuanli's black hair was whipped wildly upward.
In the following second, Qi Yuanli swapped positions with the crow flying toward the bell tower.
But Ghost Bell's shadow viciously kicked off the ground, leaving a deep pit. Amidst the flurry of splintered wood, it shot up vertically like a beam of black light, slashing its wrist blade at his neck.
Yet Qi Yuanli disappeared once again. He reappeared at the location of the last crow—right beside Blue Arc—while simultaneously releasing another crow from his fingertips, sending it flying up toward the glass chandelier.
At the exact same time, the bell tower's second hand swept past the 10-second mark. Another deafening toll reverberated, sweeping across everyone's faces like a hurricane, loud enough to almost render them deaf.
The world was once again blanketed in silver, everything frozen motionless like an oil painting.
When time resumed flowing, Qi Yuanli's pupils shrank slightly. He saw Ghost Bell, who had just been twenty meters away, now right in front of his face.
Their eyes met, the crimson pupils of Ghost Bell looking as if they were about to spew fire.
Fortunately, Qi Yuanli was already prepared, swapping his body with the crow flying toward the chandelier. In the next instant, Ghost Bell's fist pulverized the black avian form, spraying blood and bone across the surface of the bell tower.
"Is running... all you know how to do?"
Ghost Bell lifted his head, glaring at Qi Yuanli perched atop the crystal chandelier, mocking him word by word.
At that exact moment, the Blood Progenitor and An Lunsi launched simultaneous attacks from both his flanks in the distance.
An Lunsi fired an invisible billiard ball with his cue, while the Blood Progenitor materialized a massive spear, hurling it toward Ghost Bell. The two sonic booms overlapped, causing the crystal chandelier to flicker on and off.
Ghost Bell sneered coldly, standing back-to-back with his shadow like a pair of totally trusting comrades.
Turning his head to the west, he rolled his shoulders and wound back his arm before throwing a ferocious punch. This strike carried the resounding chime of a bell and formless sonic waves, slamming into the invisible billiard ball without holding back an ounce of strength.
With a loud boom, the incoming invisible billiard ball shattered instantly, dissolving into chaotic gusts of wind that whistled wildly in all directions.
Meanwhile, behind Ghost Bell, the muscular shadow bolted eastward. Thrusting its chest forward, it fearlessly allowed the blood-red spear to impale its body.
Immediately following, the shadow viciously drove its feet into the floorboards, gripping the giant blood spear with both hands. As its body was dragged backward, two meter-deep trenches were carved into the ground. Floorboards and dirt churned upward as sparks erupted from the friction between the crimson spear and its pitch-black palms.
A moment later, the spear's kinetic energy was completely dispersed, and the shadow's retreating form ground to a halt.
'How absurd...' the Blood Progenitor thought, a rare flicker of shock flashing through her crimson eyes.
This was the first time tonight she had been genuinely stunned by an opponent's strength.
The ability to "pause time," a "shadow clone," control over "sound waves," combined with physical prowess akin to a wild beast... This was what Ghost Bell had revealed to them in a mere twenty seconds.
And... this was highly likely just the tip of the iceberg.
"Come on, he really is an out-and-out monster," An Lunsi said, lowering his billiard cue. A smile hung on his lips, but cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
"Can you handle this or not?"
The Ripper's weak yet freezing voice drifted into his ear.
"Sister Ripper, you should really think about yourself first... That Ghost Bell obviously hit you the hardest. Who knows how long you can last with that much blood loss."
An Lunsi cast a sidelong glance at The Ripper. She was clutching the deep trench in her abdomen, her face looking rather pale.
"I was just a little careless. I didn't expect him to be able to pause time..." The Ripper took a deep breath, making excuses for herself. "Plus, I was already exhausted from fighting Blue Arc."
Right then, Qi Yuanli, standing atop the crystal chandelier, cast his eyes down at the bell tower and spoke. "Your bell tower pauses time for one second every ten seconds."
He paused, staring down at Ghost Bell's figure. "So you aren't without weaknesses. If we just destroy the bell tower behind you... you'll be reduced to an ordinary powerhouse."
"Now you know... so what?" Ghost Bell replied without even raising his head.
He was no mindless brute. He fully understood that the brigade's leader could swap positions with his crows.
Which meant: as long as a single crow existed, Qi Yuanli could vanish from his spot at any moment.
Faced with this unparalleled mobility, chasing him was just a waste of time.
Unless he could instantly execute Qi Yuanli during that one paused second, he would never lay a finger on him.
Therefore, he shifted his target to the three brigade members down in the auction house.
At this moment, after hearing Qi Yuanli's analysis, the members quietly backed away from Ghost Bell.
They all knew the next time pause was coming right up. They dreaded having their lives snuffed out by this utterly unreasonable monster during that fleeting second.
A few seconds later, the bell chimed once more, and a silvery mercury hue shrouded the entire world.
The other members had pulled too far back. Even if he sent his shadow to chase them, it would only spread his defenses too thin—Ghost Bell had to protect both the bell tower and Blue Arc simultaneously. Under these constraints, taking the initiative to pursue was definitely not a wise choice.
So, Ghost Bell chose to gamble on attacking the closer target, Qi Yuanli. He controlled his shadow to leap off the ground, rocketing toward the crystal chandelier on the ceiling to slash its wrist blade at Qi Yuanli's legs.
The next moment, time resumed its normal flow.
Unsurprisingly, Qi Yuanli scattered into a flurry of crow feathers, reappearing exactly five meters directly in front of Ghost Bell.
"Are you just going to hide like a cockroach?" Ghost Bell sneered, word by word, slowly lowering his gaze to look at Qi Yuanli.
Qi Yuanli also slowly raised his head, his deep eyes meeting Ghost Bell's stare.
"Why don't you take a look behind you?" he suddenly said.
'Behind me?'
Ghost Bell furrowed his brows. Only then did he sharply realize that another cold, emotionless killing intent had seeped into the auction house. It felt exactly like a highly trained ninja, releasing their killing intent only in the split second they struck.
Ghost Bell abruptly snapped his head around, instantly freezing in place.
Right at that very moment, a man in a jet-black ninja outfit was kneeling on the floor, pressing a katana directly against Blue Arc's neck.
"You group of bastards..." Ghost Bell's face twitched.
He had kept his focus entirely on the three members and the brigade's leader this whole time. Because of that, he hadn't noticed that a figure like Oda Takikage was actually lying in wait within the auction house.
Concealing his presence, lying in wait, aiming straight for the opponent's head the instant he stepped out of the darkness to decide the outcome in a single move—this was exactly the style a battle-hardened ninja should possess. At this moment, Oda Takikage had ended the fight.
"In a one-on-one fight, your only weakness might be that bell tower." Qi Yuanli lowered his eyes, toying with his playing cards. "But unfortunately, your performance just now exposed another weakness. And that is..."
He paused. "Blue Arc."
Ghost Bell rolled his neck, his dark gaze locked onto Oda Takikage before shifting to the long saber resting against Blue Arc's throat. His fists clenched tight. The rage in his heart surged like a rising tide, but had to be held back by the dam of rationality.
Meanwhile, since the start of the battle, thirty seconds had silently slipped by.
The giant bell tower's hour hand once again spun rapidly. This time, the hand landed pointing at "6 o'clock."
Ghost Bell made no move, simply standing silently in place like a statue.
Qi Yuanli looked up at the bell tower and spoke unhurriedly:
"I've done more or less some research on your ability prior to this. The hour hand of the bell tower lands on a new hour every 30 seconds, and at each hour, you display a different ability—this means... at least for the next 30 seconds, you can no longer trigger your time pause."
As he spoke, he lowered his eyes to look straight at Ghost Bell, continuing in a calm tone:
"Without the ability to pause time, you can't possibly be our match. Secondly, it is impossible for you to rescue Blue Arc from Oda Takikage's hands..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a voice suddenly echoed within the auction house, drifting eerily from behind Qi Yuanli to interrupt his words. "When reminding others to watch their backs, you might as well take a look at your own, Mr. Captain."
He paused. "I'm sure... the result will not disappoint you."
Qi Yuanli was slightly taken aback.
Accompanied by this treacherous voice, a deathly silence briefly blanketed the auction house.
After a long moment, Qi Yuanli turned his head expressionlessly, looking toward the source of the voice.
At that moment, he saw a human figure entirely wrapped in jet-black bands hanging upside down from the ceiling above the auction stage.
Not only that, this black figure was using his arms to bind a man wearing a mechanical box over his head, suspending the man's body in mid-air with a restraining band.
Meeting his eyes were none other than Black Cocoon, as well as the brigade's Member No. 7—"Robert."
Under Qi Yuanli's watchful gaze, Black Cocoon slowly loosened his arms. Instead, he wrapped his black restraining bands around Robert's neck, coiling them several times like a black snake strangling its prey with its tail.
Robert struggled, letting out a muffled groan.
Amidst the utter dead silence of the auction house, all the brigade members, including Ghost Bell, stared at the uninvited guest hanging upside down in mid-air.
Black Cocoon curled the corners of his mouth into a grin and slowly spoke to Qi Yuanli:
"Oh, you cunning Mr. Captain. I've already seen your little tricks. It would be best not to let your crows near me, nor should you allow any of your members to approach. Otherwise, I will snap Member No. 7's neck the very first instant."
At this point, he paused slightly, then lowered his voice to mock:
"He seems like the most inconspicuous and weakest member, but in reality, this Member No. 7 is the indispensable gear in your entire operation, isn't he?"
"Which means, if I kill him, it will be an irreversible loss for the White Raven Brigade."
"You should weigh your options carefully, Mr. Captain."