Xu Mo’s expression didn't change as he looked at the option that had just popped up.
This was because as soon as he focused on the “Yes” option, a containment requirement immediately appeared:
【Single Sanity cost: 9999】
On Bai Feifei’s character panel, her Sanity description read:
【Current Sanity: 97/100】
97 compared to 9999...
Bai Feifei’s current maximum Sanity was only 100!
High-level Containment Objects contained the power of the Great Old Ones; they weren't something just anyone could activate.
To use their power, one either needed the object’s recognition or had to perform a series of complex rituals.
For a player, if their strength was great enough, it wasn't quite so troublesome—they could contain it directly once they met the specific requirements.
But clearly, with Bai Feifei’s current strength, she was far from being able to directly contain an S-rank Containment Object.
At this moment, everything before Bai Feifei’s eyes had slowed down tens of millions of times. Her mind was functioning normally, but her movements were so slow it was as if time itself had stopped.
She assumed this was the power of Xu Mo, the Evil God within her.
But after waiting for a moment with no movement in her mind, she spoke up and asked:
“Did you stop time? What should I do now?”
“It wasn't me,” Xu Mo replied flatly. “This is an anomalous property of that crown.”
The crown’s property?!
Bai Feifei was startled. Shaken, she looked back toward the magnificent golden crown floating in the distance.
Her worldview was being refreshed at this very moment. She couldn't help but say:
“You mean to say everything happening right now is the power of that crown?”
“Even two Edgerunners are frozen and unable to move.”
Seeing Bai Feifei’s shocked reaction, Xu Mo couldn't help but slip back into his role as a knowledgeable Old-Timer to educate her.
“What did you expect? Against an S-rank Containment Object, small fry like Edgerunners are obviously not going to cut it.”
“This is S-079, the Crown of Time Lag. Because the seal containing it was broken, its anomalous properties have erupted.”
“The effect is to slow down the movement of all matter within range by tens of thousands of times, though the speed of thought remains unchanged.”
Honestly, Xu Mo had always felt the effect of this crown was filled with a certain... mischievousness.
After all, its ability seemed perfectly suited for the 'time-stop' genre found in certain Japanese adult films...
A little clever touch from the game designers.
While his thoughts drifted off to who-knows-where, Bai Feifei stared at the deathly silence before her, and the fear in her heart began to rise steadily.
If there was no way to break the properties of the Crown of Time Lag, then everyone present was essentially undergoing a form of torture!
“Under its influence, is everyone trapped within their own bodies, enduring the agony of an eternal prison until they die?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Xu Mo replied:
“You could understand it that way. But there's no need to be so pessimistic; most of you probably won't last that long.”
“Under such a powerful anomalous property, one’s Sanity will constantly drop.”
“Once your Sanity hits zero, you lose your mind. Then you turn into an aberration, and at that point, you won't be feeling any discomfort anymore.”
Bai Feifei: ?
It was currently extremely difficult for her to even move her eyes, so she couldn't see the state of the people behind her.
However, from the look in Li Gui’s withered eyes ahead of her, she could tell that even an Edgerunner was filled with utter shock and terror.
Seeing no other way out, Bai Feifei pleaded in her heart:
“So, what should I do now?”
Xu Mo said, “What to do? Nothing. In your current state, it’s impossible to break free.”
“I know,” Bai Feifei said. “I meant... do you have a way?”
Xu Mo: ...
At his current stage, he didn't have the ability to forcibly break the situation either. He was an Old-Timer, not an actual Great Old One.
Of course, it was impossible for him to fail here. At worst, he could just use his rewind ability to go back to an earlier point and simply avoid entering the Crown of Time Lag’s range of influence.
The problem was, Xu Mo wasn't satisfied with that.
He had actually encountered the Crown of Time Lag. If he could get his hands on this thing in the early game, it would be an absolute top-tier trump card.
How could he just walk away?
But Aries Hong Jiu was supposed to be the one to find this thing. Trying to get it before the seal broke seemed somewhat impossible.
The more Xu Mo thought about it, the more annoyed he became. He even felt like complaining to Bai Feifei about why she didn't have 9999 Sanity points—if she did, he could just...
Wait!
A flash of inspiration struck Xu Mo’s mind as he remembered something.
The reason Bai Feifei couldn't contain it directly right now was that she didn't have the capacity to spend 9999 Sanity points at once. Her maximum limit was too low.
But just because she didn't have it, did that mean she couldn't spend it?
If you didn't have the money, couldn't you just spend on credit?
Xu Mo suddenly recalled that when they first arrived at the coal mine, Bai Feifei had entered a special state to save a mother and daughter.
Xu Mo felt that state was likely the “hidden talent” mentioned in the game’s introduction for Bai Feifei, which he had dubbed Slaughter God Mode.
In that state, Bai Feifei directly seized control of her body, and her combat power instinctively rose to the absolute peak of her physical potential.
Most importantly, it locked her Sanity!
Her mind and will became exceptionally firm. In that mode, no matter what kind of aberration she encountered, Bai Feifei’s Sanity never dropped again.
In that case... this looked like an opportunity to exploit a bug!
How did she enter it last time? It seemed to be driven by her sense of justice, her anger toward evil, and her desperate desire to save people, right?
In a place Bai Feifei couldn't see, Xu Mo’s smile gradually became twisted. He felt he had suddenly come up with an absolutely brilliant idea.
Oh, righteous young lady... you wouldn't want...
Xu Mo’s voice, carrying a hint of sinister charm, responded in Bai Feifei’s mind:
“Do I have a way? I am the Great Old-Timer. A mere S-rank Containment Object is, of course, a minor issue.”
Bai Feifei breathed a sigh of relief. She hated to admit it, but as soon as this Evil God spoke, she felt a strange sense of reassurance, as if no problem was unsolvable before Him.
The only unsolvable problem was probably the entity itself...
Xu Mo’s tone shifted, becoming cold and ominous:
“However, everything comes at a price. In my current state, I cannot simply deploy my power.”
“If I were to act, leveling cities and toppling fortresses would be the least of it; at worst, the world itself would tilt! These people around you... they wouldn't survive~”
Bai Feifei: ?!
“Hehe... but then again, it doesn't matter. They're just a few insignificant nobodies.”
“I have been walking as softly as possible to avoid stepping on the ants in my path, but now, letting them witness the pinnacle of the world’s grandeur before they die can be considered their final reward.”
“Wait... wait a minute!!” Bai Feifei hurriedly shouted in her heart.
Rate on N.U.
