Chapter 255: Chapter 255
Jiang Ye, in his Conscious Soul Body form, left just two simple sentences before departing from Guan He's body.
Guan He, maintaining her disguise as the fake Huang Bo, was utterly bewildered.
Hadn't the Void Mirror Palace in Novice Apartment Zone A been completely destroyed??
So what the hell was this Void Mirror Palace she found herself in now??
Guan He couldn't make sense of it.
But it didn't matter—she was currently in her "Huang Bo" persona.
And "Huang Bo" was characterized by arrogance and doing whatever he pleased.
So without further hesitation, Guan He activated her Light and Shadow Escape and began rapidly traversing the Void Mirror Palace Secret Realm.
But the moment she employed light-element abilities, that distinctive radiance became impossible to hide.
Thus, the instant she transformed into the Light and Shadow Escape...
Chen Cang, who was making his way toward the central area of the Mirror Palace, was suddenly overwhelmed by an uncontrollable terror, as if his very soul was trembling!
There was no helping it—despite possessing the Glyph Pattern Ability, he was still fundamentally a dark-type creature.
And like all such beings, he feared light!
However, Chen Cang wasn't like ordinary dark-type creatures.
He had the [Protagonist Halo]!
And according to all those power fantasy novels, "protagonists" existed precisely to defy conventional limitations!
What ordinary players couldn't achieve, the "protagonist" could accomplish effortlessly, astonishing everyone!
Thus, armed with his [Protagonist Halo], Chen Cang brimmed with extraordinary confidence!
This overwhelming self-assurance even helped him overcome instinct and suppress his innate fear of light.
In his view, those coveted bounty rewards were practically tailor-made for him!
Which meant this "Huang Bo" was destined to die by his hand!
Even though he currently lacked any light-countering items...
Fate was on his side!
Perhaps the Mirror Palace's central zone contained precisely the opportunity he needed to kill Huang Bo and claim the bounty rewards!
Calculating , it became a double opportunity!
Both the Mirror Palace's inherent rewards and the bounty rewards would belong solely to him!
Filled with soaring ambition, Chen Cang hastened his pace toward the central region.
Jiang Ye, in his Lu Renjia disguise, was doing the same.
After Guan He completed her lightning-fast circuit of the secret realm in Light and Shadow Escape form, she was naturally shocked to discover "Lu Renjia"!
She recognized that mimic mask—it was the very one the light-attribute organization had given Huang Bo.
Which meant she knew—
Beneath that Lu Renjia disguise was none other than Huang Bo!
Seeing "Huang Bo" heading straight for the Mirror Palace's central zone...
Guan He had a thought and decided to follow toward the central area.
Three individuals, approaching from three different directions, converging on the same destination.
Their actual arrival times differed slightly.
From each of their perspectives, it felt as if they'd entered the central zone simultaneously.
And the central area was indeed unusual.
The densely packed mirror cells that composed the palace were all roughly 2-meter-wide regular hexagons.
But the central zone itself formed one enormous hexagon spanning at least a kilometer per side!
More noteworthy than its size was what happened when all three entered:
A voice resonated simultaneously in their minds.
Not the Apartment's announcement system.
But rather like an ancient being speaking in ethereal tones:
"Welcome back... my children..."
Despite saying "welcome" and calling them "children"...
The voice carried not a shred of warmth.
In fact, it was completely emotionless—icy cold.
Chen Cang was first to recover from that chilling greeting.
No choice—no matter how confident he was, his dark-type's instinctive terror of light forced him to immediately focus on the light-element presence.
In that instant, countless thoughts raced through his mind—this central zone must contain the means to help him kill Huang Bo!
Perhaps that very voice calling him "child" held the key!
Before Chen Cang could pursue that line of thought further...
Guan He in Light and Shadow Escape form flashed beside him.
Then a bolt of white light struck like lightning.
The radiant beam hit Chen Cang with photonic speed.
He had no time to react!
Instantly infected with Lightburn, he disintegrated into motes of light—instantly annihilated!
This spectacle left Jiang Ye (as Lu Renjia) utterly dumbfounded!
I just hitched my wagon to this protagonist!
And he gets one-shot killed?!
This can't be right?!
This makes no sense!!
Guan He's lightning-fast execution of Chen Cang even unsettled Jiang Ye.
He grew concerned she might attack him next.
So "Lu Renjia" also transformed into Light and Shadow Escape, adopting a defensive stance.
Meanwhile, his Conscious Soul Body in the Reincarnation Graveyard—pillowed on the Life Stone—stood ready to retake control of Guan He's body.
Fortunately, after killing Chen Cang, Guan He made no move against him.
The two light-shadows began circling the massive hexagonal space.
The confused Guan He initiated communication:
"What's happening here? Wasn't the Void Mirror Palace destroyed?"
Jiang Ye knew Guan He had entered via his clone-swapping trick, but played ignorant: "You don't know? Then how did you get in?"
Guan He avoided answering, instead asking: "How did you enter?"
Jiang Ye explained truthfully—how he'd obtained Lu Renjia's mimic mask, encountered Chen Cang's group, returned to the Void Mirror Palace ruins to find the silver vortex, and entered through it.
He concluded: "So I suspect this is a Void Mirror Palace Secret Realm formed by some residual mechanism after the palace's destruction?"
Finally understanding the situation, Guan He's eyes gleamed at the mention of a secret realm—potential treasures awaited!
But just as she was about to speak, her body suddenly locked up.
In Light and Shadow Escape form, she found herself paralyzed!
Jiang Ye's light-shadow form suffered the same immobilization!
Then in the next moment—
Jiang Ye, Guan He, and even Chen Cang...
All three returned to their initial states upon first entering the central zone.
That ancient, ethereal voice echoed in their minds once more:
"Welcome back... my children..."
This... this freaking... was time reset?!
Thanks to his clone's shared consciousness, Jiang Ye knew no actual time had passed.
Only everything within this space had reverted to roughly three minutes prior!
But Chen Cang and Guan He were left reeling from this apparent temporal reset!
Especially Chen Cang.
Beyond shock, his predominant emotion was relief!
Someone with a [Protagonist Halo] couldn't possibly die so easily!
Clearly, the time reset had revived him!
Though unsure of the mechanics, his narcissism suggested—
Perhaps that ancient voice had reset time specifically to resurrect him?
This thought boosted his confidence further.
Meanwhile, Guan He's expression darkened seeing the resurrected Chen Cang.
A sense of dread crept into her heart!
Light's terror transcended nearly all rules:
Dead administrators feared it;
The immortal Reincarnation Ghost feared it;
Countless dark-type powerhouses in the Doomsday Apartment dreaded it above all else!
Once infected with Lightburn, no cure existed.
Chen Cang—killed by light—had revived through temporal reset!
Even more alarming—he showed no signs of Lightburn infection!
Didn't this mean the central zone's time reset overrode even Lightburn's effects?! ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novelꜰire.net
Was this Mirror Palace Secret Realm that absurd? Or was Chen Cang's [Protagonist Halo] the outrageous factor?!
For the first time, Guan He felt genuine panic facing the [Protagonist Halo]'s might.
Still, she decisively executed Chen Cang with another light-based attack.
Then she materialized, turning to Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye also wore a grave expression.
Pointing toward the upper right corner of the massive mirror surface, he declared:
"Look there—that strange hourglass in the mirror's corner!"
Following his finger, Guan He indeed spotted an unusual hourglass.
Not a physical one, but an hourglass image occupying a palm-sized area in the mirror's corner.
Its peculiarity lay in this:
Normal hourglasses have sand falling from top to bottom.
But this one defied gravity—its sand flowed upward from bottom to top!