NABC Chapter 21, 3rd playthrough, unlocked.
Chapter 21, 3rd playthrough, unlocked.
"The train has started moving, ahead is Miuraji Station."
Qi Te took a deep breath, quickly calmed himself down, and then took out his phone to check the time.
18:30
It's earlier now; this time it's back to the point where we just boarded the subway.
This was the first time Chit had entered the third timeline. After experiencing the school hostage incident and discovering that he was not actually a Muggle, he went online to search for all superpowers.
There are quite a few related to time, such as controlling the flow of time, which can stop, slow down or speed up time, but the range of influence and the length of time are very limited.
The top-tier magician I can find online is a well-known close-up magician, a D-level artist whose range can reach a radius of ten kilometers and stop time for 10 seconds.
In addition, there was another wanted criminal with three stars, similar to Nanshan, who could control time within a one-kilometer radius, slowing it down or speeding it up five times within three minutes. Using this ability, he robbed several banks and ransacked the mansions of the wealthy; he has now been apprehended.
In conclusion, there is no case that matches Zit's superpower.
This means that he has no role models to learn from or refer to.
He doesn't know his current level, whether his ability allows him to rewind time no matter how many times he dies, or whether there are some limitations. He has to figure all of these things out on his own.
Therefore, after the regression, the first thing Qi Te did was to record the time point of the regression, and then quickly confirm whether there were any changes in his body.
The academy incident, in its first retrospective, granted the user the visual perception capability of dynamic imaging for material analysis. However, at that time, it could only form infrared thermal images through walls.
After the second regression, he clearly saw the human body image and scanned and saw through the skulls of Zheng Xinjian and the earth-type uncle Yu Zhongliang, both of whom had a strange red spot inside their skulls.
Zie Te speculated at the time that visual perception improved with the number of times the data was retrieved.
This conjecture was then confirmed.
However, this time the enhancement is not to vision, but to hearing.
The carriage was packed with people; some were scrolling through short videos, some were watching dramas, some were listening to audiobooks, and some were on the phone. Meanwhile, the screens on the windows were playing GG (Goblin).
The chaotic sounds kept drilling into his ears, and Zite instinctively wanted to cover his ears to reduce the stimulation from the noise.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the chaotic noise instantly decreased in decibels, returning to normal levels.
Sensory abilities are all controllable. Otherwise, those with super-strong five senses would probably never get a good night's sleep and would have long since suffered a mental breakdown.
However, it requires repeated practice by those with sensory abilities to achieve complete control.
Qi Te tried to focus his attention on a girl next to him who was watching a show, and soon he heard the voice coming from her headphones.
After testing several passengers at distances of one meter, three meters, and five meters, he activated his full hearing ability and randomly locked onto one amidst the chaotic sounds.
Without exception, they could all clearly hear the sound coming from the designated target's headphones.
In addition, breathing sounds and heartbeats are also within the range of perception.
Zite quickly figured out the core element of controlling perception—focusing attention—which was a piece of cake for him.
"So, every time I die, I randomly awaken a new superpower?"
"The more people die, the stronger their superpowers become—that seems a bit far-fetched!"
While superpowers bring convenience, they also have varying degrees of "side effects" on those with superpowers.
Elementalists, when they first awaken their abilities, often can't control them, leading to things like fires and burst water pipes—you see these stories online every day.
Qi Te's best friend, Ji Chenyu, whom he knows best, experienced a sudden change in his movement speed during the first three months after awakening. He found it difficult to adapt, and crashing into trees, walls, and people was just a basic occurrence.
After adapting, due to a lack of training, his muscle tissue was insufficient to support him, making it difficult for him to reach his maximum speed.
To this end, Ji Chenyu works out for three hours every day without fail, including weightlifting, cardio, and even taking a lot of nutritional supplements to reach the required level. At Qi Te's suggestion, he also got a prescription for medication to lower his heart rate and alleviate the strain on his heart from running at high speeds.
However, the wear and tear on the knees and joints caused by high-speed running is still much more severe than for non-speed-based ability users. Similarly, strength-based abilities also cause many ability users to suffer muscle contusions, and even fractures and sprains.
In conclusion, every advantage has its disadvantages.
So, what are your own "side effects"?
Qi Te shook his head inwardly, deciding not to think about the problem for the time being, since he couldn't figure it out in the short term anyway.
After spending three minutes getting a general idea of his newly acquired hearing ability, Qi Te began to review all the details of the two timelines.
The brain works at lightning speed, calculating all the possibilities.
........................
Comparing the entire Merlin Tunnel explosion incident in the first playthrough, two key aspects changed due to the intervention of the Bureau of Extraterritorial Affairs—
First, the explosion did not occur inside the tunnel, but rather two to three hundred meters outside the tunnel exit;
Secondly, the man who was live-streaming to gain traffic, along with several cars parked nearby to watch the commotion, were engulfed by the explosion;
Qi Te carefully reviewed the events. During the second playthrough, Jiang Luo only mentioned that the fire man was running and exploding, and that vehicles and pedestrians were affected, but he didn't say where the fire man exploded.
Similarly, in the subway incident, Jiang Luo only mentioned that the ground collapsed at Qingjiang Road Station, causing chaos as passengers fled in panic. Furthermore, Jiang Luo also mentioned that someone was trapped under a boulder.
Therefore, the other party triggered their supernatural ability at my prompting, and the scene they "saw" was exactly the same as what actually happened afterward.
However, Qi Te, due to preconceived notions, assumed that the ground collapse Jiang Luo mentioned referred to a collapse of the railway track. This led him to make the incorrect judgment, believing that pushing the man out of the carriage would prevent a subway derailment.
The accident on Line 3 was successfully prevented, but the entire platform was destroyed. There were still hundreds of people in the elevators, stairs, and on the platform at the time.
As a result, the number of vehicles and people affected by the Meiling Tunnel was greatly reduced, and the number of casualties in the subway incident also dropped from two thousand to several hundred.
But this is by no means the optimal solution!
After quickly editing the message on his phone, Qi Te clicked send.
In the second playthrough, Jiang Luo gave him a number. For Qi Te, who had to organize data for Lao Liu every day, memorizing ten digits was incredibly easy.
I received a reply a minute later.
"Are you in Haicheng?"
"This question again."
Jiang Luo had asked him before, but Qi Te hadn't paid much attention at the time. Only now did he realize something was strange.
"Yes, I'm in Haicheng. Tell me, what did you see? This is important."
After reading Jiang Luo's reply, Qi Te's mind raced. Combining the known information with the new clues provided by Jiang Luo, he deduced the situation several times before making his final decision.
"This is of great importance. Please release the message I am about to convey as your prophecy, is that alright?"
"Can"
Qi Te typed the text at lightning speed, this time trying to be as foolproof as possible and ensure his personal safety.
He had a vague intuition that he couldn't die anymore!
After going back in time, the people and things that were supposed to appear will still appear, but the key factor of time will have changed.
The Meiling Tunnel explosion occurred earlier in the second playthrough, and the Qingjiang Road Station incident also occurred earlier.
The fireman leaped out of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs' SUV, which suggests that he was arrested by Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs personnel while running in the tunnel.
This unexpected event likely triggered the fire spirit, causing it to explode earlier than expected.
Yu Zhongliang's actions, along with Zhang Xiaodao's, accelerated the eruption of his own power.
All of these explanations are plausible, but what about Zheng Xinjian?
When testing his abilities just now, Qi Te commented that this guy's breathing was rapid and his heartbeat was extremely fast.
When I first encountered the other person, the subway was already approaching Qingjiang Road Station. In the second playthrough, the other person showed obvious signs of abnormality after 18:45 PM.
At only 18:41, Zheng Xinjian had already changed. Of course, it's also possible that he discovered it too late on his second playthrough.
However, considering the subtle changes in Cao Yingchong and Zhang Xiaodao, Qi Te dared not harbor any illusions and had to take into account every detail that could not be ruled out.
........................
18:45
Haicheng Supernatural Abilities Management Bureau, Director's Office.
After listening to the emergency report from the control center, Director Zhao Xun, who was nearly sixty years old, frowned slightly and, after a moment of contemplation, finally made a decision.
"Notify Group A to send Li Zhengyang."
The three men and women standing straight beside the desk exchanged surprised glances.
One of the middle-aged women immediately asked, "Chief, is this really necessary?"
The Administration has six groups, and Group A is undoubtedly the strongest. Once deployed, its purpose is 99% to kill, hence it is called the Elimination Group.
Li Zhengyang is the ace of Group A. Unless the target is a B-level or higher ability user, there is generally no need to send him out.
"Yes, Miss Jiang's superpower is indeed worth referencing, but her previous six prophecies only had a general area and time range, never as specific as today's."
The man, who looked to be in his early thirties but had graying temples, had barely finished speaking when the middle-aged woman interjected, "Even if the prophecy is correct, and a fire-type ability user did indeed carry out a suicide attack in the Meiling Tunnel, there's no need for Li Zhengyang to intervene..."
Zhao Xun raised his hand and waved it, and the woman immediately shut her mouth.
"In the past six months, more than 100 incidents of spontaneous combustion, building collapses, and road collapses have occurred in the West Sixth and West Eighth Districts."
"Last month, there were over a dozen suicide bombings in the West Fifth District. Although the West faction is keeping it very tight-lipped and won't let out a single word, in my opinion..."
Zhao Xun paused, his eyes slightly narrowed, and his expression grave. "It's very likely that erythema has returned!"