novelraw Chapter 312: Weren’t you supposed to be dead?
Chapter 312: Weren’t you supposed to be dead?
Staring at the sensual curve of her back, Alexander hesitated briefly before bringing down the whip.
Crack!
A crisp sound echoed as a red lash mark instantly appeared on Zoe’s fair skin.
"Ah!"
Zoe winced, letting out a soft cry of pain, her cheeks flushed with the agony.
Crack!
The black whip descended once more, leaving another mark.
"Ah..."
This time, her cry intensified, elevated by fourfold pain.
"Ugh!"
When the third lash struck, Zoe’s body shuddered with a tremor of pain.
"So, do you understand my capabilities now?" Alexander paused, inquiring.
Just three strikes and she’s already twitching; continuing might be risky.
"Why did you stop?" Zoe evidently seemed inclined to go on, revealing a preference for the whip, similar to Anne in her black stockings.
Meeting Alexander’s gaze, Zoe bashfully lowered her head, whispering, "Your Ghost Skill is indeed very useful; I wish I had known about it sooner."
"Better late than never. So, are you interested in my offer?"
Zoe weighed the proposal in her mind, finally nodding. "Alright, I agree. You can continue duplicating. When it’s time to leave, help me fulfill my obsession."
Predictable.
Continuing the cycle could indeed torment that scoundrel, but as Alexander previously stated, the pain within the cycle didn’t alleviate Zoe’s inherent hatred. Otherwise, the cycle would not have persisted and intensified to its current horrifying level.
A hundredfold of pain!
Even a mosquito bite, magnified a hundred times, is unbearable to any average person. Let alone the amplified agony of being torn apart.
For Zoe, who harbors bone-deep hatred for Dominic, the offer was irresistible.
Having achieved his objective, Alexander finally let down his guard. Utilizing the Forbidden Ring, he tore through space and began his mad replication.
One after another, duplicates of Alexander, almost like an assembly line, were being replicated from within the restroom.
With Zoe’s assistance, all abilities were focused solely on duplicating Alexander at an incredible speed.
Faster than one per second.
The number of duplicates was increasing exponentially.
On the third day in the Instance, the number of duplicates had reached 12,000 by the start of this cycle.
But on the fourth day, the total count of duplicates soared to an astonishing 103,000.
Fifth day: 210,000.
Sixth day: 330,000.
Seventh day: 460,000.
Eighth day, ninth day...
By 8 p.m. on the twelfth day, the total number of duplicates had reached 1,112,465!
Over 1.1 million duplicates!
Even Alexander himself could scarcely believe it.
Just imagine, if all these million-plus Alexanders were to unleash their spatial abilities, followed by the simultaneous activation of a dozen talents and the use of the Underworld Sword, no one in the Horror World could withstand it except for the Guardians and the unknown entities of the Mist World.
Even the Inheritance Ghost Emperor would be no match for him!
What’s more terrifying is that these million-plus duplicates could also enter the Mist Instance simultaneously.
With the same talents and abilities as Alexander, they were like cheat codes activated within the Mist Instance. Alexander was keen to see how far this could go.
"Is it finally over?" Zoe, who had witnessed Alexander produce more than a million copies of himself, asked as she saw Alexander finally put down the mirror he was holding.
"It’s over. If I continue duplicating, I might run out of time. Let’s begin. Let’s go find Dominic," Alexander nodded and responded.
"I have to tell you something important," Zoe finally sighed with relief before continuing with a more serious expression,
"According to the rules of the Mist Instance, I can’t take direct action. I can only rely on the power of the cycle. But with your current strength, defeating Dominic is still far from achievable."
"I guessed as much from the start! If you could have acted on your own, you could have tormented Dominic yourself without repeating this cycle," Alexander calmly stated.
"Since you agreed to the trade with me, you must have a way, right?"
"There are two ways," Zoe nodded.
"The first one is to use your duplicates to forcefully break through! Dominic and his two henchmen are all of Ghost Emperor-level strength! The other henchmen are at most Ghost Imperial-level. Your million duplicates should be enough to take them on!"
"That’s impossible! Once the duplicates enter the real world, they will be immediately transferred through an artifact back into the Mist Instance. I can’t recall them," Alexander instantly rejected the idea.
In reality, he did have a way!
The duplicates, sharing the same thought process as him, would definitely not commit all their forces to the Mist Instance.
According to Alexander’s understanding of himself, he would definitely leave behind a portion of his forces. Naturally, he would round it off: one million would go into the Mist Instance, and the remaining 110,000 plus would stay behind.
With 110,000, if managed well, all of Dominic’s subordinates could be taken care of before they reached their Rampage State.
But the problem was, there was still Dominic!
In order to torment him, Dominic could not be killed, let alone severely injured.
When the time came and Dominic fought back in desperation, how many duplicates could remain? The room had limited space, and a complete rout was a real possibility. These were prime minions! Their utility was hardly less than that of the Fierce Ghost Association.
Moreover, these were duplicates of himself; Alexander couldn’t stomach the idea of treating them as cannon fodder, watching them go off to their deaths.
"That leaves only the final option: I break the rules of the Instance and take direct action," Zoe spoke, evidently having anticipated this.
"What would be the consequences?" Alexander asked gravely.
"It would bring in the Enforcers," Zoe replied.
These so-called Enforcers were the police of the Mist World, natives who had broken free from the cycle.
"Dealing with the Enforcers is actually not that difficult. With the system’s support, my abilities far surpass those of a Ghost Emperor. I could even duplicate the Enforcers! But the issue is, while I can hold off these Enforcers, I can’t prevent them from calling for reinforcements from the hell warriors. And the hell warriors are beyond my abilities to deal with."
"Are the hell warriors that strong? What if the Enforcers don’t call for reinforcements?" Alexander asked, somewhat puzzled. The last time he caused a ruckus, it was much bigger than now, and yet he hadn’t seen any hell warriors.
"The strength of the hell warriors is not the most important factor; the main issue is that they have an additional advantage over us natives, making them unbeatable for us. If the Enforcers don’t call for help and we don’t happen to run into a patrol of hell warriors, then there should be no problem," Zoe explained.
Alexander breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as they’re not Hell Warriors, it’s fine. Enforcers? Aren’t they all on our side?
"How many times are you going to ask? Don’t worry, those enforcers are our own people!" Alexander retorted with nonchalance.
"Alright, I’ll take your word for it." Zoe nodded but couldn’t help herself as she saw Alexander heading for the door.
"It’s just past nine o’clock; Dominic is probably upstairs arranging for the banquet. His men are everywhere; going up now will definitely spark a war. Why don’t we wait until tonight? Just like before, we can make our move when we reach the fifth floor and see Dominic. Maybe we can settle everything before the enforcers arrive. When the cycle ends, I’ll vanish and you can make your escape."
Despite her words of trust, Zoe was clearly still uneasy.
"That’s too tight a schedule; my plan might not be completed! We made a deal; let’s stick to it and proceed," Alexander decisively shook his head and walked out the door without another word. Reluctantly, Zoe followed.
It may be a lodging and entertainment hub, this Nightclub, but in the early morning, the grand hall was deserted except for a girl sitting behind the bar and two gang members flirting with her. Alexander recognized one of them from previous cycles.
As they took in Zoe’s appearance, their eyes brightened instantly. One of the gang members quickly approached with an air of menace.
"What are you two doing here? Dominic is upstairs handling important matters. If you want to go up, come back another day or—"
His eyes roamed over Zoe as a sly grin spread across his face, "Or let me frisk you, make sure you’re not carrying anything dangerous, then you can proceed."
Smack!
Without a word, Alexander’s practiced hand delivered a slap across the man’s face. "Six years with Dominic and you still can’t recognize who’s off-limits? A woman Lei has his eye on and you dare entertain thoughts?"
"A woman of Lei’s?" The taken-aback gang member quickly composed himself and asked with incredulity, "How do you know I’ve been with Dominic for six years?"
"I’ve got a good memory; we met a few times when you first joined the gang. Forgotten?" Alexander responded, as natural as could be.
The gang member stared at Alexander for a moment, evidently puzzled. "Who are you?"
"I’m Tommy DeVito! Now’s not the time for chit-chat. We can catch up later when I come down," Alexander said and, without waiting for a reply, led Zoe towards the second floor.
"Tommy DeVito? Why doesn’t that ring a bell? Could he be a big shot from another gang?"
Behind them, the puzzled look on the gang member’s face lingered.
Unlike previous cycles, this time it was early morning, and the second floor hadn’t been fully booked by Dominic. Despite their suspicions, the gang members had no intention of following them upstairs.
On the second floor, Alexander led Zoe straight to the dining area. The place was already festooned with streamers and colored lights. Dominic’s men were busy decorating and hadn’t taken notice of Alexander. That was, until a man in a black suit stopped them not far from the entrance.
"Who are you? If you want breakfast, go downstairs. This area is reserved by Dominic; we’re not accepting outside guests today."
"I’m Tommy DeVito, Lei sent me with his new call girl," Alexander repeated his earlier tactic.
"Tommy DeVito? Just got here?" The suited man didn’t seem too skeptical. After all, the name Tommy DeVito fit right in with their crowd. A comrade through and through.
"Yes, yes!" Alexander nodded enthusiastically, "Just been here a few days! You have a keen eye, big brother!"
"Ha... Of course, my eyes are famously sharp," the man in the suit chuckled proudly. Just when Alexander thought they’d easily slip into the dining area, the suited man turned and shouted into the restaurant: "Lei, your call girl is here!"
"What call girl? I just got rid of one a few days ago and she dares to pester me again?" A voice rang out from the restaurant entrance, followed by Lei, who was holding a streamer, peeking out from behind the door.
"Is... is it you? Weren’t you supposed to be dead?"