novelraw Chapter 48 : Time Walker
Chapter 48 : Time Walker
Chapter 48: Time Walker
Hearing that he was to be locked inside an isolation chamber, all the color drained from Shi Yuan’s face.
Shi Yuan didn’t want to be locked up. He despised losing his freedom, didn’t want to become fish on a chopping board, helpless under someone else’s knife.
Even if the other side was the nation itself—Shi Yuan didn’t trust them!
No!
I didn’t kill anyone!
I’m not the mole!
Why should I be locked up like a criminal?!
Shi Yuan’s solitary and prideful nature made it impossible for him to accept such humiliation. He absolutely refused to be imprisoned as a suspect.
So when two soldiers in heavy exoskeleton armor stepped forward with heavy thuds and reached unceremoniously for his shoulders—
The instinct to survive, and the fear of losing his freedom, completely crushed the last trace of reason in Shi Yuan’s heart.
“I said, it wasn’t me!”
Shi Yuan let out an enraged roar and unleashed his ability!
In the eyes of everyone present, his figure suddenly vanished.
The two soldiers’ hands sliced through empty air—grabbing nothing.
Shi Yuan’s real body had already appeared like a ghost five meters away, outside the meeting room door.
He turned his head and cast a complex look—mixed with fear, fury, and disappointment—toward everyone in the room.
“He’s running!”
“Stop him!”
“He ran! He’s guilty!”
The people in the meeting room shouted in alarm.
“Catch him! He’s the killer!” Qi Jiang shouted again, stirring up the crowd.
To everyone else, Shi Yuan’s actions were no different from fleeing in guilt—confirming his identity as the “mole.”
Li Wei looked at Shi Yuan’s fleeing figure, disappointment filling his heart.
He hadn’t fully believed Shi Yuan was the murderer—after all, who would kill someone right in front of everyone? It didn’t make sense.
But now, the man’s behavior had nearly confirmed his guilt.
A flicker of grim resolve flashed in Chen Mo’s eyes as well.
He had still harbored a sliver of doubt, but Shi Yuan’s escape erased all of it.
“All units, attention!”
Chen Mo picked up the communicator, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.
“All units, attention.”
“Level One alert!”
“Suspect: Shi Yuan, codename 【Time Walker】. Ability: Control over time flow.”
“Suspected 【Shadow】 faction mole. Has killed one 【Radiance】 player. Currently escaping the base.”
“I order all units to capture him at any cost!”
“Repeat: Suspect Shi Yuan has defected!”
“All units are authorized to use any means necessary to capture him! If he resists—kill without mercy!”
……
Having escaped the meeting room, Shi Yuan ran wildly through the base.
He knew there was no turning back now.
He had to escape!
“Stop!”
“Don’t move!”
“Stop! Surrender immediately!”
“Warning! You have entered the fire coverage zone!”
Cold mechanical warnings echoed through the entire base.
Shrill alarms and the shouts of soldiers came from every direction.
Ahead, soldiers who had rushed to respond had already formed a defensive line, dark gun barrels trained on him.
“Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta—!”
A dense storm of bullets erupted, a metallic hurricane that sealed off every possible escape route.
“Then come and try me!”
A hint of madness flashed in Shi Yuan’s eyes.
“Time Flow—Accelerate!”
In Shi Yuan’s world, it was as if the entire universe had been paused.
The soldiers’ movements, the flying bullets, even the dust motes floating in the air—all seemed frozen still.
Then, Shi Yuan darted through the hail of bullets, swiftly escaping the fire zone.
From the outside world’s perspective, his figure simply vanished in an instant.
……
Time was the most impartial, yet also the most merciless law in the universe.
It treated all things equally—whether kings or beggars—all could only move forward helplessly in its unending current.
Shi Yuan had never liked socializing, but he harbored an almost obsessive fascination with time.
So when he grew up, he became a restorer of antique clocks, spending his days with gears and springs that bore the marks of the years.
He delighted in bringing those long-silent relics back to life—as if, in doing so, he too became the master of time.
On the day the game began, he had been repairing a century-old antique clock.
As he carefully nudged the balance spring—which had been still for fifty years—with a pair of tweezers, an oracle descended.
【Welcome to ‘Game of Gods’】
【Matching player identity and faction】
【Identity match complete】
【Faction match complete】
【Player: Shi Yuan】
【Identity: Time Walker】
【Faction: Radiance】
【In the river of time, you are the only one who walks】
……
After the oracle descended, Shi Yuan instinctively reached out toward the newly repaired clock and activated his ability.
“Time Flow—Accelerate!”
He saw the second hand begin to spin at a frantic speed—a minute, ten minutes, an hour—passing in the blink of an eye.
“Time Flow—Slow Down!”
He aimed at a pigeon flying past the window—the bird’s flapping wings froze midair.
But before he could even fully grasp the godlike power he possessed, people from Bureau 869 had already come knocking.
It turned out that when he was testing his ability, omnipresent cameras had caught him in action.
Faced with the stern officials flashing mysterious credentials, the aloof and proud Shi Yuan reluctantly followed them to the base.
He thought that by siding with the nation, he had secured his safety in this game.
But he never could have imagined that what awaited him was a meticulously planned trap!
……
In the command center, Chen Mo stared intently at the image of Shi Yuan disappearing from the screen, his face ashen.
He realized that all their conventional weapons were useless against such transcendent power.
“Quick! He’s appeared in Sector B7!!”
“All base gates are sealed—he can’t get out!”
Inside the command center, Chen Mo issued orders one after another.
Shi Yuan looked around at the sealed base gates, a sinking feeling in his chest.
At the same time, his mental energy was rapidly depleting—dizziness, ringing in the ears, nausea—endless waves of side effects flooded his body.
He had to drop out of accelerated time to alleviate the discomfort.
But every time he exited that state, the base’s defense system immediately locked onto him, and soldiers would rush to block his path.
So Shi Yuan gritted his teeth and accelerated time again!
With the gates sealed, he could only run blindly, following his instincts toward what felt like the weakest point.
He felt like a fly trapped inside a glass bottle—no matter how he slammed himself against it, he couldn’t escape the unbreakable prison.
The overuse of mental power stabbed his brain like needles, and his vision began to blur.
Hallucinations crept in—he seemed to see Hailan’s blood-streaked face, and the hostile eyes of his teammates.
“It wasn’t me… it really wasn’t me…”
He muttered under his breath, his feet never slowing.
He knew he wouldn’t last much longer.
He had to find an exit—fast!
Just as exhaustion was about to claim him, he spotted a massive ventilation fan at the end of the corridor ahead.
His last hope!
Light reignited in Shi Yuan’s eyes.
He squeezed out every last drop of his remaining mental strength.
He stretched out his hand toward the rapidly spinning blades.
“Time Flow—Absolute Stasis!”
In an instant, the enormous fan blades that could shred steel came to a complete halt.
Then, Shi Yuan slipped through the still blades and passed beyond them!