radicalducati Chapter 4 The Growth of the Substitute
Chapter 4 The Growth of the Substitute
"Boss...Boss?"
Chen Miaowen was woken up. He was still half asleep and estimated that he had only closed his eyes for half an hour.
Of course, you can be woken up by shaking.
"What's wrong?"
The person shaking him wasn't Theresa, it was a helicopter.
"Boss, I don't know what's going on, the helicopter is starting to get out of control again... I made sure I had it under control."
Theresa was getting a little impatient. She did have driving experience, but repeatedly losing control was really embarrassing in front of her boss.
Chen Miaowen initially thought it was due to some kind of airflow, but he didn't realize it wasn't normal until the plane shook to an exaggerated degree and was almost plummeting vertically.
"It's like someone is operating a real airplane?"
Chen Miaowen felt something was off, so he looked out the window and quietly opened a crack in the window. The Crimson King appeared, left the helicopter, and found a man lying on the top of the helicopter, who was the other kidnapped passenger.
"Stand Master?"
The man lay sprawled on the ceiling, shaped like a spider, his extremely lewd face staring at the Crimson King.
"Yes."
Unexpectedly, the passenger who was so frightened that he wet himself and fled turned out to be a Stand user, and even tried to harm him.
"The Stand didn't appear; it can be controlled remotely?"
As Chen Miaowen pondered, Theresa suddenly jerked her hand and turned the steering wheel sharply, causing a flurry of noise inside the helicopter.
"What are you doing?"
"W-what's wrong? I'm trying my best to balance the helicopter!"
Theresa grew increasingly anxious, wildly shaking the steering wheel until the helicopter completely reversed. Theresa was wearing a seatbelt, but Chen Miaowen was not; his head was against the helicopter ceiling. Helpless, he still called for his stand-in.
"King Crimson!"
Time stopped, and the helicopter spun upside down in the air.
He ordered the Crimson King to throw the man aside and drop him below the helicopter. He didn't care whether the man lived or died, because no matter what the purpose was, the other party was going to kill his Stand user. He wasn't a saint, and he wouldn't try to save someone who deserved to die.
"Time begins to flow."
The man was thrown from the helicopter, but the helicopter was still in bad shape. After its ability was deactivated, it continued to shake violently and began to fall.
"Theresa...Theresa?"
The woman, as if under a spell, reflected in her eyes something Chen Miaowen couldn't see, and continued to frantically swerve the steering wheel.
"It's alright, boss, I'll have the situation under control soon. Please wait a little longer."
With a loud bang, the helicopter suddenly made a violent noise, as if its rotor blades had broken off.
Sure enough, it really broke.
The helicopter plummeted rapidly, and soon the hard concrete ground came into view. Chen Miaowen had to shout "King Crimson!" again.
The helicopter was only twenty meters away from the ground, from being shattered into pieces.
"Wait, I think I've forgotten something?"
Chen Miaowen suddenly realized that something was wrong. Whether it was stealing money from NPCs or shaking off Stand users, Red King did everything after his ability ended, and even deleted it when it was unnecessary to use it. However, as the Stand user, he had forgotten about this.
Because King Crimson was one of the most perfect Stands in his mind, he naturally assumed that he wouldn't make any mistakes. It wasn't until a matter of life and death came that he remembered this.
[Time Deletion is not Time Stop. By design, one's own Crimson King cannot touch any object during Time Deletion.]
This means that he was able to leave the helicopter, but he couldn't save Theresa from falling to her death.
"What should we do?"
He was filled with regret and racked his brains for a solution.
In reality, the crash is estimated to be only two or three seconds away, while in the frozen world, he only has a dozen seconds, and he cannot touch any objects. How can he find a way to save Theresa?
"Should we just let her die like this?"
Chen Miaowen was unwilling to accept this outcome; he couldn't be a boss and couldn't be ruthless.
If the Crimson King wants to be effective, he must retract his powers and carry out his duties in the mortal world.
"Let's take a gamble. I'll risk my life. Don't say I don't value my employees..."
With the ten-second time limit about to expire, Chen Miaowen was the first to deactivate his ability.
"Time flows again."
In the next instant, the Red King slammed his hand into the driver's seat, where Theresa, who had lost consciousness at some point, was sitting.
"...Push harder!"
Red King ripped the seat off the helicopter and threw Theresa out forcefully, breaking the helicopter window and causing Theresa to bleed profusely from her head, but she still did not wake up.
Just a meter or two away from crashing, Chen Miaowen leaped out of the helicopter. Theresa, along with the pilot's seat and even some scarlet blood, formed an arc in the air.
"King Crimson! Stop time!"
Chen Miaowen was betting on this very moment.
It is known that the Red King's stats are A-grade Strength and Speed, but its duration is E, and it cannot use abilities consecutively. The interval between using the next ability is four or five seconds.
In the current situation, this is clearly fatal, because there are only two or three seconds left before the plane crashes. To activate the ability again before the crash, the limit must be broken. Although this is difficult to do, according to the Red King's panel, its growth potential is a question mark. Perhaps it has immeasurable growth potential that exceeds the limit.
A Stand is a manifestation of mental power, and growth means that mental power has been enhanced.
The reason he gambled with his life was this: if he put himself in a desperate situation, he might be able to grow and enhance certain abilities of the Red King, such as endurance.
If he bets wrong, he has no chance of survival and will be smashed into mincemeat.
Fortunately, he actually made the right bet.
Time stood still; Theresa hovered low in the distance, the helicopter already kissing the ground.
Chen Miaowen jumped off the plane, his whole body soaked in sweat.
"I almost, I almost died here."
He belatedly realized that he had truly walked through the gates of hell, but the King of Hell was kind enough not to take him.
Watching the helicopter explode in a fraction of a second, he was thankful that he had activated his ability from just over twenty meters away; otherwise, no matter what miracle happened, he would have been torn to pieces.
"We can't afford to be careless anymore..."
Chen Miaowen remained vigilant. He ran towards the distance, estimating Teresa's landing spot, preparing to catch her securely.
The Red King used considerable force to throw Theresa as far as possible, ensuring she was a safe distance from the helicopter.
This caused her serious injuries, but there was nothing she could do. This was the only way Chen Miaowen believed could help her survive.
......
King Crimson
ability:
1. Deletion time:
It can delete a period of time in the world, within a range of a dozen seconds.
During the deleted time, only Diablo can move freely, but during this time, Diablo cannot have any impact on reality.
The enemy is rendered incapable of movement and reaction within the deleted world. (From the boss's perspective)
But in the real world, everything still proceeds according to its trajectory.
During the erasure, no one except Diablo will be aware of the passage of time, nor will they retain any memories.
It is often used to evade attacks or launch surprise attacks.
2. Predicting the future:
Diablo can see what will happen in the next few tens of seconds through the "epitaph" mark on his forehead.
These scenes are inevitable future events, like a projection of fate.
However, the user Diablo can make changes by deleting items, thus altering the original timeline and causing the outcome to change accordingly.
Panel data:
Destructive power: A;
Speed: A;
Growth potential: ?
Precision: ?
Endurance: E→D (Ability gap time: 4.6 seconds → 3.3 seconds);
Range: E.