48 Hours a Day

Evil Scientist sat behind the wall quietly, wearing a mocking look across his face. He watched condescendingly at the team’s futile struggle.

In an attempt to ease the situation, Vandal King stretched out his hand and started to decode the 329 Protective shield, closing his eyes to concentrate better. About five minutes later, he opened his eyes, sighing, “The 329 shield is not without weakness, but I would need more time to look for it. I’ll need at least a day to figure out its mechanic, and at least three to dismantle it.”

“What about the underground?” Fan Meinan shot at the ground beneath her feet with the cluster cannon on her chest. However, she tried to get through the wall and approach Evil Scientist and found that she was still blocked by the invisible barrier.

“Haha, if the 329 Protective Shield can be broken so easily, I wouldn’t have called it the absolute solution for defense. Just give up. Even if you demolish the entire Canton Tower, you will not be able to lay your hands on me,” Evil Scientist sneered.

Fan Meinan looked at Zhang Heng again, but this time, he didn’t continue performing miracles. Going against the 329 Protective Shield had Zhang Heng baffled and he couldn’t figure a way to deal with it. Even though he went through all the creations he learned so far, he found nothing useful for this situation.

The 329 Protective Shield was an idea that Evil Scientist came up with a long time ago. During the parallel quest, Zhang Heng and Evil Scientist discussed its feasibility but there were too many bugs and snags that needed to be solved during that time. Hence, Evil Scientist put the idea on hold. The shield was different from other creations, where 329 Protective Shield’s core value was to visualize the concept of absolute defense. The difficulty of creating it was also much more significant than building real-life objects.

Zhang Heng did not expect Evil Scientist to make his crazy idea come true, and that he would actually use it here, eventually putting the team in insurmountable danger.

After one minute, the massive cyclone above everyone’s head also started changing. It slowly moved from white to a think ink-like black. It looked like something big was about to go down.

The six initially thought that they still had a lot of time. After all, they spent less than half of that time getting to the top of the tower. The 40 minutes they had was supposed to be more than enough to end the battle. Now, they couldn’t even lay a finger on Evil Scientist. This sticky situation greatly discouraged every member of the New Year’s Eve Game Team.

Even if Zhang Heng repeated the quest, he had to admit that he’d still fail to find a way to take down the 329 Protective Shield. Evil Scientist raised his head and looked at the sky. A look of excitement and expectation gleamed in his eyes. “My wife and daughter are coming back,” he said. “I can feel them. They are calling my name. Today is the day I reunite with my family.”

“No. Stop lying to yourself. If this continues, you will destroy this city. Open your eyes and take a good look at what’s beneath your feet. That is the place we fought and protected. Look at the innocent people below! You told us to protect them. Have you forgotten your oath?” the bald man earnestly persuaded.

“Yeah, I used to worry a lot about such illusions. For the sake of senseless ambition and so-called justice, I had to be patient while working with a bunch of hopeless people. I was like... like a full-time nanny! I was there to tell you what to do and what not to do. But in the end, what did I get? Look at what you have done?! You caused me to lose my wife and daughter. You really... let me down.”

Evil Scientist turned on the projector and blasted it into the sky, displaying scenes of the previous battle. It included the bald man fleeing the Transformers, the waiter’s butcher transforming into a zombie, and Daddy Cowboy doing nothing. Dessert King and Candy Baby began to talk about love in the middle of the fight, and Cat Lady, who was supposed to guard the power distribution room, lost her cat at the crucial moment. She was now working overtime in the office, writing codes, and watching Gakki’s new drama, King of the Ocean.

“I have to say, that’s rather disappointing. You never failed to disappoint us...”

“You are digging out everyone’s most embarrassing moments and putting them together. This doesn’t prove anything about them.”

“Hehe, so many of you are gathered here together, but you can’t even touch a single strand of my hair. Doesn’t that make you feel useless?”

“Well, even if you’re right about all of us being idiots, at least we’ve found the chosen one, and the prophecy says they will stop you. Well, even though they’re just standing there and staring at you, and it seems they have no way to stop you as well...”

“Thanks for mentioning...” Fan Meinan rolled her eyes. “Oh, so you really believe that so-called prophecy? I don’t believe it. After seeing so many stupid things, prophecies are one of those stupid things people actually believe in. That prophecy is simply nonsense,” Evil Scientist sneered in disdain.

“No, it’s because you haven’t experienced the miracles of the chosen ones. They can be awakened and allow a soul to possess them. I saw the soul of Plant Queen attaching itself to one of them,” defended the bald man.

“I said the prophecy is nonsense... because I was the one who created the prophecy,” Evil Scientist nonchalantly continued, “I made it up to test your stupidity. It’s a now proven fact that you are hopelessly stupid.”

After saying that, Evil Scientist didn’t bother looking at the six of them again. He turned around and looked at the huge whirlpool above his head, preparing to welcome the return of his wife and daughter. Suddenly, someone patted his shoulder.

“You’ve gone too far this time. I’m furious,” the bald man frowned. “No matter what happens, you should never take advantage of someone’s trust.”

Evil Scientist’s eyes opened so wide they almost popped out of his sockets. “Oh f*ck, how the f*ck did you manage to get in?!” he growled.

“I don’t know. I walked in as soon as I felt angry,” the bald man scratched his head. “I didn’t feel an air-wall in front of me. When everyone was all excited about it, I had to pretend that there was actually a wall. I was only concerned about the hidden secret in your plan. For example, only a fool wouldn’t be able to detect the wall. After all, you have cheated me several times, and I have to be careful.”

“Is there such a loophole in the 329 Protective Shield?!” Evil Scientist was shocked, but then, he saw the toilet seat the bald man was holding. Then, he suddenly came to a realization. “This smart toilet seat and the bionics use the same set of Al systems. The only difference is that the bionics are upgraded, which is why the 329 Protective Shield recognized my toilet seat and you as my subordinate. Are you really an idiot? This is the best opportunity for you to extract the Infinite Building Block from the quantum collider. Why are you here with me?!”