"Do you want to be my friend?"

The stuffed animal's words echo through the hallway, and Ryan finds himself trapped between two monsters. On one side is the ruthless abomination of nature, and on the other side is the madman Frank. Psyshock has been hiding in the background, carefully waiting for an opportunity.

The stuffed animal and Frank looked at each other, and the two apex predators recognized each other. The tension grows apparent as Bunny throws the pale guy's scalp out while Frank strikes a grappling stance. Eldridge's whispers echoed through the hallways, promising to sweetly destroy all living things.

"Behind me, Mr. Vice President." The giant said to Psyshock, staring warily at the rabbit. "It's an Afghan hare."

The tense silence lasted for a few seconds, which was painful. No one is brave enough to take the first step. The plush toy's ears are menacing to the psychopath, while Frank's fingers are restless. Ryan held his breath, knowing that the next few seconds would decide the fate of the entire race.

And then......

And then it began. The rabbit jumped forward and stretched out its claws, and Frank let out a beastly roar and rushed over. David to Goliath. Robot to robot. Man to rabbit.

This epic battle......

In this epic battle, there's nothing to say about it, because Ryan escaped.

Realizing that he would die if trapped in the crossfire, the Courier pauses time for ten seconds. He ran to Frank, slid to the ground between the giant's legs, and quickly got up and fled to the other end of the hallway.

"I love you so much! He heard it from behind him.

The clock still stopped.

Unfortunately, as soon as time returned, Psyshock whipped Rya from the ceiling with his tentacles

of the torso, he himself is like a spider waiting for its prey.

Thanks to Rampage's drug, Rya

There was no "felt" pain, but he heard one of his ribs break under pressure. The blow pushed him to the other side of the hallway, which glowed red. The bunker trembled, and Frank banged frantically on the ground and walls, trying to catch the rabbit but without success.

"Looks like you're a glass cannon, Cesare." Psyshock said thoughtfully, jumping up with his wires and trying to pin the messenger to the ground. "You can dodge a thousand times, but you can only fall that many times."

Ryan managed to roll over to avoid the attack, quickly got up and fled. Psyshock chases him, and the two demons stay behind to continue the fight.

Ryan eventually walked out of the hallway and into another underground room, the walls were filled with lights on black panels; Blood had recently been spilled on the ground, leaving spots on the metal. On the wall next to it are lined up with seven large vats of colorful liquids, one representing an elixir. Three of the containers contained mutated animals, which were attached to strange-looking machines; Ryan had a hard time seeing through the liquid, but found some strange lizard-dog cross breeds in the purple tubes, the size of a Doberman. The laboratory also has two blast doors, one open and one closed.

Psyshock's tentacles reached out to Rya

, he finally recovered from the cooling-off period. After a short two-second pause, the courier jumped to the side, the medication in his body helping him fight the pain of a broken rib.

"That's all you know?" Rya

Laugh at Psyshock as he and Psycho face each other. "I guess it's easier to be with Japanese schoolgirls, right?"

"Excellent." The wire squid replied, holding out a tentacle. This time, instead of dodging, Ryan grabbed it with his hands. As the power of the berserk increased, he turned around and threw the psychic shock against a nearby wall. The psychopath managed to regain consciousness, but soon remained motionless.

Heavy footsteps came from the open blast door, and a huge object entered the underground laboratory.

"Mine, my," a mischievous voice with a thick New York accent interrupted the fight, "what do we have here?"

A tall figure, not as tall as Frank, but close to him, walked in through the shattered blast door. An obese psychopath has the ability to turn his skin into an indestructible black carbon alloy, which is already deformed when he appears. The man was badly deformed, with a scarred face and protruding teeth like hippos. He was dressed like a man in his fifties, although there were smoking holes in his clothes, probably made by a laser.

And his eyes, brown eyes that shimmered with demonic cunning and vicious narcissism. He glanced at Psyshock, who didn't say a word and immediately gave in.

"Big bad Adam," Ryan said dramatically, "we finally meet again in a fat belly." ”

"Oh my gosh, we have a new Mark Twain here," the living balloon mocked him. "What a sharp wit. You make Oscar Wilde proud, lad. ”

He is the worst criminal.

The one with a sense of humor.

"You made a mess up on it, stupid." Adam said, with his left hand behind his back and his right hand exposed. "I've been watching you through the camera for a while now. I'm sorry for not welcoming you personally, I'm busy with important work. ”

"Well, stupid, now that we know each other better, maybe we can discuss your plan to conquer New Rome with an army of robots over dinner?"

Adam laughed. "You're weird," he said thoughtfully. "They are always excited when they say that. I'm sorry, man, you don't need me to explain it to you. ”

Well, it's worth a try.

"Wait, wait, you said we'd meet again?" Adam snapped his fingers. "You are a child of blood. Cesai

e thing. ”

“Cesa

e," said Psyshock, apparently he was tempted to attack Rya

, but smart enough to cater to his boss.

"Is that why you're making all the fuss?" The big fat man Adam asked the courier, raising his eyebrows, and an explosion sounded in the corridor next to him. "Do you want to settle accounts?" It's all old news, man. Old news. ”

"That's an impulse, really," Ryan shrugged.

"Well, anyway, I really care when you break into my house and start killing all of my people, man. It's over, boy. ”

"Well, I had a great time. I guess I'd blow myself up. ”

"Man, we'll outlive your pretty belt." Adam grinned, though his smile never reached his eyes. "You won't."

"So, fight to the death?" Ryan practiced some footwork and tai chi. "I'm going to play a few rounds."

"There will be no war, boy. You see, you're mistaken. The media called me Big Adam because they didn't want to face the real me, but my real nickname ......" he smiled, showing three rows of sharp teeth behind his lips. "Is Adam an ogre?"

He held out his left hand, and Ryan winced.

Adam held in his hand a boy under the age of fourteen, who had been beaten and covered in blood; Probably a resident of Rust Town, apparently of Arab or Turkish descent. Tears of fear gleeed from the corners of the prisoner's eyes, and he pleaded with Ryan to save him with his gaze.

"As much as I prefer French food," said Adam with a wicked grin, his hands grasping his captives like sandwiches, "but I can eat kebabs." ”

It opened its mouth, ready to bite off the captive's head.

Time seemed to slow down, and Ryan thought wildly about the situation, not even his strength was able to do it. It was clearly a trap, a brutal blow that threw him off balance mentally. In any case, the courier has gone far enough, and the effort to rescue the teenager may fail. If he doesn't sacrifice the hostages and runs away to explore the bunker further, he loses everything.

But there are some bottom lines that Lane can't cross, even if the consequences are unimaginable. After that, it will be a landslide.

The messenger froze time and rushed towards Adam, slamming the ogre's hand with all his might.

The fist was broken.

That's his own. The fist and Ryan's bones were shattered.

When time returned, the courier didn't even see Adam's fist hit him in the chest. All he heard was the sound of the impact, while his ribs and spine broke under pressure. The blow did not detonate the explosive belt, but sent the courier flying onto the blue vat. The glass was shattered by the liquid that fell from Ryan's body.

The berserk effect saved him from pain, but the Courier could no longer feel his legs. He coughed up blood, and a warm liquid filled his lungs.

"You martyrs are all the same," Adam mocked him, scratching the prisoner's hair with his fingers like a pet. "When you stopped killing to save our testers, I knew you would. Psycho shock, gouging out his head before he died. I wonder who sent that lad after us. ”

"Close your eyes, Cesa

e。 Psyshock said with relish that his tentacles were in Rya

of the neck and lifted him to the ground. "When you look away, things are much easier."

This is the end. While the last few seconds were terrible, it was fun when it lasted.

Ryan shouted his safe words.

"Ga, Ga, Binks!"

The belt made a "beep" sound, and then blew him up along with "Psycho Shock".

That's how Ryan's vacation ended.

A few hours ago, the courier drove to Re

ESCO's bar, it feels like a person going to work the next day after a big drink. He had a lot of fun, but now it's time to get serious.

Does he want to run Dy again

amis, digging deeper into Meta Connect? He had a feeling that even if he managed to wipe Hannifat Lecter and his thugs off the face of New Rome, it would work.

However, Rya

Only one way to kill Psyshock was seen, and this option was unique to Augusti. The Courier had come quite a step down the road, and he wanted to see how the gang would unfold.

So Ryan prepares to return to the Road to Augustus

Until he remembered that he still had to go to see Lun.

In order to maintain the sequence of events, he must say the same things, do the same actions, and experience the same heartbreak until it becomes routine. Every feeling, every special moment, is hollowed out of their essence and uniqueness. An ancient pact became a formality.

Just like everything else.

Ryan parked the car in the first place he found and put his hands on the steering wheel. He stayed there for a few seconds, trying to gather his thoughts. He started the space-time radio and put on some post-apocalyptic blues as background music.

"Len," the messenger said suddenly. "I know you're listening, shorty. Look at me. In any case, you have to do it. ”

He didn't get an answer, and nothing had changed in the world around him. But Ryan persevered.

"In your submarine apartment, there is a table next to the sofa. You are now reading Karl Marx, Hegel and the book "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" that you found in Venice. You've kept them all these years because you're a boat fan, and that never changes. ”

Ryan glanced through the window, the sun shining on the tranquil Mediterranean. He couldn't see anyone peeking out of the water. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

"I know, because I was there. Just like I know you gave the orphans of Rusty Town supplies and money, you want to bring them to your undersea base. Before you believe that I teleported there, or that it's a horror tracking movie, I'm going to tell you a secret. My secret. ”

Ryan took a puff and dropped the bomb.

"Len, I can travel through time mentally. Not far away, but I can relive the same thing over and over again. I drank the violet elixir that day, and it gave me that strength. In your opinion, only four years have passed, but for me? It's been several lifetimes. I'm probably older than most countries now. I've forgotten more than you'll ever learn. But I've never forgotten you. ”

Here he is, becoming very sad, very sad. It felt strange, as if the messenger had lifted a burden that had been on his shoulders for days.

"I'm ......" Ryan struggled to say his words, because they came from the heart. He's never been good at this, even before the cycle. "I know why you don't want to see me. You told me in another history, now erased. Why did my existence hurt you. You hate what I did to your father, you hate me for reminding you of those bad days. I... I understand. I understand. ”

I was still sad to think back to that conversation, but he understood.

"I want to help you, Lunn. Because of me, because I care about you. But I don't know how to help you. I never have. Some people say I should stick to it, some people say I should let you pursue your own destiny and don't interfere. I don't want to learn the best way, Ryan. Because it means going through countless trials and errors. We will repeat the same conversation over and over again, you will forget everything and every special moment between us will become my routine. You won't be friends, you'll be targeted. ”

Still no answer.

"I don't want to do that to you," Ryan insisted. "So, if ...... If you're listening, if there's any chance we can reconcile and find a solution to my curse, please give me a hint. If not... If not, I'll go with you. I'll still take action to save orphans from Adam and his band, but you won't hear from me again. I will disappear from your life. Because otherwise, it would be too painful for both of us. ”

He looked back at the driveway. "So, I beg you," Ryan pleaded, "please give me a hint." Anything. ”

His forehead hit the steering wheel. "Don't leave me alone."

Minutes and seconds passed, and only the noise of the cars around them.

Hearing that there was no response, Ryan sighed, regained his composure, and prepared to run over the ghoul again. If the Courier had waited a little longer, he might not have had time to stop his killing.

Her voice came over the radio.

"See me at the orphanage."