Residents of the East District were visibly surprised; they hadn't expected anyone foolish enough to step forward and court death.

After all, this round of the Wheel of Fate was different from usual. Normally, winning one round was enough, but now one had to win until the Forbidden Item acknowledged them. Even the West District's Magic Hand, Li You, had won three rounds and fired five shots without being recognized, showing just how difficult it was.

"Who? Who's so brave?"

The crowd turned to see a young man in tattered clothes, chains around his feet, slowly approaching.

His face was covered in mud, obscuring his features, but his eyes shone brightly, standing out starkly from the people around him.

In the eyes of these people, there was either numbness and dullness or cruelty and greed, but the light in the boy's eyes never dimmed. It was a flame born of both civilization and wildness.

"Bai Ye!?" someone exclaimed.

"Wasn't he crazy before?"

"Of course, if he wasn't crazy, would he stand out now?"

"I heard that Bai Ye got contaminated with something while hunting in the Wasteland, and after he came back, he went mad, always muttering about being the god of a new era! From today, I shall stand above the heavens... and such."

"That's not all, I even heard him reciting poetry, something like 'At the end of the Wasteland, who stands as the peak, one glance at Bai Ye and all is void, snow and wind press on me for two or three years, I step on the snow to the mountain's summit...'"

Hearing the whispers around him, Bai Ye's face darkened, the embarrassing memories flooding back.

When he first crossed over, he discovered he had awakened the ability to stop time. Without a second thought, he fast-forwarded to the part where he didn't eat beef.

He fancied himself as the god of a new era, seeing everyone else as insignificant.

It just so happened that Tan Jie and his men came to collect protection fees, and he was furious on the spot. What trash? Just an East District Commander, an ant-like figure, collecting protection fees from a god!?

He unleashed a torrent of words, ready to display his divine power in the face of Tan Jie and his men's gun barrels, but then he was stuck. Time stopped for only two seconds before resuming because he had wasted over fifty seconds experimenting with his ability.

It was then he realized he could only stop time for one minute each day.

After that, he ended up like this, from lowborn to slave.

In the Cataclysm Era, many people's minds were polluted. Tan Jie and his men just thought he was crazy and didn't want to waste labor, so they demoted him to a slave.

The past was unbearable to recall, but fortunately, Bai Ye's face was covered in grime, so no one could see his expression.

East District Commander Tan Jie was delighted to hear someone volunteer, but when he looked closely at the newcomer, his expression turned strange.

Bai Ye?!

Wasn't this kid crazy?

Just this morning, this kid was in front of him, claiming to be a god, babbling about creating a new era...

"You..." Tan Jie hesitated.

"My illness is cured. I accidentally ate some poisonous mushrooms in the wild, which caused some hallucinations," Bai Ye said with a straight face.

He had a lifelong habit of telling little lies.

Seeing Bai Ye speak clearly and no longer claim to be a god, Tan Jie couldn't help but smile. He knew there were indeed some poisonous mushrooms in the wild that could cause hallucinations, and some people even sought them out deliberately.

"Little Bai, I thought your mind was polluted, so I demoted you to a slave. Don't worry, as long as you can contain the Breath of Bones, I'll not only restore your resident status but also swear brotherhood with you! From now on, the East District will be ruled by the two of us!"

Tan Jie's tone was very warm, after all, promises were free.

Bai Ye sneered. In his previous life, he had eaten enough promises, the boss painted them every day, and he was long tired of them. Naturally, he wouldn't believe Tan Jie's words.

"Unlock it," he said, shaking the chains on his feet.

Hearing Bai Ye's blunt command, a cold glint flashed in Tan Jie's eyes, but he smiled and said, "Look at my memory, almost forgot. Someone, unlock him."

A subordinate ran over with a key and unlocked Bai Ye's chains.

Bai Ye stretched his stiff legs, then kicked the corpse on the chair.

Bang!

The corpse flew a meter away, shattering into pieces.

His arrogant entrance drew frequent glances from the crowd. He actually wanted to keep a low profile, but his strength wouldn't allow it!

With the ability to stop time, how could he keep a low profile? Although it was only for a minute, he couldn't be the god of a new era, but he could still be an arrogant person, right?

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Across from him, Magic Hand Li You narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the arrogant young man with a hint of caution.

He had some impression of this East District boy. Some said Bai Ye was a lone wolf in the Wasteland, rarely interacting with others and living by hunting.

In these times, anyone daring to hunt alone in the Wasteland was not to be underestimated.

But later, he heard Bai Ye had gone mad, not expecting it was due to eating poisonous mushrooms.

However, would a Wasteland Hunter really eat poisonous mushrooms by mistake? Was he starving, or seeking thrills?

As Li You pondered, Bai Ye had already sat across from him.

If he wasn't afraid Tan Jie would concede directly, he would have waited longer to come up.

Because it was now 23:55.

After the mishap, he had already figured out the ability to stop time, even understanding its source, which was Temporal Desynchronization!

Temporal Desynchronization sounded complex, and explaining it... was also complex.

The mystery of time could only be fully understood from the dimension of time, just like how low-dimensional beings struggle to comprehend higher dimensions.

He couldn't accurately describe the principle of his ability with words, only through metaphor could he make his brain barely understand.

Simply put, his previous world, the civilized world two hundred years ago, and the current Great Cataclysm world, did not have the same flow of time.

There was a one-minute discrepancy between the two worlds.

Whether before or after the Great Cataclysm, humans defined a day as 24 hours.

But if calculated as 24 hours, a day in the civilized world was 24 hours, while a day in the Great Cataclysm world was actually one minute slower, at 23 hours and 59 minutes.

He didn't know the reason for the discrepancy, probably caused by the Great Cataclysm a hundred years ago.

His soul, as a 24-hour being, came to a 23-hour and 59-minute world, gaining an extra minute each day to freely use!

This was why Bai Ye could stop time for one minute every day.

"Let's begin," Li You said.

"Do you want to go first, or should I?" Bai Ye asked, deliberately stalling for time.

Li You frowned, "Naturally, we decide the order by rock-paper-scissors. Didn't you see how the Wheel of Fate works just now?"

Bang!

Bai Ye slammed the table, the sound so loud it startled people from both the East and West Districts, some even instinctively reaching for their guns.

"Who are you calling blind? I asked, who are you calling blind? Say it again if you dare!"

Li You was taken aback, "When did I say you were blind..."

"You damn well said it!" Bai Ye erupted in anger, grabbing Li You's floral shirt collar as if ready to punch him.

Click, click...

Wang She and others from the West District drew their guns, pointing them at Bai Ye.

Behind Bai Ye, Tan Jie and his men reacted as well, quickly drawing their guns and pointing them back.

The tension was palpable, as if a firefight could break out any second.