The Magic Cannon itself wasn’t too bizarre looking. Its silver shell gave it a retro appearance similar to cannons from the industrial era. The only difference being a lack of an ignition fuse. Instead, where the fuse would be located was replaced with a silver box.
However, the transit system of the Magic Cannon was bizarre… Four skeleton legs extended below the metal construction.
“Ah! My Nightmare!” Zheng crawled on the floor. His trembling hands reached out for the skeleton legs. Yet, when he saw the legs were fused with the metal part above, his hands froze. A long moment went by before he said in a dreadful voice, “What is this? Tell me! What is this thing?”
“The Magic Cannon.” Xuan confirmed with a nod. “The design is modified from the original Magic Cannon from God’s realm. The original used energy stones as its reserve. However, this one uses your Qi and Blood Energy, which are much larger in quantity than energy stones. These two energies would undergo fusion in the same process as your Destruction. The One Ring will then further refine the energy.”
Zheng interrupted him, “That was not what I meant! I am asking why have my Nightmare turned into this? Have you ever seen a cannon with four legs?”
Xuan continued in agreement, “No. But it does not obstruct me from designing the Magic Cannon. Have people from a hundred years ago ever seen an aircraft carrier? Experimentation is more important than everything.”
“That wasn’t what I was saying…” Zheng didn’t know how to respond. He looked at those four skeleton legs with despair. These legs were the symbol of the coolest mount he had ever rode on, which became the legs of this bizarre cannon.
Xuan patted the cannon’s shell and said, “The anti-gravity attribute of the Nightmare allows it to carry the multi-ton weight of the Magic Cannon and also allows it to fire at any terrain. This is the best transit system of the Magic Cannon. I can not reach an estimate of its power. The force produced by Destruction is massive. The further refinement from the One Ring will push this force to a level beyond imagination… The assembling will be completed in a few more days. Wait and take it into the Lord of the Rings to test it out.” Xuan turned around and gave Zheng a thumbs up.
Zheng yelled back at him, “What are you kidding me? I believe it is powerful but if you can’t even estimate it, do you think I am safe testing it out? What if it explodes? Will I never come back?”
Xuan waved his hand at him then said in a serious tone, “That’s the basic situation. The reason I rushed out the Magic Cannon is in preparation for the next world. I don’t know if you have seen A Nightmare on Elm Street but I did, from the first movie to the last… This series is among the unsolvable genre. No one can overcome its horror, at least in the original plot. Do you still remember what I said to you in Transformers?” Xuan pulled over a chair. He sat down then picked up the glasses on the table.
That was when Zheng realized Xuan wasn’t wearing his regular plain glasses. He also pulled a chair over and sat down. The rest of the team found their own seats. Zheng replied, “Yes. You said our performance in the Lord of the Rings was too impressive so our current rating is very high. The upcoming movies could be extremely difficult and dangerous.”
Xuan nodded, “We are at a point of no return. We can only keep growing. Grow to a level where we can ignore the rating system before our rating reaches too high.”
HongLu interjected, “I don’t know how impressive you performed in the Lord of the Rings. But continue at the difficulties of our current movies, we should meet team Devil again in four to five movies. What do you think, Xuan?” HongLu admitted Xuan was smarter than him after the defeat in Transformers. He still frequently interjected with his opinions, though he also asked for confirmation at the end.
Xuan nodded, “Right. We are in a severe position. The difficulty of the movies we will go into is greatly increased, like the modified Transformers, A Nightmare on Elm Street. This signifies God has given us special attention. No one is safe in this kind of movies. I can foretell that our team will walk on the border between life and death. We might even end in a wipe. This is why I rushed out the Magic Cannon. If this movie can be solved through physical means, I don’t mind erasing the town from Earth!
“There’s also a question I have to ask. Are you prepared to meet the demon again?” Xuan looked over everyone then turned to Zheng, “You are the strongest member of the team, the leader, and the backbone. Do you have the confidence to defeat your clone? Judging from what team Celestial had said, he’s powerful enough to take on Luo YingLong and another fourth stage member, and the rest of team Celestial. Are you strong enough to do this?”
Zheng clenched his teeth. The figure from Resident Evil surfaced in his mind. The scar on his face, the sword, the wings, the black flame… Zheng could only win against the him from back then at 50% with his current strength. He had realized their gap after the Heart’s Demon he experienced in Transformers. There was a gap in pure strength, and a larger gap between their minds. Zheng actually lost himself to the Heart’s Demon but Xuan pulled his heart back with the Lambda Driver, which meant he still hadn’t passed his test.
“No. I still can’t beat him…” Zheng said, clenching his teeth.
Xuan nodded then turned to Heng, “And you? We can see you are growing. Can you overcome your weakness and shoot at the clone of the person you love? Tell me! Can you?”
Heng’s face turned white in an instant. After a moment, he shook his head with a bitter smile. “No. I can’t. I can’t do it… I can only hold her back or maybe… No. I just can’t.”
“And you?” Xuan then turned to YinKong. “Can you defeat the person you hate? Don’t lie. I inquired your experience from Zheng. You hold no secret to him after being revived. Tell me. Can you defeat him?”
YinKong glanced at Zheng then lowered her head and pondered. She replied with difficulty, “No. I can’t. I don’t know how to surpass him. I don’t know how to seek this revenge. If the problem lies in the difference between our strength, this gap will only grow with each passing day. He is the most gifted assassin in the clan. I am far from him.”
Xuan nodded then turned to Kampa, WangXia and Zero. “And you? What would happen if the enemies broke us apart? If they closed in on Zero before he used his ability? If they broke Kampa’s weapon? If WangXia ran out of energy?”
The three members remained silent. They had always worked in collaboration and kept distance. Zheng could take them out in one hit without Explosion or Destruction if he came close to them, so not to mention clone Zheng. Their weaknesses were too obvious.
“TengYi is a support with knowledge of ancient languages and history. So you don’t have to participate in combat. Then Lan. I heard Zheng mentioned there were two psyche force users in team Devil. Can you take them out or mask us from them? Are you able to not drag the team behind?
“Honglu. Are you able to formulate strategies with a calm mind against the person who once defeated you? What kind of support can you give to the secondary team?”
No one had a reply to Xuan’s questions. They thought team China had become strong after the victory in the Lord of the Rings, and survived so many movies without deaths. Yet, it wasn’t until Xuan’s questioning did they realize they were so weak in the face of team Devil.
“Wait.” ChengXiao said, “What about me? Why didn’t you ask me? Do perverts have no rights?”
Xuan glanced over him then said to the team, “That’s our situation. Two paths lie ahead of us. Either get wiped, multiple deaths in the least, or defeat that team when we meet them again in four to five movies! Let us become the strongest team in this realm! We have no other choices!”