Infinite Nightmares

Zhang Wenda stood frozen, the words his younger self had once spoken detonating in his mind.

"Did I really say that? Did I?" Zhang Wenda mumbled, tears streaming down his face before he even realized it.

"I forgot. I forgot! I forgot the man I used to be!"

As he spoke, he turned to look at the boy on the ground again, as if gazing at his former self.

Looking from one to the other, Zhang Wenda saw the path his life had taken, all the experiences he’d had after entering the world.

Those countless hardships and setbacks had transformed the boy with fire in his eyes into a middle-aged man who had forgotten his own past.

But now, he suddenly remembered. He remembered why he so despised the rules that bound him.

He remembered why he was so disgusted, so repulsed by it all that he’d risk his life to escape. He remembered everything!

Zhang Wenda’s eyes were shot with blood, the Red Core on his wrist flaring brightly. He walked back down the path of his past, one step at a time.

"Zhang Wenda! Get any closer and you’ll die! Have you forgotten your dream? If you keep this up, you won’t earn a single cent!" The veins on the back of Auntie’s hands bulged as she pressed against his body, trying to push him away.

But Zhang Wenda’s strength was now astonishing. He pushed right through Auntie’s efforts, practically screaming. "So what! I’ll accept any and all consequences! I’ve already forgotten myself once, and I refuse to betray who I used to be again!"

Song Jianguo whistled, and the Black Cats instantly formed a giant hand that grabbed Zhang Wenda and began dragging him back.

But just as quickly, the Black Cats dispersed, and Zhang Wenda charged right through.

With a flash of red light, Zhang Wenda leaped high into the air and came crashing down like a bomb. "Dean Yang! What goes around, comes around! You shouldn’t have bullied a poor young man! I’m here, thirty years in the future!"

The moment Zhang Wenda shouted those words, the Yellow Core on his arm instantly swelled to more than three times its size.

With a sickening thud, Zhang Wenda’s fist slammed squarely into his opponent’s face. A red light flashed, and the Light Saber shooting from the flashlight viciously stabbed into the man’s cheek.

None of the surrounding instructors had expected this to happen. For a moment, nobody reacted.

And unnoticed by anyone, the young Zhang Wenda saw it all. In that instant, the despair and fear in his eyes vanished.

Sparks danced across Yang’s face as he let out a guttural snarl. The spot where the Light Saber had pierced him sizzled. With a savage swing of his right hand, he sent Zhang Wenda flying with tremendous force. Zhang Wenda slammed into the cold wall with a heavy thud.

"Get him! Shock him!" he roared, clutching his face. His voice was distorted by agony and rage.

As if waking from a dream, the surrounding instructors’ faces twisted into vicious snarls. Like a pack of hyenas scenting blood, they lunged at him from all sides.

Fists and feet rained down on him. Heavy leather shoes slammed into Zhang Wenda’s ribs, stomach, and back.

’This familiar pain... the cold floor... the circling shadows... This is the place... This is the feeling... This is it!’

Amid the pain, the terrifying scene from Ward 13 in the depths of his memory began to superimpose itself onto the present. But this time, something was different.

The bone-deep fear and numb submission of the past were gone. In their place, a searing power, hot enough to tear his chest open, surged from the Red Core on his wrist and flooded his entire body.

The red light burned as intensely as molten lava, enveloping Zhang Wenda’s battered body.

"AHHHHH—!" A primal scream, carrying thirty years of pent-up humiliation and the explosive fury of the moment, tore from Zhang Wenda’s throat.

Facing another fist aimed at his head, he didn’t cower and protect himself as he had in the past. His bloodshot eyes locked onto his target. His left hand shot out like a steel clamp, precisely and immovably seizing the instructor’s wrist.

The sheer force of the grip made the instructor’s sneer freeze on his face, replaced by shock and pain.

"What?!"

Using the leverage, Zhang Wenda shot up, his right elbow, faintly glowing from the Red Core, slamming hard into the chest of another lunging instructor.

With a muffled CRUNCH, the instructor staggered backward, his face turning ashen. At the same time, the one whose wrist was caught felt an irresistible force as Zhang Wenda hip-tossed him, slamming him onto the floor like a sack of bricks.

’He was no longer a helpless child, a lamb to the slaughter. He was no longer that defenseless boy. He was a man now!’

Another instructor swung at him. Zhang Wenda tilted his head to dodge, then smashed a backfist into the man’s armpit, making him cry out and double over in pain.

When another tried a sneak attack from behind, Zhang Wenda dropped into a low leg sweep, sending him sprawling.

A fourth instructor pulled out a stun gun. Just as blue arcs began to crackle, Zhang Wenda lunged forward like a phantom and drove a brutal knee into the man’s abdomen, sending the weapon flying from his grasp.

His movements were wild and undisciplined, but they were fueled by a ruthless, life-or-death desperation. Every blow landed with brutal force, accompanied by the sickening thud of impact and his opponents’ pained cries.

Blood trickled from his split lip, staining his collar, and a cut on his temple oozed, but he didn’t seem to notice. His eyes, burning with rage, saw only the things from his past that he now had to shatter.

’He was no longer taking a beating just to survive. He was fighting for the boy lying on the floor! He was fighting for the self he had forgotten—the one whose edges had been ground down and smoothed away!’

"Come on! I’m not done yet!" Zhang Wenda roared. Wiping the blood from his face, he stood panting heavily among the downed instructors, his gaze locked on the ones who remained.

But now, Zhang Wenda saw a flicker of fear in their eyes. They didn’t advance.

Suddenly, it dawned on him. ’So these adults, the ones who once made me feel such utter despair, they aren’t so tough after all. It was all just a bluff. They only act so arrogant when they’re facing children far weaker than they are.’

’When faced with someone their own size, or even just a kid fighting for his life, they don’t dare to get rough.’

Catching his breath, Zhang Wenda turned to his younger self on the floor. He reached out a hand, his voice trembling slightly. "Don’t be afraid, kid. I’m here to save you."

He pulled his past self forcefully to his feet. Zhang Wenda turned to Dean Yang, whose human skin was peeling away to reveal the face of a beast underneath, and shouted, "Is it fun for a crowd of adults to bully a little kid, Dean Yang? Did it never once occur to you that they might grow up one day?"

Yang stared at Zhang Wenda’s face, studying him intently. This time, his expression wasn’t angry, but confused. "Who are you, kid? Do I know you?"

"Oh, we know each other. We’ve known each other for a very long time! So come on, Professor Yang! Stop bullying children and come after me! I’ve got nothing to lose, plenty of money, and all the time in the world! I can play this game with you all day long!"