Yeah

"Master, your tea."

"The temperature has been adjusted to your preferred 52 degrees Celsius."

Fang Qi stared blankly for a moment at the scene before him.

At the silver-haired girl kneeling across the tea table, smiling warmly.

She wore a light blue home dress, her silver hair tied up in a bun...

Soft and gentle.

Her heterochromatic eyes looked up at him, glistening.

Ah.

Fang Qi's pupils slowly focused.

...Back again.

The morning of the tenth day...

"Phew...!"

He let out a soft breath.

He reached out, his fingers trembling slightly as he took the teacup.

He brought it to his lips and took a sip.

The fragrance of tea filled his mouth, the warm liquid sliding down his throat, calming the restlessness inside.

He raised his other hand to rub his temples.

A dull pain throbbed!

...His head still ached with phantom pain.

The sensation from earlier still lingered.

To be honest, concrete pavement and reef...

They really did feel different!

Speaking from experience!

Suddenly, a flash of silver caught his eye.

A soft warmth pressed against his arm.

He turned his head slightly to see the silver-haired girl had silently moved closer.

Without needing him to say a word, she had already sat down beside him!

His wife was taking the initiative!

She shifted slightly, curling up into his embrace...

Her cheek rubbed gently against his shoulder twice!

"Mmm..."

She let out a soft hum.

The crimson in her eye flickered with contentment, glowing slowly.

Fang Qi raised his hand and gently stroked her silver hair...

His gaze drifted out of focus again.

He recalled the scene from just moments ago.

They had fallen from the sky.

And in the instant before they hit the ground...

Liguang's hand had reached for the back of his neck!

In the zero point something seconds before his head was about to violently meet the concrete...

A vast expanse of sapphire light exploded in the air!

Like fireworks blooming over the ruins!

Even more magnificent than the sapphire fireworks from the "wedding" before!

The core fragments scattered through the air along with her silver hair...

It was truly beautiful...

Fang Qi leaned back, sinking into the sofa, staring at the ceiling.

And he had to admit, the feeling of leaping from the sky with his wife in his arms...

Was really, really thrilling!

He felt like he was getting addicted—what should he do?

Would this count as...

Going bungee jumping with his wife?

Except it was bungee jumping without a rope...

Fang Qi held Liguang, his palm gently stroking her back in steady motions.

Her body was soft as she leaned against him, the sweet scent of strawberries lingering at the tip of his nose.

Under the reassuring fragrance, his heartbeat gradually slowed...

His breathing steadied.

Finally, his mind could think deeply!

And so...

He recalled the ending from just now.

[You have proven yourself to be the variable. You have obtained the answer you sought.]

That end, which had clearly witnessed everything, acknowledged him as the "variable"!

But it still asked him...

[Is it really meaningful?]

"Hah...!"

Fang Qi laughed.

Meaningful?

Of course it was meaningful!

The more the end said it was meaningless, the more he would do it!

The stronger the enemy's reaction, the more it proved he was doing the right thing!

It was panicking!

It saw him getting closer and closer to the truth!

It saw in Liguang's eyes the catch of that strand of sapphire fate impurity!

It saw him daring to climb the crumbling building, unafraid of death, to prove himself the variable!

So it started using "meaninglessness" to shake him!

No use!

The greater the resistance, the more it proved...

This path was the right one!

"Phew——!"

He let out another long breath!

Then he suddenly sat up straight!

"Liguang!"

The silver-haired girl was jolted by his sudden movement, sitting up slightly. She tilted her head up to look at him, blinking:

"Master...?"

"Now is not the time to rest!"

He looked at her, his tone serious!

"We need to act!"

"We..."

He raised both hands and slapped his own cheeks.

"Smack!" The sound jolted him awake a bit.

Then he turned his head slightly and looked out the window!

"We need to go save people!"

Outside, the sunlight was still bright.

And on Fang Qi's shoulder, a slight tickle.

Liguang's little head rubbed quickly against his shoulder twice!

Then, just as quickly, she rose from his embrace!

In front of the sofa, she smoothed her slightly tousled silver bun...

Then gave a slight bow.

"Master, Liguang is ready too."

Her crimson eye flickered as she looked at Fang Qi.

"Ready to depart at any moment!"

Good!

His wife was always steady!

Fang Qi immediately stood up.

He stared out of the balcony French window.

The sunlight was hitting the building opposite, and the familiar window was still reflecting the light.

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

Come to think of it, Lin Xiaoyou should be across the way right now, shouldn't she?

With this round's reset, Lin Xiaoyou was naturally back to her lively self.

She was still with Xiaoqing!

Of course, Xiaoqing wouldn't remember anything from the last round.

But since Lin Xiaoyou really did die last round, she would probably spend some time with Xiaoqing, and then...

Would she send Xiaoqing away and come find him again?

Hmm...

Give her some time.

Once she sent Xiaoqing away, she would come looking for him on her own!

So Fang Qi withdrew his gaze, pulled out his phone from his pocket, swiped his finger...

And scrolled to the name in his contacts.

[An Lian]

Sister An Lian...

Had also "resurrected"!

But this time, the situation was probably much more complicated.

Even home might not be safe anymore...

He took a deep breath...

And pressed the call button!

The phone was picked up almost instantly.

A very soft breath came from the other end.

"...Hello? Xiao Qi...?"

The voice trembled slightly.

"Sister An Lian, it's me!"

Fang Qi spoke up immediately!

No problem!

Sister An Lian had indeed revived!

Beside him, the silver-haired girl understood.

Liguang pulled out from the folds of her dress... a white card?

She blinked at him, holding up the card between her fingers and waving it lightly!

—Master, look at this!

Fang Qi stared at the access card, momentarily stunned.

Huh?

...Oh, right.

This card was in Liguang's hands.

Back then, Lin Xiaoyou had crawled and slid to hand it over, and Liguang had taken it.

Ever since then, it had always been with her.

"Xiao Qi?"

An Lian's voice was hesitant.

"Right now, I should be..."

Fang Qi snapped back to reality.

Liguang flashed the card in her hand again, her crimson eye glinting.

Of course, he understood what she meant.

—Master, we need to take Sister An Lian to the underground research facility!

That was the method they had deduced in the last round!

The way to save An Lian!

Perhaps saving Lin Xiaoyou would require the same method.

So, he immediately spoke firmly into the phone:

"Sister An Lian, stay at home and don't go anywhere!"

"We'll head over right away!"

He paused, then softened his tone:

"And at home... be careful with everything."

He didn't explain why, but he knew the person on the other end understood.

An Lian also "dreamed." She retained memories from the last round.

She remembered how she died last round!

There was silence on the phone for a moment.

Then a soft "Mm."

"Xiao Qi, Liguang..."

Her voice trembled.

"I'll wait for you to come."

They both kept it concise.

After all, she was the maintenance specialist for the Super Core. The company was bound to monitor her communications.

Even if the Dawn Company didn't know she possessed the "bottom-level command" that could destroy them...

Her phone was also very likely being monitored by the company!

“Yeah, Sister An Lian.”

The call ended.

“Beep—beep—”

Fang Qi closed his eyes to calm himself, and had just set down his phone…

“Ding.”

A text message alert sounded.

He immediately looked down at the screen…

His gaze narrowed slightly!

Gu Xi…?

That person who never showed up in the last timeline and was completely unreachable.

He quickly opened the message.

[Fang Qi, I suggest you keep your current operations a little lower-key. You guys caused a huge mess in the dream; I almost couldn’t suppress it…]

Fang Qi: “…?”

He froze for a moment.

Couldn’t suppress it? Suppress what…?

Oh…!

It dawned on him!

Was she talking about the last timeline, when he and Lin Xiaoyou were driving and triggered those city-wide car crashes and explosions?

Come to think of it…

Yeah, that really happened.

It even made the news, labeled as a “terrorist attack”…

No one came looking for them over that in the last timeline!

That didn’t make sense!

After all, Lin Xiaoyou’s insanely conspicuous pink “Chop Bellied Fish Head” car had appeared at every accident scene!

And every time, it dodged everything by the skin of its teeth!

The countless surveillance cameras all over the streets must have captured it.

Under normal circumstances, the police would have shown up at their door long ago!

But in the last timeline, after they reached An Lian’s place…

No one had ever come to bother them!

So it was Gu Xi who had been suppressing it all along?

Fang Qi finally understood.

No wonder!

No wonder Gu Xi was unreachable in the last timeline!

She’d been busy handling all of this the entire time!

Right…

For a police officer, this kind of thing really would be a huge headache…

City-wide crashes, explosions, fires…

Forget about covering up their info—just handling that major incident alone…

Fang Qi could imagine how overwhelmed Gu Xi must have been back then!

Yeah…

She really was pretty swamped…

“Master,”

Liguang beside him suddenly spoke softly.

“The ‘eyes.’”

She gave Fang Qi a subtle wink.

“You can ask Officer Gu.”

Fang Qi raised an eyebrow.

That was exactly what he’d been thinking.

He immediately sent Gu Xi a message:

[Are those “eyes” in the dream related to you?]

Those “ghost eyes” from the last timeline when he and Lin Xiaoyou were driving—

Where had they come from?

Gu Xi replied within just a few seconds.

[That’s not something I can control. I’m different from them.]

The answer was very direct!

Fang Qi stared at the message.

Not some vague brush-off.

Different, huh…

Soon, another text came through:

[I’ll help you as much as I can, suppressing actions from our side. But you two need to keep a lower profile too.]

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes.

“Their side”…

The police?

Or something broader…

“The authorities”?

Were those ghosts what she was referring to…?

“Ding!”

[And, thank you, Fang Qi. For everything you’ve done. I really mean it, thank you.]

Fang Qi looked at this message and pressed his lips together.

He was about to reply with something like, “You don’t need to thank me; An Lian is my sister too”…

“Ring—!”

His phone suddenly rang!

The incoming call screen interrupted his typing.

[Lin Xiaoyou]

At the same time, the silver-haired girl beside him gently tilted her head.

Liguang looked toward the balcony’s sliding glass door, her phoenix eyes slightly narrowed, a faint crimson glimmer in them.

“Master…”

Her tone carried a hint of amusement, and the corners of her mouth curled upward.

“It seems something… a little interesting is happening over there…”

Something interesting?

Fang Qi blinked.

Lin Xiaoyou, what have you done now…?

He immediately answered the call:

“Hello…”

“SENIOR!!!!”

A howl!!

A high-pitched shriek!!

It almost rattled Fang Qi’s phone right out of his hand!

Holy crap!

Fang Qi’s brain was ringing!

He held the phone a couple of inches away from his ear!

Lin Xiaoyou, you…!

“Xiaoqing had a nightmare!!”

“Xiaoqing had a nightmare, ahhh!!!”

Lin Xiaoyou’s voice was ridiculously excited!

So thrilled it was practically warped!

…Huh?

Fang Qi was stunned.

Xiaoqing had a nightmare?

So what…

A nightmare…?

A—night—mare…?

…Wait, what?!

His eyes flew wide open!

“Xiaoqing had a nightmare?!!”

He nearly howled himself!

“That’s right, that’s right!”

“Xiaoqing had a nightmare!!”

Lin Xiaoyou on the other end of the phone was absolutely ecstatic!

Her tone was brimming with pride!!

“She dreamed that I died!!”

“Yay!!!”