Fang Qi collapsed onto the sofa, his whole body going limp.
...Ahh, that hit the spot!
Even though his wife had "threatened" to break his legs...
It felt great!
Really, truly great!
"Whoosh——!"
He let out a long breath!
Liguang had come back, and she'd even left him a "threatening letter"!
Life was finally back to normal, huh!
But come to think of it...
He leaned back against the sofa's headrest, staring at the ceiling.
He had saved his progress in this timeline, right?
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
Saved...
Yeah.
No big deal!
Though he wasn't entirely sure what this save meant exactly, but...
Anyway, no big deal!
Liguang knew all about the tea-party save thing, after all!
Would his wife ever hurt him?
Of course not!
Since she'd brewed this tea for him, it meant...
She wanted him to save.
The Liguang of now was this world's Goddess!
She stood above even the rules of the world, overlooking all of this...
She definitely understood far more than him, a little player caught in the middle!
So...
No need to overthink it.
Trusting his wife was the right call, no doubt!
If his wife said save, then save!
What his wife said not to do, he wouldn't do!
This city's subway was forever off-limits to him, Fang Qi!
Fang Qi felt elated!
He got up and walked to the balcony, opening the window...
The crisp, post-rain air rushed in.
The sky was clear and bright.
He leaned over the railing and looked down.
A few elderly folks doing their morning exercise were stretching and moving around in the fitness area below.
A picture of peaceful, tranquil life.
Fang Qi's mind drifted for a moment.
After drinking Liguang's tea and saving his progress, did that mean he was...
officially entering Day Eleven now?
Who knew the eleventh day would arrive in such an absurd way...
His Liguang was still floating up in the sky!
He rested his chin on his arms, gazing at the pale golden clouds in the distance.
...Babe, I really want to hear you say something.
It's been so long since I've heard your voice.
But...
Not yet.
He still had the one day he'd promised Lin Xiaoyou to "collect samples."
He'd made a promise, and he had to keep his word.
And honestly...
He was kind of curious about the "perfect world" Lin Xiaoyou kept talking about.
That girl was crazy, sure, but she was crazy in a clear-headed way.
Miss Genius's intellect was way beyond his.
If she could actually pull off a perfect world, why not let her try?
Mm...
Fang Qi shook his head, pushing those thoughts aside.
He hadn't gone up that mountain for a few days, but...
With weather this nice, staying cooped up at home would be a total waste!
But then...
What should he do?
He watched the elderly folks exercising below, feeling a bit stumped.
Actually, yesterday he'd planned to go find Gu Xi in this timeline and have a chat today.
But Lin Xiaoyou had said yesterday that there was no "Gu Xi" in this world, and his contact list indeed didn't have her.
That was really...
Fang Qi frowned slightly.
...Can't take Lin Xiaoyou's word at face value!
How many times had she tricked him already!
He immediately sent a message to An Lian:
[Fang Qi: Sister An Lian, I want to ask you about someone. Do you know Gu Xi? A woman about a year or two younger than you.]
After sending it, he leaned against the sofa armrest and waited.
Within half a minute, his phone buzzed twice in a row.
[Sister An Lian: Gu Xi? Don't know her.]
[Sister An Lian: Is this the woman you had a breakup with? Didn't you say you were over it? Why can't you let her go?]
Fang Qi: "..."
He nearly choked on his own saliva!
What the heck!
He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine!
He frantically typed a response!
[Fang Qi: No no no! It's not her!]
[Fang Qi: The woman I broke up with was Liguang! Didn't I tell you yesterday, Sister An Lian? Liguang! Her name is Liguang!]
Wait, I didn't break up with anyone!
...Whatever!
[Fang Qi: Someone else asked me to check. Don't overthink it, Sister An Lian!]
[Sister An Lian: Someone else? Who asked you?]
[Sister An Lian: Xiao Qi, if you've got something on your mind, you can tell your sister. You don't need to make up excuses like this.]
Fang Qi: "..."
He stared at the screen, momentarily at a loss for how to explain.
He couldn't exactly say...
She was your best friend in another timeline!
Under normal circumstances, you should know her!
She even begged me on her knees to save you!
And now you've gone and forgotten her, Sister An Lian!
He rubbed his temples and kept typing.
[Fang Qi: I'm really asking for a friend, can't say who... (sucking up.JPG)]
There was a moment of silence on the other end, then finally a reply:
[Sister An Lian: Fine. Xiao Qi, no matter what happens, don't try to carry it all alone.]
Fang Qi pursed his lips.
Don't worry, Sister An Lian, I never carry things alone.
This world's Goddess will carry it with me!
He quickly replied:
[Fang Qi: Got it, got it!]
Then he set his phone down, sank back into the sofa, and stared at the ceiling.
...An Lian didn't know Gu Xi.
In this timeline, Gu Xi was no longer the one...
who had dragged her out of the darkness during her lowest moment.
Sister An Lian had no idea how important that name had been to her in another timeline.
But that made sense.
The Sister An Lian of this timeline had never gone through that low point in the first place!
Her life was perfectly fine, she even had a nephew who was already a few years old!
Meanwhile, he was still the one with both parents dead...
He let out a sigh and stood up from the sofa.
...Better make a trip to the police station after all!
He didn't have anything else to do anyway, might as well go out and dig around!
He couldn't just stay holed up at home all day, right?
If Liguang were here, that would be a different story.
Holding his wife on the sofa and lazing around all day—that would be the most blissful thing in the world.
Right, babe?
But now it's just me...
I'm empty, lonely, and cold!
Hurry back!
And me?
I'll... put in a little effort!
Head out and look for clues!
Let's go, babe!
We're going out!
...
...
When he came out of the police station, Fang Qi pressed his lips together.
Absolutely nothing!
The police station's famous beauty officer Gu Xi from the other timeline...
No one in this timeline had ever heard of her!
He'd asked several veteran officers, and they all shook their heads, saying they'd never heard the name.
He even tried to ask them to search for "Gu Xi" in the system!
But they asked what legitimate reason he had.
He hemmed and hawed for ages, unable to come up with a proper justification...
Their expressions immediately turned wary!
A young man showing up at the police station asking about a girl, with no real reason...
Looked suspicious as hell, no matter how you spun it!
In the end, Fang Qi could only offer an awkward smile, wave his hand, and—
bolt!
"...Sigh!"
Walking down the busy, traffic-filled street, he let out a heavy sigh.
As far as he could tell...
Even if Gu Xi hadn't completely vanished, her life in this timeline was completely different from the one in the other world!
...Forget it.
He'd stop looking.
There wasn't much point anyway.
They were all going back in the end.
He kept walking, watching the crowds pass him by.
Plenty of people out and about.
This worldline has no Dawn, no AI companions.
Ever since the first machine uprising broke out, AI has been banned up to the present day.
Looking at the streets alone, you couldn't tell much difference.
Still the same bustling crowds, cars coming and going.
Fang Qi walked along the roadside.
Liguang, look, this is the world without Dawn.
Breakfast stalls puffed out steam, aunties carrying vegetable baskets haggled by the curb, a few middle school students with backpacks walked by laughing and chatting...
It seemed...
Compared to the other worldline, there wasn't much of a change.
It looked like, even though the development of AI had transformed people's daily lives, for the overall look of the city...
There wasn't that much of a difference, either?
Of course, Fang Qi knew this was only the surface.
It only looked unchanged.
Actually, in the previous worldline...
Among the people on the street, there were plenty of ordinary AI companions, Dusk's AIs, and modified humans!
They just looked as normal as everyone else on the outside!
Especially in this city, which had once hosted the headquarters of Dawn and the stronghold of Dusk, they were absolutely everywhere.
You could never know whether the man who just brushed past you while staring at his phone was a regular office worker or a half-machine whose heart had been swapped for an alloy engine.
But now...
Fang Qi stood at the street corner waiting for the traffic light, instinctively taking a deep breath.
All of that was gone!
Every single person walking down the street was a genuine, real ordinary person.
Every single one...!
"Koff, koff!!"
Fang Qi coughed a couple of times!
Damn it...!
A car had just driven past him, and that deep breath he took had gone straight into a mouthful of exhaust fumes!
"Koff...!"
He coughed again.
Alright then...
There was a bit of a difference after all!
Speaking of which, in the other worldline...
The streets were basically all new-energy electric cars!
Although Dawn Corporation's main business was AI companions, its battery technology and new-energy drive systems had completely transformed the automobile industry!
Even Lin Xiaoyou's heavily modified pink chopstick-head minicar was an electric hot hatch!
But in this worldline...
Fang Qi looked at the traffic filling the streets.
AI smart car systems had been banned, and new-energy tech hadn't spread as thoroughly as it had on the other line.
The proportion of gas-powered cars...
Was indeed quite a bit higher!
An old-school fuel-powered sports car drove past him, engine rumbling, exhaust pipe spitting out a puff of smoke!
Then, together with another quietly gliding electric car, the two stopped side by side at the intersection.
Fang Qi was briefly lost in thought.
Gas car and electric car.
Roar and silence.
He stared blankly at the two vehicles, and a subtle feeling suddenly welled up in his chest.
...Tsk, tsk.
This really...
Felt a bit familiar!
This was way too familiar!
His eyelids twitched!
This worldline...
It really was a lot like the world he'd been in before he transmigrated!
Thinking back carefully, before he transmigrated...
Every day when he left for work, wasn't this the exact smell he breathed in?
Back then, he used to complain about the noisy streets and the bad air quality, wishing every day that he could move to some quieter place.
And now, standing on this street that looked more and more like his memories...
He suddenly felt a little dazed.
It really was so similar...
The wind suddenly picked up a bit!
The branches and leaves of the roadside trees rustled and shook hard!
The sunlight also grew noticeably more glaring!
It made him squint.
Fang Qi: "...?!"
He snapped back to his senses in an instant!
...Ah!
He blinked, and his back involuntarily stiffened!
Uh...
No, no, honey!
No, no!
His scalp went tight, and he started frantically explaining in his head!
I-I-I'm just reminiscing a little!
Don't be mad! Don't be mad!
I'm not going back!
I just want to stay with you forever, really!
I just think...!
Just think...
He drifted off again for a moment.
Just think, if one day I could really take you back there...
How wonderful that would be.
I want...
To show you the place where I grew up, Liguang.
The wind suddenly softened a lot.
The harsh sunlight was also blocked by a drifting white cloud.
Fang Qi looked up at the sky, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly.
...Looks like the Goddess is in a good mood today.
Probably because she secretly came down to tidy the house last night, made him tea, and left a note, so she's feeling pleased?
So next...
Ah!
A thought struck him!
Oh right, honey, let me take you to see a movie!
Last time we went to the movies together, those bastards from Dusk ruined it!
A perfectly good date, all destroyed by them!
But in this world, they're all gone!
We can have a normal date now!
The more Fang Qi thought about it, the more solid the plan seemed!
Come on, come on, honey, I'm taking you to the movies!
Consider it...
Making up for that lost chance.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
