The Mastermind Behind the Scenes Appears

"What's going on?"

An Yi raised an eyebrow, looking at the cold-faced Lin Chen across from him, and asked seriously, "You mean we've been stuck in this time loop for a full three months?"

Lin Chen nodded. "Before this, I looked for you three times as well, but you were no different from the others, just as trapped in the cycle."

Hearing this, An Yi frowned slightly.

Something's off! He thought it had only been a month!

He never expected Lin Chen to have figured out the loop before him.

That's not right!

What does that prove?

It proves nothing!

"What exactly is happening?"

An Yi pressed on solemnly.

The entire world, repeating the month of April... this is far beyond any human power.

It's simply unbelievable!

"I can't figure it out either. This has far exceeded anything we could have anticipated. Even Elder Long is unaware," Lin Chen said calmly. "Let's not dwell on that for now. Have your breakfast. Yao Yao specifically asked me to make this for you."

As he spoke, Lin Chen handed over a lunchbox.

"Yao Yao made this for me? Perfect timing, I haven't eaten!" An Yi was pleasantly surprised.

"An Yi, I... the porridge I cooked is ready too," Shen Muxuan said timidly.

An Yi: "..."

Alright then, I'll eat both!

Looking at the pot of dark, burnt-smelling porridge,

An Yi sighed.

This girl's cooking skills were still terrible as ever!

But when he opened the lunchbox and caught a whiff of an indescribable smell, he finally understood what it meant that there's always someone better.

"The presentation... is really something."

Keeping a straight face, An Yi poured the unidentifiable contents of the lunchbox into the porridge.

"Don't let it go to waste."

Lin Chen said flatly, a faint curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

He had been tortured by this for three whole months!

He couldn't let this guy off without trying it!

An Yi took a deep breath, lifted the large bowl, and gulped it down in huge swallows.

"Really delicious!"

An Yi's face flushed red as he forced out the insincere compliment.

Lin Chen was taken aback.

This guy actually held it in!

Shen Muxuan's eyes curved into happy crescents. "You'll get used to it. Oh, Lin Chen, you haven't had breakfast either, have you? I have some here..."

"Sorry, I've already eaten."

Lin Chen raised a hand, speaking seriously. "The main point now is how to break free from this time loop. I don't want to be trapped for a lifetime."

"From what we can see, the people trapped in the same day are the three of us," An Yi mused.

"No, it's four!"

Zhang Fan's voice came through as he opened the door and walked in, stating seriously, "I've been trapped for a week now."

He had a headache too.

His clinic was running just fine, but every day it was the same patients!

He could even remember the exact placement of the freckles on their faces.

The most horrifying part was one guy who had hemorrhoids!!!

"Any discoveries?" Lin Chen inquired.

Zhang Fan pondered, then said slowly, "My system is also affected by the loop. It's stopped working."

Hearing this, An Yi's expression also turned to shock.

Even Zhang Fan's system was unusable?

Just then, An Yi's phone buzzed loudly.

He looked at it—the caller ID showed a string of asterisks!

"Quick, Fang Jueming is injured! Someone, come!"

Chen Bing's voice on the phone carried a note of urgency.

"Location, where are you?"

Hearing it was Chen Bing, An Yi asked gravely.

"Yida Plaza, come quickly!" Chen Bing said hurriedly.

Then, click!

The call ended.

An Yi's expression turned cold and stern. "Let's go. Fang Jueming's in trouble."

Hong Tian lifted his head from the carpet. "Wasn't me, has nothing to do with me. That kid's too tough, I couldn't even bite through him."

...

An airplane flew through the clouds high in the sky.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Please turn off all communication devices..."

The flight attendant's clear voice sounded.

Chen Bing sat with his arms crossed, expression serious, occasionally pushing up his black-framed glasses, his gaze fixed on the sea of white clouds outside.

Bai Xiu, perhaps because he had slept enough, was uncharacteristically not asleep. Instead, he was intently flipping through a book.

"Why did it take you so long?" Chen Bing asked, puzzled.

He had called Bai Xiu many times, almost missing the flight because of it.

Bai Xiu, hearing this, scratched his head modestly. "Wasn't that long, just average."

Chen Bing fell into thought.

When it came to time loops, no one was more qualified to talk about it than him.

He had sensed something was wrong from the very beginning.

He never expected that even Bai Xiu had started to notice now.

What about An Yi over there? Would he have sensed the problem too?

"Brother Chen, do you know what's going on?" Bai Xiu asked thoughtfully.

He remembered Chen Bing mentioning something like this before.

Once, Chen Bing had been trapped in the month of July for a full thousand years!

"I'm not sure either. This time, perhaps we can uncover the secret behind my previous loops."

Chen Bing looked at the flowing clouds outside and spoke slowly.

...

"Hey kid, can you do it or not? Let your uncle try, you can't handle this?"

"Go for it, handsome!"

"He gives off a bit of a wolf-dog vibe, so cool."

Surrounded by the crowd,

Fang Jueming rubbed his hands together. Finally, he could try lifting this gold brick. He'd missed the chance several times before.

Pinching the gold brick with two fingers, he then lifted it out with ease.

"Is that all..."

Fang Jueming was somewhat disappointed.

No challenge at all.

The mall attendant panicked. "Sir, sir, this is not for sale..."

"Here, I just wanted to try it."

Fang Jueming grinned, showing a sunny smile, and handed the gold brick back.

The mall manager lady across from him was mesmerized, murmuring, "So handsome..."

As Fang Jueming turned around, he saw An Yi, Lin Chen, and Zhang Fan.

"Master, what are you all..." Fang Jueming was confused.

"You brat, pretending to be in trouble, giving us a scare for nothing."

An Yi hooked his arm around Fang Jueming's neck in a headlock, putting on a fierce act.

Fang Jueming quickly said, "Master, you... you set the dog on me. I didn't dare go to your place."

"Nonsense! That was Hong Tian acting on his own, has nothing to do with me!"

"Da Hong already confessed, one Level 4 spirit core per bite."

"..."

Lin Chen put away his Lieyun Guai (Splitting Cloud Crutches) and said calmly, "Let's go. It's good that you're okay."

Zhang Fan said suspiciously, "Something's off. Why would Chen Bing say Little Ming was injured?"

Chen Bing wasn't the type to joke around.

"Let me ask Glasses."

An Yi opened his phone and directly hit redial from the call log.

"The number you have dialed is not in service..."

Hearing this, An Yi refused to believe it. He then found Chen Bing's number in his contacts and dialed again.

"The subscriber you have dialed is powered off..."

"This Glasses guy..." An Yi raised an eyebrow.

Normally, Chen Bing wouldn't play this kind of joke.

But the situation was genuinely strange.

Just then, Lin Chen said slowly, "There's a powerful aura!"

His Wind Spirit senses had detected a sneaky figure.

Someone wearing a cloak?!

And the aura emanating from them was astonishing!

"Location!"

An Yi said seriously, his eyes turning cold.

He had a faint premonition that this person must be connected to the time loop.

Lin Chen closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them. "After them!"

As he spoke, he took the lead and gave chase.

On the top floor of the shopping mall, a figure clad in a black cloak slowly turned transparent, becoming ethereal.

"Hah, things are getting interesting!"