The complexities of the Sky Vault organization and its many rumors were well-known. As early as two years ago, when Song Qinglan was still a special forces soldier, not yet a Guardian, he had heard about this in the Guardian training camp. At the time, the results of a certain exam were announced, and a highly knowledgeable instructor unexpectedly came in second place. In class, the instructor jokingly told the trainees, “Actually, I didn’t lose. The first place, Ji Yushi, has hyperthymesia. Who could beat him?”

It was just a casual remark, likely using exaggerated rhetoric to describe Ji Yushi’s exceptional memory.

In fact, Song Qinglan had only considered it a metaphor before.

But… is this actually an illness?

So close, Song Qinglan could clearly see the moisture at the roots of Ji Yushi’s eyelashes.

His skin was pale, and even when angry, there was no sign of capillary expansion revealing any redness, like a cold, lifeless sculpture.

“My caudate nucleus and frontal lobe have an abnormality that causes uncontrollable long-term memory storage. I remember what color socks I wore on my first day of elementary school, whether it rained on the first weekend after I started working when I decided to sleep in, and whether I stepped into the bookstore with my left foot or right foot just now.”

Ji Yushi’s eyes were clear, his gaze devoid of any emotion, like a narrator.

“Anything I’ve seen, heard, or felt—whether important or trivial, whether it needs to be remembered or not—I will remember. There is no filtering process. In other words, I don’t have the ability to forget.”

Song Qinglan’s brow relaxed, and a hint of surprise flickered in his pupils: “…”

No ability to forget?

Ji Yushi said, “What seems abnormal to you is the most ordinary thing for me. So, as long as I’ve experienced something, it makes no difference whether it happened once or countless times. In other words, like you, I’ve only experienced the mission reset process once.”

“So the reason you appear almost omniscient is because you remember everything?”

“Exactly.”

“Everything?”

“Everything. You can test me.”

Ji Yushi didn’t seem to be lying.

Of course, Song Qinglan didn’t know him well enough, nor could he determine if Ji Yushi’s arrival was connected to the issues with this mission. So, he simply asked, “Then why did you want to come to the bookstore?”

“I saw it in the drone footage.” Ji Yushi seemed to think this was a silly question. “There’s no network, so electronic devices are useless. In an unfamiliar place, where else can you quickly learn about its history and current state?”

Song Qinglan: “…”

Ji Yushi’s words were twofold: “Captain Song, don’t just rely on brute force.”

To Song Qinglan, it almost sounded like Ji Yushi was saying, “You should read more books when you have time” or “Don’t rely on bullying others with force.”

Guardians execute missions with clear objectives, focusing on speed, accuracy, and efficiency. When faced with obstacles, they meet force with force, moving forward without hesitation.

Since they met, this wasn’t the first time the two had clashed, but it was the first time Song Qinglan had to admit that Ji Yushi had a point. In this strange world, where speed and efficiency were insufficient, meticulousness had become the Guardians’ shortfall, and Ji Yushi seemed to be the one filling that gap.

“But you were right about one thing: the medicine is indeed to clear my mind and keep me alert.” Ji Yushi poked Song Qinglan’s shoulder with his finger. “Captain Song, can you move aside now?”

Only then did Song Qinglan realize how ambiguous their posture looked.

In another context, with someone else, like Li Chun, this position would usually indicate that Li Chun was about to get beaten up for slacking off and failing a training exercise. But when it came to Ji Yushi, who was half a head shorter, slender, and had fair skin with large eyes, the situation felt different.

The key issue was that everyone in the Sky Vault knew Consultant Ji’s orientation: he was attracted to men.

Finally, Captain Song, who was used to overpowering people with his size, reluctantly stepped aside, allowing the delicate-looking Consultant Ji to move away from the bookshelf.

Though Ji Yushi’s handsome face didn’t look particularly pleased.

The small square medicine box had been thrown out earlier in an arc.

With so many bookshelves and books around, it was hard to pinpoint its exact location, and Ji Yushi walked around a few times but couldn’t find it.

Just then, their teammates returned.

“Bang, bang, bang—”

Gunshots suddenly rang out outside the bookstore.

“Captain Song!!” Zhou Mingxuan shouted, “Close the door, quickly!!”

The three who rushed in were covered in zombie blood.

Two or three dozen zombies swarmed to the entrance, and through the bookstore’s floor-to-ceiling glass windows, they spotted the humans inside. With hoarse growls, they began banging on the glass, their teeth gnashing and leaving behind rotting flesh and blood.

As soon as they were out of danger, Li Chun cursed, “Damn it, all the food was looted. We finally found a supermarket, and there was nothing left inside—just a bunch of crappy canned goods that no one even bothered to take.”

Zhou Mingxuan dropped the few remaining cans, “The taste must be awful.”

“How bad could it be?” Song Qinglan picked up a can, “In the apocalypse, who’s picky?”

As soon as Tang Le entered, he spotted a bottle of mineral water on the bookshelf, opened it without hesitation, and drank half of it, clearly parched. “This place feels weird!”

Ji Yushi glanced at the water bottle but didn’t stop him.

He picked up a can to examine it.

The label depicted green beans and was marked as “Cramond Beans,” looking just like ordinary beans. But when Ji Yushi flipped the can to read the back, the small print at the bottom caught his attention. The cursive writing in both Chinese and English read: “First batch of organic vegetables after the launch of PU-31 Jinu No. 2, a premium offering.”

From dawn to nearly noon, even though the group was strong and resilient, the intense combat had left them starving.

Li Chun, who had long since emptied his stomach, didn’t care about the taste of the canned food. He pulled out his knife and started opening it, muttering, “This place isn’t just a little weird—it’s completely off.”

Tang Le chugged the water, “I meant that I saw a dog earlier. But I’m not sure if I was seeing things.”

Song Qinglan: “Was the dog infected by zombies too?”

Tang Le hesitated, his face showing discomfort, “No, it seemed like it had two tails. Forget it; just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Everyone: “…”

“Ugh—” Li Chun took a bite of the Cramond Beans and immediately spat it out, “Damn, this tastes awful!”

Zhou Mingxuan pushed his head, “You’re lucky to have anything to eat. Just swallow it with your eyes closed. There was a time when Captain Song and I participated in jungle survival training, eating bugs and tree bark, almost resorting to eating mud.”

Li Chun opened several more cans and distributed them.

Ji Yushi tried a bite. It was immediately astringent and bitter, with a strange texture that didn’t seem like it came from the soil, but he swallowed it anyway.

Seeing that even the most “delicate” member of the team, Ji Yushi, could eat it, Li Chun felt embarrassed to complain further, and everyone silently began to eat.

Song Qinglan: “Is everyone full? If not, eat more. We don’t know what we’ll face next, and this might be our last meal.”

Two of the seven had already been lost.

No one found these words harsh or unpleasant; it was simply the truth.

As the team’s backbone, Song Qinglan coldly opened his communicator to project a map, listing the issues they faced as he spoke: “We’re currently dealing with two problems: zombies and the black wall. Either one means death. We can kill zombies, but we can’t predict the black wall’s movements. We don’t know why it exists.”

Song Qinglan marked the current location of the black wall on the map.

It was still over ten kilometers away, so even if it moved, it would take some time to reach them. For now, the bookstore was safe.

“The mission rules mention death elimination.” Zhou Mingxuan speculated, “I guess the black wall’s purpose is to consume the zombies, not to eliminate us. We’re supposed to complete the mission, so there’s no reason for the higher-ups to give us that rule. If we die, it doesn’t benefit them. The rule is probably a warning—the black wall doesn’t distinguish between zombies and humans. If it touches us, we die, and we’ll be eliminated.”

The mention of death elimination reminded everyone of Tang Qi and Duan Wen.

With Tang Qi around, Tang Le had always been the carefree one. But now, he had matured considerably and picked up the conversation as if nothing had happened: “Old Zhou might be right. But how was the black wall created? Is this world’s technology that far ahead of ours?”

“I don’t think so,” Song Qinglan disagreed. “If they had the capability to create a black wall to eliminate zombies, why not just bomb them? The result would be the same; there’s no need to go around it.”

Ji Yushi, who had the smallest appetite, finished eating first, enduring the bitterness in his mouth. He had already searched the bookshelves once.

Seeing that everyone had finished eating, he walked over with a book in his arms: “What if the ones sending us on this mission aren’t from our timeline’s Sky Vault?”

Everyone looked up.

Ji Yushi said, “I know what PU-31 means.”

He tossed an orange-covered book into the middle of the group. The cover depicted a green planet, and the title read *Mini World: PU-31*.

“PU, parallel universe.” Ji Yushi explained, “Planet 31, with a diameter of 3696 km, smaller than Mercury, is an artificial colony in the crevice of a parallel universe.”

Since the invention of time travel, the time alliance formed by various countries had strictly controlled it.

But since this technology was invented, it meant that from the day it was created, the Sky Vault system existed in every possible future. There had been instances where Guardians in the future, operating on the same frequency band, experienced communication interference and heard mission information from their current coordinates.

Everything has a cause and effect. Once humanity invented a technology beyond its time, it was bound to be uncontrollable.

That’s why the oaths before each mission were so earnest and solemn.

—

“I am a witness to time, and I swear here.”

“I will never alter the past!”

“I will never speak of the present!”

“I will never be obsessed with the future!”

Everyone pondered this.

Song Qinglan asked, “Are you saying that during our jump, we were intercepted by this timeline’s Sky Vault and sent to their colony?”

Ji Yushi said, “I think it’s highly possible. This also explains why we were flagged for illegal jumping, why we couldn’t contact the command center, and why we received the mission briefing from the administrator’s communicator.”

“Bang!”

Outside the window, a few zombies, due to the angle, could still see the living humans inside the bookstore. They banged on the glass, their gray-white pupils bulging, but no one inside paid attention.

This news was more terrifying than a thousand zombies besieging them.

“Damn.” Li Chun’s heart tightened, and his eyes showed fear as he cursed, “How do we get back? Complete the mission? If this timeline’s Sky Vault really sent us here, why can’t their command center speak like normal people? What the hell kind of mission briefing is that? Would it kill them to give us more details?!”

This angry rant echoed everyone’s thoughts.

Zhou Mingxuan patted Li Chun’s shoulder, “Brother, if only they’d say more.”

Song Qinglan pursed his lips. Despite the situation, the sharp, blade-like aura surrounding him remained impossible to ignore.

“If they’re colonizing this place called PU-31, it’s very likely that there’s no so-called command center in this timeline. The system… might just be mechanical code. Don’t expect it to speak like a human.”

“Will Minister Wang and the others come looking for us?” Li Chun asked. “The command center must have noticed we’re missing, right?”

“Not necessarily.” Tang Le’s eyes were somewhat unfocused, his voice soft, “In a parallel universe, maybe only a second has passed for them. Who knows? My brother and Old Duan… they’re left in a place like this…”

Silence fell over the bookstore.

Song Qinglan: “So, in the mission objectives, what exactly is the Dark Chaser?”

He turned to Ji Yushi and asked, “Consultant Ji, since we have time, can you read a few more books?”

Ji Yushi was coldly indifferent: “I’ll try, but I’m no quantum speed-reading prodigy.”

Everyone: “…”

Damn.

A line that Song Qinglan had said before they set out was now being thrown back at him by Ji Yushi, word for word!

At this point, and he still held a grudge?!

“One more thing.”

Ji Yushi stood there, lightly pulling up his sleeve, revealing the marks on his wrist.

On his fair skin were several bruises, clearly looking like finger marks, as if he had been mistreated.

Ji Yushi spoke slowly, in a completely natural tone: “Could someone help me find the book? My hand hurts.”

Song Qinglan: “…”

Song Qinglan: “I’ll do it.”