“Welcome, Guardians from Star Origin 1456. Welcome back to Sky Vault.”

The familiar welcome message from Sky Vault appeared.

A mechanical arm handed over a nutrient solution to alleviate the dizziness, nausea, and other side effects of time travel.

Had the cycle restarted again?

Ji Yushi took the nutrient solution and gulped it down in one go. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his black sleeve—the standard black combat uniform of a Sky Vault Guardian. He was no longer wearing the white t-shirt stained with zombie blood.

No, this time it hadn’t restarted.

Ji Yushi’s awareness gradually returned—they had succeeded with their second plan.

After shutting down the energy transmitters at the Golden Crow No. 2 Base, the mission wasn’t truly complete. They triggered a new anchor point, entering another large loop, where they created the first black wall at 5:30 AM at the park management office, the second at the Runjin Building… They watched as they created the black walls, forcing the versions of themselves within the small loop to keep moving forward, dying and reviving over and over, driving them to complete their goal.

Through the efforts of countless versions of themselves, the Ouroboros finally formed a complete circle.

Only then had they truly completed the mission.

After completing the mission, they fell into darkness.

When they awoke, they were back at the moment when the Sky Vault system had hijacked them, and the equipment began to wail, successfully merging with the team that had returned to the jump point.

As Song Qinglan had said, the outcome was even better than expected.

The versions of themselves from the two parallel timelines hadn’t collapsed into a monstrous form due to existing at the same time.

Everything in PU-31 now seemed like a nightmare—zombies, mutations, the apocalypse… except for the terrifying memories, they were still the same people, as if they had never left the capsule, never gone to PU-31.

It was a perfect time-space hijacking.

But now, what was happening?

Shouldn’t they have been sent to carry out an A-level mission?

Ji Yushi opened the capsule door, greeted by a blinding white light.

Once his eyes adjusted to the intense brightness, he realized they were in a place that resembled a command center.

“Brother Wen! We completed the mission!” Li Chun was almost crying with joy, hugging Duan Wen in excitement. “We’ll never have to go back there again!”

“Yes! We’ll never go back there again!” Duan Wen turned his head. “Consultant Ji!”

Everyone was a bit emotional.

Seeing Ji Yushi step out of the capsule, the team was practically ready to throw him in the air and cheer.

But, that wouldn’t be appropriate.

Even though they had fought side by side, relying on each other through life and death, Ji Yushi still gave them a different feeling.

In the other world, Ji Yushi’s contributions had been obvious to all—not only did he exceed the typical duties of an observer, but he was also an outstanding combat guardian. His calmness and resilience contrasted sharply with his appearance, yet strangely complemented it, giving off an air of… how to put it… a certain sophistication?

In any case, he wasn’t like the rest of these rough men.

For example, even now that they were in a safe place, Ji Yushi hadn’t fully relaxed.

He was surveying the area—bright lights, an enormous control panel, holographic projections, completely empty… wait.

“Captain Song,” Ji Yushi suddenly spoke up, “this isn’t our command center.”

Song Qinglan had noticed too because Sky Vault’s welcome message had already indicated that.

Hearing Ji Yushi’s words, Song Qinglan habitually checked the communicator and then said, “You’re right. The time format isn’t displaying correctly here; we can’t determine our current time coordinates.”

Everyone tensed up at these words. Traveling to PU-31 had left them all with psychological scars—there was a fear that this might be another place like PU-31.

Ji Yushi also raised his wrist to check, and all he saw on the communicator was: [].

No coordinates.

For time travelers, time was the only way to confirm their current location.

Having no coordinates was a serious issue—travelers could easily get lost in time and space, never finding their way back.

“Damn.” Duan Wen opened a door and took a look, then was the first to voice the team’s catchphrase.

He reported, “Captain Song, it looks like we’re not on solid ground.”

Li Chun and Tang Le also opened a few doors to check.

“It’s pitch black outside, and it looks like there’s nothing below!”

“There’s nothing around us!”

Song Qinglan went over to check with them, his brow furrowed.

“Where are we?”

“Didn’t we break the loop?”

“No way, after all that, we’re stuck again?”

Tang Qi said, “Captain Song, look!”

Everyone returned to the control panel, where a line of text appeared on the holographic screen:

[Congratulations! Guardians from Star Origin 1456, you have completed your first super S-level mission. You are now about to unlock the next one.]

Everyone felt a chill in their hearts—what did this mean?

“Who are you?” Song Qinglan directly asked the projection.

In their era, the Sky Vault system had already activated an intelligent voice system, and sure enough, as soon as the question was asked, it was triggered.

“I am Sky Vault.”

The system’s voice was gentle, a female voice.

Song Qinglan almost laughed out of anger: “Which era’s Sky Vault?”

The system replied, “In a broad sense, I am Sky Vault of all eras.”

Sky Vault of all eras?

Everyone was puzzled.

Song Qinglan paused for a moment, then seemed to think of something and asked again, “So, the Ouroboros mission was issued by you, and everything we’ve encountered here is related to you?”

The system responded, “Yes.”

Song Qinglan’s tone turned cold: “Where is this place?”

The system answered, “This is my time-space transfer station. You can rest, train, and dine here. I have ample supplies, and I recommend you use them before proceeding to your next mission.”

Another mission?!

Zhou Mingxuan was so alarmed that he almost panicked: “How can we get back?”

The system replied, “You have only unlocked one mission. Please unlock more missions to receive more detailed information.”

“Damn it!”

“This is such a rip-off!”

“What the hell is this?”

“Is this never going to end?!”

The team was inexplicably furious.

Tang Le said to his brother, “I’m never making predictions again. Before we set off, I told Consultant Ji ‘we’ll be back tomorrow.’”

Tang Qi was speechless: “…”

Ji Yushi, who had been silent, spoke up: “Why did you choose us?”

Everyone quieted down—Ji Yushi had asked a crucial question.

With his exceptional memory and observational skills, he had unknowingly become another core of this team.

The system flickered a few times before the voice restarted: “After over 1.7 billion calculations, your team’s success rate was higher than the average for all other time-space guardian teams.”

Everyone: “…”

This kind of good news didn’t feel comforting at all!

Song Qinglan asked, “What is the next mission?”

The system said, “I recommend that you rest before unlocking the next mission.”

After saying that, the holographic projection went black, and it abruptly disappeared.

This was a complete and utter time-space hijacking.

Everyone had thought that once they completed the Ouroboros mission, they would return to the moment when they were intercepted in the capsule, successfully jumping to Xijing City in 1460.

Then, they would reconnect with their Sky Vault command center and complete the A-level mission as originally planned, returning to their era.

Then everything would get back on track.

But that wasn’t the case.

To find out when they could go back, they would have to unlock more missions; otherwise, they would be trapped in this time-space transfer station.

Everyone was mentally and physically exhausted. The current situation was like a bucket of cold water dumped on their heads, leaving them all stunned.

Ji Yushi’s face was illuminated by the fluorescent light. After thinking for a moment, he turned and walked away.

Tang Le asked, “Consultant Ji! Where are you going?”

Ji Yushi stopped and looked back at them, puzzled: “I’m going to find something to eat. Aren’t you hungry?”

Everyone: “…”

Are all geniuses like this?

Is he too calm?!

In the large loop, Ji Yushi had maintained his condition from the Golden Crow No. 2 Base—shot in the abdomen, his arm bruised and swollen, and running a fever. Now that everything had reset, his wounds were gone, and he was back to his pre-departure state.

But mentally, after not having rested for a long time, Ji Yushi looked utterly exhausted, and he didn’t mind showing his fatigue.

“I’m so tired,” he said softly, “I just want to eat something and then get some good sleep.”

The time-space transfer station had everything, even frozen steaks and fresh vegetables. Who knew where this rogue system had intercepted them from?

Ji Yushi was right—since they couldn’t leave, they might as well recover first.

After a satisfying meal, everyone felt a little better emotionally and found their own rooms to rest.

Ji Yushi had just finished showering and was about to lie down when there was a knock on the door.

This time, it was Song Qinglan.

He stood at the door with no intention of entering. “Consultant Ji, have you ever heard of Sky Vault’s self-awareness?”

Song Qinglan had also showered and was now wearing a clean gray t-shirt from the training room.

He was extremely tall, about 1.9 meters, with a well-proportioned, muscular build, making him quite striking.

It was Ji Yushi’s first time seeing Song Qinglan in casual clothes, yet he still felt the same oppressive aura.

Ji Yushi replied, “I’ve heard a bit about it.”

Strangely, as Song Qinglan stood at his door, memories from the other version of himself in PU-31 suddenly surfaced.

As the teammates had said, in Team B—or Squad 4, his other self had gotten separated from the team along with Song Qinglan in the Runjin Building. It turned out that the people in the two parallel timelines really did have very similar experiences.

Ji Yushi remembered that while they were on their way to the bookstore, they had hurriedly hidden from the zombies and ended up in a cramped little room. How cramped? They had to stand face-to-face to fit, much like they had in the other timeline when they hid in a small room.

And it was much like the distance between them now.

If the two of them took one more step closer, they would be reenacting that moment from before.

Ji Yushi remembered that in the darkness, Song Qinglan’s lips were almost touching his ear, speaking in a calm tone: “Consultant Ji, you’re stepping on my foot.”

With zombies scratching at the door and stepping on someone’s foot in such close quarters, it wasn’t exactly polite. Ji Yushi thought it would be better to move aside.

But before he could, Song Qinglan’s deep voice whispered again by his ear: “Don’t move! I’ll let you step on it now so that next time you’ll remember something good instead of holding a grudge.”

Ji Yushi stayed still: “Okay.”

“But still,” Song Qinglan gritted his teeth, “you’re stepping pretty hard.”

The present Song Qinglan, with his deep black eyes, didn’t notice that Ji Yushi’s mind had wandered. He continued speaking: “Now we have proof that it’s real. The so-called Sky Vault from all eras shows signs of self-awareness. I just tried to contact our command center, but it was intercepted by Sky Vault. It seems like we won’t be able to return to our original time unless we unlock the tasks it gives us.”

Ji Yushi responded: “I have to go back. I can’t stay in another era—I have too many things to do.”

Everyone felt the same way.

Song Qinglan shared the sentiment: “So, we have no choice but to complete the next mission.”

Ji Yushi nodded.

Song Qinglan lowered his gaze to him, then brought up another topic: “By the way, doesn’t this mean I won the bet we made at Golden Crow No. 2?”

The bet?

Was he referring to the deal where, if they completed the mission using the second method, Ji Yushi would officially join Sky Vault Squad 7?

Ji Yushi wanted to decline.

After all, they couldn’t even return after completing an A-level mission. This squad seemed to have bad luck—perhaps even cursed.

“Give me your answer when we get back,” Song Qinglan said. “For now, try not to dwell on those terrifying images. Get some rest.”

With that, he pulled out a bottle of red wine and a wine glass from behind his back: “If you can’t sleep, have some of this. Just don’t let Zhou Mingxuan see it, or he’ll go crazy.”

“Goodnight, Consultant Ji.”

“Pfft—”

In the dimly lit, shaking vehicle, amid the sound of gunfire, Ji Yushi was cutting through the nylon rope around his wrist with a military knife.

His abdomen jolted as the energy bullet lodged into his flesh, the sensation slow and clear. Two seconds later, the pain began to spread from his abdomen, overwhelming him…

He doubled over in pain as the space vehicle crashed into the buildings lining the street.

A little girl picked up her doll and stood up from inside the vehicle.

She turned her head, her gray-white eyes wide open.

Ji Yushi woke with a start, drenched in cold sweat.

Instinctively, he reached under his shirt to feel the smooth skin of his abdomen… there was no wound.

He was in the quiet command center, in a clean and comfortable room.

He was safe.

Ji Yushi sat up on the single bed, the mattress sinking under his weight. After being jolted awake from a nightmare woven from memories and imagination, his sleepiness vanished completely. But his body was exhausted, and his head, along with his temples, ached—he needed rest.

He found his pill box, swallowed a tablet with some water from the room, and then tossed and turned for several hours, his gaze eventually settling on the nightstand.

A bottle of opened red wine.

A clear wine glass.

Ji Yushi wasn’t much of a drinker.

Would the things Song Qinglan brought really help?

He opened the bottle of wine and poured himself half a glass.

Before long, the alcohol took effect, and sleepiness, hazy and heavy, returned.

Ji Yushi lay back down on the soft bed, his eyelids gently closing. This time… he didn’t dream.

All the horrors of that world were finally over.