“It’s not just holding grudges; it means remembering the good as well.”

“In short, whether it’s good or bad, Ji Yushi remembers it all.”

“Well, thank you for that,” Song Qinglan teased, stuffing his small hand back into Ji Yushi’s palm. “Let’s go.”

Ji Yushi’s fingers were slender and long, with a slightly cool touch.

Just like the impression he gives—a bit aloof, seemingly untouchable.

But after spending time with him, you realize that Ji Yushi is like a clear spring in the mountains—pure and straightforward, easy to get along with.

The two walked along the tracks left by the vehicle they used to gather the plants.

This time, Ji Yushi slowed his pace even more. With the unusual magnetic field and gravity, every step became increasingly heavy.

Before long, Ji Yushi noticed that the small hand he was holding was already sweaty.

Song Qinglan was having difficulty walking because, compared to adults, children have very limited physical strength—something Ji Yushi had overlooked. He looked down and asked, “Captain Song, how about I carry you?”

Song Qinglan was struggling, his big boots wobbling on his feet, his small face flushed with heat. “Is that necessary? I can walk on my own.”

Ji Yushi asked curiously, “But you guys came back so quickly earlier. Did Li Chun carry you?”

Song Qinglan was speechless: “…”

Ji Yushi bent down to pick his up, but Song Qinglan quickly bounced away.

Pointing ahead, Song Qinglan, for once, didn’t show his usual adult-like calmness, and his childlike voice rang out, “I said I don’t need it! We’re almost there! Consultant Ji, just holding my hand is fine!”

Song Qinglan was right. Soon, they reached the place where they had gathered the plants.

The small cart was still there, filled with glowing vine flowers, ready to be transported to the rainforest.

Some glowing flowers that hadn’t been loaded into the cart were still scattered on the ground, likely because Li Chun hadn’t had time to pick them up.

Other than that, there was nothing else there.

Ji Yushi asked, “Captain Song, you slipped on this small slope?”

“Yes.” Seeing Ji Yushi about to walk over, Song Qinglan tugged at his sleeve and frowned, “Don’t go over there.”

Knowing that the other was worried he might experience the same thing, Ji Yushi pointed ahead and asked, “Is that place similar to the mirrored world like the rainforest and city?”

There was a small slope in front of the cart, beyond which was a dim area—not too dark, similar to the path they took when they went to the rainforest.

This wasn’t Song Qinglan’s first time in this direction, but when he checked the area near the space capsule, he hadn’t found anything. So he didn’t know why this situation had occurred.

Despite being small, Song Qinglan’s tone was steady, “No. After I slipped down, I didn’t see anything, but when I stood up, everything was like this.”

What caused time to have an effect on Song Qinglan?

Even someone as smart as Ji Yushi found the mystery growing more complex. In this place where the mission mode was set to “Chaos,” everything seemed beyond conventional understanding.

“Will I be able to change back?”

Ji Yushi turned around and saw that despite the childish face, there was no fear, only a faint trace of irritation.

Song Qinglan handled his emotions with maturity, even though he felt anxious about it.

Anyone wanting to make a difference while in a difficult situation would feel anxious. In the last mission, Song Qinglan was a combat powerhouse. Even if he didn’t have Ji Yushi’s powerful logical thinking and photographic memory, his understanding and execution abilities greatly aided Ji Yushi, allowing them to work together perfectly.

“It might take a few years living in the rainforest,” Song Qinglan said. “You might need to wait for me. If you’re really bored, you can spend a few hours in the city, and we can meet again later.”

The city where time flies by.

The perfectly normal space capsule.

The city where days felt like years.

Suddenly, Ji Yushi grasped a crucial point and said, “Captain Song, I think we’ve been heading in the wrong direction.”

Song Qinglan, tugging at his sliding cotton coat collar, asked, “Which direction?”

“No, I mean I’ve been heading in the wrong direction,” Ji Yushi said. “The reason why only the area near the space capsule has a normal time flow, and why our mission isn’t related to time flow at all—the hint you gave me earlier was very good. I was the one who misunderstood, like the Raven Paradox.”

The Raven Paradox.

Suppose “all ravens are black,” and you observe thousands of ravens, all of which are black. Your confidence in the statement “all ravens are black” increases. Logically, “all ravens are black” is equivalent to “non-black things are not ravens.” Every time you observe something non-black, your belief in “all ravens are black” grows stronger.

This is the huge difference between logical thinking and intuitive feeling.

The cart filled with vines and increasingly bright glowing flowers lit up their faces.

Ji Yushi said, “We assumed that the area near the space capsule is bright, and after passing through the darkness, time flow becomes abnormal and the mirrored world appears. We thought it was all because of the lack of special light sources in the darkness. Here, we went down the wrong path. It’s actually very simple—the real problem lies with these special light sources.”

Song Qinglan said, “These flowers?”

“Yes,” Ji Yushi replied. “The place we’re in now isn’t so much a rift in parallel universes as it is a rift in time—it’s a time loophole.”

“Time originally runs smoothly and flawlessly; it’s just an intangible concept. But one day, humans discovered its workings and created travelers who could move from point A to point B, leaving traces in this perfect system. Those traces took root and bloomed into small flowers.”

Ji Yushi picked up a glowing flower and observed the veins on its transparent petals.

Song Qinglan had a strong premonition that their mission was about to be completed.

Ji Yushi continued, “Of course, flowers might just be one form of these traces. As the traces grow, they gradually widen the rift in time, turning it into a loophole and disrupting its order. These traces, in the rift, interact with the void nature of time itself, refracting into different worlds—sometimes upside down, sometimes mirrored—creating a chaotic, mirrored world.”

“So our goal isn’t to plant these flowers, but to remove them,” Song Qinglan understood, a hint of disdain appearing on his handsome, clean face. “This system, it really is just taking the mission at face value.”

Time repairers.

Remove these traces, close the rift, and the loophole will disappear.

Ji Yushi tossed the flower aside, “When you slipped down the slope, you fell into the dim area, and these glowing flowers refracted time onto you, causing a reverse flow effect. So, in a short distance, only you changed, while Li Chun did not. However, if my analysis is correct, once we repair this loophole, the rift will disappear, time will be restored, and everything affected by the refraction will return to its original state. You will change back, and we will be as if we never existed, returning to where we should be.”

For example, back to the capsule pod in the middle of a warp.

Song Qinglan raised an eyebrow, “So does that mean I’ve gained something out of this misfortune?”

Ji Yushi said, “For us, yes. But I wonder if that’s the case for them.”

Them?

Song Qinglan asked, “Do you mean the bearded man and Xie Si’an?”

Ji Yushi shook his head, his tone turning cold, “I mean everyone who has been here.”

Using his height, Ji Yushi picked up the little one and placed him in the now-clean cart. During the process, a boot fell off, which Ji Yushi picked up and handed to Song Qinglan, “Little one, put your shoes on.”

Song Qinglan: “…”

The shrunken person was very angry.

Ji Yushi suddenly thought of the Song Qinglan from Squad 6.

At the Golden Crow No. 2 base, that Song Qinglan, carrying Shen Mian, descended like a God. Standing on a space vehicle, he was brimming with spirit, red energy clips flashing, three energy cannons neatly taking care of the giant zombie spider. Even knowing that once he acted, it would be the end, he still fearlessly led his teammates forward.

Now, that same person was sitting helplessly in a cart, holding his own shoe.

Ji Yushi pushed the cart back, “What’s it like to be small?”

Song Qinglan’s small back was filled with stubbornness, “I’d rather fight zombies than be small. I’d even take on the white-bellied huntsman spider.”

Ji Yushi said, “A little one like you would give the teacher a headache.”

“That’s true. I wasn’t very obedient when I was little,” Song Qinglan admitted quickly, turning back to glance at Ji Yushi, his small face puzzled, “Is it that obvious?”

How did Consultant Ji know?

As they spoke, a loud explosion rang out, seemingly right next to them.

Something else had been sucked over from the garbage mountain.

The two of them immediately changed direction toward the garbage mountain and soon picked up two more late-arriving teammates, Tang Qi and Tang Le.

While worrying about how to bring them back, Li Chun arrived with Zhou Mingxuan: “Captain Song! Consultant Ji!”

Zhou Mingxuan was still in good spirits after waking up. When he saw the mini Song Qinglan in the cart, his eyes widened, “Really…really shrunk?!”

Before Song Qinglan could say anything, Zhou Mingxuan pinched his face, “Damn! Kinda cute!”

Song Qinglan: “…”

Is there still time to jump out and kick Zhou Mingxuan?

Zhou Mingxuan, fully revealing his mischievous side, was carrying Tang Le on one shoulder while using a communicator to take pictures with the other hand. “Saved it! Just in case you don’t turn back, from today we’ll start documenting Captain Song’s growth history, hahaha!”

Ji Yushi didn’t have the heart to remind him that saving it wouldn’t matter—it would all disappear anyway.

This was practically a public execution for Song Qinglan. Judging by his expression, he had probably cursed a hundred times in his mind already.

Tang Le, hanging upside down with his stomach pressed against Zhou Mingxuan’s shoulder, felt like vomiting. When he opened his eyes, he was almost shocked awake: “?”

Tang Qi was still unconscious, completely unaware of the changes to his captain.

All six members of Team Sky Vault Seven were now gathered, only missing Duan Wen.

Bearded Man, seeing so many people suddenly appear in the space capsule, hugged all the cans to his chest, not letting anyone touch them. Especially Xie Si’an—there was no way Bearded Man would let him get even a single can of Cramond beans.

Everyone pondered Ji Yushi’s analysis in their own way.

Xie Sian asked, “Consultant Ji, according to your analysis, if the rift is repaired and everyone returns to the moment before we were pulled in, does that mean my teammates will also come back?”

This was a question Ji Yushi and Song Qinglan had already discussed, so Ji Yushi nodded and said, “Theoretically, yes.”

Xie Sian, who served as an observer for Sky Vault Team Twelve, was highly perceptive about these events: “But wouldn’t that create a lot of paradoxes?”

At this point, just hearing them talk about this paradox or that paradox gave Li Chun a headache. He just wanted to hear the conclusion and didn’t want to participate in the questioning process.

Luckily, Zhou Mingxuan asked for him, “What paradox?”

Xie Sian explained, “For example, after ‘A’ gets pulled in, time in his era continues, and everything that happens has nothing to do with him. But when the time rift is repaired, and everything goes back to how it was, ‘A’ returns to his era, which means everything that had happened will be rewritten. So, where does everything that had already happened go? That’s the paradox.”

Tang Qi and Tang Le had both woken up.

Tang Le leaned on his brother’s shoulder. The twins looked identical, which made Bearded Man keep glancing at them, trying to figure out who was who.

Tang Le said, “I know the answer to this one—it’s infinite overwriting.”

Just like the circular formation of Team Sky Vault Seven, where one point extends infinitely to cover other points.

They were all quite familiar with such situations by now.

Xie Si’an, who came from fifteen years in the past when Sky Vault’s system and the Time Management Bureau’s knowledge were relatively limited, found Tang Le’s explanation somewhat confusing. That era was still one of newly opened minds.

“Everything related to ‘A’ will be overwritten by his return. Everything that has happened in his era will be rewritten.”

A child’s voice interrupted.

Everyone turned to see Song Qinglan eating a can of fruit.

Bearded Man: “???”

He had hidden those away!

“A simple example: After ‘A’ disappears, he’s reported missing, his family receives compensation, and this cures a serious illness. But because of his return, his family loses that opportunity, their fate is rewritten, and they pass away,” Song Qinglan, despite being small, had a strong grip. While speaking, he opened another can of luncheon meat and handed it to Ji Yushi.

Ji Yushi: “…”

Song Qinglan sat on the sofa, one leg curled up, the other dangling as it couldn’t reach the floor. He continued, “There’s another possibility: because of ‘A’s’ return, a new timeline is created, and in the old timeline, his family still has their original outcome. These two timelines run parallel.”

Parallel worlds.

Xie Si’an immediately understood.

In that case, had ‘A’ truly returned to his own world?

He fell into deep thought.

Ji Yushi looked down at the can and handed it back to Song Qinglan: “Captain Song, I’ve heard that kids need to eat more meat to grow taller.”

Song Qinglan replied, “I’ve eaten enough.”

Bearded Man watched them push the can back and forth: “Sorubara woo.”

Everyone thought Bearded Man was cursing again, upset that they were eating his canned food. But to their surprise, he handed another can to Ji Yushi, talking nonstop. It turned out he meant for them to each have one.

Song Qinglan, curious, rested his chin on his hand and leisurely asked, “Consultant Ji, what is he saying?”

“Honestly, I didn’t understand it either. It’s a nearly extinct language.”

Ji Yushi put down the can of luncheon meat, showing no intention of eating it. He changed the subject, “Time is pressing, and his language system is very complex, so there are still many words I don’t know. I’m thinking about how to explain to Bearded Man what he’s about to face.”

Ji Yushi was already incredibly skilled.

Li Chun had spent the most time with Bearded Man and had only managed to understand one phrase: “Anfalahahen.”

Equivalent to various short insults like bastard, son of a b****, etc.

Ji Yushi said, “Their PU-18 was destroyed long before PU-31, over a decade ago. When their team activated the space capsule, they intended to reach a new colony. If everything is restored, they’ll return to that time, but it’s uncertain if the place they were heading to still exists.”

Ji Yushi sat on the carpet in front of the sofa. Although he was talking about someone else’s situation, the tips of his ears, hidden under his black hair, were turning red.

The younger Song Qinglan, being shorter, noticed this and instinctively touched it with his fingers.

It was hot.

Ji Yushi turned his head: “?”

Whether it was due to his childlike form, Ji Yushi couldn’t discern the expression on Song Qinglan’s small face at that moment.

Just then, Xie Si’an said, “Maybe where they’re going isn’t so important. What matters is that they’ll have another chance to reunite with their teammates.”

Seeing everyone looking at him, Xie Si’an was deeply moved: “Whether it’s good or bad, at least they’ll have the right to live again.”

Time is the only proof of existence.

To regain time is to exist in this world again.

“Boom—”

A loud noise echoed.

White light flashed outside the round window, and the space capsule shook slightly.

When the shaking stopped, Song Qinglan opened his lips, his childish voice unintentionally carrying his usual teasing tone: “Judging by that sound, it’s got Duan’s vibe all over it. Now that everyone’s eaten, drank, and rested, the mission officially changes from planting flowers to weeding. The advanced job for Sky Vault might just be about to start.”