Duan Wen was the last to land in the rift.

While waiting for him to wake up and regain his strength, the group had already agreed to split up and work together to start removing the traces left by the crossings—the glowing flowers—from around the space capsule.

Ji Yushi spent some time explaining this to Bearded Man, but he wasn’t sure if the latter understood.

Bearded Man had been in this place much longer than the others thought—around 70 years. However, in Bearded Man’s perception of time, he had only been here for about a dozen years. Ji Yushi learned that in Bearded Man’s memory, he was the first person to enter the city, and everything Xie Si’an had experienced, Bearded Man had experienced even more intensely. Bearded Man got lost in the city and took six or seven days to find his way out. By the time he returned to the space capsule, the last of his aging teammates had passed away.

After listening to Ji Yushi’s explanation, complete with drawings, Bearded Man realized that he might have a chance to return to a time before he ever came here. Overcome with emotion, he hugged Ji Yushi tightly, babbling in a language no one understood.

Bearded Man smelled strongly of unwashed body and alcohol. Despite being someone who loved cleanliness, Ji Yushi was nearly suffocated by the bear-like hug but did not push him away.

When Bearded Man finally let go of Ji Yushi, Ji Yushi saw the small figure of Song Qinglan standing nearby.

In his child form, Song Qinglan habitually crossed his arms over his chest, watching them.

His bright, childlike eyes twinkled with amusement. “Consultant Ji, what will you think of when you remember Bearded Man in the future?”

The chains they used to pull them back, the fight in the small room, or this rough hug?

Ji Yushi also smiled slightly. “I’ll probably think of this smell first.”

Bearded Man: “Mulihan!“

Ji Yushi responded, “Tala.”

Was this a polite exchange of “thank you” and “you’re welcome”?

Song Qinglan didn’t understand any of it anyway.

Bearded Man ruffled Ji Yushi’s black hair with his large, rough hand, then happily walked away, seemingly to prepare tools for weeding.

At that moment, all the other teammates were out of the control room, except for Xie Si’an.

Xie Si’an was a senior, but he was so young that he almost seemed to be the same age as them. However, the differences in eras, mindsets, and the lively atmosphere of Team Sky Vault Seven made it difficult for him, a member of Team Sky Vault Twelve who had fallen out with his teammates, to fit in.

“Speaking of which, Consultant Ji, seeing you reminds me of someone I used to know.”

With Bearded Man no longer guarding the cans, Xie Si’an finally got the chance to eat. As he ate, he said, “You’re very similar to him.”

Ji Yushi turned his head, his face handsome and his features cool.

“It’s not that you look particularly alike, but your intelligence, thinking, and logical abilities are both very strong,” Xie Si’an said. “That professor’s name was Sheng Yun. He was very young when he participated in the development of the Sky Vault system and had an unlimited future. I was lucky enough to take one semester of his class when the Sky Vault Guardian project was still in the planning stage. He was a very knowledgeable and humble person.”

Song Qinglan asked, “I haven’t heard of him. Where does this professor work now?”

“He doesn’t work anywhere,” Xie Si’an shook his head. “Because… he committed suicide. So it’s normal that you haven’t heard of him—it happened seventeen years ago. I’ve heard that he made an outstanding contribution to the development of Sky Vault. It’s really a great loss for the system.”

Ji Yushi said nothing.

Xie Si’an continued, “Professor Sheng also had a son who was very young at the time. He should be about your age now and is said to be very smart. Unfortunately, he was the first to discover his father’s suicide scene, which seems to have caused some psychological trauma. I’m not sure how he’s doing now.”

Ji Yushi responded, “Really? That’s quite unfortunate.”

Ji Yushi didn’t seem particularly interested in the topic. He wasn’t someone with a strong curiosity or a taste for gossip.

For some reason, though, Song Qinglan sensed something different in his calm expression.

That expression gave Song Qinglan a hunch that Ji Yushi had heard of this before, but why was he pretending not to know?

“I wonder what will happen when we return. I hope everything goes back to normal,” Xie Si’an said, now with some energy after finishing his canned food. “Do you still have a Sky Vault Twelve? How’s their ranking?”

Song Qinglan replied, “Yes, their ranking is pretty good.”

Xie Sian seemed satisfied with their successors. “So, which is the strongest team now?”

“It used to be Team Three,” Song Qinglan said. “If we’re lucky, maybe Sky Vault Seven will be the strongest in the future.”

Xie Si’an laughed, “If you’re lucky?”

Song Qinglan looked up at Ji Yushi with a serious expression. “It mostly depends on whether Consultant Ji’s significant other is willing to let him go.”

Ji Yushi looked puzzled. “?”

Song Qinglan explained, “Didn’t you say last time that they’re very clingy?”

Ji Yushi understood and, after thinking for a moment, said, “That is indeed an important issue.”

If they really had to leave, they’d just have to get their pets accustomed to a new environment.

With the team complete, Duan Wen faced his shrunken captain but loyally refrained from making fun of him. Bearded Man distributed tools, and they divided into three groups, including Xie Si’an and Bearded Man.

The sky, within arm’s reach, shimmered with auroras.

Ji Yushi, Song Qinglan, and Duan Wen hadn’t yet reached the garbage mountain when they saw the silver-white planet’s illusion again.

It slowly appeared, unbelievably large, with craters on its surface illuminated by the glowing flowers, rising before their eyes, making everything seem dreamlike.

Despite being in his thirties, Duan Wen couldn’t help but marvel, “Damn, that’s romantic.”

Song Qinglan, gripping a simple shovel with his small hand, asked, “Why, are you thinking about falling in love?”

Duan Wen looked down at Song Qinglan and sighed, “Captain Song, talking about adult topics with you right now just doesn’t feel right.”

Song Qinglan: “…”

Duan Wen continued, “Anyone who sees this scene would want to fall in love. Just think about it—bring a girl here to watch the aurora and the supermoon, and there’s no way sparks wouldn’t fly. Right, Consultant Ji?”

This was the second time Ji Yushi had seen this beautiful scene.

He had once said that seeing the same scene for the first time or countless times made no difference to him, but he still looked up at it seriously.

The enormous silver-white celestial body.

The blue and green wave-like auroras.

The transparent glowing flowers on the ground.

Such a beautiful scene would be impossible in the real world.

“I don’t know,” Ji Yushi, still looking up, replied to Duan Wen, “I’m not into girls.”

By the time the planet had completely disappeared, they had reached their destination, where the vines needed to be cleared.

The frozen soil was extremely hard in the cold. A single shovel strike left their hands numb before they could pry the soil loose. Fortunately, the vine roots didn’t grow deep, and with enough effort, they could completely uproot the vines.

Before long, everyone was sweating lightly.

Given his close relationship with Li Chun, Duan Wen naturally wasn’t one to talk less. He spoke while exhaling white mist: “By the way, Consultant Ji, given your… difference, what kind of people do you like?”

As a straight man, he had been curious for a long time.

Do all gay men like someone like Song Qinglan?

Ji Yushi’s pale fingers pulled a vine from the soil and tossed it to the ground. These vines would soon be destroyed in a controlled burn. He said, “All kinds.”

Duan Wen’s curiosity was undeterred, “All kinds? Consultant Ji, that’s too vague. Like Chun’er—he likes girls with big chests.”

Typical.

A real ladies’ man.

Ji Yushi didn’t voice his opinion but responded, “It’s not vague. When the right person comes along, it’s right. There isn’t really a specific type.”

Song Qinglan, crouching on the ground, looked like a small bundle. He was struggling with a large vine, burdened by his physical condition.

He still carried Shen Mian, never letting the weapon leave his side—it seemed to be his final stand.

Upon hearing the response, Song Qinglan lost focus for a moment, and the vine in his hand snapped, causing him to fall on his butt. “…”

Damn.

These people were always so caught up in romance. Finding the right person? How could that be more important than a career?

Song Qinglan grumbled internally, and then suddenly felt lighter. Ji Yushi had helped him up. “I’ve got it.”

Song Qinglan said firmly, “I can do it.”

Ji Yushi replied, “Mm, I know you can.”

Despite his words, Ji Yushi still grabbed the vine, pulling it out and breaking through the soil until it was fully uprooted.

Surprisingly, Song Qinglan didn’t object, just stood there with a small, serious face, clearly bothered by Ji Yushi’s half-hearted attitude.

Duan Wen thought to himself that in just the few days he had been gone, these two seemed to have grown even closer.

As this small patch of vines was cleared and piled up, the ground lost its glow. Darkness began to creep in, replacing the light at a visible speed, quickly covering the area in dimness.

At that moment, their communicators emitted a “beep,” signaling that they had reconnected.

The subcutaneous communicators started working, and all three heard fragmented noise, likely because both groups had cleared enough of the light for the communicators to reconnect.

“Captain Song!”

“!#￥%”

The first voice was Tang Le’s, the second sounded like a fast-forwarded recording, making it impossible to understand.

Tang Qi, Tang Le, and Xie Sian were in one group.

Tang Le shouted, “Captain Song!! My brother has been sped up!”

Tang Qi: “!#￥%……&”

Tang Le explained, “After clearing some vines, the light refracted on him, and now he’s moving so fast we can’t see him clearly or understand what he’s saying. He’s at least five times faster! You guys need to be careful!”

It had begun.

Song Qinglan quickly realized, “The more traces we clear, the more chaotic time becomes. We need to speed up!”

Despite his small size, everyone instinctively treated him as the same Captain Song who could shoulder difficult tasks. Under his direction, everyone soon finished clearing their respective areas. Duan Wen poured fuel collected from the space capsule, and the vines were quickly set ablaze, turning to ashes in no time.

They agreed to meet at the garbage mountain—where the vines were most concentrated, and mechanical parts were abundant. They had to clear some of it before completely removing the vines.

No one knew what might happen in the chaotic time, so the three of them hurried on. Despite his boots rubbing blisters on his feet, Song Qinglan didn’t utter a word of complaint.

“Bang—”

A gunshot echoed across the desolate ground.

All three froze—who was shooting?

They had reached the garbage mountain area, where glowing flowers were scattered everywhere, causing their communicators to lose connection once again.

Bearded Man, Zhou Mingxuan, and Li Chun had already cleared part of the garbage mountain. Seeing them arrive, they called out, “Captain Song! Did you hear that gunshot?”

Song Qinglan replied, “Yes, it wasn’t you? Then Tang Le’s group must be in trouble.”

Zhou Mingxuan suddenly shouted, “Look!”

A strange scene unfolded.

Everyone looked up to see that the darkness and auroras above them had disappeared, replaced by a vast blue ocean.

The sea stretched infinitely, hanging upside down in the sky, with crystal-clear water.

It was so close that they could clearly see the ripples on the surface as the sea breeze blew.

Suddenly, a white whale emerged from the sea, briefly pausing before diving back into the ocean.

As it moved, water splashed, and the icy seawater fell like raindrops on everyone’s faces.

The scene was too breathtaking, even more awe-inspiring than the silver-white planet from earlier.

Everyone was speechless, unable to express their emotions in words.

“A new refraction of time and space has occurred,” Ji Yushi said, “It’s definitely related to us destroying part of the light.”

“So should we continue?” Li Chun asked, “What if, during the refractions, some people just disappear?”

It’s important to note that this refraction isn’t just visual—it likely involves time and space as well. In other words, the area they were in might have undergone not only visual changes but also changes in the flow of time, though they wouldn’t know it while being in the midst of it.

Everyone instinctively looked at Song Qinglan.

Despite his youthful face, Song Qinglan’s expression was firm as he frowned and gave the command, “Continue.”

With that order, no one paid attention to the gunshot anymore.

They knew, just like in the previous Ouroboros mission, that as long as they completed it, everything would return to normal—both missions were eerily similar. Once the bowstring is pulled, there’s no turning back; they had to keep moving forward, forward.

Ji Yushi looked up and said something to Bearded Man.

Bearded Man tapped his left chest with one hand and let out an angry shout, then, in front of everyone, he smashed aside a piece of space station debris with a loud clang.

Though injured, Bearded Man couldn’t worry about it at this point. Enduring the pain, he displayed the strength of a bull, practically becoming a walking excavator.

Everyone immediately resumed action, and the six of them quickly collected and destroyed one-fifth of the vines on the garbage mountain.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

A series of gunshots rang out, and Zhou Mingxuan reacted quickly, pulling Ji Yushi aside.

Bullets whizzed through the air, their trajectories visible.

One, two, three, four—four bullets in total, appearing in slow motion, then slowly passing through the machinery in front, sparking before falling to the ground.

Everyone instantly realized that the flow of time in their area had slowed down!

They looked back.

In the dim area outside the ocean’s surface, seven or eight unfamiliar faces appeared, wearing clothing from different eras—clearly, they were time travelers from different periods.

It must be that after the special light was cleared from this area, those refracted spaces vanished, and these people were released from them. But why were they shooting at strangers?

“Bang!”

Another bullet entered their area.

It started in a normal time-flow space and then entered the area where time was slowed down many times over, destined never to hit its target.

Zhou Mingxuan raised his laser gun and fired a shot, but their movements were also recognizable to the other side, who easily dodged the trajectory.

Great, neither side could hit the other.

That group of people suddenly charged into their area.

Li Chun exclaimed, “Damn, are these people out to kill us?”

At that moment, another batch of vines was burned to ashes.

In an instant, the upside-down ocean disappeared, replaced by a suddenly towering snow-capped mountain on the side.

The peaks were jagged, and the highest one shot up, directly knocking the group charging in out of sight.

Hearing the screams from those people, everyone in the valley exchanged looks: “…”

Is this what they call self-inflicted harm?

Song Qinglan noticed a straggler—one of the people who had just charged in was lying on the ground, covered in blood.

He walked over, raising his weapon, Shen Mian, to the person’s forehead. “What were you trying to do?”

The person, gravely injured, uttered a single word in accented English before dying, “Capsule…”

The cold wind howled, and snowflakes occasionally fell on everyone’s shoulders.

The man’s words were fragmented, and they didn’t have time to think about it. They could only speed up the pace of clearing the vines.

Faced with a massive satellite component, the group was stumped. It was piled up with other machinery, and they didn’t know if there were any glowing flowers underneath, but who could move such a huge object?

Song Qinglan, having already taken off his outer cotton coat, stood small in front of the satellite and said, “I can crawl into the gap.”

Zhou Mingxuan called out, “Captain Song!”

Everyone looked at him, feeling as if they were bullying a child.

Song Qinglan took off his short boots, revealing his blistered feet, completely unconcerned. “Cut the crap. If not me, then who?”

With that, he tossed aside a piece of scrap metal like a hatch and crawled into the gap.

Even though they were worried, everyone could only continue working as fast as they could.

Ji Yushi’s palm was cut by a mechanical part, and as he worked, he kept glancing at the spot where Song Qinglan had crawled in.

He had also taken off his cotton coat, and a thin layer of sweat clung to him. On his third glance up, he finally saw Song Qinglan emerging.

He was wrapped in several vines, his face smudged with soot like he had just been mining coal, but his sharp eyebrows and eyes still hinted at the heroism of his adult self.

Duan Wen, quicker than Ji Yushi, pulled the small captain out.

Song Qinglan let him clean him up, muttering, “I hope there aren’t any more gaps… Hey, be gentle, I’m still a kid!”

Duan Wen quickly reassured him, “Got it, got it.”

Ji Yushi: “…”

Bearded Man alone picked up all the newly cleared vines, the glowing flowers making him look like a giant Christmas tree.

He set this new pile ablaze.

Suddenly, everything dimmed. In the darkness, someone asked, “There’s only one wave left. Why haven’t Tang Le and the others come over yet?”

As soon as they finished speaking, a dozen skeletons appeared not far from the small circle of light on the garbage mountain.

No, to be precise, they were human-shaped skeletons walking toward them.

Flesh was rapidly growing on them—organs, muscles, skin, hair, eyes—slowly transforming them back into living humans… they were people being resurrected.

Among them, three were young men in black combat uniforms with the number 12 on their chests, members of the Sky Vault Team Twelve from the past.

Ji Yushi understood—the rainforest’s refraction had disappeared, and these people were all from the rainforest.

Bearded Man’s burning vines turned to ash.

The snow-capped mountain on the side vanished, and this small area was once again refracted into a city scene.

On all sides, apart from the ground and garbage beneath their feet, a full-scale mirror image of the city appeared.

For a moment, it felt like they were inside a kaleidoscope.

“Rumble—”

After the thunder, lightning flashed in the empty city mirror, followed by torrential rain.

Everyone was drenched.

Bearded Man suddenly shouted, “Mogulakan da Qiongwu Qimuhe!!”

Among those people, some of Bearded Man’s teammates had returned.

The people from PU-18 hugged each other and cried.

The three revived members of Sky Vault Team Twelve walked over, and the leader asked, “Are you from Sky Vault?”

Another person remarked, “Why is there a child here?”

Song Qinglan: “…”

The thunder continued to rumble.

“Yes,” Ji Yushi replied, rainwater streaming down his face, his black hair slicked back, revealing his smooth forehead.

He didn’t elaborate much, only saying, “We’re here to rescue you.”

Encountering people from another world, those who had lived in the rainforest for an unknown amount of time before dying were now revived and found it hard to trust anyone.

Everyone was on high alert. The people who had just shot at them were a prime example. But coming from the same Sky Vault, they didn’t want to kill each other.

Ji Yushi remembered something and pulled out the compass he had found in the rainforest. “I found this on you. I’m returning it to its rightful owner.”

The leader took it, looked at it, then handed it to his teammate, who confirmed, “Captain Qi, this belongs to Xie Si’an!”

Rainwater dripped down Captain Qi’s chin, his eyes cold. “That traitor… where is he?”

Amidst the thunder, someone shouted, “Captain Song!!”

Everyone turned around.

They saw Tang Le escorting Xie Si’an over, with the unconscious Tang Qi, covered in blood, on his back.

With them were twenty or thirty strangers, all time travelers released from different refraction points, dressed in various uniforms with different expressions.

Xie Sian’s face was pale, and blood trickled from his forehead.

Seeing his revived teammates in the rain, Xie Si’an looked ghostly, his usual friendly demeanor gone.

This rift had unintentionally become a gathering point for time travelers.

Tang Le threw Xie Si’an to the ground in front of everyone and kicked him hard. “This bastard betrayed us. He never intended to repair the rift!”

Li Chun and Zhou Mingxuan took Tang Qi from his back.

Ji Yushi crouched down to check on him, seeing that Tang Qi was still caught in the accelerated time refraction, moving so fast that even the flickering of his eyelids and his breathing were imperceptible.

Xie Si’an lay on the ground, laughing.

The laugh was eerie, with a hint of madness. As soon as he tried to get up, something hard and cold was pressed against his forehead.

His captain, Qi, looked down at him with a cold gaze.

Xie Si’an taunted, “Do you think you’ll succeed just by clearing this last wave of glowing flowers? I’ll tell you, you won’t. I took good care of the last one. If you want to know where it is, have that Bearded Man exchange it for the capsule pod.”

Capsule pod?

Song Qinglan narrowed his eyes, beginning to understand where those people who shot at them earlier had come from.

This Xie Si’an… his scheming was not to be underestimated.

Ji Yushi stood up and coldly asked, “What capsule pod?”

“Consultant Ji, you’re so smart and can communicate with Bearded Man without any issues,” Xie Si’an said. “How come your good friend didn’t tell you that there’s a perfectly intact capsule pod hidden in the space capsule?”