When Ji Yushi woke up, it had already been a day or two.

It was noon, and sunlight streamed into the hospital room through the windows, turning the marble floor and white walls into a dazzling golden hue.

The sky outside was a clear blue, without a single cloud—just an ordinary sunny day in the middle of summer.

How long had it been since he’d seen such a sky?

Ji Yushi was moved, unable to calculate the time.

The hospital room was well air-conditioned, and Ji Yushi was even covered by a thin blanket. A needle was inserted into the back of his right hand, with liquid slowly flowing through the tube into his veins.

This time, the aftereffects of the warp were intense. Ji Yushi had briefly gone into shock. Fortunately, his body had endured many previous warps, and he recovered quickly after emergency treatment. But now, lying in the soft bed, he realized he was too exhausted to even lift a finger.

Ji Yushi clearly remembered the time coordinates he had seen upon returning.

They had departed on May 17, 1456 (Star Era). Surprisingly, from departure to their interception and return, nearly a month had passed. This month of being out of contact must have been agonizing for the people at Jiangcheng Branch, as well as for his family.

A nurse had come by to check on him and brought food as well.

The porridge had cooled to the right temperature, and the light, refreshing side dishes were just what Ji Yushi needed. Apart from a vaguely remembered meal at the “Space-Time Transfer Station,” it had been a long time since he’d had a hot meal. And even that meal was only an illusion.

The empty feeling in his stomach was gently soothed by the warm porridge, and his dulled taste buds were awakened by the side dishes.

Under the sunlight, with the blue sky outside, Ji Yushi ate slowly and relaxed completely.

Knock, knock.

The door to the hospital room was tapped.

“Come in,” Ji Yushi called.

The door opened slightly, and a head peeked through—it was Li Chun. “Consultant Ji! You’re awake!”

Li Chun had already recovered and was full of energy. Without his black combat suit, he looked even younger. He casually sat down in the chair by the bed. “I guessed you’d wake up around this time. I just asked the nurse, and sure enough!”

Ji Yushi asked, “Is everyone okay?”

“Yes! We all woke up a bit earlier than you, but not by much!” Li Chun responded.

Li Chun had been staying in the room next door. He told Ji Yushi that after they returned, everyone experienced strong aftereffects to varying degrees and had all been sent to the Sky Vault Medical Center.

Everyone from their team was there, but the nurses didn’t allow them to visit each other all at once, so Li Chun had come over first.

“It’s unreal!” Li Chun exclaimed.

He showed Ji Yushi the bruises on his arm. “When I first woke up, I pinched myself a few times just to believe this wasn’t a hallucination. It felt like a nightmare.”

Ji Yushi almost replied that if it had been a hallucination, pain and bruises would have been part of it, but he held back.

Actually, Ji Yushi found it hard to believe they had made it back so smoothly. But everything also made sense.

From his observations, the so-called “self-aware Sky Vault System” likely didn’t have the ability to create such human-like illusions. Most importantly, Sky Vault and the command center of their era were far more powerful than they’d previously imagined. It was only a matter of time before they were located and intercepted during their next warp.

If it had taken any longer, even Ji Yushi would have started to doubt the command center’s competence.

“That thing—Ouroboros, or Chaos,” Li Chun said. “If it weren’t for the fact that everyone’s memories matched up, I would’ve thought I was going crazy. The higher-ups are probably worried we’d go through something like that, so they sent people to conduct psychological evaluations.”

Ji Yushi’s slender, pale fingers set his spoon down, and the spoon clinked lightly against the bowl. “Psychological evaluations?”

“Yes,” Li Chun replied. “Since we woke up earlier, we’ve already done them. I heard from one of the nurses that we were missing for almost a month, scaring everyone half to death. We were almost going to become legends around here. Right now, they’re just waiting for our evaluation reports to see if we’re fit to go home.”

Ji Yushi nodded. That was indeed the standard procedure.

Suddenly, Li Chun switched topics. “Consultant Ji, once we’re allowed to leave, will you go back to Ning City?”

“Yes,” Ji Yushi answered. “Unless you need my help completing the A-level mission in Xijing City.”

He had originally come to Jiangcheng to assist with a mission.

“That won’t be necessary,” Li Chun said. “Someone else already completed that mission.”

Li Chun, ever the gossip, had quickly gathered all the details of what had happened after their disappearance.

The third command center had detected that Sky Vault Squad Seven had not arrived at the correct time coordinates and was offline, so the investigation department was sent to find them. The A-level mission that Squad Seven had been assigned was given to Squad Nine to complete.

The competition between the squads was fierce. Li Chun grumbled, “I bet they were hoping we wouldn’t come back so they could take over.”

Ji Yushi had a pretty good idea of why the two squads were rivals—apparently, the captain of Squad Nine was quite the troublemaker.

After venting, Li Chun hesitated for a moment and then asked, “Now that Old Yu is retiring for good and we’re short a member, if we need help with the next mission, will you come back?”

Ji Yushi replied, “Depends on the situation.”

People develop bonds after working together, and Ji Yushi found that he could no longer refuse as coldly as he once had.

Li Chun asked, “What kind of situation?”

Ji Yushi: “…”

Li Chun scratched his head awkwardly. “Yeah, it’s probably too soon to be talking about this, huh?”

Ji Yushi still looked exhausted.

Although Ji Yushi had already proven that he wasn’t weak in combat, the image of him struggling to open a bottle cap still stuck in everyone’s minds. After chatting for a while longer, Li Chun tactfully excused himself so Ji Yushi could rest.

But not long after Li Chun left, the others started to come by one after another.

The twins, Zhou Mingxuan, and Duan Wen all stopped in. At one point, the nurse even had to chase them all back to their rooms because it got too lively. Their main message was clear: they all hoped Ji Yushi would stay.

Ji Yushi felt a bit helpless but also moved.

After enduring such a dangerous mission and surviving a terrifying time-space hijacking, anyone would carry psychological scars. For some, even the thought of stepping into another warp capsule would cause anxiety.

But Sky Vault Squad Seven was different.

Of course, it was impossible for them to be sent on another mission right away, but they were already thinking about the next one.

With resilience like that, there was no way their evaluation reports would come back negative.

They were fearless and tough—Sky Vault Squad Seven was harder to break than a cockroach.

After his teammates left, the expert arrived as scheduled to conduct Ji Yushi’s psychological evaluation, which lasted three hours.

Before the session ended, the expert asked three questions.

“Ji Yushi, during the warp malfunction, did your trust in the command center or the Sky Vault System ever waver?”

Ji Yushi replied, “No.”

“Why not?” the expert asked.

Ji Yushi said, “If we think in terms of ‘dimensions,’ I believe that the ‘self-aware Sky Vault’ is far beyond our dimension, so this was simply an unforeseeable accident. On the other hand, I also trusted that Sky Vault and the command center would find us. It was only a matter of time.”

The expert asked again, “After the warp malfunctioned, did you ever consider ‘going with the flow’ and using the warp to travel to another era?”

As he posed the question, the pale-skinned expert adjusted his glasses and looked at Ji Yushi intently.

Ji Yushi lowered his eyelashes. A small lie detector was attached to his wrist, monitoring his pulse.

He spoke again, with the same steady tone: “No. I never had such a thought because I knew the organization would keep its promises and eventually give me that opportunity.”

The lie detector showed a green light.

The expert packed up the equipment and quickly left.

By nine the next morning, Sky Vault Squad Seven’s evaluation reports were all completed.

Everyone passed—they were free to go.

After returning, each of them was required to submit a detailed report. In addition, the branch had decided to give each member a three-month long leave to recover. Another evaluation would be conducted when they returned to Sky Vault.

Duan Wen collected everyone’s personal belongings, and Ji Yushi received his clothes, phone, and other items.

Ji Yushi changed into his clothes, and as soon as he opened the door to his hospital room, he saw Song Qinglan leaning against the wall outside. “Consultant Ji,” Song Qinglan greeted him.

That familiar deep voice caught Ji Yushi off guard, just like the first time Song Qinglan’s voice had interrupted Ji Yushi’s alarm on the public channel.

Even his heart skipped a beat.

Song Qinglan’s tall frame and long legs made him impossible to ignore. Even the way he lowered his head slightly to look at Ji Yushi made him feel an urge to take a step back. After not seeing him for a few days—and considering the last time they’d interacted was with Song Qinglan’s childhood self—the adult version of Song Qinglan gave Ji Yushi the same overwhelming sense of dominance as when they first met.

Song Qinglan seemed bored from waiting. The moment Ji Yushi stepped out, he remarked, “You’re always this slow.”

The scene felt oddly familiar.

Ji Yushi remembered that after they returned from the rainforest to the space capsule, Song Qinglan had also waited outside while they took turns showering.

With an unchanged expression, Ji Yushi looked at Song Qinglan with his clear eyes. “Captain Song, are you here to extend another olive branch?”

“Not quite,” Song Qinglan said casually. “Patience is key. Even if I offered, there’s no guarantee you’d accept, Consultant Ji.”

He stepped away from the wall and smiled slightly. “Actually, I woke up the earliest. I’ve been wanting to visit you for a while, but I couldn’t let the others beat me to it. Unfortunately, the moment I woke up, I had to deal with an investigation, questioning, and evaluations. The higher-ups just can’t stand to let me rest.”

As the captain, Song Qinglan’s situation was naturally different from the others.

That’s why he hadn’t joined the others who visited Ji Yushi, but Ji Yushi hadn’t asked, knowing it wouldn’t be easy for Song Qinglan to break away.

Ji Yushi said, “Well, when I write my mission report, I’ll be sure to say plenty of good things about you.”

“No need to wait for the mission report,” Song Qinglan replied lightly. “Minister Qi is treating us to a meal right now, so you can say nice things then.”

Minister Qi?

Ji Yushi frowned. “How many ministers are there in Jiangcheng Branch?”

“Just one. Why?” Song Qinglan responded.

Ji Yushi asked, “Then what about Minister Wang?”