Chapter 21

At 7:20 AM, countdown: 20:40:00.

Qingchen ran three laps around the neighborhood. When he returned home, he saw Jiang Xue hanging clothes on the balcony of his building, each piece belonging to him.

Lately, due to the busy schedule with the穿越 (穿越 means "crossing over" or "time travel" in this context, but it's better to use "time travel" for clarity) matters, he had accumulated a lot of laundry. He had planned to wash them yesterday, but Jiang Xue had taken them away.

Seeing him, Jiang Xue smiled and opened the window to greet him, "Qingchen, I've cooked some congee. Come up and have some."

"No, no," Qingchen quickly waved his hands and then went to school, munching on compressed biscuits.

Over the years, he hadn't seen anyone treat him so well, so he was a bit unaccustomed to it.

As soon as he entered the school gate, Qingchen saw many people running towards the high school building. He happened to meet Nan Gengchen, who was also sprinting. Curious, he asked, "What's going on?"

"Didn't you see the class WeChat group? Someone in the neighboring class is a time traveler. He's in the classroom right now," Nan Gengchen said, panting.

"Wait, how did they discover he's a time traveler?" Qingchen was puzzled. There was no one with mechanical limbs in the neighboring class yesterday.

Nan Gengchen said, "He boasted about it. He held it in for a day, but couldn't keep it in when chatting with classmates last night."

Qingchen frowned. What's going on? There are so many time travelers at Luocheng Foreign Language School?

A school with about 2,000 people has already produced four known time travelers. How many are there nationwide?

Even if only a dozen cities have time travelers, the total number wouldn't be small.

At this moment, Qingchen thought that others might also have discovered this pattern.

Would there be a large influx of people into these dozen cities, hoping to become the third, fourth, or fifth batch of time travelers?

Perhaps not now, but if a third batch of time travelers confirms this speculation, it will become reality.

In the future, including Luocheng, these dozen cities will likely become increasingly bustling.

Qingchen and Nan Gengchen ran towards the classroom, but before they could get a clear look, the vice principal and a group of teachers arrived, taking the student who claimed to be a time traveler away.

"We're too late!" Nan Gengchen muttered.

Qingchen didn't want to get involved and turned to pull Nan Gengchen back to their own class.

He guessed that the mysterious organization would soon arrive at the school. With the time travel imminent tonight, he didn't want any complications.

He wasn't sure if the mysterious organization had seen his face. They could restrict Jiang Xue's movements, so they could probably check road surveillance, right?

Although the area where he lived was relatively old with few cameras, and he had deliberately chosen routes without surveillance that day, Qingchen didn't dare to assume they hadn't found him.

For the entire day, Qingchen stayed in the classroom to avoid encountering the mysterious organization.

He wouldn't leave the classroom unless he had to go to the bathroom.

Notably, their English teacher, Du Yihong, was absent again today, which made Qingchen's suspicions even stronger.

"Qingchen, Qingchen, look," Nan Gengchen said, "He Xiaoxiao has updated her guide!"

Qingchen's eyes lit up. Among all the time travelers who had introduced the inner world, He Xiaoxiao's guide was the most appealing.

Others only provided a general overview of the world or some fragmented information.

But He Xiaoxiao, a high-level gamer, shared truly useful information.

For example, the Forbidden Tribunal, Li Shutong, and gene agents—things that most time travelers hadn't encountered yet.

However, what happened to He Xiaoxiao after she suddenly disappeared and then reappeared?

Qingchen opened his phone to watch the video.

"Hello, everyone, I'm He Xiaoxiao. Due to some special reasons, I couldn't provide a new guide yesterday."

"Today's guide is an overview of the current expansion pack of the inner world game: The Qing Clan's Shadow Struggle."

"The Qing Clan is one of the five major companies in the inner world..."

"The Shadow is the person within the Qing Clan who wields all the power in the underworld."

"According to legend, this is a tradition that has been passed down in the Qing Clan for over a thousand years. Every so often, a new Shadow is selected, leading to a drama of succession, where each Shadow candidate must undergo the most brutal tests. At the same time, the selection of a new Shadow stirs up the entire inner world."

"Currently, there are eight known Shadow candidates, each with exceptional talents. They are called Qing Huai, Qing Wen, Qing Shi... but there is one very mysterious candidate whose identity I haven't been able to uncover."

Qingchen watched silently. An expansion pack adds new plots and characters to an existing game, like Red Alert 3: Yuri's Revenge.

He didn't know that Li Shutong had speculated that he was a Shadow candidate, and he himself didn't know he was one of them. Lu Guangyi hadn't mentioned it either.

But now he suddenly understood why he had appeared in Prison 18.

It had to be said that He Xiaoxiao's guide always provided him with immense help.

Countdown: 6:19:29.

He waited until the afternoon, but no one from the mysterious organization came to the school. The student from the neighboring class didn't return either, apparently taken home by his parents for reflection.

As the time for the time travel approached, Qingchen could clearly see that Nan Gengchen was becoming increasingly nervous.

He didn't know what to say to comfort him. If this guy really time traveled to Prison 18, he would take the risk of being discovered to help him.

"If, just if, you time travel tonight, be very careful. You've seen what people say online; the inner world is not safe," Qingchen warned Nan Gengchen.

Nan Gengchen's expression was a bit unnatural, "I, I'm not a time traveler."

"You know what you're doing," Qingchen said, no longer pressing the issue. The fact that Nan Gengchen had kept his secret so far showed that he had some idea.

In the evening, Qingchen skipped class and went home, then waited at home for the time travel countdown.

He closed his eyes to rest. After an unknown amount of time, he heard a knock on the door. Opening it, he saw Jiang Xue outside, "Aunt Jiang Xue, is there something you need?"

Jiang Xue hesitated for a moment, "You know I'm a time traveler. The countdown is almost over. The inner world is dangerous, and I'm not sure if I'll come back. If I don't return safely tomorrow, can you take care of Xiao Yun for a day?"

Qingchen was taken aback, "Why are you saying this? You will definitely come back safely."

Jiang Xue shook her head, "You don't know how dangerous that world is, which is why you're comforting me. But I know. Without the backing of the five major companies, a person's life is worthless there. I'm not asking you to take care of Xiao Yun for long; her grandmother will come from Zhengcheng tomorrow..."

"Alright, I promise. But I still hope you'll be fine," Qingchen nodded.

"Thank you," Jiang Xue said, then handed him a key, "I'll leave a key with you. If anything happens, it will be easier for you to get in."

With that, Jiang Xue turned and left.

Qingchen was stunned for several seconds. He hadn't expected her to give him the house key.

This must be a sign of trust, right?

Countdown: 00:09:59.

Qingchen took a small USB drive and put it in his mouth.

He wanted to test if something hidden in his body could pass through the time barrier.

Then, he twisted his arm purple again.

After everything was done, Qingchen took a deep breath.

Countdown: 00:00:10.

9.

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1.

The world shattered.

And reformed.

...

The monthly votes are already in the top ten! 45,000 words in the top ten! If we can make it to the top five this month, I'll add three more chapters immediately!

...

Thank you to the Elbow Black Team's Bear Child, Qiu Dandan, and Jiakechong for becoming the book's patrons. The boss is generous, and may the boss have a long and prosperous life!