Chapter 576

Senior… Liguang…

You two have been off enjoying yourselves for a whole six months!

Cut off from the world—I'm sure you've been all lovey-dovey every day, huh?

Must be nice…

Meanwhile, things out here have been a complete mess!

Such a mess that even thinking about it gives me a headache!

Sigh, how should I put it…

To be honest, I never originally intended to help Miss Eyeliner.

She already disliked me. Why should I go out of my way to curry favor with someone who treats me coldly?

At first, she even came to question me. She stood in front of me with that smug, overbearing look, staring down at me from above. The first thing she said was…

“Lin You, did you do this?”

She accused me right off the bat!

As if I had the ability to do something like that. Honestly!

So at the time, I was incredibly haughty. I completely ignored her, rolled my eyes, and shut the door in her face!

She was furious. Her ears turned bright red, and I bet she was barely holding herself back from drawing her gun on the spot.

It was quite a show!

But seriously, back then…

I was absolutely fascinated by the fact that Liguang had isolated an entire section of space!

Senior, you have no idea. From the outside, your apartment looked terrifying!

The inside of the windows was pitch-black. So black that even light seemed to be swallowed up, without the slightest reflection!

The entire floor was filled with an indescribable, deathly silence!

It was… it was like a miniature black hole!

And it was hanging right there on a residential building, visible to anyone. Everyone passing by could look up and see it.

People found it deeply unsettling. It even caused widespread panic.

So later, the authorities sealed off the entire building, claiming it had “structural safety hazards.”

Ha! That might fool ordinary people, but not me!

Miss Eyeliner also told me that whenever their drones approached the area, they would immediately lose contact and crash.

The windows, doors, and even the walls were completely impossible to damage.

When bullets struck them, they would go “puff” and turn into bluish-purple fragments before vanishing!

People wouldn’t disappear, but they couldn’t enter either. The slightest attempt to approach would result in them being completely forced back.

I secretly went to test it myself. That repelling force… it was like being pushed away by an invisible hand. You’d take three steps forward and be forced five steps back!

If you tried to force your way in, you’d only get flung away.

Miss Eyeliner’s people tried every method they had—firearms, cutting equipment, electromagnetic interference. Nothing worked!

At the time, Xiaoqing told me the sensation felt very familiar to her.

She said that when she went to that underground research facility where the rules were in chaos to look for me, it had been exactly the same.

Pitch-black, and impossible to approach no matter what.

She said it was identical!

So I thought, Liguang, you must have learned something in that chaotic underground research facility!

I know that back then, you could only make use of the chaotic rules!

Every now and then, I could still see the spaces you had modified at the time: a little house filled with glowing mushrooms, a corridor that changed colors, a misty sea with auroras floating through it…

I thought that after everything you’d experienced, you must have learned something!

Or perhaps you had obtained some new authority?

Anyway, you planned to create something similar yourself—a chaotic space that you could control!

Right?

Judging by your expression, you admit it?

Huh? Senior, why are you so surprised?

Don’t—tell—me—you spent six months in this world and never even thought of that?!

Idio—Ahem!

Anyway, I was extremely interested in it at first!

I dragged Xiaoqing over every day to secretly watch those pitch-black windows from the building next door!

We used all kinds of equipment to detect, record, and analyze them. We were having the time of our lives!

Xiaoqing even said she had a strange feeling, as though she wouldn’t be pushed away too strongly and might actually be able to enter?

I figured it might be because she and Liguang were similar, with cores of the same origin.

After all, Xiaoqing was Liguang’s prototype!

But I wouldn’t let her go in.

Because I couldn’t enter, and I was worried that Liguang might do something to Xiaoqing!

Hmph, Liguang, don’t try to scare me. When it comes to Sister Xiaoqing, I’m not afraid of you!

I’m just telling the truth!

Last time, you trapped me in the nothingness beneath that underground research facility. You kept me there for…

Whew, I don’t want to talk about it. Just remembering it makes me angry!

Xiaoqing searched for me for ages back then and still couldn’t find me!

I didn’t want our roles reversed. I didn’t want Xiaoqing to go in and be unable to come back out while I was left outside, frantic with worry!

I, Lin You, would never let the most important person in my life take that kind of risk!

So after that, I began studying your apartment across the street…

What kind of research? Senior, why are you asking?

You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.

Just think of it as one of Lin You’s secret techniques!

Anyway, during the first few months, everyone living in the building was relocated by the authorities.

People from the authorities came every day to survey, photograph, and document the place.

Miss Eyeliner came countless times. Every time, she wore the same stern expression while looking at your windows. Her face was incredibly complicated!

And then…

I even saw some old acquaintances!

People from Dusk!

Uncle Fang and Xiaoyue came too!

Speaking of them… Hey, hey, Senior, did you know those two were acting really strangely?

When they stood downstairs and looked up at that patch of pitch-black windows, the look in their eyes was…

So devout!

Yes, devout!

So devout that I felt if Liguang had appeared in front of them at that moment, they would have dropped to their knees on the spot and cried out, “The goddess has appeared!”

I’m not exaggerating. I’m really not!

That old fox, Uncle Fang, normally never shows any emotion. But that day, his eyes actually turned red!

Xiaoyue was even more extreme. She clung to his hand, her entire body trembling slightly, and kept muttering something I couldn’t make out.

And it wasn’t just them. Later, quite a few more people from Dusk showed up. Their expressions were all incredibly fanatical, as if they were making a pilgrimage!

At one point, the authorities even considered blowing up the building. Their people nearly came to blows with the authorities, and in the end, they parted on very bad terms!

I was watching from the building across the street, and I had a wonderful time!

All I heard was them shouting things like, “The authorities deceived them!” and “Thank goodness they didn’t lay a hand on Lady Liguang!”

What did that mean? Hee-hee, I have no idea!

Oh?

Judging by Liguang’s expression, it seems you’ve thought of something?

Pfft, Senior, you look so confused!

You really don’t understand again, do you? Silly, silly, silly… Hey, hey, Liguang, I was only joking! Senior is very clever!

Much cleverer than me, really! Liguang, don’t glare at me!

Hmm…

Anyway, those first few months were fairly easygoing.

I studied things while watching the show, and I was having a pretty good time. I was even close to achieving some results.

But then, three months later, everything suddenly changed.

I don’t know what happened to you two inside, but…

The world outside changed.

And I don’t mean the weather. I mean the entire world changed.

The worldline changed.

Senior, do you know what it feels like to wake up one morning and discover that your entire body has become cybernetic?

That’s right. That was my experience that day.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that my hand had become a prosthetic. It was covered with a layer of synthetic skin, but…

Even the gaps between my bones radiated a cold, mechanical sensation!

Every organ in my body except my brain had been replaced with machinery!

At the time…

I was so excited that I jumped straight out of bed!

I spent ages examining myself!

I used my own mechanical fingers to feel the vibrations of my mechanical heart.

Bzz… bzz… bzz…

My entire chest was resonating!

Xiaoqing was absolutely stunned!

Just like me, she had retained the memories of the original timeline, so she also knew that the timeline had changed.

The two of us spent quite a while investigating it together, and then we discovered…

In that timeline, AI had flourished.

There had been no machine uprising, no one hated AI, and AI and mechanical technology had both advanced by leaps and bounds!

Mechanical ascension and cybernetic immortality had even become lifestyle choices available to everyone!

Dusk’s ultimate ideals had actually been realized with ease, simply because the timeline had shifted a little!

And because there had been no machine uprising…

My dad had come back to life in grand fashion! Woohoo!

Of course, at the time, the only part of him that was still truly his own was his brain. Every other part of his body had been replaced with machinery.

How should I put it? The feeling was… complicated.

And that very day, I received a call from Sister An Lian.

Oh, right. Actually, during those few months, I’d stayed in touch with Sister An Lian the whole time. She was very concerned about you guys too.

She kept asking, “How’s Xiaoqi doing?” and “Is Liguang all right?” She even tried all sorts of ways to help you.

But I told her that you two…

Were probably in your “little world,” flirting, acting all bashful, and making babies!

She laughed and said that sounded pretty nice too.

But that day was different. That day, everything had changed!

Sister An Lian had also become a cyborg, and she had retained the memories of the previous timeline as well. She called to ask me what was going on!

I told her I had no idea. Maybe you guys had something to do with it.

I also asked Sister An Lian whether her family had come back to life too. She was silent for a moment before saying that they had.

So I told her, “Then take the opportunity to enjoy it while you can!”

I said the world was probably unstable, and that it might change again at any moment!

She asked whether anything had happened to you two. I told her not to worry, that you guys were definitely fine—that you were living better than all of us combined!

Sister An Lian didn’t say anything after that.

At the time, I wondered whether Miss Eyeliner would call me too.

She was special, just like us. Had she retained her memories as well?

She was definitely going to call me, accuse me, and ask whether I was behind all this again!

I was already prepared to give her a piece of my mind!

But she never called.

I checked, and only then did I find out…

Hehe. She was gone again!

The moment the timeline changed, she disappeared again!

How strange!

Senior, why do you think Miss Eyeliner can’t survive in any worldline other than our normal one?

So tragic~

Unfortunately, she came back a few days later.

As I’d guessed, that timeline was fundamentally unstable.

Only three days passed before I woke up again—and the entire world had returned to normal.

This time, I really did receive a call from Miss Eyeliner.

And just as I’d expected, she questioned me about whether I had done it again!

It made me so angry!

I was so furious that I immediately told her, “Yes! I did it! So what? What are you going to do about it?”

And then she showed up with an entire squad of people…

They surrounded Xiaoqing and me in our home, intending to drag me away and torture me!

Talk about fighting dirty!

If you didn’t know better, you’d think I was the leader of some terrorist organization!

Xiaoqing stood in front of me while Miss Eyeliner pointed a gun at her. The two sides were locked in a standoff…

And then Miss Eyeliner suddenly disappeared.

Because the timeline had changed again.

Ha! I suppose Senior and Liguang did save me after all~

But Senior, Liguang, I’m genuinely curious…

What exactly have you two been doing in this little world?

The timeline keeps changing over and over. Don’t tell me you two are actually the ones messing around inside it?

…All right, all right!

I’ll stop rambling. I’ll keep going, I’ll keep going!

…Although, there isn’t really much left to talk about.

After that, everything outside became a complete mess!

The timeline kept changing, looking different every single day!

Although most of the changes were minor, like what happened to me before…

The world itself barely changed, but my dad died again. That kind of tiny change?

Basically, one thing would appear today, and another would disappear tomorrow.

AI companions were legal today, then banned again tomorrow.

Today I had a little brother, and tomorrow my little brother had become a little sister!

At first, I found it fascinating. I even thought…

Senior and Liguang are amazing!

I thought you were testing my goal, searching for the perfect timeline!

I’d even started thinking that the great Lin You had actually been left behind by you two!

So I decided to work even harder on my research. I couldn’t let you get too far ahead of me!

But after that, my research came to a complete stop, because…

It was simply impossible to conduct research anymore!

The data I recorded today would be gone by the next day!

On the third day, my experimental equipment disappeared too!

On the fourth day, it grew back!

How was I supposed to do any research under those conditions? I couldn’t even find a single stable control group!

Most importantly…

Senior, you two suddenly made my Xiaoqing disappear!

One time, when the timeline changed, Xiaoqing vanished from this world again!

I knew she’d probably come back soon, but that feeling…

Phew. I really didn’t want to experience it a second time.

That was when I realized…

You. Two. Were. Not. Even. Trying!

You were just playing around! Treating this world like a toy!

It made me so angry! It really made me so angry!

So, after we finally returned to the normal timeline once again, I grabbed Xiaoqing—who I’d gotten back after losing her—and pinched her cheeks for a good while…

Then I called Miss Eyeliner right away!

I told her, “Let’s work together. I’ll help you break through this pitch-black thing!”

Then I called Sister An Lian too. I said, “Sister An Lian—

Find a way to kill Liguang!

We have to put an end to this farce!”