Chapter 53: Two Worlds, Two Clocks

The moment the alarm sounded, Lukas and Elena sprang into action, quickly carrying the table, chairs, and small stools outside back into the house.

Charles immediately extinguished the fire.

"Inside first. I'll explain later."

Without asking any questions, Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an hurried indoors.

In less than thirty seconds, Charles and the children had finished clearing everything outside.

Walking to a support pillar in the middle of the living room, Charles pressed a button.

The next moment, the massive steel shutters covering every door and window dropped rapidly under their own weight.

In less than ten seconds, the entire house was completely sealed off from the outside world. With every opening covered, not a single ray of light escaped from inside, leaving the exterior in complete darkness.

Charles led the others toward the basement.

After closing the entrance behind them, the doorway disappeared from view on the first floor, leaving behind what looked like nothing more than an ordinary mirror.

He sent the two children down to the second basement level to play before leading Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an into the surveillance room.

After checking the camera feeds, he pointed at one of the monitors.

"Take a close look at this."

The two followed his finger.

On the green-tinted night-vision display, an off-road vehicle slowly entered the surveillance zone surrounding the house.

The vehicle stopped by the roadside in the distance.

Several people got out, carefully surveyed the surroundings for a while, then climbed back into the vehicle before driving away.

Watching the fading taillights, Charles did not relax.

Instead, he frowned and let out a quiet sigh.

"Don't let the fact that they left fool you."

"Based on my experience over the years, I'm pretty sure they've already marked this place.."

After a moment's thought, he smiled self-deprecatingly.

"But if they really do come, that's fine."

"I'll just take care of them."

"It won't take long."

"I guess I was just being overly nervous."

With that, he turned and headed downstairs.

"Lukas, weren't you saying you were still hungry?"

"It's safe now. Want to go upstairs?"

"I can make you something else to eat."

Sitting on the sofa, Lukas looked up at Charles with an unmistakable I don't want to move expression.

"I still want cake."

At that moment, Lu Nian'an, who had been standing behind them, suddenly spoke.

"Cake?"

The siblings turned toward her simultaneously, their eyes filled with curiosity.

The next instant, a pot of hot tea and several beautifully decorated cakes appeared out of thin air on the table before them.

The two children froze.

"Ooh—!"

Staring at the cakes, they couldn't help gasping in amazement.

"Can we really have these?"

They looked at Lu Nian'an expectantly.

"Mhm."

She nodded.

"Yay!"

The siblings immediately grabbed forks and eagerly dug in.

Watching the scene, Charles smiled as well.

"Thank you."

He spoke sincerely to the two women.

"In the apocalypse, desserts this exquisite are incredibly hard to come by."

"It's no big deal."

Lu Nian'an replied calmly.

Before long, the two children had polished off every last bite.

Staring at the empty plates, they both looked reluctant to see them gone.

"Were they good?"

Lu Nian'an asked.

"If you want more, I still have some."

The siblings' eyes lit up again.

"Really?"

they asked in perfect unison.

With a gentle wave of her hand, several more plates of different cakes appeared on the table.

"That's all."

"No asking for more after these."

"Okay!"

The two nodded vigorously before diving into the new cakes.

Meanwhile, Charles continued showing the two women what his daily routine looked like.

He first connected the off-road vehicle to a charger in the garage.

Then he unloaded all the equipment he'd used during today's trip.

The bags that had held the meat, the ropes he'd used to tie the meat—everything was thoroughly washed.

After cleaning up, he took the crossbow back to the armory.

With practiced movements, he oiled the weapon, inspected every component to make sure nothing was wrong, and finally returned it to the weapon rack.

When he was done, he turned back to the two women.

"Next, I still need to clean both the house and the area outside."

"Do you still want to keep watching?"

Xia Jiuwei thought for a moment.

"Can we take a look at your collection ourselves?"

She pointed toward the second basement level.

"Of course."

Charles smiled and nodded.

The two women headed downstairs.

As they browsed through Charles's collection of books and board games, a small hand suddenly tapped Lu Nian'an lightly on the waist.

The two turned around at the same time.

Lukas and Elena were standing behind them.

"What is it?"

Lu Nian'an asked, looking down.

The two children exchanged glances.

They looked a little guilty, yet also as though they had finally made up their minds.

"Um... well..."

They fidgeted for a while before finally blurting it out.

"Even though you gave us really delicious cake..."

Elena hesitated.

"But..."

Lukas immediately picked up where she left off.

"We're not going to let you bribe us!"

The two of them looked up together, their expressions more serious than ever.

"You can't steal our dad!"

"We're not giving him to you!"

Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an exchanged a glance.

Both of them had to fight to keep straight faces.

They were dangerously close to laughing.

"What exactly made you think we're trying to steal your dad?"

Xia Jiuwei asked curiously.

"Dad's been talking to you the whole time!"

Lukas answered immediately.

"And after he came home, he didn't keep hugging us."

Elena added.

"He even took you into the armory!"

"We're never allowed in there!"

The more the two talked, the more worked up they became.

Xia Jiuwei fell silent for several seconds.

"Have you ever seen your dad entertain guests before?"

The two children nodded immediately.

"Yeah!"

"Dad greeted them with his sniper rifle."

"Then he shot them all."

"..."

Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an both fell silent.

A few seconds later, Xia Jiuwei finally couldn't help saying,

"I don't think that's called entertaining guests."

"Those were enemies."

Elena shook her head.

"But Dad always says, 'We've got guests.'"

Lukas nodded seriously.

"He even tells us to watch from the surveillance room because we'll have to learn how to deal with guests ourselves someday."

The two women fell silent once again.

"Anyway!"

The two little ones suddenly put their hands on their hips and glared up at them.

"You're not allowed to steal our dad!"

Looking at how earnest they were, Xia Jiuwei finally burst into laughter.

She raised her left hand and showed them the ring on her ring finger.

"Look at this."

"If you're wearing a ring on this finger, it means you're already an adult."

The two children leaned closer to examine it before nodding seriously.

"So you're adults... and then what?"

Xia Jiuwei replied with a perfectly straight face.

"Adults don't need to steal someone else's dad to take care of them."

The children froze.

That... actually sounded reasonable.

At that moment, Lu Nian'an silently held up her own left hand.

"I'm an adult too."

The two little ones fell into deep thought once more.

Then, a second later, Elena suddenly spotted a flaw.

"But!"

"Dad doesn't have a ring!"

Xia Jiuwei paused for a moment before continuing her nonsense without missing a beat.

"That's because he has you two."

"Anyone who has children is obviously an adult."

The siblings thought it over.

The logic... somehow seemed to make sense.

In the end, they nodded together.

"So that's how it is."

Watching the two children become completely convinced,

Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an exchanged another glance, both struggling to suppress their laughter.

After all, they had just made the whole thing up with completely straight faces—

And somehow, it had actually worked.

About half an hour later,

Charles finally finished all the day's chores and came downstairs.

"Alright, you two. Bedtime."

"Okay."

The two little ones nodded obediently before skillfully pulling pillows and blankets out of a hidden compartment beneath the sofa.

Charles opened another storage cabinet, took out a large mattress and his military sleeping bag,

and had their sleeping area ready in no time.

The children immediately climbed under the blankets, leaving only their little heads poking out.

Charles walked over to the bookshelf, picked out a storybook, and knelt beside the mattress.

"I'll read this one to you tonight."

"But first, I need to talk to these two big sisters about something."

He gestured toward Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an.

"Okay."

The children obediently snuggled back under their blankets.

Only then did Charles walk over to the two women.

"So..."

"Are you staying the night?"

"Oh, no."

Xia Jiuwei casually waved a hand.

"That won't be necessary."

"That's good."

"I'm planning to service the hydroelectric plant tomorrow."

"If you don't mind, you're welcome to come by again and take a look."

"Sure."

Xia Jiuwei smiled and agreed.

The next instant,

the two women disappeared from where they stood.

"Dad! Dad!"

Lukas poked his head out from under the blanket.

"Where did the sisters go?"

Elena blinked curiously as well.

"Because they're really powerful."

Charles smiled.

"They're even stronger than Dad."

"Stronger than you?"

Lukas asked immediately.

Charles thought for a moment before nodding seriously.

"Much stronger."

The children's eyes widened in amazement.

Seeing their shocked expressions, Charles smiled and gently patted the blankets.

"Alright."

"Do you still want your bedtime story?"

"Yes!"

The two immediately shifted their attention back.

Climbing into his sleeping bag, Charles opened the storybook, skimmed the first few pages, and began reading.

"Once upon a time..."

Meanwhile,

Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an instantly returned to their apartment in the original world.

The familiar living room came into view.

Looking around, Xia Jiuwei stretched lazily.

"Today was really a full day."

Lu Nian'an looked at her, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"So..."

"Did you have fun?"

Xia Jiuwei nodded gently.

"Mhm."

But the very next second,

Lu Nian'an's phone suddenly began chiming repeatedly.

Ding— Ding— Ding—

The continuous stream of notifications made her blink in surprise.

She picked up her phone and glanced at the screen.

A look of astonishment spread across her face.

"Huh...?"

"What is it?"

Xia Jiuwei leaned over curiously.

Staring at the date on her phone, Lu Nian'an spoke in disbelief.

"Four days…"

"Four whole days have passed."

"What?"

Xia Jiuwei froze.

Lu Nian'an nodded.

Xia Jiuwei immediately grabbed the phone to check for herself.

The moment she saw the date on the screen, she couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath.

"...Seriously?"