Jiang Ran wanted Old Qi to try and recall a few more details.
But—
No matter how hard Old Qi scratched his head, he couldn’t rember anything else.
Which was understandable.
The repair shop saw a steady stream of custors every day. The fact that he could rember the buyer was a young person at all was already impressive. If it had been so middle-aged custor, he probably wouldn’t have rembered them so clearly.
“All right. Thank you.”
Jiang Ran hugged the reassembled Positron Cannon, thanked him, and took his leave.
Old Qi might price his goods a bit steeply, but his after-sales service was solid, and he kept his promises. This ti, he didn’t charge a single cent.
“Principled, at least.”
Jiang Ran’s impression of Old Qi improved.
No matter what, Old Qi had previously dismantled the Positron Cannon, tested it, and pinpointed the problem. Charging a fee would’ve been perfectly reasonable.
Yet Old Qi waved him off without another word.
Cradling the Positron Cannon—
He got into a taxi—
And headed back to Donghai University.
Along the way, watching the cityscape slide past the window, Jiang Ran closed his eyes and began to sort through all the clues about Qin Feng in chronological order.
First ca 2015.
That year, Qin Feng’s father died. Their family ho burned down. Qin Feng and his mother left their hotown and vanished without a trace.
But from what he’d just learned talking to Old Qi, Qin Feng hadn’t truly disappeared over the years.
It seed—
[He had been moving in the shadows with a certain purpose, acting in secret to achieve so goal.]
Next was 2023.
This year was crucial. Cheng ngxue died in a traffic accident. And not long after that, Qin Feng appeared at Old Qi’s appliance repair shop and bought the nicer-looking circuit board.
In Worldline 0, that nicer board had been bought early by a mysterious passerby, leaving Qin Feng with only the ugly one. In the current Worldline 1, Qin Feng bought the nicer board in 2023… afterward, that mysterious passerby may also have visited Old Qi’s shop, but likely didn’t like the ugly board and so didn’t buy it.
Finally, there was the present—2025.
Jiang Ran ca to Old Qi’s shop to fix the Positron Cannon and bought the ugly circuit board.
What a tangled ss.
The temporal butterfly effect really was everywhere—subtle, pervasive, altering countless threads of history.
But—
Why had Qin Feng in 2023 deliberately co to buy that nicer-looking circuit board?
Linking it to the ti-traveling text sent ten years into the past—
Linking it to Cheng ngxue’s accidental death—
Linking it to the Positron Cannon gathering dust in the Film Cara Club activity room—
Could it be—
Jiang Ran opened his eyes.
“Could it be that Qin Feng bought that nicer-looking circuit board… for a purpose related to the Positron Cannon?”
After the taxi arrived at Donghai University, Jiang Ran carried the Positron Cannon back to the Film Cara Club activity room. Chi Xiaoguo had been waiting there for a long ti.
“Senior.”
Seeing Jiang Ran enter, Chi Xiaoguo stood up from the sofa.
“So? Did the old man at the appliance repair shop fix the Positron Cannon?”
Jiang Ran shook his head.
“No. He said it can’t be fixed either, unless we do a destructive disassembly.”
“Ah…”
Chi Xiaoguo blinked, a little disappointed.
Jiang Ran smiled.
“But don’t be too disappointed. What Old Qi said still gave so inspiration. At least for now… the Positron Cannon can’t be considered completely broken. It’s run successfully at least once.”
“Do you rember the scene from our first experint on May 15?”
Chi Xiaoguo nodded.
“I rember. That was the day sothing unexpected happened—a phone call ca in and interfered with the experint.”
“Right.”
Jiang Ran raised his index finger.
“That’s the key. Even though this idea might be a desperate shot in the dark, I want to try reproducing that day’s scenario and see how the Positron Cannon reacts.”
“You’re right—the experint that ti did have an accident. But what’s worth noting is that it at least had so reaction, unlike the ten experints afterward, which had no reaction at all.”
“Since we don’t have any better options right now and can’t fix the Positron Cannon, we might as well take a bold shot.”
Chi Xiaoguo stepped forward and took out her phone.
“So you an the experint on May 15 was closer to success, right? I get it, Senior. Then tomorrow morning when we run the experint again, I’ll count down while calling you. At the mont the Positron Cannon starts up, you answer the call. How about that?”
She caught on instantly. Jiang Ran felt relieved.
For now, he still hadn’t told Chi Xiaoguo the truth about the Positron Cannon and the ti-traveling texts. As a result, many things couldn’t be explained to her in their true sense.
He was really at the end of the road.
There was only one purpose behind his use of the Positron Cannon and ti-traveling texts—
To revive Cheng ngxue.
And the only way to save Cheng ngxue, who was already dead, was to send a ti-traveling text to two years in the past to stop that tragic accident. Which ant—
[For Jiang Ran, if the Positron Cannon couldn’t send texts to the past, then it was nothing more than worthless scrap.]
These past days, he hadn’t tried to recreate that miraculous “journey into the future” even once, for exactly this reason.
He only wanted to save Cheng ngxue.
Everything else didn’t matter.
But—
With the situation as it was, surrounded by dead ends, if he wanted to carve out a path that could save Cheng ngxue, he couldn’t afford to let go of even the slightest hope, any possibility at all.
“Okay.”
He nodded, looking at Chi Xiaoguo.
“Then let’s try it tomorrow morning, just like you said.”
The next day, early morning.
Inside the Film Cara Club activity room, everything was as usual.
The Positron Cannon had been powered off and left idle for over 20 hours, fully prid.
Jiang Ran and Chi Xiaoguo each held their phones and began to go over the steps.
“Normally, there’s a two- or three-second delay before a call connects. We can’t gamble on your call coming in at the very last second,” Jiang Ran laid out the plan.
“So you input my number first. When you start counting down, press the dial key at the sa ti.”
“About two or three seconds later, my phone will start ringing. I won’t answer imdiately. I’ll wait until you finish counting down, and when the Positron Cannon starts up, I’ll press the answer key within 0.7 seconds.”
“Mhm.”
Chi Xiaoguo carefully morized everything.
After that, Jiang Ran left the activity room, circled around, and arrived once more at the transforr distribution box.
Looking at the naplate marked NO.42, Jiang Ran had lost count of how many tis he’d dealt with this hulking thing. That day.
That mont.
Prison, Pi Biao, Killer, The Magician, Qin Feng, 2045…
What exactly had that bizarre experience been?
Delusion?
A daydream?
mories forcibly stuffed into his head?
A real journey into the future?
Perhaps today—
He would get an answer.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Ran shouted toward the Film Cara Club window,
“I’m ready!”
“Roger!”
Chi Xiaoguo’s cheerful voice ca back.
“Then I’m starting the countdown—and dialing your number!”
“5!”
The familiar countdown again.
But this ti, what awaited Jiang Ran was a journey into the unknown.
“4!”
Where would he go?
Where would his thoughts, his consciousness, be flung by the Positron Cannon?
“3!”
Co to think of it, there was still one variable this ti that hadn’t been properly controlled… the source of the call.
That previous bizarre journey had been triggered by a call from Nan Xiuxiu.
This ti, the caller was Chi Xiaoguo.
With such a variable changed, would the experint still yield the sa result?
“2!”
Ring ring ring ring ring ring!
Suddenly, the phone erupted with an ear-splitting ringtone. The screen lit up with Chi Xiaoguo’s number. The hang-up button was on the lower left, the answer button on the lower right. Jiang Ran’s right thumb hovered over the answer key, waiting for the countdown to end.
“1!”
Ring ring ring ring ring ring!
The ringing echoed on and on.
It’s coming.
It’s about to happen.
Recalling that bizarre experience from ten days ago—the very real escape and pain—Jiang Ran couldn’t help but feel nervous.
Would he go back to the future again this ti?
Was it possible… that through this thod, he could return to the past instead?
If that were possible—
Maybe—
He could find another way to save Cheng ngxue!
“0!”
As Chi Xiaoguo shouted sharply, the Positron Cannon roared to life!
Jiang Ran clenched his teeth and imdiately pressed the answer key!
[Call duration]
[00:00]
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Sure enough!
The instant he answered the call, dizziness overwheld him, the world spun, and a temporal shift occurred once more!
The five senses vanished. The world plunged into darkness.
Spinning. Tearing. Drifting with the current.
Jiang Ran couldn’t predict where the worldline would fling him this ti, nor did he know how to return.
If all the chanisms were the sa as last ti—
Did that also an that after dying on this “ti-space journey,” he could return to the mont he’d just answered Chi Xiaoguo’s call?
Unknown.
Confusion.
Fear.
Unease.
Finally, two seconds passed.
All discomfort vanished. Jiang Ran regained his sense of gravity and felt solid ground beneath his feet.
He opened his eyes.
Dim light. Bars. A narrow bed. A toilet. A corridor. Lamps…
This—
This was still the prison!
Exactly the sa prison as the last ti he’d opened his eyes!
The next second—
A familiar, hoarse voice ca from the cell next door:
“Do you know what’s the most important thing for a successful prison break?”
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