Chapter 1 New Laws of Space-Time

New laws of space-time.

Lin Xian savored the words the oriole had just spoken.

Before, on the spaceplane, while observing the characteristics of space-time particles, he and Liu Feng had summarized the space-time law of space-time exclusion.

And now, the oriole was using the phenomena happening to her to tell him two brand-new space-time laws.

One was [Historical Lock-down], whose name he knew but whose specific content was unknown.

According to the oriole, this space-time law was related to the Millennium Stake.

The other law didn't even have a name; there was only the observed phenomenon.

That was when the oriole wanted to say something, but when she truly touched the space-time elasticity, she couldn't say it... It wasn't just that she would be subject to space-time exclusion, as he had previously imagined.

Instead, it was an even stronger, stricter, and more thorough direct mute shielding.

This was what the oriole had always meant by "can't say."

This was truly impossible.

It wasn't the kind of impossibility that Lin Xian had thought of, the kind that could be artificially controlled and feared due to space-time exclusion.

It was a genuine impossibility.

As soon as you opened your mouth, you would be forcibly muted. The mysterious space-time law would make you unable to catch your breath and unable to pronounce anything.

Then, it was conceivable that even writing would be the same. Under strict space-time laws, it would inevitably be impossible to write, or it would be directly erased by space-time forces, because space-time elasticity would not allow changes to the course of history...

Lin Xian had no doubt about this.

As it stood, space-time exclusion was also divided into levels.

General space-time exclusion might be like space-time particles.

It hadn't done anything to endanger space-time stability, nor had it affected historical development or changed the future trajectory. It was an innocent and law-abiding citizen who had simply taken a wrong turn and gotten lost.

Therefore, in this case, the space-time exclusion it received was minimal, almost negligible.

And a further step in space-time exclusion was probably the oriole's previous behavior.

Touching upon it briefly and superficially.

Her actions did have a certain impact on the future trajectory, but because they were within the elastic range, the backlash and exclusion she received were also limited and could be tolerated for the time being.

In reality, this was manifested in what Chu Anqing had seen in the washroom before, and what Gao Yang had seen on the spaceplane.

She would be weak, tremble, feel uncomfortable, and even... become transparent.

Lin Xian believed that the oriole had definitely been attacked by space-time laws more than just these two times.

In places they couldn't see or didn't know about, the oriole must have been constantly fighting against space-time exclusion... or rather, she didn't even have the qualifications to fight against it; she was simply unilaterally attacked, rejected, and consumed.

But at least, this kind of attack was like a chronic disease.

It would consume your life and time, but it wasn't fatal. Within the scope of space-time elasticity, space-time laws were still relatively gentle.

Lin Xian guessed that it was probably as he had initially thought.

Because space-time itself wasn't that sensitive, it was impossible for every small thing to trigger a powerful butterfly effect. In increasingly long time scales, many unimportant small things would be smoothed out, ignored, and wouldn't affect the stability and established order of space-time itself.

Therefore, within the range of space-time elasticity, some subtle changes were allowed by space-time itself.

This was also what the oriole had been mentioning.

Elasticity.

Elasticity.

Elasticity.

Now it seemed that space-time elasticity was indeed a crucial space-time law.

Its scale and its scope directly affected the permission and prohibition of many things.

So.

Thinking further.

What would an even more serious space-time exclusion look like?

That would definitely be the oriole's behavior just now...

When she was about to reveal the true meaning of the Millennium Stake, this behavior had already broken through space-time elasticity and wasn't accepted or allowed by space-time.

So at that moment, the space-time exclusion reaction reached its maximum value, not only forcibly muting the oriole, but also making her weak and transparent, with large clumps of blue stardust falling off and collapsing, nearly being directly erased.

But the oriole also said that normal space-time elasticity and space-time exclusion couldn't be that strong. The root cause was still that space-time law that he couldn't figure out yet—

[Historical Lock-down].

Why was history locked down?

And when was history locked down?

Since history was locked down, why could he still easily change history and rewrite the future?

"No."

Lin Xian suddenly realized.

[He had never changed true history!]

What was true history?

Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, Xiang Yu committed suicide at Wujiang, he graduated from Donghai University, founded Rhein Company, and even what he had eaten for breakfast yesterday morning...

These were true history!

He had never changed them!

Nor had he ever had the ability to change them!

What he had been changing was actually the development trajectory of the next 600 years.

The history he had always been talking about was for the world 600 years later. For the current era, it wasn't history, it was the future!

So, according to this perspective...

The oriole's behavior was indeed changing established history.

Because she had traveled from the future.

No matter which era she had traveled from, the current year of 2024 was established history for her, just like him traveling back 2000 years to find Qin Shi Huang.

But.

Lin Xian suddenly thought.

Was established history locked-down history?

He felt it wasn't.

If established history was locked down, then why would the oriole specifically mention the space-time law of [Historical Lock-down]?

There must be some detail he hadn't understood.

And.

Very likely, it was related to the truth of the Millennium Stake.

……

Lin Xian also stood up from the ground.

Looking at the oriole in front of him, as usual.

Her body was fine. At least, it had recovered for now.

"I roughly understand," Lin Xian said.

"But I need to think carefully to understand the specifics. But in this situation, I have many things to do. The most important thing is... I must figure out what happened to Chu Anqing and what the Millennium Stake is. I have to go back and give Chu Shanhe an explanation."

"Although this space-time particle capture operation was successful, I feel the sacrifice was too great. VV disappeared, Chu Anqing also disappeared... Oriole, I really don't want to see more comrades sacrifice themselves. Everything started because of me, and I must take responsibility for my comrades."

With that, he turned and walked towards the office door.

"Actually... your performance today was quite surprising to me."

Behind him, the oriole, leaning against the desk again, chuckled.

"I thought you would argue with me today, or scold me, and insist on knowing from me what happened to Chu Anqing, whether she was alive or dead, where she went, and so on... You had to ask everything clearly."

Creak—

Lin Xian opened the heart-wrenching door, and finally looked back at the oriole.

"I will find the answer myself."

"Oriole, I said I don't want to see more comrades sacrifice themselves... of course, that includes you."

Bang.

The heavy iron door closed, and the sound of Lin Xian's leather shoes gradually faded away in the corridor, becoming lighter and lighter, and inaudible at the corner.

"Hmph."

The oriole snorted softly.

She raised her right index finger and brushed the hair on her cheek behind her ear.

Her delicate finger touched the crystal blue gemstone earring on her earlobe...

Swaying.

Reflecting fragmented rainbows under the sunlight outside the window.

"You've grown up."

She said softly, smiling slightly.

"You look a little like a leader now."

……

Lin Xian walked quickly down the corridor.

He hadn't slept in a long time.

His eyes were probably bloodshot.

But he didn't want to sleep.

He had to figure all this out...

Chu Anqing.

What exactly happened?

Where is she?

Judging from the oriole's attitude, perhaps things weren't as bad as he thought.

And as he expected, the possibility of Chu Anqing dying was very small.

She must have gone somewhere! Definitely!

Recalling...

Zhang Yuqian, who had lived in the future world 600 years later and spent a young life in this world 20 years ago...

There must be some very important connection between these three!

Millennium Stake.

Although he didn't know what the Millennium Stake was.

Nor did he know when Chu Anqing became the Millennium Stake, or if she was the Millennium Stake from the beginning.

But in short.

If Chu Anqing was the Millennium Stake.

Then what about Zhang Yuqian?

What about her?

Thinking carefully.

Chu Anqing was born on March 28, 2004, and disappeared on March 28, 2024.

Zhang Yuqian was born in 1980 and disappeared in 2000.

20 years old!

The deaths of the two had a common feature... both were 20 years old!

Then recalling.

Lin Xian had never asked about ’s age and date of birth.

But!

Her appearance looked exactly like Chu Anqing!

His infinite loop dream.

The start time was always 12:42 noon on August 28, 2624, and the end time was always 00:42 on August 29, 2624.

The more Lin Xian thought, the clearer his thoughts became!

The time of Chu Anqing's disappearance was probably 00:42 on March 28, 2024, the day of her 20th birthday!

There seemed to be some incredible connection between these dates and times!

If...

Just if.

Lin Xian made a bold assumption.

If at 00:42 on August 29, 2624, was also exactly 20 years old!

Then there would really be a problem!

Because his dream, every time it was destroyed, was also at 00:42.

Thinking further.

Lin Xian suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility.

He had never understood what the white light that destroyed the world was aimed at.

Was the target Earth?

Was it himself?

Or...

[Was it who was exactly 20 years old at that moment on August 29, 2624?]

"Why are these times and the girls' ages so coincidental?"

Lin Xian felt that the answer to the question must be here!

In the three girls, Chu Anqing,, and Zhang Yuqian!

Now.

Chu Anqing had disappeared.

In the dream, was in a state of disconnection, and he also didn't know her age and date of birth, so he couldn't judge.

Then!

The only clue!

The only breakthrough!

Was on Zhang Yuqian, who died in 2000!

Da da da, da da da.

Lin Xian walked very quickly.

Soon he came to the hall where he had met Gao Yang before.

Seeing Lin Xian coming aggressively, Gao Yang stood up directly.

"Lin Xian! How is it?"

Pa!

Lin Xian slapped Gao Yang on the back, pulling him along as they walked forward.

"You come with me to Qufu, Shandong."

"Huh?"

Gao Yang asked in confusion.

"What are we going there for? What are we doing there? Are we worshiping Confucius?"

"No."

Lin Xian shook his head, his eyes firm.

"We're going to dig a grave!"