Chapter 1 The Space Anomaly

Just like the hunter's cabin before, after the collapse of this space based on Vivian's dream, Hao Ren still retained a certain range of "safe zone" around him. This was a grassland only a few hundred meters in radius, and at the edge of the grassland, a shimmering spatial rift had already opened.

That spatial rift was the crack left behind after the explosion of the Gate of Roses—now its shape had changed, becoming more solid, and there was a faint light coming from the rift. Hao Ren knew that this was the passage to the next fragment of time and space, just like the wooden door of the hunter's cabin before.

"Passing through that door will lead to the next time-space," Hao Ren said, pointing to the rift. "If there's anything else you need to do, prepare here."

"What is there to prepare?" Hesperiana shrugged. "Our consciousnesses have only entered this time-space; we haven't brought anything from later generations. The only things that can be used are the equipment at hand. You over there, do you have anything to prepare?"

Faced with the little bat's impolite tone, Hasson wasn't angry. He simply said calmly, "Nothing. Let's go."

"Alright, alright, let's go then~~"

Lily was probably the most eager for the next adventure. She couldn't wait to know what the time-space on the other side of the rift looked like, so she cheerfully ran over, but just as she was about to touch the rift, her body suddenly froze for a moment.

Whether "freeze" was the accurate word to describe what happened was unknown, but Hao Ren really didn't know what had happened: he saw Lily's body suddenly covered with a grayish-white layer, just like the "past images" around them that had been solidified by time and space. As the grayish-white color covered her entire body, Lily suddenly froze in mid-air as if she had been paused, and her aura quickly drifted away from this world. Her whole person became a fixed, unmoving image.

The "freeze" didn't last long. In fact, just as Hesperiana, who had witnessed everything, was about to exclaim, Lily suddenly returned to normal. The latter fell from mid-air, staggered two steps before barely standing, and then looked up at her surroundings in confusion, seeming to have a lapse in memory.

"Landlord, landlord, just now I seemed to suddenly go back to the real world again. I even saw May and Thirty-Eight!"

The husky girl scratched her head and looked back at Hao Ren with a bewildered expression.

Hao Ren and the other two spoke almost simultaneously: "What happened just now?"

"Of course I don't know!" Lily folded her arms and shouted righteously.

"Could it be a bad signal?" Hesperiana blurted out, then explained, "Look, aren't all of us except you entering this world as consciousnesses? Our bodies are in the real world, the receiving end is in this world, and in between, there are only brainwaves jumping around, like wifi. Maybe the wifi is unstable sometimes, so wouldn't we freeze here?"

This little bat's thinking seemed quite unconventional...

Just as Hao Ren was worried about whether something was going to happen to Lily, the aura on Lily's body suddenly changed.

Yes, from a moron, to a goofy one...

Hao Ren was no longer unfamiliar with this change. Lily had changed like this once before when she completed the Siberian regression. He knew what had happened: Raven 12345 had once again used Lily as a springboard to project her consciousness into this time-space.

He quickly explained Lily's possession to Hesperiana and Hasson, and then, without waiting for Raven 12345 to speak, he preemptively said, "Boss, what happened just now? Lily's situation is suddenly a bit off."

"Is the signal bad?" Hesperiana also threw out her guess, and then explained her thoughts in detail.

Unexpectedly, Raven 12345 actually nodded. "You actually guessed correctly by mistake... Although the situation is a bit off, the general result is indeed caused by a 'bad signal'."

Hao Ren immediately became nervous: "Is the sandbox system malfunctioning? Can't the people who are projected in continue to function?"

Hesperiana became frustrated upon hearing this: "Don't! I just came in and haven't done anything yet. I was still hoping to see the Vivian of history. Are we going back now?"

Raven 12345 interrupted Hao Ren and Hesperiana's guesses: "It's not what you think. Not everyone who is projected in will be kicked out—it's that as Hao Ren's regression process deepens, it will become more and more difficult for people who are farther away from your current time coordinate to continue."

Hao Ren was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding: "Um... Boss, can you explain it more clearly?"

Raven 12345 seemed to have known that Hao Ren would ask this, and without any impatience, she carefully explained, "You are regressing along the timeline towards the ancient times. Therefore, on the timeline, you are moving further and further away from 'modern times', and everyone around you has a fixed threshold for their active time in history. Lily is active within the last hundred years, Hesperiana was first active around the year 1 AD, and Hasson was first active around 4000 BC... These people's original positions in history are like stations, and Hao Ren, the process of your continuous regression is like crossing these stations, rushing all the way to a more distant point in time."

Hao Ren vaguely realized what was happening: "People who enter this world as consciousnesses rely on the body in this time-space as a vessel to function, but as I continue to regress forward, they have already passed the years they were born—their 'existence' will lose support as they continue to regress?"

"You're very smart," Raven 12345 rarely praised. "That's right. Your helpers will enter the era before their birth one after another. Their existence in that time-space will create a paradox—the sandbox system can buffer this paradox effect, and the consciousness transmitted to them can also forcibly support their activities around you. However, as the regression process continues, the pressure that the system can withstand will become greater and greater. I call the time point when your friends first began to be active in history their 'historical baseline point'. As you continue to enter ancient times, they will become farther and farther away from their 'baseline point' in history, and consciousness transmission will become more and more difficult. In the end... it can only be disconnected."

Hao Ren thought of Lily's performance just now: she had obviously been disconnected.

"The farther away from their active period in real history, the more difficult it is to connect, right?" Hao Ren frowned. "In other words, as I continue to enter ancient times, Lily will be the first to lose connection, then Hesperiana, and then Hasson..."

"In the end, only you will be left," Raven 12345 said lightly, "Because in the earliest ancient times, none of your friends were born. The only person who was active on Earth ten thousand years ago and that you know is Vivian Ansetta."

"What an unexpected situation," Hao Ren couldn't help but sigh. "I originally thought I could walk along and collect little friends, and finally form an elite team to sweep the entire dungeon... It seems that in the end, it's still just me alone."

Hasson also understood the whole process. The old hunter's question was more practical: "How long can we last after crossing our 'historical baseline point', that is, the year of our birth?"

"It's hard to say, there are too many variables, and there is no precedent to follow. I can only roughly estimate... Even if you cross your historical baseline point, you should be able to continue to be active for one or two thousand years," Raven 12345 said cautiously. "So, in fact, you don't have to worry too much about being kicked out immediately after crossing the baseline point. You can still be active for a long time."

Hao Ren sighed: "It seems that Lily will be the first to leave."

Hesperiana shook her head: "There's no way, she's the youngest among us."

"But I'm already quite satisfied," Hao Ren smiled. "Just now I thought you would have to leave soon after crossing your historical baseline point. I didn't expect you could still be active for one or two thousand years. This margin has already exceeded my expectations. With this calculation, even Lily can go with us to the year 1 AD for a stroll..."

"I thought you would be very affected," Raven 12345 looked at Hao Ren's performance through Lily's eyes, her tone teasing. "After all, the situation is deteriorating."

Hao Ren's performance was quite free and easy: "There's nothing deteriorating. Rather, I started this regression journey with the determination to walk down alone. Now that I have so many helpers—even if they are all temporary—this is already better than the initial expectation, right?"

"Very good, it seems that I really didn't misjudge you," Raven 12345 revealed a smile (although she was using Lily's face). "My connection is also starting to become unstable, so I'll just explain this here. After returning, I will try to broaden the fault-tolerant bandwidth of the sandbox system. This can allow your friends to maintain a continuous and stable connection as much as possible 'before leaving'..."

Raven 12345's voice slowly subsided, and her aura gradually left Lily's body. The latter lowered her head and stayed in place for a while, then suddenly woke up: "Landlord, landlord, I seem to have disconnected again..."

"Raven 12345 has been here just now," Hao Ren waved his hand. "Lily, let me tell you something."

He told the husky girl in front of him about the "historical baseline point" and the "interruption of the consciousness projection connection" from beginning to end.

Although Lily looked careless, she was actually never ambiguous on complex issues that required strong comprehension. She quickly understood the whole process and showed a regretful expression: "Oh—so I can only follow you for a while... I thought I could see the big bat ten thousand years ago in one go."

Hao Ren returned a helpless wry smile, while Hesperiana next to him thought of another thing: "By the way, weren't you a Demon Hunter leader in your previous life? If we calculate your historical baseline point from that life, you can actually follow Hao Ren to the end..."

"No way, no way," Lily waved her hand carelessly. "I'm Liu Lili in this life. I'm not the same person as in my previous life."

Hao Ren glanced at her: "Then aren't you always calling yourself the Demon Hunter First Emperor?"

"Just saying," Lily smiled easily. "I just want to act cool. I know myself that the Demon Hunter First Saint and Liu Lili of the Southern Suburbs have already been two lives, so don't expect things from the previous life."

Looking at the serious expression on her face, Hao Ren nodded, exhaled, and looked at the spatial rift not far away.

Lily also looked over, and then still took the lead and walked in front: "Let's go, Landlord."

The group of four stepped into the unknown twisted time-space without hesitation.