After returning to the rundown little courtyard.
Su Wen leaned his clattering old bicycle against the door and hurriedly wiped away the sweat that would not stop pouring from his forehead.
Summer in Jiangnan was truly unbearable.
Especially after he had spent most of the day doing "volunteer work" by the roadside, serving others for free.
With his life on the line, Su Wen could still restrain himself through his stubborn will to survive.
But now that the most important Temporal Closed Loop had been completed.
This sweltering, sweat-soaked heat instantly became his new "survival crisis."
Air conditioning, shower, change of clothes.
All in one smooth sequence.
After completing those steps.
Su Wen looked at his refreshed, handsome reflection in the mirror, free of any belly fat and seemingly reborn, then gave himself a "perfectly objective" assessment:
"Mm, I'm still as dashingly handsome as ever. What a relief."
He sat before his computer.
System notifications began appearing continuously across the screen:
'Time Travel' Character Card Updated: Attribute Enhancement—The Chief Player has come into contact with the Evolution Origin Point of life. The initial origin imprint has been activated. First Life Transformation (trace level) loaded. Because the Chief Player has obtained 'Extraordinary Trait—Evolution Origin Point—Natural Selection Theory—Trade Wind' Novice game 'Sprout' game node updated. Timeline Correction: 1. Night Watcher 'Ashen Watch' warning node removed. 2. The future plan for civilization's mother planet, 'Gravity Bridge,' has been altered. 3. Kane Corporation's 'Star Ring World' outer-space project content revised. Because the future course of the next three thousand years has undergone tremendous changes. 'Sprout' game concluded.
Click.
The Death Countdown before Su Wen's eyes finally stopped ticking.
He let out a long breath, his voice carrying a hint of teasing.
"Looks like I don't have to pick myself a nice sunny burial spot after all."
Afterward.
The image on Su Wen's computer turned into an expanse of azure stars.
The viewpoint descended, arriving at the rooftop of a colossal city built from flexible construction materials.
It was a lush ecological garden.
A young woman in a white researcher's coat, her figure curvaceous, held a data screen as she narrated:
"Ecological Protection Organization R301—Rainforest Senior Researcher Qin Xiaodie, seven hundred and fifty-first record.
"Based on the trait analysis of first- and second-order extraordinary plants.
"Cain Group's excessive waste of leyline resources has indeed increased the pressure on the city's Eden Circulation System."
Beside a small house next to the ecological garden.
A middle-aged woman spoke gently to her.
"Xiaodie, you're just like your father. You can't focus only on work. You need to rest too."
The image shifted.
Inside an enormous tiered conference hall high up in a building.
Su Wen saw that scholar with black-rimmed glasses and a resolute face.
Qin Mingyuan stood at the center of the exhibition hall.
Behind him.
The azure data model in the holographic projection displayed the theme of this conference:
The Post-Star-Sea Era, Humanity Civilization's Only Mother Planet
The game screen froze there.
Su Wen suddenly felt a measure of relief, utterly unlike the emptiness he felt when he usually lazed around in bed.
He smiled and spoke as though talking to himself.
"Old Qin, no matter which timeline you're in, you deserve respect."
A conversation spanning three thousand years came to an end at that moment.
Game Settlement Three-star hidden objective: Find the 'Knowledge Secret Treasure' through the encrypted map. Completed. Game rating: Three stars. Countdown refreshed: Current Death Countdown—'Fifteen Days.' Timer paused. Item obtained: Extraordinary Life—Evolution Origin Point—Hyacinth (herbaceous plant). Reward ability obtained: Appraisal (Low Tier) (Cooldown: one hour). Special settlement reward: R75 Specialized Nutrient Solution for plant cultivation (120 doses per case). Three-slot Storage Box function unlocked. Note: The flower language of the hyacinth—an upward-reaching will, the flame of life burning itself out, reborn love, and a resolute decision without regrets.
Su Wen had already experienced the Appraisal function.
But the Storage Box function had truly exceeded his expectations.
The two-slot Storage Box was not large, with about as much space as a large hiking backpack.
The "backpack function" was standard equipment in games.
But if it could be used in reality, its significance would be immeasurable. For example, it could store firearms or classified documents.
It was an absolutely safe, absolutely private portable space.
Su Wen had not yet become deranged enough to want to be some kind of assassin.
But if any game in "Time Travel" required it.
This function might produce miraculous results.
After all, the Death Countdown had only been refreshed and temporarily paused, making the unlucky "Chief Player" Su Wen understand that this was merely the beginning.
"I was happy too soon."
Since life had already turned out this way.
Giving up was not an option.
Then there was no helping it.
He would quietly enjoy it.
Su Wen took out the only item currently inside the Storage Box: a silver metal case.
The case had no lock. Upon opening its first layer, he found a sheet of paper on top:
"I seem to have forgotten something. I only heard someone say in my dreams that he had come to save me."
—Qin Xiaodie
The back of the paper contained instructions for using the "R75 Specialized Nutrient Solution for Plant Cultivation."
This was the crystallization of the pinnacle of life sciences three thousand years after the Origin Era.
If Su Wen took one of these doses to the Academy of Sciences.
There was a small chance he would shock the academic world and have his name recorded in next year's history of science.
But it was far more likely that he would be unable to explain where it came from.
And would end up locked in a cell with that fire-breathing guy, experiencing the second stage of life.
The nutrient solution's effects were far too potent. For the Evolution Origin Point, which was still dormant, it only needed to be injected into the soil.
Su Wen had also considered whether he should give himself an injection.
But Qin Xiaodie had probably anticipated that someone might try it, not to mention that he was not some kind of vegetable.
For the sake of caution.
He gave up on the idea.
Then he fell face-first onto the bed and went to sleep.
That night, as the hyacinth swayed gently beneath the moonlight, the ripples of life from the Silver Sea quietly spread outward.
Without Su Wen's knowledge, system notifications refreshed:
Chief Player attribute increased. Life Activity +0.1 Chief Player attribute increased. Spiritual Energy Adaptability +0.1 Chief Player attribute increased. Life Activity +0.1 ... ...
A night passed.
Su Wen was awakened beneath his blanket by the ringing of his phone.
He answered it and asked groggily,
"Miss Jiang, what is it?"
"Su Wen, it's already 8:05. Why haven't you come yet?
Today's large lecture is being taught by the department chair. If you're any later, she'll mark you tardy. Hurry, hurry."
The woman's voice on the phone belonged to Jiang Menghan, his university classmate.
Ultimately, the concept of a university class was fairly loose. If Su Wen had not once been Jiang Menghan's competition partner.
Miss Jiang would not even have bothered to acknowledge him.
The department chair.
That menopausal physics Extinction Master who presided over an 87 percent failure rate?
!!!
Su Wen instantly became wide awake.
He did not even have time to check the status of "Sprout."
Throwing on a jacket, he rode his clattering old bicycle and rushed out the door.
Amid the crowded throng outside Coastal University's gates.
The clattering of Su Wen's old bicycle was especially conspicuous.
So conspicuous that Lin Xiqing, who had just stepped out of a Porsche and was preparing to enter the campus, heard it clearly too.
She was very familiar with that sound.
It was him.
The hero who did good deeds without leaving his name behind.
Yesterday, Lin Xiqing had even specifically asked her grandfather to investigate recent volunteer workers through the neighborhood office.
Yet the entry for yesterday's date had been blank.
That made her pay even more attention to Su Wen.
That was right.
She did not see his behavior as that of an oblivious straight man.
Instead, the more she imagined things, the more she believed Su Wen was so selfless, so sunny and handsome.
Before you continue