Suddenly.
A flash of inspiration struck Liu Di.
This was Sea City.
Liu Di remembered that the Technology Museum in Sea City housed an atomic clock with a century of history.
It measured time through the electromagnetic waves emitted when cesium atoms absorbed or released energy. Its accuracy was unimaginable—only one second off in three hundred thousand years!
Liu Di dashed out of the bank.
Guided by his sixth sense, he raced toward that "ancient" building from his memories!
Even at top speed, he could not conceal the urgency in his heart.
He charged recklessly onward.
He swept past countless empty streets. Many enormous mushrooms were startled and retracted their caps into the ground, while countless Water Bears feeding nearby let out low growls.
At last.
The white, spire-like building came into view.
Of the huge iron characters reading "Technology Museum," only half remained, corroded away.
Liu Di pushed the door open. It had long since decayed and crashed to the ground.
He climbed the stairs one step at a time, occasionally spotting white bones curled up in corners.
Thud.
Thud.
Liu Di's footsteps echoed continuously through the empty building until he reached the top floor.
On a table in the center, an atomic clock the size of a safe lay buried beneath a thick layer of volcanic ash.
"This can't be reality."
Liu Di muttered as he slowly brushed away the ashes.
A row of red, flickering numbers gradually emerged.
—August 7, 2021, 19:40:46.
Liu Di felt his vision go black, as if the world were spinning around him.
How could this time possibly be "now"?!
And how could "now" possibly be like this?
A moment later.
Liu Di climbed to the top of the Science Museum's tower. Leaning against its spire, he looked down over this unfamiliar world.