Lan Yi was completely focused on the pork-bone-soup dumplings in front of him.
He ate with meticulous care, sucking every last drop of broth from the bottom of each spoonful and refusing to let even a shred of filling go to waste, as though he were not eating handmade dumplings from Sha County Snacks, but some rare delicacy like Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
Watching Lan Yi eat.
It was easy to think of two words: happiness.
Perhaps the happiness he radiated while enjoying good food was highly contagious. The other customers in the shop had all become somewhat absent-minded, their gazes sweeping past Lan Yi from time to time. Some even looked down at the meals they had just ordered, doubt flickering across their faces as though they were questioning their own sense of taste.
The shop door was suddenly pushed open.
The strangely quiet shop was instantly shattered by the noise and bustle of the street. The blazing summer heat rushed in with the newcomer, who looked around the shop as soon as he entered. Before long, his face lit up as he locked onto Lan Yi, who was chewing slowly and savoring every bite.
He covered the distance in three steps and two, pulled out a chair, and sat down in front of Lan Yi.
"Hello, Lan Yi. My name is Gao Xing."
"Your life trajectory and records are as dull as they say. No wonder you became the invincible one."
"Recently unemployed, cheated on, detained, with no family or friends, living alone... And then there are the rumors accusing you of domestic violence and extortion, along with the online abuse. No wonder that when the War Zone opened later, you became one of Xinghan's top psychic cultivators."
Gao Xing clicked his tongue in amazement as he examined the bewildered Lan Yi, as though he were looking at some rare treasure.
"You are...?" Lan Yi put down his spoon and raised his gaze.
He doesn't recognize me. Thank goodness. Right now, he's just an ordinary wage slave, not that world-destroying Madman Lan.
Gao Xing let out a breath. The enormous pressure in his heart instantly dispersed, replaced by uncontrollable excitement. After all, countless people would want to do what he was about to do over the next few decades, but only he had this opportunity—because he was a reborn man.
A reborn man who had returned from Lan Yi's world-ending apocalypse twenty years in the future.
Unfortunately, there was too little time.
The conditions did not allow it either.
Otherwise, Gao Xing truly wanted to subdue Lan Yi or make Lan Yi owe the Gao family a huge favor. Given the honest Lan Yi's current predicament—unemployed, ravaged by online abuse, and possibly even facing prison—in Gao Xing's eyes, solving all of it would be as easy as blowing away dust.
"I'm your future archenemy."
"In the future, you'll become utterly vicious and commit monstrous crimes. You'll be a mad demon through and through. To you, killing people will be as natural as breathing, and destroying lives will be as easy as eating and dressing. The entire world will run red with blood because of your justice."
"In half an hour, the War Zone will open to all humanity. Without me, when you experience the Artificial Divine Realm for the first time, you'll gain immense power and, after returning, begin creating one tragedy after another."
"That pair of dogs, the company that dismissed you without cause, those powerful influencers who stirred up online abuse against you, the 'temporary workers' who got their jobs through connections, even a pet dog—all of them will become targets for your revenge and venting. The rest of your life will be as thrilling and exciting as a web novel. You'll rise to the peak of power and rule over everything!"
"I know this sounds absurd. You won't believe me..."
Before Lan Yi could react, Gao Xing pulled something from inside his clothes and pointed it at him.
It was a heavy pistol with a metallic sheen.
Pulling out a gun while wearing a blade-combat suit was pure cheating.
Gao Xing had managed to get his hands on a gun, but unless it was an extraordinary situation, he would never reveal it in public. Xinghan's control over firearms was so strict that even accidentally injuring someone with a toy gun could cause trouble.
But none of that mattered now.
In another half hour.
The War Zone would open, and individual martial power would rapidly rise to the level of modernized forces capable of smashing cities, breaking armies, and annihilating nations. By then, the entire old order would collapse!
"Lan Yi, in the future, you'll commit countless crimes. They'll include, but not be limited to, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, the extermination of nonhuman races, endangering humanity, the destruction of the Artificial Divine Realm, and the persecution of freedom of thought. But your most insane crime will be destroying the world."
"I was fortunate enough to be reborn today, giving me an overwhelming advantage. For the sake of the countless lives in the future, before you, this demon, grow invincible, I will shoot you dead right here!"
"Die!"
Gao Xing's face flushed with excitement as he thumbed off the safety and began pulling the trigger. He was about to rewrite the future and create history!
He would replace Lan Yi as the sole true god of the new era!
The next moment, Gao Xing suddenly froze, his ruddy face turning deathly pale.
A cold metal barrel was pressed against the back of his head, and a frigid, indistinct voice came from behind him.
"Put the gun down."
In the reflection of the shop's glass, Gao Xing saw the figures behind him. It was a squad of black-uniformed soldiers in full combat gear. They had slipped into the shop as silently as ghosts and effortlessly subdued Gao Xing, knocking away the pistol he had obtained from an underground workshop.
What chilled Gao Xing even more was that in the strangely quiet shop, none of the customers screamed, shouted, moved recklessly, or even took out their phones to record. Men and women, old and young, all wore calm, solemn expressions as they swept their eyes across the surroundings, as though a bullet might suddenly fly out from anywhere.
They clearly all had duties to perform.
Those duties were related to Lan Yi.
How could this be?
Where did things go wrong?
Could there be more than one reborn person?
Damn it! Why are you arresting me? Kill this demon Lan Yi first!
Gao Xing's confusion received no answer.
The well-trained soldiers had no unnecessary words for the uncooperative Gao Xing. They stuffed his mouth shut, then slammed the butts of their rifles into him from both sides. With two dull, powerful thuds, the young master of a smuggling lineage immediately became docile, begging for mercy.
Before he was dragged away like a dead dog, Lan Yi shook his head, half speechless and half bewildered.
"Archenemy? I don't even know who you are."
"And you said I'll become invincible in the future?"
"In fact, the one who's invincible isn't my future self. It's me."
Lan Yi had the confidence to say that.
Even as he spoke, all the civilians in the area had already been evacuated, and a large number of weapons were aimed at his head.
Compared to those.
The pistol in Gao Xing's hand had not even been able to make Lan Yi feel threatened just now.
Used as a small stone to test the waters, Gao Xing was swiftly dragged away. Before long, he would become one insignificant new number on the list of many bizarre disappearances recorded within those twenty-four hours.
The plain little Sha County Snacks shop soon returned to its usual atmosphere.
Lan Yi glanced at his phone and raised his voice slightly.
"About time."
"If you don't make your move now."
"You probably won't get another chance. Just a friendly reminder: if you use a tactical nuclear weapon right now, your odds of success are roughly sixty percent. Don't you want to take the gamble?"
Before you continue