Numbers

"How was that?"

Jiang Ran dropped the theatrics, his acting perfectly controlled.

Clap clap clap clap clap.

Scattered applause broke out:

"That was so cool!" "A little showy, but way better than the Student Union President."

"Enough. Let's get to work. Don't pop the champagne at halftime—the bigger the hope, the bigger the disappointment."

Jiang Ran waved a hand and walked to the small blackboard, pointing at the diagrams and text on it:

"The conditions for creating a Spacetime Black Hole are extremely complicated and demanding. The timing has to be perfect."

"So before the experiment begins, let's go over the procedure once more."

"First, task assignments. Qin Feng will operate the Positron Cannon. I'll send the message beside the transformer distribution box. Little Xue will stay by the window and handle the countdown."

He carefully explained every step.

Over the past few days, Qin Feng had already mastered how to use the Positron Cannon.

But because of design flaws—or perhaps lingering issues with certain core components—the Positron Cannon could only run for [0.7] seconds after activation.

After 0.7 seconds, the capacitor would burst, and the entire Positron Cannon would enter an overloaded state. It had to be powered off for [20 hours], then fitted with a new capacitor before it could be used again.

Qin Feng said bluntly that the problem could not be solved unless he dismantled the Positron Cannon's core component—the CRT display tube modified by an upperclassman.

But it was best not to casually take apart something whose principles were unknown and which had been cobbled together from spare parts.

No one knew how the thing worked. Once taken apart, it definitely could not be put back together—not even if its creator came in person.

The capacitors were cheap anyway, so they might as well treat them as disposable consumables.

Besides, Qin Feng had specifically installed a fuse socket to ensure that even if the circuit board shorted out, it would not damage the building's electrical wiring and get their illegal appliance confiscated by the student union again.

"The Positron Cannon can only run for 0.7 seconds. That means the positron beam can only fire for 0.7 seconds, and at the same time... the [Spacetime Black Hole] will only last 0.7 seconds."

Jiang Ran continued.

"What I need to do is get as close to the transformer distribution box as possible, then send the message within those 0.7 seconds."

There was nothing difficult about that.

The message could be drafted beforehand. 0.7 seconds was more than enough time to press the send button.

Since this experiment was merely a simple test and verification, the message did not need any practical meaning. It only contained four words: "Test, test."

If everything went smoothly.

This message, like the previous one that had crossed time and space, would be sent three days into the past.

History would be changed by them.

The final preparations were complete.

The experiment officially began.

Qin Feng aimed the Positron Cannon at the distribution box outside the window, plugged it in, and gave an OK sign.

Jiang Ran ran out of the activity room, left the building, circled around, and arrived beside the transformer distribution box. He gave an OK sign toward the club window.

"Received!"

Cheng Mengxue straddled the windowsill, looking outside at Jiang Ran and inside at Qin Feng.

"Then I'll start the countdown! When I reach zero, Qin Feng activates the Positron Cannon first, and then Jiang Ran sends the message immediately!"

She took a deep breath.

"5!"

A breeze swept past. Cicadas began chirping, and the world grew quiet.

"4!"

Time itself seemed to slow. The transformer's crackling current sounded like thunder in his ears.

"3!"

An image of a clock turning backward and a setting sun moving in reverse flashed through Jiang Ran's mind.

"2!"

Finned fish crawled onto land, and apes rose from the earth!

"1!"

The Earth opened its eyes.

"0!"

The Positron Cannon activated with a roar!

Jiang Ran gritted his teeth and pressed the send button—

Bzz!

Bzz!

Bzz!

The sky spun, his vision blurred, and his head felt heavy while his feet went light.

It was here!

That familiar dizziness was here!

A [Spacetime Shift] had occurred!

His ears rang, his head throbbed, and his body kept tilting as the sky turned upside down.

"Ah!"

Jiang Ran planted his right hand on the ground and held himself up.

Two seconds later, all discomfort vanished, and the world before his eyes stopped swaying.

He got to his feet and looked toward the club window.

"The Spacetime Shift ha—"

The words caught in his throat.

No one was there.

He had just wanted to share the good news with Cheng Mengxue, who had been perched on the windowsill, but before him... the club window was closed.

It seemed the course of history had changed.

In the new Worldline, in this new history, they had not conducted the Spacetime Bulletin experiment today.

"Then did the Spacetime Bulletin actually send successfully?"

He had to confirm it immediately!

The club window curtains were open. Jiang Ran stood on tiptoe and peered inside... Qin Feng was tinkering with the Positron Cannon on the table, while Cheng Mengxue sat on the sofa playing on her phone.

"Memories not syncing is really inconvenient."

Just as expected, after this Spacetime Shift, he still retained his original memories in an exceptionally unusual way and still knew nothing about the altered history.

He had no idea what Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue's situations were.

He jogged all the way into the club activity building and violently shoved open the Film Club's door.

"Did you receive the Spacetime Bulletin?!"

The two looked up at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about? Didn't we receive it three days ago?"

Three days ago.

Jiang Ran breathed a sigh of relief.

Good.

The message had still been sent three days into the past and received as planned.

A perfect replication!

A perfect success!

"That's great!"

A smile spread across his lips.

"Our theory was right. The Spacetime Bulletin sent into the past... we finally succeeded!"

The room was silent.

Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue could not keep up with Jiang Ran's pace at all, much less play along with his performance.

"Um... didn't it already succeed three days ago? We even held a celebration dinner. Did you not wake up properly?"

Cheng Mengxue tilted her head.

"Three days ago, my phone received the test message, and you refused to admit that you sent it. That obviously meant... just like the previous message, this one came from some day in the future."

"That's right."

Qin Feng looked up.

"That means all our guesses about the Spacetime Bulletin were correct. Once I fix the Positron Cannon, we'll be able to send messages to the past too."

Good.

Jiang Ran secretly rejoiced.

It seemed everything was normal and developing as expected.

Only Qin Feng and Cheng Mengxue still lacked memories from before the Spacetime Shift. He was the only special one.

"Qin Feng, did our celebration dinner delay your repairs to the Positron Cannon?"

"What do you mean?"

"In the original history, the repair progress wasn't this slow."

Jiang Ran smiled faintly.

"In the original history, you fixed the Positron Cannon this morning. Otherwise... how could we have conducted the experiment?"

?

!

Qin Feng's eyes widened as realization struck him.

"I see! Jiang Ran, you just sent the message, then experienced a Spacetime Shift, and still retained your memories of the original history?"

Cheng Mengxue hurriedly stood up as well.

"In other words, in the original history, we just conducted the Spacetime Bulletin experiment! The message was successfully sent three days into the past, and the original course of history changed again!"

Jiang Ran nodded.

As expected of Donghai University's top students—they understood with barely any explanation.

He had just figured out the temporal logic.

In the original history, Qin Feng repaired the Positron Cannon on the morning of March 25. They conducted the experiment that afternoon and successfully sent the test message three days into the past, to March 22.

After the three of them on March 22 received the test message, they immediately realized it had come from the future and that the experiment had succeeded, so they promptly held a celebration dinner.

The celebration dinner was part of the altered history, and it delayed Qin Feng's repairs to the Positron Cannon.

As a result, in the altered history—on the afternoon of March 25 in the current Worldline—the Positron Cannon had not yet been repaired.

However, none of that mattered anymore.

What mattered was—

[They had successfully mastered the ability to send messages to the past! Their cheat-powered lives were about to take off!]

"You really held that celebration dinner too early. You couldn't even wait for me?" Jiang Ran complained.

"You certainly didn't eat any less," Cheng Mengxue teased.

"But I don't have any memories of the celebration dinner."

Jiang Ran shrugged.

"Ugh, having no memories of the three days after a Spacetime Shift is such a pain. Every time, I have to ask you two to sync me up on what happened. It's like opening blind boxes."

He sat down on the sofa.

"All right, enough about that. Hurry up and tell me what happened from the time you received the message three days ago until today."

Qin Feng sat opposite him.

"We received the two test messages you sent at 4:06 p.m. on March 22."

"Mm."

!

"Mm?"

Jiang Ran abruptly raised his head, a chill running down his spine.

"What did you say?"

"Is there a problem?" Qin Feng asked, puzzled.

Jiang Ran stared at him.

"How many messages did you say you received?"

"Two!"

Qin Feng looked bewildered.

"Didn't you send them both?"

"How could there have been two?!"

Jiang Ran could no longer remain seated and immediately stood up.

"I clearly only sent one test message! How could you have received two?!"

"B-But there were two..."

Cheng Mengxue blinked innocently and handed him her phone.

"Look. They were both received at the same time."

Jiang Ran slowly accepted the phone.

He felt that something was wrong, as if the world itself had pulled away from him.

He opened the text message page.

Three days earlier, Cheng Mengxue's phone had indeed received two messages.

Both had been sent by herself.

The first was a test message containing the words, "Test, test."

But when she opened the second—

It was a completely unfamiliar,

and utterly bizarre string of numbers...

[289269426494642]