Kallen's death changed from execution to force majeure, Zhou Weiqing cursed the world's sickening cruelty

"He felt it," Gu Yuena said. "He didn't know. He felt it. Five hundred years of obsession pulled taut in that instant. He didn't know Kallen had already been pushed onto the scaffold. But his instincts were faster than his conscious mind. He felt that moment drawing near. He had to pry the Tree open before the executioner's hand fell."

"This is... a race between life and death." Bei Bei's voice tightened. "The past is moving forward, and so is the present. Both are happening at once. Whoever gets there first wins. If Otto is a step too slow, Kallen will really be gone."

"It isn't just Kallen," Huo Yuhao said. "Once the execution begins, history enters an irreversible stage. The moment the noose tightens, causality locks into place completely. By then, even if Otto breaks the Tree open, he won't be able to save her. Because that 'death' will already have happened. The Tree won't change a point that's already been sealed shut. So he has to drive the resonance higher before the execution is complete. This is a window of time. An extremely short one. So short it might last only an instant."

"But he can't even see what's happening over there!" Xu Sanshi sprang from his chair in agitation, his eyes bloodshot. "He's running with his eyes shut! How can he win? He doesn't even know Kallen's been pushed onto the scaffold. How can he know how fast he needs to go?"

"That's why he said this time was real," Zhou Weiqing said quietly. "Don't you understand yet? It's not that he doesn't know he might be too late. He's prepared to be too late, and he's still going to run. He has no other choice. He can only gamble. Gamble that his obsession is faster than