"That's hard to say for sure."

Liu Feng shook his head cautiously.

"According to my theory, the space-time butterfly effect should be changing and happening in real time. So… the space-time curvature displayed on the Space-Time Clock, what specific number it becomes, how large the specific change will be, that definitely requires specific analysis of specific events!"

"For example, if the space-time change is very small and doesn't have a big impact on the whole world, then I think the change in space-time curvature will also be very small. The numerical change reflected on the Space-Time Clock will naturally be very small."

"But if the space-time change is very large, and the impact of a certain event is enough to turn the future world upside down and brand new… then the numerical change on the Space-Time Clock will definitely be very large. At least, that's what I think. Even…"

Liu Feng held up his right index finger, pointing to the zero in front of the decimal point on the Space-Time Clock face:

"Even if the space-time curvature changes enough, enough, enough! Maybe this zero in front of the decimal point will also change."

"However, there's no data for reference right now, so discussing this isn't very meaningful. Once the Space-Time Clock numbers change for the first time, we'll have a general reference; then after observing it a few more times, we can naturally summarize the rules and completely master the rules of space-time curvature!"

"Alright then."

Lin Xian nodded.

"I came to see you this time for no other reason than to check on the Space-Time Clock and see how things are going with you. Let's leave it at that for now. Don't stop researching the cosmological constant, we should adopt multiple approaches. We can't put all our hopes on the Space-Time Clock and space-time curvature."

"Also…"

Lin Xian pointed to the corner of the experimental table, to the rice cooker-shaped Space-Time Particle Catcher.

"Has there been any more research on the space-time particles inside? Any new progress or breakthroughs?"

Liu Feng sighed lightly.

"No."

"Although I know this result is hard for you to accept, Lin Xian, this is the truth. Cruel, but it's the truth. We had too many useless touches when we captured the space-time particle, and we've already exhausted its energy."

"This is also because of our lack of experience. No one knew that this thing couldn't be touched at all. Even a few shallow collisions were enough to make it assimilate with this space-time, rendering it worthless."

"If there's another chance to capture one… I believe I'll do better. I'll improve the catcher and the capture mechanism, so that it can be caught while maintaining the internal energy of the space-time particle."

"That way, maybe we can get some other gains from researching it. But this one… alas, there's really nothing we can do. It really has no energy, no value, and no use."

……

Listening to Liu Feng's words, Lin Xian felt inexplicably lost.

"Can I open it and take a look?"

"Of course."

Liu Feng spread his hands.

"Like I told you before, the space-time particle has already lost its activity. It won't flicker anymore, it won't jump anymore, and it will follow the mechanical laws and a certain degree of physical contact of our universe."

"You can even touch it with your hand and nothing will happen… because I've already touched it. It has no substance, but there's a faint, strange feeling. And I've already experimented. Even if you put it on the table or the ground, it won't pass through it."

"This is what I've been telling you, 'assimilated with this space-time'. At this point, this space-time particle is actually considered a thing of our space-time, so it has no value, no energy… It's a simple logic."

As Liu Feng explained, Lin Xian walked forward.

He came to the corner of the experiment table.

He wiped the floating dust from the rice cooker with his sleeve.

The small display still showed those two lines that seemed to freeze space-time:

[Space-Time Particle: Capture Successful!]

[Capture Time: March 28, 2024, 00:42]

It was Chu Anqing's 20th birthday.

It was a capture successful obtained by betting everything.

Wiping the rice cooker clean.

Lin Xian stroked the stainless steel wall on the side of the rice cooker, feeling the coldness of the touch.

He took a long breath.

He pressed the lid lifting switch.

Click—

A crisp sound.

The lid of the rice cooker popped open.

Lin Xian looked inside.

A crystalline blue space-time particle, not in contact with any inner wall, was quietly suspended in the very center of the rice cooker's inner pot.

Very magical.

Like magnetic levitation.

But of course, this wasn't magnetic levitation, just a similar physical principle, using fields to confine the particle.

At this time, the space-time particle had indeed lost its activity.

The intense lightning, the violent core, the crackling sparks on the surface that he saw before had all disappeared.

It was as if it was asleep.

Too lazy to even snore.

So calm, so peaceful, so docile, so lazy.

It was really hard to associate it with the troublesome opponent in the sky before.

Lin Xian looked carefully.

Now this space-time particle still looked like a small blue ball of electricity, but there were no intense sparks or a core crashing around.

Those blue filaments were very evenly spread inside the spherical space, drifting slowly… very slowly… seemingly moving but not… It not only didn't look aggressive at all, but it even looked a little timid.

This was what a space-time particle looked like after losing its activity and energy.

From an overlord from another domain, it had been recruited into a pageboy under his seat.

Lin Xian stretched out his right hand and reached inside the rice cooker.

Since Liu Feng said he had already touched it and there were no problems, he naturally had no worries.

His fingers sank.

He touched the space-time particle.

That feeling…

Really, as Liu Feng said.

Indeed.

With his eyes closed, he could feel that he seemed to have touched something, a very, very, extremely small caressing feeling.

Like the fall of a spider web, the passing of a gentle breeze.

And when you consciously tried to touch it, you couldn't feel that touch; but when you unconsciously touched it, you could feel that vague, subtle contact.

It was really an indescribable feeling, even more accurately… an illusion.

At this moment.

Lin Xian's entire palm had entered the interior of the space-time particle, but the space-time particle was still so stable, as if nothing had happened, almost lazily sleeping soundly. The uniform sphere inside showed not the slightest ripple at Lin Xian's arrival.

He closed his palm, trying to hold the space-time particle.

As expected.

The lazy space-time particle wouldn't cooperate with him. No matter how Lin Xian's palm stirred inside the space-time particle, the space-time particle itself remained unmoved, unconcerned.

"It seems that we ordinary people won't have any overreactions when we touch space-time particles, nor will we awaken any memories like Chu Anqing, or have some information stuffed into our brains."

"Of course." Liu Feng spread his hands.

"After all, we're not millennium stakes, and we won't have any reaction with space-time particles. I guess that normal people and normal objects shouldn't have anything happen when they touch space-time particles. Only millennium stakes or other objects from other space-times will have something happen when they come into contact with space-time particles."

"However, isolated cases don't prove anything. We can only draw conclusions from Chu Anqing's case that millennium stakes will gain some memories and have overreactions when they touch space-time particles. As for other things… without experimental data, there's no way to determine."

"Speaking of which, haven't you always suspected that Huang Que is a time-traveler from the future? Logically speaking, she doesn't belong to this space-time either, she's also an outsider. Why don't you let her touch the space-time particle and see? See if anything magical happens."

"Forget it."

Lin Xian refused decisively.

"If Huang Que thought it was necessary to touch the space-time particle, she would have touched it long ago. What she doesn't do is unnecessary. She's a very opinionated woman and doesn't need us to remind her of anything."

"Besides… her current physical condition also seems to be very bad, and I don't want to bother her or trouble her too much. Huang Que has already helped us too much, solved too many troubles for us, and given us a lot of hints… We can't rely on her for the rest of our lives, can we? Liu Feng, we ourselves must become stronger too."

Hearing this, Liu Feng nodded.

"You're right, we can't always trouble Huang Que. After all, the space-time particle and the cosmological constant are, in the end, a matter between the two of us. Huang Que has indeed helped us enough."

"Besides, I thought about it carefully just now, and my reasoning has some imperfections. It's not that objects from other space-times will react when they touch space-time particles. Because look at Chu Anqing, she's not an outsider from space-time. The pupils of her eyes are normal, and she's never been subjected to space-time rejection. This is enough to prove that Chu Anqing is a native millennium stake of this space-time."

"I believe the laws of space-time are absolute, and no person or thing can overstep the laws of space-time. So, Chu Anqing's eyes didn't turn blue, and she wasn't subjected to space-time rejection, which is also ironclad proof that she originally belonged to our space-time."

"Based on this reasoning, it seems that gaining memories and those overreactions from touching space-time particles should be a unique characteristic of millennium stakes, or rather… an accident. It's just a pity that Chu Anqing is no longer here, and the space-time particle has lost its activity, so we can't study it further."

……

Listening to Liu Feng's analysis, Lin Xian took his hand out of the rice cooker and stared seriously at the dark blue space-time particle.

"Are you really sure… this space-time particle has no use anymore?"

Lin Xian was still unwilling to accept this fact, and asked again.

"Is it possible that our current level of cognition and technology is not up to par, so we can't discover the use of this space-time particle?"

Liu Feng was silent for a while, looking at Lin Xian meaningfully.

"From the scientific rigor, I can't deny your point of view. I understand your feelings, Lin Xian. We all paid so much, and Chu Anqing even sacrificed herself to catch this space-time particle… but in the end, it's such an ending, you must find it hard to accept."

"But as your friend, as a scientist who assists you from behind, I can't lie to you, can I? I can't deceive you for the sake of gentleness. That would only harm you and might cause you to deviate from the correct path and go in the wrong direction."

"Please believe me, at least, for now, this space-time particle… really has no value. It really has assimilated with this space-time."

"Then what about this thing?" Lin Xian looked up.

With a bang, he closed the lid of the rice cooker, resealing the space-time particle, and then looked at Liu Feng.

"Such a hard-won thing… even if it's just a souvenir, as you said, we can't just leave it here, can we? This laboratory is too unsafe."

"Then… how about buying two safes here?"

Liu Feng suggested.

"But that wouldn't make much sense, except for taking up space. Besides, safes aren't absolutely safe either. Anyway, my current experiments and research don't use this space-time particle at all. If you have a suitable warehouse, vault, or other safe place, why don't you take it away and store it for now?"

Warehouse…

Vault…

Lin Xian instantly thought of Time Bank.

He thought of those hafnium alloy safes.

He thought of the small note that Chu Anqing wrote for him.

He thought that this was originally the space-time particle that Chu Anqing caught for him.

Even if Liu Feng was sure that this space-time particle had no value, Lin Xian was still reluctant to throw it away.

Then…

Let's put them together.

"I understand, I'll take it away."

Lin Xian picked up the rice cooker and left the Donghai University laboratory.

"If the Space-Time Clock's values change, and it detects a change in space-time curvature, notify me as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, Lin Xian, I'll be watching it at all times."

……

An Alpha business car was driving on the elevated expressway.

Lin Xian sat in the back seat, holding the rice cooker in his arms, looking at the prosperous city outside the window.

Donghai City 600 years later.

After several changes, the world had changed.

The原地踏步 (yuandi t步, standing still) of the first dream, the century's regression of the second dream, the human tragedy of the third dream, and then the science fiction capital of the fourth dream.

There was no pattern, just as he realized at the beginning, space-time changes were uncontrollable and almost illogical.

He was even starting to worry.

If one day the dream world changed again and came to the fifth dream…

Would the world become better?

He started thinking again.

What kind of world would be considered better?

At first, Lin Xian thought that a world where technology was原地踏步 (yuandi t步, standing still) was terrible, but now it seemed to be the best.

And for Big Face Cat, the backward old Donghai of the second dream was the happiest and most joyful life for him.

What kind of world is good?

Lin Xian felt that perhaps this question did not have an accurate answer.

But no matter what…

A world that required sacrificing a 20-year-old girl every 24 years to be a millennium stake was definitely not the best.

This was undoubtedly wrong.

"If the problem of the millennium stake is solved, and these girls can live normally and grow old normally…"

Lin Xian couldn't help but recall the sudden white light that burned everything at the end of each dream.

If there were no millennium stakes in this world, would there still be white light?

Could the world 600 years later safely pass the early hours of August 29th and see the sunrise of a new day?

Why lock history?

Whenever he thought of this question, Lin Xian couldn't help but feel disgusted.

Why?

He had to find out the real mastermind behind the planting of the millennium stakes and ask him, why!

Squeal—

The Alpha business car braked smoothly.

The driver in the front row turned his head.

"Mr. Lin, we're here at Time Bank."

As soon as Lin Xian got out of the car.

Brother Wang, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately greeted him with his belly out.

"Hahahaha, Lin Xian! You're finally here! I've been waiting for you since the trial operation!"

Brother Wang, who had realized his life's dream, wanted to hug Lin Xian, but the rice cooker Lin Xian was holding in his arms… became an obstacle to their hug.

"What is this…"

Brother Wang blinked in confusion, looking at Lin Xian.

"What are you doing with a rice cooker?"

Lin Xian smiled slightly.

"Brother Wang, this is what I'm going to put in the safe."

"Oh oh oh oh oh oh!!!"

Brother Wang suddenly understood, letting out an excited goose cry.

"I understand! I understand! Time capsule inside a time capsule! This trick of yours is good, it hides it more tightly! I just didn't expect the rice cooker trick… I've really learned something!"

"Come, come, come in, I can't wait to show you our bank."

Brother Wang enthusiastically pulled Lin Xian into Time Bank.

A magnificent gate, a bright sign, everyone could see that Time Bank had strong financial resources.

Walking into the business hall, he found that there were quite a few people lining up to conduct business.

"These people aren't here to buy safes, they're here to handle financial business."

Brother Wang explained directly to Lin Xian when he saw his confusion.

"Weren't you worried that our Time Bank would go bankrupt because of its single business? So I listened to you, and with the help of President Zhao's uncle, I opened up some long-term financial businesses, investments, funds, insurance, etc… It can also be considered a source of income for our Time Bank."

"Actually, there aren't many customers who come to buy safes. We've only sold more than 50 in total, and there have been quite a few cancellations. But we don't care about that. We're doing long-term business for decades or centuries. It's not our business explosion point yet."

"When the hibernation pods are officially mass-produced and put into use, that will be our business explosion period! By then, these hundreds of hafnium alloy safes won't be enough to sell. Who can refuse to open their time capsule buried hundreds of years ago in the future?"

While speaking, Brother Wang led Lin Xian into the back warehouse.

Perhaps it was because Time Bank's financial resources were too strong this time… the security level of this warehouse was maxed out!

The entire wall was made of extremely thick alloy. Lin Xian wasn't sure if it was hafnium alloy, it didn't look like it, but it was already enough. Presumably, C4 couldn't blow it open.

This made him a little embarrassed.

If in the dream world 600 years later, he and CC needed to sneak into Time Bank again… how would they get through this level!

However, when he saw Brother Wang's series of operations, and finally opening the warehouse metal door with a combination lock, Lin Xian was relieved.

In the end, it was still an electronic combination lock, so CC, a password expert, would be enough.

"Come in quickly, Lin Xian, let me show you our hafnium alloy safe!"

Brother Wang excitedly urged Lin Xian to enter the warehouse.

Walking inside, Lin Xian looked around.

Like the photos that Brother Wang had sent him before, hafnium alloy safes were embedded on wall after wall of concrete.

Seeing it with his own eyes was really spectacular.

Soon, Brother Wang led Lin Xian to the centermost area, pointing at safe number 66 with a smile.

"Look! This is the one I left for you!"

"Actually, the size, material, and craftsmanship of each safe are exactly the same, and there's nothing to adjust, but some customers like to choose numbers, so I had to leave the best one for you!"

Then.

Brother Wang pointed around.

"There are no surveillance cameras installed in this safe warehouse in order to protect the privacy of every customer. This is also necessary because our hafnium alloy safes all use mechanical combination locks, and you can only set a one-time password and it can never be changed."

"So we can only sacrifice a certain degree of security for confidentiality. But the security and defense level of this warehouse is so high, and it's located in the city center, no thieves will come to steal anything haha… Even if they want to come to steal something, they have to crack the password of the hafnium alloy safe!"

"Otherwise, with the sturdiness of these hafnium alloy safes, even large bombs can't blow them open. Thieves will just be wasting their time. In addition, many of the things stored here don't have economic value, they're more of a value of memories, and they're not worth much money. The cost-effectiveness of stealing things from us is really too low."

Creak—

Brother Wang directly opened the safe with Lin Xian's name written on it, removed the protective device on the lock buckle, and told Lin Xian.

"I'll remind you again, the password lock structure of the safe is extremely precise, so once you set the first password, you can never change it! You have to think carefully before you set the password in a while! You really can't change it!"

"When you operate in a while, first put the rice cooker in, then set the password on the eight password dials outside, and directly close the door of the safe! Then the password lock will be locked, and the password of the safe will be set. From now on, for the rest of your life, for hundreds of years, thousands of years… the password of this one hafnium alloy safe will never change."

Afterward, Brother Wang pointed to the door.

"Then I'll wait for you outside. We also have regulations here that staff must avoid when customers store things and set passwords, and only the customer can be left inside. Once you're done, knock on the door from the inside, I'll be waiting outside and I'll open the door for you."

With that said.

Brother Wang left.

Bang.

The Time Bank warehouse door closed.

In the huge space filled with safes…

Spanning 600 years.

He was left alone again.

Lin Xian pressed the rice cooker switch, and the lid popped open with a bang.

Inside, the quiet space-time particle emitted a peaceful blue glow.

Then.

Lin Xian held the rice cooker in his left arm, reached into his shirt pocket with his right hand, and took out that… [small note] that had never left his body and had never been seen by anyone in the past few days.

Even if the enemy saw the contents in advance and copied it, it wouldn't matter at all.

Chu Anqing had absolute confidence that Lin Xian would understand the truth of the world the moment he saw the contents.

And Lin Xian also had absolute confidence that he would be able to understand what Chu Anqing had written.

At the same time.

He wasn't afraid that the enemy would replace the small note with other content.

Because Lin Xian could roughly understand what Chu Anqing had written for him.

Not afraid of others seeing it, not afraid of others replacing it, not afraid of others changing it, not afraid of the enemy switching it…

[This was a secret that belonged only to him and Chu Anqing, a code that the two of them agreed on to deceive the whole world.]

Lin Xian placed the neatly folded small note at the bottom of the rice cooker.

Together with the dark blue space-time particle.

Then…

Bang.

A muffled sound.

The rice cooker lid was closed, sealing the space-time particle and the small note.

This seal… was a long 600 years.

Lin Xian suddenly felt that the rice cooker in his hand seemed to be much heavier, burdened with the weight of promises and destiny.

"See you on the other side."

Lin Xian said softly, holding the rice cooker with both hands and placing it inside the hafnium alloy safe.

Thud.

The stainless steel bottom shell and the hafnium alloy inner wall made a crisp collision sound.

Suddenly.

Lin Xian took a deep breath.

He recalled the words that VV had once said.

At that time, Lin Xian smiled and told VV that he would set a new password for the Time Bank safe, but he was curious about what the original password was and what was originally placed inside.

That time.

The super artificial intelligence VV rarely thought for several seconds before slowly saying.

"Lin Xian, maybe there is no original thing, no original password… that safe has always had the same password, and the same thing has always been placed in it. You don't know the truth yet, just because you haven't waited for the moment when the historical loop is closed."

"That is, when you really use the safe to store things and set the password, that is when the historical loop is truly formed. And at the same time… you should understand that from the first time you saw the safe until you opened it 600 years later, it has never changed—"

"No matter how history, the future, and space-time change, the thing you put in the safe will always be the same, and the password will always be the same."

……

[Closed Loop].

At this moment.

Lin Xian seemed to really understand a little.

He pushed back the thick front door of the hafnium alloy safe, looking at the eight brand-new, shiny password dials below the lock buckle, emitting a dazzling silver light.

Almost without hesitation, he dialed the eight password dials to the first password that came to his mind.

This was the small note that Chu Anqing wrote for him.

This was the space-time particle that she risked her life to catch for him.

This was the answer she gave him to verify the reality of the dream.

This was a secret between her and Lin Xian, but in the final analysis, the small note still wrote about Chu Anqing's own secret…

Bang!!

A loud sound.

The heavy hafnium alloy safe was locked and closed for the first time.

The eternal password was locked.

As long and enduring as the river of history, never changing.

Time and years,

Space-time and the world,

History and the future,

Completed the closed loop at this moment.

Lin Xian took a step back, looking at the eight numbers on the password dial…

[20240328]

He would remember this day forever.