He paused: "Actually, I don’t understand what the future will turn out to be either, but I hope you won’t repeat the same mistakes. When I came to see you, I didn’t have much time left... and our meeting this time has completely used up my remaining time; I only have a few minutes left."

Ji Minghuan remained silent.

"Oh, there’s one more thing I must remind you of," Restricted Level 1001 suddenly said.

"What is it?"

"The current Salvation Society is not the same as the one I knew in the past."

"What do you mean?" Ji Minghuan lifted his head and looked at the back of Restricted Level 1001.

Restricted Level 1001 continued walking, and said, "Mentor, you must be careful of him. He will change the Salvation Society in this timeline."

"According to you, the Mentor should have also existed in the previous timeline, right? Otherwise, how would the Father of Puppets be born?" Ji Minghuan thought for a moment, "The Father of Puppets is an artificial person created using the Mentor’s genes. Without the Mentor, the Father of Puppets wouldn’t appear."

"I can only tell you that because the Old Jingmai District incident occurred six years earlier, a lot of things have changed. And the Mentor is among those being changed. This variable directly affected the entire nature of the Salvation Society." Upon saying this, Restricted Level 1001 paused for a moment, "I realized this only after sending you into the Salvation Society... It was my oversight."

Ji Minghuan frowned and said somewhat wistfully, "You truly are the greatest riddle master."

Restricted Level 1001 was silent for a moment, "In any case, I have already said everything I needed to say; the rest is up to your own judgment."

"Are you really that confident in me?" Ji Minghuan asked softly, "If the dumb penguin dies again, I’ll still have to travel through time like you to find her."

"No, time traveling was originally a gamble for me, it just happened that I won and only traveled a hundred years back. As for you... hmm, even if you traveled to the Jurassic, it wouldn’t be surprising."

"Why?"

"Because you have bad luck," Restricted Level 1001 said lightly.

"Haha, for a creature that destroyed Earth to say I have bad luck, I will just pretend I didn’t hear it."

Restricted Level 1001 ignored his jest and continued, "Furthermore... you don’t have the ’Immortal’ physique; your number four physique chose the Nian Beast, so you can’t accomplish the same things as me, do you understand?"

"The last reason is indeed logical and irrefutable." Ji Minghuan shrugged.

"In short, everything has already changed," Restricted Level 1001 said quietly, "Don’t hold any wishful thinking; this is your first chance and also your last chance."

"Alright, I understand." Ji Minghuan took a deep breath, "Do you really think I can do it? You’ve put me in such a hole and haven’t given me a chance to reload the save."

"I don’t know." Restricted Level 1001 shook his head, "To put it this way... actually, I don’t really care what happens to you. As long as I could see that girl one more time, I would be satisfied."

Ji Minghuan lifted his head and silently watched the back of Restricted Level 1001.

After a moment, he spoke, "You’re really resembling Tricia, infected by the Longevity Love-Chasing Old Lady? She also talks about this every day, saying... just seeing you once and she’s satisfied. I look exactly like you; if she mistakes me for you, wouldn’t that be a transferred affection?"

Restricted Level 1001 said nonchalantly, "If you see Tricia, say sorry to her for me."

"Got it..." Ji Minghuan lengthened his tone, "By the way, can’t you think of a way to help me remove the inhibitor before you die? Or maybe find a way to get me out of the Salvation Society now, wouldn’t that solve everything?"

"I’ve already said that I’ve lost most of my abilities years ago, almost like a waste." Restricted Level 1001 said, "I preserved the last of my Spiritual Ability, just to be able to say these words to you."

He walked forward, "Now my purpose has been fulfilled... my main body will soon disappear. This is our first and also last meeting."

Restricted Level 1001 lowered his voice, "Protect her, Ji Minghuan, this is my request."

Ji Minghuan remained silent, stopped his steps, and looked up at his back.

Restricted Level 1001’s back gradually receded into the distance along the corridor of time, his footsteps never stopping, becoming lighter and more blurred.

Ji Minghuan turned his head, looking at the fragments of memories on the curtain wall, a teenager walking alone on glaciers, playing the violin under the Paris Tower, watching the bustling long streets with people coming and going, walking alone on train tracks, gazing at the sky clear as if washed with water, lost in thought.

For many years and years, he traveled through many, many countries, but he was always alone, walking in the long passage of time, chasing that vague, barely-existent phantom.

How lonely must one be to persist like this? Ji Minghuan thought.

When he came to his senses, the back of Restricted Level 1001 was about to vanish, having never stopped from beginning to end. Not even once.

"Is it possible... that actually, your Spirit could stay in my mind, just like Red Dragon Wales?" Ji Minghuan suddenly said, his gaze firmly fixed on his back.

"No..." Restricted Level 1001 paused for a moment before halting, "The rule of the world is that isotopes are not allowed to stay in one place."

"Could there be another way?"

"What are you trying to say?" Restricted Level 1001’s voice drifted from afar.

His back became more and more blurred, vaguely turning into a fluorescent light, as the entire corridor of memories was collapsing.

"Spiritual fusion or something like that?" Ji Minghuan said, "Since we are originally the same person, merging Spirits wouldn’t cause any adverse reaction, right... I’m just speaking off the cuff."

Restricted Level 1001 was slightly startled, then slowly turned back.

Across the river of time and memories, two similar silhouettes looked at each other from afar.

"Are you serious?" Restricted Level 1001 was silent for a long time, then asked softly.

"Otherwise?"

"There’s no chance for regrets."

"I know, and I can’t redo it like you."

"I’ve never seen someone so reckless."

"Aren’t you just insulting yourself? So what’s your answer, big guy, don’t dawdle, if you do that you’re no different from the Diaper Demon."

"Alright... then I agree with you."

As soon as the words were spoken, the entire corridor of memories collapsed, and the blurred figure in the distance turned into a fluorescent light, rushing towards Ji Minghuan frantically.

Immediately, Ji Minghuan’s vision went dark, and he slowly lost consciousness.