"It sounds like you still have feelings for her," Ji Minghuan said. "So when you snapped back and realized you’d destroyed the world, what was going through your mind?"

"Confusion," Restricted Level 1001 said expressionlessly, "that’s all."

"Then... What does Kong Youling mean to you?" Ji Minghuan asked.

"Family," Restricted Level 1001 blurted out, "the most important family."

"And is that still the case?" Ji Minghuan calculated with his fingers, "Let me see, you traveled to the year 1910 when you were thirteen, and now it’s 2020, so you’ve lived a total of 123 years."

He paused, "She only knew you for four to five years. Then she died. In comparison, it’s indeed very brief, isn’t it?"

Restricted Level 1001 was silent for a long time, then softly said, "You’re right. After a hundred years, I indeed don’t have any attachment to her."

"So what are you busying yourself with?"

"All I want is to make sure you don’t repeat the same mistakes... I don’t want to see another version of myself appear because having gone through it, I know how lonely, how confusing it has been for this hundred years, that’s all."

"Come on, it sounds so heavy, so heavy, I need to catch my breath," Ji Minghuan clutched his chest and took a deep breath.

"You really don’t need to be influenced by me. You just continue with what you’re planning to do."

"Forget it..." Ji Minghuan dropped his head and sat on the floor of the library, "What about the White Crow Travel Brigade? How did they fare in the last timeline?"

"The White Crow Travel Brigade?" Restricted Level 1001 replied, "I have an impression of them... When I was busy waging war with the Terrarium, Rainbow Wings, Lake Hunting, and the Salvation Society, their leader took them away from Earth, I think in a rocket, but my memory is vague."

"Typical of them, fleeing so quickly," Ji Minghuan chuckled, "The rocket was probably stolen, or maybe hacked by some bratty hacker?"

"I don’t really know them, nor do I care," Restricted Level 1001 said, "Unlike you, my form has been liberated from the start, so I don’t need a background, nor a mission, and naturally, I have no intersections with the White Crow Travel Brigade."

He turned a page, paused for a moment, and continued, "I don’t recommend getting attached to anyone in the brigade. After you kill Jack the Ripper, your relationship will naturally fall apart."

"Oh, speaking of that... Do you think after I betray, the Bloodline will follow me?"

"Yes," Restricted Level 1001 said after a moment of silence, "as long as you say the name ’Tricia’, she will definitely follow you. No one else in the world knows that name."

"Makes sense, she’s indeed a loyal old lady," Ji Minghuan thought.

"What about Bai Tanlang?"

Restricted Level 1001 propped his chin with his hand, pondering for a while, "You can trick some information out of Filio, learn something only known between him and Bai Tanlang’s father and son. Then, when you lay your cards on the table in front of Bai Tanlang, he will definitely follow you."

"Oh, so do you think..." Ji Minghuan paused, "When I betray, will Miss Ayase follow me?"

"No," Restricted Level 1001 said immediately, without a hint of hesitation.

"Makes sense... Forget it, let’s not talk for now, there’s reality to deal with."

Ji Minghuan said softly, opening his eyes back to reality, where the experimenter had already guided him into the elevator car.

The elevator doors closed upwards, blocking out the bright light. The car hummed as it rose, quickly stopping on the second floor.

As the door slowly opened, the silhouettes of five children in Paradise came into view.

They were briefly taken aback, each glancing at Ji Minghuan before quickly averting their eyes, as if each one remembered the time he inadvertently said, "Why don’t you all just die?"

Under the cold-colored ceiling, only Kong Youling remained motionless, looking at him.

She was sitting idly on a slide, holding a sketchbook, with crayons scattered messily on the ground.

Ji Minghuan lifted his head, glanced at them silently, then walked into the children’s playground and sat on the swing in the sandpit.

This time, the entire children’s playground fell silent, with only the sound of Mario tapping the game console buttons and the quiet whirr of Sun Changkong’s Somersault Cloud flying back and forth.

The girl with dark red long hair, like a duck, sat dazedly atop the Somersault Cloud, not knowing what to do for a moment, sometimes hugging her shoulders, other times spreading her hands on the cloud.

Filio’s ears drooped. He squatted at the top of the slide, hugging his knees and looking around, his tail sweeping back and forth on the ground.

Shang Xiaoqi was sitting by the water dispenser, holding a cup, keeping his head down and saying nothing.

After a while, only Kong Youling came over holding the sketchbook, her footsteps breaking the dead silence. Finally, she sat silently on another swing with her head down.

Ji Minghuan slightly turned his face, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, suddenly recalling the scene he and Restricted Level 1001 saw in the cinema, the moment when the Star Caller’s beam descended from the sky, the white-haired girl and the bathroom turning into a blood-colored mist and dispersing.

"Are you okay?" After a moment of silence, Kong Youling wrote in her notebook, turning towards him.

Ji Minghuan looked into her eyes, "I’m okay."

"Really?"

"Of course, really," Ji Minghuan nodded, "Why do you all seem so afraid of me? Am I some bad, corrupted primary schooler or something?"

"Because you said something strange," Kong Youling said, "The Mentor told us not to disturb you for now."

"I told you, I was dizzy at the time, which made everything I said seem normal," Ji Minghuan said, changing the subject, "Why are you writing? Can’t you speak now?"