However, when he checked the database update records, he found that the relevant search bytes clearly showed signs of being artificially masked.

Someone in higher up is trying to cover something up.

But more than what was being covered up, Clemens was concerned about why it was being covered up in the first place.

And so, Clemens sat at his desk, smoking and thinking, until he left work.

The moment Alice and Liz stepped into the office, Clemens decided to put aside all his worries and not let the two of them see through his act.

Walking up to Alice, looking at the rabbit doll in her hand, Clemens smiled and said, "Have you thanked Alice?"

Alice glanced at Liz, then said to her father, "I believe she would rather hear your response than my thanks."

Clemens paused, then looked at Liz with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

Liz patted Alice on the shoulder and said to her, "Your father has finished get off work and will be taking you home soon. Go ahead and wait for him in the lobby; he'll be here shortly."

Watching the girl's departing figure, Liz said softly, "She has a maturity that her peers don't have."

Clemens said, "It's my fault. I can't be with her all the time because of work. I can imagine how lonely she must be."

Liz turned to Clemens: "You can't live in the past forever. Alice needs a mother, and I need a commitment."

Clemens wanted to say something, but found that Liz had already turned and left.

Half an hour later, Clemens drove home in silence, with Alice in the back seat.

Looking at the sunset over the street, Alice, holding her rabbit doll, suddenly said, "Will Alice be my new mother?"

Clemens, who was deep in thought, slammed on the brakes upon hearing this and stopped at an intersection.

Clemens: "That's an adult matter..."

Alice looked at the shops and park on the street and said softly, "I wouldn't mind if she came to my house."

Clemens once again used silence to cover up his embarrassment.

Alice didn't say anything more, and instead turned her gaze to an old beggar at the crossroads.

The old beggar was wearing a robe full of holes, and his beard and hair were all tangled together because he hadn't taken care of them for a long time.

He had very few teeth left, and he was already blind.

He sat in the corner of the street, an empty iron plate in front of him, quietly waiting for charity.

Suddenly, the old beggar turned his head and looked in Alice's direction.

He struggled to find a wooden plaque that had been prepared behind him, and shakily held it above his head.

The front of the wooden sign reads: "The Day of Revelation is Near."

He quickly flipped the wooden sign over, and on the other side was written another sentence—Accept your fate.

Alice was startled by this scene. She quickly hid her head under the car door and kept repeating to herself: He is blind, he can't see me.

As the car drove away, the old beggar dropped the wooden sign in his hand, stood up, and danced with joy, laughing heartily.

Under the strange looks of passersby, the old beggar opened his mouth and shouted, "It's coming! It's coming!"