In the study of the Ye family villa, thick curtains blocked the dark night outside the window.
Ye Qingliu sat behind the large desk, his body sunk into the soft leather chair, but he didn't feel comfortable at all.
He had just showered and changed into clean silk pajamas. The gauze on his forehead was replaced with a smaller dressing, and the bruises on his wrists were still glaring under the light.
There were several documents spread out in front of him. They were the preliminary investigation report on today's kidnapping case that Duan Shuce sent to him through an encrypted channel.
One of them was an attachment to the forensic doctor's preliminary physical examination report on the kidnapper who was knocked down by Ye Qingliu and the kidnapper leader who was knocked unconscious by the special police.
The report itself was unremarkable, consisting of a description of the injuries. However, Ye Qingliu's gaze was fixed on a line of inconspicuous notes at the bottom of the report:
[Note: Sample A (referring to the kidnapper leader)'s blood sample was found to have an abnormality during testing. Some blood cells were abnormally active after being removed from the body, far exceeding normal human metabolic levels. The specific cause requires further pathological analysis. The individual has been placed under quarantine for observation.]
Abnormally active...
Ye Qingliu's fingertips tapped unconsciously on the smooth mahogany table, making a very light "tap, tap" sound.
The gray-blue eyes narrowed slightly behind the lenses, and a sharp light flashed.
This isn't normal. Far exceeding the normal human metabolic rate? Is this more like some kind of... forced stimulation? Or perhaps the residual effects of some inhuman force?
He picked up an expensive Montblanc pen next to him, and with the tip of the pen hovering over the blank space of the report, he tried to write down his questions and possible speculations.
However, just as the pen tip was about to touch the paper——
His wrist suddenly stiffened!
A strong, instinctive urge seized him. As if his brain hadn't controlled him, his fingers quickly traced the blank edge of the report paper with an extremely smooth, familiar stroke, as if he had written it thousands of times!
The pen tip made a slight rustling sound as it slid across the fine paper.
With just a few strokes, a complex and mysterious pattern appeared on the paper.
It is a three-dimensional symbol composed of countless intertwined spiral lines and geometric nodes, with a beating seed in the center.
Radiating outward are branches and veins containing endless vitality, ancient and mysterious, exuding a grand aura that embraces everything and controls everything!
World Tree Symbol!
Ye Qingliu suddenly dropped the pen as if he had been scalded! The pen hit the table with a dull sound.
He stared in shock at the pattern he had unconsciously drawn. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, nearly breaking his ribs! Cold sweat instantly soaked the back of his silk pajamas.
Why? Why did he draw this? What does this symbol represent?
What is the connection between it and the abnormality of the kidnapper's blood, the name "Qi Shang", and Chao Youye's inhuman and indifferent eyes...?
The chaotic fragments of memory surged in again, clearer and more impactful than before!
He seemed to be in a pure white, boundless space, with countless huge screens floating in front of him, streaming with data and light.
Each screen reflects a different world - a modern city with tall buildings, an ancient battlefield raging with war, a fantasy continent where magic and dragons soar...
And in the corners or centers of those worlds, one can always see some familiar yet unfamiliar figures: Chao Youye, sometimes a cold king, sometimes a destructive demon god, sometimes a high and mighty priest...
Mu Xinrong, sometimes a brave soldier, sometimes an unknown civilian...
Each time, their ending points to destruction and separation, and each time, there is a pair of gray-blue eyes, like a cold lens, suspended outside the world, silently recording everything!
Observer!
This word was like thunder, exploding in his chaotic sea of consciousness!
He was an observer! He recorded the data of the world lines' movements, just like recording a lab report! He indifferently watched the tragedy of Chao Youye and Mu Xinrong repeating itself across countless world lines, recording every collapse and restart!
The severe headache came again, like a steel needle piercing into the temple.
Ye Qingliu bent down in pain, holding his head tightly with both hands, his knuckles turning white from the force, and a suppressed, low moan like a trapped animal came from his throat.
His glasses slipped down to the bridge of his nose, and a violent storm was surging in the depths of his gray-blue eyes - shock, confusion, self-doubt, and a suffocating feeling as if the cold laws of the universe were strangling his throat!
Was he really that cold-blooded bystander? The recorder who watched Mu Xinrong die on a rainy night and Chao Youye destroy the world in despair without a ripple of emotion?
What about his previous, reckless attack? Was it a random programming error? Or... was this world line truly different?
"No..." A hoarse voice came out from between his clenched teeth, with an unwilling struggle, "It's not... like that..."
Just then—
"Buzz..."
Behind the desk, from the depths of the mahogany bookcase inlaid with rare ancient books that occupied an entire wall, there suddenly came an extremely slight vibrating humming sound, like the gears inside an ancient clock starting to mesh!
Ye Qingliu suddenly raised his head.
Deep in the bookcase, he saw a thick book that he had never seen before and definitely did not belong in this study. It was slowly "emerging" in violation of the laws of physics.
It seemed as if it had been forcibly "squeezed" into the real space from another dimension, and the edges of the pages even had ripples like space distortion!
The cover of the book was made of some dark material that was neither gold nor jade, and it felt warm yet cold to the touch.
There was no text on the cover, only a "World Tree" symbol that was exactly the same as the one he had just unconsciously drawn!
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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