In the blink of an eye, Xia Chuhe reappeared.
Xia Chuhe, the person directly involved, was oblivious to everything. Looking at the strange expressions on everyone's faces, she asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you all?"
Xia Chuhe then looked at the woman in black robes: "You won't suffer any losses. We can discuss our cooperation further before you make a decision."
The woman in the black robe smiled more broadly: "I'm worried you won't live to see the day I make my decision."
Xia Chuhe: "..."
Is this guy trying to kill her because they can't agree on a business deal? Did he give her any warning beforehand?
Li Qiusheng didn't think much of it and directly reminded Xia Chuhe: "Boss, you disappeared for a moment just now, did you know that?"
Xia Chuhe: "???"
The answer was clear from Xia Chuhe's reaction: she didn't know.
"I've thought it over," the woman in black robes suddenly said. "You get four, I get six. My debts to these two are wiped clean, and I can even save your life."
Xia Chuhe was even more puzzled: "You're saving my life by not killing me?"
The woman in black laughed at Xia Chuhe's bizarre thought process and kindly explained, "Your disappearance is obvious to everyone. I didn't do it. Rather, there are one or more unfinished time loops in your life. If you don't complete them soon, you will disappear and never come back."
Xia Chuhe: "..."
Isn't this a wasteland? Why has it suddenly turned into a sci-fi setting?
Xia Chuhe used the few science fiction films he had seen to understand the black-robed woman's words.
"You mean I need to travel back in time, do something, and save my present self?"
"More or less."
Xia Chuhe tilted his head: "Where's the evidence?"
The woman in black robes' deduction was only her side of the story. Perhaps a member of the Xintian Gang was squatting in some corner of the shop, and that person's supernatural abilities might be able to deceive people.
Those who play with time will inevitably be played with by time.
Xia Chuhe didn't believe that his future self would choose to travel through time, and besides... manipulating time wasn't that easy!
Wait!
Xia Chuhe suddenly thought of his mother, Xia Qingxue.
Both the imposter Xia Qingxue and the butler have said that Xia Qingxue's special ability is time-space folding.
One application of spacetime folding is time folding, where the future Xia Qingxue can go back to any time period in which Xia Qingxue once existed.
Xia Chuhe may not be able to travel through time, but Xia Qingxue will.
Xia Qingxue...
She was a gentle mother, but also a madwoman who used herself and her children as experimental subjects.
Xia Chuhe was uncertain.
Just then, the woman in black robes responded, "The evidence is me."
“My name… I’ve forgotten. You can call me by my code name—Chang Sheng.” Chang Sheng unconsciously touched his white hair. “I’ve lived for a very, very long time.”
"My special ability is time compression. In most cases, compressing one minute into one second is enough to make me invincible," Changsheng explained in detail. "I can make one second of an enemy equal to one minute of mine. My time flow rate is sixty times that of the enemy. If I want, this multiple can be even higher."
Chang Sheng instantly appeared in front of Xia Chuhe and asked with a smile, "Fast? Guess how long it took me?"
For Xia Chuhe, the movement of the immortal took less than half a second, but in the time it took for the immortal to move, she walked slowly. Everyone's actions were in slow motion, even breathing.
"An unsolvable ability, right?" Changsheng frankly admitted his superpower without any reservations because he was certain of this.
“But…” Xia Chuhe frowned, “If your time flow is sixty times faster than others, then one year for others is equivalent to sixty years for you.”
"Brilliant," Changsheng praised. "That's why I found a way to prolong life. By saving those who are on the verge of death and shouldn't die, I can share their lifespan."
Changyi looked meaningfully at Li Qiusheng and Bu Yi: "She can live for another fifty years, she can live for another forty years."
Xia Chuhe recalled Changsheng's behavior of asking for the watch and boldly guessed: "What is the function of this special prop?"
Chang Sheng didn't answer, but instead took the initiative: "I'll save your life, you get four and I get six. What do you think?"
Xia Chuhe: "..."
Everyone must die, but death should not be abstract.
If she suddenly disappears for a long time one day, and someone stabs her in the place where she disappeared, it will be a complete human tragedy when she reappears.
Seeing that Xia Chuhe was showing signs of relenting, Changsheng took out a contract and filled in the necessary information: "Special item, absolutely effective restraint, please check it."
Xia Chuhe took the contract, turned around and walked towards the counter in the store. On the way, he secretly put the contract into the farm. The information provided by the farm proved that what Changsheng said was true.
After signing the contract, Changsheng gave Xia Chuhe a stabilizer to eliminate the impact of the incomplete time loop.
Chang Sheng reminded Xia Chuhe: "I can't calculate when your time travel will begin, but you need to collect time energy as soon as possible. If you fail to complete the time loop, all traces of your existence will be erased, and the world will self-correct."
Chang Sheng's voice grew softer and softer, it was unclear whether he was admonishing Xia Chuhe or talking to himself: "Don't think you're irreplaceable, your data is just a drop in the ocean in the vast universe."
...
In response to Changsheng's generosity, Xia Chuhe chose to reciprocate by immediately engaging in a friendly and cordial exchange with Changsheng regarding aquaculture.
Changsheng pulled open his black robe and took out a pigeon egg from the inner pocket of the robe.
Xia Chuhe: "..."
Changsheng is indeed the black-robed man who buys pigeons using copy-paste keycaps!
Xia Chuhe took the pigeon egg and touched it. Without even needing to shine a light on it, she said, "Grandma, if you leave it for a few more days, the egg will rot."
Chang Sheng said innocently, "I don't understand."
Xia Chuhe took Xia Bao'er to visit the Xintian Gang's pigeon farm, while the others went to the Haijiao Trading Market to browse and buy and sell.
On the way, Xia Chuhe asked Changsheng, "Why do you always want Bao'er?"
"She carries traces of time energy, which might allow me to live longer."
Xia Chuhe asked curiously, "How long have you lived? Don't you ever get bored?"
Changsheng casually replied, "I'm old and afraid of death. Compared to death, what is boredom?"
Xia Chuhe disagreed with the view on immortality.
After providing guidance to the pigeon farm, determining the auction time and process, and making various subsequent work arrangements, Xia Chuhe finally "gained his freedom".
Xia Chuhe had just come out of the farm when he ran into Zhao Maomao, who was pacing anxiously. Zhao Maomao was on the verge of tears: "Boss, you have to go and talk to them! Boss Xin and Sister Lu are fighting!"
Xia Chuhe: "???"
Xin Xuan?
Why is she here too?
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