Even after being reborn 51 times, I still can't save you.
Inside the junkyard, even the wind seemed to stand still. The rusty steel behemoths lay silently, like the prelude to countless tragedies unfolding in his chronological memory. He stood here not merely to keep a meeting with a stranger, but rather to walk through a familiar, inevitable turning point in a script leading to destruction.
The mysterious man's words were like a pebble thrown into a still lake, failing to stir even the slightest ripple in Shi Xu's heart. The "Mirror Realm" algorithm? It was merely a technological bait he had casually thrown out during the previous dozen or so reincarnations in his search for a way to break the deadlock. His true focus was the sliver of hope for survival within the Cloud Gap.
"It can theoretically increase data processing efficiency by dozens of times..." the mysterious man continued.
Shi Xu remained impassive, his gaze as calm as ancient ice. Every word the other person uttered, even the potential sneer that followed, was already part of the script for the forty-first cycle. That time, he believed, only to be met with a "laboratory accident." He came today to confirm one thing: was this mysterious man a new executioner under his father's command, or... a "variable" outside the script that could be used?
"It seems you've done your homework." Shi Xu steered the conversation away from the main issue, "So, what do you, or the person behind you, want? To stop Lin Feng? Or... to take his place?"
This is the crucial question. In previous cycles, the other party would have been vague at this point. But this time—
The mysterious man didn't answer directly, but instead took a step forward, the shadow under his hat seeming to flicker. "What Lin Feng wants isn't just a return on investment... he wants to completely seize control."
Time seemed to skip a beat. The story had changed! This wasn't the script for the forty-first time!
"Why are you telling me all this?" The question followed, trying to grasp this subtle difference.
"Because Lin Feng's success does not align with my... or rather, the interests of some of us." The mysterious man's voice remained electronic, but his pace quickened slightly, revealing a barely perceptible urgency. "I can provide details of the key points in Lin Feng's plan targeting you and the potential traps he might have set."
"Conditions?" Time Sequence's voice betrayed no emotion, but a storm raged within. A "variable"! This might be an unprecedented "variable"!
"I need all the data from the early beta version of the 'Mirror World' algorithm, as well as all your negative assessments of Lin Feng."
Trading future core data for information about Lin Feng? Shi Xu almost sneered. In the fiftieth cycle, he had tried giving up everything for protection, only to have Yun Xi die in a bizarre car accident. Trust was the cheapest poison in this cycle.
“Data is impossible.” Time Sequence refused decisively, leaving no room for negotiation. “This is the bottom line. As for the negative assessment of Lin Feng… we can provide some non-core investigation records as a token of goodwill, but on the condition that I verify the authenticity of the information you provide.”
He offered the same response as in the forty-first cycle, wanting to see how this "variable" would react.
The mysterious man seemed unsurprised by his refusal. After a moment of silence, he said, "Alright. In our first meeting, sincerity is more important than quantity. I'll give you a piece of information first—be careful of Lin Feng's assistant, the one surnamed Chen."
Assistant Chen!
This name, like a poisoned ice pick, instantly pierced through all the calm of time! In the final moments of the third, seventeenth, and last time—the fiftieth cycle—he saw this person's figure! He was his father's most loyal cleaner!
This mysterious man... he's not here to negotiate a deal, he's here to deliver a death sentence! When he mentioned Assistant Chen, he wasn't offering help, but rather showing off his power, telling him, "We know everything about you, we're right here beside you."
A profound, familiar sense of despair overwhelmed him like ice water. He thought he had grasped new hope, only to fall into another meticulously crafted trap. This time, was there even no need to pretend?
"...The investment invitation emails you received earlier were not accidental." The mysterious man's words seemed to come from a distant place.
Time forced himself to pull away from the cold, suffocating feeling. "How do I deliver what you need?" His voice sounded steady, as if the tremor just moments before had never happened.
"Three days later, at 2 PM, at the city center library..."
Almost at the same time the mysterious man disappeared, communications were restored. A tearful voice from Yunxi rushed into his ears: "Shixu! Shixu! How are you?"
"I'm fine." Shixu's voice came through the restored communication, carrying a deep, unfathomable weariness that Yunxi couldn't comprehend. "The other party just blocked the signal. The talks are over. We'll discuss the details when we get back. Now, evacuate according to the planned route and be careful."
He stood there, not leaving immediately, surveying the desolate steel graveyard.
Lin Feng, the 'Mirror Realm,' the leak of core technology, the mysterious warner… all of these are merely floating duckweed on the surface. The true behemoth beneath the surface is always his father, Shi Chongshan. What he has laid is not a net of business warfare, but a cage of fate. No matter how many times Shi Xu tries to break through, from which angle, he will ultimately alarm this behemoth, and then, reckoning will descend upon Yunxi.
He looked down at his phone, which had regained signal. On the screen, a simple emoji indicating "safe" that Yunxi had sent earlier was still displayed in the chat box.
That expression was exactly like the smile she gave him for the last time in her fiftieth reincarnation.
He knew she must be heading in the same direction.
He also knew that perhaps tomorrow, or perhaps in the next second, that familiar "reset feeling" that was enough to shatter his soul would return.
He will have no choice but to go to the fifty-second inning.
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