Fissure (II)

Traveling through time and space to become someone else is common in novels, but now, as the one who is "traveled through", Shang Li feels a little uncomfortable.

He didn't even dare to imagine what the unknown time traveler would do with his body in the past ten years.

Once I started thinking about this, I felt like smashing my current body into pieces and throwing it into the sea.

The moment Shang Li returned to his body, he started to check his marital status online.

Bad news: Divorced on the third day of marriage.

Good news: divorced on the third day of marriage.

Haha... As expected, my wife noticed something was wrong at first sight. As expected, my wife and I are in perfect harmony and love with each other, so how could we have a conflict and become enemies!

The current situation is all the fault of the time traveler!

Shang Li numbly put away his phone and quietly collapsed.

Perhaps it was because the body was too old, the hand that was holding the person suddenly loosened uncontrollably, causing Chen Jin's head to hit the stairs.

“Boom.”

The muffled sound interrupted Shang Li's chaotic thoughts.

Tsk, I almost forgot there’s an old man here.

He bent down and was about to pick Chen Jin up again, but suddenly he saw the old man's eyebrows twitching twice.

"Um……"

Chen Jin slowly woke up from his coma.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw a small black monster waving its tentacles close to my face and looking at me with its hollow round beads.

“…”

“Ghost!!”

Three seconds later, Chen Jin screamed and jumped up suddenly.

“Bang!”

Shang Li only saw a black and white head approaching at a speed that was invisible to the human eye, and then he felt a heavy blow to his chin.

“…”

He immediately stepped aside, holding his chin.

No, how could an almost fifty-year-old officer of the Supernatural Bureau be scared like this by a little monster?

Shang Li narrowed his red eyes and looked up and down at Chen Jin who was lying paralyzed on the ground.

The man, who was over fifty years old, was looking at the little monster lying on the railing with horror, his lips trembling unconsciously.

The scene before him made him raise his eyebrows slightly.

Such a coincidence?

Shang Li thought for a moment, took out a pair of black half-frame glasses from his pocket and put them on, then put on a gentle and calm smile, "Teacher, are you okay?"

Hearing the caring and gentle voice coming from beside him, Chen Jin slowly came back to his senses from his fear.

"No, it's okay."

He responded somewhat awkwardly.

"That's good."

Shang Li kept smiling, and watched quietly as the old man in front of him, who was full of energy before he fainted, stood up and looked around helplessly.

"Um... that's Xiao Shang."

Chen Jin finally turned to his subordinate and rubbed his hands, "Did you just shoot me?"

"Um?"

Shang Li looked genuinely confused, "Teacher, what are you talking about? I just found you unconscious on the rooftop, and then I carried you all the way down."

Chen Jin: “Is this true or not?”

"Of course it's true."

Shang Li looked honest and said in a firm tone, "Believe me, as a student, how could I treat my teacher like this? There are some monsters in the cracks that pretend to be human. Maybe you have been fooled by it."

Chen Jin was half-believing and half-doubting.

However, the next second, a bloody human arm hung down from the ceiling and landed right in front of him with a "plop".

“…”

Chen Jin immediately coughed lightly to show his agreement, "You are right, the rift is still too dangerous, and there are monsters everywhere."

"There is no time to lose. Let's find our target as soon as possible and leave here."

Having said that, he couldn't wait to continue walking down, and the monsters also rushed up impatiently.

“…”

Chen Jin shrank back behind Shang Li.

"Xiao Shang, you walk ahead of me."

He swallowed, tried to control the trembling in his voice and said, "I'll take care of it for you."

"Okay, teacher." Shang Li responded warmly.

With a smile on his face, he floated to the front, sweeping away the layers of overlapping monsters to make way for the old man.

Chen Jin, who was hiding in the back, just breathed a sigh of relief when he was caught off guard by the subordinate in front of him saying calmly:

"Teacher, you are also a time traveler, right?"

Thump, thump, thump.

Chen Jin's heart was broken.

No, it should be the time traveler in Chen Jin's body whose heart suddenly stopped.

No buddy, you have sharp eyes? !

The corners of his lips began to twitch.

I've only been through the time travel for two minutes, how come my identity has been discovered!

It’s over, it’s over. My identity is at risk now... Wait, also?

The time traveler's eyes suddenly widened.

Shang Li tilted his head and looked back, met his gaze directly, and nodded slightly and affirmatively.

"So they are relatives!"

I knew it was impossible to be exposed right after traveling through time!

The time traveler was so surprised that he couldn't help but excitedly rushed to his cheap subordinate, "That's great!"

“…”

Shang Li nimbly dodged the bear hug and pulled back the old man who almost fell into the monster's mouth because of missing the air.

"To verify, let's do another secret signal." Shang Li put his index finger in front of his lips, "Odds change but evens don't?"

"Look at the quadrant for the symbol!"

The time traveler was now completely relieved.

Shang Li also completely confirmed that the guy in front of him was an idiot.

It seems that the math tips learned in middle school are still useful in life, he sighed in his heart.

This guy arrived at the right time, as he was worried that there was no ready-made time traveler to interrogate him.

"Dude, when did you travel through time?"

After finding his partner, the time traveler simply took off his disguise and asked excitedly.

Shang Li twisted his short hair around his face, pretending to recall but actually starting to make up a story, "About half an hour ago?"

"I didn't lie to you. I saw you lying on the rooftop when I first crossed over."

At this point, he showed a hint of embarrassment on his face: "My system told me that you were also a time traveler, but I didn't believe it."

"By the way, what system do you have?" Shang Li narrowed his eyes and asked casually.

"I'm using the system to capture the protagonist, but it's really worrying me." He began to actively reveal his "information".

Well, Xiao Cui is my protagonist, the one I want to conquer, no problem.

The time traveler's expression suddenly became strange when he heard this. "Hey, you're pretty miserable. A man in his thirties seduces a boy of fourteen or fifteen."

"Fourteen or fifteen years old?" Shang Li tilted his head.

"Shouldn't the focus be on the little boy?"

The time traveler couldn't help but complain, "Besides, the protagonist of this world, Ye Bai, is only fourteen or fifteen years old now."

Shang Li's expression immediately became a little dazed when he heard this.

He blinked his blood-red eyes, "But the protagonist of my strategy is named Cui Lan."

"Shit! Isn't that the villain's name?!"

The time traveler's pupils trembled.

Shang Li was also very surprised, "What villain? So our settings are different?"

Seeing the man in front of him drooping his long and thick eyelashes and falling into deep thought, the time traveler was shocked and took the initiative to tell what he knew.

Shang Li listened silently for a while and finally understood the plot of the "original work".

According to the time traveler's summary, this world was originally a male-oriented, no-CP upgrade novel, which mainly tells the story of a high school student Ye Bai awakening his supernatural powers and then upgrading to become a god against the backdrop of a world where spiritual energy is revived.

In the "original" plot, the villain Cui Lan received a prophecy and learned that the protagonist's supernatural power could fulfill wishes, so he kidnapped the protagonist to the rift, trying to force the protagonist to wake up and then take away the supernatural power.

Shang Li is set to be an old enemy who has been fighting with the villain for ten years.

As a member of the Supernatural Bureau, he disguised himself as a middle school teacher during a mission and inadvertently established a deep teacher-student friendship with the protagonist.

After discovering that the protagonist was kidnapped by Cui Lan, Shang Li resolutely led the members of the Superpower Bureau into the rift. In the end, in order to protect the protagonist, he died at the hands of his old enemy.

Not only did the protagonist wake up, but he also inherited his teacher's supernatural powers and continued to fight the villain to the end.

"so it is."

Shang Li twirled the broken hair on his face and murmured.

However, why does it feel like the script doesn't match what actually happened?

He asked his doubts.

"Uh, man, I got the original revision system."

The time traveler said in a difficult tone, "My system said that because of some special factors, the plot did not follow the original story line, so I was arranged to travel through time to play a role to pull back the so-called 'deviant track'."

"Otherwise, according to the plot, you should have already...died."

The corridor suddenly fell into silence.

The "gurgling" sounds of the monsters, like whispers, immediately became clearly audible.

After a while, the time traveler finally couldn't hold back any longer. He held his head and looked at the partner he had just met in a somewhat frustrated manner, "Damn it, how can I correct it? I can't really kill you."

"Don't worry."

Shang Li soothed her gently, "When the time comes, things will work out. We will always find a way to have the best of both worlds."

He gently brushed off the broken leg that accidentally fell on the traverser's shoulder and said, "There are more and more monsters in this corridor. We have to act quickly."

"Don't worry, just follow me, nothing will happen to you."

"Woo woo, good buddy!"

Seeing the man in front of him fend off the terrifying monster for him again, the time traveler was so moved that he almost shed tears, "Luckily I met you when I just traveled through time!"

It's so reassuring in this haunted place full of monsters!

Shang Li smiled but said nothing.

He followed the time traveler and, under the guidance of the "original", arrived at the third floor smoothly.

"According to the original work, I should find Ye Bai here, who is exhausted and unconscious after fighting the villain, and then bring him back to the Superpower Bureau." The time traveler explained to Shang Li as he walked.

He pushed open the security door leading to the outside world, and the stacked monsters immediately scattered. The dim corridors and dilapidated classrooms slowly came into their eyes.

The environment of the rift is mostly closely related to the surrounding environment. When the high school student protagonist opens the first small level of the plot, the scene is naturally a school.

Shang Li stepped into the corridor and opened the classrooms one by one to look for the boy. Finally, he found the boy tied up with hemp rope in the corner of the classroom at the end of the corridor - the protagonist Ye Bai.

The fifteen-year-old boy lost his ability to move and could only lie on the ground in boredom.

Hearing the sound of a door bolt moving not far away, he sat up suddenly and looked over alertly.

When Ye Bai found out that the person who came was a familiar elder, his eyes instantly turned red, "Teacher Shang, Senior Chen! You finally came to save me!"

"I'm scared to death here alone."

Shang Li put on his usual gentle mask and went over to untie the child. "Were you kidnapped by a man with long hair and a red scarf?"

he asked in a soft voice.

Ye Bai nodded aggrievedly, "Yeah, I was just walking home from school, but in the blink of an eye I was kidnapped."

"And you've been here alone the whole time?"

The boy continued to shake his head up and down like shaking garlic.

The two adults looked at each other.

"What if the protagonist's superpowers haven't awakened? Does it matter?" Shang Li mouthed the question silently to the time traveler.

"Fuck, this is almost the most important plot point!"

The time traveler was also at a loss, "If I don't awaken my supernatural powers now, the rest of the story won't be able to unfold at all."

"What should I do?"

Shang Li sighed softly, "Am I the only one left to go find Cui Lan to offer sacrifice now?"

“?!”

The time traveler immediately objected, "No, no, buddy, don't go and die. There must be another way."

"Don't worry, everything will work out when the time comes." Shang Li patted the time traveler's shoulder comfortingly.

Then he turned around and asked Ye Bai, "Xiao Ye, these things haven't hurt you?"

Shang Li pointed at the strange thing that looked like a lump of mud next to him.

"Um... no."

Ye Bai thought for a moment, "They don't seem to be interested in me."

Wow, is this the special treatment of being the protagonist?

Shang Li remembered that these monsters were most interested in flesh and blood, and they wanted to eat alive every animal that entered the rift.

The gold finger is so powerful.

He looked at the boy for a while, who seemed ordinary in every way except for his pretty face, and then pulled him up.

"Okay, let's go."

Shang Li held Ye Bai's arm, whose legs were still a little limp, with one hand, and his expression became a little solemn, "Didn't you notice that the monsters in the rift suddenly became restless."

The time traveler and Ye Bai were startled, only then did they notice that the strange behaviors around them were becoming increasingly rampant, and began to pull at their clothes and hair when no one was paying attention.

“…”

The two of them moved closer to Shang Li at the same time.

Shang Li curled the corners of his lips, and left the classroom with the two tails, one old and one small, and went all the way down to the mezzanine floor.

The danger level of this rift is not high, and the exit is not hidden in a particularly difficult-to-find place.

Looking from a distance, Shang Li discovered that the light hole serving as the exit was even clearly visible on the school gate.

"Is it that simple?"

The time traveler was somewhat incredulous.

Shang Li adjusted his black half-frame glasses upon hearing this. "The interior of the rift is constructed based on the surrounding environment. It is normal that high school students want to leave school the most."

The three were still a playground's distance away from the school gate, and the closer they got, the more rampant and wanton the monsters became.

Countless withered claws stretched out from under the grass of the playground, trying to grab the approaching ankles.

Obviously, relying solely on Shang Li's supernatural powers is not enough to dispel all the approaching monsters in time.

"Sir."

Shang Li tilted his head, "I remember that you are a space-based mutant. Can you use your space shuttle to take us directly to the other side?"

His breath had become somewhat unstable as he continued to expel strange auras, and his energy seemed to be running out.

"No, I can't use...my special ability."

The time traveler who was clinging tightly to one of his arms smiled bitterly, with an expression that said "you know what I mean".

Superpowers come from the soul. Once the soul is replaced in the body, the original superpowers cannot be used.

"What about your (system)?" Shang Li asked again.

The time traveler looked even more bitter, "I haven't completed any mission yet, so I have no points to redeem."

“…”

Maybe it was a system reminder or the impending crisis that made his brain work faster, but he suddenly slapped his head and said, "No, damn! I almost forgot that the old man was the one who led the team in!"

"Damn it, how come I didn't meet anyone on the road?!"

The time traveler took out the communicator from his pocket and said, "Wait, let me see if I can call my teammates for help."

He fumbled around for a long time, but the message couldn't be connected.

Ye Baiba walked over and said, "Senior Chen, it seems to be broken. I can repair machines. How about letting me give it a try?"

The time traveler immediately handed the things to him.

However, just as the child held up the communicator with both hands, Shang Li suddenly announced:

"Everyone, it seems that my supernatural power can no longer hold up."

"?"

Without waiting for the remaining two fools to react, he grabbed the time traveler and Ye Bai by the collars on the left and right, spread his long legs and started running wildly.

"Don't hesitate, run!"

As soon as the words fell, the monsters seemed to go crazy at the same time and chased the three people frantically.

“What the hell!”

The monster suddenly appeared, and the time traveler was almost scared to death. He was running at full speed, but his legs went weak and he was about to fall to the ground.

In time, a strong hand supported him steadily from behind and pushed him forward.

Good brother!

The time traveler gritted his teeth, trying hard to control himself from looking at those strange things, leaving only the exit with the shimmering white light in his eyes.

Under Shang Li's escort, the two were getting closer and closer to the school gate.

Ten meters.

Five meters.

Three meters.

“Puff——”

It seemed as if something had penetrated.

"Hey, brother, you..."

The traveler immediately turned around.

After seeing the appearance of the people around him, his face suddenly turned pale.

A dark and thick tentacle had pierced through Shang Li's chest at some point.

“Let’s go…”

A streak of blood left Shang Li's mouth. He placed his hands on the backs of the time traveler and Ye Bai respectively, and pushed forward with his last bit of strength.

Time seemed to slow down at this moment. The two of them stared blankly at the red-eyed man behind them and fell into the white light.

"brother!"

"Teacher Shang!!"

The time traveler and Ye Bai screamed and tried to grab Shang Li's hand.

But their figures began to disappear and they could not return to the rift from here.

Their eyes stayed on the crack for the last moment, and they saw a huge tentacle smashing down, completely submerging Shang Li's figure in the crack.