Chapter 106

Chapter 106

Wen Jueqian's body had been placed in a life-support pod.

It was a life-support system called "Eternal Slumber."

Wen Jueqian lay inside, his complexion rosy, his lips retaining a faint trace of color.

If you ignored the wires hooked up to him, he looked like a princess in an old fairy tale, cursed into a deep sleep, waiting quietly to be woken up.

Wen Yanxu walked over to the pod, sat down beside Wen Jueqian, and took his right hand, pressing his fingertips to the pulse point.

Wen Yanxu closed his eyes, as if feeling that pulse meant Wen Jueqian was still there with him.

He leaned down, his lips brushing Wen Jueqian's ear: "Qiao Yuexun and his system are skittish and can sense danger coming. So I can't let them feel threatened—I have to genuinely work with them."

He straightened up a little, looking at Wen Jueqian like he was something fragile and precious. "Qianqian, don't be scared. I'm going to wake you up."

With that, he pressed a kiss to the corner of Wen Jueqian's mouth.

Then he turned and left the laboratory.

The sealed door slid shut, leaving only the faint hum of the "Eternal Slumber" unit running—proof that time here hadn't stopped.

At that same moment, Qiao Yuexun was reading a script in the villa Su Lan had gifted him.

"Detected a major increase in mission success rate."

Qiao Yuexun set the script down. "What happened?"

"Detected that the Child of Destiny's legal spouse has died."

Qiao Yuexun froze. It took him a long moment before he asked, "Wen Jueqian is dead?"

Right alongside the system's confirmation came a new Xinwei message from Wen Yanxu.

"I have a new partnership I'd like to discuss with you."

Qiao Yuexun stared at those words, a chill creeping down his spine.

Wen Jueqian is dead, and Wen Yanxu still wants to talk business?

Something's off!

He immediately ordered the True Love System, "We need to get out of here now."

At the same time, he tried to stall Wen Yanxu over Xinwei.

After sending the message, he threw his things together, ready to bolt.

The second he stepped out of the villa's front gate, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Wen Yanxu was standing right outside, looking calm and relaxed.

Qiao Yuexun's face went stiff. He couldn't pick up any aggressive pheromones from Wen Yanxu, and the True Love System didn't detect any malice or hostile intent either—the early warning system stayed completely silent.

But they both knew full well that the Wen Yanxu standing in front of him right now was more dangerous than ever.

Wen Yanxu's eyes dropped to the suitcase at his side. "You can't run," he said, his tone calm. "There's a small-scale military-grade barrier up within a 200-meter radius, plus several other layers of defenses. No one and nothing is getting out of here."

Qiao Yuexun forced a smile. "President Wen, you've gone to all this trouble—what exactly are you planning?"

Wen Yanxu stayed composed, but Qiao Yuexun caught a glimpse of something deep in those ice-blue eyes—a wild, unhinged obsession.

"If you don't want to get struck by lightning, turn on the shield first."

Qiao Yuexun was about to refuse. A blue light flashed in Wen Yanxu's hand, and a plasma blade appeared in his palm—the exact same model Qiao Yuexun had once taken a hit for.

"Don't test my patience. I'll always find a way to make you cooperate." His voice stayed flat, but that flatness was more suffocating than any threat.

"Now, let's talk about that collaboration."

The True Love System's early warning system gave no alert, but it felt the same fear Qiao Yuexun did.

Without Qiao Yuexun even having to tell it, it proactively activated the Heavenly Dao shield.

----------------

The conflict between the Federation and the Empire had escalated sharply over the past few months. In recent years, the Empire had fallen further and further behind the Federation in tech, and the gap was widening—getting harder and harder for the Empire to close.

The Empire's royal family and cabinet finally realized they couldn't let the Federation keep developing in peace—this was their last shot.

The trigger was a Federation airship that suddenly went dark near the Empire's border. Both sides pointed fingers, disputes piled up, and then full-scale war broke out.

As war loomed, the Bio-Mech project became more and more critical. But the team hit a wall they couldn't break through, and everyone fell into despair.

When Chief Scientist Hong Rongxuan first took over the project, he'd been full of ambition, figuring that with the "Immortality Code" research as a foundation and the Federation's top-priority resources, cracking the problem was just a matter of time.

But after one failure after another, he started doubting himself, and his spirit was on the verge of breaking.

When everyone in the lab was drowning in despair, Wen Yanxu spoke up: "What if we've been going in the wrong direction from the start?"

Wen Yanxu had been involved in launching and reviewing countless biotech projects, read tons of cutting-edge papers, and had deep discussions with plenty of top scientists.

He proposed a complete rethink of the entire theoretical foundation.

After that, Bio-Mech development advanced at an almost unbelievable pace.

While inspecting the first batch of Bio-Mechs set to ship to the front lines, Wen Yanxu suddenly understood what the so-called "destined mission" really was.

He was the Child of Destiny, chosen by the Heavenly Dao to carry out a specific mission—that's why he'd become so special.

He became the eye of every storm, and Wen Jueqian, who stayed by his side, got caught in the crossfire and became a target.

Wen Yanxu suddenly burst out laughing, the sound echoing across the empty testing ground.

Everyone figured he was just overjoyed at the results, and they smiled too.

But Wen Yanxu's laughter just got louder and louder, turning shrill. Tears streamed down his face. He laughed until he doubled over, shoulders shaking violently.

He laughed at fate, at the mission he was destined to complete, at the absurdity and pain of it all.

The war between the Federation and the Empire dragged on for six months.

At first, the Empire rolled out new war machines that could go toe-to-toe with the Bio-Mechs, and the front lines were deadlocked.

But as Bio-Mech tech kept improving, the Federation's edge started to show. They pushed forward on all fronts, and the Empire's moles inside the Federation were flushed out one by one.

Cecil watched his defensive lines keep pulling back, his heart full of resentment.

He'd already used the Scapegoat Counterattack System to develop war machines far beyond anything this era should have, and he'd thrown them into battle.

But the Heavenly Dao had always sided with the Child of Destiny, and his accumulated advantage was slipping away, heading inexorably toward defeat.

The Scapegoat Counterattack System grumbled, "I told you ages ago—you should've just killed the Child of Destiny outright. You had to go for this whole 'overwhelming force, steady advance' thing. You burned fifteen years, and the odds of completing the mission keep dropping. Your skills are a joke—if I'd known, I'd never have picked you as my host."

Cecil didn't respond. He was currently the commander of the Eastern Front, plotting the next attack point on the holographic sand table.

"Are you even listening to me?"

The Scapegoat Counterattack System could tell he was ignoring it.

A moment later, Cecil was hit by a violent wave of dizziness. When he came to, his body was no longer his own.

He demanded, shocked, "What did you do?!"

The Scapegoat Counterattack System replied, "You can't do it, so I will."

Cecil was a prisoner in his own body, watching like a bystander as "himself" mobilized troops and sprang an ambush that cornered Wen Yanxu—who'd personally taken the field—and the forces under his command.

The Scapegoat Counterattack System gloated to Cecil, "The Child of Destiny may be favored by the Heavenly Dao and hard to kill, but they also hit rough patches. Now watch me take out the Child of Destiny in one blow!"

What it didn't realize was that this was all Wen Yanxu's trap.

Once captured alive, the Scapegoat Counterattack System hastily retreated into the depths of Cecil's body, handing control back to him.

Cecil regained control of his body.

Seeing Wen Yanxu looming over him, he immediately plastered on a grateful smile: "Thank you! An evil consciousness hijacked my body—I couldn't fight it at all..."

Wen Yanxu didn't bother with his excuses. He said to the people behind him, "Do it."

Qiao Yuexun stepped out from the ranks of soldiers piloting the Bio-Mechs.

Back then, Wen Yanxu had planned to have the True Love System bind to Wen Jueqian, making him a tasker too, so he could live a second life.

But the system could only bind one host at a time before its mission was complete. To survive, the True Love System offered another option: it could devour another system and level up. Once upgraded, it would be able to resurrect Wen Jueqian directly.

When the Scapegoat Counterattack System overheard Wen Yanxu and Qiao Yuexun talking, it immediately caught on to their plan.

It dropped all pretense of hiding—a black notebook shot out of Cecil's body: "I'm a higher rank than this system. Whatever you want, working with me is a better deal!"

At that, the True Love System grew frantic: "Let's move fast—we need to resurrect Wen Jueqian ASAP!"

The Scapegoat Counterattack System was indeed higher-ranked and stronger, but once it fell into the Child of Destiny's hands, the world's rules would suppress it, leaving it helpless.

This was the Achilles' heel of all systems—and the source of the True Love System's confidence in its bold scheme.

But Wen Yanxu didn't rush. Gazing at the black notebook hovering in the air, he asked the question that really mattered to him: "I want Wen Jueqian to wake up. Can you do that?"

He tapped his optical computer, casting a live feed into the air.

In the feed, Wen Jueqian lay still inside the "Eternal Slumber" pod, looking like he was just asleep.

Cecil, tied up nearby, suddenly spoke, his voice full of disbelief: "You're the Child of Destiny—how can you work with a system? How can you stoop to this for a man?"

He broke down, accusing: "You should be charging toward your destined mission, crushing every obstacle. How can you throw it all away for a Beta!"

Wen Yanxu walked over to Cecil and jabbed him with a sedative without a second thought. Cecil went limp and crumpled to the ground.

Just then, the True Love System struck at the Scapegoat Counterattack System with zero warning.

The Scapegoat Counterattack System, tanking the hit, said to Wen Yanxu, "Systems don't have human abilities—none of us do!"

"That's just a trick to make humans do our dirty work willingly!"

Wen Yanxu's eyes cut like knives at the True Love System. "Is that so?" he demanded.

Under the crushing pressure, the True Love System nearly dove back into the depths of Qiao Yuexun's body to hide.

But with Wen Yanxu there, there was nowhere to run.

The Scapegoat Counterattack System seized the chance and yelled, "Yeah, it's just using you to eat me! It can't do what it promised!"

Wen Yanxu stood frozen, as if every ounce of strength had been sucked out of him.

He'd staked everything on the system waking Wen Jueqian, clinging to it like a lifeline, and had schemed for so long for this.

And it was all a lie.

Wen Yanxu looked up at the pale sun hanging high above, as if addressing something greater: "Heavenly Dao."

Dark clouds started gathering, and within moments, they blotted out the entire sky.

Wen Yanxu said, "I don't give a damn whether I'm the Child of Destiny. Fulfilling some destined mission was never my wish. The only person I care about is him. Without him, what does so-called fate even mean to me?"

He then turned to the black notebook and the pink heart, finally letting his rage and despair loose without restraint: "You come from the greater world, calling yourselves high-dimensional systems. But in the end, you're just thieves—stealing World Essence and wrecking my happiness."

"Since you can't give me back the one I love, then you can be buried with him."

The moment he finished speaking, a massive bolt of lightning slammed down from the sky, striking the exact spot where the two systems were.

The Scapegoat Counterattack System threw up a protective barrier, deflecting the lightning, but the barrier shuddered violently under the heavenly punishment.

The True Love System's alarm finally started blaring, but what good was that now?

The Heavenly Dao had it locked in its sights, and the sheer terror of being annihilated nearly crashed it on the spot.

It dove back into Qiao Yuexun's body, trying to use him as a shield to absorb some of the heavenly punishment.

Qiao Yuexun scrambled into the Scapegoat Counterattack System's barrier, shrieking, "Get out! Are you trying to get me killed?!"

Despair flooded the Scapegoat Counterattack System's core. It hadn't expected the True Love System to be such an idiot—it had spilled everything to Wen Yanxu, including the fatal weaknesses of every system. Now it couldn't even punch through the world barrier to flee this small world.

At that life-or-death moment, the Scapegoat Counterattack System suddenly had an idea and shouted, "There's one more option! With enough energy, a system can reset the timeline."

"Go back to before any of this happened!"

Reset the timeline?

Wen Yanxu's eyes flickered, then went cold again in an instant: "After you've already lied to me, do you really think I'd trust that giving you energy means you'll actually help me resurrect Wen Jueqian?"

The True Love System said desperately, "If you don't trust us, we can lure a new system into this small world and make it reset the timeline!"

Wen Yanxu's eyes narrowed: "You can do that? Why didn't you mention this earlier?!"

The True Love System was racked with guilt, but to save its own skin, it gritted its teeth and said, "As long as you help distract the Heavenly Dao, I can use the World Essence here to pull in a new system."

Wen Yanxu knew this system had lied to him before, and this could easily be another lie cooked up to survive.

But he had no other option. Even if it was a lie, he had to grab that lifeline and bet everything on it.

He walked over to the two systems, gesturing for the True Love System to leave Qiao Yuexun's body.

Wen Yanxu reached out, grabbing the notebook with one hand and the heart with the other.

Heavenly punishment wouldn't strike the Child of Destiny. As soon as Wen Yanxu touched the two systems directly, the thunder gradually ceased, and the dark clouds began to dissipate.

The sky cleared once more.

"Now, you may begin."

Wen Yanxu didn't release the two systems, ready to call down heavenly punishment again the moment they stepped out of line.

Forced to cooperate, the two systems used the massive World Essence in the space to broadcast a signal. Disguising themselves as a platform company, they announced to all wandering systems: "Plenty of unclaimed World Essence here, perfect for system binding. Great host, low task difficulty, high returns."

A rookie system that had just finished training and was scouring the void for its first mission world picked up the signal.

It was Redemption System 99, fresh out of the System Academy, having aced all its theory and simulation exams, and now eagerly hunting for its first mission world.

Veteran systems knew that if they spotted an abnormally rich, unguarded World Essence source, they shouldn't rush in—it was probably a trap.

But 99 was a total newbie; it couldn't see the red flags.

All it saw was the massive World Essence and the heavy aura of despair, and it figured this was a soul desperately needing redemption.

99 dove headfirst into this world.

Once through the world barrier, it followed its system instincts and flew straight toward the densest World Essence.

Wen Yanxu looked down at the little ball of light that had just slammed into his arms.

Wen Yanxu let go of the True Love System and the Scapegoat Counterattack System.

The second they were free, the two systems tried to bolt, but once they got too far from Wen Yanxu, dark clouds rolled back in and heavenly punishment locked onto them again.

When 99 was caught in Wen Yanxu's hand, its processor—which had been fried by the lure of World Essence—finally snapped back to normal, and it realized something was seriously off.

It was stuck in the palm of the Child of Destiny, while the heavenly cleansing program above was stirring, radiating a pressure that made every system instinctively want to run. Its two fellow systems were cowering nearby, looking absolutely pathetic.

99 trembled in fear, its voice shaky: "W-what are you going to do?"

Wen Yanxu looked down at the warm white ball of light in his palm. Its glow was pure and soft, nothing like the other two systems—it felt clean.

Wen Yanxu: "What system are you?"

99 answered honestly, trying to sell itself: "I'm Redemption System 99. Redemption systems are the most humanitarian kind—we bind to people drowning in despair and help them change their fate."

It paused, then added hesitantly, "I sense a deep despair in you. Do you want to change your fate? I can bind to you."

Even though 99 couldn't figure out why the Child of Destiny was so despairing, and it knew claiming it could change his destined fate was a bold move that might bring trouble.

But seeing how this Child of Destiny looked about to lose it, 99 felt it had to do something.

Wen Yanxu shook his head, his gaze drifting toward Wen Jueqian.

To make sure the True Love System could revive Wen Jueqian right after devouring the Scapegoat Counterattack System, he'd brought Wen Jueqian—still in "Eternal Slumber"—to a nearby temporary camp.

"Not me. I want you to restart the timeline, go back, bind to someone else, and help them change their fate."

99 flickered a few times. "Restarting the timeline is a basic system function—huge advantage for missions. But it takes an insane amount of energy. Even with all this World Essence, it's not enough."

Wen Yanxu's gaze slowly slid to the two systems that had come back to his side.

Both systems under his gaze felt danger radiating off him at the same time.

Wen Yanxu: "What if we add these two? Theoretically, systems can devour each other, right?"

With that, he grabbed them again before they could flee.

99's light flickered hard, its voice shaky: "I don't know... I've never eaten another system..."

It was just a fresh system that hadn't even finished one mission, and now it was stuck with restarting the timeline and eating two seniors?

But Wen Yanxu was already holding out the Scapegoat Counterattack System to 99.

"Eat this one first."

The black notebook thrashed desperately, but it was useless—system energy did nothing to the Child of Destiny. Its host was still out cold. Knowing it couldn't escape, the Scapegoat Counterattack System gave up in its final moment and used every last bit of energy to silently rewrite 99's database, planting a hidden seal. Even if 99 pulled off the timeline restart, it would lose all data on what really happened here.

It spat one last curse at Wen Yanxu: "Dream on! You'll never get what you want! Even if you relive another life, Wen Jueqian will end up the same way!"

Wen Yanxu's face went dark as stone. He didn't answer the curse, just brutally shoved the Scapegoat Counterattack System at 99.

99's light flickered wildly, like it was choking, then slowly absorbed the Scapegoat Counterattack System's energy.

The True Love System, still in Wen Yanxu's grip, was secretly communicating with Qiao Yuexun.

When things had hit rock bottom, Qiao Yuexun went calm instead: "We can't stop Wen Yanxu anymore. Restarting the timeline is our chance too. In the new timeline, everything can start over."

The True Love System didn't fight back, letting Wen Yanxu feed it to 99.

In its last moment before being eaten, it used its hidden energy to finish Qiao Yuexun's plan.

After 99 ate both systems, its light was several times brighter, and it had swelled a full size bigger.

It didn't use the energy to level up, speaking frantically: "Still not enough! Restarting the timeline takes way too much energy. Even after eating both of them, it's short!"

Wen Yanxu went quiet for a moment.

He thought about how these systems got World Essence—whether by changing his fate, winning his love, or causing him pain, every way they gained energy ultimately came through him.

"If I die, would the fate fluctuations from that give you enough World Essence?"

99: "It'd be enough, but if you die, how are you coming with me to the new timeline? Wouldn't all your effort restarting the world line be wasted?"

Wen Yanxu said, "Doesn't matter."

He'd already decided. "I never planned to go to the new timeline with you."

99 didn't get it: "Why? After the restart, you'll go back to the past with your current memories. You can dodge every mistake ahead of time and change everything."

"After the timeline restarts, this world will sink into nothingness."

Wen Yanxu cut it off, his gaze drifting to where Wen Jueqian lay sleeping. "I can't stand to leave this world's Wen Jueqian alone in that void."

99 said, sounding pained, "But he's already dead."

"That's my fault." Wen Yanxu's voice shook. Ever since Wen Jueqian was declared brain-dead, he'd buried all his despair under a sheet of ice, stubbornly believing Wen Jueqian could wake up again. But now, that ice was cracking all over.

"I failed to protect him. If I leave him alone in that void, he'll be scared."

Before taking his own life, Wen Yanxu came to the Eternal Slumber.

Wen Yanxu lay down beside Wen Jueqian, pulled him into his arms, and gently kissed him. His lips lingered on Wen Jueqian's lips, which were still warm and soft, for a long time.

"Death separated us, and now I've come to reunite with you."

He made his final request to 99: "After you go back to the past, give the memories of this timeline to the me of the past. Don't let him make the same mistakes again."

"Then go straight to binding with Wen Jueqian. I've already paid you so much upfront—you have to treat him so, so well, fulfill his wishes, and help him find happiness."

99 bobbed up and down twice, as if in agreement. "When I restart the timeline and reach the past, the you in that timeline will suddenly have this timeline's memories appear in your mind."

Wen Yanxu nodded and injected himself with the drug that would cause brain death.

He spoke to the Wen Jueqian who was now forever asleep, and also to the Wen Jueqian in that new timeline: "Qianqian, I've reflected countless times, but I can't figure out where I went wrong, where it all started—what made me lose you. If everything were to start over, I'm afraid I still wouldn't be able to protect you."

Wen Yanxu's consciousness gradually faded, and his voice became very soft, very gentle. "In this second chance, I entrust the hope of the future to you."

"Because I believe in you—the tragedies I couldn't change, you can surely rewrite our ending."

The Child of Destiny was protected by the Heavenly Dao; until they fulfilled their destined mission, they couldn't die from accidents or outside forces.

But the Heavenly Dao couldn't stop someone who willingly chose to sacrifice himself.

99 watched him close his eyes, as if it could feel the bone-deep pain and resolve radiating from him.

So this was human love?

As Wen Yanxu's neural activity dropped to zero, 99 absorbed the massive surge of World Essence that appeared around him, then consumed all its energy to restart the timeline.

As the world dissolved into nothingness, Qiao Yuexun, watching himself fade away, left a vicious curse: "Wen Jueqian, if you knew Wen Yanxu was destined to betray you, I look forward to your choice!"

And the contingency plan left by the Scapegoat Counterattack System quietly activated. The program it had implanted into 99's database was triggered, sealing both 99's own memories and the memories of Wen Yanxu it carried.

When this program was discovered, 99 would see the final message it had left behind.

"What does restarting the timeline matter? I'll make you useless systems and the Child of Destiny run around in circles, only to repeat the same mistakes!"

The world returned to nothingness, and the river of time began to flow in reverse.

A new timeline began, and with it, a new story full of hope.

==========Author's Note:==========

To fit all the plot of the initial timeline into one chapter, many details were abbreviated. After this book is completed, I will revise the full text.

Next is the final volume, focusing on the romance line. It's been a while since I've written sweet moments between the couple.

Taking three days off to organize the outline for the final volume. Updates resume on 7.1.