Behind the one-way mirror.
Captain Wei frowned, staring intently at Lin Xing, who was slowly eating his meal.
Beside him, an elderly man asked, "Xiao Wei, what do you make of him?"
"Strange, very strange," Captain Wei shook his head. "I originally thought this kid's sudden appearance in the restricted area meant he had an unusual background."
"But who would have thought his life story from birth to university was as pure as a sheet of white paper."
The elderly man smiled and asked, "Then, do you believe what he said?"
"Time reverting? Who would believe that?" Captain Wei hesitated, then said, "But I've seen my fair share of people in my lifetime, and I do have some discernment. This kid doesn't seem crazy, but I can't understand why he would say those things."
The elderly man sighed, "Then let's release him for now."
Captain Wei exclaimed in surprise, "Just like that, release him? This kid was able to single-handedly injure a native from Mirror World; he's very aggressive."
The elderly man shook his head, "Mirror World has only enemies, no friends. Whenever they come here, they kill on sight. Lin Xing injuring one can be considered an act of righteousness."
"Release him first thing tomorrow morning, then have someone keep an eye on him to see what's really going on."
...
The next morning, Lin Xing was sent back to East Sea University.
Right up until he got out of the car, he didn't forget to remind them, "Don't forget about the disaster a year from now; make sure you prepare ahead of time..."
And after returning to the campus, Lin Xing quickly discovered that everyone was oblivious to the previous day's events.
The information received by both students and teachers was that the educational district was closed for a day for pipeline inspection.
Remembering the place he had been taken to, and the uniforms worn by Captain Wei and others, Lin Xing thought, "Those people didn't look like police, but they were definitely from an official body."
With this thought, he suddenly sighed.
Lin Xing was no fool; from the attitudes of the officials, it was clear that none had believed what he said, which meant his plan to report to the government had already failed.
And the direct cause of the failure was...
"How could the World Cup have jumped to next year?" Lin Xing opened his phone and began searching incessantly for information related to the World Cup, growing more puzzled by the minute.
From the timing of the World Cup to the history of the first ever World Cup, he went on to search for the history of the host country of the first tournament...
The more he delved into history, the stranger he felt.
History seemed roughly the same as what he remembered, but specific dates, specific names, specific locations... many details seemed different from what he had in mind.
Unfortunately, Lin Xing was neither a history enthusiast nor did he have a photographic memory. He only felt that some historical details differed from his memory, yet he was unable to summarize them or be sure that he wasn't the one remembering incorrectly.
"But I definitely remember the World Cup correctly. So does this mean... history has changed?!"
"Why? I only returned one year back. Even if it were to change, it should be the history of the upcoming year. So why has the history before my arrival changed?"
Glancing at the time on his phone, Lin Xing decided to put aside his doubts for the moment, as he had a class to attend.
With the summer holiday approaching, none of the students, not even Lin Xing, were very focused on their classes.
Of course, Lin Xing was not preoccupied because of the holiday, but due to the series of recent events.
Nevertheless, as an upstanding individual with strong self-control and special abilities, he still insisted on earnestly finishing all of today's classes. Then he couldn't wait to start browsing the internet on his phone to search for historical data, trying to uncover the secrets hidden within.
"Wait a second..."
Two hours passed, and he indeed found some results.
"All the historical data that seemed a bit off from my memory appears to have started diverging a hundred years ago."
He was checking, while validating his own thoughts, "That's right, it really is like this, the history from a hundred-years-ago doesn't have that sense of inconsistency."
"All discrepancies begin from a hundred years ago; it's the history within the last hundred years that has changed."
Though he had some clues in his mind, a much greater enigma shrouded Lin Xing's heart.
"Could it be that starting from a hundred years ago, history had been altered?"
He looked up towards the window, only to realize that time had unwittingly advanced to night, and Lin Xing was alarmed, "Damn it! I've missed the cafeteria's dinner!"
The thought that he had not managed to eat on time made him feel as if there were bugs crawling in his stomach.
He hurriedly ran out of the study room, planning to return home to eat.
Yes, he was going home because he didn't live in the university dorm. He was a commuter student envied by countless others, and his home was in the old neighborhood next to the university.
As the key slid into the front door, it swung open with a creak, and the familiar scene entered Lin Xing's eyes.
The arrangement at home was completely the same as before. Lin Xing skillfully put down his bag, switched on the light, and took out a quick-serve frozen dumpling meal from the fridge.
Since his parents both worked overseas long-term, Lin Xing usually had his meals in the university cafeteria, and at home, there were only some frozen foods stored.
After boiling the dumplings, Lin Xing planned to feed the dog as well.
His concern for the old family dog was one of the reasons why Lin Xing was a commuter.
But a twinge of oddness flashed through his mind; normally, the dog would come to greet him as soon as he got home, but today, even as he put down the dumplings, there was not a sign of it.
Even... he couldn't find the dog food at home.
He sat on the sofa and couldn't help but sigh, "The past has changed, has even the dog I raised from when I was a child disappeared?"
All of a sudden, his eyes caught sight of a cat toy on the sofa, and frowning, he thought, "I don't remember having this kind of toy at home?"
He picked up the toy and looked at it for a long time but still came up with nothing in his mind.
Suddenly, a familiar feeling emanated from his bedroom, lingering incessantly in his heart, "Has the bedroom changed as well?"
Holding the toy, Lin Xing was about to go to the bedroom when suddenly there came a knock on the door.
Curiously opening the door, a dark muzzle was already aimed at his head.
Bang!
...
Lin Xing snapped back to his senses and saw the dumplings he had just dropped in, knowing that he had once again reversed time.
"Someone's trying to kill me again!"
"Because the last psychic assassination attempt failed, they're trying again?"
"Home invasion, using firearms too!"
"Heartless, the organization behind this is simply heartless!"
While thinking, Lin Xing was already pressing the emergency call on his phone, but this time, to his discovery, there was no signal.
After checking the landline and the internet at home, both had been disconnected.
"Lawless! These people are utterly lawless!"
Just then, the knocking sounded again; Lin Xing quickly pulled out a yardstick and hid beside the door.
Without Lin Xing opening it, he heard the lock click, as if it had been unlocked from the outside.
A black-clothed man holding a gun entered from outside, kicked away Lin Xing's incoming yardstick, and again pointed the gun at Lin Xing's forehead.
Bang!