Chapter 317 - Time = History

“We can’t find Chen Yu.”

“If he runs, we won’t be able to find him.”

Tang City, underground of the hospital, in a certain room.

Three people were sitting and talking.

“He’s really too ‘slippery.'” Bordeaux Jieyi sighed. “Even Bahuang Yi missed.”

“…” Beside her, Bahuang Yi didn’t say anything. He lowered his head and silently checked his ankle that had just been fixed.

Chen Yu’s sudden attack had indeed exceeded his expectations.

Even now, he was still puzzled.

Both of them had been exposed to the Wood Powder environment at the same time. Why was Chen Yu ‘safe and sound’ even though he had turned into wood?

The other party’s strength level was clearly much lower than his…

‘Why is this so?’

‘Chen Yu…’

‘How many secrets does he have on him…’

Creak!

At this moment, the door was pushed open.

Jill held his cowboy hat with his left hand and a plastic bag with his right hand. He staggered to the front of Bahuang Yi and put on a street-like posture. He looked him up and down. “Yo? Yeah! Isn’t this Bahuang Yi?”

Bahuang Yi: “…”

“Your leg is fixed? You can walk now?”

Bahuang Yi: “…”

“It’s only been a few hours, and you’re already pooping?”

Bahuang Yi: “…”

“Here.” Jill put on his hat, opened the plastic bag, and handed it to Bahuang Yi. “Look, look, look what I brought for you. It’s Old Yi’s favorite! Fresh poop!”

The old woman sitting in the main seat couldn’t take it anymore. She slammed the table angrily.

Dong!

“Are you two done yet? What are you doing with sh*t every day?! F*ck.”

“I didn’t watch over Chen Yu. I’m willing to admit defeat and eat sh*t.” Jill retorted and pointed at Bahuang Yi. “But he didn’t watch over him this time either! He has to admit defeat as well!”

“Sorry.” Bahuang Yi stood up and said expressionlessly, “This time, I didn’t bet with you.”

“What do you mean?” Jill was furious. He grabbed the plastic bag and shouted, “Then I ate it for free?”

Bahuang Yi said, “The government can reimburse us for the food and accommodation for business trips.”

“You f*cking… Um. Yi’er, actually, I lied to you.” Jill’s tone became gentle again. “This is chocolate.”

Bahuang Yi: “…”

Bordeaux Jieyi covered her face with her jacket. “…”

“Your stupidity, enough is enough.” The old woman’s expression was ugly. “Throw this damn thing away.”

“I…”

“Throw it away!”

“…”

After a moment of silence, Jill held his breath and glared fiercely at Bahuang Yi. Then, he threw the plastic bag out of the house.

Smack.

It was scattered all over the ground…

“After interacting with Chen Yu for the past few days, I already know that he is not a good person.” The old woman swept her gaze across everyone. “The two times he escaped, it also proves that it is very difficult for us to control him. Now, he has escaped again. We will not be able to catch him.”

Jieyi nodded. “I agree.”

Jill and Bahuang Yi did not say anything.

“So, we don’t need to care about that Chen Yu.”

“But if we don’t bring Chen Yu back, the higher-ups will blame us, right?” Jill hesitated.

“There’s no way to blame us.” The old woman looked sideways. “Do you have the ability to bring Chen Yu back?”

“…No.”

“Then what’s the point of talking nonsense? Why don’t we go back early?” She picked up the teacup and took a sip. The old woman looked at Bahuang Yi. “How are you? Can you move with your injuries?”

“Barely.” Bahuang Yi nodded. “The reception was very timely. The medical warriors here are pretty good.”

“Then there’s no need to wait for tomorrow.” She put down the teacup and stood up. The old woman waved her right arm. “We’ll set off immediately tonight and return to Shanghai.”

“Yes!”

“We’ll leave now.”

Saying that, she took the lead to walk out of the room and stepped on the soft plastic bag.

The black and yellow dog sh*t dyed her shoes.

The old woman: “…”

Jill: “!!!”

“…Jill!!!”

…

Five and a half hours later.

It was a cold and cheerless morning.

The group of four walked out of the transport plane and stood on the land of Shanghai.

“I still can’t get used to the environment in the south.” Bordeaux Jieyi tightened her clothes. “It’s too cold in winter, even colder than the north.”

“Ptui.” Beside them, Jill, who was badly bruised, spat out a mouthful of blood and said contemptuously, “A martial artist can still be this cold?”

Bordeaux Jieyi curled her lips. “A martial artist can still be beaten like this.”

“…You’re just a puny Level 4 martial artist, but you’ve gone overboard.”

He ignored the two’s bickering. Bahuang Yi stepped forward and carefully looked at the airport in front of him. He frowned. “Something’s not right.”

“You can see it too?” The old woman nodded and narrowed her eyes. “At this time, the airport should be very quiet. Why is it so lively now?”

“It seems like they’re transferring people.”

“Let’s wait for a while before returning to school. I’ll make a call.” After saying this, she took out her phone and dialed a number.

“Hello? It’s me, I’m back. What’s going on in Shanghai… What?!”

A few simple sentences caused the old woman’s pupils to tremble, and her voice was so sharp that she lost her voice.

Bahuang Yi’s gaze focused slightly.

Jill and Bordeaux Jieyi, who were quarreling at the side, also shut their mouths and looked over solemnly.

“…”

“…Alright, I got it.”

The call ended.

The old woman took a deep breath, put away her phone, and turned to look at the three of them.

“What happened?” Bahuang Yi was mentally prepared.

“The Beast Tide is here.”

“Beast Tide?” Jill exclaimed, “To Shanghai?!”

“Yes.”

“No… that’s not right.” Jieyi was flustered. “We came back from the northwest. On the transport plane, we… didn’t see any Beast Tide.”

“It’s not land.” The old woman raised her hand and pointed to the sea. “It’s from the sea.”

“There will be a Beast Tide in the sea?” Jill’s scalp went numb.

“This is a matter of the Beast Tide. It’s all very strict. There’s no need to doubt it and waste time.” Bahuang Yi looked straight at the old woman. “The most important thing now is to determine how long the Beast Tide will take to land.”

“Three days.”

“Three days…”

Unsolvable…

This thought flashed through the minds of the three of them at the same time.

Ever since the appearance of the Beast Tide, the humans had never won a single battle.

Including the all-out preparation for the battle in the capital, it ended with the city being destroyed and people dying.

Moreover, there were only three days left for the Beast Tide for Shanghai to prepare…

“It’s impossible to win,” Jill said crisply. “The odds of winning are zero.”

“Moreover, the Beast Tide comes from the sea… The defensive positions that we have prepared in advance in Shanghai are all on land.” Jieyi bit her lips. “I don’t want to say anything discouraging… Really, the chances of winning are zero.”

The old woman lowered her head in silence.

Everyone was clear.

Even if Shanghai was given a few years to develop, it would still be far from the level of the capital.

There was only one path left for everyone — destruction.

And if Shanghai was destroyed, humanity would have no hope.

Or…

When the capital was destroyed, everything would be over…

“Unless…” Jieyi looked at the rolling waves in the distance. “A miracle happens.”

Bahuang Yi turned around and left without looking back. “There has never been a miracle in this world.”

As he watched the other party’s figure gradually disappear into the distance, Jieyi said hesitantly, “Captain, what should I do now?”

“Go back to the school and report. Then, accept the orders of the higher-ups.”

“Okay.”

Bringing Jill and Jieyi, the old woman went to the school to complete the report as quickly as possible.

Then, she left the two of them behind and went alone to the meeting room in the basement of the municipal center.

Standing at the door, she did not wait for the door to be pushed open before she heard the noisy discussions inside.

From time to time, there would be a few curses mixed in.

Creak —

Slowly pushing open the heavy wooden door, the old woman tried her best to use her weakest footsteps to slip into the crowd without making a sound, watching the arguments between the big shots around the round table…

Bang!

A burly warrior slammed the table hard and roared, “The brave will win when they meet on a narrow path! We are the officials! Not the exiled army! Why are we fleeing? We have already escaped from the capital once! Is it useful? We will leave behind more than ten million civilians in Shanghai! Do we still want them?”

“When we meet on a narrow path, we should at least be evenly matched.” The warrior at the other end of the round table pushed his glasses. “Are we evenly matched with the exotic beasts? Not long ago, when the capital was destroyed, we were left with our foundations. It is not rational to sacrifice all of us here.”

“But without Shanghai, we cannot build any foundations. Now, in the entire world, which city has a population of more than ten million? Which city has the industrial facilities around Shanghai? Where are there so many warriors like us?”

“Do you also know the importance of warriors? At least there are warriors. We have hope.”

“No.” The bald old man who had been sitting upright shook his head. “There is no hope. Humans are ultimately not a match for exotic beasts.”

“Since there is no hope, we might as well retreat.” The bespectacled warrior spread his hands.

“Since there is no hope, we might as well use the existing fortifications in Shanghai and kill as many as we can!” The robust warrior gnashed his teeth.

The surrounding Level 8 warriors were all silent. None of them dared to speak up.

This sudden wave of underwater Beast Tide had indeed given the humans the heaviest blow. It completely crushed the human civilization’s final attempt to turn the tables.

The conference room fell into silence.

No one spoke again.

Everyone understood in their hearts that the dispute between the two sides was essentially meaningless.

Because the final result would be death.

Only the former would die with more dignity. The latter would be able to live on for a while…

Pa!

After an unknown amount of time, the Principal of Beijing University, who was sitting at the head seat, stood up. He placed his fingers on the round table and said in a hoarse voice, “Everyone.”

Hearing this, everyone shivered and looked at the Principal of Beijing University.

“As the higher-ups of humanity, you should all know that a large number of exotic beasts have appeared out of thin air all over the world. Almost every city’s surroundings have not fallen.”

“According to speculation, it may not be long before a Beast Tide that engulfs the entire world will engulf every gathering place of the human civilization.”

“In other words, the human race has really come to the end.”

“Our generation may be the last civilization.”

Everyone was silent.

The Principal of Beijing University sighed lightly and swept his gaze across the entire scene. He continued, “Tonight, I contacted the only Level 9 martial artist in Japan, who is also the only martial artist in the human martial arts world. She still chose to give up support.”

Everyone looked at each other.

There were some who hated, some who were sad, some who were numb, and some who were in a daze.

“She thinks that the end of humanity is only death. This is a part of Earth’s history. No one can change it. So whether she appears or not, Shanghai will be destroyed. Just like the capital city back then…”

“Bullsh*t!”

Dong!

The strong martial artist’s expression was ferocious. He slammed the table hard. “Listen to that nonsense! If she had come to the capital city back then and fought against the Beast Tide with Sir Qinghai Li, the capital city would not have been destroyed!”

“I heard that the Level 9 martial artist from Japan has comprehended the essence of time.” The bespectacled martial artist explained in a deep voice, “In her eyes, the world has an additional timeline. So she can see everything in the past and the future. Presumably… she has already seen the history of mankind’s final destruction.”

“Bullsh*t! She’s so awesome, why doesn’t she change history? She’s so awesome, why doesn’t she know that I’m calling her a b*tch?”

The Principal of Beijing University suddenly said, “She knows.”

“Eh?” The muscular warrior froze on the spot.

“This is the video she recorded for me two hours ago.” The Principal of Beijing University took out a display device and pressed the play button. “Originally, it was hard for me to believe her words. But now, I have no choice but to believe…”

Zhi —

The screen flickered for a moment, and a woman’s face appeared in the video.

“History cannot be changed.” The woman opened her white eyes. Her tone was gentle. “History is equal to time. It is a part of the world. I can not change it, and no one can change it. May I ask, can you change what happened in the Tang Dynasty?”

“Are you saying that we live in the past?” the muscular warrior asked doubtfully.

But as soon as he finished speaking, he realized that he was talking to the video from two hours ago…

Then, in the next second, everyone’s hair stood on end.

Because the woman in the video actually answered…

“No, we live in the present.” The woman shook her head. “But whether it’s the past, the present, or the future, they are all history. Everything is fixed. We can’t change the past, we can’t control the present, and we can’t adjust the future. Every single one of us, including every plant, insect, and object on Earth, is history itself.”

“Then…” The bespectacled warrior on the other end had an ugly expression. “Three days later, will we stay in Shanghai to resist, or will we retreat?”

“Three days later, you will stay to resist,” the woman replied.

“Then we will retreat!”

“We can’t retreat. You will only stay to resist.” The woman closed her eyes. “In the world, the most desperate thing is to know that your fate has long been decided.”

“…”

The crowded meeting room was completely silent.

The woman’s simple words had left a lasting impact on everyone.

“Can I ask a question?” At the end of the crowd, the last old woman who came in raised her hand.

“Please speak.”

“What was the world like after the extinction of mankind?”

The old woman and the woman actually said this sentence in unison.

Everyone: “…”

The people became more and more terrified.

“After the extinction of mankind…” The woman opened her pure white eyes. Her lifeless gaze seemed to pierce through the river of time. “Eighty thousand years have passed. That was a new civilization.”

Everyone: “?”

“Unfortunately, they were cut down and turned into wood…”

Everyone: “???”

The old woman: “Then… Then…”

“As for 100,000 years ago,” the woman interrupted. She closed her eyes again. “Oh, that was truly a dazzling interstellar civilization. The artificial intelligence of an extraterrestrial civilization actually completely developed the Solar System. It’s a pity that before that, humanity had already been extinct for thousands of years…”

Everyone: “???”

The video ended.

The display turned black again.