When Bai Luan came to his senses again, he was already in a bizarre and kaleidoscopic scene.
Here, Bai Luan only felt upside down, and a strong sense of dizziness and imbalance came over him.
The images before his eyes were strange and varied, but only for an instant, difficult to describe in words.
"Close your eyes."
The System's voice came, reassuring Bai Luan slightly. He followed the System's instructions and closed his eyes.
"What's happening now? Where am I? I'm really going to throw up."
"I only left for a moment because my mentor called me, and you managed to get yourself into a time vortex?
How did you do that? I just left for a bit, didn't I? I remember you were still slacking off when I left?"
Bai Luan gave a wry smile.
"What could I do? I'm desperate too. I've been caught in a time vortex?"
"That's right. Generally speaking, accidentally entering here is no different from dying. Even if you manage to get out, your body will either age excessively or become excessively young and die."
"What about me?"
"I'm protecting you. You won't die."
"Thank you."
"We're bros, come on."
"Nice."
Bai Luan then asked the System again.
"How do I get out? Seriously, I'm really going to throw up."
"I'm working on it. Just throw up if you need to. Anyway, your vomit might just abnormally appear at any time and place without reason."
Bai Luan had already thrown up when the System said to just throw up, and heard the latter half of the sentence while doing so.
"What!? You mean this pile of stuff I just threw up has infinite possibilities now?"
"Who told you to be so quick-mouthed?"
"It won't smash me at some critical point in my life later, will it?"
"Hmm... I want to see that."
"I want to see the most important day of your life ruined by your vomit from years ago."
"Hey—! That's disgusting!"
"Hahaha, just kidding. Look how anxious you are. If that really happens, I'll remind you.
I don't have any special fetishes, and I don't like watching that, but generally speaking, the probability of such a thing is very, very small."
"You might as well not have told me..."
"Alright, in a moment I'll...
Oh my? She actually did it..."
"What is it?"
"It seems I don't need to make a move."
?
Just then, a suction force came, pulling Bai Luan away!
Then came the sensation of being submerged by a tide. Bai Luan instinctively held his breath and opened his eyes.
Before him was blurry, swirling light blue liquid. Through the thick, curved transparent cabin wall, he saw a familiar metallic ceiling, with cold instrument indicator lights flickering on and off in the gloom.
He realized he seemed to be in a nutrient capsule, which appeared to be a laboratory.
Then Bai Luan saw a familiar figure.
Herta?
Bai Luan raised his hand and rapped his knuckles hard on the thick wall of the nutrient capsule, producing a dull "thump-thump" sound.
Outside the capsule, those eyes, which seemed to penetrate all mysteries, turned and looked calmly into the capsule.
Bai Luan forced a smile and waved through the nutrient solution.
The next second, the capsule door slid open upwards without warning.
The viscous nutrient solution, like a bursting dam, surged out of the capsule, carrying the unprepared Bai Luan with it!
"Hoo-ha—!"
He fell awkwardly onto the cold, smooth floor, gasping for air as it choked his lungs.
He shook his hair, completely drenched.
Bai Luan understood why Herta had rescued him from the time vortex.
But why did she put him in a nutrient capsule?
Wait!
Bai Luan suddenly remembered what the System had said earlier.
Even if he could get out, he would die from excessive aging or excessive youthification.
Herta had even considered this point, so after calculating his landing spot, to prevent him from dying immediately after coming out, she specifically set up a nutrient capsule?
But under the System's influence, he hadn't changed at all, which would lead to—
In Bai Luan's field of vision, Herta's legs suddenly appeared.
"How come you haven't changed at all?"
Bai Luan looked up, his gaze, from beneath his wet bangs, met Herta's deep eyes.
The confusion in them was clearly visible, and deeper still, a pure, burning interest in unknown phenomena flickered.
Tsk... how does he always manage to ignite the curiosity of this genius every time he makes a messy entrance... Bai Luan mocked himself helplessly in his heart.
Bai Luan stood up. His tone was calm as he spoke.
"It's simple, Ms. Herta."
First, he unhurriedly tidied his appearance (though being soaking wet, there wasn't much to tidy), then spoke again:
"This is quite obvious, Aha has made a move again."
Aha, who was secretly watching: ?
You rascal, doing this again, are you?
How much fun!
It was truly the right decision to save you back then!
"Speaking of which, when you contained the Stellarore, you received Aha's blessing. How did you do that?"
Bai Luan showed a playful, teasing smile.
"I won't say. It wouldn't be fun if I did. Ms. Herta, you can go ask Him yourself."
Knowing that the reason Aha was watching him involved the System, it was better to be vague.
Of course, he could also fabricate a logical chain and pretend it was his own deduction, but that wasn't necessary.
That would only downgrade him from a mystery full of unknown variables to an ordinary person who was "a bit clever."
It would be like revealing the cleverness of a magic trick, which ultimately only makes people feel it's nothing special.
Out of selfishness, Bai Luan still wanted to keep Aha on the hook.
Please, Aha, can you be my trump card forever?
"Ms. Herta, is your project complete?"
Hearing this, Herta showed a smile that, in Bai Luan's eyes, was of unclear meaning.
"It was finished long ago, centuries ago."
"Centuries ago? It's rare for Ms. Herta to use exaggerated language."
"This genius,"
Herta crossed her arms and emphasized each word clearly.
"Did. Not. Exaggerate."
...
You mean, no exaggeration?
Bai Luan looked at Herta and found that she had no intention of joking.
"How long... was I actually trapped in the time vortex?"
"It's now Amber Era 2157. It's probably about ten Amber Eras since the day you disappeared."
Ten... Amber Eras?
"...No,"
Bai Luan's voice suddenly rose, trembling with disbelief.
"Didn't I... just get caught in it... and then you pulled me out? At most a few minutes, right?!"
Bai Luan found it difficult to accept this reality.
He had only spent a few minutes in one space, and after coming out, everything he knew had become history from nine hundred or even a thousand years ago?
Everything he was familiar with, the bonds he might have had, the insignificant worries and expectations of his era...
Under the erosion of centuries, they had long turned into dust in old papers, specimens in museums, or even vague ancient legends passed down by word of mouth?
This... this was too unscientific!
"She's telling the truth."
Bai Luan stared blankly at Herta, his lips moving, as if countless questions wanted to burst out—
Where were those familiar people? What about that era? What about the traces he left behind?
...But in the end, all words caught in the back of his throat, turning into a long and heavy sigh.
He knew the answer.
After centuries of time, would there be any trace left of everything he was familiar with?
The answer... was obvious.
For a moment, confusion and sadness filled Bai Luan's eyes.
It's all gone, isn't it?
Does he have to start over again?
"I know you need time to accept all of this, so I will give you a break."
Herta's voice reached Bai Luan's ears, and Bai Luan looked at Herta.
She was still the same as when Bai Luan first met her; time had tried its best but failed to leave a single trace on her face.
It was as if... it was still ten Amber Eras ago.
This strong, static contrast made the several Amber Eras of time he had been thrown through seem all the more abrupt and desolate.
Bai Luan stared at her blankly and asked:
"Why? Why were you willing to spend so much time pulling me out of there?"
"Reason?"
She tilted her head, her tone flat.
"If I had to say... there are many points worth mentioning: why Aha would bless you, how you got trapped in the time vortex, but the main reason is still that figuring out how to pull someone out of a time vortex is a difficult problem.
This is a difficult problem, a problem that spans the river of time and involves high-dimensional spatiotemporal operations, even harder than reversing aging."
A pure researcher's gleam flashed in her eyes.
"And I like solving difficult problems. To me, it's like a toy I can play with for a long time."
A problem that kept Herta busy for ten Amber Eras...
Bai Luan understood. This reason was indeed irrefutable and perfectly aligned with her nature.
"Also,"
Herta's gaze fell back on Bai Luan's face, her tone still uninflected, but with a barely perceptible pause.
"During this time... there was no suitable person to take your place."
Bai Luan's pupils suddenly contracted, an unspeakable warmth, mixed with a deeper sense of bitterness, unexpectedly struck his heart.
"Thank you."
Bai Luan's eyes softened, and a curve appeared on his lips, carrying both emotion and sadness.
"Thank you for remembering me after ten Amber Eras."
He knew that Herta was merely stating facts and had no intention of comforting him.
But it did provide him with a glimmer of solace after the unexpected event.
This "need" was the only faint connection he could confirm at that moment to that vanished era.
"No need to thank me. After all, you did contain the Stellarore when I wasn't around.
As a reward, I've kept your room for you."
"It's still there?"
"Untouched."
Herta nodded.
Without hesitation, Bai Luan rushed out.
The previous confusion and sadness were instantly washed away by an urgent longing!
That small space, his own! It was proof of his existence!
It was the only connection to the past that he could grasp!
Herta took out her staff, hooked Bai Luan's collar, and pulled him, making him stumble.
"What's your hurry? The room isn't going anywhere.
This genius can't have you running around my house all wet. Go change your clothes first.
Also, this place has changed a lot over the years. I'll send you a new map."
Bai Luan listened obediently to Herta. He had indeed lost his composure this time; in the past, he would never have acted like this.
But he really wanted to know if his little nest was still there.