The rain was getting heavier.

Thunder roared violently.

On his way home, Ji Jue noticed that in some places, water had flooded up to his knees.

It wasn't that he couldn't stay at Lu Ma's house—after all, Lu Feng could sleep on the couch. The main issue was the loud snoring of Lu Feng, which even the thunder couldn't drown out. Ji Jue had no idea how the others could stand it.

Moreover, every time this kind of weather occurred, he always felt uneasy. The old house had been around for many years, and leaks and electrical faults were the norm. There was a fear that if left unattended, the house might collapse after a couple of days of soaking.

Now that he had earned some money, he planned to hire someone to repair it.

After returning home, Ji Jue checked the second floor and the basement to make sure there were no leaks. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief.

According to plan, he spent two hours fixed on the pocket watch and then practiced the separation technique on some scraps he brought back. Afterward, Ji Jue yawned, ready to go to sleep.

Then, suddenly, he felt a vibration at his wrist—it was the long-silent watch!

An abrupt pop-up window shimmered before Ji Jue's eyes.

—[Spatial Stability Value Warning: Drifting Time Ruins detected, 979 kilometers away, connect?]

Time Ruins?

And drifting?

Ji Jue's head suddenly hurt; why did such a thing suddenly appear?

These days were not peaceful. Life in the wilderness was tough, with frequent earthquakes, flash floods, and storms, or packs of harmful beasts. Occasionally encountering a Catastrophe Level monster could swallow an entire armed convoy in an instant.

As a result, apart from a dozen cities like Cliff City, there were not many cities outside. Only a few towns or gathering areas were built in narrow, stable zones, but they were also limited by scarce resources and had to rely on the supply and support of nearby big cities.

With disasters raging, every major city was built with all eventualities considered and defenses prepared. If not impregnable as a fortress, at least it was within a time-tested stable area.

Nine hundred kilometers—it was already within Cliff City's range.

At this distance, it was virtually in his face.

Now, with such a Time Ruins appearing so close, Ji Jue could almost imagine the Security Bureau's furious scene. Maybe Tong Shan was already dragged out of bed to work overtime.

An unequivocal emergency!

If the Crack Realm was a complete large piece separated from the present world, then the Time Ruins were an aggregation of many tiny fragments that had merged with uncontrollable Superior Essence, forming strange phenomena.

Maybe because of the entanglement and collision of the Power of Superior, or due to enduring too much ravage and injury in wars, or perhaps remnants left after crustal movements or natural disasters wreak havoc... or perhaps influenced by interference from the Nine Evils beneath the Vortex.

The interior of Time Ruins was different from the present world; its rules and ecology were completely abnormal, and even the flow of time varied.

Like a malignant tumor formed after mutations, once it appeared, it needed to be quickly dismantled internally, or with progressive development, the uncontrolled expansion of Time Ruins might birth some nefarious entities after shattering.

Now, the Security Bureau was in big trouble.

But at least it wasn't in the Northern Mountain District, so there was no need to worry about the fire burning down to his doorstep.

With a somewhat schadenfreude attitude, Ji Jue whistled, ready to take a shower and lie in bed to read for a while, when he realized something was amiss.

—[Spatial Stability Value Warning: Drifting Time Ruins detected, 900 kilometers away, connect?]

Wait, that number—wasn't it...

Ji Jue squinted his eyes, subconsciously trying to get a closer look, but no matter how close he got, the pop-up window occupying his vision did not change size.

Only the number on it changed again:[Distance 850 kilometers]

Then,[Distance 700 kilometers]

His expression twitched.

Wait...

Things were going bad!

.

.

Late at night, with torrential rain and constant thunder.

"Mom, Mom."

In her groggy haze, Lu Ma felt someone shaking her arm. From the drowsiness, she opened her eyes and saw the youngest holding a pillow, "I can't sleep."

Lu Ma propped herself up and gently rubbed his face, "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare? Is your sister grinding her teeth?"

"It seemed like, like something passed by." The child trembled, his eyes filled with tears, "Something big... very big, very scary..."

"Don't be scared, Mom is here."

Lu Ma carefully reached out to pull the child onto the cool mat and into her arms, devoid of her usual irritability and roughness, gently stroking his hair,

"Sleep, sleep, Mom will protect you."

"Mmm." The child snuggled into her arms, shifted his position, and clung to her, "I love Mom most; I want to be with Mom always."

And so, the mother also smiled.

She looked at the clock on the bedside.

Listening to the gradually even breathing in her arms,

She eventually drifted off to sleep.

Outside, the storm raged on.

.

.

Under the same torrential rain, Wen Wen was awakened from her dream by her cell phone. Within a few seconds of answering it, her drowsiness was completely swept away.

Suddenly, she sat up straight.

"What the hell is a drifting Time Ruins?!" She scratched her disheveled hair, exclaiming in shock, "Tong Shan, are you serious?"

"Yes, that's right."

The voice on the other end of the call remained steady, although it was already very urgent. "Fifteen minutes ago, we received an alert from Spring City. There was a leak in the blockade, causing a fully formed Time Ruins to detach from the Earth Cave and drift toward Cliff City.

It has already entered the territory of the Northern Mountain District..."

Wen Wen immediately gritted her teeth in anger, "After spending so much money and diverting so many people over there, how could you guys still let such a huge chunk slip out? What on earth are you all doing?!"

The Time Ruins from the Spring City Cave already had a high enough alert level, and now it had drifted to the urban area?

Who knows how much harm it could cause!

Even a fixed Time Ruins must be sealed off both inside and out and dealt with promptly. Anyone who carelessly steps into the related area has a chance of being swept into it, and once they're in, there's almost no chance of survival, with absolutely no possibility of making it out alive.

The Chosen Ones, due to their distinct Power of Superior traits and affinity, are often more easily drawn into it. Some Chosen Ones even specifically seek out Time Ruins for blessings or growth, taking on related outsourcing. Experienced Time Ruins Hunters handle problems as adeptly as going through a regular experience.

But the thing is, who goes into the Time Ruins without being fully prepared and having all the intel and emergency plans in place? Where do you see a dungeon suddenly floating up to someone's face?

Over the phone, Tong Shan slowly said, "The personnel from Department Three are already preparing to link to the Gate of Eternity ritual, hoping to contain it before it gets out of control. However, according to observations, it has already started to become active. I hope the Northern Mountain Department is ready. Once the Time Ruins go out of control, be prepared to clean up immediately."

Wen Wen had already gotten out of bed, sighing wearily, "Could this get any worse?"

"..."

After a brief silence on the phone, Wen Wen froze, "No way?"

Tong Shan's usually calm voice revealed a rare hint of anxiety: "Tong Hua is missing..."

"What the hell?!"

Wen Wen's voice grew louder, her eyes wide.

"Half an hour ago, she went out in her car, ignoring the weather, to comfort a heartbroken friend."

Tong Shan sighed, "Before I called, her family found her car by the roadside, empty, with the phone screen still lit. The emergency call hadn't been made..."

Crack!

The phone screen suddenly showed a crack, Wen Wen exploded in anger, "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!"

"Would it have helped if I did?"

Tong Shan's tone returned to calm, or rather, indifferent, "Just because she's my sister, should we recklessly deploy Mountain Light, risking anything within tens of kilometers being incinerated, just to break open the Time Ruins?"

Wen Wen had no reply.

Covering her face, she sighed helplessly.

Remembering the first time she met Tong Hua, that girl who liked to run around everywhere was also chased around the ruins by a Parasitic Shadow Beast in an urban legend, right?

A supernatural exploration that really encountered a ghost.

The first time seeing someone even more messed up than Ji Jue...

Wait!

She suddenly paused, freezing in place, and after a long time, spoke somewhat belatedly, "I remember...creations imbued with a vortex and a disaster aura attract each other, right?"

"That's correct. Currently, the most common technique for guiding drifting Time Ruins to change their course involves using Mutated Polymers and Secret Rituals to lure the drifting Time Ruins off their original paths." Although Tong Shan didn't understand why, he still responded, "That's also the backup method that Department Three is preparing to take."

"..."

For a moment, Wen Wen's tense body suddenly relaxed.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

Her previously rushed movements also calmed down, no longer panicked.

After all, if this theory really held true, then currently in Yazhou City, the most unlucky Chosen One with the greatest attraction to Time Ruins...probably would be just one.

And after making three unsuccessful calls to that unlucky kid from her landline, she finally felt at ease.

"Okay, no need to worry now."

Not sure whether to be sorrowful or joyous, her emotions wavering greatly, Wen Wen gave a bitter smile, "Let's take it slow."

It had only been a few months, but she had already begun to get used to it.

Anything that involved Ji Jue, no matter how normal, would turn into a disaster. Yet, strangely, when she heard Ji Jue was the unlucky one this time, she actually felt a sense of inexplicable reassurance...

After all, with him here, it couldn't get worse than the last time in Lawrence's mouth or jumping into the mud pit contention with White Deer, right?

.

Darkness, dizziness, shaking, falling, a sense of weightlessness.

Ji Jue felt like he had suddenly fallen into a bottomless pit, crashing about like a rag woman[] in a sack, before finally hitting the ground.

In an unprecedented dizziness and nausea, he coughed violently, struggling to open his eyes, seeing only a dimly flickering light above, the air carrying the familiar scent of disinfectant and...a thick odor of blood.

In his confusion, he instinctively got up and looked around, baffled: Damn, it's bad enough that this damned Time Ruins jumped into my face, where the hell did this take me?

And is this still even domestic?!

Then, he heard a cold voice coming from the doorway.

"Not bad, you're the highest quality newbie this time around."

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