Chapter 1 The Beginning

“You’re saying… you have the same dream every day? And you wake up precisely at 00:42 every time?”

The man wearing the cartoon cat mask looked at Lin Xian:

“Then you’re living the dream, buddy! You can kill whoever you want in your dreams! Do whatever you want! You can even experience all sorts of daredevil games! Hiss… just thinking about it is exciting!”

*Click.*

The man pushed the magazine into the pistol and chambered a round:

“But tonight, you don’t need to seek thrills in your dreams. Bro’s gonna show you something real!”

He pointed to the bank across the street:

“My boy’s pried open the bank doors. Let’s go!”

Lin Xian nodded, straightened the Ultraman mask on his face, and got up to follow the man’s pace:

“What should I call you, boss?”

“They call me Big Cat on the streets.”

The man grinned, and the fat on his face squeezed the cartoon cat mask into an even more two-dimensional shape:

“Just call me Cat Bro.”

“Cat Bro, what’s my mission?”

“It’s not your turn to use your code-breaking skills yet. Just follow me and don’t run around.”

*Rustle, rustle…*

After a short jog, Lin Xian followed Big Cat to the entrance of the bank.

“Everything’s done?” Big Cat asked.

The lackey nodded.

Big Cat pressed the pistol against the lackey’s forehead—

*Bang!*

Blood splattered on the wall!

He casually wiped the muzzle of the gun and patted Lin Xian’s shoulder:

“Now there’s one less person to split the money with. We can get a lot more!”

“Wasn’t he your lackey?”

“That guy’s got sticky fingers. For our safety, we can’t keep him around!”

As Big Cat spoke, he pulled Lin Xian inside.

The two arrived at a fork in the corridor.

A masked man was fiddling with the distribution box.

“Not done yet?”

Big Cat urged.

*Click.*

The masked man cut a wire and wiped his sweat:

“Done! The alarm system’s disarmed!”

*Bang!*

Another shot to the back of the head! The distribution box was covered in blood!

“Boss, this is making me feel really unsafe!”

Lin Xian pointed at the corpse on the ground:

“Does this lackey also have sticky fingers?”

Big Cat snorted:

“This guy’s hands are pretty clean, but he seduced your Big Bro’s wife! Tell me, can I keep him around?”

“Is it really that hard to be your underling?”

“Don’t worry about the small details! Shouldn’t you be happy that there’s one less person to split the money with?”

Lin Xian pushed away the arm Big Cat had put around him:

“You’re not planning to shoot me later and take all the money for yourself, are you?”

“Absolutely not!”

Big Cat patted his chest and stomach, then pulled out a gray object taped together from behind his waist and handed it to Lin Xian.

“What’s this?”

“C4 explosives.”

Big Cat pointed to the switch and explained to Lin Xian:

“Your Cat Bro is an honest man! I never do sneaky things! If you think I want to kill you later, just press the switch and blow your Cat Bro up with you! Does that make you feel better?”

“Alright, reliable!”

Lin Xian gave him a thumbs up and accepted the C4 explosives.

*Rustle, rustle…*

The two continued forward.

A masked man ran up from the underground passage:

“Boss, I’ve cut off the main power line—”

*Bang!*

Brains splattered everywhere.

“Bro, this guy he…”

“It’s okay, Cat Bro.” Lin Xian waved his hand, indicating that he was already used to it:

“Just tell me how many people are left to split the money with now?”

“Just you and me! Hehehe… just you and me!”

Big Cat pushed Lin Xian forward quickly:

“See, we’re at the vault! It’s your turn to show off your code-breaking skills!”

Before them…

Was a thick, black wall, with a silver combination lock door in the middle.

“What’s the password?”

“Pfft! If I knew the password, why would I need a code-breaking expert like you!”

Big Cat pointed at his watch:

“Stop messing around, bro! Hurry up! We don’t have much time left! Once the main power is restored, the security system will automatically sound the alarm!”

“I know you’re anxious, but just hold on a second.”

Lin Xian walked up to the combination lock door and started fiddling with it.

Big Cat paced back and forth, the fat on his face twisted into a knot:

“How long will you need?”

“10.”

“10 minutes!?” Big Cat exclaimed, “That’s way too long!!”

“9… 8… 7…”

???

Big Cat stared in shock as Lin Xian sprinted away!

Then he turned his head and saw the C4 explosives stuck to the combination lock door!

And the red numbers on the detonator that were constantly changing!!

“Shift!”

He dove towards the wall outside—

*Boom!!!!!!*

*Boom!!!!!!*

*Boom!!!!!!*

The deafening explosion pierced his eardrums!

Countless bricks and pieces of metal rained down on him!

“Cough, cough… cough, cough!!”

Big Cat wiped the blood from his face and roared:

“What the f***… you’re supposed to be a code-breaking expert? Is that how you crack codes!?”

“Just tell me if it’s efficient or not.”

Lin Xian walked over, covering his ears, and pointed at the collapsed wall in front:

“See, the vault’s inside.”

Big Cat scrambled to his feet, muttering curses:

“Experts are all useless…”

…

Lin Xian walked into the large hole blown open in the wall.

This was the first time in his life that he had entered a bank vault, but the scene was completely different from what he had imagined…

“How come there’s no money at all?”

The vault was empty.

There were no piles of banknotes as he’d imagined, nor the mountains of gold bars seen in movies.

On the walls around the vault, there were rows and rows of neatly arranged safes.

Lin Xian walked closer to take a look.

Each safe had a different name written on it.

Wang Shuo.

Liu Liping.

Wei Shengjin.

Lin Xian.

Wang—

???

Lin Xian took a step back, staring at the name on the previous safe.

[Lin Xian]

No doubt about it.

Why was his own name on this safe?

*Click.*

Behind him, the scorching muzzle of a gun pressed against the back of his head.

“Cat Bro, have mercy.”

Lin Xian immediately raised his hands in surrender:

“Cat Bro, you have to be reasonable. I didn’t have sticky fingers, and I didn’t seduce your wife. You can’t wrongly accuse me while cleaning house, right?”

“Alright, Cat Bro, I admit, I lied to you. I’m not a code-breaking expert at all… I was just wandering around the square and randomly picked up an Ultraman mask to wear. Then you suddenly jumped out and dragged me into the car without saying a word!”

“But I didn’t know that the Ultraman mask was your [secret code]! Honestly, I just tricked you for fun. I didn’t harm you.”

“Besides… if you had brought the real code-breaking expert today, they might not have been able to crack the code by dawn! Meeting me was a stroke of luck for you!”

*Pfft—*

A silvery, bell-like laughter came from behind:

“I’m not that stupid! What kind of code-breaking expert would take until dawn to crack the combination lock door?”

Immediately afterward, the scorching gun barrel also left Lin Xian’s scalp.

Lin Xian turned around.

Behind him stood a slender woman, her hair in a bun, wearing the exact same Ultraman mask as him.

“Where’s my Cat Bro?”

The woman pointed with her chin at the feet.

Big Cat, wearing the cat mask, lay in a pool of blood, a large hole in the back of his head.

“You killed him?”

“If I hadn’t killed him, you’d be dead right now.”

The woman kicked the corpse aside:

“He was planning to kill all of you anyway and take all the money for himself. He wasn’t a good person.”

“Your team is really hard to lead…”

“Don’t include me. I’m not with them.”

The woman pushed Lin Xian away and walked towards the safes on the wall:

“This is also the first time I’ve met him. I don’t recognize him, I only recognize the cartoon cat mask.”

“Couldn’t your secret code be any more old-fashioned?”

The woman ignored Lin Xian.

She brushed past Lin Xian, her eyes scanning the safes on the wall one by one.

Finally, she stopped in front of the safe with [Lin Xian] written on it.

Looking at the eight combination dials on the safe, she snorted and threw away the small computer in her hand:

“It’s a mechanical lock…”

The woman put her ear to the safe, clicking and turning the combination dials.

“What’s in [Lin Xian]’s safe?” Lin Xian came up from behind.

“Don’t know.”

“Do you know Lin Xian?”

“Don’t know.”

“Then why are you opening his safe?”

“Why do you have so many questions?”

Through the Ultraman mask, the woman glared at Lin Xian:

“Go hang out somewhere cool!”

She continued to fiddle with the combination lock.

Lin Xian looked at the eight combination dials on the safe, lost in thought…

“Try 19990320.”

“What?”

The woman looked at Lin Xian, annoyed.

“I said, for that safe’s combination, try 19990320.”

“What kind of number is that?”

“My birthday.” Lin Xian replied confidently.

“…”

“…”

“Are you out of your mind?!” The woman asked sincerely.

“Listen.”

Lin Xian took a deep breath.

His earnest gaze peered through the Ultraman mask, looking at the other Ultraman:

“The alarm could go off at any moment. No one would joke around in this situation. Our goals are the same, and in fact… I’m even more curious than you about what’s hidden in this safe.”

“Trust me.”

Lin Xian took a step forward, his face serious:

“This combination definitely can’t be wrong!”

…

The woman looked at Lin Xian without speaking.

But clearly, she was persuaded by Lin Xian’s confident aura.

“Say it… again.”

“19990320.”

*Click, click…*

The woman dialed in the eight combination dials, looked back at Lin Xian, and pressed the lock catch—

*Click!*

It didn't open.

“Huh?”

Lin Xian was stunned. The combination was wrong!

The woman’s eyebrows twitched, and she took a deep breath:

“I really should have let your Cat Bro beat you to death!”

“He kept insisting on calling him Cat Bro…”

“Enough!!!”

The woman couldn’t bear it any longer and pulled out her gun, pointing it at Lin Xian!

Word by word, through gritted teeth:

“Say another word! And I’ll kill you!”

Lin Xian raised his hands, obediently taking two steps back.

He wasn’t afraid of death.

But he was even more curious about what was hidden in this safe.

…

*Click, click, click…*

The woman kept trying to crack the combination, but there was no progress.

Lin Xian squatted on the ground, propping his chin up with his hand, also without any clue.

*Click!*

With the crisp sound of a circuit connecting, a piercing alarm rang out all around.

It seemed that the main power line had been restored and the automatic alarm had been triggered.

The woman punched the safe and sighed.

Lin Xian raised his watch and glanced at the time:

[00:41:53]

He got up and stretched:

“No time left. Let’s come back tomorrow.”

“Heh! Tomorrow?”

The woman laughed scornfully, as if she had heard the joke of the century:

“You blew this place up like this! You think you’ll have a chance to come back tomorrow?!”

“You certainly won’t have a chance…”

Lin Xian smiled slightly:

“But I will. I can, every day.”

He waved at the woman:

“Bye-bye~”

*Boom!!!!!!*

*Boom!!!!!!*

*Boom!!!!!!*

Suddenly, a flash of white light! The whole world was illuminated!

There was no time to feel any pain, no time to react!

The scorching white light instantly engulfed everything!

Evaporating everything in this world!

…

…

Huff…

The night breeze stirred the window纱, dancing and playing with shadows.

Moonlight shone through the glass, scattering floating frost.

From downstairs came the shouts of men playing drinking games at the night market stalls.

The sound of rushing water came from the bathroom pipes next door.

The manuscript paper on the desk fluttered in the wind, and the notebook opened and closed like a clam.

On the bed in the corner of the bedroom.

Lin Xian opened his eyes…

He sniffed, sat up, and looked at the digital clock on the bedside table—

[December 7, 2022]

[00:42:01]

…

[00:42:02]

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[00:42:03]

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[00:42:04]

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