Expected, Zhao Yingjun's expression and eyes were complex.

There was surprise, joy, and doubt.

But in the end...

She nodded affirmatively:

"Lin Xian... it seems I really underestimated you before. You truly are proficient in everything: qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting."

"Only painting is passable. Don't count on the rest." Lin Xian stood up:

"If you think this song is okay, why don't we use it as the Rhine Cat theme song?"

"How should I put it… after all, I designed this cat, and I'd rather take care of her myself."

He said this.

Zhao Yingjun couldn't possibly refuse.

After all, she was the company's big boss, and besides, she now saw a "threat" of him going solo.

"I don't see any problem with that."

Zhao Yingjun still looked at Lin Xian, her eyes smiling:

"At least I like it quite a bit."

"As you said, it's a cat you designed, so you have the final say."

Lin Xian didn't know if she truly liked it or if she wanted to go along with him on this matter...

But in any case, she agreed.

Afterward, Zhao Yingjun made a phone call to the agent of that music producer. After a standardized apology, she canceled her evening appointment with the agent.

"In that case, Lin Xian, I don't have any plans for tonight."

She put down her phone, crossed her hands, and rested them on the table:

"That meal you promised... do you want to have it today or tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, I think."

Lin Xian said without hesitation:

"It's my fault for mentioning it so late today."

Since Zhao Yingjun's schedule had already been rewritten for today, there was no point in eating dinner tonight.

The opportunity for this meal should be saved for tomorrow, so as to ensure that Zhao Yingjun's schedule would be rewritten tomorrow as well, and she wouldn't be caught up in the shooting.

"Alright."

Zhao Yingjun stretched her arms:

"Since that's the case... it's rare to have no plans for the evening, so I'll go home and get some rest. I've been too busy lately and haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time."

"Oh, right, Lin Xian, find a recording studio during the day tomorrow and record a demo of this theme song. Have them record a professional one so we can give it directly to the singer."

"Okay, I'll prepare when I get back." Lin Xian nodded in agreement and then left Zhao Yingjun's office.

Bang.

Behind him, the heavy double-layered password door closed, once again separating the two worlds.

...

Around five o'clock in the afternoon, Zhao Yingjun's business car drove out of the company, heading in the direction of her home.

Lin Xian stood in front of the office's Venetian blinds, watching clearly.

This should be the earliest Zhao Yingjun had ever left work.

Because according to her usual workaholic mode, she would definitely fill every day, even every minute, to the brim, handling almost everything personally and being incredibly busy.

But...

Today, the Rhine Cat theme song that he had sung out of nowhere disrupted all of Zhao Yingjun's plans for today.

Her original itinerary and the original course of history had already changed.

So, if that shooting were to happen tonight, the bullet shouldn't affect Zhao Yingjun.

The bullet wouldn't wait for her, and she wouldn't wait for the bullet.

If there really was a killer who was determined to kill Zhao Yingjun, barging in with a gun…

Then Lin Xian would be powerless to do anything and could only trust Zhao Yingjun's community security.

Presumably, she lived in one of the top high-end residential areas in Donghai, so there shouldn't be any problems with security.

This was Donghai, after all, not some Florida.

Lin Xian looked at his watch.

Nearly half-past five.

If he went home now and then entered the dream at home... he would obviously miss the plot involving the Three-Knife-Style Thief, and he wouldn't be able to join the Face Gang or the operation organized by Li Cheng tonight.

"I guess I'll sleep at the company."

Anyway, his office had a dedicated lounge, and the formaldehyde and odors had dissipated quite a bit. It should be fine for one night.

He felt it was still necessary to go to the dream, to that 314 Garbage Plant, to confirm whether Zhao Yingjun's history had changed.

"If that shooting really happened tonight, then the records in that *My Autobiography with X*... should have changed."

"Perhaps, under the powerful butterfly effect of spacetime, it's hard to say whether that bald CEO, X Company, or even New Donghai City will exist in the future."

Lin Xian went to his lounge and closed the curtains.

After a quick wash, he lay down on the brand-new bed...

...

...

...

"Lin Xian! I found it!"

Across the pile of books, Li Ningning shouted.

"Throw it over!"

Whoosh…

Thwack.

That book, *My Autobiography with X*, was thrown at Lin Xian's feet once again.

After entering the dream today, he still followed the previous process: catching the Three-Knife-Style Thief, joining the Face Gang, telling Li Cheng about the information regarding the 314 Garbage Disposal Plant, and then following Big Face Cat's group to steal books here.

Lin Xian picked up the book *My Autobiography with X*...

On the cover was still that bald, hundred-billion CEO.

An ominous premonition.

He immediately flipped to the later chapters, opening it to a familiar page—

—Just as the company was taking off, Ms. Zhao Yingjun unexpectedly passed away in a shooting incident, her jade body fading away at midnight, at the young age of 23.

Subsequently, X Company was officially taken over by the Zhao Group of the Imperial Capital, undergoing large-scale personnel adjustments and operational business integration. From then on, X Company embarked on a new journey!]

"Heh, it hasn't changed."

Not a single word had changed.

Lin Xian closed the book and sighed.

In that case, the death crisis for Zhao Yingjun had not been resolved... because tonight was not her actual time of death.

"Since the shooting incident didn't happen on the night of January 12th, then it can only be on the night of January 13th or January 14th."

But fortunately, Zhao Yingjun had already agreed to have dinner with him tomorrow night, which could be considered a change to the original itinerary and a change to the original course of history.

At this point in time, the water of "Zhao Yingjun having dinner with him" hadn't been poured out yet, and it couldn't form an irreversible spacetime anchor point.

Because he could cancel the dinner at any time, and Zhao Yingjun could also ditch Lin Xian and continue with her original itinerary.

It had to be an irreversible event in order to accurately trigger spacetime changes and become a change anchor point.

Therefore...

The records in this book couldn't rule out the possibility of the shooting not happening tomorrow night.

He hadn't had dinner with Zhao Yingjun yet; there were still variables.

"It all depends on tomorrow."

Whoosh—whoosh—

Outside the walls of the 314 Garbage Disposal Plant, Big Face Cat's retreat whistle sounded, and Li Ningning, holding a stack of books, looked at Lin Xian:

"Lin Xian, let's go quickly! It's time to retreat! The surveillance blind spot is only 30 seconds, starting from 00:19!"

"Okay, good."

Last time, it was because the retreat time was too late that his brains were splattered by the drone swarm. He didn't want to experience that feeling again.

Lin Xian stuffed *My Autobiography with X* into his waistband and then followed Li Ningning's pace, coming to the wall.

Buzz…

Buzz…

The distant drones were rapidly approaching. They had 30 seconds to retreat!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Lin Xian and Li Ningning swiftly threw all the books they were holding out.

"Ningning, you jump first."

Li Ningning nimbly climbed up the wall and jumped down—

Thud.

Outside the wall, Big Face Cat and the other four steadily caught her.

"Lin Xian!"

Li Ningning's voice came from outside the wall.

Lin Xian took one last look back at the piles of books inside the 314 Garbage Disposal Plant, one last look at the towering steel walls that blended into the darkness of the night... and jumped over!

"Heave-ho!!"

Big Face Cat, A Zhuang, Er Zhu Zi, and San Pang were already waiting below, catching Lin Xian safely.

Lin Xian was surprised to discover...

Actually, Er Zhu Zi wasn't so bad after all.

Despite always disliking him and always going against him... when something actually happened, he was still very reliable.

As long as you don't covet Big Face Cat's wife! We can be good friends!

—That was probably Er Zhu Zi's principle for making friends.

Unfortunately, he wasn't trustworthy enough for Er Zhu Zi yet... Was it because he was too handsome?

"Run! The surveillance distance outside the wall is also 20 meters!"

The surveillance drones were getting closer and closer!

Everyone scrambled, fumbling with the books, and rushed into the jungle!

Buzz!!!!!!

The surveillance drones flew by with a whistling sound, detecting nothing unusual, and continued to patrol according to their original route.

"Phew..."

Lin Xian also breathed a sigh of relief:

"What a thorough and satisfying operation."

This was the first time he had achieved a perfect ending since participating in Li Cheng's book-stealing activities.

The books were stolen,

No one died,

And the entire plan was perfectly executed on time.

"Perfect," Lin Xian couldn't help but exclaim.

As a full participant, he felt a great sense of accomplishment and, for some reason, a sense of honor for fighting for human history and knowledge.

"What does that mean?" Big Face Cat curiously turned his head.

"It means 'perfect'."

"Oh! You even know foreign languages!" Big Face Cat chuckled:

"Then teach me a few phrases!"

"Forget it, you don't have any talent for foreign languages."

"Hey, bro, who are you looking down on! I have a very strong language talent, okay! Teach me any phrase at random, and I'll learn it!"

"Shit."

"Shit!" Big Face Cat spat as he carefully enunciated the phrase and harrumphed:

"Fancy!"

...

The group didn't rush back to the small hillside but instead reveled in the joy of such a large haul of books, smiling from ear to ear.

Li Ningning said that this was the most bountiful harvest they had had in years.

Lin Xian rummaged through the books on the ground.

Science, textbooks, engineering drawings, academic books...

Indeed, for Li Cheng and for the world outside the steel walls, this knowledge was like a treasure.

But...

"Why aren't there any history books?"

Lin Xian recalled that when he was searching through the piles of waterlogged books, he hadn't seen a single history book either!

Such a large bookstore, tens of thousands of waterlogged books…

How could there not be a single history book?

"Ningning, did you see any history books when you were searching through the piles?"

As soon as he asked, Lin Xian realized it was a pointless question. If she had found any, she would have definitely thrown them out:

"Have you guys ever found history books in the garbage disposal plant before?"

"No," Li Ningning shook her head:

"Not a single one. We've never found any."

Lin Xian frowned...

This wasn't a natural occurrence.

If they had been blindly searching in the garbage disposal plant before, it would have been reasonable not to find a single history book.

But today, with such a large library for him and Li Ningning to search through, they still hadn't found any history books!

Not a single one!

"This is too abnormal."

Lin Xian turned his head to look at Big Face Cat, who was busy shitting with A Zhuang and Er Zhu Zi...

The information that New Donghai City had history books came from Big Face Cat.

Thinking about it now, he was probably just guessing.

Because he simply thought that New Donghai City had everything, so it naturally had history books as well.

But it seemed now that...

Most likely, everyone had guessed wrong.

History books not only didn't exist in Old Donghai outside, but they also didn't exist in New Donghai City!

Could that mean that there was no existence of history books anywhere in the future world?

"Why is this happening?"

Lin Xian was very puzzled.

He looked up.

Looking towards the jade-like round moon, at the black hand shadow that extended a finger, pointing straight at the sky:

"Could it be that this world... has no history?"