Time in a collapsing world

Chapter 1299 Guarding

As the cabin door of the aircraft, which clearly belonged to Qianjie and was rugged in style with no attempt to conceal its "non-civilian" modifications, slowly closed and the engine emitted a deep hum in preparation for takeoff, the girls exchanged glances and instantly reached a tacit understanding.

Having failed to track Alicia, Qianjie, who appeared to be heading to the "base," became the only clue.

"Quick! Let's sneak up before he takes off!" Kiana said decisively in a low voice.

Bronya frowned slightly, sensing something was off. Kiana and Sirin, however, had already crouched low, using the debris at the docking point as cover, and nimbly approached the loading ramp entrance at the tail of the aircraft. Mei glanced apologetically at Bronya and followed.

“Sister Bronya…” Seele nervously grabbed Bronya’s hand.

“Seele, we follow. Stay hidden and adapt to the situation,” Bronya decided. This was, after all, their only chance to get closer to the “truth,” even though it seemed too “coincidental,” almost like a backdoor deliberately left open.

Thanks to the Valkyrie's (or former Herrscher's) exceptional skills and Bronya's hacking expertise, the group managed to sneak into the cargo hold area unscathed, using the noise of the aircraft's engines as cover. They found a relatively hidden corner filled with spare parts and crates to hide in. The aircraft quickly took off and accelerated towards its unknown destination.

The flight was unexpectedly smooth (or rather, Qianjie's piloting style was surprisingly "normal"), without the violent turbulence or high-speed maneuvers they had anticipated. Time passed quietly in a silence mixed with tension, curiosity, and a touch of unease.

After an unknown amount of time, the aircraft shuddered slightly, conveying the feeling of landing. The engines shut down. Then came heavy footsteps—Qian Jie seemed to have left the cockpit directly, walking in a certain direction without checking the cargo hold.

The group waited patiently for a while, and after confirming there was no movement outside, they cautiously made their way out. The cargo door wasn't locked, and they easily reached the outside, finding themselves in a vast underground space. Before them lay a deep, dark passage, the only possible direction Qianjie could take.

"Should we follow them?" Mei asked the others for their opinions.

“Of course! We’re already here, how could we possibly turn back the way we came?” Kiana affirmed.

So the group walked forward until they reached a hall that resembled a palace.

"This is... their headquarters?" Mei murmured, her gaze sweeping over the peaceful surroundings.

“It looks… amazing.” Seele’s eyes widened.

"Tsk, where are they?" Sirin curled her lip, showing no interest in anything other than intelligence.

Bronya pointed to a peculiar device in the center of the hall that resembled both a magnificent door and a mirror: "Bronya thinks that's another passageway."

"They must have gone in!" Kiana whispered.

The group reached a consensus again and quickly and cautiously approached the device. Upon closer inspection, its strangeness became even more apparent—its surface shimmered with an indescribable light, as if containing fragments of countless scenes, yet the specific content remained unclear. There were no handles, no buttons, only a hazy light.

"How do I activate it? Just walk in?" Celine reached out and tentatively touched the "mirror." The moment her fingertips touched the flowing light, a gentle yet irresistible suction force suddenly surged forth!

"Whoa—!" Kiana, who was standing closest, was the first to be sucked in, and her scream came to an abrupt halt.

"Kiana!" Mei instinctively reached out to pull her, but ended up getting caught in the crossfire herself.

"Idiot!" Celine spat, trying to resist the suction, but in the instant she was pulled towards the light screen, she seemed to catch a very faint whisper in her ear. She turned her head sharply, but saw nothing—

No one is empty.

(Illusion?) There was no time to think about it. The suction increased, and Sirin was swallowed up as well.

Seeing this, Bronya and Seele knew there was no turning back. "Hold on tight, Seele," Bronya said calmly, stepping towards the light barrier. Seele clung tightly to Bronya's arm, and the two were engulfed by the light together.

After a brief period of weightlessness and shifting light and shadow, the five people fell one after another onto the same wide platform suspended in the void. The platform was made of some kind of luminous crystal, and beyond its edges was an endless, strange space flowing with streams of data and memories.

"Ouch... I almost fell and hurt myself..." Kiana rubbed her bottom and got up.

"Where am I...?" Mei cautiously surveyed her surroundings.

Bronya immediately assumed a defensive stance, the phantom of the Heavy Bunny appearing and disappearing beside her. Seele hid behind her.

Celine frowned, still recalling the suspicious sound from earlier.

Just then, a woman's voice, full of exaggerated theatrical tone, rang out, whether from above the platform or from all directions:

"Oh my gosh~ Look who's here! I didn't expect that our Mr. Qianjie would have a few lost little tagalongs following him~ Welcome to 'Paradise of the Past', everyone."

“That voice…” Kiana immediately recognized it. It was the voice of the older sister who called herself Velvet, the one who had appeared with Alicia before! Moreover, “She’s definitely laughing! Right, Mei? She must have found out a long time ago! Alicia deliberately led us to the spaceship! That’s too much!” Kiana shouted angrily at the sky.

“Excessive? Oh, my dear Kiana, that’s hardly true~” Velvi’s voice still carried that lingering smile. “Rather, it’s your recent series of… well, how should I put it, overly active and ‘goal-oriented’ behaviors that have successfully caught our attention.”

Her tone became slightly more serious, but still relaxed: "First, there were frequent investigations, then database intrusions, and then you had some contact with another Mr. 'Li' whose identity is sensitive... Oh, right, recently it seems that two completely unexpected 'outsiders' have also made contact with you?"

"..."

The people on the platform kept their mouths shut, feeling annoyed. They hadn't expected that all their experiences and actions over the past few days had been seen through by someone else!

"To prevent uncontrollable variables from interfering with our high-risk 'performance,' and to avoid you rashly getting involved in things far beyond your current capabilities without sufficient intelligence and preparation..." Velvi's voice continued, tinged with a hint of helplessness and an obvious sense of "amusement," "temporarily 'inviting' you to a place within our sight seems to be the safest option. After all, this is, after all, our 'home ground.'"

“Of course,” her voice became lighter again, “Since we’re already here, it would be boring to just watch. Qianjie went in to do his daily routine… well, ‘venting’ and ‘adapting’. As for you guys… as the extra ‘special observers,’ you can also receive a little bit of… tailor-made ‘adaptation training,’ which should be good, right? Don’t worry, it will be tailored to each of your characteristics~ After all, the challenges of the future cannot be solved by brute force and courage alone.”

“Special…special training?” Seele repeated softly.

“That’s right~ Alright, chat time over!” Velvi’s voice suddenly became passionate, like a conductor about to draw back the curtain. “The first adaptive experience is about to begin! The theme is—'Maintaining self-awareness in the flood of information and the labyrinth of memory'! Don’t worry about your safety, Paradise’s simulation system is quite reliable… I guess~ Have fun, kids!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire floating platform shone brightly, and the surrounding data light streams suddenly accelerated, surging towards the five people on the platform!

"Wait! What do you mean by 'probably'?!" Kiana's protest was drowned out by the overwhelming light and information.

The five were instantly pulled into a bizarre realm composed of pure memory data, fragmented information, and distorted cognitive scenes. Velvi's special training—or rather, Yingjie's kind of "care"—had begun. Unbeknownst to them, in a certain space within "Paradise of the Past," Velvi was enthusiastically adjusting parameters, while Alicia peeked around curiously.

"Vilvie, so these children will be in your care from now on?" Alicia whispered in her ear.

"Don't worry, you guys go ahead and take care of things outside. I'll make sure everything in Paradise is handled perfectly~" Velvi—or rather, Velvi (the memory entity)'s voice carried a confident smile, "But... I hope to see you all again next time. Also, it's been so long since I've seen Li, I miss him terribly, you should bring him along next time too~"

Of course~?

Alicia smiled and assured her.