The Rewind and the Revelation

Earlier, Li Chunsheng, tearing down the road at breakneck speed, was struck by a peculiar sight.

What first alerted him was the unnatural quiet that settled behind him, as if all sound had suddenly receded from his immediate vicinity.

This eerie silence compelled Li Chunsheng to glance cautiously over his shoulder. It was that very glance that revealed the astonishing rewind phenomenon, steadily closing in from the distant horizon.

Cars traveling in his direction were rapidly receding into the distance, yet on the opposing lanes, vehicles that should have been moving away were instead rushing towards him with alarming velocity.

Simultaneously, a distinct, slightly warped “rewind demarcation line” was hurtling towards Li Chunsheng, its speed far surpassing his own breakneck pace.

“What the hell is that?!”

A shiver of pure dread ran down Li Chunsheng’s spine. Moments later, he realized the hapless car owner he held captive, after curiously peering back at his sudden movement, appeared utterly oblivious to the bizarre phenomenon.

Not a single vehicle approaching the demarcation line displayed the slightest hint of alarm at the unfolding anomaly.

Still, Li Chunsheng dared not let his guard down. He pushed the Black Iron Coins within his body to their absolute limit, their inherent value diminishing so rapidly it became a mere afterimage.

The black sports car beneath him surged forward, accelerating even more violently. Inside, the air rushing past felt as thick and viscous as seawater.

At this speed, the car was likely approaching the velocity of a propeller fighter jet from the early days of World War II in the previous world. Had it not been for the black mist on its tires, constantly providing a forced grip, the sports car would have surely taken flight.

For anyone inside the vehicle, utterly without protection, this situation was nothing short of terrifyingly exhilarating.

“Hmph hmph ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!!”

The car owner, still held captive in the back seat, let out a truly wretched scream after enduring several seconds of the extreme velocity.

Then, with a decisive groan, they promptly passed out. “Ugh…”

Li Chunsheng offered a silent apology, his focus unwavering as he continued to push for more speed. Yet, the relentless demarcation line behind him refused to yield, maintaining its terrifying proximity.

Despite his growing apprehension, the black sports car was ultimately overtaken.

However, the anticipated catastrophic outcome never materialized. The rewind phenomenon appeared to have no discernible effect on either him or the black mist enveloping him.

Instead, the black sports car itself began to unravel; its original components rapidly disintegrated, flying backward along the road from which they had come. Even the unconscious car owner, seemingly defying gravity, maintained a rigid seated posture as they floated backward into the distance.

Fortunately, the black mist, ceaselessly generated by the [Extreme Black Knight Lancelot], promptly filled the newly created voids. Now, Li Chunsheng found himself driving a sports car composed entirely of shifting black mist.

Under these conditions, the pure black mist sports car became an extension of Li Chunsheng’s will, incredibly agile. The steering wheel, in fact, was no longer necessary.

He then quickly realized that remaining grounded was entirely superfluous. It would be far quicker, he reasoned, to simply take to the air.

And so, a bizarre flying contraption, appearing as a hybrid of a sports car and an aircraft, effortlessly lifted into the air and streaked toward Liuxia.

Its speed was phenomenal, so great that it even outpaced the closing demarcation line in its wake.

In short order, Li Chunsheng descended from the sky, nearing the brightly illuminated Grand Court Hotel.

“Paratrooper One, Li Chunsheng, ready!” he declared with a dramatic, almost theatrical roar.

With a muffled *thump*, the black mist sports car and his knight armor instantaneously disintegrated into a cotton-like cloud of black mist. It enveloped him, gently lowering him toward the ground in front of the hotel.

As he touched down, the black mist dissipated, and Li Chunsheng, without a moment’s hesitation, vanished inside the hotel with a swift movement.

Simultaneously, the elder, Investigator Liao, followed close behind, entering the hotel.

“What?” His pupils constricted as he caught sight of the swiftly moving figure.

‘Li Chunsheng? Why is he here too…’ A sudden, unsettling premonition stirred within Investigator Liao, prompting him to give chase.

He then watched as Li Chunsheng excitedly burst into the hall where his daughter’s birthday party was being held, enveloping the suspected girl, Liuxia, in a tight embrace.

“Senior Sister!”

“Chunsheng?”

The young woman, who had been lost in despair, her head bowed as she yearned to ‘return to the past,’ was abruptly pulled from her reverie by the sudden embrace. Startled, she looked up at the unexpected appearance of Li Chunsheng.

In that precise instant, the ‘gold content’ before Li Chunsheng’s eyes finally ceased its frantic fluctuations. Concurrently, as if plummeting from a cliff, its value instantly dropped by millions of Black Iron Coins.

The demarcation line, which had been slowly converging towards the center, now sharply accelerated, drawing itself tight around Liuxia.

The entire world shivered imperceptibly, and time resumed its normal, forward progression.

For a fleeting instant, a flicker of confusion crossed everyone’s eyes. Then, something profound and irreversible shifted.

“Chunsheng…” Liuxia murmured, a hint of bewilderment in her voice, as she leaned into Li Chunsheng’s embrace.

“Hmm?” Li Chunsheng smiled gently, his gaze falling upon her.

Liuxia paused, a brief flicker of thought crossing her features, before a reassuring smile blossomed on her face. She settled deeper into Li Chunsheng’s embrace.

‘Oh, right. Chunsheng and I arrived here first, accompanying Miss He to the party.’

‘But… why did we do that again?’

‘Ah, yes. Li Chunsheng wanted to personally demonstrate his capabilities to everyone present. That would certainly be more persuasive…’

‘…at least, more persuasive than his actual appearance.’

Meanwhile, Li Chunsheng, after his smile, suddenly froze.

Without warning, a fragment of memory flashed through his mind—a vivid image of himself driving at a reckless speed.

Yet, the memory was so disjointed, so utterly lacking a beginning or end, that Li Chunsheng questioned if he was merely hallucinating.

‘Never mind. I’ll just focus on playing my part in this scene with Liuxia for now.’

Further away, Investigator Liao, who had been relentlessly pursuing Li Chunsheng in the prior ‘rewind world,’ also found his memories subtly altered.

“They… how are they here?”

In his revised memory, he had skipped work, unable to endure the profound longing for his daughter, and had come to the party venue, hoping for a clandestine glimpse of her.

To his surprise, he had unexpectedly witnessed Li Chunsheng and the young woman named Liuxia entering the birthday party venue hand-in-hand.

Everyone’s memories had been altered.

Once Liuxia’s Authority fully manifested, it seemed that everyone’s memories, including her own, were rewound to the moment just prior to its complete awakening.

While Liuxia, Li Chunsheng, and Investigator Liao had all taken various actions within the ‘rewind world,’

The repercussions of these actions, once the Authority fully activated, were forcefully rationalized by the world’s corrective influence. The revised causality was then seamlessly integrated into the memories of all involved parties.

Only Li Chunsheng, whose physical tier had reached Bronze-tier, randomly retained a fragmented sliver of memory.

Neither Liuxia nor Investigator Liao retained any complete memory of the events that had transpired.

This world, ultimately, maintained a semblance of fairness. Liuxia’s “Time Reversal” Authority, while immensely potent, also harbored a significant inherent flaw.

Should the user’s Knight tier be significantly lower than the Authority’s inherent grade, they would forfeit all memories from the duration of its activation.

Furthermore, if the user failed to perform any decisive action during its activation, the Authority would prove almost entirely ineffective.

Yet, by a remarkable twist of fate, the three of them—Liuxia, Li Chunsheng, and Investigator Liao—all converged at Liao Xinyi’s birthday party, brought there by the very eruption of Liuxia’s Authority.

As time now flowed forward, the causality of certain events had, in turn, undergone subtle but significant alterations.

“Excuse me, sir… your gift money…” The male waiter stammered, his gaze wavering as he timidly addressed the imposing Li Chunsheng.

Hearing this, Miss He, who stood nearby, interjected anxiously. “Young Master Chunsheng is here to attend the party. Why would he need to provide a gift?”

“He is a distinguished guest, personally recommended by Miss Mu Shengling! His presence here, in itself, is an immense honor for you all!”

Internally, Miss He was in a state of utter panic. ‘Oh, dear! Why couldn’t Miss Shengling keep Young Master Li Chunsheng occupied? Now, how am I supposed to proceed with the plan she entrusted to me?’

‘I can’t possibly embarrass his girlfriend right in front of him, can I?’

In the distance, Investigator Liao, drenched in a cold sweat, concealed himself behind a pillar. ‘Why is Li Chunsheng attending my daughter’s birthday party?’ he thought, utterly terrified.

‘And… this tracker…’

In his hand, the goblin tracker’s arrow-shaped light flickered erratically, its glow steadily diminishing as the aura of Authority around Liuxia receded.

Yet, even this fading signal was enough for Investigator Liao to realize instantly…

The young woman he had previously suspected was, in fact, the very Goblin he had been pursuing!

The intertwined destinies of the three individuals had, at this precise moment, converged with an astonishing synchronicity.