"..."

At this moment, Yan Huan’s heartfelt words slowly traversed the shattered starry eyes of Bai Yi, cautiously stitching them back together.

Amidst them, remnants of regret and sadness from the past transformed into glistening tears that flowed down.

"Yan Huan... sob..."

But before the tears could hit the ground, before her trembling heart could urge her to speak...

In front of her, the body of Meow, which had repaired the world line, became exceedingly thin, and even those divine eyes dimmed, showing fine cracks.

Yet even so, the power of annihilation had not completely dissipated.

"Crack..."

The mere aftershock made Bai Yi’s face turn pale in an instant, dizzying and causing her to hold her head and kneel on the ground.

In her hand, the stopwatch that had completely halted also revealed a crack.

"Meow..."

Upon seeing this, Meow squinted its eyes, quickly gathering strength to absorb all the annihilation into its body.

After that, it struggled to breathe a few times and spat out shard after shard from the black mist...

Upon closer inspection, there were indeed quite a few.

These were all the private savings Meow had accumulated over time!

Yan Huan had a Fragment Refiner, and every time a shard was acquired, it would randomly convert into more of the same type or other types of shards.

Before spitting these out, Meow would underreport by one or two pieces to keep them in reserve.

This day-by-day accumulation had led to such a quantity today...

After spitting out all the shards, Meow raised its eyes and summoned the golden clock that had been seen in Yan Huan’s eyes before.

Then, without hesitation, Meow crushed all the shards, absorbing the energy contained within.

As the large number of shards were absorbed, the originally golden clock and Meow’s black mist body solidified again.

After finishing all of this, Meow then raised its eyes to look at Bai Yi and said,

"Bai Yi, now, I will do my utmost to send you back..."

Upon hearing the word "you," Bai Yi, even as her consciousness started to fade, couldn’t hide her joy on her face.

She nodded heavily, tears streaming down her face and breathing gently,

"Thank you... thank you..."

At this moment, she only wanted to see Yan Huan...

She just wanted to see him...

But Meow’s words were not yet finished in front of her,

"But remember, no matter what happens...

"Don’t waste anything Yan Huan has done."

Hearing this, Bai Yi was slightly stunned.

"Meow!!"

But before she could understand its meaning, the black mist in front of her suddenly condensed, starting to contract quickly, and then, taking Bai Yi with it towards the clock.

As the black mist, which had filled the entire world, receded, it revealed the originally intact look of the world line.

In the ward, Zuo Jiangqin, drenched in sweat, looked at the baby in the swaddle, while Bai Letian, smiling brightly, returned with documents in hand,

"Honey, it’s done..."

"Why did it take so long? Quick, help me to the bathroom..."

"Alright, take it slow..."

"..."

At this moment, they had no regrets yet, still immersed in the joy of the child’s birth that day.

And in the next second, on the golden clock, the date and time began to change, setting the pendulum below in motion.

The black mist enveloping the two of them leaped across the world lines with each swing of the pendulum.

The trajectory of its movement, akin to the fan-shaped region swept by the edge of the pendulum, and like words between pages of a book being turned...

[Tick... Tock...]

"...How is Xiao Huan? Ah, he’s napping? That’s good... Oh right, remember, lately the weather at Linmen has been chilly, he might kick off the blanket at night, make sure to watch him..."

"Honey, time to board the plane..."

"Coming, coming..."

In the airport, Wang Yulu, holding a briefcase, reluctantly put down her phone.

While boarding the plane with her husband, she glanced back inadvertently and saw Bai Letian being handcuffed and led away by the police.

[Tick... Tock...]

"Big brother, what’s wrong with you? I... I’ll find someone for help..."

"..."

At Yasaka Company’s child star audition site, the little Bai Yi looked at the youth covered tightly in front with no response, so worried she started to cry.

Thus, she immediately got up and turned to find her mother.

Completely unaware that the boy behind her was slowly enveloped by black mist until it totally covered him, disappearing from the spot.

[Tick... Tock...]

Outside the world line, Meow’s pair of emerald green eyes became even dimmer, yet it still resolutely gazed into the future.

Within its ever-thinning black mist body, the two unconscious silhouettes were blurred, but one could just faintly see their tightly held hands, even in their dreams...

"Crack crack crack!!"

"Almost there, meow..."

Seeing the ever-approaching future, Meow squinted its eyes, once again giving its all to wrap tightly around the two in its arms, speeding up,

"I will definitely bring you back, meow!!"

"Buzz!!"

On the brilliant golden river, among the numerous if-lines that resemble stars, the luster of the golden clock dimmed bit by bit...

"Tick..."

"Tock..."

As its pendulum swung more and more slowly, the vigorously sprinting black mist seemed to burn out, dissipating bit by bit...

And within the mist, the two holding hands also, at this moment, started to involuntarily loosen their grip on each other...

Gently falling into the river of time below...

...

...

"Tick..."

"Tick..."

The lingering charm of summer was long, and on the wall of the Holy Heart Hospital, the clock marked the passage of time.

On the white sheets, the lashes of an exceptionally beautiful young girl slightly quivered...