"Th-that, how..." someone finally stammered. The sound instantly jolted the others to their senses.

"The Director-General... The Director-General is actually..."

"Why would something like this happen? Who’s the killer!"

"Zhu... Mr. Zhu, you... you already knew?"

Someone had already pieced together from Chu Bamboo’s earlier strange behavior that he knew something. In fact, if not for his special status, his actions would have made him the prime suspect.

To this, Chu Bamboo simply lowered his gaze and sighed. "Call the police."

Then, Chu Bamboo turned and walked away.

...

「Police Chief Bureau.」

Chu Bamboo walked back into the base, sat down in a chair, and stared at the silvery-white wall for a long time.

’I was careless!’ Chu Bamboo finally muttered. ’I tried to skip ahead, but it only led to a worse outcome.’

Even setting aside his personal feelings for the deceased Director-General and directors... this incident had shattered the union’s stability.

What would a violent organization that covered the entire shantytown redevelopment area do now that it had lost its mind? The answer was almost certain. One only had to recall their savage words when confronting Guan Fei to know...

They would only lash out and retaliate mindlessly, and then... clash with the government, an entity they shouldn’t be antagonizing right now! And in the end, they’d be completely annihilated.

’The only solution now is for me to step up and retake the position of Director-General,’ Chu Bamboo thought, his eyes narrowing. ’Then I’ll promote a new group of people, handle a slow transition, and stabilize the situation.’

However, he was already aware that the mastermind must have anticipated this. ’It’s even highly likely they killed the directors for this very reason—’

’From that perspective, if I’m the one in charge next, then the mastermind’s next assassination target... will undoubtedly be me!’

"Then let’s see just how many of my lives you can take," Chu Bamboo said with a smile, though it held no warmth. "Nuwa No. 17, resume *Three-Body 3* from where we left off."

"Oh, right. Do this in the background, without interrupting the movie. Consolidate the video feeds from near the shantytown redevelopment area and extract key information. Your first target is in the wealthy district five hundred meters to the left of Area 17 of the shantytown redevelopment zone: a person, bundled up from head to toe, who snuck into a storefront. Your second target is in Area 19 of the shantytown redevelopment zone: a similarly suspicious individual filmed by the camera at the entrance of the Jinghai City Fourth District Government Office. I want all data on them..."

Chu Bamboo fluently recited the intelligence about the suspicious individuals that Nuwa No. 17 had detected in the previous timeline, ordering it to lock onto, retrieve, and search for them directly.

Time ticked by.

「7:15.」

The massive screen turned silvery-white. Chu Bamboo knew Li Kang had arrived, but his expression remained unchanged. "Ignore him," he continued, "Keep it playing."

Then, the screen, which had gone dark, lit up again.

A few breaths later, Li Kang walked into the Underground Temple Base, his expression grave, his heart pounding with anxiety and unease. "Um..." he began, but froze solid the moment he stepped inside.

Deafening dialogue bombarded his ears.

In the vast hall of the Underground Temple Base, the surrounding walls were no longer silvery-white. In their place, a panoramic, holographic movie screen had materialized!

That’s right—above, below, left, right, in front, and behind—every silvery-white wall now projected scenes from the movie. Standing there, it felt as if he were truly on a film set... or rather, had been transported into the movie itself, watching it all unfold in person.

The immersive shock was something you couldn’t possibly imagine without experiencing it firsthand.

The scene currently on display showed the future Sword Holder holding his child. He faced the distant Sun with a brilliant, gentle smile. "Because he knows the Sun will rise again!"

"..."

’What in the world have I walked into? Is this still the Underground Temple Base?!’

"Ah... Ah Zhu! You! You!" Li Kang choked, sputtering for a long moment before finally forcing out a sentence. "What are you doing?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Li Kang realized what a stupid question it was.

"Watching a movie, of course," Chu Bamboo replied calmly. Seeing that *Three-Body 3*’s credits were rolling, he continued, "What are you waiting for? Nuwa No. 17, play *Three-Body 4*."

"Acknowledged."

The scene shifted once more.

"Skip the opening credits! Go straight to the plot."

"Acknowledged," Nuwa No. 17 replied, doing as commanded.

Li Kang: "!!!"

’To be fair, Li Kang had thought his question was pointless, but he never imagined Chu Bamboo would give him such a mind-blowing answer. A movie... Was he joking? Did he think Li Kang had never seen a movie before?!’

’Okay, maybe it really *is* a movie.’ Li Kang touched the wall in disbelief before he could confirm it. ’It seems... apparently... it’s true... Chu Bamboo wasn’t lying? It’s just that this movie is a little... beyond belief.’

’But the real question is...’

"You... how did you..." Li Kang didn’t dare finish his sentence. He desperately wanted to ask an audacious question: ’What did you do to the Divine Being last night? How is it that after only one day, I feel like I’ve been transported to another world?’

’What have you done to the great and revered Divine Being?!’

"Oh, right," Chu Bamboo said calmly. "Nuwa No. 17, designate a small square in the area in front of Li Kang. Display all the data I had you collect on it. Let him run the search and then go make the arrests."

Then, he fluently repeated the words he had said to Li Kang in the previous timeline—telling him to go investigate and see if he could catch the killer.

Li Kang: "..."

Li Kang’s mind was a complete mess. He didn’t even remember how he managed to walk out of the Underground Temple Base.

’I’m not dreaming, am I?’ Li Kang wondered, looking up at the Sun and questioning his own existence.

After a few more steps, a sudden realization struck Li Kang. ’Wait a minute. I came here to ask him why he was at the crime scene, why he was the one to discover the bodies. And why he left so quickly, did nothing, and came straight back to the base...’

Li Kang turned his head stiffly. He thought about it for a moment but couldn’t bring himself to re-enter the underground base. Dejected, he set off to do as Chu Bamboo had instructed.

...

「Underground Temple Base.」

’Heh. Look at Uncle Li...’ Chu Bamboo mused while continuing to watch *Three-Body 4*. ’It seems this time he was so shocked he didn’t even think to be afraid of the political turmoil that could erupt once news gets out that I can communicate with Nuwa No. 17.’

’It’s understandable, though.’ Chu Bamboo could completely see why. ’After all, the shock of what I’m doing now is completely different from what I did last time.’

’Last time, I only showed that I could communicate with Nuwa No. 17. But now, I’m giving off the impression that I can actually command her.’