Chen Xuan had already anticipated this outcome. "What time is it now?"

This question jolted Elorie awake. She suppressed her excitement and quickly opened the notebook on the table. "May 9, 2027! Have I been gone for two years already?!"

The difference in the world’s time flow was once again apparent.

However, two years didn’t feel long.

"At least there haven’t been crystal clusters falling from the sky. You now have the chance to change the future." Chen Xuan said with a smile.

This suited Elorie’s needs more than any ability—she now knew the direction of the future and had nearly a century ahead of her with many things she could do.

Elorie understood this well.

She turned and bowed deeply to Chen Xuan. "Thank you, I’ve learned what I need to do!"

"I remember Amy mentioned that the first signs of disaster came from the attack on the Holy Temple Treasure Vault of the Angel Alliance, right?" Liu Shuyue’s memory was indeed impressive. "It seems it was called the Himalayas?"

Elorie gasped. "June 1st!" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"What?" Chen Xuan raised an eyebrow.

"The day the Treasure Vault was destroyed!" She remembered this too. "It’s this year! Only 22 days until the demons launch their attack! I need to report to the Angel Alliance immediately..."

She hurried to the door but turned back to look at the three people apologetically. "Sorry... It’s rare for you to bring me home, I should have been a better host..."

"No matter, business is more important. You focus on your tasks, don’t worry about us." Chen Xuan waved her off.

"I’ll definitely make it up to you next time!" After saying this, Elorie rushed out the door.

"Why doesn’t she make a phone call?" Lin Qing puzzled.

"Probably the Angel Alliance has special ways to communicate." Chen Xuan shrugged.

Then the three returned to the shop.

Liu Shuyue opened the rolling shutter door; it was still a calm afternoon at Celestial Ridge District, seemingly unaffected by the lively Christmas atmosphere outside.

"Who knew buying an excavator would lead to such a big change." She couldn’t help but comment.

Most importantly, the excavator hadn’t been purchased yet. The Five Rings Machinery Factory had been seized, surely lacking any resources to supply them now.

"It’s not over yet." Lin Qing pointed upstairs. "What about the other person? Should we give him a room and send him back to underground Paris City?"

"No." Chen Xuan decisively rejected the idea. "He’s not a chosen guest of the shop, might not even have a need for business. Opening a room upstairs requires them to first become a guest, and they’ll learn our details in return."

A person with no need from the Ability Store, yet aware of its existence, meant risk to Chen Xuan.

He’d rather leave this person in Jiang City than register him a room.

"By the way, you mentioned he has something strange on him. What is it?"

"The bullet didn’t cause much penetration damage because there were numerous flesh-fiber-like things preventing the bullet rotation." Lin Qing explained. "When I extracted it, it was tangled tighter than a ball of chaos and withdrew back into the body like a parasite once removed."

"Oh, I see." Chen Xuan pondered. "That must be the Primordial Life implanted after attending the Fusion Festival."

"I think so too..." Lin Qing showed a disdainful expression. "Enhancing oneself with biological technology is just flesh and blood, far behind subcutaneous armor."

"We saw similar flesh masses in Chang’an City..." Liu Shuyue wondered. "Are they the same thing?"

Chen Xuan couldn’t answer this for now.

Yet he vaguely felt there was some connection between them.

Because he also saw abilities labeled as forbidden on an Angel. However, the world before it was destroyed was peaceful and normal like Jiang City... hard to link with twisted flesh.

And then there’s the mysterious "Ancient Worm," equally intriguing.

Whether it’s "Guess the Coin" or card games, before they shattered, they transformed into numerous insects, while the power of flesh clearly viewed them as enemies, even capable of devouring them in inventory. Considering the situation in Second New Paris, is there a correlation between Ancient Worms and Primordial Life as opposing forces?

Yet before pondering that, he decided to tackle Raphael’s issue first.

If they don’t open the guest rooms... the only option seems to return via the eroded passage of the Five Rings Machinery Factory. But that’s extremely risky; after such severe casualties, countless eyes must be watching the park, and flying in like a fly would be difficult.

If only he rented a room in New Paris City...

Wait! Chen Xuan suddenly slapped his forehead, speaking of renting, he did have a place!

He opened his phone, seeing dozens of messages written in French—these were the messages he received after registering on the local network, mostly formed from his shopping trips in Second New Paris City with Liu Shuyue.

But not all deductions were shopping; one detailed the cost incurred by continuing to stay in temporary accommodations without moving out.

Using a QR code scanner, he scanned this message, went to the computer, opened the manager software, and pulled down the branch option, finding a new item: "Second New Paris City No.4 Isolation Unit, East City No. 1402".

So the place he lived was called an isolation unit.

"Hahaha..." He couldn’t help but laugh. "This makes it easy."

"What did you think of?"

Chen Xuan shared his discovery with the two of them. "Now we have a quick way back."

"Is this possible?" Lin Qing was surprised.

She was surprised not by the branch feature but by how the shop could include temporary housing in branch scope.

"Actually, it makes sense upon thinking... because the room charged us, it’s distributed by the government, compliant and legal, and surely has complete paperwork." Chen Xuan said. "The deduction agreement is essentially a contract, as long as I haven’t owed rent, it equates to a rental room."

"Alright..." Lin Qing had to admit the manager sometimes had quick thinking. "We should transport the person now."

"Is it necessary to hurry?"

"Don’t forget where you and little Shuyue disappeared." Lin Qing glared. "Wasn’t the Louvre Palace just attacked by rioters? Once the scene is cleared, you’ll either be declared dead or missing, and then the rental agreement will surely be canceled, so the sooner we move the better."

"Makes sense." Chen Xuan realized the seriousness of the issue. "Let’s set off immediately."

After setting up the branch, the three of them carried the still unconscious Raphael to take the elevator to the newly established isolation unit branch. As the door opened, a round figure greeted them, "Welcome back! May I ask... where did you come from? My logic system cannot make valid judgments. Who is this lady? She’s not registered as a resident of this room."

"Why is there a robot here?" Lin Qing frowned.

"Guide assigned by New Paris, supposedly provided for every outsider."

Chen Xuan laid Raphael on the sofa—the originally cozy living room had been transformed into a fruit shop with the same decor as the main store; if someone saw it operating from the yard outside, they’d surely be startled.

Lin Qing went ahead, squatted down beside Amy, examined her, then pulled out a data cable from her wrist and plugged it into the interface on her back.

"What are you doing? Amy refuses unauthorized data trans-trans-mission—A306, starting reboot." Amy’s expression disappeared, replaced with a snowflake-filled screen, and her arm drooped above.

"What did you do to her?" Chen Xuan asked.

"I let Lv screen its software and hardware. Think about it, this thing is undoubtedly a mobile surveillance station planted by the local government around you. After I modify it, at least there’s no need to worry about it divulging your whereabouts."

Future Warriors are truly reliable in this regard!

"Done!" Lin Qing promptly completed the transformation. "The person is delivered; we can head back now."

"Not so fast." Chen Xuan had a different idea. "We still need to rent a room here and visit the Oddities Repair Shop."

"Wait, are we coming back here?"

"Don’t forget, the Dimensional Limit Mechanism entered this world too. We’ll just stop them from acting; we should at least observe what they’re doing here. Plus, aren’t you fixing your prosthesis? New Paris’s technology may not match your era but is superior to Jiang City’s."

Furthermore, Chen Xuan had one thought unspoken: if Elorie truly changed history, would this world change correspondingly? Likewise, Jiang City a century later faced similar issues: to what extent must he and Lin Qing act to reverse the fall of the Crystal Palace?

Second New Paris City was an ideal observation point for them.