The Pink Chili Fish Head cruised steadily along the elevated highway.
Fang Qi leaned against the back seat, narrowing his eyes as he watched the guardrails rush past outside the window.
Just moments ago, in the bun shop, after Lin Xiaoyou had said, “I saw something deep within the glimmering light…”
The world in his eyes had suddenly become… somewhat different.
He couldn’t quite put his finger on what had changed.
The sunlight was still the same sunlight. The elevated highway was still the same elevated highway. Lin Xiaoyou was still the same Lin Xiaoyou.
And yet…
It felt as though the entire world had suddenly become much clearer.
It wasn’t that his eyesight had improved. It was just…
A faint intuition.
Like now, when that intuition was telling him—
Lin Xiaoyou would speak to him two seconds later.
“…Senior!”
He turned his head slightly toward the front seats.
The genius girl glanced at him through the rearview mirror, then quickly turned her eyes back to the road when she saw him looking!
Both hands remained properly fixed on the steering wheel, and her expression was solemn and proper.
Fang Qi silently watched her.
He was waiting for her to say it.
“This time, I, Lin Xiaoyou, will be your sharpest sword!”
She wore a serious expression and spoke with force!
“Point me wherever you want, and I’ll strike wherever you point! No questions asked!”
Fang Qi frowned slightly, silently studying that perfectly serious, round little face in the rearview mirror.
Sure enough, she spoke.
Though it was still nothing more than meaningless trash talk.
But the timing was exact—two seconds, neither more nor less.
He didn’t respond. Instead, he turned his head and looked at the silver-gray sedan in the lane behind them on the left.
At that moment, it was driving along perfectly obediently in its lane.
It hadn’t turned on its signal, and its speed was steady.
But Fang Qi simply had a feeling…
Two seconds later, it would change lanes and overtake them.
Just as he thought this, the silver sedan switched on its right turn signal.
Then it accelerated, overtook them on the left, and merged into the lane ahead.
Fang Qi stared silently at its receding taillights.
Everything had happened exactly as he’d predicted.
…How strange.
Could it be that he really could see two seconds into the future now?
No.
He pondered for a moment.
More precisely, he could…
Predict the state of a person or object—in short, some “target”—two seconds into the future.
Why?
Liguang?
Do you know?
Outside the window, the sky remained clear and blue.
At that moment, Liguang gave him no response.
Only the disasters ravaging the world continued to erupt.
But…
It should be Liguang.
He remembered what had happened in the previous loop.
In the back room of the bun shop, Liguang’s body had dissolved into countless faint-blue fragments in his arms.
And at that very moment, he had felt as though something new had appeared inside his mind.
Now…
That something seemed to be awakening.
Liguang, was this ability something you gave me?
…Lin Xiaoyou was about to speak again.
“Senior, say something!”
Fang Qi turned his head slightly once more.
In the rearview mirror, Lin Xiaoyou’s round little face had already crumpled into a mournful expression as she stared at him.
“Senior, don’t be like this! You’re scaring me by staying silent!”
“The look in your eyes is terrifying right now. It’s practically…”
“It’s exactly the same as when you get angry with your Liguang!”
Fang Qi fell silent.
Exactly the same as Liguang?
He raised a hand and lightly touched the corner of his eye with his fingertip.
That was good.
It was called looking like a married couple.
Speaking of which…
He did indeed feel rather strange right now.
His emotions, and the way he processed them…
They seemed to have changed.
Normally, given his personality, after hearing that Lin Xiaoyou had glimpsed some of Liguang’s memories…
He should have leapt to his feet on the spot!
He should have slammed the table, gritted his teeth, and demanded, “What else did you see?!”
…But he hadn’t.
At the time, he had merely looked at her calmly, then calmly pressed her for answers…
He had been so calm that, instead, he had frightened her.
Yet that calmness hadn’t come from deliberate self-restraint.
He didn’t even know how to describe the feeling. It was just…
As if his emotions had difficulty finding an outlet?
It was like…
Liguang after her original core had awakened and suppressed her Scarlet Eyes.
Calm.
Composed.
With all her processing power running at full capacity.
“…Xiaoyou.”
He finally spoke.
“I’m here, I’m here!”
Lin Xiaoyou immediately responded, blinking at him through the rearview mirror and giving him an ingratiating smile!
Fang Qi, however, frowned slightly and looked at the deep blue sky outside the window.
“My current condition is a little strange. Or rather…”
He carefully considered his wording.
“A little… wondrous.”
“…I noticed that a long time ago.”
Lin Xiaoyou immediately muttered under her breath.
“Your eyes were practically glowing blue just now…”
…?
Fang Qi slowly turned his head and looked at Lin Xiaoyou through the rearview mirror.
What?
Under his gaze, Lin Xiaoyou immediately shrank her neck.
“Senior, the look in your eyes is making you seem like you’re threatening me… I’m scared!”
Fang Qi frowned and didn’t bother arguing with her.
“My eyes? Blue light? When?”
“Just now!”
Lin Xiaoyou pursed her lips.
“When you asked me for the second time, ‘What did you see?’ Your eyes started glowing blue then!”
“You scared me half to death!”
Oh…
So that was why she’d immediately admitted defeat and backed down?
Miss Genius really knew when to bend and when to stretch.
Still…
After a moment of silence, Fang Qi asked her:
“Do you know why?”
Lin Xiaoyou blinked at him through the rearview mirror.
“I don’t know either… Though I was actually going to ask you the same thing. Do you feel any different now?”
…Different?
The changes were enormous.
Fang Qi didn’t hesitate any longer and directly told Lin Xiaoyou about his current condition.
The ability to predict the future two seconds ahead, his unusually calm emotions…
He told her everything.
After working together for so long, he considered Lin Xiaoyou fairly trustworthy. Although she liked to be irritating and court death, she was, overall, quite reliable.
What was more, she was someone Liguang had left behind to protect him.
She was worthy of his trust.
It was just that…
After Fang Qi finished speaking, he fell silent.
To be honest…
He wasn’t used to the current version of himself.
He was frighteningly calm!
That old impulsive drive of his had been completely suppressed by something!
He didn’t know how to describe himself now. Perhaps it was…
The priorities of everything were being arranged automatically?
And since his former loud, impulsive personality would only reduce efficiency, he…
Couldn’t be bothered to act that way anymore.
He simply couldn’t summon the interest.
“…Senior, I get it!”
Lin Xiaoyou’s voice brightened as she blinked at him through the rearview mirror!
“It must be that Liguang gave you a portion of her ‘authority’!”
Fang Qi looked at her.
“…Gave me a portion of her ‘authority’?”
“Exactly!”
Lin Xiaoyou nodded several times before pointing out the window with one hand.
“The evidence is today’s weather!”
The weather…?
Following her finger, Fang Qi looked outside.
The sky was clear and blue, the sunlight bright, and a gentle breeze drifted through the air.
But in other parts of the world, earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis, and torrential rains had begun erupting in another wave.
Liguang’s “control” over this world had weakened.
Fang Qi narrowed his eyes slightly.
He understood what Lin Xiaoyou meant.
She was saying…
Perhaps Liguang had grown weaker not because she had expended something by descending to the mortal world, but because…
She had lost a portion of her authority?
Had some of Liguang’s authority been divided up and given to him?
Given to him?
“As for why she gave it to you, Senior…!”
Lin Xiaoyou suddenly slammed the accelerator all the way down! The pink Spicy Fish Head shot forward!
The sudden acceleration threw Fang Qi back against his seat. Before he could say anything, that familiar feeling returned!
“There’s a car ahead on the right. It’s about to change lanes.”
He spoke instinctively.
The moment Lin Xiaoyou heard him, she immediately wrenched the steering wheel!
At the same time, the black sedan ahead really did suddenly change lanes!
It didn’t even use its turn signal. It simply forced its way over without a care in the world!
One car accelerated without warning, while the other changed lanes without warning!
But thanks to Fang Qi’s warning, the pink Spicy Fish Head made a nimble swerve and brushed past the suddenly merging car.
“Wow, Senior, you’re amazing!”
She grinned at Fang Qi through the rearview mirror.
“It’s just like Liguang!”
“Like the Liguang we had when we were being chased by those trucks!”
Fang Qi froze slightly.
Come to think of it, it really was a little similar.
Back then, when they had been hunted by “fate”—when those heavy trucks had been chasing them…
Liguang had been just like this.
She had warned them in advance, with precision down to the second, allowing them to evade danger by the narrowest of margins every single time.
And now…
He could do it himself.
Fang Qi drew a deep breath.
Sure enough, this was Liguang’s authority!
But… why had she given it to him?
“Because Liguang’s original ‘authority’ was simply too powerful!”
Lin Xiaoyou answered the question in his heart as if she had heard it, all while continuing to drive.
“The body she ‘created’ herself simply couldn’t withstand all that authority!”
“She said so herself, didn’t she?”
“So!”
Lin Xiaoyou winked at him through the rearview mirror.
“She gave a portion of her ‘authority’ to you, Senior!”
“That way, there’s less ‘authority’ inside her.”
“Not only can it help you, but maybe…”
She giggled.
“She’ll also be able to come down to the mortal world and find you more easily!”
Fang Qi fell silent, lost in thought.
What she said…
The logic was perfectly sound.
Liguang’s authority was too powerful—so powerful that even a human body couldn’t withstand it.
But if she voluntarily transferred part of that authority to him, she would become “lighter.”
She could maintain a human form more stably.
She could return to his side.
And after receiving part of that authority, he had also gained some of the abilities she once possessed…
Such as predicting events two seconds ahead.
Such as this frightening calmness that made even Lin Xiaoyou afraid.
Fang Qi slowly exhaled and looked once more at the sky outside the car window.
Liguang, is this really what happened?
The weather still hadn’t changed at all.
The goddess still couldn’t control the weather.
Was it because…
She had given him a portion of her abilities?
Did that mean he was now using their “marital property”?
Fang Qi pressed his lips together.
Oh no.
I’ve become a kept man living off his wife…
He had thought his own “authority” had awakened, but in the end…
It still belonged to his wife?
But…
The corners of his lips lifted slightly.
Living off my wife feels pretty damn good!
It was just the side effect that he still found a little difficult to get used to.
This unnaturally calm version of himself even frightened him a little.
He felt as if he were no longer quite himself.
He stared absently at the sky outside the window.
Liguang, when your original core awakened…
Did you feel this way too?
Yes, Lin Xiaoyou was about to speak again.
“Senior!”
Lin Xiaoyou grinned and winked at him through the rearview mirror.
“Anyway, this is seriously, unbelievably great!”
“Your new ‘authority’ came at exactly the right time!”
“We just happen to be heading out to do something big today!”
…
The journey went smoothly.
They had set out in the morning, and the Spicy Fish Head still had plenty of charge left.
They passed through the city without incident, turned onto the elevated highway, crossed the suburbs…
After nearly four hours, they arrived at the foot of the mountain.
“Hurry up, hurry up!”
Lin Xiaoyou had already bounded ahead and was standing at the entrance to the mountain trail, waving him over.
She had returned to her usual shameless, carefree, irritating self. With her hands on her hips, she shouted at him:
“Senior, I’m taking you to find your wife! Could you at least look a little excited and happy?”
“You’re always walking around with that same poker face!”
Fang Qi: “…”
I want to be excited too, but my wife clearly doesn’t want me getting excited. What am I supposed to do?
The soil beneath his feet was slightly damp, and the air carried the fresh scent unique to the aftermath of rain.
He looked up the mountain.
Amid this familiar scenery, a sensation he had never experienced before began to surge within him.
In that direction—the direction where the wooden cabin had originally stood…
He could faintly sense something drawing him closer.
It was like a pull from the depths of his consciousness, compelling him to approach.
Just like Liguang had once done?
Fang Qi looked around.
Everything around him was exceptionally clear.
He could sense the direction and distance of birdsong in the distance. He could even feel the faint vibrations of the soil rebounding beneath Lin Xiaoyou’s feet as she hopped along ahead of him…
He seemed to be able to perceive everything.
…This absolutely wasn’t a human sense.
It felt more like…
Some kind of processing power was running silently in the background?
What a strange feeling.
This world no longer has AI companions, so I became an AI companion instead?
…Liguang, what kind of authority did you give me?
Could it be that…
My wife likes her master cold and expressionless?
…That’s not a problem either.
…
At last, the view before Fang Qi suddenly opened up.
They had arrived.
He stopped and stared at the place before him…
A flat clearing.
Where the little wooden cabin had once stood, there was now nothing but an empty stretch of bare ground.
There were no trees or weeds—only a barren patch of earth.
And the faintly beckoning presence was directly beneath this clearing!
He could sense something silently calling out to him from below.
It felt familiar.
He stared at the clearing, his breathing growing slightly heavier.
…Wait.
His brows suddenly furrowed.
…A clearing?
As he stared at the bare, flat earth, he froze for a moment.
Had this really been a clearing the last time they came here?
…No, that couldn’t be right.
He remembered there being several trees, didn’t he?
Back then, Lin Xiaoyou had even run over and patted one of them, saying that those trees had been used as building materials for the little cabin.
…Huh?
Then why was it like this now…?
“…As expected, it worked here too.”
A murmur suddenly came from beside him.
Fang Qi: “…?”
He slowly turned his head toward Miss Genius.
Lin Xiaoyou was staring at the clearing, looking slightly dazed.
Then she suddenly turned around, planted one hand on her hip, and flashed Fang Qi a radiant smile!
“Senior, look!”
As she spoke, she swept a finger toward the clearing.
“I told you I could help you find Liguang, didn’t I? And this…”
“This is my proof!”
“This time, it’s my turn to shock you, Senior!”
…?
Fang Qi had no idea what she was talking about.
He looked at the bare clearing where the trees had once stood, then at Lin Xiaoyou…
Only then did he suddenly realize what the problem was.
“…You did this?”
He asked instinctively.
“That’s right!”
Lin Xiaoyou spread her arms wide, her almond-shaped eyes curving with delight as she looked at Fang Qi proudly.
“Senior, I’m done pretending. I’m coming clean!”
“As for the world line we’re on now…”
She giggled.
“It actually changed a long time ago!”
She lifted her chin proudly.
“I did it!”
…?
What was she talking about?
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