Chapter 1454: Timeline "Save File"

Timeline "Save File"

Chen Ling had a dream.

He dreamed that he had returned to Shennongjia, returned to that tent in the rainy night.

The stove burned in the center of the tent. Lu Xun, Yang Xiao, Su Zhiwei, Ji Xuan, Lou Yu, Qi Muyun, Wen Ruoshui, Wu Tongyuan... everyone gathered together. Before Chen Ling's eyes, they were seriously discussing how to save this world.

Wu Tongyuan was shrinking back, Ji Xuan was annoyed, Lou Yu was silent, Lu Xun was smiling... Everything advanced methodically, exactly as in Chen Ling's impression.

But in the next second, the fire in the tent suddenly went out.

Coldness and darkness filled the entire tent. The sounds of laughter and discussion by Chen Ling's ears completely disappeared. He stood up in bewilderment, only to find that there was no one beside him...

Chen Ling abruptly rushed to the tent door, wanting to find the missing people. But in the next moment, a figure that shouldn't be present blocked his path at the door.

"Chen Ling, you shouldn't be here." Under the pale light, Chu Changqing's eyes flickered with ferocity.

He only saw that the people who had just disappeared inside the tent were already scattered on the open space outside at some unknown time. The heavy rain poured down, soaking them through, but they remained unmoved. Pairs of complex and unfamiliar gazes were staring at Chen Ling, who was blocked inside the tent.

"Chen Ling, you shouldn't be here."

That voice, accompanied by roaring thunder, exploded loudly by Chen Ling's ear!

...

Chen Ling jolted awake from his dream in shock!!

The piercing cold wind swept over from the end of the gray world, causing Chen Ling, who was drenched in cold sweat, to shiver. He was stunned for a long time before he recovered his wits...

Immediately after, a somewhat familiar fragrance entered his nasal cavity.

"Lord Chen Ling, you're awake?"

Chen Ling looked down, only to see a familiar young girl carrying him on her back in the sky full of wind and snow, walking step by step in the desolate Gray World.

"Liu Qingyan?"

Chen Ling immediately struggled to get down from her back, but as soon as his feet touched the ground, they went slightly weak, and he almost planted onto the ground once again.

Fortunately, Liu Qingyan reacted quickly and supported him:

"Lord Chen Ling, Master said you overdrew yourself too severely, you can't move freely yet."

"...It's fine, I feel much better already."

Since Chen Ling was awake, he naturally couldn't be thick-skinned enough to let Liu Qingyan carry him. Even if he had to grit his teeth, he would walk himself. He turned his head to look behind him and found that the contour of the Aurora Domain could no longer be seen at all. He didn't know how long this young girl had been walking while carrying his unconscious self.

"Why are you here?"

"Master asked me to come find you."

"Master?"

Following Liu Qingyan's gaze, Chen Ling looked over. He only saw that not far away, a figure draped in a gray robe was standing on the desolate earth, quietly looking at this place, like a quiet and clear moon.

With Chen Ling's current strength, he actually completely failed to sense her existence just now.

"Six of Hearts, Chen Ling, greets the Grey King."

Chen Ling raised his hand and prepared to salute. After all, he was still a member of the Dusk Society now, and the Grey King was the second-in-command and a high-ranking senior. Courtesy was still essential.

But in the next second, that gray-robed figure suddenly appeared before him like a ghost, firmly blocking the palm Chen Ling was preparing to salute with.

"You don't need to salute me." The Grey King paused for a moment, then added another sentence,

"From now on, you don't need to salute anyone."

Chen Ling froze in place.

He felt the Grey King's words were somewhat strange, but he couldn't put his finger on what was wrong for a moment. After hesitating for a moment, he asked:

"Senior Grey King, why are you here?"

"I made a special trip to find you."

"Find me? For what?"

The Grey King was silent for a moment, "Take you to see... your Master."

The doubt in Chen Ling's eyes grew even thicker.

"Didn't he board the Red Star? He's already back?"

"..." The Grey King didn't answer. She only took a deep look at Chen Ling, then turned and walked towards a certain direction, "Come with me, when you see him... you'll know."

Seeing that the Grey King was unwilling to answer, Chen Ling turned his head to look at Liu Qingyan...

Liu Qingyan shook her head at him in bewilderment.

"...Alright."

Chen Ling had no other way, he could only follow the Grey King forward. Liu Qingyan took small steps to catch up, silently trailing behind Chen Ling.

The direction the Grey King was heading wasn't the Ancient Vault of the Drama Path. Chen Ling compared it on the map in his mind and found that the destination didn't seem to be any Human Domain either... She said she was taking him to see the Red King, but where was the Red King?

Chen Ling didn't know, nor did he ask more. The Grey King didn't seem to want to mention these things, just walking silently.

Time passed minute by minute.

Chen Ling's thoughts quickly returned to that dream he just had.

Everything about the Timeline Save File lingered in his mind like a curse, making him ponder bitterly. Right at this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Grey King's back...

Wait.

Wasn't the Grey King also an owner of a Timeline Save File once?

Since that was the case, why not just ask her directly?

"Senior Grey King, regarding the Timeline Save File... I have some doubts." Chen Ling couldn't help but speak.

The Grey King looked back at him, her gaze somewhat complex. She seemed to have long guessed that Chen Ling would definitely ask this question. After a moment of silence, she still nodded:

"Whatever doubts you have, just ask."

"The Timeline Save File, can it change the past?"

"Of course not." The Grey King shook her head decisively, "If the Timeline Save File could easily change the course of history, wouldn't everything be messed up? If our Dusk Society truly had that kind of ability, how could we only be at the current level..."

Chen Ling's heart thumped, his brain going somewhat blank for a moment...

"Then what exactly is the Timeline Save File?"

The Grey King asked in return, "What is the goal of our Dusk Society?"

Chen Ling was taken aback, answering without hesitation, "Reverse the Era, Reboot the World."

"The Timeline Save File is exactly what its name suggests. It is a 'Save File'. Since it's a Save File, it's impossible to change the established course of history...

Its function is, at a certain specific node, to use the 'reality' recorded in the Save File to overwrite the history that has already occurred...

Which is what we pursue... Reverse the Era, Reboot the World."

Chen Ling frowned tightly.

A similar explanation, when he first joined the Dusk Society, Chu Muyun seemed to have mentioned it too... But he didn't understand the meaning of "overwriting history" at the time. And most crucially, the subsequent attitude of Yang Xiao and the others towards him forced him to doubt the true ability of this thing.

After all, if a Save File was just a Save File, then how could Yang Xiao and the others recognize him??

"But the Nine Monarchs of this era, clearly..."

As Chen Ling spoke halfway, a thought suddenly flashed like lightning. A possibility he had never considered before exploded in his mind like thunder!!

"Wait, you're saying..."

"The world we are currently in, has already been Rebooted more than once??"

"The Nine Monarchs I met in this era are not the Nine Monarchs I saw in the Timeline Save File... but the Nine Monarchs who formed a connection with the previous owner of the Timeline Save File in the previous world??!"

Chen Ling felt his mind buzzing. He felt this thought was quite absurd, and there were too many logical loopholes!

If this was the case, many things couldn't be explained at all!

"I know what you're thinking." The Grey King spoke again,

"Chen Ling..."

"Your choices in the Timeline Save File are not changing the past of the Nine Monarchs of this world..."

"You, are paving the way for their future in the next world."