Chapter 188: Spacetime Anchor

Zhao Jianguo stood at the courtyard gate, his gaze sweeping along the street. The black Jeep was gone, but he didn't relax. When that person left earlier, the car window had been opened just a slit; the way the wind blew in made him feel something was off.

He slipped his hand into his pocket and felt the badge. The copper shell was a little cool, its edges worn smooth. He didn't take it out, just confirming it was still there.

Turning back to the courtyard, class time had arrived. Several kids were already waiting at the classroom door, holding their books and chattering about yesterday's problem‑solving machine. Zhao Jianguo walked in, placed the lecture notes on the desk, and was about to speak when the system interface on his wrist flashed red.

"Warning: The 1978 spacetime anchor's energy index has risen 300%, with a risk of tampering."

He stopped speaking mid‑sentence.

The children noticed his expression change and fell silent. Zhao Jianguo didn't explain; he hurried to the window, lifted half the cloth curtain, and looked outside.

Across the street, three men in suits stood, going door to door. One held a canvas bag, another was registering something, and the third stood with his hands behind his back under a streetlamp, a metal piece at his waist catching the sunlight.

That flicker… was very like the part Jia Wu left behind.

Zhao Jianguo immediately pulled out his personal device from his pocket and pressed a few keys on the encrypted channel; the other end connected quickly.

"Dong Xu, take the detector and come to the west gate." He said, "Don't take the main road, go through the back alley."

After hanging up, he lowered his head to open the system silent broadcast and entered a short command: "Xiao Jian, watch the intersection; if that Jeep shows up again, notify me at once. Don't get close, don't make a sound."

After sending the message, he grabbed the toolbox at the wall corner, stuffed in a coil of electric wire and a wrench, then left the classroom and headed toward the west wall.

On the way he ran into San Daye coming over with a kettle, who smiled and asked, "Jianguo, fixing the wall?"

"Yeah, the bricks here are loose." He replied, his steps not stopping.

San Daye nodded, walked off humming a pingshu tune to himself. Zhao Jianguo turned behind the kitchen and edged slowly along the enclosure wall toward the street.

The several suit‑clad men were still gathering things. An old lady handed over an old tin box; they pulled out a few bills and gave them to her. The instant the lid opened, Zhao Jianguo saw a layer of gray cloth lining the inside, a small box in the corner with thin wires leading to the bottom.

He raised his wrist without changing expression and activated the long‑range scan. As the signal went out, the system prompt popped up: "Abnormal code structure detected, 87% match to a foreign organization's communications protocol."

Sure enough, it was them.

At that moment, Jia Dongxu emerged from the back alley, shouldering a square box, its antenna still undeployed. He panted as he approached: "Those people on the street… are they a problem?"

"They are." Zhao Jianguo said quietly, "They're using old items to lay points, rebuilding the 1978 coordinate network."

Jia Dongxu blinked: "You mean… this isn't scavenging junk, it's setting up a base station?"

"Pretty much." Zhao Jianguo pointed at the man standing with his hands behind his back, "Especially him—the metal piece on his waist matches the frequency of the virus carrier we've seen."

Jia Dongxu quickly set down the detector, plugged in a temporary power source. The screen lit up, and after a few seconds it burst into red light, the alarm beeping nonstop.

"Virus concentration is over the limit!" He stared at the data, "The source is those three people, moving, continuously emitting the signal."

"First, control the range." Zhao Jianguo gave the order quickly, "Station people at the east and west alley entrances to keep the kids from going out. Is the cafeteria steamer still on?"

"It is, just finished the third basket of buns."

"Draw all the steam to the street to create a fog barrier. While they can't see, we'll first activate the interference array."

Jia Dongxu nodded, bundling the cables as he said, "But this thing can only suppress for ten minutes; it won't last long."

"Enough." Zhao Jianguo was already crouched on the ground, opened the system quick menu, found the "Foundation Disturbance" option, "As long as we can hold the anchor's resonance, we just need to wait for the Special Forces to react."

He pressed the confirm key.

The ground gave a slight shudder, like a distant vehicle passing. Immediately, the man standing across the street raised a hand to touch his ear, then lowered his head to look at his watch, his brows knitting.

"They've sensed it." Jia Dongxu whispered.

"That means it's working." Zhao Jianguo didn't look up, "Now move the detector to the roof; I need to know whether their signal is weakening."

Jia Dongxu picked up the equipment and headed for the ladder. Zhao Jianguo remained crouched at the wall base, eyes fixed on the street. The three began to talk in low voices; one opened the canvas bag to rummage, the other produced a small instrument and gestured at the air.

Just then, Xiao Jian's voice came over the walkie‑talkie: "Brother Jianguo, no Jeep at the intersection, but a flatbed truck has come from the south pulling a large wooden crate; it doesn't look local."

"License plate?"

"None."

Zhao Jianguo narrowed his eyes. Who would haul cargo in an unlicensed vehicle at this time?

He was thinking about that when the three men across the street suddenly split—one went east, one west, the middle one stayed put, reaching into his chest as if to take something.

Zhao Jianguo immediately pressed the system interface, ready to activate the second layer of protection at any moment.

But just then, laughter rang from the courtyard. A few kids, who had somehow run to the front yard, were chasing a chicken. The bird flapped its wings straight toward the street entrance.

"Come back!" Zhao Jianguo sprang to his feet.

It's too dangerous. Those people carry a virus source; if the kids get too close they might be infected passively.

He took a few steps, blocked the doorway, and just managed to stop the group of children. The chicken darted past his feet, flopping onto the clothesline next door at Wang Shen's house.

The children gave a foolish chuckle, he glared at them, and they obediently retreated back into the courtyard.

Zhao Jianguo caught his breath, turned to look at Jia Dongxu. The latter had already climbed onto the roof and was securing the detector's antenna.

"How's the signal?" he asked.

"Still red!" Jia Dongxu shouted, "But their movement has slowed—maybe the interference is having some effect!"

Zhao Jianguo had just let out half a breath when the corner of his eye caught the man who had stayed in place pulling out something—

an old‑style pocket watch.

He opened the cover with one hand and lightly flicked the dial with the other.

Zhao Jianguo's heart gave a sudden lurch.

That wasn't an ordinary motion. It was an activation command.

He immediately slapped his wrist; the system switched instantly to emergency mode. A low‑frequency wave spread from the ground, making the courtyard's floor tiles tremble slightly.

Across the street, the pocket watch's hand paused for an instant, then resumed moving.

"No way!" Jia Dongxu yelled from the roof, "They're forcing a sync! The anchor is about to lock!"

Zhao Jianguo gritted his teeth, finger hovering over the "Full Shield" button. He knew that once activated, the whole compound would be sealed, no one could enter or leave for a while, but it would also fully reveal his defensive capabilities.

But there was no time to hesitate.

He was about to press it when Xiao Jian's urgent shout came over the walkie‑talkie: "Brother Jianguo! The southern vehicle has stopped! The wooden crate is open—inside is a clock! Its hands point to three!"

Three o'clock?

Zhao Jianguo abruptly lifted his head to look at the sky.

The sun's shadow slanted west; it was exactly three in the afternoon.

March 5, 1978, Xu Da Mao's diary had written about this day: "People in military uniforms came asking about Zhao Jianguo."

That time was exactly the first contact point.

These people didn't choose the time at random; they are reenacting a historical node.

"We can't let them finish the synchronization." Zhao Jianguo said in a low voice.

He no longer waited for backup, directly long-pressed the system key, preparing to forcibly inject a reverse frequency.

Dong Xu jumped down from the rooftop, still holding the detector: "What are you doing? This will burn out the interface!"

"No time for that." Zhao Jianguo stared at the pocket watch, "They want to rebuild the time coordinates using old objects; they need to trigger it at an exact moment. As long as we interrupt once, the subsequent chain will break."

After saying that, he took a deep breath, preparing to manually override the program.

At that moment, footsteps came from the street corner.

Someone was walking over.

Zhao Jianguo looked up and saw a young man in a gray jacket, carrying a tool bag, walking at a leisurely pace.

But he recognized that face.

It was the technician who had been loitering around the outskirts of the labor reform farm yesterday.

At the time I thought he was just passing by, but now it seems… he was actually following them.

That person walked to a spot five meters away from the man in the suit, stopped, put the bag on the ground, and bent over to unfasten the clasp.

Zhao Jianguo held his breath.

Inside the bag, half a wire was exposed, connected to a display screen, on which numbers jumped: 1978.03.0515:00:23

Countdown.

Zhao Jianguo shoved Dong Xu aside, rushed forward two steps, and frantically pressed the system terminal several times, forcibly cutting off the local power supply.

The underground vibration stopped abruptly.

Across the street, the pocket watch's hand jerked violently, then stopped.

The countdown screen flashed twice, then went black.

The man in the gray jacket abruptly lifted his head, looking toward Zhao Jianguo's direction.

Their eyes met.

Zhao Jianguo did not dodge.