Chapter One: Logoff
December 23, 2021.
London.
The street outside the headquarters of Barclays Bank.
A middle-aged man with graying hair emerged from the bank's entrance, surrounded by a group of black-suited figures. A Mercedes by the roadside had its doors open, with several security guards stationed at critical positions, scrutinizing the surroundings.
The man walked toward the car, muttering rapidly to his deputy, "Tell those vultures in the fund that if they don't make a move, we will. This is a feast, and I don't give a damn about any crisis. A profit expectation of ten billion is worth going to hell for…"
Before he could finish, a loud BANG! The middle-aged man's head suddenly burst open like a watermelon!
The deputy beside him, splashed with red and white, froze for a second before letting out a piercing scream!
The well-trained security guards rushed up frantically. Those with superior professional skill quickly deduced the bullet's trajectory and the direction of the gunshot, racing towards it…
Minutes later, in a distant building, the firing position was located. A sniper rifle, set up on a mount, was found.
"Damn, it's remote-controlled."
「」
In a café on a side street behind the bank, a woman in a leather jacket and boots walked out unhurriedly, her black hair and eyes revealing her Asian heritage.
The woman walked to the curbside. Her S-tier legs, clad in thigh-high leather boots, carried her swiftly into an alleyway, where she casually pulled out a trench coat previously hidden behind a garbage bin.
After donning the trench coat and emerging from the other side of the alley, she had transformed into a chic, elite figure in a trench coat and sunglasses.
She opened the door of a Land Rover parked by the roadside, slid into the vehicle, and retrieved a mobile phone and a set of car keys.
The woman dialed a pre-saved number on the phone.
"Firefly reporting. The target has been eliminated. By the way, the little toy you rigged up isn't bad, but the wind speed assessment still has some flaws. Improve it next time, Fox."
A hoarse female voice with a Latin accent came through the phone in English, "Understood. Evacuate immediately via the pre-arranged route."
"Don't call me for this kind of mission again. Making me interrupt my vacation for a mere black-hearted vulture from the financial world—it's just too dull."
The woman stretched languidly, "What's my next mission?"
"There is no next mission. The latest order is for everyone to enter silent mode."
"Silent mode? For how long?" The woman frowned.
"...Permanently," came the reply from the other end of the line.
The woman slammed on the brakes!
The Land Rover screeched to a halt in the middle of the road!
"Silent mode? Permanently?" The woman's voice trembled slightly.
After a moment of silence, unable to control herself, she roared into the phone, "Who issued the order?! I want to contact the Boss!!"
"It was an order from the Boss himself, issued an hour ago. A recording relayed by him personally," the voice over the phone stated.
"You're lying! You damn Fox, you must be lying again!" the woman roared. "If you dare lie to me like this again, I'll kill you!"
Over the phone, the hoarse voice replied, its tone icy, "Regrettably, there's no need for you to do that. After all these years, you know me very well, and you know him very well!"
The woman sat in the car, as the blaring horns from the vehicles blocked behind her grew more insistent.
Her voice trembled. "Is he really... gone?"
The voice on the other end was cold. "His last words were that he hoped we could all go to heaven. As for hell... he said he'd go alone, and that would be fine." After a pause, she continued, "Alright, carry out the order, Firefly! This is our last call. So... see you in the next life."
The call disconnected, leaving only a dial tone.
The blaring horns behind her grew more urgent, and the wail of distant sirens drew nearer.
Suddenly, the woman picked up her phone and sent a message to that number.
Then she tossed the phone aside, stepped out of the car, and stood in the middle of the road. She pulled out her handgun, aimed it skyward, and repeatedly pulled the trigger, screaming wildly until the magazine was empty!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Pedestrians screamed in terror and scattered. The drivers who had been frantically honking behind her also jumped out of their cars and fled in panic.
Moments later, police cars swarmed in.
The woman, however, simply lit a cigarette and stood in the middle of the road.
She took a deep drag, then tossed the cigarette butt to the ground.
"Hell? I'd fucking love to see it for myself!"
She watched as police cars screeched to a halt in the distance and armed officers advanced.
The woman sneered, a silver dagger appearing in her hand.
She plunged the dagger fiercely into her own heart!
Inside the car, the last message sent from the phone read:
Firefly, logging off!
「」
At twenty thousand feet, a specialized skydiving training plane was in flight.
Inside the aircraft, a woman with short golden-blonde hair and a stunning figure listened to the final words on her phone.
"...His final message... execute the order... see you in the next life."
The blonde woman hung up and slowly sat down, her beautiful face now wore a dazed expression.
In front of her, a man checking skydiving equipment paused, frowning. "Is something wrong, Alice? We're about to reach the designated jump point, and you seem a bit off. That phone call just now..."
SLAP!
The blonde woman suddenly drew a pistol from her jacket and slammed it onto the table in front of the man!
The man's expression changed drastically, and he jumped up with an exclamation.
"Sit down, Mr. Pierre," the blonde woman said, her eyelids fluttering open to reveal blue eyes filled with an indescribable sadness.
"Alice... you..."
The blonde woman took a deep breath.
Her speech was even, her voice so calm it was almost robotic, "Firstly, my name isn't Alice; it's a pseudonym. My mission was to get close to you and become your skydiving instructor. Then, according to the original plan, I was to kidnap you during this jump. You are, of course, very valuable."
Pierre's face was deathly pale, his eyes darting around. "What are you saying? I don't understand..."
"No, you understand perfectly. Your pupils are dilating. You're terrified."
The blonde woman shook her head, her tone still terrifyingly calm. "Mr. Pierre, we spent a month meticulously planning today's kidnapping, and then..."
"I... I think we can discuss this," Pierre stammered. "I can pay more..."
"There's no need," the blonde woman said coolly. "You're very fortunate. Just a minute ago, I decided to cancel the mission. Now, you can go."
"...Go?" Pierre's eyes widened.
The blonde woman gestured with her pistol toward the cabin door. "Take your parachute and jump."
Pierre started to speak, but the blonde woman silenced him by flicking off the safety catch on her pistol.
A minute later, Pierre, parachute strapped to his back, leaped from the cabin door and deployed his chute in mid-air.
In the cockpit, the blonde woman let out a breath, murmuring as if to herself, "Hell? I've always wanted to see what it's like."
On the phone beside her, a sent message remained:
Hummingbird, logging off!
In mid-air, Pierre witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life!
That trainer plane suddenly veered crazily and plunged towards a distant mountain peak...
Then, there was a brilliant burst of flame, like a firework!
「」
In the dark room, only the glow of a computer screen provided light.
On the screen, avatars and names, one by one, had turned black and white.
The hands before the keyboard were clenched so tightly that fingernails had pierced the palms, which now dripped with blood!
On the screen, the final message in the chat box next to each name was strikingly similar...
"Bullhead, logging off!"
"Hummingbird, logging off!"
"Lan Mei, logging off!"
"Iris, logging off!"
"...Logging off!"
Logging off!
Logging off!!
Logging off!!!
Before the screen, a woman with distinct Latin features gritted her teeth, a chilling smile playing on her lips.
Her bloodstained hands calmly reached into a drawer and retrieved a pistol.
Bullet by bullet, she loaded the magazine.
She slammed the magazine home. Flipped off the safety.
Her hands performed each action with unwavering stability.
The woman of Latin descent smiled, then suddenly pressed the muzzle of the gun to her own forehead.
"Fox, off line!"
BANG!
A gunshot echoed.
「」
Sometimes life is like a creek, sometimes like a river. Oftentimes, droplets of rain and individual streams eventually merge into a great river, and then... pour into the vast sea! Such is life. Such is time and space. Such are all things in the universe!
「」
It was the afternoon of December 23, 2000.
Chen Nuo had just returned to this timeline. Completely unaware of the spectacular, firework-like farewell ceremony that had marked the end of that other life, he now stood outside a classroom, clad in an ugly, oversized blue-and-white school uniform.
Unsurprisingly, he had listened to the entire math lesson while standing outside the classroom door.
And even less surprisingly, having not encountered high school textbooks for decades, the math problem on the blackboard was as indecipherable to him as an arcane text.
"Ah, life is meaningless," Chen Nuo sighed with an air of feigned world-weariness.
On the sports field, students were playing soccer. Young men, drenched in sweat and radiating hormones, ran about, shouting loudly, apparently trying to capture the attention of the girls with their boisterous displays.
From his vantage point, he could just see a boy in the last row of the classroom, a Jin Yong wuxia novel hidden beneath his math textbook.
From where he stood, he could also spot a girl in the front row whose pencil case was adorned with a Nicholas Tse sticker.
Chen Nuo looked up at the sky. Though it was winter, the sunlight still felt somewhat blinding.
So, God, is this my punishment, or my reward? Chen Nuo wondered with a bitter smile.
Then, suddenly, a shadow plummeted from above, and his face smashed right into it…
A scream tore through the air.
"Help! Someone jumped! Someone jumped from the building!"
[This is not a mass time-travel story.]