Unlike Alice, Zhu Shi lived firmly in the modern world and naturally had some familiarity with contemporary technology.

  Of course, knowing modern gadgets didn’t automatically mean she would recognize a GPS bracelet—she might have mistaken it for an ordinary smart fitness tracker. But the way she asked, with that particular tone, made it almost certain she had identified it correctly.

  Right now I felt exactly like one of those villains in stories—one step away from having their conspiracy exposed, yet powerless to do anything but watch it happen.

  “You mean this?” Alice touched the red GPS bracelet on her left wrist. A flicker of softness passed through her previously tense gaze, as though remembering the moment she received it.

  But the gentleness vanished almost immediately. She took a half-step back, subtly tucking her left hand behind her body, and shot me a puzzled look—clearly wondering why Zhu Shi had suddenly brought up the bracelet.

  I fought to keep my face neutral.

  Zhu Shi first gave me a stunned glance, then slowly turned back to Alice. When she spoke again, her voice had inexplicably softened, as gentle as someone questioning a young girl who had been victimized before she even understood the concept of gender—trying to uncover the truth without further damaging an innocent mind.

  “Do you know what this is?”

  At that moment she seemed to have transformed into a righteous female detective.

  “It’s just an accessory, isn’t it?” Alice grew even more confused. Then, as if something occurred to her, she added, “Wait… does giving someone a bracelet like this have a special meaning in this era? I think I saw something on TV—there are all kinds of rules about gifts here. Even flowers have specific meanings depending on the type and color…”

  I forced the words out through gritted teeth. “Exactly. This is a special bracelet given to friends who are about to embark on a long journey. Red symbolizes courage—wishing the wearer great martial fortune and success.”

  “Senior Brother Zhuang…” Zhu Shi stared at me speechlessly, as though looking at a criminal who had just deceived an ignorant child.

  “Then why did she react so strangely?” Alice asked, still puzzled.

  “She was probably just shocked to learn that you’re actually my friend,” I said quickly, changing the subject again. “More importantly, let’s talk about the apocalypse—that’s far more urgent.”

  “Right.”

  I still had some knack for redirecting Alice’s attention. Sure enough, she shifted focus back to the earlier topic. “If my power can’t prove the apocalypse is coming, then what about the Karma Demon we just fought—the monster? Monsters are supposed to be creatures that only appear after the end begins, transformed from humans. So why are they showing up in this era?”

  As she spoke, her gaze moved to Zhu Shi’s face.

  I frantically signaled Zhu Shi with hand gestures behind Alice’s back.

  Zhu Shi let out a long sigh—seemingly putting aside (for now) the reckoning of my “crimes”—and answered Alice calmly. “From what I know, monsters are created by a mysterious figure called the Monster Maker, who belongs to an organization known as the Humanity Division. Their goal is to produce superhuman soldiers completely obedient to secular authority… None of that has anything to do with the apocalypse you described.

  “You say monsters should only appear after the end begins, yet here one is—proving your claim wrong. Doesn’t that make your story even less credible?”

  “Monster Maker? Humanity Division?” Alice looked completely lost.

  Seeing her confusion, I patiently explained both terms to her, then continued, “I know you’ve been investigating monsters to gather evidence of the coming apocalypse. As you can see, we already have far more information about their origin than you do. Working together from now on would be much better than you operating alone. Don’t you think?”

  “But Z—you and she both don’t believe the apocalypse is real,” Alice said, clearly still resistant to the idea of cooperation.

  “What we should be discussing right now isn’t me or her—it’s you.” I spoke with unmistakable firmness. “Do you truly want to stop the apocalypse? If you do—if you’re serious—then you need to accept more support. Right in front of you is a chance to access far more leads.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Through me and Zhu Shi, you can connect with Mount Luo—a massive organization. No group in this era knows more about anomalies than they do. And you’re really going to throw away this golden opportunity just because ‘it doesn’t suit your personality’?

  “Or are you just playing house—pretending to try hard while secretly never intending to actually stop the end from coming?”

  “Mm…”

  The words struck her hard. She visibly wavered.

  But I knew that with someone as stubbornly determined as Alice, words alone—at least at this level—might still fall short.

  I needed to press the attack further.

  “I also hope you’ll work with us,” Zhu Shi added. “I don’t know how you view your current situation, so I have to warn you: there are forces out there planning to capture you using methods that completely disregard human rights and morality.

  “And the prophecy of an apocalypse isn’t something I’m hearing for the first time. Similar predictions have circulated within Mount Luo for a long time.”

  Alice’s eyes widened. “What?”

  “You mean… the prophecy that says the apocalypse will arrive soon, and all life and matter will return to nothingness?” I recalled the apocalyptic prophecy Number One had mentioned in the misty dreamscape.

  I had been so preoccupied with searching for Alice these past days that I’d completely forgotten to confirm it with Zhu Shi.

  “You’ve heard of it too?” Zhu Shi asked, surprised.

  “Agent Kong told me,” I replied without missing a beat.

  “So people in this era have already foreseen the end?” Alice frowned. “Then why hasn’t anyone taken it seriously?”

  “Because there’s no proof,” Zhu Shi said. “Anyone can claim the world is about to end—even ordinary people who know nothing about anomalies can predict Earth will become uninhabitable due to global warming. But if you want everyone to believe the world will be destroyed within ten years, you need evidence convincing enough to sway the masses.”

  “…I know of something. I’m not sure if it can serve as proof, and I don’t know where it is now…” Alice pondered for a moment before continuing. “It should be quite famous in this era too. You may call it by a different name, but you should at least have some awareness of it. And according to the intelligence I gathered in the apocalyptic era, the key to triggering the end is that very thing.”

  I had a strong premonition of what she was referring to and deliberately prompted her. “What is it?”

  Alice spoke slowly. “The Divine Seal.”

  It was the Divine Seal after all!

  The Heaven-Turning Event of the past—and the world-ending catastrophe of the future—

  The Divine Seal stood at the center of everything.

  Zhu Shi froze for a second, then glanced at me. She had surely connected this to my recent “inexplicable” inquiries about the Divine Seal.

  “I once had the fortune to see a fragment of the Divine Seal in the future,” Alice went on. “Legend says the complete Divine Seal possesses world-altering power—it can destroy the world or save it. In the apocalyptic era, some believed the end itself was a disaster caused by the Divine Seal. I can’t confirm whether that’s true. I only know the apocalypse is intimately tied to it.

  “If it really is the cause, then bringing it under control would be enough. Even if it isn’t, its power could still be used to strangle the root of the end before it begins.”

  Hearing that, I almost reached into my pocket to pull out the Divine Seal fragment—showing her that I was actually ahead in the investigation. If she saw proof I was actively pursuing the same goal, she would be far less likely to leave my side.

  But when I glanced at Zhu Shi beside me, I held back the impulse.

  I trusted Zhu Shi—the person herself. But she also represented something larger: a faction within Mount Luo opposed to transcendentalism.

  Right now she almost certainly didn’t believe the Divine Seal existed, let alone that the Heaven-Turning Event had been caused by it. But if she learned it was real—and especially if she discovered I already possessed a fragment—the situation would change dramatically.

  The Divine Seal was an artifact capable of reshaping the world; even its fragments held value that could sway the fate of nations. Precisely because Zhu Shi possessed such a strong sense of justice, she would never keep such information private.

  By the same token, although she had promised not to report Alice’s existence to Lu Youxun or his faction after finding her, once she realized Alice might hold the key to curing countless soul-loss syndrome patients, she would almost certainly report it to her own side.

  I didn’t particularly mind if news of the Divine Seal fragment leaked, nor did I fear being drawn into the resulting chaos. But information, once released, is almost impossible to take back. Deciding whether or not to reveal the fragment was an extremely weighty choice—even for me. I needed to think carefully about how it would affect both Alice and Zhu Shi. Unlike the time-limited situation in Room 1508, there was no pressing deadline here. I could afford to wait and judge the right moment.

  For now, though, I still needed to add more weight to the scale—to convince Alice to stay by my side for good.

  What other leverage did I have?

  The answer came to me almost immediately.

  “Alice, do you remember the friend you mentioned from the apocalyptic era?” I asked.

  Alice looked puzzled. “Why bring that up all of a sudden?”

  “I met her recently,” I said. “Does she call you ‘Big Sister Alice’?”

  “You met her?!” Alice’s eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in suspicion. “No—that’s impossible…”

  She had once told me her friend from the end times was a girl around ten years old. Guessing that the girl called her “Big Sister Alice” wasn’t an impossible leap. While there was no real reason for me to risk guessing something so specific, she would almost certainly find it easier to believe I’d simply made a lucky guess than to accept that I had somehow communicated with someone from the future.

  So I went further—describing, in detail, the personality and speech patterns of Number Two as I remembered them.

  And with each additional detail, the suspicion in Alice’s eyes gradually wavered—slowly tipping toward belief.