Chapter 165: Back To That Key Moment ④

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Chapter 165: Back To That Key Moment ④

When Shang Ke opened his eyes, he found himself in a cramped enclosure surrounded by water. Sunlight filtered down from above in shimmering bands, and beyond the transparent walls he could faintly make out schools of fish weaving among brilliantly colored coral.

A large transparent box rested among the coral, and Shang Ke was inside it. He rammed against the walls a few times, but the box did not budge. It had clearly been sealed tight.

He was currently in dolphin form, his body covered in wounds. They had been treated, but judging by their severity, there should have been almost no chance of survival. So… had he come back from the dead? Had the Return Key brought him back to after the battle with Dipson?

Knowing Qin Yuan, there was no way he would have handed Flame’s “corpse” over to the research institute. The most likely thing he would have done was give him a grand burial. Which meant this transparent box was… his coffin?

Waking up alive inside a transparent coffin at the bottom of a seemingly endless ocean—this was straight out of a horror movie.

System, you did this on purpose, didn’t you?!

【Body restoration in progress…】

Shang Ke flicked his tail inside the coffin and asked, “How long will the restoration take?”

【Estimated time: 700 days.】

Seven hundred days… System, why don’t you just ascend to heaven while you’re at it? Forget seven hundred days—he would starve to death in less than seven. And even if hunger did not kill him first, lack of oxygen would. Dolphins were not fish. He needed to breathe.

【Host may enter temporary hibernation. The System will maintain the Host’s basic survival needs.】

After thinking it over, Shang Ke accepted the System’s suggestion. He desperately wanted to see Qin Yuan again, but in his current mangled state he would probably only upset him. Better to wait until the restoration was complete.

Shang Ke closed his eyes and, with the System’s assistance, slowly entered deep hibernation…

“President Qin? President Qin?” A voice seemed to come from infinitely far away, pulling Qin Yuan back to awareness.

“President Qin, this is the island development plan. What do you think?” His secretary displayed a three-dimensional model of the island on the screen and looked to Qin Yuan for his opinion.

Qin Yuan looked at the screen, then at his secretary—who seemed decades younger than he remembered—and confusion flickered through his eyes.

“President Qin, is something wrong?” the secretary asked hesitantly when Qin Yuan continued staring as though his soul had wandered elsewhere.

Qin Yuan swept a bewildered gaze around the room, then rotated the ring on his finger. The cold metal against his skin felt overwhelmingly real.

How strange. Why was he in an office he had not entered for decades? Why was his secretary still so young? Even the scene of him presenting the island plans felt hauntingly familiar.

His gaze dropped to his hands. The skin was firm and smooth, without a single wrinkle.

Qin Yuan finally realized something was wrong. He shot to his feet and strode into the washroom. The instant he saw himself in the mirror, his suspicion was confirmed.

“An Song! An Song!” Qin Yuan rushed out of the washroom. “What’s today’s date?”

An Song froze for a moment. “May thirteenth.”

“The year?”

“3755.” An Song had no idea why Qin Yuan was asking.

May 13, 3755. May 13, 3755… Qin Yuan collapsed into his chair. It had already been two years since Flame died. For one ecstatic moment, he had thought heaven had granted him a chance to change history—only for reality to be this cruel. If he had been given a second life, why had he not been sent back to a time when Flame was still alive? Was he supposed to endure those decades of loneliness all over again?

Qin Yuan clutched the fabric over his chest, his face twisting as though he could barely breathe.

Then he abruptly froze, his expression changing.

May thirteenth! This was the day little Wave killed himself!

Qin Yuan shoved past An Song and tore toward the aquarium where Wave was kept, almost frantic.

Wave, please. Don’t leave me.

Qin Yuan could not survive losing one of them again.

“Wave!” Qin Yuan reached the aquarium breathless and shouted toward the water.

With a soft splash, Wave’s head popped above the surface. Two bright eyes stared straight at Qin Yuan.

Qin Yuan tipped his head back and exhaled a long breath, then sank weakly onto the edge of the pool and beckoned. “Wave, come here.”

Wave swam over somewhat unsteadily and affectionately rubbed against Qin Yuan’s hand.

“Wave, you’re all I have left. Please don’t leave me.” Qin Yuan’s voice was openly pleading.

Whether Wave understood or not, he chirped several times in reply.

Qin Yuan continued, “I bought an island. In a few days, I’ll send you there. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again. All I ask is that you stay alive.”

Two trails of tears slipped from Qin Yuan’s eyes. Even after living through two lifetimes, he had still failed to keep his Flame. At least he was not too late to save Wave.

A flash of grim resolve crossed Qin Yuan’s eyes as a plan took shape in his mind…

A few days later, Qin Yuan announced news that shocked the world: Wave had committed suicide.

According to the explanation, Flame’s death and the relentless experimentation had driven Wave into depression until he finally chose suicide. Qin Yuan also released surveillance footage from the aquarium: Wave leaping high from the water and hurling himself toward the stone platform on shore. The actual impact was out of frame, but the footage clearly showed his body convulsing on the ground afterward.

Wave’s “death” sent shock waves around the world, followed by an endless flood of accusations and abuse.

While convincing the world that Wave was dead, Qin Yuan used every resource at his disposal to secretly transfer him to the island he had just purchased, Wings of Flame.

This time, even if the entire world condemned him and the pressure became unbearable, he would keep Wave safe.

As for the remaining little merfolk, he had no choice but to abandon them for now. Without Flame to care for them, they would not live much longer; humans simply had no experience raising them.

Afterward, Qin Yuan gradually began transferring his assets and preparing to leave the country. The national laboratory was already studying the mutated genes. Before long, the first mutation crisis would erupt.

Qin Yuan had no interest in becoming involved. He wanted only for Wave to remain far from danger and live out his life in peace. Whatever price that required, Qin Yuan was willing to pay it.

Splash! Wave leapt out of the rolling surf, scattering sheets of spray.

Qin Yuan stood on the beach watching Wave play, trying to find another familiar shadow in him. “President Qin, go back and rest for a while. You haven’t slept in days.” An Song looked at him with concern.

Dark circles ringed Qin Yuan’s eyes, his brows were tightly drawn, and exhaustion covered his face. The prolonged insomnia made him look frighteningly unwell.

“I’m fine. Go take care of your work. I’ll stay a little longer.” Qin Yuan did not move, clearly having no intention of going back.

An Song sighed inwardly and walked away.

Qin Yuan continued staring at the sea, motionless as a statue.

At that moment, Wave swam over and lifted his head, chirping insistently at Qin Yuan.

Qin Yuan walked to the water’s edge and looked at him in confusion, unable to tell what he wanted.

Wave apparently decided this human was hopelessly dense and incapable of taking a hint. He turned and swam out to sea, then looked back and called several times. After swimming farther, he stopped and called to Qin Yuan again.

After Wave repeated this several times, Qin Yuan finally understood: he wanted Qin Yuan to follow him somewhere.

Without another word, Qin Yuan took a speedboat from the dock and followed Wave out into the open sea.

After more than an hour, the island had vanished behind them. Wave finally stopped, chirped several times, then rolled over and dove beneath the surface.

Qin Yuan checked the coordinates and felt his chest tighten in pain. Wasn’t this exactly where he had buried Flame at sea? His fists clenched. He did not have the courage to go down and see him.

Wave surfaced again with a splash, shaking his head and tail as he urged Qin Yuan to follow.

Qin Yuan pressed his lips together. Finally, as though making a difficult decision, he changed into the diving suit stored on the speedboat and jumped into the sea.

The shimmering depths seemed like another world—cold, silent, and vast. This was the sea that had given birth to Flame, and the place Qin Yuan had made his final resting ground.

Qin Yuan rested one hand against Wave’s dorsal fin and followed him downward. Before long, a brilliant coral reef came into view, with a transparent coffin resting quietly among it.

Qin Yuan let go, his movements slowing.

Wave did not hesitate. He darted into the coral and began circling the coffin.

Flame… Qin Yuan silently called his name and slowly swam closer.

The moment he drew near, Qin Yuan stopped dead. His pupils contracted sharply, disbelief flooding his face.

To make sure his eyes were not deceiving him, Qin Yuan pressed himself against the glass and stared at the dolphin inside. Flame’s body was completely intact, as though he were merely asleep. Qin Yuan’s heart began pounding violently.

Could it be possible? Could it really be possible? Flame had suffered injuries that should have been fatal and had already been declared dead—could he truly have come back to life?

A brilliance Qin Yuan had never shown before lit his eyes, like a man who had spent years in darkness finally seeing a thread of light.

Flame floated gently inside the glass coffin without a single scar on his body. Beneath the rippling light, his smooth skin looked like translucent blue jade.

Qin Yuan’s hand slid slowly across the glass, as though he could somehow feel Flame breathing through that thick barrier. His gaze was tender and painfully devoted.

Flame was alive. Qin Yuan was absolutely certain of it now.

The dolphin’s ability to revive was astonishing, but no explanation mattered beside the joy of recovering someone he had thought lost forever.

Then a thought struck him. Qin Yuan’s face abruptly changed, and his breathing quickened.

If Flame could come back to life… then in his previous life, while Qin Yuan remained on the surface congratulating himself on his devotion and mourning him for decades, had Flame been trapped all that time at the cold bottom of the sea inside this tiny glass coffin?

He had not even come back to see him once!

Had Flame spent thirty entire years alive and alone inside a glass coffin on the ocean floor?

God… what had he done?

If Flame had revived and managed to get free, he would certainly have returned to find him. Yet Qin Yuan had heard nothing from Flame before his own death. That could only mean Flame had never escaped this coffin. Qin Yuan had personally built an unbreakable prison around him, condemning him to a state where he could neither truly live nor die.

Qin Yuan began trembling all over. This imagined truth was even more unbearable than watching Flame die before his eyes.

Flame…

Qin Yuan wrapped both arms tightly around the ice-cold glass coffin and wept in silence.

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