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Chapter 341: Chapter 341: To the Future

"This isn’t something I accomplished alone... There’s nothing to be surprised about." Chen Xuan replied with an air of nonchalance, "As for Miss Lin... she’s not here right now, so for now, I’ll be responsible for liaising with everyone." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

"The Dimensional Limit Mechanism’s branch set up in Jiang City has collapsed. In other words, all of you are now unemployed. Of course, the organization has other branches, like the one in Chiyoda City, which is the closest from here. If you want to continue working for them, you’ll have to go abroad."

"How could I possibly work with the organization again when they already think I’m a traitor!" Wang Baihu said indignantly, "Don’t worry about the job issue. I can open a company and hire you all. Even if you do nothing, you’ll still get paid."

Little Pigeon and Jiang Siqi looked at each other.

"Didn’t I mention it before? My family owns—"

"Ahem, ahem." Honglian coughed twice, interrupting him, "Alright, stop flaunting your background. Although I’ve been dismissed from the organization, I’ve only lost a title. It doesn’t stop me from doing what I want to do."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Have you forgotten why Shixin contacted us?"

Honglian turned to Chen Xuan and said, "Before, I never had the chance to ask in detail, or rather, I was afraid to ask in detail... Just suspecting the organization made me tremble with fear and hesitation. Now you’ve at least proven one thing: the organization isn’t as righteous as it publicly claims to be. Their methods and ideals have long crossed the line. However..."

She paused for a moment before continuing, "However, the organization is still the most powerful ability user organization in the world. If even they can’t stop the doomsday crisis, can just a few of us, brought together by Shixin, really accomplish what even the organization can’t?"

Chen Xuan nodded, "Your confusion is understandable, because the concept of a doomsday disaster is too broad, and it occurs in a future far away from us, naturally leading to all sorts of doubts: For example, would eliminating the organization result in a surge of ability crimes, ultimately ushering in a new apocalypse? Or, if the organization exits the stage... what if a worse ability user organization rises?"

"In fact, the answer is simpler than you think."

"However, before I say it, I must first determine your intentions—whether to take a different path from now on, never involving yourself in conflicts with the organization and Shixin, or to continue safeguarding this world... preventing it from heading towards destruction. If you choose the former, after stepping out of Beitian Academy, we may never meet again."

"That doesn’t even need asking." Honglian replied without hesitation, "I want to stay, whether to repay the favor of saving my life or to do my best to prevent doomsday."

"Wherever Sister Honglian is, I will be!" Little Pigeon raised her hand determinedly.

"It feels interesting, I’d like to join." Jiang Siqi chimed in.

"Huh, even you want to join?" Wang Baihu looked at her in astonishment, "Just hearing about it sounds life-threatening. Aren’t you afraid of dying?"

"I am, but I’m more afraid of being obscure." Jiang Siqi shrugged, "If I ever meet with misfortune, I’d hope that everyone on the internet remembers my name."

"Hah..." Wang Baihu rolled his eyes, "Can’t understand it."

"Brother Niao, are you afraid?" Little Pigeon pouted.

"What a joke, how could I be afraid!"

"You were the only one crying just now."

"You guys weren’t electrocuted, is it the same?" Wang Baihu crossed his arms, pretending to be unafraid, "I’m fine too, just wanted to see everyone’s reaction. Besides, we’ve been partners for so many years, Honglian also needs my support, right?"

Honglian glanced sidelong at him, unmoved.

"Can’t you nod for the sake of our partnership!" Wang Baihu shouted.

"Sigh..." Honglian sighed, finally nodding slightly, "Next time, don’t surrender so quickly, it’s embarrassing to talk about."

"Yay," Little Pigeon clapped happily, "Red Lotus Team, revived!"

"Can you tell us now?" Honglian looked at Chen Xuan.

The latter smiled faintly, "Of course, the answer is... because we can visit the future to check the results ourselves."

Upon hearing this, the three were dumbfounded.

"Could it be you’ve found an incursion point to the future?" Honglian shook her head after speaking, "No, that’s impossible! A world shouldn’t self-corrupt, it makes no logical sense! The future you see... is likely a future similar to an Otherworld, like the Jiang City world with demons."

"Not incursion points, but using Shixin’s power to reach the future." Chen Xuan spread his hands, "Didn’t I mention before? Shixin can provide the convenience of quickly traversing other worlds."

"I thought it could create special ’incursion channels’, not time travel within the same world! Anyway, this is too exaggerated!"

Indeed, the Ability Store essentially depends on guests for time jumps and can’t reach a designated time like a time machine, but Chen Xuan had no intention of correcting this point, "Such travels have some constraints and indeed seem unbelievable, but the fact is right in front of us, leaving me no choice but to believe—because I’ve already met someone from the future."

"Who?"

"Lin Qing." Chen Xuan said slowly, "She is a future member of the organization."

"What?"

The three were stunned again.

"She’s a member of the organization?"

"That’s too far-fetched!"

Honglian was the first to react, realizing, "No wonder the organization was targeted everywhere, I wondered how Wanderers knew more secrets about the organization than its own officers, now it all makes sense!"

Wang Baihu posed the question, "If Miss Lin thinks the organization is wrong, why doesn’t she tell them the right way? She’s from the future; surely the organization would listen to her!"

"This is a bit complicated to explain. Simply put, after the Dimensional Limit Mechanism completes the sealing of ability users, it will split internally. The companies providing economic and military power will gradually lead the organization, and she belongs to the resistance forces."

Chen Xuan thought for a moment but decided not to reveal that Honglian would become a resistance leader, worried that this early announcement would introduce more uncertainties into the future.

"Lin Qing believes that the organization couldn’t have risen without these companies’ support, and their interests are highly intertwined, making it unlikely she could steer the great ship with just one statement. That’s why you feel the organization is gradually deteriorating: the bigger it grows, the more interests it must balance."

"Understood!" Honglian clapped forcefully, her eyes brightening, "Since we can verify the future, there’s nothing to worry about! Right is right, wrong is wrong, facts will prove us right!"

The words were true, but would reality really be that smooth?

Chen Xuan nodded in agreement on the surface, but he had other concerns in his heart.

This time saving Honglian directly led to Lin Qing’s disappearance, causing drastic changes in the future. What if the next change led to more people disappearing?

The river of time doesn’t allow him repeated trial and error; once a guest is removed from the store’s list, he also loses all information about that node.

Wang Qianduan mentioned that Honglian must be sent back to headquarters, indicating that from the organization’s perspective, Honglian is indeed an important figure, even if her previous role was only as an execution team leader. He had also asked Honglian about this matter, but she was at a loss.

He couldn’t inquire with the organization, as that would undoubtedly alert them.

Therefore, the next way to gather intelligence was quite clear.

"That’s all for today... everyone take a good rest for the night, let your family know you’re safe, and we’ll meet at Beitian Academy tomorrow." Chen Xuan arranged.

"Do you have a plan for the next step?" Honglian asked.

"Yes, rather than continue a futile struggle with the organization in this era, it’s better to find their flaws in another place—" Chen Xuan’s gaze swept over the four of them, "Tomorrow, I’ll take you to the future."