IBO -Chapter 178 Destined History

This novel contains sensitive and taboo content like R*pe, Mu**er etc. Read only if you are comfortable.

Song Yiran nervously swallowed. “Xiao Zhong’er, that metallic variant of the Karen flower on my bedside table… where did it come from? Did I get it myself?”

“No.”

“Was it given to me by someone else?”

“Yes.”

“A stranger?”

“No.”

“Someone I know?”

“Yes.”

“A friend of mine?”

“No.”

Song Yiran had a faint intuition. “…Was it my younger brother who gave it to me?”

“Yes.”

“Xiao Zhong’er, did I forget something?”

“Yes.”

“Was what I forgot important?”

“Yes.”

“…Did I forget my younger brother?”

“Yes.”

“Did I forget more than one younger brother?”

“Yes.”

“Three brothers?”

“No.”

“Two brothers?”

“Yes.”

“So, the metallic variant Karen flower… was it given by the two brothers I forgot?”

“No.”

“Was it given by one of the two brothers I forgot?”

“Yes.”

Suddenly, an unbelievable thought crossed Song Yiran’s mind. “Xiao Zhong’er… yesterday afternoon, did I really just suddenly… fall into an unending sleep?”

“No.”

“Was I… almost dead at that time?”

“Yes.”

“The reason I forgot these two brothers… did they do something?”

“Yes.”

“…Was it to save me?”

“Yes.”

“So… yesterday afternoon, I almost died. Two of my brothers did something to save me, and I survived, but my consciousness fell into a dreamlike world. It wasn’t until this morning that I was rescued, but I forgot these two brothers… is that right?”

“Yes.”

Song Yiran suddenly felt an absurd sense of fate; his voice trembled. “All of this… is destined history?”

“Yes.”

The room fell into a dead silence. Song Yiran stood dumbfounded, pondering his life.

His life was like a chess piece, manipulated back and forth by history.

His memories could be tampered with or obscured at any time.

Was what he saw truly real? Or was it another layer of illusion?

Xiao Zhong’er said, “Song Yiran, are you thinking that maybe all of this is another kind of illusion?”

Song Yiran was shocked. “How did you know?”

Xiao Zhong’er showed a knowing expression. “Song Yiran, your expression is so easy to read. I can guarantee you—this is the real world. Everything here is absolutely real.”

Song Yiran pursed his lips. “Xiao Zhong’er, let’s review and check our memories.

First, according to my previous reasoning, this is our third mission, right?”

“Correct.”

“According to my previous reasoning, you remember the first mission and this one, I remember the second mission and this one. That’s correct, right?”

“Correct.”

“For each mission, we raised the same number of cubs, right?”

“Yes.”

“And each time, there were nine mission targets?”

“Yes.”

“So every time, we only raised nine cubs, right?”

Xiao Zhong’er’s eyes flickered. “Well…”

He winked at Song Yiran and whispered, “Yes, but not exactly. Nine was nine—no extra cubs—but…”

His words stopped there. He didn’t continue.

Song Yiran immediately realized the rest touched the core secret; Xiao Zhong’er couldn’t directly explain.

Xiao Zhong’er cleared his throat lightly, then whispered, “Song Yiran, you should remember when the timeline suddenly collapsed, right?

During the first mission, the timeline suddenly collapsed, and the mission couldn’t continue.

You could have returned to the original world and revived, but you gave up that chance and requested to try again. Then the second mission also faced a collapsed timeline, and you requested a third mission…

But now this is your last chance. If the timeline collapses again, you won’t be able to revive, and your soul will just dissipate in the universe.

I used the small reserves I had saved to bribe the superiors, giving you a bit of a backdoor—this you should remember, right?”

Song Yiran nodded. “I remember everything. Thank you, Xiao Zhong’er!”

Xiao Zhong’er narrowed his eyes. “I used the backdoor to do something.

Let’s just hypothesize—what if I took a cub from the first mission’s timeline, sealed its memory, and brought it into this world to help you fix the timeline collapse?

I’m just giving an example. I didn’t actually do it! Really, really didn’t!”

Song Yiran understood—Xiao Zhong’er meant he did do it.

In other words, among the two cubs Song Yiran had forgotten, one was brought from the first mission’s timeline via Xiao Zhong’er’s backdoor method.

“And the first two missions’ timelines didn’t stop—they continued. The cubs there grew up, and grown cubs seek their parents. You understand, right?

Just like tadpoles find their mother, these cubs were looking for their brother—you.

Of course, normally, they could never find this place.”

Xiao Zhong’er suddenly adopted a dramatic tone: “But if the process isn’t normal… ah, I don’t know. I don’t know if any cubs successfully found you! I really don’t know~”

He blinked innocently. “Did any cubs succeed in finding you? Such a strange question. Anyway, I don’t know. I’m just a system; I really know nothing~”

Song Yiran realized—the cub he had forgotten included one from another timeline.

No matter which mission, there were always only nine targets. But this time, two cubs came from other timelines, so he ended up raising eleven cubs.

“Xiao Zhong’er, hypothetically, if two cubs came from another timeline, could they stay here?”

Xiao Zhong’er shook his head honestly. “I… don’t know.”

“The two cubs I forgot… did they return to their original timelines?”

“Yes.”

“Are they safe?”

“Very safe.”

Song Yiran smiled wryly. “I see… good, as long as they’re safe.

I remember all nine cubs. So I only forgot the memories related to the two cubs from other timelines, right?”

“Yes.”

“Xiao Zhong’er, in this timeline, am I the only one who forgot them, or did everyone forget them?”

“99% of people.”

Song Yiran was stunned. “What?”

Xiao Zhong’er explained, “In this timeline, 99% of people forgot them. But 1% may remember. Song Yiran, you’ve probably read novels about the Chosen One, right?

The Chosen One’s memories aren’t easily altered. They’re the gods’ favorites, the gods’ children, so they aren’t affected.

But Chosen Ones are extremely rare. And even then, only those who have seen the two cubs before would remember them. If they hadn’t seen them, they wouldn’t even know they exist.”

Song Yiran felt bitter. “I feel so sour… so sour, Xiao Zhong’er.

Why can’t I be a Chosen One? Then I wouldn’t have forgotten the cubs… so sour, I’m dying from sourness…”

Xiao Zhong’er sighed and patted his shoulder. “Let’s look at it differently. 99% of people in the world are ordinary. Only 1% are Chosen Ones.

In a sense, Chosen Ones are anomalies. Humans like to follow the crowd. If most are ordinary, a genius among them stands out—he might even be seen as an outlier.”

He comforted him: “Being ordinary isn’t bad~ Humans have a saying: when the sky falls, there’s always someone tall to hold it up.”

In the evening, Xiao Zhong’er was in the kitchen preparing dinner.

Song Yiran originally intended to help, but Xiao Zhong’er firmly sent him back to the room to rest.

Song Yiran said, “Don’t you want braised pork? I can make it for you.”

Xiao Zhong’er replied, “No need. I’m cooking tonight. I’ve got it covered!”

The pot was bubbling with hot soup, and Xiao Zhong’er leaned against the edge of the kitchen counter, his mind replaying what had happened yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon, Song Yiran had suddenly collapsed in front of everyone, clutching his chest.

Xiao Zhong’er had been almost completely terrified. Before collapsing, Song Yiran had even claimed he might have a heart condition.

But Xiao Zhong’er had scanned Song Yiran’s body before—Song Yiran didn’t have any heart disease at all!

Immediately, Xiao Zhong’er searched the System Mall for a fast-acting heart remedy. Just as he was about to give it to Song Yiran, Song Yiran had already fainted, his mouth tightly shut, impossible to open.

It was Song Yutu who acted decisively at that moment, directly reaching out and “cracking” Song Yiran’s jaw out of joint, which finally gave Xiao Zhong’er the chance to shove the fast-acting heart pill into Song Yiran’s mouth.

They waited around Song Yiran for several minutes, but he showed no sign of improvement.

While waiting, Xiao Zhong’er scanned Song Yiran’s body again. The system data showed that his life signs were gradually weakening, but Xiao Zhong’er couldn’t locate the problem.

He could only continue searching the System Mall, trying various so-called universal remedies, but none of them worked.

The little kids surrounding them were crying desperately, all of them in a chaotic heap of wailing and sobbing.

“Wuwuwu… What should we do? What’s wrong with brother? Wuwuwu…”

“Wuwuwawa… Is brother going to die? Wuwuwu…”

“I don’t want brother to die, I don’t want brother to die, wuwuwu… What should we do? What should we do, wuwuwu…”

Xiao Zhong’er was sweating coldly from panic. Just as he was about to contact headquarters for support, the surrounding space suddenly froze.

The children remained frozen mid-cry, and even the subtle currents of air around them halted—the flow of time in this space had completely stopped.