SAG -Chapter 2 Twenty-Eight Years Gone

Lin Kailun stood on the deck of a luxury cruise ship, a glass of fine wine in hand as he gazed out across the distant sea.

It was a rare vacation for him—a chance to unwind and ease the mental exhaustion brought on by his demanding work.

As he leisurely sipped his red wine and admired the endless blue ocean, he suddenly noticed another cruise ship ahead.

It seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Lin Kailun rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things.

Still, he didn’t think much of it. Perhaps he had simply been too relaxed and hadn’t noticed the ship approaching.

His attention shifted to admiring the vessel itself. It looked impressive, and curiosity prompted him to read the name painted along its hull.

“Goddess of Fate?”

“That’s a pretty good name… and strangely familiar. I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before. Let me see which company owns it. Maybe I’ll book it next time.”

He pulled out his smartphone and searched online.

The results made the blood drain from his face.

Every hair on his body stood on end.

Then he remembered why the name sounded familiar.

Damn it… wasn’t this the luxury liner that vanished twenty-eight years ago?

Back then, its disappearance had caused an enormous sensation. Although most people had long since forgotten, enthusiasts like Lin Kailun—people who loved cruising—still remembered the incident.

The official conclusion at the time had been simple:

The Goddess of Fate had been lost at sea.

More importantly, he had never heard of the ship’s name being reused. Every search result pointed to news reports from twenty-eight years earlier.

“Is this some kind of prank? Or has someone reused the name?” he wondered.

He wasn’t the only one who had spotted the ship.

Passengers all over the cruise liner had noticed it as well, and some were even more familiar with its history than he was.

The news spread through the entire ship in no time.

Half an hour later, the two cruise ships had come to a stop not far from one another.

Passengers aboard each vessel stared silently across the water.

No one remained calm.

On the Goddess of Fate, people were filled with panic, disbelief, confusion, and helplessness.

On the Minglun, however, the prevailing emotions were excitement and astonishment.

Another thirty minutes passed.

Some of the Minglun’s passengers had already boarded the Goddess of Fate.

It didn’t take long to confirm the unbelievable truth.

This was indeed the very cruise ship that had disappeared twenty-eight years ago.

And every single passenger was still aboard.

No one was missing.

Some people even dug up photographs from the original incident.

Comparing the old pictures with the people standing before them, they discovered something even more terrifying.

None of them had aged.

Not even a little.

The revelation sent waves of excitement through the crowd.

It felt as though they had just witnessed one of the greatest miracles in history.

People immediately began snapping photographs and recording videos.

Who wouldn’t?

Something this bizarre…

This mysterious…

This unbelievable…

Of course they had to post it online.

1:00 PM, October 3, 2018

The internet suddenly exploded.

Social media feeds were flooded.

Forums were overwhelmed.

News spread around the world in a matter of minutes.

The luxury liner Goddess of Fate, missing for twenty-eight years, has reappeared! Photos included!

At first, most people dismissed it as another publicity stunt.

Or someone chasing internet fame.

But before long…

Everyone realized how wrong they had been.

Because livestreams had already begun.

Millions watched events unfold in real time.

The internet was filled with talented investigators.

Within hours, people had uncovered the identities of the original passengers from twenty-eight years earlier, along with countless archived photographs.

Comparing the old images with the livestreams left little room for doubt.

These really were the same people.

Those who had remained skeptical could no longer deny reality.

The impossible was happening before their eyes.

Soon, every imaginable theory and conspiracy flooded the internet.

No matter how outrageous, someone believed it.

The entire online world erupted into chaos.

Governments across the globe were alarmed.

The ship carried passengers from many different countries.

If the phenomenon were genuine, every nation wanted to understand exactly what had happened.

Besides, the news had spread far too quickly.

There was no possibility of suppressing it.

Zhang Ran stared blankly at the visitors boarding from the Minglun.

Their fashionable clothing…

The smartphones they casually held…

The internet slang they spoke…

Everything belonged to a future that should have been decades away.

Among everyone aboard, Zhang Ran accepted reality faster than most.

After all, his own existence already defied logic.

Yet this was one truth he desperately didn’t want to accept.

The abnormal behavior of the game interface in his mind served as a constant reminder.

He hadn’t wanted to arrive alone in this technologically advanced era.

He had wanted to come here…

Together with her.

Only one sentence echoed endlessly through his mind.

“You damned heavens… are you screwing with me?”

Suddenly, Zhang Ran grabbed the nearest person.

His voice trembled.

“My friend… could I borrow your phone?”

Lin Kailun hadn’t expected the stranger to recognize the smartphone in his hand immediately.

Still, he didn’t think much of it.

Perhaps the man had heard someone else mention it earlier.

“Of course,” he said. “Just tell me the number. I’ll dial it for you—you probably won’t know how to use it yet.”

Zhang Ran still retained enough composure to nod.

He recited the phone number that had been engraved in his memory for decades.

Lin Kailun understood what the man must be feeling.

Anyone who woke up twenty-eight years in the future would react the same way.

He dialed the number.

A recorded voice answered almost immediately.

The number you have dialed is no longer in service.

With a helpless shrug, Lin Kailun ended the call.

“I’m sorry… it’s no longer a valid number.”

Zhang Ran froze.

Only moments ago…

It had still been 1990.

Now…

Twenty-eight years had vanished.

Twenty-eight years.

How had she lived through all that time?

Had she forgotten him?

Or…

Had she continued waiting for him?

His thoughts became a tangled mess.

Because the ships were close to Chinese territorial waters, naval vessels arrived quickly.

The astonishing news had already reached the authorities.

Before long, the Goddess of Fate was taken under official control.

The Minglun was likewise placed under supervision.

Regardless of what happened next, news of the Goddess of Fate’s return had already spread across the globe.

There was no point attempting to censor it.

There was no need.

Its authenticity had already been verified beyond question.

No one possessed the means to gather hundreds of people who looked exactly as they had twenty-eight years earlier.

The return of Zhang Ran and the other passengers sent shockwaves through society—

Especially among the families and loved ones connected to them.