novelraw Chapter 176 A New Future
Chapter 176 A New Future
It really had been a long time since he last went to 2045, and Jiang Ran couldn’t help feeling a flicker of anticipation.
As before, they climbed out through the window and jumped outside, arriving beside the transformer distribution box, phones in hand.
Chi Xiaoguo pressed her left hand against the Positron Cannon’s activation button while using her right hand to call Jiang Ran’s phone, shouting out the window, “Then I’m starting the countdown! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! 0!”
The Positron Cannon’s roar and blue light arrived at the same instant, and Jiang Ran pressed the answer button on his phone!
Bzz!
Bzz!
The familiar dizziness, the nostalgic spinning vertigo; Jiang Ran lost all five senses and plunged into the vortex of spacetime, drifting helplessly with the current—
Two seconds later, all the discomfort vanished, replaced by the sensation of solid ground beneath his feet.
Hm?
What rushed into his nose was not the familiar damp prison smell, but the fragrant aroma of delicious food; his ears, too, were filled with noise, all kinds of city sounds rising and falling around him.Jiang Ran realized immediately!
This wasn’t the prison!
He took a deep breath and opened his eyes—
“Sir, would you like to try our new orange juice? It’s free!”
To his right, a waitress in an adorable maid outfit approached him with a smile.
Yet Jiang Ran’s gaze did not linger on her at all. Instead, it was involuntarily drawn to the flying cars overhead as he lifted his eyes to the sky—
There—
All kinds of small vehicles streaked across the heavens. Some were as massive as trucks, some as narrow as scooters; yet all of them moved with the orderliness of a school of fish, weaving vertically and horizontally at high speed without a single collision.
It was the kind of traffic pattern that only existed in science-fiction films, and Jiang Ran was utterly astonished, unable to look away.
At the same time, the skyscrapers in the distance pierced straight into the clouds, sunlight striking the glass walls that seemed to connect heaven and earth, refracting into dazzling rainbows across the sky.
Looking closer, he discovered that every corner of the city was filled with all kinds of robots. Their movements were agile, their logic precise, each carrying out different urban tasks—repair, cleaning, transport, surveillance, and more.
Faced with such an advanced sci-fi scene, Jiang Ran stood there dumbfounded, feeling as if his eyes weren’t enough to take it all in.
What was going on?
If the death of Wu Yuanzheng and the collapse of the Mutual Aid Society of Regrets had caused the future world to change, he could completely understand that.
That was how the temporal butterfly effect worked. Actions in the past could influence the present; likewise, changes in the present would naturally affect the future.
Just like Qin Feng’s spacetime text sent ten years into the past had turned the world ten years later into a complete mess—
By the same logic, the destruction of the Mutual Aid Society of Regrets in 2025 would inevitably trigger a violent temporal butterfly effect and rewrite the future of 2045.
Only—
No matter how hard Jiang Ran tried, he had never imagined the changes in the future world could be exaggerated to this extent.
Even if Wu Yuanzheng had never trained assassins and scientists anymore, could human society really leap into such an advanced sci-fi metropolis in just twenty years?
It felt too fake. This simply did not match the normal speed of technological development.
He still remembered the EU drafting legislation to completely phase out gasoline cars by 2035, only to later repeal it because the decision seemed too unrealistic.
But now look at this.
By 2045, humanity no longer had to struggle over electric cars versus fuel vehicles—they had gone straight through a technological explosion into enjoying flying cars!
And there wasn’t even any exhaust coming from the backs of those vehicles. He had no idea what kind of energy source they were using.
This was too outrageous—
Too advanced—
Jiang Ran felt as though he hadn’t traveled twenty years into the future at all, but had somehow accelerated time and landed two hundred years ahead instead!
“Sir?”
The maid-outfit waitress beside him tilted her head when she saw him standing there in a daze. “Sir, would you like to try our shop’s new orange juice?”
“Oh, no, thank you.”
Jiang Ran politely declined, then asked, “Excuse me, what date is it today?”
“September 17th,” the waitress replied casually.
“What year?” Jiang Ran asked again.
?
The waitress blinked in confusion, looked him up and down, then took half a step back. “2—2045, of course. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Just a little dizzy.”
Jiang Ran pretended to rub his temples, then asked one last question. “Could I trouble you to tell me what time it is right now?”
The waitress didn’t check a watch and didn’t make any movement at all. She simply blinked. “10:01.”
Jiang Ran frowned. “Where are you seeing the time?”
“My contacts~”
The girl pointed at her eyes. “I’m wearing smart contact lenses. Same principle as smart glasses. Don’t tell me you’ve never even heard of those?”
“…”
After saying that, she ignored him and walked toward the other side of the sidewalk.
“Sir, would you like to try our new orange juice? It’s free!”
Watching her leave, Jiang Ran calculated silently.
September 17th, 2045. 10:00 a.m.
The same time again.
Sure enough, even though the future world had changed under the temporal butterfly effect, the Positron Cannon could still throw him to this exact point in time with perfect precision.
Or perhaps this, too, was one of the Positron Cannon’s limitations.
Because its focusing unit was damaged, and could neither be replaced nor repaired, it could only send him to this one moment. There was no second option.
But the problem circled back to his original doubt: could technology really develop this far in just twenty years?
He lifted his head and looked at the dense cluster of skyscrapers thrusting into the heavens.
In Donghai City, the tallest building should have been the central tower of the Lujiazui trio, over six hundred meters tall.
But compared to the skyscrapers that were everywhere before his eyes, that tower looked as laughable as a child’s stack of toy blocks.
Without exaggeration, the buildings in view were absolutely over one thousand meters tall, perhaps even over two thousand!
After all, even under a perfectly clear sky and with his excellent eyesight, Jiang Ran still couldn’t see the tops of them. By contrast, the roof of Donghai Center Tower in 2025 was visible just by lifting your head.
He found it difficult to believe humanity could construct so many super-skyscrapers of such height within twenty years.
One six-hundred-meter Donghai Center Tower had taken eight full years to build.
To complete this many giant engineering projects in twenty years, they’d have had to subcontract layer after layer until the work somehow ended up in alien hands.
Jiang Ran sniffed again and caught that delicious aroma once more.
Looking across the street, he realized the scent was coming from a cake shop, where another beautifully dressed girl was calling for customers.
“New cakes just released! Free tasting! Free tasting!”
Wait.
That side was free too?
Jiang Ran thought he understood now.
Had commercial competition become this intense?
Still, it smelled incredible. Just the scent alone made him hungry, so he walked across the street.
Unexpectedly, there were no zebra crossings anymore, and no traffic lights at the intersection. You could cross however you wanted without worrying about passing cars—
Because, obviously, the cars were all flying in the sky.
The moment he stepped onto the sidewalk after crossing, the girl handing out free cake rushed over.
“Sir, our new cake—”
“I’ll take it.”
Jiang Ran extended his hand directly. “Let me try some.”
If this had been the real world in 2025, he would have been at least a little reserved.
But this was 2045. No one knew him here, and at most he would be kicked back by the worldline in another two hours. There was no need to worry about pride.
“Of course, sir! Here you go!”
The girl happily handed him a large slice of freshly baked cake.
Future people really did know how to do business. The service attitude was incredible.
Jiang Ran took a bite.
Mm!
It really was delicious!
That lingering melt-in-your-mouth sensation was a texture he had never tasted in 2025. It was unbelievably good—the kind of good that shot straight into the spine and brain.
Was this the future’s terrifying technology and culinary wizardry? How could they make something taste this good?
As he ate the cake, Jiang Ran studied his reflection in the glass door of a nearby shop.
Whether it was his face or his clothes, everything was exactly the same as when he had been in the future prison of 2045—
A white shirt, casual pants, canvas shoes.
That was it.
That was all he had on him, and there was nothing in his pockets.
So based on previous experience, the logic remained: in this sci-fi metropolis, they still seemed to appear out of nowhere like a magic trick, silently and suddenly.
What was the principle behind that?
He chewed his cake and couldn’t figure it out.
Because in the world of 2045, he still had his 2025 appearance; and the clothes on him were unfamiliar too. He was certain these were not clothes he had ever worn in reality.
So why did he always appear in 2045 in this bizarre, sudden way? And why was the time limit only two hours?
This time, he still wasn’t certain whether he would be kicked back by the worldline exactly at 12:00.
But—
Probably eighty percent likely.
After all, every condition of his current state was identical to the future prison before, so there was no reason for the time limit to be different.
“For now, this future world seems peaceful, and pretty interesting too. When I get back, I can let Chi Xiaoguo try it too […]”
Jiang Ran finished the last bite of cake, tossed the plastic tray into a trash bin, and continued wandering aimlessly.
The reason he hadn’t dared use Chi Xiaoguo as a test subject before was mainly because he had been afraid Sang Biao would scare her.
But now that the future world had changed, Sang Biao was gone. And here there was free food and drink everywhere, the city was magnificent, and the whole thing felt like stepping into an immersive sci-fi movie.
He felt perfectly at ease letting Chi Xiaoguo experience it too.
If Chi Xiaoguo could also remain in 2045 for two hours after activating the Positron Cannon, then that would prove everyone was equal before the machine and there was nothing special about him.
But if she followed the procedure exactly and nothing happened—
Then that would mean something.
Why was he the only one who could time travel? Could it also be related to his special constitution, his All-Spacetime Memory?
In any case, this question had to be verified as soon as possible. Only then would he feel safer.
After that, Jiang Ran continued strolling through the city aimlessly.
Not only did he see all kinds of bizarre gadgets, he also discovered that this place really was like a utopian world.
Not only did everyone’s face glow with happy smiles, but there were free food and drink giveaways everywhere!
Not just free drinks and free coffee—even foods that looked expensive and exquisitely made could also be sampled for free.
By the time he ended up on a flying bus, Jiang Ran was burping from fullness, feeling that human civilization truly had a bright future.
“It seems wiping out the Mutual Aid Society of Regrets really was something that benefited both the present and generations to come. Without Wu Yuanzheng and the others assassinating scientists, technology could become this advanced in just twenty years and completely transform people’s way of life.”
Right then, the flying bus descended and stopped at a station, and Jiang Ran stood up to get off.
But at that exact moment, the mutation began.
To his shock, the auntie behind him suddenly began flickering all over, at a speed like a slideshow being played in manic fast-forward.
Her body turned into rough color blocks one second, then returned to normal the next, her whole figure trembling violently up and down.
Then—
Her lower half sank into the bus chassis beneath her!
Her entire body became embedded in the vehicle like a clipping error in a game model!
“Holy—!”
Jiang Ran jumped backward in fright. He had never encountered anything like this!
Was he seeing things?
He rubbed his eyes and looked again, only to find the auntie had already vanished.
What was going on—
Had he seen it wrong?
He hurried off the bus and collided with a woman.
“Sorry,” he said quickly.
“It’s fi—”
Suddenly.
The woman before him seemed petrified, or as if someone had pressed pause. Her whole body froze stiff in front of him.
This wasn’t absentmindedness.
It was a lifeless freeze.
As if her entire body had become a photograph, a flat texture pasted into space!
“A-are you okay?”
Jiang Ran moved to her side after stepping off the bus.
In that instant, his scalp went numb and goosebumps exploded across his body.
He saw—
The woman’s face was forcibly stretching into an afterimage right in front of him!
The farther Jiang Ran moved from her, the longer the facial ghosting became, like a movie frame lagging and tearing apart on a broken screen!
“Ah!!!”
Jiang Ran leapt away in terror.
Bizarre!
Too bizarre!
What in the world was happening!?
The instant his feet hit the ground from the jump, the bright daylight suddenly became night, then instantly day again, then night again—
The flicker frequency was like someone rapidly flipping a light switch on and off!
The whole world was switching endlessly between day and night.
A freezing chill ran down Jiang Ran’s spine.
He could no longer feel any warmth.
Only cold remained.
And yet—
It seemed only he could perceive this abnormality. Everyone else continued moving methodically as if nothing was wrong.
At the front door of the bus, an elderly woman was stepping aboard.
Half her body had already entered the bus, but in the next second she flickered back to the doorway, stepping up again—
Half inside.
Flicker back.
Step up again.
Half inside.
Flicker back.
Again and again.
The indescribably eerie phenomenon played out before Jiang Ran at terrifying speed, the old woman stuck in a lagging network loop, unable to board the bus no matter what, endlessly repeating the same motion.
Jiang Ran’s heart rate skyrocketed.
He looked left and right and realized the entire visible world was “breaking.”
The roadside trees abruptly turned red, blue, white, purple, then vanished altogether;
Running children stuttered like a badly edited film, appearing on one side of the road, then flashing back to their starting positions;
The once-orderly flying cars suddenly passed through skyscrapers without any collision at all, like two sheets of paper overlapping and spasming at the points of contact;
A kissing couple outside a coffee shop had their cups transform in an instant from coffee to milk tea, then cola, then shampoo, then disinfectant—
Even more horrifying—
Their faces, locked in the kiss, were fusing together like mosaic tiles!
What in the world—
What happened to this world!?
Jiang Ran spun around sharply, only to see the afterimages of himself trailing all the way from the bus to where he now stood!
Like time-lapse slow-motion photography, countless overlapping Jiang Rans stretched into a winding centipede-like curve.
He turned back again in terror—
And a terrified, stunned Jiang Ran met his gaze.
That was him from one second ago.
The afterimage his previous self had left behind.
In an instant, the whole world went dark.
Jiang Ran could no longer feel his breathing, his heartbeat, anything at all.
He couldn’t feel his own existence.
He couldn’t even think.
Then—
The world lit up again.
He hurriedly took a deep breath and turned around—
“Sir, would you like to try our new orange juice?”
The beautiful waitress in the maid outfit approached with a gentle smile.
“It’s free!”