novelraw Chapter 29 The Code of Practice Manual
Chapter 29 The Code of Practice Manual
The three of them returned from the rooftop to the club activity room.
Cheng Mengxue was still embroidering clothes on the sofa, Qin Feng continued tinkering with the Positron Cannon, and Jiang Ran stood in front of the small blackboard, lost in thought.
This scene…
It was as if the disagreements and arguments from before had never happened.
But.
Facts were facts. History was history.
How could it be that nothing had happened?
After that sentence—“I don’t blame you”—Qin Feng looked as though he had let it go.
Yet it was precisely that easy release that made Jiang Ran feel even worse.
On the way downstairs, he had regretted it several times.Had he gone too far?
Had he been too selfish?
Had he been too hypocritical?
Again and again he reminded himself that this was his best friend;
again and again he feared backlash, fearing the uncontrollable butterfly effect that spanned ten years.
Torn.
In pain.
Helpless.
At this moment, Jiang Ran’s heart was a jumble of emotions.
“I think we should set some rules.”
He turned around.
“This time, we couldn’t fulfill Qin Feng’s wish. I feel very guilty, and very sorry.”
“Even though everyone understands the reasons, I still don’t want something like this to happen again.”
“So I think the most urgent thing is that, before we continue sending time-traveling texts, we should clearly define a set of rules.”
“Or rather… clearly define ‘what kind of wishes can be fulfilled’ and ‘what kind of messages are allowed to be sent.’”
“I agree.”
Cheng Mengxue raised her hand.
“If there’s a concrete standard, it’ll be easy to judge in the future.”
“As long as it meets those standards, the wish can be fulfilled;
if it doesn’t, it gets vetoed. That’s the most efficient and fairest way to handle things… we can’t be holding a vote every single time.”
Qin Feng looked up from the Positron Cannon.
He smiled faintly.
“I don’t really have any objections. But I should say this—there’s no need for you to feel so guilty, and no need to think I suffered some huge injustice over this.”
“In the first place, the wish to ‘revive my father’ carried a lot of risk. I wasn’t unprepared for that, so I’m perfectly willing to accept this outcome.”
“We’ve been good friends for so many years. Don’t let this create any distance between us. I’m not that petty or unreasonable.”
…
After pooling their ideas, the three of them finally finalized the […] Code of Practice for Using Time-Traveling Texts […]:
[…] Code of Practice for Using Time-Traveling Texts […]
1. Time-traveling texts may only be sent to at most […] 30 days in the past […], to avoid triggering uncontrollable butterfly effects.
2. The content of any time-traveling text must receive unanimous approval from all three people.
3. When sending a time-traveling text, all three people must be present at the same time—no exceptions.
4. Time-traveling texts and all related secrets, including the Positron Cannon, must be kept strictly confidential and not disclosed to anyone.
Among these four rules, most were actually old, familiar points.
The most important—and the only newly added item—was the strict […] 30-day limit […] in the first rule.
This was the result of their deliberation.
Thirty days.
That was the limit of acceptable temporal butterfly effects, as far as they were concerned.
Therefore, no matter what kind of time-traveling text it was in the future, it could only be sent to a point up to 30 days in the past. Any farther back was forbidden.
Without rules, there could be no order.
With these four rules in place, many problems could indeed be avoided going forward.
At the same time,
Cheng Mengxue’s […] Time-Traveling Texts User Manual […] had also been updated to version 4.0, with many patches applied.
[…] Time-Traveling Texts User Manual (Version 4.0) […]
1. In theory, time-traveling texts can be sent to any point in the past, but are constrained by the maximum power limit of the Positron Cannon.
2. For safety reasons, experiments should be conducted in the early morning hours, when electrical line loads are lower.
3. After the Positron Cannon overloads, it must be powered off and left idle for 20 hours before it can be used again.
4. The sending window for time-traveling texts is only 0.7 seconds, and the content is limited to a maximum of 70 characters.
5. Successfully sending a text will trigger temporal changes and a worldline transition;
only Jiang Ran can perceive this change.
6. Only Jiang Ran can retain memories from the original worldline. This special constitution has been named […] All-Spacetime Memory […].
…
“Qin Feng.”
Jiang Ran pointed at the text on the blackboard.
“Your previous wish didn’t get fulfilled. Now I’m making it up to you.”
“Think about it—do you have any other wish you want to realize, any regret you want to make up for?”
“This time there’s no need to vote. As long as it meets the […] Code of Practice […] we just discussed, it will definitely be fulfilled.”
Jiang Ran admitted it.
He really was eager to make up for his guilt, eager to compensate Qin Feng with a wish as soon as possible.
As long as it was something within 30 days.
He would agree without hesitation, without raising any objections.
Even if it was a bit excessive…
Even if he still had worries and misgivings…
This time.
He had to agree to Qin Feng unconditionally!
However.
Faced with Jiang Ran’s silent resolve, Qin Feng seemed uninterested, showing little reaction.
“There’s really no need to make such a big deal out of me.”
He used a screwdriver to loosen the screws on the Positron Cannon.
“I’m quite satisfied with my current life. I’m satisfied with everything around me. To be honest, I don’t really feel like there’s any regret that needs fixing.”
“All along, my only wish was to save my father. Now you suddenly want me to switch to a different wish… I honestly can’t think of one right away.”
“Why don’t you just skip me? I don’t mind.”
Cheng Mengxue also stood up, guilt written on her face.
“A-anything is fine!”
“Since we agreed it’s one turn per person, we can’t leave anyone out!”
“Come on, think of something, Qin Feng. Big or small, anything works. Even if it’s just to run another time-traveling text experiment… just think of some wish!”
Jiang Ran nodded.
“That’s right. Anything is fine. Worst case, we just win the lottery a few more times.”
“Seriously… you should at least name a wish. That way, the two of us will feel a little less guilty.”
Qin Feng let out a long breath through his nose.
He stopped what he was doing.
Thought for a moment.
“All right.”
He also understood that he had to say something, otherwise Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue would keep feeling guilty.
“Hmm…”
He glanced around, then finally lowered his gaze, fixing it on the outer casing of the Positron Cannon.
“Come to think of it, there was something a few days ago that I felt was a bit of a pity.”
“What was it?”
“Say it already!”
Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue immediately crowded around.
“Do you remember this knob LCD control board?”
Qin Feng pointed at the circuit board mounted on the outer shell of the Positron Cannon.
“I picked it up at the used home-appliance market a few days ago. After assembling it with the Positron Cannon, it lets us precisely control the timing of sending time-traveling texts—down to the year, month, day, and hour. It makes everything idiot-proof.”
“Of course we remember.”
Jiang Ran casually twisted the knob.
“What about it? Isn’t it working pretty well?”
“There’s actually a better one.”
Qin Feng swatted away Jiang Ran’s thieving hand.
“When I bought this, I chatted with the used-appliance vendor. He said there was another old control board with a nicer design, but it just happened to be bought by someone else a couple of days earlier.”
“You know me. When it comes to mechanical design, I’ve always been a perfectionist. Don’t you think this add-on control board looks ugly?”
Jiang Ran and Cheng Mengxue nodded in unison.
Indeed. It was very ugly.
Like hanging a urine bag on it—extremely unsightly.
“If I could get there before anyone else and buy that nicer-looking control board, I could modify the Positron Cannon to look better overall.”
Qin Feng continued.
“Let me think. I went to the used appliance market six days ago. That board was bought two days before that. To be safe, I should go three days earlier and intercept it.”
“So, if I really have to say what I want to use a time-traveling text for right now…”
“That would be to send a text to myself from nine days ago, reminding that version of me to hurry to the used appliance market and buy that control board first.”