The power of time cannot be stopped or hidden.

Jiang Niao and Mustard Soup quickly noticed each other's changes.

Wrinkles appeared at the corners of their eyes, their skin lost its luster, their once black hair turned gray, and their familiar faces became unfamiliar.

The maturity of middle-aged men from yesterday seemed to have crossed twenty years of time, turning into twilight and old age today.

Gu Chi couldn't escape either. The fleeting time seemed like an invisible carving knife, leaving traces of years on his face.

Ling Mao watched as the once handsome man aged like a withering flower. Panic and fear welled up in her eyes. She reached out and touched her own face. The rough texture made her eyes turn red. She tightly covered her mouth, preventing herself from making any sound.

Laughter abruptly ceased, replaced by a piercing silence.

Under the power of the clock tower, they endured an all-nighter. Their spirits were already fragile, and they thought they had overcome the difficulties, but in an instant, they found themselves twenty years older. This drastic change from heaven to hell pushed them to the brink of collapse.

At this moment, the air in the room felt as sticky as a swamp, making it hard to breathe.

"Damn it!"

Jiang Niao's emotions were somewhat out of control as he cursed, "We clearly made it through the night, so why does time still leap forward?"

Time always sneaks away when you're asleep, but it walks openly when you're awake. They were powerless against it, is that what it meant?

Mustard Soup stared blankly outside the window. The streets and buildings were no longer visible, and the entire city seemed to have merged into one, becoming an eternal iceberg. He murmured, "Are we going to die?"

Ling Mao's eyes turned red, looking at Gu Chi helplessly.

Just as Mustard Soup said, they were close to death. What weighed on their shoulders was not only the despair after hope, but also the impending death.

After today, they would be buried together with this city, completely covered by snow and frost.

Things seemed to be heading irreversibly in a direction they couldn't change. Their once fearless hearts began to waver.

The cold environment, cruel time, the blow of failure, and their dwindling spirits...

Everything was affecting their will.

Until Gu Chi suddenly spoke up.

"Who told you that we're going to die?"

Mustard Soup was taken aback, lowered his head, and whispered, "But, didn't we fail?"

"Failure doesn't mean death. It means finding another way." Gu Chi squinted his eyes and said, "Since we can't stop time from here, let's dismantle the clock tower that controls time."

After observing for two days, Gu Chi was already certain that time in this world was controlled by the clock tower.

The blue dial represents a year, and the yellow dial represents a day.

During the day, both dials rotate normally, but they accelerate after midnight.

They still had half a day left.

"As long as we stop the hands on the dials, time will freeze, and even..."

Gu Chi's gaze swept over Ling Mao and the others. "If we can reverse the hands, time will flow backwards."

Time reversal...?

The air fell silent for a second.

Jiang Niao, who had calmed down, easily understood that Gu Chi's inference was correct. Didn't Neil mention in the letter that they would take action against the clock tower?

If time in this world can leap into the future, then it can naturally return to the past. It makes sense!

Mustard Soup, who had already given up hope, regained some color in his eyes when he heard that time could flow backwards. "So we don't have to die?"

"Not only do we not have to die, but we also have a great chance of clearing the level." Once they grasp the method of controlling time, they would be almost immortal in this world. The time limit for the mission would no longer exist, and clearing the level would only be a matter of time. Suddenly, there was hope again. Ling Mao cried and laughed, wiped her eyes, and asked Gu Chi, "Did you think of this method a long time ago?"

Gu Chi replied, "I just thought of it."

"Don't lie." Ling Mao didn't believe it.

Yesterday, Gu Chi asked Jiang Niao to do more mechanical work, saying that it might be useful later. She remembered this clearly. Now thinking about it, it was obvious that he was prepared. But Ling Mao didn't continue to ask. She was no longer cute in her current state, and doing more un-cute things would be annoying. She changed the topic herself, "When should we set off?"

She wanted to quickly return to her youthful appearance.

Jiang Niao also looked at Gu Chi. His desire to clear the level was no longer as strong as when he first entered the instance. He just wanted to pass this level, prove that he wasn't useless, and then sleep comfortably and go to the forum to vent about why the game designed the instance to be so difficult.

"If you're all okay, let's set off in three hours." Gu Chi said, "For now, let's go to the gym and get used to our bodies."

Yesterday, when he asked Ling Mao to go to the gym, it was just teasing a young girl. But today, it was necessary to go.With bodies nearing 60, their overall qualities were far from what they used to be. They had to adjust their conditions, or they might not even make it to the clock tower.

"Ling Mao, you go first, then Jiang Niao will take over."

"Okay!"

"Jiang Niao, bring all the guns from the basement, and also..."

As Mustard Soup listened to Gu Chi assigning tasks, he suddenly realized a problem. Walking dozens of miles on a flat road and walking the same distance in the snow were two completely different concepts. He was physically weak, with only 4 points of strength. His body was now fatter and weaker than before, and he hadn't slept all night. He might not even make it on a flat road, let alone in the snow.

"Mustard Soup." Gu Chi called out after assigning tasks to Jiang Niao.

"Ah...yes?"

"Are you tired?" Gu Chi asked, "Can you hold on?"

"I can." Mustard Soup lowered his head, avoiding Gu Chi's gaze.

After spending some time together, they had come to understand each other. Mustard Soup was quiet and unobtrusive, but that didn't mean he didn't have his own thoughts. In his mind, Gu Chi was a very capable person, always able to see through others' thoughts, so he instinctively felt a bit afraid to meet this man's gaze.

"Do you think that if you don't look at me, I can't guess what you're thinking?" Gu Chi said.

Mustard Soup: "......"

"Don't worry, we will help you." Gu Chi patted his shoulder, signaling him to look to the right.

At the entrance to the basement, Jiang Niao was coming up with two guns in his arms, two more on his back, and a wooden board dragging behind him.

"What is this...?" Mustard Soup didn't understand.

Jiang Niao grinned, "Brother Gu asked me to make a cart for you. When you can't walk anymore, the three of us will pull you."

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Three pulling one?

Mustard Soup's lips trembled, he really...

"Actually, you guys don't have to..."

"It's not up to you to decide."

Gu Chi interrupted, "Enough, we don't have time for you to cry now. Count how many wake-up herbs we have left. We might have to stay up all night."

After saying that, Gu Chi left Mustard Soup alone to sort out his emotions and went to check the guns.

Jiang Niao, who was hammering nails on the side, saw his proficient movements and couldn't help but ask, "Brother Gu, were you a special agent too?"

Gu Chi hummed in affirmation, "In a few dreams, yes."

Jiang Niao: "......"

In a few dreams?

What did that mean?

Gu Chi didn't explain, and Jiang Niao didn't ask further, continuing with his work.

They had gotten used to Gu Chi's sometimes cold, sometimes gentle style over the past few days. Ling Mao probably had a deep understanding of this as well.

He was a man of many faces.

The cart was quickly made.

Having a mechanic do this kind of work was a waste of talent.

Ling Mao came down from upstairs just in time to switch with Jiang Niao, who was heading to the gym.

Next was Gu Chi.

Before going upstairs, he asked Mustard Soup, "Have you counted them? Do we have enough wake-up herbs?"

Mustard Soup: "Yes, just the right amount."

At eight o'clock, Mustard Soup went to the gym. After coming down, he continued to make soup.

At eight fifty, the wake-up soup was ready, and Mustard Soup poured it into three thermos flasks.

At nine o'clock, everyone put on their padded jackets and armed themselves.

"Did everyone bring everything?"

"We did!"

"Alright, let's go."

......