After stocking up at the maximum level, all the handsome men in the apocalypse are looking for suppo

Chapter 245 Awakening Thirty Days Ago

Consciousness was abruptly pulled back from the endless darkness, accompanied by a sharp pain that felt like it was tearing his skull apart.

Su Wanqing's body trembled violently and uncontrollably on the bed, as if she had just experienced a long electric shock.

She opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was the familiar ceiling.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the blinds, casting beams of light into the air, where dust motes danced silently.

The sounds of car horns and the faint murmur of crowds drifted in from outside the window—the vibrant noise of a normal city.

It was neither the cold metal of a mothership nor the chaos of spacetime turbulence.

She sat up abruptly and looked anxiously at her left wrist.

The jade bracelet that had accompanied her through countless reincarnations was now radiating an unprecedentedly brilliant light, its warm purple glow casting a pale purple hue on her skin.

A light blue virtual interface automatically unfolded before her eyes. The interface had been completely redesigned, with a simple and solemn style.

A few lines of cold text appeared in the center:

Hello, time anchor. This is your 188th attempt.

The core data for the gold, silver, and red coins has been fully integrated.

[Due to the convergence of multiple timelines, the resource return ratio has increased tenfold.]

[WARNING: This is your last chance to reset. If this fails, all timeline data will be permanently deleted.]

Su Wanqing stared at the phrase "permanently erased," and pursed her lips slightly.

The 188th time. The silver-haired old man hadn't lied to her. But the words "last chance" weighed on her heart like a heavy lead weight.

There's no going back this time.

She tried to activate her consciousness, and the system interface changed accordingly, becoming more complex and refined.

A countdown is clearly displayed in the upper left corner: [30 days, 00 hours, 00 minutes until the first "collection" outbreak].

Thirty days. The silver-haired old man was right; she had returned to a point in time that was early enough.

“Tenfold return…” she muttered to herself. It sounded like a huge reward, but she knew very well that the system never made a deal without a price.

Higher rewards mean greater challenges, or... time itself is collapsing at an even faster pace.

She stopped thinking about the failures of the past, those figures facing despair alone, and those people she pushed away who wanted to lend a helping hand.

The old man's words echoed in her mind: "A true anchor point needs a network to support it."

This time, she had to change.

She focused her attention and began operating the system interface. The new "Time Anchor Edition" system granted her unprecedented privileges.

She turned on a feature called "Real-time Location of Key Nodes".

A 3D map of the city unfolded before her, with several shimmering dots clearly marked on it.

[Lin Che], a coffee shop located in the east of the city. Status: Commoner, student, working part-time.

Note: Slight residual spatiotemporal memory was detected; consciousness synchronization rate was 4.3%.

[Lu Zhao], a spot of light in the physics lab at City University. Status: University Lecturer.

Note: Significant spatiotemporal memory residue was detected, with a consciousness synchronization rate of 11.7%. Related theoretical deductions are underway.

【Xiao Ran】, the spot of light is located on the top floor of the Xiao Group Building in the city center.

Status: Head of Group Security Department. Note: No obvious memory residue, but there is a strong correlation with the key node [Xiao Ling].

【Xiao Ling】, the light spot is also in the Xiao Group Building, but the location is slightly different, it seems to be in the residential area.

Status: Protected individual. Note: The gene sequence is in a dormant state, with a very high potential for awakening.

Everyone is already in this city. It's as if an invisible hand placed them in their respective positions before the final game of chess began.

Su Wanqing closed the map and opened the resource exchange interface. The tenfold rebate mechanism completely changed the entire list.

Resources that used to require a huge price to obtain are now readily available.

She used her intuition to select the most basic resource.

[Redeem one "Military-Grade High-Capacity Tactical Backpack" for 10 rebate points.]

The moment the redemption was confirmed, the closet door in her apartment vibrated slightly.

She walked over and opened the door, where a brand-new, bulging black tactical backpack was quietly resting.

She unzipped the bag, revealing neatly organized items including compressed biscuits, bottled water, a multi-tool knife, a first-aid kit, and a set of high-strength ropes.

Everything is real.

She returned to the bedside and looked out the window at the peaceful and prosperous world.

Thirty days from now, this place will become a living hell. And she is the only one who knows the truth.

But this time, she won't shoulder everything herself.

She reopened the system interface, zoomed in on the map, and locked onto the light spot in the east of the city that represented Lin Che.

The boy with the purple eyes who always silently followed behind her in her memory, protecting her with his life, was the first support she had to find.

She closed the system interface, and the light faded from the jade bracelet. She stood up, walked into the bathroom, and saw a young but overly calm face reflected in the mirror.

She needs to rethink everything, starting with finding her first companion.

With the warning of permanent removal hanging over her head, this time, she couldn't, and wouldn't allow herself to, make the same mistake again.

Instead of taking a taxi, Su Wanqing boarded a rickety bus.

The street scenes outside the car window rushed past, each frame exuding a pre-apocalyptic tranquility.

She needed this time to calm her thoughts and temporarily put down the heavy burden of 187 failures.

The "Dawn Cafe" in the east of the city is hidden on the ground floor of an old apartment building. The shop is small and decorated in a currently popular minimalist style.

She pushed open the glass door, and the wind chimes hanging on it made a series of crisp sounds.

The afternoon sun slanted in, and a few customers were chatting quietly inside, the air filled with the rich aroma of coffee. Her gaze swept through the crowd and landed precisely on the busy figure behind the counter.

Lin Che. He was wearing a faded white shirt with a brown apron over it, and his hair was shorter than I remembered, making him look even more refreshed.

He was facing away from the door, intently operating a semi-automatic coffee machine, each movement showing skill and seriousness.

Su Wanqing's heart skipped a beat. She walked to an empty seat at the bar and sat down, placing her tactical backpack beside her feet.

Lin Che didn't turn around, but said in a professional tone, "Please wait a moment, it will be prepared for you shortly."

The voice, carrying a hint of youthful naiveté that hadn't completely faded, was incredibly familiar, making Su Wanqing involuntarily curl the corners of her lips into a smile.

She said in a very soft voice, "The kind with cinnamon powder, remember?"

Lin Che's arm, which was operating the coffee machine, froze, and his entire back stiffened for a moment.

He slowly turned around, and when his gaze met Su Wanqing's, the glass in his hand slipped from his grasp and shattered on the ground with a "bang".

Fragments scattered everywhere. A faint golden light flashed in his clear purple eyes, and his expression quickly changed from pure shock to confusion, and finally to a complex emotion that even he himself could not understand.

"Lin Che, what's wrong?" A middle-aged man, who seemed to be the shop owner, came out from behind.

Lin Che then came to his senses. He lowered his head, avoiding Su Wanqing's gaze, and hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, Uncle Zhou, I... I made a mistake."

He crouched down and quickly cleaned up the broken glass on the ground, but Su Wanqing could see that his hand holding the broom was trembling slightly.

He took another cup and silently made a latte, but his movements were no longer as fluid as before.

When he placed the cup of coffee sprinkled with cinnamon powder in front of Su Wanqing, his fingers unconsciously tightened. He whispered two words, his voice so soft it was as if he were talking in his sleep: "Sister...?"

This name carries a great deal of uncertainty, yet it is also filled with a familiarity from another time and space.

Su Wanqing's fingers paused on the rim of the cup. She looked up and asked, "You...remember me?"

Lin Che shook his head in confusion, his eyebrows furrowing. "No, it's just... I don't know why I call you that. Have we... met before?"

Su Wanqing didn't ask any further questions. She took out a notepad and a pen from her backpack, wrote down an address, and pushed it in front of Lin Che.

"Can we come here after get off work? I'd like to talk to you."

As she spoke, she deliberately raised her left hand, letting her sleeve slide down to reveal the purple patterns left by the jade bracelet on her wrist, which had become one with her skin.

Lin Che's gaze was drawn to the pattern, and he subconsciously reached out and touched the same spot on his wrist.

There was nothing there, but a spark of understanding flashed in his eyes, as if something was about to break free from its constraints.

He picked up the note and answered in a low voice, "I get off work at six."

Su Wanqing nodded and got up to leave. She knew the seed had been planted.

At six o'clock in the evening, as darkness fell, a newly developed storage area on the outskirts of the city was deserted.

Su Wanqing stood in front of a temporary safe house that she had just redeemed using rebate points.

Lin Che, carrying a slightly worn backpack, appeared at the intersection right on time.

Seeing him approach, Su Wanqing didn't exchange any pleasantries. She simply raised her hand, and with a thought, a pale blue system interface unfolded before her.

Pointing to the countdown timer above, she succinctly explained the cycle of reincarnation, the apocalypse, and the upcoming "collection."

She was prepared to deal with the questions, but Lin Che's reaction surprised her.

He listened quietly, his face showing no doubt, but rather a relieved calm.

“This explains why I have those dreams.” Lin Che looked at her and said softly, “I always dream that I’m searching for something in the ruins, and you always appear at the end of the dream.”

After entering the safe house, Lin Che took out a flat, old iron box from his backpack and carefully opened it.

Inside were not personal belongings, but dozens of densely drawn hand-drawn sketches and some scattered metal parts.

The drawings depicted various peculiar devices, including energy converters, signal jammers, and a most complete one, which showed a circular device that closely resembled the core resonance amplifier that Lu Zhao had created in his previous life.

“About six months ago, I started having these strange dreams,” Lin Che explained. “After I wake up, these things will appear in my mind.”

I would draw them, and sometimes I would look for parts at the junk market and try to assemble them, even though I didn't know what they were for.

Su Wanqing looked through the drawings; the structures and parameters on them were so precise that they didn't seem to be imagined out of thin air.

One of the sketches, marked with a date, sent a chill down her spine—that date was exactly the day Lu Zhao risked his life to complete the final device in his previous life.

Lin Che picked up one of the dull metal fragments and rubbed it: "I've been looking for this for a long time. I always felt that it was crucial to some device."

Su Wanqing recognized it; it was a fragment of the weaver's technique, and the material was similar to the core.

She realized that it wasn't just her; time and fate were piecing together those scattered, crucial fragments in a way she couldn't comprehend.

“This isn’t just a dream.” Su Wanqing looked at him. “This is a memory, isn’t it? We really experienced…the apocalypse?”

Lin Che put down the iron box, raised his hand, and placed his palm on a metal screw on the table.

A few seconds later, the screw trembled slightly and slowly floated up.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, clearly indicating that this had taken a toll on him.

This is the faint energy manipulation ability he retained.

Su Wanqing also stretched out her hand, and when the purple lines on her wrist lit up, a faint light also appeared on the same spot on Lin Che's wrist.

The lines on their wrists glowed simultaneously, and the suspended screw instantly stabilized, even rising half an inch upwards.

The resonance remains.

Lin Che took a deep breath, and the last trace of confusion in his eyes disappeared.

He made a decision instantly: "I trust you. What's next? What supplies do we need? Who do we contact?" He had no doubt whatsoever; that trust seemed to be an instinct etched into his soul.

Just as the two were about to discuss their next plan, the pale blue system interface in front of Su Wanqing suddenly turned into a glaring red.

[Warning: The Time Watcher has locked your coordinates.]

Almost simultaneously, in the pitch-black night sky outside the window, a strange purple lightning bolt ripped through the sky, silently striking the top of a distant skyscraper.

On the edge of the building's rooftop, a blurry black figure stood silently, gazing in their direction.