Timeline Player

Chi Que felt a chill.

Was his act of saving the logistics staff one of the reasons that the logistics staff eventually turned into a shadow?

Did his actions complete a closed loop in time?

That's too hopeless.

That means all his actions are just going around in circles within a pre-written script, and everything is meaningless.

No, this is not a closed loop.

Chi Que suddenly thought of something.

There is one more person.

Chi Que quickly went through the number of people in the expedition team in his mind: the captain, the logistics personnel, the madman, himself, and the nameless team members.

Five people. He rescued the logistics officer and the nameless man on the front line twenty years ago, but he only saw a combined black shadow.

If history is a closed loop, then the nameless should also be in the shadows, but the shadows only show traces of two people combined.

Or perhaps the nameless man was actually killed by his actions "tomorrow"? And then he died too?

"What is this? Is everything Steins;Gate's choice?" Chi Que thought to himself.

Although in reality, the problem he is facing at this moment is fatalism, which has little to do with Steins;Gate.

The timeline in Steins;Gate is converging; small changes won't jump the timeline. Some things are destined to happen, like the pocket watch that will always stop at a certain point in time. But if the change is large enough, it might jump time and lead to a completely new world line.

"Wait, is the timeline converging?" Chi Que's expression hardened; this seemed to explain his current situation.

He did change, but the changes weren't significant enough, which ultimately led to certain things still happening.

"Ha." Chi Que chuckled softly.

He would never deliberately do the opposite because he didn't believe. Whatever fate, destiny, or destiny may be, Chi Que would only do what reason tells him is the right thing to do.

But right now, he has to survive.

"Wake up! Wake up, all of you!" Chi Que's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a strong energy that instantly woke the three of them.

"Midnight is approaching. Find a place to hide. Whether you survive or not depends on your own abilities!" He quickly said this, then headed towards the other side of the hall, in the opposite direction from the shadowy figure.

Before the students could react, Wen Lu rushed out and followed Chi Que without hesitation.

"Damn it!" he cursed involuntarily, then looked at the girl, scratched his head, and said, "I really wanted to help you, but I'm in a bind myself right now. Good luck, goodbye."

Soon, only the girl remained in the hall.

She remained seated, without moving.

It's almost midnight.

She gave a strange smile.

Then, she stood up lightly.

The girl walked towards the shadowy figure.

......

"etc!"

Chi Que turned around and saw that Wen Lu had somehow caught up with her. It seemed that her claim of having martial arts training wasn't just a simple lie: "Gun! Give me back that gun! I need a weapon!"

Chi Que didn't stop walking at all, and didn't even turn around. He reached into his pocket, took out the small, magazineless pistol that Wen Lu had given him before, and tossed it behind him without even looking at it.

Wen Lu caught it subconsciously, and the moment she touched it, she felt that the weight was wrong. After just one glance, her face turned ashen.

The gun body had been roughly disassembled and forcibly put back together, and several key internal parts had been removed.

Based on her assessment, the gun is probably malfunctioning intermittently, and there's a chance it will break down with each shot.

Chi Que even left her a note, which he slipped into the barrel of the gun:

If all else fails, I'll just use it to commit suicide.

"You!" Wen Lu trembled with anger. She looked up, but there was no sign of Chi Que anywhere.

He was wary of me! No wonder he returned the gun so easily!

Her face looked terrible, but she couldn't care less about that now, as she heard heavy footsteps behind her.

She gripped the gun, which was practically scrap metal, tightly, then without hesitation, she turned sharply and fled in another direction.

......

Hearing the muffled thud behind him, Chi Que knew that Wen Lu had caught the gun, and he had done all he could.

His mind raced as he recalled the blueprints for the manor's construction that he had specifically looked at twenty years ago. Several hidden locations were marked on them, one of which, located in the west of the secondary courtyard, was a hidden tool shed.

"This is it." Chi Que stopped in his tracks. Before him was a large expanse of vines and statues, almost invisible from the outside.

He slipped inside and squeezed into a small space, less than five square meters in size, filled with rusty gardening tools and rags. A tall window faced the courtyard, providing both a view of the outside world and making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

A flustered figure appeared in the courtyard. It was the girl with the oval face. She looked around as if searching for a hiding place.

Chi Que observed her silently. Compared to Wen Lu, this harmless girl worried him more.

Suddenly, their eyes met.

The girl looked surprised.

Chi Que's heart sank slightly.

She ran quickly and found his hiding place. She pulled out a paper package and put on a pitiful expression: "Sir, I have some food here. Will you protect me?"

Chi Que didn't move, watching her warily.

The girl tilted her head: "Aren't you hungry?"

Her words seemed to have some kind of magic; Chi Que immediately felt that his once full abdomen suddenly felt much emptier.

His expression changed, and he no longer bothered with any pretense: "Who exactly are you?"

The girl stepped forward and said innocently, "I am the prisoner, didn't you confirm that?"

"I don't believe it," Chi Que said coldly. "From the very beginning, you've been luring me to eat your food, just packaging it very well. What exactly is that food? What is your purpose?"

"Those..." the girl tilted her head, "are just normal food. I eat those every day."

Chi Que tried to find flaws in her words and actions, but no matter how he observed, he could only come to one conclusion.

The other party was not lying.

The girl handed over the oil paper package, from which an enticing aroma wafted: "Here, have some food."

Chi Que drew his gun.

Her expression changed.

"Fine," the girl said dejectedly and left.

Chi Que knew he couldn't stay in this place any longer.

Without hesitation, he left and headed towards another hiding place, an abandoned wine cellar with a large interior space. Even if the shadowy figure discovered him, he would have room to maneuver and escape.

The wind and snow seemed to have subsided a bit, but the weather was getting colder, and the screeching sound of something scraping could be faintly heard in the distance.

That was a dark shadow moving.

Chi Que wrapped his coat tighter and hurried toward the wine cellar. The moment he pushed open the door, he saw a figure hiding inside.