America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

"Very smart."

"But I must say, you also remember my mother."

“Listen carefully, I really did change history. On the night the aurora appeared in the New York sky, I was fiddling with my father’s old radio at home, and unexpectedly, the radio connected with the radio station from thirty years ago. I was able to communicate with my father from thirty years ago.”

“We confirmed the other person’s identity. I told my father about his cause of death, that he would die in the fire, but my father avoided death.”

"However, after history was changed, I didn't gain any more relatives, only some memories of my father's company."

"It's like being cursed."

“My mother was killed by the Nightingale serial killer, just a week after my father escaped his fate.”

"..." John Sullivan's expression was very bitter.

"Do you also have a radio? You and I both retained our original memories because of the radio?" John Sullivan asked.

“No…” Li Qun shook his head.

"how is this possible?"

“I did encounter a time traveler, but that might not be the reason I exposed my original time memories,” Li Qun explained.

"Someone has traveled through time?" John Sullivan's eyes widened.

“The aurora in the sky is most likely caused by a time rift. The person who traveled through time was very unlucky; they stepped into a time rift and fell from over a hundred years ago into our era,” Li Qun said.

“More than a hundred years ago.” John Sullivan covered his forehead with one hand.

“Is this New York?” he murmured.

……

On the Brooklyn Bridge, Leopold and Steve sat on the steel frame of the bridge, looking up at the sky.

“Leo, I don’t see anything strange about the changes,” Steve said.

“We should bring some props and throw them into the space above the bridge. If we’re lucky, we might hit that time rift,” Leo said.

"Hey, you two, get down here!"

Steve and Leo looked down and saw a police officer shouting at them from the pedestrian walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge.

“Someone called the police,” Steve said helplessly.

"Let's go down."

The two carefully stood up from the steel frame and slowly climbed down.

“Someone called the police saying there are two people on the Brooklyn Bridge planning to jump into the river. Show me your IDs,” the Black officer ordered the two men.

"Here you go." Steve honestly handed over his ID card.

"And yours?" the officer asked, looking at Leo.

"I need to wait two days to receive my ID card," Leo honestly replied.

"What did you say? Okay, now you have to come with me back to the police station."

“What did I say wrong?” Leo looked at Steve.

“I don’t know either,” Steve shook his head.

……

George Stacy was nestled on the sofa watching TV when the phone suddenly rang.

“I am George Stacy.”

“Hey Officer George, this is Jonny Rogers. I’m in a bit of trouble. Could you come to the police station?” Steve said on the phone.

Which branch office?

"Okay, I understand."

George Stacy put down the phone, put on her jacket, and then changed her shoes by the door.

“Gwen, I’m going out for a bit. Don’t wait for me to come back,” George called out to Gwen’s room.

Ignoring Gwen's response, George grabbed his car keys and left.

The door closed, and Gwen's room door opened. Gwen came out wearing slippers and went to the landline phone to check the call that had just come in.

It's an unfamiliar phone number.

Gwen returned to her room and lay back down on her bed.

Holding her phone, she hesitated before calling Li Qun.

As soon as he dialed the number, Li Qun immediately answered the phone on the other end.

"Gwen, what's wrong?" Li Qun asked.

“My dad just got a phone call and went out. I’m a little worried about him. If this were a movie plot, he might get into an accident,” Gwen said on the phone.

"Gwen, guess where I am?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm on the Brooklyn Bridge."

What are you doing there?

“Leo and Steve had agreed to come to the Brooklyn Bridge to investigate, but when I arrived, I saw them being taken away by the police,” Li Qun said.

"what?!"

"Officer John and I are going to the police station now to see if we can get them both out."

"Officer John?"

“Officer John Sullivan, a regular customer at my uncle’s restaurant, Uncle George should know him too. Let’s stop here.” Li Qun hung up the phone.

Chapter 33 Three Helpers

"That's it. Leo just arrived in New York from England. This is his first time traveling abroad, and unfortunately, he had everything stolen. He won't get his replacement ID in a couple of days. Got it?"

John Sullivan explained to his colleagues at the precinct that he had pulled Steve and Leopold out of the police station before George Stacy arrived.

John Sullivan and Li Qun took Steve and Leopold into John's car, and John drove the three of them to his house.

"Liqun, you have so many friends," Leo said in the car.

“Johnny, use my phone to call Uncle George and tell him that you and Mr. Leo have been released.” Li Qun dialed George Stacy’s number and handed the phone to Steve.

"The call went through." Steve glanced at Li Qun's phone.

"Lyon, is that you? What do you need me for so late?" George asked on the phone.

“It’s me, Johnny Rogers. Li Qun and his other police friend got Leopold and me out of the police station. Thanks for your help, and thank you for coming all this way,” Steve said into the phone.

"Another police officer friend? Who is it?"

John Sullivan frowned as he listened to the voice on Li Qun's phone; George Stacy's voice sounded very familiar to him.

John reached out his hand, and Steve handed the phone to John Sullivan.

"Is this Officer Stacy? This is John Sullivan."

"it's me……"

“They weren’t involved in a criminal case; I just happened to run into them on my way home from get off work.”

"I haven't hidden anything from you."

"Okay, let's grab coffee sometime."

George Stacy hung up the phone, and John Sullivan returned the phone to Li Qun.

“Is this the Stark smartphone? It feels pretty strange,” John Sullivan said.

"Officer Sullivan, are there any laws or regulations in New York regarding using a mobile phone while driving?" Li Qun asked cautiously.

“Yes, but in most cases it only applies to ordinary citizens, you know what I mean?” John Sullivan replied.

"I understand."

“Where are we going now?” Steve asked.

“Come to my house, I need your help,” John Sullivan said earnestly.

“I’ll definitely help you if I can,” Steve said.

"Ah."

John glanced at the rearview mirror in the car.

John Sullivan felt that there were only two people in the car who could help him: one was Li Qun, who maintained his original timeline memories, and the other was the time traveler Leopold.

A little over ten minutes later, John Sullivan arrived home and parked his car in the driveway.

In the study, a communication across time and space is taking place, with John Sullivan's father, Frank Sullivan, calling out to him across thirty years.

"Dad, I'm here. I just got home."

“Son…” Frank said over the radio.

"Has history changed? Will I still be alive thirty years from now?" Frank Sullivan asked.

“Dad, history has changed. You’ve lived twenty years longer than before. But something even more terrible has happened. Mom died just a week after this fire.”

"What?" Frank was stunned.

“Right after you escaped death, completely different memories appeared in my mind, comparing them with my original memories. The person by my side changed from my mother to you, until you passed away from lung cancer ten years ago.”

“As I told you, my job is as a police officer. We recently discovered a skeleton that is the first victim of the Nightingale serial murders thirty years ago. There were four victims back then.”

“Now, the number of victims in the Nightingale serial murders from thirty years ago has increased to eight, and Mom is one of them,” John said.

"How could this be?"

"Because the changes over time are changes that surround us, I can immediately feel the changes that occurred thirty years ago."

“Tell me all the details of the murder. I will protect your mother. No one can hurt her,” Frank’s firm voice came through the radio.

"The victims of the Nightingale serial murders were all women, and nurses. The killer specifically targeted nurses who were going home from get off work at night."