Xingtie: My silly online friend is actually a raccoon!

Lu Ze had seen many absurd and bizarre things, but this was the first time he had seen something so abstract.

He pointed to the neatly folded white towel in the display case and turned to look at Anthony.

Aren't you going to explain yourself?

Anthony nodded slightly, his tone still gentle and polite: "More than a hundred years have passed since you met Mr. Lars."

Lu Ze took two seconds to process it.

Laras lived in an industrial age with a level of technology comparable to Earth, while the museum before him was clearly far beyond that stage of civilization.

"So, you mean I was taken to the future by you?" He quickly pieced together the clues.

This time travel was not a normal trigger of his passive ability, but rather it was caused by human intervention.

So here's the question.

Since this era already possesses time travel technology, why not simply go back in time to find Larus himself, instead of taking such a long detour to pull himself out of the timeline?

Anthony seemed to have read his thoughts and offered an explanation:

"Although our civilization now possesses the technology for time travel, the Time and Space Administration's laws explicitly state that no one from the future is allowed to return to the past and alter any history. If this is violated, the entire timeline will be forcibly reset by the Time and Space Court."

Lu Ze nodded, accepting the explanation.

That makes perfect sense. If anyone could just go back in time and change history, the world would have been in chaos long ago.

He glanced at the towel again, his lips twitching slightly.

The prophet, that's what they call him, it's funny to think about.

"Therefore, we can only bring you, who does not belong to this world, to the future."

"Why did you bring me here?" Lu Ze asked, puzzled.

Since they can't change history, they must have a reason for specifically pulling him out of the timeline and into this era.

"I don't know either. Our curator is looking for you." Anthony bowed slightly.

Lu Ze, filled with questions, continued to follow Anthony deeper into the museum.

After passing through several alloy doors that require iris recognition, the exhibits on both sides of the corridor gradually transform from everyday items into sophisticated scientific research instruments.

Soon they arrived at a large mahogany door. Anthony pushed open the heavy door for him, and after Lu Ze entered, he quietly withdrew and gently closed the door behind him.

The collection room is completely different from the exhibition hall that is open to the public. The items displayed inside are no longer everyday items such as towels, but genuine technological creations.

Lu Ze's gaze was drawn to the most eye-catching exhibit in the entire collection room.

It was a giant machine about two meters long, one and a half meters wide, and more than four meters high. Its outer shell was made up of countless intricate components, and its core contained an energy core that emitted a faint blue glow.

From the exhibit label next to it, Lu Ze learned that the machine was called the "Atomic Programming Prototype Machine".

"Isn't it spectacular?" A gentle, aged voice came from beside him.

Lu Ze turned his head and saw a kind old man with a cane and silver hair standing beside him, looking up at the huge machine.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Luzer. My name is Gennaro Lallez."

Lu Ze slightly widened his eyes.

"Then you are...?"

"I am the grandson of your friend Lars."

Gennaro's gaze never left the atomic programming prototype, as if he were staring through those metal components at a piece of history he had never witnessed.

After a moment of silence, he spoke again, "You must have many questions for me. But before that, I'd like to pass on a message from Grandpa."

He turned his head, his cloudy yet still bright eyes staring intently at Lu Ze.

"He said thank you for enlightening him. That joke about mercury and gold was the most precious gift of his life."

Lu Ze opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

He casually mentioned an internet joke, never expecting it to become the cornerstone that changed the fate of an entire civilization.

As he looked at the enormous machine before him, a profound sense of history washed over him.

"Larus...he succeeded later, right?"

Actually, there was no need to ask that question anymore; he already knew the answer from what he had seen and heard along the way.

"Yes," Gennaro nodded.

"The advent of atomic modification tools completely changed the fate of the entire planet. The colonists' blockade was broken, ecological restoration projects were launched in full swing, and the Larus Space Museum was built to commemorate that history."

Lu Ze turned his gaze back to the massive prototype, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

"Now that you've succeeded, why did you call me here?" That was what puzzled him the most.

Larus has completed his mission, and the fate of this planet has been rewritten. In fact, this "prophet" did not do anything particularly remarkable.

Gennaro tapped his cane lightly on the ground and slowly walked towards an alloy pedestal deep within the collection room.

"It's to fulfill my grandfather's last wish. He left you some things."

A rustic wooden box sits quietly on the pedestal. Its material clashes with the high-tech exhibits around it, making it seem more like an old object from over a hundred years ago.

"In his later years, he often said that if he could see you again, he would personally hand these over to you. Unfortunately, this wish was not fulfilled in his lifetime."

Lu Ze looked at the wooden box, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

As someone who frequently travels through time, Lu Ze takes a very detached view of partings, because he has experienced too much and has long since become numb to it.

For him, that time travel was just one of the more mundane adventures among countless others.

But for Larus, the alien visitor who enlightened him with an absurd joke became a lifelong regret.

Lu Ze walked to the pedestal, his fingertips touching the surface of the wooden box, where a line of small characters was engraved, the handwriting both childish and earnest—To my friend Lu Ze, thank you for the light from afar.