National destiny: Starting with a coffin, building an aircraft carrier is broadcast live globally.

"...There's still a slight difference; he's the only one with surplus food."

That last sentence made everyone pause for a moment.

The only one.

It seemed like it was criticizing the tycoon's remains, but Renyi always felt that it was responding to the joke he had made earlier.

Am I your only one?

seems like it.

But this is hardly a cause for celebration...

This means there is no backup, no second team, and no Plan B.

Hydra has put all his eggs in one basket.

...And even the basket was stolen from another world.

How hasty!

So much pressure! U·ェ·U

But since things have come to this, let's first see what this "surplus grain" is all about.

"break down."

[Decomposition successful!]

[Received: Bone Powder*10, Resentment*10, Blessed Coins*9]

An old coin appears in any palm.

The coin appeared to be made of some kind of bone, about the size of a silver dollar, with an abstract skull engraved on one side and something on the other side that closely resembled the echoes he had previously extracted from Sotoma.

The Blessed Coin

[Comment: The line between blessing and curse is often very thin. Before flipping a coin, make sure what you desire and what the coin intends to give are truly the same thing. PS: A defective product created by a gluttonous ghost who hasn't even grown its full plumage in tens of thousands of years (￢_￢).]

Interesting, are they wishing coins?

How so? Toss it up?

He casually tossed the bone coin, then caught it with a flick of his finger.

A pair of round, bright eyes secretly followed the bone coin up and down.

The pocket bulged slightly.

Xiao Jiu climbed up the clothes to Renyi's shoulder and stretched out its tentacles to reach the bone coin.

"What's this? It smells nice, let me see!"

"Stop fooling around, you're making a wish."

He flicked Xiao Jiu's outstretched tentacle with his finger, neither too hard nor too soft.

Xiao Jiu winced in pain and shrank back.

But the next second, the nine tentacles, like nine blooming claw flowers, rushed menacingly toward the coin.

Renyi was amused, and with nimble fingers, she twirled the coin around amidst the pursuit and interception of nine tentacles of unknown length.

[Wow, that's some impressive typing speed...]

[It's like a cat-and-mouse game! So cute!]

[Haha, Little Nine's red color is changing! (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*]

[Xiao Jiu: Don't come any closer!]

"Smack."

Just as the two of them were having a good time (not really), Xiao Jiu slapped Renyi's hand, and the bone coin flew out of his hand—

"thump."

With a soft thud, it landed precisely in the pool of water the size of a water vat.

"..."

Xiao Jiu & Renyi: (๐•̆ ·̭ •̆๐)

The water in the pool was pitch black; a coin sinking into it wouldn't even make a ripple.

He bent down and leaned closer to the water's surface, trying to get a better look at the pool.

However, his reflection was not visible on the water.

The water's surface, like a melting mirror, slowly rotated, and a scene gradually unfolded—

Sunlight casts dappled patterns on the tree-lined path.

A little child wearing overalls clutches a melting ice cream cone, while his other hand is held by a woman in an elegant dress.

He skipped and hopped ahead, occasionally tilting his head back and smiling at the people behind him, revealing a missing front tooth.

He gazed at her quietly, his eyes as deep as a still pool.

[...Is this...the boss when he was a child?]

[Hehehe, Brother Renyi can actually laugh so sincerely sometimes...]

[Ah, I get it! It's a wishing well! Coins are used to make wishes here!]

[So, is the boss's wish to go back to the past?]

[Damn! This is dangerous! Otherwise, where did all these dead bodies come from?!]

The concerns expressed in the comments section were not unfounded.

At this moment, Ren Yi wasn't simply looking at the scene in the water. From his perspective, the pool was boiling, and black mist separated him from the surrounding space into two parts.

"Do you want to go back?"

The voice rang directly in his mind.

"Back to that carefree afternoon, back to your mother's side... that warmth, you haven't felt it in a long time, have you?"

"Say it... as long as you say it, everything can be restored."

The scene became increasingly vivid; the children's laughter seemed to echo in my ears, and the sunlight streamed down the tree-lined path...

It seems to have really brought warmth.

A black mist permeated the air, a force that specifically 'preys' on regret, longing, or desire, yet it remained motionless, quietly appreciating the scene as if it had nothing to do with itself.

What are you hesitating about?

The voice remained persuasive, but the surging black mist revealed a hint of urgency.

"This is the image hidden deep within your heart, humanity... This is your only chance."

He glanced down at the black mist on his chest.

A very sincere question:

"who are they?"

"..."

"...What?"

"I said," Renyi patiently repeated, "I don't know this lady or this child."

The fog was so thick that it almost completely enveloped everything.

but......

Indeed, there was no regret, no longing, and no nostalgia. It could also sense that when this person said he didn't know him, he truly didn't know him!

"This...how is this possible...this is a reflection from the depths of your soul!"

"yes."

In a casual tone, he asked, "Did they play the wrong movie?"

The water in the pool is stuck, the sound is stuck, and the thick fog is stuck too.

The pressure that had been weighing on him receded like a receding tide.

The black mist lingered reluctantly for a moment before quickly retreating back into the small pool of water.

I moved my neck left and right a couple of times, as it was a little stiff from the cold.

He didn't recognize the mother and child.

But he had seen it—

The cold corpses embraced each other in the ruins, still clutching melted, dust-covered lollipops in their hands.

The scene depicted in the pool was merely a product of his imagination.

A peaceful afternoon that should have been theirs.

He was neither the subject nor did the event actually occur.

How could the pity of a bystander give rise to regret and remembrance?

However, I have a general understanding of how this "defective" wishing well works.

This is his "good neighbor" Xiao Jiu (evil version)!

The source of power for what is hidden in the pool seems to be some kind of emotion; if it doesn't have an emotion it can understand and utilize, then it's helpless.

Hydra's assessment was quite accurate.

"?"

Xiao Jiu poked his cheek with the tip of its tentacle. If it hadn't been for its mischief, the bone coin wouldn't have fallen in.

He patted Xiao Jiu to comfort her, and then took out a "blessed coin".

The bone coin traced a white arc in the air.

"thump."

Almost the instant the coin sank, the water in the pool boiled again.

"It's...you again!"

The voice no longer feigned profundity, but roared directly into anyone's mind.

"You have no desires, no remorse, what are you doing here! Are you toying with me?!"

The black mist churned, and tentacled-like things seemed to emerge from within.

"What's wrong?"

He said matter-of-factly, "I paid."