Did You Destroy the World Today?
Chapter 9: Finding Jiang Xingye

"Lin Xu! Lin Xu!"

"Wake up!"

"Hurry!"

"Hurry!"

......

In a daze, Lin Xu heard Jiang Xingye calling his name.

He thought he was in the Bracelet World, but couldn't understand why Jiang Xingye was shouting "hurry" instead of "run" this time.

----Then in the next second, he heard loud knocking on the door.

Opening his eyes, Lin Xu struggled to get up and grabbed his phone to check the time.

Rubbing his eyes, he walked to the apartment door and opened it to find Jiang Xingye already dressed and standing outside.

"What's up on a weekend..."

Lin Xu yawned:

"It's only 12:30, sis. I've only slept four hours..."

"Four hours isn't enough? Who told you to stay up last night?"

Jiang Xingye curiously peeked into Lin Xu's room and remarked:

"Your room is surprisingly clean, completely different from my stereotype of a guy's room."

"...Clean, huh? Want to come in?"

"...Forget it."

Jiang Xingye waved her hand.

"The boss messaged you. Did you see it?"

"Boss? Chairman Ren?"

Lin Xu took out his phone and opened the app. At the top of numerous group chats was an ID named "Ren Jian00001".

The message was simple:

"Lin, if you have time on Monday, come to my office for a chat. Anytime is fine."

Lin Xu's heart skipped a beat.

"What does this mean? Have they already reviewed the proposal?"

"Exactly!"

Jiang Xingye nodded.

"Apparently both the chairman and chief engineer were very interested in your proposal. They sent you a message immediately asking to meet."

"But when you didn't reply, Chen Yan came to me again, asking me to check on you."

As she spoke, Jiang Xingye couldn't help laughing.

"Hey, you should've heard that bastard's tone when he called me!"

"So submissive, so meek, so cautious..."

"I bet the boss was sitting right next to him when he called."

"Finally got to vent some frustration this time..."

"Hold on."

Lin Xu raised his hand to interrupt Jiang Xingye.

"You rushed here to wake me up just to tell me this trivial thing??"

"Trivial??"

Jiang Xingye glared at Lin Xu with exasperation.

"Bro, the boss is waiting for your reply!"

"You think when he says 'anytime is fine' he actually means it? He's meeting with investors on Monday and has tons of company matters to handle. You really think he'll wait around for you all day?"

"Hurry up and reply to set a time so the executive office can arrange the schedule!"

"...Forgot about that."

Lin Xu smiled awkwardly and took out his phone:

"Morning or afternoon better? Did you ask for me?"

"3 PM, that's the most open slot."

"Got it."

Lin Xu quickly typed out a proper professional reply and sent it. Seeing the message marked as read and receiving an "OK" gesture from Ren Jian00001, Jiang Xingye finally nodded in satisfaction.

"OKOK! Reply sent!"

"Want to grab lunch?"

There was a hint of expectation in Jiang Xingye's eyes. After a moment's hesitation, Lin Xu replied:

"Nah, I think I'll sleep some more."

"Let's do dinner - Japanese. I owe you for all your help with the new project. Need to properly thank you."

This time Lin Xu wasn't joking with Jiang Xingye.

Truth was, from Project Experiment Three to this new project, Jiang Xingye as his supervisor had really fought for him on many fronts.

He wasn't an ungrateful person. When someone treats you well, even if you can't repay the favor immediately, you should at least show proper appreciation.

Besides, he had nothing on tonight, and their previous conversation about the "impending apocalypse" felt unfinished. Tonight would be a good chance to discuss it further.

"Oh? Finally growing a conscience?"

Jiang Xingye looked Lin Xu up and down.

"Can't have cold food today though. Skip the Japanese, let's do hot pot."

"If you can't handle cold then don't go."

Lin Xu said with complete seriousness.

"You bastard! Say that again?"

Jiang Xingye raised her hand threateningly, making Lin Xu quickly step back.

"Kidding, kidding... hot pot it is."

"I'll call you tonight. Going back to sleep now - want to join me?"

"Join your ass!"

Jiang Xingye rolled her eyes, though a blush spread across her cheeks.

Clearly, ever since Lin Xu started being unrestrained, she was no match for him anymore.

She slammed the door shut with a bang, her footsteps quickly fading away.

Lin Xu shook his head amusedly and returned to his room. Instead of going back to bed, he sat at his computer.

On the desktop were open documents - not just the preliminary design proposal for Star Voyager-1, but also his compiled "clues" document.

At the end of this document, Lin Xu had updated several top-priority tasks:

[1: Attempt to verify connection between real world and Bracelet World, determine what level of changes can affect Bracelet World]

[2: Further advance Star Voyager-1 project to obtain more technical info from Bracelet World]

[3: Figure out Jiang Xingye's motives and methods for saving me]

Reviewing the list, Lin Xu couldn't help sighing.

Actually, the first two items were straightforward.

To verify the connection between worlds, the simplest method was testing whether real-world objects could be preserved for 20 years and transmitted to the Bracelet World.

Twenty years wasn't that long - most buildings wouldn't even reach their lifespan. Lin Xu suspected even leaving a mark on some unused rooftop might survive that long.

And if "small changes" didn't sufficiently affect the Bracelet World, progressively increasing the test scale would be simple.

As for extracting information from the bracelet, that was even more straightforward - just tedious repetitive work.

But the third item was the hardest, with no clear starting point.

From previous probing, Lin Xu knew Jiang Xingye was still completely unaware of the impending apocalypse.

Asking her "why" or "how" now would be as pointless as the parable of marking the boat to find a lost sword.

She wouldn't know the answers.

----Wait.

If asking present-day Jiang Xingye is like marking the boat, then why don't I just go back to where the sword fell into the river?!

Lin Xu suddenly realized he'd been limiting his own thinking.

If 20-years-younger Jiang Xingye doesn't know about the apocalypse, wouldn't the 20-years-older version know?

If she didn't, how could she have warned him in advance?

So "figuring out her motives" was a false premise to begin with.

If he could just find her in the Bracelet World - even just make a phone call - all questions would be answered!

Lin Xu looked at his wrist. The bracelet displayed a number "3".

Three more chances today.

Enough.

Lying back down, Lin Xu felt his consciousness fading.

He entered the Bracelet World once more.

This time, he had only one goal.

Find Jiang Xingye!