Thud, thud, thud…
Lin Xian paced back and forth in his bedroom, his mind now calm and focused as he pieced together crucial insights.
First, he confirmed:
The dramatic shifts in the dream world were triggered by the release of Professor Xu Yun’s research papers, creating a time-space butterfly effect and a [Temporal Shift].
He had checked his phone for news.
Just the previous night, Donghai University had released all of Xu Yun’s research data as planned. This included solutions to the ice crystal issue, incomplete papers on hibernation pod liquids, and experimental data on hibernation byproducts.
Now, this data was accessible worldwide.
This had been Professor Xu Yun’s intention, and following his passing, Donghai University had honored his wishes.
The release incited a global scientific frenzy, with labs everywhere racing to verify the data.
The data was accurate; the formula for the hibernation pod liquid was swiftly replicated. Despite the incompleteness of Xu Yun’s papers, the essential data and records were available, enabling the world’s top scientists to fill in the gaps easily.
Just two hours later, the country’s Academy of Sciences had successfully synthesized the hibernation pod liquid and began mouse experiments.
Soon, labs worldwide confirmed Xu Yun’s findings and the groundbreaking nature of his invention.
Even now, nearing midnight, the internet buzzed with updates.
The United States reported successful hibernation and thawing experiments on mice, with all vital signs normal. Many institutes shifted their research focus to hibernation technology.
The Academy of Sciences also announced the creation of a hibernation research institute in Xu Yun’s name, promising significant investment to develop the technology and produce practical hibernation pods within a few years.
Numerous awards, nominations, and other acknowledgments from various research entities followed.
Everything unfolded as Professor Xu Yun had envisioned.
Though he was no longer alive, the spark of hibernation technology he ignited was now a widespread blaze.
With global collaboration on developing hibernation pods, Lin Xian was confident they would soon be a reality.
He believed in human potential and unity.
But…
“Why, despite the rapid advancement of hibernation technology, has the technological level in the future regressed?”
This perplexing fact puzzled Lin Xian.
It was his second confirmed fact—
Due to the time-space butterfly effect, the dream world, or future world 600 years hence, had technologically regressed to the 1980s and 90s level.
Despite the seeming illogicality, the facts were undeniable. He had experienced and seen them firsthand.
Assuming his geographic coordinates in the dream remained consistent…
His original “birthplace” was a plaza surrounded by bustling commercial streets and skyscrapers—a modern cityscape.
That city in the dream was also named Donghai City.
That’s why Lin Xian chose to attend Donghai University—to see the city himself.
Yet, upon arriving at Donghai City for his university studies, he found no resemblance to his dream vision. At first, he dismissed it as just a dream.
Reflecting now, it wasn’t surprising. Even if his dream city was indeed Donghai City 600 years in the future, most modern structures wouldn’t last that long, likely demolished or redeveloped.
“These things don’t matter.”
Lin Xian shook his head, gazing out at the brightly lit Donghai nightscape.
“What’s important is… why did technology regress, and why did the bustling Donghai City devolve into a backward village?”
He could accept stagnant or slightly regressed technology.
But widely used products couldn’t just vanish from production lines.
Recalling the old man’s shop…
The bulky television sets, which he hadn’t seen in years, displayed full-screen mosaics, technology that should have been obsolete.
It wasn’t just the TVs.
Tungsten filament bulbs, metal parts wrapped in oil paper, matches—these relics of bygone eras shouldn’t exist in a world 600 years advanced.
“Unless…”
Suddenly, Lin Xian considered a possibility:
“Unless there was a world-scale war, or a global catastrophe that nearly erased human civilization. In the aftermath, all technology had to be rebuilt from scratch.”
“But that seems too unrealistic.”
Eventually, Lin Xian dismissed these wild theories.
Since the dream had already changed due to the time-space butterfly effect, pondering the reasons now seemed futile.
Temporal shifts were irreversible.
Instead of speculating, he planned to enter the dream the next day and seek answers directly.
That would be the most reliable and efficient approach.
…
Exhausted from pacing, Lin Xian sat at his desk, summarizing the third fact he had realized.
Temporal shifts indeed had precise [Anchors]. These specific events at particular times determined the occurrence of temporal shifts, following a recognizable pattern.
Simply put, it’s when the time-space butterfly flaps its wings.
Only when the butterfly flaps its wings at a certain moment can it stir up a future tornado of “change” 600 years later.
This concept wasn’t difficult to grasp.
The first temporal shift’s anchor was when Lin Xian renamed Coco Cat to Rhine Cat. At that moment, the time-space butterfly flapped its wings, rewriting the future and triggering a temporal shift.
The second shift’s anchor was unclear, but he suspected it was linked to when he placed the manuscript in Xu Yun’s lab, or when Xu Yun first conducted the initial experiment. From that moment, the time-space butterfly flapped its wings again, and the Father of Hibernation changed from Academician Gao Wen.
The third shift’s anchor was when Xu Yun sent the new aluminum alloy sample to the Aerospace Research Institute. From that moment, time, history, and the future began shifting, affecting even the material of the safe in the dream.
The fourth shift’s anchor was when Donghai University’s research institute received, organized, and released Xu Yun’s research data and incomplete papers. Once official organizations became involved, the possibility of the data being lost or stolen was nullified, making the event “irreversible.”
This time, the temporal shift was extensive and transformative.
Unlike previous minor shifts, this one had a broad scope and a significant impact, essentially resetting the future world without a trace of its original state.
Lin Xian believed this shift was intense not just because of the hibernation pod liquid but also likely due to Xu Yun’s miraculous chemical substance, the new aluminum alloy, and other interconnected events, causing a more potent time-space butterfly effect.
“Though I don’t understand why technology regressed, the theories about temporal shifts are definitely correct.”
Resting his chin on his hand and twirling a pen, Lin Xian felt he had a faint grasp of the rules governing time, history, and the future.
These changes likely followed certain axioms, formulas, patterns, or laws.
“How should I summarize and classify these concepts of the time-space butterfly effect, temporal shifts, and anchor points?”
If he could truly master these patterns, it would be a formidable power capable of transcending time!
Lin Xian pondered for a long time, then stopped twirling his pen.
He unscrewed the cap.
At the top of the blank sheet, he wrote—[Temporal Laws]
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation