time paradox

The roar of the engine was wrapped in a characteristic hum as the titanium chassis of the black sedan rubbed blue-violet sparks against the tarmac. Lee's knuckles whitened with excessive force as the numbers on the dashboard climbed. The sedan lurched along the empty country road, the blazing sun finally piercing the clouds and spilling onto the path.

The monster in the rearview mirror slowly disappeared from view.

Lee finally loosened his clenched teeth as the last of the monster's scale-covered limbs disappeared into the fog.

"It can't catch up with us." His voice carried a light aftertaste.

All was well!

Lee, who was driving, was holding the black object and pressing it over and over again, some sort of electronic sound coming from the machine.

Mina, who was resting on Logan's lap, was having abdominal convulsions, and as the bullet was pushed out of the meridians, the ancient bronze pattern of the bullet's head emerged, corroding the leather seat with a hole-sized contour as it landed on the ground, and then the wound slowly began to heal - the attack from the "companion king". This is the attack from the "companion".

One might have become a Favored One with some kind of ability.

"What is that?"

Logan observed for a long moment, pointing his finger at something Lee had been fiddling with in his hand.

"A cell phone."

"A cell phone?"

Logan muttered.

"Right, if you join us, when we get to the headquarters, we'll configure one for you as well, you should be able to use it." Lee's low voice rang out.

"Is this a product of the new era?"

"?" A flash of confusion flashed through Lee's pupils.

"Logan, I don't know what you mean, isn't this a hand-me-down item?"

"I haven't seen it." Logan paused for a moment, "This car is also completely different from ours, the speed horsepower and all that is not in the same league."

Some sort of absurd thought crept into his mind.

The amazement in Lee's eyes grew heavier as well.

"What time is it?"

Mina weakly climbed to her feet, her body nearly recovered.

Logan glanced at the wristwatch that was ticking away on his hand and said with certainty, "13:11 1984!"

The watch was a little worn, the band was made of cowhide, it was a special gift from his parents for his promotion banquet, and according to his father, it meant a lot that his leader had personally put it on him when he had first received his medals that year.

"No, are you sure it's 1984?"

Lee held his cell phone up to the two men as the date numbers on the screen continued to pound Logan's heart.

2020 at 13:11!

A completely different time!

Speechless fear spread through the car, the injured Mina had slowly moved away from Logan beside her, her arm had crept to the hairpin on her head, Lee hadn't made a move but the tanged knife on the passenger side had risen up without wind.

Logan had a dark face and didn't say anything for a long time.

He had caught a glimpse of Anna and Lee's movements, and the weapon at his waist was beginning to glow.

"Snap."

The "Companion" had been automatically loaded, and the subtle sound stung in the car.

Lee and Anna were like enemies, and Anna had even transformed her hairpin into the three-meter-long green peak from before!

Logan just silently pulled out the weapon on his waist, and slowly unloaded the bullets one by one under the vigilant gazes of the two of them, as the bullets continued to fall onto the car.

"I don't know what the hell happened."

He sounded a little despondent.

"Today was supposed to be a beautiful day, I had a hard time getting promoted and then this happened, I don't know what to do."

"But all I know is that there's an old Chinese saying that if it comes, it comes with peace .... I ...."

Wait, what am I talking about?

Anna and Lee looked at each other, and with that, de-alerted themselves.

"I didn't realize that you knew that saying."

Lee chuckled, oblivious to Logan's even darker face.

Nope, I've never been to China, and I don't know where the old saying came from!

They're not even in my memory either, what the hell is wrong with me?

Does it mean...

"Mina, when did you go to the Oak Tavern as a bartender?"

"Yesterday?"

Nope! The time doesn't match up! I clearly remember seeing Anna two days before my promotion banquet!

Was I affected by the Mirror Threshold? Wrong time?

"I rushed here yesterday after receiving a request for help from the branch." Anna said to herself, still playing with the SOE black card engraved with the Burning World Tree in her hand.

"Then why do you know my name is Logan?"

"Here."

Anna said as she fingered his breast pocket, which appeared to have been rifled through while he was drunk, and inside was a London precinct police officer's ID - "Logan" at the top.

No problem! It looked like Anna had pulled it out! Unfortunately, the photo seems to be soaked with liquid, so it's hard to see what it really looks like.

Wait a minute!

Why is it just a photo?

That entire edge of the document was free of any stains and seemed to have been carefully maintained in some way, but it was the mugshot that was obscured!

An absurd and horrifying thought appeared in the mind.

Am I really Logan? Or am I just an undead hosted in his body, and "I" was already dead in the tavern?

Cold sweat instantly covered my entire back.

And why is the time in England so different?

Countless questions came to mind.

Fog! Fog again!

A black mist appeared out of nowhere on the unobstructed country road, and then the country road was cut off by the mist without warning. The tarmac in front of them rose vertically, forming a bronze gateway to the center of the earth.

"This car..." Lee's finger brushed across the window, the bulletproof glass suddenly becoming as transparent as crystal, "Its power source isn't an internal combustion engine at all."

As if in response to his words, a twelve-tone chorus came from under the hood. Through the gap in the dashboard, some sort of Klein bottle-like structure was visible suspended inside the engine, and the pattern etched on the surface of the bottle was changing at the rate of ten thousand combinations per second.

"Sit tight!"

Lee seemed a little nervous as well, as he slammed on the gas pedal and the black automobile plunged into the fog like a sharp blade.

The moment it entered the fog, all the electronic devices wailed.

The cell phone made a hissing sound, the date on it kept jumping and changing, and finally turned into a series of question marks! Logan looked down and saw that the cowhide strap had been reduced to pieces, and the time displayed on the dial had turned into a binary code: 11111011100-which was exactly the binary expression for the year 2020. Even more terrifying was the engraving on the back of the dial, a warning written in some kind of writing, "You are the beginning and the beginning."

As Logan's gaze fell, the mass of writing faded like flying dust, and the entire dial was polished.

"Click."

The car seemed to run over something, but nothing could be seen in that black mist.

"Clack ....."

The sound kept ringing out, harsh in the quiet surroundings, like the sound of some type of animal's bones breaking.

This went on for three minutes.

"I've never seen a car of this quality." Logan couldn't help but sputter.

"It's not a car." Lee simply responded tersely, "It's a bronze key that can pass through the Fog of Nowhere."