"I am curious, why were you able to come to this world in reverse? Usually, those who drink the Origin Serum return to a certain era in the past, seeking past knowledge, skills, and Sequences from their own carried genetic information... But you are different, you came to our era. This shouldn’t be possible," the old man said with a sigh, hesitation written all over his face. Malin put down the spoon in his hand: "Old Rhine, do you want to know why I asked about Malai’s situation?" "Yes, Your Excellency." The old cat nodded, since Malin had asked, the hesitation was gone from his face: "Since you have come here and mentioned the name Malai, it seems I must have misunderstood him previously, but I don’t know whether I should ask. You merely as a will incarnate, have turned this child, who was once powerless, into a psychic with extraordinary talent. In any case, I shouldn’t conflict with you and asking this question seems very foolish to me. If you hadn’t asked me, I think I would never have spoken." "Suspicion breeds survival, silence avoids error, you’ve done well, but I don’t think there should be that much conflict between you and a gangster..." "No, I had a conflict with his father." Surprised by the old cat’s response, Malin looked at him: "Did Malai’s father offend you?" "No, we were even classmates," Rhine Rasmus lamented. Seeing the old cat’s face full of nostalgia, Malin nodded: "May I listen to the story between you?" "As you wish, Your Excellency." Hence, from Rhine’s lips, Malin heard a somewhat sad story. Of course, all of that happened in the populous urban areas of the North. In the story, Malai was the youngest son of his father, who was of the same age as Rhine. Before Malai, there had been three sons and two daughters in the police family, but nearly thirty years ago, when Malai was born, his father perished in action along with his eldest son. After that, the family seemed to be cursed. The second and third sons, as well as the two daughters and their families, met with violent deaths over the following decade. Malai’s elderly mother, originally a psychic, after experiencing such an abundance of tragedies, was finally found dead in an alley near their home one winter seventeen years ago. "Malai’s mother, father, and I, we were college classmates, sharing the same dream of saving and healing the world. When they were killed, I wanted to avenge them, so I contributed money and sought the Brotherhood’s spies, trying to find out who orchestrated all this, but after the Brotherhood lost three spies, they refused my task. Their secrecy was well done; the murderer did not track me down, but an old classmate of ours hired a private detective..." "Did the private detective and his family hang themselves?" asked Malin with a laugh. Though he was angry, such is history. His descendants had even been caught in a massive conspiracy, thus the murderers and conspirators were so eager to kill them off. "Yes, the private detective, along with his wife and three children, were found hanged. His two dogs, a tank of goldfish, a cat, and a lizard all died after consuming something," Rhine said with a sigh, taking out a box of cigars and lighting one for himself: "My father heard about my involvement and immediately sent me out of the North. After coming to New Hangzhou, I never dared to think about it again. I thought I would forget it all until a few years ago when I saw Malai. Although his appearance had been altered, I still recognized the child. Outsiders think all of us Panso cats look the same, but we know how to distinguish our own. The child had high corners on his eyes, although his nose was fixed, and both eyes were fitted with electronic eyes, but his scent remained unchanged, the tail pattern he inherited from his mother remained unchanged, and the way he laughs, exactly like his father." "You found out he became a hoodlum?" "Yes, it pains me, I don’t know why my old friend’s grandchild, whom is also my most beloved daughter’s child, would take this path. I had to pretend I didn’t recognize him and then expel him from my tribe, because I fear among those murderers there might be one of my own kind waiting for me to make a mistake. I can’t allow this child to face death because of my error." Having said this, the old cat took several puffs of snow lotus and then turned to Malin: "Sir, could you tell me... whether this child Malai is human or a ghost?" "Do my books seem enduring to you, are they about humans or ghosts, what do you think?" Malin asked with a smile. Then, the old cat first showed an expression of horror, then began to smile, and at last, he sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair. "He’s a bottom dweller, right?" "Your judgment is indeed correct, he is. And I have met his child several times, between my past and his future." As Malin spoke, he reached out his hand, the cigarette case the old cat placed on the table opened, and a cigar, self-trimmed without a knife, self-lit without fire, fell into Malin’s hand. "So you mean, you came this time actually because this child called for you, to save him and his child?" The old cat had a full smile on his face: "That’s great, with your intervention, Malai can surely be saved. The child must have found some clues to have infiltrated the Dead Eye Society as an undercover... Sir, we must help him, right?" Watching Malin begin to smoke pensively, the smile gradually faded from the old cat’s face, as he looked at Malin, his hand holding the cigar was trembling. "Malai is supposed to be murdered tonight in some warehouse district, Mark, while escaping, met me for the first time with the people chasing him. I helped him escape, taught him how to use weapons, how to hide, and in the end he survived." Malin looked at the old cat, telling him what was called the future of the past. "We can save him, he must know something to have encountered the threat of being murdered. Sir, he is your progeny, you must help him." "I really want to help him, and I want to try if I can change the fate of this child, but the problem now is, we don’t know where the warehouse district is, Malai’s child has never mentioned the warehouse district to me." "There are a total of twenty-seven dock areas in the Eastern Region of New Hangzhou, and at least a hundred warehouses, but what of it? Malai wouldn’t carelessly go to the warehouse district of the docks, it must be a warehouse district related to the Dead Eye Group. I can arrange my security force to conduct an investigation right now to confirm which warehouse districts are associated with the Dead Eye Group." "Are your people reliable?" Malin felt that this matter still required long-term consideration. "I think there is no problem, my security force is the most reliable," Rhine said, leaning forward on the table and looking at Malin. "How reliable is it?" Malin asked with a smile. "A self-propelled biorobotic military humanoid from before the Great Destruction Era, originating from the central assembly factory at the bottom of the Greece sea – the most loyal guardian," the old cat snapped his fingers. Malin turned to look into the distance of the street, and quickly, an ordinary-looking Thanan man approached. "Lord Rhine, do you need the security forces to serve you in any way?" "Show this young gentleman your truest self," the old cat Rhine said. So, Malin saw the man lift the skin from his face, revealing pure white artificial muscles underneath, steel bones, and electronic artificial eyeballs. "That’s great; you handle this matter. I’m going to continue wandering around the city to see what the future looks like two millennia later. I’ll be back here at 1530 this afternoon. We can talk more then." "No problem, your excellency. I look forward to the moment we can change Fate," the old cat stood and watched as Malin walked away. After leaving that block, Malin glanced at the electronic watch on his wrist. Connecting with the Rasmus family was an unexpected pleasure. In Malin’s view, it’s enough to get help. Now, it seems that saving Mars’s father should not be too surprising. The only problem is... if he saves Malin, will that little cat who lost his father and struggled to survive alone still exist? He should, shouldn’t he? Fate is like a stream, and the existence of the timeline turns streams into rivers. In this world, Mars is destined to exist. Perhaps only on this single timeline will Malin be saved, but at least one Mars won’t lose his father again. Maybe that’s why I’m here, Malin thought, tossing the cigar in his hand toward a roadside trash can, which was joined by another cylindrical trash can that jumped up, performing a fancy sideways movement to catch the thrown cigar. Well, waste sorting it is. Seeing the policemen who came at the news, Malin chose to pay money to keep the peace - if the officers knew he was smoking, it would probably lead to another storm of blood and violence. Mark took a skewer of grilled sausage from a roadside vendor. The young son of the Dead Eye Society leader noticed his father answering a phone call. The young boy had no intention to eavesdrop, especially since he had been punished the last time; as a little cat, if he only remembered the food and not the beatings, he wouldn’t survive to adulthood. With such grievances, Mark stood on the side of the road, quickly finishing the grilled sausage in his hand, and then threw the disposable stick into the recycling bin. The elementary schoolboy who had classes only in the afternoon was displeased with everyone he saw. He assessed the world, as various folks were keeping their distance from him, his father, and his father’s friends. It was only when Mark spotted someone pulling their hoodie tightly around their face, hmm... another Thanan cat person. Was he here to spy on his father? That old guy from the Rasmus family really is a nuisance. While internally grumbling, Mark noticed the guy glance at him. Checking behind him and realizing no one was watching, Mark raised his left hand and gave the guy the middle finger. The expected fury didn’t appear on the guy’s face; instead, his lips stretched into a brief smile before he turned and walked away. Hmm, wasn’t he here to spy on me? Did I wrongly accuse him? As Mark wondered, he heard his father call him, and the boy turned and walked over. "We’re picking up a shipment at Warehouse Eleven tonight, kid. Didn’t you say you wanted to come with me? Let’s wait there together tonight," Mark’s father said. And the bald man next to him smiled and said, "The child of Malin, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree indeed." His father’s subordinates laughed out loud, and Mark also smiled and nodded, "Yes, in the future I’m going to be a great thief." "It’s good to have dreams. Delusions, not so much," his father said with a laugh, giving Mark a playful slap on the back of his head.