Chapter 962 - 30: Regret Pills

"Time reversal," Professor Cao said casually.

"Pfft." Sun Hang nearly spat out the cola in his mouth upon hearing this answer.

He had imagined the ability of the top-ranked individual to be heaven-defying, but he didn't expect it to be this outrageous.

No wonder all the Hunters in the rankings can't beat him. Against someone who can use the SL technique and attempt infinitely in the real world, sheer strength will ultimately be deciphered by the opponent. (Note: SL technique refers to Save/Load operations, akin to game saves and loads.)

Unless you're truly invulnerable, otherwise, as long as the opponent keeps reversing time, defeat is only a matter of time... And this time issue is only relevant to the top individual, from others' perspective, the two might only be considered to have "fought for the first time."

"He got infected by the Alpha-type weird entity, right? Such a bug-like ability of time reversal... No wonder he's ranked first."

"Alpha-4·Time Reversal, he's not a regular infected but a coexistence form of a weird entity and a human... In a sense, he is the entity's true form," Professor Cao explained.

"What do you mean?"

"When he was born, Alpha-4 had already merged with him," Professor Cao said, opening another bottle of wine, "appeared out of thin air, without any sign."

"Then why hasn't this guy been dispatched for those tricky missions if his ability is so abnormal?" Sun Hang asked, "And I can't find any task records because you deleted them, right?"

"No," Professor Cao shook his head, "I just told you, he hasn't participated in any combat-related missions."

"Isn't his ability wasted then?"

"His ability sounds like a cheat, but in fact, it has many limitations, he cannot reverse time in the way you imagine... Actually, the longest time reversal he can perform is only thirty seconds, anything beyond this will severely damage his body."

"Reversing thirty seconds is impressive enough, and you said it, the Hunters on the scoreboard can't beat him, which means aside from time reversal, his combat power isn't weak either..." Sun Hang wondered.

Sun Hang could reverse time in a sense by using his mind's capabilities, but the cost of his time reversal was too high, even reversing 0.1 seconds could deplete him, let alone reversing thirty seconds in one go.

"No... his ability has an even more crucial use," Professor Cao said, "You must have heard the old saying, 'There's no medicine for regret,' right?"

"I've heard it."

"His existence, to us, is that medicine for regret," Professor Cao explained, "Dubhe Tower dares to conduct some exceedingly dangerous weird entity experiments precisely because of his existence."

"If things go awry, you rely on him to turn it around?"

"Yes, although the preparation process for many experiments can last for months or even years, the critical operation steps occur in an instant, once uncontrolled circumstances are observed during these steps, time reversal is immediately performed..."

"I have a question," Sun Hang asked.

"Go ahead."

"After time reversal, do others retain their memories?"

"No," Professor Cao shook his head, "to others, everything that occurred before the reversal on the original timeline is as if it never happened, only he retains the original memories, besides ensuring the experiment doesn't spiral out of control, he records the experimental data and carries it to the timeline after the reversal."

"I suddenly feel like a charlatan could play this trick, anyway, except for himself, no one else can provide evidence for the time reversal, right?" Sun Hang doubted.

"We had this suspicion too, but after deep analysis of his body's memes, the mainframe confirmed that his ability indeed interferes with time, causing stagnation and even backward effects. Moreover, if he deceives us, Dubhe Tower would have been ruined by those extremely dangerous experiments long ago... once might be luck, but not every time."

"Alright... Since this guy's so important, why are you having me take him along?"

"What if I told you this was Mr. Pei's decision, would you believe me?"

"He's dead."

"Mr. Pei once told me... If someday he's no longer here, I should hand 'Number One' to the successor he chose because what this successor will do next is even more important than all Dubhe Tower's experiments combined," Professor Cao suddenly spoke soberly and solemnly.

"Is this also the Sphinx's prophecy?"

"I don't know, anyway, that's what Mr. Pei told me."

"Alright... so when do I get to meet this 'Number One'?"

"I can arrange for you to meet 'Number One' once we return to Dubhe Tower, but his temperament is a bit odd..."

"How odd?"

"I can't quite say, you'll understand once you interact with him," Professor Cao said, "but he will fully comply with Dubhe Tower's orders, you don't have to worry about that."

"Can I devour him? That way I can get the time reversal ability without dealing with his temperament." Sun Hang suddenly joked.

"...If necessary, yes... but if you truly decide to, best not let him notice, otherwise you might never succeed in your plan."

"Really devour?" This time it was Sun Hang's turn to be stunned, "I was joking..."

"For Mr. Pei's plan, anyone can be sacrificed as long as the sacrifice is valuable enough," Professor Cao stated firmly.

"..." Sun Hang was silent for a few seconds, then changed the topic, "Aside from the 'Number One' nickname, does he have a name? The files documented in the mainframe are mostly deleted, since you're introducing him to me, at least let me know him somewhat."

"His name is Zuo Jun," Professor Cao replied, "Born in the Yellow Calendar year 4697, December, in a small town at the border of Liaoning province. But his real age... no one knows."

What Professor Cao referred to as the real age is the age of Zuo Jun from others' perspectives plus the total time he has reversed... These reversed times leave no trace on his physical body, but with memories retained, this young man, who is in his twenties physically, has a psychological age far exceeding this number.

"In the documented reversal records, his total reversed time has already exceeded four years," Professor Cao stated, "And the dangerous experiments he 'saved' through time reversal total one hundred ninety-seven."