I can rewind time to prevent death

In the span of a single night, five locations where space-time rifts had once appeared—and which Yan Junze had used before—saw the emergence of five young male figures.

It was as though the ripple energies accumulated each time Yan Junze utilized the space-time rifts had finally transformed, bit by bit, into human forms in this moment.

Yet, in truth, no one knew the reason behind this phenomenon.

These five black silhouettes, after fully forming into the appearance of young men, stood up one after another, expressionless, and entirely unclothed.

Upon closer inspection of their facial features, they seemed somewhat similar to Yan Junze. However, the longer one looked, the more they appeared utterly different—as if they were entirely distinct individuals.

Each of the five young men stood still for a moment at the locations where the space-time rifts had appeared, before silently stepping away without making a sound as they walked.

Among them, the young man who emerged from an alleyway in Huaying District was the closest to the city's center.

He slowly walked out of the alley and onto the street. At this late hour, the streets were deserted.

However, not far behind, a taxi approached at a relatively fast speed, its backseat occupied by a worker who was returning home late from overtime.

When the taxi driver saw someone strolling along the street at this hour, he couldn't help but feel a bit curious. Upon closer inspection, he realized the man was stark naked.

Knowing this was likely tied to something strange, the driver pressed down on the gas pedal, intending to quickly leave the street.

Yet, as the taxi passed the walking young man, the acceleration lasted just two seconds before the car slowed down again and came to a stop in the middle of the road, refusing to move any further.

Inside the taxi, the driver sat upright in his seat, hands clutching the steering wheel, motionless. His gaze stared straight ahead, unfocused and vacant.

The passenger in the back, who had just been dozing off from exhaustion, now sat up straight, his eyes wide open like a lifelike wax statue, frozen in place.

The car engine remained running, but the driver's right foot was firmly pressed on the brake, immobilizing the vehicle.

Above the young man walking down the street—and even higher, in the dark sky above—a strange, inexplicable black mist began spreading. It looked like a rainbow, yet also like a bridge, emanating from the alley and following the young man's path, arching across the sky.

The next morning.

At Prosperous Age Mall on Minjian Road in Tianmeng District, a crowd of local residents gathered outside, planning to shop for food and household items.

But, to their surprise, the mall doors remained shut. They stood around on the street, discussing it, but no property management staff came out to provide an explanation, nor was there any notice posted at the entrance.

Before long, the crowd noticed the looming presence of dark clouds overhead. The sky grew dimmer, signaling the approach of heavy rain. People quickly dispersed and hurried away.

Inside the mall, however, all 21 security guards, 119 store employees from the open businesses, and 7 janitors were uniformly frozen in place, each standing stiffly somewhere within the mall.

Their faces were ashen, their eyes half-open and half-closed, staring blankly ahead yet devoid of focus or light.

A naked young man stood in the center of the mall's first-floor lobby. He lifted his head, gazing toward the ceiling as though his eyes pierced through it to see the sky beyond.

Above the mall, a similar black mist, like a bridge, stretched outward toward the horizon.

Approximately five to six minutes later, the young man lowered his gaze to look straight ahead. He walked step by step toward the mall's tightly shut entrance. Without hesitation, he took a stride and passed directly through the doors, now standing on the street outside.

At the same moment, the black mist above him extended, following his movements and spreading across the sky.

As soon as this young man stepped onto the street, every passerby who had been walking past the mall entrance suddenly froze in place. Each of them maintained their walking posture for an instant, before becoming stiff and unmoving.

Two to three seconds later, all of these pedestrians dropped their swinging arms and stood silently in the same place.

The young man simply stood there, not moving for the time being.

As the black mist continued spreading in the sky, a black bridge began forming. The pedestrians along Minjian Road quickly became like those near the mall—completely motionless, rigidly upright, and never moving again.

In just moments, the once-vibrant street sank into suffocating stillness, with gloom spreading in every direction.

The young man remained stationary. He stood there until he saw, in the distant sky, another black mist bridge stretching toward him.

Lowering his head, he turned his gaze to the end of Minjian Road, where another naked figure, identical to himself, was approaching slowly but steadily.

In that direction, all the pedestrians and those inside the buildings had turned ashen-faced, frozen in position—whether standing or sitting, none could move.

Half an hour later, the young man from Tianmeng Science University and the one from the Jian Family compound in Tianmeng City both arrived. The three figures converged without interaction, gradually moving closer to one another.

Soon after, the three young men merged into one. Following this fusion, the young man's body became slightly less shrouded in black mist, looking more tangible and realistic.

At this point, it became evident that, while his appearance bore some resemblance to Yan Junze, upon closer scrutiny, there were still many differences.