Chapter 138

Shen Yue looked at the paper in front of her and pondered for a moment. She then lightly circled the name of Hayth, the head of Building 7, but hesitated when going to write down the percentage.

When making preliminary judgments earlier, Shen Yue was not calm enough due to Ma Sha's death and hastily jumped to conclusions, placing most of the targets on the head of Building 1. And now, she wanted to reevaluate.

The story Aipulier told her about Ma Sha was still fresh in Shen Yue's mind, every word extremely clear.

...

Musa Helite was the leader of the southeast region countries, and also a highly developed capitalist country. Its citizens enjoyed a very high standard of living and a good social security system.

Its government system was the product of a compromise between the bourgeoisie and the feudal nobility, established through continuous improvements and gradual processes of a constitutional monarchy.

The Musa Helite royal family currently only served as a symbol to unite the country's strength. Although it still had considerable power under the law, the royal family did not actually exercise power.

The role of the royal family only had two purposes: first, as a bond to maintain the feelings of the people, and second, as a tool to coordinate party struggles and social contradictions.

However, 100 years ago, Musa Helite was still an absolute monarchy.

It was just that capitalism had developed too quickly and gradually slipped out of control of the monarch. In order not to allow Musa Helite, which had already become extremely strong, to fall apart, the royal clan was forced to compromise and amend the national system.

Being forced meant there must be resentment.

As a result, Ma Sha and her younger brothers were often told by their grandfather about the majesty of the monarch back then, when their royal family had the final say, ever since they were young.

Of course, their grandfather hadn't actually witnessed it firsthand either. He had also heard it from his own father. But this did not prevent the seed of restoring absolutism from being planted in the hearts of the young royal heirs.

Ma Sha got along very well with her younger brothers. As the eldest daughter of the royal family, she was the best one in etiquette, upbringing and knowledge since she was a child. She was even named by the current monarch as the first heir to the throne. She would become the future queen.

In the past, when it was an absolute monarchy, having a queen would face many obstacles. But now it was different. Ma Sha was very prestigious among the public. Using her as a symbol of the royal family was the best choice. Even her younger brothers did not object.

Ma Sha was the eldest, and she had three younger brothers in total.

The second brother said, "I used to be afraid that Father would ask me to take the throne. My dream is to travel the world after all! Go for it, big sister! I will cheer you on from all over the world!"

The third brother said, "I just want to be the trash of the royal family who lives off them... But don't worry big sister! I will never do anything that truly disgraces the royal family!"

The fourth brother said, "Unlike them, no matter what you do, I will stand by your side and protect you."

At that time, Ma Sha felt that she was the happiest person in the world. She had the best family and she was also willing to spend her whole life taking care of her parents and brothers.

Until the appearance of that thing.

Initially, this news circulated only among the top echelons of the major powers. In a country in the East, someone had discovered something that could travel through space-time.

Traveling through space-time, distorting time and space - while most scientists were still stuck researching its theory, someone was already able to manipulate time!

No one knew whether this news was true or false, but it was enough to alarm all countries. Today's international situation was tense. If this news turned out to be false, then so be it. But if it was true, it would be fair to say that the one who obtained it would gain supremacy over the world.

The temptation to change the past was as enticing as it was terrifying.

Each major power sent out special personnel to investigate the news, but no matter how experienced the spies were, none of them brought back reliable information. Only that all who went there said, "That woman seems to have known about our actions all along, which is very bizarre. There was absolutely no way to get to the bottom of things."

If it was just one spy saying this, it could be explained by information leakage. But when all the spies said so, it warranted deeper consideration.

Obviously, that rumored woman did not simultaneously have control over the internal information of multiple countries. So there was only one possibility - she really could go back to the past to change the present's future. Otherwise, her behavior that was like precognition could not be explained.

For a time, all the countries that knew about this news exploded. They all wanted to get that mysterious woman and obtain that mysterious power.

Ma Sha, however, was not concerned about this at all. In her opinion, if one could really travel to the past, the person possessing this ability would definitely not allow themselves to fall into such a passive situation.

So she continued on with her life as usual.

Shortly after, her 80-year-old grandfather suddenly called her over to show her something.

It was a golden speck, very small, but it seemed to contain infinite power that could scorch everything.

"Ma Sha, this is the thing rumored to be able to travel back to the past. As long as you use it, we can go back 100 years, kill all the new nobles, and continue the absolutist monarchy! You are the smartest of all the children. Grandpa wants you to go back. You must have a way to tell the monarch of that period what we should do."

Ma Sha looked at the thing in front of her and shook her head, directly refusing, "Grandpa, aren't we good now? This is the choice of history. Even if we forcibly reverse it for a period of time, the outcome will not change..."

"How can there be no change!" Ma Sha's words were abruptly interrupted. "As long as absolutism is restored, I won't have to suffer when I'm in power. I can do whatever I want... Ma Sha, listen to Grandpa and help him, okay?"

Seeing the frenzied old man in front of her, Ma Sha hesitated. She was going to agree at first, but then she thought of a problem, "If I go back, can I come back?"

What Ma Sha cared about was never the past, but the present.

"You can enjoy glory in the past. Why must you come back? If you change the past, your future self will also benefit..."

Her grandfather mutterted to himself, as if this was a great favor. But Ma Sha just felt colder and colder.

"Grandpa, I don't want to go. I think it's good now."

Ma Sha refused. She thought that was the end, but she underestimated an aging monarch's obsession with glory.

That day was her nightmare.

Her grandfather, right in front of her, killed her parents.

"Ma Sha, don't blame your grandpa. Look, all these things can be changed. As long as you go back to the past, things like this won't happen. Your grandpa doesn't want to force you either, but you are the best child. Only you going back can change things, only you..."

At that moment, Ma Sha realized her grandfather had gone mad. For an ethereal and illusionary thing, he had unleashed all the resentment and unwillingness accumulated over his lifetime, and then gone crazy.

Ma Sha still did not agree, so her three brothers were also seized.

Her grandfather, who had always relied on his royal status, worked with political parties in order to be able to return to the past.

"Ma Sha, if you don't agree, everyone including me will die in front of you!"

Ma Sha finally compromised. She also found out what was needed to activate time travel - death.

The speed of light is the upper limit that all objects with mass can reach. In other words, an object with mass can never exceed the speed of light. So in order to go back to the past, one first had to abandon their physical body.

And no one knew what would happen because of that.

Ma Sha's second brother was unwilling for his sister to take the risk. He said he had seen enough scenery already. If death had to be used to verify it, then let him go instead. And so Ma Sha's first brother died, but nothing happened.

Their grandfather thought it was because the second brother's ability was not enough. He insisted Ma Sha go, and the political parties were happy to watch this farce, hoping to get rid of the last royal member. Thus, to protect her, Ma Sha's third brother died as well.

The departure of two loved ones did not cause any change to reality. On the contrary, everything could no longer be undone.

Masha had decided to start her time travel journey with death, as her grandfather had wished, determined that if she could really go back to the past, she would definitely change this outcome.

But just as she was about to end her own life, she lost consciousness. When she woke up again, she was already in Flightless Bird.

It turned out that Masha's fourth brother, her now crazy grandfather, and the political party had reached a consensus - to send Masha to Flightless Bird to ensure her safety, while he would stay in the palace to undergo all the time travel experiments until he breathed his last breath. He would never give up or resist, as long as Masha was alive.

Masha now understood that her last remaining brother had traded his life for hers, so she must live well.

"Sister, believe me, if I can really go back to the past, I will definitely save all of you."

Clinging to this hope, Masha dodged dangers in Flightless Bird, enjoying life at every moment.

The life she had now carried the hopes of her three younger brothers. How could she waste it?

Until that day, she learned the truth.

It turned out her fourth brother had long been tortured to death by various experiments. She was still alive because the political party was using her to restrain Musa Helite's last royal family member - her grandfather.

When her grandfather breathed his last, her value would also come to an end.

She had already lost everything long ago.

What exactly was she persisting for?

"It's normal that Ma Sha committed suicide after learning about this news. What had supported her all this time was her family. Upon realizing the truth, she must have regretted why she didn't die instead back then. But even if Ma Sha had died first in that situation, it wouldn't have changed anything."

"Isn't it ridiculous to destroy a royal family for something untrue? But things like this are happening all over the world now."

"Human greed knows no bounds."

"Oh yes, before Ma Sha died, she contacted Si Chengyou and asked him to take care of you. She said you were the only one she couldn't let go of now. She didn't want you to do anything foolish for her sake, but she really couldn't hang on anymore. She hoped Si Chengyou could pull you back if you went astray."

"Turns out the person in charge of Tower No.7 was the knight Ma Sha had brought into prison. So-called knights, yet they betrayed her in the end. There is no such thing as absolute loyalty, only life and money are real."

"The old guy from Tower No.1 didn't really have any grudges against Ma Sha, but the truth did come out of his mouth..."

...

Shen Yue reorganized all of Aipulier’s words and changed the percentage behind the person in charge of Tower No.7 to 20%.

The more superficial something was, the less it could be trusted easily.

Shen Yue put down her pen and covered her chest with her hand. In her mind were the words Shen Hui had said to her when she put this thing inside Shen Yue.

"Those who want to go back to the past and change the future are idiots. Some things can never be changed by one person. There are always people who think they are saviors, dreaming of doing exceptional things."

"Shen Yue, if one day you regret this and go back to the past, never come looking for me or try to change me. Otherwise, my past self will kill you without hesitation. Remember this!"

Shen Yue lowered her eyes and softly said to Ma Sha’s ashes in front of her, "I remember, sister."

She was very clear that even if she went back to the past now, she wouldn't be able to change anything.

Because, contrary to popular belief, so-called time travel was not what outsiders thought. This was a truth that only she and Shen Hui knew.