Chapter 3: His Joy and Pain

"Ugh," a slight pain throbbed in his head, and a voice echoed in his mind, "[COSMIC CHRONOMANCY]—when space and time meet, it defies the limits of mortal stance."

The pain intensified, drilling into his forehead like a relentless force.

He gasped, breathing heavily as the pain surged through him. In the midst of this agony, he caught a glimpse of a clock tattoo on his forehead. But as the pain receded, the tattoo slowly faded away.

Yet, amid all this, he felt a strange connection—a bond to someone unknown but familiar.

Though he couldn't put a name to the feeling, his heart raced with emotions that seemed to hold a hint of recognition.

'[COSMIC CHRONOMANCY], a power that connects two individuals who possess the power of time and space. As it forms a profound bond between the two beings, enabling them to share and enhance each other's temporal and spatial abilities.' He muttered in his heard.

Fragments of erratic memories flooded his mind—images of the girl in the laboratory, a sweet smile with her white hair cascading like a waterfall, and the intimate moment when she embrace him because of her weaken state.

"The girl who saved me in the first days of the apocalypse... and the girl in the laboratory with white hair..." He whispered to himself, his emotions intertwining with regret and realization.

"That's why I couldn't leave when she gave me the chance to escape..." he admitted, finally understanding the reason behind his hesitance.

"You are clearly the one who saved me since the first day of the apocalypse, but until the very end, when you closed your eyes, I was blind to the truth. Zhizhi... My Zhizhi, forgive me for my ignorance," he choked on his words, his heart heavy with guilt.

"Time and again, you stood before me, yet I hesitated—unable to save you the first time, and then failing to rescue you from that wretched place in the second instance. But this time... I won't let you go. I promise to destroy everything that causes you pain."

His heart ached as he hunched over, resting his forehead against the cold glass of the window, tears streaming down his cheeks.

If any of his subordinates were to witness this scene, they would be stunned and terrified. The cold and merciless young master, the owner of the world, was now weeping uncontrollably.

In this moment of vulnerability, his heart overflowed with emotions—remorse, determination, and a fervent desire to protect the girl who had touched his soul and opened his eyes to the truth.

His journey had taken an unexpected turn, leading him not just towards power and conquest, but towards the path of love and redemption. As the tears continued to fall, he made a solemn vow—to find the enigmatic girl named Zhizhi, to protect her with all his strength, and to destroy anyone or anything that dared to harm her.

The once-heartless master of the world had been awakened to the power of love, and it was this newfound emotion that would drive him to face any challenge that lay ahead. With a heart unburdened by guilt and eyes finally opened to the truth, he was ready to embrace his joy and pain, for it was in those tumultuous emotions that he found the essence of his humanity.

In the wake of her rebirth, Lu Zhi also found herself immersed in a whirlwind of sensations—an ancient aura tinged with hints of time and space, and a burning pain in her forehead that defied explanation. Within the depths of her consciousness, a peculiar 3D box rotated, as if trying to unlock the mysteries of her newfound power.

Yet, alongside this profound revelation came excruciating agony, as if her very being was being torn apart, stretched, and then condensed again. She clutched the dirty floor, gritting her teeth to endure the onslaught. Blood mingled with the taste of suffering in her mouth, and for what felt like an eternity, she wrestled with the pain until darkness claimed her consciousness.

As the evening sun cast its golden hues upon the dark room, Lu Zhi eventually stirred awake. Her mind returned to the earlier ordeal, her thoughts seeking answers to the inexplicable events she had experienced.

"Even though I've endured such pain in the laboratory, it doesn't mean I've grown accustomed to it. And this body... It demands more exercise than I had initially presumed," she mused, contemplating the physical demands of her new existence.

However, her contemplation was interrupted as she found herself growing suspicious of the unexplained events. The burning question of what transpired and the peculiar connection she felt to someone consumed her thoughts.

"What is space? What could this power be?" Her mind was filled with a series of pressing questions.