“Only two possibilities,” Eve said. “One: there’s some sort of sonic interference. Two: there’s a phenomenon happening beyond our current knowledge that’s causing these two cities to overlap.”

A strange fear welled up in the hearts of all the team members.

Anthony chuckled, “Or a third possibility: the program’s broken.”

“Impossible!” Jin Puai retorted indignantly.

“So, what now?” Lance asked.

All eyes turned to Zheng Rong, waiting for his decision.

What could they do? Zheng Rong, noncommittal, had considered countless scenarios before coming here, but all within the realm of human cognition. Now faced with an inexplicable and seemingly unsolvable problem, it felt like an inextricable mess.

Xiang Yu said, “Just go in, what’s to be afraid of? ‘If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, how can you get the cub?’”

“It’s dangerous,” Zheng Rong replied. “This must be the most unique maze never recorded in human history. I can't let the team fall into danger.”

“I don’t think there’s anything to be afraid of.” Eve smiled gently.

“It’s different,” Zheng Rong said. “Our knowledge system can’t explain this phenomenon.”

Zheng Rong fell silent for a moment. Then he switched on his communicator and said, “This is the Babylon Expedition Team, making our final report before entering the ruins.”

A clear female voice came from the communicator:

“This is the Alaska Military Headquarters. We have received your message.”

“Dr. Zheng Rong, your report will be forwarded directly to the following recipients: Dr. Joseph of the Institute of Language and Historical Studies, General Sikos of the Military Command Center, and the Honorary Chairman of the Human Scientist Association, located on the top floor of the Central Stone Tower. Please proceed.”

Zheng Rong made a brief report of the situation, concluding, “This situation is entirely different from what we’ve encountered before, but stopping here won’t lead to any conclusions. I request assistance from the teacher for analysis.”

“Please wait a moment,” replied the female voice.

After a long while, the voice returned, “Dr. Zheng Rong, the teacher says that there’s insufficient data for analysis.”

“Let’s go in and take a look.” Zheng Rong turned off the communicator. “We can’t turn back now.”

“Brother, take out the climbing rope,” Zheng Rong decided. “Everyone, buckle your harnesses, use the rope to tie us together, and go into the city one by one. If anything seems off, get out immediately.”

“That’s how it should be,” Xiang Yu said. “I’m right behind you.”

So Lance led the way as usual. Everyone held their communicators, fastened their belts, and Jin Puai moved forward with the team.

Behind Lance, who was leading the way, was Hugos, pushing Eve’s wheelchair, followed by Jin Puai and Anthony, then Zheng Rong and Xiang Yu at the rear. The climbing rope connected them all as they moved like a train into the ruins of Babylon.

The first step—no anomalies.

Lance took another nervous step forward. The city was no different from any other deserted one: broken bricks, collapsed houses, ivy on moss-covered walls, birds chirping in the forest.

“You see, there are animals, which means the city’s not too unusual,” Anthony said. “Small animals are more sensitive to danger than humans.”

He whistled at some jungle birds perched on the rooftop, and three beautiful orioles spread their wings and flew away.

Lance nodded, accepting Anthony’s hypothesis.

Zheng Rong remained silent. The group walked deeper into the streets, where all was quiet. The sun slowly climbed to its zenith, and the team found a place to sit in a circle.

“Next, we begin investigating the ruins of the Tower of Babel.”

Zheng Rong looked up and pointed to the ruined tower on the western side of the abandoned city.

“Shouldn’t we check out the temple first?” Anthony asked. “We have an expert in cuneiform.”

“No,” Zheng Rong flatly refused. “Today’s mission is to map out the terrain, take a walk around, see what’s going on, and then leave the city. We’ve already used half a day. If nothing unusual happens, we’ll…”

Zheng Rong’s words trailed off as he activated his communicator, stunned. He saw the three orioles spread their wings from the rooftop and leave the ruins, flying down the same path they had taken earlier.

“What were you saying?” Lance asked. “What are you looking at?”

Zheng Rong snapped back to his senses. “Then we’ll call for the helicopter to land in the middle of the tower for a survey. Those three birds… are they the same as before? They look exactly the same.”

“Dr. Zheng Rong, you’re too tense,” Anthony said. “I know they’re not hallucinations. Birds flying from one place and then flying away again is normal.”

The communicator buzzed. “Dr. Zheng Rong, the teacher asks you to stay calm.”

The team members laughed, and Zheng Rong nodded. Everyone stood up, and Hugos chuckled, “No one can see three exactly identical birds.”

The team moved again, with Xiang Yu bringing up the rear, idly playing with a military knife. He sighed, “As the ancient saying goes: ‘The passing of time is like the flowing river, never ceasing day or night.’”

“Yes,” Zheng Rong responded. “Heraclitus also said, ‘No man ever steps in the same river twice.’”

Xiang Yu patted Zheng Rong’s head, and Lance, at the front of the team, asked, “What does that mean?”

“It means that time is constantly flowing,” Zheng Rong, wearing his Boy Scout hat, walked slowly. “It takes everything from birth to death. For example, if I see you this second, and then look at you the next second, you are no longer the exact person you were at that moment.”

“We’re all aging,” Lance said with a smile.

“You could say that,” Zheng Rong replied indifferently. “As long as there’s light, everyone is constantly changing in the flow of time.”

Suddenly, Zheng Rong vaguely grasped something—about those three birds, and about the two cities overlapping each other. He halted, and the rope linking the team tugged him slightly forward.

“What now?” Hugos asked, bewildered, turning back.

Zheng Rong waved it off, signaling to keep moving. They reached the Tower of Babel, and Lance asked, “Go in?”

“Is your watch still ticking?” Zheng Rong had a bold and absurd thought.

“Yes, it’s showing local longitude time, 12:07 PM,” Lance replied. “Rolex, 2009 model, military anti-magnetic, waterproof, pressure-resistant. Want to see?”

“No need.” Zheng Rong let out a sigh of relief, dismissing his hypothesis.

He adjusted his hat and said, “Let’s go inside for a bit, and then start heading back in half an hour.”

The expedition team stepped into the Tower of Babel, and instantly, they were all stunned.

This legendary tower was even more magnificent than described by Greek poets. Though half of its body had been destroyed, it was still nearly fifty stories tall. The vast inner space of the tower covered over ten thousand square meters, and the spiral staircases on the outer walls were wide enough for four horse-drawn carriages to move side by side.

The inside of the tower was dim. Broken bricks and tiles blocked out the sunlight. Two massive minotaur sculptures stood at the entrance, and within was a well-preserved bridge leading upward.

Lance raised his flare gun and fired a shot towards the high reaches of the tower. A bright red light ignited, dragging flames as it flew high, illuminating the dimly lit path.

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An aerial bridge stretched from where they stood to a height of ten meters, following the curve of the tower’s body. At the bridge’s end, another bridge arched upwards, leading to even greater heights.

One bridge after another, slanted and crisscrossing each other, formed a complex network, building a path spiraling toward the tower’s top.

“This is probably an example of Sumerian architectural mechanics,” Hugos commented. “The exterior is built with bricks, while the interior has complex stone bridges to handle the inward-leaning forces. Such a construction method allows a round tower to last for a long time without collapsing.”

He took out his camera and snapped photos of the interior bridges. The white flash lit up the darkness.

In the blackness, the minotaur sculptures, caught in the bright flash, appeared grim and terrifying.

Zheng Rong felt an indescribable sensation in his heart. Lance led the expedition team up the bridge, and Zheng Rong cautioned, “Be careful. It’s old, it might not hold our weight.”

Lance peered downward and asked, “What’s going on down there?”

On the tower’s floor, there were twelve minotaur sculptures at the perimeter, each holding different weapons, as if they were all observing something.

“They’re the guardians in the photos,” Zheng Rong said indifferently. “The last message we received from the archaeological team had one person left behind to take photos…”

Lance furrowed his brow warily.

What was the most likely thing for the missing archaeologists to do after taking photos?

“What now?” Lance asked.

“Keep going. We’re tied together with ropes. We won’t get lost,” Zheng Rong reassured.

Lance relaxed and took a step forward, then another. The entire expedition team stepped onto the curved bridge. Lance turned on his military communicator. “Gukat, come in.”

Gukat’s enthusiastic voice answered, “Got you, boss!”

“Bring the helicopter over to hover above the ruined tower in Babylon,” Lance ordered.

Gukat whistled and switched off his communicator.

They continued to wind their way upward, following the curved bridge to the second floor, then hugging the inner wall to reach the next bridge, turning and ascending higher.

After crossing six floating bridges, they were forty meters high, almost halfway up the ruined tower.

Jin Puai said, “I’m getting a little dizzy from the height…”

Eve kindly reassured, “Kid, don’t look down.”

Zheng Rong couldn't help but glance downward.

In that moment, he felt his entire body’s blood freeze as he was overcome with an indescribable fear.

“What is that?” In an instant, Zheng Rong’s scalp tingled, and goosebumps rose. He stopped in his tracks, staring down at the floating bridge below him. It was like a gaping maw of a giant beast, a gray void with a faint trace of light.

On the floating bridge beneath his feet, it felt as if even a resurrected minotaur wouldn’t be more terrifying than what he saw now—Zheng Rong saw himself.

An identical expedition team was slowly ascending the floating bridge below. No sound could be heard, but people were visible.

The person wearing a scout hat was none other than Zheng Rong.

Xiang Yu followed Zheng Rong's gaze, then quickly turned his head to find the team members who had just been talking to each other. Alarmed, he asked, “Where did everyone go?”

Zheng Rong’s thoughts were a tangled mess. He didn't even notice that the team members tied together with the rope had vanished. He was completely dumbfounded.

“They’re all down there? How could they be down there…” Xiang Yu’s voice trailed off abruptly as he, too, saw himself thirty meters below.

All the team members were gone; only Xiang Yu and Zheng Rong remained on the bridge. And directly below them was another identical team heading upward.

Zheng Rong took a deep breath, lifting his hand to tightly clasp Xiang Yu’s. Both their palms were sweaty.

“Stay calm. What’s happening? Did the rope snap?” Xiang Yu asked.

Zheng Rong picked up the soft, dangling climbing rope at his waist. Its cut was smooth, as if a sharp blade had sliced it cleanly, the severed edge visible.

Unconsciously, Xiang Yu reached out to touch where Anthony was supposed to be—there was nothing unusual.

In those few seconds, Zheng Rong gathered his thoughts, pressed the communicator, and said, “This is Zheng Rong, please respond.”

“Go ahead,” the female voice replied.

The communicator still worked. Zheng Rong gave a halting report of their situation, including the disappearance of his teammates and the identical team he saw.

Zheng Rong’s eyes stayed fixed on the floating bridge below, where the team members’ faces could be distinguished. He felt an overwhelming panic. Xiang Yu shouted downwards, “Hey—!”

“Don’t make any noise!” Zheng Rong cautioned. “It might be a holographic projection!”

The communicator’s female voice answered, “The Central Stone Tower has issued a message. Please remain calm, Dr. Zheng Rong. All phenomena have a cause. There is nothing in this world that is truly inexplicable.”

Zheng Rong steadied himself slightly. The voice continued, “The teacher asks you to throw something down towards them.”

Without hesitation, Zheng Rong removed his hat and threw it downward.

“It... disappeared,” Zheng Rong reported.

He tugged Xiang Yu along and ran downwards. When they reached where the other team had been, all the previous sights had vanished.

“What should I do—” Zheng Rong felt on the brink of insanity.

“Don’t be afraid,” Xiang Yu assured him, his grip tightening.

The female voice spoke again, “The teacher asks you to keep moving forward, Dr. Zheng Rong.”

Zheng Rong took several deep breaths. Xiang Yu, with no foundation in physics, categorized everything simply as “unusual.” But Zheng Rong had been raised in a scientific environment, and he struggled to believe what he was witnessing.

“One possibility is that I’m hallucinating,” Zheng Rong finally organized his thoughts, giving Xiang Yu a strange look. “Maybe you’re an illusion, the voice in the communicator is an illusion, everything is my hallucination… auditory hallucinations…”

“No,” Xiang Yu said firmly. “Zheng Rong! Don’t overthink it!”

The female voice in the communicator said, “The teacher believes your analysis is generally correct, but this is not a hallucination. Please trust yourself and keep moving.”

Zheng Rong nodded, lacing his fingers with Xiang Yu’s, and continued to walk upward.

“Please watch your step at all times, Dr. Zheng Rong,” the operator said.

Zheng Rong continued walking slowly, periodically glancing downward.

He saw himself a second time.

This time, he and Xiang Yu were standing in the spot where they had first stopped, with only the two of them present.

The team had vanished. “I’m seeing that illusion again,” Zheng Rong said.

“Now transferring you to the top floor of the Central Stone Tower,” the female voice said.

“Analysis confirmed,” a man’s voice came through the communicator. “This is the top floor of the Central Stone Tower, Physics and Quantum Mechanics Institute.”

“I just threw my hat down, and it vanished mid-air…” Zheng Rong, unable to control his fear, looked upward, as if expecting to see another version of himself observing their movements from above.

The man asked, “The reappeared temporal image, was the person wearing a hat?”

Zheng Rong’s voice shook, “No... I’m losing my mind! Damn it!”

“Stay calm, doctor. You’re one of us!” the man said.

Xiang Yu grabbed Zheng Rong's shoulders. “Zheng Rong, wait. Put down the communicator, listen to me.”

Zheng Rong opened his eyes, panting heavily. Xiang Yu bent down slightly to level with Zheng Rong and make eye contact. Staring into his eyes, Xiang Yu said in a low voice, “I’m real. I’m here.”

Zheng Rong nodded repeatedly. Xiang Yu placed his hands on the sides of Zheng Rong’s face and said softly, “Don’t be afraid.”

Before Zheng Rong could react, Xiang Yu leaned forward and gently kissed him on the lips.

His lips were warm, and the light touch was enough to bring Zheng Rong back to his senses.

“This is Zheng Rong,” he exhaled deeply and turned on the communicator again. “Should I keep moving forward? What is going on here?”

The communicator responded, “Please recount the anomalies you encountered outside the tower once more. We need to confirm you’re not under the influence of hallucinogens.”

Zheng Rong carefully reviewed in his mind what he thought was off.

The city’s architectural blueprint, the complex soundwave patterns of two overlapping cities.

The three red birds taking flight from the same place repeatedly.

Inside the Tower of Babel, seeing himself from minutes before.

“What time is it now?” Zheng Rong asked.

“My watch has stopped,” Xiang Yu answered.

Tense, hushed discussions were heard from the communicator, then, “Please stay where you are, keep the communicator on, Dr. Zheng Rong, and stay calm.”

Exhausted, Zheng Rong leaned against Xiang Yu, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Zheng Rong embraced Xiang Yu’s waist. Xiang Yu, still burdened by his heavy pack, looked down and said, “They’ll find a way.”

Zheng Rong listened to Xiang Yu’s steady heartbeat, feeling somewhat reassured.

The scholars behind the communicator reached a conclusion, and it crackled back to life:

“Dr. Zheng Rong, the teacher believes that you’ve encountered a theoretical model known as a Time Tide.”

Zheng Rong felt as if he were granted a reprieve and relaxed. As long as there was an explanation, he was no longer afraid.

“Tell me,” Zheng Rong urged.

“The two cities you observed are not overlapping sonic reflections in separate spaces, as sonic detection can’t penetrate space; it must be based on the existence of an actual city to generate the diagram.”

“The repeating birds you saw—they are real.”

“Including me as well?” Zheng Rong asked.

“Yes. Did you notice, when Mr. Yu threw a stone the first time, how long it took to hear the sound of it landing?” the communicator asked.

Zheng Rong suddenly recalled, “There wasn’t one! The stone passed through a space in the roof and vanished! And so did my hat! So those people are our replicas in the time stream?!”

The communicator said, “The hypothesis is valid. It’s indeed a Time Tide model.” Those words seemed directed to others, and scholars around began to exclaim excitedly.

“Wait, so right now...” Zheng Rong started.

Amidst excited shouting, the person in charge of the conversation regained control and explained, “Sir! You are in real space, and you’re not under the influence of any hallucinogens. Please stay calm. The other city detected earlier exists in a different time stream. It does exist, and because the sonic waves dispersed and were received in two cycles, they coincidentally aligned with the tide frequency...”

“What does that mean?” Zheng Rong asked in confusion. “Explain it more simply!”

“Put plainly,” the communicator replied, “you emitted a sonic wave, and that wave dispersed across two parallel time axes, producing results upon its return. As they returned, they happened to pass through the lowest point of a pendulum, so they merged back into one wave.”

“This is a very strange phenomenon, which can only occur when two opposing, non-overlapping mirror-like spaces collapse to a single point—much like a horizontally placed hourglass or two opposing conical funnels. It causes light to spiral down the first surface, get absorbed into a singularity, and then, once gravity is removed, it disperses out from the other side. After space collapses again, the absorption happens anew.”

“Particles oscillate harmonically between the two funnel-shaped spaces, repeatedly traversing according to a set frequency...”

“I think I get it,” Zheng Rong interjected. “So, we’re real? And what about time?”

“Yes, you are in a tidal or pendulum-type time stream, which oscillates back and forth at regular intervals. My God! I wish I could experience this myself...” the voice in the communicator enthused.

Zheng Rong, unable to contain his frustration, said, “What caused it? Can it be stopped? What about my companions...”

“Such a situation, once initiated, has its energy fixed and doesn’t need to be recharged to maintain—only the coordinates need to be locked, because...”

“Shut up!” Zheng Rong snapped. “Quit the theory talk! No nonsense! How do I find my companions?! How do I stop it?! Can I get out of this tower?!”

The communicator urgently replied, “Yes, yes! Please don’t act rashly. Where there is a Time Tide, there must be one or more devices anchoring time to restrict this space...”

Zheng Rong frowned. “Outside the city? Inside?”

“Unclear,” came the reply. “Perhaps inside the tower...”

Zheng Rong shut off the communicator and said solemnly, “I understand. There should be twelve of these devices.”