A fifth Mysterious Tide?

Jiang Bai's expression froze as he instinctively asked, "Wait, that's not right, is it?"

Wasn't it supposed to be the fourth Mysterious Tide?

Had he overslept?!

Didn't he set an alarm?

"Ahem, there's been a slight... unexpected development," the man in the white coat said as he helped Jiang Bai out of the capsule. Jiang Bai felt as if his bones had rusted; they creaked with every small movement.

"I performed a physical examination on you earlier. Your bodily functions are well-preserved. The discomfort you're feeling now is a self-protective mechanism..."

The man in the white coat brought over a chair and helped Jiang Bai sit down. Gradually, Jiang Bai's dizziness subsided.

Jiang Bai's first instinct was to survey his surroundings.

Dim lighting, a dust-covered ceiling, an empty room...

As he took in the environment, Jiang Bai's heart sank.

Had the Cicada Project failed?

The man in the white coat handed him a cup of water and said enthusiastically,

"Comrade, welcome to the Ninth Research Institute!"

Ninth Research Institute?

Jiang Bai was certain this wasn't part of the plan.

He accepted the water but didn't drink it. Instead, he muttered to himself,

"No predetermined awakening procedure, no logistics team, everything's in disarray... You keep calling me 'comrade' because you don't even know my name, do you?"

"Comrade, that's a keen observation," the man in the white coat said with an awkward smile.

"I thought people from your era preferred to be addressed as 'comrade'."

Jiang Bai didn't deny it. Instead, he pressed on, "Just tell me the time. It's been... a long while since the third Mysterious Tide, hasn't it?"

The enthusiastic smile froze on the man's face. His expression stiffened, his eyes darting about as he stammered, unable to form a complete sentence.

Clearly, he knew the answer but was afraid to say it.

Perhaps the answer was too shocking, too absurd. He feared the other party couldn't accept it.

Jiang Bai held the cup with both hands and said solemnly, "In our era, we believed in trusting our comrades."

Hearing this, the man in the white coat also grew serious. With a bitter expression, he began,

"Comrade, it's been 1200 years since the end of the third Mysterious Tide..."

1200 years...

Jiang Bai took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes, not letting his pain show.

He had thought he was prepared for anything, even if the world had changed beyond recognition. He was confident he could start over and rebuild from scratch.

But 1200 years... that was enough time to erase the traces of most civilizations...

The fact that Jiang Bai could awaken after 1200 years was itself a miracle.

When he opened his eyes again, Jiang Bai appeared relaxed.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"So, Chinese history now spans 6000 years? The children's history books must be a bit thicker now."

All the events he had experienced had become just a line or two in history books, for future generations to study.

Even at a time like this, Jiang Bai could still joke.

Perhaps Old Ma's evaluation of him in the archives was correct - "In dark times, we need a bit of optimism."

"Well..." the man in the white coat hesitated before correcting him,

"There are no history books anymore. Historical records are extremely precious now. How should I put this... You were sealed before the end of the third Mysterious Tide, right? Let me start from there..."

The man pulled up a chair and sat next to Jiang Bai.

"When the third Mysterious Tide ended, over 90% of Ability users died. Those who survived entered a state of uncontrolled abilities. They had to fight against their out-of-control powers just to stay alive.

Fortunately, this state didn't last long, because the fourth Mysterious Tide came quickly. The fourth Mysterious Tide lasted for a full thousand years. There are no historical records from that millennium. No one knows what happened during those thousand years. It was a dark age, an era without hope...

By the time humanity saw light again, a thousand years had passed. And now we're in the era of the fifth Mysterious Tide."

A thousand years of darkness?

Jiang Bai asked, puzzled, "No survivors? No memories? No written records?"

"Sounds unbelievable, doesn't it?" the man in the white coat said with a bitter smile.

"An entire city of people suddenly waking up to find themselves in an unfamiliar city, all their previous memories gone.

This happened all over the world. We believe it was a side effect of the fourth Mysterious Tide's 'ebb'."

Jiang Bai nodded slightly.

If memory loss was a side effect of the ebb, that was understandable.

After all, the previous ebbs had all resulted in deaths!

Jiang Bai asked another question, "People's memories can be erased, but what about written records?"

The man in the white coat shook his head.

"There should have been written records initially. At least, some people claim to have seen such things. But it seems there was a hidden force that collected everything related to that era, deliberately concealing and hiding the truth of history, preventing the public from knowing what really happened during those years.

At the same time, the fifth Mysterious Tide hasn't been easy. The world has undergone earth-shattering changes. The wilderness has become extremely dangerous. Humans can only huddle in defensive bases. Just surviving is hard enough; people don't have the energy to explore lost history."

After patiently listening to the man's overview of the situation, Jiang Bai fell silent, deep in thought.

A moment later, he spoke up.

"Can you leave? I need some time alone."

The man in the white coat, holding a dictionary, scratched his head and asked,

"Um... when you say 'time alone', do you mean you want to be by yourself, or are you referring to someone named 'Alone'?"

Jiang Bai: ......

As an old-timer from a thousand years ago, he was experiencing a generation gap in communication.

Eventually, the man in the white coat left the room.

"Turn off the lights when you go out," Jiang Bai said.

Click.

The lights went out.

The last bit of light disappeared once again, leaving only Jiang Bai sitting in the chair, lost in thought in the darkness.

He had long since grown accustomed to the dark.

After an indeterminate amount of time, there was movement in the darkness again.

Jiang Bai pulled out a voice recorder, one of the pieces of equipment he had brought with him.

The recorder was made of a special alloy. Its design had taken longevity into account from the start. Even after a thousand years, it should still be usable... right?

Jiang Bai himself wasn't entirely sure.

The guy who designed the recorder was a madman. He said he would use the best materials to make this pen indestructible, able to withstand even a nuclear bomb, with a lifespan starting from ten thousand years, and so on...

Originally, with the existing technology, it wasn't possible to achieve this level.

Unless he had superpowers.

And he actually did have superpowers.

With a hint of trepidation, Jiang Bai pressed the button on the voice recorder. In the darkness, the recorder flashed a faint red light.

Looking at this faint light, Jiang Bai's whole body trembled involuntarily, his eyes growing moist.

This pen, like him, came from 1200 years ago, from the same era, for the same mission...

The four words echoed in his mind.

Accompanied by Jiang Bai's breathing, a deep voice resonated in the space, being recorded by the device:

"This is Jiang Bai, currently executing Mission 002. Mission objective not yet completed..."

"The mission... is still ongoing..."