The brightly lit city was reflected in his somewhat clouded eyes. Buildings stacked on the earth like toy blocks, roads and bridges illuminated by streetlights stretched out like glowing ribbons, cars flowed like water, neon lights brightened the night sky, and airplanes with twinkling lights flew overhead.

Light and shadow flickered in his eyes.

A primitive material technology civilization.

Old King lowered his head, inexplicably moved.

When he looked up at the night sky again, new images suddenly appeared in his pupils, as if time was reversing, a millennium passing in an instant.

The first ancient ape stood up from the forest, the first tribe left the vast grasslands.

Hunting became domestication, conflict turned into war.

Villages became nations, symbols became poetry, calls became songs.

Order improved, culture sublimated.

The ravages of viruses, the development of technology, the sound of camel bells brought communication, and insatiable desires triggered world wars.

The path that almost every civilization has walked...

After a long while, Old King withdrew his gaze, released his staff, which stood quietly beside him without falling.

Once again, mysterious and complex symbols began to flicker in his eyes, constantly shifting and changing.

After a long time, he sighed, “Rules...”

It seemed that this universe had never seen a civilization system like theirs before; at most, someone had imagined legends with outward appearances somewhat similar to theirs. The rules of this world were very unfamiliar to him, suppressing his abilities to a very low level. It might take some time to slowly adapt. Fortunately, he himself had already reached a very high level and had experience with interdimensional travel. Otherwise, if it were a lesser mage, they probably wouldn’t even be able to cast a low-level spell and would be left helpless.

Turning around and going downstairs, he asked William Clark for a room card and returned to his own room—

A relatively modern single room, with a 1.8-meter-wide bed and a simple long desk embedded in the wall, accompanied by a chair, a single sofa, as well as appliances like an LCD TV, air conditioner, electric kettle, and hair dryer. The window was fairly large, with a bay window ledge. The bathroom was neither too big nor too small, more than enough for bathing.

In the bathroom, he found a bar of soap labeled “Anju Hotel,” which left him speechless and shaking his head.

Walking to the long desk, Old King pulled out the chair and sat down. With a casual tap, a floating transparent screen appeared in the air—covered in unfamiliar characters, with new text flashing across it.

“June, Year 1383 of the New Calendar. Arrived in a strange world, discovered a newly awakened spacetime node, very close to the world, and this spacetime node has already fused with a living being.”

“……”

“This experiment proves that spacetime nodes have significant differences, which is indisputable. In addition, the spacetime node is controlled by a living being through fusion, and the living being exists in a manner similar to the ‘consciousness of the spacetime node.’ The specific situation requires further investigation. There are differences between spacetime nodes fused with living beings and ownerless spacetime nodes. At present, it is not possible to prove whether the fusion causes the differences, or the differences lead to fusion...”

One line after another appeared, as if recording experimental data, but it felt more like a personal reflection.

At the same time, there was already a lot of text on this screen, all about spacetime nodes. Most of the time, Old King would add something at the end, sometimes scroll up to insert a few words in the middle, or change something.

Meanwhile, William Clark was still waiting at the front desk for midnight to arrive, lost in thought and feeling extremely exhausted.

Why should a salted fish like me have to shoulder the responsibility of a superhero? I have no power or influence—how am I supposed to negotiate with those big shots who travel through time and space in the future?

It seemed that the Old King upstairs was currently the only person he could rely on!

Just after midnight, he listed his hotel on all the major platforms: Meituan, Dazhong Dianping, Mafengwo, Qunar, and so on...

After sitting for a while, he also went upstairs to sleep.

Chapter 5: Offering the First Time

William Clark naturally didn’t sleep well.

He hadn’t slept well for more than ten days, but last night’s sleep was especially poor.

Spacetime nodes, the old mage, and interdimensional travelers who could appear at any time—all of it left him feeling particularly anxious and unsettled. Troublesome, excited, nervous, thrilled—emotions surged in his mind, tossing and turning until late before he finally fell into a deep sleep.

William Clark thought about a lot.

He had never imagined that one day he might be able to change the fate of Earth at any moment; he just wanted to live an ordinary life. He would never be a babysitter for those travelers—at most, he’d be a somewhat special innkeeper.

After falling asleep, he had a dream.

In the dream, there were many mountains, layer upon layer, and many rivers, all flowing into the sea. It was as if he had changed perspectives, walking countless unfamiliar roads and seeing countless magnificent landscapes.

At dawn, he was woken by his alarm clock.

William Clark went out, scanned a shared yellow bike, rode to the university gate to buy some breakfast, and then rode back home.

Emily Clark was, of course, still asleep. He entered, placed a portion of breakfast on the dining table, then went into the empty master bedroom to fetch two sets of Professor Clark’s clothes, and hurried out again.