Brian Clark was twenty-seven years old at this time. In just seven short years, he had become a multimillionaire. But he was still not satisfied. He felt that the preparations in the early stage were already sufficient, and now it was time to begin what he called his Destiny Project. So he came to Shanghai, intending to make this place the center from which he would start the legend of his business empire—not fraud, not just capital accumulation, but a truly great enterprise... Yet at this very moment, half of a two-page newspaper changed him...

Brian Clark got this half of a newspaper by accident. At first, he had no idea of the power this newspaper possessed. If not for a twist of fate, these two pieces of newspaper would probably have ended up in the trash. But by chance, he suddenly noticed something odd about the date on the paper. Yes, the date shown on this newspaper was a day in the future!

Brian Clark finally became interested in this newspaper. He carefully studied its mysteries and indeed discovered something different about it. The events shown on it were information from one day in the future, and as the holder’s thoughts changed, the newspaper could display information up to seven days ahead at most—that is, all information within the next week. In other words, possessing this newspaper meant the holder essentially had the omniscient and omnipotent power of prophecy, a perfect prediction of the next seven days...

Brian Clark was wild with joy. He believed this was a weapon bestowed upon him by the heavens, the tool for this so-called chosen one to change the world, to change the entire land... Suddenly, he wanted to become an emperor. As long as he had this thing in his hand, with the perfect ability to predict the future, he would be the emperor of the future world, the god of the future world!

But then, he discovered that this newspaper was not something from this world, or rather, not from this era. It belonged to the future, to someone who had come back from the future, or perhaps to someone from another dimension. And the secrets of this newspaper were far more than he knew... Only, by the time he realized this, it was already far, far too late.

(Am I going to die? Am I really going to die? It’s so dark, I can’t see anything anymore. Can the doctor even control the weather? I wonder if my newspaper can... How hateful, I actually failed, I actually failed, I...)

Brian Clark, his whole body charred black, lay silently on the rooftop, gazing at the sky. His eyes were still wide open—he died with his eyes open!

And the four remaining fragments of the newspaper continued to drift in the night sky, rising and falling, their destination unknown, uncertain what kind of future they would fly toward...

Chapter Two: The Newspaper of a Bright Future

“...That dream again?”

Eric Turner suddenly sat up in bed. His eyes were vacant for a moment before he silently began to get dressed. Only when his fingers occasionally brushed the burn scars on his face did last night’s dream once again flash through his mind.

Eric Turner was an orphan—more precisely, he had never seen his parents since birth. He grew up in an orphanage, but this orphanage was a state-certified institution, with everything managed by the government, so there was no abuse of orphans. Eric Turner’s childhood, while not particularly happy, was at least peaceful. He made quite a few childhood friends in the orphanage, childhood sweethearts. If things had continued like that, perhaps when he grew up, he would have had beautiful childhood memories in his mind... But all of that changed when he was ten. A great fire burned down the orphanage and his childhood. Many of his friends died in the fire; those who survived were either adopted or sent by the government to boarding schools, step by step growing up, and then each going their separate ways.

“...Still that same dream...”

Since that upheaval ten years ago, Eric Turner was now nineteen, a freshman at a university in Shanghai. Because of his excellent grades and the government’s orphan subsidy, just the scholarships and government aid were enough for him to live a comfortable life each month. He even rented a small apartment outside the school. He didn’t like noisy environments—perhaps a habit formed in childhood—he preferred quiet... except when facing those two friends.

After finishing his morning routine, Eric Turner opened the door and walked out. As he opened the door, he suddenly noticed a torn piece of newspaper stuck in the door crack. When he opened the door, the piece of newspaper fell to the ground.

(Stuck in the door crack? Who would do something like this?)

Eric Turner was a bit surprised. He picked up the torn piece of newspaper from the ground. It was about one and a half palm-sized, and the date printed on it was today’s date. It seemed to be a genuine newspaper torn in half, and then one half was torn again into a quarter. This one and a half palm-sized piece was about one-eighth the size of the original newspaper.

(Is this a way to promote subscriptions to the morning paper? Tearing off a small piece and stuffing it into everyone’s door, so each person only sees part of the content... Can such a marketing tactic really work?)