Eric Turner gritted his teeth, broke free from Grace Miller's small hand clutching his shirt, and dashed toward the last car. As he burst out of the crowd, everyone around him fell silent for a moment, then all began shouting—some yelling at him not to throw his life away, some warning of danger, others shouting meaningless words. But at this moment, Eric Turner felt his mind boiling with hot blood, unable to hear anything around him, thinking only of saving the little girl before him. Just as sparks ignited at the front of the third car, he finally reached the window beside the back seat where the little girl was.

It was only then that Grace Miller turned around and saw Eric Turner furiously pounding on the glass from outside the window. The flames spread rapidly; in just a few breaths, the fire had already engulfed the front seats, the temperature inside the car soared, and various gases from burning objects filled the air. The little girl immediately began to cough violently. At this rate, in just a few more seconds, she would fall into unconsciousness and suffocation, and then she would almost certainly die.

Eric Turner kept smashing the window with his elbow. Although the glass had already cracked and deformed because the little girl's mother had hit her head on the window frame, this was not ordinary household glass—its toughness was much greater. Only when Eric Turner's elbow broke open did he finally shatter the window. But by then, the little girl had already fallen silent. Panic surged in his heart. Amid the thick smoke, he reached into the back seat, groped around, and finally found the little girl's hands and feet. Without hesitation, he dragged her out through the window, held her in his arms, and ran out as fast as he could. After just ten steps, a thunderous explosion sounded behind him—the first and second cars blew up together, sending countless shards of metal and debris flying in all directions. Several onlookers standing nearby were knocked to the ground, and the rest immediately scattered and ran farther away.

However, Eric Turner was lucky—the third car closest to him had not exploded, and the debris did not harm him. He managed to dash into the crowd, which parted slightly to let him through. Seeing this heroic boy rescue the little girl in distress, everyone around fell silent for a moment. Only the sound of Eric Turner gently patting the girl's chest and the hiss of him giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation could be heard. When the third car exploded, the little girl suddenly coughed and then burst into tears, and everyone around breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, people all around began to praise Eric Turner's heroic deed.

Meanwhile, in the first teaching building not far from the school gate, a man and a woman were watching the chain car crash at the gate. Only when all the cars had exploded and more and more people gathered at the gate did the man touch his chest and mutter, "Today's car crash, at the school gate... and this piece of newspaper... is this the future? Or rather, a marked future? Can it be changed, or not?"

The man exhaled, and the serious expression on his face gradually faded, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. He looked both handsome and charming, with a hint of wicked allure. He turned and walked out of the classroom. As he reached the doorway, he saw several girls hurrying toward the corridor stairs. One of the girls blushed when she saw him, but quickly said, "Ethan Brooks, there's been a chain car crash outside the school gate. Let's go take a look together."

"Mm, sure, let's go have a look." Ethan Brooks smiled slightly and walked toward the stairs with the girls, chatting and laughing. With his presence, the girls seemed to lose their previous urgency and instead started gossiping with him. He showed no impatience, chatting happily with them, and before he knew it, he had already left the building.

Meanwhile, the girl who was still watching the scene from the teaching building remained expressionless, her eyes fixed on the flames of the explosion. No one could tell what she was thinking. After a long while, when several boys came up behind her, she finally turned around. The boys seemed to know her. One of them said, "Class rep, I guess today's class is a bust. Even the teacher seems to have gone to watch the car crash—only a few of us are left in the classroom... By the way, can you see the school gate clearly from the window?"

"...I can see it clearly, more or less." The girl finished speaking and walked toward the classroom door.

Another boy quickly asked, "Alice Carter, where are you going?"

"To the school gate, to see how this accident ends, and... the future..."

Chapter 3: Past and Present Lives and the Point of Causality? (Part 1)

"...Is that so? I lost... Feelings... what are they?"

A man struggled weakly, but in the end could not escape the fate of turning to dust. For some unknown reason, however, his consciousness still remained.