Chapter Two: Twelve Hours at the Apex

He did not celebrate. He lay beyond the finish line and wept without sound. Before dawn, they returned to find the apartment lock untouched and the biscuit tin open. The negative remained, beside an antique silver-salt timer counting down from eleven. Gu Changzhou's card bore a new sentence: NO APEX IS A GIFT. At nine, the effect ended. He Xiao collapsed in a hospital corridor as every old injury returned. Yet the official time, the recordings, and the witnesses' memories remained. The miracle was real. So was the collateral. Shen Yan sealed the flash in a metal case and vowed never to touch it again. The vow lasted four hours.