"Just like that... lost..."
Shirley knelt on the ground, her face pale with grief.
Thinking of her brutally murdered parents, recalling the years of enduring humiliation and heavy burdens, she lived her entire life for revenge, pouring everything into this purpose. Today's crushing defeat seemed to deny all her efforts over the years, making her realize once again her own weakness, her irrelevance.
It was as if suddenly, she reverted back to that helpless girl from that day, watching tragedy unfold, her family shattered, yet being unable to do anything, only able to cry.
And just as she fell to her knees, a dazzling light suddenly appeared before her eyes. Shirley involuntarily closed her eyes and raised her arms, shielding her face with them. When she adapted to the light and opened her eyes again, her pupils contracted and she felt as if struck by lightning.
She saw the man in front of her.
The gentle expression just as she remembered, the familiar face, every wrinkle identical to those she saw in her dreams.
Shirley's heart trembled, tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes, and she said in a quivering voice, "Fa... Father?"
At this moment, she could hardly suppress the urge to rush forward and embrace him. Even the rational thought that her long-dead father shouldn't be here had nearly vanished to the skies.
But that "father" didn't approach with the gentleness of the past; instead, he spoke with an indifferent tone: "No, what you see is merely a manifestation of your own inner desire."
Shirley was taken aback.
"Now you understand what you truly want, don't you?"
The "father" in front of her said with an amused smile.
"Revenge, is that really what you want? Then after you achieve revenge, where will your life without a goal lead you? If your true desire is revenge, why didn't your inner manifestation show a scene of your enemies lying dead all around, but instead appeared as it does now?"
Shirley sat there stunned, tears sliding slowly down her fair cheeks.
She came to her senses, looked up, and indeed saw that her longed-for "father" had disappeared, replaced by that detestable white-haired man from the Public Security Maintenance Bureau.
"My lady!"
Goukou finally stepped forward, worryingly supporting Shirley.
Shirley clenched her fists, her body trembling slightly from the exertion.
"Yes, what I want is..."
"I want my dad; I want to be stroked once again by those gentle big hands. What's wrong with that!?"
Shirley lost control of her emotions and roared.
"But what does it matter? What use is there in wanting? Dad and mom are both dead, they've been dead for many, many years. All of this can't return, it's impossible... it's impossible..."
Yugen said calmly, "That might not be impossible."
Shirley: "!"
She widened her eyes and looked up at Yugen.
Is this guy speaking in riddles of a different era?
Does he mean to suggest that people who have been dead for so many years might have a chance to be dragged out from the grave?
Does he think life is like a card game, coming with Revive the Dead?
She wanted to ridicule the absurdity, yet finally couldn't bring herself to say it. At this moment, she realized that deep down she indeed harbored a slight glimmer of hope.
It was a very faint glimmer, like a flickering candle in the wind that could extinguish at any moment, but it indeed existed and was now rekindled by "Godwin."
Just from the previous Duel, she had already understood that this man was no ordinary.
He possessed powers beyond comprehension, unlike any of the strong figures she had encountered or interacted with in her life. Even if something seemed absurd, if he said it was possible, maybe, just maybe...
Shirley bit her lip, then raised her head with determination and said, "If... if you really can do it, really bring my parents back to life, then from today onwards, I will obey your every command without condition, follow your every instruction, and absolutely without complaint..."
"No, no, no, don't make it sound like I'm forcing you to sell yourself. Do I look like such a shameless person?" Yugen waved his hand helplessly, "Moreover, bring back to life? Hahaha you think too highly of me.
I'm just an ordinary Duelist; I don't have the power to bring people back to life."
The slight flame that had just ignited in Shirley's heart extinguished once more, her delicate face showing unmistakable disappointment.
Yes, what was I even thinking? There's no such thing as bringing the dead back to life...
"However, there might be a way," Yugen's tone shifted, "It seems you've pursued Taiyi for most of your life, yet appear to know nothing about them."
Shirley raised her head, stunned for a moment.
"Taiyi... what about it?"
Indeed, Yugen was right. The Taiyi Organization is hidden in the river of history, influencing the world by controlling key figures and institutions. Even if someone sporadically discovers the truth and the organization risks exposure, there is always someone to silence them. If that fails, there's the ultimate solution of modifying history.
If faced with indelible traces or relentless investigations, they would directly alter history, causing evidence and investigators to disappear. Under such conditions, someone trying to discover Taiyi's secrets is almost impossible.
Yugen candidly explained: "Taiyi is an organization established to modify human history and guide it towards the future they desire.
They return from the future to the past, planting seeds in the early stages of human civilization. By your time, Taiyi is deeply rooted, infiltrating all aspects of the world, so it's natural you can't find any clues."
"Modify... history? Return from the future to the past?"
Shirley felt puzzled by what she heard.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Yugen calmly replied, "Your father probably realized it before the disaster happened, that your family and business had been drawn into Taiyi-related projects.
He learned secrets that absolutely couldn't be known and couldn't agree with Taiyi's unilateral decision on human destiny. So he stole that crucial item and hid it in your toy, didn't he?"
Shirley: "!"
She was dumbfounded for a few seconds, then slowly took out that card.
An Ordinary Magic Card, its name "Z-ONE." The last card her father left her, and it was precisely to uncover the secret of this card that she found herself here, encountering "Godwin."
Then she suddenly looked up: "Wait, return to the past and modify history. When you say I have a chance to see my father again, you mean..."
"Exactly."
Yugen nodded, speaking evenly.
"Taiyi has the power of the 'Time Machine,' capable of freely returning to the past to alter the timeline. However, what they aim for is the future of the entire humanity they are guiding, and there are too many variables involved in this; steering the whole of civilization's future towards an ideal scenario is overly complicated.
But if what you want to rewrite is merely the fate of a single family or even specific individuals... as long as there's a Time Machine, this task should be rather simple."
Shirley: "!!!"
Time Machine, modifying the past...
Does this mean, she can directly prevent the murder of her parents from ever occurring?