1: How do you do that on this beat-up car?

The campus after the heavy rain was filled with the scent of earth mixed with gardenias.

Qin Lin, dressed in black casual wear, leaned against a black sedan with mottled paint.

His fingertips unconsciously rubbed a deep scratch on the car door.

The setting sun stretched his tall, upright figure, illuminating a depth in his eyes that didn't match his age.

"Are you out of your mind?"

A clear female voice rang out, carrying uncontrollable anger.

Su Yuran stood before him, her white slip dress fluttering slightly in the evening breeze.

She was nearly 1.7 meters tall, and even with five-centimeter stilettos, she still had to look up at Qin Lin.

Her long black hair fell like a waterfall, and the calves revealed beneath her skirt were as elegantly shaped as a work of art.

This was the campus belle Qin Lin had spent an entire month pursuing.

"Why did you buy this piece of junk?"

Her chest heaved, her full curves causing Qin Lin's gaze to linger for two seconds.

"Now look what you've done—we don't even have the money to rent a room for the rest of the semester!"

Qin Lin withdrew his gaze, an inscrutable smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"We can do it in the car."

He spoke nonchalantly.

"If all else fails, I'll just sneak into your girls' dorm for a few nights."

"You—"

Su Yuran's cheeks flushed with anger.

"In your dreams! Besides, how are we supposed to do it in this junk car? That's my precious first time!"

She placed special emphasis on the word "precious."

Qin Lin finally moved his hand away from the car, took a step forward, and gently wrapped his arms around her slender waist.

Su Yuran's body stiffened slightly, but she didn't push him away immediately.

This action had occurred many times over the past month.

Each time, it ended with her feigned resistance.

"Don't worry."

Qin Lin leaned close to her ear, his voice low.

"In three more days, it will be fine."

As the warm breath hit her earlobe, Su Yuran's face grew even redder.

But she sensed something was wrong.

Although Qin Lin was holding her, his eyes would occasionally glance at that junk car.

That look... was like he was looking at a rare treasure.

"What is wrong with you, anyway?"

Su Yuran pushed him away and took a step back.

"I finally agreed to be with you, and you go and spend all your money today. Do you know what the other students are saying about you? They say you're the stupidest college student ever!"

"I know."

Qin Lin smiled.

"They even overcharged me by three thousand."

"Then why did you still buy it?"

Qin Lin didn't answer.

He turned and stroked the black sedan once more.

The car was old, a model from over a decade ago.

There was a visible dent on the right door, and the bumper was barely held in place by zip ties.

A faded annual inspection sticker was pasted on the windshield.

The most conspicuous thing was the license plate: Su A·100.

A number so simple it was almost arrogant.

No one would have guessed that this junk car, which had been parked on campus for three years and was mocked by students as an "antique exhibit," would become the most precious survival fortress in the apocalypse three days later.

"Because I had a dream."

Qin Lin spoke slowly.

"In that dream, this car saved my life."

"A dream?"

Su Yuran almost laughed out of anger.

"Qin Lin, we're sophomores, not children. You spent three months' worth of living expenses because of a dream?"

"Not just living expenses,"

Qin Lin said calmly.

"I also put in my tuition for next semester."

The air suddenly went still.

Su Yuran's expression shifted from anger to shock, and then to a near-absurd level of disappointment.

She looked at Qin Lin as if she were looking at a stranger.

"You're crazy," she whispered. "You've really lost it."

"Maybe," Qin Lin said noncommittally. "But in three days, you'll understand."

"There are no three days."

Su Yuran took a deep breath and straightened her back.

"Qin Lin, let's break up."

The evening breeze blew, ruffling the stray hairs on her forehead.

Qin Lin watched her quietly.

He was all too familiar with this face.

After the apocalypse broke out in his previous life, they had been separated; Qin Lin had seen her once in the ruins.

By then, she was no longer the campus belle, but a survivor wrapped in a filthy down jacket, her face covered in grime and scars.

She had recognized him, a flash of complexity crossing her eyes before she walked away without looking back.

Back then, Qin Lin had no car, no power, nothing.

But now... "Fine," Qin Lin smiled. "Let's break up."

Su Yuran was stunned.

She had expected Qin Lin to beg her to stay, expected an explanation, or even expected him to fly into a rage.

But she had never expected such a blunt answer.

"You..."

She opened her mouth.

"But remember."

Qin Lin interrupted her, his gaze suddenly becoming sharp.

"You're the one who brought up the breakup. In three days, if you come looking for me—"

He paused, emphasizing every word.

"The price will be different."

Su Yuran's heart trembled under the sting of his gaze.

That didn't look like the gaze of a twenty-year-old college student.

It was more like... like her father's gaze during business negotiations—calm, sharp, and filled with a confidence that controlled everything.

"Only a ghost would come looking for you."

She threw those words over her shoulder and turned to leave.

Her high heels clicked sharply against the concrete, the sound fading into the distance.

Qin Lin watched her figure disappear around the corner of the dormitory building before withdrawing his gaze.

He pulled open the car door and sat in the driver's seat.

The interior was filled with the unique smell of an old car.

Aging leather mixed with a faint scent of engine oil.

The odometer on the dashboard was stuck at 218,743 kilometers, the radio on the center console was still the knob type, and the seat foam was peeking through the cracks.

But Qin Lin stroked the steering wheel as if he were caressing a lover's skin.

He pulled a crystal from his pocket.

Pure white and about the length of an index finger, it emitted a soft glow in the dim car interior.

Its shape was contradictory.

At first glance, it was an irregular natural crystal, but upon closer inspection, every facet displayed perfect geometric symmetry.

It seemed like the product of precision engineering from some advanced civilization.

"What exactly are you?"

Qin Lin murmured to himself.

In his previous life, he had struggled for a year in the apocalypse.

In the end, he died, but at the moment of his death, he had been chosen by this crystal.

Then came the time reversal; he had returned to the day before he bought the car.

Rebirth had given him a second chance, but it hadn't given him many answers. He only knew three things:

First, in three days—on June 15th at 12:00 PM—the world would suffer an "Abrupt Climate Change."

Second, when the change began, this old car parked in the campus's West District Parking Lot would be chosen by a "Black Light," initiating an Evolution Sequence.

Third, the person who obtained this car in his previous life lived very well in the apocalypse and became a legend.

"This time, it's time for a new legend."

Qin Lin started the engine.

The old car let out a dull roar, like a sleeping beast being awakened.

He slowly drove the car out of the campus.

The old security guard glanced at the license plate, his expression saying, "I can't believe this junk heap can still run."

Qin Lin didn't mind.

He needed to prepare some things.

Over the next three days, Qin Lin did four things.

On the first day, he used the last of his credit limit to buy ten cases of bottled water, twenty bags of compressed biscuits, five cases of instant noodles, and a large amount of high-calorie food like chocolate and beef jerky at the campus supermarket.

The supermarket owner looked at him like he was a madman, but his smile was wide as he scanned the items and collected the money.

On the second day, he went to a hardware store and bought an entrenching tool, a multi-tool knife, a high-powered flashlight, storage batteries, and rope.

And most importantly, a pair of hydraulic shears.

The owner asked if he was going on a wilderness expedition; Qin Lin just smiled and didn't answer.

On the morning of the third day, he moved all the supplies into the car.

The back seat and trunk were packed to the brim, leaving only the driver and passenger seats.

On the afternoon of the third day, he returned to the Campus West District Parking Lot and parked the car in the furthest corner.

This was the spot.

The lucky soul from his previous life had been chosen while his car was parked right here.

Qin Lin checked his phone: June 15th, 11:47 AM.

Thirteen minutes until the change.

Qin Lin hadn't chosen to tell anyone else, because no one would believe such a thing anyway.

They would probably just think he was sick.

Besides, time was running out.