I can rewind time to prevent death

Suddenly, he felt an intense sense of weightlessness, his entire body plunging downward at an incalculable speed.

Boom!

His head buzzed, his vision turned completely white, and he could see nothing.

About four or five seconds later, he heard several voices conversing nearby, and someone speaking right next to his ear. A hand was even resting on his shoulder.

"Hmm, a shoulder?"

At that moment, Yan Junze felt his body again. The white haze in front of him quickly receded, revealing a laboratory scene that felt simultaneously familiar and strangely unfamiliar.

The room was an off-white space. The walls and ceiling were made of special materials designed to insulate against sound and radiation. A large quantum collider was operational in the lab.

On the other side was what the lab staff called the "Void state"—a quasi-vacuum environment isolated within a special polymer container about the size of a dog crate.

"Junze, are you okay?" A concerned voice sounded by Yan Junze's ear, checking in on him.

Yan Junze shook his head. Looking down, he noticed he was wearing the standard laboratory uniform, with a badge displaying his title and name on his chest. The person questioning him nearby was none other than Professor Qiu Yuan, the one he had been working for.

"Why did your face suddenly turn so pale just now? Are you overworking with all the recent late nights?" Qiu Yuan asked.

"I probably didn't rest well," Yan Junze replied.

Qiu Yuan nodded. "Alright, after the experiment concludes later, go home and get some proper sleep. For now, focus intently on monitoring the experiment and record everything meticulously. This moment today might mark a milestone for opening up an entirely new era..."

"What?" Yan Junze immediately looked ahead.

Only then did he notice that the self-operating chip of the Spacetime Atlas being tested was already being held by a robotic arm. The arm was slowly reaching toward the polymer container, less than half an arm's length away from the "Void state" quasi-vacuum environment.

Yan Junze was acutely aware that what the robotic arm was holding wasn't a model of the Quantum spectrum. Acting on Dong Sheng's secret orders, it had been swapped with the real one. The moment it approached the "Void state" and fused with it, intense spatial turbulence would erupt, causing an explosion!

"Stop it!" Yan Junze shouted abruptly.

He immediately turned his head toward the command station, where Director Yan Lizhong, Deputy Director Dong Sheng, and other lab personnel were watching.

Pointing directly at Dong Sheng, Yan Junze urgently called out to Yan Lizhong: "Director Yan, Dong Sheng has already swapped the Quantum spectrum with the real one! The Atlas approaching the 'Void state' is no longer just a model!"

"What?!" Yan Lizhong's body trembled violently. He urgently commanded, "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it right now!"

The robotic arm in motion abruptly halted. The young operator controlling it turned to look in their direction, visibly confused.

Dong Sheng's face darkened. Suddenly, without warning, he leapt off the command platform and rushed toward the young operator. He closed the distance quickly and delivered a punch to the bewildered operator's face. Grabbing the control lever, he forcefully tried to push it forward.

Thud!

At that moment, the back of his head suffered a heavy blow. His arm slackened, and he couldn't summon any strength as his entire body collapsed to the ground.

Yan Junze casually set aside a steel-stamping machine used for laboratory seals, weighing twenty pounds, onto a nearby instrument table. One corner of the machine was already stained with some blood. He gave Dong Sheng's unconscious body a light kick, confirming that the man wouldn't be getting up again.

The other lab staff, witnessing the scene, were stunned and speechless. No one had expected Yan Junze to act so quickly—or so ruthlessly.

Shocked, it took Yan Lizhong a long moment to recover. He immediately ordered the cancellation of this so-called simulation experiment.

Yan Junze, unconcerned with any consequences, outright exposed the fact that Professor Tian and Dong Sheng were collaborating, deliberately hiding the truth, and facilitating the conditions for this event to occur.

Professor Tian was instantly detained.

During this commotion, Yan Junze chose not to disclose that his mentor, Professor Qiu Yuan, had also known about this incident. He understood that Qiu Yuan's involvement stemmed largely from Dong Sheng's threats.

Glancing at Professor Qiu Yuan, he noticed the man watching him back, his gaze filled with awkwardness, fear, and unease.

Yan Junze smiled faintly and turned his head away.

For now, he could avoid implicating Qiu Yuan, but if Dong Sheng decided to reveal Qiu Yuan's involvement in the future, it would be out of his hands.

As the lab was temporarily shut down and the Hua Country's national security department intervened, everyone was individually isolated and subjected to interrogation.

Yan Lizhong was the first to be cleared of suspicion. He led the team in reevaluating the Quantum spectrum and Void state, ultimately concluding that the current conditions were unsuitable for continuing the experiment.

After review by higher authorities, this conclusion was officially confirmed.

Seven days later, Tanqing City, Hua Country's "Fangde Matrix Experiment Center, Lab 01" was declared closed indefinitely.

At the moment the lab closure was announced, Yan Junze, sitting alone in an isolation room, suddenly felt his mind go blank.

He attempted to use Inner Vision on his own consciousness but realized he had lost the ability, finding nothing at all. The Spacetime Atlas... had vanished entirely!

"It's true, the paradox really happened. The paradox caused the Spacetime Atlas to no longer merge with me!" Yan Junze murmured to himself.

Knock, knock, knock!

The sound of someone knocking on the isolation room's door echoed, followed by the rattling of a lock being opened with a key.

Although Yan Junze was temporarily isolated, his rights were protected. Anyone entering from outside would courteously knock before entering.