dmims Chapter 858 Time Difference
Chapter 858 Time Difference
"I...I'll go change my clothes first," Zhu Bei muttered softly, carrying her flute as she quickly left the hot spring pool. Her steps were still a little unsteady, but she walked very fast, as if afraid of staying even a second longer.
Early the next morning, Zhubei gathered a team to conduct a thorough search of the area surrounding the pure white permafrost. Yang Ming naturally participated in this operation as well; he and Bei Shang formed a group and went to investigate the glacial terraces south of Ruizhi Lake.
Yang Ming followed Bei Shang down the glacial terraces that stretched southward from Ruizhi Lake, his footsteps crunching on the ice crystals. The snow here was softer than in the core of the pure white permafrost, leaving deep footprints with every step.
"The deeper the footprints, the more melted snow is underneath." Bei Shang didn't turn around, but it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. "Be careful not to step into a crevasse."
Yang Ming responded and tightened his backpack strap. The search had been going on for two hours, and apart from some wild Pokémon, the two hadn't found anything.
“Mr. Bei Shang,” Yang Ming quickened his pace to catch up with him, “I have a question I’d like to ask you?”
Bei Shang paused in his steps.
"How long have you been here since you traveled from the modern era?"
The wind suddenly stopped.
Bei Shang's ice axe struck the ice with a crisp sound. He didn't answer immediately, but stood there, gazing at the vast white snowfield ahead. The distant snow-capped mountains gleamed coldly in the thin sunlight, like the boundary of another world.
"Unfortunately, I lost my memory when I first arrived here, so I can't give you an accurate answer."
He continued walking, his axe striking the ice rhythmically. "Memory recovery came later—thanks to Guana's meticulous care, I regained my previous memories."
“If we count from the time Guana brought me to the Pearl Team, I’ve been in the Pearl Settlement for two years. The time I’ve been here since I transmigrated should be even longer than two years.” Bei Shang continued, his voice condensing into a faint white mist in the cold air. “Because during the time I was wandering with amnesia, I can’t remember exactly how many days and nights I’ve spent.”
"Why are you suddenly asking this?" Bei Shang turned around and glanced at him, the edges of his goggles covered in fine frost.
“Because I’ve discovered something very strange,” Yang Ming said carefully. “Mr. Bei Shang, do you remember what you told me yesterday?”
"You mean that sentence about Miss Fenglu, right?" Bei Shang said with a teasing expression. "What, did I guess right? You and she have a relationship that goes beyond friendship?"
“That’s not what I meant,” Yang Ming denied. “I meant the first thing you said to me when you met me: ‘Are you Mr. Yang Ming, the newly crowned king of Alola?’”
"What's wrong? Is something the problem?" Bei Shang turned around, his eyes narrowing slightly behind his goggles. "Xiao Ju'er told me this news. Are you trying to say that this news is outdated?"
"No, quite the opposite, this news is very new."
Yang Ming's voice sounded exceptionally clear on the silent ice field.
"Because it has only been a few months since I became the king of the island."
As soon as Yang Ming finished speaking, the wind on the ice field seemed to freeze for a moment.
Bei Shang stopped in his tracks. He turned around, his eyes behind his goggles sharpening as he scrutinized Yang Ming.
"A few months?" Bei Shang repeated the word, a barely perceptible unease in his voice. "Are you sure?"
“I’m absolutely certain,” Yang Ming nodded. “Shortly after I became the king of the island, I encountered some unexpected events and ended up here. From the time I began ruling Ula Ula Island to the time I crossed Xicui, the entire process took no more than five months.”
Bei Shang remained silent for a moment, then gently tapped the ice with his axe, producing a rhythmic sound.
"So this brings up a contradiction: Mr. Bei Shang clearly traveled through time more than two years earlier than me, yet he knew information from several months ago, which is obviously illogical."
Yang Ming's words were like a cold stone thrown into a silent ice field, the ripples spreading silently between the two of them.
Bei Shang stopped striking the ice axe in his hand. He maintained a half-turned posture, the cold light of the distant snow-capped mountains reflected in his goggles, making it impossible to see the true emotion in his eyes. At this moment, the wind and snow seemed to hold their breath, leaving only the soft rustling of ice crystals against the ground.
“A few months…” Bei Shang repeated softly, his voice swaying in the wind. He slowly turned around to face Yang Ming, his movements a beat slower than usual, as if he were processing the huge logical gap behind this simple piece of information.
“This is indeed very interesting.” Bei Shang finally spoke, his tone returning to its usual calm, but Yang Ming could sense something slowly stirring beneath that calm. “Logically speaking, I transmigrated much earlier than you, so it’s impossible for me to know what happened ‘after’ me.”
He raised his head and looked towards the white mist in the direction of Wise Lake, as if he was sorting out his thoughts.
“When Xiaoju told me this news, her expression and tone indicated that it was the latest news from the Alola region at the time. Your coronation as the King of the Islands should have just taken place recently,” Beishang said slowly. “In other words, at the point in time when I traveled through time, you should have just become the King of the Islands.”
“The existence of this time difference is very unusual,” Yang Ming continued, “so I now have a bold conjecture.”
"That is, the time points we traveled through are different. Although more than two years have passed since you came to Seishi, at our point in time, 'Unova Region's Battle Metro Manager Kita no Sho' may have only been missing for a month or two. This explains why you have lived in Seishi for two years but know about what happened in the modern era a few months ago."
Bei Shang remained silent for a long time. The wind and snow swirled between them, and the ice axe hung above the ice, not falling for a long time.
“He was only missing for a month or two…” he repeated, his voice even lower than before, “You mean, the flow of time wasn’t consistent during the time travel?”
“That’s possible,” Yang Ming nodded. “It could also be because we traveled to different points in time. Perhaps for the modern world, Mr. Bei Shang, you have only been missing for a short time, while for me, I have only been gone for a few months, but in Xi Cui, you have already spent two years.”
In fact, he had suspected this before, because Chi Ri entered the space-time rift at almost the same time as him, but arrived at Xi Cui earlier than him, which meant that the time points he and Chi Ri traveled through were not the same. However, since the two were only a few days apart, Yang Ming could not be sure whether his guess was correct.
Now, Bei Shang's words have confirmed his guess.