### **0:00 - LOOP #18 BEGINS**
Champagne bubbles burst against my lips—the same poisoned vintage that killed me the first time. Fireworks painted the Grand Hyatt ballroom in violent reds and golds. Liang's smile curved like a scalpel as she raised her glass.
Then Anya's hand locked around my wrist.
"We've done this seventeen times," she hissed, her nails drawing blood. "He always wins."
Her pupils were blown wide—not with fear, but recognition. She remembered.
**[System Corruption Detected]**
*▶ Loop #18 initialized*
*▶ Third heir interference confirmed*
*▶ New rule: Only one version survives this cycle*
Across the ballroom, he stood beside Liang—our twelve-year-old son in a miniature tuxedo, sipping lemonade through a straw. He met my eyes and winked.
Then he shot Liang through the temple.
First death of the loop.
And it wasn't mine.
---
### **1:00 - RULES HAVE CHANGED**
The screaming began instantly. Guests stampeded as Liang's body crumpled onto the caviar tower. Our son vanished into the chaos, but not before tossing me a familiar object—Mu's neural inhibitor, still dripping with blood from the last loop.
Anya dragged me behind a marble pillar. "He's altering the sequence."Her breath came in ragged bursts. "Last seventeen loops, Liang poisoned you at 10:15 PM. Now she's dead by 9:47."
The System flickered:
*▶ Temporal anomaly detected*
*▶ Original loop timeline corrupted*
*▶ Third heir success rate: 98%*
I gripped the inhibitor. "Why would he kill his own ally?"
Anya's smile was terrifying. "Because he's not playing her game anymore. He's playing ours."
Glass shattered as Black Sun operatives rappelled through the skylights.
---
### **2:00 - THE SON'S GAMBIT**
We fought back-to-back through the panicked crowd:
- Anya used a champagne flute to sever a mercenary's carotid
- I stabbed a sniper's eye with Liang's diamond brooch
- The System calculated every move 0.3 seconds before it happened
Then he appeared again—our son, perched on the grand piano like a gargoyle.
"Fathers," he sighed, "you're so predictable." He pressed a detonator.
The chandelier crashed down, impaling three fleeing socialites.
"Loop #5: You hid in the kitchen. Died by fire."
"Loop #11: You took the service elevator. Died by nerve gas."
"Loop #17: You kissed Mother goodbye. Died together."
He hopped down, straightening his tiny bowtie. "I want a better story this time."
Anya lunged—but he was faster, pressing a syringe to her neck.
"Sweet dreams, Mother. We'll talk when you remember me properly."
She collapsed, convulsing.
**[System Alert: Tetrodotoxin detected. Cardiac arrest in 4 minutes.]**
Our son tossed me a second syringe. "Your turn, Father. Will you save her... or finally win?"
Then the original Lu Chen burst in, guns blazing.
---
### **3:00 - THE CHOICE**
The ballroom became a warzone. The original Lu Chen—my prototype—fought with my face but none of my restraint. He decapitated a mercenary with piano wire, then shot our son in the thigh.
The boy laughed through the blood. "You always were the sentimental one."
I crouched over Anya, the twin syringes burning in my palm:
- Blue vial: Antidote (3% chance she remembers the loops)
- Red vial: Time-jump serum (87% chance to restart the loop)
The original Lu Chen grabbed my collar. "He's her weapon. Break the cycle!"
Our son grinned, raising his detonator again. "Tick-tock, Father."
Anya's heartbeat stuttered.
I plunged the blue vial into her neck.
Anya's eyes flew open—**golden and alien**, pupils slit like a cat's.
*"Wrong choice,"* she whispered in Mu's voice.
Then she stabbed the red vial into my jugular.
The world dissolved into screams as **Loop #19 began.**