“CNN News. We’re coming to you live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas!”

“It’s 2033, the Fourth Global Elite Summit.”

“More than two thousand scientists from over a hundred countries have gathered here, covering computer science, medicine, aerospace, and many other fields.”

“Huaxia is not attending as a nation. Only Mr. Ethan Caldwell is here, in a personal capacity.”

“Ethan Caldwell, dual academician of the Huaxia Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering, chief designer of the J-40 and H-40 programs, head of fifth-generation nuclear technology...”

A blonde reporter from North America was speaking fluently into the camera.

The lens locked onto a man.

He sat in a wheelchair, the corners of his mouth lifting into a faint, relieved smile.

Below the wheelchair, a red light began flashing wildly.

“My love... I avenged you.”

Boom!

A deafening explosion tore through the air.

A blinding white flash and a brutal shockwave swallowed the entire hotel in an instant.

The next second, the global livestream cut to black.

...

“Elaine!”

Ethan jolted awake like he’d been electrocuted.

In an instant, dozens of eyes swung toward him.

Some were annoyed.

Annoyed because he’d made noise in the exam hall and disturbed everyone else.

Some were openly mocking.

Seriously?

Falling asleep during the college entrance exam and then waking up from a nightmare?

What kind of guy does that?

“This student!” the proctor snapped, face dark with anger. “Follow exam rules. Do not disturb other candidates!”

Ethan was completely stunned.

The college entrance exam?

He was in the middle of the gaokao?

So...

He’d been reborn?!

His face was full of disbelief.

In his previous life, he had stood at the absolute peak of Huaxia’s military science world.

That also made him a thorn in the side of hostile nations.

In one assassination attempt, his wife had shielded him with her life.

He survived.

But both his legs were ruined.

And she died right there.

For years after that, he lived in pain and guilt.

From that day on, he could never truly settle down and focus on research again. He looked alive, but inside, he was basically a walking corpse.

In the end, he chose to trade his own life for revenge.

But who would’ve thought...

Right then, while memories of his past life were still crashing through his head, something even crazier happened.

A flood of memories that didn’t belong to him poured in all at once.

Natural science.

Engineering.

Biotech.

Medicine.

Computer science.

Knowledge from every direction, every field, slammed into his mind as if it were being carved straight into his brain with blade and chisel.

And with each field came a different identity.

One after another.

“The knowledge of every scientist at the scene...”

Ethan’s eyes widened.

A long while later, he suddenly laughed.

He really had been reborn.

In his last life, his wife died protecting him. That scene had haunted him like a curse.

And in the end, he dragged his enemies down with him.

But this life—

The enemy nations would be facing someone from more than thirty years in the future.

Someone carrying the combined knowledge of over two thousand scientists across every field.

Of course, this time he would not walk the old road again.

He would never become the kind of military scientist who put both himself and the woman he loved in the line of fire.

“In this life, I will never let Elaine be put in danger.”

“And I absolutely won’t bury myself in research while leaving her all alone.”

“So then...”

Just as he was thinking about what path to take next, a buried memory surfaced.

The gaokao lasted three days.

In his previous life, on the second day of the exam, something terrible happened at home.

That too had become one of the deepest wounds of his life.

The moment that thought hit him, he threw down the blank exam paper, got up, and headed for the door.

“This student—” the proctor barked.

First he slept, had a nightmare, and yelled in the exam hall.

Now he was just getting up and leaving?

What exactly was he trying to do?

This was a national exam site, not his backyard.

“I’m done. Handing in my paper,” Ethan said without slowing down.

“It hasn’t even been thirty minutes—”

“If I don’t want to take it, is that a problem?!” Ethan shot back, not stopping in the slightest.

Compared to whether his parents lived or died, the gaokao meant nothing.

...

Back then, Ethan was a rich second-generation kid.

Right now?

He was a debt-ridden second-generation kid.

In the late ’80s, his father had caught the wave of reform and opening-up and built a business from scratch. By the early 2000s, the family had assets worth several million. Definitely well-off by ordinary standards.

But the Ethan from his previous life hadn’t known that his father’s business had already started going downhill.

He knew even less that half a month ago, his father had been hit by another scam.

The family was already on the verge of bankruptcy.

And today—

His father finally broke under the pressure... and killed himself.

His mother suffered a devastating mental blow.

She sank into grief and depression, and within a few years, she too passed away.

In his previous life, Ethan had been playful and undisciplined because his family had money. His grades were always mediocre at best.

His father’s death woke him up like a slap to the face.

He repeated a year.

Worked part-time while studying.

Pushed himself like crazy.

And eventually climbed all the way to the summit of Huaxia’s military technology world.

But now that he had another chance—

Every regret from his last life would end here.

No way would he let it happen again.

There was no time to waste.

Ethan sprinted out of the exam hall while checking his watch.

9:27 a.m.

Based on his memory from his past life, his father had jumped from a building in the city center at around ten in the morning.

The exam site was still some distance away from downtown.

Worse, the school was in a pretty remote area, so catching a taxi was ridiculously hard.

And in this era, taxis weren’t exactly everywhere to begin with.

“My family’s in trouble, can you maybe—”

“Please help me, I—”

Outside the school, Ethan waved down car after car.

But before he could even finish a sentence, each one sped away without a second glance.

Then, at that moment, an Accord came rushing down the road.

No time to think.

He gritted his teeth.

Instead of waving from the roadside, he dashed straight forward.

He spread his arms wide—

and stood right in the middle of the road.

Screech!

The brakes screamed sharply.

Then came a crisp but furious voice:

“Are you trying to die? What the hell are you doing?!”

That face...

No heavy makeup.

No fancy tech filters.

Just a clean, soft kind of beauty, fresh and understated.

Bridget Renshaw.

“Hey, I’m talking to you! Why did you stop my car? Highway robbery? Carjacking?!” Bridget snapped, eyes blazing.

“Miss!” Ethan hurried forward. “Something happened at my house. I can’t get a taxi. Can you please—please help me!”

Compared to his father’s life, what did it matter if he had to beg?

Bridget froze for a second.

“Look, I’m a gaokao student, not a bad guy!” Ethan quickly pulled out his exam admission slip.

His name and photo were on it.

Bridget stared at him for a few seconds.

Then she finally unlocked the passenger door.

“Where to?”

“Downtown. Thank you!”

“What happened at your house?”

“My dad... he’s going to jump off a building!”

“What?!”

Bridget’s face changed instantly.

She slammed down on the gas without another word, and the car shot forward much faster than before.

Jinling City wasn’t all that big at the moment, and traffic was light too. The whole trip took only a little over ten minutes.

“I’m coming with you,” Bridget said as she got out of the car.

“Thank you so much, but no need.”

Ethan rushed toward the building at full speed.

At the same time, his mind was spinning like mad.

It was just past 9:40 a.m.

He had no idea whether his father was still on the way here, or already standing on the rooftop.

The key problem was this—

How was he supposed to talk his father down?

Tell him he’d been reborn and could make money easily now?

Yeah, right. Who would buy that?

Suddenly, an idea flashed into his head.