Chapter 1 Prologue

Beyond countless worlds, in the unknown universe unreachable by humans, an existence known to humans as the "God of Fate" lingered by the river of time and space.

It enjoyed observing and recording those fleeting moments in time, and even more so, liked to stir the living beings flowing in the river of space into a tangled mess—what it did so casually was what people called the arrangement of fate.

In its eyes, the world appeared in another form, with threads of chaos and disorder intertwined. Those densely swimming dots were the original forms of countless living beings, their life trajectories entangling and converging, forming a never-ending river.

From the long river, it saw a red thread connecting the past and the future, and found it amusing. Suddenly, it transformed into a black cat, flicked its tail, and leapt into the river.

The ripples it stirred as it leapt splashed the surrounding points of light, knocking them off their tracks and causing them to fall into spaces that did not belong to them.

The black cat "Goddess of Fate" tilted its head, a mysterious smile appearing on its feline face.

"Fate has brought you together."

Chapter 2 01 The Old Mansion

When she was caught by those inspectors and thrown into the Yulin District Prison, Ethan Clark once thought she would soon be put on the execution platform and executed by the judges.

However, after half a month in Yulin District Prison, her fate suddenly took an unknown turn.

"You see, these are all death row inmates who meet the requirements." The warden in charge of guarding them spoke to the man beside him in a tone of flattery he had never used before.

The man was dressed formally, impeccably groomed, his gaze falling on the prisoners in the room with undisguised pickiness. Even though he spoke politely enough, his whole demeanor exuded a sense of superiority.

He said, "Only these?" as if dissatisfied with them.

Ethan Clark didn't know what they were here for. She had simply been told, like the others, to change into clean clothes that morning, then herded into this cage to wait.

The slightly stooped warden wiped the sweat from his forehead and forced a smile. "You know, last month was execution month, and that batch of death row inmates has already been dealt with. This batch only arrived in the past half month, so the numbers are a bit low."

The conversation outside was heard clearly by the death row inmates inside the cage. There were both men and women among them, all imprisoned for crimes like murder, robbery, or rape—some of them bold and clever.

Most of them would soon face execution; at most, they could only live until next year's execution month. But the man outside gave them hope. He seemed to want to select some of them for something. Whatever he wanted, it had to be better than waiting to die in prison.

"I don't know what this gentleman wants, but how about choosing me? I'm willing to do anything," a man in the cage quickly volunteered.

As he approached the side of the cage, the man in the suit outside frowned slightly, pretentiously took out a handkerchief to cover his nose, and showed no intention of responding. The warden beside him seemed to receive some signal, instantly dropping his subservient demeanor and reverting to his usual arrogance. He extended his electric baton into the cage and struck the man hard, knocking him to the ground.

"Who allowed you to speak! Shut up! Stay down on the ground!"

The other restless prisoners quickly retreated, unwilling to draw the same anger upon themselves as the unlucky man. Ethan Clark also stepped back. She stood at the very back of the crowd, like a shadow from beginning to end, silent and motionless, quietly staying in the corner, timid and unremarkable.

In her more than twenty years in this world, she had always been like this—ordinary, plain, diligent, seemingly easy to talk to, easily bullied, a common woman seen everywhere.

She didn't dare to volunteer, nor did she dare to wonder about the identity of the man outside or what he wanted. She just hoped it would end quickly so she could return to prison. But—

A black cat suddenly appeared before her eyes.

The black cat strolled leisurely past her, its long tail brushing against her foot. Ethan Clark's eyes widened slightly, not understanding how a black cat could suddenly appear here, and so silently, as if out of thin air.

"That woman in there." The suited man's voice was penetrating, stabbing into Ethan Clark's ears.

Ethan Clark felt the crowd in front of her part, the ground suddenly brightening at her feet, and she couldn't help but look up a beat late. The suited man's hand pointed at her from afar. "That woman, come here."

Out of the corner of her eye, the black cat suddenly vanished, as if it had been her imagination.

Under the warden's scolding, Ethan Clark walked to the front of the cage, looked at the two men outside, and lowered her head a little nervously.