I was so scared that I put all my points into health.

Castio seemed to remember something important, and slowly took a rusty pocket watch from his pocket. The watch's case was worn and weathered, as if it had withstood countless years. The watch case was covered with rust of varying depths, like a map recording bygone years, telling stories of the past. He gently opened the pocket watch; the missing hands made the dial look like a desolate ruin, devoid of the guidance of time. The empty dial resembled a world that had lost its way, exuding an indescribable desolation.

At this moment, Wang Xiaoyi's eyes were fixed on the pocket watch in Castio's hand, a flash of inspiration striking his mind. His thoughts instantly drifted to the system interface, and he pondered, "Now that the crisis is over, can I finally exchange for the pointer fragments and that equipment I've been longing for?" He eagerly opened the system interface, his eyes rapidly scanning the exchange options. When he saw the exchange price for pointer fragments, he almost burst out laughing. Exchanging ten pointer fragments only required 100 gratitude points—it was practically a freebie! The low price attracted him like a giant magnet, and he unhesitatingly chose to exchange for ten at once. However, fate seemed to be playing a trick on him; a notification of exchange failure quickly popped up on the screen, the red "failure" message extinguishing his enthusiasm like cold raindrops. But he soon noticed that his Cowardice skill hadn't activated, which rekindled his hope.

Wang Xiaoyi decided to try exchanging one first. He took a deep breath, opened the exchange interface, and gently pressed the button. In an instant, a faint blue light flashed across the screen, and a success notification appeared before his eyes. A delighted smile immediately spread across his face. This greatly boosted his confidence, and without hesitation, he performed the same operation again. Another success notification popped up, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples in his heart. In this way, he exchanged a total of 8 fragments.

With excitement and curiosity, he took the fragments out of his backpack. The fragments lay quietly in his palm, each emanating a unique aura. He noticed the fragments were small, and he tried piecing two together, like a jigsaw puzzle enthusiast reconstructing a precious painting. Two fragments easily combined to form a hand, but its size and shape were much smaller than the hands of a large clock, more like something meticulously crafted for a pocket watch. As he focused on piecing the fragments together, the hour, minute, and second hands gradually took shape, as if the spirit of time had awakened in his hands. Another hand might have served a different function. Wang Xiaoyi handed the assembled hand to Castio, his fingertips gently touching it, then he held the pocket watch tenderly, letting the hands turn slowly in his hands with a sense of reverence. The hands seemed to be infused with vitality, the ticking sound echoing clearly in his ears, as if time were truly in his grasp. Every tick seemed to proclaim his special ability to the world. The pocket watch was restored to its original state, and a surge of power flowed into Castio's body.

*Ding!* A crisp, melodious system notification sounded, like heavenly music, and the following text appeared before his eyes: Lost item: Pointer Fragment; Obtained item: Time Guardian Equipment IV - Time Track. Although he had obtained the Time Guardian equipment, Wang Xiaoyi knew in his heart that this was probably still a quest item. Perhaps only by collecting the complete set could its immense power be unleashed. However, looking at the pocket watch in his hand, radiating a mysterious and captivating light, he couldn't suppress his inner delight, his eyes practically glued to it.

He carefully browsed the system interface again, his eyes suddenly lighting up as he discovered another Time Guardian equipment that could be exchanged: the helmet called the Dome of Time. This helmet was meticulously crafted by the legendary craftsman using rare Time Mithril. He closed his eyes, as if he could see the craftsman carefully melting the Time Mithril before the blazing furnace, the Mithril shimmering with a ghostly blue light in the flames, like stars twinkling in the night sky. Then, the craftsman used his skillful hands to shape it into the helmet, engraving various complex and mysterious time runes on it. These runes were not mere decorations; they were like flowing rivers of time, seemingly telling the secrets of time. Wang Xiaoyi then gave the helmet to Castio, who stroked it before slowly putting it on, his strength increasing once more.

Wang Xiaoyi thought about it carefully. The mission hadn't even officially started yet, and he had already obtained three pieces of Time Guardian equipment. He already had a certain understanding of this set of artifacts, and there were only three pieces left. Now he had the helmet, shield (the Starry Sky Shield he obtained from a previous mission), and accessory (the specific name of the accessory had not yet been obtained), so he should still have the weapon, armor, and boots left.

"I still need three more pieces of equipment," Wang Xiaoyi thought to himself. Since he'd managed to get the helmet before, could he just exchange for the remaining three? That would save him a lot of trouble, and maybe he could easily complete the mission. Thinking this, he eagerly opened the exchange interface again. But when he saw the result, he almost jumped up in anger. It was a blind box, like a gamble full of unknowns. He opened one with high hopes, and it was a pocket watch; he opened another, and it was another pocket watch; the third was another helmet. This was really too much! It was like a free-to-play player painstakingly collecting a bunch of lottery tickets, excitedly hoping to draw their favorite hero or top-tier equipment, but fate seemed to be playing tricks on them, never letting them have their way. Seeing that he'd drawn half of them, he started to feel anxious and frustrated, caught in a dilemma. Should he continue drawing, or give up? Usually, many people who draw so many times without getting what they want become very unwilling and can't help but want to keep drawing. However, Wang Xiaoyi quickly calmed down. He realized that although he didn't know the details of the subsequent missions, he could still obtain these equipment by completing missions later. Since he didn't need them now, he might as well refrain from exchanging for them. In retrospect, not exchanging for them was indeed a wise choice.

Even when playing adventure games before, Wang Xiaoyi hadn't reached such a high level. This was also his first time doing this quest, and he was completely clueless about the game's plot. His thinking was actually quite simple: he felt he was the Time Guardian's savior, and according to the usual plot development, shouldn't the Time Guardian be extremely grateful to him, perhaps even offering himself in return? If that were the case, he would have another powerful figure protecting him, and the thought made him feel quite pleased. Unfortunately, the Time Guardian had other plans and directly rejected his idea. However, the Time Guardian did promise Wang Xiaoyi that he would accompany him on his adventures after completing his own mission. When would that be? Wang Xiaoyi roared inwardly.