Genius Club

Lin Xian exhaled deeply, holding a wrinkled bouquet of synthetic flowers close to his chest, just as he had done six centuries earlier. He carefully smoothed out the crinkled tin foil, trying to restore some semblance of beauty to the time-traveled bouquet. Memories of Zhao Ying Jun’s 24th birthday party—the night he gave her this extraordinary gift—came flooding back. She had promised to remember it for years.

But Lin Xian had never anticipated that her memory would stretch across 600 years.

From the flourishing Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty to the present day in 2023, for him, these centuries had passed like a single night—a simple yawn, a night’s sleep, and then awakening to a new era.

However, for Zhao Ying Jun, those 600 years were a relentless march of time, experienced second by second, filled with unimaginable solitude.

He shut his eyes, picturing Zhao Ying Jun as she first stepped into the hibernation pod. She had to endure waking up every decade for six months to face an alien and lonely world anew. From what he had learned earlier in the projection corridor, it seemed that by 2026, the initial side effects of hibernation like mental and physical deterioration were mitigated by new pharmaceuticals developed by Tang Xin. Nonetheless, the problem of memory loss that Xu Yun had warned about persisted.

Zhao Ying Jun, desperate not to forget her past, opted for a perilous route—hibernating for ten-year stretches with brief awakenings, despite the severe toll it took on her body. Such repeated cycles could preserve her memories but at the cost of her physical well-being.

Lin Xian clenched the bouquet tighter, his resolve hardening. No matter his failures in this future, or how Zhao Ying Jun had braved centuries of isolation, he was determined to undo this timeline. He couldn’t let her centuries of sacrifice be in vain. He had to uncover the clues she had left behind and change everything.

Scanning the exhibition hall, Lin Xian realized the solution to Yellow Finch’s mirror puzzle wasn’t here. Logic dictated that Yellow Finch couldn’t be Zhao Ying Jun from the future, given that Zhao Ying Jun had already perished in a future that everyone in Rhine Sky City had witnessed, her ashes scattered to the wind.

Moreover, Zhao Ying Jun had died more than once. In one of his earliest prophetic dreams, she was killed in a random shooting, and yet Yellow Finch had already been present in the real world, having delivered a counterfeit Genius Club invitation to the MX company reception. This clear violation of temporal logic confirmed that Yellow Finch and Zhao Ying Jun couldn’t be the same person.

Just like CC and Chu An Qing weren’t the same, despite their connection.

Thinking of CC, Lin Xian recalled his recent conversation with Big Cat Face Ah Zhuang while they prepared to ascend in a helium balloon. They had discussed Time Bank and the aluminum alloy safe, yet neither had heard of such a bank, which puzzled Lin Xian. If Time Bank didn’t exist in Rhine Sky City or the known world, where could it be? And without Time Bank, where was CC in this reality?

Lin Xian didn’t need to see CC to feel reassured; just knowing she was out there provided a sense of stability, a vital ally in his endeavors. If she wasn’t in this dream, what about the next? Or the one after that? The thought that he might never find her again made the world seem vast and daunting.

Just then, the trash can robot VV, spinning around near his feet, interrupted his thoughts. “Hey, hey, hey! Say something! You can’t just stand there lost in thought, making us all curious!”

“What should I say?” Lin Xian responded, looking down at the insistent robot.

The robot’s mechanical claw pointed at the bouquet in Lin Xian’s hand. “You mentioned there was a part of you here. What did you mean by that?”

“This bouquet,” Lin Xian explained, lifting it slightly, “is what Zhao Ying Jun left for me.”

The robot made a dismissive noise. “Aren’t you a bit self-centered?”

“Believe it or not,” Lin Xian replied nonchalantly, not in the mood to argue.

The robot rolled towards the front of the vehicle, gesturing with its claw to some elegant writing on the windshield. “Ms. Zhao Ying Jun wrote that this is the first car in human history to fly… but that’s actually impossible, unrealistic.”

“Because this antique car has an old internal combustion engine that uses outdated fossil fuels, and it doesn’t have any flight mechanisms. So… this antique car can only move on the ground. It can’t fly.”

“But considering Ms. Zhao Ying Jun’s esteemed reputation in Rhine Sky City and her well-known affection for this car, it’s hard for anyone to believe she would fabricate such a claim. Even now, historians and critics are puzzled… why she insisted this car could fly.”

Lin Xian let out a soft chuckle, “Want to know the secret?”

The trash can robot VV nodded its head.

“Then fetch me a car,” Lin Xian stated, confident in VV’s ability to comply.

Despite VV often jokingly calling itself and him the King of Rhine as part of a medieval fantasy, it practically was, controlling everything from nuclear fusion engines to the street-sweeping robots.

However, the robot tilted its head, confused by Lin Xian’s request.

“What kind of car do you need?”

“The fastest one you can find.”

Lin Xian gently ran his hand over the surface of a Bentley Continental GT that had once soared over the Donghai Overpass.

“Bring me the fastest car in all of Rhine Sky City.”

…

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!

The wind screamed past his ears.

A purple convertible sliced through the air between skyscrapers, moving so quickly it almost left a blur in his vision!

Strapped haphazardly into the passenger seat, the trash can robot raised its mechanical claw excitedly.

“Riding shotgun is so thrilling! No wonder Zhao Ying Jun loved it! But… are you sure it’s safe to go this fast? If we crash, I don’t mind, but you might not survive.”

“I’m not going to die that easily,” Lin Xian reassured, glancing at the speedometer which now read a terrifying 400 kilometers per hour, a third of the speed of sound!

And this wasn’t any professional racetrack; it was the congested airspace of an urban landscape!

Despite VV clearing the path by making all automated vehicles yield, the skyscrapers remained an unmovable maze.

Yet, Lin Xian leaned back casually, elbow resting on the car door, cheek propped in his hand, looking utterly relaxed.

He yanked the steering wheel, guiding the convertible to the highest point in Rhine Sky City, aiming for a plaza adorned with a statue of Zhao Ying Jun.

Then, he spotted a flat, expansive rooftop on a skyscraper.

Bang!

The high-end convertible hit the rooftop with a violent jolt. Lin Xian stomped on the accelerator, causing sparks to fly as the chassis scraped against the surface, yet the speedometer continued to climb!

“Um… this car can’t really drive on the ground; it doesn’t have any wheels.”

The trash can robot turned its head, offering a friendly reminder.

“And you’ve turned off all the automated systems and the flight function.”

“Exactly,” Lin Xian responded, gripping the steering wheel tightly and aiming for the plaza with Zhao Ying Jun’s statue.

“How else would you call it flying?”

Whoosh—

The car, its undercarriage glowing red-hot from the friction, soared off the skyscraper, plunging freely toward the memorial square below, directly towards Zhao Ying Jun.

The trash can robot, too smooth to secure itself properly, half-slipped from the seatbelt.

Bang.

Lin Xian reached over with his right hand, shoving it back into the passenger seat as they descended in a dramatic arc.

“Six hundred years ago, that’s how the Bentley managed to fly.”

“No wonder the interior was a wreck… And technically, this isn’t really flying, not historically speaking,” VV commented under its breath.

Just like that unforgettable night beneath a radiant moon.

The powerless vehicle, propelled by sheer inertia, glided through the night sky, bathed in moonlight, making its dramatic entrance into Rhine Memorial Square.

As they entered a no-fly zone, the dashboard went dark.

But in a flash, it lit up again as VV lifted the no-fly restriction, allowing the car to reactivate its flight mode in the final descent, executing a perfect drift to a stop at the base of Zhao Ying Jun’s statue.

Lin Xian helped the trash can robot out of the car.

Together, the duo stood before the towering white jade statue, one man and one robot, gazing up at the iconic figure.

Lin Xian studied Zhao Ying Jun’s face, just as it was in the last photo displayed in the projection corridor—her in her thirties, more mature than her days at MX, yet still strikingly beautiful and formidable.

“VV, did you delete all of Zhao Ying Jun’s old photos?” Lin Xian inquired.

“Yes,” the trash can robot replied.

“I can assure you that nowhere in Rhine Sky City will you find a photo of Zhao Ying Jun from her later years. However, due to base code restrictions, I can’t leave Rhine City or manipulate any external information.”

“So… if you’re looking for later photos of Zhao Ying Jun, they might be found in other sky cities.”

“No need,” Lin Xian shook his head.

“She will always remain like this in my memory, eternally youthful and resolute… Losing that image would mean she wouldn’t be the Zhao Ying Jun I remember.”

“You seem to have said something quite profound.” VV also looked up, admiring the thirty-meter-high statue with Lin Xian.

Perhaps it was just their imagination, but today, the statue seemed to radiate a touch of warmth, a slight hint of satisfaction beyond its usual solemnity.

Lin Xian searched around the base of the statue but found no clues related to the mirror puzzle or any other hints.

He was now sure that the puzzle from Yellow Finch had nothing to do with his dream or Zhao Ying Jun.

To find the answers, he would have to wait until he returned to the real world.

For now, there was only one thing left to do.

“VV, I hold the highest authority in Rhine Sky City, correct?” Lin Xian confirmed.

“Correct,” the robot’s green eyes flashed.

“Though calling you the King of Rhine started as a joke, it’s pretty accurate. I’ll follow your commands, even if they contravene the Three Laws of Robotics, because you’re not a robot and aren’t bound by them.”

“Good,” Lin Xian smiled, turning to face the night sky, the city lights twinkling below.

“Blow up all 6,000 nuclear fusion engines beneath Sky City.”

“Blow them up?” The robot’s eyes blinked rapidly.

“If you just want to bring the city down, we could simply shut off the cold fusion engines. There’s no need for an explosion.”

“No, we need to blow them up,” Lin Xian insisted, walking to the edge of the rooftop, gazing down at the gathering lights below.

He envisioned the ground dwellers spreading news of their successful landing, amassing more people, all waiting for a miracle…

“I promised a little girl I’d blow up a city for her. Unfortunately, I failed last time.”

“But now, this moment feels just right. Blowing up those 6,000 nuclear fusion engines should be quite a spectacle, right?”

Lin Xian turned back, his smile widening as he faced the robot.

“Let’s create the grandest fireworks display the world has ever seen, for that little girl!”