Genius Club

Obtaining a few strands of Chu An Qing’s hair wasn’t difficult for Lin Xian. Spending the entire day together provided plenty of opportunities, and today, he’s able to collect a few without effort.

He found a small plastic bag, about half the size of a credit card, often used for storing small parts, and carefully placed Chu An Qing’s hair inside. Pinching the bag’s edges, he sealed it tightly, ensuring the brown strands were secured.

Lin Xian shook the bag slightly, holding one corner as he mused, “There are so many things waiting for me to do. The fewer things I have to think about, the better.” His eyes flickered to the electronic clock labeled on his desk.

“If we eventually find Zhang Yu Qian’s grave and successfully extract her bones… I mean DNA, and then compare it with Chu An Qing’s hair and find that the DNA is exactly the same…” Lin Xian’s thoughts trailed off as he considered the implications.

“If that really happens, what does it mean? Chu Shan He, Su Xiu Ying, and the elderly couple are obviously two completely different sets of parents. There’s no way they could have two daughters with identical DNA. It’s too far-fetched; no one would write that.”

The electronic clock VV seemed to nod in agreement, almost as if it had an expression.

“That logic is sound… but Zhang Yu Qian and Chu An Qing looking exactly the same is also a fact. In this world, no matter how outrageous something seems, if it exists, it is reasonable. As long as those things can exist objectively in this time-space, in this universe, they are allowed by the rules.”

“Based on my current understanding and knowledge, I think it’s impossible for Zhang Yu Qian’s DNA to be identical to Chu An Qing’s. This can’t be explained by any scientific field. However, two people looking exactly alike is statistically possible. I suggested digging up the grave because you mentioned that in the dream world 600 years in the future, there is a girl named CC who also looks exactly like them… this must be taken seriously.”

“By the way, that girl CC hasn’t appeared in your dreams for a long time, has she? Does she still exist? Could it be that she is Chu An Qing or Zhang Yu Qian in some form? Don’t ask me why, I’m just guessing because… it seems to make more sense that way.”

Lin Xian opened his suitcase, taking out his casual clothes and placing the plastic bag with Chu An Qing’s hair into an inner pocket, then zipped it up.

“As for CC, I haven’t seen her for a long time. I haven’t seen her in the entire third dream world. But that’s because there’s no Time Bank in the third dream world or the aluminum alloy safes, why would she come? She said she was born in Brooklyn, USA… I don’t know if that place exists in the third and fourth dream worlds, but she has no reason to come to Donghai. She only cares about safes. If there’s no safe, she won’t be there—”

Suddenly, Lin Xian realized something.

“Wait a minute.” He stood up, rubbing the stubble on his chin, pacing in the dormitory.

“I just thought of something incredible. In the previous fourth dream world, since there was no Time Bank, there was naturally no safe with my name on it. So… whether CC exists or not, she couldn’t appear near my ‘birth point’.”

“But! Now there is a Time Bank in the fourth dream world, so the safe with my name on it is naturally in the bank. This corrects the missing history of CC. It means CC will search for the safe with my name, trying to crack the code to open it.”

“Do you understand what I mean, VV? This means… if the fourth dream world is real, I will definitely meet CC again. She’s a girl who would risk her life for a safe, bullets flying and all, so she definitely can’t resist. She will come!”

VV thought seriously for two seconds and then said coldly, “Your idea has many loopholes. Even if you meet CC, it doesn’t prove your fourth dream world is real. It might rule out the possibility of a film set or hired actors; but it still can’t rule out that your fourth dream world is a virtual world.”

“The virtual world they created for you is dated August 28, 2624, but who knows what the real date is in the future outside? They could easily construct a simulated world based on the events of August 28, 2624, happening all over the city.”

“Moreover, even if your fourth dream world is real, why would CC choose to rob the safe at Time Bank on this exact day? If she’s so obsessed with safes, she would have tried stealing it long ago. She doesn’t have to wait until this day. On the contrary, she might still be on a ship from Brooklyn to Donghai on that day, so the chance of you meeting her on the same day is very slim.”

“No, no, no.” Lin Xian shook his head.

“There’s a crucial point that I haven’t told you. CC has fragments of memories from other time-spaces. Since she has memories of robbing a bank with me in the first dream world; she must also have memories of infiltrating New Donghai City with me in the second dream world.”

“In the second dream world, we shared a deep bond of revolutionary friendship. If she really has memories from the second dream world, she will definitely try to find me.”

“In the second dream world, I told CC almost everything, including my special ability to infinitely loop the same day, and that the safe might be related to me, and that Time Bank would be established by the end of 2023… I told her everything at that time, and she knew everything.”

“She didn’t fully trust me at the time because it was the first time we met in the second dream world. CC was skeptical of what I said. But if she has memories of the first and second dream worlds in the fourth dream world, she will naturally understand that everything I said before was true, and I didn’t deceive her at all.”

“If I’m not there, CC can’t crack the safe’s code anyway. Since Time Bank is celebrating its 600th anniversary in such a high-profile manner, it means their security and reputation are intact, indicating there hasn’t been any theft or invasion.”

“Therefore, if CC wants to crack the safe’s code in the fourth dream world, she will definitely try to find me. She knows I have more methods than her, and that my ability to loop the same day infinitely is real, making me more likely to crack the safe’s code.”

“Moreover, the most important point is. The future enemies do not have the ability to extract memories, we’ve verified this. So even if they can create a fake CC in a virtual world, they can only replicate a CC who tries to rob Time Bank. They can copy CC’s actions but not her memories.”

“This is something the enemies 600 years in the future would never expect or guess.”

“They thought that when I suddenly traveled 600 years into the future, I wouldn’t know anyone, but they didn’t expect that before I met CC, she already had memories about me! And a lot of them, two full dream worlds’ worth of memory fragments!”

“I never realized the key to solving everything lies with CC.”

“If the CC in the fourth dream world recognizes me and accurately recalls the events of the first and second dream worlds, it proves my dream world is real!”

Lin Xian’s thoughts suddenly became clear.

“So… CC is the true temporal beacon! The memory fragments in her mind are much more reliable than the aluminum alloy safe! Even if you cracked the old man’s head open… he would never have thought that he and CC, separated by 600 years, were already old friends.”

“Therefore, as long as I can see CC in the fourth dream world and verify the memories and codes, everything else doesn’t matter. I can directly determine that the dream world must be real!”

“It’s amazing how the key to everything lies with CC…” Lin Xian sighed.

“But Lin Xian…” The electronic clock VV said.

“This CC you mentioned, with her ability to retain memory fragments from other time-spaces, is indeed a great breakthrough point. The enemies would never realize this. I agree, if you can really talk to CC, you can instantly verify the reality of the dream world.”

“But the problem is… don’t forget, in the fourth dream world, you are surrounded by dozens of soldiers, armed to the teeth. You won’t even last half a minute before being electrocuted and taken away. Even if CC is standing outside the encirclement, you won’t have enough time to communicate with her. She’s not some mythical figure like Sun Wukong who can ride on a cloud and rescue you with its golden stick.”

Lin Xian chuckled. “Not necessarily impossible.”

“CC is indeed an extraordinary girl. She’s brave, strong, resourceful, cold on the outside but serious and smart.”

Memories brewed into a storm, arising from nothing.

Lin Xian recalled the woman wearing an Ultraman mask, who shot Big Cat Face in the head with one shot;

He remembered her disguising as Li Ning Ning, stepping on a human ladder to climb over the high wall of the garbage dump;

He remembered her risking her life to crack the security door code at the last moment when discovered by a drone;

He remembered her slashing the throat of the city inspector, sneaking and swiftly killing the bank guards.

She’s a password expert. She crossed the ocean alone to Donghai. She’s meticulous and good at gathering information. She always surprises people, like Doraemon.

“She’s not an ordinary girl,” Lin Xian repeated, turning to the electronic clock VV.

“You haven’t met CC, so you don’t know her. This girl seems to hold infinite possibilities. If she plans to find me, to save me, she will definitely figure something out. Or, we could think about how to leave a hint for CC 600 years later, so she knows to come to my birth point on Time Bank’s 600th anniversary to save me.”

“You really trust this girl named CC,” VV said faintly.

“She’s earned it.” Lin Xian laughed lightly. “I have a good impression of her. Although I don’t like her personality very much, I don’t dislike her either. We used to spend almost every night together, very familiar with each other. And obviously, she has a deep connection with the bearded man, who is likely my future self, making her someone trustworthy.”

“Putting aside trust, CC with memory fragments knows that she and I are tied together. She has tried so many times to open the safe but failed, so she knows she needs me; and I need CC to break out of the soldier’s encirclement. This time… we are truly bound together.”

VV fell unusually quiet.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Xian felt something was off. “Is there a mistake in my analysis?”

“Ughh…” The electronic clock VV sighed. “The little princess’s competitor… has increased again.”

“…” Lin Xian took a deep breath, recalling the scene of dismantling the trash can robot, resisting the urge. “Don’t forget to keep monitoring Elon Musk and the X-37B American space shuttle running on the high orbit.”

With that, he stopped paying attention to the artificial idiot. He lifted the quilt and got in to sleep.

The next day, Lin Xian and Chu An Qing were practicing in the spacecraft, familiarizing themselves with the equipment in the cabin. The sound of hurried high heels approached.

Yellow Finch, followed by Liu Feng, entered the spacecraft, looking serious.

“Lin Xian, the space-time particle has passed the lunar orbit, entered the Earth-Moon space, and its speed has suddenly and inexplicably dropped to around Mach 3.”

“Based on this speed, the space-time particle will enter the 1000-kilometer-high exosphere on March 27. I have already reported the exact time to Yellow Finch.”

March 27…

Even though they had mentally prepared for this moment, when they heard the exact arrival date of the space-time particle, Lin Xian and Chu An Qing exchanged a nervous glance. Looking at his watch, Lin Xian glanced at today’s date. March 20.

He looked up, through the spacecraft’s cabin roof, past the ceiling of the hangar lit by incandescent lights, past the Kármán line 100 kilometers above sea level, through the dark space.

Seven days left until they see the space-time particle, crossing through time and space to arrive… Seven days left!