Genius Club

Yellow Finch’s words echoed through the radio communicator, filling the cockpit with determination.

At this moment, they were 70 kilometers above the Earth, in the stratosphere. Looking down, they saw the blue planet, and looking up, they saw the blackness of space.

In this breathtaking subspace, the six of them were about to carry out a unique mission in human history—to capture a time-space particle!

…

Lin Xian and Chu An Qing exchanged a glance and nodded. They left the cockpit together and walked to the back. Before leaving, Lin Xian patted Liu Feng’s shoulder.

“Good luck,” Lin Xian said.

Liu Feng nodded firmly and grasped Lin Xian’s hand. “Thank you, Lin Xian, for bringing me this far. I feel… I have this feeling, really, that now I’m closer to the Universal Constant than ever. Once we capture the time-space particle, I can calibrate my time-space clock, and then, the time-space curvature, the Universal Constant, perhaps everything will fall into place!”

Liu Feng’s eyes shone with excitement. “Thank you so much, Lin Xian. Without your help, I wouldn’t have made it this far. At the end of her life, Qi Qi made a wish under your meteor shower… I think you are the one who will fulfill my wish! Lin Xian, you are Qi Qi’s wish for me!”

Faced with Liu Feng’s excitement, Lin Xian smiled and held his hand. “You don’t need to thank me, Liu Feng. Helping you is also helping myself. I sought you out because our goals are aligned. The Universal Constant is your obsession, and it’s equally important to me.”

“It’s been over a year since I first met you, and we’ve worked so hard. As you said, we are now close to uncovering the Universal Constant. Perhaps… we really are about to take this crucial step.”

“Good luck, Liu Feng.” Lin Xian let go of his hand. “Lead us in the right direction!” He turned around and entered the passenger cabin.

No one was seated here except for Chu An Qing, who stood straight in the middle of the cabin. “Lin Xian… Senior Lin Xian!”

Seeing Lin Xian approach, Chu An Qing couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. This space journey was too thrilling and dangerous for a 19-year-old college student like her. “What… what exactly should I do?” she asked.

Ugh… This question stumped Lin Xian again.

He had considered many reasons why Yellow Finch brought Chu An Qing along. Maybe the time-space particle was attracted to Chu An Qing. This hypothesis had long been dismissed. The time-space particle outside the spacecraft was darting around like a rabbit, flashing and flashing… it didn’t seem to notice Chu An Qing’s presence at all.

Without Liu Feng’s guidance, Wei Cheng had to maneuver the spacecraft continuously to chase the time-space particle. Otherwise, this blue little electric ball would have long disappeared.

Another thought Lin Xian had was whether Chu An Qing had a special role in this capture mission. But this idea also proved wrong. Yellow Finch never assigned any task to Chu An Qing. Now she was just standing in the passenger cabin. It was said that she was there to facilitate communication between the cockpit and the equipment cabin. But now that Wei Cheng’s knowledge restriction had been lifted, everyone was speaking freely on the same radio channel…

What else did they need Chu An Qing to relay? The two in the cockpit handled navigation, and Lin Xian, Yellow Finch, and Gao Yang managed the robotic arms in the equipment cabin. What could Chu An Qing do in the passenger cabin? She was practically a mascot now.

Ultimately, Lin Xian thought for a while and concluded that maybe Chu An Qing was truly lucky? Having her on the mission might increase their success rate? Boost their luck? That was too far-fetched. Yellow Finch, although not young, wasn’t old enough to believe in superstitions and mysticism.

So… Lin Xian squeezed past Chu An Qing and looked back at her. “Yellow Finch must have a reason for placing you here. After all, there are three cabins in the spacecraft, and someone has to watch each one.”

“Actually, you have a great view here. There are large glass windows on both sides, whereas the equipment cabin has smaller windows. Your view is much better.”

“So, you have a prime spot to observe the time-space particle. You might get a better view of it than astronauts do… until Yellow Finch assigns you a task, just sit here and enjoy the view.”

“Oh, okay.” Chu An Qing nodded woodenly. “Indeed… that time-space particle is so beautiful, like a little ball of lightning, with strands inside that look like electric currents, forming a delicate sphere. And that blue color is so stunning, crystal clear, deep, and bright… it’s like…”

She suddenly realized and looked up at Lin Xian. “It’s like Yellow Finch’s eyes!”

Lin Xian tilted his head.

Hmm…

When compared this way, it did seem like it.

Since the time-space particle didn’t have a physical body and floated like a ball of lightning or a charge sphere, Lin Xian never thought of it this way. But Chu An Qing’s reminder made him realize that unique, crystal-clear blue color was indeed similar to Yellow Finch’s pupils.

After all, it was now certain that Yellow Finch was a time traveler from the future. And the time-space particle also came from another dimension.

“Time, space, could it be… all objects not belonging to this era or dimension have this blue glow?” Lin Xian nodded slowly. This hypothesis might be correct.

Yellow Finch’s eyes, with their bright, blue crystalline glow, resembled glass. The time-space particle, with its blue interior and electric currents, was even brighter. So far, they had only encountered these two “non-native” objects with this blue glow, making the conclusion not entirely reliable. If they could see a third object with a similar blue glow, then it could be confirmed.

“I’ll head over there now.” Lin Xian waved at Chu An Qing and walked toward the equipment cabin.

“Okay, senior.” Chu An Qing nodded gently. “I’ll stand guard.”

…

In the equipment cabin, Yellow Finch was giving Gao Yang some crucial instructions.

“Gao Yang, Liu Feng has emphasized that we don’t need to close the rice cooker lid to capture the time-space particle. The field that restrains the time-space particle exists even if the lid is open.”

“So, this mission might look like we need to trap it inside the rice cooker, but that’s not the case. It’s more like using a net to catch fish or butterflies. We just need to use the rice cooker’s inner pot to ensnare the time-space particle. As long as the inner pot’s space completely encloses the particle, it will lose its activity.”

“That seems counterintuitive!” Gao Yang said, worried. “Are you sure we just need to cover or net it? What if the rice cooker tips over and the particle rolls away?”

“That’s why you’re here, Gao Yang,” Liu Feng’s voice came through the radio. “I explained the theory earlier, but you didn’t get any of it, did you?”

“Well, you explained it too complicatedly!” Gao Yang retorted. “Couldn’t you simplify it? What does ‘lose activity’ mean?”

At this moment, Wei Cheng could clearly see the time-space particle’s position and trajectory, so Liu Feng didn’t need to guide him for now. Liu Feng had to patiently explain to Gao Yang again.

“Activity refers to the time-space particle’s properties. You see it jumping around because of its internal instability. I can’t analyze why the particle’s energy is unstable… not until we catch it.”

“So, if we can stabilize the particle’s internal energy, it will stop flashing, moving, and jumping.”

“The best way to stabilize it is with the ‘time-space particle capture device’… okay, it’s the rice cooker’s field that will restrain it, making it lose its activity and forcibly stabilizing it.”

“And I suspect that once the particle loses its activity, it might adhere to our universe’s laws and physics. It will become subject to external forces, to our universe’s laws, and to all other rules.”

“In summary, your priority is to net the time-space particle with the rice cooker. Even if it tips over, the particle won’t fall out. Don’t worry about that. Your second priority is to close the lid. The lid’s purpose is just a precaution to prevent the particle from being blown away by high-altitude air currents once it stabilizes.”

“Got it now? You can’t use the lid to press it down like a balloon; it will just phase through. The correct way is to use the inner pot to capture it. The lid is only to ensure it doesn’t get blown away once captured and isn’t part of the capture process.”

“Extremely speaking, even if the particle is blown away after losing activity, it doesn’t matter! Once it loses activity, it will never regain it and won’t flash away. We can track it down on Earth, whether on land, in the ocean, or the forest. It will stay on Earth.”

Gao Yang smacked his lips. “If you explained it like that earlier, I would’ve understood! So, as long as the rice cooker’s inner pot makes the particle lose activity, it’s mission accomplished. The particle won’t escape Earth, even if blown away, and we can track it down.”

“Darn, you can’t even explain it clearly. You should come to my college for a refresher course. Everyone’s talented, talks nicely, and even rhymes—”

“Enough,” Yellow Finch frowned, cutting Gao Yang off. “Focus.”

Creak—

The top of the spacecraft opened, and the three-segmented mechanical arm, operated by Gao Yang, extended out. The original clamp at the top of the mechanical arm had been modified into a time-space particle capture device resembling a rice cooker. The lid was open, like a greedy snake, eyeing the time-space particle approaching in space.

“Altitude, 62 kilometers above sea level; speed, 0.97 Mach; maintaining approach; manually balancing speed; approaching the time-space particle; visual distance 20 meters… 15 meters… 10 meters…” Wei Cheng’s report came through the radio.

“Close! 5 meters! Capture distance maintained! Begin capture!”

Upon hearing Wei Cheng’s signal, Lin Xian and Gao Yang immediately looked at the display screen.

The screen showed the mechanical arm’s first-person view, relaying images from the camera at its top.

So close!

Just a few meters away, observing this magical time-space particle, Lin Xian could see it more clearly.

As Liu Feng said, a close-up view showed the particle’s instability, like a crying child, an angry strongman, or a bomb about to explode. Its surface had intense electric currents spreading, like lightning; millions of small, blue, wriggling worms, long and frantic. Inside, it was even more chaotic.

A visible blue light mass, like a trapped beast, constantly jumped and crashed within the electric ball, seemingly trying to break free. Each collision made the particle’s crystal-blue glow flash brightly, then dim, and flash again with each hit… the collisions were rapid and dazzling.

Indeed, it seemed very unstable, like it could explode anytime.

Just as Lin Xian stared at the particle—

Swish!

It vanished from its spot and flashed to a further position!

Gao Yang was about to move the mechanical arm forward.

But the next second!

The particle flashed back right in front of the camera! So close it seemed they could see every strand of lightning!

Before Gao Yang could scream, the particle flashed away again, much quicker than before. After flashing away, its frequency slowed a bit.

“This is too hard!” Gao Yang exclaimed. “It flashes too quickly; we need to predict its pattern, but it seems so random!!”

Saying that, he operated the mechanical arm swiftly.

Clack! Swoosh!

The mechanical arm, sharp and precise like an unsheathed sword or a cobra flicking its tongue, lunged repeatedly at the time-space particle. But the particle seemed to sense the arm’s approach, always flashing away just in time to avoid Gao Yang’s attacks.

Frustration boiled over in Gao Yang. “You little rascal! Let’s see if I can’t pin you down!” His eyes were sharp, focused like a lion’s, and he made slight adjustments to the mechanical arm, ready to strike again.

“HIT!!” he shouted.

Whoosh!

Gao Yang seemed to have caught on to a pattern. He lunged the mechanical arm to the particle’s right, though there was nothing there at the moment. But Gao Yang was confident. Sure enough, as the mechanical arm and the rice cooker’s mouth moved forward, the particle flashed from the left to the right, appearing right in front of the rice cooker!

But the position was off. Gao Yang was close to predicting its movement, but the rice cooker’s inner pot was a bit low, and the lid passed through the particle.

“Awesome!” Lin Xian couldn’t help but cheer. Gao Yang roared proudly, feeling as if he had scored five kills in a game. Though they didn’t catch it, getting so close to the rapidly flashing particle was a miracle. If they could touch it, they had a chance to catch it! Victory was in sight!

“Wait!” Liu Feng’s voice crackled through the radio. “Something’s wrong! The particle’s energy is weakening!”

“What?” Lin Xian turned to the monitor. He saw the particle, which had been glowing blue, was now dim. Its brightness was less than half of what it had been.

“What’s happening?” Lin Xian asked. “Can’t the particle be touched?”

“How else do we catch it?” Gao Yang, now furious, his eyes bloodshot, gritted his teeth and found another opportunity.

“Take this!!!” he shouted.

Swish—

The mechanical arm lunged again, but this time, luck wasn’t on their side. The prediction failed, and the particle flashed to the other side.

“This side!” Gao Yang attacked again, but he missed completely. The particle, lacking any physical form, phased through the metal arm like a ghost. It moved through silently, without any collision, as if passing through air.

When the particle reappeared, it had lost all its glow. In the blackness of space, it was nearly invisible, undetectable by the naked eye.

“This is bad!” Liu Feng’s voice came through the radio again. “We can’t touch it anymore! The particle’s energy is too weak! Another touch and we’ll lose it completely!”

But as if to mock them, the mischievous particle flashed to the spacecraft’s wing. In a split second, before anyone could react, the wing collided with the particle!

Beeeeeeep—

Liu Feng’s tracker emitted a flat tone. Wei Cheng glanced at it. The tracker that guided them was now completely silent. No fluctuations, no signals, no data, nothing.

“What’s going on?” Gao Yang yelled. “I didn’t catch it! Where did the particle go? Wei Cheng, did you lose track of it?!”

Silence on the radio.

Finally, Liu Feng sighed. “We lost it… can’t track it anymore.”

“I now understand. The particle’s instability was it instinctively avoiding and resisting everything in this dimension. So, when Gao Yang tried to capture it, it dodged like it had awareness. Moreover, each collision with objects in this dimension drastically reduced its visible energy. I noticed this when it entered the atmosphere. But the atmosphere was thin, so the energy reduction wasn’t noticeable. But physical collisions severely impacted the particle. Just three touches made it lose all visible energy. Actually, the particle is still moving, jumping, flashing as before. But we can’t see it or track it!” Liu Feng’s voice was filled with despair, making the spacecraft’s atmosphere heavy.

No one spoke. Their silence was the greatest sign of disappointment.

Bang!

Gao Yang’s chubby fist slammed on the console. “Damn! What is this?! We worked so hard, and it just disappeared! How can we catch it if we can’t see it?!”

“Liu Feng, this is your fault! Why didn’t you explain this crucial detail earlier? What do we do now?!”

Lin Xian frowned, unsure what to say, just patting Gao Yang’s shoulder.

No one spoke. Their silence was the greatest sign of disappointment.

“Um… well.” Suddenly, Chu An Qing timidly entered the equipment cabin, glancing at Lin Xian and the furious Gao Yang, then at Yellow Finch leaning against the wall, head down and silent. She swallowed hard, timidly raised her right hand, and pointed her index finger out the window at the black, empty night sky.

“Um, the time-space particle… it’s right there, flying. Can’t you all… see it?”