Genius Club

“Huh?”

Lin Xian stared at the combination lock in his hand, its clasp now open. For a moment, he couldn’t quite believe what had happened.

“It’s… open.”

Though he had mentally prepared for this, knowing that using brute force would eventually crack the tiny lock, the actual success filled him with excitement and a strong sense of accomplishment.

“No way! It’s actually open!”

Gao Yang, who had been busy eating, immediately wiped his hands and ran over. Grabbing the diary from Lin Xian, he inspected it closely.

“1952… That’s odd. Why would a girl in her teens or twenties set her lock combination to this year?”

“Hey, Lin Xian, was 1952 a significant year for any reason? Did something famous or notable happen?”

Lin Xian shook his head. “My knowledge of history is average at best. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any major events in 1952. Considering Zhang Yu Qian’s love for music, could 1952 be related to a famous singer or band?”

“But when I think about it, notable bands like The Beatles or artists like Michael Jackson came after 1952. The year 1952 was still a pretty tumultuous time globally, with World War II having ended just seven years prior. Many regions were still embroiled in local conflicts.”

“So theoretically, it wasn’t a peak period for the arts, and the Third Industrial Revolution hadn’t started yet. The information age and electronic computer technology, as well as the internet, hadn’t appeared… Come to think of it, 1952 is quite unremarkable.”

“Oh, I see,” Gao Yang acknowledged casually, already engrossed in Zhang Yu Qian’s diary.

Meanwhile, Lin Xian leaned back in his chair on the balcony, gazing out at the bustling streets of the capital, deep in thought. 1952… Indeed, for the world, it wasn’t a year marked by earth-shattering events.

But for Lin Xian, this year had a unique significance. He had just recalled that 1952 was the year when realistic painter Henry Dawson created eight detailed oil paintings of Einstein, known as “The Sorrowful Einstein.”

There was another important event. He just remembered it. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” the science fiction work that introduced the concept of 42 to the world, was written by Douglas Adams, who was also born in 1952. The concept of 42 itself was proposed by Douglas Adams.

In the movie adaptation, a supercomputer named Deep Thought, created by an advanced civilization, was asked a question: “Please calculate the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything.”

This question was so complex that Deep Thought computed for 7.5 million years before providing an answer: “The ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything is—”

“42.”

So, once again, it’s 42. Always 42. It’s always 42! Lin Xian was developing a conditioned response to this number. Whether investigating the Genius Club, capturing space-time particles, researching millennial stakes, or even cracking a young girl’s diary… No matter what he did, he always ended up circling back to the Universal Constant, the number 42.

Lin Xian had long had a premonition. When he saw the walls of Big Cat Face’s father’s room covered with the number 42, he realized that this number was anything but simple. But even now, over a year later, research on the Universal Constant had made almost no progress.

“How much longer will it take to uncover the truth behind 42…”

Lin Xian stretched lazily, unable to help but sigh: “What is the Universal Constant, 42, anyway?”

This question seemed beyond the comprehension of someone like Lin Xian. Despite Big Cat Face’s seemingly naive demeanor, his father, Cat Dad, was a Fields Medal-winning mathematician, with an IQ and talent among the top on Earth.

“The best-case scenario would be to find Big Cat Face’s father in the dream world and ask him directly about the Universal Constant’s truth and significance. But… given that I’m stuck in the fourth dream, let alone Big Cat Face’s father, even if I so much as show a hint of research, I could be executed by the 00:42 truck, just like in the first dream.”

For now, with the fourth dream’s issues unresolved, Lin Xian decided not to think about anything else. He pinned his hopes on Liu Feng.

At this moment, Gao Yang, having finished reading Zhang Yu Qian’s diary, walked over, looking uninterested, and handed it back to Lin Xian: “There’s nothing much in here. This must be Zhang Yu Qian’s diary from when she was a teenager. It’s all about music, which is pretty dull.”

Lin Xian took the diary. “What did you expect to find?”

“There should at least be some girlish emotions! Something shy and bashful! Like secretly admiring some handsome guy or something! But Zhang Yu Qian is truly single-minded about music. This diary is either song reviews or copied lyrics.”

Lin Xian chuckled: “You’re overthinking it. In the 1980s and 90s, people were so conservative that boys and girls barely talked to each other, even in college.”

“Our college professors told us that back then, Donghai University’s rules explicitly banned dating. Teachers would form groups and go to the playground at night with flashlights to catch students. Boys and girls didn’t dare walk together.”

“It wasn’t until the 21st century that everyone’s mindset opened up, and schools became less strict. After all, universities in the 80s and 90s were very different from today’s. The academic atmosphere was strong, with guaranteed job placements after graduation, and working meant getting an apartment. Everyone was highly motivated to study.”

“No kidding!” Gao Yang shouted. “If I graduated and got a job and an apartment, I’d aim for Tsinghua University too!”

“Keep dreaming.” Lin Xian didn’t bother to argue and started flipping through Zhang Yu Qian’s diary. The diary was indeed exquisite and high-end, with slightly yellowed but still tough pages that could be flipped through without any issues.

Lin Xian skimmed through it… Sure enough, there was nothing valuable in it. Not a single useful piece of information.

Zhang Yu Qian, as a wealthy, well-behaved, and diligent girl, had a routine life focused on studying and music. This diary, rather than being a diary, was more like a collection of lyrics and musical reflections. As Gao Yang said, it was quite dull.

But Lin Xian, wary of missing any key information, patiently read through it from cover to cover for half an hour. In the end, it was a waste of time.

“See, I was right. It’s good that we didn’t forcefully break the lock.” Lin Xian put the diary on the balcony table and turned to Gao Yang: “This diary is completely worthless, not a single useful piece of information. However… the combination lock’s code is intriguing.”

“Zhang Yu Qian, a girl living between 1980 and 2000, why would she set her diary’s combination to 1952? What’s so special about this year to her? How did she even notice this year?”

Gao Yang pulled up a chair and sat opposite Lin Xian: “That depends on how you think about it. If you think in terms of the millennial stake, there must have been a girl in 1952 who looked exactly like Zhang Yu Qian or Chu An Qing, who became blue star dust, completing her mission as a millennial stake.”

“So, Zhang Yu Qian setting the combination to this year might be related to that. Maybe… she dreamt of something significant happening in 1952? Or dreamt of a girl who looked just like her in 1952? That’s why she was fixated on this year?”

“But it’s pointless to think about it now since Zhang Yu Qian is dead. The dead can’t speak, and there’s no way to verify our guesses. Whether they’re true or false, we’ll never know.”

“The only thing we can be sure of is that in 1952, a girl did disappear as a millennial stake, and that’s it. Whether she was the first or had some special significance… Unless you can really travel back to 1952 and see for yourself, there’s no other way.”

“Even if you could travel back to 1952, the world was so big, with underdeveloped technology and transportation. Where would you find a girl who looks exactly like Chu An Qing? It’s unrealistic, forget about it.”

Lin Xian pondered for a while. Indeed, with so few clues and information about 1952, it was impossible to draw any concrete conclusions.

“Let’s put this problem aside for now and head back to Donghai.”

The Boeing plane carrying Lin Xian and Gao Yang took off once more. This should be their final journey for now. Upon returning to Donghai, Lin Xian and Gao Yang would part ways. Each would return home and attend to their own matters. While they had captured space-time particles, many issues still needed resolution.

The unseen enemy, Kevin Walker;

The unknown fate of VV and whether it could be revived;

The explanation owed to Chu Shan He;

The progress in Liu Feng’s research on the Universal Constant, the calibrated space-time clock, and the handling of subsequent space-time particles;

Most crucially, the aluminum alloy safe at Time Bank, where he needed to deposit the note left by Chu An Qing;

And the mirror puzzle left by Yellow Finch.

He had a feeling this would be a pivotal point, a crucial breakthrough. Because Yellow Finch had mentioned: “There is something you want in the mirror.”

So, once these miscellaneous matters were dealt with, he had to seriously consider what the mirror referred to.

A few hours later, the plane arrived at Pudong International Airport.

Lin Xian’s driver had already been waiting at the airport exit with an Alphard. After dropping Gao Yang home, the driver turned back: “Mr. Lin Xian, where to next?”

“Home, for now,” Lin Xian said.

He was eager to check on VV and wanted to get home quickly; the next stop would be Donghai University to see Liu Feng; and finally… Sigh. He had to face it eventually. He needed to visit Chu Shan He’s estate and confront the father who had lost his daughter.

But fortunately, there was still hope for Chu An Qing. Once many matters were confirmed with CC, the mystery of the millennial stake might be fully unraveled, and he could find a way to bring Chu An Qing back.

“Home first,” Lin Xian repeated. “Hurry.”

Reaching his apartment building, Lin Xian hurriedly dragged his suitcase into the elevator, eagerly pressing the floor button. He hadn’t contacted VV in a long time. He missed his melodramatic friend.

Ding— The elevator doors opened.

Lin Xian took out his key, unlocked the door, and stepped into the living room. “What the heck happened here!”

The scene inside stunned him. There were scorch marks everywhere! The TV, fridge, air conditioner, router, washing machine, chargers, digital clock… even the robotic vacuum cleaner that VV loved so much, were all burnt out from the inside!

Lin Xian could tell. This wasn’t a fire; these appliances had all overloaded and burnt out internally.

He stepped forward, picking up the “dead” robotic vacuum cleaner from the floor, he sniffed it and could still smell the burnt wiring inside…

He checked the breaker box and found it also burnt out. The entire house was without power, from the main switch to each room. The fridge was full of stench and melted ice. In the kitchen, the same scene. All electronic devices were charred, and all switches were powerless.

“Who did this?” Lin Xian squinted, quickly deducing the only possible culprit—VV! This had to be VV’s doing!

Such a precise destruction of electronics without causing a fire could only be done by VV! If someone wanted to harm or sabotage him, they would have burned the entire house, wouldn’t that be more thorough? As it stood, he had minimal losses. Only the electrical wiring was burnt out, all the appliances were destroyed, the electrical panel and circuits were fried… nothing serious, just a matter of replacing them, which a cleaning company could handle.

So. This method of attacking only electronics without causing other damage or fire, and ensuring no further trouble, was… Lin Xian recalled the incident on the space shuttle 300 kilometers above the Earth, where VV had been attacked and, in its final moments, disabled all communication equipment on the space shuttle to protect it from being hijacked by the enemy.

Because of this, despite Kevin Walker’s strength, he couldn’t hijack the space shuttle and had to use Starlink satellites and the U.S. X-37B space shuttle to attack them instead.

This was VV’s protection for Lin Xian. Using the harshest move against hackers—Cutting off the network!

Conversely. Lin Xian looked around his house, seeing all the burnt-out electronics, broken circuits, and cut-off power. This action clearly showed VV was protecting itself.

When they first met, VV had said it didn’t need a network; it could travel using sound waves, electromagnetic waves, or electrical currents. So, a master capable of killing VV would also have such abilities.

Therefore, to protect itself and leave a glimmer of hope, VV resorted to an even harsher move than cutting off the network—Cutting off the power!

In a powerless place, no hacker, AI, program, virus, signal, or data stream could stir up any trouble. Cutting off power, for the super AI VV, was both the strongest attack and the most invincible defense. In this absolutely powerless environment, VV couldn’t escape, but neither could the enemy enter.

“Laptop…” Realizing this, Lin Xian immediately looked for the laptop that contained VV’s original 130,000 lines of code and had accompanied VV to the U.S.!

“Found it!” Miraculously! Seeing this laptop, Lin Xian realized his previous guess was correct! Because, amidst all the burnt-out electronics in the house, this laptop was untouched!

It had no internet connection, no power cord, and its battery was dead, making it impossible to start… This laptop, which he thought was useless, had miraculously saved VV’s life, becoming its last sanctuary in the face of an unbeatable enemy!

“VV!” Lin Xian couldn’t help but laugh.

Knowing that his old friend was still alive, having narrowly escaped death at the last moment, filled him with relief. No wonder it came from 600 years in the future; it found a way to survive and protect itself in the end.

This was excellent news. At least… he had found one of them, either Chu An Qing or VV. Finding one meant he could find both!

Lin Xian placed the laptop on the desk, opened it, and reached for the power button—

Suddenly, he felt a chill behind him…

It was as if an invisible hand emerged from the door crack, under the bed, behind the bookshelf, from the ceiling gap… gripping him tightly, just a bit more pressure would squeeze him, crushing his bones and flesh.

“Something’s wrong.” He calmed down.

An enemy capable of killing VV once could kill VV twice. He knew this laptop had no power, and he just wanted to try it, to feel the illusion of calling VV, so he thought about pressing the power button.

But now. He held back. He realized… the enemy who could kill VV might be far stronger than VV and himself.

In his common sense, indeed, without power, a cyber attack couldn’t be launched. But. There are always higher levels and greater forces.

VV, an advanced being from a future era, existed; space-time particles, such a bizarre thing, had come to Earth… what else was impossible?

VV had disappeared for so long, indicating it had faced significant danger, the kind that made it not dare to show itself, fearing instant destruction.

So. “It’s better to wait.” Lin Xian felt uneasy.

This laptop contained the last fragment of VV, the AI’s last shard. If his carelessness exposed and killed this final fragment, then VV would truly leave him forever.

Gently. Lin Xian closed the laptop again, placed it in the wardrobe, and hid it: “VV, wait a little longer. At least until I take care of Kevin Walker, the real culprit who killed you, before reviving you. Ensuring absolute safety.”

Then, Lin Xian returned to the living room and opened the curtains that had blocked the sunlight for months—

Swish~

Bright sunlight poured in.

The Tyndall effect filled the room, with floating dust visible in the rays, brightening the previously gloomy room that had been vacant for months.

At the same time, Lin Xian turned back and noticed the TV screen showed distinct burn marks under the sunlight.

Vertical and horizontal lines. These burn marks formed a name – ELON MUSK!