Genius Club

“Decapitation?”

Hearing this shocking word, Lin Xian’s mind flashed back to an intense moment from two weeks ago—the fight between the real and fake Yu Xi in an abandoned factory.

The battle between these two unstoppable fighters was quick and brutal. Their moves were like a dance of blades cutting through the air, drenched in blood. Both were so skilled they could kill each other with just one strike, but their constant back-and-forth made landing that fatal blow nearly impossible.

In the end, Lin Yu Xi proved to be the better fighter. When the fake Yu Xi went for a taser, Lin Yu Xi seized the moment. She sidestepped and swung her knife in a precise arc, cleanly decapitating the fake Yu Xi!

In that split second, the fake Yu Xi’s head flew off at an angle, eyes wide open and still moving, as if her brain hadn’t realized it was no longer attached to the body. Blood gushed out like a fountain from the severed neck.

That scene… It was like a gruesome masterpiece, burned deeply into Lin Xian’s memory.

But according to what Angelica had said, in just 40 days, he might become part of another gruesome scene like that.

Who would kill him? Who would be the murderer?

In reality, cutting off someone’s head with sheer force is no easy task. Only someone like Lin Yu Xi or the fake Yu Xi—enhanced humans from the future—could have that kind of terrifying power. They could rip off car doors with their bare hands, so decapitating someone with a sharp blade wouldn’t be a problem.

Besides, beheading is a brutal way to kill. Skilled killers know that stabbing is much easier and more reliable. Beheading is tricky, prone to mistakes, and hard to pull off.

But for someone like Lin Yu Xi, this concern doesn’t exist. Beheading is fast and precise, ending the fight in one move, leaving no chance for the opponent to fight back.

Lin Xian couldn’t think of anyone else who would kill him in such a violent and daring way.

“Interesting…” Lin Xian murmured. “Could it be that Lin Yu Xi is still in this timeline and hasn’t vanished into blue star dust?”

Suddenly, Lin Xian realized that he and Elon Musk had been wrong. They had optimistically assumed that Lin Yu Xi would disappear like that future flash drive, dissolving into blue star dust. After all, the tangled time-space particles had been destroyed, and Copernicus’s time loop was broken. There was no reason for Lin Yu Xi to continue existing, right?

Lin Xian understood the logic behind time travelers not disappearing when the world line changes. For example, take Yellow Finch. No one knew which time, world line, or time coordinate she came from, yet she remained unaffected by the changes. She never disappeared, despite three major transformations in the future world.

This was something Lin Xian had known for a while—time travelers who travel back to the past are detached from their original timeline and won’t disappear with world line changes. Yellow Finch was the best proof of this. Despite multiple changes in world lines and time-space curvature, she didn’t vanish like the flash drive.

So, in theory, neither Lin Yu Xi nor the fake Yu Xi would disappear due to these changes in world lines and time-space curvature. There were only two ways to make a time traveler disappear:

Kill the time traveler.

Destroy the time particles the traveler uses in the current timeline.

Lin Xian and Elon Musk both believed this theory. But now, it seemed they had made a mistake somewhere. Whether it was a problem with the theory or if Elon Musk’s entangled time-space particle was just unusually unique, the result was clear…

Lin Yu Xi was most likely still lurking in the current timeline.

Lin Xian reached up and touched his neck, feeling a slight chill.

“Did they catch the murderer?” Lin Xian asked Angelica. “Was my death ever solved? Did the police catch the killer?”

Angelica shook her head. “I don’t know because my notebook didn’t go into that much detail. It only recorded your death. But I guess even if the direct killer was caught, the mastermind probably wasn’t.”

“Otherwise… why would my notebook say I wanted to avenge you? Knowing my personality, I think neither the direct killer nor the mastermind was caught, so I would want revenge.”

Lin Xian nodded. It didn’t matter who it was—the direct killer or the mastermind—they were all his enemies. He needed to be on guard against them and take them down. Mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself. He knew this well.

He just hadn’t expected that the battle between him and Lin Yu Xi wasn’t over and would explode again in 40 days, with his head rolling as the real ending.

“Haunted forever,” he muttered under his breath.

Putting this issue aside, there was another question to consider.

Who was the killer who murdered Elon Musk in the Fifth Dream world? As the Governor of Mars, there weren’t many who could take him down. He was at the pinnacle of human civilization.

So, was it a traitor from within? Or an enemy from beyond humanity? These were the only two possibilities Lin Xian could think of. But guessing wouldn’t help now. The case had gone cold, with no evidence left to examine.

To Zheng Xiang Yue and Old Man Wei Sheng Jin, Elon Musk’s death appeared to be natural, as if he had died of old age. Undoubtedly, on the day he passed, the entire Martian population would have mourned him deeply. Maybe the killer was hidden among those who pretended to cry and wipe away their tears.

As for Angelica…

She didn’t know the right answer either. From the moment she left Mars, she’d completely severed her ties there.

Lin Xian looked up and asked again, “Did Elon Musk ever say anything about his death?”

Angelica shook her head again. “No, he didn’t. I kept asking him, but he wouldn’t tell me. Maybe he had good intentions. Or maybe he felt I couldn’t help him anyway, so telling me would be pointless.”

“But I always suspected something…” Angelica squinted her eyes. “This is something I realized only after arriving on Earth. You might have heard of it, Lin Xian—long-term hibernation can cause memory loss, and the safe limit is generally ten years.”

“In other words, as long as you wake up within ten years, there’s little risk of memory loss. If you want to avoid losing memories while staying in long-term hibernation, there’s only one way: wake up every ten years, live normally for about six months to solidify your memories, and then go back to sleep.”

“This kind of stop-and-go hibernation damages the body significantly. It can cause untreatable neural pain and may even develop a resistance to hibernation, leading to fatal hibernation sickness.”

“Generally, nobody uses this method long-term. It’s like slow suicide. But… Elon Musk used this method to ensure he wouldn’t lose his memories. This fact is well-known in Mars’ history education—everyone knows why Elon Musk hasn’t forgotten anything for centuries.”

Lin Xian listened to Angelica’s explanation. He didn’t find it strange. He’d encountered things like this before and didn’t quite understand what she was trying to express.

“What are you trying to say? I don’t quite get your point.”

He asked, confused, “If Elon Musk woke up every ten years to stabilize his memories, check Mars’ progress, give new instructions, and set the next ten-year plan, it all logically adds up, right?”

“If we roughly calculate, about 600 years have passed. Let’s say 600 years. He woke up 60 times, each time for six months, a total of 30 years.”

“Even if you say it damages the body, scientifically speaking, Elon Musk’s not losing his memories for centuries is explainable.”

“No…” Angelica interrupted Lin Xian. “It’s not like that, Lin Xian. You didn’t let me finish.”

She blinked and continued. “By your logic, there’s no problem. In extreme cases, Elon Musk would be just over 80 years old when he reached the future. But… the Elon Musk I saw was very young, very healthy—definitely not over 60!”

“The official story on Mars was that Elon Musk was heavily invested in beauty, health, and rejuvenation, using advanced medical technology to stay young.”

Lin Xian rubbed his chin. He thought for a moment. Then he shook his head.

“That sounds odd. I’ve heard Mars doesn’t have that kind of advanced medical tech. And even if they did… why would someone like Elon Musk need to care about beauty? It sounds more like an excuse.”

“It’s as if… Elon Musk is hiding how unnaturally young he looks.”

“What’s his purpose, though? And he’s the most watched public figure. His hibernation and activities are fully transparent. I have other friends from Mars, and they speak highly of him, saying he’s always been active in history and involved in many important projects.”

“So how did he do it? How did he avoid memory loss by waking up every ten years, stay active in history, participate in key projects, and still look so young?”

“It’s a series of contradictions. Unless…”

Lin Xian paused, squinting his eyes. “The fake double.”

He thought of Elon Musk’s convincing double. Immediately, he understood the hidden meaning in Angelica’s words.

“I get it now. You’re saying that over these hundreds of years, there could have been two Elon Musks—maybe three or four.”

“They appeared on Mars at different times, organized and disciplined, to play the real Elon Musk.”

“So where’s the real Elon Musk? He might have been asleep somewhere all this time, maybe still not awake. All the Elon Musks people have seen are fake! Naturally, the one who died… could also be fake.”

Angelica nodded. “Exactly, Lin Xian. That’s the possibility I thought of.”

“That’s also the thought that kept me going all these years on Earth. I didn’t give up hope or fall into despair.”

“After all, it’s Elon Musk… such a smart man. My notebook even mentions him using a ‘Fake’ to lure enemies into traps. So, by the same logic…”

“Wouldn’t Elon Musk also use doubles throughout these hundreds of years? Wouldn’t he use them even in the so-called last attempt? Could the one who died in the end also be a double? Is the real Elon Musk still out there somewhere in the universe?”

“It’s possible,” Lin Xian agreed. “I also think Elon Musk, being as cunning as he is, would use the trick he mastered centuries ago more than once.”

Lin Xian recalled the time he almost killed the “Fakester.” During the debrief with the real Elon Musk later, Elon Musk mentioned… that having a double was beneficial. If it hadn’t been for that convincing double, Lin Xian’s modified taser would have sent Elon Musk to his grave.

Lin Xian was no fool. He knew that someone as smart as Elon Musk might have had some backup plans.

It made sense why Angelica was still holding onto hope, possibly waiting for Musk to show up and fulfill his promises. But…

At this moment, Lin Xian didn’t have the luxury of worrying about whether Elon Musk was alive or dead.

The first and most pressing issue was that the White Light was going to destroy the world at 12:42. Even if Musk were still alive, Lin Xian wouldn’t have time to find him. Meeting Musk was pointless now.

Secondly, Lin Xian had bigger problems. Forget about what might happen 600 years from now; he was already struggling to survive in 2024!

Today was May 18, 2024.

In just 40 days, on July 7th, he was destined to lose his head.

So, the question of whether Elon Musk was real or not could wait.

Right now, the most important thing was to stay alive.

“Not easy,” Lin Xian muttered to himself.

July 7th was too close. Changing the near future wasn’t as simple as altering events 600 years ahead. The closer the future, the harder it was to change. That’s part of the time-space butterfly effect. With enough time, small changes could lead to big differences. But with only 40 days, even if he turned the future world upside down, it might not be enough to stop the time assassin, Lin Yu Xi, from killing him.

This wasn’t like the time Zhao Ying Jun was brought back to life. Zhao Ying Jun’s death was an accident, something that could be avoided by not being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But a time assassin was different!

She was actively hunting him. Even if he hid at the National Security Bureau on July 7th, she could come after him on July 8th, or July 9th, or any other day after that…

The thought gave Lin Xian a headache.

“But Elon Musk destroyed the entangled time-space particle… so the time assassin Lin Yu Xi should be affected, right?”

Lin Xian couldn’t wrap his head around it. Lin Yu Xi seemed invincible, like she was immune to the rules of time. Even destroying time particles hadn’t made her disappear. Was she really beyond the laws of the universe, untouchable by any force?

It felt like she was cheating the system.

Was there really no one who could stop her?

Was there nothing that could restrain Lin Yu Xi?

After a long pause, Lin Xian forced himself to calm down.

Maybe things weren’t as bad as they seemed.

“If destroying the entangled time-space particle didn’t hurt Lin Yu Xi, why did she flee so quickly back then?”

That was a critical point.

It suggested that Lin Yu Xi must have been injured, and the destruction of the time particle had indeed caused her significant harm.

Secondly…

There was another important clue.

Why was she waiting until July 7th to kill him?

During this time, he had let his guard down, even taking Yan Qiao Qiao out for street walks and playing claw machine games. If Lin Yu Xi really wanted to kill him, why hadn’t she done it earlier?

This led to a crucial deduction: The current Lin Yu Xi must be under some kind of restriction, preventing her from attacking him. She could only lift that restriction by July 7th, which was when she would resume her pursuit.

Which meant…

The next 40 days might actually be safe for him!

Whatever he did during these 40 days could be the key to changing his fate, maybe even turning things around completely.

Forty days.

This was his countdown to survival, his last chance to get stronger.

Meanwhile, CC, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, started putting the pieces together. She tucked away her Martian tech multi-function knife and approached Lin Xian.

“Looks like sneaking into Queens Town this time was a waste,” she said, pointing first at the elderly Angelica and then at Lin Xian. “You two seem so familiar… if there were a safe with your name on it, she would have noticed it by now.”

“True,” Lin Xian replied, looking at Angelica. “I heard there are more than a dozen aluminum alloy safes in Queens Town. Do you know all the names on them? Is mine there? Number 66?”

Angelica shook her head. “Definitely not yours. I would remember your name clearly. Like the young girl said, I would have told you if there was one.”

“Can you take us to check them out?” Lin Xian asked. “I want to see the other safes.”

Even though he was disappointed that his safe wasn’t there, he still wanted to check the numbers. Maybe he could find something between 1 and 266 that matched the safes in Time Bank in 2024.

Things would be easier after that. They could swap out the rice cooker for the safe. He could do it tomorrow morning and come back with CC tomorrow night to open it together.

“No problem,” Angelica agreed right away. “Wait for me while I change my clothes.”

With that, she turned and walked into a nearby changing room.

Soon after, the elderly Angelica, now dressed in formal attire, led Lin Xian and CC downstairs and toward a warehouse-like building not far away.

Lin Xian held up a glass oil lamp as he walked beside Angelica. “There are rumors in the village outside that you opened several aluminum alloy safes and gained weapons and great power, which is how you established Queens Town.”

Angelica chuckled softly. “That’s just a story I spread to mislead people. Think about it—how could there be weapons, powerful abilities, or engineering books in these time capsule-like safes?”

“I did open a few safes, it’s true. It took me many years, but all I found were some trivial things. Diaries, mementos, random junk… almost all of it was garbage.”

“So after forcing open a few of the safes, I just threw them all in the warehouse and never bothered with them again. The story about gaining weapons and power from the safes? That was just a cover to hide my true Martian origins.”

“Even though Elon Musk claimed Earth was absolutely safe, is anything ever really safe? Less trouble is always better. Queens Town grew because of the academic books Elon Musk gave me, but I kept that truth to myself, even here.”

They reached the warehouse, and Angelica instructed the guards to open the door, leading Lin Xian and CC inside.

The warehouse wasn’t large, just a bit bigger than an average house. Eight safes were stacked against one wall, covered in cobwebs and dust. Opposite them, six opened safes were filled with random items.

Lin Xian checked the six opened safes first. He was disappointed—all the numbers were above 1000, making them useless to him.

He then examined the eight unopened safes. Their numbers were also high, ranging from the 400s to over 1000, with none below 400.

He thought back to the safes he had dug up and those found in the village—none of them had numbers below 400 either. What could this mean?

Could it be that Time Bank had expanded later on and added more safes in a different location?

Come to think of it, that was possible.

The current Time Bank, run by Brother Wang, was located in a prime spot in the city center’s commercial district, bustling with activity. But it was also an expensive area, so after filling the warehouse with 266 safes, it must have been packed. If they wanted to add more safes or expand the warehouse later, they would have had to buy the shop next door or find another location to open a branch and store the new safes.

If that were the case, then this area might be the ruins of Time Bank’s branch, explaining why the safes here had such high numbers.

“Lin Xian! Look at this!” CC called out, crouching in the far corner and wiping the nameplate on a safe clean with a nearby cloth.

The number read: 724

The name on it was: Wei Sheng Jin

“Mr. Wei’s safe!” Lin Xian was surprised by the discovery.

He had been so focused on the hundreds digit of the safe numbers that he hadn’t noticed this one. Who would have thought they’d accidentally find Old Man Wei Sheng Jin’s safe here?

Lin Xian stepped closer and examined the safe. Sure enough, it was the real Wei Sheng Jin!

He remembered seeing the photo in Grandpa Wei’s bag, so he knew the combination. He reached out and twisted the combination dial, aligning the eight dials to the numbers from the photo—

23730907

This was the password Grandpa Wei had set before going into hibernation. Even he didn’t know what it meant.

Lin Xian’s hand moved toward the latch, ready to press it…

But he stopped midway.

He felt the weight of years, memories, and self-awareness pressing on him. He hesitated, then withdrew his fingers and looked at CC and Angelica.

“Grandpa Wei is just outside the walls. We should let him open this safe himself. It would mean more to him that way.”

The Queen was indeed the Queen, and her authority was absolute. With a single command from Angelica, a group of strong horses galloped away, the city gates opened, and they politely invited Old Man Wei Sheng Jin inside.

When he arrived at the warehouse, Old Man Wei Sheng Jin was genuinely overwhelmed upon seeing the white-haired Queen, Lin Xian, and CC,

“You two… you’re both here?”

He wasn’t sure what to say. He was genuinely shocked that Lin Xian and CC had managed to handle Queens Town so easily.

“Come on, Mr. Wei, don’t just stand there,” Lin Xian smiled and waved him over, pointing to the aluminum alloy safe. “Look, isn’t this the safe you’ve been searching for all this time?”

Wei Sheng Jin’s eyes widened. He immediately knelt, stroking the nameplate with his name on it repeatedly. The plate was still shiny, without a trace of age.

But the person who closed this safe years ago was a teenager; the one opening it now was an elderly man…

If the spring breeze has pity for flowers, can it let me be young again?

Wei Sheng Jin tightened his lips, unable to believe that this time capsule, sealed for centuries, had finally come full circle and returned to him. He didn’t remember being here before, but he had been. He didn’t remember what he had put inside, but he had placed something there.

His index finger trembled as he slowly moved it toward the latch, hesitating several times but unable to push it…

“I understand how you feel,” said Angelica softly, her graying hair and deep-set eyes reflecting her own experiences.

“When I first woke up from the hibernation pod, my mind was blank. I didn’t know who I was until a doctor examined me and told me my name was Angelica.”

“A few days later, Elon Musk found me. He didn’t immediately give me those notebooks and tapes. Instead, he said…”

She cleared her throat and mimicked Elon Musk’s voice.

“Angelica, your life has been brilliant, but it has always been filled with pain and sorrow. Most of what’s written in your notebook is about farewells and regrets…”

“You can choose not to look back at these memories and just forget them. Pretend they never happened—wouldn’t that be better?”

“You’d still be Angelica, but a new Angelica—happy, free from pain, without any burdens, no farewells, no regrets.”

“That’s something many people dream of. There are too many people in this world tortured by painful memories, unable to accept them or move on.”

“In any era, there are those who can’t bear their sadness and choose to end their lives. For them, losing their memories would be a rare and unattainable cure. If there were a drug that could completely erase memories and let them start anew, it would sell very well.”

“So… are you really sure you want to embrace your old self, fall back into regret and suffering, miss those you’re destined never to see again, and chase dreams that you know will never come true?”

Angelica crossed her arms and looked at Lin Xian. “That’s what Elon Musk told me back then.”

“He must have known his end was near, so he was advising me not to read those notebooks, not to try to reclaim my past self, but to forget everything and embrace a new life.”

Hearing this, Lin Xian glanced at CC. This felt like a conversation they had once had back in Rhine Village.

At that time, Zheng Xiang Yue had asked Lin Xian to tell her the truth about her past. But Lin Xian hesitated, worried about what might happen. His concerns were the same as Elon Musk’s. Zheng Xiang Yue’s past was filled with pain and regret, without a single moment of joy. Why would anyone want to remember such things?

But back then, CC had said:

“Even if they’re bad and sad memories, they’re still memories. Only with all of our memories can we truly be ourselves. Whose memories are always happy? People have moments of joy and sorrow, just like how the moon waxes and wanes…”

“Does a half-moon mean it’s not a moon?”

This made Lin Xian think of the Ship of Theseus. If you replace every part of a ship, is it still the same ship? If a person loses all their memories, are they still the same person? Is there a real answer to this question?

Old Man Wei Sheng Jin had also talked about this before. Many people who woke up from hibernation on Mars chose to forget their original memories and start fresh. They often lived happy lives. But others, who decided to keep their old memories, became unhappy, bitter, and sometimes even ended up taking their own lives or seeking revenge on society.

In their final moments in court, these people often cried and regretted their choice. They would say, “I shouldn’t have taken back my memories… I just couldn’t move on. I should have left them behind!”

So… is there a real answer to this question?

The three of them—Lin Xian, CC, and Elon Musk—turned to look at Old Man Wei Sheng Jin, who was hesitating. What would he choose?

Old Man Wei Sheng Jin took a deep breath. His finger hovered over the latch as he said softly, “Thank you for your advice, Your Majesty.”

“But… in the end, you chose to accept your past self, didn’t you?”

“I often wonder… what if the notebook they gave me when I woke up from hibernation was wrong? What if… this notebook isn’t mine, but belongs to someone else named Wei Sheng Jin?”

“Is it possible that my name isn’t Wei Sheng Jin at all? That I’ve been living my life based on someone else’s memories, following what’s written in that notebook, becoming someone named Wei Sheng Jin?”

“This… is why I came to Earth.”

Old Man Wei Sheng Jin opened his eyes, his gaze strong and determined.

“I want to find out the truth, to know… who I really am!”

With that, his right hand pressed down hard.

Bang—

A deep thud echoed through the room.

The safe that had been sealed for centuries finally opened with a sound.