Genius Club

This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation

Liu Feng was taken aback by Gao Wen’s peculiar hypothesis.

After pondering for a moment, he countered, “Does the Millennial Stake piling process even need protection? Is it possible for the piling to fail?”

“From what I understand, this enigmatic and immensely powerful ‘mysterious force’ can manipulate spacetime particles and even mislead Einstein into seeing a fabricated future. This suggests its abilities far surpass our comprehension.”

“Furthermore, what could humanity possibly do to prevent the Millennial Stake from piling? All we can do is watch helplessly as these girls fade away, unable to intervene. The only variable might be if these girls die prematurely due to unforeseen circumstances.”

“However,” he speculated, “as long as the material composition of these girls doesn’t dissipate, even their deaths wouldn’t halt the piling of the Millennial Stake or disrupt the process of locking history.”

“From a human perspective, life and vitality seem essential for value, but in the grand scheme of the universe and physics, life or death makes no fundamental difference as long as the constituent matter remains unchanged.”

Lin Xian nodded in agreement. “Liu Feng makes a valid point. The Millennial Stake wouldn’t cease piling just because the girls die. That would make it too easy to sabotage or prone to accidents.”

“I think what Gao Wen is trying to convey is that Einstein’s role is to ensure the procedural success of the Millennial Stake piling, not to safeguard the girls’ physical well-being.”

“Think about it—Einstein couldn’t even perceive the Millennial Stake fading away, nor does he know who the Millennial Stake is. How could he possibly protect these girls?”

“Considering the timing of CC, the last Millennial Stake’s, disappearance aligning precisely with the appearance of the world-ending white light… Gao Wen’s hypothesis might just hold water—”

“Every purpose and method is geared towards ensuring the successful piling of the Millennial Stake and fulfilling its mission of locking history. The ultimate threat to the mysterious force’s plans… is the universal constant 42!”

In that instant, all the clues seemed to connect.

It appeared the “mysterious force” had orchestrated Einstein’s role as the “Stake Keeper,” ensuring the Millennial Stake project was executed flawlessly while simultaneously preventing humanity from unraveling the truth of the universal constant 42. This would avert any uncontrollable developments.

“But there’s still one question!” Liu Feng raised his hand.

“If everything you two suggest is true, and the world-ending white light on August 29, 2624, at 00:42 is tied to the Millennial Stake, why is CC, the Stake 600 years into the future, special?”

“Why did none of the previous Millennial Stakes have any issues or experience abnormal fade-outs, while CC, in particular, had to face the world-ending white light?”

…

Liu Feng’s question left Gao Wen silent and unable to answer.

This truly felt inexplicable, lacking any logical foundation.

Lin Xian closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Then, in a soft voice, he said:

“I feel like it might be because…”

“CC, 600 years later, is the most unique Millennial Stake, entirely different from the others.”

Lin Xian raised his head and looked at the two:

“CC possesses all the characteristics of other Millennial Stakes—appearance, dreams, and so on. But uniquely, she holds the most extraordinary memory fragments.”

“This is what makes CC most unusual. Those memory fragments come from other timelines, other worldlines. This isn’t a normal phenomenon at all. In fact, it seems like the previously stable Millennial Stake mechanism has suddenly become unstable with CC.”

“The most critical point is, I’ve never seen CC turn into blue star fragments and dissipate—not even the slightest sign of it. Even when the world-ending white light arrived, there wasn’t a hint of her turning transparent or blue. This, too, is highly abnormal.”

Suddenly, Lin Xian froze.

He felt as though a bucket of cold water was poured over his head, giving him a moment of epiphany:

“Wait, wait.”

He pressed his temples and closed his eyes, recalling all the peculiar phenomena surrounding CC 600 years later, as well as the punctual arrival of the white light.

Could it be…

That the world-ending white light wasn’t targeting humanity or Earth’s destruction… but was aimed at CC herself?

“I have a bold idea.”

Lin Xian opened his eyes, looking at Liu Feng and Gao Wen:

“If a car develops faults, our first thought is to repair it. But if the car becomes extremely unstable—steering malfunctioning, the engine breaking down intermittently, various failures making it unsafe to drive—what do we do?”

“Scrap it.”

Gao Wen, quick in thought, followed Lin Xian’s reasoning:

“If it can’t be repaired completely, or if the repair costs are too high and not worth it, we might as well scrap it and buy a new car.”

“I see it now!” Gao Wen clapped his hands.

“Lin Xian, you’re suggesting that the Millennial Stake might also have a lifespan! Like cars, phones, or computer hardware, it becomes increasingly unstable and prone to faults over time!”

“After hundreds of years of continuous piling, the Millennial Stake might have developed some faults, becoming unstable. For example… CC’s mind exhibiting memory fragments that shouldn’t exist. Or… CC, as the Millennial Stake, losing the ability to dissipate naturally, requiring external force to complete the final piling and lock history!”

“Exactly.” Lin Xian nodded, casting an approving look at Gao Wen.

Gao Wen, the Great Emperor, lived up to his reputation for sharp insights. Every time Lin Xian had a fleeting idea, Gao Wen would immediately elevate it to a broader perspective:

“I was thinking the same thing just now.”

“Perhaps the purpose of the world-ending white light is to complete the final piling of the Millennial Stake.”

“As we’ve analyzed earlier, in the eyes of the ‘mysterious force,’ we’re no more significant than ants. They couldn’t care less about us. Whether we survive or perish is utterly inconsequential to them.”

“Human civilization is so small, holding no value or threat to the ‘mysterious force.’ Perhaps our only purpose… is to provide a suitable environment for their Millennial Stake to lock history.”

“So, after hundreds of years and dozens of pilings, if the Millennial Stake has become unstable and the final Millennial Stake, CC, is ‘riddled with faults’ and ‘unable to dissipate naturally for piling,’ the only solution is to forcibly dissipate her to manually complete the piling.”

With his hands behind his back, Gao Wen paced and said:

“But it’s hard to believe that just a few hundred years and dozens of pilings could render the Millennial Stake unstable. Isn’t that too fragile?”

“Even for humans, a few hundred years isn’t particularly long, let alone in terms of the universe or spacetime. A few hundred years is just a blip. Locking such a short span of history—does it even have any significance?”

Liu Feng shrugged and interjected:

“Uh, let me cut in.”

He coughed twice:

“Your ideas are excellent and very imaginative. But… to put it bluntly, these are just your speculations. I’m not denying the likelihood of these guesses being correct, but don’t we need some evidence to back them up?”

“Without evidence to support these ideas, relying solely on speculation, we can neither determine the truth nor identify the root cause to address it.”

“Take for example, the issue Mr. Gao just raised—’a single Millennial Stake can only lock history for a few centuries.’ It’s indeed contradictory and makes this technology seem far too low-grade, lacking the mystery and grandeur we’d expect from something so powerful.”

Lin Xian stood up, waving his hand dismissively.

“Contradictions and flaws are normal. What we need now is a line of thought and a direction. From there, we can correct errors during the verification process and gradually approach the real answer.” He walked to the electronic blackboard.

With a single tap, he cleared the screen, erasing all the notes Liu Feng had written earlier. Then, he picked up the electronic chalk, spinning it deftly between his fingers.

“Now that we’ve visited 1952 and gained a basic understanding of the Genius Club’s situation, I’d say our progress has been substantial.”

“Although many truths and answers remain elusive, at least we have some direction and ideas. Compared to the headless chickens we were 200 years ago, we’ve made significant advances.”

“I believe that moving forward, we should tackle the problem from multiple angles and focus on resolving key issues, starting with the following three objectives.”

The chalk danced across the board as Lin Xian wrote while speaking:

“Let’s call these our next-phase main objectives.”

Before long, he stepped aside, revealing three neatly written lines for Gao Wen and Liu Feng to see:

Uncover the truth behind the world-ending white light.

Continue researching the secret of the Universal Constant 42.

Find Newton and Galileo, stop their plan, and alter the worldline.

“This is our upcoming mission.” Lin Xian pointed at the first line and elaborated:

“As it stands, the world-ending white light from my dreams remains riddled with mysteries. Einstein can’t perceive it, and I have no way to prove it. Furthermore, if the arrival speed of this white light is indeed the speed of light… we have no method of detecting it in advance.”

“In the universe, the speed of light is the fastest possible. The moment we see the white light is the moment it arrives. There’s no way to observe it beforehand, making it impossible to investigate its nature.”

“However, whether the white light truly exists or not, it is undoubtedly closely tied to the Millennial Stake. If we can figure out the mystery of the white light, perhaps we can finally lift the veil on the Millennial Stake!”

Gao Wen and Liu Feng exchanged a helpless glance, their expressions reflecting mutual frustration.

“You’ve already given the answer, Lin Xian. The speed of light is insurmountable. We have no way of observing the white light in advance, so how can we investigate it?”

“The only person who can witness the white light is you. But even then, you only catch a glimpse of it at the final moment before leaving your dream—there’s no time to do anything.”

“That’s fine.”

Lin Xian shook his head.

“You two don’t need to worry about the white light. I plan to hand this task over to Jiasike.”

“Coincidentally, I’ll be heading to the United States in the next few days. When I’m there, I’ll have an in-depth discussion with him. Jiasike specializes in astronomy and cosmology—he should have some ideas.”

“Even if he doesn’t, that’s okay. This is a long battle spanning the river of time. We still have plenty of time… 400 years remain until 2624. We’re bound to come up with something eventually.”

“The first step is to figure out whether the white light even exists. It’s frustrating, but even though Einstein’s visions of the future were fabricated, there’s no guarantee that what I saw—this world-ending white light—is real.”

“To remain rigorous, we must find a way to verify the existence of the white light. I’ll take on this task. The two of you should focus your energy on the second objective.”

With that, Lin Xian lowered the electronic chalk to point at the second line:

“Although it’s disheartening to say, the truth is… unfortunately, our progress in researching the Universal Constant 42 remains at 0%.”

“Liu Feng’s Introduction to the Universal Constant is undoubtedly correct, but the problem lies in proving why it’s correct, how it’s correct, and how to utilize it.”

“Einstein, as the first person to calculate the Universal Constant 42, should theoretically know more than anyone else. However, I suspect his knowledge was still limited and didn’t touch upon the true secret of 42.”

“By comparison, Copernicus and Newton, as founding members of the Genius Club, must have known more about the Universal Constant than we do. Now, Einstein has already dissipated into blue star fragments, and Copernicus, I personally killed 200 years ago. The only person left in the world who seems to hold this secret… is Newton.”

Lin Xian spread his hands:

“I’ll do my utmost to find Newton. Once I do, not only will we settle new and old grievances, but I’ll also figure out a way to make him spill the secret of the Universal Constant 42.”

“But we can’t place all our hopes on Newton. There’s no guarantee I’ll find him, nor that the information he knows is accurate. So… let’s proceed on two fronts. I’ll track down Newton; you two continue researching the Universal Constant.”

Liu Feng and Gao Wen exchanged a look, their eyes filled with admiration and trust as they accepted this monumental task:

“Please guide us, Mr. Liu,” Gao Wen said, his eyes shining.

“No, no, no,” Liu Feng replied, flustered. “Great Emperor Gao Wen, you are the true hope!”

Lin Xian, stepping in to stop their mutual flattery, pointed the electronic chalk at the third line:

“Gauss’s interference with worldlines is already in the past, but Newton is still obstructing technological development, and Galileo is concealing a super catastrophe slated for the 2600s.”

“If we can stop either of them, we have a high chance of breaking through spacetime elasticity and leaping to the next worldline.”

“Each new worldline brings a new dream, and with it, a new hope. Perhaps the key to breaking this deadlock is hidden in the next dream.”

“Whether it’s discovering the aluminum alloy safe, finding surviving humans, or gleaning clues from documentary records, we must push forward—striving to save everything and live up to everyone’s expectations.”

Lin Xian touched the 20-dollar watch on his left wrist, a relic from 300 years ago.

He opened the soundproof door to the conference room and stepped into the bright hallway. Looking down through the glass, he took in the view of Rhine University.

Under the golden glow of sunset, the statues of Zhao Yingjun and Yu Xi at the campus gates stood tall, bathed in orange light. Their gazes fixed on the burning sky, they looked majestic and courageous.

“There’s still a girl trapped in time, waiting for you at the world’s end.”

The faint voice of Zhao Yingjun echoed in his mind.

The world’s end…

Lin Xian squinted, recalling the promise he made while sitting on the sofa with Zhao Yingjun.

Back then, they had agreed to journey to the world’s end together.

But now, they were separated by life and death, worlds apart.

Would he ever…

See the mother and daughter’s smiles again?

“Trash! Trash! Trash detected!”

The gleaming aluminum-alloy VV rolled over on its tracks, pressing close to Lin Xian’s ankle.

Lin Xian crouched, poking at the sealed box on VV’s chest.

“When do you plan to show me Yu Xi’s letter?” he asked.

VV’s green eyes blinked twice at the question.

Then it turned around, staring at the horizon where the last sliver of crimson sun sank beneath the earth:

“Trash… trash…”

“Trash detected…”

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation