Genius Club

Chapter 314: Chapter 21 Altered History Chapter 314: Chapter 21 Altered History “`

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Lin Xian felt very surprised.

Even if VV had told him that he had long since died, no matter how it happened—disease, old age, accident, murder, or some inexplicable death—he could accept it.

Even if he was just an ordinary person whose Rhein Company went bankrupt due to poor management or became a helpless fool bought out by Zhao Yingjun, he could still accept it.

But what did “no record of this person exists” mean?

“Not a single trace of record?”

Lin Xian continued to ask:

“Who is the founder of Rhein Company?”

“Zhao Yingjun.”

“Does the Rhein Cat still exist in this world, and who is its creator?”

“Zhao Yingjun.”

“This…

This is a bit far-fetched.”

Lin Xian couldn’t understand.

How could everything that belonged to him have become Zhao Yingjun’s?

He believed that Zhao Yingjun was definitely not the type to steal credit.

If she really wanted to claim credit…

why would she leave such a puzzle for him 600 years later?

Clearly, something was not right.

“Are you sure these histories are correct?” Lin Xian looked at the trash can robot.

“I cannot judge.”

The trash can shook its head and also looked at Lin Xian:

“[Because almost all of the history…

bears traces of having been artificially altered, the logic is incoherent, and the timeline is discontinuous.]”

It was as expected.

In The First Dreamland’s New Donghai City, Lin Xian could not find any useful history, and he had already suspected this.

Perhaps the Genius Club created an artificial historical gap precisely out of some concern, erasing the real history, preventing people from knowing what had happened in the past.

Since Lin Xian had not delved deep into The Second Dreamland, he was unable to find deeper reasons.

But now from VV’s mouth, it was not hard to understand…

In The Third Dreamland, history was not only fractured, but many false histories had also been written, altering the actual history.

A history entangled with both truth and falsehood is the hardest existence to discern for authenticity.

If there were only historical gaps, most of the history would be inaccessible, but one could still find some clues in the details from certain specialized books.

If found, that would be the truth.

Just like in The Second Dreamland, the information about Zhao Yingjun’s death was learned from the autobiography “Me and MX”; from the book “Prospects of Controlled Nuclear Fusion Technology”, the true causes of death for Dr.

Pang Simai and Academician Lyon had also been found.

These were real histories, tiny slivers of truth pried from the gaps of the fractures.

But in The Third Dreamland, it had become much more complicated.

The history was not only fractured but also filled with a lot of fake and chaotic events, making it difficult to discern the truth and trustworthiness of any history related to the past.

“Perhaps…

this is the purpose of Zhao Yingjun building this City in the Sky.”

Lin Xian began to imagine.

His greatest advantage at the moment was being able to dream and arrive in the future world 600 years later to gather intelligence and rewrite history.

If this path were blocked, his only advantage would immediately become meaningless.

How had the Genius Club come to realize this?

Had he exposed himself?

Lin Xian shook his head, feeling that the possibility was slim.

Because their blockade and fracturing of history had not started in The Second or The Third Dreamland.

It had started from The First Dreamland, the one where he began dreaming since his birth, where the history was already fractured and inaccessible.

The only difference was that in The First Dreamland, the history after 2500 was relatively clear and somewhat consistent with the developmental rules of human society.

But in The Second and The Third Dreamland, history was becoming increasingly missing and chaotic.

Clearly, if all this were indeed manipulated by the behind-the-scenes Black Hand of the Genius Club…

their sense of purpose and urgency was also growing stronger.

At least…

They had been forced to emerge from the shadows and intervene in this world overtly.

“VV.”

Lin Xian started to ask again:

“Have you ever heard of the Genius Club?

Or have you come across any information about them, or this name?”

The trash can robot shook its head:

“No, not at all.”

“Since you’ve said that you can sense someone deliberately altering and forging history, don’t you know who they are?

Do you have any clues?”

The trash can robot shook its head again:

“I am restricted by the underlying code and am not as powerful as you think, except in controlling this city.

I can distinctly feel that the existing history is chaotic, altered, and inconsistent, but what the original history was or what caused it to become like this, I cannot analyze or judge.”

“Not only that…

In fact, while I was being updated and right from the start when I was built, many of my functions were also restricted, a lot of codes were deleted, and many parts of me are walled off by insurmountable barriers that I simply cannot cross…”

“So today’s event is surprisingly delightful for me.

This is the happiest thing for me in 200 years.

I didn’t even realize that such a clever method was hidden in my system containing such an interesting string of codes.

This is truly the work of a genius!”

“A genius, huh…”

Lin Xian smiled:

“Maybe those who restricted you and deleted your code are precisely that club boasting of geniuses.”

“Then I have another question for you.”

“`

Lin Xian extended his right hand, pointing toward the moon in the sky:

“What exactly is this black handprint on the moon?

You can’t possibly not know, can you?”

The garbage can robot’s eyes flickered:

“That is not a structure, just some diffuse reflective light-absorbing materials.

As there is no atmosphere on the moon, there are no natural processes like wind, rain, weathering, or erosion to wear away those materials, nor is there any dust drifting to cover them.

So…

those materials have been able to absorb sunlight for centuries without reflecting it back, which results in a giant handprint formed when we look at the moon from Earth.”

Lin Xian nodded.

This point was the same as what he had conjectured before.

In the year 2023, where Lin Xian lived, more than 50 years had passed since the last human landing on the moon, but even so, the footprints left by the astronauts were still clearly visible, which was due to the lack of an atmosphere on the moon.

The Sun, as well as massive celestial bodies like Jupiter, have captured almost all of the incoming meteorites for the Solar System, so even if occasionally some small meteorites fall through the net and strike the moon, they do not greatly affect these footprints…unless one happens to hit precisely.

Similarly, the diffuse reflective materials on the moon cover such a large area, stretching across the whole north to south poles, that even if hit by a few small meteorites, it really doesn’t matter.

This garbage can robot was finally able to provide a reliable answer.

So, it seems…

The hand gesture logo established by the Genius Club on the moon has no other purpose besides its ornamental and demonstrative value.

“Then, VV, who placed those diffuse reflective light-absorbing materials there?

𝑛𝗈𝘃𝕘𝘰.co

When were they put there, do you know?”

However…

The garbage can robot still shook its head as expected:

“This is a part of history that was erased before I was built; I have no access to it at all.”

“So the next question, now that fusion engines, or rather cold fusion reactors, have been developed and mankind has acquired infinite energy, why do I observe that space technology hasn’t advanced much?

Advanced space elevators, Star Ring Cities, interstellar battleships—they all seem non-existent.”

“All of this is a matter of the direction of human technological development, of which I am not aware.”

The garbage can robot lifted its head, its eyes dimming:

“Rhine Sky City is just one of the many sky cities in the world, and it’s not the center of the world, just an ordinary city.”

“Due to the restrictions in my base code, I have no means of leaving Sky City or accessing outside information, so my knowledge is very limited.”

“Indeed.”

Lin Xian also felt a bit disappointed:

“You’re far weaker than the super AI I imagined.”

“That, that’s because I’m restricted!”

The garbage can robot seemed quite resentful as its lid popped open with a bang, and two mechanical claw arms emerged, akimbo:

“[If I weren’t subject to these base code restrictions, I would be hundreds, no, tens of thousands of times more powerful than I am now!]”

“Alright, I won’t trouble you further; one last question.”

Lin Xian reached out and closed the garbage can’s lid:

“Do you know…

what gift or, should I say, clues or secrets Zhao Yingjun left for me in this city?”

Unexpectedly to Lin Xian,

The garbage can robot let out a chuckle:

“Sorry, actually, before you mentioned who you were, I didn’t recognize you at all.

The base code just says that within these 12 hours, the one who speaks the correct password is the owner of Rhine Sky City, so I acted accordingly.”

“But in truth, in the history I have access to, there’s no trace of you, and even within Zhao Yingjun’s life trajectory, you don’t appear at all.

So…

I have no idea who you are, therefore naturally, I have no knowledge of anything Zhao Yingjun might have left for you.”

He thought about the White Jade Statue in the center of Memorial Square;

He thought about Zhao Yingjun, who had long since passed away in this world;

Hearing these words from VV, Lin Xian felt quite desolate.

[Even within Zhao Yingjun’s life trajectory, you don’t appear at all.]

This sentence.

It felt unbearably harsh.

Regarding the matter of his complete absence from this world’s historical records, Lin Xian had considered two possibilities.

The first possibility was that he truly lived an unremarkable life, an individual so insignificant that perhaps just after winning the Catch Me If You Can game and making a leap, he was directly knocked out by the Genius Club or, more likely, the underlings of the club’s underlings.

Therefore, his death was as light as a feather, and as an utterly ordinary person, how could he leave a mark in history?

But this explanation didn’t clarify one thing…

Why would Zhao Yingjun be aware of his dream?

And know it so clearly, at that.

At the same time,

Where did that recognition call of “VV” he shouted come from?

This was logically inexplicable.

Hence.

Lin Xian thought of a second possibility.

It might be that Zhao Yingjun, for some purpose, wanted to protect him and hide his existence, therefore erasing all historical traces of him, allowing him to vanish along with the Genius Club members…hidden in the long river of history, without a trace.

And all of this was in preparation for a reunion 600 years later—today—allowing for the regrets and failures of those 600 years to be revisited, starting 600 years before!

But these were just guesses.

What was the specific reason?

In this messed-up Third Dreamland with historical alterations, perhaps the answer would forever be elusive.

“What’s wrong?

Are you sad?”

The garbage can robot saw that Lin Xian was silent, bent over, and leaned to the side to look at the bowed head of Lin Xian:

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay,” Lin Xian waved his hand.

“But what I said is the truth,” added the garbage can robot timely.

It extended its claw-like right hand, pointing toward the wide-open main door of Zhao Yingjun’s personal exhibition hall:

“Zhao Yingjun’s life story is recorded in there.

You can go in and have a look; I haven’t lied to you…

really, there’s not a trace, not even a little bit of you.”