Genius Club.

Chapter 264 Face Me, Mortal
Aman Hotel, New York, USA.

This hotel, standing at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, is hailed as the most exquisite example of Beaux Arts architecture in American history. It is the first building of the Museum of Modern Art and was built in 1921.

The building reopened as a hotel in August 2022 as Aman New York.

The Longguo Security Bureau chose this place as the residence for the delegation, not because of its artistic atmosphere or its high price, but out of comprehensive security considerations and privacy protection.

In Lin Xian's room, several accompanying staff members were checking up and down with various instruments, checking all the equipment, cables, and corners in the room.

This was actually the fourth inspection. Long before Lin Xian's team came to the United States, the rooms had already been arranged and inspected three times.

"No problem, Mr. Lin Xian, you can rest assured to stay here."

The captain in charge of security saluted Lin Xian:
"You are an expert in information technology, so we won't teach you how to pay attention to network security and not to connect to the network casually. We will go to the New Jersey Open Air Stadium on the other side of the strait to participate in the 2023 World Hacker Competition. In short...if you have any questions, please contact us in time. It's best not to go out unless necessary."

Lin Xian nodded:
"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Mr. Lin." The captain smiled at Lin Xian:
"Director Liu An has already made special arrangements for us regarding your matter. Tomorrow night, after the World Hacker Competition ends, we will use the consulate's motorcade to protect you as you go to Princeton's Marshall Street. Don't worry, we will make all the arrangements and will protect your personal safety."

"Then we won't disturb your rest. It's too late to adjust to the jet lag now. We suggest you go to bed and sleep until tomorrow. Just keep your energy up until tomorrow night. Goodbye."

Say it.

The captain waved his hand, and the security guards and technicians left the room.

boom.

The door is closed.

Lin Xian paced for a while and tentatively called out in a low voice:

"VV?"

"I'm here."

Almost instantly, the huge TV in the living room of the suite made a VV sound:
"I've been here since early morning. I've checked all the networks around here. There's no ambush or surveillance, and there's no trace of the cyber hacker... It turns out that we made the right decision to come here."

……

After the official Dragon Country plane landed at the U.S. airport, VV shouted "See you later, bro!" into Lin Xian's Bluetooth headset, and then slipped away along the airport's wireless network.

This was also what Lin Xian had instructed it to do.

After ensuring that it is safe and will not expose their own existence, they will invade the US network as soon as possible, and then start collecting information and photos about Kevin Walker and global facial recognition data.

These two things are equally important.

because……

Probably.

These two things will eventually point to the same answer -

The mysterious old man in the fourth dream is Kevin Walker, whom he is about to meet face to face.

"I~oh oh have already started Wuhu~collecting ah woo oh facial data oh oh oh~"

VV jumped from the TV to the electronic record player next to it, turned the disc, and made a high-pitched voice like an opera singer that gave people goose bumps.

Sing and talk at the same time.

"Can you please stop acting?" Lin Xian was speechless at this drama queen.

"This is called when in Rome, do as the Romans do."

VV sang with a vibrato that penetrated the soul.

Lin Xian walked forward and unplugged the record player:
"Why don't you consider going to Hollywood for further studies?"

"good idea."

After that, the room fell silent again. VV probably really went to Hollywood.

Lin Xian stretched and prepared to go to sleep and rest.

Even though he complained, he was not worried about VV's efficiency and seriousness. Although this guy made jokes and acted every day, he never delayed or fell behind in his work.

Since VV still has time to tremble, it means that it is now able to handle it with ease, and that the current situation is very safe and everything is going well.

So, it is not a bad thing, but a good sign.

"Go to sleep."

……

A few hours later.

"Lin Xian, not found."

On the bedside table, Lin Xian's cell phone made a VV sound.

"Didn't you find the photo of the old man? Or did you find no information about Kevin Walker?"

“None of them were found.”

VV whispered:

"There really is no trace at all. Not a trace at all... Actually, it's understandable that I can't match it to the photo of the old man. After all, what you gave me was not a photo but a sketch, which may be inaccurate. At the same time, it is also possible that the old man 600 years later has not yet been born in 2023."

"But I can't find any information about Kevin Walker. Isn't that too strange? All I can find are traces of him on the Internet. He is indeed very active. The ID Kevin Walker often speaks on various forums. It's just... I follow these online traces to the real world, but I can't find anything. It's as if he disappeared out of thin air."

"I originally thought that this talented hacker boy might only be good at network intrusion, but I didn't expect... he was also incredibly strong in other computer fields. I admit that I may have underestimated him."

Lin Xian held his chin.

No trace,

Disappeared out of thin air,

It seems not to exist,

Hide yourself,

Network hackers,

Ridiculously strong.

Putting these characteristics of Kevin Walker mentioned by VV together, Lin Xian instantly thought of another being with the same characteristics——

【Genius Club】.

This is also an incredible organization that is hidden in the long river of history, unnoticed, undiscovered, and leaves no trace.

Lin Xian had always been wondering, as the saying goes, "A passing goose leaves traces behind", is it really possible that something that clearly exists in this world does not leave any trace at all?
He certainly didn't believe it before.

but……

just now.

As his horizons gradually broadened and he saw too many things beyond his own knowledge, Lin Xian began to believe in things that "ordinary people" thought were impossible.

How big is the gap between a true genius and an ordinary person?
When the Wright brothers said they wanted to build an airplane to fly in the sky, ordinary people thought it was a fantasy.
When Copernicus proposed the heliocentric theory, ordinary people found it unreasonable;
And so on and so forth, a lot of things.

The gap between a true genius and an ordinary person is not only in cognition, but more in common sense judgment.

Lin Xian witnessed that in the third dream, there was no trace of his own history, really not even a single trace. Even the complete VV could not find any trace of it.

But in fact, I must have existed, but all traces have been deleted.

Just like Zhao Yingjun’s old age photos, they were deleted without a trace.

There was also no trace of Kevin Walker. All his existence had been deleted completely, and even VV couldn't find any trace of him.

Then.

What's more, it's a genius club?

“Sometimes the gap between people is greater than the gap between people and dogs.”

Lin Xian inexplicably thought of this sentence.

Before today, he also knew that the Genius Club was very powerful and he was aware of this.

But to be honest, I don't have any real sense of this power.

But, today it exists.

According to his original expectations, even a juvenile form of VV would definitely be able to kill a lot in the era of 2023.

But the fact is.

The appearance of VV, on the contrary, broadened Lin Xian's horizons. He saw a world that he had never seen before, a field that he had never been able to reach before, and an exaggerated genius that he had never dared to imagine before.

"If Kevin Walker is really a member of the Genius Club, or if there is a hacker more powerful than Kevin Walker in the Genius Club... then it is not difficult to explain why the Genius Club could be hidden in the long river of history for 600 years without being discovered by humans." "At the same time, it is not difficult to explain why the me in the fourth dream was exposed, and why I failed even with the help of super artificial intelligence VV."

"Because the enemy is too powerful. Kevin Walker alone is so difficult to deal with. What if there is someone stronger than him in the Genius Club? In fact, there is more than one genius who is so far ahead of his time in the Genius Club?"

"Hey Hey hey!!"

With a bang, the glass door of the microwave on the bar counter flew open, and VV's protesting and angry voice came:

"What discouraging words are you saying! When did I fail? I just didn't find Kevin Walker's information... I, I, I wasn't exposed! I wasn't discovered by him! If you insist on making an evaluation... then we are equally matched! I can't find him, and he can't find me either!"

"Besides, you capitalists are exploiting child labor too much, aren't you? I've only been in this world for less than half a month, and I've been running around with you almost non-stop, and I also have to find time to acquire all kinds of knowledge, think, ponder, deepen my logic, exercise my thinking, update and evolve... I'm almost exhausted!"

"To be honest, I also want to take a break and go on vacation. For example, I can stay in the data center next to the Three Gorges Dam, enjoy the cooling effect of natural mountain spring water, and take a nap in the water of hydroelectric power generation. Or I can go to the northwest plateau to find a wind turbine, feel the dry monsoon, and bask in the sun. Or I can go to the Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant in the northeast, eat and drink as much as I want, and enjoy the delicious taste of nuclear power. Isn't that better than following you around every day?"

Lin Xian walked into the bar and looked at the microwave oven with the glass door opened:
"No, hydroelectricity, wind power, nuclear power, thermal power, aren't they all the same electricity? Does it make any difference to you?"

Microwave VV snorted arrogantly:
"The power of thermal power is stronger, and my body is warmer. If I use hydropower, my body is colder, but the resolution is higher. The hydropower in Gezhouba is the cleanest. The layering of wind power is a little worse, and it is hazy. In comparison, nuclear power is the clearest, and it makes me feel like I am bathed in spring breeze and reborn. What kind of rubbish is solar power? Even dogs don't use it!"

"..."

Lin Xian took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to punch the microwave.

He heard it.

I have fallen into the [meme trap] set by VV, the drama queen.

This is clearly a joke in the domestic headphone industry. VV is simply remaking an old idea:
"I'm talking to you about serious matters. Can you please stop making jokes here? Didn't you say you know what's important and what's not?"

"When I say failure, I don't mean failure now. At this point in time in 2023, we still have a big advantage, not to mention that you will become stronger and stronger, and your upgrade and evolution speed will definitely be much faster than Kevin Walker."

"Besides... it doesn't matter if I can't find Kevin Walker's information or appearance..."

Lin Xian walked back to the living room of the suite.

Looking at the laptop page, there is an introduction to the US team members for the 2023 World Hacking Competition.

The first four team members all have names, backgrounds and photos.

As for the information about the fifth team member, apart from the name Kevin Walker, there is only a black silhouette with a hooded sweatshirt. There is only an outline and no details can be seen.

"We can't find him on the Internet, so why don't we just go find him in real life?"

Lin Xian smiled slightly.

He extended his index finger and pointed at the hood of the sweatshirt on the black silhouette on the screen:
"[We personally took off his hood and looked at his face. Look at who this Kevin Walker is!]"

He still feels that.

Kevin Walker is most likely the mysterious old man in the fourth dream. Because of this, no information or photos of the two people can be found.

Because they are the same person.

I can’t find it, I definitely can’t find it at the same time.

but.

Let’s put it another way.

found it.

That means they were found at the same time.

The answers to these two mysteries may be revealed at the 2023 World Hacker Contest tomorrow night...

Announced simultaneously!

……

the next day.

US time, 8pm.

The New York New Jersey Open Air Stadium is packed with people!
This huge stadium, formerly known as the MetLife Stadium, is usually the home of the New York Giants and the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). It has also hosted concerts by Taylor Swift.

In addition, the 2026 World Cup final will also be held here.

At this time, this giant stadium that can accommodate more than 8 people was full.

Under the spotlight and the host's cheers, cybersecurity teams from various countries and companies took the stage one after another.

I have to say that American audiences are very unfriendly.

It may also be that the war of words on the Internet has been too intense during this period. When the Dragon Country team came on stage, there was almost no applause from the audience.

And when the US team finally took the stage.

Cheers exploded!
Fortunately, this stadium is open-air, otherwise the dome might have been blown off by the unscientific cheers.

With warm applause and cheers, the more than 8 American audiences excitedly welcomed the appearance of their hacker god.

The five members of the US team came on stage one by one. The first four looked like IT professionals, all wearing glasses, a little shy, and a little socially anxious. After bending slightly and waving their hands quickly, they walked quickly into the competition seats.

And walking behind the four adults...

He is a boy who is obviously shorter in height.

He was wearing big Nike shoes and shorts, like a street boy; but his upper body was the same as the black silhouette, wearing a sweatshirt that was obviously one size larger, even covering his buttocks, and the sleeves drooped down at the shoulders.

The large hood completely concealed his face and hair.

Nothing can be seen.

Appearance, face, hair color, decorations... I couldn't see anything.

But everyone knows it.

This.

The trump card of the US team today,

A 16-year-old genius

The most powerful hacker on earth——

Kevin Walker!

At this time, Walker was walking slowly at the end of the team, with his waist bent and his hands in his pockets, his eyes seemed to be staring at the ground just a few dozen centimeters in front of his shoes.

This outfit...it perfectly fits people's stereotype of the hacker portrayed in the movies.

Originally, he just needed to sit in the competition seat with the team.

but.

As he watched his own image zoomed in on the giant screen at the edge of the stadium.

He suddenly stopped.

Head down, facing the camera.

"broken."

VV's worried voice came from Lin Xian's Bluetooth headset.

"What's wrong?" Lin Xian asked.

"Can't you see it?" VV asked in the Bluetooth headset:

"He's about to start posing! I learned this kind of camera movement in Hollywood yesterday. The next step is definitely for the camera to get closer and closer, zoom in, and finally focus on the character's upper body..."

as predicted.

Everything is the same as VV said.

On the huge display screen at the edge of the stadium, the camera zoomed in closer and closer, and at an extreme angle to ensure that the face under the hood was not captured, the close-up focused on the upper body of the talented hacker boy.

I saw...

The young man slowly took his right hand out of his sweatshirt pocket.

Make a fist.

Extend your index finger.

Lift it high!

Pointing straight to the sky!
Amid the roar of the 8-seat stadium, his immature yet arrogant voice resounded throughout New Jersey through the stadium's speakers.

"Face me, mortal!"

(End of this chapter)