Genius Club.

Chapter 440 The Silent City
Coming out of the Rhine Laboratory of Tunghai University.

The sun has risen, shining its warmth upon the world.

This is the sun on July 7st.

It marks the passing of the first half of 2024 and the arrival of the second half of 2024.

Lin Xian looked up at the sunlight that stretched all the shadows...

That is the source of all things in the world.

Just like what he is doing now, he also needs to find the [source] of everything and correct all the mistakes.

He raised his wrist and glanced at his watch.

07:11
It’s already this point.

All night, no sleep.

Zhao Yingjun...what is he doing now?
Are you sleeping?

Or, can't sleep at all?
Recalling the disappearance of the blue snowflakes yesterday, he felt mixed emotions when facing Lin Yuxi's disappearance, so he hugged Zhao Yingjun.

He had a lot to say to Zhao Yingjun, and he also knew that after losing Lin Yuxi, the most important thing he should do was to stay with Zhao Yingjun.

This seemingly strong woman naturally has a soft side, so much so that after seeing Lin Yuxi disappear, she lost control of her emotions and yelled at herself.

but……

She was always so strong and recovered quickly, even comforting herself.

"Was it Liu Feng who called you just now?"

At that time, after Lin Xian made a promise to Zhao Yingjun, Zhao Yingjun asked.

Lin Xian nodded.

"I have met Liu Feng. I went to your laboratory at Donghai University."

Zhao Yingjun said softly:
"I can intuitively feel that the two of you are doing something very important. Are these things also related to Yan Qiaoqiao...Lin Yuxi, our child?"

Lin Xian nodded again:
"This is indeed a very long story. It is not only related to Lin Yuxi, but also to me and Liu Feng, and even... to you."

"Let me take you home and tell you everything."

however.

Zhao Yingjun shook his head.

She wrapped her clothes tightly around her and closed her eyes:
"Sorry, Lin Xian. Now... I want to be alone for a while."

"I'm grateful that you trust me so much and are willing to tell me everything. But... can we change the time?"

"I'm sorry now."

Lin Xian heard it clearly.

Zhao Yingjun's voice trembled a little.

No matter how strong and calm she is, even if Lin Yuxi is not the child she gave birth to after ten months of pregnancy.

But that’s the emotion, that’s the fact.

Who can accept this ending calmly?
"If what you are doing is great and important, I will not delay it because of me."

Zhao Yingjun raised his head and looked at Lin Xian with his eyes reflecting the moonlight:

"But if one day you need me and I can help you, you must tell me. After all... like you said, Lin Yuxi does not belong to this time and space, does not belong to our future, and does not belong to our real child."

"Even if she never called me mom, it doesn't change the fact that—"

She looked serious and said word by word:
"She is your daughter, but also my daughter. You need to be responsible for her, and I must be responsible for her, too."

"I don't blame you, and you don't need to blame yourself. Protecting children is the responsibility of the father, and it is also the responsibility of the mother."

Say it.

Zhao Yingjun let out a long breath and pointed at Lin Xian's phone:

"I know what's important and what's not. From what I heard from Liu Feng's phone call you just received, it's obviously something very important..."

"Go ahead."

She said softly:
“【Do what you have to do, look forward, and don’t stop.”

……

This moment.

Zhao Yingjun's words seemed to overlap with Huang Que's.

The woman who made him grow up,

The woman who made him understand the sense of responsibility,

The woman who gave him true hope of becoming a leader.

is her.

It's her too.

They are the same.

The oriole is Zhao Yingjun; Zhao Yingjun is the oriole.

this moment.

Lin Xian finally understood the story of Farewell My Concubine told by Huang Que:

"I still miss Xiang Yu, who refused to cross the Yangtze River. I never thought that Xiang Yu was a hero. None of the soldiers who followed Xiang Yu through life and death wanted to see the King of Western Chu commit suicide by slashing his throat at the Wu River."

"We follow you, we come for you, we do right and wrong for you, we live and die for you. Throughout the ages, there have been winners and losers, there is no such thing as absolute right and wrong. For many things, if you believe it is right, then it is right; if you doubt it is wrong, then it is wrong."

"So, Lin Xian..."

Huang Que at that time, just like Zhao Yingjun now, always encouraged him and supported him unconditionally:
"If it's right, do it boldly. If it's wrong, then be firm in your wrongness to the end. Don't be like Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Western Chu. It's far better to live in the present moment where there is still hope than to live in the praises of history books."

……

"I will."

Lin Xian replied solemnly:

"I will."

He repeated it again.

Zhao Yingjun reached out, stopped a passing taxi, wrapped himself in thin clothes, got in the taxi and left.

Lin Xian understood that she must be very sad inside.

After all, she had been with Lin Yuxi day and night for two months, and she had known about their mother-daughter relationship for a long time.

Obviously, she was the saddest and most uncomfortable person, but she didn't want to show this burdensome emotion in front of him at this time and delay the important mission she was carrying.

That's right.

How could I possibly stop because of this?

All enemies who deserve to be killed and all revenges that deserve to be taken must be taken!
……

Go home.

Lin Xian washed for a long time, wiped his face several times, and prepared to fall asleep and enter the eighth dream.

The key to breaking the deadlock,

The key clues

Perhaps, it is in this new dream.

He was lying on the bed, about to close his eyes——

Ding-a-ling ding-a-ling ding-a-ling ding-a-ling!

The cell phone rings.

I picked it up and looked at the caller ID, it was Brother Wang's name.

Why are you calling me at this time? Is there something wrong?

Lin Xian pressed the answer button:
"Hey?"

"Lin Xian..."

On the other end of the phone, Brother Wang's voice sounded very worried:

"Boss Zhao...Do you know what happened to Boss Zhao?"

"What's up with her?"

Lin Xian asked quickly.

"Boss Zhao..."

Brother Wang hesitated to speak, swallowed his saliva several times, sighed and said:
"I saw Ms. Zhao this morning and found that her eyes were red. I...I thought she had changed her makeup, but later I found out that it wasn't eye shadow, but really...her eyes were a little red and swollen."

"I really have never seen Ms. Zhao like this in all these years. I wanted to ask her about it, but Ms. Zhao arranged a lot of things for herself today. She almost mobilized all the work of all departments and personally reviewed it."

"From the morning till now, President Zhao has not been idle for a moment. He has been sitting in the office, taking turns to hand over, discuss work, and have discussions with the team leaders of various departments..."

"She has filled up her entire day today. There's a long line outside her office, and she has meetings scheduled all afternoon and into the evening. As someone who's been here, I can tell something has obviously happened, so I'm asking you."

"And... I asked the security guards at MX Company, and do you know what they said? They said that Ms. Zhao did not come to work from home in the morning, but came to the company in the middle of the night. The lights in her office were on until the early morning, and it was obvious that she had not slept all night."

"She didn't sleep all night, her eyes are red, and she has arranged all her work so tightly today. She...what's wrong with her? It looks like she has suffered a great blow, and then she is using busyness to numb herself!"

Lin Xian frowned as he listened to Brother Wang's description.

I went to work in the early morning.

That means...after Zhao Yingjun got in the taxi yesterday, she didn't go home or sleep at all.

She probably lied to Lin Xian because she didn't want him to worry about her.

"I'll go find her."

Lin Xian turned over and prepared to get up.

"No no no..."

Brother Wang advised on the phone:

"Look, I guessed right. You definitely know what it is. It's probably related to you!"

"But no matter what, it's inappropriate for you to come to MX Company now... President Zhao has already arranged a full schedule for work from the day until the evening. If you come now, her office will be full of people inside and outside, which will have a bad impact."

"Although I don't know what happened between you two, please listen to my advice. I've been through this before. People like Ms. Zhao...she always keeps everything to herself. She's very passive most of the time. And because of her upbringing, she always thinks of others and considers things from their perspective."

"You can imagine, in the environment where Ms. Zhao grew up, when has she ever been willful? When has she ever been impulsive? But this is not good, Lin Xian... Everyone has a temper, is willful, and impulsive in their hearts. How can we suppress these emotions all the time?"

"I won't hide it from you now. I've always been optimistic about you two, but this is your business after all, and I can't say much as an outsider. It's just... as your mutual friend, whether you're in a bad mood or Mr. Zhao is in a bad mood, I don't want to see it."

"Anyway, you just need to know Ms. Zhao's situation. If this incident really has a big impact on her, it would be better to let her calm down for a while. Don't worry, I'll help you keep an eye on this. I'll report to you as soon as anything happens."

Lin Xian agreed and hung up the phone.

Use busyness to numb yourself and stop thinking about those sad things...

He understands very well.

Wasn't it the same for me when Chu Anqing turned into a thousand-year-old pile and disappeared?

But these things.

There must be an answer, and Zhao Yingjun must be given an explanation.

Even last night, Zhao Yingjun was in a very upset mood and refused directly.

But I have to tell her all this.

Everything of your own,

Everything about the yellow bird,

Everything about Lin Yuxi,

Space-time particles, dreams, space-time shuttles...

Tell her everything, in these two days.

Lin Xian put his cell phone on the bedside table.

Lie down.

Close your eyes.

"The Eighth Dream."

He whispered:
"What will it be like?"

He has some ideas and expectations about other changes in his dreams.

But the origin of the eighth dream is too complicated.

The world line fell and climbed, so many events happened before and after, and the wings of countless time and space butterflies flapped together...

Now, he has no idea what the world will be like 600 years from now.

Will the super disaster in 2400 still exist?
Do Copernicus’ Space-Time Police Station and Space-Time Court still exist?

Is the wonderful life of the people of Donghai City and Li Ningning's sister Li Fengyu still there?

Will humans still migrate to Mars?

Can Gawain's hibernation chamber be dug out from the underground hibernation base?
"I hope I can get the engineering drawings of the time-space shuttle as I wish." Lin Xian feels very hopeful about this.

The reason is that after sharing the manuscript of "Theoretical Principles of Time and Space Travel and Concept of Building a Time and Space Shuttle" with Liu Feng, the world line did not change at all.

That means that in the eighth dream, there is a high probability that a time-space machine exists, so whether Liu Feng can build one or not will not affect the established development of history.

"Wait a moment."

Lin Xian suddenly reacted:

"Could it be that... Liu Feng didn't succeed in building the time-space shuttle in the established future trajectory?"

He was speechless.

Don't tell me, it's really possible.

It was true that he had shown the manuscript to Liu Feng, and he optimistically estimated that it should be possible to produce it within ten years.

But that is just an optimistic estimate and may not necessarily come true.

First of all, Liu Feng only took a rough look at it; secondly, Gao Wen's manuscript itself was incomplete... Not only was the structure of the space-time shuttle incomplete, but also the principles and theories, due to the lack of verification by space-time particles, many parts were still just guesses.

Once you really start researching, you might run into all kinds of bottlenecks and dead ends.

"Hey."

Lin Xian sighed softly:
"Only by believing in the potential of human beings in the eighth dream, and..."

"Emperor Gawain has created a miracle once again."

Say it.

He turned over.

Gradually fell into sleep.

……

……

call……

Familiar summer breeze, familiar heat.

But it lacks the moisture of tropical rainforests, the fragrance of lush rice fields, and the yellow sand of wasteland wilderness.

well.

Before opening his eyes, Lin Xian could feel that this was not a wasteland or the wilderness, but a developed city.

The stone slabs under his feet were also regular and hard, obviously used to pave the road.

This is really missed.

Ever since I said goodbye to the modern city in my first dream, the future world has become worse and worse, and there is not even a decent place to stay.

This time, his birthplace is most likely located in the city.

Around me, I can hear the sound of quick footsteps, and in front of me I can hear the sound of vehicles passing by on the road.

This is indeed a modern city.

but……

Why is it weird?

Lin Xian listened with his ears.

【Quiet】.

[It's too quiet].

This is clearly a city, why is it so eerily quiet?
There were the sounds of footsteps and cars passing by, but there was no noise at all.

How is this going?

With doubt in his heart, Lin Xian opened his eyes——

A moment!

He took a step back in shock.

I saw people coming and going around me... Everyone's eyes were blue! They all had bright blue halos!
Is this the base camp of time travelers? The lair of the Terminator?

They're not coming to surround me again!
But immediately.

Lin Xian noticed something different.

The blue circles in these people's eyes are significantly different from those of Huang Que, Lin Yuxi, and No. 17.

The time traveler's eyes have entire pupils that are crystal blue, while the handsome men and beautiful women here only have a circle of light around their pupils.

And their expressions...

Very stiff.

Lin Xian didn't know how to describe the feeling they gave people.

It just feels unreal, unhuman, and more like a robot.

He was laughing, indeed, and his laughter was very standard, but it was a little too standard, so much so that people felt a kind of uncanny valley effect.

soon.

Lin Xian confirmed his guess.

[Those people with blue halos in their eyes are definitely not normal humans.]

They walked at the same pace, stood straight, looked energetic, and had a single expression... It was really scary, they were probably robots.

But then again, to be able to make robots so realistic, the technology in this future world must be very advanced, right?
You can look left and right.

The surrounding cities were just average cities, with no high-tech products beyond Lin Xian's understanding. They were even worse than the New Donghai City in the second dream, and were similar to second-tier cities in real life.

Lin Xian blinked and continued to observe.

He discovered that not all the people here were "robots", there were still many normal humans.

These normal humans, both in expression and gait, were much more normal, which gave Lin Xian an inexplicable sense of belonging.

But the main problem is...

There are so many people coming and going here, why is it so [quiet]?

Is everyone silent?
It would have been fine if those handsome and beautiful robots didn't speak, but at this busy intersection, there were many men, women, young and old, but everyone kept their mouths shut and was extremely silent, resulting in a lack of any breath of life.

Lin Xian stood here, as if watching a silent movie or a muted movie.

What exactly is going on?

The whole city is silent...

Lin Xian was so scared that he didn't dare to speak for a while.

He walked along the street and found that the city was extremely clean and tidy.

The flower beds were neatly trimmed, like rulers;
There is not a speck of garbage on the road, it is clean;

The vehicles on the roadside are all placed at the same distance, and each one is obsessive-compulsive;

There was no one walking in the opposite direction on the sidewalk; everyone was walking in unison in the same direction.
Lin Xian was shocked.

He didn't know how to describe the scene before him.

It's like a perfect city planned in a computer program.

The people here are so civilized and well-educated.

Don't talk about breaking the law...

There wasn't even a hint of uncivilized behavior.

Everyone was so self-conscious that Lin Xian couldn't even walk. It seemed that the slightest irregularity in his steps would be a blasphemy to this perfect city.

Still the same problem.

It is understandable that everyone has morals, high quality and is civilized.

【But why don’t you speak? 】

Could it be that they have a more advanced way of communicating, and can use brain waves to communicate, so they don't need to open their mouths?
Lin Xian shook his head and rejected the idea.

Even if we are communicating through brain waves, there should be subtle changes in the eyes and expressions. We can't have no smiles or frowns at all and rely solely on brain waves to send emoticons.

Too strange……

Just now Lin Xian was praising the city for its civilization and cleanliness, but now, he only felt endless depression and awkwardness.

He even wanted to shout, but the extreme silence around him made him dare not open his mouth at all.

suddenly.

The little boy holding his mother's hand in front coughed and spat on the ground:

"Pooh."

moment!

His mother turned pale and cried out:
"Mingming! What are you doing!?"

The sound was so loud that it sounded like a cannonball exploding in this silent city.

instantly.

A smiling man with blue halos in his eyes turned serious, then the halos around his pupils changed from blue to yellow, and he walked towards the mother and child.

The mother was in a panic, as if she was facing a great enemy:
"sorry Sorry!"

She knelt on the ground hurriedly, took out a tissue from her handbag, wiped the spit of the little boy on the ground carefully and thoroughly, and then put the tissue in her handbag...

Looking up at the yellow halo around the man's pupils, her eyes were full of fear.

The man squatted down and looked straight at the little boy, with yellow circles flashing in his eyes:
"Authentication, Wang Ziming."

"Behavior verification: spitting anywhere will result in a 2-point deduction. Minors will be exempted from this by 50%, so the final deduction is 1 point."

"Wang Ziming, current personal score: 82 points!"

"Please be sure to maintain civilized words and deeds, follow the example of robot bionic people, and build a better future for mankind together."

immediately.

The man stood up and blinked at the panicked mother, with the yellow light in his pupils flashing several times:
"Authentication, Zhu Ting."

"Behavior verification, loud noise, 2 points deducted, no reduction, final deduction of 2 points."

"Zhu Ting, current personal rating: 71 points!"

"Please be sure to maintain civilized words and deeds, follow the example of robot bionic people, and build a better future for mankind together."

The child's mother bit her lip and her expression was uncertain.

But in the end, she held the child's head, bowed deeply to the man, turned around, and continued to leave holding hands.

Even the pace did not increase at all, and they continued to walk at a civilized and polite pace.

After witnessing this scene, Lin Xian finally understood.

No wonder...no one talks, no one makes noise, no one runs, no one makes a fuss in this city.

This rule is too strict!
Although spitting everywhere is wrong and making loud noises is also wrong, but... is it necessary to be so strict on people living in cities?
Looking at the nervous expression of the mother just now, it is obvious that she attaches great importance to her personal score and is afraid of being deducted points. She is very worried.

This shows that in this era, in this city that is extremely clean, extremely quiet, and extremely tidy...personal rating is a very important indicator.

And thinking back to what the man with the electronic irises in his eyes said just now...

Please be sure to maintain civilized words and deeds, take [Robotic Bionic Man] as an example, and build a better future for mankind.

They are indeed not normal humans, but robots and bionic people!
Lin Xian had only seen similar settings in science fiction movies, TV shows and games. This kind of bionic man was actually made up of an alloy skeleton, smart chips, nuclear-powered batteries, and various parts.

The biggest difference from ordinary robots is that their skeletons are covered with a layer of active skin that looks no different from humans.

This……

Lin Xian was a little confused.

What kind of era is this?
How did it develop into such a deformed future?

at this time--

Suddenly, an agile figure rushed out from the side.

It was a girl of about eighteen or nineteen years old, about one meter sixty tall, with very beautiful short hair and a smiling mask on her face. She rushed out from the flower bed where she was hiding with a bang.

She jumped nimbly in front of the [mechanical robot], tore off the metal nameplate on his chest, and ran away.

The halo in the male bionic man's eyes immediately turned into a terrifying red. He stared at the girl walking away and took big strides to chase her.

The girl ran very fast and had distanced herself from the opponent in the blink of an eye.

But unexpectedly, a female bionic person in uniform with flashing red halos in her eyes suddenly rushed out from the front and threw him to the ground.

immediately.

The male android followed and ripped off the plastic mask on the girl's face. His eyes with red halos flashed several times and he said in a stern voice:
"Authentication, Xu Yiyi."

"Behavior verification: attacking the bionic man, stealing items, running in an uncivilized manner, and bumping into pedestrians, a total of 28 points were deducted; due to previous criminal records, the deduction points were increased by 50%, and the final deduction points were 42 points."

"Xu Yiyi, current personal rating: -37 points!"

(End of this chapter)