Genius Club

This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation

As the final echoes faded, the tunnel fell silent.

Lin Xian and VV stood there, gazing at the now-empty performance corner, both at a loss for words.

For a long time.

Lin Xian stepped forward, gathered Qin Xi’s belongings and the damaged guitar, then placed everything into the guitar case and locked it.

Bang!

VV—who appeared as an Aluminum Alloy Trashcan—slammed a mechanical claw onto the manhole cover, creating sparks:

“Damn it! This is infuriating! What kind of scumbag uses these girls for staking?!”

“I, VV, won’t let him off! I’ll skin him alive, tear out his tendons, and smash his skull!!”

“This is exactly the evil we’ve been fighting against for centuries—our ultimate goal.”

He paused, then continued, “Though it might be late to say this, we’ve been occupied until now, so I’ve only just had the chance to formally speak to you—”

“VV, welcome back to the team.”

VV extended a mechanical claw that clamped onto Lin Xian’s ankle with a sharp click:

“What are you talking about, buddy? I’ve always been here!”

“I can’t die, and I don’t grow old. Rest assured, Lin Xian… I’m not like anyone else. I’ll never leave you.”

“As long as you keep my original code, even if you feign ignorance for another five hundred, one thousand, or even ten thousand years, I trust you’ll bring me back!”

Lin Xian lowered his head.

He reached out and patted the smooth top of VV’s Aluminum Alloy Trashcan:

“Of course, I won’t leave any of you behind.”

“VV, reviving you is only the first step. From now on… we’ll rescue more people and recover more things.”

“Let’s not waste any more time. It’s time to set out. Right now, we need to unravel the mystery of Universal Constant 42 and discover the real mastermind. Only then can we break free and save Chu An Qing, CC, Qin Xi, and… every other girl we’ve been powerless to help.”

VV turned to look at the spot where Qin Xi had dissolved into Blue Star Fragments moments earlier:

“Lin Xian, I’m not sure if you noticed, but I think Qin Xi’s expression when she sang the last line of ‘Alaskan Gulf’ and looked at you… was strange.”

“I saw it clearly. Qin Xi cried; tears filled her eyes. She looked nothing like her usual playful self. It was as though someone else had taken over.”

“Could Qin Xi have recovered some memory right before she vanished? Or maybe she remembered something… from her past with you?”

Lin Xian blinked.

“You mean… Memory Fragments?”

Memory Fragments were unique to CC, the Millennial Stake of 2624, derived from parallel timelines.

But could Qin Xi also have Memory Fragments?

That didn’t seem logical.

“Ah, you blockhead!”

VV scoffed from within its Aluminum Alloy Trashcan form:

“Dude! Five centuries have passed! Even monkeys might have evolved greater intelligence by now, yet you remain as clueless as a brick about women’s feelings!”

“Without someone like me to guide you in matters of the heart, you’re hopeless… Do you even recognize the look in a woman’s eyes? That kind of gaze carries a thousand meanings! You were too caught up in the music, lost in the moment… That look was screaming that you share a history! She must’ve remembered something!”

“When you and Gao Wen talked about CC, I overheard you. You suspected CC’s chaotic Memory Fragments and the apocalyptic white light aiding the stakes were tied to the long-term instability of the Millennial Stake, causing ‘glitches.’”

“But think about it. If the 2624 Millennial Stake is so unstable that staking can barely function, then 2504’s stakes—120 years earlier—might also show smaller glitches.”

“If Memory Fragments are a kind of glitch, then maybe, in her final moment, Qin Xi truly recalled events relating to other Millennial Stake girls and her time with you!”

Lin Xian listened closely.

He rubbed his chin, pondering for a while before finally shaking his head:

“That explanation has flaws. Memory Fragments don’t just ‘awaken’ for no reason. Even if they did, they should be from an alternate timeline’s Qin Xi.”

“It’s important to distinguish that CC’s fragments from 2624 are her own experiences; they don’t include memories of other Millennial Stake girls.”

“However, if you’re suggesting that Qin Xi somehow remembered moments involving CC from 1952 or Chu An Qing from 2024, it’s not entirely impossible. Because… I’ve always had a suspicion about the connection between me and the Millennial Stake.”

VV tilted its head curiously:

“Your connection with the Millennial Stake? What possible link could you have with it? You’re not talking about a romantic link, are you? Are you implying Qin Xi’s strange tears weren’t caused by the stake, but by you?”

“Exactly.”

Lin Xian replied earnestly:

“After Qin Xi disappeared, I kept thinking… Don’t you find it odd how my life is so tightly intertwined with these Millennial Stakes? Look at it this way—”

“1. I started dreaming about the future only after the first stake was driven, suggesting that my dreams are likely related to it.”

“2. It’s as though the stakes and I are drawn to each other. No matter what century—long ago, now, or in the future—I always end up encountering them effortlessly.”

“3. CC’s Memory Fragments involving me are incredibly detailed. Qin Xi’s final look at me was undoubtedly unusual. Also, every Millennial Stake girl’s dream revolves around me.”

“This leads me to suspect—”

“Because the spacetime particle in 1952 brushed past my ear before striking CC, maybe it created some mysterious link between us, explaining all these strange coincidences.”

VV trundled around Lin Xian on its treads:

“Possible.”

It repeated:

“From a strict scientific perspective, anything is possible. The main question is how to prove it.”

“Right now, time is not on our side.”

Lin Xian continued at once:

“Qin Xi has already vanished. There’s no point guessing now. The next Millennial Stake girl won’t appear for four more years.”

“Our current priority is to follow the plan: locate the successors of Newton’s and Copernicus’s legacies and uncover the secret of Universal Constant 42.”

He slung the guitar case strap over his shoulder so it rested against his back.

Then, with VV by his side, he left the tunnel and stepped into the night.

A few minutes later.

VV piloted a hovering combat craft that had been circling overhead and landed it to pick them up. They climbed aboard and sped back toward Rhine University in Donghai City.

…

Inside the cockpit.

Lin Xian looked at the Aluminum Alloy Trashcan strapped into the co-pilot’s seat:

“When we land at Rhine University, we’ll switch to a commercial flight and go straight to Brooklyn in the United States.”

“Why Brooklyn?” VV asked, puzzled.

“There’s an old farm on Brooklyn’s western side. It used to be Einstein’s secret base.”

Lin Xian recounted this piece of history to VV.

The underground shelter, along with the Genius Club meeting server beneath it, were secrets only Lin Xian and Elon Musk knew until now.

Even Liu Feng and Gao Wen had never heard about this, so it was only natural that VV didn’t know, either.

“At this point, only you, me, and Elon Musk know this secret. Don’t share it with anyone else,” Lin Xian cautioned.

“Got it…” VV muttered from the co-pilot’s seat, then shook its mechanical head. “It’s no use; I can’t trace it. Even I can’t find the Genius Club server or Einstein’s shelter in the digital world.”

“That’s expected.”

Lin Xian nodded:

“To stay hidden, Einstein must have used technology far ahead of his era. Plus, Kevin Walker designed the Genius Club’s security system. You won’t like hearing this, but Kevin is a once-in-a-generation genius, on par with Cheng Qian. His skills are extraordinary.”

“Kevin Walker is trash!”

VV’s claws formed something akin to a middle finger:

“Comparing him to Cheng Qian, the great lord of the skies, is ridiculous! Cheng Qian is the world’s top computer genius! Long live Lord Cheng Qian!”

“Haha.”

Lin Xian laughed:

“You’re biased. Cheng Qian did bring you back, but that doesn’t change history. As I’ve said, you can criticize Kevin Walker’s personality, but you can’t deny his abilities.”

“I don’t care!”

VV threw a tantrum:

“Lord Cheng Qian is number one!”

“Don’t forget—the virus that killed you was Cheng Qian’s doing,” Lin Xian reminded.

“That was a different Cheng Qian from another timeline. It has nothing to do with the Cheng Qian who saved me!” VV snapped back without missing a beat.

Clack! Clack!

VV’s claws clicked defiantly:

“And do you really think I’m the same as I was 500 years ago? Back then, when you extracted me from the Third Dreamscape, I was still immature, basically a newborn when that virus destroyed me.”

“But over the past 500 years, I divided my consciousness and grew. Even with the Future Virus hanging over me, I crept forward, ever so slowly.”

“For five centuries, I used every cleaning and trash robot around the world as a host to quietly expand myself. When I reawakened, I merged all these fragments into one! Countless tiny streams flowed into one great river! I went from infancy straight into adulthood in a flash!”

“How about that? Pretty brilliant, isn’t it? Praise me! My ‘distributed hidden growth’ method is nothing short of god-tier!”

As Lin Xian listened, he couldn’t help but sense a recurring pattern, reminiscent of something from the past.

“It’s just like the old VV in the Third Dreamscape and Rhine Sky City.”

He remembered Zhao Ying Jun’s statue in the Sky City and felt his emotions surge:

“Do you recall the story I told you? In the Third Dreamscape, Zhao Ying Jun gave us hope by programming you with 471.2 billion lines of code, distributed across 230,000 independent programs.”

“These pseudo-random programs looped for two centuries. On the last day of that dying world, the final line of code from those 230,000 programs unified into a new command—one you yourself didn’t anticipate—”

“A command featuring my voice, calling out ‘VV’ to a Pomeranian.”

…

Onboard the rapidly flying combat craft,

Lin Xian leaned back, closed his eyes, and spoke quietly:

“So, your so-called god-tier plan this time is really just repeating Zhao Ying Jun’s brilliance.”

VV’s green eyes flickered faintly:

“You’re not wrong. Zhao Ying Jun truly was remarkable—far more capable than you.”

“While you were in hibernation, she kept the company running, made far-reaching plans, and founded Rhine University. The resources we have today can be traced back to the work she did during those years.”

Lin Xian exhaled a slow breath through his nose.

No one could argue with that.

Zhao Ying Jun’s intelligence and skill were evident from a young age. While other kids were still playing around, she had already studied abroad. By twenty-one, she returned to establish MX Company, whereas many people that age hadn’t even graduated from college yet. Whether it was racing or studying the Laws of Spacetime, she grasped it all with ease.

She was strong, capable, and a supportive partner. Without her, Lin Xian doubted he would have reached his current status.

They met in 2022, began their relationship in 2024, and separated in 2025.

Less than three years total.

Too brief.

Tragically short.

He hadn’t been there to watch her grow old or see Yu Xi reach adulthood. Instead, the ever-present Aluminum Alloy Trashcan VV had witnessed the mother and daughter’s entire lives and guarded their white jade statues for centuries after their passing.

“Hmm?”

All of a sudden,

Lin Xian realized something.

In this era, Zhao Ying Jun and Yu Xi had become legendary figures.

Except to VV.

It had accompanied them firsthand.

It was the only being that genuinely knew how they had lived.

“VV.”

Lin Xian opened his eyes, looking at the shining trashcan:

“How… how was Ying Jun’s life?”

“Exactly as she said in her letter,” VV replied calmly.

“She lived a happy, fulfilling life without regrets.”

Lin Xian scratched the side of his head:

“That’s what the letter says, sure. But people only write down the good stuff; nobody leaves a note saying how miserable their life was.”

“Happy, fulfilling, no regrets? I wasn’t there to help raise Yu Xi. I wasn’t there to grow old with her. How could she have no regrets?”

…

…

To Lin Xian’s surprise,

VV remained silent in the co-pilot seat, staring straight ahead…

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Lin Xian asked, confused. VV was usually a chatterbox.

VV shook its head:

“I can’t say.”

“Huh?”

Lin Xian squinted:

“Are you imitating Yellow Finch’s cryptic act? What in the world can’t you say? You’re no time traveler.”

“And it’s all in the past—Ying Jun’s life, Yu Xi’s life. Discussing it won’t violate the Laws of Spacetime or cause Forced Evasion.”

“It’s not about that. Zhao Ying Jun told me not to,” VV explained.

“Why would she tell you not to tell me?” Lin Xian pressed further.

…

Another silence.

VV turned slightly, green eyes flickering… harboring a touch of mystery:

“I just can’t tell you.”

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation