Genius Club

August 29, 2624, 00:00.

The dim streetlights flickered sporadically, casting uncertain shadows on the deserted street. Not a single pedestrian was in sight, no shop was open, and not a sound could be heard.

CC, dressed in a black bodysuit, glanced down at her watch.

“It’s time.”

Click.

She chambered a round in her handgun and holstered it at her waist. Then, she prepared a smaller pistol, carefully tucking it into her hair and securing it with a red headband tied high, keeping her hair neatly pinned.

At last, the plan she had nurtured for years, which involved a months-long journey to Donghai City in X Country, meticulous reconnaissance, and days of scheming, was about to unfold.

The Time Bank was a relatively new establishment, having been operational for only a few months.

By all accounts, it shouldn’t have existed when she first crossed paths with VV eight years ago in Brooklyn. How could VV have spoken about it so definitively back then? It didn’t make sense—when she was a child, there had been no Time Bank in Donghai City.

What made the situation even stranger was her investigation over the past few days. The bank seemed to have no legitimate business operations. Its warehouses were filled exclusively with aluminum alloy safes, completely devoid of cash or valuables.

But none of that mattered anymore.

Every mystery would find its answer tonight.

CC did a final check of her code-breaking tools. She crouched low, keeping close to the walls as she darted across the street towards the bank.

“Hmm?”

Midway, she froze in her tracks, her eyes widening in disbelief.

The entrance to the Time Bank was wide open, its interior brightly lit.

Impossible.

At this hour, the bank should be entirely closed. What’s more, the grand, illuminated lobby was utterly empty—no customers, no security guards, not even staff. It was deserted.

What was going on?

The absurdity of the scene heightened CC’s vigilance. Her hand instinctively reached for her waist, gripping her pistol.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

In the quiet of the night, her footsteps rang softly as she approached the open doors of the bank.

Yes, she confirmed, there was no one inside the brightly lit lobby.

Could it be a trap?

Unlikely—what would be the point of such an obvious setup?

CC moved cautiously, keeping close to the wall. Then, in a swift motion, she dashed into the lobby, taking cover in a blind spot. She raised her pistol, aiming it steadily down the corridor—

…

Still, there was no one.

“How strange,” CC murmured, her delicate brows furrowing as she stood slowly and continued deeper into the corridor.

The lights shone just as brightly as before.

It felt less like she was there to rob a bank and more like she had walked into an elaborate banquet.

At the end of the corridor, she reached the bank’s highly secured vault—a place that normally required multiple layers of clearance to access. Yet tonight, the password-protected door stood wide open. A green indicator light blinked as if welcoming her.

CC pressed her lips together, her fingers brushing the tools secured at her waist.

This was too bizarre.

But…

Since she had come this far, and with this being something of great importance to her, even if it were a trap, she had no choice but to go in.

Gripping her pistol tightly with both hands, CC stepped cautiously into the Time Bank’s vault.

It was empty. Silent. Devoid of movement.

The only notable feature was the rows upon rows of aluminum alloy safes embedded neatly into the walls, their arrangement so precise it felt almost unnatural.

For now, it seemed VV had told the truth.

Relieved, CC lowered her guard and stopped worrying about the sound of her footsteps. She began wandering through the safes, searching for the one VV had mentioned—the one engraved with the name Lin Xian.

It didn’t take long to find it.

Because…

Out of all the securely locked safes in the vault, one stood out. Its door was ajar, slightly open, making it immediately noticeable.

CC approached it and inspected the gleaming silver alloy nameplate on the front.

[Lin Xian].

As expected, it bore the name Lin Xian.

“Tch, all that time studying lockpicking and code-breaking, and I didn’t even need to use it,” CC muttered under her breath.

Not that she minded.

If she had really needed to crack an eight-dial mechanical lock, who knew how long it might have taken? While she wasn’t sure if VV had left it open intentionally, it had certainly saved her a lot of hassle.

“What could be inside this safe?”

CC’s heartbeat quickened as she reached for the handle.

Eight years.

A journey spanning 14,000 kilometers from Brooklyn to Donghai City.

The truths and mysteries VV had spoken of.

All of it was about to be revealed.

With clenched teeth, she yanked the safe open—

And froze.

“Empty?”

She inhaled deeply, her voice incredulous.

“How can it be empty?”

The vast silver safe was utterly barren. Not a single object was inside.

What was going on?

Had someone stolen the contents before her arrival?

Or had this all been a lie from the beginning—was the safe never meant to hold anything at all?

Her eyes drifted downward.

Fortunately, it wasn’t entirely empty.

At the bottom of the safe lay a small white card, its surface inscribed with neat, blocky handwriting.

CC reached in and picked up the card, her eyes scanning the message written on it:

“Come to the tallest building in Donghai City. I’ll be waiting for you on the rooftop.”

She blinked.

“Is this… a message from VV?”

Her gaze shifted toward the entrance of the Time Bank’s vault. The lights outside still burned brightly, the space eerily devoid of people.

Clutching the card tightly, CC turned and walked out.

…

Donghai City didn’t have many tall buildings. Most structures were modest, five to six stories high.

The tallest, without question, was the Donghai Clock Tower, standing proudly near the Time Bank. Visible from any direction, the clock tower dominated the skyline, serving as both a landmark and a symbol of the city.

Built a few years ago, the tower was initially conceived as a monument to unity, commemorating an unprecedented era of cooperation between the city’s inner and outer communities.

After leaving the Time Bank, CC hurried toward the clock tower. It didn’t take long before she reached its base.

From afar, the tower didn’t seem that imposing. But up close, its sheer size was undeniable. It was a massive structure, likely seventy to eighty meters tall—a skyscraper by the standards of this technologically limited era.

CC tilted her head, gazing at the clock’s hands.

The time read 12:31:17. The second hand ticked away incessantly.

Above, on the rooftop…

The person who had left her a message in the Aluminum Alloy Safe was waiting for her.

Without hesitation, CC entered the tower, stepping into a rudimentary elevator. She pressed a button, and amidst the screech of cables, the lift carried her upward. Eventually, she arrived at the top floor and pushed open the door.

Squeak…

The rusted latch creaked as the door gave way. Moonlight spilled through the frame, illuminating the expansive rooftop.

Her steps crunched softly on the frosty surface as she emerged onto the terrace.

There, leaning against the railing, stood a man with his back to her. He was gazing up at the radiant stars.

“VV?” CC called softly.

But as the young man turned around, CC immediately realized she had mistaken him for someone else.

This wasn’t VV.

The man before her had a clean-shaven face, short hair, and none of VV’s rugged demeanor. He was far too young. VV, by her calculations, should be at least fifty years old by now.

“Who are you?” CC straightened her posture, scrutinizing the stranger.

He was tall, holding a pristine electric rice cooker in his arms. The absurdity of the sight unsettled her.

“I asked, who are you?” she repeated, this time with sharper urgency. “Where’s VV? Do you know him?”

The young man—Lin Xian—looked at her, his eyes lingering briefly as if assessing someone he had encountered countless times before, though she clearly didn’t recognize him.

“Ah, memory fragments… Always a hassle,” Lin Xian said with a rueful smile. “I don’t even know where to begin explaining.”

“What are you talking about?” CC frowned, finding his words incomprehensible. Yet, she wasn’t interested in his riddles.

Her gaze fell to the rice cooker he was clutching.

“Did you leave the message in the safe?” she asked. “And that rice cooker—is that what was originally inside?”

“If you don’t mind…” Lin Xian’s hand gently brushed the sleek lid of the cooker. “Could I take a look at it? It’s extremely important to me. I’m not trying to take it from you—I just need to know what’s inside.”

“Of course,” CC replied cautiously, still on edge.

“Thank you,” Lin Xian said, his voice calm. “But… could we wait for just a few more minutes?”

…

Rhine University, Confidential Laboratory

Liu Feng sat at the lab bench, his eyes closed, breathing evenly.

On the bench before him were two devices: one, a spacetime clock displaying the worldline readings; the other, a simple digital watch.

Behind Liu Feng stood Chen Heping, visibly tense. His gaze remained fixed on the digital watch’s display, showing the precise time:

[August 29, 2624, 00:39:57]

“Only two minutes left,” Chen muttered, glancing at the spacetime clock. Its readings held steady at 0.0002184.

This meant the worldline remained unchanged. The future was unaltered. The outcome—the apocalypse brought by the white light—was still inevitable.

“Is Lin Xian’s plan… really going to work?” Chen asked, his voice laced with unease.

“I trust him,” Liu Feng replied, his eyes still closed, his tone unnervingly calm.

“Lin Xian is that kind of person. From the moment we met six hundred years ago, I’ve always believed he’s a qualified leader.”

“Even if others don’t see it that way—even if many people criticize him, see his flaws, or think he’s immature—I’ve never doubted him.”

“What he possesses are qualities no one else has. And those qualities are far more important than knowledge, intelligence, or strategy. It’s because of those unique qualities… that he’s capable of the impossible. Doing things no one dares to imagine and creating miracles no one believes are real.”

“So, look to the stars, Heping.”

Liu Feng’s gaze pierced through the window, settling on the Donghai Clock Tower, the tallest structure in the city. His eyes burned with resolve.

“This will be the first time humanity opens its eyes… to the vastness of deep space.”

…

The night sky hung heavy with stars, unchanged for billions of years, as eternal as Earth’s ancient nights.

“Wait for a few minutes?”

On the Donghai Clock Tower, CC glanced at her wristwatch. The time read 00:40:12.

“How long are we supposed to wait?”

“Not much longer,” Lin Xian replied with a faint smile. “All the actors are in position. We’re just waiting for the curtain to rise.”

“Huh?” CC frowned. “What are you even talking about?”

“Just listen,” Lin Xian said, lowering his gaze. “This rice cooker was meant to be in the safe, waiting for you to retrieve it. But I needed something inside, so I opened it early.”

He gently patted the rice cooker. “Originally, there was only one spacetime particle inside. But now, there are two—entangled spacetime particles. They seem to overlap, but there’s a minute, imperceptible misalignment between them. Even if you magnified it to the scale of the universe, you wouldn’t see it.”

“This tiny misalignment creates a structure of the smallest units, the smallest cracks, all named 42,” he explained.

CC stared at the rice cooker in his arms. “And how does any of this relate to me?”

“It relates to everyone,” Lin Xian replied, meeting her gaze. “Everyone in the universe. Right now, humanity has grown accustomed to a black universe, white stars, an expanding cosmos, and absolute zero temperatures in space.”

“But what if… all of this reversed? The universe turned white, the stars black, and every color inverted. Not just colors, but properties, temperatures, directions—even time. The entire universe would collapse in on itself, and no one could escape.”

CC let out a skeptical laugh. “Sounds like a good story for daydreaming. But it’s not happening.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Lin Xian said, shrugging. “From a physics standpoint, triggering a Universal Negative requires an immense burst of energy to impact the smallest unit of spacetime. This would cause microscopic reactions to ripple out on a macroscopic scale—faster than the speed of light. The entire universe would flip in an instant.”

“But producing that kind of energy isn’t easy—at least, not on Earth. Conveniently, though, someone has gifted Earth a light-speed weapon. And now, just like a billiard game, the cue ball is lined up and ready for the shot.”

CC rolled her eyes. She glanced at her watch again. 00:41:58.

“Sorry,” she said, raising her head. “I don’t understand a word of your cosmic nonsense.”

“That’s fine,” Lin Xian said, unfazed, turning his gaze to the heavens. “You don’t need to understand. Someone will. They may not care about our tiny Earth, but they cannot ignore the one and only universe.”

Click.

Below, the clock tower’s second hand snapped into place, standing perfectly upright. The time had arrived—

00:42:00.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

In an instant, night turned to day. Countless white lights erupted across the sky.

No.

It wasn’t the sky.

It was higher than the sky. Thousands upon thousands of suns appeared out of nowhere, colliding against an invisible barrier. They shattered, their fragments bursting into a cosmic display of light that illuminated the universe.

Fireworks.

CC gazed up in stunned silence. A sea of brilliant fireworks unfolded like magic across the stars. Midnight’s darkness transformed into a noontime blaze.

She turned around in shock.

The stars behind her mirrored the same phenomenon.

Fireworks.

Fireworks. Fireworks. Fireworks.

It was the most dazzling display on Earth, the most breathtaking spectacle in the cosmos.

00:42:01.

00:42:02.

00:42:03.

…

The second hand of the clock below continued its steady march, ushering in a new minute, a new day.

As the ticking echoed in the air, Lin Xian stepped forward, coming to stand in front of CC.

“Good to see you again, CC,” he said with a gentle smile.

CC, still processing the surreal display in the sky, was caught off guard as Lin Xian handed her the rice cooker, placing it firmly into her arms.

“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve met you,” he said, his voice tinged with both warmth and melancholy. “I’ve seen so many versions of you, and I’ve said good morning, good afternoon, and good night countless times.”

“But this is the first time I’ve met the 20-year-old you. No matter what choices you make in your life, no matter what path you follow… before anything else, there’s something I owe you—something I’ve owed for 600 years.”

He paused, his gaze softening.

“Happy birthday!”

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation