Password, huh…

Recalling those nights spent racking our brains with Big-Face Cat and CC to crack passwords… it was truly hilarious, heartwarming, and nostalgic.

Unexpectedly.

At this very moment, I can personally set any password for the safe.

Whatever I set now will be the password of the safe 600 years later. Everything is up to me.

The original password is no longer important; it will forever remain a mystery.

Even the item originally stored in the safe will disappear, becoming an eternal enigma, replaced by a small note.

But…

Several months ago, when Lin Xian shared this idea with VV, VV offered a different interpretation.

VV said at the time:

“Lin Xian, perhaps there was never an original item or an original password… that safe, from beginning to end, has had the same password and contained the same item. You don't know the truth yet, simply because you haven't reached the moment of the historical loop.”

“That is, when you truly need to use the safe to store something and set a password, you'll suddenly understand. From the first moment you saw the safe until you open it 600 years later, it will never have changed—"

“No matter how history, the future, or time and space shift, the item you place in the safe will always be the same, and the password will always be the same.”

…

VV's statement had a sense of fatalism.

It meant…

The safe in the first dream, the safe in the second dream, and even the safes that will appear in the fourth and fifth dreams… are all the same safe with the same password, containing the same item.

“If you ultimately put in a small note, then the safe in the first dream also contains that small note.”

“If the safe doesn't contain a small note, then don't worry. Even if you firmly intend to put a small note inside now… when you actually place something in the safe, you still won't put the small note in. What you ultimately put in will definitely be what was already determined in the safe from the first dream.”

That's how VV analyzed it back then:

“Lin Xian, that's called a 'closed loop'.”

Although it sounded a bit mystical, Lin Xian didn't doubt it.

There was evidence to support it.

Previously, when he saw the hafnium alloy safe in the second dream, Lin Xian wrote a letter to his future self, reminding and even warning his future self that when setting the safe's password, he must set it to 29990203, and specifically instructed everyone to be on his side, not to make things difficult for himself.

Now…

The letter sent several months ago was delivered by the “space-time mailbox” like a postman.

To his future self.

Wasn't that his current self?

That letter was written by Lin Xian a year ago to the current Lin Xian, who was currently on the phone with Brother Wang.

So…

Would he obediently listen to his past self and set the password to 29990203?

After three seconds of hesitation.

He shook his head.

No.

It wasn't that he was betraying his past self.

It was just… if he hadn't reached the moment when he truly needed to use this safe spanning 600 years, what was the point of opening it in advance?

He had considered it.

He could have Brother Wang throw a Rhine cat doll into the safe with his name on it now, and then set the password to 19990320, the password he used most often, so that he could open the safe directly when he first met Big-Face Cat and CC.

But…

Was there any point?

After opening it, he would find a Rhine cat, or a Rhine cat like the mask on Big-Face Cat’s face, or perhaps it was still called Coco Cat at that time.

What was the point?

It would only be a laughingstock.

Moreover.

CC was so determined to find the safe, risking her life to open it, which meant that the contents inside must be very important to her.

Very important to the bearded man as well.

This was enough to show that the safe couldn't contain a Rhine cat.

So…

What exactly has been hidden inside the safe with my name on it all along?

Now that he could decide the answer.

He was actually finding it difficult.

He felt that putting something into the safe should be a very important matter. But the most worthwhile thing he could think of putting in was that little note, the contents of which he hadn't even decided on.

Forget it.

He'd deal with it later.

Anyway, he would wait until he finished the matters at hand.

When he returned to Donghai to truly set the password and put something in the safe, it would be at least late March or early April.

He would see then…

If it would be as VV said, the "historical loop."

If that were the case.

He would suddenly understand at that moment.

Just like Zhao Yingjun’s Pomeranian, VV…

That would truly be destiny.

Predestined.

Such a strange feeling.

“I haven't decided yet.”

Lin Xian said on the phone:

“I'll talk about it when I get back to Donghai.”

“Alright!”

Brother Wang laughed:

“Then wait for the good news of the trial opening of our Time Bank on March 20, your birthday!”

With that, he hung up the phone.

“So many things to do…”

Lin Xian plugged the charging cable into his phone and placed it on the table.

He felt like a pile of unfinished tasks were pressing down on him, but fortunately, it was just a little troublesome, not like the life-threatening struggles he faced before when scheming against the Seven Deadly Sins.

“One step at a time.”

He pulled up the quilt, turned over, and went to sleep.

A dreamless night.

…

The next day.

Everyone's training entered the second stage.

Now that everyone's physical fitness, overload adaptation ability, and low-gravity activity level were up to par, they were about to start learning how to operate the machinery and equipment on the aerospace plane.

Gao Yang, panting heavily, was already eager to try!

“Where's my robotic arm! I've been waiting for ages!”

The group followed Huang Que to the equipment simulation operation training room.

Inside, there was a 1:1 replica of the aerospace plane's robotic arm operating device, and it had been modified. The end, which should have been a mechanical clamp, had been replaced by a rice cooker… no, a space-time particle capture device.

By using the joystick on the console, you could control the robotic arm's up, down, left, and right movement, head up, head down, head turning, and the three-section robotic arm's contraction and extension.

There were three joysticks on the console, one on the right, and three pedals underfoot, along with a bunch of red and green buttons on the console.

It looked quite complex.

“Are you really up for this?” Coach Wei Cheng looked at Gao Yang with suspicion, not very trusting.

“Why are you always so distrustful of me!”

Gao Yang patted his chest confidently:

“Everyone has their shining points, okay? Don't look at people with stereotypes!”

“That's right.”

As Gao Yang's childhood friend, Lin Xian felt that he had to stand up for Gao Yang at this time, and also stand up for himself… he couldn't let Coach Wei Cheng think that birds of a feather flock together:

“Talent is really hard to explain. The more complex the operation, the more difficult the subject, the more talent is needed.”

“For example, that well-known game genius and e-sports master in the world not only has very fast hand speed and amazing operations, but also has very sharp eyes, and can quickly switch screens to observe the edges and corners of the battlefield while playing games, never missing any details. He's simply invincible, a true genius.”

Wei Cheng was only in his 30s this year, and he had played many games when he was young, so he knew something about the e-sports circle.

He turned his head and looked at Lin Xian:

“Isn't the person you're talking about…”

“That's right.”

Gao Yang gave himself a thumbs up:

“That's me!”

“…” “…” Lin Xian and Wei Cheng looked at each other speechless.

“Any, anyway.” Lin Xian pointed to the robotic arm console:

“Now that we're here, let him try it.”

…

Wei Cheng carefully explained the functions of each joystick, shift lever, pedal, and button to Gao Yang, and then personally demonstrated how to control the robotic arm several times.

After hand-in-hand teaching, Wei Cheng got up from the operating chair and gave way to Gao Yang:

“Try it yourself, get familiar with it for a while. I'll train Lin Xian and An Qing first, and I'll come back to see your results later.”

With that, he left with Lin Xian and Chu Anqing.

Two hours later.

The three returned.

They found Gao Yang sitting in the chair, pushing left and right, using his hands and feet, as if he was practicing Wing Chun.

He saw the three of them return and smiled sheepishly:

“It's not much different from an excavator, except it has a few more axes.”

“Heh.”

Wei Cheng chuckled and started giving commands:

“Lower left, forward, upper right, backhand, grab, ouch…”

The smile on his face disappeared, and he looked at Gao Yang suspiciously:

“Have you driven an excavator before?”

“No.”

“You're learning pretty fast…”

Wei Cheng couldn't believe it, so he took out a balloon, inflated it with a helium tank, looped it around his finger, and tied it tightly.

Then he walked to the bottom of the robotic arm:

“Catch this balloon.”

With that, he flung it to the side with force.

The balloon rotated and moved horizontally in the air, then flew diagonally upwards.

Gao Yang reacted quickly, stepping on the pedal to first adjust the posture of the rice cooker, making it look like a Pac-Man with its mouth open, spreading the lid diagonally downwards.

Then, he did a Wing Chun routine on the various joysticks. The robotic arm was like a snake, bending and twisting, staring at the balloon that was gradually accelerating upwards!

Predict!

Aim!

“Hasa give!” Gao Yang shouted!

He pushed two joysticks hard!

Then he immediately pressed the button on the right joystick with his thumb!

The unassuming rice cooker was like a cobra striking in an instant! It leaned forward with a whoosh! Then the lid closed with a bang!

The light helium balloon that Wei Cheng threw casually was swallowed directly into the rice cooker… actually, the device called the space-time particle capture device.

“Ooh!”

Chu Anqing was stunned!

Wei Cheng's eyes twitched… He walked over and knocked on the rice cooker:

“Open it, try again.”

The lid of the rice cooker slowly opened, and Wei Cheng took out a grapefruit-sized helium balloon, then threw it in an unexpected direction.

Bang!

Under Gao Yang's operation, the robotic arm moved like a swimming dragon or a fleeing rabbit, its mouth accurately swallowing the floating balloon.

“Holy crap?”

Wei Cheng was really shocked this time.

He threw the balloon in different ways eight more times.

Gao Yang launched eight different attacks from eight directions, all hitting the mark!

Clap clap clap clap clap clap!

Chu Anqing applauded enthusiastically!

Lin Xian turned around, pressed his Bluetooth headset, and said softly:

“VV, did you do this?”

“No way! I didn't participate at all, I listened to you!” VV looked blank:

“I thought your ragtag team of oddballs was just a bunch of useless onlookers going to space to watch the show… but I never expected that everyone would have a special skill!”

Lin Xian was really impressed with Gao Yang this time… So, is it true that there are only genuine freeloaders and no genuine useless people in this world?

He turned his gaze to Chu Anqing again.

This one was even more impressive, a natural astronaut. It was such a waste to use this talent only for dancing.

And Gao Yang.

If these two hadn't come to the astronaut secret training base this time, they really wouldn't have found out where their talents lay for the rest of their lives.

Both of them thought they were very ordinary, but they didn't expect to be so talented in this unexpected and limited field.

Lin Xian inexplicably remembered what Teacher Zhang Yang, when teaching general courses at Donghai University, used to say:

“Each of you is a miracle in the universe. Those atoms from the depths of the universe traveled all the way to the solar system billions of years ago, just to form you billions of years later. How could you be ordinary? How could you be useless? Those stars and supernovas exploded for you, traveled for you for billions of years… So, my students, be proud, be confident!”

Ahem.

In the Bluetooth headset, VV's cough pulled Lin Xian's thoughts back:

“Speaking of which, it seems like the most useless one in the whole team is you.”

Hiss…

Lin Xian had to admit it.

It was true.

…

A few days later, Liu Feng officially came to train.

He told Lin Xian that a simple space-time particle tracker had been made, and he was coming to participate in gravity overload training.

“Now, the space-time particle has passed the asteroid belt, just flew past the orbit of Mars, and is flying towards Earth. Its speed hasn't decreased, it's still very fast, so the previously predicted arrival time on Earth hasn't changed, it's still the end of March.”

After another half a month of tense training.

The group boarded a special plane, left the Imperial Capital Astronaut Secret Training Base, bid farewell to this place where they had worked hard together for two months, and flew to Gansu—

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

“Next, it's real machine training.”

Huang Que led the five people behind him, Lin Xian, Gao Yang, Chu Anqing, Liu Feng, and Wei Cheng, into a huge hangar.

Pressing a button, the lights in the hangar came on brightly.

A pearl-white aerospace plane rested quietly and majestically in the middle of the hangar, surrounded by various ladders and supports.

The four people other than Wei Cheng raised their heads…

Looking at this national treasure, one of only two existing aerospace planes in the world…

Although its size was far from that of a civil airliner.

The sense of technological shock, and the noble aura that seemed to see through its inner workings, made the four of them solemn.

They had never imagined.

They four ordinary people would be fortunate enough in this lifetime to ride an aerospace plane that most astronauts didn't have the chance to ride!

Moreover, it was still very luxurious, not entering space, but only performing missions in the 10-kilometer to 100-kilometer suborbital space.

A sense of responsibility, a sense of mission.

Instantly filled the bodies of the four.

“This aerospace plane, we usually call it Little White.”

As the pilot of the aerospace plane “Little White's” maiden flight at the end of last year, Wei Cheng was now leading everyone around the aerospace plane, counting his treasures:

“It's very small and cute, right? But it depends on what you compare it to. Compared to the civil airliners we usually take, it's indeed much smaller. Because this aerospace plane doesn't have the ability to take off, it must be installed in the cabin at the head of the Shenzhou rocket, and released after the rocket launches. So the size is definitely limited.”

“However, it's also about twice the size of the U.S. aerospace plane X-37B. The U.S. X-37B is an unmanned aerospace plane, and the space missions it can perform are very limited. Our Dragon Country aerospace plane can not only carry people, but also has two special cabins. So in terms of advancement and functionality, our Little White is far superior to the X-37B.”

Speaking of this, Wei Cheng's face was full of pride.

He pointed to the front of the aerospace plane “Little White”:

“This is the passenger cabin and the cockpit. The cockpit is in the front, which is where Liu Feng and I will be sitting. The passenger cabin behind is where you will be sitting. The space is relatively tight, because the space inside is precious, and the passenger cabin is only used when taking off by rocket and when returning to land. At other times, work is mainly concentrated in this section behind – the equipment cabin.”

Wei Cheng pointed to the middle section of the aerospace plane:

“The main functions and operating space are concentrated in this section, including the console where Gao Yang operates the robotic arm. Here, that's the exit of the robotic arm.”

He pointed to a folding door on the top of the aerospace plane:

“The robotic arm is usually folded inside, and it will only be controlled to extend when needed. Now Liu Feng's rice cooker… uh, forget it, let's just say rice cooker. What's-its-name capture device, this name is really too long. Isn't the most basic meaning of language to facilitate communication?”

Clap clap!

Wei Cheng clapped his hands, signaling everyone to look at him:

“In the following days, Liu Feng will continue to carry out gravity overload training, the task is relatively light, because Chief Commander Huang has also arranged other observation tasks for him; Gao Yang, you will be here, directly operating the aerospace plane's robotic arm. Note that when you're really capturing it in space, it's different from the simulation. Your vision is far less better than seeing it directly with your eyes, and you need to look at the monitoring screen to operate. The difficulty has increased more than a little bit… but I'm already impressed with you now, and I believe you can do it.”

Then, he turned his head and looked at Lin Xian and Chu Anqing:

“You two will follow me to learn the operation and use of all the equipment in the equipment cabin. Most of these devices will not be used in most situations, but you must learn them all, just like what I said to Gao Yang before… 99.99% of our training is to prepare for 0.01% of emergencies… Do you all understand?”

“Understood.” Everyone said in unison.

Wei Cheng was very satisfied and nodded.

The team was working together well, united as one, and he was very pleased.

…

In the days that followed, it was still training, training, training, in a two-point line.

As the space-time particle flew closer and closer to Earth, and the time became more and more pressing, everyone consciously worked overtime to train.

Even if no one urged them, they had very high self-demands.

Lin Xian was naturally the same.

He and Chu Anqing took out the energy they had when preparing for the college entrance examination. They learned as hard as they could, to the point of exhaustion.

Every night, Lin Xian would still enter the dream to take a look at the dozen or so luminous airships floating in the sky, staring at the advertising for Time Bank's 600th anniversary.

What is meant by unattainable…

Is the distance between him, surrounded by dozens of soldiers, and the blimp a few hundred meters in a straight line in the sky.

Damn it.

When can he kill Kevin Walker in reality?

He had been stuck in the fourth dream for a long time, and Time Bank was so close, but there was no way to open the safe to verify it.

This feeling was very bad.

It was like a carrot hanging in front of a donkey's head, always within reach, but never accessible.

In addition, there was one more thing that was bothering Lin Xian a lot.

What exactly should he write on that small note to be put in the safe that could deceive the whole world, fool everyone, and instantly allow him to understand and recognize the reality of the dream…

Lin Xian admitted that he had gone a bit too far in front of VV. He had thought of many solutions, but none of them could meet such harsh conditions.

Theoretically, even if the enemy couldn't read his memory.

But brute-forcing the hafnium alloy safe would only take a little over 3 years. Perhaps those enemies who created fake dreams, virtual worlds, and studios for him… already knew the password of the safe, what was inside, and what was written on the note.

After all, for him, even if he set the safe password 1 minute before and then entered the dream 1 minute later, it seemed very fast.

But in reality, for the enemies… that 1 minute was 600 years for them.

If they really had the ability and patience to build such a realistic virtual world studio for him, then cracking a safe password in 600 years wouldn't be easy?

600 years…

Such a long time span, this battle was really very difficult to fight.

But.

He had to fight!

He had to find a way to win!

“So…”

That night, Lin Xian, exhausted from training, was lying in bed, yawning, his brain also tired from thinking:

“What exactly should be written on that small note… After all, only the meaning expressed by words is the most comprehensive, the most obscure, the most direct, and the most roundabout, and is the most suitable carrier for passwords and secret codes.”

He yawned again.

Ready to sleep.

“Ah?” VV looked at Lin Xian with its electronic alarm clock, 0_0:

“You're going to sleep?”

“Yeah.” Lin Xian turned over:

“What's wrong?”

“It's not even 12 o'clock yet! What are you sleeping for! Get up and party!” VV shouted and started playing *Bei'er Shuang* (Extra Cool) on the TV in the room.

Just this feel ~ extra cool! Extra cool!

Cool cool cool cool!!

VV even started singing along.

“No… are you sick?”

Lin Xian frowned and looked at VV:

“What are you doing today?”

“Oh, sleep later!” The electronic alarm clock said with a smile:

“How about this, I'll tell you a bedtime ghost story! Once upon a time, there was a corpse…”

“No, what good is it to you if you scare me to death?”

Lin Xian looked suspiciously at this obviously abnormal super artificial intelligence:

“What exactly do you want? Tell me straight.”

“Xi Shua Shua Xi Shua Shua! Xi Shua Shua!” VV howled.

“Don't sing.”

“I'm sorry for being human…”

“Don't be emo either!”

“Lin Xian, Lin Xian, I want Disney!”

“Are you done yet?”

Lin Xian was really speechless, he sat up from the bed:

“Big brother, what exactly do you want? I'm very sleepy today.”

“Oh, wait a little longer! Play with me a little longer!” VV tried to persuade him to stay.

Ding-dong~

Suddenly, the WeChat on his phone rang.

The expression on the electronic alarm clock VV's face changed to ^o^, and then it went out directly, turning into an ordinary time display.

“What's going on…”

Lin Xian complained and picked up his phone.

It was actually WeChat from Chu Anqing:

“Senior, are you asleep?”

Lin Xian replied with a nine-grid keyboard:

“Not yet.”

“Hehe ~ Can I trouble you to come to the training room?” Then, Chu Anqing sent another emoticon of a kitten kowtowing.

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes…

Something's up!

This clearly had something up, and VV was obviously behind it.

If he didn't go, VV would probably still make trouble here by playing songs and dissing him.

Lin Xian recalled that he had been with Chu Anqing all day today, practicing operating the equipment under the guidance of Coach Wei Cheng.

Did he have to practice overtime again at night?

He didn't even change his pajamas, he just put on his aerospace cotton coat, then opened the door and walked towards the training room.

From a distance, he could see that the lights in the training room were off, with no light. ?

Was Chu Anqing not there?

He walked to the middle of the dark training room, looking left and right:

“Anqing?”

Whoosh——————

The lights in the training room suddenly turned on!

“Da da da da ~~”

Chu Anqing jumped out from the light switch!

Lin Xian turned his head towards her, and what suddenly appeared in front of him was not only Chu Anqing's smiling face, her crescent eyes, and her dimples.

But also…

A small round cake in her hands.

She smiled and raised the small cake high:

“Senior Lin Xian ~ Happy birthday!”

Her delicate voice echoed in the empty training room, clear and loud.

Lin Xian was slightly stunned.

He raised his electronic watch…

March 20, 2024, 00:01

Unexpectedly…

Today was his birthday.

He had forgotten all about it because of the busy training, the endless mysteries in his mind, and the fact that boys don't like to celebrate birthdays anyway.

Not to mention this year, he had forgotten all about it last year as well.

Boys of his age, especially those who have entered society and have jobs, and are also very busy, often unconsciously forget their birthdays.

Even if they accidentally remembered that it was today, they would just say oh and then nothing special.

What surprised Lin Xian even more was…

Why did Chu Anqing remember his birthday?

“Thank you.”

Lin Xian smiled first, and then asked:

“How did you know my birthday?”

“Hehe, you said it yourself last year! In the police station! The time I brought you food!”

Oh~~

Lin Xian remembered.

It was that time.

No wonder he couldn't remember.

Because at that time, Chu Anqing was thinking of celebrating birthdays for him and Ji Lin, so she specifically asked them for the dates.

And at that time, himself and Ji Lin…

Were probably calculating each other's death anniversaries in their hearts.

“Thank you anyway, I'm surprised you still remember.” Lin Xian smiled and took the cake.

“Of course ~”

Chu Anqing patted her chest proudly:

“Didn't we agree back then? Every birthday of ours in the future, we have to give each other gifts! Until the last birthday of our lives!”

“Hehe, since it's something we agreed on, we must definitely do it!”

…

Lin Xian looked at this little ray of sunshine.

His heart was indeed a little touched.

He looked down at the cake.

The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center was located in a remote area, and it was also an important military location, so forget about cake shop deliveries and the like.

The slightly rough cake in his hands was more like it was made by Chu Anqing herself.

“Is… is it not very well made?”

Chu Anqing put her hands behind her back and smiled shyly:

“I'm also making it for the first time. I originally wanted to ask Sister Huang Que to have someone bring a nicer one from outside. But… I felt that everyone has been training very hard for this period of time, and I felt that calling them out to celebrate your birthday would affect their rest. And… as the mission time gets closer and closer, everyone looks very nervous, so I finally decided not to bother others so grandly.”

“So I talked to the chef here, and after training this afternoon, she taught me how to whip cream, make cake batter, spread cream, etc… Hehe, although it's not very well made, but! But at least it's a cake!”

“It's so remote here, and we can't go out to shop or anything… and there's no decent gift I can give you. So… Senior, if you don't mind, please take this birthday cake as a birthday gift! I can be considered to have kept my promise ~”

Lin Xian chuckled and didn't say anything.

Looking at the "inferior cake" in his hand that was not very round, and some parts of it were a little collapsed, and the cream was not spread evenly…

“Okay, of course it's no problem, I haven't received a birthday gift in a long time.”

He pointed to the table next to him:

“Want to eat it together?”

“Okay, okay! I brought plates, knives, and forks!”

The two cut the cake in the empty and quiet training room.

The cake itself was very small, and half for each of them was about enough to finish it.

“Is it delicious?”

Chu Anqing blinked her eyes and asked seriously.

“Delicious.”

Lin Xian nodded:

“I'm telling the truth. You've made a lot of progress. I remember when you brought me food to the police station last year, the only parts you were responsible for in the kitchen were washing vegetables and serving bowls, but now you can even make cakes.”

“Oh ~ I also have to slowly become virtuous!” Chu Anqing, praised, was very happy, her eyes curved into crescent moons:

“I'm happy if you enjoy eating it! Because… during this period of time, I feel like you seem very frustrated… well, not that kind of feeling, just like you're preoccupied. I know that everyone will be nervous about going to space, but seeing you frowning every day, I… I want to do something for you.”

Chu Anqing bit her lip and looked up as if making up her mind:

“Senior Lin Xian, do you have something on your mind?”

Lin Xian nodded tacitly.

Indeed.

During this period of time, he had been thinking about what content to write on that small note to achieve the effect of deceiving the whole world but still being able to be understood and enlighten himself to the truth of the dream…

He had thought himself bald.

This question was really too difficult.

Too difficult.

Chu Anqing looked at Lin Xian:

“My dad told me… said that you are all smart people, too smart, so the things you think about are things that people like me can't understand or figure out.”

“But, he also told me that the smarter people are, the more likely they are to make many simple questions complex, contradictory, and think too comprehensively, so that they become timid and take detours… In this case, it's those who are not so smart, who are narrow-minded, and who can only see the surface of problems and not the essence who can discover the answers to the problem.”

“That's a sentence from a science fiction book that my dad liked to read, *Ball Lightning*. He was looking at that book when he told me these words. He said—"

“Many times, we can't figure out the answers to problems, not because we don't think complex enough, but because we don't think simple enough.”

“So… Senior Lin Xian.”

Chu Anqing smiled slightly:

“I'm the kind of person who is not very smart, thinks about things simply, and can't see the essence of problems.”

“If you're thinking about a very complex question and can't figure it out…”

She blinked her eyes, and the white light in the training room reflected a halo in her pupils:

“Do you want to hear… a simple answer?”