“What the hell!”

Gao Yang considerately put his hand on Lin Xian’s forehead.

“Do you have a fever? Or have you been driven crazy by Huang Que? Who are you planning to dig a grave for?”

“Besides… even if you want to dig a grave for Chu Anqing, you have to go back to Donghai! What are you digging for in Qufu, Shandong? That’s Confucius’s place, a Confucian holy land!”

Lin Xian took Gao Yang's hand away.

“There are a lot of things I can’t explain to you right now, but this matter is closely related to Chu Anqing. Maybe… the reason and truth behind Chu Anqing’s disappearance, and where she is now, can all be found in Qufu, Shandong.”

Gao Yang nodded blankly.

He didn’t understand, but he chose to believe Lin Xian.

“Okay, anyway, I’ve gone to space with you, what’s so bad about going to Qufu, Shandong? Wherever you say to go, I’ll go with you. So, when are we planning to go?”

Lin Xian looked at his watch.

It was six in the evening. If they went to the airport now and went to Shandong, they would definitely make it in time.

But the problem was…

He didn’t know where Zhang Yuqian, who looked like Chu Anqing and died in 2000, was buried.

Without knowing where the grave was, how could he dig it up to find DNA?

So, the key now was to first deal with that middle-aged couple and get them to tell him where Zhang Yuqian was buried.

This was very immoral and uncivilized.

But it had to be done.

Not just for Chu Anqing, for himself, to find out the truth. At the same time… if he could really figure out the mysteries surrounding Chu Anqing, Zhang Yuqian, and CC, it might not be a bad thing for those two heartbroken elders.

Since it was possible that Chu Anqing wasn't dead...

Then their daughter, Zhang Yuqian... what if she wasn't dead either?

The secret of the Millennium Pile (Qiannian Zhuang).

Might be in Zhang Yuqian's grave!

"Let’s go to Xidan first and find a place to stay."

Lin Xian said:

"Let's rest first today. We haven't slept in a long time. Tomorrow, I'll find a way to contact someone I know in the capital and figure out what happened more than twenty years ago."

……

After that.

The two packed their luggage, left the space base, and got on a special car to the vicinity of Xidan Shopping Center in the capital.

Liu Feng took the space-time particles back to the Donghai University Research Institute first, preparing to calibrate the space-time clock and conduct related research to see if he could achieve any breakthroughs.

Lin Xian was now single-minded.

He just wanted to figure out what happened to Chu Anqing.

The sooner the better…

He always had to…

Go back to Donghai.

Give Chu Shanhe an explanation, right?

In the back seat of the car, Gao Yang leaned his head back and started snoring.

Lin Xian finally had some time to be quiet.

He began to organize his thoughts…

As it stood now.

His situation was the worst it had been since discovering the truth of the dream.

It was too bad.

First, there was the issue of VV's disappearance.

He had always thought that maybe there was some temporary situation that caused VV to be withdrawn from the space plane, but it couldn't have completely disappeared, right?

It was so powerful and so smart, it should have some trump cards and backup plans, right?

Lin Xian had always trusted VV very much.

Even though it had never really shown its skills, it was, after all, the most powerful super artificial intelligence in human history, and in the current era, it shouldn't have an evenly matched opponent.

So, when he returned to the ground and connected to the normal network, he immediately started calling VV.

He knew.

If VV was there, it would definitely respond.

Unfortunately…

This time.

No matter how he called, VV never responded.

It couldn't really be dead, could it?

VV was outrageously arrogant in the current era's network and could chase Kevin Walker around and beat him.

It was the kind of network bully who would say, "Don't let me find you, or I'll kill you!"

With such formidable strength.

Who could kill it?

Lin Xian's first suspected culprit was Kevin Walker.

If Kevin Walker could really kill VV so thoroughly, then there was no need to wait until now to kill it. Everyone understood the principle that villains die from talking too much. Logically speaking, letting VV develop for so long was too dangerous for Kevin Walker, greatly increasing uncertainty and risk.

This was not something a cautious hacker would do.

What's more, without VV, his combat power and intelligence gathering ability would be reduced by at least 98%, greatly reducing his strength. So, if he posed no threat to Kevin Walker himself, why wouldn't he immediately kill VV?

Thinking through this logic, it was not difficult to come to a conclusion—

[The person who killed VV was not Kevin Walker, it should be someone else.]

That was good.

He thought he only had Kevin Walker as an enemy, and Jask and Copernicus were both difficult to tell apart, but he didn't expect that there would be another enemy out of thin air.

In the end…

Who killed VV?

And.

Was VV really dead?

Lin Xian shook his head. He still didn't quite believe it.

VV was a data stream in the network world. It had no physical form and didn't need hardware. So, the attacks against it must have been launched from the network world.

Then, since VV had so many fancy skills…

Couldn't it use the same trick again, like the first time it jumped out of a laptop, and transfer itself to a device that was not connected to the network and hide through wires, sound waves, and electromagnetic waves?

"No..."

Lin Xian quickly denied his own point of view:

"If the other party has the super strength to kill VV head-on, then the other party must also know all the skills that VV knows. The other party can definitely reach the places that VV can reach through wires, electromagnetic waves, and sound waves."

"Then there's no solution at all… VV is really going to die."

Lin Xian sighed lightly, leaned back, and rested on the headrest of the car seat.

He suddenly felt a little sad.

The place where VV can go, the thing that killed VV can also go;

Since the "murderer" can kill VV, it means that its technological level must be above VV;

The place where VV lives must have electricity, and where there is electricity, the "murderer" can invade—

"Ah!!!!!!!!!!"

The sleeping Gao Yang suddenly howled!

Because Lin Xian punched him in the thigh, which hurt a lot.

"Hey, what are you doing!" Gao Yang complained.

However…

Lin Xian completely ignored him.

He thought of something! An item!

Something that was not connected to the network, could not be invaded, and was not connected to wires, and was even in a de-energized state—

[The computer with VV's source code written on it!]

The moment he thought of this breakthrough, he couldn't help but punch down, punching Gao Yang in the thigh.

"Wonderful..."

Lin Xian suddenly woke up.

That laptop had been out of power not long after it was brought back from the United States.

Because this laptop was originally bought to bring VV back from the future, and it was not usually used, so Lin Xian did not charge it or plug it into a power source, and threw it on the bookshelf and ignored it.

He used this laptop to write VV's initial code. And when he took VV abroad to the United States, it was also hidden inside, relying on him to cross the border illegally.

[That is a place where the murderer who killed VV can never enter!]

No power cord plugged in, no network cable connected, and the wireless network card and Bluetooth module have also been removed.

Most importantly…

It's out of power!

Even the most powerful hacker, the most powerful artificial intelligence, or even the most powerful network attack, and even the most powerful computer virus… if there is no power, then it is nothing!

"It's okay, you continue to sleep."

Lin Xian rubbed Gao Yang's thigh and coaxed him to continue sleeping.

Gao Yang muttered vaguely and started snoring again.

Lin Xian, after thinking about Kevin Walker, began to think about Jask.

This one was also difficult to tell apart.

When Kevin Walker controlled the US X-37B space plane to crash over, it was Jask who used his rocket to intercept the attack, shattering Kevin Walker's long-planned plan to seize the space-time particles.

Although he didn't know what his specific purpose was...

But at least, from this point of view, he helped him. Jask didn't want to see anything happen to him. On the contrary, he wanted him to capture the space-time particles.

What was his identity?

What role did he play in the Genius Club?

Could it be that he was with Huang Que? That's why he supported him with a rocket halfway?

This was indeed a question, but it was not urgent and could be put on hold for a while.

The most urgent thing.

Was to figure out the mysteries surrounding Chu Anqing, Zhang Yuqian, and CC.

By the way…

Lin Xian thought again of the [mirror puzzle] that Huang Que had given him.

It had been too long.

For more than half a year, he had not solved this puzzle.

But he had really tried his best.

He had looked at the mirrors in reality again and again, many times.

He couldn't avoid looking at them several times when he washed up and went to the toilet every day.

Including the mirrors in the car...

Thinking of this, Lin Xian raised his head and looked at the rearview mirror in front of the car.

From this small mirror, he also saw his tired self.

Obviously, Huang Que was not talking about the mirrors in reality.

Then, he had looked at the mirrors in the dream quite a few times over the years, especially in the first dream, from childhood to adulthood. He learned from the mirror that he was also gradually growing up in the dream.

In the second dream, he had also looked at the mirrors several times at Big Face Cat's house. He even glanced at the mirror in Big Face Cat's father's room, which was covered in 42s. The figure reflected inside was no different from him, completely identical.

In the third dream, the reflection of the spacesuit helmet, the rearview mirror when driving, and the decorative metal plates in the Rhine Museum that were as smooth as mirrors... he had also looked at them many times.

Because when Huang Que told him the mirror puzzle, he was in the third dream, so of course he would look at any mirror he found, but he still didn't find anything unusual.

Not to mention the fourth dream, there was no chance to look in the mirror at all.

However, the electronic wanted order that the soldier captain took out would still be unreadable due to the reflection of the sun at noon when the sun was at its strongest. The blackness could also be used as a mirror.

He also looked at it...

It was still the same, nothing unusual, not even a little bit.

Therefore, Lin Xian really felt that he had tried his best with this mirror puzzle.

Now, he naturally believed Huang Que's words:

"In the mirror, there is something you want."

He also wanted this legendary thing that he wanted... even though he didn't know what it specifically referred to.

He even firmly believed that the thing in this mirror must be a key point that was enough to break the situation.

But…

He couldn't solve it!

This puzzle was completely unsolvable.

Whether he asked VV or Zhao Yingjun herself, what they said was to honestly look in the mirror... He not only looked at it, but also looked at it many times, but it was useless.

Lin Xian scratched his head.

He now inexplicably had a feeling of being desperate and having nowhere to go.

Everywhere was a pit,

Everywhere was a wall,

He couldn't find any clues,

He couldn't figure it out.

Since he had become more and more in contact with the Genius Club and knew more and more about it, this sense of confusion and powerlessness had become stronger and stronger.

"It's still the same old story..."

Lin Xian smacked his lips:

"When will I get an invitation to the Genius Club?"

Perhaps.

Only by truly obtaining an invitation, joining the Genius Club, and being on the same round table as Huang Que, Copernicus, Jask, and Kevin Walker… could he stand at the same starting point and height and examine all of this, right?

Squeak————

The sound of brakes.

The driver in front turned around:

"Mr. Lin, the hotel you booked has arrived."

Lin Xian nodded, woke up Gao Yang, and checked into the hotel.

After the two ate the hotel buffet, they went straight to the suite. Gao Yang took a shower and jumped onto the bed, falling asleep instantly.

"..."

Lin Xian had envied Gao Yang's ability to fall asleep instantly since he was a child.

Although his own speed of falling asleep was not slow.

He had been too nervous and tired during this time, especially after experiencing so many incredible and tense events in space. Now that he was finally on the ground, his mind was relaxed and it was normal to be tired and sleepy.

Lin Xian also washed up and lay on the bed.

He turned on his phone:

"VV, are you there?"

He said softly.

Sure enough, there was no response.

Even though he knew this would happen… alas… he could only wait until he got home and hope that his laptop, which had long been out of power, could create a miracle.

He opened the news app and casually swiped through a few hot news items.

The hottest news was definitely about Starlink satellites, space planes, Jask, and Kevin Walker, which almost occupied most of the top ten hot searches.

Now, most countries in the world had issued arrest warrants for Kevin Walker, including Dragon Country.

This time, Kevin Walker hijacked a US space plane and crashed into a Dragon Country plane. The nature of the incident was very bad and the intention was extremely bad.

The Dragon Country space plane was not only performing a secret mission, but it also carried national astronauts. This was the only space plane and the only ace pilot. If Kevin Walker really crashed into it, the loss would be incalculable.

Therefore, after Wei Cheng drove the space plane to land and reported the incident to the country, the Dragon Country government immediately issued the highest-level red arrest warrant for Kevin Walker.

After swiping his phone for a while, Lin Xian was also a little sleepy.

"I'll contact Director Liu An of the National Security Administration tomorrow and ask him to help investigate the address of that middle-aged couple."

He yawned and turned over.

VV had found it out immediately back then. The names of the middle-aged couple were Zhang Shi and Yan Qin. With this name, it was not difficult to find out their address.

"I'll go to sleep first."

He closed his eyes…

So many thrilling things had happened in this short period of less than two days.

After all.

There wouldn't be no changes in this fourth dream, right?

What's more, he had captured the space-time particles.

In everyone's eyes, this was a crucial and extremely important thing.

Repeatedly emphasized.

Desperately fought for.

Such a key thing was now in his hands. Would it always cause some visible butterfly effects?

Huang Que and Chu Anqing had both said that if he didn't grab the space-time particles, the future would be very bad.

Was the current fourth dream bad enough?

He could hardly move an inch.

Now that he had grabbed the space-time particles, would the bad future always change a little?

Would the fourth dream change a little?

Could he directly break through this space-time elasticity and directly come to the fifth dream?

Gradually…

His head became very heavy.

……

……

Whoosh…

Familiar hot summer wind, familiar city noise.

Lin Xian opened his eyes and looked at the sky.

"Hehe..."

He forced a dry laugh.

Dozens of huge airships with bright lights were still slowly floating in the sky.

On the side of each airship, there were huge advertising words celebrating the 600th anniversary of the founding of Thym Bank.

The bank he invested in.

The bank with his safe deposit box.

So close, but out of reach.

He lowered his head.

As always, dozens of soldiers surrounded him. The captain in the lead threw out an electronic arrest warrant:

"Lin Xian! Now, in the name of anti-humanity, harming the earth, and disrupting time and space, you are being lawfully arrested!"

Lin Xian stared at the words on the electronic paper…

These charges.

In 2024, except for the last charge of disrupting time and space, the remaining two were also written on the arrest warrant for Kevin Walker.

At this moment.

He seemed to understand something.

"Kevin Walker."

The dry-laughing old man heard the voice and the smile froze on his face.

He tore off the hood of the man who was handcuffed to the chair in front of him!

The young man in front of him.

His eyes were full of exhaustion.

But he was calm, deep, cold, and dim.

"Come and kill me, Kevin, you know where I am."

The young man's voice was very low, staring at him as if he could see through time:

"[If you don't come and kill me, then I will go and kill you!]"

The old man's pupils shrank—

Boom!!!!!!

Boom!!!!!!

Boom!!!!!!

The white light of 00:42 burned everything.

On the bed in the hotel suite, in the midst of Gao Yang's roaring snores, Lin Xian opened his eyes.

"The fourth dream didn't change."

He sat up from the bed.

He opened the glass door to the balcony and let the early spring breeze blow in.

He walked to the balcony.

He leaned on the stone railing and looked at the night sky.

In the real world, so many major and numerous changes had occurred, including the space-time particles that everyone regarded as treasures had changed hands.

But the fourth dream still hadn't changed!

This could explain a lot of things.

Many important things.

There were two possibilities.

1. The simplest, the dream was fake, the enemy hadn't had time to modify it, and hadn't calculated how the future world should change now that the space-time particles had changed hands… In other words, the new studio hadn't been built yet.
2. If the dream was the real future world, then it meant that the importance of this space-time particle was not as great as everyone thought!

[Or rather, the space-time particles were indeed important, but the importance wasn't in this one, but in some other one!]

In short, there must be some conspiracy in it, making everyone mistakenly believe that this space-time particle was very important, and involving all parties in the competition, including Kevin Walker, Huang Que, himself, and the Millennium Pile, Chu Anqing!

And the real mastermind... didn't care about this space-time particle at all. He was sitting on the sidelines, watching the tigers fight, and reaping the benefits!

The evidence was that if this space-time particle was really so important, so important that all forces were fighting to the death, why hadn't the dream changed at all now that he had obtained the space-time particles? This simply didn't make sense!

……

This was also why Lin Xian had said harsh words to the mysterious old man who was suspected of being Kevin Walker just now.

He now strongly suspected.

That mysterious old man was not Kevin Walker at all!

That catchphrase-like "I see you…" was more like deliberately pretending to be Kevin Walker to mislead him.

At least from the surface, in the 2024 space-time particle competition, Kevin Walker was a complete loser. Not only did he not gain any benefits, but he was also wanted by the whole world, falling into a very passive and dangerous situation.

No matter how talented you are.

As long as you still live on Earth, can you be an enemy of 6 billion people?

This was absolutely impossible.

So… Lin Xian had deliberately said harsh words to that mysterious old man just now, trying to bring about some change in the real world and bring this stagnant water back to life!

Anyway, he was completely exposed now.

Kevin Walker even knew that he had gone to grab the space-time particles, what else didn't he know?

Jask was the same, he could accurately use a rocket to intercept the falling space plane from high altitude, what else couldn't he intercept?

In the second dream, Big Face Cat's little brother, A Zhuang, once said a sentence:

Change brings success, no change brings death.

For the predicament he was in now, stagnant water would only slowly kill him.

He must seek change!

If the situation couldn't get better.

Then stir up the water and make the situation more chaotic!

Only with change could he have a chance.

Only with chaos could he seize the enemy's flaws!

For this battle where he didn't know who the enemy was, where the enemy was, or what he was fighting against...

So many people sacrificed.

Chu Anqing disappeared.

Huang Que looked like she had little time left and was on the verge of death.

He had to step from behind the scenes to the front stage.

He was forcing Kevin Walker to take action.

He was also testing whether Kevin would take action.

If he still didn't take action, then his provocation was wasted, which meant that the enemy didn't take the bait and he would have to think of other ways.

Then, what if Kevin Walker took action?

Would Jask still help with sending rockets?

What about other hidden forces?

What was the attitude of other Genius Club members?

Chaos.

The current stagnant water with no way out was really better to let it become chaotic!

"Stir up the water."

Lin Xian looked at the moon in the sky and clarified this point.

Wanting to hide comfortably in the dark, secretly investigate the enemy, obtain intelligence, and then wipe them out like he wiped out the Seven Deadly Sins…

This idea was too naive.

The current opponents were much stronger, more powerful, smarter, and more insidious than the Seven Deadly Sins.

He couldn't be so naive anymore and think so simply.

He had to think deeper.

Lin Xian increasingly felt… that perhaps the mysterious old man was really not Kevin Walker, which seemed more reasonable.

If it was really someone else.

Could it be that he was the one in his second guess, the one who deceived everyone, involved all forces in it, and robbed a space-time particle that wasn't important… and then reaped the benefits?

Lin Xian began to recall.

Who…

In this space-time particle competition, who benefited the most?

Himself?

As it stood now, definitely not. Liu Feng had already made it clear that the space-time particle had been wrecked and had no other function than locating the space-time clock.

Huang Que?

It didn't seem like it. In addition to letting him get the space-time particle, she looked like she was in a very bad situation, and the current historical trend had deviated from the history she knew, which was unknown for her.

Kevin Walker?

Even less so, he was even more miserable, losing completely and becoming a global fugitive.

Then…

Who else was there?

He couldn't help but recall the tall man at the scientific charity gala who smiled and shook his hand, and completely predicted the outcome of this space-time particle grabbing battle.

"Jask."

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes, looked at the white full moon in the sky, and recalled the huge black hand spanning the North and South Poles on the moon in the future dream…

"Is it you?"