Indeed.

Again with the "can't say."

Lin Xian snorted softly.

Since there wasn't a decisive denial... then it was highly likely that Yu Xi's time travel was related to the Genius Club.

But the nature of that relationship was impossible to guess. It could be a positive association or a negative one.

The current situation was increasingly complex.

Lin Xian felt the vortex of mysteries surrounding him growing larger and larger... He needed to break through this deadlock as soon as possible!

"I'm going to sleep now."

Lin Xian closed his eyes and told Yu Xi,

"Wake me up if you get tired of driving."

"Okay."

Yu Xi's response was short and firm.

"Is that temporal assassin still chasing us?" Lin Xian opened his eyes again.

Yu Xi shook her head.

"She's still wandering around Princeton. Don't worry, despite the many mysteries surrounding her, she's ultimately just a human being made of flesh and blood."

"She can't fly, can't withstand bullets, and I can sense her location. She's not as terrifying as you think. Sleep soundly. I'll wake you up if anything happens."

Lin Xian nodded.

Resting well was crucial for facing the battles ahead.

He glanced at his watch.

It was 1:23 AM US time, which was 1:23 PM in Long Country.

Falling asleep at this time meant he would definitely enter a dream.

But once he was in a dream, unless it was 0:42 Long Country time, or he died in the dream, there was absolutely no way to wake him up from the outside.

Something like this had happened once when he was a child. His parents couldn't wake him up no matter what they did, and they were so scared they took him to the hospital.

The doctors checked him all over and found nothing wrong, so they could only diagnose it as him sleeping too deeply... Although it was rare to see someone sleep so soundly, the facts spoke for themselves.

But the current situation didn't allow him to sleep so deeply.

If something dangerous really happened, and Yu Xi couldn't wake him up, not even by hitting him, he might end up dead.

So...

He had to think of a way to die quickly, wake up once, and then continue sleeping.

The fourth dream was different from the others. There weren't so many opportunities to act recklessly.

His range of movement was small, and once he missed the initial opportunity, he would be stunned by electricity, entering a state of disconnection between reality and the dream... akin to real death.

His eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

Gradually...

Lin Xian fell asleep.

...

...

Huff...

The familiar summer breeze and familiar bustle.

Lin Xian quickly opened his eyes.

As always, dozens of soldiers surrounded him, and more than a dozen balloon airships with Time Bank advertisements circled overhead.

All the soldiers nervously raised their rifles, released the safety catches, and faced the young man who had suddenly appeared as if by magic.

The soldier dressed as a captain was just about to step forward...

"Heh."

Lin Xian chuckled and rushed towards his chosen target—

A soldier who wasn't very skilled with firearms, half a beat slower than everyone else.

He lunged directly at the muzzle, pointed it at his own forehead, and reached out with his right hand to press the trigger!

Bang!

With a head-splitting gunshot, everything went black before Lin Xian's eyes.

...

...

...

Thump!

Lin Xian leaped up from the passenger seat.

His heart rate soared, and he gasped for breath.

Yu Xi looked over in confusion.

"What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

Lin Xian calmed his breathing and looked at Yu Xi.

It seemed...

This time traveler from the future who had come back to the present to protect him didn't know the secret of his dreams.

This was probably also ironclad proof that she really didn't know Sparrow.

Sparrow knew all his secrets, including but not limited to the fact that he could time travel through dreams.

But Yu Xi, on the other hand...

Seemed to know nothing about his dreams.

That was fine.

Lin Xian hadn't planned to share this, his most precious secret, with anyone anyway.

"A little bit, I guess."

Lin Xian said casually.

Then he turned over and went back to sleep.

Once he "popped out" after dying in a dream, he wouldn't dream again until the next dream cycle.

Now he could sleep in peace.

The night passed without dreams.

...

The next day, he woke up close to noon.

Yu Xi was still driving in the same position, showing no signs of fatigue.

Lin Xian yawned and sat up.

He straightened the reclined seat and looked out at the surrounding fields.

As expected, a flat expanse.

The highway stretched straight ahead, all the way to the horizon, without a single turn. No wonder so many people said that driving on the highway in the US meant you could lock the steering wheel and sleep.

"Let me drive."

Lin Xian looked at Yu Xi.

"You sleep and rest for a while, eat something. By the time you wake up, we should be close to Texas."

Yu Xi didn't stand on ceremony and stopped the car immediately.

Then she switched places with Lin Xian, letting him sit in the driver's seat while she went to the back seat to sleep and rest.

"That temporal assassin is probably still in Princeton. She hasn't followed us. Now that we're far away from her, my senses have become blurred, and I'm not sure of her exact location."

"But don't worry, even when I'm sleeping, I can sense the distance between the temporal assassin and us. If she gets close, I'll wake up immediately."

After saying that, Yu Xi closed her eyes and started sleeping.

Lin Xian turned down the radio so it wouldn't disturb Yu Xi's sleep.

He rested his left elbow on the window frame, propped his chin up, and held the steering wheel with his right hand, a steering wheel that didn't even need controlling... He looked at the sleeping Yu Xi in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

He then realized that he had never cared about Yu Xi at all.

How old was she? Specifically, how many years old?

What kind of life did she live? What kind of life did she have?

Was she an only child? Were her parents still alive?

After this protection mission was completed... would she be able to go back?

Even in that future era, drug enhancement and gene editing could make everyone smart, beautiful, and powerful.

But that was only in terms of physical fitness and appearance.

Real skills and knowledge still had to be mastered through practice and learning.

Yu Xi looked, at most, fifteen or sixteen years old, maybe even younger.

At such a young age, her driving skills were so superb, and she could also use a handgun, not only controlling the powerful recoil but also having accurate marksmanship.

It was hard to imagine how many years of her teens she had spent in special agent training.

Clang.

Clang.

The old car, with its poor shock absorbers, drove over a railroad track that crossed the road, once again bouncing Lin Xian and Yu Xi, who was sleeping in the back seat, up and down.

The girl in the rearview mirror rubbed her eyes in her sleep.

She changed positions.

Turned over.

Turned her back to Lin Xian and continued to sleep.

...

After the two arrived in Cameron County, Texas, they didn't go to the address Angelica gave them immediately. Instead, they found a hotel to rest for the night.

The next morning, they followed Angelica's instructions and arrived at a suburban villa complex.

One of the villas was the residence of Jask's female secretary. Angelica said she had taken care of everything and told Lin Xian to go directly inside and find her.

"I'm not going in. I'll keep watch outside."

Yu Xi said after watching Lin Xian get out of the car.

"I can sense that the temporal assassin has started to move. She's approaching here, and she's coming fast… She must have seen that we've been here for a long time without moving, so she came right over.”

"Get me a gun. If there's a chance during close combat, I can use the gun to get rid of her. As long as there's no one else around, I'm willing to use a gun, so that stray bullets don't trigger the Forced Evasion Law."

Lin Xian nodded and closed the car door.

"Then you can guard outside the villa. I told Angelica, and she will prepare two handguns for us. I'll go see her first."

With that, Lin Xian walked to the villa and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

Soon.

Angelica, wearing loose pajamas, opened the door.

She wasn't wearing makeup, her eyes were a little tired, and her seaweed-like hair was casually tied behind her head.

"Where's the female secretary?" Lin Xian asked.

"Sleeping." Angelica replied flatly.

Lin Xian felt amused for no reason.

"How can she sleep so much?"

Angelica raised her eyebrows.

"This time… I used some special methods. I guarantee she won't wake up until evening."

"Come in quickly. We should discuss the next plan."

Lin Xian walked into the house, and Angelica closed the door.

First, she took Lin Xian to the bedroom and let him see the female secretary sleeping soundly on the big bed.

She was indeed sleeping soundly.

"Although I'm sure she won't wake up in a short time, I'm afraid of accidents. So, Lin Xian, help me guard her here. If she wakes up early, you can control her and prevent her from reporting to Jask and ruining our plans."

As she spoke, Angelica patted a black briefcase placed on the dining table.

Lin Xian opened it.

Inside were the things he needed: two black handguns, magazines, and bullets.

Then, Angelica pointed to a corner of the living room.

There stood two familiar huge suitcases, which naturally contained Angelica's "disguise props."

"My driver delivered these things and left. Today is a rare opportunity. Jask sent a work message to his female secretary, asking her to go to the Starship Rocket Launch Center and the Observation Tower at 10 a.m. to meet him."

"This is the opportunity I've been waiting for. I've been with the female secretary day and night for the past two days, and she's taken leave from work. We've been together all the time. I've figured out her speaking habits, catchphrases, standing posture, and gait… Plus, my figure is very similar to hers, so there's no problem imitating her."

Angelica said as she opened the suitcase.

"It just so happens that this is the female secretary's home, so there are a lot of her clothes and jewelry to choose from, which can be completely confusing."

"But what about the voice?"

Lin Xian spread his hands.

"Even if you can imitate her appearance, body, temperament, and even her walking posture, can you imitate something like her voice?"

Angelica smiled slightly.

She cleared her throat and pressed her throat.

Then she completely changed into a woman's voice and said,

"Mr. Jask… Why don't you ever bring your phone up here!"

It was genuine.

It was the voice of the female secretary!

"You know a lot."

Lin Xian sighed sincerely.

"It seems that the Oscar Best Actress Award was given to you too late. No wonder you played the female agent in the movie so well… It's completely a true portrayal."

"I'm curious, where did you learn these skills, and who taught you? I don't think a regular Hollywood training program would include these things?"

Angelica put her right index finger on her lips and made a shushing gesture.

"Secret~"

She changed to another voice that he didn't know who it was, and she still handled it with ease.

"I can imitate normal speaking voices perfectly. But if I speak loudly, I'll definitely give myself away. So, let me tell you a little trick… If you want to know someone's real voice, just have them scream a few times or say a few words loudly."

Indeed.

Lin Xian thought of the once-popular bubble sound and squeaky voice.

These two sounds, which made people's scalps tingle and ants crawl all over their bodies… could only be achieved when speaking in a low voice, or rather, could only be squeezed out.

Now that the disguise, clothing, detailed jewelry, and voice were all taken care of, it seemed that Angelica's trip into the tiger's den had a high chance of success.

Lin Xian trusted her acting skills. Even if she couldn't answer Jask's questions, she should have a way to get away with it.

Angelica took off her pajamas.

"Okay, I'm going to start putting on makeup and disguising myself. You go to the bedroom and watch that female secretary and turn away for a moment."

...

Two hours later.

When the bedroom door was pushed open again.

Lin Xian saw a twin sister walk in, exactly like the woman sleeping soundly on the bed!

"Does it look like it?"

Angelica asked in a voice that didn't belong to her.

"It does."

Lin Xian sincerely recognized it.

"It really looks like it."

He turned his head back and forth several times to compare the faces of the two.

It was simply copy and paste...

Angelica's disguise was so amazing.

The female secretary, who pushed the door open and entered with a genuine appearance, had a tall figure, a black professional skirt, and slightly reflective stockings, high heels, and the charm of a professional woman was right in front of her.

Looking at the facial part.

Angelica's hair had been dyed the same color as the female secretary's, straightened, and coiled up behind her head, using the female secretary's usual hairpin.

Lin Xian looked at a magazine cover on the desk in the bedroom.

The photo on the cover was a group photo of Jask and the female secretary. The headline of this issue of the magazine was an interview with Jask and his personal secretary.

Lin Xian picked up the magazine.

Then he held it up in front of his eyes.

He compared the sophisticated and capable female secretary on the cover with the brand-new Angelica in front of him...

Perfect.

Every detail was exactly the same.

"Except for a pair of red-rimmed glasses."

As soon as Lin Xian finished speaking.

The perfectly disguised Angelica took out a pair of red-rimmed glasses from behind her and gently put them on the bridge of her nose.

She blinked her eyes.

"Isn't it exactly the same now?"

"It is."

Lin Xian nodded affirmatively.

"Looking at the shape of the female secretary's face and her eye habits, she should wear glasses on a daily basis."

"That's right."

Angelica replied.

"I've seen photos of her at work, and she's always wearing these red-rimmed glasses. But she hasn't worn them once in the past two days she's been with me. She always wears contact lenses."

"Maybe… she thinks wearing glasses affects her appearance? Or maybe she thinks wearing glasses is inconvenient~ Actually, I still prefer her with glasses… It would be more temperamental and make people more aggressive."

Angelica looked at the small gold watch on her wrist, which also came from the female secretary's jewelry box.

"It's almost time for me to leave. Jask is a very punctual person. It's not good to be early or late. He says what time it is, and that's what time it is."

"Oh, I have one more thing to tell you." Lin Xian said suddenly.

He told Angelica to pay special attention to the blue-eyed girl. Although the temporal assassin was still far away from here, it was always good to be careful.

"If that blue-eyed girl shows up, you must stop the operation immediately. She can see through disguises."

"I know." Angelica walked to the bedside table.

She picked up the female secretary's phone.

She shook it at Lin Xian.

"I've taken her phone. I can see work messages in it. I saw her enter the password these past two days. I know everything about her now."

"I'm also carrying my phone. If anything happens, send me a message instead of calling. I'll find a chance to reply to you when I see it."

"Then, Lin Xian, I'll leave it to you here. Take good care of her. The dosage of the medicine is enough. Generally speaking, she won't wake up, but if she really wakes up… Anyway, I've already given you the handgun. You just need to control her temporarily. After I come back… I'll tell her that it was part of the game play, and she'll believe it."

"Is she really that stupid?" Lin Xian couldn't believe it.

Angelica chuckled and imitated the female secretary's footsteps as she walked out. She turned her head one last time.

"A woman in love sees everything as romantic~"

Bang.

The door closed.

Lin Xian looked through the window and watched Angelica drive away in the Tesla car outside the door.

Now, everything was completely genuine from the inside out.

In addition to Angelica's Oscar-level acting skills, voice imitation, and in-depth communication with the female secretary these past two days, she already knew very well how the female secretary and Jask communicated.

Never asking, only giving orders and answering.

This was also why Angelica decided to take the risk…

Jask had always been very confident. He made all the decisions himself and never asked for his secretary's opinion.

This greatly reduced the difficulty of Angelica's imitation.

Actually.

Now, for Lin Xian, it didn't matter much whether Angelica contacted Jask or not.

He had already obtained the information he wanted, knew Jask's position, and knew Jask's attitude towards him.

But Angelica's purpose hadn't been achieved yet.

She wanted to know more about the Genius Club, wanted to know Copernicus's true identity, and wanted to know the murderer who killed Ji Lin's parents.

That's why she was going to take the risk and try her luck.

To see what Jask was hiding on the Observation Tower.

And… whether Jask usually told his secretary anything about the Genius Club.

If he didn't, Angelica wouldn't take the initiative to ask. At worst, this trip would be fruitless.

But if Jask really trusted his female secretary, didn't treat her as an outsider, and often told her some Genius Club information… then Angelica's trip into the tiger's den would be a great harvest.

Buzz…

The battery-powered Tesla drove out of the door, and there was no noise except for the warning beep. The driving was unusually smooth.

The Tesla drove out of the villa yard and headed towards Boca Chica Village, the Space-T Starship Launch Center.

...

On the Observation Tower.

Jask raised his head.

The sun was shining brightly.

It was already late April, and the weather was gradually getting warmer, and the whole world was becoming vibrant.

He looked at the rocket launch pad in the distance.

On the horizontal road below, a huge transport vehicle was slowly erecting a brand new Starship rocket.

Another test launch was about to begin.

His Starship rocket had exploded many times. The first explosion made the whole world laugh at him and ridicule him.

But now.

More and more people were afraid of his rocket exploding.

Because everyone knew…

The more his rocket exploded, the closer he was to success.

He could gain more experience from failure than from success.

He was never afraid of failure.

That's why he was able to achieve such success now.

Today, his Starship rocket was undoubtedly the most powerful launch vehicle in the world.

The reusable model could carry 150 tons of cargo at a time.

And the disposable model could carry 250 tons.

That was a very exaggerated number in the world.

But for his grand vision, it was far from enough.

Mars was only the first step in his vision.

He wanted to look at the farther universe, the farther future… and the farther, farther existence.

Da da da da da da da.

The sound of high heels stepping on steel plates.

Jask knew that it was his anxious and easily flustered secretary coming.

He looked down at his watch.

Very punctual.

Exactly 10 o'clock.

"Ja… Mr. Jask…"

The female secretary, wearing red-rimmed glasses, was panting, holding a folder, and bending over.

"Can't we meet somewhere else? Why do I have to climb so high in high heels every time?"

He smiled.

As always, every time the female secretary ran up the Observation Tower and came to the observation deck, she would complain like this.

"I'm going to Long Country at the end of this month to attend a meeting in the Imperial Capital."

The female secretary straightened up, blinked her eyes.

"Is there anything you need me to do? I'll take note of it."

Jask leaned against the iron fence of the observation deck and shook his head.

"It's nothing. The itinerary is still the same as before. I'll attend the meeting on April 28 and meet with Long Country officials."

"I really like Long Country. When they invited me, I accepted it immediately. I also told the staff in Long Country that it was my honor to participate in the Long Country Trade Promotion Council. I'm not just saying polite words, I'm telling the truth… Long Country has always helped me a lot. It can even be said that without the help of Donghai officials and Long Country, there would be no Tesla now."

"The itinerary of the Trade Promotion Council has been set, so it'll be the same as before. What I want to talk to you about today is… let's move our trip to Long Country forward by one day. I want to give a girl a boat ticket."

"A boat ticket?"

The female secretary smiled inexplicably.

But she still opened the folder and started recording.

"Tell me, what kind of boat ticket? I'll take note of your leisure and elegance. Do we need to notify the media in advance and inform the reporters?"

"No, no, no."

Jask waved his hand.

"It's not what you think. This is not hype, this is what I should do, and what I must do myself."

He turned his head and looked at the female secretary with his head tilted.

"I thought you would understand what I was thinking. It seems that we're not in sync this time. Since we're talking about giving a boat ticket to a little girl in Long Country… then it must be Zheng Xiangyue!"

"Didn't I call her personally before? She probably didn't watch the online broadcast and didn't know that she had won a ticket to the moon, which made me explain it to her for a long time."

"The little girl was quite happy in the end, but I always felt… that she seemed to think it was a joke, or that she didn't particularly believe it. I later asked a friend from Long Country to investigate. This little girl named Zheng Xiangyue… really, I really like her name. It's really beautiful."

"Zheng Xiangyue has had a congenital heart disease since she was a child, and her health has been poor. She has spent most of her years in the hospital. She will suddenly have a heart attack from time to time, and she almost didn't make it back several times."

"Actually, to be honest, I really want the technology to develop faster… Even faster, maybe we can give out those ten moon travel tickets in a few years. But it's not up to me. If it were up to me, I would want the fleet to Mars to depart tomorrow."

"So, help me record it and arrange the itinerary. Don't publicize or notify any media about giving the boat ticket to Zheng Xiangyue in the hospital. We can go and leave quietly. Zheng Xiangyue is not in good health, so we can't disturb her too much. The reason why I want to give her this boat ticket in person is mainly for two reasons…"

"First, I want to let her believe that her ticket, even though it was bought with an anonymous check, is valid and will always be valid! If one day she can't hold on and sleeps in a hibernation pod, we'll guarantee that her ticket to the moon will never expire. Whenever she wakes up, we'll reissue a flight and send her to the moon as she wishes."

"I'll guarantee her that even if the flight to the moon only has her, I'll take off as scheduled. Even if I'm gone when she wakes up from the hibernation pod and heals her illness, our Space-T company will always redeem this ticket for her."

"Wow."

The female secretary sighed, nodded gently, took a pen and wrote it down in the folder, and said,

"What's the second consideration?"

"The second point… is a little pessimistic."

Jask turned his head and looked at the female secretary.

"I'm afraid that Zheng Xiangyue's heart will one day fail and she'll die before she has time to live in a hibernation pod… That's really helpless. She didn't wait for us to build a spacecraft that could land on the moon, nor did she wait for the hibernation pod to be mass-produced and put into use."

"This is the most pitiful situation, and it's also the situation that I don't want to see the most… But if you think about it from the worst perspective, what if this really happens?"

"Even though I can't do anything, I think that if this really happens, I'll regret not giving this ticket to the moon to Zheng Xiangyue in person. So, to prevent accidents, I want to meet Zheng Xiangyue in person on this trip to Long Country."

"Anyway, I want to encourage her, give her motivation, and let her believe that as long as she persists in fighting the disease, she can go to the moon one day and realize her dream. Just like her name, Zheng Xiangyue… What a simple, beautiful, and unforgettable name… Don't you think?"

The female secretary scribbled down the itinerary in the folder, then raised her head.

"I've written it down, and I'll arrange it. Is there anything else?"

"You couldn't have… sent me a message so long in advance, asking me to run to such a high tower, just for this trivial matter, right?"

Hehehe…

Jask smiled and shook his head with a look of glee.

"Of course, there's more than just this trivial matter. There's something more important. But before that…"

Jask stretched out his finger and pointed to the female secretary's left calf.

"Your stocking is torn."

"Ah?"

The female secretary was shocked and hurriedly looked down at her left calf.

"Oh no! When did it tear? Really…"

She put the folder on the ground, squatted down, and began to tidy up the torn stockings with her red-nailed hands.

Click!

The cold muzzle of the gun pressed against the back of the female secretary's head!

The female secretary felt a chill…

She tremblingly turned her head and widened her eyes.

The dark muzzle was pointing right at her forehead!

Jask held the silver gun in his right hand and looked at the female secretary squatting on the ground.

"Tell me, who sent you?"

"Ja… Mr. Jask…"

The female secretary's breathing was rapid.

"You, what are you doing?"

"I admit, you really disguised yourself very well, too well… I didn't notice anything wrong at all. The voice, pace, expression, and tone, you all imitated my secretary perfectly."

Jask said with a smile,

"[But… you forgot to push up your glasses.]"

He tapped the red-rimmed glasses on the female secretary's nose with the heavy and cold muzzle of the gun.

"My secretary's red-rimmed glasses would slip down after saying no more than three sentences. On average, she would push her glasses up once every ten seconds."

"I couldn't stand it several times and shouted at her, asking her to get a pair of glasses that fit properly and stop letting it slip down all day long."

"But now… I'm extremely grateful to that stubborn and disobedient secretary. She would rather resign than replace those annoying red-rimmed glasses. I swear, I'll never complain about her again. Perhaps it was those annoying red-rimmed glasses that saved my life."

The muzzle moved forward.

It pressed tightly against the female secretary's forehead, feeling cold to the touch.

"I don't like wasting time. I'll give you five seconds to tell me who sent you."

Jask put away his smile and looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar woman below, as cold as the muzzle.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Goodbye."

He was about to use his finger to press hard—

Ding ling ling ding ling ling ding ling ling ding ling ling!

The ringtone of the phone in the female secretary's pocket rang out of season and interrupted Jask's execution.

Angelica, who was discovered to have disguised herself as the female secretary, didn't dare to move…

She didn't even dare to look down at the phone ringing in her pocket.

Jask pursed his lips.

"Take it out."

He said sharply.

Angelica obediently took out two phones from her pocket.

One was the real female secretary's phone.

The other, which was ringing, was her own phone.

She took the opportunity to glance at the number displayed on the phone screen.

It was a completely unfamiliar number.

It wasn't Lin Xian, and it wasn't anyone she knew.

Jask took the phone and pressed the answer button directly, putting it next to his ear.

"Jask…"

Unexpectedly!

The voice of an old man on the other side called out his name!

Jask narrowed his eyes and took half a step back into the observation tower.

"Who are you?"

The old man on the phone cleared his throat, his voice hoarse.

"Let her go… Jask, give me some face."

"Hahahahaha!"

Jask was amused.

"It seems that no one has that much face. Tell me your name and let me see if your face is big enough."

On the phone, the old man laughed dryly, his voice hoarse.

"I'm… [Copernicus]."