Chapter 1 I'll Go

"I'll go."

Lin Xian took down the banana leaf megaphone, took a step back, and looked at the girl who had unexpectedly appeared before him:

"Why is it you?"

Just thinking about the name he had shouted out loud earlier,

Wei Shengjin.

And he had shouted it through a megaphone.

It was truly a bit embarrassing.

CC frowned.

She sized him up and down.

She hadn't mistaken him.

It was indeed Lin Xian from her memory fragments.

But could this crude and shameless behavior really belong to the same Lin Xian from her memory fragments?

The Lin Xian in her memory fragments was decisive, quick-witted, responsible, and had a lot of personal charm.

But this man shouting about sanitary napkins in the forest

Could only be described as sleazy.

If he didn't look exactly like the Lin Xian in her memory fragments, she really wouldn't have bothered with him.

"What the hell are you yelling about?"

CC asked, seeing that he wasn't speaking:

"Do you really need that thing? Who are you expecting to bring it to you? With Earth's current industrial level, they can't even make that kind of thing."

Ahem.

Lin Xian coughed lightly, throwing away the banana leaf megaphone:

"You've misunderstood. I'm looking for someone, an old man, whose name is Wei Shengjin."

He looked up.

Meeting CC's completely disbelieving gaze, it seemed like the words "Affection Level 99" were floating above her head.

"You don't believe me?" Lin Xian asked.

"Do you believe what you're saying?" CC retorted, "How could anyone be named that?"

Lin Xian chuckled:

"Don't you worry, today I'll let you see what a cultural gap between Earth and Mars looks like."

Afterwards, Lin Xian and CC cross-checked their information.

Communication and trust weren't a problem.

The two memory fragments from the first and second dreamscapes were really useful, saving Lin Xian a lot of steps. He could skip the long plotline and quickly enter a state of mutual trust with his teammate. Of course, if it hadn't been for the Wei Shengjin farce, her affection level might have been higher.

But there was no helping it.

Lin Xian couldn't get his bearings in the dense jungle and didn't know which way to run.

Seeing CC.

He looked in the direction CC had come from:

"So, that's the direction of Rhein Village. Given the time, you must have left Rhein Village not long ago."

Lin Xian remembered clearly.

In yesterday's dream, CC told him that she would leave Rhein Village around 12 noon to find the safe in Face Village.

Rhein Village was north of Lin Xian's starting point, while Grandpa Wei Shengjin and Face Village were south of Lin Xian's starting point.

Today, Lin Xian had completely run in the wrong direction, missing Grandpa Wei Shengjin, but inadvertently intercepted CC ahead of schedule.

"No, it wasn't you who intercepted me."

CC shook her head, explaining:

"Your yelling attracted me. I was curious about what kind of performance art it was, so I came to take a look. I didn't expect it to be you. You've really opened my eyes and made me look at you in a new light."

"Alright, alright."

Lin Xian waved his hand:

"Let's not talk about this, let's get down to business.

"I already explained it to you. Right now, finding the safe with my name on it is too difficult, and I don't have any ideas.

"The only options are either to use Grandpa Wei Shengjin's metal detector to find it like looking for a needle in a haystack, or to go to Face Village first and see what's going on with Gao Wen's safe, to see what's inside.

"You told me before that you'd been to Face Village, and that Erzhuzi and Sanpang have been trying to crack the safe for many years, and they might just be a few digits away from getting the password. We just need to open the safe before them, and we can take it over, reap the benefits, and directly steal the fruits of victory.

"But first, we still need to go south to find Grandpa Wei Shengjin. We really need the equipment he has. A lot of the Martian technology is amazing. At least on Earth right now, it's like a dimensionality reduction attack."

In Lin Xian's eyes, Grandpa Wei Shengjin was a treasure from head to toe.

Not to mention the pistol on his waist.

His big backpack was also full of survival supplies, tools, and weapons. Just wielding that folding shovel was like having Lu Bu in the present-day Earth, killing gods and demons alike.

"Let's go, we'll find Grandpa Wei Shengjin first."

Lin Xian waved his hand, signaling CC to follow.

""

CC was speechless, watching Lin Xian's back, and followed his steps:

"I still can't imagine someone being named that, especially an old person. If we meet him in a while, what should I call him? I really can't bring myself to say that name."

"Just call him Teacher Wei."

Lin Xian pulled aside a handful of vines and squeezed through:

"Just like me, call him Teacher Wei. But that's only if we can find him. I'm completely lost right now."

"You can describe to me the landmarks next to him when you last saw him."

CC also bent down and squeezed through the vines:

"I'm very familiar with this forest. If there are trees with particularly unique shapes, I usually know where they are."

Lin Xian briefly described a few trees.

Unexpectedly.

CC was really a human-shaped GPS, immediately understanding the general location, and quickly walking ahead to lead the way.

She held a dark, large machete in her hand.

Chopping left and right, cutting off vines and branches, clearing a path through the jungle.

Lin Xian watched her back, reminiscing about Chu Anqing, who had turned into a millennium stake and disappeared.

Lin Xian never dreamed.

He didn't have "fake dreams."

Sometimes he envied other people, who could have fake dreams and dream about people they wanted to see but couldn't.

After Lin Xian's grandmother passed away, he missed her very much.

His father had told him many times that he would dream about his grandmother, and that she was still as kind and gentle as ever. She herself was reluctant to spend money, but every time she saw little Lin Xian, she would chuckle and open her rolled-up handkerchief, pulling out a few "big bills" from inside and handing them to Lin Xian:

"Good grandson, go buy some snacks, buy a lot."

But these were all scenes that Lin Xian's father dreamed of.

For Lin Xian when he was a child, he also really wanted to dream about his grandmother.

Even if he could only dream about her once, he also had a lot of unspoken words he wanted to say to his grandmother, wanting to throw himself into his grandmother's arms again.

However, something that anyone could do, he couldn't do.

Every time he entered a dream on time, he came to the unchanging square in the first dreamscape, the entangled Ultra Brothers, the noisy cicada song, the day-after-day broadcast, the unchanging crowd.

Everyone could see the deceased, the missed, the people they wanted to see but couldn't in their dreams.

Only Lin Xian didn't have this "superpower."

Just like Tang Xin, Huang Que, and Chu Anqing, who had left him.

If only he could dream about them, at least he could say thank you, at least he could apologize.

Even though the CC in front of him was similar to Chu Anqing as if she were a copy-paste, he deeply understood that they were not the same person, not the same person at all.

CC suddenly stopped and turned her head, looking at Lin Xian:

"You seem unusually quiet today."

Lin Xian looked up:

"Wasn't it always like this?"

CC shook her head:

"In the memory fragments about you before, you were very lively, very exuberant, and sometimes annoyingly pretentious, jumping up and down without any seriousness."

"But now you're too silent, which makes me a little uncomfortable. I feel like you've changed."

Heh heh.

Lin Xian chuckled, his tone somewhat helpless:

"After all, a lot of things have happened."

The last time he saw CC was before the arrival of the third dreamscape. Lin Xian vaguely remembered that it should have been May 2023.

Then Rhein Corporation was established.

He entered the third and fourth dreamscapes and never saw CC again.

To this day.

It had been exactly a year.

In this year, whether in the dreamscape or in reality, so many things had happened, witnessing so many partings of life and death.

Lin Xian admitted.

He really couldn't be so "exuberant" anymore.

Not to mention.

At least, he had to save Chu Anqing, right?

He had promised her that he would always find her and never get lost.

He had also promised Chu Shanhe that he would find his daughter and bring her home.

Sigh.

It wasn't enough to just say nice things, he had to do something practical.

But at the moment, the clues about the millennium stake were completely stuck. If there was any breakthrough, it was probably right in front of him, the fellow millennium stake, CC.

"I've had a lot of friends leave me."

Lin Xian said as he walked:

"And there's a girl who's the same age as you."

"Your girlfriend?"

Clang!

CC cut off a vine blocking the road with her machete and stepped over it:

"Usually, only the death of a family member or girlfriend will have such a big impact on you, right?"

Lin Xian looked at CC:

"She looks exactly like you."

"That's really the oldest pick-up line I've ever heard."

CC was speechless:

"Can I take back my sympathy for you?"

Lin Xian followed closely, stepping over the vine:

"You already said this two years ago, it's just not in your memory fragments. Believe it or not, to help me get something very precious, she jumped out of a plane from 20,000 meters in the air."

"Oh, wow."

CC said calmly:

"She's really brave. I saw a book in one of my memory fragments that said that a dead white moonlight is the real white moonlight. Now that she's died in front of you, you probably won't forget her for the rest of your life, right?"

"Jumping from 20,000 meters in the air, wouldn't you even be able to find the body?"

Lin Xian shook his head:

"As soon as she jumped out of the plane, I jumped right after her. Then I grabbed her hand in mid-air, opened the parachute, and saved her, but I didn't save her, she still disappeared."

CC stopped.

Turning her head.

Looking at Lin Xian in confusion.

She tried to sense from Lin Xian's expression and eyes that this was just a joke, a joke to liven up the atmosphere.

But she found that

The other person's expression was serious.

It was sad.

It was real.

Clang!

She turned her head and used her machete to cut off several more vines, humming softly:

"Hmph."

Continuing forward:

"To dare jump out of a plane without hesitation."

"You can be considered a man."

CC also put down the prejudice she had against Lin Xian because of Wei Shengjin.

It seemed.

She hadn't misjudged this man.

No wonder the memory fragments also had some emotional fluctuations towards this man:

"I don't think you need to feel guilty about anything."

CC quickened her pace, her voice coming softly:

"From the moment you followed her and jumped out of the plane, you were clear in your conscience. Whether you saved her in the end or not doesn't matter at all. The fact that you dared to jump from 20,000 meters in the air proves everything."

"Whether it's the feelings between you or the promises, no one can say anything bad about you, no one can say you didn't do enough."

Lin Xian chuckled.

Shaking his head:

"Her father said the same thing, but after all, the person is gone, saying anything is useless, it doesn't change the result."

"I don't think so."

CC turned around, looking at Lin Xian, who was only a step away.

Their eyes met.

Lin Xian saw the resoluteness and firmness in CC's eyes.

"If there was a man who was willing to jump out of a plane for me, willing to risk his life to save me."

CC looked at Lin Xian, her voice clear and bright:

"Then I would naturally be willing to give everything for him, even death."

Rays of sunlight from the Tyndall effect shone through the dust in the air, hitting the middle of the two people.

Separating the two shadows, and illuminating and merging them together.

The momentary silence stirred up an even more enthusiastic cicada song.

Like applause,

Like cheers,

Or like wails.

The breeze in the jungle passed by, bringing the moist fragrance of the soil, and the sweet fragrance overflowing from the flowers.

Butterflies and dragonflies flew up from the sunlight between the two, confusing people's eyes, hazy and blurred.

"Is it the bearded man, VV?"

Lin Xian realized the secrets hidden in CC's words.

He said softly:

"I asked you several times before, but I never got an answer. Why is it that the bearded man VV's words are enough to make you pursue the safe so desperately?"

"There must be some story between the two of you. Either unforgettable, or hard to forget. Is that right? You seem to be talking about me, but in fact, you're talking about the bearded man, VV, who changed your life's blueprint with just one sentence."

CC blinked.

Turning around and continuing to clear the way:

"Maybe."

Her voice was somewhat ethereal:

"But everyone is the same, and the principle is the same. There will always be some things worth risking everything for, and there will always be some people who make us willingly risk everything for them."

"Speaking of which."

CC paused, bypassing a giant tree that took three or four people to encircle, and walked in a different direction:

"Speaking of which, I took a closer look just now, and you seem to be a bit older."

Immediately.

She shook her head:

"Saying you're old might not be very accurate. Is it growth? Or maturity? For someone your age, it's more appropriate to say you've matured a bit."

"In the two memory fragments about you, you were obviously a bit younger than you are now, not just in your expression and manner, but in the literal sense, in your appearance."

Lin Xian didn't speak.

Of course.

The first time he saw CC in the first dreamscape, he was only 23 years old, and CC was one day away from being 20 years old.

And now.

The two met again.

CC was still one day away from being 20 years old, never reaching 20 years old.

And he was already 25 years old.

The time in the dreamscape hadn't flowed, but the time in reality hadn't stopped.

Would there be a day

The two would constantly meet in the dreamscape.

CC would still be so young, and Lin Xian would gradually grow old, 35 years old, 45 years old, 55 years old, 65 years old.

Thinking of what he would look like when he was old.

Thinking of Grandpa Wei Shengjin at 70 years old, and Grandma Zheng Xiangyue at 116 years old.

Lin Xian couldn't help but laugh:

"Yeah, I'm a few years older. Maybe when we meet in the next world, I'll be as old as the bearded man VV."

"Tch."

CC scoffed, quickening her pace:

"You're really starting to get frivolous again."

Facts proved.

CC was indeed very familiar with this forest.

Soon, she led Lin Xian to familiar landmarks, and Lin Xian roughly knew the direction of Grandpa Wei Shengjin.

"It's over there."

Lin Xian pointed southwest, and the two ran quickly through the jungle.

Sure enough.

Soon.

They saw a figure bowing and lowering his head in the distance, holding a metal detector and scanning the ground seriously.

"Teacher Wei!"

Lin Xian waved his hand and greeted him from afar.

Hearing this, Wei Shengjin turned around vigilantly, his right hand reaching behind his waist.

"Teacher Wei, don't get excited, listen to me."

Lin Xian first kept his distance from Wei Shengjin, and then said the lines he had prepared in advance:

"We're also here to find the safe, Teacher Wei. We're looking for Safe No. 66, and the things inside are also very important to us."

"Let's look for it together, shall we? And I know a place where a safe is buried, although it probably isn't yours or mine, but let's try our luck."

Soon.

Grandpa Wei Shengjin was moved by Lin Xian's sincerity and decided to follow Lin Xian to explore the place where the hafnium alloy safe was buried.

He reached out his hand, wanting to shake hands with the two:

"Young man, young lady, what are your names?"

"My name is Lin Xian."

Lin Xian pointed to himself and then to CC:

"Her name is CC."

Wei Shengjin chuckled:

"Good, good, I'll remember your names, my name is."

"Teacher Wei!" "Teacher Wei!"

Lin Xian and CC were quick-witted and quick-handed, directly grabbing Wei Shengjin's hand:

"We've heard so much about you, Teacher Wei, we'll just call you Teacher Wei."

Huh?

Grandpa Wei Shengjin had a puzzled look on his face.

He

Was just an ordinary university teacher, without any titles or important inventions.

Could his name really be so well-known?

"Teacher Wei, I'll carry your backpack for you, just keep up with our pace."

Lin Xian activated the speedrun mode.

He took Wei Shengjin's big backpack and carried it on his back, starting to lead the way:

"The safe is buried over there, there's nothing along the way, speed up!"

Lin Xian and CC seemed like they were running out of time, turning their heads and running.

This made Grandpa Wei Shengjin start to get nervous.

He quickly followed behind.

"Hey, young people, why are you running so fast! We have plenty of time!"

He ran for a while, a little out of breath:

"Oh dear, this old comrade can't keep up with you! Slow down, slow down, friends, it's not like the world's ending tomorrow, what's the rush!"

Eventually.

The two dragged Grandpa Wei Shengjin to a clearing.

Lin Xian put down the backpack.

Wei Shengjin started the metal detector and began to locate.

Beep beep beep beep beep!

Soon, he located the position of the hafnium alloy safe.

He was overjoyed:

"Heavens! You really guessed it! This."

"I'm so excited, I've been detecting here for two months and haven't found a single one, I didn't expect to actually find something today!"

"Lin Xian!"

Grandpa Wei Shengjin turned his head with an excited face:

"Take the folding shovel out of my backpack, we'll do some big."

He froze.

His eyes widened.

Looking at Lin Xian and CC, who were already fully armed.

He saw that the two were each holding a folding shovel, Lin Xian had even given CC a pair of gloves, and they even had spare straw hats, one for each of them, and they had taken out water bottles, CC took a few gulps and handed them to Lin Xian.

"No."

Wei Shengjin was stunned:

"You two, you two are professional archaeological team members? Being professional is a bit too much, right? How are you so familiar with my backpack?"

He really couldn't understand.

His backpack was so messy, with so many things in it.

How could Lin Xian have found all the equipment and props in such a short time, and even unscrewed the water bottle?

"Don't worry, Teacher Wei."

Lin Xian patted his chest:

"We're professionals when it comes to dealing with safes."

After speaking.

He bent down again, as if reaching into a pocket, and took out another folding shovel, skillfully assembling it and handing it to Grandpa Wei Shengjin:

"Take it, it'll definitely be faster if three people dig together."

After speaking.

He again reached into a pocket, taking out Grandpa Wei Shengjin's photo taken in the Time Bank warehouse.

Sure enough, there were no changes.

It was still Safe No. 724, still the familiar Microsoft YaHei font.

No matter what.

To verify whether the space-time change had occurred, they could only dig it open.

He skillfully put the photo back, and took out a pair of work gloves from the side pocket, handing them to Wei Shengjin:

"Teacher Wei, wear the gloves, otherwise your hands will easily get blisters."

At this moment.

Wei Shengjin couldn't help himself anymore:

"Young man! You're too familiar with my backpack! More familiar than I am myself!"

He had a puzzled look on his face, tilting his head to look at Lin Xian:

"You're making me feel very insecure!"

However

Lin Xian and CC were indeed professional safe handling experts. While Grandpa Wei Shengjin was still mumbling about feeling insecure, the two had already shoveled up several handfuls of dirt.

"Sigh."

Grandpa Wei Shengjin sighed.

He could only sigh that he was really old and couldn't keep up with the rhythm of young people.

This young man and young lady were the most decisive people he had ever met, doing what they said they would do, without any hesitation, just like assembly line workers.

Never mind, never mind.

Anyway, they didn't have any malicious intentions towards him. Wei Shengjin was old and knew that many things couldn't be thought about too much.

So.

He rolled up his sleeves and joined Lin Xian and CC's archaeological team.

Three people digging was indeed much faster than two people.

Two people focused on digging.

One person was responsible for widening the pit and transporting the dirt. In less than an hour, the hafnium alloy safe was dug out.

The moment it was stood up.

The three couldn't help but squeeze together to look at the number and name on the safe.

Number: 1277

Name: Pang Ya

Indeed, the number and the owner of the safe hadn't changed.

But!

Lin Xian rubbed the nameplate with his glove.

Sure enough, he hadn't seen it wrong!

The font of the name "Pang Ya" written on it

Was Microsoft YaHei!

Success.

This showed that Lin Xian's plan to actively cause a minor space-time change had succeeded.

He had preserved Wei Shengjin and Gao Wen's safes, but at the same time, he had changed the font of Pang Ya's safe's name from Song to Microsoft YaHei.

Although this was an insignificant change, it had almost no impact on space-time and the future.

But!

It could provide a valuable change parameter for the study of space-time curvature and space-time coordinates!

After leaving the dream at dawn, as long as he observed the numerical changes on the space-time clock, he could deduce the laws of space-time coordinates.

Then, he could answer the Genius Club's first question.

Everything was ready.

He was just waiting to leave the dream at night!

"What do we do next?"

CC sat on the safe, wiping her sweat, looking at Lin Xian:

"Are we going to Face Village?"

Lin Xian thought for a moment.

Indeed, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity should be used to try their luck at Face Village, the base camp of Big Face Cat.

The current Face Village hadn't been invaded by CC yet.

Which meant that.

It wasn't on alert, making it very conducive to infiltration.

"How much do you know about Face Village?"

Lin Xian looked at CC, who was swinging her legs on the safe:

"Have you scouted it before?"

CC nodded:

"I've been there a few times. Usually, around this time, Erzhuzi is patrolling at the entrance. They also patrol in shifts, but I don't know the specific rules."

"I was originally planning to sneak in later in the afternoon, because later, they'll switch shifts, and A Zhuang will take over from Erzhuzi at the entrance. Then Erzhuzi and Sanpang will continue to try to crack the safe's password."

"A Zhuang's eyesight isn't very good, unlike Erzhuzi's sharp eyes. I suggest we can go scout the situation first, but for sneaking in, it'll be easier to wait until A Zhuang replaces Erzhuzi."

"Erzhuzi is on duty?"

Lin Xian thought of that agile-as-a-bird, swift-as-thunder human pillar force, Cao Thief.

If he was patrolling.

It seemed like there would be an even better opportunity!

"No."

Lin Xian shook his head:

"We'll set off now, run faster, and sneak in while Erzhuzi is patrolling."

CC frowned in confusion:

"Wasn't I clear enough?"

"Erzhuzi is very strong, he's fast, has good eyesight, is very observant, and can monitor actions from a long distance."

"And the red-tasseled spear in his hand, an inch longer is an inch stronger, is the king of cold weapons, why do you have to fight him head-on?"

Lin Xian stood up from the ground.

Chuckling:

"What's there to be afraid of? Who said we're going to fight Erzhuzi head-on? We can outsmart the enemy, can't we?"

"I've seen Erzhuzi's skills, and he's indeed very strong. But at the same time."

"Erzhuzi, has a fatal weakness."