Cheng Cheng and the Cicada
Chapter 37 Dreaming in Broad Daylight
“Genius Club…”
He held the wax seal between two fingers and walked to the glass, reflecting it in the sunlight, watching the deep red light.
In the red light, a right hand pointed straight at the sun in the sky, the back of the hand broad and powerful, the extended index finger seeming to pierce the scorching sun.
Inexplicably eerie.
Inexplicably arrogant.
“This is probably their logo, their emblem.”
Lin Xian held the wax seal in the palm of his hand.
After touching the invitation letter last time, this was the first time Lin Xian had touched an object related to the Genius Club, and it was also the closest he had ever been to the Genius Club.
What does this pattern… mean?
Lin Xian stretched out his right hand, the back of his hand facing himself, then made a fist and pointed his index finger straight into the sky.
It looked a bit like a teacher emphasizing key points in class, but it had an inexplicable sense of oppression. It was like being invincible in the world, controlling everything, and making the whole world submit.
Lin Xian put the wax seal into his inside pocket.
It was unsafe to keep this thing at the company; it would be better to take it home and hide it.
But at the same time, he thought of a terrifying possibility:
“Since this sealed wax block has fallen off the invitation, it means… Zhao Yingjun has already opened and read this invitation.”
Lin Xian looked at the towering buildings outside the window and stood still, lost in thought.
Zhao Yingjun has already read this invitation…
What is her attitude?
Is it indifference?
Is she considering it?
Or…
[Has she agreed and officially joined the Genius Club?]
Lin Xian felt the room temperature drop.
If what Big Fat Cat said was true.
Then the Genius Club was definitely a villainous, evil organization.
What was Zhao Yingjun's purpose in joining?
What was her motive?
What would she do in the future?
Lin Xian felt a chill run down his spine…
But then he thought that this was not something he should be considering now.
All his negative impressions of the Genius Club came from Big Fat Cat’s description.
Considering Big Fat Cat’s profession and nature…
He couldn't completely determine that he was telling the truth.
“This matter should be considered after verifying the authenticity of the dream.”
Now, the dream itself was of unknown truth.
Big Fat Cat’s words, again, were of unknown truth.
It was too early to rush to a conclusion; he should proceed step by step.
“The most important task right now is to find a way to help Professor Xu Yun overcome the research difficulties and rewrite the future!”
…
Lin Xian sat back in his chair, spun his pen, and began to consider his next plan.
According to his thoughts last night.
The goal was very clear—
In the dream, find some information or theories about hibernation technology, and then transfer these things to Xu Yun.
This was how he thought:
Although the scientific development level of the dream was similar to 2022… it was, after all, a future world 600 years later, so there couldn’t be absolutely no breakthroughs in the field of hibernation, right?
Even if hibernation pods were still out of reach.
Were there any breakthroughs in theory and some small parts, small accessories, and pre-existing technologies?
Lin Xian didn’t understand research.
But he guessed that if he could find some useful literature, it might bring inspiration to Professor Xu Yun.
And these inspirations might enlighten Professor Xu Yun, and then he could make some achievements in the field of hibernation technology, ignite the spark in the field of hibernation pod research, and make the world pay attention to it.
“If everything goes smoothly, then I can also verify the authenticity of the dream and see if it will produce a space-time butterfly effect.”
Lin Xian lowered his head and closed his eyes to calculate…
[If he really succeeded in rewriting the future, what kind of space-time changes would the space-time butterfly effect cause?]
[First of all, the historical change of Xu Yun himself.]
He would inevitably become the founder and leader in the field of hibernation research, his status in the scientific community comparable to Prometheus, who stole the fire of eternal life.
Such a person would inevitably be recorded in history books.
If everything went smoothly… he would soon be able to see Xu Yun's name in the history books 600 years later.
[Secondly, earth-shaking changes in the dream world.]
The fact that the technological level in the dream world had remained stagnant for 600 years had always been Lin Xian’s biggest mystery.
But if he really had the power to rewrite the future and change the future world…
Then the advancement of hibernation technology by 600 years would inevitably trigger a strong space-time butterfly effect, changing the face of the future world like an earth-shattering event.
Lin Xian had no idea what the specific effect would be on the future world's technological level. But one thing was certain… it would definitely no longer be the underdeveloped, stagnant state it was in now.
…
If these two "space-time changes" occurred as expected.
That would be enough to confirm his guess and prove that his dream was a genuine future world!
Lin Xian spun his pen and continued to think:
“It’s not difficult to find literature or papers on 'Hibernation Technology'. If the dream world really has such things, then they can definitely be found in the library.”
As a public welfare social science place, the library was not for profit, so you can find many rare professional books inside. It was the most concentrated place for knowledge.
In the dream world, Lin Xian naturally knew the location of the library.
He had passed by that magnificent building many times.
The whole library was round, with a twin-tower structure, covering a very large area, and the surrounding area was wide and quiet. It could be considered a landmark building in the dream city.
The library closed very early every day, basically around five or six o'clock.
So it was definitely unrealistic to go to the library to find books at night. The library was only open to the public during the day.
“It seems that I can only dream during the day and enter the dream world during the day.”
When he was very young, Lin Xian had verified the earliest time he could enter the dream world—
12:42 noon.
Before this time, no matter how early he slept, he would be in a dreamless state, and the quality of his sleep was excellent.
But as soon as this time arrived, he would immediately enter the dream world and stand in that familiar square.
12:42 noon - 00:42 midnight.
These 12 hours were the time Lin Xian could spend in the dream world every day. At other times, he could not enter the dream.
…
Lin Xian went to his group members' office, arranged some work, and then asked for leave to go home.
On the way, Lin Xian had a simple lunch.
After simply washing up at home, he went straight to bed to take a nap.
He glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table, which showed 13:20.
“The library in the dream probably closes at five or six in the afternoon. If I fall asleep now, I can spend four hours in the library, which is still plenty of time.”
He closed the curtains to darken the bedroom.
Lin Xian got into bed and closed his eyes:
“Sleep, let’s go!”