Chapter 13 The Number 42

The sky gradually darkened.

The sun set in the west, and the moon climbed up.

Through the window facing the street, Lin Xian looked up and once again saw the pale jade disk of the moon, bisected by a terrifying black hand.

How absurd…

No matter how many times Lin Xian saw the moon like this, he found it laughable.

He never would have imagined that the emblem of the Genius Club would appear superimposed on the moon. Even if he were writing a novel, he couldn't have come up with such a setting.

But from another perspective, this behavior was indeed very "genius" and consistent with Lin Xian's impression of the Genius Club—

Bizarre and arrogant.

Superimposing their emblem on the moon, so that every human on Earth could see the right hand with its index finger pointing straight up whenever they looked up at the moon at night.

Inscrutable and formidable.

In summary, Lin Xian knew very little about the Genius Club, but one thing really bothered him—

The Genius Club only killed Xu Yun, but didn't take his research data. But in this dream world, they not only took the Big-Faced Cat's father, but also all of his draft paper…

"This means…"

"[The Genius Club doesn't care about Xu Yun's research results, but they fear the Big-Faced Cat's father's research results, fear the cosmological constant! Fear the true meaning of 42.]"

Lin Xian stood up and reaffirmed his previous deduction.

Perhaps this cosmological constant 42…

Really was the Genius Club's biggest weakness, the thing they feared most.

He walked out of the room.

Stepped onto the stairs.

Arrived at the rooftop of the second floor.

The roof was covered with clotheslines and some miscellaneous green plants.

Lin Xian turned around and looked at the distant, colossal, brightly lit Neo-Donghai City.

It was so towering and huge… standing between heaven and earth.

Actually.

There was still a chance to figure out the meaning of the cosmological constant 42.

Lin Xian stared at the colorful steel city:

"If the Genius Club's timing for killing these scientists must be precisely at 00:42…"

"Then that means the Big-Faced Cat's father isn't dead yet. He'll be alive until 00:42 on August 29, 2624."

"As long as I infiltrate Neo-Donghai City before that time and find the Big-Faced Cat's father… I can ask him the meaning of the cosmological constant 42."

This was another race against time…

He had a strange feeling that his unique dreams, the white light that destroyed the world on time at 00:42, the Genius Club's purpose… all of these mysteries were related to the mysterious number 42.

Lin Xian looked up at the moon covered by the black hand in the sky, at the boundless dark universe behind the moon, and recalled the words the Big-Faced Cat's father kept repeating:

"42… is everywhere."

Lin Xian scanned the steel walls of Neo-Donghai City, stretching for tens of kilometers from west to east:

"It seems that a trip to this Neo-Donghai City is unavoidable."

After coming out of the dream last time, Lin Xian had set two main tasks for himself.

One was to find out about the cosmological constant 42 from the Big-Faced Cat's father. The other was to enter Neo-Donghai City to find the correct history books and understand how this future world had developed step by step.

Now.

Because the Big-Faced Cat's father had been captured and taken into Neo-Donghai City, these two main tasks seemed to have merged into one.

The biggest gain from entering the dream this time was knowing that the cosmological constant was 42.

But what exactly was the meaning of 42?

Why was it 42?

What was the use of 42?

This was still the biggest mystery in Lin Xian's mind.

"Hey! Bro! What are you doing up there! Come down!"

Looking down.

In the yard, the Big-Faced Cat had already fed the pigs and dogs and was calling Lin Xian down:

"Hurry up and come down! We still have to buy roasted chicken for my son when we get back, don't dawdle!"

…

Since the Big-Faced Cat's father wasn't there, and nothing of value had been left in the room, there was no point in staying here.

Lin Xian closed the doors and windows, turned off the lights, got on the Big-Faced Cat's motorcycle, put on his helmet, and began the return journey.

Tutututu—

The Big-Faced Cat's motorcycle spewed foul-smelling black smoke and sped along the bumpy dirt road.

They rode in silence.

Lin Xian's mind was filled with thoughts about the cosmological constant 42 and how to sneak into Neo-Donghai City to find the Big-Faced Cat's father…

"[Wait, there's actually another way.]"

Lin Xian had a flash of inspiration and thought of a key point.

"Face Bro!"

He shouted into the Big-Faced Cat's ear from the back seat of the motorcycle. The wind was strong because of the speed, so he had to shout for the other person to hear:

"You said your father's book, the *Introduction to the Cosmological Constant*, is a 600-year-old book? Are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

Face Bro didn't turn his head, shouting against the wind:

"My dad said so himself. He's been flipping through this book for so many years that it's almost falling apart. There's no mistake. It's an ancient book from 600 years ago, dug out of a grave."

"But that's not right, Face Bro. That doesn't make sense," Lin Xian shouted:

"Unless it's preserved in a laboratory-level environment, it's impossible for a book to be read normally after 600 years."

"If you're lucky and the storage conditions are right, maybe you can dig it out of an ancient tomb and restore it as a cultural relic; if you're unlucky, it might turn into dust as soon as you touch it."

"But in either case, it's absolutely impossible for it to be intact after your father flipped through it for many years. That's absolutely impossible. The shelf life of paper is actually very short."

Boom… Boom…

As the motorcycle drove into the village market, the Big-Faced Cat also slowed down, and the two were able to communicate without shouting:

"Bro, your brain isn't very bright."

The Big-Faced Cat parked the motorcycle and stopped behind the roasted chicken shop, looking at Lin Xian:

"My father's book is indeed an ancient book from 600 years ago, but it's not the one that was dug out of the grave! My son has a set of *Journey to the West*, can you say that this set of books was dug out from 1000 years ago?"

"It must have been printed later! Don't say my father has the ability to dig up a 600-year-old tomb… even if he really dug up a book, who would dare to put such an unlucky thing in their home? My dad saw the thing about digging it out of a grave on the cover of the book. Who knows if it's true or not."

With that, he went happily to buy roasted chicken.

Lin Xian also understood what he wanted to express.

The original work of *Introduction to the Cosmological Constant* was written 600 years ago, by a mathematician 600 years ago.

This was the same as Wu Cheng'en writing *Journey to the West* in the Ming Dynasty.

And the *Journey to the West* that everyone is flipping through now must be a printed book that has been reprinted countless times, not the original one written by Wu Cheng'en, or the one dug out of a tomb.

*Introduction to the Cosmological Constant* was the same.

It was true that this book was created 600 years ago, but the one in the Big-Faced Cat's father's hand was also a "replicated version" that was later printed and published.

In other words, [this book is not a unique copy!]

This provided Lin Xian with a new idea for figuring out the mystery of the cosmological constant 42—

600 years before 2624 was roughly around 2024, which was in the same era as his own 2023!

This also meant… the original author of this *Introduction to the Cosmological Constant* was very likely living in the reality of 2023!

As long as he could find out who the original author of this book was, he could just go find him in the reality of 2023!

Although, judging from the current situation, it was possible that the original author didn't solve the answer to the cosmological constant even until he died.

But that didn't matter.

He already knew that the final answer was 42.

As long as he had a good chat with the original author, he would definitely gain something!

So…

The most important thing right now was to figure out who the original author of this book was!

It would be best to know the author's name, date of birth, location, job title, etc.… In short, the more details, the better.

After thinking it through.

He had another exploration route.

At this time, Face Bro also came back with the roasted chicken, and Lin Xian asked directly:

"Face Bro, do you know what the author of that *Introduction to the Cosmological Constant* is called?"

"I don't know, I've never even looked at that book."

"Then where did your father buy it? Is it in a bookstore?"

"How could we have such a profound book here!" The Big-Faced Cat snorted:

"We don't have real history and knowledge here at all. We're not qualified to know these things. Only Neo-Donghai City has this kind of profound knowledge and real history."?

Lin Xian seized the flaw in the Big-Faced Cat's words:

"So… your father's book flowed out of Neo-Donghai City? How was this done? Aren't you completely isolated from Neo-Donghai City, with no communication at all?"

Uh!

The Big-Faced Cat closed his mouth tightly, his face pale, as if he had made a big mistake:

"Cough cough… Bro, I can't tell you the details about this."

"Don't do that, Face Bro."

Lin Xian grabbed the roasted chicken in his hand:

"I'm already your little brother, a member of your Face Gang! How can you, as the big brother, still hide things from me?"

"Just tell me! Are you hiding something from me? Is it related to your secret mission with A Zhuang and Er Zhu Zi tonight?"

The Big-Faced Cat was silent.

Looking at the roasted chicken in his hand, he didn't speak for a long time.

Finally…

As if making a big decision, he nodded heavily:

"Bro, I admit, I do have something to hide from you." The Big-Faced Cat was still so honest and loyal:

"But I didn't plan to hide it from you forever."

"Actually, I was planning to tell you this when we were eating, but since you've asked now, I'll just say it."

"We have a boss above us, and we've been working for the boss. I was planning to take you to see the boss tomorrow. As long as he likes you and allows you to join the action, then I can tell you everything."

"Naturally… that includes the origin of my father's book. I believe the boss will definitely like your skills. It's just that your bro, I am honest and trustworthy, and I can't tell you about this until the boss approves of you. Don't make things difficult for me."

…

The Big-Faced Cat spoke very sincerely.

Just like what he said when he entered the dream last time, he said that there was a boss above them, who had been secretly doing something.

And he was planning to take him to see the boss "tomorrow."

Tomorrow again!

Tomorrow and tomorrow, how many tomorrows there are!

What's more, there was no tomorrow in this future world at all. The Big-Faced Cat was giving him a blank check that could never be cashed.

"No, I want to see the boss today."

Lin Xian's attitude was very firm, and he held tightly to the chicken leg of the roasted chicken:

"I'm very confident in my skills. Take me to see the boss today. I can participate in the gang activities tonight."

"Today is really not possible, bro! What time is it already!" The Big-Faced Cat slapped Lin Xian's hand:

"Let go of my son's chicken leg!"

"Okay, okay, bro, don't be so fussy. Since your brother has said that he'll take you to see the boss tomorrow, then even if the sky falls tomorrow, he'll still take you! What are you panicking about…"

However!

Lin Xian held on to the chicken leg tightly, with a tendency to tear it apart:

"How about this, Face Bro, you just take me there. If the boss is not satisfied with me, I'll turn around and leave, and I won't pester you, okay?"

"I will definitely not waste your time. I'll do whatever the boss wants to test me on. As long as I fail, I won't say a word and leave immediately!"

The chicken skin of the chicken leg had been torn!

The white meat floss began to burst open… with a tendency to collapse!

"Okay, okay, okay! Ugh, I'm really convinced by you! Let go, let go! I'll take you, okay!"

Lin Xian smiled slightly and let go of the chicken leg.

The Big-Faced Cat cursed and hung the roasted chicken on the handlebars of the motorcycle, pointing at Lin Xian:

"It's settled, okay? If the boss doesn't agree with you participating in tonight's activities, don't talk too much and hurry back home with me. I'll say more good things for you later and try to get you a retake. Let's send the roasted chicken home to my son first."

"Got it, don't worry, Face Bro."

Lin Xian nimbly got on the back seat of the motorcycle.

What a joke!

If Er Zhu Zi, who spied on his sister-in-law, and San Pang, that silly fool, could pass the boss's assessment… where was his parkour skill worse than them?

If he couldn't even pass the boss's assessment, then these years of dreams would have been in vain.

Once he met the boss and joined the secret mission in the evening, he would naturally know where that *Introduction to the Cosmological Constant* came from.

As long as he got another *Introduction to the Cosmological Constant*, he could lock down the name, photo, workplace, origin, and other information based on the author information on the cover… and then he could find him in the real 2023 and ask him everything about the cosmological constant 42!

Although this method was a little troublesome…

It was still much simpler and easier to achieve than sneaking into Neo-Donghai City alone to find the Big-Faced Cat's father.

He was really curious:

"Which genius…"

"Was able to write *Introduction to the Cosmological Constant* 600 years ago?"

…

Squeak——

The Big-Faced Cat's rickety motorcycle stopped in front of a large courtyard.

Green tiles and red walls, tung wood doors, full of rich atmosphere.

You couldn't see the layout inside the courtyard clearly… but just looking at the exaggerated area it covered was enough to imagine how luxurious the buildings inside were.

In this poor little village, this huge courtyard seemed particularly out of place, like the Forbidden City in a slum.

"We're here, bro. That's our boss."

The Big-Faced Cat got off the car and pointed to the middle-aged man who was watering flowers in the neat and clean courtyard.

He was dressed in brocade gray robes, with the air of a scholarly immortal.

He pulled Lin Xian into the gate and shouted:

"Boss! I've brought a new little brother to see you."

The man watering the flowers lifted the watering can and turned around with a smile, gentle and magnanimous, as warm as a spring breeze.

Lin Xian looked up…

He never would have thought that he would see this face here!

"Li Cheng?"