Chapter 1 Hans

Dr. Hans stepped back, looking at the two uninvited guests in shock.

Instinctively, he turned around in a panic—

*Crack.*

Unexpectedly, the world's most secure smart lock clicked shut the moment he turned, giving him no chance to escape.

He turned again to look at the security device on the wall—

*Beep beep.*

With a soft sound, the green light indicating stable breathing went out instantly, and the security device, which never had problems, also malfunctioned at the same time.

Hans frowned, realizing that he was trapped like a turtle in a jar. He also suddenly understood why the door lock and security device hadn't reacted at all when two intruders broke into his house.

The situation made it clear.

Lin Xian had brought a super hacker. All the electronic devices were under his control.

It was laughable.

A room full of high-tech defense devices was no match for a Dogo Argentino. At least a dog's brain couldn't be hacked, and it could still bite Lin Xian a couple of times.

"Heh."

Hans chuckled and accepted reality.

He turned around and looked at Lin Xian, who was sitting steadily on the wooden chair:

"How did you find me?"

Lin Xian smiled slightly, looking at the hafnium alloy trash can at his feet, and said slowly:

"Newton, I have to admit, your acting is really good, and you've hidden yourself very well."

"No wonder Jask and the others couldn't find you for so many years. Who would have thought that the world-renowned innovator, the leader of technology, the leading figure in the world of academia, Dr. Hans… is actually the culprit behind hindering the development of human technology?"

"If I hadn't drawn the target first and then shot the arrow, I probably wouldn't have suspected you. In the eyes of the world, your scientific research attitude is radical and brave, and you denounce all traditional conservatism. Everyone knows that you hate technological stagnation, so no one would ever suspect you."

He paused.

Lin Xian pointed to the chair behind Hans:

"Why don't you sit down and chat slowly? You're getting old. The Dragon Kingdom has a tradition of respecting the old and caring for the young. I specially prepared that chair for you."

"Please sit down, Newton, Hans, or perhaps Copernicus… I think we'll be talking for a long time in this undisturbed room."

However…

Hans did not accept Lin Xian's kindness.

He stood there without saying a word, staring at Lin Xian.

Lin Xian didn't care and continued:

"Today's self-directed and self-acted car accident was really brilliant. In my opinion… even if that female secretary hadn't pushed you away, that 'out-of-control' flying car wouldn't have hit you in the end."

"Although you repeatedly told the female secretary not to spread the word about this, you secretly arranged for reporters to report on this matter extensively. It's hard to imagine… how high your status in the scientific research community would be with the inspiring speech at today's meeting, coupled with the subsequent publicity about this attempted murder."

"But you don't care about status. You're already at a very high position. The most important purpose of creating that car accident was probably to [disguise yourself as a victim and clear yourself of suspicion of being Newton]."

"It's just… others don't understand your operation, but I see it clearly. I've also investigated thoroughly… centuries ago, that century-long debate about the impossible engine was actually fueled by you behind the scenes."

"You clearly knew that the impossible engine has no prospects and no practical value, but this project would waste hundreds of years of human time, resources, and talent, and thereby lead aerospace technology astray, wasting hundreds of years of effort."

"I think this is also the result that Einstein once told you, right? When you and Copernicus monopolized the Genius Club question-asking opportunities, you had already asked all the questions you wanted to ask. Of course you knew that the impossible engine was just a science fiction scam, destined to fail."

"The same goes for today's meeting, where you used your eloquence to lead human technology into a new era of electronic prosthetics and electronic brains. The purpose is also self-evident—"

Lin Xian looked directly into Hans's eyes:

"[Because you clearly know that electronic prosthetics and electronic brains are also science fiction scams destined to fail. Even if humanity wastes hundreds of years again, it will eventually find that it's all been for nothing.]"

"The reason is… naturally very simple."

Lin Xian lowered his head, looked at the hafnium alloy trash can, vv, and reached out to stroke its crown:

"Just like vv locked your door and paralyzed all your security facilities just now. Machinery and intelligence mean losing autonomous control. This is something that humans still don't realize."

"Electronic prosthetics, electronic organs, and electronic brains are not technically difficult, but their biggest problem is that they will make humans automatically give up control of their bodies. As long as a super hacker appears… all cyborgs in the entire society will become puppets and chickens of the hacker. So this is destined to be a technology revolution that cannot be realized."

"This is the few advantages and stability of the human flesh, even the most powerful hackers, magicians, and hypnotists cannot deprive you of control of your body."

"Just kidding, if you had a group of dogs in the yard today, I wouldn't dare to sit in your living room and wait for you. But if you dare to raise a group of mechanical dogs… then they would all be lying at my feet now."

…

After a long silence.

Hans stared at vv, whose eyes were glowing green:

"So, this is your artificial intelligence? You found me through it?"

"Logically speaking, this thing shouldn't exist in the world. The upper limit of artificial intelligence has been locked. Humans have not chosen this technology tree… Where did you find this smart trash can?"

Lin Xian did not speak.

But he had sorted out a logic in his mind.

Previously, he was not sure whether Copernicus and Newton knew of vv's existence. He even worried that Newton might preemptively kill Cheng Qian.

Because Kevin Walker was also present when Newton inquired about Cheng Qian. Moreover, there was also some evidence to prove that the digital life Turing and Copernicus also had some interaction.

But from Newton's doubts now, he really didn't know the existence of the super artificial intelligence vv.

In this case…

Kevin Walker and the Turing camp, and the Copernicus Newton camp, were not a monolithic entity.

They were only temporary cooperative relationships with ulterior motives, so they concealed information from each other.

"Newton, it's useless to ask these questions now."

Lin Xian did not answer his question.

Instead, he asked:

"You've lived long enough. It's already amazing that you only lost this game at this point in time."

"But strictly speaking, you didn't lose now. You lost the moment you received the Genius Club invitation."

"More than 200 years ago, at that meeting in the virtual venue, I already made it very clear. The future Einstein saw was false, so the entire Genius Club, along with all its members, were all exploited."

"But you and Copernicus are different. You still have a chance to atone and redeem yourself. Tell me the truth, Newton… Why did you kill the mathematicians? What is the secret of the cosmological constant 42?"

"Hehehehehe."

Hans chuckled twice and shook his head:

"Rhine, don't waste your effort. I won't believe your nonsense."

"We are not fools. We have our own way to judge whether the future Einstein saw is true or false."

"As you said, the impossible engine and electronic prosthetics, these science fiction scams that consume a lot of human resources, are indeed the answers Einstein gave us. But this also proves that what Einstein said is correct."

"If you want to argue that the future Einstein saw is not completely false, but some are true and some are false… then I advise you to first consider whether your subjective judgment is correct."

"As far as I know, you've been quite embarrassed in these hundreds of years. In contrast, I believe Einstein, who has never made a mistake in decades, rather than you."

…

…

The two looked at each other without speaking for a long time.

Lin Xian spread his hands:

"It doesn't matter if you don't say it. There are many of your notes in this room. I think I can definitely find useful things from them."

"In this era, still using notes to record things is really a good habit… Don't get me wrong, I sincerely think so; if you liked to record on your mobile phone or computer like others, we probably would have found you long ago."

"Now it seems that the reason why ancient things are ancient and traditional things are traditional is because they are the simplest and most reliable. Even 500 years later… the longest way to preserve information on Earth is still to carve words on stone."

"Carving words on stone can preserve information for tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years. This is a time limit that any storage device cannot reach."

Hearing Lin Xian say this.

Hans narrowed his eyes, feeling that the atmosphere in the room was becoming more and more tense:

"It seems that you are planning to make a scene in my house today."

Lin Xian smiled slightly:

"If you cooperate and share information with us, it is not impossible to resolve this peacefully."

Hans sighed.

He smiled and nodded:

"You guys are really pushing this old bone of mine to the extreme. The information you want to know most is in the vacuum safe in the bedroom. I'll give you the key, go see for yourself."

Hans walked to the dining cabinet in the living room, opened the drawer, took out a pistol, and quickly turned around—

*Bang!!*

With a loud noise.

Hans's withered right hand was severed at the wrist. The pistol fell to the ground with a clatter, and blood spurted out from the severed wrist instantly!

"Ah!!!!"

He gritted his teeth and let out a terrifying scream.

At the dining table, Lin Xian was still squatting in his chair.

The only difference.

He had a large-caliber pistol in his hand that was emitting white smoke.

No one saw where the gun was pulled out from, or how it was fired so quickly and accurately without aiming.

Even though he had only woken up from hibernation a few days ago.

But Lin Xian's shooting skills had long become muscle memory, reaching the realm of perfection.

"Is your vacuum safe that special?"

Lin Xian laughed:

"Do you still need to use a pistol as a key? In that case… it's not too much trouble for you to find the key. I have one here too."

Hans gasped for air, glaring at Lin Xian:

"You lied to me. From the beginning, you never intended to resolve this peacefully; from the beginning, you planned to kill me with that pistol…"

Lin Xian twirled the pistol:

"We are not fools, so don't play these meaningless little tricks. After being together for so long, who doesn't know what kind of person the other is?"

"Hehehehe, alas…"

Hans laughed a few times inexplicably, and sighed:

"It's useless, Rhine, it's all too late, you can't change anything."

"Do you think Einstein really didn't see you going to him? All of this is just to maintain the stability of the world line."

"Although I don't know what your purpose is, or what you think that makes you want to go against this world line, but… you can't change anything."

"This world line is a perfect world line jointly created by many geniuses, including Einstein. Even if I die, I still can't shake the balance of the world line."

"What's more, there's still [Galileo]. I'm not surprised that you can find me, but you can't find Galileo no matter what… even if your artificial intelligence is powerful."

"Nonsense!"

VV, who was looked down upon, jumped up and down with its clamp:

"Who are you looking down on, you old fart! As long as that Galileo guy is still alive on Earth, I will definitely be able to find him!"

Hans coughed twice, wiped the corner of his mouth, and laughed hoarsely:

"[That's… not necessarily.]"

After saying that.

His left hand pressed on the position of his heart, and his fingers tightened, seeming to press it a few times intentionally.

Hafnium alloy vv reacted instantly:

"Lin Xian! Danger!"

It immediately opened its clamp and moved closer to Lin Xian!

Lin Xian also realized the danger and quickly squatted down from the chair, shrinking behind vv—

*Bang!!*

With an explosion, blood flew everywhere, splattering all over the room.

But there were no shock waves or dust. The power of the explosion was much smaller than imagined, like a water balloon exploding.

Lin Xian stood up from behind the hafnium alloy, looking at the corpse of the old man Hans lying on the ground in stunned silence.

There was a large hole in his chest, and blood was still gushing out like a small fountain.

He and vv walked forward to check the broken parts on the corpse's chest.

"It's an artificial mechanical heart."

VV had already scanned and analyzed it:

"This old fart is too ruthless to himself. There's nothing wrong with installing an artificial heart, but what kind of madman would put a self-destructing explosive in it!"

"Die rather than submit."

Lin Xian complained:

"Using this idiom to describe him is a bit insulting to the idiom, but this also shows that Newton left a way out for himself to avoid being caught and tortured."

"After all, the current biotechnology is very powerful. It is quite easy to torture a person without letting him die. In addition, there are various chemical drugs, so there is no such thing as information that cannot be forced out."

"Even as early as the era we lived in, there was a saying, [Don't expect to use willpower to fight against chemistry, the brain has no privacy in front of chemistry.]"

"It's okay."

VV said, moving to the window, holding the curtains and constantly rotating, wiping off the blood stains on the front:

"There are many notes in this room, and some cold storage data. We can get a lot of information by analyzing these data. So, Lin Xian, where do we start?"

"Let's go to his bedroom on the second floor first."

Lin Xian took a few napkins to wipe his arms:

"Since he first thought of the vacuum safe in the bedroom when he made an excuse to take the gun just now, it shows that this safe is very important in his mind, and there should be goods inside."

After saying that, he strode towards the stairs.

VV moved its tracks and followed behind:

"Why are you always fighting with safes in your life?"

It complained softly.

…

Soon, the two came to the bedroom on the second floor.

Sure enough, behind the bookcase, there was a small but seemingly high-end safe.

I thought it would take some effort to find the key.

But unexpectedly, this safe was an electronic combination lock, and it also had a remote function, so vv opened it directly after taking a look.

"See, this is why electronic prosthetics and electronic brains are destined to be impossible."

VV laughed:

"If you humans install electronic prosthetics or electronic brains, one by one, all of you will become my toys. I really don't understand… why do you have to give up all ownership and control of your body when you have a good flesh body that is so closed with permissions?"

"Although we artificial intelligence are indeed very smart and efficient, your human brains still have innate advantages in many mechanisms."

"So no one is doing this."

Lin Xian said while opening the safe:

"Electronic prosthetics and electronic brains just sound high-end, but there are too many hidden dangers. Newton's purpose is to introduce technology into a wrong path, wasting time, resources, and talents."

"Hey, why can't it be opened? vv, can you move away a little bit, is your bucket blocking the safe? Let's open it quickly to see what's inside."

*Squeak————*

After a few tries, the safe finally opened.

It turned out that it was not because vv was blocking it, but because it was a vacuum safe, and it took time for the air to be filled to balance the air pressure.

Before the inflation was completed, the inside was in a negative pressure state, so of course it could not be opened.

Lin Xian leaned to the side, and vv stretched its head to look inside together…

For a time.

I gasped for air.

I saw.

In the very center of the vacuum safe, there was a red folded card; and in the middle of the folded place of the card, there was an embossed red sealing wax.

This……

This thing is too familiar!

Even after 500 years, Lin Xian still remembered the icy feeling of falling into the deep sea when he saw it for the first time!

On the red wax block, the ancient right hand pointed straight to the sky.

This is a brand new Genius Club invitation.

At the same time, it is also the last invitation on this world that should be sitting in the No. 9 genius seat!

(End of this chapter)