Chapter 519 Cunning Calculation

Lin Xian sat on the black wood chair on the high platform, impassive, but inwardly, he was caught off guard by the scene.

He knew very well.

Einstein was willing to sacrifice his life to activate the Genius Club meeting system... that meant he considered this matter extremely important, extremely crucial.

Especially since he had been trying to tell him something, but couldn't because of the forced avoidance.

Presumably, a hint regarding that unspeakable matter could be found in the upcoming gathering.

But Lin Xian never expected...

The gathering, which he thought no one would attend, not only had [Newton] arrive in time, but he had also switched seats, sitting in [Copernicus]'s seat, and confessed his identity as Copernicus!

Things happened too suddenly.

And were full of doubts.

First of all, the first premise that could be clarified was—

[1. Newton and Copernicus are definitely not the same person.]

The Genius Club had initially adopted an offline meeting model, with Copernicus as the 2nd member and Newton as the 3rd member, both having participated in offline meetings for a long time.

Although everyone wore masks.

But things like body shape, voice, and gait made it easy to identify a person. Galileo and Da Vinci, as older members, had also attended offline meetings dozens of times, and they knew clearly that Copernicus and Newton were completely different people.

Even... Newton and Copernicus were mortal enemies who were constantly at odds. Newton had gnashed his teeth countless times in hatred, regretting that he hadn't shot Copernicus to death with a single bullet.

Besides.

There was also a decisive piece of evidence.

Even if they all wore masks, they absolutely couldn't fool the omniscient and omnipotent Einstein. As the founder and president of the Genius Club, Einstein would never allow the same person to play two roles in the meeting.

Not online, and even less so offline. Rules were rules, and no club member could mess around or dare to mess around under Einstein's nose.

Then.

The second premise that could be confirmed was—

[2. Both Copernicus and Newton know their true identity, Lin Xian.]

When he went to Switzerland with Jask and Angelica to shoot Copernicus, Copernicus directly called out his name.

Lin Xian had been mentally prepared for this.

He had openly destroyed the Seven Deadly Sins and repeatedly ruined Copernicus's plans in the battle of the fake and real Yu Xi… it would be unreasonable if he didn't suspect him.

No wonder.

No wonder it was so easy to kill Copernicus, which had always made Lin Xian feel like something was "wrong."

So, the truth was indeed the same as he had imagined at the time…

"In this world, there are actually two Copernicuses!"

Lin Xian had already thought of this when he saw that technological development was still stagnating after he woke up from hibernation.

He had even thought that there might be more than two Copernicuses, perhaps many, perhaps an organization, or even a constant succession of successors continuing the belief.

But he never expected...

Newton, who had always been at odds with Copernicus, fighting to the death... was actually the second Copernicus!

This made it easy to explain why Newton also knew his true identity.

Since he and Copernicus had been in cahoots from the start, they would naturally share intelligence.

Perhaps… in that shooting in Switzerland, while he was scheming against Copernicus, Copernicus was also scheming against him.

Copernicus was too old at the time, and even if he slept in a hibernation pod, he would most likely not live long.

Therefore.

Was it possible that the easy shooting was Copernicus entering the game himself, wanting to leave Newton with the final clues?

This could be confirmed later.

During the current quick brainstorming, the third premise must be clarified first—

[3. Copernicus and Newton, as the earliest members to join the Genius Club, must know more crucial secrets.]

Einstein's initial intention was good, his original desire was also good, he was just deceived by the false future.

In the last moment before he dissipated, he was trying to make up for his mistakes.

In addition, Einstein's friendship with Douglas was short but profound, and he would never harm him.

Einstein naturally knew about Newton and Copernicus colluding, but this was in line with the rules of the Genius Club, so he would certainly not interfere.

Looking at it this way, the dream combination of Newton and Copernicus was indeed the existence that knew the most secrets.

Perhaps… those things that Einstein couldn't say, he could instead extract the truth from Newton!

This should be Einstein's final good intention.

…

After understanding these premises, Lin Xian began to analyze the current situation.

As soon as Newton came in, he confirmed Einstein's death, and then directly jumped in his face to state his position.

It seemed that he was still somewhat afraid of Einstein.

But now.

The only fear had disappeared.

This former "good brother" was now completely unburdened and completely liberated.

Instantly.

Lin Xian recalled a [detail].

That was at the Genius Club meeting on September 1, 2024. After Jask announced that he had killed Copernicus, the geniuses present didn't believe it, and they all thought that Copernicus had faked his death or that the one who died was a substitute.

At that time.

Da Vinci said that he would confirm whether Copernicus was really dead by asking Einstein.

This was also Lin Xian and Jask's plan. Even if Da Vinci didn't ask, Jask would confirm with Einstein.

And at this moment... something interesting happened.

This matter didn't seem strange at the time and didn't attract anyone's attention; but now, looking at it from the perspective of hindsight, Newton was truly a cunning old fox—

Right after Da Vinci finished speaking.

Newton, who had never asked a question and had always remained mysterious, suddenly suggested:

"Although the questions asked cannot involve Genius Club members, there are actually skills to asking questions. I'll ask about Copernicus's question!"

He also gave Lin Xian a wink:

"Rhine, you came the latest, I'll teach you how to ask questions skillfully."

At that time, Lin Xian had a good impression of Newton and even regarded him as the old leader of the anti-Copernicus camp.     Therefore, he felt a little secretly pleased.

 

Since old leader Newton was willing to help ask questions to verify, he would have one more chance to ask questions, which felt like a win.

But looking at it now…

Why did Newton, who never asked questions, rush to ask questions that time and not let others ask?

[Because he and Copernicus were in cahoots, and it's even very likely that the subsequent murders of scientists were his doing.]

[Therefore, this question must be asked by Newton himself for Einstein to give an answer; if someone else asks... Einstein will definitely refuse to answer, which will cause Newton and Copernicus's plan to fail.]

"You are really cunning."

After understanding all this logic, Lin Xian leaned against the back of the black wood chair and looked down at Newton sitting in Copernicus's seat:

"I have to say, Newton, you really hid it well, fooling all of us."

"It's okay if you can fool me, after all, I only joined the Genius Club recently and don't know much about the members, so it's easy to be deceived by your first impressions."

"But you, Copernicus, Galileo, Da Vinci, have met offline so many times, and they all firmly believe that you and Copernicus are mortal enemies who can't wait to strangle each other... Your acting skills are really admirable."

"One plays the good guy, one plays the bad guy; one plays the villainous demon, one acts as the righteous leader; one stands in the open to ask questions, one remains silent... This scene of *Infernal Affairs* is really brilliantly performed by you two."

"Now that I think about it, at the meeting after Copernicus's death, you rushed to ask [From now on, will there still be scientists or mathematicians who die due to human causes at 00:42 local time]... It's completely a thief crying 'stop thief,' defending yourself."

"You and Copernicus have been in cahoots from the very beginning, sharing a common hatred and having a common dream and purpose; Copernicus is old and destined not to survive the passage of time, so after his death, only you can inherit his will and continue to kill scientists and mathematicians."

"But according to the Genius Club's question rules, the questions and answers cannot involve other club members. Whether the question is asked by Da Vinci, Jask, or me... Einstein's answer will definitely be 'refuse to answer, the question opportunity is forfeited.'"

"And if you, as Copernicus's successor, the subsequent murderer, ask the question yourself, you won't be refused by Einstein, and instead, you'll get a true answer."

"It seems that you and Copernicus are different, not so strict in killing methods and killing times, and there aren't so many rules... So, as long as you immediately decide not to kill people at 00:42 anymore, and instead change the time randomly or not have a fixed time... then there will never be a scientist who dies precisely at 00:42."

"In this way, Einstein will also truthfully give the answer, saying that no scientist will die due to human causes at 00:42."

"You and Einstein naturally know what this answer means... Meaning that you used a clever question and an answer that you could control to deceive all the other geniuses, making everyone mistakenly believe that Copernicus had completely died and that no scientists would be killed again."

"Using the death of a dying old man to completely hide [Copernicus] in the long river of history, your plan was indeed very successful."

…

Listening to Lin Xian's words, Newton, sitting in Copernicus's seat, showed a calm smile.

Lin Xian stared at his face.

It was a completely virtual image, and the part above the nose and below the forehead presented a deep black hole, and no details of the eyes could be seen. Lin Xian could only judge Newton's line of sight by the direction of his head.

"Very good analysis, Rhine."

Newton chuckled:

"After so long, you can still remember that meeting 200 years ago, which shows that you are indeed very careful. But now... it's all too late."

"Although I don't know how you found Einstein, I have to say, I admire your ability."

"But, you wouldn't think that killing Einstein can change all of this, right? No... on the contrary, your approach will only make the timeline more stable."

However.

Lin Xian shook his head gently:

"Newton, haven't you ever suspected that the future Einstein saw was fake?"

"Your hands are stained with blood, I naturally won't advise you to turn back from your wrong path, but... I'm just curious, you are all smart people, don't you have your own judgment about the future?"

"From our last meeting to now, more than 200 years have passed. Thanks to you, in these 200 years, human technology has squeezed out the last drop of water from Moore's Law, and the cutting-edge fields of technology have almost stopped developing."

"Why, in such a situation, can you still firmly believe that humanity has a perfect future? What you are doing, and the future you expect... aren't they contradictory?"

Hehehe.

Newton crossed his legs and let out a meaningful laugh:

"You won't understand, Rhine. You joined the Genius Club too late, you don't know what the real crisis humanity will face in the future... If you don't know the correct question, you will never get the correct answer."

"Then how can you be sure that you are correct?"

Lin Xian retorted:

"Your so-called right or wrong also comes from the information given by Einstein, doesn't it?"

"Perhaps you should rethink. Einstein can die today, and I can sit in his seat, which proves... that the future he saw must be wrong; since he is wrong, how can you be right?"

Newton snorted:

"Forget it, Rhine, you can't get any information from me. I've lived for so many years, you're too naive to play tricks in front of me."

"It doesn't matter if you don't say it."

Lin Xian didn't care:

"Even if you don't say it, I can roughly guess it. But... the matter between us won't be so simple."

"Many of my friends died at your hands. Over the years, I have always felt uneasy about not completely killing Copernicus and not completely avenging them."

"I'm very grateful that you can come to this gathering today, and now... I can finally sweep the tombs for my friends with a clear conscience."

Newton laughed loudly after hearing this:

"You have a big tone, Rhine. Do you really want to kill all the members of the Genius Club from top to bottom?"

"If you really have this idea, then you shouldn't have killed Einstein. He is the only person in the world who can find me. Now, you have helped me remove this hidden danger, so I should thank you instead."

"But... if you really want to find me, you might as well give it a try."

Newton supported himself on the chair with both arms, stood up, and waved to Lin Xian:

"I'm not young anymore, don't make me wait too long."

"How could I?"

Lin Xian chuckled:

"There are many people who can calculate the answer to the cosmological constant in the future. Are you willing to give up so early?"

"Oh?"

Newton put away his smile, and his expression became serious:

"It seems that you really know something, can you provide me with the clues of this mathematician?"

"Of course, I can."

Lin Xian sat up straight:

"I'm more curious about one thing. Copernicus once said that he would never harm innocent children, and would even raise the children who lost their parents due to murder."

"What about you? Newton, if a car accident could kill the mathematician and his little granddaughter together... what would you choose?"

"Does that even need to be thought about?"

Newton spread his hands:

"You also said just now that I am different from Copernicus. He is too benevolent and respects the sense of ritual... In my opinion, those are all unnecessary and unnecessary procedures."

"Is that so? That's great."

Lin Xian also stood up from the black wood chair and stared at the young man under the steps:

"You have to take care of your health, Newton."

"If I can't kill you with my own hands... I will feel very regretful."