Zhao…

Zhao Yingjun?

Lin Xian looked at the name on the base of the sculpture in disbelief.

In memory of, the builder of Rhein Sky City… Zhao Yingjun.

"Why is Zhao Yingjun's name here?"

"Then does that mean..."

He raised his head.

Lin Xian gazed at the white jade statue, tens of meters tall, before him.

From this仰视(yangshi – looking up) angle, he couldn't see the specific features and details, but since the base was inscribed with Zhao Yingjun's name… then this commemorative and laudatory statue should be his former boss, the president of MX Company, Zhao Yingjun.

There was no possibility of the same name, because everything was too coincidental, so coincidental that… it couldn't be another Zhao Yingjun.

Lin Xian lowered his head, staring at the words carved on the base, lost in thought, and began to sort out his thoughts.

According to his initial guess.

This Rhein Sky City was most likely built from his own Rhein Company; therefore, under this premise, it was most reasonable for the future him to leave a backdoor for the past him, a gap in the air defense network.

Thinking further, where should this gap be left?

If there was a plaza with a statue commemorating the founder of Rhein Company, which was himself, it would be perfectly logical to leave the hidden gap in the air defense network directly above his own statue. Everything was so perfect.

Therefore.

The moment Lin Xian descended from the sky and saw the white jade statue on the ground, he instinctively felt that this should be his statue.

However…

By a twist of fate.

All previous reasoning was valid, but the final answer was vastly different.

"The builder of Rhein Sky City, the prototype of this statue, and the person who deliberately left the gap in the air defense network for me…"

"Is actually Zhao Yingjun."

Lin Xian was a little confused.

Why did Zhao Yingjun do all this?

What was her purpose in doing so, and what was the history of building Rhein Sky City?

Rhein was clearly his company, so where did his existence go? Where were his historical traces?

……

Lin Xian believed that if Zhao Yingjun's purpose in designing all this was to bring him into Sky City, then the answers to these questions could also be found here.

In these days of dreams, he had also talked a lot with Da Lian Mao (Big Face Cat) and Li Ningning, and had a general understanding of the situation in this world.

The history of this Rhein Sky City was not that long. It had only been less than 200 years since it ascended.

But before those 200 years, the construction time of Rhein Sky City on the ground exceeded 100 years… This was a true century-long project.

By this calculation, Rhein Sky City began to be built on the ground around 2300.

At that time, the residents inside had already begun to live here, still separated from the outside world like Xin Donghai City.

The construction of Sky City lasted for more than a hundred years, and then all the controllable nuclear fusion engines ignited in an orderly manner, lifting this behemoth to a height of 2,000 meters, and since then it had been suspended in the air for as long as 200 years, becoming a veritable city in the sky.

And the emergence of radiation sickness also gradually began to spread from that time.

According to the descriptions of Da Lian Mao and Li Ningning…

In fact, the technological level of life for these people on the surface was much more advanced than that of the Second Dream, and there were many disciplines and talents.

But since the incurable and 100% fatal radiation sickness appeared, everything in the surface world changed.

Survival became the first element everyone had to consider.

Gradually, education, science, and many other things were gradually abandoned.

There were many such Sky Cities all over the world, all propelled into the air by thousands, or even tens of thousands, of nuclear fusion engines.

This almost inexhaustible source of infinite energy illuminated the night sky like stars, but also shrouded the surface like a nightmare.

Lin Xian also asked them how much they knew about Rhein Sky City, including who the founder was, the purpose of building Sky City, and so on…

Regarding these questions involving "history," they, like in the Second Dream, couldn't answer clearly.

Obviously, in this world, history was not inherited either.

They could generally explain what happened in the past 100 years, but beyond that, they knew nothing.

Lin Xian naturally also asked about the black shadow of the genius club on the moon, but there were also various legends, with no useful information at all.

Before coming to this statue, Lin Xian thought that this Rhein Sky City was just a New Donghai City in a different form. There would definitely be no history, it would be heavily defended, and it wouldn't be meaningful to enter.

But.

Now he didn't think so.

Rhein Sky City was fundamentally different from New Donghai City!

Rhein Company, the statue of Zhao Yingjun, and the invisible gap exactly 10,000 meters above the statue… Putting all these clues together, it was not difficult to draw a conclusion—

This Rhein Sky City was likely built by Zhao Yingjun for himself!

She clearly knew that he would repeatedly arrive 600 years later, on the last day of the apocalypse;

She clearly knew that only he had the ability to constantly try and make mistakes, and only he could find the gap in the air defense network;

She clearly knew how important the name Rhein was to him, and that he would definitely come to such a large Sky City;

She even believed in him… that when he saw her statue that had been waiting for 600 years, he would naturally understand everything she had carefully designed—

This Rhein Sky City should contain a precious gift that Zhao Yingjun had painstakingly prepared, spanning hundreds of years… a gift that was extraordinary in significance and extremely important.

This gift was only for him.

This gift was only hidden for him, and only he could obtain it.

For a time.

Lin Xian couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

This was a Sky City that spanned 300 years of long history, from the beginning of its construction to today…

And its existence.

Was only to cross time and space, to leave a clue and a piece of information for himself from 600 years ago.

Even though he hadn't found this gift yet.

But at this moment…

Lin Xian seemed to already feel the weight of this gift.

That was the weight of time, and also the weight of the years.

Strangely.

Lin Xian raised his hand and stroked the white jade statue…

It was a little cold.

But also a little warm.

At this moment, it was as if a recording tape that had been waiting for hundreds of years suddenly began to play, and a laughter that had been looking forward to for hundreds of years suddenly sounded:

"Lin Xian, long time no see."

……

……

At this moment.

Lin Xian suddenly felt a little lonely.

This was a feeling he had never had in all his years of wandering through dreams.

In so many previous dreams.

He had been afraid, confused, angry, and even crazy.

But he had never felt lonely…

Even if the friends he was closest to today would become strangers tomorrow; even if there was no one he knew in the dream, no home, no relatives, no friends, no place to stay…

He had never felt lonely.

But at this moment, touching Zhao Yingjun's white jade statue, a strange sense of loneliness surged from the depths of his heart like a flood.

An indescribable feeling.

An indescribable loneliness.

In these 600 years of vast time, everything familiar to him had ceased to exist, and the only trace left behind…

Was only this statue of an old friend.

From the word "纪念" (jinian – in memory of) in the inscription, it could be seen that Zhao Yingjun at this time must have already passed away.

It was unclear when she passed away.

The technological level of the Second Dream already had hibernation pods, let alone the Third Dream with even more advanced science?

There must be hibernation pods here.

Therefore, it was impossible to deduce the specific time of Zhao Yingjun's death.

Perhaps she had already passed away before the establishment of Rhein Sky City, as the designer;

Perhaps she passed away during the 300 years of Sky City's construction;

It was also possible that she passed away after Rhein Sky City successfully took off.

Because of the existence of hibernation pods, human life could be extended by hundreds of years, so it was really hard to say when she died.

In traditional concepts, statues are rarely erected for living people, as it is considered very unlucky.

So it goes without saying.

In this world 600 years later, the name Rhein still existed, Rhein Cat might still be around, and Sky City was still there.

Only…

Zhao Yingjun was gone.

She built a Sky City for him, left a gap to guide him here, buried a secret, hid a gift, and then passed away at some point.

After the loneliness.

Lin Xian seemed to feel a warm current flowing out from the surface of the cold white jade statue… flowing along his arm, slowly flowing into his body, making him feel a warm sense of peace.

He spread out his palm.

Looking up at the great statue, tens of meters tall.

Honestly.

Even though this Rhein Sky City was still full of mysteries to him.

Even though all the guesses just now were unconfirmed hypotheses.

But the feeling this unfamiliar Sky City gave him was completely different from New Donghai City.

New Donghai City was cold; while this Rhein Sky City made Lin Xian feel familiar and warm.

The existence of this statue gave him a sense of belonging to this city.

It was like coming home.

Suddenly.

Lin Xian was a little curious.

What would the future Zhao Yingjun…

What would the middle-aged, or even elderly, Zhao Yingjun look like?

Would she still wear her proud earrings?

Would she still be valiant and heroic?

Would she still allow him to see that familiar face 600 years later?

With curiosity, Lin Xian kept his head up, looking at the statue, and slowly retreated—

"Ouch."

Plop!

Because he wasn't looking behind him at all, Lin Xian bumped into a hard, cylindrical object while retreating, and lost his balance and fell to the ground.

He propped himself up and looked at the object that had tripped him.

That…

Was a white-gray, cylindrical trash can-like robot.

A Roomba?

Lin Xian's first reaction was this.

But it shouldn't be.

This trash can-shaped robot was designed to be much more advanced than the Roomba of 2023.

Although it looked like a trash can.

It had treads underneath, and now that it had been knocked over and was lying on the ground, you could see that its treads were very flexible, constantly twisting left and right, trying to "stand" up.

At the same time.

Its two pincer-like mechanical arms were also waving left and right in the air, trying to find a support point to prop itself up.

Its "eyes" flashing with green light, stared straight at a small crumpled piece of paper that had fallen on the ground in front of it:

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"