Chapter 1 This World, Did You Find the Vault?

At this moment.

The huge bonfire in the middle of the square had already collapsed, the flames no longer raged, becoming much weaker, swaying in the wind.

The dance was over, but the lively crowd did not disperse, nor did they go home to rest.

Some returned to the banquet battlefield to fight alongside Big Fat Cat;

Others, in groups of three or five, were scattered around the square, either sitting on the ground or walking around cheering, continuing to share the joy of the celebration.

After dancing with CC, Lin Xian sat on the edge of the flower bed next to her, watching the gradually extinguishing bonfire, chatting in the moonlight.

Facing Lin Xian's question, CC shook her head:

"No."

"I've been here for a long time, I came here by boat two years ago, to the old site of the East Sea. And I've been searching for the hafnium alloy vault ever since.

"But I haven't found a single one, not even a shred of a clue."

Lin Xian felt a little surprised.

Previously, in the Fifth Dream, these villages could still dig up some vaults, so how could there be no news about vaults at all in the current Seventh Dream?

Logically speaking.

So many villages are digging for the hibernation pod underground base, they're all digging...

From a probabilistic point of view, they should have dug up a few vaults; even if they didn't dig up their own, or someone they knew, it wouldn't matter, but not digging up a single vault is too unscientific.

Thinking carefully.

It seems that it's not just the Seventh Dream that completely lacks the shadow of a vault.

The Sixth Dream is the same!

In the world of the Sixth Dream, almost all the tribes in the world are digging for the Turing computer. According to Big Fat Cat and Gawain, the Lynx Tribe alone has changed several excavation sites, and each excavation site is the size of a dozen football fields.

But even with such mine-sweeping excavation, they still haven't dug up a single hafnium alloy vault.

Has the Time Bank disappeared again?

Or...

Has something else happened?

"Logically speaking, it's unlikely."

Lin Xian said doubtfully:

"As long as the Time Bank actually exists, it should leave some historical traces, more or less. After all, that's a hafnium alloy vault, this thing is very hard, and once it's shaped, it's difficult to destroy."

"In your memory fragments, we also personally dug up some.

"600 years have passed, and the vault is still shining brightly, without a trace of wear. How could none of these things be left behind?"

"I don't know either."

CC shook her head:

"I've been searching here for two years, and I haven't found anything. If I didn't want to wait for you here, I might have gone back to Brooklyn, or somewhere else. But in one of the memory fragments about you, we agreed to meet today, so I've been staying in the East Sea."

"You told me that you can infinitely loop and venture on August 28, 2624, so my idea is that as long as I stay in the most conspicuous, lively, and iconic place in the entire East Sea on this day, you will definitely be able to find me."

"Donghai City is the largest city in this area, and such a grand celebration is going to be held today, you'll eventually come here to take a look, right?"

Saying that, CC turned her head to look at Lin Xian and smiled:

"See, didn't I guess right?"

It has to be said.

CC is indeed very smart.

Through the three memory fragments that he left her, CC has figured out the mechanism of the dream and his infinite loop.

So she is very clear.

As long as she ensures that she stays in the East Sea area on August 28, 2624, she can meet him.

Even if he can't find her on the first night, the second night, she will be there waiting.

Without moving around.

He will find her one day.

For a moment, Lin Xian felt like he was always making others wait.

In the Third Dream, Zhao Yingjun transformed into a white jade statue and waited for him for 600 years;

Huang Que traveled from the future, left a riddle, and then went to the answer and waited silently for his arrival;

Now CC is the same, she will wait for him in the most lively and conspicuous place in each dream;

Then...

What about Chu Anqing?

Has Chu Anqing, who has already turned into blue stardust and dissipated, also be waiting somewhere for him to find her?

Just like the casual remark he made at the milk tea shop in Xidan Shopping Center, Lin Xian smiled and said to Chu Anqing:

"I won't get lost, I'll always find you." He didn't expect it to come true.

Not long after, Chu Anqing disappeared from this world. Although he broke his promise, he will never give up!

He believes that Chu Anqing is still alive.

And just like CC now.

Standing in a certain place, no longer moving, no longer running around,

Standing on tiptoes, looking forward,

Waiting for him to find her in the intricate space-time and world lines, and then...

Bring her home safely, bring her to Chu Shanhe.

This is also the main reason why Lin Xian made up his mind to join the Genius Club as soon as possible.

Of course.

He also cares about the mysteries of his dream, the purpose of the Genius Club, the truth of the 00:42 white light, and so on.

But as a man.

The first thing he has to accomplish is his agreement with Chu Anqing and the promise he made to Chu Shanhe.

This is his current primary driving force.

The Qiannian Pile is so mysterious and unpredictable, perhaps only after entering the Genius Club can he truly know the truth.

Lin Xian came back to his senses.

The bonfire on the square had completely extinguished, and the burning red charcoal began to emit gray smoke.

Seeing CC this time.

He was indeed much more at ease, and he also had a bit more hope and confidence in the plan to rescue Chu Anqing.

"Thank you for waiting for me here."

Lin Xian smiled lightly:

"In that case, to be honest, I also have more expectations for each dream. Then let's make an agreement now."

"Every world, you wait for me in the most conspicuous and iconic place in the East Sea area, and I will definitely go find you."

"Okay."

CC sat on the edge of the flower bed, shaking her legs, and looked up at the full jade plate in the night sky:

"It's a deal."

"So, what's the situation with the vault in this world?

"Do you have any clues?" Lin Xian nodded.

Then shook his head:

"I'm not too sure, because the super disaster in 2400 really messed everything up. This is the most thorough kind of 'historical fault', and it even makes me unable to verify whether the Time Bank exists."

"My current guesses are mainly two. One is that the Time Bank disappeared from the established history for some reason, or even went bankrupt before the 2400 super disaster. This led to those vaults being disposed of long ago, so we certainly can't find them in today's 2624."

"Another guess is that the intensity of the 2400 super disaster has changed. In the earliest version, the 2400 super disaster did not directly sweep Donghai City. Donghai City was abandoned in the later wars. But if the intensity of this super disaster increases, and Donghai City is directly attacked by an earthquake or tsunami, then it's hard to say where the Time Bank's vaults would be swept away."

Lin Xian spread his hands:

"It's just that the truth of the 2400 super disaster is still unknown, and we can't witness that disaster in 2400 in person, which has led to our clues for finding the Time Bank and the vault being completely cut off."

"However, there are solutions. The simplest way, of course, is to find a way to prevent the 2400 super disaster. As long as the super disaster doesn't happen, then the original Donghai City will continue to prosper until 2624, and we can naturally see the Time Bank."

This is the most direct strategy Lin Xian can think of.

From Turing, he learned that the 2400 super disaster was caused by Galileo, a member of the Genius Club.

Then, all he needs to do is eliminate Galileo, the culprit, in 2024, and he can naturally avoid the disaster 400 years later.

However.

Considering Turing's penchant for talking nonsense.

Whether the culprit is Galileo or not remains to be verified, and it cannot be determined solely on the basis of one person's words.

"Actually..."

Lin Xian paused and continued: "Actually, I have other ways to know what's inside the vault."

He turned his head and looked at CC:

"Do you want to know? If you want to know, I can tell you directly."

CC thought for a while.

She shook her head:

"I still want to open it myself." She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

Her eyes became intense.

It seems.

She is reminiscing about the past, that bearded man, VV:

"The things in the vault are very important to me. If I just hear the answer from your mouth, I feel like no matter what the answer is, it won't satisfy me."

"Or rather, compared to knowing what's inside the vault, the process of opening the vault seems to be the most important thing to me." "So, I hope that even if you really know what's inside the vault, please don't tell me the answer. I want to open it myself and see what that bearded man named VV left me."

CC's answer was quite surprising to Lin Xian.

He had also been thinking for a long time before deciding to be honest with CC about what was in the vault.

He thought she would readily accept and ask.

But he didn't expect...

CC would refuse this shortcut and want to open it herself.

Suddenly.

Lin Xian also recalled when Chu Anqing, with a face full of blood, handed him the folded small note on the space plane at an altitude of 20,000 meters, and instructed:

"Look at it over there, you'll understand everything."

The "understanding everything" that she mentioned...

It seems to refer not only to the truth and falsehood of the dream.

Because from the current situation, the possibility that the dream is fake is infinitely

Approaching zero, and he has indeed obtained a lot of useful wool from the dream.

The dream is likely to be real.

Lin Xian believes that the "understanding everything" in Chu Anqing's mouth should have other meanings as well!

So.

Aren't CC and Chu Anqing's attitudes towards the vault and the small note another kind of space-time closed loop?

"Alright," Lin Xian said.

From then on, he completely dismissed the idea of opening the vault in the real world and checking the contents of the small note in advance.

Since CC is so persistent, and Chu Anqing has instructed him like that.

How could he ruin things halfway?

Then listen to their words and think of a way.

Open the vault and check the contents of the small note in the dream.

"I'll think of another way about the vault,"

Lin Xian continued:

"Anyway, the future world won't remain unchanged like this. Even if this future world is very beautiful and very happy. But I have a feeling that it will still change, and there will be a newer world waiting for us."

"Maybe in the next world, we can see the Time Bank and the vault again."

CC nodded:

"Yes. This world is pretty good in all aspects except for the fact that it can't find the vault. Although the technological level is a bit backward, there is no war, no famine, no disease, no conflict."

"Everyone is very happy, very happy, and very satisfied. I don't think this could be achieved on Earth before the 2400 disaster. The resource consumption and competition brought about by the population explosion are inevitable, and it will never be as peaceful as it is now."

"I've been here for two years, and I've also been to Lian Village. I've seen a lot of old friends. Although I didn't say hello to them, I found that they all lived a happy life, and I'm really happy for them."

"Including in this Donghai City, Li Cheng and Li Ningning don't have to struggle to steal books from the garbage dump anymore. You came so late, you probably didn't see Li Ningning, right? She's very different from before, she dresses very beautifully, really like a carefree princess. She just took her newborn little sister out for a walk, and she was smiling very sweetly."

Hearing that everyone is living so happily.

Lin Xian also smiled with relief:

"Today, I've been marveling, saying that this is the best era, the best future."

"Before, someone asked me a question, saying what kind of future is the best future?"

"I thought about it for a long time, but I didn't have a specific answer, and I didn't have an accurate picture in my mind."

"Actually, even now, I don't really understand what kind of future is the best. It's just that, on the surface, the people of this era don't seem to have any regrets or pressures, like the legendary utopia."

"I wonder how Wei Shengjin, Zheng Xiangyue, and Angelica are doing. Will they still take the Earth-Mars cosmic bus to Earth? I'm quite looking forward to it."

However.

CC tilted her head and looked at Lin Xian in confusion:

"Earth-Mars cosmic bus?"

"What are you talking about, Lin Xian? There's no such thing in this world. Ever since Musk immigrated to Mars before the super disaster, he never came back, and there has never been a cosmic bus flying from Mars to Earth."

Huh?

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes:

"Isn't there supposed to be one every two years?" He felt very strange.

Whether it was the Fifth Dream or the Sixth Dream, there was actually an Earth-Mars cosmic bus.

The Earth-Mars cosmic bus in the Fifth Dream has always been in operation. Zheng Xiangyue and Wei Shengjin both came to Earth on this cosmic bus.

In the Sixth Dream, the Earth-Mars cosmic bus also existed at the beginning, but the various tribes led by Turing were too fierce. Not only was the Earth constantly at war, but there were also cases of attacking the cosmic bus, so the Earth-Mars cosmic bus was quickly canceled.

But.

Why has the Earth-Mars cosmic bus completely disappeared in the Seventh Dream?

This is not Musk's style.

The current Earth is so peaceful and beautiful, and the natives are hospitable. There is no need to cancel the cosmic bus that runs every two years:

"There hasn't been a single Earth-Mars cosmic bus?"

CC shook her head:

"I've never heard of it. Rather... After Musk took a group of people to immigrate to Mars, he completely disappeared and never appeared again."

Lin Xian suddenly remembered.

This is also very wrong!

In the initial background setting of the Fifth Dream, the great philanthropist Musk not only deployed the Mars immigration plan in advance, but also used 50 years to help Earth survivors after the 2400 super disaster and take them to live on Mars.

This kind of good deed made Lin Xian, who learned the truth at the time, couldn't help but shout that Musk was a saint, and was really a great hero.

Could it be that the butterfly effect of the Seventh Dream also butterflied the great Saint Musk and made him no longer a saint?

"It shouldn't be," Lin Xian shook his head.

Musk's Mars immigration plan originally needed population support, and he had no reason not to return to Earth to rescue people after 2400. This was also a win-win situation for his Mars plan.

It always feels like.

Something is wrong somewhere.

Lin Xian was still wondering when he entered the dream, feeling that the change from the Seventh Dream to the Sixth Dream didn't seem to cross 6 world lines, from 0.0000084 to 0.0000336 so much.

But now.

His idea has changed.

From the perspective of Earth, the change may not be so

Big.

But.

What if the situation on Mars is also taken into account?

For some unknown reason in the Seventh Dream,

The Earth-Mars cosmic bus disappeared,

Musk did not return to Earth to pick up people after the disaster, Mars and Earth were completely isolated, and the immigration fleet never returned,

What happened in between?

What happened to Musk?

Why...

"Has Musk's style become unlike Musk's?"

Lin Xian sighed softly:

"Then it seems that this world still has regrets, at least

Uncle Wei Shengjin and Zheng Xiangyue can't come to Earth, as for Angelica..."

"Huh? Angelica? You even know that crazy woman?" Suddenly.

The voice of Big Fat Cat appeared behind the two.

Lin Xian and CC turned around and found Big Fat Cat holding a huge hairless bear head and gnawing on it, and stuffing a bunch of white things from the skull into his mouth.

"What are you eating?" Lin Xian frowned.

"Bear brain,"

Big Fat Cat replied as a matter of course, and dug another handful of brain into his mouth:

"You don't know, this bear caught by our village chief is very popular. If I hadn't been quick-eyed and quick-handed and had an ambush early, I wouldn't have been able to grab this bear head at all!"

Saying that.

Big Fat Cat poked his thumb into the eye socket of the cooked bear head, took out the complete eyeball, and handed it to Lin Xian:

"Here, have a taste of the bear's eye, it's very tender." "Forget it."

Lin Xian took a step back:

"Who in their right mind would eat this kind of thing? Isn't it disgusting enough?" "Disgusting? Doesn't everyone eat it like this?"

Big Fat Cat took a bite of the bear's eye, and a mouthful of juice exploded:

"Don't you usually eat sheep's head? Sheep's brain, sheep's eyes, sheep's tongue, delicious!"

"Alright, alright,"

Lin Xian waved his hand:

"Hey, wait, what did you just say? Angelica the crazy woman? Are we talking about the same Angelica?"

"Is there a second Angelica?"

Big Fat Cat put the remaining bear's eyes into his mouth, chewing and said:

"This name is so rare, there shouldn't be a second one, right?" "She's quite tall and thin, and she was also dug out from the underground hibernation base by the people of Donghai City in her early years. That was a long, long time ago, at least forty or fifty years ago. It is said that Angelica was quite beautiful when she first woke up from the hibernation pod." "But she's always neurotic and mumbling. Later, I don't know what

happened, after all, I wasn't even born at that time. But after I grew up, I've always heard that there's a crazy woman named Angelica in the old city of Donghai City, and everyone runs far away when they see her."

"And she herself is very withdrawn, rarely goes out, and doesn't interact with people. Look, she didn't come out for such a lively celebration today. I guess she's too old now and can't be crazy anymore."

"Hey, actually, it's not appropriate for me to say that, I haven't seen her go crazy either. When I saw her, she was already very old, but very kind. It's just that everyone has been calling her a crazy woman for so many years, and we generations have been following suit."

Lin Xian stood up.

He feels that it is very unreasonable for Angelica to appear on Earth.

Musk has a good relationship with her, they became friends through fights, and in the world of the Fifth Dream, they are even united against the enemy and regard her as their own. Even when Musk faced a life threat, he still thought of sending Angelica back to Earth for protection.

Why did he abandon her this time?

Things are really getting weirder.

"Fat Cat, where does Angelica live?" "It's over there,"

Big Fat Cat stretched out his greasy hand, pointing to an alley leading to the old city:

"Go along the way, turn right at the first intersection, there's a red door house, that's the crazy woman's house."

"Take us there," Lin Xian and CC stood up, ready to go.

"Huh?"

Big Fat Cat looked embarrassed:

"I still have mutton skewers at the banquet later! I'm still waiting!'"

"Alright, eat less,"

Lin Xian went around the flower bed and fanned Big Fat Cat's transparent belly twice: They looked at each other.

That's not right.

If Musk died shortly after his death.

Then what about the later Mars immigration plan?

Both CC and Smith clearly stated that the Musk in this world still took some humans to Mars!

"What the hell is going on?"

Lin Xian supported Angelica's hand:

"Don't panic, Angelica, don't be afraid, no one here can hurt you."

"Tell me slowly, how did Musk die? If he really died, then what about the later Mars immigration plan?"

Angelica took a few deep breaths.

Calm down.

She slowly said:

"These are all the contents written in my memory notebook. I also learned from the notebook after hibernation. There are also laminated photos of you and my younger brother, Ji Lin, in the notebook, so I can recognize you today." "According to the records in the memory notebook, after your bizarre death, I met with Musk and attended your funeral together. But just two weeks later, when I met Musk again. He...

He is no longer Musk!"

"He does look exactly like Musk, his expression, voice, and demeanor are all exactly the same, but I am sure that he is not Musk! He is definitely not Musk! Because I used to do his makeup and disguise him. I know who he is! He is playing Musk!"

In an instant.

Lin Xian suddenly realized:

"Could it be..." "That's right,"

Angelica nodded, looking at Lin Xian with a worried expression:

"Musk must have been killed, and the person who replaced and played him later is his former double...Fake Musk!"