Chapter 1 Two Days Later

Two days later. East Sea, Lingang New Area, Tesla Super Factory, in a confidential meeting room were only Lin Xian and Musk. Musk's visit to Dragon Country wasn't ostentatious; he didn't even update his itinerary on Twitter, flying to Dragon Country secretly on his own. The moment he landed, he contacted Lin Xian, arranging to meet at the Tesla Super Factory. Musk knew very well that Lin Xian definitely had some important things to tell him, so obviously, no place was more suitable than this confidential meeting room. This was the highest-level location within the Super Factory, with access only granted to Musk. He brought Lin Xian inside, locked the door, and brewed a pot of tea in the local custom, smiling slightly:

"Long time no see, Lin Xian. I was very happy to hear that you have completed the three Genius Club questions."

He poured Lin Xian a cup of tea and handed it over. Lin Xian took it, but it was a bit hot, so he placed it on the coffee table. It had only been less than two months since he last saw Musk, but Lin Xian found him looking tired, lacking some of his previous energy. Was he too busy these past two months? Musk poured himself a cup of tea and sat across from Lin Xian.

"So, have you entered the answer to the third question? Knowing you, you definitely believe that humanity has a future, right?"

Lin Xian nodded:

"I did choose 'yes.' I believe humanity has a future and should have a future. But I haven't entered the specific answer yet."

"After all, how should I put it? Although I know the last question is subjective, and my answer is unlikely to change much, I want to wait until we've had a chat today and I've gained a deeper understanding before answering."

Musk chuckled upon hearing this.

"If it's just a superficial attempt, then of course. But, please understand, I said before that as long as you're not a confirmed member of the Genius Club, I can't tell you too many specific things."

"Even if I'm certain that this meeting room isn't bugged, and no third person will know about our conversation, since I joined the Genius Club, principles are principles, and rules are rules."

"I believe anyone who does great things should have such a quality of keeping their word, and I think that's the same for you."

Lin Xian turned the teacup on the coffee table and smiled slightly:

"Don't worry, I'm not planning to ask you specific questions about the Genius Club. Or, to put it another way, let's just treat today as a chat between friends."

"I'm just curious... how did you answer the third question? Such a subjective answer shouldn't be a secret, right? Besides, your behavior has always been so high-profile; even if you don't say it, everyone can guess most of it."

Musk took a sip of tea and put down the teacup:

"Of course, no problem. For me, it's not a topic worth hiding. My goal and dream are known worldwide: to colonize Mars and further venture into the vast expanse of space."

"It's not that I hate Earth; on the contrary, I like Earth very much. But, if human civilization wants to develop and continue, then leaving Earth and leaving the solar system are inevitable paths."

"In fact, many problems are already gradually emerging on Earth, such as environmental issues, resource issues, and energy issues. The deterioration of everything is gradual; before the tipping point, it always seems calm."

"But, by the time the results of the deterioration become prominent and you want to fix things, it's too late. Take Mars colonization and interstellar travel, for example. The development and iteration of these technologies can't be achieved in a few years or decades after starting a project today. It's bound to be a long process."

"Everything I'm doing now, to use a Dragon Country idiom, is *ju'an siwei*, *wei yu choumou* (being prepared for danger in times of peace, planning ahead): Many people think I'm a liar, that my hype is for the sake of the stock price. I don't deny that, because I clearly know that I'm exaggerating many things. I really can't do those things I promised in the short term."

"But I have to do this. From a long-term perspective, if human civilization doesn't start researching extraterrestrial colonization and space travel now, when will it start? Will it wait until the world-destroying crisis arrives and we still can't fly out of Earth, or will it wait until aliens attack us before we think about building spaceships?"

"There have been too many lessons of hindsight in human history. I don't want to see humanity repeat the same mistakes. So, there must be a first person to do this, a first person to ignite this torch."

"Just relying on words can't ignite this fire; there must be practical actions. You may think my idea is *qi ren you tian* (groundless worries), after all, humans are likely to live on Earth until natural extinction without any catastrophic events occurring. But, hehe, I can't say more. In short, leading people out of Earth and flying into the universe is what I think is the best future."

Musk spread his hands and mocked himself, "I don't even know how many times I've lied and exaggerated about launching immigration ships to Mars. The earliest I said was landing on Mars in 2026, then it was pushed to 2030, and then to 2050."

"Actually, I know in my heart that this is impossible, and humans may not even be able to achieve Mars colonization within a hundred years."

"But I still have to say this, because the vast majority of humans in this world are short-sighted. If the time I promise exceeds their lifespan, no one will be interested. They will think that they'll be dead by then anyway, so why care about something so far away?"

"As far as they're concerned, as long as the sun rises as usual tomorrow, as long as the sun can rise as usual on the day they die... even if the sun explodes the day after they die, they don't care."

"Of course, I'm not saying this is wrong; this kind of mentality is actually very good, but they can think that way, I can't, we can't."

Musk's expression became serious, staring at Lin Xian.

"*Noblesse oblige.*"

He then translated it:

"With great power comes great responsibility."

After a pause, Musk continued:

"I can't say that every member of the Genius Club is a good person or that everyone is doing the right thing, but no one can determine good or bad, right or wrong, before the final judgment is made."

"But one thing is certain... people who can get an invitation from the Genius Club and answer the three questions correctly have thoughts and beliefs that far exceed those of ordinary people. We don't think that crises outside our lifespan have nothing to do with us and ignore them; on the contrary, we feel that the meaning of our lives lies in this."

"I can't tell you much more, Lin Xian. Anyway, you'll soon enter the Genius Club. You'll naturally know everything there, so there's no need to rush to get the answer from me. And I also believe that you, like us, are people who abide by principles and keep promises."

After listening to Musk's explanation, Lin Xian roughly understood that he actually knew far more about the Genius Club than Musk thought he did.

The answer to the third question was indeed much more important than he thought. What kind of future you think is the best perhaps represents what kind of future you want to give this world. This was indeed not a subjective question that could be filled in casually. However, after going through all the hardships to obtain the invitation and answering the first two questions correctly, no one would write the answer casually when faced with this third question. Just like Lin Xian now, even though he had already thought of the answer, he still wanted to confirm it again.

"Then you must have also chosen 'yes' for the third question," Lin Xian said.

"After all, all your plans are based on humanity itself."

"Then I'm a little puzzled. If, as you said, the Genius Club is working hard for the future of humanity, then would there really be members who choose 'no' when faced with the question of whether humanity still has a future?"

"Of course," Musk replied without hesitation.

"There's nothing difficult to understand about that. There's no shortage of pessimists among humans. However, pessimism doesn't mean doing nothing."

"Didn't Kevin Walker choose 'no'? He never thought humanity had a future, so the path he chose should be a future without humanity."

"Actually, I never knew what kind of future Kevin Walker envisioned or wanted to achieve. But after you told me about the digital life Turing, it wasn't hard to guess."

"No wonder that guy Kevin has always been at odds with me, because the future he envisioned completely conflicts with my plans. It's not just a disagreement in ideas, but also resource allocation, technological direction, and other issues."

Lin Xian nodded silently. He could tell that even among the members of the Genius Club, they didn't know each other's details or what future they wanted to achieve. Musk said that he had never understood Kevin Walker's future plan and only guessed it recently. But Lin Xian knew. The digital life Turing had once told Lin Xian everything about Kevin Walker's plan. In Kevin Walker's eyes, he had no confidence in the future of humanity and was even disappointed with the existence of humanity itself. Therefore, his future plan was to digitize all the billions of humans in the world, turn them into data, and turn them all into digital lives. Billions of digital lives didn't need to live on the real Earth; they only needed to live in a virtual server. Transformed into data, constantly circulating, constantly simulating. Locking the entire human civilization in a super network server the size of only one city. This was the future that Kevin Walker envisioned. It was just that he hadn't had time to show off his skills before he was betrayed by his own digital life, Turing. No wonder Turing said at the time.

"The moment I became a digital life, I realized that Kevin Walker's plan was unfeasible and doomed to fail."

At that time in Mississippi, Lin Xian hadn't been able to fully understand this sentence. He understood it now. Indeed. Turing used his dramatic life to prove how ridiculous Kevin Walker's future plan was. What a pair of happy rivals. It really made people couldn't help but think deeply about it.

"But isn't what Kevin Walker and the others are doing, those who don't believe humanity has a future, no different from killing all humans?"

Lin Xian frowned slightly, looking at Musk.

"Even killing all the humans in the world, is that something the Genius Club allows?"

Musk looked at Lin Xian. He didn't speak for a long time. Finally, he pursed his lips and slowly said:

"Human civilization doesn't necessarily need humans."

Hehe. Lin Xian couldn't help but laugh. "A civilization without humans, is that even considered human civilization?" Musk also laughed:

"Of course, I also hope that everyone thinks the same way as you, Lin Xian, but obviously some people's ideas are different from ours, and they firmly believe that they are right."

"However, if you ask me to deny that their ideas are wrong now, I can't do it either. As the saying goes, no one knows what is right or what is the best method until the real result arrives."

"You must have seen the famous Dragon Country science fiction work *Three-Body*, right? In the story of the second part, *The Dark Forest*, all the humans in the world thought that the wall-facer Luo Ji was wrong, incompetent, and a failure."

"Until the very last moment, when Luo Ji saved Earth with the dark forest law, all the surrounding humans knelt down to him, which seemed ridiculous and dramatic."

"So, to be fair, I don't like Kevin Walker, and I don't like his plan, but I don't have the right to deny that his plan is definitely wrong. Until the last moment, no one knows what success looks like, and until the last moment, no one knows who the real savior is."

The tea in the cup was no longer steaming, becoming lukewarm. Lin Xian picked up the teacup and drank it all in one gulp, rotating the empty teacup in his palm.

"Turing is dead."

"I know."

Musk asked suspiciously:

"Didn't you kill him yourself in the United States? I even sent you the address." No. Lin Xian shook his head.

"You said that was Kevin Walker. I'm talking about Turing now, that digital life was also killed by me."

For a moment, Musk's eyes widened.

"You... you can kill digital lives?"

Lin Xian nodded.

"When did this happen?" Musk asked.

"A few days ago."

Lin Xian thought for a moment:

"June 16th, Father's Day."

After that, Musk fell into silence for dozens of seconds. Then he laughed.

"Good kill!"

"Given Kevin Walker's nature, a digital life version of him would be a disaster sooner or later."

"That's great news, Lin Xian. Is this what you called me to the East Sea to tell me?"

"I have to say, this news is really great. If I had known earlier, I should have brought a bottle of Dom Pérignon champagne! Let's celebrate!"

However... Lin Xian had a serious face and shook his index finger.

"Unfortunately, Musk, the message I want to tell you is not this. On the contrary, what I want to tell you is actually bad news." He looked at Musk, whose smile had frozen, and said softly.

"You're going to die soon too."

"Probably in July, you'll be killed, and then your impersonator will replace you without anyone knowing, deceiving the world."

Musk narrowed his eyes.

"Are you predicting the future?"

Lin Xian shook his head.

"I'm stating the future, or, according to the Genius Club's favorite saying, I'm stating the established history."

Lin Xian's words silenced Musk. He originally wanted to ask where Lin Xian had gotten this information, but after thinking about it, he felt it wasn't necessary. Because it didn't matter where this "established history" came from; what mattered was that it was real. He knew Lin Xian's character very well and also liked Lin Xian as a friend. Therefore, he knew very well that Lin Xian wouldn't lie to him about this matter, and the fact that he had specifically called him to the East Sea in secret meant that Lin Xian already suspected

That there was an enemy mole among the people around him.

Musk's own first instinct was the same. He was the richest man in the world. It wasn't that easy for ordinary people to kill him. The only remote threat to him before was Kevin Walker and Turing, and now these two people, or rather one person, had all been killed by Lin Xian. Under such circumstances, it was hard to imagine how the enemy could kill him, kill him secretly, and then let the impersonator take his place quietly. Unless there was a mole and an insider by his side.

"Do you know who killed me?" Musk asked.

Lin Xian shook his head:

"If I knew the specific time and the specific killer, I would definitely tell you immediately. But I only know the approximate time of your death and the fact of your death; I don't know anything else."

"However, I suggest you don't trust what I said about the time of death too much. After all, the trajectory of the future is constantly changing, and no one knows what direction the wings of the time-space butterfly will blow the future."

"I understand."

Musk nodded:

"Too much artificial intervention will definitely produce a time-space butterfly effect. For example, if I give the enemy a chance sooner, maybe they will kill me sooner; if I'm wary, maybe they will change the time and kill me in a different way."

Then. He sighed. His expression became more tired.

"Actually, to tell you the truth, I've been quite melancholic this June!"

"I can see that."

Lin Xian said bluntly: "You look very tired, and your spirit isn't very good."

Musk chuckled twice:

"Because I knew at the beginning of the month that my future plan was destined to fail."

Lin Xian tilted his head:

"Did you find out from the president of the Genius Club?"

Musk smiled noncommittally. He didn't say it directly, but it was considered a default.

"So, I've been very disappointed throughout June. Of course, I haven't given up because of this, but I feel a sense of powerlessness."

Lin Xian looked at Musk without speaking. Indeed. Musk's future plan was destined to fail. He had known this as early as the Fifth Dreamland. Musk in the Fifth Dreamland could be said to have achieved a perfect ending. First of all, he didn't die and lived until hundreds of years later. Secondly, he was the governor of Mars, controlling everything on Mars, and he had strength, technology, and a population. It could be said that he was the most successful and powerful person in the entire Fifth Dreamland. But even so. He still failed. It was Musk who told Angelica that he had failed and wanted to make one last gamble, so he sent Angelica back to Earth for protection. As for what happened later, there was no need to say more. Musk didn't achieve anything and failed completely. Since he couldn't succeed even in such a perfect situation with the right time, place, and people, that was enough to show that Musk's future plan had flaws. Or rather. It was fundamentally unfeasible. Looking at Musk's not-so-good mental state, he must have realized this himself.

"Do you have a way to avoid death?"

Lin Xian asked. Musk nodded.

"There are definitely ways to avoid it, but this is not a long-term solution. The enemy is in the dark and I'm in the light, and they have already planted spies by my side. While I can hide for a while, can I hide for a lifetime?"

"Then what are you going to do?"

Lin Xian guessed.

"Are you going to set a trap and catch the mole?"

Musk shook his head and held up a finger.

"That's a clever plan, but not clever enough."

As he spoke. His eyes rolled around, revealing a sly smile:

"I've come up with a more clever idea!"

"And, this can not only solve my crisis, but also kill two birds with one stone!"

His tone was a little excited. His expression changed from the tiredness just now to excitement, as if his whole person had come alive. He couldn't help but stand up. With a smile on his face, he paced back and forth in the meeting room.

"Lin Xian, please borrow Angelica. You shouldn't mind, right?"

Lin Xian spread his hands:

"Angelica is neither my subordinate nor my possession. It's a bit unnecessary for you to ask me this."

"Angelica is my friend. If you have a request for her, you can just go to her directly."

Musk chuckled.

"I'm just saying hello to you in advance!"

Nonsense

Listening to Musk say this. Lin Xian understood. Musk was deliberately mentioning Angelica here. Of course, he knew that borrowing Angelica didn't require him to say hello to Lin Xian. But he specifically mentioned it again. Actually. It was equivalent to gently spoiling his plan to Lin Xian.

"A very bold plan."

Lin Xian smiled knowingly:

"I've only heard of replacing the prince with a wild cat, but I've never seen replacing the prince with a wild cat."

Musk gave Lin Xian an approving look. As expected, Lin Xian was a smart person, and he guessed his plan so quickly:

"Next, for a long time. I think it's time to test my acting skills."

Musk rubbed his hands together and snorted coldly.

"That's why I said before."

"An impersonator is really a good thing!"