Genius Club

Chapter 107: Chapter 104 CC and An Qing

“`

Memories that don’t belong to this world?

Lin Xian heard this familiar term.

The last time he saw CC in The First Dreamland, CC had said that her mind was filled with many memories that didn’t belong to her.

One piece of memory was a long-haired, bearded, middle-aged man’s “Pirate King ONEPIECE proclamation”…

He said, if you want to know all the truths and the past, come and open Lin Xian’s safe!

This was the only piece of the plot in CC’s memory fragments that was related to him. She had said that the long-haired, bearded man’s voice sounded very much like his own.

That was all.

In The First Dreamland, Lin Xian had asked CC many times whether she recognized him or had seen his face before.

CC’s answer was always firm.

No.

Even when she was held at gunpoint, she still firmly said.

No.

But…

Why did CC in the Second Dreamland suddenly change her tune?

She readily admitted that she had seen him in her memory fragments.

So…

Was the CC of The First Dreamland lying?

Or…

Was there some hidden truth?

“Tell me exactly what’s going on,” Lin Xian asked, taking the initiative to learn what CC had to say.

“It’s just that since I was little, my memories have been very chaotic,” CC said softly:

“I can’t describe the feeling. It’s like my mind contains many memories that don’t belong to me, yet they are also lives I’ve experienced. It’s as if… in another world, another me had lived that life.”

“I was never clear about what these fragmented pieces of memory were all about; they all felt very real, and the girl in the memories was also me. But those people, those events, I’m sure I’ve never met or experienced them. Until—”

CC’s gaze was fixedly on Lin Xian:

“Until I met you today. My memory fragments contain things about you.”

“What kind of plot is it specifically?” Lin Xian asked.

“This memory fragment is short and fragmented, but the gist of it is… you, me, and Big Face Cat, the three of us used a flamethrower to burn open a safe, but ultimately we failed.”

“It’s a strange feeling… I know this is not something I’ve experienced, nor could it possibly be something that happened in this real world. Although this piece of memory feels very real in every aspect, my reason clearly understands that it’s not true, which is contradictory.”

“But today, you appeared for real. And the way you look at me, I’m not unfamiliar to you. Can you tell me what’s going on with that memory fragment?”

Hmm…

Lin Xian didn’t say anything.

He was surprised.

He had thought of many possibilities for how CC could have seen him before… but he had never considered this scenario!

The CC of the Second Dreamland’s mind had inexplicably acquired a piece of memory fragment from the First Dreamland!

He looked down at the ants crawling out of the anthill on the ground, watching them touch antennas, then enter another anthill…

The scene about “burning the safe” that CC mentioned indeed happened during one of the countless cycles of recursion in The First Dreamland.

For Lin Xian, it was actually just an event he had experienced a few days ago.

But according to CC, from her birth, she’s had this piece of memory fragment in her mind.

She had always felt that this fragment, like all her other memory fragments, was not real, at least… not real in the world where she currently lived.

However.

After seeing him today, the idea she had firmly believed in began to waver.

Because he, a living person, had crashed from her illusory memory fragments into reality.

For her, this was probably quite a shock.

“Hey, you could at least say something,” CC nudged Lin Xian, frowning:

“What’s the deal with these broken memory fragments of mine? Do you know something?”

Lin Xian looked up at CC:

“Does your memory fragment also include that long-haired, bearded middle-aged man telling you that all the past and truth lies within the safe?”

“Yes, you sure know a lot.” CC looked at Lin Xian in surprise:

“Do you know something else? Can you tell me the truth behind these memory fragments?”

“I can, but let me think it through first.” Lin Xian gestured to CC to be quiet.

Then, he began to collect his thoughts.

So far, one thing seemed certain—

[CC from the Second Dreamland has a piece of memory fragment from the First Dreamland where she truly experienced the plot.]

This was mind-boggling.

During the safe-burning operation in The First Dreamland, the cooperation between Lin Xian and CC, where their rapport and affection for each other reached its peak, was indeed during that operation.

In that operation, everyone was united against a common enemy and collaborated like never before.

Although they did not manage to open the safe,

the trust and friendship among them reached its zenith, and as a result, CC opened up to him and, for the first time, even smiled at him.

Perhaps it was because of this memory fragment…

That was why CC was so amiable towards him today, willing to engage so cooperatively in back-and-forth queries.

But then again,

having cycled through so many loops in the First Dreamland, why did CC’s mind contain only the safe-burning loop?

This was the question Lin Xian found most puzzling.

Not to mention anything else.

There were at least five or six different versions of events that took place between him and CC alone, each distinct from the other.

“`

Logically speaking, this part of the plot doesn’t seem to have anything special about it.

Even from the perspective of Temporal Flux, there’s not a single pattern to be found.

Many instances of Temporal Flux occurred within The First Dreamland, Rhein Cat, Academician Gao Wen, the material of the safe… etc., just the ones I’ve conclusively noticed amount to three times, and there might still be many I haven’t detected.

If every Temporal Flux leaves behind memory fragments in CC’s mind.

Then there should be a lot of memory fragments related to The First Dreamland in her brain, not just this one.

Moreover, this sole memory fragment is also incomplete.

On that complete day of the plot, CC had already clarified many things to herself.

But when I brought up the bearded man today—

CC was still very surprised that I knew about these things.

This means…

Her only memory fragment is also incomplete, missing bits and pieces.

This is also strange.

Lin Xian could not fathom what kind of mechanism this was.

“I’ve thought about it enough.”

Lin Xian lifted his head and looked at the black hand silhouette extending its index finger on the round moon in the sky:

“According to my understanding, these memory fragments in your mind should come from other parallel universes.”

“No, that’s not quite right… Actually, the term ‘parallel universes’ isn’t exactly accurate, it should be from other altered universes, or universes before they were altered.”

“I can’t explain the details to you, but one thing I think you are right about—”

Lin Xian looked down at CC, who was listening intently:

“[These memories in your mind are indeed from another world, another life you’ve experienced, they are all real.]”

“But why these memories are fragmented, incomplete, and why it’s specifically these memories… I also can’t figure it out right now.”

…

After listening, CC nodded:

“I’ve had the same thought, just lacking evidence. But after talking to you today… I feel perhaps it is as you’ve described.”

“Actually, this is also why I came here.”@@novelbin@@

CC turned her head, looking at the fence of the Waste Treatment Plant, at the hundreds of meters of steel walls, gazing at the high-rise buildings of New Donghai City that reach into the clouds, disappearing out of sight:

“I want to open that safe, to understand the truth behind all of this, to understand the past, to understand what exactly is going on with me.”

Lin Xian followed her gaze, looking at the neon skyscrapers merging into the clouds.

From this angle, the MX Twin Towers at the heart of New Donghai City were out of sight. But in Lin Xian’s view… actually, every skyscraper is no different from the MX Towers.

They are equally mysterious, equally unfathomable, equally uncomfortable.

“But isn’t it too risky for you?”

Lin Xian turned his head back, expressing his doubts:

“Just for curiosity, just to figure out a truth that doesn’t seem to matter all that much, to risk your life to open a safe… Isn’t that a bit too irrational?”

“Maybe.”

CC answered lightly:

“But I have to do this.”

Her gaze firmly fixed on the high wall of the Waste Treatment Plant, her eyes deep and clear as if peering through the wall, watching the garbage trucks and the safe that had yet to arrive:

“I didn’t come here simply out of curiosity; I have something very important to confirm, and this matter is very important to me.”

“More important than your life?” Lin Xian asked.

“More important than life.”

CC replied affirmatively, without a moment’s hesitation:

“[The contents of the safe… may well be the meaning of my life.]”

…

Lin Xian looked at CC, unable to decipher this riddle.

The contents of this safe…

Why does it seem more and more perplexing?

CC believes the contents of the safe are hers.

Lin Xian believes he is the one who stored something in the safe.

Then, if we assume what both have guessed is correct, the safe could be something I will store in some future point, with a set password, and the contents inside might be intended for CC.

But this doesn’t quite make sense from a timeline perspective.

CC’s memories of her upbringing are complete; she must have been born around the year 260X in this world.

So when exactly did I store something in the safe?

Could I have used a Hibernation Pod, or some other means to travel to the future?

And what exactly did I store for CC?

Is the long-haired bearded middle-aged man from CC’s memory really me?

He turned back.

And together with CC, stared at the high walls of the Waste Treatment Plant, recalling the scene from yesterday when the garbage truck unloaded the Hafnium Alloy Safe.

Surely, the answers to my questions…

Are likely hidden within that same safe as well.

…

“Do you have any more questions to ask?” Lin Xian looked at CC.

CC shook her head:

“It’s your turn now, ask away.”

Lin Xian nodded.

There were many questions he wanted to ask CC.

But the most important one was…

“CC.”

Lin Xian, peering through the Rhine Cat Mask, looked at the Ultraman who was close at hand, yet separated by 600 years and even across two universes:

“[Is your real name… Chu Anqing?]”