Genius Club

Chapter 117: Chapter 112: Decisions

A shooting?

An accidental death?

Lin Xian looked at these ominous words…

Zhao Yingjun had died so young?

His gaze fixed on the phrase “gone too soon”… The following age of 23 seemed like a very cruel number.

Lin Xian scratched his head, somewhat at a loss for how he should be feeling right now.

While it’s true that accidents happen every day and death is normal,

this was an acquaintance he knew, a familiar face he saw every day.

Even, just today, he had chatted with her in her office.

If he had read in a book that Zhao Yingjun had died at 30 or 40, he wouldn’t have felt anything amiss.

But 23 years old… wasn’t that too young?

The main point was.

Zhao Yingjun was currently 23 years old…

Was she about to die?

Lin Xian stared at the name Zhao Yingjun printed on the water-damaged book…

He never imagined he could see the death of someone he knew in the future world, 600 years later.

Whew———Whew———

Outside the walls, a whistle that sounded like bird calls rang out.

Lin Xian raised his wrist to check his watch.

00:18:24

Big Face Cat was probably reminding him that it was time to leave; the retreat time had come.

“Lin Xian, let’s go! Retreat time is upon us, starting at 00:19 there will only be a 30-second blind spot in the surveillance!”

Lee Ningning ran towards the wall, carrying a stack of books.

Lin Xian quickly flipped through the biography “Me and MX” again but didn’t find any useful information.

Just a couple of sentences about the establishment of MX Company and the accidental death of the founder, Miss Zhao Yingjun, before returning to the traditional self-aggrandizing tone.

“Lin Xian!! What are you doing!! Hurry up!!”

Looking up.

Lee Ningning was urgently calling out to him, and actually came back to drag Lin Xian away:

“Stop looking! If you want to read it, take it outside!”

Lin Xian really didn’t expect Lee Ningning to come back for him; he thought she would just climb over and leave.

In fact, he hadn’t planned on leaving. He intended to find a spot here to hide and read the book thoroughly.

“Hurry up! There’s no time!”

Lee Ningning grabbed Lin Xian’s arm and sprinted on top of a pile of rubbish.

Lin Xian stuffed the book in the waistband of his pants and followed Lee Ningning, running at full speed.

However…

Hum!!!

Hum!!!

The noise of a propeller, a surveillance drone was quickly approaching!

Lee Ningning’s doubling back to fetch Lin Xian… had indeed wasted too much time. With surveillance drones about to come within range, it was clear they wouldn’t make it!

“You go ahead.”

“Huh?”

Lee Ningning was startled.

But the next second, Lin Xian had already lifted her light frame, pushing her upwards! Acting as a human ladder, he sent Lee Ningning to a height from which she could leap over.

“Hurry and climb over!”

As Lin Xian placed his palms beneath Lee Ningning’s soles and pushed forcefully upward, she was sent rolling and scrambling over the high wall.

Puff.

There was no sound of a hard landing.

Because Big Face Cat had instructed earlier—they would catch Lin Xian and Lee Ningning outside, ensuring they wouldn’t fall hard.

“Lin Xian————”

Lee Ningning’s voice came from the other side!

Beep beep beep beep beep beep!!!

The urgent alarm sounded, closing in fast!

Lin Xian raised his head to see several drones with menacing red lights!

Bang bang bang bang!

Bang bang bang bang!

Bang bang bang bang!

…

…

Leap!

Lin Xian abruptly sat up from bed, took several deep breaths, and rubbed his head.

He wasn’t sure if it was just an illusion.

It felt as though he had witnessed his own head exploding…

It was thrilling, and also familiar.

He hadn’t experienced it in years, not since his time in the Dream World.

He turned to look at the bedside clock.

00:22

He got up and sat down at the desk.

He turned on the desk lamp and relying on his memory, he wrote down the cause of Zhao Yingjun’s death—

[——At the time when the company was taking off, Miss Zhao Yingjun unexpectedly perished in a shooting incident at midnight, at the tender age of 23.

Subsequently, MX Company was officially taken over by the Zhao Corporation from the Imperial Capital, conducting large-scale personnel adjustments and integration of business operations. From then on, MX Company embarked on a new journey!]

Lin Xian capped the pen and began to ponder this matter.

According to his initial guess.

Miss Zhao Yingjun received an invitation from the Genius Club,

joined the Genius Club,

then used the Hibernation Pod to leap across 600 years in time,

and during this period, relied on MX Company to establish New Donghai City,

so 600 years later, the President of MX Company was still her.

But now it seems…

This line of reasoning, from its very foundation, is wrong.

Though one cannot deny that the establishment of New Donghai City is related to the Genius Club, at the very least, it has nothing to do with Zhao Yingjun.

Zhao Yingjun died quite definitively at the age of 23.

After her death, MX Company was taken over by Zhao Corporation and most likely changed hands multiple times over 600 years, having long since lost any relation to Zhao Yingjun.

Her exit, was too early.

“Zhao Corporation…”

Upon hearing this name, Lin Xian had the intuition that it must be the company of Zhao Yingjun’s father, or perhaps her family, right?

After all, MX Company was in itself a sole proprietorship belonging to Zhao Yingjun, and if she truly had passed away, then only her parents would be legally qualified to inherit her assets.

So…

His thoughts then returned to the fact of Zhao Yingjun’s death.

The invitation from the Genius Club in her office drawer was the “only” clue he could continue to investigate.

If this clue were lost, he really would have no other safe way to access information about the Genius Club.

It was clearly written in that book that after the company changed owners, a major personnel reshuffle occurred.

When a new emperor ascends the throne, new officials are appointed, and it was obvious that high-level executives like the three Vice Presidents and Lin Xian were bound to be all replaced, replaced by those loyal to the new leadership.

Being fired was not an issue for him—he did not lack money.

But after leaving MX Company, how could he look at that Genius Club invitation again?

He was really getting further and further away.

The content of that invitation… was extremely important for the current Lin Xian!

The nature, purpose, and moral ambiguity of the Genius Club were all enigmatic.

Including the future world in the dream, there were no clues, no leads, shrouded in mystery, and unknown to all.

But the Genius Club, without a doubt, truly existed.

The black hand shadow on the moon in the sky, Big Face Cat’s father being taken away… these events must all be related to the Genius Club.

And the invitation in the drawer of Zhao Yingjun’s office was also currently the “only” thing that could connect the real world with the Dream World.

Lin Xian had an intuition…

Perhaps the root of all the mysteries at hand was related to the Genius Club.

Therefore, this critical clue of the invitation couldn’t break here!

“Zhao Yingjun’s death cannot happen.”

Lin Xian raised his head:

“Her death… would bring a lot of trouble to my follow-up investigation.”

He picked up a rollerball pen, pinched it between his fingers, and let it rotate around an arc.

If Zhao Yingjun didn’t die, and MX Company wasn’t acquired by Zhao Corporation…

Would the future world still look the same as it does now?

Would New Donghai City still be encircled by high walls?

Would the MX Company building still stand at the center of New Donghai City like the Sea-Calming Divine Needle?

Lin Xian did not like the future world in the Second Dreamland.

Lee Ningning didn’t like it either.

Many people didn’t like it.

Lin Xian even felt that such a distorted future world was, in fact, less comforting than the First Dreamland, where technology hadn’t advanced in 600 years.

So…

“If Zhao Yingjun’s premature death doesn’t happen, will the future world, the New and Old Donghai City, change as a result?”@@novelbin@@

Considering the Space-time Law.

Considering the Space-Time Butterfly Effect, the concept of Temporal Flux.

Lin Xian thought this possibility was still very likely.

If he could successfully prevent Zhao Yingjun’s untimely death, then from that moment on, the Space-Time Butterfly would beat its wings, creating an anchor point for Temporal Flux.

As long as the amplitude of this Temporal Flux could break through 600 years of Space-Time Elasticity, it would inevitably trigger the Space-Time Butterfly Effect, rewriting the future and causing the Dream World to change.

“It’s worth a try.”

At the very least…

One shouldn’t stand by and watch someone die.

The sight of Xu Yun’s mutilated corpse on the street still haunted him.

Lin Xian didn’t want to see another acquaintance’s body left in the streets.

If she really was a bad person, then so be it.

But at the moment, Zhao Yingjun had shown no signs of malevolence.

She couldn’t be deemed good or evil solely based on receiving an invitation from the Genius Club, coupled with the word of Big Face Cat’s family in the First Dreamland.

Currently, whether it’s the nature of the Genius Club or Zhao Yingjun’s stance, there’s actually no definitive answer yet.

After weighing the pros and cons…

Altering history’s course to save Zhao Yingjun was, overall, more beneficial than harmful.

“However, saving people is okay, but ensuring my own safety is still the priority.”

“Zhao Yingjun has received an invitation from the Genius Club, and the moral nature of the Genius Club is currently unclear, so… I must not reveal my intentions, let alone the fact that I have foreknowledge of her death.”

“The Dream World is my biggest secret and my only weapon; knowing the future must not be disclosed.”

“Therefore, in considering how to save Zhao Yingjun’s plan, I must pay attention to safety and secrecy.”

Specifically, that means three principles:

1. Do not directly inform Zhao Yingjun of the fact that she will die; do not reveal my ability to foresee the future.

2. Do not use sudden, deliberate actions to pull Zhao Yingjun out of danger, to avoid raising unnecessary suspicions and bringing trouble upon myself.

3. Should very naturally, without anyone knowing, let Zhao Yingjun escape from this accidental shooting incident.

Lin Xian stopped twirling the pen and looked out at the pitch-dark night sky:

“How exactly… am I going to save her?”