Genius Club

Chapter 131: Chapter 124 CC’s Secret
 

“Whether it works or not, you tell me first.”

There wasn’t much time left, the dream was about to end.

Lin Xian didn’t bother to haggle with CC and urged her to get to the point quickly.

CC swung the device in her hand that looked like a Bluetooth earpiece:

“This device can remotely connect to the biometric detection security gate, although it requires a certain distance… but as long as the speed of cracking the password is fast enough, this distance is definitely manageable.”

“Once you have the security gate’s password, you can go straight through the security gate, and the biometric detection program won’t be activated. It’s like a kind of exemption mechanism, probably used by internal staff.”

Lin Xian understood.

What CC meant was that if they wanted to infiltrate New Donghai City, they could find a way to hide inside a garbage truck and then enter along with the garbage truck through the steel gate.

Although there was also a biometric detection security gate inside.

But CC was a “Code Expert”, she had the capability to remotely connect to the security gate using the device similar to a Bluetooth earpiece and crack the password.

As long as they could crack the password before the biometric detection program started, they could safely enter New Donghai City.

This plan didn’t sound safe… it could even be said to be fraught with danger, and any slight mistake could be fatal.

But for Lin Xian, life was the cheapest thing.

As long as there was the slightest chance, he could use countless attempts to try and make that single possibility a reality.

This was his unique advantage in the Dream World.

“I understand.”

Lin Xian took off the Rhine Cat Mask from his face, stood up, and looked at the steel gate that was crashing down in the distance:

“Your plan sounds good, it’s logically feasible.”

“But the only difficulty is…”

“For this plan to work, we must have a ‘Code Expert’.”

Lin Xian lowered his head to look at CC:

“That would be you.”

“Don’t even think about it.”

CC turned her head and smiled:

“I only told you this method because I had promised to exchange information with you before; I never said I’d go with you. There’s no other implication.”

“You just said that this safe mattered more to you than your life.”

“There’s a difference between risking one’s life and throwing it away.”

CC brushed her fringe and looked up at Lin Xian:

“Maybe what I said just now wasn’t detailed enough, leading you to misunderstand.”

“Cracking the password isn’t 100% successful, nor can it be guaranteed to be completed within the limited time.”

“On this device, I only know the various procedures of the garbage truck’s process, that doesn’t mean I have actually been inside, and I also don’t know what the biometric detection and security door’s process is like.”

“It’s theoretically possible to bypass the biometric detection by cracking the security gate’s password. But in reality? Who can assure it will definitely work? That it will succeed for sure?”

Lin Xian crouched down and sat on the same safe as CC.

“What are you doing?”

CC gave him a wary glance and edged to the right:

“Why did you come sit here? Don’t you have space over there?”

“I’m thinking…”

Lin Xian held his chin, contemplating:

“I’m thinking about how to make you believe that this world is going to be destroyed at 00:42, and that time can loop back, that there’s no tomorrow here but countless todays.”

“What does that have to do with you coming over here? Can’t you talk from across?”

Having said that,

CC stood up, leaned against the safe piled up beside her, and stared at Lin Xian.

Ah.

That was the problem.

Lin Xian heaved a sigh of helplessness within.

This woman, CC, she simply did not trust him at all.

And now, what he had to do was not only to make the current CC trust him, but also to make the CC at noon and in the afternoon trust him just as much.

This was even more difficult.

He believed that the information CC was providing him right now should be truthful.

But the problem was…

Without the help of a code expert, he definitely could not decipher the password of the security door.

Could he really enroll in a class in reality and study hacking techniques for months on end?

Clearly, that was impractical.

And even if he did manage to learn it in a short period of time,

How to get hold of that Bluetooth headset-like device from CC was also a very difficult task.

By comparison…

Perhaps convincing CC, making her trust him, might be a bit easier.

“CC,”

Lin Xian said seriously,

“Actually, in your memory fragments, that bearded long-haired middle-aged man is most likely me too.”

“Don’t joke around now. Your story is getting more and more outrageous.”

“Otherwise, why would the voice sound the same?”

“There are plenty of people whose voices sound alike.”

“My name is Lin Xian.”

“Why don’t you say your name is Safe? Wouldn’t that be more direct?”

…

Alright then.

Lin Xian spread his hands.

This strange woman, communication with her was completely impossible.

In terms of being charming and understanding, she was miles away from Chu Anqing!

“Whether you believe what I say or not, I’ll go over the situation one last time for you.”

They say sincerity is the ultimate weapon.

Lin Xian decided to make one last attempt, to lay it all out and see if there was anything that could change CC’s mind.

He looked up:

“Firstly, this world will be destroyed at 00:42, which is in a few minutes, and a white light will incinerate everything. You could wait here a lifetime and still not see the garbage truck at 00:57. All your careful plans will turn into a joke in front of the white light of 00:42.”

“And I, I possess the ability to reverse time and loop the day of August 28, 2624. I know these words might sound absurd to you. But so far, have we not encountered enough absurdities since we met?”

“You know those memory fragments don’t belong to this world, and I’m not from this world either. Yet, I truly jumped from another world to here. Isn’t that absurd enough? Is predicting the exact spot where the garbage truck would unload not absurd? Or correctly describing the position each safe landed in not absurd?”

“CC, you need to understand that this world itself is absurd, and there are many things we can’t explain or understand. But just because we can’t understand them, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

“When it comes to opening the safe, there is no doubt our goal is the same. I have told you many times, the only way to open the safe, to know what’s really inside…is only if ‘this afternoon, or even earlier, I infiltrate New Donghai City, find Tem Bank, and open the safe before the garbage truck arrives.’

“That’s the only way. If you trust me, then you have a chance to open the safe in your lifetime; but if you don’t, then you’ll spend your life in regret amidst the endlessly looping destruction of the white light.”

Lin Xian looked down at his watch on his wrist.

00:37

“That’s all I have to say.”

He looked again at CC, who was leaning against the safe:

“You have five more minutes to think, to trust or not to trust, that’s for you to decide.”

…

The air fell silent.

In this cluttered garbage factory, the noisy cicadas of summer were nowhere to be heard.

There were only the sounds of garbage trucks and robots in constant operation.

And the intermittent stench drifting from the incinerators.

After a long while.

CC’s gaze softened:

“Even if I believe you, what then?”

“As you said, what you need is not the me of now, but the me at noon, the me in the afternoon.”

“So what if I believe you now? You can travel back 12 hours, true, but I can’t… How can I convince myself 12 hours earlier to trust you from 12 hours earlier?”

Lin Xian chuckled softly, looking down.

It seemed.

Sincerity did have some effect, after all.

CC was clearly shaken.

“If you are willing to trust me, then that’s something you’ll have to consider, CC.”

Lin Xian stood up:

“No one knows you better than you do. You should know very well what to say and what to do to gain my trust.”

“Even the you from 12 hours ago is no different, in fact. If you can trust me now, then it’s highly likely that the you from 12 hours ago could trust me too.”

“If you are willing to try to cooperate, then everything becomes negotiable… You just need to tell me one of your ‘secrets’.”

“A secret?”

CC tilted her head, looking at Lin Xian:

“What kind of secret?”

“A secret that is yours alone, one that only you know, that no one else knows, but is very important to you, and the moment someone else recounts it to you, you’ll trust them unconditionally—a ‘secret’.”

Fearing CC might not understand, Lin Xian continued to explain:

“I will find you this afternoon. Then I will tell you this ‘secret.’ If the you at that time can trust me upon hearing it, then our plan to infiltrate New Donghai City can begin.”

“So… this secret is the key to gaining your trust, making you believe in me. You need to think carefully…”

“Do you have a deepest secret… Of course, I’m not asking about your personal privacy. Actually, it’s not that difficult; I have many secrets too, and only I know them. If someone can pinpoint them correctly, I would definitely trust them.”

“You should understand what I mean. Do you have a secret deep within your heart that would make you trust anything I say the moment I mention it, and even be willing to risk your life to infiltrate New Donghai City with me?”

…

After Lin Xian had spoken,

CC fell into deep thought.

Perhaps she had begun to believe in Lin Xian.

Or perhaps, she was simply considering giving it a try out of sheer curiosity.

After all, for CC at this moment, it wasn’t much of a burden; she just needed to share a secret that could persuade herself.

“VV.”

After a long while, CC finally spoke.

She opened her eyes, reflecting the round moon above, looking up at Lin Xian, who was a head taller:

“That middle-aged man with the big beard, his name is VV.”

“VV.”

Lin Xian silently repeated this strange name:

“Just by telling yourself from 12 hours ago this name, it’s enough to gain trust?”

“It should be.”

CC nodded:

“This name is very important to me. At least now, if you could mention this name to me, I would definitely trust you.”

“So I think… the me from 12 hours ago would feel the same.”

“Alright.”

Lin Xian nodded:

“Thank you for your secret. Where will you be at noon and in the afternoon today?”

“I’ll be hiding in the woods behind Lee Cheng’s house the whole time.”

CC chuckled softly, looking down:

“I really don’t know why I’m believing all this nonsense… You would really make a great speechmaker or a show host, there’s just something very compelling about the way you talk.”

“You’re really good at reading people.”

Lin Xian looked down at his watch.

00:41:37

Good, he had made it in time.

He had acquired a secret that could make CC trust him just 23 seconds before the apocalyptic flash.

“Look at your watch.”

Lin Xian gestured for CC to raise her wrist:

“In 20 seconds, the world is going to end.”

“To be honest, I don’t believe it,” CC said softly, yet she still lifted her wrist, watching the second hand on her watch rise:

“Counting down to the end of the world is truly strange… as if the world is not real.”

“Have you seen ‘The Truman Show’?” Lin Xian asked.

“What is that?” CC looked up, puzzled.

“It’s a movie.”

Lin Xian smiled and waved goodbye to CC:

“If we never see each other again, then let me wish you good morning, good afternoon…”

“And good night.”

Boom!!!!

Boom!!!!

Boom!!!!

The promised white light arrived, and obliterated everything to nothingness.

…

…

…

00:42:00

On the bed in the corner of the bedroom, Lin Xian opened his eyes.