Genius Club

“You really guessed right.”

CC stared, wide-eyed, at the dozens of aluminum alloy safes scattered before her. She had doubted Lin Xian’s judgment earlier, but now the proof was undeniable.

“How did you do this? I looked into it… The dumping locations for these garbage trucks are calculated in real-time. Sometimes, a single truck has to unload in two different locations. How did you manage to predict that?”

“It’s complicated to explain and not really important.”

Lin Xian glanced toward the distant monitoring room, where a new supervisor was chuckling to himself. As long as they remained cautious, they should be safe.

“Quick, find Lin Xian’s safe. We’ve got only 14 minutes.”

“Why just 14 minutes?” CC asked, puzzled.

“That’s also complicated… Just trust me on this.”

Lin Xian quickly crouched and hurried forward. Every second was precious; there wasn’t time to lay out the entire situation to CC. Besides, any explanation given today might just be forgotten by tomorrow, rendering it pointless.

“Got it.”

After witnessing Lin Xian’s expertise, CC seemed to trust him more, dutifully crouching and heading in the opposite direction. They both began their search for the safe.

Wei Sheng Jin…

Wang Shuo…

In the chaos of the scattered safes, Lin Xian noticed two familiar names.

In the bank warehouse from the first dream, all the safes were embedded in the walls. These two safes were positioned right next to his own.

Especially Wei Sheng Jin’s, which was immediately to the right of his.

Previously, CC had used an oxy-acetylene torch to cut open the safes, starting with Wei Sheng Jin’s, cautious not to damage their contents.

However, to their surprise, the new aluminum alloy—a robust aerospace material—resisted the 3000-degree torch as if it were trivial.

Finding the safe turned out to be easier than Lin Xian had anticipated. A quick glance at the names was enough to rule out the incorrect ones.

Moreover, they were lucky; none of the safes were lying flat with their nameplates obscured, making their search much more efficient. Only two safes were face-down, but they were propped up on others, allowing the nameplates to be visible by merely crouching.

They examined every nameplate.

Yet, Lin Xian still couldn’t locate his own safe.

He looked over at CC, who was crouching and moving towards him.

“Did you find it?”

CC shook her head.

“No, I’ve checked them all. Lin Xian’s safe isn’t here.”

“What’s going on?”

Lin Xian surveyed the number of safes around them and compared it with his memory of the bank warehouse.

“The numbers don’t add up. There should be at least a hundred, maybe even two hundred.”

“That means the rest of the safes haven’t arrived yet.”

Unlike Lin Xian, CC’s voice was calm, as though she had anticipated this outcome.

“The next batch of garbage trucks arrives at 00:57. The remaining safes should be on those trucks. Lin Xian’s safe must be among them.”

“How do you know all this so precisely?” Lin Xian was puzzled. He had wondered for a while how CC knew there would be safes dumped here today. But they had been too busy with the safes earlier for him to inquire.

Now it seemed CC must have a unique source of information and probably knew a lot about New Donghai City! Otherwise, she wouldn’t know the exact time the garbage trucks arrived at the disposal site.

“How do you know all this?” Lin Xian removed the Rhine Cat mask from his face and stared intently at CC. “And why do you know it down to the exact minute the garbage trucks arrive? That’s too precise. Even the staff at the disposal plant wouldn’t have such detailed information.”

“It’s because of this.” CC pulled a small item from her pocket and opened her hand to show Lin Xian. It resembled a Bluetooth earpiece.

Lin Xian glanced toward the supervisor in the middle of the disposal site, who was staring ahead, laughing at nothing. He wore the same device on his ear.

“What is this?”

“I don’t really know what it’s called,” CC inspected the earpiece-like gadget. “But it’s a piece of equipment every worker at the disposal plant wears. When worn on the ear, it projects a screen in front of their eyes that they can control with eye movements. It’s quite advanced.”

Lin Xian realized it was similar to technology he had seen in 2023, like Google Glass, VR glasses, or holographic glasses. While these devices displayed electronic information and sensed the user’s gaze to interpret commands, the actual application of such technology was still rare.

However, the device CC held appeared far more advanced and high-tech. It was the size of a typical ear-hook Bluetooth earpiece, semi-circular and perfectly contoured to fit around the ear. Lin Xian was puzzled by its ability to project a “screen,” but since CC claimed it did, he believed her. It seemed the technology in New Donghai City from the second dream was significantly advanced, featuring high-tech products still unimaginable in 2023.

“How did you get this thing?”

“I stole it from a supervisor at another disposal plant a while ago,” CC replied nonchalantly. “To us, this might seem advanced, but for the people of New Donghai City, it’s just an outdated, everyday work tool.”

“Doesn’t it have security features? Can anyone use it if they steal it?” Lin Xian wondered.

“It has a password, but I cracked it,” CC said casually. Lin Xian was impressed; her skills as a password expert were undeniable, whether developed in the second dream or inherited from those memory fragments.

“I see.” Lin Xian examined the small device in CC’s hand. “So, this device allows the disposal plant staff to see the location, route, and specific tasks of each garbage truck?”

“Exactly. Knowing that a bunch of aluminum alloy safes would be dumped here tonight, I found a way to sneak in,” CC confirmed.

“It’s not as elaborate as you think.” CC twirled the “Bluetooth earpiece” between her fingers. “After cracking the password, many features were still inaccessible. However, I could indeed view each garbage truck’s routes, departure and arrival times, and some other disposal-related details.”

“The bearded man from my memory said he stored a safe for me at Time Bank. He likely wanted to share the password too, but he didn’t manage to say it… Maybe my memory is incomplete.”

“Old Donghai doesn’t have this bank, so it must be in New Donghai City, which I can’t access directly. I’ve been hanging around here for a long time, trying different methods, sifting through newspapers and documents daily to find any useful leads.”

“Then I saw an announcement about Time Bank’s bankruptcy and a notice for safe claims. If unclaimed by August 28th, the safes would be disposed of as garbage.”

“This might be my only chance, so I stole an earpiece from a plant supervisor. After cracking the password, I could access the work schedules of all disposal sites in New Donghai City and track the garbage trucks’ collection routes and timings.”

“The disposal of items from Time Bank is managed by this plant. The trucks that collect from Time Bank arrive either at 00:25 or 00:57. Only these two shifts pass by Time Bank.”

“So, if Lin Xian’s safe isn’t in the 00:25 batch, it must be in the 00:57 batch,” CC concluded, unaware of the gravity of their situation, staring at the nearby steel gate.

“We just need to keep hiding here until the 00:57 batch arrives. Lin Xian’s safe will definitely be on those trucks.”

Seeing CC’s confident and relaxed demeanor, Lin Xian remained silent.

The next batch of garbage trucks was due at 00:57… but that was as likely as them arriving 2,000 years from now.

Because both were impossible.

This dream, this future world, would be obliterated by a burst of white light in a few minutes at 00:42, resetting everything and starting the day anew.

There would be no tomorrow here…

The much-anticipated 00:57 would never arrive.

“Um… well…”

Lin Xian hesitated. “Never mind, let’s talk about something else.”

He turned to CC.

“Since you’ve been around here for a long time, can you give me any tips on how to infiltrate New Donghai City? Any clue that could help me get in… Even if it’s risky, just tell me.”

“You want to enter New Donghai City?”

“Yes,” Lin Xian nodded. “I need to find two books and some materials there. These items probably aren’t at the garbage disposal plant; they must be in New Donghai City, so I have to get there.”

“To find two books?”

CC blinked in disbelief at Lin Xian. “You’d risk your life to enter New Donghai City… just for two books?”

“Just as you do,” Lin Xian countered. “Besides, what’s the difference between New Donghai City and here? Why is everyone so scared to go in?”

Lin Xian shifted his position, leaning against the stacked safes.

“Is New Donghai City heavily guarded? Or are there identity recognition devices everywhere that can instantly detect and eliminate outsiders?”

“I don’t know,” CC admitted, sitting atop an aluminum alloy safe and gazing up at Lin Xian.

“No one has successfully infiltrated such a city. Or maybe some have… but they couldn’t get out and died inside; no one really knows, at least I don’t. I’ve never heard of it.”

“Maybe, as you say, it’s heavily guarded. Or maybe it’s just an illusion. But who’s willing to take that risk?”

CC chuckled, looking at the towering steel walls resembling a vertical abyss. “Everyone has only one life; no one wants to gamble with it.”

“I think you’re quite the gambler,” Lin Xian retorted.

“That’s because I have reasons more important than life itself, so I must take the risk,” CC turned back to Lin Xian. “But your reason for finding two books doesn’t seem significant enough.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Lin Xian smiled, gazing up at the vast, endless steel wall.

“My life isn’t worth much; I can afford to gamble.”

“Not worth two books?”

“Not even worth a piece of paper.”

Pfft—

CC laughed, her eyes behind the mask curving into crescent moons. “You’re quite the joker. But honestly, it’s a pity. If you had met me earlier today, you wouldn’t need to think about breaking into New Donghai City to find those books.”

“What do you mean?” Lin Xian stood up straight, leaving the safe he was leaning against.

“What would have happened if I met you earlier?”

CC took out the small “Bluetooth earpiece” and weighed it in her hand, smiling.

“If you had met me earlier, I could’ve told you… At Garbage Disposal Plant 314, a large batch of water-damaged books was to be delivered tonight. You could have found your books there.”

“Too bad… It’s definitely too late now.”

“They must have been burned to ashes by now.”

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