Genius Club

Zhao Ying Jun’s face was a canvas of emotions—surprise, joy, and confusion blending together. Finally, she nodded firmly.

“Lin Xian, I must admit, I’ve underestimated you. Your talents span music, painting, and more.”

“Painting is just a hobby, nothing special,” Lin Xian replied, standing up. “If you like this song, we could use it as the theme for ‘Rhine Cat.’”

“I’d love to ensure it’s well represented since I designed it,” he added.

Zhao Ying Jun saw no reason to object. As the CEO, she was aware of the risk of Lin Xian possibly branching out on his own.

“That sounds fine to me,” she said with a smile. “I do like it. And since it’s your creation, you should have the final say.”

Lin Xian wasn’t sure if her agreement was genuine or just for convenience, but she agreed nonetheless.

Following that, Zhao Ying Jun called the music producer’s agent to cancel their planned meeting for that evening.

“So, Lin Xian, since my evening is now free, would you prefer to have dinner tonight or tomorrow?”

With Zhao Ying Jun’s schedule already cleared, pushing the dinner to tonight seemed pointless. It was better to wait until tomorrow to keep her safely away from the planned shooting incident.

“Alright,” Zhao Ying Jun stretched leisurely. “I’ll head home and rest then. It’s been ages since I last had a good night’s sleep.”

“Make sure to find a studio tomorrow and get a professional recording of the theme song. We’ll pass it directly to the singer afterward,” she instructed.

“Will do,” Lin Xian nodded, then exited her office.

Bang.

The sound of the heavy double-locked door echoed as it shut, dividing their worlds once more.

Around 5 PM, Zhao Ying Jun’s business car rolled out of the company grounds, heading towards her home.

From behind the office blinds, Lin Xian watched.

She was leaving earlier than ever. Typically a workaholic, she packed every minute with tasks, handling almost everything personally.

However, today was different. Lin Xian’s impromptu performance of the ‘Rhine Cat’ theme song had upended her schedule.

Her usual routine and historical trajectory had shifted.

If the assassination was set for tonight, the bullet would now miss its mark.

Neither the assassin nor Zhao Ying Jun would wait for the other.

Given her residence in a highly secure neighborhood in Donghai, she should be safe.

Lin Xian checked the time.

Almost 5:30 PM.

If he went home now, he’d miss his chance to prevent the theft at the 314 garbage dump and miss the night’s operation planned by Li Cheng.

“I’ll sleep in the office.”

The office had a rest area, free from formaldehyde and odors, suitable for an overnight stay.

He needed to check the dream world at the 314 garbage dump to see if Zhao Ying Jun’s history had altered.

“If tonight’s the shooting, the autobiography should reflect changes. The butterfly effect might even erase the existence of the bald CEO, MX Company, or even New Donghai City.”

Lin Xian headed to the rest room, drew the curtains, and settled onto the new bed…

“Lin Xian! I found it!”

Across a stack of books, Li Ning Ning called out.

“Throw it over!”

Whoosh…

Slap.

The autobiography landed at Lin Xian’s feet.

He had spent the night catching the three knife thief, joining the Face Gang, notifying Li Cheng about the 314 garbage dump, and now, here with Big Cat Face and the others, they had raided for books.

Picking up the autobiography, Lin Xian turned to the expected page, his heart sinking as he read:

“At the peak of the company’s rise, Ms. Zhao Ying Jun was tragically killed in a shooting incident, passing away at midnight at the age of 23. Subsequently, MX Company was overtaken by the Zhao Group from the capital, leading to significant changes in personnel and operations. Henceforth, MX Company embarked on a new path!”

“No change,” he muttered dryly.

Every word was the same as before.

The looming threat to Zhao Ying Jun’s life remained unresolved. Tonight wasn’t the designated time for her demise.

“If the shooting didn’t occur tonight, then it must be scheduled for January 13 or 14.”

Thankfully, Zhao Ying Jun had agreed to dinner tomorrow, altering her usual routine and the historical sequence.

However, the dinner plans were not yet concrete, which meant changes were still possible, and the history recorded in the autobiography couldn’t definitively exclude another assassination attempt tomorrow night.

“We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

Whoosh—whoosh—

The retreat whistle blared outside the 314 garbage dump. Li Ning Ning, clutching a stack of books, shouted to Lin Xian, “We need to leave! Retreat starts at 00:19, and we have only 30 seconds to escape the surveillance!”

“Got it.”

Last time, a delay in retreating had nearly cost him his life, a mistake he was keen not to repeat.

Stashing the autobiography in his waistband, Lin Xian followed Li Ning Ning to the wall.

Buzz…

Buzz…

The drones were closing in; they had 30 seconds to make their escape!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Books flew over the wall as Lin Xian and Li Ning Ning made their escape.

“Ning Ning, go first,” Lin Xian urged.

Li Ning Ning scaled the wall and leapt to the other side.

Thud.

Big Cat Face and the others caught her safely.

“Lin Xian!” she called from beyond the wall.

Taking one last look at the towering book piles merging into the darkness, Lin Xian vaulted over.

“Hey!”

Big Cat Face, Ah Zhuang, Er Zhuzi, and San Pang were ready to catch him.

Lin Xian was pleasantly surprised…

Er Zhuzi, often at odds with him, proved reliable in critical moments.

As long as you respected his boundaries, friendship with him was simple.

Unfortunately, Lin Xian hadn’t quite earned Er Zhuzi’s full trust—perhaps due to his good looks?

“Run! We’re still within 20 meters of the surveillance range!”

As the drones zoomed closer, the group sprinted into the woods.

Buzz!!

The drones swept past, continuing their patrol.

“Phew…”

Lin Xian exhaled deeply.

“That was thrilling.”

It was his first flawless mission involving book theft.

Books secured,

No casualties,

Mission accomplished perfectly.

“Perfect,” he whispered.

Feeling a sense of accomplishment and pride, he savored the moment as if he had fought for human history and knowledge.

“What’s that mean?” Big Cat Face asked, intrigued.

“Perfect.”

“Yo! You know foreign languages too!” Big Cat Face chuckled. “Teach me a few words!”

“Forget it; you’re not the linguistic type.”

“Hey, don’t underestimate me! I’m great with languages! Teach me something!”

“Shit.”

“Shit!” Big Cat Face echoed, smirking. “Fancy!”

They lingered on the hill, basking in the success of their haul, laughter filling the air.

Li Ning Ning remarked it was their most successful raid in years.

Lin Xian sorted through the books scattered on the ground.

Science, textbooks, engineering blueprints, academic texts…

Indeed, these were treasures for Li Cheng and those beyond the steel walls.

But…

“Why no history books?”

Lin Xian couldn’t recall seeing any history books among the soggy heaps.

How could a massive bookstore, flooded with tens of thousands of books, lack even one history book?

“Ning Ning, did you see any history books in there?”

He knew it was a futile question—if she had seen any, they would be here. “Have you ever found history books at the dump?”

“No,” Li Ning Ning shook her head. “Not a single one.”

Lin Xian frowned…

This absence wasn’t random.

In a chance search at the dump, missing history books could be overlooked.

But in a vast bookstore, with both of them searching, to find not one history book was beyond strange.

“This isn’t normal.” Lin Xian glanced at Big Cat Face, who was joking with Ah Zhuang and Er Zhuzi…

The intel about history books in New Donghai City had come from Big Cat Face. Reflecting on it, he probably assumed too much.

He thought since New Donghai City had everything, it would naturally include history books. But now, it seemed they were all mistaken. History books were absent, not just here but seemingly everywhere in the future world.

“Why is this?” Lin Xian pondered.

He looked up at the full moon, noticing the black silhouette of a hand pointing skyward:

“Does this world… have no history?”

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