Genius Club

Chapter 515: A False Future

this novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation

einstein grew melancholic.

amid the interwoven threads of space-time, he saw with painful clarity that humanity’s future would end in a world-destroying nuclear war in 1991.

he had seen it vividly—

[douglas had been correct about many things. over the next few decades, more nations would gain nuclear weapons. nuclear deterrence would take shape, and the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons was indeed signed in 1968.]

[but ultimately, war between the united states and the soviet union erupted. the moment the first nuclear weapon was launched, global retaliation systems activated instantly. a chain reaction spread across the globe, with hydrogen and atomic bombs detonating everywhere. thousands of mushroom clouds polluted the atmosphere...]

this marked the prologue of humanity’s extinction.

einstein bowed his head heavily.

“i so desperately wish the future i’ve seen was wrong—a fabrication. how i wish douglas were correct instead. but...”

he rose from his chair and walked into the living room, where an untended fish tank had sat for three days.

inside, twelve fish had been swimming. now, seven floated belly-up at the surface, while the remaining five feasted on their fallen companions.

einstein had already foreseen this.

even before stepping out of his study and entering the living room... he had known exactly how many fish were dead.

then, he returned to his study, pulling open the curtains to let in the warm sunlight.

“snow will fall tonight,” he murmured softly.

“next door, little tom will trip in seven seconds. his ball will bounce and hit mary’s dog...”

“ow!”

as his words faded, a boy carrying a ball tripped over a step and landed face-first on the ground, wailing in pain. the ball bounced across the road and thumped against mary’s sleeping corgi.

swish—

einstein closed the curtains.

it was clear now. every future he could glimpse was real and accurate.

at least... everything he could verify thus far confirmed it.

“douglas.”

einstein raised his head suddenly.

“yes! douglas! we were supposed to meet at the farm in brooklyn today. i’m late!”

he scratched his head in frustration.

“damn it, where is douglas now? he probably thinks i stood him up!”

closing his eyes, einstein attempted to locate douglas using his ability to trace the threads of space-time—to find his form and presence and glimpse his future.

but he found... nothing.

the reason was simple. he had no idea what douglas looked like, nor could he match the sound of douglas’s voice.

with a resigned sigh, einstein opened his eyes.

“if i could see history before i woke up with this ability, i could follow the trail to douglas and learn his true appearance. but for now, my vision starts from the moment i awakened. i can’t see anything from before.”

“the only impression i have of douglas is the gorilla mask and his raspy, cold-stricken voice. i don’t even know his nationality.”

“still, maybe i can check the farm in brooklyn. i’m late, but douglas might still be waiting for me there.”

despite his newfound power to peer into the future, einstein wasn’t yet skilled in its use. closing his eyes once more, he clumsily sifted through the threads of space-time.

soon enough, he saw his farm in brooklyn. a dark figure was wandering there.

it was a man with nordic features mixed with traces of asian ancestry. from his appearance, douglas seemed to be of eurasian descent.

einstein held his breath, stunned.

he saw it clearly.

douglas’s eyes... were also a radiant, bright blue! identical to his own!

the realization struck him.

back when he calculated the universal constant as 42, two small blue electric orbs had appeared behind him. one had struck him directly. the other... it must have struck douglas, turning his eyes blue as well.

“i see now. so that’s it!”

einstein’s mind cleared, and he understood the truth.

this was destiny—a bond—

[douglas, like him, could also see the future!]

“i understand now, douglas,” einstein murmured, narrowing his eyes and clenching his fists.

“giving up on humanity’s future, feeling hopeless or despairing—it’s far too early for that.”

“our ability to see the future is a gift from the heavens—a chance to change it.”

“if we can foresee failure and destruction, we can devise ways to prevent it, to alter it, to guide human civilization toward a brighter destiny.”

“let’s join forces, douglas. let’s work together...”

“[to forge a better future for humanity!]”

now resolved, einstein felt an overwhelming surge of excitement. no matter how bleak humanity’s future seemed, he and douglas could save it.

“i must find douglas immediately.”

einstein ceased his visions of the future and, without hesitation, put on his coat and rushed out of the study.

but just as quickly, he returned.

he grabbed a piece of white draft paper from his desk, bearing a single number: [42].

this was the origin of everything. he needed to discuss this with douglas. the paper, containing the final answer to the universal constant, was essential.

carefully folding it, he slipped it into his coat pocket.

with determination, einstein charged out of his home, started his old car parked in the yard, and sped toward the brooklyn suburbs.

...

meanwhile...

in the western suburbs of brooklyn, within an abandoned farm, lin xian had already circled to the back of the house and started a meticulous search.

“found it!”

beneath his feet was a concealed steel trapdoor. just as he had anticipated.

the farm did indeed hide an underground space.

with some effort, lin xian pried open the heavy door, revealing a deep and dark passageway below.

“what... is this place?”

he didn’t venture down immediately. it was pitch black and seemed unsafe. the vertical design of the passage looked more like an emergency escape route, and lin xian doubted a man of einstein’s seventy-something years could climb up and down such a steep path.

“there must be other entrances and exits.”

now that he had a clear objective, the search progressed much faster.

before long, he found several ventilation shafts and even a hidden periscope. with these clues, he finally understood what the farm concealed underground—

seeing lin xian’s complex expression and silence, einstein continued,

“when i woke up this afternoon, my eyes had already turned blue. and... i don’t know how to describe it, but i’m sure you understand! you must, douglas—you must know! i see countless threads of time interwoven in my mind. i... i can see every second of the future!”

“douglas, you’re like me. you must know more than i do. can you tell me... what’s happening here?”

boom!

though the brooklyn night was calm, with gentle moonlight gracing the sky, a tempest raged in lin xian’s mind. it was as though lightning struck a narrow kite, sending shocks coursing down the string and through his body, leaving him numb and shaken.

he took a deep breath and lowered his head.

“tell me, einstein,” lin xian said softly.

“what kind of future... did you see?”

“1991. a global nuclear war. humanity... destroyed in countless mushroom clouds,” einstein replied rapidly.

“1991. that’s the farthest future i can see. it’s also the farthest humanity can go. douglas, your vision of hope for the future was beautiful, but reality... reality is cruel. humanity never learns from history!”

“if we don’t intervene, if we don’t find a way to stop it, human civilization will come to an end—destroyed by its own hand!”

...

hearing einstein’s answer, lin xian closed his eyes.

it seemed that his earlier speculation with zhao yingjun was correct—

[the future einstein saw was a false future.]

in reality, 1991 held no nuclear war. instead, the cold war ended with the dissolution of the soviet union, ushering in an era of rapid global development.

if einstein had seen the true future, he would have seen one of three scenarios:

00:42—the world-ending white light.

the great catastrophe of 2600.

or, as he mentioned at their last gathering, the thriving supercity of donghai with a population of 40 million.

any of these outcomes would have made sense.

but instead, he saw humanity’s end in a non-existent 1991 global nuclear war.

clearly, einstein had been deceived by a false future.

the spacetime particle that struck him was the culprit behind this tragic misunderstanding!

“you...”

lin xian opened his mouth to speak.

but in his mind, a storm of lightning and thunder erupted, illuminating the dark night sky like daylight. the kite soaring through the heavens was now tattered and torn, and its taut string began to fray under the strain.

he quickly shut his mouth, cutting himself off mid-sentence.

at this moment, history teetered on a critical turning point. the elasticity of spacetime was stretched to its limit.

every word he spoke could alter einstein’s fate and twist the curvature of spacetime itself.

it was a risk lin xian could not afford to take.

and so, he stayed silent.

einstein tilted his head in confusion and stepped closer, clasping lin xian’s hand tightly.

“douglas, why won’t you speak?” he pleaded.

“it’s okay! we’re not who we were before. we’ve seen this disaster ahead of time, which means we can stop it! we can correct these errors before they happen!”

“and, you... are you the same as me? i haven’t eaten in three days and nights, yet i feel no hunger at all. it’s as if... when that blue orb struck us, it also granted us immortality!”

“this means we can safeguard humanity’s destiny for as long as it takes, guiding the future onto the right path and granting the most beautiful future to humanity!”

turning abruptly, he gestured toward the farm’s warehouse.

“you’ve seen it, haven’t you? after 1945, i began constructing this underground refuge to escape nuclear war. i invited you here today to tell you about it.”

“but now i’ve changed my mind, douglas. let’s save the world together! save humanity’s future! this place, isolated and deep underground, can become our secret base.”

“we, immortal beings, can forge a false death, disappear from the world, and hide here—or anywhere we choose. we... we can do so many things. it’s exhilarating, even monumental!”

however, facing einstein’s excitement, lin xian remained expressionless and shook his head.

unlike the serene brooklyn sky above, his mind was still in turmoil, the storm threatening to tear apart the kite string that barely held together.

“sorry, einstein. i have to leave.”

“leave?” einstein froze in disbelief.

“where... where are you going?”

a sense of dread overcame him. frantically, he used the threads of spacetime in his mind to glimpse douglas’s future.

to his horror, he saw it.

in just one minute, douglas would dissolve into blue stardust, vanishing under the moonlight.

“no!”

einstein gripped lin xian’s hand even tighter, his grasp almost painful.

“no... douglas, i beg you, don’t leave me.”

“you’ve given me hope, given me strength... we’re partners. partners in saving humanity’s future.”

“don’t go. stay, please? stay here, and together we can...”

lin xian pulled his hand free.

from the pocket of his coat, he retrieved a small white square gift box. inside was the watch cc had bought for him with all her savings.

he placed the white box in einstein’s hand and said softly, “take care of this for me.”

lin xian raised his head and patted einstein on the shoulder.

“one day,” he said, his voice steady, “i’ll come back for this watch.”

without another word, he turned and walked toward the full moon rising in the eastern sky.

einstein stood there, stricken, unable to accept this sudden departure. his face was filled with sorrow and reluctance.

“you won’t come back for the watch, douglas,” he murmured. “i can see the future... you won’t come back...”

“i will,” lin xian replied without turning.

his figure grew smaller as he walked further away, his silhouette stretched by the moonlight, draped across einstein’s form.

then, lin xian raised his right hand high, extending his index finger straight upward. it pointed toward the invisible “kite” in the sky, his thoughts climbing along the string into the infinite beyond.

einstein watched him, stunned.

the raised hand, illuminated by the moonlight, cast a shadow that reached upward, merging with the night sky and the glowing circle of the moon.

and then—

whoosh—

a gust of night wind swept through, scattering lin xian’s crystalline form into countless specks of blue stardust.

he was gone.