Chapter 89: The Mystery of 42

“Did I scare you?” Big Cat Face, initially intimidating, suddenly burst into laughter. “Look at you, all frightened! My dad was just like that. Ever since he delved into that universal constant stuff, he’s gone a bit crazy. He used to grab random people on the street, all sweaty and shaking, and spout nonsense.”

“He scared so many kids around here. The neighbors complained all the time, so my mom had to keep him inside for a while. Then, suddenly, he just shut down and locked himself in his room, refusing to come out.”

“You’ve seen those numbers on the wall, right? It’s complete madness... I have no idea why those folks in New Donghai City invited my dad to their academic forum. It’s like watching the sun rise in the west.”Yôur favorite stories on n/o/(v)e/lbin(.)com

Big Cat Face’s revelations did little to calm Lin Xian’s nerves. The whole situation was utterly bizarre and almost incomprehensible. The only thing he could deduce was that the universal constant must be the number 42, but what did that mean? What was its significance? He was completely baffled.

Given that Big Cat Face’s father had been studying the book “Introduction to Universal Constants” for years without any problems, only to be taken away suddenly after a supposed breakthrough, something was clearly wrong. It appeared that there were people who wanted his research, possibly to keep it hidden.

It seemed that discovering the universal constant had deeply affected Big Cat Face’s father’s mind. After arriving at the constant 42, he seemed to have descended into madness. With these limited clues, Lin Xian could only make basic guesses.

As for the deeper reasons, he was utterly lost.

“Big Cat, where is the book ‘Introduction to Universal Constants’ that your father was studying? Where does he usually keep it?”

“It’s normally on his desk... I haven’t really noticed. Let’s look around.”

They searched the room thoroughly, but despite their efforts, they couldn’t find the book. There was not a single piece of draft paper or any notes from his research.

“That’s strange... This room has never been this tidy; it’s always been cluttered.”

The moment his dreams stopped was at 00:42, and the exact time Professor Xu Yun was struck was also 00:42. No matter how he looked at it, the recurrence of the number 42 was too frequent to be coincidental!

“42 holds an extraordinary significance.”

Lin Xian sat down on the floor, his chin resting on his hand, fixated on the wall covered in 42s. He examined each one closely, even the smallest figures filling every crack. If Big Cat Face’s father was merely insane, he wouldn’t have cared about the precise size or placement of the numbers. He could have just scribbled randomly.

However...

After studying the entire wall, Lin Xian made a shocking discovery—none of the 42s overlapped! No two 42s intersected. Though they appeared chaotic, they followed some pattern, some underlying principle!

“This isn’t mindless scribbling. He hasn’t lost his mind.”

A madman couldn’t meticulously ensure that every tiny 42 was separate. There had to be a message here, some hidden truth!

Lin Xian moved closer, squinting, his eyes fixed on the wall of 42s. Big and small, each 42 meticulously placed. He leaned in, his eyes nearly touching the wall, staring at the smallest 42 in a crack:

“42... what’s the secret?”

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation