Chapter 428: The Prey

“You want to time travel?” Liu Feng stared at Lin Xian, puzzled.

“What era are you planning to visit?”

“I don’t know yet,” Lin Xian shook his head. “I haven’t made up my mind.”

“Then, what do you plan to do when you get there?” Liu Feng pressed.

“I... don’t know that either,” Lin Xian sighed, shaking his head again. He spread his hands in exasperation. “You’re asking a lot of questions, but I haven’t really thought this through yet. I only got the call from you an hour ago about the entangled time-space particles getting recharged.”

“In just one hour, I’ve had enough ideas crammed in my head to fill a book, so there’s no way I have a solid plan. But my core thought is this...” Lin Xian raised his right hand, showing one finger.

“First, time travel has to happen. Our main goal is to completely use up this entangled time-space particle. Based on my observations, I think that traveling back in time and then returning to this era is the only way to entirely consume it, ensuring it won’t cause any future issues.”

“To be on the safe side, we don’t know when the enemy might try to steal this particle, so once we have the time machine built, we need to use it immediately.”

“Got it, Liu Feng? This is the first rule. The exact era and the specific actions don’t really matter. Our primary goal is to use up the particle and stop the enemy from sending time travelers back to interfere with us.”

Lin Xian then extended a second finger. “Second, while fulfilling the first requirement, we obviously want to pick the most suitable time period. But here’s the problem—”

“‘Can we freely choose the time to travel back to, or are there limits? Must we only go through certain time rifts?’”

“So, with no functioning time machine yet, and with no proper understanding of time travel theory, discussing which time period to visit or what to do is pointless.”

“We can talk about these specifics once you’ve fully figured out the principles of time travel—though I suspect we may not even have the freedom to choose the exact point in time.”

Lin Xian raised a third finger. “Third, we currently know very little about the entangled time-space particles. While they seem almost invincible to me—able even to defy the laws of time—the actual truth might be quite different.”

“If things are as simple as we hope, of course, I’d like to try changing history. But... are time laws as easily defied as we think?”

“As Yellow Finch said, we still don’t understand what ‘historical lock’ and ‘millennium stake’ mean. Whether the events already set in history can be changed is still an unknown.”

“More frighteningly, if I travel back and recklessly alter history, causing a shift in the world line, will I even be able to come back?”

Lin Xian’s concerns weren’t unfounded. Lin Yu Xi and Number 17 had experienced something similar—crossing from their world line but then getting derailed due to unexpected events.

It was a disaster.

They had a return ticket, but their original future was gone; they came smoothly, but couldn’t return. Lin Xian wasn’t willing to face the same fate.

What if he couldn’t come back? He had no desire to spend his life in an unfamiliar, ancient time.

So, as he said before, using up the entangled time-space particle was the main goal. Everything else was secondary—extra perks, as long as he could return safely.

Liu Feng pondered Lin Xian’s words, rubbing his chin.

“Hmm... I have to say, you’ve thought this through quite thoroughly, even down to the finer details. I hadn’t even considered the issue of returning to the present.”

“You’re right, Lin Xian. Even if these entangled particles can defy time laws and change history—once the world line shifts, there’s no guarantee you can come back. It’s definitely a problem we have to consider.”

With that, Liu Feng moved closer, pushing Lin Xian aside to grab the stack of notes on the lab table.

“Let me take a look at this manuscript first.” He pulled over a chair, sat at the lab table, and began studying the handwritten notes on the “Theory of Time Travel and the Conceptual Design for a Time Machine” left by Emperor Gao Wen.

Lin Xian didn’t disturb him, leaning against the side of the lab table, resting.

Outside, dawn was breaking. Though both of them had stayed up all night, neither felt tired.

Lin Xian had a lot on his mind, while Liu Feng was fully absorbed in the manuscript. Silence filled the lab as they each focused on their tasks.

Finally...

As the fiery red sun peeked over the horizon, casting the first rays of light across the land, Liu Feng let out a long sigh.

Slowly, he rose from his chair, walked over to the window, and pulled open the curtains. He whispered, “It’s brilliant.”

“What?” Lin Xian snapped out of his thoughts.

“This manuscript.” Liu Feng pointed at the stack of notes he’d just finished reading. “Such a genius idea! Such brilliant thinking! Whoever wrote this must have been an absolute genius.”

“Tell me, Lin Xian, where did you get this... If you really know someone this brilliant, you should bring them into our lab!”

“If they joined us, I believe we’d solve everything—the ‘Sorrowful Einstein’ painting code, the mystery of the Universal Constants, even building the time machine. This person’s scientific mind far surpasses mine!”

Lin Xian nodded. “I agree. I believe that too.”

Emperor Gao Wen was beyond remarkable, no doubt about it.

Maybe Lin Xian simply admired Gao Wen’s brilliance. But to a fellow researcher like Liu Feng, he could truly comprehend just how terrifying Gao Wen’s academic prowess was.

“But... we can’t make it happen,” Lin Xian said helplessly, spreading his hands. “If we could bring the author of this manuscript here, it would be amazing... no, more like a guaranteed win.”

“But you’d better give up on that idea now. There’s no way the original author of these notes could ever make it here.”

And now, without finding Ms. Du Yao, Lin Xian couldn’t even free Gao Wen from his past regrets. As a result, even if he found Gao Wen’s notebook in the upcoming Dream, it would likely still focus on neural electric helmets, the same as before.

Finally, and most crucially—the future world of the next Dream might already be unrecognizable. There was no telling if Emperor Gao Wen would even be there.

So... was this a dead end?

Lin Xian rubbed his tired eyes.

Did this mean he’d really have to wait years—even decades—for a working time machine?

“Wait... No, that’s not right!” Lin Xian suddenly realized something.

He pointed at the time clock. “Liu Feng, look at this. Even after I showed you the ‘Time Travel Theory Manuscript,’ the time clock reading hasn’t changed.”

Liu Feng turned to look. Sure enough, the reading on the clock was still 0.0000168.

He shrugged. “Shouldn’t be too surprising. We’ve talked about this before—the reason the clock doesn’t change, the world line doesn’t shift, is because an irreversible anchor point hasn’t formed. Once that anchor forms, then the world line curvature will change.”

“No, no, no.” Lin Xian waved his hand dismissively. “Remember when I took the ‘Micro Nuclear Battery Manuscript’ to the National Scientific Academy? Back then, when I shared the notes with them, the time clock reading changed.”

“I think this makes sense. As you said, Liu Feng, you’ve now read this manuscript, you have a clear understanding of the theory, and in a few years or a decade, you could develop a time machine.”

“So logically, an anchor point should already be forming! This is just like when I shared the battery notes!”

“It’s not about the anchor,” Lin Xian declared, getting up and patting the time clock. “It means...”

“In the original 0.0000168 world line, there already is a time machine! So, whether you read the manuscript or invent the time machine doesn’t matter!”

Lin Xian looked at Liu Feng, explaining, “You get it, right? On this current world line, even if you don’t invent the time machine, someone else will. You reading the notes hasn’t disrupted the elasticity of time.”

Liu Feng nodded, though he frowned, deep in thought. “But... can anyone else really develop such an advanced technology? Especially when it requires the time particles? Who could it be?”

Suddenly, Lin Xian recalled the question Copernicus had asked during the Genius Club meeting just a few hours ago.

Copernicus also wanted to build a time machine.

Though Einstein ultimately refused to answer him, the refusal itself was a kind of acknowledgment that someone among the members had the technology.

Lin Xian wasn’t sure if Copernicus suspected him, but it wouldn’t stop Copernicus from pursuing the question in the next meeting in August. If he omitted ‘the closest point in time’ from his question, Copernicus could easily learn the name ‘Gao Wen’ from Einstein.

From there, Copernicus would travel in a hibernation pod to the year 2200, track down Emperor Gao Wen, and convince him to build the time machine, fulfilling his plans.

“Hmph... Still as relentless as ever,” Lin Xian muttered, scratching his head. At least it wasn’t all bad news.

If, on the original 0.0000168 world line, a fully functional time machine did exist... then there was a chance that when Lin Xian entered the next Dream, he could find the blueprints for it.

If so...

He could pull off a reverse heist against Copernicus.

“I think there’s hope,” Lin Xian said, suddenly feeling clear-headed.

If his hunch was right, Copernicus would only manage to get his hands on the time machine after intercepting Gao Wen in 2200.

But Lin Xian could steal the blueprints six hundred years earlier and build the machine in 2024.

Then, it would be his turn to go on the offensive.

He’d use the entangled time-space particles to travel through time in 2024, not only consuming them entirely and shattering Copernicus’ dream but also standing from a faraway historical point, gaining intelligence to ultimately counterattack Copernicus.

“Old man, you’ve lived long enough—time to call it quits,” Lin Xian recalled Copernicus’ words to him in the Fourth Dream.

“The real hunter never sets foot in the hunting ground.”

Lin Xian chuckled to himself. “The hunter... will one day become the prey.”

The Eighth Dream. The 0.0000168 world line. The destruction of the entangled time-space particles. The time machine heist. The struggle between past and future timelines.

This was Lin Xian’s perfect opportunity—Copernicus’ final curtain call.

Their feud would end in this clash.

“Let’s go,” Lin Xian suddenly got up, heading for the door of the lab.

“What? You’re leaving already?” Liu Feng looked startled. They’d been in the middle of talking, and Lin Xian always left in such a rush. “Where are you going?”

“To get you the blueprints for the time machine,” Lin Xian replied, already heading out the back door of the lab.

“Wait, what?” Liu Feng was stunned by the audacity. “Hey, hold on!” He shouted after Lin Xian, “Where are you going to find that? Are you dreaming?”