Genius Club

“Memories from another world?”

Lin Xian immediately recognized the phrase. It had first surfaced during his initial dream encounter with CC, where she mentioned having fragmented memories that seemed alien to her. One vivid memory stood out—a long-haired, bearded middle-aged man whispering that all secrets were hidden in Lin Xian’s safe.

This enigmatic memory connected CC to Lin Xian, and she had even remarked on the similarity of the man’s voice to his.

That was all she had revealed at the time.

During their first meeting in the dream, Lin Xian had persistently questioned CC about whether she recognized him or remembered his face.

Her answer was always a firm “No.”

Even when threatened with a gun, she adamantly denied knowing him.

However, during their second dream encounter, CC changed her story, admitting that she had seen him in her disjointed memories.

Was CC deceiving him during their initial meeting?

“Can you describe what you’re experiencing?” Lin Xian asked, keen to understand CC’s perspective.

“Since childhood, my memories have felt like a jigsaw puzzle,” CC explained softly. “It’s difficult to explain, but it’s as if my mind contains memories that aren’t mine, yet they seem as though I’ve lived them in another world.”

“These disjointed memories have always felt real. I can see myself in them, but the scenarios and faces are unfamiliar, things I’m certain I’ve never experienced before. That is, until—”

CC’s eyes met Lin Xian’s.

“Until I met you today. Now, some of my memories include you.”

“What kind of scenes are they?” Lin Xian inquired, intrigued.

“They’re random and fragmented,” CC responded, “mostly featuring you, me, and someone we call ‘Big Cat Face’ trying to open a safe with a flamethrower. We never succeeded.”

“It’s odd… I’m sure I’ve never experienced this, and it couldn’t have happened in our reality. Yet, these memories strike me as extremely vivid, even though my rational mind rejects them. It’s a contradiction.”

“And now, here you are, real and recognizable. How can these fragmented memories exist?”

Lin Xian remained silent, grappling with the implications.

He had considered various scenarios where CC might know him, but her retaining a memory fragment from their first dream was unexpected!

He observed ants scurrying from their nest, briefly touching antennae…

The event CC described with the safe had occurred in one of their earliest dream interactions.

For Lin Xian, it had been just days ago.

Yet, CC claimed these memories had been with her since birth.

She had always dismissed these memories as mere fiction—at least until the reality of Lin Xian challenged her long-held beliefs.

“Hey, say something,” CC urged, noticing his silence. “About these fragmented memories? Do you know anything?”

“Do you also recall a memory involving a long-haired, bearded man saying that all truths and past events are locked in the safe?” Lin Xian asked.

“Yes, you seem to know quite a bit,” CC responded, surprised. “Do you understand more? Can you explain these memories to me?”

“I might, but give me a moment,” Lin Xian requested, needing time to think.

He pondered the information.

One thing was clear: the CC from the second dream had retained an actual memory from their first dream encounter.

This was remarkable.

In that dream, their cooperation and trust peaked during the safe-opening attempt.

That event had been pivotal, marked by a rare smile from CC.

Perhaps this memory influenced her current friendly and cooperative demeanor.

However, this raised more questions.

Why had CC retained only the memory of that specific scenario among the numerous cycles they had experienced in the first dream?

This mystery deepened.

Their interactions had covered at least five or six different scenarios.

Logically, this specific event shouldn’t have stood out.

Despite experiencing numerous space-time alterations, no clear pattern had emerged.

The first dream had undergone multiple space-time shifts. Lin Xian had identified three but suspected more.

If each shift imprinted a memory in CC’s mind…

She should hold a multitude of memories from that first dream, not just this single fragment.

And even this memory was incomplete.

On that day, CC had revealed much to Lin Xian.

Yet now, when he mentioned the bearded man, CC seemed surprised by his knowledge.

This indicated…

Her memory was fragmented.

This anomaly puzzled Lin Xian.

“I’ve thought it through,” he said, his eyes tracing the moonlit sky, shadows casting from it. “As I see it, these memory fragments in your mind likely originate from other altered timelines—prior to the changes.”

“I can’t fully explain, but I believe your assumption is correct—”

Lin Xian looked at CC, who listened intently.

“These memories indeed represent experiences of another version of you from another world. They are real. But why are these memories fragmented and incomplete, and specifically, why this fragment… I still can’t figure out.”

CC nodded. “I’ve considered this too, but lacked any proof. After our conversation today… I think you might be right. That’s also why I came here.”

CC turned toward the walls of the garbage disposal plant, where towering steel and skyscrapers of New Donghai City loomed into the clouds.

“I want to open that safe, to uncover the truth about everything, to understand my past, and to grasp what’s happening to me.”

Lin Xian followed her gaze toward the skyscrapers piercing the clouds.

From their position, the MX Twin Towers at the center of New Donghai City were obscured. Yet, to Lin Xian, every skyscraper seemed as enigmatic and formidable as the MX Towers.

“But isn’t it too dangerous for you?” Lin Xian voiced his concern. “Isn’t it irrational to risk your life just to satisfy your curiosity or discover a potentially irrelevant truth?”

“Maybe,” CC acknowledged calmly. “But I have to do it.”

Her eyes, intense and piercing, seemed to penetrate through the walls, to the garbage trucks and the safe inside. “I’m not driven by mere curiosity. I need to confirm something essential to me.”

“More important than your life?” Lin Xian questioned.

“More important than my life,” CC affirmed without hesitation. “What’s inside that safe… might define the meaning of my life.”

Lin Xian contemplated CC’s words, trying to decipher their significance.

What could be inside that safe…

The mystery deepened.

CC believed the contents of the safe were related to her.

Lin Xian considered the safe his.

If both were correct, the safe might contain something he had placed there for the future, intended for CC.

But when had he done that?

Could he have used some method like a cryo-chamber to travel to the future?

What had he stored for CC?

Could the bearded man in her memory be him?

He glanced back at the towering walls of the garbage disposal plant, recalling the aluminum-alloy safe being unloaded from the garbage truck the previous day.

He suspected the answers might well lie within that safe.

“Do you have any other questions?” Lin Xian asked CC.

CC shook her head. “It’s your turn. Ask away.”

Lin Xian nodded.

He had many questions for CC.

But one was most pressing…

“CC,” Lin Xian asked, his voice muffled by the mask of Rhine Cat, looking at the figure separated from him by 600 years and two timelines.

“Is your real name Chu An Qing?”