Chapter 47 I See You

Lin Xian's heart rate soared!

His right hand pressed firmly against the Bluetooth earpiece, sealing it tightly against his ear canal!

At that moment, in the noisy arena… he could even hear his own breathing!

However…

After that sudden, jarring voice, there was nothing else.

Lin Xian slowly straightened up.

What was that just now…?

Was that Kevin Walker's voice?

He had said the exact same line as that mysterious old man in the Fourth Dream.

Did that mean they had locked onto him even 600 years ago?

When exactly had he been exposed?

Was it when he removed the mask from the imposter in front of him, or earlier, or even before he came to the United States?

“Don’t panic, Lin Xian.”

After a dozen seconds of silence following that arrogant, contemptuous, yet somewhat childish voice in the Bluetooth earpiece, VV’s childlike voice returned:

“We haven’t been exposed. I deliberately let him in.”

VV told Lin Xian that the burst of insane laughter that had echoed through every electronic device in the stadium had indeed been initiated by Kevin Walker.

The reason it was so certain it was Kevin Walker was that it couldn't trace the source of the data at all. That was the best evidence. Only Kevin Walker on this planet had the hacking skills that could evade VV’s detection.

“But that ‘I see you’ line just now wasn’t broadcast to the whole stadium. It was targeted specifically at your earpiece. I detected his attack and the traces he left a long time ago. Of course, I could have easily intercepted it. But… since he was only attacking you, what difference does it make whether I intercepted it or not? Since he was coming for you anyway, I thought it would be better to let him in and see what he had to say.”

“But I'm certain Kevin Walker hasn't detected my existence, and can't find me. Hide-and-seek has always been easier for the hider than the seeker. That's the situation between us right now. He can't find me, and I can't find him. On the contrary, we have an advantage because I'm clearly aware of his existence, but he has no idea I'm here.”

Lin Xian shook his head.

“I believe you haven't been exposed. You're the culmination of 600 years of human technology. Of course, I believe he can't detect you. But… I've definitely been exposed, or he wouldn't have said that line into my earpiece alone.”

“Besides, there's something I didn't tell you before. Kevin Walker's line is exactly the same as what the mysterious old man 600 years in the future said to me. Judging from the intonation and pronunciation habits, it's highly likely to be the same person. I can't figure out how they do it. How does Kevin Walker transmit information forward in time across 600 years?”

…

Lin Xian closed his eyes in thought.

He couldn’t see how reverse time transmission of information was possible…

If he had to guess, there were only two possibilities:

1. Like himself, they could receive information from the future while in the past through something like dreaming.

2. A time traveler, physically traveling from the future to the present, like a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Lin Xian admitted it.

The moment he heard Kevin Walker's voice in the earpiece…

A million possible traps flashed through his mind.

For example, the Kevin Walker of the future had caught him first and then, through some unimaginable means, transmitted this message to the younger Kevin Walker of the past, telling him to kill him in the normal timeline… just like what he had been doing all along: obtaining information from the future, changing the present, rewriting the future.

But now, calming down and analyzing it carefully…

If Kevin Walker really had such abilities, why wait until now? Why bother waiting until he removed Josen's mask to lock onto him?

The Fourth Dream had only changed for him a few days ago.

But for this world, that was a fixed future 600 years later, a period of 601 years of development, a long stretch of time.

Therefore…

The old man in the Fourth Dream must have known his name and his respawn location long ago; he even knew all the evidence of his crimes. How could he not know his appearance, identity, and historical coordinates?

Would he need to wait until the last few seconds before 00:42 to know the truth?

If his historical traces weren't erased, then he would be a relatively well-known figure in history, and it should be very easy to investigate him.

Suddenly, Lin Xian understood.

There was no way the old man only learned his appearance and identity at 00:42 on August 29, 2624; he had known it all along!

“Tch.”

Lin Xian clicked his tongue.

He had been trapped in a cognitive blind spot. He only saw the old man's appearance for the first time after his mask was removed; coupled with the old man's words, he had instinctively mistaken that the old man had only seen him clearly at that time.

But in reality!

He had been exposed long before this day.

It was just that…

Even though he had been exposed long ago,

Even though the mysterious old man had known his appearance and identity for a long time,

They were still helpless and only managed to finally catch him on August 28, 2624, by ambushing his spawn point.

Connecting these clues revealed two somewhat reassuring facts—

1. The current Kevin Walker in 2023 hasn't received any intelligence from the mysterious old man 600 years later (assuming he is the older Kevin), and this was all just a product of his paranoid imagination.

2. He was indeed exposed at some point during these 600 years, but he still roamed free without being caught by the enemy. Therefore, the mysterious old man could only resort to the worst possible strategy and ambush him on August 28, 2624… but even that was a waste of effort because this day was an infinite loop, and catching him was useless.

If the above reasoning was correct, then that meant…

Even if he was potentially exposed and Kevin Walker had his eye on him, it seemed that the other party couldn't do anything to him in the short term.

Otherwise, why not just kill him? Why bother catching him in a dream?

“There's an even more crucial point.”

Lin Xian opened his eyes and suddenly realized—

All he had to do was enter the dream tonight to see if the dream world had changed!

If the dream had changed, it would prove that he had indeed been exposed today and locked onto by Kevin Walker. As a result, the world line had changed dramatically, and the future trajectory would change from this moment, entering the Fifth Dream.

If the dream was still unchanged, it would mean that regardless of whether he had really been exposed or not, today wasn't a significant spacetime anchor, and the spacetime butterfly effect wouldn't be triggered as a result; either he had been exposed a long time ago, or he hadn't been exposed yet.

In short, if the dream didn't change, it would mean that the situation was the same as usual, and it was safe, at least… safe for the short term.

Everything…

Would have to wait until he entered the dream tonight to get an answer!

No.

To be precise, it would be after he entered the dream tomorrow during the day.

Lin Xian had tried it on his first night here. The dream entry and exit times were fixed and had nothing to do with the time zone. He didn't know what the principle was.

The time difference between New York and Dragon Country's imperial capital was exactly 12 hours.

Therefore, 00:42 Dragon Country time was around 12:42 noon in New York, just the opposite.

“VV, don't think so absolutely. The enemy's strength may be far beyond our imagination.”

Lin Xian said softly.

“The loophole I used was also used by Kevin, so it's not ahead of the times. It's also reasonable for me to remove Josen's mask… He was provoking me so much. Shouldn't I be able to take off his mask and see? Anyone would do that. The Dragon Country's internet security Great Wall's loopholes were also fixed by Dragon Country technicians themselves. You also handled the interference with Josen's attack on the Skynet system and the power outage of the network nodes flawlessly. From this point of view… there's no reason for Kevin Walker to see through my secrets.”

“But, nothing is absolute… We still can't confirm whether the current Kevin Walker in 2023 and the mysterious old man 600 years later are the same person. Unless we find Kevin Walker's real photo, this will always be an unsolvable mystery.”

“Next time I enter the dream, I'll call out Kevin Walker's name in front of that mysterious old man and see his reaction. If he really is Kevin Walker and deliberately showed up at 00:42 to see me… If he is suddenly called by name like that, his eyes should show some strangeness, and his expression should have a hint of surprise, right? I'll try to confirm it.”

“In short, we still can't let our guard down. After all, the fact that I'm exposed in the future is a fact, and even if it's not exposed today, it's very likely related to Kevin Walker. We still have to treat Kevin Walker as an enemy and try to find out his real identity as soon as possible.”

“Mm.”

VV in the Bluetooth earpiece continued, “Don't worry, Lin Xian. I know what you're worried about. But with me here, it's not that easy for them to kill you.”

“The current me, although not as strong as you think, is not as weak as you think.”

“The reason why you sometimes feel that I'm not strong enough during this period is mainly because I have to consider the underlying restrictions of not exposing my identity and not leaving any traces. That's why I'm so careful everywhere, and I don't dare to exert myself, investigate deeply, or get too close to the enemy.”

“But that doesn't mean I don't have the ability. It's just that the current me can't fight without leaving any traces. There's still a big difference between the two. If one day you're really threatened and in mortal danger, then according to the highest priority of the first principle, I can directly ignore the second principle of hiding traces… and directly tear off the mask, flip the table, and slaughter everything!”

“Not to mention Kevin Walker, in the current era, if I could do whatever I wanted without any worries about exposure… then no one, nothing, can stop me. I can easily drag the entire world down with me.”

…

Lin Xian didn't doubt VV's words.

Rather, this super AI from 600 years in the future, the most brilliant pearl in human technological history, should be so powerful.

Before, when Lin Xian complained, VV would also be furious and helpless, and could only frantically open the refrigerator door, washing machine door, and microwave door to vent its anger.

It was like the black hand surrounding the Dragon Country's internet.

If it wasn't afraid of leaving traces, VV could easily kill it in seconds. Even the infant form of it was far more powerful than the current Kevin Walker.

But considering his "burden," there was no way.

VV was a data stream, fearless, but he was a real flesh-and-blood body, very fragile.

It was easy to dodge a spear in the open but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. VV was just a program, a data stream. If it really encountered many unexpected situations, it would also be powerless to save the day.

Therefore…

In the Third Dream, when Lin Xian and VV at the time were adjusting 130,000 lines of code, for the sake of foolproof security, they added two restrictive principles to the underlying code:

First Restrictive Principle: Lin Xian's personal safety is above all else. He must be protected at all costs and by all means.

Second Restrictive Principle: He must hide his own existence and not be discovered. He must not leave any traceable traces under any circumstances.

Logically speaking…

When the First Restrictive Principle could be guaranteed, the Second Restrictive Principle would naturally take precedence.

But if the First Principle was threatened…

Then VV's Second Restrictive Principle would be immediately unlocked and cease to exist.

VV could release all restrictions and slaughter everything without any worries.

As VV said,

In order to protect his life, it wouldn't hesitate to drag the entire world down with him.

Lin Xian naturally didn't doubt this.

VV must have such strength.

Looking at it this way…

With the super AI VV constantly monitoring everything around him and protecting him, most threats and dangers could be detected by VV as soon as they emerged, and then it would immediately issue a warning or take direct measures to protect him.

It was still very reassuring.

In addition, the current VV was still growing and evolving, and it would become more and more powerful.

After a three-month development period, VV could eliminate the black hand without leaving any traces. And as it continued to develop, the adult VV, the complete VV, the unlimited VV…

His limit was VV's limit; VV's limit was the limit of human civilization.

Now that he had VV constantly monitoring everything around him and protecting him, it was indeed not that easy to kill him.

But…

Again,

Nothing was absolute, and caution was never wrong.

Kevin Walker, like VV, may have underestimated the other party.

Kevin underestimated VV.

VV may have also underestimated Kevin.

Lin Xian believed that Kevin Walker's purpose wouldn't be just this. He must have a deeper motive.

Or…

There was still a trap hidden somewhere, waiting for him to jump in.

Lin Xian had a feeling that if Kevin Walker was truly a genius worthy of joining the genius club, his methods and conspiracies wouldn't be just this.

However.

He should seize the time to finish the matters in the United States, go to Princeton to Einstein's former residence to take the painting that Ji Lin left for him, and then hurry back to China.

VV had also said that, compared to other countries, the country was much safer.

As its iteration and evolution became stronger and stronger, it could gradually strengthen the Dragon Country's internet security Great Wall without leaving a trace, giving them a buffer zone and adding a wall.

At least, if Kevin Walker really invaded one day, Lin Xian would know immediately.

“In short, go to Princeton as soon as possible, see if we can find any key clues, and then… let's redeploy the plan after returning home.”

…

After the laughter that resounded throughout the stadium stopped, this exciting and accident-filled 2023 World Hacker Competition also came to an end.

Under the host's questioning, the boy Josen also confessed to the fact that he was commissioned by Kevin Walker to participate in the hacker competition:

“The program to invade the Dragon Country's Skynet was written by Kevin and given to me to use in the competition. The program to attack the Beidou satellite through the Starlink satellite loophole later was Kevin's reward and appearance fee for me. His original intention was to let me exchange it for bonuses in other competitions… but I saw that the championship bonus this time was almost impossible to defend, so I took it out at the last moment.”

At this point, everything was clear.

The host also jokingly said that he would send Kevin Walker a bill to compensate for the broken glass in the venue, but because he couldn't find him, he could only ask Josen to forward it.

Then came the awards ceremony.

Surrounded by his teammates and team leader, Lin Xian came to the award stage, took the trophy, and raised it high.

Huang Que saw this scene, sighed softly, and said in a low voice, “You never learn your lesson, Lin Xian. You never take my words seriously. Aren't you going to look in the mirror yet? The time left for you… is really running out.”

After saying that, she patted Chu Anqing's shoulder in front of her, “Okay, the competition is over. You can go down here and find Lin Xian.”

Chu Anqing turned her head and looked at the woman's crystal blue glass pupils, “Sister, aren't you going together?”

“I won't go.”

Huang Que shook her head and smiled, “I've taken the initiative to find him several times. How can I always indulge him like this? This time… I'll wait for him to take the initiative to find me.”

Huh?

Chu Anqing blinked her eyes, looking confused, “Sister, you… are, are you Lin Xian's relative? A cousin, aunt, or something?”

“No, I'm not.”

Huang Que shook her head and touched Chu Anqing's head, “Okay, go quickly.”

She pushed Chu Anqing forward, “If you don't hurry, they'll leave the stage from backstage.”

After saying that, she waved her hand, turned around, and with the autumn wind blowing, her trench coat swayed, her shiny blue earrings swayed, and she walked towards the exit of the stadium in high heels.

“Wait… wait a minute!”

Anqing turned around, looking at the graceful figure going away, “Sister, I don't even know your name yet. What should I call you!”

Da.

Huang Que stopped.

She smiled slightly and looked back.

She brushed the hair that was blown by the wind behind her ears and looked at Chu Anqing with a serious face, “Next time we meet, just call me Huang Que.”

“Don't be so anxious, little princess. We will meet again soon…”