Hmm??

Lin Xian looked at the lock catch of the combination lock that had sprung open in his hand.

He was still a little dazed for a moment.

"It's... open."

Although he had been mentally prepared and knew that he would eventually open this small combination lock by brute force using the exhaustive method.

But.

When it really opened, he couldn't help but feel a little excited, filled with a sense of accomplishment.

"Holy crap! It's actually open!"

Gao Yang didn't even bother to eat or drink. He wiped his hands and trotted over, taking the diary from Lin Xian's hand and examining it up and down.

"1952... Huh, that's strange. Why this password? Would a normal teenage girl in her teens or twenties set her password to this year?"

"Lin Xian, is 1952 a special year? Any special events, or famous things that happened?"

Lin Xian shook his head:

"My history is so-so. You're asking me, and I can't really think of any major events that happened in 1952. Since Zhang Yuqian is such a music-loving girl, could 1952 be related to some famous singer or band?"

"But I recall that the famous Beatles and Michael Jackson... should all be after 1952. Looking at the whole world, 1952 was a relatively turbulent time. The Second World War had just ended seven years prior, and local wars were still raging in many places."

"So, logically speaking, this time shouldn't be the peak of artistic explosion, and the Third Industrial Revolution hasn't started yet either. The information age hasn't arrived, and electronic computer technology and the Internet haven't appeared... Speaking of which, this time seems quite unremarkable."

"Oh, I see."

Gao Yang said perfunctorily, then picked up Zhang Yuqian's diary and began to read, pacing back and forth.

He was engrossed in it.

Lin Xian leaned back in the balcony chair, watching the bustling traffic of the capital outside the window, and began to ponder.

1952...

Indeed, for this world, nothing earth-shattering happened. It was a very ordinary year.

But for Lin Xian,

this year felt a little too significant.

He thought about it carefully just now.

1952 was not only the year when realist painter Henry Dawson painted eight oil paintings of Einstein with completely different details, "Sad Einstein."

There was also another thing.

He had just remembered.

*The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*, the science fiction work that first introduced the sci-fi concept of 42 to the world. Its author, Douglas Adams, was also born in 1952.

In fact, the concept of 42 itself was proposed by Douglas Adams.

After all, a pen can't write a book by itself. All the plot details in *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* were written by Adams.

In *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* movie, the top civilization in the universe created the supercomputer Deep Thought and asked it the question:

"Calculate the ultimate answer to the universe, life, and everything."

This question was too difficult.

Deep Thought calculated for 7.5 million years before giving the answer:

"The ultimate answer to the universe, life, and everything is—"

"42."

Therefore,

it's 42 again.

Still 42.

Always 42!

Lin Xian was now a little jumpy about this number.

Whether he was investigating the Genius Club, capturing space-time particles, studying the Millennium Pillars, or even cracking a little girl's diary...

No matter what he did.

In the end, it would always come full circle and close in on the cosmic constant 42.

Lin Xian had a hunch.

As early as when he saw the walls in Da Lian Mao's (Big Fat Cat) father's room covered with 42s in every tiny crevice... he understood that this number was definitely not simple.

But until now.

More than a year had passed.

The research on the cosmic constant had made almost zero progress.

"How long will it take to figure out the truth about 42..."

Lin Xian stretched and couldn't help but sigh:

"Cosmic constant, 42, what is it?"

This question.

It seemed that people like Lin Xian couldn't figure it out.

Don't look at Da Lian Mao being simple.

But his father, Cat Dad, was a veritable Fields Medal mathematician, whose IQ and talent could be considered among the top in the world.

"The best case is to find Da Lian Mao's father in the dream world and directly ask him the truth and meaning of the cosmic constant. But... now I'm stuck in the Fourth Dream, let alone Da Lian Mao's father. If the research shows its face a little bit, it might be executed by the 00:42 big truck, just like in the First Dream."

For now, Lin Xian didn't want to think about anything else until he solved his own problems in the Fourth Dream.

He pinned his hopes on Liu Feng.

At this time,

Gao Yang also finished reading Zhang Yuqian's diary and walked over, handing it to Lin Xian with a bored expression:

"There's nothing to see at all. This should be Zhang Yuqian's diary from when she was a teenager. It's all about music-related things. Tsk, boring."

Lin Xian took the diary:

"Otherwise? What did you want to see?"

"There should be something, like a young girl's feelings! Shy and coy! Secretly in love with some handsome guy or something! But this Zhang Yuqian is really single-minded about music. This diary is either evaluations of songs or copied lyrics."

Lin Xian chuckled:

"You're thinking too much. In the 80s and 90s, people were so conservative that boys and girls basically didn't talk to each other, even in college."

"When we were in college, our teachers even told us that the school rules of Donghai University in those days explicitly prohibited dating. Teachers would actually go around in groups with flashlights at night to catch people on the playground. Boys and girls didn't dare to walk together."

"It wasn't until after the 21st century that everyone's minds opened up and the school didn't manage things so strictly. After all, universities in the 80s and 90s were different from universities now. The atmosphere of learning was still very strong. Graduates were assigned jobs and housing. Everyone was motivated to study."

"That's right!"

Gao Yang howled:

"If I could be assigned a job and a house after graduation, I would go to Tsinghua University too!"

"Keep dreaming."

Lin Xian was too lazy to pay attention to him. He picked up Zhang Yuqian's diary and flipped through it.

This diary was indeed very exquisite and high-end. The paper inside was a little yellowed, but it was still very tough. There was no problem with normal reading.

Lin Xian flipped through it briefly...

Sure enough, there was nothing of value in this diary.

Not even a tiny bit.

Zhang Yuqian, as a rich girl, was academically excellent, well-behaved, obedient, and didn't run around. Besides studying, she listened to music and played the piano.

This diary, instead of being a diary, was more like a songbook or a record of musical insights.

Indeed, as Gao Yang said, it was boring.

But for fear of missing some key information, Lin Xian still patiently read it carefully from beginning to end for half an hour.

Facts proved.

It was indeed a waste of half an hour of his life.

"See, I was right, it's a good thing we didn't violently dismantle the combination lock."

Lin Xian put the diary on the balcony coffee table and turned to look at Gao Yang:

"This diary is completely worthless. There's no useful information at all. On the contrary... it's the password of this combination lock that's a little intriguing."

"Zhang Yuqian, a girl who lived from 1980 to 2000, why would she set her diary password to 1952? Why is this year so special to her? How did she notice this year?"

Gao Yang pulled up a chair and sat opposite Lin Xian:

"It depends on how you think about it. If you think in the direction of the Millennium Pillars, in 1952, there must have been a girl who looked exactly like Zhang Yuqian and Chu Anqing, who turned into blue stardust and completed her mission as a Millennium Pillar, hammering a stake in history."

"So, is it possible that Zhang Yuqian set the combination lock password to this because of this? For example... did she dream about something, dream about something that happened in 1952? Or dream that there was a girl in 1952 who looked exactly like her? That's why she was so concerned about this year?"

"But it's useless to think about these things now. After all, Zhang Yuqian is dead. Dead people don't talk. There's no way to verify it. Whether our guesses are true or false, we can't get any verification."

"Anyway, the only thing that can be confirmed is that in 1952, a girl must have disappeared as a Millennium Pillar, that's all. As for whether she was the first, or whether there was anything special... I'm afraid there's no other way except for you to really travel back to 1952 and take a look."

"Not to mention, even if you can really travel back to 1952, the world is so big, the technology is not developed, and the transportation is not developed, where are you going to find a girl who looks exactly like Chu Anqing! It's not realistic, forget it."

...

Lin Xian thought for a while, resting his chin on his hand.

Indeed.

There were too few clues and too little information. He couldn't draw any conclusions about the time period of 1952.

"Then let's put this question aside and go back to Donghai."

...

Boom—

The Boeing plane carrying Lin Xian and Gao Yang took off again.

This should be the last trip of their journey for this period of time.

Back in Donghai, Lin Xian and Gao Yang would also disband.

Each would return to their own home and do their own things.

The space-time particles had been captured, but there were still many things that needed to be resolved.

The enemy of unknown location, Kevin Walker;

VV, whose life or death was unknown, and who didn't know if she could be revived;

He had to go back to Chu Shanhe to give him an explanation;

He also had to go to Liu Feng to check on the progress of the research on the cosmic constant, the space-time clock after calibration, and how to deal with the subsequent space-time particles;

Most importantly, there was also the hafnium alloy safe in the Tai Mu Bank. It was time to put the note left to him by Chu Anqing into the safe;

Finally, there was the [Mirror Riddle] left to him by Huang Que (Oriole).

He always felt that this would be a breakthrough point, a crucial breakthrough point.

Because Huang Que had said at the beginning:

"[In the mirror... there's something you want. ]"

Therefore,

after dealing with these miscellaneous things, he had to seriously consider what this mirror was referring to.

A few hours later.

The plane arrived at Pudong International Airport.

Lin Xian's driver had already been waiting at the airport exit in an Alpha. After sending Gao Yang home first, the driver turned around:

"Mr. Lin, where are we going next?"

"Let's go home first."

Lin Xian said.

He was very concerned about VV and wanted to go home and see her as soon as possible; then the next stop was Donghai University to find Liu Feng; and finally...

Alas.

He always had to face it.

He was going to Chu Shanhe's manor to face the father who had lost his daughter.

But fortunately, Chu Anqing still had a chance of survival. After many things were confirmed with CC, perhaps the mystery of the Millennium Pillars would be completely revealed, and he would have a way to bring Chu Anqing back.

"Let's go home first."

Lin Xian said again:

"Drive faster."

...

Arriving downstairs.

Lin Xian dragged his suitcase and ran quickly into the unit elevator, impatiently pressing the floor button.

It had been too long since he had contacted VV.

He missed this drama queen a little.

Ding—

The elevator door opened.

Lin Xian took out the key, unlocked the door, and walked into the living room—

"Holy crap? What happened!"

The scene inside shocked him.

There were scorch marks everywhere!

The TV, refrigerator, air conditioner, router, washing machine, charger, digital alarm clock... even the robotic vacuum cleaner that VV liked the most, were all scorched from the inside!

Lin Xian could tell.

This was not a fire, but these appliances were all overloaded and burned out from the inside.

He walked forward.

He picked up the "dead" robotic vacuum cleaner on the ground.

He put it close to his nose and could still smell the burning wires inside...

He went to check the circuit breaker switch in the power supply box and found that it was also burned out. The house was in a state of power outage from the main gate to each room.

The refrigerator was naturally full of stench and melted ice water.

He went to the kitchen.

It was the same.

All electronic equipment was burnt, and all switches had no power.

"Who did this?"

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes and quickly thought of the only possibility—

VV!

This must have been done by VV!

Because, only VV had the ability to do this kind of complete destruction without causing a disaster!

If someone wanted to harm him, or was jealous of him, then they would have just burned down the house, wouldn't they? Wouldn't that be more thorough?

Like now, he didn't actually lose much.

It was just that all the wires were broken, all the appliances were broken, and the meter switch and power supply lines were also burnt out... It wasn't a big deal. He just needed to replace them. The cleaning company would take care of everything.

Therefore,

this kind of electronic attack method that only attacks electronic products, but does not cause any other damage, and also ensures that it does not cause a fire or cause other troubles...

Could not help but remind Lin Xian of what happened on the Dragon Country's spaceplane 300 kilometers away in space.

At that time, because of an unknown attack, VV was killed, but at the same time, in order to protect their spaceplane from being hijacked by the enemy, VV destroyed all the communication signal equipment on the spaceplane before she died.

It was also because of this that the powerful Kevin Walker could only control the Starlink satellite and the US X-37B spaceplane to attack them, but he had no way to directly hijack the spaceplane where Lin Xian was located.

This was VV's protection for Lin Xian.

It also used the most ruthless trick for hackers—

Disconnect the internet!

Then, conversely speaking.

Lin Xian looked around his house. All the electrical appliances were burned, the wires were broken, and the main switch was also turned off to ensure that there was not a trace of current in the house.

This behavior was not difficult to see...

[VV, she is protecting herself. ]

The first time he saw VV, she said that she didn't need a network cable, and could run out by relying on sound waves, electromagnetic waves, and fluctuations in the current in the wires.

By the same token, an expert powerful enough to kill VV must also have this ability.

Therefore…

When faced with an evenly matched opponent, VV, in order to protect herself and leave herself with a glimmer of hope, used an even more ruthless trick than disconnecting the internet—

Cut off the power!

In a place with no power, any hacker, artificial intelligence, program, virus, signal, or data stream could not make any waves.

Cutting off the power was the most powerful attack for the super artificial intelligence VV, and also the most invincible absolute defense.

In this absolutely powerless place, VV couldn't get out, and the enemy couldn't get in.

"Laptop..."

Realizing this, Lin Xian immediately went to the bookshelf to find the laptop that contained VV's original 130,000 lines of code and had also taken VV to the United States!

"Found it!"

Miracle!

Seeing this laptop, Lin Xian completely realized that his previous guess was absolutely correct!

Because, in the whole house, all the electronic equipment was burnt.

But only this laptop was intact!

Because it was not connected to the internet, not plugged into a power cord, and the battery itself was dead, so it could not be started...

It was this laptop, which he thought was useless, that miraculously saved VV's life and became VV's life-saving box when facing an invincible enemy!

"VV!"

Lin Xian couldn't help but laugh.

Thinking that his old friend was really not dead and had managed to save his life at the last moment of death. As expected of a super artificial intelligence from 600 years later, she still found the last ray of hope at the last moment and protected it.

That's great.

At least... he had found one of Chu Anqing and VV.

If he could find one, he could find both!

Lin Xian put this laptop on the desk, unfolded it, and reached out to press the power button—

But suddenly,

he felt a chill down his spine.

As if an invisible black hand drilled out from the door gap, under the bed, behind the bookshelf, and from the ceiling crack... tightly gripping him, just short of the last bit of force, he would be completely gripped, crushed, and his flesh would fly.

"That's not right."

He calmed down.

Since the enemy could kill VV once, they could kill VV twice.

Of course, he knew that this laptop was out of power. He just wanted to try it, to feel the illusion of calling VV, so he just wanted to press the power button casually.

But now.

He restrained himself.

He realized... that the enemy who could kill VV might be much stronger than VV and much stronger than he understood.

In his common sense, it was true that a network attack could not be launched without power.

But.

There are people beyond people, and there is heaven beyond heaven.

Things like VV, which are ahead of the times, can appear; things like space-time particles, which are so outrageous, can come to Earth... what else is impossible?

Since VV has disappeared for so long after leaving him, it means that she has really encountered danger, or a kind of danger that she dare not show her face at all, and would be killed in seconds if she showed her face.

Therefore,

"Let's wait."

Lin Xian was still a little uneasy.

In this laptop, there was the last VV, the last fragment and clone of VV.

If because of his carelessness, he exposed and killed the last VV fragment again...

Then VV would really leave him, leave him forever.

Pa.

Lin Xian gently closed the laptop again, put it in the closet, and hid it well:

"VV, you wait a little longer. At least wait until I solve Kevin Walker and the real murderer who killed you before I revive you. I want to make sure everything is foolproof."

After that,

Lin Xian returned to the living room and pulled open the curtains that had been blocking the sunlight for several months—

Shua.

Dazzling sunlight shone in.

The Tyndall effect filled the entire room, and the dust floating in the air was clearly visible in the strands of sunlight. The room that had been gloomy and uninhabited for several months finally became bright.

At the same time, Lin Xian turned around...

He just noticed.

Under the sunlight, obvious burn marks appeared on the LCD screen of the TV.

Horizontal and vertical.

These burn marks pieced together three Chinese characters—

[Jia-Si-Ke!] (Transliterated to Jia-Si-Ke)