Chapter 33 Under the Mask, Above History

"What?"

Lin Xian and Gao Yang were dumbfounded at this bizarre scene. They had thought it would just be an interesting little experiment to record a dream. But what were these keywords she was spouting?

White light, explosion, mushroom cloud, newspaper, 1952, burning, Einstein? The earlier ones were one thing.

To be honest, they did fit the characteristics of a nightmare, but what was with Einstein?

What exactly had Zhang Yuqian dreamt of?

Gao Yang took a deep breath and was about to speak, but Lin Xian held up a hand to stop him, "Don't say anything yet, let's watch the rest of the recording."

On the television screen, the recording from over twenty years ago continued. The best friend listening to Zhang Yuqian's mumbling also looked completely bewildered.

But after saying the last keyword, Zhang Yuqian hummed a couple of times, rubbed her eyes, sat up, and looked at her best friend with a complaining expression:

"Why did you hit me so hard! My forehead hurts!" she said.

She yawned, clearly not fully awake, "Did you record it?"

"I recorded everything," the best friend asked,

"You were just talking to me a few seconds ago, have you already forgotten?"

Zhang Yuqian shook her head,

"Of course I remember being woken up by you hitting me, and then saying a few words to you, but I don't remember what I said, or what I dreamt of, at all."

"Amazing!"

The best friend exclaimed,

"I've seen people forget the content of their dreams after waking up, but I've never seen anyone forget so quickly, so completely! You really don't remember a single thing about the nightmare just now?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

Zhang Yuqian snorted softly and sat up on the bed,

"I told you before I went to sleep, I can only remember the content of my dreams for a second or two after suddenly waking up, but I forget as soon as I blink or turn my head."

"If I wake up naturally, groggily, I forget whether I even dreamt at all. Actually, most of the time, I can't even tell if I'm dreaming, unless I suddenly wake up like just now, unexpectedly awakened, then I can barely remember for a second or two."

"Although the content of the dream will be completely forgotten, a trace of that fear and dread will still linger, so I know I had a nightmare."

"Let's go to the living room, there's a machine there to play the videotape, let's go see what I dreamt of, I'm so curious!"

"Um..."

The best friend's voice was a little awkward,

"I feel like you dreamt of World War II."

"Huh?"

Zhang Yuqian's voice was incredulous,

"So random? I'm clearly not interested in history at all, oh dear! Why is the camera still on? You're wasting tape, turn it off quickly."

As she spoke, the television screen went black again.

After that, there were no more recording scenes. With a click, the videotape was wound to the other side, and the contents of the tape were completely finished.

"This..."

Gao Yang scratched his head, frowning,

"What exactly did Zhang Yuqian dream of? It feels like a completely disjointed description. But considering it's a dream, it's acceptable that the images are a bit of a montage, but what do those words she said mean?"

"Explosion, mushroom cloud? Did she dream of an atomic bomb explosion? The later stuff like burning white light also seems to be related to an atomic bomb explosion, but is the year 1952 wrong?"

"I clearly remember that the two atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, right? Didn't the US drop two atomic bombs on Japan, which is why Japan completely gave up resisting and surrendered? Did Zhang Yuqian fail history and remember the time wrong?"

Lin Xian also leaned back on the sofa, pondering in silence,

"Speaking of atomic bombs in 1952, I remember something. It seems that the first hydrogen bomb in human history was detonated in 1952."

"Of course, it wasn't used in war, but successfully test-detonated as a trial project, which can be considered a milestone event in human history. But I don't remember clearly, let me check."

As he spoke, Lin Xian picked up his phone and started searching.

Sure enough, he quickly found this information in an online encyclopedia:

On November 1, 1952, the US conducted its first hydrogen bomb principle test on an island in the Pacific Ocean. The hydrogen bomb was named "Mike" and had an explosive yield of over 10 million tons, more than 500 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

The reason why the explosive power was so exaggerated was because the principle of a hydrogen bomb is different from that of an atomic bomb.

A hydrogen bomb uses the energy of a nuclear fission device explosion to trigger a self-sustaining fusion reaction of light nuclei such as deuterium and tritium, releasing even more terrifying energy.

Gao Yang leaned his head over, looking at the words on Lin Xian's phone screen,

"Oh ho, there really was a hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952. Do hydrogen bomb explosions have mushroom clouds?"

"Yes, they do."

Lin Xian nodded,

"Mushroom clouds have nothing to do with the type of bomb, as long as the explosive yield is high enough, a mushroom cloud will be produced."

"Then that solves the case!"

Gao Yang spread his hands and lay back on the sofa with a relaxed expression,

"Zhang Yuqian's best friend was right, Zhang Yuqian probably watched some movies about World War II, and then saw some reports about hydrogen bombs, so she had such a nightmare."

"Then why was Einstein there?" Lin Xian asked,

"Although the mass-energy equivalence equation was indeed proposed by Einstein, the US hydrogen bomb project was led by Edward Teller. If Zhang Yuqian really dreamt of the 1952 hydrogen bomb test, then the person she dreamt of should have been Edward Teller, what does Einstein have to do with it?"

Gao Yang scoffed,

Dismissively,

"Dude! This is a dream! Why are you applying logic and reality to a dream? Could Zhang Yuqian write a thesis in her dream? Why be so rigorous about a montage?"

"I feel like it's just a nightmare, it's not a big deal. After this farce, Zhang Yuqian and her best friend probably didn't care much about it."

"After all, we've searched through all the things in Zhang Yuqian's coffin, and there are no other videotapes besides this one, which means Zhang Yuqian only tried this once, and then never cared about it again."

"Also, that diary, that diary doesn't record anything about nightmares, which means this matter has passed, and Zhang Yuqian's curiosity has been satisfied, and she didn't continue to delve into it."

"After all, a nightmare is just a nightmare, it doesn't matter what you dream about. And didn't you hear Zhang Yuqian say that if she wakes up normally from her sleep, she won't remember the content of her dream? That's normal, if you ask me now what I dreamt about last night, I have no impression at all."

"Unless it's a very impactful dream, the content of most dreams will be forgotten completely within a few minutes of getting up. I don't think there's anything wrong with Zhang Yuqian."

Listening to Gao Yang's superficial analysis, Lin Xian didn't speak. Clearly,

Gao Yang was unaware of many things, so he didn't care much about Zhang Yuqian's nightmare.

But Lin Xian was different.

No matter how he looked at it, this dream was definitely unusual! First of all,

It wasn't just Zhang Yuqian who was having nightmares, Chu Anqing also had nightmares, and both of them forgot their dreams at the same speed, forgetting everything within a second or two of waking up.

Such a coincidence could definitely not be a coincidence. He could even boldly deduce,

Would every Qian Nian Zhuang have similar nightmares?

"..."

Lin Xian whispered.

Now that Chu Anqing was gone, there was no way to verify the nightmare.

But fortunately, they could meet every night.

If she also had nightmares, then that might be one of the characteristics of Qian Nian Zhuang! His understanding of Qian Nian Zhuang would be deepened.

What Lin Xian was even more curious about was,

If she also had nightmares, would the nightmares she had be the same as those of Chu Anqing and Zhang Yuqian?

Besides that, there was another unusual reason.

That was,

The keywords 1952 and Einstein appeared too frequently in all the things related to the Genius Club.

The mysterious president of the Genius Club was an old man wearing an Einstein mask;

The correct way to obtain an invitation to the Genius Club was to find clues and decipher the code from the painting "Sad Einstein";

And the painting "Sad Einstein" was painted in Brooklyn, New York, in 1952;

The reason why Einstein in the painting was sad was because Einstein himself was worried about the advent of super weapons like atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs, which meant that humanity had no future;

Finally, the charter and purpose of the Genius Club was to create a better future for humanity.

Suddenly, Lin Xian had an epiphany. It seemed,

That Zhang Yuqian's nightmare had connected some crucial clues into a closed loop.

"No, it can't be."

He took a deep breath.

He thought of an absurd, yet reasonable assumption.

He stood up from the sofa, looking at the pigsty-like living room, "Where's the pen? Where's the paper?"

"Who keeps that stuff at home?" Gao Yang picked his nose,

"It's already this late, we haven't hung out in a while, let's go grab some late-night snacks and have a drink. Anyway, Zhao Yingjun is pregnant now, and you don't need to try for a baby, let's have a drink and chat."

"We'll talk about drinking later."

Lin Xian was brainstorming and didn't have time to pay attention to Gao Yang.

He walked into the study, turned on the light, and remembered seeing a few pens in this room. Sure enough, he found them quickly.

He sat down at the desk, tore off a few pieces of scrap paper, and started to sort out his thoughts on them.

"Hey! Are we going to eat barbecue or not!" Gao Yang shouted in the living room, "How long are you going to take?"

"Half an hour, maybe," Lin Xian replied casually.

"Then I'll take a shower first, and then change my clothes, and we'll go eat barbecue."

Lin Xian in the study didn't reply.

Gao Yang took it as a default, jumped up from the sofa, and went to take a shower.

The whole room became quiet.

Lin Xian rubbed his temples, but felt a chill down his back. What if,

Everything,

Developed like this?

He picked up a pen and started to sort out his thoughts on the scrap paper in chronological order. Some of these logical deductions were true historical facts, and some were Lin Xian's guesses.

First, the true history--

In 1905, Einstein proposed the special theory of relativity and the famous mass-energy equation E=mc2, laying the theoretical foundation for the discovery and utilization of atomic energy.

In 1939, Einstein wrote a letter to the then-US President Roosevelt, proposing the possibility of manufacturing atomic bombs, and claiming that Germany might be the first to research atomic bombs, which would pose a huge threat to the people of the world, so he suggested that the US also immediately start researching.

In 1941, the US launched a top-secret project code-named "Manhattan", deciding to manufacture atomic bombs, a super weapon. The President even gave this project "special priority above all actions".

In 1945, the atomic bomb was successfully developed, and two were dropped on Japan, cities were razed to the ground, and countless people were killed or injured. Soon after, World War II officially ended. Since then, Einstein, facing a super weapon that could destroy the world and destroy mankind, fell into depression and remorse. He deeply regretted the mass-energy equivalence equation he had proposed, which allowed mankind to open Pandora's box and master the terrifying power to destroy themselves.

In 1952, the first hydrogen bomb in human history was successfully developed, with a power hundreds of times greater than the terrifying atomic bomb; the Little Boy atomic bomb, with an explosive yield of only 20,000 tons, destroyed an entire city. How many cities would a hydrogen bomb with an explosive yield of 10 million tons destroy if used in war? Einstein realized that once Pandora's box was opened, it could not be closed, and became even more depressed.

In 1952, the realist painter, Henry Dawson, painted a portrait of Einstein, Sad Einstein, in Brooklyn, New York. Einstein also asked the desperate question, "Does humanity have a future?".

In 1955, Einstein died of depression, passing away in Princeton, USA, in remorse and despair for the future of humanity. His brain was stolen by a doctor and soaked in formaldehyde; his body was cremated according to his will, and his ashes were scattered in an unknown place.

The above,

Are all historically recorded facts. So, next,

Is Lin Xian's speculation--

At some point after 1952, someone founded the Genius Club in order to create a better future for mankind.

This founder had the strange ability to see the future, and was as pessimistic as Einstein about the future of mankind. In fact, he seemed even more pessimistic than Einstein.

Because Einstein himself was only worried that humans with super weapons would self-destruct, there was no solid evidence.

But the founder of the Genius Club could truly see the future--that is, the future of mankind was dark, and mankind truly had no future.

However, this founder did not give up. He decided to recruit the world's top geniuses in an attempt to reverse fate and offer a better future for mankind.

He seemed to respect Einstein very much, or thought that he agreed with Einstein's ideas, so he hid the clues to the invitation letter in the painting "Sad Einstein". He also asked Henry Dawson to paint seven more genuine copies, and hid eight Genius Club invitation letters in secret corners of the world.

Then, time passed.

Copernicus, Newton, Galileo...one genius after another standing at the peak of human intelligence cracked the Einstein code, found the invitation letter, and joined the Genius Club.

In order to hide their identities, they all followed the club's regulations and wore masks of famous scientists, artists, and mathematicians, and used them as codenames.

And as the founder and president of the Genius Club, the mask worn by this mysterious old man was the face of the melancholic and deceased Albert Einstein.

So far,

Einstein's life and the history of the Genius Club seem to have been sorted out.

It seems that Einstein himself and the president of the Genius Club have no other connection besides the mask. It is even possible that the two have never met and are not from the same era.

But,

Is that really the case?

Behind every mask of the Genius Club members hides a real human being.

Just like Kevin Walker behind the Turing mask.

Jask behind the Tesla mask. Lin Xian behind the Rhein Cat mask.

The dying old man behind the Copernicus mask.

So,

Who exactly is the human behind the Einstein mask?

This is also the absurd, spine-chilling, most incredible, yet most reasonable assumption that Lin Xian just thought of--

He swallowed.

Looking at the densely packed details summarized on the scrap paper, he said softly,

"Is it possible that the president of the Genius Club, the old man wearing the Einstein mask..."

"...is precisely Einstein himself?"

This idea was indeed absurd.

Because everyone knew that Einstein had already died in 1955, although there was no memorial service, no funeral, no tomb, and his ashes were not known where they were scattered.

But, his brain was stolen by a doctor.

The complete brain was cut into many pieces and sent to various laboratories and universities for research, and it is still soaked in formaldehyde to this day.

So, Einstein should have died completely. He couldn't possibly be alive to this day.

Unless--

Suddenly,

Lin Xian remembered the words he had used to trick Ji Xinshui back then:

"Dead people won't attract attention, nor will they leave traces in this world. In this way, they can hide themselves in the river of history, gently plucking the strings of the future and influencing the fate of mankind."

Could it be...

Einstein really didn't die?

"He also faked his death...a real fake death that fooled the world and deceived history?"