“Hehe, did I scare you?”

The big-faced cat, who had been wearing a strange expression just moments ago, instantly beamed and laughed, “Look at your weak nerve! My dad used to be like this. Ever since that cosmic constant thing was researched, he’s been acting all neurotic. He’d grab anyone he met outside, hold onto them, sweat all over, tremble like he’d been scared silly, and just repeat that sentence mindlessly.”

“He scared so many kids around here to tears… The neighbors complained a lot, so my mom won’t let him go out for the time being. Later, I don’t know what he figured out, but he became silent again and locked himself in his room, refusing to come out no matter what.”

“You’ve seen the numbers written on the wall, right? It’s completely the symptom of a mental illness… I really don’t know what those people in Xin Donghai City saw in my dad, that they actually invited him to Xin Donghai City to participate in an academic forum… It’s like the sun rose in the west.”

…

The big-faced cat’s words did not ease Lin Xian’s tension.

All of this…

Was just too bizarre.

So bizarre that it was completely incomprehensible.

The approximate conclusion that could be guessed at the moment was…

The cosmic constant was likely the number 42, but what exactly this represented, what it meant, what its function was? There were currently no clues at all.

Considering that the big-faced cat’s father had been researching the book "Introduction to the Cosmic Constant" for a long time, and nothing had happened for so long, but he was taken away by the people from Xin Donghai City a few days after the results came out, this was obviously abnormal!

The purpose of these people was for the research results, and it was very likely that they wanted to silence him.

And for some reason, calculating the result of the cosmic constant had a great impact on the mental state of the big-faced cat’s father. He didn’t know what kind of stimulation he received, but after he calculated the cosmic constant 42… His mind obviously became abnormal, like a madman.

Based on the current situation, Lin Xian could only draw these three superficial conclusions.

As for the deeper reasons…

Lin Xian really had no clue.

“Brother Lian, where is that book your father has been researching, *Introduction to the Cosmic Constant*? Where is the book placed?”

“It’s usually on the desk, right… I haven’t paid attention, let’s look for it.”

The two began rummaging in the room.

But after searching and searching, they couldn’t find the book at all.

Not to mention the book… Not even a piece of scratch paper or draft paper was left behind. All things related to academic research had disappeared without a trace.

“That’s really strange… His room has never been so clean. It used to be a mess.”

The big-faced cat scratched his head and looked at Lin Xian, “Since the book and the usual scratch paper aren’t here, then my dad must have taken them away, right?”

“Since he’s going to participate in the academic forum, he has to prepare some speaking materials and research results, right? He can’t go empty-handed, can he?”

Lin Xian nodded.

From the looks of it, this possibility was the greatest.

There were no traces of destruction or messiness in the house, which meant that the big-faced cat’s parents were very cooperative and free when they left.

The cat dad’s room was the same. Although there were no books or draft paper, the other things were very neat, and there were no signs of extensive searching. He should have packed it himself.

In addition, before they left, they also gave the house keys to Grandpa Wang next door… This meant that they also naively believed the so-called “academic forum” nonsense and fell into a Feast at Hongmen.

“Old brother, I have to make some pig food and feed the dogs.”

The big-faced cat looked at Lin Xian, “Are you planning to stay here for a while? Or are you going to cook pig food with me?”

“I want to stay here for a while longer.”

Lin Xian said, “Sorry, Brother Lian, I can only trouble you to cook pig food yourself… My mind is a little messed up right now, and I want to sort out my thoughts.”

“Tch! You cultured people have so many problems!”

The big-faced cat snorted disdainfully and went downstairs. His voice floated up from below: “Then you can be neurotic for a while… After I cook the pig food, I’ll take you home on my motorcycle. Your sister-in-law and my son are still waiting for me to bring roast chicken back!”

…

After a while, the sound of chopping things came from downstairs.

Lin Xian closed the door.

He carefully examined the bizarre room.

He stared at the mysterious numbers, large and small, filling every gap on the wall…

42

Unexplainable.

If the cosmic constant calculated by the big-faced cat’s father was really 42, then what special meaning did this have?

In fact, the mathematical concept of a constant was not unfamiliar in the nine-year compulsory education.

Pi was a constant, with an approximate value of 3.14.

The gravitational acceleration constant, with an approximate value of 9.8.

The golden ratio constant, with an approximate value of 0.618.

In fact, almost all operational constants in mathematics and physics… Were very complex, with both integers and decimals, giving people a feeling that they were not easy to remember at first glance.

But the cosmic constant of 42 didn’t seem like that at all.

However…

Lin Xian firmly believed.

Since the big-faced cat’s father was such a powerful mathematician, then if he calculated that the cosmic constant was equal to 42, it meant that this number must have a very special meaning.

Furthermore…

The time when his dream ended was 00:42, and the time when Professor Xu Yun was killed was also exactly 00:42.

No matter how you looked at it, there was 42 everywhere. It was definitely not a meaningless coincidence!

“42 has always had an extraordinary meaning.”

…

Lin Xian sat down on the floor.

Resting his chin on his hands, he stared at the wall filled with 42s in front of him.

He was very close.

He could see that in every gap of 42, there were smaller, smaller, and smaller 42s, which were already as small as possible.

If the big-faced cat’s father was just simply going crazy… He really didn’t have to do this.

He could scribble and splash ink all over the wall at will, without paying attention to the size and position of the 42. He could just write randomly.

But…

After carefully watching the entire wall, Lin Xian discovered an amazing thing—

All the 42s, large and small, did not overlap at all!

No two 42s were overlapping.

No two 42s had interwoven strokes.

All the 42s seemed chaotic… But they strictly followed certain rules, guidelines, or even laws!

“The big-faced cat’s father didn’t just scribble randomly. He definitely didn’t go crazy.”

A madman, a mental patient, should not be able to write every 42 as thin as a mosquito’s leg so strictly, to ensure that they did not overlap at all.

There must be some information transmitted in this.

There must be some secrets hidden!

Lin Xian moved his legs, squinted his eyes, and stared intently at the wall in front of him.

Full of 42s.

Large and small 42s.

He brought his eyes closer and closer, closer and closer, closer and closer.

His eyeballs were almost贴贴贴 to the wall.

Staring at the smallest 42 in the cracks of the bricks:

“42… What is the secret?”