That…

It should be a trash can robot, right?

Lin Xian stood up and patted the dust off his pants.

Only then did he realize he was still wearing a heavy spacesuit, no wonder he felt so stuffy… He had long left the high-altitude area, and the temperature in Sky City was probably over 20 degrees Celsius. It was the height of summer, and Lin Xian began to sweat.

So, he started to take off the heavy spacesuit piece by piece, wriggling out of it.

After he took off all his clothes, the trash can robot he had knocked over used its clamp arms to support itself on the ground, righting itself from its tilted state. Its treads turned, heading towards the small paper ball in front of it:

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

Lin Xian watched it silently…

Although this robot's behavior logic seemed clumsy, it should actually be quite advanced.

At least it could stand up on its own after falling over, and it could accurately identify the presence of trash. It was quite intelligent.

However…

Judging from its somewhat peeling paint, this trash can robot must be quite old.

Could it be that in Rhein Sky City, the roads are cleaned by robots?

That wouldn't be surprising.

In this Sky City that has conquered controlled nuclear fusion technology, the one thing they don't lack is energy. These robots are like perpetual motion machines, able to work 24 hours a day without interruption, more diligent and efficient than humans.

And so.

As Lin Xian watched, the adorable, round trash can robot drove to the small paper ball.

It extended its right clamp.

Squeak—

It accurately clamped the small paper ball.

Then, with a bang, the top of its head… ah, no, the trash lid on top automatically popped open. The clamp on its right hand threw the small paper ball inside, and the trash lid closed with another bang.

This series of trash-collecting moves could be considered complete.

Lin Xian chuckled, finding it quite interesting.

After all, there was nothing like this in the world of 2023.

It's just that this trash can robot is still too small. It's not much bigger than a water dispenser barrel, so it probably can't hold much trash.

Otherwise, Lin Xian would have liked to throw the spacesuit he had just taken off into the trash can, but unfortunately, it wasn't big enough.

Just as Lin Xian decided to ignore the trash can robot and was about to look up and properly admire Zhao Yingjun's statue—

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

The trash can robot's eyes were glowing green as it ran towards Lin Xian, making mechanical electronic sounds.

Huh?

Lin Xian looked behind him.

There wasn't any trash here… The area around this statue was obviously cleaned regularly, and it was very clean.

Snap.

The trash can robot's right claw clamped onto Lin Xian's trouser leg, forcibly pulling it back:

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

"…"

Lin Xian was speechless:

"This isn't trash, these are my pants."

However.

This trash can robot didn't seem to have communication capabilities, and continued to pull on Lin Xian's trouser leg:

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

Lin Xian didn't have time to play with it, and directly took out the small knife from his parachute bag, cutting off the lower half of his trouser leg.

He guessed that it was probably because his trouser leg was dirty that this silly robot thought it was trash.

Bang!

After the robot retracted the trouser leg, the trash lid on top popped open, throwing Lin Xian's trouser leg inside.

Then…

Snap!

The mechanical claw on its right arm stretched forward, tightly gripping Lin Xian's ankle, its eyes glowing green:

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

"Damn it, are you sick in the head?"

Lin Xian banged, banged, banged

on the trash can robot's head.

Was it malfunctioning?

Could it be that the fall just now caused this old trash can robot to malfunction?

Although this square was relatively quiet, he had seen a lot of pedestrians walking around the square when he was descending from the high altitude with his parachute.

He was an intruder after all, and he wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble, so he didn't want to bother with this robot. He even gave it his trouser leg just now.

Unexpectedly, this guy was actually going even further!

In its eyes… it turned out that he was the trash.

"Let go."

Lin Xian forcibly pried open the mechanical clamp on the trash can robot's arm, then forcefully turned it in the other direction, pushing it forward:

"Go sweep over there."

However…

Lin Xian had only taken two steps away.

The trash can robot's treads spun in place, turning its entire body around, its eyes staring at Lin Xian with a green glow:

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

Snap.

The mechanical clamp on its right arm once again clamped onto Lin Xian's ankle.

"…"

This idiotic robot instantly reduced Lin Xian's goodwill towards this Sky City by 97.23%.

He bent down, forcibly picked up the trash can robot.

It was quite heavy, probably around eighty or ninety pounds, about the same weight as Chu Anqing… At the East Sea Chamber of Commerce New Year's banquet at the beginning of this year, they had a lifting motion when they danced, so Lin Xian roughly knew Chu Anqing's weight.

But this metal lump was not as easy to hold as Chu Anqing.

Lin Xian walked forward… came to the edge of the high platform, and directly threw the trash can robot down.

Bang!!

The silly trash can robot crashed heavily to the ground, with a large dent in its head, and the trash can lid popped up and was deformed.

But even so…

It was still in an overturned state, spread out on its back, its treads and mechanical claws flailing, its eyes like two green lasers staring straight at him on the high platform:

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

"Go play by yourself…"

Lin Xian ignored it.

He turned around, returned to the front of Zhao Yingjun's statue, found a suitable distance and angle, and comprehensively examined the huge statue.

The magnificent statue in front of him was actually taller than he had imagined.

It was estimated to be the highest point and the most conspicuous landmark in this square.

The statue itself was erected on a platform that was several meters higher than the ground of the square, so Lin Xian was able to throw the idiotic robot down just now.

He took a few steps back… almost to the railing at the edge of the high platform, and Lin Xian finally saw the

full picture of the statue.

The woman in the statue was no longer young in appearance, probably around 40 years old.

But she was still very beautiful and heroic.

Her proud earrings were still there, and 40 years had not left too many traces on her Yingxiu's oval face…

Lin Xian recognized her immediately with just one glance.

This was Zhao Yingjun.

The real Zhao Yingjun.

Even though she looked more than ten years older than Zhao Yingjun in 2023.

But after all, it was the same person, and her appearance had not changed much.

Suddenly.

Lin Xian thought of Huang Que. (Yellow Bird)

At first, Lin Xian had imagined whether Huang Que could be a time traveler, Zhao Yingjun who traveled from the future to the present?

But the huge difference between the two people's appearances made Lin Xian quickly give up this guess.

And this statue once again confirmed this point.

Zhao Yingjun in her thirties and forties originally looked like this, and had not changed much from when she was young. At the same time… she was not as

curvaceous as Huang Que, and still had that tall model figure.

Even as she aged, she still had a youthful feel.

Truly a magical woman.

"Long time no see."

Lin Xian muttered to himself.

Although for him, he had been smiling and chatting with Zhao Yingjun, talked a lot, and finally shook hands at the ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning.

But at this moment, after 600 years, gazing at the statue of his old friend in this Sky City far from the ground, he had a strange feeling… a sense of the vicissitudes of life.

"What exactly did you leave me in this Sky City?"

Snap.

The crisp sound of a mechanical clamp closing.

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

Lin Xian's brows furrowed instantly, and he took a cold breath… a surge of killing intent quickly rose!

He admitted.

Since he had grown older and more mature, he had not felt killing intent in his dreams for a long, long time.

But now!

This idiotic robot was too annoying! And it was like a piece of toffee that couldn't be shaken off!

It was obviously thrown down from such a high platform just now!

How did it climb back so quickly?

Why didn't it pick up all the trash outside?

Why did it have to target me, this piece of trash?

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

The trash can robot, with its head smashed flat, stared at Lin Xian with its eyes emitting a hungry green light, its mechanical clamp tightly gripping Lin Xian's ankle.

"You motherf***er…"

Enough is enough.

Lin Xian directly pried open its claws, then picked up the trash can upside down—and slammed it down hard!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

All the trash inside was poured out, and the weight of the trash can robot was instantly reduced a lot, making it much easier to carry.

Lin Xian looked left and right, and saw a few osmanthus trees at the edge of the high platform.

Then he walked straight over, found a tree with dense branches and a relatively short height, and placed the trash can robot upside down on it.

Because there was no trash lid to block it… the branches directly pierced into the trash can, propping it up upside down in the air without any support points.

"You won't be able to get down this time, right?"

Lin Xian clapped his hands, finally solving this scourge.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!

Suddenly!

The trash can robot emitted a rapid alarm sound, and the color of its eyes changed from green to a fiercely flashing red, and the mechanical sound sounded again:

"Malicious attack behavior detected! Sending out an alarm!"

In an instant!

Several small red positioning laser beams shot from all directions!

Although the lasers were small… they were exceptionally eye-catching in the night.

Lin Xian suddenly raised his head and looked at the sky. The points where the lasers were emitted were moving quickly in the sky, but they were not making any sound! Because the distance was too far, he couldn't see what they were.

Drones?

Drones without propeller noise? How did they fly?

Thinking of the drones in New East Sea City that were glowing red and blowing his head off, Lin Xian really felt a chill down his spine.

He couldn't use his flesh to fight against technology…

While he was thinking, the mysterious objects flying in the night sky were getting closer and closer!

"Oh, damn it, I'm really impressed."

Lin Xian quickly took the trash can robot down from the branches, then reversed its direction so that the trash can was facing up and the treads were facing down, and gently placed it on the ground.

Finally, he didn't forget to pick up the trash lid next to it, and put it back on its head like a pot lid.

Beep————

The trash can robot made a gradually weakening warning sound.

Then…

The fiercely flashing red eyes went out, and were replaced by a green light again:

"Alarm cleared, continuing

cleaning."

At the same time, the red positioning laser beams shooting from all directions disappeared.

In the darkness, everything returned to calm.

Snap.

The trash can robot, as always, extended the clamp at the end of its mechanical arm, tightly gripping Lin Xian's ankle:

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

Sigh…

Lin Xian was really helpless.

This broken, old, and idiotic trash can was too annoying!

If you ignored it, it would treat you like trash, and its claws would grip your ankles like handcuffs… If its trash can wasn't too small, Lin Xian suspected that it would do an over-the-shoulder throw and stuff him into the trash can.

If you paid attention to it…

If this thing was unhappy, it would not act with any kind of chivalry and would directly pull the alarm, and then those unidentified aircraft would fly closer at lightning speed, which was very scary.

He couldn't take care of it, and he couldn't ignore it, so what was he supposed to do?

Lin Xian rubbed his temples, really not expecting that the once invincible and lawless five-star good citizen would now be stumped by a trash can.

He sighed.

Lin Xian supported his knees and slowly squatted down, looking at the trash can robot up close:

"Big brother… what exactly do you want?"

Huh?

Lin Xian blinked.

Only when he got this close, face to face, did Lin Xian see the details of this trash can robot clearly.

It was really old, and many places on the shell were rusty.

The style of this old thing didn't seem to fit the advanced sci-fi Sky City very well.

Moreover…

Because he had thrown it off the high platform just now, smashing a hole in its head and dropping several pieces of sheet metal, the

metal nameplate inside was exposed.

Lin Xian moved closer again, looking at the nameplate inside the metal crack. The writing on it was also rusty, but still clear—

Micro Trash Disposal Robot vv?

vv?

Lin Xian looked at this familiar name.

This…

Shouldn't vv be the long-haired, bearded degenerate man that CC was talking about… who was most likely me in the future?

Why was this trash can also called vv?

Lin Xian carefully studied the format of this nameplate. He found that vv should be the model of this robot.

But, was there such a coincidence?

He turned his head, looking at the Zhao Yingjun statue erected in the middle of the square, and then looked at the trash disposal robot with the model vv in front of him…

This shouldn't be a coincidence.

According to Zhao Yingjun's plan, since she had deliberately left the loophole in the air defense network above the statue, it meant that she had intentionally let Lin Xian skydive from a high altitude and land at her statue.

Under such a precise design, every step must have its special meaning!

And…

For some reason, there wasn't a single pedestrian near the entire statue. It was clear that when he looked down from the high altitude just now, there were still quite a few people around the square.

In addition to this, Lin Xian also noticed something strange.

Whether he looked up from the ground before, or looked down from the high altitude, this Sky City was full of flying vehicles shuttling between the skyscrapers.

There were cars, robots, buses, and some other things he didn't understand.

But right now.

The area around this square, including the sky above his head, was so quiet that there wasn't a single flying vehicle.

Could it be that Rhein Sky City had regulations that prohibited flying over the square for safety reasons?

But in any case.

This trash can robot was the only thing that appeared near Zhao Yingjun's statue.

There were no people, no traffic, and nothing else noteworthy around here, only such an old, backward, and somewhat idiotic trash

robot…

And its model happened to be vv.

So.

Could it be…

Was this trash can robot the clue that Zhao Yingjun left for him? Was it a gift that was hidden with so much trouble, spanning 600 years of time and space?

"Is there something hidden inside this trash can?"

Lin Xian thought, touching the trash can's smashed head…

Just now, when he threw it down from a platform several meters high and it was half-dead, it didn't call the police.

But it only issued an alarm when he hung it on a tree.

So, its alarm mechanism should be related to being suspended in the air? Or being unable to move?

Then, as long as he ensured that it was always touching the ground and in a mobile state, could he destroy it as much as he wanted?

"Let's try it, it doesn't matter if something goes wrong, I can come again tomorrow."

Although Lin Xian wasn't sure if he could accurately find the location of the loophole tomorrow, he already knew the general direction. He was confident that he could rush in at least five or six times out of ten.

No sooner said than done.

"Sorry."

Lin Xian pried the robot's claws off his ankle, then raised it high—and slammed it down hard!

Bang!!

A few more pieces of the trash can were smashed.

Its eyes were still green, staring at Lin Xian:

"Trash! Trash! Found trash!"

Good.

He made the right bet.

As long as it wasn't suspended in the air and in a state where it couldn't move, it wouldn't call the police.

Lin Xian picked it up again and slammed it down hard!

Slammed it down hard!

He also found a stone platform with sharp edges to slam it against, making it easier to dismantle it more thoroughly.

Smash!

Smash!

Smash!

Finally…

With the cracking of the last circuit board, the trash can robot completely lost its "life," its eyes extinguished forever… its treads no longer twisted, and its mechanical claws were suspended in mid-air, no longer moving.

Lin Xian kept rummaging through the parts on the ground, but couldn't find anything useful at all.

He also couldn't find anything meaningful in the other parts inside the trash can robot.

Lin Xian searched every corner, and even put his head into the trash can to check carefully… but he didn't find any clues.

"Okay, maybe I really guessed wrong."

Lin Xian patted the trash can robot's corpse apologetically:

"Sorry, I wronged you. I'll put you back together tomorrow."

He thought about it carefully.

Perhaps it was really the fall just now that caused this already old robot to malfunction and its program to go wrong.

Thinking from another perspective.

If Zhao Yingjun really wanted to leave him some information or a password, she shouldn't have hidden it so obviously.

Since the loophole in the air defense network was designed to be so hidden and so difficult, it meant that… Zhao Yingjun might also have some unspeakable secrets, and was being monitored and controlled by someone or some organization.

Therefore, even if she wanted to leave him some information across time and space, she couldn't make it too obvious, otherwise it might have been discovered by the enemy before he even found it.

Enemy?

Lin Xian suddenly thought of this word.

Zhao Yingjun had the ability to build thousands of nuclear fusion engines and create a Sky City that ruled the world, so who could be her enemy?

Who had that ability?

Thinking of this…

Lin Xian slowly raised his head, looking at something higher than Sky City, something that required him to look up more than the statue—

The moon.

At this time, the night was late into the early morning.

The round jade plate had already shifted to the middle of the night sky, and the black giant hand spanning the lunar north and south poles pointed straight at the starry sky, arrogantly and proudly overlooking everything in the world.

"It seems that only you have the qualifications…"

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes, looking at the extremely familiar and unattainable emblem:

"The Genius Club."

He vaguely felt.

Perhaps the reason why the world of the third dream became like this, the reason why Rhein Sky City existed, Zhao Yingjun's statue, and the unsolvable puzzle she deliberately left for him… all seemed to be telling the same sad history.

This was a war between himself, Zhao Yingjun, and even the entire world, against the Genius Club in both open and secret ways.

In this history where victory and defeat were predetermined, where the winner takes all…

He.

was the loser.

But…

Zhao Yingjun didn't seem to have given up.

She still had hope for this world, and still believed that he, who would come here on August 28, 2624, the last day of the world, would be able to change all of this…

"I was a little sad when I heard you were leaving MX Company."

"This might be the most special birthday gift I've ever received, I should remember this bouquet for a long time."

"Why don't you teach me how to drive? I think that kind of drifting, that kind of high-speed overtaking is quite interesting."

"I don't care about winning or losing, I've lost too many times in my life. But… I just don't want to lose to her."

"On May 20, 2023, you took the most memorable step in your life, found something you really wanted to do, and gave the company a name you liked. I'm really happy for you."

Zhao Yingjun's words echoed in his ears.

"Then… let's shake hands."

She chuckled and extended her right hand:

"I am honored to be a witness to your success."

…

Lin Xian turned his head.

Behind him, Zhao Yingjun's statue, standing at the highest point of the square, gazed year after year at the scattered lights in the distant night, gazing at the old East Sea that had been around for ten thousand years, the old time that had been deposited for 600 years…

"You will."

Lin Xian turned around and stood straight in front of Zhao Yingjun's huge statue:

"This time… I don't want to lose either!"