Genius Club-Chapter 1204 - 48 The Game Ends (Added for alliance leader luckyluu!)_3

Jask heard that Lin Xian wanted to use his opportunity to ask a question and readily agreed:

"Just tell me, what do you want me to ask?"

"My turn to question comes before yours. Regardless of whether Einstein answers or not, you can adjust your question accordingly, rephrase it, or add follow-ups."

Lin Xian nodded.

He directly spoke the answer he had already prepared in his mind:

"I want you to help me ask a more subtle question... Didn’t Einstein say that when asked about humanity’s future, if it involved the plans of other members, he would refuse to answer?"

"Then when we question, we’ll just be a little indirect. We won’t directly ask about the outcome of The Future World nor inquire about specific events. We’ll take a more roundabout approach."

"For example... just ask this question: we’ll randomly pick a year—"

"[On January 1, 2622, what is the total global population?]"

...

Jask was puzzled by this seemingly meaningless question:

"I could ask it, sure, but what’s the point of this question?"

He couldn’t figure it out:

"No matter if Einstein says tens of billions, hundreds of millions, or even only a few million people remain... we wouldn’t glean any truly valuable information."

"If the population is high, it might indicate future technological progress; if it’s low, it might mean the Earth experienced some catastrophe during those years."

"But global population is inherently a fluctuating process. Even if war or natural disasters reduced the population to just a few million in 2622, given another hundred years for humanity to recover, increasing it tenfold is entirely possible."

Hearing Jask’s doubts,

Lin Xian smiled silently.

Indeed, such doubts were exactly what he wanted.

If even Jask found the question meaningless, others naturally wouldn’t figure it out either.

The reason for not directly asking about 2624 was that Lin Xian himself knew that year was special, coinciding exactly with the dissipation time of the Millennium Stakes. It was best avoided.

After all, the great catastrophe occurred in 2600. The population numbers in 2622 wouldn’t differ too much from 2624.

In truth,

no matter what number Einstein gave, Lin Xian simply didn’t care.

He only wanted to know one thing:

Had humanity truly gone extinct?

Whether the global population in 2622 was in the tens of millions, millions, or even a mere few hundred thousand didn’t matter in the slightest.

As long as it wasn’t entirely wiped out,

there was hope for human civilization.

If,

Einstein refused to answer,

it would most likely mean that "[human extinction]" was part of some member’s future plan. In that case, Lin Xian could follow up right after Jask and adapt his question accordingly.

After briefing Jask,

Lin Xian hung up the call.

At 00:20, he put on his VR headset, scanned the Genius Club Golden Badge, and entered the meeting room early.

He wanted to see for himself.

Exactly what was happening between Galileo and Da Vinci.

A flicker of light and shadow.

Once again, he found himself in the opulently decorated castle, stepping on the red velvet carpet. Striding forward, he pushed open the double brown doors and entered the meeting room.

"Hm?"

Lin Xian blinked, puzzled.

Nine chairs.

Nine empty chairs.

Not a single person was present.

This was truly bizarre...

Why hadn’t old Galileo shown up early today?

"Might as well wait a bit longer."

Lin Xian walked to his seat, sat down, and silently waited for the next person to arrive.

Five minutes passed.

Ten minutes passed.

Fifteen minutes passed.

No one came.

Neither Galileo nor Da Vinci showed up.

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes.

[Something happened.]

[Something must’ve happened between those two.]

The only reason Galileo wouldn’t arrive early was if—

He knew for certain that this time, Miss Da Vinci wouldn’t come early either.

And the only reason Miss Da Vinci wouldn’t come early, perhaps, was simply this—

She was dead and could never come again.

Creaaak...

The double brown doors to the meeting room opened, and Jask, wearing his Tesla Mask, strolled in with his head held high:

"Hello, Rhein, so quiet today—how come it’s just you here?"

Jask, still masked, looked left and right:

"Where’s Galileo? What about Da Vinci?"

"They always show up early, especially Galileo. I’ve heard he has never missed a single meeting, ever. And every time, he’s absurdly early—at least thirty minutes ahead of time."

Just as expected,

Lin Xian didn’t say a word.

This only further confirmed his suspicions.

Galileo had never missed a meeting, always arriving thirty minutes early... Clearly, he was always eagerly anticipating seeing Da Vinci.

Although Da Vinci didn’t attend every time,

for Galileo, who only had the chance to see her once a month, he wouldn’t dream of being absent—he wouldn’t want to miss even one chance.

Given such "devotion" and "persistence," for both of them to simultaneously not arrive early...

Miss Da Vinci’s fate

was already self-evident.

Soon enough, the double brown doors swung open again, and Gauss and Newton entered and took their seats.

Now there were only four people.

The current time was 00:41:36.

The Genius Club did not accept latecomers.

This meant that for this gathering, neither Galileo nor Da Vinci would be attending.

"How strange,"

Newton mused:

"Galileo didn’t come to the meeting? Ever since Miss Da Vinci joined the club, whether online or offline, Galileo hadn’t missed a single meeting."

"And..."

Newton turned his head, looking at the empty chair to his left:

"Miss Da Vinci didn’t come either..."

He didn’t continue speaking.

Lost in thought.

Across from him, among the four empty chairs, the frail Gauss nodded, trembling slightly, and looked at Jask:

"This year... fewer and fewer people... are showing up. Da Vinci and Galileo... they couldn’t have..."

"Hey, hey, hey!"

Jask interrupted the slow-speaking Gauss:

"Why’re you staring at me like that!"

"Because Turing and... Copernicus... were both killed... by you..."

"Well, they were the ones who provoked me first!"

Jask interrupted Gauss again:

"I’ve always been one to own up to my actions. If I did it, I’ll admit it, plain and simple. Honestly, I’m curious why Miss Da Vinci didn’t show up... I really enjoyed chatting with her."

Lin Xian listened silently to their exchange.

He didn’t say a word.

But he felt like laughing internally.

Apparently, in Gauss’s eyes, Jask had become the "Genius Club’s number one assassin."

In truth, Turing and Copernicus were killed by Lin Xian himself.

Now Jask was bearing the blame for him.

That said...

Jask seemed quite willing to bear the blame, even treating it as a badge of honor.

At exactly 00:42,

Einstein ascended from the rear stairs, taking his seat on the high-backed black wooden chair, smiling faintly:

"What a pity. For the club’s final gathering... only four of you made it."

???

At these words,

the present members exchanged confused glances, then all looked up at the elderly man wearing the Einstein Mask:

"What do you mean? I just joined, and now we’re disbanding?"

"The final gathering... what does that mean... could it be..."

"I’ve never heard about anything like this before. Einstein, didn’t you say you’d always be here no matter what?"

The only one remaining calm was the old-timer, Newton.

He took a deep, deliberate breath, straightened his posture, and looked at Einstein:

"Einstein, does this mean... you’ve seen... hope for humanity’s future?" freewēbnoveℓ.com

"Indeed."

Today, Einstein’s tone was light, his mood evidently pleasant.

He chuckled softly, spreading his arms outward, exuding a comforting presence:

"Congratulations, geniuses. You’ve succeeded."

"For decades, I have worried about humanity’s future. I’ve seen humans destroy themselves in countless ways, civilizations collapse for various reasons."

"I had longed to witness a day when humanity could have a future, yet that wish remained unfulfilled. But today, the mission of the Genius Club is finally complete—"

"[Now, I can see… humanity’s brightest, most beautiful future.]"

...

A long silence.

It stretched on for tens of seconds.

Finally, Newton broke the hush with his applause, laughing heartily:

"Truly a cause for celebration! But what I’m more curious about..."

He glanced at the three others present, then at the four empty chairs in turn, smiling as he said:

"[Whose plan, among us geniuses, succeeded in the end?]"

Jask, still masked, turned his head, looking at the Rhein Cat Mask on Lin Xian’s face.

Lin Xian looked back at him.

Neither spoke.

Jask knew it couldn’t be him, as he had long abandoned his plans.

Lin Xian, however, understood better than anyone...

In this worldline, in the current Ninth Dreamland, humanity was enduring the most terrible, the most despair-filled future in history.

So why,

would Einstein declare it the brightest, most beautiful future?

[Were they even seeing the same future?]

"Einstein."

Lin Xian rose from his chair, lifting his gaze to meet the elderly figure basked in golden light above the dais.

In a firm and measured voice, he asked:

"What exactly, did you see in the future?"