Chapter 1154: Chapter 33: Beneath the Masks, Above History

“What?”

Lin Xian and Gao Yang were dumbfounded upon witnessing this bizarre scene.

They thought it was just a fun little experiment to record a dream.

But…

What are all these key words they’re talking about?

Bright light, explosion, mushroom cloud, newspaper, 1952, burning, love… Einstein?

Ignoring the previous stuff.

To be honest, it does fit the characteristics of a nightmare, but what’s with this Einstein thing at the end?

What exactly did Zhang Yuqian dream about?

Gao Yang took a deep breath and was about to speak when Lin Xian abruptly held out a hand to stop him:

“Don’t say anything yet! Let’s finish watching the video first.”

The TV screen continued to show the video recorded more than twenty years ago.

Her friend, hearing Zhang Yuqian muttering to herself, was also utterly confused.

After she finished stating the last key words, Zhang Yuqian grunted twice, rubbed her eyes, sat up, and complained to her friend:

“Why did you hit me so hard! My forehead hurts like hell!”

Having said that.

She yawned, clearly still half asleep:

“Did you get it all recorded?”

“Got it all.”

Her friend asked:

“You… you were just talking to me a few seconds ago, and now you’ve forgotten?”

Zhang Yuqian shook her head:

“Of course, I remember you waking me up and then talking to you briefly, but I can’t remember what was said or what I dreamed about at all now.”

“Incredible!”

Her friend exclaimed:

“I’ve seen people forget their dreams after waking up, but I’ve never seen anyone forget so quickly and so completely… Are you really sure you don’t remember any content of the nightmare you just had?”

“Why would I lie to you?”

Zhang Yuqian huffed, sitting up on the bed:

“Didn’t I tell you before I went to bed, that I can usually remember the content of the dream for just a second or two after waking up abruptly, but then I forget everything as soon as I blink or turn my head.”

“If I wake up naturally, it’s even more hazy. I completely forget whether I even dreamed at all. In fact, most of the time, I’m not aware that I’ve dreamed, unless I wake up suddenly like just now, an unexpected wakeup, then I can barely remember for a second or two.”

“Although I completely forget the content of the dreams, that feeling of fear and terror lingers a bit, which is how I know I had a [nightmare].”

“Let’s go to the living room, there’s a video player there, hurry up and see what I dreamed about, I’m really curious now!”

“Um…”

Her friend’s voice sounded a bit awkward:

“I feel… like you might have dreamed about the Second World War.”

“Huh?”

Zhang Yuqian’s voice sounded incredulous:

“That’s such a leap! I’m totally not interested in history, oh man! Why is the camera still running, you’re wasting tape, turn it off quickly.”

As her words ended, the TV screen went black again.

After that, no more video footage was shown, with a click the videotape spooled to the other side, and the entire tape had been played.

“This…”

Gao Yang scratched his head and frowned:

“What exactly did Zhang Yuqian dream about? It feels completely incohesive, but considering it’s a dream, I guess the montage-style is sort of acceptable, but what do those words she mentioned actually mean?”

“Explosion, mushroom cloud? Did she dream about an atomic bomb explosion? And the later parts about burning… bright light… seem to be related to an atomic bomb explosion too, but what does 1952 mean?”

“I clearly remember the two atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, wasn’t it Mi Country that dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, leading Japan to surrender completely? This 1952… did Zhang Yuqian just fail history, getting the dates wrong?”

Lin Xian also leaned back on the couch.

Musing quietly:

“1952… speaking of the atomic bomb, I remember, it seems the first hydrogen bomb in human history was detonated in 1952.”

“Of course, it wasn’t used in war, but rather successfully detonated as a test project, marking a milestone in human history. But I don’t remember clearly, let me check again.”

Saying so, Lin Xian picked up his phone and began to search.

Sure enough, they quickly found this information in the encyclopedia–

On November 1, 1952, Mi Country conducted its first hydrogen bomb principle test in the Pacific Islands, the hydrogen bomb named “Mike”, had an explosive yield of over 10 million tons, more than 500 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

The reason for such exaggerated explosive power.

Is entirely because the principle of the hydrogen bomb is different from that of the atomic bomb.

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

Gao Yang leaned closer, looking at the text on Lin Xian’s phone screen:

“Wow, there really was a hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952, do hydrogen bombs produce mushroom clouds?”

“Yes, they do.”

Lin Xian nodded:

“Mushroom clouds are unrelated to the type of bomb, as long as the explosive yield is sufficient, they will occur.”

“Well, that solves the case then!”

Gao Yang spread his hands, with a relaxed face he laid back on the couch:

“Zhang Yuqian’s friend was right, Zhang Yuqian probably had such a nightmare because she watched some movies about the Second World War and then read news about hydrogen bombs, right?”

“But why was Einstein mentioned?”

Lin Xian posed the question:

“Although the mass-energy equivalence equation was indeed proposed by Einstein, the Mi Country’s hydrogen bomb project was led by Edward Teller, if Zhang Yuqian really dreamed about the 1952 hydrogen bomb test, then the person she should have dreamt about was Edward Teller, what does Einstein have to do with it?”