Chapter 1210: Chapter 50: Lying (Extra update for the alliance leader humming and chirping!)_3

These two possibilities, in terms of the ultimate outcome of human civilization, actually make no difference.

It’s worth “savoring” Einstein’s so-called “most beautiful future” to see what he really meant.

If Einstein’s answer is: a dozen, a couple dozen people.

That would mean the world-ending white light at 00:42 didn’t occur, and so people could still survive until 10:00 in the morning.

Furthermore, it would indicate that the future Einstein saw, and the future I dreamed of, are roughly consistent. If there are a dozen survivors in an area as vast as Donghai City, perhaps I’ve simply overlooked some. We’ll just do another comprehensive search next month to make sure.

If Einstein’s answer is: a very large number, hundreds of thousands, millions…

Then it’s self-evident.

[The future Einstein saw and the future I dreamed of are fundamentally not the same thing!]

[Between the two of us, surely one has seen a false future.]

As for which one is false…

That requires further verification down the line.

Step by step.

Squeak–

Lin Xian had just finished explaining things to Jask.

The red wooden door slowly opened, and Einstein’s authoritative voice echoed through the hall:

“Tesla, it’s your turn. Come inside.”

Jask nodded at Lin Xian, stood up, and walked in.

Door closed.

Seated.

The elderly man wearing the Sorrowful Einstein mask watched Jask calmly as always:

“Tesla… go ahead, what is your final question?”

Jask painstakingly repeated the words Lin Xian had instructed him:

“My question is–”

“On the morning of August 29, 2624, within the scope of China’s Donghai City, what is the population count?”

Einstein paused for a moment:

“The exact number is 41,122,581 people.”

“Whoa!”

Jask exclaimed:

“A mega-metropolis, huh! Right now, in 2024, Donghai City only has over 24 million people. In six hundred years, the number nearly doubles!”

“Donghai is already crowded enough as it is. If the population doubles… they’d probably need to open up new regions, or develop super high-rise buildings or underground spaces.”

“Hmm… considering it’s six hundred years into the future, it’s possible the city could become folded or layered. Accommodating over forty million people makes sense in that case.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re actually making me look forward to it. What do you think, could there be cities with total populations over one hundred million, those super-super-mega-metropolises six hundred years from now?”

Faced with Jask’s excitement.

Einstein gestured for him to leave:

“Tesla, your question has been answered. You may leave now.”

“Alright, alright.”

Jask nodded, then pointed at the red door:

“Do I have to leave through there? I wanted to step outside and say goodbye to Rhein, would that be okay?”

“Absolutely.”

Einstein leaned back against the soft chair, saying:

“Here in the Genius Club, you can do anything beyond the limits set by the charter.”

Immediately.

Jask pulled open the red wooden door, strode out, came to Lin Xian’s side, and shook hands with him:

“Einstein doesn’t care at all about our little actions. He’s still the same as before… indifferent, unconcerned.”

“41,122,581 people, he told me. Six hundred years from now, Donghai City will have over forty million people!”

Lin Xian nodded:

“Thank you, Jask.”

Jask waved his hand:

“I’m off, see you later.”

With that.

He made a gesture as if removing a VR headset, his virtual figure turned transparent and gradually vanished.

Lin Xian slowly lowered his head.

He looked at the open door of the private reception room, at the warm fireplace inside… and at Einstein, sitting steadily in his leather chair.

Suddenly, Lin Xian felt a strange intuition–

[Einstein is lying.]

He was certain.

This suspicion was completely groundless, and there wasn’t any evidence to prove that the future Einstein saw was false.

In The Ninth Dreamland, Donghai City was razed to the ground.

When he left the dreamland at 00:42 on August 29, 2624, Donghai City was still a barren wasteland.

Nine hours passed.

Where did forty million people suddenly come from out of thin air?

Isn’t that absurd?

The daily trash produced by forty million people could bury a small county; providing the necessary infrastructure, food, and water resources would involve numbers so astronomical they defy reason.

So.

It’s self-evident.

The truth that can now be established is–

Einstein’s vision of the future is indeed different from my dream.

Not only was there no world-ending white light, humanity didn’t go extinct; instead, humans exceeded all imagination with prosperity and development, even causing Donghai City’s population to explode to over forty million.

From this, one could imagine.

The total global population must surpass ten billion, possibly even twenty billion.

Such an overcrowded, thriving world could never be the Ninth Dreamland I experienced.

A divergence has emerged.

Then.

What is the truth?

Einstein’s future vision and my dream– which one is real?

Or perhaps…

Could it be, as I just shivered with a fleeting thought…

[Could Einstein be lying?]

However.

There’s no way to verify it.

This is the helplessness Lin Xian feels at this moment.

Unable to verify.

He can’t board the Time Shuttle Machine and travel to August 29, 2624, to see for himself;

nor can he locate the Hafnium Alloy Safe in The Ninth Dreamland to retrieve the small note left by Chu Anqing, which might clarify the dream’s reality;

So ultimately… what should he do?

“Rhein.”

Einstein’s voice suddenly rang out, echoing through the magnificent hall:

“Come in, it’s your turn to ask.”

Lin Xian took a step forward.

Step by step, he entered the reception room.

He closed the red wooden door.

Seated across the tea table in a leather chair.

He glanced at Einstein’s shadow dancing on the wall in the firelight, then shifted his gaze and focused on the elderly man wearing the Sorrowful Einstein mask before him.

He stared deeply into the mask, which conveyed despair, regret, and lifelessness.

There was an odd feeling…

It’s as if something penetrated through time, saw through hearts, and carried itself forward.

“Rhein.”

The elderly voice broke the silence:

“What is your question?”

Suddenly.

Lin Xian inexplicably sensed a looming danger, a surge of caution.

He resisted.

He didn’t want to ask questions about the Millennium Stakes or Chu Anqing.

This peculiar unease…

Had actually been accumulating over a long period.

Thinking carefully.

Why would Zhang Yuqian, someone tied to the Millennium Stakes, inexplicably dream of Einstein?

Moreover.

1952, such a distinctive year–“the Sorrowful Einstein,” Zhang Yuqian’s dreams, the cosmic constant 42, the dissipated Millennium Stakes–all are connected to 1952.

And the Genius Club.

Refuses to answer any questions regarding itself.

Even.

It outright rejects questions about the real historical Einstein.

Such strict and bizarre rules…

Is it truly necessary?

This subtle sense of wrongness, the deeper he thought, the stranger and more terrifying it became.

Einstein.

1952.

Millennium Stakes.

Could there be some hidden connection among these three concepts?

He firmly believed.

The dreams of Zhang Yuqian and CC were definitely not meaningless.

Lin Xian adjusted his posture.

He made up his mind…

To ask a bold question.

Even if Einstein refused to answer, that would be fine.

A refusal could indicate that there’s something being hidden!

“Einstein.”

Lin Xian spoke softly:

“In 1952, a 20-year-old girl disappeared as blue stardust at exactly 00:42 local time. Please tell me the reason for her sudden disappearance.”

Silence.

Einstein fell silent.

Lin Xian was surprised.

This was the first time Einstein hesitated for this long before responding to a question.

Finally.

After more than ten seconds.

Einstein slowly raised his head, his voice calm:

“[In 1952, nowhere in the world did a girl disappear as blue stardust.]”

Lin Xian stared at the elderly man’s sorrowful mask:

“Are you sure?”

Einstein nodded silently.

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes.

Indeed…

His earlier suspicions and apprehensions were not unfounded after all.

If, in 1952, no Millennium Stakes dissipated.

Then why did Zhang Yuqian dream of that year and remember it so vividly that she set it as the password to her diary?

Meanwhile, Chu Anqing also had nightmares.

CC dreamed of herself with blue eyes.

As an incredibly stable system, with Millennium Stakes dissipating and driving stakes every 24 years, how could it possibly skip over such a crucial year–1952, a year that should undoubtedly be significant and eventful?

Originally.

Lin Xian merely suspected.

But now, he was certain–

[Einstein is indeed lying!]